Greetings...

I'm not going to apologise for my tirade yesterday...

It really DID cheese me off.

And today... Something else rather cheesed me off, but I promise to be a bit more balanced and fair.

There's continuing talk of "Liberal Media Bias" and of course, we of the Fox News generation know this "supposed" LIBERAL bias is completely unfounded. The fact, folks... Is that depending on your "flavour" of news, you're going to get a leaning of some sort. I've sort of spoken about it before... I read the New York Times 'cause they lean Lefty. I don't read the Washington Post 'cause they lean Righty... But it IS still just a LEAN. There's a thousand times I get cheesed off at the NY Times for a bone-headed editorial that I consider to be "too moderate" for my liking, and there's times that the Washington Post does a great job of covering something, and I give them kudos* for a good article.

That being said... I'm going to have to re-name the Star and Sickle the "Rovian Reporter." With it's continued support of the Twins Stadium, and non-referendum'ed Taxpayer money to pay for it... And today...

Today...

Gah.

Okay, so in the "Metro Section" they have a short "Meet the Voters" of six Minnesotan voters, that the StarTrib is going to "check in upon" during the upcomming mid-term elections. The first guy is a "DFL-er" who "can change" And seems to support everything the Republican's do... The next is a "Leans DFL" who think's Pawlenty is great. The Second a "used to be Republican" who doesn't like Gov. Pawlenty, but thinks Mark Kennedy is a "great guy." The next, "Ex-republican" who's voting DFL-er... The next is an "Independant" who's voting a straight Republican ticket... The next... Republican, voting republican... Then they have a "Daughter of a Republican" who's going to vote Republican 'cause Dad's an old GOP-er, or some such crap...

Anyone else notice something here?

Minnesota is the one of the last "Blue States" (which in the US means Liberal. We're opposite Britain's political-colour code)

And somehow the "voters" that the StarTrib-Roveian-Reporter find, lean Republican.

So... In the attempt at true FAIRNESS... I'm going to be offering MY BLOG as the "Minnesotan Democrat" voter. Whenever the Rovian-Reporter does a "talk with the Voters" thing... I'm going to answer the same questions that they did... So... Here goes... Tuckmac's entry:

OLD FASHIONED DEMOCRATIC/FARMER/LABOR DEMOCRAT

Tuckmac, 33, Bloomington/St. Paul, Photographer/I.T. Academic, DFL.

POLITICAL INSTINCTS

"Lately I've become even MORE DFL than I had been before. I've been vaguely independent, but due to the mess the country is in, I've gone firmly into the DFL camp," Tuckmac said. "Bush has been the worst thing to happen to our country for over one-hundred years."

ON THE CANDIDATES

"Pawlenty and Hatch are exactly the same worthless person, in different suits. I support Becky Lourey, as she's an actual Democrat, as opposed to the republican in sheep's clothing that Hatch truly is."

He picked Klobuchar for senator in the Minnesota Poll, and said Klobuchar "is the only choice for Minnesota. Mark Kennedy is a Bush-ite and supports the President in basically every way. Regardless of his lying in his own commericals to the contrary."

So... There you go folks... Keep posted to this site to hear a TRUE Democrats viewpoints on the Minnesota Election.

-- Tuckmac

* KUDOS as in the original word... Not the "MySpace" crap. I'm old, remember?

Yay... Something for me to be angry about...

Hold onto your horses, folks... I'm cheesed off.

The current Bush administration, the Fascists and Nazis of America have just called all of us, those of us that are Democrats...

Nazi Sympathisers.

That's right... Because I, with most of my "liberal-lefty" peeps, have been calling for a withdrawal from Iraq.... We, according to Rumsfeld, are Nazi sympathisers.

I don't know... Sometimes you just want to just fall over, and twitch in a Grand Mal Seizure, or... Or... VAH!

The group of men whom have done more to stoke terrorists, and support evil regimes, and take away basic rights of Americans... This group of scary white men (and one really scary black-woman) have personified the Nazi party in so many ways that I am well and truly afraid... Seriously... I am afraid for my country and for my personal freedom...

This group, calls me a Nazi sympathiser.

To: Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney (Pot)
From: Tuckmac (Kettle)
Re: Nazism

You're black.

Sincerely, Tuckmac (kettle)

Man. I was actually shaking with rage this morning. Wow. You know... I'm getting quite tired of being called a defeatist, and a Nazi sympathiser, and a "cut and run" Democrat.

Mr. Bush... Katrina. You promise, and you promise, and you cajole, and you "roll up your sleeves" and you know what? You have done EFF-ALL for New Orleans. See, someday... You actually have to DO something for the people of New Orleans. You seem to think that saying: "I understand your pain, and am going to do everything I can for you." is all you have to do. See, you are the President of the most powerful country in the world. People actually believe that you can do something. So... When you SAY that you're going to do something, and then you don't it sorta Pisses us off!!!

Point Numero TWO: You have said it yourself... Iraq had NOTHING to do with the attacks on 9/11/2001. So... What exactly IS the point for staying in Iraq, facing a civil war, and killing thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of American soldiers? You keep saying "fight terrorists somewhere AWAY from America." Mr. Bush... Although there are a few terrorists in Iraq, the people we're actually fighting in Iraq are normal Iraqis that bloody well hate us for a bloody well good reason! The really amusing thing, that rather chaps my HIDE is that if we pulled OUT of Iraq... The crazies would kill each-other OFF without us having to do a bloody eff-ing thing! Give the Kurds their "Kurdistan" give the Sunnis their "Sunni-istan" and the Shias their "Shia-istan" and then get the hell out of there! See... The war ends... Everyone is happy... We're safely at home... And the terrorists have no one to shoot at.

Point Numero THREE: You, Mr. Bush, keep saying that we're safer than we were before Iraq. Bull-shite! We're not safer... Our Ports are known to be completely undefended. People in Britain are mixing up drug-store liquids and attempting to get onto planes... And you still have a few hundred people sitting in a jail in a foreign country without being charged! You are tapping phone-calls by my wife to her mother, and I frankly don't think you're doing anything at bloody eff-all except hiding in a closest in the Lincoln bed-room sucking your thumb and crying to your pappas Dicky and Rummy, and waiting for your sad, and HORRIFIC presidency to be over.

Well... Mr. Bush... You have two more years as our President. You can do nothing and go down as the most stupid, inept and frighteningly shite President the United States has ever known... Or you could.

Wait. Nevermind. There's absolutely nothing you can do that will change History's idea of what you are. You are a bloody eff-ing moron whom will be reviled by the entire world and there's nothing you, Rummy, Dicky, or CONDIE can do, that will change that.

I just can't wait till your term is up, and you go away, sir. You have embarrassed me for six years, and you will continue to do so for the rest of your term.

You sir, are shite.

Eff-you!

-- Tuckmac

Gah... Tuesday and still nada...

I have to get OUT more, or something.

Well... Here's a couple of "quizzy thinggys" that I found. Yep... That bad.

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

15% Yankee

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 8 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

The first one, I liked... 60% "General" American English... That just means I don't have much of a regional accent anymore... And the second one... I'm embarrassed that I only got 8 out of 10 correct. Gah. That just goes to show you, Yanks get very little education in our own history!

Smiles,
T

Monday morning...

Well...

Um...

Ah...

You know the most horrible thing about a Monday, is sometimes there's just nothing good to say about it. I mean... I have just finished a wonderful week... I mean... The Job and The Ren Fest and some fun political stuff with Fun With Bush, and frankly... It's hard to follow that sort of week.

Since I'm stuck... And thanks to My Lady I have a single link... It's to the New York Times so... If you don't have a password and signin with them feel free to use the BugMeNot service...

• Bar None Pubs in Preston, Lancashire, UK have decided that patrons "standing" at the bar is a public health hazzard, and thus wishes to pass a law where pub-goers must sit whilst drinking. Man... You know, sometimes the Brits' ideas of a "Nanny State" go a bit too far.

Well folks, that's all I can come up with for today. Sorry...

Have a great one!

-- T

The Ren Fest

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is held every year from mid-August through October. I grew up at the "Ren Fest" as it's known to it's regulars. I haven't BEEN to the Ren Fest for YEARS, due to my living in Britain from 2003-2005. I missed the place terribly.

Whilst a child, I was actually a "Festy" which means I "worked" at the Fest as a performer. Since I grew up, and well... Became LESS the cute tow-headed six-year-old with a brilliant "English-Street-Urchin-accent" I stopped being a Festy, and became a "Paytron" (spelling emphasised). That doesn't mean that I do not want to be a performer at the Ren Fest. In fact, My Lady and I are planning on "trying out" next year to be a musical duo playing Scottish Folk music. We'll see if that happens. Anyhoo...

That's the background. As I've become "employed" this week... My Lady, my mother, and myself turned Saturday into our "celebrate Tuckmac no longer being a drain on society day" or CTNLBADOSD (which looks a bit like "continental bad arsed" and isn't actually a real acronym.) But I digress.

We had an absolute BALL. It was so fun to introduce My Lady to the "American" version of the Renaissance Fair. She's been talking to me about how "England" and "Britain" in general, handle the "reenactment" scene. And frankly... I found it rather boring. I'm not cutting in on Britain, here... Trust me. However, I think whilst "reenactments" are wonderful teaching tools, and very important to children learning about their history... When one wants to go "carouse" and be silly... Stringently remaining true to "History" and reenactments just doesn't work for me.

I like the fact that the Minnesota Ren Fest doesn't actually make any sense. Seriously... It doesn't. It "leans" Elizabethan, but it has King Henry VIII as it's "monarch" which of course would be more "Tudor" in it's historical placement. There's people walking around as blue-painted Picts, and Viking warriors... Musicians do "Elvis songs" and impersonations tongue-and-cheek, along with traditional folk music... All in all it's the most anachronistic mess that ever existed.

It was a blast!

My Lady's first mead, ever...


I had a wonderful "King Henry VIII Turkey Leg" for the first time in three years.


Yum!

Here's a shot of the happy couple with purchases, just before leaving the Fest for the day:



Anyhoo... We capped off the day by my mother buying Fiona a dress and bodice-waist coat thing-gummy (the purchases, mentioned above)... And My Lady and I are planning on attending the Ren Fest as a Scottish-couple on the "Highland Fling" weekend in September.

It was great fun.

Anyhoo... That's it for today. Smiles!

-- Tuckmac

Hi readers... I have news... Really good news...

First, before I get to the news... I want to throw up a little photo that My Lady made for me, of me at Pizza Lucé in Downtown MPLS:



Okay... So... The news.

I didn't want to "jinx" it, so... I didn't mention that two weeks ago, I was called by a wonderful guy that works in an extention of the I.T. dept. in a small liberal arts college in Southern Minnesota. He called, in answer to an application for employment with his department. I had HEARD of the job from a very good friend that works at this little college... (Thank you SO much, super-networker, Joann)

We set up an interview for Wednesday the 23rd (yesterday).

I met with him and his "partner" guy for an interview and "lunch."

I thought that the interveiw went really well, and I came home very excited. Again, I didn't want to "jinx" it... So... I didn't mention anything about the interview to anyone...

Anyhoo... The "guy" said that he would call me on Monday (28th of August) with the news of either acceptance or regret.

He didn't call Monday... He called TODAY!!!

I have been offered the job, and I have accepted the job.

I am now employed.

I start on the 1st of September.

I am jumping with joy.

Yay.

That's it for today folks.... Have a "good-un!" I know that I am.

Smiles,
Tuckmac

Fun with Bush... The man, not the dirty word...

Hello folks...

Well, Mr. Bush, the President of the United States through voting irregularities, is visiting my home-town today.

And, as I gaze upon stopped traffic due to his motorcade, and hundreds of protesters jamming up the city, I thought I'd throw up a few fun videos of Mr. Bush. My apologies to those of my readers with slow-connection Internet speeds... I'm afraid that today, that can't be helped. I DO, however, believe that the videos are well worth the wait.

The first, a vaguely SERIOUS video that was 'given' to me by a close friend whom must remain nameless, due to his rather conservative-workplace. Thanks friend... It's a doozy:

• This goes out to the majority of Americans that STILL think that Saddam was involved in 9/11. Folks, your own pres. denies it! Bush now says...


• And really, just for fun: Is Bush an Idiot? a delightful little video-montage of my leader's gifted speaking ability.

Well, readers... That's it for today, but I feel my job for this Tuesday is done.

Smiles, T

Oh... I just can't help it.

Since there's not much going on in my life at the mo'... I thought I'd do another Linky Day Post:

• Okay, thank the GODS that the BBC didn't go through with this one... Billie Piper makes my teeth itch... Doctor Who spin-off 'cancelled'
• So now we're going to pollute the atmosphere MORE to save the Earth? Jeez...
• Muslims kicked off plane. The issue that the Muslims face nowadays is not a fair one. The problem is that it's true: Not all Muslims are terrorists. However, all terrorists ARE Muslims. At least according to the news. Folks, let's calm the heck down, okay?
• This is a good 'un... What right-wingers see when they read the New York Times... Brilliant...
• And finally, a "political" cartoonist convey's thoughts that are quite similar to my own... Bless 'im. Toles

Well folks... Have a good day, okay? I'm going to try to do so...

-- Tuckmac

After Yesterday's Levity...

I have to go and get a bit serious again...

Sorry... Look, I don't like Jack Prescott (Dep. Prime Minister of Britain) any more than MOST Brit Labourites... Okay, I don't. (Although he has remarkable taste in art, for hanging one of my photographs in his office [somewhere, probably the loo] for six months.) But the fact that the guy has an extraordinary gift of putting his foot firmly in his mouth on a monthly (sometimes daily) basis is a GREAT thing at times...



I mean, seriously... Here's the article itself: Bush is crap, says Prescott

When will the guy learn that there ARE no "private meetings" in Politics?

Although it's a bit of a gaff... It's also rather apt. I mean... Bush IS crap. But... I don't know if a "fellow politician" and from an "Allied" country, no less... Should be saying stuff like that. But then... Muahahahahaha!

Britons, in general have a pretty good grasp of reality, unlike us Yankee folk...

Quick rant... For the past two weeks, since Lieberman lost the Democratic Primary in Connecticut, Republicans have been harping about "Weak Democrats, Weak security, cut and run, blah... Blah... F'n Blah... But then... The Brits foiled the terrorist plot to blow up 10 airplanes over the Atlantic.

How did the Brits foil the plan? Intelligence (both meanings of the word), police-work and ingenuity; Stalwarts of the British character.

How do the US Republicans fight terror? By invading a country that was ANTI Al-Qaeda, and f-ing it up so badly, that it's now the bloody headquarters of the bastards.

Yep... Makes lots of sense.

There's an old axiom... If all you have is a hammer, everything begins looking like a nail. And it's an obvious fact that the US has a great military. We do. Our military is staffed and funded up the wahzoo. However, terrorists can NOT be fought using a huge army. They can't. You have to infiltrate their groups. You have to discover their plots, and then catch 'em before they attack. That's the only way to do it. How do you do this? Police and Spies. That's what we need. Not an Abrahm's Tank and/or F-14's.

There's a whole hullabaloo this week about a judge in the Midwest of America deciding that warrentless wire-tapping by the Bush administration is illegal. Bless her.

Of course, today... In the NY Times: Experts Fault Reasoning in Surveillance Decision. And after reading the article, I see what these "experts" are saying. The judge in question, used rather circular reasoning to ban the wire-tapping... However... I DO think that the warrentless wiretapping is wrong.

Why, Tuckmac... You were just talking about using spying and intelligence to catch terrorists...

Yeah. I DO believe that spying is a good thing these days, however... It's the "warrentless" part that bugs me. See... We have laws that allow for wiretapping, but there's this pesky thing called a warrant that the gov. needs to acquire before doing so. There's privacy laws in the States, and they should be followed.

That doesn't mean that I don't want them to tap terrorists' phones. I do want them to do so, however... All of us that have "international" ties are nervous that the gov. is tapping our conversations. My Lady and her mother were on the phone two days ago, and My Lady was deliberately being careful to not use certain words that could be misconstrued as "dangerous" due to the practice of "Data-mining" that the gov. is using. You see... What we're all worried about, is that they're tapping ALL international calls, and using computers to 'listen in' and only start recording a call when certain 'words' appear in the conversation.

We shouldn't be worried about this. My Lady is a good little Scottish-bird that would never hurt a fly, and doesn't have any Islamic tendencies. However, due to the latest round of terrorists being "home-grown" in the UK... We DO sort of wonder just who's listening in whilst we chat with our friends and family over in Britain.

I know... I know... "Tuckmac, you and Fiona have nothing to fear, if you're innocent."

And my answer to that? Tell that to the few hundred folk that have been held in Gitmo for the past three years without charges, and most of whom were collected in a "witch-hunt" of the Afghanistan hillsides. Most of the dudes in Gitmo were captured without weapons, simply because they were "there" in the hillsides, of that rather dry little country.

Nah... My government has proved by illegally tapping phones, flouting the Geneva Convention AND US Constitutional Law, and their stupidity in Iraq... That my rights, safety and freedoms are non-existent.

I will worry until Bush is out of office, the Republicans lose control of Congress, and the US leaves Iraq and starts paying attention to our PORTS instead of Iraq's oil.

-Tuckmac

My Lady is going to kill me.

However...

Muahahahahahaha


Fi Wookie

Sorry lovey... Just had to. And for my critics... It's from my mobile-phone camera, so... Yeah, it sucks in quality, deal!

Anyhoo... What's up? Nada. My Lady is on the "Opening" shift this week, which means 5:30am wake-ups, and a car ride at 7:00am.

I want to weep. But then, so does she.

Um...

Currently reading:
The Icarus Agenda

Currently Listening:
Jack FM

Currently Dreaming:
Flats

Currently Laughing:

Memnon's love affair with boxes goes beyond weird.

There you all go... Smiles for today!
--Tuckmac

Web Hosting.

I'm not going to slander the company with whom My lady and I have been "hosted" for our professional website.

Quick explanation for less techie sorts that may read this...

My Lady and I have a domain name. Meaning a website "address." You "register" a domain name (meaning we lease it sorta) through an international company based in the U.S. So... for example www.bbc.co.uk is "leased" by the BBC and so no one else can use it. Anyhoo... Although we "lease" our name through this "mega-corporation" we have to have a major "server" somewhere that "hosts" our website. All of the files that make up a web-site have to be put SOMEWHERE so that people can view the website through a browser like FireFox or Explorer (poo on them) or Safari... Et al. Many different companies do this. My first "hosting" company was PressEnter a little hosting company based out of Wisconsin. They were a nice enough company, but very limited... It would've been very costly to stay with their company.

So my friend N8 sorted me out with a company that for legal reasons, I'll simply call "The Evil Company" and leave it there.

Now... Do NOT think that this is a blog against my friend N8. It's not. He set me up with a company that HE was with, and at the time... It seemed to be a great company to go through. We had complete access... Could control everything... Could have all the space we needed on-line... All the e-mails that I could've wished for... Etc... Etc... Etc... Like I said... Great place!

NOT!

In the past few months, "The Evil Company" has shown it's true colours. First... Our access to all the extended "wizz-bangers" that we used to have... Setting up multiple e-mail accounts... Sub-domains... All the cool stuff...

All of this went away. We contacted the company with our complaints, and... Nothing. Nada... Zip... Zero... No response. Well... We were basically cheesed off... But N8 knew the guy, and was bitching more than WE were, so... We waited, with N8, thinking that perhaps this issue would be fixed.

It's been four months now... And no fix.

Then... Our e-mail stopped working... Once again... Lodged a complaint, and sat...

Well... For almost two weeks now... Our PROFESSIONAL E-MAIL has not worked. And the company has again, ignored our complaint, and not done anything about it.

As artists, and designers... And POOR people... We depended on our web presence, and our e-mails, etc, for our livelihood. The fact that "The Evil Company" has completely failed to live up to THEIR half of our business contract has forced us to leave them.

N8, I know you're going to read this... YOU ARE SO AWESOME... Seriously... When "The Evil Company" began being, well... Evil... N8 came through for me in all of my questions and issues... He's been a stalwart friend, helping me deal with my technological problems, without a single complaint. Thank you N8, for being such a great friend, and know that I (and Fiona) appreciate you!

You see, everyone... When "The Evil Company" had finally broken my camel's back... N8 came through ONCE AGAIN, and found me a NEW company with whom to deal... It's called GoDaddy and it's a wonderful deal... We're basically getting the exact same service that we had from "The Evil Company" for HALF the price... And instead of dealing with an impersonal "e-mail" customer service centre, we're able to actually TALK to a HUMAN!

GoDaddy will be "hosting" our website from now on... It'll take about a week for everything to go through, so... Please, if you look at our site on a regular basis, be patient as we get our domain switched... It takes a bit of time... And our e-mails will be back up in about a week as well.

N8, final thank you. You've really helped Fiona and myself navigate the strange ether that is the "internet" and we love you!

Smiles,
Tuckmac and Fi

Jesus wept...

...and so did I. In fact, I continue to do so.

I hate everything lately... Politics... Religion... Unemployment...

Everything.

So... This post is asking for some help.

Can people, (in the comments) please let me know what the hell is worth ANYTHING anymore?

Thanks.

-- Tuckmac

P.S... No, I'm not horribly depressed, nor am I thinking of bad things like "ending it all" or some such bollocks. I'm not that way... Just tired.

Cheers...

-T

To the voters of Connecticut...

... I thank you!

Seriously, folks... Democrat Connecticut voters have spoken for ALL of America, when during the party primary voting, Democratic New-comerNed Lamont was elected to be the Democratic Senate Candidate for their state, replacing the three-decade-long-Dem. Joseph Lieberman.

Whilst it's true that Lamont's spin leaned toward blasting Lieberman's support for the Republican-President "Georgie Bushie Two..." There were a few other "talking points" that Lamont stood for, against Mr Lieberman.

Not only did Lieberman support the war in Iraq, and refuse to apologise about his error... He also supported the Republican "School Voucher" system that would take money away from state-run schools, and give it to private schools (many of whom are "religious institutions." Lieberman also was against Affirmative Action ('cause like, African-Americans seem to have exactly the same rights as us White folk (although, not quite in the South, or in voting, 'cause like, they aren't allowed to vote in many places, and the fact that they don't get into colleges, unless we MAKE the colleges accept them, and... I digress) You're right, Joe... Don't need Affirmative Action anymore. Right... Lieberman also supported government intervention into the whole Terri Schiavo debacle...

See... Joe kept saying he was a "moderate" and that he was trying to work with "both sides of the aisle" in the Senate. Joe... Working with 'both sides' is NOT a bad thing... But do you have to support the Republican's agenda so stringently? See... Being a moderate, and trying to make the government work, is a GOOD thing. However, what you're meant to be doing as a "moderate" is finding a middle ground. You are meant to find a way to COMPROMISE the two positions, conservative and liberal... And make a law that works for BOTH sides. Perhaps the law wouldn't be exactly the way either party wanted, but... You know... Compromise is compromise.

Joe, what YOU were doing was not compromising with the Republicans. Joe... You were supporting the Republicans. You didn't look to "message the bills" and insert a "Democratic padding" to the laws... You out and out pushed the Republican agenda.

That is not what Democrats want, Joe. That's why your own State has abandoned you, and has gone to Lamont.

Partisan politics is a tough road of which to walk in the middle. You tend to get squashed.

You were squashed. Suck it up, and go the f*ck away.

Thanks.

-- T

Okay, stay with me here...

Okay... For these links, feel free to use: BugMeNot to avoid signing up for the NYTimes. (note: The writers and contributors of "The Life and Times..." do not condone using such a nefarious service.)

A weird feeling came over me today, whilst viewing the front page of the New York Times newspaper on the 8th of August.

Here's the listing that grabbed my attention, with the internal links provided:

Lieberman and Lamont Battle to the Wire
By PATRICK HEALY
The rivals in Connecticut’s Democratic primary for United States Senate used sharply different tactics on the last day of a contest that appeared to be tightening.

Public Pension Plans Face Billions in Shortages
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
By one estimate, state and local governments owe roughly $375 billion more than they have committed to their pension funds.

Lebanese Offer to Send Troops to Patrol Border Is Dismissed by Israel
By HASSAN M. FATTAH and STEVEN ERLANGER
At the United Nations, diplomatic efforts stalled after Lebanon and Arab League members objected to a draft resolution on a cease-fire.

After Bomb Kills Loved Ones, Life Turns Ghostly
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Ghazi Samra stumbles on through grief and regret after an Israeli airstrike killed his wife, daughter and granddaughter

Nine Passengers Are Killed in Chase at Border
By PAUL GIBLIN
A sport utility vehicle carrying suspected illegal immigrants overturned while being pursued by Border Patrol agents in Arizona, officials said.

Ohio Republican Tied to Abramoff Will Retire
By PHILIP SHENON
Representative Bob Ney, who is entangled in a corruption scandal, said that he would abandon his re-election bid

DeLay Must Stay on Ballot as Court Rejects Appeal
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
The decision was a victory for Democrats, who have fought to keep the former House majority leader in the spotlight

Biggest Oil Field in U.S. Is Forced to Stop Pumping
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and JEREMY W. PETERS
The emergency at BP's Prudhoe Bay operation in Alaska drove world crude oil prices to just under $77 a barrel.

What was the "feeling" that came over me? Well... It's going to sound rather sick, actually... But I will explain, I promise...

That feeling was "glee."

Yes, I'm serious... I felt this overwhelming feeling of euphoria.

Sounds pretty awful doesn't it? But now... Please let me explain, before you purge your bookmark, and refuse to ever read my blog again.

There's a movement in the United State's Evangelical Christian Church that seems to celebrate the idea that the world is coming to an end. It's a real thing... They truly believe that the "rapture" is coming, and Christ will be amongst us soon. This explains the reason so many Christian-Right folk don't seem to care about the environment... To them, they find worrying about green-house gases to be "cute" 'cause heck... The world is ending anyway... So... Why should we care.

They actually are looking FORWARD to the end of the world. Strange no? I admit that I've never quite understood how these strange Christians can be so happy about "Satan taking over the planet" as it seems to be a bit "anti-Christian" however... There it is.

But now... I suddenly DO understand them.

The difference, is that I'm not looking forward to Christ coming down and removing the righteous from the Earth, whilst leaving the rest of us to burn in eternal hell-fire.

On the contrary, that thought rather frightens me. Luckily, I'm not Christian, so I don't really have to worry too much about that stuff... But moving onward...

What am I looking forward to? What did the "above" headlines make me feel 'happy' about???

The democrats. And I use the "small d" on purpose... I'm not talking about "DEMOCRATS" and the movers and shakers of my DFL party in the United States. Rather, I'm talking about a growing movement of people who have been watching the world fall apart for the last five years, and have somehow "not noticed" that it was happening... Until now.

Suddenly the newspapers, the scary "FOX Newses" the political pundits, even the Dems and Republicans in the House and Senate...

Everyone is suddenly realising that Iraq was stupid... That Israel is wrong to attack civilians in Lebanon because of "hidden" terrorists that may, or may NOT be hiding amongst them... That the world is warming due to our own negligence... That our reliance on an old-polluting technology of oil and gas is stupid, and that no one is doing anything about it... That the Baby-boomer generation in the U.S. is going to have SERIOUS issues with retirement, pensions, and health-care and that my generation is going to be a MESS trying to keep the population above the water... That Bush and his cronies in the Whitehouse are completely and totally out of touch with REALITY!

I’m happy (in a sick way) that the news is so overwhelmingly AWFUL, because... If the news stays THIS bad...

Maybe... JUST MAYBE... The democrats have a chance to take back our government... Maybe right-minded responsible caring loving non-sectarian people may gain control once again, and start HEALING this world, rather than watching it spin around the drain of human suffering and horror.

Maybe.

I hope for that day.

-- Tuckmac

Hi there...

Well, I haven't been "blogging" as much as usual. And I'm sorry to all of my avid readers. However, I've been noticing that I am not the only blogger to be "remiss" in their duties.

I like blogging. I really do. I think it serves a purpose, even if most of that purpose is ego-stoking and ranting. I mean, do you really want to keep all of your frustrations deep inside your psyche? Or is it better to spew out an occasional stream of venom, and then get over it?

I tend to think that venting my frustrations to the world is a good thing for me, and frankly... Honest Kind Reader... You're attentions are secondary to my own ego. But then, you're probably used to that. Most blogs are not set out to "assist" you the reader in your lives, on the contrary... As blog readers (and I am one as well) there's a certain kind of voyeurism that we get out of reading these skewed viewpoints on the web.

But I digress. There's a specific piece of news that I've been desperately avoiding. It's the troubles in the Middle East. We all know... Hezbollah bombing Israel, Israel bombing Lebanon... On ward and upward... or more true: offward and downward, but I again digress.

I'm supposed to put my views about this problem up on the web, you know, like I usually do. However, I've decided to not drag myself into this quagmire that is the Mid-East. Folks, all of us know that there is no innocence on the part of anyone in that blighted region of the Earth. I think perhaps that Craig Ferguson on late-night television said it best last week:

"Troubles again in the Middle East? Bush says peace will be restored? What peace? Folks, there hasn't been any peace in the Mideast for 5000 years! Why is everyone so shocked about new troubles in the Mideast? They're OLD troubles..."

And that's true. Come on... When has that area ever been peaceful?

My own view points? Let'em figure it out themselves. The best thing my country could/should and WON'T do... Is get the fug out of there, and forget it. Let 'em squabble for SAND all on their own. Criminey!

There you go... That's Tuckmac's Mideast-rant of the month.

-- T

Well... The heat-wave is over

At least for us "Midwesterners" and only for the moment. Typically, August is our worst month. But with 19 days of above 30°C (90°F-sorta) weather in July... I can't say that I'm looking forward to August. For the record, it hit 38°C (102°F) on Monday, but my back garden reader DID actually hit the "BBC" forecasted 42°C (107°F).

Man was Monday a scorcher.

Moving onward:

I don't know if I've linked to this one before, however, even if I have it's worth revisiting: Dance Monkey's Dance It's a "YouTube" link, so... Fast internet connection preferred.

Dude... You know, My Lady and I did a "wedding on the cheap" when we got hitched... Although our artist friends that attended are probably still paying down their credit cards. However, it really was a cheap wedding. We held it in My Lady's little village... Ceremony in the villiage kirk, and reception with food prepared by my mother-in-law and a friendly bar-woman who ran the cash-bar for us on the cheap, in the village hall.

My Lady and I still think that it was by far the best wedding we could have ever dreamed of having. Seriously. Anyhoo... To the point, I suppose: Check out this story from Reuter's: Shredded Euro Confetti Scandalizes Town. And yeah... Shredded Euro-notes for confetti is what it's talking about. Makes me sick.

Finally... A story that's making it's rounds today on various and sundry news-readers... There's a "survey" that talks about how women would prefer a plasma-T.V. compared to a diamond necklace, etc... Psst... Chicks Dig Technology. What I think is funny, is this quote:

"People make the assumption that women are not as advanced as men when it comes to technology and I was surprised at the parity men and women now have in terms of technology" - Geraldine Laybourne, chairman and chief executive of Oxygen Network

It's like... Duh... Women get technology? Man... If people heard the discussions that My Lady and I have over a pint... You'd be shocked. She knows more about technology than I do. Not only that... It's really not that surprising to me. You see... I understand where the market may be surprised. Men, traditionally, have been the buyers of new technology. Why? 'Cause it's all about having the newest and "bestest" new toy. Women, however, actually take a bit of time to learn about technology before they go out and buy it. Women tend to be a bit more savvy than us guys.

Okay... I'm off for the day. Have a "good-un"

-- T