No defense contractor left behind
I have a couple of friends who work for Head Start, one of them being my roommate, so I get to hear all about the program. I was talking with one of them last night and she told me the latest things that are happening with the program, at least where they are employed: anyone hired after October will not have the family health care plan as a benefits option. All of the other workers are grandfathered (which to that, I would like to add "for now.")

Health care is partially being dropped because of its expense. I asked my friend, "I thought Head Start was funded by the federal government?" I was surprised when she told me that Bush has pulled all Head Start funding, which is leading to these cutbacks. Couple this with the treatmen Head Start has given my roommate (they gave her a promotion [ie: longer hours and more responsibility] with *NO* raise in pay), and I really want to tear out my hairs. Head Start workers don't exactly make much to begin with (the janitor there makes more than the teachers), even though they are working an important job, but not only are their pay and benefits getting cut, but, it gets worse.

My friends have told me that the Bush administration is trying to require all Head Start teachers to have associates degrees, even though they are trying to make cuts to the tuition reimbursment benefits and they are not raising salaries. How are they supposed to afford this?

Bush is also making Head Start students go through standardized testing. If the test results are bad, then, of course, the teachers are going to get blamed, and subsequenly fired. The many horrible social and living situations of the children that Head Start takes in will not come into account when the conclusion is drawn that it's the teacher's fault that students are not learning.

All of this makes me think about two things. One is a quote, "No child left behind," and how much of a joke that is. Bush, of course, is still trying to push that he is concerned about the education of our children, like he did in his radio address this week. I'm also thinking about General Dynamics.

Among many other defense contracts, General Dynamics builds nuclear submarines. They build them right here in Rhode Island. In fact, they just received a $8.7 billion contract from the government to build six more subs, the largest order of subs in history. That's a lot of money to strengthen a Navy which can already kick anybody's ass.

Just think, if 1/16 of the money awarded in a contract to build subs that we don't need was given to the Head Start program, we would have happier teachers and more knowledgable children.

I guess we know what Bush thinks is more important.

Somebody bomb the RIAA
This is absolutely laughable: the RIAA wishes to grant file traders "amnesty" as long is you come out and admit to them what MP3s you have on your computer an promise to delete them.

What a pompous bunch of assholes. Who the fuck are these people to tell me what I can and cannot have on my computer? The RIAA blames computer users like me for their declining sales, yet what do they market to me, want do they want me to buy. Britney Spears and all of the new hip hop where the "artists" can't rap or sing. If I am interested in rock, what are my options now, emo crap like Taking Back Sunday, or "harder" stuff like Linkin Park? Ohhhh, lemmie open my wallet like I've never opened it before!

These companies deserve to go out of business. Honestly. I flip through the FM dial to the music that they are marketing to people like me, people who are supposed to purchase CDs and sustain the industry, and there's nothing I want to purchase. Nothing. They release shit, have the gall to raise the price of their shit, then blame MP3s when their sales stagger. Appearently the geniuses populating their A&R departments somehow made it onto the board of directors.

I wish I had a little of what they are smoking. In the meantime, if you download MP3s and don't want to become the RIAA's one thousand six hundred and one'th victim of a lawsuit, install Peer Guardian. Think of it as a firewall specifically aimed at keeping the RIAA off your computer. It's not perfect, but it will help.

News around the clock - Thinking not included
Since I do not have a permenant place to leave my computer setup until this weekend, I don't get the paper delivered, and there is no AM radio downstairs, all of the news I hear in the morning before heading out to work comes from the boobtube.

Needless to say, I'm not getting that much news.

Even though the 24 hour stations would like you to think that they are performing their jobs of keeping the public informed, I don't consider news to be just headlines. News is something that you have to think about. Getting an unbiased view is required, but to really feel a story you have to be acquainted with all sides of it, that makes you more apt to think about what you just learned, what your opinions of it are, and how it applies to your life.

But I have come to the conclusion that these 24 hour news networks (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, Headline News), they don't foster thinking. What they do is feed you a story that lacks details, and then they have that news scroll running at the bottom, throwing all sorts of different headlines at you, all of which provide even less details about the stories they are "reporting". So as you are trying to watch the story the anchors are reporting, you are inundated with all of these other headlines that you try to read while watching/listening to the other story. Your trying to grasp two things at once, before without clear details, so you're just being fed questionable facts and you have to spend all of your time paying attention just to keep up,it doesn't give you time to process the information and think about it for a little bit. Then it cuts to commercial after a few minutes, and the cycle starts all over again.

If that's not bad enough, people like me (and probably anyone else with a penis) have pruient interests to contend with. Let's face it: the female anchors that the 24 hour news channels hire are pretty cute, so sometimes our thoughts drift elsewhere. Shallow, but true. (Or maybe I'm just a dirty, dirty man.)

Trying to think about two or three differnt things at once tends to burn you out. When you are trying to learn about what's going on in the world around you, there are many complex issues that come into play and if our media just feds us headlines, we will not have a clear understanding of how our neighbors, local and global, feel, and what they are doing.

I guess it should come as no surprise that I hold a dim view of the mainstream news media and prefer to get my news from the radio or off the net. Not that the radio can be supremely better, and at times it can be downright awful, but at least you get details and there isn't a news scroll at the bottom of the screen to distract you.

The quality of the news your get off the radio depends on the station that you listen to. I like AM radio, but that certainly doesn't mean that I support Rush Limbaugh (or any other nationally syndicated AM talk show host that I have heard, for the matter), but NPR can be very good at times, and local talk shows can give you varying views and opinions. Now that I have DSL, I can feel listen to the great radio shows that I have links to. So that makes me happy. Radio shows usually have more time to air a story, and they don't have to worry about the visual aspect complicating things, so they can fit more information in a longer amount of time, and usually you see the difference in the quality of news.

But, for now, I will still spend my mornings as an ignorant slob. At least this routine is allowing me to get to work on time, I'm not hanging off the edge of my seat waiting for the next hard hitting news story that I simpy have to know about.

Hang the bastard, hang him high
[hypocrite mode on] Normally, I'm anti-death penalty, but I'm glad he died. Even in today's homogenized society where stupidity is catered to by corporations because they have less brain power and more buying power, it makes me happy to know that Darwin is still able to throttle a few dipshits. Let's face it, any religious person who is so righteous ignores the most basic of the ten commandments for his own purposes, then thinks that he'll receive a reward in heaven for his actions, that person is an idiot. He's an idiot of such high caliber that, you have to admit, natural selection would have sealed his fate sooner or later. So, the sooner the better!

Instant Darwin's gonna get ya..

In other news, distractions are abound and I haven't had too much time to post. Sigh.

Talk about mismanagement
A quote from this article really gets me: "American gasoline supplies are at their lowest level since Nov. 2000."

Now, correct me if you're wrong and no matter your opinion about the war in Iraq (mine is still a negative one), correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we just invade the country with the second largest oil puddle in the world? We control the second largest supply of oil in the world and yet skyrocketing gas prices are being caused by supply not meeting demand?

Some people might say that Iraq is insecure. Well, that's also mismanagment, too, proved by the fact that the US is now begging the UN to get involved in resoration of the country. And we're paying billions of dollars to Halliburton, awarded in a no-bid contract, to get the oil industry setup there. If Dick Cheney's peyt can't do the job, then, uhm, shouldn't we make it a biddable contract?

Not to mention what I think is the biggest drag on gas supplies: SUVs. The fucking things seem to get bigger and bigger every model year, burning up more and more gas.

There's also the angle that Democrats want investigated: are the oil companies reaming Americans with price gouging? A very reasonable question that should be investigated.

In friday's Providence Journal business section, there was an article about how high gas prices could be helping the biodiesel fuel industry advance. Biodiesel is fuel made from things like corn stalks and the grease in traps outside of restaurants, and it is cleaner burning than regular diesel. The market for this would be farm equipment. What the article didn't mention is what I mentioned last wednesday, that we can use biofuels to power our unleaded engines, and that Canada is already doing it.

The only thing I have heard about this in the mainstream media was either on MSNBC or Fox News, where the host made fun of the idea, instigating that using ethanol in everyday cars and SUVs is a stupid idea that just wouldn't work, but not citing any reasons why, nothing to back up their claim, They didn't even elaborate on their claim, they just laughed at the idea like it was so ridiculous that it didn't even need to be discussed; it shouldn't even be considered an option.

What's good for Canada, I guess, isn't good for America. That must be why they have cheaper prescription drugs, better health care, less crime, less poverty, more tolerance, etc. In Canada, you can fill up your tank with corn ethanol. As I have stated before, I have filled up my own car with corn ethanol, and it ran so well that I would rather use corn than gasoline if I had the choice.

But, we don't. You can partly blame our media for that.

And now some negative press against the Atkins Diet
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is asking the top ten America hospitals to ban the Atkins Diet. A couple British hospitals have already banned it, citing a government studies that the diet is linked to kidney damage. PCRM adds that diets high in protein and meat also increase the risk of osteoporosis.

I have been trying to adhere to some parts of the Atkins Diet by cutting down on my carbs, but the diet also wants you to, as I understand it from other family members (I have yet to read the book), stop drinking milk and orange juice. Fruits are also a no-no, along with veggies that have sugar in them, like carrots. Sorry, but I'm not giving up fruits and milk just because they have sugar, they also have other health benefits in vitamins and nutrients.

I have lost a little weight since starting my new job and modifying my diet to some Atkins standards, though. What I do is try to get the majority of my carbs in at breakfast. I'll have a bagel with peanut butter and a glass of orange juice, sometimes a banana later. Then I goto work where I run around like a nut. For lunch, I've been having a couple of soy burgers with carrots, washing it down with water. After I get home from work, I have some chicken with a glass of milk.

I'm still under doctor's orders to have red meat, so I try to have a steak or some hamburgers on the weekend. I had cut down on red meat for a couple of years, then when I got mono the doctor pointed out that my iron was low, ditto with my red blood cell count, and the best thing I could do is go out and get a steak. Since steak is good and healthy, for me, in moderation, I now have no problem with it.

This is what I do. I know people who are on the Atkins Diet who are happy with it, but, quite honestly I can't see going through my morning without a glass of orange juice, nor can I see not having a glass or two of milk during the day. I have to keep my bones strong and get my vitamins in to fight infections, especially with winter and cold season coming. Full blown Atkins Diet just doesn't seem healthy to me, it makes me think that I would be begging for a heartattack later in life if I went on it.

For lack of anything of substance to post, I present to you Pinkie


I love this picture. When I crossed over the Kentucky border into Tennessee, I took the first exit to get gas and saw this remarkably lifesize statue at an antiques mall, and you can't pass up this kind of photo-op.

She makes great windows wallpaper, too.

No introduction is needed: 10 great things about The Big Lebowski.

If you are in Providence this saturday...


Show times for both venues listed on Lots of Noise.

I'm still alive
Unfortunately, I haven't had much to post about lately. Now that I have a DSL line, I will be getting my computer finally setup in my office so I can have a place to keep it on all the time. Right now, I have to use it in the kitchen because this is the only room in the house that has a phone jack, and I can't leave it out for prolonged periods of time because crime is a factor to contend with in this neighborhood. Last thing I need is a couple of kids seeing my laptop on the table and breaking in to steal it. My laptop is straightedge and refuses to be sold to a pawn shop for drug money.

What have I been doing with myself? Well, last night went to see my favorite band in the universe, the motherfucking Queers!, who, unfortunately, do not have a webpage anymore due to lazy webmasters. Anyone think their page should be hosted be Loaded Mouth?

It might increase the number of hits to my site, at the very least.

Of course, hits to my site could be increased with daily blogging, but I'm working on that..

Beyond this, I don't have too much to say. It's been a rather boring and slow weekend, and I'm just hoping that I can goto a party tomorrow and score some free grub. Ah, simple desires...