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Welcome to the Friday Clampdown edition.

Verizon is being implicated in a totally free surveillance service they have been providing for the FBI. Last I checked the government and politicians were the criminals, not the people. That’s just one of the many reasons why we have the constitution, folks.  My girlfriend recently dropped verizon. Thank goodness. Heaven knows what criminal activity the two of us are up to that warrants them wiretapping us without a… warrant (pun not intended).

California, sometimes known as being the most progressive state in terms of freedoms and liberties (though I frequently can’t see how socialism is an equivalent to freedom), is being cited for a court ruling that essentially makes homeschooling illegal. Now I’m no big lawyer or politician, but can that possibly be an infringement on personal rights and freedoms? I just don’t know.

a little mixed bag of loving for everyone.

England is now going to include a clause in their athlete contract that prohibit any political speech or negative discussion of conditions or “situations” while in Beijing. Failure to comply will get them on a plane home, pronto. Just look at the ridiculous picture of the Football team “Heil Hitler-ing” and you get the idea of how ridiculous it is to put those kind of restrictions on people.

Also my personal friend Hugo Chavez is threatening to stop exporting oil. I would normally see this as a good thing since it would continue to put pressure on the automotive industry to become oil independent. I say normally because I then read an article in wired about how there are several new studies showing that the biofuels movement may not be so green after all. Add that to the really environmentally bad chemicals in batteries and you’re left with… oil!

Which then brings me to a recently formed, unvented gripe: Compact Fluorescent Bulbs. Now it seems like the fashionable thing to these days is to FORCE your subjects to use these environmental wonders. But I would like to ask, “at what expense?” They contain mercury which among other things is POISONOUS. So while you on the one hand save a lot of money on energy and also a lot of carbon output by power plants, you really aren’t doing anyone a favor by having mercury hang out with your children, just like you go totally insane when there’s lead in childrens’ toys (no pun intended). On the other hand there was a comparison graph of mercury output by CFL’s compared to regular bulbs powered by a coal plant. The CFL’S won. So all I can say is: if you want to save some coin, be a little easier on the environment, don’t mind some poison in your house, and don’t mind the nagging buzz sound from cheaper cfl’s, by all means, fill your house with the buggers. But mostly I don’t want some socialist enviro-fascist bureaucratic junky telling me that these are so awesome that they are the only light bulb I’m allowed to buy or sell.

Speaking about lead paint in kids toys, this netflix for kids toys startup does test their toys for lead. Making life easier for you Type A’s (what in the world does that mean anyways?).

a: check, b: check, c: check. houston, we’re ready for take off. good article on choosing a spouse. very concise and to the point, but still a very good read.

We never made a real kilt, just an improvised skirt pattern that I wear (and it looks really awesome). But this was a neat (albeit hard-to-read) article on how to fold a kilt. Now if I could just find a pattern for a real kilt.

And finally to wrap things up, some software to download! Now I know most of my loyal readers don’t do this, but anyways, if you’re playing warcraft and you need to launch firefox, but it hogs memory, you could switch to a less memory intensive browser like ie or opera. But i’m hardcore firefox so I found a little preloader program that keeps some of the settings and things loaded in memory so it talks a lot less time to boot up when i’m hardpressed for good info from thottbot. W00t.

wow, twice in one day. my brother linked to a really well made candidate picker by usa today.

my picks were: 1) Ron Paul (duhh), 2) Rudy G., and 3) Mitt Romney (why oh why did you quit?).

usa today’s reader’s picks were: 1) Mitt Romney (… T-T …), 2) Huckabee (I’ve got another name for this guy, it goes something like THEOCRATIC NITWIT), 3) Some guy who’s already out, but also an R.

So while this in no way is scientific (i’ve already gone through twice just so i could review the results after i accidentally closed the window), I would like to point out two things: THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS OBVIOUSLY DEVELOPMENTALLY CHALLENGED. They are so fixated on “a strong leader” with “an honorable military background” because our country “is in dire need of protection” they’ve totally lost sight of what “small government” should be and most importantly what “personal freedoms” are. Shame on them because they voted for a dunce who doesn’t even follow the platform. And two, MITT WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON’T QUIT. You should instead beat Huckabee from an inch of his so called life so he can’t steal your hard-earned votes.

So you may ask, “who are you voting for?”

“Well,” I would reply, “I’m a registered Libertarian and since Pennsylvania has closed primaries and the LP isn’t actually having primaries,” I chuckle, “I won’t be voting until Nov. 5th or whenever that big election thingy is. And I, sure as Hell is as real as Heaven, will not be voting for McCain” As I stomp off in a huge rage of helplessness. Besides, based on the USA today Poll, I’m more like Billary and Osama Obama than I am McCain. I’ll prolly write in the LP candidate when push comes to shove (too bad the LP isn’t included in the USA Today Poll).

Happy new year! Hope everyone had a wonderful time doing stuff, seeing things etc. I recently was sent a link to a break down of Ron Paul’s voting history and since I’m a supporter of the constitution and big fan, I wanted to take some time and analyze my thoughts regarding this article. It’s a huge article, so I may get bored and abandon it, but here goes.

Part I: On individual rights.
Subsection: “He opposes the right of women to be free to control their own reproductive systems if they happen to live in particular states or other countries, or if they work for the Peace Corps. ”

People, this is merely a matter of semantics. Which is more important? Should the government fund population control? NO. This has with it implications ranging from government making decisions of how many children you have to the contraversy of whether this is murder, thus making the government complicit in crime. While I’m for the woman’s right to choose (mostly simply government non-interference), what makes it necessary for the government to fund this? The idea that because the government doesn’t fund it, it is against it seems really quite absurd and is clearly an instance of “forcing the issue”. The keyword that seems to be interpreted as “pro-life” is “funding”. None of the bills say, “I’m taking away your rights”. They all say “To prohibit any Federal official from expending any Federal funds”. To interpret it any other way is simply myopic thinking.

Subsection: “He wants to erase the distinction in U.S. law between a zygote and a person”
I’m not a doctor. Are you? Is one cell that is part of human less human than the other cells of that body. Paul is a doctor. I’m not, and I’m not familiar with the scientific debate on this section. The abortion issue is also not black and white, but murder is murder. It is the governments job to protect it’s citizens from committing crimes against one another and to judge those who do. If society has problems killing their young, the government must make a clear decision on where it stands in relation to the issue. It must define whether or not a zygote constitutes a person, and therefore a citizen worthy of judicial protection. It seems to me that saying that human life begins at conception is a very rational idea and not radical or controversial at all. I would go so far as to say it’s common sense. And also the summary of the final resolution makes his issue almost laughable. YOU WOULDN’T WANT A BILL GUARANTEEING YOUR RIGHT TO LIFE? These kind of choices as to who lives and who doesn’t live must be quite trifling to you since it’s not your life in question. Seems a bit selfish, that’s all.

Subsection: “He would deny the use of the Federal court system — and even Federal precedent — to people discriminated against because of their religious beliefs or sexual orientation. This would also limit the cross-state recognition of same-sex marriages. Some of these bills he cynically calls this the “We the People Act”.”
Here I view the situation as this, on the one hand government protection of religion is a good thing, until it becomes discrimination against other religions. At which point the government must then protect all religions. It really doesn’t sound that bad, and it’s probably not. But really if the government is supposed to be separated from religion why should it protect it? Leave religion alone and let people worship the way they like. The second part of those resolutions listed were protections of speech and religious speech. I can’t figure out why the author thinks these are bad things… unless he doesn’t like some people’s opinions. Particularly as he mentions: same sex marriage. Government involvement in that specific arena is ludicrous to begin with, and any legislation to the left or the right simply encroaches on the choices a person can make about his or her lifestyle (besides, marriage is a largely religious institution, why is the government involved?). Based on the resolutions he mentions and the way he presents them, it is clear he only wants to protect some speech, as it relates to his agenda.

Subsection: “This includes limits on courts’ hearing cases related to abortion, and he has introduced bills specific to these kinds of cases. He also uses the deceptive term “partial-birth abortion”
It seems to me that this also only allows for less government involvement and more personal freedoms. If you want to have women to be able to freely choose whether they want to abort a child or not, why would the federal government need to have jurisdiction of those cases? Again, this is a situation where less government involvement would produce more personal freedom and privacy.

Subsection: “Even though he claims to be a “libertarian”, he opposes people’s freedom to burn or destroy their own copies of the design of the U.S. flag”
Forcing the issue. Despite many people’s ideas of free speech, there should not be any real reason to burn the US flag. It’s pretty. It’s also pretty symbolic of people who made it possible to be able to burn the flag. Don’t be irresponsible. Don’t burn the flag.

Part II: LAWS IMPROVING THE LOT OF THE WORKING CLASS

Subsection: “He has tried to repeal the Occupational Safety and Health Act”
This idea that the government is somehow obligated to protect workers is simply socialist and I do not, will not and cannot abide by it. On one hand I do agree that if the employer does not take the personal responsibility to protect it’s employees it has no business to complain when the government smacks it with costly regulation to protect the populace. On the other hand government regulations can be reduced to simple meddling and interfering with business. Also I would like to clarify between privately owned business and corporate status. Corporations have no place in America (recall the Boston tea party was against the East India Trading Company as much as it was against English rule and taxation). They should be strictly controlled and monitored, which they are not. But private, business owning and operating citizens should be left alone.

Subsection: “He would like to make it much easier to decertify labor unions”
Unions are disruptive to business. Again this is not black and white. If companies abuse workers so that they find it necessary to be in unions, then the companies deserve to have to deal with unions. I would actually disagree with Paul on this particular point. There should be resolutions to make it easier to decertify corporations who abuse consumers and workers. However a contiguous economy makes voters happy.

Subsection: “He opposes the Minimum Wage”
To this I have to callously say: Let the markets decide the wages. And repeat myself in saying that the minimum wage really should only exist as a punishment to abusive corporations. It should not exist as it seemingly does, which is to subsidize substandard laborers. This only raises costs to companies whose costs are then offset by the consumer.

So I’m only really about 1/4 through this guy’s post and I’m really just bored with it.

I would first like to say that the article on Ann Coulter is the funniest wikipedia article I believe I have ever read. Now that’s not that you couldn’t show me another article that I might think is funnier still.

And second, as I read this brief article, I found myself somewhat wishing to be this kid.

Even if he gets deported, at least he picked a good country to get deported to.

Entirely a rant… on multiple Subjects. Read at your own risk.

Recently there was a tragedy in which a seemingly mentally health man went into a mall and killed a bunch of people. That’s a tragedy. People, while born, live to die. However our propensity for terminal lives does not excuse us from wishing otherwise. In fact man kind consistently seems in denial of this fact. More over we are social beings. Not only desiring things such as love and attention, but we are in physical need of these things. The effects of deficiencies in love and attention and social nurturing have very serious, scientifically observed consequences to a human psyche. And while the human psyche has also been proven to be quite tensile, malleable, flexible and resilient, there will always be a point at which all sense is lost and all a man is left with is a decision. And when his faculties fail him he will have no other choice but to do evil and inflict harm on those around him as an outcry against the social fabric that has failed to meet his emotional needs.

When the social fabric is so dramatically ruptured, it’s parts seek answers within itself. Asking questions such as, “could I have done more.” The culture will be deeply examined. The daily routine of the killer is examined. His mental health, his relationships, his success relative to the cultural status quo is held under great scrutiny. Because in all the tragedy there must be a single answer. But there is not. There will not be a single answer.

Laws do not help people be better people. They help to define what is evil and provide the government a tool with which to judge those who do evil. In any case of a workman with a tool, it is not the tool that determines it’s use but the hand that wields it. And so the government must make responsible, just laws that help to define, judge, and punish those who would impede the inalienable rights of others.

I had more to say, but I got bored writing this. Yawn.

Mostly I just wanted to point out this douchebag that’s masquerading opinion as news/fact. And actually, this can’t even be considered fact. Totalitarian statements like NONE or ALL, are simply deceptive exaggerations. I cannot think at how this actually can be considered news. Oh wait, it’s sensational news. Douchebag.

Once again there has been a mass shooting in the United States, this time in a Nebraska shopping mall. Once again there is no national outcry for gun control.

Unrest in Georgia. The president there is American backed, yet the Soviet Union (Yes, yes, I call it that on purpose) still considers it to be in it’s sphere of influence. And they like to play the same way the US does: economic sanctions. Despite the fact that they are trying to westernize (they are even part of the EU) a large part of their economy still depends on trade with Russia. This is the way it is in Eastern Europe. But trust me, they make excellent wine. Support them by ordering a bottle or two. By the way, the protests are blamed on Russian insurgent types, but also because people are blaming the current president/pm on not being faster about the economy and land grabbing.

A quickie: an engine falls off a plane during take-off. Where’s superman when you need him to make sure airline timetables are kept?

The girl with 8 limbs continues to recover. She showed movement in the limbs they kept, which is a good sign apparently. Among the stats: it was a 24+ hour surgery, it took  30+ doctors, it cost $625,000 (I assume that’s US$), they were charged $0, being thought of as a reincarnated god: priceless. (I know, I know, lame… pfft)

If I could invent a disease to get out of life, this is what it would be. 30 Students walked out in protest, 300 or so students simply aren’t coming to school, and parents are flipping their lids because some students and teachers have a weird “twitch”. How rich…

A neat looking program I’m going to be using asap.  Xentient thumbnails does a much better job putting your images into icon thumbnails in windows.

Wired reports on the makers of Guitar Hero expanding their repertoire. I unfortunately haven’t felt like having a full sized video ipod since I inherited a family member’s nano. I’ll try and get my brother to get it so I can try it out. I like Harmonix’s idea of find something good then repeat the hell out of it. It’s great for making money.

LA Times article on some totally awesome political positioning by the do-nothing congress of 2007. They’re reporting that the Republican Right wanted to force a quick vote on the impeachment of Cheney and that the Democratic Left wanted to delay the vote. Boy, I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. But I think I’ve gotten to the psychology of it all. Congress is simply overwhelmed with everything they have to do, they’re just procrastinating. Don’t worry though, in my experience this predicament is easily solved by SUCKING IT UP AND DOING THE JOB I’M PAID TO DO. (And I shouldn’t need to remind you that the American people are the ones footing the bill for this circus.)

Is the American school shooting epidemic? spreading to Finland? American school shootings are still bloodier and more bizarre. Just sayin’. I mean look at that kid who hired a hitman (admittedly not related to school), and that kid in the Philly area who was stockpiling guns.

And I found a picture of the 4 legged, 4 armed girl with all her appendiges (down at the bottom). I regret it. It’s really gross, not spider-like or cool at all. Also, probably not really SFW. At any rate, some good doctors fixed her up! Yay for modern medicine.

Two articles on the same topic, from the same associated press release with two very different titles. I don’t really care to speculate on what gives. All I’ll say is, source matters. And also, it’s pretty clear that 1) the government is totally clueless about what it does and 2) people are dumb enough to trust this government with things like their healthcare and their retirement. I’d get the links for all that, but I’m lazy and you’re smart: FIGURE IT OUT. the sad thing is that of all the things we shouldn’t trust the government to do, protecting us and our borders is one of the things we should trust them to do. guffaw, guffaw.

And while I’m on the topic of the government of the people, I HOPE YOU PEOPLE VOTED TODAY. Whining on and on about how you aren’t properly represented. I know state and local elections are a lot more confusingly gray as opposed to the highly media-cized presidential popularity contests, but seriously if you care so much about your government and your rights start at the local level. You’ll thank me.

From the psycho teen angst department, I read this today in the headlines. I’m just gonna go out and say it here, that kid needs to be checked in. Look I know we all get dis-associative at times, but this is a little ridiculous. Plus his mom at least seems likable based on what I read in the article. And to the mom who took him to the hotel room: ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ok, telling his mom was the right thing to do, but helping him get into that situation in the first place. I’m betting that if that hadn’t have been a cop, you could be an accessory at worst and at best you’d find yourself wading in a pool of your friend’s blood. You get the gold star for the day.

Also, unless I’m mistaken, FOX or some idiot scientist/numerologist/statistician/whatever needs to check the math on this one. While it certainly is an interesting useless factoid, 1 in 10 IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM 407 out of 7634.

I must do this because I’m bored. Some kid in VA won the right to have an anti-abortion club in her school.  Now look I’m all about not killing babies, but some of these religious fanatics (I’m one of them… on some issues), need to get it in their skull that just as much as they have the right to an anti-abortion club, some smart-aleck’s gonna have the right to a pro-baby killing club. That’s the way free-speech swings and if you don’t like it, TOO BAD.

The airline industry sucks. I don’t know why it’s still around. Oh wait, yes, it’s coming back to me… consumers are idiots. Between the FAA’s ridiculous regulations and people practically dying while they’re trapped for hours in a plane taxiing around a totally inefficient runway system, the airlines are trying to take away your little peanut snacks. But apparently they’re getting better at leaving on time. Woooooo you also get a gold star for the day. I hope you airline moguls are happy.

I give up. I’m so burnt out on being negative and edgy that I just can’t go on. Here’s the rest of my links for this post sans-witty commentary.

Moron the farm bill – excuse me… More on the farm bill.

Radiohead goes out on good faith and the cheap punks take advantage of them. I said I was done commenting, well I lied. Now I download albums, I’ll be the first to admit it (as long as the moochers over at the RIAA aren’t knocking at my door). But seriously, what did you think would happen. Most of the people on the torrent networks are LEACHERS. And I’ll reasonably bet that the 60% or so who didn’t pay for the album are the punks that don’t share on the torrent networks.

And now for some software.

Visuwords – I really like this. Particularly because it’s like a thesaurus, but better.

Mofuse – This looks interesting, especially if you’re big into accessibility/mobility. I used to have my blogs compatible with the iPhone and some Mobiles at one point.

And finally, of interest to some in my close circle: This dude lived in Trappe.

i’ve had netvibes for some time. i just now took the time to add a good number of news feeds to it. i’m thinking this will be an improvement in my blogging process since i can see at a glance what’s being talked about on the news line and i don’t have to deal with the ranking crap of reddit and digg (but i do have digg in my netvibes, never know what you’ll find)

First up today, girls gone wild? well, yes, but on facebook. probably NSFW, I braved it, though somewhat suspiciously. Now I haven’t been able to check the credibility of this, but I at least can say that I haven’t noticed anyone in my network of friends posting that stuff. I myself am not exempt either. I just post it elsewhere for everyone to find it.

Science blog article from wired about dumping urea into the sea to offset CO2 by stimulating the growth of O2 producing algae. To me it seems like environmentalist infighting. Here are some people who have an idea of how to fix a problem, and the people who want the fix are saying “not really gonna let you do that.” It’s oversimplification, I know. But the topic warrants looking into the source article referenced and the related topics as well.

Is the human race mutating? No not really, actually it was probably pretty insensitive of me to say that, but I digress. This is a pretty popular story among the news outlets. This girl was born with 8 extra limbs. I can’t really tell from the picture which ones they are. If I had a say I wouldn’t take them off unless it really adversely affected her health (it does, I’m just saying..), because hey, who hasn’t wanted to be a human spider? I kid, I kid.

This is just one of many many articles analyzing Google’s announcement of Android – an open mobile technology platform. I just happened to find this one. I’m psyched about this if it pans out. I’ve always been sick of ATT et. all locking phones up and limiting my choices as a consumer through contracts. I recently shelled out a good wad of cash just to say FU and bought a phone not sold as a contract package by ATT. Yay me, right?

I’m really not a financial expert, but if the dollar keeps falling I’m gonna be pinching for my vaca this winter. It seems this is largely based on irresponsible borrowing and lending. With our GDP so high, what gives?