KwAcKy's Konfessional |
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Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk  
  
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21 June 2004
Congrats to SpaceShip One and the team at Scaled Composites for the fine achievement of getting a manned craft into space. SpaceShipOne has rocketed into the history books to become the first private manned spacecraft to fly to the edge of space and back. The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, went over space's 100km (62 mile) boundary, said mission control. The craft was carried to 50,000ft (15km) by its launcher White Knight at which point it was unleashed. It fired its rockets to continue its trip. I don't know about you, but to me, the craft looks like the sort of thing you'll find in 1950's SciFi comics and books. My dad fed me a heavy diet of Science Fiction when I was a child. I spent one summer, when I was about 10 or 11, reading a huge collection of H.G. Wells. Dad is an Asimov fan so I read the I Robot Series. I'm not sure how the books will carry in cinema, especially when it appears from the trailers that it's going to be an action movie. I'm in the middle of doing some professional exams so my blogs will be short and irregular. Don't worry, I'm saving up a load of links each time I see something of interest. In the meantime, if anyone has any spare cash, then help a racer. My mate wants to step up a class but he's got to find £20k from somewhere. Any donations or sponorship, no matter how small, gratefully received. 16 June 2004
13 June 2004
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I went for a full medical a couple of weeks ago. Everything checked out fine. All the results showed normal readings excpet for homocysteine which came in at 16.2 (should be between 7 and 12 or lower).According to a medcial website, Homocysteine (ho"mo-sis-TE'in) is an amino acid in the blood. Too much of it is related to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral (peh-RIF'er-al) vascular disease (fatty deposits in peripheral arteries). By all accounts, a regular intake of B6 and B12 should lower this. Overall my general health was described as "excellent" but I've been advised to take more exercise (no? really?) On the downside, a pigmented naevus (mole to you and me) reared its ugly head. I've now had that removed and I am sporting a nice wound with 3 stitches. I should get the results within 2 weeks. Fingers crossed. Morning pop pickers Looks like another wonderful day in terms of the weather. I'm off to Donington Park on the yellow whale to catch up with some of the sportsbiker bunch. Some to watch and others to chew the fat with. I must remember to keep my speed down on the A roads. Sam and I took little Georgie to my Dad's house for a barbeque. Always nice to spend some time with family, getting pissed. Pat (Dad's wife) told me that Dad has suffered from a series of mini strokes. Typical of my Dad not to have told me but I do hope he's going to get advice on this. Dad likes to leave any ailment run its course rather than bother the doctor. That's fine with a sore throat or cold but not with something as serious as this. Pat took my Dad to Turkey for a few weeks. They've got a place out there. The plan is to get my Dad to finally retire and live out there in the winters. It's a really beautiful place and my Dad loves the people out there. Dad should have retired years ago. He's one of a dying breed. Left school, got an apprenticeship and has worked his way up. From a sparky, to foreman, to director. But he hates being behind a desk. He's in his 60's and still insists on getting into work when The Royal Show or the Town and Country Festival are on. Work have tried to help him get used to the idea of retirement by giving him as much holiday as he wants, but I think he's too afraid to stop working. When Grandad stopped working, Alzheimer's set in. I think Dad is worried he'll go the same way. That links in to the death of Reagan. It seems that death has given hima rewrite of history. No longer a bumbling old fool who almost triggered off WWII and caused untold suffering in the Middle East and Central America, he's now painted as the man who ended the Cold War. What scares me is when you have the likes of Colon [sic] Powell, Secretary of State expressly comparing President Bush to Ronald Reagan Friday morning, telling NBC "Today Show" host Katie Couric, "I think there is a similarity." Hell yeah. Both waiting for a few shilling to be put in the meter. Of course, Maggie couldn't wait to say a few words. In his lifetime, Ronald Reagan was such a cheerful and invigorating presence that it was easy to forget what daunting historic tasks he set himself. He sought to mend America's wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world and to free the slaves of communism. These were causes hard to accomplish and heavy with risk. Yet they were pursued with almost a lightness of spirit. Oh good, always nice to know he saw the funny side of things. Reagan's policies and successes or failures remain controversial in many areas including: Many of Reagan's supporters credit him with winning the Cold War. Others believe that the collapse of communism in 1989 was a result of internal failures much more than American policy. There is disagreement over how much Reagan's policies contributed both to the severe recession that took place in 1982, and the strong expansion that began late in his first term and ran throughout his second term. The combined tax cuts and military spending increases of his first term led to enormous deficit spending and a dramatic increase in the national debt. The debt increased by approximately 450% between when Reagan took office and when his successor, George H. W. Bush, left office. It is generally agreed that Reagan substantially weakened environmental protection. Reagan's tactics in the "war on drugs" emphasized imprisonment while slashing funding for addiction treatment. This resulted in a dramatic increase in the USA's prison population. Critics charged that the policies did little to actually reduce the availability of drugs or crime on the street while resulting in a great financial and human cost for American society. Reagan supported missile defense, hoping to make the US invulnerable to attack by the Soviet Union. Many of his critics felt that the goal was unattainable in practical terms, and that the attempt would be likely to increase the Arms Race, as well as being extremely expensive. Despite his frequent pronouncements that he advocated smaller and less intrusive government, Federal spending and bureaucracy increased in size during his administration; his increases in military and "drug war" spending were far larger than his cuts in social spending. Reagan's most infamous foreign policy decision was in illegally financing a civil war of the Contra guerrillas against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The civil war claimed over 15,000 lives, according to former CIA agent David MacMichael. Reagan's determination to continue support for the Contras despite opposition in Congress led to the worst scandal of his presidency, the Iran-Contra Affair. Reagan was regarded by some critics as indifferent to the needs of poor and minority citizens. Although considered personally honest by most Americans, there were multiple scandals of bribery, corruption, and influence peddling involving Reagan's aides and subordinates, resulting in some 30 members of his administration spending time in prison. When Thatcher goes, I reckon we'll get some short people to sing and dance and re-enact a scene from the Wizard of Oz. Anyone know where I can hire some winged moneys? 09 June 2004
"To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied upon, directed, legislated at, regulated, docketed, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, weighed, censored, ordered about. Such is government, such is justice, such is morality." Pierre-Joseph Proudhon 
Family values, Bush style. Book keeping pays off Kill the sonsofbitches fahrenheit911 trailer In the shadow of a gun hosts some stark and shocking photographs from the war in Iraq. Below is a small selection of the disturbing images of those who were caught up in the way we introduce Western style "democracy" One Two Three Four and this is a small example of the injuries sustained by American servicemen Some of them look too young to drive or vote. 05 June 2004
Top of the morning to ya Went out last night with some mates from the first law firm I worked at, Wragge and Co. When I worked there a group of peeps used to have a "girls night out" and I was an honourary girl. I never knew how to take the title, but spending a night with a bunch of drunken women and being the only male was an offer I never refused. Anyway, I'm older, shacked up and with loud and demanding child, as are the people I meet last night, so these reunions tend to be tamer as folk have big 4x4 5 litre child carriers to drive home before the Jonathan Ross Show. Well, that's not entirely true, but you catch my drift. The tide carries us in a particular direction, off to shores new. We went for Thai and talked about how simple life used to be when we worked our fingers to the bone for a lot less than we earned now, only to piss it up the wall. That always leads to the same question "how could we earn much less but afford to go out all the time?" No mortgage? No nursery fees? Not having a petrol guzzling metal house on 4 wheels? Pubs selling beer for 50% of today's prices? Little Georgie is finding her own feet. She's now at the stage where she refuses to be fed, she'll feed herself thank you very much. I wouldn't mind but she's not developed the cognitive skills to operate the vacuum cleaner. She's selfish that one, I tell thee. Here are the classics in five words or fewer. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Jane Austen) Feisty heroine: "Won't marry!" Marries. GREAT EXPECTATIONS (Charles Dickens) Virgin. Discovers humility. Still virgin. THE ILIAD (Homer) Fight. Games. Fight. Games. Fight. FINNEGANS WAKE (James Joyce) Riverrun. Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk! Irish incomprehensibility. The THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE (Thomas Hardy) Wife sold. Guilt. Regained. Misery. ROMEO AND JULIET (William Shakespeare) Hormones conquer Verona. Cast expire. MACBETH (William Shakespeare) Macbeth king. Witches: "die!" Does. THE BIBLE (God with co-writers) Creation! begat begat begat Saved! PARADISE LOST (John Milton) Devil pontificates. God somewhat irrelevant. THE PRINCE (Niccolò Machiavelli) Teach yourself bastard. Be thanked. ON THE ROAD (Jack Kerouac) Bored. Travels. Bored. Travels. Bored. Link time Name your penis Sing a Song For Fox sake Bush. When I was a lad that meant two things: "sweet mary jane" or a "fluff covered mons". Now it means "piss hole eyed dangerous moron in power" The media remind us that this excrescence in a suit is "on the campaign trail". Why? We all know he cheated his way into power before murdering thousands of people to show them just how great democracy is. He's now attempting to defended the US-led war on terror, casting it as a struggle between freedom and tyranny similar to World War II. Is he for real? He went on to say that the only way to ensure that good decent American folk remain "free" is "to go on the offensive". Remind you of anyone? Hitler said "I have summoned you to this meeting in the midst of our tremendous struggle for the freedom and the future of this nation. I have done so, firstly, because I considered it imperative to give our people an insight into the events, unique in history, that lie behind us, secondly, because I wished to express my gratitude to our magnificent soldiers, and thirdly, with the intention of appealing, once more and for the last time, to common sense in general." Hmmm. It's starting to sound all too familiar. Maybe they have the same script writers? Did I mention that the Bush family made their money in 1930's Germany? Bush will " accept nothing less than victory over the enemy," . In attempting to sway the people of the USA, Bush is trying to play on the current re-visit to Normandy. "Like the US involvement in World War II",Bush said "the war on terror began with a surprise attack on the US". Where have you been? It's been shown that on both occasions the US was aware of impending attack but did nothing about it in order to go to war, a war used as an excuse to impose American imperialism. The Far East has never recovered from America's involvement. Back in the 1930's a social misfit with a criminal record cheat his way into power then went on to take his country to war to ensure it's freedom and way of life. This power mad despot removed many civil liberties from his own people for "national security" The very same person identified a particular race as the cause of all of the ills of a nation (despite having the "enemy" as family friends). 
Nationalism was whipped up and everyone had to wave the flag. On to glorious war with God on your side. "We will accept nothing less than victory over the enemy" The last bloke to say that topped himself. Please promise you'll follow. 
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