John Masters, Author at Deep Something

Kite Runner, The

April 13, 2008 B. John 469 Views 0 Comments Shaun Toub, Khalid Abdalla, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Communists, Russians, Friendship, Reconciliation, Redemption, Marc Forster, The Kite Runner

In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It’s a glorious afternoon in Kabul and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day’s victory, one boy’s fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption. Now, after 20 years of living in America, Amir returns to a perilous Afghanistan under the Taliban’s iron-fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and take one last daring chance to set things right.

Culture Movies Fun Stuff

Alvin and The Chipmunks

April 13, 2008 B. John 263 Views 0 Comments Comedy, Kids, Tim Hill, Alvin and The Chipmunks

Three chipmunk brothers, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are adopted by a man named Dave.

Culture Movies

Never Back Down

April 13, 2008 B. John 347 Views 0 Comments Fighting, Action, Jeff Wadlow, Sean Faris, Never Back Down

Jake Tyler has recently moved to Orlando, Florida with his family to support his younger brother’s shot at a professional tennis career. Jake was a star athlete on the football team at home, but in this new city he is an outsider with a reputation for being a quick tempered brawler. Making an attempt to fit in, at the invitation of a flirtatious classmate, Baja, Jake goes to a party where he is unwittingly pulled into a fight with a bully named Ryan McDonald.

Travel Fun Stuff Places Politics Legislature

Guns Guns Everywhere, and Not a Bit Safer

April 12, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 495 Views 1 Comment florida, Homeland Security, TSA, Guns, National Rifle Association, Hand Guns

This entry is part 3 of 13 in the series Guns

We now have “take your gun to work” here in Florida…not just on a specific day, but everyday, and we’ve got airline pilots shooting through the cockpit with their TSA issued handguns due to another idiotic TSA procedure.

Fun Stuff Places Tampa Society Crime

News Roundup for The Week Ending April 11, 2008

April 11, 2008 B. John 374 Views 0 Comments Hillsborough County, Ybor City, Verizon, Monkey, FIOS, Police Horse, Orlando, Elections Supervisor, Property Taxes

This is the catch all basket for odd news items for the week ending April 11, 2008. We’ve got an escaped monkey in Orlando, Verizon employees picketing because their customer service is so bad, and a guy hitting a police horse. The elections supervisor can’t seem to get around to paying his property taxes either.

Politics Congress Presidency Society Corruption Business Economy Featured Places Tampa

Darwin on Today's Economy

April 10, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 1074 Views 0 Comments Dick Cheney, Oil Prices, Economy, Recession, Charles Darwin, george bush

Reuters has a report from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Economic Policy Institute showing that, “Since the late 1990’s average incomes have declined 2.5 percent for families on the bottom fifth of the country’s economic ladder, while incomes have increased 9.1 percent for families on the top fifth.” That got brought home to me tonight when I went to grab a bite to eat, and saw a couple have to forego eating so the kids could. More on that later in this story. One of the Deep Thoughts on this site is a quote from Charles Darwin, who said, “If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” It doesn’t take much to help people, but the current crooks and liars running this government are hell bent and determined to not only forego providing that help, but in enriching their wealthy friends at the expense of those who can least afford it. One of the Deep Thoughts on this site is a quote from Charles Darwin, who said, “If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” It doesn’t take much to help people, but the current crooks and liars running this government are hell bent and determined to not only forego providing that help, but in enriching their wealthy friends at the expense of those who can least afford it.

Software Business Economy Technology

Microsoft's Vista Disaster

April 8, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 457 Views 0 Comments Windows, Microsoft, XP, Vista, Windows 7, OS Operating System

Well, it appears Vista has become the Windows 95/Windows ME disaster of this decade. It seems that most people who have tried it, especially on laptops, have found it to be a useless resource hog, with cool graphics, but not much else ot offer. Count me amongst that crowd.

Politics Congress

Airline Safety – Disaster Waiting to Happen?

April 8, 2008 B. John 359 Views 0 Comments FAA, Airlines, Airline Safety, Southwest Airlines, Safety Inspections

USA Today has a story about the whistleblowers turning up the heat on FAA Administrators concerning their coziness with the airlines.

Places Tampa Society Crime

Weekly News Roundup for April 4, 2008

April 5, 2008 B. John 353 Views 0 Comments Pinellas County, Largo, Child Neglect

This is the round up of the weird, stupid or funny stories from the week ending Friday April 3, 2008. We’ve got a woman going out to shoot at another woman over a man, and leaving her four kids home alone, and another guy trying to steal the oven from a vacant house.

General

Mukasey Says They Knew About 9-11 Call

April 1, 2008 B. John 395 Views 0 Comments U.S. Intelligence, Keith Olberman, Attorney General, Terrorism, 9-11, Afghanistan, Michael Mukasey, 9/11

Speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last week, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said one of the dumbest things ever to come out of this scandal ridden Administration. He was making a speech trying to stir up support for the FISA bill with telecom immunity, where he basically claimed that U.S. Intelligence apparently knew a call came from Afghanistan safe-house to a phone in the U.S.

Politics Legislature Religion Science Society Gay Issues Right Wingnuts Featured Places Tampa

The Battle in Florida is Joined-Amendment #2

March 31, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 354 Views 0 Comments Marriage, florida, fl, Florida Legislature, Amendment 2, Florida Constitution, Marriage Protection

This will be the first in what I expect will evolve into a series of articles related to the upcoming election and the vote on Constitutional Amendment #2. This is the krazy kristian kooks attempt to have a large conservative turnout in Florida, so instead of fielding a worthy candidate, they go for the devisive issue. Amendment #2 is, of course, a “marriage protection” amendment for the Florida Constitution.