Monday, November 15, 2004

The Most Aptly Named Film of the Year

Run out and see the Pixar film "The Incredibles". The animation of this film is unbelievable. It made me think I was watching 3D models in the vein of Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer, but not choppy. You have to see it to understand. The story was excellent as well. Definitely for older kids and adults. Just a phenomenal animated movie!

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No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster


Thursday, November 11, 2004

Spanked!

local6.com - News - Women Allege Boss Spanked Them for Errors

Please read the above article and then read this post.

Ok, finished? Good! Can we just say that this provides an in depth understanding of the problems of the "Red States" (i.e. voted for W).

First off, the guy is a pervert who exploits these women to get off on whatever power trip he's got going on. That is undisputed.

But let's look at the whole picture. First off, all employees sign off on a clause that says ""I give Gene permission to bust my behind any way he sees fit."" What? I am no lawyer but I think upon reading this I might give some hesitation to signing it. When does the little voice say "Hey, maybe McDonald's isn't so bad after all. There is no spanking clause there."

And then, when the victims had been spanked, one stayed and finished her day because she didn't have a ride? What?!? You have just gotten a spanking on the job by your boss, but you choose to finish out the day because walking is just beneath you.

Then the other victim stayed on the job for over a year because she was given the ultimatum "either she could be spanked or be fired." Really? You chose the spanking? You work at the Tasty Flavors Sno Biz and you take the spanking over any of the upteen other minimum wage job that can be found along the main street of your hick town? Interesting choice!

But really what hits home to the mentality that we are dealing with is this quote from the local law enforcement officer: Police Sgt. Jay LaMance said the two 19-year-old women likely accepted the spankings instead of leaving immediately because they were "brought up to respect anybody who is an authority figure."

Holy crap, are you serious? The man owns a frickin' sno cone stand in Tennessee. Authority figure, really?

Sgt. LaMance was dangerously close to siding with Mr. Tasty Flavors when defending that the "photos are not sexually explicit," he said. "They are clothed." They of his employees ass! Clothed or not' the shot was of the derriere and that is it. And you elected Bush on the basis of Morality? Come on, Skeeter! I am from the morally bankrupt north and even I know a rose is a rose and a buttock is a buttock, clothed or not.


Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Alexander Graham Bell didn't picture this.

I love new technology, I love bells and whistles, and I love saving money. Combine those three things into one package and it is all over.

Since getting a cell phone 5 years ago, I have been toying with the idea of getting rid of my landline. Most of my phone conversations are long distance, so my cell is usually my phone of choice. However, I haven't felt comfortable making my cell my primary phone for 2 reasons:
  1. I don't want to give out my cell phone number to businesses and have it ring all the time.
  2. 911 is a feature I never want to use, but it's nice to know it is there.
So, even at $37 a month (I refuse to give up Caller ID and Call waiting or else I could get it cheaper), I held on to it. That is until 1 week ago.

I have heard a lot about VOiP telephone service. Basically it uses your internet broadband service to carry the telephone service. You plug your telephone into an adapter that is connected to the internet. Because the process uses little of the traditional telephone infrastructure, costs are much cheaper and nation wide long-distance is a thing of the past; every call is local.

After the adapter has been set up and you have your phone plugged into it, you really wouldn't know that you we're not on a traditional phone connection. The call goes through instantly and is clear.

The best part is it has even more features than my landline at no additional charge (Call Waiting, Caller ID, Call Forwarding, Call Transfer, Voice Mail that emails your message to your email address, and much more) and it is 10 cheaper for unlimited calling. It can even ring my cell phone at the same time as my home phone.

There are some drawbacks:
  1. Internet or power goes out - no service (It will detect that my phone is down and automatically forward calls in that situation to my cell)
  2. I had to get a new phone number (however some numbers can be transferred)
  3. DSL users can't cancel their phone and keep DSL (I don't think...I have cable)
  4. 911 is routed to a non-emergency local number, but it still works
But so far I am sold. As long as I have my cell as back up I think the dramatic cost savings is worth it.

Interested? Check it out:
Vonage
CNET Reviews of VOiP Services
E-mail me if you want more info, or if you want a free month of service to try it out. (Current users can recommend a friend and give them a free month to try it.)

Dane Cook - The Onion A.V. Club | Say Something Funny

An essay by comedian Dane Cook for the Onion A.V. Club.

The Onion A.V. Club | Say Something Funny:

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

And Sweden is to blame

Well, my theory is blown to crap....

I apologize in advance for a maudlin post. I rarely discuss things that don't have a humorous edge to them but really nothing seems funny today.

I am just shocked that Americans would "re-elect" Bush. I understand the fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats. I have friends that lie all over the gamut in political philosophy and I respect where they are coming from most of the time. However, no matter how you look at it Bush has done a horrible job in his tenure. The economy is crap, Iraq is an abominable mess, The country is in pain and his administration is directly responsible.

No incumbent president in history has ever entered an election with and approval rating as low as Bush's and been re-elected.

So Why?

Well, I of course have a theory. The American public has been reeling ever since 9/11. People have been scared and instead of making anyone feel safe, the administration has done all it can to prolong that fear and then say the fear is real and the only one who can protect them is the Bush administration.

It is just like "Stockholm Syndrome". This is the phenomenon of when hostages end up feeling an affinity for their captors. They often end up refusing to testify against their captors and may even help them escape in the end. In essence, realize it or not, America has been held hostage by the Bush administration with misinformation, trumped up reports, and the mantra of a safer America with Bush. And our electorate has fallen for it.

It is the only scenario that makes sense that a traditionally unforgiving public forgive the mismanagement that has been rampant over the last few years. Sure, there will always be devout conservatives who are more concerned with the abortion debate or making sure that the wealthiest among us pay less in taxes. But this war is so unpopular among so many people, re-election doesn't make sense until you look at the Stockholm phenomena.

So four more years...and a lame duck status and control of the House, Senate, and perhaps more of the Supreme Court. There is absolutely nothing holding him back. I am afraid for the college aged people I work with. I hope that a military draft stays out of the picture, but for the first time I am pretty nervous that it will surface. I am concerned that more lives will be committed to securing oil rich states in the name of fighting terrorism. But mostly I am concerned that this is now our undoing as a nation. Prior to this election, I felt the American public was not to blame for the loose cannon antics by an administration not genuinely elected into office. But now, we all own this. And this election has divided us and it will get worse. I know we will all be paying the price for generations to come.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

BBC NEWS Electoral College Map

For those of you following at home. This map of the electoral votes is as cool as it gets. Leave it to the British!

Ian

BBC NEWS

Monday, November 01, 2004

Bush Loses...by a huge margin

I stand by this headline even though the pools have yet to open. How can I be so sure. Well, I attribute it to what I have learned as a Red Sox fan.

For my whole life, growing up in New England, I have believed in two things:

1.) At the beginning of every season, that this will be the year that the Red Sox will win the World Series
2.) The Yankees suck.

Now over the course of my 32 years, the facts to support these truisms have ebbed and flowed. It has not been until this year with the Sox taking the championship after beating the Yanks, that these two statements have been unequivocally been proven true. And it is retroactive, meaning that the years that the Red Sox finished not even close to the lead in the pennant race and the Yankees led the division, don't count. 2004 proved that we will win the World Series and that the Yankees suck.

So how does that relate to the current election? Well, keep the above scenario in mind. First of all Bush and a candidate that is not Bush (Gore in 2000, Kerry in 2004). Now, in 2000 Bush was appointed President even though he lost the popular election. He used all means available to make sure he won. He used all resources available to him(money, his brother the governor of Florida, etc.) to make sure he had an unfair advantage over his opponent. This is much like Steinbrenner and the Yankees. Just Like George W., George S. has used all his resources to assemble a team that on paper far surpasses the competition. He will stop at nothing to win.

So here we have the next election, and already there are reports of manipulating the voting system are being reported. And although close, the candidate that is not Bush (Kerry) is behind in the poles. So being a Red Sox fan, and facing mounting evidence that W will once again claim the title that he has manipulated in to getting, I dig down deep and say the political equivalent to "The Red Sox will win the World Series this year" and go on record and "Kerry will win the election"

Authors caveat: It is hard for me to compare Kerry to the Red Sox as I am by no means a fan of Kerry's. It took all my strength to cast my vote for him. But my fear of another 4 years with W won over my want of voting for a 3rd party candidate. If Kerry had perhaps shown any of the heart of the Red Sox (or for that manner showed any passion at all for his vision for a future) I might be able to get excited to vote for him. But I will settle for Bush losing.