Happy New Year Everybody!!!!

May 2006 be better than 2005!

ciao!

CerebralWaste

Happy New Year!

Why, Why, Why?????

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we! say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
And my FAVORITE......The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

Special thanks to Judy "now that's a Toyota" Ebert for sending me this!! Your DA MAN Judy!! err DA WOMAN!

I watch a lot of TV

I watch a lot of TV. Perhaps too much I admit. My TV gets turned on many times before 6 am and doesn't shut off till after midnight. I love TV. Now please understand I work at home and this viewing habit is mainly a late fall/winter thing. Spring and summer I am much too busy tending to the growing things in the greenhouse and on the property to lounge around that much. I will though sneak in something here and there but for the most part I am pretty busy. Being self employed can have its advantages.

Now somewhat recently (ok in the past 2 years or so!) I have gotten into the habit of watching re-runs of Little House on the Prairie and The Walton's from 8:00 am to 1:00 PM with sometimes a bit of Bonanza and Gunsmoke tossed in for good measure. God bless cable TV! All this has made me think. No not about frying more brain cells watching mindless dribble but how the mindless dribble from the late 60's through the mid 80's was a bit more than the mindless dribble being pumped out today with the likes of Desperate Housewives and South Park. The latter I will admit I do enjoy at times. How can you not like South Park??

In watching the above shows you can't help but noticed just how much TV has changed in the past 30 years. Story lines and plots and sub plots have shifted to more violence and sex instead of the show having a meaning and perhaps a moral tale to be told and learned. The thin line between right and wrong has been forever blurred. Where else do we or can we CHEER for a murdering mobster not to be caught by the FBI? In what other medium can we celebrate "hi- infidelity" among married couples or hope a somewhat crooked cop makes the bust or cheer while a US agent plays hard and fast with the rules? Or laugh about a group of foul mouthed 4th graders who stage a rebellion against a gay teacher only to have their parents ignore it? Only on TV can this happed.

Don't misunderstand me. I love some of the new cutting edge shows on TV. The Soprano's, 24, and the Shield to name a few but I have to wonder will these shows be regarded as "classics" in 20 years? 30? More? Less? If so how? Or am I just becoming an OLD FART and waxing nostalgic for the past days of yonder? Hell if I know. But I know what I like! I like a wide range of shows but I must admit I have a soft spot for those shows of years past like The Walton's and Little House.

There is something warm and fuzzy about them that brings out the liberal in me.

Now where did I put that new Rambo DVD boxed set I got for Christmas?

Merry Christmas!!!!


Merry Christmas everybody!


ciao!

CerbralWaste

Bahrain and the Iranian challenge
TODAY'S COLUMNISTBy Tulin DaloglDecember 23, 2005
Although the Bush administration decided in the immediate aftermath of September 11 that in order to secure the homeland the Middle East should be democratized, the forces that work against democratization are so challenging that the mission looked "impossible to accomplish" at first. Even today, after a bomb-free, successful election in Iraq, fears of failure and greater war in the region still dominate more than the possibility of victorious democracy. Alas, a successful election day is not enough to begin talking about the triumph of democracy in the Middle East. For at least a decade we will walk on eggshells before deciding whether the Middle East can become democratic. Yet, there is a plan. And although President Bush has acknowledged the mistakes in it, he has also assured that it will be corrected to ensure the success of democracy in the region.

When Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England stepped up to the podium to speak on the Bahraini National Day, I saw him as the face of the president's willingness to correct the mistakes of his first term. Mr. England -- who has spent his government career both as the secretary of the Navy and deputy secretary in the Department of Homeland Security and not as a neocon in a suit -- is known to believe that strong state relations start first by building strong personal relations. He spoke on a day in which many factors involved in bringing change to the Middle East intersected. "Tonight we celebrate the independence and freedom of Bahrain," he said. "Earlier today, the people of Iraq voted for their new government. I'm confident that in the coming years they too will find the peace, stability and success which the people of Bahrain enjoy."

It was also the day after Bahrain became the third Arab country, after Jordan and Morocco, to sign a free-trade agreement with the United States. Although the war in Iraq is a military solution, the Bush administration is trying to bolster it with economic and social elements. These free-trade agreements bring not only the military engagement, but also the U.S. civilian business engagement, to the Gulf region -- and have multiplied U.S. interests there. Regardless of the size of these economies, they stand for an important policy decision.

First and foremost, so far, the bad news in Iraq benefits Iran. At last Friday's prayer in Iran, former presidential candidate Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said, "We see now that the United States is defeated. It keeps voicing absurdities such as [the claims of] Iran's interference in Iraq, which is truly comical since the U.S. itself takes actions that are completely against diplomatic conventions and run counter to the U.N."

Naturally, it raises the question of why Mr. England, Secretary of Navy, would speak on the Bahraini National Day when a free trade agreement is signed. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman could have taken the podium. But Bahrain is a small island not far from Iran, and the majority of its almost 700,000 people are Shi'ite. Bahrain could be the next stop for an Iran looking to extend its influence. But America's increasing presence in the region is proof that the United States is determined to fight the Iranian regime -- not only to prevent its extension, but also to change it. That will happen through a combination of military and economic efforts, via these free-trade agreements.

Iran presents a huge challenge. There is the standoff between it and the United States, because of the danger of Iran developing a nuclear weapon, and because Iran supports "terrorism" and unacceptable radical Islamic rules as state policy. When Mr. England said, "The United States is grateful to Bahrain for being such a strong partner for peace and a gracious host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet," he was talking about how the Fifth Fleet's presence protects U.S. interests in the region.

The United States is increasing its presence in the Gulf, and the White House seems determined to bring change. But if there weren't a regime change in Iraq, could anyone say with confidence that we'd be talking about democracy in the Middle East? Could anything short of removal of Saddam Hussein have pushed it? Postwar failures are a whole different story. But free-trade agreements in the region and the Greater Middle East and Northern Africa Initiatives are proof that the United States is looking to use means other than military action to change the politics of the Middle East.
Tulin Daloglu is the Washington correspondent and columnist for Turkey's Star TV and newspaper. A former BBC reporter, she writes occasionally for The Washington Times.

I urge everyone to read this op ed from the Washington Times. I know it is a little long but I think the info sums up things pretty well on most points. Though I am not sure about the authors claims of "bad news" in Iraq!

General Abizaid commments on the War on Terror.
exclusive only to CerebralWaste

This came to me from my good friend and C.O. THE COLONEL:
These are notes from a speech Gen Abizaid(Commander, U. S. Central Command whose responsibilities include Iraq and Afghanistan)
made as he spoke to the Naval War College.

The audience comprised primarily War College students who are mid-grade/senior military officers.
The majority of these officers have served in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
so there was a real understanding of the dynamics of the region...

BS would not sell to this audience.Here is a short summary of General Abizaid's comments,
from contemporaneous notes:

He is amazed as he goes around the country and testifies before the Congress
how many of our countrymen do not know or understand what we are doing or how we are doing.
There are very few members of Congress who have ever worn the uniform (of our Armed Forces).
He said that the questions he gets from some in Congress convince him that they
have the idea that we are about to pushed out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is no relation between this and the reality on the ground.As he goes around the region and talks to
troops and junior officers he is very impressed by their morale and their achievements.
They are confident that they are capable of defeating the enemy.
You will never see a headline in this country about a school
opening or a power station being built and coming on line, or a community doing well.
Only the negative things will get coverage in the media.
He told the mid-grade/senior officers to go to their local Lions Clubs when they go home and tell the people what they are doing.
If they don't get the word out, the American people will not know what is really happening.
The insurgency is in four of 18 provinces in Iraq, not all 18.
You do not hear about the 14 provinces where there is no insurgency and where things are going well.
The insurgency in Afghanistan is primarily in Kandahar province (home of the Taliban)
and in the mountain region on the Pakistani border.
The rest of the country is doing well.Iraq now has over 200,000 soldiers/police under arms and growing.
They are starting to eclipse the US/coalition forces.
Their casualty rate is more than double that of the US.
There are more than 70,000 soldiers under the moderate government in Afghanistan and growing.
He predicted that the insurgencies in the four Sunni provinces in northern/central Iraq
and in Southwestern Afghanistan will be there for the foreseeable future,
but they will be stabilized and become small enough so the moderate governments
will be able to keep them under control.2006 will be a transition year in Iraq and that will see
the Iraqi forces take much more of the mission from the US forces.
This is necessary to bring stability to Iraq.
We need to be fewer in numbers and less in the midst of the people for the moderate
Iraqi government to succeed.Our primary enemy is not the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is al Qaida and their ideology.
We are at a period now that is similar to the 1920s where Communism and Nazism had not taken hold in
Russia and Germany.The ideology of Al Qaida is out there and it has not taken hold in any country in the
Middle East.
We need to make sure that it does not and we are doing that, but it will be a long problem with a
long commitment.He said that we are focused on the things that we (Americans) have done wrong,
like Abu Ghraib, and not talking about this enemy.
We need to talk about this enemy. al Qaida is all over the world.
Their goal is to get the US out of the region and come to power in the Islamic countries of the region.
From there, their goal is to establish a Caliphate (under a single Islamic ruler) that goes from the
Atlantic in North Africa to Indonesia in the Pacific.
Fifty years after this happens, their goal is to rule the rest of the world.Since Desert Storm in 1991,
US forces have not lost any combat engagement in the region at the platoon-level or above. al Qaida has no beliefs that they can defeat us militarily.
They see our center of gravity as being the will of the American People.
That is influenced by the media and they are playing to that.
They don't need to win any battles.
Their plan is keep the casualties in front of the American people in the media for long enough that we become
convinced that we cannot win and leave the region.
This would be tragic for our country.The battle against al Qaida will not be primarily military.
It will be political, economic, and ideological.
It will require the international community to fight too.
We must not let al Qaida get hold in any country.It will result in our worst nightmare.
Picture life in Afghanistan under the Taliban,
that is what Al Qaida's ideology has as a goal.
If you look at the geography (of al Qaida), there is no place to put a military solution.
They are networked and they are all over the world.
They are a virtual organization connected by the Internet.
They use it to proselytize, recruit, raise money, educate and organize.
They have many pieces that we must focus on: the propaganda battle in the media,
safe houses, front companies, sympathetic members
of legitimate governments,
human capital, fighters and leaders, technical expertise, weapons suppliers, ideologically sympathetic non-government organizations (charities), financers, smugglers, and facilitators.
A lot of their money comes from drugs.
We are winning but we have got to maintain constant pressure over time with the
international community and across the US government agencies.
No one is afraid that we can't defeat the enemy. Our troops have the confidence, the courage,
and the competence.
We need the will of the American people to be sustained for the long haul.

Canadians can have group sex in clubs: top court
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Group sex between consenting adults is neither prostitution nor a threat to society, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Wednesday, dismissing arguments that the sometimes raucous activities of so-called "swingers" clubs were dangerous.
In a ruling that radically changes the way Canadian courts determine what poses a threat to the population, the court threw out the conviction of a Montreal man who ran a club where members could have group sex in a private room behind locked doors.
"Consensual conduct behind code-locked doors can hardly be supposed to jeopardize a society as vigorous and tolerant as Canadian society," said the opinion of the seven-to-two majority, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.
The decision does not affect existing laws against prostitution because no money changed hands between the adults having sex.
The court was reviewing an appeal by Jean-Paul Labaye, who ran the L'Orage (Thunderstorm) club. He had been convicted of running a "bawdy house" -- defined as a place where prostitution or acts of public indecency could take place.
Lawyers for Labaye and James Kouri, the owner of another swingers' club in Montreal, had argued that consensual sex between groups of adults behind closed doors was neither indecent or a risk to society.
The Supreme Court judges agreed.
"Criminal indecency or obscenity must rest on actual harm or a significant risk of harm to individuals or society. The Crown failed to establish this essential element of the offence. The Crown's case must therefore fail," wrote McLachlin.
In indecency cases, Canadian courts have traditionally probed whether the acts in question "breached the rules of conduct necessary for the proper functioning of society". The Supreme Court ruled that from now on, judges should pay more attention to whether society would be harmed.
The judges said that just because most Canadians might disapprove of swingers' clubs, this did not necessarily mean the establishments were socially dangerous.
"Attitudes in themselves are not crimes, however deviant they may be or disgusting they may appear," the judges said, noting that no one had been pressured to have sex or had paid for sex in either of the cases.
"The autonomy and liberty of members of the public was not affected by unwanted confrontation with the sexual activity in question only those already disposed to this sort of sexual activity were allowed to participate and watch," they said.
© Reuters 2005. All rights reserved

But do their Mobile phones have to be shut off?????

Theater owners want cell phones blocked
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The National Association of Theater Owners wants the Federal Communications Commission to allow the blocking of cell phone signals in theaters.
John Fithian, the president of the trade organization, told the Los Angeles Times theater owners "have to block rude behavior" as the industry tries to come up with ways to bring people back to the cinemas.
Fithian said his group would petition the FCC for permission to block cell phone signals within movie theaters.
Some theaters already have no cell phone policies and ask moviegoers to check their phones at the door, Fithian said.
The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association -- a Washington-based cell phone lobby that is also known as CTIA-the Wireless Association -- said it would fight any move to block cell phone signals.
"We're opposed to the use of any blocking technology, because it interferes with people's ability to use a wireless device in an emergency situation," CTIA spokesman Joseph Farren told the Times.

© Copyright 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved

I say the DEATH PENALTY for those asswipes who have their cell phones on at the movies. Nothing short of that will do. There is NO REASON to have a cell phone set to ring when in the movies. NO REASON. NONE...ZERO.. NADA... ZILCH.. So please all you Mobile phone yapping asswipess turn you bleepin phone to SILENT ring or better OFF during the movie. A "Common Sense" solution for sadly an all to common problem, brought to you by CEREBRALWASTE!

Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina DeathsBy Nathan BurchfielCNSNews.com CorrespondentDecember 14, 2005(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.

Liberals in the aftermath of the storm were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, in September said that the federal government "ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look." Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in October said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn't fit to help the storm's victims because "there are not enough blacks high up in FEMA" and added that, "certainly the Red Cross is the same." Rapper Kanye West used his time on NBC's telethon for the hurricane victims to charge that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."But the state's demographic information suggests that whites in New Orleans died at a higher rate than minorities.

According to the 2000 census, whites make up 28 percent of the city's population, but the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals indicates that whites constitute 36.6 percent of the storm's fatalities in the city.African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased. Other minorities constitute approximately 5 percent of the population and represented 4.3 percent of the storm's fatalities.Overall for the state, 658 bodies have been identified. Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian. The remaining bodies were either non-black minorities or undetermined.An additional 247 victims have not been identified, so their demographic information has not been released.

The data showed that the majority of Katrina's victims lived in the Orleans parish. The nearby St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes had 91 and 25 victims, respectively. The storm also did not discriminate based on gender. Fifty percent of the victims were male and 49 percent were female, with 1 percent being undetermined.Calls requesting comment from Damu Smith and the Nation of Islam were not returned Wednesday.

Only now several months later does the TRUTH come out. A truth that needs to be told but sadly won't get the attention in the media that it should. If it bleeds it leads......

Kuwait plans one-km-tall skyscraper

Blueprints for a kilometre-tall skyscra-per have been drawn up by UK architects, who hope to see the record-breaking structure commissioned in Kuwait, NewScientist.com reports. At 1001 metres, the tower would be almost twice the height of the world's tallest building today, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which stands at 509 metres. The new building would also dwarf the Burj Dubai, a building under construction in Dubai that is expected to stand 700-800 metres tall once completed in 2008

Architecture firm Eric Kuhne and Associates, based in London, UK, has drawn up plans for the skyscraper. Although the designs have yet to be made public, the company is reported to be in talks with the Kuwaiti government about construction. Representatives told the Architects' Journal that the Kuwaiti government is considering commissioning the building for a city called Madinat al-Hareer, or the 'City of Silk'. The skyscraper would take an estimated £84bn to construct and 25 years to complete.

25 years to complete and 84 billion Pounds or roughly 100 billion Euro's give or take. Don't you think that money could be better used than building the worlds tallest building? Unless this is some very forward looking thinking by the Governement of Kuwait to later employee the unemployed natives I can't see a reason for this. Other than bragging rights which of course won't last for long. If I was a Kuwaiti I would say pump the 100+ Million Euros into the Society of Kuwait and use that money to promote furthur Democratic reforms and plan for a future sans oil revenue. Look for Kuwait to anounce this project soon and for Dubai to follow with one of its own.

The Saudi's of course will then have to get in the game then Qatar and Oman to follow. Bahrain won't play the game for several reasons. One the project would SINK the island. No not in terms of Dinars but the Island could not support a structure like that and Yemen doens't have the cash to even THINK about something like this. Needless to say the game is on and in the end it is the people who wind up paying the bill and swallowing the pill.

France Unrest Update

AP and UPI reported today that the French government announced that it has raised its national terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender".

The raise was precipitated by a recent fire during the riots which destroyed France's National White Flag Factory, also known as the FNWFF, thereby disabling its military.

A Politicaly Correct 007???
This is beyond a BrainFart.
http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/75882004.htm is reporting that the new 007 film will not.. I repeat will not show 007 smoking.

It seems "James Bond is locked in a battle with a new enemy - cigarettes." the story reports and goes on to say "Film bosses have reportedly decided new 007 Daniel Craig can't smoke in 'Casino Royale' - because of the "need for Hollywood to set an example to young people"

Just what in the heck is going on here? First the new Bond, Daniel Craig opens up his big mouth to the press as seen here. proclaiming his rabid hate for firearms and now the producers won't let BOND smoke. Say what? What is going on in the land of Bond?

I don't know about you but I want my 007 jumping from bed to bed with "Bond Babes" and shooting bad guys and girls as needed and having a smoke in the casino. This is what James Bond does. Once you compromise these things 007 ceases to be 007.

Something tells me this is the end of the 007 Franchise of films.

Can someone PLEASE explain to me

that why in 26 days of looking around the Island(s) that I could not find ONE SINGLE copy of any movie on dvd/VHS/Beta by movie genius MEL BROOKS? What gives? I just wanted to sit back, crack a beer and watch HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 but it seems Mel Brooks does not exsit in Bahrain. All inquires regarding Mr.Brooks received blank looks from everyone who was asked. This is a head scratcher for sure.....

Does anyone have ANY IDEA on where a guy can locate some Mel Brooks films in Bahrain??????

GLOBAL WARMING MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Record Low Temperatures in Parts of U.S.

DENVER - Bitterly cold air poured southward across the nation's midsection Wednesday, dropping temperatures to record lows from Montana to Illinois. The mercury dived to a record 45 below at West Yellowstone, Mont., the frequently cold spot at the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park, the National Weather Service said. The old record for Dec. 7 was 39 below, set in 1927.

The cold even extended south to the Texas Panhandle, where Lubbock shivered at a record low 6 above zero, the weather service said.
The body of a homeless man was found huddled next to a fence in Denver, where the temperature hit 11 below Wednesday, and authorities were trying to determine if he froze to death. He apparently had shed his jacket in a phenomenon called "paradoxical undressing," where victims of hypothermia become disoriented and hallucinate, deputy coroner Amy Martin said.
The coldest spot in Colorado early Wednesday was Hohnholz Ranch, 50 miles northwest of Fort Collins, which bottomed out at 37 below zero, the weather service said.
In Gunnison, Alec Solimeo tended bar at the Timbers Sports Bar & Grill wearing a couple layers of clothing Tuesday as a faulty heater let the inside temperature drop to 42 degrees. The outside temperature fell to 12 below early Wednesday, the weather service said.
Temperatures read like baseball scores in northeastern New Mexico zero at Las Vegas and 1 at Raton. "I'm sitting here in my office and it's freezing and we've got the heat on full blast," said Bill Cox, owner of the Hillcrest Restaurant in Las Vegas.
The cold follows a blizzard that blasted much of the Plains on Nov. 27-28, shutting down hundreds of miles of major highways across a half-dozen states and piling up snowdrifts 8 feet high in South Dakota.
Just two of the 157 South Dakota towns that had power problems after that storm snapped power lines were still without electricity Wednesday, but more than 3,600 rural customers were still blacked out, said Tom Dravland, state public safety secretary. Lows across the eastern part of the state dipped to as much as 20 below.
A winter storm warning was issued Wednesday in and around the Dallas- Fort Worth area, where the temperature fell from the low 40s before sunrise to the upper 20s by the end of the morning rush hour. Freezing rain and sleet fell Wednesday and up to 2 inches of snow was predicted by Thursday morning.
Elsewhere Wednesday, the weather service said record lows for the date included 28 below zero at Drummond, Mont., where the date's previous record was 21 below in 1971; 26 below at Seeley Lake, Mont.; 25 below at Laramie, Wyo., tying a 1978 reading; 17 below at Alliance, Neb.; 19 below at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and 3 below at Lincoln, Ill.
Associated Press writers Roger Petterson in New York and Joe Kafka in Pierre, S.D., contributed to this report.

CerebralWaste's BRAINFART du jour...
Rapper Accidentally Kills Himself With Pen Gun

ST. PARIS, Ohio (Dec. 6) - Steven Zorn had put the pen gun to his head and clicked before, apparently thinking it was jammed and would not work.
But on the third try, the tiny silver pistol went off as the 22-year-old budding rap artist was drinking to celebrate an impending record deal. He died at a hospital.
The Nov. 18 shooting at Zorn's home in this rural village of 2,000, about 50 miles northeast of Dayton, is believed to have been accidental, according to family, friends and law enforcement officials.
"Steven had a career and his dreams all ahead of him," said Zorn's mother, Lisa McCoy-Horn. She said she wants lawmakers to outlaw pen guns, which are small-caliber, single-shot weapons that resemble pens.

Please welcome Mr. Zorn into the Brainfart HALL of FAME as well as being the BRAINFART du jour! We should all be thankful this asswipe took himself out of the Gene Pool. Lord knows the world didn't need this guy fathering any bastard children with such a High IQ like Mr. Zorn had. Me thinks he watched too many Bugs Bunny cartoons. Rap music, booze and pen guns. What a combination!!!!!!

Nagging questions...........

How do you end the pain of the loss of a friend? Your best friend. How many hours, days, weeks, months and years does it take? Or does the pain of loss ever truly leave? Why do these flood of emotions still haunt me 7 plus years later? Was there something I could have done? Is it guilt? Survivors guilt that still haunts my mind? How do you separate the bonds of a friendship forged since childhood through the harsh open reality that your best friend is gone and the ever nagging question of why? Why? Why? Why?

As each year passes I have grown to better understand that the pain will never completely leave. Nor should it. I choose to believe and place my faith that it is these types of things that happen to us that help to define us as who we are as individuals and it is up to each one of us to turn a negative into a positive. It isn't and hasn't been easy.

Grief is a hard thing but the loss of my best friend since childhood in the end has made me a better person and better friend to others.

You are still missed my friend but you will never be forgotten.

Back from Bahrain


Yep... I am back. More about the trip in a couple of days after I recharge myself. Meanwhile enjoy the joke below from my good friend "The Colonel". I loved this joke!

In the Old West, a mom was taking her son to town. Pulling up to the hardware store, the boy started to laugh: "Mom, look at them bow-legged cowboys!" His mother was mortified: "Johnny, I'll have none of that language!" Leaving the dry-goods store, Johnny couldn't help himself, "Look at them bow-legged cowboys!" he laughed. This time his mother warned him: "One more such outburst, and you'll be punshed." As they were packing up some necessities at the seed and feed store, Johnny couldn't help himself: "Look at them bow-legged cowboys." That did it. "Johnny, you won't be allowed to come to town with me for a month, and for every afternoon you're going to have to read Shakespeare." A fate worse than death. When the month was up, Johnny returned to town with his Mom. Looking down the main street, he said: "Mother, what manner of men are these, who wear their pants in parentheses?"