...
This does not make sense. Diebold, the manufacturers of the infamous "black box" voting machines -- the ones that leave no paper trail -- use software that is not open-source. How is it that the taxpayers have already paid for the NSA to develop what they believe is the most secure operating system in the world, yet they pay again for Diebold machines that use a lower quality OS?
...
Thursday, December 15, 2005
The fix is in
Or, why H.R. 550 is muy importante.
H.R.550 Update
Froggy:
He's even got a sample to help those of us (me) who can't think straight in the morning.
Liz of Blondesense told me that she wrote to Randi Rhodes of Air America Radio several times about the H.R. 550 petition and Randi Rhodes has said nothing about it on the air.
Well, how about we all write to the show and ask them to publicize it?
...
He's even got a sample to help those of us (me) who can't think straight in the morning.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
More Ford
We won:
Details.
...
Ford addressed and resolved each of our three concerns regarding the above:
1. Ford announced that it will continue to support gay organizations and gay events in the coming year and beyond.
2. Ford is going to run advertisements in the gay media NOT ONLY promoting the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, but the ads will promote ALL of Fords brands, by name, including Jaguar and Land Rover.
3. Ford states unequivocally that it will continue to tailor its ads for the specific audience it is trying to reach, and then goes one step further. Ford challenges us to keep an eye out on their upcoming ads in order to verify that they will in fact be tailored.
...
Details.
The Robot Bartender
Got this by e-mail from Mrs. G:
A man enters a bar and orders a drink. The bar has a robot bartender.
The robot serves him a perfectly prepared cocktail, and then asks him, "What's your IQ?"
The man replies "150" and the robot proceeds to make conversation aboutGlobal warming factors, quantum physics and spirituallity, biomimicry, environmental interconnectedness, string theory, nano-technology, and sexual proclivities.
The customer is very impressed and thinks, "This is really cool." He decides to test the robot. He walks out of the bar, turns around, and comes back in for another drink. Again, the robot serves him the perfectly prepared drink and asks him, "What's your IQ?"
The man responds, "about a 100."
Immediately the robot starts talking, but this time, about football, NASCAR, baseball, supermodels, favorite fast foods, guns, and women's breasts.
Really impressed, the man leaves the bar and decides to give the robot one more test. He heads out and returns, the robot serves him and asks, "What's your IQ?"
The man replies, "Er, 50, I think."
And the robot says... really slowly, "So............... ya gonna vote for Bush again?"
A man enters a bar and orders a drink. The bar has a robot bartender.
The robot serves him a perfectly prepared cocktail, and then asks him, "What's your IQ?"
The man replies "150" and the robot proceeds to make conversation aboutGlobal warming factors, quantum physics and spirituallity, biomimicry, environmental interconnectedness, string theory, nano-technology, and sexual proclivities.
The customer is very impressed and thinks, "This is really cool." He decides to test the robot. He walks out of the bar, turns around, and comes back in for another drink. Again, the robot serves him the perfectly prepared drink and asks him, "What's your IQ?"
The man responds, "about a 100."
Immediately the robot starts talking, but this time, about football, NASCAR, baseball, supermodels, favorite fast foods, guns, and women's breasts.
Really impressed, the man leaves the bar and decides to give the robot one more test. He heads out and returns, the robot serves him and asks, "What's your IQ?"
The man replies, "Er, 50, I think."
And the robot says... really slowly, "So............... ya gonna vote for Bush again?"
Bush vs. Jesus
Bush:
Jesus:
See how the pretender stacks up to the genuine article.
On Public Prayer When a California federal appeals court found that including the words "under God" in the Pledge of Alliegance was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said President Bush believes the ruling is "ridiculous." (CNN.com, June 27, 2002)
Jesus:
(Matthew 6:4-6) And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
See how the pretender stacks up to the genuine article.
Thanks to Karlo for the link.
I hope the snoring doesn't bother the passenger...
From the WaPo
Oh, we'll know, Marshal. When you come to TITT (Truckee Intermodal Transportation Terminal), you'll vastly outnumber the usual passenger awaiting a bus or train.
Hint on maintaining anonymity and stealth: On a big ski weekend when there actually are quite a few Amtrak passengers, use a St. Bernard with a brandy keg on its collar and carry a snowboard. Over-moussed hair styling optional. Nobody will notice the guns, radios, and pasty complexions, or that you don't get on the one train in either direction per day.
We actually did have a bomb scare there this year. Some guy left his backpack unattended while he went across the street to have a drink while waiting for the bus. Anti-terrorism teams, dogs and everything, were called in from miles away. They used a water cannon to blast his spare skivvies far and wide.
Teams of undercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers will fan out to bus and train stations, ferries, and mass transit facilities across the country this week in a new test program to conduct surveillance and "counter potential criminal terrorist activity in all modes of transportation," according to internal federal documents.
Adams, of the Air Marshal Service, however, said marshals are the law enforcement arm of the TSA, which is charged with overseeing all modes of transportation -- not just aviation. "This is part of our responsibility to assist in the non-aviation domain," he said. "The whole purpose is that people will not know when we're going to be there or if we are going to be there. It's a preventative approach."
Oh, we'll know, Marshal. When you come to TITT (Truckee Intermodal Transportation Terminal), you'll vastly outnumber the usual passenger awaiting a bus or train.
Hint on maintaining anonymity and stealth: On a big ski weekend when there actually are quite a few Amtrak passengers, use a St. Bernard with a brandy keg on its collar and carry a snowboard. Over-moussed hair styling optional. Nobody will notice the guns, radios, and pasty complexions, or that you don't get on the one train in either direction per day.
We actually did have a bomb scare there this year. Some guy left his backpack unattended while he went across the street to have a drink while waiting for the bus. Anti-terrorism teams, dogs and everything, were called in from miles away. They used a water cannon to blast his spare skivvies far and wide.
U.S. Propaganda is Big-Bucks Bullshit
USA Today
"Always true". Chortle!
Gee, if the propaganda is "true", what do these companies need protection from? Surely the truth can bear investigation.
During the Cold War, we had a media outfit called Radio Free Europe that beamed American propaganda to eager listeners behind the Iron Curtain. I don't think they were ever investigated by the Press. One difference was that the audience wanted to hear about life outside the wire. It didn't need much promotion. I think it pushed our ideals more to the fore than our policy. This outfit was perpetually underfunded, but all they needed was a good transmitter and some personnel.
The big difference was that we were trying to undermine and overthrow from within, if possible, unpopular regimes instead of trying to create one.
The things that bear investigation in this Iraq propaganda deal are: the questionable policies of our government in the first place; the fact that the Pentagon is in charge rather than the State Department; and the multi-million dollar no-bid good-ol'-boy contracts. I think the contractors are just worried that scrutiny may derail the gravy train.
U.S. Special Operations Command awarded three five-year contracts in June for contractors to develop slogans, advertisements, newspaper articles, radio spots and television programs to build support for U.S. policies overseas. Each contract has a maximum value of $20 million per year for a total of $300 million.
The psychological warfare officials overseeing the project say the messages will be true, if not always attributed to the U.S. military.
"Always true". Chortle!
Contracting records show that contractors were worried about scrutiny by U.S. and foreign reporters.
During the bidding process for federal contracts, potential contractors can ask questions and make suggestions that are answered by contracting officials. One question for this contract was whether the command would "protect them from U.S. and foreign media inquiries into this project."
Gee, if the propaganda is "true", what do these companies need protection from? Surely the truth can bear investigation.
During the Cold War, we had a media outfit called Radio Free Europe that beamed American propaganda to eager listeners behind the Iron Curtain. I don't think they were ever investigated by the Press. One difference was that the audience wanted to hear about life outside the wire. It didn't need much promotion. I think it pushed our ideals more to the fore than our policy. This outfit was perpetually underfunded, but all they needed was a good transmitter and some personnel.
The big difference was that we were trying to undermine and overthrow from within, if possible, unpopular regimes instead of trying to create one.
The things that bear investigation in this Iraq propaganda deal are: the questionable policies of our government in the first place; the fact that the Pentagon is in charge rather than the State Department; and the multi-million dollar no-bid good-ol'-boy contracts. I think the contractors are just worried that scrutiny may derail the gravy train.
Prosecutor Issues Subpoenas in DeLay Case
From AP
Heh. Those pesky 'differing stories' under oath will getcha every time!
They're closin' in on ya, Tommy me boy. Looks like everybody who's been recently charged, indicted, or convicted of political racketeering has a little sumthin' to say about you, don't it?
District Attorney Ronnie Earle issued subpoenas late Monday afternoon for California businessmen Brent Wilkes and Max Gelwix, records of Perfect Wave Technologies LLC, Wilkes Corp. and ADCS Inc. in connection with a contribution to a fundraising committee at the center of the investigation that led to DeLay's indictment on money laundering charges.
Perfect Wave contributed $15,000 in September 20, 2002 to Texans for a Republican Majority, a fundraising committee founded by DeLay, R-Texas.
Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned in late November after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to companies.
On Tuesday, Earle subpoenaed written testimony DeLay and two others gave in a 1994 lawsuit brought by DeLay's former pest control business partner. Ex-partner Robert Blankenship alleged in the suit that he was unjustly cut out of the business by DeLay and another man. The lawsuit ended in a confidential settlement in 1995.
DeLay gave differing stories about whether he was an officer of Albo Pest Control Co. during his deposition and when he filed a financial disclosure document with the House.
Heh. Those pesky 'differing stories' under oath will getcha every time!
Defense contractor ADCS and Perfect Wave Technologies are subsidiaries of Wilkes Corp.
Wilkes' company also hired Alexander Strategies, a consulting firm that employed DeLay's wife Christine. His private jet company, Group W Transportation, provided flights to DeLay three times. DeLay reimbursed Group W as required, records show.
They're closin' in on ya, Tommy me boy. Looks like everybody who's been recently charged, indicted, or convicted of political racketeering has a little sumthin' to say about you, don't it?
Dog story
As you all know, I'm an animal lover, a dog lover particularly. So when I read this...
While I'd probably be described as a grinch this time of year (The usual reasons: it's too commercial, they've been playing the same fucking songs since Halloween, the asshole factor in the mall goes up exponentially, etc.), this story puts me in the spirit. I always do get the Christmas spirit, just before Christmas, and I do love spoiling my nieces and nephews. I love being known as the 'cool uncle'.
And speaking of the Christmas spirit, the lovely Elise sends us here. Heh.
While I'd probably be described as a grinch this time of year (The usual reasons: it's too commercial, they've been playing the same fucking songs since Halloween, the asshole factor in the mall goes up exponentially, etc.), this story puts me in the spirit. I always do get the Christmas spirit, just before Christmas, and I do love spoiling my nieces and nephews. I love being known as the 'cool uncle'.
And speaking of the Christmas spirit, the lovely Elise sends us here. Heh.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
The World's Fastest Indian
No, not Fixer's pal after eating a questionable burrito.This is a movie by that name set for release in the U.S. early next year. It's the story of Bert Munro, the New Zealander who set a land speed record at Bonneville in 1967. Even if you don't much care for old motorcycles, raw speed, riders with a bucket o' balls, or the salt flats, I know you like Anthony Hopkins. I highly recommend you go to the movie site. Scroll down and play the 'large' trailer. It took about 5 minutes to load with DSL. Take the time. If you're as rabid about this shit as I am, go to the Aussie site too. The trailer is slightly different. This one will be in my personal collection between the time UPS drops it off and it gets inside the store.
Casualties
And how to count them.
Go see our friend Lurch.
...
Similarly, troops killed by "other than hostile means" don't really count in the Pentagon's official figures. Fall asleep at the wheel of a HMMMV because you've been on duty for 18 hours straight? Drive into a canal and drown? Too bad. Unofficial death not counted in the figures. Get sick and die from some exotic disease over there? (They've got a lot of them.) Same thing. Died after evacuation to Landstuhl, or Walter Reed, or even after you return home to your loved ones, and it's the same thing. It's not the "official" Iraq death total. As we said in the late unpleasantness in SE Asia, Xin Loi.
...
Go see our friend Lurch.
Jesus Bans "Christian" Group
Mark Morford in the EssEffChron
Go read the rest. Have some fun.
In an astonishing but not completely unexpected announcement, Jesus H. Christ, vice president and CFO of All That Is Inc., appeared today on a large tortilla at a roadside taco stand in Zacatecas, Mexico, to announce that, effective immediately, the pseudo-Christian group Focus on the Family, led by Dr. James Dobson and best known for its blazing hatred of gays and its fear of glimpsing the human female nipple during nationally televised sporting events, is effectively banned from His Divine Beneficence.
"This is what I realized: Rampant homophobia, ignorance of sex, derision of women's rights, a decided love of tepid dogmatic sameness at the expense of the luminosity and uniqueness of the individual human soul -- it was all just too much," Jesus said, this time appearing as a curiously shaped oil stain on a freeway underpass in Saragossa, Spain. "Then the bank thing happened and it was the straw that broke the Mary's back."
In related news, the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, another right-wing, anti-gay Christian group that allegedly pressured Ford Motor Co. into yanking much of its advertising from upscale gay publications, has, apparently, accidentally banned itself.
"Someone who is no longer in the organization had the bright idea that we should ban any American company or group that supported the outright ignorance of Christ's true message," sighed AFA chairman Donald Wildmon, chugging from a large bottle of Red Bull and stroking the hairless cat in his lap and making a strange hissing noise with his tongue. "Hell, it sounded great at the 'Harry Potter' book-burning rally. But then again, most everyone was buzzed on spiked Kool-Aid and Kumbaya pie."
"Turns out, when all votes were counted, the group that most needed banning, besides the Catholic church and Dobson's clan, was us. Apparently, we have no real clue as to what Christ truly stood for. Who knew?"
Go read the rest. Have some fun.
No good guys
There's an impending transit strike for midnight on Thursday. Steve Gillard has been following the contract talks and he defends the unions, rightly so (here and here). However a little consideration should be given to the people who pay the bill.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority sucks, no doubt about it. It is one of the most mismanaged agencies in the region and I give them no quarter. They are out to break the unions in the best case, render them impotent at the least. They should open up and give the unions a respectable contract.
On the other hand, the unions are using the ridership as pawns. We pay close to $4000/yr for the Mrs. to ride the Long Island Rail Road and the NYC Subway to work and back. How about showing some consideration toward us? Why do you have to call a strike now? Because it's the Christmas season and ridership is at its peak? Is it because you feel you'll have greater leverage over the city?
You know any gains you receive will be paid for with a rate hike next year, don't you? While you have no control over that, you're not winning any friends from the folks who pay your salaries. Not when your job action inconveniences us at the worst time of year and not when all the ridership sees are increased fares coming in the future. It's slowly becoming cheaper for the Mrs. to drive her Explorer into NYC than to take the train. Do you think we're the only ones doing the math? If you want the support of the ridership, you might want to act like you care about us a little. Let me tell you, if the cost of taking the train comes close to the price for renting a parking space in Manhattan, you've lost another rider.
Go for the gusto, get what you can from the city, but if you alienate the ridership, the MTA will only start laying you off, which is what they're looking to do anyway. Want to be the good guys? Schedule your strike for the end of March so the riders aren't the ones in the middle.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority sucks, no doubt about it. It is one of the most mismanaged agencies in the region and I give them no quarter. They are out to break the unions in the best case, render them impotent at the least. They should open up and give the unions a respectable contract.
On the other hand, the unions are using the ridership as pawns. We pay close to $4000/yr for the Mrs. to ride the Long Island Rail Road and the NYC Subway to work and back. How about showing some consideration toward us? Why do you have to call a strike now? Because it's the Christmas season and ridership is at its peak? Is it because you feel you'll have greater leverage over the city?
You know any gains you receive will be paid for with a rate hike next year, don't you? While you have no control over that, you're not winning any friends from the folks who pay your salaries. Not when your job action inconveniences us at the worst time of year and not when all the ridership sees are increased fares coming in the future. It's slowly becoming cheaper for the Mrs. to drive her Explorer into NYC than to take the train. Do you think we're the only ones doing the math? If you want the support of the ridership, you might want to act like you care about us a little. Let me tell you, if the cost of taking the train comes close to the price for renting a parking space in Manhattan, you've lost another rider.
Go for the gusto, get what you can from the city, but if you alienate the ridership, the MTA will only start laying you off, which is what they're looking to do anyway. Want to be the good guys? Schedule your strike for the end of March so the riders aren't the ones in the middle.
Cured
Well, maybe not completely, but I kicked enough of this Bird Flu thing (or whatever the hell it is) to go to work today. It's 19 with a wind chill of 7, but if it doesn't kill me it'll finish off this disease I got.
Just a commment. While I'm against the death penalty, I won't shed a tear for Tookie. Regardless of his 'turnaround', he showed no remorse or contrition for his crimes. If he really were innocent, he had a quarter-century and enough moneyed friends to prove it. He wasn't some poor schmuck who'd been railroaded by overzealous police and prosecutors. Note to anti-death penalty advocates: next time, pick a poster boy who actually is innocent. Nobody cares about a gang banger who would probably have died violently on the street anyway. Probably long before last night.
Just a commment. While I'm against the death penalty, I won't shed a tear for Tookie. Regardless of his 'turnaround', he showed no remorse or contrition for his crimes. If he really were innocent, he had a quarter-century and enough moneyed friends to prove it. He wasn't some poor schmuck who'd been railroaded by overzealous police and prosecutors. Note to anti-death penalty advocates: next time, pick a poster boy who actually is innocent. Nobody cares about a gang banger who would probably have died violently on the street anyway. Probably long before last night.
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