Begin Anywhere

Palin Email Foot-Dragging

2010-12-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/sarah-palin-emails-governor-alaska-delay-wait

It provided the emails to the Department of Law in electronic form, hoping that office could use software it had recently obtained to review the emails electronically. This would cut out the long printing process. But, according to a January 28, 2009, memo from the Department of Law, the lawyers "found no way to convert the e-mail records from the format provided to the portable document format (pdf) necessary to use the new software, without opening each individual message to convert it." The memo also noted, "We were unable to batch-print the e-mail records in the format provided."

Once again, utter, raw, plain, unmitigated I/T incompetence among I/T professionals - this time very conveniently. Are they so stupid that they think there's no way to batch convert text files to PDF? Or are they so evil that they think everyone else is so stupid that they will believe here's no way to batch convert text files to PDF?

Name

2010-10-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so there's this:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/facebook-admits-to-privacy-issue-and-makes-fixes/

It's been all over the internet, and pouring over into regular media for the past few days - once again there's a shocking (shocking I say!) story about privacy on the internet.

I have always said that people will give up any privacy in droves, and take any risk, if they want the service. The use of credit card for online shopping proves this (it was once something it was thought people would not do), as do many other services and toys online. But lately I've been suspecting that, as we begin to understand that the internet can be just as secure as it needs to be to provide services, the very notion of what private information actually is may be shifting to accommodate fear and hype.

I think this Facebook "issue" clinches it.

I've read very little about this since I don't use Facebook, and don't care. But the other night there was a story on the News Hour about this matter. The token expert on the panel explained what these Facebook apps have been found to be doing. They share a user ID with interested parties (advertisers). The expert was sheepish about explaining this because it's really, in reality, not much of an issue, and he knew it. The user ID he explained can be tied back to a user's real name. That's it. Your name.

Ah, okay... When did my *name* become some sort of secret information? I use my name all the time. A great many people know my name. When I meet a new person, or interact with a business, I give my name without hesitation - even to strangers! Is it just that Facebook users aren't old enough to know what a phone book is?

Ok, to get philosophical about this... It isn't just that the scope of what is thought to be "protected" on line has crept. A name is a more interesting concept. My Social Security number or bank number can be used to steal from me, but my *name* is an identity. It is me, as I stand before you, living proof of my existence, and freely giving my name. Hello, nice to meet you.

People put their names on their mailboxes. They're not secrets. A name is not private information. Hello, nice to meet you, I won't give you may name because you might then believe that I exist as a person.

If you talk to anyone older than about 75, you get a very different take on identity. Americans that remember when Social Security was created have a different mind set about identification. They didn't like the idea of a special identifier standing in for them. But now it seems we can't live without it. In days long gone, a person just standing there was incontrovertible physical proof of their existence. Apparently, among today's Facebook users, that existence is just another piece of abstract information that we worry about encoding into bits.

Check your ID each morning. Make sure you exist.

Here's a couple other interesting stories.

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-10-13/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39745797/ns/local_news-miami_fl/

To be fair it is probably the case that a name can be correlated with other info from other sources - but that true regardless of what Facebook does. All that is saying is that "I" can be correlated with "information about me" - information which I have voluntarily put "out there" for my own purposes, like for example, my name, which I use all the time.

Why would someone use Facebook if they consider their very existence was a "secret?"

The story is in large part a media creation about the scary internet. But I do also think there is something else going on when people are worried about "secrets" that just aren't secrets.

I was floored when I heard what this latest story was really about - someone might find out a user's name. Wow. If you don't want anyone to know your name staying off Facebook is only the tip of the iceberg of what you'd need to do.

People are stupid.

Phone

2010-10-02T09:09:00.001-07:00

Microsoft...
Things like this ysed to make me laugh. But now it's just sad.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6905PY20101002

Stupid

2010-09-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.politicususa.com/en/an-epidemic-of-stupidity-is-sweeping-america

"The days when Americans valued education and technological development are gone. In America today, the value system is based on stupidity and superstition, and the right’s goal of shutting down the education system except for religious schools will ensure America remains stupid."

I couldn't have put it any better. The whole post is definitely worth a read.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/an-epidemic-of-stupidity-is-sweeping-america

The Terrible Truth Revealed at Last

2010-09-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.theonion.com/articles/poll-1-in-5-americans-believe-obama-is-a-cactus,18127/

"According to a poll released Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of U.S. citizens now believe Barack Obama is a cactus, the most Americans to identify the president as a water- retaining desert plant since he took office."

Jerk

2010-09-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2010/09/greer-apologizes-to-obama-calls-many-gopers-racist.html

"One year ago, when President Barack Obama gave his first back-to-school speech to the nation's schoolchildren, then-chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Jim Greer, accused him of using "taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America's children to his socialist agenda."

"Now, Greer is facing fraud and money laundering charges and has been thrown under the bus by the state GOP, which has accused him of living the high life on party money. And so he's had a change of heart.

"In the year since I issued a prepared statement regarding President Obama speaking to the nation's schoolchildren, I have learned a great deal about the party I so deeply loved and served,'' Greer said in a written statement. "Unfortunately, I found that many within the GOP have racist views and I apologize to the President for my opposition to his speech last year and my efforts to placate the extremists who dominate our party today. My children and I look forward to the president's speech."

Painful

2010-09-15T07:17:00.001-07:00

http://www.blueoregon.com/2010/09/theres-only-so-much-stupid-one-man-can-take/

My gosh people are SOO dumb...
How in the world does someone like Blumenauer manage to get out of bed in the morning and carry on? These are really, really bad times in this country.

Taxing

2010-09-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

Of course it's completely obvious from this graph:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_09/025514.php

just how important it is that we preserve George W. Bush's tax rate structure.

It should also be obvious just how dumb Americans are to elect Republicans - unless of course you're in the upper 2% of incomes rates that benefit from Republican policies, in which case you're not dumb just self-serving.

Pawns

2010-09-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

http://edsteinink.com/2010/08/30/puppeteer/

"I’ve wondered for years how so many people have been persuaded to vote again and again against their own economic self-interest. A revealing article by Jane Mayer in the August 30 issue of The New Yorker magazine helps explain it. Over the years billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Brothers have steadily funded operations designed to stoke populist anger against the government and progressive ideas. The Tea Party, far from being a spontaneous populist movement, has been underwritten with tens of millions of dollars and coordinated through a network of organizations with names like Americans for Prosperity, with the singular goal of creating an angry block of disaffected voters who will unwittingly vote for policies that benefit the very wealthy."

Tax Dumb People

2010-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Image by leeisaku via Flickr

http://www.kgw.com/news/local/101802523.html

"The last of three men convicted for a tax evasion scheme offered in 43 states has been sentenced to federal prison.

. . .

"The main tax scheme involved in the conspiracy, the Claim of Right Freedom Program, claimed personal income was not taxable."

You can claim anything you like, but the idea that the law won't be enforced against you because of this personal claim is pretty strange.

"Bendshadler marketed and hosted seminars in Oregon detailing the tax schemes and promoted them on his weekly radio show."

Radio... Figures.

I find a common thread among dumb people, which is to say most people, that "rightness" or "wrongness" has anything what so ever to do with law enforcement. Justice and the justice system is about the enforcement of the law through a rigorous and well defined, repeating procedure. It is not the place of those involved in law enforcement to interpret whether or not a law is just in any sort of absolute way. Even judges can not do this, they can only make decisions in a context of existing law and precedence - not on any idea of rightness or wrongness.

In the U.S. Final judgement that a law is invalid due to being inconsistent with fundamental rights is a power given only the US Supreme Court.

A person may be able to defend themselves in the legal system on the grounds that a law is unjust, but it's a hard path to take, especially since it would generally involve admitting to committing the principle acts involved.

The bottom line is simple. If a person violates the law, then they open themselves up to prosecution. Their believe, the belief of a police officer, nor anyone else, that the law is unjust is just plain irrelevant.

MORE Bush, Ya That'll Help

2010-08-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2424344720100824

"John Boehner on Tuesday called for the resignation of President Barack Obama's embattled economic team, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers."

WTF?

"Time to put grown-ups in charge"

Right.
This the same party that openly wants to continue the exact policies that got the economy in this mess in the first place. In fact, maybe he'd like to just put the same crew in charge again and just replay those eight years. How long could we go before the entire structure of society collapses? Except for the well armed, privately secured, walled communities people like John Boehner live in...

Dumd

2010-08-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

http://wonkette.com/417619/dumb-hick-mosque-haters-cant-even-spell-ground-zero

"America’s differently-abled freedumb fighters tend to have trouble spelling the dumb shit on their signs and banners, but this particular piece of visual evidence also calls into question their comprehension of the supposedly Hallowed Ground of the WTC site. Is it truly a “monument to terrorism”?"

Idiots are controlling the national agenda.

Is President Obama a Muslim?

2010-08-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States"

Enough said.

Think? No Thanks!

2010-08-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipediahttp://notalwaysright.com/freedom-of-screech/6616

“You don’t need freedom of speech if you let Jesus think for you.”

Yep.

Who Would Jesus Hate?

2010-08-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaAmerica, a land established on values of individual and religious freedom, live and let live, right?
Wrong. America is a land of intolerent bigots that not only disrespect but hate and wish violence on those different from themselves.

http://cbs4.com/local/burning.quran.outreach.2.1867754.html

"Gainesville officials denied a burn permit for a church that plans to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
. . .
"In an e-mail sent out Wednesday, the church said, "City of Gainesville denies burn permit – BUT WE WILL STILL BURN KORANS."

This "Christian" church doesn't even respect and recognize American law - their own local authorities, much less the Bill of Rights, or even the concept of private property.

This is why we have a Constitution with inalienable rights. Because the people do not respect, or even want, a free society. There is required a Constitutional framework, above the laws people enact, or would like to enact, to resist the people's ever present push toward theocratic dictatorship.

Instead of using 9/11 and a new community center in New York as an opportunity to highlight the freedoms America stands for, the people use it as an opportunity to show the pent up hate, fear and bigotry that is their true religion.

They will not change. They won't ever stop. In the end, the people will win and bring society into a new middle ages.

Broken

2010-08-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is why democracy doesn't work:

http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=1057

"Only a third of Americans (34%) correctly say the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was enacted by the Bush administration. Nearly half (47%) incorrectly believe TARP was passed under President Obama."

The economic collapse brought on by 8 years of Republican policy is the most significant trouble of our time. An entire generation is permanently impacted, and America as a nation is likely now in irreversible decline.

This decline is not because of the TARP program, which was an act of panic and desperation. The decline is due to years of massive tax cuts for the wealthiest and for large business, the shifting of jobs overseas - as a policy, the gutting of regulation, and massive, unproductive, Republican spending, in particular on two completely unfunded, open-ended wars.

It's almost comical to be reminded that Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy was itself an economic stimulus plan put in place short after he took office and intended from the beginning to expire - even they knew it was unsustainable.

And people cheered. All the way, right over the cliff.

But since Americans are so completely intellectually unable to follow current events, they will likely elect Republicans again, and do even more harm to themselves. This time though, they've made things so bad that the nation itself is a risk.

But people can't think. They can't learn from experience. Enough Americans are completely unable to reach a reasoned conclusion based on facts, that the country has no future. The great experiment is a failure. They will get the future want they want and deserve.

Breaking News!

2010-08-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

No, not the overturning of California's proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage... This is huge!

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0730/Monkeys-hate-flying-squirrels-report-monkey-annoyance-experts

Monkeys hate flying squirrels!

Bob Ingil On The Tea Bags

2010-08-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

"I sat down, and they said on the back of your Social Security card, there's a number. That number indicates the bank that bought you when you were born based on a projection of your life's earnings, and you are collateral. We are all collateral for the banks."

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/bob-inglis-tea-party-casualty

It's well worth reading what Bob Ingil has to say. It's pretty clear that either the Republican Party is finished, or the nuts that they now depend on will win elections and the US is finished.

The Republican Party Today

2010-07-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here's some southern politics for you....

http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-07-06/handel-oxendine-plagued-their-past

It's old vs. new.
Here you have a classic old-school, corrupt, southern politician (is that redundant?) running against the "true conservative" insurgent tea-party-type; a woman in this case, endorsed by Sarah Palin no less, that is now desperately lying in attempts to cover up that she's a lesbian.

Comedy.
Really sad comedy.

One of these two fine examples of southern citizenship is very likely to be the next Governor of the fine state of Georgia.

This is America

2010-06-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/11/knotts-censured/

Last week, South Carolina state Sen. Jake Knotts (R) came under fire for calling President Obama and Nikki Haley, his party’s nominee for governor, “a raghead.”

. . .

In response to the censure, Knotts said he “could care less” and would not resign. In a separate interview, he said the censure was “all politics,” and warned that libertarians had “infiltrated” the party. He said he had not called Haley to personally apologize, and that the “press has given Nikki Haley a free ride.” When a reporter asked where the press had failed to hold her accountable, Knotts said, “have you ever asked her if she believes in Jesus Christ as her lord and savior and that he died on the cross for her sins? Have you ever asked her that?”

Shirt

2010-05-20T09:18:00.001-07:00

This is simply the best zombie shirt, ever.

http://www.threadless.com/product/2059/The_Horde

Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana

2010-05-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

"We’ve got to be completely focused on defending this coast. The cost—the difference between keeping this oil out and having this oil in this wetlands, it literally could be life or death for many of these species."

-- Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/20/headlines

Interesting how concerned he is isn't? Meanwhile...

"In 2006, Jindal sponsored the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act (H.R. 4761), a bill to eliminate the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling over the U.S. outer continental shelf. A poll taken while the bill was being debated, showed that 73% of the U.S. public supported the measure. Jindal argues that 30-40% of oil reserves of the United States are near the Louisiana coast and increased drilling would reduce American dependence on foreign oil.^[109] This prompted the watchdog groups, Republicans for Environmental Protection as well as the nonpartisan League of Conservation Voters to rate him among the lowest in Congress in 2006."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jindal#Environmental_issues_and_offshore_drilling

"The House vote was a huge victory for Pombo, two Louisiana lawmakers — Republican Bobby Jindal and Democrat Charlie Melancon — and Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., who spearheaded the drive to lift the moratorium."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201703,00.html

Seeing Bobby Jindal in the news talking about this issue is one of the most disturbing things about the BP oil spill.

Bobby Jindal is the face of the contemporary Republican Party.

Education

2010-03-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

Image by wstera2 via Flickr

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/18/tea-party-ignorant-taxes-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett_3.html#

"Whatever the future of the Tea Party movement in American politics, it's a bad idea for so many participants to operate on the basis of false notions about the burden of federal taxation. It only takes a little bit of time to look at one's tax return to see what one is actually paying the Treasury, calculate the percentage of one's income that goes to taxes, and compare it with what was paid last year and the year before."

There's a big flaw in this argument - part of the strategy is to make sure no one knows enough arithmetic to actually do this. Seems to be working...

Doom

2010-03-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34808.html

“Unless this trillion-dollar assault on our freedoms is repealed, it will force Americans to purchase Washington-approved health plans or face stiff penalties,” DeMint said in a release. “It will fund abortions, raise taxes and insurance premiums, while reducing health care choices and quality.”

He left out mandatory euthanasia, forced gay marriage, one-world currency, re-education camps for Republicans and occupation by UN troops (every single one of which has been threatened by members of Congress and/or Republican leadership at the nation level, seriously).

2010-03-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.salon.com/news/2010/03/11/us_forgotten_lawmaker/index.html

"When Juanita Goggins became the first black woman elected to the South Carolina Legislature in 1974, she was hailed as a trailblazer and twice visited the president at the White House.

"Three decades later, she froze to death at age 75, a solitary figure living in a rented house four miles from the gleaming Statehouse dome."

It's hard to understand the arc of some lives, but it's easy to understand the insensitivity of society.

Health

2010-03-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Now here's a solution that hadn't occurred to me... Make the US look better by comparison!

http://techdirt.com/articles/20100306/1804328453.shtml

"US Government Working With Pharma Companies To Raise Drug Prices In Other Countries"

Trim

2010-03-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/09/florida_crash/

"Trooper Gary Dunick, who attended the scene, gasped: "If I wasn't there, I wouldn't have believed it. About 10 years ago I stopped a guy in the exact same spot ... who had three or four syringes sticking out of his arm. It was just surreal and I thought, 'Nothing will ever beat this.' Well, this takes it."

In case you're wondering just why Barnes was trimming her hedge, she explained that she was on her way to a rendezvous with her boyfriend and wanted to be "ready for the visit"."

But her husband was driving??

Gay

2010-03-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/04/anti-gay-lawmaker-reportedly-gay-club-dui-arrest/

"A California state senator who reportedly has voted against every gay rights measure since he took office eight years ago was charged with driving under the influence on Wednesday, reportedly after leaving a gay nightclub in Sacramento."

What, another one?

"He was arrested after leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento, according to cbs13.com. A male passenger, who was not identified as a lawmaker, was also in the car but was not detained, the TV station reported."

Shocking!

Republican Ideas

2010-03-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.blueoregon.com/2010/03/when-will-republicans-get-serious.html

"Twenty years ago, Republicans hypothesized that cutting taxes and deregulating industry would spark an economic boom that would make up for lost tax revenue. It seemed plausible, and even moderate Democrats played along. We ran the experiment. Guess what? Cuts mean cuts. Republicans refused to make any hard choices about which programs they wanted to scrap, and instead were content to watch tax cuts lead to fiscal crises and ultimately to unplanned, indiscriminate cuts in services."

I was listening to the radio this morning when I heard a story about a local Republican that opposes a certain idea that was floated by the state's governor - the exact idea is not significant to my point. The speakers objection was that if the state needs to save money, which it does, then instead of the governor's idea, the state just needs to "cut unnecessary spending."

I thought, cut unnecessary spending! Why that's brilliant! Why didn't we think of that at any time over the past TEN YEARS as revenues declined. Why, it's so simple! Just cut unnecessary spending.

I picture a bureaucrat someplace in the capital running a finger down a list of line items until it comes to "Unnecessary Spending". All we have to do is zero that out. It's so obvious!

Foreign

2010-03-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

This morning I saw this story before coming to work:

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/03/afa-seaworld/

Then when I get to work and see this:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6230J720100304

I tell you, there is no future for this civilization. In 4 or 5 generations people will be living in mud huts and terrified of eclipses. For a thinking person, this is becoming a very strange and unknown land.

Facts?

2010-02-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/23/839587/-Those-Torture-Worked-Memos-of-Cheneys

So again, at the end the writer asks:

"There was wall-to-wall media coverage last spring of Cheney's claims that these memos would show that torture worked. Will there be wall-to-wall media coverage of the fact that the memo was "plainly inaccurate" and that Cheney was, and is, full of shit?"

Over and over I read stuff like this, and over and over people are railing against the universe that Cheney can just SAY stuff, for example, and they are all "look over here, proof that his claim is bogus!" I just have to laugh! They don't get it! But Dick Cheney does get it, all too well.

"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!"

-- Homer Simpson

Gun Control

2010-02-23T07:45:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Here's one:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/23/837354/-Brady-Center-Gives-Obama-F;-NRA-Still-Not-Happy

No matter what Obama ever said from the campaign on, the Idiot Nation still believes Obama will (somehow) take away their guns. Now the administration is having a real impact - you can now take a loaded gun onto public lands and into parks. Does the hard fact of this material change alter what idiots believe? No. It does not fit their made up world, therefore it is not happening.

People are stupid.

What I Can't Figure Out About Health Care

2010-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Image by seiuhealthcare775nw via Flickr

I can't figure out why so many people can't understand this:

A. Your health care is tied to your employment.
B. If you get really sick, you won't be able to work.
C. If you can't work, you lose access to health care.

Why is that hard to understand?

Twitter for Dogs

2010-01-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

Image via CrunchBase

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2010/01/27/mattels-puppy-tweets-is-a-sure-sign-its-time-to-bail-on-twitter/

Oh, so THAT's what Twitter is good for!

When I first saw it I though, oh maybe it has a GPS and it could broadcast the location of your dog. That would be cool...

Nope.

Ok, maybe it has senors you can install here and there that trigger a Twitter message when the dog goes by?

Nope.

In fact it pretty much does nothing. Just like Twitter; utterly useless 140 characters at a time.

The End of the World

2010-01-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/BA8V1AV589.DTL

"Harold Camping lets out a hearty chuckle when he considers the people who believe the world will end in 2012.
"That date has not one stitch of biblical authority," Camping says from the Oakland office where he runs Family Radio, an evangelical station that reaches listeners around the world. "It's like a fairy tale."
The real date for the end of times, he says, is in 2011."

Wow, is that funny or just sad?
People have been talking about the end of the world, and predicting it, for as long as there have been people. I always wonder if people like this are disappointed when the world doesn't end.

Mud

2009-12-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.mediaaccess.org/articles/comments-of-keynote-speaker-mark-lloyd-at-social-media-net-neutrality-and-future-of-journalism-event

"Allow me to clear away some mud: I am not a Czar appointed by President Obama. I am not at the FCC to restore the Fairness Doctrine through the front door or the back door, or to carry out a secret plot funded by George Soros to get rid of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or any other conservative talk show host. I am not at the FCC to remove anybody, whatever their color, from power. I am not a supporter of Hugo Chavez. The right wing smear campaign has been, in a word – incredible, generating hate mail and death threats. It is the price we pay for freedom of speech. And I do support free speech."

-- Mark Lloyd, Chief Diversity Officer, Federal Communication Commission

It's a shame that public servants have to actually say things like this.

Climate Change Rant

2009-12-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Image by United Nations Photo via Flickr

Here's another thing to rant about:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/18/copenhagen-draft-treaty-meltdown

I have news for the world.

Humanity WILL DO NOTHING to save itself. I absolutely guarantee that our civilization will eventually collapse under the weight of a disrupted environment. There is no doubt what so ever about this. It is a fundamental principle of biology that every species eventually destroys its environment, period. The only thing about humans, is that we will do it on a massive scale.

All this urgency... Speeches about how we must act now before it is irreversible... Well, news flash - it is already too late. Scientists and few politicians that seriously follow this know it. It
is too late. Global ice is melting fast. The oceans are rising already, and weather patterns are already altered. Permanently. Here's the scary bit, we have no idea what all will really happen as a result. And our science isn't close to able to make those predictions. The Pentagon is issuing a report citing climate change as a threat to global stability, and thus now a military issue.

That thinking is where the action is now. Not in Copenhagen.

Hard Times in Moscow

2009-11-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

Image by ZedZap(Nick) via Flickr

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5AF4W320091116

"Russian police have arrested three homeless people suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and selling other bits of the corpse to a local kebab house."

Meanwhile, In Oklahoma

2009-10-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33340225/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

"The boy, malnourished and covered in bruises and scars, sought help from a security guard at a National Guard armory on Sept. 25. The teen told police he spent most of the last 4 1/2 years locked inside bedroom closets at various apartments where the family lived and never attended school or received medical attention, authorities said."

Even More Christian Baby Killers

2009-09-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Image by According to O'Brien via Flickr

http://news.opb.org/article/5925-clackamas-county-investigating-death-baby/

"The Clackamas County sheriff’s office and district attorney are investigating the death of a baby who died Sunday morning in Oregon City, within hours of being born, Saturday afternoon.

"The Oregonian newspaper is reporting that the family involved belongs to the faith-healing church, Followers of Christ."

Coyotes

2009-09-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

Image by Anatoly Kraynikov via Flickr

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/28/jeremiah-raymond-berry-pl_n_301757.html

"Jeremiah Berry shot his father in the head, and then dismembered his corpse to feed parts of it to coyotes, according to court documents. Authorities said they also found some of Jack Berry's body parts encased in a bucket with concrete.

"Jeremiah Berry told police he killed his father after his father raped him. He said his father told him that day he had been told by God his son needed a sex change to become his wife."

Just another day in America...

Twits

2009-09-24T10:03:00.001-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/09/24/breaking-news-twitter-to-raise-100-million-from-insight-t-rowe-price-other-investors/

"Twitter, the messaging web site that has become an Internet sensation, is nearing a deal to close as much as $100 million of new funding from as many as seven investors, according to people familiar with the deal."

Oh great... So this puts off Twitters eventual demise by pouring more cash into this .com no business model non-business. What is this? 1995?

Wilson's TRICARE

2009-09-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/10/joe-wilson-s-dirty-health-care-secret.aspx

""As a 31-year Army Guard and Reserve veteran, I know the importance of TRICARE," he said in a press release. "The number of individuals who choose to enroll in TRICARE continues to rise because TRICARE is a low cost, comprehensive health plan that is portable and available in some form world-wide." He went on to call TRICARE "world class health care," concluding on a personal note. "I am grateful to have four sons now serving in the military, and I know that their families appreciate the availability of TRICARE," he said."

TRICARE is a single-payer, government run health care plan. All Representative Wilson is all for it.

More Family Values Fun

2009-09-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

We hear a lot about nationally known Republicans and their family values, but there's a lot of local stories also that tend to get missed in the chatter.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story_2nd.php?story_id=125254485065097200

"Tony J. Marino, 48, who has worked in broadcasting, marketing and Web development, and is a former board member of the Tigard Chamber of Commerce, will be sentenced Sept. 25 in Pierce County, Wash. He was initially charged with raping his estranged daughter, but the superior court in Pierce County changed the charges to second-degree incest — a class C felony — in exchange for a guilty plea.

"Marino is currently lodged in the Pierce County Jail.

"Marino, who created and ran America Web Works from Tigard, pleaded guilty to sexual contact with his daughter while they were staying at the Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel in Fife, Wash. on Aug. 16, 2008. The daughter reported this incident to Tigard police on Feb. 17, 2009, telling them her father had nonconsensual sexual intercourse with her while she said she was intoxicated."

Meanwhile...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27025.html

"“…I will not be muzzled. I will speak up loudly against this risky plan,” Wilson says in the video appeal on his campaign web site."

Ha! That's great news! The dumb people will bury us eventually, but the dumber the dumb people look, the better the chance of keeping this shaky country a float for another few decades.

"Wilson’s appeal for campaign cash capped a day of frenzied political activity, with Wilson’s Democratic opponent, former marine Rob Miller, raising a whopping $700,000 over the course of the day."

D is for Dumb

2009-09-04T07:44:00.001-07:00

Image by jmtimages [off] via Flickr

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26744.html

"School districts from Maryland to Texas are fielding angry complaints from parents opposed to President Barack Obama's back-to-school address Tuesday – forcing districts to find ways to shield students from the speech as conservative opposition to Obama spills into the nation's classrooms."

How dare the President of the United States give a speech to children on the value of education!!

"But Democratic strategist Chris Lehane said the protest against the presidential speech "shows at some level how desperate the right is to find an issue to challenge Obama on...They have gotten some traction on health care, but the mere fact that they have jumped on this reflects that this is a party without a voice. Are they going to run in the mid-terms on a 'Presidents shouldn't talk to kids' platform?""

Strange Story...

2009-08-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32592133/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

"When investigators entered the house after her death, they found plastic bags "everywhere," according to Romankow. It took months of interviews before they were able to piece together what happened.

"The case leaves many unanswered questions for investigators."

Perp

2009-08-10T13:40:00.001-07:00

http://picktheperp.com/

Pick the Perp names a crime and shows you a set of mug shots - you get to guess which perp did the crime.

Just when I think the internet has already done everything....

Even More Christianity

2009-08-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

When people are idiots in one way, like being creationists, you can usually assume that they are idiots in another way...

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/99359/Unemployment_catches_a_break_Tax_troubles_in_creationist_paradise

Like thinking they don't have to pay property taxes.

"a federal judge approved the sale of creationist theme park, Pensacola’s Dinosaur Adventure Land, because owners Kent and Jo Hovind,owe $430,400 in back taxes. The Hovinds argue that since they are employed by God, they needn’t pay income or property taxes."

I See Dumb People

2009-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.alternet.org/story/106551

"The change from a print-based to an image-based society has transformed our nation. Huge segments of our population, especially those who live in the embrace of the Christian right and the consumer culture, are completely unmoored from reality. They lack the capacity to search for truth and cope rationally with our mounting social and economic ills. They seek clarity, entertainment and order. They are willing to use force to impose this clarity on others, especially those who do not speak as they speak and think as they think. All the traditional tools of democracies, including dispassionate scientific and historical truth, facts, news and rational debate, are useless instruments in a world that lacks the capacity to use them."

Dead on correct.

This article absolutely nails what has happened to America since, I would say, the very early 1980s - the campaigns of Ronald Reagon in other words. And it is highly informative reading in a context of our current, and critical, "debate" about our health care.

Your Health Care

2009-07-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31krugman.html

Image via Wikipedia

"At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”
...
"Most obviously, the government directly provides insurance via Medicare and other programs. Before Medicare was established, more than 40 percent of elderly Americans lacked any kind of health insurance. Today, Medicare — which is, by the way, one of those “single payer” systems conservatives love to demonize — covers everyone 65 and older. And surveys show that Medicare recipients are much more satisfied with their coverage than Americans with private insurance."

People are stupid. Not just a little, but deeply and profoundly stupid. It's just a simple fact the intelligence, in any sense of the word, is not required to live a normal adult live in America today. And this is why a profoundly broken health care system will not be fixed, and why America is already declining as a nation.

People are stupid.

There have been many difficult, politically charged debates. But its hard to think of when more outright lies have been shoveled down the throats of the unquestioning sheep as the current debate on health care reform. Oh wait, I can think of one. Republicans said exactly the same things about Medicare. Reagon called it socialism. Bob Dole boosted of voting against it. Same trash...

Sister

2009-07-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1645467

"A man drunk on mouthwash who performed oral sex on his unconscious sister in Rainbow Park was sentenced to jail-time served and three years probation Tuesday in Sarnia court."

Wow, that's messed up...

"The mother of the pair told McFadden she hopes her son didn’t realize the woman was his sister. She called it the low point in her son’s life of alcohol abuse, the lawyer said."

The Other, Other White Meat

2009-07-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/2005/09/tofu-that-tastes-like-human-flesh.html

"Hufu is the name of a tofu-based product designed to resemble the taste of human flesh. Billed as the "Healthy Human Flesh Alternative", it's designed to provide connoisseurs of people-parts with a legal way to please their palates."

It's what's for dinner!

Christian Parenting Skills

2009-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

http://news.opb.org/article/5400-father-thought-prayer-and-fasting-were-working/

"The father of 15-month-old Ava Worthington told a court Friday that there was no need for medical intervention because anointing her with oil, praying and fasting appeared to be working."

Man's Head, and Duck

2009-06-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5617094/Chinese-woman-boiled-mans-head-to-cure-daugthers-psychiatric-problems.html

"Lin and her husband decided to enlist the help of a man in December who knocked unconscious a drunk 76-year-old passer-by before beheading him, the paper claimed.

"The couple then gave their 25-year-old daughter soup made from the man’s head, and duck."

Medical

2009-06-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable... How in the world could anyone be stupid enough to think that we shouldn't do what every industrialized nation has done and fix this?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31103572/

"Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

"More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts"

Parenting

2009-06-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25609943-5006009,00.html

"Magistrate Barry described the horrific condition the children were found in her house as "squalored, putrid and uninhabitable", while littered with dirty clothes, nappies and food scraps and contained broken glass from shattered windows, bottles and a shower screen."

There's a link to an impressive photo gallery at the beginning of the article.

Baby

2009-06-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

People are just plain crazy... There's no other way to put it. Of course this article makes sure to mention Craigslist, several times. Let's be sure to blame the internet for the daily madness and stupidity all around us.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31159132/

"A pregnant 21-year-old found dead with her baby no longer in her womb befriended the woman charged with killing her through Craigslist, her mother said Sunday.

"Police said they found Heather M. Snively's body Friday in a crawl space in Korena Elaine Roberts' home in Beaverton, a Portland suburb. They'd been called there because a newborn wasn't breathing. The baby later died."

DIY Wine

2009-06-05T14:33:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

I think there might be better ways to make wine. I think...

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000373.php

"As for the White Prison Wine, it would contain: White grape juice and the moldy bread sock. No extra yeast added. For the requisite sugar, I went with some powdered drink mix, a few packets of ketchup and a handful of Tigger fruit snacks."

Have a Heart

2009-05-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98E2QEG1&show_article=1

Canada's governor general ate a slaughtered seal's raw heart in a show of support to the country's seal hunters, a display that a European Union spokeswoman on Tuesday called "too bizarre to acknowledge."

...

Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered Monday as Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, Jean turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?"

Changer

2009-05-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

Hey Sony, 1990 called, it wants its disc changer back!

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/05/21/the-sony-blu-ray-mega-changers-are-coming-soon-are-you-ready/

Even More Christian Parenting

2009-05-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5588968

"A mother accused of praying instead of seeking medical help for her dying 11-year-old daughter was found guilty on Friday of reckless homicide.

...

"Neumann's daughter Madeline died from untreated diabetes on March 23, 2008, surrounded by people praying for her. When she stopped breathing, her parents' business and Bible study partners finally called the emergency dispatcher.

...

"During closing arguments, Marathon County district attorney Jill Falstad described Neumann as a religious zealot who let her daughter, called Kara by her parents, die as a test of faith.

"Basic medical care would have saved Kara's life - fluids and insulin," Falstad said. "There was plenty of time to save Kara's life."

Family values at its finest...

Soup

2009-05-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30884902/

"A Georgia man has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for poisoning his children to extort money from Campbell's Soup Co.

"William Cunningham was sentenced Thursday after a jury found him guilty on seven counts of aggravated assault for forcing the children in 2006 to eat soup laced with prescription drugs and lighter fluid."

Traditional family values in the southern states...

Carpet

2009-05-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://ask.metafilter.com/122697/What-are-the-ramifications-when-a-real-estate-disclosure-is-misleading-and-nasty-surprises-are-revealed-after-sale

"Here they found a hideous scene: between the new carpet padding and the hardwood is a thick layer of dried, saturated blood and crunchy tissue which appears to be brains. The residue runs the entire length of the hallway, some 15 feet, with distinct lines at each of the five doorways. Despite the disclosure that the shooting happened in the back room, the blood evidence makes it clear that the suicide closed himself off in the smallest area of the house, the hallway, and shot himself there. The body was removed, the walls repainted, but the residue of the shooting was never cleaned up. Instead, someone had laid down new carpeting to give the impression of cleanliness."

"Great"

2009-05-21T08:25:00.001-07:00

Image by holotone via Flickr

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/05/tweeting_the_mona_lisa.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

Ok, so let me see if I have this straight... 1) Someone invents a "new" "communication" "tool" whose "innovation" is 140 character message length limitation, then 2) someone creates an "innovative" new protocol for sending image data 140 characters at a time. Super!

George Will

2009-05-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

Funny...

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/05/george-wills-irritable-mental-gestures.php

"Will claims to find it unbelievable that as many as 0.01 percent of Americans would ever bike to work regularly. But rather than tossing off ridicule, he might have looked up the Census Bureau’s statistics on commuting patterns and seen that right now 0.4 percent of commuters normally get to work on bicycles. Now that’s a small percentage. But it’s forty times larger than a percentage that Will deems unrealistically utopian."

Comedy!

2009-05-19T12:20:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

BahHaHaHaHa!!
OMG, this guy is killing me! HAHAHAAA!!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22709.html

Steele also said that the "corner has been turned" for the GOP and predicted a Republican resurgence.

"The Republican comeback has begun. It is underway, and it is not in Washington," he said.

...

"The Republican Party is again going to emerge as the party of new ideas," he added. "It will take some time, for sure, but it is beginning now."

Man, that's comedy gold right there.

Bakersfield

2009-05-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Image by anarchosyn via Flickr

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Blind-Bakersfield-boy-Daddy-ate-my-eyes/RK0Wdl1WTUCH5BlkgKlGuA.cspx

"Police believe a Bakersfield man bit the eyeball out of his son's face and ate it, according to court documents. The 4-year-old's other eye was damaged beyond repair, reports said.

"The boy's missing eye could not be located, reports said, and he told a detective, 'Daddy ate my eyes.'"

It's hard to believe that things like this happen - but they do.

Parenting Failure - Religion Again...

2009-05-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30763438

"A Minnesota judge has ruled that a 13-year-old cancer patient whose parents want to treat him with “alternative medicine” must seek conventional medical treatment for their son.

...

"Daniel was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and stopped chemotherapy in February after a single treatment. He and his parents opted instead for “alternative medicines” based on their religious beliefs.

...

"Doctors have said Daniel’s cancer had up to a 90 percent chance of being cured with chemotherapy and radiation. Without those treatments, doctors said his chances of survival are 5 percent."

Seemed like a good idea at the time?

2009-05-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5473JM20090508

"A Florida woman has been indicted for keeping her dead mother's body in a bedroom for six years while collecting more than $200,000 in pension benefits, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

...

"Police found the decaying body of her mother, Timmie Jordan, on a bed in a spare bedroom at the mother's home in late March, when they were called to investigate a report of nuisance cats."

Crazy people always have a lot of cats.

Gab

2009-05-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30361435/

"Fayetteville police spokeswoman Teresa Chance said Wednesday the woman had a handgun and demanded money when she entered a Carter Bank & Trust branch at 9:43 a.m. Tuesday.

"But she got distracted when her cell phone rang. Police said she began talking to the caller and left the bank without taking any money. No one was hurt."

Pat Robertson on Marriage Between Two Adults

2009-05-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://mediamatters.org/clips/200905070024

"we haven’t taken this to its ultimate conclusion. You got polygamy out there. How can we rule that polygamy is illegal when you say that homosexual marriage is legal. What is it about polygamy that’s different? Well, polygamy was outlawed because it was considered immoral according to biblical standards. But if we take biblical standards away in homosexuality, what about the other? And what about bestiality and ultimately what about child molestation and pedophilia? How can we criminalize these things and at the same time have constitutional amendments allowing same-sex marriage among homosexuals. You mark my words, this is just the beginning in a long downward slide in relation to all the things that we consider to be abhorrent."

-- Pat Robertson

Religion, Again

2009-05-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/809536/nz-family-accused-over-exorcism-death

"Nine members of a New Zealand family will be named tomorrow after being charged over the exorcism-style manslaughter of a 22-year-old woman.
...

"Several people also leant over Janet, placed their mouths over her eyeballs and tried to suck at her eyes in an attempt to remove the curse," she said.

Water was then poured on Moses' face, down her throat and into her eyes while she was restrained during the ceremony, attended by more than 30 people at her grandparents' house.

"At times Janet was restrained while the water was poured over her and if she called out or tried to push those pouring the water away, the restraining simply increased."

Powell on Limbaugh

2009-05-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cda_20090505_8843.php

"He blasted radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, saying he does not believe that Limbaugh or conservative icon Ann Coulter serve the party well. He said the party lacks a “positive” spokesperson. “I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without,” Powell said."

Ha!

2009-04-28T12:19:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21802.html

"'You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words about how [the GOP] views moderates,' said Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the Senate.

"Snowe said the party's message has been, 'Either you're with us or you're against us.'

"Her frustration was shared by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), who slammed right-wing interest groups for pushing moderates out of the party. 'You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words about how [the GOP] views moderates,' said Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of the few remaining moderate Republicans in the Senate.

"Snowe said the party's message has been, 'Either you're with us or you're against us'.

"Her frustration was shared by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), who slammed right-wing interest groups for pushing moderates out of the party."

...

"'As Republicans, we got a problem,' he said."

Ha! Lindsay Graham is what passes for a Republican moderate these days?
They are in trouble.

Let Texas Out of the Union

2009-04-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.examiner.com/x-4112-Skepticism-Examiner~y2009m4d22-Just-shoot-me

"Bill Nye "The Science Guy" was booed in Waco, Texas for suggesting the Moon did not generate its own light, but reflected light from the sun."

As near as I can tell Texas is a state of morons. Our nation would be better off without this liability. We should move our southern border to the north and Texas can turn itself into the third world, medieval theocratic nation those people so badly want. Instead of paying for their roads and the schools (that they don't want), a "republic" of Texas can just get in line for foreign aid at the IMF like any other under developed nation.

Gads

2009-04-16T08:10:00.001-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Apr09/04-15Office2010.mspx

MSFT's ads lately have all been built around a message something like "helping people work the way people need to work" or some such.

Man, that's ironic.

We've all spent our whole adult working lives learning ways to get work done *in spite of* MSFT constantly being in the way at every turn. I can think of no company whose products have less to do with the way people actually use PCs, or struggle to use them. In fact, I can't think of a company that's more in the way... If I could have back all the hours I spent finding a work-around for Microsoft, I'd have invented strong AI by now.

Abuse

2009-04-16T07:40:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/us/16nsa.htm

"The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews."

That Kenyan socialist Obama!!
Let's all be outraged about Big Government, all of a sudden!!!

Ya, let's all do whatever FOX News tells us to do!

Pedicab

2009-04-14T13:26:00.001-07:00

Pedicab operator allegedly run down by intoxicated drug dealer; suspect still on the loose...

http://bikeportland.org/2009/04/14/pedicab-operator-allegedly-run-down-by-intoxicated-drug-dealer-suspect-still-on-the-loose/

"The pedicab operator then says she flagged down a cop, but the cop told her, 'We don't have time to play games with you.' (Remember, she was wearing a fluorescent orange bunny costume)."

Columbine

2009-04-14T11:57:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm?

"The pair planned the attacks for more than a year, building 100 bombs and persuading friends to buy them guns. Just after 11 a.m. on April 20, they lugged a pair of duffel bags containing propane-tank bombs into Columbine's crowded cafeteria and another into the kitchen, then stepped outside and waited.

"Had the bombs exploded, they'd have killed virtually everyone eating lunch and brought the school's second-story library down atop the cafeteria, police say. Armed with a pistol, a rifle and two sawed-off shotguns, the pair planned to pick off survivors fleeing the carnage.

"As a last terrorist act, a pair of gasoline bombs planted in Harris' Honda and Klebold's BMW had been rigged apparently to kill police, rescue teams, journalists and parents who rushed to the school . long after the pair expected they would be dead.

"The pair had parked the cars about 100 yards apart in the student lot. The bombs didn't go off."

Tea Bagging

2009-04-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

Finally - someone speaks the obvious joke....

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/14/shuster-dick-tea-bagging/

"And in Cavuto's defense, if you are planning simultaneous tea bagging all around the country, you're going to need a Dick Armey"

An Easter Story

2009-04-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30159623/

"Sunday school teacher has been arrested after the body of 8-year old Sandra Cantu was found in a suitcase pulled from a pond."

Made Off

2009-03-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSTRE52B78420090312

Here's something I don't understand about Bernard Madoff... He began this fraud on the early '90s (or perhaps the very late '80s) because he felt "compelled to satisfy" expectations. But through most of the '90s, any chimp was making money hand over fist in the stock market. It wasn't enough? He felt pressured for higher gains?

Amazing and strange...

Mates

2009-03-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

Image by yewenyi via Flickr

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/20/two-men-get-death-sentence-for-internet-crime-mates-killing/

"According to Japanese media reports, the site was specifically set up to connect “crime mates” online (it’s now inaccessible for obvious reasons). According to the ruling, the three men met via the site and decided to commit a murder together. The 31-year old victim was beaten multiple times, strangled with a rope and later abandoned in a forest.

"The men didn’t know each other before meeting online and didn’t reveal their real names to each other."

Then It Gets Wierd

2009-03-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://open.salon.com/blog/amytuteurmd/2009/03/20/she_tried_to_flush_baby_down_the_toilet_the_it_gets_weird

"No one paid her much attention until she went to the Ladies Room and blood was seen to flow from beneath the door. When Security broke down the door, the doctors found that the girl had given birth to a premature baby. She had stuffed the baby in a Wonderbread bag, and, at the moment Security had broken in, she was attempting to flush the baby down the toilet."

It Figures

2009-03-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/08/big-music-will-surrender-but-not-until-at-least-2011/

"I had a surprisingly candid lunch conversation last week with a big music label executive, and a good part of our talk focused on the future of music. I asked the usual question: Why are you guys so damned clueless?

...

"By 2013 (maybe as early as 2011) it'll make sense for the labels to finally reorganize their business models around the reality created by the Internet and person to person file sharing services. No longer will the labels be tied to revenue limited to sales of master recordings

...

"But until then, he says, the spreadsheets and financial models dictate that suing customers and partners just makes too much sense."

This is Why We're Doomed

2009-03-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

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http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/03/05/illinois-plutocrats/

The state of Illinois resolves that Pluto is a planet.

The Other McCain

2009-03-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

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http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/12/ingraham-meghan-mccain/

Another non-person of interest that's all over talk shows and the internet these days; Meghan McCain.

Wow, who decided she was interesting? She doesn't even pretend to know anything about politics.. Are there another relatives of Republican Senators we should put on TV? I think this is actually yet another sign that just how goofed up the Republican party and the right in general is at the moment. And it appears to be getting worse. Any minute now you can bet their going to be dumping that Steele guy (too black for them I guess).

It's like watching a car crash. I wonder if this is how it was when the Whig party came to an end.

Dang Kids...

2009-03-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

Image by 444-l)! 4y4+ via Flickr

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/03/the-sizzling-sound-of-music.html

"Berger then said that he tests his incoming students each year in a similar way. He has them listen to a variety of recordings which use different formats from MP3 to ones of much higher quality. He described the results with some disappointment and frustration, as a music lover might, that each year the preference for music in MP3 format rises. In other words, students prefer the quality of that kind of sound over the sound of music of much higher quality. He said that they seemed to prefer "sizzle sounds" that MP3s bring to music. It is a sound they are familiar with."

Sex and Death

2009-03-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

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http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090227/NEWS0107/902270346/1055/NEWS

"Deters said he was stunned by so many aspects of the case: sex with a corpse, sex with violently mutilated or damaged bodies, sex with dozens of bodies."

Will it Backfire?

2009-03-12T12:15:00.001-07:00

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This guy is digging himself into a hole.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/12/sanford-stimulus-education/

Last month, eighth grader Ty'Sheoma Bethea was an honored guest of President Obama when he made his address to a joint session of Congress. Bethea had written a letter to Gov. Mark Sanford (R) asking him to repair her school, JV Martin Jr High School in Dillon, SC, which was falling apart. "I felt that our school was in bad condition," she said. "After the stimulus bill was passed I hoped we could get some of the money to rebuild the school."

However, Sanford continues to stand in the way of Bethea's hopes. Yesterday, in what Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) deemed "100 percent political posturing," Sanford announced he would seek to pay down the state's debt by redirecting $700 million of the state.s stimulus money meant for school funding and public safety

Basement

2009-03-09T15:41:00.001-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090302.WBmarkets20090302141509/WBStory/WBmarkets

"On the other hand, the S&P 500 could just keep falling until it reaches these historical troughs. At a P/E ratio of 8, the S&P 500 would have to fall to 460. At a P/E ratio of 5, you're looking at a mere 300."

Car Wash Sex

2009-03-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

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http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2009/02/judge_to_sentence_thomas_towns.html

"Jason L. Savage pleaded no contest to indecent exposure in a sex act involving a Thomas Township car wash vacuum.

...

"Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge of aggravated indecent exposure"

Wal-Mart

2009-03-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Another story that sounds like the start of an X-Files episode...

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/wal-mart-worker-immolates-self-in-parking-lot.html

"A 58-year-old Wal-Mart employee who said he "couldn't take it anymore" lit himself on fire outside the Bloomingdale store where he worked late Thursday night and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said this morning.

"In an interview, his son said his father went to work last night with nothing seeming out of the ordinary. "This had nothing to do with the economy. I want to make that clear," he said, adding that the family may never know the reason for the public suicide.

...

"A store manager, who identified himself only as Erwin, had no explanation for the suicide. he said the man had not been laid off.

Wal-Mart corporate spokesman Dan Fogleman said the man had worked for Wal-Mart for a little over 7 years, most recently as an overnight stocker. He said he had spoken with a member of the store's management who described him as "a good guy and fun to be around."

Rape, Urine and Faeces In The News

2009-03-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/gloucestershire/7906639.stm

"A man sprayed a mixture of urine and faeces in two supermarkets, a pub and a bookshop in Gloucestershire, a jury at Bristol Crown Court has heard.

...

"The court heard he visited the Air Balloon pub near the village of Birdlip on 14 May 2008 where police were called after he asked a barmaid how much it would cost to rape her. "

Well this is something you don't read about everyday. I guess everyone needs a hobby...

This is Religion, Again

2009-03-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29531755/

"A Roman Catholic archbishop says the abortion of twins carried by a 9-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by her stepfather means excommunication for the girl's mother and her doctors.

...

"Doctors said the girl was 15 weeks pregnant when the abortion was performed Wednesday in the northeastern city of Recife, where Sobrinho is archbishop. Health officials said the life of the girl — who weighs 80 pounds — was in danger."

Canadian Bus Beheading

2009-03-05T14:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29530465/

"Police said McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, and the victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in Li's pocket.

"A psychiatrist called by the prosecution Wednesday testified that Li cut up McLean's body because he believed that he would come back to life and take revenge."

Thought

2009-02-26T08:32:00.001-08:00

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I've been thinking...

You know what really bothers me about being a programmer? The root reason of why I don't like coming to work? Sure, over the years there's many reasons; Windows is a pain, there's uninformed management, there's poor business choices, there's aggressive politics, there's the guy behind me talking to himself (well, that one doesn't really fit into what I'm about to say), there's all sorts of crap.

But it all boils down to one thing - it's pretentious.

This must be what it's like being in a successful pop band. Who cares about the curly brace being on what line! Who cares if I instantiate an object and pass it a message, or if I encapsulate the data directly in a helper class! IT DOESN'T MATTER. Why do I have to spend any time at all explaining why I thought using OpenMQ though JMS in an EJB in an SA was a better solution than accessing the NMB with a custom SE?

I think this is also why people get so crushed if their company goes under, for example Meriam's stories about the Sequent employee reactions to IBM. It's like people's lives are revolving around how company-logo golf shirts there are, like that's a measure of success...

Look at this place! Crapy furniture, breaking after a year, white office, metal framed walls, institutional carpet... This is worthless! Who do we think we are?

But lookit how cool the screen saver is on my all black PC!

It's always some sort of principle! That's why people insist on MSFT solutions, even when they don't work. That's why people build some giant expert system when the user needs trivial order-entry. That's why they are huge ETL package just to get data into a table.

In our wildest, most optimistic dreams, lines of code I type today will be erased within 5 years. Who do programmers think they are? We're building things no one will care about beyond its GUI, and then not for very long. If we're lucky, very lucky

This isn't rocket science. This isn't great history. We're not designing bridges, mush less Eiffel Towers, much, much less great pyramids.

POJO or stateful EJB? Grunge or "big hair"? Blah...

Lunch!

2009-02-24T08:57:00.001-08:00

Here's a web page good for anyone trying to stick to a diet...

http://www.culinaryschools.org/cuisine/10-disgusting-delicacies/

"Casu Marzu, a pecorino cheese and Sardinian specialty, surely wins among most disgusting cheeses of the world. The direct translation is 'rotten cheese' and rightly so: blocks of otherwise beautiful Italian pecorino cheeses are purposely prepared to become the natural breeding grounds for nests of maggots - the natural harbingers of rot and putrefaction. As if pecorino wasn't pungent enough.

...

"Oh, and the worms jump off the cheese while you're eating it. Mange!"

Yum, Mongolian Boodog!

Bakery

2009-02-23T13:30:00.001-08:00

http://shapeandcolour.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/kittiwat-unarrom-body-bakery/

"...brutally, gruesomely, almost unbelievably realistic looking sculptures of dismembered human body parts sculpted entirely from bread.

...

"Inspired and informed by anatomy book and visits to forensic museums, he makes sure that none of your various body part bread desires go unfulfilled: he also makes feet, hands, and internal organs which come displayed impaled on hooks. Made from dough, raisins, cashew nuts, and chocolate, all of the works on display are totally edible."

And So On

2009-02-23T13:12:00.001-08:00

Add another crackpot to the list:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/02/23/sanford-prayers/

"Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) has given some indication that he will not accept some of the money slated for South Carolina"

But this is hilarious!

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/sasha_obama_keeps_seeing_creepy

According to White House security documents, Sasha told Secret Service agents that the ghostly twins spoke to her in unison and repeatedly beckoned her by chanting the phrases "come play with us," "come play with us, forever," and "Daddy's making fajitas."