I don't know why, but with all this talk of the war in Iraq, I was thinking back to the 2000 presidential election. At the time, I recall that now-president Bush was complaining that America spent to much effort using its military overseas in other countries conflicts.

So, if you want a good laugh--or cry--here's a link to the transcripts from the 2000 presidential debates. My how things change. Yes, in this debate, now-president Bush plays himself off as the man to reach across the aisle to the other party, a man to get things done in a bi-partisan manner. What a farce.

My favorite quote, as it applies to current events is this:

The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation-building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders.

If this is his idea of "careful", I'd hate to see the reckless side of President Bush.

If you're having a "hard" time trying to find a gift for someone who has everything, chances are they don't have one of these. It's cheap, and the raw materials for usage are readily available. Looks like there's one thing that Ronco did not invent. Although, with some adapation, this just might be made to work in a "pinch".

Like most people, we get a lot of catalogs in the mail for places where we will certainly never being buying anything. We got one yesterday that really caught my eye due to the sheer number of outrageous products: Solutions. If you're a cat fancier, there are plenty of objects for you.

Imagine setting your cat up in its own protective Kittywalk for their outdoor adventures. I know, the feeling of calm and ease that results from knowing that your pet is protected is well worth the $100 cost. Does your cat like to lounge? Not a problem, the Kittywalk comes with an optional kabana that includes an awning and, I swear I'm not making this up, a hammock. I can't imagine your typical cat enjoying a hammock, but who knows.

If your cat's not the restful sort, you can always make things interesting by tossing a Panic Mouse into the Kittywalk. Yes, all the excitement of hunting in the outdoors without any of the danger.

Of course, whether your cat is hunting or lazying about, dehydration is also a concern with cats. What better way to keep them hydrated than with a Fresh Flow Pet Fountain? Sorry, it only comes in white.

My favorite dog-related product is the Doggles; bombadier googles for dogs that like to stick their head out the window... are there any dogs that don't? Yes, you're dog can be as cool as the eight-year-old kid whos parents make him where a helmet to throw the frisbee around in the yard.

Based on the Google banner today (shown below), I'm guessing that today is Albert Einstein's birthday. The birthdays are certainly piling up around this time of the year.

As far as game technology goes, I think it's safe to say that Spacerunner has an early-80's Atari-type feel to it. Yet, I find myself having loads of fun when I play it. I especially like when you get to use the 'dive' button. Now that's good clean fun.

While the official start of spring is still a week-and-a-half away, spring has sprung at our house. I woke up this morning, and outside in the yard was the first robin of spring. This was followed moments later by the official chasing of way of spring's first symbol; carried out by Boomer and Banzai once they espied the bird trespassing in their yard.

If you're trying to teach a child their A-B-Cs, nothing makes it easier than a perky song or a nice poem. Of course, a not-so-nice poem might work too.

Back in November, I posted an entry about a nut-job ranting about some conspiracy. For those who didn't read it, he claimed to have found some film that had "super secret" pictures. He claimed he would post the pictures on March 8th. Why wait several months if this is so important? Yeah, good question.

Well, March 8th is upon us and the pictures are now available. And I must say, what a load of crap. He claims that he's stumbled across a secret plan to build an ark and this is evidence of some evil plan to raise sea level several hundred feet. Excuse me, but if the sea level were to rise several hundred feet, wouldn't it just be easier to move to a higher elevation than to have some elaborate ark built in the middle of nowhere?

To make matters even worse, he claims that there is another site which has the same pictures which is trying to "discredit" him. Well, if you read the "other" site, it's pretty obvious that it's the same guy.

Enough said about this loser.

I'm sure that, like me, you were shocked to hear that some of the so-called evidence linking Iraq to nuclear weapons has been found to be forged. Yes, that's right, it's not a misinterpretation of the data, somebody deliberately went to the trouble of creating phony documents. Gee, I wonder who that could have been? Who could have predicted that this sort of thing would happen?

My favorite quote from the article is this: "'We fell for it,' said one U.S. official who reviewed the documents." Great acting job there, really heart-felt.

Wow, did I wake up in America today? At a mall in New York, a guy got arrested because he wore a shirt that said, "Give Peace a Chance." That's it. Nothing dirty, nothing profane, just a simple message. And for that the mall cops decide that he has to leave the mall. Naturally, the guy refuses. The result: a trip to jail.

I know they say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but I can't imagine that this will be too positive for the mall. If I lived in the area, I certainly would stop shopping there.

Several weeks ago, the Boulder school district started talks about closing several schools in the district in an attempt to save money. In general, I agree that this is a good idea; student enrollment is down, as is the money available for the district. Closing these schools could save up to $1,800,000 a year. Scaling the schools to meet the student population makes sense.

Of course, you can't make any change to schools without a huge outcry from parents. Certainly not in Boulder where every school has some sort of special, magnet, focus, or teaching method. I understand that there is some disruption caused to the students, but it doesn't make sense to have more school space than you have students. That's the bottom line for me.

However, when the school district then turns around and decides to spend $1,900,000 on artifical turf surfaces for the two high schools, I have to wonder just what the hell these people are thinking. How can they expect parents, teachers, and students to make sacrifices in the name of budgeting while they're off buying pretty new fields? It just doesn't make sense.

Last week, I took a three-day class on basic wildland fire behavior and fire fighting techniques. I'm now a physical test away from becoming a red-carded wildland fire fighter.

The class was pretty good. There was a lot of information to digest, but it was well presented and, despite the 10.5 hour days, it wasn't too painful. The class was given at the Pridemark (the ambulance people in Boulder) location, and about half of the people in there worked for Pridemark as EMS's. It turns out that Pridemark is trying to get there people out on wildfires to provide medical services. And on a fire, everybody needs a red card.

Two unrelated points were really driven home by this class. First, the proper way to do a push-up. We got plenty of practice at that. Second, if you ever run into a paramedic socially, don't go far. You'll hear a lot of very good stories.

Well, turns out that the rumors were true: Sergei Fedorov and Anna Kournikova were in fact married. But alas, no longer. Yeah, she's hot and all, but I can't say that this does anything to improve my already low opinion of Sergei.