so lemme get this straight...

mike "i know a lot more about arabian horses than i know about disaster recovery" brown resigns and that's supposed to appease the critics???...as if anyone with half a brain won't see through this scapegoat smokescreen???...i can see the scenario so sharply in my mind...

(in the oval office)
bush: well ya know there michael i've been taking a lot of heat from the public about this here katrina thing. with these confirmation hearings for my religio-fascist judges coming up, i can't be saddled, get it mikey..."saddled" (snicker snicker snicker) with this antelope around my neck...

brown: errr...that's albatross your holiness...

bush: antelope...albatross...they're both birds...you get my drift...

brown: (stares at bush with disdain)

bush: so we gotta have someone take the fall.

brown: and that "someone" would be me right???

bush: absotootyrootytutley (snicker snicker snicker). this whole katrina thing has really done a number on my approval rating and i gotta be able to govern ya know. i gotta install a puppet government in iraq...i gotta make sure the poor people stay poor...i gotta help hearken the age of the apocalypse...and i gotta invade venezuala so i can restart my oil drilling business...besides...i hear the canals there are wonderful.

brown: eeerrrrrr...that's venice your supreme rulingness.

bush: venice...venezuala...they're both in europe right...anyways...you're just gonna hafta take the bullet on this one miko-rama.

brown: and what am i supposed to do in the meantime?

bush: no worries browny boo...we got it all figerred out. first, we're gonna put you on the board of directors of haliburton. with the incentive package and the fact that they're gonna get 64% of the "rebuild new orleans" contracts, you'll be high on the jambalaya (snicker snicker snicker). then, i'm gonna talk to my boys over there at fox to get you a publishing deal so you can write a tell all expose on how it's all mayor nagin's fault. see???...so you can have your cake and bake it too...(snicker snicker snicker)...

brown: that's eat it el numero uno.

bush: whatever...

pleasant dreams...

what katrina tells us (if we're listening)

while the righties spin doctor and the lefties (according to the righties) play the blame game...i still think we're missing the point as far as our reaction to this horrible tragedy has been...first of all...the latest spin from the bush brigade has been that the local authorities were supposed to notify the administration that they were going to need help...WHO THE F#$@ CAME UP WITH THIS ACENINE REACTIVE POLICY?!?!?...if any state is in trouble the appropriate people should be mobilized immediately...what the hell our we paying taxes for if it isn't for federal assistance...did hawaii have to ask for help in order for the military to intervene after pearl harbor???...i know that that was an act of war and an attack on a military base...but this concept of states rights can only be taken so far...when my home state was struck by the loma prieta earthquake...i'd hate to think how much red tape we had to cut through in order for someone to start picking the cypress structure off all the crushed vehicles...moving on to the point i was eventually planning to make...the state of the poor in our country is unacceptable...conservatives tried to shift the blame to the people themselves by saying "they had plenty notice to get out of new orleans"...i can't think of a more uninformed suggestion...when people are living paycheck to paycheck (and in all likelihood welfare check to welfare check)..because the tragedy struck right before the first of the month...many of the poor affected didn't have 20 bucks for gas money assuming they HAVE a car...all in all the poor have become a forgotten and ignored people and this attitude is beyond comprehension in the "richest" country in the world...the other half of this miscalculated equation is if we are victims of another attack WE ARE SCREWED!!!...our response infrastructure is inadequate at best...it is beyond comprehension that the head of fema is deemed incapable to handle a specific type of emergency but still remains at his post...if i couldn't handle student emergencies i certainly wouldn't keep my job...we have just advertised to the entire world and "jihadists" that our administration cannot handle emergencies of any sort...i don't know how i'm able to sleep at night...pleasant dreams...

and now a word from our sponsor...

if you have a couple of seconds...or hours...visit the spartacusunderstood site located under my links...written by a gentleman named david jenkins...his mix of political commentary and cynical humor is some of the best i've read on blogspot so far...well worth a visit...pleasant dreams...

i'm famous...well kind of...

as i mentioned in my very first blog...i'm in the process of finishing up my master's degree at san jose state university...in my graduate seminar on argumentation and debate we had to write papers focusing on various areas of debate...considering my area of focus revolves around politics...i did mine on the 2004 debates between bush and kerry...i did a content analysis of the debates in order to determine if the material focused more on personality traits or issues...what i concluded was that the debates still swayed toward policies...but the information was given in very broad generalizations as opposed to well organized plans...i have an issue with saying that debates primarily give viewers policy information when all they get is "we will work to keep america strong"...as a result...i'm presenting my paper as part of a "young" (i laugh at this because i'm 37) scholars panel...i was going to put the link to the nca conference website here but apparently that doesn't work...so you'll just have to take my word for it or show up in boston nov 17-20...oh yeah...and i've recently added some interesting blogs that i've found...enjoy...pleasant dreams...

and now a word about blogs...

being relatively new to this whole blog phenom...i decided to take a virtual stroll through the blogspot neighborhood...a couple of nitpicky gripes...if you are going to use your own html code to tweak the templates...please pick up a couple books on design...as someone who has been employed in the design field for over a decade and choose to use the premade templates because for me it's about the message...i'm appalled at some of the horrid design decisions...crowded pages...type that doesn't contrast colorwise enough with the background...scrolling menus all over the place...do me a favor and look up gestalt theory...thanks...in terms of content a couple of things...first of all...pick up a friggin dictionary...i know most of the people have grown up with spellcheck but it doesn't catch everything...learn how to spell...and what's with the pseudo hacker language???...i know spelling it "teh" is cute and all...but if you were a real hacker you wouldn't be on blogspot...what's the deal with the internet marketers and the football odds blogs...sheesh...and another thing...i was certainly shocked to see how many "god fearing" people have blogs...seeing as the latest in religio talk has revolved around "intelligent design" as if these religio kooks would know intelligence when it kicked them in the face...i figured i'd post this...pleasant dreams...

post labor day confusion

nothing like a three-day weekend to completely screw over your biological clock...i keep thinking it's monday today...spent the long weekend at dan's folk's cabin in bear valley...chopped some wood...went canoeing...played tons of 500 (the official card game of australia and the cabin) and 1-4-24 (a bar dice game that we all learned thanks to crazy e's girlfriend erinn)...ate tons of great food (cooked by other people...krissy and i are usually on dish duty)...watched aki (our shiba inu) run around like a whirling dervish while off leash...overall it was a great weekend...in other news...was saddened by the news that renquist passed away this weekend...YIKES!!!...that gives bush one more anti-abortion...racist...pro war...pro business...religionazi pricks to put on the bench...WE'RE FUCKED!!!...time to buy that ticket to madrid...and on the homefront...we finally got an offer on our house...5 grand less than we were asking (the bubble is starting to dissipate)...but it was well within where we wanted to be with the new house ...speaking of the new house...as it turns out it's going to be ready nearly a month before they projected...october 3rd...sadly...our new couch won't be ready till the beginning of november...we seem to have issues with timing our couches with our home purchases as this happened last time also...at least we won't have to slum it at friend's houses for a month...pleasant dreams...

wow...i actually got a comment from someone other than a spammer...unfortunately...the nice person didn't leave me their own blog address...

get offa my s#$%!!!

so i noticed that i had a comment on my last post and figured it was probably krissay...cuz i'm sure no one else gives a crap about my useless meanderings...lo and behold it was some internet marketing scam...STAY THE FUCK OFF MY BLOG YOU USELESS CORPORATE PIECES OF SHIT!!!

figure it the f@%$ out

i've been completely inundated with the news coming from the southland...i was listening to the ed schultz show on air america and he was talking about how the governors from each state should be telling bush how many refugees they can handle and let the people of those states take them into their homes...it's a noble idea and a logistical nightmare...but someone has to step in and do something about the devastation in that area...of course bush isn't helping much..."it's going to be hard work" and "help is on the way" are not things people in desparate situations need to hear...they need to SEE action and immediately...i'm not entirely sure bush is even human...there isn't an ounce of empathy in that man's black soul...and...ironically...didn't he campaign as a COMPASSIONATE conservative???...i watched videos on cnn about a man who was stuck on his roof trying to hold on to his wife by the wrist then the house split in half and she knew he couldn't hang onto her anymore and her last words were "take care of the kids and grandkids" as she got sucked into the storm...wow...what a complete mindfuck...he's going to go to bed with that image emblazoned into the back of his eyelids for the rest of his days...i read stories of people dying right outside the convention center...i can't even imagine the horror and i've been through some pretty terrible areas in latin america...then...the governor of biloxi says that "this is our tsunami"...this may sound callous but give me a break...the tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a million people and virtually wiped out two complete countries...i think he was overstating it a bit...in happier news...it's almost labor day and me and the gang are going up to dan's family's cabin in bear valley...i'm in such desperate need of r & r right now...pleasant dreams...

crap like this makes me crazy!!!

so i was keeping up with corporate news on cnn.com this morning and came across this article ...these religio-nazis NEED to get the HELL out of politics...first of all...how does pat robertson get away with calling for a political assassination and not get any reprimand other than the white house disavowing themselves of the comments...god forbid bush does anything to piss off the religious wrong...second of all...isn't the basic tenet of democracy built on people's right to choose their own religion and political system???...doesn't chavez have the right to say that he believes socialism is the best form of government???...doesn't chavez have the right to say that he is against the imperialistic nature of the u.s. (which is absolutely correct)???...i just don't get it...the silver spoon fed politicos that run this country and do so supposedly based on the laws outlined in the constitution...don't even follow those principles...until venezuala attacks the u.s. they have every right to say what they will about our country...as if we are beyond reproach from anyone...just because they have an increasing muslim population and ties to cuba doesn't give us the right to threaten them...and i know it wasn't bush actually saying it but you know in closed quarters he's snickering along with robertson...also...there was a mention in a related article how reagan had disolved the u.s.'s ability to assassinate political leaders...as if none of those happened on his watch...give me a break...pleasant dreams...

it's been a while

i've only been blogging for a couple of weeks and i'm already behind...seeing as i'm sitting in my home office...in the dark...killing time before going to see my buddy's band security ... i figured i should post something and quit being so lazy...we finally got the house ready to be put on sale...here's the listing ...needless to say those past couple of weeks were completely maniacal and i owe my bro dan so much for making it all come together in such a short period of time...now krissy and i just have to wait until someone makes us an offer...luckily...the new place won't be finished until the end of october so we have some time...but we still don't want our house to just sit here without generating any kind of interest...other than that...work was kind of crazy this week...all of the big wigs were at our corporate offices in chicago which basically meant that the marketing director and myself were in charge...i got a few things i needed to accomplish done...but not as much as i had hoped for...oh well...it'll have to wait until monday...until next time...pleasant dreams...

weekend workout

so i'm sitting here with our living room in complete dissaray wallowing in sweat...not the healthy accomplished feel good about yourself sweat of a hard workout...but the sticky cloying need to scrub yourself with a pumice bar kind of sweat from doing home renovation...today's task...new baseboards in the master bedroom and new closet doors in all rooms...of course...as with all things in this house...one of the closets in the master bedroom was 2 inches wider than a standard closet...considering we only have this weekend to get the place ready to sell...no time for custom jobbers so we wing it...as always i had to enlist the services of my best friend dan...he's kinda like macgyver but without the 80's feathered hair...i can't thank him enough when it comes to his building skills...lucky for him we're moving into a brand new house so we won't be rendering his services again anytime soon...which is good for me because i SUCK at those kinds of things...when most young boys are learning these skills from their fathers...i was afraid to try to help my dad...not that he was abusive or anything like that...let's just say he was a bit of a perfectionist...an example...a week before christmas...my parents would let my sister and i decorate the tree...it wasn't a real tree...my parents didn't like dealing with the mess of pine needles (and i wonder where i get my bah humbug attitude from)...my sister and i would decorate the tree and go to sleep that evening...we would wake up the following morning and by some christmas miracle the tree had gone through a magical metamorphosis...you see my dad was a test analyst for lockheed so he had a very analytical mind...his idea of tree decoration involved the appropriate distribution of trinkets and baubles...of course you couldn't have large ornaments on the outer branches because they weighed them down...those had to go toward the inside...and you couldn't have two of the same color next to each other...and you couldn't have two of the same shape next to each other...and so on and so on...he was this way with many things and...as a result...i have a handful of thumbs when it comes to anything requiring tools...i'm a whiz with a broom though...pleasant dreams...

late blog bloomer

so it seems i've inherited my parents' gift for being the last person on the block to try anything new...as a kid we were always the last to buy all the new fangled toys...microwave...vcr...video game system...most of my friends have blogs so i figured "hey...mebbe this blog thing isn't a passing fad after all"...being the first entry and all...it might be a good time to give everyone a quick rundown...

i'm closer to 40 than to thirty...this is a frightening thought in and of itself...when my parents were my age my sister was 15 and i was 12...holy crap!!!...luckily i don't look my age...most people think i'm in my mid to late twenties...i've only recently stopped getting carded for alcohol...lmao...i'm the graphic design department chair for a design college here in silicon(e) valley...it's one of those jobs that's a mixture of love and hate...i love working with the students and witnessing that moment when they finally "get it"...but on the flipside i despise having to deal with the corporate beauracracy (it's a "for profit" school)...i'm getting married on may 14th of next year...refer back to the "last person on the block" passage...we're in the process of selling our current home to move to a bigger one so we've been spending the past few weeks "renovating"...

on the hobbies front...i don't have a whole lot of free time for hobbies...i'm finishing up my master's degree at san jose state university majoring in political communication...one of those "what are you going to do with THAT" degrees that is only attainable through some sort of liberal arts program...when i do have free time i love to travel...i've spent quite a bit of time in latin america...and spent a few weeks in europe...other than that i'm fairly happy just hanging out with friends...

anyways...i guess that was enough to get the ball rolling...til next time...pleasant dreams...