8 Minutes On High

More of my trip to Massatwoshits

October 24th, 2007 by Max

http://tmbw.net/wiki/Shows/2007-10-20

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Ornithological walk

October 23rd, 2007 by Max

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A first glimpse of my trip to Massachusetts for TMBG

October 22nd, 2007 by Max

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Snizzijts

October 18th, 2007 by Max

Just another test.

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Googlronomy

October 18th, 2007 by Max

Googlronomy – is a word I made up for which I’ll have a meaning later. For right now, lets say it means how things are organized by Google.

Since it doesn’t exist, in Google or anywhere else, if it starts showing up – it will be because Google found my blog. Yay!

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I know, I know … but its a bald eagle!

October 14th, 2007 by Max

Today!

237 Birds. 179 Red Tails.

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Enough with the Damn Birds Already!

October 13th, 2007 by Max

Well, maybe just a few more!

I have much confusion about what I saw today. All these close ups were because there was a bird bander on the Mt. Apparently these were Red Tails. But it looks to me as if their tails are not red. I don’t get it. But the birds are pretty interesting to look at none the less.

These first couple are of a bird that I’m think was the one that I questioned the spotters about. Steve Hall was there and Fred Fries. Knowledgeable guys. They said it was a Sharpie. What do I know? But this bird is a damn Peregrine Falcon or I don’t know what I’m talking about … which is possible. No. That’s a Peregrine!

These are the red tail. See the belly band. Ok. Red Tail. Then look at the tail!

                           I included the two on the left because they show the before and during of a blink. The third is with the camera adjusted correctly, which almost never seems to happen for me.

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The War on “War on”

October 10th, 2007 by Max

We have too many “War on”‘s.   War the Middle Class.  The War on Marriage.  War on Drugs.  War on Terror (really?  Terror is a concept.  An emotion.) I thought that they meant War on Terrorism, and that he (the dubaya) just couldn’t say it, but now, with even pundits, commentators and editors saying it, I can only guess that they mean it.  We’re here to attack the actual fear.  Hope it doesn’t scare anybody!

The War on Drugs is particularly insidious.  Some Drugs are good.  Are we WARing on them too?  Its WAY to simplistic to say War on Drugs.  We should’nt war on any drugs.  We want to take them.  Maybe someone should just let us take them.

This is not a war.

We should end the War on Drugs.  And call it police work.

We should stop calling Gay Rights a War on the Family.  Its just being nice to people.

We should stop having a War on the Middle Class.  Lets just stop trying to screw them and say we’re not.

We should stop calling the War on Terror – that – and start calling it International Cooperation against an insane political gang.  Its merely crime.  Organized crime.  Lets Get ‘Em.  But lets just stop pretending its a war.  It is, again, police work.

We should stop the War in Iraq, which, by the way … is a WAR!

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And now for something completely different, different.

October 9th, 2007 by Max

Ok. Watch Pushing Daisies – ABC – Wednesdays at 8.

Yep. This is just a plain ole fan plug. I’m blogging about TV.

Last week in the midst of Baseball and who knows what else while channel flipping, I came across this show. I watched it for a bit, then went away like I do, then came back to it. Like the woman says in this review http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TV-Show-Blog/Pushing-Daisies/Episode-Recap-Pie/800023678

I was charmed.

More than that. I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t know if it was a drama, or a comedy, or a mystery – though I was leaning toward comedy. Its all three, and a romance. With a twist!

I figure that any show that I can’t deconstruct in two minutes has a chance.

I came back to this show (too stupid to watch it right away) two or three times. Each time I couldn’t get the rules!

It started to bug me. As I’ve gone through the week I decided I would watch it on the internet http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing to try to figure out what the deal was. Now I get it. Its clever and I want more. I’ll be watching tomorrow night.

In a sidebar, the lead actress, Anna Freil and Evangeline Lilly of LOST, bear a striking resemblance to each other:

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4th Rant on Religion – This time from Bill Maher

October 7th, 2007 by Max

From New Rules – Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO – Sept 21, 2007
And finally, New Rule: Just because the Constitution doesn’t have a religious test for office, doesn’t mean I can’t. This past Monday was Constitution Day in the U.S. And while I was going over the Constitution with my two adopted kids–Zack Ono and Mogadishu–I’m home schooling them–I was struck again by Article 6, Section 3. It says, “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office.” And I agree. No one should ever be disqualified for their religion. Even the funny ones. Like all of them.

But, the problem is that there is a religious test in this country. According to a recent poll, seven in ten say it’s important to have a president with strong religious beliefs. The other three couldn’t take the poll because it was Friday night and Yahweh wouldn’t let them answer the phone.

But, fair is fair. So, for myself and the other 15-20% of American who the majority call “non-believers,” but who I call “rationalists,” here is our religious test for office: if you believe in Judgment Day, I have to seriously question your judgment.

If you believe you’re in a long-term relationship with an all-powerful space-daddy–who will, after you die, party with your ghost forever–you can’t have my vote, even for Miss Hawaiian Tropic.

I can’t trust you at the levers of government because there’s an electrical fire going on in your head.

Maybe a president who didn’t believe our soldiers were going to Heaven might be a little less willing to get them killed.

Candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, believes in spiritually-blessed underwear that can protect him. He seemed like a nice man, and so do his sons, Wally and the Beav. But, I’m sorry, their religion is bat-shit. It’s like Scientology without the celebrities. And he has every right to run for president while believing in magic underwear, and believing that Jesus survived his own death and will return during an Osmonds’ concert in Branson. And I have every right to take that into consideration in the voting booth.

And at the end of the day, is magic underwear really that much crazier than giant arks or virgin births or talking bushes? You’re either a rationalist or you’re not. And the good news is, a recent poll found 20% of adults under 30 say they are rationalists and have figured out that Santa Claus and Jesus are really the same guy.

Now, 20% is hardly a majority, but it’s a bigger minority than blacks, Jews, homosexuals, NRA members, teachers or seniors. And it’s certainly enough to stop being shy about expressing the opinion that WE’RE NOT THE CRAZY ONES!

Just because the vote is 4-to-1, it doesn’t mean the minority is wrong. People who were against this war from the start were a minority. The majority used to believe the world was flat. But if you believe that today, you’d either be packed off to Bellevue or asked to co-host “The View.”

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Racism

October 4th, 2007 by Max

Racism. Long history. Ugly. Slavery. What can you say? Later. Lynchings! What can you say? Unprosecuted cold blooded murder, when the killer is known? These things are beyond the pale. Beyond bad. This is terrorism of the worst kind. Anti black attitudes have gone from unbelievable, and inhuman in the extreme, to merely hateful. In a sense that’s an improvement. Now calling someone “nigger” is the common hateful act. This offends people, as it should. The word has more meaning now though, than it used to though. In my opinion that is a regretable trend. Johnny Cochran gave it more power by repackaging it, but that’s a subject for another post. I spell it out here because I think it takes some of the power away from it.

This post is about change.

Now while this is about a must less virulent strain, I wish to point out one thing. And it involves a sidebar of the changing story of racism.

Gary Sheffield and Kenny Lofton, accused Joe Torre of being a racist, earlier this year. As attitudes migrate, calling someone a racist, is an increasingly offensive thing to do. At least it is, if they are not racist. Yes, I know its not as bad as anything above, like I said. This is a sidebar.

[Does anyone remember when we called biased people “prejudiced?” Another sidebar.

Anyway, when Sheffield came to New York this last trip, the Yankee fans booed him heartily, because he called Joe Torre a racist. Racist, is a becoming a bad word. I think that’s good. I may have to rethink it. Should we just say he’s an “R” word?

Anyway here’s why this is in Sports. Kenny Lofton is coming to New York on Sunday. Kenny Lofton should be booed too.

As a Yankee fan, I want them to win. As a Yankee fan I want them to boo Kenny Lofton, because he called a good guy a bad word. A racist. (I’m not going to call it the “R” word.)

I want the Yankees to win, because they’re my team, and its a likeable team for the first time in forever. Yes I know they still have Clemens, but the rest of the guys are likeable. How long has it been since there was a Boggs, a Clemens, or a Sheffield on this team?

The Indians are a good team (with a bad bad racist logo) and I respect them.

But I hope Kenny Lofton doesn’t get another hit. And I hope he gets booed.

I hope my Yankees win.

And I hope calling someone a racist, is an increasingly bad thing to do.

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3rd Rant on Religion – This I Believe

October 4th, 2007 by Max

This I believe.   The biggest problem with the world today is Religion.  You really only have to examine the number of people who are being killed in the name of religion to support this idea.

Very possibly some in our administration look at our war in Iraq as a religious war.

I talked to a “woman on the street” who told me its a “Crusade”.  Its us against them and they’re evil.

The Madrassa’s say that we’re evil.

Some Israeli’s feel that God wants them to have that land.  Some Christians feel that God wants the Isreali’s to have that land – BECAUSE THEY WANT THE END OF THE WORLD TO ARRIVE  with their rediculous idea of “The Rapture”.

The Palestinians, rightly feel that the occupied teretorries were taken from them by people of another reglion, for God’s sake.   Their war is more about land, but Hammas looks at it as a relgious war.

Islam means “Peace”?

Killing in the Punjab.  Killing in Tibet.  Killing in Northern Ireland?

Killing in Iraq of Iraqi’s by Iraqi’s because of their religion.

As a Catholic child I bristled at John Lennon’s lyric “Imagine no religion, its easy if you try, nothing to kill and die for, above us only sky.”

I knew in my heart that Religion was a good thing.

I no longer know this.

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Why I don’t like Hillary (Dem Damn Dems part II)

October 4th, 2007 by Max

I think its clear about Hillary.  Her reason is ambition.  And I don’t have a problem with ambition.  I DO have a problem with cynically voting for a war, BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO LOOK TOUGH, in order to position yourself to be elected president.  I think she never was for the war.  Really.  Deep in her heart of hearts.  I think her vote was cynical because she was afraid of being a woman who was for peace.  Strange.  

I think their votes – the damn Dems – are about themselves, their jobs, and not about the soldiers.  I think Bush has abused the soldiers beyond all morality, but then that’s only one way he is immoral.  And I think the Dems are scared of their jobs, and so are not attacking this grotesque administration, for its mutitudes of immoral policies.

Hillary is not my choice.

I’d like to like Obama, but I need to know more.  I like Biden on the Judiciary (despite the hair plugs) and I like most of what I’ve heard from Edwards.

It makes me angry; what has happened to my country.  It makes me ashamed.

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180,000

October 3rd, 2007 by Max

That’s the number of defense contractors in Iraq.  That’s the number of people hired by the State Department to protect the State Department employees in Iraq.  That’s the number of American soldiers who are not subject to Courts Martial, or responding to authority, be it American Law (they’re in Iraq) or Iraqi Law (there’s a deal with the State Department to not subject them to Iraqi law.

They can be fired.

Ooops, I killed someone!

Someone’s getting rich.

Someone doesn’t have to say that he had almost 1/2 million American soldiers in Iraq…this year!  (160,000 + 180,000 = 330,000).  He CAN say he’s reducing the total number of American troops to 130,000.

This may not be an out an out lie.  But it is certainly a deception.   Soldiers are getting paid big money to work next to regular Army soldiers who are not getting paid big money and cannot choose when they are able to go home, but are answerable to a higher authority if they do something wrong.

This is war for profit.

Add it to torture, abduction, the suspension of Habeas Corpus, the ability to break into an American’s house without knocking, the declaration of American’s as enemy combatants, dishonest speeches to the people about the need for war… and on … and on.

180,000 paid unanswerable mercenaries – immorality?  War of choice?  Denial of rights?  Isn’t ANY of this enough for impeachment?

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I’m not Liberal, I’m just Right!

October 2nd, 2007 by Max

- Dave Byrnes

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Dem Damn Dems

October 2nd, 2007 by Max

Ok.  Many of my Democratic friends think that cutting off the funding for the war, is the only way for the Dems to end this war.

I have a couple thoughts:

Impeach him.  The problem with the configuration of our wonderful government (no sarcasm intended) is that the Congress, once they’ve authorized a war, can unauthorize it.  I’m not sure that would even do it.

I’m also not sure that stopping the funding is the correct way to do it.  I honestly can’t say what will happen when the money isn’t there any more.   Some say we ARE already funded through the next year.   I don’t know.  But what if George had no money for them and just left them there anyway.  A game of chicken with American soldiers lives.  He would do that … I swear he would.

The other point I want to make, and this really galls me now that I’ve realized it, is that these people, these damn Dems, could bring an end to this war at either by impeachment, or unfunding it, or some other shitty little parliamentary games, but that it may well cost them their seats in congress.

Lets have a profile in courage, times a Democratic majority, and vote this bastard out.  I don’t care if you get thrown out of your seat in Congress.  Do what’s right for America even if it costs you your political career.

This man lied us into a war.  That is the highest of all high crimes.

Show some nards.  Impeach him.  Even if it costs you your job!

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