Saturday, December 31, 2005
Happy New Year
Just wanted to take a moment (at 2:00 am) to wish everyone a Happy New Year! While the staff here at the House of Hosh has lost some relatives we were very close with this year, we look forward to a happy and healthy 2006. We wish all of you the same!
Friday, December 30, 2005
Shocking revelation
I was watching the evening news tonight and heard a follow up story concerning the death of David Moss, Jr.. For those of you out of the area, or too lazy to click the link, Mr. Moss was killed when he was restrained by a taser gun wielding OPD officer. According to the police report, Moss, Jr., who according to his father has a history of drinking and drug use, was making animal sounds and acting abnormally. The House sends its prayers to the Moss family and the family of the officer(s) involved.
I have a problem with both sides of the taser issue:
The OPD:
When taser's first came out, OPD, according to the KM3 news story I was watching (just a clarification, KETV had a better link to the story than KM3, so that's why I linked that one...I didn't actually watch KETV), they were to be rated the same as handcuffs. How are electricity and handcuffs similar? I don't hook the House up to handcuffs so that everything can run! I understand its not a large amount of electricity, but it's electricity none the less. It's not as powerful as a bullet, but it's not nearly as harmless as handcuffs. It takes no rocket scientist to figure that out. According to KM3, the status of the taser was changed after the CBS affiliate ran an investigative report (just keep telling yourself that) so that now the taser is classified just below a gun. I trust you to keep law and order, and it took you that long to figure out the power of these things? What was going to be the advantage if they weren't productive? Brilliant!
The ACLU:
Tim Butz, executive director of the Nebraska ACLU, was on talking about how bad these tasers are, how you could kill someone who has a pacemaker or some other condition. Nice work. While I understand that tasers can be deadly, there is a great way to avoid getting shocked by one: Don't be a dumbass. Instead of telling the public that you are trying to convince the police to discontinue taser use, why don't you join the police in convincing the public to obey laws? No, the police aren't always correct, but 9 times out of 10, if the police get you, you shouldn't have been in that place or doing whatever you were doing. I rarely feel sorry for someone who is arrested. While I don't know what Mr. Moss was doing at the time he was arrested, if he was behaving the way the police say he was, he was obviously doing something he shouldn't have been. The doesn't mean he should've died, but if he was conducting himself appropriately he wouldn't have been in that position. The police need every legal option available to keep up with the idiots in today's society. I think we would all agree that they don't have the time to stop and ask someone who is threatening them if they have a pacemaker. If you don't want to get shocked by a taser, don't conduct yourself in a manner that will get you shocked by one. Brilliant!
I have a problem with both sides of the taser issue:
The OPD:
When taser's first came out, OPD, according to the KM3 news story I was watching (just a clarification, KETV had a better link to the story than KM3, so that's why I linked that one...I didn't actually watch KETV), they were to be rated the same as handcuffs. How are electricity and handcuffs similar? I don't hook the House up to handcuffs so that everything can run! I understand its not a large amount of electricity, but it's electricity none the less. It's not as powerful as a bullet, but it's not nearly as harmless as handcuffs. It takes no rocket scientist to figure that out. According to KM3, the status of the taser was changed after the CBS affiliate ran an investigative report (just keep telling yourself that) so that now the taser is classified just below a gun. I trust you to keep law and order, and it took you that long to figure out the power of these things? What was going to be the advantage if they weren't productive? Brilliant!
The ACLU:
Tim Butz, executive director of the Nebraska ACLU, was on talking about how bad these tasers are, how you could kill someone who has a pacemaker or some other condition. Nice work. While I understand that tasers can be deadly, there is a great way to avoid getting shocked by one: Don't be a dumbass. Instead of telling the public that you are trying to convince the police to discontinue taser use, why don't you join the police in convincing the public to obey laws? No, the police aren't always correct, but 9 times out of 10, if the police get you, you shouldn't have been in that place or doing whatever you were doing. I rarely feel sorry for someone who is arrested. While I don't know what Mr. Moss was doing at the time he was arrested, if he was behaving the way the police say he was, he was obviously doing something he shouldn't have been. The doesn't mean he should've died, but if he was conducting himself appropriately he wouldn't have been in that position. The police need every legal option available to keep up with the idiots in today's society. I think we would all agree that they don't have the time to stop and ask someone who is threatening them if they have a pacemaker. If you don't want to get shocked by a taser, don't conduct yourself in a manner that will get you shocked by one. Brilliant!
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Random posting for the day
Just a couple things I wanted to get out there today:
The Omaha TV news blog, a favorite chuckle here at the House, has thankfully turned their comments back on so that we can hear stupid people behind a computer rant about stupid people on TV. I am being a bit hypocritically, as I just left a comment there. Just a side note, and the gist of my comment, Malorie Maddox from WOWT is beautiful.
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't say congratulations to the Huskers for winning last night and on an excellent season. I've never been a Husker apologist, and never will be, but I am becoming a bigger fan. I don't know why, I guess the pressure from the Nebraska public and media and the drowning of Husker news we are presented with every day is finally wearing on me. Luckily, none of my friends know about this site so I won't get crap from them about coming over to the red side.
Speaking of football, I really hope that Texas kicks the crap out of USC in the Rose Bowl. I think its ludicrous all of the "Best team ever" stuff that ESPN has been doing on SportsCenter. USC hasn't even proved that they are the best team this year yet. Having said that, I think they probably will beat Texas. But I will be rooting for the Longhorns so that I can laugh in ESPN's face.
Off to Hooters for lunch. Oh, it's a rough day.
The Omaha TV news blog, a favorite chuckle here at the House, has thankfully turned their comments back on so that we can hear stupid people behind a computer rant about stupid people on TV. I am being a bit hypocritically, as I just left a comment there. Just a side note, and the gist of my comment, Malorie Maddox from WOWT is beautiful.
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't say congratulations to the Huskers for winning last night and on an excellent season. I've never been a Husker apologist, and never will be, but I am becoming a bigger fan. I don't know why, I guess the pressure from the Nebraska public and media and the drowning of Husker news we are presented with every day is finally wearing on me. Luckily, none of my friends know about this site so I won't get crap from them about coming over to the red side.
Speaking of football, I really hope that Texas kicks the crap out of USC in the Rose Bowl. I think its ludicrous all of the "Best team ever" stuff that ESPN has been doing on SportsCenter. USC hasn't even proved that they are the best team this year yet. Having said that, I think they probably will beat Texas. But I will be rooting for the Longhorns so that I can laugh in ESPN's face.
Off to Hooters for lunch. Oh, it's a rough day.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Eavesdropping on Antartic farting
I consider myself a fairly emotional person. I don't cry at movies...well, except Blues Brothers 2000, because that one sucked. But there are times when I get a little fired up. You can look back at previous posts, especially those dealing with the evil M-F Empire and OPS, and see times when you can imagine me sitting in the House venting like Yosemite Sam trying to pound Bugs into oblivion. Sometimes I calm down, sometimes I don't.
Being a Democrat in a Republican run United States does have some perks. No, we don't have a majority, but it also means there are more chances for Republicans to screw up and for Democrats to say "that wouldn't happen if we were in control." I would like to think wire-tapping, eavesdropping and other illegal listening devices wouldn't have happened if Democrats were in control. The president knowingly and willingly went beyond the law to get information that he thought was necessary. If it's so necessary, why don't we follow the law? If this information that the government collected is to be used in court, it will be thrown out, regardless of how important and damning it is to the alleged terroists, if the actions are ruled illegal. It will all be for not and will give America another black eye. I know you must act quickly, but, according to House of Hosh sources, there is a provision to get after-the-fact warrants to use these listening techniques. SO GET THE DAMN WARRANT!! In society today, you can't fart in Antartica without some sensor picking it up and the whole world knowing about in 30 seconds or less. Within two hours, it's on the CNN scroll and PETA is stringing up a noose, saying it will hang you from the tallest tree in Antartica. So why would the president and our government in Washington D.C., the one place in the world where more people go to get a name for themselves, whether it by local interns or foreign journalists, think they could get by with eavesdropping illegally? I understand the importance of having this information, which makes me even madder that all of this so-called valuable information was gathered illegally. I try to be nonpartisan, but some days make me thankful to be a Democrat.
Being a Democrat in a Republican run United States does have some perks. No, we don't have a majority, but it also means there are more chances for Republicans to screw up and for Democrats to say "that wouldn't happen if we were in control." I would like to think wire-tapping, eavesdropping and other illegal listening devices wouldn't have happened if Democrats were in control. The president knowingly and willingly went beyond the law to get information that he thought was necessary. If it's so necessary, why don't we follow the law? If this information that the government collected is to be used in court, it will be thrown out, regardless of how important and damning it is to the alleged terroists, if the actions are ruled illegal. It will all be for not and will give America another black eye. I know you must act quickly, but, according to House of Hosh sources, there is a provision to get after-the-fact warrants to use these listening techniques. SO GET THE DAMN WARRANT!! In society today, you can't fart in Antartica without some sensor picking it up and the whole world knowing about in 30 seconds or less. Within two hours, it's on the CNN scroll and PETA is stringing up a noose, saying it will hang you from the tallest tree in Antartica. So why would the president and our government in Washington D.C., the one place in the world where more people go to get a name for themselves, whether it by local interns or foreign journalists, think they could get by with eavesdropping illegally? I understand the importance of having this information, which makes me even madder that all of this so-called valuable information was gathered illegally. I try to be nonpartisan, but some days make me thankful to be a Democrat.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Maybe a minor retraction
In my last post, I mentioned Omaha being a "wanna be" big city. I thought about this when I was driving towards downtown the other day. I think there are some aspects of Omaha that do mirror a big city (I still maintain that most media do not). Then, I saw on the CNN crawl tonight that Brooks & Dunn will be opening for the Rolling Stones here in town. That's pretty impressive to have both of those acts on the same night in Omaha. So maybe a made too general a statement. I apologize. Congrats to the Qwest Center for bringing in some great shows. You can't say enough about what they've brought to Omaha, especially the downtown area.
But what's up with these opening acts? My first concert ever (well, at least someone that had been on the radio...Otoe street dances don't count) was Kiss in 1997. They had a jazz band open for them. Oh yeah, they got booed off the stage. He had to keep doing a song countdown to keep us from revolting and charging the stage. I've been to concerts since then that I could see the relation (Kiss for Aerosmith, Godsmack for Metallica), but then Kanye West opens for U2. I understand the political view relationship, but that really doesn't register with the majority of the audience. If you are a big U2 fan, more often than not you are not going to be a Kanye West fan. I guess Brooks & Dunn has some rock flavor in their tunes, but to open for the Stones? I don't know if this is a local thing (although I don't believe it is), but I think you need to have some similarity between opening and feature act to keep the natives from being restless.
Just a program note: I'm not happy with the wire tapping, eavesdropping, etc. that pres. bush has admitted to. That will be in an upcoming post once I find some more time. School is almost out. I'm sure all of my reader will be waiting on the edge of their computer chair.
The O logo is property of the Greater Omaha Visitor's Bureau (I think). It's from visitomaha.com.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Omaha TV News
You'll find that one of our favorite blogs, Omaha TV News, has dropped its comments sections because, apparently, someone started guessing who they were and being mean to the news anchors that were supposedly contributing to the site. First of all, I liked the site because it made me laugh. We are in Omaha flippin' NE, aka the wanna be big city. Nobody gives a rats behind which nicknamed anchor stumbled over words. I enjoyed the site not so much for the posts, but for the stupid people who would get all worked up over the anchor news. I seriously feel that one of the contributors had a secret man-crush (I guess we don't know if its a man) on Travis Justice, local sports/commentary personality, and Travis scorned this dreamer. So its a lot of Trav bashing. I don't necessarily like Trav, my problem is I don't see the big deal with Trav. Secondly, and the things that made me laugh the most and the reason they won't have comments, is the people who trash the commentators. I didn't realize there were this strong of feelings for one channel/anchor or another. Get a life! I'm sorry that I won't be able to laugh at the comments anymore because someone is afraid to reveal their identity. I had my name on this site for a while, but I decided to change it to one of my nicknames because I felt it was more interesting. It's not like the nickname is that far away, and plus, this isn't published fact, it's personal opinion.
If you are ever feeling sorry for yourself or thinking that maybe you're nuts, just look around and you are bound to find someone closer to the edge than you are.
Hopefully I'll have a little extra time with the holiday break coming up to catch up on some things that are bothering me in the world. Those family members that were sick have passed, thankfully, and are watching over us. Miss you all.
If you are ever feeling sorry for yourself or thinking that maybe you're nuts, just look around and you are bound to find someone closer to the edge than you are.
Hopefully I'll have a little extra time with the holiday break coming up to catch up on some things that are bothering me in the world. Those family members that were sick have passed, thankfully, and are watching over us. Miss you all.
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