INCOMPLETE POST FROM 10/10/04. ACTUALLY POSTED 1/10/05 @ 7:49PM

I won't waste your time with explantions of my not posting for a while again. I'll just start right in with things in the news that catch my eye...

For starters; Yusuf Islam AKA Cat Stevens... For those of you who don't know, here's a VERY short background...
Back in the day, he was a brilliant folk singer who wrote songs such as 'Peace Train'. I dare say he was a rival to John Lennon for the most peaceful person in existance. Well after a while, he converted to Islam and people (mainly Americans) grew to hate him even more than they had before.
Well, recently, he and his daughter were flying to the US (they are British citizens) and they realized that his name was on a 'no-fly' terrorist list that meant he could not fly in the US. So his plane was forced to land (in the US actually I think) to get him off of it ASAP.

Now here's what I think... I saw Mr. Islam on Larry King just the other day and the two were discussing the whole deal and other things in the media and I have to say, I'm now a fan of Yusuf Islam.
But as far as the flying issue... He has NO reason to be on the no-fly list. He is not an extremist and if you know anything about him, you'll know that he would NEVER take part in any sort of violence at all for any reason. But still, he can't fly in the US.
Another thing is that the name on the list isn't really his. It's someone with a similar first name but with much different spelling (Yassouf is what I think he said). So why can't he fly? Well... there's no real explantion. His name isn't on the list but for being similar to a name on the list he is not allowed to fly.
It's ok though because he's a rich guy and he's got his lawyers trying to get him removed from the list (He has flown to the US 19 times since 9/11/2001 and this is the only time he has been flagged).

Now for those of you who don't care too much about the civil liberties of an old folk singer, the entire thing may still apply to you and your safety. If fact, there is no doubt that it does!
Note that I said they forced his plane to land after finding out he was on a no-fly list... HE WAS ALREADY IN THE AIR OVER AMERICA WHILE LISTED ON A NO-FLY LIST OF POTENTIAL TERRORISTS! If a real terrorist was going to hijack a plane and was listed on the list he would have the chance to. All of this money Bush is requesting for Homeland Security and we had someone who they thought was a terrorist flying around! Maybe it's just my 'liberal bullshit' but I think that the best way to keep planes from being hijacked is to... like... KEEP THE PEOPLE SUSPECTED OF BEING TERRORISTS OFF THE FUCKING PLANES TO START WITH!

But I'm gonna get carried away on that... It does get me goin', as you can see. I have a kid on the way and it's not making me feel any safer knowing he's gonna be living in a world like this where the government is too stupid to keep suspected terrorists off a plane to start with.

Moving right along, though...

If you know me, you probably know that I think the most pointless 'sport' is NASCAR racing... However, I have heard something recently that really gets to me...
After a race (like last week I think) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was interviewed after winning the race and he was excited and said a few "potty words" in a post race interview...
Now, for starters, I don't think what he said went overboard, nor do I think it was something that anyone watching has not heard before. I'll never understand how words can so deeply 'offend' someone, but somehow they manage to. To me, he sounded like any other person I know when they are thrilled about winning something and I hear much worse language walking around the streets of SC. The thing is, the FCC and NASCAR need to RELAX. It wasn't like he was dropping F-bombs like Dick Chenney on the senate floor.

------------------------

Sorry but I never finished this post and just saved it as a draft but I am now going to post it (the date is 1/10/05) in it's incomplete form.

-=The Prynce