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Today's Fortune: |
   
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Saturday, May 18, 2002
I just got my first jury summons in the mail the other day. I hope I get something fun and Enron related, and not some lame worker's comp case. Maybe I'll get a capital murder trial. Houston is the capital punishment capital of the US. I guess that makes us the capital punishment capital of the entire western democratic world. Gives me goosebumps. I'll probably get struck early from some civil neglegence case, though.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/18/2002
Andy, coming from such a nice family, never seemed to understand how I could get as upset as I sometimes do with my mother.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/18/2002
Friday, May 17, 2002
I've been too busy or tired to post for a few days, now. We've started our summer work schedule, and I moved to first shift. The last two days have been ten hours, as will the weekend and Monday, and possibly through next week and weekend. I'm not complaining about the work--it's not building barns or loading hay or anything like that. I would like to complain about the money, though. I tried to convince my boss to let me work until 9 today. If I can break 60 hours for the week, I should get double time, if the University bookkeepers don't find a way to screw me out of it. And they'll try.
Jeremy, you should move to North Carolina. I hunt squirrels and rabbits right here in my neighborhood. It's kind of wasteful, I guess. Two or three rounds of buckshot doesn't leave much squirrel. But it's fun for me and the dogs to run around shooting at stuff, and the neighbors don't seem to mind. In fact, I hardly ever see the neighbors at all. They stay indoors most of the time. Not very sociable, if you ask me.
Devin, have you considered selling a kidney? They used to bring a good price on eBay. You might still be able to sell organs on Amazon Auctions or Yahoo Auctions. As for myself, I've been picking up change the students leave behind when they move out. Why, today I collected more than fifteen cents in pennies alone. Don't tell anyone, though. Anything left in the dorms by the students officially becomes state garbage, and must be thrown away. Were a state employee to pick anything up from the ground or a dumpster, he would be fired for theft. In other words, if I see an 80 pound gold ingot go into the dumpster, I better just wipe the tears from my eyes and get back to work.
I guess the reality of the situation is that if we find any 80 pound gold ingots, there's going to be a quick and bloody fight to see who gets to lose his job first.
.: posted by andy 5/17/2002
Anybody have any idea how to make 10K fast? I want to move to NY pretty much as soon as possible. With my current employment at Peterbilt, it'll take a long time. I was thinking about getting a second job, but I don't know what I could do and still be able to work 4-midnight. Also, any job leads in NYC would be good.
As for you, Jeremy, I say Alaska. No one around to annoy you, wide open spaces for your nerves, and all kinds of furry woodland animals to slaghter.
.: posted by Grand Inquisitor Fnord Moco 5/17/2002
Thursday, May 16, 2002
My dog was driving my mom crazy at the house. So I decided to bring him over to my apartment for a while. I kept him in his kennel during the day, and I would come home during lunch to walk him. I had him for about a week, but I decided to take him back. I felt bad. I was thinking, how would I feel if I was forced to sit inside a box that was barely big enough for me, for 8 hours a day. It seemed pretty inhumane, so I took him back tonight. We have a nice, big backyard for him to chase squirrels around in.
I'm still thinking about where to move, by the way. I'd like someplace where I could hunt without driving too far.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/16/2002
That last post has been on top for 3 days now. I feel so naked.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/16/2002
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
CBS news decides to air part of the Daniel Pearl murder tape. It's an edited version of the tape everybody already knows about but haven't seen. It supposedly shows brave islamic heroes cutting the head off of the dangerous zionist assasin. Then in a stroke of propagandist genius, it ties the execution to the palestinian cause. Am I wrong in thinking that this kind of stuff is the reason why most americans wouldn't give a rats ass if Sharon lined up every palestinian and force-marched them into the sea?
Of course, I could be wrong. Daniel Pearl could have been kidnapped by the CIA or Moussad as part of a campaign to turn western public opinion in favor of a war to conquer all the holy sites.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/14/2002
We may win this War on Drugs, yet. I'll bet this did serious damage to the Colombian drug cartels. REALLY serious damage. I predict that the drug problem in America will be solved by Spring, 2003.
.: posted by andy 5/14/2002
My passport says that my citizenship can be revoked if I join a foreign army, period. This really dissapointed me since I waited to read it until I got to france and pulled it out to have it stamped for the first time. I think the Resistance was relieved, though.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/14/2002
The United States will end its embargo on Cuba as soon as Cuba shows progress toward democratic elections and human rights improvements. Yeah, we're big fans of democracy here in the US--just ask Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. I'll bet President Bush leaned real hard on him to hold some elections. Maybe Bush said something like, "Abdullah, right now we only buy 10% of our nation's oil from your country, and we won't buy a gallon more until you hold democratic elections in your Kingdom."
As for human rights abuses, we only recently regained our seat on the UN Human Rights Council (apparently not newsworthy, according to the good folks at CNN). You ought to ask any number of deported Muslims how they feel about the United States' human rights record. I wouldn't say the INS's reaction to Sept. 11 rivals the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, but it's definitely up there. And if you think the United States doesn't have political prisoners, you've got another thing coming. The State Department says it's ok for you to serve in a foreign army, but if that army is conducting hostilities against the United States, you may lose your citizenship. It doesn't mention the death penalty or treason.
Jimmy Cahtah says that when the State Department briefed him before his trip to Cuba, they admitted that they don't have any evidence Cuba is developing bio-warfare technology, much less sharing it with other nations. This was after President Bush publicly alleged that they were.
.: posted by andy 5/14/2002
Tiny bundles of matter may be slamming through the earth at the rate of 1 per year. Wouldn't it suck if one of these passed through the ISS or a shuttle?
We should pool our resources and buy this hovercraft.
Theories about the Venezuelan coup are getting stupider. Now they're saying that the coup is related to Iraq's failed oil embargo on the US. Apparently Iraq teamed up with Libya to get OPEC to embargo the US. OPEC called Chavez to warn him that the US would launch a coup to secure its oil supply. Why and how OPEC would know about a potential coup is beyond me. So anyway, Chavez hid soldiers underneath Miraflores, and as soon as Carmona entered the presidential palace, he was sort of taken hostage.
That's a retarded theory. The coup collapsed not because Chavez is tricky, but because Carmona way overreached within a few hours of taking office. That article makes it sound as if Carmona was under virtual house arrest from the moment he took office. The fact of the matter is that he had enough freedom to try and dissolve the parliament or congress or whatever they call it, and sack all the supreme court judges. When he did that, he lost the support of his military backers, which meant that for all intents and purposes, Carmona at this point had no useful supporters in all of Venezuela. Then what's-his-face replaced Carmona, but said his only goal was to get Chavez back into power. Whether or not there were loyalist soldiers hidden in the presidential palace is hardly relevant.
As for allegations of American involvement in the coup, I think the US was aware that it was likely to happen, but I don't think we helped plan it or lent logistical or material support. The two American military guys everyone always talks about were most likely sent to find out what was going on. It's not as if the US denies they were there or anything. Ask anyone in the Bush administration, and they'll tell you those guys were sent to try and find out what was up. I believe that. There's also documented evidence that the US met with many of the plotters, including Carmona, before the coup. I'll bet that our government's line on the whole thing was, "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do." They really didn't need any American help, anyway. There were plenty of financiers in Venezuela, and the military was involved, so they didn't need a secret army or anything.
I really hate the whole thing. 80% of Venezuelans live below the poverty line, and more than 40% are malnourished. They elect someone that they feel will look after their interests, and it really appears that he's making moves to level the playing field. The middle and upper classes of Venezuela see their comfortable or even opulent lifestyles threatened, and they try to overthrow the government. The US, our country, immediately endorses the revolution, saying it's the inevitable result of Chavez's left-wing regime. Then the new president, US-endorsed by association with the overthrow of Chavez, annuls the Venezuelan Constitution, dissolves Congress and the Supreme Court, and repeals a bunch of laws unfriendly to big business. It is not a good thing that US endorsed this coup. It makes it clear to the world that Americans do not care about the people of the world; we only care about their money.
When I graduated from high school, I was a staunch libertarian. I guess I'm a Populist, now.
.: posted by andy 5/14/2002
Monday, May 13, 2002
You guys must think I'm kidding. So far only Andy has suggested that I move to North Dixie. That leaves at least 3 of you, maybe 4, that still need to recommend that I move somewhere near you(since you all want me near you). That means I still need to be pressured to move to North Texas, Ehime, Japan, and Southern France. As much as I hate the french, I hope Julien wins. France is so nice. It's like the french landscape is there in spite of the french.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/13/2002
Good stuff. The Army's commandos do a demonstration for "VIPs". What a waste of money. I think it's not a bad idea to have some conventional soldiers somewhere, too. They're having huge retention problems in the military right now. Maybe it's time we did something to make the regular soldiers feel special, too. Fancy hats are probably not going to solve the problem.
.: posted by andy 5/13/2002
drkoop.com's email list was also purchased by Bargain America. Hey, as long as we're at it, the Drug Checker is down again. Can someone please restart services on that machine?
It makes me sad that all the countless hours of work I did on the drkoop.com Privacy Policy (now a mangled piece of crap), ultimately amount to jack squat. Not that I expected anything else.
.: posted by andy 5/13/2002
Dr. Drew's email list was purchased by Bargain America. All members of Drdrew.com have until May 15 to unsubsribe or their email address will be transfered, which pretty much guarantees loads of spam. The unsubscribe page is broken though. I blame Greg Chakmakian.
.: posted by Grand Inquisitor Fnord Moco 5/13/2002
Some French girl just called to say that the light is out over her shower, and she's having to take showers in the dark. I told her I'd send someone over to hold a flashlight for her. I think that really brightened her day.
.: posted by andy 5/13/2002
Antigravity devices. Is this real, or is this one of those pseudo-science parlor tricks?
I just got an email saying that UNOCAL is back in talks with Karzai for the construction of the pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan. I can't find a fresh link to save my life, although Google will tell you that it's not any kind of secret. It just isn't big in American news. Why not?
.: posted by andy 5/13/2002
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Here's a job for all you imaginary people who read or post to this site: tell me where I should move to. My only requirements are that it can't be within 100 miles of Houston, and I need to be able to find a job there that sort of relates to what I do. My apartment lease is up at the end of the month, so hop to it.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/12/2002
Google
DrinkBoy
Modern Drunkard
DMOZ.org
The Agonist
Metafilter.com
Fark.com
RobotWisdom.com
Memepool.com
Plastic.com
news.google.com