January 2005 Archives

OK, its not an original topic, and I'm not telling you anything you don't know. But can we pause a moment to reflect that we live in a society where loving couples compete for money by sticking their partners head in a box and filling it with snakes? At some point, don't you think: Wow, the Romans really had their act together!

And Vice President Cheney just said that Iran is at the top of the list for trouble spots in the world. And millions will believe and follow the march to war to "defend ourselves" and "spread freedom", and we'll be marching right into Tehran before this year is out. Then it will be Syria, and Jordan and Yemen had best be on their best behavior if they don't want to witness "freedom on the march".

Communication is vastly improved, diversity of opinion has never been more easily accessible and yet the majority are happy to bite on the party line and swallow it whole. Are we getting stupider? I say no. I say that we just don't care. It takes too much time to give a shit, when you can watch people have snakes dropped on their head.

Which says to me that we didn't learn the most important lesson of 9/11: That we are not alone in the world, that we can't afford apathy, and that considering it to be "someone else's problem" is not an option.

I'm getting worried that we're not going to be the good guys for much longer, and that scares me. I'm only glad that I've started learning Chinese. I offer no solutions, I just want people to take a moment and really look at where we're at. Because it's scary, and demands attention.

Just a quick appeal... many have donated generously to causes in support of tsunami relief. This is a very worthy cause and donation and it is great if you have made the effort. But please remember that terrible things somewhat below the scale of 150,000 dead happen quite regularly, and many of these organizations are doing good work year-round, and could really use your help when something happens that doesn't get world-wide attention. So please, if you haven't donated anything, consider donating part now and part in six months from now, when the excellent efforts of UNICEF and the Red Cross are off the nightly news, but are still making a big difference to people worldwide. If you have given something, consdier adding something extra later in the year, or even on the one-year anniversary. As much as help has been needed over the last month, it will still be needed later, when people aren't paying as much attention.

Today, Cassini-Huygens begins exploration of Saturn's moon Titan. Titan could only logically be called a moon when you consider that its next to Jupiter and Saturn. By itself, its larger than planets Mercury and Pluto. So its sort of like the way I'd be a center if I played on a basketball team at work, but in the NBA I'd be a (very) small forward. Well, and I'd be a bad forward at that, but that's not really the point I'm making.

The short version: Don't believe the hype!

Got a Voicemail at work, offering me an "exciting opportunity" for employment.
It actually set off my shady detector in three different ways:

1) The caller never said where he got my name from, and I'm familiar enough with the current economy to know that no one is calling other people to give them jobs right now, in fact, job seekers are lucky to get a fuad call rejecting them.

2) He offered me substantial income, part-time or full-time, if I'm interested in doing something different from my current position or looking for some extra money on the side. But he didn't say what my current position was, nor what the new thing was. How does he know I'm not doing it already? Hell, how do I know? If he can't (won't) tell you even what the hell it is: Beware.

3) When saying what company he represented he mumbled, so that I couldn't hear it well at all. Even if this had been accidental, he didn't provide any detail on how I would go about finding out more information on his company, which is a logical first step for any job seeker (or legitimate employer).

While I'm thinking of it: Anyone out there want a Gmail trial account? If you aren't familiar with it, read the about page. One area of concern for some is that there are automatic filters to try to deliver targeted advertising. Some consider this an invasion of privacy, but don't seem to have the same concern about spam filters, which do essentially the same thing. In any case, it seems like a convenient service for free email from a company that has done its best not to be evil in the past. I've got a few referrals to get people in during the testing phase if anyone out there is interested.

Disclosure Statement: I am in no way affiliated and receive no compensation from Google. I do own some stock (read: very little) and happen to think they're cool though.

A long-overdue return to sanity: Who guessed it would start in Miami?

Dolphins rename stadium to: Dolphin's Stadium

Of course, there are still the few that had the class not to sell out in the first place: Thank you, Curly Lambeau.

Tsunami hits Newfoundland in 1929

Link from the Great Lakes Shipping message board
(http://www.boatnerd.com)

Reprinted verbatim from the Metro Times Dubious Achievement Awards, February 2004 (January 5-11 issue, 2005)

"
An Oakland County sheriff's deputy gets a surprise after a high-speed chase in pursuit of an errant pickup truck. Deputy Scott Howden tries to pull the driver over around 1AM on a Thursday after he runs a flashing red at Adams and Orion roads. The driver speeds off, then slams on his brake, forcing the deputy to swerve around. Then the driver rams the squad car from behind, bouncing it forward a couple of hundred feet. Howden gets out of his car and pulls his gun. Driver gets out of his truck and threatens to kill Howden. And here it gets weird: Driver swings a four-pound black poodle on a leash and tries to hit Howden -- who responds with Taser (doesn't stop him), nightstick (doesn't stop him) and pepper spray (finally stops him). The pooddle, now nicknamed Lucky by cops, goes to the Oakland County Animal Care Center, while the driver, facing charges including animal cruelty, is sent for psychiatric observation.
"

Now that you've had a chance to recover from election fatigue, I'd like to talk a bit about the electoral college.

OK, Why not?