New Low for Fox News.....

The British cops shoot somebody who turns out not to be a bomber
(and not even a Middle Eastern), and what does that moron Gibson do?

Praise them.

Just read......it makes me angry just thinking about it.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163420,00.html

House update #5,125

Well, the house is nearing completion. Only four more weeks to go until we move, and the house itself should be finished in three. Notice the little wooden knobs on the kitchen cabinets. We wanted polished nickle knobs, but the builder wanted to charge $200. Cost of the knobs at Home Depot: $19.95 for a pack of 20. Wisely, we decided to install the knobs ourselves, and just let the builder put in whatever. The wooden knobs will be making a voyage to the Habitat for Humanity re-store down the road in a couple of weeks (along with a few other things).

I'm probably boring people looking for insightful political commentary, but the house seems to occupy all my thoughts at the moment.....

Oh, and I got my $1000 back. It only took three days, and several trips to the bank. However, except for a huge inconvenience it seems life is back to normal.

No luck o'the Irish

First, there was the accident with a drunk driver a couple of months ago.

Then, came a letter from my old employer that a computer with various personnel info (such as name, SIN#, address, etc) had been stolen, forcing me to put a fraud alert on my credit report.

Now, we discover somebody made a copy of my girlfriend's bank card and stole $1000 out of our joint account.

ARGH!

Today's thoughts

Terrorism in London


Predictably, another terrorist attack has occured. Just as predictably, the talking-heads are babbling about "not letting up", "tightening security", "it could happen to you", blah blah blah.

The War on Terrorism cannot be won, and the government can't protect you from a terrorist attack no matter how many freedoms and liberties they take away. Think of the War on Drugs. A century after drugs became illegal, we're actually worse off then when the drug prohibition took effect. In the late 19th century, drug use was frowned upon and only a small segment of the population took them. In the early 21st century, the same small segment of the population is still taking them despite billions spent on drug prevention, law enforcement, and even capital punishment of drug offenders in some parts of the world. What exactly have we accomplished? The War on Terror will be the same, never ending, and never effective.

There are only two things that can be done:

• Be ready to deal with the aftermath of an attack, just in the same was as being prepared for a natural disaster like a tornado or earthquake.

• Analyze what the objectives of the terrorists are. In this case, if you ignore the inane "they hate us for our freedoms" argument, the real source is that many Arabs feel that the West is trying to destroy their culture and their way of life (hence the "crusaders" talk). And that is exactly what the West is trying to do under the "freedom & democracy" guise. Essentially, America (and to a lesser extent the Europe, Canada, and Australia) are attempting to Westernize the Middle East in the hope that terrorism will go away. We think our way of life is the correct way, and that we must "civilize the savages", so to speak. However, those on the recieving end of this treatment become resentful of being told how to lead their lives, and some will percieve it as a threat. Hence the never ending cycle, in trying to prevent terrorism we're actually creating it. If the Middle East wants help becoming more peaceful and prosperous, its fine to lend a hand. However, giving unwanted instructions on how to fix all their problems will fall on deaf ears.

House progress



Well, the house is moving along well. The railings are in, the ceramic tile is down, and the cabinetry should be coming soon. It's hard to believe in a few short weeks that the house will be done, and I'll enter a new phase of my life.

Inside House

House Photo