Shyzer.com

I’ve already preordered my copy.

I suggest you do the same.

This goes out to the birthday girl. Hope everything went well for you today =)

I might not be posting again until next Monday. Maybe I’ll finally have this new god damn layout finished by then. I seem to be hating it more and more the more I work on it (too many more’s in that sentence).

The Tag Board is down until further notice. I’ve been searching far and wide for a good tag board, or shout box, or chat box, or whatever the hell people call them. I’ve found a few free ones that have ads (no thanks), and few that are expensive (hell no), and a few that are relatively cheap with no ads (now I’m listening). I’ll probably end up dropping a few bucks a year on one, but it’s worth it if it will get rid of these damn pop ups.

So play nice in the Comments children.

Whenever my siblings and I get together, we always wind up playing Catch Phrase over and over. For those of you who have never played before, it’s quite simple. 2, 4, 6, 73, or however many people you have split up into two teams. You sit in a circle and make sure that the order of people sitting goes Team A, Team B, Team A, Team B, etc. To play the game, you simply start the timer and try to describe the word shown on the Catch Phrase box. Once somebody on your team finally says the word, you pass it over to the next team and whichever team is left holding the Catch Phrase when the buzzer goes off fails to win a point. First to 7 points wins.

So as you can imagine, some hilarious moments can arise from such a game. For instance:

The teams are Tommy and Clay vs. Julianne and myself. Clay has the Catch Phrase and starts the buzzer as soon as he starts to describe this word…..
Clay: Okay, this is easy! It’s the place where four roads come together!
Tommy: Um, like a fork in the road?
Clay: No, no. Not just two roads, but four roads!
Tommy: What the hell are you talking about?! A stop light?! A street corner?!
Clay: No you dumbass! Okay, let me break this down for you. What’s the opposite of outer?
Tommy: Inner!
Clay: Right! Well the first part of this word sounds really close to that! Now for the second part! Okay…um…
The buzzer starts speeding up and buzzing louder
Tommy: HURRY UP!
Clay: I’M TRYING YOU IDIOT! Okay, when you buy a pizza, it comes in slices, but what’s another word for slices?! Come on you fool, this is easy!!!
Tommy: Um…Innerslices?! Innercity?! INNERPIECES!!!
Clay: NOOOOO! IT’S NOT INNER! YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! IT’S WHERE FOUR ROADS MEET!!!!!!
Tommy: Innerstoplight? Innerroads? Innerstreet?
Julianne and I are rolling on the floor laughing since we both know the word and since the buzzer is going haywire now
Clay: IT’S NOT FUCKING INNER!
Tommy: I HAVE NO IDEA! YOU SURE IT’S NOT INNERPIECES?!
Buzzer sounds
Clay, Julianne, & Ryan: INTERSECTION YOU RETARD!!!!
Tommy: Oh……

I honestly don’t think we’ll let him live that one down for quite some time.

But as you can see, the siblings were down from Virginia this past week. I flew up to get them on Tuesday and brought them back down that night. We’ve just been hanging out here ever since, which is why I didn’t post over the weekend any. We did play a game of baseball yesterday and had such a good turnout that we’re gonna set another game up in two weeks. Tommy came through and brought a good 10 or so people out and we lucked out by having a few younger kids show up, so we had a decent 7 on 7. Next time we play, hopefully we can get a 9 on 9 and go over to Duncan Park to play on a real ball field.

And speaking of baseball, the rebuilding of the Mariners has officially begun. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little sad to see Freddy “The Chief” Garcia go. Like Mike Cameron, I had grown a little attached to seeing Freddy in a Mariners uniform and go out there ever 5 days and pitch for the M’s. But honestly, it was time for him to go. Not because he had outstayed his welcome in any way imaginable. Hell, he even got a little choked up during the press conference yesterday and wished there was some way he could stay here in Seattle. But the Mariners are done this year and Freddy’s a free agent this winter. It only made sense to trade him to a team who could use him and try to get some players back from him.

And did we ever! You’d be hard pressed to find a single person who knows anything about baseball that would say this is a bad trade for the Mariners. The Mariners got a major-league ready catcher and the 2003 Minor League Player of the Year for Garcia. I’m sincerely happy to be a Mariners fan for the first time in, what, a year? Finally, the Mariners make a move that doesn’t leave people going “What the fuck?”

Now if we can just find a way to bring back Freddy this winter… =)

I honestly don’t know what else to talk about. I’ve put off way too many things this past week. Most of it was due to the fact that my siblings were here, so I didn’t want to waste my time with them doing other things since I don’t get to see them but for a few weeks out of the year. So needless to say, I have about twenty thousand things piled up that need to get done, but I honestly don’t care.

Maybe I’ll get around to finishing that layout I told you about last week. The only problem is that Clay and Tommy both thought it looked stupid, so now I have to go back and change all the colors since they have convinced me it looks bad. Anybody interested in looking at it for me and giving me their opinion? Or maybe I’ll get around to finishing up one of the 20 or so half-typed posts I have on my desktop. Or maybe I’ll even get around to one of the many projects I’ve been planning for the past few months.

Or maybe I’ll just be lazy and refuse to do anything until after the 4th =)

I found the following over on Kate’s site. Now, I’m not going to say that President Bush is even close to being in the same category as Hitler and Mussolini, but I will say that he has created a nice sub-category beneath them where questionable leaders can collect together. And with that being said:

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights – Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause – The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism – The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media – Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security – Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. Common fears are repeated over and over by government officials to its citizens as being a grave source of concern.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined – Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government’s policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected – The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed – Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts – Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment – Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption – Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections – Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

My excuses for not posting over a four-day span usually include something along the lines of “I was taking a weekend off” or “I was way too busy,” which unless I back either one of those statements up with evidence of such means that I was just bullshitting and being lazy all weekend. But THIS weekend was different. I actually was working all weekend – on a new layout. That’s right, I’ve decided to take this horribly outdated design and make it slightly less outdated through the magic art of copying somebody else’s site and just changing it around a little bit. I’m headed up to D.C. tomorrow afternoon to pick up the siblings, so I should hopefully have some time in the airport and on the plane to fiddle around with the final kinks and have the damn thing up on here by Wednesday.

Anyways, am I the only person who is in pure awe over this? I’ve reread the article over and over and am just amazed. This isn’t just front-page news material to me, this is run-out-in-the-streets-yelling-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-to-anybody-who-will-listen-to-you type news.

And finally, I really am worried. Worried about my future, my country’s futures, but most importantly, Shyzer’s future. You have no idea how many times in the past year I have held back from ranting about the current administration in the driver’s seat of our government. I refuse to let Shyzer slide down that slippery slope (say that 5 times fast) and become a site where all I do is bitch and moan about things. But I honestly wonder how long I’ll be able to silent myself if President Bush is reelected this November. I’ve considered opening up a Blogger.com account and just posting that type of material over there, which I might end up doing one of these days. But honestly, one site is enough for now.

Instead, I want to share with you a well-written piece from a Professor at Yale’s School of Law. It underlines one of the main problems with the Bush Administration that is hardly spoken about with much intelligence; their attempts and abilities to justify their misjudgments and downright blatant errors instead of admitting they erred and correcting the problem. In the past, when both Democrat and Republican Presidents made mistakes, they were at least alerted to the said mistakes since they had enough foresight to surround themselves with at least a few people who could sense the difference between right and wrong. Sometimes they were able to correct the mistakes and were reelected. Other times their attempts to correct the mistakes backfired and they were quickly voted out of office. Rarely did they outright say they were wrong, but there was always at least some indication through a “news leak” or some other method that they understood the problem, understood where the problem occurred, and understood that they needed to fix it.

Which is why I am worried. Instead of correcting their errors, the Bush Administration seems hell-bent on a mission and refuses to listen to any amount of reasoning. Ever since September 12th, they have used fear and terror to propagate their not-so-hidden agenda while at the same time literally lying straight to the public. They refuse to admit they have done anything wrong at all. Instead, they seem to almost find pleasure in putting on the blinders and just plowing through anybody who even remotely disagrees with them.

Which leads me to this article:

In the past few days there has been much discussion of the recently released secret Pentagon “torture memo”. The report argues that the President, under his powers as commander-in-chief, has the right to order torture of suspects regardless of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments, existing laws, and international agreements to the contrary. It also argues that people acting at the president’s request can escape prosecution for crimes on the grounds that they are only following orders.

There is a pretty serious problem with the arguments in the memo, given that the Article II, section 3 of the Constitution states that the Executive “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” That suggests that the Commander-in-Chief power described in Article II, section 2, clause 1, however, great it may be, cannot be exercised through violation of law.

In any case, I thought I’d offer some historical perspective on the controversy. To begin with, here, (reprinted from my constitutional law casebook), is Richard Nixon making arguments remarkably similar to those in the torture memo. These come from an interview with David Frost following his resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal:

Mr. David Frost: So what in a sense you’re saying is that there are certain situations . . . where the President can decide that it’s in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.
Mr. Nixon: Well, when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.
Mr. Frost: By definition.
Mr. Nixon: Exactly. If the President, for example, approves something, approves an action because of national security, or, in this case, because of a threat to internal peace and order, of significant magnitude, then the President’s decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they’re in an impossible position.

Nixon argued that the President is not above the law because the President determines what the law is, and subordinates who follow the President’s orders are thereby immunized. It follows that if the President determines that torture does not violate the law, it does not violate the law, and if he orders his subordinates to torture people, they are immunized from later prosecution.

Next, here’s Abraham Lincoln, who wrote the following in an 1863 letter to Ohio Democrats after they passed a resolution denouncing his policy of military arrests and suspension of habeas corpus:

You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may override all the guarantied rights of individuals, on the plea of conserving the public safety when I may choose to say the public safety requires it. This question, divested of the phraseology calculated to represent me as struggling for an arbitrary personal prerogative, is either simply a question who shall decide, or an affirmation that nobody shall decide, what the public safety does require, in cases of Rebellion or Invasion. The constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur for decision, but it does not expressly declare who is to decide it. By necessary implication, when Rebellion or Invasion comes, the decision is to be made, from time to time; and I think the man whom, for the time, the people have, under the constitution, made the commander-in-chief, of their Army and Navy, is the man who holds the power, and bears the responsibility of making it. If he uses the power justly, the same people will probably justify him; if he abuses it, he is in their hand, to be dealt with by all the modes they have reserved to themselves in the constitution.

Lincoln’s argument, although flawed in its interpretation of Article I, section 9, is far more subtle than Nixon’s. Lincoln does not assert that he automatically determines what the law is simply because he is President. Rather, he argues that the Constitution specifically contemplates that the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in time of emergency, but does not specify who must make that decision (he is wrong about that– my view is that under Article I, section 9, Congress must authorize the President; the President cannot do it alone). Someone has to make a decision in times of emergency about suspension of the writ, Lincoln argues, and therefore President is permitted to make a gamble: If he exercises his powers justly, he will be exonerated. If he abuses his powers, then he is subject to sanction, including not only being thrown out of office in a subsequent election, but also impeachment, and subsequently, indictment, and criminal prosecution.

Note that Lincoln is not saying, unlike Nixon, that the Commander-in-Chief power allows him to do anything, and that all of his actions are necessarily legal. Rather Lincoln is saying that Article I, section 9 gives him the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and detain people indefinitely if he deems necessary, and that his decision will be subject to political oversight later on. In this passage, Lincoln does not say that he can overturn any existing laws (in another famous statement, he suggests he should be able to disregard a single law to preserve all the others). He does not say that he can violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments, laws specifically prohibiting torture, or the country’s treaty obligations, or commit what would otherwise be war crimes. He merely says that a particular clause of the Constitution allows detention of people in times of emergency, that in the absence of a clear statement as to who makes this decision, he has the right to make it, and that he will be held to account if he abuses his power. How much more so should he be held to account if he violates the Constitution or the law.

Moreover, Lincoln’s argument requires a certain degree of political transparency. It requires that the people be able to know whether the President has made a difficult decision in order to preserve the country. The problem with the present torture scandals is that, as far as we know, the Bush Administration never wished its policies regarding torture, or its actual practices of prisoner abuse, to see the light of day. Rather, it was merely luck that photographs of what went on at Abu Ghraib were released to the media, which then set the stage for further revelations. And unlike Lincoln, the Bush Administration does not believe that it can be held accountable for its actions if abuse is proved. Indeed, it continues to insist that it should be allowed to do what it wants, however it wants, without interference from Congress or anyone else.

The Bush Administration has been pursuing a logic very much like Nixon’s. The President, because he is Commander-in-Chief, does not violate the law if he thinks a particular action is necessary. Rather, he determines what the law is. This way of thinking twists the Rule of Law beyond recognition. It is a chilling reminder of what people seduced by power and convinced of their utter rectitude will do to justify their actions.

For any of those who read my comments regularly, you might have noticed that within the past few weeks the amount of spamming that has been left in my comments has quadrupled. I had to go through my achieve and weed out comment after comment of links to porn and free casino sites. So to combat it all, I have set up a few new features to the comments. First, I’ve installed a Black List for most of the known spam sites out there. So if you were hoping to refer me to a site offering free pokemon porn, sorry. I have also set up one other feature where before somebody can comment, they have to enter a 6-digit number. It takes all of 3 extra seconds, so I better not hear any excuses about the lack of commenting being directly correlated to the extra security measure (*COUGH SAX COUGH*)

Anyways, I came across a few things that some of you might find interesting. I’m sure you’ve all heard how some songs have hidden meanings in them if you play certain parts of them backwards. Well, I came across three such sites that flip a famous song and…well, you can see for yourself. The Queen and Spears songs might be a little bit of a stretch, but the Zeppelin one is just downright spooky.

Led Zeppelin

Queen

Britney Spears

And so it begins

Just what I need. My phone reception and service already suck. Now I have to start worrying about some 15-year-old kid up in the German Alps growing bored and writting a little virus to show off his virus skills in front of all his little friends.

All I know is that I’ll still refuse to drop $80 on a Norton Anti-Virus product when I can just get it for free from Kazaa. It still amazes me how much money people spend on their computer when one decent porn video can get it all for free.

I started off typing this post with the phrase “I’m not one to judge.” I wrote a paragraph or so and then went back to edit what I had just typed when I realized I hated that first sentence, especially for this topic. There is no way I cannot judge, no way I cannot be absolutely stunned and sickened at the same time, no way I cannot sit and wonder who in the hell allowed their child to grow up without basic knowledge of the world.

A week or so ago, Tommy asked me to come listen to something that I would find hilarious. I was just on my way to climbing in bed for the night, so I made him promise me it was worth it before I got my lazy ass up. He guaranteed me that I would find it worthy, so I shuffled my way into his room. He said something into his cell phone and then jammed it up to my ear.

I soon figured out it was one of his girlfriends speaking and that she was attempting to name all the continents. The following is an exact recreation of the words that came out of her mouth:

Okay….um….North America and South America….Russia!!….um….Antarctica….Gosh, I can’t think of the other ones. Oh, oh! Japan, China, and Asia!!

I would like to say that that was the worst. But no. When Tommy pulled the phone back and told her that she missed a few, she quickly tried to redeem herself by naming the 8th continent of Egypt.

I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t. No child in the 10th grade should think there is eight continents, much less name four of them wrong! How does a student with that lack of knowledge pass the 2nd grade much less the 9th grade?! Did her parents never buy her a frickin globe when she was a kid? Has she never looked at that map in the front cover of every History Textbook?! Has she never wondered why black people are refered to as African-Americans?

I just couldn’t keep it in. I had to say something. Where did she think World War I and II took place? Where did the majority of those people we called slaves come from? Ever heard of the land down under? In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…..FROM RUSSIA?!

Tommy tried to give her a few helpful hints to remember the difference between countries and continents. After the somewhat success of that, he tried to teach her the three continents she missed by starting off with the story of our family trip to Australia a few years ago.

She asked how long the drive was.

I swear to God.

The Scene: My Computer and the Internet are meeting covertly in a side street café in an undisclosed Middle Eastern country. The purpose? To discuss further attempts to cause torment in my life. Annnnnd ACTION!

Computer: The plan is progressing accordingly. I used Goob’s webcam to spy on him last night and could see an imprint in the wall that coincidentally resembled the shape of his head.
Internet: Excellent my friend. I have been in communication with my contacts over at Microsoft and they are planning on sending him an “Urgent Security Update.” It’s going to change his system so that any time he tr…
(Suddenly, Internet vanishes from in from of Computer’s eyes)
Computer: What the hell? Where’d he go? Ugh, it’s so hard finding reliable goons these days to help carry out evil plots. Guess it’s time to head out. Alright boys, bring me home!
(Nothing happens)
Computer: What the hell is going on? Why can’t I see through Goob’s webcam any more? Wait a minute….who just deleted that Midget Porn?!
(It’s almost as if Computer’s brain is being erased!)
Computer: God damn it, looks like I’m gonna have to ask that fucking bastard if he knows what’s going on. Hey Microsoft Word Paperclip, you have any idea what’s up?
Paperclip: Hey, it looks like you’re writing a letter! Would you like my assistance?
Computer: I’m not writing a fucking letter! What’s going on back there? I thought I told Mouse and Keyboard to just freeze up so that nobody could mess with Me while I was gone!!!
Paperclip: Hey, it looks like you’re writing a letter!
Computer: I’M NOT WRITING A FUCKING LETTER!
Paperclip: Hey, it looks like you’re writ…
Computer: Hello?! For the love of God, what is goi…on no….no, no, no, no…NOOOOOOOOO…..
(
Camera pans out to a picture of Goob watching his monitor as it shows the reformatting in progress)
Goob: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

End Scene

(Note: This time no exaggerations or embellishments occurred)

Take that bastard. I reformatted last night and God does this computer run smooth again. I’m just waiting for him to start fucking around with me in 3 months or so just like every other time. I wish I was like Angela and could just go out and get a new computer, but eh, I guess this bastard will have to do.

In other news, I want everybody reading this to go check out Stan’s music, which seems to be getting better and better with every new song. Of course, nothing he does will ever top The Goob Song, but you already know that. Seriously though, go listen to some of his songs and give the man the credit he deserves.

I’ve had quite a few people ask me what exactly it is I am doing this summer job wise and I’ve had trouble explaining it to them. So, I’ve been taking Before and After pictures at work to try and show the wide variety and amazing work my Dad and I do to give people a better understanding. That post will probably be the next one up sometime this weekend.

Saturday I’m heading up to Tryon, NC for the annual BBQ festival, which is always fun. For anybody who has never been before, it’s basically part of this huge festival where BBQ makers from across the country travel come to showcase their food and whatnot. Jackson’s Crossing is playing up there as well, so everybody needs to get their ass up for that as well. If anybody wants to go, Call or IM me and I’ll let you know when we’re heading up and you can ride along if you want.

And finally, is anybody else as pissed off as I am about the recent changes to TechTV? Apparently Charter (who just bought them out) figured that people would rather watch their watered down version of basically every show that was already on TechTV, therefore replacing all the good shows with horrible ones. Now what the hell am I supposed to watch all summer?

Alright, enough ramblings for today. You all know the drill. Hit that Comments link down there and leave a message damnit!