Daniel's Blog

pro wrestling is anti-american

2007-01-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

Now I bet you're thinking, "...what? pro wrestling is as american as apple pie." well a few days ago I would have been inclined to agree with you. Until I saw the latest WWE on Comcast commercial. I'll sum it up for you. Two guys (wrestlers) are
dressed like they're straight out of 1776, one is holding a fake constitution, which the two guy procede to fight over and then rip. As if that wasn't enough before the commercial is over they pretend to break the liberty bell. I'm not even american and this commercial offended me. What does ripping the constitution have to do with wrestling? Whoever wrote this for the WWE needs to be fired, and the two morons who actually acted in the commercial should be sent to a third world country run by a totalitarian government, where they can see what it's really like to not have any constitutional rights.

Obama=Osama? and Jack the...strangler???

2006-12-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Hardly...I just thought the title sounded funny. But in the title bout Clinton vs. Obama, who will win? On one side the legend herself. Former first lady, and senator for New York, the feared and respected Hillary Clinton. And on the other side, the up and coming political rock star from Illinois, Barack Obama. Neither has confirmed a run at the white house in '08 but everyone seems to think one or both will. For my money I'm throwing in with Barack. I think this guy has what it takes to get the votes. He's young, he charismatic, he's completely different from Bush (not just that Barack is a democrat and Bush is a Republican) but speaking styles. And not to be sexist or racist but I think it far more likely a black male will take the white house before a white woman will. Although this country could benefit from a woman at the helm...maybe in 2012.

Jumping around abit it seems we have another grisly legend in the making back across the pond. England, known of course for Jack the Ripper, Dr. Harold Shipman, The West couple, and the british Jeffrey Dahmer aka. Dennis Nilsen. Has a strangler running wild around Ipswitch. Body count so far is five women, all alleged "ladies of the night". Now doctors think he may be losing control and allowing impulse to take over. Which on one hand means more victims, possibly moving from hookers to housewives or any other ladies out past bedtime and unescourted. On a good note though as soon as impulse takes over, the "strangler of ipswitch" is likely to become sloppy and get caught. So heres to the lads and ladies over at Scotland Yard. Nail this fucker A.S.A.P.

constantly connected

2006-10-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's nice to be able to walk for a bit without worrying if any of the spots between point A and point B are wi-fi enabled, or how the cell signal is in that area. I went for a walk today. Nearly every car I saw had someone with either a cellphone to their ear or a bluetooth headset. Everyone was listening to music from their cd players with ipod integration and the monthly subscription to either xm or sirius radio. What a world we live in, where children on one side of the country are born knowing what a laptop is or how to configure a wireless network, and kids on the other side of the country aren't getting enough to eat. Where Mr. such and such has a Blackberry glued to his hand like some sort of life support device, while Mr. this and that is having his home forclosed by the bank.
This is quite an age of parallels.

popping in to say hello

2006-10-08T23:24:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since my last political blog, but for the most part I've been too busy enjoying life too pay attention to all the crap that's been going on around the world. I've noticed though that managing several blogs at once can be a little overwhelming. So I think it's about time to consolidate. From now on I'll just post in this blog no matter what the topic.

sketch shows

2006-08-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

for a long time now i've been making funny stories, jokes, cartoons, songs, and videos but a few days ago Rachel said something to me "when are you going to start marketing your ideas" and although she's said this very same thing to me a number of times it might just be time to act on this. What i'd love to do, and i'm sure others feel the same way" is create a old school mishmash of cartoons, and sketches, similar to monty's pythons flying circus only with a more modern spin and modern themes. Nothing quite as clumsy as MAD TV or SNL which over time has lost their way. so over the next few months i hope to create more material and put my head together with a few like minded individuals (if i can find any) and see about an online show.

Enjoy

2006-08-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

time certainly does fly when you're having fun

2006-07-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Several times since my last blog in May, Rachel has commented on how long it's been since I wrote anything. Well here I am, Tuesday evening in late July finally putting fingers to keys.

-There have been so many "political" things going on since 2000 it's easy to get lost in all the scandels and war. Even in the last two weeks we've seen the Middle East flare-up again like a bad case of genital herpes. I'm referring of course to the conflict between Israel and Hezbolah. Not to forget a brewing conflict to the north with Russia and Georgia, or to the East with North Korea and ...everyone. But rather than focus on those issues, I want instead to focus on the passing away of a veritable titan of the corporate scandal. None other than Ken Lay. Most people know who he is and why he was so well known, but for anyone who might just have an idea who he was let me catch you up to date.

Kenneth Lee "Ken" Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006), was an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely-reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001. Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron from 1986 until his resignation on January 23, 2002, except for a few months in 2001 when he was chairman and Jeffrey Skilling was CEO.

Thanks to Wikipedia for that little clip.

It seems almost like a sick joke that Ken died before he could serve what i'm sure would have been an amazing jail sentence and although religious types all over will shake their heads and say with conviction that he may be dead but he's paying for it in Hell. Which may or may not be the case but the point i'm getting around to is that not only did this man first strip his employees of their retirement and shareholders of their investment, he took one final thing to his grave...a tangible punishment. This man deserved to rot away the rest of life in a big scary jail with an equally big and scary cell mate (to help ward off those cold, cold winters) The people he wronged deserved to see him suffer for the suffering he put them through. Now that he's gone people are supposed to forgive and forget...let his memory rest in peace...bullshit.

In ancient times it didn't matter if your defeated enemy was dead, you still showed that rotting pile of skin who the man was by dragging his body around the city a few times, or by sacrificing his wife and kids to your god (almost always out in front of everyone).

THAT is a tangible punishment!

Let the people get some satisfaction out of knowing the scumbag is dead.

continuation of gas blog from myspace

2006-05-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

-incase you haven't read my rant on gas prices lately i'll post the link at the end of this post-
First let me reiterate, $3 a gallon for gas is NOTHING! (i'm going to be blunt, I apologize in advance). America need to get their collective head out of their collective ass and STOP BITCHING! You don't want to pay that much you say? Then ride the fucking bus you moron. America's public transportation system doesn't have the resources to support millions of new commuters you say? TOO FUCKING BAD, either fork over some tax money rather then getting your much loved tax refund, or learn to walk. In the long term at least you'll get fit walking all day. What exempts me (Daniel) you say from being in the same boat as every other working stiff paying $3 for a gallon of gas? I'm not complaining about it. America needs to realize that the sunny days of under $2 a gallon are over...that price is unsustainable. It's going to keep going up, and you lazy assholes are going to keep paying for it. Why? because you'd rather drive around in your fancy pants car then get some excersize. The world's supply of oil is going away...read any scientific report about oil sustainability (I say scientific because if you read the government or oil companies garbage you'll think we'll be ok for the next 100 years or so). It's simple economics any high school senior in an economics class should be able to explain the principle to you. High demand + low supply = Expensive comodity. It's very simple. And besides the point everywhere else in the world is paying the equivilant of several dollars more per gallon then we are. So what makes america so fucking special that they shouldn't have to pay what the rest of the world is paying? Europe is way closer to the middle east then america and they pay more. Of course their healthier too, which probably means because we're lazy over here we use more oil, hence the price break. Anyway, main point...stop dreaming of low gas prices, it won't happen, it's your own fault that the price is already so high...deal with it.

gloomy forecast

2006-03-23T02:49:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it was about tonight. Something somber in smoking a cigar while overlooking the twinkling lights of the Portland-metro area. I guess in some sense I was caught up in my own thoughts after seeing "V for Vendetta", it may have been slightly corny with some slick special effects, but it did remind me that the world we live in is changing forever. I know, I know, Daniel the world is always changing-adapting-evolving, but what I'm seeing doesn't reassure me. I suppose I should take a lesson from the band on my Camacho Corojo Figurado. I spend the better part of fifteen minutes trying to get that damn thing off (me of course with virtually no fingernails). Eventually I left it and just relaxed and smoked the cigar anyway. I spent alot of time thinking while I was outside though, about a few things. It was very stream of conscience, drifting from one thought to another, with no real sense of destination. My priorities in life loomed up several times in that brief period of eternity. Immediate priorites being of course work, money, time, and the trip Rachel and I are taking to Ireland. When I got to the subject of Ireland though I stopped myself and started thinking longterm for a few moments. Overall I must say the U.S. is an immensly diverse and intresting country but to be honest I find the whole place very...temporary. I don't like the way things are being run by the folks in charge for one. And whenever I stop to consider the political issues facing this nation I cringe at the majority of the populations outlook on things. Taxes, lawsuits, deficits, terror, war, prejudice, debt, economy, jobs, the whole place seems so chaotic, so unstructured, as if it were a house of cards (pardon the saying). I find that to maintain any sense of balance you have to play the willing ignorant. It's hard to find footing in the fast moving stream. I'm unbelievably thankful to have an amazing woman as my "rock" because sometimes I feel like I'm about to be pulled off my feet by all the things going on around me. It really is true that behind every great man (or person for that matter) is a strong woman (partner, w/e). And while I haven't acheived greatness by any strech of the imagination I feel as though if I want to I can, without worrying about losing my footing. Over the last few months I've found myself in a place I could have scarce imagined this time last year, but I'm very glad I am here. I think that our trip to Ireland, while being an overall great experiance for both myself and especially for Rachel, will be just what I need to resolidify my foundation. And allow me to expand myself into bigger things. Sometimes it can be overwhelming when I think of all that lies ahead, all the things I want to accomplish, but harkening back to my cigar I just need to forget what isn't important, relax and enjoy the trip.

p.s. Rachel you are incredible, and I love you
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

wow, i can't believe i've taken so long to post

2006-03-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

but I have nothing political to post about, because in an effort to "relax" more, i am ignoring current politics. in a sense i have become (although temoparily) one of those blissful ignorants that i usually make fun of...the difference though, i'm choosing to be blissfully ignorant, everyone else just is (for the most part). good day

add on to the last post

2006-02-05T00:51:00.000-08:00

so they finally caught up with the supect from the gay bar attack. he was on the run, but local authorities caught up with him some 1300 miles from the scene of the crime. unfortuneately not before he shot an officer dead, and the passenger of the vehicle.

holy shit, what's wrong with people

2006-02-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

Today while I was at work over at WSU (i'm actually still here as I write this). I was trolling news sites looking for exciting breaking news. Unfortunately the story I found was a little too fucked up. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/02/gay.shooting/index.html. After reading stories like this I cannot fathom how people still say that there is no civil rights movement for homosexuals. Or in some cases people admit there is one but say it is completely unlike the one African-Americans endured. And I wasn't even planning on blogging today! It's people like Jacob D. Robida (the suspect in the above story) that physically embody the ignorance in a supposedly modern society. It appears in fact to be the same blind hatred that was brought against African Americans in the 1900's. Doesn't anyone remember the story of Matthew Shepard, that poor young guy beaten to death by two (for lack of a better word) monsters. This is EXACTLY like the civil rights movement faced by African Americans. Civil Liberties ARE Civil Liberties. Both groups fought/are fighting for equallity in today's society. Just because one group was being discriminated on because of skin colour, and the other becase of sexual preference does not make them different. Discrimination is discrimination. Hate crimes are hate crimes. And Ignorance is still Ignorance. How is the death of a homosexual due to a hate crime any different then the death of an african-american from the same cause? It isn't different. It seems strange to me that in the "free-est" country in the world, we are unable to grant basic civil rights to people based on who they love. They say hind-sight is 20/20, yet after all the time it took to get African-Americans the rights they deserve, why are we so blind we cannot see the connection today that Homosexuals aren't getting the rights they deserve. When we deny basic rights and freedoms to any group, we take away their humanity, and in doing so lose our own.

comment you ignorant shits

announcement

2006-01-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

я поговорю в вашем языке если я имею специфически вещь, котор нужно сказать к вам

je parlerai en votre langue si j'ai une chose spécifique à dire à vous

ich spreche in Ihrer Sprache, wenn ich eine spezifische Sache habe, zum zu Ihnen zu sagen

parlerò in vostra lingua se ho una cosa specifica da dire a voi

hablaré en su lengua si tengo una cosa específica a decir a usted

so pay attention, because it might be the whole post, or a paragraph, or a sentence, or even a word.

hmm, k

2006-01-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

well after reviewing the recording rachel and i made last night, i decided that my points didn't come across as strongly as i would have liked. so i shall try again in a day or so (possibly after work tonight) to rerecord the episode to my liking. for today's topic i want to talk about the new washington state laws banning smoking just about everywhere. it seems to me that this law in its essence makes sense. after all cigarette smoking is pretty gross. and not that i have anything agains't people who smoke them, it's just i would like to govern my own exposure to them. so in the way i think the new law is effective at helping me choose how and where, and if i want to expose my self to the smoke. now on the other hand i think this law has gone way to far. as a cigar smoker i'm feeling the same burn sigarette smokers are feeling. i think that the total ban of smoking in public places wll cause some undisarable effects. it seems to me that if a smoker is in a place such as a cigar shop or other smoke shop, where the sale of these tobacco products is done, it would only make sense that with the owners concent smokers should be able to enjoy the products they're purchasing in a comfortable environment in the presence of their peers. most smoke shops actually do have smoking lounges, where smokers USED to be able to sit down, relax, chat, and most importantly smoke. after all how likely in a non smoker to waltz on in to a typically smoker only envirnonment such as a smoke shop? i feel that for cases such as this where customers aren't able to sample the product before they buy it consequences in the nature of lost tobacco taxes, and sales tax will occur. that's why personally i think the new law should be amended to allow cigar and smoke shops the ability to let customers smoke inside their shops.

any comments anyone? pro or negative?

next on MY agenda

2006-01-25T23:56:00.000-08:00

Coming up in the podcast, a concise look at party politics, tax cuts vs. social programs, the state of the middle east, and propaganda in today's culture. I hope to post a transcript of the show as my next blog here. If you have anything to say on any of the topics mentioned above, please leave me a comment here or send me an email at radcast@gmail.com put "feedback" in the subject.

new blog in the works

2006-01-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

i know, i know it's been awhile since i last posted but i do have a lot to talk about in this post. firstly last wednesday my friend jake suprised me with a visit. it was really good to see him and we had a lot of fun while he was down here. since he stayed till sunday we had ample time to catch up, smoke a couple of amazing cigars, and have an all around good time. scheduling though did get kinda stressful since i didn't have much warning about his visit i ended up balancing my new job, my old job, school, rachel, and jake for a few days. it got kinda hectic. speaking of new jobs, i can't remember if i posted to announce that as of last week i became an official lab assistant for the clark center at washington state university here in vancouver. i only work a few hours a week but the job itself is great and the campus at wsu is fantastic. on a similar note, balancing two jobs has became not so fun, and i'm using a lot of gas to commute back and forth. so as we speak i have two new jobs on the burner (hopefully i will get one of them) that would replace the two i have right now. both are great sounding jobs, but i definately favor one over the other...so pray i get that one. rachel's birthday is also coming up this saturday, it's the big 21 so she's really excited (as am i). and our trip to ireland is only 60 something days away! incredible! but back to the subject of my blog today. it has come to my attention that while my blog title is very politically motivated, i really do very little in the way of political discussion on it. it's mostly catch up on whats happening in my life at the moment. so i have decided i'm going to redirect my current blog back toward it's origianl intention and make a new blog to talk about the day to day stuff. sound good? i thought so. i'm hoping this blog can become a tool for creating political discussions of varying natures, so if you have a topic you would like to discuss with me...anything political or relating to government at all. shoot me an email with the topic and lets get some dialogue going. tomorrow is a day off from my main job but not my new job so hopefully i can get some much needed R&R. also while talking about things of that nature i just want to thank my fantastic girlfriend rachel for being a constant pillar of support for me even when my schedule gets crazy and i stress out about it, and for always being able to make me smile no matter what's on my mind. i love you :* that about wraps it up for todays post but before i forget i'm actually going to be adding two new blogs. one is going to be in the nature of a cigar journal where as i smoke new cigars or old favorites i'll have a brief review with how much it cost, the types of tobacco used, a rating out of 10 stars and roughly hour long it lasted. feel free to comment on that page about cigars you have tried or even pipe tobacco. end...

outta left field

2006-01-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

another quick update post, i've been really busy with work and school lately but rachel and i are set to get our show back on track with a new format which hopefully will start next week. also i got another job working as a lab assistant for the clark college campus at WSU. so that should be intresting, i start with my orientation on wednesday. and i'm mad at USPS because they are messing up my cigar shipment...i paid for 3-6 day delivery, which by the way costs the same as 2-day delivery from UPS, and their online tracking doesn't work. so tomorrow is day six and from what their online tracking says, my package is "enroute" from their facility in Federal Way. the only problem is that it's been "enroute" from there since the 13th...wtf? I want my 5-pack of Montecristo Afrique Uhuru's. Damn, also i'm currently in the process of selecting a travel humidor for when rachel and i travel to ireland in a few weeks. something in the nature of a 15-20 cigar capacity, spanish ceder lined, preferably with a 'rondo and a hygrometer (not essential), aluminum or leather exterior (i probably want leather so when my bag goes through airport security it a. looks less like a potential explosive, and b. it doesn't set off any alarms), other then that i probably don't want to spend more then $60 since i'm only getting it for this trip (but i'll probably use it for backup when i get back). to get current eventish for a minute it seriously looks like iran is dead-set on starting a war with the west, and so if america does get involved in a triple front war (iraq, iran, and afganistan) i think i'll probably pack up and move to ireland permenently, but if england and america get involved then i think sweeden or norway might be a better idea. anyway you get the point. so in anticipation of next week's show featuring one of several new segments, smoking with daniel...(hopefully my cigars will be here by then) feel free to email me any political or economical, etc. issues or comments that you feel strongly about or would like me to talk about (for whatever reason) shoot me a message at danisirish@gmail.com or email the show at radcast@gmail.com or comment here on the blog. but for now it's time for bed. adieu

playing catch up

2006-01-13T00:17:00.000-08:00

again not tooo much going on. it was a good day for catching up on all my podcasts, and ordering some cigars. a five-pack of my long awaited montecristo afrique jambo jambos...yummmy. anyway, some people may notice i have changed my picture on my profile and on my myspace page. this creation came from my own slightly warped mind and i have absolutely no idea what it represents. opinions? on rachel and my trip to ireland, i have begun a countdown...but i just forgot how many days till, seventy something sounds familiar. should be a TON of fun. we're currently planning places we need to visit, who we need to see, etc. in the corperate world since i have some extra time during the day between classes i'm taking on job #2, i got a recommendation for the position but still need to set up an interview. so hopefully that will go well. then if i get the job i can make people feel lazy by saying i work two jobs and go to school full time. but i'll probably only do that once or twice. i should probably get to bed though as i have a math quiz in a few hours and i need my sleep.

p.s. rachel and i are planning to lay down a podcast later today

not much

2006-01-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

there isn't to much new going on at the moment. rachel and i have kinda taken a hiatus from our podcast, just until we get the hosting taken care of and other such matters (website, etc.). we went out to see "walmart:the high cost of low prices" which got my blood boiling. it was a very well put together documentary, snd definately worth a watch. other then that i'm just getting used to my new school schedule.

update

2006-01-09T22:17:00.000-08:00

to expound a little further on the thing i mentioned last night on my blog...it's official rachel and i are going to ireland this april. our tickets are booked and both of us are really excited!

movie review!

2006-01-08T23:50:00.000-08:00

so on a mild, wet sunday evening in portland. rachel and i went to cinema 21 to see the documentary film, the protocols of zion. to break it down into its essential element the movie is a man's journey to find a reason behind religious ignorance and prejudice, and on a larger scale all ignorance and prejudice. it was a very well put together film with some great clips of the narrator arguing/discussing his views on ignorance and prejudice against blacks, white supremisists, palistinians, and just plain ol' crazy white folk. i would highly recommend checking this movie out, even if you really couldn't care less about the topic. i was definately surprised by the sheer idocy of some people, and the brilliance of other (great view uncovered in a very unusual place). hopefully rachel will read this in the morning a leave a comment with her take on it (hint hint).

in other news rachel and i have something awesome planned, that i haven't told anyone about (i'm not sure if she has) but once things are a bit more finalized i will reveal what we have in store, so keep reading!

it broke

2006-01-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

well i've been wearing my "one" bracelet since jake + his family took me to the U2 concert in april, and tonight after work i was adjusting it on my wrist and...it snapped *sob*. so if you please, a moment to remember my bracelet. -pause- alright moving along. tomorrow since i don't have to work till later in the evening i'm going to make a point of getting up early to get myself organized (clean my room, clean my car, other stuff, etc.) so that i make sure i start off this quarter in the right frame of mind. rebecca from trannywreck came into my place of employment today which was kinda cool, but other then that work was kinda slow today. i hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

bit o' bad news

2006-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

well as i was reworking the pilot episode of the radcast (adding the intro, etc.) i went to check the temp. ftp server i've been using semi-secretly/without express premission and it turns out my fears have been confirmed. i got busted. so i'm going to kick the move into high gear to buy some space online for hosting. until then i'll just have to post when a show is complete and if you'd like a copy let me know and i'd be happy to email it to you. rachel and i just finished recording our first episode of 2006. but seeing as it's around 2.5 hours long i'm going to filter out some of the boring parts...in fact a thought just hit me. i'm not going to filter out the boring parts. deal with it. i might have to break it into a two part show but oh well. it has some classic moments. rather then sit around in our "studio" where funny moments can seem forced. rachel came up with the idea of just recording ourselves throughout the day and calling it good. look for that show to be finished later today. hopefully i'll have some permenent server space by the end of the month but until then i'll post an episode list and let me know which ones you'd like to hear.

1.Pilot Episode
2.Carcast 1
3.Carcast 2
4. Carcast 3

math revelation

2006-01-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

another quick post between classes. so earlier today in math class my professor make a statement that really made me think. after showing two seemingly equal methods to evaluate the expression we were working on, he said neither is more correct...now i know this sorta makes sense and i'm sure he ment that both methods are equal and that neither is preferred over the other. but nonetheless it made me think of the concept of varying degrees of correctness i.e. this is right but not as right as this. am i just talking crazy? i suppose what i'm really wondering is if this is a matter of the grey matter ( no pun intended) of right and wrong. feedback? i'm still really deciding where i want to go with this topic, infact i'll probably bring it up when rachel and i are podcasting later just to get her ideas about it.

quickie

2006-01-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

it's late and i have to get used to an early start, so i'll make this quick. i'm digging the new quarter at clark. so far my classes are cool, but being at school at 7am feels like high school all over again. anyway. expect the new show out sometime tomorrow night or friday morning. night!

back up and running

2006-01-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

happy nude year everyone. i hope day one wasn't filled with too many broken commitments. personally i've given up on making new years resolutions. all i've noticed they do is fill up gyms and empty fast food restaurants. my theory is if you can't make a promise to go work out more, or stop smoking, or blah blah blahing on any other day of the year why would you be able on new year? moving right along, a quick thank you to my sometime contributor gertha hershey for an insightful responce to the article i posted in my last blog. today's topic will hopefully cause some discussion. earlier this evening while watching the first few minutes of meet the press i heard a comment from one of tim's co-hosts stating that the big story of the year was undoubtadly hurricane katrina. but in her words she had thought that this disaster would shed light on the outrageous poverty in new orleans. instead, she pointed out, the main thing that people focused on was the poor excuse for a disaster relief effort. upon hearing this i left the room to think, and came up with a comparison i had never considered before. quite some time ago a chap named upton sinclair wrote a novel titled the jungle, which i consider to be one of the best novels i have ever read. in this book sinclair tells the story of a family of poor immigrants who migrate to the united states in search of "the golden dream" or w/e. but instead of finding this, all their hopes are crushed leading to a very sorry ending (that i wont spoil, go read the book). anyway, when this book debuted the american public was disgusted by the tales of the meat packing plants and other unhealthy goings on. this lead to huge changes in the meat industry. what the american public failed to notice was the human tragedy contained within the books pages. the deplorable conditions that not only the meat was kept in, but the people. unfortunately it wasn't until many years later that people began to see the significance of sinclair's work. as i'm sure you've noticed by now (being the clever folks you all are), there are some distinct parallels between the public's reaction in both cases. we seem to have once again glazed over the part of the story that requires the most humanity. hopefully though it won't take us quite as long to realize the err of our ways.

that's about it for my new year’s day post. thanks to everyone who wished me a speedy recovery from a nasty bout of the flu. i'm feeling a lot better tonight and hopefully will be back at work tomorrow.

quick post

2005-12-30T02:23:00.001-08:00

i just read an article from the AP and thought i would pass it along as further evidence that religion and school should not be combined, even in private institutions.

Teens Accused of Being Lesbians Sue School
l6 hours ago
UPDATED 5 HOURS 20 MINUTES AGO
RIVERSIDE, Calif.

Two 16-year-olds who were expelled from a Lutheran high school because they were suspected of being lesbians have sued the school for invasion of privacy and discrimination.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Riverside County Superior Court, seeks the girls' re-enrollment at the small California Lutheran High School, unspecified damages and an injunction barring the school from excluding gays and lesbians.

Kirk D. Hanson, an attorney for the girls, said the expulsion traumatized and humiliated them.
"Their entire support network was pulled out from under them because of suspicions about their sexual orientation,"
said Hanson, who declined to say whether his clients are lesbians.

The school is on Christmas break until next week, and messages left for school officials Thursday were not immediately returned.

The lawsuit alleges that the school's principal, Gregory Bork, called the girls into his office, grilled them on their sexual orientation and "coerced" one girl into saying she loved the other. The next day, the lawsuit says, Bork told the girls' parents they could not stay at the school with "those feelings."

In a Sept. 12 letter to the parents, Bork acknowledged that officials had seen no physical contact between the girls but said their friendship was "uncharacteristic of normal girl relationships and more characteristic of a lesbian one."

"Such a relationship violates our Christian Code of Conduct,"
Bork wrote in his letter, which was included as an exhibit in the lawsuit.

He called the girls' behavior "scandalous" and "immoral."

Hanson said the 142-student school in Wildomar, Calif., must comply with state civil rights laws because it functions as a business by collecting tuition.

"There's a lot of hypocrisy going on here," Hanson said.

"The school is claiming the girls were expelled because their conduct wasn't within the Christian code. But at the same time, (the school) has students who aren't Christians and are even Jewish."

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

incredible

2005-12-30T02:10:00.000-08:00

well today...actually yesterday was rachel and my two month milestone. so i'm going to gloat for a little bit over having such an amazing girlfriend. go me! so over on my myspace page i noticed i'm nearing 900 views for my 118 posts...not bad. about seven and a half views per post. hopefully more people from myspace will wander their way on over to here and give this blog a read. in podcast news expect a new radcast in the coming few days. the topic. things that pissed rachel and i off about 2005, with a guest apperace from my mom, who shares her number one cause of anger for '05. since we havent actually recorded the show yet feel free to comment on my blog or email either myself (danisirish@gmail.com) or the show (radcast@gmail.com) and share your "shitlist" from 2005. and if rachel and i agree with them we'll mention them on the show. or at least thank you on air for spending some time to give us your view.

yawn

2005-12-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

well i hope everyone had a good "christmas" or w/e holiday you celebrate. not much in the way of activity here on the blog or with the podcast. in fact with regards to the podcast you might say there's been negative activity since i had to take the mp3's off the server i was covertly using to avoid detection. anyway i had an amazing "christmas" and have spent the last few days enjoying the item's i received and spending time with rachel. in other news school is almost back which should be fun, i have some great new classes this quarter and hopefully some great teachers.

if you'd like to hear any of the mp3's that were avalible online send an email to the show at radcast@gmail.com or comment on this blog.

awesome

2005-12-24T01:47:00.000-08:00

well rachel and I are hopefully another step closer to making our podcast easier and more fun to make with the addition of some new editing software, listen to a satanic promo

late night

2005-12-22T03:53:00.000-08:00

well it's way past my bedtime but i threw together a rough intro for the show. unfortuneately rachel is asleep so i haven't run this version of the intro past her. so the link to our pilot episode won't work cause i'm taking that file down and putting this one up instead. so enjoy, and let me know what you think. email to radcast@gmail.com or comment on my blog

click here

oh the good life

2005-12-21T01:22:00.000-08:00

not much to talk about in this post. just enjoying my day off. had a relaxing day spending time with rachel. we're thinking about topics for our next podcast, which...hopefully will be done using CastBlaster. So look for that in the coming week. if you havent had a chance yet go now and listen to the pilot episode of The R.A.D. Cast and give us some feedback at radcast@gmail.com or leave me a comment here. only four days to go kids.

finally

2005-12-20T01:50:00.000-08:00

and now without furter ado, the pilot episode of "The R.A.D. Cast", enjoy it while you can because im removing it from the server im hosting it on this sunday, so as not to expose my secret hosting of a podcast.

Episode #1 of "The R.A.D. Cast"

it really picks up in the second half, once you get past the intro. and dont forget to comment on what you think about the show. enjoy.

almost there, a little to the left, ahh perfect

2005-12-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

it hardly feels like there are only six days until yule. i'm very excited. but something in the news thats been putting a damper on my yule cheer is the group of christians who are threatening boycotts left and right over brand's recognition of "the holidays" and not "christmas". big fuckin woop! i say let them boycott, i would respect a company more for standing up to those bossy assholes. hey news flash it's not your company, you don't decide how to advertise for them. if you have a problem with it you don't have to buy from them. in fact go start your own merry fucking christmas corperation. then you can celebrate it all the time! just don't try use your "influence" to push companies into doing things your way. it's like the moron school bully who wants to take the lunch money away from all the other kids. in fact all this christian aimed holiday advertising actually offends me. i dont mind you practicing your beliefs as long as they dont infringe on mine (which they frequently do). i'm pretty sure jesus wouldn't condone blackmail or bullying.

wishlist

2005-12-18T23:15:00.000-08:00

wow, i just discovered the wishlist feature on my profile here. fantastic! i took the liberty of listing thirty or so items off the top of my head that i might want sometime soon. so now if any of my friends/family/random strangers/secret admirers don't know what to get me for an occasion (christmas/easter/holloween/my birthday/monday/tuesday/wednesday/etc.) you now know where to look. and don't worry i'll add some more things to the list for greater variety.

just because

2005-12-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

"as the steel monstrosity bore down on her,,
she blinked once,
smiled to herself,
and wondered,
did I leave the oven on?"

well finally

2005-12-18T20:58:00.000-08:00

"after some careful thought i decided that if i want my blog to become what i have in mind for it, i wont be able to stay with myspace. so i came to blogger.com to register Propadanda as my new blog. to my suprise i realized that i had already registered myself on the site in january of 2004. it was quite a trip to reread some of my old posts from high school. and keeping with my creed of not dwelling on the past i deleted all my old posts. so here i am starting anew as it were on post number one."

today the weather really turned nasty witha healthy dose of snow and freezing rain. so i took my dad's SUV into work because i figured the 4-wheel drive might be nice. my normal 20 minute commute took an hour and a half...so when i finally arrived at work...late. there were virtually no customers there. fast foward two hours, and instead of me working till midnight i got sent home at half past five. so this time my commute took three hours, but it was a very bizarre three hours. lining the sides of I-205 must have been around 100+ cars and 18-wheelers that had succumed to the ice. it was pretty hectic, but i made it home alright.

before work this morning i got rachel's half of our last podcast and joined it together with mine. not to toot our own horn but the result sounds pretty darn good. i've also decided that since i'm moving my blog to blogger.com i'm going to speed up the release of rachel and my show, the aptly named "The R.A.D. Cast". unfortunately i'm still looking for a temp. host for the mp3's until i get a chance to register a domain. so if you really want to hear them i'll gladly email you our pilot episode.

the link to my old blog is here. so give it a click to read my last 112 or so posts.