Ramdon Notes: Part One

Sorry for the cold shoulder for two weeks. I've been busy with school and the Ranch Review (now Opinion Editor!) and I have a lot to talk about.....in fact, this will be a two parter so without further ado, part one of my little segment, Random Notes!

Bonds is the new home run king: Seriously, am I the only one who didn't give a damn when Barry Bonds hit home run #756 to surpass Hank Arron as baseball's home run king? I'm a baseball fan, but I could not congratulate a cheating jackass like Bonds. What's even more pathetic is the phony speech he gave, thanking the fans for being there. Let me translate what Bonds meant to say to his fans:
Translation: 'thanks for putting up with my piss-poor attitude. Thanks for keeping me in San Fran when no other club would pick my ass up because of the fact that they don't want a cheating s.o.b. like me. I've made history, now i'm not going to play the rest of the game. Remember, it's all about me.'
Bonds, take your 30 pieces of silver, and fuck off.

Harry Potter and the Best Movie in the Franchise: Some critics are pissy that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix lacks the charm of the last four films. Fair point. Yes, Daniel Radcliffe isn't the same 11 year-old boy we loved in The Sorcerer's Stone or The Chamber of Secrets. Neither are the last four movies. But I think the filmmaker, David Yates would be doing a disservice to the spirit of the fifth novel in J.K. Rowling's wonderful and rich series. Like all things, there comes a point were childhood must end and the seams of adulthood must rear it's ugly head, among with the darkness and pain it eventually brings. For Harry Potter, that time has come. Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven since the return of the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). The Ministry of Magic and Cornelius Fudge are trying to dismiss Harry's claim that You-Know-Who has returned, even going as far to insert one of their own, Dolores Umbridge (a wonderful and nasty Imelda Staunton) to shut him up, and to keep the students from learning magic. And Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) avoids Potter at every turn. Add to that, Harry's growing teen problems: anger, growing up, and girls. These are the things taking place in this film. And it's by far the best one yet, thanks to some great performances from Radcliffe, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, and Staunton as Umbridge, who is the Dick Cheney of the Harry Potter universe; the amazing set pieces from Stewart Craig; the excellent cinematography; and the great direction from Yates. It all adds up to one of the year's best movies.
***1/2 stars out of ****

Bush claims Executive Privilege over Tillman Death: You heard me right. The administration that couldn't sink any lower have yet again, found a new despicable low: by claiming the privilege over the death of NFL Quarterback/Army ranger, Pat Tillman.

WASHINGTON — The White House has refused to give Congress documents about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, with White House counsel Fred Fielding saying that certain papers relating to discussion of the friendly-fire shooting "implicate Executive Branch confidentiality interests."

Are you fucking kidding me? That family has gone through hell because of this endless and shameful saga, and now the president is withholding documents about how Tillman really died? It was bad enough that the Army lied about his death and it was sickening to learn that Gen. Stanley McChrystal knew that Tillman died by friendly fire but gave him the Silver Star anyway, but this is just nauseating, the kind of shit that the Bush Administration pulled here. The Tillman family deserves closure and better treatment than this, Mr. Bush, and you damn-well know it. Another fine example of how our commander-in-chief supports our soldiers.

Part 2, I will post later next week. Stay tuned.

My Mad Photoart Skills!

Take a look and be amazed at my mad photoart skills!







That's all for now, I'll write more sometime this week!

Memo to the Bush Administration

For all the talk we hear of President Bush supporting the troops, it would be apparent that he would follow through.

But of course, this is Bush we're talking about.

The man who said we would find Osama Bin Laden dead or alive days after the tragedy of 9/11, then six months later say that he's not that important.

This frightening report from the Pentagon's Inspector General shows us how Bush's Administration supports our boys in Iraq.

A study completed in late June by the Pentagon's Inspector General concludes that the Department of Defense (DoD) has risked the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq due to malfeasance in awarding and monitoring contracts for badly-needed armored vehicles.

The study, which was requested by Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York, found that since 2000 the DoD has awarded "sole-source" contracts valued at $2.2 billion to just two companies, Force Protection, Inc.(FPI) and Armor Holdings, Inc (AHI).

Inspector General auditors found that the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) made these two companies the sole providers of armored vehicles and armor kits for troops, despite knowing that other suppliers may have produced the equipment so desperately needed in Iraq substantially faster. Both manufacturers fell far behind delivery schedules, while AHI also produced inadequate and faulty equipment.

"We determined the MCSC justification for awarding the sole-source contracts was questionable because MCSC officials knew that viable competition was available and were aware of significant concerns with FPI’s delivery capability," said the report about the MCSC's rationale for looking at no suppliers other than FPI. "In addition, Marine Corps officials did not pursue competition as contracts continued to be awarded, which raises concerns about the recurring justification for urgency."

That same report goes on to discover this horrifying find:

"The Inspector General found that Armored Holdings sent cracked equipment that had been painted over, and even two left doors for the same vehicle, instead of one right and one left. Furthermore, FPI was unable to meet production deadlines even after the Pentagon paid $6.7 million to build up their capability. It was completely unacceptable.

As shocking as this information is, it's not the first time that the current administration has shown a complete lack or drive in supporting our armed forces.

During the lead-up to the Iraqi War, our former Defense Secretary ignored the recommendation of a Marine General that we needed a huge amount of troops in Iraq.

The troop level for the initial invasion of Iraq was controversial throughout the run-up to the war, particularly among U.S. military personnel. In 1999, then head of United States Central Command Marine General Anthony Zinni (ret.) organised a series of war games known as Desert Crossing in order to assess an invasion aimed at unseating Saddam Hussein. His plan, which predicted much of the violence and instability that followed the actual invasion, called for a force of 400,000 troops.[140] Consistent with the Desert Crossing scenarios, the original U.S. army plan for the invasion of Iraq contemplated troop levels of up to 500,000, but Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared this plan "the product of old thinking and the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the military", and decided on an invasion force of approximately 130,000, bolstered by some 45,000 troops from the U.K. and a handful of troops from other nations. [141] The plan to invade with a smaller force was publicly questioned by then Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki, who, during a February 25, 2003 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, suggested that an invasion force would be "on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers."[142] In a November 15, 2006 hearing of the same committee, General John Abizaid, then head of U.S. Central Command, confirmed that "General Shinseki was right that a greater international force contribution, U.S. force contribution and Iraqi force contribution should have been available immediately after major combat operations."[143]

The arrogance of the Bush Administration also stretches to the field of battle as Salon reported of injured soldiers being deployed back into battle.

Last November, Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez, a communications specialist with a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, had surgery on an ankle he had injured during physical training. After the surgery, doctors put his leg in a cast, and he was supposed to start physical therapy when that cast came off six weeks later.

But two days after his cast was removed, Army commanders decided it was more important to send him to a training site in a remote desert rather than let him stay at Fort Benning, Ga., to rehabilitate. In January, Hernandez was shipped to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., where his unit, the 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, was conducting a month of training in anticipation of leaving for Iraq in March.

Hernandez says he was in no shape to train for war so soon after his injury. "I could not walk," he told Salon in an interview. He said he was amazed when he learned he was being sent to California. "Did they not realize that I'm hurt and I needed this physical therapy?" he remembered thinking. "I was told by my doctor and my physical therapist that this was crazy."

Once Hernandez arrived to California for training, he was not the only one sent to train although injured.

Instead, when he got to California, he was led to a large tent where he would be housed. He was shocked by what he saw inside: There were dozens of other hurt soldiers. Some were on crutches, and others had arms in slings. Some had debilitating back injuries. And nearby was another tent, housing female soldiers with health issues ranging from injuries to pregnancy.

That's right. The Army is now going after female soldiers who are pregnant.

And as reported this year, veterans who have served in Iraq, are being treated like second class citizens, some even having their disabilities being downgraded.

Now tell me, is this anyway to support our boys in the military, Mr. Bush?

Here's an idea, Mr. President - quit using our soldiers as one of your shameless photo-ops and actually support them! That would be the patriotic thing to do for these men who have risked their lives for your bullshit war.

Hellllllllloooooooo Florida!

Big news!
I'll be leaving the Mains, the O/T forums, my blog, and myspace until the 11th for a trip to florida!
I leave in the afternoon, so if you'll be wondering 'where did young Jonathan go off to?', you'll know.

I'll be back soon!

Transformers: or how Michael Bay FINALLY made a decent, toleralble movie

In this corner: director Michael Bay. The 2nd shittiest filmmaker, behind the atrocious Uwe Boll. The man who spawned the awful Armageddon, and two of the worst films of the decade: the insulting Pearl Harbor and the vile Bad Boys II. The egotistical, pompous hack who believes himself to be auteur in the film making world.

And in this corner, the movie critics and haters (I am one of them) who wish nothing more but to run his ass out of town by slamming his mindless action pieces, his laughable dialogue, and his over-the-top and misplaced dramatic moments.

And what better way to start but to bitch-slap his latest offering, Transformers? Like Bay's other shit movies, there's the mindless, big, loud and dumb action pieces between Optimus Prime and the Autobots vs. Megatron and his cronies, the Decepticons. There's the signature crap storyline that goes off with to many characters: High school student Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) buys a dented Camero that turns out to be an autobot, Bumblebee, that helps young Sam team up with hottie Mikaela (Meagan Fox) to find the Allspark, a device that if fallen into the wrong hands, grants unlimited power to that alien robots. The autobots seek it to rebuild their home world of Cybertron, the decepicons want it only to enslave the galaxy. Earlier on, U.S. soldiers stationed in Qatar break into a fight of one one of the deceptions that hacks the U.S. security system, leaving Capt. Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and his friend, Sgt. Epps (Tyrese Gibson) out in the middle of the desert with a decepticon on their trails. And in a post 9/11 world, it wouldn't be anything but appropriate but to place a member of Dubaya's 'Axis of Evil' as a potential threat - North Korea.

Enough to crucify Bay's latest work yet again, right?

Sorry haters, but this time, Bay wins this round by way of knockout.

Bay haters who are reading this are wondering, 'Michael Bay made a good movie? How was this impossible feat accomplished?'

First off, nuts to Bay for doing what he's really bad at: filling in a weak story as an excuse to add in two hours and twenty-four minutes of implausible, mindless, robot-on-robot violence. From the transformations, to the loud, ear-deafening action-sequences, Bay works the excitement that puts Sam Rami's mediocre Spider-Man 3 and Gore Veberinski's bloated Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to absolute shame.

Second, in hiring Steven Spielberg to co-produce the film instead of world record holder for longest charade of being a one-trick wonder producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. And third, for hiring LeBeouf to play the role of Sam. If Distrubia was his breakout performance, then Transformers is his vehicle to becoming a household name. Plus, he's the lone standout in a movie full of predictable cardboard cutout characters, which probably isn't saying much in a Michael Bay movie.

As predicted, critics are resuming the Michael Bay hate fest. Let em. In a summer full of mediocre sell-outs, Transformenrs will look like one of the few movies this summer that were fucked around with by human hands.

*** stars out of ****

Independence Day

Today is July 4, our nation's two-hundred and thirty-first birthday.

In 231 years our nation has withstood every obstacle that has been handed.

Each year, I look at the obstacles that have tested our nation's strength and endurance our ability to thrive under change and crisis. From our fight for freedom and the war at home, to the Great Depression and World War II, to the Civil Rights Era to the constitutional crisis that was Watergate, somehow we have come out the other end better and stronger as a nation.

This year, after six years of watching Bush and Cheney showing not only complete disregard for human life in their blood for oil war in Iraq, not only the complete disregard the well being of Americans though their tax breaks for only the wealthiest 1%, but for also our civil rights. In just six years, these two men have all but said that we are the law, Constitution, Bill of Rights, Rule of Law, and Government of the People, for the People, and by the People be damned though the acts of spying on Americans without a warrant or a court order, suspending Habeas Corpus disguised as a bill that will protect the American people, and turning our justice system into a partisan freakshow for an Administration to get away with any crime they have committed, I ask myself: how the fuck did it come to this?

How is it that after 231 years, that our way of life is threated by two businessmen cloaked as the President and the Vice-President who are selling out this country for profit?

How is that we told off King George when he treated our nation like dog shit, but keep silent about the reckless abuse of power coming from the White House?
This Independence Day, I say, we as Americans need to re-examine our history, and our rights as Americans and ask ourselves this question: do we let our elected officials continue to further abuse our laws and our nation, or do we in one united, loud voice reclaim our dignity and our rights and say, 'enough is enough!'?

This is the choice we must make alone.

Good night, and good luck.

EIS Junior Assistant Program: 6/25 - 6/29

Here again, is a recap of all that went down at the Elementary of Science this week. Enjoy!

Day 6: There's a saying during the summer program at EIS: every Monday feels like the first day of camp. You see, every Monday, we have students returning for another week, students who have left because their weeks at EIS ended, and we have fresh new students entering the program for the first time. Today was orientation day, where the kids got to know their instructors and got to know each other. Most of the instructors are the same (Nicole teaches photography, Una teaches Neuroscience, Ed teaches Engineering, Kelly [a guy's name btw] teaches Computer Science, along with Sarah, Sapha teaches Biology, Heather teaches Natural Science), except one new teacher, Jacob, who now teaches Environmental Science in place of a female teacher who's name has now slipped my mind. Along with the new students and teacher, a new Junior Assistant showed up this week, Ashley. And like the first day of camp, the children were excited to be here, yet they were also noisy and talkative, and we, the JA's had to slap em around to make sure who was boss (us and the instructors). I found out today that i'm stuck doing the 9:00 a.m. shift because of a lack of male supervisors in this hour, which isn't all bad. I also chose to help out Nicole with her classroom for the rest of the time that i'm here, mostly cause we make a good team and i'm a great help in the dark room.

Photography - the kids learned how to take an action photograph using an old-fashioned camera (think 80s - 2004) where you had to wind, then shoot, wind, then shoot. Yeah, that kind.

Computer Science (Sarah) - the kids are learning how to record sound on the computer. I contributed to the fun by clucking like the chicken at the closing credits to "Robot Chicken" on Adult Swim! At the end of the week, they'll be able to make their own CD, complete with computer-made music.

Computer Science (Kelly) - the kids were writing a few sentence in step one of the plan to create their own website and i was called in by Kelly to help the little ones with fonts, colors, size of fonts, etc. Best part of the job that day? I got to go on the internet and screw around and rub it in the kids faces (I both helped Kelly and did some surfing on the web)!

Day 7: This may well be my shortest post on my adventures at the Elementary Institute of Science because it was so boring.
I was in Photography with Nicole an thought her classes with the kids today, it was mostly lectures about how to work in the darkroom, what the chemicals are, and how everything works in a nutshell. The students did get to work in the darkroom, but only on test strips of old camera film. The highlight of my day was introducing myself to some students at Mesa College and I found myself staring at a fine-ass asian chick with a nice body, pretty face, great legs, lovely lips........you get the picture - she was smokin hot!!!! Her presence and the thought of her carried me through what was a slow, sluggish day.

Day 8: A priority shift occurred today: I swapped schedules times with another Junior Assistant, Victoria. She got the 9:00 a.m. group of kids and Photography with Nicole, and I got the 10:00 a.m. kids, Computer Science with Kelly, and Engineering with Ed, just to try something different for a day.
I really wish I hadn't around the second group of kids I was helping Kelly with.
Jesus, those sugar-fueled monstrosities our society calls children wore me down all fucking day!!
By lunch Kelly granted me immunity from helping him out, so I helped set up this week's presentation in the conference room on diabetes.
Just another day at the office, I suppose.

Computer Science - groups F and G worked on creating their own web sites, with me running back and forth like a wind-up doll, checking and making sure that they are doing the steps to create their website properly.

Natural Science - really didn't help out the instructor, Heather, just came into her class and helped her clean up the room after an experiment.

Engineering - worked with Ed and group F on an experiment (including water, some rubber bands, window covering, an index card, and a glass cup) that taught the group about surface tension.

Day 9: Remember when Bill Maher said that some children needed to have their asses straightened out? Maher was right, as I had to do in Photography with Ms. Nicole (I went back to my regular time slot that day). Unfortunately, I had my ass straightened out when Nicole caught me getting short and threatening this kid named Charles (from group A) when he was constantly acting up in the darkroom. You see, I this kid was messing around with his fellow group in the dark room and I had already told him to stop. He wouldn't listen, so I have him some tough love: stop fucking around in the dark room and with his teammates of I send him to the office. Charles apparently got the message, but it was my tone that got me in trouble with Nicole. I didn't yell at the kid, but I spoke to him as if I were my dad, and I had really fucked up. I apologized for being short, even though I thought my actions were only to make sure he wasn't screwing around in the dark room, with all the equipment and the chemicals the classes were working with. I liked Charles, but I had to put him back in line.

Photography - the groups were developing their action shots they took on Monday.

Day 10: If you ever get to come down to San Diego, make sure you go to the Carlsbad Strawberry Farm. You get to pick your own strawberries for a small fee, and you get to eat the right off the vine if you wanted to (they use no pesticides or chemicals). Also, visit the Museum of Making Music as well, if you want to tour all the different types of instruments, or if you're a history or music buff. That was the kids field trip on Friday. I was on my A-game, the kids had a blast picking strawberries and learning about the evolution of music, and it was a nice, sunny day in San Diego. What more could you ask for?