January 29, 2004

Our Hypocrisy

Maybe we are pompous, after all.

    Powell made clear he was worried about Moscow's assertive dealings with its neighbors, which include ... the continued presence of Russian troops in Moldova and Georgia.

    ...In what appeared to be a conciliatory gesture, Ivanov told reporters Russia was willing to discuss its two remaining bases in Georgia with Georgian officials, and Powell responded by saying he was encouraged by Moscow's "flexibility."

Now isn't that a perfect example of American politicians acting like Imperialist Pigs? The United States must have, say, five hundred or so different military bases in like maybe seventy different countries... some of which have been very unpopular with the locals (South Korea, the Philippines), and here we have Powell criticizingthe Russians for keeping two little military bases in former Soviet vassal states!

The nerve of that man! Don't the Russians have a strategic interest in securing their own borders? Can anyone say Chechnya?

It's no wonder that we make the Russians nervous with our new presence in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Posted by crandal at 11:10 PM

BBC Bias, Even In Defeat

    "One mistake was made, admittedly on a very important story, but that is not a resigning issue for the Director-General."
Thus spake Jeremy Dear, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, in reference to the resignation of BBC head Greg Dyke.

Now if the situation were reversed, and the Hutton Report had been ciritical of the Blair Government, would we have seen sound bites from Greg Dyke that looked like this?

    "One mistake was made, admittedly on a very important issue, but that is not a resigning issue for the Prime Minister."
Probably not.


Posted by crandal at 10:59 PM

January 27, 2004

Al Franken Protects Free Speech...

...by physically assaulting the Protestors! (NY Post Article)

    Franken yesterday body-slammed a demonstrator to the ground after the man tried to shout down Gov. Howard Dean.

    Franken emerged from the crowd and charged one male protester, grabbing him with a bear hug from behind and slamming him onto the floor.

    Franken said he's not backing Dean but merely wanted to protect the right of people to speak freely. "I would have done it if he was a Dean supporter at a Kerry rally," he said.


Incredible.   A bear hug tackle?   Talk about Crushing of Dissent! Why isn't Instapundit all over this?

Update:
The local police better darn well pursue charges against Franken as vigourously as they've been going after Rush Limbaugh, eh? Or else I say Rush should get one free tackle of the Liberal Protestor of his choice!

Posted by crandal at 07:13 PM

January 26, 2004

Mars Rover Update:

From http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html:

    SPIRIT UPDATE: - Jan 24, 2004.
    Outlook improves as engineers currently believe that software "file management" problems may be source of Spirit's troubles.

Meanwhile, at B.O.F.H. headquarters...

'Hey, some user named "m_rover" is, like, way over quota.'
'...Well, I know how to fix that! .... [Click] [Click] [Click]... [Delete All Files?] [Yes] ....'

Posted by crandal at 08:05 AM

January 25, 2004

Wine Tasting Winner

So I was the big "winner" at the wine-tasting hosted by the Feagan's, but only because equal points were given for guessing the correct price as well as the correct vintage. Just goes to show where my priorities lie, I suppose.

I had a great time, and I think everyone else did too... even though the smoking rules were altered this year to permit indoor smoking. (Well, you know, it was only 12° F outside!)

Miss Laura started to fall asleep after 11:00, so I left early and took here home.

Posted by crandal at 11:56 PM

January 21, 2004

This Stinks!

Starting last week, Building 49 has had a decidedly unpleasant odor. Specificially, it smells like the inside of a sewer pipe. The smell moves about the building in mysterious ways. For example, on Tuesday the smell was focused down by the secretaries office, but today the smell seemed to be emmating from the computer lab.

Needless to say this has created an unpleasant and unsafe work area! Where is the useless Safety Office when you need them? I had to take things into my own hands and bring in my scented oil lamp.

Update:
Melis came into my office today and proclaimed, "Ahh, The smell of a thousand {butts}!" Laughter ensued.

Posted by crandal at 06:55 PM

January 04, 2004

Quick Chortle Courtesy of Cathy

Catherine Seip writes, "ABC Family Channel gets in on the [Reality TV] fun with My Life Is a Sitcom, in which eight aspiring funny families compete to star in an actual sitcom based on their lives... As Tolstoy might have said, funny families are all alike, but each unfunny family is unfunny in its own way."

I think that's the funiest thing I've heard all day. Really.

Posted by crandal at 12:24 PM

January 03, 2004

Dreams

Well, in keeping with my resolution, here are a few dreams I had last night.

1) I'm in an elevated train car / monorail. Our destination is Severance Hall, but it's not like any Severance Hall that actually exists. Instead, it is very high in the air and mounted on great pillars, (hence the elevated train), and the train station is under the hall. However, for some reason our train is not routed under the hall, but instead stops out on a track-culdesac. Us poor patrons have to dismount from the train out on the elevated walkway. Very uncomfortable!

2) Mom, Jennifer and myself are walking through the countryside when I recognize the scenery and advise climbing a nearby steep hill, because there is a great view from the top. However, once we reach the top, I realize that the great view is not nearly so remarkable as the steep precipice immediately at the top of the hill, and I almost fall off to my death! I turn to warn Mom and Jennifer (who appears to be something like 2-3 years old in this dream), but Mom is oblivious and just wandering around aimlessly while Jennifer seems bent on a suicide mission over the cliff. I spend the rest of the dream breathlessly running back and forth, trying to keep everyone from falling to their doom.

Posted by crandal at 09:10 AM