"Do not lie, and do not do what you despise" J of N

what does it mean when mccain now pledges to balance the budget yet keep spending frivilously in iraq?

“In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” the McCain campaign says in a policy paper to be released Monday.

"long-term"? as i recall the budget was balanced in the past without touching those things. he's full of shit and this time, trying to appease conservatives that are already running from the republican party and will be even further pushed away, people are realizing it.

if he promised to get us out of iraq first then balance it, it would sound good. instead he's coming across as somehow a "reformed" neo-conservative.

the brian jonestown massacre is going to be playing a gig on the 25th of july at terminal 5.  its the only one they'll be doing in the U.S. (they're touring in europe right now).

pick up some tickets here. i'm going and it should be a good show.

some time couple days before they'll be playing on letterman.

for taking one of your own. jessie helms is dead. sure, he repented about aids with bono but i'm not jesus - i don't forgive decades of bad bahaviour because one meeting with a rock star.

dead on the fourth of july. maybe jesus/god was really busy and finally got around to sending him to hell as a false minister. we can only hope.

and how the hell does bush have the BALLS to talk about jefferson today? luckily  there were protestors there shouting "Defend the Constitution, Impeach Bush!" to set him right.

happy fourth everyone and may you NOT rest in peace jessie helms.

CLARK: "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." yes, that's true. in fact i value someone riding in a fighter plane and NOT getting shot down more. as far as true experience goes, there isn't much difference between the two candidates. it will come down to vice president more than any election in a long time.

obama's response showed some class at least: "No one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for both sides." kudos to his writers.

a few months ago i talked about losing my office and working from home at my cushy corportate job. well, things have progressed again and now sometime in early-mid 2009 someone in india or the phillipines will be getting my job.

i'm looking forward to the change (after almost a decade) and this working from home is wearing a little thin already (with another 6 months to go). 

of course the job has been so comfortable that now i'm a little anxious about it ending. i'll get a decent severance that i can stretch out to a year of rent/util paid if i wanted to and just write for that whole time. or i can get a new job immediately and bank the severance.

i have 6+ months to decide.

the mermaid parade on saturday was crazy. i'll have some pics hopefully soon. ut was my first time there and the crowd was painful. i don't know if i'll go again. maybe i'll be in it next time instead of a spectator. i doubt it though.

i've now added a non-fiction book proposal on top of the other stuff i've been working on. and if someone bites, i'll commit to this thing for now. it will be interesting and a change for me to do it but i won't bother writing the book and THEN trying to sell it. if the idea doesn't stand on its own, i'll shelve it.

today i had lunch with a woman i haven't seen in a while. its amazing how different experiences can change either the way you see people or the way they see themselves. sometimes, rarely, two people are changed in a way that compliments each other instead of pushing them further apart.

that's what happened today and i'm happier for it.

funny shit