Riddle me this...

I watched CNN this morning as they reported on the recent "insurgent" attacks in Mosul a question and a criticism came to mind.

First, when did we start referring to non-military personell who take up arms and use tactics to inspire widespread fear and panic among a populace as insurgents? Between the recent rocket attack or suicide bombing in Mosul and the attacks on Iraqi election officials it seems to me that the "insurgents" act a lot like terrorists.

Before I pose my second question/criticism readers may need a brief history refresher, so first click here, here, and here...

For those of you that didn't want to check out the links they are simply biographies of past American Presidents. Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Zachary Taylor. All of which served the office with distinction, and all of which were more than simple politicians. Jackson was a veteran and a hero by the time he had taken office( Battle of New Orleans), as was Roosevelt ( Lt. Col. of the Rough Riders) and Taylor spent 40 years in military service and was credited with maintaining the Union during the early rumblings of southern cessesionists.

While listening to the report of Pres. Bush sending his condolences to the families of troops killed in the recent "insurgent" action in Mosul I felt along with sadness for those who were killed a bit of anger and disgust at our modern politicians. I am not harping on Repulicans today, nor Democrats, the President, nor Congress. My complaint is against the whole slew. It is a cry against all that would support a war without ever having known battle. Against those that would send the children, brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers to die and go to all extent to keep their own uninvolved. How many Senators or Congressmen have family that are in Iraq or Afghanistan? Why was one of the main topics of the recent Presidential election based on trying to prove which candidate actually followed their commitments to the military and which may have been lying about their service? It is a disturbing that this occurs, but perhaps even more disturbing is that we, as a nation, tolerate such behavior. Perhaps, over the last several decades we have been conditioned to accept hypocracy as a form of governing, or perhaps, we have been ground neath the heel of the political aristocracy that we feel that there is no choice, no other option than accept a group of businessmen, bankers, and war mongering cowards as our masters. Unfortunately, the truth may lie in a more mundane region than all this. Perhaps our nation as a whole has grown more apathetic, to pathalogical proportions that undermine the very definition of democracy. How can a people lead their own destiny when we barely lift our faces from the muck of tedium and our own microcosm and are only vaguely aware of the world around us. Perhaps those in offices of power are there because the new ignorant masses have bent our backs to allow their ascension. For a final ort of information to chew and roll around your mental teeth contrast this (or any of the presidential biographies for the last 30 years) with those that have been previously mentioned.

As I close this complaint I leave those of you who have read thus far with a thought from one of the great minds of our day. Not usually known for his political views Albert Einstien once said "All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field."

Good day.

Warp factor love baby!

For us that don't care about the prime directive...
lets go from warp factor 9 to warp factor love!!!

Finally folks the holidays are here! I will bee outta the lab for the next few days so I hope to catch up on the blogging, until then enjoy...

Dude! Finally some research that we need!

(Please note: heavy sarcasm ahead)

I have finally witnessed a good use for research funds! Forget AIDS, cancer, and genetic disorder research! Those guys were all yesterday's news. Now this guy has the right line of questions to ask.

Dude -- professor studies 'dude'
A linguist from the University of Pittsburgh has published a scholarly paper deconstructing and deciphering the word "dude," contending it is much more than a catchall for lazy, inarticulate surfers, skaters, slackers and teenagers.
Kiesling says in the fall edition of American Speech that the word derives its power from something he calls cool solidarity -- an effortless kinship that's not too intimate.
Cool solidarity is especially important to young men who are under social pressure to be close with other young men, but not enough to be suspected as gay.
In other words: Close, dude, but not that close.

So dude, seriously, I think we could find better uses of time and money don't you?

Its Friday

It is 10:45 on a Friday night...do you know where Jon Phipps is???
Thats right! At home writing a blog!
Well it's not like I didn't try tonight. In fact, most fellow geeks would be proud!
I went out to eat with some friends of mine, to a little place called Don Pablos...You might have heard of it? no? well thats ok. Anyway, there was this waitress you see, about 5'6" blonde hair, blue eyes, smelled of a mix of jasmine and sweet heaven...
I can say that I tried.
I really tried.
The conversation read like this; she said " Hey, you must be Jon?" (my friends had told her I was on the way there) I said "yes, yes I am! I don't think I have had the pleasure [of knowing your name]." ( yeah I know, cheese factor of like 80 but thats what I said) she smiled sweetly and replied with her name to which I came back with "beautiful name for an equally beautiful young lady" (cheese factor still climbing) she smiled and went on with her work. As the meal progressed I continued to talk to her occasionally, even noticing and commenting on her exquisite perfume. Strange that it was noticible over the mexican food, but she did talk for a bit and offered her wrist for me to smell. I thought all was lost when she actually said " yeah it's not really a perfume, its an oil...my body doesnt do well with perfume, but if I use a lot of oil it works pretty well." Long story short I was feeling pretty good until this smelly ass abercrombie and fitch frat boy reject saunters in and sits down at the table behind me. The next thing I know he is talking up the waitress and having good luck at it. Of course who am I to compete with a guy that manages to grunt out a whole sentence and chug a pint of pilsner in under a minute while forcing out said sentence.
Hell, I know I am no Brad Pitt, but I am no Clint Howard by any means. I am educated, have interesting hobbies, I even have a motorcycle. Unfortunately, for me I suppose I don't go thru the A&F catalog and pick out my preppy/grunge look. Nor do I have the "Look at me I can talk and drink at the same time!" ability. Instead I sit here writing a blog that falls on deaf ears... A cry of futility echoed everywhere...

Hail Our Robot Masters!!!

The next thing I expect is a knock at the door and a big Austrian guy to say "Are you Sara Connor?"
ORLANDO, Florida -- Hunting for guerillas, handling roadside bombs, crawling across the caves and crumbling towns of Afghanistan and Iraq -- all of that was just a start. Now, the Army is prepping its squad of robotic vehicles for a new set of assignments. And this time, they'll be carrying guns

My only question is where can I get a few of these? I have always wanted an evil empire policed by the cold metallic tread of autonamatons!! Or zombies...I would settle for an army of them...or maybe winged ferrets! With lasers!