Got my speakers set up last night.

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park. It goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, 'Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride...' And we... kill those people. Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real. It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. Jesus murdered; Martin Luther King murdered; Malcolm X murdered; Gandhi murdered; John Lennon murdered; Reagan.... wounded. But it doesn't matter because: It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you've been great.

Sound effect of three shots, Hicks pretends to fall down dead, lights go down.

CNN.com - Bush: Attack on Iran 'ridiculous' - Feb 22, 2005: "U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday that it is 'simply ridiculous' to assume that the United States has plans to attack Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program after discussing the issue with European allies."

You're right, Dubya, it would be ridiculous for us to consider the possibility that you would attack a sovereign nation just because you suspected it harbored weapons of mass destruction. Absurd, even.

MSNBC - Survey: Parents mellowing over kids' drugs: "The study of parental attitudes toward teen drug use, conducted by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, found that barely half of the parents would be upset if their children experimented with marijuana."

I plan on treating weed exactly the same way with my kids as alcohol: Neither is particularly bad for you in moderation. Just don't turn into a hardcore stoner or drunk. Actually, a stoner would be a lot easier to deal with than an alcoholic.

MSNBC - The Bush Deal - If you want a simple explanation of the motivation behind Bush's Social Security "reforms"... here you go.

MSNBC - Final OK for class-action lawsuit changes - "Congress on Thursday passed legislation that would transfer most large, multistate class action lawsuits to federal court, fulfilling one of President Bush’s second-term goals."

Congratulations, Bush voters. You just cost yourselves and the rest of us the right to defend ourselves when we're screwed over by big corporations. This means that companies will care less about your well-being and more about your bottom line. It's bad for 99% of us, and good for the richest 1% of us -- just like everything Bush has done or tried to do since he took office.

Fuck!!! (Sorry, just had to get that out before they pass the next law that censors... everything. I'm pretty sure that comes before the book-burning.)

MSNBC - Biblical Politics: "Bush won the GOP primary [in 2000] in part by declaring that Jesus was his favorite philosopher. The remark caused gasps in press row and was laughed at by the usual suspects, but most Americans probably thought Bush was stating the obvious. This is, quite simply, a God-fearing and Bible-reading (or at least Bible-respecting) nation."

Voting for someone who shares your religion is all fine and good. Failing to look past that in any way in neither fine nor good. How we ever got a President whose only history in politics was bringing the state of Texas to its knees, economically (turned a big surplus into a big deficit), environmentally (Dallas became the #1 U.S. polluter on his watch), and socially (set the all-time record for state executions - way to go!), I will never, ever really understand.

On January 17, I made the decision that I would try not to drink alcohol for one month. Well, not exactly: I would be allowed one drink per day, and those drinks could not be saved up over the course of the week and used on the weekend. Use 'em or lose 'em. Today, I'm happy to say, is the last day of self-imposed sobriety. I had some expectations for this month, and let's use a bulleted list to see whether they turned out to be true:

• I thought it would probably be pretty tough. As it turns out, it wasn't so bad. I usually don't drink much during the week, so that didn't worry me; I was just worried that the guys I went out with on the weekends would give me a hard time about it -- peer pressure works like a charm on me. Luckily, the guy I hang out with the most, my buddy Dave-Bob, decided to play the game with me this month. As it turned out, some guys did hassle us about it, but we persevered (and went out less than we normally would, just to avoid the situation entirely).



• I thought I might lose weight. I didn't. Go figure.



• I thought I might feel a little better... in general. And you know what, I did. Nothing major, but I did realize that a big Saturday night means more than a bad Sunday -- I had some of the best Mondays of my adult life this month. And I think I was just in a better mood in general. However, I need to keep in mind that I am fantastic at applying the placebo effect on myself -- so maybe I'm just making it all up.

All in all, it was an interesting month. I will say one thing -- I'm going to enjoy a nice glass of Gentleman Jack when I get home tomorrow night. Or a cool bottle of beer. So many options.

MSNBC - Bills reportedly to cut Bledsoe - No commentary required.

MSNBC - Missile shield test fizzles out: "Previous failures of these high-profile, $85 million test launches have been regarded as significant setbacks by critics of the program."

I can't imagine why anyone would criticize something that's costing billions that could be spent on, oh, I don't know, maybe education, or body armor for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan (which some still don't have). All for a miraculously stupid system with a slim chance of working if we ever needed it.

MSNBC - Social Security not in crisis, most say: "Seven in 10 Americans agree with President Bush that Social Security eventually will go bankrupt if Congress fails to act, though most predict that the system will not do so for at least two decades. Yet while Bush has warned of a crisis in Social Security, barely one in four Americans believes that a crisis exists."

I'm so sick of the morons I have to share this country with. Yes, the system will go bankrupt. No, there isn't a crisis. They need to put an "I'm an idiot and have no f'ing clue" box on there, so the majority of Americans will be able to provide an honest answer.

MSNBC - Scientists aim to barcode all life on Earth: "A team of international scientists launched an ambitious project on Thursday to genetically identify, or provide a barcode for, every plant and animal species on the planet."

MSNBC - Some worlds might be rich with diamonds: "Carbon planets might have smoggy atmospheres laden with carbon dioxide, and a surface covered with tarlike precipitation. 'A little bit like Los Angeles,' Kuchner said."

Astronomy humor.

MSNBC - What the Hoobastank? Fearless Grammy picks - "Ray Charles is going to win this [Best Album Grammy], and every other category for which he’s nominated not because he deserves it, but because he’s dead... 'Genius Loves Company' is not even close to the best thing he’s ever recorded. It’s not even the best thing on audio loop in Starbucks."

DISH Network -- Programming -- HDTV -- Channels

I've been hemming and hawing over whether to upgrade to an HD set in my living room. Problem is, no matter what Time Warner or anyone else tells you, there just aren't very many HD stations out there, no matter how much cash you're willing to dole out. At the same time, DLP, LCD, and plasma sets are all dropping in price, just like everything does in the tech world. So, I guess I'll hold off -- reluctantly -- for a year or two.

Vanilla Ice: "As for music and my place in it, maybe things are changing a little bit."

MSNBC - Sweet drinks tied to kids' weight gain - "Sweet drinks — whether Kool-Aid with sugar or all-natural apple juice — seem to raise the risk of pudgy preschoolers getting fatter, new research suggests."

Give kids sugar, and they'll get fatter than if you don't give them sugar. Sort of a two-plus-two thing, if you think about it.

CNN.com - Police: 4-year-old drives mom's car to video store - Feb 7, 2005: "A boy drove his mother's car to a video store in the middle of the night, police said -- and he's all of 4 years old.

"Although unable to reach the accelerator, the boy managed to put the car in gear and make his way to the store..."

I would be so proud of my 4-year-old if he figured out how to take the car for a spin. The fact that he was able to find the video store is amazing too.

MSNBC - The union's sorry state: "I spent the day reflecting on previous W States of the Union. Hey, Mr. Prez, is that Axis of Evil any less evil now? Is North Korea any more cooperative? Is Iran any less belligerent? How is that battle against AIDS in Africa going? Did you find all that yellowcake from Niger? How about all those caches of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq? Are we still leaving children behind? Have we nabbed Bin Laden? Can I start planning my trip to Mars now?

"Is there one major plan or goal expressed by Bush in a State of the Union that has worked? Where are the standards of judgment? Where is the scorecard?"

But then again, he's always right...

Bush’s Social Security plan akin to a loan: "If a worker sets aside $1,000 a year for 40 years, and earns 4 percent annually on investments, the account would grow to $99,800 in today's dollars, but the government would keep $78,700 -- or about 80 percent of the account. The remainder, $21,100, would be the worker's."

Sounds like an awesome deal... investing $40,000 to make $21,100. And if you opt to take part in the plan, you lose out on an undisclosed amount of normal Social Security benefits. Meanwhile, the cost of transitioning Social Security to this system will be over $1 trillion. Whatever they're smoking in Washington, it's making them really f'ing bad at math.

MSNBC - For the Family

Great essay by a US participant in the Iraqi election.

MSNBC - White House sees validation in Iraq vote: "Bush woke up yesterday morning and promptly called leaders in France and Germany and at the United Nations who have resisted his efforts in Iraq..." - And said what? Na-na-na-na-poo-poo?

Bloggermann - Olbermann, in response to a group that says it's worried about his soul because he doesn't agree that Sponge-Bob is gay and corrupting our children: "Hey, guys, worry about yourselves. You’re spewing hate, while assuming that for some reason, God has chosen you and you alone in all of history to understand the mysteries of existence, when mankind’s existence is filled with ample evidence that nobody yet has been smart enough to discern an answer."

A - f'ing - men.