A Few Great lines

Well, I ain't here to show ya ma dick! (Sam Elliot - Roadhouse)

I guess the fortune teller's right. I should have seen just what was there, and not some holy light (Natalie Imbruglia - Torn)

...light my candles in a daze, cuz I found God (Kurt Cobain - Lithium)

Look into my eyes. Your soul is stained with the blood of innocents. Feel their pain! (Nicholas Cage - Ghost rider)

And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made (Paul Simon - The Sound of Silence)

I have made my Decision - Obama

I have heard, and read, so many arguments between those who choose Hillary and those who choose Obama. Really, folks, it makes little difference. ALL politicians use the same exact rhetoric, and refuse to plainly and simply lay out the blueprints for their actual plans once elected. Voters simply read into it whatever they want to hear. Hell, W had a good sounding line of bullshit back in 2000. He was for "uniting", bringing "respectability back to the Oval Office", "fairness in taxation", "more jobs", "more affordable health care". Who could argue with that? Now we all know what we really got with the whole W package. It was all Orwellian double speak. As for Hillary and Obama, I'd like to (for once) see some nuts and bolts planning with real numbers added in for fun. It ain't gonna happen during campaigne time. Regardless, we will have someone in the Whitehouse who is far superior to that scrub we have had for nearly eight years. I vote Obama because he seems "fresh" and Hillary has so much baggage to lug around during the fall.

Ah Dammit Anyhow

So I read over at kona's blog that we are still destroying the planet, even if we drive vehicles that burn bio-fuels. dammit. I just found an EH-85 station five miles from home (versus the 45 miles to Longview or the 100 miles to Portland)

I might as well be driving a rig powered by whale blubber and dolphin fins. I'm such a putz.

Something Stupid - Just For You

The Last Man on Earth Is Not Alone

I loved the 70's version when I was a kid


The new version was even better

Welcome to the Holiday Ball

I'm Green, so shut up already!

Benefits.
Compared to gasoline only vehicles, flex-fuel vehicles produce:
Lower carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
Lower levels of hydrocarbon and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions
About the same or lower oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions
Fewer evaporative emissions because they have fewer highly volatile components
Ethanol is a high octane fuel (pure ethanol is 113 octane). It is beneficial in engines that are designed to operate on higher octane fuels
If E85 is blended with 15% gasoline, the octane level of E85 is higher than premium gasoline Performance




Found an EH 85 station in Longview, only 40 miles away versus the 100 miles to Portland. Getting closer.

Pictures of the (not quite) Perfect Storm

Hurricane Who?

Our storms aren't important enough to be named by anybody. We just went through three days of Hurricane whatsitsname with winds over 120 mph for 24 straight hours as just a part of the thing. The other two days the wind was only up to 100 mph. It is day 7 of the event as I write this, or day 4 of the aftermath if you prefer. We got power back at my house night before last. Most of Clatsop, Lincoln, Columbia, and Pacific(WA)counties are still without service. We got cell phone service back late yesterday, and the internet popped up about two seconds ago. Jacq sent me a text and said that Astoria was mentioned once, briefly, on the Weather Channel. I'll post this now so that people know we are alive. Internet service will be spotty at best for the next several days.

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

(Happy Xmas Kyoko
Happy Xmas Julian)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For the yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas John

Whaaa !!!

Ducks rise to number two in the nation during bye week, but loss of Heisman candidate Dennis Dixon, loss to unranked Arizona Wildcats, will sink them in BCS poll.

Oregonians, I Love You Man!

Yesterday the latest sin tax was voted down 60% to 40%. I'll update this post as election results come in today.

My Tarot

You Are The Moon

You represent the unconscious side of life, what happens in dreams.
You are capable of great genius - but also of great madness.
Emotions tend to be primal for you, both your fears and your fantasies.
Your intuition is always right, listening to it is the difficult part.

Your fortune:

You are about to embark on a very important journey - and a very difficult one.
Some of your deepest dreams will be realized, as well as some of your deepest nightmares.
Follow your creativity and visions; stay away from your weaknesses.
You are taking a voyage to the center of yourself, and you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

Ducks Beat #4 ASU Sun Devil's - Guarantied Rose Bowl Berth, Likely to play for National Title

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Picked to finish in the middle of the Pac-10, Oregon has thrust itself into the heart of national title race.

Dennis Dixon threw four touchdown passes before leaving with an injury, and the fourth-ranked Ducks defeated No. 6 Arizona State 35-23 on Saturday, their second consecutive victory over a Top 10 team.

When it ended, students poured out of the grandstand and mobbed the Ducks at midfield. Last week, the Ducks beat Southern California to set up the West Coast's biggest game of the season - Oregon was in fifth-place in the latest BCS standings while Arizona State was fourth.

On a clear, crisp afternoon in the Willamette Valley, the largest crowd to attend a football game in the state, 53,379, turned out to watch the Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-10) hand the Sun Devils (8-1, 5-1) their first defeat.

Arizona State came into the game as one of five undefeated teams in major college football, with its own hopes for a national title run.

Oregon ended those hopes behind the deft playmaking of Dixon and the running of Jonathan Stewart, who ran for 99 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown.

Meanwhile, the Ducks' oft-maligned defense sacked ASUs' Rudy Carpenter eight times.

Ducks Jump to No. 3 in BCS Standings

Read the Two Posts below One after the Other

Hmm...funny how these anti-gay fuckers protest SO loudly, and then one of their own gets involved in yet another gay sex scandal. A theory I heard from a psychologist is that these guys (like Larry Craig) need to have the veneer of "respectability" in order to mask their own, shall we say, deviant lifestyle. If this is true, then that church is just chock full of queers!

Father wins millions from war funeral picketers

Dylan Slagle / ASSOCIATED PRESS


Soldier's Family Sues Church For Picketing Funeral
Jury: Phelps should pay $2.9 million
Church seeking mistrial in lawsuit over funeral protests



MSNBC News Services
updated 9 minutes ago
BALTIMORE - A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

Snyder's attorney, Craig Trebilcock, had urged jurors to determine an amount "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again."

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."

A number of states have passed laws regarding funeral protests, and Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at federal cemeteries. But the Maryland lawsuit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman.

The church and three of its leaders — the Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, 46 — were found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress.

Award 'exceeds the net worth' of defendants
Even the size of the award for compensating damages alone "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted.

Snyder claimed the protests intruded upon what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory of the event.

The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that soldiers are dying because the nation is too tolerant of homosexuality.

“God promised dire outpourings of very painful wrath, and there’s nothing more painful than killing one of your children and that’s what’s going on in Iraq,” church founder Fred Phelps told msnbc.com in a 2006 interview. “That’s what we’re preaching and the forum of choice to deliver such a message, obviously, is the funeral of the kid that’s been blown to smithereens."

Their attorneys maintained in closing arguments Tuesday that the burial was a public event and that even abhorrent points of view are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.

Earlier, church members staged a demonstration outside the federal courthouse. Fred Phelps held a sign reading "God is your enemy," while Shirley Phelps-Roper stood on an American flag and carried a sign that read "God hates fag enablers." Members of the group sang "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America."

Snyder sobbed when he heard the verdict, while members of the church greeted the news with tightlipped smiles.



The Associated Press and msnbc.com's Josh Belzman contributed to this report.

Wash. legislator resigns amid gay sex scandal

updated 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
OLYMPIA, Wash. - A Republican state legislator who repeatedly voted against gay rights measures resigned his seat Wednesday amid allegations he had sex with a man he met at an erotic video store while in Spokane on a GOP retreat.

In a written statement, Rep. Richard Curtis of La Center said that while he believes he's done a lot of good during his time in the Legislature, "events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people."

"I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused," he wrote. "This has been damaging to my family, and I don't want to subject them to any additional pain that might result from carrying out this matter under the scrutiny that comes with holding public office."

Three days earlier, Curtis had insisted to his local newspaper that he was not gay and that sex was not involved in what he said was an extortion attempt by a man last week.

But in police reports, Curtis said he was being extorted by a man he had sex with in a Spokane hotel room. The other man contends Curtis reneged on a promise to pay $1,000 for sex.

House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, said that as more "troubling" details began to emerge, "it has become clear that he can no longer effectively represent the constituents who elected him."

His resignation was delivered to Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday afternoon. A Republican successor will be chosen by county Republican leaders and will serve until the 2008 election.

Numerous efforts to reach Curtis or his lawyer, John Wolfe, by phone have been unsuccessful.

Curtis: Victim of extortion attempt
Curtis, 48, told police he was the victim of an extortion attempt by Cody Castagna at the posh Davenport Tower hotel on Oct. 26, search warrant documents said. Castagna, 26, of nearby Medical Lake, told police that Curtis had agreed to pay him for sex, then reneged.

Curtis is married and has children, according to his legislative Web site. Elected to the state House of Representatives in 2004, he voted in 2005 and 2006 against a bill that granted civil rights protections to gays and lesbians, and in 2007 voted against a bill that created domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. Both measures eventually passed the Democratic-controlled state Legislature and are now state law.

Curtis was among state GOP lawmakers in Spokane Oct. 24-26 for a retreat to discuss the upcoming legislative session. He went to the Hollywood Erotic Boutique early on Oct. 26 and met Castagna, who accompanied him to the hotel, police documents said.

The two arrived at the hotel around 3:30 a.m. and had sex, after which Curtis fell asleep, according to documents released Tuesday.

Curtis alleged Castagna took his wallet and later offered to return it for $1,000. Curtis said he only had $200 and left an envelope with the money at the hotel desk, the documents said.

Police reports said Castagna allegedly called Curtis and demanded an additional $800 and threatened to expose Curtis. But Curtis had already contacted police, who listened to the call and then met with Castagna.

Ducks beat #12 USC-Serious run for National Title!

DUCKS WIN 24 - 17, AND THE FANS GO WILD !!!!!

Typical Conservative Slant

----- Original Message -----
From:
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 2:06 AM
Subject: Fw: Taxation:


Today's Economic Lesson in Taxation

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

* The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
* The fifth would pay $1.
* The sixth would pay $3.
* The seventh $7.
* The eighth $12.
* The ninth $18.
* The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and se! emed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the! owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal.

So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

* The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothi! ng (100% savings).
* The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (3! 3% savin gs).
* The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
* The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
* The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
* The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's tr! u! e!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore. There are lots of good restaurants in Europe and the Caribbean.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Economics
536 Brooks HallUniversity of Georgia




Chuck Vanderveldt wrote:


The way taxation is represented in the below message is how our system is SUPPOSED to work in an ideal world. The republican party and mega corporations would have us all believe this is how it DOES work. There are a few twists that have been left out by the professor who wrote the metaphor below.

First of all, the first four men (the poorest) may well pay nothing for the meal. You can bet they still had to pay their share for gas in the carpool they rode over in. The richest guy at the table would make a windfall profit off of that since he owns the only oil company in town and is over charging for his goods. They would still pay a portion of the tip. Since they paid "nothing" for the meal, they were only allowed to have a wilted salad, some cold mac & cheese, and a sip of water. Serves them right, lazy-ass poor folk. Hell they only worked a 12 hour shift at minimum wage with 0 benefits to earn their meal.

Secondly, the way the government really divides up tax cuts would have the meal paid for more like this: The first four men (the poorest) would still pay nothing for their meal. However, the price of the gas they buy to get to the restaurant would increase by 50%. Since the restaurant owner is now making less profit, he would cut out the dressing on the wilted salad and switch to cheap, fake cheese on the mac. The richest guys would refuse to pay into the tip fund and the poorest 5 would have to divide up the $20 cost for that. That would mean each of the 5 poorest diners would have to pony up an extra $4 in hidden taxation.

Thirdly, while the 6th, 7th, & 8th men would pay $3, $7, & $12 respectively, the richest two diners would sneak an expensive bottle of Cognac out of the lounge and charge it to the bar tab of those middle class three.(huge federal deficit, trade imbalances, cutting funds for school lunches etc) A back door charge of probably $250 (using the same relative percentages in the example). Of course, the three middle class men wouldn't actually get to drink any of the Cognac. So for the cheeseburger and diet coke that would be served, the middle class three would really be paying $86.33, $90.33, and $95.33.

El numero Quattro, the 9th man would pay $18 and eat a pretty good steak, medium rare. He would get one glass of a medium quality red wine and a small sip of the Cognac. The richest man would be billed $59 but would complain that his fillet mignon was cooked wrong, the creme' brulet was not up to his standards and the bottle of (put your favorite expensive champagne here) was not the right year. Therefore he would refuse to pay the full amount and tell the owner to be happy with the $1.77 he is willing to give him. (97% reduction, that's about how much the IRS figures big corporations avoid paying by using loop holes in the system). Since the restaurant is now losing money (small spelling point here - it is LOSING not LOOSING) the owner would relocate his establishment to the below mentioned Europe or Caribbean (outsourcing overseas). The two richest guys would simply dine over there. The three middle class diners would now eat the mac & cheese formerly served to th! e 4 poorest and the bottom most 5 would hope like hell that the Salvation Army shelter is still open and hasn't been replace by the 2 rich guy's latest strip mall. And that is the reality of our tax system, even for smart-ass college professors with white beards and leather patches on their elbows.

Chuck

by the way, you deserve an award for this one. perfect and beautiful.

ted