Anyone have a copy . . .

. . . 0f 1984?

I need to read it again to find out what our all-knowing, all-powerful government is going to do next.

Why?

We are soon to have a PLAN.  A Personal  Localized Area Network required on all of our cell phones.

Why?

Because the government needs to text information to us in case of . . . well, whatever they think is important. 

Said messages include Amber alerts about missing children, information about imminent threats, and (the topper) urgent messages from the president.  These messages will supersede ALL other traffic to prevent delay.  And, they will be broadcast to ALL cell phones in an area regardless of carrier or home location.

The system will be operational in New York City and Washington D.C. by year's end.  The rest of us are not far behind.

We can opt out of all of these messages.  Well, except for messages from the president.  Those cannot be blocked.

"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 7

Bush . . .

. . . Doctrine

When Charlie Gibson ambushed Sarah Palin with HIS understanding of the Bush Doctrine, he had no idea what he was talking about.

Succinctly, it is this:

1. If a country harbors terrorists, it will be considered a terrorist nation.
2. The U.S. reserves the right to preemptive strikes to prevent terrorist acts.
3. The U.S. reserves the right to unilateral action to prevent terrorist acts against its interests.
4. Democracy around the world will be supported.

Barry O apparently understands it perfectly.

Abbottabad, anyone?

Never bring a knife . . .

. . . to a cat fight *

A Cleveland (Texas) man was attacked by a housecat Friday. His afternoon injuries were so severe that he had to be taken by air ambulance to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

At some point during the attack, the man and the cat reportedly were injured by a knife the man was holding. The cat was taken to Big Thicket Animal Hospital for examination.

The man's identity is unknown at this time.

* Disclaimer: Although that was my first thought when reading the story, someone beat me to it in print.

Eh . . .

. . . wot?

I know that hats are de regueur at Brit weddings, but when did a hat change from something you wear on your head to something you glue to your forehead?

Unfu**ing . . .

. . . believable

To put a third eye in bin Laden, Barry used intel started by a president whom he vilified, from a place he wanted closed, and gained by using methods he called criminal. Then, he executed with teams that Bubba decimated with cost cuts, was too timid to use, and claimed he lacked the authority to prosecute.  

How are the photos of bin Laden more inflammatory than the 2,000+ he wanted to post from Abu Ghraib?

Oh, and he's willing to publish photos of military coffins arriving home, but not a picture of the architect of 9/11? 

Beyond that, when explaining the raid, his team had about as much discipline as the Three Stooges in a pie fight.

To those who say that Barry did what President Bush could not, think on this.  If Bush had not revitalized the Special Ops forces and established his anti-terrorism doctrine, Barry could not have succeeded.  And, if Bubba had done his job, neither President Bush or Barry would have had to worry about bin Laden.

Without Comment . . .

An elevating start . . .

. . . to my week

Or not.

I leave for work at about 5:45 a.m., and arrive around 6:15.  On most days, there are only a couple of people in the building at that time.

Usually, I use the stairs - exercise, and all that.  Today I was a bit tired because of a big Easter weekend and decided to take the elevator.

It's only one floor, but in the middle of the ride, the elevator lurched, bounced, than ground to a halt.  So, here I am in a stalled elevator.  The building is virtually empty, and all the local Italian employees are on holiday.  And no bars on my cell phone.

Not to worry.  There's a call button - which, luckily, connects directly to base security.  It took a while for security to understand who I was and where I was stuck. 

Guessing it would take a while for the cavalry to arrive, I had just started to sit in the corner with a good book when the doors started to open. 

Special tools?  Electronics?  No.  Just three burly Italians prying the doors open with their bare hands.

It turned out the elevator stalled just four inches from my floor.

No harm, no foul.