State of the Union address

I just caught the last few minutes of the State of the Union address. What a joke. Here we have George Bush and Dick Cheney, an ex-oil man and ex-CEO of Enron, quoting the constitution and in particular, using the phrase "we the people" to describe who has the power in the United States. With a hunched-over gargoyle behind his right shoulder, George Bush proceeds to say that (paraphased from memory) as long as we trust in the people, we'll be just dandy. Does anyone know what the hell that means in context? Because it sure sounds like a lot of CRAP to me. What did he trust us with? When did he show this supposed trust? Because all I can think of rightoff is the damn USA Patriot Act, and that sure didn't show a whole hell of a lot of trust. So here we are, listening to Bush mouth off about trust and liberty, and over his left shoulder is Nancy Pelosi, Ms. "empeachment is off the table." All Bush has to do is use the word "soldier" or "veteran", and it's like somebody pulled the damned Democrat's strings. They all start clapping wildly and giving standing ovations. I'll have to remember that for the next argument I'm in. So there I am, having a disagreement with a co-worker in the office about how to write a proposal, and if things go badly for me, I'll just throw out the word "veteran" and watch everyone gather round and start clapping for me.

What the hell is the problem with our leaders? Are Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats so cowardly and spineless that they are going to jump whenever he says magic words? Or is it something more insulting to us? Do they think we are so stupid and mindless that we will turn against them if they don't snap to it when soldiers are mentioned? But actually, as I gain years behind me and I see what this country is really all about, maybe that is simply the way it is, and we really would turn against them if they uttered something that we disagreed with. Maybe they are in tune with this nation, and we're a big pile of pro-nationalist, warmongering, conservative, self-centered schmucks, and I just never knew it.

If I had my way, the Democrats would be stomping their feet throughout the entire State of the Union address in protest of this presidency. Watching Bush talk about "the people" like we're in charge, and then seeing Pelosi and the Democrats all kissing ass in unison makes me sick. I am bankrupt of hope, because clearly, there is none. Why don't people like Kucinich, Nader, or Ron Paul have a shot? Surely people can see that the status quo is only hurting this country. Dammit, try something new! Shake things up! Something needs to change in this country.

Smoking... fetish?

I just spent 15 minutes Googling "Katherine Heigl smoking."

Okay, so I have a smoking fetish. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's the situation where a woman (in my case) who smokes is a turn-on. If a pretty woman is smoking, she becomes even more sexy to me. I know, it's a bit deviant. Not much I can do about it. I remember in high school watching this pretty red-head named Greta, standing in the corner of the school lot where all the smokers gathered. She would purse her pretty pink lips and inhale from her cigarette. I'd watch it glow for a minute, then she would pull it of her mouth and exhale this thick, long stream of smoke. And that turned me on. I know it's not mainstream really, but then again, it's not completely crazy. It's not like chicks eating poop, or even quite as strange as a foot fetish, right? I mean, at least it's oral-related. My girlfriend is an ex-smoker, and I know she's tempted to smoke occasionally. I refrain from tempting her because, despite the fact that I would love to see her smoke again, I know it's unhealthy and I want the best for her. But damn, it's so sexy! Weirdly enough, I don't smoke. I actually don't even like the smell of cigarettes, and on the few times I've tried smoking, it makes me feel kind of sick. It's more of a visual turn-on for me, although kissing and fooling around with a girl while she's smoking is positively erotic.

I can't help but wonder how one becomes a smoker. I mean, it doesn't taste good when you first do it. And it takes SO much practice to get your lungs used to it, and quite a long time before you get addicted. How do we have so many smokers in the world? I mean, sure, you can say "I smoke when I drink", but I'm sure many people become smokers without ever drinking. It just blows my mind that something so difficult to do and takes so long to get addicted, is actually so popular and has so many people addicted to it.

I suspect that if you can explain one type of fetish, you can probably explain them all. Surely it's all related to something that happened in your youth or some crap like that. I mean, why would a guy like to see... bare feet? I mean, it's harmless enough, but difficult for me to understand. (As I'm sure my smoking fetish is difficult for some people to understand.) If you search on YouTube for smoking fetish, you'll find zillions of videos of chicks smoking. I don't claim to understand it. It just "is", I guess. Any psychologists reading this have any idea why I find this so attractive?

Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD and HDTV's Dream Home

So Time-Warner says that they are going to release their movies on Blu-Ray exclusively, and the word on the (blog) street is that HD-DVD is now dead. Adding to the fire, HD-DVD pulled out last minute of the CES show in Las Vegas, AND cut their player price in half. It's looking bad for HD-DVD, folks.

I was actually an early Blu-Ray supporter because of the larger storage space available on the disks. It seems logical to me that would leave extra space for extras and improved audio and video. However, recently I switched my support to the apparently-doomed HD-DVD. The reason? I found out that HD-DVD does not employ region-codes, which Blu-Ray does. I'm a strong supporter of freedom and the Fair Use Act, and it seems to me that if I am in another country, and I buy a movie, I should be able to bring that movie home and know it will play. Region-coding is designed to prevent that.

And this all makes sense, when you know Sony's history as far as DRM goes. They guard their information fiercely, even when it means limiting the buyer's ability.

So I guess I am now supporting a dead horse. Oh, well. I'm glad I didn't actually BUY any player yet. So I'm really more of an "emotional supporter."

Btw, have you ever entered HGTV's yearly "Dream Home" sweepstakes? I enter every year, and I really LOVE the idea of living on the beach or in some wonderful locale. Of course, that brings all sorts of problems to mind. For example, I couldn't live in the house because most of the time, the house isn't anywhere near a place where I could find work. For example, this year's house is in Key West. I've been there, and I seriously doubt the software development field is hot in Key West. But what's worse is that you know you can't keep the house. Almost all the previous winners sell it, and that's because the yearly taxes are unaffordable unless you're already wealthy. So while I'd really love to win the house, it would also be a bit of a sad moment when I'm walking through the house knowing I could never afford to live there. I guess winners just have to be content to sell the place for a small fortune and have a nice little nestegg all set up.

If I win it, I'm selling it, selling my regular home, and taking my family out of the US. There are countries where I can make a good living on the interest from half a million bucks or more. Just call me "gringo."

Do you ever get tired of life?

No, I'm not suicidal. I mean, in the past, I've thought about it, but not anymore. I have reasons to live now. And even when I thought about it, I was rational. I just feel that life has a way of wearing you down and dragging you out. I have car trouble, I have trouble with my house, I have a computer problem. I have limited money, and half the stuff I'm having trouble with are under warranty, but the auto/computer dealers don't want to honor my warranty. So what do you do? You can either cough up the money, or else fight endlessly to try to make them do what they should already be doing.

There is someone in my life that seriously makes me want to get a passport and leave the country. But I can't.

I look at the politics of the nation... the corruption, the stupidity, the lack of rational thought, the blind nationalism. I watch people Christmas shop with the same glum face that I have. Running around, looking for deals to make their kids and family members happy, all the while not enjoying it at all. Not thinking about the real reason for Christmas. I go to the movies and I see endless commercials before I finally get to see the movie I just paid $10 to see. I see the military trying to recruit my daughter with their crappy little "If you're ever asked in a job interview if you have leadership experience, then just smile" one-liner that makes me want to puke. Well, yeah, I have a friend who joined the army. They promised him technical training with computers, and he ended up cleaning tank turrets, and finally left so that he could bag groceries at Kroger's. (My friend was very smart and eventually did get his computer experience, but no thanks to the military. He now works at NASA).

I watch these candidates and their slick hair win elections, while the ones who truly seem honest poll lousy numbers and never win, but keep running.

Is anyone else out there just so tired of it? Sometimes, I wish I could just sleep forever and have nice dreams. You're probably going to say I'm depressed. Am I depressed? Hell, I probably am, but with good reason, I'd say. Is anyone doing anything to fix our multitude of problems? Does anyone really think John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney are even going to try to fix our crappy healthcare system? Please! They're too busy taking donations from the pharmacetical companies.

I think I'm just going to go play World of Warcraft all evening. At least there, I can escape for a while.