Nessie the Loch Ness Monster is Dead

Sonar was used to prove, once and for all, that Nessie doesn't exist.

Political Opinion...hey, I'm allowed! LOL

I'm neither conservative or liberal. I find the battle between the two amusing. The terms themselves are often misused to apply some stereotypes. Heck, the terms freely are applied backwards when it comes to fiscal policies. Republicans in government want a free market system where money flows freely and let the markets correct themselves (liberal) and Democratics try to regulate the follow of money for perceived stability (conservative). Not to mention the fact that the most hardcore liberals and conversatives are the biggest hypocrates. The "don't tell me what to do, but here's what you should do" nonsense comes from both ends of US politics. How 'bout no one tell me what to do, and I won't tell you what to do! :)

I believe my rights are protected by protecting the rights of others. The more rights we all share, the more free we are as a people. If you have opinions (whether from the bible dogma or liberal social dogma) about human behavior, then live it, but stop trying to force other people to live it with you.

Commuter Theme today:

Get In Front of Matt and Drive Slow Day.

Some days have themes during the commute to work and from work. Today's theme is cars getting in front of me to drive slow. It seems like there was some organized effort. A lane would open up completely, so I'd change lanes only to have someone else get into the lane right in front of me and drive slower than the crowded lane. Once, twice, three, and then four times this morning. The traffic wasn't even heavy. I only got held behind one red light because of this, so it isn't as bad as it has been on other days.

I like it when the commuter theme is more along the lines of Get Out of Matt's Way Day, obviously. :)

Sailboat racing

The first race sailboat of the season this past Friday afternoon, aboard the Spitfire in Oakland, was a lot of fun. We did well, coming in second in our class. The race lasted a little over an hour. I had just gotten over a cold, and was a little wore out, but managed to do well in my position on the boat. We saw a lot of good work on the part of all the sailboats, and one crash between two boats near the mark. It was all fairly exciting.

Trouble with California

First, this whole recall business is making California look stupid. It is proving that our system is for sale to the highest bidder. Anyone with a lot of money can come in an pretend to be a politician for a year. It's starting to get pathetic. Isis is like the third guy to come in out of the blue and try to pull something in the pass few years. Note to the very rich newbies: Either be a real political or just Fuck Off! I'm against a recall until after the budget has been hashed out for this year. Then if you aren't happy, let's get rid of Gray. Problem is, anyone who becomes governor now is going to be faced with the same issues and is politically doomed.

Second, term limits in the state legislature is leaving our leadership in shambles. Any experienced members are lame ducks, and the rest are rookies. There's no accountability because no one is around long enough to care! Originally, term limits was supposed to help minorities and women get into government, but now it is having the opposite effect. We need to get rid of term limits.

Third, is the ridiculous requirement for a 2/3rds supermajority vote on the budget each year. This is a democracy, where the majority rules, but the rights of the minority are protected. How is a supermajority vote requirement for something as mundane as the yearly budget supposed to do either? It is unheard of to use supermajorities except in cases of political crisis (impeachment) or changing winds (changes to the constitution). To use them for anything else is damn near anti-democratic! We need to get rid of the supermajority vote requirement for the state budget. Even this "55%" replacement requirement being floated around is not acceptable. It is still a supermajority requirement.

If you have any rants to add to this, please leave a comment. Gray (or it is Grey) Davis, you are welcome to leave a comment about your recall if you like too. LOL

Anthrax Detection at your local Post Office may come soon

Check this out! Of course, the reason I care is cuz the company I work has technology at the heart of the detection system. :)

There's a lot of stars out there

A lot!!

U.S. fights Fake Wars from Time to Time.

The U.S. wages two kinds of wars; Real wars and fake wars. How can you tell the difference? Here's how: If the name of the war begins with "War on...", it's fake. As in, War on Poverty (late 1960's), War on Drugs (1980's, 1990's), and War on Terrorism (turn of the 21st Century). Real wars have names like Civil War, World War II, Persian Gulf War, and Cold War. So, if you are ever in doubt about whether or not the U.S. is really fighting some declared war, just judge it by its name.

Bodega Bay again

I drove up to Bodega Bay again for a weekend get away with a friend. I had planned on snorkeling, but the weather was a bit unpredictable on Sat, so we ended up at the pool instead. It was a nice relaxing weekend. On the drive back, we stopped up at Stintson Beach. I'm going to check the rates there for a future weekend getaway that isn't quite so far, even though it can get pretty crowded.

Weapons of Mass Destruction Found?

Enter the keywords "weapons of mass destruction" in Google or Yahoo and come across this site: WMD

Bodega Bay Trip

 

July 11, 2003 to July 13, 2003

With Alice Leung, visited The Inn at the Tides and Bodega Bay, California for a nice and relaxing getaway. Original post/backup link.

Describe the Universe in 6 words

The Universe is "Beige, Flat and really really big." Nuf said. lol

Weekend LONG!

This was a good and long weekend. I took Thursday off to make it even longer. I had lunch with Miriam on Thursday, and then in the evening I headed over to my parents cuz I was taking my day to an A's game on Friday (it's like a two hour drive, so I didn't want to drive there, and then to Oakland all in one day). We tailgated at the ballpark. I'm glad we got there early cuz the ballpark handed out some really nice caps to the first 10,000 people. See my previous blog entry for more about this day.

Anyways, got back home on Saturday, and hung out with Miriam again. I brought for Monsters Ball and Seven Year Itch DVD's to watch. Since Monsters Ball is depressing, I brought the silly 50's comedy to lighten the mode afterwards into the night. Then on Sunday, I hung out with a friend most of the day.

In between of all of this activity, I managed to watch 14 other DVD's of mine, including all 8 Star Trek movies. (Contrary to Paramont's claims, there are not 10 Star Trek movies. "Star Trek 5" and "Star Trek: Generations" do not exist. LOL) I'm still pretty far behind on watching new DVD's of mine.

"Skinny Dipping Pics" and A's baseball game

It seems that my brief story about skinny dipping has stumbled my Blog into the sorted world of voyuerism on search engines. All of a sudden, I'm getting a bunch of hits from searches for the words "skinny dipping pic" or "girls skinny dipping" etc. Kinda funny, but weird too. It tempts me to actually put skinny dipping pics on my blog. LOL Yeah, I'm not doing that, but hey, it's a nice thought.

My dad and I went to the A's game today. The sun was out in full force, and everyone seemed to dress accordingly.  Great day for baseball. It was pretty much a pitchers' duel, with only one Angles score somewhere in the middle of the game. So many players on both teams were thrown out a first! It was fairly exciting cuz of all the close calls and in-field hustles.

So, before we took-off for the game, my dad dons this weird natural colored cap with a stitching of a palm on it. I'm gave him some shit for it, cuz it was a weird hat to wear to a ballgame. So while tailgating before the game, he goes to the port-a-potty and some girl there gives him shit too, telling him "The potties are for fans only!" LOL He's a Giants fan, so it was particularly funny. So when we get back to the car and tells me this little story, I give him some money and tell him to head for the team store and come back with an A's cap. He does, and all was well. :) Too bad the A's lost though.

Long weekend ahead!

I'm going to an A's game on the 4th with my dad. Should be fun!