Bones

Yesterday as I was on the roller and applying Traumeel, trying to fix my right knee, I was watching Bones on hulu.com. The show is okay, realizing that the earlier episodes are better than the later seasons (why is that with every show? Do the original writers get hired away? Do they run out of ideas?) Anyways…I was watching episode 104 – The Man in the Bear, which take place in Eastern Washington State. At 27:50 in the show is a shot of the forest and in the distance is a mountain that looks very similar to Half Dome in Yosemite, which in California.

Halliburton

I was recently in Houston. A fellow dancer who participated in March 2 Marfa, Leslie Scates organized the trip. She is a native Houstonian brought K, M and me out there. We taught 2 classes at the University of Houston – a contact class to the Modern 2 class and an improvisation/comp class to the comp class. Also performed at the Barnevelder Theater – Of No Relation III. Good show. Great reception, well not just the food and booze (!!!), but people’s response. Better response there than in the Bay Area. Not sure why.

The title of this post is Halliburton. Last Friday as we were driving to the theater for tech/rehearsal, we passed a factoryesque building. The sign said Halliburton. An American flag was on the pole. The day was grey and rainy, overcast and muggy. Looking at the flag in the rain, I had the question of whether or not it is kosher to fly the flag in the rain. After digging around in the internet, I have found out that it is. Well, as long as the flag is an “all weather flag”, whatever that is.

So my whole point about Halliburton, a huge beneficiary of the war in Iraq, displaying an American flag improperly, being a symbol of how conservatives have used patriotism and the war for their real purpose – profit – is out the window unless the flag flying over that Halliburton factory in Houston is not an all weather flag.

From the sad state it was in, I would say it was not.

To be a Republican you need to believe:

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s Daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is
enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

5. A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing
veterans’ benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans
is socialism. HMO’s and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s driving record is none of our business.

14. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

15. Supporting “Executive Privilege” for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960’s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80’s is irrelevant.

17. Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

Yahoo! gets it wrong again.

Yahoo! really has it wrong this time. Well maybe not for the first nine movies, but to call 2001 one of the most historically wrong films ever is just plain wrong. It was not made as historic fiction. It was filmed in 1968, a film about the future. To then evaluate this film on the basis of whether or not it was good historical fiction is not only unfair but silly. Who is the nincompoop who compiled that list? Yes, the future did not happen as Clarke, rest his soul, envisioned it. But he had nothing but his imagination to create his idea of the future. All those other films about the PAST were made after the events happened. The directors etc. could have done a little more research.

This is just further evidence of how stupid Yahoo! can be.

A very early Easter

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that the Hebrews used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.


Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) than it will be this year (2008) but that is very rare.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early previously (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!
Here are the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

And with all this information, can you tell me what a rabbit has to do with Jesus?

Wood Bolt Stool

First thing I have welded in a while. Overall I am happy with the design. Some of the welds are kind of manky as I haven’t welded in a while and not used to the welder. Not many settings on it. For some reason I like figuring out something to make with spare parts, more than making something with parts I have specifically chosen for that project. Maybe that is the improviser in me.

Muslims nations: Defame Islam, get sued?

This is exactly why people make fun of Islam. Well, it is better than blowing up people. But I don’t want some whiners in another country telling me what I can and cannot say, what whole other countries can and cannot say. And this guy is another reason people make fun of Islam.

All religions are asinine. All religions are misused. Read God is not Great: How religion spoils everything. But seems like some Islamists are getting quite sensitive. This is pitting the ideals of free speech against the ideals of one religion.

Has anyone compared the growing pains and wars of Christian Sects centuries ago to the wars of Islamic sects today? Just heard on the radio the other day how in one of the original 13 colonies Quakers were hanged just for being Quakers. A Quaker! How more innocent can you get than a Quaker. Guess the Christians who hanged them forgot about that one commandment. “The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay were determined to exclude alien elements from their spiritual community, and they hanged four Quakers to prove it.”

Hybrids

Talk about stupid. No, not hybrids. I have a Prius, had it since 2002. 1st generation!! On the forefront, the cutting (or is it bleeding?) edge. What I am calling stupid is SUV hybrids. Yes, they might get better mileage than a non Hybrid, but their mileage still sucks.
An SUV hybrid does not address the real problem of people driving around much more metal than necessary. A hybrid SUV allows people to justify their outrageous purchases, to assuage their guilt – “It’s really not that bad…it’s a hybrid…I am helping the environment…yeah, there is a green leaf on my car…”
An extreme analogy would be comparing Saddam Hussein to Hitler. “At least Hussein didn’t kill 6 million people, therefore he is a good guy. Yeah, that’s it!”
C’mon, get real. 30 mpg is still 30 mpg to carry one fat person through the Jack in the Box drive through, whether or not you have a lithium battery in your trunk.

Legalize it.

Eliot Spitzer has been caught with his pants almost down. And his career is probably over. But why? Does it matter where he hides the salami? I mean, as long as it is another consenting adult who cares? Yes, money was exchanged for the services, but that is between the two parties involved and their accountants. No, I don’t think that it is a good thing that a married man was soliciting the services of a prostitute. Maybe his wife likes the idea of her husband with another man. Who knows what gets them off? And anyways, what business is it of ours?

If prostitution where legal it could be unionized. It could be taxed. Instead of people walking the street, they could be in a business place, like Amsterdam.

Funny how many Republicans are all about personal freedoms and getting the government off people’s back. But as soon as money is involved in getting someone on their back, the Republicans want to stick their noses in.