Starting Over

McCain Campaign Lies about Obama's Voting Record on Taxes

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Thu, 3 Jul 08 16:43:00 UT

Newsweek is carrying an article from factcheck.org about recent claims from the McCain campaign that Obama has voted for higher taxes "at least 94 times."

Tax Tally Trickery (factcheck.org)

Miscounting Obama's Tax Votes (newsweek)

From the article...

- Twenty-three were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all; they were against proposed tax cuts.

- Seven of the votes were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals.

- Eleven votes the GOP is counting would have increased taxes on those making more than $1 million a year â in order to fund programs such as Head Start and school nutrition programs, or veterans' health care.

- The GOP sometimes counted two, three and even four votes on the same measure. We found their tally included a total of 17 votes on seven measures, effectively padding their total by 10.

- The majority of the 94 votes â 53 of them, including some mentioned above â were on budget measures, not tax bills, and would not have resulted in any tax change. Four other votes were non-binding motions related to conference report negotiations.

This is pretty damn sleazy.. but nothing new.

If this type of claim sounds familiar, it's because George W. Bush's campaign used a similar refrain against John Kerry in 2004, charging that Kerry voted for "higher taxes" a whopping 350 times. We found that claim to be incorrect as well. This time around, Republicans are using some of the same tricky accounting to beef up the number of votes.

Part of their analysis of the voting record supports that Barack Obama has been practicing what he's preaching...

A closer look reveals that he's voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers but not on middle- or low-income workers. That's consistent with what he's said he'd do as president, which is to raise taxes only on those making more than $250,000 a year.

If you hear anyone repeating this lie please take the time to gently correct them so we can prevent these sleazy tactics from being successful once again.

30 Days: Gun Nation

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Thu, 3 Jul 08 10:22:00 UT

I've been watching 30 Days this morning about a pro-gun-control person living with avid gun owners.

This episode has been particularly enlightening for me. I've understood all of the arguments associated with the issue pro and con. However, what I learned from watching this was not about the logical arguments... but about the emotional component.

The people she stayed with live out in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing but "beans and corn for miles." The gun-control woman lives in an urban area packed with people.

The sound of the gunshot has a sense memory associated with it. For the avid gun owner it's a positive memory. They were introduced to it as a kid while shooting with their dad or their family. They live in an area where the next house is 10 miles away. There is ROOM to shoot.

For the woman living in an urban area, the sound of a gunshot is danger. It means that someone is being killed. It means that in a densely packed urban neighborhood a stray bullet could easily kill a child.

I never really thought about it in those terms. I know it is different for everyone but.... To those in the urban area the sound of a gunshot means death. To those in a rural area the sound of a gunshot means someone is enjoying their hobby. That's a big disconnect between the two sides of the argument.

Does karen26 know her email address?

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Thu, 3 Jul 08 00:08:00 UT

The answer is... No.

You might think "...but Kenny, how do you know?"

The answer is... because some jackass just signed up for an account on JournalScape as karen26... WITH MY EMAIL ADDRESS. So, I received her welcome letter.

I get so much damn email because SO many people apparently don't know their email address. I get email for Karen and Kymnah and Kathy and Kimberly and ... BAH. It's not spam either, it's genuine emails from friends and such.... and they all think that my email address belongs to them.

Email is hard. Let's go to the mall.

The Best Chain Letter Ever

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Tue, 1 Jul 08 10:35:00 UT

I found this today while going through some incredibly old emails... and it's brilliant.

STOP CHAIN LETTERS!!!!

Hello, my name is Basmati Kasaar. I am suffering from rare and deadly diseases, poor scores on final exams, extreme virginity, fear of being kidnapped and executed by anal electrocution, and guilt for not forwarding out 50 billion fucking chain letters sent to me by people who actually believe that if you send them on, then that poor 6 year old girl in Arkansas with a breast on her forehead will be able to raise enough money to have it removed before her redneck parents sell her off to the traveling freak show.

Do you honestly believe that Bill Gates is going to give you and everyone you send "his" email to $1000? How stupid are you? Ooooh, looky here! If I scroll down this page and make a wish, I'll get laid by every Playboy model in the magazine! What a bunch of bullshit.

So basically,this message is a big FUCK YOU to all the people out there who have nothing better to do than to send me stupid chain mail forwards.

Maybe the evil chain letter leprechauns will come into my apartment and sodomize me in my sleep for not continuing the chain which was started by Jesus in 5 A.D.and was brought to this country by midget pilgrims on the Mayflower and if it makes it to the year 2000, it'll be in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest continuous streak of blatant stupidity. Fuck them.

If you're going to forward something, at least send me something mildly amusing. I've seen all the "send this to 50 of your closest friends, and this poor,wretched excuse for a human being will somehow receive a nickel from some omniscient being" forwards about 90 times. I don't fucking care.

Show a little intelligence and think about what you're actually contributing to by sending out forwards. Chances are it's your own unpopularity.

THE FOUR BASIC TYPES OF CHAIN LETTERS:

Chain Letter Type 1:

scroll down)

Make a wish!!!

No, really, go on and make one!!!

Oh please, they'll never go out with you!!!

Wish something else!!!

Not that, you pervert!!

Is your finger getting tired yet?

STOP!!!!

Wasn't that fun? :)

Hope you made a great wish :)

Now, to make you feel guilty, here's what I'll do. First of all, if you don't send this to 5096 people in the next 5 seconds, you will be raped by a mad goat and thrown off a high building into a pile of manure. It's true! Because, THIS letter isn't like all of those fake ones, THIS one is TRUE!!

Really!!! Here's how it goes:

*Send this to 1 person: One person will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter.

*Send this to 2-5 people: 2-5 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter.

*Send this to 5-10 people: 5-10 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter, and may form a plot on your life.

*Send this to 10-20 people: 10-20 people will be pissed off at you for sending them a stupid chain letter and will napalm your house.

Thanks!!!! Good Luck!!!

Chain Letter Type 2

Hello, and thank you for reading this letter. You see, there is a starving

little boy in Baklaliviatatlaglooshen who has no arms, no legs, no parents,and no goats. This little boy's life could be saved, because for every time you pass this on, a dollar will be donated to the Little Starving Legless Armless Goatless Boy from Baklaliviatatlaglooshen Fund. Oh, and remember, we have absolutely no way of counting the emails sent and this is all a complete load of bullshit. So go on, reach out. Send this to 5 people in the next 47 seconds. Oh, and a reminder - if you accidentally send this to 4 or 6 people, you will die instantly.

Thanks again!!

Chain Letter Type 3

Hi there!! This chain letter has been in existence since 1897. This is absolutely incredible because there was no email then and probably not as many sad pricks with nothing better to do.

So this is how it works: Pass this on to 15,067 people in the next 7 minutes or something horrible will happen to you like:

*Bizarre Horror Story #1

Miranda Pinsley was walking home from school on Saturday. She had recently received this letter and ignored it. She then tripped in a crack in the sidewalk, fell into the sewer, was gushed down a drainpipe in a flood of poopie, and went flying out over a waterfall. Not only did she smell nasty,she died. This Could Happen To You!!!

*Bizarre Horror Story #2

Dexter Bip, a 13 year old boy, got a chain letter in his mail and ignored it. Later that day, he was hit by a car and so was his boyfriend (hey, some people swing that way). They both died and went to hell and were cursed to eat adorable kittens every day for eternity. This Could Happen To You Too!!!

Remember, you could end up just like Pinsley and Bip. Just send this letter to all of your loser friends, and everything will be okay.

Chain Letter Type 4:

As if you care, here is a poem that I wrote. Send it to every one of your friends.

Friends

A friend is someone who is always at your side, A friend is someone who likes you even though you stink of shit, and your breath smells like you've been eating catfood, A friend is someone who likes you even though you're as ugly as a hat full of assholes, A friend is someone who cleans up for you after you've soiled yourself, A friend is someone who stays with you all night while you cry about your sad, sad life, A friend is someone who pretends they like you when they really think you should be raped by mad goats, then thrown to vicious dogs, A friend is someone who scrubs your toilet, vacuums and then gets the check and leaves and doesn't speak much English... -no, sorry that's the cleaning lady, A friend is not someone who sends you chain letters because he wants his wish of being rich to come true.

Now pass this on! If you don't, you'll never have sex ever again.

The point being?

If you get some chain letter that's threatening to leave you shagless or luckless for the rest of your life, delete it. If it's funny, send it on. Don't piss people off by making them feel guilty about a leper in Botswana with no teeth, who's been tied to a dead elephant for 27 years, whose only saviour is the 5 cents per letter he'll receive if you forward this mail,otherwise you'll end up like Miranda. Right?

Now forward this to everyone you know otherwise you'll find all your knickers missing tomorrow morning.

Jackass

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Mon, 30 Jun 08 11:07:00 UT

A while back I mentioned that sometimes I'll stop posting in my journal when something bad happens in my personal life and that I decided to post something vague about it instead so...

I'm an unbelievable jackass. *sigh*

Does James Dobson speak for you?

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Fri, 27 Jun 08 14:16:00 UT

James Dobson is an evangelical .... spokesperson, I guess, who likes to talk a lot of crap. This week he took several shots at Obama. That isn't the surprising part... the surprising part is this:

James Dobson Doesn't Speak For Me

A group of Christians put together a website to promote the idea that James Dobson's kind of hate filled religious attacks are not the type of thing they condone. This is really heartening! From the site..

James Dobson doesn't speak for me.

He doesn't speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide;

He doesn't speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible;

James Dobson doesn't speak for me when he uses the beliefs of others as a line of attack;

He doesn't speak for me when he denigrates his neighbor's views when they don't line up with his;

He doesn't speak for me when he seeks to confine the values of my faith to two or three issues alone;

What does speak for me is David's psalm celebrating how good and pleasant it is when we come together in unity;

Micah speaks for me in reminding us that the Lord requires us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him;

The site continues on with more of the above. Now, I was raised as a Christian and I have decided that I do not agree with those beliefs. The above though makes me very happy, because the people involved in this site actually DO love their religion. These are the type of people who get referred to as the "good Christians" because they actually take the concept of love to heart. Kudos to these Christians who wish to uphold their beliefs without tearing someone else down!

30 days: Hunter vs PETA

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Fri, 27 Jun 08 08:05:00 UT

I love the show 30 Days and I am currently watching an episode where they take a hunter and move him in with a family of vegans who are PETA activists.

On the first day, they took him to a protest outside of a KFC where they had him dress up as a big chicken and had another person dress up as Col Sanders covered in blood and such and let the chicken kill Col Sanders. The stunt was silly, but was incredibly FUNNY for one reason...

.. the hunter actually KNOWS how to cut up an animal! So, when they have him take the fake knife and pretend to cut Col Sanders up... he's doing it RIGHT! LOL! He peals back the wing/arm and cuts at the joint to properly separate it from the body. SO damn funny.

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Tue, 24 Jun 08 10:49:00 UT

It was suggested that I set up a profile on LinkedIn.com, so I took some time this morning and did so. I'm at the point where I'm supposed to connect myself to you... but I don't know who is on LinkedIn and the only way I can connect is if I search for your email address. I don't really want to give them your email addresses unless you have already done it. So, if you have a LinkedIn profile and wish to connect to me, drop me a connection request. My email address on the site is: linkedin.com AT journalscape.com, but you'll want to change the AT to an actual @.

Rock Band Brunch

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Sun, 22 Jun 08 22:46:00 UT

(back dated to Sunday when this happened)

Clay and Sarah invited me over to their house for a pot luck Rock Band Brunch! We had all sorts of yummy foods and mimosas. After totally grubbin', we sparked up the Rock Band and had a blast swapping the instruments around and such. It was so much fun, I totally have to get Rock Band for my Xbox so that we can totally have rock band parties!

Rock Band is similar to Guitar Hero, but instead of just 1 or 2 guitars, you have lead guitar, base guitar, drums and vocals. So, even if you aren't good at once instrument, you can try another!

I had tons of fun! Big thanks to Sarah and Clay. :)

Movie Reviews: 300, War, Shooter

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Sat, 21 Jun 08 16:26:00 UT

More movies from Netflix... This was a sad collection of movies. There are spoilers in this entry, but only for movies that are so bad that spoiling them is probably for the best.

300

By far the best of the group, but it was just kind of ok. It had good action sequences and interesting cinematography. The story was thin and predictable, but I don't think this movie was really supposed to be about the plot. It had valiant fighters, massive death and such.. It's not a bad movie, but I wouldn't seek it out.

War and Shooter

I'm grouping these into one review, because they had the same problem. The ending sucked and was stupid. Both of these movies had pretty good beginnings and middles, but when it came to the end, it just left you thinking, "Um, excuse me? WTF?"

More on the details of each movie...

Shooter

Synopsis: A military sniper is disgruntled because he's used and discarded during some questionable troop actions. He secludes himself in the middle of nowhere. Some govt spooks convince him to use his sniper skills to help them plan a Presidential Assassination. They ostensibly want to prevent one from happening, so they figure if they know how he would do it they will be able to preempt the real sniper. The black hat guys end up assassinating a religious leader next to the President and then offering up the protagonist as the patsy.

It's a good movie, interesting to watch, suspenseful, etc, the problem comes at the end. It seriously feels like the producers wanted to change the ending and they had 3 potential endings to the movie.. and instead of choosing one, they chose all three. We build to the climax, the good guys have evidence of the bad guys wrong doing, the good guys have the bad guys at gun point, and the good guy portion of the government is riding in as we speak to arrest them all.... and they decide to destroy the evidence and let the bad guys go. Then in the very next scene, they attempt to use different evidence to proof the bad guys are bad.... instead of just using the first bit of evidence against the bad guys or shooting them dead when they had the chance. Now that all of that has been done, they decide to just kill them dead. It's so stupid.

War

This whole movie is based on a revenge premise... the hitman kills the protagonist's partner. Protag hunts the hitman down while the hitman is actually taking the mob down from the inside. Turns out the hitman is actually the supposedly dead partner who had plastic surgery done. The hitman had killed his wife and child but he managed to kill the hitman and then take his place to exact his revenge. Fine, it's a stretch, but at least the movie supports it. While the partner-turned-hitman is taking out the head of the mob though, the mobster says that our protagonist partner was a conspirator in the hit that killed the wife and child. Now, this doesn't make any sense whatsoever, the protag has been working to take down the mob the whole time and get revenge for his partner's death. They attempt to explain it saying that the protag was on the take and when he heard that the mob boss was upset with his partner, the protag revealed his partner's home address because he thought they were "just going to rough [him] up a bit."

So, it turns out the protag was an asshole who was a bad cop on the take... and our supposed enemy is a cop who's family was murdered and was sort of the good guy... and none of it was well done. It was just a crappy movie. bleh.

Funny Signatures on Slashdot

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Thu, 19 Jun 08 12:54:00 UT

slashdot.org is "news for nerds" and I enjoy reading all of the comments from slashdot readers. Many of them have incredibly amusing signatures and so I thought I'd share a few of my favorites....

War is God's way of teaching Americans geography.

We're here to preserve democracy, not to practice it.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak........

In the 1980s capitalism triumphed over communism. In the 1990s it triumphed over democracy.

I've upped my standards, so up yours.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo.

They're using their grammar skills there.

I am not an addict, I can quit playing computer games whenever my wife demands it of me! (usually nightly)

"If Windows is the answer, it must have been a stupid question." -Unknown

Oil as a Wedge Issue

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Wed, 18 Jun 08 12:25:00 UT

Bush, and therefore McCain, is calling for a fraudulent end on the ban against offshore oil drilling. This is just an attempt to move the Bush Administration's responsibility for its horrible energy policy onto the Democrats for the upcoming Presidential Election. It doesn't really matter if it's true, they just have to say it over and over again and some people will believe it.

Here is Bush's ridiculous assertion that oil prices are the fault of Democratic leaders:

âI know the Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past,â Mr. Bush said. âNow that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. If Congressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act.â

It's sad that fraud so transparent will probably be successful. The audacity that Bush has to blame the high gas prices on the Democratic leadership is incredible.

Beyond his utter contempt for the truth... Will more supply of crude oil even lower the gas prices? No, but let's assume that it will for the sake of argument.

After President Bushâs remarks on Wednesday, Mr. Reid said: âThe facts are clear. Oil companies have already had ample opportunity to increase supply, but they have sat on their hands. They arenât even using more than half of the public lands they already have leased for drilling. And despite the huge tax breaks President Bush and Republican Congresses have given oil and gas companies to invest in refineries, domestic production has actually dropped.â And the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said, âThe presidentâs proposal sounds like another page from the administrationâs energy policy that was literally written by the oil industry: give away more public resources to the very same oil companies that are sitting on 68 million acres of federal lands theyâve already leased.â

Ok, so if the magic bullet to the problem is more production... then they have the power to solve the problem without getting legislators to change the rules. They can just start drilling in all of the lands they have leased.

They are not being honest about the reason for this issue. It's simply a distraction. It is designed to confuse the issue and manufacture wrongdoing on the part of their opponents. This announcement has nothing to do with energy policy and everything to do with lies designed to win an election.

Don't let these jerks win with lies. If you encounter someone who expresses these false accusations as reasons to vote for McCain, take the opportunity to show them it is a great load of fiction.

"Atheist Q&A"

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Tue, 17 Jun 08 10:08:00 UT

I got this from Derek who got it from ERV.

Q1. How would you define "atheism"?

Lack of belief in an intelligent, all-powerful being which created and controls the universe. The same goes for the plural.

Q2. Was your upbringing religious? If so, what tradition?

I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, which I qualify as a fundamentalist Christian religion. They hold many extreme views and many different views from what most people would consider "fundamentalist" views, but they hold very strictly to the Bible. Despite my disagreement with JWs in general, I still believe they are at least living closer to what the Bible says than most other Christian religions.

I was baptized at ... 12? My memory on it is rough. I went door to door almost every weekend preaching "The Truth" which is what they call it. I gave sermons in church (they call them "talks" and I did this because the clergy/laity distinction in JWs is very thin).

Q3. How would you describe "Intelligent Design", using only one word?

I think Derek nailed it with "unscientific."

Q4. What scientific endeavor really excites you?

That's a tough one for me, I have two answers. Quantum research is the first. It doesn't necessarily get me out of my chair screaming, "DUDE! THAT IS SO COOL" but I think in the future it is going to be the research that alters our view of the universe at a core level. I don't believe in a God, but I do believe in Qi because of some first-hand experiences. I think that quantum research will eventually give us the scientific understanding of Qi.

The second answer, the one that often DOES get me out of my chair screaming are the efforts to make our machines work more like living creatures.

Q5. If you could change one thing about the "atheist community", what would it be and why?

Some atheists are just too militant. They want the freedom to be able to believe whatever they want.... and then are jerks to people who don't believe the same way they do. I understand where they are coming from, but it's the same thing the militant Christians are doing. No good.

Q6. If your child came up to you and said "I'm joining the clergy", what would be your first response?

If they were still very young, I'd do my best to teach them what I've learned and guide them away from that choice. If they were my child but no longer a kid, then I'd accept it and continue loving them.

Q7. What's your favorite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?

Hm, I don't think I have a favorite. Maybe the argument that non-belief is God is just as faith-based as belief in God. On the spectrum of belief---agnostic---atheist they believe the default position is agnosticism. I usually try to bring up example after example of ridiculous things to believe in and ask them if they don't believe or if they aren't sure.

Q8. What's your most "controversial" (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?

The belief in Qi.

Q9. Of the "Four Horsemen" (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?

I don't really read them, so I don't have an opinion on it.

Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?

I thought about several different answers for this, including people like the Pope or the President of the US (suggestions made by Derek and Brainsalad)... but in the end, whichever person I was able to change would only be the one to change. Even if the Pope changed, he'd just be vilified and disregarded. People don't believe in this stuff because one guy tells them to, they believe in it because they have been indoctrinated since and/or they were in a bad place in their lives and needed something to hang their hope on. So, if I had to choose someone, it would be someone in my personal life... but I don't want to. It's something that each person has to decide for themselves.

Journal Comment Errors?

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Tue, 17 Jun 08 08:04:00 UT

Are you having problems posting comments? This morning I found TONS of error reports about posting comments, but I've tried several times and it works for me. The errors I'm seeing appear to be user errors, but I don't believe this many errors all at the same time can be just a user error.

World of Wifecraft

kennysjournal6@journalscape.com — Fri, 13 Jun 08 12:35:00 UT

I just got this from Ken... World of Wifecraft

Wife: "No! Don't touch me until you go to the Auction House and trade that shit in for a Thunderfury."

Husband: "You know that I can't afford the Blessed Blade of the Windseeker..."

Wife: "Then level the fuck up and stopped getting pwned by farm animals and arachnids and shit!"

Husband: "That's easy for you to say! YOU'RE LEVEL 70!"

Wife: "God damned right I am, n00b."

.... BAHAHAHHAAHAHAH

It's got a wonderful Leeroy homage at the end. Give it a look-see.