Fingers were crossed

Testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Kevin Tillman claimed that United States government officials created a heroic story about the death of his brother Cpl. Pat Tillman (pictured below) to distract attention from setbacks in Iraq and the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.




Former Pvt. Jessica Lynch (pictured below) leveled similar criticism today at the hearing about the initial accounts given by the Army of her capture and rescue in Iraq.




In her testimony this morning, she said she did not understand why the Army put out a story that she went down firing at the enemy.

Perhaps she felt this was an infinitely better time to come out with this admission, than when she was posing (pictured below) in front of the poster of the 2003 movie version of “Saving Jessica Lynch”.




This is absolutely crazy.

Next they are going to try to tell us that John Rambo (pictured below) did not, as we were told, single handedly take out the Taliban stronghold at Tora Bora and save Princess Leia.




Poppycock!

Now I don't know who to believe.

Bravery and Love

Please take the time to look through THESE SEQUENTIAL PICTURES.
Keep clicking "Next" and read every single caption.

They tell a very powerful story.

This is a perfect example of why I have have blogged in the past about the importance of all of us stongly supporting the work being done by the doctors and nurses at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

Once again, thanks go out to my good friend Greg in Colorado for providing this link.

Another word from our sponsor

On 04/17/2007 Wayne LaPierre, the NRA president, made this statement on the official NRA web site.




"The National Rifle Association joins the entire country in expressing our deepest condolences to the families of Virginia Tech University and everyone else affected by this horrible tragedy.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families.

We will not have further comment until all the facts are known."


HERE ARE A FEW FACTS WAYNE ...

* Both guns (Glock Model 19 and Walther P22) were purchased by Cho legally in the state of Virgina.

* A Virginia magistrate judge ruled that Seung-Hui Cho might be a danger to himself or others. However, he still passed the NICS background check, which is part of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1994 .

FDA + NRA = DOA - GPA

According to breaking news from the lead investigators at Virginia Tech, Seung-Hui Cho may have taken anti-depression drugs—documented by the Food and Drug Administration to cause suicidal behavior, mania, psychosis, hallucinations, hostility and “homicidal ideation.




In 1990, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) asked American psychiatrists and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to issue warnings about the latest psychiatric drug causing violence and suicide: the antidepressant Prozac. CCHR filed complaints and provided evidence.




In response, on September 20, 1991, the FDA ordered an advisory committee to hold a hearing to investigate the safety and effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. A panel of nine psychiatrists, many with financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, heard chilling testimony from medical experts as well as the victims of these drugs—and did nothing.

It wasn’t until 13 years later, on October 15, 2004, that the FDA finally ordered pharmaceutical companies to add a “black box” warning to antidepressants, saying the drugs could cause suicidal thoughts and actions in children and teenagers. It took nine months for the FDA to issue another advisory warning doctors to watch for suicidal behavior in adults taking antidepressants.




*September 28, 2006: Bailey, Colorado: Duane Morrison, 53, entered Platte Canyon High School and shot and killed one girl, and sexually assaulted 6 others. Antidepressants were found in his vehicle.

*March 21, 2005: Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota: 16-year-old Native American Jeff Weise was under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac when he shot and killed nine people and wounding five before committing suicide.

*April 10, 2001: Wahluke, Washington: 16-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school, and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage while on a high dose of the antidepressant Effexor.

*March 22, 2001: El Cajon, California: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman was on two antidepressants, Effexor and Celexa, when he opened fire at his California high school wounding five.

*March 7, 2000: Williamsport, Pennsylvania: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was on the antidepressant Prozac when she blasted away at fellow students in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, wounding one.

*May 20, 1999: Conyers, Georgia: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with a mix of antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded 6 of his classmates.

*April 20, 1999: Columbine, Colorado: 18-year-old Eric Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 23 others before taking their own lives in the bloodiest school massacre to date. The coroner confirmed that the antidepressant was in his system through toxicology reports while Dylan Klebold’s autopsy was never made public.

*April 16, 1999: Notus, Idaho: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school narrowly missing students; he was taking a mix of antidepressants.

*May 21, 1998: Springfield, Oregon: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his own parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Kinkel had been on Prozac.

God Lives Underwater

The first-ever undersea restaurant in the world has been introduced at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. It sits five meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic, offering diners 270 degrees of panoramic underwater views.




You know it is just a matter of time before someone swims by naked while people are having their dinner.




This innovative restaurant is the first of its kind in the world, and is part of a US $5 million re-build of Rangalifinolhu Island, one of the twin islands that make up Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa.

In case you are thinking that this is the only attraction you will find at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, I wanted to show you a picture of one of the rooms where you might be sleeping.




This new restaurant is just the latest example of a growing trend that is occurring within the resort industry. This trend is to place tourists in, or very close to, a pure underwater environment.

In Bora Bora, for years, some of the more exclusive resorts have offered bungalows that sit directly on the unspoiled clear blue water. Many of them also feature glass bottom floors.

In Dubai, United Arab Emirates there is an underwater hotel currently under construction called Hydropolis. This aquatic hotel will join a growing number of ambitious construction projects that have been borne in Dubai. Among them are the man made Palm Islands, and the Jumeirah Hotel.

Can you imagine if this was the view from your hotel room?




There is a saying that “God lives underwater”. I cannot agree with this statement more. I have had the great privilege of hiking down the steep walls of the Grand Canyon, and have visited many land based wonders, but NOTHING compares to what resides below the waves. There is a pristine beauty there, which you cannot find anywhere else. In many places in the world, you can still find water visibility that exceeds 200 feet. Fortunately, It is still ones of the things on this planet we have not been able to completely fuck up.

I have had the great honor to swim with a pod of wild dolphins, and the priviledge to glide through the water with a sea turtle bigger than a coffee table. Unfortunately, you can also find gift shops that will sell you a sea turtle AS a coffee table.

Since I was a little boy, I have always loved the color blue, and the promise of the ocean. There is no place that I would rather be. As a result, I learned to scuba dive in the West Indies at a very early age. If you are able to do it, I cannot recommend it enough. When you master your buoyancy control, you will be able to glide through the water like a god.

Many people feel that sharks make the sport of diving too dangerous, but there is nothing further from the truth. If you are going to see a shark while diving, it is likely that you will have to actively seek one out.

One of the best scuba diver-writers I have come across was Anton Segal. He was a fully certified dive master, and he wrote many magazine articles about his numerous travels and scuba diving experiences in the Red Sea. This article, from 1998, is entitled Nice to meet you Mr. Carcharhinus Longimanus. It is an extremely well written piece about a close encounter he had with a curious oceanic whitetip shark, and it is one of my favorites.

Anton Segal was tragically killed in late November of this very same year. In the end, it was a sadistic animal from a more dangerous species that took his life from him. That species was homo sapien.

If you have ever wanted to try scuba diving, please do so. It is much easier than you think. It can also be done at a pace, and safety level, that you feel comfortable with. I am a PADI diver, but you can also obtain a certification from an organization called NAUI.

Life is too short to not follow your heart and your dreams.

Hump day giggle

Thanks to my friend Greg who provided this image.

No glove ... no love.

If you thought the STD situation was bad in the United States, take a look at the magazine ads that they have in the EU.

These are print ads (pictured below) that are being run in France.


**CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE**

And I thought everybody over there was having manage à trois.

C'est dommage!

Not to be outdone by their neighbors to the west ... Germany puts things into perspecive with their own ads.



**CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE**
(That means the ad ... you cheeky monkey.)

I would say that this brings all new meaning to the saying "unload a clip".

Wouldn't you?

Waiting on a friend

OH YEAH!

I just got a very personal and exclusive myspace message from a girl named Lindsay (pictured below).




It must be really warm in Bowie, Maryland to only be wearing her bra and matching panties.

She said she is very shy, and wants me to be her bestest friend.

I totally believe her, despite the fact that many of her previous "friends" are guys who like to take pictures of their abs. I can immediately tell from reading her page that she will be someone that I will know all my life.

I feel all special and warm inside.

And now a word from our sponsor

Somebody's on drugs ... and it's not me.

Up to 25 percent of people in whom psychiatrists would currently diagnose depression may only be reacting normally to stressful events such as a divorce or losing a job, according to a new analysis that reexamined how the standard diagnostic criteria are used. As a result, anti-depression medication is being handed out like candy.




I totally believe this.

Doctors have such a hard on for prescribing all sorts of drugs these days it’s not funny. Next time you go to the doctor, and you are in the waiting room, play a little game. Look for the guy or girl wearing a suit and toting a small rolling suitcase. This is the drug rep. In this little rolling case are samples packs and free gifts (Pens, clipboards, magnets). They are the modern day drug pushers.




The average senior citizen is on 6-8 separate prescription drugs. Thank god Duane Reade finally came up with a computer system to red flag dangerous and sometimes deadly drug interactions.

I have had some minor, undiagnosed, respiratory problems for a couple years now. I have been offered almost every drug under the sun. Pain killers (Percocet), anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acid blockers (Nexium), and even anti-depression medication (Zoloft) and (Valium). None of these prescriptions were ever based on any kind of a diagnosis.




“Just try it and see if it works”, the doctors will say.

“Fuck that. Do your fucking job”, I say

-Painkillers can lead to addiction problems.

-Acid blockers when used for a long time can cause bone damage.

-Statin drugs (Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor, Lescol, Crestor, Advicor), which are used to lower cholesterol, have a side effect no one likes to talk about. They can cause permanent damage to the liver, muscles and nervous system.

-Anti-inflammatory drug can cause all sorts of side effects, and they are often treating the symptom and not the cause. The body inflames around an injury to protect and inhibit movement. That is why your leg swells up when you break it. Solve the injury, and the inflammation goes away.

-Anti-depression medication is serious stuff and can very often become habit forming and not very easy to stop. Some drugs like Wellbutrin need to be slowly tapered off to avoid serious crashes.

Most doctors suck balls these days.

There … I said it.

They are so immobilized by the HMOs and the insurance companies that they are too scared to do their fucking job anymore.

On top of that, the majority of doctors are whores to the drug companies who offer prescription kickbacks and free trips to medical conferences in places like French Polynesia and Hawaii. The medical presentation lasts a few hours, but the trip (with their family) often lasts a week or more.

Recently I have been offered my pick of anti-depressant medication, and I laughed in their face. My response was. “If I am depressed, it is because I have had these mysterious respiratory problems for over two years now, and you pompous, overpaid egomaniacs are unable or unwilling to find the cause.” Upon hearing that, he offered me a prescription for Valium.

Before I stormed out of the office, I said, “You can give me the Valium and I will sell it to my friends who take Valium recreationally. Then I will put the proceeds towards paying my useless insurance and doctor’s bills. How’s that?”

Life can be tough sometimes. Nobody said it was going to be a cakewalk. We all need to stop taking pills to solve every damn problem. If you want to stop smoking … just fucking do it. If you want to lose weight … join a gym. If you want to lower you cholesterol levels, try to do it with diet and exercise first.

Don't do drugs kids ... and stay in school.