Big Ell's Soap Box

Here is a link to an article from the East Bay Express about a website dedicated to amateur Porn and professional Gore. This site was set up by Floridian web master Craig Wilson who initially planned an amateur porn site where contributers could post pictures of wives and girlfriends to his porn site. Many of his customers ended up being soldiers who complained in e-mails to Wilson about having difficulties registering for his pay site. Being an entrepeneur, Wilson decided to make his site free to American soldiers if they uploaded a picture from Iraq or Afghanistan. Needless to say it became wildly popular with American service people. Wilson was getting so many pictures that he decided to only post the goriest pictures he could find.

Wilson said, "Personally, I don't look at it one way or another. It's newsworthy, and people can form their own opinions."

Here is the link to nowthatsfuckedup.com. The pictures are quite hardcore and the captions are equally disturbing.

I found this article on the Chinese drive to buy energy interesting because I know some folks who work for the Calgary based oil company EnCana that sold some of their Equadorean oilfields to China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC). It doesn’t appear that Canadian oil companies have any problems dealing with CNOOC unlike their American counterparts. I know this is old news and has been covered on many Taiwan/China blogs but I am a little slow I am Canadian, eh. I did find this old LA Times LA Times article interesting as it talks about Albertan attitudes towards the oil boom. Most people I know back at home could care less about the Chinese buying Canadian crude. They don't care who buys it just so long as they've got high paying jobs. I can't think of many places where high school grads are making $50 grand US. Many of my friends and family in the oil patch only care about tricking out their new SUVs and buying a new Big Screen TVs. I imagine that the American Government can't be too happy about this.

In related news the cash rich Alberta government is cutting prosperity bonus cheques. The Alberta government estimates it will have a $7 billion dollar surplus this year with around $1.2 billion earmaked for the people or about $400 per person. Alberta already has a $12 billion nest egg in the Heritage Trust Fund. I sure am glad that I am heading home for Christmas this year.

Snakeheads in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Equador are breathing a sigh of relief as the Whitehouse has deemed it in the American National interest to exempt them from anti-Human Trafficking legislation. Myanmar, Cuba and North Korea didn't fair so well failing the Whitehouse litmus test. Cambodia and Venezuela also didn’t make the cut but don’t get the sanctions. I understand why Venezuela/Citgo passed the test but why did Cambodia also pass?

The Gentle Rant’s hero Rober Fisk has been barred from entering the States. I guess the right to free speech doesn’t apply to English mudrakers. I wouldn’t let him in either. A journalist that actually interviews people on the scene and doesn’t stay in hotels with his video phone has no place in the world of journalism. It could also be because John Malkovich hates his guts and wants him dead. The Free New Mexican also reports that a rare albino turkey vulture has also been sighted, what a busy news day in New Mexico.

If you have some time check out this excerpt from Robert Fisk's new book 'The Great War for Civilisation: the Conquest of the Middle East'.

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