Happy 4th of July Weekend!

I'll be moving tomorrow, and partying all weekend otherwise, so there probably won't be anything out of me until Wednesday morning. Hope you all have a good weekend, and enjoy your 4th!

Happy birthday to America, and to freedom, and please, remember why we celebrate this day. It isn't just to get wasted. It's to celebrate the birth of a nation, a "shining beacon on a hill".

Mexican serial killer is executed.

And we let these people into the country...why?

I'm glad they killed the guy. As I said in my last post, there are three types of people that make me want to kill, personally. On that note, there are three types of people I think should be killed automatically, once they are convicted, of course: murders (unprovoked, non-self-defense), rapists, and child molesters. I don't think there should be appeals processes. I don't think you should sit for 10 years. I believe that the day you're convicted, you're taken out back and hanged. It isn't curle and unusual from my point of view.

This guy needs his ass beat.

Read. And be outraged.

Seriously...there are three groups of people that make me want to kill: rapists. child molesters. wife beaters.

Clowns protesting nukes?

I found this over at HateTaxes' blog.

These peaceniks actually thought they could do something to the 110-ton door of a nuclear missile silo? I mean, it's 110-fucking-tons of hardened composite steel.

This is what bothers me about the whole story:

These people were actually able to get near one of our nuke silos. I'm not worried that they'd be able the damage one. They wouldn't have been able to penetrate the underground launch facility, and they certainly wouldn't have been able to break through the aforementioned blast door, provided they were properly secured. What I'm worried about is the foolish maintenance guy, making $10 an hour, forgetting to lock the doors behind him. I'm sure there are layers and layers of security interlocks, but let's just, for one second, assume that there is a lock, and that's it. Could one of these peaceniks, or better yet, an islamic jihadist be able to get in, and set off the weapon? I know they couldn't launch one, since it takes multiple code confirmations, and an order directly from the President, but think of the Hunt for Red October. If someone knew what they were doing, they'd be able to blow a missile up in the silo, theoretically, right?

The bigger question is...how did they even get near the silo? I've seen documentaries on the Minot base, and there are miles between silos. MILES. I wouldn't make the assumption that there would be a fence that runs around the entire Minot base, because it's simply HUGE. But, I would make an assumption that there would be multiple layers of fences around each silo and around each underground launch center. Further, I would make the assumption that it wouldn't take minutes for security personnel to get there. I figure that they must have cameras out the ass up there. If they saw these yahoos driving up an access road, why weren't they being tailed the entire way?

Maybe we need a congressional probe into our nation's nuclear security. Or not.

Anyway, HateTaxes took the high road on nukes. He doesn't believe that any rational person would, or ever should seriously contemplate using them in a role other than as a deterrent. The problem with that rationale is that when your enemy knows you are unwilling to do what is necessary, they will go one step further than you are willing to go. Knowing that we were unable, in Vietnam, to send the necessary number of troops and lay waste to the countryside, Biblical-like, the Vietcong did what was necessary on their end to fight us. In the end, they won because politicians in the US swayed from public opinion, and withdrew their support, keeping their tails between their legs. We SHOULD have decimated the Vietcong. Sure, they had Soviet support, but if US politicians had done what was NECESSARY, ie- send in the appropriate number of troops and support them with money and materiel, we'd have whooped some major ass.

Back to nukes...although nuking a nation would be pretty devastating to the entire world, it may become necessary at some point. When WWII got really out of hand, and we were fighting the Japanese on EACH AND EVERY PACIFIC island, losing Marines left and right, plus dealing with the kamikazes, what did we do? Doolittle firebombed Tokyo. When that didn't work, what did we do? What was necessary. We dropped two bombs, tiny by today's standards, and decimated two entire cities. One of them was even mis-dropped, and it still had the intended effect. So what I'm saying, is that at some point islamofacists are going to get out of hand. Iran and North Korea are going to get out of hand. They're going to start testing nukes of their own. Then what do we do? Sit by and let "diplomacy" take care of business? I don't think so. We fight fire with fire, and teach them a damn lesson. Let God sort out who was right and who was wrong. But, I don't want 10 million US citizens dying because that crazy motherfucker, Kim Jong Il, decides that he wants to show the world what a petulant little boy with a magnifying glass can do to a few million ants.

I got that job!

Late last week, I got a call from the hiring manager that I got the job I was trying for. It's a UNIX Admin/Database Admin job. It should be a significant step up in pay (I hope), it brings me over to Lockheed Martin's MS2 division, which is both more prestigious and better compensated, and it gets me off shift work.

See, when I interviewed for this job, I was told that I would have to work some weekends and occasional shifts. After I had been here for a couple months, my former manager called and told me that I'd have to work 1-9 PM. Then, we went through this whole mess back in December, where our manager cut our shift differentials by making us come in at times when we would not be eligible for them. I had to work 12:30 - 8:30 PM for a couple of weeks, but after an ethics investigation, we got our differential back, and were transferred to a different (much better) manager. Shortly thereafter, someone devised a rotating shift schedule so that the night shift wouldn't be one person year round.

What did that mean for me? I got put on night shift for three months, and worked 4 PM - 12 AM. That totally sucked. Once I put my time in there, I went to work from 5 AM - 1 PM, which I'm on right now. It's really a good shift, but because I don't like to go to bed early, and the dog is such a hassle right now, I only sleep like 3-4 hours per night, and after almost three months, it has caught up with me. I'm constantly dragging my ass. The worst part about it is that when I have the ability to grab eight solid hours of sleep, I feel like crap the rest of the day, because my body wants more. Starting July 31st, I would go back on the 4 PM shift, and I just can't have that.

So, once I got a line on that position from Meika, I jumped on it, and they decided to offer it to me. I still haven't gotten the numbers yet, but it should be a good bump. If its not more than what I make now, plus my 10% shift differential, I won't take it. As much as I need to get off the shifts, I can't take a pay cut, even for better quality of life. The way I have it figured out, based on the information I've gotten from the manager, I'm going to get an almost 15% raise out of this (5% if you factor in my shift differential). That would be very nice...very nice, indeed. Maybe then I can get one of these:

So you have a new missile, North Korea?

Well we have the answer!

The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense team had another successful live fire test shot yesterday. If I recall correctly, AEGIS BMD is 7 for 8 in live fire exercises, and is the most successful of any of the active test programs. Phased implementation is beginning on US AEGIS Cruisers and Destroyers, and Japan's BMD program is starting to ramp up.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for this program, and we do a lot of testing on it in the building that I work at. Usually, when there is a live fire exercise, this place is jumping, and all the suits from across the street are here. As far as I know, this place was quiet during the exercise...I wonder why. My cousin also works on this system for Northrop Grumman, down at the AEGIS training facility in Dahlgren, Virginia.

The USS Shiloh detected a medium-range target after it was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, then fired a Standard Missile-3 interceptor.

The interceptor shot down the target warhead after it separated from its rocket booster, more than 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of Kauai, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.

Here's another article.
Another.
And one more...

I'm glad this is actually getting some press, especially with other important events in the news today. The program is really cool, and it actually works. People think that these tests have just been a dummy missile lobbed up, with the crews of the ships in full awareness of what the mission profile is. In reality, the crews know there will be a missile firing. That is all. They don't know the time, heading, altitude, and aren't informed when the missile fires. They need to detect it on their own, develop the firing solution, then launch their bird and pray that it hits. This is as close to an operational system as it gets.

As I said earlier, the AEGIS BMD system is much more successful than THAAD, the Theater High Altitude Air Defense system, designed by the Army to knock down long range ICBMs. But soon, THAAD and BMD will combine in an operational system, able to knock down whatever those North Korean bastards try to throw at us...or anyone else, for that matter. Unless they nuke the French. Fuck the French.

I'm a Guinness.

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

Illegal Alien watch.

Illegal alien screws the pooch.

. . . "officers 'saw Garcia sexually assaulting a 28-pound, 14- to 16-week-old dog of mixed breed,' according to the sheriffs office.

This is just too fucking sick. Will they deport him? No. Will they follow through to trial? No. The democrats will come out in his defense, saying that he was born with a natural inclination towards puppy ass and that he has the right, as an illegal alien, to a fair shake. Then, they'll make him a citizen. Fuckers.

When will the apologists finally learn? These people do not deserve to be here, don't understand our culture, and have no desire to assimilate and learn anything about us! Deport them.

The greatest play in baseball history.

This is a video clip of Rick Monday, center fielder for the Chicago Cubs, stealing an American flag that was about to be burned by two anti-American types, at Dodger Stadium, in 1976. He's a hero because of it.

Jose Reyes hits for the cycle!

Well, the Mets lost last night, but so did everyone else that matters. The cool part is that Jose Reyes, the Mets soon-to-be All-Star shortstop, hit for the cycle. Reyes had a lead off homerun, the fourth in his career, hit a double in the third inning, a tripe in the fifth, and a single in the eighth inning. He's also riding a 9 game hitting streak, in which he's batting .489. Badass!

Hitting for the cycle isn't as rare as, say, pitching a perfect game, or even a no-hitter, but it only happens once or twice per year. In fact, since the Mets have been in existence (1962), only eight Mets have hit for the cycle. Reyes is number nine. Some of the greatest hitters of all time, including Babe Ruth, have never done it, and far as I can tell, only two players have ever done it three times, Babe Herman and Bob Meusel.

Behold the inner geek in all of us!

I don't care if you accept yourself as a geek or not, but this is cool! Microsoft released the XBOX360 a few months ago, and already, people are modding it case out. This guy water cooled the entire thing, put in lights, a case window, and much more. I think it looks totally badass! Check it out!

Puppy pictures for LL!

Since LL has wanted to see newer pictures of Seamus, here are a few. I've got many more at home, but I'm at work...so...they'll have to wait until later. These pictures were taken two days after we got him, while Meghan and I were at a NASCAR race in Dover, Delaware. The little guy stayed with my dad and step-mom for the day and had a blast with their boxer, Rocky, and their great pyrennes, Isabelle. I have many more pictures of him with Rocky from this past weekend, and he's turned into a very rambunctious and playful pup when you put those two together. Anyway, on to the pictures...

Here are Rocky and Seamus playing on the back deck. They've gotten to be very good friends...

Here's the little guy out near my dad's pond. He went swimming in it on Sunday. Just jumped right in...my dad freaked, because the liner would cost over $1,000 to replace.

Here he is, laying down under some plants, after "helping" my step-mom weed.

I don't know what the hell he's doing here...

My favorite picture of him. I'm going to get this blown up to an 8x10 and matted. God, I love this dog!

Notice anything strange in the background of this picture?

Capt B update

I just took a look at the frontpage for One Marine's View and it looks like Capt B has raised over $2,000 for his "Had Enough" ad, which he will be taking out in a major newspaper in the coming future. He has found that a full page ad in the NY Times costs about $97K, so unless he plans on fundraising for a LONG time, we won't be able to hit that target, but a smaller regional newspaper should be attainable.

Please go over there and help out. It's important that we should the US that we support our men and women in the armed forces, and that we won't be silenced!

Shut Up and Sing!

Michelle Malkin has a great Vent video up about the Dixie Chicks and their constant war against the average US consumer.

Check it out!

I personally hate the Dixie Chicks. Its not just because they hate Americans, its not just because their music sucks...its because they have this ignorant approach to life, hating everyone for hating them, but not allowing anyone to question them or dissent the other way. I mean, I don't give a damn what they say. They could call me Hitler if they wanted to, but the fact of the matter is that their unwillingness to be questioned, and the baffled looks they give when mainstream American boycotts them, just proves that they have no idea what we as Americans want, and further, have no idea what we as CONSUMERS want. Because let's face it, many people don't even see themselves as Americans anymore. They see themselves as members of a global marketplace, and in reality, what does that make them? A consumer. [/off topic]

The Dixie Chicks just don't get it, along with CNN, the NY Times, Pearl Jam, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, etc. People don't want to be told that they're the great Satan, from their own people. Have credit card, will buy something else.

Bill Gates is stepping down?

...from CNN...

I really can't believe this, but I guess there comes a point in time where you say "fuck it, I've got enough money" and begin to enjoy what's left of your life. Congratulations, Bill. You've earned it.

You can have your stomach removed?

Read...

These people have an amazing story...all 11 family members had their stomachs removed over the last couple years, because they were positive for a gene defect that caused stomach cancer. I had no idea you could even LIVE without a stomach. I knew that morbidly obese people could get their stomach stapled, but that just reduces the size of the stomach. This actually REMOVES it! The doctors form a small "pouch" at the bottom of the esaphogus, and attach the top of the small intestine to it. Could you imagine eating two bits of a sandwich and being full?

What do the Duke rape case and the McKinney case have in common?

They are both being treated incorrectly, for the same reason.

Wendy McElroy has everything right about both these cases. The Duke lacrosse players were prosecuted because they were white, and McKinney is not being prosecuted because she's black. She also has the right idea about what to do about it...prosecute McKinney, drop the charges against Seligmann in the rape case and apologize profusely, and disbar the Duke prosecutor, DA Michael Nifong.

NEWSFLASH: FEMA PAYS FOR SEX CHANGE OPERATION!

So I'm sitting on the can at work, minding my own business, and I'm reading the news and sports headlines on the feed from my pager. Yes, I do read while I'm taking a crap, and although having a pager means you're more or less connected to work 24x7, it's nice to be able to check the Mets score at 4:30, while you're out walking the dog.

Anyway, the news report said the following: "GAO [General Accounting Office] Audit Finds FEMA Funds Spent on Divorce, Sex Change, Vacation for Hurricane Victims"

WHAT?

I had to look into this a little further. Foxnews has a story up about it, CNN has one, so does MSNBC, and I'm sure others do too. $1.4 BILLION in misallocated funds? That's a big chunk of taxpayer dollars, which both you and I spent. I mean, how does this shit happen?

Fox brings news of season football tickets, porn, strippers, vacations, and MSNBC adds the sex change operation. People were scamming the hell out of the government...out of you and me. Will these people ever be brought to justice? No. Why? Because many of them are probably black (hey, I'm just playing the statistics here...Nagin said he wanted to rebuild New Orleans as a "chocolate" city...his words, not mine) and the minute that federal indictments are brought, Je$$e Jack$on will be out in force with the dems, talking about how poor they were, and the indictments are motivated by race and class warfare.

When will our government learn?

Please donate to Captain B!

Capt B, over at One Marine's View, had the great idea to put a full-page ad in a major newspaper, supporting our troops. It serves to both support them, and to tell the major media outlets to f-off regarding their constant attacks on our military and conservative politics in general. He's asking for donations to make this happen. If you donate, your name will be listed among the supporters on the ad. I just donated some money, because I think this is a great cause.

Here is the post regarding the donations.

For so long, our soldiers, marines, seamen, and airmen have been abroad, and have been disparaged by our politicians, college students, and major media players. Support for our fighting men and women can only be found in a few places in the media. Since the advent of Foxnews, and the marked conservative shift of the New York Post, the other major media players, such as CNN, MSNBC, the NY Times, et al, have begun to swing much farther left, all the while losing readership and revenues. This is one more nail in the coffin. Please show your support for this project. It may never get off the ground, but even if it doesn't, you'll still be supporting our troops. See, Capt B sends cigars to soldiers in Iraq, and organizes drives to send over care packages. I'm sure that if the ad is never purchased, the money you donate will end up helping a Lance Corporal, a PFC, a Petty Officer, or a Sergeant somewhere.

New job interview tomorrow!

That position that Meika was trying to get me just might work out!

I got an email from the hiring manager this morning to call him to set up an interview for tomorrow morning. I called him back, and I'm set up for 9 AM tomorrow. I'm pretty nervous about this. I really shouldn't be, because I'm a good interviewer, and I have a really strong resume, especially in what this job would entail. But, I'm jittery as hell. I have to go pick up Meghan's sister from the airport tonight. Her flight arrives at 10:30, which means I won't be home until AT LEAST midnight. Because Jessica lives in California, it'll still be only 9 PM for her, and she'll be awake as hell. So, what does that mean for your good buddy here? NO SLEEP!

I have to get up at 4:20 AM anyway to get to work, so I'm already in the hole, but with this, I'm screwed!

While the rest of us abide by the law, another Kennedy gets off.

When will this shit stop?

Everyone knows he was drinking. Everyone knows he told the officers he was a Kennedy, and probably threatened them if they brought him in for being drunk. I don't necessarily blame the officers who saw him get into the accident, although they should have done a sobriety test as soon as he hit the barrier.

I do blame Congressional leadership, both on the Republican and Democratic side. The dems will just say he has an addiction and that we should be caring and understanding (read: lenient). The republicrats will do nothing, since they don't want to offend the nobler sensibilities of the dems. Damn it all to hell! First of all, when will the Kennedy's learn? Secondly, when will the rest of American learn not to let the Kennedy's do what they want? FUCK!

Duke rape case update

So a Duke law professor thinks there should be a "Special Prosecutor" in the rape case (Article).

First of all, I don't believe a rape occurred. This woman can no more prove that these guys raped her than I can prove that I have a vagina. I mean, come on! The facts of the case do not point to rape at all. She shows up to the party with a shiner, she had just had "rough" sex and had not showered, she has prior convictions, and on top of that, she has lied to police before.

She saw these guys as her meal-ticket. In this country, if a woman accuses a man of rape, she HAS to be telling the truth. I mean, a woman wouldn't lie about something that serious, would she? The man is then presumed guilty, flashed in the newspapers, etc. He also has no remedy if he is proven innocent. I mean, could these lacrosse players sue her for slander in a civil suit and get anything in damages? NO! Further, their families will be subject to a civil suit by her, and even if they are proven innocent in a criminal trial, the odds are that she'll win a civil suit.

So why a special prosecutor? What am I missing here? The guy said something about the case before charges were brought? Don't DAs and police-spokesmen do that all the time?

Killing Zarqawi was luck?

Go read the Article.

No, it was us, having good intelligence for a change, and getting the bombs where they needed to be without the senseless interdictions by international lawyers in the military's employ. I highly suggest that everyone read Dereliction of Duty by Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson (Ret.). It details how a certain Clinton had several opportunities to kill Usama Bin-Laden, as well as other high ranking al-Qaeda operatives and commanders, but didn't. Apparently, Clinton was too busy playing golf...when a US Special Forces sniper had UBL in his crosshairs. Clinton wouldn't order the strike...he said it could "wait for later". It also hashes out stories of the 90s military being essentially "frozen" by the lawyers who wouldn't allow them to carry out their orders. The lawyers were too interested with international law and how the US would look to the UN to allow the military to do their jobs and protect American sovereignty and freedom.

Now, what happens when those lawyers are told to piss off, and we get good human intelligence from the ground? We hit what we want to, and we kill who we want to. By the time lawyers would allow us to do this, Zarqawi would have been long gone. Lord, I pray for the day when we can drop bombs and hit what we want to, instead of dropping thousands of dollars worth of useful ordnance on a couple of camels in the desert.

Good on Major Dad!

Gerald McRaney, the actor who played Major Dad in the early 90s, as well as the father on Touched by an Angel and the last villain to meet Marshal Dillon in Gunsmoke is now playing a bad-ass on one of my favorite shows, Deadwood. He plays George Hearst, a villain amongst villains, the type of guy that has the blood of many on his soul, but never on his hands. While the main villain, Al Swearengen, has had his fair share killed and fed to Wu's pigs, Al has just as much blood on his hands. I haven't gotten to the end of season 2 yet, so I haven't seen McRaney's character, just heard his name dropped a few times by his "associates" in the town.

Anyway, McRaney was interviewed by CNN about the departure from his "goody-two-shoes" roles in Major Dad and Touched, to the new role of Hearst. He said that he's happy taking the new role on because the show is so good. I mean, if you haven't watched Deadwood, I would suggest you go out immediately, buy yourself a tack hammer and the DVDs of seasons 1 and 2, go home, watch all the episodes, and apply the tack hammer liberally to your skull. That's for being so stupid and not watching a great show. Sure, it's caustic, there are tits, ass, and profanity, there are killings, fights, drinking, drugs, etc, but it's a great tale about one of the last true frontier towns. Whether its all true or not remains to be seen, but as a drama, it has no peers, as far as I'm concerned.

Back to McRaney...towards the end of the article, he says the following, in regards to government regulation of television and the censorship of media:

While early prime time on the networks should be a family-friendly zone, McRaney is eager to make the point that it's ultimately up to the individual to decide what entertainment to allow into their home.

"It's a very dangerous thing to do," he said of further federal regulation of TV content, including proposals that were floated in Washington to extend control from broadcast to cable channels.

"I'm a little tired of government treating us all like children. I'm a conservative and I'm for limited government. This idea of telling me what I can see, what I can read -- don't go there," McRaney said.

Keep the kids away from "Deadwood" and change channels if you don't like it, he advised.

Man, that was great! I'm so glad that someone is coming out and saying that! It is high time that the conservative members of the media come out and speak against censorship and say that they're conservative. I really want to hear Tobey Keith and Ted Nugent get together and do a song called Card Carrying Members of the NRI (No Rights for Illegals). I love it when conservative celebs get their time to speak. Unfortunately, once Deadwood is done at the end of this season, McRaney will probably never work again.

The one thing that really pissed me off was the author's closing comments in the article...

But be mindful of what you might miss, such as an upcoming scene that McRaney cited as a favorite in which Hearst argues "the case for greed and rampant capitalism and exploitation and why it will save the world."

Clearly, one man's music can be another's profanity.

Why the editorializing? Just report the fucking news! Read the article here.

Starting to get a little more readership.

I'm sure they're only one time readers, people who hit the "next blog" button in the toolbar, but it makes me happy to see that a few more people are reading this. While I do this for myself, I also want to present entertaining material that can attract more readers and commenters. I like interacting with people I don't know very well. Looks like in the past couple weeks, I've had hits from India, Indonesia, China (suprised that got here!), Australia, Germany, France, Chile, and some other European countries.

For the US readers, you probably stumbled here from the link in my signature on either the TCCA or SHOCal forums. Thanks for coming, and please stop by again sometime.

Weekend Update

Another great weekend!

Friday night, Meghan and I left the Seamoo (think Shamu, the killer whale at Sea World, but add in Seamus) at home and went to a place called P.J. Whelihan's, a great pub/restaurant with my dad, step-mom, step-brother and his girlfriend, and some of our neighbors. I got some BBQ ribs and a couple of Guinesses, and we all had a great time.

Saturday, we took Seamus out to Philly to move Meghan out of Drexel University for the last time, as she graduates this Saturday morning (6/17/06). She had brought most of her stuff to my apartment already, but we had to grab a lot of her big stuff, including her futon. After we were done with that, we unloaded most of her stuff at my (now our) apartment, and drove my dad's truck, laden with larger items, up to her mom's house with the dog. We hung out there all day, made some burgers and pasta salad, drank some beers, and had a grand old time. Came home to watch Underworld with Kate Beckinsale, got about halfway through and we were both ready to pass out (of course, this was after a few margaritas!).

Sunday, we slept in with the puppy, then got up to go sign the lease for our new condo. We were supposed to head to Manyunk, a Philly suburb, to watch this huge bike race that they have there each year, but Meghan didn't feel up to it, so we decided to take the dog to a local park and make some burgers out there. Picked up some beer, packed up some burgers that were in the freezer, and headed out. We had a great time at Smithville Park and so did the little Seamoose (another name for him, combining his name and a moose, which, of course, he'll grow to equal in size). The little guy is not so little anymore. He gained more than 4 lbs over the course of a week. I'm starting to have trouble carrying him, even though he's only about 20 lbs. He can get pretty damn squirmy. After we got home, we threw on Deadwood, since we're still a few episodes behind. The new episodes started yesterday night, so I DVR'd it, and I have all of season 2 on the DVR. Once we're done watching all those, we can get to season 3.

Tomorrow is Meghan's last day in Philly. I can't wait. For the past year, we've been making trips back and forth, and she's only been around on weekends. It'll be great having her around for good.

Army Lieutenant won't deploy.

A Lieutenant in the US Army won't deploy to Iraq because of objections to the war...

I have a lot to say about this, but I won't say much. This guy is entitled to his opinion, but if every guy who joined up then didn't want to fight got his way when the going got tough, we'd have a lot fewer combat ready troops our military. We'd still have our core supporters, but many on the fringe, who join because they have few job prospects would be right back where they started from. I always have problems with people who want all the benefits of a job, whether it be military or civilian, but don't want to carry out their orders.

Anyway, all I'm saying on that. I do want to close with a quote from Saving Private Ryan. This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read that story...

"Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do or die." - Corporal Upham

The Democrats are mad at Bush...what else is new!

Lawmakers angry at Bush over VA information leak.

Man, they'll blame him for anything, like he went up to this VA employee and said, (insert typical Bush/Texan swagger) "Man, heh, I want you to go out there and release this here VA information-type stuff. You got that?"

I mean, do they really think that President Bush is to blame for some underpaid IT guy losing his laptop? It really sucks that it happens, and I'm sure they'll be consequences for the vets whose information was on that laptop, but its not as though Bush, or any other government official, came to this guy and told him to lose the laptop. If anyone is to blame, its the VA for having weak security controls. As far as I know, though, the VA is a quasi-non-governmental organization, and thus, Bush should be even more insulated.

WE GOT THAT MOTHERFUCKER!!!

ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI IS DEAD!!!

I got to work this morning at 4 AM, and hadn't thrown on the news, and here I am, sitting in a Combat Information Center, playing with a tactical console, and someone walks in and yells: "Did you all hear? We got Zarqawi!" I just about screamed "HELL YES, MOTHERFUCKER!" I don't think my fiancee at home quite heard it, but maybe the crazy lady that lives across the street did...

I wonder what the fallout will be from this...will Joe Biden and John Kerry protest to the UN that we're not playing fair? Will there be a vacuum of power at the top of the al-Qaeda in Iraq organization that will ultimately destroy it and the insurgency? Will UBL come out of hiding to take the reins? Will this make destroying al-Qaeda any easier, or will it increase their resolve? Will UBL be easier to find, now?

You know what...none of that shit matters right now. We just killed a big-time fucker. May he rot in hell with 75 Virginians (with guns and knives, of course).

"Hey, Miss Murder can I? Hey, Miss Murder can I? Make beauty stay if I, take my life?"

Today is 6/6/06, and afi's new cd, decemberunderground, comes out today, on the Devil's Day. They're having a party in Hell, complete with a kids section, though I doubt its to celebrate the release of this cd.

This cd is more than three years in the making. Davey Havok, the singer for afi, screamer-extraordinaire, injured his vocal chords, and if I recall correctly, needed surgery to repair them. He had to undergo a particularly long recovery process, thus, the cd took forever to come out. For those of us that have been waiting with baited breath, we hope that this cd delivers to afi's potential.

I started listening to afi almost ten years ago, when I saw them (they were my first live band) at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, with L7 (who sucked) and the Offspring, who put on an amazing show. afi used to be a really, really fast paced hardcore punk band, who have since gone for a harder, somewhat mellower, but allthewhile more aggressive approach. I know, it makes no sense, but if you've listened to afi, you'd understand. I stopped listening to them when they went through their weird goth stages for Black Sails in the Sunset and the Art of Drowning, but found them again when they released the awe-inspiring Sing the Sorrow. I'm going to grab this cd today, and hopefully have a little review type thingie up for tomorrow. I very rarely buy new cds, so this is kind of a rarity.

So Meika might just prove useful after all...

She got an email on Friday afternoon from another employee who needs a job backfilled after the old employee got a promotion. She was asked if she knew anybody with UNIX and database experience, and she thought of me and two of the guys in our group. The other two guys both have MUCH more UNIX experience than I do, but neither of them have much database experience. Of course, when I was in college, as a Management Information Systems (MIS) major and Information Systems minor, I had oh, about seven courses, all told, on databases. I've done everything from data analysis, database concepts, design, the actual construction, administration, etc, and on both Microsoft and Linux/UNIX based platforms. I keep multiple copies of my resume, so I got one together, quick-like, and got it to her. Hopefully I'll meet the necessary qualifications. With that said, a little about my current job...

I am a UNIX administrator, and while I love my job, I can't stand the part of LM that I work for. See, LM has six different divisions, which all act as semi-autonomous companies. They all have separate finance, accounting, procurement, staffing, and IT departments, along with their own vice-presidents. So, we've got Maritime Systems and Sensors (MS2), Space, Aviation, Information Technology, Finance, and Technology Services. I work for Tech Services, which is basically the "red-headed stepchild" of LM, because of the fact that we're not a profit center. Our "company" serves a support role for the rest of LM, and we bid for work from them. So, if you follow logic, we are merely an income redistribution scheme from LM, and although we do have SOME outside companies that we support, we support mainly LM proper. What does this mean? Well, our salaries are about 15-20% lower, we get less vacation time, we have shittier benefits, our pay grade structures suck, our raises don't even approach half of the annual inflation rate. We're overutilized, overleveraged, underpaid, understaffed, and of course, overworked. My group is currently two people short of fully-staffed, and has been for like three years.

So, while I love my job and what I do, I can't wait to get out of it, get over to MS2, start making some bucks, and get my name out there. While you're in Tech Services, and especially in the building I'm in, you're pretty much under the radar. While some people like this, I can't stand it, because I like to see good jobs, whether I did them or not, go appreciated and recognized. Over here, none of the management sees what you do, and you could be putting 60 hours in per week, which I was close to for a few weeks, but all they see if your pay stub, when they approve your overtime.

Remember the woman I work with?

I call her Meika?

Well, she just made one of the stupidest fucking comments I have ever heard...

I just got Baja Fresh (for those of you that haven't had the pleasure, they're a Mexican "grille" that has food just short of amazing), and got a Baja Steak taco and a bowl of Torilla Soup with Chicken and sliced avacado. Anyway, I get back to my desk and start eating, and she walks in after I'm done the taco, and just starting the soup. The taco was good, but the soup was freaking great! Back on topic...she sits down at her desk and has the nerve to say "Gee, what did you get for lunch?" I reply with "Steak taco and tortilla soup...it's great!" To which she says, "Well, it doesn't smell very good from over here...it's very...aromatic..." in her wierd mid-west accented speaking.

WHAT THE FUCK? This shit I'm eating is like Heaven-on-Earth, and you have the nerve to tell me that it doesn't smell very good? I could see if I was eating a shit salad or puke soup, but come on! This is like a tomato based soup with tortilla chips, avacado slices, cheese, onions, peppers, and hot sauce...it's great, and it smells amazing!

Now, this normally wouldn't be so bad...I'm used to her stupid comments about stupid shit, but it just so happens that yesterday, she brought in this disgusting smelling leftover scallop dish with "an oil and cream sauce" as she said. I swear to everything Holy that I thought I was going to puke yesterday afternoon when she walked into the office. I mean, I love fish...I grew up on the Jersey shore, and eating fish is like drinking milk...you just do it. I love scallops also, but these smelled like they'd been sitting on the dock in 110 degree heat for two months! The whole office smelled like nasty, rotten fish! I can't believe she didn't get sick from eating this shit! And she's got the nerve to tell me my Baja Fresh doesn't smell good...

This brings me to another story...we have a cleaning guy here, who is Mexican something-or-other, and he's a generally nice guy. One day, my group and I were in on a Saturday doing disk builds, and this guy cooks whitefish in one of the microwaves. It smelled at least ten times worse than what Meika ate yesterday, but I didn't throw up. He stunk up the entire trailer adjunct area (we have a big building, but its mostly test area, so most of the offices are housed in trailers) to the point where you had to hold your nose for at least 45 seconds while walking from the main building to our office. When someone make a "joke" about it, the cleaner said that he had to eat the whitefish here, because he didn't want to stink up his house! WHAT. A. FUCKER! I swear...people have no fucking manners anymore!

Everything went pretty well yesterday with the new puppy.

I picked him up around 2 PM, then took him to PetSmart, where he got the shit scared out of him from some piece of crap Pekinese type fucker. I wish I could have punted that little brown turd for scaring my puppy. Fucker.

Seamus was very good at the apartment, although he did poop twice. He also pooped twice outside, so he's just definitely not in the house trained phase yet. We'll be working on that over the next couple of weeks. He didn't much want to sleep last night. We put him in his crate, and he slept for a half hour, then woke up and started crying. My fiancee didn't want him to keep crying, and since she didn't have class today, she took him out and stayed up with him. He would sleep for a half hour or 40 minutes, then get up and want to play for awhile, then go back to sleep again. With the amount of exercise that he got yesterday, I would think he'd sleep for like two days, but no...He has a vet appointment this afternoon so that we can make sure everything is kosher with him.

I've been thinking about starting another blog, just to talk about him and my experiences, so that I can look back at it in a few months or years and remember exactly what it was like to have a puppy again...

Usurper?

Yesterday, I did some research, and found that Seamus is Gaelic for James, which means "he who usurps" and Lars is Scandanavian for "crown of laurels". So, if you put them together, you get "Seamus, he who usurps the crown of laurels". We thought that was pretty funny, so his AKC registered name is going to be "Seamus Usurper of Laurel". Everyone keeps asking us if we planned that...but no, we're not that smart!

Only a few more hours now...