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Today's Fortune: |
   
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Saturday, May 24, 2003
.: posted by Jeremy 5/24/2003
Friday, May 23, 2003
Being single and not dating isn't so bad when you're employed. Lack of sex can be ignored by wasting lots of money on electronic toys, listening to music, watching dvds, washing your car, and internet porn. Being unemployed and single has brought about a new sense of urgency to the need to date and make new friends, however. So here I am, I've been back in houston for over 2 years, and I'm not really sure what to do. I've got to come up with some passable ideas for date-type activities. So far I've got: pool, ice cream, bring a six pack and some dvds to her apartment, and that's about it. Girls are big on dancing. I'm not really sure why. It seems like if I could dance, or at least thought I could dance, there would be a sure-fire dating activity right there. Unfortunately, the only time I think I can dance is after about 4 drinks, but that usually comes with a lot more problems that would more than offset the fact that I was able to take a girl dancing. For example, I might start accidentally making out with some other girl at the club. It's also hard for me to maintain a conversation when I'm at the point where I can stand the idea of myself dancing. I guess that's not so important, though. Anyway, a date that involved dancing would most likely not end well for me. I thought that in this culture of gender equality, I could count on a girl to take up my slack when I can't come up with any good ideas, but apparently the girls don't want the responsibility that comes along with equality, just the benifits. Goddamn 19th amendment.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/23/2003
The Intelligence Community will be conducting a review of it's gathering and analysis capabilities in relation to Iraq. This article discusses those capabilities, and the rift between the Pentagon and CIA.
.: posted by andy 5/23/2003
A Hellfire missile across the bow of a boat full of Haitian refuges would be a great deterrent...
.: posted by Grand Inquisitor Fnord Moco 5/23/2003
Thursday, May 22, 2003
No-Contact Jackets shock the hell out of anyone who grabs the wearer. They're marketing these to women, but they should also consider the penal system. Fewer prison guards would be taken hostage by prisoners if they were wearing these jackets.
.: posted by andy 5/22/2003
Funny redneck quote overheard in the break room: "Hey, you got something I can shave my dog's ass with?"
.: posted by andy 5/22/2003
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
So, I went to Seattle last weekend. I was rather surprised by the town. First, I was expecting cool and rainy, but it was 38 degrees when I walked off the plane at 3AM Friday morning, and sunny the entire time I was there. Austin had just gotten an apartment and didn't have the gas turned on yet, and to top it off, he had to work a 24 hour shift Friday, so I was stranded in his freezing apartment until Saturday morning. He does however have a brand new computer and high speed internet, so I was entertained.
Second, Seattle has no public transportation, or none worth mentioning. And hours of driving to get anywhere. It's supposed to be a small big town, but I don't think we went anywhere by car in less than an hour and a half.
Space Needle was really small. EMP sucked. First, it's $20 to go in. It's small, and most of the content is audio clips in a clunky wireless thing you carry around. The problem with audio content is that I read about 6 times as fast as most narrators speak, and it keep it lively, the clips are fairly short. Who goes to a museum for sound bites? I liked the statue of Lenin they bought from the Soviet Union. I drank a beer at the Blue Moon. Okay, three actually. Then, at 1 AM, I went to a sushi restaurant. They were on a limited menu, but it was very good, and very cheap.
We tried to go to the USS Lincoln, but we got there a little late, and with heightened security measures we were only going to have like 20 minutes on the ship. An interesting note, according to Austin; Saturday morning when he got off, everything was normal. Saturday evening, when we went to see the ship, there was a machine gun nest set up at the front gate to the base.
The airplane rides were interesting. I was on America West, and overheard many people say that they'd never fly America West again. It didn't seem that bad to me. The flight out of Dallas was an hour late, and pretty full, but I got onto the exit row, so I had added leg room, and only one person next to me. He turned out to be Gregory McKenna, the head of the school of chemical engineering at Texas Tech. He was going to Utah to attend a dinner honoring one of his old professors on his 74th birthday. I also learned more about the glass transition in polymers than any of you would every want to know. Now I'm looking for a good book on the subject...
Enough typing. I'm tired. More about my crazy adventures later. Coming up next episode: How to lose a dollar at the slots in the Las Vegas airport!
Oh, and go see Down with Love. Hilarious. Matrix 2 was as expected.
.: posted by Grand Inquisitor Fnord Moco 5/21/2003
Concrete Bombs. Neat.
.: posted by andy 5/21/2003
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Warren Buffett on G. W. Bush's income tax cuts. Chuck Grassley says Buffett "doesn't understand" and Steve Forbes says Buffet is motivated by "guilt," but I think Buffett understands perfectly the real intent of the tax cut, and is motivated by conscience, not guilt.
To Grassley I say, "If you're so eager to help the middle class, why not do it directly? As it is, any help the middle class gets is incidental to the massive savings of the top 10%."
And to Steve Forbes I say, "If the only major problem you see with dividend taxes is that earnings are being taxed twice, why not cut out the tax the corporation pays on dividends, allowing the corporation to retain that money as capital for expansion or new jobs."
Seriously, I think everyone knows that these tax cuts will only serve to line the pockets of the upper crust. It won't create new jobs, because it's going into the hands of individuals, and it won't be spent on consumer goods, because most American millionaires are presumably already buying all the consumer goods they need. I wonder how many millions the Bush family stands to gain on these tax cuts. And I wonder how much they'll kick back into the economy in any kind of useful way.
.: posted by andy 5/20/2003
Monday, May 19, 2003
The FBI's investigation of Steven Hatfill has finally yeilded some results. For his next trick, John Ashcroft is going to personally egg and TP Hatfill's home.
.: posted by Jeremy 5/19/2003
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