Curiousity Killed the Cat

I’m curious if anyone’s seen a lineup of cheap transcription services out there.

No reason. >:-)

/rizzn

Political Musings - Presidential Politics 2008

The following comes to me from Robert Novak:

Much of Republican Washington turned out at the huge Christmas party Monday night hosted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the Corcoran Art Gallery. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the newly elected Senate minority whip, has emerged as a major McCain backer. McCain is not only the front-runner for the presidential nomination but is emerging as the establishment candidate.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- N.Y.) passed the word to New York Democrats that she intends to run for President at a time when many Democrats are looking for an alternative. Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is campaigning hard, but the biggest threats to Clinton are former Vice President Al Gore (who may never run) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) (who has not made up his mind).

[via the Novak Evans report]

So there you have it – the not surprising analysis from Novak that tells us what we’ve known for months - that these are our political candidates.

Yet, I keep seeing this guy’s ad for president pop up on my GMail ads, and I wonder if he’s going to be a silent runner that makes an impact. It could be interesting.  Then again, maybe not – in some of his interviews, he’s made it clear he doesn’t have a real intention on winning.

/rizzn

I'm SICK of hearing about the ENVIRONMENT!

I'm firmly convinced that the world has been taken by some ridiculous hoax to do something about global warming. For years and years, I've seemingly been one of the few people aware of the fact that human influenced global warming is a hoax from a very young age. I've also known that the hole in the ozone over the Arctic pole has been gone for close to four or five years now (I'd actually have the pictures from the NASA website proving this here, but they appear to have taken the website down and replaced it with a cryptic press release about ANTarctic ozone holes).

The other day, my wife and I were watching ABC News late at night, and there was a movie review segment up that was talking about the movie Happy Feet. Rather than talk about the movie itself and if it was any good or not, the reporter/reviewer instead decided to use the movie as a platform to talk about Global Warming and how we were all going to die, starting first with the penguins.

I'm a bit tired of this type of mumbo jumbo - there have yet to be any conclusive proof presented to me by a reputable scientific study showing that the earth is on a global warming trend. The data just doesn't support it. The data they try to use is the same data they used two decades ago to try to prove global cooling, and the catalyst is supposedly a molecule named the CFC, something that is emitted in greater quantities by active volcanoes each year than has been emitted by the entirety of human existence.

Then I see this: outgoing British prime minister Tony Blair is pushing to upgrade the country's aging nuclear arsenal in light of Iran and North Korea's renewed interest in nuclear proliferation. A member of the opposition party has this to say (pay attention to the bolded statement):

Former environment minister Michael Meacher told the BBC that parliament was being "bounced" into a decision.

He said: "What's really worrying about this is the fact that the country and parliament are being bounced and that we don't have to take this decision at breakneck speed.

"The Vanguard submarines are going to be operational until about 2026, the missiles probably don't have to be changed until 2042. There's absolutely no reason why we can't take this decision next year or in five years' time.

"It will severely restrict much more needed conventional defence expenditure, it will undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty worldwide and drain off a colossal sum of money from where it is most needed: dealing with the real threats we face from terrorism: climate change and long-term energy security."

Seriously. Of the list of things to be worried about in this world, above being blown to smithereens by insane assholes who hate you takes a back seat to the unshakey possibility that the temperature average over the entire world might possibly increase by a point or two. Maybe.

Somebody elect me to something please. I need a bigger soapbox to talk these idiots down.

/rizzn

Immigration and Nut-Jobs

This below is from today's (12/4) Wall Street Journal Political Diary.

But first, a personal note: I go to Miami fairly regularly and have done so since the early 1980s. In fact, I was there three times in the last two weeks. I have watched the city transform over the past 25 years from a crime-ridden and dingy place to a economically healthier, cleaner and safer place. This happened in spite of -- and in some measure because of -- the same changing demographics of the city that upsets the Tancredo-style populists.

Gov. Bush is right: Tancredo is a nut and detriment to the GOP and the nation.

-- Philip Blumel

+++++

Republicans don't know what Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, the nation's leading anti-immigration spokesman, plans to do in 2008. Some think he will launch a Pat Buchanan-like run for president while others point to the likely retirement of GOP Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, creating an open seat for Mr. Tancredo to run for.

In any event, controversy is sure to dog the publicity-savvy Mr. Tancredo. He recently stirred the pot when he said ethnically-diverse Miami resembled a "Third World country" and that "you would never know you were in the United States of America." That prompted Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who lived in Miami before his election, to defend the city. Mr. Tancredo promptly accused Mr. Bush of being "naïve" and said he was trying to "create the illusion of Miami as a multiethnic 'All American' city."

The Florida governor then called a halt to the exchange. "What a nut," the president's brother told reporters. "I'm just disappointed that he's a Republican. He doesn't represent my views." What worries Republicans, including many who believe that secure borders are important, is that Mr. Tancredo's in-your-face approach to immigration could either overshadow other candidates in the early 2008 primaries or lead to the loss of yet another Colorado Senate seat.

-- John Fund

Michael Bolton (not the no-talent assclown) Leaves the UN

After reading the praises of Michael Bolton from his counterparts at the UN, I wonder if either a) the Democrats overstated the danger of having a firebrand at the UN, or b) the entire UN is a bunch of do-nothing backslappers.

Outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, with whom Bolton often clashed, spoke of the US envoy in ambivalent terms.

'Ambassador Bolton did the job he was expected to do. He came at a time when we had lots of tough issues,' Annan said. 'As a representative of the US government, he pressed ahead with the instructions that he had been given and tried to work as effectively as he could with the other ambassadors.'

In New York, UN diplomats portrayed Bolton as effective in pushing for reform at the world organization. Japanese ambassador Kenzo Oshima, whose country mostly shared Bolton's tough stance on North Korea, said he was 'very grateful' for the ambassador's work.

'He has been exceptionally skilful diplomat at the United Nations at a time when the UN faced very challenging issues, like reform,' Oshima said.

'I had always great admiration for his diplomatic skills and the reservoir of knowledge that he easily brought to bear on the deliberations,' he added.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya, who was often at odds with Bolton over Iran and human rights issues in Sudan and Myanmar, offered praise for his American counterpart.

'I regret that he's resigning, he works very hard and has his own style,' Wang said.

Argentinian UN Ambassador Cesar Mayoral concurred with Wang that Bolton work hard to change the UN. 'I work very well with him,' he said.

/rizzn

Tight Finances and How I Make Ends Meet

Due to the recent wedding, upcoming baby, Christmas, and a couple of mitigating work factors, finances are REALLY tight right now at the Rizzn household...  So much so that I am piecemeal selling my comic book collection.

Those that know me very well are very likely gasping in disbelief.  I'm starting with my indies, and moving into my Batman collection if things are still tight.  As Smokie said the other day, "Welcome to fatherhood, bitch."

So anyways, if you could, I'd appreciate it if you could take a close look at my auctions on eBay, and pick something up for that special comic book nerd this year for Christmas.  At the very least, bid on these items and run the price up so some other comic nerd will pay a premium for these suckas!

Thanks.

Modern Age Comic Book Grab Bag - 55 Comics Total

Spawn #1 by Todd McFarlane - NEAR MINT

Grendel Comics - GOOD CONDITION

ECLIPSE Airboy #1, 11, 15-16, 18, 23-26, 33

Mai the Psychic Girl Manga - #2,11,12,14,15,18,20, 21

Mage from COMICO #9, 10, 11, 12, 14

--
/mark "rizzn" hopkins
For my blog, profile, wikipedia and digg entries, simply Google "rizzn"
Check out Season 1 of Podded Meat, my new Vodcast Network (SFW): http://poddedmeat.com
Check out: http://ModernOpinion.com

Letter of the Week

Just up at work doing a little coding this weekend, and the highlight of my week, the LiquidGeneration mailing list comes in.  Like I've said in the past, I'm not sure how I got on this spam list, but it's hilarious.  The letter of the week was answered by Helga, a self-described staff pre-operative uncircumsised transexual:

THE LETTER OF THE WEEK!
we forgive people who deserve to be forgiven ,,,but your kind never say sorry ..never ask for forgiveness...never did and never would understand other cultures and other religion .....GOD put them in HELL and renew thier skins for years and years and years and burn them again again and again .................. -Ali Katamoto

Dear Ali, Your knowledge of HELL is truly impressive. Do you speak from experience? I mean, does ALLAH put the top layer of skin back on all of the burning infidels, face-lift style, or does he renew the entire dermal layer? I mean goddammit, how the hell do people recognize each other if everybody's getting new skin all the time?

yes your skin will be changed but with the same skin ..and why the hell would it change ,,how stupid can u be to ask thay Question,,and again if u have knowen anything or read anything about the religion or the culture u wouldn't be asking that question ,,but i gusse there r many ignorent people in this world your dear ali

Oh...I see. It was REALLY stupid of me not to know that every sinner is born with BACKUP skins. Kind of like an uninterruptible power supply...an uninterruptible skin supply! So while one is burning for his or her sins, Allah is busy putting various new skins through quality assurance programs. Does he follow Deming's quality principles or does he use better ones? I'm wondering, do the skins come with all the same genitalia as when you were born? See, I'm a pre-operative transsexual and if I get the old schlong sliced off, it would really be a bummer to have it back when I'm burning. Please tell me that Allah takes notes and honors individual choices on elective surgery. Kisses & Hugs,

--
/mark "rizzn" hopkins
For my blog, profile, wikipedia and digg entries, simply Google "rizzn"
Check out Season 1 of Podded Meat, my new Vodcast Network (SFW): http://poddedmeat.com
Check out: http://ModernOpinion.com