Political Fish Tales

cat pictures

2006-09-19T21:18:00.000-04:00

For all my faithful followers

2006-08-27T18:34:00.000-04:00

For the time being this blog is being moved over to

It will be much more Florida Gator oriented and will likely have lots of photos from my photo classes

If you don't follow me to this other site, the gator above will come and get ya!

Needlefish transformation

2006-08-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

He started out as just another stick in the water

But upon closer inspection we saw the needle nose

And then he attacked with his crazy colors! Or maybe he is just flying in space?

Also met another guy named Sam

2006-08-16T19:15:00.000-04:00

First had to go through the jungle to stumble upon this waterfall

This is Sam Douglas, a true Southern boy - wish I could have given his Grandma this picture

Sam and Sam

First day testing out the camera

2006-08-16T18:47:00.000-04:00

Noticed this guy looking at me

Close up!
A recent trip proved this point

Nice Shot of Sanchez Creek

2006-08-11T13:49:00.000-04:00

Just testing my camera. I love it!

View From My Dock

What is this thing?

If you ever want to catch fish....

2006-08-09T14:35:00.000-04:00

Even on those days when it gets to be in the 90s before 10:30 a.m. you can still catch fish. The Lagoon once again produced for me. Here is a pic of a fish kayak-side.

I wish I could get a shot of all the fish tailing in the grass on some of these flats. It's rather impressive. I touched 4 different fish with my rodtip, that's how close I was.

Went to the Tomoka River Today.. A Great Spot!

2006-08-03T14:39:00.000-04:00

Found a school of reds out in the basin. Good size too. Here is a pic of one.

Also, I get my own camera soon! I'm going to order it tomorrow.

Mosquito Lagoon is an amazing place

2006-06-21T14:25:00.000-04:00

Who would have known the lagoon, only a half-hour drive from home, had such good fishing. My Dad and I had tried in the past, a couple of times, with no luck. Especially not fish like these:



Enter our neighbor Larry. Larry is a great guy who's a lawyer, was a high school teacher and now is an outdoor photographer/writer. He knows the lagoon, lucky for me, and he knows his way with magazine journalism. Check out some of his recent photographs on a recent trip. I like to think I helped.



I even now have the guts to try the lagoon by myself. I'm thinking of taking the lagoon on with my kayak tomorrow morning. Way early.

Tim Tebow is a Florida Gator

2005-12-14T18:02:00.000-05:00

Just add his name to the continuing list of stellar recruits Urban Meyer is racking up. If you don't know Tim Tebow, he is the home-schooled, very religious, # 1 rated "dual threat" quarterback in the country.

Recent articles on Tim Tebow:

Sporting News
Rivals.com
The Miami Herald
Orlando Sentinel
Sports Illustrated

I Liked this quote, although it may be a jab at the Gator Nation-

"A Florida kid from a Florida family who led his high school team to a Florida state championship and was named Mr. Football in the state of Florida was never Alabama's to lose." - Kevin Scarbinsky

And we didn't lose him

Good Luck to ya, and hopefully you will have a monumental career at UF. You chose the right school!

With the semester nearly over and time to spare, it's time to get the blog rolling again

2005-12-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

But now it will be a blog about..

Fishing - I plan to do a lot of it with my dad
Gator Sports- One of the true elite sports colleges
Politics- It's impossible not to be disgusted

And some pics of Gator basketball...It's fanatastic!
Against powerhouse UCF ( U Can't Finish)

2005-09-21T21:47:00.000-04:00

Until I am able to post again, I have no time, Please visit Cold Flame for all your necessary news, commentary and links.

Back to School!

2005-08-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

It's Great to Be a Florida Gator

2005-08-20T11:02:00.000-04:00

Frist the nut job

2005-08-20T10:04:00.000-04:00

Frist: Teach intelligent design, too

This is getting ridiculous. Here is the explanation of intelligent design, that Bill Frist wants taught in schools:

The theory of intelligent design says life on earth is too complex to have developed through evolution, implying that a higher power must have had a hand in creation.

First of all, at what point does something become too complex and automatically jump to something else? As in, life on earth is too complex to be explained through the scientific theory of evolution and instead must be explained through the crack pot idea that a higher power must have created the world exactly as it is today.

It's that same black and white mentality Republicans have always had. It seems like solely for political gain to help themselves with the radical right, they promote twisted religious views to be taught in public schools, all in the name of plurality? You have got to be kidding. (It's fine to teach anything you want in a cult, private school, just don't have the state accredit you.)

Or maybe republicans in the public eye are really this screwed up, in which case America is in a lot more trouble. Don't forget that evolution is a scientific theory based on FACTS. It is a theory, yes, because there are pieces missing. I mean come on, it has been millions of years..
The Intelligent design theory, and for that matter, creationism, are religious theories based solely on FAITH. As far as I am concerned, the word "theory" to describe creationism and intelligent design is misleading at best. It leads people to believe that these ideas can be tested through a hypothesis, which they can not.

If Intelligent Design is allowed to be taught in school, then the Flying Spaghetti Monster must also be taught. I actually like this one better.

All in the family

2005-08-18T10:31:00.000-04:00

That's my mom practicing what she believes and supporting Cindy Sheehan at a local rally in Daytona Beach. The local paper caught her looking her most serious. But now the image dissappeared...

Be all you can be...and then get killed by an insurgent... for Bush to say "our soldiers will not die in vain,"...but then really do

2005-08-14T13:25:00.000-04:00

Even after all the commercials and the money incentives; after all the recruiting at wakeboarding events, at high schools, on the internet, over the phone, and even offering plastic surgery; the Army still can't reach their quotas of Army enlistees.

How about a new plan. Pull out of Iraq so Americans stop dying. Then you might get enlistees who actually think they aren't signing their own death sentences.

And don't forget the untapped group of young republicans, chickenhawk politicians, and bumper sticker patriots who all unequivocally support the war but still haven't found the time to enlist.

Cindy Sheehan, I would want a reason for my family members dying in a war as well

2005-08-13T14:17:00.000-04:00

The angry mother of a slain U.S. soldier staged a protest near President Bush's ranch Saturday, demanding an accounting from Bush of how he has conducted the war in Iraq.

She said she decided to come to Crawford a few days ago after Bush said that fallen U.S. troops had died for a noble cause and that the mission must be completed.

"I want to ask the president, `Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Last week, you said my son died for a noble cause' and I want to ask him what that noble cause is?"

And so did she get to talk with Bush? A wild guess here...NO. Wow, not even a little time for a mother who's son he killed in his completely unexplainable war. This is just one of the many reasons why I dislike Bush and don't think to highly of people who support him either. Simply because they are supporting actions like these.

I feel like I should dedicate my blog to the daily lies told by the republicans in power

2005-07-18T14:10:00.000-04:00

Example # 1

RNC chairman Ken Mehlman and his republican talking points about the Rove coverup are just thrown out on the MSM, like it's news, when in fact they are straight lies as Media Matters points out:

Lie #1: Wilson falsely claimed Cheney sent him to Niger

In an attack on the credibility of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, Plame's husband, Mehlman twice claimed that it was Vice President Dick Cheney who sent him to Niger in 2002 to investigate a rumored sale of yellowcake uranium to Iraq. As Media Matters for America noted, Wilson claimed the CIA -- not Cheney -- sent him to Africa. In his July 6, 2003, New York Times op-ed, and in an August 3, 2003, interview on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Wilson noted that the CIA sent him to Niger to investigate a question from Cheney's office about the uranium issue. The RNC cropped and twisted quotes from the Times op-ed and the CNN interview to back up this false talking point.

From Mehlman's July 12 appearance on CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports:

MEHLMAN: Karl was right; Joe Wilson was wrong. The story was false. It was based on a false premise, and, of course, the conclusion was false. [...] What Joe Wilson alleged was that the vice president, then he said the CIA director, sent him to Niger.

From Mehlman's July 13 appearance on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MEHLMAN: Karl Rove said to a reporter that you ought not include the Joe Wilson report because it's inaccurate. And Karl was right. Mr. Wilson was wrong. The report was inaccurate. He was wrong in the sense that the vice president had not sent him down.

Lie #2: Rove did not reveal Plame's name, so he did nothing wrong

In an email summarizing a conversation with Rove, Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper stated that Rove referred to Plame as "Wilson's wife." Relying on this report, Mehlman claimed that Rove did not leak Plame's identity because he did not reveal her name. But, as is clear from the language of the statute and Rove's own lawyer, this defense has no legal merit. Moreover, as a practical matter, anyone with access to Google could very easily have come across Wilson's Corporate & Public Strategy Advisory Group bio, which noted: "He is married to the former Valerie Plame."

Lie #3: Rove didn't even know her name

Mehlman also cited the Newsweek article containing Cooper's email as evidence that Rove "didn't even know" Plame's name at the time he talked to Cooper. But as Think Progress pointed out, a July 15 New York Times article reported that Rove told investigators that three days before his July 11, 2003, conversation with Cooper, he learned Plame's name from syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak, who outed Plame in a July 14, 2003, column.

From the July 12 Wolf Blitzer Reports:

MEHLMAN: The fact is, Karl Rove did not leak classified information. He did not, according to what we learned this past weekend, reveal the name of anybody. He didn't even know the name, so he couldn't have revealed it.

From the July 15 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

MEHLMAN: One article last weekend was an article in Newsweek, which I thought exonerated Karl Rove in many ways. What it said was Karl Rove was not leaking anybody's name, he didn't know that name.

Lie #4: Wilson claimed his mission to Niger "positively proved" that the country had not sold nuclear materials to Iraq

During his recent appearances, Mehlman has attempted to impugn Wilson's credibility by falsely alleging that he claimed his Niger findings conclusively refuted the allegation that Iraq had purchased or attempted to purchase nuclear materials from Niger.

The CIA sent Wilson to the African nation in February 2002 to investigate such allegations. Upon his return, he disclosed his findings in a CIA debriefing, which were later disclosed to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Wilson's New York Times op-ed presented his personal interpretation of his findings -- specifically, that they did not support President Bush's claim in his 2003 State of the Union address that "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

From the July 12 Wolf Blitzer Reports:

BLITZER: When you say the story was false, is there any evidence Niger was sending uranium, enriched uranium to Iraq?

MEHLMAN: What Joe Wilson alleged was that the vice president, then he said the CIA director sent him to Niger. He then alleged that he wrote a report which positively proved that, in fact, that wasn't occurring and that the vice president sat on the report.

BLITZER: But the upshot of his bottom line report to the CIA was there was no evidence uranium, enriched uranium, yellowcake as it's called, was being sent to Iraq. So he was right on that.

MEHLMAN: Well, both the Senate Intelligence Committee and others who have studied it have found that, in fact, his report was largely irrelevant to that finding.

From the July 13 Hardball:

MEHLMAN: Joe Wilson's comments on Newt Gingrich, like his comments on so many other things, who sent him to Niger, the definitiveness of his report, whether the vice president reviewed his report, all of these allegations have been disproved by the Senate Intelligence Committee and by others who have studied it who are objective sources. Once again, what Joe Wilson said is not supported by the facts.

But Wilson never claimed that he had provided definitive evidence that the Bush administration's Niger claim was unfounded. Rather, he wrote in his Times op-ed that on the day after the 2003 State of the Union address, "I reminded a friend at the State Department of my trip and suggested that if the president had been referring to Niger, then his conclusion was not borne out by the facts as I understood them."

Moreover, Wilson's personal assessment of his findings, as conveyed in his Times op-ed, concurred with the assessment by the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) that the intelligence failed to support the Niger allegation and, more broadly, that Iraq had not reconstituted its nuclear program. As the Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA have admitted, Wilson and INR turned out to be right.

Why are you not in jail?

2005-07-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

After Bush said on Sept. 30, 2003, the day the Justice Department launched its inquiry,"If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action. And this investigation is a good thing."

And McClellan said a week later (Oct. 7, 2003),"If someone in this administration leaked classified information, they will no longer be a part of this administration, because that's not the way this White House operates. That's not the way this president expects people in his administration to conduct their business."

Then why is Karl Rove Still here! It's true, I severely dislike this administration, and I really don't believe much they say, but WOW! this is just too obvious and too blatant.

Especially after there is sound proof of Rove's illegal actions.

For months, the White House was emphatic in declaring that Mr. Rove had had nothing to do with the leak. But it came to light over the weekend that Mr. Rove had mentioned Mrs. Wilson - although not by name - to a Time magazine reporter before her name and position became public.

Joe Wilson, the husband of the CIA agent Rove outed, wants Rove fired.

And whatever happened to Robert Novak? Was he not involved in this? Why is he not going to be punished for his actions in helping to leak Valerie Wilson in his column? To him it's "no great crime." Maybe it's just a little crime? Maybe you should only spend a little time in jail?

Terrorists watch TV news also

2005-07-07T15:09:00.000-04:00

At least 37 dead in London from terrorist blasts

So the U.S. raises its terror alert after the destruction has been done? Why do it after the destruction and why display the raised terror alert to the entire world? Would terrorists not just attack when the terror alert drops? If it is used as a deterrence, why not always have a raised terror alert? And if there is always a raised terror alert, why have a terror alert at all? These are just my thoughts, but they seem reasonable. Right?

If the terror scale were to be a useful tool... predict WHEN an attack would happen and report it to the proper authorities, in the proper place, and stop the attack. Don't report clues to the entire world...including terrorists.

Our President STILL can't ride a bike

2005-07-07T11:24:00.000-04:00

Again....

From CapitolBuzz:

POTUS Was In Another Bicycle Accident

Scott confirmed that POTUS collided with a police officer during his bike ride. He was about 45 minutes into his ride, Scott said, when the accident occurred. The officer was in a security detail on the grounds of Gleneagles. The President slid on the paved surface, suffering scrapes on his hands and arms that later required treatment and bandaging by his White House physician. The officer was taken to a local hospital as a precaution, Scott said. The extent of his harm wasn't immediately clear, although he might have an ankle injury. The president had been riding -- speed undetermined -- on the road. Scott declined to name the officer, preferring to leave that to his department, identified by WH as Strethclyde Police Department. The President was mostly concerned about the officer's condition and "visited" with him for some time. Mr. Bush also asked Dr. Richard Tubb the WH physician to monitor the officer's situation at the hospital. Scott said the President likely would call the officer later. POTUS's evening plans were not disrupted and Scott said he is "fine." The presidential bike suffered some damage however and the President, who had been riding with a Secret Service agent, went back to the hotel in a SS Suburban that had been trailing.

(*Insert your own comments making fun of Shrub's abilities, or lack there of, in riding his tricycle..I mean bike.*)

Now I know what Bork means

2005-07-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

Watching some T.V. show on msnbc, I heard the term "bork" used by a talking head. Not knowing what it was, I found out from Media Matters that the same exact term "bork" was being thrown around by the MSM and conservatives alike because of the newly opened seat on the Supreme Court.

From Media Matters:

"Borking" is a conservative term popularized in the late 1980s by the right-wing Wall Street Journal editorial page in defense of defeated Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. Since then, conservatives have pushed the term into the lexicon whenever a conservative nominee comes under unwelcome scrutiny. As conservatives mean it, "to Bork" is "to attack a person's reputation and views unfairly," as Bork himself stated in a July 1 interview on CNN. The obvious implication of Bork having been "Borked" is that he was wrongly denied a seat on the high court. An alternate view is that the questioning of Bork's views and the characterizations of his record were appropriate and accurate, and that the Senate was correct to reject Bork as a nominee in 1987. In other words, the notion of "Borking" is right-wing mythology.

So, I must learn things the hard way. Instead of expecting to hear some sort of neutrality in reporting, I must go to an independent watchdog to find out the biased phrases used in MSM circulation.

Media frenzy over 2 shark bites

2005-06-28T13:22:00.000-04:00

Bull shark hunting along a beach in Panhandle

Sharks always have been and always will be on the coast of Florida. Take it from me, Fishing Sam, who lives in Daytona Beach half the year, and fishes as many of those days as possible.

If you are going to go swimming at the beach, which I recommend you do, consider a few things. Do not swim in low light conditions (morning, evening, or night) That's when sharks feed. Do not swim with shiny jewelry or near schools of baitfish. Lastly, do not swim in murky, low visibility water. A shark is more likely to mistake a leg or arm for a fish.

Always be observant, if you see a shark, get out of the water. You will usually see a dorsal and caudal fin break the water's surface. (Dolphins have a single fin break the surface, and rays will have two fins side-by-side break the surface.)

Sharks are not out to kill us, which the media sometimes seems to be scaring us to believe. It is not worth the media frenzy. You are more lightly to get injured from your car then from a shark. Of the 500 documented attacks in Florida, the fatality rate was 2.4 percent. Sharks have been swimming off our coasts forever, and hopefully they won't be disappearing soon because they are vital to an ocean environment. Just be observant and careful when at the beach and you will be fine.

Letter to Takeittokarl.blogspot.com

2005-06-28T00:03:00.000-04:00

From the Mailbag:

I would like to thank you for providing this forum. I have spent years of frustration listening to those who've never served cast aspersions on the patriotism of those who have. This liberal, and her liberal democrat family have provided many years of service in the armed forces because we have a tradition in our family of contributing in some way to the country we love. At last count: one great grandfather, two grandfathers, one father, one father-in-law, one brother-in-law, one cousin, five uncles, two aunts, my husband and myself. It ends now. None of my children will ever willingly join the military now that they clearly see how true service is denigrated for political gain.

This whole website, Taking it To Karl, is from people who have served in the military patriotically fighting back Rove's trash talk.

Sen. Durbin why did you do it? Part II

2005-06-23T20:02:00.000-04:00

Two statements of note thrown up from Republican's mouths. Each are equally offensive, clearly political, and far more deserving of an apology than Durbin's remarks.

The first is from Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana:

"Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians."

Lie.........

Next is Karl "Bush's only source of thinking" Rove:

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war. Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."

Lie.........

And when asked to apologize Scott McClellan said:

"Whoa, whoa, who do you people think you are? I don't care if we just enraged half the country. My fellow wingnuts and I say lies and offensive remarks to whomever we want, whenever we want, because WE OWN THIS PLACE. My party is in power and it's going to be awhile until we are back in power, because moderate Republicans are starting to hate us, Americans are starting to hate us, and the whole world already hates us. We might as well screw up the country as much as we can and blame it on the Democrats. Oh yeah, also, this administration is going down the shit hole real fast, so we are going to have to distract the public anyway we can."

Sen. Durbin why did you do it?

2005-06-22T16:09:00.000-04:00

Sen. Richard Durbin,

Why did you apologize for pointing out in an FBI report that some soldiers in Guantanamo Bay tortured people? I am not a torture apologist, you are not a torture apologist. Torture is always wrong. Besides, the Republicans in power use this as a means to attack you the messenger, instead of addressing the serious issues you bring up. Don't let them change the subject, torture at Guantanamo must still be addressed.
Political Fish Tales

Here is what F* Bomb said about Durbin:

"I thought Durbin was totally out of line. I watched some of his comments on the floor of the United States Senate. For him to make those comparisons was one of the more egregious things I'd ever heard uttered on the floor of the United States Senate."

Like this guy has any legitimacy to talk about what is said on the Senate Floor?

How dare Cheney talk about egregious things when he told Sen. Leahy of Vermont to "go F*** himself" on the floor of the United States Senate! (Using profanity on the Senate floor while the Senate is in session is against the rules, but the Senate was "technically" not in session.)

The audacity of this guy is ridiculous. He plays Americans for fools. Cheney you're not high and righteous, you're like a volcano, spewing hot filth from your mouth.

Detention Camp 6, the future prison camp of Guantanamo Bay

2005-06-21T15:24:00.000-04:00

A subsidiary of Halliburton, Kellogg Brown and Root, has been awarded $30 million to build an improved 220-bed prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon announced.

Dick Cheney former CEO of Halliburton, who still receives deferred compensation, must be quite the happy camper. And although Cheney had reportedly pledged to donate his after-tax proceeds from his stock options to charity; we all know donations to charity= tax write-off. And Dick Cheney has no conflict of interest?

According to Cheney's 2001 financial disclosure report, the vice president's Halliburton benefits include three batches of stock options comprising 433,333 shares. He also has a 401(k) retirement account valued at between $1,001 and $15,000 dollars. His deferred compensation account was valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, and generated income of $50,000 to $100,000.

And that was in 2001! After all this Iraq work and the billions awarded to Halliburton, Cheney has got to be pleased at how well his former company is doing. Here are a few charts

The job is part of a larger contract that could be worth up to $500 million through 2010, the Pentagon said. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, in Norfolk, Va., is the contracting agency.

What!!?? How much money is this government going to give to this company? How ass backwards and illogical is it to give more contracts to a company that has been ridden with illegal activities and scandal.

Listed here:
- Halliburton charged $61 million too much for delivering gasoline to Iraqi citizens and was forced to repay it

-A Pentagon audit concluded Halliburton charged millions for meals never served to troops and was forced to repay

-Such a huge List of Halliburton offenses that I can't type all the links

And we are building this right after news that Gitmo was treating people like this.

Sen. Durbin read from an FBI agent's report of incidents seen at Guantanamo Bay:

"On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor."

Sen. Durbin then commented on what he had just read from the FBI report:

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."

We want to create more environments that treat people like this? Unbelievable.

Kindasleazy Rice said what?

2005-06-20T01:52:00.000-04:00

On the Fox fake-news show Sunday Rice said, "The administration, I think, has said to the American people that it is a generational commitment to Iraq."

Think Progress, right on top of things, was quick to point out how overtly lying Kindasleazy Rice (hence her nickname) was to the American people.

Think Progress goes down a list of a couple members of the Administration that distinctly say the exact opposite of what Rice is claiming:

Dick Cheney
Donald Rumsfeld

I think the key point is that yes, Bush may have said the words "generational commitment," but not in context to the War in Iraq. "Encouraging democracy in that region (Middle East) is a generational commitment," is not the same as what Rice said, but THE ADMINISTRATION WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE IT IS. This is how this administration works.

I think many people would agree with the statement democracy is a good thing, and having it in the Middle East may be a good thing also. But I also believe those same people would feel the War in Iraq was a horrible idea because the two are not mutually exclusive. Encouraging democracy does not mean going to a costly war where thousands of soldiers have died for uncertain reasons. Anyway, what was the exact reason for this war?

And now Rice is misleading Americans by telling us the administration said, "it would be a generational commitment?" That is a lie. That "I told you so," excuse doesn't even exist. The War in Iraq is not part of the War on Terror, it is nearly inviting terrorists to the chaos known as Iraq.

What about Brendan Dobbins?

2005-06-19T17:16:00.000-04:00

It is indeed tragic Natalee Holloway has been missing from Aruba for three weeks now, but at least she has the major media outlets helping her case. The MSM seems to have this problem, and I doubt they will admit, but it is a problem. When it comes to missing persons' cases, they seem to follow only certain people. Those people are white women, with pretty faces and blonde hair. And for that I say the MSM has the "white women" syndrome.

The reason I bring this up was around three months ago, a UF exchange student from Australia, Brendan Dobbins, was on a trip to Costa Rica for Spring Break. He went missing March 4. On campus, there were tables set up to donate money for the search of Brendan Dobbins because no one else was doing it.

MSM was nowhere to be found.

There was minimal support from the Costa Rican locals, police, the Australian government and the U.S. Embassy. (Given he did not have a U.S. visa, American embassy officials were reluctant at first to get involved.) Additionally, the Australian Government did not respond as expected, taking seven days to send in a consulate official from Mexico.

How much do you want to bet if Brendan was actually a blonde girl with a pretty face he would have been all over the news? I don't care if he was an Australian, he was in school here, in the United States at the University of Florida, and we should have treated him like our own. Like Natalee Holloway.

How many people have even heard of Brendan Robbins? He has only been missing for 3 months now.

Today the local Gainesville Sun reports in a short blurb, Brendan Dobbins' likely remains were found by fishermen in Costa Rica and have to be identified by dental records.

It seems like the "white women" syndrome can be helpful for some, but deadly for others.

Most recent polls on approval ratings of Bush

2005-06-18T10:36:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of:

Gallup

Polling Report

What the Nation Thinks

I'm not saying all these sources are performing scientifically perfect polls, but each generally shows higher disapproval ratings for Dubya. Together all that data must mean something, or atleast it does to me. This now gives me some hope in my fellow Americans, hope that I had lost in the 2004 elections. But wow is change slow, I knew all along that the majority of Americans dissaproved of Dubya.

Technorati

2005-06-18T10:05:00.000-04:00

While backtracking my site meter I came upon Technorati, a Web site that searches millions of blogs, based on what they are writing about. Seems like an efficient way to read a variety of opinions on whatever topic you would like.

Jon Stewart , the only man keeping me sane

2005-06-17T19:27:00.000-04:00

Today's thoughts-

1) I feel like I should post a Daily Show clip each day. He is that good. He cuts through the garbage put out by the MSM.

2) On a completely different note, to all young republicans:
Join OPERATION YELLOW ELEPHANT

Hey Bush twins, it's your call to duty.

MSM won't report how many detainees have died in U.S. custody

2005-06-17T18:26:00.000-04:00

I can't Get no, rights at Gitmo

It was left to an OPINION columnist, the New York Times's Thomas Friedman, not a news reporter, to declare on May 27 that "the abuse at Guantánamo and within the whole U.S. military prison system dealing with terrorism is out of control. Tell me, how is it that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody so far? Heart attacks?"

Terri Schiavo autopsy results

2005-06-15T13:12:00.000-04:00

The political fight seems to be finished, all started by a woman who's health collapsed 15 years ago. It is still unknown what caused that, but here is what they do know.

-A coroner who performed an autopsy on Terri Schiavo reported Wednesday that she suffered from an irreversible brain injury and would not have recovered as her parents insisted was possible.

-It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused.

-"Her brain was profoundly atrophied," Jon Thogmartin, medical examiner for Florida's Pinellas-Pasco County, told a press conference.

-"There was massive neuronal loss, or death. This was irreversible and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

-The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain," he added

I really hope Terri Schiavo's parents truly felt they could have saved their daughter, because why else would you put a person through this. No one deserves this, not even Bill Frist, renowned heart surgeon who said, "She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli."

Oh so you thought she was coherent enough, and able enough to see things did you Mr. Frist?

The medical examiner said Ms. Schiavo was blind.

*This just in* Mr. Frist (R-Liar) now says he never said Teri Schiavo seemed to respond to visual stimuli.

2005-06-15T11:59:00.000-04:00

Terri Schiavo protesters, with one sign saying "We are idiots."

Look at the horsepower

2005-06-14T22:17:00.000-04:00

It's the most I've seen on a recreational boat with outboards.

But....

-Why are there two different brands of motors?
-How much weight can the stern hold? Those engines look heavy.
-What would the controls be, Mercury or Yamaha?
-Do all the props rotate the same way?
-Why are there three different lengths of lower units?
-How much gas does that guzzle?
-Why does a boat that size (doesn't look that big from the picture) need 950 horsepower?

I guess the Yamahas are kickers.

I can honestly say I know where the fish aren't

2005-06-12T22:27:00.000-04:00

Top Spot Map of Daytona Beach Area

If I didn't have to keep pulling my shoes out of the muddy/sand bottom, and didn't have to watch for the more or less 30 stingrays I saw throughout my wading adventures, I might have been able to catch some fish! My buddy managed to catch a 7 pound catfish on a chartreuse salt water assassin jig. That was a first. The tip from the Florida Sportsman forum seemed to be a bust.

My next spots I plan to try, whether they be via kayak, boat, or foot, will probably be in New Smyrna also. There are some docks close to deep water and a couple bridges that look pretty snooky that I can't wait to try. I'm just not quite sure how to get there. Any body want to come and explore?

Why you can always never reason with a Republican

2005-06-11T20:04:00.000-04:00

Representative James Sensenbrenner

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-The Cheese State, abruptly gaveled the house judiciary meeting to an end and walked out, followed by other Republicans.

"He declared that much of the testimony, which veered into debate over the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, was irrelevant."

It seems to me that Mr. Sensenbrenner, along with his sheep, don't want to deal with the ugly facts coming out of Guantanamo Bay. When Democrats try to debate what's happening there, it's called "irrelevant." The anti-intellect party will, at all costs, prevent any sort of discussion or debate on current events detrimental to their party.

Probably the best thing that could have happened was that the video was on Cspan2. People can see how Republican leaders act here.

The Downing Street "Memo"

2005-06-05T22:36:00.000-04:00

The Downing Street "Memo" is actually a document containing meeting minutes transcribed during the British Prime Minister's meeting on July 23, 2002—a full eight months PRIOR to the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003.

"The minutes detail how our government did not believe Iraq was a greater threat than other nations; how intelligence was "fixed" to sell the case for war to the American public; and how the Bush Administration’s public assurances of "war as a last resort" were at odds with their privately stated intentions."

Downingstreetmemo.com

"Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy…. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action."

This better get media and political attention.

The Smoking Gun.

How this administration deals with unfavorable news

2005-06-05T16:02:00.000-04:00

May 4 - Newsweek report claims Guantanamo interrogators desecrated the Quran

May 16- Newsweek retracts story under pressure from administration

"Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran abuse at Guantanamo Bay," said editor Mark Whitaker.

So it seems the U.S. military failed to corroborate the story printed in Newsweek....

May 17- Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan, and many other righties, blamed the riots and deaths in Afghanistan after the Newsweek article, on the Newsweek article.

Then....
Afghan riots not tied to report on Quran handling, General says

"Air Force General Richard Myers told reporters at the Pentagon May 12 that he has been told that the Jalalabad, Afghanistan, rioting was related more to the ongoing political reconciliation process in Afghanistan than anything else."

June 4- U.S. Confirms Quran mishandled

Confirmed incidents:
-Muslim holy book was splashed with urine
-detainee's Quran was deliberately kicked and another's was stepped on
-two-word obscenity was written in English on the inside cover of a Quran

This does not seem like a respectful way to handle a religious document. Just imagine what the theocrats would have done if the Bible was in the place of the Quran.

More to my point is the way the administration dealt with the news. Deny it, say it's unsubstantiated, blame it for the deaths of American soldiers in Afghanistan, and then attack the messenger Newsweek, and the media in general.

When the truth comes out that military officials admit incidents ocurred where the Quran was desecrated by urine and obscenities, you would expect an apology or a retraction from the administration. Correct?

Instead we get this quote from McClellan,"It is unfortunate that some have chosen to take out of context a few isolated incidents by a few individuals."

Admit it! Newsweek is much more credible than your misleading statements!

Eisenhower looking into the future

2005-06-05T15:12:00.000-04:00

Eisenhower thought a few Texas politicians and oil millionaires were "stupid" nearly 50 years ago.

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." - President Eisenhower to his brother, Edgar Newton Eisenhower, on Nov. 8, 1954

Eisenhower was a Republican who actually had reality based ideas.
- Being a war veteran, Eisenhower had the credentials to speak in matters of foreign policy and military. (Unlike this president)
- Eisenhower also recognized the abuse of power the military was potentially capable of with his predicition of the military industrial complex.

Although I'm a Floridian, and I truly feel we shouldn't be included in the red states, this is great just the same.

2005-06-02T12:10:00.000-04:00

Saw it on BartCop:
Dear Red States

We're ticked off at the way you've treated California, and we've decided we're leaving.
We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss.

We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue; you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's,
we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Sincerely,
Author Unknown in New California.

I believe the word you were looking for Dubya is "dissemble"

2005-05-31T23:26:00.000-04:00

Here's the link, showing the incompetent president in all his glory

The word he said.........
dis·as·sem·ble
To take apart
Ex. ( All sane people should disassemble when Dubya speaks.)

The word he meant.......
dis·sem·ble
1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance.
2. To make a false show of; feign.

Only on Fox News

2005-05-30T11:59:00.000-04:00

An on-screen graphic appearing on the May 18 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes featured a picture of Janice Rogers Brown, one of President Bush's judicial nominees blocked by Democrats, accompanied by the question: "Why do Democrats hate this woman?"

In fact, Senate Democrats have not indicated any hatred for Brown, but have instead detailed extensive and substantive reasons for their opposition to her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

And who can honestly say Fox News does not have political motives? I more or less agree with Chomsky and feel that nearly all the news is conservative, simply because it narrows the spectrum of political/news discourse to what giant news corporations want.

A recent post on Talking Points Memo-

2005-05-28T11:40:00.000-04:00

Josh --
I admire the Bushies ability to come up with catchy memes and
repeat them endlessly (most recently, "Up or down vote.")

Here's my suggestion for what Bush is offering:

His "Nothing For Something"™ proposal.

The government keeps taking the same amount, only the Republicans
give the middle class less. No carrot, all stick. Gee, I wonder why
people aren't going for this?

RP

Repeat it enough times and I guess it just might work.

(Someone else recognized the republicans use short catch phrases to make everything black and white. People are smarter than to think in bumper sticker phrases.)

What are those crazy Brits doing?

2005-05-24T19:36:00.000-04:00

So I guess kids can't wear hoodies in malls anymore? This is just ridiculous

Sudoku

2005-05-15T15:05:00.000-04:00

Reading in yesterday's Daytona Beach News Journal, I came upon Sudoku . Sudoku is a simple yet baffling Japanese puzzle, similar to a crossword, just with numbers instead of words. It's a grid of 81 squares, divided into 9 blocks of 9 squares each. Some of the squares contain a digit. The goal is to fill in the empty squares so that the digits 1 through 9 appear just once in every row, column and individual 3 x 3 block. It's addicting, but don't even begin to think it's easy.

Try out Sudoku

Try this one. It was in the news journal. The numbers in red were given, you figure out the rest. Do not scroll down unless you want to see the answer. * Caution- may cause you to pull out hair*

The Answer

2005-05-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

Another trip, Another death threat-

2005-05-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

On Bush's most recent trip abroad to try to coax country leaders to see things his way, a few things of note happened. First of all, the media once again proved why it truly is a lap dog to this administration.

At home, President Bush regularly travels the nation for "conversations" with hand-picked audiences who routinely shower him and his policies with praise. But in Holland, a group of students were able to ask unscripted questions, questions Americans want to ask if given the chance. But guess what. We will never know what was said because the American media was ushered out of the room half an hour into the question/answer session! I'm not lying.
This group of youths would not have passed the typical White House event.

So where is this called liberal media that is out to get Bush? The liberal media does not exist! The media was kicked out at a time when it was their whole purpose for being there.

And I thought our taxes paid for Shrub's trips? So we don't even get to know what's being said at these trips when tax payers are paying for them? BUllSHit

Secondly, I guess someone in the country of Georgia doesn't like Bush either. My guess is probably LOTS of people don't, particularly if so many people in his own country despise him. Isn't his approval rating at 42% now?

It seems the secret service, which provides Mr Bush's bodyguards, was told by Georgian authorities of a report that a device, possibly a hand grenade, was thrown to within 100ft of the stage on which the president was speaking. Here is the story

(Wow. Sounds like a close call. Maybe next time. I'm kidding! I don't like Bush, but I never feel killing anyone is the right answer.)

Rose Bay Fish Report

2005-05-10T13:45:00.000-04:00

A day off of work from Dolly's Fun Toys and I had to get back on the water again. Same kayak, same place, different fish but more of them. This time they were sea trout, the good to eat kind. I caught six trout all relatively small, except for one monster gator trout. It's the biggest one I've ever caught. I also caught one good size flounder, a definite keeper. If I wasn't a catch and release guy- I would have had a good dinner from the gator trout and flounder.

sea trout

I caught nearly all my trout from a deep 4 foot hole by a mangrove island. The hole was part of a channel cutting between oyster and sand bars. I'll have to look for more spots like this....

2005-05-10T04:19:00.000-04:00

Trout love saltwater assassins, my lure of choice.

Evolution vs. Creationism

2005-05-10T00:45:00.000-04:00

A great article on the evolution vs. creationism debate. This article debunks 15 common creationist arguments on why evolution is not valid.

I must say that just because someone believes in God should not predispose them against accepting plausible and verifiable scientific theories. That God created and endowed us with a soul should not prevent us from accepting the facts about the natural world. Evolution does not threaten a belief in God. To believe in the bible literally is to defy reason that comes from being a human being. Therefore, I believe the teachings of the bible must be looked at metaphorically; use the bible as a moral guideline. But do not politicize the bible and force it upon others as radical fundamentalist conservatives have done.

I must also say that although both evolution and creationism are theories, (and therefore the struggle for teaching material in schools), evolution is a scientific theory while creationism is a religious theory. There is a large difference.

Charles Darwin

2005-05-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Set the groundwork for evolution as we know it.

2005-05-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

I just had to upload it

No Joke, Al Gore deserves some thanks for the Internet

2005-05-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

Gore infamously said in a CNN interview he "took the initiative in creating the internet." But all those people out there who continuosly attacked Gore for saying this.... must now shut up!

In fact, organizers for the Webby Awards for online achievements agree.

In part to "set the record straight," they will give Gore a lifetime achievement award for three decades of contributions to the Internet, said Tiffany Shlain, the awards' founder and chairwoman.

"It's just one of those instances someone did amazing work for three decades as congressman, senator and vice president and it got spun around into this political mess," Shlain said.

Vint Cerf, undisputedly one of the Internet's key inventors, will give Gore the award at a June 6 ceremony in New York. "He is indeed due some thanks and consideration for his early contributions," Cerf said.

But after joining Congress eight years later, he promoted high-speed telecommunications for economic growth and supported funding increases for the then-fledging network, according to the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which presents the annual awards.

As vice president, he popularized the term "information superhighway."

2005-05-05T00:18:00.000-04:00

Death to Microsoft Internet Explorer and computers

This is how I feel after trying to hook up a network in my house. My parents' computer may be older... but there is no reason why their computer still can't find the network in our same house! And yes we called every technical person out there for help. On the other hand my computer now has internet? I just don't get it-

Waste of life

2005-05-04T02:45:00.000-04:00

The Suncoast Tarpon Roundup, which last year accounted for 94 PERCENT of the tarpon reported killed in Florida, has abandoned plans to move to an all-release format and will continue to kill tarpon when it starts May 21.

Why kill these prehistoric giants? All in the name of money? It's bad enough this tournament alone constitutes 94 PERCENT of reported kills in Florida! Tarpon have enough to deal with from the likes of hammerheads and bull sharks after being released from a long fight.

In this day and age how can people not recognize the importance of catch and release in an aquatic ecosystem.

And if you are going to continue to be a deadly tournament, at least take off the sponsors who only supported you years before because you intended on becoming a catch and release tournament.

Spruce Creek fishing report

2005-05-03T18:10:00.000-04:00

Fresh out of school, I was ready to get back on the water. This time it was with my kayak in Rose Bay. Rose Bay, along with Turnbull Bay, are oyster filled creeks, channels and bays connecting the ICW and Spruce Creek. I went in search of redfish, but only found stingrays and manatees.

There is a funny thing about manatees. Their tails remind me of frisbees, giant frisbees, while their bodies remind me of potatoes, large potatoes indeed. Paint it grey, add hairs over their body, make em' 800 pounds- and that's one weird animal. So how are they still so cute?

I fished for about two hours and ended up not catching jack. Actually, I'm lying- I caught 4 jacks. They look like this.

When I came back in, I met a nice guy at Spruce Creek Outfitters. I bought my own kayak from there 2 years before when a different person, looking strangely similar to my deceased grandpa, had owned it. The new owner, Jason, gave me some tips on my own kayak, the jitterbug. Check him out at http://sprucecreekkayaks.com

The Wild West has rolled into Florida

2005-05-03T17:04:00.000-04:00

Shoot first! Ask questions later.....

People in Florida will be allowed to kill in self-defense on the STREET, and other public places, without trying to flee under a new law passed by state politicians on Tuesday , April 5. (Previously it had only been private places like your house or car.)

And let's not forget the guns available for self-defense. The Assault Weapons Ban has temporarily expired. So for now, banned guns like Uzis, AK-47s and TEC-9s will be back on the street, courtesy of President Bush.

The new bill goes further by allowing citizens to use deadly force in a public place if they have a REASONABLE BELIEF they are in danger of death or great bodily harm.

First of all, how does one define great bodily harm, and can it only be defined after some person, possibly innocent, has been killed? Secondly, I don't think people are reasonable. (As in there is REASONABLE belief they are in danger.) Particularly Republican state Rep. Dennis Baxley of Ocala, sponsor of the "Stand your ground" bill. To all UF students, this is the same nut job who was trying to pass legislation hindering "liberal" professors from teaching a wide variety of viewpoints and ideas. David Horowitz has an ally in his mission to take down college professors nationwide.

The bill applies to all means of force that may result in death, although the legislative debate focused on guns. So with all this emphasis on the "culture of life," it seems more efficient killing weapons are now legally available AND it's perfectly legal to use them to kill other people, as long as you have reasonable belief you are in "great bodily harm."

How ass backwards does this seem? Were these laws supposed to make us feel safer?

2005-05-02T13:06:00.000-04:00

Picture courtesy of http://bartcop.com , He tells it like it is

Finally, I've learned how to upload pictures. It wasn't easy and it wasn't without help from a blogger over at http://thelivingroomdivided.blogspot.com

Congrats to all the high school grads

2005-05-02T12:30:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. High school students long to graduate from their daily routine in search of success outside their locker-filled hallways. Congratulations to my longtime buddy Kyle. When I first met you, fresh from South Africa, I never thought you would have lost that bloody English accent so fast. I guess everyone becomes Americanized. But you did graduate from my high school alma mater, the second largest International Baccalaureate school in the country, Spruce Creek High School. http://www.sprucecreekhigh.com Cheers to that. Let's have a rugby match to celebrate, and then maybe a quick game of cricket? How is good old Creek' these days? I heard a brand spanking new library has been built?

I decided to create a blog

2005-05-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

This is my first weblog and it's exciting. Feel free to comment. Tell all your friends.