Phriday Night Phreeks sponsored by

My last two girlfriends, and likely my next one. e-Harmony says this girl has 41/42 compatibility ratio with me.

Dedicated to the all-time number one Phriday Night Phreek -- Jessica

[Headphones] :: Jessica: Pleasure Club Mix [Download] [Lo-Fi Stream] by JfZ

 

So ... why?  Well, I go through the TAG board periodically (or when asked) and delete entries.  Mainly, I delete your entries because it reloads the page periodically or when you add a new tag.  When it gets too large, it takes up bandwidth loading constantly.  My general rule was this: if you put an annoying little smilie emoticon on the TAG, that entry was the first to go when I cleaned house.


The second rule: if the entry was older.  But, the second rule bummed me out because I hate to throw away memories.  So, some entries were deemed to be classics and had to be preserved (like Hygelic reading my blog in the bathroom on his cell phone).

Then, the first and second rules unfortunately clashed when it came to old school phreeks who might put an ascii emoticon at the end of their sentence, like Skennedy (et al).  These people were violating my first unstated rule through no fault of their own, and, because the programmers of the TAG board must have thought to themselves, "how handy-fucking-dandy would it be if we just translated every ascii emoticon to a different happy little yellow face?"  So, they dropped another few hits of Exstacy, patted each other on the back and went back to coding the TAG board.

So, whether it is a good thing or a bad thing -- I've decided to archive the TAG board here for all to see -- and still be able to delete older entries (and keep the TAG.html small) with a clear conscience.

Read 2006 Archive: [Jun][May][Apr][Mar][Feb][Jan]

Read 2005 Archive: [Dec][Nov][Oct][Sep][Aug][Jul][Jun][May][Apr][Mar][Feb][Jan]

Read 2004 Archive: [Dec][Nov][Oct][Sep][Aug][Jul][Prior to July 2004]


ArmlessJohn »
jude » eh...comments function is still wonky.
yuka » thanks. yours too. love the colors.
Sinja » I've known more than a couple chicks named Harley.... so far they've all been pretty trashy. Just sayin'.
Cari » Good morning again!!!! Love the cartoon to my right... It speaks volumes...
J f Z » History is being written by dozens of authors right now about this Bush administration ... enough to create an encyclopedia of misdeeds.
wailfulrhyme » have you thought about picking up the new robert fisk book? oi!
wailfulrhyme »
The Doctor » Harley is definitely a Male name. Does sound like a motorcycle. Problem is my last name is Davidson...(no not really)Thanks
J f Z » Cari: You should have bought a friggin' goldfish instead.
Cari » freakin doggie shrinks... god... am i outta my mind?
spacenoodle » I made chocolate cake! Would you like some??
Cari » heya.... Just popping in for a visit!
ziggyzaggy » BIG thanks to you for the help on my layout!
The Doctor » hey john
carlotta1924 » stopping by to say hi
plh » poof poof pooferoonie *quick blogby to let you know im still alive and go in next wednesday to get the ofending tooth removed - untill then its bed for me! ciao ~ peace
Debauched » I want to know what your love tastes like.
Candy » check you out Mr. Featured Profile!!
chrysalis » Thanks ... and the feeling is mutual! Great place you've got here
NormitBreaux » Just wanted to stop in and say thanks for the help..I like your blog !
Cari » peekada boo...
G » Thanks for stopping by. And I'm glad you liked the pictures.
Ana » Interesting, indeed.
clara »
Authenticia » Ah ha you have been linked!
Cari » Alas... my favorite place to go for a good storm...
blueskelton » J- Keep up the good work bro, Sorry I havent been around in awhile
Xaos » hey hot stuff
Deirdre » Hows things?
spacenoodle » ello ello ello just cheking up on ya.
Cari » cake cake cake!
Authenticia » Just dropping off a *smile* 'n' *hug 4 U!
Cari » I'm practicing up for halloween!
Cari » BOO
jude » *nuzzle*
wailfulrhyme » *lick*
The Doctor » sure .. ty for the return
Cari » Pinup girl? I likes the sound of that!
leilani » thanks for stopin by... man wish i knew how to do all this stuff on here, lol
Authenticia » Allo,Allo thnx 4 the comment!*Smile*
Cari » Hehehe... flying birdies weren't meant for you
The Doctor » Well, the logic is sound ...
alsjohn »
loz » hah, like you need to follow me here, plh . that's okay though... I followed you this time! heehee. (oh hi, J f Z, hehe). x
plh » i followed Loz - blame her ROFL *walks away murbling...
loz » er, I'd murble back but I'm just not sure how appropriate that would be. do tell!
Name buttface » the pic on the top is ew and cool at the same time love you all
spacenoodle » *hug*
TheSarge » I didn't say this a while ago, but thank you for the advice.
Cari » Checkin in over here with you *grins*
Angelena » Your comment on my Purge entry made me laugh like hell for about five minutes. Thanks for that.
jude » *sneeze*
lackluster » hey.. tagging back =)
p » yours is cooler. and we have the same color scheme! hehe. maybe i'll try to make my fontsize bigger.. somehow. haha
xaos » i murble in your general direction. with love, though.
Cari » KABAM!
chrysalis » Thanks, John -- I needed a good laugh right about now! That was hilarious!!!
ArmlessJohn » ho ho! good vdos!
ArmlessJohn » ho ho! good vdos!
Douzy » Happy you enjoyed the 'What is Peace' movie on my blog. Thanks for your comment. Keep up the splendid job here!
ArmlessJohn » wow! you have a cool blog here! adding to favorites...
Cari » Heheh... I got one letter for ya JFZ... "E" is the current size...
spacenoodle » *BIG KISS*
spacenoodle » ineresting, thanks!
J f Z » Wow, Cari ... where did you get it? Just kidding! Congratulations!
Cari » Hey! We have a baby!!!


jude » *tickle*
Marti » Hello, just popping in to say hi!
mitzibel » Hey! Thanks for your comment on my blog--I've replied there, if you care to read it
Cari » Popping back in for another visit since I couldn't sleep!
Gloria » Yo, J.
Douzy » Hi J! Just wanna say 'thanks' for always finding the time (outta da storms) to visit my blog and drop comments. Highly appreciated. You are amazing!
Marti » I'm not afraid to comment. LOL
jude » No, John...I loved the Family Farm image!!! The "Oy" was directed at Bush. Never, ever at you or your work. Sometimes he leaves me speechless... ya' know?
Marti » Hello, just blogging through.
Authenticia » Hi there!
Sinja » Hey, I love the new header!
J f Z » Cari ... of course you're important! Why would you say such a thing about yourself? Oh. Right. Ok.
J f Z » I think people are scared to comment, sometimes. Thanks for the comment about the header image. It has to do with how BD serves up the page. The original one was like 100 Kb
Cari » I'm no one important... but figured I'd pop in for another visit...
Jude » BTW, altho' I miss your old banner (it had 'tude, dude), this one is nice. Clean 'n fast-loading. Just thought I'd mention that.
Jude » I don't get it. Why don't people comment on your entries, John? Do we have to poke them with a sharp stick?
J f Z » *nicole: Hi ... *plh: No. Nasrallah's hand. *Cari: Yup! *Jessica: E-smoochies to mah FWB! *Spoodle: NP. You stay positive for a while now, okay?
nicole » hi sexy...........
plh » is that the Popes hand --->
Cari » Bopping over here... I'm fresh meat eh? Hehe
Jessica Sanibel » I like your blog. It's concise, well thought out, sarcastically biting and very well written. I miss u. FWB
spacenoodle » thanks for the kick up the backside!! much apreciated
JfZ thinks aloud » <-- I always had thang for Lori Singer when she was Sydney Bloom in VR5. Hope that helps.
mamiy » is anyone here know the website of any singer
J f Z » Playing on the digital planet for twenty years leaves web-litter.
Douzy » Hi! How can I get my name littered on the internet?
J f Z » or not.
iEn » Allahuakbar
Deirdre » Better than ever! Thanks for asking. How might you be?
J f Z » *Lyly - Thanks for the link! *Noode - Keep your chin up! *Doc - Thanks for the music genre definition! LOL
JfZ thinks aloud » <-- PR firm left announcement of a NEW film contest sponsored by Hersheys. Winner gets $10,000.
Lyly » <---Click for quintessential emo
spacenoodle » hi. The job thing is still being anoying...i've applyed for 3 jobs and haven't heard anything at all. I've singned up at the jobcenter thing so as far as ai can tell the only way is up.
puffaloonie » haha talking bout emo - you should listen to the song I should be emo by hollywood undead??
Dr. God » Okay, I'm done ranting now. =) Sleep well, John.
Dr. God » Yeah, emo is more along the lines of whiny, made-for-radio wannabe rock with angst ridden lyrics written by teenagers that chop their hair in rampant shaggy ways becasue they think it's "different."
Spacenoodle » check my blog for goal update!
plh » Happy 4th to ya!!!
Stella » Very engaging, John-- diggin' your blog...
J f Z » D: It is hot in FL right now. Hurricane season. I'm good, but Meh, too.
J f Z » Spacenoodle: "Those who can't do, teach" -- just kidding. I always loved that quote, though.


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[Headphones] :: Bush and Brando Debate - JfZ

After being reminded of the terrible devastation wrought by hurricane Katrina this past week, seeing the National Hurricane Center predicting this path for Ernesto made my stomach a little queasy.  A year ago, hurricane Katrina skimmed past south Florida and killed about a dozen people on its way to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Because the path of any hurricane is difficult to determine accurately, those growing circles on the map above represent the possible path as time goes on.  The weather experts have names for this, such as a 3-day cone or a 5-day cone.  Either way, if you happen to live in the cone representing the possible path of a hurricane, it's just the Awww Crap cone.

First, some good news.

Blogdrive has survived its own digital storm and is back online.  The Blogdrive team will likely post some details of the nature of the problem they had to overcome in their news update blog, and also in other areas around Blogdrive to let people know the status of things, perhaps.  I am sure of one thing -- these people worked 24/7 over the last few days to find ways to restore service to all of us -- despite the fact that part of the problem was beyond their control.

Since first capturing the Awww Crap cone map of Ernesto, the storm system seems to have weakened.  That's good news for me, here in Florida.  If Ernesto can refrain from destroying my house this week, I'll be happy to get some rain for my pineapple plantings.  Also, there is still a good chance that the STS-115 Space Shuttle mission will still launch now.

Now back to Katrina.

There is a general feeling that the Bush administration failed to respond to the disaster adequately or in a timely manner.  Some blame the newly formed Department of Homeland Security, some blame FEMA's leader at the time, some blame the state and city government, and some blame racism for the catastrosphe of hurricane Katrina.  Republicans and Democrats each have their own favorite scapegoats.

The people that often wish to pin the majority of the blame on the Bush/Cheney administration say things like, "Bush is incompetent."  They miss the point entirely, and until they figure out there is a deeper cause to the Bush administration's actions -- beyond some incompetence -- they'll never understand, let alone solve some of the basic problems the country faced during the aftermath of Katrina or in any other important and vital social issue in the country.

It's Bush/Cheney ideology, stupid.

The Bush/Cheney administration likes to use the word ideology with regard to their Global War on Terror.  After seeing a C-SPAN BookTV presentation by Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff on his new book "Whose Freedom?" -- I was intrigued enough to go look for a few articles he has written.

In June, Lakoff wrote "George Bush is not incompetent" for the Huffington Post. The basic linguistic and political breakdown of the core differences between the conservative and progressive mindsets explored more deeply in his book are echoed in the article and should be instructive to understand why the Bush/Cheney administration acted as it did a year ago in response to Katrina.

Conservative philosophy has three fundamental tenets: individual initiative, that is, government's positive role in people's lives outside of the military and police should be minimized; the President is the moral authority; and free markets are enough to foster freedom and opportunity. The conservative vision for government is to shrink it - to "starve the beast" in Conservative Grover Norquist's words. The conservative tagline for this rationale is that "you can spend your money better than the government can." Social programs are considered unnecessary or "discretionary" since the primary role of government is to defend the country's border and police its interior. Stewardship of the commons, such as allocation of healthcare or energy policy, is left to people's own initiative within the free market. Where profits cannot be made -- conservation, healthcare for the poor -- charity is meant to replace justice and the government should not be involved. Given this philosophy, then, is it any wonder that the government wasn't there for the residents of Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? Conservative philosophy places emphasis on the individual acting alone, independent of anything the government could provide. Some conservative Sunday morning talk show guests suggested that those who chose to live in New Orleans accepted the risk of a devastating hurricane, the implication being that they thus forfeited any entitlement to government assistance. If the people of New Orleans suffered, it was because of their own actions, their own choices and their own lack of preparedness. Bush couldn't have failed if he bore no responsibility. The response to Hurricane Katrina -- rather, the lack of response -- was what one should expect from a philosophy that espouses that the government can have no positive role in its citizen's lives. This response was not about Bush's incompetence, it was a conservative, shrink-government response to a natural disaster.

Lakoff's article bullet-points many areas of Bush/Cheney non-incompetence, from Iraq to Katrina.  Give it a read.

Why this basic concept is important to understand.

By portraying Bush as the bumbling idiot, the real problem is overlooked with the way our government has been evolving over the last decade -- Bush is just the icing on the cake.  The 2006 elections are coming up soon.  If you need a reason to vote some of these Congress-critters out of office, listen to Lakoff's summary:

Incompetence obscures the real issue. Conservatism itself is the villain that is harming our people, destroying our environment, and weakening our nation. Conservatives are undermining American values through legislation almost every day. This message applies to every conservative bill proposed to Congress. The issue that arises every day is which philosophy of governing should shape our country. It is the issue of our times. Unless conservative philosophy itself is discredited, Conservatives will continue their domination of public discourse, and with it, will continue their domination of politics.

Had enough Bush/Cheney compassionate conservatism yet?

[Headphones] :: Spread Radio Live - Dave Navarro's House

If you register to vote, you can be my super hero.

 

Once again this week, Stuart Carlson boils down another national political issue into a concise editorial cartoon.  With the troubling Hurricane Katrina anniversary, the celebratory Rovian spinmeisters are staging events all this week to repair the damage to the Bush administration's image.  Some political observers note that the dismal Bushworld response to hurricane Katrina was a major cause of the freefall of Bush's job approval ratings in public opinion polls.

Knowing this, an advance team of GOP public relations experts has hand-picked the venues and even the people in attendance at those presidential appearances in which the president will read from artfully-crafted speeches and seem folksie, grateful, and optimistic.  These are the videobytes that will be played over and over on local TV news, manufacturing consent, until the next grim anniversary arrives on September 11th.

There has been some progess in the Gulf states hit by Katrina in the last year, but there is still much to be desired by hundreds of thousands of affected residents.  Don't expect Dubya to get too specific about the shortfalls — reporting fair and balanced news isn't part of his job description.  Instead, expect the president to speak of a few individuals that support his administration doing everything right in the face of adversity.  Perhaps historians will comment how truth evades this administration someday in the future.

Now, personally, having dealt with three hurricanes in 2004, I blogged about hurricane Katrina quite a bit in 2005.  I've re-read those entries.  While I explored the blame game, you may be surprised to know that I didn't completely bash Bush the entire time.  I even gave him credit for doing some things correctly.  Read those past hurricane Katrina entries for yourself.

I do have a few more political observations to make concerning this, but I think I shall save them for later this week, after my immediate concerns about Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ernesto has passed.  In the meantime, check out one of the latest flash videos about Katrina from Ava Lowery, the 15-year-old peace activist.

[Headphones] :: Hurricane Jeanne is Gone! [Download] by JfZ

 

 

Phriday Night Phreeks sponsored by

How our Blogdrive friend, Sinja, gets battle ready A typical letter found in the inbox of G-funk, I mean G-Stef

Dedicated to the all-time number one Phriday Night Phreek -- Jessica

[Headphones] :: Jessica: Pleasure Club Mix [Download] [Lo-Fi Stream] by JfZ