Guess I’ll try this 1-page sci-fi story thing, since so many people are doing it. This popped into my head in about 3 seconds.

It was a late night on the net for Kyle, a 22nd-century net application developer. Prior to going to sleep at the crack of dawn, he had managed to smoke a full pack of cigarettes, along with several grams of marijuana — all after midnight. With medical advances removing all risks and hazards associated with substance [ab]use, most people these days smoked nicotine to stay up late and stimulate brain activity. It had the benefits of caffeine, without needing to take those pesky bathroom breaks.

And the fact that every American owned a matter synthesizer these days only made obtaining nicotine and marijuana that much easier. Obtaining marijuana was no harder than obtaining a taco; you simply downloaded the MSRF (matter synthesizer recipe file) from the proper electronic source, fired up your matter synthesizer, and waited for the progress bar to reached 100%. When complete, your item was brought into existence, ready to use. The raw materials necessary to create these items were next-to-nothing in cost these days, as nanomachines collected the raw building blocks of all materials from the vast landfills of the 21st century, sending them through pipes along with water, electricity, and network connectivity.

Fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, too, were vastly different from their original 20th century concept. They existed largely as intellectual property establishments. Actual restaurants only existed in 3rd world nations; these days people simply paid a small fee to license an MSRF (or “mizriff“, as people eventually blurred the acronym from such frequent usage). Once you had a mizriff for the latest product, you would simply fire it up in your own matter synthesizer.

These days, all the money was in intellectual property and content creation. Want to make some money? Come up with a new recipe for a burger, sell it online, and collect money. Nobody actually performed the physical act of cooking anymore; yet anyone could be a “cook” by coming up with a new tasty combination. Never in the history of humanity had such a dynamic range of culinary experiences been available to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. And of course this extended to non-food items as well; marijuana had never been better, and fancy clothes that would cost thousands of dollars per item in the 20th century were available to every single human in the country. You could use Versace suits as napkins if you so desired.

Welfare and socialism were the de facto standards due to the fact that there was not much work to be done these days. Science and technology had solved most of humanity’s problems, and we became a race of dreamers. Most people focused on art — either the creation or consumption thereof. Since art — and not work — is what actually gives life meaning, people were in general more happy than at any other time in human history, and had learned to avoid the lie that the only path to happiness was work and productivity.

Kyle, however, possessed a curious and fiercely intelligent mind. He was a hacker; he liked to tinker. The cyber-underground still existed, and escaped more enforcement efforts — after all, with most societal problems solved, what havoc could they really wreak? With even the poorest people rich by past century’s standards, who cared if someone pirated some intellectual property, or used a piece of technology in an unintended fashion? Even if you were bilked out of your life’s work, you could still eat, drink, and be merry each and every day. And of course you could have all the sex you wanted too, as all STDs had since been cured via genetic tampering and nanotechnology. So nobody really cared if you tinkered with something — even something as serious as your matter synthesizer. Of course such acts were illegal, but enforcement was virtually non-existent.

During the previous night, Kyle had gone on some underground online forums run by elite hacker groups who tinkered with their matter synthesizers. People could download mizriffs for illegal, unpopular, and forgotten items. Most troubling were the mizriff files for weapons of mass destruction — but nobody really wanted these, as most crimes were ultimately the result of economic factors. And even if a WMD was somehow deployed, undetected — population centers were protected from such threats via technological safeguards. Even the most common house was created with materials that could withstand a nuclear blast; not that a nuke could ever get within 100 miles of such a place without being instantly detected.

There were, of course, many other prohibited and forgotten items. Simulated human flesh mizriffs were available for those who wanted a taste of cannibalism. Simulated fleshy children could be downloaded by the pedophiles, allowing them to satisfy their urges with no victim. Poisons such as arsenic, illegal-to-use vehicles, and cooking utensils could be downloaded as well (culinary arts had been completely forgotten by this point). Paper books, deemed a waste of raw material and no longer available via establishment channels — could be downloaded for those who wanted an “antique” feel to their reading. More or less anything that had ever existed could be re-created, whether it was considered “normal” or not.

Kyle wasn’t really as interested in the most of these items as much as he was interested in tinkering and understanding the underlying mechanisms of the matter synthesizers themselves. Only a few people remained who truly understood how these machines worked, and the knowledge was closely guarded — almost like a cult. But an underground network of matter synthesizer tinkers had emerged. They called themselves “synthackers”. Their communities had become quite organized, but there were of course malicious elements within.

Just last night Kyle had downloaded some hacked firmware for his matter synthesizer; one which would unlock some of the quantum hardware limitations imposed by the benevolent government. Despite the inherent danger of playing with the very fabric reality at a quantum level, Kyle was quite intrigued by the prospect. Everyone wants to play God, but these days it was actually possible. And the possibilities were truly endless.

So, after a long night staying up, tinkering with his synthesizer, and downloading mizriffs that perhaps should have been scanned for threats first, Kyle went to sleep in a hazy, marijuana-induced stupor. He normally did not dream, due to THC suppressing REM sleep cycles — but this night, he had some of the craziest dreams he’d ever had. Upon awakening, Kyle’s gut told him that something was a bit off-kilter. He was not sure what.

What Kyle didn’t realize was that he had downloaded a hacked matter synthesizer firmware deliberately infected with malware; an encrypted quantum trojan horse. He had read about it in news releases on underground forums, but had promptly forgotten about it, as he was quite stoned at the time. The mechanisms of this trojan horse were not understood by anyone; even the people who circulated it. Such works are usually the product of one extremely devious genius.

The results of an infection were somewhat well-documented in underground circles: with the right combination of unlocked firmware and infected mizriffs, the matter synthesizer would actually synthesize a quantum-level singularity that would effectively swap you with a double from a nearby alternate universe. Since energy tends to travel the path of least resistance, the universe chosen was always the closest possible alternate. And since the nexus of this exchange was the matter synthesizer — hooked up to the net — victims of this trojan horse would find themselves in a universe extremely similar to their own, but with subtle differences ONLY manifested in their technology: the matter synthesizer, their computers, and the net.

Kyle did not realize he had been pwned, and went about his day’s work. He opened up his page editor, took it out of WYSIWYG mode, and made some subtle code changes at the text level without really looking at the file as a whole.

Upon completion, the page did not render as expected. Characters displayed that should not have. The image he added did not display. Kyle became quite puzzled, and then he suddenly remembered those forum messages he’d read many months ago — about synthackers unknowingly being sent to nearby , almost indistinguishable alternate universes. The difference in these universes were supposed to be very subtle, and only manifested in the computer.

Kyle took a second look at the HTML code for the page he was working on. The image code was “[img src='filename.jpg']“?!?!?!?! Images are supposed to be enclosed in quotations, not apostrophes. And page elements are supposed to be enclosed in less-than/greater-than symbols, not brackets.

“FUCK”, Kyle exclaimed out loud. The source code to the page made him realize he was no longer in his original universe. The synthackers had gotten to him; another unwitting victim. He wondered what his double from this universe was up to in his original universe. Quite likely doing the exact same thing.

Kyle synthesized another pack of cigarettes, and pulled an HTML book off of the shelf, where he had left it last night. Flipping it open to a random page, it took only one glance to verify that all the code standards had indeed subtly changed. As he lit up a smoke, he realized he had a long and arduous day ahead of him, learning this “new” syntax.

He wondered if he would be able to crank out pages at the same rate that he used to. Since he did this purely for fun, and not profit, he wondered if anyone would actually notice that he was not the same Kyle. Would his girlfriend? Would knowing that she was a different copy of the same girl would make the sex any different? At least in his own mind, it would be hotter.

Either way, he knew he was a victim of tinkering with forces that should probably have been left alone. Feeling silly, he flipped the page, continuing his studies, and learned the new HTML syntax for bold, italics, underlining, hyperlinks, and images. He brought this on himself and would have to pay the consequences, as insignificant as they were to real life, face-to-face exchanges.

Fortunately, in the grand scheme of things, he could still have a marijuana-laced taco with no ill health effects at any given time. Thus, even as he realized his victimization, he still had a smirk on his face. He had used his technology in a way few other people did, and was proud of his achievement — even if the results weren’t quite what he expected. If only Marie Curie could have been so lucky…

• SCIENCE/EYE CANDY: Anaglyph (red-blue 3-D glasses) pictures of the surface of Mars
  As a warning, we had to reverse (bend backwards) our 3-D glasses to get these to work. Apparently NASA has reverse “polarity” when compared to Hollywood.
  (tags: media pictures 3-D anaglyph science Mars NASA PhoenixLander)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: In a rare turn of events. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Jenny Curlee gets fired for a shooting that was found to be unjustified (!) - shot unarmed man while in his car at a gas station. First shooting discipline in 12 years.
  Another senseless shooting in the war on drugs. Alcohol, cigarettes, and car accidents each kill more than all illegal drugs combined, yet we have officers doling out death sentences over cocaine. Oh and if you have coke, don’t drink a beer in your car!
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police shootings murders deaths WarOnDrugs drugs cocaine rare firings discipline Officers JennyCurlee FrankLopez ABC dumbasses victims BrianJarodHowie GuyManuelCabral arrests possession intentToDistribute gasStations OverlyHarshPunishments excessiveForce)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Despite DNA of 5 cops in gangbanged girl who filed rape complaint, no charges filed. America is the land of the free!
  Now I’ve said you need physical evidence for rape, and this at least seems like enough for fucking CHARGES to be filed. So anyway — If you’re a cop, rape away! *Unless there’s something I don’t know*, Bruce Kaplan and Joseph Bocchini should be fired!
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthorioty police rape DNA evidence noCharges NewYork NewBrunswick MiddlesexCounty RiderUniversity negligent prosecutors BruceKaplan StephenJones NatDershowitz sex sexualAssault students MercerCounty JosephBocchini video investigations interviews)

• COMEDY: Humor at the expense of the handicapped
  a 1 page, no dialog comic that made me laugh out loud
  (tags: comedy comics handicapped signs walk walkSigns flickignOff middleFinger Haluze)
• TECHNOLOGY WAR VICTORY?: Pistol Cam records up to 1 hour of audio and video, using encryption, whenver a gun is drawn. Stop Abuse Of Authority and Police Murders!
  If this is really tamper-proof, then I’d go as far as to say these should be mandatory by law. While expensive, $695 is far less than the value of a human life (which was lowered by $1M to the $6M range by the U.S. govt recently).
  (tags: politics TechnologyWar technology hardware guns cameras PistolCam AbuseOfAuthority police liability OrangeCounty NewYork SWAT SWATTeams encryption LegendTechnologies Wired news articles policeBrutality)
• TECHNOLOGY WAR: Venezuela to provide Cuba with real (non-satellite) internet, after America preventing the Cuban people from having real internet for 20+ years. Does anyone actually care about the embargo anymore?
  Satellite ‘net is slow, and way too expensive for Cubans. I consider access to internet a basic human right at this point; my conclusion is that USA has been denying an entire populace basic rights in order to force our political agenda on them. Typical.
  And yes, the internet existed 20 years ago. In multiple countries.
  And so did the embargo.
  And Cuba would have more or less been the 3rd-closest country (after Canada and Mexico) for us to wire up to, had we allowed it.
  Blocking information from people — even censored information — is not good for any populace. And even in China, people can find things out on the internet that the government doesn’t want them to find out.
  Prohibition doesn’t work. Ever. Not even for information. I have banned books. I have banned videos. But I wouldn’t have been able to afford to download them if I’d had to pay 10X or 100X the cost to do so.
  (tags: politics TechnologyWar Technology internet connectivity embargos Cuba USA Venezuela CVGTelecom Wikileaks Slashdot news articles)
• COMICS: Why Batman Could Exist–But Not for Long: Scientific American
  Extra bonus points for their nod to the Batman Beyond animated series, which the flocks of people currently going to the theatre probably never even watched.
  (tags: comics characters Batman ScientificAmerican articles movies BruceWayne BatmanBeyond)

[IMDB link] [Netflix link] Another low IMDB-rated movie from National Lampoon — this one received only 4.0/10. But what a premise! Two girls at once!

PEOPLE: John Melendez (aka Stuttering John from the Howard Stern Show) plays the leading horny average male who realizes he is incapable of monogamy, and needs a woman that would let him be with other woman. And the horny bi-chick who ultimately joins him and his girlfriend in bed is none other than Hudson Leick — who played Callisto in Xena: Warrior Princess. She is good person to play oversexed/empowered roles, and had plenty of sexual attitude and confidence.

BAD STUFF: The entire way the 3-way relationship went down SUCKED SUCKED SUCKED, and the movie, like most movies with threesomes, seems to miss basic issues of trust and intent. Basically, [highlight for spoilers]→ his girlfriend fucked him over to be with Hudson Leick. She said they could sleep together, and they did. She grew jealous. Instead of TALKING to him about it like in a proper, non-dysfunctional relationship, she sulked to herself until deciding to dump him. Then he caught her in bed with the other woman. And we’re supposed to feel like Stuttering John is the schmuck? Now way! It was his idiotic girlfriend who didn’t know what she wanted!

CONCLUSION: As Glen once said in an email to me on 11/10/2006, “There is a certain thrill of the hunt — especially when the hunt is for cunt.” I think that about summarizes what this movie has to offer. You feel a vicarious thrill as John Melendez tries, and actually succeeds, at scoring with 2 chicks. But then everything goes sour in a very cliche way, just like every sex / threesome / porn industry-themed movie produced in puritaniccal America. And the relationship is really unrealistic — girlfriend #1 is nothing short of dishonest. They try to pass off the moral of the story as being “don’t try to sleep with two chicks”, but anyone intelligent who watches this will realize that the real moral is “don’t date lying bitches”.

RECOMMENDATION: See this if threesome interest you, but don’t expect a happy or realistic ending.

COINCIDENCES: (National Lampoon’s One, Two, Many; Simpsons S19E20) Two videos in a row where two good friends had to compete with each other in auditions.

Mood: moodlessness
Music: Dethklok - The Lost Vikings

• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Baltimore indicts officer for shooting; only the 2nd indictment of an on-duty police shooting since 1996 - Baltimore police have already shot 12 dead this year
  Witnesses (plural) said the officer shot the man in the back as he tried to run away AFTER being searched (and nothing being found) — which of course is NOT legal. Officer Tommy Sanders III needs to be raped in prison like other criminals.
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police shootings deaths murders Officers TommySandresIII Baltimore Maryland BaltimoreSun news articles indictments PaulBlair EdwardLamontHunt HamiltonParkShoppingCenter witnesses FBI civilRights civilRightsinvestigations investgiations felonies)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Parents of unarmed 14-year-old hispanic boy who was accidentally shot and killed after playing computer games awarded $1,500,000 in lawsuit - Texas, of course. Oh, and Arturo Michel is a douchebag.
  The kid refused to stay put when the cops said so, but was admittedly NOT part of the disturbance. The officer handcuffed him WITH HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER, in cowardly fear of his own life. This was a 14-yo playing video games until the police barged in
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police shootings OverlyHarshPunishments safety children guns teenagers lawsuits victories Houston Texas Chron news articles BillWhite EliEscobarII ArturoMichel EliEscobar LydiaEscobar cowards EscobarRule MichaelSolar)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Officers shoot unarmed black man 3 times in the back, both swearing they saw a gun - but no gun was recovere. Family & Friends protest.
  Capt. William Ryan has a bit too much faith in the word of his officers. Guns are pretty easy to find. Of course, if someone was ever in a gang, shooting them is justified at any future point in their life, right?
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police shootings deaths murders OverlyHarshPunishments Compton ComptonBulletin news articles BryanDavidLeeMooreJr. shotInTheBack WilliamRyan lawsuits erxcessiveForce harassment)

If I go will you follow…
Through the cracks and hollows?
And I would be your king,
If you would be here now.

Mood: annoyed but energized by random commenters named “Michelle” from AOL
Music: Tiamat - Cain

(Yes, I’m copying Eve’s blog idea of posting random lyrics now and then. Cause this song rules.)

• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Idiot Judge William Maki rules bully Officer William Cozz can’t be fired, despite being convicted of misdemeanor assault, caught on viceo BEATING a HANDICAPPED, HANDCUFFED 60-year-old STABBING VICTIM - Proof the system doesn’t work. LET’S REVIEW THE CRAZINESS:
• 1) HE was caught *on video* beating the man.
• 2) He plead guilty and was convicted of assault — so he is now officially a criminnal.
• 3) The man was a stabbing victim. He was unruly because they wanted insurance info and weren’t treating him as fast as he’d like. I’d be unruly too. Hospital’s job is to heal, not bill. If he has no insurance, they’re still required to stabilize any wounds.
• 4) The man was already handcuffed for being unruly.
• 5) The man was 60 years old.
• 6) Pig’s police department didn’t want him, but he used lawyers to bully his way back into a job.
  
• 7) FBI wants to investigate, but the guy has ties to the FBI from his previous job as an FBI supervisor.
• Wow. Just…. wow. I don’t see how there’s a sliver’s chance in hell this guy can walk around with a gun and play with other peoples’ lives — but then again, Chicago has one of the most corrupt police departments in the nation (systemic torture of blacks, anyone? 10,000 complaints, anyone?). And their new commissioner promised zero tolerance, but this sure as fuck isn’t zero tolerance.
• I’m tired of political theatre. We need results. Federal law banning police officers convicted of anything. Federal law making any assault by an officer an automatic felony.
• Police need to be held to higher standards - even when off duty.
• Wow. Just… wow.
• More thoughts on the matter at the original posting location: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/links-for-2008-01-21/#comment-84954
• (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police brutality policeBrutality beatings arrests stabbings hospital victims patients wheelchair JodyWeis WilliamJ.Cozzi ChicagoSun-Times news articles Chicago Illinois RandleMiles stitches lawsuits settlements suspensions UnderlyHarshPunishments LarryGuyJr. AlexandriaMartinez excessiveForce judges WilliamMaki CaughtOnVideo FBI misdemeanors battery convicted)
• OPERATING SYSTEMS: Intel? Wont Embrace Microsofts Windows Vista
  Good for you, Intel. Win2K is just fine, as is WinXP. The only reason to ever upgrade is forced obsolescence. (I’m talking to YOU, ATI. How dare you stop releasing 2K drivers for your video cards?)
  (tags: politics GeekPolitics software OperatingSystems Microsoft Windows MicrosoftWindows WindowsVista Vista corporations Intel refusals NewYorkTimes news articles fromSusanE)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS: Washington D.C. issues arrest warrants for people missing jury duty
  Including dead people, people who have moved away, etc. Wont it be nice when someone loses their clearance because of an arrest on their record?
  (tags: politics OverlyHarshPunishments Washington WashingtonDC DC juries juryDuty arrests warrants Judges RufusG.KingIII)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY: Coward cops shoots and kill handicapped epileptic hispanic woman during a seizure (her mom called 911 for an ambulance, not a murder) - she had a crochet hook! She’s brown! IT’S A KNIFE!!!. Such cowards should not be working with guns.
  WANT LAWSUIT. And also an 811 service, for people who don’t want armed cops showing up. Yet another mom loses her child by calling 911. Brown and want to live? Drive someone to the hospital yourself. Don’t trust the authorities to not kill you.
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority OverlyHarshPunishments police shootings deaths murders epileptics seizures 811 Salinas California TheCalifornian news articles MariaIrmaDeLaTorre handicapped)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS: Woman tries to offer legal advice to friend being arrested for DUI, so officer arrests her and “accidentally” breaks her cheekbone in 3 places
  Lawsuit won. Seattle taxpayers get to pay $100,000 due to their heavy-handed idiot officers. Of course internal affairs exonerated the officer, as they usually do. Seattle Poliece Chief Gil Kerlikowske is a tool.
  (tags: politics OverlyHarshPunishments AbuseOfAuthority policeBrutality police brutality excessiveForce injuries broken cheekbones Seattle Washington NWCN news articles BrittanyBeaulieu OfficeOfProfessionalAccountability GilKerlikowske lawsuits victories)
• COMEDY: Homer Simpson vagina - the sequel
  This is not the same Homer Simpson vagina that I blogged about many moons ago. Same concept, but multiple pictures. The cucumber is particularly funny. We had a good laugh.
  (tags: comedy media pictures NSFW HomerSimpson vaginas cartoons TV shows TheSimpsons Simpsons Haluze)
• PICTURES: X-Day 2008
  I’d normally wait until I post these on flickr, but a photobucket was started for everyone to dump pics in. So all my pics are dumped here for anyone who wants to see them now.
  (tags: media pictures SubGenius events X-Day camping 2008 200807 Sherman NewYork Photobucket)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS: Woman arrested, charged with manslaughter, held with $50,000 bail — because she gave birth to a stillborn child. Apparently the umbilical cord was cut inside of her. So what? Abortion is legal, isn’t it? One less stupid Alabaman
  Or is the issue here that it was in the 3rd trimester? Still, coming from a Christian state like Alabama, which fought desegregation and interracial marriage, this just seems like the religious right trying to advance where the legal line is drawn.
  (tags: politics abortion Alabama OverlyHarshPunishments arrests manslaughter Florence JenniferDarleneJohnson HelenKellerHospital umbilcalCords CherryHillHomes LauderdaleCounty excessiveBail)
• SEX OFFENDERS: Woman who had oral sex with a classmate WHILE A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL (she was 17, he 15) being told to move 3rd time due to sex offender registry laws - all limitations of freedom inevitably expand into crazy situations like this
  It’s ridiculous for young people to be put on a sex offender list. Something designed to protect children (tho it actually often drives sex offenders underground) being used against children…
  (tags: politics OverlyHarshPunishments WontSomebodyPleaseThinkOfTheChildren? sex SexOffenders WendyWhitaker Georgia legal laws 17-year-old 15-year-old teenagers lawsuits Atlanta Georgial AJC news articles)
• RELIGION/SEXUAL FREEDOM: (Religion Vs. Love): Backwater Wisconsin Family Council calls for same sex couples to be imprisoned
  It’s amazing how a large section of our country is comparable to a large section of Iran. Fucking religious idiots — wherever you look. But especially in Wisconsin. Julaine Appling should get cancer.
  (tags: politics religion Christians Christianity sex SexualFreedom homosexuality marriage same-sexMarriage OverlyHarshPunishments idiots Wisconsin WisconsinFamilyCouncil HateIsNotAFamilyValue JulaineAppling legal FairWisconsin gay discrimination)
• RELIGION: Stop “Evandalism” - YES, it is LEGAL to rip down religious messages stapled to utility poles and such
  Another good blog from my uncle Sean, firstborn son of the cult my grandfather started. (Yes, I like to mention this every time. And if any cult members want to purchase some holy blood, mine is up for sale.)
  (tags: politics religion evandalism vandalism legal SupremeCourt SCOTUS rulings FirstAmendment utilitiyPoles telephonePoles poles public Christians Christianity fromSeanP)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS/WAR ON DRUGS: Cops bludgeon black man to death as they arrest him, and 3 months later the family still can’t see the county autopsy report or find out the names of the officers involved
  Even if the drug dealer really did reach for their gun–that’s not a license to kill. Of course, with the department being so secretive about it (where’s the video?), it’s kind of hard to believe their story.
  (tags: politics OverlyHarshPunishments WarOnDrugs PoliceBrutality deaths beatings police brutality secrecy Newsday news articles BayShore Suffolk NewYork KennyLazo Officers guns autopsies lawsuits)

• COMEDY: suicide & blowjobs
  I just found this web comic funny.
  (tags: comedy comics SexyLosers suicide oralSex sex Haluze)
• SEX OFFENDERS: Man shares same name, birthdate as sex offender - so neighbors circulate flyers with picture on them, saying a sex offender has moved into the neighborhood
  The inevitable lawsuit ensues. Maybe if people are such a problem that this happens — maybe they should be kept in jail? And where’s the registry of murderers, anyway?
  (tags: politics WontSomebodyPleaseThinkOfTheChildren? SexOffenders sex mistakenIdentity lawsuits defamation flyers vigilanteJustice California SweetHome Oregon SeattleTimes news articles RichardBryanSmith TraceyKelly)

¿uʍop-ǝpısdn ƃolq oʇ unɟ ǝɹoɯ ǝq plnoʍ ʇı ǝqʎɐɯ

• PHOTOGRAPHERS’ RIGHTS: Pussy Johnson County sherrif’s deputy arrests Scott Conover for taking a picture of him w/his iPhone, becuase he “feared for his life” and “pointed a laser” at him. Of course, this wont stand as the photograph was LEGAL to take.
  I smell a justified lawsuit and a waste of taxpayers money. But will the idiot officer be forced to pay for wasting our money? Doubtful. And nice how they protect the idiot officer’s identity, but not the innocent guy arrested.
  (tags: politics TechnologyWar technology hardware phones cellPhones iPhone cameraphones cameras photographers photographers’rights rights ConstitutionalRight FirstAmendment douchebags officers JohnsonCounty deputies bullshit arrests Tennessee Tricities news articles cowards falseArrest)
• CENSORSHIP/RELIGION/ISLAM APPEASEMENT: Amsterdam cartoonist arrested, computers, sketchbook taken — drew cartoons that might be offensive to Muslims
  Isn’t Holland supposed to be one of the more tolerant countries? Looks like Bin Laden has successfully scared the whole world shitless and they’d rather take away free speech than risk pissing off a suicide bomber.
  (tags: politics censorship religion Islam Holland FreedomOfPress arrests cartoonists politicalCartoons WallStreetJournal news article Europe police Amsterdam Muslims GregoriusNekschot FreedomOfSpeech rights GeertWilders InterdepartmentalWorkingGroupOnCartoons Fitna politicalCorrectness AbdulJabbarVanDeVen MDI)
• SEXUAL FREEDOM: Yet another homosexual-hating anti-gay-agenda politician allegedly caught buttfucking
  Looks like Republican Alabama Attorney General Troy King, who called homosexuality “the downfall of society”, is busy taking it in the ass himself. Homophobia is so often perpetrated by closet homos themselves. Hypocrisy sucks.
  (tags: politics SexualFreedom sex homosexuality gay politicians Alabama Republicans AttorneyGeneral TroyKing hypocrites CaughtInTheAct PaigeKing)

[IMDB link] [Netflix link] We had to watch this movie within 48 hours of Evan reviewing it HERE. His review was that compelling. I don’t even watch Rambo movies usually! Last time I saw one, I was being babysat.

CONCLUSION: I’m not going to really go into any depth reviewing this movie. It was awesome. My only complaint was that I wish there was a bit more follow-up at the end of the movie. I’d like to have seen the idiot guy [highlight for spoilers]→ who got mad at Rambo for shooting the pirates to death finally acknowledge, to Rambo’s face, that yes, even as a Christian, you must sometimes take another life TO DO THE RIGHT THING. I was sitting there the entire movie, rooting for [highlight for spoilers]→ that guy to have to kill someone. And they delivered! Awesome!

RECOMMENDATION: Even if you didn’t watch the other Rambo movies (I’ve only seen First Blood), you should see this. Stallone (who directed this, BTW) can still pull it off, even though he is 25 years older than he was before! And there’s very little moral relativism here. Bad guys are bad, and good guys are good. It makes it very mentally easy to process. Rather than worrying about the plot, you can simply focus on the ultra-violence contained within. Frickin’ awesome. 236 people killed, the most for any Rambo film. Anyway, go read Evan’s review.

MOVIE QUOTE: “Live for nothing, or die for something”. The movie takes place in (and is banned in) Burma, but of course prohibition never works — not with anything — and bootleg copies are popular. Apparently, Burmese Freedom Fighters are now yelling “Live for nothing, or die for something” as battle cries in actual battles against the Myanmar oppression. “That, to me,” said Sylvester Stallone, “is one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had in film.” I have to agree; that anything politically good can come out of a violent death-ridden movie is AMAZING. Kudos to the filmmakers for making it relevant, and not just another frag-the-Arab-terrorist fest.

COINCIDENCES: (Night Of The Living Dead 3-D [2006], Rambo [2008]) 2 movies in a row where the ending credits feature a road with a figure walking on it.

FRIENDS’ RATINGS: Evan and Christian loved it. Even Glen liked it!

Mood: tedious
Music: Dethklok - Hatredy

• UNDERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS: Off-duty road-raging officer Sean Sawyer not charged after drinking,confronting,and shooting unarmed Jayson Tirado(black,of course)dead; not reporting it for 19 hrs. Killing people of color is always easy; I’ve seen it here,too.
  I wonder if someone pretended to raise their arms up at me with a gun, and I shot them dead — I wonder what MY punishment would be? Off-duty cops get off easy, which is why they need to be held to higher standards EVEN WHEN off duty.
  (tags: politics UnderlyHarshPunishments off-duty police shootings deaths SeanSawyer JaysonTirado Officers roadrage Manhattan NewYorkCity NewYork grandJury unreported indictmen’t drivers)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENT: Grandmother arrested by douchebag officer Matthew Parco for not pulling forward at McDonald’s found innocent of disorderly conduct. Officer has since had to resign for inappropriate behavior with a 15-year-old girl
  More comments on the matter here, where I originally posted about this:
  http://clintjcl.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/links-for-2008-01-21/#comment-84922
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority OverlyHarshPunishments douchebags officers MatthewParco JeanMerola grandmother McDonald’s arrests disorderlyConduct bullshit charges acquitted Clearwater TheLeger news articles)
• RELIGION: My grandfather the cult leader’s book “The Pseudo Science of the Spoken Word”, debunked by my half uncle.
  originally titled “The Overcoming of Fear Through Decrees”.
  Thanks to my granddad, hundreds of thousands of people have wasted tens of millions of precious hours of their lives frenetically repeating almost certainly useless rhymes.
  (tags: politics religion cults ChurchOfTheUniversalTriumphant CUT SummitLighthouse MarkProphet ElizabethProphet books SeanProphet debunking prayer spirituality)
• OVERLY-HARSH PUNISHMENTS: *PLAINCLOTHES* Officer Charles Sykes follows 74-year-old man in dark allwyway, man thinks he’s being robbed, runs, gets tackled TO DEATH, because old people can’t necesarily survive a tackling. All this over graffiti.
  How many 74-year-old grafitti artists do you know anyway? A man died because he would not allow a COMPLETE STRANGER IN PLAINCLOTHES TO APPROACH HIM IN A DARK ALLEYWAY. Why does a judge even have to rule that this is excessive force? THE MAN WAS 74.
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority OverlyHarshPunishments police brutality policeBrutality plainclothes undercover excessiveForce deaths murders homicide CookCounty autoposies BlueIsland ABC news articles elderly bloodClots brokenRibs injuries tackles AntonioManriques Officer CharlesSykes graffiti)

20071208 - Christmas Party at Becky & Vic’s - 0 - 143-4348 - Clint collage, originally uploaded by ClintJCL.

This was made for me by my aunt beth around 1990….

This is a big piece of artwork, all about me, created by my aunt Beth. “Nit” is how I used to say “Clint” when I was really little. “Pepel of the earth” (bottom left) was a long-running joke based on a “sci-fi story” I wrote at once as a kid (see yellow piece of paper behind my head). Yes, I will write down every number in a countdown if it happens in my story. I’m thorough like that. Once, I wrote out the numbers 1 through 1000 for fun over the course of several days/weeks. The 2 pictures of me come from early-to-mid high school (denim jacket and guitar… always). The darker aspects of my personality are represented, as is my interest in astronomy/the nature of things. The drawing looks like me in 9th or 10th grade. And I sure wish I knew where that Misfits shirt went; it had Misfits art by Pushead

BACKSTORY: My parents had a Christmas party. I got to see some of my family that I don’t see often, a friend from Petersburg, and my old next-door neighbors (from 1983-1999).

Clint.
collage.

Mom and Dad’s house, Stafford, Virginia.

December 8, 2007.
Art by Beth Bowen.

… View my parents’ photos at www.flickr.com/photos/vic-and-becky/

• ROAD-RAGING POLICE (for the umpeetnth time): Dallas police officer arrested on suspicion of shooting at vehicle - Senior Crpl. Daniel Hageman - of course it’s in Texas
  Wonder if he’ll get off like Officer Daniel Montana Jr., who shot and killed a man for flicking a cigarette butt on his car, and was cleared and is now still working as an officer.
  (tags: politics polie roadrage shootings drivers AbuseOfAutohrity Dallas Texas DanielHageman felony arrests DallasNews news articles)
• ABUSE OF AUTHORITY, VIDEO INCLUDED: Robin Kassner files justified $10M lawsuit after her brutal, caught-on-video treatment by scumbag polie officer Michael Urbina at Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport.
  JUST WATCH THE VIDEO.
  Her disorderly conduct charge was dismissed, but not her obstruction of justice charge (WTF?).
  Think she’ll win with a jury comprised of cowardly, frightened americans? She should go for an all black jury. Might work in D.C.
  (tags: politics AbuseOfAuthority police brutality policeBrutality Washington DC WashingtonDC ReaganNationalAirport airports RobinKassner lawsuits CaughtOnVideo media video arrests charges ObstructionOfJustice DisorderlyConduct dismissed Officers MichaelUrbina TSA beatings violence excessiveForce)
• COMEDY: Baby instructions
  This had me cackling loudly in an empty room. Still going through posts on this Romanian site…
  (tags: comedy media pictures diagrams babies instructions care Haluze)
• WAR ON PORN: Man arrested while moving; had his porn magazines in his car, naked Barbie Doll on his dashboard, and a “shank” for ejecting cassettes from his broken car stereo
  Our law enforcement priorities are so fucked. And the hysterical comments left by some make me ashamed to be part of this culture, obsessed more with sex than with violence. Christie Ostrander should mind her own fucking business. And maybe move to Iran.
  (tags: politics WarOnPornography Pornography Porn OverlyHarshPunishments sex SexualFreedom vehicles cars hysteria BarbieDolls magazines RobertMartin DennisTownship NewJersey NBC news articles OceanViewServicePlaza ChristieOstrander ridiculousComments YourTaxDollarsAtWork policeBrutality)
• APPLE: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G, by the Free Software Foundation. Closed proprietary hardware is evil and takes away rights you should have.
  I feel really sorry for the Apple brigade, mindlessly signing away their technical freedom for exorbitant prices just because they think having an Apple device makes them special.
  (tags: politics hardware Technology corporations Apple phones cellphones iPhone FreeSoftwareFoundation articles lists DRM TechnologyWar privacy locked closed proprietary freeware software patents FreeRunner FairPlay SteveJobs hypocricy business)
• WAR ON PORN: 4 years later, computer-illeterate substitute teacher’s life is still ruined after porn pop-ups appear on her computer, which was not properly updated with child protection software by the school. Julie Amero still faces 40 years in prison.
  I heard about this 4 years ago and am even more appalled today than I was originally. She has been hospitalized for stress and rejected for employment due to her arrest record. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Hysteria wins, as always.
  (tags: politics WarOnPornography WontSomebodyPleaseThinkOfTheChildren? pornography porn pop-ups computers software teachers substituteTeachers TheRegister news articles bullshit arrests OverlyHarshPunishments students children JulieAmero KellyMiddleSchool Norwich Connecticut internet security schools negligence malware trials courts ruinedLives)
• NET NEUTRALITY: FCC chief says Comcast violated Internet rules - vote for action to be taken against them soon; will likely pass the 3/5 majority needed as the 2 democrats on the committee support Net Neutrality
  God news, folks! Comcast behaved like shitheads and will hopefully be fined as such. YES, they broke rules. YES, customers PAID for the privilege of being manipulated. YES< this is wrong.
  (tags: politics TechnologyWar NetNeutrality technology internet corporations Comcast p2p bittorrent RST forged packets interference FCC Washington DC WashingtonDC KevinMartin freedom Yahoo news articles)

[IMDB link] [Netflix link (2-D version only)] I feel sorry for the Netflix people who can only get a 2-D version of the movie. To me, the whole point of see