for those who read this.. and the few that don’t.
i wish you all a happy new year.

I’d like to say a few words. Srum-skiddley, whack-diddle, fling-flubber, and plum. Thank you.

http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2002/12/26/hoax/index.html

I’m sorry… did anyone actually think anything to do with professional wrestling was real? nevermind the fact that we all knew andy was an actor, even if you didn’t realize Jerry Lawler was too.

Its nice that he’s finally officially stated it, but i don’t think it was a secret to anyone.

This is a picture of a mirror my nonni (grandmother) gave me when i was really young. I call it the frog mirror for obvious reaons. Anyway, I haven’t seen my nonni in a long time, so seeing her over christmas was nice.

what is it with companies being completely incompetent?

It seems to be the norm now, for companies to just mess something up, and then blame you.

i just had penn hospital try to charge me some outrageous amount of money because they tried to bill my old insurance, instead of the new one (from the card i gave them)

That would be an understandable mistake, except they called and i corrected it, and it happened again, so they called, and i corrected it, and it happened again just now.

The same thing happened to me with Peco energy before that. They were sending my bills to god knows where, and then calling me to threaten turning off my power. Every month they’d call, i’d give them my address, they’d send me one bill, and the next month do it all over again.

This one actually went on for close to 6 months. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again this month.

Then there was Barington Court NJ. I took a right hand turn where there was a no turn on red sign. (it was a merge, not a turn, to me, but we won’t get into that)

So they tell me i can pay online, and i go to the site, punch in my license number, and it shows my tickets. “Cool” i think, as i see that it was entered into the computer as a seat belt violation (less money, no points). I payed the ticket, and a couple weeks later, they send me a warrant for my arrest, for not paying my right turn ticket (which now includes a $300 bail).

So i go take care of that in person, get the bail and warrant removed, and the lady tells me she is closing and that I send it in within the next two weeks.

Cool, except in one week, i get another damn warrant for my arrest. They fixed it when i went down and challenged it, but wtf? I wonder how many people just pay these bogus balances.

here is a weak attempt at some christmas photos. its pretty sad that the thing i remember most about christmas this year is Mr. Hankey’s christmas special.

http://homepage.mac.com/jlacivita/family/PhotoAlbum28.html

there are pictures of my new furniture in there too, if christmas isn’t your bag.

So i don’t really have an opinion on drugs. I figure Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. Read you prolly should be doing anything important while under the influence. Crack you should prolly stay away from. Just like a bottle of Everclear.

So I was watching some stupid news magazine like 60 minutes II or 20/20. And they had this whole story about how the US Air Force makes pilots take Amphetemines. In fact, if a pilot does not take them. They can be grounded. I couldn’t believe it.

Symptoms of Amphetamines:
ncreased heart and respiratory rates, elevated blood pressure, dilated pupils and decreased appetite; high doses may cause rapid or irregular heartbeat, loss of coordination, collapse; may cause perspiration, blurred vision, dizziness, a feeling of restlessness, anxiety, delusions.

I like anxiety and delusions in my pilots as much as the next guy. On a commercial flight, it’s nice to hear the pilot say “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mothra is chasing us” But i’m not as sure that this is a good idea for the guys with bombs on their planes.

In fact. During US AF patrols of The no-fly Zone in Iraq. A pilot and his wingman who were ordered to take amphetemines. Saw live fire. They thought it was at them. They request permission to engage. And before they even got a response they blew up the units on the ground. Then the message came “Do not engage : Friendlies”. this meant they were friendly forces on the ground. Turns out there was a Canadian Live Ammo drill in progress. 2 Canadians dead.

Well. The USAF still endorses amphetamines. And these 2 pilots are being Court Marshalled for friendly fire. The military court will not recognize the Amphetamine evidence. Even though most health professionals have said that the quick reaction without thought is prolly due to them.

So it ain’t meth. But if you want your 6 pills a day. Go be all you can be.

Why is Peggy short for Margaret?

Why is Jack short for John? It’s not even shorter, wtf?

I grew up in a fairly conservative atmosphere. My parents always voted republican and my dad was obsessed with war equipment. A large part of his life he spent working as a sheet metal worker on the A10 (anti-tank aircraft). I remember the start of the war against Iraq over 10 years ago and I remember being certain that it was a good thing we were there. I remember thinking that Ronald Regan was not only an actor but a good president. Shit! I was raised as an orthodox Jew. One of my dad’s favorite saying was “Now that’s a piece of Israel” (Whatever the fuck that means).

Then I woke up……
(more…)

My friends dragged me to see that jack nicholson movie “About Schmidt” tonight.

i expected it to suck, but not as bad as it did. it was so predictable, down to every detail, and all of the funny stuff was in the trailer, so i had seen the good parts already.

the only thing i enjoyed about the movie was that a bunch of yuppies from the burbs all came in to the city to see a ritzy movie with jack nicholson on the weekend before christmas, and they all wasted their money. ha ha! stay out of my city!

ok i admit i lack the competance to fix my own car, and for this i am at the mercy of those who know how to use a wrench. don’t get me wrong, i can use a hammer like a pro, i see therefore i wack. but again i digress.
i own a little blue jetta that i have grown to love, and consiquently need . without those 4 little wheels .. i can go no where. and needless to say, it is in the shop. the greasey faced one let out a few signs while he sqinted one eye. “well its not water in your tank” (this is the only thing i know other than how to check my oil. the elusive water is something i learned when i explained to this very same man with a jerking motion and a soft cough). ” i’ll need to look at it for a few days.” and with that i waved goodbye to my car. one day .. two days.. three days.. four..
well the moral of my pointless story: four score and 7 yrs from now when i get my car back.. it’ll be a classic and with that i’ll be able to pick up “chicks”. so leave your car at the mercy of your local shop today and you too would be making an investment for the future;)

So i had a brilliant idea today while biking home from work.

car doors should open backwards instead of forwards. what i mean is that the hinge would be at the back of the door, so when a driver opened it it would swing out in a counter clockwise motion from 12 oclock to 10 oclock.

this would make getting out of a car easier, because the door won’t be in front of you so you can move foward, and even lean on the door, since its behind you.

more importantly, though, this would eliminate most of dangers of bikers, skaters and other cars hitting your door when you open it.

sure it may get scratched if another car hits it shut, but thats better than getting broken off. and if a biker or skater hits it, they can recover much easier, and probably keep going, instead of just slamming into your door and getting injured and then sueing you.

i guess the only draw back is that if you are getting out of your car when another car hits the door, you’ll get cut it half when it slams shut. But thats good, cause it will make people start looking before they open the door.

yeah… some jackass almost killed me today with his door, but i’m putting my energy into solving the problem, instead of just wishing him pain and death.

You name it and it’s been said. Just about every moment of every day, something, somewhere, isn’t like it used to be. Tools aren’t built as well. Cars don’t have the muscle they should have. Young people are rude, and disrespectful. The list of complaints is endless. Actually, I’m not sure if I have ever met anyone who has not made a similar complaint (myself included).

I noticed this behavior in people years ago. I would say as early as 14 I noticed that people were always talking about how things used to be better… except that they never really say that. They just expound on how things are now worse. Gosh. What a downer…

I never realized that women and minorities used to have it better here in the US, or that the middle class in the 18th century had better health care. Well maybe people don’t complain about those things having gotten worse, but are our kids actually dumber? Are they less capable of critical thinking? Are they less imaginative? Do people really think this about their own kids!?! or is it just everyone else’s?

My thoughts: The truth is that the human race is adaptive. Every generation is a reaction to the one before it and every change is necessary simply because it happened. Is the world getting better or worse? I don’t know. I think the changes we see are there because of and for the next generation to deal with and react to as best they can. I’m not certain that my message is a positive one. It’s just kind of there… like life.

I miss my Subaru XT6. That picture is not me, and that wasn’t the colour but best i could find. It was one of the wierdest cars ever sold on the market. It was a sports coupe but had full Time 4WD. Other models were Front wheel with on/off 4WD, not my baby. 4WD is not to be confused with all-wheel drive that subaru sells now. 4WD is less advanced, it has side to side differentials, but not independent wheel differentials. This made it take a little more gas, and be not the easiest thing to anticipate at high speeds, which in turn made it fun!

The drivers seat was like a cockpit. It’s hard to explain, but all the controls came out of the steering column on 2 bars that stuck out. This gave it a more cockpit feel.

Then there were the endless pointless features that were brilliant. This is the feature list, which I hope you can appreciate.

1) Aero-pheumatic (sp?) shocks. It did not have struts or traditinal shocks. They were shocks that filled with compressed air and they were computer controlled. So after you started the car, it would raise. and when you shut if off they would deflate and it would lower. BRILLIANT! These eventually leaked.

2) Differential Lock. This would give you super magnifico 4WD. It was a button in the glove box in the center. It basically turned off all the side to side slip (You know the thing that makes one wheel spin while the others sit, or in 4WD case 2 wheels spin while 2 stay. THis basically made it impossible to get stuck. I lived in the Poconos when i had this car. I would lauigh at hicks in their SUVs and Pickups that had 4WD and couldn’t make it up the hill i lived on as i passed them by in my little go-bot lookin-wedge-mobile.

3) 2.6 liter 6 cylinder engine. A ridiculously over powered engine for such a small light car. Again, Brilliant. You have to understand this was like the Yamato of sports cars. (well, affordable sports cars)

4) Winter - Summer windshield wiper setting. The wedge card had only 1 wiper blade that was on a double hinge. It swept across the entire windshield. and I’ve never seen a wiper blade setup that covered more area. I hate those unwiped spots, and no big ugly line where one wiper stops and the other starts. But this feature let you tuck the wiper under the hood in the Summer (to be unseen) and leave it up a little in the winter, so you could dust off the ice and snow in the winter. Kinda pointless, but it’s a gadget.

6) Headlight Sprayers. This is more common now, but in 1989, only beamers had em.

My subaru got me places no one should be able to go in a sports car. I could drive it in the woods which i did. I also drove from Bloomsburg to Stroudsburg in a blizzard, I was the only one on the road. And when the roads were closed in 96. I raced home anyway in my Subaru from Princeton to the Poconos anyway to go snowboarding (The resorts were even closed, yes the poconos are that lame) but I just drove up to a gold course and made a kicker there.

There has never been a car since like my subaru. The new ones, either have automatic transmissions (Yuck!, boring). Or their engines are merely adaquately powered, not obscenely over powered.

one day i will buy another XT6, and i will totally refurbish it, no matter what the cost.

o wedge how i miss you. ;`(

and then write your senator.

full article here

The Iraqi announcement (of intent to defend itself) was preceded by France’s complete withdrawal from participation in the attacks in the no-fly zones following Desert Fox. The French had ceased participation in Operation “Northern Watch” in 1996 and had now pulled out of the attacks in the south, leaving Washington and London to “enforce,” as US officials put it, the “will of the international community” on their own. As of this writing, however, the Pentagon website for the no-fly zones continues to list France as a participant.

…

“If you want to be very cynical then you say what has in fact resulted from these zones is death and destruction,” says Hans von Sponeck, the coordinator of the UN Humanitarian Program in Iraq from 1998-2000. “On average, during the time I was in Iraq, there were bombing incidents every 3 days. The casualties were in the very areas that they allegedly established to protect people. How, at a 10,000-meter height, can you protect a Shi’ite population? That is a fantasy. The cruel reality is that people are dying as a result of these no-fly zones.”

…

The no-fly zone bombings represent the longest continuing US bombing campaign since the Vietnam War. The Pentagon estimates that it carries out an average of 12 “missions” a month in Iraq (other figures put the number higher) at a cost of $750,000 per mission. In 2000, the official annual US bill for the southern “zone” alone was estimated at $1.4 billion.

…

Recently, because of the loud beating of the war drum, these attacks are receiving more attention in the media. But primarily from the angle of “Iraqi defiance.” The Bush administration asserted that Iraq’s firing on US aircraft entering Iraqi airspace constituted a “material breach” of the November 8 UN Security Council resolution on Iraq. The charge was quickly, though diplomatically, rebuffed by Secretary General Kofi Annan and several foreign governments, including Security Council member China. There are no UN resolutions that prohibit Iraq from maintaining its military or taking action in defense of its territory.

Hans von Sponeck, a 32-year veteran of the United Nations and a former Assistant Secretary General, scoffs at the characterization of these zones by the US media and government officials as having a basis in the UN charter or Security Council resolutions.

“That’s a total misnomer,” he says. “There is no UN mandate for the establishment of these two no-fly zones. There is always a reference to resolution 688, which deals with an appeal to the Secretary General to ensure the protection of minorities in Iraq. That is not, by a wide stretch of the imagination, an agreement that you can establish, in some other country, airspace that belongs only to you and is blocked to the national aircraft. It is an illegal establishment of a zone for bilateral interests of the US and the UK.”

emphasis added by me, and these are just some of the “highlights” that i took from the article. check out the whole thing.

Then, for a real hoot, go to this page, that keeps track of how frequently the US and UK have bombed Iraq. Its wierd, but that first article points out how the news uses a fairly static template to report on any of the bombings. its has the effect of making it all seem like it just happened once, but its really chilling to see the list of dates, and imagine how it must be to wonder when the next one is coming.

interesting tidbit: i found these stories by going to my friend’s site, which had a link to this site, for something completely non related. but when i got there, i saw the link about iraq.