Meatstick Opinion: Driving While Texting

It appears my adopted home of Washington State is moving ahead with a law to make it illegal to Drive While Texting.

On the surface I think this is a great idea, but in theory it makes no sense to me because you are still not addressing the problem. They are trying to ban DWT because it can obviously be very dangerous if you are driving 75 down I-5 and texting important stuff to your friend like, "Dude the Red Sox suc I hate them What r u up to?"
My question is why are they being so arbitrary with DWT? There are plenty of other actions that go on in a car that are just as distracting. If this law were to pass you could get a fine of $101 for telling your friend the Red Sox suck, but here is a list of other things you could do that are perfectly legal:

• Peel and eat an orange (I did this yesterday)
• Take pictures of Mt. Rainier on a sunny day
• Stick your head out a window and yell to a newly married bride, "I hope you don't get a divorce."
• Wave a Brazilian flag out the driver window during the World Cup
• Wave a Mexican flag out the driver window during Cinco de Mayo
• Watch The Simpsons on your laptop on the passenger seat (I did this while driving through Montana once)
• Clean up your spilled Decaf White Chocolate Mocha with no whip cream

You get the point...banning DWT is a good idea, but doesn't solve the root of the problem. Adult Attention Deficit Disorder is on the rise, there is nothing we can do about it.

Meatstick Moron: Sen (R-SC) Lindsey Graham

DVR and CSPAN are a match made in heaven.

I flipped on CSPAN just to see what our elected officials were yapping about today.

I was fortunate enough to catch Sen Lindsey Graham droning on about how we need to get the troops the funding for Iraq because it is so important for Iraqis and the world that we "finish the job there." He went on to spew out the unoriginal Republican bullshat about how setting a timeline for withdrawal emboldens the terrorists.

Then, I thought I heard him say that we need to continue to fund the war for the sake of our own freedom here in the United States. Of course I thought I was hearing things, so I rewinded it...and sure enough, he did say it. Here is the exact quote:

The military needs this money, they deserve this money, without strings attached. They deserve this money to have a chance to turn Iraq around AND MAKE US FREE.

What does that quote even mean? I felt bad for him because he actually appeared to be reading from his notes as he said this. This just proves that many Senators (Republican ones especially) have no idea what they are talking about when they are up in front of others debating the war. They have scribbled notes with some talking points on them that make no sense.

Meatstick Pain: Deleted Honeymoon Videos

I'm hurtin...I accidentally deleted our honeymoon videos from my external Hard Drive yesterday. The wife was not happy.

The sad thing is, I have only been out of the Army and on vacation for one day and I end up deleting honeymoon videos. It might be a long summer.

I'm currently using a $75 dollar program that I downloaded off the "internets" to try and recover the movies...

Meatstick Revelation: What Goes Around, Comes Around

As teenagers my friends and I used to find amusement in yelling at unsuspecting and innocent people. Normally we would be driving in a car and see a harmless person on the sidewalk, roll the window down, and yell something completely pointless at them. As an example, we might see a wedding party getting pictures taken and we would yell, "Hey bride, I hope you don't get a divorce!"
Sometimes we would get a reaction from the person, but more often than not they would take the high road and just ignore us. Although it was completely immature and pointless, it kept us amused and it was fairly harmless. There were definitely worse things we could have been doing, like drinking and drugs.
Today my actions from the past came back to haunt me. As I was finishing up a run this morning a car drove by and yelled at me, "Hey buddy your balls are falling out of the side of your shorts." I looked up just in time to see 2 girls in a Jeep laughing as they drove off.
When I could see they had gotten far enough away where they couldn't see me anymore I stopped and stupidly checked to make sure that my balls were not falling out the side of my shorts.

Meatstick Event: Last Day in the Army (updated)

Well, today is my last day in the Army. I'm officially done after serving five years on active duty and nine years total if you include the four years in college. I disliked being in the Army about 95% of the time, and I am thrilled to finally be out. But, I must say that I have some mixed emotions for a few reasons. First, I have a lot of good friends that are still either in Iraq or about to be sent there (not voluntarily). Second, the unit I spent a year in Iraq with between 2003-2004 is back over there right now trying to help secure the insanity that is Baghdad. Although I can't say I'm upset that I am not there with them, I always wish that we were able to finish the job when we left back in 2004. Obviously that wasn't the case because of the "wack a mole" strategy (we hit insurgents in one town and they just move to the next) that an insufficient number of US troops in Iraq must use. Contrary to what President Bush once said, the mission has not been accomplished. I guess that is the reason for my bittersweet feelings.

As I move on in life I will always try to focus on the 5% that I enjoyed about the Army. I have made some of the best friends a person could ever have. The Army also set me up pretty well financially, considering I left college with zero loans and money in the bank. I also got free LASIK eye surgery, which cannot be overlooked (play on words).

I'm sure there are times when I might miss some aspects of the Army, but then all I will need is a quote like this, from Mr. Bush today, to bring me back to reality:

...if the spending bill is not approved and signed into law by April 15, troops and their families "will face significant disruptions."

What disruptions could soldiers and their families possibly face that could be worse than 18 month deployments to Iraq with 12 months at home before the next 18 month deployment?

Meatstick Event: Last Day in the Army

It's 6:27 PST and today is my last day in the Army...

More to follow...

Meatstick Rebuttal: Letter to Editor from Seattle Times

A man wrote into the Seattle Times today to talk about how happy he was to see that only 1,000 people showed up for protests in Seattle. He thought this was very telling considering the fact that Seattle is a 'bastion of Liberal extremism.' He seems to equate only 1,000 people showing up to protest with the fact that the majority of America agrees with the war. He gives us the following quote:

"I believe most Americans have an innate faculty to 'do the right thing' even when it is painful and costly. If our global conflict with terrorists and extremeists was not the 'right thing' we'd have a lot more than a thousand people speaking out against it."

Wow. Let me break this down for you guy. Throughout history the majority of protest movements gain strength through the help of young, passionate students. In the last few decades we have seen this with Vietnam, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and the student led revolution to overthrow the shah in Iran. Students lead protests when their lives are being affected by what is going on, that is common knowledge. This war in Iraq has no impact on the majority of American students because there is no draft. Therefore, you aren't going to see 1 million people in the streets of Seattle protesting. However, that should not be confused with the fact that the majority of Americans support the war. One only needs to look at poll numbers to see that support for this war are at record lows. From CNN International:

"By March 2004, only 48 percent of the American public supported the war, compared to 72 percent around the time of the invasion. The support numbers continued to drop, to 47 percent in 2005, 40 percent last year and, now, 32 percent."

Bottom line, protest numbers have no direct correlation with support (or non support) for the war in Iraq.

Meatstick Opinion: St. Patrick's Day

I'm sort of a disgrace to my Irish heritage. I spent my afternoon making spaghetti sauce.
But, I don't feel bad about not going to the Seattle St. Pat's parade and drinking all day b/c like I heard someone say the other day, "Those of us that are in the sorority don't have to act like we are pledges."

I will use this day to plug my favorite Irish band, Black 47.
www.black47.com

Meatstick Neighborhood: North Seattle

I took some pics of my house and immediate neighborhood yesterday:

Meatstick Opinion: If we bring the troops home..

The Pentagon released a quarterly report this week, in the detailed 42 page report they admit the following:

• October-December was the most violent 3 month period since 2003
• Attacks and casualties suffered by coalition forces and civilians was the highest over that span
• There were over 1,000 attacks per week, up from 800 the 3 months prior
  
• Some elements of the Iraq situation are descriptive of a civil war

None of these facts really suprise me, but one that I did find interesting is the fact that Iraqis believe that daily life is worsening and that an average of 9,000 people flee the country each month. Doing my best Rush Limbaugh/Bill Orally I will attempt to spin this statistic. I feel this is a positive statistic because it tells me that in about 2011 when our troops do start to come home, we have the ability to deploy our Army across the country, concentrating on our most populated cities, and possibly drive people out of our country at the rate of 9,000 a month!

Meatstick History: Origin of the kangaroo

Well, it's been a week since I have had the time to get a decent post together. But this post is well worth the wait. My wife told me today about a website she had heard about on NPR called conservapedia.com

The creator of the website claims that wikipedia has a liberal bias so he decided to create a new encyclopedia that obviously has a conservative bias. If wikipedia were called "liberapedia.com" this guy would be on to something. The ridiculousness of conservapedia.com can be examined by reading the following the entry on the origin of the kangaroo:

According to the origins theory model used by creation scientists, modern kangaroos, like all modern animals, originated in the Middle East and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah's Ark prior to the Great Flood. Also according to creation science theories, after the Flood, kangaroos bred from the Ark passengers migrated to Australia. There is debate whether this migration happened over land^[2] -- as Australia was still for a time connected to Europe by a land bridge similar to the one that connected Asia to America^[3] -- or if they rafted on mats of vegetation torn up by the receding flood waters.^[2] Another theory is that God simply generated kangaroos into existence there.

Creationists' misguided views don't shock me anymore, I have been desensitized by them.
I feel the creator of conservapedia.com left out another very important theory regarding the origin of the kangaroo so I took the liberty of adding it to the discussion section of his website, it can be found here (until they delete it). Here is the famous Space Ship Theory:

I think the origin of the kangaroo should also include discussion of a belief held by many of Riley Martin's followers, the O-Qua Tangin Wann. They believe that Kangaroos originated from the "mothership" from the planet Tan. The alien visitors from Tan visited Earth a few hundred years ago and brought with them a male and female kangaroo. The "mothership" decided after visiting serveral continents that Australia was the best fit for their kangaroo species.

My friend Will said it best when he asked me, "I wonder what conservapedia says about pedophilia, homosexuals, lies, fraud, and hypocracy."

Meatstick Revelation: CPL Matt Sanchez is Gay?

I have been really busy and haven't had time to post, so I will send you to this guys blog for quite possibly the funniest thing you will see all week. Even if it is not true, it is still funny:

CPL MATT SANCHEZ IS GAY!

Meatstick Spotlight: Calendars

You are probably aware that most of the world operates on the Gregorian calendar. There are a few countries, mostly Eastern European Orthodox types, that operate on the Julian calendar. By and large these two calendars account for the only two options a society has for keeping track of time. However, President Bush has decided that we are going to operate on his calendar. Afterall, he is "the deicder."

On his calendar today is not March 2nd. Today is actually February 30th:



No wonder he is leary of setting date based timetables of withdrawl from Iraq...