Short Shift... that's a hockey term...

I sit here today berated by illness and injury. My knee still hurts, only not nearly as bad as it once did, but now I'm sick. I can't stop coughing, sneezing, etc. Everytime I cough, my entire body hurts. If that's ever happened to you, you know it's not fun. I'm at my friends apartment at the moment, because I still have 2 hours until my next class. I'm here today for the short shift that follows...

The American Media: The NEW Roman Spectator

I call the American media the new Roman spectator because they are seemingly out for blood everytime they put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard. They don't care if the blood is American, British, Iraqi, etc. Doesn't matter if it came from a soldier defending freedom, or from an Islamic insurgent trying to wrest back the freedoms being given by those soldiers. Although, the American media is more likely to put the story on the front page of the paper, or in the first eleven minutes of the news broadcast if Americans died in whatever attacks.

Just watch the coverage of Iraq and, occassionally, Afghanistan. It seems highly unlikely to me that our soldiers could've been in Iraq for over three years and still only bad things happen. I actually heard a reporter the other day, and it pains me that I can't remember the channel, bring up Abu Ghraib again. I thought we were past that, but in the media we aren't.

I know that I'm going to tick off my left-leaning counterparts when I say this, but the mainstream news media in this country has a horrible record concerning President Bush. If the story makes him look bad, run it on the front page three times. If a story makes Bush look good, hide it as far back as possible, or don't print it at all.

Once again, I direct your attention to Abu Ghraib. What's the point of bringing that up? What victory does that gain anyone? Do I like what happened there? No. But I'll say this, if putting underwear on our enemy's head gets our enemy to tell us where his West-hating friends are hiding and what they're planning, I'll gladly donate some boxers to the effort.

But that's your assignment, kids. Watch the news, if you can stomach it, and see what I mean.

P.S.: Keith Olberrmann, get over it. Your show does about1/20 the ratings of Bill O'Reilly. You really make MSNBC look good by coming out and slamming their competitor that's constantly beating the crap out of you.

P.P.S.: Rennie, on your playground fight, you left out the part about how the kid before George had an official playground policy to remove Ahmed from the sandbox, and George only made good on it.

This Week in the Crazy, Vol. II

Short post this time, kiddos. I've got some time between classes, and I did promise this to you.

Best Game Ever!

I made the statement, which I still stand by today, that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the greatest Nintendo game ever.

For those of you who had the fancy Playstations, you don't know what you missed. Ocarina held everything a gamer could want. Engaging storyline, familiar characters, new weapons, tasks and puzzles, and the return of everyone's favorite enemy, Ganondorf.

When I first opened up Ocarina of Time, circa Christmas 1998, I sat down hoping for a good game. What I got was a great gaming experience that still stands in my memory. I recall climbing the steps to reach the epic final battle. I think back on the first time I beat one of the major temples. You have to know, before this time I wasn't a big Zelda fan. This game single-handedly won me over.

Sure, the game was only one player, and in a world of online gaming, a single player game is almost rowned upon. But not the Zelda series. Shigeru Miyamoto brought everyone an incredible series, and, depending upon the success of Wii's Twilight Princess, this game stand as the current crown jewel of the Zelda franchise.

Political Oddity of the Week

Just this...

She could be our next President. If you have any private property you want to hang on to, well, hide it now...

And if you like a Socialist America, well, here's your candidate.

Where's Ross Perot when you need him?

Still Torn, only Less Cutting Required

Okay, so I had my follow-up appointment with Dr. Greenwood today. I've been dealing with knee problems for nearly a month now, and I had an MRI last week.

I got good news today. My meniscus isn't torn. It isn't even the problem. The injury I sustained shows the same symptoms as a torn meniscus, but is actually a torn and partially dislocated patella tendon. For those of you at home, the patella tendon connects the kneecap to the quadricep muscle, the front part of your thigh.

Now, I may have to have surgery later, that's still not out of the question. But for now I begin a 4 to 16 week physical therapy stint during which I'll likely be grumpy and rather mean-spirited, but also far more tired than usual.

Enjoy me for the next 1 to 4 months.

This Week in the Crazy

Hello, all. Sanjay here, leading off what will hopefully become at least a bi-monthly article here at The Right Wing. We're calling it "This Week in the Crazy." Blake has entrusted me with the following segment:

Commercial Stupidity and the Following Outrage

I'm sitting here in the office, web-surfing and pulling together tidbits of knowledge for the next blog entry when I come across this.

I watched the Super Bowl. I found the commercials to be a bit lackluster. My favorites were the Blockbuster ad about using a "mouse," and the Chevy commercial where the assembly line machine is having a dream. Good stuff.

This Snickers commercial did not offend me. I actually thought it was funny. Hey, it could have been much, much worse. Now, though, Mars, Inc., the maker of Snickers, is apparently pulling the spot because they received a complaint. Here's where I draw the line. I don't care if you're pro-gay, or totally homophobic. It's a commercial.

If the commercial offends you, then change the channel, it's not like you don't have 185 more options out there. I hear that the dish actually has over a thousand channels. Just because something offends you doesn't mean we all have to lose it. You have control, exercise it.

Blake, take over, I'm ticked,

The Best Video Game On Every System Blake Has Ever Owned

NES: Super Mario Brothers 3. This game had it all.

The plot was just crazy, man! Bowser's up to his old tricks, trying to take over the world and all, but now you don't just fight Bowser, but you have to fight his kids and recover magic wands to restore kings to their original forms.

You fight, in typical Japanese video game/animation style, in wooden ships that can fly thanks to a single, solitary propeller.

This is one of, if not the, highest selling games of all time. I'm proud to have owned it, and even happier to have it for the GameBoy Advance.

Tune in next time for the Nintendo 64 game:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time... quite possibly the best video game ever made.

The Politics of International Terrorism and the American Response

For those of you unconcerned with political matters, feel free to stop reading. This little segment deals with a growing problem in America today. It seems to me, your humble blogger, that many Americans graduated Class of 1939, from the Neville Chamberlain, Peace in our Time University. (thanks ajc.com The Vent)

A vast number of the vocal American political class and the voting public seem to think that if we just ignore Islamic fundamentalism, then it will simply disappear. This same line of thought appeared during the build-up to WWII. Hitler was appeased by a large number of European leaders, in hopes that he would be satisfied with just a bit. But their ignorance allowed the problem to reach its climax, and global conflict ensued.

Now, in the face of a similar enemy, the belief that appeasement will work has once again reared its ugly head. Remember, the Islamic extremists who brought about the destruction on 9-11-2001 were very patient. They first tried to destroy the building in 1993, but they failed. Eight years later, they left a crater in New York City. They hit the Pentagon, and were thankfully thwarted on a fourth plane.

It's now been five years since that day. The Pentagon still stands. I wouldn't be surprised if they return for it. But that's apparently what it's gonna take to wake people up in this country. Our enemy is willing to wait for generations to gain what they want. The American public isn't willing to wait three years. Our enemy waited eight years before returning to a target and finishing the job. The American public is upset that we've been in Iraq and Afghanistan for over four years. See the difference.

I'm leaving this one for you, the reader to investigate, but from what I understand, there is, or has been, a case in Saudi Arabia where a woman is awaiting trial, and likely execution, because she fought back against being raped. This is the great enemy of our time, but if the fight takes too long, or if it interferes with our nightly TV schedule, the American public isn't sure the fight is worth it.

If you don't like it, do something about it.

Groundhog Day, right?

Robert, before you get mad, I'm not stealing your groundhog day idea, buddy. Just adding a nice touch that you left out.


When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter.

There is no way this winter is *ever* going to end as long as that groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don't see any way out of it. He's got to be stopped. And I have to stop him.

France becomes an even bigger jerk... film at 11.

So I'm checking out some of my favorite news sites today and I come across the little diddy on drudgereport.com:

Chirac: U.S. Could Face Euro Carbon Tax

Apparently, French presi-weasel Jacques Chirac was able to find an opening on his schedule somewhere between the 3 p.m. Hide Head in Sand and the 5 p.m. Hide Head in Sand to step up to whatever microphone was around and claim that, with the full support of the European Union, a tax would be brought against the United States if we did not sign both the Kyoto agreement and the subsequent agreement that takes effect in 2012, when the first Kyoto treaty expires.

For those of my readers unfamiliar with the Kyoto agreement, it is a United Nations backed plan to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Sounds good, right? Global Warming being the big evil that it is. Well, there are a few hitches in this thing. First, the Kyoto agreement is ratified by two nations that are not even subject to the agreement, China and India. These nations happen to be developing industrialy, and as such are emitting a vast amount of CO2. Secondly, the US and Australia refuse to sign the agreement because of a two-fold argument. A) The Kyoto Agreement is viewed as a restriction on industrialized capitalist economies. B) The possible machinations of the United Nations in an attempt to distrubute income globally.

Jacques Chirac sees things a bit differently. Don't get me wrong, Chirac is far from being the most enviro-friendly European leader. But he claims that he will have the full backing of the EU to pursue taxation on American goods.

Lawyers are beginning to join the fray, questioning the legality of such a tax. Chirac, though, is unworried. “A carbon tax is inevitable,” Mr. Chirac said, in a quote found in the NY Times. “If it is European, and I believe it will be European, then it will all the same have a certain influence because it means that all the countries that do not accept the minimum obligations will be obliged to pay.”

You know, the more I think about this, the more a history lesson comes to mind. Seems to me the last time the United States were taxed without having governmental representation, a little island nation in Europe lost bunches o' land. Last I checked, the name United States of America isn't on the European Union roll call.

Makes you glad to live on this side of the pond, eh?