July 31, 2007
My Super Power
I can sleep anywhere. I'm also a very heavy sleeper, so I can sleep through almost much anything as well.
I say "almost" because I can hear my cell phone ringing from two rooms away and will awake with a start.
I bring this up because I just woke up from a nap. (Ok, not JUST. I started this post a couple of hours ago now.) I often take a 10 to 15 minute nap during my lunch break because I find that it clears my head and helps me concentrate through the rest of the day.
My coworkers laugh at me because I just lean back in my chair and doze off, but more than one of them has expressed envy at my ability.
This power comes with a weakness, though: boring meetings will put me right to sleep. Because I can sleep sitting upright, it is a great struggle for me to remain conscious during the billions of pointless, disorganized, meandering gatherings and presentations that confront me in my career. It also presents a problem for me when watching long movies, especially at home.
Flibbert Capone
My stress levels are through the roof today. I got a letter from the IRS yesterday saying that they think there was some kind of error on my 2005 taxes and now I owe them a BUNCH of money.
I do kind of think they are in error, but I now have to go on a bit of a paper chase to prove it.
It's a long story that I don't care to get into here, but I hope you won't mind if I'm a little distracted from blogging.
July 30, 2007
Getting Things Gone
Check out this http://vitalist.com/!
It's an online implementation of David Allen's Getting Things Done system. I'm going to try it out. So far it looks really cool.
Potentially Not Safe For Work
Johndavid: There are a thousand things wrong with the link I am about to send you.
Flibbert: Ok.
Flibbert: Please send it immediately.
Johndavid: http://www.boytaur.net/
I don't really understand this. Apparently it's a perv site, but since this doesn't ever really happen, I don't understand how people can be into it.
Super weird.
July 29, 2007
Problems of a Supreme Consciousness
This morning in the shower, I was thinking about the various philosophies which place Consciousness "above" Existence. I'm talking about these people who think that either objective reality doesn't exist or, if it does exist, is unknowable as an objective reality.
In extreme cases, people expounding these philosophies claim that consciousness actually creates reality, that what you think you see is really what you imagine. I'm not sure what these people imagine contains this consciousness. Where does this amazing machine exist? No idea. But some people think this.
Most of the time, the claim isn't that one's consciousness actually creates reality, but blinds us to reality.
I can see how this line of thinking might arise from Plato and his analogy about shadows on a cave wall. It's an obviously imperfect analogy and why no one challenged it at the time is somewhat mysterious to me. I digress.
If your brain is obscuring reality from your knowledge or understanding, it must do so either consistently or inconsistently.
If it does so consistently, then there really doesn't seem to be a reason to think that your brain is doing it at all because you would lack any reason to believe that you're being blinded as the whole of your perception and understanding of reality would fall in line with the alleged illusion.
Allow me to illustrate: let's say you are presented with the illusion of a large puddle of water. You might walk around it and never know that it is an illusion, in which case the illusion would seem to be of little consequence at all. But let's also say that you decide to confront the illusion obviously not aware that it is an illusion.
You might drop a rock in the puddle and in order to keep deceiving you, your brain would make you see ripples. You might bend down and stick your hand in the water and in order to keep deceiving you, your brain would have to make you feel the wetness of the water. You might splash a passerby and your brain would have to present you with the image of them complaining or dodging in order to maintain the illusion. You might fill a glass and drink from the puddle and in order to keep deceiving you, your brain would have to give you the sensation of drinking water complete with wetness and flavor. It might also have to make you sick for having drunk from a puddle or hydrate you for having had water.
If at any point, however, you do not have the corresponding sensations and perceptions of reality, you may safely conclude that you aren't being deceived at all because no matter way it appears that you aren't being deceived. The assertion that you are being deceived is but an arbitrary claim without any evidence.
Even if presented with mirages or tricks to the eye, we can test them in other ways and learn to not only exclude the data that lead us to make mistaken judgments like there being a puddle in front of you, but you can also discover the mechanism by which you are tricked and why your eye can be tricked in that way.
So, that leaves us with the notion that our brains deceive us inconsistently. That simply doesn't hold up. Sometimes you see the puddle and sometimes you don't? In those cases, you can again test and see what results are most consistent and go with that as your conclusion.
If the results of your tests are consistently balanced to both conclusions, then that's not exactly your brain being inconsistent, but actively and consistently working to prevent you from discovering any truth about reality.
At this point, we have some other problems.
First, how does your brain know what is the right and what is the wrong conclusion? Is your brain actually, secretly omniscient?
It is perhaps a separate, malevolent being that is sharing your sense organs and living only to torment you? If that were the case, we'd immediately have to investigate the question of how it serves this evil creature's interest to inhibit your survival capabilities.
I can see how a person might be tempted to think that reality is unknowable given the number of mistakes a person makes in their lifetimes, the ease with which one's senses can be fooled, and with the seemingly eternal chorus of people saying that truth is a matter of opinion.
I do not, however, understand philosophers who have spent the greater part of their careers contemplating these things continuing to repeat this notion.
It is the fundamental task of every human being to think for themselves, so don't think that I'm letting people off the hook just because I understand that there is a not insignificant amount of peer pressure asking a person to stifle their good sense.
But if you make it your job to think about these things and you still espouse the notion that reality is unintelligible because our brains are inept... well, I find myself raising an eyebrow: are you really trying to use reason to disprove reason?
July 27, 2007
Adjectives
I was talking with Mister Bookworm this evening and he corrected me on something I said earlier.
In the phrase "Second Annual Summer BBQ" (He's sitting here right now telling me my capitalization is all wrong. Editors. Cramping my art.) "second" doesn't modify BBQ, but actually modifies "annual."
All the same, he agrees that it's still the second time the BBQ ever occurred.
Similarly, the way I described "Summer" is also inaccurate. This word is a prepositional adjective, he tells me.
We can see this by the fact that if we rearrange the order of these words, the meaning changes. "Annual Second Summer BBQ" is our second BBQ of the summer in a series that perhaps occurs annually. Other arrangements create other confusing meanings.
Anywhoodles, there you have it. Correction noted.
Note to self: no more blogging with him looking over my shoulder. ;op
OBloggers' Posts of the Week
On Fridays, the OBloggers send out their posts of the week. We're not very good about the habit, yet, but in order to build an incentive for others and for me, I'm going to try sharing some link love to these posts.
Rational Jenn talks about Parenting with Objectivist Principles and taught me the word "peopleguy" which you may expect to turn up here now and then.
Craig Biddle ran off to the god forsaken land of California, the land of fruits and nuts, and unearthed some decent philosophical detective work by a journalist. From Slate no less! It's a crazy world.
And I sent a link to my post about nuking flies.
That's all the OBloggers who sent their best posts in today. More may come in over the weekend, but they will be TOO late!
So, OBloggers, if you're reading, be sure to send your links out early on Friday to make it into my round up!
Update: Ergo sent his in just before I started shutting my machine down. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it's called A Philosopher’s Attempt to Justify Mediocrity. Sounds like that obnoxiously catchy Jimmy Eat World song...
Annual Event or Annual Occurence?
Last night, I attended our office's annual summer BBQ. It was the third time that we've held the event and our GM welcomed everyone to our "second annual summer BBQ."
The crowd protested pointing out that this is the third year.
Our GM then proceeded to mock our ignorance saying that it wasn't "annual" until the second time, which makes the second the first and the third the "second annual summer BBQ."
Since we're being persnickety in this post, I'd like to point out that the adjective "summer" is superfluous since we don't BBQ in the winter or any other season for our office.
But his point is still one of contention.
Some parties agree with his logic much in the way that the new millennium didn't start until 2001. There is no year zero and therefore years ending in zero belong to the previous ten year increment and not the later.
I disagree with this logic.
The first time you have an event with the intent to hold it annually, you refer to it as your "inaugural summer BBQ" for example. The second time you have the event you call it your "second annual summer BBQ" because it is the second time you've had the event and now it's an annual thing since it happens yearly.
In the phrase "second annual summer BBQ" there is one noun, BBQ, and there are three adjectives, second, annual, and summer. "Second" indicates where the event is in the series. "Annual" indicates the period of recurrence. And "summer" describes the season of recurrence.
By our GM's logic, "annual" not only describes the frequency but also has something to say about the position in the series.
Our GM argued to me, "Well, by your logic, you'd never say 'first annual,' then." I agreed pointing out that you should say "inaugural event" instead to avoid being awkward and presumptuous. He said that people use this formulation all the time. I say that doesn't change its awkwardness or the presumption.
From Ask the Editor at the AP Stylebook:
Can I use "First Annual" for an event that is occuring one year after its inaugural debut?
The AP Stylebook entry on annual includes: Do not use the term "first annual." Instead, note that sponsors plan to hold an event annually.
This implies support for my position on this matter.
Mister Bookworm and Johndavid both agree with me.
The people at Pain in the English all agree with me about the second and third, but some of them disagree about whether or not it's acceptable to call the inaugural event the "first annual event."
Anyway, what do you think about this? Did we just have our third annual summer BBQ or our second annual summer BBQ?
July 26, 2007
Thou Shalt Not Nuke Flies
My best friend, Johndavid, sent me a link to this article on Capitalism Magazine earlier this week. (This has been in the hopper for a while as I've been trying to keep this post from rambling too much! Thank yous accepted in the form of cash.) He pointed out the editor's note that the bottom which reads:
* Editor's Note: William's is wrong here -- see Ayn Rand's essay on the Objectivist Ethics: "Knowledge, for any conscious organism, is the means of survival; to a living consciousness, every 'is' implies an 'ought.'"
The lines that sum up William's mistake best are these:
The statement "Scientists shouldn't split the atom" is a normative statement. Why? There are no facts whatsoever to which we can appeal to settle any disagreement. One person's opinion on the matter is just as good as another's.
From a certain perspective, this statement would seem quite common sensical and true. There are so many things in life that really depend on your particular situation in life.
Let's assume that you're sitting around your apartment and a large fly comes in through a window to annoy you while you are watching your favorite television show. Should you split an atom?
Fact: In the time it would take you to launch your nuclear weapon at the fly, you'd probably miss Flavor of Love.
Fact: Detonating an atomic bomb in your apartment would cause you to lose your security deposit.
Fact: Flies are quickly and effectively slain by sprays and fly swatters.
If I spent a little more time, I am confident I could make a list of similar facts the sum of which objectively establish that you really shouldn't split atoms to kill flies.
If, however, you find yourself running a town and you need a cheap, safe, reliable source of energy, splitting atoms might be a very good way to get it.
So, it depends. In some cases it's good to split atoms and in some cases it's not. You certainly wouldn't want to do it willy-nilly. So, this is why people think normative statements are a matter of opinion.
But this perspective is really limited and that's where Williams goes wrong. He has blanked out on the particulars of a given situation and assumed that no overarching statements about atom splitting can be made. Not so. I just said that whether or not one should split atoms depends on one's context. That is an overarching, normative statement about atom splitting, granted it's not the simple yes/no statement that Williams seems to want, but we're not intrinsicists, are we?
Our conclusion refers to facts of reality; it isn't merely a matter of opinion, but it does rely on everyone agreeing that destroying your apartment to kill a fly would run counter to your long-term goals even if you manage to somehow salvage your television to watch Flavor of Love.
If we treat ethics the way Williams does we quickly imagine all sorts of silly situations where we might feign righteous indignation over some particular decision.
Miscegenation should be outlawed!
We should exterminate the Jews!
Hugh Jackman should be forced to submit to me as my love slave!
I should kill a fly with an A-Bomb so that I can get back to watching Flavor of Love on VH1!
How dare they judge me! My opinion is as good as theirs!
With perhaps the exception of Hugh Jackman's freedom, I am quite certain that there are facts to which I can appeal to prove that those statements are quite wrong regardless of anyone's opinion.
Although the rightness or wrongness of a decision may depend on your particular situation, your particular situation is an objective fact unto itself.
Walter Williams and others shouldn't shun normative ethics, they should embrace it because normative ethics requires that moral values be tied to the way human beings live and exist as human beings. What they should shun are simplistic, intrinsic statements of morality such as "thou shalt not kill" or "thou shalt not steal." Obviously, we can imagine cases where it may be very, very good to kill or steal.
Intrinsicists try to put all life in a box. They seem to think that the life of pygmies in a jungle should be governed the same way as life in a war zone which should be run by the same principles as a human living in the year 3025. I have no idea what sort of challenges confront a person living in 3025, but I feel confident in saying that if I lived in Darfur right now, my list of priorities would be a lot shorter and have a lot less nuance than the one I have today in New York City.
Objectivism as a philosophy doesn't attempt to lay out rules about specific actions that you have to follow to live a sin-free life. If it did, Objectivism would have less intellectual significance than your daily horoscope when it comes to telling you how to live your life. No, Objectivism is a powerful system of ideas that deals with the proper conduct of one's life throughout the span of one's life in any context that one may encounter or even imagine encountering.
As a rational philosophy grounded in reality it looks to values to guide your decision making. Values which are established by the reality that people may live or die. That may be happy or sad. We don't need a list of do's and don't's. The successful life is led by carefully considering reality (what is) and how one can achieve what one needs to live a happy, healthy, successful life (what one ought).
Animal Cruelty in Ethics and Politics
Unless you're the sort that doesn't watch the news or sticks your fingers in your ears and screams while the sports segment is on, you know that Michael Vick, Quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, is being charged with a couple of felonies associated with his alleged involvement with a dog fighting right.
New York Times: Vick Faces Day in Court on Dogfighting Charges
Michael Vick, the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, is due in court in Richmond, Va., later today to respond to charges that he was involved in a dog fighting conspiracy on property he owns in rural Surry County.
I've killed animals before. I eat animals almost all the time. I wear animals and I support their continued slaughter for my benefit and comfort.
I ALSO support the keeping of animals for my entertainment and comfort. Animals like puppies and kittens and maybe a fish.
When I am able to inflict death on a spider, I am greatly pleased because those things skeev me out.
So, let's talk about killing, torturing, and abusing animals just for sport. This includes dog and cock fighting as well as having sex with whatever species of animal ewe prefer.
In politics, my position on this matter won't come as a surprise to my regular readers. If you own the animal or animals in question, you should be permitted to do with them as you please in the eyes of the law.
Animals do not have rights because they do not have the same sort of volitional, rational consciousness as human beings and as such can be granted no other consideration under the law above that of any other property.
Legally, you should be allowed to kill, torture, or molest your animals as you see fit.
If you're so inclined, you should be permitted to enter your dog into fights with other dogs, so long as the owner of those dogs agrees to the match as well. Naturally, you accept the risks associated with such an activity and would have little standing in the eyes of the law should you sue for damages to your property (dog) in the event that you lose the match.
That's politics.
In ethics, however, the wanton, pointless destruction of animals may be regarded as foolish, barbaric, and wrong. (Of course, it depends on the situation.)
I will go a step further: the wanton, pointless destruction of anything may be regarded as foolish, barbaric, and wrong.
I would equate killing your own cat for no other reason than to watch it die with throwing paint all over your furniture. It's totally your business because it's your cat, your paint, and your furniture, but I have very real doubts that such actions could be undertaken to achieve or maintain any rational values in your life.
Basically, my question would be: What good does it do?
The actions you undertake in life ought to be done to the end of improving and maintaining your life as a human being. You work to produce wealth so you can afford things you need for survival and comforts that will make your survival enjoyable and fulfilling. You take vacations so that you can rest, break out of your routine and experience a broader perspective on the world.
But destruction for the sake of destruction can't possibly produce anything that could be rationally defended as happiness.
I suppose if you weren't quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, you might find yourself in a position where dog fighting is a means of acquiring wealth on which you could survive, although I would expect a rational person to abandon that occupation as soon as is feasible just because it is more satisfying for the rational individual to do something productive and not merely destructive.
Some might argue that watching dogs or chickens fight is entertaining. I fail to see the amusement there. I've seen dogs fighting and it's horrible. An attempt to defend dog fighting as a wholesome, life-affirming way of entertaining one's self would be patently absurd. The whole notion flies in the face of the meaning of the word "life-affirming."
Basically, I stand here in moral condemnation of dog fighting, animal torture, and the senseless destruction of any property for mere amusement.
Fat Face
I had a filling replaced this afternoon. It wasn't painful at all. I love my dentist. not only is he really good, he's also this hot, Latino man with wavy hair.
Sadly, I am injected full of some kind of something that has turned half of my face numb.
For kicks, I've had ranch dressing put on my salad. My the time I'm done, I will look like I'm doing an impression of Carol Ann after she gets rescued from the television.
I just hope I can keep from biting my tongue off.
We're All Anti-Libertarians Now
When people ask me what my politics are, I get a little cagey. It's a personal topic and some people and prone to the screaming, snarking sort of debate they learned from Bill O'Reilly's School of Oratory. I tend to say things like, "my politics are radical" and "Most people would best compare my views to those of the Libertarians, but I am not a Libertarian. I disagree with them, too."
If pressed to provide an explanation, I usually attempt to give a definition of the term freedom (Free from the threat and actuality of force or fraud.) and explain that although the Libertarians claim to be pro-freedom, they fail to agree on what that means exactly.
Freedom to the Libertarian Party (LP) is a "floating abstraction." It's a concept that isn't linked to reality and the actual existence of human beings. They just say it's "a good thing."
As a result, even the shallowest scan of LP membership reveals a host of potheads, anarchists, whore-mongers (literally), free-love moonbats, pacifists, and the like. Obviously, in politics, the anarchists and pacifists are the most immediate concerns, but I present that short list to illustrate the extremely wide philosophical gulf between me and many, if not most, Libertarians.
I've said all of the above before, but I'm saying it again because I want to introduce a very short round-up of posts and articles in which others describe their issue with the Libertarian Party and Libertarianism. (Note the big L as it refers to the party and not the very, very broad term 'libertarian.')
Francisco Gutierrez: Why I no longer identify myself as a Libertarian
My misgivings come from the anti-conceptual nature of the libertarian movement. It is true that my values are the same as those espoused by libertarians, but do we really mean the same thing when we say that we want freedom? That sounds like a silly question, but complicated abstractions like freedom are very much dependent on the conceptual framework used to build up the concept. If you are a socialist, a communist, a fascist, a christian, or an islamist, your concept of freedom will be very different to that of a capitalist. No social movement believes itself to be against freedom, as evidenced by the fact that all armed rebels call themselves freedom fighters whether they happen to be fighting for communism, fascism, islamism, democracy, or capitalism.
Gus van Horn has lots of posts, so here's a line from one of his oldest. Go read the rest of his blog and enjoy.
Newdow is making the same fundamental error as the Libertarians. He thinks that massive political change can be achieved in a republic without a massive change in the dominant philosophy of the people who make up that republic.
Contrary to the Libertarians' wishes, renaming what the people already believe as "liberty" will not magically result in them supporting a proper form of government. Contrary to those of Newdow and his ilk, a few men in black robes will not be able to make them govern themselves properly. Both approaches attempt to substitute a wish for the will of the people. It is this will that must be changed.
Ari Armstrong: Why Principles Matter: A Reply to Norm Olsen
I have made the decision to renounce my membership in the LPCO. I will notify the state board of my intent, and I will register as an unaffiliated voter. The reasons for my decision are described above. I felt it necessary to offer a detailed explanation as to why I am parting with an organization I've been involved with for over four years. I did not make my decision lightly, and it involves issues I've been struggling with for around two years. The LPCO is an ineffective organization headed by moral subjectivists. Several LPCO candidates in 2000, 2002, and 2004 have held positions at odds with the principles of individual rights, and several prominent LPCO members have apologized for those candidates and reacted angrily to principled critics. Ironically, it is precisely because I'm a libertarian (in the morally objective sense) that I must leave the Libertarian Party of Colorado, which has been compromised by subjectivists.
And props to Diana for inspiring this post.
If you have a similar post, let me know and I'd be happy to highlight it with the corresponding link-love.
"Private property will respected" Hugo Chavez, July 2007
If you've spent much time reading my blog, you know that I hate Hugo Chavez more than most of the other yahoos in the current cast of dictators and tyrants.
Maybe it's because I had a horrible Spanish teacher on semester in college from Venezuela, but I'm pretty sure that it's actually because it's a jackass.
Well, thanks to Cox & Forkum, I know that he's doing more things to piss me off.
*sigh*
Seriously, someone, Pat Buchanan, anyone, go shoot that man in the face.
And speaking of Cox & Forkum, why doncha go buy their books?
A Most Unfortunate Headline
Brought to you by Thrillist.
Seriously, if you haven't signed up for Thrillist and you live in one of the areas they cover, you should really do it right now. They have awesome recommendations, the write-ups are funny, and they link to hilarious pictures like the above.
What's not to love?
They cover NYC, LA, and San Francisco. And they offer a list for the Nation as well.
You get a daily email with a cool recommendation. Sometimes it's a sample sale, sometimes it's a party, sometimes it's a bar, sometimes it's a restaraunt, and sometimes it's a list that mixes up all of the above.
For serious. Sign up today.
July 25, 2007
I Live in Terror
Because I'm afraid that I'm going to do the math wrong on Diana's comment spam stopper thingie.
This keeps me awake at night.
Too Good to be True?
Today is starting out beautifully.
First, I have a sore throat, so I went to bed early last night to get some extra sleep. (That's not the good part.) and my gym partner sent me a text message this morning saying she wasn't going, so I got even more sleep. So, I am very well rested today. (Unfortch, the throat still hurts.)
Second, I checked me email and Mister Bookworm sent me a really sweet note.
Third, I got to work and I had a note from a vendor. They finally succeeded in running tests on this project I've been working on with them. We've been waiting for these tests for an entire year. I'm not kidding. I've been talking to them about tests for over a year now. And they finally arrived this morning.
I'm ecstatic.
Confused
I'm not a fan of horror movies, so maybe that's why I spent the duration of this clip wondering why a zombie and a shark are fighting in the first place. How did a zombie get into the ocean anyway?
Ehn. I don't get it.
Clip found via Thrillist.
July 24, 2007
YouTube Debates
The CNN - YouTube Democratic debate ran last night. I didn't watch it for several reasons.
1) I forgot it was on.
2) I was reading Harry Potter.
3) The Democrats make me angry
4) I don't have a lot of patience for politicians preening and saying idiotic things.
Even still, it got a lot of press and I can't help but watch a few of the clips. Watching them squirm around the gay marriage issue was amusing for about five seconds.
Are they planning on doing the same thing for Republicans, I wonder?
I Bite My Nails
Right In Time
by Lucinda Williams
Not a day goes by I don't think about you
You left your mark on me it's permanent a tattoo
Pierce the skin and the blood runs through
Oh my baby
The way you move it's right in time
The way you move it's right in time
It's right in time with me
I stand over the stove in the kitchen
Watch the water boil and I listen
Turn off the television
Oh my baby
The way you move it's right in time
The way you move it's right in time
It's right in time with me
I take off my watch and my earrings
My bracelets and everything
Lie on my back and moan at the ceiling
Oh my baby
Think about you and that long ride
I bite my nails I get weak inside
Reach over and turn off the light
Oh my baby
The way you move it's right in time
The way you move it's right in time
It's right in time with me
The way you move it's right in time
The way you move it's right in time
It's right in time with me
Thriller!
Michael Jackson fans will appreciate this:
Much thanks to Johndavid for providing it. His remark, "I love that they let the tranny girl wear clothes." (He means street clothes since they're all prisoners.)
Done!
I just finished reading the latest and last Harry Potter book.
It was very exciting.
I won't spoil anything for you, but I will say this: every single one of the predictions I made about the book were completely and utterly wrong.
July 23, 2007
This Does Not Please Me
Johndavid showed me this today. The title of this post was my response to him.
J'reve les Yeux Ouverts
Mister Bookworm offers the following calling it his "half-hearted penance for distracting [me] from [my] book all weekend":
Scotsman.com: Rowling poised to work her magic on classic tale of underworld hero
JK ROWLING'S next major project is set to feature a charismatic hero who uses magic powers to overcome diabolical and grotesque adversaries.
Yet the next chapter of the author's literary career is expected to focus on Orpheus rather than Harry Potter.
Edinburgh-based publishing firm Canongate has offered Rowling the chance to retell the adventures of the legendary Greek hero, who is best known for attempting to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld.
Rowling has already expressed an interest in covering the classics after her studies in Greek and Roman mythology at Exeter University in the 1980s, and now Canongate has invited her to become its latest celebrity writer to contribute to its best-selling Myths series.
...
Penning a book based on the classics might bring critical acclaim for Rowling, but the fee, which normally doesn't reach much higher than a five-figure sum for such works, would be a barely noticeable addition to her estimated £545m fortune.
A host of characters in the Harry Potter series - from Chiron the centaur to Fluffy the monstrous three-headed dog - were directly inspired by Rowling's love of ancient mythology.
A literary insider said: "She has expressed an interest in updating the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, but the whole thing is being kept under wraps so not to overshadow the launch of the final Harry Potter book."
It is understood that the invitation was made personally to Rowling by Canongate owner Jamie Byng. The publisher launched the acclaimed Myths series in 2005.
Mister Bookworm can't fool me. I know that he is completely and utterly unrepentant. Adding to the litany of sins and deviant behavior, this article only tempts me with more books to read.
An entire series of modernized myths? Sounds like fun!
But he knows that I am not supposed to add books to my book list (he's added four books to my pile already) until I reduce the size of the pile significantly.
Yes, this one is quite wicked and will have to be punished.
Loud Breather
This guy who sits in the cube next to mine is a loud breather. I think his nasal passages are permanently obstructed or something.
So, he's sitting next to me right now eating a burrito. It sounds like someone is eating snails with a straw.
This Weekend
To avoid having another All You Tube Day, I figure I'll tell you what I did this weekend.
On Friday evening, Mister Bookworm and I enjoyed a glass of wine and some television together. It was a very nice evening.
On Saturday, my Harry Potter book arrive after 1 o'clock and Mister Bookworm and I went into Central Park to read. Well, I read and he was doing some work of his own. Of course, it's kind of hard to read when he's around because I always want to either talk to him or smooch him. But I got a little reading done amid watching dogs playing and listening to children squealing. It was a gorgeous day in the park: not too hot and with a nice breeze.
Saturday night, one of his good friends had a birthday party at a bar. That was a lot of fun.
And on Sunday, I did more reading and in the evening, I went with Mister Bookworm to his office, which sports excellent views of southern Manhattan.
It was a pretty restful weekend, I suppose, but I really didn't get much reading done on Harry Potter. There were lots of interruptions. Very, very pleasant interruptions.
Buddhista sent me a text message Saturday night at 9:45 saying that she had finished the book and couldn't wait to talk to me about it.
Sadly, I'm still less than halfway through the tome and don't expect to get a lot of uninterrupted reading time any time soon.
And I just remembered that I forgot to take my laundry to the cleaners.
It's a rainy day here in NYC. My favorite weather, but the AC is broken and work is kind of boring.
Ok. I'm rambling now.
Talk to you later!
The Evolution of Woman
Things really start going downhill for you guys at the end.
500 Years of Female Portraits Morph
Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael - Raffaello, Titian - Tiziano Vecellio , Sandro Botticelli , Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Antonello da Messina, Pietro Perugino, Hans Memling, El Greco, Hans Holbein, Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov , Peter Paul Rubens, Gobert, Caspar Netscher, Pierre Mignard, Jean-Marc Nattier, Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Alexei Vasilievich Tyranov, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov, Antoine-Jean Gros, Orest Adamovich Kiprensky, Amalie, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Édouard Manet, Flatour, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Wontner, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Comerre, Leighton, Blaas, Renoir, Millias, Duveneck, Cassat, Weir, Zorn, Alphonse Mucha, Paul Gaugan, Henri Matisse, Picabia, Gustav Klimt, Hawkins, Magritte, Salvador Dali, Malevich, Merrild, Modigliani, Pablo Picasso
Banned!
I got about 35 spam comments this weekend. Most of them from Fergie.
Listen, F to the E R, this behavior will not be tolerated! I am banning your IPs:
195.225.177.48
85.92.136.233
210.245.147.241
222.190.96.198
221.230.139.179
202.64.220.99
70.180.239.33
70.160.68.214
211.110.9.242
80.131.207.19
66.65.33.106
75.40.0.177
70.64.188.146
210.200.105.226
85.92.136.233
221.169.231.72
67.169.200.197
203.69.39.250
201.53.104.253
82.32.109.142
200.68.39.142
62.231.243.138
64.131.231.75
85.185.244.214
222.71.55.42
58.226.248.132
65.27.86.102
202.103.218.207
24.220.166.76
222.190.96.198
217.219.217.130
July 21, 2007
Back of the Class
It is almost 1 o'clock and UPS STILL hasn't delivered my copy of the new Harry Potter book.
If I wanted to wait this long, I wouldn't have pre-ordered. I would have stood in line last night with a thousand snotty-nosed kids and bought it after midnight.
ARG!!!
July 20, 2007
Love's Philosophy
The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever,
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle;--
Why not I with thine?See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven,
If it disdained it's brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
Pet Peeve: Assuming I'm Just Sitting Here Looking at Porn
I hate when I write an email to someone with a status update complete with projected timelines and they respond with something like, "Great! Let me know when it's ready."
As if I were planning to just sit here and let them guess about when it would be ready. Because I took the time to write out a detailed project plan and timeline so that I wouldn't have to send out further updates.
Right.
It shouldn't bother me that much, though. I realize that the people who write those stupid emails are the ones who actually write "thank you" and "you're welcome" emails.
Communication overkill.
Giddy
Mister Bookworm and I are going to watch movies tonight. I know I just saw him Wednesday night and he and I chat online every afternoon, but I'm really excited to see him again.
Awwwwww...
I love Satchel. He's such a sweetheart and I am so very, very happy that his seeds are growing. Bucky had better not do anything to hurt his plants!
July 19, 2007
Angry Earth Mother Says, "Holy Cow!"
Pharoah sent me this article this morning; I think he's jealous because Earth Mother loves me more than him.
Telegraph UK: Eating beef ' is less green than driving'
Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday.
Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental impact of a single purchase of beef.
Taking into account all the processes involved, they said, four average sized steaks generated greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 80.25lb of carbon dioxide.
This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy.
That means that 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.
[...]
Su Taylor, the press officer for the Vegetarian Society, told New Scientist: "Everybody is trying to come up with different ways to reduce carbon footprints, but one of the easiest things you can do is to stop eating meat."
First of all, that is one of the most poorly written headlines ever.
Second of all, I have just thought of several delicious ways to increase the size of my carbon footprint. Mmmmm... Steaks.
Oh! And Su Taylor? Shut up and buy an E for your first name.
I'm not trying to think of ways to reduce carbon footprints.
Further, this study does not show that not eating meat reduces carbon footprints. It just supports the claim that we might reduce carbon footprints by not eating beef. (I realize that many people call only beef "meat" and other meats are called other things.)
Dip Trip Flip Fantasia
Swinging and smooth. You know what's in style and you're tastes are just perfect. You know what is worth spending and you like to live the high life. You're classy and smooth talking. You're the Stylish Jazz type of Gay Guy.
Take this quiz!
| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code
Eau Fraiche
Ask Yahoo!: What's the difference between eau de toilette and eau de parfum?
Perfume, also called extract or extrait perfume, can include 15-40% perfume concentrates. This is the purest form of scented product and is the most expensive as a result.
Eau de parfum contains about 7-15% perfume concentrates. This is the most popular and common form of perfume. It provides a long-lasting fragrance and generally doesn't cost as much as extract perfume.
Eau de toilette has around 1-6% perfume concentrates. This makes for a light scent that doesn't linger as long as the more intense versions. It was originally intended to be a refreshing body splash to help people wake up in the morning.
Eau de cologne is sometimes used interchangeably with the term eau de toilette. However, the concoction began as the name of a light, fresh fragrance mixed with citrus oils and was made popular by Napoleon. Some perfumers today have a version of this called eau fraiche.
So, there you go.
Stink Pretty
My new cologne was recommended to me by Mister Bookworm. It's d'Orange Verte by Hermes. I really like it.
It's a rich, warm fragrance with very distinct citrus notes (I accidentally sprayed myself in the face this morning and noticed that with grapefruit there is also lemon in it) and something like vanilla in the back beat. I don't have a very sophisticated or well-trained nose, so you'll have to check it out for yourself to see what I mean.
Well, I went down to Chinatown to the street perfumerie's there because things are cheaper and you can haggle.
The first place we stopped didn't have it. Instead of presenting me with what I asked for (Apparently, my French accent isn't well understood by the vendors in Chinatown. Who'da thunk?) I was bombarded with a loud, heavily punctuated catalog of all the brands of men's fragrances they do offer.
ARMANI.
HUGO.
CLINQUE.
DRAKAR.
After saying "no" about ten times, I abandoned courtesy and simply walked away.
We spotted a place on the corner of Canal and Broadway that was chock full of fragrances and as luck would have it, they had what I wanted.
For $50.
The problem with Chinatown is that you don't really know what things cost and because negotiating is expected, the mark up on the initial first offer is very high.
Fortunately, I had visited Amazon earlier yesterday. They have the 6.5oz Eau de Cologne bottle for just $47.99 after the discount.
The vendor dropped his price to $47 and I scoffed. There is no way I would pay $47 in Chinatown for something I could get for a dollar more on Amazon and I told him so.
He told me I was lying. I told him he was losing a sale.
He dropped his price to $45 and I still said no. He told me to name a price and I threw $30 out there and he told me I was wasting his time.
Not to be outdone, Mister Bookworm and I walked right up Broadway to Sephora to check the price.
I found the 6.5oz bottle there for $105 and the 3.3oz bottle for $80. I thought I was mistaken, but as you can see from the link above I wasn't.
So, on our way to dinner, there was another perfume stand open; he was just getting ready to close. We stopped by and he had it! He offered me $45 and thinking that was a bargain, I agreed. Unfortunately, I only had $40, but the nice vendor took the $40 and told me to have a good night.
I was so tickled.
Unfortunately, I didn't remember that the $47 bottle on Amazon was the 6.5oz bottle. And I didn't notice that Amazon has the 3.3 oz unboxed Eau de Toilette for just $30.
I don't know the difference between Eau de Toilette and Eau de Cologne, but now I will have to go find out.
Still, I love the fragrance even if it wasn't a HUGE bargain.
Grrr...
I don't like people pestering me at work. I tend to be extremely relaxed and methodical about things and my most frequent sources of stress are people who
- Want me to do their jobs for them
- Freak out when freaking out is not warranted
- Spend a great portion of every project looking for ways to blame someone else for something.
- Cannot communicate clearly.
Usually these problems do not come to me from the developers I work with directly.
I care for my developers. I protect them from pointless meetings. I guard them from conversations with the people who do the things I listed above. I lavish them with praise and I lodge my criticisms discretely.
But today I was stricken mightily to the core of my being when one of my developers disappointed me. He let me down.
Granted, he's a new guy. I think he's still getting familiar with our systems.
But still.
He failed to meet even the basic functional requirements of the project.
So, here I am sticking up for him, defending him, protecting him... and it turns out he was doing it very, very wrong the whole time.
I do not like being disappointed.
Crazy!
Mister Bookworm sent me this link yesterday about a guy who visits all 171 Starbucks Coffee shops in Manhattan in 24 hours. It's not the kind of funny that he wants it to be. It's kind of a trainwreck.
And he runs like a lunatic-- a really GAY lunatic.
Come Again?
I allow Art.com to send me emails with special offers and whatnot because I think, "Well, sometimes I do buy arty things and maybe I'll want something," even though I have absolutely no wall space available at the moment.
Well, this morning, they sent me one such email that contained this little bit of imagery:
Can you see the problem?
On the left, we have some bizarre composition of what I am going to assume is vines and flowers and on the right we have a Jack Vettriano painting. Yet, the crazy collage a la Swamp Thing is labeled "Fine Art" while the Vettriano is referred to as merely "Decorative Art."
!!!
This is exactly backwards and I am hoping that it is a mistake.
Fine Art, or "High" Art, is art that exists for its own sake. It is what Ayn Rand defined as -- I'll come as close as I can recall -- the "selective recreation of reality according to the artist's metaphysical value judgments."
Decoration is what is added to give something a more pleasant appearance. In the case of wall hangings, posters, and Poison Ivy's baby pictures the point is to add something to the wall so that the room looks better.
You can use fine art to make a room look better, but it can stand on its own as something to contemplate completely apart from the environment in which it is placed.
Decorative art has but the one singular function; to attempt to derive deeper meaning from decoration is as to spend time searching for deeper meaning in Madonna's "I Love New York." Decorative art is largely devoid of any greater significance.
So, I am arching an eyebrow at art.com this morning for their grievous miscategorization of these two works.
Art, indeed. They should know the meaning of the word.
Rumors of my Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
CNN: Air clean, dust still a concern after New York steam pipe burst
NEW YORK (CNN) -- No asbestos was detected in the air Thursday after a steam pipe burst in Midtown in Manhattan the day before, killing one person and wounding 26 others as the ruptured pipe sent thick plumes of smoke and ash into the air.
[...]
The New York Fire Department said three firefighters and one police officer were treated on scene for minor injuries. The other 22 injured were transported to various hospitals, a fire department spokesman said.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the person who died suffered from cardiac arrest.
The New York Fire Department said it received a call reporting an explosion at 5:56 p.m. More than 170 firefighters were dispatched to the site at Lexington Avenue near 41st Street.
Hundreds of people fled as dozens of police, fire and utility workers arrived. Officials said the explosion was not related to terrorism.
I was in Chinatown last night when all of this went down. The Bookworm and I were shopping for cologne and shoes as I mentioned yesterday. We stopped in the H&M down on Broadway & Spring to look at clothes. I wound up getting some socks and undies there.
Anyway, the clerk at H&M informed us that there was a bomb in the Times Square subway station and all the subways on the east side were shut down.
This greatly vexed me because 1) I don't like bombs and 2) I need those trains to get home.
So, Mister Bookworm and I went back down through Chinatown to sup at this vegetarian dim sum place he had heard of. (He's veggie. I don't know if I've mentioned that.)
Thinking that train service would be improved, we went to try to N/R/W uptown, but when we got to the station, there was a train there but it was out of service, so we walked further west and got on a 1 train to Times Square.
After he and I parted ways, I went to the N/Q/R/W tracks and found that service was restored and I made it home safe and sound.
I found out later that it wasn't a bomb, but a ruptured steam pipe that caused the explosion.
Today, I'm wearing my new shoes, socks, cologne and underwear and I have one complaint: these underwear from H&M, while quite comfortable, have a long tag right in the back which dangles down the cleft between my buttocks. It is a MOST disconcerting sensation so I went to the bathroom just now to cut it out. Sweet relief.
July 18, 2007
Pet Peeves: Sneezes
I hate these people who yell when they sneeze. Never in my life have I ever found it necessary or beyond my control to engage my vocal chords while sneezing.
When I sneeze, air is forced from my mouth and nose rather suddenly, but my voice isn't "turned on." It sounds very much like "achoo" but there isn't any vocalization.
But some people, like this jackass who sits near me here in the office, yell when they sneeze. It's obnoxious.
And along the lines of sneezing, lots of people say "bless you" when someone sneezes. I think this tradition has something to do with warding off demons, but in any case it's somewhat ridiculous.
Some people in my office demand to be blessed when they sneeze.
I remember one day soon after I started at this job, someone near me sneezed and I didn't respond to their outburst. They said, "Hey, Flibbert. When I sneeze I like when people say 'bless you.' " I gave them an imperious look, raised one eyebrow and responded, "Duly noted."
'Duly noted' is a nice way of telling someone to go eff themselves.
I think that instead of everyone rushing to save the mortal soul of someone who sneezes, the sneezer should excuse himself. So, when I sneeze, I say, "excuse me," because I just sprayed everything in the immediate vicinity with saliva, dust, germs, and all the biological detritus associated with a sneeze. Really, excusing one's self is the least that one could do.
Shopping Spree
I need a new pair of jeans. I also need some shoes and some cologne.
Sample sale to the rescue!
But do I want to go all the way down to Greenwich?
The cologne I'm going to check out is d'Orange Verte by Hermes. It was recommended to me because I said that I like cologne with citrus notes. (I also like the smell of tomato plants and fresh rosemary, but that's really not related.)
So, I think I might make a trip down to Chinatown after work this evening to see what's going on.
July 17, 2007
Quaint
I am not a lover of the earth. I think you all probably knew this.
I just don't see what's so special about the earth that warrants my affection or even my attention beyond looking for new ways to exploit it. To be fair, I have the same low regard for pretty much every non-rational entity in the known and unknown universe.
Rocks? 'sploit 'em.
Saturn? 'sploit it.
Cows? 'sploit 'em.
Neutrinos? 'sploit 'em.
Puppies? 'sploit 'em.
Black holes? 'sploit 'em.
Yes, the universe is really just here to sustain, please, and amuse me.
So, imagine my amusement when some entities with rational capacity set out to entertain me.
Talking Hawk, a Mohawk Indian who asked to be identified by his Indian name, pointed to the river's tea-colored water as proof that the overwhelming amount of pollution humans have produced has caused changes around the globe.
"It's August color. It's not normal," he said.
"Earth Mother is fighting back - not only from the four winds, but also from underneath," he said. "Scientists call it global warming. We call it Earth Mother getting angry."
"Earth Mother getting angry." I love how that phrase is positioned as if it's the stronger, more persuasive, or even more accurate description. I mean "global warming" isn't a great phrase anyway, but from now on, green scientists should stop with this "global warming" expression and start addressing Earth Mother's emotional needs. The data seem to indicate that Earth Mother is hormonal more than anything. Midol, mommy dearest?
I really don't think people are here for my personal amusement, but every now and then they surprise me by going above and beyond the call of duty and go national with something so preciously absurd that it can only be considered a joke.
In spite of my somewhat insensitive tendencies, my opinion of people really is that high and I'm in a really good mood. At this moment, it is simply beyond the realm of possibility that anyone could be so idiotic in earnest.
The rest of the article is a litany of the most precious arguments for being good "custodians" of the earth that I've ever heard. (I really don't pay close attention to these things.) They're the sort of arational, emotional, mystic arguments that I wouldn't expect to hear from anyone over the age of four or since the bronze age. Oh. wait.
Well, I appreciate their commitment to the jest. I mean, to actually live in the mindset of a caveman just to make me laugh? That is dedication. I'd write them a thank you note, but I'm sure that the post man is a tad anachronistic and I have my doubts that my landlord would appreciate my starting a fire on the roof just to send a smoke signal.
But I am kind of tempted to take a couple days off work to see what it would take to start a buffalo stampede or something. As a science-minded person, I just want to test how well they've figured how to live in nature like barbarians.
Special thanks to Andrew Dalton for bringing this to my attention.
Desktop Woes
So, I did the F8 thing that Inspector suggested. My computer is defragmenting in safe-mode right now.
Attempting to start it up with the last good configuration didn't seem to work.
I'm kind of worried about what could be wrong with it. I really don't think it's a virus since I rarely do any web surfing on that machine. (I think I'm a savvy enough user to avoid most of the common means of infection, too, but shizzle does happen fo' rizzle.)
The worst part is that I don't think I have any spyware/adware cleaner-upper programs on my machine. (Yeah. As usual, I'm the perfect disaster victim.)
In other news, I think my laptop is running hot. I've been shutting it down while I'm not using it so as to avoid any deleterious effects of the summer heat, but it's a Dell and I heard a rumor that this particular model has had some trouble with the cooling fans. (The rumor also said that Dell is not particularly helpful in resolving the issue.)
If my lappy dies and my desktop dies, I will be in a world of pain and suffering. Of course, it would give me an excuse to begin introducing the wonderful world of Apple into my life, in preparation for the arrival of an iPhone in the winter. Silver lining!
Anyway, we'll see how my desktop fixy-process goes. I'll let you know if I ever manage to get it started up again.
I Can See You From Here
A little while ago, I installed sitemeter on my site. As a result, I can see the traffic patterns on my site.
First of all, you all set a record yesterday. 179 visits yesterday. Props to you guys! Thank you so much.
Second, why all this curiosity about shemales? A whole helluva lot of you people come here looking for pictures of shemales. I know it's because of this post, but still.
Am I baiting you for more hits?
Yes. That's why I keep saying "shemale." It's also why I'm mentioning naked pictures of Britney Spears, naked pictures of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan's vagina, naked pictures of Brad Pitt, and the rumor that Angelina Jolie is a shemale herself.
Now that you're here, why don't you put up your feet and hang out a while.
Oh, don't sit there. Try the chair with the plastic cover. Try not to touch anything. Thanks!
Puzzle Answer
If you're interested in the answer to the "puzzle" I made up the other day, look in the extended entry area of this post.
The first one came from this:
My best friend was working on his website and had grid of numbers laid out to denote where it would put samples of his work for his portfolio and staring at the grid made me come up with that series.
The last number in the series is 5.
This reminded me of the American Flag.
I can't look at the field of stars on the American flag without my eyes tracing the two bouncey paths over the stars. By numbering the stars, I got the second series I presented to you:
So, the next four numbers in the series I gave you are: 33, 27, 21, 15.
That one was a little harder because the rows alternate in length, which would mess up the pattern of adding and subtracting that you'd saw in the first one. Also, I didn't give you very many "bounces" to reveal a clear pattern, either.
Anyway, there you go.
I was just thinking about this as a possible method for encrypting messages. I wonder if people have done this before. I'm sure they have. Does anyone have a reference?
Welcome to the Most Boring Blog Ever
Sorry I haven't been posting. I haven't really felt like it. Really, I've just wanted to come and tell you about anything and everything related to Mister Bookworm.
We went out again last night (as you can see from my last post) and had a fantastic time even though I was kind of tired.
But constantly gushing over him really doesn't make for a very interesting blog and since he sometimes checks in over here (Hi!) I kind of have to maintain some mystery about me.
Oh, but we ran into one of my coworkers at a bar on Friday night and he asked me about the Bookworm and I was telling him that I'm excited about him and he gave me the worst advice ever. He actually told me that we shouldn't "talk too much."
He had commented that we were very engrossed in our conversation when he saw us and I remarked that we were getting along great and our conversation was lots of fun and long-winded. And he said we shouldn't talk too much.
Whatever.
Anyway, I wasn't going to talk about this more.
I've been looking at the news to see if there's anything I care to write about, but none of it seems very fun or interesting to write about.
Ergo and I are kind of discussing the maintenance of roads in an ideal society, but I think he's going to blog on that, so I will likely wait to let him have first stab at that -- although I'm not especially interested in the question, at least not to the extent that I'd need to be in order to write about it at length.
I'm reading The Three Musketeers. It's fun.
The weather is hot and muggy.
Workouts have been alright.
I mean, what do you want from me?
July 16, 2007
The Bookworm
One of the things that I really enjoy about hanging out with The Bookworm right now is that when he makes a joke about the name Maximilian and I follow up with a joke about the emperor of Mexico, we know that we're both talking about an attempt of French Royalists to control Mexico in the 19th century.
And only minutes earlier he was reminding me of the lyrics to a House of Pain song, which I then point out are referenced by Wyclef Jean in the Fugees' cover of Stayin' Alive.
Meanwhile, bystanders are at a loss.
I guess it's a little bit rude to the company, but it's so much fun that I can't resist.
A Puzzle
What's the next number in this series:
1, 7, 13, 19, 15, 9, 3, 7, 11, 17, 13, 9, __
I have no idea how a person would go about figuring this out, but I'm throwing it out there to see if someone can.
Remind me and I'll tell you the answer later.
Update: My best friend figured it out and there is a pattern. (If you take a few minutes to look at it, you'll see it.)
Here's another one, but try to do the next 4 numbers:
1, 7, 13, 19, 25, 31, 37, 43, 49, 44, 39, __, __, __, __
Bonus points if you can tell me where I got that second pattern.
Miss Rand Goes to Washington
From Noodlefood:
Yesterday afternoon, Yaron Brook announced that, thanks to the generosity of a donor, Ayn Rand Institute will open a satellite office in Washington, DC, likely in 2008. That east coast office will help ARI more easily and effectively advocate cultural and political change.
SWEET!
Right Said Fred News
Reuters: "Too sexy for my bus," woman told
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German bus driver threatened to throw a 20-year-old sales clerk off his bus in the southern town of Lindau because he said she was too sexy, a newspaper reported Monday.
"Suddenly he stopped the bus," the woman named Debora C. told Bild newspaper. "He opened the door and shouted at me 'Your cleavage is distracting me every time I look into my mirror and I can't concentrate on the traffic. If you don't sit somewhere else, I'm going to have to throw you off the bus.'"
The woman, pictured in Bild wearing her snug-fitting summer clothes with the plunging neckline, said she moved to another seat but was humiliated by the bus driver.
A spokesman for the bus company defended the driver.
"The bus driver is allowed to do that and he did the right thing," the spokesman said. "A bus driver cannot be distracted because it's a danger to the safety of all the passengers."
These are the days of our lives.
July 15, 2007
Jinx It
I wanted to type a post to tell you guys about this guy that I met this weekend, but there's really too much for me to really sum it all up right now.
He's a great guy, though. Super smart, funny, and cute. His politics are freedom oriented and his personal philosophy (though not explicitly Objectivist) is somewhat Objectivish. He has a good education and he has a career that he loves and is proud of.
We spent a lot of time together over the weekend and we talked almost nonstop about all kinds of things. Music, books, movies, history, art... all kinds of stuff. And every conversations consists of a near endless string of, "I like that one, too! Have you seen..."
I don't want to jump to any conclusions or rush into anything prematurely, but I am really surprised and impressed with him. I'm excited to see him again and spend some more time with him.
July 13, 2007
Locker Room Antics of a Pocket Gay
It's probably rude to laugh at a man when you've just seen him naked but that's what I did this morning.
There's this guy at my gym who is actually really very attractive. He has a great body, pretty eyes, and he has a great sense of style. At first blush, his only short coming (pun intended) is that he can't be more than 5' 6" tall. I refer to him as "Shorty." (He's what a friend of mine calls a "Pocket Gay.")
As attractive as I think Shorty is, I do also believe he's a bit of a slut. The reasons why I believe this of him aren't so important beyond the fact that I have seen him trying to catch my eye a couple of times.
Well, this morning, I took my shower and got dressed next to my locker which was in the back part of the room behind a large concrete column. Given its situation, I didn't have a good sense of what everyone else in the room was doing unless they were in my periphery. This means I don't have to deal with inadvertent views of buttholes or swinging richards and it means that I garner far fewer stares myself.
So, I got dressed and I picked up my things to go to the sinks so that I could brush my teeth and everything and when I stepped around the column, there was Shorty.
Shorty was standing in front of the mirror with his feet a little more than shoulder width apart, knees locked, and drying his hair without even one of those coying little towels around his waist. The man was completely naked and I was caught completely by surprise.
What made me laugh was the fact that Shorty was using the hair drier on his hair which is not more than a quarter of an inch long. His hair is so short that he can't possibly style it.
As I said, he's an attractive man with a very nice body. I don't find his nudity in any way offensive unto itself, but we can be sure that his hair drying this morning was nothing more than a ridiculous pretense to stand in front of everyone naked.
And when I came around the corner, I caught his eye in the reflection. As we locked eyes, I had to bite my lip to stifle the laughter and hurry away to brush my teeth.
July 12, 2007
Marc Ronson Concert
Marc Ronson is a British DJ - producer who has worked with a number of big names in pop music today including Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Robbie Williams. Well, after being behind the scenes for a long time, he has decided to get on the stage, so he put together a band and he plays lead guitar and a couple of other instruments. I went to see them last night at the Highline Ballroom.
Rumors were floated prior to the concert that Robbie Williams or Lily Allen might make an appearance. From Spin Magazine:
Ronson, the hot producer behind albums by Spin cover girl Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, will celebrate the release of his solo album, Version, this Wednesday at NYC's Highline Ballroom, and he told SPIN.com that "a certain giant, male, mega-pop star from England" might be crossing the pond to perform with him.
Note the abundance of ambiguity. Important since Robbie Williams did not show.
The Highline Ballroom is a great space for a show. It has good sound, good lighting, and it's small. The downside being that it's small, so although the venue is intimate, it's a little too intimate should you -- as we did -- find yourself confronted with a pushy, bony, little woman determined to get up to the stage. Personally, I loved the space. I doubt there's any bad place to sit or stand in the whole place. Also, the small space limits ticket sales. The online tickets sold out pretty quickly.
Marc Ronson's band is a cover band, which is actually a lot of fun, especially because he spans several genres. Ronson himself is also super cute, which is good.
He did have several guests perform with him and most of them were quite enjoyable. There was Santogold (She's awesome), Daniel Merriweather (HOT), Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet (Is he high?), and some rappers that I didn't recognize but I'm told are semi-famous. One of the rappers was a hoot.
We had a lot of fun, but we had a couple of complaints:
First, the set was very short. They really didn't play very many songs and several had no vocals. I think there were only about ten songs total. I think that if you're a cover band, you need to maximize the number of recognizable songs you play so that the audience has the joy of recognizing and participating in the songs with you. If you have no vocals, you're a really boring jam band because you're playing someone else's songs. (There. I said it.)
There was no encore. Of course, you're a cover band, but since Marc Ronson's CD dropped on Tuesday, you'd think that perhaps they'd play one of two of the more famous tracks, like the song that Robbie Williams performed.
One of the rappers did a rap about a kid named Ray who was picked on because everyone thought he was gay. The rap talks about Ray coming to the basketball park with a gun and shooting into the air to prove that he's tough and to tell everyone that he's tired of being picked on. The speaker in the rap even says that he threw the ball at Ray and I think if he had remained detached from the homophobia or even spoke out against it, it might not have been so bad. Instead, the song really sounded like it supported the homophobia even if it did sort of praise Ray for standing up for himself.
Conscious of the understatement for the purpose of making it more obvious I'll say there were a lot of gay men and women in the audience and these lyrics may at best be characterized as a misstep.
The whole set was fun, but seemed to go all over the place. The atmosphere was very much one of a bunch of friends getting together to jam to their favorite songs.
I only recognized a few of the covers: Ryan Adams "Amy" (A favorite song of mine), Britney Spears' "Toxic," Sir-Mix-a-lot's "Jump On It," Phantom Planet's "California." (The guy who sang "Amy" butchered it, unfortunately. I hope the album version is better.)
Santogold (linked above) opened for Ronson and I really think she was the best part of the show. Sure, cover bands are fun and all, but original stuff is more interesting. She's like a cross between Nelly Furtado and early No Doubt. I think she would do better with a band, but it was still very cool stuff.
So, anyway, there you have it. That's my scattershot review of the show last night. It was worth the $15 ticket, but it wasn't the best.
July 11, 2007
One More
Ok. Last one before I go to bed. Promise. You only have to watch the first 30 seconds or so of this video to see the entrance this drag queen makes. In three words: OH EM GEE!
Hat Tip: Joe. My. God.
Lick Poop And Chief Itchy Balls
Since I'm still up, I'm still counting it as YouTube Wednesday. There's that and the fact that the Bookwork sent me two new videos that are also fun:
Oh, I Wish You @#*&!^% Would.
Continuing with YouTube Wednesday
Hat tip to Hobag for sending me this.
READ A *&@#$ Book!
"Raise yo kids! Raise yo kids! Raise yo goddamn kids!"
It's catchy.
Thanks to the Bookworm for this one.
July 10, 2007
Public Service Announcement
NYCDHMH: NEW YORK CITY SYPHILIS CASES DOUBLE IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2007
NEW YORK CITY – July 9, 2007 – After leveling off for more than two years – and declining in 2006 – new syphilis cases spiked in New York City during the first three months of 2007. The Health Department announced today that doctors reported 260 new cases of primary and secondary syphilis during January, February and March, compared with 128 cases during the same period last year. Interviews with patients suggest that the increase is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. As in past years, half of those newly diagnosed with syphilis also report being infected with HIV.
Mind your manners, people!
Capitalism
Venomous Kate of the Damn-Near Perfect Ass blogged:
With television channels moving over to digital broadcast, the 700 MHz spectrum is up for grabs.
[...]
Handset manufacturers in the U.S. have, it turns out, have been stripping Wi-Fi capabilities from mobile phones at the request of the major cellular carriers. That’s not the case in Europe, where cell phone owners can hop on Wi-Fi “hot spots” to surf the web for free. Here, in the land where capitalism is king, such innovations have been resisted by the communications industry because they would ultimately affect their bottom line.
The FCC is hoping to change all that.
A couple of things about this.
First, free wi-fi sounds wicked cool.
Second, I am terrified by the FCC's involvement in anything, but it may shock you that I actually support the FCC's function of dividing up the airwaves to those who would claim them -- except I don't like their treatment of the airwaves with licenses. The better approach would be to treat them like property much like land in the western US prior to settlements. Therefore, I do not support the FCC's proposal to force the next owner to allow free wi-fi on it.
Third, I want to clear up the implication that it is some sort of flaw in Capitalism that drives mobile phone carriers strip the Wi-Fi capabilities out of phones. That isn't the case. That decision is actually a foolish decision on the part of mobile phone carriers who could attract more users by offering phones with that capability. That they haven't realized the opportunity here reflects poorly on them alone not on Capitalism. It is a free economic system that makes this an opening for potential competitors.
Of course, that bandwidth has to be open for free use first, which although cool should be the prerogative of whoever comes to own it.
Save the Planet! Bomb Iran and Syria!
The Live Earth concerts happened recently and they got me to thinking: how can we save the planet?
Out of sheer enthusiasm, I'm going to ignore the fact that I'm not very clear on what the Earth is in danger of, unless we're talking about asteroids, which are of great concern to me because sunscreen does not stop asteroids. It's true. Scientists said, "Sunscreen will not stop asteroids." Ask any of them.
And then someone told me that CO2 is a huge problem.
I didn't know it was such a huge problem because I heard that plants breathe CO2 and I exhale CO2, so it seems like CO2 is totally fine. I just know that I have no intention of not breathing, so that solution will have to be pursued by someone else.
And who else could do that? Who would be better off not breathing?
You're thinking about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, aren't you? I was. That was the first thing I thought of, actually.
And then I found out that there are over 70 million people in Iran. I would say that a very large percentage of the people there would be better off not breathing, specifically all the ones with bombs strapped to their babies and things like that.
This made me think the same thing of Syria, which has some 19 million people.
Just think of how many earths we could save if we just smothered a bunch of Iranians and Syrians!!!
Since this is clearly the best solution to Global Warming, I fully expect Hillary and Barak to call me tonight to hear my other ideas for worldwide improvement. I mean, Liberals love the planet, right?
Next headline: Democratic Presidential Candidates Support Pre-Emptive Attacks on Iran, Syria
This plan is fool proof!
Just Jammin' Fresh and Def
I love the song "Supersonic "by JJ Fad, but when I tell people about JJ Fad, they always say they've never heard of them.
LIES.
You know that if you were in the roller skatin' rink in the 80's, then you have heard JJ Fad.
First of all, you've heard "Supersonic."
Ok, but they have another good song, too, "The Cars that Go Boom."
Of course, I'm sure many of you are still scratching your head and lying to yourself about how pervasive JJ Fad is in your life.
Here's a couple of other allusions:
- Fergie remade "Supersonic" into that song "Fergalicious."
- Missy Elliot references JJ Fad in her song "Gossip Folks." She says, "You think I ain't know y'all broke-down Milli Vanilli JJ Fad wannabes ain't over here gossipin' bout me?"
Update: I just realized that the video doesn't contain the line I reference above. You need the album version to hear it, I guess.
- Gwen Stefani makes reference to "The Cars that Go Boom" in her song "Wind It Up" She says, "I guess that they are slow, so they should leave the room/ This beat is for the clubs, and cars that go--"
Still Banning
The comment spam bombardment continues. Here's the latest IP addresses from last night:
216.23.249.18
66.192.6.131
221.97.27.16
58.71.35.206
209.200.52.73
200.60.194.218
67.83.80.253
200.206.233.198
68.38.19.249
71.195.167.112
68.52.113.166
24.78.178.35
142.217.205.220
217.144.201.158
74.128.150.143
July 09, 2007
It's Not the Size of the Boat, It's the Motion of the Ocean
So, thanks to Allen Prather, I just found out that my carbon footprint is a paltry 2.95 tons. Even when I push the numbers a lot higher than what I know them to be, I can't seem to reasonably break 4.
Ok, but I'm not going to internalize this. I'm not going to let it impact my self esteem.
I'm sure lots of guys have small carbon footprints. Does anyone know how much carbon is in Enzyte?
I'll bet Allen sent that link to me to brag. Bastard. "Eeee! Look at me! I'm Allen Prather! My carbon footprint is 15.6 tons per year! Eeee! I'm such a big man!"
You know, not everyone can have above average footprints. I mean, average means average and that means, you know, that some people aren't. Like freaks with grotesquely oversized carbon footprints.
What can you do with a footprint that big anyway? In my experience, not much. I mean, really, if you think about it, it's better to have something closer to average or maybe a little smaller.
Men and women alike agree with me here. I mean, no one likes, you know, sitting there with your friend and, you know, maybe things are getting a little hot -- global warming -- and then you find out that they're bringing a 15 ton footprint to the party. Total turn off.
...
Yeah, so, anyway, I need a bigger footprint. Is there like a carbon pump or something? I'm thinking of burning stuff. Isn't there some kind of adopt-an-oil-fire thing I could sign on to?
There has to be something you can do about this.
Civil Unions Aren't the Same as Marriage
Joe. My. God. reports:
UPS is refusing to grant spousal benefits to gay couples who have civil unioned in New Jersey, saying that they can only do so for couples that are married, as the company does for married gay employees in Massachusetts. UPS joins a growing list of New Jersey companies refusing to recognize state law requiring full benefits be granted to the civil unioned. Garden State Equality says they have received 150 similar complaints about other companies. And again we see an example of how civil unions fall short of providing full rights to gay couples.
I've said it once and I'll said it again: if there is no difference between civil unions and marriages, then there is no reason to call them by different names. The only reason to call them something different is if they aren't the same, if you intend to treat them differently.
There are only two options: Either call all the unions civil or call them all marriages. Otherwise, gay activists should not stop protesting this outrageous situation.
Naturally, businesses are free to discriminate as they please. And consumers are free to do the same.
Disappointed
I recently discovered that there is a gym near my office that has a pool and I have been really excited about the prospect of swimming laps in the morning rather than running all the time.
So, I ordered a couple of speedo swimsuits. I followed the size guide on the website, but apparently my legs are bigger than swimmers legs usually are with respect to their waists because the suits fit at the waist fairly well, but the legs were uncomfortably tight.
I'm not sure how much larger I should get, though. I mean, no one sizes things based on the circumference of the leg holes and the fit at the waist isn't bad at all.
I guess I'll just try the next size up. *sigh* Such a hassle.
If you're interested, here are the suits I ordered: Nylon Water Polo and Mesh Poly Square Leg.
Feminist Cows
Reuters: Women demand female Pamplona bull run, with cows
MADRID (Reuters) - Women in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, world-famous for its ferocious bull-running festival, are demanding their own version complete with cows instead of bulls.
A student website, www.estudiln.net, set the ball rolling with its campaign "Cows want to run" which asks for a separate encierro, as the bull-runs are known, where only women are allowed to take part.
Women have been allowed to take part in the San Fermin bull-running for some years but they still represent a tiny minority of the thousands of runners who attempt to dodge 600-kilo bulls along an 800-metre course through the streets of Pamplona.
The students say it's only logical that women should have their own bull-run.
Except that it's not logical at all.
Why should there be another, separate run when women are perfectly welcome in the one that exists?
My understanding is that the bulls are run to the arena where the bull fighting happens and they are slaughtered. They don't run cows because the cows aren't involved in the bull fighting.
As usual, this goal of sexual equality reveals itself to be ridiculous and superfluous.
iFair. iBalanced.
I got to play with another iPhone on Saturday and it still looks sooooo cool.
But the negative reviews are streaming in.
Here's a long bulleted list of things this one guy doesn't like about the iPhone. Some of them are valid complaints in my book, others are just items of personal preference to him, I think.
The iPhone’s battery is apparently soldered on inside the device and cannot be swapped out by the owner like most other cell phones.
[...]
Users would have to submit their iPhone to Apple for battery service. The service will cost users $79, plus $6.95 for shipping, and will take three business days.
[...]
...because some users will not want to live without their cell phones, Apple is also offering a loaner iPhone for $29 while the gadget is under repair.
Like many PC users, I am greatly irritated by Mac users who fail to recognize the strengths of PC's and weaknesses of Apples. But I would levy the same criticism against many PC users who refuse to recognize the power of Macs.
Anywhoodles, there you have it.
A Consumer Study Proposal
I think someone should do a study because I have a hypothesis that needs to be tested: there is a direct correlation between incompetence and belligerence.
The more someone yells or threatens you when things appear to be going wrong, the more likely it is that they are the cause of the problem or some other problem that is about to erupt.
If someone spends a lot of time pointing fingers or establishing blame -- particularly if they spend that time while the problem remains unsolved -- then there's a good chance that they are somehow involved in the problem or they are the cause of many other problems that have happened or will happen.
Someone should do a study on that. I'd be interested in the results.
Banned!
As mentioned, I got hit by a LOT of comment spam this weekend. Usually, I make a list of their IP's and ban them, but it's too much trouble on my laptop.
Well, I'm at work now, so here's a list of some of the IPs I got for spam that came in last night:
89.33.115.72
201.245.173.147
85.180.66.28
70.173.43.159
83.226.109.179
74.136.31.126
124.101.251.181
201.32.218.132
124.244.162.122
83.64.83.189
24.37.240.167
124.29.195.54
203.162.27.90
69.93.209.2
210.51.51.24
201.6.231.142
85.186.119.231
202.51.232.227
75.111.19.61
222.151.211.93
Update: They're still coming in: 62.231.243.136
July 08, 2007
Dexter
I've been watching some episodes of the HBO Showtime series, Dexter by way of HBO Showtime On Demand this morning.
The show is fascinating, but somehow not quite right.
It's a horrifying show.
The premise is that Dexter is both a crime scene blood specialist and a serial killer. It's important to note that he's a sociopath, too, because the show spends a lot of time exploring the psychology of this anti-hero.
Dexter's adopted father recognized that he was a sociopath and a would-be killer rather early on and tried to teach him to blend in with normal people. He also tells him to only kill bad people. So, Dexter finds people who kill other people and he kills them.
True to form, Dexter displays perfectly shallow affect. He's unable to relate to other people, although he does recognize that other people do have some sort of emotional reaction as they interact with other people. He spends some time trying to work out the intricacies of these reactions and interactions and tries to figure out how to imitate them.
Dexter is merely parroting the behavior of others according to arbitrary rules that he implements very heavy-handedly. It's an item of minor humor when he gets it wrong. For instance, he wanted to cheer up his girlfriend and strengthen their relationship. She had spent the day cheering up a friend whose fiance was killed and he said he would rent a DVD. "Something light," he said.
He came home with Terms of Endearment and when she was bawling her eyes out, he made inappropriate sexual advances thinking it would distract her from pressuring him to express emotions that he does not have and is unable to identify their... pathology.
The profile isn't quite complete, but I can't put my finger on why -- apart from the character's obsession with being a just killer and satisfying the memory of his dead father. Maybe that is what makes the portrait flawed.
Well, there's that and Dexter's perhaps unwitting sense of humor. His boat is named "Slice of Life."
The people who make the show seem to be testing our sense of justice.
Dexter kills killers. He does so out of a stated desire to give these people what they deserve. I've only seen him commit one murder and it was a man that the police had not been able to catch. He was bringing immigrants from Cuba and then killing them if their families wouldn't pay him a lot of money.
I suspect that the notion that vigilante justice is acceptable is rather common. Batman does it.
The show adds an extra level of conflict for the viewers in that Dexter isn't a mere vigilante. His motivation isn't really to bring justice. He kills because he's a killer. He's a sociopath. He is driven by a desire to kill that he only tempers and restrains with the excuse of justice. His true motive is simply bloodlust and that places the viewer in the uncomfortable position of actually siding with the closest thing to an actual devil.
This presents a lot of opportunity for stories along a single arc, but I don't see how this show could continue for very long. The theme is rather shallow.
I think I would be a lot more interested in the show, though, if the people who are (or would be) trying to catch him were smarter.
I have some other complaints about the show, but I find myself interested to see how things play out with this character. I don't sympathize with him and I don't feel any satisfaction when he kills his killers. But his brand of evil is so offensive because he does manage to pass among normal people and his own lack of extreme emotion breeds a rather clinical desire to have him shown to justice.
So far, he's managed to evade the police. We'll see.
Lonesome
Oh! And almost all of the Objectivists have carted themselves off to Colorado for OCON.
'Cept me, of course.
*le sigh*
Busy Weekend
Friday Night
- Went to the Pier to hang out with friends.
- Friends and I went to dinner
- Friends and I went to piano bars.
- I got home at 1
Saturday
- Chatted with another friend about boyfriend woes.
- Met another friend for lunch.
- Met still other friends to see Transformers.
- Came home to take a quick nap.
- Met up with friends from Friday for dinner.
- Friends and I went uptown for a birthday party in a very fratacular bar. (Straight people are weird.)
- Friends and I ditched the party to hit a gay bar. (Gay people are weird.)
- I got home at 1
Sunday
- I woke up and I really do not want to go work out, but I should. I'm giving myself 9 more minutes.
- Supposed to meet friends for brunch at 1 in NoLIta.
This was supposed to be a calm, relaxing, uneventful -- boring, even -- weekend! No such luck.
Comment Spam
I've been bombarded with comment spam over the past few days. As a result, I've had to close comments on several of my posts. Most of them are older, but a couple are very recent.
If you'd like to comment on a post, but find comments blocked, feel free to email me and I will find a way to get your comment posted.
My email: flibbert AT THIS DOMAIN
Apologies for the inconvenience.
July 07, 2007
I'm in Hell
Due to some events last night, I'm going to have to proclaim this loudly for all the world to see and hear. I don't care if I never get to have sex with a man ever again.
I do NOT like musicals.
There. I said it. There's no taking it back.
Everyone tells me I just need to see a good one and then maybe I'll like it and I'll admit that I haven't seen a "good" one because I'm too cheap to shell out hella big bucks to see something I think I won't like. But I have seen a couple and I haven't thought they were worth the money.
So, what happened last night?
My friends took me to a piano bar.
I don't like musicals, so I don't know the words to most of the songs they played. I don't actually WANT to know the words because I don't LIKE them anyway.
And yesterday I got to try out an iPhone. And I still don't have one.
So, it seems appropriate that they would make a big musical number out of wanting an iPhone.
Hat tip: Joe. My. God.
July 06, 2007
Subway Weirdos
Last night I was heading home from the gym on the R Train, just minding my business and reading my book when a lady sat down in the seat next to me.
This wasn't a huge surprise because even though it wasn't rush hour or anything, the train was surprisingly full.
After riding for a few minutes, she tapped me on the should and said, "Excuse me," in a very timid voice and I saw that she was a young Asian lady with bad skin and bad teeth.
Being the friendly sort of fellow that I am, I replied. "Yes?"
"If you had a billion dollars, what would you do with it?"
"A billion dollars?"
"Yes."
"Well, I suppose I'd go on vacation."
"Oh! Is that all? Like would you continue to work or what?"
"Yes, I'd probably work, but not likely at the job I have. I'd travel. I'd maybe go to school."
"Oh. Ok. Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said and I went back to reading my book.
A few more minutes passed and she wanted me to look at some pages that she had torn out of a magazine.
I paid perfunctory attention to the pages before smiling and returning to my reading.
I should have told her that people have peed in their pants to get my attention before. Magazines just won't cut it anymore.
I know she was just trying to make a new friend, but when I got off the train I still checked to make sure I hadn't accidentally joined another cult.
iTouched It!
I went and got my hairs did this afternoon and it turns out that my hair dude bought an iPhone and he let me play with it.
It's Sooooper cool.
The data connection is pretty slow, but it's faster than my friend's old blackberry -- although that doesn't say much because I think her blackberry is effed.
I didn't have much trouble typing on it even though I had fat fingers. I actually had trouble getting used to simply tapping and not pressing on the screen.
It's LITTLE. It's a lot smaller than I expected and I was afraid I was going to drop it.
All in all, I was impressed and am excited to see how they improve it for the second generation and get one in January.
Pimping Is Easy
But Jessica Alba left a comment on my website.
I "accidentally" deleted it, but for the record she said I have a great website.
It's ok. You can be jealous.
Fat Ones, Skinny Ones, My! How They Wiggle and Squirm
The crack team of researchers over at Snooze Button Dreams uncovered this one for me.
Shortnews: Scientist Implicates Worms in Global Warming
Jim Frederickson, the research director at the Composting Association has called for data on worms and composting to be re-examined after a German study found that worms produce greenhouse gases 290 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
I was thinking about it this morning: people keep saying that I should reduce my "carbon foot print." But I'm a carbon-based life form and from what I can tell, reducing my carbon footprint will suck. I think that having a very, very large, Shaq-size footprint is really much better for me.
The Danger of Being an Objectivist
One of the reasons I merged my old blog into this one was to put some brand distance, if you will, between my professional life and my real life.
If you're a regular reader, you've probably picked up on my opposition to things like environmentalism, multiculturalism, and the like. You can guess that I think "corporate citizenship" is a lot of baloney as well. But these things carry a fair amount of weight in the professional world and although my views are perfectly rational and as justified as they are righteous, it is possible that potential employers will find my views threatening.
Well, Dr. John Lewis who used to teach at Ashland University in Ohio ran into this problem full force.
Officials at Ashland have made their discomfort with objectivism abundantly clear. In January the university, in Ohio, rejected Mr. Lewis's application for tenure, and officials told him in writing that his support for objectivism was the sole reason for the denial.
A memo from Robert C. Suggs, who was then Ashland's provost, to Frederick J. Finks, the university's president, said that Mr. Lewis's tenure application was "a unique and particularly thorny one." Mr. Suggs wrote that Mr. Lewis's publications, teaching, and service all met or exceeded the university's tenure standards, but said that his support for objectivism, an atheist philosophy, "stands in unreserved opposition to the Judeo-Christian values found in the university's mission and the beliefs of the founding organization, the Brethren Church."
In the memo, Mr. Suggs conceded that Mr. Lewis had not proselytized objectivism in the classroom. But he argued that Mr. Lewis's scholarly publications expressed ideas that were contrary to Ashland's mission. He pointed in particular to Mr. Lewis's chapter in an edited volume, Essays on Ayn Rand's Anthem (Lexington Books, 2005). There Mr. Lewis celebrated Rand's "break with the Judeo-Christian condemnation of ambition and pride."
Mr. Lewis was floored by the rejection. "I was denied tenure explicitly on the basis of objectivism," he says.
The entire article is an interesting read and chronicles Dr. Lewis' fight and the conservative school's disgraceful, cowardly approach to the whole situation.
Diana Hsieh is going to blog this later. She recommended the article which she found over on the Primacy of Awesome.
As a note, I guess I should point out that I do support private universities' right to hire and fire whom they please, but they must explain the terms of employment up front. And I would also point out that this incident does provide some grounds to argue the hypocrisy of the conservative perspective.
Case in point:
Mr. Lewis and Mr. Thompson added that the mission argument was especially weak in this case because throughout Mr. Lewis's six years at Ashland, the university accepted grants from the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, a California-based organization that encourages the study of Rand's thought. The grants were used to pay for release time that allowed Mr. Lewis to concentrate on his research. "That release time was always approved by the dean," he said. The grant, he said, "was used to hire adjuncts."
Mr. Finks, however, said the grants Ashland accepted, while initially intended for the study of objectivism, were significantly revised in response to the university's concerns. "If you would read the grants, they are not for the promotion of that at all," he said.
Mr. Finks declined to share the text of the grants with The Chronicle. A copy of the final Letter of Understanding provided to The Chronicle by the Anthem Foundation appears to contradict Mr. Finks's account. "The primary purpose of the fellowship is to fund release time so that Professors Thompson and Lewis can pursue research and writing on Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism," it reads.
Anyway, it's a good article. Check it out.
More Unhealthy Relationships
Reuters: Blinded by love, man stabbed in eye by girlfriend
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong woman who blinded her boyfriend in one eye in a fight six years ago has been jailed for jabbing a chopstick into his other eye, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Last November, Po Shiu-fong, 58, accused long-time boyfriend Kwok Wai-ming, 49, of having an affair, the South China Morning Post reported.
During the row, Po stabbed a plastic chopstick into his left eye, which she had already blinded six years ago when she poked it with her finger.
"Po became hysterical when she saw the wound and mopped it with a towel. The pair then went to bed," the paper said.
"The next morning they had another argument in which she grabbed a chopstick and stabbed Kwok's right eye," it said.
[...]
"If I forgive her, God would not forgive me," the paper quoted Kwok as saying. "No matter what, nothing could compensate for the loss of my eye."
My favorite part is that he won't forgive her.
I hate when people do horrible things and then their victims are like, "Oh I forgive them." That is a hideous betrayal of justice.
If someone jabs out your eyes, you don't forgive them. You call the police to have them restrain you from jabbing their eyes out in return. Smite! Smite! Smite!
The News is Fit to Print, But We Can't Write It
AL.com: Girl, 11, faces DUI charge after chase
Orange Beach police arrested an 11-year-old girl Tuesday night and charged her with driving under the influence of alcohol after a high-speed chase that ended when the child flipped the Chevrolet Monte Carlo she was driving.
[...]
According to Duck: The Monte Carlo exceeded speeds of 100 mph in the ensuing chase, which flew west along the beach highway through Orange Beach, past Gulf State Park and into Gulf Shores -- a distance of about 8 miles. The Monte Carlo eventually sideswiped another vehicle and then flipped over near the easternmost condo towers of Gulf Shores.
[...]
While the legal blood-alcohol content for adults is .08 grams per 100 milliliters of blood, the limit for anyone under 21 is .02. Without disclosing her blood-alcohol content, Duck said the 11-year-old had enough alcohol in her system that she could have been charged with DUI even if she had been an adult.
Though the child's weight is undisclosed, a 140-pound adult would generally have to drink four beers in one hour to achieve a blood-alcohol level of .08.
Finding an adequately written article for this story that I originally heard on CNN Headline News this morning was a pain! I'm so frustrated with how poorly written these news stories are that I can't even comment on this insane story.
I will say this: my favorite part of the story is that on CNN they reported that the girl said that she was on her way to pick up her sister.
Say whaaaaaaat?
In trying to find this article to cite for you guys, I came across this report of the incident on WKRG.com: Drunk Driver In High Speed Chase Only 11-Years Old. I couldn't use it because the article is such a poorly written news story. Seriously, what kind of lead is that? Why are the details buried in all this needless narrative?
On CNN Headline News this morning, they gave all of the relevant details in about three sentences. Of course, I couldn't find the story on CNN.com.
Who is teaching people who to write the news these days? Come on, people! Does the AP have to do everything for you?
Update: Reader Netbuzz brought this to my attention. It's kind of tragically hilarious.
July 05, 2007
Have I Ever Mentioned...
That I want to be friends with Drew Barrymore?
She seems like she'd be fun to hang with.
Losing My Touch?
Remember that Frenchman I went on a few dates with a while back and then he just kind of dropped off the face of the earth? He just wasn't that into me.
Well, I met some new guy and I only met him that once and he seemed nice. He asked me if I wanted to meet up again for drinks some time and I accepted. But then he's not communicated with me since. Again, I assume he's just not that into me.
I'm thinking of it because I see he's online right now.
At the moment, this phenomenon is just an interesting change of pace, but I can see how if this goes on one might develop a low opinion of humanity. heh heh heh...
China: Where Image is Everything
Guardian Unlimited: China: Media Is Hyping Safety Issues
BEIJING (AP) - China warned the media Tuesday against exaggerating its food safety problems and stirring consumer panic, even as officials announced dozens of snacks for children had failed standards and more fake blood protein was found in hospitals.
China's dismal product safety record - both within and outside its borders - has increasingly come under the spotlight as its goods make their way through global markets. Major buyers such as the United States, Japan, and the European Union have pushed Beijing to improve inspections.
``I think it would be better if the media would stop playing up this issue,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular news briefing. He warned the widespread media coverage would ``lead to panic among consumers.''
[...]
Fears that China's chronic food safety problems were going global surfaced earlier this year with the deaths of dogs and cats in North America blamed on Chinese wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine.
U.S. authorities have also turned away or recalled toxic fish, juice containing unsafe color additives and popular toy trains decorated with lead paint. Chinese-made toothpaste has been banned by numerous countries for containing diethylene glycol, a toxic ingredient often found in antifreeze.
Qin acknowledged there are ``some illegal and unscrupulous retailers'' and also attributed the problems to differences between China's monitoring systems and those of other countries.
I heard about this story on CNN Headline News this morning and I was struck again by China's preoccupation with their image, but of course they couch it in terms as if they are concerned about "panic" among the public.
Riddle me this: Who cares if the public panics and stops buying products made in China?
Do you think it's the public? No. Do you think it's the government of any relatively free countries? No.
It's a China!
If you read the rest of the article, they cite NUMEROUS examples of how products made in China fail minimum standards for health and safety. And we're not talking about band aids that are just a little too sticky. We're talking about toothpaste that contains poison and bad blood plasma. We're talking about acts of criminal negligence and fraud.
Consumers have a right to know about these things and should be left to manage their panic on their own.
The other part of this story that strikes me as odd is the use of the term "warned." "China warned the media"
Warned them about what? What will happen if they don't listen?
Typical of The People's Republic of China to threaten the media for reporting on the very real threat their products present to consumers. Lest we forget: China is a communist state, a tyranny. They maintain their power only by violence and fraud and millions are suffering the consequences.
Freedom-minded companies should not do business with Chinese companies or the Chinese government.
Cameron Diaz: Inconsistently Selfish
I don't like Cameraon Diaz. I first became aware of her existence with the movie My Best Friend's Wedding in which she appeared to me as a whining, sniffling, lowly sort of woman, the sort of creature unworthy of the romantic attentions of any self-respecting human being.
Some people disagree with me on that, but I really hated her character in that movie and ever since I've found it hard not to see her in that light.
It's either that light or the one in which her bangs are held upright by dried semen. Take your pick.
well, she was on the internet today and she is quoted as making a remark that really bought her a lot of points in my book. I'm actually a little impressed at this very small display of a backbone.
24dash.com: 'Selfish' Cameron Diaz refuses to give up car to save planet
Cameron is quoted in new book 'The Green Book - The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time' as saying: "I don't want to be running around barefoot, pushing my car like Barney Rubble. I don't want to go back to the Stone Age. I just want to maintain what we have for a long period of time - forever. How nice would that be? I'm very selfish."
Of course, I agree with most of what she said there except I don't want to maintain. I want to progress. Get me a nuclear-powered flying car, dammit!
The article points out that she was called out earlier last month for carrying a purse with the political slogan of a tyrant written on it.
"Last month, the actress came under fire for carrying a bag bearing the political slogan of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong in Peru."
So, she's not consistently of the right mind of things, but for what it's worth, I still have to applaud her environmental selfishness there.
Excused from Responsibility
I'm an Old Testament kind of God. I think, if you do something wrong, then you get smote. Smite! Smite! Smite!
Today's divine retribution is SO slack! People do dumbass things and instead of being smote with the stone of brim, people just get sent to rehab.
REHAB.
It's ridiculous that starlets can just prance into a dayspa and call it rehab. Unless they teach you how to wear panties, rehab just doesn't satisfy anything I hope to get out of these things.
And I am doubly offended by the notion that someone can go to rehab to cure his homophobia, anti-semitism, or simple idiocy. Smite! Smite! Smite!
Today, it struck me (not unlike being smote but only lightly) that this rash of people running to "rehabilitation" programs to excuse themselves from being the responsibility of their actions is the social manifestation of the liberal notion that prison is for rehabilitating criminals.
Rehabilitating criminals in prison is an absurd idea and undermines the point of them being smote in the first place. It is an injustice to even attempt it because you can't punish people while at the same time trying to teach them to integrate rational ideas about the rights of other human beings. They're passed the point of learning that and they should be punished. Smite! Smite! Smite!
You have to have a pretty low opinion of humanity, I think, to suggest rehabilitation for criminals. I mean, you'd have to start off with the notion that there's no real fundamental difference between law-abiding citizens and the ones who do the raping, murdering, and pillaging.
Let's get this straight: there is a world of difference between the person who goes about trying to make their way in the world as a CRIMINAL and a person who actually earns their living through work and rational thought. I, for one, won't entertain suggestions to the contrary. This idea of rehabilitating criminals and excusing them from being punished is predicated on this idiotic and savage view of human beings -- as if it's too much to ask that a person behave themselves.
So, first we have this effort to make prison a nice place to be to set these otherwise kind, gentle souls back on the path to righteousness.
THEN, we get people who do a crime and then the run right into a rehab program or they promise to go into a rehab program and in exchange the court makes their sentence lighter. The punishment aspect is all but removed! It's just rehab!
And in the social scene, we have someone being impolite or saying things that other people find offensive and they run into rehab so that people won't think they're a bad person.
Here's my proposed solution: SMITE! SMITE! SMITE!
For social problems, don't talk to rude, offensive people. Don't be their friend. Don't date them. Don't buy things from them. Just shun them completely.
For criminal problems, punish them as appropriate to their crime. What is appropriate is a question for another post and the entire career of legal philosophers.
I'm bringing this up because I just clicked over to CNN and saw this:
CNN: Spokesman: Gore's son getting treatment
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Former Vice President Al Gore's son is getting treatment after his arrest on suspicion of drug possession, according to a Gore spokesman.
Al Gore III, 24, was arrested early Wednesday in Los Angeles after being stopped for speeding, according to a sheriff's department spokesman.
Police found four types of prescription drugs in the car, but Gore did not have a prescription for any of them, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino. He also said a small amount of marijuana was found in the car.
Gore faces three felony drug possession charges and one misdemeanor possession charge, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Obviously, he still faces the criminal charges, but you can bet that his immediate move to rehab is partially motivated by a desire to alleviate his sentence some.
"In a 2004 plea deal, Gore was sentenced to a substance abuse program."
I mean, it worked before, why not try it again?
From a philosophical perspective, this blurring the line between criminal and non-criminal behavior has the very distinct odor of subjectivism, the idea that there's no such thing as good or bad, really, it's all just a matter of perspective.
I have a solution for those people: SMITE! SMITE! SMITE!
P.S. I do actually know how to conjugate the verb "to smite" but "smitten" isn't as fun and doesn't communicate the collateral devastation that I think should be involved.
Unhealthy Relationship
Reuters: Woman returns to husband who took her hostage
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A Brazilian woman whose estranged husband held her hostage at gunpoint on a bus for 10 hours along with dozens of passengers last year has decided to reunite with him.
"I forgave him out of love ... I believe it was an irrational act and that we can resume our life in peace," Brazil's Globo news agency quoted Cristina Ribeiro, 35, as saying on Monday, eight months after the nationally televised hostage drama.
That is totally grounds for break up in my book.
And Still
And even though I'm in a bad mood, I was online earlier this morning and I saw something that reminded me of how in love my best friend is with his boyfriend.
I've never seen him so desperately happy and fulfilled and it brings me joy to see it in my life.
They've had to and continue to overcome various situational factors in their relationship, but it seems to work. I hope it continues to work.
I'm so very happy for the two of them.
Good Party, Bad Mood
I would say that our party last night was a great success. Lots of people showed up and we had plenty of food and beverages. Everyone commented positively on the appearance of our apartment. AND, I am pleased to report, the mess was actually kept to a minimum.
I managed to get to bed just a little bit after midnight, too.
This morning, reflecting on the party, I find myself in a bit of a bad mood.
I was out of sorts for our party due to a vicious hangover from Wednesday night. Obviously, that's my own fault, but I was feeling much improved by the time of our party even if the thought of consuming any alcohol filled me with dread.
Several of my friends showed up -- something I'm very happy about -- and I got to spend a little bit of time with all of them. My disappointment stems from the fact that I couldn't spend more time with each of them and a few in particular.
See, I'm nursing a little crush on a guy with whom a romance is almost certainly out of the question. It's not that he isn't gay or by appearance an unsuitable match at all. In fact, when I talk to him and consider his course in life, I am very impressed with him -- inspired, even. But his situation is far removed from my own.
I'm being deliberately vague about this for reasons you can likely guess.
It's just terribly frustrating because when it comes to things like one's situation in life, there is a youthful determination and exuberance that drives a person to think that they can be overcome. Indeed, it's quite possible that such things could be overcome, but the odds are not good.
Long distance is a good example of a situational factor that can be overcome but presents a considerable burden to established relationships and a near insurmountable obstacle to new ones. Point of fact, I won't enter into long distance relationships for those reasons and the only reason is because I think romance is difficult enough without adding great distances to it.
But one is ready to admit that all relationships present some sort of situational factor that is less than optimal. Perhaps they are at a place in their career where they can't spend very much time with you. Maybe there is a bit of an age difference. Maybe they are very happy in their career, but they aren't very financially stable.
These things can be overcome, some more easily than others, but they are all obstacles to be overcome. One has to decide how much one is willing to work for the relationship.
I tend to be rather mercenary about these things. As a rule, I won't enter into long distance relationships. I have a guideline (not a rule) that says I won't date people without a college degree.
The question of age is a troublesome one for me because I've always generally dated men who are several (5 to 10) years older than myself. I find men in their mid 30's to early 40's very attractive, but I recognize also that there is a large difference in the amount of life experience between me and someone at that stage in their life. I've only rarely considered dating men younger than myself and the idea of it fills me with some unease; youth is a time of possibility, hope, and adventure and even though I have a lot of that left, I would dread the idea of being an untoward influence on someone who is starting out in their adult life because I am presently invested and directed in mine.
As I said, these sorts of situational factors can be overcome, but am I willing?
When it comes to this man I know there are a couple of these not insignificant situational factors to overcome.
What has put me in a bad mood though is at my party, I noticed him spending a fair amount of time with someone else and they exchanged numbers. They even left the party together.
Now, the person he was with is not in the least unworthy. I have considered dating this other person, but when I did the math so to speak I came to the conclusion that I wasn't interested.
But when I think of them together I get angry.
So, I'm jealous. I'm jealous of something that I haven't even made my mind up about. I can't think of any other way to describe it other than simple, petulant jealousy. That in itself frustrates me.
I'm frustrated by his situation or mine in relation to his. I'm frustrated that when I'm around him that I can't think of anything to say. I'm frustrated that I didn't get to talk to him very much last night. I'm jealous that someone else did. And I find myself projecting my present frustration, anger, and jealousy outward to my view of any prospect I have of finding the sort of romance I really want.
Basically, I'm in a bad mood.
*sigh*
July 04, 2007
Happy Independence Day!
It's American Independence Day, y'all!
Go watch some fireworks, eat some hamburgers, and celebrate the beginning of the freest country in the history of the world.
July 03, 2007
On the Verge
When I opened up Lappy and keyed over to my blog here, I really thought I was going to have something to say. And I feel the little itchy feeling inside my skull like I do when I have something that needs to be said, but for the life of me I can't think what it is I was going to say. I can't even think of anything to say instead of what I was going to say.
I guess I'll go clean my room.
Crossing Borders, Crossing Lines
A friend of mine was telling me about some ideas for books that had been proposed to a publisher and one of them was a cookbook of Middle Eastern food. Obviously, such things exist, but for some reason I think the idea was rejected and I couldn't help but come up with possible titles.
Here they are in the order I presented them to him. You can probably guess why I stopped.
- A Million Ways to Cook Sand
- Camel: The Meat
- Bomb-Proof Garden Parties for Children
- Recipes to Make Your Mama Ululate
- Sheik and Bake!
- Bucket of Clits: Cooking with Leftovers
Any other ideas?
So Close, Yet So Far
When I moved to Astoria, I moved into a hell hole.
The apartment is old and not well maintained. It was dirty. Filthy. Dirty. I'm not talking about simple clutter or disrepair. I'm talking about dirt.
I moved in with the utmost optimism, but since March my sunny outlook on the possibility of the apartment has given way to a less than benevolent view of things.
I really believe that the only reason we haven't been carried away by rats and roaches is due to the hardware store downstairs which seems to emit a steady stream of pesticide and poison that seeps into everything. You get used to the smell after a while, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's unhealthy.
Since I moved in, however, one of my roommates, The Actor, and I have been working our butts off to fix and clean things up. (He works at it a lot harder than I do, actually.) We've:
- Refinished the floors
- Hung a new cabinet in the kitchen
- Repainted almost every room in the apartment.
- Repainted much of the trim
- Installed a new sink in the bathroom
- Installed a new medicine cabinet in the bathroom
- Repainted the stairs and walls in the main hall
- Repaired a damaged part of the ceiling in the main hall
- Put numbers on the apartment doors
- Re-secured the fire ladder to the roof
- Put down vinyl tile in the entryway
- Put up bookshelves in our hallway
- Sealed the skylight so that it doesn't leak anymore
And all sorts of other odds and ends. The neighbors helped with some of the painting in the main hall. The Law Student has not helped with anything except to grudgingly pick me and The Actor up from Home Depot and to take us to Ikea once or twice. The Landlord hasn't done much except he did provide us with a few supplies, some of the paint, and odds and ends. He also bought us a pizza one day while we were painting in the hall.
I wish you could have seen it before and compare it to the way it is now. It really is an incredible transformation. I am so sick of it eating up my free time, though, and I'm sure The Actor is over it, too. As mentioned, he has done more work on it than me.
We're not done, though. There's still some little odds and ends that have to be done. We need to finish painting the baseboards and trim. We need to clean the kitchen again. (We've cleaned our apartment so many times that I am now satisfied enough to say that it is no longer filthy.) I need to paint over some holes that I made by mistake and patched. There're a few other things as well.
We set a goal to have all of this stuff done for a party for Independence Day and we are almost there. We're SO close but we still have several hours more worth of work that needs to be done.
I can't wait!
When it's all done, I might take some pictures for you to see. I really wish I had taken "before" pictures, though. It's finally becoming a place fit for human habitation.
July 02, 2007
ARG!
I think my desktop computer is dying or dead. I can't seem to get it to start up.
I'm running Windows XP and it starts going through the startup process, but when it gets to the point where it would ordinarily load my desktop and everything, it gets stuck and it just keeps blinking at about 5 second intervals and it never fully displays the desktop image or icons.
I don't use my desktop very much, but it is where I keep all my original files and my "heavy" programs like Adobe Photoshop. It's what I use when I really need to sit down and work.
Ug.
It has all of my photos and music and documents.
Any thoughts on this, folks?
Eff the Ineffable, Y'all.
I don't know who keep doing it, but whoever you are, I want you to stop saying that time and the universe began with the Big Bang.
The Big Bang is not an event that brought about existence, ok? Things in some form or another have always been around. The Big Bang is an event that simply marks the advent of a cosmic reconfiguration of matter and energy.
TIME, my friends, is the measurement of change. Time is a characteristic of existence. Just like there was stuff going on before the Big Bang, so was time passing.
There is no need to discuss or debate this fact; any alternative that may be proposed makes no sense.
And then I find this on The Binary Circumstance:
The Big Bang is often thought as the start of everything, including time, making any questions about what happened during it or beforehand nonsensical. Recently scientists have instead suggested the Big Bang might have just been the explosive beginning of the current era of the universe, hinting at a mysterious past.
You must be joking me.
I've been saying this for years, but apparently the news is only just catching on in science circles. I had no idea I was revolutionizing physics with my statements of the obvious.
I love how prior to some naked mole rat in a lab somewhere suggested that someone check their premises that there were people just wandering around thinking about the time before the Big Bang as being "nonsensical."
Eff the ineffable, y'all. If it exists, then it can be defined and understood.
How do you even BE a scientist while sitting around thinking, "Oh, well, sooner or later I just knew I'd run into something that defies reason and comprehension?" Any scientist who is going around thinking otherwise should be fired.
Someone get me my Nobel Prize, cuz I really think I deserve one when I hear about stuff like this. (In all seriousness, I think the offending remark in the cited article is an example of shoddy science journalism. I doubt that any serious physicists were saying that.)
Oh, but the good news is that they think they might actually be able to deduce SOME things about what the universe was like prior to the Big Bang. That's pretty cool.
WANT
iPhone stuff:
- One of my coworkers played with it in the store this weekend and loved it.
- Sales over the weekend are estimated to have broken 500K units. Impressive! Apple "has set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, and analysts are generally looking for it to sell about 3 million units this year."
- A friend of mine said that a friend of his played with it and found the means of dialing fussy. I don't know what he's talking bout. The demo made it look rockin' and I haven't heard that from anyone else.
- HNN reported this morning that some users reporting problems getting their accounts activated.
- Another friend played with it and said it's pretty cool but he's waiting for the second generation because the data speed was slow (Edge network) and the hassle of having to zoom in on a page every time he clicked bothered him.
- Rumors abound that the second generation will be out in Q42007.
- In California, most stores sold out, but here in NY, NJ, and CN, only one store actually sold out of the weekend. Is that a portent of doom?
- I might have to drop in to play with one some time, but here's my question for you: Did any of my wonderful readers take one for a spin this weekend? If so, what did you think? Did any of you actually buy one? How is it?
I'd love to hear what you think so far.
Update: WOOHOO!!! Diana went and bought herself an iPhone! Please give us a review, Diana!
Repression and Education
Everything that I've heard about attitudes toward sex in India tell me that a significant part of the population is quite repressed when it comes to sex and romance. So, it really surprised me when I read this article.
Reuters: India looking for "Mr Condom"
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India, struggling to promote greater condom use among its population, is looking to hire its own "condom man" to follow the example of a former Thai cabinet minister who successfully pushed for safer sex, the Times of India reported.
[...]
"He has to feel passionately about the cause as Mechai does ... have a dynamic personality to change both government policy and public perceptions about HIV/AIDS, sex and condoms," [National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) chief Sujatha Rao] said.
India is the home of people who protested Richard Gere's affectionate, but closed mouth kisses, with Shilpa Shetty not long ago. Male-female contact in public is regarded generally as impolite and inappropriate at the very best.
Periodically, India makes the news because of the "hundreds, if not thousands" of honor killings each year. An honor killing is where a woman's relatives may kill her to preserve family honor in the event that it is suspected that she has had sex outside of marriage or committed some other "sin" related to sex.
Homosexuality is illegal in India and some see that as "not likely to change in the near future because the society is based on religious traditions where procreation is an obligation for the performance of various religious rituals." Violence against gays is said by some to be relatively common in certain areas and even condoned by law enforcement officials.
But now they're going to have a man who is going to campaign "passionately" for the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS?
Methinks this is an uphill battle for Mr. Condom.
Immigration Worries
Who's worried? Not me! Immigrants just don't bother me. I'm not entirely clear as to why they should bother me, though.
You know what surprises me about the whole immigration debate, though? How come it's not the Democrats who are arguing to seal the borders and keep everyone out? They're the party most vociferous about government programs and welfare systems. Many of them barely stop short of calling for out-and-out communism.
Social welfare systems rely on a large number -- an extreme majority, really -- of productive citizens who will create the wealth that they will steal and redistribute. Said systems always break down because it doesn't take long for the demand to exceed the supply because such systems inherently lack a control on demand.
That said, an influx of poor and relatively unskilled people into the economic system presents a considerable risk -- threat, even -- to the stability of welfare systems because said people are already in a position to make a claim on the program.
So, why would you argue for welfare and for immigration knowing that the latter will undermine the success of the former?
Steel Your Money
I'm subscribed to a daily email list that sends out recommendations for all kinds of things. It's called Thrillist and it's pretty damn cool.
Well, today's email was about something so cool I had to blog it: stainless steel wallets.
Founded by a Cooper Union grad, S/S is a DUMBO accessories/tchotske shop carrying everything from titanium cufflinks to 19th Century reprints like Full Revelations of a Professional Rat Catcher (or "Great Exterminations"). Most impressive, however, are their wallets, made from woven, industrial grade steel -- a critical component in petroleum refining, aerospace technology, and other applications far more grueling than withstanding your sweating buttocks. Besides being durable, the wallets are also flexible, and as soft as silk's cousin, Reginald VelJohnson. Aesthetic options include smooth or textured steel, and a steel/leather combo, all of which're available in driving, bifold, and, for the man who fears elevator stabbings, breast pocket versions.
Badass, right?
I checked out the site, StewartStand.com, and found that the wallets run about $95. That's a little steep but when you think about the additional security the wallet provides by way of acting as body armor, I think it's worth it, don't you?
July 01, 2007
History Is the Story of Women Following Behind With a Bucket
I'm presently watching the movie History Boys and there was a scene just now in which the boys were practicing their university interviews and one of the teachers went on a rant about women not being allowed to play a role in history. History, she says, is really the tale of male incompetence. Apparently, women have been -- historically speaking -- mere toys -- not even toys -- useless accessories like those fish, remoras, that stick to sharks. Actually, I question whether or not her opinion is that high. Perhaps my metaphor should have included some sort of intestinal parasite.
That particular teacher is a feminist.
The thing that strikes me about feminists is the notion that perhaps things would be better if women had been involved or if, perhaps, the roles were reversed and women lead history.
My multicultural sensibilities are offended by the notion!
How dare anyone suggest that my mental faculties are somehow deficient or impaired by virtue of their relative proximity to a pair of testicles?
The sexism doesn't actually bother me because, well, I have a hard time taking feminists seriously. They're like Al Sharpton to me: ridiculous, racist/sexist, and not worthy of any serious intellectual consideration.
Tragically, my disregard for them is likely a costly mistake in terms of intellectual warfare.
But I am about to lay a revelation on y'all: when it boils right down to it, men and women don't actually think all that differently.
Yes, yes, they display some different tendencies in the way they communicate and relate to one another. But the core motives of men and women are much the same. And when it comes to solving the problems of the world, men and women usually come up with the same ideas.
It is patently absurd to think that if women were in charge that -- somehow -- WWI and consequently WWII would not have happened, or that the Cold War would have amounted to little more than a intercontinental brunch with cucumber sandwiches and a dab of borsht.
There are right ideas, wrong ideas, and none others. Men and women alike have them.
One might pose the question to this feminist: if men are so incompetent and women so capable, then why did women follow about for so long? Why did this alleged paucity of feminine influence ever happen? Why didn't women rise up and bring some enlightenment to our poor little male heads?
I'll gesture now broadly to women like Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ann Coulter and Mary Maitlin as examples of my point and counterarguments to the feminist thesis. I don't see a single woman in politics today who is proposing any idea that has not already failed, been disproven, or been shown to repeatedly lead to ruination.
I'm not saying that I see any males in politics who aren't proposing the same, I'm just pointing out that men and women who are in the mainstream and making history today are a lot of the same. There's no reason to qualify any statements about them by saying "men and women" because bad ideas abound and they aren't exclusive to either sex.
Fortunately, there are people -- with testicles and without -- with good ideas out there who are fighting to get the right ideas heard and practiced. We have along way to go.
P.S. History Boys is an OK movie. I got really annoyed with the lack of the subjunctive mood in much of their speech. That may have been the point because they do mention the subjunctive a lot, but it was really, really bothersome to hear these British people abusing their verbs like that. And they're supposed to be teachers!
