Starting a second job (Not a Rant)

I'm starting a second job. It will take me a couple weeks to get everything worked out. I am going on hiatus until then.

In that time I will be assessing rather I will still have time for my daily rants. Check back in a week or two for an update.

Thanks

The Structure of American Society

Rich get richer, poor stay poor, and it seems impossible for middle class citizens to make any headway towards becoming a member of the first group. This has been a fact of life in much of the world as far back as history is documented. So how does this hierarchy survive with the coming and going of generations?

Well, there have always been those lucky enough to be born into wealth. This usually lasts only a few generations as each generation understands less and less of how that wealth was accumulated in the first place. Then there are those that have been lucky enough to start just the right type of business, at just the right time, in just the right location. This method isn't pure luck like being born into wealth is, it requires a good idea and smart implementation, but this is still overshadowed by luck after witnessing many good ideas fail to see something less innovative take it's place with success.

As just a few more examples of luck making people rich, now we have lotteries, casinos, and even stock/commodity traders. All of which require either a lot more luck than skill. So is there a group of people out there that broke the middle class barrier without relying on luck?

Well yes, but it isn't the quick road that we all envision. It seems to be a road full of working multiple jobs and spending little money. The majority of your life is spent living on the lower end of the middle income class while accruing your wealth. It's in your later years or life that you finally break the wealth barrier to become part of the rich crowd.

So why do we strive to achieve that which seems so unlikely? Because most of us want something better for our children and the generations that follow, than we had for ourselves. We don't want them to have to work as hard or go without. We want them to have the free time to enjoy life because we never take the time to do it ourselves. The problem is, our children will want something better for their children too. And thus the cycle of the middle income class that prevents so many of us from ever being happy continues.

No Heart

When I read this story I immediately had extremely mixed feelings. Everything from wanting to punch this cop so hard he remembered what his badge meant, to just down right disgust and sorrow to know that people can be this cold.

Some canoeists were near Twin Falls Idaho when they saw a woman jump from the Perrine Bridge into the Snake river. It seems she died on impact, but there would have been no way to know that 100% at the time. The group paddled out into the river to hopefully help/save the woman, but they ended up retrieving the body. The women in the group were crying and everyone was trying to cope with what they just witnessed.

Apparently a female deputy showed up and tried to comfort and calm everyone. It was shortly after that when a sergeant walked up, and said "I see you don't have any life jackets so I am going to give you a citation." He then proceded to write everyone that had paddled out to save this woman a ticket for $85. Not so much as a hint of warmth in that man's heart. Does he even understand the reason for that law? It's completely obvious that he has forgotten his duty to protect and serve, but to me its worse to see a fellow human being that has the emotion and understanding of a robot. It's a good indication of how cruel our world is becoming.

Don't become this guy, if you have to force yourself to do something small just to keep that heart from freezing solid. Smile to let your waiter know your happy with the service, or even something as small as wave at a neighbor when you get the morning paper. There is no excuse to become a heartless machine.

Found this story here.

09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0

There it is, the hex key to decode HD-DVD. It's on thousands of websites and listed on at least that many forums. So why is something like this that is usually kept behind the scenes showing up on so many front pages? The answer is censorship.

The world is tired of it, and more and more people are standing up to it. At this point I'd wager as many as 75% of the websites that show this key could care less about using it. That includes this blog. But after watching the disaster that has become the RIAA bully old ladies and children, when the cease and desist letters started going out to every website that so much as talked about this key something seems to have clicked.

Censorship isn't an answer. It is no more an answer than sueing old women and children that don't even own computers over digital copyright infringment. Both start with a good idea, then get lost along the way. This uprising wouldn't exist right now if the cease and desist letters were limited to the websites broadcasting the key. But instead they went with the shotgun approach made so famous by the intellectually challenged over at the RIAA and sent letters to anyone that listed the key, anyone that had links to the websites that listed the key, and to search engines that might have indexed a webpage that listed the key.

Pirating will happen. It always has, it always will. But by trying to take freedoms and rights away from people in the quest to keep pirating to a minimum, you actually put those that are pirating on the moral high ground. That officially makes it the better side of the argument to stand on if it comes down to losing freedoms, or allowing pirating. If you really want pirating to diminish, take away the moral high ground you've given it and provide better alternatives because you'll never get rid of it entirely.

Hope for Patents

I just got back from a vacation with some good friends. So I'm in a pretty good mood. I don't have a rant for you today. Instead I stumbled across an article over at Ars Technica that basically says the Supreme Court made a ruling that equates to you can't patent common sense.

More specifically you can't patent anything that would seem obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the field that the patent is being applied for. While there is no word on rather this will immediately invalidate 80% of our current patents, or rather each one will have to be fought and beat in a court. Nonetheless, this sets a precedent, and one that was originally intended when patents were devised.

Three cheers for innovation and to the employment offices for all the greedy patent farmers.

Still Waiting for New Line of MMOs

As far as most gaming publishers are concerned, all computer gamers are playing World of Warcraft. They don't seem to realize how many of us quit long ago because Blizzard alienated us, or simply because we got tired of them not being able to make up their mind on how some of the simplest game mechanics should work.

So for those of us that have played WoW and left, we have been waiting for something new for quite awhile. I first got excited about DnD Online, then it turned out to be nowhere even close to as good as it should have been. Then I actually turned my attention to some non MMO games, HellGate London, Assasin's Creed, Supreme Commander. I found out the first two wouldn't be out for ages, then wasn't too impressed with Supreme Commander due to the numerous multiplayer bugs.

So now I'm sitting here waiting for WarHammer Online, or Huxley, or anything that is different to emerge, something that requires some form of skill, or teamwork. Don't need another game with button mashing on cool down timers. I'm a picky gamer, I'll admit it, but two years ago you were seeing MMO's pumped out weekly, some good, most bad, and now that there are starting to be more and more available players that have left the old MMO's, there is nothing new to try. This is a failure of gaming community first off, and a disappointment in the gaming studios second.

Timing has always been a crucial part of just about anything, releasing games is no different. Several of the upcoming games have the potential to be big names, but when and how they manage their release will determine that.

Top 5 Political Pet Peeves

Here are the top five things that piss me off the most in the world of politics right now.

5: Global Warming
This gets talked about alot, but nothing gets done. While the jury is still out rather the increase in global temperature is due to the Earth's natural climate cycle in conjuction with the Sun's energy output cycle just happening to coincide, or the so called "greenhouse effect", the fact remains that polution is a bad thing.

There are many frints to fight this on. Decrease polutant output from current sources, incrase in world vegitation to fight the build up of Carbon-Dioxide, or invest in alternative energy that is better for the environment. Any would help, all would be ideal.

4: Alternative Energy Sources
This relates closely to #5. We have had the ability to use Hydrogen as an energy source for some time now. And while technology that makes it safe for use everyday in cars has been awhile in coming, we've always had the capacity to make use of this energy source on larger scales. It is the cleanest burning thing on earth, as the only byproduct is water.

Research needs to continue for solar power. We have huge skyscrapers with lots of service area in every major city. I doubt solar power could replace all the electricity for those buildings, but it could be a nice help. The problem is, research companies need more money to find better efficency. Then it would be nice to see better incentives for companies to use these alternatives.

3: Talk of Impeachment
This is rediculous. By the time an impeachment can take place, the current administration will be out of office. All this would do now is eat up tax dollars and the time of our politicians that have better things to be doing. It's too late for this, drop it.

2: War in Iraq
Both sides need to concede on this. We can't just turn tail and leave the mess we've created, but we do need to find some sort of timeline that will get our troops out of there. I'm tired of the idiots on both sides that refuse to see both sides of the story.

1: Democrats vs. Republicans
Finally, my biggest pet peeve in politics is the ongoing Dem vs. Rep celebrity deathmatch. It's rediculous to watch anymore. I fully support having multiple opinions in discussions so we can make better educated decisions, but that isn't what the parties are about anymore. It's about making sure the other party looks bad, and is wrong, more than it's about trying to do the right thing and find what's best for our country. It sickens me to see this "he did it, no he did it" childish blame game that our nation seems to enjoy so much.

Discrimination in Universities

Before I start today's rant, I am not going to bother with "politically correct" bullshit. Your either mature enough to read the article for its content and not nit pick at all the small stuff like grammer and PC terms, or your not mature enough to be reading my blog.

Since long before I was born there has been discrimination in universities. A certain group is always being overlooked and pushed aside for scholarships. But that group probably isn't one of the "minority" groups that most people are probably thinking about. Nope, that group is consisted of white males.

For years we have heard preaching about equality and fairness from rights activists. They go on and on about how even today there is racism and genderism. Then those same groups turn around and continually win preferential treatment in the name of equality. Read that last sentence again. Equally treated where they receive better treatment than others. Anyone else see the catch 22?

Today we see racism and genderism every single day. It's in our work, it's in our schools, and it's in our society. As long as there is preferential treatment in the work place (equal opportunity is a farse), or lower scholarship requirments at universities for people that just happen to have colored skin or breasts, there will always be discrimination.

I'm tired of the hypocrits, and the College Republicans student group over at the University of Rhode Island is as well. Read up on it here. If we want to see equality in this country, that means everybody is treated the same. Everyone would have to meet the same requirments for scholarships and entry to universities. Companies would be able to fire bad employees despite race/gender for poor performance without fear of a discrimination suit. And when hiring new employees, they could concentrate on finding the applicant best suited for the position instead of making sure they are meeting their race/gender quotas.

As a result, I predict you would see less animosity from white males towards other races and women in the workplace. Because then they would feel they earned their education at the same requirments, and also was hired into the job best filling their position instead of filling the companies quota. And when you end the underlying tension between everyone, that's when you will finially have the chance for discrimination to disappear from the public eye of society.

Marijuana Rally Morons

Today's rant is short and it's on my favorite topic again, people are idiots.

It doesn't matter rather you agree with the law, it's just stupid to draw attention to yourself and then break it. I personally don't take a side in the Marijuana debate as I've never tried it and don't intend to. But attending a Marijuana rally and then publicly smoking it is just plain dumb.

It would be like violent extremists attending a gun rally, and then shooting anyone not a part of the rally. Sounds retarded doesn't it. Well, apparently not retarded enough to keep 78 people from being arrested in Denver last Friday. Even stupider was that 19 of those arrested were minors. I mean you must have serious self hate issues if you want to mess up the rest of your life by starting a criminal record as a minor.

If you don't agree with the law that's fine. Protest it, gather support and lobby, do whatever you have to within the confines of the law. As soon as you break the law, everybody quits listening. I'm not just saying this to the Marijuana rally idiots that got themselves arrested, this goes for anyone that is trying to stand up for what they believe in.

Media At It Again

Weekend Edition by HumanFission

I'm sick and tired of the media. They latch on to the most gruesome thing they can find, then hash and rehash it across the nation as much as they can, underscoring the "horrific nature" and "terrible tragedy" of the event.

Seriously; what good does this do?

None, except for their ratings, which is the point I suppose. All they are doing is playing to the carnal nature of humans to see something horrible. Sure, what they are saying about the act itself is true…it was horrific, it was tragic, but 90% of the people saying that feel nothing of the sort. They watch and give attention for one reason: to satisfy their primal curiosity about death.

Of course these same people will look at you in shock if you mention that to them and say things like "How can you say such things, it's a horrible tragedy!" or "You're a bad person, how can you not feel for those people after such a horrific event."

Maybe I AM a bad person. But I'm not a part of that event. I'm not tied to it in any way; I am an outsider looking in to see something that is an abstract situation. I've never been affected in that way, I can't relate to what is happening there. I don't feel bad about it nor do I feel happy about it. For me to say things like "horrible tragedy" and "Horrific act of violence" would carry about as much weight as saying "blue sky" or "wet water". Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is either lying to themselves or to you, or maybe both.

The media preys on this for ratings. Let me say that again so it sinks in. Not for the humane aspect, not to personify the pain these families and friends are sure to feel, there is no executive producer anywhere right now saying "I want this to be a message, I want it to make an impression to the world so everyone else can see what kind of pain this causes." No…they are saying "how can we focus on this to keep people's attention. How can we boost our ratings? Who can we get an exclusive with that will reveal something no one else has seen, that will shock the nation into watching US?" Ratings. That's all it's about to them, and by focusing on that, and by pushing through half-truths and flawed information as fast as they can they serve only to create this false sense of guilt, not grief, not understanding.

And then the finger-pointing starts. Because with all of this attention, misdirected as it is, there HAS to be a cause, something that can be blamed. Because we can't accept that maybe, just MAYBE, this person was unstable all on his own. That he actively CHOSE to do what he did…no, that can't be possible in our society, so we look for something or someone to blame. Let's blame whoever sold him the gun, let's blame video games, let's blame his parents, and let's blame the people around him. But for God's sake, don't dare step up and say "Hey…maybe we should blame the guy that DID it?" Because the backlash from facing what we as humans are capable of would somehow prevent us from hiding from it. Pushing that out into the open that an individual is responsible for their own actions, no, that goes against everything we've come to rely on in our society.

The only thing this has really done is prove, yet again, how the human race's attention is still commanded not by news of enlightenment, but by self-destruction and death. Beneath our facade of civilization and high society, we still bow to our darker side, and odds are, we always will.

Gun Control or Lack Thereof

Well, it's official, I can't bring up a single news website or turn the TV on without being inundated by people wanting to take away the freedoms of Americans again. Do you people seriously have nothing better to do? I'm going to break this down quick because this shouldn't even be a discussion for Americans, much less a debate.

Argument #1: No guns = less murders.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. The failure of this fuzzy logic should be obvious. If they are willing to commit murder(which is illegal), they will most certainly be willing to obtain guns from an underground market. And before you even think we could stop that, just look how well we've done at preventing drugs from circulating in our country. All a gun ban would do is take guns away from law abiding citizens.

Argument #2: If we can't do no guns, how about less guns = less murders.

Wrong again. Limiting guns to those that take have to jump through hoops of rigorous training courses, gun permits, carry licenses, etc is still only going to effect the law abiding citizens. The people that kill, will pay no mind to such trivial requirements.

Argument #3: Then we're screwed, because if everyone had a gun, it would be mayhem.

Strike three. Your out. There are many documented cases that indicate otherwise. I'll link you to Kennesaw, GA for a good representation of a city. To see what a country was like with every citizen armed, take a look at Switzerland.

If you read both articles I linked to, and you let your emotions subside for even a split second, you will see that logically it's in our interested for as many people as possible to be armed. If the government wants to encourage gun training courses by making them free etc... I am sure there are plenty of law abiding citizens that would make use of them.

However, the great thing that Kennesaw and Switzerland show us, is that once everyone is armed, there is hardly ever a need for someone armed to need to use their weapon. Criminals are sometimes crazy, but more often than not they are quite smart instead of stupid. So with that in mind pick which one of these scenarios is more likely.

1. Armed man walks into a room knowing that he is the only person armed because it would be against the law for anyone else to have a gun.

2. Armed man walks into a room knowing full well that at least half of the people in there are possibly armed, and probably a third of them with some training background.

Anyone that answers scenario #2 is more likely needs to seek counseling, and soon.


Argument #4: The fall back argument of there will be more accidents.

While statistically possible, aren't as likely as you'd first think. Since the guns don't usually have to be used to keep the crime rate lower, instead it's the knowledge that your victim might not be defenseless. Accidents also come with the side effect of having no where near the fatality rate or social trauma of murder.

Violence Sparks More Violence.

What is it about horrific violent acts that suddenly spark thousands of wanna be trouble makers? It has been only a few days since the VT shooting, and I have heard about more bomb threats at colleges and high schools around the U.S. this week than in the last couple of years combined. And maybe the rate hasn't really gone up, it could be it's just receiving more attention right now, but I somehow doubt that since even smaller schools in Oklahoma have had scares this week that would almost have been unthinkable over the past few years.

But beyond the bomb threats are the people that have made threats to mimic the VT tragedy at other locations. Who in their right mind would say something that stupid? The only answer I can come up with is no one. So before they have a chance to do something the news will abuse for months, put a white coat on them and lock em up now while we still can.

And it's one thing to say that the kid could have been emotionally traumatized at the hands of some other students at VT, but it's completely out of line for someone to say that they could understand why he did it. There are people gathering emotional scars all over this country right now, but it will never be understandable for them to go on killing sprees for it.

America no longer appreciates the value of life. There are many factors that could be blamed for this. To me though, having the media keeping not just death in the spotlight, but showing and describing some of the most grusome deaths (beheadings, torture, watching people bleed to death) on a regular basis has done more to desensitize me than any other form of influence could ever begin to. It's time to start rallying for support, it's time media was reminded that just because they have the freedom to show what they want, doesn't mean that their moral standards should allow them too.

Finding Blame for the Bad

The tragedy that befell Virginia Tech on Monday will not be forgotten anytime soon. But it has been only 48 hours since the event, and I've already had to listen to 36 hours of finger pointing. Why must America always look for a scapegoat? We already have someone to blame for this heinous act, why must we find a something as well?

Neither guns or video games cause shootings. Not a single time ever has anyone that doesn't have some sort of emotional trauma picked up either and decided that a mass killing spree would be a good idea.

Let me get this out of the way because apparently Americans are confused. The United States of America is not a Utopia. It's not suppose to be. It is a country founded on diversity and has grown through adversity. It is a county that everyone's rights to freedoms are meant to be maintained despite the hardships we might encounter. And in no place will you find in any of this countries great documents that we are a Utopian society free of crime, murder, or any other heinous acts.

So with a population of over 298 million in a country built around the differences of many cultures, how is it that Americans are so taken by surprise when something of this nature happens. The bad news, there is no way to prevent it.

If our country only had ancestors of identical beliefs and we lived under a dictatorship forbidding anyone to have individual thoughts that might stray from those beliefs, then and only then the chance for such events might shrink. Yes there are several of these countries in the world, some have less violence, some have more. But that's not possible for us. We as a country have embraced our widespread roots. It makes us a country with more character. And under no circumstances are we going to hand over our freedom to a dictator.

Hardships are the price of freedom. Americans need to realize that there is no country where these kinds of acts aren't present. Japan is the closest thing I've heard about, and it is one of those non free thinking countries referred to above. Instead of looking for something to blame, instead look for ways for more people to feel socially accepted in this country. Unfortunatly, until laws are in place that require people to speak English in this country, making everyone feel welcome will be a hard battle to win. Past that we need to learn to deal with the bad so that we can accept the good.

Victims at Virginia Tech

I will not be posting a rant today. Instead I am reserving my page today in memory of the victims of the deadly shooting at Virginia Tech yesterday.

My prayers go out to all the family and friends of the victims and to every student there that has suffered emotional trauma.

Getting America Back On Track

I don't think I'm the only one out here that has problems with the situation America has got itself into. In fact, I've seen alot of other people with similar views expressing themselves lately. Well, I've always been an advocate of "If you don't like, fix it" and started wondering how I could progress beyond just words.

How much use would a website get if it was designed to poll it's members on the problems they see as most important in their state, and what they think are the highest priority topics for America as a nation. Then took the highest polled topic for each state and the nation each month, and created a petition that would be forwarded to the appropriate politicians.

I can't find anything similar to my idea all on one site, but that doesn't mean that it isn't already out there. Since I'm not sure and it would be a ton of work to setup, I thought I'd try to get a poll dugg so I could get some feedback.

If you want to help get America back on track, please help by digging this and answering my poll. Thanks.

Would you use a website that allowed you to vote on the top issues in America and each state, and then created petitions and submitted them for those top issues? Yes No One Exists. Post address in comments. view results

Still Pissed at Current State of Our Country

Yesterday's rant got me fired up, so I'm going to pickup where I left off regarding our country's skew from the original founders visions.

The first problem we need to overcome as a country is the huge rift between Democrats and Republicans. Of course people are going to have different ideas and the two parties will never agree on alto of things, but that isn't what I'm talking about. Different ideas are actually healthy for the country. No, what I'm talking about is the near hate that the two parties have for each other. If you take a Democrat and Republican and have them answer a 10 question survey in private, and then put them in the same room together most of the time you will not get even close to the same results. The reason being when they get in the same room, they'll disagree with the other till their deathbed because it's better for the other side to be wrong than both sides be right together.

This is not just silly, it's stupid. So, with that out of the way I am about to hit you up side the head with a mack truck. Quit blaming the President and Co. for the mess we are in. The mess we are in started long before this group came to lead. You can't blame Republicans or Democrats. I know what your thinking, "No, he's wrong, at the very least the war in Iraq is the Presidents fault". Well, yes, but your not looking at the broad picture as that's only the smallest detail in a portrait of shame. The real blame belongs on the heads of the American nation.

A lot of our problems as a country started back a couple of generations. I read another good blog post this morning discussing this here. Freedom of speech, privacy, religion, and the freedom to have different ideas have all been reduced to nothing leaving only the idea's of freedom in our constitution instead of the ability to pursue those freedoms at the hands of the baby boomers and their offspring. But I'll leave that to Steve Olson's post and comment section.

The most recent turn of events of course happened on 9/11. It was on that day the the biggest terrorist attack on U.S. soil took place. Since Americans aren't used to these types of attacks absolute panic ensued. I can't recall for how many days I watched coverage of the rescue attempts running in the background while everyone asked how could our government have let this happen over and over. There is a saying "hindsight is 20/20". It means that you can always look at events in the past and find things you could have done better. However what Americans don't seem to understand is the number and magnitude of these types of threats that are declared on America every single day. If the government acted on every single one, we might as well shut down every official government building, every memorial, every hub of business, and every public event from here on out.

Lots of these threats have merit, lots don't. The point is that we take our safety here for granted. Every single day these kinds of things could occur, and the fact that you can probably count on 1 hand the # that have succeeded on American soil is something that should be weighing on your mind far heavier than the thought of someone making a bad call and one occuring. People aren't perfect, and that alone is enough to keep our government from being so either.

With accusation after accusation from the American public that enough wasn't done to prevent 9/11, our government took action. The cries they could hear were "You didn't protect us, how could you have let this happen, will you let it happen again". So in the best way a government can, a shift in focus was moved to safety and security. They tried to explain to the public that they can't act on every threat because it would encroach on our freedom and ability to live our daily lives without their constant meddling. The answer given to them "We don't think that's a very good excuse, are you going to provide us safety or not". And so the government has started doing just that. And now that everyone's anger over 9/11 has subsided, we are pissed off about airport security measures, wire tapping laws, and the ability of federal agencies to get private records without court authorization. We'll there is no one to blame but the people that kept saying that the government should have done better, and that's the American public itself.

It was also immediately apparent that no matter what security measures were taken here on the home front, it would never be enough. So we launched our war to eradicate terrorist's and terrorist states. America screamed when we invaded Afghanistan, but said they'd support it if we killed Bin Laden not understanding that terrorist networks work more like a hydra than a snake. If you cut off the head, the network doesn't die, it just grows a new one. So to really eradicate the terrorist threat, we have to take away their money, their weapons, and their harbor's of safety. This led to the war in Iraq. Most people don't see the link because Bin Laden was several countries away, but the link doesn't come from him. It comes from safe harboring of Al-Qaeda top officials, and it comes from the availability of some of the worst weapons imaginable if they were to make it to our soil.

But we didn't find any WMD's your saying. Well, there are two replies to that, first is, we know they had them within the last decade and that they haven't used them up. And that meant they were either still there, or were sold on a black market. You didn't really think Iraq just got rid of its entire stockade of chemical and biological weapons with no trace of even a disposal ground in Iraq did you?

The second takes us back to that "hindsight is 20/20" again. We know we didn't find any now, but at the time we had plenty of reason to think they were still there. You also didn't expect them to tell our weapon inspectors the full truth after delaying their inspections for many many months. So what happened to them? We don't know, and that's why the government is afraid. So there we are, in Iraq, can't find the WMD's so we can dispose of them, and now the government is scared for the first time since the cold war.

I'll give that a minute to sink in, because most of America has returned to the mindset of we are safe here and nothing can harm us mindset. Well, we aren't invulnerable, and now there are some nasty weapons unaccounted for, last scene in a country that's ruling party hated the west and everything we stand for.

And as much as we'd like to get out, we can't do it quickly. We invaded the country because of the threat it represented to us, even if not directly. But we have to stay there for the sake of the world economy. It has absolutely nothing to do with "Big Oil" or politicians making money off of it. If you think that's the case, feel free to go buy stock in Haliburton, or trade some oil commodities and maybe you'll learn a thing or two. What it does have to do with, is that a large supply of oil for the world has serious potential to be cut off or stagnate if Iraq breaks out into a civil war.

If that were to happen it would indeed have a global impact. You think gas prices are high now, wait until a world supplier goes on hiatus. The biggest impact wouldn't even come from filling up your car, it comes from the sudden inflation on nearly everything because of businesses increased costs to manufacture, package, and distribute. And with rapid inflation a recession is likely to follow. And not just here in America, this would have impact in many industrialized countries.

There are always more sides to a story than can be scene. And while most of this could be discussed here in America on a local scale, it isn't something that we are just going to broadcast to the world. I mean if we don't finish our work in Iraq, then the screw ups and blunders we've had in the recent past will pale in comparison to the worldwide turmoil we create by leaving to soon. So lets finish the job right. Then when it is done, bring our troops home and tell our government that we screwed up as well, we are willing to sacrifice some of our safety in exchange for our freedoms back.

The road is coming to a fork, it's time for us as a nation to either take responsibility for our actions and make amends, or continue to allow our country to unravel while looking for scapegoats as the old group moves out and new one moves in.

Illegal Immigrants are Paying Taxes!!!

Read the topic again, let it sink in. Immigrants are breaking into our country in hopes of finding jobs usually consisting of long hours, bad pay, and hard work. Three things that most Americans try to avoid at all costs. Then, to top it off, they risk having themselves deported to pay the very taxes that we hate, in hopes of buying themselves citizenship.

As Americans we all hate this time of year and even though most people understand the need for taxes, we still complain about them and hate then entire process of filing our tax returns every year. So why do illegal immigrants take such risks for something that even citizens of the United States dislike to a point of hate at times. It's because very few Americans remember what it is our nation has earned. Very few understand why other countries despise us at times and envy us at others. And hardly anyone has a clue to the reason's that millions around the globe want the chance to live in our country of freedom.

Our country has become jaded by corrupt news that concentrates on only running the most negative stories because they get the best ratings. Our pride and patriotism has been silenced as countries around the world whisper to us for help in stopping terrorism and nuclear threats while also shouting at the top of their lungs to condemn us for doing just that. We no longer feel as free in our country as we once did thanks to"human rights" extremists slowly get more and more things labeled as not "politically correct". The rights that this country was created to protect are being revoked by the same laws put there to keep them intact. Corrupt lawyers, judges, and activist groups are slowly demoralizing us from the inside out.

So it is no wonder that Americans can't understand why immigrants risk so much by repeatedly invading our country. Yet at the same time so many of them feel violated that there are immigrants living in our states being protected by our laws without being true citizens. What right do those people have? I would be willing to wager that 97% of Americans here today could have their roots traced back to immigrants. So at what point did we become deserving but other immigrants haven't?

I'll be honest, I don't think that question has an answer, but I think it is time we re-evaluate our situation. If immigrants are willing to come here, learn our laws, learn our history, learn our language (that's English for those that still don't know), appreciate our freedoms, and still want to be hard working tax paying citizens, I see no reason for us to turn them away. Everyone claims they are taking American jobs, but I can't recall the last time I saw good ol Bob or Sam standing in front of a Home Depot begging for work. No, I'm pretty sure I saw them at the corner of 5th and Broadway begging for handouts.

There is no way to stop illegal immigration, to do so would cost far more money and resources than it would ever be worth. So if they are gonna be here, let em pay taxes, and let them do it without fear of being deported. If Americans are afraid of giving out citizenships, then pass a work visa law and lets end this standoff with ourselves. After all, America as a country is the only loser from this.

Besides, if we give enough immigrants that actually appreciate what this country has to offer the right to vote, maybe we can start doing away with all of the BS laws that make it illegal to do dang near anything in the public eye for fear that it might offend someone. I mean, if it offends them, isn't the better option for them to turn away/leave/flip the channel as opposed to passing a law that effects millions of other citizens that aren't offended?

Sorry for the side rants, I could literally go on all day about how skewed our laws have become from what their intentions were, but that wasn't suppose to be the topic of this rant.

Check out this link on immigrants paying taxes.

Email Spam

I'm not gonna give everyone a history lesson on how long email has been around and when the Internet began popular with the public. Suffice it to say long enough that we should have some solid laws for punishing spammers. And not just those based in the U.S. We've had enough time that global policies should be in place. It's not my place to determine what the extent of punishment should be, but obviously fines aren't working for the very small percentage of spammers that our laws allow us to prosecute.

Furthermore, I think prosecuting the spammers is pretty similar to killing the messenger. It's been done before and no one seems to think its wrong, but in the end he was still only the messenger. To solve the issue and end the war you have to target his master. It's time we start taking down the businesses that are hiring the spammers to begin with.

This has been an issue for a long time, so why the rant now? Because I read an article over at ars technica that says estimates indicate that 2007 will be the year that spam messages out number person to person emails. Is spam the most important thing going on in the world right now? Not even close, but it does impact millions of users and buisnesses every single day. And that I think is deserving of some better support from our law makers.

Termination Fees

Today's rant is gonna be short and sweet. Termination fees should be every bit as illegal as price gouging. Although for different reasons. Cell phone companies have been using them for years if you terminate there 1-3 year contracts early. The fees seem to have a national average between $150 & 250 per contract. The reason for these fees is to reduce customer turnover. It brings the companies some stability, however it also stagnates the market for lower income customers. They get locked in and don't want to take the hit from a large fee to change to a plan that will ultimately save them money in the long run with another company.

For the same reasons that monopolies are bad for the economy and consumers, termination fees are also slowing down progress. But instead of seeing them slowly die out as most of us would hope, they are instead starting to catch on in other industries. Check out this article where ISP's are now using them. You can find it here.

Unless you don't have a choice, I say boycott these ISP's. We already lost the battle with cellphone companies, but we don't have to lose the war.

Hospital calls 911?

What in the hell is going on out there? Apparently at a small hospital in Texas Steve Spivey was recovering from spinal surgery when he began to have problems breathing. There was no doctors currently at the hospital. As Steve's wife Tracy desperately tried to get staff to contact a doctor, she began CPR on her husband since no one else was. It was sometime in her 15 minutes of CPR that she heard someone call 911. Most articles I found regarding this don't make mention of the staff also calling the hospital surgeon back, but I found a few publications that quoted the Spivey lawyer as stating they did so. I was unable to find any reference as to his arrival or how far away he was when contacted.

Emergency crews were dispatched after the 911 call and an air tube was inserted before transport of Mr. Spivey. However upon arrival at a fully staffed hospital he was pronounced dead. So I ask again, how in the world can hospitals exist without a doctor on site at all times. Or at the minimum, have well trained staff on hand that are capable of stabilizing patients until further help can arrive. I find it simply unbelievable that a hospital can exist without one or the other. That's just asking for something like this to happen. Common sense folks, people sometimes have complications after surgery, either be prepared to handle that, or don't perform the surgery.

Here are some links on this story.
NYTimes
Boston Globe
CNN - Use the "Watch" link on the right side of the page for the video.

New Computer Blues

I try to avoid rants with a lot of technical terms, but today it just can't be helped. So if you've never built a computer or aren't familiar with the hassles and terms surrounding such an action, then today's rant might be better skipped.

In celebration of a raise in the last few months and a nice profit sharing check, I decided it was time to upgrade my rig. So I hopped on NewEgg and found some pretty good deals on the hardware I'd been looking at and ordered everything on the spot. The prices weren't the cheapest I've seen on the net, but they weren't far off, and I've done a lot of business with NewEgg over the years. Also, I have had to RMA things to them in the past and had no problems. So I know that they are reliable and easy to work with.

Well, all the stuff finally came in last night. So I spent the latter part of the evening assembling all my hardware. I wanted to stay up and finish, but I had big plans that wouldn't be quick, so I called it a night. Today I woke up and got right to work. Installed Windows XP, downloaded all my service packs and updates, and then started doing some research. I wanted some software to created a hard drive image so that I can rebuild my box quickly in the future. But I didn't want to be out another $60 for Norton Ghost. I ended up finding a little program called Self Image. It could create images from within Windows, and it had an executable that could be loaded onto a BartsPE boot disk. I installed it and started creating my image after I finished loading my standard software and settings.

Next I wanted a way to take snapshots of my registry when I installed programs. I plan on installing software to a separate hard drive, and when I restore my image I don't want to have to reinstall everything. So I found a program called CompareIT. I just export my registry before I install the software, and again afterwards. Run the program and then output the results to a text file. I can then rename that file to .reg and add the registry header in and I have a registry file that I can just click when I need to "reinstall" the software. Not the cleanest method in the world, but it works, its cheap, and I'll be able to use the software for other things as well.

Then I decided it was time to start installing stuff. That's when it all went wrong. It started with my DVD burner. All of a sudden it stopped reading disks. It had been working just fine all morning. I uninsulated it and did a hardware scan and it came back still unusable. Hours later after cable changes, using boot CD's to test the drive, and many other failed tactics, it turned out to be that I had to force PIO mode on my IDE channel instead of letting it auto detect. Then it worked, great!

Tired of working all day long, I wanted to play some. So I decided to install Titan Quest to play with some buddies that were online. I did my registry export, and started the install on my second hard drive. It made it about 75% of the way into the install, then it began spewing "delayed write" errors. I stopped the install, rebooted, and tried again. It resumed at the same file, and immediately started getting the errors again. I didn't want to believe it was my new hard drive, so I checked the disk thinking it was a scratch. The disk had some smudges, but no scratches. I decided I'd try to copy the files off my old computer, but got the same errors. Now things are looking bad. More reboots, and a few tries later I decide as a last resort to reformat my new hard drive again as a desperate attempt of hope.

When I opened up the disk manager, I noticed that my second hard drive said healthy, but no longer showed what its file system was. Both partitions on my other drive displayed NTFS correctly. So here I am hoping that this format works, or I get to use NewEgg's RMA system again. At least I know they are quick with return items.

Is it just me, or does everyone run into crazy wierd problems when building a new PC? This stuff should just hook up and work, I payed good money for it to do so! Well, wish me luck, I started a full format instead of a quick format on my 200Gb drive and don't know when it will end to see if it worked.

Monkey Buisness

For years now scientists have been telling us we come from monkeys. They don't have any way to prove it and it doesn't matter if we believe them or even care. But now things are going too damn far! Now people are actually questioning rather monkeys deserve the same rights as humans. That's right, they think that the same animals that can't work, are unable to progress beyond simple tools, and throw poo for fun deserve the same rights as humans do.

I am really at a loss for words. This is one of those moments that you wish you could find all these stupid people, line them up, and 1 by 1 slap sense into them. Evolution argument aside for now, despite everyone using the term "human rights", it's not something everyone just deserves. Those rights are earned in some fashion. At least by the majority of the human populace. And those that don't earn their way are a drain on the global economy and the progress of our civilization. I'm not talking about those that are unfortunate and are unable. I'm referring to able beings that just aren't willing. And frankly I think we should be looking into finding ways to revoke their "rights" instead of trying to find ways of giving our "rights" away to monkeys that would further hold us as a global community back.

Seriously folks, what in the hell would have to go through someone's head to even come up with this? I'll tell you what, when monkey's can hold down a steady job that improves our way of life and correctly file and pay his taxes, then we'll talk. But going back to the evolution point, they've acted like the simple minded primates that they are as long as we've known about em, I don't see them "evolving" anytime soon. Stop the madness people. There are more important things to concentrate on in this world.

Here is a link if your looking for more info.

Violence and Video Games Study that Looked Outside the Box!

I've been telling everyone I know, friends, family, and any stranger in a game store I happen to see that violence in video games is the least of a kids problems if he's even once contemplated picking up a weapon to use it on another human being. Unfortunately till now, most video game studies were performed on children that already had violent tendencies, or were based entirely by watching brain activity via an MRI and theorizing that increased activity in certain parts of the brain also meant increased likelyhood of bringing game events to the real world. Both types of tests are a complete failure of the scientific method. Dispite their failed testing procedures, both types have produced rather mixed data.

I have been asking for years now when someone would finally get around to doing a study correctly, and it appears that someone has finally got the ball rolling with some actual non biased testing. I'll try to sum it up. The study found that there are multiple personalities when it comes to gamers. Go figure, we aren't all monkey's trained to behave in the exact same manner. Anyways, they found they could generalize those tested into 3 categories.

The first group consisted of their most stable group. Which by the way consisted of 77 of the 125 tested. This group's mental state didn't change much after playing violent video games. The second group consisted of 22 of those tested. Those were of gamers that had low anger levels before gaming, but higher levels afterwards. Of those 22, only 2 were considered to be a cause for concern. The third group was limited to 8 members of the group. They started out with higher levels of anger, and actually calmed down to levels of the "stable" group after gaming.

Thye concluded that a major factor to the changes in anger level was the person's mental state before playing the game. Which indicates what I've been saying all along, troubled kids are more likely to get in trouble despite whatever cause you want to be the scapegoat. It's worth noting that just because their anger levels rose, doesn't mean they lost the capacity to determine right or wrong. It simply was an insight into how some people are effected by violence, and some aren't.

So yet I again I implore those that continue to blame video games to first look at the personal lives of these kids. Look at their parents, their friends, and most definitely look at their enemies. Most of these kids in the past have been the butt end of jokes from bullies all their lives. I know what your saying, kids have always had those problems at school. That is true, but it wasn't until the more recent generations that spanking your children, demanding their respect, and overall teaching them right or wrong become inappropriate. Not until recently did the # of work moms start to approach or out number stay out home mothers in most area's. And not until recently were things like prayer, the national anthem, and the right to enforce school policies with force taken away.

Kids are dealing with life differently now than their parents did because they are being raised differently and with different moral standards. They aren't being taught that their actions have consequences and that there are things worth believing in out here in the world. There is no sense of loyalty to any country, state, or god. And soon you will be able to add family to that list.

You want to stop teenage violence, then it's time to undue some of the last few decades work of unraveling everything this country was founded on. It's time for parents to realise that they are their kids example and law enforcement, not just their friend. And it's time to put the hippy idea's and political correctness with patriotism, religion, and morals to an end.

You can read more on the study here.

Why Not Weeds Instead of Grass?

I just came in from mowing my weeds. My grass is probably a few weeks off from being ready to mow yet. Which brings me to my point. Why haven't we adapted weeds for our yards instead of sticking with grass? You wouldn't have to spray paint your yard green anymore, and they come back earlier from winter. There are lots of weeds to choose from, and several would actually make very fine turf by growing along the ground instead of taller. On top of that, certain weeds are able to edge out all other forms of vegetation. So after your weed of choice takes over you wouldn't have to worry about the other nasty looking weeds coming back?

Its not a perfect idea, and some people are more allergic to certain types of weeds than they are cut grass. But I'm allergic to it all, so why not go for something that would make a nicer yard and possibly require mowing less often due to the growing pattern. This isn't something I plan on doing. Like I said, several of the best weeds tend to take over, and I don't know if my neighbors would want the same weed yard that I envision as a possible alternative to grass.

I know a lot of people further north than Oklahoma have different types of grass that are softer to walk on and look better in the yard than we have. Most yards here are of Bermuda grass. Which does a nice job of spreading, but isn't all that soft or nice to walk on. It also isn't real quick to come back after winter. So the move to weeds might only be a good solution in certain locations, but its something I've often thought about here in my dry state.

I Hate People

Weekend Edition by HumanFission

It truly astounds me how the human race has come so far with the overwhelming majority of us being complete idiots. I used to think my point of view was biased or tainted because of the work I do, but more and more I find that it just seems to be the standard. Stupid people have overtaken the world.

If you are reading this, and are already offended, just stop reading now. It doesn't get any better for you, because odds are, you're one of those people that make me want to let out a long, drawn-out sigh and break something (which is why my desk is stocked with soft non-breakable things).

One thing that further amazes me is our ability as a race to both completely rely and completely shun those few people who actually are making advancements that keep us moving "forward" in the realm of discovery. These people are commonly shunned as soon as they show any sort of mental prowess, and that lasts for most of their developmental years. However, the very people that shun them end up relying on them later in life. Even our society is defunct.

Back to the original statement: idiots. I would make a plea, try to appeal, or even flat out beg the people this rant covers to stop being lethargic, ignorant, idiots, but alas, even if I did, most wouldn't understand, and the rest would just become angry. I mean, who am I to go off on an attempt to better the world? Obviously neither I nor anyone else has any sort of right to try to get people to open their eyes and try to actually DO something, or BE something. According to most of the population, an attempt like that would make me some sort of self-righteous bigot, since I'm pointing out that people suck and they could do better. I mean…how dare I do such a thing?!

For those of you who may be reading this and aren't offended, perhaps even thinking of instances where you have felt somewhat the same, for you I have nothing. While this may have prompted a self-inspection to assess whether there are things that you do that fall into habit that could be done differently, or to actually attempt something on an independent level instead of giving up and looking elsewhere for someone else to do it for you, in the long-run, even this rant has had no impact. Because those of you who read and react in a way that may reveal some sort of logic or understanding, are the people who maintain an open enough mind to do that on your own. The rest of the people….well…your guess is as good as mine.

Human Apathy

Weekend Edition by HumanFission

I am a friend of Icenode and will be a guest writer on The Daily Rant. From what I've been told I will post mostly on weekends. Enjoy.

While many of the "rants" you've seen here focus on some specific point of idiocy that has drawn the public eye, mine are more general. You see, I (and those who know me can generally back this up) just dislike people in general. Individuals are fine; people however, suck.

My point of view is constantly reinforced by my particular dealings with said people on a day-to-day basis. I work in an industry that exposes me to mankind in all of its…"glory" and while I had thought I had become desensitized to the larger failings of Man, I am continually proven wrong, many times on the most basic of things.

This would bring me to the "meat" of my rant, actually. Why is it that while technology advances, the ability for the general populace to understand and use that technology seems to be decreasing at an alarming rate? If you were to ask random people (and I have), they will tell you that it is the complexity of this new technology, that it is becoming harder to use as it evolves, out of shear design. The problem is these same people are the ones who fail to apply the very basics of common sense to a problem when it arises. Things as simple as checking power, putting in batteries, or reading instructions elude them when the object of their technological desire fails to react exactly how they expected. These same people, after bypassing any sort of logical problem-solving cries of mercy coming from the active parts of the brain, will sit and wait on a phone, sometimes for hours, to make someone else tell them what to do. Let's recap that for a moment, because it's important. After ignoring any efficient or logical steps, these people will sit and waste away on a phone…so someone else can tell them what to do.

This isn't an anomaly. It's the standard in today's time. What is going on here? Have people really become so lazy, so accustomed to someone else doing all the work that they have simply given up? I think the answer is a resounding "yes". It's not that people have grown less intelligent, thus causing some sort of comprehension problem, it's that they have grown lazy, and that has generated a degree of apathy that is staggering in its magnitude. When these people are presented with options they could have done themselves within minutes or even seconds of discovering the problem, many, if not most, not only become angry, but lash out at those who pointed out the simplistic solutions that were overlooked. These people seek to defend their actions by passing the blame to someone else, blind to the fact that many times, this sort of argument is nothing more than humorous in its complete lack of application.

Our culture, specifically in America, but perhaps spreading to the entire population of the globe, is becoming "Fiercely Apathetic". What's worse, the very technology that generates the response detailed here is the same technology that facilitates such apathy. There's a reason the Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth; they're the only ones who are going to know what's going on before long.

Circuit City Lays off 3,400 Employees

Circuit City is laying off 3,400 of its highest paid employees. Probably not the CEO and a few other of the highest paid elite I'm sure. Even thought this move proves they should be the ones let go. A large portion of those employees were being paid higher wages because they have been with the company for a long time and know their field of sales well. They will be replaced by low salary low motivation workers for the most part. They will be unfamiliar with the technologies, and the only thing they will learn are the cheat sheets that have bulleted lists of features each product has. I can't think of a single worse move when customers biggest complaint about chain electronic stores is that the sales people aren't knowledgeable enough and are pushy.

On top of that Circuit City is setting a precedent that if you do well in the company by learning the products and earning yourself raises, you just might be working yourself out of a future job. So what incentive is there to do anything other than the bare minimum. The reason for the layoffs is supposedly to cut costs, but what kind of training costs will hiring 3,400 new employees be? Especially when the industry average employee turnover rate is 30%-50% already. So they will end up hiring closer to 5,000 employees and training them within the first year. There is no way to predict the impact this will have on customer satisfaction and rather they will continue to shop there or not with numbers, but I think we can all see this isn't a good move for cutting costs or increasing income.

Banks Should Understand Simple Subtraction

For most people negative numbers start when counting backwards from zero. Apparently however my bank has their own counting scheme. Counting backwards from somewhere around $22 is when the numbers go negative for them. So far I've been unable to find any documentation stating that $22 is equal to $0 from my bank. And since I have a "no minimum balance required" account, I know that I'm not being penalized because I'm trying to stretch my money. So why is it that I received overdraft charges for a $5 and two different $2.50 transactions? Those numbers aren't precise, but I rounded up to make my point.

That would put my balance around $12. There were no other charges pending, and I haven't filled up with gas from this account in over 2 weeks, so it wasn't due to any of their pre-auth charges. Basically my bank just decided that $22 would be a good place to rob me of $75 since they charge $25 per overdraft. This isn't the first thing that's indicated their poor system to me, but if I don't get my money back it will be the last.

Why haven't we tried this already?

I read an article this morning where Mexico will trade you an Xbox for your gun. If its a larger caliber or machine gun, they'll trade you a computer complete with a legal version of Windows installed. You can read the article here.

While this probably isn't a long term solution, and you probably won't see any of the crime syndicates trading in their weapons, it just might do the trick at stopping impulse crimes by street thugs. Some boundaries would have to be imposed if we implemented a similar law in the U.S. to prevent people from abusing this system by trading in cheap guns bought days prior for an Xbox. But I think a small financial loss due to a law such as this would probably be preferable to more law enforcement requirements if it can help lower non organized crime even a few percent. Would it work, who knows, but I think it'd be worth a try here as well.

Movie Previews that Show too Much

Its become a popular trend over the past few years. Instead of a short preview with just enough tidbits of information to get your mouth watering, studios are putting out the movie condensed down to a couple of minutes. Nearly all of them include all their best one liners and what they hope will be memorable and quotable sayings. But some go as far showing not only the tidbit of information that is suppose to keep you waiting on the edge of your seat for the movie, but also the conclusion or result of that exact same situation. I've even seen a few lately that actually showed the end of the movie.

There indeed may be a large portion of people out there that don't appreciate a little suspense or thought provoking teaser, but I am not one of them. And so far, neither is anyone I've asked. The movie 300 previews showed 2/3rd's of the best lines and a couple of scenes that should have been major plot points if you didn't know how they turned out already. Luckily this movie had plenty to offer and I still found it quite enjoyable. But now every time I turn around there is another Spiderman 3 trailer. And the most recent one seems to show exactly how one of the entire theme's in the movie ends up turning out, and on top of that introduces a new character that would have been much more climactic if not known about until watching the movie. To take a scene from the over played 300 preview, I'd like to line up the marketers in charge of previews and kick them down a well yelling "This is SPARTA!"

Greed Kills Kindness

Today I read about a lawsuit in California. You can read it here. The short version is a car impaled itself on a light pole at 45 mph. Lisa Torti was a witness to the accident and took it upon herself to take action and help. She ended up lifting the front passenger Alexandra Van Horn out of the car and to a safe location. Most people would find this a modern act of heroism. But not Van Horn, she is now a paraplegic and believes that it was not the head on collision at 45mph into a light pole that caused this, but instead being lifted and carried out of the car.

So now charges are being pressed against Torti. You would think she would be protected under California's "Good Samaritan" law, but the 2nd District Court ruled that the law only protects those administering "emergency care". So if for some reason the courts decide that the conditions Van Horn suffers from are related not to the car crash, but instead the helpful escape from the car, Torti is left with little to defend herself. Knowing how good the Justice system in California is I don't see anything good coming from this case. Its these kinds of unjust lawsuits to obtain money at someone else's expense that have slowly drained society of more and more of its good natured citizens. Why risk your own well being for someone else's in a society where these kinds of lawsuits are common and often successful?

Worst Company in America 2007

Today's post isn't so much of a rant as a "I told you so". Over at The Consumerist they have been polling to find out which company is the worst in America for 2007. This years winner despite not actually being a company most consumers have ever had direct dealings with, the RIAA. It beat out 15 other companies. Those included in that list are some of the biggest titans of their industry and included several oil companies, a few news companies, WalMart, Sony, and others. America hates the RIAA and its practices so much that they voted it to the top of the list despite the fact the RIAA isn't a company that consumers have ever purchased a product or service from.

If America as a whole was equivalent to Survivor, I'd say RIAA just got voted off the island. So what can be done to stop this behemoth hate inducing conglomerate of no good quacks? Well, your options with the Better Business Bureau are limited because they aren't a public business. And so far all of the attempts to get a bill through congress have been stopped before they started. This leaves us only a few options. Don't buy CD's ever again, hurting the artists much more than the recording industry. This would also bolstering the RIAA's claim of "illegal downloads cost us CD sales" gimmick of an argument. Or having to continue like we have been, and fight back one battle at a time. So lets start there and get fewer people giving in to the RIAA when they are wrongly accused. The more battles the RIAA loses, the more companies will begin to stand up to them, and then congress will see that they have the support they need to stop this nonsense. To help get the ball rolling be sure and send a letter to your congress men/women letting them know about your concerns. The road will be long and hard, but its one worth walking.

The Media, not the Goverment have taken away Privacy.

Many years before I was born, probably quite some time before my parents were even born the media was already doing what everyone claims government is doing today. Taking away the privacy of U.S. citizens. Not all citizens mind you, which is the reason they get away with it. They specifically prey on people with fame. They intend only to find the worst things out about anyone famous to publicize simply to tarnish that person's image and improve their own. All of this is done at the hand of "Freedom of the Press". "It's the people's right to know" is their motto, and it couldn't be more wrong.

On Google News today alone, I saw links to 235 articles about Vivica A. Fox being arrested on DUI suspicion. Not found guilty, but a suspicion. To top that, there were also 329 articles on Tony LaRussa being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Again, nothing confirmed, but the media vultures jumped on both stories anyway knowing that public opinion is much different than the law, and by no means are you innocent until proven guilty. Even if both are guilty, under no circumstances what so ever is it any of our damn business. People of all walks of life make mistakes, and there is no reason for us to care or know what other people's problems are. To be blunt to the press, mind your own business.

Backup Plan for your Backup Plan

As a company grows in size, it generally becomes responsible for larger and larger amounts of money, customers, and personal information in the form of both paper and data. Most companies that have managed to grow out of their garages are smart enough to implement a backup plan to recover this information in case of disasters. However, very few fully test those plans, and even fewer come up with a backup plan in case their first backup plan fails.

I bring this up because I saw this article today where a technician managed to not only delete the data for a $38 billion dollar account, but he also succeeded in formatting the backup drive and completely wiping all of its data. Bravo. Luckily this company DID have a backup backup plan. They used magnetic tape. Unfortunately, they hadn't actually tested that plan, and the tapes were unusable. Also attempts to recover the data from the hard drives by Microsoft and Dell failed. So because of this lack of follow through the company spent $200,000 having to rescan in all the data from paper.

So why is it that companies continually turn a blind eye when IT professionals bring these scenarios to management hoping to resolve the problem before it occurs? Time and time again companies lose more money than they save by not listening to their IT staff. If management can't trust the IT staff to make the right decision when it comes to making sure systems are robust enough and backup plans are tested to ensure data integrity, then why are they on the staff? Either management knows better regarding the data center infrastructure, or the IT professional administrators do, it can't be both ways. Wake up cooperate America, its time to quit with the plan for today because what happens tomorrow isn't our problem yet mentality.

Allergies have no Purpose

Rather you believe in a god or in evolution the fact remains, allergies have no beneficial traits. There are many types of allergies, but I'm going to concentrate on allergies to airborne particles that cause your head to swell up like watermelon and your sinuses to produce enough mucus to fill a sink 2-3 times a day. Since these symptoms are very similar to a "common cold" a lot of people incorrectly assume they've caught a bug. The truth is that many times these symptoms are not produced by a virus at all.

Instead when foreign particles enter as you breath in, the mucus that your sinus system creates traps them to prevent them from traveling to your lungs. That part functions as designed. It's not until the sinus system decides that the current level of mucus production is not enough to handle the intake of foreign particles that you experience the cold-like symptoms. Its then that your nose overflows with goo, you become unable to breath through your nose at all, and it feels like someone has managed to squeeze a cantaloupe up your nose to put enough pressure on your brain that your just sure your eyes are gonna pop out. So why do some peoples sinuses over react more to certain particles than others? Why are some people seemingly not affected at all? The short answer is that scientist aren't sure. So for now we will just have to live with them, and continue treating the symptoms like we always have. For allergy victims, well... we just have to hope someone finds a cure to save us from our seasonal suffering in the near future.

Al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed claims he was mistreated

Khalid Sheik Mohammed was an Al-Qaeda leader and has been responsible for over 30 terrorism plots including Sept 11, 2001. He's now claiming that he has been mistreated and abused during the three years he was in CIA custody. - Washington Post First things first, if we didn't mistreat him, we should have. This is not the same kind of war that the Geneva Treaty was drawn up for. This is a thugs war with no laws. After all, having laws to guide the boundaries of war and prisoners only works if both sides play by the same rules. And when you have their side decapitating our reporters, I don't think we should be holding the hands of the prisoners we take in until they decide to freely give us the information they know.

Someone so sick in the head to be responsible for even half of the acts that Khalid says he has planned should have to endure unending pain until their last breath. America has become soft, we've decided that because we are free and have rights, that everybody else deserves them too. People are forgetting that we had to earn our rights through bloodshed and tears. They were not simply given to us, and shouldn't be given to anyone else without their earning them either. Without the sacrifices, the rights and freedoms lose their meaning. They simply become laws to hide behind. Which is probably why so few Americans appreciate what we have anymore. They've all forgotten the sacrifices made, and how we earned our rights to begin with. War is not always bad, the results of war are not always bad, its the people that don't understand the need for war that cause the majority of the problems rooted around wars. The war we face is one we must win at all costs, play fair or don't, we will risk all the freedoms we have gained in our reactions to the challenges we will face in the years to come.

RIAA is the 21st Century's Mafia

According to historian Paolo Pezzino: "The mafia is a kind of organized crime being active not only in several illegal fields, but also tending to exercise sovereignty functions – normally belonging to public authorities – over a specific territory."- Wikipedia The RIAA spends a good portion of its time harassing U.S. citizens and businesses alike. It makes numerous false accusations and then proclaims them publicly. Both harassment and slander are against the law, so that takes care of the first part of the statement. So when harassment and slander aren't enough, the next step the RIAA tries is "to make them an offer they can't refuse". This is usually a one time offer to pay a inflated price per song, and in exchange the RIAA will not press criminal charges. You may have noticed my reference to "The Godfather" but don't let that distract you from the RIAA's own version of the Mafia's "Insurance Policy".

So, is that it? No, I'll stick to three points today. The first similarity was that both the Mafia and the RIAA preform acts outside the law. The second is that both have a bully attitude with a better not refuse our "Insurance Policy" offer. And the third point finishes up the quote from Paolo Pezzino with the RIAA taking the law into their own hands and trying to do the prosecution job of law enforcement. All of these similarities could be elaborated on, and many more brought up, but I think my point has been made. My question is how long will this behavior be tolerated? I'm sure someone somewhere in the RIAA intended well, but their entire battle plan failed when they adopted the shoot first ask questions later method. This has led to numerous false accusations, and thousands of ISP's, universities, businesses, and citizens that have to take time and resources to either assist with or repute RIAA accusations with little or no compensation in nearly all cases. Why should anyone other than the RIAA have to foot their bills as they go on their Mafia like crusade?

I am nowhere near the first to make these accusations of the RIAA's similarties to the Mafia, for further info please look up MAFIAA.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

In what will be a continuing theme with my rants on how stupid people are getting, I present to you this article http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703130391 as evidence. To sum up the article, Melanie McGuire performed Google and MSN searches on how to commit murder. She did this research on multiple computers and just days leading up to the methodical murder of her husband. Where it seems he was drugged, shot, dismembered, stuffed into several suitcases, and then threw into the Chesapeake Bay.

America its time we pause for a moment and quit worrying about declining test score averages across the nation. I won't argue the need for proper education, but I believe its time we take a step back and teach our society about "Common Sense" again. Its no long common, which is the problem to begin with. Until we take a step back and relearn as a society the basics of how to function in this world, I don't think we will have much progress trying to press forward with more advanced education. I want you to understand that I in no way condone murder, I simply am using this news headline to show how an "educated" person living in society still fails to show any signs of what I like to call intelligence.