Family, Career, Sacrifices and The Normal Life

It sems like every day it's a battle of scheduling. Between this website(including creating posts, comics and media), my 8-hour-a-dayjob, my various fiction projects, my wife and just relaxing, I try to get a bit done from every category and usually fail. On the other hand, I do manage to get some things done, which is nice.

Notice how in the above list of things I didn't mention family. I'm of the mind that life is very short and that if I want to die happy I need to get everything I KNOW I want to do, preferably, as soon as possible. This isn't to say I constantly am working toward one goal or another--well, actually, it does.

As a result my family is often finding themselves annoyed with me. I put plenty of other things in front of seeing family almost every time someone wanted to see me. My niece was born last spring on the east coast and I haven't seen her in the flesh yet. I didn't make my grandmother's funeral because I was shooting a short film that day. I was the director and it had taken a bit of doing to get a day when all the actors could be there together with the crew (always a challenge when you have no budget).

In short, I make a lot of sacrifices for what I want to do with my life. My family, as families are known to do, tend to inadvertantly use guilt to try to manipulating me into sacrificing the most important stuff in my life just so I can have a meal or spend some quality time with them.

During said quality time I find myself lukcy to be asked about my passions. This past weekend my father and step-mother were in town to see TheWife and I (though they flew into also see my step-sister an hour east of us and my ex-step-brother, his wife and their daughter)--so it's not about just seeing me). They planned to spend all day Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night with us. Of course, they didn't bother to ask us if we had that much time to spare. So, we told them"sorry" and only spent last evening with them.

They still tried to get us to change our plans and while it didn't descend into a shouting match, I wonder how long it will be before they start treating me like the adult I've been treating them like for my entire life.

How many childhood birthdays did my various parents (I have 4) miss because of business trips, late office meetings and bad traffic?

It's no wonder I really hate celebrating my birthday. Growing up I always felt like I came in a close second to my parents career choices. Now it's my turn to make the career choices over family and they don't get it despite the fact that I've learned these values from them.

Kind of amusing when you think about it.

I suppose the good news is that they are catching on. There's still the familial guilt and overt disappointment, but they seem togive up on swaying me much sooner than they used to. I don't know if it's conscious on their part or not, but I appreciate it nonetheless.

I know my mom is the only of the 4 parents I have who actually bothers to read my blog, so let's hope I didn't just give her a reason to never read it again. :)

Sorry, just need to muse/vent a bit this morning.

Stay tuned for the Project365 picture for today and more of my quips to the State of the Empire speech as well. I'l have part 7 up by 2pm PT.

So much more to blog on, too...

Crap, I wanted to mention about how Saturday night was the first time in a month that we've actually hung out with friends. I hardly see any of my friends. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. The only time I usually see friends is if we're working on some project.

I wonder if my family understands that it's not just them I can't make time for. Ah well...

Project365 day 035

Project365 day 035

Originally uploaded by thepetecom.

After a tough work out playing DDR. :)

Man, I look like an American Apparel model with too much fat on his bones!

Project365 day 034

Project365 day 034

Originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Ooo! ARTSY SHOT!

Wow--I'm not sure how I got that just so. Just lucky, I guess. :)

Project365 day 033

Project365 day 033

Originally uploaded by thepetecom.

Ooo! ARTSY SHOT!

Wow--I'm not sure how I got that just so. Just lucky, I guess. :)

Let's All Accept Global Warming TOGETHER

According to [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16904988/|an article] at MSNBC.Com, UN experts have released a report that says global warming is 'most likely' to be caused by man. This is much like doctors who say cigarettes probably cause cancer back when people had trouble accepting that.

Soon, the connection will be as acepted as the one between cigarettes and cancer. Regardless of anything, the report doesn't seem to deny that global warming exists. So regardless of who/what causes global warming, it's happening and that means we're in for a bumpy ride...

Better fire up your solar panels and call Kevin Costner to consult on this whole "water world" thing...

That reminds me, I've got to pick me up a pair of flippers-- I do live 20 minutes from the beach after all... the good news is that I'll have beachfront property soon! Well, for a while...

STATE OF THE EMPIRE 2007 with quips! Pt 6

Oh, man--I'll try to make this the last part of the State of the Empire 2007 series. There's just SO MUCH to take issue with!

RIGHT! Here we go!

King George goes ON:

And these past five years have given us a much clearer view of the nature of this enemy. Al Qaeda and its followers are Sunni extremists, possessed by hatred and commanded by a harsh and narrow ideology.

Yeah, well, if there's anyone who knows something about harsh, and narrow ideologies, it'd be you, Mr. Iraq-Is-The-Front-Line-In-The-War-Against-Terror!

Take almost any principle of civilization, and their goal is the opposite.

We are still talking about Al Qaeda, right? Because America is supposed to be a country of freedom, not a country where the government secretly spies on its citizens and lies about secret torture prisons.

So, you were saying about "our enemies"?

They preach with threats ... instruct with bullets and bombs ... and promise paradise for the murder of the innocent.

Sounds very familiar. Let's take a look:

You threaten us with the idea that AQ will get us. You "teach" Iraqis about freedom with bullets and bombs and promise the paradise of freedom while murdering innocent Iraqis you call collateral damage.

Our enemies are quite explicit about their intentions.

Unlike us. We're vague and non-committal. This way we can change our story willy-nilly without too much trouble.

They want to overthrow moderate governments, and establish safe havens from which to plan and carry out new attacks on our country.

Overthrow moderate governments??? Are you sure you're not talking about the USA? Compared to the current Iraqi government, Saddams seemed pretty moderate to me.

By killing and terrorizing Americans, they want to force our country to retreat from the world and abandon the cause of liberty.

Uh, no. They just want to us to keep our noses out of their business. I don't see why that is such a bad thing. We're only over there for purposes of greed, anyway. Is that so admirable?

They would then be free to impose their will and spread their totalitarian ideology.

"ONLY THE SITH DEALS IN EXTREMES!"

Yeah, thanks President Kenobi. What do you call invading a country and removing it's leader? I'd say that YOU felt free to impose YOUR will on Iraq.

How is that any more right that what you're saying AQ will do?

Listen to this warning from the late terrorist Zarqawi: “We will sacrifice our blood and bodies to put an end to your dreams, and what is coming is even worse.”

Yeah, tough talk to a man who got a bomb dropped on his head. Is America so weak that some madman in the desert can actually harm us?

You have some serious faith problems with America, bub.

And Osama bin Laden declared: “Death is better than living on this Earth with the unbelievers among us.”

Isn't that a little like what you're saying about them?

Because they don't want the same Middle East you do, it's death to the heathens.

Seriously, dude--you're hypocrisy is getting totally out of control. How the media doesn't call you on this shit is truly beyond me.

These men are not given to idle words,

YES THEY ARE!!

They're politicians, just like you and your pals! Idle words are their currency, you dolt!

Boy, you must really think we're all retarded.

and they are just one camp in the Islamist radical movement.

Oh, so now we've got more than just Al Qaeda to deal with? I thought AQ was like SPECTRE from James Bond--an amorphous, but unified threat you could use to keep all of us in line. I don't know, George--if we're dealing with greater extremist Islamism, you might have trouble getting us all behind it. It's kind of vague, don't you think?

In recent times, it has also become clear that we face an escalating danger from Shia extremists who are just as hostile to America, and are also determined to dominate the Middle East.

Shia extremists ARE Muslim extremists. They're just extremists toward their particular branch of Islam. So, you're really just saying something like "The Soviets are a real threat, but we also have the KGB to deal with!"

Thanks, bright eyes. They're one in the same.

Many are known to take direction from the regime in Iran, which is funding and arming terrorists like Hezbollah – a group second only to al Qaeda in the American lives it has taken.

Ah, is this more high-quality "intelligence"? You know, like the "intelligence" that told you Iraq had WMD?

Just shut up, dude. You've proven time and again that you have no idea what you're talking about.

The Shia and Sunni extremists are different faces of the same totalitarian threat.

Yeah, thanks. I believe I've already said that.

But whatever slogans they chant, when they slaughter the innocent, they have the same wicked purposes.

DUDE! They've got WICKED plans? AWESOME! Like a half-pipe? Or maybe a skate park? Or...

Oh wait, you didn't mean that kind of wicked...

They want to kill Americans ... kill democracy in the Middle East ... and gain the weapons to kill on an even more horrific scale.

Yeah and you don't like killing at all. You kill so the killing will stop, right?

Why don't you just say that Islam is evil? It's what you so desperately want to say. I can tell just by reading your words.

In the sixth year since our Nation was attacked,

"...we still have been unable to capture Osama bin Laden. DAMN! How'd that get in there? I really need to read these things before I give 'em!"

I wish I could report to you that the dangers have ended.

No, you don't, you liar!

If the dangers were over you'd have no power.

They have not. And so it remains the policy of this government to use every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty, to find these enemies, and to protect the American people.

Uh, yeah, no thanks. More lies.

You torture, lie about secret prisons, spy on us and you don't even have the balls to admit that it's all against the law. A good leader would get the laws changed before he broke them. Not break them and then admit it only when he is caught.

This war is more than a clash of arms – it is a decisive ideological struggle, and the security of our Nation is in the balance.

NO, it is NOT a "decisive ideological struggle," God DAMMIT. This is a bullshit excuse for a war! 50,000 extremists on a planet of 7 billion fighting against a country of 300 million.

WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THE SECURITY OUR NATION BEING IN THE BALANCE?!?!

There has been Muslim extremism SINCE 600 AD! America has thrived for 230 years! Now we're supposed to be afraid of a handful of guys with crazy ideas? You've gotta be shitting me, man!

To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred, and drove 19 men to get onto airplanes and come to kill us.

Whaaaa? You're actually suggesting that we leave the Middle East to the Middle Easterners who live there? You're actually saying out loud that we should mind our own business and therefore stop giving radical Islamists a reason to hate us?

What every terrorist fears most is human freedom –

O_O

DUDE! Where did THAT come from?

More lies, you asshole! No human fears freedom!! Freedom is exactly what the extremists are fighting for! THEIR definition of freedom, that is. NOT YOURS. They want the right to choose their own destinies--not to be roped into what we think their destiny should be.

Don't you get it your arrogant fuck?

societies where men and women make their own choices, answer to their own conscience, and live by their hopes instead of their resentments.

This is PRECISELY what they want! But we won't let them have it! Globalism and other, less obvious, influences from the west serve to "contaminate" their way of life and as long as we continue to do things like fund Iran AND Iraq when they are fighting EACH OTHER, they'll continue to have plenty of ammo to use against us--both literal and figurative.

Come on, folks--it's time to wake up and really smell what this guy is shoveling.

Free people are not drawn to violent and malignant ideologies – and most will choose a better way when they are given a chance.

But Muslim Extremists are not free--they see America and the west as oppressors and we do nothing to discourage that point of view. In fact, we only serve to encourage it. Until we stop this, they will continue to hate us.

So, don't tell us that free people don't choose violence without pointing out that only oppressed people choose violence. The question then becomes who is oppressing the Muslim Extremists? The answer is obvious--the West is.

So we advance our own security interests by helping moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy. The great question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security . . . we must.

Come on--doesn't anyone else out there see that this is nothing less than a ploy to Americanize or Westify the Middle East? This isn't about freedom--this is about creating a new market for capitalism in the Middle East.

Capitalist colonies.

In the last two years, we have seen the desire for liberty in the broader Middle East –

Yeah, like when Palestine voted Hamas into power? Or like when the people of Lebanon supported Hezbollah of their own free will?

and we have been sobered by the enemy’s fierce reaction. In 2005, the world watched as the citizens of Lebanon raised the banner of the Cedar Revolution ... drove out the Syrian occupiers ... and chose new leaders in free elections.

Oh, and you're going to leave out the "Hezbollah" part?

In 2005, the people of Afghanistan defied the terrorists and elected a democratic legislature.

"The terrorists?" You mean "The Taleban".

And in 2005, the Iraqi people held three national elections – choosing a transitional government ... adopting the most progressive, democratic constitution in the Arab world …

Sadly, that's not saying much from our perspective.

and then electing a government under that constitution. Despite endless threats from the killers in their midst, nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens came out to vote in a show of hope and solidarity we should never forget.

Check those numbers again. 12 million voters clearly out numbers the terrorists inside Iraq. Brave, yes, but most of them weren't in any danger. And of course, if the US wasn't occupying the country any deaths that did occur couldn't be blamed on us.

A thinking enemy watched all of these scenes, adjusted their tactics, and in 2006 they struck back.

OOOO!! They're a "thinking enemy".

"Watch how they use their brain cells! They THINK, y'see?"

Once again, thanks for the brainstorm bright-eyes!

In Lebanon, assassins took the life of Pierre Gemayel, a prominent participant in the Cedar Revolution.

Do you even know what the Cedar Revolution is?

Because I don't. Our wonderful media does such a great job I don't remember any coverage of it at all.

Hell, for all we know, you could tell us it was fought against an evil empire that used a Death Star to terrorize it's subjects.

All right, so maybe referring to a Death Star would tip us off.

And Hezbollah terrorists, with support from Syria and Iran, sowed conflict in the region and are seeking to undermine Lebanon’s legitimately elected government.

And this has what to do with us?

In Afghanistan, Taliban and al Qaeda fighters tried to regain power by regrouping and engaging Afghan and NATO forces.

So?

Wouldn't you?

In Iraq, al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists blew up one of the most sacred places in Shia Islam – the Golden Mosque of Samarra. This atrocity, directed at a Muslim house of prayer, was designed to provoke retaliation from Iraqi Shia – and it succeeded.

Designed by whom? I have serious problems believing that even extremist Muslims would do this. This reeks of something the CIA would have their big toe in.

Radical Shia elements, some of whom receive support from Iran, formed death squads. The result was a tragic escalation of sectarian rage and reprisal that continues to this day.

Yeah, do you want to mention the part where they were wearing Iraqi police uniforms? (In other words, it looks like these death squads were sanctioned by the beloved Iraq government!

All right, sorry folks! There's going to be a part 7! Stop by for that on Monday! WAHOO!! That should be it. I HOPE!

DEMOCRATS IN POWER BUT STILL BALL-LESS

So, I'm checking out CNN.com on my Sidekick 3 this morning on the bus to work and I discover some interesting wording in [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/01/us.iraq.ap/index.html|an article] about how Congress is against the escalation of the war in Iraq.

Basically, they said that a top Dem and top Repub are working together to pass a nonbinding resolution (?) that will essentially do nothing but potentially embarrass the White House.

Embarrass the White House?

I really think those fuckers couldn't care less about being embarrassed at this point, don't you?

You take a country that was troublesome but generally peaceful and turn it into a giant combat zone and a nonbinding resolution is the best you can do?

Unbelievable.

The Democrats: In power and still spineless!

Project365 day 032

Project365 day 032

Originally uploaded by thepetecom.

WOW! I CAUGHT ALL OF MY BUSES!

But my sunglasses are still broken and if traffic sux I still could be late for work.

OH yeah and I sacrificed coffee to get to the bus on time. I HATE WORK
COFFEE! Why doesn't Starbucks (or anyone else) open a coffee shop in the parking lot of the Fox Hills Mall (where I catch my last bus of the morning) so I don't have to wait until noon for tasty corporate coffee?

Seriously, I want YOU to tell me because I think you're keeping things from me lately. You just don't open up to me like you used to. MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T HAD ANY COFFEE THIS MORNING??

Sigh...

Man, this caption is long today...

FIRST SERIOUS SNOW IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN YEARS

My mom emails me this morning to tell me that there is snow on the ground there. She lives in a small town called Rock Hill, South Carolina and she says they haven't gotten more than a dusting in two years. Now, all of the sudden in early February, they get a couple of inches. Have a look at the pics:









That's some serious snow for a place that gets just slightly more snow than Los Angeles. Gotta love this global warming stuff! It's got the planet acting all wonky!

I thought my readers might enjoy a post that had nothing to do with bitching about Bush. :)

STATE OF THE EMPIRE 2007 with quips! Pt 5

Here we are STILL with the State of the Empire speech! Man, Bush is long-winded! Well, his speech-writers are, anyway.

Hokay, here's more of Bush with quips!

We know with certainty that the horrors of that September morning were just a glimpse of what the terrorists intend for us – unless we stop them.

"BOO!"

Jesus Fucking Christ. You are such a liar. How could you possibly know "with certainty" what terrorists intend for us when you couldn't even tell that Saddam didn't have WMD??? Actually, you could tell, you just didn't want to--but that is another story... But beyond that, enough with the fear, you coward. You have to keep using the bullshit to keep us scared, and in the process, you forget everything this country stands for.

Give me liberty or give me death, bitch.

You should be ashamed to use talk like that at all. The terrorists are retards just like you. In the past 15 years, they've had a total of TWO successful attacks on US soil. TWO. They're morons. They don't know us and are trained in religious schools, not CIA schools.

They may want to see us enveloped in a mushroom cloud, but they have next to no means to actually make it happen.

Could they get lucky?

Sure, and I could win PowerBall.

With the distance of time, we find ourselves debating the causes of conflict and the course we have followed. Such debates are essential when a great democracy faces great questions. Yet one question has surely been settled – that to win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy.

Uh, NO. If HISTORY has settled one question, you don't get into a war until ONE IS ALREADY STARTED. That way, if no one does anything illegal (link invade a country that hasn't attacked anyone else) then there will never be a full-fledged war again.

At least, that's how it COULD work.

From the start, America and our allies have protected our people by staying on the offense.

-ive.

I believe the phrase is "being on the offensIVE". Or maybe, George, "offensive" is just what you are to so many people?

The enemy knows that the days of comfortable sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free flowing communications are long over.

Yeah, the Internet is SO dead. There's NO WAY terrorists can use email, instant messaging, web pages or Skype to communicate!

Naaaaww!

For the terrorists, life since Nine-Eleven has never been the same.

I thought life has never been the same for us. Isn't there a difference between "pre-911" and "post-911" thinking?

Our success in this war is often measured by the things that did not happen.

!!

I seriously don't think anyone read that last sentence out loud before handing the speech to Bush. I mean, I know there are known knowns and unknown knowns, but successes that didn't happen?

OK, let's put the sheer absurdity of that line aside...

1) How often is success measured, anyway???

2) Measuring success by things that don't happen is sooo easy, though! Why, my attempt to keep Earth safe from Martians is a raging success, isn't it? I don't see any little green men around, do you? My farts are strong enough to repel entire Martian armadas, yet are scentless to any human. Just ask any Martian how bad my farts smell to them and they'll tell you -- WAIT, there ARE no Martians around! Why?

My farts! That's why!

3) Measuring success is also easy when you don't bother to define what success even is in this "new kind of war."

We cannot know the full extent of the attacks that we and our allies have prevented –

"But I'm sure they were gonna be HUGE! Just trust me on this."

but here is some of what we do know: We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast.

Ah, yes--the "[http://thepete.com/bush-2002-terror-attack-in-la-thwarted/|Liberty Tower]" was going to be hit, right? Too bad the west coast doesn't got one of those. Yes, I know your press people corrected you post-speechously, but the point is, you are so entrenched in your own propaganda that you called the Library Tower a word more fitting in your psy-optic fun and games.

A year ago, when you first broke the story about foiling the AQ plot to crash a plane into the "Liberty Tower", I explained in [http://thepete.com/bush-2002-terror-attack-in-la-thwarted/|a blog post] that you're in a position to make up any damn thing you want. So, YET again, I ask:

WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE YOU?

We broke up a Southeast Asian terrorist cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States.

Wow--totally don't remember that in the news at all. You sure they weren't just bootleggers trying to sell the latest box office hit on DVD for a dollar in Hong Kong?

We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America.

Hey, when the hell was this? You got some dates, here? I remember a case like this that was foiled by a concerned Muslim who ratted out some wannabe terrorists in his apartment building. This was in 2002, I think and it was the guy that foiled the plan, not the USG or DHS or whatever.

And just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean.

Yeah, that plot, if memory serves ended up being urged on by American authorities and ultimately UK authorities ended up releasing a bunch of them without charges. I know I blogged on it, but I can't find the post for some reason. Not sure what happened to them after that. But citing a British success is kinda lame, man--I MEAN--king.

For each life saved, we owe a debt of gratitude to the brave public servants who devote their lives to finding the terrorists and stopping them.

Yes, but how many lives have really been saved? It could be a lot, it could be none. Based on the two successful terrorist attacks by AQ on US soil, I'd guess the body count would be pretty low. The 93 bombing killed less than ten people and 911 was 3000. I think 911 was a fluke, since generally terrorist attacks fail entirely.

That said, I do appreciate all the people who are vigilant in the quest to capture terrorists. I do NOT appreciate people like you, King George, who insist on scaring us all the time and taking away our rights, just because of some imagined threat. I agree terrorists exist, but the odds of being killed by one are astronomically against.

Every success against the terrorists is a reminder of the shoreless ambitions of this enemy.

That's funny, my Mac's spellcheck doesn't think "shoreless" is a word. Of course, my Mac's spellcheck doesn't think "spellcheck" is a word, which, you would think, would cause a rip in the timespace continuum. Whoops. "Timespace" isn't a word, either. K, enough digression!

"Digression" IS a word...

The evil that inspired and rejoiced in Nine-Eleven is still at work in the world.

Obviously! You still have a job!

Evil isn't in using terrorism to strike back at your perceived enemies--it's desperation. Evil is being the stronger, tougher one and picking on someone who isn't your own size.

And so long as that is the case, America is still a Nation at war.

With whom?

I never thought you could have a state of war unless it was with another country. Ah well, if you don't define "success in Iraq" I guess I can't be too surprised when you don't define "war".

In the minds of the terrorists, this war began well before September 11th, and will not end until their radical vision is fulfilled.

Yeah, and your war on them only began on 911--in your mind.

Yep, you guessed it, that's all for part 5! Stop by tomorrow for part 6! YOWZA!