Musings & Ravings

DiNOs who need to lose their next primary

2009-11-08T14:49:16Z

Here is the list of 64 democrats who voted for the Anti-Abortion amendment (aka the Bart Stupak or Butt Stupid Amendment) 62 of 64 are males.

Altmire, Jason	PA-4
Baca, Joe	CA-43
Barrow, John	GA-12
Berry, Marion	AR-1
Bishop, Sanford	GA-2
Boccieri, John	OH-16
Boren, Dan	OK-2
Bright, Bobby	AL-2
Cardoza, Dennis	CA-18
Carney, Christopher	PA-10
Chandler, Ben	KY-6
Childers, Travis	MS-1
Cooper, Jim	TN-5
Costa, Jim	CA-20
Costello, Jerry	IL-12
Cuellar, Henry	TX-28
Dahlkemper, Kathleen	PA-3
Davis, Artur	AL-7
Davis, Lincoln	TN-4
Donnelly, Joe	IN-2
Doyle, Mike	PA-14
Driehaus, Steve	OH-1
Ellsworth, Brad	IN-8
Etheridge, Bob	NC-2
Gordon, Bart	TN-6
Griffith, Parker	AL-5
Hill, Baron	IN-9
Holden, Tim	PA-17
Kanjorski, Paul	PA-11
Kaptur, Marcy	OH-9
Kildee, Dale	MI-5
Langevin, Jim	RI-2
Lipinski, Daniel	IL-3
Lynch, Stephen	MA-9
Marshall, Jim	GA-8
Matheson, Jim	UT-2
McIntyre, Mike	NC-7
Melancon, Charles	LA-3
Michaud, Michael	ME-2
Mollohan, Alan	WV-1
Murtha, John	PA-12
Neal, Richard	MA-2
Oberstar, James	MN-8
Obey, Dave	WI-7
Ortiz, Solomon	TX-27
Perriello, Thomas	VA-5
Peterson, Collin	MN-7
Pomeroy, Earl	ND-AL
Rahall, Nick	WV-3
Reyes, Silvestre	TX-16
Rodriguez, Ciro	TX-23
Ross, Mike	AR-4
Ryan, Timothy	OH-17
Salazar, John	CO-3
Shuler, Heath	NC-11
Skelton, Ike	MO-4
Snyder, Vic	AR-2
Space, Zack	OH-18
Spratt, John	SC-5
Stupak, Bart	MI-1
Tanner, John	TN-8
Taylor, Gene	MS-4
Teague, Harry	NM-2
Wilson, Charles	OH-6

and here are the 23 DiNOs who voted for Stupid and AGAINST Health Care Reform
Jason Altmire (PA-4) 202-225-2565
Bobby Bright (AL-2) 202-225-2901
John Barrow (GA-12) 202-225-2823
John Boccieri (OH-16) 202-225-3876
Dan Boren (OK-2) 202-225-2701
Ben Chandler (KY-6) 202-225-4706
Travis Childers (MS-1) 202-225-4306
Artur Davis (AL-7) 202-225-2665
Lincoln Davis (TN-4) 202-225-6831
Bart Gordon (TN-6) 202-225-4231
Parker Griffith (AL-5) 202-225-4801
Tim Holden (PA-17) 202-225-5546
Jim Marshall (GA-8) 202-225-6531
Jim Matheson (UT-2) 202-225-3011
Mike McIntyre (NC-7) 202-225-2731
Charlie Melancon (LA-3) 202-225-4031
Collin Peterson (MN-7) 202-225-2165
Mike Ross (AR-4) 202-225-3772
Heath Shuler (NC-11) 202-225-6401
Ike Skelton (MO-4) 202-225-2876
John Tanner (TN-8) 202-225-4714
Gene Taylor (MS-4) 202-225-5772
Harry Teague (NM-2) 202-225-2365

Statistical Note: As of 2009, 441 members of Congress are male (83%) and 92 are female (17%). The global average for female representation at the parliamentary level in 2007 was 17.0%. Wikipedia

Fucking Brilliant

2009-10-25T17:23:40Z

In contrast to SFU, Dollhouse just turned fucking brilliant. And, of course, Fox is going to Fux it up and kill it.

The writers of SFU need to kiss Joss Whedon's feet and beg him to teach them how to write. You need to make your audience CARE about the characters before you cut them open. You can't expect the audience to automatically care about them - especially when they're all dipshits.

Joss Whedon knows this. He knows how to make his audience share his characters feelings.

But, of course, Dollhouse is too good to last.

Someone please explain this to me

2009-10-25T16:28:31Z

Please explain the ending of SGU. So what if Rush knew? Who fucking cares? It would change nothing. Nobody would believe him. More than half the crew would want off anyway. At best, he had a theory or a hunch. He still took a big chance that he was wrong. So why is the Colonel turning all drama-llama on him. Is there not one actual human being in the script?

Glutton for punishment

2009-10-25T05:50:35Z

Once again, Stargate Universe proves to be entirely predictable. Did Rush know all along? Again, these writers are fucking morons. He had a theory, perhaps - no more. I swear the writers were all home schooled by the christian right which can't tell the difference between science and magic.

Review of Stargate Universes

2009-10-04T03:30:41Z

I've seen it before. I dub this series "Battlestar Voyager"

It has none of the joy or fun of Stargate. I have no reason to care about any of these characters or their situation - in fact they generally make me want to space them all.

If it follows the Battlestar formula it's going to be several seasons of finding out how shitty human beings can be to each other when the situation gets tough. Maybe we should call it Stargate Survivor or Jerry Springer Universes.

Is this what "reality TV" has done to us? Is the audience now just a bunch of schadenfreude hungry voyeurs? Where we used to take time to escape into hopeful fantasies, now we escape into worlds where a bunch of people we can't care about have it worse?

Why the Status Quo Persists

2009-09-01T01:47:45Z

"I see a problem, here's a solution..."

From	Response	Translation
Reactionaries	"That's the wrong direction"	"We hate change. Change is why things are bad."
Conservatives	"It ain't broke, don't fix it."	"We fear change. We like things the way they are."
Liberals	"That's too much change, it can't be done."	"We only like the illusion of change. Kind of like the illusion of danger from a horror movie or roller coaster.
Radicals	"That's not enough, we won't back you."	"We fear change and if you get close to meeting our demands we'll move the bar."

Worst Guinness Ever

2009-08-09T23:29:53Z

I just left a Guinness unfinished. To that end, I have the following advice - "Never order Guinness from a cranky bartender." Guinness must be served with Craich - i.e. with love and joy. Grumpy, snotty bartenders should never be allowed to serve Guinness.

I might be willing to extend that statement to Newark Airport. I have never met a crankier, nastier bunch of airport employees in my life. From the moment we walked in the door we have dealt with airport employees who are bitchy, apathetic and snotty. (There have been good ones but we have hit a rash of nasty ones.) We have a long wait so we stopped in at the Guinness Pub. I had hoped it would be a nice quiet place to sit for awhile. I walked up to the bar and ordered a Guinness and a bottle of water and pulled out a $10 bill assuming it would be enough. The bartender sneered at me and tossed it back on the counter. I should have just turned and left. next time I will know better. That Guinness tasted crappy and upset my stomach.

Otherwise it has been a relatively good weekend. I think I understand New York now. It's a place people can go to live utterly separated from reality. It's unreal and thoroughly disconnected from the Earth. Fun place to visit. Don't think I could live there.

Please help my neighbor

2009-08-09T14:01:19Z

Rosemary Williams was a neighbor of mine. I sat on the neighborhood board with her when I lived their. She is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood and powerful force for positive change. She doesn't deserve to be victim of this mortgage idiocy. Please help;

Keep Rosemary Williams in Her Home!

Demand that GMAC Come to the Table!

Minneapolis, MN

Rosemary Williams, a 55 year resident of Central Neighborhood, who has stood at the forefront of the fight against foreclosures, was evicted from her home on Friday August 7th.

One hour later, her home was reopened and an around-the-clock sit-in is now taking place.

There is a foreclosure crisis in the U.S. While GMAC is busy foreclosing and evicting people from their homes, the CEO of GMAC raked in over $11 billion for his role as the CEO in 2008.

Rosemary Williams, her neighbors and friends, are taking a stand for justice in our communities.

Call GMAC and tell them to come to the table and negotiate a fair and equitable solution that keeps Rosemary in her home.
Call the headquarters of GMAC and demand to speak to the CEO, Alvaro de Molina at:

215-734-8899

Would you hire this person?

2009-08-04T14:18:44Z

I sure as hell wouldn't. She's a walking lawsuit;

It's been three months, she can't find a job so she sues her school. Her GPA of 2.7 and "solid attendance record" should make her a prime catch for any employer. NOT!

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A recent college graduate is suing her alma mater for $72,000 -- the full cost of her tuition and then some -- because she cannot find a job.

Trina Thompson has sued her alma mater, Monroe College of New York.

Trina Thompson, 27, of the Bronx, graduated from New York's Monroe College in April with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology.

On July 24, she filed suit against the college in Bronx Supreme Court, alleging that Monroe's "Office of Career Advancement did not help me with a full-time job placement. I am also suing them because of the stress I have been going through."

The college responded that it offers job-search support to all its students.

In her complaint, Thompson says she seeks $70,000 in reimbursement for her tuition and $2,000 to compensate for the stress of her three-month job search.

As Thompson sees it, any reasonable employer would pounce on an applicant with her academic credentials, which include a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record. But Monroe's career-services department has put forth insufficient effort to help her secure employment, she claims.

"They're supposed to say, 'I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right -- can you interview this person?' They're not doing that," she said.

Don't Miss
Read the court filing (pdf)
Online career matchmaker helps MBAs land jobs
Thompson said she has fulfilled her end of the job-search bargain, peppering companies listed on Monroe's e-recruiting site with cover letters, résumés and phone calls. But no more than two employers have responded to her outreach, and those leads have borne no fruit.

Her complaint adds, "The office of career advancement information technology counselor did not make sure their Monroe e-recruiting clients call their graduates that recently finished college for an interview to get a job placement. They have not tried hard enough to help me."

She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement," she said. iReport.com: "Don't sue your alma mater"

Monroe College released a statement saying that "while it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment, Monroe College remains committed to working with all its students, including Ms. Thompson, who graduated only three months ago, to prepare them for careers and to support them during their job search."

Thompson says she has not hired an attorney to represent her because she cannot afford one. When she filed her complaint, she also filed a "poor person order," which exempts her from filing fees associated with the lawsuit.

Asked whether she would advise other college graduates facing job woes to sue their alma maters, Thompson said yes.

"It doesn't make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald's and Payless. That's not what they planned.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/03/new.york.jobless.graduate/

Better still, read the lawsuit for yourself - http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/03/thompson.pdf

Dilemma

2009-07-14T14:07:25Z

So... there is a new weight loss fad that I'm thinking might work for me. It feeds my gambling love by making me bet against myself for dieting.

It works like this; I put up a stake and everytime I blow my diet, I donate money to charity. Now, here's my problem - I can't just name my favorite charity. If I did, I'd start justify every candy bar as 'raising funds for my favorite charity.' I could choose my second fave because I actually hate giving them money. They do good work but they are driven by a group of people who, as a whole, couldn't do enough math to pass 8th grade. I hate rewarding bad behavior and bad fiscal management.

So, the idea of anti-charities arises. As a real punishment everytime I break my diet I could be forced to give to Pro-Life MN or Sarah Palin or PETA or....

Who can I name that is bad enough to keep me on task but not so bad that my failure becomes a crime against humanity?

Michelle Bachman? The Log Cabin Republicans?

Any ideas? Bueller? Bueller?

Never fly United

2009-07-10T01:42:11Z

Having recently had my own United Airlines Nightmare (I don't want to talk about it) I can really appreciate this song. United baggage handlers broke this guys Taylor Guitar and refuses to take responsibility for it. So he got his revenge bardically.

(They also do a pretty good Queen of Argyle)
http://www.sonsofmaxwell.com/

More ways to start a geek argument

2009-07-01T15:05:00Z

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/06/ten-more-ways-to-provoke-a-geek-argument/

10. “Internet Explorer is much better than Firefox—why else would it be the most popular browser?”

AUUUUUUUUGHHHHH!!!! You people!! WHY WHY WHY do you continue to use that Microsoft SHIT!!!

9. “Jar-Jar Binks was so funny, I wish he’d been in the original trilogy, too!”

Shut up, buteo_flight. I know you just say that to tweak people.

8. “Homeopathy works, no matter what ’science’ has to say about it.”

*sigh*

7. “If open-source software was really that great, they’d charge for it.”

And if consumers had brains, capitalism might function as advertised.

6. “The best Star Trek film was number five, no question.”

No, actually, it was #1.

5. “Dreamworks kicks Pixar’s animated butt!”

Meh.

4. “Jim Henson was nothing more than a glorified puppeteer.”

I agree with the author, "Anyone who would actually say this ought to be strung up by his thumbnails, of course."

3. “Batman is so boring—he doesn’t even have any super powers!”

2. “Geeks are all like those guys in Revenge of the Nerds, right?”

1. “Who needs Gmail? I’ve got AOL!”

*SOB*

MAke it go

2009-06-23T04:46:41Z

Does anybody reading this know how to set up apache & tomcat so that apache passes through to tomcat and retains sessions? I'm getting really tired of this.

I hate application servers.

I fucking hate flying

2009-06-18T21:42:51Z

I hate flying. I want to bomb airplanes. Not people. I don't want anyone getting hurt I just want to destroy the sardine tins so that they never hurt anyone again. I want to see the shattered, melted, broken corpses on commercial airliners littering the runways of every airport in the world.

Then I want to see every airline executive shoved into a KennelAire and forced to ride in the cargo bay for the rest of their lives. I want them all forced to sit together in economy class with no air conditioning and fed dog food. I want them to have to run between the two furthest gates in every airport in the world at top speed and, when they miss their connection, I want them electrocuted and waterboarded until the next flight is available. Then I want them to do it all over again.

Is it really so hard to make a plane comfortable?

I don't give a shit about being fed or watered. I don't care if the plane is clean. I don't care if you charge me to check my luggage. All I want, all I beg for, is a comfortable seat for the flight. One where I am not jammed shoulder to shoulder with a complete stranger. One where my knees don't hit the seat in front of me. One where I actually have enough room to use my laptop on the plane.

What did you dumbasses *think* would happen when you started charging to check baggage? Of Course! People are bringing full sized suitcases as carryons and there is not enough space for everyone. No, the space under the seat in front of me is NOT sufficient for storage. I need that space for my feet you wankers! (No, this is not the sole inspiration for this rant, just the most novel reason for it.)

There should be a law. No airline employee or travel agent should be allowed to fly first class. Every one of them should suffer as the rest of us do. I am normal sized man for the 21st century. Those seats are scaled for people of the early 20th century. Yes, I'm including the rank and file employees. I'm hoping they will rise up and burn the corporate offices to the ground.

Philosophy poll

2009-06-11T03:27:04Z

View Poll: Philosophy poll

caliantrias @ 2009-06-09T15:58:00

2009-06-09T15:58:14Z

Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument

Posted using ShareThis

Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument
By Matt Blum June 9, 2009 | 8:00 am | Categories: Armchair Geek, Electronic Geek
Geeks, as a general rule, are pretty easy-going. We like to think things through, so passionate confrontations aren’t commonplace for us. When we get well and properly provoked, though, watch out! We won’t stop talking until every last point that we can think of has been made at least twice. So, what do you say to provoke a geek? Glad you asked!

10. “No real programmer would ever use PHP.” - This won’t work for every geek, of course, but for those it works on, it should work really well.

Yes, this is, of course true. PHP is OK for small projects but for large ones it's stupid.

9. “Comic books are just for kids!” - I’m sure you’ve heard this one before—I know I certainly heard it often enough in high school, and even though it’s even less true now than it was then, I’m sure comic book afficionados still hear it today.

8. “Role-playing games are just for people who can’t deal with real life.” - There are, sadly, still a lot of people who think anyone who plays D&D must live in his parents’ basement and bathe once a month. Such people must be put straight, and immediately!

7. “The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are so realistic!” - I doubt many people actually believe this, but there are an awful lot of misconceptions about pirates out there, so you never know.

6. “Yeah, I got an Xbox 360 so my daughter could play Hello Kitty games. Is it really good for anything else?” - We’ve hit the ones that are hard for me even to type, now…

--Yeah, these are pretty straight forward.

5. “Mac, Windows, or Linux? Does it really make a difference?” - An argument so old its original form was probably first written down in hieroglyphs, I know, but I don’t know a single geek it wouldn’t work on—myself included.

*Incoherent gurgling and growling noises coming from me.*

4. “The Ewoks were the best thing about the original Star Wars trilogy.” / “Greedo shot first!” - I couldn’t decide between the two. If one doesn’t work, I’ll bet the other one would.

3. “Tolkien? Ehhh, I prefer Terry Brooks!” - I almost feel like I should argue with myself just for writing that. I’m going to let the top two stand for themselves.

Meh. I care not for ewoks nor who shot first in Star Wars. As for Tolkien/Brooks? Meh.

2. “Joss Whedon is a hack!”

DIE YOU CULTURAL IGNORAMUS!!!

1. “I don’t see what’s so bad about DRM!”

Fine, let me just take the rest of your rights away, you obviously don't need them. You're not using them anyway.

Fuck you, Universe

2009-05-14T17:50:08Z

Well, in two weeks I will no longer be a Sr Research Scientist. The place that "never has layoffs, OK once in 50 years" has just laid off half a division, including me.

Fuck you, universe.

What is in store for me next? Back to law? Back to contracting?

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket today.

OUCH!

2009-05-08T18:53:49Z

Why trampolines are not safe in Wisconsin (or Minnesota or Texas or ... )

It's a good start

2008-12-18T17:01:23Z

This is a good start. What we need is a national usury law capping interest rates at no more than 18% and/or some multiple of the prime rate.

Consumers to be spared from higher rates on existing balances under new rules for credit cards

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Thursday adopted sweeping new rules for the credit card industry that will shield consumers from increases in interest rates on existing account balances among other changes.

The rules, which take effect in July 2010, will allow credit card companies to raise interest rates only on new credit cards and future purchases or advances, rather than on current balances.

...

The new rules prohibit:

_Placing unfair time constraints on payments. A payment could not be deemed late unless the borrower is given a reasonable period of time, such as 21 days, to pay.

_Placing too-high fees for exceeding the credit limit solely because of a hold placed on the account.

_Unfairly computing balances in a computing tactic known as double-cycle billing.

_Unfairly adding security deposits and fees for issuing credit or making it available.

_Making deceptive offers of credit.

One great game, one interesting site

2008-12-18T15:37:55Z

First the new game;

Hit Bush with a Shoe! http://play.sockandawe.com/

And the new site;

http://whitehouse2.org

It's an interesting web2.0 version of online petitioning.

Brilliant

2008-12-03T17:07:37Z

The moon does not exist.

You heard me, the proof is here --> http://www.revisionism.nl/Moon/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm .

I assume this is satire. I hope it's satire.

The Incredible Journey: Microchip ID Reunites Owners with Cat - 13 Years Later: Scientific American

2008-11-15T19:48:34Z

That's it, they're gettin' chipped;

The Incredible Journey: Microchip ID Reunites Owners with Cat - 13 Years Later: Scientific American

Does this guy seem familiar to you?

2008-11-05T05:31:32Z

HISTORY!

2008-11-05T04:03:52Z

HISTORY!!!

OBAMA WINS!

Please don't undo all they fought for

2008-10-19T19:29:14Z