I smite thee! ...The Diary of Nod

Numbers Don't Lie: Two Seemingly Contradictory Statements

2011-08-05T19:13:00.004-04:00

Consider two seemingly contradictory statements:

"In recession, white families lose more wealth than black or Hispanic."

"In recession, white families retain more wealth than black or Hispanic."

Ironically, they're both true.

Between 2005 and 2009, the median net worth of black families fell to $5,677 from $12,124, and that of Hispanic families fell to $6,325 from $18,359. In the same period, the median net worth of white households dropped to $113,149 from $134,992.

Doing the math, black families lost $6,447 (53%), Hispanic families lost $12034 (66%), white families lost $21,843 (16%). In raw dollars, white families lost the most. As a percentage, they lost the least.

Numbers don't lie but people lie using numbers. Just a reminder to look at the numbers people use to support their statements.

Rain-free July 4th Slightly Associated With Voting Republican

2011-07-02T22:55:00.004-04:00

Nick Carbone at Time Magazine wrote an article, "Do July 4th Parades Turn Kids into Republicans?" The title sounds pretty sensationalist and reading the article fits the bill.

And the stats from Harvard back up the claim. When children were exposed at a young age to the Americana fanfare associated with the Fourth of July, they were more likely to vote Republican and make campaign contributions to the party.
...
[K]ids who attended one rain-free July 4th celebration before the age of 18 were four percent more likely to vote Republican before the age of 40. And whether or not they went to the polls, young Independence Day revelers were more likely to identify with the right wing by 2 percent.

All I could think is, "There's no way a Harvard paper said that." Well, I was right, but only barely. Really, I underestimated what the Harvard paper DID say.

See, they couldn't actually measure who attended July 4th celebrations in childhood and how they voted as adults; instead, they use rain as a proxy for attending a celebration and the birth year and birth place as proxy for where a voter spent their childhood.

From section 1, "Introduction" (p2):

We thus use the absence of rain as a proxy for participation in holiday celebrations on Fourth of July.

I know, I know, I've gotta be full of shit, right? There's NO way a Harvard paper by an associate professor at the Harvard Kennedy School wrote that. I've GOT to be full of shit. Or not.

From section 3, "Methodology" (p8):

The ideal experiment to estimate the effects of Fourth of July would be to allocate participation in he event randomly to some individuals and not to others, and then compare preferences and be- havior across the two groups. In the absence of such evidence, and because we cannot audit actual participation nor control for unobserved factors likely to motivate those who join the festivities, it s difficult to measure the impact of celebrating Fourth of July.
The key innovation of this study is to exploit random day-to-day variation in precipitation to estimate the effect of Fourth of July celebrations.

From section 3.1, "Data" (p8):

We rely on information from two sets of data. The data on rainfall comes from NOOA National Data Centers (NNDC). The data on political preferences and political behavior is taken from the ANES.
...
In a majority of the surveys, the data contains information on the county of residence. A limitation is that we lack information of the county of birth or county of residence in childhood. When investigating the long-term effect of Fourth of July, we would like to measure rainfall for an individual during childhood. Since we only observe the county of residence at the time of the survey, we match at the county of residence, leading to a measurement error problem. However, in most surveys, data is available on the region of birth.

And after all of these assumptions and maybes, what they find is a slight favoring to vote for Republicans; moreover, they claim causation instead of mere correlation.

Finding causation is very difficult (unless you're at Harvard, it seems), because you have to prove that This And Only This could have caused the result.

From section 4.2, "Voting Behavior" (p13):

The results above show that Fourth of July celebrations in childhood cause individuals' political preferences to permanently shift toward the Republicans.

I can only sum up the paper as, wipe your tush with it, it's already full of shit. It's 40 pages long but the bullshit stares you straight in the face.

Wis. Cops Raid Give Breath Tests For Root Beer

2011-05-10T15:49:00.003-04:00

Cops in Wausau, Wis. raided a party serving root beer to teenagers. You know, root beer, the soda nine-year old kids drink. They tested almost 90 kids for alcohol, found NONE. They looked all over the house for hiding teenagers, including closets. Found NO ALCOHOL. Police defended their actions:

"If one kid had come there, even hadn't drank there, but had come there and had been drinking and had left and crashed and burned, then what would the sentiment be? Why didn't the police check everybody out?"

They would've thought, "Man, I'm never going to let someone who drinks into my house where they can have soda. Fuck that. They should DRIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE."

Dustin Zebro, 18, said he staged the party after friends at D.C. Everest High School got suspended from sports because of pictures showing them drinking from red cups.

Red cups, the universal sign for BEER.

Great job, Mister Policeman. You showed EXACTLY how stupid you are.

On Ubuntu and Free Software

2011-03-10T23:39:00.005-05:00

I've tried Ubuntu off and on since they first released. It's what I've recommended to friends as a first Linux distro and I'm writing this on a (borrowed) laptop running Ubuntu.

But for my own systems, I run Debian. One of the reasons I've stuck with Debian is I've found the project is most consistent with what I think free software should be and what it doesn't have to be. I'm ok waiting an extra six months (or 18 months) for a feature to be implemented in a free, unencumbered way. I'm ok not using features which require me to surrender rights or privileges to someone else. Until the last year or so, I thought Ubuntu shared that belief.

Benjamin Mako Hill wrote an essay for the Free Software Foundation about the arguments for "free software" versus "open source", where the latter argues that it is better because of the quality of code. For me, free software is better because it's free, not because of features or quality.

On quality and features, Ubuntu often makes a better desktop. On being free, Canonical keeps moving itself farther and farther away, as Novell and (especially) RedHat have done. Releasing code under GPL isn't enough.

I get why people use Ubuntu. For a long time, I've tried to like it - but too many problems, too many conflicts. And now, Canonical is trying to redefine what "free" means.

I get it. I get why people run OSX. Or Windows. I get why people choose lots of things I wouldn't. Sure, opinions vary. But I think people have to reconsider why they're running GNU/Linux, and if Ubuntu still meets those standards.

Americans Want to Keep Affordable Care Act

2011-02-25T17:55:00.000-05:00

A new Kaiser poll reveals some interesting numbers: 60% of polled support the Affordable Care Act, 60% object to Republican attempts to block it from the budget. Support for specific elements of the law have even higher support.

These numbers are significant and show that the people like and want the law, contrary to Republican lies and the media who repeat them. How bad is the lying? 22% of people polled thought the law was repealed - where would they get so misinformed?

Could it be these Fox News articles?

America Rising: Obamacare Repealed in the House
House Republicans Vote to Overturn ObamaCare in Symbolic Move
Judge Rules Health Care Law Is Unconstitutional

The Act is a law and it's been held as Constitutional by 2 of the 4 federal judges who've reviewed it. Some parts of the law won't go into effect for another few years - everything else is in full effect.

And when you start asking people about the facts of the law, they LOVE it! 70% of those who want to repeal the law, want the small business tax credit. 60% want to close the Medicare "doughnut hole", 52% want to give financial to people who can't afford private insurance, 56% want to guarantee insurance and prevent companies from denying coverage, and 40% want to increase the Medicare payroll tax on the "wealthy". This is all amongst people who want to repeal the law!

Fox News lies and people who watch Fox News buy into the lies. When you present the facts, people choose progressive options.

Can tragic things still be an accident?

2011-01-24T21:21:00.003-05:00

In December of 2009, an 80-something year-old woman swerved to avoid a car stopped behind a school bus and drove onto the curb, striking and killing a small child who had gotten off the bus. It's horrible. Tragic.

Today, the driver was sentenced to 3 years in prison for "vehicular homicide".

Was it preventable? The word "accident" usually means that it was unavoidable, that people did what reasonable people would do and that there was no negligence and no malice.

No one has claimed there was any malice, but was there negligence? Over the last decade or so, there have been many instances of elderly persons killing or seriously injuring others through driving mistakes. Elderly drivers often have to be tested more frequently or more thoroughly, but many continue to drive. This woman had a valid driver's license. The state said she was qualified to drive. What does that mean?

I've driven more than 300,000 miles through 40 states in cars, cargo vans, a box truck and on motorcycle. Based upon the driving I've experienced, the states, including Georgia, have very low standards for "qualified". Perhaps she was both qualified to drive and completely unprepared for that situation. Perhaps she, and thousands or hundreds of thousands like her, drive around and avoid death and injury through luck. Happens chance.

It's horrible when a child is killed. It's tragic. But in the rush to find meaning, to find a reason for why it happened, people assign blame. Someone must be responsible, they say. Maybe it's not someone. Maybe it's everyone.

Maybe there are lots of legally qualified and completely unprepared drivers. And she, and the child she killed, were just unlucky.

Who's your Baddie?

2011-01-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

PZ Myers hates on religion, again.

2010-12-10T02:30:00.000-05:00

It's always cool watching someone sanctimoniously criticize another for being sanctimonious. And by cool I mean uncool. Language these days. Let me clarify: PZ Myers is a dick.

From the Edmunton Sun (Canada):

The Salvation Army says it refuses to distribute Harry Potter and Twilight toys collected for needy children because they're incompatible with the charity's Christian beliefs.

The Salvation Army is a religious organization. OMG! Shocking, I know. As such, they hold religious beliefs - belief being something you think is true but have no rational basis. PZ has a hate on for people with beliefs, specifically religious ones. This time, he complains that unwanted donations might not be used:

So donors may have handed over popular toys for distribution, not knowing that the destination was going to be the landfill. And it's not because the Salvation Army is concerned about the quality or educational value of the toys.

Actually, they are concerned with both. PZ quoted it himself - "they're incompatible with the charity's Christian beliefs." But for PZ, that isn't a valid reason. Well, can't please everybody, but that's no reason to attack them:

I feel so dumb for having ever given that organization anything. I should have been clued in by the frickin' name that it was run by a gang of puffed-up sanctimonious looneys.

Yeah. They're being sanctimonious. Overall, the group does awesome things that - let's be honest - are handled far more frequently by religious groups than non. If you drop a dollar in their bucket, it's going to food and clothes and toys. If you donate toys, it's almost certainly going to someone in need. And, despite PZ's artful selective quoting of the Sun article, the Salvation Army says it gives the unused toys (Harry Potter and all) to other groups who "[distribute] in another manner where parents can choose."

Nobody's perfect. In the real world, they're pretty good. And PZ is a dick.

Cleaning out open browser tabs and windows

2010-11-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

Links of the...

Even Latino homeboys gotta keep it on the down low. Fox Broadcasting and Fox News are not always playing for the same team. Whoa, WTF!

Actor kills his mother. Not funny, right? How about if he once did a spot for Full Throttle energy drink and separately took a samurai sword to his mother while yelling Bible versus. Energy drink. Samurai sword. Bible versus. Decapitation. It's pretty funny now. Or at least awful, so we're halfway there.

Yeah, me neither. Batman Jesus. And Bravo, home of catty queers and cutthroat stage moms, is now offering plastic surgery to brides in exchange for them being catty and cutthroat.

U.S. Air Marshals Flee Brazil After Arrest

2010-10-22T18:22:00.000-04:00

CNN reported that two U.S. air marshalls arrest a Brazilian national on an international flight and are then arrested themselves when they land in Brazil. Judge confiscates their passports but they flee the country in the middle of the night. How'd they manage that?

The line from the TSA and the Air Marshal union? The air marshalls are the good guys and it's just corrupt judges abusing their power. Wait, what? This isn't Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, this is Brazil - they're no more corrupt than we are! So if it is a corrupt judge, where's the apology from the government? Where's... anything supporting that statement? It's just as likely we have another "isolated incident" where the air marshalls arrested and abused an innocent person - but this time, she was Brazilian and her government wasn't willing to roll over and allow its citizens to be abused.

It'd be nice if the U.S. government felt that way about its citizens.

Texas GOP supports Israel because God said so

2010-06-19T16:30:00.000-04:00

From the Texas GOP party platform, under the heading of "Israel":

Our policy is based on God's biblical promise to bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel and we further invite other nations and organizations to enjoy the benefits of that promise.

Christians defend Israel uniquely because of their religious beliefs, including the role of Israel in Armageddon. The US is largely biased for Israel and that is evidenced pretty well, even without the Texas GOP stating it explicitly.

When I point this out, I'm sometimes labeled "pro-Palestinian" or, when people are feeling particularly ignorant and insulting, "anti-Semitic". But, I'm not biased for or against Israel or the Palestinians. I take issue with the biased and hypocritical treatment we give Israel (and a whole host of other states and organizations) and I think our bias for Israel is detrimental to everybody, including Israelis, in part because it's become an impediment to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Unfortunately, anything less than that biased, hypocritical, unequivocal support for Israel, or any expression of sympathy for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, often earns a person personal attacks and slurs. Until we can be allowed to disagree without verbal insults or physical violence, the situation will not improve.

AL teacher keeps job after using Obama assassination as math example

2010-05-29T12:51:00.000-04:00

In Alabama, a math teacher used the hypothetical assassination of President Obama as a geometry example. Coach Gregory Harrison of Corner High School, Jefferson County, Alabama, has forfeited 10 days of pay, will undergo "sensitivity training" and has apologized for "the inappropriate comments" and an "error in judgement."

Now, joking about Lincoln and Booth could be considered "inappropriate". Definitely Kennedy and Oswald or King and Ray. But joking about someone who isn't dead and who gets regular death threats? And is the goddamned president, is black, and you're in fucking Alabama?

That's "inappropriate"? Let's flip this around. Imagine if a student were given the task of writing a word problem for a geometry lesson; if that student had used ANYONE living, they would have been expelled. Gone. Fini. Imagine if an Alabama student had done that about President Bush (43) during his presidency? Wanna guess there'd be criminal charges for "terroristic threats" by the local cops?

You know I'm right. So how come this teacher gets a (hard) slap on the wrist? Is it because it was Obama and not Bush? Is it because he's a teacher, not a student? Is it because "Coach" wins games and is popular?

Let's ask one of his former students:

Shea Cameron, one of Harrison's former students and supporters on the Facebook page "Keep Coach Harrison," says she understands the need for consequences, but doesn't think Harrison recieved an "accurate punishment."

"I believe that the example that the student gave was if you were to shoot the presidents ear off and Coach Harrison said that would be the point of tangency," she said.

"I honestly don't believe a reprimand was necessary," Cameron said. "I believe that he had a lapse in judgement, absolutely, but it was not intended to harm anyone."

Teachers should set the example for students to follow. This goes beyond "inappropriate" or an "error in judgement." The man should have been fired. Obviously, the community at large thinks this kind of thing is ok and would do nothing to deter it.

So the next time some kid gets expelled or arrested for joking about something like this, bring up Coach Gregory Harrison of Corner High School, Jefferson County, Alabama. Ask why he gets to keep his job.

U.S. denies murder extradition request from Panama, sends Noriega to France

2010-05-05T10:40:00.004-04:00

From CNN:

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega arrived Tuesday morning in France -- where he was extradited to stand trial on charges that he laundered drug money.

So not only is it legal to invade a sovereign country to capture a criminal ("Watch out Switzerland, we're coming for Polanski!") and then hold him as a Prisoner Of War after his criminal sentence is complete, we can then choose to extradite him to a third country rather than back to the original country we invaded which has also filed extradition papers to try him on MURDER charges.

We're just completely full of shit, aren't we?

GA Rep Mark Hatfield Introduces Citizenship Bill Because He Likes To Talk

2010-04-22T00:31:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday, Georgia State Representative J. Mark Hatfield, (R - Waycross) introduced a bill requiring that anyone running in a Presidential primary in the state of Georgia would have to prove they meet the citizenship requirement of the Constitution.

When did the good Mr. Hatfield introduce it? Eight calendar days before the end of the legislative session. With only three days of active session to act upon it. How can the good Mr. Hatfield expect to pass it? Well, he doesn't:

Hatfield acknowledged that there's not enough time remaining in this year's legislative session to bring up his bill for a vote, but he introduced it anyway "to start a conversation" in Georgia, with the idea of re-introducing the bill in time for consideration in next year's legislative session.

Hmm. He could have introduced it earlier this year. He could have introduced it last year. He could have introduced it the year before that, when one of the Republicans on the primary ballot was not born in the U.S. and his citizenship was in question. He didn't. He waited until absolutely nothing could be done except his bantering about it while he runs for re-election.

And he still isn't convinced that Obama is a natural born citizen and eligible to be president.

11Alive News asked Hatfield, "Do you consider yourself a 'birther?'"

"No. I wouldn't say that, at all. I'm simply a citizen who is concerned, to make sure that the Constitution is upheld and enforced."

"So you don't know one way or the other whether he is a citizen of the United States?"

"Well, of course not. I have not been given any sort of proof, one way or the other."

Uh huh. Obama's birth certificate has been presented along with birth announcements in newspapers. If say you don't know Obama's a natural born citizen, you're either a moron or a liar.

Georgia State Representative Mark Hatfield (R - Waycross) is either a moron or a liar.

Zero Tolerance Keeps Kids Safe by Suspending Girl Who Refused Drugs

2010-03-06T12:09:00.003-05:00

The next time you vote for a "Get tough on crime" politician, send this girl an apology. Another student put an Adderall pill in Rachael's hand, Rachael said "No" and gave it back, Rachael was suspended for 5 days. Thank god "zero tolerance" is protecting our innocent school schildren.

Slate's Prudence Helps a Young Boy with his Fetish

2010-03-06T11:23:00.003-05:00

In Slate's section Dear Prudence, a mother writes in that she's concerned that her 13 year-old son has a fetish about rubber gloves. She saw him watching porn about it so she installed filtering software.

He was horribly embarrassed and guilty, and he promised to give up gloves forever. ... Should I try to stop him, or should I just chalk it up to a personality quirk and worry no longer?

Well, I wouldn't be too worried. Being 13 and horny is normal and we fetishize lots of "normal" things like blondes and redheads and Asian girls (if you're white) and white girls (if you're black) and big breasts and big dicks and Catholic school girls and Catholic school principals and a whole shit ton of other things. Of course, Prudence will consider this when telling the mom to offer some understanding toward the kid and allow him to be a little weird without worrying that it will scar him for life or make him a freak.

[Dr. Martin] Kafka recommends contacting the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers—not because your son is or will be an abuser, but because these professionals are knowledgeable about paraphilias.

Holy shit.

Really? You couldn't have just said, "Give him time and if his schoolwork starts slipping or he seems to be withdrawing socially, take him to see a psychologist who will help your son accept his fetish and teach him how to enjoy relationships with and without the fetish."

My mistake. I forgot that we used to think homosexuality was a contagious disease and masturbation would physically harm you. I forgot that this country was founded by Puritans who view anything sexual or enjoyable as sinful and evil.

Well, I guess she couldn't. Wouldn't be prudent.

The RIAA is screwing you? Stop bending over.

2010-02-21T14:05:00.007-05:00

Damian Kulash Jr., the lead singer and guitarist of the band OK Go, whines in the New York Times,

"Now we’ve released a new album and a couple of new videos. But the fans and bloggers who helped spread “Here It Goes Again” across the Internet can no longer do what they did before, because our record company has blocked them from embedding our video on their sites. Believe it or not, in the four years since our treadmill dance got such attention, YouTube and EMI have actually made it harder to share our videos."

Really? This is a shock to you? Oh wait, it is.

"To go from playing at a local club once a month to actually supporting yourself with music requires big investments in touring, recording and promotion — investments young musicians can’t afford. My band didn’t sign a contract with EMI because we believed labels magically created stars. We signed because no banker in his right mind would give a band the startup capital it needs."

I haven't bought an RIAA album in years. I don't "pirate" either. There is plenty of good music made by bands who aren't so catastrophically naive and stupid as to sell their soul to an RIAA company.

That OK Go got screwed is a) expected and b) their own fault. When they signed with EMI in 2000, it was well publicized how badly the RIAA raped its musicians. That now, 10 years later, they're still trying to defend the recording industry means they haven't learned a thing.

Screw 'em.

(from Electronic Freedom Foundation Twitter)

Daylight Savings Time and Scheduling Jobs

2010-02-20T23:22:00.004-05:00

Twice a year, we move our clocks around and either "gain" or "lose" an hour. This "Daylight Savings" can cause issues with scheduled jobs because an hour is either missed or repeated.

In the U.S.A., we "spring forward" on the second Sunday in March and skip the 0200 hour; our clocks go from 0159 to 0300 and any jobs we had scheduled between that time DO NOT HAPPEN.

Can I emphasize that again? If you scheduled something for 2AM, like your backups, it DOES NOT HAPPEN.

Then, we "fall back" on the first Sunday in November and repeat the 0100 hour; our clocks go from 0159 to 0100 and any jobs we had scheduled between that time HAPPEN TWICE.

This just sucks all around, doesn't it?

What's an admin to do about it? Well, you can avoid scheduling jobs from 0100 to 0300, you can schedule the jobs and move jobs as needed when Daylight Savings Time approaches or you can avoid the problem entirely by running your systems on UTC.

As soon as I get a job where I can run all of my systems in UTC, I'll let you know.

Daylight Savings sucks.

Rotating log files without parsing ls

2010-01-26T00:58:00.003-05:00

When people are rotating custom log files, they often parse ls because, well, because they don't know any better.

Now you will and you can smack them appropriately.

If you have a bunch of log files with sequential file names (like dates), then you can easily trim to a specific number of files to keep.

$ echo mylog.*.gz
mylog.20100126.gz
mylog.20100125.gz
mylog.20100124.gz
mylog.20100123.gz
mylog.20100122.gz
mylog.20100121.gz
mylog.20100120.gz
mylog.20100119.gz
$ numsave=5
$ echo mylog.*.gz | tr " " "\012" | sort -nr | while read f
> do
> if [ ${numsave} -gt "0" ] ; then
> numsave=$((numsave - 1))
> else
> echo DELETE $f
> fi
> done
DELETE mylog.20100121.gz
DELETE mylog.20100120.gz
DELETE mylog.20100119.gz

And you can easily substitute an "rm" where I put "echo DELETE".

But what if you named the files like a moron such that you can't sort by name. Like, "26Jan2010", that kind of moron.

$ echo mylog.*.gz
mylog.26Jan2010.gz
mylog.25Jan2010.gz
mylog.24Jan2010.gz
mylog.23Jan2010.gz
mylog.22Jan2010.gz
mylog.21Jan2010.gz
mylog.20Jan2010.gz
mylog.19Jan2010.gz
$ numsave=5
$ ls -t1 mylog.*.gz | while read f
> do
> if [ ${numsave} -gt "0" ] ; then
> numsave=$((numsave - 1))
> else
> echo DELETE $f
> fi
> done
DELETE mylog.21Jan2010.gz
DELETE mylog.20Jan2010.gz
DELETE mylog.19Jan2010.gz

One Liner: Install all fonts with aptitude

2010-01-18T10:44:00.000-05:00

Install all fonts (packages starting with "ttf-" or "xfonts-") :

# aptitude install '?narrow(?name("^(ttf-|xfonts-)"), ?not(?installed))'

A Failure in Product Design (Fedora 12 and PackageKit)

2009-11-21T23:18:00.000-05:00

An example of product design failure:

On Tuesday, Fedora 12 was released. This included major changes to both PackageKit and PolicyKit; the changes to PolicyKit were incomplete and intermediary but the PackageKit changes were completed first and decided to ship as-is.

On Wednesday, a PackageKit maintainer informed a bug requester that PackageKit in Fedora allowed console users to install signed packages from Fedora repositories, without any other privilege mechanism (root password, sudo, group membership). Users countered that this ran contrary to decades of UNIX security models and was difficult to resolve.

Later that day, that information hit major attention via Slashdot and LWN.

On Thursday, the Fedora Project Leader announced that the PackageKit maintainers would revert the changes seen in Fedora 12 back to the behavior in Fedora 11.

Why (and how) is this a failure in product design?

Essentially, the persons maintaining the software didn't have any clue what their users wanted. On Wednesday and Thursday, users explained (repeatedly) what they wanted and why; the maintainers responded (repeatedly) that the users were incorrect about facts (the users were correct) and that these users were a small group and could "trivially" modify the software to the behavior they preferred. When asked for details, it was stated that "trivially" required PolicyKit scripting experience; response from users countered that this was not trivial because it was something few people had needed to use previously or would otherwise use.

This back and forth continued until the persons responsible for larger Fedora design stepped in; the result was the rollback to the behavior in Fedora 11, which was what these users had requested.

So...

The maintainers did not know what their users wanted.
The maintainers were incorrect in assumptions about how the software worked/was deployed.
The maintainers made design decisions, specifically related to security, that were contrary to decades of precedence.
When confronted on those three points, the maintainers refused to concede any ground and laid all fault on the users.

That's not how you make software that people WANT. If you're making a product for other people to use, you must listen to your users and you must be open to criticism, even when it goes against your personal preference (which is a opinion, not a matter of fact).

[Caveat: Very often, making software that is secure requires ignoring user feedback; security often makes tasks harder to accomplish or disabled entirely. However, this is the reverse of what was done with PackageKit, where users requested making a task more difficult in return for a more secure system.]

How could this have been done better?

When it became apparent that PolicyKit would not be released with the features needed to "trivially" modify PackageKit, the changes to PackageKit should have been reverted. When users asked for the changes to be reverted, citing both security and preference, maintainers should have better weighed the issues at hand and revered the changes.

Should PackageKit allow console users to install packages without any other privilege mechanism? On a single-user system, almost certainly. On a multi-user system, never. The maintainers also failed when they presumed a single-user system and created default settings for such. The better way to make this decision is to presume the system is multi-user and allow the administrator (who may be the single-user) to modify the setting during and after installation.

The Republicans declare jihad on health care reform

2009-11-20T01:17:00.005-05:00

Republicans, who have criticized the Democrats' initiative as a step toward government control of the healthcare system, are already planning a series of delaying tactics, including forcing the entire bill to be read aloud on the Senate floor.

"It's going to be a holy war," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said Wednesday evening.
- from the Los Angeles Times

That's right, "a holy war." They've declared jihad on health care reform.

"The plural of 'anecdote' is 'data'."

2009-11-20T01:03:00.000-05:00

Steven Pearlstein wrote in The Washington Post, "Sebelius's cave-in on mammograms is a setback for health-care reform"

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius did a marvelous job this week of undermining the move toward evidence-based medicine with her hasty and cowardly disavowal of a recommendation from her department's own task force that women under 50 are probably better off not getting routine annual mammograms.

. . . "How many mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, daughters and friends are we willing to lose to breast cancer while the debate goes on about the limitations of mammography?" Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, asked in an op-ed article in Thursday's Washington Post. Dr. Brawley cleverly didn't answer his own question, but the clear implication of his question was that the only acceptable number should be zero. And it is that very attitude, applied across the board to every patient and every disease, which goes a long way in explaining why ours is the most expensive, and one of the least effective, health-care systems in the industrialized world.

We're still cowering from facts, hiding in a Wonderland where if we just spend enough money, nobody has to die and nobody has to suffer. Until we own the tough choices and accept that both are inevitable, we're going cause death and suffering while trying to turn fantasy into reality.

David. David.

2009-06-19T23:38:00.006-04:00

I saw Kimball on Babylon 5 and checked his biography, but I didn't recognize anything... It's fucking uncanny.

David A Kimball

David Strathairn

Confusingly, they were both in The Firm (1993).

We're not discriminating, it's just gender bias!

2009-06-19T22:42:00.005-04:00

From the Associated Press:

In a letter to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the federal appeals court judge said she is convinced that the club does not practice "invidious discrimination" and that her membership in it did not violate judicial ethics.

Firstly, "invidious discrimination" is redundant since "invidious" means "discriminatory". I know this because I looked it up. If you're going to use a word I have to look up, at least use it like you aren't named Debra Jo and married to your cousin.

Secondly, YES, if you are a member of a club which prohibits membership based on gender, it IS discriminatory. Where the fuck did Obama find this person?

I want to support her because she's Obama's pick. Flat out, she is just as, if not more, qualified judicially than either Alito or Roberts. Compared to Harriett Myers, she's King Fucking Solomon. But I'm getting less and less impressed by her interpretation of the law. She is not a "liberal" judge. She's a former prosecutor; she follows the law to the letter, even when it contradicts justice; she has the (common) oppressive view of minors, that they are property and lacking in rights; she supports Roe v. Wade.

Yeah, that last one is the clincher. Nothing else matters as long as she favors allowing you to put a pair of scissors in your son's skull before he exits your body. She isn't liberal and she isn't progressive. She's in favor of abortion rights. That's her major selling point, quickly followed by her genitalia and her ethnic background--I don't know that the last two were a requirement for nomination, only that they're being used for promotional purposes.

I want a justice who recognizes that the 4th, 5th and 6th amendments try to codify a basic tenet of the Framers: Do not EVER give the government the benefit of the doubt and the law must favor the citizen in all things, especially when accused. If the letter or the spirit of the law favors the citizen, that is which should be followed.

I want a justice who knows THAT.

QOTD: GOP thinks Greenland was actually green.

2009-03-17T01:25:00.003-04:00

"We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green.
-- GOP Chairman, Michael Steele, guest hosting Bill Bennett's syndicated radio show Morning In America

I bet he watched FDR's fireside chats on television.

There really is a difference between the flubs that happen when everything you say is recorded and dissected (think of what you've said today) and completely made-up "facts" that you use to counter science.

I want to like Steele, I really do. Something gives me the impression he's playing the extremist but is a bit more moderate, and I want to encourage that. But... then he gives a rimjob to Rush and says "I'm pro-choice except when it involves choice" and counters scientific arguments with complete and utter bullshit. I can forgive political maneuverings or some "Where am I?" road fatigue. I can't forgive "Hey, I'm going to completely talk out of my ass about something that's completely false so I can score a political point against scientific fact."

Yeah. Fuck Michael Steele and the nutjob horse he rode in on.

Irony: When what happens is not what you expect to happen.

2009-03-17T01:21:00.001-04:00

Times are tough for a financial consultant. Sometimes, you survive on irony.

Beer Review: Stone Imperial Russian Stout

2009-03-03T21:46:00.004-05:00

I picked up the Stone Imperial Russian Stout on a whim. At 10.8% alcohol, it's extremely weighty and the bottle is distinct without being flashy. A few sniffs of the bottle didn't tell me much more than "Hey, I'm a fucking stout!" but my first impression upon tasting it on my tongue was, "Hey, I'm fucking sweet!" There was a slight bitter flavor but with an overall (and indistinct) sweetness. Its taste is very powerful and delicious; I'll be picking it up again. Beer Advocate gives it an A and RateBeer gives it a 4.2/5.0.

Beware of FREE (part 2): There's no such thing as a FREE account.

2009-01-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

I previously wrote about dangers of relying on "free" services because you relinquish control (and effectively ownership) of your property to the administrators of the services.

An economics teacher of mine repeatedly lectured that "There's no such thing as a free lunch." We don't exist in a vacuum and everything has a cost, even if you don't see it. When you sign up for a "free" account (like the Google one I'm using now) you're paying for that account, but not with money. Usually, you're paying with personal information. There is plenty of in-depth coverage of what websites do with your information and that's not my focus.

I just want you to know, it's not free.

Every "free" service you use is using you in return. Every time you connect two discrete facts together by "friending" someone on a website or listing your favorite books or reveal anything about yourself, you're paying that company for their service. There are billions of globally known facts about you; what isn't known is that you are always you. How does a company distinguish the John Smith who likes Ford Mustangs from the John Smith who likes sushi and also know that the first one is a vegetarian? They know it because you tell them. That information now belongs to them. You're paying them for their service.

In perpetuity.

QOTD: Jon Stewart on homosexuality, humanity and shame

2008-12-10T21:11:00.009-05:00

"The fact that you would trust the government with tanks and nuclear weapons but not to pass out cheese to poor people, well, you gotta ask..."

"Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality."

"Semantics is cold comfort when it comes to humanity."

"You talk about the Pro-Life movements being one of the great shames of our nation. I think if you want number two, I think, I think it's that. I think it's an absolute...it's a travesty that people have, uh, forced someone who is gay to have to make their case that they deserve the same basic rights as someone else."
-Jon Stewart to Gov. Mike Huckabee, The Daily Show, 09 Dec 2008

I am often amazed at how very respectful the audience of The Daily Show is. They don't boo; even when Stewart hits a big ideological point, they often stay quiet because cheering would make it more like a game than a discussion. For a show that's about laughing and humor and cheering, it's incredible how quiet and respectful the audience can be when they're hearing someone argue for something they argue against.

Dan Savage on hot teenagers, asshole parents and vows that you may come to regret...

2008-10-09T23:20:00.005-04:00

I tried cutting this down to a paragraph or two but it didn't work. The punchlines are funny but they are only there to lighten otherwise horrific truths and people need to recognize the truth.

The 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, the GOP's vice-presidential nominee, is pregnant. The news was released by the McCain camp during a busy week—a hurricane, the Republican National Convention, Dick Cheney getting us into a war with Russia—so it didn't receive the coverage it deserved. To recap:

Seventeen-year-old Bristol Palin got her ass knocked up five or so months ago by 18-year-old Levi Johnston. Among the hobbies listed on Levi's since-yanked MySpace page—"fishing, shoot some shit, and just fuckin' chillin'"—was this revealing tidbit: "I don't want kids." But Bristol, says her mom, "made the decision on her own to keep the baby," and is now engaged to Levi "Shootin' Shit" Johnston.

As the adoptive parent of a child born to a pair of unwed teenagers, I'm certainly not in favor of abortion in all circumstances. But I believe that it's a choice teenagers should be able to make for themselves—with input from their families whenever possible—and, so it seems, does the GOP's VP nominee. Sarah Palin is pleased that her daughter made the decision—on her own—to keep the baby.

But Sarah Palin doesn't believe that other girls should be able to make their own decisions. Sarah Palin believes abortion should be illegal in almost every instance—including rape and incest. So Bristol Palin is being celebrated for making a choice that Sarah Palin would like to take away from all other American women. Apparently, today's GOP believes that choice is a special right reserved for the wayward daughters of Republican elected officials.

Oh, and Sarah Palin also believes that birth control shouldn't be made available to teenagers, she opposes medically accurate sex education, and she backs abstinence-until- marriage sex "education."

Sigh.

The GOP has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into abstinence "education" programs during the Bush years. I believe this enormous investment of public funds begs the obvious question: Is our children abstaining? Sarah Palin's aren't. Despite this massive outlay on the part of the American taxpayer and the example set by her Christian parents, Bristol Palin became sexually active while still in high school. Excuse me, but if abstinence education can't keep the daughter of the evangelical governor of Alaska off the cock, what hope is there for the daughters—and some of the sons—of average Americans?

I'm a cad for writing this, of course, because shortly before Bristol and Levi were paraded before cheering throngs at the Republican National Convention, the Palins asked the media to respect their daughter's privacy.

Another special right: When it comes to respecting your family's privacy, Palin and the GOP see no need. They want to micromanage the most intimate aspects of your private life. And if their own kids fail to live up to the standards that Palin and the GOP seek to impose on your family, well, that's a private matter between the Palins, their daughter, their God, and the thousands of screaming imbeciles in elephant hats waving McCain/Palin signs on the floor of the Republican National Convention.
- Dan Savage, Savage Love: Teen Beat

QOTD: Why gay people hate marriage

2008-10-07T01:03:00.003-04:00

"One of the joys of being gay and having lots of gay friends was the knowledge that at least half our acquaintances would never encumber us with wedding lists at Peter Jones or the social obligation to spend the better part of a Saturday in enforced merriment in the company of a crew of people we didn’t know and would never meet again, and in a cause — a marriage — whose prospects we secretly knew to be patchy at best, but that we were obliged to celebrate as the beginning of perpetual bliss.

"After the mid-point of one’s life an understanding dawns that there are only a finite number of Saturdays left. Those tempted to invite an older person to their wedding should ponder the possibility that they are asking for the commitment of an appreciable portion of someone’s remaining leisure-time to compulsory jollity on another’s behalf. A marriage can be dissolved. A bachelorhood can be regained. A lost Saturday never can.

"At the core of the celebration of a marriage is a half-lie. This thing may or may not work out — but guests are obliged to pretend otherwise, and in a ceremony that goes on too long and is followed by hours hanging around for a ghastly reception to start, where one will have to explain again, to increasingly drunken acquaintances and for the umpteenth time, that the reason one declines to dance is that one really doesn’t want to dance."

--Matthew Parris, "Hurrah for the new gay 'weddings'. But please don't invite me along"

The internet is creepy.

2008-09-20T22:28:00.003-04:00

I took a look at LinkedIn's suggestions of who I might know... the first person (non-alphabetical list) is a girl from whom I only bought something a year ago. Never met her in person; only had a few phone calls and a few emails. That's it.

I guess I was on a contact list that she uploaded... and I'm pretty disturbed that the internet knows about that vague and temporary of a relationship.

Such a wife is a Godly Christian wife.

2008-09-20T13:18:00.002-04:00

On the internet, you can find ~~almost~~ anything you want.

"My primary goal is to find a wife that knows that she was created for man, that she is to be her husband's helpmate, that she is totally under her husband's authority and is to obey her husband with all her heart, mind, body and soul and that it is her husband that she is devoted to and loyal to and seeks to please with all her being. Such a wife is a Godly Christian wife. Any deviation from this it NOT a Godly Christian wife but is rather a rebellious witch and whore. Most of Christendom is filled with rebellious witch whores."
Man For Young Girl To Become My Wife

Amen, brother. He's really looking for some awesome stuff.

FBI determines 40yrs of scientific testimony wasn't ever based on science.

2008-09-14T20:09:00.005-04:00

1. The FBI gives testimony which is later found to be untrue.
2. ...
3. FALSE CONVICTION!

"... a six-month investigation by 60 Minutes and The Washington Post last November showed that there are hundreds of defendants imprisoned around the country who were convicted with the help of a now discredited forensic tool, and that the FBI never notified them, their lawyers, or the courts, that the their cases may have been affected by faulty testimony."
Evidence of Injustice

Just imagine if the state killed someone in your family based on bogus testimony. That'd really suck, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be really nice if the state were trying to help groups like the Innocence Project analyse cases and help clear innocent people of these crimes so we could, I dunno, find the real criminals and, I dunno, protect society. Too bad governments will attest to the dying day--the convicted's, that is--that they haven't made an error.

Lifehacker isn't hacking enough.

2008-09-13T17:33:00.004-04:00

Lifehacker ran a list of "Readers' Free Replacements for Paid Tools" which I would care about if I ever paid for software tools. More than seven years ago, I switched to Linux exclusively and the only software I buy is the rare game (and I don't use unlicensed copies at all).

"Companies that suffered from piracy a decade ago now know the lesson well - piracy is a good thing so long as the pirates are folks who could never afford your products. So stop calling them pirates, call hem users. Free software has no pirates."
--Jonathan Schwartz, Free Software Has No Pirates

I know that it's hard for some people to understand but Free Software means I don't have to worry about getting audited for license violations or calling up the company because software I paid for won't work after I upgraded computers.

All of starts by not running an operating system that tells me what I'm allowed to do with it. Or a phone or a DVD player or a television or anything. If I buy something and what I want to do is legal, I shouldn't be restricted by a license.

Craig Ferguson speaks on civic duty.

2008-09-12T17:01:00.003-04:00

"If you don't vote, you're a moron."

Craig Ferguson says we shouldn't get news from late-night comedians but they're the only ones who can tell the truth and not get fired for it. Sometimes the only way we can swallow our medicine is when it's wrapped in a sugar.

Don't be a pussy trying to get pussy.

2008-07-10T18:36:00.004-04:00

Everything I need to know, I leared from Ferris Bueller's Day Off:

Cameron has never been in love - at least, nobody's ever been in love with him. If things don't change for him, he's gonna marry the first girl he lays, and she's gonna treat him like shit, because she will have given him what he has built up in his mind as the end-all, be-all of human existence. She won't respect him, 'cause you can't respect somebody who kisses your ass. It just doesn't work.

But here's the thing--it's more than just not kissing their ass. Women are taught very bad things growing up and what they learn is that being treated like shit is normal and if they're treated nicely, there's something wrong. Women have associated certain actions and behaviors ("being nice") with larger roles ("being a pussy") and won't spend enough time considering you to overlook the "nice" part.

My rule? Have fun. If that means you're being a dick, so be it. If they don't like it, fuck 'em. I treat women the same way I treat men--disposable. A friend is different: you care about them and they've earned that honor. Joe or Jane Random hasn't.

More than being an asshole or being generous, happiness is attractive. If you seem like you're having fun, people will want to have fun with you. Don't compromise having fun because you want to worship at the altar of pussy.

This rant inspired by Matthew Savage

QOTD: Superstitious?

2008-07-05T19:16:00.001-04:00

"Are you superstitious?" my father asks me.
"Well, I am Catholic," I respond.

OSX has bugs. Get used to it.

2008-06-24T03:13:00.004-04:00

Many years ago, I cut my teeth on Solaris; a year later, I started using Linux because it was free and ran on a 386 I picked up. It always amazed me how Linux fanboys heard I started on Solaris and then would presume I was anti-Linux in some fashion, dedicated solely to the use of Solaris, and they would lecture me at length about Solaris's failures and Linux's successes. Then I would run into hardcore Solaris admins who learned I ran Linux and would presume I was a F/OSS zealot that refused to use proprietary software and they would lecture me at length about Linux's failures and Solaris's successes.

Most ironically, a community once called me a troll when I disputed some fanboy's assertion about the supremacy of Linux. This, considering he was a self-declared hobbyist user and I was a sysadmin with longer professional experience than his hobbying.

Three days ago, I pointed out that Mac OSX, despite all claims to the contrary, was vulnerable to exploits just as Windows and *nix. The latest is a root privilege escalation. My point was and still is that no system is perfect and the more complex a system is, the more errors which will result. As OSX has become more popular, it has become more of a target and people are spending more time finding errors that were already there. Trying to gloss over the errors or pretend they're less important than so-and-so's failure does a disservice to everyone.

Don't bullshit yourself or me. Especially me. OSX has bugs. Get used to it. We're going to see lots more bugs revealed as people spend more time hacking on it. If you can't cope with that idea, kill yourself now.

Flip-flops are not for the fat of heart.

2008-06-22T11:29:00.004-04:00

Unless you're age 22 and ninety pounds, flip-flops will never be attractive.

If you're closer to a beached whale, they aren't even acceptable.

To the two behemoths wandering around the grocery store behind me last night, please, don't wear anything that doesn't stay attached to your heel. The constant thwap-thwap as you shuffle through life just reminds the rest of us that you're taking up space for two in an already crowded world.

Surprise! Apple applications can get exploited too.

2008-06-21T11:17:00.004-04:00

For years I had to listen to fanboys and cultists talk about how secure Apple's operating system was and it couldn't get rooted like a Windows system (or *nix). I wonder if they have any idea that they were completely full of shit.

No one and no thing is perfect. The more complex a system is, the more bugs (errors) that are introduced. As Mac OSX became more popular, more people began to test it for holes. They're being found. Fanboys need to figure out that while OSX may be more secure than Windows, it's kind of like being a taller midget.

Barack Obama impresses Marc Andreessen

2008-06-08T03:54:00.002-04:00

Marc Andreessen met with Barack
Obama for an hour and a half in early '07 and realized 4 things:

* "First, this is a normal guy."
* "Second, this is a smart guy."
* "Third, this is not a radical."
* "Fourth, this is the first credible post-Baby Boomer presidential candidate."

Chicks dig hair.

2008-06-07T14:05:00.003-04:00

Matt Savage is trying to grow his hair out but he's having second thoughts. Let me clear this up.

Chicks dig hair. REALLY dig it. Most women with a preference choose long hair over short--I can only recall one woman ever telling me she preferred short hair on a guy but I've had lots of women start playing with my hair without even asking or saying hello. Just last night, I was giving a girl a hug goodnight (in front of her husband) and she remarked how nice my hair smelled.

Just think of how often girls in school would play with one anothers' hair. I remember how they would often brush some boys' as an excuse to be closer to them.

I suspect the psychology of women's desire for it is is a mixture of Uniqueness/Rebel along with Peacocking. Long hair is not the norm and is often not allowed in "normal" society, so it shows that you're willing to be "different". People also see the time involvement in maintaining long hair and is shows that you're willing to take care of yourself and look good. (This all presumes you DO take care of your hair.)

Take care of your hair, regardless of the length or style. In the "dating" game, having a unique hair cut/style is to your advantage because it makes you stand out and it gives insight into your personality and character.

Long hair also has the benefit that it reminds people of youth and vitality and invites women to touch and play with it. Trust me. I've had long hair (past my ears and collar) for twenty years. Chicks dig long hair.

(My perspective may be biased; it is reasonable that there are women who dismiss me because of my hair but I don't notice because I dismiss them also...because I can sense they are someone who wouldn't be interested in me.)

After Empowerment, Retribution

2008-06-03T01:05:00.002-04:00

It is too often true that when a group struggles for equality, it is still not pleased when it reaches that. Rather, the group takes its newfound empowerment and seeks retribution upon those who they feel scorned them and caused their previous hardship.

In the U.S.A., it's too common for men and boys to become the scapegoat for problems for which both genders need to share responsibility. Glenn Sacks writes consistently about the other side of the pendulum, where all men have been painted with the same brush. I can't speak for his politics (I haven't looked them up) but his reports are so spot on they hurt.

While we may become more enlightened in certain ways, we've slipped so far back in others.

Virginia is for lovers!

2008-05-20T10:21:00.001-04:00

"Vito Fossella of New York, will retire from his House seat at the end of this term. Mr. Fossella revealed recently that he secretly fathered a child in Virginia."
(as reported in the New York Times)

QOTD: Degrees + Studying = Elitist

2008-05-03T22:51:00.003-04:00

"It seems rather elitist to me for people who maybe have degrees in this field to feel that they, because they've studied it, somehow know better than the parents..."

Rep. John Duncan (R-TN), on the support of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association for comprehensive sexual education, rather than abstinence-only classes. I shit you fucking not.

Born Again Douchebags

2008-05-03T04:08:00.004-04:00

I hate "born again" motherfuckers. It's not just the Christians. Oh no. It's any of a million kinds of trend puppet who decides they need to reform or reinvent themselves because some fucker in a turban said so. And once they do, they try to convert every other sinner to their way of thinking.

I'm glad Al Gore's movie changed your life but he didn't invent sustainable living. Where the fuck have you been since the 60's?

Welcome to forty years ago, motherfucker.

New Programming Language: Yoda

2008-04-29T21:18:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine has introduced me to a new language: Yoda. It's a lot like Java but they've replaced all the try blocks with do.

QOTD: God's Irony

2008-04-29T21:05:00.002-04:00

"Fat girls have such wonderful tits. It's sad that such beauty was wasted on God's irony."

(I wrote this on my tablet Friday night and I don't remember who inspired it, although it may have just been me revisiting previous thoughts on the subject)

QOTD: I don't ever seem to get tired of you

2008-04-27T23:44:00.003-04:00

"That other girl, or other women, whatever. I mean, I was thinking, that they're just fantasies. You know? And they always seem really great because there's never any problems. And if there are, they're cute problems like, you know, we bought each other the same Christmas present or she wants to go see a movie that I've already seen, you know. And then I come home and you and I have real problems and you don't want to see the movie I want to see period. There's no lingerie and--"

"I have lingerie!"

"Yes you do you have great lingerie but you also have the cotton underwear that's been washed a thousand times and its hanging on the thing. and they have the it too but I don't have to see it because it's not in the fantasy, you understand? I'm tired of the fantasy, because it doesn't really exist. And there are never really any surprises and it never really..."

"Delivers?"

"Delivers. Right. I'm tired of it. And I'm tired of everything else for that matter...but I don't ever seem to get tired of you."

"Rob" and "Laura", High Fidelity

A fine line between genius and nutcase.

2008-04-13T00:55:00.003-04:00

I'm sure Wayne Schmidt's projects annoy his neighbors. Fuck them. The guy made a garden without walkways; he built a small seat that can be moved anywhere over the garden so he can work from above.

Long escalator is looooooooong

2008-04-13T00:41:00.003-04:00

I've always thought the escalators in the Peachtree Center MARTA station were something to be respected...but they have been pwned by Moscow's Petrovsko-Razumovskaya station.

(original video)

Study shows stilettos are secret to better sex

2008-04-05T00:56:00.003-04:00

Stilettos are good for posture, muscle tone and pussy control.

She discovered that women who held their feet at a 15-degree angle to the ground, the equivalent of a 7cm [2"] heel, showed up to 15% less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles. The results suggest the muscles are more relaxed when women wear higher heels, increasing their strength and ability to contract.
(via Shake Well Before Use)

It's the hat.

2008-03-30T15:00:00.000-04:00

Gaming airlines into bumping you (and getting the booty)

2008-03-26T12:40:00.000-04:00

Dhalia was recently bumped from her flight to Atlanta, arriving six and a half hours later than planned (including a detour to New York). That said, they paid her cash greater than her round-trip and she flew business class.

Seems someone has worked on how to game the airlines into bumping them and getting the goodies:

Mornings are better than evenings—airlines are more likely to overbook these early flights, knowing that they have a better chance of delaying passengers to a later flight. Holidays, Saturday mornings, and Sunday evenings are good bets, too. Similarly, popular destinations are goldmines for the flexible traveler. Las Vegas, Hawaii, and major business travel hubs like New York, Minneapolis, and Chicago are common sites of overbookings.
(via lifehacker)

I find my time to be more valuable than my cash so this doesn't really appeal to me...but business class is awesome and if I'm traveling by myself (rare), I might find ways to entertain myself until the next flight comes along.

Damn Canadians taking our jobs!

2008-03-15T20:07:00.003-04:00

A friend at work is a Canadian immigrant. This was a continuous joke with us and I had to continually come up with some new way of insulting Canada, Canadians or him because he was Canadian. One day he walks into my team's cube farm and a wonderful insult pops into my head but then I thought, "Maybe this is really common even though I think it's new and unique and I'll just come across as a poseur." So I asked him.

"Has anyone ever called you an 'Iceback'?"

He turned and paused, then said slowly, "No."

Everyone in the area was silent for a moment until the joke set in. Raucous laughter ensued.

A sniper always gets his target.

2008-03-15T18:48:00.003-04:00

A graduate of the Army's sniper school killed a nine year-old girl when he drove home from his graduation and she drove to her grandmother's funeral.

After the crash, he was treated and released from the hospital. Alcohol was not a factor, troopers said. Deming was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and driving left of center.

Only in the south is it a crime to be "left of center".

Reporters take an oath to the dollar, not the truth

2008-03-12T02:10:00.004-04:00

Watch exaggeration about a suspected DUI:

He is charged with his fifth drunken driving offense, a felony, and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces a maximum six years in prison and a $10,000 fine, but those penalties double because he had two young children in the vehicle at the time.

He had kids in the car? That's fucked up. What's that? He had kids in the car but he wasn't driving? And he was on private property?

He placed the 6-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl, both of whom were crying, into his Lincoln sport utility vehicle.
Witnesses heard the engine rev but said the SUV did not move.
At that point, a sheriff's deputy arrived and took Hansford into custody.

Yeah. Exceptional reporting. Ignoring misleading "facts", if this is true, the guy and his kids need help.

Where'd you go?

2008-03-12T01:50:00.000-04:00

When I've lived with someone or were out with someone, I often felt the need to inform them when I went somewhere. "Hey, I'm going to the store." "Hey, I'm stepping outside." "Hey, I'll be in the next room." My brother pissed me off because he was very dismissive, that he didn't care. A college roommate often acted the same way.

If I turn around and am looking for that person, because they were there before, I expect to find them. If someone gets up and leaves the room, I think it's polite to tell the people in the room something rather than wordlessly disappearing. I don't need (or want) to keep tabs on them like small children, but I think the relationship includes certain responsibilities to the other person.

That said, I enjoyed a relationship with a girl because she would (responsibly) go off on her own without telling me, yet she never disappeared such that I couldn't find her if I was looking for her. To reinforce my point, I can think of two girls who literally disappeared and couldn't be found for hours--one actually tried to blame her friends for being concerned when she wandered off with a guy she'd just met minutes before. I stopped talking to her after that. [0]

There's no hard and fast rule to it...but there is a balance between respecting privacy and responsibilities to friendship.

The absurdity of legal rights and responsibilities of minors.

2008-03-12T01:45:00.003-04:00

I love the logic of cops:
A 14yo girl isn't old enough to drink--she's not responsible enough
A 14yo girl isn't old enough to drive--she's not responsible enough.
But she can get charged with a DUI if she does both because THAT she can be held responsible for?

Seventies Singer Songwriters on SNL

2008-03-02T03:17:00.001-05:00

John Prine was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, 16 October, 1976. Just him, a guitar and his disheveled hair and clothes. He played Hello In There and it's pretty damn incredible.

A studio version with slideshow:

A live version from years later:

My sister gave me the second season of SNL for Christmas; it's something I never would have thought to get for myself but I've really been enjoying it. Not only are the artists more talented, they seem to be able to push the line farther than they do now. And of all things, I've been enjoying the music, something I've almost never been able to stomach on SNL since I started watching as a kid.

When Paul Simon was the musical guest, he and George Harrison performed guitar duets of Here Comes the Sun and Homeward Bound. There seems to be a rare bond between them.

Charlie Murphy on Storytelling

2008-02-28T21:26:00.002-05:00

Charlie Murphy, the less successful brother of Eddie, talked with SOHH about what makes good storytelling. He breaks it into 5 items:

Never Try to Tell Somebody's Else's Story
Draw on What You Know
Be as Descriptive as Possible, Then Perfect the Story
Be Positive
Trust your Material

Most of this can really be summed up as, "Be yourself". Stand-up comedy is more than just a series of jokes, it's about selling yourself. Life is about selling yourself and it's all to easy to sell yourself short because you're trying to live someone else's story. Trust yourself. Trust your instincts. It's important to know where you're going, but you have to know where you are.

Confidence breeds success.

My Fatty Fantasy

2008-02-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

What is it about a fat girl that the only arousing fantasy I have is making her cry?

Or maybe, what is it about me that the only arousing fantasy I have about a fat girl is making her cry?

For the record, this girl was not chubby or even fat, she was unequivocally obese...and I couldn't take my eyes off her. She did have a pretty face and would have been attractive had there been half as much of her, but still...

All I could see was her naked and crying. God, it's turning me on now.

What's Worthwhile: Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Life

2008-02-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

Here's what's worthwhile that I've been reading or viewing:

I've watched the first eleven episodes of Life (all they've made so far), about a cop who spent twelve years falsely imprisoned before winning his freedom and a lawsuit from the city which gave him his job back and millions of dollars. He studied Zen Buddhism while incarcerated and that combines with his experiences as an inmate to make for a very unique character, especially a police detective. It's nudging me in the right direction, to try and clear my mind and focus on what's in front of me now rather than what's behind or far ahead. I've got some books on Buddhism, I should finally pick them (or something) up and see what the philosophy can teach me.

NOVA Science Now is a spin-off of NOVA and has three shorter stories in each episode. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts it, which is the reason I'm watching.

I've re-read two of Dr. Tyson's essays, The Perimeter of Ignorance and Holy Wars. Both are wonderful and push me to ask deeper, richer questions and to not put forward unnecessary boundaries upon myself.

Knight Rider comes back because Hollywood lacks writers for anything original

2008-02-08T02:14:00.000-05:00

They're making a new Knight Rider movie. And KITT will be a Ford Mustang. Ugh. But here's my fave:

Sarah and KITT track down her best friend from childhood, Mike Tracer (Bruening), a 23-year-old ex-Army Ranger, whom Sarah hasn't seen since he left home at 18. Having served in Iraq, Mike is now jaded and lost and initially resistant.

This is all of that same superhero bullshit that everybody you meet was some special forces guy. If you're an ex-Ranger at 23, I can't think you were much of a Ranger. This isn't a knock on Rangers (I'll save that for later), but Rangers are (relatively) elite and they aren't made of guys that take a single tour and become so jaded that they quit.

Lots of guys have come back missing body parts and they don't have a Ranger or Airborne tab; many of 'em weren't even infantry, they're just guys who've been pushed to the line because the Young Republicans aren't willing to sign up their own asses.

Anyway. It's going to be a horrible movie and it'll be a horrible show, if it gets that far. The idea is completely unoriginal and amateur. And it's using a Ford. I wonder if they'll show it exploding in a rear-impact collision. Maybe it rolls over and the ex-Ranger sues the tire company, even tho no other car manufacturer has come close the instances of roll-over when using the same tires.

Ford sucks.

QOTD: Why am I not a Republican (part deux)

2008-02-08T01:35:00.001-05:00

"What a welcome. That is so fabulous. And it's such an honor to be introduced by Laura Ingraham."

"It's wonderful to have Laura Ingraham on our side. You know that? She is wonderful."

Ingram spends her career degrading people for their personal lives, most notably sexual preferences. She also told her viewers to call a voter help line all at once so it would tie up the line and make it unusable for the public. It was specifically a Democratic voter help line. That's voter fraud. The Bush administration declined to prosecute.

"Today we are a nation at war. And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror: They would retreat, declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child's play. About this, I have no doubt."

"I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I'd make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror."

"I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I'll fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of the things we believe in is that we cannot allow the next president of the United States to retreat in the face of evil extremism."

All are from fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney's speech 07 Feb 2008, that he was suspending his campaign for President. He was elected governor of Massachusetts because he was moderate and he was willing to work with and among both parties. It's sad that he's thrown that all away for a power grab.

To accuse your opponents of supporting our enemies is low. Slimeball Low. Mitt, are you slime?

Our policies need to be more than talking points. Though many politicians want to paint issues as right or wrong, black or white, they are entirely shades of gray. We've spent decades supporting tyrants and dictators (Hussein, Musharef), mass murderers and criminals (Pinochet, Bin Laden), choosing the side most convenient for our monetary interest while ignoring the ethical questions of supporting butchers.

Mitt, your arguments are worthless. You seek to ignore serious debate and instead paint patriots as traitors. You decry debate and seek defamation. Your positions are so without merit that you attack the personage of those with whom you disagree.

Racist bookstore chain closes

2008-02-08T01:35:00.000-05:00

Karibu Books, a chain in Washington D.C., is closing. Good riddance to those racist fucks.

Karibu was a "Black" bookstore that is just as bigoted as the groups it's trying to enlighten. There is no such thing as "Black". African? Sure. American? You bet. There's even the occasional African-American who is the child of an African citizen and an American citizen. (Obama '08!) But...black? I've had a lot of brown friends but never any black ones.

Even more disgraceful is when we try to assign characteristics or issues or interests to a single group, especially based on something as insignificant as the color of their skin. If there is no such thing as a "white" issue, then there is no such thing as a "black" issue.

I think the only "white issue" is the one the KKK has with "black" people. If we can all appropriately ridicule that, why are we accepting the idea of "black issues"?

Karibu, tho it may be well intentioned, is still set in the idea that we are not all Americans, that we are not all human, that we are not all creatures of this universe with diverse tastes and interests and concerns. In attempting to balance underrepresentation of authors who are black, they've ignored the fact that we shouldn't care whether or not an author is black.

There are many forms of bigotry and we cannot excuse any simply because the practitioners have been the victims of gross bigotry for generations. Fuck Karibu Books and fuck everyone who thinks that a person's interests are dependent upon the color of their skin.

Why am I not a Republican?

2008-02-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

In his path toward the Republican nomination, McCain has been continually hammered by conservatives including influential talk show host Rush Limbaugh, commentator and author Ann Coulter, and James Dobson, the evangelical Christian founder of Focus on the Family.
Jennifer Parker, McCain's Problem on the Right (ABC News)

And THAT would be why I'm not a member of the Republican party: I won't associate myself with the ethicless scum that control the party.

Cops focus on naked tushie when they should go after creepy grandpa

2008-02-04T00:16:00.000-05:00

Virginia Beach cop says a guy's tushie is obscene:

Police, saying they were responding to citizen complaints, carted away two large promotional photographs from the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Lynnhaven Mall on Saturday and cited the manager on obscenity charges.

The photos were pretty tame. It's ridiculous that we actually consider the naked body to be obscene; being naked in public will get you registered as a sex offender which is automatically assumed to mean you're a child molester.

Oh, speaking of child molesters, some sick fuck in Canada-ay molested another grand-daughter when he was on parole for impregnated the first. Yet the family welcomed him back with open arms.

At the time of the incident, the man was on parole after serving two years of a five-year sentence for incest. He had sexually abused another granddaughter several times when she was 12 and 13, and only admitted it when DNA tests proved he fathered his own great-granddaughter.

On a humorous note, the Winnipeg Sun had a slight ad mishap when I looked at the article:

QOTD: To each according to his needs.

2008-02-03T21:43:00.000-05:00

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!
Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program (1875)

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need.
Acts of the Apostles 2:44-45

There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.
Acts of the Apostles 4:34-35

Microsoft offers takeover bid for Yahoo!

2008-02-01T06:58:00.000-05:00

CNN Money is reporting (I also heard it on NPR's Morning Edition) Microsoft's takeover bid.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion. Microsoft's proposal would allow the Yahoo! shareholders to elect to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock, with the total consideration payable to Yahoo! shareholders consisting of one-half cash and one-half Microsoft common stock. The offer represents a 62 percent premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock on Jan. 31, 2008.

Stripping Rights, One Group At A Time

2008-01-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

In the United Kingdom, the House of Lords has overruled the High Court and removed a limitation that said victims had only six years to sue their perpetrators for compensation. How long do they have now? Eternity. Yup, sexual assaults are a special case where the idea of a speedy trial is absurd.

Yeah, the newsworthy case is the one where the rapist got 7 million pounds in the lottery, after the time limit had passed. Here's a news flash--good things happen to bad people along with the bad things that happen to good people. I'm sorry, that's life. But don't go around fucking up established law for one or two cases that are egregious.

The limitations are there to protect the rights of everyone. There are some rights people cannot have taken away. Even when those people commit crimes, even the most abhorrent.

Don't be jealous, though, the government will get around to stripping your rights soon.

QTOD: Black-owned Businesses and Chicken Thighs

2008-01-26T01:24:00.000-05:00

"People aren't going to come to the store just because it's black-owned. They'll come because of the experience, the staff, the selection and quality. Otherwise they'll go to get a tiny yet cheaper selection of least common denominator "bestsellers" when they get their twenty-pack of chicken thighs at Costco."

Christopher Chambers, Author and Professor, Georgetown University, "The Implications are more frightening than the reprecussions"

[Editor's note: He misspelled repercussions, not I.]

Dr. King says, "Drink Malt Liquor"

2008-01-21T01:43:00.000-05:00

Last year, students at Tarleton State University celebrated Martin Luther King's birthday with "an off-campus party in which students dressed in hip-hop attire and sported 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor. Photos from the ``Bullets & Bubbly'' party were posted on Facebook.com."

These kids are not alone:

In October, a group of first-year law students at the University of Texas at Austin were chided by the dean for participating in a “Ghetto Fabulous”-themed costume party and posting pictures online. Partygoers carried 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor and wore Afro wigs, necklaces with large medallions and name tags bearing historically black and Hispanic names.

But don't be afraid, the government is ready to crack down on these horrific parties that occur on private property and without public funding or support and involve no one getting hurt.

“If you look up the definitions for stereotype, bigot and prejudice, you will see they all mean the same thing. All those words are based on prejudging another class of people, which is exactly what Dr. King was fighting against,” [State Rep. Garnet F. Coleman, D-Houston] said in a statement. “What these students did and the day they did it on shows they were trying to be purposefully ignorant and prejudiced.”

Actually, Mr. State Representative, "stereotype", "bigot" and "prejudice" mean different things.

Some photos were archived at The Smoking Gun.

I'm gonna get rich when I invent malt liquor flavored fried chicken.

QOTD: Tourists, prostitutes, politicians.

2008-01-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

"``Would you patronize a streetwalker?'' No, I would treat her as an equal."

"``I didn't like to come to your town anymore. What makes New York so crummy these days?'' Uh, tourists."

"``Have you ever committed adultery in your mind?'' Um. Not in my mind."

"``Who do you think has the most charisma between Ford and Carter?`` Actually, anybody between Ford and Carter."

Dick Cavett, reading questions during the monologue on Saturday Night Live, 13 Nov 1976

QOTD: Good satire

2008-01-11T23:55:00.000-05:00

"The problem with good satire is that it's likely to come true."
--DH

QOTD: She went crazy.

2008-01-09T23:31:00.000-05:00

"And, then she went crazy. And not, I'm going to drink a bottle of Jack and then gang bang the football team crazy. No. She went suicidal. She almost set our apartment on fire."
--"Girlface", I hate Creed--Or how I know there are 52 Advil in my apartment on everything2

Antonin Scalia asks if it's is in the Constitution

2008-01-07T18:21:00.000-05:00

SCOTUS is hearing a challenge to executions by lethal injection, on the premise that the injections cause unnecessary pain:

Justice Antonin Scalia noted that execution methods that have fallen out of use — the electric chair, the firing squad, the hangman’s noose — have been abandoned in part because of fears that they were not pain-free.

But where is it written that the state must choose “the least painful method,” Justice Scalia demanded. “Is that somewhere in the Constitution?”

Ahem. The intelligent refer the stupid to Amendment VIII ("eight") of the U.S. Constitution:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

And then a dictionary:

cruel adj. cru·el·er or cru·el·ler, cru·el·est or cru·el·lest
1. Disposed to inflict pain or suffering.
2. Causing suffering; painful.

So if there's a less painful method available and you choose the more painful one, that would seem cruel. Good to know ol' Tony is up on his Constitution. Dumbfuck.

QOTD: Hangings

2008-01-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

"I'd vote for giuliani before obama, because at least we'd have the option of hanging giuliani from a tree when he pulls off what he wants, where as with obama, we'll be hesitant..."

A comment to the Republican debate in New Hampshire (ABC)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8854768252124327801

QOTD: Bitch, you almost made me laugh.

2008-01-06T03:42:00.000-05:00

"'Whats a Nubian?' Bitch, you almost made me laugh."
"What about you? You didn't tell me you were gonna scream 'Black Rage!'--I nearly pissed myself."
--Hooper X and Banky Edwards, Chasing Amy

No, not fairness. The Law.

2007-12-16T22:48:00.000-05:00

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle thinks it violates "fundamental fairness if people don't have the opportunity to know what they're being charged with". Really. Those of us who've got a brain think IT VIOLATES THE FUCKING SIXTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.

This guy isn't a small town douchebag police chief who doubles as the undertaker. This is a big town douchebag police chief who runs on the of largest metropolitan areas in the United States.

Does anyone feel safe in a city where the police chief doesn't know the amendments to the U.S. Constitution? Or where the media doesn't call out such a fucker?

Who flips out if they can't get a Whopper?

2007-12-16T21:55:00.000-05:00

Burger King has a new string of television commercials where they pretend they discontinued the Whopper and the fat, lazy Norte Americanos freak the fuck out 'cause they can't get their daily intake of heart blockage.

If it were me, I'd express surprise and then ORDER SOMETHING ELSE.

But what the fuck do I know? I don't eat fast food. Not exactly top tier beef. More like Corky from Life Goes On beef.

Patron XO improves a Rum and Coke.

2007-12-12T01:40:00.000-05:00

Surprising.

QOTD: Don't ask scary questions.

2007-12-07T12:49:00.000-05:00

"If my answers frighten you, then you should cease asking scary questions."
-- "Jules Winnfield", Pulp Fiction

QOTD: Vague pronouncements

2007-12-05T14:24:00.000-05:00

"People whose only skill is making vague pronouncements should just be taken out and shot."
-- Matt Palmer, Strategists and Tacticians

Are you a strategist or tactician?

2007-12-05T14:10:00.000-05:00

Matt Palmer writes that strategists and tacticians are complimentary elements: the strategist plans while the tactician implements. When the company is small, planning is small and can be done by the tacticians. He believes a fair amount of company strife exists because tacticians are made strategists and micromanage or strategists are made tacticians and focus too greatly on The Big Picture but miss the minute details they're responsible for.

Atlanta tells customers to stay home.

2007-11-25T09:25:00.000-05:00

The Atlanta City Council passed a resolution barring anyone under 21 from businesses that serve alcohol (excepting a few, such as groceries and restaurants). Their logic is, "Since a person under 21 can't drink in a nightclub, they should not be in these establishments." Balderdash.

New York City had a rule (maybe still does) that you had to be 13 to be at the bar (sitting or standing). I know this because I was shooed away from the bar and back to my table a few times when I wasn't yet 13. I wasn't anywhere close to 13, truthfully. Bars serve food and they also show pay-per-view sporting events--that was reason enough for me to be there in grade school.

When I came to college, years before I could drink, I'd still go to bars and clubs with friends. I wasn't drinking but I was still able to have fun. It's a false assumption that the only reason people go to bars or clubs or such is to drink--they go to socialize and drinking is how the businesses are able to pay the bills.

Atlanta is working very hard to make the city unpalatable for anyone under 50. They're turning Buckhead into Disneyland with shopping malls and tourist traps. Midtown has been gutted and little local flavor remains, replaced by condos. An event center I frequent has been in a battle to get licenses for a larger space and is being battled by a group that doesn't want us there (the battle has been pretty harsh, with someone printing fake flyers advertising illegal events at the space).

I started going over to Decatur to drink. I don't have to deal with smokers, they pour later (though I'm rarely out that late anymore), and the city and county seem to WANT my business. Atlanta will quickly learn that the old farts trying to make the city quiet aren't willing to pay the taxes that the businesses provide.

QOTD: God hates bloggers and kittens.

2007-11-17T23:11:00.000-05:00

"For each “meme” forwarded on the blogosphere, God kills a kitten. And I’d rather do that myself."
-- dr. Dave, The One-time-only Internet Meme: Books

Chain Blog: What's in my liquor cabinet?

2007-11-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

I've decided to start a chain blog (it's not a meme).

What's in my liquor cabinet? Are the bottles not the normal 750ml (fifth)? What's special about each (or my) bottle?

Bowmore 12 (bought this afternoon because GA won't let me buy liquor tomorrow)
Macallan Fine Oak 15 (less than half used after quite a while)
Milagro Silver (enough left for one or two more drinks)
Bacardi Silver (1.5L)
Southern Comfort (1.5L, I generally just mix it with lemon-lime soda)
Dekuyper Melon (this is wonderful when drank straight)
Dekuyper Blue Curacao (girls will drink anything that's a pretty color)
Dekuyper Triplesec (1L)
Jameson Irish Whiskey (1.5L and one of my most frequent purchases)
Skye Vodka (1.5L)
Saint Brendan's (1.5L)
Patron XO (I mix this with the Saint Brendan's and milk for something I call "Coffee and Cream")
Yellow Tail Merlot 2005 (1.5L)
Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio 2006
Clos Du Bois Shiraz 2003 (I bought this and the Pinot Grigio on a whim, then gave them to a friend--so I went back out and bought them again to have at home)
Rose's Grenadine (12fl oz, because Kristi liked gay drinks)
Mr & Mrs T's Whiskey Sour Mix (33.8fl oz, for the aforementioned Irish whiskey)

Now I tag people. Wait, that would be juvenile. If someone wants to write the same, they can link back here. The internet is egalitarian that way.

Merry Guy Fawkes Day!

2007-11-05T11:36:00.000-05:00

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

5th November, 1605, the Gunpowder Plot was foiled. Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up Parliament and kill the Protestant government of England in retaliation for religious persecution. One of those executed for his "part" in the plot was a Catholic priest who heard the confession of one of the conspirators.

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
--Thomas Jefferson

QOTD: Amulet of Unaccountability

2007-11-03T23:56:00.000-04:00

"Thank god Condoleeza Rice was wearing the Bush administration's No-Comment-I-Don't-Recall Amulet of Unaccountability."
--Jon Stewart, 20071030, on her testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Musharraf revokes Pakistani democracy...again!

2007-11-03T12:02:00.000-04:00

Good to know "President" Musharraf is helping to spread democracy and fight tyrrany in every country he doesn't control. It's incredible how accepting the government of the U.S.A. is to tyrrants in "friendly" nations.

State Department is Drafting Diplomats for Iraq

2007-11-01T17:44:00.000-04:00

The Department of State is short 48 volunteers for the 252 diplomatic posts in Iraq. In response, the State Department has mandated service from its remaining diplomats to fill the gap.

"It's one thing if someone believes in what's going on over there and volunteers. But it's another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment. And I'm sorry, but basically that's a potential death sentence, and you know it."
-- Jack Croddy, U.S.A. Department of State, Foreign Service (36-year veteran)

[Update 20071104: I previously posted "only received 48 volunteers", which was incorrect.]

The Humanity Of Digital Communication

2007-10-29T02:52:00.000-04:00

Michael Wesch, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, knows how his students speak to one another: EMail, SMS, IM, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LiveJournal, Blogger.

The world we live in has changed for the better. We can either join the revolution or be crushed in its wake.

QOTD: The Noble Things of Life

2007-10-29T01:50:00.000-04:00

"If you had any knowledge of the noble things of life, you would refrain from coveting others' possessions; but for me to die for Greece is better than to be the sole ruler over the people of my race."
-- King Leonidas of Sparta to King Xerxes I of Persia, before the Battle of Thermopylae, 480 BC
(recorded by Plutarch in Sayings of Spartans [Greek: Apophthegmata Laconica])

QOTD: Assumptions About Human Nature

2007-10-27T23:42:00.000-04:00

"There are far too many assumptions about what human nature ought to be and not enough research into what it is."
Henry Ford, My Life and Work: The Terror of the Machine

Italian censorship goes well with a nice Chianti

2007-10-27T22:47:00.000-04:00

"Marsha, we are committed to fighting terrorism in any form across the world. Next question, Bob."

"Mr. President, Italy will begin requiring any who publish on the internet, including news editors and bloggers, to register with the government. Many view this as censorship which intends to use fear to silence political critics. What is the White House reaction to this news?"

"Italy and its people have been committed to the war on terror and I think we should support all attempts to subvert democracy. I mean, support all attempts to censor those who subvert democracy. Also, I'd like you to go with these men from the Secret Service. They have questions about donations you made to the ACLU."

Mussolini would be proud.

QOTD: Common Sense versus Truth

2007-10-20T02:18:00.000-04:00

"If common sense involved facts or reason, it would be called the truth."
--The Don Lachlan

QOTD: How do you spell Irony? I-R-A-Q

2007-10-17T15:03:00.000-04:00

"If Turkey were to give itself the right to interfere in Iraq militarily, what is there to stop other neighbors from doing so?"
--Barhim Salih, Iraq's deputy prime minister

"[An invasion would be] violating the sovereignty of another country and is against international laws and treaties."
-- Jamal Abdullah, an Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government spokesman

"There's a better way to deal with the issue than having the Turks send massive troops into the country."
--George W. Bush, U.S. President and Hypocrite Extraordinaire

[All from the Most Trusted Name In Sensationlism]