Friday, December 06, 2002It is great that this dog was saved.
Now after one person gets him, will everybody else who inquired run down to the nearest shelter and save a stray? Then have him spayed or neutered, please. The Atlanta Humane Society is located right off 75 at 981 Howell Mill Road. Most Petsmarts have some kind of rescue organization offering adoptions on the weekends. Access Atlanta has classifieds for pets. Lifeline Animal Project runs a virtual shelter for may rescue organizations. They have a database of over 600 adpotable animals! Not all are in no-kill shelters; pick those animals first. More on this last organization later.
your note [] United Airlines is in deep doodoo!
There are some serious lessons that need to be learned here.
United suffers from unsustainably high labor costs in a business suffering from excess capacity.
Many of the bigger airlines have been strangled by unions for sometime. Now I am a liberal and feel unions have done some very important things for our country, but I also feel some unions are getting wages that too high for the skills required. They can also needlessly limit tasks that employees are asked to perform. Pilots and mechanics are obviously skilled positions. How skilled do baggage handlers and flight attendants need to be? How much are they actually worth? On many airlines, the flight attendants will not help straighten up the plane between flights. Paid cleanup crews come in to do so, and they seem to do so poorly. On Southwestern attendants do straighten up, and even pilots help in some circumstances. Southwestern probably pays a more realistic wage to their employees and has more job requirements. Southwestern is a profitable and healthy company with happy employees.
Regulators should not oppose some consolidation among major carriers, while guarding against airlines' obtaining monopolistic strangleholds at individual airports.
True competition among airlines cannot happen until airport access is opened up to all airlines. Atlanta is monopolized by Delta. Their employees know it, and treat their customers like they are doing us a favor by flying us. I would rather have more gates opened up to other airlines so that we can truly have some choice as to which airline we want to fly. We could choose airlines with good prices and friendly employees. Smaller airlines could come in and compete with the giants and not be locked out.
Salon's "Ask the Pilot" has a good comparison of European airlines verse U. S. Airlines. It is this type of customer service that smaller airlines could implement and challenge the bigger ones with.
your note [] This is why every house needs to keep a handgun nearby.
"There was only two beers left, so I took one, and I told Willie not to take my last beer," Brasher said in a taped statement that was played during the trial.
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that
gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
Alright. I'm goin down to shoot my old buddy,
you know I caught him stealing my last domestic beer can.
Yeah! I'm goin' down to shoot my old buddy,
you know I caught him stealing my last domestic beer can.
Huh! And that ain't too cool.
your note [] At lanta Braves fans are pissed!
Some are pissed at the Braves, some are pissed at Tom Glavine. I think everybody is going to make out well.
The Braves need to keep their payroll from going completely through the roof and get players who excel in the playoffs. Signing Glavine, and older pitcher, was going to take $30+ million for three years with a fourth year option. However, he was not effective in post season play this year, and at his age nobody could promise he ever would be again.
Glavine is at the end of a long and successful career. This is probably going to be his last contract. He has to get all the money he can now. If he signs a short contract, and his performance slips, which tends to happens when ballplayers hit their late 30's, he could not command the same amount of money. He had an offer of $18 million form the Braves and $35 million from the Mets. This is guaranteed money. He would be an idiot not to take the money.
Fans of the Braves should be happy that Glavine is going to a rival. The Mets payroll is going to be eaten up by a player that has been ineffective lately in playoff appearances.
Fans of the Braves have been irritated for years by Glavine's quotes while speaking as the players union rep to the press. Well, this is what all that was about; older players being able to get huge amounts of money. It is not about the fans, the younger players, or the minor league players trying to get to the majors. This is a business. It is a business decision for the Braves. It is a business decision for Glavine.
The Mets still suck.
your note [] Thursday, December 05, 2002Special limited edition Barbie!
What the hell happened to my sweetie!?
your note [] DaimlerChrysler to sponsor Tour de Georgia
Yes Georgia will have its own International Cycling Union (UCI) stage race in 2003, the Tour de Georgia. There will be only 9 US events on the UCI's race calendar in 2003, and Georgia will hold longest, if not only, stage race. This is really a big deal to the cycling community.
Now the race has world class sponsor in DaimlerChrysler. They will provide cash and vehicles to the race. Dodge will be the official Tour de Georgia car.
The race is expected to bring $30 million in economic development for Georgia over the next five years. There should be a noticeable bounce in tourism. Perhaps there even will be a higher visibility of cycling as a sport and recreational activity that will improve automobile and bike relations. Nah, scratch that last statement. I will still be forced off the road by power hungry drivers.
Now if they can only change the stupid name. At least call it the Tour of Georgia.
your note [] Bush and White House claim more solid evidence of WMDs.
The White House said Thursday it possesses solid evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, and rejected Baghdad's denials, saying they have no credibility.
Wolf!
Fleischer: "The president of the United States and the secretary of Defense would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it."
Wolf!
Powell: "We are absolutely sure they have continued to develop weapons of mass destruction, and we're sure they have in their possession weapons of mass destruction."
Wolf!
your note [] Get your Pimp hat now, on ebay!
Now enter "pimp hat" on Ebay's search. Methinks Huggy Bear died.
your note []
Think of America as Microsoft, Bush as an even more annoying Bill Gates, and Canada as Apple. Then just switch. Well that analogy doesn't really work because Bill Gates at least made some of his money on his own. Just click on the link.
your note [] Stormwatch 2002!!!
We got a little bit of rain. Return the generators.
your note [] Wednesday, December 04, 2002Atlanta Thrashers visit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
My girlfriend got to meet a few of the guys, including Andy Sutton, the 6' 6" Thrasher I got to see crush an opposing defenseman and goalie while scoring on a fast break against the Washington Capitals. He is evidently much nicer in person than he is on the ice.
Nice to see them supporting the local children's hospitals. With them visiting hospitals and the Falcon's Warrick Dunn giving away house down payments, the pro athletes in town may end up with a good rep.
your note [] Do you think some Southerners are still bitter about the Civil War?
From an AJC Letter to the Editor. Remember, I have to live near people like this.
A recent letter expressed the thinking of a carpetbagger ("Don't give emblem a foothold," Nov. 28). The Union troops were not heroes; they were barbarian, conquering invaders who destroyed much of the South. All true Southerners glory in the deaths of every last one of them.
Many Americans have been brainwashed by the "great American lie" about the righteousness of the Union cause. In the same way that the American states seceded from Britain, the South wanted to freely leave the Union it freely joined. It intended no harm to the other, Northern states.
Unfortunately, a tyrant by the name of Abraham Lincoln resolved to destroy the South to keep it under his boot. Fortunately, Lincoln got what he so richly deserved. I just wish I could have been there when Lincoln got his, so I could have reached down, stuck my finger in his wound and see if I could have made him twitch.
Do you think this guy has a few Confederate Battle Flag stickers on his truck?
I am thinking he went to a different American History class than I did, if he went to school at all. When one side loses a civil war, they are traditionally branded as traitors. Remember the phrase, "The difference between being a hero and traitor, is winning and losing." In order to heal the nation, Lincoln decided not to imprison or hang the losing leaders for treason. He branded nobody as traitors. He instead granted amnesty for all, restored all rights and property, except for slaves, and sought to regroup our great nation.
I am a Southerner, born and bred. I have generations of my family born and raised in Georgia. I do not feel this way. Lincoln was a great man, and chose not to destroy anything. I feel the Georgia Flag that was recently trashed was an embarrassment. It is in the dustbin where it belongs. If you want to celebrate losing, go ahead. Do not ask me, however, to have to celebrate it also by flying the battle flag on my state flag.
Do not try to speak for me.
Edited to add: Responses received by the AJC after printing that letter can be found here.
your note [] Christian evangelists should practice what they preach.
Back in October, the Rev. Jerry Falwell called Muhammad, the founder of Islam, a "terrorist." .... About two weeks after he made the remark, Falwell retracted it. I think Falwell is an idiot. I will issue a retraction later.
Washington Post Columnist Richard Cohen does not hold back in this commentary, linked to in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He shifts his attack quickly to Pat Robertson, who I choose not to identify with a religious title. Robertson has compared Islam to Hitler. Robertson did not retract his remarks, and has even reaffirmed them on television.
Cohen does not speak well of many of the top conservative religious leaders. He points out how they have become much to powerful in our political system, and how their position is becoming similar to religious leaders in the Muslim countries they criticize.
Oddly enough, Bush is in somewhat the same position as certain political leaders in the Islamic world. He too is finding it awkward to deal with crackpot religious leaders. America's religious fundamentalists are Bush's core political constituency.
The government needs to avoid our war becoming one pitting Christianity against Islam. They are trying, but these Christian religious fanatics are not helping.
Cohen's retraction?
Now I must make my retraction. OK, Falwell is not an idiot.
Robertson is.
your note [] Tuesday, December 03, 2002I don't know how I missed this one, other than the suit was filed right before Thanksgiving.
A group of African Americans has sued civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, accusing him of fraud and demanding that he stop pretending to represent them.
African Americans Against Exploitation, a newly formed group that includes a former head of the Kentucky Republican Party, filed the lawsuit in Superior Court on Nov. 12. The suit claims Jackson is calling himself a Black leader without permission from the country's millions of Black citizens. The suit also was filed on behalf of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny.
I am not making this up! Again, see the story at Atlanta Daily World.
your note [] What is the worst Christmas gift you have ever gotten?
Some of these are truly great:
k_killmore: My grandfather, cheap incarnate, gave me a 9 volt battery one year. Wrapped. I was 5 at the time and realized what a shitty gift this really was even then. "You can use it in all the toys you get!" NO shit gramps. Thanks for the tip.
He-Man: When I was 13 my Grandma just went to a San Fransico (novelty store) and bought all these novelty gifts. I ended up with "The Worlds Biggest Condom" in my stocking.
SGTGAFSNA: A Spoon-Pin. That's right, you heard me, a motherfucking Spoon-Pin. Take a spoon, bend it in half, melt down the "spooning" part of it so it looks like a metal rod, glue pin-thing to it, voila, a fucking spoon-pin. It basically looks like you're walking around with the top half of a spoon, or possibly a fork, attached to your shirt/jacket.
Be sure to read the first entry on page six. It is a little long but very nice.
The worst gift I ever got was not a Christmas gift, but a gift on some other holiday- I forget which. My ex gave me a huge candle, about 7 inches in diameter and 12 inches tall that had three wicks and a metal base. WTF? I am a guy. You don't give a guy a candle; you give a guy a power tool, some CDs, or something for his bike. "No, we won't be having sex in front of the candle. If you had given me a circular saw, maybe we could have had sex in front of it." To make matters worse, her 5-year-old daughter, who I adored beyond belief, pulled it over onto her head a few days later trying to blow it out. She was scared out of her wits, but luckily unhurt. Sure enough I was the one who had to spend 2 hours combing all the wax out of her hair.
your note [] Gore's original statement: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth, environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."
While not stated as well as it could have been, like much extemporaneous speech, Gore did help create the internet by taking a leadership role in Congress to aid the development of the World Wide Web. He did take initiative in the creation of the internet. Many people will attest that AL Gore played a very important part of making the internet what it is today.
In 1988 Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf, often called the father of the Internet:"I think it is very fair to say that the Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the vice president."
In 1988 Writer Martin Walker wrote in the Guardian: American computing scientists are campaigning for the creation of a "superhighway" which would revolutionize data transmission. Legislation has already been laid before Congress by Senator Albert Gore of Tennessee, calling for government funds to help establish the new network, which scientists say they can have working within five years, at a cost of Dollars 400 million.
In 2000 Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican: "In all fairness, it's something Gore had worked on a long time. Gore is not the Father of the Internet, but in all fairness, Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet, and the truth is-and I worked with him starting in 1978 when I got [to Congress], we were both part of a "futures group"-the fact is, in the Clinton administration, the world we had talked about in the '80s began to actually happen."
The Republicans have chosen to argue that because of how Gore said the statement, it meant one thing. Everybody understood what he was really saying, and what he meant. Nobody even questioned the statement until the RNC got running with it, the press hopped on board with them, and shoved it down the people's throat for two years. It is a shame that Bush was never held to the same standards of speech. There are entire books on Bush's misstatements. The RNC does not want the press reporting on them, so they do not. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me ....... won't get fooled again.
your note []
I don't play golf, or watch golf. I could care less what Tiger shoots on any course. I am a liberal. Yet I still fail to see why a private, single gender club should be forced to admit women. If a bunch of men want to get together and play with other men, more power to them. This is a recreational activity. I would rather be swimming with a master's swim team where most of the members are female and are dressed in bathing suits. But to each his own.
The fact that they host one of the biggest golf events in the country does not change that fact. People are free to try and host another golf event on the same weekend at a mixed gender club if they want.
If single gender golf clubs are not kosher, than neither is a single gender golf league. I should be able to compete in a LPGA tournament on the same weekend the Augusta National is forced to admit women as members. And I want to hit from the same tees.
Now this Thomas H. Wyman is out of the club, nothing is going to change, and a bunch of old men have woodies thinking that they may be invited to be the newest member. He accomplished nothing.
your note [] A storm is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico that could mean ice in Northern Georgia. That is very bad news around these parts.
One inch of snow or a thin sheet of ice and Atlanta will be shut down. There will be thousands of car accidents. Watching Atlantans drive is better than hockey and NASCAR combined. There will be more dented cars on the streets than in the parking lot at WWF's Smackdown. Allstate won't have enough hands. State Farm will be here, there and everywhere.
In addition to the accidents, school will be cancelled, power and phones will be out, grocery stores will sell out of everything, and Home Depot will have a run on generators.
Two days later, Atlantans will be getting rides to their stranded cars, insurance adjusters will be having dreams of huge commission checks, and everybody will be returning generators to Home Depot.
More from Weather Underground.
your note [] Monday, December 02, 2002I was at the Atlanta Thrasher's game Sunday afternoon. What an exciting time. Hockey is just a blast in person. I would rather be at a hockey game than a baseball or football game. It is just fast entertainment with very little down time.
Exciting stuff?! The girl behind me got nailed in the throat with a puck in the first period. Although scared and shaken up, like I would be if I had been hit with a puck traveling almost 100 miles an hour, she was okay. To make matters worse, in the confusion she sat in her nachos making a big mess. Her dad almost caught the puck before it hit her, but he had to come over from three seats away. I didn't even get to reach for it. I saw it come off the stick, just over the glass headed straight for me, and was pulling my girlfriend back when it sliced up and by us. (Yes, I was pulling her out of the way, not in front of me.) Like most hockey fans, the injured girl was tough and managed to get back in her seat for the second period. Oh yeah!
Later in the game, 6' 6" Thrasher Andy Sutton on a fast break not only scored, but he also laid out the defenseman and goalie, and then landed on top of them. What a way to add insult to injury! For a big guy, he managed to be in on a few fast breaks. He is a great young player.
Did I mention Sumo Hockey between periods?
I do have one serious complaint. Who are the wussies sitting in front of the glass? At the old Atlanta Night games people were on the glass beating the hell out of it. At all the games I have seen this season, nobody is on the glass. Okay two girls were slapping at it like President Bush slapping at multi-syllable word, but nobody was beating it hard when a Thrasher had an opponent pinned up against it. We need people on the glass who are vicious and have major mental problems. How about pulling people out of the cheap seats every game and putting them on the glass? How about letting the Atlanta police bring some state prisoners there instead of to the Fulton County lockup?
Well, the Thrashers won. The new free agent goalie Dafoe was not spectacular in any sense of the word, but neither was Atlanta's defense. Still the game was exciting and great family fun.
your note [] Warren Sapp does not like being called a cheap shot artist.
Man, by the way this clown talks you think football matters in the real world.
"This is a man that (has) never taken a snap in this league, right?" he said. "How would he know anything about respect or what goes on within the game? Don't talk to me unless you been in the trenches, please."
Respect? For somebody who plays a game for a living? Trenches? Big boy has not been in the trenches. Trenches are not in the middle of a football field.
"(Sherman) violated me. He crossed my field, on my day, after our win and violated us and violated me personally. He called me outside my name in a vicious way, as I looked at it, and I said it and I had to let him know I didn't appreciate that."
Violated you? Please.
This man has been violated!
your note [] Lane Ranger points out how motorcyclists in the mountains endanger bicyclists.
Nothing new here. Nothing new at all.
Some, and probably the vast minority of, motorcyclists ride too aggressively in the mountains. They speed, cross the yellow line, ride too fast, and endanger themselves and others. They also unfairly hurt the reputation of most other motorcyclists. Jason Morris is not he first cyclist to be hurt by a motorcyclist and will not be the last. Reckless motorcyclists in the "six gap" area are notoriously dangerous.
The motorcyclists complaints about cyclists may be correct. Some ride two or more abreast; state law allows two abreast as far to the right as safely possible. I have even gone as far to pass autos coming down the mountains. Seriously though, how many times have you heard about a bicyclist hitting a car or motorcycle and injuring somebody other than himself?
Motorcyclist who speed and cross the yellow line endanger many people. This happens frequently in the mountains of North Georgia. It would be nice if a concerted effort could make the mountains a safer place for all.
On a side note, while in Puerto Rico during October, I got to see a motorcyclist wreck up-close-and-personal. While my girlfriend and I were walking down a road in the El Yunque rainforest, some guy came roaring down the road on a Harley waving his hands in the air, showing off to his buddies. The road was very curvy, and at the next curve he miss the bars as he tried to grab the grips again. Luckily he was okay after cart wheeling the bike, because if he had been hurt, it would not have been nearly as freaking hilarious as it was.
"Wave your hands in the air like you don't care"
your note [] Sunday, December 01, 2002Take Back the Media has opened for business. The goal of this new website is to urge the media to once again "serve the people." Please visit and maybe help support this joint venture by Blah3 and Symbolman. While there you can also checkout the latest headlines from Buzzflash on the sidebar.
Can we start by boycotting all advertisers on Fox News?
your note [] Repost: Bush's State Department recommends sadomasochist weapons inspector.
No, you read that right. From MSNBC.com:
The United Nations launched perhaps its most important weapons inspections ever yesterday with a team that includes a 53-year-old Virginia man with no specialized scientific degree and a leadership role in sadomasochistic sex clubs.
McGeorge said yesterday that a State Department official invited him to apply for the U.N. team, and officials at State and the U.N. did not ask about his S&M background.
And they were all pissed off about a blowjob? I guess a little bondage, torture, and other hardcore fun is different? McGeorge is a former president of Black Rose, a pansexual S&M group, and has no degree in any specialized area that could be useful in weapons inspection. How did he get this job? It seems nobody is checking the background of these inspectors.
"Bad Saddam, bad Saddam! I told you no weapons! Now bend over while I spank your butt! How does that feel? Have you been a bad boy? I'm going to spank your butt again! There! What a bad boy!"
Edited on 12/1/2002 to add: Hans Blix, Chief United Nations weapons inspector rejected McGeorge's resignation offer. While McGeorge has only an associate's degree in security management from a community college, he also has extensive BDSM management experience, so Blix felt "McGeorge is a highly qualified and competent technical expert." In the BDSM field McGeorge specializes in various techniques involving knives, ropes and choking apparatuses. Story from Gulf News.
Edited on 12/1/2002 to add: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution choose to not cover this story, or at least I have been unable to find any mention of it. It was not widely covered, as the media is still reluctant to mention anything critical of the Bush administration. The Australian press is giving the story a good bit of play. Check out this search on google to see what coverage is out there.
your note [] Overall female winner of the Atlanta Marathon is former cycling champ.
Phyllis Tuggle crossed the finish line in just under 3 hours to become the overall female winner of the Atlanta Marathon. Bundled up heavily on the cold Thanksgiving morning, Phyllis ran her first marathon in three years after being urged on by her husband and brother-in-law to sign up for the race.
Phyllis Tuggle's maiden name is Phyllis Hines She is the most decorated female cyclist ever from Georgia. During her career she won 4 National Championships, silver and bronze medals in the World Time Trial Championships, and was a member of the winning team in the1989 Tour de France Feminine. Had her specialty, time trialing, been a female sport in the Olympics during her peak racing years, she undoubtedly would have one of those medals on her racing resume.
How did her husband fare? Well he ran the half marathon. Her brother-in-law did not run at all, and he may be in big trouble.
Sign of the race was obviously: "Don't You Wish Phidippides had died here?" that somebody was holding around mile 20 of the race. If you don't get the joke, click here.
your note []
Copyright 2002 Tim
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