Like it was a big revelation or stroke of insight, but I was indeed 'jumped' yesterday. I walked into my parent's house to a table full or beer and alcohol and the whole clan hanging out. I don't really remember what I drank from there, but I do remember that Nathan and I almost had a scrap. Matt had called shortly before I got there, and was hoping to talk to me. Since he couldn't, he left standing orders that I could not do any heavy drinking until he got up here for his birthday next month. Expect a seriously drunk entry if I somehow don't pass out before I get home.

Other than that, I've been chilling this entire weekend. On Friday night Will left Melissa and I hanging as to whether or not he was going to play Deadlands. Well, he was supposed to tell Melissa yea or nay before I left work, but he didn't call or show up. Sooooo....we played without him. Only we decided to punish his character since he ditched us (most likely to go get higher than a kite if Melissa can be believed). We decided that his character would wake up in the middle of 'taking it up the tailpipe' from the local sheriff, if you catch my drift. That means that the next time our characters see him, we can all sing 'He fought the law, and the law won." Melissa wanted her character to gain, only for a round, the ability to mutate so that she could make spores grown on his forehead in the hopes that they'd spread to his body. Nasty friends I have.

Also on Friday, my department manager sat two representatives from a voice-recognition software firm down to listen to me take calls. They were nice gentlemen, but one of them had a bloody left eye, and it was freaking nasty to look at. Oh well. John came back from lunch drunk again, and when he gets drunk, he gets real annoying real fast. I'm still running that little 'suggestion' contest, and he's sending me 'suggestions' that really aren't suggestions, or stuff that my company and our client can't control, or stuff that you really can't force people to do, or stuff that if we did would piss our client off. I'm normally a very tolerant person, but I'm getting sick of this freak. I may have to give him a 'prize' for offering the most 'suggestions', but that's it. I told my department manager that I'd be sending in all the info that I get with some of my analysis about the feasibility of each tidbit, and now that I think about it, I look forward to smashing his 'suggestions' on the pavement and stepping on them.

Saturday and today were spent pretty much playing Devil May Cry and sleeping, with a big nap on Saturday to sleep off the alcohol (hell, I even woke up with a hangover). When I got up, I went online, found Rico, and we played more CS. I'm actually finding that I still have most of my skill, but my endurance is waaay down. I think my lack of exercise is even starting to affect my gaming, which means it's time to kick my ass out the door and jog, just like Witchy. I've also found that I'm getting more and more into Day of Defeat, a World War II-style mod for Half-Life. Dunno why, but it's appealing more and more to me.

I was also reading in the news about how the new International Criminal Court has become a reality. This, to me, is just a showdown between the UN and the U.S. with maybe Britain backing us up. This court came to power with the signature of President Clinton before he left office, however, he did not send the accords to the Senate for ratification as per normal procedure. President Bush also hasn't sent it the Senate, and he's indicated that he never will. Which is a good thing, because it'd fail. Why? Because this new court has jurisdiction and the authority to impose it's own will and authority on ANY nation, whether they're signatories of the Rome Statute (the name of the treaty that brought it into existence). This means that the court has the authority to trample on national sovereignty. This means that the court could try U.S. citizens (civilian and military) for 'crimes against humanity', and the accused would not enjoy the benefits that our Constitution give us (right to speedy trial, face and examine accusers, presumption of innocence until proven guilty, etc.). Couple this as well with the fact that the vast majority of the countries and delegates in the U.N. do NOT like the U.S., so it isn't a far stretch of the imagination to see that maybe this court might be influenced to come after us. Let's say that a bill goes before President Bush granting illegal Mexicans here in the U.S. amnesty, and bush vetoes it. The Mexicans then complain to the U.N. that Bush is committing inhumanitarian crimes against the illegals by not granting them amnesty. The U.N. agrees (the most likely prospect), and brings Bush up on charges against crimes against humanity. Do you think that we're going to just hand over the president? Hell no. Hence, the showdown.

Now, bush might have been proven innocent of the charges, but what do you think that such a baseless trial would do to his political power here? He'd have liberals screaming that, in addition to being an 'illegitimate President', that he's inline to be the next Adolf Hitler. Now, turn it around. Let's say that they brought President Clinton up on corruption charges. If he's proven innocent, that'll give even more ammunition to people like Rush Limbaugh, Mike Reagan, and others. Think about the heyday that would be there.

How about we take it a step back. Let's say that an American Marine platoon was conducting a patrol in a village in Afghanistan. The Taliban and al-Qaida still disguise themselves as civilians and women to elude capture, and the patrol happens to stumble a group of the disguised terrorists, and the terrorists open fire with hidden AK's. The Marines fight back, and drive them off, but in the process, accidentally kill two or three civilians. Now, anyone who studies war knows that guerilla warfare is full of these accidental shootings (Vietnam), and they're an inescapable fact of war. However, the Afghanistan representative (which is likely still pro-Taliban) cries that the Marines stormed the village, shooting civilians indiscriminately, and they had to be repelled. The Court decides to investigate, but since the Americans aren't allowed their constitutional rights, they're held in some prison indefinitely on murder charges. They may or may not be proven innocent, but the fact is that this court gives the smallest dictators the ability to castrate U.S. military action, even in self-defense.

Okay, I just used the last of my brain-power writing this, as it's 3:00 A.M. I think I'll write more about this tomorrow. Feel free to tell me what you think about this, as I enjoy a good debate.

Time is short and talk is cheap. We shall speak again.