<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684</id><updated>2011-11-12T11:38:14.168-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Reason Ranch</title><subtitle type='html'>Ropin' logic and ridin' it true!</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>45</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-5002710536787703873</id><published>2007-09-10T12:47:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-10T13:08:33.188-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Time Rolls On, and With it Change</title><content type='html'>Good afternoon everyone.  Let me start by saying the state of the ranch is fine, save for slight neglect.  T-Rex, Princess P-Chop and the wife are good.  We spent the weekend at Lake &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Camanche&lt;/span&gt;, CA on a rental pontoon boat.  The weekend before that, we visited the Avenue of the Giants, walking around and staring at trees taller than football fields are long, standing when Christ walked the Earth.  The place is amazing and humbling. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I started my MS in Project &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Management&lt;/span&gt; at &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;USF&lt;/span&gt; last week.  I go every Wednesday from 6 to 10 at night.  I still need to get my homework done (reading 6 or so chapters and writing a 3-4 page essay), but that will be no problem. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do not think I mentioned this, but the site I work at is on a military installation, and due to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;BRAC&lt;/span&gt;, it will be closing 3-4 years from now.  I &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;wanted&lt;/span&gt; to capitalize on education benefits over the next few years to really sharpen my skills and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;resume&lt;/span&gt;.  &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;Ideally&lt;/span&gt;, I would like &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;to&lt;/span&gt; stay with my present employer and have them move me to another site to work.  I just need to continue to do a good job and get my &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;resume&lt;/span&gt; to the point where I am attractive in many situations.  I have a good reputation with them, so I think I'm on the right track. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I also have about 100 folks working for me at the site, and I am trying to motivate them to do the same; ready themselves for opportunities in the future.  It is hard to get folks to do these things.  Change is a tough thing to ready people for, to get them to realize the only constant is change, paraphrasing Heraclitus.  I have so many great folks that could really open up doors if they would just spend the next 2 years getting that degree done, that cert completed, etc.  For some, it is fear.  They're afraid to go back to school and fail.  For some it is &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;conceit&lt;/span&gt;.  They don't believe they need the degree...they're just fine and a degree is nothing more than paperwork.  Our company even gives e&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"&gt;mployees &lt;/span&gt;money to pay for the training!  Ugh....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I hope by the end of my 3 years I will:&lt;br /&gt;-Get my MS in Project Management at &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"&gt;USF&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Get my &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"&gt;PMP&lt;/span&gt; Certification&lt;br /&gt;-Get multiple &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"&gt;ITIL&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"&gt;Practitioner&lt;/span&gt; Certs, maybe the big IT Service Mgr Cert (tough one to get!)&lt;br /&gt;-Get my Security+ Cert, maybe my &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"&gt;CISM&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think that's a healthy set of professional goals for now. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What else should I look for to continue in my IT/Telecommunications Manager career?  If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to holler!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-5002710536787703873?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/5002710536787703873/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=5002710536787703873' title='43 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/5002710536787703873'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/5002710536787703873'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2007/09/time-rolls-on-and-with-it-change.html' title='Time Rolls On, and With it Change'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>43</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-3052852234350883315</id><published>2007-04-25T22:25:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-04-25T22:29:29.402-07:00</updated><title type='text'>An Old Hand Returns to the Ranch</title><content type='html'>Immersed in study and self-actualization, your intrepid logic hand has not entered anything relevant to this blog-spot for many moons.  I thought it best to simply abandon these 40 acres of reason ranch; let the weeds grow, the ponies run free and the fences fall.  Who is reading, anyway?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, I will update on my status now although I think no one is watching.  This is more for me than you anyway.  Perhaps Howard Roark is rubbing off on me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thomassaurus Rex had a swollen lymph node that scared us.  The doctors would not rule out the “C” word, specifically leukemia, until they removed the gland and let Stanford Hospital do a biopsy.  They removed it and he was released, and then his wound became infected, he had a fever and the wound swelled up to the size of a tennis ball.  This looked significantly scary on a 3-year-old boy’s neck.  After a week, they released him to come home again, and the wound eventually healed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fanning the flames of rebellion, Princess Pork Chop has fought her parents tooth and nail regarding cleaning her room, doing her homework, completing her chores, brushing her hair…you name it!  Confrontation leads to nothing more than denials of fault or control over her own responsibilities.  Sending her to “time out” in her room only results in muttering of “Attica” under her breath, and Barbie-doll legs being sharpened into shanks “to stick it to the man” when he is not looking. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Buzz Lightyear is full-grown and very hairy.  Someone told me that dogs see their human family as a pack, as they would see their own families of dogs.  Buzz sees himself somewhere above both T-Rex and Princess PC in our family “pack”.  He herds T-Rex, nipping him gently on the ankles and heels when they are on a run.  He also puts up a fight with Princess PC, who acts a little too wimpy with Buzz for a 10 year-old girl. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mrs. Ruslfish has started her Graduate program in Project Management at U San Fran.  She is eating it up, but also far too nervous about her writing skills and ability to grasp course content.  This is same strong, intelligent woman who received all A and A-s except for one B in her undergraduate program.  I need to be nicer to her about this silly fear, but it just seams ridiculous at times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I completed all my classes for my Organizational Behavior undergrad degree at USF.  I still need to complete three general credits and then I graduate.  Graduating from USF will also enable me to return to Foothill College and get my AA in Philosophy.  Foothill allows a student to forego the math requirement if the student already has an undergrad degree.  I tried to CLEP out the three units on Saturday, and totaling failed!  I could not get a 50% on a College Algebra exam.  Sure, I am more an English/history/philosophy type, but for crying out loud!  College Algebra is logic!  So, I have to hit the books again and find 3 general units I can complete.  I am banking on Management Principles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Work moves on.  I have been making many trips to CO Springs and FL for a proposal called NSOM, which will be the follow on contract for my present contract.  I am a defense contractor and a program manager working in telecommunications for the US Air Force.  My type of work involves 5 year spurts of employment, followed by re-competing the work and hoping your company makes the best business case to the government so they retain your company.  I feel confident in our abilities on this one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have nothing to say about Imus, VA Tech, or anything that has been going on recently.  I have been reading Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, but do not spend enough time reading it as I should.  I will remedy that tonight.  Cool book so far, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ll have something more witty and thought provoking later this week.  Or not.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-3052852234350883315?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/3052852234350883315/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=3052852234350883315' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/3052852234350883315'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/3052852234350883315'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2007/04/old-hand-returns-to-ranch.html' title='An Old Hand Returns to the Ranch'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-115108814764966504</id><published>2006-06-23T11:02:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-06-23T11:42:27.700-07:00</updated><title type='text'>O’Reilly vs. Coulter...the chick wins</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;I am almost done with &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Godless&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, Ann Coulter’s latest sharp satire with the thesis that liberalism is a godless religion.  It is a good thesis with a lot of supporting facts and ideas that Coulter slaps down on the table like my daughter slaps down mean Uno cards.  “Ha!  Draw Four!” I can “feel” Coulter’s sense of intellectual victory in each point she makes.  This lady just loves her work.  The book shows it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Argue against her points if you can, but I cannot. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She Argues that Liberals:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Incorrectly believe everyone can be rehabilitated and too often opt for prisoner paroles&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Believe in abortion and do not want to face the logic or science against it, instead labeling all opposition bible thumpers&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Put up victims in front of them to make their ridiculous liberal points and then cry foul when you challenge the point, claiming you are attacking the victim&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Only use scientific information when it benefits their argument and ignore it when it does not, treating scientific data and tabulations as relative information to apply only when it benefits their cause&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Deeply “believe” in the theory Evolution when it fails every scientific test, and then hypocritically brand those who believe in the theory of Intelligent Design and backwards&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anyone attracted to her dry dark humor can also appreciate the well-researched facts she brings to the argument. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, to be in the argument, people need to know you are arguing, or you are just alone in the room talking to yourself, as Bill O’Reilly often does.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out this recent column from Factor-Man.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/oreilly061906.asp"&gt;http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/oreilly061906.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If Ann Coulter did not shake people into paying attention by using hard-hitting satire, no one would listen.  I love how Bill writes that he has made the same points all along, even on the Letterman show.  Really?  I do not remember what he said being a big subject of conversation around my water cooler, or on TV (except for his show), or in the papers or anywhere else.  How wonderful that you were able to make your points in a polite manner, Bill.  I’ll hug the other 3-4 people who got your point later today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile, as Bill lifts up his pinky-finger while sipping tea, Coulter roles up her sleeves and jumps into the pit, fighting to be heard and succeeding.  Now she looks like the bad person to some, but how many times will the liberals try to use the victim shield for their ridiculous logic and succeed?  SHE DID IT, and Bill failed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;O’Reilly’s argument is stupid.  I have a better analogy.  Let’s say Bill O’Reilly figured out the cure for cancer, and politely told everyone he did, but those who prefered their treatment for cancer diminished and ignored him.  Coulter figured out the same cure for cancer, but jumped into people’s laps on TV shows, called anyone who attempted to argue with her "retarded", made sure her cure was accessible for popular review and even insulted the alternative treatment’s crowd?  Well, people would think she was a kook, and then would use her cancer cure and survive. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She is a true believer.  True believers are not polite and sacrifice their time, treasure, reputations, and sometimes blood to ensure what is right happens.  She is a crusader, with both its positive and negative ramifications. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This guy agrees.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20060626_129699_129699#continue"&gt;http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20060626_129699_129699#continue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;O’Reilly is slowly becoming what he fought against early on.  Truth outweighs civility.  Getting out the truth will not wait for the civil.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-115108814764966504?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/115108814764966504/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=115108814764966504' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/115108814764966504'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/115108814764966504'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/06/oreilly-vs-coulterthe-chick-wins.html' title='O’Reilly vs. Coulter...the chick wins'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-114720124104635213</id><published>2006-05-09T11:57:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2006-05-09T12:00:41.070-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Super-Size Me or Proselytize Me:  Free Will v. Mob Will</title><content type='html'>There is a certain grace inherent in my parent’s faith.  They are Catholic and attend church every week, revere the holy days, believe in the virgin birth and the resurrection of Christ.  They believe to follow Catholicism; one must adhere to papal edicts.  They hope my family (wife, 2 kids and me) will take Catholicism as our own religion too.  They will not disown us if we do not follow their faith.  They do not browbeat my family or me into going to church.  They are pleased when we attend on our visits to see them.  They would NEVER vote for a government that would force a religion on their populace…or at least they would not vote one in knowingly. &lt;br /&gt;            But all this would be expected, right?  In America, with Catholicism, they do not proselytize people; force them to praise God the way the majority or the powerful dictate…or do they?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The definition of proselytize is to&lt;br /&gt;1.  Induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith&lt;br /&gt;2.  Induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine&lt;br /&gt;3.  Convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Islam has always wanted to force conversion on those not Muslim.  Dennis Prager had four interesting quotes &lt;a href="http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/dennisprager/2006/05/09/196677.html"&gt;in a recent article&lt;/a&gt; that made me think about this.  Four famous and powerful Muslim leaders said the following.  I quote from the article.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Prophet Muhammad in his farewell address: "I was ordered to fight all men until they say, 'There is no god but Allah.'"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Saladin (great 12th-century founder of the Ayyubid dynasty that included Ayyubid Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and much of present-day Saudi Arabia): "I shall cross this sea to their islands to pursue them until there remains no one on the face of the earth who does not acknowledge Allah."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (father of the Islamic revolution in Iran): "We will export our revolution throughout the world . . . until the calls 'There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah' are echoed all over the world."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Osama bin Laden in November 2001: "I was ordered to fight the people until they say 'there is no god but Allah, and his prophet Muhammad.'"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            My mentors taught me while in the church and through my theological studies of Catholicism that Catholics believe God gave all people free will.  We must acknowledge, with our free will, that God is omnipotent and our salvation and the individual must sacrifice openly, knowingly and freely to God’s divine truth to be truly worth notice of Heaven.  That is what duty is: giving up more than you get in return because you want to, like voluntary slavery.  To force and subjugate people, compelling them to adhere to the tenants of a religion does not create true, faithful followers, but slaves.  It turns that religion into a tyranny, a totalitarian entity, not a path to salvation.  Islam has no problems going through the motions and creating slaves, as the previous quotes prove. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Liberalism also believes we should do “good things” by force.  I am forced to donate much of my money to programs for people who make less money than I do.  I am told I owe the population these “taxes” since the country allows me to make money here.  BULLSHIT.  The country did not give me wealth.  I created my own wealth, through my own initiative, diligence and creativity.  The United States does not control me.  I control the United States.  The nation does not allot me the power to run my life.  I ALLOT THIS GOVERNMENT THE POWER TO MANAGE MY NATION.  Liberals believe we all owe the country.  Sorry, slick.  The country has my loyalty, but I owe it nothing.  I have a duty to my country that I will take up, but duty is voluntary. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            The socialist “redistribution of wealth”, like unbalanced taxation to give those who make less money more wealth, is supposedly done to be “fair” and “equal” for all people; to ensure that everyone has their basic needs satiated.  That is not fostering free will, and is un-Christian.  Doing good deeds for those less fortunate must be voluntary to be worthy of merit, not forced on a person through the mob rules philosophy of socialism.  They, the government, takes the money (by force) that I obtained through hard work, sacrifice and ingenuity and gives it to people who did not work hard for it, sacrifice for it or come up with an ingenious way to create it (unless you call the scams out there today ingenious).  Do not give them money, and they will survive still on their own merit and through their own hard work.  No, they may not make as much as me or Bill Gates or Brad Pitt or Tiger Woods.  And so what?  We are guaranteed the right to make that money, not the right to that money.  The government does this taking of my possessions by force.  If I do not give them what they want, they will take it at gunpoint. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Again, the definition of proselytize is to&lt;br /&gt;1.  Induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith&lt;br /&gt;2.  Induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine&lt;br /&gt;3.  Convert (a person) from one belief, doctrine, cause, or faith to another&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            What is the similarity between the Socialist agenda and the Islamist agenda?  The liberal with the socialist goal wants to take away my freedom to work and own through force so they can control power, carve out a world of their design.  The Muslim radical with the Islamist goal wants to take away my freedom of choice through force so they can control power, carve out a world of their design. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Any wonder why the liberal says we are loosing the war with radical Islam, we are infringing on civil rights when we monitor the enemies’ phone calls?  Why do they protest the war while waving old Soviet Union flags and wearing Che shirts?  Why do the communist groups like ANSWER run these anti-war protests?  How can they combine the protesting war on terror, their hate of the patriot act, and the incompatible arguments of keeping illegal immigration strong, doing a better job protecting our nation and raising the minimum wage?  Check out this &lt;a href="http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=20392_Video-_El_Uno_De_Mayo&amp;only"&gt;on the fence film&lt;/a&gt; on the little green football site and see what I am talking about last paragraph. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Why are we submitting to an irreligious religion?  I am looking forward to &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400054206/sr=1-1/qid=1147200830/ref=sr_1_1/102-9251156-5086512?%5Fencoding=UTF8"&gt;Ann Coulter's new book&lt;/a&gt; and looking for answers in some of her arguments.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-114720124104635213?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/114720124104635213/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=114720124104635213' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114720124104635213'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114720124104635213'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/05/super-size-me-or-proselytize-me-free.html' title='Super-Size Me or Proselytize Me:  Free Will v. Mob Will'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-114321797001652504</id><published>2006-03-24T08:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-24T08:32:50.040-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Ugly Face of Moral Relativism:  who is Madeline to judge?</title><content type='html'>Check out what Madeline Albright said in the LA Times today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-albright24mar24,0,5251258.story?coll=la-home-commentary"&gt;http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-albright24mar24,0,5251258.story?coll=la-home-commentary&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Moral relativism once again shows it’s ugly face.  And damn, Albright is fugly!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Leveraging the obscurity of what the word “is” is may have worked in the 90s, but not today, half way through a decade scarred by terrorist appeasement no more.  There are no half-truths or rational opposing viewpoints when it comes to what is good and what is bad in the world today.  Killing indiscriminately and doing so saying, “Allah wants it that way, just ask me” is evil.  These morons cannot even accept responsibility, but blame their god. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Forget it, Madeline Notbright.  You cannot compare the Western ideal to fundamental Islam.  That is like saying the Union’s ideals in the Civil War versus the Confederacy’s manipulation of “states rights” argument in order to continue to enslave people is morally equivalent.  It’s like saying the Civil Rights movement in the sixties is morally equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan’s outlook on how American Society should run.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terrorists attacked us.  We warned the world we could no longer allow the support of fundamentalist terrorist organizations.  The globe has shrunk and terrorists easily traverse it when mayhem and murder is the goal.  We went into Afghanistan to clear out a regime that supported terrorism.  We went into Iraq to do the same.  Iran now looms as a problem.  In each case, a totalitarian, oppressive government that kills for thoughts and imprisons/tortures for disagreement threatens our safety by supporting terrorist organizations and creating/threatening us with weapons that could kill thousands to millions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yet we should not judge, right Madeline?  Bull crud.  We must judge, for our judgments save lives, free the enslaved, bring fairness and justice and freedom to oppressed people in America and across the globe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yeah let’s put the liberals back in power.  Watch us capitulate and die.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-114321797001652504?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/114321797001652504/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=114321797001652504' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114321797001652504'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114321797001652504'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/03/ugly-face-of-moral-relativism-who-is.html' title='The Ugly Face of Moral Relativism:  who is Madeline to judge?'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-114289837573369774</id><published>2006-03-20T15:45:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-20T15:46:15.760-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Marketing a Mountain</title><content type='html'>“Sherpas are mystified that Westerners spend so much time and money to see what to them are sometimes sacred but not very interesting mountains.”&lt;br /&gt;-Jim Fisher on page 90 of Everest, Mountain Without Mercy&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“The wolves pounced on him in a flashing tempest of teeth and claws.  And as they tore through his parka and closer to his flesh, Josh had to laugh.  For as bleak as this looked, it was still like puppy time at the petting zoo compared to the first time he was attacked by the pure and natural peppermint in Everest – the mint gum without mercy.™”     &lt;br /&gt;-Author Unknown, from “Merciless Tale #103” on the inside wrapper of an Everest Powerful Mint Gum tin. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            During our first session in the Mind-Surfing class, Dr. Lankford told us to write down what we knew about Mount Everest.  One of my favorite gums is Everest Powerful Mint Gum.  They are little chunks of mint gum that pack a real punch.  They use Everest to signify how powerfully cool the mint flavor is when you chew one.  That is a catchy sales pitch.&lt;br /&gt;            When I read about how the commercialization of Mount Everest increased the tourism trade and how the Sherpas did not quite understand the big deal about it (on pages 90 and 91 of the assigned book), I figured they were just accustomed to the humongous mountain.  They did not see it as an icon of a huge challenge, great height and bitter cold as many Westerners see it.  To them, the gum would be like one of us looking at “Los Altos Chewing Gum.”  I am sure they sense a level of majesty related to the highest peak in the world, but they are so familiar with it that the impact is smaller. &lt;br /&gt;            The ad executives that put together the Everest Gum concept saw a similar opportunity to capitalize on the iconic mountain to make money as the natives of Nepal.  And what a concept!  I noticed that on the inside of the package there are small stories of great challenges in the daunting cold.  These main characters, like X-Game action figures, go hiking in the forest or climbing a mountain of snow boarding off cliffs and get into some horrible trouble.  In each story, they are about to meet some grizzly fate, but hearken back to the first time they chewed an Everest Gum and realize that challenge (the powerfully strong mint flavor) was a much greater test.  Pretty funny.&lt;br /&gt;            Along with the story is a URL to their website: &lt;a href="http://www.everestgum.com/"&gt;www.everestgum.com&lt;/a&gt;.  I checked it out.  They sure put a lot of time and talent into it.  They have interesting information in the site like the equipment used to climb.  They also had a “Sherpa” in there that they treated like a cartoon.  It was a picture of a native with the mouth cut out that would move up and down when it talked, like the pictures in a Monty Python ‘s Flying Circus cartoon sketch.  I am not the type to get all offended by things like that, but I could plainly see that others would feel it denigrated the Sherpa. &lt;br /&gt;            When you think of the tourism, the books, the movies, the mint gums and all the other things that go along with commercialization of Mount Everest, you wonder if all this capitalism is exploiting this majestic icon.  I hope the natives around the mountain gain greater comfort and do not lose their identity and traditions.   They are not inanimate mountains for catchy product manipulation.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-114289837573369774?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/114289837573369774/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=114289837573369774' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114289837573369774'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114289837573369774'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/03/marketing-mountain.html' title='Marketing a Mountain'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-114238419327988866</id><published>2006-03-14T16:55:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-14T16:56:33.283-08:00</updated><title type='text'>My Mountain Manifesto Entry 1: Companionship and the Mountain</title><content type='html'>“Breashears, the fax continued, is safe but is joining the rescue effort.”&lt;br /&gt;           -Tim Cahill on page 14 of Everest: Mountain Without Mercy&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Climbing with you was easy as a vow”&lt;br /&gt;            -W.H. Auden from his poem “The Climbers”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Tim Cahill wrote one of the first stories in the book Everest: Mountain Without Mercy.  He explained his feelings when his friend and colleague, David Breashears, was in possible jeopardy while climbing Mount Everest.  He did a good job expressing his feelings, making the tension of wondering if his friend was all right analogous to the feeling you get when you see a child run in front of a vehicle. &lt;br /&gt;            Cahill and Breashears held a common interest: their wish to scale Everest and make a movie in the IMAX format of the ascent.  Cahill said, “No one had ever attempted this before because everyone knew it was impossible.”  Cahill went on to describe Breashears as a “tireless worker, entirely professional”.  They worked well together and there was a bond in place, a bond forged by mutual admiration and respect for one another and the tallest mountain in the world.&lt;br /&gt;            W. H. Auden wrote many great poems about companionship and love.  One of these poems, “The Climbers”, uses scaling a mountain as a metaphor for the arduous journey he and a partner had in their relationship. &lt;br /&gt;            The first stance of the poem describes Auden’s escape from the mundane people that live around him.  To escape, he must climb “the mountains” of his fears.  His fear of being different, recognizing he is not like others, is a vast obstacle to conquer.  His journey does not allow for valleys (cols) or water or anything that would make the obstacle easier, especially excuses or victim-hood. &lt;br /&gt;            The second stance turns the subject away from his own climb and focuses on a friend who is sharing the task.  The first line is so powerful!  Vows are easy when you take one for what you believe in.  Auden could have also been alluding to a wedding-type vow, but a general vow feels more powerful to me, so I am sticking to my first interpretation.&lt;br /&gt;            Cahill showed his strong feelings of respect and admiration, and explained the great stress he felt when there was a possibility that Breashears could have been hurt or killed.  They forged their relationship with the obstacle of Mount Everest as a common goal.  Auden’s mountain represented the same thing: an obstacle.  His mountain also honed a relationship he had with another.  Although Auden’s mountain was not a physical height to climb, there were dangers, discomforts and tough points to overcome. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Climbers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fleeing the short-haired mad executives,&lt;br /&gt;The sad and useless faces round my home,&lt;br /&gt;Upon the mountain of my fear I climb;&lt;br /&gt;Above, the breakneck scorching rock, the caves,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No col, no water; with excuse concocted,&lt;br /&gt;Soon on my lower alp I fall and pant,&lt;br /&gt;Cooling my face there in the faults that flaunt&lt;br /&gt;The life which they have stolen and perfected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Climbing with you was easy as a vow;&lt;br /&gt;We reached the top not hungry in the least,&lt;br /&gt;But it was eyes we looked at, not the view,&lt;br /&gt;Saw nothing but ourselves, left-handed, lost;&lt;br /&gt;Returned to shore, the rich interior still&lt;br /&gt;Unknown.  Love gave the power, but took the will.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-W. H. Auden&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-114238419327988866?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/114238419327988866/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=114238419327988866' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114238419327988866'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114238419327988866'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-mountain-manifesto-entry-1.html' title='My Mountain Manifesto Entry 1: Companionship and the Mountain'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-114238386783954620</id><published>2006-03-14T16:46:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-03-14T16:51:07.853-08:00</updated><title type='text'>My Mountain Manifesto</title><content type='html'>I wrote about Mount Everest when I was reading a cool book titled &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Everest, Mountain Without Mercy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;.   I have some various journal entries relating Mount Everest to various things, and I want to start posting those entries.  This was an idea that Dr. Scott Lankford put out in an English Seminar that he calls Mind Surfing.  So be it! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm sick of doing anything else, and I want to re-inspire myself.  I hope they inspire you some too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First one is coming up....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-114238386783954620?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/114238386783954620/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=114238386783954620' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114238386783954620'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/114238386783954620'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-mountain-manifesto.html' title='My Mountain Manifesto'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-113779876036619116</id><published>2006-01-20T14:33:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2006-01-20T15:12:40.396-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Why So Long?  I AM LAZY!</title><content type='html'>Hello everyone.  I have not been posting for almost 2 months.  Many big things have been happening with School and Work and Home.  They are all good things, but they suck away the time to ponder and plunk on the old keyboard.  I also have been reading in my spare time instead of writing like I should.  I finished &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (awesome read!) and am half way through &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;In, But Not Of&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; by Hugh Hewitt.  Please forgive that I forget.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanksgiving and Christmas went by with little issue (at least none I wish to publish).  Thomassaurus Rex (2 years, 8 months) received Superman, Batman, Flash, Spiderman and Chewbacca action figures along with a little wooden train set and table.  He was jazzed! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My beautiful Princess Lolo (9 years) received a camping set (pup tent, sleeping bag, inflatable chair and compass that she will put up in the back yard once it warms up outside), clothes and girly things, and a kiddo sized guitar with tuner, and CD on how to learn to play.  She was stoked!  I do not know Jack Scratch about playing a guitar, but I will help as much as I can. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The wife is working harder and harder at a job that often sounds like it is not very rewarding and a little overbearing.  I wonder at times if she is happy with the job.  She says she is from time to time, but it does not show.  I think we would do fine financially on my salary, and I have asked her if she would like to stop working and just stay home and raise the princess and dinosaur.  She says no.  I do not think her happiness and the kids’ watering and grooming by their mother should be sacrificed for only the sake of &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;things&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.  &lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Things&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; only gratify the senses.  &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;Things&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; do not enlighten or strengthen or bring goodness.  They are only ends for a set moment.  I want my family to be about "each other" as a success, not about the accumilation of stuff that makes us "happy".  Do you know what I mean?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At school, I finished a whopping &lt;strong&gt;six essays&lt;/strong&gt; to gain some school credit (if it all works out, I will get 18 units total!).  I had a break for about 4 weeks, and I return to learn about Organizational Behavior starting the 25th.  I look forward to being done in a year...at least with the Bachelor’s degree.  I am afraid that, a year from now, if I finish my degree and stop for a break, I will never go back.  It took a lot of gumption and energy to go back this time.  Next time I will be older and have better excuses. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At work, I absorbed managing some more work centers.  It was a big deal for the various VPs involved, and they made a fuss over it.  I am looking forward to those challenges in the new work groups and how to blend best practices between these work groups and my original cast of characters.  I need to hire more managers too since one of my people left for Colorado Springs and a promotion.  It felt great seeing the person rise from a tech controller to a full-fledged IT Manager and knowing that I helped along the way. Well, I am always just happy I have work.  A lot of people have had to settle for less than what they would lie to do.  I am just tyring my best to stay ahead of the game with making successful decisions and getting school under my belt. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking of my belt…I made a New Year’s Resolution to go back to school a couple of years ago.  So far so good; progressing to the point where I get my BS in Organizational Behavior (HR/Management stuff) December 2006.  Last year I made the resolution to quit smoking.  It has been a year since 30Dec04 that I smoked a cigarette (or anything else!).  This year I need to lose weight!  I am way over 300 lbs right now, and my sexy body is looking shabby.  I need to release that inner Charles Atlas once again on the world.  The women may not be able to control themselves, but I am not a healthy cat packing all this tubbiness on my ass.  Therefore, the resolution is to carve off at least 100 pounds this year.  I think I can do it.  It has been a rough start so far, but I will keep at it and keep you updated, loyal and lonely readers!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That is it from your favorite Philosopher-Manager-Conservative-Parental mass media Junkie.  I will make an effort to jot down more as time rolls on and my fat rolls off.  Read you soon!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-113779876036619116?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/113779876036619116/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=113779876036619116' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113779876036619116'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113779876036619116'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2006/01/why-so-long-i-am-lazy.html' title='Why So Long?  I AM LAZY!'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-113286499642999610</id><published>2005-11-24T12:41:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-11-24T12:43:16.440-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Buzz Lightyear vs. Dino-Boy!</title><content type='html'>Our new Doggy’s name is Buzz Lightyear. My son, Thomassaurus Rex named him. When the dog wants to play, he will lick the dino-boy on the face. In response to the alien attack, Tommy will say “Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!” and run from the dog. Buzz will chase the squeals around the kitchen island; his tail wagging for balance, his speed not enough to ever catch his prey.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our new Doggy, Buzz Lightyear, is an eight-week-old Golden Retriever. He is well behaved and already knows where to pee (on the paper matt laying next to the back door) in cases of emergency. I confronted Thomassaurus with this issue, stating that the Star-Ranger Canine can pee in the appropriate places, yet my Saurian Son still needs a diaper. This caused Tommy to stop smiling and think over the issue. He then smiled and said he would try.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That’s a start.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-113286499642999610?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/113286499642999610/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=113286499642999610' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113286499642999610'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113286499642999610'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/11/buzz-lightyear-vs-dino-boy_24.html' title='Buzz Lightyear vs. Dino-Boy!'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-113269522352797857</id><published>2005-11-23T13:33:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-11-22T13:33:43.530-08:00</updated><title type='text'>They don't give me my props!</title><content type='html'>To be honest, I have been feeling pretty down lately.  In California, there were some props up for vote and they all failed to pass. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One prop (73) wanted to make it illegal to perform an abortion on an under aged girl without her parent’s permission.  It also established a 48-hour waiting period for under aged abortions too.  By the way, they just passed a law that made it illegal to pierce an under aged girl’s ears without a parents permission. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another prop (74) changed the amount of time a teacher had to work before reaching tenure.  It is 2 years now in California.  The prop would have made it 5 years.  What the hell is this tenure deal anyway?  It is supposed to protect college professors who speak their mind from being fired.  Why does a second grade teacher need tenure?  Will she say something scandalous about Elmo that might get her fired?  Does your job grant you tenure? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prop 75 does not allow a union to spend a union members dues on political campaigns unless you give the employee gives them permission.  The Union special interests spent $250 million in advertising against this prop to make sure they could spend $250 million against this prop.  Ironic!  Just think what GM’s unions could have done to secure pension plans with that $250 million…. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So if Prop 76 would have passed, the state legislature would be restricted on spending increases to only a 3 percent or so increase per year.  If the state later found that they spent too much and needed to cut something, the governor would call for a reduction.  The legislature would then have 45 days to make the cuts, or the governor would be given the power to do it.  Wow…how horrible.  The state would have to live within its means like you and me.  It sure is easy to spend money you didn’t earn….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Prop 77 was the biggy.  If it passed, the legislature would not be able to rig elections by setting up their own congressional districts.  Allowing this is allowing people to pick who they want to vote in their election.  Ridiculous, right?  Well, that made far too much sense for California.  It was defeated, of course, by a 19.7% margin.  You see, we like our elections rigged in California.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Props 78 and 79 were programs set up to socialize prescriptions.  They both used “discount drugs” in the titles.  Thank God they were shot down.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally, Prop 80 would have added more bureaucracy on the utilities industry out here.  Yeah, that’s what we need…more government involvement in utilities.  We already pay waaaaaaaay to much.  Nothing like funneling tax money into it to slow the utility companies more so they charge us more.  Talk about lose-lose.  That was shot down too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, same old same old. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just hoped something positive would happen.  Instead, Union special interests and those who just want to get a Republican out of the Governor office fought some props that would melt the ice-lock-grip of these corrupt bastards on our local government.  The TV commercials they played were just lies.  It was so hard to watch as the lazy sucked up whatever they were told on TV and from their Union bosses. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will California be saved, or is it just destined to crumble under its own bloated weight?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Stay tuned.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-113269522352797857?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/113269522352797857/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=113269522352797857' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113269522352797857'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113269522352797857'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/11/they-dont-give-me-my-props.html' title='They don&apos;t give me my props!'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-113269516314487833</id><published>2005-11-22T13:28:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-11-22T13:32:43.156-08:00</updated><title type='text'>So...an update on school</title><content type='html'>I finished my classes at the local junior college, Foothill, this summer.  I now only need to CLEP Intermediate Algebra and I will have an AA in Philosophy from that institution.  Yippee!  It was fun and challenging, but I am glad I am moving on to bigger things.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am presently enrolled at the University of San Francisco (USF) and taking classes in English and Ethics.  The English courses here are harder than the Junior College classes I have taken in the past.  Well…not so much harder as they are tedious.  I have to write a ton of papers and I am lazy and I don’t want to…..waaaaa…. The English type class is fun, though.  What makes it fun is that I am constantly wise cracking and the teacher does not come down on people.  She is pretty open and does not mind. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Ethics class is fun too.  I love philosophy and the ethics class covers Kant and others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The thing to remember is to stay focused and get your work done, Ruslfish!  Ugh!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-113269516314487833?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/113269516314487833/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=113269516314487833' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113269516314487833'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/113269516314487833'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/11/soan-update-on-school.html' title='So...an update on school'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112837328600206637</id><published>2005-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-10-03T14:01:26.010-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Protesting Proletariat…Commies leading the Clueless</title><content type='html'>For those of you who enjoy this type of stuff or those of you who believe there is no such thing as media bias, check out this article.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.zombietime.com/sf_rally_september_24_2005/anatomy_of_a_photograph/"&gt;http://www.zombietime.com/sf_rally_september_24_2005/anatomy_of_a_photograph/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you get a chance, look up some of those interesting organizations that are only for peace.  You will see they have ties with North Korea and Vietnam and Communist Party groups.  I feel the saddest for that girl, a useful idiot posing to further the agenda she may or may not understand.  I wish she could understand that America is everything right in the world…that democracy and a freely decided destiny is what she is fighting against when she wears that mask, holds that sign and marches under that flag.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So 24Sep05 was a day of big protest in the San Francisco?  I did not hear much about it.  Also, my favorite anti protesters, the Protest Warriors, make no mention of it on their website (&lt;a href="http://protestwarrior.com/"&gt;http://protestwarrior.com/&lt;/a&gt;).  Let us hope they made a showing of it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112837328600206637?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112837328600206637/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112837328600206637' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112837328600206637'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112837328600206637'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/10/protesting-proletariatcommies-leading.html' title='Protesting Proletariat…Commies leading the Clueless'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112837208611977835</id><published>2005-10-03T13:25:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-10-03T13:41:26.146-07:00</updated><title type='text'>TV Hawkeye or Movie Hawkeye?</title><content type='html'>So who played the better Hawkeye in MASH: Alan Alda on TV or Donald Sutherland in the movie?  I love the movie MASH.  It was hilarious, and I used to want to get the DVD so I could watch it more often.  That is what I did when it came to the Great Escape.  The TV Hawkeye turned into an old preachy dork who was supposed to be a ladies’ man but was BORING!  Alda was supposed to be this MR. Sensitive and it really got on my nerves.  Ugh! Sutherland’s Hawkeye was my favorite.  Well, now I do not want to buy the MASH movie.  Donald Sutherland has just turned me off.  Read the below URL.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.drudgereport.com/flash4ds.htm"&gt;http://www.drudgereport.com/flash4ds.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Honestly, I can overlook a disagreement with a person and still be there friend.  One of my best friends is pro-choice.  He is not anti-life or pro-abortion, he just does not believe life starts right at conception and thinks abortion is OK as long as it is before the point where a baby can live on its own.  I disagree, but that is not the end all of our friendship or discussions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I could not be a friend, however, with someone that acknowledges that babies lives start and conception and yet can and should be killed if the baby life support system (commonly incorrectly referred to as the “mother”) feels inconvenienced.  I also cannot be a friend with someone who only wants to talk about that disagreement, rub it into my face all the time, or make a big public display about the belief.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That is enough with my analogy, now to my point.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I feel the same way with media folks.  Donald Sutherland can have an opinion about things, and can even hold one that disagrees with mine.  What I hate is that:&lt;br /&gt;            1) His opinion is so outlandish and crazy&lt;br /&gt;            2) He has to wag his opinion out there, acting as if he is an intellectual and that his opinion matters on a grand scale.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HOW ANNOYING. &lt;br /&gt;SHUT UP AND ACT you ancient dumb ass. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Where is Alan Alda?  Oh yeah, he is on the West Wing now, playing a conservative presidential candidate with a heart.  Hmm….&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112837208611977835?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112837208611977835/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112837208611977835' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112837208611977835'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112837208611977835'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/10/tv-hawkeye-or-movie-hawkeye.html' title='TV Hawkeye or Movie Hawkeye?'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112809871621572449</id><published>2005-09-30T09:18:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-09-30T09:45:16.236-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Tomasaurus Rex</title><content type='html'>Tommy is now 2 years and 4 months old.  He is very funny, and a dancing genious.  Yesterday, we both danced to the theme song of the TV Show Survivor if front of the TV in our living room.  He is much shorter than I am, coming only to the top of my leg.  You would think this would make it hard to have Tommy as a dancing partner.  You would be wrong.  Tommy did a great job with inerpretive dance to the Survivor theme music.  He was also an exceptional dancing partner, allowing me to make some well placed interpretive moves as well.  We both recieved a round of applause from my wife and 9 year old daughter as we took our bows and CBS went to commercial.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tommy is also an exceptional interpreter for worldly creatures.  He knows what noises several different animals make.  Although he has never seen one face to face, he can also successfully imitate the roar of a dinosaur.  I do not know what type of species of dinosaur (Tommy will not tell me for some reason), but I would guess the T-Rex.  I will ask Tommy "What does a dinosaur say?" at some opportune moment during the early evening as we chew on popcorn watching some Pixar movie. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He'll look at me with that evil smile, the trademark of the Ruslfish family line, and say "Rwarhhhgh!"  He'll then bare his fore claws, drop his head low and hunch over, pacing in a semi circle around me, looking for a weakness or opening to bite or claw at me.  I must defend myself, grabbing Tomasaurus Rex and blowing hard on his belly until he laughs himself to exhaustion.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112809871621572449?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112809871621572449/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112809871621572449' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112809871621572449'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112809871621572449'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/09/tomasaurus-rex.html' title='Tomasaurus Rex'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112714534308903007</id><published>2005-09-19T08:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-09-19T08:55:43.096-07:00</updated><title type='text'>TV According to Me</title><content type='html'>I watched a little of the Emmys last night.  I saw David Letterman commemorate Johnny Carson into some hall of fame deal.  Good.  Carson was fun to watch even when he was old.  He still made me laugh.  I hope his retirement was fun while it lasted. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn’t watch much more of it.  I just don’t like those shows like I used to.  There was a time when I thought all those stars were witty and smart and had important things to say.  As I’ve grown, I’ve come to realize they’re mainly narcissists and focused on the wrong things.  They are not very well educated and act like poets do.  “Can’t we all just plant trees and love each other?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“No.  We kill each other.  Now shut up or I will kill you, dickhead.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My favorite show right now is Battlestar Galactica on the Sci-Fi Channel.  It is pretty entertaining.  I also like Survivor, which many people like so no big deal there. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve been watching that Rock Star: INXS with my wife.  That show just shows you how self centered and moronic singers can be.  Then thy have that Dave Navarro hosting.  I swear he is Prince with tattoos. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are two great cartoons I watch.  The first is Justice League.  Good stories and characters.  They have the foundation DC superhero characters, and actually give them personalities.  There are points when you can tell Superman just wants to haul off and punch Batman in the face.  Nice!  The other cartoon is the Venture Brothers.  Man, talk about funny!  It is a mock Johnny Quest cartoon. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Search for Justice League and Venture Brothers.  The League is usually on Saturdays around 6 PM.  The Venture Bros. are on Sunday nights at 9:30.  At least, they are on the West Coast on Dish Network.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112714534308903007?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112714534308903007/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112714534308903007' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112714534308903007'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112714534308903007'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/09/tv-according-to-me.html' title='TV According to Me'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112438222265440253</id><published>2005-08-18T08:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-08-18T09:23:42.680-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Swiss Bring a Modest Proposal to the Next Level</title><content type='html'>Does anyone out there know who John Swift was? If you do not, he was an Irish Satirist. He wrote &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Gulliver's Travels&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, and also an essay named&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt; A Modest Proposal&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. In it, he offered a solution to stop the famine problem in Ireland.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This famine was due to government overregulation of what the Irish could grow. England forced them to only grow potatoes. When the potatoes were hit with a disease, the nation's entire crop was wiped out and the Irish had nothing to eat. That started the potato famine that drove many Irish immigrants to America.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, Swift said in this essay that one way to stop the famine was to simply have the Irish eat their own children. It would feed many, and put those little poor children out of their misery too. He wrote it so well, you could feel the snide passive-aggressive anger that must have boiled in his chest. You could read the rage that must have been there as he watched his country starve to death.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh well, that was then, right? We would never be so cavalier about life in our enlightened age of secular reason and consistency of rights....right?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out this amazing and insightful article.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081701777_pf.html"&gt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081701777_pf.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Truly, does this excite you? Does it make you feel good to know that now they are skinning aborted fetuses to quicken the re-growth of burnt skin? Really read this article and ponder the ramifications. Note that further on toward the end of the article they talk about how the baby's skin cannot be shown to perform any better as a skin graft than an adult's skin. But look at the title of the article. Lies and lies and LIES! ARGH!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, check out paragraph 6 of this article. These sons of bitches at the Washington Post &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;DARE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; to call this woman the "mother" of the 14 week gestating male! So the child bearing cow gave authorization, after killing the 14 week post conception baby, to skin him and use his body parts for experimentation!?! That's not a mother whether you like it or not! GOD SAVE US ALL!!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Note that, to the Post, it does not matter that a child was killed for this Swiss experiment, but they do not fail to mention that &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;burned children&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; were helped. Is that not the most ironic spin technique you have ever seen?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We in America are not far behind our modest ly proposing Swiss friends. Governor Swarzenegger of California, a.k.a. &lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;the Savior &lt;/span&gt;by the Left Coast Republican Intelligencia, has authorized $6 Billion over the next ten years to be committed to stem cell research, and embryonic stem cell research is part of that plan. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is flexing his liberal secular doctor death chops and supporting this infanticide/in-vitro fertilization recycling program as well (see previous post). Even Theologian and Conservative Radio Host Dennis Prager believes we should not compare the 30 million deaths due to abortion since 1973 with the 6 million deaths due to Hitler's Nazi Final Solution.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Read: &lt;a href="http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20050816.shtml"&gt;http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20050816.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sorry, Dennis, but your numbers don't add up and your rationale (that the fetuses do not think therefore the tragedy is less) is hog wash. These are lives treated less than human like the Jews and the slaves and every other group that was weaker than the majority in power. An Abortion Holocaust is what it is...and calling it that does not demean wha thappened to the Jews in Europe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am tired and wish sometimes that I could move away from all this horrible relativistic genocide. It makes me sick to my stomach that this article sidesteps and jargon-izes the whole situation, trying to show the reader what to think about this horrible practice. I would move to Canada, but I hear that it is worse there. Maybe Alec Baldwin has some ideas. I heard he was leaving too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These Swiss experiments are quite simply cannibalism. They are killing our fellow humans, and then they are using their remains for life extension and creature comforts. A life for a life is evil. Ends do not justify means.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112438222265440253?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112438222265440253/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112438222265440253' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112438222265440253'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112438222265440253'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/08/swiss-bring-modest-proposal-to-next.html' title='The Swiss Bring a Modest Proposal to the Next Level'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112265455276711763</id><published>2005-07-29T09:13:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-07-29T09:29:12.783-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Frist Frucked:  the new Doctor Death</title><content type='html'>Read the latest news about an aspiring Republican Presidential Nominee and weap.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/29/frist.stem.cells.ap/index.html"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/07/29/frist.stem.cells.ap/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Thanks so much for not considering the lives of snowflake children valuable enough to live, Senator! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            What is a snowflake child?  Some people cannot conceive by normal means, so doctors harvest eggs and fertilize a bunch with sperm, and create embryos.  These embryos are then planted in the woman so she can become pregnant and give birth.  Sometimes, the doctors are incredibly lazy and just mass fertilize a bunch of eggs, producing more embryos than the parents wanted.  Those embryos are then kept frozen for future use.  These babies, no larger than a &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;snowflake&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, wait for the chance to be unfrozen, implanted and birthed so they can realize the life and liberty we all enjoy. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            There are those who do not want to house these embryos and wait for them to be adopted by couples that cannot conceive.  The adoptive parents would take those embryos, implant them in the adoptive mother and birth/raise them.  This is not a new idea by any means.  There are many snowflake kids alive today; those children previously frozen and now birthed and enjoying life like the rest of us. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Some “doctors” (I do not know if they are still considered doctors if they break their Hippocratic Oath and kill babies) would prefer to throw away all those tiny lives instead of pay out the expense of keeping snowflake kids in a frozen state.  They argue they are not lives, but commodities like potatoes or coal or other things we can easily buy and trade, and later destroy and experiment on for whatever rationale.   These doctors, like the great Doctor Senator Frist, believe it a waste to throw away those commodities when they can be used for experiments that may better the lives of those we deem worthy of life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Careful, Senator.  Think this through.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Frist says he is against abortion because he believes life begins at conception.  If that is the case, aren’t these “doctors” taking life by experimenting on these embryos? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            How is Dr. Frist different from Nazi “Dr. Death” Joseph Mengela?  “Well, the Jews will be killed in the concentration camps anyway, so why not experiment on them and better the rest of mankind?”&lt;br /&gt;            How about confederate doctors?  “Well, the slaves are not quite human, so why not experiment on them.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;           The only reason why there is a benefit to experiment on the snowflake babies or use their stem cells is because THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS!  With this rationale, can't we just say "Hey, prisoners are different than we are, and experimenting on them will cure many diseases...save untolled lives.  Let's do it!"  We do not do that type of thing because prisoners have advocates that stop us from acting unethically like that. They have voices that respond with displeasure, make us realize they are human and deserve the respect all life requires.  The Jews had voices and faces, and our better nature stopped the holocaust in Europe.  The black slaves in America had voices and faces, and slavery was stopped through a Constitutional Ammendment.  Further, Black Americans received equal rights by the rule of law through the advocacy of Dr. King and others; faces and voices that allowed us all to relate to their plight, to see they were humans just like us. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT CAN HEAR THE UNBORN'S VOICE, SEE THEIR FACE ON A DAILY BASIS, ARE DOCTORS, AND THEY ARE TOO UNETHICAL TO CARE!!!  DOCTORS ARE, BY THEIR VERY NATURE, AMMORAL AND NEED TO STAY OUT OF GOVERNING!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            I am sorry but I have yet to see a politician/doctor take a moral stand that was not politically calculated.  Frist is no better than Howard Dean in ethical viewpoint. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;            Why is that?  You’d think these “doctors”, being so close to the absolute proof of life at these early ages, being so close to the miracle, would understand the gravity of their misguided beliefs.  Or is it that they are so familiar with the human body is seams to be more a machine than a sentient life to them?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, mark off another hypocrite of the Hippocratic Oath for president.  Individual rights trump the fascist's perceived benefit of the collective.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112265455276711763?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112265455276711763/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112265455276711763' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112265455276711763'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112265455276711763'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/07/frist-frucked-new-doctor-death.html' title='Frist Frucked:  the new Doctor Death'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112256649869590952</id><published>2005-07-28T08:57:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-07-28T09:01:38.706-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Who judges the judges?  Well...ME!</title><content type='html'>Check this article out my friends. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050728/D8BKE0R80.html"&gt;http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050728/D8BKE0R80.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ah...nothing like a liberal fighting terrorism.  Just think, this would have been the attitude if Franken-Kerry won!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, sure…the court does work so grandly when his honor is at the helm.  Right.  H e certainly has the right to tear into old W!  Bush is violating the rights of people by taking away elected legislature's duly passed laws and manufacturing his own rules by “interpreting” them to mean the exact opposite.  Oh wait…that’s not Bush, THAT’S A$$HOLE JUDGES!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile, this Millenium Terrorist guy gets 14 years for bringing 124 pounds of bomb to the US to blow up LA Airport.  How man would have died?  How many would have suffered?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;14 YEARS????&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Screw this judge and his self important, codescending remarks, his bloated idiotic notions and his stupid court.  It took this judge since 1999 to come up with 14 freaking years for a punishment?  For justice?!?!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I cannot wait for the originalist/constructionist/conservative courts to flourish through the next decades. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This judge is a condor.  He’s big and powerful and scary…and going extinct.  THANK GOD!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112256649869590952?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112256649869590952/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112256649869590952' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112256649869590952'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112256649869590952'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/07/who-judges-judges-wellme.html' title='Who judges the judges?  Well...ME!'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112232842357235937</id><published>2005-07-25T14:53:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-07-28T09:16:24.270-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Celebrity Dumb-Ass Awards</title><content type='html'>Runner Up: Ricky Martin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Recently old Ricky, with responsible songs like “She Bangs” and “Shake Your Bon-Bon” professing his love for dignity and peace, met with some Arab youth in Amman, Jordan. There our favorite Latino heart throb said that he knew all about racism and that he would be there for Arabs that felt the racism of being different. He offered to be their “ambassador” to the world to ensure they would never feel the harsh hate of bigotry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To celebrate his commitment, the Arab youth gave Ricky a scarf that he proudly wore for pictures. On the scarf, written in Arabic, was the slogan “Jerusalem is ours”.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hmm…I wonder what that means…. That wouldn’t be a racist call for the death to Jews, would it…? Nah, Ricky’s too smart for that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Award Winner for Today: Scarlett Johansson&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Scar-Brain is presently starring in the fantastic movie “The Island”. See my last post regarding its importance. That movie decries the evils of cloning people for spare parts, or creating life to destroy for the convenience and longer life of other beings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So she read the script, and even played the role of one of the clones they want to kill for spare parts. But in an interview in People Magazine, she talks like she never even read the freaking script!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When asked if she was pro or anti cloning, she stated “I’m pro stem cell research, if that’s what you’re asking. If that could eliminate diseases like Alzheimer’s and polio, that would be incredible. People may say you’re playing with fate. But I think the positive outweighs the negative.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What?!?!?!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First off, POLIO HAS ALREADY BEEN CURED, cutie-pie!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Secondly, she MUST be talking about Embryonic Stem Cell Research. That is what is going on in the movie, people take life and grow it and dissect it for use by a “sponsor” of the insurance policy. Her very clone character was almost sliced open for her internal organs after the sponsor was wounded in a car accident.  How can she be for the vrey thing this movie argues against unless she is for the killing of innocents to extend the lifespans of elites that can afford it?  Talk about a sick little girl!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thirdly, “…playing with fate.”??? What does that mean? Can we somehow adjust the space-time continuum and play with reality and fate? Unless you’re superstitious (or religious, which usually means the same thing to Hollywood-heads), there is no such thing as fate anyway. I only bring this up because it sounds like so much babble.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Super-Genius goes on, mentioning she is part of a fund raising committee for Hillary Clinton. When asked why the person living in Hollywood is working on fundraising in Hollywood for New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Scarlett’s response was very moving and rational.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I think she’s very socially active, and that’s important to me.” Good, a Senator is socially active. That is important, sweetie. What else? “In a country where we have no national health care, no national day care…that’s really important.” Wow, she’s so right. By the way, what country had socialized health care and day care? Oh, yeah, the Soviet Union and Red China. Yep, we need a socially active senator to help us out there, or at least a Socialist-Active senator.   We trully want to model our economy and lves on those two nations. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hey, doesn't China already sell organs of thier executed prisoners?  Wow!  They really know how to live!  Good thinking, Scarlett!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hollywood millionaires…gotta love them, comrade!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112232842357235937?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112232842357235937/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112232842357235937' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112232842357235937'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112232842357235937'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/07/celebrity-dumb-ass-awards.html' title='Celebrity Dumb-Ass Awards'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-112232690958375964</id><published>2005-07-25T14:27:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-07-25T14:28:29.593-07:00</updated><title type='text'>An Island Unto Itself</title><content type='html'>The most important movie I have seen this year is the Island. It stars Obi-Wan Kenobi Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.  The movie was directed by Michael Bay, who made other great action flicks like Bad Boys, the Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor (harbor sucked some…but it was still fun to watch at home). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It gets a B grade from me as a film.  The storyline was good, the effects were exciting, but unfortunately the chase scenes and running around became too fanciful.  Some of the crud just would never happen in real life, yet they try to sell it that way to an extent. I understand, its sci-fi and we need to suspend disbelief, but some things just go too far.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What makes this film so very important is the content of the story.  It is about cloning people for the sake of spare body parts.  The elitists that can afford it pay $5 million to have a clone of them created.  That way, if they ever need a heart or lung, or want to have a baby and not go through the pain, they can just use their “policy”. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, the clones have to be kept somewhere, and Bay shoves them in a Logan’s Run asylum that has horrific ramifications for winning the lottery.  Well, what does all this mean?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The one hard thing to do when arguing the cause of Pro-Life (both abortion and embryonic stem cell research) is to put a face on the cause.  Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman became the faces, the humanity that drove the abolitionist cause.  Dr. M. L. King and other African Americans in the 60s became the humanity that we saw when we enacted civil rights legislation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How do we equate humanity to the faceless in the womb… the faceless frozen in a test tube?  They have no voice, they cannot complain, therefore they do not deserve to be called members of humanity. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Island provides them faces.  Cloning is not the only concern here.  If we can feel pity for and root on Lincoln 6 Echo, McGregor’s character, we can do the same for the actual children that die every day due to the convenience of abortion and privately funded embryonic stem cell research.  Am I making a leap?  No, not really.  Watch the movie and then think about this memo. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If Lincoln 6 Echo deserves to live, why don’t the weakest and most defenseless deserve the same?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-112232690958375964?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/112232690958375964/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=112232690958375964' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112232690958375964'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/112232690958375964'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/07/island-unto-itself.html' title='An Island Unto Itself'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111991741178133395</id><published>2005-06-27T17:06:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-06-27T17:10:11.796-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Supreme Dorks</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;The last session of the Supreme Court has been fantastic.  I feel so secure in my liberties now!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1)      You no longer own any land that cannot be taken away by the government as long as they justify the potential to make more property tax off it with the next owner.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;2)      Cable companies do not have to share their lines with other broadband providers.  So what, you mention?  Well, we the people allow them to string the cable up to provide us a service.  That cable is them the people’s domain.  The cable service can still charge other broadband providers a fee for using the infrastructure, but they still should have to allow the use.  This type of issue first came up with the railroads.  One company laid the line, and then claimed monopoly not only of the line, but also nay type of vehicle that passed.  They controlled the rates for passengers and cargo.  They also used their great power to slow other competition from mounting.  The cable companies did the same thing.  They built the infrastructure with our approval.  Then they established monopolies on townships for cable providing.  Then they lobbied congress and got them to not allow satellite TV providers to give their customers local TV.  You thought that the satellite technology was not there to give people those local channels.  Nope!  The cable lobby manipulated your elected officials and made it illegal, not impossible!  Now they have somehow manipulated the system again and are not allowing other providers for internet service to use your cable infrastructure. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;3)      Wishy washy as ever, the Supremes allowed some 10 commandment displays and not others.  What?  I’m still trying to figure out the delineation.  It has as much concrete thought and support as Roe v Wade.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;4)      They spent time on making sure that big media can sue kids getting music off the internet, but…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;5)      They would not hear a case regarding the ramifications of reporters putting classified data from the CIA leaks out into the public domain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can you believe these geeks?  Now Renquist and O’Connor look like they’ll be leaving.  Plus, John Paul Stevens is 85, and isn’t looking all that great either.  The Supreme Court could really see a shake up.  So what if it does.  These old farts aren’t interpreting the law and the Constitution.  They’re making it up as they go along. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How can you allow a city to force out people from 3 generation family homes so that a developer can open a strip mall? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why would you deny decades long decided law and not allow free competition over a government sanctioned infrastructure that has allowed the builder to already recoup its costs and then some?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When is a Commandment not offensive to the one anal atheist in the back of the court threatened by the word of God?  When should we hide the rules that are the foundation of all Judeo-Christian and Western law?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When will the police break my door down for taping the radio, or my favorite TV show, now that the internet music is illegal?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How many secrets that hold our national security together…how many covers of American operatives need to be blown before someone can stop it from happening again?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Supremes are buying into their titles.  They have become elitist and decadent.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;WE NEED TERM LIMITS ON THE SUPREMES!  END THE FASCIST RULE OF UNVOTED JUDGES IN THE USA!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111991741178133395?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111991741178133395/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111991741178133395' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111991741178133395'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111991741178133395'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/06/supreme-dorks.html' title='The Supreme Dorks'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111783227917947454</id><published>2005-06-03T13:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-06-03T13:57:59.193-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Old American Century... 14 Points from a bunch of Jack Asses, Part 2</title><content type='html'>I now continue with my point by point mocking of Jack Asses from Old American Century. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Website: &lt;a href="http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm"&gt;http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4.)  Supremacy of the Military:&lt;/strong&gt;  Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Do you ever wonder what is the #1 thing we pay for every year with our taxes?  Is it the military?  NO.  It is Social Security Insurance.  That’s right, the wondrous social program that takes your money non-voluntarily so the government can take care of you and give it back to you later in life at a 1-2% interest rate.  Oh by the way, if you die before you get all your money back that you invested, it stays with the government.  What a deal! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;O.K.  That said, what is #2…the military?  NO.  It is social services:  Welfare, Medicare and Medicaid.  You know, the redistribution of wealth from the tax paying rich to those people who are in need.  This is a noble idea, but wrought with abuse.  Why do you think medical professionals charge so much?  Because they can!  Either a) your medical insurance pays for the costs or b) you pay for the costs through government programs. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what are we looking at budget wise for #3?  You guessed it; it is the $82 Trillion of the military.  It is number 3 for cost, and the only service so far that is part of the constitution.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is it really disproportionate to the domestic agenda?  It sure looks like it takes a back seat to Social Security payments to the old and social services to the poor.  In addition, the website says even when there are widespread domestic problems.  Unemployment is now at 5.1%.  Homeownership is at its highest in history.  Pay is at its highest too.  What are they talking about?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, maybe the next one makes sense.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5.)  Rampant Sexism:&lt;/strong&gt;  The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Where do we start here?  Read over the examples on this site.  What a bunch of B.S.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since George Bush thinks that the government should not recognize same sex marriage, he is a sexist?  What?  Why is this anti-gay?  Look, I cannot marry a guy under that type of law just like any other guy.  I am straight.  So, this law is not against gays, it affects everyone.  Secondly, just because the government does not recognize a marriage does not mean you cannot get married.  I could give a shoot less if the government recognizes my marriage to my pet goat! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What we’re talking about here is the legal enforcement of entitlements and benefits that come with a sanctioned marriage.  The agenda for the left to bring this up as an issue is not to ratify love in the public square.  It is to allow more people to get free stuff.  QUIT IT!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Being against abortion is being against the death of small babies.  This now amazingly qualifies for sexism. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m sorry, but I believe Hitler and Stalin were more than happy to abort babies and anyone with defects or who were old or infirm, etc.   &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, this one does not make much sense at all.  How about the next one?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6.)  Controlled Mass Media:&lt;/strong&gt;  Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;...&lt;br /&gt;...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Forget this flipping list.  How can anyone read further down after this one? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can’t wait to read the next Lampley article!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111783227917947454?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111783227917947454/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111783227917947454' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111783227917947454'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111783227917947454'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/06/old-american-century-14-points-from.html' title='Old American Century... 14 Points from a bunch of Jack Asses, Part 2'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111644845600911817</id><published>2005-05-18T13:19:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-05-18T13:34:16.023-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Shut up and Just Play Music!</title><content type='html'>Don't you hate it when you enjoy a musician or actor and then they open their mouths and ruin it for you? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out what Cold Play member Chris Martin said in this article.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/articles/18707189?source=Evening%20Standard"&gt;http://www.thisislondon.com/showbiz/articles/18707189?source=Evening%20Standard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is the clown who married Gwyneth Paltrow and named their first child Apple. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;POOR BABY!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  You are such a &lt;em&gt;slave&lt;/em&gt;.  You sound great when you play music, but how dare you trash talk the company that fronts the cash for you to make music…something you love?  Those &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;slave owner evil share holders&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; were willing to pay you millions of dollars to put an album together.  You agreed to a date and did not come through.  Now these guys, who provided you a livelihood, want a return on their investment.  They did not fire you and take their money back after you dick around too long, did they?  You should kiss their ass and thank them all for their charity and patience.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And BTW, since I am an EMI stock holder, F Off!  Never call me evil again simply because I save my money and invested instead of buying stupid crap, like your dumb CD, with it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And what the hell is wrong with you, naming your kid Apple?  Why not just name her Freak and get it over with.  Or just name her Jane and I’ll beat her up for you instead of letting the playground kids do it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What a dick!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111644845600911817?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111644845600911817/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111644845600911817' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111644845600911817'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111644845600911817'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/05/shut-up-and-just-play-music.html' title='Shut up and Just Play Music!'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111636280462989667</id><published>2005-05-17T13:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-05-17T13:46:44.646-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Old American Century… 14 Points from a bunch of Jack Asses, Part 1</title><content type='html'>So I was cruising the web and went to check out Arianna Huffington’s new Blog site, the Huffington Post.  I thought I’d check out who is really writing for her. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dianne Keaton?  …wow…and she seems so smart in all her movies.  I bet she is really good.  [lol]&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jim Lampley?  …isn’t he the sports guy?  What the hell is going on?  This is a guy whose debates include whether or not Mike Tyson should box again. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, Lampley was complaining about a politician and calling him illegitimate and a fascist.  Guess who?  Hmm……&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well Check out this website he links on as his evidence that we are descending into evil.  Read them over carefully.  There will be a test later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm"&gt;http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OK.  So, let’s go over what we learned, and the key 14 points. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1.)  Powerful and Continuing Nationalism:&lt;/strong&gt;  Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, according to Laurence Britt (who?), patriotic things like symbols, slogans, songs, etc are fascist indicators. That’s kind of dumb.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is nothing to fear but fear itself.&lt;br /&gt;-Paraphrased slogan from the Fascist FDR when he set out to combat the Great Depression&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Uncle Sam Wants You.&lt;br /&gt;-Slogan attached to the symbolic Uncle Sam to help draft an army to stop Nazism.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Loose Lips Sink Ships&lt;br /&gt;-Slogan used to remind people not to let intelligence out during World War II.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Glory, glory Hallelujah!  His truth keeps marching on!”&lt;br /&gt;-Song filled with conviction that kept the Union army marching, eventually putting an end to the separation of the United States and an end to slavery in the country. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a nutshell, this use of symbolism rallies troops.  It is not a tool of fascism anymore than a gun is a tool of fascism.  Just like a gun, symbolism can be used to rally good guys too, like it has throughout American History. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, it’s only the first point.  Maybe this will grow as the countdown continues. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.)  Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights:&lt;/strong&gt;  Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The site shows proof like all the Geneva Convention violations America has on the Gitmo detainees from Afghanistan.  SO?!?!  They were not wearing uniforms.  That alone is reason enough not to apply the Geneva Convention rules.  Let alone that they never signed the Geneva Convention, and therefore cannot be part of the TREATY!  It is not international law.  It is a treaty we signed so that when our combatants get captured, they will be treated halfway decently and not summarily killed by the other nations that signed.  You know, we won’t indefinitely detain and torture your country’s people, and you guys don’t arbitrarily kidnap our people and cut off their heads while filming the results for primetime Al Jazeera.  Or, how about you guys not blowing up citizens and soldiers with suicide bombers not identified with uniforms.  Or not torturing us.  In fact, how about not stealing commercial American jets and ramming them into the Pentagon and the Twin Towers.  Each one of these acts is against the Geneva Convention. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once Al Qaeda signs the Geneva Convention Treaty, stops indiscriminately kidnapping, torturing and killing non-combatants and puts on uniforms.  Until then, this point is considered BS.  The Geneva Convention and Human Rights are not synonymous. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;America is the most companionate nation in World History.  No other nation does what we do to take care of our neighbors.  Heck, we even sent money to Iran to help their earthquake relief.  We oppose human rights?  Work harder than this, please.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.)  Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause:&lt;/strong&gt;  The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Welcome to the frenzy, all!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How pathetic!  Liberals are saying there are being picked on.  Boo hoo.  They are saying the conservative media’s accusations are akin to Nazi Gas Chambers.  Look at the list above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“liberals, communists, socialists, terrorists, etc.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yep, that about does it for me.  :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do not see them as scapegoats.  That would imply that we are in a horrible state right now and need to point at someone to blame for our poor conditions.  The Nazis did this. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I see the liberals and communists and socialists as just wrong.  No offence intended.  They just have bad ideas that do not work out.  American liberals and socialists prove themselves wrong all the time.  They support big government agendas and they just don’t work long term.  Communists…true communists…are anarchists and believe in the estate-less state, no monetary system, the redistribution of wealth, etc.  Show me when that has actually occurred, and I’ll give you my opinion.  In the mean time, call the Soviet Union and Red China and Cuba what they are: socialist.  In any event, no one is identifying these entities for any other reason than that their ideas are stupid.  Some of the conservative writers go to the extreme and say imprudent things.  You will not, however, see the Republican Party or the Bush Administration defend those words.  Last time I checked Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh and the rest do not work for the Bush Administration.  They make tons of money writing books about the irony and idiocy of socialist thought.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then there are the terrorists.  Do I need to expound on this one?  Do I need to point out they are not scapegoats?  Hitler round up the Jews and others and killed them.  Stalin rounded up the Jews and Christians and anyone who disagreed and killed them.  Phol Pot, Chairman Mao, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara all the same.  None of them rounded up the enemy, forced them to stop attacking and threatening others, rebuilt their economy and assisted in democratic reforms. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sorry.  Well, that’s only the first three.  We’ll check out the rest later.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111636280462989667?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111636280462989667/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111636280462989667' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111636280462989667'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111636280462989667'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/05/old-american-century-14-points-from.html' title='Old American Century… 14 Points from a bunch of Jack Asses, Part 1'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111627477918450579</id><published>2005-05-16T13:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-05-16T13:20:57.503-07:00</updated><title type='text'>America...F*@K YEAH!</title><content type='html'>Team America is coming out tomorrow on DVD...and all msut get it! It is the funniest thing out last year. If you do not get this show, you're missing out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The South Park guys made the puppet film. I think they lost money on it, but I'm not sure. It didn't do too well in the theatres. That's too bad. Now I'm sure they won't make anymore.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You have to appreciate the humor of South Park to enjoy this movie. So, don't go into this thinking your getting Star Wars effects or Godfather acting. It is a funny story and a good time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are two songs in the movie that will make you tear up laughing.  One has the same title of this post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111627477918450579?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111627477918450579/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111627477918450579' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111627477918450579'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111627477918450579'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/05/americafk-yeah.html' title='America...F*@K YEAH!'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111627442887963354</id><published>2005-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-05-17T09:44:50.866-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Kingdom of Heaven didn't suck....</title><content type='html'>I saw this movie the weekend it opened and it was a good flick.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Orlando Bloom put on a few pounds, and looked believable as a guy who had to fight. Jeremy Irons, Liam Neissen and Edward Norton (he was the King a Jerusalem...behind a metal mask) did a good job too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some people are whining that it was not accurate. So?!?!?!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Relax and enjoy the movie. There were dumb things in it, but you need to just enjoy the story and not try to get a lesson out of it. Besides, what kind of retard looks to Ridley Scott for historical accuracy? Black Hawk Down is one thing. The crusades? Come on....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111627442887963354?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111627442887963354/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111627442887963354' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111627442887963354'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111627442887963354'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/05/kingdom-of-heaven-didnt-suck.html' title='Kingdom of Heaven didn&apos;t suck....'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111480968779122249</id><published>2005-04-29T14:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-04-29T14:21:27.793-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Sahara Sucks</title><content type='html'>I had a chance to see the movie Sahara.  Don’t waste your time. It had a great idea (it was based on a Clive Cussler novel), but the acting was way too cutesy, and the action was way over the top. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please understand, I like fictional movies.  I thought National Treasure (similar film) was cool.  I was also ready for some things to be a little weird walking in to that movie.  The things that happened in the Sahara movie were not as far fetched as National Treasure.  The action scenes were just dopey.  It was like watching an episode of the A-Team where Hannibal and Face spray a bunch of bullets and kill no one.  Then a bad guy truck flies up in the air when Murdock shoots it with a shotgun.  Ugh! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There’s one point in Sahara when they’re speeding along in a speed boat in a river as a big jeep with a big mounted gun (50 caliber maybe?) is shooting at them.  A few bullets hit the boat here and there, but none stop the boat engine or hit any of the three guys on the boat.  Why would it, they ducked about 3 inches lower than if they were standing straight up.  Anyway, the hero (Matthew McConehey or however you spell it) tosses a flare gun to this other guy, who is a geeky scientist.  He yells, "Shoot the Jeep with the flare gun".  Suddenly, the geeky scientist becomes a flare gun marksman and shoots the flare right into the jeep and blows it up!  Whatever!!!!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111480968779122249?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111480968779122249/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111480968779122249' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111480968779122249'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111480968779122249'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/04/sahara-sucks.html' title='Sahara Sucks'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111420096933768859</id><published>2005-04-22T13:02:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-04-22T13:16:09.336-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Little Addendum to Back peddling</title><content type='html'>What did I tell you? Check out this article. Watch Pelosi backpedal, mates.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050421-115645-8030r.htm"&gt;http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050421-115645-8030r.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-RF&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111420096933768859?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111420096933768859/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111420096933768859' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111420096933768859'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111420096933768859'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/04/little-addendum-to-back-peddling.html' title='Little Addendum to Back peddling'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111409411541390909</id><published>2005-04-21T07:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-04-21T07:35:15.416-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Back Pedaling and Wimping Out</title><content type='html'>I had this one boss who it was easy to freak out.  He would know what was correct to do in a situation, and then totally backpedal his way out when the going got tough.  It seems like a lot of people are doing that these days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Arnold:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  The Governator recently said we should “close the borders” and control who comes in to the country.  Well, the Austrian said “close” instead of “secure”, which the liberal intelligencer infer means he said he wants to stop all immigration.  Instead of calling the liberals morons and laughing at them, he quickly backpedals and apologizes.  Yikes.  Get a little backbone and call them retarded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RINOs:&lt;/strong&gt;  The Republicans In Name Only crowd is starting to back away from a real tough prick in the House, Tom DeLay.  Yes, he’s an A-Hole.  We need an A-Hole to get the $h!t out, don’t we?  So this guy plays tough with people and pushes a successful agenda in congress.  Well, we can’t have that! Progress in congress?!?!  So the Dems explain how he paid his wife and daughter $500k through a PAC (Political Action Committee, dumb-ass) to work on his campaigns.  He also flew to different places with special interest people on their dime.  What does that mean?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, it means he did things that if you look at logically, were just fine.  Over 5 years he paid his wife and daughter $500k.  That means, if they both earned the same amount, they each made $50k a year.  Wow, they are in the money!  Yikes…I would not work full time (probably 80 hours a week knowing how those campaigns go) for a crappy wage like that.  They are both college graduates (Masters) for crying out loud.  They could easily make more, but they’re helping out the family. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What about those trips?  Well, when someone wants to bring a situation to your attention about AIDS in Africa or inner city decay in Detroit and you are not from that area but represent a large legislative team, these interest groups will pay for your flight and stay in the area to ensure you can get there and see what’s going on.  And what happens if his trip results in a better piece of legislation, or even helps a group of people that need it? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;BTW:  Not that this is an excuse, but both are common practices in the House.  Ask Nancy Pelosi if she ever did either and see what the reaction is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cafeteria Catholics:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;  So I’m watching the Cable News Shows and this one clown is concerned about the picking of the new Pope, Benedict XVI (or PBXVI for sake of brevity and cool abbreviation-ness).  This guy whines that PBXVI will not like priests getting married of female priests or gay marriage or anal sex or abortion.  The whiner continues by saying that the church needs to change to keep up with the times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hey, dumb-ass, this isn’t a TV show or a novel, it’s a religion.  There are two parts to Catholicism:  Bible rules and doctrine.  When Bible says you are not supposed to lay with other men and have relations as you would with a wife, then YOU DON’T.  It is unacceptable, and considered a sin.  Murder is also a sin, according to the Bible and the fifth commandment.  That extends to euthanasia and abortion.  Write me back if you want to lose that debate.  I won’t dwell on it now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, I have sinned.  What I do is think it over, realize I was wrong, and I ask for forgiveness.  I also never do it again, or try hard not to do it again.  Can we say the same for those who abort a child or commit sodomy with someone of the same sex?  I hope so, but sometimes these are habits and we do not want to embrace our mistakes and do something about them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Doctrine, on the other hand, can change.  Maybe it will, and married men will become priests.  There are already two exceptions to the rule now.  First, if you are a married Protestant Priest and you convert to Catholicism, you can continue to be a priest and stay married.  Also, if you are a widower, you can become a priest.  Maybe women can too someday with a change of doctrine.  But the real issues aren’t with doctrine.  There with the Church not bending in the wind about gays and loose sex and the aftermath sins of depression, suicide, abortion, drug abuse, etc. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cafeteria Catholics like to go to the moral buffet and pick what they want to believe.  That’s not the deal in Catholicism.  You’re either in for every course or you don’t get dessert. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know one guy who said to me “Yep.  I’m Catholic.  But I think abortion is all right.  And I do not believe I have to do what the Pope says regarding moral issues.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I responded “Well, if you don’t believe in those things, how can you claim to be Catholic?  There is no Catholic Light.  There is no Catholic democracy.  These are things that are wrong and you must do your best to stop, through deeds and advice to friends.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“You can’t tell me I cannot be Catholic.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“I didn’t.  I said you are not Catholic if you believe abortion is fine and you do not have to listen to Papal Edicts.  You can call yourself ‘Catholic’.  Hell, I can call myself ‘King’.  That doesn’t mean I am.  That doesn’t mean you are Catholic, either.  Perhaps a discussion with your priest in a confessional would help, slick.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“How dare you judge me!”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Well, I dare because I know what I’m talking about and you are lacking.  You should be judged and I can do that since I know what I’m talking about.  You are not a practicing Catholic.  You are a guy who sits in the aisles and eats a wafer every Sunday, but does not embrace the grace of God through his sacrifice.  He calls to you to sacrifice and structure yourself according to teachings.  You refuse.  That wafer is only a wafer, not the Eucharist, not the covenant between you and God.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The guy walks away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh well…can’t win them all over.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can, however, judge the morally weak and the wimpy and the back pedaling bastards that betray their original intent because things get uncomfortable. The right way is seldom the easy way.  Stop being a wimp and try being something more!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111409411541390909?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111409411541390909/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111409411541390909' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111409411541390909'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111409411541390909'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/04/back-pedaling-and-wimping-out.html' title='Back Pedaling and Wimping Out'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111273079128617236</id><published>2005-04-05T12:52:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-04-05T12:53:11.290-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Minute Men…but not like that….</title><content type='html'>I would not want to be called a “Minute Man”.  I would be mocked for some perceived quickness with my Mrs.    People would point their finger at me and laugh, not because of my funny three cornered hat either.  I guess Paul Revere didn’t worry about ridicule with a label like that.  I guess they just didn’t talk about that stuff in public.  The media had other things to communicate.  Thomas Payne had other things on his mind I suppose.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I was reading about some guys who are “patrolling” the border with Mexico. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;u=/ap/20050405/ap_on_re_us/border_volunteers_5"&gt;http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&amp;amp;u=/ap/20050405/ap_on_re_us/border_volunteers_5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wow!  I thought we paid taxes to have the federal government do that….&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So GW implies they are “vigilantes”.  The Mexican military are on their side readying their troops for “action”.  Homeland Security sent another 2000 troops to watch the Minute Men, who watch the boarder and illegal immigrants that cross the border.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What does all this mean?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everything goes back to slavery if you reason it out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We want cheap labor in the USA.  That’s no crime.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before, we held people against their will and forced them to pick our stuff.  That was no crime…until we amended the Constitution.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before, we raided orphanages and poor children would work 16 hours a day with minimal breaks, wages, safety concerns.  That was no crime…until child labor laws came about.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Before, we used women in industrial mills and other tedious jobs and paid them less then men.  They weren’t heads of households, and didn’t need as much money as men, right?  That was no crime…until we made it illegal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, low and behold, we have found the perfect angle.  Let’s get Mexicans to pick our stuff!  I love my fruits and veggies cheap!  We do not need to pay these Mexicans minimum wage, since they are here illegally.  They do not get benefits, etc.  They really aren’t Americans…they’re different.  We do not have to worry about their safety, their equitable pay, their health or their future.  They should be glad we allow them to pick our elitist yummies!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sounding familiar?  The illegal immigrant is this century’s slave.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vicente Fox (the President of Mexico, dumb-ass) doesn’t care.  Illegal Immigrant money that is sent back to Mexico is the #2 contributor to the Mexican economy.  Even if his people are treated as second class and slaves, he still gets his big cut.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;GW doesn’t care.  All those Border States need their stuff picked!  And we also love the cheap construction costs, housekeeping, etc.  All those industries would have to raise their pay if illegal immigrants went away.  Hell, they may have to treat the people doing these jobs with respect!  Not in my country, damn it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember Cruz Bustamante, the Lt. Governor of California speak to the illegal immigrant question.  He called them “undocumented workers”.  This of course, is an attempt to manipulate the problem by changing the label.  That is just atypical propaganda.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cruz asked, “Who will pick our crops?  Who will do our manual labor?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FUCK YOU! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Do you wonder what Jefferson Davis said when the issue of the abolition of slavery came up?  I bet it sounded like this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“Who will pick our crops?  Who will do our manual labor?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Answer:  Somebody will, or nobody will, or smart inventors will figure a way to do it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How do we still get our cotton picked and cleaned and spun and made into the clothes you have on right now (at least I hope you have clothes on, you sick freaks!)?  We no longer have slaves doing it.  How does it get done?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Holding on to the slavery of illegal immigration hurts us in many ways.  Please consider each I offer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1)  We treat an entire group of people as less than human.  Don’t give me this voluntary garbage, either.  We established a minimum wage, a retirement and insurance safety net, a medical assistance plan, OSHA, DOL, and the other alphabet soups to ensure all men (in the gender neutral sense) were treated fairly and equally.  This does not happen when illegal immigrants fall under the radar.  They are slaves, and don’t mince words.&lt;br /&gt;2)  Emergency systems such as hospitals and other government sponsored systems like schools get short changed when tax dollars from legal workers and allocations from government programs do not recognize illegal immigrants’ existence.  All our services drop in quality when an unknown drain occurs.&lt;br /&gt;3)  We subjugate a group of people, and in the end get something for nothing (or less in this case).  Where then is the motivation to invent a new more efficient system if we already do well in the present state?  Look at cars.  We’re doing just fine right now with internal combustion engines.  Why don’t we have alternative fuel cars right now?  NO, big business isn’t stopping it.  Our demand (more over our lack of demand) stops it in its tracks.  It’s the same with a different and fairer way to pick crops.  Things are so cheap now, why change?&lt;br /&gt;4)  Mexico needs to either become more self sufficient as a nation or its people need to overthrow their current system and change.  As an example, why is Castro still in charge of Cuba?  It is not because he’s doing such a swell job.  They live poorly.  They have medical problems.  They drive around in ancient cars and rely on 1950s and 60s technology to get by.  I submit to you the real reason is America’s immigration policy with Cuba.  Any Cuban that can make it to our shores can automatically stay.  So, instead of disgruntled Cubans staying in Cuba and getting pissed off and knocking Castro out of the picture, they come to Florida.  What if Mexicans stayed in Mexico and had to fend for themselves?  Do you think the corrupt system presently in place would exist for very long?  It doesn’t take Che Guevara to figure out the Mexican people are being cheated by the Fat Cats and that changes are necessary to assure Mexico’s future.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So a bunch of pot bellied guys in their forties sit in lawn chairs near the Arizona/Mexico border and call the cops when people try crossing over.  OK.  If anything, they serve as a symbol to make us think, even if it is for just a minute.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, the people cross over for a better life.  Yes, they try to escape corruption and poverty.  I await them with open arms, right after they register legally and gain the rights every other worker in the USA has.  I do not want the slave trade that has been sneaking over my border anymore.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111273079128617236?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111273079128617236/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111273079128617236' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111273079128617236'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111273079128617236'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/04/minute-menbut-not-like-that.html' title='Minute Men…but not like that….'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111264242964432282</id><published>2005-04-04T11:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2005-04-04T12:20:29.650-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Shadows of Life</title><content type='html'>I was reading Pat Buchanon's latest online and I liked this quote he mentioned from Hubert Humphrey. For those of you who do not know, Humphrey was a Senator from Minnesota, then a Vice President under LBJ, and always a passionate liberal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"The moral test of government is how [it] treats those who are in the dawn of life ... those who are in the twilight of life ... and those who are in the shadows of life."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wow. Would he be considered pro-life, or pro-abortion/euthanasia?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How about this one?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic."&lt;br /&gt;-Joseph Stalin&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since 1973 (after Roe v. Wade), it is estimated that 20 million babies have been killed. Would that be 20 statistics, or such a ridiculous and awful number to think about that we dismiss it. Is that what Stalin meant?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How about an oldy?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Death is not the worst; rather, in vain&lt;br /&gt;To wish for death, and not to compass it."&lt;br /&gt;-Sophocles&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps he who embraces death, worships it, excuses it, allows it unnecessarily, is worst? Do we worship the words of judges, or judge the words they proclaim? When do we say stop? Do we say stop?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am getting obsessed with the subject. Tomorrow will be better. It's just that Schiavo died and then the Pope. Who's next, Johnny Cochran?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What? Oh no!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111264242964432282?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111264242964432282/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111264242964432282' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111264242964432282'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111264242964432282'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/04/shadows-of-life.html' title='Shadows of Life'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111238245240978460</id><published>2005-04-01T10:38:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-04-01T11:07:32.413-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Why the Resistance to Existence?</title><content type='html'>Ms. Terri is now gone. The Pope was just reported dead as well. There sure is a lot of death these days. I find it a recurring theme in my thoughts and its physical representation (this blog). Please indulge me a little while longer on this subject.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Schiavo case is such an anomaly in regards to coverage and content. It stopped being about the legal rights of a human in America. It became this ridiculous tug-of-war between the wishes of relatives. That’s not what this should be about. I could give a shit about what Mike Schiavo or the Schindlers or Sean Hannity or Chris Matthews thinks. Fuck them! None of them have a say. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Only Ms. Terri does. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;She could not speak for herself, so a dumb-assed all important judge “rules” off a 6 year old recollection from an old husband who has all but remarried to another woman he has 2 kids with.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What?!?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wrong, wrong, wrong! Life is the important result, not death or a government's ruling on it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thousands of people are in similar physical conditions. Some will live on, and their families will take care of them. Some will die as loved ones unplug them from machines that extend their silent days. Some believe these families have a terrible burden and choice to make. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;I do not.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Sorry, there is no choice. Sorry to get theological on you, but the Higher Power, the Creator makes these calls already. This is true both legally and morally. Let me expound.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“…all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness….”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It’s simple. Our right to life, our life is endowed by our Creator, not a judge or a law. This is true especially in the United States. Our founding fathers made sure that they recognized God as giving out the rights. You and I and Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer do not have the power to make the decision to pull feeding tubes from other people, PERIOD. Our responsibility and duty is to connect those feeding tubes and extend that person’s life. We’re talking about food and water here, team, not an Iron Lung or a dialysis machine. This wasn’t a body being pumped and jolted and manipulated to continue to live. This is about starvation. For crying out loud, we hand out sandwiches to people. Are we saying if the person can no longer chew they deserve to die?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She was alive. Yep, that life looked pretty darn shitty. Yep, we did not know if she recognized her surroundings or family or that she was even alive. That does not matter. We are not entitled to judge the value of life in different stages per the Constitution. Read the Constitution. It is not about what rights people have. It’s about all the things the government better not do unless they want the people to rise up, destroy that government and start again. It keeps the government in line, not the people. Some perceive this government has a “right” to decide whether or not a comatose person should be allowed to live, or to mediate the decision between family members. This is only a recent “right” given to those with an opinion by Judges who “interpret” their opinions from plainly written documents that make no mention of their conclusions. Heck, they can even ignore plainly written laws if they “feel” like it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What’s the truth now? A husband that does not want the wife to live can have that wife killed, as long as that wife is incapable of saying otherwise.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Compare it to an analogous situation. If your brother is an extremely ugly person that looks miserable because he is so ugly, why can’t you petition the government to save him the pain of living a life you would not wish to live?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, because he can speak for himself and say he wants to live.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, as long as you can represent yourself, you deserve to live, right? That means the weak that cannot represent themselves have no right to live.&lt;br /&gt;-Euthanasia of the comatose is OK since they cannot complain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another analogy:&lt;br /&gt;-Abortions are OK since they cannot complain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is, in fact, law. An unborn child is a human life…unless a “mother” (I cannot believe I have no other choice but to use the term “mother”) says they are not. An 8 month pregnant woman drives down to the abortion clinic with the intent of destroying that child. She is hit by a drunk driver. The unborn child dies from the accident. That drunk driver can be charged with murder. Scott Peterson is another example. Why was he charged with second degree murder for his unborn son Connor if Lacy could have gone down to Planned Parenthood that day and had little Connor killed?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What’s the truth now? A mother that does not want the child to live can have that child killed, as long as that child is incapable of saying otherwise.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the mother dislikes that silent life, that human life is not a person.&lt;br /&gt;If the husband dislikes that silent life, that human life is not a person.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our courts are imperfect. They need to realize this, or they need to go away. They do not have the legal power to rule on these subjects. Life is already the rule. And yet, these courts are all0wed to make these rulings with nothing more than a wimper.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I feel the anger well in my fingers as I type this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’m done for now. My fingers hurt from digging deeply into my keyboard.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111238245240978460?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111238245240978460/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111238245240978460' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111238245240978460'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111238245240978460'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/04/why-resistance-to-existence.html' title='Why the Resistance to Existence?'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111179686558838557</id><published>2005-03-25T16:25:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-03-25T16:33:25.440-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Death Becomes Them, and They Become Death</title><content type='html'>Death becomes them, and they become death.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have struck up the conversation or blogged many people I love and admire regarding the Terri Schiavo situation. Their opinions vary.  Some say they would never want to live that way and would prefer death to vegetable status.  Some see it as a right to life issue and do not know how to expound on that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I see this case the same way I see abortion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This woman is clearly an inconvenience to the person who is responsible for her, and instead of allowing the process of adoption (or surrendering her to her parents), he wants her dead.  I do not buy the “she’s brain dead” or “she would not want to live the way she does now” or any of it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-“She’s brain dead.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What does that mean?  Is that a medical term?  What is the catalyst for that diagnosis being the right one versus the equal amount of diagnoses that say she can recuperate somewhat? I heard the husband tried to rehabilitate her.  I heard he did not try hard enough.  I have heard enough.  It doesn’t matter.  Keep trying until that heart gives out, not your feeble resolve. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-“She would not want to live the way she does now.”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No kidding?  I would not want to live that way either.  That does not make my only two choices either full body function or death.  I am not living in that state right now, so how would I know that things would be so bad I would try death instead of catatonia?  The arrogance to assume you know a living person would be better off dead is amazing!  Who made you psychic or empathic enough to weigh those options?  By the way, they are not options!  You do not have a choice between continuing to feed an injured person or just letting them die.  Well, you don’t if you value your soul.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These people are the same ones that tell you a woman has “the right to choose”. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;+Really?  Choose what? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Choose the right to make her own medical decisions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;+What do you mean?  People are stopping women from making medical decisions?  Can she not have an appendectomy if she needs it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Well, no, the medical decision to have certain medical procedure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;+Oh, you mean the completely voluntary procedure to kill a baby?  Isn’t that more a procedure to end the life of another person?  The changes to the mother’s body are only collateral to the killing of the child.  Therefore, she is making no decision about her body.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Grrrrrr!  How dare you twist my words!  You are hateful!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;+What?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-You heard me!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;+-+-+-+-+&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, enough role-playing.  Let’s face facts.  There is a person who clearly does not want Terry to go on living in her current condition: her “husband”. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Can he even be called her husband when he is already married to another woman in all ways except for a marriage certificate authorized by a church and the state?) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are others who want her dead as well.  They would feel better with her dead.  That death would fill a void they have that is filled with a type of worship that has been around for some time.  These people worship death.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Killing unborn children is OK.  They cannot call out in pain for themselves, so they do not deserve consideration.&lt;br /&gt;-Killing the weak and frail and injured is OK.  They cannot call out in pain for themselves, so they do not deserve consideration.&lt;br /&gt;-Human life is the same as animal life.  I “love” my pet and will pay several thousands of dollars to have her fed, de-clawed, operated on and buried with a full funeral.&lt;br /&gt;-There is no God. &lt;br /&gt;-All religions are for the weak. &lt;br /&gt;-Faith is a country singer, not a calling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Look at the list above.  Who fits it?  Hitler? Stalin? Chairman Mao? Che Guevara?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Michael Moore? Sadam Hussein?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111179686558838557?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111179686558838557/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111179686558838557' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111179686558838557'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111179686558838557'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/03/death-becomes-them-and-they-become.html' title='Death Becomes Them, and They Become Death'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111168578139670339</id><published>2005-03-24T09:32:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-03-24T09:36:21.400-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Winter Quarter Wind Down</title><content type='html'>Well, Professor Bill was satiated for the winter 2005 quarter at our local Junior College. He now has received my two day presentation on Earth in the Balance by Al Gore, and a ten to fourteen page essay on my “ideal structure for a government". I have to get started on my letter to the Dean about him. I think I received an A in the class, but then that isn't the point, is it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ideal structure for a government.... No, not really. It was really just an attempt at something fun. I called my imaginary country the Union of Self Governing Provinces (the Provincial Union for short) and its governing system a triocracy. I poked fun at how everything interesting or “balanced” in appearance seems to break down into threes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Our Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches in the U.S.&lt;br /&gt;-Our “natural rights” of Life, Liberty and Property (ala John Locke)&lt;br /&gt;-See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil&lt;br /&gt;-The Father, Son and Holy Ghost&lt;br /&gt;-Rock, scissors, paper&lt;br /&gt;-Larry, Moe, Curly&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like I said, all things that appear perfectly balanced and fair seem to sum up into three categories. Anyway, he looked pleased and acted very satisfied with my sucking up to the BS AL Gore threatens will happen if we don’t dry hump a tree instead of cut it down and make paper and houses and firewood. Ugh!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Take a half glass of water. Drop in a few ice cubes…enough to have some underwater and some above. Locate the water level within the glass. Draw a line on the glass where the water level is. Now let the ice melt. What happened to the water level?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, we have a bunch of glacier ice floating in the ocean right now. Some of it is melting in some scientists’ opinion more than it should. These same scientists claim the coast cities will all be flooded and the water levels will rise once this happens. Look at your glass of water, and see what happened when the mass of your glacier was ice and then when it became water. Did the mass of that glacier water, between solid and liquid form, change?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh well, at least I’m not ranting about the precious God-given life that is going to be snuffed out in Florida because she cannot ask them to stop it herself. But then, the weak are never as valuable as the obnoxious. Hey, maybe we can suck out her stem cells too and experiment on them. She doesn’t need them anymore than those messy aborted babies….&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111168578139670339?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111168578139670339/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111168578139670339' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111168578139670339'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111168578139670339'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/03/winter-quarter-wind-down.html' title='Winter Quarter Wind Down'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-111100217996009651</id><published>2005-03-16T11:19:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-03-16T11:42:59.963-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Nicotine Dreams and Self Control</title><content type='html'>One of my buds, Strode (http://straightjacket.afterhourspub.com/), is trying to stop smoking.  He is very upset and having a tough time.  I wrote him some words of encouragement.  Unfortunately, I just read it over and it feels like I’m yelling at him and not give him a Vince Lombardi.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think the big reason is that I quit on December 30th just before New Years and I don’ think I want to quit.  I LOVE SMOKING.  It tastes good.  It passes the time.  The drug circulates in my body and I just feel better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember an episode of the West Wing where the Chief of Staff, who is an alcoholic, is asked about his addiction.  The monologue explanation of addiction afterward was right on!  To paraphrase, the guy would look at that drink and know it was addictive and bad and harmful overall.  Then he would ask who in their right mind would not enjoy that delicious drink?  Who would waste their time and not take advantage of the pleasure that drink provides?   The whole idea of depriving oneself of something so wonderful was laughable.  Then he'd slam the drink.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I feel the same way about cigarettes.  But I did not quit them because I wanted to.  I quit smoking because I have to. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have babies I want to see grow up.  They depend on me to be there for them.  Dying young for me is ruthlessly cruel to them and very self-centered.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have a wife who intends to spend the rest of her life with me.  When we get older and can start traveling and enjoying the limited wealth we’ve saved, does she deserve a husband she has to wheel around with an oxygen tube?  Does she deserve to watch her husband decay and die with cancer, heart disease?  It would be just as selfish as suicide except I would drag my death out and torture her more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have goals I want to achieve.  I would love to continue my education (sure, as a hobby really) and some day become a doctor of philosophy.  I would love to start a second career once I retire from this one and be a teacher.  Will I see retirement age with a cigarette jammed in my mouth every 45 minutes? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have come to the conclusion that addiction is for the near sighted and selfish.  They care more for personal pleasure and care less about their loved ones.  I don’t mean this of people who have not sat down and critically worked out the drive to smoke.  They are not evil.  They just haven’t drawn the same conclusion, yet.  If I think this way, I guess I guilt myself into saving my own life.  So be it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I note that since December 30th I have stopped smoking.  I still want to smoke, but I can’t.  I want one right now, but I won’t.  How do I stop this? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think of my babies.  I think of Roxane.  The rest is easy.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-111100217996009651?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/111100217996009651/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=111100217996009651' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111100217996009651'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/111100217996009651'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/03/nicotine-dreams-and-self-control.html' title='Nicotine Dreams and Self Control'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110997024782926082</id><published>2005-03-04T12:50:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-03-04T13:04:07.830-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Earth for the Unbalanced</title><content type='html'>So my communist junior college teacher, Professor Bill, assigned communist propaganda books to read and I have to read Earth in the Balance with Al Gore.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am up to page 187. This is the largest, squarest looking sleeping pill I have ever taken. BORING! Besides that, he just makes crap up, and also makes statements with no support. Read the Cato Institute info on global warming. It is accurate and supported.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.cato.org"&gt;www.cato.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110997024782926082?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110997024782926082/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110997024782926082' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110997024782926082'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110997024782926082'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/03/earth-for-unbalanced.html' title='Earth for the Unbalanced'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110937326692280364</id><published>2005-02-25T10:33:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-25T15:14:26.923-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Let Me Decide</title><content type='html'>I am tired of all these jerks telling me that social security is this wonderful system that should never be touched or changed. BS! I have a Universal Life Insurance Policy. I pay far less into it than social security insurance (the real, full name for Social Security). If I die, my family gets $500k. With Social Security, they get a spittle of money. Once I reach 57 years old, I get about $40k a year. I'll get about $12k from SSI.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Why the difference? It's real simple. The government is running SSI. The Universal Life Policy was voluntary, and there are several companies that compete for my business. The government people running SSI will not lose their job or customers if they have crappy performance. They do not have to keep me happy, or their overhead low. The businesses, on the other hand, WILL GO OUT OF BUSINESS if they do nothing. Apathy equals death to them. Their care and stress is my better return and deal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now just think if you could pay less than the payroll tax and get back 3 to 4 times more out of the situation? YOU CAN! Get rid of FDR's dinosaur turd of a system!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110937326692280364?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110937326692280364/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110937326692280364' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110937326692280364'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110937326692280364'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/let-me-decide.html' title='Let Me Decide'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110935641905127100</id><published>2005-02-25T10:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-25T10:33:39.053-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Prof Bill pleasently surprises</title><content type='html'>Amazingly enough, Wednesday Prof Bill commented to the class on my research and said I did a good job, and then allowed the class to take the additional copies he scooped up.  Wow, you'd think he was starting to see the light.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then he went into the "bush is evil" diatribe again, and lost me once more.  I had to skip class yesterday (work gets in the way of fun!), but if anything new or exciting happens, I'll update you.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110935641905127100?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110935641905127100/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110935641905127100' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110935641905127100'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110935641905127100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/prof-bill-pleasently-surprises.html' title='Prof Bill pleasently surprises'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110910578490574413</id><published>2005-02-22T12:15:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-22T12:56:24.906-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Prof Bill continues....</title><content type='html'>I came in early into my Political Philosophy class today with 15 copies of my data showing President Bush in fact showed up for Guard duty and that my professor was ignorant.  I plopped down the copies, along with copies of a CATO Institute essay on the Ownership Society.  The kids filed in and picked up both copies as they passed by the podium to their seats.  There were a few copies left when my favorite Berret wearing professor walked in.  He had a small cowboy hat on today, though.  The kind of hat James West wore on the Wild Wild West. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He saw the remaining copies and grunted, "what's all this?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I spoke up.  "The information you asked me to get for you, sir.  The evidence that George Bush did his time in the guard as required."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Not articles, but documentation...evidence?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Yep.  It's all right there."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He would not even look me in the eye.  He scooped up the papers and hid them under his podium.  The class then went on.  He went on to tell us the Palenstinians had a "perfect right" to blow up Isrealis.  Since we supported Isreal, we got 9/11.  He then said George Bush uses "Gun Boat Diplomacy" when he said the Syrians should get out of Lebanon. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His next favorite subject, Condoleeza Rice, came up.  Today he said she looked like the yellow foot fungus cartoon character in recent commericals about toe nail disease.  He then mocked her with a African-American female accent, inflecting the name "Riiysssse", throwing in "ya'lls", etc.  Secretary Rice doesn't talk like that.  He was being racist, plain and simple.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, he ignores evidence that proved his previous claims wrong, advocates the continued deaths of Jews, mocks the firs Afirican-American female Secretary of State in a racist way, and again teaches us nothing about Political Philosophy.  By the way, he demanded an assignment he did not assign on Thursday for today, and told us we should have known to do it.  I will still get an A out of this class, but come on!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once he called the end of class, I went up front, pulled my research copies from his podium and put them out for others to take as they passed by.  He was disturbed by this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FUN!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110910578490574413?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110910578490574413/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110910578490574413' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110910578490574413'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110910578490574413'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/prof-bill-continues.html' title='Prof Bill continues....'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110874675530139936</id><published>2005-02-18T09:01:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-18T09:12:35.303-08:00</updated><title type='text'>A Fellow Student Last Night</title><content type='html'>So last night I saw a fellow student from Foothill College on the Hannity and Colmes show.  The show is pretty popular as cable news shows go, and is on the Fox News Channel.  The kid's name is Ahmad and he received a severely raw deal from Foothill and one professor in particular.  I remember reading about his problems on this website a month or so ago.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://academicbias.com/blog/index.php?p=6"&gt;http://academicbias.com/blog/index.php?p=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was pretty tough for a 17 year old to go through.  I wish him luck and also extend a hand if he needs it.  Maybe a little solidarity would help.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110874675530139936?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110874675530139936/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110874675530139936' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110874675530139936'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110874675530139936'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/fellow-student-last-night.html' title='A Fellow Student Last Night'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110867214476963245</id><published>2005-02-17T12:21:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-17T15:40:23.840-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Addendum:  Prof. Bill and his liberal pills</title><content type='html'>God bless factcheck.org. Even if it is bloody with liberal slant, all the data I need for Tuesday to show Professor Bill he's a retarded Marxist with delusions of Fox Mulder importance was there. It even has PDF docs that come from the AF archives that show official visits and numbers for Bush in the AIr National Guard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm printing it up right now. Yippee! I think when I hand it out I'm going to give the class the old Jack Lord speech. Have you ever watched Hawaii 5-0? At the end of every episode Jack Lord (as Police Chief Steve McGarret) would get all preachy and give this big self-important speech about how cool and righteous he was. What a prick! I will be like that!!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe not. Maybe I'll just hand it out and smile politely and let the class figure it all out: I am a genius and incredibly wise and Prof. Bill is a twisted biased snob that needs to cork the opinion and get to teaching some political philosophy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We'll see....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110867214476963245?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110867214476963245/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110867214476963245' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110867214476963245'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110867214476963245'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/addendum-prof-bill-and-his-liberal.html' title='Addendum:  Prof. Bill and his liberal pills'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110866523347702863</id><published>2005-02-17T10:31:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-17T15:52:23.430-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Proffessor Bill and the ESA (Evil States of America)</title><content type='html'>"Kennedy was not killed by Oswald.  The mob, FBI, rich Texas oil men and Lyndon Johnson did it."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"A woman in her 20s cannot be held responsibile for statuatory rape of a 12 year old boy she teaches in a class.  Love makes us do crazy things, like rape children."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Social Security is just fine.  Leave it alone.  Bush is only trying to scare us into givin gall the social security money to his friends on Wall Street."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"You are not really free unless the government provides you food, clothing, shelter and medical care.  Then you can be free.  Everything else is the imprisonment of capitalism."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;HELP!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Welcome to Political Philosophy Class in a California Silicon Valley community college. One of my goals in life is to become degreed. This is much like pedigreed for dogs as far as I am concerned. The best dogs in my mind are the mutts. They are happy and fun and do incredible things. The well bred dogs are slightly retarded from in-breeding and cost more than they are worth. College educated folks usually are the same way. However, degrees open doors. I want more open doors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So Professor Bill of Political Philosophy told us, as a fact, that George H. W. Bush went to Paris in early 1980 and met with Iranians. He made a deal with them. The Iranians agreed not to let the hostages free until after the election. This would cause Jimmy Carter to lose and Ronald Reagan to win.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Professor Bill often goes into perplexing diatribes about the evil Bush clan. It has nothing to do with better understanding the organizational structures of socialism, capitalism, communism, fascism, etc. or how Hobbes applied the principles of the Leviathan to sovereign power or how Kant believes we are “free to perform our duty”. He does not care about that. We are a captive audience that must somehow please him to get a good grade to pass the class to move on to getting a degree to then join the kennel club known as the free market.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What a freakin’ retard! This isn’t the first slice of bullshit he has hacked off and put on a paper plate for our consumption. It won’t be the last.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I raised my hand defiantly and waited for him as he ignored me for about 10 minutes until finally I blurted out "Where do you get that info, sir?"&lt;br /&gt;He looked at me stupefied. "Well it was all over the papers and magazines at the time."&lt;br /&gt;"Really, sir? Which ones?"&lt;br /&gt;"Well, Time and all the rest."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I could take no more. There are 19 year olds in this class, conditioned to take whatever this bloated Bolshevik spews as gospel. Lies like this one just can't stand without a hearty challenge. "I don't buy that crap for a dime, Mister. If you were upset that Carter lost, fine. Don't mire Reagan’s election with your filth just because you voted a different way. Pass along some evidence to this or back off the claim." Remember, true believers, this is a Political Philosophy class. You should never make a philosophical claim and demand it has merit if you cannot back it up with proof and a rational argument.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He stammered and stuttered and changed the subject, as he often does.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today in his class, he said that Bush did not spend the time he was supposed to in the Guard. Prof. Bill had nothing to back this up. When I challenged his assertion, he told me to provide the proof. HOW RETARDED! I am not making the claim against Bush! He should supply the proof!!!&lt;br /&gt;I did not care. I said I would bring the data in for him on Tuesday when we meet again.&lt;br /&gt;Now I need to go find the stuff. Thank God for the Internet. I’ll find what I need there I am sure.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110866523347702863?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110866523347702863/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110866523347702863' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110866523347702863'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110866523347702863'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/proffessor-bill-and-esa-evil-states-of.html' title='Proffessor Bill and the ESA (Evil States of America)'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110850059561774484</id><published>2005-02-15T12:36:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-15T12:49:55.616-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Hello Poopy</title><content type='html'>"Hello Poopy."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My son recently told me this and then laughed chaotically, like he was about to kill James Bond with a laser.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My son connected the dots. Poopy sounds like papa. He can call me poopy and play the word game with me and mock me in his diabolical loving way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To him, this is funny.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To me, it's funny too. I will not call him poopy, however, in retaliation. He's only 22 months old.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110850059561774484?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110850059561774484/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110850059561774484' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110850059561774484'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110850059561774484'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/hello-poopy.html' title='Hello Poopy'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10853684.post-110848334161474628</id><published>2005-02-15T07:59:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2005-02-15T12:32:53.353-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Welcome to the Reason Ranch</title><content type='html'>This is my first attempt at blogging, so please be kind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am going to drop a rant or two off every-so-often and expect to feel better about myself because of it.  If you see something you'd like to comment on, please do so.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Get out your lasso.  Strap on your spurs.  There's reason out there we need to rustle.  Who better than the Russellfish to do it?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/10853684-110848334161474628?l=reasonranch.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/feeds/110848334161474628/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10853684&amp;postID=110848334161474628' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110848334161474628'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10853684/posts/default/110848334161474628'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://reasonranch.blogspot.com/2005/02/welcome-to-reason-ranch.html' title='Welcome to the Reason Ranch'/><author><name>Ruslfish</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/12892186103021036278</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>
