LINUX Hates Me

For those of you not into computers, there is a whole vast array of operating systems. Operating systems (or OS for short) is the basic program that allows you to interface with your computer and run other programs such as your browser (to surf the web) or email.

Without getting into the specifics and variations (such as mainframes) and giving you a lesson on this, it comes down to a handful of OS’s that the average Joe might use:

Microsoft Windows and all it’s derivatives
MacOS
LINUX / UNIX

Windows wins the popularity award. It doesn’t mean it’s the outright best but it does mean that they were very successful at marketing it and they did a lot of good things with integrating the applications.

MacOS has always been the OS of choice for those into graphic arts, audio / video applications, or that think they are part of the elite avant-garde users, or just hate Bill Gates and Microsoft.

LINX / UNIX is the preferred operating system of many administrators because of it’s stability and open-source platform (LINUX). It’s also a great OS for hackers due to it’s granular level of control.


But first, let me clarify two things:

Article 1 – If you are the kind of person that would argue that LINUX and UNIX are not the same thing, then you are also probably the kind of person that would argue that variants such as Debian, Solaris, AIX, etc. are not LINXU or UNIX. It’s really simple, they are ALL freaking UNIX. Do you know why I am just as dangerous in Ubuntu as AIX as Solaris? Because they all have the same command structure and share commonality between directory structures….oh, I know…it’s hard for me to say that when Ubuntu puts it’s distribution build libraries under a sub-directory with a slightly different name than CentOS, but I can fuck either box up just as easily. If you are this person, get over it. Get out of your mom’s basement, go grab a beer and try to have some fun.

Article 2 – MacOS is LINUX with a nice-fancy GUI thrown on top of it. If you want to argue that it’s a derivative of debian, see article 1. The main reason I’ll never own a new Mac? The cost. I don’t see why I should pay twice to three times as much as the same hardware that I can get from another vendor, and they still don’t have two buttons for the mouse on the laptops!! HELLO! This has been around for 20 years! Put another button or two on the mouse and quit trying to be so god-damned separatist. Your GUI shell is not worth that kind of money. Far cooler ones are out for LINUX and they are FREE. Last but not least, don’t argue with me how intuitive a Mac is. I’ve used them. I’ve even used them with people that love Macs. You know what? It’s so intuitive they can’t find files and folders because they aren’t sorted alphabetically and in order to do so would require an act of God and five hours on the phone with tech support. Yeah, that’s slick.

All of that being said, I really like LINUX. It’s free. It’s stable. It’s inherently more secure than Windows, and it can be highly customized.

But it hates me. I’m not a “normal” user. I’ve used computers since I was about 5 or 8. I was programming my own stuff in the 5th grade and grew up around them all my life. I got into network some years ago and never looked back. What I’m trying to say is that I am not your average idiot when it comes to computers. But I am also not an uber-geek LINUX guy (see Article 1). Because of this, I find LINUX very frustrating. It’s difficult to get around and everything is cryptic. OH! But you just load this GUI shell, and this application and now it’s all graphical. Umm…yeah, that’s AFTER you get the basic OS installed, the shell AND the slick package that is supposed to alleviate all the other dependency problems that LINUX has.

Why, just in the last few days I tried loading Ubuntu on two test machines I have here. One is an old dell piece of crap that is great for testing. It has very little RAM and two hard drives in it.

The other is a Compaq 1RU file server with a gig of ram and a SCSI RAID controller.

Guess what Ubuntu did? It loaded right up on the dell, and then proceeded to puke on boot-up and never worked again. Nice.

Then I tried loading it on the Compaq. The installation GUI loads up just fine, but it can’t find the SCSI controller and hard drive array. So I went out to Ubuntu and read the documentation on installing the required drivers during the installation process so it could find the hard drives. You have got to be kidding me. I’d rather have my eyeballs plucked out by Jehovah Witnesses on crack.

That’s not to say I’ve never gotten some flavor of LINUX to load on either machine but really, things should not be so difficult.

You know what loaded great on either machine the first try? Windows. When LINUX can get it’s proverbial shit together to pull this one off and be usable to the less-than-average user then we’ll probably have a winner.

Advantage here? Probably Mac – but not at the cost.

Deliver Us From Evil

This is the title of a movie that I managed to get through last night. It was difficult because I kept getting client calls late into the night. Fortunately, it was a documentary so it wasn’t hard to watch a chapter and then not watch it for a bit.

The movie touches on the issue of the sexual abuse of children and the massive cover-ups that take place within the Roman Catholic church. I guess everyone knows this happens and jokes about it, but I wasn’t quite aware of how severe of a problem that there is.

The film estimates that there are approximately 100,000 victims of pedophilia within the U.S. It also estimates that 80% of victims will never come forward. That’s a fairly staggering number.

Worse, though, is that the Roman Catholic Church has aggressively denied and covered up the problem. In multiple instances they sent a known pedophile to other parishes to work with children and then paid these pedophiles to keep quiet about it. This goes all the way up to the current pope as he had direct involvement in some of the cover-ups. It’s estimated that the Church has spent over 1 BILLION dollars in legal fees and payouts to victims.

Worse yet…. It doesn’t appear that they’ve done anything to resolve the issue. I guess I never liked the idea of church very much in the first place, but this is pretty despicable by any standards of morality or civility.

A Year in the Making

A little over a year ago I was on my way home from Montana. Since I had spent a considerable amount of time there and my house was painfully devoid of artwork I wanted to get a nice panoramic photo of some mountains and scenery to hang in the house.

I shopped at several galleries, and almost picked up a photo or two but nothing ever quite struck me as what I wanted to see. What my mind “sees” when I think of Montana. Then, one day I was up at Moonlight Basin getting some runs in and there it was!! Up on the wall was a gorgeous photo showing Loan Peak Mountain, the Spanish Peaks mountain range, some water, trees, etc. THIS was the photo I wanted, but I had little chance of sneaking it out of the building considering it was roughly 20 feet long.

Because MLB is a client of mine I had an “in” and asked if I could get a print of the photo that was hanging on the wall. It took some time and they finally decided that I could get a print of it. Because of the size of the photo it could only be printed on canvas.

Over the course of the next year there were many email exchanges discuss price, if it was being done, etc. Part of the problem is that the printers kepts losing the emails and then “forgetting” about them. I felt bad because I didn’t want to bug the girl at MLB that I was working with. She was great, though, and kept working with me through the process.

Finally, they emailed me and told me it was done!! The total cost was a fraction of what I thought it would be so I was really happy about that. I got the check in the mail that very day and about a week later my tube finally showed up in the mail.

I promptly took it down to several frame shops to get it quoted and ended up going with Aaron Brothers. Bling! had suggested I try them out and not only did they have a great price but they were really wonderful to work with.

I picked it up last night and while it would have been easier to wait and have a friend help me hang it, I made a beverage and grabbed a tape measure, a level, a laser level, a pencil, two ladders, and a notepad. It really wasn’t that painful, and I got it hung in a little under an hour while taking my time and sipping on my beverage.

Here is the product!! I haven’t decided if I got the height right or not. I might move it down a little bit, but I am going to let it sit there for a week and see if I like it or not. It also needs some additional lighting and that may take me a little while to get around to.

But finally….after a year…..

Over Simplification?

I have a few friends that like to email stuff from time to time. I’ll tease them a bit here because they often like to blind carbon copy (bcc) everyone and don’t often coordinate their efforts. This means I get the same email two or three times from the people that I know.

But some of them are good and informative. Here is one that I got recently. It was apparently written by a guy named Charley Reese. I have not been able to confirm this, though it seems plausible given Reese’s background.


BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one single thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common confidence conspiracy regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. Bush ALONE for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I cannot think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it is because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it is because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

It’s an interesting synopsis and to a large extent it’s right on the money. But alas, it may be just an over simplification of the way things work. In any organization, business, or government you have a few people that control and represent (if they choose) the people of that entity. In our case, this comes down to 545 people representing about 330 MILLION people. That’s 0.00017% of the population that tries to appease the rest of us and run the country.

And let’s face it, we know they don’t all get along or believe in the same things just as the 330 million citizens don’t. We also didn’t get here overnight. Some of the laws, codes, and practices are things that were put on the book in previous administrations that may have been good for the time, but are no longer applicable.

We also have a very difficult time changing things once they are put into place. So while it would be easy to take the above writing and simply say “fix it” it would be much harder to execute if you could even get the 545 people to agree on anything.

The one thing that is absolutely true about this article is that it is those 545 people that are responsible for where we are going and have the authority and opportunity to change things. But they are not alone. They are not solely responsible for the actions of the rest of us in the U.S. Not all problems are a direct result of the government being involved or not involved as the case may be. As a citizen you bear some of that responsibility. By your actions or inactions you also allow situations to develop and arise and then what do you do? Blame it solely on the 545 people in office?

But please don't misunderstand me, I pretty much agree with what he has to say.

A Brief Lesson In Politics and Definitions

The debates are heating up and it looks more and more like Obama has a very solid chance of winning, but it’s not over yet. One rumor I am hearing is that we could see a Clinton / Obama ticket. The best of both worlds? Perhaps if you are democratic liberal. It’s a nightmare if you are a republican conservative. Which are you?

I’ve often used the term “socialist” in reference to Clinton and Obama. I’ve also been refuted or told that “socialist” is the wrong word to use. But I’d like to draw from a few definitions (all taken from dictionary.com):

so·cial·ist /ˈsoʊ ʃə lɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-list] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. an advocate or supporter of socialism.

2. (initial capital letter ) a member of the U.S. Socialist party.
–adjective
3. socialistic.


If we look at this definition we can pretty much derive that someone is a socialist if they advocate or support socialism. Many people confuse socialism with communism. They are oh, so very close, but not quite the same thing. So, the next definition is socialism:

so·cial·ism /ˈsoʊ ʃəˌlɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[soh-shuh-liz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.

3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

Note that on definition #1 the ownership and control is usually an organization such as the government. What this effectively means is that the government becomes responsible for the production and allocation of wealth or services as it sees fit. Clinton is a supporter of socialized medicine. It was her thesis in college and she tried to push it while her husband was in office. At this time I won’t argue the benefits or detriment of socialized medicine though I will say that I believe some type of reformation is necessary. She still supports socialized medicine. She also has repeatedly stated that she wants to take the profits of businesses and individuals to support government programs (i.e. redistribution). Obama and Clinton also support other similar systems and the further taxation of the American people. They are socialist by the very definition of the terms.

The next question you should be asking is if this is good or bad. I suppose that depends on what your beliefs are with regards to governmental and financial systems. Most fiscally conservative people see this as a bad thing. I tend to agree with it. Our country was built and founded on principles of capitalism, not socialism. I see this as Anti-American, but I suppose America is defined by what it is and not what it was supposed to be.

The other thing I find ironic about all this is that pretty much all democrats as well as some republicans and independents are upset with Bush and Cheney because they have managed to expand the reach and power of the government.

I agree with people when they say that they see this as a bad thing. I personally believe that the government should stay out of business and private lives with the exception of regulations for safety. This is an idealistic approach and is obviously not feasible. That does not mean that I support Bush and Cheney’s approach to expanding the power of government.

But let’s take the argument from a liberal / democratic approach. They don’t like Bush and Cheney for this reason, yet at the same time they are supporting candidates that want to dramatically expand the power of the government through socialistic systems! That’s pretty hypocritical in my opinion. If you follow logic and reason one should not criticize Bush and Cheney and at the same time support Obama or Hillary.

But I’ve often said that politics is like religion. If you talk to religious zealots (ok, even your plain-Jane religious folks) you will find that they are very adept at dismissing logic and reason when it fits their cause. The same thing is true of politics.

Bush and Cheney are often referred to as “fascists.” For definition sake, and since this entry contains definitions I’ve included the definition of a fascist here.

fas·cist /ˈfæʃ ɪst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-ist] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person who believes in or sympathizes with fascism.

2. (often initial capital letter ) a member of a fascist movement or party.

3. a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.
–adjective

4. Also, fa·scis·tic /fəˈʃɪs tɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fuh-shis-tik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. of or like fascism or fascists.

It is also necessary to define fascism to conclude one is a fascist:

fas·cism /ˈfæʃ ɪz əm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fash-iz-uh m] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. (sometimes initial capital letter ) a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter ) the philosophy, principles, or methods of fascism.

3. (initial capital letter ) a fascist movement, esp. the one established by Mussolini in Italy 1922–43.

This becomes interesting because to a large extent, fascism tends to support socialism and vice-versa. This is true of Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, etc. These people were fascists. The closest you can come to Bush being a fascists is by the 4th definition which states:
“a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views.” One might argue that by expansion of governmental power that he could be classified as a fascist, but I’d say that’s stretching it. I would be more likely to say that democratic politicians are closer to fascism than republican candidates, but I suppose that is arguable depending on which politician you pick and chose from.

I wonder if it’s through misinterpretation that our language evolves and changes. The definitions of liberals and conservatives has certainly changed over time. It would be interesting to have an English scholar comment on this one as I certainly do not have the education and knowledge to address it empirically.

My bottom line – I hope that you have a better understanding of the actual definitions of the words and what they mean. I do not support socialism and I do not support fascism, but I think they have both been misinterpreted or misused.

A Quick Scare

Through an interesting set of co incidents I had brief scare that I was a victim of identity theft.

I’ve always tried to be fairly conscious of my personal information, but you might recall that not too long ago my wallet was “lost” and I never got anything back. The only thing that was ever returned was my driver’s license, which showed up in the mail about two months later. Kind of odd.

Over the last week I was in California. Most of it was business, but since I had to be there on Tuesday I flew in on Friday and went snowboarding with one of my co-workers.
We headed up to Dodge Ridge near the Tahoe area and got some nice fresh powder in due to the storms rolling in off the Pacific.

About 2 days ago while still in California I get a call from someone at Tejas De Brazil on my cell phone. They wanted to let me know that I had left my credit card up there, but that they had locked it up in their safe.

I immediately called them back and spoke to the manager. They asked if I was Mr. “Smith” and of course I said I was. They said they had my credit card. I explained to them that I was in California and that was not possible. Again, they confirmed that I was Mr. “Smith.” And had I ever dined there before. I explained that I had, but it had been years and I was in California and there was no way that was me. It bothered me that they called me on my cell phone and so I asked how they got the number. They told me that the person left that number when making the reservations – for a party of NINE! This place goes for about $50 a plate, so figure the bill was somewhere around $500 not including any alcohol.

I politely asked for the name on the credit card. Surprisingly enough it was almost identical to my legal name. The only real difference being that the first name on the card was close to my middle name (which I go by), and the middle initial was the same as my legal first name. You can imagine that with a name like “Smith” that it could easily be a coincidence if you excluded the fact that they called ME on my cell phone.

Now I am thinking that someone is trying to pull a fast one. I get as much information as I could and call up “Rip-U Bank,” which is the bank on the card that Tejas De Brazil had. Coincidentally my credit card is always with a “Rip-U Bank.” At first I got a little bent out of shape because they wanted MY account information. I asked what would happen if I didn’t have an account with “Rip-U?” Did that mean that they wouldn’t explore the possibility of identity theft? No no no…of course not! Then the security guy asks how long I’ve had my cell phone and I explained it was at least seven years old.

Now the guy hypothesizes that someone with a nearly identical name as mine just happened to transpose a couple of numbers for his cell phone and that they accidentally called me. I asked if he was serious or kidding and that I’d have better odds of hitting the lotto. He did not find me very amusing, but I wasn’t laughing, either.

After being assured a call back I took his name and manager’s name. They indicated they would note it on my account and return my call.

The next day, no call. Imagine that, eh? I called them today and got a different guy on the phone. This guy was very helpful. He called the merchant while I was on hold and got all of the account information for the card that was the restaurant. He looked up that account and then cross-referenced it to mine. NOTHING matched. That’s good! It just means that we have nearly identical names.

So the big mystery is how they called me on my cell phone. The “Rip-U” bank guy figured this one out after talking to Tejas for a while. Well, as it turns out if you ever go to Tejas De Brazil and make a reservation they stick your number into a database. When the guy left his credit card they looked up MY name instead of his and called me. That made much more sense.

It was a bit of a frightening experience, but all is well in the end. “Rip-U” bank even put a security hold on my credit cards until we straightened this out. The only thing that really irks me is that the first guy just didn’t seem to take this very seriously.

Bent Over Illegal Aliens

I think people don’t understand why I get so bent out of shape with regards to illegal aliens. I also think people make the mistake that I am against immigration. First off, I am not against immigration. I am against illegal immigration. I’ve said that before and it is all over this blog. I don’t care what your color is and I don’t care what country you hail from. I do care if you are in this country illegally.

So why do I get so bent out of shape about it? Ultimately, I attritubute most of the problems that we face with overpopulation. Not just of the United States, but the entire world. Now, you might argue that there is plenty of room for more people and I agree with you. But, if you are concerned about things like environmental impact, economic impact, and so-forth then you should recognize that most of these issues are directly related to the number of people that are on this planet and inside the U.S.

Somewhere on here I posted statistics about the number of illegal aliens in California and what percentage of the population they represented. It was a fairly high number, somewhere around 30% or more. Now, just taking that one statistic alone should give you a fairly good idea about the utilization of resources. They require land. This drives up real estate. They require water, this drives up the cost of water and reduces the amount of water available (CA doesn’t have a lot of water and gets most of it from the Colorado River). This should give you a vague picture of where I am going with all of this.

The other day, I got this chain email and unlike a lot of chain emails I was able to verify some (but not all) of the information contained herein. This email only touches on the direct economic impact and not on the indirect impact that I was emphasizing in the above paragraph.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year. http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. http://ww w.cis. org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare and Social Services by the American taxpayers.
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two-and-a-half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report. http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period." http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States". http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

Total cost is a whooping... $338.3 BILLION A YEAR!!!

Bear in mind that the $338.3 isn't exactly an accurate number, but that’s still money that could be utilized to give people access to medical resources, feed the homeless, protect our natural resources, funding for education, funding for public servants, etc. I think you get the idea.

Guitar Hero, I am Not!

I’ve seen the game. I’ve heard people talk about the game. It’s all over the place and I’m sure they are making a bazillion dollars on it.

Several people I know have said I should play it. You’ll love it. It’s a way of life. (obscure Frank Zappa refernce for those of you that don’t know). They all said I would be great at it.

I’m good at video games….especially ones that require good hand-eye coordination and fast reflexes.

I also have been playing guitar for more years than I can count.

But the other night, I finally got my moment in the sun. My opportunity to shine and show them that I am a bad ass motherfucker!!! At least until my ass was kicked by a ten-year-old.

He hands me a “guitar” and takes one for himself. Now these guitars don’t have any strings. There are five buttons with colors on them for the left hand. Then there is some funky wedge thing where you would normally pick. It seems to respond to some basic pressure, but it’s nothing like really picking.

So the kid fires it up on “easy” mode….beginner mode…. I’ve never played this mode…. They should have had ‘Tard Mode because that’s what I felt like.

The game kicks it off with Foghat’s “Slow Ride.” Let me preface that I can play that song on the guitar for real. The game apparently didn’t think I could play it at all. I kept trying, but I’d hit the buttons and it would say I didn’t hit them, or that I hit them too early or too late. I was told I wasn’t supposed to be “picking” in ‘Tard Mode, but I couldn’t help it. Maybe that’s why it didn’t think I was doing it right. Maybe it was the Jager Bombs, but I still think I was at least close to hitting some of the notes.

I’ll have to try it again sometime. At the time, I just had to tuck my tail between my legs and praise the ten-year-old for kicking my ass.

The Secret Life of Boston?

Here is a picture of the famous rock group, Boston from their debut album.

And here is a picture from a Bay Area (CA) band named Vio-Lence.

you be the judge....

Delta Flight 002....

I was listening to the radio yesterday and there was a guy on that had a pretty funny idea. He thought all flight numbers should be incremental, and when there is an accident that the airlines must reset their flight numbers to zero.

That way if you are chilling at the airport and you see your flight number suddenly changed to “002” you know they just had a major accident. The flip side to this is that statistically speaking flight number “002” should be pretty safe, no matter where it’s going.

Get up to about flight number “10,312” though and things might get a little sketchy…..

No Oil Shortage?

Here is a link to some videos of Lindsey Williams talking about the oil-shortage, which doesn't exist. In a previous life I've posted a few entries about this. If you really believe that there is an oil crisis and that we have no other options than to buy oil from the Middle East, please take a few moments to watch the video(s).

It's interesting that the republicans blame the liberal democrats for not allowing our oil resources to be tapped and utilized. In the video Williams clearly implicates the government, which happens to be the existing Bush administration as the reason we aren't allowed to touch the oil.

I'm sure there is some truth to both arguments given the way our government work. It's another example of bi-partisan politics causing us more harm than good.

One for Bling!

Here is a political satire cartoon that was forwarded to me. I think it's fairly amusing from the perspective that its a fairly controversial and heavily debated issue and yet you have some of the same people that will do exactly what is happening here.

And btw, it's FOR Bling, not about Bling! I thought he might appreciate the humor.

How Apropos....

You might have to click on the picture to enlarge it....

2007 – The Warmest Year on Record

At least that was the predictions cited by the following media:
Reuters
AP & Foxnews
IHT
BBC
MSNBC
CBS
USA Today
The New York Times
The New York Sun
The Washington Post
National Geographic
CBC
The Guardian
The Independent
China People Daily
ABC Australia
Discovery Channel
Science Daily
Met Office

Most of the other global warming pundits jumped on the bandwagon and told us it would be the hottest year on record as well.

But a strange thing happened. I suppose it could be a real bonafide miracle! A sign that the second coming is near, or maybe it’s just because I forgot to let the cat out. In 2006 not a single hurricane made landfall (another prediction that failed), and then 2007 came sweeping around the corner. A few notable results (Thank you Washington Times):

South America had one of it’s coldest winters in decades and produced snow in Buenos Aires – the first time since 1918.

In Peru, 200 people died from cold weather and the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency.

Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years.

Australia experienced the coldest June ever (it’s their winter).

In northeastern Australia, the city of Townsville underwent the longest period of continuously cold weather since 1941.

In New Zealand, the weather turned so cold that vineyards were endangered.

A five-day freeze destroyed 1.42-Billion dollars worth of crops in California, shortly after The Governator signed a bill to help cool the climate. Other crops around the country suffered as well.

Charlotte, NC, Denver, CO and several other cities also reported new records of the coldest temperatures ever.

As it turns out in 2007 was “only” the 9th warmest year on record and the coolest year of this century. RSS MSU satellite data released by remss.com showed that December was -0.046 Celsius, compared to -0.014 Celsius in November. November had previously been cited as the coldest month since January of 2000. Now the subtle differences in temperature may not seem like much, but keep in mind that global warming advocates cite that as little as ½-of a degree can have a major impact.

Here are two graphs showing the cooling trend as collected by satellite temperature readings (far more accurate than traditional thermometers hanging outside, but still lacking exacting protocols for measurements).

And the interesting thing is, people are still predicting that 2008 will be one of the hottest years on record. Maybe, but something tells me that won’t happen. You can draw your own conclusions.

Personally, I’m enjoying the cooler weather in the summer. I’m a wuss when it comes to the heat and after living up north for a couple of years I wasn’t looking forward to 90 days of drought and 100+ degree weather.

Hillary and The Crying Game?

By now you have probably heard or read that Hillary was sobbing on camera right before the next round of voting.




Now, I watched this and I wouldn’t exactly say she started bawling right there on camera. She got a little choked up is all.

The problem is I wouldn’t put it past her to make a very calculated move to help win the vote. This is the same woman that got a cat to make her look more compassionate. Whatever happened to Fluffy, anyway?

On the other hand, you would have to think it’s pretty weak of her to almost break down at this point in the campaign. When some people say that they don’t think the country is ready for a woman president due to them (women) being emotional, etc., I dismissed it as being sexist. Then, Hillary goes and pulls this crap. What is going to happen when there is something really extreme, or dramatic that happens? But something tells me it was far more of a calculated move than it was a truly emotional moment welling up inside of her.

So now we have one for Obama, and one for Hillary. I have some friends that really like Obama. I can’t say that I care for him too much. Mostly, though, I tend to agree with the folks that believe he just doesn’t have enough experience, yet. Hillary is frightening to me, but she has been in the game longer and has more experience. Obama is charismatic and well spoken, but I’m not sure he’s ready to be president, yet.

Welfare Drug Testing

Someone sent me this email which I thought was kind of interesting:

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?

Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their BUTT, doing drugs, while I work. . .

Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check? Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all will pass it along, though . . . Something has to change in this country -- and soon!


I really like the gist of the email, but like many of these types of editorial email I feel that they don’t really address the problem or consider the consequences and long term impact or the proposed solution. In this example, it’s mandating drug testing for welfare recipients.

I looked it up and the cost for drug testing could range anywhere from $25.00 to $90 per-test (depending on volume). That also doesn’t include the collection fee, which can cost upwards of another $20 per test.

According to a government site I hit, approximately 5,760,476 people received welfare in the month of September, 2000. Trying to find more recent number proved challenging, but there was a notable decline in welfare recipients since that time period. It looks like it could be as low as 2,000,000 people in the last few years.

BTW – This is strictly welfare and does not include any other types of aid.

For the sake of argument, I’m going to round that number up a tad to 2.5 million people. I think 2.5 million people certainly qualifies for a “bulk discount” on drug testing. So do we do this when they come to get their checks, once a quarter, or once a year?

According to statistics a fair number of people don’t stay on welfare more than a year, so you would probably have to do it once a month.

Now, if we take the low end of the cost for drug testing (about $45 by the time you collect and test) that is a simple equation of $45 x 2,500,000 or $112,500,000 a month, or a total of 1,350,000,000 per year. That’s in the billions, folks. And just who do you think is going to have to pay for that?

And I’m not even considering all the additional paperwork and employees needed to keep track of all this. Then, there is the ultimate issue of addressing whether or not we are really helping these people.

If welfare is created to assist people that have come upon hard times, are we really going to tell them “sorry, you smoked a joint so we can’t cut you a check” and send them back onto the street or wherever else without ANY money or recourse? That’s just inviting crime and poverty – exactly the opposite intention of welfare.

Wii Insurance Scam?

I was talking to a friend of mine and while they were at a party there was another Wii accident. Not, that’s not wee accident, but Wii accident. As in the Nintendo Wii. For those of you that are completely under a rock (I am close) the Wii is a game console that connects to your television like the XBox, XBox360, Playstation, etc.

The thing that really differentiates a Wii is that it has a wireless controller with motion sensor technology that senses your movements as you move the remote. So, rather than just pushing a little stick, pad, or buttons you are literally moving the remote to interact with the games. Play tennis, and you’ll find yourself swinging the remote like a “real” racket to hit the ball.

As a side note I’ve read a few articles that compare playing Wii to a workout. Not so surprising some of the Wii games burned more calories than a typical cardio workout. Maybe Fat Bastard Little Johnny will finally lose some weight even if he’s not going outside to play with the other kiddies. When I was a kid I had to actually go outside to play and interact with other kids. There was none of this hiding behind my XBox internet gaming console to play war. We really shot at each other with BB guns and slingshots!

Anyway, I digress. The Wii remote has a little wrist-strap that you are supposed to put around your wrist in case you accidentally let go of the remote. Either because the strap breaks, or more likely, people aren’t using it there is a high number of Wii remotes that go flying around the house breaking things….most notably, televisions!

So my friend’s friend put a Wii remote right through the host’s $3000 plasma television. This is about the fourth incident I have personally heard of. But then I got to thinking.
I’d really like to have a new 56” plasma television. I could go out and buy a Wii. Then I could fling the remote into my current TV and destroy it. File it under my insurance and go buy a new TV.

Wii – about $250 (more if you can’t wait!)
Insurance deductible – about $1000

So for somewhere around $1300 I could get a brand new 56” Plasma television and have a Wii console. Not a bad idea…..

Marketing Genius!

Vacation Time!!!

I’ve had a lot of time off lately and haven’t been around a whole lot. That’s part of the reason that there has been a lack of posting.

I spent a week up in Montana skiing and visiting with friends. I caught some sick powder up at Bridger Bowl. They had almost a foot of snow over night and then it continued to pound snow all day long while we were up there. It was one of those “epic” days you don’t get too often. I was boarding in some 3 to 4 feet of powder off the blacks. It’s a little surreal to not be able to see anything from your waist down.

After that it was Christmas time back here in Texas-land. We had a pretty good one and I was really glad that my dad was able to be there. He’s recovering quite well from his surgery, but he still gets tired out quickly. Every day is better.

Then, to follow it all up we spent the New Year’s weekend in Vegas. We had a fairly large group that went so it was a lot of fun hanging out and taking over the entire blackjack table for hours at a time.
At one point, we spent 11 hours straight of gambling!!! Many people have asked me if I was up or down and I looked at it like this:

I flew first class to Vegas
I stayed in an $1800 suite on the 39th floor
I spent 4 days and three nights there
I had more beverages than I could count
I had some good meals
And ultimately I had a really good time.

When I got done, I was out just a little over $200. I don’t think you can beat that!

We decended upon The Strip for the 2008 count-down!

WTF?

another WTF?

I suppose I am ready to get back to work!!!

I am not a Republican

…but I am not a democrat, either. The more I think about it the more it seems that I am pretty much a centrist.

I tend to favor democratic moral and social issues, while favoring republican fiscal issues. At the same time, I favor some libertarian issues that don’t agree with either party. I guess that ultimately, I’m still an independent.

It is too bad that I don’t like ANY of the candidates. I don’t like the favored democratic candidates, and I don’t like the republican candidates. I guess I am not too worried about the republican candidates as I don’t think they have a chance this year. I think we are about to see a democratically controlled house, senate, and white house for a little while. As my friend says, the pendulum is swinging the other way.

At least Hillary got her ass kicked in Iowa. Obama came in first, with Edwards nipping on his heels.

Who is the least scary of the three? Hard to say. I guess it depends on what you want. I think Hillary is the scariest because she would do the most damage. I am not convinced that Obama knows where his loyalties lie. And there are at least some people that feel that Edwards got rich off of suing people to the point that he virtually spawned the practice of suing OB/GYNs off the planet.

Sorry, no time to rant on ‘em. Go find some other blogs, I am sure there are plenty of them that will give you the skinny (the good and the bad) on any of them.