A little bit of smacky face

Here is a nice article on torture. It's nice to know what does and doesn't define torture. You never know when you might have to use it.

This is Tommie - Royal Ass.

Now then around the mid end of the 12th grade I started to actually feel popular. At my school there were three different spheres of popular the athlete sphere that's where Jason was the hood/ghetto/slum/gangster sphere I didn't fuck with them they were drug dealers and junior killers the just kind cool sphere and the “he wouldn't be cool if he didn't have a car” sphere that's where I was so my Mom had the grand idea to have me run for Homecoming king. It was cool. Daria had started getting back normal so she was going to run for homecoming queen. We were shoe ins well my Mom was the PTA president and she was in the middle of a power struggle with some other parents that were lames so one lady that didn't like my Mom put her son in against me hell he didn't want to be in it any more than I did. But, here we are. At any rate he went to school with all the kids in our class since 1st grade so he was a shoe in. He became homecoming king and I was prince. Well Daria didn't win Queen or Princess she didn't even make the court. And she was pissed about it and couldn't understand how I made it and she didn't.

As if I couldn't do it. She really started pissing me off with her bitching I mean how are you going to EXPECT to be with me when I walk as my escort when you don't think I deserve to be there. Ok, I got trick for you. During one of her bitch fest I just snapped and said I'm going to have Ginny escort me. Ginny was in my brother's grade and she had a crush on me. That wasn't really anything, the thing that was the kicker was that she was on the flag team with Daria and I knew that Daria didn't like her. That was my only reason for picking Ginny. It was just to remind Daria that I was in charge and I beat you this time. By far this was the shittiest thing I had done to date but the thing about it was I totally knew that and I wanted to hammer it in to Daria that you take what I give you.

You don't complain when you are in the presence of royalty. Remember they didn't even pick you. The shittiest thing was that the flag team had to do their performance while the court walked past so she had to stand there and twirl her flag as I walked past with this girl she hated. I could see her crying out of the side of my eye and I just smiled. It was one of those evil smiles. Of course my buddies thought it was some player shit and I got high off of it. This time my parents didn't even say anything I don't know if they could conceive that I could be that heartless and mean. I mean surely they understood that she was a sour apple but my reaction was overboard. I think they were ashamed and were really wondering where they went wrong.

Happy Birthday Dad!

                                                                
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Not to much longer is it?

This is Tommie - Tommie finds religion

I’ll have to step back in time a bit for this one a lot of this occurs within the 11th and 12th grade so the part is really not consistent with the timeline that I have presented so far. Between the ages of probably 13 and 16 or so I was a full on atheist. J was one as well and that was our little inside joke. We would make fun of all the holier-than-thou folks at our school. It was fun for a while but the two of us being inquisitive fellows like we were decided to see what all the fuss was about so we decided to read this “Bible” thing to see what was going on. Once we started reading it got even funnier because we would take notes and all that jazz and we saw that people in school had no fucking clue what they were babbling about. So it was nice to have a frame of reference. From there we spent time reading and finding contradictions and weird coincidences in the Bible two of my favorites

1. In the entirety of the Bible a daughter is never produced. Someone may have daughters and even will have sex with his daughters but no child born in the Bible is a female.
2. Plants and Tress are made on the 3rd day, before there was a sun to drive their photosynthetic processes. (Genesis 1:11). The Sun was created on the 4th day



I think we got bored of doing it because if we didn’t. I think we’d be working at it today. What we did come up with was a plan. We figured we turn are Christian in school and trick everyone with random sayings out of the Bible start our own youth ministry and get crazy paid. It seemed like a funny thing and a little cash on the side never hurt anyone. Truth be told we could have gotten away with it. Who would have challenged us? It worked for Jimmy Swaggart and Pat Roberson. Just quote a few random verses out of the Bible and end off with Amen and I’d have about two or three ministries by now.

But something changed and we got bored with the idea really fast. What happened was that the more we read the more we got interested in the Bible. Not from a spiritual standpoint but from a context on human development standpoint. It was amazing when you referenced the Bible to historical issues it really shows how the western world developed. We were both intrigued by that.

We moved to the next level that when we started looking at other religions like Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Santeriaism, Shangoism, Rastafarism and others just for reference. It was partly because looking at other religious tomes was considered SO bad our Christian counterparts. But, the wealth of information was incredible when it was referenced against historical events at that time my viewpoint on God changed. I went from a non-believer to a believer, I wasn’t sold on the “One true vision” of God after reading so many documents it just didn’t make sense but I did start to realize that God is out there in some form or another. I think what I got from that was that I was able to think outside of my comfort zone. On top of that in the early 90’s there was a pro black consciousness revival of sorts.

The anti-gangster rap movement groups like De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, X-Clan, Gangstarr, Ice Cube (post-NWA/pre-Friday), Leaders of the New School, Poor Righteous Teachers and Paris for examples not only did these rappers have something to say I could relate to what they were talking about from a racial point of view I figured if I identified with their racial viewpoints their spiritual view points couldn’t have been that far off the mark. So I started reading what they were referencing. I was a religious junkie. I was reading the Torah, the Bible, Koran, and I was really moved by the Holy Piby.

People don’t realize that Rastafarism is a religion (some say a way of life or a movement it’s all up in the air) it’s relatively new and could be considered an offshoot of Christianity the ideas and concepts of Black Jesus and all that talk really originates from them. The formation of Harlem is in part because of Marcus Garvey’s work (among others) there. But I was really inspired religious between the Rasta movement and sort of my on intellectual interpretation of holy text. If I were to choose to follow one sect of Christianity I think that would be the one but, I know I’d never make it. I can’t dig the Ital the whole no salt thing flies in the face of modern science.


At any rate that is a side discussion for another time. This is just to say that my reading gave me a religious conversion of sorts. On top of that I realized that it is a good thing to know of others religions. I’ve found that you don’t have to care about people’s religions personally but you have to KNOW that they care about their religion. When you realize that you can go a lot further with people.

In the end I became less of an angry atheist type, you know the type that want to point out EVERYTHING that is wrong with organized religion (specifically Christianity) and point to that as a basis as to why their life sucks and more of a freethinker type. I’m the type that realized that great good and great evil has been done in the name of “God” but at the end of the day more good has been done because of people’s faith in God than evil. I realized for me that it is isn’t so important to tie myself to one religious doctrine or another but to know that God’s power works through everything and how people find their way to God should be left up to them. You want to read the Bible everyday and quote scripture? Great. You want to meditate on a block of wood everyday? Great. Do your prays on Friday facing Mecca? Great. It’s all the same to me.

Keeping the world safe Thug style

Here is the face of one of the smartest individuals in Iraq.

When your government doesn't care about you.

Contractor deaths in Iraq prove difficult to track
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — There are 50,000 to 100,000 contractors working in Iraq, experts believe, though reliable estimates are hard to come by.

Private security personnel are thought to account for as many as 20,000 of those, or more than all U.S. coalition partners together.

The number of contractors killed is just as difficult to pin down, partly because the employers often keep the deaths quiet. The U.S. military death toll, now over 1,620, would be higher but for the number of military tasks contracted out to the private sector, say analysts.

"Outsourcing troops not only outsources costs and capabilities, but also casualties," said Peter Singer, who specializes in the topic for the Washington-based Brookings Institution. Security firms "have sent more troops and taken more casualties than all of our other reluctant allies combined."

The U.S. Labor Department reports at least 305 cases where death benefits have been claimed for private contractors working in Iraq — many by families of Iraqis who worked for U.S. companies, but the Labor Department wouldn't provide a breakdown by nationality. The total number of contractors killed is larger, but the true figure is difficult to estimate because many firms don't publicize workers' deaths and the U.S. government statistics aren't comprehensive.

Contractors have been killed in convoy ambushes, mortar attacks on U.S. bases, gruesome beheadings by kidnappers, car accidents, and even by U.S. troops shooting by mistake.

They're often on the front lines with jobs that include private security guards; technicians struggling to rebuild Iraq's battered infrastructure and oil sector; and laborers, consultants and translators catering to the needs of the U.S. military and Iraqi government.

Few aspects of the multibillion-dollar contracting effort in Iraq are made public. A report by the U.S. Government Accounting Office in April found that monitoring of civilian contractors in Iraq was so poor that there was no way to determine how many contractors are working on U.S.-related security and reconstruction projects in Iraq or how many have been killed.

Even if companies' initial contracts with the Pentagon are publicized, work is subcontracted and sub-subcontracted until the chain of responsibility disappears.

"The deals are sometimes done by the shake of a hand or a verbal agreement," said Nick Arnold, head of projects for Global Risk Strategies, the firm that runs security in Baghdad's Green Zone and airport. "It might be five subcontracts down the line before you provide a service."

The U.S. Congress has tried to document the extent of private contractors' work and casualties. A bill introduced in April seeks tighter standards, including collecting estimated costs, number of workers required, training necessary, and contractors' deaths and injuries.

The National Defense Authorization Act already requires the U.S. defense secretary to provide a report to Congress that would include casualty and fatality figures for contractor employees supporting deployed forces and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. But [b]the Pentagon missed its April 29 deadline to submit its latest report.[/b]

Sucks to be me. Do you want to know the real reason why contractors like myself are out here? We are cheap, expendable, and we don't cost the government a dime in negative publicity. You have to go into this job know that. I mean no one back in the rear cares if a contractor dies. Hell, if you are lucky they will say your company's name and that's about the size of it.

I think it sucks because contractors take just as much risk as the soliders they support. They should at least get some iota of respect. But they don't, if contractors die first off it is going to take a few days even before they find out who they work for and who to contact. Then they'll ship them off nice and quiet. The family is paid off and that's about that. You'll never hear a Congressman or Senator raising holy hell about contractor deaths. Why? There is no net sum patriotism that is to be gained by it. It's easy to drape yourself in the flag at some young Marine's funeral and proclaim that they gave the ultimate sacrifice. Well contractors do to sometimes Mr. Senator, Mr. Congressman, Mr. MiddleAmerica. It would be nice if you all paid attention to that. But, why should you? Someone has to win American Idol.

Get your weekly conspiracy right here!

Ten Reasons Why You Should Never Accept a Diamond Ring from Anyone, Under Any Circumstances, Even If They Really Want to Give You One (2/14/02)
By Liz Stanton, CPE Staff Economist

1. You've Been Psychologically Conditioned To Want a Diamond
The diamond engagement ring is a 63-year-old invention of N.W.Ayer advertising agency. The De Beers diamond cartel contracted N.W.Ayer to create a demand for what are, essentially, useless hunks of rock.

2. Diamonds are Priced Well Above Their Value
The De Beers cartel has systematically held diamond prices at levels far greater than their abundance would generate under anything even remotely resembling perfect competition. All diamonds not already under its control are bought by the cartel, and then the De Beers cartel carefully managed world diamond supply in order to keep prices steadily high.

3. Diamonds Have No Resale or Investment Value
Any diamond that you buy or receive will indeed be yours forever: De Beers’ advertising deliberately brain-washed women not to sell; the steady price is a tool to prevent speculation in diamonds; and no dealer will buy a diamond from you. You can only sell it at a diamond purchasing center or a pawn shop where you will receive a tiny fraction of its original "value."

4. Diamond Miners are Disproportionately Exposed to HIV/AIDS
Many diamond mining camps enforce all-male, no-family rules. Men contract HIV/AIDS from camp sex-workers, while women married to miners have no access to employment, no income outside of their husbands and no bargaining power for negotiating safe sex, and thus are at extremely high risk of contracting HIV.

5. Open-Pit Diamond Mines Pose Environmental Threats
Diamond mines are open pits where salts, heavy minerals, organisms, oil, and chemicals from mining equipment freely leach into ground-water, endangering people in nearby mining camps and villages, as well as downstream plants and animals.

6. Diamond Mine-Owners Violate Indigenous People's Rights
Diamond mines in Australia, Canada, India and many countries in Africa are situated on lands traditionally associated with indigenous peoples. Many of these communities have been displaced, while others remain, often at great cost to their health, livelihoods and traditional cultures.

7. Slave Laborers Cut and Polish Diamonds
More than one-half of the world's diamonds are processed in India where many of the cutters and polishers are bonded child laborers. Bonded children work to pay off the debts of their relatives, often unsuccessfully. When they reach adulthood their debt is passed on to their younger siblings or to their own children.

8. Conflict Diamonds Fund Civil Wars in Africa
There is no reliable way to insure that your diamond was not mined or stolen by government or rebel military forces in order to finance civil conflict. Conflict diamonds are traded either for guns or for cash to pay and feed soldiers.

9. Diamond Wars are Fought Using Child Warriors
Many diamond producing governments and rebel forces use children as soldiers, laborers in military camps, and sex slaves. Child soldiers are given drugs to overcome their fear and reluctance to participate in atrocities.

10. Small Arms Trade is Intimately Related to Diamond Smuggling
Illicit diamonds inflame the clandestine trade of small arms. There are 500 billion small arms in the world today which are used to kill 500,000 people annually, the vast majority of whom are non-combatants.

References:

Collier, Paul, "Economic Causes of Civil Conflict and Their Implications for Policy," World Bank, June 15, 2000.

Epstein, Edward Jay, "Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?", The Atlantic Monthly, February 1982.

Global Witness, "Conflict Diamonds: Possibilities for the Identification, Certification and Control of Diamonds," A Briefing Document, June 2000,


Human Rights Watch/Asia, "The Small Hands of Slavery: Bonded Child Labor In India," Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project .

Human Rights Watch, "Children’s Rights: Stop the Use of Child Soldiers;" www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/index.htm .

Kerlin, Katherine "Diamonds Aren’t Forever: Environmental Degradation and Civil War in the Gem Trade," The Environment Magazine.

Le Billon, Philippe, "Angola’s Political Economy of War: The Role of Oil and Diamonds, 1975-2000," African Affairs, (2001), 100, p.55-80.

Mines and Communities, "The Mining Curse: The roles of mining in ‘underdeveloped’ economies," Minewatch Asia Pacific/Nostromo Briefing Paper, February 1999.

Other Facets, Number 1, April 2001; Number 2, June 2001; Number 3, October 2001.

With that said I'd buy my bfi index in diamonds if you could show me any woman I know that would say. Wow, that's horrible I'd never accept a diamond ring now. I think every woman I know would say "Awww, that's so sad," *shrug* "so what's that got to do with me? Them little Indian fuckers need to get on the ball as a matter of fact YOU need to get on the ball Mr."

Another personality test

I love these things.


After you take it please leave a comment and let us know it if was right or not. I think mine was.


ENTP - "Inventor". Enthusiastic interest in everything and always sensitive to possibilities. Non-conformist and innovative. 3.2% of the total population.

Things I know that I probably shouldn't know.

You can get an AK-47 in town for about 50 American dollars. If you want matching serial numbers it will cost you 70 comes with 2 clips.

Tommie Hustle AKA internet hero

Today my friends we will learn about firefox and extensions. I have so led you all astray. Giving you firefox without extensions is like being a Jedi and not knowing how to use the Force.

Extensions like the word says extends the functionality of the bowser. Extensions are small add-ons that add new functionality to Firefox. They can add anything from a toolbar button to a completely new feature. They allow the application to be customized to fit the personal needs of each user if they need additional features, while keeping Firefox small to download .

A warning here, we are going into what can call advanced features. Even though these features are tested they can still cause problems and make your system crash every now and again. So use extensions at your own risk. That being said I use them with glee and haven't had a problem yet.

The main page for extensions can be found at the Mozilla homepage. What I would suggest is that you only get your extensions from the Mozilla page these are the ones that are declared the safest of the bunch.


Here are some of my favorites -

Flashblock

This extension is especially useful for blocking flash ads which contain annoying sound, and also for dialup users who do not need to see the bandwidth-rich flash content of some pages.

Adblock

If you're tired of all the intrusive adverts that are increasingly taking over the Internet, Adblock is for you. Using the numerous free filter repositories available on the net and the intuitive blocking tools, you are able to customise your Firefox so that the most annoying ads are not displayed, thus leaving you to browse safely and to enjoy your Internet experience.

Download sort

Automatically save downloads to different directories when using "Save Link As..." or "Save Image As..." This extension is a MUST!

FoxyTunes

Do you listen to Music while surfing the Web? Now you can control your favorite media player without ever leaving the browser and more...

Image Zoom

Adds zoom functionality for images

Translate

Small extension that either translates: web pages (via toolbar button) or selected text (via context menu) from several foreign languages into English, as well as 12 other languages. Uses BabelFish and Google translation engines.

PDF Download 0.4.1.1

Allows to choose whether you want to view a PDF file inside the browser (as PDF or HTML) or you want to download it!

IE View 1.2

Adds "View page in Internet Explorer" links to the content and link context menu. Handy for previewing pages in IE, loading up IE-only pages when you run across them in Mozilla, etc.

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon lets you "channelsurf" the best-reviewed sites on the web. It is a collaborative surfing tool for browsing, reviewing and sharing great sites with like-minded people. This helps you find interesting webpages you wouldn't think to search for.

Hash Coloured Tabs

When your tab bar becomes full of tabs, you often have to rely on seeing the website icons to tell which website is loaded inside which tab. But not all websites have predefined icons. This extension will give each tab an icon that is coloured depending on the web address from which it is loaded.

Image toolbar

Single-click access to common actions for Images (e.g. saving and copying), fast image saving.

BBCode

Adds BBCode/HTML/XHTML formating to the context menu for forums like Mozillazine.

Forecastfox

Get international weather forecasts from weather.com, and display it in any toolbar or statusbar with this highly customizable extension.



I would like to thank all the developers who have worked day and night for free to make the internet better for us all.


This post is approved by Tommie Hu$tle, jenov4, 8bit, rc213, Mr. Spinnington, Jeffahn, nataku, DHGamer, Shadowmancer, StrikerObi, Society, scorcho, enzom21, Fatalah, RedDwarf, Link, DJ Sl4m, Dan, and G4life98