Day trip to the Windy (and Rainy) City

I’m back from Chicago. Yeah… I know, I’m such a traveler. :-P I don’t want to bore you with the details. So again… here are some pictures.

The John Hancock Center tower.

Downtown Chicago

On a clear day, you can see all the way into Michigan. According to the infopics on the observation deck, you can see Benton Harbor/St. Joseph. I could make out Cook Nuclear. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative this day.

Chicago River

Why not have some coffee and croissant? It'll only cost you five dollars or so.

Outside the Philippine Consulate.

I would have more pics to show, but many of the places we went such as the Chicago Institute of Art and the Oriental Theater disapproved of photography.

Where are your testicles now?

I suppose some of you know they story about the author of this book, "A Million Little Pieces." The guy was caught by The Smoking Gun embellishing his "memoir" so much, that it was virtually fiction. This was embarrassing for Oprah who had put in her book club as a biography. In a live episode yesterday, she had Mr. Frey on the show to confront him. And boy was she pissed. She really let him have it. I actually felt sorry for him for having to endure it. It was probably like having a root canal without Novocaine.

A while ago, Season and I went to Barnes & Noble where she picked up a copy. The author is from our area and the controversy around the story probably piqued her curiosity. She said that she was enjoying it. It's a sentiment that I keep hearing over and over again from others who have commented on it. It's a compelling read.

Personally, I'm not really outraged over it. An author lied--big surprise. Just move the book from the non-fiction section to the fiction section. Despite the gross exaggerations and outright lies, there still could be a value in the book. Fiction books can make a difference in people's lives too. If Mr. Frey had portrayed the story as being based on real life, he wouldn't be in the mess he's in now. Of course... he probably wouldn't be enjoying all the sales either.

Today's Fox Trot by Bill Amend

What would Henry do?

Ford Motor Co. recently announced its intentions to cut 30,000 jobs by 2012. They have said that they are losing $100 for every car that they sell. A caller on The Roe Conn Show (WLS AM 890 @ 2pm Central), said something like, "Ford believed that they could loose $100 on every car they sold but felt they could make it up on volume." Sorry, it doesn't work that way. It almost breaks my heart to see this great American company being broken down like that. That goes for GM too. The sad reality is that the American automakers are losing to their foreign counterparts. Whether this loss has to do with quality--that can be debated till the cows come home. Personally, I'm incline to put more faith in foreign makers developing a superior product.

*ducks the flying vegetables*

What amuses me is to see fellow Republican that I know, saying that people need to buy American products. These are the same people that believe in free-market capitalism. But apparently that kind of capitalism should be between Americans only. I very much believe in free-markets. If Japan, Korea, or heaven help us--China can make cheaper or better cars, then they deserve to be top-dogs in the market. What makes me a little PO'd is when people start blaming consumers for not buying American. The consumer is not at fault. It is the American companies that are doing something wrong. They need to fix it--not us. So while Ford may have my sympathy (The UAW a bit less), they don't have my support. GM does... because I like my Saturn (when it's working.)

Canada has elections?

Unless you're watching one of the 24hr news networks, you probably didn't know that Canada is having an election today. Why doesn't a Canadian election generate much news in the United States? It's our "little" brother to the north. It's our biggest trading partner. We pretend we're Canadians when we go to Europe. You would think that we could at least give it some headlines here in the south. Instead, it's buried in the global section of newspapers. A building collapse in some African country is considered bigger news.

Well, it looks as though the Liberal Party will be kicked out and Conservative leader Stephen Harper will take PM Paul Martin's place. Now, I admit that I know virtually nothing about Canada's government, but I don't understand the ranting of people like that Michael Moore who are worried that electing a conservative government is going to get rid of abortion or gay marriage. Canadians, correct me if I am wrong, but even in the best case scenario, the Conservatives will have to rely on other parties like Bloc Quebecois to pull legislation through. It's hard as hell to get controversial bills through the U.S. Senate and the Republicans hold a majority! The Conservatives in Canada won't have that will they?

WTF?

Do you guys remember that British MP that came to Washington during the Oil-for-food scandal? I just came across an article through Drudge that reports he is in a reality TV show. The name is Celebrity Big Brother. What the fuck is wrong with this guy? If my one of my senators or my congressman pulled this, they would be out on their ass in the next election. --May I have an application for Senator Stabenow (D-MI) please?

We had to see for ourselves.

Last night as Season and I were heading back to Michigan, she mentioned that she had a craving for a fountain drink. It was the perfect excuse to head over to the Citco station. You see, there is a girl there that is supposedly pregnant by one of our friends. This “girl” and “friend” were together in the summer and we found out that they were going to have a kid. At first, “friend” was happy to have a kid but now that he has broken up with “girl,” he claims it can’t be his. Season hadn’t seen “girl” and I was curious to see if she was showing yet. I think it has been over five months now and I figured she should be.

So we stopped at the gas station. At first glance I couldn’t see if anyone was working there. Perhaps “girl” was not there. When we got in though, I saw her sitting down, resting. But she didn’t look pregnant. I tried not to stare. Well… I had to appear that I was there for the fountain drink—not to check her out! So Season and I proceed to get our drinks, trying to glance her way at any opportunity we could. We checked out and got back on the road.

“She didn’t look pregnant.” Season said.

Nope she didn’t. The only indication to me that she might be pregnant was that she was sitting down. That hardly means anything. Maybe she is pregnant and not showing or maybe she got an abortion which wouldn’t surprise us.

It’s a white trash soap opera here!

We're with New York not Chicago.

Good news! It was announced this afternoon that South Bend, or rather St. Joseph County, will be staying with us on the Eastern Time Zone. No more having to worry about the time differences when I cross the border.

Article here.

How do you know God

How do you know God?

What is it with people and their insistence that the things happening in the world are God’s doing? We’ve got Pat Robertson saying that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was somehow due to God’s displeasure of “dividing Israel.” We’ve got that kook over in Iran who is determined to hastening the arrival of the hidden Imam. Now we’ve got New Orleans City Mayor Ray Nagin coming up with his own kooky quotes.

Read the article here.

As you probably won’t click on the article let me pull out his quotes:

“Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it’s destroyed and put stress on this country.”

“Surely he doesn’t approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We’re not taking care of ourselves.”

“It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans—the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. This city will be a majority African American city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have New Orleans no other way.”

Then he goes on describing an imaginary conversation he had with Dr. Martin Luther King.

If I were God and I were truly pissed with America I would have let the Canadians invade. What, other than killing off the population, could be worse? But really, I don’t get how people like Robertson and Nagin can suggest God is out to get America. Are we to attribute every bad thing that happens because we have gone against his will?

Another thing—why does New Orleans have to be a chocolate city? Ensuring black majority—sounds racist to me.

UPDATE: 7:48PM

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin.

Mayor Ray Nagin has clarified his remarks:

He said he had not meant that it should be an all-black metropolis, asking: "How do you make chocolate?

"You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about," he told CNN. (from here)

Now I suck at spin, but even I could do better than that. Wait! There's more:

“I apologize to any resident in this city that may have been offended,” he said. “That was not my intention. If I could take anything back, I thought the Uptown comment was inappropriate. If any people are working hard to rebuild this city, it’s the people Uptown.”

In his speech, Nagin had said that despite what some Uptown might be saying, that New Orleans would again be a majority African-American city.

Nagin also apologized for invoking God in his speech, saying that it was inappropriate.

Nagin’s speech included a statement that God wanted New Orleans to be majority African-American.

“Unfortunately, everything I say today is scrutinized to the nth degree,” he said. “It was Martin Luther King’s birthday. I thought it was appropriate to address some of the concerns and frustrations I’m hearing from the African-American community.” (from here)

Walking on MLK day.

A while back, I thought about doing a series on this blog called "My World." It would have been pictures of places where I live along with satellite images. You'd be able to see what my world looks like and then refer to the satellite image/map to get the broader idea of what you were seeing. Too much work, but here are some pictures of "my world."

It was a beautiful day today so I thought that I would head out and over to Niles. A few days ago they had their Ice Festival. Season and I saw some of it the other night when they were in much better condition. The warm weather has worn a lot of them down but I did manage to see a couple good ones that were hidden in shady areas.

Clicking on the picture will get you a larger image.

The dollar sign sponsored by First National Bank. Why am I not surprised?

A ballerina with funky appendages.

A seahorse in excellent condition.

After walking through downtown, I headed for the River Front Park. Here is the veterans' memorial.

Looking northward at the St. Joseph River.

I headed up the river (south) until I hit the paper mill.

About what I said before...

Last night someone said, “Maybe they are bad for each other but they have to find that out for themselves.”

I don’t want them to hurt themselves because they seem far from figuring it out. Besides, I tried that approach and all it did was create distance. I guess all I can do is hold that door open.

Alright, enough of this for a while...

I'm done.

One of my friends is an idiot. I say that with love however. How do you stop a person from making the same mistakes over and over? I'm not going to name names here but I'm sure that a few readers will know who I am talking about. Anyways, a friend who I have deep affection for is continuing to squander her life for drugs and a relationship with a man who is also on a path of self-destruction. For a long time, I thought I was being a good friend by trying to engage her. For the past year, however, it feels like I've become the only active part of our friendship. I pulled back and it has gotten me six months without communication from her despite the fact that she lives only a few miles from me. I'm done with hoping that I'll receive a call from her or maybe a note. What a sad way for it to end with a person who I trusted before all others. And I feel so guilty because I feel that I wasn't good enough to get her on the right path and because I don't want to try anymore.

I haven't seen much, really.

When I was in school, I was proud to be the kid that did all the traveling. I relished that short term would I would be that "foreign kid." For years now, I have felt confined. I mentioned a while ago that I was excited to finally get out of the Michiana area and back to Florida. I feel that "itch" again. I need to get out of here.

Hat tip to Doug, where I got the inspiration for this post. I made a couple of maps to show that I really haven't traveled all that much.
The U.S., Canada, the Philippines, Germany, and Japan. Maybe I shouldn't count Japan because I never stepped outside an international air port, but I have been there at least 8 times.
These are the states that I've been to...

...but it doesn't look as impressive as a lot of what I saw was on an interstate.

I had plans to take a trip to Arizona this summer, but I think I will have to put it on the back burner for right now. Lack of funds, you know. But I might consider taking a trip to New England by way of Canada or head down to St. Louis. As for international destinations, I will be going back to the Philippines the first chance I get. The UK can expect a visit from me, but not until 2012 at which time, I'll probably hit up France and Germany (to see where I used to live.)

Dang, I'm going to have to find someone rich if I'm going to see more than just the heartland of America.

*Maps generated by World66 and Microsoft Expedia Streets 98.

A Night with WNDU

I wanted to share with you this article:

Body lost in Michigan landfill will remain there

It looks like a body that was lost in a Michigan landfill will remain there. Trash haulers mistakenly took the body Friday morning from a storage area at a funeral home in nearby Holland, Michigan. They picked up the body while they were collecting medical waste. Search teams sifted through tons of trash in the landfill for two days, but found nothing. The 66-year-old Holland man's children told crews to stop looking for the body, citing the risk of health and safety for the searchers. Environmental officials have agreed to honor the family's request.

I shudder at the thought of that happening to a loved one. Although on the surface, this seems kind of funny, it must be a nightmare for this guy’s family. I’d like to know more, but then maybe it’s just something that I’d be better off not knowing.

* * *

Steve Carell was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During the interview, he had mentioned something about the Second City. Can anyone tell me where the Second City is? Give you a hint—it’s the same as the Windy City. Chicago? Correct! Chicago is also known as the Second City. I only bring this up because it has been years since I have heard Chicago referred to by that old nickname. More common nowadays would be the Windy City, or perhaps Chi-town. Chicagoland? Well, that’s the city plus the surrounding areas, so I wouldn’t count that. But yes, Chicago was once called the Second City because it used to rank bellow New York City in terms of population. It’s not anymore because of Los Angeles. Wait a sec—does my remembering Chicago as the Second City make me old?

[waves old man cane] I remember when gas was only 95¢ a gallon….

Wake me up when they finally confirm him.

I probably should be more excited that I am about these Alito hearings for the Supreme Court seat. What a big yawner. Aside from a little testy words between the committee members, it's just a big snore fest filled with sentiments I'm sure I've heard in Roberts hearings. I can't stand to watch FOX or CNN right now. I'm going back to the network news just so that I can hear something concise and with a little variety. Here I am, a prospective law student, living to see the court bring in two members-- an associate and chief justice, and all I would rather see coverage of Brangelina. Is that pathetic or what? Actually, I'd rather see someone like Senator Hatch get up and slap Sen. Tricky Dick Durbin upside the head.

Sci-Fi Friday!

It’s back! All new episodes of Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica are finally here. So what did I think? I warn you, I have spoilers.

SG-1’s episode was a little quick in its transition. Everything seemed to crash back down to normal without any real action. I did like how they were able to take down one of those priors. Throughout the first half of this season, I have taken a negative view over the “let’s hope they don’t come to our world” take. We had SG-1 going around the galaxy warning the different planets not to go along with the Ori. I can imagine the earthlings stopping by saying, “Don’t believe the Ori, even though you’re going to die if you follow our advice.” So finally developing some offensive solution is a welcome turn of events.

Atlantis, to me, seemed like a regular episode. The events of part one didn’t really seem to matter in this one. The bit with the spy was predictable. I spotted it as soon as when the team was captured for the second time. One thing that I am hoping to see into the season is to see a little more about the Daedalus crew. Even though they are not full cast members, I do like how they manage to keep most of their regular guest stars. Has anyone noticed they made the actor that plays Dr. Beckett full time now? Good things.

Now we come to the meat: Battlestar Galactica. I have been waiting in agony to see how the Pegasus question was resolved. It wasn’t! One of the things about this episode that I found disturbing is how direct it is. Kill him. Kill her. While I supposed it is the intent to show how the humans are self destructive—basically animals, I thought that they could have continued on that line of thought as they always had.

The President seems to have taken a turn for the worse. I have no doubt that some miracle will happen and she will be saved but how that will happen, I am looking forward to finding out. It doesn’t seem to serve a big purpose other than to compel Commander Adama into killing Admiral Cain.

Oh and my question as to why the Pegasus didn’t have civilians with her was answered, even though I had a feeling of it when I saw that aeronautical engineer. I just didn’t realize that she would be so cruel.

Of course I think that the Pegasus is going to be destroyed, but I wonder if Moore and the others will allow the Galactica to pick up some of the bits and pieces left over much like what happened in the original series. Galactica needs some viper pilots and Pegasus has ‘em. I’m not saying that I hate the Mark II vipers, however.

If you haven’t been watching these shows, you’ve got to give them a shot. If anything, at least watch Galactica a couple of times. You won’t regret it.

Burn ‘em at the stake!

I admit, I am person of contradictions. Take, for instance, my distrust for government yet my desire to work for them. It’s no secret that the general public’s view of government as a necessary evil. This necessary evil being ran by people who were seen as the lesser of two evils at the time of their election. Basically, the whole thing is the work of the devil. Does that make me evil because I want to be a part of it? Hmmm…

A lobbyist named Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion, and mail fraud. Sounds boring, I know. But the interesting thing is that he is cooperating with the prosecutors in hopes of getting a reduced sentence. These people have bigger fish to fry. They are going after members of Congress! Oh my dreams of flushing out the politicians may be coming true. [jumps up and down]

What did he do? Basically, he bribed officials with campaign contributions, gifts, trips, meals, entertainment, and job offers for them, their relatives, and staff. [raises hand] Umm, he missed me.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-TX (who is under some heat himself) and Congressman Bob Ney, R-OH have already been named by the press as having connections to Mr. Abramoff. There is speculation that members of the administration may be connected by way of a David Safavian and a 2002 golf outing.

Mr. Abramoff’s willingness to name names is probably causing some holes in Washington to pucker up. Whether this will hurt the Republicans… I don’t know. I certainly can see it. A BBC report said that Mr. Abramoff dealt with both Democrats and Republicans with the Republicans getting a little over 60% of the funds funneled. Where they pulled that statistic, I don’t know either. While conservative pundits will say, "hey the Dems were in on it too," it is especially damaging for the Republicans since they are the majority party plus Mr. Abramoff’s own political affiliation is conservative Republican. That going along with Congressman DeLay’s own investigation, and a host of other small scandals, it doesn’t put a good face on the Republicans going into the mid-term elections.

Another contradiction: I’m a Republican and I am glad that this is happening. It’s about time that this party starts eating some of the crap it’s been dishing out. Without having some Democratic nemesis, the party has gotten to comfortable with its control. Also, the actions of the congressional and executive republicans are a complete 180 from the principals that got them there in the first place. Whatever happened to fiscal conservatism (deficits)? To smaller government (Department of Homeland Security)? To restrained international policies (“nation building”)? To adhering to law, rather than grossly interpreting it (Wire-taps)? If it takes the Democrats regaining the House and/or Senate to give a kick in the ass to the Republicans, it just might be worth it. Time for the Dept. of Justice to take out the trash!

Perv.

One of my virst visitors of the new year came to this blog by searching for "teen porn Niles Michigan." Sorry to disapoint you, visitor, but you are more likely to see porn on my other blog than this one and it wouldn't be teens. I prefer to play it safe and not have the government monitor my blog under the suspicion that I might be a pedophile.