Thursday, August 31, 2006

Great article regarding The UN and Child Rights

My good friend Daydreamer of Oz has written a killer piece about the rights of children on a global basis, and the failings of the UN to enforce their own laws. I ask that all of my readers go read this article, because I feel that knowledge is the key to change, and this is a wonderfully enlightening piece. Great job Daydreamer!

Read article here

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Making Number 2

A month ago, The BigNewsDay blog made a poll about the biggest Blabberbitch. DDT (Dumb Dickheaded Twat) won. Well The Wussiest Blabberbitch Number 2 is in the making. It was BigNewsDay's idea. So far the canidates are RoachJoe, Up the Shizer, bill, and spooky1. Go to the message area to suggest some other blabberbitches that didnt make the last poll and we will see who will make the poll.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Brian Williams on the Katrina Aftermath

I don't know if anyone had the chance to watch Brian Williams' Katrina special on NBC last night, but it was very well made and quite troubling to watch. If you missed it, the 27 minute verson of 'Katrina - the first five days' is available to view on MSNBC's web site.

There is also a quite entertaing article written after he arrived back at his hotel room last night after filming the live parts of last night's special. Apperantly, he he was booked to stay at the same hotel as Bush, and his story illustrates the ordeal of getting back to the hotel room. A very good read.

THE BIG EASY: WHERE NOTHING IS EASY

Never Gonna Happen

Because even though he is crazy, he would still humiliate poor old George W. Wouldn't it be great if we had an intelligent, articulate President who could debate in global setting without getting their ass handed to them.

Link

Katrina - One Year Later

I was going to use this post to makea long political rant, but I've changed my mind. What I would like to do instead is to let you watch the videos below and let me know your feelings one year after one of the worst natural disasters destroyed New Orleans.

Before you watch the videos, take the time to imagine this being your neighborhood, your house, your car, your life. I know most of us will say that we would have left if we thought a hurricane was coming, but after how many false alarms do you stop heeding these warnings? What if you couldn't afford to leave? What if you were starving on the street and the only way you could eat was to raid the closest grocery store? I'm not going to defend any of the people we saw stealing Nikes, TVs, guns, etc..., but I would have just as quickly stole food and water for my family.

What would you have done?



Katrina - The Truth


George Bush with his head up his ass (as usual)




Screw FEMA

Friday, August 25, 2006

mAnn Cunter...PWNED!

It sure is a lot of fun to watch the Ann-orexic lunatic get her Adam's Apple handed to her in a taste of her own medicine.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Allright Brothers Please welcome jamminjj

This is good Bud of mine please welcome him. He is new to this blog thing too.And a great
Guitar Player as well. So cheers to ya JJ welcome. \m/..\m/

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Knocking the dust off of BigSportsDay

I will try again to get this blog back up and running. If anyone would like to contribute to this blog, please let me know.

BigSportsDay

Monday, August 21, 2006

Today's Funnies

Conservative court to hear NSA appeal

CINCINNATI - The Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program, rejected by a federal judge, is heading toward an appellate court loaded with the president's own appointees.

However, veterans of cases before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals caution that the court's mixed record in a broad range of rulings makes it difficult to predict how it will view the surveillance the administration says is crucial to stopping terrorists.


"It is not a foregone conclusion that a conservative-dominated court is going to say, 'President Bush did this and we're going to uphold what he wants,'" said Robert A. Sedler, a law professor at Wayne State University. "There are many issues in this case. Conservative judges often have a very strongly libertarian streak."

Read the rest...

OK. When do we get concerned about how this administration is stomping all over our civil rights? This is what happens when you have a leader that is so immature, that he can not admit when he is wrong, and when he is proven to be wrong, he stomps his feet and throws a fucking hissy fit.

The government unsuccessfully argued before Taylor, an appointee of President Carter, that the NSA program is well within the president's authority but proving that would require revealing state secrets.

Well, isn't that special? The NSA has a special 'Secret Court' set up to nothing but review these types of warrents. The NSA can even start the survelance before the court finalizes the warrent, yet our President still refuses to get these warrents. What an A**hole!

What a bunch of loony m***er f**ckers

Sunday school teacher dumped for being female

Monday, August 21, 2006; Posted: 10:43 a.m. EDT (14:43 GMT)

WATERTOWN, New York (AP) -- The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

Read the rest of the article...

Have I stated lately how much I dispise religious nutjobs? This sounds like something that the Talliban would do. Oh, wait a minute, this is something that the Talliban did.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

More Dime Videos


Interview With Pat Lachman at Campo Verde in Arlington




Tearin' up the lawn - funny shit from the Dimevision DVD

Know Your History

Watch the amazing Stray Cats give us a three minute history lesson on the birth of rock n roll guitar riffing. All Rock n Roll guitarists stand on the shoulders of the giants, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran.

Another Guitar Wielding Pussy

Looks like Ted The Ped has a new hunting partner.

This piece of shit should be beaten with his own severed limbs and strangled with his own entrails.

Watch this faux-macho phoney preach at you

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Getcha Pull on This - Happy 40th Dime







Dime Solos


Mouth for War


The Art of Shredding



Cowboys from Hell


Damageplan - Breathing New Life



Rebel Meets Rebel - Nothing to Lose

Celebrating Dimebags Life - Part Two

Dime at age 16


Dimebag guitar solo - Damageplan era

Tomorrow would have been Dime's 40th birthday. More tributes to follow. Feel free to add your own tributes.







Pantera with Kerry King (1989)



Pantera-Becoming (live)



Pantera-Rock The World (live 1988)



Pantera-Yesterday Don't Mean Shit (Live in 2000)

Friday, August 18, 2006

Thank you for the invite BND

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. We will be Brothers in arms.

Stupid Trivia - The Simpsons Edition


In the Who Shot Mr. Burns Episode, Chief Wiggum went to a club to question Tito Puente. What was the name of the club?

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

LOL

[Just a little link to brighten up your day]

Update on the "Liquid Bomb" BULLSHIT

I told you, last week's arrest of "terrorists" was just more political grandstanding to keep the sheeple frightened and obedient... and to take attention away from the fact that Lieberdolt had his clock cleaned and the Reps' poll numbers continue to plummett.

http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2006/08/the_uk_terror_p.html

Videos of the Week - Dimebag Edition

Dime would have been 40 this week.

Pantera - F**king Hostile (live)

-------------------------------------------------------------


Pantera with Jason Newsted on bass doing Whiplash with Dime On vocals and Phil on guitar.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Marilyn Manson OWNS O'Reilly!!

I Told You It Was Bullshit

NBC: Hair-gel terrorists posed no risk last week

An anonymous "senior British official knowledgeable about the [hair-gel bombers]" told NBC that there was no threat to airplanes last week, that the terrorists had been under surveillance for over a year, and that UK government didn't plan on arresting these guys until they'd surveilled them a while longer, but moved when they did because of US pressure:

In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports...

The official shed light on other aspects of the case, saying that while the investigation into the bombing plot began "months ago," some suspects were known to the security services even before the London subway bombings last year.

Update BND: I believe that there are many reasons these a**holes are pulling this crap. For one, Homeland Security Chief Michael Jerkoff wants to Shit on our Constitution. Another reason is that our government (Karl Rove more specifically) wants to keep us controlled by this climate of fear. I refuse to let them do this to me.

RESIST!!!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

E Pluribus Stupid

The legacy of religious fundamentalism's influence on American Education. Yeah, go blame the NEA for this....

This article has many links, to see them, go to; http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060810_evo_rank.html

U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution

By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer

A comparison of peoples' views in 34 countries finds that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to public acceptance of evolution. Only Turkey ranked lower.

Among the factors contributing to America's low score are poor understanding of biology, especially genetics, the politicization of science and the literal interpretation of the Bible by a small but vocal group of American Christians, the researchers say.

“American Protestantism is more fundamentalist than anybody except perhaps the Islamic fundamentalist, which is why Turkey and we are so close,” said study co-author Jon Miller of Michigan State University.

The researchers combined data from public surveys on evolution collected from 32 European countries, the United States and Japan between 1985 and 2005. Adults in each country were asked whether they thought the statement “Human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animals,” was true, false, or if they were unsure.

The study found that over the past 20 years:

The percentage of U.S. adults who accept evolution declined from 45 to 40 percent. The percentage overtly rejecting evolution declined from 48 to 39 percent, however. And the percentage of adults who were unsure increased, from 7 to 21 percent. Of the other countries surveyed, only Turkey ranked lower, with about 25 percent of the population accepting evolution and 75 percent rejecting it. In Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and France, 80 percent or more of adults accepted evolution; in Japan, 78 percent of adults did.

The findings are detailed in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science.

Religion belief and evolution

The researchers also compared 10 independent variables—including religious belief, political ideology and understanding of concepts from genetics, or “genetic literacy”—between adults in America and nine European countries to determine whether these factors could predict attitudes toward evolution.

The analysis found that Americans with fundamentalist religious beliefs—defined as belief in substantial divine control and frequent prayer—were more likely to reject evolution than Europeans with similar beliefs. The researchers attribute the discrepancy to differences in how American Christian fundamentalist and other forms of Christianity interpret the Bible.

While American fundamentalists tend to interpret the Bible literally and to view Genesis as a true and accurate account of creation, mainstream Protestants in both the United States and Europe instead treat Genesis as metaphorical, the researchers say.

“Whether it’s the Bible or the Koran, there are some people who think it’s everything you need to know,” Miller said. “Other people say these are very interesting metaphorical stories in that they give us guidance, but they’re not science books.”

This latter view is also shared by the Catholic Church.

Politics and the Flat Earth

Politics is also contributing to America's widespread confusion about evolution, the researchers say. Major political parties in the United States are more willing to make opposition to evolution a prominent part of their campaigns to garner conservative votes—something that does not happen in Europe or Japan.

Miller says that it makes about as much sense for politicians to oppose evolution in their campaigns as it is for them to advocate that the Earth is flat and promise to pass legislation saying so if elected to office.

"You can pass any law you want but it won't change the shape of the Earth," Miller told LiveScience.

Paul Meyers, a biologist at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the study, says that what politicians should be doing is saying, 'We ought to defer these questions to qualified authorities and we should have committees of scientists and engineers who we will approach for the right answers."

The researchers also single out the poor grasp of biological concepts, especially genetics, by American adults as an important contributor to the country's low confidence in evolution.

“The more you understand about genetics, the more you understand about the unity of life and the relationship humans have to other forms of life,” Miller said.

The current study also analyzed the results from a 10-country survey in which adults were tested with 10 true or false statements about basic concepts from genetics. One of the statements was "All plants and animals have DNA." Americans had a median score of 4. (The correct answer is "yes.")

Science alone is not enough

But the problem is more than one of education—it goes deeper, and is a function of our country's culture and history, said study co-author Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education in California.

“The rejection of evolution is not something that will be solved by throwing science at it,” Scott said in a telephone interview.

Myers expressed a similar sentiment. About the recent trial in Dover, Pennsylvania which ruled against intelligent design, Myers said "it was a great victory for our side and it’s done a lot to help ensure that we keep religion out of the classroom for a while longer, but it doesn’t address the root causes. The creationists are still creationists—they're not going to change because of a court decision."

Scott says one thing that will help is to have Catholics and mainstream Protestants speak up about their theologies' acceptance of evolution.

"There needs to be more addressing of creationism from these more moderate theological perspectives," Scott said. “The professional clergy and theologians whom I know tend to be very reluctant to engage in that type of ‘my theology versus your theology’ discussion, but it matters because it’s having a negative effect on American scientific literacy."

The latest packaging of creationism is intelligent design, or ID, a conjecture which claims that certain features of the natural world are so complex that they could only be the work of a Supreme Being. ID proponents say they do not deny that evolution is true, only that scientists should not rule out the possibility of supernatural intervention.

But scientists do not share doubts over evolution. They argue it is one of the most well tested theories around, supported by countless tests done in many different scientific fields. Scott says promoting uncertainty about evolution is just as bad as denying it outright and that ID and traditional creationism both spread the same message.

“Both are saying that evolution is bad science, that evolution is weak and inadequate science, and that it can’t do the job so therefore God did it,” she said.

Another view

Bruce Chapman, the president of the Discovery Institute, the primary backer of ID, has a different view of the study.

"A better explanation for the high percentage of doubters of Darwinism in America may be that this country's citizens are famously independent and are not given to being rolled by an ideological elite in any field," Chapman said. "In particular, the growing doubts about Darwinism undoubtedly reflect growing doubts among scientists about Darwinian theory. Over 640 have now signed a public dissent and the number keeps growing."

Nick Matzke of the National Center for Science Education in California points out, however, that most of the scientists Chapman refers to do not do research in the field of evolution.

"If you look at the list, you can't find anybody who's really a significant contributor to the field or anyone who's done recognizable work on evolution," Matzke said.

Scott says the news is not all bad. The number of American adults unsure about the validity of evolution has increased in recent years, from 7 to 21 percent, but growth in this demographic comes at the expense of the other two groups. The percentage of Americans accepting evolution has declined, but so has the percentage of those who overtly reject it.

"I was very surprised to see that. To me that means the glass is half full,” Scott said. “That 21 percent we can educate."

Friday, August 11, 2006

One month away from one of the darkest days in American History

In exactly one month from today, we will be remembering the lives of 2,996 lives lost in one of the deadliest attacks on American soil. We all may have our own opinions of what happened on 9/11, but we can all agree that the number of lives lost is beyond tragic.

On the fifth anniversary of this disaster, The BigNewsDay Blog will join hundreds of other blogs in paying tribute to the victims of 9/11. I am calling on all the members of this site to assist in this tribute. The concept of the tribute is to dedicate our blogs to individuals who lost their lives because of the attacks on that day.

On 9/11/2006, the BigNewsDay Blog will be dedicated to the life of James Thomas Murphy who was a 35 year old New Jersey resident that perrished on that day. I urge all of you to use google or any other search engine to learn more about Mr. Murphy. I would like to have several blog entries that discuss him from different perspectives, but I would like to avoid the use of politics in the entries. I'm sure political discussions will crop up in the commens sections, but we should all refrain as much as possible for that day.

Please pay a visit to the host site for this tribute. I believe this was a wonderful idea, and I feel honored to take part in it.

2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11

Need one more reason to think this latest "Terror Threat" is bullshit?

I can't believe these photos (hat tip to AmericaBlog and Pirate's Cove.)

If the authorities are so concerned that people are going to be mixing liquids to create an explosive, why are they having people pour out all of their liquids into large containers that will "mix" the chemicals inside?

You gotta be fucking kidding me:


From AmericaBlog:

"Check out the photo below. Yes, Ma'am, we think you might have highly explosive liquids in your possession that could kill thousands of Americans and blow up an entire airplane. So please pour the liquid out in front of these hundreds of passengers, including that small baby just three feet behind you, and into this large bucket mixed with all sorts of other unknown and possibly explosive (and reactive) liquids, including alcohol, peroxide, acids, and more. Yeah, that would be the smart way to dispose of suspected terrorist explosives.

These guys are either lying to us, or criminally negligent morons. But this is coming off as bad as the duct tape fiasco."




"Hands up, all those who smell the bullshit"

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Going Out On A Limb Here ...

I posted this on my blog too, but figured I would get a good discussion here. This is in regards to the whole liquid explosives story .........

Man I am sorry, but I am just not believing this shit. I just don't.

Now I know I have a bit of a conspiracy theorist in me, but seriously the timing is just so transparent. Israel and Lebanon ... Iraq ... Iran ... just seems that people were getting fed up with being associated with this whole situation, Lieberman got his ass handed to him. An incumbent (sp) senator who once ran for vice president got pushed out of the party because he supports the war.

I think it's all a sham, and here is why.

CNN.com has this story right now where they say the busted the guys from a tip from a spy. If this were true they would never have even told us about this shit. Those involved would have simply disappeared. They say that some are still at large. I have a hard time believing they would have let any of them get a way, with the technology we have in this day and age. No way.

This never happened, there never was any "liquid explosives" and they just want the population to get scared again so they will be too afraid to not support military action that is going on right now. Plus the whole "spy" story sounds like we are making progress, that we are going to eventually disolve these groups from the inside.

Bull goddamn shit.

Hell, I'm still convinced most of these groups are being funded by weapons manufacturers anyway, probably without the knowledge of the average brainwashed cult member who straps a bomb to their chest to go into a grocery store to kill children. But the head guys who make the "tapes" we see all time ... the Osama's and shit ... they take orders from the same people that Georgie takes orders from.

The big rich fuckers who are playing RISK for real, with real lives, real guns, and real fortunes.

Terror Alert Level - Elmo/Ernie/Bert



I hope no one is planning on flying anwhere anytime soon.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Don't be Skeered

I'm so sick of America acting like terrorists run our everyday lives. This is getting embarrassing. The world heard our paranoia in the media when they revealed that the US World Cup soccer team was the only team that traveled in an unmarked bus, due to fear of terrorism. The Statue of Liberty, the very symbol of our national boldness, has her tail between her legs and is closed to visitors despite $20,000,000 of our money for bomb-detecting equipment. We empty our pockets in airports, and have our grandmothers spread eagle and take her shoes off because we're afraid. Our media won't show a cartoon of Muhammad, because it might provoke terrorism. I'm not hearing any arguments about offending people, either, because the media does that constantly without remorse. We pay $76 for a barrel of crude oil, because "terrorists might disrupt supply at any moment!"

I don't know who started this groupthink, but I'm getting sick of it. I'm not skeered. Who's skeered?

Is Lieberman's Political Career Over?

{Link Here}

So Joe Lieberman concedes. He lost the primary, but vows to run as an "Independant Democrat". Why not just run as a Republican? That's what he is! {Read Here} Oh yeah, if he runs as a "third party" then he will split the Democratic vote and hand over a Republican win in Connecticut (possibly). Win-win for ol' Joe. Either way a Republican will have a vote in Connecticut, wether it's him or someone in the Republican party.

With two Democrats running for Sentate, and Lieberman already in the losing bracket ... there is no way he can pull this off. What then, run for President? There is no way he is going to pull that off, not as a Democrat, Republican, or Independant. This man has fucked himself, and out of spite going to fuck over his party and hand his seat over to a Republican.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Alaskan Oil Fiasco: Another View

The Brilliantly Profitable Timing of the Alaska Oil Pipeline Shutdown
by Greg Palast
For The Guardian (UK)
Tuesday, August 9, 2006

Is the Alaska Pipeline corroded? You bet it is. Has been for more than a decade. Did British Petroleum shut the pipe yesterday to turn a quick buck on its negligence, to profit off the disaster it created? Just ask the "smart pig."

Years ago, I had the unhappy job of leading an investigation of British Petroleum's management of the Alaska pipeline system. I was working for the Chugach villages, the Alaskan Natives who own the shoreline slimed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker grounding.

Even then, courageous government inspectors and pipeline workers were screaming about corrosion all through the pipeline. I say "courageous" because BP, which owns 46% of the pipe and is supposed to manage the system, had a habit of hunting down and destroying the careers of those who warn of pipeline problems.

In one case, BP's CEO of Alaskan operations hired a former CIA expert to break into the home of a whistleblower, Chuck Hamel, who had complained of conditions at the pipe's tanker facility. BP tapped his phone calls with a US congressman and ran a surveillance and smear campaign against him. When caught, a US federal judge said BP's acts were "reminiscent of Nazi Germany."

This was not an isolated case. Captain James Woodle, once in charge of the pipe's Valdez terminus, was blackmailed into resigning the post when he complained of disastrous conditions there. The weapon used on Woodle was a file of faked evidence of marital infidelity. Nice guys, eh?

Now let's talk timing. BP's suddenly discovered corrosion necessitating an emergency shut-down of the line is the same corrosion Dan Lawn has been screaming about for 15 years. Lawn is a steel-eyed government inspector who has kept his job only because his union's lawyers have kept BP from having his head.

Indeed, it's pretty darn hard for BP to claim it is surprised to find corrosion this week when Lawn issued a damning report on corrosion right after a leak and spill were discovered on March 2 of this year.

Why shut the pipe now? The timing of a sudden inspection and fix of a decade-long problem has a suspicious smell. A precipitous shutdown in mid-summer, in the middle of Middle East war(s), is guaranteed to raise prices and reap monster profits for BP. The price of crude jumped $2.22 a barrel on the shutdown news to over $76. How lucky for BP which sells four million barrels of oil a day. Had BP completed its inspection and repairs a couple years back -- say, after Dan Lawn's tenth warning -- the oil market would have hardly noticed.

But $2 a barrel is just the beginning of BP's shut-down bonus. The Alaskan oil was destined for the California market which now faces a supply crisis at the very height of the summer travel season. The big winner is ARCO petroleum, the largest retailer in the Golden State. ARCO is a 100%-owned subsidiary of … British Petroleum.

BP could have fixed the pipeline problem this past winter, after their latest corrosion-caused oil spill. But then ARCO would have lost the summertime supply-squeeze windfall.

Enron Corporation was infamous for deliberately timing repairs to maximize profit. Would BP also manipulate the market in such a crude manner? Some US prosecutors think they did so in the US propane market. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) just six weeks ago charged the company with approving an Enron-style scheme to crank up the price of propane sold in poor rural communities in the US. One former BP exec has pleaded guilty.

Lord Browne, the imperious CEO of BP, has apologized for that scam, for the Alaska spill, for this week's shutdown and for the deaths in 2005 of 15 workers at the company's mortally sloppy refinery operation at Texas City, Texas.

I don't want readers to think BP isn't civic-minded. The company's US CEO, Bob Malone, was Co-Chairman of the Bush re-election campaign in Alaska. Mr. Bush, in turn, was so impressed with BP's care of Alaska's environment that he pushed again to open the state's arctic wildlife refuge (ANWR) to drilling by the BP consortium.

Indeed, you can go to Alaska today and see for yourself the evidence of BP's care of the wilderness. You can smell it: the crude oil still on the beaches from the Exxon Valdez spill.

Exxon took all the blame for the spill because they were dumb enough to have the company's name on the ship. But it was BP's pipeline managers who filed reports that oil spill containment equipment was sitting right at the site of the grounding near Bligh Island. However, the reports were bogus, the equipment wasn't there and so the beaches were poisoned. At the time, our investigators uncovered four-volume's worth of faked safety reports and concluded that BP was at least as culpable as Exxon for the 1,200 miles of oil-destroyed coastline.

Nevertheless, m'Lord Browne preens himself with his corporation's environmental record. We know BP cares about nature because they have lots of photos of solar panels in their annual reports -- and they've painted every one of their gas stations green.

The green paint-job is supposed to represent the oil giant's love of Mother Nature. But the good Lord, Mr. Browne, knows it stands for the color of the Yankee dollar.

BP claims the profitable timing of its Alaska pipe shutdown can be explained because they've only now run a "smart pig" through the pipes to locate the corrosion. The "pig" is an electronic drone that BP should have been using continuously, though they had not done so for 14 years. The fact that, in the middle of an oil crisis, they've run it through now, forcing the shutdown, reminds me, when I consider Lord Browne's closeness to George Bush, that the company's pig is indeed, very, very smart.

Videos of the Week

Pearl Jam - Here's to the State of Mississippi

Here's to the land
you've torn out the heart of
HEY ASSHOLES
Go find another country to be part of





Tool - The Pot

This is one of the coolest videos I've seen in a while. Enjoy!

Monday, August 07, 2006

Alaskan oil production facing major setback

Just because this won't effect gasoline inventories or crude availability, don't think that we won't be paying for this at the pump. The decision by BP was an environmentally conservative choice, choosing to replace a section of pipeline that was very close to the acceptable limit for corrosion. The fact that the pipeline has suffered so much corrosion leads to the obvious conclusion that oil from the north slope is sour, and places a very high strain on the infrastructure that handles it, the people who work around it, and the refineries that turn it into something worth putting into our vehicles. "Sour" oil contains hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic gas that is not only expensive to remove, but hazardous to all employees who work near it.

This shouldn't effect the price of gasoline whatsoever; in fact the government's offer to open the SPR should cause a downward trend in prices. Processing sour Alaskan oil is far more expensive than the cleaner, lighter oil in the SPR that typically comes from wells in the Gulf of Mexico, or imported Saudi Arabian crude. The technical difficulties in producing gasoline and diesel fuel are particularly interesting to me these days as we face declining worldwide production due to the maturity and depletion of the great oil wells that sustained the awesome abundance of cheap fuels for decades past.

Here's something scary: The all-time highest oil producing country for a single day was the USA in 1973, when we produced 10,500,000 barrels nationwide. Saudi Arabia has come close, but they peaked in 1981 just shy of our record. The scary part about it is that both of the highest-producing nations have already seen their greatest production days, and both are in a steady state of decline. American oil production has fallen to just over 5,000,000 barrels per day, nationwide. Saudi Arabia's great Ghawar oilfield produces this amount by itself every single day. It hasn't come without great difficulty, however. The King of all Kings, Ghawar, has been producing more and more water alongside the oil, which strains refinery capacity. In the 1970's and 1980's, the oil that came from the Saudi giants was "dry", containing almost no water. Nowadays, water cuts of 30% are typical throughout the Kingdom. So, to produce 5,000,000 barrels of oil, you have to pump, transfer, and process over 7,000,000 barrels of fluid. This, along with the politics we often discuss, is the reason gasoline will never be cheap again.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Loose Change has nothing on this!

"Loose Change" was a good introduction for most of us to asking some extremely important questions regarding the events of September 11, 2001. Until recently, these theories have been ridiculed as "junk science", and you'd be considered a fool for even bringing it up. Most of these early theories were in fact, junk.

Those days are over. Dr. Steven Jones of the BYU Physics Department has published a paper which fully analyzes public evidence with easily reproducible scientific calculations and laboratory experiments. The paper is very technical by nature, and very long (it took me about an hour to read it, including the time I spend watching the included video evidence). A good summary of his findings can be found here.

He doesn't try to pry into the political realm; he is a scientist, and only urges that a multi-disciplinary, independent investigation look into the aspects which he and his research team are not qualified to study. He does, however, tea-bag the official explaination. I'll put it to you this way: if a government explaination had nuts, they just got kicked by Dr. Jones.

UPDATE BND: I think we may have located spooky1. Check out this Blabbermouth thread. You will need to scroll down to the bottom. Damn Axe, you ripped this dude to shreads.

Public Service Announcement



Guys, don't forget to check your nuts for lumps. "Hey kids feel your balls, so you don't get cancer".

I somehow ran into this image earlier today. It had me laughing my nuts off!

Video of the Week

Ministry - LiesLiesLies

Lyrics (so you can sing along Damnit!)

(spoken)
Gentlemen we have called you together to inform you that we are going to overthrow the United States government
Do you still think that jet fuel brought down the World Trade Center?(Laughter)
Does anybody else see a problem here?
If the government has nothing to hide why are they so afraid to answer a few questions?
This story does not add up

Verse 1
I’m on a mission to never forget
3,000 people that I’ve never met
We want some answers and all that we get
Some kind of shit about a terrorist threat

Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies X3
Surpise surprise
Lies Lies

Verse 2
I’m on a mission to dig up the truth
You think we’re stupid and there’s no proof
Well let me tell you that the time has come
To pull the trigger on the smoking gun

Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies X3
Surpise surprise
Lies Lies Lies Lies

Chorus
Don’t listen to me listen to your head
Don’t listen
Don’t listen to anything, they’ve said
Don’t listen
Lies Lies Lies Lies

(Spoken)
America has been hijacked
Not by Al Qaeda, not by Bin Laden
But by a group of tyrants
That should be of great concern to all Americans

Verse 3
I’m on a mission to bring out the facts
You got your stories but they all have cracks
Misinformation, lies and deceit
What made you think that we were all asleep

Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies X3
Surpise surprise
Lies Lies Lies Lies

Chorus
Don’t listen to me listen to your head
Don’t listen
Don’t listen to anything, they’ve said
Don’t listen

Lies Lies Lies Lies

Outro Chorus
Don’t listen to me listen to your head
Lies Lies Lies Lies

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

It Sure is Hot Here...

in Chicago! It's the fifth day straight we have 100 degree weather! What the fuck is going on here? I'm 'bout to make me some of them mango'ritas (thanks to BND). They sure hit the spot.

On a side note, the feds may be getting closer to getting Da Mayor here in Chicago, Mr. Richard M. Daley, otherwise known as the Windy City Emperor. Check out the story here.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Redneck Etiquette - Enjoy
















Tips from the Redneck Book of Manners

1. Never take a beer to a job interview.
2. Always identify people in your yard before shooting at them.
3. It's considered poor taste to take a cooler to church.
4. If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.
5. Even if you're certain that you are included in the will, it is still considered tacky to drive a U-Haul to the funeral home.



** DINING OUT ***
1. If drinking directly from the bottle, always hold it with your fingers covering the label.
2. Avoid throwing bones and food scraps on the floor as the restaurant may not have dogs.

*** ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOME ***
1. A centerpiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.
2. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table no matter how good his manners are.

*** PERSONAL HYGIENE ***
1. While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should be done in private using one's OWN truck keys.
2. Proper use of toiletries can forestall bathing for several days. However, if you live alone, deodorant is a waste of good money.
3. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a social no-no, as they tend to detract from a woman's jewelry and alter the taste of
finger foods.

*** DATING (Outside the Family) ***
1. Always offer to bait your date's hook, especially on the first date.
2. Be aggressive. Let her know you're interested: "I've been wanting to go out with you since I read that stuff on the bathroom wall two years ago."
3. Establish with her parents what time she is expected back.
Some will say! 10:00 PM; others might say "Monday". If the latter is the answer it is the man's responsibility to get her to school on time.
4. Always have a positive comment about your date's appearance, such as, "ya sure don't sweat much for a fat broad."

*** WEDDINGS ***
1. Livestock, usually, is a poor choice for a wedding gift.
2. Kissing the bride for more than 5 seconds may get you shot.
3. For the groom, at least, rent a tux. A leisure suit with cummerbund and a clean bowling shirt can create too sporty an appearance.
4. Though uncomfortable, say "yes" to socks and shoes for this special occasion.
5. It is not appropriate to tell the groom how good his wife is in the sack.

*** DRIVING ETIQUETTE ***
1. Dim your headlights for approaching vehicles, even if the gun is loaded and the deer is in sight.
2. When approaching a four-way stop, the vehicle with the largest tires always has the right of way.
3. Never tow another car using panty hose and duct tape.
4. When sending your wife down the road with a gas can, it is impolite to ask her to bring back beer.
5. Never relieve yourself from a moving vehicle, especially when driving.
6. Do not lay rubber while traveling in a funeral procession.

*** TWO REASONS WHY IT IS HARD TO SOLVE A REDNECK MURDER ***
1. All the DNA is the same.
2. There are no dental records.