If you are looking for some really funny commentary from a deranged squirrel, go to this site. These short, animated movies discuss ordering coffee at "starshmucks," the problem with tech support outsourcing, and the "fatkins" diet. Hysterical!!!

For Hysterical Commentary from a Crazy Squirrel

Ok for work, and funny as heck.

A classic! I think the first mistake was straddling the cat.

Movies should use his scream instead of the Starwars scream.

That was so funny I almost fell off my seat!!

Pinky the cat

] "Until recently, I wasn't able to see any light at the
] end of the tunnel," he said Monday from his hospital bed.
]
] Deuel, who has battled weight problems all his life and
] blames his condition in part on genetics

Really? Genetics huh? Because I blame you.

[ I think you are overstating this a bit. I certainly agree that genetic pre-dispositions do not create a catch-all exoneration for anti-social or self destructive behavior.

But discounting them completely is not acceptible either. It's slightly crass, i think, to assume categorically that emotional or mental diseases are somehow less significant than physical ones.

Certainly, tossing up your hands and saying "Well, I have XYZ condition, so there's nothing I can do about it." is bullshit. The response ought to be "Fuck, I have XYZ condition... what do I have to do to adjust for it." Perhaps that's all you were saying, but it seemed to me like your attitude may have been more broadly targeted.

It's very easy to judge, of course, but not so easy to offer real help.

On a different note, fuck CNN, because the headline of this story is completely off base. They mention once in the article that the man blames genetics "in part" and then lead with a head line which insinuates something else entirely. Pick one dammit, and write the story to back it up. Based on the article content and focus, the headline should've been "Half-ton Man Finally Seeks Treatment" or something. But that wouldn't rile people up so much would it? -k]

Special K: You're way more tolerant than I could ever be. Many aspects of our culture are based on the blame game, everyone blames everyone else for their problems and its never their fault. Sure, I'm a little overweight too (maybe 10 lbs or so) but I blame myself because I'm too lazy to get to the gym. I agree with Acidus--lay off the pizzas.

Half-ton man: It was genetics

Here's a great way to get the message out:

Anti-War Billboard Unveiled Over Times Square

After a legal battle ends in compromise, an anti-war billboard was finally unveiled in Times Square Monday.

Next to a 105-foot dove painted with the stars and stripes, the ad on the Conde Nast building says: “Democracy Is Best Taught By Example, Not War.” The anti-war group had originally wanted to use the image of a bomb, but it was forced to change to a dove after the billboard owner clear channel refused to put up the ad.

New Yorkers seemed to be happy about the change.

“I didn’t think the bomb was appropriate; the dove is fine,” one city resident said. “Everyone has a right to say what they say. They paid for it, so they have a right. It’s not obscene or anything like that, so you have a right to say it.”

“I think a dove stands for peace, and that’s what the U.S. is about, and it’s a great anthem to use,” another passer-by said.

The billboard will stay in place through the Republican Convention, until October. A separate ticker displaying the cost of the war in Iraq will hang on the W Hotel until December.

Anti-War Billboard Unveiled Over Times Square

Newsflash: New York is one of the most expensive states in the nation to live in. Our defecit is huge, the taxes are high, and schools are under-funded. There's no money for a wage hike. Pataki, for once, did the right thing.

Gov KOs $7.15 minimum

Veto called 'punch in gut' to working poor

BY HEIDI EVANS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Gov. Pataki dealt a stunning blow to New York's working poor yesterday, vetoing a bill that would have raised the state's minimum wage to $7.15 an hour by 2007.
After a six-year struggle by advocates, the pay hike finally seemed at hand when the Legislature overwhelmingly passed the $2 increase July 21. The governor had until next Tuesday to sign or veto the measure.

In a two-page veto message sent to reporters late yesterday afternoon, Pataki reiterated that he wanted Congress to increase the national minimum wage, which has been stuck at $5.15 since 1997.

New York Vetos Minimum Wage Raise

Oh look, now we can all have a credit card with Usher's face on it. How lucky.

From the New York Daily News:
Ushering in a new debit card

By PHYLLIS FURMAN

Get ready to swipe Usher. Looking to capitalize on his mega-stardom, the chart-topping pop sensation is launching the first-ever celebrity debit card.
"Usher's got his own debit card, that's great stuff," the superstar told the Daily News yesterday.

Fans can buy the Usher Raymond 4th Debit MasterCard, backed by financial services group Bankfirst, by logging on to ushermc.com.

The Usher plastic - emblazoned with a dead-serious looking Usher wearing a bling bling diamond in one ear and a single word "success" - can be had for $9.95, plus $10 activation fee. It also will be sold at concert venues across the country on the singer's upcoming concert tour, which kicks off on Aug. 5.

Swipe Usher's Face

Here's something really stupid from CNN:

Subway rider arrested for eating candy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A government scientist finishing a candy bar on her way into a subway station where eating is prohibited was arrested, handcuffed and detained for three hours by transit police.

Stephanie Willett said she was eating a PayDay bar on an escalator descending into a station July 16 when an officer warned her to finish it before entering the station. Both Willett and police agree that she nodded and put the last bit into her mouth before throwing the wrapper into a trash can.

Willett, a 45-year-old Environmental Protection Agency scientist, told radio station WTOP that the officer then followed her into the station, one of several in downtown Washington.

Subway rider arrested for eating candy

As someone who commutes to and from New York City every day, I would be willing to bet you any amount of money that my bus will be searched (as they are already being stopped) before it goes into the Lincoln Tunnel at least once during the convention. Why should protestors' bags be exempt from the rigorous security we'll all be subject to that week?

From NY1:

Judge Gives Police More Leeway To Search Protestors
JULY 28TH, 2004

A federal judge reversed himself Wednesday and ruled police can search protestors’ bags at the Republican National Convention if there is probable cause to believe they pose a threat.

Last week, the judge, Robert Sweet, had ruled officers couldn’t conduct blanket searches without a specific threat.

The NYPD says it needs discretion to conduct such searches since there is credible information that Al Qaeda is planning an attack sometime before the election.

The rulings stem from a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union in connection with clashes at an anti-war protest last year. Last week’s ruling also limited the use of metal pens to control demonstrators.

City attorneys, the NYPD and the NYCLU have not yet commented on the latest decision.

Meanwhile, the NYPD is reportedly planning to hire doctors to be deployed outside Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention.

The Daily News reports this unprecedented move is prompted by fear that overzealous protesters might overwhelm city emergency rooms.

The doctors will assist Fire Department medics in performing evaluations as to whether prisoners really need medical attention or are faking it.

The corps will consist of 30 full-time police surgeons and more than 100 doctors.

Searching bags at RNC: Why is this such an issue?

For your reading pleasure, "pretty girl" Ann Coulter's article on the DNC that USA Today passed up. Proceed only if you have a strong stomach.

As usual, Coulter presents the worst of conservatism, wasting time calling democratic women ugly*, hybrid cars "dinky", and the speakers "nuts." Why make real criticism when you can name-call!?

I totally agree with USA Today's decision in not printing this unprofessional, petty, vapid piece of pseudo-journalism.

-Tina

*For the record, I know plenty of cute democrats. Anyone seen Maggie Schutz or Chris Heinz?

[ At various times in my life, i've been considered among my peer group as the undisputed king of fury, the one guy who could always be counted on to erupt in rage, sometimes at the merest of proddings. These days, i feel like i'm a great deal more centered, less prone to anger and generally more accepting of the world at large. Yet, if there's one creature on this earth who can bring back the old me - the racing pulse and steaming forehead, the expletives and anger and, i can't deny it, a little dose of what may be pure, unfiltered hate - it's Ann Coulter. My dad has always advised me to "Suffer fools gladly." It's good advice, and i do my best to comply with it, but what about evil? Ann ejects the kind of rubbish that only serves to evoke more of the same with the opposite slant, bases her words on some brand of perverted faith which apparently construes "fact" as an intolerable concession to the heathens she opposes.

She has as much right as the next person to open her mouth and spew forth whatever hateful bile comes naturally to her warped mind, but I long for the day when everyone on the planet stops paying attention to her, so she can retire to some happy bastion of ultra-conservative values where she can cook, clean and raise children, follow her husbands orders, revel in the surveillance and jackbooted Order... let her bask in the warm glow of American thermonuclear supremacy, and wrap herself in false Christianity and our sullied flag whenever it gets a little chilly. -k]

[edit: I think i've said all i can about Ms. Coulter. From now on i think i'll try to take my own advice and ignore her very existence. -k]

I agree. This one's sickening -Special K

Ann Coulter's USA Today Column

Here are some interesting statistics from Armytimes.com:
Statistics for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom at 1000 casualties:

(where numbers do not add to 1000 – information is undetermined/pending)

Killed in Action: 540
Died later of Combat Wounds: 129
Died while Missing in Action: 8
Died while Captured: 3

Deaths by Accident: 205
Illness: 33
Self-inflicted: 34
Total Enlisted: 873
Total Warrant Officer: 34
Total Officer: 93

Active Duty: 812
Total Reserve: 188

White: 699 (71.4%)
Black: 120 (12.3%)
Hispanic: 114 (11.6%)
Other: 46 (4.7%)

Male: 977 (97.7%)
Female: 23 (2.3%)

Active Duty Home Stations (top 10):
Camp Pendleton, CA: 105
Fort Hood, TX: 86
Fort Campbell, KY: 77
Fort Bragg, NC: 58
Fort Carson, CO: 44
Fort Stewart, GA: 42
Camp Lejeune, NC: 40
Fort Riley, KS: 38
Twentynine Palms, CA: 34
Fort Lewis, WA: 25

Almost half of the first 1,000 to die have been either E-3s or E-4s. Almost half of the 1,000 were younger than 24.
Nearly three-fourths of the deaths have been Army.
Two-thirds of the deaths have been caused by enemy action or devices.
Reserves/Guardsman makes up 18 percent of the deaths.
More than 70 percent of those who have died were white. Despite fears that an all-volunteer force would end up putting minorities at greater risk than whites, the military death toll is distributed proportionately among America’s racial and ethnic groups.

Statistics for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom