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.