This is the first in what can be a weekly or biweekly post. Just a random aggregation of what happened to annoyed the hell out of me. Hope you like it.
- The fact that Cookie Monster is a vegetarian.
- That the Nation Action Against Obesity organization is pissed Michael Phelps is on the Frosted Flakes box.
- That people are pissed about Tropic Thunder because it’s ‘offensive to handicapped people.’
- That people make a big deal about Obama’s middle name.
- That people make a big deal about McCain’s age.
- That people are focusing on EVERYTHING BUT the issues in this election so far.
- Keith Olbermann. A lot. You wouldn’t believe how much.
- Micromanaging.
posted on August 24th, 2008 in Manifesto| No Comments »
In this video, you will find John Wiley Price, Commissioner of Dallas County, TX, get all upset when someone refers to central collections as a black hole. He then demands an apology for using the term black hole because it makes ‘black’ look negative. There is another video where he starts making comparisons and asks why did scientists call it a black hole, why not a white hole? Link here.
Well he is clearly a pinhead. They call it a black hole because it’s black. The lack of light is black and there is no light in a black hole. Is that racist? Maybe the sun is racist. And maybe white men did come up with these terms, as he suggests. I’m willing to bet my life that it was not out of racism. But this isn’t really about science.
This is about the ignorance Price is spewing. It’s comments like this that give others an excuse to play the racism card (or whatever card) in outrageous situations. It gives people a scapegoat. And when people have a scapegoat, they will never take personal responsibility; myself included. So Commissioner Price, keep that in mind. And maybe take a science class.
posted on July 16th, 2008 in Manifesto, News, Site News|
I dislike the New York Times for a number of reasons. Running the ‘General Betray Us‘ ad is one reason. Another, less political one is that you have to register for their website in order to read some of their content, including this article, which I’d like to take a moment to talk about.
The headline is In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop and the article talks about the potential health risks of blogging. Health Risks….of blogging. I understand the NYT likes to start a ruckus, and most media outlets like to throw in the scare factor to boost sales, but this is some unnecessary alarmism. They talk about the death of two prominent bloggers within a small time frame, and that:
Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.
Of course they assure us that there is no ‘official diagnosis of death by blogging,’ which anyone with half a brain already knows. What gets me so mad is there is no reason for this article for a few reasons.
- If you don’t take care of yourself, no matter what line of work you are in you will see deteriorating health.
- This makes the blogging industry seem like an evil corporation that over-works their writers (they even draw parallels to a sweatshop).
- They make the entire web-business idea seem like a way to make money at the cost of your health and/or life.
Here is the real deal though- if you are a workaholic, you’ll get like that no matter what you do. Furthermore, if you run your own business, web or brick-and-mortar, it’s going to run you down. The man who owned the deli I used to work at put 60-80 hours a week into that place. I have to run my business in my free time because of school and it takes a toll on me too. They are creating hysteria over nothing. I’m not exactly healthy- is that because I am a web developer and software engineering major? Maybe. Maybe it’s because I’ve been slacking on the gym and eat horribly.
I have half a mind to say that the NYT is just writing what amounts to a smear article against blogging because it’s giving them strong competition and it’s taking away from their revenue. But then I’d be a hypocrite, wouldn’t I?
posted on April 6th, 2008 in Manifesto, News|
Yeah. The game tag. Because kids were getting hurt and being ‘forced to play against their will.’ Here is an idea- Don’t run if you don’t want to play. I don’t know about you, but I think kids are supposed to get hurt. It’s in the job description for being a kid. If schools keep doing this and coddling kids, over-protecting them, I’d imagine it’s not good for their development. It’s not challenging kids to deal with anything. Maybe this isn’t a big deal, but a lot of this has been happening in other schools, banning certain books or other games, etc. Just seems like bad news to me.
posted on August 30th, 2007 in Links, Manifesto, News| No Comments »
I try to steer clear of rants on here anymore, but there have been a couple things that have been bothering me. So if you could indulge me for this one post, that’d be great. If not, I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow.
- Pop Tarts- This is a term borrowed from Fox News, but I like it. Yesterday at the gym, on both CNN and Fox, for the better part of their news programs (and my 45 min cardio work out), the coverage was Lindsay Lohan and how she got arrested, again. And when they weren’t cover Lindsay they were covering Britney Spears….because she’s on the verge of another breakdown. Now I wouldn’t care if this was E! or VH1 or Mtv. Lord knows nothing important comes from Mtv. But these are two presumably legitimate news stations giving full coverage of this crap. For ratings. People people care about Britney and Lindsay. Is it the Fox or CNN’s fault that’s what people want? Maybe not. But it is their fault for pushing it, at least as long as they do.
- “Loose Change” in Theaters- I read about this in this article and am in an utter state of disbelief. The movie stating claims that the Bush Administration is behind the 9/11 attacks is being released in theaters in Britain. I thought it was bad enough that Moore’s movies were being shown on the big screen, but this was a viral video that 3 kids from SUNY Oneonta made on a hunch. The claims they make aren’t true and have been debunked. I’ve seen those kids in debates and the look like idiots, grunting and moaning and getting all worked up when they are proved wrong. It’s insane that anyone would watch this crap, let alone on the big screen.
- The YouTube Debates- Finally, The YouTube Debates. Kudos to YouTube and CNN for putting this together. All of the answers are online and this is great. However, I wish the candidates would have actually answered the questions. John Edwards barely answered anything. Lots of rhetoric and heart-warming stories though. But one question in particular bothered me; the one about reparations. First of all, it’s not a “question in the back of everyone’s head.” Sure isn’t in the back of mine. Second, “is African Americans ever gonna get reparations?” What? If I were addressing presidential candidates, I’d probably bone up on my grammar. However, My focus again is on the rhetoric. Edwards glossed over his “no” onto “how we can give reparations” and attacked corporations (PS- he was a malpractice lawyer who sued every doctor he could see. I wonder why our health care system sucks…). Obama did the same thing. “I think the reparations we need….is investment in our schools.” Now boys, you know that wasn’t the question. They just didn’t want to look bad by saying “No, reparations is a ridiculous idea.”
Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest.
posted on July 26th, 2007 in Manifesto, Politics, Thoughts| No Comments »
