What pisses me off most about this whole Pledge of Allegiance thing is the ignorance on both sides.

1. The pledge in its original form was not a public prayer, so why not file a lawsuit to remove the “”under God”" phrase that was added in 1954 during the days of McCarthyism?

2. People trying to protect the pledge from being banned in school need to follow suit and also acknowledge removing the “”under God”" phrase… after all, their arguments seem to be centered on this idea of tradition and not bowing to the current political climate. Well, guess what? “”Under God”" is not part of the pledge’s tradition. It was added later, as a political tool to distinguish ungodly communism to god-blessed democracy. So, if anything, they should be on the side of removing that politically-motivated addition to the pledge.

Dumbasses.

It was not meant to be a public prayer by the author, so why don’t we just go back to the original intent of the pledge.

Let’s compromise and keep it the 1924 version:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The original version was just “”my Flag and to the Republic…”", the author didn’t like the addition of specifying the nation, but I’m okay with that… it’s just making the pledge specific to our nation.

So to all those fools out there who think the pledge is immutable and must be protected from “”popular culture”"… DUMBASSES.

I never watched the TV show, I just knew enough about it to know the Torino and Huggy Bear. But I do know about Stiller and Wilson, so it was pretty much a given I was going to see this on opening night (I took my time putting it on the website… sue me). The movie’s a fun little romp with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson just enjoying themselves. Vince Vaughn does a great job playing the slapstick villain, and Snoop Dogg’s turn as Huggy Bear was excellent. And the Korean assassin and son? Classic.

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Not as deranged as Charlie Kaufman’s earlier scripts (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), but a fun movie. It takes a wild premise, simply lets the audience assume it is plausible, and proceeds to leave it at that and tell you a love story.

Good movie.

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$1 million is at stake for 20 teams that built autonomous vehicles to navigate the desert on a 210-mile race from Barstow to Primm.

Who will win?

Qualifying rounds are still going on this week at the California Motor Speedway in Fontana, along with an exhibit showcasing the roboticized vehicles and pure robots entered in the race.

You can also drive on over to the start and finish line on the day of the race.. though since the race is across the desert and has no track (each vehicle figured out their own course), the only real-time status updates will be online here: Live Updates.

Too bad the Touareg didn’t come out sooner to battle it out with CalTech’s automoated Chevy Tahoe.

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I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

Excerpt, Farewell Address, George Washington, 1796.

Dammit… I forgot to backup the last six months worth of photos. I backed up the database part, but not the photos.
Damn damn damn.

Oh, well.

I lost the files due to a typo in new code I’m developing. Bummer.

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

Considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sports event in modern history, the US Olympic hockey team, under the coaching of Herb Brooks, beat the 4-time gold medalist Soviet team in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games.

The movie is passable off the ice, but on the ice it shines. The hockey games are up close, fast, and brutal. You know how the games end, you do; but you can’t help but get caught up watching Jim Craig block shot after shot after shot in an effort to keep the US lead over the Soviets for ten agonizing minutes.

The movie is appealing in its story about a hockey team capturing the minds of Americans living through one of the more dismal chapters of their history; how overcoming adversity and winning the gold medal made Americans believe in themselves again.

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13/18.

That’s my score on predictions for Oscars.

Whee.

Good movie. I’m not so sure about the format, 11 lessons from the life of Rob McNamara, but the experiences this man had in his life certainly made for a compelling documentary.

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