Reductio ad absurdum

You are Soy Gay!

2006-12-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

This makes total sense...

Gingrich raises alarm at event honoring those who stand up for freedom of speech

2006-11-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

This is disturbing. I would love to see this guy get the nomination for the Republicans, his record, his personal history and his views would make for an easy Democratic victory.

Democratic House and Senate, what now?

2006-11-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

The Mid-term elections are over and it seems Americans have given their heads a collective shake and decided to toss out enough Republicans and elect enough Democrats to shift the balance of power in Washington. The last two years of a 2 term presidency are often a challenging time for an administration, your enemies see you as a weak lame-duck and your friends are all trying to ensure they get your job when you are kicked out. This is made worse in Dubya's case by the ongoing shitshow in Iraq and the fact that the current vice-president is not considering running for president. If the Democrat's decide to start hammering the administration with investigations and enquires about the war, things are going to get rough, how rough depends on the reaction of the Whitehouse. Dubya's natural instinct when trapped into a corner is to retreat to his base and this might overcome any desire to build a legacy that not does not involve pre-emptive war. Cheney seems to have become uber-bitter and will either finish out his term padding a nest egg for himself or attempting to get Dubya to bring out the VETO stamp on any legislation likely to help the Democrats.

The real question will be how will the Democrats win back the Whitehouse in 2 years? Will they attempt a centrist course that lures independents and moderate Republicans over to the Democratic side? Or will they try to appeal to their base; unions, women, minorities and urban voters? The safe bet seems to be to stay moderate, at least until a front runner emerges from the Republican party. If a moderate like McCain is nominated then expect the Dems to veer to the left, if a more conservative candidate receives the nomination then the center is wide open for democrats. All in all it should be interesting.

On a personal note we are still waiting for our house to be completed, apparently infills are like Rome, not built in a day.

Played some 5-10 at Deerfoot Casino last night, bought in for 100, cashed out 300. Not a bad night. The table was evenly split between knowledgeable, competent players and those who did not understand the betting structure, let alone low-limit strategy. The dealer showed great patience when hand after hand players were betting 10 when they can only bet 5 and vice versa. My biggest regret of the night was tangling with the more experienced players with questionable hands. I would have made about 200 bucks more if I had stayed clear of them and focused on the ample supply of fish. I will definitely be back to Deerfoot in the near future.
I recently bought Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Lee Jones, it was a great read. All my poker books have been based on No Limit tournaments, a very different game.

the end of wikipedia....

2006-07-05T20:40:00.000-06:00

I'm a pretty big fan of wikipedia ,but I fear it's chaotic ways may be coming to an end. As more and more people begin editing entries and people with a serious ax to grind , the article on evolution has been locked by the administrators due to the constant altering of the article by creationists/I.D.'ers and pro-evolution advocates. The sudden death of Kenneth Lay has resulted in a similar battle. Read about it.

the guy in charge of the internet.

2006-07-03T17:51:00.000-06:00

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted StevensÂ (R-Alaska) is conducting hearings on the so called net neutrality bill, now this guy is 87 years old and like many 87 year olds is a little behind the times. He recently stated

"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 oÂclock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially. [Â]

He then asked "what happens to your own personal internet when someone else tried to download 10 movies at the same time?"

But the gem is this ditty "They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. ItÂs not a truck. ItÂs a series of tubes."

A set of tubes indeed. And I mean who better to head a Senate commitee on commerce than an 87 year old from Alaska. Article found here.

a month off...

2006-06-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, in the last month I've been rejected from law school, gone to Vegas, sold my house and bought a new house. I'm on the last week of 3 weeks of holidays and I was bored and reading over some of my old posts, damn sometimes I can actually write!

Best Headline Ever

2006-05-20T18:24:00.000-06:00

"Tommy Hilfiger Attacks Axl Rose With Punching Barrage In NYC Nightclub…" from the Huffingtonpost.com

Google Earth....

2006-05-16T18:15:00.000-06:00

I'm a pretty big fan of Google Earth, but you quickly run out of stuff to look at due to the sheer size of, well earth. This site provides some cool stuff.

BBC Screw-up

2006-05-15T16:53:00.000-06:00

The BBC was supposed to be interviewing a lawyer for Apple and they grabbed the wrong guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj65znF5gNI

Hat tip Dave.

2006-05-14T21:33:00.000-06:00

Laura Bush doesn't believe polls about Dubya

2006-05-14T11:55:00.000-06:00

"I don't really believe those polls. I travel around the country. I see people, I see their responses to my husband. I see their response to me," Laura Bush

Yeah, good one Laura. There's a reason you don't see anyone who doesn't like your husband when you travel around the country, all your events are staged and the audience is hand picked die hard republicans and soldiers in uniform who are not allowed to critize their commander in chief. There is a reason why the First Lady is being showcased much more than her husband, her approval ratings are at record high while a new Harris poll has put Bush's numbers at a record low 29%. It's too bad the First Ladt can't veto legislation or conduct foreign policy, all she can do is open museums and give speeches to Rotarians.

For a view of what might have been....

each side?

2006-05-04T18:24:00.000-06:00

This is crazy, mix in a salad D.Chean.

"He takes a range of medications that he and his doctors decline to detail. The extent of his atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries, which, if it extends beyond the heart to the brain, can cause hard-to-recognize changes in cognition) is unknown. Bypass surgery itself has long been associated with subtle changes in neurological function." "At age 65, Cheney is easily 30 or more pounds overweight, seems to have slacked off on what was once a more rigorous diet, and appears to suffer from recurrent bouts of gout. At a roundtable lunch with reporters a couple of years ago, two who were present say, he cut his buffalo steak in bite-size pieces the moment it arrived, then proceeded to salt each side of each piece." (emphasis added)

I don't use the word 'Hero' very much...

2006-04-29T10:59:00.000-06:00

Some people see things as they are and say why? Some people see things as they could be and say why not? Some people see a knocked over relay box and get their wives to take a picture of them picking it up.

The D O Double G in G.Brit

2006-04-27T16:44:00.000-06:00

Wow, like calm down guys.

worth a watch......

2006-04-24T22:58:00.000-06:00

.....our doom

2006-04-17T07:50:00.000-06:00

Setting Iran Straight

The precedents are somewhat discouraging. By Michael Kinsley Posted Friday, April 14, 2006, at 5:51 AM ET

So, after more than half a century of active meddling—protecting our interests, promoting our values, encouraging democracy, fighting terrorism, seeking stability, defending human rights, pushing peace—it's come to this. In Iraq we find ourselves unwilling regents of a society splitting into a gangland of warring militias and death squads, with our side (labeled "the government") outperforming the other side (labeled "the terrorists") in both the quantity and gruesome quality of its daily atrocities. In Iran, an irrational government that hates us with special passion is closer to getting the bomb than Iraq—the country we went to war with to keep from getting the bomb—ever was.
And in Afghanistan—site of the Iraq war prequel that actually followed the script (invade, topple brutal regime, wipe out terrorists, establish democracy, accept grateful thanks, get out)—the good guys we put in power came close, a couple weeks ago, to executing a man for the crime of converting to Christianity. Meanwhile, the bad guys (the Taliban and al-Qaida) keep a low news profile by concentrating on killing children and other Afghan civilians rather than too many American soldiers.
When the United States should use its military strength to achieve worthy goals abroad is an important question. But based on this record, it seems a bit theoretical. It's like asking whether Donald Trump should use his superpowers to cure AIDS. Or what George W. Bush should say when he wins the Nobel Prize in physics. A more pressing question is: Can't anyone here play this game?
Half a century ago, Iran was very close to a real democracy. It had an elected legislature, called the Majlis, and it had a repressive monarch, called the shah, and power veered uncertainly between them. In 1951, over the shah's objections, the Majlis voted in a man named Mosaddeq as prime minister. His big issue was nationalizing the oil companies.
But in 1952, the United States had an election for president, and the winner (Eisenhower) got more votes than anyone in Iran. That must explain why in 1953, in the spirit of democracy, the CIA instigated a riot and then staged a coup. Mosaddeq was arrested, the Majlis was ultimately dissolved, and the shah ran things his way, which involved torture and death for political opponents, caviar and champagne for an international cast of hangers-on, and no more crazy-talk about nationalizing the oil companies.
But, speaking of crazy-talk, resentment of the shah and of the United States were central to the growing appeal of Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1979, the Ayatollah's followers overthrew the shah and made Iran a strict Islamic state. Later that year, Iranian "students" besieged the U.S. Embassy and seized 66 hostages, most of whom were held prisoner for more than a year. Hatred of Iran in America became almost as fierce as hatred of America in Iran.
Meanwhile, next door in Iraq, an ambitious young dictator, new to the job, named Saddam Hussein sensed both danger and opportunity in Iran's chaos. So he decided to invade. Thus began the Iran-Iraq war, lasting eight years. It turned hundreds of thousands of people into corpses and millions into refugees. When it was over, nothing had changed. But it wasn't a complete waste. It provided another opportunity for the United States to promote its interests and values.
On the "enemy of my enemy" principle, the United States all but officially backed Iraq. We overlooked Saddam's use of chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers (many of them children), and against his own people. Many of the human rights abuses President Bush and others have invoked two decades later to justify the decision to topple and try Saddam were well publicized in the '80s. But in the '80s, we didn't care. President Reagan sent Donald Rumsfeld, then a drug-company executive, as his "special envoy" to tell Saddam that we didn't care.
Meanwhile, of course, Reagan was also secretly selling weapons to Iran.
The big event in Afghanistan this past half-century was the Soviet occupation of 1979, often described as the last gasp of the Cold War and as Russia's Vietnam. Recent governments had been pro-Soviet, but apparently not pro-Soviet enough. After the occupation, some of the deposed thugs and others formed militias that roamed the countryside killing people and whatnot. These were called "guerillas," because we were for them. During the 1980s, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year on weapons and other support.
The war we sustained in Afghanistan destroyed the country, turned half the population into refugees, and killed perhaps a million people. In 1989, the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan (along with everywhere else, including Russia). But disappointingly, our guerrillas, also called the "mujahideen," kept on fighting—using our weapons—against the government and among themselves. In 1996, one particularly extreme group, the Taliban, took power. It was even more disappointing when the Taliban established an Islamic state more extreme than the one in Iran and invited Osama Bin Laden to make himself at home, which he did.
So, we marched in and got rid of the Taliban. Then we marched into Iraq and got rid of Saddam Hussein. Now we're—well, we haven't figured out what, but we're hopping mad and gonna do something, dammit, about Iran.
And they lived happily ever after.

time off....

2006-04-14T15:23:00.000-06:00

Once you take a day off blogging it quickly becomes weeks, if not months, time to get back on the horse. The Vegas trip has balloned into 'junket' status with 13 people confirmed and a few more who are 'checking their schedules' (read asking thier wives or picking up pop bottles on the highway, I know Jarrat and Dpo threw about 20 cans out the window on the way to LA.) Big ups to Big T and B.Sherm for using their PokerStars money to pay for their Vegas trip, I am envious. So far all I could get is a small Slurpee with my winnings...

Garmisch, Germany

2006-03-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Garvin took some classic pics whilst in Germany.

upcoming mayhem...

2006-03-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

My bro is having a "White Trash" Keg party on friday at the cheeseblock. I will be attending along with some notable collegues. There are guaranteed awesome pictures to come. This was pretty funny...

Classic TDS

2006-03-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

Awesome.

a little break

2006-03-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone knows I'm still sucking in air I decided to post. Rabbi Steve grabbed this from somewhere and I thought it was pretty accuarate.

So, I was playing on Poker Stars the other night in a 27 man sit n' go(which I did win, but that's not what this is about.) When I play online, I'm usually a pretty tight layer. There are far too many overaggressive and loose players to start mixing it up with mediocre hands. I just sit back and fold until I hit a big hand and then make all the chasers pay through their teeth.

I was on a particularily long drought of good hands so my mind started wandering. I started to rethink about a question I had about God, which was "If God supposedly knows whats going to happen in the future but he has also given us freewill, how the heck does that work?" So I'm just kinda going over this vicious circle of thought when I had a realization. I started thinking about a deck of cards in a poker game.

After the cards are shuffled, the winning hand has already been determined. Think about it, after that last shuffle, the order in which the cards are dealt has been determined. The five community cards have already been determined. That 7-3 offsuit might be the best hand because the flop will bring a 7, the turn a 7 and the river a 7. It's already been determined, but you just don't know it.

Yet, the player holding that 7-3 may fold. Because he has been given a choice. He was dealt his 7-3, was the first to act, realized the likelihood that his hand wouldn't win and folded. Its the right decision based on the information he had at the time. In fact, poker is entirely based on acquiring as much information as possible each hand and then properly analyzing the information to make the right play. Sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong. And sometimes you're right and lose. And
sometimes you're wrong and win. Its the way it goes. But the whole entire goal is to maximize your profits and minimize your losses each hand.

Perhaps this is how God works. Perhaps the deck has been shuffled and he knows what cards are coming. But at the end of the day, he gives us the choice to play our hands as we like. Some of us decide not to pay attention to the info, some of us decide to ignore the obvious signs that they are heading down the wrong path by continuing with a certain hand, and some of us fail to critically analyze the information we've obtained. Meanwhile, others try their best to obtain any bit of info, some of us try to analyze this info to the best of our abilities and some of us try our absolute hardest to make the right decisions, no matter how hard it may be or how little info they have.

The beauty of life is that, like poker, you can make the absolute worst decisions and every once in awhile the deck throws you your only out card. The only card in the deck to save you. And if you can learn from these mistakes and improve your game, you can rebound and turn it around. But if you continue making the same mistakes time and time again, the deck's not always going to be able to bail you out.

On the flip side, sometimes you can make the best decisions. You can make terrific decisions and turn a nothing hand into a big pot with a great bluff, or you can play your monster hand right and double or triple out. But, no matter how great you play, you will lose hands. Big hands. You'll come across some of the worst luck imaginable. You'll slip and fall. But if you continue to strive to improve and learn from what you may have done wrong in those situations, you'll bounce back and get on track.

Now, the purpose of this article is not to play every hand in a poker game because it MIGHT be the best one. It's generally a losing strategy. No, its just a neat little analogy I came up with when I had too much time on my hands.

Well Hello Children!

2006-03-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

Issac Hayes has walked away from South Park due to the show's religious intolerance. Matt and Trey make some comments about Issac's timing and his strange definition of intolerance here.

Vegas Trip

2006-03-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's booked. June 5-8. Still room if anyone wants to join us. Haven't named the trip yet but a few options are "Guy's trip to Vegas" or "Rest and Relaxation in Nevada". They might not sell alot of T-shirts but....but nothing. They suck ass. Any suggestions from the blogosphere?

A modern, progresive place to live....

2006-03-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

The mastermind behind cheap cardboard tasting pizza has come up with another hum-dinger of an idea. Create a town in Florida that will strictly adhere to Catholic doctrine, no porn, no birth control, no abortions and probably not much fun either. This article gives some more details.
I wonder if pizza man will allow women to hold office, doubtful since they apparently won't be in charge of their own bodies. I'm sure a council of clerics... I mean pharasees... I mean priests will let everyone know how to configure a largely irrelevant body of text into a political and legal system that is in accordance with both state and federal law while still keeping a giant stick planted firmly in their ass. How are these people not denounced as Un-American religious fanatics who seek to usurp the liberal democratic tradition that was the basis for the consititution of the United States?

Wow, that's some good plastic surgery...

2006-03-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

I was flipping channels and happened across Meg Ryan on Oprah. WTF happened to her face? Try and guess which one is a comic book character and which one is an actress.

If that's what expensive plastic surgery looks like what does the cheap stuff look like?

Red State myopia

2006-03-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge...

an email

2006-03-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Matt Good posted this on his web site, pretty cool.

“Mr Good,

I had an experience a few days ago that really scared the shit out of me, and for some reason I feel like there was a little bit of your music involved, and figured I’d let you know what occurred.

I am a pilot for a freight company here in the states. I fly a larger, single engine plane at night, single pilot, hauling bank checks around the east coast. Its not fun, pretty work, but I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do: fly. Because I am alone up there, the nights do get boring, and I luckily have my ipod with me, connected to the plane’s intercom to help me get through the night.

This past Tuesday, I was flying late, over Georgia at 7000 feet, when my engine quit unexpectedly. I didn’t know it at the time, but a major component of the engine that controls the distribution of power had exploded. My plane, having only one engine to begin with, turned into a glider. It was completely dark out and I was trying my hardest to keep things under control by alerting air traffic control and keep flying my plane, which felt like a rock falling from the sky. I was descending through 6000 feet when Air Traffic Control gave me a heading to fly to try and search for a tiny, private airport in the dark Georgia countryside. After trying unsuccessfully to turn the airport lights on, I gave up on my search, as I was descending through 3000 feet, and close to being on the ground. I saw a small river and aimed for that. I opened the door and got ready for a water ditching. I turned on my emergency locater beacon and kept thinking about how the impact was going to feel. Out of the corner of my eye, at 900 feet, I saw this tiny strip of pavement and a small white hanger. I made a steep bank while lowering my landing gear at the same time. I came down hard, since I my sink rate was pretty bad. I managed to keep the plane on the short runway for a few hundred feet until I ran out of runway and stopped just off the end in a grass area. I had no injuries other than my wrist being sore from banging on the door to open in flight for my potential water ditching.

You’re probably thinking this is pretty random for me to write you about, and I actually haven’t even told anyone in depth, about this many details, but there’s a reason I felt like telling you.

For most of those horrible moments of my life, “haven’t slept in years” was playing though my ipod, still connected to the planes intercom. I didn’t even think to turn it off because I was so involved with doing other things. But today I was rethinking the entire incident and remembered as I was gliding that plane down, doing everything to keep cool and not loosing it, I was in my head, singing along to your song. It kept me cool. I had something on in the background, something familiar and comforting that kept me from completely loosing my cool. With no engine, the only sound you hear is the wind. Its eeiry. That is hard enough, but I had something on to help me stay somewhat relaxed and under control to do what I was trained to do and eventually saving the plane and my life.

To some, having a song playing during all of this wont seem like a big deal, and they wont think it would have made a difference. But being in that situation first hand, it definitely had a effect on the entire situation/outcome, and I’m glad it was a song on from one of my favorite artists. I’m glad to be here tonight writing about it. Thanks for the music Matt.

-Sean”

An interesting phone call...

2006-02-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on my ass watching 24 on Sunday night when I received an interesting phone call. I looked at the name and number and didn't recognize either, against my better judgment I answered the call. It was a girl I used to work with at Canada Post (we'll call her Jane), let me be more specific, back when I was a driver she was also a driver. I hadn't seen her in well over a year until Thursday when I saw her at the Tim Horton's across the street from the CMPP. (Steve or Dwight can tell everyone what that stands for). When I saw her she wasn't wearing a Canada Post uniform and was sitting with some people who looked like they were having some sort of meeting, papers and clip boards on the table and everyone using words like 'best practices' and 'growth opportunity'. I didn't think much of it, she is a part time driver and most part timers have some other job.
Jane started the call by reminding me who she was, if I hadn't seen her 2 days before I wouldn't have been able to remember her, that should give you some idea of the level of familiarity that existed between us. She told me she saw me at Tim Horton's and that I 'looked interested' in what she was doing! Uh ok. I was interested in my large regular coffee (a regular is one cream and one sugar, the double/double being way to sweet and rich for my taste) and listening to my colleague Duncan discuss his trip to St Lucia. I acknowledged that I had seen her and she began to shill for some type of 'exciting business opportunity' that needs young exciting people, blah blah blah.
She wanted to 'sit down' and talk about these 'opportunities' with me at my nearest convienance and wanted to know if I was available on Monday. Now I'll admit that the thought of sitting through whatever the hell Jane is selling or hyping is about as compelling as watching the World Series of Ironing I was curious as to exactly what company or product she was hooked up with. I told her that I was pretty busy (you've all seen the pictures of this house) and that I wasn't going to meet her during my one and only break of the day. I suggested she email me some details of this business, this kind of threw her for a loop. I could almost hear her rifling through her cold call handbook trying to come up with the appropriate response. She said she wasn't sure what information she could email me, well how about whatever it was you were going to dump on me in person? She said she'd come up with something but she couldn't discuss 'figures' over email. OK, whatever.
She then said she'd give me a call after she sent the email to arrange for a meeting, my poker senses were tingling when she said that. The way the situation had gone to this point was a classic poker scenario. She had called me out of nowhere and attempted to get me to agree to a meeting on her terms, this is like a big pre-flop bet. When I came back with 'email your shit first' that was like calling her big bet. Then she comes right back at me with we'll set up a meeting after the email, as if her sending me an email meant that I had agreed to a meeting afterwards. She was trying to bully me! My only response was to come over the top, I said "send me what you have and I'll have some people take a look at it for me". Boo-yeah, I'm all-in chicky-poo. Now she knows that even if I do agree to meet I'm very skeptical, I've done some research and I've had actual friends and acquaintances who advise me and that I don't make rash decisions. She played the 'oh, of course whatever you want' card but she backed off. I imagine the email will be waiting for me when I get to work tomorrow at 5:30, I'll post it on the blog when I have a chance.

Flip this house...

2006-02-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

Thinking of buying a house with my parents in Castleridge, it's a bank repo or something and the crazy lady who lived there (shown left) really let the place slip. The idea is to fix it up and sell it for a wack of cash (or if we're lucky a boat load of cash). I know I emailed a few pics to some of the faithful readers, here are a few more. Trust me the pictures do not capture the smell; a pleasant mixture of cat piss, mold, and an underfunded nursing home. (note the mask on B.Sherm in picture 3)

I should order one of these....

2006-02-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Sick as a dog...

2006-02-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Not feeling very good lately. I have that kind of cold that they advertise on TV, my nose is red and runny and I feel achey all over. Good times.
Watching Canada lose 2-0 to that powerhouse of hockey and corrupt banking practises, the Swiss didn't really help my mood.
I rented "Lord of War" last night. It was pretty good, I'm not the biggest Nic Cage fan but I liked it anyways. Thats all i got for now, maybe I'll do my taxes, that'll be fun.

Classic TDS

2006-02-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hilarious

APOC Poker night....

2006-02-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Played poker with some guys from work on saturday night. We played 3 games, I won once, came in second once and came in 3rd once. I'm more than pleased with that since I really didn't get very many cards. I can see this will be a regular game since everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Nice Flop....

2006-02-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

2006-01-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

'Anonymous' Speaks!

2006-01-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Anonymous said...

History Lesson.
P.E.T. the philosopher who would be Prime Minister. His cronies.
Can you say DEFICIT BUDGETS ala John Turner. Say SUCESSIVE DEFICIT BUDGETS.
Then N.E.P. Can you say ECONOMIC DISASTER.
Then nation wide Wage and Price Controls. Can you say CASTROPHY.
Then 39 cents of every tax dollar sent to Ottawa just to service the national debt from SUCESSIVE DEFICIT BUDGETS.
Ask your older coworkers about having their wages frozen.
Then 18 percent interest rates on mortgages. Can you say I LOST MY HOUSE.
If you are lucky and governments can run "surpluses" and use it to pay down the national debt, instead of lining the pockets of their cronies, then about the time that your grandchildren enter junior high school we might have the federal debt paid down. Then we can use the 37 cents of every tax dollar wasted, to pay for all the glorious social programs that we want..
Thus endeth the lesson.

9:16 AM

Well shut my mouth! I have been served a heaping plate of humble pie by "Anonymous". His clarity of speech and passion of prose have left me questioning everything I hold dear. That "Anonymous" is able to critique everything I believe while apparently writing in some form of verse is astounding. "P.E.T. the philosopher who would be Prime Minister. His cronies." His cronies indeed.

" Can you say DEFICIT BUDGETS ala John Turner. Say SUCESSIVE DEFICIT BUDGETS." Anonymous does not let facts or history get in the way of his argument, a trait I really admire. John Turner was
PM for 79 days. How he was able to run 'SUCESSIVE DEFICIT BUDGETS' is hard to imagine since a budget is only passed once a year. But come on, facts shmacts.

"Anonymous" also rallies against wage and price controls. "Then nation wide Wage and Price Controls. Can you say CASTROPHY." I can say CASTROPHY, although I'm not sure what it means. (This was a failed attempt to combat rampant inflation, it was also used in the US, put into place by Republican Richard Nixon)

"Anonymous" does lose some points for complaining like a little sissy liberal boy. "Then 18 percent interest rates on mortgages. Can you say I LOST MY HOUSE." You lost your house? Boo fucking hoo buddy, pull yourself up by your jack boot straps! Being a rugged individual you shouldn't have to complain about how the market weeds out individuals who are not able to prosper in society. It's all about trickle down buddy! Ever heard of supply side? Don't expect society to bail you out because you bought a house you couldn't afford and the banks came and took it away and now you live in your mom's basement and play Magic all day with the local Junior High kids.

Anyway, thanks for the comments. I know you said you wouldn't be back but I doubt that so feel free to keep blabbering away.

The Prosperity Cheque Poker classic!

2006-01-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here is what I propose. Me and 5 other people gather at my house. We all take our 400 dollar rebate cheques and sign them. We throw them into the middle of my poker table and we play until someone has all 2400 bucks. Who's in?

Some quick election comments...

2006-01-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Prime Minister Stephen Harper...hmmmmm. I'm still mulling that over. For a self described liberal, this was not what I wanted in an election but as I have pondered what actually happened, perhaps things worked out as they should.

While I think Paul Martin was a decent PM he was tainted by the Sponsorship scandal and he would never be able to live that down. A new leader was neccessary and some distance has to be placed between the sponsorship era Liberals and those who are going to come after. But let's look at what really happened.

The Liberals were forced into an election when the NDP withdrew support on a confidence motion and the government fell. Put simply the Liberals ran a terrible campaign making mistake after mistake. The Tory's were successful at putting forward a policy based campaign that was fairly non-controversial and banal, but more importantly they were able to keep the far right of their party out of the papers. (mostly, somehow this escaped the notice of the MSM, this guy was elected in Ajax-Pickering) So in short, everything that the Liberals could do to fuck this up they did, the Conseratives were error free for the most part.

120 seats? That's it? There was a perfect storm of opportunity for the Conservatives, they did everything they possibly could and that was all they could manage? A revitalized Liberal party lead by a respected and competent leader who is free of the stink of corruption will wipe the floor with Stephen Harper's turtle neck in 2 years time. Stephen Harper's best chance will be to govern from the center and try not to rock the boat, but is that what the Conservative base wants?

PS I thought this picture was kind of strange, what father shakes their kids hands? Try a hug buddy!
PPS. Spell check isn't working on blogger, my apologies if there are an seplling errors.

Wanted: Vegas Friendly Couple

2006-01-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

Married twenty-something couple looking for other couple to go to Vegas with sometime in the next 2 months. Must enjoy poker and shopping (the former more than the latter) as well as beer drinking and buffet eating. Please apply by leaving comment on this post. Duke Mcgoo is not welcome to apply, I'm sure he's forbidden from air travel due to medication.

Chuck Norris heard what you were saying about him....

2006-01-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Fortunately for you, Chuck Norris does not disapprove.

Why We Fight

2006-01-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

Becau$e.

That Burger King guy is mack'n it!

2006-01-16T18:15:00.001-07:00

No more night shift!

2006-01-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

Free at last! I have joined the world of the living and am now working 6-2. The level of blogging might decrease as I am about 1000% busier in my new position, but it is well worth it. I will try to update regularly and let everyone know what the hell is going on.

On a side note some of you may have noticed the comments are getting a little reactionary. I visited a site recently and left a comment on what I thought was a very disturbing article written about Africa. This fellow's enlightened views on poverty and its root causes can be deduced by reading the rest of his site (if you can stomach it) but it is all rather predictable. He has written some rather long comments that do not appear to coincide with the post but I think he just feels he has to share his knowledge with those who are younger than him (I think he thinks I'm 15 years old or something) I have not taken the time to adequately respond and now that I am no longer on night shift I don't think I will have the time too. I do however know a certain someone who as a rapiers wit and a loaded Street Sweeper who happens to have some time on his hands. As our Rally Team is not yet up and running I think he can manage to adequately pen our shared thoughts on politics and life on this fragile planet. Nice knowing ya Duke.

Online Poker is so rigged!

2006-01-11T02:47:00.000-07:00

This guy has an awesome post! He finally cracked the global conspiracy!

Rick Mercer to the rescue!

2006-01-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

Perhaps Rick should have helped P.Martin last night during the debate. Here's a great post about the wonderfully diverse candidates that the Conservative Party is fielding.

Paris and Nickie

2006-01-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Click on picture to enlarge. (a pair of queens is called the Hilton sisters, after Paris Hilton and her sister Nickie, I'm getting alot of hits from people googling Paris Hilton Naked but hey, hits are hits!)
(I'm obviously RedMileKid)

Here's a breakdown of this hand, this might get a little technical but I think it will help illustrate that poker is much more than catching good cards and watching for facial ticks (hard to do when playing online!). The first thing that should be noticed is the position that I am in, in the small blind next to the button. Position is very important in No Limit Hold'em, being in the small blind is generally a bad position. For each subsequent round of betting I will be the first to act which is never a good thing. I will have no idea as to the strength of my opponents hands and they will be able to react to my bet in a way that protects their holdings. If I recall correctly (this hand was played 2 days ago) the big blind was called by 2 of the players and raised by HandLikeFoot. I believe he raised about 1.75, a little over 3 times the big blind. This resulted in the rest of the field folding to me, I called the bet and the players after me folded. This was a good result as it narrowed the field to 2 players and a pair of queens is an excellent hand heads up. Another play would have been to re-raise here, something I definitely considered. With a hand like 10-10 or even 9-9 I might have re-raised hoping to take down the pot right there, however given that I was the short stack at the table and was feeling rather jumpy I decided to slow-play the queens in an attempt to win more money.

The flop of Js-Ah-7h was not a very good flop for me. With a high pocket pair, the last card you want to see on the flop is an ace, especially online. Players are much looser online and HandlikeFoot could have easily made a raise of 3x BB with a hand like A-5 suited or A-10o, if he had a hand like A-J, or A-K I think he would have bet more. If the player is a little looser he could have raised with J-K or Q-K in this case he is drawing to the nut straight., regardless my pocket ladies are looking a lot less appealing. I decide to check at this point. Checking allows me to see what HandlikeFoot will do, if he bets big I'm going to have to lay down this hand. I can call a smallish bet but I will be doing so in hopes of another queen or a heart falling on the turn. By checking however I am giving him the opportunity to see another card for free which can be very dangerous. Handlikefoot checks back at me.

The turn is the 10 of spades. This is also not a great card for me as it might have filled out his straight. I could check again but I decide to make a probe bet, a small bet (usually less than half the pot) to see where I stand. Probe bets are meant to extract information from a player, that information can be manipulated but it is still information. If Handlikefoot throws in a big raise I will have to fold. It is also possible that I will win the pot right here with this probe bet although that is rather unlikely. Handlikefoot calls my bet.

The river is a 3 of diamonds. This is a good card for me because it is highly unlikely to help my opponent. There is no possibility for a flush and it seems unlikely that he is holding King-Queen and has a straight as he would probably have reraised. At this point I actually make a pretty big mistake. I check. Checking here is the wrong move because besides the initial raise made pre-flop my opponent has shown no sign of aggression and will probably check back at me. I should have made what is known as a value bet, a bet that will be just small enough so that he will call, if the bet is too big and he folds you lost an opportunity to extract more money.
I get very lucky when Handlikefoot makes a small bet, about a dollar. My checking is seen as a sign of weakness and he hopes to take the pot down.
His bet is much too small to be anything but a steal attempt so I man up and push all in, which is a raise of about 5 dollars. This is where Handlikefoot should have folded. A check raise bluff is highly unlikely in this situation and with the board the way it was there are so many hands that beat him that calling a 5 dollar raise (10x the BB) is a huge mistake. He must have seen my all-in move as a steal attempt or perhaps he simply made the rookie mistake of giving a pocket pair a much higher rating than it warranted.
I take down the pot and the next hand is dealt.

Ed. Note. Big ups to Dan Harrington and Harrington on Hold'em Vol. I

Thanks for the memories...

2006-01-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks Guys...

New Years Party

2006-01-07T01:41:00.000-07:00

I've been told that I went to a New Years party, as I have no recollection of that evening I will take everyone's word for it.

My Political 2 cents

2006-01-06T04:59:00.000-07:00

For someone who does not wish Stephen Harper to be our next Prime Minister, the latest poll numbers are not encouraging. Some polls released last night have the Conservatives ahead by as much as 6 points. Not good. I've written earlier about my dislike of the Liberals but it is still surpassed by my dislike of the Conservatives. For like minded people, I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. If anyone remembers the last election where Stephen Harper was predicting a majority government only to have things fall apart just days before the election, we just need one of the back bench neanderthal to express some highly offensive or downright scary viewpoint and all of Ontario will run back into the arms of the devil they know. I don't think that will happen this time.

My prediction for election night will be as follows; The Conservatives will eke out a small minority government with the Liberals close behind and the NDP holding onto their seat total. The Bloc will gain seats at the expense of the Liberals and the Greens will be shut out once again.

This scenario will play out as follows; Any bill or budget that passes will have to be run through either the NDP or the Bloc (depending on seat totals and the nature of the bill, any bill that gives provinces more power will be backed by the Bloc and federalist slanted bills will be run through the NDP) the goal of the Conservatives will be to cast the Liberals as some kind of old throwback party while the Conservatives will project youth and vitality. While this is happening there will be a leadership convention in the Liberal Party which will probably be the political event of the year. Brain Tobin, Michael Ignatief, John Manley, Sheilla Cops (maybe) and Denis Coudear are all names that have been mentioned, I would prefer John Manley.

The light at the end of the tunnel that I spoke about earlier will be when the Conservatives start getting cocky and some of their 'hidden agenda' starts coming out. Capital gains tax cuts, corporate tax cuts, 'health care initiatives', and an increasing role in American foreign policy just to name a few. A strong Liberal leader who is untainted by the corruption scandals should be able to win a solid majority by mid 2007. The rise of the Conservatives is based more on disgust with the Liberals than any positive feelings towards Conservative policy. "He who rides the tiger of popular discontent can never get off" or so the saying goes. Once Ontario voters believe they have purged the Liberal party of both Chretien and Martin cronies then they will elect another Liberal government. Voting Conservative in Ontario is a protest vote, not a policy vote. (Ask Mike Harris)

The only way the Conservatives will ever win a majority will be if they moderate their platform substantially and elect a new leader from eastern Canada. Hmmm a more moderate party with a leader from eastern Canada I think there was a party like that once, Oh yeah the Progressive Conservatives. This moderation won't take place because the party's western base won't allow it, the tight rope that has to be walked by Harper et al. is very thin and is over a pool filled with sharks, with freakin' lasers attached to their heads.

North East West South - N.E.W.S.

2006-01-05T23:04:00.000-07:00

Steve wrote a post today about his aversion to media and news in general. While I am a news junkie I can sympathize, as my main man said "All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume." However I feel it is my duty as a citizen and a political operative to be as informed as possible about the events that take place in the world and in my own country. While the news is undoubtedly filtered and distorted through the lens of commerce a discerning viewer can pick 'the gnat shit from the pepper' to use a rather strange expression I heard somewhere.

Most News is total bullshit, it consists of celebrity gossip, sports clips, the latest political spin and the tragedy de jour. Much of what is shown on TV screens every night is ugly, it is violent and it is sad. Well guess what? This world is filled with ugliness, violence and sadness beyond reckoning, ignoring it doesn't make it any better. I guess the question is, how does my knowing about the state of the world make it any better?

This is a more difficult question. Steve stated that there are things on TV that he doesn't want his kids to see, I agree. Nothing is accomplished by burdening children with the weight of the world's problems, nothing except crushing their innocence and planting the seeds of apathy. The horror of the world's tragedies does not have to be the topic for every conversation around the dinner table, but a basic awareness of world events and their context in history is crucial if we are to avoid mistakes of the past.

Back in the saddle...

2006-01-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

Started playing online again at PokerStars, still keeping it small though .25-.50 NL Hold'em. Did very well yesterday doubling up my buy-in and knocking the living shit out of a guy in a headsup match. I downloaded a screen shot program so if any memorable hands occur I'll show you guys how it's done.

On another note, kind of, DavePop will be arriving at Calgary International Aeropeurto on saturday in search of gainful employment. I have promised to show him the sites and be his personal tour guide for the duration of his stay. I thought we could get a poker game going since Dave has tremendous talents and is eager to win some dolla dolla bills yo! (we'll see!) Anyway have fun at work while I sleep (I think next week is my last week of night shift- good fucking riddance.)

Warning Pictures of Gross Animal Post-Surgery Scabs

2006-01-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

Guys with German last names Rally Team!

2006-01-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

New adventures in the new year! The long anticipated "Guys with German last names who drive Japanese Cars Rally Team" (GGJCDT) is up and running. For more updates be sure to check here often. (hint hint Dwight, post more often!)

PS I think Dwight is involved in some kind of dinner theatre production, possibly something by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Don't buy the new Coldplay CD

2006-01-03T04:39:00.000-07:00

...found this here.
Why do Record companies keep punishing the people who are actually buying cd's? It's the same shit at the movie theatre, having to watch ads about how stuntmen wo't be able to feed their children if you download a movie on LimeWire, perhaps a valid point, but I just paid 13 fucking dollars so stop preaching to the choir you jackasses!

ps I'm crabby because it's Jan 3 and I'm still hungover.

"Coldplay's new CD has rules: No MP3s, no DVD players, no car stereos

Coldplay's new CD comes with an insert that discloses all the rules enforced by the DRM they included on the disc. Of course, these rules are only visible after you've paid for the CD and brought it home, and as the disc's rules say, "Except for manufacturing problems, we do not accept product exchange, return or refund," so if you don't like the rules, that's tough.
What are the other rules? Here are some gems: "This CD can't be burnt onto a CD or hard disc, nor can it be converted to an MP3" and "This CD may not play in DVD players, car stereos, portable players, game players, all PCs and Macintosh PCs." Best of all, the insert explains that this is all "in order for you to enjoy a high quality music experience." Now, that's quality.

I wonder how Coldplay feels about their fans getting all these rules set down for them by the music label? I wonder if most fans who read these rules will be wise enough to blame corporate, or whether they'll just decide to dig up a band whose label treats them like customers, not crooks? It's amazing how the labels always seem to come up with new ways of screwing artists: if they're not cheating them out of royalties, they're systematically alienating their fan-base."

Poker Friday

2005-12-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

I am a Dog geek

2005-12-30T00:50:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this for the fellow members of CanadianGoldens.com, who wanted to see a picture of Kermit's...disorder. No luck with those pics, my camera doesn't seem to like extreme closeup pics, I probably have the settings screwed up. I'll have to ask the local camera and photography expert.
Edit: I just noticed the link to Curt's site doesn't work. Get on that Sharp.

What is going on in Victoria?

2005-12-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

I googled "Dave Popowich" and "Victoria" and these are the 2 images that popped up, what the hell is going on out there Dave?

Poker Action

2005-12-29T18:43:00.000-07:00

quote of the day

2005-12-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

"I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo."

Ann Coulter Dec 21, 2005

Runner runner Mom....

2005-12-28T02:34:00.000-07:00

One of the best qualities to have as a poker player is to be unpredictable. An unpredictable player cannot be bluffed and will confound and confuse other players who wil often avoid getting mixed up in a pot with a loose cannon. Case in point, my mom.

I picked up my new poker table on monday night and within seconds my extended family was drinking beer and talking smack around it. The table is only 3 days old and there are already epic bad beat stories to be told! I'm sitting in the big blind with ATo and check rather than raise to attempt to see a cheap flop. The only other callers are my mom (the loose cannon) and someone else, B.Sherm maybe. The flop comes jack-queen-king rainbow. A truly monster flop for me. I bet out 15 bucks (the blinds at this point are either 1-2 or 2-4) so it is a substantial raise. My reasons for doing this are actually quite varied.
1. I want to isolate whoever has the stronger hand so that I am not playing against more than 1 person, a large raise should entice some folding since the flop looks scary and it probably hit me given my table image and the huge bet I have just thrown out.
2. I have been getting outdrawn lately so if this bet takes the pot right there, so be it.
3. I overbet in case my mom has any sort of drawing hand like A-K or even if she has hit trips and the board could pair on the turn or river giving her a boat. P.Sherm likes to call bets to keep people honest.

So after I bet 15 my brother folds and my mom calls. The turn is the jack of spades. I don't like this card at all. Given that my mom called a huge bet and she could be sitting on 2 pair or trips right now or she may have made her boat. I don't have position and I know she is more likely to call a bet made by me than to make a bet of her own, I check and she checks also.

The river is a 6 of spades. This doesn't really scare me, there are 3 spades on the board but there was only one spade on the flop so I'm not thinking of anyone making a flush with all those high cards on the flop. I bet another 15, a value bet this time hoping for a call and trying to sweeten the pot. My mom calls and flips over 3-4 of spades for the flush. Wow. I'm literally shell shocked and am in full blown tilt at this point. I don't think I really did anything wrong but I still lost. There's only one thing you can say "That's poker". And as if you can get mad at your own mom for outdrawing you, and after all the table was a Christmas present so she deserved to take some of my money....

I'll post some pics of me looking cool and posing with the table later this week, I know you guys can't wait.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Holidays everyone, I hope everyone gets everything they want this year.
I've noticed there are now 3 channels showing 'the fireplace'. Channel 9 is the original fireplace channel and is probably the best, there is no music but you can clearly hear the crackling sounds and thats a bonus.
Channel 10 comes through a little clearer but there is music. This can be a pro or a con, depending on whether the music is any good. The real disaster for channel 10 is that there is a banner on the bottom of the channel that displays temp. and other information. This totally takes away from the ambience of the fireplace and reminds you that you are just watching TV and not actually releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.
Channel 13 is an interesting mix. It has music but the music isn't really all that good but the fire is really roaring, something that appears lacking in the other infernos. I can't really hear any crackling so that's a definite minus, but a clear winner is hard to point out.
I have watched these fires long enough to know that it's just a 5 min loop that they play over and over again. However my cousin Jeremy allegedly said that he saw a hand appear in one of the fires and add a log. This has not been verified and goes against what I have seen. Jer likes to watch TV when he comes home from the 'office' ie. whatever Irish pub he was at.
Alright, I just found another fireplace channel, 37. It is the new favorite to win. It has music but a really nice rack or grate, whatever it is that the logs sit on.
And I just saw a poker move some of the logs around so maybe Jer wasn't all that drunk. Anyway have a great break everyone and speaking of poker, my place on friday night.

Wil Wheaton hates Bill O'Reilly too!

2005-12-23T04:33:00.000-07:00

VS

You know you're a real bastard if Wesley Crusher hates you!

The real war on Christmas
It's actually being waged by Bill O'Reilly and other right-wingers. I should know: It almost ruined my family's holiday dinner. read on... (you have to watch a 10 sec ad if you're not a Salon.com member and I'll bet Steve's beard or Dwight's new pimp ride that none of you do...

Chalk one up for the good guys...

2005-12-23T02:32:00.000-07:00

Jury awards millions to Wal-Mart workers

Quote of the Day

2005-12-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

This was a conversation between a member of SNCC who was taking black voters to the court house to register to vote and the county registrar circa 1962.

REGISTRAR: What do you want?
CRAWFORD: I brought this lady down to register.
REGISTRAR: (after giving the woman a card to fill out and sending her outside in the hall) Why did you bring this lady down here?
CRAWFORD: Because she wants to be a first class citizen like y'all.
REGISTRAR: Who are you to bring people down to register?
CRAWFORD: It's my job.
REGISTRAR: Suppose you get two bullets in your head right now?
CRAWFORD: I got to die anyhow.
REGISTRAR: If I don't do it, I can get somebody else to do it. (No reply)
REGISTRAR: Are you scared?
CRAWFORD: No.
REGISTRAR: Suppose somebody came in that door and shoot you in the back of the head right now. What would you do?
CRAWFORD: I couldn't do nothing. If they shoot me in the back of the head there are people coming from all over the world.
CRAWFORD: What people?
REGISTRAR: The people I work for.

I found this while listening to the audiobook "A People's History of the United States" as read by Mike McD.

Chuck Norris.....Man

2005-12-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

Little Known Facts About Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother's womb. Shortly thereafter he grew a beard.

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Chuck Norris won 'Jumanji' without ever saying the word. He simply beat the living shit out of everything that was thrown at him, and the game forfeited.

To prove it isn't that big of a deal to beat cancer, Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of"beard". Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus' obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths.

Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris lost his virginity before his dad did.

When Chuck Norris has sex with a man, it is not because he is gay, but because he has run out of women.

The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying "booya".

If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.

Macgyver can build an airplane out of gum and paper clips, but Chuck Norris can kill him and take it.

After much debate, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was "more humane".

There are no disabled people. Only people who have met Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris once shot a German plane down with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"

Chuck Norris likes to knit sweaters in his free time. And by "knit", I mean "kick", and by "sweaters", I mean "babies".

Chuck Norris doesn't understand why you should consult your doctor if your erection lasts for more than 4 hours. His erections have been known to last for up to 15 days.

The original theme song to the Transformers was actually "Chuck Norris--more than meets the eye, Chuck Norris--robot in disguise," and starred Chuck Norris as a Texas Ranger who defended the earth from drug-dealing Decepticons and could turn into a pick-up. This was far too much awesome for a single show, however, so it was divided into two.

Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.

When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes. Ever.

Steve posted this on his most excellent blog. Give him a click or Chuck Norris will beat your ass.

Wal-Mart....Go Back to Russia!

2005-12-21T02:30:00.001-07:00

I ran across this article the other day and forgot to post it. Fairly typical behavior...for a fascist regime! Then again Wal-Mart is famous for it's aversion to freedom of speech. There have been numerous artists that Wal-Mart has refused to carry, like her, who was banned from Wal-Mart because one of her songs mentioned Wal-Mart and it's sale of handguns. Crow was being "unfair and irresponsible", yeah singing is irresponsible, selling hand guns is cool. (Wal-Mart has since discontinued sale of hand-guns, hat tip Michael Moore

Wal-Mart also selects certain books to ban, Jon Stewart's America: The Book was also rejected. Robert Greenwald, creator of Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost had a previous movie rejected by Wal-Mart for purely ideological reasons.

If a book or movie is leaning the other way ie. it is very supportive of evangelical Christianity or 'conservative' values then Wal-Mart has no problem buying boatloads of it. However it shocked even die hard Wal-Mart critics to find that Wal-Mart was selling "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" on it's website. This 'book' was supposedly written by a Russian government official during the pogrom to whip up an anti Jewish frenzy and it is roundly rejected as a fraud. It purports to be the minutes of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders who plot to take over the world.
This is the cover from a UK version, not very racist or anti-Semitic at all (insert smiley icon rolling his eyes here). The best part is Wal-marts comment regarding the book "If The Protocols are genuine (which can never be proven conclusively), it might cause some of us to keep a wary eye on world affairs." (quote found here) Uh yeah because (insert derogatory term for Jews here) might try and take over the world and stuff. Unreal. We discussedd this book in my last Poli Sci class, when I mentioned this to my prof he kind of dismissed it as a rumour. I emailed him like 5 sources when I got home, he was pretty shocked

Wal-Mart does carry the Left Behind series, a group of films and novels about the rapture, a review of which can be found here. Ever heard of anyone else carrying these books or movies? Can you say 'conservative agenda'? I've rambled on long enough, I think everyone gets my drift.

* That's 14 links, a new record!

RIP John Spencer

2005-12-20T04:15:00.000-07:00

"This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.' "

Is Robert Ludlum trying to sell me Viagra?

2005-12-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

I have been getting an increasing amount of spam lately that my filter is not, well, filtering. It's almost all prescription drug ie. viagra, levitra etc. I'm not sure if the word on the street is that my junk is inoperative but let me quell all those rumors by...well you'll just have to trust me. The strange part about this spam is that it all contains short text from Robert Ludlum novels, mostly The Bourne Supremacy. I find it doubtful that R.Lud is pimping the little blue miracles but why is someone bothering to add this useless text to an already useless email? Strange....

Tom Cruise....Scientologist

2005-12-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

Is this Scientology dude (who is apparently a 3 star general, or a first class nutter) actually shorter than Tom Cruise?

I've always been interested in this 'religion'. Here's a recent LA Times article**

**Los Angeles, not Lethbridge Alberta

quote of the day

2005-12-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

"In that moving has made Philogynist sick, sore throat-wise anyway. But now it’s done. Finito. Last night Px had to make one last trip to the burbs to get a few things (and vacuum up the 14.8 cats worth of fur that El Cid had shed and which had accumulated under the couch and under the bed and behind the computer desk and pretty much everywhere) and when he was finished he sat down in the sad empty apartment in which he had spent four big years of his life, through good times and bad times, and thought… fuck this fucking place right in the fucking ass."

This is from this guy's blog. A pretty funny read.

Mr Harper redux

2005-12-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

I think the damage that is done by revealing this speech is that it shows that Stephen Harper is not being honest when he campaigns. Stephen Harper and many of the old Reform gang do not hold the same values as many Canadians, especially eastern Canadians. Instead of being honest and espousing these views they hide them because they know that they will not get elected in Canada by running the GOP playbook. When Stephen Harper says that Canada is a northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the word he is disparaging what many Canadians hold dear. We look after the least among us, we believe that there is a common good that is served by not dishing out 'tough love' to people down on their luck. Does it piss me off that people take advantage of the system? That people rush to the ER because they have a runny nose? Hell Yeah it does! But these abuses are minor compared with the cost of having to deal with the results of leaving people to struggle for what they need to survive. Look at the difference between Canadian and American prison systems, ever wonder why they have so many people locked up? Land of the free?

The people from Alberta who complain about having no say in politics should stop electing people who have extreme views. If Nfld and Labrador were electing members of the "Communist Cod Fishers Party" they would be saying the same thing, why aren't Albertans voting for the CCFP? Why do they keep electing those Conservative bums?

Do the Liberals deserve a swift ass kicking? Damn straight. If the old PC party was still around they would have won a majority during the last election. Say what you will about the PC's, they were a national alternative that could elect members in every riding. Instead of leaving voters with an easy alternative the Conservatives have driven Canadians to choose between the devil they know and the ones they are not sure of. They have also driven many of the Red Tories over to the Liberal party ensuring that the sole possessor of the 'Centre' of the political spectrum is occupied by the Liberals. Ask a Canadian where they fit in the political spectrum and by far the majority will say somewhere in the middle.

Want to know how many easterners feel about the Conservatives and Stephen Harper? Ask an Albertan how he feels about the NDP and Jack Layton. Same opinion, too radical.

Good night Mr Harper...

2005-12-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

Stephen Harper's past is coming home to roost. I'll post more about this later, I'll just link to the news article for now.

Strange spam

2005-12-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

I've started recieving prescription drug spam again, nothing new really, but this time there are blocks of text at the bottom of the email. Does anyone recognize any of this jibberish? It almost seems like lyrics from some bad gangsta rap song. I cut and pasted the entire email.

PS Are these good prices? What is the going rate for black market V? Anyone know? Steve? Dwight? My drugs usually come with a government seal and sometimes if I'm lucky a sampler bottle of "Snake Bite Spicey Whiskey"

http://www.painisa.com

VaLeLlUM (30)$120
Ombien (30) $135
ViAGRA (30)$124
Znax (30)$170
ALlS (30)$76
ZUma (30)$166
LEvitra (30) - $86
Then what? Something you may not want to do, but you have to. ... Take the forty-seven from the colonels body and force the crowd, shoot it back into the street. Rapid fire into the ground in front of them-or above them-do whatever you have to do, even if it means wounding a few. Whatever the cost, it must be done. I have to find him, isolate him, above all, cut him off from everyone else trying to get out. Youre a goddamned maniac, broke in Benjamin, the veins pronounced in his forehead. I could kill a few-more than a few! Youre crazy! At this moment Im the most rational man youve ever met, interrupted Jason harshly, rapidly, as the panicked residents of Novgorod kept rushing by. Theres not a sane general in the Soviet army-the same army that retook Stalingrad-who wouldnt agree with me.

Poker Tournament

2005-12-13T02:32:00.000-07:00

I'm planning a poker tourney for Friday December 30, 2005 at my house. It will probably be a 20 dollar buy in with re-buys for the first hour, although if we don't have a big turn out then we might skip the re-buys and try and play 2 games, hell maybe 3 games instead. As usual, tell one, tell all. Last time 2 guys I didn't even know chopped first place, about 360 bucks. (Thanks for the re-buys Tyson!)

*Bad beat story from last time. I wasn't at the table when it happened but Ray had Q6o and one of the 2 mystery guys had Q5o. Flop comes QQx, Ray bets, Mystery guy pushes all in, Ray calls. As of right now it's a bad beat for Mystery guy because his 5 is getting out kickered by a 6. The turn is a blank and the river is a freakin 5. Mystery guy hits the boat to send Elk Ray packin. B.Sherm was mad because he is the designated Ray-Buster. (During one tournament at Cash Brad busted Ray like 4 times in the space of 20 mins, during the re-buy period of course) On a positive note, the Scheuerman boys outlasted all 3 Sharps, although apparently I put Curt on tilt causing him to call T-Bones all in with nothing but 2 over cards (yikes!).

Call right now...

2005-12-13T01:22:00.000-07:00

1-888-353-7667

It's not a scam, just really funny.

War on Christmas...

2005-12-12T22:57:00.000-07:00

Anyone following this so-called War on Christmas that right wingers are dragging out again? They are convinced that it's a liberal secular plot to get people and stores to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I posted a cartoon about it yesterday. Sam Seder was on CNN and was debating with some guy from some organization like "Americans Against Kicking Puppies" or "Americans for American Values" anyway this Sam Seder guy ( who is a co-host with Janeane Garofalo on "The Majority Report", a radio program on Air America) really put the whole thing in context

SEDER: Listen, as far as the war on Christmas goes, I feel like we should be waging a war on Christmas. I mean, I believe that Christmas, it's almost proven that Christmas has nuclear weapons, can be an imminent threat to this country, that they have operative ties with terrorists and I believe that we should sacrifice thousands of American lives in pursuit of this war on Christmas. And hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money.

PHILLIPS: Is it a war on Christmas, a war Christians, a war on over-political correctness or just a lot of people with way too much time on their hands?

SEDER: I would say probably, if I was to be serious about it, too much time on their hands, but I'd like to get back to the operational ties between Santa Claus and al Qaeda.

PHILLIPS: I don't think that exists. Bob? Help me out here.

SEDER: We have intelligence, we have intelligence.

PHILLIPS: You have intel. Where exactly does your intel come from?

SEDER: Well, we have tortured an elf and it's actually how we got the same information from Al Libbi. It's exactly the same way the Bush administration got this info about the operational ties between al Qaeda and Saddam.

This is a standard diversionary tactic used by the right wing when they start tanking in the polls. They bring out these 'Culture War' issues and try and paint liberals as egg headed academics who want to destroy everything American. We'll be hearing about a 'War on Apple Pie' soon.

Calogero - Cop Killer

2005-12-12T03:51:00.000-07:00

Talk about life imitating art, well kind of. For those of you who haven't seen A Bronx Tale go rent it for god's sake. The actor who played Calogero was arrested over the weekend for shooting and killing an off duty cop who heard him breaking into a house near where the officer lived. I think the cop managed to shoot this douche bag a couple of times before he finally died. It goes to show how getting a few roles in movies can totally screw up your life.

"Don't be shooting no cops you little bastard"

Bill O'Reilly

2005-12-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Re: Walmart Movie...

2005-12-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

I was actually kind of disappointed in the movie that was viewed last night by hundreds (3) of WesinCalgary readers. While it was chalk full of stats that make you want to tear your hair out, it lacked the watch-ability of Super Size Me or Fahrenheit 9/11. Still a good time was had by all, except Dwight who was ejected from the premises before the movie even started, he was under the impression that it was a 'Come as your favorite totalitarian dictator' themed night, and his drunken ramblings were frightening the good people of Renfrew. I pepper sprayed him and threw him in a cab and told the cabbie to drop him at the Cecil. Rabbi Steve was late as usual so he missed the coming attractions, sucks to be him.

What I would be doing on Friday nights

2005-12-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

...If I had not married Sadie. Thank god for my wife.

Quote of the Day

2005-12-08T04:32:00.000-07:00

A little background, Sen Lieberman is on the right side of the democratic party, his only claim to fame is being on the Al Gore ticket that 'lost' the election in 2000. He has recently been rumored to be a possible replacement to Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense (since D.Rums has gone completely batshit crazy) If Bush is thinking of making you a member of his cabinet, you aren't much of a democrat.

Jack Murtha is a Vietnam vet who one numerous medals of honor and was a colonel in the Marine Corp. He recently said that American troops should begin withdrawing from Iraq in the next 6 months, stating that the presence of American troops is causing most of the violence and to sustain troop levels a draft may have to be initiated.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn "It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be commander in chief for three more critical years and that in matters of war we undermine presidential credibility at our nationÂs peril."

Rep. Jack Murtha - D "Undermining his credibility? What has he said that would give him credibility?"

As a side note, just as the Republicans are beginning to crack under the pressure, the democrats are failing to unite and to speak with one voice. Hillary and Joe are hedging themselves so far to the right in an attempt to appeal to red staters that they are alienating their base. Ask Dubya how important your base is. It's obvious that I'm no lover of the GOP but I will say this, they have balls. The democrats have spent so many years getting their asses handed to them that they've forgotten that half the country is democrat and the other half is republican, there's no excuse for losing to someone like Dubya who couldn't debate the merits of serving Beer cold.
The Walmart movie thing is still a go, email me for details, or just show up. Whatever.

Oh My God...

2005-12-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well I asked for pics and someone finally delivered. Tell me which one you prefer or send in your own.

PS Don't invite me to your wedding if there's an open bar. (Thanks Drew)

Picture 1

Picture 2

Check out the variance in head size between me and B.Ron!

For Sale...

2005-12-07T02:21:00.000-07:00

1993 Honda Accord. Very reliable, just not that cool. But if you're looking for a cool ride you better get something newer (or a lot older) than a '93. 1993 sucked, this happened in 1993. So did this. And who can forget this. I'm serious about the car though, we bought a Subaru Outback and are getting rid of the Honda so I can become a professional Rally Car Driver (during the Poker offseason that is) Anyone who needs a vehicle (hint hint Smolack sisters) but is short on cash ( hint hint Smolack sisters) and doesn't know who to drive stick (hint hint Smolack sisters) don't worry, we'll extend credit and I will personally teach you how to drive stick. I taught Max, Tyler, Dpo and Dwight how to drive a standard and they all qualified for the World Rally Tour - De Winton to Okotoks Classic. ( I've also sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook and by gum it put them on the map. )

Movie night in Canada....

2005-12-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello all, this friday I will be hosting a screening of "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices" and possibly a later showing of "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" I want to get things started around 7:30 so feel free to arrive anytime after 7:00. I was thinking of ordering some pizza so if anyone wants in on that don't eat before you come over. All are welcome regardless of political views*

*Right wingers must sit outside and watch through the window.

A post for Dana...

2005-12-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

I was at the Kilt and Caber on friday night for Tara's birthday when I was attacked by a rabid WesinCalgary fan.
"When the FUCK are you going to update your Blog!" she screamed, grabbing a generous chunk of my ear.
"Calm down lady!" I said, "I've been busy at work this week, once I'm finished school I'll update all the time."
Grabbing my other ear she quietly stated "You'd fucking better you pinko, poker playing NDP'er or you'll know what the sharp end of a kebob knife feels like" she then twisted my ear and kicked me in the groin for good measure.

"Hey Tara, what the hell is wrong with your sister?" I asked the birthday girl. "She just beat the crap outta me!"

"She's crazy about your blog, literally crazy. She can't get enough." Tara replied while slamming down her 5th caesar in as many minutes. "I've seen her re-reading your idiotic rants over and over again, Darlene is getting concerned."

"Well now I'm a little freaked out myself, what if I can't come up with anything to write about?"

Tara lit a cigarette and calmly said, "She's killed before, she'll kill again, it's only a matter of time"

I looked towards the VLT's just in time to see Dana talking to a Hells Angels associate and pointing in my direction....

Tune in next time for more real life adventures of WesinCalgary....

Canada's greatest band.

2005-12-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

Great aritcle...

One of those hat guys....

2005-12-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that in my 'about me' picture I'm wearing a hat. It's not a baseball cap, I'm not really sure what kind of hat it is but I'm wearing it. Now let me say that it isn't my hat, if memory serves me it is Chris Abrhamowitz's hat. I was very drunk that night otherwise I wouldn't be wearing that hat. That's not a slam against Chris, he can pull it off, and as you can see I really can't. There's a lot of looks I can't pull off, my brother can wear capri pants and a tight pink shirt and somehow he makes it work. Anyway I'm looking for a new 'hatless' picture of me to use as my 'about me' picture, if any readers have any digital pics of me that they think showcases the man, the myth and the legend that is WesinCalgary please email them to me (scheuer1 at telus.net) and I'll post them. We'll have some sort of selection process and which ever one you guys pick will end up as the definitive picture of me. If no one emails me a picture then we will never speak of this again.

Christmas gift ideas...

2005-11-30T05:21:00.000-07:00

I refuse to utter the phrase 'stocking stuffer', I tend to fly into a blind rage when I hear it. The other over used expression that I will outlaw during my administration is "We're Back!", I guess this is from Poltergiest or something but it is used so fucking often that it has lost all meaning. Anyway I thought these were pretty cool t-shirts. They're available here

Quote of the Day

2005-11-29T02:58:00.000-07:00

"If money doesn't change you, you don't have enough"

50-Cent

RIP

2005-11-29T02:50:00.000-07:00

Pat Morida aka Mr Miyagi died this weekend, he was 73. On behalf of Karate Kid fans everywhere...Big Ups to Miyagi-son. I for one will never be able to wax my car or catch flys with chop sticks without thinking of him.

Daniel: Hey, what kind of belt do you have?

Miyagi: Canvas. JC Penny. Three ninety-eight. You like? [laughs]

Daniel: No, I meant...

Miyagi: Daniel-san... karate here. [he taps his head]

Miyagi: Karate here. [he taps his heart]

Miyagi: Karate never here [points to his belt]

Miyagi: Understand?

Movie trailer...

2005-11-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

This looks like a great movie, George Clooney is fat in it. Also check out this related link.

Not much time for blogging, got homework coming out my ass, homework that should have been done weeks ago. I'll be getting very drunk on or around the 14 of Decmeber when my last final is over. I'll be the guy at the den re-living glory days and yelling about beer prices.

Retraction!

2005-11-28T03:59:00.000-07:00

Tara has since backed out of the condo purchase. She learned that the midget doorman was in fact an ornamental lawn jockey.

Tara signs death contract

2005-11-22T01:53:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Tara for buying a home. The details are still a little shaky and I've put out a request for a guest column ( she owes me one already, her assignments are piling up....) so hopefully details will be forthcoming. I've been told by sources close to the administration that the condo is on 13th Ave and comes complete with wall to wall shag carpeting, a midget doorman and a fully mirrored bedroom ceiling. Cue porno music.... Owning a house (or condo) rules so good on ya kiddo.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2005-11-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

It's disturbing how happy this article makes me. I'll try and dig up some of the back story and illustrate the character of Conrad Black, maybe I'll make a powerpoint presentation with pictures and of course music....cue "The Emperors March"

Stupidest Poker Move Ever!

2005-11-14T02:46:00.000-07:00

Hilarious post about the players at Party Poker during the 3 billionth hand promotion.

Subject: Did you see this about the 3 Billionth hand at party

On Monday night, the world's largest online cardroom, Party Poker, dealt its 3 billionth hand. Prior to the big hand, and as an incentive to get players to celebrate with them, Party announced a prize opportunity for the players involved in the 3 billionth hand.

The hand occurred at 10:51 EST on a $0.50/$1.00 limit hold’em 6-max table.

Everyone at the table immediately scored $10,000 for being in the 3 billionth hand. An additional $50,000 was set aside for the person who would go on to win the hand.

Humorously, 4 of the 6 players at the table folded before the river. Apparently the 10,000+:1 odds on their money to chase a miracle runner-runner were not appetizing enough to warrant a call. At least one player was clearly aware of the situation at hand proclaiming "we did it" in the chat box before the flop.
The same player folded after the flop.

Quote of the Day

2005-11-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

"One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a worldview despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts."

John Cusack
Fri Nov 11,12:07 PM ET

Worst promotion by a celebrity ever...

2005-11-10T00:55:00.000-07:00

I thought the guys pimping Viagra were bad, but this is the worst.

Quote of the Day

2005-11-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

"Today there are over 100 native communities in Canada that don't have access to clean drinking water. Can you imagine what would happen if you couldn't drink the water at this university? The fucking sky would fall."

Matthew Good,
November 1, 2005 - University of Calgary, Mac Hall

Sedine Sisters

2005-11-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

"Henrik?"... "Yes, Daniel?"... "Now is time for french kissing..."...

Ed Helms

2005-11-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

This is freakin awesome.