ShowMeBlog

Reprint from my LiveJournal of 02/11/2003

This is from my LiveJournal of 2003 about the Iraq War:

"I do NOT think that Bin Laden is alive. He would not release an audio tape. He would put out a video tape. I think this latest tape is a "black" tape. I mean by that..that the CIA or some other US agency put it out. They want to make it sound like Bin Laden and call the US all sort of names...but link him with Iraq. If I were in congress ...I think I would be calling people before a committee and asking them if they know anything about that.
If Bush starts saying see Iraq has ties with Bin Laden...I will suspect it even more.

Iraq is going to let the UN fly U2 aircraft over Iraq to look for weapons. You know that the US is going to get that data and it is going to be fed into our war plans. If I were the leader of Iraq I would be looking to make a deal. Think how much we would hate that..to see him living the life of a very rich man.. and Bush is voted out of office.... and for the next few years...the ex-leader of Iraq is interviewed on CNN and appears on TV. He could stick his finger in our eye everyday for years.
I suspect at some point one of his followers is going to kill him. How he has made it this long...is a wonder.

The last Gulf war went great. The other Bush messed up however...and we lost the peace at the table in the tent. We could have won it right there but we messed up. We should have told them they could not fly ANY aircraft of any sort. Tell them that anything they put in the air would be shot down.. Plus a few other things... Of course... lots to think about.. the country would have broken up..and Turkey and Iran and others would have been upset and might have taken action..It could have been a mess ... But now we face it all over again.

I was never even in the military...but...let me put my two cents in here...
I think this time.. sure we will bomb the hell out of them.. We have to do that to take out the radar and we have to control the air space and we also want to punish them ...but you know bombing never does the job. Sure it is part of the war ...but you got to go in on the ground.
I think this time there is going to be some, costly I am sorry to say, special forces going into areas and taking over an area and holding the area land searching the area. I also this time would not be surprised if major forces did not move into and all around the outskirts of Baghdad. I think we will seal it off. I think we will let the common people out if they can get out.. after we check them all...but we will just seal it off. Nothing will go in or out with out us checking it. Any attack or fire from the area we will pound will fire That would not be like last time.

I think this time we should not leave Iraq with any weapons of any sort. I mean not even a hand gun or anything sharp to cut their meat with...The only question then is how do we keep Iran from moving in or something like that....

This is going to be a major mess.. I think Bush will stand or fall on this..If this turns into the mess...That I think it may...He will go down as the worst US president of all time.

I am no Bush supporter...but when our troops go into Iraq I think we have to support them 110%. I also think we have to win the war. The problem is after the war. Also ... this is not going to win us one friend, except maybe for all the people of Iraq, in that area. It is going to create so many people out to get us ..that we will know, almost, what it is like to live in Israel."

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LiveJournal and Xanga

  I been using TypePad for ShowMeBlog since 2003.  Before I used TypePad I used Xanga and LiveJournal. 

  Here an entry in my LiveJournal from April 10th 2003:

This is a comment on my Naked Leftist Liberal blog and then my comments on the comment.

"In the beginning I really respected you for your opinion and about the fact that you were against this war. What I don´t understand is the fact that as soon as there are troops out for war, everybody is suddenly pro-war. Those young men are dying and I completely agree with you in that point, but also 1000s of civilians have already died because of those young men and because of George "Weirdo" Bush and those civilians didn´t have any choice. And I don´t agree with you in the point that everybody in America is free to say what he thinks. I guess that´s why everybody who says something against this war these days, is the asshole of the nation. No Jim, freedom of speach is not wanted there right now. You either support the war or you´re anti-american...isn´t that how it really is? So how does a country which is so "democratic" want to bring democracy in another country? I don´t know why but although we are on the same planet, it is like I grew up in a totally different world because I don´t know that whole patriotism/nationalism thing. In fact I grew up in a world where it is important who you are and what you do and not where you are from and what colors your flag has. I truely believe that america´s patriotism will bring your country into serious trouble sooner or later..or sadly, it will bring many more other countries into trouble.
Last but not least, I am 100% convinced that this war was not necessary and I am 100% convinced that this conflict could have been solved peacefully."

Seems to my that you blame the wrong person and the wrong nation. Seems to me that first blame is with the leader of Iraq. Then the blame should fall on the people of Iraq for not cleaning up their own mess. Then if you want to pass some blame on ..don't forget those nations around and in the area that worked with the leader of Iraq. I never heard them working and trying to help the help of Iraq.

Then how about blame for France, Germany, Russia and the other nations that gave sold him weapons? Do they not get a share of the blame.

Now we (United States of America and UK) are spending the blood of our young men and women and spending a great deal of money to clean up a mess that was not of our making and a mess that other nations and the United Nations could not or would not deal with...

I still do not think that it was good to go to war at the time and the way that we did...I think Bush ...by his actions and his politics from the very first and dealing with the rest of the world put us into this war almost alone (save the UK).

No I do not think we should have gone to war and if it were not for Bush and the GOP maybe it could have been done in some other way.

But we (United States) are at war. The president, and I did not vote for him, and congress have approved of the war and given their OK. We have sent our young men and woman into the fire. It is too late to turn around and too late too pull out. We are committed and we most press on and must win the war and then the peace. We have no choice. When the next elections roll around here ..we will have the option then of expressing how we felt about this action.

Now feeling is running strong here, as I am sure it in the rest of the world, and I can understand how people will go feel the way they do about people that express anti war feeling. It is a danger at a time like this... That is one small reason that I objected to this war ... our freedom is under attack here and at a time like this ..it is easy to lose more of our basic freedom.

It is still a free nation here and the Bill of Rights has not been done away with yet... But this war puts a strain or our freedoms. I can see both points of view. If you this this war is wrong, even maybe a sin, you need to speak out about it. I can see how others might be very upset if they see young Americans being killed...Remember we are not doing this for money, or oil or anything like that..we are doing to to make the world safer and to free the people of Iraq. I do think if you object to the war, well if an American, then you should say....I LOVE the United States...I honor and respect our troops that are giving their life for freedom BUT...and then state your objection.

Some actors are taking some heat because they object to the war. If I were to object to the war I might have a few people upset with me...But actors..they live a good life..we have all spent a lot of money for their movies and even grown to love them, even thou we don't know them, ...so I think it is sort of like the world and the United States...

People in the world love much of what is American...You love our freedoms, our movies and much of the way of our lives..but we are seen as rich, fat, powerful and as a threat...and people want us to protect the world but not be powerful and use our power...

The same with actors in a way... If I were an actor that objected to the war...I would be giving blood, donating money, giving shows for free to troops and families and then... I would express myself about my feelings about war. Should you have to do that? No you should not.. But if the actor is such a smart person ..that he thinks he needs to tell the world how he feels on the subject of war and peace ...He should be smart enough to understand the basic human feelings of people at war.

Let us hope that Iraq will soon have democracy. Let us hope that peace will return to the war soon.

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Rep. Mark Foley (R) - His Messages and IMs

House ethics committee releases Foley IMs

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House ethics committee has posted several electronic communications on its website from former Rep. Mark Foley to House pages that it considered during its investigation.

Full House ethics committee exhibits:
http://www.house.gov/ethics/Page_Exhibit_List.htm

Instant message transcripts (104 pages):
http://www.house.gov/ethics/Page_PDFs/Exhibit%2013.pdf

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Google vs Hakia

  OK I know this is not the correct way to test Hakia search site and test it against Google.  But this is the best I could come up with for a test.

  For Hakia I put in "Who is Jim Howard" and I came up number 6.
  For Google I put in "Jim Howard" and I came in number 10.  In fact it was the same site that was picked for both.
  It seems to me that Google had much better listings and information displayed in their list.  Keep in mind however that Hakia is brand new and is in beta testing.

  Hakia:  "How big should a 13 year old penis be?"    
                ShowMeBlog was number 5 on the list.
  Google: "How big should a 13 year old penis be?"
                ShowMeBlog was number 3 and 4 on the list.
  The listings on Google were much better and would be more helpful to a person looking for information.

  Then for both of them I put in "What is a BBS" and the listings on Hakia were not very useful.  They would not answer your question or help you find the correct information.  Keep in mind I only called up the first page of each search.
  Google did excellent on that search.  They had "BBS The Documentary" (the documentary that I am in by the way - smile) and had the Wikipedia entry for it.

  I would say right now that it looks to me hands down that Google is number 1 far and away the best.

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Hakia: How is it Different from Google?

"Hakia, which is a "meaning-based" search engine startup getting a bit of buzz. It is a venture-backed, multi-national team company headquartered in New York - and curiously has former US senator Bill Bradley as a board member. It launched its beta in early November this year, but already ranks around 33K on Alexa - which is impressive..."
I have not had time to check out Hakia but I am going to be doing it soon. I will report back here in ShowMeBlog what I think of it.
Jim

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On a Clear Day

  I just watched "On a Clear Day" on DVD.  It was an OK movie.  I am getting a bit tired of seeing un-employed English men stories.  From the movies you would think that no one in the UK is employed.
 

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The Biggest Gamble of Your Life (Is College Worth it?)

"In 2005, young people (ages 18-25) in the US gambled $67 billion. Not in Vegas or online poker rooms, but on a betterment program called college. Their hope is that the monies they are spending will allow them to earn more money over their lifetime. Many are paying for this wager by amassing a mountain of debt that will take years to pay off..."

I am not smart enough, I did not complete college, to know if this guy is correct or not. But you got to read what he has to say ("...What these numbers indicate is that trust fund babies (or anyone who has parents paying the college tab) would be better off taking their college funds and investing them, bypassing college entirely and working at whatever job they could get without a degree..."). Ken has college debt of only $6K but he is working with people that maybe should have read this article.
Jim

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A dog ate my XBox 360!

"I sold my 360 on eBay only to have it shipped back to me a month later after being pretty much devoured by a dog..."
You got to check out this story. The guy has photos. Maybe it seems so interesting because of all the trips to the post office for Darlene. She sells on eBay. Also the guy does not appear to be pissed about it.
Jim

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Vista 64 bit or Linux 64 bit?

  There is only one reason, that I can think of, for me going to Windows Vista and that is the support for 64 bit.  I have a 64 bit processor.  When I ran Vista here, and I ran both the 32 and 64 bit versions, I noticed an improvement when running 64 bit.
  Maybe I should just go with Linux.  It supports 64 bit processing right now and for less cost. 

  Today is going to be a cold day in FL.  The high today is only going to be 70 F (21 C) and tomorrow we only have a high of 72 F (22 C).  (My old home town of Kansas City will have a high today of 35 F (2 C).

  The yearly fee for TypePad is due tomorrow and I don't have it.  Today I am going to log into the site and switch the account to pay by the month.  I hope I have the monthly fee.  TypePad is the company that host this blog.  I been using TypePad since July of 2003.
  I just went to change the billing to monthly and I see that the next billing date is not the 9th but the 17th.  So I will wait and maybe I can come up with the $120.00 to pay by the year.
 

Your current TypePad plan:	Pro
Your billing rate:	$119.60 yearly
Your next billing:	December 17, 2006
Your diskspace allotment:	1,000 megabytes
Your actual diskspace usage:	0 megabytes (0.00%)
Your bandwidth allotment:	10 gigabytes per month
Actual bandwidth usage this month:	1.05106 gigabytes (10.51%)
Projected bandwidth usage this month:	4.07286 gigabytes (40.73%)
TypePad subscriber since:	July 2003
Your billing status:	Up-to-date

 

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Walking to the CVS

Just 4:05 of me walking to the CVS store at midnight on 12/08/2006 for junk food.