Intellectual Poison

It sounds like it might be an exotic dessert or something. But the story is real and, while it starts really badly, this one ends really well and that's the good thing.

Brazilians Race to Adopt Abandoned Baby in which a 2 month old baby girl was found floating in a black plastic bag on Pampulha Lake in Brazil. Now people are flocking to adopt the little girl (who was released from the hospital 2 days ago) and, of course, outraged at her mother, who has been caught.

Whatever your troubles, whatever is bothering you, putting your child in a plastic bag and throwing her into a lake is not the answer. It cannot be the answer. I'm glad she was found so quickly or this would be another awful case of infanticide. As it is, she's lucky to be alive.

The amazing thing is that the rescue was caught on camera live by someone who happened to be there with their camera going! Well, maybe not so amazing anymore in this day of ubiquitous digital gadgetry. But still damned cool!
Tags: abandoned baby, Brazil, happy ending

I don't get some marketing decisions, they appear to be made specifically to drive business away. My latest irritating in regards to marketing was a expiring Blogrolling account that I'd decided I wasn't interested in renewing for a couple of reasons.

One is that Blogrolling's code in my blogs would sometimes hang the load time forever. My blog would not load completely because of their javascript hang up.

And the other main reason is that Bloglines does what Blogrolling does better and for free. Its simplistic to create custom blogrolls in Bloglines and incorporate them easily into the template. I have been meaning to do this for a little while but never find the time. Maybe I'll get it done tonight.

But the final nail in the coffin for Blogrolling? Sending me a reminder email every day for the last couple of weeks about my pending account expiration with no means to stop the emails. Sorry but that's fucking rude and annoying. You're charging for a service that I can get better for free elsewhere. Good luck with your business model.
Tags: blogrolling, expiration, marketing, Bloglines

So Sammy Alito got confirmed this morning and the nation is weaker, our rights are more fragile and, if you need an abortion, get it soon because they won't be legal for very much longer.

Sammy Alito represents a sharp shift away from individual rights in America. He represents a concentrating of power in the executive branch (i.e. giving Bush more power to step on the law and the American people) and is all about exposing the soft underbelly of the nation to the gentle predations of eternally ravenous corporate raiders.

I'm sad for our country.
Tags: Supreme Court, Alito, confirmation

No, I don't mean the painfully manipulative commercials for the Christian Children's Fund that saves children and then gives them food too.

Nope, there's a series of commercials for the NBA that has people doing their job in the 24 seconds given by the shot clock (yeah, I barely know basketball so bear with me as I cannot stand the sport). The first one was a pair of window washers who basically clean the entire side of a building in 24 seconds while doing a terrible job and nearly killing themselves. Not a bad ad for demonstrating how little time NBA guys have to do their job in.

But the really disturbing commercial is the guy getting the straight razor shave and his barber starts going faster and faster and faster until its really just too damned disturbing to watch and I have to change the channel. Yes, its hard to get your job done in 24 seconds but damn, that's just scary as flippin' hell. Shaving cream is being whipped around and the razor blade is flashing all over this rather frightened dude's face as his barber is watching the clock and now what he's doing.

Its not like I was about to go and get a shave but now there's not even any chance I'd ever even think about considering it. Regardless that it was an ad, the image sticks and hell no am I letting anyone near me with one of those deadly razors. Hell-freakin'-no!

There's also another one where the ad is based on an informercial and the product is basically a fan with razor blades attached. Its not as awful but the premise is close to the NBA commercial but without the graphic fear component.

And, oh yeah, the shot clock ad doesn't really work on me anyway, I'm still not going to watch a bunch of sweatin' freaks play a sport that's less interesting to me than watching bass fishing (which is almost as bad as watching fishing gadget infomercials).
Tags: badvertising, NBA, straight razor, marketing, shot clock

A lighter word of the day today.

Pardiot - party idiot. The moron who ALWAYS gets too drunk and does something incredibly stupid for which he must apologize the next day. Don't be the pardiot. It also sounds a bit like part-idiot which works as well since the party idiot is part-idiot.
Tags: pardiot, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

In one week from this morning I will be looking at the opening of our conference, which will be the culmination of several months of work on my part. During the process my main co-coordinator quit which squarely shouldered the burden on me. Loads of fun and joy.

This last week will be a very, very busy one. I'll try to get posts up as usual but they may be fewer and farther between for the next week or so.

The good thing is that next Tuesday evening will be the end of this first conference of the year. And that'll mean my huge deal will have passed and I'll be able to return to my usual PR activities, sort of.

This next week will see lots of scrambling, lots of checklist making, lots of last minute repairs, setups and deals. Its not going to be very much fun, I know. And the kick in the nuts on top of the whole thing? I've gotta be on the road next Sunday afternoon during the only SuperBowl in the last few years I've given the first damn about. My solution is to roll early, arrive early and find a spot to post up and enjoy the football game up in the city.

At least I get to look forward to a totally awesome room up in San Francisco, photos will be forthcoming, of course. I'm going to ask for a room that looks down towards the China Basin and Pacific Bell Park but I'm sure I'll be happy with wherever I end up.
Tags: work, conference, busy

Today went from decent to shitter in only a couple of hours and a couple of screw ups.

One, the conference program we had designed and printed has substantial mistakes in it. Enough to force us to reprint them for around $1200 which is making my boss angry at me for not catching it even though she also proofed the same copy I did.

And the designer is blaming a lack of installed fonts for the final copy of the program containing double bios and missing five of them. I am not anywhere near that stupid.

Second, Discover Card just won't let it go. They sent me a bill today. Six weeks (give or take) after I "shut" my account. They owe me $50 but haven't sent it, instead they are keeping my damned account open in the hopes that they'll get their filthy credit hooks into me again. I'm not anywhere near that stupid. But I sure do love the customer service rep's attitude when I demanded that they close the damned account. Her snottiness was ever so helpful.

Never ever, ever get a Discover Card. They are a crooked asshat of a company that does not serve their customers so much as they service themselves at their customer's expense.
Tags: stupid, assumption, discover card, discover card scam

Cancer.org has put together The Great American Health Check, a great online resource to figure out what your individual health risks are, to help get into better shape or to help quit smoking. Its free and kicks out a personalized list of concerns to print out and bring to your doctor.

My personal health areas to check on: Lymph nodes, oral cavity, skin, testes and thyroid.

I got thumbs up for my physical activity and diet and my BMI (body mass index) is just below the threshold to start worrying but that's most likely because I carry a fair bit more muscle than most men my height.
[Update: The interface is incredibly crappy to try and use. I had to click the box about a hundred times before it actually started the health check. Sorry about that. I've written them twice to let them know how crappy and difficult their interface is.]
Tags: personalized, health, check, Great American Health Check

Bushito - the Bush path of Bushido, lying, incompetence, old-boy networks, no-bid contracts, rubber stamp approvals, warrantless wiretaps (without need) and more. Bushito is not honorable or laudable, it would be laughable if it weren't resulting in our nation circling the drain while he and his cronies help themselves to billions and billions of our dollars.
Tags: bushito, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

You know, sometimes, when people get the spotlight they will start to do anything at all to keep in that spotlight.

Like Bode Miller talking about being drunk while ski racing a couple of weeks ago. Now he's decided to call Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong drug using cheaters.

Bode, unless you've got some specific evidence of Barry or Lance cheating then do us all a favor and just shut your damned talkhole. Or quit racing and go back to your cabin so you can drink yourself into an early grave, whatever you angry asshole.

I hope Lance and Barry sue you for libel. Why you haven't been tossed off the US Ski Team as a walking cancer is beyond me. Who cares how good a skier you are.
Tags: Bode Miller, Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, skiing, cheat

A political new word of the day.

Bushgeois - pronounced Bush-wah, like Bourgeois but those rich folks that have directly benefited from Shrub's tax cuts for the rich, program cuts for the poor administration. It could also be applied to anyone who's a member of the Bush inner circle making money hand over fist from his pet war and "reconstruction" in Iraq.
Tags: Bushgeois, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

A month or two ago I came across Air America broadcasting on a local AM station and have made a point of listening in on my way home in the evenings if I'm driving.

And, for the most part, I think they've got a great product. That's based on listening to the Majority Report with Sam and Janeane.

But there are several areas where the station could use some serious improvement. Like the announcer for the show, who sounds like a drunk wrestling announcer and I actually change the station in order to listen to his overdrawn out pronunciations. Its really grating and could be easily fixed by having someone else intro the show.

Another main criticism is the fluff music crap during the drivetime. They'll fill airtime with instrumental music that's nice and all but isn't talk radio and isn't political. They'll sometimes have some moronic Intelligent Design lady deliver her canned and stupid little speech about why ID deserves to be taught alongside evolution. I know they do it because it riles people up but its stupid regardless.

The ads for other shows are distracting and not interesting. The Randy Roads Show (sp?) is one I've got absolutely zero interest in listening to because of the promos where she is a snarky idiot about semantics and Karl Rove. Sorry, that's not working, try actually adding something to the conversation instead of being a mere detractor, there are plenty of you already.

I think Air America would be much better served if they dispensed with the attempts to be funny AND politically charged. Do one or the other (preferably the politically charged) but not both. Trying to do both waters down the important messages.

Please get a new announcer who doesn't make me want to punch him in the face and send your old announcer back to the WWE where his intonations are welcome. They are a distraction on the radio.
Tags: Air America, radio, shortcomings

I love lists like this, especially when they are damned funny.

Business 2.0 101 Dumbest Moments in Business 2005 because of stuff like this;
36. We know why you fly ... JetBlue.
The winner of the American Airlines "We Know Why You Fly" contest, which promised to award 24 round-trip tickets to the traveler who submitted the best video about his airborne experiences, turns down the grand prize. Why? Because American fails to cover the winner's federal, state, and local income taxes, which amount to about $19,000, or $800 per ticket. More.
And who could forget such profanity laced hilarity as this;
40. Just google him. We hear it really ticks him off.
"F***ing Eric Schmidt is a f***ing pussy. I'm going to f***ing bury that guy, I have done it before and I will do it again. I'm going to f***ing kill Google."
-- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in response to the departure of Mark Lucovsky, a former Microsoft "distinguished engineer" who left last year to work at Google. The alleged aria, punctuated by the tossing of a chair, was cited in a sworn statement by Lucovsky that became public during court hearings over another Microsoft-to-Google defection in September. Microsoft denies Lucovsky's version of the incident. More.
Tags: Business 2.0, 101 dumbest dumb business, list, 101 Dumbest Moments in Business 2005

Caught this on my way back into the office from Trader Joe's and am thoroughly pleased at how well it came out. The lighting is good and the details are crisp and really nice. A good photo if I do say so myself, and I do.

I'm starting to get an itch to get a camera with a much stronger optical zoom. I'm finding myself coming up against the limitations of my little SD500 often enough to make me wish for a more powerful frame to work with. Don't get me wrong, I love my SD (though I'd be thrilled to bump up to the 550 with that sweet 2 1/2 inch screen on the back, rawrr!) but I am wishing more and more for a stronger zoom, image stabilization and a more powerful flash.

But with the new baby on the way and house taxes and all the other myriad joys of being an adult, a dad, a husband and a homeowner, a new camera is a little ways off. But perhaps I'll add to the wishlist for the change jar. More on that later when I get some photos of it completely full.
Tags: blue, flower, macro, Canon, SD500

If you're one of those folks worried about an assault in your bedroom, you are not alone. From the website....

It is reported that 50% of people in London are worried about security and sleep with some form of self-defence to hand, for use against intruders.

The 'Safe Bedside Table' has a removable leg that acts as a club and a top that doubles as a shield for self-defence. This is for people who are willing to take on an intruder, providing an extra sense of security whilst in bed.

If you live in constant fear of someone breaking into your house and assaulting you in your bedroom then perhaps you should consider replacing that single use night stand for this multi-purpose defensive night stand! Its a night stand, its a shield and club, its a place to put your lamp, its a weapon to bash to holy tar out of someone.

Now if I could only get over the image of battling intruders in my birthday suit. Damn.
Tags: functional fashion, bedroom weaponry, intruder

This is nasty, nasty in a bad way.

Chinese Migrant Workers Travel in Adult Diapers because the trains they are travelling on have no toilets. Yes, you read that right, people are wearing diapers so that they can go to the bathroom without proper facilities. No wait, there are proper facilities but the trains are so stuffed full of people that there's no way to get to them through the mass of bodies.

Some people became deranged and jumped from the train. And many just sat in their own excrement for hours and hours and hours.

And yes, that pretty much turns me stomach as well.

Reports say that 3.8 million people travelled by railway on Monday alone, just to give you some scope of the problem.
Tags: China, adult diapers, migrant workers, no toilet, train ride from hell, disgusting, civilized?

So first let's hit up some good news, the IP Fictionarium has opened (and the requisite XML feed, of course). Its still skeletal but its a start and I'll be populating it with previously published words as well as new ones that I've not released to the wilds yet.

And today's new word is NOT political, go figure.

Calmradery - from calm and comradery, when the presence of your pal really helps to keep you calm and in control. Kind of like having to confront some asshole and knowing you've backup in case they throw down.
Tags: calmradery, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

In what universe could the CIA have thought that giving a bad set of blueprints for an implosion device that would reduce the size of a nuclear bomb from a large missile to a briefcase sized device?

Sadly, this universe. This bodes extraordinarily badly. Here's a quick summary. Back in 2000, a Russian nuclear scientist was used as a pawn by the CIA to try and misdirect the Iranian nuclear weapons program by feeding it bad blue prints (nuclear blue prints with intentional flaws embedded in them). The problem is that the scientist gave them a note about the flaw and the blue prints contained plenty of useful information to help propel their program.

A few years later, a CIA communications operative screwed a high speed transmission burst and effectively ruined the CIA intelligence network in Iran by exposing all of the agents. So, we don't know how far Iran is in developing the bomb now. And we went after Iraq why?
Tags: CIA, nuclear weapon, Iran, Iraq

I'm not positive of the exact date of the anniversary anymore, its clouded by the sands of time and the coastal fog, but this week (or last) marks my eleventh year in California!

I came out here in 1995 to finish my college in the only Mediterranean climate in North America as I'd just come back from the only one in South Africa (Cape Town) and have yet to find a compelling enough reason to go somewhere else.

Yes, I miss my family an awful lot sometimes. I miss being able to see my nephews and neice as often as I would like. I miss being able to go and spend a lazy Sunday at my mom's or my aunt and uncle's (because they have the never-ending supply of the best damned hickory smoked bacon you'll ever smell or eat, well not JUST because of the bacon).

But I am happy here, I love Santa Cruz. I love being near the ocean, love the friends I've made here, love my family I've created here, love my wife, my son, my hound. This is home for me. Just not precisely where we are happening to be living right now. But that's alright, our home is together and that works just fine for me.

So yeah, Happy Anniversary to me!
Tags: anniversary, eleven years, transplant, New England, Santa Cruz, California

Osama bin Laden recommends William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" and sales go through the friggin' roof.

From number 209,000 on the Amazon best seller list to number 30 in a week. I wonder if Osama gets referral bonuses?
Tags: Oprah, terrorist, Osama, book club, Amazon

Coproruption - copro for shit, corruption for, well, being corrupt. Shit eating corrupt fucks like Tom DeLay who bluster about their innocence while being implicated in another separate scandal.

I can't even look at this sickening bastards without imagining the crap streaming from their faces. Frist, DeLay, Rove, Cheney, Bush, McClellan, all of the current GOP leadership qualifies as coprorupt. And, let's toss in a few turncoat Dems as well, Joe Lieberman is a shit snarfing coprorupt wanker who should renounce his Democratic party ties and just go and join the Dark Side for real so he can sniff at Shrubya's exhaust vent and call it fresh air.
Tags: coproruption, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

It was over in the first quarter, the Broncos' post-season hopes were dashed against the fast and furious defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They were a good team but their offense just couldn't stand up to the Steelers D.

The crowd noise was not a factor. Big Ben's sore thumb was not a factor. The Bus's asthma was not a factor.

The Steelers' will to win was the factor. And they played like superstars. What was Big Ben's first half quarterback rating? 144.something? Yeah. And this is his second season in the league? Hehehe. That'll work out just fine.

It was a good game to watch if you're a Steeler fan or if you're an anti-Broncos fan (as many are). And who else should go to SuperBowl XL but the larger than life Steelers led by the great Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward?

Bring on those other guys. Who is it? Seahawks or Panthers. Doesn't matter, they're about to get runned over by a man on a mission. This will very likely be Bettis' last season and what better way to end a Hall of Fame career than with a SuperBowl victory? Which you can take to mean that I'm calling it for the Steelers, say 31-17? Yeah, that sounds about right to me.
Tags: Steelers, Broncos, SuperBowl, SuperBowl XL, Panthers, Seahawks

Most of the time I'm reasonably comfortable around my house. I get along with all of my immediate neighbors and generally just try to stay low on the radar. But then there comes to happen certain things that remind me of how strongly, how deeply and how passionately I want to sell this goddamned house and get to some place where my driveway is all my driveway and my nearest neighbor would be hard to hit with a slingshot.

What would you do if your dog started going berserk at the front door and, when you looked out, you saw some douchebag pissing on the side of your damned house?

I probably should have let Nande out to tear his cock off but instead I charged out at himn and started shoving and pushing him away from my house shouting at him the whole time. In retrospect it might have been a stupid thing to do but I just got so damned pissed off.

I want to move so very, very badly. Before something bad does happen.

To his credit, one of the two boys that live next door came over within a few minutes and apologized for the guy who his dad would have chased off at first sight. I guess. And, of course, I'm all amped up and wondering if I should be camping out by my front door with 9 and 1 already pressed. Sure makes for a happy house, I'll tell you what.

Instead I'll probably use the energy to search for land and housing so that we can sell and move to space that's more conducive to our needs. And what a very nice day that will be.
Tags: domestic disturbance, moving day, assholery

Note, I've made this post a little sticky so as to not lose it in my ever growing tide of posts.
I promised a post expounding on my views of capital punishment in the wake of Stanley Williams' execution. So let me try to explain how and why I believe in the death penalty.

At its most basic level, its an attempt to create a tautology, a balanced equation. An eye for an eye has a natural balance to it. If someone kills then shouldn't they forfeit their life as payment? Doesn't that follow naturally the one from the other? What I mean is that prematurely and wantonly ending another person's life, that is, capital murder cheats another person out of the fullness of their life. I have zero issue with attempting to "fix" that imbalance by removing the life of the person that wantonly ended the other's life. No, its not perfect but its the best we can, until we can reanimate the dead or take a killer's life force and implant it in the dead body of the one they killed. If it were possible to repair the damage their murder caused then I'd have no worries with ending capital punishment but we don't have that particular technology yet.

And tonight, Clarence Ray Allen will be put to death for the murder and conspiracy to commit murder of four people, three of whom were killed after he was behind bars. The issue has been that he is too old to be put to death and should be allowed to die naturally. But naturally would involve him running from some lions or maybe a hungry pack of gorillas. That he is an old murderer does not invoke any sympathy from me. He engineered the deaths of three people while behind bars. That tells me that life without parole ISN'T a deterrent to murder. It tells me that the death penalty does end that person's capability to inflict suffering on the world.

I'd like to revisit that too old to be put to death argument. I heard an anti-death penalty person being interviewed on TV say that, because of his age, Clarence Ray Allen posed no threat to anyone. Which is, in reality, utter bullshit. He orchestrated the murder of three people while behind bars, what would stop him from doing so again? His age? How and why would his being a mean old murderer stop him from having other people killed? He DID represent a threat from behind bars, he WAS a dangerous criminal to have locked up and, with his execution, he's no longer able to exert his evil influence on anyone anymore. That isn't to say that he couldn't have had plans to have someone killed after his death but he's done making those plans. So yeah, he was a threat and a danger even as an old and mostly infirm man. Life without parole means life behind bars without further repercusions from your actions so why not work through your enemy list and see how many more you can cross off before dying? Life without parole is no deterrent to a murderer, execution without the chance of further harm is.

Perhaps that is cold and ugly to read or consider. But I consider the death penalty to be a resolution and closure. You killed and so you are killed.

[Update: I forgot to mention the typical counter-argument to capital punishment, that it is more expensive to put someone to death than it costs to keep them alive for the rest of their life behind bars. That's a symptom of a problem with the administration of the death penalty, not with the death penalty itself. The imbalance of expense can be repaired by fixing the system because I agree that its ridiculous that it costs so much more to put someone to death than to keep them alive and under lock and key for 30 years.]
Tags: payback, retribution, murder, capital punishment, execution, death penalty

Today's new word came to me while playing TextTwist.

Incum - the money a prostitute earns.

Tags: incum, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

If we were so damned intelligently designed then could someone please explain ear hair? That ain't no intelligent design, that's a freakin' abomination to mankind.

If we had been lovingly sculpted by a God then don't you think he would have thought enough to NOT make hair sprout from your ears as you get older?

Yeah, me too.

Complex and perfect machinery, indeed.

And here's another one to let the ID folks wrestle with. ID holds that things are put together so fantastically well, in such a complex manner, that there has to be an intelligent superbeing doing the creating. Yeah? Well explain to me the Duckbilled Platypus, nature's mish-mash animal with parts from several different animals.
Tags: intelligent design, theology posing as science, false science

The big news for this morning is that we now know that the little bean in my wife's tummy is human and is also a little boy! I wasn't so worried about the human part but its always nice to get some reassurances that you're not going to give birth to an alien or something.

And the proof of his boy-ness was not subject to dispute. So we're excited and now get to start thinking about names.
Tags: baby, boy, ultrasound

This is a pretty accurate shot of Graydon these days. He's a happy little guy but he's also very much into stretching his limits. A minute after this, he lifted the shelf above up and dumped all his stuffed animals on the floor. And then dumped the shelf over too.

He's a wonderful little guy but I am looking forward to when he can speak better and relay his desires without having to resort to acting out and doing things that he knows are upsetting and/or dangerous.

Today is the big day! We've got a doctor's appointment in about and hour and a half and then we will find out whether we are having a little girl or a little boy. The excitement is building but the odds makers are still running dead even at 50/50.

And our new marketing manager started yesterday which means that my plate is not heaped quite so high anymore. Its still plenty high but at least now I can see some light at the end of the tunnel.
Tags: cute kid, mischief, my little boy

Happiness is seeing your eBay auction jumping by $50 in the last hour with 4 days left in the auction.

We're still not up to my reserve but I like the trend upwards!
Tags: eBay, auction, bidding

Today's new word reflects the current state of debate in America, we are fully immersed in a cockracy.

Cockracy - of or being in the state of being "led" by a bunch of cocks. Or by people who think with their cocks and swagger like roosters all the time. Another aspect of the word refers to the cockification of issues as a means of driving a wedge into the ranks of those who would normally be opposed to a cockracy.

Also, if Dick Cheney somehow climbed into the presidency then we would most certainly be stuck squarely in a cockracy and a Dicktatorship, the standard greeting being "Go fuck yourself". Nothing like a kinder and gentler politik, is there?

Happy Cockracy Day!
Tags: cockracy, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

So I am getting myself re-enrolled in my company's health insurance program which will allow us to remove me from our small business policy which will end up saving us a minimum of $200 a month and I'll have better coverage in several areas.

One of which that will pay off almost immediately is the better dental coverage and, more importantly, the more immediate dental coverage. One lovely thing we've learned since purchasing our insurance policy is that there is a 12 month waiting period for major dental work. Something our agent somehow failed to mention and nearly cost us $1400. Needless to say, we are not impressed or pleased with our agent.

But I will be able to get my cracked tooth repaired for alot less money next month and that will make alot of things easier, not less painful but fiscally easier. Which is good because we're having a baby and the baby is going to cost us a few shiny pennies to bring into the world.

And the teaser on the baby front is that we will be finding out the baby's sex tomorrow! Woohoo! I'm still leaning towards it being a boy but my lovely wife is waffling and thinks it might actually be a little girl. Either one is fine, just not both and not neither. And human, human would be good too.

The other thought I have after dealing with this whole insurance pain in the ass is that we, the United States, should really get a national healthcare system in place soon. Its embarassing that we do not have national healthcare already as its been on the table forever now and the politicians just can't seem to get it done. Lack of will, lack of votes and far too much money being made by insurance companies. Its not helped by big companies like Wal-Mart foisting a huge portion of their costs on the local townships (and good on Maryland for passing legislation forcing them to be better corporate citizens)
Tags: health insurance, saving money, new baby

There is almost nothing as fan-fucking-tastic as a good cup of coffee with the exact right amount of creamer. And this morning's coffee hit the bullseye squarely and then, when I prepped my thermos for work, another arrow splitting that first bullseye.

Damn, good coffee makes getting out of bed almost worthwhile.
Tags: coffee, perfect, creamer

Eminem's strange and estranged ex-wife cum wife again, Kimberly Mathers, is, from all reports, pretty well batshitinsane. Though perhaps it would be kinder to say that she has "issues" and leave it at that.

But that does not preclude her from also being pretty damned hot too. Yeah, you go Slim Shady.
Tags: Eminem, remarries, Kimberly Mathers, batshitinsane

No, sorry fashion designers with no good ideas, we do not need clothing for men that have silk-screened boobs on them and a weird lumberjack-ish look to the whole costume. I do not know what circumstances would call for such a look but these times are not they.

This is bad fashion, this is unsettling fashion, this is similar to the hoax Japanese x-ray panties from a couple of years ago. Because these are real, this is some designer's design, not a hoax. And it is seriously butt ugly too. I like how the tough-boy model is trying to look tough while wearing a shirt with boobs on it. I don't think the suspenders are helping.

Besides, half of the clothes the models wear in these runway shows is dumbasswear, only fools would wear them. Or its lingerie worn as outerwear, and that's fine if you're a supermodel but its not so great when you're a hundred twenty pounds over your ideal body weight.
Tags: fashion violation, boobs, x-ray panty skirt

Today's new word comes as we are expecting our insurance rep to walk us through the process to get signed up or change up our insurance through the company.

Bonufit - bonus benefit, something you didn't know about or didn't expect that adds substantial value to your policy. Like finding out that you've got roadside assistance after breaking down and realizing your Triple A card is dead.
Tags: bonufit, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

Today's new word has to do with theology and pugnacity (no, not the mythical city of Pug dogs). Without further ado, the new word....

Antagonostic - abbrasively agnostic, someone who picks fights with "believers" to try and de-convert them off of religion.
Tags: antagonostic, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

I've been going through a hot sauce kick these last several weeks. If it tastes good as is then it must taste better with some Frank's Red Hot Sauce or some Challulah or some Garlic Tabasco or some Tapatio.

And, so far, I've been right. But I draw the line at dairy products and hot sauce. You've gotta draw your boundaries somewhere.

But ain't nothing making the processed toxic waste that is Marmite, taste any better than licking the downspout of a septic truck. And, in case you weren't aware, marmite flavored candy tastes just as awful but the flavor lasts ALOT longer.
Tags: hot sauce, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, Marmite

Teenagers Turn Themselves In for Homeless Beatings. Have you seen the video footage of these two asshats beating a homeless man with what looks like ax handles? I'm sure these two precious little fucknuggets will enjoy their long incarceration.

Not so fucking tough now are you, you filthy degenerate fucks, are you?

I would be incredibly ashamed to be the parents of these two boys since its quite obvious that they weren't raised properly or they'd have more respect for other people.
Tags: teenage, fury, homeless beatings, incarceration, murder

First off, have you ever noticed how close regime and regimen are? There but for the grace of an "n" goes the regime.

Anyway, I've been implementing a new workout system for 2006 that I thought others might benefit from. The actual workout part of it is pretty open to whatever toots your horn. For me, I use my Bowflex and have put together a quick moving routine that gets my workouts done in about a half hour, maybe a little more if I'm dogging it between sets.

So, here's the plan. Don't blink because its easy to miss. There's only one rule.

1. Work out on odd days.

That's it. Simple and really effective. If the day ends in an odd number then that's a workout day. Today's the 16th, no workout. Yesterday was the 15th, workout. And its very easy to keep track of how many workouts I've had so far in the new year. Eight, half the number of days, cool eh? My current workout regimen looks like this:

warm up - 30-35 pound resisted rowing for a set of 30 to 40

Abs - resisted crunches, set of 15
Bench press - set of 12ish
Lat pulldown - set of 12ish to the front (half front and back on second set, all back on third set)
Triceps press - set of 12
Standing biceps curl - set of 12, alternating two arm and one arm reps
Seated shoulder press - set of 12.

Repeat once or twice depending on your energy level and time. Adjust weight depending on number of cycles and energy level, I generally cycle my weights upward during the workout so that my final cycle is substantially more difficult than the first. Every couple of weeks I'm adding another exercise to the list so the workouts get a little longer and a little more focused.

The advantage to this workout cycle is that I can move from exercise to exercise very quickly and easily. The bench to pulldown transition is quick as I use the same weight, same thing for the transition from triceps to biceps and shoulder press. Its all about not wasting time resetting the machine all the time. And taking time while actually performing the exercise. Consider your action, feel your muscles work, concentrate on getting everything you can from the workout. You'd be surprised at how much more of a workout you can get if you throw your brain into it too.

For cardio work, I ride my bike at least twice a week at lunch. Usually between 4 and 6 miles each day. But that number will be going back up again once we move away from the very bike UN-friendly town we live in now here cyclists are treated as targets by assholes in Hondas with after market pipes and bass shakers.
Tags: simple, exercise, program, Bowflex

Fear is seeing your 18 month old boy figure out how to close the garage door and then turn the lock to secure it. Fear is realizing that he could, very easily, lock one of us in the garage.

But being an adult is knowing how to circumvent his ever-expanding body of knowledge and putting a hide-a-key out on the furnace so that he can't just lock his parents in the garage.

Everyday he gets smarter and smarter and keeps adding to his arsenal of skills. The accompanying photo is titled "Living on the Edge" and aptly captures my current sentiment of my dangerboy.

Yesterday we went to the Seymour Discovery Center at the Long Marine Lab on the edge of Santa Cruz and had a really good time letting him charge around, chase other kids, pet starfish and shy away from hermit crabs and be amazed at the tube worm (well, his parents were amazed) and try to go climbing on the blue whale skeleton outside.

After the heavy rains of Saturday, a nice sunny Sunday was just what we needed. Well, that and a Steelers win. I didn't think the Redskins had enough gas in the tank to win it. I liked the Bears but its really hard to win without an offense. I would have preferred New England over Denver but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the playoffs so far. The Steelers game had an awful lot of edge of your seat moments so that it made it good entertainment and I declared the game over at least twice before it was, in fact, over. Good stuff indeed.
Tags: toddler, skills, Long Marine Lab, football, playoffs, Steelers, Broncos, Panthers, Seahawks

Yahoo Sports has a poll up right now about Mark McGwire's chances of getting into the Hall of Fame. The numbers are tight at 47% and 53% and they are favoring him not getting voted into the Hall. Most likely because of his incredibly crappy "testimony" at the steroid hearings last year where Rafael Palmiero swore he'd never done 'roids and was busted and has been pretty well excommunicated from baseball since (especially after he tried unsuccessfully to implicate Miquel Tejada in his crime).

So, the fans have spoken, Big Mac does not deserve entry into the game's most hallowed shrine because he did not come clean on his pretty obvious use of steroids as a player. I mean, come on, if you don't vociferously deny using them and then refuse to answer then you're guilty of using them. There's just no other explanation that can be had.

And you know what? I agree with McGwire not getting into the Hall of Fame. Part of entry to the Hall means being a great ballplayer and he was that, but it also means respecting the game and working to preserve its integrity. The game supercedes individual players and, if he had come clean, then he might still have a chance. But he didn't and he's out. If the poll is any indication.

What do you think? Does Mark McGwire deserve the Hall of Fame given his playing career and what has (or has not) come to light since he retired?
Tags: baseball, Mark McGwire, steroids

People harp on the Democrats as being tax-and-spend Democrats. Like its a bad thing to pay for new programs with taxes rather than run up a massive deficit and spend like its going out of style, ala ShrubCo.

So I've got a new term I'd like to suggest for the current mentality of the Bush administration, its called Taxcut-(for the rich)-and-spend. And it is helping to propel our nation into the deepest, darkest red hole ever.

Massive overspending combined with tax cuts for the rich (who really need tax cuts so they can make the payments on their seventh and eighth houses) with budget cuts for social programs and education equal the USA becoming an intellectual Third World nation.

In the November elections keep in mind who has been "leading" this nation down this path. Who has been sending our children into battle underequipped? Who has committed our country to a war without an exit that has cost us almost 7 times the first Gulf War? Who has yet to capture the mastermind behind the worst terrorist attacks on our nation? Who promoted the buffoon who sat on his hands while New Orleans drowned? Who is the ass who has opened our natural resources up to corporate raiding? Who is the dutchbag who says "Let's not play the blame game" and then tries to blame everyone else for his mistakes? Who is pushing hard to stack the Supreme Court with judges who will overturn the right of Americans to abort their unwanted pregnancies (make no mistake, Alito was nominated precisely for this purpose)? Who wanted to amend the freakin' Constitution to deny gay people their rights to protection as married people?

Taxcuts for the rich and spend, spend, spend. THAT is the Bush agenda.
Tags: Bush, taxcut and spend, deficit

Consider yourselves spared, dear readers, I reconsidered the first Word of the Day and have gone in a different direction with it as the last one was, well, gross. Maybe in a future NWotD post. But not today.

Pollop - a combination of pop trollop. Think useless people like Paris Hilton who have done nothing but are famous. The other nice thing about the new word is that it is evocative of polyp, a usually nonmalignant growth or tumor protruding from the mucous lining of an organ. Which is pretty appropriate as well, dontchathink?
Tags: pollop, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

Today's a rough one, a full moon (at least it looked full as it set while Nande and I walked down into the slough this morning) and then the whole Friday the 13th thing. Bad mojo indeed. But boy what a beautiful moon it was so low on the horizon and lit up with sunrise rays! Just awesome! And I did not have my camera as we were walking extra early this morning.

Now add in the third piece and the downright evilness of the day becomes wholly apparent. I had to go and sit in a dentist's chair at a quarter to eight this morning. The other night a quarter of one my teeth broke off from the rest and created a fabulously sharp edge in the upper right hand corner of my mouth.

But not anymore, now I've got a temp filling that should hold me until I go back for the crowning which will be more fun this time as they have to make it a deeper crown than normal as I happen to have a wee cavity right above the gumline.

Fun, fun, fun. And even more so when I found out that our health insurance won't cover major dental (and I guess a crown counts as major dental work these days) for the first year of coverage. Which is pretty ridiculous as we're already paying them an arm and a leg. But oh well. So I'll go back in a couple of weeks for a much longer procedure with lots of needles, novacaine and suction (by the way, I'm classified as a heavy drooler, sweet!).

Happy Full Moon Friday the 13th, be safe, take your time and don't succumb to the evilness that is the double witching Friday the 13th.
Tags: dentist, Friday the 13th, full moon

Legendary bad ass, Chuck Norris has accomplished alot in his life, so much so that someone has taken it upon themselves to create the Chuck Norris Facts page. Learn about Chuck's ability to cure cancer and count really high.

For instance, did you know: Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris. Or, Chuck Norris has two speeds: Walk and Kill.

I'd like to suggest one, when Chuck is happy and things are good, we are existing not in a utopia but a Chucktopia.

Which fact is your favorite, there are so many excellent ones.
Very good stuff, via Senor J!
Tags: Chuck Norris, facts, funny

I work in a small office, a small, very fast-paced office with people performing multiple tasks that crossover into other areas of the company. So people have to work together to get things done. And when one person's ego starts to create problems then it can ripple into many different areas of the company.

Some of our workers have strong personalities and that can create trouble spots.

One, in particular, does not demonstrate very much respect for the other people in the office. On numerous occasions she has shown just how little she regards her co-workers by saying wholly inappropriate things. This is someone with less than a year with the company and performing a fairly low-level skilled position that I've seen five other people do over my time with the company. Which is to say, she's not essential to the company.

The other morning I had just gotten in and was speaking with our office manager, just sort of chatting a little bit as we're friends and she's had a lot of drama in her life lately. As do I. The problem is that her desk at the front of the office is next to this egotist's office.

Well, the egotist decided that she had heard enough. And, instead of coming out and politely asking us to quiet down so she could work, which wouldn't have been a problem at all, instead she came out and made the zip it motion by her mouth again and again to me and then to her. And then she inserted herself between me and the office manager and started talking to her about a project.

I walked back to my office and then walked back up to her and told her that her behaviour was exceedingly rude and unacceptable. She had an excuse notched and complained that she'd been working for two hours already and we should be quiet. To which I said, the manner of your telling us to be quiet was rude and unacceptable and disrespectful and I will not tolerate it again.

But of course, she thinks she's right and I'm an asshole for telling her she was rude. So now I'm going to make it a point to call her on her poor ass behaviour publicly everytime she decides to be rude to me or anyone else around me. I won't stand for her disrespect because she has no right, no call and no justification for how she treats people who work with her. Nobody has the right to show such disrespect for other people in the office, not even the boss.

I don't care if you don't like me as a person or you don't respect me as a person but I do care if you disrespect my position and my time with the company. I do care if you think you have some sort of carte blanche to treat others with zero respect and I will make it very clear publicly that your behaviour is completely unacceptable. And if that makes you quit and go find some other people to be rude to then that's fine, no loss. We could re-staff her position in a week.
Tags: rude, co-worker, egotist, disrespect, work

So, by now everyone's heard about the Governator tanking his side car equipped motorcycle into a car that backed out in front of him last week. He had one of his kids with him and both were shaken and bruised but otherwise alright.

And then it came to light that Schwarzenegger was operating the motorcycle without the proper license.

This morning I saw on the news that he's not going to get a ticket for riding his bike without a license. Which is a really bad and stupid move, I think. What message does this send? That the Governor of California IS, in fact, above this particular law. That he can break a law and get away with it. And that is a really stupid message to send.

So here is my open call to Governor Schwarzenegger to step up and take responsibility for his transgression. Show the people of California that you are NOT above the law, show the people of California that you respect the law, not that you can use your power to rise above it.

I have even less respect for him now because he's using his influence to circumvent the law's punishment. And its a little thing, the ticket would be less than a hundred bucks but its too much for him?

It is incumbent upon those sitting in power to not allow themselves to be separated from the people by that power. It is incredibly important for leaders to lead by example and to be role models of the law of the land. That Schwarzenegger flaunts the law means he has no respect for the law and that is galling and totally unseemly.

I think it would send a very powerful message if all Californians wrote him an email to express their disgust with his breaking of the law and then not paying the price for it just like every other Californian. As it is, if I got pulled over without a license, I would cite his case and refuse to pay.

And for any of you who are thinking that this is not a big deal at all, consider this, if he's willing to use his power on a minor ticket issue like this, do you really think he's going to follow the letter of the law on, say, corruption, special interest money or anything. If someone can't follow the lessor laws then what makes you think they'll obey the more important laws?
Tags: Schwarzenegger, accident, no license, no ticket, no justice, bad precedent

I want one. Oh man, how I want one of these bad, bad boys. Built-in iSight, the magsafe connector, the speed, oooooh, the speed.

And what a co-inke-dink, Apple stock is up more than $3 today!

Anyone who just a got an iMac is probably pissed off about the news though. Jay?
Tags: Apple, Intel, G5, powerbook, tech lust, MacWorld

Today's new word of the day is just a simple mash-up of two words that work well together.

Deluscious - deliciously luscious.
Tags: deluscious, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

Yes, the original Blinky from the Simpsons had three eyes, not one. But yeah, this is a real photo of a real cyclops kitty that, sadly, did not live beyond its first day.

What do you think? Do these sorts of mutated critters creep you out or how do they make you feel? I kind of think this little guy's cute, maybe its the paw up next to its head like its cradling its head, I don't know. But the two headed snake was nasty. Go figure.

And the calf with six legs? No, that's not right.
Tags: cyclops, kitty, mutation

Alrighty then, so we had a bittersweet weekend of football for the first round of the playoffs.

My 'Skins toughed out one helluva defensive struggle against the Bucs' to head into the next round but they'd better get more than 122 yards of total offense against the Seahawks next weekend OR they'd better knock Shaun Alexander back into the stone age. And my neighbor now doesn't like me because he's a Bucs fan.

The Steelers looked a bit ragged in the first half but came on very, very strong in the second half to defeat the Panthers Jaguars Bengals (thanks Shawn, all cats look alike to me). They looked balanced, quick and very tough. They will have their hands full with Indy next weekend but that's alright, they like things tough and rough. But my mental block with the the Steelers having beaten the Bengals and not the Panthers or Jaguars tells me something, its been a really long time since the Bengals have made the post season and then they didn't even bother to show up for the second half.

The Pats made it look too easy against the Jags who are a better team than they looked like this weekend.

And then there was the Carolina ass kicking. Sorry Eli but you're a bit too fresh for the playoffs this time around. Maybe with a little more experience under his belt he'll swing it but not this year. And sorry, I'm not a Tiki Barber fan, he had a great year but he's still Mr. Fumble in my book (and that's only partially he creamed my fantasy team with the 200+ rushing game in the last couple of weeks of the season).

Next weekend's games look to be, well, excellent. New England at Denver should be a great fight but I'm going with the Pats over the Broncos. Washington at Seattle might be a good game or it might be the Shaun Alexander show, I hope not. Pittsburgh at Indy will be a good game, a high powered offense against a fast, high-powered and hard hitting defense combined with the Bus feeling retirement coming on and a desire to go out in high style, should be a great game. And Carolina at Chicago will be fun to watch but that's because I love watching a swarming defense just dominate games. And the Bears' defense has been kicking ass and taking names all season long.

Much as it pains me, I see the final four as Seattle, Chicago, Pittsburgh and New England as I just don't think the Redskins are quite there yet. My choice would be a Chicago against Pittsburgh SuperBowl with the Steelers taking it all home for Jerome Bettis to ride off into the sunset on.
Tags: football, playoffs, Redskins, Buccaneers, Steelers, Panthers, Colts, Seahawks, Patriots, Jaguars, Broncos, Jerome Bettis

Today's a bit of a two-fer on the New Word of the Day. Partially because the first new word has an inherent and unfixable gender bias but also because the second word is an almost natural counter to the other one.

Airess - a moron heir, i.e. air headed heir (ess). People like Paris Hilton are the posterchild for the airess. Also for the heirass below.

Heirass - asshole heirs. Spalding from Caddyshack was a good heirass. But basically someone who behaves like their inheritance gives them some kind of carte blanche to treat others like dirt.

Tags: airess, heirass, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

You may recall my recent hassles with the Discover Card people about trying to close my credit card account with them.

Well I thought I'd made it patently clear that there was not friggin' way I would ever have anything to do with them and their shamefully crappy customer service.

But today I got a notice in the mail thanking me for reopening my account. The idiot bitch who hung up on me actually went in and reopened the account after closing it so that the process would be drawn out even further.

I'm very seriously considering filing a Better Business Bureau complaint against them because this is absolutely freaking ridiculous. The account is now, supposedly, closed for good but I'll believe it when they send me out my positive balance check (which will probably be delayed because of this stupid crap).

Let me make this perfectly clear, Discover is a sham. Do business with them at your own risk because they can and will fuck you over at every opportunity. I bet they'll even try to assess some account closure fees against the balance so they don't have to give me all of it. Fucking crooked assholes.
Tags: Discover, credit card, saga, never ends, Better Business Bureau

Readers of Intellectual Poison will already be well familiar with my fascination with words and their roots and how they form other words. Partly because I play an absolutely ridiculous amount of TextTwist (current high score on my Clie runs at 551850). Better than Sudoku but don't tell my brother-in-law who's got a serious addiction issue with the number game. Though, truth be told, I enjoy Sudoku as well because of the logical issues it presents. But its harder to commit a half hour to one of the more difficult puzzles when a round of TextTwist is completed in 2 minutes 30 seconds.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is that I can see how many words are contained in longer words.

Can someone explain why someone engaged in "lust" is not a "luster"?
Tags: word games, TextTwist, Sudoku

So today starts the Samuel Alito confirmation hearings where we'll see how much of a ducker, a dodger and a weaver he is when asked pointed questions about his stance on abortion and personal rights.

This is an old school GOP judge who wants more corporate freedom and less personal freedom. This is a man who has argued on the record that the police have the right to strip search a 10 year old girl. This is a man who's already on record as saying that abortion is wrong and he'd look for a means to overturn Roe v. Wade.

This is a man who has absolutely no business whatsoever sitting on the highest court in this nation. I signed the petition to block his confirmation and hope that enough Americans register their disgust with this nominee and force Bush to withdraw him and try to find someone who's not a corporate stooge judge.

ThinkProgress has a very good rundown (and the Google cache since the post has gone missing all of a sudden) on the kind of man this guy is. Let's layout their laundry list of reasons why he should be blocked and the publicly humiliated. All of which are expanded behind the link.
Alito would overturn Roe v. Wade
Alito would allow race-based discrimination
Alito would allow disability-based discrimination
Alito would strike down the Family and Medical Leave Act
Alito supports unauthorized strip searches
Alito hostile towards immigrants

All of which adds up to someone with deeply help beliefs and opinions, which is fine, but wholly unacceptable for a Supreme Court judge. This is not a man we want representing the highest ideals of our nation.

George Bush expects his nominee to run right through the confirmation process because he continues to ignore or just be blissfully unaware that there is a huge body of this nation that finds Samuel Alito morally repugnant.

Write your representative and let them know that you oppose this man's confirmation. Send a message to your elected officials to voice your concerns over this man's track record and published opinions. He is not representative of the highest ideals of freedom, he is representative of corporate interests, presidential prerogative and power and is intent on reducing the common American's rights. He is not worthy of the highest court in our land.

But don't take my word for it, read up on the latest Alito news stories coming out. Read about his opinions, read about his history, read about his interests and decide for yourself if you would want someone with as deeply held beliefs sitting in judgment over you. I sure as well would not.

The full post is also cross-posted over on IP Politik. Also, visit Alito's America for more insight into the character of this man seeking confirmation of one of the most powerful judicial positions in the world.
Tags: Alito, Supreme Court, block, confirmation, abortion, discrimination, Roe v. Wade, strip search, Family and Medical Leave Act, immigrant, disability discrimination

Today's new word also comes with a correction. Shambolic is not a new word, its been used by Monty Python's Eric Idle in a sketch as far back as 1982 and, according to them, means "in a shambles". I have to say that I prefer my definition but that's alright, there are plenty of other new words to invent.

Like today's new word...
Shambecile - a fake moron or imbecile. Think Johnny Knoxville's new movie, The Ringer, and you'll have a good idea of what I mean. When people act alot dumber than they really are for whatever reason, that's shambecilic.
Tags: shambecile, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

$110.

That's how much LocateCell charges to produce cell phone records for any cell phone number you give them and 1-4 hours to bring all the data together.

For $95 they will locate the new cell number of someone as long as you have their name and either their social security number or address.

And they do the same thing for landlines.

In this day and age of the erosion of rights and the loss of control over one's own personal information, I find a site like LocateCell to be thoroughly disgusting and a should be illegal business.

How can they legally tap into my phone records? How can they access my personal data without my authorization? How can that possibly be legal?

Their website has zero information about the legality of what they are doing. Zero information about the company itself. It is ridiculous that they are doing this.

I demand to know how and why they are allowed to deliver personal data to anyone willing to pony up the cash.

[Update: There is some light at the end of the tunnel, go and hit up Privacy Rights and you may be able to opt out of the release of proprietary network information. For me, that's Cingular and SBC (the SBC link is now broken thanks to the recent merger of AT&T and SBC and the think I mean output when I searched for opt-out, no surprise there, SBC sucks Green Giant sized nuts).

Taken to its extreme, read this article about the Columbian drug cartel boning up and going high tech. And then think that the article is four years old about a computer seized eight years ago and the current reality is almost certainly so much more advanced as to rival the most sophisticated computing systems anywhere on the planet. The drug cartels tapped an anonymous tip line and swiftly executed those who utilized it and that's just the tip of the iceberg.]
Tags: cellphone trace, call history, privacy for sale, cellphone, landline, LocateCell, outrage, opt out

Miffed Man Pays Credit Bill Pennies at a Time. When his bank outsourced billing to the US, its a Canadian company, Don Rogers demonstrated his contempt by jamming their systems with dozens of tiny payments a day.

His concern? If his credit information was being accessed in the US then it was susceptible to intercept by the US government and he's not comfortable with them knowing how much Viagra and Depends he buys.

Good on him!
Tags: credit card, privacy, Canadian

Republicans calling for elections to replace DeLay which is the end of his political career.

This isn't the Democrats saying he needs to be replaced, these are his own boys saying its time he went away (preferably for 5-10 years with no time off for good behavior) as he's under indictment for campaign fraud and has been handed the anchor that is Jack Abramoff's confession of guilt.

Goodbye, you smarmy corrupt prick.
[Update: He's gone, stepped down to save being kicked out. Of course, this is mere posturing by his cronies in order to try and appear that they are fine upstanding policitians for the upcoming elections. But hell, anytime you see the GOP devour one of their own, its cause for a little celebration. Especially a contemptible asshat like DeLay.]
Tags: DeLay, indictment, corruption, Abramoff, Republican, House of Representatives

Another day, another new word for the masses to massticate (yes, I meant the extra s) upon.

Scambolic - scam symbolism or symbolism for profit. An obvious twist on the recent addition to the Fictionarium, "shambolic", people engaged in shambolism are the ones selling magnetic car ribbons and pocketing the profits when they say they'll go to support the troops. A further definition of the term could be George Bush and that photo-op aircraft carrier stunt with the "Mission Accomplished" banner in the background that was many, many months and many, many dead soldiers ago.
Tags: scambolic, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

This post has been shortened here but the entire post is available over on IP Politik.

Three hundred and twenty nine billion dollars.

That's the current tally of money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I'm sitting here watching a C-Span Town Hall Meeting with Congressmen Jim Moran (Va.) and John Murtha (Pa.) take questions from people in the town of Reston, Virginia. They are candid, they are (seemingly) genuine and they are saying things with substance behind them.

Accountability.

Misappropriation.

Mr. Moran laid to rest any hope of impeachment. At least in the short term. With the House and Senate under Republican control, there are no checks and balances to the White House. There is no chance of any impeachment until there is a restoration of the built-in checks and balances of our government.

This I know, men like John Murtha are what America should be about. Honest, honorable and a man of deep integrity who you could also sit on a porch somewhere and talk about flyfishing. They are not dodging questions, they are not using doublespeak, they are not using vague terms.

That and the second time I've heard it mentioned but it should be shouted from the rooftops that there are 37 Iraq war veterans running for seats in the House and Senate. Democrat veterans. Against Republican incumbents. This is unheard of and important to know and think about. I need to find a better story on it but it is important to know.

And Rep. Jim Moran is talking about the values that America was founded on. Leading by example, not by force. That torture isn't American because its against the ideals that our nation was founded upon. The US could be the Athens of the 21st century but instead of being cast as the Sparta. Force. Using military might to tell the world what to do. Its against the ideals of America. Its not showing respect for our troops, its not showing respect for our allies and neighbors and the world.

The war has led the US astray. Instead of concentrating on Al Qaeda and pursuing the terrorists who attacked our nation, we have become mired in a war that is recruiting more terrorists everyday. One number that sticks with me is that Al Qaeda has now franchised themselves to 60 other countries.

That each day, more people choose to codify their hatred for the slaughterous empire-building (that, as was mentioned, was architected as far back as 1992) and join the fight to extinquish this country.

And I need to read a copy of the Murtha Plan. But hey, here's a tidbit from his November release

We spend more money on Intelligence than all the countries in the world together, and more on Intelligence than most countries GDP. But the intelligence concerning Iraq was wrong. It is not a world intelligence failure. It is a U.S. intelligence failure and the way that intelligence was misused.

Misused. Not bad intelligence, misused intelligence. Cooked intelligence. Made up. Falsehoods. Lies.

Mr. Moran is wrapping it up by saying that the elections, that the kids who are going to inherit this mess and have the most to lose are the least active voting block. Mobilize the apathetic youth of the nation and we can bulldoze over the false Political action is the most important way we can take back our nation from those who are leading it down the wrong path.

And with that, I'm off to bed. But wow, that was good and inspiring and compelling.
Tags: Murtha, Moran, CSpan, town hall meeting, elections, intelligence, lies

This is very likely an already invented word since it sort of invents itself. But its new to me so I'm rolling with it.

Hispes - herpes for men.

Makes sense, no?

And why is it called menopause when it has very little, if anything to do with men? I can see a long winded and likely very unfunny joke in there but that's about it. Its probably tied up in Latin roots and other etymological hooey.
Tags: hispes, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

Because I've been a long time fan of Girls Are Pretty, I sometimes think of posts I'd like to see them write. But they never do write those posts I want them to. So I thought I'd try an homage.

My first effort is titled

Happy Make Sure You Have A Full Tank of Gas Day
You should have known something was different when you woke up and heard the plates on the wall in the kitchen, the ones your grandmother had to smuggle out of Europe with them taped to her body, falling to the ground and smashing because of the noise and vibration.

You should have known better when you looked outside your window and saw an endless sea of motorcycles slowly cruising by your house, the thunder from their combined motorcycles proudly rattling fillings and breaking grandma's smuggled plates all up and down the street.

But you didn't or wouldn't. You had that report to complete for Mr. Johnson, who's head resembled a penis more and more with each passing day as the last few hairs succumbed to the inevitable male pattern baldness that had taken the locks of his brothers and father years before and only by ritualistic application of a secret hair growing concoction (Rogaine, mineral oil and toe jam) had he maintained for as long as he did. And his losing his hair made Mr. Johnson angry, well, angrier. So you wanted to get to work early and get that stupid report done as quickly as you could in the hopes that he would pick on someone else that day.

And so, when you got in your car and backed it out, you were too lost in your thoughts and backed into three of the biggest, ugliest and meanest looking bikers you have ever seen. It didn't help that they were parked at the end of your driveway blocking you in but you didn't even see them at all.

As they got back up and dusted themselves off, they noticed that you had also knocked over thier beloved and prized motorcycles. At which point, they began to approach your car with looks of distinct menace in their eyes.

In a panic you stomped on the accelerator and drove right through the fence seperating your yard from Mrs. Dingle and her begonias. You sprayed begonia bits and dirt all across your yard as your car's tires fought madly for purchase and the bikers were running back to thier bikes to give chase.

When you hit the road after leaving dark brown streaky furrows in Mrs. Dingle's lawn, you push even harder on the gas pedal only to notice the glowing red E next to your gas gauge.

Ten blocks later, as the bikers are pulling you from your car through your window, you wish that you had stopped on the way home last night and filled up the car because you never know when you're going to have to outrun some mean Bikers of the Apocalypse.

Happy Make Sure You Have a Full Tank of Gas Day!
Tags: GirlsArePretty, Girls Are Pretty, homage

via AmericaBlog
Did Bush wiretap CNN's Christiane Amanpour?
by John in DC - 1/04/2006 02:09:00 PM

FURTHER UPDATE: NBC has now deleted the paragraphs of the interview dealing with Amanpour. Very very interesting.

UPDATE: Read the follow-on to this story here.

As I said when the story first broke about the wiretaps, the telling piece of the puzzle will be who's wires got tapped and whether they turn out to be legitimate terror suspects. Last I checked, Senior CNN Correspondents are not generally considered terror suspects.

FURTHER UPDATE: NBC has now deleted the paragraphs of the interview dealing with Amanpour. Very very interesting.

UPDATE: Read their follow-on to this story here.

From NBC News:

New York Times reporter James Risen first broke the story two weeks ago that the National Security Agency began spying on domestic communications soon after 9/11. In a new book out Tuesday, "State of War," he says it was a lot bigger than that. Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell sat down with Risen to talk about the NSA, and the run-up to the war in Iraq....

Mitchell: Do you have any information about reporters being swept up in this net?

Risen: No, I don't. It's not clear to me. That's one of the questions we'll have to look into the future. Were there abuses of this program or not? I don't know the answer to that

Mitchell: You don't have any information, for instance, that a very prominent journalist, Christiane Amanpour, might have been eavesdropped upon?

Risen: No, no I hadn't heard that.

Here's a little hint, anytime a reporter asks a pointed question with named names involved, they have something up their sleeve, they know something and are trying to get the official in question to serve it up. In this case, Andrea Mitchell's almost certainly got some proof that the wiretaps were used to gain intel on members of the press.

And the implications are pretty staggering, as laid out in the follow up post. Here, allow me to summarize. For the last four years, anyone who's spoken or emailed with Amanpour has had that conversation taped. Her husband is Jamie Rubin, a former Clinton administration senior official and spokesperson for the State Department. If he used her phone to call, say, President Clinton, that call would have been recorded. Rubin was also a senior advisor to General Wesley Clark's presidential campaign, any calls he may have made regarding the campaign from his home phone would have been recorded.

As has been said, the implications are staggering. More so for an administration that's already staggering from blow after blow from Libby's indictment to DeLay's to Abramoff's plea bargain. Teeter, teeter, teeter. We'll see if this is enough to cast the entire lot of them into prison.
Tags: wiretaps, impeachment, domestic spying, shitfan

Parents leave kids home alone to gamble in Las Vegas for the weekend. The two boys were 5 and 9 years old, a lot too young to leave alone for an entire weekend. But the parents left the father's cell phone in case there was an emergency and left them plenty of cereal to eat.

And now, because these two boys were born to a couple of moron assholes, they will almost certainly be taken away from them and enter Child Protective Services. And, once the parents are off probation or out of jail, they'll be able to run off to Vegas anytime they want to as they'll no longer have the anchor of their offspring holding them back from debaucherous weekends in Las Vegas.

Its a solution but its very much the wrong one. Can't find someone to care for your kids so you can go blow money in Vegas? Then you cannot go. Jeez, are people really this self-absorbed and stupid? No, don't answer that.
Tags: neglect, negligence, Las Vegas, child endangerment, bad parenting

Apparently David Letterman's found a set somewhere in the back of his closet and he put them on for his interview with Faux News' head-hate-spewer Bill O'Reilly.

Alot more here. But here's an excerpt to whet the whistle:

O’Reilly: “Yes I do. I have a son the same age as yours. No way a terrorist who blows up women and children is going to be called a ‘freedom fighter’ on my program.” [mild audience applause]

Letterman: “I’m not smart enough to debate you point to point on this, but I have the feeling, I have the feeling about 60 percent of what you say is crap. [audience laughter] But I don’t know that for a fact. [more audience applause]

Tags: Letterman, O'Reilly, Sheehan, Fox News, Faux News

via seed and a comment on a post over at the Fabulous Mint 400 we have today's new word.

Proxibation - proxy mastubatory target. Every red-blooded man wants to go a round or two with her sister, Jessica. Ashlee is the accidental page flip, while you're rubbing one out. You just go with it.

I'd argue with the every red-blooded man wants to go a round with Jessica Simpson since I, personally, find stupid bimbos incredibly unappealling. But if I'd never heard her speak or sing or anything else, yeah, she's an attractive woman. Her no-talent little sister is ten kinds of ugly though and sounds like a drowning cat when she "sings".

And, in Fictionarium News, I should be rolling out the Fictionarium Blog in the next couple of days depending on how late my little boy stays up.
Tags: proxibation, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

Would it be harder to be told your father died in a mine accident or would it be harder to be told that he survived and was alive and you'd see him in a couple of hours and then find out he's dead?

The story of the trapped miners apparently ended in a miracle as all the news channels were reporting 12 of the 13 miners had been rescued alive.

Turns out they got that backwards and only 1 of the 13 survived. If I were a member of those families, I would almost certainly be looking to sue the crap out of every news agency that reported the false rescue.

Far, far worse to have been told your father survived when he did not. Just terrible. I'd even woken up my wife to tell her of the amazing news of the rescue of 12 of them alive last night. I feel awful for all of the families and friends involved.
Tags: false, news, dead, miners

Student recants story of stolen $175,000 violin in which the 24 year old student was test driving an old and rare (and incredibly valuable) violin. And then she got stupid and said it was in the trunk of her car that was towed and it wasn't there when she got the car back. And she even went on TV to ask for its return.

Well now, it turns out she's a liar and lied about the whole thing. I'm wondering if inmates are allowed to have violins in their cells? From victim to moron, in only a couple of days, nice work, Sabina! Aside from filing a false police report I wonder what other charges she could be facing as a result of her greed-based stupidity.
Tags: dumb, violin, thief

So I've got a growing post of new words to add to my Fictionarium and, rather than posting a single post with all the words in one where they get lost in the shuffle, I'm going to give them to the individual space the deserve (unless they are weak new words and then I might double them up.

Today's inaugural Word of the Day is a good one and can stand on its own but it has a nice additional spin-off word in there just for spice anyway.

Obsolute - definitely useless or absolutely obsolete.
and....
Obsolution - finding a way to bring something back from obsolescence.

Tags: fictionarium, new words, inventing language

Bush Calls Domestic Spy Program 'Limited' which is patently obvious to anyone since its completely unfeasible to spy on everyone.

But he maintains that he acted within the law and the powers that Congress gave him after the 9/11 attacks. Funny how Congress and other politicians don't seem to agree with him. And the basic fact is that he really has no good reason to have not secured the legal authority to implement the wiretaps unless those being tapped were not legitimate terrorist-linked suspects. In which case, its pretty clear he overstepped his authority and should be removed from office. But if those under-the-table wiretaps were of secret terror cells in the US then he shouldn't have had any problems at all in getting court approved wiretaps. There is NO reason he should have ignored the law and gave authorization to wiretap communications. None. Not with a 72-hour retroactive court order capability. To have not done so is a flagrant disregard of the law that he has sworn to uphold.

Its very telling that the Bush White House is setting loose the dogs on the leaker, the one who had the audacity to spill the beans about the president authorizing wiretaps without court authority. Its very telling that they are going after the whistleblower even while an investigation into the legality of the activities being leaked. So, if it turns out (as I and many others believe) that Bush broke the law, does the leaker become a whistleblower and a hero? One would expect it but I'm sure the smear machine is already chugging along to cast whoever leaked the information as Satan's bully.

Bill Clinton, ostensibly one of the greatest presidents in this country's history, was impeached for lying about an ugly intern giving him a blowjob. And he's raised as the evil specter of liberalism every minute of every day by conservatives who should, if rationality and politics weren't like oil and water, be lauding his accomplishments. But instead he's reviled, there are slasher sites dedicated to morons writing fiction stories about raping and murdering Hilary Rodham Clinton, people will always try to justify Bush's actions by comparing them to something Clinton did as if that makes it alright.

But this under-the-table wiretap business is a very slippery slope indeed and I have zero interest in allowing anymore of my rights as an American citizen be eroded in the name of protecting those same rights. The irony is very thick indeed.
Tags: wiretap, overstepped authority, Bush

Found via Intellectual Properties

"Most Wanted" Corporate Human Rights Violators of 2005
The list and their major human rights violations:
Caterpillar - contracting with known violators of human rights, enabling house demolition, supplying equipment that kills Palestinian civilians and American peace activists
Chevron - environmental destruction, health violations, and violent killings
Coca-Cola - violent killings, kidnap and torture, water privatization, health violations, and discriminatory practices
Dow Chemical - creation of chemical weapons, marketing poisonous chemicals, illegal dumping of toxins into populated areas, environmental destruction, health problems, death
Dyncorp/CSC - causing health problems, environmental devastation and death; endangering lives; physically abusing individuals; sex trafficking
Ford Motor Company - environmental degradation, climate change, fueling wars for oil
KRB (a subsidiary of Halliburton) - Overcharging and providing unnecessary services on taxpayer's dollar, bribery, exploiting third country nationals
Lockheed Martin - War profiteering, warmongering
Monsanto - Displacement, health violations, and child labor
Nestle USA - Abusive child labor, repression of worker rights, aggressive marketing of harmful products, violation of national health and environmental laws
Phillip Morris - aggressively marketing lethal products
Pfizer - Killer price-gouging
Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux - Water privization
Wal-Mart - worker rights violations, labor discrimination, union busting
Tags: human rights, violation, profit, greed, abuse

Suprglu collects all of your feeds, whichever one's you want, in one easily customizable place. Here's mine but I just started it so there's plenty of customization left to do. I can make it look exactly like IP, if I want. Or not.

I just wish some folks would get off their dirty mushrooms and get a stupid feed up and available. Darned curmudgeonly Minnesotans!
Tags: custom, feed, aggregator, SuprGlu

It's been raining for almost ever now. This morning's walk we were met with a bridge under a foot and a half of water, another bridge under more water and the slough as big as its ever been.

Nande, of course, had a ton of fun running around in and out of the water like a loony-dog. Which got all the better when her pal showed up with her owner and the two of them went romping.

One of the fun parts of this walk was standing about where this photo was taken and throwing the rocks across to the other side. Nande and Mandi, her dark furred pal seen here, would charge across, through the chest deep (for a dog) water. And then we'd call them back and they'd come charging back across. It was fun for them as well as good and tiring.

On the way back up the hill I got to see how nature corrals worms. They were being collected behind a pile up in a storm drain. A whole bunch of them, maybe thirty. All collecting together with nowhere else to go and no way to get any purchase to get out of the water.

When we got back to the house, Nande got a rubdown with the towel before a bath to get rid of the slough stank. And she's now happily sleeping on one of her beds.

But I wouldn't bet a penny against her being ready for more.

Which seems to be what Mother Nature's got in store for us today. More rain. I'm glad our house isn't at the bottom of a hill.
Tags: rain, flood, dog

So far this new whippersnapper year looks an awful lot like its outgoing predecessor, 2005. Windy, rainy, chilly. I hope its got more than this slop in store for us in the next twelve months.

Lots to be thankful for (not the least of which is that I have tomorrow off) and lots to think about for the future. By this time next year, we should be in a new house on a new plot of land with a new baby. How's that for a big start up to the year?
Tags: 2005, 2006, nasty weather