Something is up with YouTube

I am not too sure what is going on, but I have been trying to post videos from YouTube up here on the blog. I don't know what to say about it, so I am hoping this hyperlink will work. If it does, then I can link to the video I want to show and just give my own commentary on it here. Granted its not as good as I would want it to be, but it is still better than nothing. So here is a little Lego Fun. Enjoy!

My Final Political Rant

After dealing with all that this Senate campaign race has had to offer, I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to lower my flag over the "political fort" and move on to a new format for my own blog. Am I sorry to leave politics behind? Not for a minute. The reason is simple: what should have been an open forum for everyone to discuss things rationally and civilly has turned into a slug fest with absolutely no limits.

A question was once asked if the blogosphere could ever be taken seriously. The answer, in my view, is no. If we need examples, we only need to read the posts all of us have done for the past couple of months to see that all of us have made this forum a joke, myself included. As such, I feel I can no longer be a part of this. I enjoy blogging and will continue to do so with my own interests, which I will address in a little bit, but the time has come to move on. A lot of people are getting frustrated with what has been going on, and I don't blame them.

As you may note, the links on the side ofthis page have been changed. The only ones who were there before dealing with politics are Mason Conservative, Republitarian, Commonwealth Conservative, and Shaun Kenney. I keep these four because (1) I know MC, (2) I love the Weekend Caption Contest, (3) Republitarian has blogger theme songs and I want him to give me one :o) , (4) Shaun does deal with other issues that I like to be kept informed on.

Also, I kept Cat House Chat because while she does talk a bit about politics, she also discusses other things dealing with life. If anything, her blog might be one of the best around because I for one enjoy going over there and seeing what is going on.

As for this blog, I plan on changing formats altogether and discussing topics that interest me alone: pro wrestling, fiction and non fiction books, my show, quizzes and tests, dvds, computer games, etc. You might have noticed the changes already occurring in the blog as I have thoguht about this for a little while. And so...

The Fact of the Matter is setting sail for a new horizon.

An Omen of the Things to Come?

Monday Night Raw has started and the lights are no longer working. It would seem that the WWE blew out the circuits to the arena they are at. The night after TNA announces they are moving to prime time in November and that Kurt Angle has joined their roster, the poetic irony of the WWE being "in the dark" seems so true right now.

Aj Styles Vs Christian Cage for the NWA Title

A house show is an event where wrestlers would fight each other in order to go ahead and prepare for a bigger match on television or pay per view. In the old days of wrestling, house shows were where something big could happen. IN many cases, rare and classic matches were fought and gave fans memories of a life time. This match, while technical in many aspect, does haev some good spots in it. Do allow the video a few moments to load up. YouTube can be a little slow, but when the video is ready, it is well worth the wait.

I will say, while watching this video, I had a couple songs going. Numb by Linkin Park and Downfall by Trust Company. Good songs to go with this match.

The Second Wrestling War has begun

On November 13, 2005, Total Nonstop Action wrestling got a major acquisition with the arrival of Christian Cage. While this was big news, the first shot of the Second Wrestling War has occurred. Mark this date on your calendar: September 24, 2006. It was on this date on the No Surrender pay per view that a huge announcement was made: KURT ANGLE IS GOING TO TNA!!!!!!!!!!

For wrestling fans out there, this is huge news. Angle is an Olympic gold medalist. He is a former 6 time heavyweight champion in the WWE. Angle is hands down one of the best and legitimate tough wrestlers there is alive today. If you tick him off, he will stretch your body out in directions that would make Gumbi scream.

In addition to this, Angle coming to TNA is a huge thing for him personally. The travel schedule means he really only has to work 3 times a month. In addition to that, he has wrestlers who can put on great matches and carry themselves in the ring. Things are heating up in the wrestling world. The reason is because this will give the entire industry a much needed boost wen it comes to the product being given. Add that to the fact TNA is going to prime time television, things will really get interesting once November 16 arrives.

While it is going to be too soon for the company to go head to head with WWE on Monday nights, TNA can carve out Thursday nights as their own and begin to grow larger with their fan base. And once the house show tours begin, I will be there when they come to Virginia.

This is going to be exciting. How do you spell it?

K U R T A N G L E

Could it be true?

In a new article from CNN.com, there is a report being made that Osama bin Laden is DEAD! According to United States, France, and Saudi Arabia, they have been able thus far to confirm whether or not this is true. In an article published by L'Est Republicain, reporter Laid Sammari stated that he read a report from French intelligence saying the bin Laden died from typhoid fever on August 24 and that on September 4, Saudi secret service agents received reports indicating bin Laden was dead as well. The Saudis planned on making the official announcement about bin Laden's death as soon as they could confirm the burial location of the notorious terrorist.

Fact of the Matter

The fact of the matter is that if Osama bin Laden IS dead, al Queda is in trouble. The former area of pride for the terrorist organization was that their leader was completely hidden from the rest of the world. It was already common knowledge that bin Laden was ill and that time was against him.

In the event this information is confirmed, it will most likely signify a major blow to terrorism as a whole and bring more stability to the world. Added to the recent announcement that Palestine will acknowledge Israel's right to exist, and it would see that Middle East peace could actually occur. Time will tell if this story is true.

The $2.50 line has been broken

While a number of folks have been going nuts with new "controversies," there is a story even more important to talk about and consider. GOP Hokie talked about it where gas prices could be below two dollars before Thanksgiving.

Well, today certainly proved that as I saw a number of gas stations have gas priced from $2.47 to as low as $2.40. In Woodbridge, there is a gas station that has been reported to sell gas at $2.14 a gallon for regular unleaded.

With the prices going down because of the changes in the season and the announcement that the oil companies have reserves that are at full capacity, market influences dictate that prices are going down.

Fact of the Matter

The fact of the matter is that I am going to go on record with this one. Gas prices will be BELOW $2.00 by the first weekend in November. Now granted, not every station might be there, but we will see a number of stations being below two dollars by the end of November 5.

If I am wrong, we will cross that bridge when we get there. But I am very confident in this prediction. Considering how prices have been going down ten cents a week, it makes pretty logical sense. As for other parts of the state, I bet it will be below two dollars by the middle of October, assuming the prices are like that which GOP Hokie is describing in Blacksburg.

So here we go. The march to $2.00!

Quiz Results

Special thanks go out to all those who took part in this week's quiz. The answers are the following:

1. John Smith
2. The Glorious Revolution
3. Blackbeard
4. House of Burgesses
5. Massachussetts Bay Colony

As for the previous quiz, the answers are as follows:

1. 1492
2. Cortez
3. Roanoke
4. Spanish Armada
5. Virginia Dare

Again, thanks to everyone who took part in the quiz. You can expect another one later this week!

TNA Turning Point cage walk

Is it any wonder this got match of the year for TNA?

AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe

I totally got to watch the full match. Its Joe, AJ, and a match that has five stars written all over it. Keep in mind, Samoa Joe there is nearly three hundred pounds, but flies through the air as if he was one hundred and fifty pounds.

Quiz time

My history students are having a quiz today! Here are their questions:

1. Who said, "Those who do not work shall not eat?"
2. What was the arrival of William and Mary called in 1688?
3. What name was Edward Teach better known as?
4. What was the name of Virginia's legislature during the colonial era?
5. What colony was settled by the Puritans?

Any takers? The previous quiz was the following:

1. What year did Columbus discover the New World?
2. Who conquered the Aztecs?
3. What was the name of the colony whcih would famously become "lost"?
4. What was the name of the fleet which tried to take over England in 1588?
5. What was teh name of the first European child born in the New World?

Each question is worth two points. Once the quarter is finished, I should hope to hav enough quizzes to combine together and create a test grade. Good luck to anyone who wants to take the quiz! I'll let you know how you did after you answer the questions.

The gas prices are falling!

Credit goes to Virginia Virtucan for breaking this story on his blog and linking the articel from Seattle on this one.

As well know, gas prices have been really high for quite sometime. Many of us long for the days of when gas was only a dollar and filling up in the gas station did not mean you had to thinkin your head about how much of your budget you could spare for gas alone. A few months back I had read over at Drudge Report how oil prices were going to fall towards the end of the year and that gas prices themselves would go extremely low.

Now it appears a story I thought was hopeful, but maybe along the lines of far fetched, could be coming true. With the price of oil dropping $14 since July, and oil stockpiles going up, it seems as if the markets might be readjusting to things in the early 21st century. Assuming if we do not have a really cold winter this year, there is a real chance gas prices could drop not only below two dollars, but could go down to levels lower that $1.50.

In thinking about my own car, filling up 8 gallons in the car means I might have to only pay $12 or less for gas. Now that is a good bargain! If the prices were to go down to $1.15 as the article Virtucon describe, then my car would cost less that $10 to fill up!

Now granted, none of us want to get ahead of oursleves when it comes to gas prices. But considering how fast the prices have been going down as of late, there may be some major truth to all of this. In driving to and from work, the highest gas price seen on Lee Highway is $2.71, while the lowest is set at $2.61. It would not surprise me if by the end of the month gas were down to $2.50 or less.

Already, if you drive past Manassas and get down to Warrenton, the prices are at least thirty cents cheaper. So could happy days be here again? I would like to think so. Think of the benefits of all that extra money!

And the cannons roar again

Yesterday symbolized a momentous momet for all of us as it seemed nearly everyone was able to put aside their differences and act as Americans. I say nearly because it was reported tht there were a few folks who opted to take a few shots politically on 9-11. Raising Kaine decided to fire off a few opinions which drew a great deal of criticism, commentators on Not Larry Sabato for the most part were very good, but there were a few bad apples in there who really showed the negative side of all of us, only one political ad (but I think that one might have been missed. not too bad) The Hurst Blog got started, but I don't like the fact that there was a You Tube video asking if President Bush really cares about getting Osama bin Laden. In that same post, you have videos of Andy Hurts. I think this particular post, done on September 11, is rather tasteless. And then there is Jim Moran taking an opportunity to throw his own political ideas inot the mix. Truly shameless and a much needed reason to get him out of office. If this is such an "anti incumbent" year, then I think some of the Democrats who are absolutley worthless need to be voted out as well, starting with Jim Moran.

But now we are back to reality. already, a big announcement is expected to be made this afternoon for George Allen as reported by the A-Team. As I readjust trying to get back into the swing of politics after the emotionally draining day, a few thoughts came to mind that I wanted to share with all of you.

Yesterday, the school I work for did not have a moment of silence, memorial service, or anything in commemoration of 9-11. We had a bit of a lengthy prayer at the beginning of the day, but a number of my students commented that they were expecting more to be done. Members of the SCA(Student Council Association) said that when they were planning out events for the calendar, they forgot about 9-11 and thought the Administration was going to do something.

As near as I can tell, there was a serious breakdown of communications here because neither side knew what the other wanted to do for 9-11. In talking with my students, it was interesting to note how most teachers never really acknowledged the day at all. Some class spent a little time on the subject, but in a lot of depth.

Teaching Social Studies, it is rather obvious talking about that day was a very important step. The truly scary thought was that the Freshman class here, when asked about 9-11, gave blank stares about it. The fear which crossed my mind was that before too long, we are going to see more people forget every day what happened on 9-11. Do we really want that to happen?

If people stop talking about the Holocaust, then we will forget and a dictator might try to do it again. The same thing can be said about 9-11. If we don't talk about it and forget it happened, then a terrorist will try to do it again.

President Bush certainly hit it on the head when he said this War on Terror was the defining moment of the 21st centruy. If we chose not to stop the terrorists now, then who will? Do you think China or Russia will? Of course not. How about the United Nations? Well, they have been asleep at the wheel for some time now.

Some people say this Administration may go down as the worst ever. I for one doubt that. think history will ge the final decision on this. In the end, an depending on how things go with the War on Terror in the long run, we may see this Administration being the torch bearer to vicotry, or the only chance we had at trying to root out terrorism before it got a stranglehold. If the Howard Dean's of this country take control, we might want to start getting ready for the next attack because those people will deplete our military and roll out the welcome mat for the terrorists.

A Day Which Will Live In Infamy

Today is seen as a general ceasefire among all politicians and political bloggers and I will also follow suit not only here, but also in my classroom as I teach the students.

Five years ago around the time I am typing this, I had gotten up to get ready to go to class and then to work in Alexandria after that. I showered, shaved, and went to the Bistro in the Johnson Center at George Mason University. My first class was at 9am, dealing with how to write history papers. The Bistro had the news on, but I left there at 840am. I sat in class and tried to stay awake through the whole thing. What got my attention was my cell phone vibrating on my hip.

It was not very often that someone called me and so I figured it was either a wrong number or something might be up. When my cell kept vibrating, knew there was a message, but the timing for the message alert was off. It was around then I knew something was up, but figured it had to do with a family member. My mom might need me to do something, etc. After I got out of class, I was more wrapped up in my own world and looked to see who called me. It was rather amazing now to think of how oblivious I was to my own surroundings at that time.

I had three messages from my dad. THAT caught my attention immediately because he usually never calls me during the day. I tried to access my voicemail, but was unable to. I shrugged it off and figured I would get the messages later. It wasn’t until I got to my History of Germany class that I found out what happened. The Twin Towers were hit and they collapsed.

When I heard that word, I imagined the buildings falling over like a tree and the surrounding buildings destroyed too. I raced back to my dorm room and grabbed my mini television and took it back to the classroom. By the time I got back, my professor said she was going to let people leave.

I went back to my dorm room and my roommate was freaking out because rumors were circulating that the State Department was blown up, in addition to the Pentagon being hit. Cell phones were worthless that day as everyone tried to call each other. I emailed my cousin Erin, who lived in NYC, to see if she was ok. Thankfully, she was alright.

I tried to get in touch with my parents, but that was almost next to impossible. By the afternoon, I finally got in touch with them. I found out my mom was in the Pentagon, but on the far side of the building and safe. Both my mom and dad were going to wait out some of the traffic in Crystal City.

As for me, I sat through a meeting of the Mason government which seemingly did nothing to comfort anyone and then went back to my dorm. It took a while for me to finally listen to my dad's messages on my cell phone. I was smart enough to remember to save them and I do have a tape of my dad’s messages on my voicemail which tells of how the news came in on this day. For a historical record, it is something that shows exactly everything that we were feeling on that day.

A moment that had occurred at GMU, but I was not witness to, was that a couple of Arab students walked up to ROTC students and said to the effect that they had gotten us good today. I reflect on the fact that the ROTC students showed remarkable discipline in not lashing out at those students. If it were me, I would have probably done it and gone into mob mentality mode. Sometimes not being somewhere is a good thing.

After everything that had happened and the emotional drain I had experienced, I will always remember the movie, The Patriot, because that was the first “regular” thing my roommate and I watched after the attacks.

So on this day, let us all say a prayer and remember the victims who were killed. May we never forget.

The problem with things...

After reading some of the comments written in other blogs, and thinking about politics in general, it dawns on me that there are certainly a number of problems in modern politics today. Republitarian said it best when blogger comments are now seemingly coming out like 8th grade girls screaming who their boyfriend is. In what should be a good place for open debate among many people, the blog universe is becoming a giant pissing match left and right. There are a few people who still try to bring honor and dignity to the whole mess, but the overwhelming number of people who read blogs and post comments are nothing more than juvenile idiots.

For instance, anonymous comments are more often than not people saying things which are rude and very insensitive. Many people feel that if you got a comment to say, put your name to it. I for one have seen a numbr of anonymous comments on this site and unless I know specifically who it was the wrote the comment, I have little to no respect for those who write it. If you need to hide behind a mask, then you have no honor. It is as simple as that.
There are those who might say that it is perfectly alright to leave an anonymous comment and not have to worry about incrimination or what not. Truth is, I like to know that this person has a name. Even if it is “Dude from (fill in the blank zip code),” it is not as if I am like some bloggers who look up your IP Address and can figure out how close you are to me. I have better things to do with my life. But on to politics and its problems.

It is rather clear that a number of politicians no longer serve the interests of the people and the country as a whole. A number of Democrats spout out hatred and anger towards the President and his policies, but when asked to provide one of their own, it is virtually identical to the Republican one. So why the hatred? It stems from how George W. Bush was elected President in 2000. If this was Al Gore as President or even John McCain, would Democrats be complaining as much.

The obvious answer is no, but there are reasons. First and foremost, these two men might have done any number of things differently. We can’t say what their policies could have been, but we can speculate. Odds are if this was a McCain administration, we would still be fighting the War on Terror, but would Democrats be in such opposition to it? The possibilities are mind boggling, but the fact remains that some people will only complain to get their names in the newspaper and on television, but really seem to have no interest in doing what is best for the country.

Fact of the Matter

Fact of the matter is that we are governed by a political class. These are people who enjoy getting paid to be politicians and listening to special interests. I for one am a firm believer in setting term limits on Congress. A senator should only serve for 12 years, while a representative should serve for 10. If the President can only serve for 8 years, then why not get Congress to have term limits. If you think about it, there are numerous advantages:

1. Special interest groups lose their grip on Capitol Hill.
2. More business will be conducted and concluded in Congress than there is now.
3. More people will become interested in politics in the country.
4. Voter turnout will go up dramatically.
5. More citizens of this country will be able to get involved with politics and maybe get into
public office.

In addition to this, a thought was presented to me by one of my students. During our first Friday group discussion, the young man gave the equivalent of a stump speech, but a very passionate one at that. He said that while he likes much of what the Democrats stand for when it comes to economics, he is polarized and torn away from voting for them because of their moral issues such as abortion. Since a number of candidates spend more time trying to pander to the interest groups and allow moral interest to dominate their election cycle, it does turn a number of voters away from the polls. The student’s solution was to allow all the moral issues to become state issues. Let each state deal with them and get the candidates to discuss major national issues. After giving this speech, the class erupted in applause. I myself have never seen such well stated argument like this before. If anything, THIS is what more people think and believe in this country.

So where do I stand on the issues? Well, I am against flag burning, abortion, higher taxes, illegal immigration, and crime. I am for lower taxes, small government, death penalty, and holding people accountable for their actions. And obviously, if you got this far down in the post, I am for term limits in Congress.

As I await any comments, which usually never happens, I wonder if I will actually get legitimate comments that have depth, logic, and an argument in it or dribble. I think it is time we start to take back the blog universe and get real debate going amongst the people. Who’s with me?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

It was just announced today that Jim Webb was going to run a new campaign ad which featured Ronald Reagan talking about some of his accommodations while serving in the military. After seeing the ad, I have made the comment that this particular ad should have been put on television back in July. It is simple and basically gives an introduction to Jim Webb. If he wanted to send out ads, it would have to be something along the lines of what it is he STANDS for or against.

However, as soon as this news was released about the new ad, a response was made from an unlikely source: Nancy Reagan. Mrs. Reagan announced that she wanted Jim Webb to pull the campaign a from television spots because it falsely uses her late husband’s image to spread messages he never said.

Already Democrat bloggers are screaming at the top of their heads that they screwed up big time. In addition to this fiasco, the folks over at Raising Kaine could be looking at some legal trouble in regards to soft money, and the most recent Mason Dixon poll shows George Allen once again leading Jim Webb.

Fact of the Matter

The fact of the matter is that Jim Webb is in trouble. First of all, I have contended for the past few weeks that Webb’s poll numbers have been nothing more than transparent figures. If you replaced his name with folding chair after the whole Macaca-gate scandal, the folding chair would have done just as well. Now that we are getting further away from the late summer scandal, people are beginning to wonder where Jim Webb is.

Add this to the fact that his new campaign ad has been asked not to air by a former First Lady, Webb is in a rather precarious situation. If he airs the ad, he might as well get ready to see every Reagan lover in Virginia rally to vote against him because of the pain he is causing an elderly widow who had to watch the love of her life die right before her eyes for fifteen years. If he decides to pull the ad, he has just wasted a great deal of much needed money on an ad spot that could have helped it. No matter how you look at it, Webb is damned either way.

So what will he do? While I don’t have the answer, I think Webb is going to need to look into some form of damage control as the inmates are seemingly running the asylum. If any of the allegations about Raising Kaine is true, then he could be looking at some FCC problems. How people are going to spin this will be very interesting.