January 2004 Archives

Alright, here's the deal. Georgia, along with another enlightened state, Kansas, chose to allow creationism to be taught in their classrooms a couple years ago. And, you know what? I say, "why not?" Kids need all the info they can seeing as we're competing with reality television for their minds.

HOWEVER, some numbskull of a state superintendent has decided that the word "evolution" is too politically charged (gee, who's responsible for THAT) and has decided to try to ban the use of the word in the classroom. Right-thinking humans like Jimmy Carter and even the psycho administrator's Republican state politicians had decided to weigh in against this blatant attempt to set our education system back to the Dark Ages.

Speaking of imbeciles, a Norwegian politician nominated George Bush and Tony Blair for the Nobel Peace Prize. For starting a war. Remember kids:

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

So says Big Brother.

Anyways, speaking of radicals, these two fine Texas citizens got caught with a stash of weapons and racist tracts. But, nah, they'll never be pegged as terrorists. I'll let you read between the lines of the rest of my venting.

This one is a double whammy. An online friend sent me to this site for a chuckle. Then it got followed up by the following story. Ironic, insipid, but true tales of my day.

Amazingly, after only a few days I'm overloaded with links and stuff for you. Wait! Come back!

Let's start with the bad news. I'm sure by now most of you know that Captain Kangaroo passed away last week.

Along with bad news comes a story about people who think racism is funny. Like these kids. Now, if after reading this story you think the runts actually had a point in arguing what an African-American is, think again.

If you weren't sure that was a racist incident, our Grand Wizard pal David Duke is planning on running for Congress. If you had to ask, yes, he's running as a Republican because we currently don't have a Nazi party.

I had, coincidentally, finished reading John Kerry's A Call to Service: My Vision for A Better America before all the caucus and primary stuff occurred. While I have no clue what I think of him yet, at the least I think he'd make an excellent VP. If you have the time, pick up the book. I'm trying to read all the candidates' stuff as I can just so I can make an informed decision, but I'm only doing it through the library so we'll see how long that takes.

Here is a nice resolution for that kid, Mike Rowe, who about had a few dozen Microsoft lawyers performing what amounts to a legal anal probe on the poor guy.

We commence with a Bushism showing we left at least one child behind. How did he get into Yale anyway? Michael Kinsley asks where the Compassionate Conservatism went. Tom Tomorrow discusses the dangers of a free society. And Carol Lay ponders the stupidity of how people name their children.

You probably missed it, but when two Democratic senators ask whether or not it is ethical that a Supreme Court justice hangs out with a litigant in an upcoming court case, the Chief Justice says its none of his business. So was Florida buddy.

This one keeps moving around and there are variations of its, but its that Outkast song you may have heard FIFTY THOUSAND TIMES with a slightly different take.

Finally, Forbes magazine discusses the Worst Cars Of All Time.

So, I got this short-term project doing laptop support for SAP. Three free meals a day (all excellent btw), drinks and snacks as well. The trade-off? I put in almost 70 hours in 5 days. So, I'm tired and sore and just want to go home once the contract is done. But wait! All of us remaining contractors get invited to the after-conference party where there is free beer. And, oh yeah, James Brown was performing. The only downer is that there wasn't time to notify Leslie so she could share in the fun. But I sure had a good time.

As if Watergate hadn't taught them, news on the GOP hacking into Democratic Senate files. Kids, just because the car is sitting there idling with no one watching it, it doesn't mean you can take it for a joy ride. Thanks to EvilNed for the link.

Speaking of insidious, power-hungry entities, Microsoft is suing a kid (name: Mike Rowe) who is setting up a tongue-in-cheek site called...you guessed it....MikeRoweSoft. Best of luck to this guy.

Good news. If you are reading this, you are part of the 69% of American adults using the internet. Though too many of them are still using AOL. Ugh.

A study from MIT has found that most of us hate cell phones. I tend to agree.

Okay, I've been leaving this one alone, but officials in Australia have decided not to charge the Crocodile Hunter with child endangerment. Which is the right call. Look people, the guy is a trained professional who genuinely loves his crocs more than he does humans. Its a love he tries to share with his family. Comparing him to that freak Michael Jackson is ludicrous. And saying that what he did was wrong is equally silly. This is something the guy does for a living, and as a passion. He took his baby to work to show him to the co-workers, so to speak.

What IS dangerous however is using magazine directions for your next hike however. The story on that is here.

Next time you have a problem you can't solve, sleep on it. So suggests this study.

I want THIS contract. Once again, thanks to Ned for the heads-up.

Just for some seasonal fun, a game involving a Yeti belting penguins with a club for distance. You heard me. If you find that one too hard and want the satisfaction of the long distance shot, there is an amped-up version here.

UCLA has posted the results of an international study on internet use. Kind of a fun read if you have the time and willingness to sift through the data.

A slightly more tongue-in-cheek site argues that in our off-and-on quest to conquer Mars, the Red Planet is winning.

In idiot roundup, we have the FIFA president proposing that female soccer players should wear more revealing outfits to boost attendance and ad revenue. The best part of the article is the FIFA spokesman who actually tries to spin his boss' obvious sexist pig crap as a valid argument.

Speaking of presidents living in the past, we now have a federal judge who has been accused of "supporting segregation" and "promoting anti-abortion and anti-voting rights views". Real sweetheart. This was done by bypassing Congress, which is always a nice democratic move. Right. All parties involved in this should be taken out and flogged, but the Supreme Court refused to turn back a controversial - and probably unconstitutional - congressional remapping that Texas Republicans pushed through because they basically just didn't like the old one. That's right, if you can't get elected president, call the Supreme Court and bypass the election. If you don't like your elected governor, remove him. If you can't stack a state legislature, rig it. Anyone sensing a pattern of behavior here?

I seriously am working on updated pages. Even have a database-driven image viewer that I'm still tweaking. However, its going to wait a bit as I have a 6 day contract that I'll be at from 11-12 hours a day. Seriously, you will have new content soon.

Alright, you won't get this from me a lot but here goes. Sometimes I stroll down to the local Barnes & Noble and persue the bookshelves. I don't usually buy anything so basically I'm a nuisance there I guess. Anyways, I found a noteworthy book for all of you using a computer (namely, anyone reading this). It's called PC Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Your Personal Computer by Steve Bass. Even though I've been working with these darn things for years I still found a lot of neat tidbits I could use to tweak the home computer and I figured I'd share it with the rest of you seeing as we all need some help getting these things to work. The reason I mention it now is that the book, normally $19.95, is on sale at Barnes Noble for like $15 or even cheaper online, $11.25 at Bookpool.

Since I'm on a product placement roll, Leslie & I picked up some new toothpaste awhile back. Its that Crest Whitening Expressions stuff. We got the orange stuff, called Fresh Citrus Breeze. The reason I mention it is that the stuff tastes like those little pink St. Joseph's aspirins we all took when we were kids. Yeah, sounds disgusting but I'm actually hooked on it now.

Onto my usual stuff. Guess where's I'm not eating soon. McCormick & Schmick's. Here's why.

One place we are excited about is the reopening of Lindo Michoacan, a place we enjoyed back when I lived here before.

Okay, downloading songs I already own is illegal, but this isn't? I thought we took rights away from prisoners.

I claim no responsibility for the answers you get from this quiz.

Surprising at it may seem, Howard Dean actually said something I agree with. In dealing with was basically a heckler in Iowa who accused him of "mean mouthing" Bush, Dean pretty much told him to shut up and sit down. Here's the part I agree with: if, as Republicans would have you believe, disagreeing with the president is unpatriotic, then when does it become illegal to have any dissent at all? Sorry people, I'm not about to goosestep down to the voting booth and vote "Ja!" on the second term. I've got a right to think for myself and I'll support anyone who does so, even Howard Dean if it comes to it.

This is kind of becoming old news and hopefully the story will flesh itself out as more than a figment of one man's spiteful imagination, but apparently our administration was always planning to pick a fight with Iraq. Personally, I hope the story is false as it just means Bush has absolutely zero respect for our military; thinking it to be a toy to mop up what he perceives as his father's mistake. Pathetic.

Checking in on my note for Windows 98 users. Support has been extended for that product until mid-2006. So no need to panic.

Our fascist pals at the RIAA had resorted to hiring ex-cops and having them parade around as "music police", busting anyone selling bootleg CDs and the like. Excuse me, but am I the only one who sees people pretending to be police officers a highly illegal and unethical means of doing business?

This story just cracks me up. I can't imagine how the kid did it.

Anyone remember the old qbasic game where you threw exploding bananas at one another? Here is a Windows-based version of it.

Being a Astros fan as well as a Cubs one is like having boils and chicken pox at the same time most years, but this news brings some tentative hope for next season.

Incidentally, the topic today borrows its name from Aaron MacGruder's treasury of Boondocks comics, which I keep meaning to put in a permanent link on the WebComics section. I've posted the occasional strip up here and will likely do so from time to time. Its usually topical and almost always irreverant.

Case in point:

(And yes Craig, I've been properly chastised and promise to eat beef again.)

Still aggressively hitting the job searches and also have free time to pass along info to you. I wish this paid better or I'd be fine doing it all the time. I sit on the computer and submit my resume, read technical magazines and computer books, and snack on Chex Mix. Anyways....

A computer note to pass along to those of you still using Windows 98. If you read this before the 16th, you still have time to go to Windows Update and download all the patches you can. After that, Microsoft discontinues a lot of support for the product. The main Windows 98 page is here.

If you are inclined to buy a Mac (don't ask me, I don't have one), here is an article you may wish to go over. Its pointed more for Linux users but you may find answers for some of your questions, provided you have any.

In stupid human tricks, Pete Rose continues to try to get into the Hall of Fame by both appealing to our sympathy and irritating everyone willing to listen to his stupidity at the same time. I've never thought a lying cheat like him deserved to be in the Hall, despite his efforts on the field. Thankfully, Peter Gammons and Jayson Stark at ESPN are among many sportswriters who are finally seeing the light.

And just because it makes me laugh, a seasonal collection of Calvin comics courtesy of Merrick. Don't abuse her site too much or she'll yell at me.

First off, a couple of thank you's to pass along. Thanks to Jason Parchert for his holiday gig in Reynolds. Good to see you, and thanks to Alycia for meeting up with us there.

Thanks to Jason Lindstrom and his new band, Short Lived Fun, for a fun New Year's Eve show. Sorry we couldn't stick around longer as you guys were a lot of fun to watch.

Thanks to all our friends and family whom we were able to catch up with. It was good to see Tom one more time before he ships out to Iraq. Good luck to all you guys with your urban warfare training.

One last shout to my sister Belinda for pointing us to Potbelly Sandwich Works at Midway Airport. Fantastic pickles as recommended and the sandwiches were equally delicious. I strongly recommend you find one of these restaurants if you are in one of the chain's markets.

And now on to the ranting.

One of the (dis)advantages on the old home being close to Iowa is the bludgeoning the state gets every time there is a presidential election. I got to see a lot of the political ads while we were home and I can honestly say that I absolutely do not get why people like Howard Dean. The guy came off as a pompous ass the first time I saw him and it hasn't got any better. Granted, if that's all that gets offered to vote for in November I'll grudgingly do it, but people, let's try to find a better candidate please.

Speaking of egocentric people who fly off the handle with little provocation, I have some articles related to our dictator-in-chief. A tongue-in-cheek article from the Seattle PI attempts to explain the president's high popularity rates. I tend to think this article is true for the most part. MoveOn.org is hosting a contest for anti-Bush political ads. The top 15 entries are currently online at Bush in 30 Seconds. I can't say I agree with all of them, and am usually skeptical about anything involving Michael Moore, but it looks like this is quickly becoming an "enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend" kind of year.

In other administration news, the Labor Department is offering employers tips on how to not pay their employee's overtime. But remember, they aren't necessarily working hand in hand with big corporations. Right.

Slate tackles the whole outing of a CIA agent incident from last year, suggesting John Ashcroft is playing a shell game to protect Karl Rove, among others.

Another Slate snippet questions why the First Lady would willingly want to make her husband look stupid.

But hey, its not all bad news here. I've been following the Spirit landing on Mars and gladly link you to the NASA site covering the mission.

Australian figures show that music downloads do not seem to be affecting actual record sales. I think, and have always said, that the RIAA is trying to cast the blame from the fact that current pop music in America just overall stinks. Granted, I don't listen to almost any of it myself, but maybe if we find some musicians with actual talent the industry wouldn't be in its current position of suing children and old people to excuse away poor product.

Wired has come up with 101 ways to save the internet. Fun read if you follow the industry like I do.

To finish things off, Slate attempts to find the silver lining in the whole mad cow incident. I'm still going to stay away from beef for a couple more weeks. Better safe than sorry and all that.

The Galva News has been really cool about offering to provide pics from some of their articles (many of which I really have to start scanning and putting up on the unit page). Here is one from a profile of Tom in last week's edition.

First we have a girl who was already told once to change jobs for her school work study. So she gets a job hosting at Hooters. She doesn't wear a skimpy outfit and her father is okay with her being there. Now she has found that she won't get credit for it, thanks to her school board. And don't ever get me started on my opinion of most school boards.

Next, we have a second grader busted for saying "hell." Read the article and you'll see she was trying to do the right thing. These are the lessons we teach our kids today. Do what we say. WAIT! That's all wrong, you're going to be punished.

Its not all bad news in education though. In Georgia, you can still say the word "evolution" in school without being labelled a crackpot, liberal idealist. Well, they'll still label you, but you can say the word. Reactionary, Dark Ages freaks. That's a joke, mind.

Before it gets archived, you can read the article, "Ten Technologies That Refused to Die" and nod your head through it much like I did.

And if you happen to have a bar code/magnetic strip on your driver's license, head here to find out what personal information is on it. I'd be really interested to know what's on your's. Not the data itself silly, just what kind.

Updated some stuff on the Galva Guard page. Still need to scan those Galva News articles though.

I haven't done a Boondocks in awhile. I think its time.