I had to sign up for three different conventions today, so needless to say I have a couple of comments.

First, I love http://www.travelocity.com a lot. I booked a couple conventions years ago through them. In the last couple of years, I've booked a trip around the Western US (with my dad), our trip to Hawaii for Pearl Harbor last year, and two of the three conventions I'm going to starting in January. With the exception of the one year where I screwed up the dates (my fault, not theirs), I've been extremely pleased with them.

Second, I really wish American Airlines went to more places, cheaply. Instead, on trip #2, I jump airlines between American, United, and Continental. After my last trip to Europe, Continental is not my favorite airline at all. The seats were very uncomfortable, so I hope this trip won't be as bad as it is shorter.

Third, the lower the flight time, the better these days. I've done three 11+ hour trips in a 'row' now, and I just want to get on and off the plane.

And if I get subjected to 'Georgia Rule' as a flight movie again, I'll scream. (Both the Hawaii and the last Europe trip had that movie.) Lindsey Lohan and Jane Fonda. *massive cringe*

So, now you ask, what conventions am I going to?

Weekend in Rokugan, JBossWorld, and GenCon. Yup, I'm going back to gaming conventions for the first time since my mom passed away. Plus, work is going to eventually pay for the JBossWorld convention.

Just some random thoughts for today:

1) Watch how the media comes out to attack Barry Bonds for the grand jury charge of perjury...then compare it to the media's response when the perjurer was named Bill Clinton.

2) Look, I am as mad as anyone for the poor performance of the Nebraska Cornhusker defense, but expressing those feelings with death threats makes us look like Miami Hurricane fans. I hope whomever called Coach Cosgrove with those threats is locked up and the key thrown away.

3) If Hilary is the "smartest woman in the world", how come she is doing blatantly stupid things in this campaign? She's doing a wonderful job of attempting to flub her once almost-guaranteed nomination.

4) I may have to eat crow on my Huckabee comment. It looks like Thompson doesn't know how to shift out of first gear so their places might get reversed. It also doesn't hurt Huckabee to be endorsed by internet icon Chuck Norris.

5) More MMOs need to go to Hellgate: London or Guild Wars schemes. ie, play for free but if you want better goodies, fork the dough per month. On that note, NCSoft really needs to come up with something similar to SOE's Station Pass system.

6) Two thirds of my costume for Weekend in Rokugan has arrived. The last piece, though, concerns me as it is coming from China. Who knows what toxic chemicals are involved in its manufacture?

You know, when you walk on wet gravel with tennis shoes, how you get those small rocks in the grooves?

The pain you receive when something that darn small moves between your kidney and your bladder is very much out of proportion to the size.

At 2 am this morning, that's what started happening with me. I've never felt that kind of pain before, and finally at 4:30 am I called my dad to take me to the emergency room.

I was back home by 7:30 am, due to modern medicine (read: morphine), after a CAT scan confirmed the little intruder making its way out. At about 8:45 am, the agony was over as it finally came out.

What's sad is I think this has happened before, and I thought it was bursitis (which I get in my neck and shoulder when it gets around 40 degrees...which is has been the past couple of days).

Yeesh!

I must say I'm shocked.

You would think Ron Paul, with his libertarian views, would not be supported by various Nazi groups in the country.

However, not only is he, but some of his key fundraisers have ties to Neo-Nazi groups.

Now, if you have ever read my previous rants from last year, or even further back, you know I am vehimently against Nazism in any form. I also take great offense whenever conservatives are compared to Nazis, as they have zero in common when you actually go in and look at the facts.

I've stated many times, using comparisons, how the Democratic platform has far more in common with Adolf Hitler than John F Kennedy.

But it seems those Neo-Nazis that supported Pat Buchanon as a dark horse candidate have chosen Ron Paul as their standard bearer this go around.

So, Ron Paul supporters...go to www.townhall.com and read Michael Medvid's open letter to Ron Paul on this situation. Then, please give a reasonable explaination on why Ron Paul is courting one of the worst evil movements the world has ever seen.

Well, I did discover someone is reading my posts :-)

And this is why you never put a counter on your page. If you want to keep track of who comes to your site, set up Google Analytics.

Seriously, though, they asked why I am down on Mike Huckabee, as he's polling so well in Iowa.

Well, as much as I think Mike is a good man, I believe he is this campaign's beneficiary of the 'Iowa No-Name Bump'.

Let me explain. It seems every campaign season that comes around to Iowa, someone come out that is really surprising. That person, then, proceeds to flounder by South Carolina's primary and is out of the race. I'm afraid since the one-issue candidates are falling a bit faster this time, Governor Huckabee is going to be this years 'if only...'. Phil Gramm is an example of this kind of candidate, as he looked a lot stronger in Iowa than he really was and withdrew only a couple of more primaries into the campaign.

I do admit sometimes this works in reverse in Iowa. Someone who should have done well comes in, say...third. This kills that candidate as well. If you want an example of this, just ask Howard Dean.

Iowa can give a bump as well. John Kerry and John Edwards capitalized on the Dean fall. But, since we're into our third year of campaigning for the Presidency, I don't think we're going to get a surprise from Iowa. Nationally, Huckabee is coming in fourth (despite what Ron Paul supporters say), but with the "accelerated" (as much as you can call this campaign that considering they started the day after the Iraq invasion) primary season, the two nominees are going to be set by the end of February. That's not going to be enough time to generate the cash to get people motivated.

By the way, don't worry about the Republican cash flow not coming in. The majority of the party is sitting in a wait-and-see mode. We don't have a definitive candidate yet, though Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Guiliani has started up the anti-Guiliani stories early from the supposed unbiased media. Its the general election that matters, and many money men from the Republican side are waiting until then to make their move.

Some governments in the world need a swift kick in the ass. That kick administered by the United States Armed Forces.

1) Burma aka 'Myanmar' - This incident was the number one news story while I was on my trip to Europe. And what happened with the UN envoy that was sent there? Nothing. Just like I expected. The monks in Burma died for absolutely nothing. No gains, no negotiations with the military junta, nothing. I really feel sorry for the protestors out in various capitals, begging for the United Nations to do something, because they got nothing like I expected. Burma just emphasizes why the United Nations is a joke.

2) Venezuela - Chavez wants to create his own personal fiefdom in South America, and his has all the communist Hollywood crowd just cooing over him. This man is the next Pol Pot, and once again, the liberals are just going to kiss his behind and not let us do anything to him before he kills half of his country off.

3) Zimbabwe - Mugabe's already down that path, and he's getting more psychopathic by the day. If you thought Ethiopia was bad in the 1980s, Zimbabwe will blow that famine out of the way as the most devastating...and they don't even have a drought like the Ethiopians had at the time.

4) North Korea - Mr Kim is also psychopathic, but I still think his life will eventually end from someone on the inside.

5) Iran - What is Iran's death wish? Seriously, all the posturing is bad enough but Ahmadinejad's lovely devotion to causing a global jihad to try and usher in the return of the Mahadi is probably the greatest threat of these five to the United States. And the moment he tries it, Iran will be turned to glass by the Israelis. I have no doubt in my mind that unless this fruitcake is removed from power and real democracy restored in Iran, I'm going to see the first nuclear attack since Nagasaki in my lifetime. All in the name of a religion who represses freedoms and ignored by the left due to their hatred of George Bush.

6) Sudan - One thing the Democratic leadership won't tell folks is the moment we get pulled out of Iraq when we're in charge, we'll be in Sudan in an even less stable situation. However, this is one time where I say we do need to intervene. What the Sudanese government is pulling is nothing short of genocide and as the defender of freedom in the world, we do need to act with the amount of force no liberal will tolerate against Sudan.

We've got a few others that are starting down the path on this list: Pakistan and Nicaragua have returned to flaky. Russia and China still have their issues and both seem to be regressing than progressing like they were in the 1990s. Old hotspots like Bosnia, Somalia, and the like still are smoldering.

Meanwhile, both sides completely ignore this in their presidential debates. The only person that seems aware of these threats is sitting as President.

My prediction:

After Iowa and New Hampshire, we'll be down to four Republicans:

Rudy Guliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and Ron Paul

I honestly think Huckabee and McCain will show so bad in both, they'll drop out. Who they endorse might make things interesting, but I expect McCain to be the only one giving a push and that push going to Guliani. Paul will remain in for a while, due to his internet following, but eventually he'll bow out or go for an indie run.

We'll be down to five Democrats:

Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, and Dennis Kucinich

Richardson will only be around to try to make a good showing, in order to try and get the VP slot from Hillary winning. If Obama wins, or Edwards wins, the other will be the VP slot. Kucinich will ride it to the end, even though his only chance is to get all the pod people and Elvis to recruit on Mars for votes.

More whining today about Hillary being 'beat up' by those mean, vicious bullies running against her for the Democratic nomination.

Tell me, Hillary...how do you expect for people like Ahmadinejad, who believe in sharia law and that women are second class citizens, to listen to you?

How do you even expect to step into an area controlled by sharia law, and walk out alive?

A woman who has a clue can do such a thing. Former Prime Minister Bhutto in Pakistan, for example, has the guts to tell people like Musharraf where to stick it. Margaret Thatcher was no-nonsense. The current leader of Germany can be forceful without looking like she's reading off a script, or with James Carville's hand stuck up her back.

But Hillary won't quit this race, and will keep whining. Though I don't want any of the Democrats as president, only Dennis 'I carry a constitution in my pocket, but can't read it' Kucinich rates worse on my scale.

Ron Paul is getting a little publicity today for his supporters getting a fundraising record of $4 million in a 24 hour period.

I would support Ron, except for two major issues. First, he does not understand the meaning behind the war in Iraq. He's an isolationist, which honestly can't be done in a global economy. We have to protect freedom for everyone, not just those in the United States. The Muslim states, and especially those that subscribe to sharia law, are probably the most totalitarian of all. His ignorance of that fact would eventually end us up in worse situation than we were on September 11, 2001.

Secondly, Ron is pro-abortion. For someone who claims the truth and morality angle, I cannot fathom how killing babies is an issue other than freedom for the young to live. The mother gave up her rights the moment she got pregnant. If she didn't want to get pregnant, then she and her mate should have used protection. Unlike a number of conservatives, I don't have problems with those over the age of 13 getting protection from being pregnant.

Note that age: 13. Yes, the age of 'majority' is 16 (to drive), 18 (for most everything), and/or 21 (drinking). However, traditionally the age of majority is 13 in both the Western and Eastern world. Again, this is an area where I cannot be labeled a conservative. On the other hand, it does mean I also advocate throwing 14 year olds that murder into real prison and not these locked dorm rooms and then get let out at 18.

For those who know me, you know I used to belong to the RPGA (mentioned below), as well as played in the Living Rokugan campaign.

I'm rejoining the Heroes of Rokugan (new name, and not tied to the RPGA) campaign and have been pretty cryptic about what I'm playing.

So, here's the answer:

Even though my throat tells me that a cold is in my future, this has still turned into a good day. I finally got the server I've been working weeks on to work, so now the next test becomes Friday when I try to put it into our DMZ.

I do have a question, though. Why do hackers from other countries attack little city and county servers like I administer? We have zero information that a hacker could ever want, unless they just wanted to disrupt things. I would think a hacker would be more likely to go after a .mil site, or a .gov site that was state-related.

My second question is why behind the Koreans (who are bored), Chinese (who are either bored or working for their government), are people in Holland the third highest source of hackers going after our sites? I could think of a lot of things to do in the Netherlands instead of attempting to break into some American city's website.

Time for a little sports...

I know he wants to be nice and all, but Tom Osborne has got to give the entire Nebraska coaching staff the heave-ho.

Getting beat by 76 is bad enough, but Kansas? You've just got to be kidding.

As I wrote in an email to the local sports talk station, Xerces personally killed the general who caused the Battle of Thermopole. The Romans fired generals continuously until they found Scipio to fight Hannibal of Carthage. Lincoln fired generals constantly until he found Ulysses Grant.

Who else kept getting sacked in history until the replacement produced results? Just about every major conflict in the world had someone either fired or executed after battles that were 'blow outs'.

As another said on a message board, when it was said Nebraska wouldn't settle for mediocrity, the fans and supporters weren't thinking that meant we'd zoom right past mediocrity for total incompetence.

Fire Callahan and company, and fire them now. Stop digging a deeper hole to get out of come the end of the season. Stop the bleeding now.

What goes around, comes around.

Honestly, I've been in a depression for three years or more. Frankly, it sucks. I have to take medicine to sleep, on top of my thyroid problems. I've gained at least 20 pounds since the start.

And now, one of the people that triggered the initial depression has just gone through the exact same thing that started my descent.

However, I'm resolving right here and now that I'm not going to let him get to my point. He's a good guy, if a bit too idealistic...but then, over three years I'm a realist.

I rejoined a couple of Yahoo Groups today, or at least tried to do so.

The first, a club I was a founding member of, let me join but has me set on moderation. Boy, makes me feel good that people who I thought were friends were so scared of my opinions when I left that they locked me out.

The second requires administrator approval. Now, this I can understand but the group isn't that big. If it has so many issues with spammers getting in, then the spammers have no clue who they are dealing with: broke adults. :-)

Next year, at GenCon 2008, Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast will be rolling out a new, 4th edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game.

Now, being a somewhat conservative person, I understand the need for the creation of a new edition of the game every so often. The money needs to keep flowing in, and I do not begrudge the fact they are going to do it.

I will, though, scream at the top of my lungs on how this new 'version' is conceived completely irresponsibly by those at Hasbro who do not understand paper and pencil gaming. For example, the new system is going to have new books for players and monsters every year.

Not a problem, you might say. They do this anyways. But, this time they are not going to include all the 'core' classes and monsters in the first book. In the past, every new book just added more options onto the basics of the game. This time, you won't get the basics all up front.

Huh?

This sounds like a computer game that has jumped from beta before being finished, not a paper and pencil game. Let's have 'content updates', and game 'patches' when the players in the RPGA find exploits in the system. That way, we'll have 'game balance' between the classes and races.

Sounds just like a computer game, doesn't it? Hasbro does not get it. People like paper and pencil games because they are NOT computer games. I mean, I love computer games and play them religiously (3 level 60s on WoW, working on 50s in Matrix Online and CoH/CoV currently), but I like to step away from the computer and actually roleplay with my buddies on weekends when I'm in the mood. Many of us do.

When the man instrumental in the creation of the original game, Gary Gygax, has to sigh about all of the 4th Edition talk coming out of Hasbro, you know someone has lost touch with those who they are attempting to write towards.

Oh sure, there still will be plenty of sheep going along and buying these new rules. For example, most of the RPGA will buy the rules, even if they don't like them, because they will be forced by the RPGA (owned fully by Hasbro's marketing department, btw) to use the most current rules system if they want to continue to play. Others will buy the rules, and will try to justify Hasbro's marketing.

Roleplaying will be forever changed in August 2008, and not for the better. I do not want a computer game on paper; I want a paper game that I can roleplay. Leave the computer games to the computer, Hasbro, and wake up.

Surprise.

Yes, I am actually getting back to this. I promise.

The political bluster is finally getting to a point where I'm going to have to comment on some of the things going on, and I'm getting back into some of my other hobbies. Thus, it is time to get back to this and start blogging again.

Yeah, right. Last time I said this...well, you can check the date on the last post. Yeesh. I'm bad about remembering things like blogging. I just am doing too much to think any longer. I'm hoping things will improve THIS time, though.

It's been at least a half a year since I posted here.

Welcome to the Chaos that is my work life.

Anyways, I have to give my thoughts about Oscar night, and just how stupid the Hollyweird left is. Let's take for example, the winners tonight in the major categories:

Supporting Actor - George Clooney
Clooney's role is that of a CIA man who is trying to guarantee oil access.

I checked and no, Osama Bin Laden is not in the writing credits of this one. Except for the actress in the movie not wearing a burkha, this movie would be deemed Caliphate-safe.

Supporting Actress - Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz portrays a passionate activist whose investigation into the dealings of an international pharmaceutical company leads to her murder.

Ah, but this one is different than Clooney's, even though it is against the United States and capitalism. See, she's an uppity female without a burkha, who is obviously educated. Women receiving schooling is a crime under Sharia Law. Because of the three strikes, Weisz would face the death penalty in the Caliphate.

Leading Actor - Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays author Truman Capote in the years leading up to the writing of his best-known book, "In Cold Blood."

Unfortunately, Capote was a homosexual. Making of a movie showing homosexuality is not acceptable to the Caliphate. In addition, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Sharia Law. Pediophilia is not, btw.

Leading Actress - Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon plays country singer June Carter, whose strength and compassion guide her through the early days of her relationship with Johnny Cash.

Yet again, the Caliphate rears up and smites this movie, because in Sharia Law, women are not allowed to sing in public. It is, once again, a death sentence to do such a thing.

Best Picture - Crash
The lives of a diverse group of people living in Los Angeles connect and clash over the course of two days. As a series of events unfolds that will heighten already-existing racial and cultural tensions, individuals are brought face to face with complexities that their prejudices have prevented them from seeing.

The drinking, the swearing, the showing of streetwalkers, and other reasons would make this movie not one that would have been made by the Caliphate. Not that a variant would be made, but you sure would not have 'hip hop' lyrics, and the oppressed race would be Muslims, not blacks.

What conclusion is reached in all of this? Hollywood, with its "Can't we all just get along" mindset is blinding itself to reality. The Caliphate trying to be formed through agents of the Muslim Brotherhood - Hamas, Al-Qaida, PDLP, Islamic Jihad, etc. is the greatest threat to world peace and freedom. Hollywood is the ultimate expression of freedom in the world, which is why the United States is considered the Great Satan...not because we support the Jewish people. In essence, Hollywood is causing the problem that they think they can ignore.

I call it ignorance...ignorance that has been perpetuated by blinders formed by following the ultraliberal/progressive line of reasoning in recent years.

You would think that I'd post more than once every two months...

You would also assume, then, that I have time to do so.

I have another 'rant' that I am formulating as I type, but it will be a second post for later. In the meantime, I'm struggling to figure out just why things are not working concerning work.

Geez, I really haven't been posting much here at all.

But, it is time to resume my streaky posting once again.

What woke me up? Statements by three 'Democrats'...but, they no longer qualify as being called such. No, they have gone over the boundary of good sense and political discourse.

So, I am as well.

Dick Durbin, Howard Dean, and locally Barry Rubin are all, to a man, the result of the Democratic race baiting, anti-Democracy clamor.

1) They are all three socialists, which means they want the government to control and drive the economy.
2) They are all protectionist, wanting to enrich the labor unions at the expense of the American consumer.
3) They are all for gun control, specifically restrictions on the right to bear arms by the general populace.
4) They are all against religion, being backed by 'new age' religions such as Scientology and bigotted against Christians.
5) They are secretly racists. They attack Jewish people, blacks, and hispanics if they are not on their side. In fact, they use racial epitaphs to describe these folks, such as Rubin's 'Tio Thomas' (spanish for Uncle Tom) in describing the Douglas County Nebraska election commissioner. Many of their supporters go farther, attacking Jews and Christians in very virulent terms that not even the Islamists do.

1 through 5 were the hallmarks of another political organization back in the 1930s and 40s: the National Socialist German Workers Party.

Deny it as much as you like, but the 'New Democrats' or 'Progressives' are, in fact, neo-Nazis in disguise. Why more people cannot see this is beyond me, but then, it shouldn't be a surprise...the Nazis fooled three countries (Germany, Austria, and Italy). What is so sad is they constantly call conservatives Nazis. And the news media supports them with such a lie, even like the news media trumpetted Neville Chaimberlain with his idiotic 'Peace in our time' deal with Hitler.

So, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being called something I vehimently oppose, but those calling me such support in secret.

I know few people read this, but it needs to get out there. It needs to be trumpetted and proven to be true by others.

Progressive = Nazi, and don't you forget it.

Last Friday, driving home from a very late night at work, I heard about the fight between the fans and the Pacers. Yesterday, the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, issued his suspensions.

Now, I realize suspensions in this case are needed, to prevent players from pulling this stunt again. However, I feel the sentence on Ron Artest, though he is a certifiable looney, is too much. Half the season would have been fine, considering it was the fans that provoked him into action.

But what sanctions are there going to be against the fans? I'll tell you: none. That's right, the NBA will do, in all honesty, nothing. And this will cause the fans to get even more belligerent. This was not the only incident involving 'fans' in the past week or so: an Oklahoma Sooners 'RedNeck' was bumped into by a Nebraska Cornhusker player during warmups, and is now suing the player for assault. Also, during that game, we had the traditional orange throwing by the Sooner fans. Last time that occurred, an official was beaned and was in the hospital for quite a while with a concussion.

What happened to the fans? Nothing.

Here is what I would do: For the NBA - take 5 games, one for each division opponent to the Pistons (whose fans caused the fight), and turn those 5 games from home games to away games for the Pistons...and do not allow any refunds or discounts to the season ticket holders.

For Oklahoma - Change one conference home game next year to an away game.

In both cases, the fans will actually be punished, and will be put on notice that if you act up, you could well cost your chance to see further games. Both the Pistons and the Sooners would lose revenue from those games, which acts as a defacto fine to those organizations for not keeping control

And for Ron Artest? If I were him, and the suspension is upheld, I would sue the NBA for providing an unsafe working environment. That's exactly what happened, and the NBA is at fault for not having sufficient security available to handle the situation.