Yesterday, three quarters of Microsoft’s MSN & Live services were up and down for around twelve hours.  There was no news about the incident.

     Tonight, Twitter has had intermittent connectivity, also with no news.

     The Truth Laid Bear, a well-past-its-expiry-date blog ranking site, has had numerous issues for some time with no apparent plans to fix anything:

Access denied for user 'nzbear_ttlb'@'63.247.140.96'
to database 'nzbear_repdb'

     The outage that seems to be causing the most blatant angst for users, however, has occurred on MySpace, where their Applications platform, MySpace Apps, has been down for two days.  While MySpace has left over two hundred million users unable to use the Applications platform with little explanation as to why, users have taken to posting bulletins with everything from conspiracy theories to all out rage against the ad-driven site.  

     The vast majority of MySpace applications are immensely simple, session-based games, most of which are based off of a much more simplified model of the archaic Solar Realms Elite-style BBS games of the early 1980’s.  However, the outrage at being denied the privilege to play these games is very real.  Some users have reported that a Lawsuit against MySpace has closed the applications.  Others have conjectured that it is due to rampant cheating on a points-for-cash system which doesn’t exist.  Some have found more sinister motives, claiming that MySpace’s creator, Tom Anderson, is pulling a coup d’etat against its media mogul owner, Rupert Murdoch.

     Still others blame the spirit of a deceased Tom Anderson as he posts bulletins from the grave, lame-duck President George W. Bush, Lucky the Dog, and an illegal alien named Urinous Hatte, who claims to be from an extra-solar planet in the vicinity of Beta Orionis.

     I would like to address these particular MySpace users directly:

     While MySpace upgrades their OpenSocial platform to v0.8, this leaves many of you with a great deal of free time.  However, this outage has a silver lining.  This is time that could better spent dealing with emotional trauma, finding girl/boyfriends, educating yourselves, raising your children correctly, or any number of other worthwhile objectives which may actually prove that you can do something for your own, or the greater, good.

     In other words:

     Please remove your heads from your asses and get out from in front of the damn computer.

     Thank you, drive through…

     Lest we forget as we enter the fray of our Brave New World:

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the world he didn’t exist.
     — Charles Baudelaire, “The Generous Gambler”

     Sometimes, you read something that slants reality ever-so-slightly. 

     It’s a well-laid-out Conspiracy which didn’t do a damn thing for me.  It’s a theme we’re all to familiar with, anyway:
     Liberals accuse Conservatives of “One World Government” while surreptitiously kicking the legs out from under their own argument with their own objectives.  Republicans then attempt to “fix” the situation, all the why claiming that it happened due to a lack of foresight, while kicking the legs out from under their own argument by passing the first proposal to come along.
     They all come together in the middle, and we get screwed in the process.  No big friggin’ news there.

     Actually, the blog did get me thinking.

     But it wasn’t the Conspiracy theory…

     Instead, it was this statement by Dwight Eisenhower that struck me:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

     “Knowlegeable citizenry,” schmitizenry… 

A long memory is the most subversive idea in America.
— George Wald

     For years, we’ve observed that peoples’ attentions spans are short, and their memories even shorter.  A perfect example of this is in the Obama campaign’s vicious attacks against Hillary Clinton, inciting mass hysteria over Sexism, and yet, when she dropped from the race, people forgot… and began blaming Republicans for said sexism, despite the confessions of so many prominent Democrats that it was them all along.

     The afforementioned blog was also haven to a quote suitable for a “Duh of the Day” award.  In reference to Obama making promises he has no intention of keeping, and in stark contrast to “knowlegeable citizenry,” someone replied:

No way he’ll bite the hand that feeds.

     I would counter with this, further showing that our memory has been disrupted for a good century and a half:

You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
— Abraham Lincoln 

     “Honest Abe” fooled a Hell of a lot of people, promising during his campaign and subsequent inauguration that it wasn’t his job to outlaw slavery, nor would he, as it was the right of each and free man to draw their own conclusions.  It was those statements that got him elected, but what did he do afterwards?
     Yes… He bit that hand pretty hard.
     Regardless of The Emancipation Proclamation’s forward-thinking and status as a defining document in our Nation’s history, the very nature of its passage is still a matter of great debate and conjecture.  There are many people, both black and white, who consider that our History books are incorrect, claiming that the Proclamation was nothing more than a political ploy designed to disable the ability of the Confederacy to operate autonomously.
     To a very large degree, it worked.  However, it was also the reason for Lincoln’s untimely demise, thus proving his own theory to be correct… You can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

     Back to the point, please show me a Politician who doesn’t bite the hand that feeds…

     Everyone knows that you can tell when Politicians are lying because their lips are moving.

     I almost said, “his lips,” but I didn’t want to come off as “sexist.”  *smirk*

     I guess there’s a first time for everything.  Today’s the first time I’ve decided to do the Monday Melee, something Fracas asked me to start doing over a month ago…

1. The Misanthtropic: Name something (about humanity) you absolutely hate.
     I truly hate the fact that when you get an Order of Protection against someone, the Courts will do little to address the problem of Retaliatory Litigation. 

2. The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent or bogus.
     Have you ever wondered why so many people get off on this 9/11 Truth movement, especially with such an inconsistent, un-scientific, un-factual flagship film like “Loose Change?”  I wish all of those people would go and read Frequently Stupid Theories for a play-by-play rundown of the common conspiracies…

3. The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
     I’m completely unhappy with the fact that people can’t tell fact from opinion anymore.  “News Talk” is opinion.  Just because someone said something on one of those shows doesn’t make it real, or right.  It gets especially bad when comedians and satirists like Limbaugh, Coulter, Franken and Stewart (or even Lenny Bruce) are used as sources of “fact” instead of being taken with the grains of salt they deliver.  Using comedy as social commentary has twice as much effect when it’s interspersed with a little truth.  Although, none of them are as funny as Carlos Mencia, Maddox or WhoreChurch…

4. The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
     I have a couple of friends who’ve known me my entire life, people who are like family to me.  They’ve really been here for me a lot the last few weeks, offering a bit of their wisdom and even a bit of spiritual guidance through this mess.  It doesn’t actually help the situation any, but it damn sure makes me feel better to know I’m not totally alone regardless of the outcome.

5. The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
     I’m a great listener — most of the time.  I try not to interrupt people, give people the benefit of the doubt, make them feel comfortable, and have some pretty incredible conversations with people.  I tend to be the go-to guy not just in my work, but as a friend, as well.

6. The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
     I wish … that I could sleep through the next few days, and be magically transported to another destination and not have to deal with all of this stress that’s going on … that would be so nice!  Barring that, I just hope I get through the next few days without losing my damn mind.

     As for the Monday Melee … I’ll try and do this once a week. 

     Several months ago, I linked to Maddox’s Best Page in the Universe article, “There is no 9/11 Conspiracy You Morons,” which featured a  hilarious slam against Glenn Beck.
     If you’re too lazy to read it, I’ll break it down.  It states that: the fact that the creator of the “Loose Change” conspiracy video is still alive — given the conspiracy theory that our government killed several thousand people on a whim — pretty much proves that there is no conspiracy.  Oh, and that Glenn Beck is an asshole.

     Well, Maddox is at it again with his new Conspiracy Theory spoof, “Unfastened Coins: 2nd Edition, Remix 8, 6th Cut.”

     Those experiments reminded me of some of Spooked’s experiments (which Instapinch turned me onto) comparing rabbit cages and kerosene to the WTC and airplane fuel…

Tip: Les Jones

     In 2004, I moved outta DC because the place is pretty much a hell-hole of arrogance and one-upmanship.

     Leading up to the Iraq war, the entire town was behind it save for a few bus loads full of Neo-Nazi Skinheads wearing WWJD bracelets.  Personally, I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t've been shaving his head, wearing Swastikas and theatening to kill all the Jews, but maybe that’s just me *rolls eyes*.

     As weeks progressed and the conflict escalated, politicians who’d voted for the war a few weeks prior began spouting rhetoric about how they were always against the war…

     It wasn’t long before the War Protestors started going moonbat-loopy.

     I remember being harrassed one morning on the way to work at the Fairfax metro, when I simply walked past the guy trying to hand me his anti-war flyer.  He started screaming, “Fascist motherf&$#er!  You’re a g#$!%m babykiller!”  The rock-salt was down to keep us from falling face first in the slush, but that dear protester decided to see if he could help me fall a little easier.  I turned around and gave him a small shove back, and he finally shut his damn mouth.

     Arriving at work, I was met with another obnoxious punk at the top of the D.O.T. steps.  He was screaming, cussing at everyone who wouldn’t take his flyer.  On Federal Property.  And the D.O.T rent-a-cops wouldn’t get rid of him…

     He was still there at lunch, screaming, shoving people.  And DC people, generally, when threatened, tend to turn Zombie and ignore what’s going on.  They get shoved, they shut down, and continue trying to walk like nothing’s happening to them.

     I am not that way.

     I observed as Mr. Moron accosted an old woman, shoved her down, and busted her purse open.  Her coins went everywhere.  Being typical of the area, people just walked around the bloody-kneed old lady, ignored the screaming moron and went about their business as if it was perfectly normal.

     I ran to her aid, attempted to help her up, and received a short-lived tirade from the moron … short-lived because when he got in my face for trying to help her off the ground, he got a love-pat and a gingerly toss down the Metro escalator.

     And when trying to help the old lady gather her loose change, she simply ignored me, unwilling to make any eye contact, unwilling to accept the money I’d picked up for her.  And nobody else would pick it up.

     There were numerous other stupid incidents which made me loathe to ride the DC Metro after a while (an Asian lady who continually attempted to push me in front of the train, a man who attempted to climb me — standing on the back of my leg and holding my shoulder — trying to push his way into an overstuffed Metro car, the group of suit-and-tie-clad Howard Dean supporters screaming “DON’T TOUCH ME! DON’T TOUCH ME! DON’T TOUCH ME!” and biting passengers for accidently brushing against them in another overstuffed car), but I digress.

     This is typical of DC.

     It’s a relatively tiny land area chock-full of asinine, and overflowing with WTF.

     Knoxville protesters tend to be at least a little less moronic.  The culture here is very different to DC, in that most people are usually — at least somewhat — nice to each other.  They still scream sarcasm, and use all the silly catch-phrases which don’t apply (general misuse of words and such).  But for the most part, they’re not hitting people.  They’re usually not throwing things at passersby.

     “The smell of patchouli in the air so thick it makes my eyes water,” said Lissa Kay as she filmed this video.

     You can also see that they enlisted the aid of many of Knoxville’s homeless population in exchange for free doughnuts.  I guess they needed to show numbers, and really didn’t think about how demeaning it would be to bribe people to their cause using food…

     Especially when many of the protesters claim that our government was doing that to rural Iraqis…

     Can you say, “Reprehensible hypocrites!” boys and girls?

     I knew you could.

     Lately, I’ve taken the attitude that, “I absolutely do not give a damn.”  And I mean it.  It’s been a mind-altering, uplifting, emotionally freeing sort of change.

     One of the greatest gifts has been: laughter.

     Especially when I read crap like this.  Or this.

     Or even this, from New Scientst…

Don’t say cloning, say somatic cell nuclear transfer [SCNT]. That at least is the view of biologists who want the term to be used instead of “therapeutic cloning” to describe the technique that produces cloned embryos from which stem cells can then be isolated.

[...]

Kathy Hudson and her colleagues at the Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC asked more than 2000 Americans whether they approved of deriving stem cells from embryos produced by cloning. For half of the sample they used the term “SCNT” instead of “cloning”, and this raised approval ratings from 29 per cent to 46 per cent, Hudson told a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in New Orleans last week.

     Politically correct science?  What’ll they think of next?

     Regardless of what you call it, human cloning is little more than another way to speed up the process of destroying our already shallow gene pool.

     Penn & Teller’s television show, “Bullshit!“, really covers a lot of material with little more than simple logic.  This particular episode, from 9-May-2005, carries with it the same type and amount of raw disbelief and vitriol that I’ve ranted when discussing 9/11 Conpiracy Theorists, right down to the choice of nouns and adjectives.
     People can say foul language, name-calling and violence never solve anything, but in certain situations, they certainly make you feel better.  Besides — why should I show restraint to people who none?  The Golden Rule does apply.
     If you agree, watch it, because it has all of those things.  If you don’t, then … well … don’t watch it.

     Someone told me recently, “Calling them idiots and dumbasses doesn’t do anyone any good!  You catch more flies with honey!”

     I’m sorry, but, why should I have to catch flies here?

     In the immortal words of Penn Gillette, “Are 49.3% of us just f$&*ing crazy?”

     LR2 posted a great link today to The Best Page in the Universe.

     It’s no secret what I think of 9/11 Revisionist morons.  Faced with hard evidence and eyewitness accounts, they are stupid enough to simply ignore the fact that more than a few people saw, let’s say, a plane hit the Pentagon, for instance.
     But Maddox hit the nail on the head — with a sledgehammer, mind you.  That Glenn Beck / $100 Bill folding bit is freaking brilliant!

     As far as I’m concerned, these “Loose Change” asshats are case in point that Condoms are only 97% effective when used properly.

     Since I posted about the joint effort between Blogitude.com & Instapinch.com making it a special point to lambast the 9//11 Revisionist, Spook911, there have been several new developments.  Foremost has been the revelation that Spooked claims to be a “biomedical researcher,” which should indicate that he has some grasp of Physics and Scientific Process.
     Fortunately for us, he doesn’t. 

     On July 9th, Pinch posted some links to Spook’s first experiment.  The experiment — using a bucket, some bent wire coathangers and gasoline — intended to disprove the fact that the WTC frame was made structurally inert by a hydrocarbon fire.
     This, however, was merely a predecessor to the “better model,” which Pinch pointed out on June 28th.  This experiment — using an empty rabbit cage and kerosene — intended to prove the same.  The rabbit cage was his “better model” of the wire-frame construction of the WTC.

     Using moonbat logic, the following things come to mind:

• In the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, an infatuated woman boils a family pet — a rabbit.  This also resulted in an empty rabbit cage.
• Rabbit cages usually hold rabbits, which were used to test for pregnancy from 1927 onward, thus the phrase “Rabbit test.”
• Wire coathangers have been increasingly difficult to find since the 1981 cinematic release of Mommy Dearest.
• Star of Fatal Attraction, Michael Douglas, married Catherine Zeta-Jones.  The movie Rabbit Test stars Joan Rivers.  Mommy Dearest was the story of an abusive mother, Joan Crawford.

     More facts:

• Rabbits are usually stuck with needles either in injecting placental blood during a rabbit test, to sedate them prior to killing them or when injecting them with substances during Biomedical Research.
• Wire coat hangers are often used in makeshift drug laboratories to hold buckets and beakers over flame during the production of illicit drugs due to the fact that real laboratory equipment is extremely expensive.
• “To jones” (two Joans, and an outright Jones) is to show physical symptons due to a physical or mental dependence, i.e. “to jones for a fix.”

     Using moonbat logic and taking into account needles, wire coat hangers, buckets and “jones,” I have deduced that Spook is a methamphetamine addict.

     The evidence is right there!

     Blogitude and Instapinch are stirring up a hornet’s nest of “tinfoil hats,” ”asshats” and “moonbats.”

     Their target is the retarded weiner who wrote the 9/11 Revisionist Blog at Humint Events Online, although, now a few more idiots have entered the fray.  Pretty much, I don’t find 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists humourous in the least, so I’m happy to lend my size ten-and-a-half to any butt that needs kicking.

     When it all went down, I was in an armpit of a foreign country getting nothing but torrents of hatred and saliva directed at me by asinine Socialists in their wannabe-first-world country.  I couldn’t so much as try to get a pack of smokes without hearing crap about how I, as an American, “got what you deserved!”  Getting spit on really doesn’t do it for me.

     You put up with a bit of that, one of two things is going to happen.  In the first instance, maybe you’ll get a thicker skin and learn to ignore the morons.  In the second, you’re gonna wanna hit people.  Hit them really hard.  Then hit them again.  And maybe a few more times, for good measure.  Ask their friends if they want any.  Then stomp them.  Berate them the entire time.  Then spit on them.

     I swear, I get in more trouble trying to buy cigarettes than anyone I’ve ever known.