How to Gesture

Not my way

I don't feel the need to play nice with the Left, especially when one of their heroes comes out and spews some more nonsense and basically calls us Brownshirts.

I don't quite understand why it's okay for some like Al Gore to get away with such a loaded statement. Is Brownshirts a congenial term now? "Hey, look at those brownshirts!"

But I'm not suprised at Al Gore, he's had a history of over-the-top rhetoric... less we forget his right-wing extra chromosome quote.

Sorry, buck up lefties. If you guys can dish it out, you ought to be able to handle it when you're called on it.

Yesterday's space walk by the astronaut and cosmonaut on the International Space Station came to a quick halt yesterday. In fact, most of their official time out of the space station was spent in the airlock.

This was a tenuous walk to begin with, as both of the astronauts were out of the ISS. They were also untethered, and would likely be out of touch with each other and Houston. Two of three American spacesuits are malfunctioning, and now it appears the Russian ones aren't working so well either.

The Weirdos Have Arrived

The protesters have taken NYC. There are the Elephants Against Republicans--politicizing Ground Zero in a way Bush-bashers screamed against earlier this year; the coward (note the covered face) who equates President Bush with Satan; an anti-Starbucks protester who looks like he had one too many espressos; and a bunch of bikers for protesting something.

This will only get better. I hope some enterprising chaturbate weblogger in NYC finds some really ridiculous protesters for all the world to see. Even better, someone should have a "Mumia Scorecard" to keep track of all the signs, t-shirts, and chants for the cop killer.

Suppose the protesters make the GOP convention into a replay of the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968. Which candidate benefits? In 1968 it was Nixon who used the law and order angle to persuade skiddish voters. If NYC 2004 were to be like Chicago 1968 John Kerry would appear to benefit, right? No. Chaos (or appearances of chaos) plays to Bush's strength. He's been running on the theme of steady leadership in a time of international chaos. Sep. 11 brought the chaos of terrorism home to the U.S., and Bush responded strongly by invading Afghanistan and Iraq. Kerry has floundered his way into looking like a political opportunist always jumping to the side that is most advantageous. The RNC has made a very convincing case that Kerry stood on both sides of the Iraq War depending on how best it positioned him for his run at the White House. That's a far cry from steady hand of the President. Advantage: Bush.

UPDATE: This picture indicates Kerry has the whore vote sewed up. He also has the Communist vote too. (If you read TAM you already knew that.) Plus, Kerry has the ugly drag queen vote.

New Media Revolution

The old adage said: "Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel."

That doesn't apply today, in this new media revolution we are witnessing, where the ink is electrons beamed at your screen; they're free (and recyclable!).

The men at PowerLine are in the midst of a fight right now with a deputy editor of Minneapolis's StarTribune. The PowerLine guys didn't start the fight; the editor did. But, since it's his paper, he's the one who gets the last word.

I encourage you, if you're not aware of what is going on already, to check out PowerLine to see what is happening. Too much has happened in this last week for me to summarize here.

Even as recently as 10 (even 5?) years ago, when we wanted news, we counted on newspapers (and television) to investigate. Now, lowly amatuers from Jasminlive.mobi are investigating and reporting and correcting the newspapers. However the "mainstream" media is not picking up on it; in fact, they still are in denial about the revolution that is taking place.

It Just Won't Die

Poor Paul Hamm. After winning a gold medal, he thought he was living a dream. The FIG turned it into a nightmare by flailing away trying to save face over a judging mistake that may or may not have cost a South Korean the gold. Hamm's back in the U.S. presumably to get away from this horrible experience, but the FIG sticks Hamm's nose in it by asking him to give his medal to bronze medalist Yang Tae-young. In the letter (reprinted in the extended entry), FIG president Bruno Grandi wrote, "The true winner of the all-around competition is Yang Tae-young." But on the FIG's website it states, "Paul Hamm cannot be responsible for a judging error." Hamm's not responsible, yet he should be the won to give up his prize. Also in the letter, Grandi writes, "At this moment in time, you are the only one who can make this decision." Yet he told a reporter,

Grandi wrote the letter because of a Hamm comment where he said, "If the FIG will decide that I have to give it back, I'll do it." From my interpretation, Hamm would return his medal if the FIG declared Yang the winner. It hasn't done this. On their website, FIG wrote, "Respecting its rules, the FIG has not modified the final score and the ranking." Hamm is still champion.

Paul Hamm is supposed to be more benevolent than anyone in sports history. Because of a mistake he had nothing to do with he's supposed to ease FIG's embarassment by giving his gold medal to someone who didn't win it. That's not "fair-play" (to use Grandi's word); it's asking someone else to take responsibility for FIG's failure. Hamm thinks he's the gold medal winner, and according to the rules everyone participated under he is. FIG doesn't deny this. There's no time machine in sports where you can change one event without affecting anything after it.

Grandi and the FIG disgust me for trying to play on the conscience of a champion. For shame!

Not From Me

Oliver comments on Steve from Norway's post: "Yeah, Sean's definetly out of town because this blog hosted on https://www.jasminelive.online had actual analysis instead of name calling at one point."

Well, it won't be from me. We'll have to leave that to Steve.

I've got a degree in Teaching High School Mathematics from the University of Minnesota Duluth, which also gives me a degree in Mathematics. When I was at UMD I took Micro Economics; didn't do that well. I tried a couple of Political Science classes; those went even worse. So, you won't ever hear me or read me talking about Keynesian Economic Policy or negative liberty or anything like that. I just have a sense of right and wrong, good and bad, etc.

Working! (For a Couple Days, At Least)

So, a light posting day so far. Sean asked me to fill in so it wouldn't be dead then it gets dead. Well, here's why.

Since April 26, this Shawn has been unemployed. Probably one reason Sean asked me to fill in; I've had nothing better to do!

I've been actively looking for employment, and have two places that need my services, but have hiring freezes until August 1. So, in the meantime, I found a few opportunities for short-term (2-3 days each) temp work unpacking PC's and testing them and installing them in local offices. And, I was supposed to go tomorrow to work, but the placement guy called this morning at 7:45 needing me to be over an hour away in less than an hour. And, so, in the name of the almighty dollar ($15/hr, actually), I got the hell out of here.

Now, for what I will earn for today's and tomorrow's work, I will get a smaller unemployment check. Not the full check to which I am "entitled" to ($478 a week), but they will still cut me a check to make up the difference from what I earned.

No less than four people asked me today why I would go through the trouble of (showering) driving an hour, working six hours (plus tomorrow's nine hours) and then coming back home, to earn the same amount of money that I would "earn" by just sitting at home.

The answer is simple: because I could go out and create some wealth. I could be a productive member of society for six hours today. I felt a little self-worth. I didn't have to watch another "Care Bear" movie with my daughter. (I love watching movies with my daughter, but these "Care Bear" movies I think were cowritten by Satan.)

So, a little light blogging today. And, a little light tomorrow. But hey, I'm doing something!