Random Stuff

Annoying
Tick... Tick... Tick... is the sound that one of our universal power supplies (backup power doohickey) is making at the office. It is really annoying! Thank goodness it will be going away in the next couple of minutes. There is nothing more grating than a bad sound. I fell like there is a heart beating under the floorboards. Ummh yeah, nevermind, enough about that.
DJ'ing
Also, I finally found the old DJ software I used to use, MJ Studio. The site isn't even maintained anymore, and compared to the new stuff it does absolutely nothing, but still I know how to use it and it does the basics very well... I might revert back to it for basic stuff.
Blogging
I'll probably take Haze's advise and keep Felone as the name of the new blog. Although, I'm might use graphics for both Kinetic and Felone...
Annoying (Part Deux)
By the way, the last site proof was a picture (pretty big one). By default, IE (or the worst browser in the world) resizes pictures that are big and you have to hover over them and then a expand icon will appear in the bottom right corner for showing them at full size. This is a pain in the hizzaz...
Paintballin'
This coming weekend we are going paint ballin' for mc trin's bachelor party. I'm looking forward to nailing some people. Haze's invite email was already calling people out, and since today we've had pretty funny stuff passing around...

New Blog Update

Ok, so I haven't done a thing on the new blog engine or researching community server.net... but I have started working on the new site look. Here is a picture of what I have so far. So two things to note: I'm probably ditching the felone blog name and going w/ DJ Kinetic, and I haven't designed a site entirely by myself in a while, so feedback is greatly appreciated.

Origin of Kinetic and Felone:
Although both of these names are very toungue in cheek, felone is my "rap" name (from the rap group criminal chargez). This one goes back probably 14 years ago. DJ Kinetic is the DJ name I blatanly stole from my old college roommate Gucci when we both use to mix and create music on computers.

Now that I am mixing music again and may eventually dj live (at church for youth service), I think I am go back to the "more likely to be used name at a live show": DJ Kinetic. This way when I start creating music and making it available for download the site name will make sense...

Oh well, let me know what you think of the site design... It's a work in progress.

Interesting Cross-Promotion

For those of you do not know me... A part of my day-to-day duties consists of executing and providing expertise on opt-in email marketing. Not to pat myself on the back about anything but I think I know the in's and outs of email marketing...

I just received an email from McAfee trying to sell me something I'm not interested in. I don't remember opting-in to McAfee, but I'm sure I could have at some point. Since I receive a couple of hundred emails a day, I normally opt out of the offer emails. So I go to opt-out of McAfee's email and here is the promotion they are running on the unsubscribe page:

NEW VERSION! McAfee SpamKiller: The automatic junk email blocker service Tired of spam? The best reply is McAfee SpamKiller with tate-of-the-art spam-busting technology. Scam filters, One-Click Block, Dictionary Attack filtering and regular spam filter updates help keep inboxes free of unwanted email, including virus hoaxes, offensive content and identity theft scams. Ideal for MS Outlook/Express!

I think this is really funny... Promoting spam-blocking software to people who are unsubscribing from your email. I wonder if their filter blocks their own emails. Do you think this was down toungue in cheek?
If not, is this message you want to send to your unsubscribers: "hey, since you don't like our spam, you think you may want to block it and others?"

You have to be kidding me

I was perusing Drudge during lunch and saw this headline: "Florida Kerry supporters meet for group therapy" so I read this article and at first I thought it was toungue in cheek or an Onion article, but apparently this is real. Some highlights:

The first of several free noontime therapy sessions at the American Health Association in Boca Raton was designed to treat what mental health counselors have dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST).“If I had a cardboard cutout of President Bush, and these people wanted to throw darts at it, I would let them do it,” Robert J. Gordon, AHA executive director, told the Boca News after the session. “It’s no joke. People with PEST were traumatized by the election. If you even mention religion, their faces turn blister-red as they shout at Bush.”

Wait a minute, if I mention religion these people faces turn "blister-red as they shout at Bush". Religion, religion, religion! Now that I have that out of my system, it goes on to mention:

Gordon said the Kerry supporters in therapy are predominantly Jewish and older than 50. Most are registered independents and all live in Palm Beach County.

I've never really mentioned much about Judaism on this site (my great-grandfather was Jewish, so I am an eighth Jewish, not too shabby (Don't get mad, I'm paraphrasing Adam Sandler)), but what is the state of Judaism in Palm Beach that if you mention "religion" to these Jewish people they get upset? Isn't Judaism a religion? Am I missing something?

Moving on, here are some more brilliant quotes:

According to AHA officials, symptoms of PEST are similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. They include nightmares, sleeplessness, hostility, listlessness, and emotional outbursts including threats to leave the country. “There’s an overall sense of emotional helplessness and abandonment,” said Sheila Cooperman, a licensed AHA psychotherapist from Delray Beach. “In psychology, we call it ‘learned helplessness.’ After you zap a caged dog twice, he stops moving because he knows there is no place to go. That’s what happened with these Kerry voters. They’ve been zapped so many times that they’re on the verge of giving up on politics.”
Cooperman, also a practicing psychic, added, “One person today said he thinks the country is now run by fascists. Another felt personally threatened by the president’s love for big business. Many believe Bush is going to draft their grandchildren. The anxiety may not affect them every day, but it affects their energy level.”

I love the quote: "Another felt personally threatened by the president's love for big business..." Classic. Are big business' going to hunt you down and hurt you? Are they sinister, evil corporations, whose only motive is to make money? Jeez, lighten up people.

My final take on this (and probably my most religous take ever):
In my humble opinion these people need religion! They need to not blame religion for their problem, but realize that God's Mercy and Grace is all they need. They need it to help them understand how to deal with disappointment in life. They need to live a life not dependent on the outcome of the election but dependent on Jesus.

I'm sure they would be upset to read that above, but if they don't learn how to be saved, at least they can learn a dose of reality, the election is over, move on with your life.

Lost a post, bad dreamweaver, repent!!!

I was in the middle of typing what was a pretty long post when I actually had to do some work (I was waiting on a phone call and was posting waiting on the call). So the guy I was talking to had me change some things in an html email I was sending out. No problem, hit the ole F12 key in dreamweaver and boom... there goes the post!!!! That totally stinks.

I was talking about the new site, my music mixing skills, how bad the rams defense is, etc... but now it's lost and I gotta run so sorry poor reader.... blame dreamweaver.

Anyway here is a table I was working on (in dreamweaver, without preview!!!) to prove how bad of a coach Larry Marmie is:

Defensive Stats
Year	2003	2004
Against Run	23rd	31st
Against Pass	12th	23rd
Total Defense	16th	28th

Cya!

Mizzou Football: Things keep getting worse!!

On Saturday Mizzou concluded the season with a 17-14OT win at Iowa St. The Tigers, who were predicted to contend for the Big 12 North title and finally make a push to get into the top 10 and BCS contention, finished 5-6. They lost four games in a row prior to their season ending victory. Their coach, who everyone thought was a perfect fit for this team, became a jerk to the media (who cares), the boosters (bad, bad, idea) and the players (even worse idea). Today there is news that starting running back Damien Nash quit the team.

Nash, who is from East St. Louis, was the big recruit everyone was hoping for when he signed. Finally the Tigers landed a big name recruit from the St. Louis area (where they normally have a tough time recruiting), and he spurned Nebraska to come to Mizzou. What could go wrong? Two words: Gary Pinkel. Pinkel is stubborn and has obviously lost this team. Why were Nash and Pinkel not getting along? The offensive (in more ways the one) play-calling. This quote from Nash got him suspended for a game:

"I wish I had the headphones on to hear what's going on. I wish I could call the offense. I didn't understand a lot of the plays."

This quote came after a loss 20-17 to Oklahoma State where Mizzou had a 17-0 with a minute left in the first half and did nothing offensively in the second half. Nash received seven carries in the second half and had every right to be upset. I agree that Nash shouldn't have publicly called out the play-calling (which was horrible), but to be suspended for a whole game (a game that was important at the time against Nebraska) is ridiculous. That suspension was the turning point of a horrible season. The lost every game until this past Saturday. Now Nash is leaving. I hope Pinkel goes next.

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm happy for:

My Family and Friends

My church

My house

The great year I've had

An awesome thanksgiving meal!!

New Site Update...

Ok, Haze just for you :)... I've finally made a few new posts

So the new blog isn't ready... I'll make a post when it is (maybe event some previews). Look for it sometime in December, till then I will be posting here. (And more frequently then I have been the last two weeks).

So what's new?
I've been spending my free time (which hasn't been much until this week) working on getting my computer back ready so I can start mixing music again. I used to do this a few years back with some DJ software and I always focused on electronic (trance, ambient, progressive trance, etc..) and now I'll be picking it up again with the same genres but with a Christian slant. We'll see how this turns out, but I've always loved mixing music and I'd loved to eventually get some real dj equipment and do it live.

My new sound card will be here in a couple of days and I'm trying out some new software so keep an eye out for downloads when the new site goes live.

Also, my hours are back down to a normal pace now that we (myself and several others at etg) have launched and wrapped up the finishing touches on the website we have worked around six months on. Check it out at www.stlouischildrens.org. Kudos to eliot at bigwidesky for his great design and all the hard work by everyone at slch, etg and bigwidesky.

Political Ramblings...

I had some good political conversations over the last few weeks with some friends. One of which was my college buddy Greg, who was in town this past weekend. Greg, who is a high school teacher in Sedalia, Missouri, claims he is a liberal (it's probably hard not be after two masters degrees), but I think he is more of a issues-based moderate. In my humble opinion, we agree far too often for him to be a liberal.

On to my point; I thought I would finally make a post about a question I have asked every "liberal" I have spoken politics with in the last few months. Do you feel like your values and agenda are represented by the current (soon to be past) Democratic regime? Do you think your views are the same as John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Terry McAulife, Daschle, Hillary, et al?

The answer has been a resounding no. Why? Because the "Reagan democrats", southern democrats and Midwestern union democrats have been left behind by the more liberal members of their party.

At it's peak, liberalism forced changes in society, some good, some bad. "Liberalism" can take some credit for big changes in our society: civil rights, equality for different races, religions, gendera, union rights.

But what "issues" are the liberals focused on now? Insulting the "stupid" red-staters, bashing conservatives, protesting for the sake of protesting, calling people who disagree with them Nazis, attempting to destroy religion, trying to appease countries who loathe us for our freedoms, blaming us for world problems, creating "documentaries" with no basis in fact, etc.

If the democrats can moved beyond their far-left, angry leaders and reward and promote centrists who have solutions instead of complaints, they may gain some momentum, until then looks like us red-staters are going to be around for a while.

New Blog?

I'm thinking of creating a new blog that is:

A) ASP.Net based

B) Hosted somewhere other than blogger

C) Maybe something open-source where I could help the community development as a side project.

I think I will probably start with .Text blog. Does anyone have any thoughts on ASP.net blogging engines?

Breaking the Redskin Curse

So we've all probably this mentioned on Sunday:

The outcome of Washington Redskins home football games has correctly predicted the winner of every U.S. presidential election since 1936.

Well not anymore!!! Goodbye Redskin Curse!

Bush Wins!! Blunt Wins!!! Exit Polls Lose

Wow, this seems a little like a mandate. First president since GW1 to receive more than 50% of the vote. Republicans take more Senate seats, retain control of house and have a majority of Governors.

This is the second best news I heard late last night: Daschle loses!
This election confirms what I've been saying for a while, the current democratic regime is way too left for the "common man" democrat. Kerry, Kennedy, Daschle, McAulife, et al are out of touch with the common man and the Southern democrats feel left behind by their party.

Oh yeah, how about those exit polls and the pre-election tracking polls? Obviously, the media and pollsters have some explaining to do. Where are you now Zogby?

MTV... Rocking the Vote

This is an email I received from MTV (the tv station I hate the most) this morning:

A Message from MTV: Please Go Out and Vote Today!
All year you?ve been hearing from the candidates, asking you to choose them to be President for the next four years. MTV urges you to go to your polling place this morning and make your choice ? for President, as well as for local candidates and referendums. If you?re too young to vote, then go get your older brothers and sisters out of bed, and make sure they do. Pick up the phone and remind your cousins and friends to stand up and be counted. If you're ineligible to participate in the election, contact friends who can, and encourage them to make a choice.

I appreciate MTV trying to get people out to vote, we all know how left-leaning their company really is, but they aren't urging people to vote one way or another. By the way, as someone who works with email marketing everyday it's very sad that an organization as large as MTV can't figure out which characters don't work in emails. All of times you see a "?" in the middle of the email are the result of them both not testing their emails properly and using invalid characters for emails.

Yeah... that's what I want in a leader

If what Dick Cheney is saying is true (and I believe it is), then John Kerry is really more interested in politics than policy, opinions rather than convictions.

'

Dick Cheney said in a speech today that the John Kerry camp
polled on the new Bin Laden tape to see how he should react.

Personally, I'd rather not elect somebody who needs to see how to spin something or how it will play before making a response. Regardless of how people view GW, they should at least admit that he is a man of convictions.

UPDATE: When re-reading the article linked above there was this ad at the bottom of the page. This ad looked interesting so I clicked on the link to see what was going on. This linked to a big partisan website (similar to moveon.org) that was against GW. Interesting spot for this ad.

There is an "Are you righteous" bible quiz on this website, that regardless of which way you answer a question it finds a scripture to back up your answer. Everyone who has studied the bible (or studied religion for that matter) should know that you shouldn't take verses out of the context in which they were written. Also, please note that the answers here aren't comparable, it's not like both sides of the argument are in the new testament, or even the epistles, but I digress...this seems to be a little absurd Christian persecution or bashing if you ask me, but I'm not too surprised, when this site shows pictures of pro-choice rallies in their main banner.

Why the hell would Metro be better than Retro? The only thing I think of is Metrosexual which to me is not a good thing... Bush should dig the fact that he is retro, old school is always better than new school.

Random Thoughts

I took Thursday and Friday off due to a lot of hours lately and no recent vacation... So for the most part (except for getting some work done yesterday and today) I haven't been on a PC for the weekend (which equals no blogging).

Also, apparently something was up with blogger because my blog post (via email) about trying to keep the Red Sox curse alive didn't go up until after the Cardinals lost. Oh well... Wishful thinking.

The Cardinals had a great run and although it ended in a disappointing manner we still have to applaud their season. Like all the other great Cardinals fans I am not going to dwell on the disappointment of getting swept but look at the positives coming into next year:

• The core of position players should be intact (only the signing of Renteria is a question mark).
• It sounds like the management is already going after the holes exposed by the Red Sox... and they are going to try to get a power pitcher to get us over the hump. They will be able to do this by using the money freed up by Morris, Williams and Tino Martinez (who was getting paid by us this year for nothing).
• We will have a more mature: Danny Haren, Kiko Calero, Rick Ankiel, Yadier Molina and Hector Luna.

Onto the election:

I can't wait, because I am getting tired of the ads, rhetoric and ridiculous reporting by the mainstream media. On a sidenote: I listen to talk radio a lot and every time there is a top of the hour CBS or ABC radio news they always start with Kerry's campaign. Now maybe I'm being too picky, but I've heard at least fifty top of the hour news reports in the last two weeks and everyone of them started with Kerry's campaign. I also can't wait to find out who wins.

I am happy to report that for the first time (I think) my Mom will be voting a straight Republican ticket and advised my sister to do same. Go Mom!

Unfortunately, I will be voting in St. Louis County instead of St. Chuck (St. Charles, MO for non Missourians) because apparently I didn't change when I moved and my voter registration card showed up at my Moms. At least I'm registered, but I could have swore I changed that when I renewed my license.

That's all the news that is fit to print. I'll be blogging again soon.

Keep the curse alive...

Apparently, New York fans are reaching out to the Babe's grave trying to keep the curse alive... Let's hope it works.  GO CARDS!!!

Aaargh, Ugh, DON'T RUN!!! RUN!!!

Okay, it's 8:40 CST and I'm working at the office sitting at a table in front of a tv watching the game... Gotta love wireless networking. But, now I'm yelling at the TV!!

Two questions:
What the hell is Jeff Suppan thinking? RUN!!!! The Sox going to give the Cardinals the run and instead he acts like a moron and runs into a double play. Net result: No runs

What the hell was Jose Oquendo thinking? DON'T RUN!!! Why are you sending Walker on a shallow pop-up to left field. I know ManRam has been playing horribly, but jeez, the bases are juiced for gosh sakes... Net result: No runs

We better pull this out. I can't wait to hear what TLR has to say about this one...

Okay while I'm typing this TLR is telling Joe Buck that Suppan "just froze". He say's there is "no excuse for that". But, he seems to be pretty loose, which is good. When he gets uptight, so does the team.

Chris is a Red/Sox fan

Chris Hammond who I work with is a Red Sox fan... This sucks, if they win, all I have to hear about is the Red Sox and if the Cards win, I'll have to hear all about the curse.

Chris, who has been with us for a few months, is a great guy, but unfortunately he roots for the team I loathe. Oh well, if you are bored maybe swing by his site and give him a hard time...

The Felone Curse?

I had to go and open my big fat mouth about how well October is going (before going into a rant about Aliens...) for our St. Louis sports teams:

So this seems like a great October already, Cardinals are going to World Series for the first time since '87, Rams are 4-2, Mizzou is 4-2

Yeah, that worked out great, those teams are a combined 0-4 since that post. Good job Felone...

It's October and all is right with the world...or so I thought

I love the fall and really love the month of October... baseball playoffs (sorry Joshua... it's a great game), football (American-style) really kicks it into gear, election time (especially during a presidential election year), the leaves changing color here in Missouri, the cooler weather, college football, etc.

So this seems like a great October already, Cardinals are going to World Series for the first time since '87, Rams are 4-2, Mizzou is 4-2, we just launched a website that I've been working on round the clock for a long time.

And then... I saw this website (via Dave Barry's blog) that made me question whether or not I'm being controlled by or about to be abducted by aliens. Unfortunately, this helmet doesn't stop some types of mind control:

The thought screen helmet blocks telepathic communication between aliens and humans. Aliens cannot immobilize people wearing thought screens nor can they control their minds or communicate with them using their telepathy. However, people can still be overcome by the Mantis alien (leaders) direct hypnotic-staring procedure as described by David Jacobs in ufoabduction.com. New devices and methods to overcome their hypnotic control ability are being tested.

Now I'm afraid I'm going to get caught by: (You have to read this using your best redneck voice) "one of those that there leader type aliens, who can just stare at me and abduct me, don't laugh, it happened to my cousin's husband Jimbo, he was out there noodling for catfish and he caught got without his helmet on... "

Still in redneck voice:
"Although I'm not sure if I need a helmet because I'm a pretty big guy and those aliens don't scare me, I reckon"
"I'd be like, Who ya lookin' at, ya big green, ugly alien? I ougtha kick your ass just for looking at me.... we don't take kindly to your type round here"

This is what is right with baseball

This post by someone named KennyBoyerFan in stltoday.com's forum is what is right with baseball... Instead of clicking out of here... Here it is in it's entirety:

Busch Stadium is not our house.

So I will not waste your time this morning talking about the importance of the Cardinals protecting our house in Game 6 of the NLCS. I will not broach the obscenity of seeing Houston players spilling champagne on our living-room carpet.

Busch Stadium is not our house.

It's much more important than that.

It's where many of us watched our first game, caught our first foul ball, begged for our first autograph.

It's where Gibby ruled the mound, where Brock ran like the wind, and where Ozzie made all the folks go crazy.

It's where the El Birdos dominated, where Sutter struck out the last batter of 1982, where Mike Shannon has worked since the joint opened in 1966.

The Ol' Redhead managed there. Stan the Man played his harmonica there. The White Rat led us back to glory there.

This is where Gussie drove the Clydesdales, where Willie McGee tracked down fly balls, where Joaquin Andujar summed up his philosophy of life in one simple word: Youneverknow.

This is where Big Mac smacked No. 70, where Tommy Lawless flipped his bat, where GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY...BRUMMER'S STEALING HOME!!!!!!!

This is where the greatest St. Louis team in Busch Stadium's history performed. That's right, the 2004 Cardinals. They had the best home record, the best record in baseball. Right on that field.

Ted Simmons played there. Kenny Boyer managed there. And a beloved old man in a bright red jacket told a mournful nation why it was good and right to play baseball after Sept. 11.

My friends, Jack Buck's coffin rested on that field. Darryl Kile pitched his last game there. And many of us cannot walk into that stadium without thinking of loved ones who are no longer with us.

Not today.

We don't lose today.

Not against the Houston Astros. Not against a pitcher named Pete Munro. Not against a wild-card team.

Not in Busch Stadium.

No, it's not our house.

It's simply the place where our memories congregate, where our baseball dreams are stored, where the voices of millions of fans and the ghosts of seasons past await their call to arms.

Folks, it's time to wake 'em up.

This is what's wrong with baseball...

I love baseball!!!! But this type of headline is what is wrong with it... Why should baseball executives care if the teams shake hands. I'm beginning to really dislike Bob Watson. What does this guy have against the Cards???


Go Cards!!!!

Can you be charged with a crime against yourself?

This article seems a little odd to me... I know that child porn is a serious crime and people who deal in it should be handled with the most severe laws available.... but can you be charged with possessing and posting illegal pictures of yourself?

A 13-year-old Lacey boy who posted pictures of himself on the Internet was charged with possessing and dealing in child pornography.

Regardless of what happens to this boy, the whole thing is rather disturbing. It's also rather disturbing that someone this kids age would want to do that...

Poll Results

I found a nice site where you can track the polls and they combine them into an index for you.

Also, Drudge had a nice article about the trends from the debates.

Go Cards!!

The Ig Nobel Prize

This is a funny award given to people who have done research into interesting (and funny) items. They even have a ceremony at Harvard where they present the prizes.
Here is description of what this is from the site:

Every Ig Nobel Prize winner has done something that first makes people LAUGH, then makes them THINK.

My favorite one from this year is the Ig Nobel Prize for Economics. It was awarded to the Vatican for "outsourcing prayers to India".

Feeling particularly dumb today...

I'm having one of those rare days where I can't seem to finish any tasks and feeling rather dumb...

And this isn't a lack of confidence or anything like that, but normally I can crank through any coding problem in my way and for whatever reason today is not my day. I confirmed today's stupidity by taking an online IQ test and scoring 30 points lower than my normal score. I scored a 131. Could this be caused by stress, being tired, or by being sick (even though I don't feel sick)?

I'm not sure, but like W. said last night "You can run, but you can't hide..." from the fact that I have some scientific proof (albeit not an exact science) that I am dumb today....

I need to finish my work so I can try to watch the Cards game on TiVo (or as I like to call it the greatest invention for people who are never home).

Stupid guy out.

Pics from the debate

I'm sure glad Kyle had a digital camera last night. I need to get one of those... It's pretty sad when someone who works in technology doesn't own a camera... oh well.

Here is Haze's post with pictures from the rally last night. Like I said in last night's post, we were really close.

Godwin's Law - or how all arguments eventually revert back to Nazi name calling

I saw this link and laughed about how all online arguments (whether via blogs, usenet, discussion boards) somehow revert back to name calling, and specifically calling somebody a nazi. It brought me back to an old post about how when liberals are losing an argument (or just plain angry) they always break out the required nazi or hitler reference.

Great Night! Great Debate! Hanging w/ W.

I just got home from a Republican rally where we watched the debate and then the President stopped by afterwards (Thanks haze for the tickets). Bush did great tonight! The atmosphere was electric and we luckily got upgraded to some premo seats (Thanks Aimee) right behind where George W. was speaking. We were in the fourth row directly behind the podium probably about twenty or thirty feet away. Look for us on TV clips or pictures.

I'll post some more comments tomorrow about the actual debates... and hopefully with haze's help I'll be posting some pictures.

PeopleSoft - Oracle Soap Opera

Everyone loves a good drama... The attempted hostile takeover of PeopleSoft by Oracle has all the makings of a good movie.

Craig Conway (the recently fired CEO of PeopleSoft) used to work for Larry Ellison (the founder of Oracle). It seems like this takeover offer is more personal pride and vengeance than sound business practices.

Granted, by purchasing a smaller competitor, Oracle could gain some market share. But they have stated that they will not enhance or create future versions of PeopleSoft's offerings, thus alienating PeopleSoft's existing clients, especially those who have large scale investments in PeopleSoft software. Would you buy software from a company who attempted to shutdown the software you were using and force you to move to another application (after the support runs out of course)? So while gaining market share, the company is upsetting the people they gain. They are also losing the PR battle.

Now that Craig Conway is gone, this deal will probably go throw and Ellison will win his battle. Conway has been on a one-man mission to stop the acquisition and it cost him his job and through his "half-truths" to the the public about the effect of the deal on PeopleSoft it has cost the shareholders 2 Billion Dollars.

Here are a few good links about the situation:
PeopleSoft Running Short on Options, Credibility
Oracle Clears the Conway Hurdle

Something else...

I saw this news this morning:

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected a Democratic bill Tuesday that would reinstate the draft, 402-2. The vote was scheduled to silence a Democratic whispering campaign that accused President Bush of having a secret plan to restart the draft if he were reelected. Only Congress could authorize an involuntary call-up.

Which by itself is no big deal, but then I realized that two nights ago a democratic congressman was talking about reinstating the draft because he felt like the poor people were the only people affected by war. So he wanted to "spread out the casualties". Now you are probably thinking to yourself, "what's the big deal?", "we heard the same thing on the news". Well.. the big deal is that the democratic congressman was an actor and the show was The West Wing and it was on tv for the first time about a year ago.

Have we really gotten to the point where the democrats are watching The West Wing to see what Aaron Sorkin's next big idea is?

Great Joke

I think haze may have already shown this one... But I saw it again this morning and figured it was worth a second look:

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, 'Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am.'

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, 'You're in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.'

She rolled her eyes and said, 'You must be a Republican.' 'I am,' replied the man. 'How did you know?' 'Well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me.'

The man smiled and said, 'You must be a Democrat.' 'I am,' replied the balloonist. 'How did you know?' 'Well,' said the man, 'you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met but, somehow, it's my fault.'

U.S. Senator Jim Talent's (R-MO) Statement on the Kerry Doctrine

Talent's comments....

I think Talent does a great job of being straight to the point.

The Kerry Doctrine dictates that America should not defend itself unless the French and others tell us it’s okay. Senator Kerry should tell the voters how many permission slips he would require and from whom.

Did the President Lie about Iraq?

Did the President Lie about Iraq?

This is a must-read about WMD's in Iraq. Specifically for you Deloney (AKA Mr. Meaner or the other half of Criminal Chargez).

I'll be surprised if anyone reading that article (besides Haze) will get to the truth before the end of the article.... (Don't skip ahead)

Leave me a comment if you did (you'll know what I am talking about after you read it)...

Oh so tired....

I am soooooo tired after a good and long weekend. I've been trying to sleep since 12:30 (PM) and it is now 4:45 and I have yet to sleep.....

AARGH

Oh yeah, I'm guessing the rams won't end up the 10-6 I predicted in the preseason. Mike Martz is getting worse as a coach rather than better....

No Time for Postin'

I've had a crazy, busy week... not much time for posting. I've been working a lot of hours this week and this weekend I have:

• My 10 year reunion (which I helped plan)
• A bachelor party (which I helped plan and at my house...)

So needless to say I probably won't be posting again this weekend.

Hopefully I'll start posting again early next week.

Have a great weekend!

Kerry Allies Tied to Forged Document Scandal

I just read this at gopusa.com:

Republican suspicions that CBS and the Kerry campaign shared information about the documents prior to the September 8 airing of "60 Minutes" got a boost from statements made by an adviser to the Massachusetts Democrat. Joe Lockhart, a press secretary for former President Bill Clinton who was recently added to the campaign, told the Associated Press that he contacted Bill Burkett about the documents at the suggestion of CBS producer Mary Mapes.

The reason the democrats did this is mentioned later in the article:

Lockhart added that during a brief conversation, Burkett offered advice "on how to deal with the Vietnam issue and the Swift boat" allegations.

Lockhart recalled that the former Guardsman said, "These guys play tough and we have to put the Vietnam experience into context and have Kerry talk about it
more."

You can find the whole article here.

Daily Rant

A few of things on my mind:

First, I know it's been a few weeks, but I just re-read Zell Miller's speech at the RNC. I loved it... If you didn't get a chance to hear or read it... do it here

Second, I am getting kind of tired of this CBS news story.. (by the way, did anyone notice the link to the speech was to CBS? That was intentional). The story here has nothing to do with President Bush's service, rather it has to do with Rather and him faking the news and not admitting it. That is why this is a story. But who among us didn't already know that the big networks (not including fox) are as liberal as you get and will do anything to slant the story towards the left.

In my humble opinion, people shouldn't care about Bush's national guard service. They should care about what he has in his 3+ years as president and his time as govenor. The same argument applies to Kerry, I don't care much about what he did in Vietnam... I care about what he has done in public service since.... And I agree that like the quote from JibJab "He has more waffles than a House of Pancakes." The only telling argument about his service to me is that he was talking about being president 30+ years ago... That's more than a little odd... Kerry reminds me of Aaron Burr, he is into politics and being a gentleman more than standing for anything.

Third, aren't liberals supposed to be the "nice people who love everyone", if you think that is the case you should check out this post at rightwingnews.com. These people are nutbags... Also, how come every time a liberal wants to hurl a comment at a conservative it is "nazi or white bread". The nazi one really gets me, this is the worst insult available. As a descendant of German Jews I can't believe that anyone would ever use the term Nazi as an insult.

Forth, I read this article by Dick Morris this morning at NYPost.com. The title is "Nobody Likes Him" and Morris is talking about Kerry. This article is based on the latest poll results and in the article he says:

But worse, the poll shows that Kerry must face a basic problem: His own voters don't like him very much.
The Fox News poll asked Kerry supporters if their vote for the Democrat could best be described as motivated by support for Kerry (41 percent) or by opposition to Bush (51 percent). By contrast, Bush voters emphatically say, by 82-13, that they are voting for the president rather than against the challenger.

Rams Win!! (ugly)

The Rams win ugly. I still think they could be 10-6, but jeez what an ugly win. I like Mike Martz, but it is hard to defend his lackadaisical attitude about turnovers and burnt up challenges. Doesn't it seem like everyone has the same complaints about game management every year?

Also, when did this offensive genius forgot how to call plays in the red zone? If we play like that for the rest of the season we won't be 10-6, we'll be 6-10.

One nice thing about the game yesterday is that Marshall Faulk looked like Marshal Faulk (cir. 2001). Same for Reverend Ike. That should bode well for the offense. Stephen Jackson still looks good, although I didn't like the fumble in his 1st carry of his pro career.

So at least we are 1-0 (and my fantasy teams are both 1-0)....

War St. Louis Best Sports Town in America...

UPDATE: My fantasy teams are 1-0 and 0-1. The monday night game cost me a win, I was up by 30 points and lost by 5 points.... aargh! The annoying thing is we both had players in the game, my guy scored 1.85 pts, and his scored 37

GMail

Hey geeks, I have 6 gmail invitations to give out.

If you don't know what gmail is, then it is probably not for you anyway.

Post a comment with your email address and I'll send one to you.

Cya!

The WORST AD EVER!!!!!

This is by far the worst ad I have ever seen! I hope this is not real, because this is as tasteless as it gets:
http://www.post-literate.com/gerpunx/archives/i_swear_this_is_real.php

Funny

Man shot by dog who he was trying to shoot:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/09/09/shooting.dog.ap/index.html

New Look... done

The new look is posted, let me know what you think. As I mentioned in a previous post my art skills are coming back. And although that is true, I can't take any credit for the design of the site... It was designed for a dot net nuke contest. I just transfered the HTML over and made it work with the blog templates.

The skill I showed with this skin is making it work with the blog template, which proved to be pretty easy.... oh well.

Kerry's Daughters Booed...

I thought this was really funny...

http://www.drudgereport.com/kerrymtv.htm

Maybe that is bad sign for Kerry, that the biggest liberal media outlet (mtv / viacom), not really in terms of reporting, but in terms of the type of crap they put on tv, actually had an audience that would boo his daughters.

Come to think of it, do we really want these people on our bandwagon? Maybe they are all nader supporters.

New Skin Soon, Art Skills coming back slowly...

Along time ago (about 5 years), I used to do a little web site design. I was always better at the programming side of things, but I could hold my own on graphic design side. I was by no means great, but I could do alright creating and modifying sites and images.

Lately, I have had the chance to start doing some of this again (on the side). Now it's been 5 years and the comeback took a long time to get ramped up....

But I am getting better. I've been creating and modifying some skins (for our portal software and doing the same with pictures). Here are some recent examples:

http://www.engageportal.com/
http://www.reachstl.com
There is one more I want to show but can't because I can't give out the login and password. this one is by far my best work, nothing flashy, but very well coordinated.

Anywho... I am going to work on a new skin for this blog. We'll see how it goes... look for it soon.

Morris starting to come around... Matty Mo is Rick Vaughn

Matty Mo is starting to look more and more like his old self. Last nights game was the most dominating start we have had by a pitcher this season...

I was more than a bit nervous about matty earlier in the year. When he is throwing 88 or 90 instead of 95 he is a little bit easier to hit.

This season matty mo reminds me of Ricky Vaughn (AKA Wild Thing) from Major League 2... He starts throwing the "The eliminator and the humiliator to compliment his fastball, the terminator." And lo and behold what happens, ye olde terminator doesn't have the same zip anymore.... Then he (Rick Vaughn) starts throwing the fastball more often... and the velocity comes back... The same thing is happening this year. Remember how early in the season all we heard about was matt's changeup? He was throwing that and the two-seamer a lot.... And he lost his velocity. In the last three starts he starts throwing the 4-seamer more often and it's finally getting back up to the mid 90s. Funny coincidence.

Good quote from the Major League 2:
Vaughn: I got a new one I'll show ya...you get a piece of it, I'll let you name it. Vaughn pitches the ball and Parkman hits it out of the stadium.)
Parkman: I'd call it the masturbator.

Another Good Quote:
Harry Doyle: That looked like the Terminator, only slower. Maybe it was his Out-of-Stater! Or it could have been the Hibernator. That baby is definitely going away for the winter. Whatever for Vaughn, it might be see-ya-later, he's probably gonna become a spectator.

More on the Padres

Hey David Wells, The cards are very beatable I guess you proved that... (Sure...)

The Cards have played at such a high level this year, but didn't it seem like they really cherished this sweep? I heard Steve Kline this morning on the Fan repeating those quotes from Eaton and Wells and basically saying the Padres learned their lesson.

Who do they think they are?

I hope the Cards face the San Diego Padres in the playoffs. Apparently this team needs to be taught a lesson in humility. Here is a quote from the espn.com article about last nights game:

Eaton settled down after the early damage, allowing one baserunner per inning in his last five innings. In six innings, he gave up three runs on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks, but lost on the road for the first time since a 13-6 setback at Colorado on May 26. He wasn't that impressed with the Cardinals, though. "They have a good lineup," Eaton said. "I mean, I hate to burst their bubble but I think I faced a better one in New York against the Yankees."

Now, I'm not saying this is exactly like slamming the cards or anything... But it's not exactly respecting a team that has beat you two games in a row.

Here is a quote from David Wells (probably one of the only MLB players that I am in better shape then):

Veteran lefthander David Wells of the San Diego Padres says the Cardinals, who have baseball's best record at 86-44, are "very beatable.""We can go in there and play just as solid of baseball as they do," Wells told the San Diego Union-Tribune before the Padres departed for a three-game series at Busch Stadium.San Diego is one-half game behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League wild-card race. Wells, who has been on nine playoff teams, says the Padres "rank right up there; we stack up with anybody."

I mean it would be one thing if this team was rolling along with a record close to the Cards.... But the padres are 71-61... the Cards are 88-44. One other thing:

The Padres have a 2-18 record at Busch in the last five seasons

What would Snoop Say?

Do you ever sit around thinking to yourself, what would Snoop D-o-g-g say in this situation... I know I do...

So click here to translate your favorite website into snoop speak. I suggest doing this with blogs because the more content the funnier it can be. Caution: this could have cuss words in it.

Insert Joke Here (I've toned down this title)...

NBA "Players" in Olympics

I just read an article (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5851082/) that said Allen Iverson (AI) ripped the NBA players who didn't show up for the olympics. For the first time in my life, I agree with AI. It should be an honor for the players who were asked, but instead a whole bunch of the best stars turned them down. I have respect for the players who went (and lost) for going.

I have no respect for the men who picked this team. I'm not much of an NBA fan (although I love college ball,), but shouldn't a GM focus on picking a "team". The word team would normally include shooters, defensive specialists, true point guards, etc... Not just a whole bunch of players who are slashers and althletic. Under international basketball rules, I don't think that a bunch of slashers and a team of poor shooters is going to win against the zone and teams that play together as a "Team".

Oh well, hopefully this will show some people that having a bunch of athletes doesn't necessarily build a great team, there is skill also involved.

PS... Are you listening Quin Snyder.. YOU NEED POINT GUARDS WHO CAN PASS. A TEAM FULL OF 6 PLAYERS WHO PLAY EITHER THE 2 OR THE 3 ISN'T GOING TO CUT IT IN THE BIG 12.

PPS... I love Mizzou basketball and I respect Quin and his recruiting ability, but why hasn't he been able to recruit point guards... You figure a guy who played the positiion might just realize that it is important.

1st Ram's Post of the Year

I watched most of the game last night and was impressed. Not that the preseason means anything. The preseason is so meaningless I could have written how horrible this team looks just five days agao.

Anyway, I think this team is going to be 10-6 if the offensive (and I mean offensive) line holds up. Maybe 11-5, maybe 9-7 but right around there...

Random Thoughts:
Stephen Jackson looks like a future star out of the Ricky Watters mold, big, fast, and a good receiver.

Torry Holt is amazing and could be the best receiver in the NFL.

Mark Bulger will be fine this year, I predict 25+ touchdowns, 3700 yds passing, 15 ints. Not bad stats at all.

Orlando Pace (Mr. I want 25 million dollar signing bonus and I play left tackle, and I'm not the best left tackle in the leage..) throws a party for his teammates and plans to come into camp this week. I am so tired of this situation, I wish they could trade him and get close to equal value. He is a good tackle, not the best, but in the top 5. But he keeps killing this team by really only playing 12 good games each year. It takes him a good 4 games (or at least it did last year) to get up to speed after missing training camp. If I was his teammate I would flip!!! I would tell him to sign his Measly 7 million dollar contract for this year and get his but on the team...

Cool Stuff

For the computer geeks out there check out this link:
http://www.kurzweilai.net/brain/frame.html?startThought=Artificial%20Intelligence%20(AI)

This site dynamically recreates the menu structure based on artificial intelligence (it's a site about AI)

Also, this site (http://www.grand-illusions.com/monty.htm) talks about counter intuitive mathematics (specifically the "monty hall problem"). This counter-intuitive math is similar to the problem created by three guys and the hotel (http://www.cyberspace.org/~n8rxs/math.html)
this one never makes sense to me, no matter how hard you examine it.

Funny Cartoon

For every one who loves the Chapelle show, (like I do) here is a great cartoon that talks about Rick James:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/uclickcomics/20040817/cx_bo_uc/bo20040817

More on the Cards

Great article on mlb.com about the Cards new lineup featuring Larry Walker. It compares the birds on the bat to the old Big Red Machine teams from Cincy.

It also mentions that the Cards currently have 22 Gold Gloves on that team (obviously some of these players have won it multiple times... :>) Nice bit of bling, bling on that team. By the way, those Bling, Bling billboards last year showing the gold glove were awesome.

Anyway, check out the link:
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_perspectives.jsp?ymd=20040807&content_id=821336&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp

Swift Boat Vets

This ad for the Swift Boat Veterans is amazing. This could be a very, very, damaging ad for the Kerry Campaign.

Also, I checked http://www.scaryjohnkerry.com/vietnam.htm. This site seems a lot more vengeful and maybe a little crazy consipiracy theory but I guess the scariest part of all of this is that only one person is supporting John Kerry from the 19 in the picture he is using in his campaigning. That is a little sad. Can you imagine if you ran for office and none of your co-workers voted for you?

BTW, I may occasionally drop some politics on that azz, but if you are really into politics check out my buddy haze's blog (www.therantinghaze.com).

Cards Win (Then Get Walker)

So I'm driving home from work and listening to the Cards game on KMOX, so during a commercial I switch over to 550 AM (I am a sports geek...) and they announce that the Cards have just traded a minor league pitcher for Larry Freakin Walker.

I immediately start trying to figure out where he will bat (I'm guessing 2nd) and trying to figure out how I can score some World Series tickets. I know he is 38, and a little brittle (he hasn't played more than 140 games / seasion in a long, long time). But who cares, we gave up nothing (at least until we find out who the famous "player to be named later(s)" are) and this guy can flat out play.

Walt Jocketty is the man!!! This guy never ceases to amaze with his late season trades (Big Mac, Will Clark, Woody, Rolen).

War Cards World Series Tickets
War St. Loo tour stop....

Another FIrst Post

MY FIRST POST! FYI...I'm usually not the type of person to share personal information with the general public. I guess the "default" posts here will be funny pics or quotes I receive. Maybe in the future I will do more personal stuff and some "takes" on current events. For the record, I am 27, single, live in O'Fallon, Missouri (just outside of St. Louis) and work in Software Sales / Project Management (reformed programmer). I am a Christian, really into sports, and like rap. (Sometimes an odd combination of things). I am pretty conservative so you may occasionally see some right wing rhetoric coming from this spot of cyberspace. I'll try to keep the posts interesting and hopefully funny.

Don't call it a comeback
I been here for years
Rockin' my peers
Puttin' suckers in fear
Makin' the tears rain down like a monsoon
Listen to the bass go boom
Explosion, overpowerin'
Over the competition, I'm towerin'
Records shock
When I drop these lyrics
That'll make you call the cops