What is this world coming to?

And that was how the dirty little secret of Wharram Percy was uncovered after centuries of rumor. Frederick Percy (cousin of the village's namesake) was known as "Mad Percy" because of his dalliances in the occult. He kept slaves and regularly experimented on them in various ways. Sometimes starving them to study the results, sometimes purposely exposing them to diseases, and regularly knocking them on the head in order to practice brain surgery. Soon after he exposed his slaves to the Black Death, Frederick met his end in a bar fight.

Today was historic, we are now in the "commercial space flight" era. I like how the guy made fun of NASA.

Also today, John Kerry spent time kissing babies and children...

It's amazing how one thing can jog your brain into association with another completely different thing. One look at this article: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Science cracks killer bug's code made my brain launch into remembering all of The Plague by Albert Camus.

One of the employees on my team is going home to Hyderabad, India for a month, and asked me if I would like anything from India. This took my by surprise, and the only thing I could think of was a tiny Ganesh statue. I knew from my college years and religion class that Ganesh was one of the major gods in the Hindu religion, although I couldn't remember for what. Anyway, it turns out that he's the lord of success and is worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom, and wealth.

After some research, it turns out that a statue of Ganesh is quite an appropriate gift from Hyderabad. Hyderabad seems to be a progressive city and is viewed as a center of education. My spur of the moment request seems to have been a good choice.

My wife was somewhat distraught to learn of my choice of gifts from India, however. At first she was concerned about my requesting a statue of a Hindu god. I explained to her that to me it wasn't a god, just a symbol of a culture, and since I wouldn't be praying to it or anything there shouldn't be anything to worry about. I likened it to an action figure, just a conversation piece. At least I hope so... the Christian God was pretty clear when He said "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"... I don't plan to put Ganesh before Him, I just view the trinket as a neat little piece of a culture on the other side of the world. (btw... now that I think of it, Hinduism isn't relegated to "the other side of the world", there's a growing community here in Jackson now as well as all over the world. Also, they don't think there are many gods, they think there are many facets of the same supreme being.)

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been a busy bee... I've gotten more responsibility at work, plus I've gotten more responsibility at home. Despite these changes, I plan to start blogging more again.

At work I have been working in a supervisory position until such time as they deem fit to either promote me for good or hire someone else. I think I'd like the position, but it has so many downsides that I'm not totally sure I really want it. I applied for it, and I'm doing it, but it won't kill me if they decide to keep me in my current position. I'm a techie, and as a supervisor I'd lose some of my mad skilz. ;-)

At home things have changed drastically. I got married. Again, upsides and downsides. But I think the upsides far outweigh the downsides in this case! I married a beautiful woman, and got a cute five-year old daughter as well. It's been an adjustment, but it's worth it.

Basic hits 40 - Computerworld The computer language that I first learned is now 40 years old. It's what got me interested in becoming a programmer.

No IT job, no spot at Home Depot So, so depressing. Makes me wonder if I should start saving every little penny I can.

This will really make you think. Your brain will go in circles for a bit trying to sort it out: a US Navy base, holding foreign prisoners, on foreign soil. Whose law applies? Should the US court system be able to hear complaints and act on them? The following statement is what got me:

..more than 600 men from 44 countries who have been held for more than two years at the Guantanamo camp, and about the underlying questions concerning presidential powers in wartime.

Wow... more than two years. To me, it's time for the government to shit or get off the pot.

I'm glad to see this. Finally, a black student-athlete saying that there is no reason to lower admission standards. I've heard of colleges lowering their standards, I've heard of the NAACP saying standardized tests are biased, and I've heard of players dumb as a rock... but finally there's a student-athlete speaking out, all because of a stupid statement by Hornung.

Yahoo! News - At Least 21 Killed in Uzbekistan Clashes I'm so glad I live in the US.

This is news? Oh come on... there isn't a large corporation in America that doesn't contribute thousands of dollars each year to both Republican and Democratic campaigns. This isn't anything new either.

Rhetoric from the left proclaims that the Bush administration is catering to private interests. The fact is, this is done by every politician and the spin-doctors should get over it. In my opinion, it's best to appoint industry insiders to government positions... government could benefit from the streamlined practices of private industry. Admittedly, this could lead to preference in government, but I think this would be small enough that the benefits outweigh the problems.

I was watching the news last night, and one segement called "News in Black & White" came on. In this segment, news stories were shown separately to a group of white people and a group of black people. The two groups were asked about their feelings after watching each story. Not surprisingly, the white and black groups had different feelings, and the black group had feelings related to race whereas the white group did not. I felt that I needed to comment on this.

First off, as a group of people, whites are trained now from an early age not to try to draw any racial inferences from situations. Even if they do, they should not at any cost talk about it. So they wouldn't say anything about race even if they thought about it. Pretty much, we suppress those feelings and don't talk about them often.

I remember seeing one of the news stories they showed to the groups, and I remember what I was thinking. It was about a kid who claims he was harrassed by the cops when they questioned him about a nearby robbery. I agree with the black group... it shouldn't have been news. My reasoning was that the kid (by his own admission) did not respond to the cops when they first asked him over to their car. The dumbass should learn not to ignore a cop. The black group's reasoning, however, stemmed from racial issues. They reasoned it happens every day to black people and you don't hear about it, but since this was a white kid it made the news.

My real point here is that if you dwell on a topic enough, and keep it in your mind enough, eventually everything seems to relate. A devout Jew who is constantly studying Jewish/Christian relations might always see things that seem to point to bad feelings toward Judaism. A devout Christian who is constantly studying sex in the media might always see things that really aren't sexual in nature as bad. A person who is always studying racial tension might see something racial in an innocuous media item. My point is, if you're always looking for conspiracies, conspiracies are all you'll see.

Oh, and this article is what got me to thinking of this... if Japanese people can play a game where they "fight" against their forefathers, why does America have a hang up with racism? The difference is that Japan has left the past where it should be, in the past.

Good illustration of the way politics work. Say you want to cut taxes and get backed by everyone, say you want to up benefits, and get backed by everyone. But point out that doing both of those is impossible, and everyone distances themselves from you.

I agree with Bush, that a marriage should be between a man and woman, but really... is this a matter that needs a Constitutional Amendment?

Damn right this woman should be fired!

One of these days, people will learn that our law enforcement agencies are not infallible.

Science Fiction becoming reality... BBC NEWS | Technology | US military creates second Earth

A group of scientists, including 12 Nobel Prize winners, charged President Bush's administration with "suppressing and distorting scientific findings that run counter to its own political beliefs." US scientists tax Bush on climate. According to one report, cataclysmic global change could push us all into chaos within 20 years. Did this report come from some left-wing liberal tree-hugging group? No, this report was commissioned by the Pentagon. Will Bush listen to it and make his administration take steps to ensure our future? Or will he ignore it like the Kyoto Protocol?

I think this is a cool idea. I would love to do something like this, just to improve my photography skills.

This report is a little off kilter. For one thing, it points out that "the creation of new jobs always overwhelms the destruction of old jobs by a huge margin." True, but misleading. The number of jobs isn't what's important here, it's the jobs themselves. For instance, in my job, one must be a worker for a while before being a manager. That route gets cut when the worker jobs move overseas.

I also found this article about robots interesting.

I'm bored. I wish I didn't have to work today... [clicking heels together three times and chanting there's no place like home, there's no place like home...] HRRUMPH! Didn't work.

Ah.... is it mud-slinging season already?

It was never really a question of should we or shouldn't we, it was only a matter of time.

People, please read your software disclosure statements when you install software. You never know what that corporation really wants to do.

Can the Mouse be bought? This would create another entity to rival Time Warner maybe, but I don't think it will happen.

Next time I'm on the phone with an automated phone system, I'll just yell a few obscenities into the handset in order to get a real person. Wired News: A Way Out of Automated Phone Hell

Please, Please, Please protect your computer, for everyone's sake! Wired News: Cheapskate's Guide to a Safe PC

DOH! I forgot to call my mom on her birthday! I'm such a dumb-ass.

Sign of the apocalypse #2,378,981: Wired News: Popping Pills in Preschool

A very good, balanced discussion of offshoring. I am personally against offshoring for a few reasons.
1- tax money going to another country's work force
2- jobs going to another country
3- quality of work is lower because of translation issues

Speaking from personal experience, the company I work for has used and is still using offshore programmers (India.) I believe you get what you pay for... my manager has said he can get two of them for one of us. That's all well and good, but let's put it in different terms. Our system is like a baby... it takes great care and attention to keep it in good health. When you take that baby to a day care center, cost wouldn't be your top concern, care would.

Another Bad Idea from the Bush administration. Don't get me wrong, I think Bush is much better than Clinton, but he tries to circumvent too many checks and balances.

Another Bad Idea from the Bush administration. Don't get me wrong, I think Bush is much better than Clinton, but he tries to circumvent too many checks and balances.

A strong argument for traffic light cameras and speed monitoring cameras.

Yeah, the boob shot wasn't planned, it's just coincidence thatMTV promised shocking moments.

There are some very sick people out there.

These days, even a company can be based on a lawsuit. Or at least brought back from the brink of death.

Behold! The power of beer. I admire the Russian Army's dedication to that most holy of beverages.

Easiest to Misunderstand Quote of the Month:"'In the end, we are going to do everything within our power to eliminate the practice of 'driving while black,'' [Mass. Attorney General] Reilly said."

A friend showed this to me today. It explains a lot.
Update: found what I think is the original here.

Check out this blog: the cheating culture.

Bush Administration Targets O'Neill After Criticism Imagine that! Well, my take on the situation is that O'Neill is bordering on treason. Any officer of the government in that high of a position and has access to top secret documents needs to keep their mouth shut unless it's a matter of endangerment to the people. The White House's denial of the pre-conceived intent to oust Saddam is their business, it's not hurting anyone. And, I agree that the policy was formed before Bush was ever in office.

That's not to say I'm totally behind Bush. I just think O'Neill is on thin ice. A past member of the National Security Council should only come forward with information they are privy to if they are sure it's for the national good. I can't see how this is for the national good.

It's a sad day:Levi's Closes Last Two U.S. Sewing Plants. Of course, before long, there won't be much production going on in the U.S.

My dad and I were discussing Saddam's capture last night, and the topic came up about how we had both heard that Kurdish rebels had found him first but brokered a deal with the U.S. to "find" him. My dad was skeptical, and his question was "But why?". Well, it turns out that on the same day that he was "found", President Bush signed a controversial new law that gives the FBI power to circumvent the traditional checks and balances and get information from financial institutions without a warrant signed by a judge. Some excerpts:

Dempsey said the Intelligence Authorization Act is a favorite vehicle of politicians for expanding government powers without careful scrutiny. The bill, because of its sensitive nature, is generally drafted in relative secrecy and approved without extensive debate because it is viewed as a "must-pass" piece of legislation. The act provides funding for intelligence agencies.

"In our fight to protect America and our people, to make our world a safer place, we must never turn our backs on our freedoms," said Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho) in a November press release. "Expanding the use of administrative subpoenas and threatening our system of checks and balances is a step in the wrong direction."

I received some spam from MyShopper.net today. The email came from a MyShopper.net representative of sorts, and states that I ordered something from Factorydirectdeals.net. They would like me to call them to take a survey, yada, yada, yada.

First, I never ordered anything from Factorydirectdeals.net and I never would... their products and web site appear to be crap which makes me highly suspicious of the company in the first place.

Second, the inclusion of a phone number in the email led me to believe they really want to get me on the phone. Possibly to try some telemarketing of some sort, or to confirm my email address is good, or even to try to get personal info from me (credit card number for instance) in some sort of fraud scheme.

When I realized these two things, I did a little research. I find that the FactoryDirectDeals web site is run by In USA Group, Inc. which also runs some other relatively low class shopping web sites. (ShippingOnly.com and ThankUGift.com to name a couple.) Then I recognize a couple of these sites as "Trusted Retailers" on MyShopper.net's web site. This really got my "bullshit-o-meter" revving.

On the web site for In USA Group, Inc, I found this scathing statement on the use of spam as well as this revision. Interesting... very interesting.

But wait... there's more!!! MyShopper.net has a link in the top of their shopping sites list, linking to the National Consumers Alliance. This entity purports to be "America's foremost consumer organization" dealing with consumer rights and advocacy issues. Supposedly, they provide the consumer with discounts and consumer information. Then the kicker... I realize that the 1-888 number in the email is almost identical to the 1-888 number on NCA's web site except for the last two digits. Which probably means the two companies (MyShopper and NCA) are run from the same offices. A little more research reveals it: In USA Group, Inc and National Consumers Alliance are based in the same exact office. 9165 Roe Street in Pensacola Florida. All three companies are based in the same offices.

So, a spam email arrived for me, stating I had ordered something from FactoryDirectDeals.net and that I should call MyShopper.net for a survey. I had not ordered anything (which they know), and the purpose was just to get me to call them. Unfortunately for them, I did research. I plan to call MyShopper.net posing as a gullible citizen to see what they try to do to me. Then I'll call NCA and confront them about their connection with MyShopper.net and the spam I received. Spam from a third party company designed as a front to drum up business for the NCA which is supposed to help the consumer trust online businesses. Priceless!

Stay tuned for more when I get them on the phone Monday!

(UPDATE - 10 minutes later:
AHA! NCA involved in fraud. And I'm going to clue thewriter of this article in to what I found about the NCA as well. )

Ugh. USDA Stands by Mad Cow Detection System: "meat from cows that were too sick or injured to stand or walk unassisted would continue to be allowed to be sold for human consumption". That just makes you wonder doesn't it?

I agree with this article: PowerPoint is dangerous. There are two reasons why I believe this:

1) People tend not to listen to the speaker when a PowerPoint presentation is there. They tend just to stare at the presentation and only take in the points included within.

2) Speakers tend to spend more time on the PowerPoint presentation than what its worth. If an outline were provided to the attendees, the result would be the same and hours wouldn't have been spent on a useless PowerPoint slide show.

I know this from personal experience, both as an speaker and as an attendee. I just recently worked on developing part of a completely new computer system for the company I work for. After it was implemented, a lot of the developers had to give training sessions to the other programmers who were to maintain the system. I sat in some others' sessions before getting mine together, and found that the maintenance programmers weren't paying hardly any attention to the speaker. They were all staring blankly at printed PowerPoint presentations and idly making notes now and again. I didn't use PowerPoint, so most of my attendees stayed awake, took good notes, and I'm hoping the subject sank in better.

I recently went to the movies with a group of friends (LOTR: The Return of the King - VERY good), and came out to find some pizza coupons and an ad on my truck. The coupons were for Domino's Pizza (thanks!) and the ad was for "Semester Break Work". With just one look at the ad, I was sure it was a scam, and I decided I would do some research.

I found that the company has multiple web sites, all geared toward the recruitment of students as sales reps. This, in my eyes, pointed to a scam. (Why would a corporation need so many different web sites?)

I also found web sites and online forums devoted to trying to warn people about Vector's tactics. I have since emailed a couple of university professors who are quoted on a Vector Marketing web site, and hope to receive some more insight into what I am afraid is a company trying to take advantage of students who don't quite yet know the ways of the world.

There's a billboard on a very busy road (County Line Rd.) in our city that catches everyone's attention: We have the way! My girlfriend and I were curious about it, and decided to check it out. We guessed it was religious, and we were right. My question is: why do they assume that the person who has everything doesn't have salvation already?

It's good to see our system of government still works as it should:Yahoo! News - Court Rulings Slam Bush's Terror Strategy. Checks and balances is what it's called. The legislative branch (Congress) enacts laws, while the executive branch (President) enforces laws, and the judicial branch (Supreme Court) interprets laws. Each one can override portions of the others, in a system designed to keep any one person or group from enacting a totalitarian government. Basically, the federal courts are sending a message to Bush: "Respect My Authoritah!" (from South Park)

I've come to realize something which is at first quite simple, but then gets complex and controversial... so brace yourself for what you're about to read. Natural selection doesn't work any more in humans. Natural selection is the process whereby the strongest, most attractive, and smartest mates are chosen to further the species. In nature, the animals that live to maturity are the ones that mate. In civilization, modern medicine allows many more people to live to maturity and mate, unlike thousands of years ago. The gene pool, in my opinion, is actually degrading. People with genetic problems are able to live to maturity and mate. People with mental problems are able to counter balance these problems with medicine and mate. This, coupled with the fact that the term casual sex is a familiar term, leads me to the conclusion that the gene pool is degrading.

Consider a phenomenon that I'm quite familiar with: deer population. In the 1940's in Mississippi, the deer population was almost entirely wiped out from overhunting. The government stepped in, and introduced controls whereby hunting was restricted. Eventually, the deer population made a comeback, and in the late 20th century the hunting controls were relaxed because of overpopulation. I don't think it's coincidence that the percentage of diseased and malnourished deer is also on the rise. With less hunters, and virtually no natural predators in Mississippi, there was no natural selection pressure on the herd. In short, the gene quality of the deer in this region has been degraded by overprotection.

Back a couple of years ago, anger at the terrorist attacks bordered on racism and/or religious persecution. Generally, people talked down about muslims and made reference to their traditional clothing and such. Then, when we moved into Iraq and France wouldn't help, those same people talked down about the french people and government. Well, It's ironic to see that those people who talked bad about both have something in common with the french:
Chirac Seeks Law Banning Head Scarves.

Apparently, the french are afraid that traditional muslim clothing has no place in the public schools. They're afraid that it symbolizes muslim militancy and fear that muslim fundamentalists are getting too commonplace in France. I can hear it now... some folks saying "Well, France finally got something right!" I'm sure some people agree with this... until they find out that the ban covers jewish skullcaps and large crucifixes as well.

This points out a fundamental reason difference between the U.S. and other places of the world. In some places (such as Iran) usually one religion dominates the government, and that leads to persecution (or at least suppression) of people who believe differently. Some places (such as France) suppress all religions equally, trying to stamp out strong believers so they won't cause trouble. In the U.S., our forefathers thought ahead, and although many of them believed in the christian way, they realized that the government shouldn't interfere with peoples' beliefs. In the U.S. you are free to believe what you want, wear what you want, and say what you want - so long as it doesn't hurt or endanger others.

I find this article quite interesting. I think I agree with Steven Lewis who is quoted in the article as saying: "Nerds are highly intelligent but they have no social skills whatsoever. ... Geeks are intelligent too, but a geek can hold a conversation, and have a girlfriend and an active social life." So next time my girlfriend calls me a nerd I'll have to correct her.

WOOT! I just got some phat lewt from a class action settlement from MBNA! (Broder vs. MBNA - misleading cash promotional APR practices)

So, credit cards are evil, eh? Well, I don't really think so. The corporations certainly are, but a tool isn't evil in and of itself, it can always be used for good or evil. For instance, blaming the rampant overextension of credit by Americans on the credit cards themselves is wrong. It's our propensity to spend, spend, spend that is the problem. People need to learn how to manage their money wisely, and also to learn how to curb their spending. A new stereo or blouse are not necessities, food and shelter are the only two necessities.

The handyman's dream site: ThisToThat

Just added comments... got any?

The perfect weekend: good champagne, a bed and breakfast with a view, dinner, a show, and the love of my life.

My girlfriend and I enjoyed a beautiful weekend together. We stayed at the Father Ryan House, which is considered one of the best B&B's on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The room we got had a scenic view of the beach where you could just sit in bed and enjoy some fine champagne while taking in the view. After enjoying the champagne and view, we enjoyed some of the finest dining available on the coast at Mary Mahoney's Ole French House. Delicious! Then, it was off to see the Moscow Ballet's performance of the nutcracker at Grand Casino. The show was quite nice, but the weekend was spectacular.

According to this web page, all good christian men should have short hair. I really don't think God cares what I wear or how I cut my hair, as long as I believe in him and act accordingly. But then again, we all know that long hair eventually leads to womanizing, drug use, and satan worship... right? j/k

I had a conversation about the Patriot Act a while back with a friend. I was worried that the government was going in the wrong way, that over time they would continue to erode the laws that protect U.S. citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. He adamantly maintained that it was nothing like that, that the immediate need overrode any concern about loss of privacy, and that nothing would come of it... and who would be worried besides a terrorist? Well, it is getting worse. Congress just approved a bill that broadened the "financial institutions" that the FBI could subpoena business documents from without judicial review. And what's worse, is that they did it in secret.

Yahoo! News - Dearborn, Mich., Arabs Cited More Often Yes, that's right... rampant discrimination going on under our very noses! Ye gods, what made the percentage of middle easterners being prosecuted jump from a measly 32 percent to a staggering 36 percent in a short three year period???? I thought that past statistics were a sure-fire prediction of future happenings! Never mind the fact that an ethnic type that accounts for a third of the population has about a third of the prosecutions... they're getting prosecuted a whole 4 percent more from September 2002 through 2003 than in the year prior to September 11, 2001. Wait... er... what happened from September 11, 2001 through 2002? Hmmm... apparently those statistics don't matter. Oh well, what a travesty for them to be prosecuted a whole 4 percent more than a year in the past, there's no reasoning in a statistic changing at all!

I hereby establish The Center for Statistical Normality to rally against statistics ever changing! We will petition God to prevent such abnormalities as the number of people struck by lightning in Florida from ever rising above their average per year. I'm sure we can get funding from insurance companies, who would just love to make statistics a sure prediction of the future.

'Spyware' steps out of the shadows | CNET News.com Quote: "We have vendors waiting in wings to see what we come up with. They want to see what's ethical." That's the business world these days for you... the corporations with all of their top brass who have business degrees and lawyers backing them up still can't decide for themselves what's ethical and what's not. Here's a simple guideline: if you wouldn't want it done to your daughter, son, wife, husband, siblings, or parents, then it's probably not ethical.

Hawaiians-only policy at school upheld. That's right... a federal judge ruled that a school could base admissions on race. Here's the ruling. Part of the reasoning for the ruling is the historical nature of the school, and the fact that the school receives no federal funding. So? I do believe that in the past there have been rulings against private schools, and against private clubs when it comes to civil rights. But I'm no judge.

My girlfriend and I were snuggled up watching that most romantic of shows The O'Reilly Factor a few nights ago, and the topic of the night was "Is Gangsta Rap Hurting America's Children? On the show, they had a principal of a Philadelphia elementary school, a rapper (Cam'ron), and a rap producer (Damon Dash.)

During the introductions, the principal said he was a fan of hip-hop and how he spoke to students about his being on the show and that they were excited about how he would be "conversating with you guys". At this point my girlfriend and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing. The principal had just used a non-word. Maybe he picked it up from the song "Conversate" by Case.

I don't feel like writing much, so I'll just give a link and make a couple of short points: Wired News: Post Office Gets Pressured to Pry.

1) Do you have any idea how much it would cost to mail a letter should this get implemented?

2) Our privacy is being chipped away at, little by little, year by year.

I'm one of those people that likes to dream. I view it as the ultimate movie, that sometimes, no matter how outrageous the dream gets, it's still better than the best movie in that it seems so real and you usually don't have a clue that it's just a dream. And I've been dreaming a lot lately, don't really know why except that I'm working a lot and trying to find time to spend with my girlfriend.

Anyway... so I'm going to tell you about my weirdest dream ever now, which I just had a couple of nights ago.

Setting: a random living room, with more than it's share of couches, at least five random people discussing a serious problem after dinner, the dishes still littering the coffee and end tables.

Joemoab (me): We really must find a solution to the inter-dimensional being who is taking human souls and torturing them! It's just not right! [said while grabbing a last tidbit of chicken left on an otherwise empty plate.]

Others: Yea verily, yon foul creature must be stopped!

Enter: Two misfigured creatures, obviously once human but now so devoid of human characteristics as to be disgusting. Their entrance came through a large shimmering gateway that suddenly opened behind the couch. They terrorize everyone in the room, and try to capture some in order to drag them back into their dimension.

Others: Aaaaahhhh! [screaming with frightened look on their faces]

Joemoab: Back you foul fiends! Back to the dimension you came from, and tell your master that we'll have no more of his designs. We will put an end to his reign of terror this day! [grabs two forks from a couple of used plates and brandishes them threateningly at the creatures]

Exit: The two creatures, looking like whipped dogs.

Others: Yeah!

Enter: One large, leathery looking humanoid creature with every horrible feature you've ever been repulsed at in a horror movie... including large teeth and razor blades.

Leatherface: WHO DARED THREATEN ME AND INSTILL DOUBT AMONG MY SOULLESS MINIONS? I WILL DAMN YOU TO AN ETERNITY OF WATCHING RERUNS OF FULL HOUSE AND BARNEY! [in large booming terrible voice]

Others: He did it! [everyone points at Joemoab and cowers, I suspect some even peed on themselves at the threat of watching Full House]

Joemoab: Er... look here now... I didn't mean for you to come calling so quickly... I mean... appointments should be made and kept to!

Leatherface: YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE! [advances upon me, large teeth chattering threateningly, arms outstretched to crush me, ominous foul odor emitting from somewhere]

Joemoab: BACK YOU FOUL CREATURE! YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER US, WE ARE ALL POWERFUL IN THIS DIMENSION AND YOU SHALL TREMBLE BEFORE OUR MIGHTY TOOLS! [brandishing one salad fork and one dinner fork in a menacing manner while knees tremble slightly]

Leatherface: Oh, pardon me. [instantly transforms into a small grey aliean with big head, big eyes, and small lithe body. He then drapes himself gaily across the back of the couch and smiles.]

Joemoab: WHERE ART THOU FROM, AND FOR WHAT REASON ARE YOU TORTURING HUMAN SOULS YOU FOUL CREATURE YOU? [still brandishing the silverware menacingly]

Leatherface: [silence, but with a more sinister smile]

Joemoab: I SAY, SPEAK YOU MISCREANT, AND TELL US OF YOUR EVIL INTENTIONS AT ONCE! [losing confidence quickly, but still trying to be as threatening as possible while he notices that one fork still has a bit of lettuce on it]

Leatherface: No, I will only tell my story in a theatrical production. [in a very calm and calculating voice]

Joemoab: Er... what? [with rapidly degrading confidence, and with terror in his eyes]

Leatherface: A musical. Which I will produce for you to watch, which you must watch to learn my devious plan. I will produce a musical. [said with a widening smile, and obvious malice in his eyes]

At this point I woke up in a sweat. Thank God I didn't make it through to the musical.

A friend recently told me of Rolling Stone's article about the top 100 guitarists of all time. Of course, I had to go look for myself to see what they had to say. I have no problem with Hendrix, Clapton, Robert Johnson, Vaughan, and Page being in the top 10, but where are Steve Vai and Joe Satriani? I think someone's been smoking crack.

Where "Do Not Call" Does Not Count The old addage holds true... if it's too good to be true it probably is.

The Man In Black passed away today. "I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend"

United we stand.

This is what I fear. National ID cards, at first glance, seem to be a good idea. Until you start throwing out what ifs.

What if it gets stolen? "Sir, our records show you entered LAX at 9:05 pm last night. At 9:06 a deadly nerve toxin was released into the air conditioning duct from a locked access panel in a security closet... a security closet next to the terminal your ID was used at."

What if the military overthrows the government and places the last election's losing party in power? "Our records show you voted Republican last year Mr. Smith. Please come outside with us."

What if the system gets hacked? "Well Mr. Jones, I pulled you over for a broken taillight, but I see here that you have numerous warrants out for your arrest. How do you explain that?"

This is surreal.

This might be old news to some, but Taco Bell has a summer promotion where you can win gas. And their cups say they're the "Official Sponsor of Summer Gas." Gotta give it to those guys, they have a sense of humor.

In related news, it's good to see the headline U.S. Bimbo Defeats Spanish Challenger in Web Bout. Chalk up another for the good ole U Ess of A.

Johnny Cash Lyrics - Ring of Fire Lyrics:
"I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher
And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire"

I think this picture sums up my current mood.

Yahoo! News - Episcopalians Approve Openly Gay Bishop Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan had this to say:

"This body willfully confirming the election of a person sexually active outside of holy matrimony has departed from the historic faith and order of the Church of Jesus Christ," Duncan said. "This body has divided itself from millions of Anglican Christians around the world."

Today I became a registered user of Work or Spoon. Yes, there is a reason, but I don't want to talk about it.

Two things.

Something is horribly wrong if your police department is advertising for new recruits on the radio in a market that is 180 miles away. The New Orleans P.D. has been advertising on regional radio stations in Jackson MS. Advertising the fact that your P.D. is understaffed isn't a Good Idea. Apply here if you consider handling drunks and dodging bullets a good time.

I was at the grocery store late last night, and got behind a woman with a child and a cart of groceries in tow. She proceeds through checkout, and slides her bank card through the card reader. It doesn't work, the cashier tells her to try again. After a second try, the cashier says "It says to call the bank." The woman replies, "Oh, I just got this card in the mail, you think I need to call them?" Now... when was the last time you got a credit or debit card in the mail that didn't have a BIG sticker on it telling you to call the bank to activate the card? I have no patience for idiots.

Is it THAT bad that lawyers think we need to find their phone number at the drop of a hat? Here in Jackson, there are a few major players, and their ads are all over the place. We just received this year's updated phone book, and Don Evans ("No fee unless I collect for you!") has his add imprinted upon the spine and back cover, while Richard Schwartz ("One call, that's all!") had a flexi-magnet glued to the front cover. This got me a little curious, and I looked in the yellow pages. Surprise! The Attorneys section is highlighted and is the largest highlighted section in the book. What is this world coming to?

You've gotta love a day that includes a news item that can legitimately contain the sentence: "The giant hot dog stumbled over the sausage and also tumbled to the ground."

On another note, I'm excited about this weekend! I'm going to see Cats at the Orpheum in Memphis with friends this weekend. A good show and Beale Street with friends... THEN... THEN in two weeks I'm going white water rafting on the Chatooga with some buddies! THEN I close on my house! July is quite possibly the best month ever created.

Wow! I just moved my entire blog from my Road Runner site to Blogpost! I'm impressed with how easy that was!

I was outside this evening at dusk, and I was reminded of how fitting the word "dusk" is at times. The air had an odd quality about it, the sun was wetting and the light was filtered through some low-lying clouds. Dusk. The light had a yellow-ish hue, similar to the way the world looks through amber sunglasses (you know the variety, "Engineered for enhanced vision!"), this clear but hazy color really hit me. Dusk. Yup, sometimes it's the little things in life that make us stop and take notice.

I'm buying a house! I'm buying a house! I'm buying a house!

Yup, I'm seventy-five percent excited, twenty-five percent apprehensive. After signing papers about the possibility of mold in any structure, and the problem with stucco, I've got this feeling that my good luck in the last few months will turn to bad as soon as I've got that debt tied around my neck. Remember the movie The Money Pit? (except of course there won't be a Shelley Long in my story.)

On another note, I notified my apartment complex today that I'd be moving out in a little over 30 days. I signed a paper with them, and they told me about things they'd check out after I moved out, and gave me a checklist of things they check so I'd know how to make sure I get my full deposit back. This checklist has the normal things you'd think of: repairs to sheetrock, vacuum carpets, patch holes, clean blinds, clean bathtub, shampoo carpets (due to pets), exterminating (pets), clean stove/oven, ... WAIT... exterminating? Pets???? Is there a major problem with people leaving pets in their apartments when they move out?

"I'm sorry sir, but you left your siamese cat in your apartment when you moved, can you come pick it up?... You don't want him any more?... Oh, you'd like us to exterminate him? We'll get right on it." And you thought you had a bad job.

Last time I caught a flight to Minnesota, I noticed something that has been in the back of my mind ever since... just a little tidbit that I thought was strange that's somehow stuck with me. When they gave me the in-flight pretzel snack, for some reason I studied the package of pretzels (I must have really been bored!), there at the bottom on the back was a phrase that has since stuck with me: "Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, not affiliated with Snyder's of Berlin".

What? Was there some kind of family feud in the pretzel business? I could imagine an old German immigrant getting angry at his cousin Lars at the sub-par quality of pretzels he churned out using the family name, then starting his own company to compete. The family would have split along the "crunchy but not overly-dry" or "salty but not overly-so" battle lines, and the two companies would battle it out in the free economy that is the promised land! Well, I found out that it's not nearly as exciting as that. Snyder's of Hanover is mainly a pretzel company with chips, Snyder's of Berlin is mainly a chip company with pretzels. The only connection seems to be pretzels. *sigh* I thought I was onto something big.

It's sickening to see how the top brass in the company I work for are making millions off of their stock options while the rest of the company enjoys lower yearly raises than ever before. Our top brass has gone on a stock trading frenzy in the last month, selling old stock for current market value and excercising stock options to buy new shares at highly discounted prices. Our CEO, President, and a VP have combined to profit more than 5.8 million dollars in the last 30 days alone. I wonder why... maybe because of this upcoming news? Darwin Deason hasn't profited from stock options recently, but he has sold more than 15 million dollars in stock in the last 2 months, I'm guessing some of it will be used to cover his legal defense. I don't know why this hasn't been picked up by more media sources yet.

This week has been a long one for my family. Sunday, my uncle (father's brother) went to the hospital with heart trouble. He had open heart surgery on Wednesday morning, with complications that had him in and out of surgery for 12 hours or more. It was very trying on everyone, both at the hospital and away. He pulled through, but not without some drama. I heard the doctor say at one point that he had been through 6 units of blood. It's time like these that I'm proud that I donate blood regularly. And you should too.

Oh, and when my cousin shook the doctor's hand and thanked him for sticking with his father through the ordeal, the doctor politely said "Son, don't thank me, thank God." That's one doctor who has his head on straight.

When I was in Minnesota a couple of weeks ago, I was involved in a discussion with a Greek citizen who is going through the naturalization process to be an American citizen. We talked about how different things are in other parts of the world (most notably mandatory military service for males in many countries), and about the naturalization process. We eventually talked about the test that potential citizens must take to become a citizen, and how the average American wouldn't know all the answers. Well, later, he sent a link to me with sample questions for the naturalization test. Not surprisingly, most of the questions were easy, but a few weren't. I took the test about 10 times I guess, which makes about 35 questions I'd guess (some questions repeat quite often), and missed about 4 questions. This makes my score about 89%. I'm slightly embarassed that I didn't make an A.

June Carter Cash passed on today, and it made me pull out my Johnny Cash Greatest Hits CD. The Man In Black is one of those rare souls that come along every now and then to challenge the norms, change the world, and generally becomes a living legend. He's a legend in country music, made a splash on the alternative music scene in the mid 90's, has a large religious music presence, and in general has one of the most recognizable voices and personas of the last few decades.

My grandparents listened to him. My parents listened to him. I listen to him. That's saying something. How many other living legends are there out there like Johnny Cash? Not many.

For the latter part of this week, I've been in Minneapolis for a meeting, I flew up here Wednesday and will head back on Sunday. As usual, I found a book to read for the flight, an interesting book that would keep my attention for the boring flights. This time I chose Isaac Asimov's Steel Caves, the second in his "Robot Series" of books. I had read the first (Robots of Dawn) a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was fairly certain the rest of the series would be just as good. I wasn't disapointed.

After reading these books, I find myself noticing more and more parallels with our society's current state and the world of Asimov's future. For instance, I noticed closed circuit cameras everywhere in the airport, and in other public places around town. I began noticing some of the more futuristic things scattered about, such as the lounge in the airport specifically designed for the business traveler to hook up to a high speed connection in a small private kiosk. In Asimov's future, privacy is a thing of the past, almost even in a person's home (which are no longer houses, but apartments in huge sckyscraper complexes.) Communal kitchens serve the masses, as well as men's and women's "personals" where one sees to their personal hygene needs similar to a central bathroom in college dorms. All in all, Asimov predicts that for efficiency reasons privacy will be whittled down to the bare minimum in the future. What scares me the most, is Asimov's dead on (in my opinion) assessment of the human race. In not-so-subtle ways he uses our tendency toward racism and applies it to robot-human relations. In other ways he discusses overpopulation and polution problems and how the human race is inevitably self-destructive. His stories are at once entertaining, but have depth and bring out some interesting views.

Another blog I read, Joggua, had a post the other day about searching for your own name on the web to see what the other people who have your name have done.

Apparently, a Joe Clune was on an All-Star hurling team in Ireland in the 1920's. It kinda makes me proud, and makes me feel I should learn more about my Irish heritage. (Note to self: I'm not entirely sure I really have as much Irish in me as I think.)

Another Joe Clune is a triathlete that placed 29th in a field of 175 in 1998. Don't have much more info here.

Also, there seems to have been a Joe Clune who played basketball for Louisiana State University in 1960. This embarasses me, he seems to have been a decent defensive player according to the stats, but it's LSU! I don't like LSU. Coincidentally, I noticed that the coach for UK for the game is the coach their arena is currently named for: Rupp.

I also found a new Joe Clune, but he hasn't done anything yet.

Strangely enough, I didn't find my own web pages when searching with Google. This is probably because I have relatively few instances of my full name on my web pages, and then it's not in the index fields.

I'm a big music listener. I work best when I have some upbeat tempo music playing, I dunno why, it just gets me going. Anyway, I was sitting here programming a part of the new Mississippi Medicaid system and listening to Weezer. The actual song was Surf Wax America, and it struck me as ironic.

Here is a song about doing your own thing and not joining the normal rat race that everyone else does.
I'm bailing out because I hate the race
Of rats that run round and round in the maze
I'm going surfing, I'm going surfing!
And it's ironic because it's getting me up to hyperspeed as I code.
The sea is rolling like a thousand pound keg
As I insert code for pharmacy claim processing into a weekly report that will show every single medicaid claim processed by the system.
We're going surfing, we're going surfing!
A report that will show literally millions of dollars in aid going through the system each week.
You take your car to work
I'll take my board
Now that, my friends, is the definition of ironic. (By the way, the company I work for runs medicaid systems for 14 states and the District of Columbia among other things. One of those other things is being the market leader in the photo enforcement of traffic laws, namely the running of red lights. I feel dirty now.)

Man, if I could write like this, well... I guess I'd be a paid writer like him. Scroll down to the part about Rick Santorum to read a hilarious comment on the hottest topic of the day. Here's the funniest part:
for heaven's sake, if they repealed a law against riding dogs while naked and slathered with Crisco, would you strip down, grease up and find a pliant Schnauzer?

The U.S. military is holding children younger than 16 years of age at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (link). After being appalled earlier this month by the discovery of a children's prison in Iraq (link), I'm quite surprised to find out that we are detaining children. Canadian officials have tried unsuccessfully to gain access to a Canadian child who is being held in Guantanamo Bay. Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman, is quoted as saying "Their release is contingent on the determination that they are not a threat to the [US] nation and have no further intelligence value."

Come on, we're talking children here. I thought we were the good guys? Our own laws lay out special treatment and consideration to be given to children accused of criminal acts, yet we won't allow the Canadian government to contact a Canadian child being detained???

Well, apparently there are some new driving rules that have come out since I got my drivers license back when I was 16 or so. I've gathered my notes and thought I would share them with those of you who might be a little behind in the times like me.
1) if you see a sign that says your lane ends in one mile, stay in your lane. Stay there until the last possible second so you'll get to where you're going 2 minutes faster. Then, when you MUST get in the other lane, act upset when the other drivers won't let you in.
2) rip your turn signal lever off of your steering column, nobody uses it any more anyway.
3) if the electricity is out and the red light is not working, realize it's your lucky day and barrel through the intersection at 60 mph while yelling "SUCKERS!" to the cautious drivers who stopped
4) if the red light turns red when it's your turn, and you for some reason can't gun the engine and narrowly miss cars to get to the other side, just sit in the middle of the intersection making no attempt to get out of other people's way. Because it's much safer to sit in the middle of an intersection than to run that red light.

Today was a good day.

The International Broadcasting Bureau is working on software to help Chinese surfers throw off the yoke of their government's censorship (read more about it here). Basically, the Chinese government has a firewall in place to block access to many news organizations and political sites on the web. The IBB hopes to set up software to allow the Chinese citizens to circumvent the political constraints placed on them by their government. Aside from the fact that this software could be used by anyone to get past firewalls (i.e. your average worker whose company blocks entertainment sites, or the teenager trying to outsmart his parent's controls) I don't see this plan working very well. The simple fact of the matter is that the Chinese government will find a way to quickly nip it in the bud, or worse, unplug the connection to the outside altogether.

I went and looked at the instructions that Bennett Haselton (an activist commissioned by the IBB to suggest a solution) offered, and was appalled. I'm a programmer (and one time system administrator) with a high sense of what running a server entails and what risks one takes with running any servers on a home PC using an always on connection. Mr. Haselton's instructions never mentions any of these risks, nor does he mention the need to check for updates for the software he recommends that you install. I hope the IBB did not spend much of our money on this guy.

I'm glad to see that General Franks has made the statement that troops will stay in Iraq until a free government is in place. This is a very important point to me. Hopefully we can help the Iraqis establish a good government that helps them build their country into a nation that is free from oppression and ethnic strife.

Ok, a friend sent me an email asking about my views, and I realized a couple of my posts might have misled. I have a tendency to try to imagine someone arguing with me as I write, so sometimes I try to back up statements to the point of overkill. I thought I would clarify a couple of things:
1) I'm not anti-government or anti-Bush. I just speak out when I disagree, as anyone should. I disagreed with Clinton and I spoke up then as well. I thought he should have been impeached. I haven't said one bad thing directly about Bush yet.
2) I disagreed with going to war without the U.N.'s backing, this is true. But since then I have supported the troops as much as everyone else, and I haven't said a word about our political motivation for the war. I have only voiced my opinion about what may happen in the mid-east when it's all said and done.
3) My post about blind patriotism is just about how people should open their eyes, ears, and mind. Don't just blindly believe the government does everything right. It was mainly about how I feel it is wrong to imprison a person without charging them with a crime. The Patriot Act makes this possible now.

Anyway, just thought I'd clarify :-) I'm neither liberal nor conservative, neither Republican nor Democrat. I'm just an average Joe [ha!] who tries to see things as they really are without blindly accepting anything without research.

You know, I used to be what I would call a "blind patriot." I believed that the government, in general, does what is best for us. I usually would not speak out against the government or engage in very much political discussion. These days, I feel my opinion has changed somewhat. First, although I support our troops in the war, I disagreed with the reasoning behind the invasion of Iraq. My feelings are best summed up in this fictional conversation. Furthermore, I'm beginning to see what blind patriotism can lead to. Our government is now locking people up without charging them with a crime, which I feel is reprehensible. Not only that, but it seems to be a human rights violation. For those of you who say I'm not patriotic now, remember, just because an official is elected, doesn't mean he's doing good. Before accusing me of being unpatriotic, remember that our country's founding fathers were actively committing treason when they formed our great nation. Our great nation has a form of government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, and I for one will never forget that I have a right, no, a duty to speak out against what I think is wrong.

I got a couple of emails today from a soldier in Iraq. He's a fellow player in the same guild as I am in EverQuest the online game. I like how the guys are keeping their humor.
Don't know if you saw the news conference the Iraqi info minister gave. He called us, "Yankee Air Barbarians"!! Well, I think that title has stuck in the squadron. Everyone gets a big laugh outta that name!! Hope you do to!!
He signs his emails now as "Yankee Air Barbarian." :-)

Also, it's interesting to read Ribbity Blog, a blog written by an Israeli. It's interesting because in Israel they've been waging a war against terrorism ever since their nation was created in 1948. In this excerpt he touches on the long term implications, I think it says a lot about how much we Americans take things for granted.
I travelled with a bunch of young soldiers who described in graphic detail how an undercover unit assassinated a top Hamas official. Naturally I won't reveal the details here. It's depressing to know that the tadpoles will one day be required to enter the army and live this kind of a life. That prospect is approaching with increasing speed, it seems.