The red carpet treatment?

DRAFT GORE: AL GORE FOR PRESIDENT 2008

He's leading in a series of polls (supposedly, based on this website). We've got a very unpopular president in the White House (based on any NUMBER of polls). Republicans are up against the wall. All the other potential Democrat nominees for President have a slim chance of winning the election. And yet, this guy still refuses to run. Dude, it's almost like they've rolled out the red carpet for him to just waltz right on into the White House. Of course, it really depends on what candidate the Republicans eventually end up fielding. If it's anyone other than John McCain, Gore could very well be a shoe-in. If it's McCain...well...at least it'll be a very interesting election. Better than the choices we had in 2004. Bush or Kerry???

Although I have to kind of understand Gore's point of view. I'm sure everytime someone says the word "Florida," he must curl up in a ball on the floor and start sucking his thumb. Hanging chads. Sheesh.

This shit has got to stop

Army dismisses gay Arabic linguist - Military Affairs - MSNBC.com

This is intolerable. An able-bodied Army sergeant who has a VERY RARE and sought-after skill was kicked out of the army, all because he likes dick. To this I say: what the fuck? We're SUPPOSEDLY so concerned about terrorists, and yet we throw away a perfectly good tool of defense all because he's GAY. Damn, I'm moving to Denmark. Why is it the US Government (and, unfortunately, to some degree, the US people) so bass-ackwards? Why is Europe (most of it) so progressive? What is our rationale here? Anyone who counters with "God hates gays" and uses that as a rationale for our laws...well, to them, I say, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." To me, that says that if a law is based off of some kind of antiquated and obsolete religious morality, it shouldn't be in the books. It establishes the so-called 'moral' standard of a religion, and therefore the religion(s) that go along with it. For fuck's sake, being gay doesn't hurt anyone. It's not murder, it's not armed robbery. So what's the problem here? We ALL need to mentally (and spiritually) move into the 21st century here.

A potentially cool investment

'Microjets' may be the future of air travel - Travel - MSNBC.com

It's just my opinion, but if microjet travel becomes cheap enough, it has the potential to rival the big airline companies. Imagine hopping an air taxi from East Buttfuck, Maine, to Where The Hell Am I Now, Vermont, without having to resort to driving all the way to Bangor or Portland (or worse if you're in Northern Maine: Boston) to catch a jet, just to end up in Burlingon and finding a ride from there? And, you won't have to deal with all the hassles of the larger airports

Convenient? Hell yes. Cheap? Not yet, but if the prices get reasonable enough, this may be the wave of the future of air travel. So if any of these companies planning microjet travel in 2007 and beyond offer stock, I suggest getting some. But that's just me.

Remembering Amalek

Gellman: What the Bible Says About Terrorism - Newsweek Rabbi Marc Gellman - MSNBC.com

Reading this article reminds me of the only real thing about President Bush I can honestly support...except the way he's going about it. Was he duped into sending our troops into Iraq (based off of incomplete and/or faulty intelligence from the Italians)? Did he just want to finish what his father didn't? Who can say for certain? Anyone who says they know the answer are just speculating (unless you are Bush or are in his inner circle), so don't tell me "OF COURSE IT WAS FOR THE OIL." Well, duh! Just look at what happened after Iraq (and Katrina, oddly enough): record profits recorded by the major oil companies (not just OPEC, per se, but by Exxon/Mobil and their ilk). But there's more to it than that, I think. But again, it's just speculation.

Now we're in a time, once again, where we have to respond to this threat of terrorism. There's been speculation about Iran's and Syria's involvement in the recent trouble in Lebanon (open support from their governments, Iranian rockets being used to blow up Israeli targets, etc). There's suspicion that even groups like al Qaeda are getting help from these radical governments. What are we to do about this?

In Deut. 25:17-19 we read: "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."

Clearly, if you believe anything the Bible has ever said, the answer is to kill them all. Wipe out all the terrorists. How you do that is beyond my grasp of understanding, short of genocide. I'm not saying ALL Muslims are terrorists; the problem is, how do you figure out WHICH of these Muslims are the terrorists? The only certain way to get them all is to kill ALL Muslims, which is just a bad answer.

I'm curious what Rabbi Gellman believes the Bible says we should do.

And now, a little something extra from Captain Obvious...

Ask Annie: Best places: Find your dream town, then a job - Jul. 18, 2006

Quote:

Not so long ago, most career-minded professionals looked for the right job - or any job - and took for granted that they might have to move somewhere less than ideal if their employer asked them to. That's changing fast.

In fact, two-thirds of Americans ages 25 through 34 say they're deciding first where they want to put down roots, and then looking for a job in that place, according to a new study by Yankelovich, a marketing firm, and CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders.

Why the change? For one thing, women care somewhat more than men do about quality-of-life issues, the study says, and they make up a greater proportion of the workforce now than in previous decades. Meanwhile, advances in technology give knowledge-workers more flexibility in choosing where to live and, with a decline in loyalty to any particular employer, people are more willing to bail on a job if they don't like where it's located.

Gee, why a decline in loyalty? Would it have something to do with ANY of the following:

1. Decreased positive treatment of employees (i.e., making other employees suffer--have their hours cut in half, for example--due to some error on another person's part)?
2. Outsourcing?
3. Longer and longer commutes?

I'm sure this list could be longer; and I'm sure some of these bullets could be broken down more. But you get my point. Bosses seem to care less about retention...and yet, when quality employees (even less-than-top performers) leave, a few things happen that negatively affect the bottom line:

1. Money has to be spent to find a replacement (advertising, training, etc)
2. Other people get nervous which can lower morale and, thusly, productivity
3. "Brain drain" -- that is, you're losing 'experts' in your company to get cheaper labor

There's a reason why many of the 'Fortune 500' companies are where they are. For example, Microsoft (from what I've read) can be VERY good with their employees; offering them many perks, a comfortable work environment, satisfactory compensation, etc.

And then there are places like my old construction company, where the general superintendent had NO PROBLEM demeaning the engineers publicly and/or over the 2-way radio (for example). By the time I quit that job, two other people had quit, one was fired, the job was MONTHS behind schedule AND several million dollars over-budget (no I'm not talking about the Big Dig here).

Is there a lesson in all this? Yes. Treat your employees as you would like to be treated. Now, if someone is a total fuck-off, by all means, fire him. But before you just toss in the towel on a B-grade employee, find out if there is a way to help him improve his performance BEFORE you give him the boot.

No good solution

CNN.com - Anderson Cooper 360 Blog

There is no good solution to this problem. Things can go either one of three ways:

1. Muslims (specifically, radical Muslims) ultimately get their way and turn the entire Middle East (if not most or all of the world) into one big caliphate. This is unacceptable.
2. The US, Israel, or SOMEBODY turns the entire Middle East into one big, shiny, glassy plain. This is also unacceptable.
3. This shit keeps going on and on and on. This, once again, is unacceptable.

The question finally becomes: which of these three options is the LESSER of all evils? And, what other possible options are out there that nobody has discussed? And, if there ARE other options that haven't been discussed, why haven't they been discussed? Are we going to keep having to deal with this crap until the end of time?

Sometimes, you just gotta love this man

Unplugged Bush, Blair speak frankly on Mideast, G8 - Yahoo! News

A microphone picked up an unaware President Bush saying on Monday Syria should press Hizbollah to "stop doing this shit" ...

Huzzah! Not only is Bush's observation a statement that would make Captain Obvious proud, but it can be (kind of) heartwarming to see a more human side to this guy. I read this part of the article and laughed out loud. Awesome.

A proportional response

BREITBART.COM - Israel Claims Hundreds of Hits in Lebanon: "The European Union criticized Israel for using what it called 'disproportionate' force in its attacks and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he was planning a peace mission."

"Did you know that two thousand years ago a Roman citizen could walk across
the face of the known world free of the fear of molestation? He could walk across
the earth unharmed, cloaked only in the words 'Civis Romanis:' I am a Roman citizen.
So great was the retribution of Rome, universally understood as certain, should any
harm befall even one of its citizens."

That was a quote from one of my favorite shows. And I think it's very appropriate here. We've been waging "proportional responses" for ages now. Where has it gotten us?

I Fark too much

eBay: MY HANDWRITTEN JOURNAL: JESUS CHRIST APPEARED TO ME. (item 200004365852 end time Jul-14-06 15:34:54 PDT)

I found this link on Fark.com. Holy crap. The things people come up with. I guess I need to do something outlandish to get my book to make money.

And now, a word from Captain Obvious...

N. Korea cuts talks with South - Asia-Pacific - MSNBC.com

"So far they don’t seem to be interested in listening, much less doing anything," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Beijing. "I think the Chinese are as baffled as we are."

I know why North Korea is being so brazen: they've been emboldened by what's going on with Iran. DUH!

The golden bullet

HIV patients get first once-a-day pill - AIDS - MSNBC.com

I mean, it MUST be made of gold. Over $1100 per month for these things!? Holy highway robbery, Batman! I hope this $1100 per month amount was reached primarily for R&D, and NOT because the pharmaceutical companies feel like exploiting people with AIDS.

We can hope, right?

We're just not happy here

Vanuata ranked as happiest place - Wonderful World - MSNBC.com

The US ranked 150 out of 178 countries. That's pretty pathetic. But I'm not surprised.

groovy, maaaaaaaan....

Mushroom drug produces mystical experience - More Health News - MSNBC.com

This is just too amazing. Shrooms are on their way to replacing Zoloft and (my personal favorite) Wellbutrin for long-term effects. Actually, you need to keep taking these antidepressants to keep 'feeling good,' while psilocybin truly HAS a long-term effect on positive mood change.

Man, the pharmaceutical companies aren't going to like this!

And, in other news...

Thoroughly cool

Blogger's quest ends with keys to house - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com

Now, all I need is a cool gimmick like this to get someone (or a bunch of someones) to help with the building of MY house. I have the darn thing, but since my hours have been cut in half (because the people who run the place where I work can't balance a budget if their lives depended on it), I now can no longer afford to fix the place up proper.

I finally got most of the roof done, though; but I won't be able to put in the bathroom and kitchen until I can raise about $5,000 (ideally). I have the Pay Pal donate button to the right of the screen. Even a dollar would help right now. I'd like to have a place where my son can live, full time, instead of having to stay with other people.

Amazing how people's dreams slowly get smaller and smaller, until they're happy with just the littlest thing...

You know it's a slow news day when.......

Surgery removes light bulb from anus - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com

Too many butt jokes. Too easy. Move on.