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*sigh* - 30 October 2007
Oct. 31st, 2007 12:04 amToday was spent mostly in training. All stuff that I probably needed to hear, but that I didn’t think was necessarily all that useful, or wasn’t already stuff that I knew, implicitly or explicitly. It’ll suddenly come in handy later. Met afterwards with the department head for a one-on-one, where we figured out what was coming next, and what parts of my performance so far could be improved. I think I’m doing okay, so far, and if I can just manage to figure out how to stay awake without the use of artificial stimulants (movement seems to be the key here), in case my tired habit should reassert itself, I think I’ll be okay. Maybe earlier bedtimes, but it might be some sort of delayed-onset food coma, for all I know. I just wish if I was going to need a nap, it could be done while I was on my lunch hour, where I could actually get some sleep, rather than in those places where I need to stay awake. Any tips on how to keep myself awake - focusing isn’t the problem here. In fact, I can get focused on what’s being said and then I wake up without realizing that I had gone to sleep in the first place. *exasperation* I just don’t know what to do about this. If it were consistent, I’d go see someone about getting my glands tested and medication started because of my constant tiredness, but it’s infrequent, and almost always embarrassing. And in places where someone notices. I probably shouldn’t be so harsh on myself, but like all my other faults, I want it gone and out of my sight with no chance of ever returning.
How was your day today?
Just in time for the second half of the professional padded rugby season, yet another excuse to take your girl friend out for sports - a brassiere that doubles as an alcoholic beverage carrier.
A little embellishment involved, perhaps, but Daily Kos reports on a person who modifies a Hummer to run on biodiesel, using mostly stock parts. Which is probably quite brilliant, and at the same time a bit deranged, in my opinion. But it can be done.
An equally potentially brilliant idea comes from the Cranking Widgets blog - to cut down on trolls and spammers, charge an admission fee to post. Which probably would work, especially if membership can be revoked for asshattery.
Immunity deals have been offered to members of Blackwater being investigated for the shooting of 17 Iraqis - this comes at a time where the Iraqi government has legislation that would end the blanket protection that private contractors have enjoyed. Certainly no coincidence there. Even better, the people offering immunity don’t have the authority to actually give it.
Lest we think that the current warrantless wiretapping and surveillance is something new, perspective shows that the government has been spying on its own citizens without authorizations for years now, probably always in the interest of security from an Other. Additionally, some more data on how you could already be a terrorist, despite being two degrees of separation away from someone who might be a terrorist. The government is also potentially putting protestors on an FBI list that denies them the ability to enter Canada. Assuming that all that the two persons in the article are on the FBI list for is peaceful protest, then this is a gross misuse of the list. This entire scenario might make a merit or two when Mr. Olbermann counts down his Worst Persons in the World, if it hasn’t already. Now I wonder how hard it is to get yourself out of that database, once in it.
Saudi King says United Kingdom needs to do more on terrorism. Considering one of his most famous citizens is a well-known terrorist, one might think he does not have grounds for such a speech, but that would be akin to saying that President Bush couldn’t speak on terrorism because Timothy McVeigh is American. Most of the protest on such an issue has more to do with Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights not giving them much room to speak about preventing terror.
Rudy Guliani believes that John Edwards and Hillary Clinton will again change their minds on Iraq, claiming that history will bear out that the decision to attack was a good one, in that it prevented Iraq under Saddam from becoming a second hostile nuclear power.
Perhaps another reason why the ENDA should pass - the gay people are everywhere now, and don't necessarily need to congregate to have a neighborhood. Plus, housing prices are nightmarish in places like San Francisco. And the straights are moving in right next door, hopefully without too much for violence or chest-thumping. Demographics are changing, possibly for the better. If we can live next door to gay people without problems, then why are we resisting legislation that would make them feel comfortable enough at work to be good co-workers? After all, they’re even in the United States Congress, even if some of them can’t quite come to grips with it.
We have entered the opinion zone, where quiche may be ready at a moment’s notice. Dennis Prager gives a capsule summary of Islamo-fascism Awareness Week, defending the use of the term and saying that those who attack it resort to ad hominem. Three’s also the “conservatives have it so much harder speaking on campuses” and that the liberal camp has lacked substantive argument about Islam’s fringe elements for a while now.
Significantly more well-reasoned and about an actual thing of interest is Robert Novak's analysis on who's behind the attempts on Benazir Bhutto's life, and the reluctance of the Untied States to get involved in backing one or the other.
The Consumerist strikes with a tale of woe and bathroom tile - the tile was in place of a hard drive that a consumer thought he had purchased. According to the account, the salespersons took the return and permitted him to purchase a different hard drive, at which point the manager took the purchased drive and told the unfortunate soul to take it up with the manufacturer. Who told him that it was the retailer’s problem. All this after he had purchased a different hard drive and paid for it.
But tonight’s winner, and appropriately thematic, is The Christian Broadcast Network's page devoted to Halloween. From top to bottom, just what Bill’O and the far, far religious Right need to take all the fun out of our Topsy-Turvy Day and infuse it with as much pompous soul-saving as possible. Actually, let’s substitute pumpkin pie for the quiche, even though the end result is the same - SPLAT.
HIV may have entered the United States in 1969 from Haiti, according to a study conducted by Michael Woobrey of the University of Arizona. Which would have given it twelve years to circulate before finally being classified and actively fought. In addition to its already-difficult nature, twelve years is a long head-start to have to catch up to.
The Department of Humorous Emphasis gives us a gem of a phrase to remember - "I've got BETTER things to DO than DRUGS". It’s even funnier knowing that bracelets were printed with this message and distributed to school students. The Department of Onomatopoeia counters with three-dimensional sculptures of sound effects.
If nothing else works out for you, there’s always the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. But before you go and do something permanent, recall that historical forces tend to side with progressives. Perhaps in your lifetime, they’ll achieve what we want, perhaps not. If not volunteering for the Human Extinction Movement, perhaps Buy Nothing Day will be more to your tastes.
If none of those works, perhaps you’ll volunteer to test Batter Blaster, supposedly pancake or waffle batter in a pressurized can. If you do, tell us how it turns out, okay?
What I thought was going to be awesome, right up until I read it, and thus getting a Last Spot for shame rather than fame, is How to Destroy Your High School in Seven Days. Excepting that it’s not actually all that helpful, other than a very generalized guide on how to get yourself thrown out and then reinstated, all the while causing significant embarrassment and drawing media attention to the school and the authority figures. Someone smart enough to want to go through with such a plan probably doesn’t need the platitudes, and the guide doesn’t really help anybody who doesn’t already have some specifics worked out.
Anyway, bedtime. Must get good sleep, for I have stories to tell tomorrow.
How was your day today?
Just in time for the second half of the professional padded rugby season, yet another excuse to take your girl friend out for sports - a brassiere that doubles as an alcoholic beverage carrier.
A little embellishment involved, perhaps, but Daily Kos reports on a person who modifies a Hummer to run on biodiesel, using mostly stock parts. Which is probably quite brilliant, and at the same time a bit deranged, in my opinion. But it can be done.
An equally potentially brilliant idea comes from the Cranking Widgets blog - to cut down on trolls and spammers, charge an admission fee to post. Which probably would work, especially if membership can be revoked for asshattery.
Immunity deals have been offered to members of Blackwater being investigated for the shooting of 17 Iraqis - this comes at a time where the Iraqi government has legislation that would end the blanket protection that private contractors have enjoyed. Certainly no coincidence there. Even better, the people offering immunity don’t have the authority to actually give it.
Lest we think that the current warrantless wiretapping and surveillance is something new, perspective shows that the government has been spying on its own citizens without authorizations for years now, probably always in the interest of security from an Other. Additionally, some more data on how you could already be a terrorist, despite being two degrees of separation away from someone who might be a terrorist. The government is also potentially putting protestors on an FBI list that denies them the ability to enter Canada. Assuming that all that the two persons in the article are on the FBI list for is peaceful protest, then this is a gross misuse of the list. This entire scenario might make a merit or two when Mr. Olbermann counts down his Worst Persons in the World, if it hasn’t already. Now I wonder how hard it is to get yourself out of that database, once in it.
Saudi King says United Kingdom needs to do more on terrorism. Considering one of his most famous citizens is a well-known terrorist, one might think he does not have grounds for such a speech, but that would be akin to saying that President Bush couldn’t speak on terrorism because Timothy McVeigh is American. Most of the protest on such an issue has more to do with Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights not giving them much room to speak about preventing terror.
Rudy Guliani believes that John Edwards and Hillary Clinton will again change their minds on Iraq, claiming that history will bear out that the decision to attack was a good one, in that it prevented Iraq under Saddam from becoming a second hostile nuclear power.
Perhaps another reason why the ENDA should pass - the gay people are everywhere now, and don't necessarily need to congregate to have a neighborhood. Plus, housing prices are nightmarish in places like San Francisco. And the straights are moving in right next door, hopefully without too much for violence or chest-thumping. Demographics are changing, possibly for the better. If we can live next door to gay people without problems, then why are we resisting legislation that would make them feel comfortable enough at work to be good co-workers? After all, they’re even in the United States Congress, even if some of them can’t quite come to grips with it.
We have entered the opinion zone, where quiche may be ready at a moment’s notice. Dennis Prager gives a capsule summary of Islamo-fascism Awareness Week, defending the use of the term and saying that those who attack it resort to ad hominem. Three’s also the “conservatives have it so much harder speaking on campuses” and that the liberal camp has lacked substantive argument about Islam’s fringe elements for a while now.
Significantly more well-reasoned and about an actual thing of interest is Robert Novak's analysis on who's behind the attempts on Benazir Bhutto's life, and the reluctance of the Untied States to get involved in backing one or the other.
The Consumerist strikes with a tale of woe and bathroom tile - the tile was in place of a hard drive that a consumer thought he had purchased. According to the account, the salespersons took the return and permitted him to purchase a different hard drive, at which point the manager took the purchased drive and told the unfortunate soul to take it up with the manufacturer. Who told him that it was the retailer’s problem. All this after he had purchased a different hard drive and paid for it.
But tonight’s winner, and appropriately thematic, is The Christian Broadcast Network's page devoted to Halloween. From top to bottom, just what Bill’O and the far, far religious Right need to take all the fun out of our Topsy-Turvy Day and infuse it with as much pompous soul-saving as possible. Actually, let’s substitute pumpkin pie for the quiche, even though the end result is the same - SPLAT.
HIV may have entered the United States in 1969 from Haiti, according to a study conducted by Michael Woobrey of the University of Arizona. Which would have given it twelve years to circulate before finally being classified and actively fought. In addition to its already-difficult nature, twelve years is a long head-start to have to catch up to.
The Department of Humorous Emphasis gives us a gem of a phrase to remember - "I've got BETTER things to DO than DRUGS". It’s even funnier knowing that bracelets were printed with this message and distributed to school students. The Department of Onomatopoeia counters with three-dimensional sculptures of sound effects.
If nothing else works out for you, there’s always the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. But before you go and do something permanent, recall that historical forces tend to side with progressives. Perhaps in your lifetime, they’ll achieve what we want, perhaps not. If not volunteering for the Human Extinction Movement, perhaps Buy Nothing Day will be more to your tastes.
If none of those works, perhaps you’ll volunteer to test Batter Blaster, supposedly pancake or waffle batter in a pressurized can. If you do, tell us how it turns out, okay?
What I thought was going to be awesome, right up until I read it, and thus getting a Last Spot for shame rather than fame, is How to Destroy Your High School in Seven Days. Excepting that it’s not actually all that helpful, other than a very generalized guide on how to get yourself thrown out and then reinstated, all the while causing significant embarrassment and drawing media attention to the school and the authority figures. Someone smart enough to want to go through with such a plan probably doesn’t need the platitudes, and the guide doesn’t really help anybody who doesn’t already have some specifics worked out.
Anyway, bedtime. Must get good sleep, for I have stories to tell tomorrow.
