Playing God

In reading this story of how the Asian man's sperm was used in a lab to inseminate this English woman's eggs I am reminded of a conversation I had with a fertility doctor when we were beginning our thoughts of children and adoption.

My wife is a type 1 diabetic since age 9. The Steel Magnolias story of the diabetic mom is uber dramatic and not necessarily applied to every circumstance (type 1 mommy dies in child birth) but in her case it might have happened. Her doctor felt certain that one child birth was possible for us and we considered all the implications and our thought process turned to artificial help to guarantee our success.

We went on a quest to find if she could have twins via artificial insemination so she could carry one pregnancy but have two kids. One doctor we spoke with was horrified that we wanted to force twins because it was "unnatural" and "playing God".

I was extremely perplexed by his response. I asked him if it was "natural" for him to force couples to have babies who God made unable to create children on their own. That maybe he should consider the lack of logic in thinking that what he was doing was in any way natural. He blustered at my response saying there was nothing wrong with it, and I responded that it was equally as natural to ask for twins as it was for him to make babies where none were to be made otherwise. I don't think the conversation was very pleasant for him.

I have occasionally wondered if I made an impact on his thinking with that question I asked. I know the revelation of his twisted and distorted logic has made me much more cautious as to the rational thinking of other people. I no longer assume a logical rationality exists just because of a degree, title, or office.

Back to this couple: they are now dealing with the thing they had hoped to avoid: "I don't look like you" questions. Challenging questions to be certain, but for those who are prepared to answer them, an excellent lesson of love. At least that has been my experience in answering those questions.

Porno Terrorism

VIDEO REPORT FROM NBC 12, JACKSONVILLE FL

As damaging as porn can be to the brain of the individual who regularly uses it I can understand the anger acted aginst this shop opening. I can understand why a small community does not want to see this "blight" of "negative retail influence" in the area.



I must express my outrage at whomever put the home made caustic chemical sprayer in this porn shop. This is not how to go about making a change in a free society. You are taking the lowest road possible with destruction and fear as your tools. This makes you no better than the muslim-fascist scum that use terror as their tool.

If you want to use a tool to stop the store, use a camera. Shame is a far more powerful tool than fear. Take pictures of the customers and post them online. Make a big deal of the website and advertise it so that others can find it. Shame is the tool of a civilized and intelligent activist, not fear.

I hope they catch this nut.

Pelosi: The Democrat's Newt

Newt Gingrich is arguably a great conservative strategist and leader. Those same qualities made him the lightning rod for Democratic media campaigns against his success and secured Clinton's second term in office.

The chips are down for the Republican party in the numbers right now. It's time again to use the Democratic playbook and fight back.

Nancy Pelosi is an incredibly wealthy liberal Democrat from the heartland of nutty thinking: San Francisco. Her values are about as Catholic as I am Japanese but she is still quick to remind us that she is "Catholic-Italian". Maybe that's supposed to distract us from her pro-choice, pro-gay union, pro-liberal agenda? Or maybe it just means she makes a mean pot of spaghetti? Possibly it's vote for Pelosi or wear concrete shoes at the bottom of the bay?

I hope she keeps talking to the press. It's refreshing to hear Democrats try to talk about their version of "fiscal responsibility" and "high gas prices". Two subjects that can be summed up as "It's the Governments money to spend and you should be paying higher gas prices parking your SUV and using public transportation."

I will say with certainty that the American people won't like this voting record: never voted for a tax cut; never voted to expand oil exploration; never voted to increase defense spending; never voted to cut government spending.

That's Pelosi.

*Except Christians

Political Correctness*:
It's not ok to bash Gays and Lesbians.
It's not ok to belittle Buddhists.
It's not ok to make fun of Jews unless you are Iranian or from the UN.
It's hands-off on Martin Luther King.
You are taking your life in your own hands if you draw a cartoon of Muhammad.


*EXCEPTION: Christians are fair game.

Why does the asterisk only apply to Christians when it comes to offensive acts? Why is it ok to make fun of Christ and pervert him with arousal and homosexual themes?

Here is what Insurgent Student Editor Jessica Brown had to say about the graphics (published in her student paper). "I have to say it is really fun to offend people. It is fun to break the rules. If it pi--es people off�good that's the point!!! It has here in this office. So read, get pi--ed and talk about it."

There is a thoughtful, accepting* and open-minded* liberal talking if ever I heard one.

Nagen Is Fun!

Chocolate Schoolbus Preacher Man, and newly re-elected Mayor of New Orleans Ray Nagen has been a target of my rants in the past year. My opinion of him shot up dramatically when he very humbly thanked the voters for the opportunity for a runoff election and added "I'm still here even after some of the crazy things that have come out of my mouth."

Kudos on that one Mayor, maybe the stress was making you freak out and you aren't as bad as I once thought.

Now we hear that Dean and the DNC wanted him defeated? The DNC couldn't change the outcome of the election? Nagen's opponent had six times the amount of funds for campaigning? The deck was completely stacked against him yet he won anyway.

I'm really starting to like this guy in spite of him being a Louisiana Democrat. The problem is that he might be sorry he wished for this opportunity if another hurricane hits before they are ready.

THE ENSIGN SHOWS LEADERSHIP

Alternate title: Senate's Social Insecurity

How exactly can you go wrong here:


Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada Republican proposed an amendment to protect citizens of this country by removing wording in a bill that would give Illegal immigrants social security benefits.

His amendment was killed in a 50-49 vote? Mr. Frist I MUST PROTEST THIS STUPIDITY IN YOUR SENATE!

Apparently if you are a Democrat moron or John McCain you think that the desperately insolvent crisis of social security that you use as a platform to scare the elderly into voting for you is strong enough to handle the ten million or so illegals supposedly here. Have cake and eat it too, eh Brute?

Most of the people I have dealt with that pay illegals to work pay in cash. No FICA in a cash payment. No paperwork to track the illegal use of undocumented workers either.

Who is getting shorted here? Who is the idiot who believes this rubbish?

Are the senior citizens of this country that stupid, Democrats? The sad note is that perhaps you are correct, they are that stupid. They will only elect to listen to what they want to hear. Meanwhile these democrats smile as they stab you in the back in the hopes of gaining a few Hispanic votes.

Iran Not Nazi? FALSE!

This article speaks for itself: Iran is considering a special badge for Jews and Christians to wear.

ORIGINAL JEWISH BADGE FROM HOLOCAUST MUSEUM

"Human rights groups are raising alarms over a new law passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews and Christians to wear coloured badges to identify them and other religious minorities as non-Muslims."

The question begs: should we use a historical barometer to measure Ahmadinejad and find him a threat? When we combine his speeches against Israel and the country's desires toward nuclear arms against their previous pledge as anti-proliferation do we see a context that must be addressed?

The interesting thought is that the Iranians are both trying hard to deny the holocaust yet they do so much that mimics it.


5.24: FOLKLORE CHECKUP: THIS STORY HAS BEEN DENIED BY THE ORIGINATOR.

DENIAL LINK HERE

3 Mason Jars of Leaded, Please!

MASON JAR OF MOONSHINE

Tullahoma TN: brew your own fuel.

What do we do here for fun? Field party! What do we wear? Overalls and a John Deere cap! Redneck romance? Get a date with cousin Daisy? How do we make ends meet? By making our own pure grain al-kee-haul to run our trucks on!

Who knew that being a redneck would someday become both economically and environmentally friendly?

GIT YOURS HERE

BORDER PATROL OUTRAGE!

Published reports are indicating that the US Border Patrol has an agreement with Mexican authorities to
1) Notify them where the Minutemen are located and
2) Notify if any volunteer agency assists in apprehending an illegal immigrant

THE MISSING MESSAGE

Then Mexico puts it on their

WEBSITE HERE

"The document also mentions locations of field operations of Friends of the Border Patrol, which patrolled the San Diego sector from June to November 2005. Mexican officials had access to the exact location of the group founded by Andy Ramirez, which ran its patrols from the Rough Acre Ranch, a private property in McCain Valley.

Ramirez said that for safety reasons, he disclosed the location of his ranch patrol only to San Diego Border Patrol and law enforcement officials. The group did not apprehend or spot any undocumented migrants in that area.

"We did not release this information ... to the media or anyone else," Ramirez said. "We didn't want to publicize that information. But there it is, right on the Mexican government's Web site, and our government gave it to them.""

Something else in this article that shouldn't surprise me but still did:

" "Last year an internal memo notified all agents not to give credit to Minuteman volunteers or others who call in sightings of illegal aliens," said one agent, who spoke on the condition he not be identified. "We were told to list it as a citizen call and leave it at that. Many times, we were told not to go out to Minuteman calls.""

I would love to see some congressman get that memo and ask for an explanation. The real question has to be who, exactly, is in charge of our border? Is it Mexico? Maybe so:

"TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing more than 10,000 Border Patrol agents, said agents have complained for years about the Mexican consulate's influence over the agency.

"It worries me (that the Mexican government) seems to be unduly influencing our enforcement policies. That's not a legitimate role for any foreign nation," Bonner said, though he added, "It doesn't surprise me.""

WELL TJ; IT SURPRISES THE HECK OUT OF ME!

Does anyone out there think it is legal, ethical or smart for our border patrol to act this way for any reason?

How about if you factor some good sourceS quoted

ON THIS SITE

regarding Islamic items found among the discards of the illegal immigrants.

How Do I Move My Blog?

Can't load or edit my blog for 2 hours today. Frustrating!

Anyone have any helpful suggestions as to a strong, cheap or free site for hosting I can switch to?

Preferably where I can take my established content with me? I guess I'm asking too much but there is bound to be somebody out there who has some ideas.

Most likely I'll stay where I am just because I don't have time to move it. If it turns out to be easy I'm on it.

Judiciary V Voters

For those of you out there who still think it's nuts for Christians to be concerned about the patterns of judicial rulings, here is another one:


MT. SOLEDAD CROSS & VETERANS CEMETERY SAN DIEGO

Seventy-six percent of the populace voted to keep the cross through a donation of the monument to the National Park Service. Yet Judge Gordon Thompson has deemed the transfer to be a violation of the State Constitution. He is also the same judge that deemed it (the cross monument) was a violation of our US Constitution 15 years ago. This is not how our system of government is supposed to work: one individual overriding the referendum decision of an overwhelming majority of the populace.

Again, you are only paranoid if they aren't out to get you.

I Hope My Wife Doesn't Read This

In my new tradition of having fun posts for Friday I thought I would comment on today's news from the world of geeks:

The Koreans have created a female android named EveR-1.

EVER-1
Top 10 Reasons to consider buying this Female Android:
10) The on/off switch
9) She can be programmed to like your family
8) The warranty
7) She responds to commands
6) The mute button
5) You pick the accessories, no baggage included
4) She never asks for spending money
3) She never makes you stop and ask for directions
2) She can change the channel if you lose the remote
1) Her memory can be selectively erased

(In my defense, this is much better than the other joke I almost wrote about: Hellman's Mayonaise shipment bound for Mexico that sank on the Titanic so now we honor the memory by celebrating "sinko de mayo")

It's Prayer Day Google!

Today is our national day of prayer. Usually when there is some day of significance we see Google dress up its logo and help promote it. I guess praying falls under the category of "evil" thus banning them from promoting it per their corporate motto "Do no evil" or something like that. Nevermind that cooperating with Chinese censorship is generally considered evil by the rest of us yet they do that.

Like I said, apparently Google thinks prayer is evil.

Let's see what Google search of "prayer day" yields:

1)Prayer Day task force
2)Belief net's prayer of the day
3)Larry Flints "pray that Bill OReilly dies"

I think I'll stop there. I put "national" before the prayer day and got the righ links in the top three.

CELL PHONE BAN, AGAIN?

It was exactly a year ago as a newbie blogger (before I discovered the spell check function) that I ran across a smoking ban proposed in Germany for their drivers. Now with a timely twist of circular events, Detroit has become concerned with their drivers and cell phones? What is it about May and the sudden concern for people's distracted driving? I've updated my effort at a comical rant and pasted it here:

In today's society we have so few things to concern ourselves with that we focus tightly on the mundane and ignorant. Requiring headsets for cell phone use while driving comes to mind, and now this:

Detroit Council Bans Cell Phone Use

With the Detroit law makers taking a serious look at cell phones in cars and the distraction it causes I am forced to bring a major concern to your attention. We have heard about the dangers of alcohol and open containers-but that's not what I'm concerned about. Not cell phone usage, not hot coffee in cars, no-not even the eating of a big Mac in the car. I am talking about the evidence we see every day on the sides of our highways in the form of containers of yellow liquid.

Not Mello Yello, but the other YELLOW LIQUID!

That's right. Drivers are too lazy or in too big of a hurry these days to bother with stopping to relieve themselves and are using open containers to dispense with bodily fluids while driving. It is a dangerous and disgusting activity which distracts from driving and can cause accidents. In interviews with jail gang drug offenders we were shocked to find the sheer numbers of these bottles and the untold threat it represents to drivers everywhere. Plus the psychological damages of forcing these already self-image-impaired individuals to handle the used containers!

I propose an ordinance with a three-part approach:
1) Ban opened containers: as these are the paraphenalia used by violators we must ban the use of capped containers that have been emptied from the interior of vehicles. I suggest everyone switch to Capri-Sun drink pouches which are extremely difficult (if not impossible in tests performed by a leading liberal university are true) to put urine back into without the painful cathederization from the tiny straw.
2) Bladder Activity Tester: the BAT will determine if you need to pee prior to permitting you to drive. By application of a BAT to the bladder the driver will void if needed prior to driving.
3) Pre-ignition Activated Detection system: the PAD will be placed in the front center of the driver's seat in order to detect liquids. In the event that the driver is attempting to use an open container and drips, the PAD will activate and shut down the ignition causing the vehicle to shut down preventing the likelihood of a collision. This is recommended for repeat offenders, just check the velour where they sit.

It is my estimation that the Teamsters will fight this legislation tooth and nail as this behavior is one of the keys to performance for their driver members. My wife and I are organizing an online campaign: PARENTS for ELIMINATION of ELIMINATION for PROTECTION AGAINST DUMB DRIVERS or PEE PADD. It is PEE PADD's goal to see that the urine is caught and that these offenders be potty trained and car-broken. Look for our fliers and call your legislators today!

I just hope everyone is on board with my proposal in time for the first week of May, 2007.

Moussaui's Briar Patch

The verdict is being read as I type. I'll know in the next 20 minutes and I have some thoughts:

Do you give the guy what he really wants? Death? What does death mean to him?

If it means virgins and pleasure, no death. Of course I am certain his death will present him with a surprise when he doesn't end up with the virgins, but that's a different argument that I'm not addressing here. I say let him rot in isolation forever. Instead of being a heroic martyr, he'll end up forgotten, old and more crazy than now. Letting him rot in a hole in isolation means no new fuel for the radical fire. If he dies he is hailed. If he lives he'll be tossed into the bin of obscurity.

I actually think death is Moussaui's Briar Patch. It's where he thinks he wants to be so that's why we shouldn't send him there.

With that said, only let him live if we can keep him from teaching his psychopathic hate to the other inmates. If we can't isolate, we must eliminate.

And the verdict is life! Sentenced to obscurity. I think that is the most logical conclusion and am glad to see it.

Ameriquest Looks Dead?

"ROMANTIC DINNER" AD: AKA "KILLED THE CAT"

LINK TO SITE WITH AD

Ameriquest had this ad where the guy is fixing a romantic Italian dinner. The cat knocks over the red sauce and he stops chopping something to bend over and pick up the cat out of the spill just as the lady walks in the door. Thus the knife, cat and red spill. A personal favorite of commercials for me.

The company whose slogan and interesting commercials were about not believing the first impression because the situation isn't what it seems is closing all of its retail offices. That seems to be pretty bad to me no matter what the reality is.

I've never worked there. I have many friends who did, and they called it a sweatshop with phones replacing sewing machines. I worked at a company similar to Ameriquest called Oak Street, which was just as bad. How was it bad? You'll be paid hourly for your work but you better not ever ask for overtime. That and if you don't get your goals met you had better not leave the office until you do. Ahem, work 60 hours and get paid for 40, or get fired.

Then there is the commission structure where the company pays the worker nothing. Yet it requires the worker to charge the customer 6 points on every loan. The section 32 requirements (federal guides for predatory lending) were a benchmark to touch not the limit that can't be exceeded in both companies. That's front end only, the back end can be equally as profitable and the company kept all of the yield. Believe me there was a lot of "yield spread" in those loans. Note the settlement mention in the article linked regarding unfair and predatory lending?

Wonder why they closed? The only answer has to be because they weren't making enough money.

How is it possible to not profit if you charge 6+ points per loan? Well, apparently according to a guy who interviewed in my office it was because "managers weren't allowed to fire people who didn't make their numbers." Hmm.

Settle on predatory lending,

settle on unfair labor practices, (buried in article)

so now they close up shop.

Go figure.

Betamax, DIVX and HD... Not Again!

Been there, done that and still got the betamax.

I have a Sanyo Betamax (that still works, last time I checked) left over from the dreaded format wars of the 1980's. Mine is the "official 1984 Olympics Edition"-woo-hoo!

When DIVX came out in the 90's, I looked the sales manager at Circuit City in the eye and told him that it flat out would fail. He wasn't very happy with that comment. When he defensively asked why I said that I responded: "because I don't want someone else to control what I can play on my home machine". He replied that Circuit City was totally behind the format and supporting it. I told him that was their mistake.

Anyone got DIVX now? Didn't think so.

AC-3 or THX or Dolby Digital? Does your surround support these? For a while there was yet another format war in the sound side. Only us geeks really knew it though. Most people didn't get beyond the built in speakers in their TV. By the way AC-3 is non-existent at this point so I won't leave you hanging.

Yes, my surround sound is an AC-3 unit that also does Dolby Digital, thank goodness.

What about Plasma? Bought that yet? Three years ago a flat screen set you back $10,000. Now you can grab 26" for about $800 (ecost.com). Prices are still falling. Yet many people still have the old tube. If you already have one, you likely just paid too darn much for it. Sure you enjoy it, but at what cost? IF you could do it again, would you shell out the extra $3 grand that could have bought something like a used pickup to have around when you need one?

We'll all have to get new TV's in three years. My old 36" pip Mitsubushi dual tuner with faux surround will be a nice 200-lb paperweight by then. I'm having to use the degaus button every time I turn it on so I'm wondering how long it will last.

Now comes news of the looming DVD format war. What gives? Is it blue light or HD discs? History repeats itself! (It's circular again, II!)

I've got news for the manufacturers: I ain't buying another betamax/AC3 unit. I ain't spending more for my TV than my car. I'm pretty happy with DVD clarity and I am definitely convinced that HD is completely mind-blowing at the right price. If an electronics geek like me isn't fired up to spend the dough, you guys will fail in this format war.

I keep the beta in my entertainment setup to remind me of that debacle. I'm sure not the only person who has an odd format laying around to remind them not to jump on a short lived bandwagon.

And no, I still don't have an I-pod because I like stereo better than mono.

O-Factor Agreement

I don't profess to loving wild Bill O'Riley. I don't even have cable so I rarely see him.

Today I checked out his column in JWR (linked in title) and found that everthing he said made perfect sense. Bush is in trouble, the gas companies need to give us a break, the border is a problem, illegals need a way to be legal, Iraq is a must-finish situation and Bush is dagerously close to being a Jimmy Carter.