Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Gambling

I read a story today about a gambling proposal in Georgia. Some tycoon proposes building massive gambling complexes in several cities. The following lures are used: job creation, tax revenue, and college scholarships.

I consider gambling to be a tax on fools, who pay the tax voluntarily due to their superstitious beliefs and their inability to comprehend mathematical probability. I have even known many computer programmers who played the lottery. They may have been well-versed in a computer language, but they knew nothing about mathematical probability. To them, one chance in a million was the same as one chance in ten. "One in a million" means that you could live many, many lifetimes without witnessing the desired event. Most state lotteries have odds that are worse than one in a million. That is all I need to know to have no interest in gambling.

I am not opposed to legalized gambling. The government should not be in the business of vice prevention. I am in favor of permitting a gambling complex to be built only if the government stays out and does not grant any special favors to the business owners in the form of tax breaks or anything else. All too often, government hands over the assets of the public treasury to private business owners, who give little or nothing back in return. I expect that if any gambling enterprise is approved, taxpayers will be forced to pay for the construction costs, and the business will run tax-free for years. That seems to be the typical arrangement, after the business owner has corrupted all the necessary officials. Only for that reason would I oppose legalized gambling. Many times in the past, cities have paid millions of dollars to build stadiums that have enriched private owners with little or no benefit for the people that live in the city.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Shooting

The shootings at schools, workplaces and elsewhere are disgusting. Worst are the random shootings, which imply contempt of the entire world. These I hate the most.

For my part, I'd rather be shot in cold blood and praised by those that survive than be the hated and condemned shooter. It is worse by far to live with the burden of a senseless crime than to die. I must say that in some cases, not all, I pity the condemned who must live with the knowledge and the dire consequences of their crimes.

I believe that the easy availability of guns is the clear and obvious reason that these shootings happen. Guns are too cheap, too easy to obtain and too simple to use. People have to take more training to drive a car than to shoot a gun, and the reverse should be true in all fairness. It would be an easy matter to install technology on firearms to render them inoperative without a password or other form of identification, such as a fingerprint. Only the United Nations has any hope of enforcing such a change on a global scale, and the change needs to be global. One day perhaps this may become a reality.

Weak-minded men are drawn to firearms because firearms are simple, and it is the only thing that they understand, the simple arithmetic of subtracting a human life. In a better world, a world with a god, these men would all be grouped together on a remote island where these walking and talking problems would find solutions for one another.

Of course, if it were not for guns, men would still find ways to butcher other men, but they wouldn't be as efficient at it.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, February 27, 2012

Hilarious

One word for this web site: hilarious.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Maureen Dowd on Santorum

I'm always surprised at just how good Maureen Dowd is. In the case of Santorum, she nailed it.

I don't think there's another political writer in America that I like as much as Dowd.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Windows XP for HTPC

Windows XP is the best choice for low-cost and simple HTPC. I spent a lot of time trying to breathe life into various flavors of Linux, but Linux wants people to commit a lot of time in order to iron out all the hardware and software problems that arise with Linux. These problems are not fun and not interesting, and I don't have that much time to burn, so Windows XP is the only viable choice for me.

Windows 7 is nicer, but completely unnecessary except for hardcore gamers. Windows XP works just fine for those on a budget. I like games produced between 2001 and 2005, so I may never need to upgrade to Windows 7.

I found a great web site the other day for optimizing Win XP for HTPC.

By using many of that gentleman's recommendations for disabling unnecessary Windows services and by making educated deductions based upon his excellent information, I was able to cut the boot time of my HTPC from 3 minutes to 30 seconds.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, February 26, 2012

That Old Dishtowel Santorum

Today I read an editorial in the Wall Street Journal dismissing Satanorum. If the WSJ is against Satanorum, he doesn't stand a chance. Satanorum is a disgusting old dishtowel. Apparently, many Republicans think so too.

Ron Paul called Satanorum "fake" in a debate, and I thought to myself that there is no better adjective to describe Satanorum, although "malicious" and "deceitful" are two other apt descriptions.

I may not agree with Ron Paul on some issues, but in many areas I think he is an enlightened man, ahead of his time. I will vote in the Republican primary, and I plan to vote for Ron Paul since he is the only candidate with any resemblance whatsoever to my own beliefs. If my vote can reduce the support for Satanorum by even 1/1,000,000, then it is worth my time and energy. I would crawl for five miles to the voting booth in the pouring rain if I had to in order to vote against that disgusting old dishtowel Satanorum.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Gorby

The only politician that really surprised me was Gorbachev. He was a lot better than he had to be. I remember reading articles about peristroika [SP?] and wondering just what had possessed the Soviet leader to come around to our general point of view about government. The longer Gorbachev served as leader, the more surprises he gave us. The net result is that now Russia is viewed as more of a neutral nation than any kind of enemy. The enemy is perceived to be Iran. That is definitely a worthwhile feat to accomplish--getting off the radar of the most powerful military on earth. Russia doesn't have to squander so much on military budgets anymore, if it doesn't want to do so. I think that when one considers the costs of war, then peace is preferable, and one might be willing to pay any price for peace. Besides, the old U.S.S.R. had a lousy economic model, and continuation in the old system would have been absurd.

I believe that Gorbachev was one of the few leaders who really thought like a chessplayer. He dropped ideas with dispassion when they were proven false. He adopted new ideas with rapidity when they were calculated to give benefits. In such a manner does a chessplayer consider his moves.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Santorum's Dirty Laundry

Santorum prefers that certain dirty laundry be swept under the carpet.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Good News out of Russia

About the only good news out of Russia these days concerns its continuing scientific research. At least Russia has not abandoned science altogether, unlike Iran, which only has an interest in weapons.

These scientists had better be careful, though, because they could revive a super-bug that might spread into the human population.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Santorum

Santorum thinks Obama elevates the Earth above Man? I'm not quite as powerful. I can only elevate a pebble above Man. I tried two pebbles once, but juggling is not my forte.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

The New Gods in Dungeon Crawl

Of the new gods in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, my favorite is Ashenzari, followed a distant second by Cheirobidos. I don't see much advantage in Fedhas. Ashenzari requires little of his followers, little more than a minor inconvenience involving cursed items, but the payoff to a devout follower can be huge.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

We're Lucky to be Human

I look at my cat sometimes and think that I read envy. We are so powerful, compared to them. The things that we do, such as having mastery over sound, images, smells, light and darkness, often seem like magic to their eyes. In some ways, we seem god-like.

I think every human is lucky to be human, because humans rule the Earth. We are even seeking to acquire the Moon and the other planets. Unsatisfied with our blessed estate, we even seek to conquer mortality itself and live forever. Humans have always been unsatisfied. That may be the one curse to intelligence. We always crave more. We always seek to modify our environment in order to enjoy a better standard of living. Cats don't strive. They may seek a more comfortable cushion, but they build nothing and they gather nothing except the occasional toy.

So the human being is fortunate, but does not know that he is fortunate. He is the luckiest form of life, enjoying a self-awareness greater than any other life form. He is the flower of creation. It should be our lot to create beautiful things with art and music. I think that is the ultimate direction. There are more beautiful things as the human race matures and grows more powerful. There are more possibilities.

Our existence is changing, our environment is changing far faster than our genes. We have left behind the conditions that made our physical traits expedient. Modern people spend hours in a seated position. Little musculature is required in today's world. The car takes us places, not the feet. Almost all but the easiest physical labor is performed by machines. Even talking is often unnecessary due to electronic communication. The body is really more of a hindrance than an aid. We would be better-suited to the modern world without a body. It is unnecessary; we could be happier and more permanent as a collection of bits and bytes within a computer.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Trouble in the World

Actually, I don't think there is much trouble in the world. The media amplifies relatively minor problems--"relative" to the number of people affected out of a global population. I believe most human beings alive today are generally happy and contented with their lot in life.

However bad things may be in a certain area, one must remind oneself of history. In the past, things were far worse than they are now. There was more war. More injustice. More poverty. More of everything, in fact, except those things that are good. If I were alive in ancient Rome, at my age, I'd probably lack teeth by now. I'd have a good chance of being a slave. I'd have to be on my guard at all times against criminals. Disease would likely have ravaged my body. I'd probably suffer from malnutrition. That is the truth.

The modern world also seems clear of crime for the most part, except in some bad neighborhoods. Many gun enthusiasts believe otherwise, and their rationale defends their interest in guns. They need guns to protect themselves, or so they think. But in the past, there was more crime, and more criminals that got away with their crimes. Today, the number of tools in the hands of law enforcement are dazzling to behold and quite beyond the resources of any common criminal acting alone.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Iran's Savages

The savages in Iran are about to execute a Canadian web programmer.

Iran is ruled by ignorant savages intent upon furthering the cause of evil in the world.

I look forward to the day when Iran receives severe punishments for its many crimes, past and present.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Foxconn

I have never purchased a Foxconn product knowingly, and after reading this article, never will.

I'm amused by those who purchase Apple I-junk (produced by Foxconn). There is no functionality offered on those overpriced gadgets that is worth their price.

Cellphone-addicted airheads have even spawned a new neurosis, nomophobia.

I think those morons should pick up a book once in a while.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Santorum and Oblivion

I think the words Santorum and oblivion are synonyms. He will be quickly forgotten once his fifteen minutes are over with. He was defeated in his last election, but although he is a natural loser, I really hope that he wins the Republican nomination, because nothing would go further towards ensuring a Republican defeat in 2012. Google is correct in regard to the definition of Santorum.

I do regret that there is not a decent challenger to Obama for the 2012 election. Obama could be challenged successfully--and defeated--but only by a candidate from the left, not the right, because Obama is a right-wing Republican conservative, no matter how Republicans pretend otherwise.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Enemies Can Be Useful

One trait I have that I think is rare is that I value criticism, even from enemies. Perhaps criticism is most valuable when it comes from an enemy, because there is no need to acknowledge or respond to an enemy; such criticism is completely free of charge.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Iran's Ignoramuses

I love the story about how an Iranian terrorist blew his own leg off. Good for him!

It often happens that evil-doers buy their own punishment. I saw a picture of the terrorist in the Bangkok Post, and he looks like he has been through a meat grinder. I don't think he is going to be looking forward to the rest of his days.

Iran seems to be run by a bunch of ignoramuses who do nothing but set their own interests back due to their ignorance and stupidity.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, February 13, 2012

Ebay's Wonderful Technical Error

Ebay offered me a $10 rebate in exchange for selling $10 worth of goods in the fall of 2011. I did so. Since then, I haven't received the gift card, and I couldn't be happier. That's right, I'm pleased as punch. Why? Well, I called up the Ebay customer service number to complain (I do like complaining), and here's what the CSR told me. "There is a technical issue that is preventing Ebay from crediting your account and the account of other customers that received the $10 credit." When I asked when or if the problem would ever be resolved, he said he didn't know. Then he asked me if I was enjoying my free listings. In exchange for my patience and understanding, Ebay is letting me list up to 50 items for free every month. Now, that is an extremely useful capability to have. It puts power back into the hands of the seller. Instead of being held hostage to an auction, with guaranteed fees should the auction fail, I can list and relist multiple times until I get the price that I want--all at no additional charge. I love it, and I could care less about the lousy $10, because I've saved about $100 in fees. Best of all is the feeling of confidence I have. Ebay receives its usual substantial final value fees in return, so both Ebay and I come out ahead.

One thing is certain, though. Once my free listing days are over, so are my Ebay adventures. It's a buyer's market out there, and many auctions do fail or succumb to bid snipers who bid at the last second of the last minute with the minimum price.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Burning DVDs to Watch Movies

When someone tells me they need to burn a DVD to watch a movie, that is when I know I am talking with a technological moron. Anyone still using DVDs after 2007, let alone 2012, has not been paying attention. I imagine that they also rub two sticks together in order to make fire.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Saturday, February 11, 2012

I Knew It Before I Read It

When I saw the headline, "The Ten Most Dangerous Cities for Pedestrians in America," I knew already which region of the U.S. those cities would be in--the South.

Of course, any list of the ten worst cities in any category under the Sun would tend to cluster around the South. But I know from experience that in any given neighborhood in the South, there is likely to be no sidewalks, narrow and poorly maintained roads, erroneous or absent road signs, and little regard shown for pedestrians.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Linux

I figured out the Linux developer's game. They don't want Linux to be popular--ever. There's nothing in it for them. The way they make money is consulting with big companies. Linux is used for servers. So companies pay mega-bucks to developers with lots of Linux ability. The only thing the developers do is craft fancier bells and whistles in the OS. They never have, and never will, iron out the thousands of hardware incompatibilities, even ones that are ten or twenty years old.

I tried a variety of Linux OSes on three different machines, and my mileage varied. Some systems were silent. Some had no video. Some didn't boot. Some had no mouse. Needless to say, I forgot all about Linux and went back to the only working OS that works all the time and supports all hardware: Windows. Linux is crap and will always be crap because the developers don't want it to be anything but crap. It may, however, be feasible in certain niche applications such as a back-end server, where only a limited amount of hardware needs to be supported.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Media Obsession with Violent Crime

The media's obsession with violent crime, suicide, and sexual crimes, does encourage the perpetuation of such crimes. Weak-minded young people have large amounts of energy, but not much internal direction, and these types will go whichever way the wind blows, and the media passes wind.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Case Against War with Iran

The Guardian makes a persuasive case against war with Iran.

Even so, I favor bombing Iran, because Iran is the embodiment of evil in the world. It is far better and far cheaper to reduce Iran now, before it gathers nuclear weapons. Any delay merely postpones the inevitable bill that will come due. Iran is completely focused and completely determined to have a war with the United States at some future point in time.

The strongest argument against bombing Iran is the poor state of the U.S. economy. We are not prepared for another war from an economic standpoint, and war with Iran might cause another Great Depression. For this reason, it may be better to stay cheap and simply rely upon M.A.D. (Mutual Assured Destruction) to deter nuclear aggression.

I think the decision confronting American and Israeli leaders is very difficult, and I don't envy them. I expect that they will not bomb, simply because of political considerations, and that is perfectly understandable. No one wants to go down in history as the aggressor or war-monger, no one that is except for Iran. Perhaps it is better from an ethical standpoint to permit Iran to make the first strike blunder, which will then morally justify comprehensive and terminal retaliation. Iran will also be held directly accountable, along with Pakistan and North Korea, for any and all nuclear attacks waged by independent terrorist groups.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Friday, February 3, 2012

Iran

Once Iran obtains an atom bomb, it is only a matter of time before it is used. Those who believe that Iran will show the same restraint as the U.S. and Russia are kidding themselves.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Iran

I don't shed any tears for the slain Iranian nuclear scientists. In fact, my reaction is right on! Iran is a center for terrorism and fascism on Earth. Iranian leaders are savages. I think that Israel has the right to do everything within their power to reduce Iran.

Certainly the world would be a better place without Iran's tyrannical regime. The only thing Iran ever does is torture, imprison and kill good people, and assist terrorists and dictators like Assad and their own dictator. Iran is the embodiment of evil on earth.

This is one area where I do sympathize a bit with the Republican front-runners. However, I'm not sure. I have doubts that probably never occur to Republicans. My main issue is cost. Can Iran be reduced at low cost, or will it mean another trillion dollars gone?

It may become necessary to nuke Iran in order to prevent nuclear terrorism. The ultimate source of Iranian nuclear scientists is the Iranian people. Why pick off one nuclear scientist at a time, when you can eliminate the source?
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Russian Irony

Since the 1917 Revolution, Russia has supported tyrants around the world that make Tsar Nicholas look like an enlightened monarch. Lenin would be turning over in his grave to know that Putin supports Assad.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, January 30, 2012

Obama is Safe

The only reason the right wing hasn't assassinated Obama is that they perceive he is one of their own: mediocre and conservative. In the U.S., only the best and the brightest get assassinated. Ours is a mediocracy.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

The Right Way to Treat Pets and Children

The right way to treat a pet is as a member of the family, with gentleness and compassion. Always make sure the animal has enough to eat, clean water, and a good place to poop. What I'm against is the practice of chaining a dog to a tree for years, to the point where he has to walk around his own feces, or placing a dog in a small fenced area less than thirty feet squared. I have known even liberal and educated people to do this to their dog, and I thought it was indicative of mental illness. To see their dog wallowing around in a tiny area filled with feces made me think that the owners were lunatics or at any rate not very pleasant.

I also think that corporal punishment, e.g. a swat on the hind end, should be an exceedingly rare event. Especially when the human being is much bigger and stronger than a small pet, such as a cat, there are ethical problems with hitting. A cat loses all respect for an abusive owner. Most important between cat and human is the bond of trust. The cat realizes that the human being is bigger, stronger, and smarter. But if the human being is also perceived as mean or hurtful, then the cat will seek to evade the human being at all times, and then the relationship between pet and owner is over, and the value of the pet is nil. It is important to be a gentle giant. Always use strength in positive and helpful ways. When I visit a person and find that their cat is in hiding and will only come out to eat, then I know the owner is an abusive owner and not a very pleasant person. What pets say about their owners can be more revealing than anything else.

With an average animal, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, tone of voice or a hand gesture is sufficient to ensure compliance with basic instructions. The only scenario where I might swat a cat is when they have destroyed property, and even then one must be moderate and use restraint, because the difference in strength between humans and cat is very great. At all times I remind myself that I am a giant, enormous in their eyes, and I think of how I might feel if I were the cat. It is important to empathize with other creatures and try to understand them. I think the same general philosophy applies to the rearing of children. Total abolition of corporal punishment probably is not desirable, but it should be used sparingly if at all. I remember at work a couple of people would tell me that the whippings they received made them the great people they are today. But I did not think they were so great. I rather thought that they were insensitive, cold and taciturn. If a race of brutes is desired, then acts of brutality certainly will help to achieve that end.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

One Trillion of Taxpayer Dollars

These are the brainiacs that George Bush and Obama thought were worth $1 trillion of taxpayer dollars to "liberate".

The people of Afghanistan are ignorant savages only capable of rule by dictatorship, if at all. It is pointless to invest even a penny in that blighted nation of bandits. They have not had a republic in ten thousand years. Anyone that wanted a republic was killed. Once the U.S. leaves, business as usual returns. All of this is obvious. I wish our leaders would wise up and cut our losses now rather than later. Pride is an awfully expensive bad habit to maintain.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Syria is the Dog of Nations

I wouldn't want to be an Alawite or a Christian in Syria, that's for sure. For that matter, I wouldn't want to be anyone in Syria. That country makes our country look good from every angle. Syria is one of the lowest dogs of the nations: led by a stupid thug of a dictator (eye doctor or not, he lacks the capacity to see the problem with clear eyes), isolated from the world, torn by civil war, and with Iran and Russia its two friends. Iran and Russia! One would think a clue would be due from having such friends. Any reflective person (which Assad is not) would look at Iran and feel a sense of nausea.

And I don't think Syria is going to get better in the next twenty years. Too much blood has been spilled. There will be vengeance on the minds of men for generations to come.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Government of Arizona

I never hear about Arizona in the news except more reports indicating that the Arizona government is composed of barbarians without understanding or intelligence.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Death is a Good Thing (in Dungeon Crawl)

I"m glad death is so cheap in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, because it forces a break in play. Otherwise, one could keep going at it all day long.

However, the constant dying reinforces the feeling I have that the game is pointless; every single character dies no matter what strategy is pursued. In fact, I would say one in a thousand could possibly succeed, if every turn was played in the perfect manner with knowledge of what would happen next. Without foreknowledge, one in a trillion characters might succeed. I doubt I will live long enough to see such a character. So, I am looking around for a game to replace Crawl.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Dungeon Crawl is Literary

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is a literary game. I find delightful excerpts from all sorts of interesting poems and history books that I should have read long ago. Perhaps it is an educational game in some respects.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Food Lion Sux

Food Lion is a thoroughly detestable grocery store. One of those spoiled-milk stores went out of business recently, and everything was marked down 25%. I decided to stock up on laundry detergent at the 25% off Food Lion.

A week later, I discovered that my brand of laundry detergent was on sale at Publix, so I did a cost comparison. Even with 25% off, the Food Lion detergent was more expensive. Moral of the story: Food Lion sucks. If they don't get you with their spoiled milk and rotting meat, they will get you with their tricky pricing.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

I Could Be a Republican

If twenty points were subtracted from my I.Q., and I abandoned ethics, I could vote Republican.

The race for the G.O.P. nominee interests me only for its soap opera value.

I'd like to see a real challenger to Obama from the left, not the right. The Republicans are in a race to nominate someone that is worse than Obama.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Another Great SEAL Team Rescue

The real deal is much better than a Hollywood movie. I'd like to see a documentary with interviews with each hero of the SEAL team.

Note that even on an important article like this one, and even with computerized spell-checkers, the mainstream media could not avoid grammatical errors.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Passing My Piss-Test

There is a contradiction in a Republic when unreasonable search and seizure is being conducted against bodily fluids. Piss tests are something that no patriot who loves his country could ever support. They are demeaning and degrading and aimed only at workers, not at the rich and privileged owners and leaders who actually make the decisions that determine our national destiny.

If I am wrong, and urinalysis is right, then members of Congress and all CEO's should be piss-tested on a random basis for drugs and alcohol, and the results should be accessible on the web. Their jobs are far more important than ours and have far more impact on our nation's destiny. If checking urine is so important, then the urine of a CEO is more to the point than the urine of a Wal-Mart greeter. Have CEO's and Congress as a whole performed particularly well over the last twenty years? You tell me.

Sometime while I was ranting against the immorality of urinalysis tests, companies and government quietly decided to loosen their standards. I don't know when this happened and I don't know why. Old research indicated that marijuana could be detected in the urine for as long as 30 days after use, which seemed unfair, given that harder substances such as meth become undetectable much sooner. The "30 days" bit is an oft-repeated talking point. The reality, I have found, is rather different.

Recently, I was offered a job, contingent upon passing urinalysis. I researched NORML to learn more about the state of the art in regard to piss-tests. NORML is my go-to source for any questions regarding cannabis, and I regard it as the very best source on the Internet. Google should rank NORML as the #1 result for any search of "marijuana," but it doesn't. Instead, mainstream media sites with articles about pot busts are cited, followed by Wikipedia, a couple of other sites and then NORML around #7. I am not sure whether my Google results are the same as everyone else's, because Google is getting too smarty-pants, customizing their results for individual users.

Today, companies and government tend to have a cutoff point of 50 nanograms of THC metabolites per milliliter. Any amount in excess of 50 ng / ml triggers a "positive" result, with negative consequences for the poor soul being tested. However, recent research has found that this 50 ng / ml cutoff allows more leeway than previously thought and that people can pass piss-tests even if they have used marijuana two weeks prior. Marijuana remains the most easily detected substance, and the situation is still unfair. However, the "30 days" business only holds true for heavy daily users with high residual levels, the wake-and-bake crowd. A chronic daily user with a slow metabolism might test positive for as long as two months after the last use! However, an occasional, once-a-week user with a normal metabolism has little to fear after a dozen days of strict abstinence. I assume that this 50 ng / ml cutoff was established in order to eliminate the possibility of false positives, an occasional problem with urinalysis in the past.

For occasional users facing preemployment tests, there is an advantage to delaying the test as long as possible in order to increase the number of days of abstinence and reduce the metabolite concentration in the body. When an email is received with an invitation to test, there is typically a deadline to respond to the invitation. The moment the invitation is accepted, a piss-test "date" is made three days in advance. Thus, it is advantageous to wait until the very last day of that deadline before accepting the invitation. I wouldn't wait until the last hour, because the Internet may be down.

I considered substituting someone else's urine in the place of my own, but I was reluctant to blemish my record of having never cheated in all my life. I believe it is ethical to cheat on a piss-test, for the same reason that it is ethical for a nation to engage in espionage during wartime. Piss-tests are wrong, and thus any method that can circumvent them seems to me fair game. Anyone with the least amount of imagination could invent a dozen different ways to conceal and substitute another person's urine while maintaining a plausible temperature for the urine. Nevertheless, I just don't like the idea of cheating, even though I can't explain why. It is just a personal preference of mine. I prefer beating the test if possible through abstinence and background research of the testing technology. That is my way, because I'm a techie.

In the end, after researching NORML, I determined I would pass the test without any difficulty. I am an occasional user with a normal metabolism and do not drink. The test was scheduled exactly twelve days after my last use. According to the consensus of all my sources, the chance of my failing a piss-test with a 50 ng / ml cutoff was miniscule.

I did not bother with any vitamins or supplements and did not exercise any more than usual. I think that there is a lot of pseudoscientific hogwash about ways to defeat piss tests, with various vitamins and herbs promoted that have little or no actual effect but may make certain vendors rich.

I only did what NORML recommends--on the day of the test, I voided my bladder several times prior to my arrival at the clinic. This helps, because it is well-established and often repeated that the greatest concentration of metabolites is found in the first void of the day. Also, by drinking plenty of fluids, one dilutes the concentration of metabolites. The sample I provided contained only urine deposited in my bladder during a narrow 2-3 hour window. It had little or no color, because I had been drinking about double the usual amount of tea and water that day in preparation for the test.

I had no doubt whatsoever that I passed. The clinic never informed me, because their master is the employer, not me. However, the employer offered me a job, so there's my answer.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Preppers

I accept a slight possibility that the U.S. economy and even civilization as we know it may collapse in the near future. Too many of our leaders are corrupt, incompetent, or misguided. Corruption is perhaps the most common problem among both Republicans and Democrats. The Republicans are the worst, but that doesn't let the Democrats off the hook. This whole country has been going down the tubes for a long time. It is simply not possible for tens of millions of Americans to get a job in this economy, and that's a big deal that is going to cause social problems for generations to come. When so many able-bodied people are out of work, yes, that's a major problem, no matter what kind of government is in power. I expect higher rates of every variety of societal ill. I am glad I did not have children. The middle class is disappearing, particularly among the young, and people are becoming poorer and poorer. The old have it better, entrenched in their cushy jobs or rolling in their retirement funds. The young have it worse by far. The young cannot find decent jobs. The young wait tables, bag groceries, flip burgers at best.

"Preppers" are the survivalists of 2012. In a way I view them as sheep. They are stockpiling food in a kind of fortress mentality, thinking they will always be safe in their basement. If they have a lot of resources, and people know that they have a lot of resources, then they will not be safe. People will rob them.

I take a fatalistic view. If civilization collapses, then all bets are off anyway. The world will become much less pleasant, much less comfortable, much less enjoyable. Life will become cheaper, death and injury more common. In such a world, is it really important to survive?

I think it is better to assume that things will remain more or less as they always have. I don't think it is possible to prepare for an Apocalypse. In the event of societal collapse, it may become necessary to move at great speed, leaving one's possessions behind. All the food that one has stockpiled may become a burden rather than an asset. How can one predict the nature of an Apocalypse? I think it is a bit morbid and cheerless to prepare for such a thing in the absence of any direct and compelling evidence.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Microwave Popcorn

Microwave popcorn is overpriced, bad for health, and contributes to obesity. A good food with a solid nutritional profile is rendered fattening and bad for health by cynical manufacturers who despise their customers.

It is both simple and cheap to pop kernels without oil by using nothing more complicated than heated air.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

The Solar Flare

I felt a bit odd last night and into Monday morning. I just had a feeling that conditions were unfavorable. It was almost as though there was too much noise in the background. Perhaps I have a pseudo-scientific explanation at hand. I just read that there was a massive solar flare Sunday night, and the Earth has been and continues to be bombarded with radiation. I wonder whether solar flares cause any psychological effects in human beings. I have a little hunch that solar flares may increase or accentuate the negative, that is to say the unpleasant and anti-social emotions, but it is only a hunch, and nothing I've read in reputable media gives any credence to that opinion. Lacking evidence, I must classify the notion that solar flares effect human psychology as a highly suspect hypothesis. But I think the question merits a bit of research by a graduate student or two. Most of all, I think a survey would be effective, asking a thousand people whether they felt better overall or worse on the day that the Earth is impacted by a solar flare. I felt a bit worse, and I think other people did as well. Some researchers merely analyze crime reports, because it's an easy thing to do. Feeling worse does not necessarily mean that rates of crime or violence will increase. In fact, the opposite may hold true; people may withdraw or isolate themselves when they feel bad, thus reducing rates of crime or violence.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, January 23, 2012

Meth is the Most Difficult Drug

If I take the position that we should legalize drugs, then that means all drugs, even the very worst, such as meth, which is popular among stupid people. My position is that fools will find their poisons. It is pointless to take extraordinary measures (that result in loss of life, money and health) trying to protect a fool from himself. I say that in the case of drugs, let evolution take its course.

Here's a consequence of meth being illegal: burn victims. It would be kinder to let the meth user purchase meth at a meth store than to compel him to play around with volatile chemicals that he little understands.

Meth is the most harmful recreational street drug in existence and requires special sanctions, even if legalized. Meth should be manufactured to 99.9% purity in order to devastate the black market and drive the criminal class out of business. If all meth users know that the State offers the best and cheapest meth, then the drug dealers will be out of business. Meth should be taxed at a rate sufficient to compensate the government for the social costs it creates, and sold to adults at a single location, one per state, in small quantities suitable for seven days of moderate personal use. Those who purchase it should be required to be sterilized, so that they will not produce future generations, undergo testing for STDs, forfeit their drivers' licenses, vehicle registration, government benefits, children and firearms, and their names should be registered and made available to law enforcement. The dedicated meth user would be willing to do all of these things in exchange for a nearly pure, cheap and legal source of product. Those meth users that would not be willing to do these things would comprise a relatively small percentage, because the drug overwhelms the brain's faculty for reason.

This plan would greatly reduce the problems associated with the illegal black market in meth and reduce the number of accidental fires, burnings and overdoses. Fools would continue ruining their lives with meth, but there would be fewer cases of collateral damage against innocent bystanders, children, law enforcement, or the public health system. Fools would enjoy their highs until their deaths with less impact to the community.

An alternative to this plan would be to require prescriptions for the cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine, because the criminal class lacks the competence to manufacture the key ingredient in meth. I would be in favor of reducing the availability of pseudoephedrine, because that would represent an effective method to eliminate meth from the world. Right now there is not an effective method to eliminate meth from the market. Who is against the ban of pseudoephedrine? Big Pharma. They want to continue making the big money associated with their cold medicines.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Euthanasia

I've always been in favor of the right to die, also known as euthansia or mercy-killing. A recent case illustrates my opinion. I think it is barbaric that doctors are prohibited from easing the suffering of the distressed. One of the reasons that medical costs are so high in Western countries is that our governments foolishly prohibit mercy-killing. Herculean efforts are made to preserve the life of those who would, if given the choice, prefer death. Meanwhile, poor people who want to live die due to lack of basic medical resources.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Iraq Vs. Iran

Bush probably invaded Iraq due to dyslexia. He thought Iraq was Iran. At any rate, wrong country, wrong time.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Officer Derek Middendorf Captured on Video

A rail thin old man suffering from dementia got beaten senseless by Officer Derek Middendorf.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Megaupload

I don't have sympathy for the Megaupload tycoon. People that are in the scene to help others are one thing. Hackers understand the concept of friends helping friends, of sharing what one has. It is an old tradition that dates back to the discovery of fire. However, people that profit off the work of others are another scenario altogether. What did Dotcom invent, other than his last name? Dotcom's millions will be better put to the service of the U.S. or N.Z. governments. Dotcom is exactly the type of character that the corporations should have been going after in the first place, years ago, instead of the poor little grandmothers that they were punishing with expensive lawsuits and $3,000 fines for .mp3's that their grandchildren downloaded.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Failure

Many a night, for the past year or two, I've had the same dream. A comprehensive examination is scheduled tomorrow, and I just found out about it and haven't enough time to study. Or a twenty-page essay is due tomorrow, or in a few days, and I don't have enough time to conjure up something reasonable. Or a class that I signed up for has been meeting for months, and I only just remembered that I had signed up for it. I feel a panic and an urgency. Then I recall, as I wake up, that I'm not signed up for any class and have no tests or essays due. What a relief! The dream hasn't any basis in my past, other than a few instances when I was surprised by the syllabus, but in those cases I pulled all-nighters and studied enough to make a passing grade. I did really well in school, and if I had things to do over again, I should have gotten a Ph.D., and then I'd be set for life as a teacher, without the problem of knowledge's obsolescence which has set me back in the computer programming field.

In today's economy, companies don't want to talk to anyone that doesn't have two years' recent experience in the latest and greatest computer languages. They are unwilling to train and do not esteem experience, education or aptitude. There is absolutely no hope at all in the job market.

I may not understand many facets about the world economy or international trade, but I know this much. I am a good computer programmer. I think that if someone like myself can't find employment as a computer programmer, then the U.S. is in deep trouble. This country's day in the Sun is over, and the world is changing into a different sort of place, and I don't know whether Americans are going to like it very much.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Bush's Legacy

Bush's legacy is going to be Saddam 2.0.

I hope somebody thinks Iraq was worth a trillion dollars. I don't. Might have been a good idea to create a trillion dollars' worth of jobs here in the U.S.A., instead.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Steve Jobs

It's amusing that the media idolizes Steve Jobs. He is one of the worthless parasites responsible for the high unemployment rate in the U.S.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Syria

The Syrian regime is really horrible and there are no two ways about that. The stories I read in the media leave me with the impression that Syria is run mafia-style by a bunch of bandits, and Assad is their chieftain. Possibly the Alawites were in ancient history a tribe of bandits. At any rate, they are now. Their relationship with the rest of their neighbors has certainly changed for the worse, and I think they are going to have difficult times in the future no matter what happens to their regime, whether it survives or not.

All that said, I find it difficult to get enthusiastic about intervening in Syria. We already did our usual number in Libya, and I don't see the Libyans clamoring to pay for any of the costs of the intervention. Mercenary armies traditionally have been paid for their services. We get paid nothing. Iraq's gratitude is laughable. How Iraq turns out remains to be seen. I find it difficult to have much hope for Afghanistan either. The trouble is with the people. They are not like us. They are not educated. They are extremely superstitious. They don't share Western-style values. Eventually a strong man always arises among those people. They have not had a republic in a thousand years. Where is their Thomas Jefferson, their James Madison, their George Washington? Once we leave, then they will revert to their old ways in time. That's my prediction. We are regarded as aliens, intruders, foreigners.

Russia supplied more arms to the detested Syrian regime recently. I imagine the Russians rationalize things this way. The whole Middle East, with the exception of Israel and maybe Turkey, is just a bunch of authoritarian regimes. The dust hasn't settled in Egypt and Libya and other countries yet. Torture and executions for spurious reasons are fairly commonplace throughout the Middle East. So if the regime falls in Syria, then Syria may become more efficient. It may become wealthier. But freedom? Civil rights? That's difficult to imagine. What Russia really fears is the Arabs coalescing into a coherent union, like the EU. They like the Syrian regime because it plays ball with them and does favors for them and keeps the Sunni majority in line.

For all the talk in the media about a civil war in Syria, I think the regime is going to endure and survive. It will be a little bit weaker, but it will survive just as the Iranian regime survived the turmoil of 2011. Iran and Syria have far too many ignorant and violent thugs that are in possession of gold and guns. I think that any ethical person in those countries does not really have much hope to lead a productive life, because to do so would be to serve as a tool of an unethical regime, which would be a violation of ethics. Eventually an ethical person would run afoul of the regime. Those two countries, Iran and Syria, will be bastions of violence and ignorance for generations to come.

It is depressing to think of Iran with nuclear bombs. The U.S. is not really in a position economically to begin another war, thanks to Bush's blunders, and all signs point to our steering clear of military conflict. I think what will really happen is that, if Iran hurts anybody with a nuclear weapon, then all life will be annihilated within Iran and possibly their neighbors and all of their allies. It will not be Mutual Assured Destruction, but Assured Destruction at any rate. That is why China and Russia don't care whether Iran gets bombs. Both of those countries already have sufficient deterrent. They assume that the Iranian leadership is not insane. Whether that is a safe assumption remains to be seen.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, January 16, 2012

Old Age

Thanks to modern medicine, our bodies outlast our minds nowadays. Many people, if not most, die long before their physical deaths. They are walking simulacrums of the people that they used to be, with the same name but only the merest fragments of their original identity, their personality distorted and withered until they are almost unrecognizable. Nevertheless, they possess full legal authority and every right to surrender their assets to the evil-doers of the world. That is why evil-doers--telemarketers, salesmen and cultists--keep calling random numbers and knocking on random doors. They know that in some cases, they will descend upon a vulnerable person who is no longer capable of sound reason. And they can fleece such an individual with relative impunity.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Obama Wins in 2012

Romney will be the G.O.P. nominee? I'll vote for Romney when cows jump over the Moon. Obama will win in 2012 by a landslide.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Another Brainiac CEO

Rich tycoons are just overflowing with brain power. Here's one that blew something around a quarter-billion of welfare for the rich government funds.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Santorum's Charity

Here's an article about Santorum's so-called "charity" for the poor--or rather, charity for Santorum and his political buddies.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

A Year Would Be Better

A day in jail is really too light for a billionaire who takes money from the U.S. government. I think a year in jail would be more to the point. Then the court can review what progress has been made on the agreed-upon project. The court should not be wasting taxpayer money reviewing the billionaire's deeds on a daily basis. One review, once a year, is sufficient. Until then, old Mr. Billionaire should be hanging out with Gen Pop in the county jail. The United States has too many greedy, selfish rich business criminals stealing from the government as it is. They have grown old, fat and lazy from a steady diet of easy money that they do not work for. Rich people have an entitlement mentality. They think money accrues to them because they are better than everybody else. Welfare for the rich needs to end.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

The MLK King Monument Misquote

From the Christian Science Monitor:

"What appears to have happened is Lei Yixin, the Chinese master sculptor commissioned to create the monument, and the monument's American inscription carver, Nick Benson, had an aesthetic problem they wanted to solve by shortening the quote. The change was made after the official plans of the monument were unveiled, meaning that the Interior Department and other supervisory committees had no input."

Personally, I think those two knuckleheads mentioned made an obvious mistake that would have been apparent to a bright fifth-grader. The sculpture itself is ugly. I would not hire Yixin to carve a poodle. I think the entire monument should be scrapped and replaced by another one, this time made by a talented sculptor.

So much of modern art is ugly. I think most modern artists don't even attempt to create beautiful things. The only reason modern artists thrive is that many people just go along with whatever the marketplace says or whatever their friends say or whatever they suppose is interesting; they ignore their native aesthetic sense of beauty. Future civilizations will not be interested in much of the "art" produced today.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Why I Didn't Buy a Kodak this Year

I'm not surprised Kodak filed for bankruptcy. Kodak has for a long time been run by idiots. The executives are mentally retarded. If the executives were ejected, and the company run by workers, then Kodak would become the dominant brand in the marketplace. Instead, Kodak was run by greedy, stupid morons who did everything in their power to destroy the Kodak brand.

Kodak Easyshare is a case in point. That bit of software was absolutely required to download photos from Kodak cameras. Other cameras do not have this peculiar limitation; you can simply download via Windows or any third-party program. Not so with Kodak. Kodak requires a memory-resident program to be alive in your computer AT ALL TIMES, sucking up resources and doing who knows what. Sometimes it even caused my computer to crash. Its features were junk. It was little better than a glorified Windows Explorer. Basically it just sat around reducing my computer's memory and taxing my patience.

Why did Kodak require Easyshare software? Simple. They wanted to sell a bunch of useless unwanted crap on their online site. Easyshare pesters the user with all kinds of unwanted offers, because the Kodak CEO has the mindset of a mafia boss. It was a slap in the face for trusting what I thought was a reputable American brand.

Needless to say, when the time came around to replace my Kodak, I did not even consider buying another Kodak, no, not at any price, even though Kodaks are selling for dirt cheap nowadays because everyone now realizes Kodak is a synonym for crap. I will never buy a Kodak again in my lifetime. Millions of other former Kodak customers had a similar experience and feel the same way. Hence, Kodak filed for bankruptcy.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Alawites

Regarding Syria, it seems to me that the Alawites are in the midst of a public relations disaster. They are committing medieval acts of barbarism in the modern era. But that is par for the course for the Middle East. Iran's a barbarous nation, and the same could be said for Saudi Arabia. But the problem for the Alawites is that there aren't many of them, but there are many Sunnis around the Middle East. The Alawites really have wagered everything on the regime in Syria. If it falls, I really doubt there will be any forgiveness or mercy for the Alawites. Sectarian tension is likely to persist for a very long time.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Smoking Pot Vs. Smoking Cigarettes

What pot smokers have known forever, scientists are discovering through experiment. Pot is not nearly as harmful as either tobacco or alcohol. The fact that it is illegal all over the world is a clear indication of the stupidity and insanity of world leaders and their disconnect from reality.

Obama is one example of an over-educated fool who does not understand science.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hunstman > Paul

This article says it all.

Ron Paul is 76 years old, fer Chrissakes. I can understand why his handlers are protective. He's probably in better shape than the average 76 year-old, but he's still 76. That's a pretty big reason to support Huntsman over Paul.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

The Executive

I believe it is wise to let the Executive remain the final authority. By that I mean not allowing emotions to run away, not giving in to fancies, fictions and false aspirations. There comes a time when one must think in cold blood and in truth, one should be doing it all the time. In cold blood, one realizes what is important--loved ones, society, living creatures, self. In cold blood, one determines whether it is prudent to maintain or initiate contact with other individuals.

People get into trouble when they allow their desires and aspirations to dictate decisions. Cold blood is required to perceive the world as it is. Some find this too cold. They are mistaken, and their mistake will lead to other mistakes.

---

Building a splendid life is an engineering problem. It requires patience, thought and care. There is less luck involved than one might suppose. Life demands discarding what is bad and retaining what is good.

---

Sometimes the kindest thing that one can do for another person is to leave them alone entirely. There is the question of compatibility, after all. Not many people are really compatible. They may have different theories about the world, different personalities, different values.

I had an old friend of over twenty years' acquaintance, but I perceive that inside, all his affection and admiration has withered, and what is left is resentment and contempt. One must cut one's losses. Of course, it is a pity to do so. But it would be foolish to believe that the corpse of a dead friendship can claw its way out of the grave. It cannot. The friendship is over and done with, and what is left is the corpse of a friendship, not very becoming and beginning to smell bad. Being in the presence of the corpse only fills me with sorrow for what had been or what could have been. The Executive alone understands that this is a small thing and that it will pass and that it was inevitable, all things considered. I have experienced similar scenes often enough before. The final act has already passed, and we are even past the epilogue. I could have predicted everything. Sometimes I think it matters, but other times, I don't. I believe that in time, I will forget, and I am determined to do so.

May the river of forgetfulness run over me and erase all thoughts of the past that seems so inferior to the present.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, January 9, 2012

Haley Barbour's SS

There's a Republican who might be building an SS. Looks like some recruits were made the other day. Wonder what secret tasks they are going to be made to do?
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Yoga is for Idiots

I hurt my back once before trying some stupid yoga positions and vowed never to do it again. I've been of the opinion that yoga is a bad idea for the vast majority of people, and now there's an article in the New York Times that concurs with my belief. Yoga has just as much basis as astrology and is popular for the same reason, because people want to believe.

If everybody believes something, then that is the clearest possible indication that it ain't so.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Our Heroine

Gabby Giffords is a real American heroine.

Nobody can write off politicians when there is one that is so true to the American ideal as she is. She sacrificed a great deal in service to this country.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Cute Dr. Seuss-inspired video featuring performers at the Burning Man Festival.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Republicans on Marijuana

Here's a good look at the Republican candidates' positions on marijuana.

G'rinch wants to butcher pot dealers, which is in keeping with his general policy to kill off Americans in war or otherwise. He loved the Viet Nam war while doing everything in his power to avoid getting sent over there (that's why he's "Doctor G'rinch.") Viet Nam was great because 50,000 Americans died. G'rinch loved it! More! More!

Santorum wants to cut humanitarian aid to foreign nations and redirect it to bullets, bombs and chemical pollutants to kill off foreigners that might be growing things he doesn't like. Why save people, after all, when you can murder them? Santorum is all about the killing. The more people dead, the better in his book, because it serves "Satanorum."

Romney would put the terminally ill in prison for pot, moralizing to them about how they should be swigging legal whiskey like John Wayne instead of using bad, bad pot.

Basically all the Republican candidates are hypocritical, bloodthirsty Neanderthal meatheads with the exceptions of Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, just as I expected.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Newt Gingrich & Viet Nam

During the Viet Nam War, where was Newt Gingrich?

Safe at home.

Boc - Boc - Boc - Baccaw!

He's the guy that wants to send our troops all over the world fighting wars. As long as other people die, war is okay in his book.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Ron Paul and the Racist Video

It is unfortunate that a racist video surfaced from a Ron Paul supporter. Unfortunate because, as Cindy McCain hinted, Ron Paul does have somewhat of a history in regard to unpleasant and uncivilized rhetoric. Yes, the newsletters.

I'm opposed to videos. I hate the way videos are replacing the written word. Videos are stupid. But racist videos are even stupider than regular videos.

Definitely a candidate's children should be off-limits in any kind of campaign, unless the children insert themselves into the public eye. I'm not sure how I feel about Americans skipping American orphans and going overseas to import foreign kids. It does smack of anti-Americanism. Probably they are doing it in order to get dibs on the healthiest and youngest and most attractive kids they can get. But there are a lot of older orphans that could benefit from adoption. What about them? However I feel about this issue, it seems mean-spirited to bring it up during a political campaign.

Ironically, the video reminds me of my chief reservation regarding Ron Paul. I'm afraid he is a mean-spirited crank. I hate to say it because I'm disposed in his favor based on some of his positions on the issues. However, it seems like he's opposed to the rights of the individual, but in favor of the rights of big business. That's his brand of Libertarianism. He's against abortion rights, against gay marriage, and on the campaign trail, he never says anything about the drug war, whether he wants to end the DEA or not. The only thing I like about Ron Paul is that he has enough common sense not to want to meddle in the affairs of other countries. For this economy, especially, that is a wise policy. I say let the other countries start chipping in for their own defense. We don't need to be policeman of the world unless the world starts paying the policeman a salary. How many cops work for free? We do, and that's just stupid.

I like Ron Paul in Congress very much, but I'm not so sure about him in the Executive role. I'd much prefer Jon Huntsman, who is in favor of civil unions for gays and who seems to be a modern man in many ways, not a Neanderthal like the G'rinch.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Iowa

Iowa was an I.Q. test for the Republican party. They performed about as I expected. My opinion of Republican intelligence remains unchanged.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Self

So the latest Republican blowhard, Santorum, says liberals worship Self.

Translation: Santorum worships Self. Looks like Santorum took care of him Self.

Whenever a right-winger talks about "the opposition," inevitably he is exposing his own beliefs.

Santorum cares about nothing in this world save personal power. He is without ethics and does not understand the difference between right and wrong. His religious beliefs are a convenient cloak disguising his utter lack of any type of ethical compass. It is interesting how similar his name is to that of his actual Deity. He is an ugly, stupid, and vile piece of work, interested only in self-enrichment and personal power.

Google is correct in regard to the definition of Santorum.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

A Believer

The similarity between Iran's fundamentalists and our homegrown fundamentalists is striking:

Iran has put on a brave face. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Thursday Iran would "weather the storm".

"Iran, with divine assistance, has always been ready to counter such hostile actions and we are not concerned at all about the sanctions," he told a news conference.


Divine assistance, huh?

The main difference with the Iranian believers is they tend to be crazier on the whole.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Poetic Irony

I love this story. What's not to like? Black church becomes legal owner of KKK store.

That would be like PFLAG becoming legal owner of Michele Bachmann's husband's psychotherapy practice.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Sunday, January 1, 2012

In America

In America, the corrupt and evil become powerful. Those that work hard, do what's right and represent what's best in America are shot, usually in the head. That is the conclusion that anyone would gather from following American history and American politics. Evil-doers are plentiful, prosperous, and entrenched in power, and they always have a love for guns and believe that, through guns, they will control what goes on in America. That is why the right-wingers, the Republicans and the social conservatives place guns before people whenever they can. People are expendable. People are difficult to understand. Guns are easy to understand. Bullets are cheap. That is why the right-wingers love guns and bullets. It is the only thing in this world that they truly understand backwards and forwards. Human beings remain a mystery. The world remains a mystery. Philosophy might as well be Egyptian hieroglyphics. But guns and bullets, oh my. Easy.

If all the liberals could escape the world for just a generation... in the meantime, while they are gone, there would be a blood bath on Earth. The right-wingers would turn on each other and there would be killing like no one has ever seen before. Liberals are the brakes. Without liberals, the killing starts, and once it starts, it snowballs.

But it would be a good thing if liberals could take a vacation from the Earth for just a single generation. By the time they returned to Earth after twenty or thirty years, the world population would be in the hundreds, rather than the billions.

There is really something wrong with a person who loves guns more than people. Gunslingers are stupid, stupid animals. This news article illustrates my point. One of my pet ambitions from long ago was to become a park ranger. Intelligent people all over the world are trying to live a decent life, and there are animals out there determined to cause misery and mayhem. I guess I can understand why some people choose to become cops, to try and rectify the situation of the world and clean up some of the detritus.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Ron Paul May Be the Only One

Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman are the only Republican candidates that can plausibly defeat Obama in 2012.

Personally I'm willing to overlook the incendiary newsletters of the past and a great deal else in return for the magical words "reduce our overseas commitments."

The U.S. should not be giving billions in free money to countries like Pakistan. That we do means our leaders are morons.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Lesson of Iran

Iran's a key exhibit in my position against foreign intervention, also know by the crasser term, meddling. Iran would not be the freakazoid it is today if we hadn't gone in there and posed as buddy-buddy to the detested Shah. I'm afraid that was the old (30+ years') premise upon which a good portion of the current regime's hostility is based. The regime that replaced the Shah began with the assumption that the U.S. was the enemy, even though most Americans had never even heard of Iran nor could locate it on a map prior to the 1979 hostage crisis.

Left to their own devices, it is unlikely Iranians would care much about America, other than wanting to buy our products and travel to our country as tourists. Iran had little or no contact with the United States until relatively recently, possibly around WW2. Unfortunately, the dead hand of the past has dominion over the leaders of Iran, who can't seem to envision the mutual benefits that cooperation on various matters of contention would bring. It is very peculiar for Iran to blame the U.S., which is such a good oil customer, for so many things, many of which seem to have little basis in reality. Of course, no country is perfect but the U.S. probably behaves about as decently as any other country around the world, with the possible exception of those oddly pacifist nations in Northern Europe.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

By the Skin of My Teeth

I lost some material in this opening, a hybrid Marshall Defense, but it proved to be an extravagant gambit resulting in early victory. My best move was b5, on move 14, sacrificing a pawn in exchange for a devastating attack. Once I know my opponent is a pawn-grabber, then I will gladly feed them pawns. The object of chess is not to gather pawns, but to gather a King.

[White "anon"]
[Black "igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "120+12"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. Ne5 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 O-O 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd7 Qg6 11. Nxf8 Kxf8 12. Qa3+ Kg8 13. cxd5 exd5 14. O-O-O b5 15. Qc5 Rb8 16. a3 Na5 17. Qxd5 Bb1 18. Rd2 Nc4 19. Rb2 Nxb2 20. Kxb2 Qc2+ 21. Ka1 Qxc3+ 22. Kxb1 b4 23. e3 bxa3+ 24. Ka2 Qb2# 0-1
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Credit Card Companies

Credit card companies should be fined thousands of dollars every time they send an unsolicited credit card offer through the mail or via telephone or email. Their CEO's are unethical criminals, all of whom deserve to be shot. Their entire lives are dedicated to causing and then profiting from the financial harm and ruin of middle and lower-class Americans.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Monday, December 26, 2011

What Does OKIDATA Mean?

I discovered what OKIDATA means. The English translation is: "Service Call, Fatal Error."
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Doctors

Doctors, and in particular surgeons, are sometimes truly amazing people, to be able to open up a living human body and fix what's broken. If I had my life to do over again, I'd have applied myself to the study of medicine, no question about it. There can be no greater purpose than saving lives. Of course, it may seem like doctors are overpaid, but they should be paid at least as much as the typical CEO, because unlike CEO's, doctors actually perform useful work. The fortunes of the average corporation would improve greatly without the useless bloat at the top. Most CEO's do not know their hind end from their head.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Friday, December 23, 2011

Aid to North Korea

I can't believe the U.S. sends food aid to North Korea. That country should be paying us tribute. Not a dime of taxpayer money should go to NK or any other fascist country. I shouldn't have to be blogging about this--it's ridiculous that our government even considers doing such stupid things. I've read the government confiscates the food and sells it at full price to those who can already afford it in the marketplace.

And good riddance to that idiotic buffoon, Kim Jong-Il, a worthless bag of gas if there ever was one. I hope his ugly, spoiled, frowny-faced son follows him to the grave as soon as possible. If only there were a coup by truly patriotic North Koreans!
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Ron Paul & the Newsletters

I'd be willing to buy that Ron Paul didn't write the incendiary passages in those newsletters of his, but ultimately, such foolishness reflects poorly upon the management skills of a leader. His name was, after all, on those newsletters. One would have hoped he would have done a competent job at overseeing their content. At the very least, he should have read and approved each and every article. That is what is implied by having one's name in the title--approval. So there are two possible conclusions for our dear Republican presidential candidate. Either he was negligent in a manner some might label gross, or he indeed wrote the articles himself or approved them after having read them. Either way, it's a bad lemon for the campaign.

Seems like most of the candidates were doomed from the get-go. Once they go double-digit in the polls, the powers-behind-the-throne unlock a skeleton from the closet and parade it in the media. The candidates don't really know how to handle a media firestorm, and maybe there is no way to handle it.

I still think Ron Paul is better than many of the other candidates, however. I really like his non-interventionist foreign policy. His views on the economy have relevance. Although many of his detractors claim that he has radical views, in reality it is they who have the radical views, while his are more consistent with the mainstream. Ron Paul is often the only one talking in the whole debates that makes a lick of sense. The others are history, language and thinking -challenged. They smile and shake their heads, as if they are hearing a fantasy, when Ron Paul says quite obvious things that are true. The others tend to march in lockstep with their party's social conservatives. It is clear that they have been told what they are to say, how they are supposed to feel, how they must think. On the other hand, Ron Paul has decided for himself how he will speak, how he will feel, what he will think. That is both original and refreshing. One is willing to forgive quite a bit of such a leader.

Conservative Jews are all in a lather against Ron Paul (see the WSJ for a completely rabid over-the-top attack on Ron Paul as "home-grown propagandist for our chief enemies" by Lyinbitchowitz), for one reason, because he might cut aid to Israel. Siphoning funds from our bank accounts on behalf of Tel Aviv has been a long-time favorite of some of the Jews in America, and they pretty much compel every Presidential candidate to swear fealty to the cause of Israel no matter what the cost to the U.S.

I support Ron Paul because of the enemies he makes. If the powers-that-be like the owners of the WSJ are against Ron Paul, then he might be good, because WSJ is a newspaper that prints lies with regularity and is in part responsible for the financial crisis and the financial meltdown. Why didn't the WSJ raise any alarm about the conditions prior to the financial meltdown? Why did the WSJ snooze through the first ten years of this century? I think the WSJ is a chief enemy of the United States, not Ron Paul. The WSJ represents everything that is wrong in this country and the people who create financial problems for the United States.

The one thing I dislike about Ron Paul is that he is big on freedom when it comes to big business, but he's not so keen when it comes to personal freedoms like abortion. If I were a woman, I'd want the right to abort.
by igor 04:20 8 replies by igor 09:32 6 comments
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