The 2006 International Motorcycle Show!

I was able to make the show this year and I suppose it was about as expected. There were some cool bikes on display for the '07 year. Unlike Europe there weren't any hot semi-naked chickie-babes hanging on the bikes to show 'em off. Mostly, I was interested in checking out the Kawasaki Concours - it's a sport-touring bike based on the ZX-14R sport bike (fastest production sport bike....see previous post on it somewhere on here!). They had one that was obviously pre-production and you couldn't throw a leg over it, but I got a few pics.

The weather was a bit cool, but we rode out there anyway. I went with Bling! and his wife aka Mrs. Bling! (she hates that). She is looking to learning to ride so we had her trying on several bikes for size and comfort. I took pics for Robert and Amy since they couldn't make it. So if you want to check out all the pics, follow this link!!

I also found out that the new Arai RX7 Corsair helmet fits me perfectly- a medium with size 25 cheek pads if anyone is thinking about a good Christmas gift. Unfortunately they go for about $650.00!!! (snake skin sandals anyone?)

I realized that I also need to call the doc and try to see him before I fly back out. I've had an uncomfortable pain in my right side just below the rib cage. It's always worse after eating (full stomach?) and it bothered me a lot while walking around today. This evening just sitting around is noticeable. It's not acute. It feels like a side-stitch that won't quite go away.

Never Come Between a Woman and her Shoes....

I have a friend that is a shoe freak. You can probably imagine that it's a woman. I have never met a man that is a shoe freak. If I do, I'd be a bit surprised. If you were to look up numbers the average woman has a ridiculous number of pairs of shoes..... perhaps I should say that compared to men women have a ridiculous number of pairs of shoes.

I'm sure there are several women out there that would say they don't have that many shoes compared to the average, and if you are that woman then I commend you for being sensible. But my friend makes up for you....and just about everyone else. She blows the curve by having some obscene number of shoes. I can't even remember how many, but it seems like it was on the order of 100+ pairs of shoes at any given time.....and I think that was after she moved and got rid of a lot of them.

The other day I was talking to her and she is telling me about this great pair of sandals that she found. They are python sandals and she really wanted them. As it turns out they cost $1100. You know me, my next question was "are you fucking high?" She laughed, but I could also tell she was serious about it. $1100 for a freaking pair of sandals. I just had to ask what made them worth $1100 as I obviously am fashion ignorant and simply don't get it. She explained that they were python. OK, I get that. Python....I have a pair of python boots. They didn't cost anywhere near $1100. I think I got them for about $250 ~ $300. So I keep digging to get to the bottom of it. As it turns out they are designer sandals and that is why they cost $1100.

I will never understand the fashion world where people pay way too much money for a simple item. Take blue jeans. I wear mine until they fall apart, but women will go buy them with holes already in them for hundreds of dollars because they have been labeled by a designer. You are crazy.

Anyway, I tried to put it into logical terms for my friend (which is hopeless as I have since found out). I explained that was such a ridiculous way to spend that kind of money that I would fly out to see her, smack her upside the head for buying them, buy a drink at the bar, and fly home. And I could do it for less money than she would pay for the sandals.

And then later, while flying home for real I got to thinking about how many pairs of shoes I now had. Far more than even five years ago. When I was growing up I hardly had any shoes. I didn't need many. A pair of sneakers, a pair of cleats, and I was done. When I was 17 or so I think I had two pair - sneakers and maybe a pair of boots. I'm not sure if it was a fashion thing or just because my feet were growing and I didn't have a need for more than one or two pair.

Now, though, I am substantially older and have a need for many more pairs. Let me explain the difference, though. I go buy a pair of shoes because I have a specific need that I must fill such as riding boots for the bike - not because I think they would look great on me or go well with that outfit. I buy shoes for function and necessity. But I started counting them, and I think I am up there for a guy..... here is what I have:

• Sidi Riding Boots - to protect my feet and ankles in the event of a fall.


• Snakeskin Boots


• Tennis shoes - racquetball, working out and stuff


• Hiking Shoes - hiking in the mountains required a good stiff shoe that could handle it


• Work / Casual Boots - what I wear 90% of the time.


• Lake Sandals - I don't care if they get wet and trashed. That is what they were made for and I need them when I am at the lake, floating the river, etc.


• Slightly nicer casual sandals


• Rockport black shoes - dressier occasions


• Wingtip black shoes - real dressy occasions


• Italian dress shoes - black of course


• brown casual shoes - because I just don't have any brown shoes other than my boots.


• Snowboard boots


• ski boots


• bicycle riding shoes - for "clipless" pedals

So what is that.... 14 pair of shoes? I think that is a lot for a guy. I'm sure there are plenty of guys out there that have nowhere near that many. If I didn't participate in all of my various activities I could reduce that number significantly. I could further reduce it if I didn't ever have a need to dress up. And let's face it, I like dressing like a slob.....it's far easier than trying to figure out what shoes go with my outfit.

Going Home…..Finally.

Well the wheel is in motion. It’s turning and hopefully I won’t be crushed underneath it. The bottom line is I am finally going home. I am not sure exactly how this is going to happen and I can’t comment further on them at this time. But, before the New Year I will be home.

So I’ve been thinking of things I want to do to the house. I haven’t been there much in the last 2 years, and the house is almost 10 years old, now. I have some ideas for some minor improvements and thought I might just catalogue them real quick:

Tile the kitchen floor – the linoleum is old and starting to look like it. I’d like to tile the kitchen area but last time I calculated this it was going to cost about $5000 to do it. I need to see if I can get the cost down. If I can get it down to about $3000 then that would be sweet!

Pergo / Hardwoods – this would be to replace the carpet in the den and hallway areas. I think I can do this myself with some friends and few cases of beer. Of course, I guess I can’t complain about the results later, but the materials would probably still run me about $1500. I’d also re-paint the baseboards at the same time and spiff it up.

Bar Stools – I have a foosball table in my dining area, so there isn’t any place to really eat except at the bar. I’ve been trying to find some kick-ass stools for years but the good ones are about $500+

Re-stuff the sofa cushions – I have a leather sofa. The leather is in good shape, but the foam could be re-done in the cushions. I hear that you can get it done fairly cheap so that is an easy fixer-upper.

Seal the Garage floor – I’ve always wanted to do this for some reason. It’s cheap and just takes a little time and effort.

Place wear – I need to get some new plates, glasses, etc. I have the cheap crap from long ago, but it’s time to get rid of it and get some nicer stuff.

Yard work – the yard is not in bad shape, but it needs some tweaking. Flowers, pruning the hedges, etc.

I’m sure there are other things I’ll come up with, but this is a good start and will get me used to being around the house again. I’m looking forward to it.

For Dan....Because I think he'd Appreciate it.

SFW - Safe For Work

Psycho Chicks...

So I was watching Enduring Love last night. It's a European film and in it, for once, there is a psychotic, male, stalker....which kind of blows the stereo type of psycho chicks. With one exception.... he's gay and stalking another guy.

How does that fit into the realm of things?

Therapy Without a Therapist….

…or why we blog?

I am going home for Thanksgiving. I need to go home….really bad. I am burned out and fairly depressed. It’s getting to me and has been for a long time. I guess, though, that I deal with things well…or at least the best that I can. There are a lot of things that I’d like to post on here, but can’t right now…. It will make sense later on.

But the thing of it is…with all the things I am dealing with… I don’t really have any one person to talk to about it. Not someone that really understands all facets of bRad. Not anymore. So I think that’s it. I can’t jam and I don’t have someone to talk to about all this stuff….so I spew it forth on here when I get the chance.

I don’t think it’s the same for everyone else, but if you break it down to it’s substance it’s a medium for us to voice our opinions, feelings, whatever. It’s really not that much different than standing on a soapbox and going off about whatever we want to go off about – politics, religion, sex, global warming, myself, whatever.

People keep telling me I need therapy. At least this is free…

The Ramblings of a Lunatic….

At least that is what I feel like sometimes. What does it all mean? Does it have to mean anything? Can I just ramble to ramble??? I guess it’s my blog, I can do whatever I want. But I think about these things. The eternal question – why are we here? I don’t find myself asking that nearly as much as questions such as “are we making a difference?” Then the question becomes “a difference in what?” What do we, as humans, contribute? And what, are we contributing it to?

Think about this…. I was watching a show on TV the other day on black holes. They were getting fairly deep into it and of course I had read about this stuff before. But the graphics were very cool and Fuego and I were shooting tequila so I found it fairly interesting.

During the last few years there have been significant developments which allowed us to learn about and pinpoint where some of these black holes are – 60+ million light years away (or maybe it was 13? That’s a rather unlucky number isn’t it?). There is one in our own galaxy and one in the nearby galaxy (it’s all relative at this point). Apparently, they are no longer concerned with the sun going super-nova and wiping us out. Now the model suggests that our two galaxies will collide and fuse together. They don’t know if this will destroy us, or give us the best light show ever…..all over the course of a 2-million year cycle…..and that’s after it starts.

So while I think it’s really neat, and I realize that there are scientists just like this all over the world thirsting for one type of knowledge or another, what does it mean? What good does it do mankind, right now or in the immediate future (let’s be nice and give ‘em a few thousand years)?

And then there are “the others.” The countless minions of sheeple that walk the earth and do nothing more than exist. They might be good, and might be evil. They exist simply to exist and are usually far more concerned about what Britney spears did than the realities of our lives and the universe we inhabit. And, as much as I hate to say it, I think most of us fall into this category. Not necessarily as sheeple (but OMG there are a ton of them out there), but as humans that don’t really contribute to the greater good of mankind (feminist freaking out over the word “mankind” need to get a grip). Forget the earth for a moment…. I mean, really…global warming? Nuclear war? We are but a spec in the cosmic time frame of the earth. We could annihilate ourselves with nuclear weapons and in a few million years (a pittance to Mother Earth) the planet would be just fine. Most of this is a way to make ourselves feel better anyway.

So these were my thoughts this morning as I clipped along at 60 ~ 80 mph along a snow blown canyon road. BTW – have you ever had dipping dots? That’s exactly what the snow looked like.

I saw two large herds of beefalo’s, a bunch of antelopes, cows, and the occasional bird. It was snowing fairly well this morning. And then it all went away. The ski resorts are no longer sure if they’ll be able to open up or not. That’s disappointing as I was hoping to get some snowboard time in ASAP after getting back from TX.

Just Time for A Quickie....

It's late, and I am tired. However, I wanted to put a quick word or two in here to remember Veteran's day.

Thank you to all those who have, and still are, serving.

What’s in a Nickname?

I have quite a few friends that have nicknames. Not all of them, of course, but several of them. Recently I’ve had quite a few people ask me to remind them of who is who. So here is a quick list. How did they get them and what do they mean? That is another story…

Adren = Sticky
Alexander = Bling!
Andy = ‘Droid
David = Budda (misspelled on purpose)
Danny = Grasshopper
Dusty = The Duster (this one hasn’t quite stuck, yet)
Giles = Giles (different pronunciation)
Julie = OJ
Mike F. = Fuego
Ron = Weasel.

A Friend’s Observation:

This is an email that I received from a friend of mine:

Here's my question: the day following a crucial election, one where there will be significant changes to many of our day to day lives-why on earth is Britney Spear's impending divorce getting nearly as much press time as the voting results??? Seriously, I was watching CNN last night trying to get the information on who won the Tester/Burns race, and the runner at the bottom of the screen switched to Britney and K-Fed's separation. Good Lord! Why do I care? They are both white trash and were a car wreck from the very beginning. I can only imagine that it is was presented because people wanted to know. Doesn't that make you proud to be an American? :) No wonder people in other countries get irritated with us.

I’ll address this in two parts:

Part 1 – The Entertainment Phenomenon

Quite simply put, American’s place a higher value on entertainment (as a whole) than anything else….including politics, religion, family values, core values, etc. I’ve written about this before. It’s why Britney Spears was getting major coverage over the elections. It’s why athletes make millions of dollars while emergency services people (fireman, police officers, EMT’s, etc.), school teachers, and renowned physicists, engineers, and medical researchers make jack shit.

We’d rather be lulled into a semi-catatonic state watching TV, playing video games, or reading why Paris Hilton’s dog has hair extensions than worrying about the day to day happenings of the world right outside our front door. We have become fat, lazy and complacent with our MTV, fantasy football, and escape from-reality reality tv shows.

PS - the fat chick is Britney Spears....

Part 2 – Why Other Countries are Irritated with us.

I suppose there are many reasons for this, but in my travels it has pretty much come down to two things:

1 – they are jealous of what we have in the U.S. This is minor, but they don’t like our success and they don’t like our politics and the fact that we are THE dominant world power. Take that however you like it.

2 – more importantly, though, is the fact that we are a bunch of fat, lazy, complacent MTV watching assholes that feel our way of life is best and that we have to ram it down everybody else’s throats.

Shift of Power….

Well now that the democrats control both the house and the senate I am sure we can expect some major changes. For the time being I won’t make too much of an effort to discuss the changes as there are a billion other people far better at writing about the political fallout and changes that will be coming.

Still….I have to think that the republicans had to know this was coming. Let’s face it…as much as the democrats alienate their own supporters with their (sometimes) radical ideas, the republicans alienate their supporters by ignoring their feelings. The republicans have had too many problems with the war in Iraq (not that I am against it, but it’s turned into another Vietnam), controlling the media, and addressing the public’s feelings. I think that is what lost them the house and the senate.

A friend of mine email blasted “Christmas Came Early” and linked articles on the republican’s fall from power. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but it’s what the country voted on and now we’ll get to see what happens.

Laptop Lies....People Died....

err....or rather my laptop died. Sort of... but it's been resurrected. A while back a paper clip got jammed up in my vent and it snapped off a blade on the primary cooling fan. So the whole thing vibrated for a while. I guess I could have sold it off as a new marital aide, but I kept working with it as is. But, because the fan was out of balance, it wore the bearings out and the fan seized. So I could only run the laptop for a few minutes at a time before it would start to overheat.

Now, if I were in....say, Texas.... I could have ran down to Fry's and purchased a $5.00 fan to replace it. But, here in Montana there aren't any electronic stores that carry this type of thing. So I had to order the entire $82 heat-sink assembly from HP..... and it took them a few days to get it here. So I was essentially off-line.

Today I fly to CA and will be busy there, but I'll update some stuff on here when I get chance. Sorry 'bout that.

I’m Fweeezin’!!!!

I used to hear that a lot…. Not anymore, but now it was my turn. My friend let me borrow his Aprilia Mile’ and his wife and I took off riding around the valley. My original write up was going to focus on how I got a bit chilly going up Pipestone pass into Butte….but then things change. They always do.

Sunday was pretty windy out, and it was cool but by no means cold. My Amy had asked me if I was interested in riding, and frankly I needed it. Too much mental stress and turmoil. It would be good to not think about it for a bit. So I met up with her and we went to go get the Aprilia out of storage. Since Robert (Amy’s husband) wasn’t there I scammed his Alpine Star perforated leather jacket, some summer gloves, and a helmet. For those who don’t ride or can’t figure out what perforate means the jacket has HOLES in it. A lot of little ones to let the wind through so you don’t overheat while riding in warm weather.

Since it was just a tad cool I went ahead and put on a long sleeve shirt with a mock-turtleneck to it and a longer pair of socks (the wind blowing up the pants leg can make you cold).

We took off and the “adventure” started. The first thing was that we couldn’t find anyplace to get air in the tires and they definitely needed it. When we did find some air it was one of those stupid machines that you have to keep hitting the start button every 10lbs of air….grrrr……

But that was well and good and we got on the road. I let Amy lead so I could explore some roads I didn’t know and I didn’t have to concentrate as much. The wind was really whipping up in some spots and so we slowed the pace down….a tad.

When we came through one of the canyons it was absolutely spectacular! There were sheer rock walls RIGHT on the road, with a river on the other side looking into canyon walls that were laced with bright green trees. The river brush was a bright golden color and some of the trees lining the river were a nice orange and burnt-red color. It was beautiful. If I had a camera and could have pulled over I would have gotten some pics, but as it was there wasn’t any place to do so.

We made a decision to head over the Pipestone pass into Butte. I’d driven it before, but never ridden it on a bike. It was 30 miles out and we knew it would be cooler but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t freeze to death before we got through it. As we got close and the elevation started to rise it got substantially cooler and the signs warning of ice in the corners were out. Great.
As it turns out there was snow all over the sides of the pass, but the roads were clear and mostly dry so traction was not a problem. We weren’t crazy, but we probably sustained about 90mph through there when semis do about 15~20 and cars usually hang around 60~80. It was a nice clip and I was pretty cold by the time we got to the other side.
We stopped in Butte, had some hot chocolate to warm back up and turned around. Back up through the pass and into the valley the sun was starting to set and you could tell the air was getting cooler. At this point I was just starting to feel a tad uncomfortable but it wasn’t that bad.

Then….it hit us. A wall of freezing cold air. There is no other way to describe it. We were out in the middle of nowhere whipping through another small pass at about 90mph when we found the cold front that was moving in. Now, I’m sure everyone has felt the temperature drop suddenly….over a matter of minutes, etc. But, if you can imagine opening up a door into a big industrial freezer and riding into it at about 90mph that is what it was like. The temps easily dropped 20+ degrees in under 5 seconds. (I found out later it was closer to 30+ degrees). And the wind picked up….

So, I’m on a bike….in summer gear, out in the middle of nowhere, and Frosty the Snowman is having a field day with us on the bikes. Remember the perforated jacket and the little holes? Yeah, well having an 80+mph 30-degree wind blowing on you is not a good thing. We were literally freezing….but there wasn’t anywhere to pull off. We had to at least make it to US287 and I-90 (yeah, for you folks back home….it’s the SAME US287).

We made it, but had to pull of once to warm up hands on the engine blocks of the bike. By the time we got to the gas station we were both shivering pretty good and while I didn’t know it, we both had the same thought – Can I get my legs to work good enough to stand the bike up when I come to a stop. I was already practicing flexing my fingers just to work the clutch and brake levers. We were dangerously cold…..this was not good.

We hang out in the gas station for a bit to warm up and as it turns out my riding partner had now lost her wallet…. Uh oh! Things are just getting better! I bought a pair of glove warmers for her and we climbed back on the bikes. It was so cold out I was literally shivering before getting out of the parking lot. What had turned out to be a really nice ride was now miserable…..but we had to get back.

So off we go….freezing, shivering, and I’m trying to tuck in as best I can behind the windscreen to keep the wind off of me as much as possible. 20 more miles….we can make it. Of course, the cross-winds picked up even further and we were both leaning the bikes at about 5 degree angles just to stay in our own lane. Lane change? No problem just stand the bike up for a split second and it would easily push you over about 10 feet.

But then….we got behind the line and it started to get warmer. Now I am not talking warm as in tropical islands with hot chicks in bikinis warm. Not even butter and toast warm. But warm about how that pizza is when you pull it out of the refrigerator warm. Trust me, it was an improvement. When we finally pulled off the highway I said “I’m either so numb I can’t feel it any more or it actually got warmer.”

But we were off the highway and heading back towards the storage shed. We turn off of a main street onto a side street in an industrial park. Amy is still leading and flips her high-beams on. Wanting to help out I do the same thing. Little did I know that our trip was not over, yet, and the fates decided to blow a fuse on the bike and black out all the lights. So now I can’t see….. it’s pitch black, and I’m on a black motorcycle on an unlit street….. and I’m still freezing. If it had been in traffic, or we’d have been on the highway I would have been done…..but as it was we got the bikes back to the shed.

To top it all off? We couldn’t find the key to lock the shed up when we were trying to leave and spent about 10 minutes looking for it before we finally found it. Some friends of ours were having dinner nearby so we stopped in, made a jack and coke and started to try to warm up. I swear it took me about 2 hours before I finally felt warm again.

Lest you think that this all sucks….. most of it did. But don’t forget that part of riding is the experience. ALL of it. Not just the good. And now I have another experience to add to my canvas…. Would I do it again? Not willingly… but I am happy to have had the experience and a good ride with a friend.

PS – as a quick update, it did snow that night. A little while after we got off the bikes it dumped about 4 inches of snow. The temps kept dropping and when I went home last night it was a whopping 4 degrees outside according to the car. Brrrr….

I’m fweezin’!

The Devil Wears Ferret Costumes….

Or was it Prada? I forget….But the results are IN! I’ve got eight responses to the Purity Test. I was hoping for more, but you take what you can get, eh? What is the Purity Test? It’s a test to score and scale how “pure” you are compared to other normal (or not so normal) people.

Now I am not going to lie here. I’ve had a lot of “fun” in my life and probably tried and done a few things I shouldn’t have. I guess that is completely open to debate and how much of a moralistic snob you are. But, some of the results surprised me. Not so much that I didn’t realize that there were some sick fucks out there, but in my opinion most of the people scored fairly average. At least the average people and the sick fucks are my friends. It makes life interesting.
So this test is 500 questions and it starts off pretty simple….like “have you ever held hands?” From there it’s pretty much downhill as you could probably imagine. So while some of us scored higher on the scale than others, it definitely left some of us wondering “how could someone score so low?” Most of us feigned to say “live and let live” lest we have to imagine our friends with a farm animal, engaged in a homosexual act, or practicing necrophilia (maybe it was a dead, gay, sheep?).

And, I can just see my dad rolling his eyes going “ummm….ok.” He’s a bit conservative, but I love him anyway.

Want to take the test yourself?? http://www.puritytest.net/

Religion Costs a Buck-O-Five....

So I am sitting at the bar reading the paper last night. It was a long day and I wasn't in a particularly good mood. There was an editorial commentary examining if we should be taxing NCAA sports. If you aren't aware, they are currently tax exempt due to the institution being a school. However, the article made some very good points about the colleges making "big money" off of the sporting events like their football programs.

I find all of this to be a good and healthy debate. But....I think if people really want to recover monies that are "lost" to non-profit institutions then they need to look at Churches. First off, the separation of church and state is not a literal separation and people need to realize that is an unrealistic expectation. The separation of church and state was to prevent the influence of politics via voting and other channels from non-profit organizations. The reality is that it happens anyway and nobody does a damned thing about it.

So if we push that aside let's examine a few things. You earn you money and then if you are a good Christian you give 10% of your gross (not the net, the GROSS) to the church every year. This doesn't take into consideration any other donations that you make. If I remember correctly that is tax-free. The church also gets it from you, again, tax-free. So now we have a funnel of money going into the church that the government doesn't get anything out of.

Now the church is also allowed to act like any other corporation in that it can buy and sell goods, trade stocks, broker real estate, etc. And....of course.....tax free. Did you know that the single largest wealthiest entity in the world is the Roman Catholic church?? Yet, we get no tax benefit from them.

Churches may claim non-profit, but the reality is that they utilize our civil resources just like any other organization and they rake in BILLIONS of dollars. Yet, nobody would consider taxing the church, would they? Nobody that wants to get re-elected anyway....

Halloween is Upon Us....

Apparently people have an easier time picking out costumes for their ferrets than I have picking one out for me. It's just hard for me to get into the season anymore. I used to enjoy Halloween. Getting dressed up and playing make believe like a big kid is generally fun. Now it's a chore.

For personal reasons, I'm just not into the spirit of things so it's difficult to be creative. Then there is the whole issue of having all my stuff in TX. Back home I could whip out a costume fairly easily. Here, in MT, I have to figure it all out and then figure out how to put it together and even where to buy it at..... only so that it will probably never make it back to TX to be worn again. And let's face it, I'm a cheap bastard so that doesn't work very well for me from a financial perspective.

But, thankfully, I do have friends that want me to come to their parties. The only caveat, of course, is that I have to be in costume. I've asked friends for some help on this one and I have gotten all kinds of responses. Just go as yourself..... and then say you are a serial killer (the problem with that one is that I might just freak out on everyone.... you can never tell with us quiet types). One person suggested going as someone that is tired. WTF?

I'd like to do my Big Lebowski one again as there several people here that would get it... but again, all my stuff is in TX. What to do? I have a couple of ideas that I might be able to get away with at a cheap cost. We'll see....

Until then, I'll just get a laugh out of these ferrets. No, I don't really have an obsession with them, but you have to admit it's pretty damned funny in it's own twisted, warped, way.....

Are You an Imbecile?

Above is a map of IQ averages by state. Steve Sailor has an interesting article on it. I must be a near moron according to this chart.

More Political Fallout

I think my father said it far more eloquently than I could on his blog, Political Angst in America. Both sides of the political machine are gearing up and starting to sling mud. I don’t think it helps the issues and the people, I think it hurts them. For once, during my life, I’d like to vote for a president that I truly believe in rather than the lesser of two evils.

But here are a few links I’ve received in my mail over the last week.
This first one is something that most of us have known about for a while, but have probably turned a blind eye to. I seem to hear more about this from college campuses and to some extent I am far more lenient of this type of behavior in those situations. I figure you don’t have to pay the college to go there and deal with this. But in a public school I feel this is completely inappropriate no matter which side you follow. I feel that public school teachers have an obligation to teach children facts, and offer them guidance based upon those facts. I do not feel the public school system should be a delivery platform for you political agenda.

High School Student and Bush Bashing.

The next link is an article from Ann Coulter. If you are a liberal democrat you probably won’t want to read it. It isn’t very kind to liberals and doesn’t allow one to confuse emotions with facts. What I don’t understand is why liberals are so eager to allow the terrorists to have a fair shot at killing more people. Can someone answer me that question? I think socialist liberals forget that terrorists are not going to be part of their socialist system.

OJ Trials for Terrorists.

Real Estate Falling

I haven’t researched the national market, but I am hearing that in “hot” places like Bozeman that there is a substantial fall-off happening. I first noticed it when I heard of two investors and builders that were unloading. Then I got wind of another guy dumping his property for “under market value.” Gee….do you think it might have been over-inflated to start with?

Yesterday my roommate, some of his friends and I checked out a house around the corner. I think his friend is going to buy it. It’s a very modern and interesting house, but like most houses around here they did some thing architecturally that I don’t care for. But, get this….they wanted $489,000 for the house and they are going to “let it go” for $412,000. A $77k difference? That’s not good negotiation. That’s the market starting to puke. But let’s see what happens come February. This is traditionally a bad time of the year for sellers so it may not be surprising, but that’s a significant difference in “adjustment.”

Ever Eat A Burnt Weenie Sandwich?

I said I was going to try harder to post up on here, but as per usual work got in the way. It’s not always a time issue so much as a timing issue. Sometimes, when I am done with work the last thing I wan to do is be on the computer writing and /or trying to be creative. I’m mentally spent at that point and just want to veg out and do something that does not tax me mentally.

The last week hasn’t been particularly stressful at work and that is good. We’ve been getting some good snow showers and the mountains are starting to fill in nicely. I’m looking forward to boarding once again. I even rented a very cool snowboard film called First Descent that is about the history of the sport and also about hitting some extreme runs up in Alaska that may have never been touched before.

I even presented a potential vacation schedule for the upcoming holidays that I may get. My boss said he would see what he could do, but they aren’t going to like it. I usually don’t take issue with my boss too often, it’s everyone else….and I realize that most of what he gives me is coming from up above.

I have had some very interesting social conversations in the last couple of weeks. One of them included a girl at the bar who said she’d rather be bent up like a pretzel into a vertical 69 position, but that she wouldn’t have sex with guys. I guess, like Bill Clinton, it depends on where you draw the line.

My friend threw a nice party for everyone last night. The premise of which was to wear some cool slippers, have some cocktails, and play a game or two. Well some of us wore slippers, everyone had cocktails, and no games were ever played. Unless you count some of the mental sparring that went back and forth.

I was told during the course of the evening that I didn’t like women. Let me make it clear, I love women. Like most men, though, I just don’t always understand them. I’m not willing to play games and I expect people to say what they mean. The anger that one might get from me has a lot more to do with being jealous of the guys that treat women like shit and have them, and the guys that treat women good but don’t. Why do women do this and then complain about it?

Damned Blogspot Site!

Well here I am trying to update my blog site and the freaking page won’t load. This seems to happen frequently when either trying to do an update or just to read some other people’s blogs.

I’ve also noticed it has a lot of problems with pictures. Even ones that I link to as opposed to uploading. I try not to upload any pictures anymore.

Maybe the new beta site will be better. I’ll have to migrate my site and try it.

Foamy Nails It....

So I was checking on the latest Foamy rant and he opens it up by saying "I'll date anyone that isn't any idiot. Hence, why I'm still single." I can't help it, but it reminds me of myself. I'm sure I am winnig points, now, so I'll just go crawl under this rock.

Check out the latest Foamy....once you go black, you never go back!
http://www.illwillpress.com/

Why I Hate Football.....

Like most American males, I played football growing up as a kid. All kinds of football. Touch, tackle, smear-the-queer, etc. I wasn't very big as a kid and that kept off a lot of teams, but I was fast, could hit hard and was able to anticipate plays.

I played all kinds of sports when I was young, but I never could get into watching them very much. I don't know why, it's just the way I am. Rather than sit on my ass and watch sports I'd rather be out playing them or getting into some kind of adventure or trouble.

But then I found hockey..... or rather my friends turned me on to it. It took a long time to get inot it because it has a fairly complicated set of rules. So it took a couple of seasons before I understood it enough to appreciate it.

Then I was hooked.... no other sport on TV compared:
Golf? Forget it.....waaaaaay too boring and slow.
Baseball? Are you high? Baseball is so boring they have to count errors.
Basketball? No thanks.
Football? Major boring shit. One play, for five seconds and then you have to watch the same play over and over again from 12 angles. No wonder it takes 5 hours to play a 1 hour game.

But for me, Hockey has it. Constant action with little interruption (in most cases), guys knocking the crap out of each other, you have to be in excellent shape, it moves fast, and all for the glory of trying to get a puck in the net. And of course, let's not forget the fights.

But there is more to it than that....and I STILL can't bring myself to sit and watch every game. If I am home and there isn't anything else going on I'll watch a game. I might go check out some choice games with some friends from time to time, but I love going to the games!!

Sorry....I digress. I'm supposed to be telling you why I hate football, right? I live in Texas. Football dominates everything in Texas. And I live in the DFW area. So you can imagine we are overrun with the drug-addicted, gun-toting, whoring thugs called the Dallas Cowboys. EVERYTHING is Dallas Cowboys. Everywhere you go, everything you see, etc. Even in the off season when the Dallas Stars are going for the Stanley Cup we get 20 minutes of sports on the latest arrests of the Cowboys, how Dion Sanders hurt his poor wittle turf toe and a brief 10-second spot on how the Stars moved into the semi-finals. WTF?

But it gets worse....there is college football AND pro football all playing at the same time. And then there is baseball and basketball and everything else. You know what ranks at the very bottom in the sports bars??? That's right, hockey. I can get to a bar, get there early and they will turn OFF a hockey game to put on a fucking football game. It pisses me off.

I was in a bar the other night and suffering through the smoke and everything else. They had about a billion TVs and nobody was watching anything. So I get there early and they put the game on for me and I order a couple of beers. Right about the start of the 2nd period the Denver football game comes on. No big deal, right? They turn three of the TVs around me on the game for the grand total of six people watching. That's cool. Then they crank up the volume on ALL the TVs. I can still hear the TV I watching, but just barely. Then the waitress MUTES my TV. I asked her what she was doing and she tells me that football takes precedence over hockey and that is just the way it is around there. It's a good thing she wasn't MY waitress.

But that's the norm. It happens all the time. I was in a bar once with a bunch of friends watching a game. There were a billion TV's and they turned every last one of them onto the college football game for two OUT-OF-STATE teams. Not even teams from Texas. I complained and was told that this is what everyone wanted to watch. Really? What about our table of 10 that had been there for the last 2 hours running up a bar-tab? So how about I give you the finger and.... No problem, we walked and I never went back.

So the next time you talk to me and I tell you that I hate football or hate the Cowgirls, don't take it personally. I just want to watch hockey...

A Quick JP Update.....

I finally got a chance to talk to the man himself. Most of what I had on here before is accurate. He was doing high-altitude jumps and had left the plane OK. Popped his chute and setup for the landing when he passed out. He came conscious right before impact and so he flared a little bit (put on the brakes) but was also ligned up with an irrigation pump.

He shattered his hips, but broke no other bones. He had some use of his legs when he left one hospital, but later became paralyzed from the waist down. They do not know why he is paralyzed. He told me he barely moved a toe or part of his foot last night, but that it was practically imperceptible. He was also in a coma for over a month.

In speaking with him on the phone I got the impression that he was staying positive. he's looking forward to potentially walking again. He also said he would be getting back in the swing of things as he goes through rehab. He may never walk again, but it didn't sound like that was going to keep him from hitting the slopes, biking, and doing the other things he loves to do.

I did notice, though, that he didn't quite sound like JP. A little bit of slurred speech and he didn't quite have his sense of humor. Like he was slightly different. My guess is that it was either from the coma and some minor brain damage, or that he was on some meds. He did tell me he felt tired today, but that could be because he had recently went out to the movies and gotten a bite to eat the day before.

I hope he does well. He is coming back to Bozeman, but it may be a while. Good luck to you, JP. If you want to get in touch with him, let me know and I'll get you some contact information. I don't want to post it here.

Sooo Sorry.....

Sorry that I haven't posted much lately. I went home for a week and was trying to get a lot of things done. I got some of them done, but not as much as I wanted to. The weather was nice and I took my 'Priller out just about every chance I got. I also played golf with my dad (didn't do very well), saw my family and friends, and even managed to get a game of foosball in.

I didn't have any drunk-fest parties with the hot tub, chicks and staying out all night until the sun was coming up. That's probably a good thing. I didn't get my company setup the way I wanted to, but I did find out a lot of information about doing it. I also still managed to turn work down a few times and yet somehow work way too much.

I find that more and more I am getting tired of being away from home and on the road. I'm way too burned out with work and the company having a lack of direction for me.

So I left the great state of Texas for Phoenix to teach a class at AMEX. I'm not real impressed with Phoenix. It's OK, not bad, but not anything to get a woody over, either. It's a big city....in the desert....with sand and stuff.....and nothing else to do. But teaching went well and I guess I can't complain about that.

I got back into Bozeman and have been trying to get caught up on emails and stuff like that. It was disappointing to get ahold of a paper and start reading through it....both political machines are gearing up and it just makes me sick. No wonder nobody wants to go vote anymore.

But the police report was kind of funny....

a guy took a poo on someone's car
a patrol officer had to get some sheep off the road

and that was about it. Another rough night in Bozeman, MT.

I'll try to post more later. It's amazing how many things I want to write about when I am away from the computer and then when I sit down I just can't motivate myself or my mind goes blank.

A Theoretical Situation....

So I was engaged in an intense conversation at the bar the other night and we did some basic polling, but I thought I would ask you, dear reader, to give me your opinion on a particular subject.

So let's say that there are two guys hanging out in an apartment. They are just chillin' and not much is going on. So one of 'em breaks out a bong and decides to light up. "uh...hey dood, you mind if I get high?" "not at all" replies the second one.

So the guy sparks up his bowl and proceedes to take a hit. Then he offers the bong to his buddy. The other guy says "uh... you know man, I'd like a hit but it's really better if you blow it into my mouth instead."

So the first guy says "what?"

and the second guy says "yeah, and not from a distance either. Can you lock lips with mine and blow it in?"

and so the first guy is now bombed out of his mind so he says "sure."

The two guys lock lips and the first guy blows the smoke into the other guy's mouth.

Would you not consider this to be gay?

Is that gay?

Absolutely!Of course not! Quit being homophobic!It's not gay, it's bi!It's not gay or bi. I do it all the time.

Free polls from Pollhost.com

And secondly....if it was a guy and a chick, would that not be an excuse to make out?

OK, Who brought the cat?

I'm fairly sure that is a photoshop picture, but it's kind of amusing and leads me into a joke. I read this the other day, and it's quickly become one of my favorites.

A teacher is explaining biology to her students. "Human beings are the only animals that stutter", she says.
A little girl raises her hand. "I had a kitty-cat who stuttered", she volunteered.
The teacher, knowing how precious some of these stories could become, asked the girl to describe the incident.
"Well", she began, "I was in the back yard with my kitty and the rottweiler who lives next door got a running start and before we knew it, he jumped over the fence into our yard!"
"That must've been scary", said the teacher."It sure was", said the little girl. "My kitty went 'Fffff, Fffff, Fffff'... and before he could say 'Fuck!' the rottweiler ate him!"

Update on our Marines - The Pendleton 8!

A while back I wrote a quick summary of a group of marines that had been brought back to the U.S. and thrown in a prison for killing an insurgent in Iraq. They apparently did this without first getting permission even though they were being fired upon at the time.

The unit was from Camp Penleton. They are still in prison awaiting an Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury hearing). They have been denied council, food, water, sleep, and due process. In summary, they have been treated far worse than any of the prisoners that were hazed in the camps.

I finally got some more information, but most of it is easiest to read if you follow these links. PLEASE take some time to read this and get the word out. The press is either not talking about it, or revealing only part of the story. It is a shame that we would treat our own countrymen in such a manner.

A general web site about the situation with updates and an option to donate for the defense fund (remember they have been denied JAG council up to this point).
http://www.marinedefensefund.com

Another blog site about one of the marines being held and the situation at hand:
http://friendsofjerry.blogspot.com

Here is a site about Congressman John Murtha. Apparently he's one of the congressmen that not only is against the war, but has the balls to dissrepect our men and women fighting in the Iraq war. Seems a lot of people want to see the truth about him come to light and get him out of office.
http://www.bootmurtha.com

Stop Bullshitting Everyone!

That includes yourself. This political correct stuff is way freaking out of hand. I almost got bent out of shape the other day over this type of thing. People are too sensitive to be told the truth and take responsibility for their own actions.

Muslims are peaceful, loving, people that just want to conquer the world and kill anyone that isn't a Muslim. They will leave us alone if we just leave them alone. They are repressed by society. I guess you might say they are political, socially, and religiously challenged. What a bunch of crap. How is it that the U.N., which supposedly upholds freedom of speech very highly allows these folks to say that if you insult Islam then there will be dire consequences. Yet, Bush is the anti-christ that is trying to take over the entire world. Do they supply unlimited crack at the U.N. meetings or is it just me that thinks this is wrong. When was the last time some U.N. folks got fed up with this shit and walked out? Why is the U.S. continuing to tolerate the leftist, liberal bullshit being fed to everyone and allowing these other countries and factions to walk all over us. What kind of pussies have we turned into?

Secondly.... let's call a spade a spade. I don't agree with calling black people niggers, though I do think that there are niggers. Just like there is trailer trash and crackers along with other white people.

I can even understand that some people are offended by the word "negro." But seriously, African-American is a bunch of shit. It's false and misleading. It also doesn't do anything to describe the color of someone's skin. Here is an example:

African American - Charlize Theron

She has it right by calling herself that because she IS from Africa. She was born there. Heck, I spent two weeks traipsing around Europe with one of the whitest African Americans you have ever seen.

Now, a picture of a BLACK guy

This guy could be from Africa. I don't know if he is or not. But he's definitely black. Calling him an African American does not tell you anything about that person other than where they might be from.

My bloodline is Irish. I've even been to Ireland. I am not an Irish-American. I'm a white cracker. Where we are from has NOTHING to do with describing the way we look. STOP trying to make it into something it's not.

And for you communist, socialist bastards that sue everyone for speaking the truth? You should be flogged and then thrown out of the country. Does anyone remember Stalin and other Socialist countries? Do we want to be like that?

Why do people make things so complicated?

In the last week or so I have had multiple conversations with multiple females that want some introspective insight on the male psyche. I guess they ask me because of the obvious answer, but it always astounds me how women want to make things far more complicated than it really is.

I always like to open the conversation with something I heard from a comedian. If a woman wants to turn a man on, she simply has to show up and bring beer. That’s it. That’s how complicated men are.

Now before I go any further let’s make sure that you understand that stereotypes exist for a reason. If you don’t believe that or don’t like it then you are disillusioned.

So listen up ladies! Here it is….and while you have probably heard it a thousand times you still don’t believe it.
The primary motivation for any guy that isn’t a geriatric (ok some geriatrics, too) is reproduction. Hence: sex. I believe that its part of our genetics and that we don’t understand it any better than the next animal on the planet.

Everything else evolves from, and is secondary to, the first. Companionship, friendship, relationships, marriage, etc. How we look, dress, the way we conduct ourselves is all about the first priority.

That’s not to say that all the other stuff isn’t important….but why did we talk to someone in the first place? Probably because we were attracted to them at a physical level. Either that or because we were being forced to fly wing-man because our friend was interested in another female.

So don’t over-complicate things. Sure there are dynamics in any relationship. But men are simple creatures.

You can break it down to:
Sex
ESPN Sports Break (for some of us, but not others)
Beer

Got it?

So the next conversation I seem to get wrapped up in is “Why are guys jerks? Why did he lie to me?”

First off, see the order of priorities above. That doesn’t always include wanting watch Steel Magnolias and listening to every intricate detail about your emotional state since he last saw you while trying to establish a long and meaningful relationship. 1

Seriously, I was recently engaged in a conversation where I explained some of this and the female-type-person said she would actually respect a guy that didn’t try to B.S. her just to sleep with her. If he would just be up front and honest, he’d have a fair shake. Ok, that is good.

About ten minutes later she said that she didn’t want to just sleep with someone she wanted to establish a relationship first, etc., ad nausea. My first thought was that here we are! Establishing a clean line of communication to men is important because we can’t read your minds. Ladies, did you get that? WE CANNOT READ MINDS. If you tell us one thing, that is what we think. If you say that nothing is wrong, expect us to take it to heart and to treat you like nothing is wrong. Don’t get mad at us later for it.
The next thing was that I pointed out reason #1 why guys are jerks and lie. They want to get laid. See above (1)….and see above that (order of priorities).

There is also is some well documented psychological phenomenon wherein women will tend to keep going out with the same kinds of jerks over and over again. There are, of course, multiple reasons including self esteem, wanting to “fix” someone (usually you can forget that), etc.

I like to think that women aren’t so gullible as to continuously believe the same crap that men spew forth in order to get a piece, but for some reason they keep doing the same things over and over again.

I’m sure I’ll touch some buttons with this one. Guys will be saying “that’s not true!” while their g/f’s read over their shoulders so that they still have a chance of getting some that evening.

Women will be saying that I have it all wrong, and that men and women aren’t really like that. Didn’t you read “Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus?”

And of course both will be trying to point out all the other dynamics and nuances that make up our relationships. If you are trying that hard, you missed the point.

It’s all the rest of it that can get complicated if you allow it to. Keep it to the basics and it stays pretty simple.

Ever try to give a Ferret a Perm??

Me either. I don't think it would work too well. But look at this? It's a site that makes clothes for ferrets. This has got to be akin to those people that like to dress up their dogs. But I have to ask these people..... Are you fookin' high? I mean, seriously, look at it --->

It looks like a deranged Easter bunny, or something you might see while tripping on some bad acid.

In other news, I was blamed for:
1 - ruining someone by introducing them to Jager-Bombs. This elixir is easily made by dropping a shot of Jagermeister into a 1/2 glass of Red Bull. It's quite tasty and does a good job of getting people hosed and amped up at the same time. Personally I can't sleep on the the things due to the Red Bull. But this person apparently got completely hosed on them and then suffered a hangover....all my fault, even though I wasn't there. Glad to know I have influenced someone's life. Thank god I didn't see the picture of the ferret while I was having my Jager bombs.

2 - the other thing I was blamed for was preventing the three ladies I was out with from having any guys hit on them. At least that was theory the next morning when they cornered me in a booth of a breakfast joint while we all nursed our heads from the night before. They sprung the theory on me like a bad trap. I was cornered like the above mentioned ferret and I didn't have a way out. However, I agreed with the theory for the most part. Because I was there, they probably didn't get hit on by other guys. I guess guys are the same way, but what do you....oh gentle reader...think? Do women or men approach a table of guys with one chick, or a table of chicks with one guy? Isn't there more to the dynamics then that or is that enough to scare someone off?

Harley Davidson Plays Catch-Up
or tries to anyway.... I'm not a big HD fan. I used to be when I was a kid. Before I realized that I, like millions of other people, were being brainwashed by the HD marketing juggernaut. But I figured it out by the time I started riding bikes.

So anyway, I used to love obligatory phrase "Go Big or Go Home" spewed from the mouth of God knows how many HD zombies. Only thing is, for a long time now HD has not made the largest V-Twin engine out there. Not even close. Well, they finally unveiled a 1800cc (that's a 110-inch motor for you non-metric folks out there) engine. And it STILL isn't the largest production engine.

Here is was really gets me..... this big-ass engine, in a bike that costs $25,000 puts out a whopping 89.4 horsepower, with 105.2 lb-ft. of torque.

comparatively, you can go buy just about any Japanese sport-bike (or non sport-bike) for under $11,000 and they are cranking out up to 170+ HP at the rear wheel with an equal amount of torque. All in an engine that is a little larger than 1/2 the size.

So what I want to know from HD is, how do you screw up an engine so bad that a competitor can put out one that is 1/2 the size with twice the performance for approximately 1/3 of the cost?

Where the hell am I?

After many people complaining that they couldn't keep up with my schedule and where I was (including myself!) I have added a little flash do-hickey (technical term) to show you roughly where I am.

I got the idea from all the porn banner ads that keep telling me there are millions of women that want me in Bozeman (or wherever I happen to be). I find this ironic as:
1 - there aren't even a million people in the state of Montana
2 - I can't seem to even find a handful of women that want me. ;-)

Now that it's on here, you can get an idea of where I am at. The only caveat is that it only shows where I am logged in, or at least the last place I logged on at.

happy hunting!
....now if I can just find some of these women.....

Snowobarding Anyone??

I have to start planning early for any trips or things that I want to do. If I am here in Bozeman long enough I will get a ski pass to Moonlight.

But, whether I am here or not I have three trips I'd like to take during the ski season.

1 - Red Lodge, MT. I hear the skiing is good early in the season and then it tapers off. I was just in the town and it was pretty neat. I figured a weekend trip would be just about right.

2 - Jackson Hole, WY. This place is supposed to have serious verticals. It's only about 4 hours away if the roads are clear. I hear it gets epic powder. Again, another weekend trip.

3 - Snowbowl, or Discovery, MT. Two fairly small places that don't get a lot of press that are supposed to be good.

So, I have two weeks left. I figure I'll burn one of them sometime during the ski season before the EOY. The other I'll burn around the holidays. I've started putting feelers out and getting the typical "yeah, that sounds like fun" stuff but nobody has said "let's do it" and started making plans.

So if you read this and this sounds like fun, then let's do it. You can either make it happen or sit around saying "we should...." until it's too late.

and if you see me doing anything remotely similar to the picture above, I am in SERIOUS trouble and you should find ski patrol immediately!

JP Update....

Well, I finally got an update from the lady that cleans the house here in Bozeman. Apparently, there is a number (which I am trying to get) to reach JP.

He's still in the hospital, but he's alive. I hear he is in good spirits. Unfortunately, he is paralyzed from the waist down. It is unknown if that is permanent or not.

When i get the number and get in touch, I'll post more....

Balance, Grasshopper.....

Many people have different ideas about their life goals, or mantras. Mine isn't so much about peace and harmony, religion, health, riches, etc. as it is about balance. I believe that if you make an effort to balance your life then you will achieve peace and harmony, have enough money, or be content with your religion.

So that's what I've been trying to focus on for about the last....oh....I don't know....10+ years. Balance. I drink, but I try not to drink too much...or let it affect other aspects of my life. I seek thrills with my activities, but hopefully not at the price of being a moron and killing myself. I am a cheap bastard, but I'll also give you the shirt off my back.

The problem, is that I am not balanced anymore. Not even close. It's difficult for me because I almost feel like I am so unbalanced that it will be difficult to find (or get close) to be balanced again. Mostly, it's my fault. And most of it, is due to work. I guess I have a slight tendency to be a work-a-holic. I get ahold of something and I have trouble letting it go. And then work keeps asking me to work and although I keep saying "no" it seems that I am still working far more than I should. For those of you that have your basic 9~5 job, you wouldn't understand. But try working 60+ hours on a holiday week sometime and then imagine it's always like that.

I am in MT for work. I don't see my friends back home very much due to work. I don't ride my bike or drive my truck due to work. I barely see my house. Even here, in MT, I can't get into a regular workout routine so I feel out of shape. Why? FUCKING WORK!

Relationships are just a dream that i once had.... work again. Are you seeing a pattern? I sure I am....but I am not 100% sure how to deal with it. I tend to think that Skyline and I will have to re-evaluate the nature of our relationship at some point.

But I need to get the balance back....somehow....and I just don't see it happening here.

So that's me. I'm out of balance....

Hey Daddy! Look at the Kittens!

Thanks to another friend for that one. I was up at Moonlight Basin yesterday working away. It was dumping snow on me the whole time. Winter is on it's way. I understand it got a little cooler in Texas - 88F. My friend, Bling, would hate it.

Just a Funny Pic...

This one caught me off guard and was sent to me by a friend. Thanks for the laugh.

Bling's Rant....

As you can tell from his commentary, I clearly did not do enough to satisfy him. Unfortunately, I don't have a cush job where I get to sit around and wait on my software to deliver all day long....surfing the web....watching TV....and keeping up with the mundane trivial crap that makes up the entertainment industry.

So here is some real material for 'em.

It is not a well known fact that we know that Saddam was harboring WMDs and planning on more in the near future. Why is this? Well, it's because it isn't true and you can go on believing the mantra "Bush lied, people died." OR, you can wake up and get with the program. The media is NOT reporting both sides of the story. They seem to be perfectly content to let one of the largest lies and deceits in my lifetime continue.

Here is an article by Ronald Kessler (Washington Wire) that was forwarded to me. This isn't something new to me, but I did feel it was worth posting. For those of you that don't like to read the gist of the article is this:

One of the key witnesses responsible for the current lie that we didn't find anything and that our govt. was simply using what intelligence they wanted to go to war was LYING. That's right! the guy is a freaking fraud. Here is the article where he is exposed. Don't forget to check into what the official investigations revealed.

So you might forgive bad journalism. You can forgive making a mistake. But this, to me, is clearly a case of people so caught up in hating Bush that it's OK to lie about what happened, and furthermore it's ok to continue to perpetuate that lie so that we all think Bush is the anti-Christ.

Let me ask you, what is more frightening, people that do their best to try to protect the U.S. even though they may not always make the best decisions, or people that would try to hide the truth and deceive the public to achieve their own political agenda?

Here is the article:

Bush's CIA Critic Claim Exposed as Untrue
By Ronald Kessler WASHINGTON

— In a "60 Minutes" interview on April 23, Tyler Drumheller, a former chief of the CIA's Europe division, made a sensational charge. He claimed that President Bush and his White House ignored intelligence before the invasion of Iraq indicating that Saddam Hussein had no had weapons of mass destruction.

On the CBS-TV show, and in subsequent media interviews that appeared throughout the world, Drumheller said that the White House was excited about the fact that the CIA was getting information straight from Naji Sabri, the then Iraqi foreign minister. But when the White House found out this source was reliably saying that Saddam had no WMD, Bush and his White House weren't interested.

"He [Sabri] told us that they had no active weapons of mass destruction program," Drumheller told correspondent Ed Bradley in a segment called "A Spy Speaks Out."

"So in the fall of 2002, before going to war, we had it on good authority from a source within Saddam's inner circle that he didn't have an active program for weapons of mass destruction?" Bradley asked.

"Yes," Drumheller said, proclaiming himself outraged.

According to Drumheller, Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice brushed aside the CIA report on what Sabri had to say because "the policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming, and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy, to justify the policy."

Drumheller saw "how the Bush administration time and time again welcomed intelligence that fit the president's determination to go to war and turned a blind eye to intelligence that did not," Ed Bradley said in the introduction to the "60 Minutes" piece.

Now it appears Drumheller's claim was untrue, according to the findings of a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigation. Rather than undercutting the Bush administration's rationale for invading Iraq, Sabri's account shows how well-founded the intelligence on Saddam's weapons program appeared to be.

Ironically, just as Drumheller claimed that Bush ignored the truth about Iraq, the media have ignored the documentation in the Senate report demolishing Drumheller's claim.

An addenda to the Senate report on postwar findings about Iraq's WMD program says all the operational documents relating to Sabri indicate he told the CIA just the opposite of what Drumheller claimed. The Senate report refers to Sabri as a source with direct access to Saddam Hussein and his inner circle but does not name him.

"Both the operations cable and the intelligence report prepared for high-level policy-makers [based on interrogation of the source] said that while Saddam Hussein did not have a nuclear weapon, ‘he was aggressively and covertly developing such a weapon,'" the Senate report said.

The documents said "Iraq was producing and stockpiling chemical weapons," according to the addendum, signed by Sens. Pat Roberts, R–Kan., Orrin G. Hatch, R–Utah, and Saxby Chambliss, R–Ga. Iraq's weapon of last resort was mobile launched chemical weapons, which would be fired at enemy forces and Israel, the CIA documents said.

Moreover, there is "not a single document relating to this case which indicates that the source said Iraq had no WMD programs," the addenda said. "On the contrary, all of the information about this case so far indicates that the information from this source was that Iraq did have WMD programs."

What the source said was consistent with the CIA's October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate, the report said. The report added: "The committee is still exploring why the former chief/EUR's public remarks differ so markedly from the documentation."

At least 134 stories and TV shows have referred to Drumheller's claims and his criticism of the CIA and Bush administration in general. One of the stories ran as the second lead of the June 25, 2006 Washington Post.

"Warnings on WMD ‘Fabricator' Were Ignored, Ex-CIA Aide Says," the headline over the Post story said. According to the story, Drumheller was dumbfounded when he saw a classified version of the speech Secretary of State Colin Powell was about to give to the United Nations citing Iraq's biological weapons factories on wheels.

Drumheller claimed he had warned George Tenet, the director of Central Intelligence, in a phone call, and John McLaughlin, the deputy director, in a personal meeting that the source for that claim, code-named "Curveball," was a fabricator.

Not until the 32nd paragraph of the Post story did the reader learn that both Tenet and McLaughlin said they had no recollection of warnings Drumheller allegedly gave them. Both men said they would have taken immediate action if he had.

While two former CIA officials said they recalled Drumheller telling them at the time about warnings he allegedly gave McLaughlin, no meeting with Drumheller appeared on McLaughlin's official calendar, according to the report of the Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, known as the Silverman-Robb commission.

Carroll & Graf is publishing Drumheller's book, "On the Brink: How the White House Has Compromised American Intelligence," written with Elaine Monaghan, on Sept. 28, according to the Amazon listing. The publisher's Web site lists the publication date as this winter.

Neither Drumheller nor a Carroll & Graf spokesperson responded to messages seeking comment.

So far, no media outlet has run the Senate committee's addendum demolishing Drumheller's claim that Bush and his White House did not want to hear the truth about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

The Day The Blog Died...

Apparently the blog was toast for a day or two. You could hit it, but it was blank. Fortunately all of the stuff was still there. I just had to go back in and re-publish everything. I am not sure why that happened. I've been way too busy, out of town, etc. to notice so thanks to one of my friends for letting me know about it.

Now, speaking of death.... it is one of the things I have the hardest time dealing with. Not death in general, of course, but thinking of my own death is particularly difficult. I literally cannot comprehend there being nothing. No consciousness, etc.

Some psychologist (atheists?) think that religion is a mechanism by which we cope with this. That being that we do have something to look forward to after death. I don't follow conventional religious beliefs, but I do believe that there is something after death. I guess maybe it's more of a hope than a belief. This would be more of an Agnostic viewpoint.

That being said, I may have to look into the whole Kiss Kasket up top there. They did a real nice job on it, and it doubles as a cooler. So you can stock it with beer and beverages to throw parties in. When you are done partying, they just stick you in it and it into the ground.

Bling's Request...

I was talking to Bling on the phone and he was asking when I was going to post some more stuff on the blog. He indicated that he needed ammunition so that he'd have something to dog me about.

Well, to be honest I just haven't felt much like writing lately. I had a long work week (even though it was a holiday week). I spent a lot of time in an airplane, in an airport, in a classroom, and getting stuff done for work. Many times that leaves me not wanting to do anything on the computer, much less take the time to write on the blog.

But a few notes:

when you have gas on an airplane, please go use the restroom and take care of it. I had to sit next to, or near someone, that had a terrible problem. They were the silent deadly ones. Every few minutes I almost gagged from the stench. I wanted to stand up and issue a general request to go do something about it.

The anniversary of 9/11..... I thought about it multiple times throughout the day. I just hope everyone else thought about it, too. I have a previous post that is a good reminder of what happened, just in case you have forgotten.

As for going home? I pretty much give up on guessing at a time-frame. I have some new information that leads me to believe that there is no good estimate of when I will able to go home. I just know I am going to be upset if they send me home right before ski season and I don't get any runs in.

So there you go, Bling. Have fun....

Chillin’ at 33,000 Feet

I’m flying….once again, as you could well imagine. I fly a lot. Often times, when I fly, I get the urge to write something but rarely pull out my laptop to do so. It’s huge. It’s got a 17” screen and pretty much dwarfs the seat tray and forces me into contortions in order to get anything done. It’s not pretty. I had to polish off my Jack and Coke so I could make room for “the beast.”

In any case, my mind drifts and I have a ton of thoughts, so here are some of those thoughts:

Chillin’ at 33,000 Feet - Working or Not Working

Any of you who have been following my blog realize that I spend quite a bit of time away from home. One of my friends recently pissed me off during an IM chat. I had to work late Thursday evening. Then I had to work late last night (Friday). I didn’t get home until 3:00am. I am now flying, to get back home. I also had an emergency teaching session come up so rather than get to chill at home and write a presentation that I have to give the following week, I am now flying on Wed., to PA to teach for a few days before flying back to Bozeman. Basically, the week is shot….I don’t get to spend it at home and I will only have about one or two days to work on my presentation as opposed to the entire week like I was supposed to have. Admittedly, I wasn’t in the best of moods. The last thing I wanted was for someone to tell me that it wasn’t “work” to be flying back home.

So I got to thinking….maybe it IS me. Maybe I am deranged (quite possible) and am one of the few people that believe that if you have to travel away from home to do stuff for work, I consider the travel to be work. I don’t fly for my health, or for fun. So what I thought I would do is two-fold:
1 – post the actual chat
2 – ask an opinion of my fellow readers.

So here is the chat:

*friend*: hi
fullstate: hey
*friend*: TGIF
*friend*: LOL
fullstate: yeah, well I still have to work tonight and tomorrow. so screw friday
*friend*: I thought you were flying out tomorrow AM?
*friend*: I know I am on percocet, but I can read your blog and that is what your schedule at one time said
fullstate: so you are another one of those that thinks that I am flying for fun and that it's not work?
*friend*: no
*friend*: did I say that?
*friend*: never said that
fullstate: X-(
fullstate: the implication of your statement is that I am flying and not working because I am flying.
fullstate: ???
fullstate: LOL
*friend*: not sure how you do both at the same time.
*friend*: but, whatever
*friend*: it is the weekend
fullstate: eh?
fullstate: come again?
*friend*: on company time still, yes
*friend*: but dont call it work when you are sitting on your ass on a plane drinking a bloody mary
fullstate: it's fucking work if I have to fly my ass off all over the place and burn personal time.
*friend*: I am not arguing with you
*friend*: I am not skyline
fullstate: yeah, but like I said, you obviously don't think that flying on personal time for work is work. I get you.
*friend*: I dont think it is the act of work. I think it is wrong and bites into your personal time, but I dont think it is physically demanding
*friend*: is that clear
*friend*: until you do it over and over and over and over and over
fullstate: and I don't do it over and over again?
*friend*: you have
fullstate: but it's not work.
fullstate: I get you.
fullstate: I gotta go.
Session Close (*friend*): Fri Sep 01 14:06:49 2006


Session Start (fullstate:*friend*): Fri Sep 01 14:07:33 2006
*friend*: knock it off
*friend*: brad, stop baiting me and being a jerk and putting words in my mouth. I have not disagreed with you about this. as typed above I support you in this.
*friend*: I understand your position on it
Session Close (*friend*): Fri Sep 01 14:09:02 2006


Session Start (fullstate:*friend*): Fri Sep 01 14:09:05 2006
*friend*: it is work for you
Session Close (*friend*): Fri Sep 01 14:09:10 2006

And there you have it. So was I completely off base or did it just seam like they were talking out of two sides of their mouth at the same time?

So now for the poll:

Am I smoking crack, and travelling for work is not really work?
	Yes - You are smoking crack. I don't consider travelling for work to be work.
	No - If you travel for work it should be considered work.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Chillin’ at 33,000 Feet - Politically Incorrect

Let’s face it….I am a white, middle-class, male in my 30’s. I am not rich, but I am not poor. My father’s side of the family is somewhat on the poor side. My mother’s side is somewhat on the middle-class side. Both my mother and my father went to college and worked hard to get where they are. Growing up, I had the benefit of loving parents that taught me the value of working for what I want, but also making sure that I had ample opportunity to excel.

I know a few rich folks (and I mean rich). I also know some quite poor folks. I know a lot of middle-class folk. I have some black friends, and some Hispanic friends. I had some other ethnically diverse friends growing up, but they have all gone away.

Most, and I mean all but maybe one or two, would be considered conservative and borderline right-wing.

I read about the bills that are potentially being passed that support giving licenses to illegal aliens, giving illegal aliens the right to vote, and socialized medicine. I see the press reporting about ½ of the news, and only that which supports the leftist majority stance that our government is beyond reproach and that Bush is the anti-Christ. The press has long sense abandoned any sense of neutrality.

But here is what I don’t understand. Most of the people I know have stopped listening to the major press. They don’t support socialist reform. They believe that we are doing the right thing by fighting the war on terrorism. They are fearful of what is happening inside of our own country. They would like to see a return to some semblance of sovereignty. In other words, they support fairly conservative points of view. That being that the United States should be a country with a unified people, an official language of English, a sense of morality, pride in our heritage and history, and a belief that if you are willing to work for it that you can achieve success.

So WHO is supporting the largely democratic leftist? I mean, if almost everyone I know doesn’t support it (and I am generalizing all the friends, relatives, clients and everyone else I have met across the country), there has to be someone support it or I would think that it wouldn’t continue to exist.

BTW – I do have to note, that I do know people who are not republicans, and do not support Bush. They are not what I would call the socialist left, either.

I hypothesize that because our country is so enamored with “reality” (i.e. read as non-reality) tv shows, entertainment and apathy that it has allowed the leftist, socialist agenda to take root. Ironically it is the entertainment industry that has the capitol, and the lunatics to support the machine.

I don’t know. I am truly stumped when I see these types of things and I can’t find anyone that supports them. Where does this come from?

Chillin’ at 33,000 Feet - Language Problems and Illegal Aliens

Just a quick note…. Like most of you, I have gotten tons of chain emails regarding illegal aliens taking over, socialist agendas providing them with rights (how does a non-citizen have rights in the first place?) and monies, fear of people being displaced due to not speaking Spanish, Chinese, or whatever. Let’s not forget that there are other illegal aliens besides Mexicans.

Some of the things that are sent are valid. Some are not. But people….WAKE UP. It’s great you take the time to stick your name on the list and forward it to me. I love it. I love to know what is going on. And yes, I want our country back.

But if you don’t actively get involved…If you don’t write your representatives….If you don’t support groups that support your ideas and beliefs….If you don’t VOTE…..then you are not going to make a difference by forwarding me another pro-American email.

And one last thing about all the emails I have been getting regarding something to do with having to speak Spanish. I respect and appreciate that you don’t think its right, or fair, or whatever. BUT, let’s get to the real issue and not the symptom: The U.S.A. does NOT have an official language. It doesn’t exist. It’s not in the constitution, nor any of our laws. Some states or local governments have instituted this, but it does not exist at the federal level. On the one hand I can understand where this has come from. On the other, I think it’s time that we made English the official language of the United States.

Even in Europe most of the countries have gotten together and agreed that English will be the universal language that you should know if you wish to communicate. Why, then, do we allow our own country to be divided by language which threatens our sovereignty?

Might it be that the left-winged juggernaut is desperately trying so hard to force diversity down our throats that they aren’t thinking about the long term consequences?

I agree with countries like England and Australia. You don’t like the way we do things here? You don’t like our culture and our language? You don’t like the system? Then perhaps you would be better off somewhere else. Either that or become a citizen and go through the due process to make things better for everyone.