Check this out

This blog is pretty funny. It goes into all the yuppie things on which white people are exclusively keen. This week: Taking a year off of college. Since we have all have friends doing this right now and since I just had a conversation with a friend who is planning on this this one is especially funny. Click below and laugh your ass off at "Stuff White People Like."

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

House Likes Feeling of Obama's Huge Stimulus Package

President Obama's huge package of stimulus has pleased enough of the Democrats in the House of Representatives to be passed along to the Senate for confirmation.

Critics have claimed there is "too much pork" going into the bill, thus slowing its delivery. Obama, however, disagreed, noting that that made little sense since pork is required of a good stimulus package. "We must move swiftly and boldly" to deliver the package to the American people, Obama said.

How Convenient

In the wake of Barack Obama's inauguration and announcement that he will impose an order to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, the article below has come out. I am not too into conspiracy, but it seems odd that this would come out days after Obama's announcement. It is also disheartening to read some of the commentary. I highlighted a couple lined from a congressman from Florida, who says that these people should not have equal rights as Americans. True, we shouldn't make them American citizens, but that doesn't mean we should treat them with any less rigor in the legal system. We should hold the same standards when it comes to habeas corpus, due process, and the like.

By the Florida congressman and John McCain's logic, we should presume guilt on anyone going to trial. We currently Americans who have viciously killed Americans, many of whom most of us would prefer to be "NIMBY," but that is what prisons are for. The Guantanamo prisoners who are found guilty should be punished, and those who are found innocent should be sent home to resume their lives. Let's not reinvent the wheel when it comes to trying those accused of committing crimes. America must prove itself to be the leader when it comes to justice and that involves treating the accused to a high standard that is not always comfortable.

Also, presuming that this article is true and accurate, what are we creating with this secret prison? Are we creating more terrorists that we are detaining? Probably. Closing this prison will send a symbolic message around the world that is critical to promoting peace.

From CNN.com
Detainee went from Gitmo to al Qaeda, official says

The Defense Department recently estimated that more than 60 terrorists released from Guantanamo may have returned to the battlefield.

According to the counterterrorism official, freed detainee Ali al-Shiri traveled to Yemen after being released to Saudi Arabia and may have been involved in recent al Qaeda attacks in Yemen, including a car bombing outside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa last year that killed nearly a dozen people.

"He is one of a handful of al Qaeda deputies in Yemen," the official said. "He is one of the top terrorists."

His title is deputy and senior operations commander, the source said.

According to the magazine Sada al-Malahem, or The Echo of the Epics, published by al Qaeda in Yemen, al-Shiri attended a media session in which Yemen commander Abu Baseer was interviewed.

The magazine identified al-Shiri as Baseer's deputy commander and quoted Baseer as announcing that al Qaeda's operations in Yemen and Saudi Arabia have been combined to become al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula.

The magazine noted that al-Shiri was released from Guantanamo more than 10 months ago.

He fled a Saudi jihadi re-education program, where he went after his release, a Saudi source told CNN's Nic Robertson.

President Obama on Thursday signed an order mandating that the Guantanamo Bay prison be closed within the year. What to do with the detainees has been a hotly debated topic.

The issue of freed detainees engaging in terrorism is one concern. Another is housing them in prisons inside the United States. Watch experts debate the Guantanamo dilemma »

Rep. Bill Young, R-Florida, said he has "quite a bit of anxiety" about the possibility of transferring detainees to U.S. facilities.

"Number one, they're dangerous," Young said. "Secondly, once they become present in the United States, what is their legal status? What is their constitutional status? I worry about that, because I don't want them to have the same constitutional rights that you and I have. They're our enemy."

Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo facility received immediate backing from his general election opponent, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.

McCain, in a joint statement with South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, said he supported Obama's decision to "begin a process that will, we hope, lead to the resolution of all cases of Guantanamo detainees."

But Thursday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," McCain said the new president may have been hasty in the decision and should have taken the time to consider everything associated with closing the camp before forcing himself into a timetable.

Specifically, McCain said he thought Obama needed to consider what would happen to the prisoners held at Guantanamo before ordering the facility to be closed.

"So, the easy part, in all due respect, is to say we're going to close Guantanamo," McCain said. "Then I think I would have said where they were going to be taken. Because you're going to run into a NIMBY [not in my backyard] problem here in the United States of America." Watch what may happen to Guantanamo's inmates »

Asked about that issue Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "We have developed some options in terms of how many we think could be returned to other countries to take them. That diplomatic initiative has not started. That will await work in carrying out the executive order."

"We have identified a number of possible prisons here in the United States" that could take the detainees. However, Gates added, "I've heard from members of Congress [representing] where all those prisons are located. Their enthusiasm is limited."

Inaugural Giggles

The presidential inauguration was pretty exciting today, with Obama delivering a typically electrifying speech. I was driving home from Santa Barbara (where, yes, I scored some great surf) and listed to the whole thing on the radio. My highlights for the day: Aretha Franklin's long pause on the word "country" making it sound like "my cunt.....try tis of thee."

Second was this headline, posted a few minutes ago on CNN.com:

I Know It's Over

If you don't know that title line, it's from "I Know It's Over" a song sung by the illustrious Steven Patrick Morrisey. He announced yesterday that he will retire from music after the launch of his most recent album, "Years of Refusal." The article below, sent by my Dominican friend, gives the version for those Espanol friendly readers. Essentially, Morrisey says that if he makes any more music it is only going to get worse so it's time to say enough is enough to avoid losing dignity. Regardless Morrisey, you will go down in musical history.

Morrisey anuncia su retiro luego de lanzar su ultimo disco
Londres, 14 de enero (Télam).- El ex vocalista de la banda británica The Smiths, Steven Patrick Morrisey, anunció que se retirará de la música tras el lanzamiento de su próximo y último álbum solista.
El nuevo disco de Morrisey, "Years of Refusal", el noveno de su carrera en solitario, será lanzado el mes próximo en Londres.
La agencia ANSA informó que pese a la confianza en la calidad de su último material discográfico, el músico afirmó que abandonará los escenarios en forma definitiva.
Según Morrisey, de 49 años, "tendría cierta falta de dignidad" seguir cantando.
"No quiero seguir por mucho más tiempo. Creo que sugeriría una falta de imaginación y también una cierta falta de dignidad. Tiene que llegar un punto cuando uno dice basta", subrayó el cantante a la revista inglesa Filter.
Steven Patrick Morrissey, nacido el 22 de mayo de 1959 en las afueras de Manchester, saltó a la fama en los 80 como conductor de la banda inglesa The Smiths.
Tras la separación del grupo en 1987 Morrissey comenzó una carrera como solista, con discos exitosos como "Viva Hate" (1988), "Bona Drag" (1990), "Kill Uncle" (1991), "Your Arsenal" (1992) y "Maladjusted" (1997), entre otros. (Télam).-

A WMD Unto Myself

There comes a time in many a man's life when he becomes destructive. We begin to drink and say things we later regret, or we blow people off for other people or activities. This is not uncommon enough that it is much of an obstacle for most of us. But a few of us overachievers take it a step further by becoming self destructive. We make decisions that lead to the detriment of the people around us, but mostly to ourselves. Why would we ruin something good? Maybe we do so subconsciously in order to avoid the possibilities that good thing may entail. Fear of the unknown - good or bad.

Without going into too much detail, I used my patented brand of honesty (read: abrasive retardation) to try to solidify an objective and ruined something potentially great in the process. Some events simply make you question the way you used to think things used to be, and these few have been of that variety. I appreciate the lesson, but wish it could have been paired with a different result.

The Times...

It isn't the New Year yet, but I am working from now until then so it is probably about time to look back. As the virile legend Ron Burgundy noted, Bob Dylan once said "the times they are a-changin'." For me they really are. I look back at this year and see nothing but change, from unemployment to employment to unemployment again and now back on track and working like crazy. I went to England with a side trip to Wales, and I drove from LA to Seattle with nothing but a radio and my sparse thoughts as entertainment. I probably surfed less than I have in a single year than any other since I was eleven years old, but I feel as comfortable in the water as ever. I met some great people and a couple bad ones, and the same goes for women.

Overall I chalk it up to a year of extremes. Luck was either very much on my side or not at all. Streaks were enjoyed and spited. I think all of this reminded me of a valuable lesson learned several years ago now: things never stop changing, but one must maintain a stable state of mind. The clock forces the pendulum to continue to swing, but the base of the pendulum always seeks the bottom. The best course of action, it now seems to be, is to blaze one's own trail with his eyes on the final product. I have no idea what 2009 will bring me and I am extremely grateful for that. I welcome any lessons and goodies you have in store for me, coming year. In fact, I can't wait to get started.