Random Musings of a Digital Monk

analysis

2010-07-26T09:54:00.002-04:00

Seems that I should be able to create analysis documents using the tools provided online. I've found that my blog ends up having a more political bent to it than I thought it would. Using it to create original works would be a better use of the item.

Religious critique

2010-01-02T19:57:00.001-05:00

Pat Condell:
The very concept of blasphemy is a perfect illustration of the cowardly immaturity of the religious mind and the emptiness of religion itself. If religion contained any truth, it could be ridiculed, insulted, even defiled, without being diminished in any way. Its truth would shine through: undimmed, unblemished, shaming those who abused it into silence. But that’s not how things are. Religion is prickly. It’s intolerant. It’s ultra-defensive precisely because it’s brittle and fragile. It’s about as substantial as a meringue. It’s all froth and no substance. It’s had thousands of years to make its case and all it’s produced is sophistry, violence and a raft of morals that would shame a rattlesnake. And no amount of windbaggery and flim-flam from clergy can any longer disguise the simple bald fact that there is nothing there.

Getting a meaning across

2010-01-02T19:21:00.002-05:00

S: Women leave themselves vulnerable passed out alone in a dark alley in the middle of the night. How can anyone be so irresponsible about their own security? Unfortunately, this is a shockingly common sight in the UK, when will people learn?

Q: When will people learn?
A: After they get raped

S: Women get raped because men rape them, not because of how much they drink.

R: People get robbed because people rob them, not because of how much they drink. But if I get drunk and pass out in a dark alley, there is a really good chance I will get robbed and a portion of that blame would fall squarely on me for being an idiot.

R: I see why you say that, but do you see a distinction between a theft based on opportunity and an act of violence? I see a difference between the two crimes.

R: Fine, then substitute pouring gasoline on my head and setting me ablaze. It does not change the fact that putting ones self in a dangerous position is irresponsible and usually entirely avoidable. We do not live in a perfect world. There are rapists and robbers and murderers. Pretending that one does not need to moderate their behavior with these facts in mind is just stupid. Does it mean you deserve what you get, of course not. But to argue that while putting oneself in an obviously dangerous situation, one can still remain blameless of the outcome just enables irresponsible behavior.

Nice Guys

2009-10-04T19:44:00.001-04:00

Women naturally want to mate with powerful, dominant, influential, sexual men. How you treat women is not a big factor in how attracted they are to you, it's a lot more about how you treat yourself. If you're the type of guy who kisses any attractive girls' feet and supplicates to them at every turn, you obviously don't value yourself very much, and therefore they won't value you either. Sheer assholishness is often misconstrued by dumber girls as confidence, which is why it seems that bitter assholes have awesome luck with women. However, the smarter girls (the ones you want to be with, honestly) can see that it is actually a lack of stability and confidence that they take out on other people.

The best way to get women to like you is to like yourself and not be afraid to let girls you want know that you want them. You don't have to be an asswipe to get laid.

Jesus Camp Movie

2009-09-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

I was truly disturbed watching Jesus Camp. The abuse heaped on these children is horrible. It makes me want to go and "save" all of them. I do think that evangelical churches need to be watched closely for society's next murderers, serial killers, and social pariahs.

book

2009-09-18T16:04:00.000-04:00

genetics of science...a book that determines if and which bloodlines produce the most significant discoveries in science.

growth hormone

2009-09-18T16:01:00.001-04:00

Use Growth Hormone to grow a child to be taller than genetics would normally present. Reason: taller men receive higher incomes and more sexual selection than others.

Privileges

2009-08-25T01:02:00.000-04:00

Female Privilege List
Privileges I have as a woman, that "others" - mostly men - don't have.

1. I’m under less pressure than others to engage in risky, dangerous and unhealthy behaviors - one of the reasons I get to live longer than others do.
2. I can choose professions that are less lucrative, and not be called a loser.
3. If I don’t rise to the top of my profession, it’s OK – people won’t judge me the less for it.
4. I’m entitled to the benefits of a safe, orderly society, but no one expects me to risk my personal safety to maintain it.
5. I have the right to have the overwhelming majority of personal risk suffered in defense of my country handled by others.
6. I’m allowed to avoid violence, and even run from it, without the risk I’ll be laughed at.
7. If I see someone else in danger, I’m allowed to stop and think carefully about my personal risk before saving them, without my courage being called into question.
8. I have the right to avoid risky, dangerous challenges, and not be called a coward.
9. I’m allowed to cry as a child and tell my parents I’m scared of something - my parents won't be disappointed with me.
10. I have the right to have most of the really dangerous professions handled by others.
11. If I commit a crime, I get less jail time than others would get for the exact same crime.
12. When I find myself with others in a terrifying, life-threatening situation, I have the right to be evacuated first, once the children are safe. Others can wait.
13. If I get slaughtered as part of some atrocity, people will be especially outraged and will call particular attention to the fact I was slaughtered. When others are slaughtered, it isn't quite as upsetting.
14. I have the right to give my child up for adoption, and thus totally repudiate any personal and financial responsibilities I might otherwise have.
15. I can choose whether I want to be a parent or not, knowing that society will compel the other parent to meet their financial responsibilities - whether they want to or not.
16. If I am personally attacked, I expect otherwise safe, otherwise uninvolved people to come to my defense.
17. If I see someone else being attacked, I’m not expected to risk my own safety to defend them. It's OK for me to wait for others to intervene, and it’s also OK for me to criticize others if they don’t.
18. In any dispute involving custody, I’m granted the presumption that I am the better, safer parent.
19. I have the right to interact with children not my own, and not have people look at me suspiciously.
20. If I choose to become a parent, people understand if I want to focus entirely on the personal, day-to-day care and nurturing of my children. Society expects my spouse to make enough money to make this choice possible.
21. I can get real nasty when someone makes me mad, and call them ugly, a loser, a nerd, a geek, a disgusting creep, a revolting little worm, a worthless piece of garbage, a scum bag, a wimp, a pervert, a jerk-off, an old fart, or a fat slob. After all, I have the right not to be treated meanly at work, and the right not to hear harsh things that might make me uncomfortable. I have legal recourse if that right is not respected, and I have the right to make this perfectly clear on my job interview.
22. I’m allowed to embrace and cultivate my spiritual qualities, and adopt a more elevated and more refined view of life - because other people handle all the "dirty work" like: yard work, garbage hauling, construction, fishing, mining, sewage disposal, street cleaning, long distance trucking, baggage handling, painting, sandblasting, and cement work.
23. If I fail at something, I can go to college and study the historical forces and social constructs that make it harder for people like me. If others fail, it’s because they just don’t have what it takes.
24. If I fail at almost everything, I can always teach college courses that explain why people like me fail a lot.

Please acknowledge http://sweatingthroughfog.blogspot.com/ when forwarding or copying this list

Company Boycotts

2009-08-17T01:12:00.004-04:00

There are companies that I no longer do business with due to treatment I received and despicable behavior.

Cannon - Ripped off my father in 1982
TrueCredit - No cancel button on their Credit monitoring website.
HP - Purchased EDS and became a competitor
EA - Charged me for 6 months of WoW when I canceled the account 5 days into the renewal period. I asked them to reconsider their decision, they failed.
Geico - Provided a quote that was better than my existing auto insurance and then tripled the quoted price after I'd gone through the steps to switch to them.
Gateway - Sells crappy computers. Luckily, I've never bought one of theirs.
FOX News - If you call yourself news and can't provide it honestly, you and your advertisers don't deserve my attention. Wholly, despicable.
Whole Foods - CEO spoke out against Universal Health care Legislation

Male Bashing:
Ford Motor Company
Progressive Insurance
Reebok
Hefty Trash Bags
American Furniture
Red Lobster
J.C. Penney
Lifetime TV
Dish Network
Hummer
Heinz Soup
Post-it Notes
Budweiser
Heineken
The Body Shop
Walls Ice Cream (UK)
Factory Mattress
FluMist
Washington Mutual
Dairy Queen
Capital One
Cooper Tires
Trident
Liz Claiborne
Mass Mutual
Toys R Us
Target
Quantas
MOVIE
Kraft Foods
V8
Dodge
Trojan Condoms
RONA
Budweiser
Macy's
Penney's

A Two week vacation

2009-06-01T06:20:00.000-04:00

Making a list, checking it twice, ... So far this has been a highly fulfilling and satisfying hiatus. Recently, went to spy museum, american indian museum, smithsonian museum, and holocaust museum. Also, looking to do the Baltimore Zoo, National Aquarium (with 4d theatre), and the inner harbor today.

I think also visiting Dupont Circle, the national zoo, the power plant, conowingo dam, and the new york zoo might be fun.

As for movies, Ive seen Star Trek 3 times, wolverine (xmen), Up, Wargames 2, and Terminator. This combined with an active instant Netflix account (and Hulu for rewatching arrested development) has provided a whirlwind of new cinema to parse.

Flea market and Family Reunion may be on the plate. Probably time to find some time to meditate.

Clearly

2009-04-05T00:54:00.000-04:00

If only using the word 'clearly' was a substitute for science, how easy life would be.

Tim Minchin

2008-10-18T17:38:00.001-04:00

I discovered Tim Minchin on YouTube and think his music is interesting.

Sell All the Gold in Fort Knox?

2008-10-06T23:20:00.002-04:00

$129,711,120,000 is the value of all the gold in Fort Knox. 129 Billion $. The Bailout could have bought 6.5x all the gold in Fort Knox.

810 Billion $ Quote

2008-10-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." - Toq.

Confidence

2008-10-03T09:04:00.002-04:00

I keep falling back into Macro News instead of focusing on the technology I know. Today is no different.

When a society only has "confidence" as a means to stabilize its financial markets, its an indicator of bad things to come. "Competence" is what we need. Not all investments cause losses. A competent financial Guru should easily be able to give me a guarantee of positive return. Any financial professional who has lost a single client money should be barred from working in the financial services industry ever again.

Correct Response to privacy

2008-08-21T08:10:00.002-04:00

From:

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2006/05/70886

"The most common retort against privacy advocates -- by those in favor of ID checks, cameras, databases, data mining and other wholesale surveillance measures -- is this line: "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?"

Some clever answers: "If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me." "Because the government gets to define what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition." "Because you might do something wrong with my information." My problem with quips like these -- as right as they are -- is that they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It's not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

Two proverbs say it best: Quis custodiet custodes ipsos? ("Who watches the watchers?") and "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." "

Universal Truths

2008-08-17T10:44:00.000-04:00

Scavenged from: boreme.com

Universal truths

1) Triangular sandwiches taste better than square ones.
2) At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.
3) One of the most awkward things that can happen in a pub is when your pint-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.
4) You've never quite sure whether it's ok to eat green crisps.
5) Everyone who grew up in the 80's has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator.
6) Reading when you're drunk is horrible.
7) Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
8) You're never quite sure whether it's against the law or not to have a fire in your back garden.
10) Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.
11) You never know where to look when eating a banana.
12) Its impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.
13) Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly.
14) Rummaging in an overgrown garden will always turn up a bouncy ball.
15) You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.
16) Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.
17) The most embarrassing thing you can do as schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad.
18) The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the
first given opportunity.
19) Some days you see lots of people on crutches.
20) Every bloke has at some stage while taking a pee flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.
21) Old women with mobile phones look wrong!
22) Its impossible to look cool whilst picking up a Frisbee.
23) Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.
24) You never ever run out of salt.
25) Old ladies can eat more than you think.
26) You can't respect a man who carries a dog.
27) There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got your hand or head stuck in something.
28) No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers.
29) Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.
30) The most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.
31) People who don't drive slam car doors too hard
32) You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood
specifically to stir paint with.
33) Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose.
34) Bricks are horrible to carry.
35) In every plate of chips there is a bad chip.

Copyright Stuff

2008-08-14T20:51:00.003-04:00

The case of Atlantic V Anderson is a case where the Recording Industry charged a woman with copyright infringement and ended up paying $107,951 and admitting fault.

On copyright, I never advocate breaching copyright. I do feel that as a society we should be focusing on creating new works and not living off the proceeds of past works. Performers should make money by performing. Software writers should make money with enhancements to their software. No one should be be stifled because of worrying about infringing someone else's property rights.

There is no reason why this issue ever needed to reach the scale that it has. Penalizing litigious companies suing their own customers is an appropriate response to this activity.

Solar Cell Developments

2008-07-29T08:59:00.001-04:00

link
Comment with correct spelling:
There is a lot of research going on into improving not only the output of solar but into lowering the cost of manufacturing them. Nanotechnologies have in lab tests have shown certain avenues of current research may have the ability to increase performance of basically existing tech by as much as 25%, sure they are a ways to go before any kind of mass production can be done with this research but it's there. Increasing acceptance by the population as to the usefulness of the equipment will of course generate more investor dollars into this research, and frankly I'd much rather see this than more research into increasing payload output of bombs. Some areas still have much they could do to encourage the adoption of solar too. being able to sell energy to the grid rather than just offset the cost of what you bought for instance in California alone would be a boon to the industry.

National Debt

2008-07-12T22:21:00.003-04:00

I strongly believe that those people in office who spent the money should pay out of their own pocket to reduce it back to the level before they messed it up. If you voted for this President, Here's how:

How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?

Make your check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it is a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:

Attn Dept G

Bureau Of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

Uncommon Common Sense Promotions

2008-06-13T09:34:00.002-04:00

What is the basis for promotions and pay evaluations?

An intelligent person should be able to figure that out either via instinct or through careful thought and planning. However, I was surprised by my written list of things answering the question: What have you done outside your role to help the company as a whole? to demonstrate the core values of the company? Its not something I'd stop and think about voluntarily but is advice I'd offer to a younger me. Luckily, my instinct for taking on as much as I possibly can lends itself well toward the appearance (with evidence) that I am proactive within my company.

Examples include:
1) Volunteer Work
2) Increased Ownership of Company
3) Training
4) Recruiting
5) Acting as a subject matter expert
6) Participating in communities of practice

I think a wise thing to do would be to sit down each week and do this evaluation along side the evaluation for: How have I made my Boss's job easier this week?

Today's Word: Lethargy

2008-06-13T09:33:00.000-04:00

Leth-arrrr-jee
Lether-jee

Its a fun word.

Programmer Insecurity

2008-06-13T08:31:00.003-04:00

On reddit this morning there was a blog post on programmer insecurity.

It was an insightful one sided piece attacking the programmer with the common myth of emotional and social ineptitude. My rebuttal is from a programmer's perspective. I could have left comments that disappeared into the void in both locations but I felt that it was a weighty enough subject to merit discussion.

You'd never expect a musician, painter, or dancer to stop and present every note from the moment they started learning a piece, every brush stroke since they started a piece, or every dance session they worked. Its time consuming, interrupts the flow of creative thought, and opens unfinished thoughts/work to public criticism. The last aspect with code is that people will start using it immediately if you're followed in any way.

The dogma "Release Early, Release Often" doesn't mean commit code that doesn't compile. Sometimes, my branches don't compile and I know exactly why but my body just can't keep up with what my mind wants to create. Were I to follow the best practices and plan everything out, I'd lose a lot of the enjoyment and learning I get from playing with different ways of doing things. There may be a best way to do a certain method, but in my implementation I've coded a new way that could work better or could later be replaced to a call to the most efficient method meeting my criteria. Sometimes, its better to let things flow from the mind to the keyboard.

This post is an example of a free flow of thought. Writing is another system where we don't expect writers to show us every draft and keystroke. My post is not well structured or organized but it conveys what I want it to with the time I'm willing to commit to the act.

Hope all are well,

Dave

Defeating Demons Within

2008-05-10T22:28:00.002-04:00

Tonight, I scored a victory against my demons. I was scheduled to volunteer for 2 hours and had driven to the hospital an hour early to begin my shift. I sat in the car and read a new book for some time while wrestling with the urge to drive off and be dishonest about my volunteer work that evening. I hadn't done this before, but as the time approached for me to start my shift my desire to drive off faded and I went in to volunteer.

Driving off would have caused drama. My demons do their best to cause drama. As I get older and wiser, I'm finally able to control these destructive decisions. I will be the person I want to be and there won't be any more unreasonable decisions.

Score one for me.

2008 Proposed Federal Budget

2008-01-31T10:24:00.001-05:00

I was hoping when I started this blogging experiment to focus more on technology and less on the soft sciences and emotionally charged issues such as politics. However, it seems the things that I am most interested in are defining where I stand on a lot of macro issues. While this is probably an effect of listening to too much national media, I'm still going to jot down my points of view for you.

This link:
http://www.thebudgetgraph.com/site/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1

is a tool to examine the proposed federal budget for 2008. It outlines that 67% of our national spending (1055 Trillion $) is requested to go to national defense and security. In the society I want to live in, the military is funded at a maximum of 25% of the total national budget. Other services should make up the bulk of a balanced budget.

Were I in charge, I'd reduce federal spending on defense slowly until we reached the 25% level. The reduction would lead to a balanced budget and a surplus which could then be used to both reduce the tax burden of the poorest citizens and pay for social services such as schools, tax collection, welfare, prisons, legal system, social security, unemployment, and universal health care.

Universal Health Care

2007-12-18T12:57:00.000-05:00

Here is a study that outlines the $1.5 Billion savings that could occur with Universal Health care.

thoughts

2007-11-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

Whoever makes love grow boundless, and sets his mind for seeing the end of birth, his fetters are worn thin. If he loves even a single being, Good will follow. But the Noble One with compassionate heart for all mankind, generates abounding good.

The 60s

2007-10-15T07:23:00.001-04:00

Take Me Back To The 60s is a great nostalgia ride for people who lived through the 60s. The problem with most nostalgia is that it forgets the unfairness in the world at the time which is strange because most of us focus on the negative things in our past when thinking back in an effort not to make the same mistakes.

windbelt - video

2007-10-13T10:04:00.000-04:00

here is an impressive invention that I wished I'd come up with.

pleonasm

2007-10-10T23:01:00.000-04:00

Pleonastic word combinations should be removed from literary works with a search and replace. "true fact","safe haven","tuna fish","hot water heater".

urine fertilizer

2007-10-09T22:43:00.000-04:00

Diluting urine to a 20:1 mixture will aid the growth of any number of plants.

Women's Finances

2007-10-06T10:48:00.000-04:00

This article has some good points about women and money.

Government Corruption

2007-09-25T13:27:00.000-04:00

Sites like http://www.copswritingcops.com/home.html really piss me off. Basically, it verifies that Police Officers don't apply the same laws to themselves as they apply to the rest of us. This is corruption pure and simple. It is against the rule of law and a threat to our society. Its time we stopped letting these individuals bully the rest of us.

Police Brutality

2007-09-19T08:18:00.000-04:00

Marshall Jack Tiller should be in jail...he is a threat to society. The Roseland, Indiana Police department should be disbanded.

This is just another example of the wrong kind of people in the police forces in the United States.

Another Link.

How to understand men

2007-09-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

a) I want to be understood first and loved second.

other information:
I Only Pretends Not to Listen.

I heard what you said. I'm just not interested in hearing it at the moment. Don’t try to give me instructions or talk about your feelings when I'm watching TV, eating, reading, or have just come home from work. I will only be half listening. My mind is on other things like: my day at work, how hungry I am, etc. I can only pay attention to one thing at a time. If I let you think that I'm giving you my full attention, and then you will want to talk to me at these inappropriate moments all the time. If I give you a detailed response, you’ll just continue to talk. If I completely ignore you, you’ll get mad. If I pretend to listen, you will be content and walk away.

I Look at Other Women.

Not because I want to cheat, but because I'm visually stimulated. Getting mad at me for looking is just going to make me sneak a peek. Hey, it’s just a passing glance. It’s not like you don’t check guys out too!

I Need Time Away From You.

I need time to reflect, socialize and just get away from it all. I like to have time to regroup. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be with you, it is just an escape to appreciate what I have at home. So lighten up, while I'm out of the house, go do something you enjoy.

I Don't Feel Like Being Bothered Sometimes

You’ve probably asked me to do something several times, but yet I still don't do it in a timely manner. In frustration, you do it yourself. What am I thinking, “Thank Goodness!” I do things at my own pace. You can ask me to take out the trash and three hours later, it’s still there. Technically, I still have time to take out the trash. In my mind, the trash isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and if you do it yourself, that just makes it better for me.

Yes, I Was Thinking About Sex

If I have a far away look in my eyes or I seem distant I'm thinking about sex. I can’t help it, I think about it several times a day. Wouldn’t you prefer that I think about it several times a day rather than having sex several times a day?

Nothing is Wrong, So Stop Asking Me

Admit it, you see me sitting quietly and you naturally assume something is wrong or has happened. So you ask, “What’s wrong?” and I reply, “Nothing, I’m just thinking.” Well, this answer doesn’t satisfy you, so you ask again throughout the day, which leads to my frustration. I'm reflecting! I'm was probably thinking about how I want to change careers, if you are satisfied and happy with me, how I can make more money, how I don’t want to grow old and fat, or how I would really like to buy that sports car. Ask me once, and then leave it alone. If you really sense something is wrong, give me some time and talk to me when you both feel like talking.

I'm a Conqueror

You just told me about your horrible experience at work. You want me to comfort and console you; instead I give you logical facts about how to solve the problem. You feel cheated. You wanted to share your feelings about the day and all I wanted to do was fix the problem. I like to offer solutions. I'm not concerned about being in touch with my feelings when there’s a conflict. You want to feel understood; I want to make the problem go away. I can’t relate to how you are feeling, so I do what I knows best, helps you to plan a solution.

I Want to Feel Successful.

I needs to feel I have accomplished something in life, and often times that accomplishment is found in my jobs or careers. I don’t like to feel conflicted between work and quality time with my family. To me, if I am working hard to earn money, this will improve the quality of my family’s life.

additional facts:
Why should I remind you that “I love you?” I already told you once.

I’ll do anything for sex

I hate arguing with you. I’d much rather find a compromise.

I love long hair.

When you speak softly, I can’t help but listen.

Please don’t ask me how you look unless you’re willing to trust my answer.

My eyes notice other women a lot more when you are upset with me.

When you’re happy with me I can’t help but want to please you.

If I don’t feel I can make you happy, it makes me feel less than a man.

I expect you to be ready when I pick you up.

I'm scared if I let a woman inside my heart, she'll take advantage of me.

If you can’t stand up to me when I’m a brat, you’re too weak for me to open up to when I’m upset.

Sitting quietly next to me after you’ve made me a meal is your get-out-of-the-doghouse-free ticket. You’ll be surprised how quickly I can forgive.

I don’t read minds. Remember, I’m not a girl.

You may know fashion, but I wish you’d dress to please me, not other women.

When I talk to you about computers and you act bored, it would be nice for you to remember all the times I listened to you talk about what is important to you.

The woman I love is easy to please. She appreciates the effort I put into making her happy, even if I get the details wrong.

You look hot in a dress.

I hate being told what to do when I don’t ask for help. It makes me feel you’re my mother.

During and after sex my ears are as sensitive to your words as your skin is to my touch.

It makes me feel like you trust me when you ask for my advice and then follow it.

It feels competitive when you insist on being in charge.

Being respected is more important to me that being loved.

I want every guy to envy me when we arrive as a couple. Please don’t let yourself go.

When I’m upset I am very tone sensitive. How you say it is more important that what you say.

I hate it when you minimize/ignore my compliments. It makes me want to stop giving them.

I don’t always know how I feel. That’s why I don’t tell you.

I don’t need you to do things for me. What I crave is being able to please you.

If I do one thing and say something contradictory – Go with my actions, that will always tell you what’s in my heart.

I find myself wanting to please you when you simply smile at me without asking for something. (Like a favor).

I really don’t want to hear about any of your ex-boyfriends, regardless of the point.

If I don’t share what I’m thinking it’s because I don’t think you will listen without interrupting.

I don’t like to argue and I don’t like to guess what’s wrong. Just tell me so I can fix it.

I love it when you put your hair in a pony tail.

Don’t ask me, “Are you going to wear that?” when I’m already dressed.

A gentleman should always be respected by his lady in public, even if she is disagreeing with him.

If you don’t believe you’re pretty, you won’t believe me when I tell you, no matter how many times I say it.

It isn’t how much you weigh; it’s that your body is proportionate which is so attractive.

Sometimes I have weird and strange thoughts. I don’t take them seriously and I don’t want to share them with you (or anyone). Sometimes you really don’t want to know what I’m thinking. See above.

I don’t remember everything about our relationship and that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.

I need some time to myself to calm down when I’m upset so that I don’t say something I will regret.

Gold's universal value

2007-09-04T07:58:00.000-04:00

Where does gold come from? This explains the amazing story. Were I to live to see us mining the asteroid belt it would be prudent to invest in gold mining companies for the very long haul.

Crime Analysis

2007-09-03T22:46:00.000-04:00

This article made me sad. The cause and effect cycle of politics, media, fear, uncertainty, and doubt described in this article have strengthened my liberal resolve.

Email From God Discovered

2007-09-03T06:43:00.000-04:00

This is the latest contact we have from our supreme being.

Acronyms

2007-08-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

Acronyms are very useful and are impossible to shake as you become more and more specialized in a given field. Using tooltips to display the meaning of acronyms when you scroll over an acronym can really save a reader a lot of headaches.

Social Ostracizing

2007-08-07T07:04:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the only way to affect policy in this administration is through its attempts at socializing within the elite social circles of the first lady. This article explains best an approach at doing this. Get the president's wife on your side by refusing her social connections and her selfishness will force policy decisions. Did I mention that this president has the worst opinion of any in the history of the country? Worse than Nixon is a tough thing to do.

Road Deaths

2007-08-07T07:03:00.000-04:00

240,000 Americans dead. No word of it in the press. The Cause? Drivers and their cars on our nations roads.

Romance and Intelligence

2007-08-01T11:01:00.000-04:00

This article discusses intellectual pursuits compared to romantic pursuits.

James Watson:
"If I had been married earlier in life, I wouldn't have seen the double helix. I would have been taking care of the kids on Saturday. On the other hand, I was lonely a lot of the time."

Death Statistics

2007-07-26T08:50:00.001-04:00

guidance

2007-07-24T12:05:00.000-04:00

* Most of it doesn’t matter. So much of what I got excited about, anxious about, or wasted my time and energy on, turned out not to matter. There are only a few things that truly count for a happy life. I wish I had known to concentrate on those and ignore the rest.
* The greatest source of misery and hatred in this world is clinging to past hurts. Look at all the terrorists and militant groups that hark back to some event long gone, or base their justification for killing on claims of some supposed historical right to a bit of land, or redress for a wrong done hundreds of years ago.
* Waiting to do something until you can be sure of doing it exactly right means waiting for ever. One of the greatest advantages anyone can have is the willingness to make a fool of themselves publicly and often. There’s no better way to learn and develop. Heck, it’s fun too.
* Following the latest fashion, in work or in life, is spiritual and intellectual suicide. You can be a cheap imitation of the ideal of the moment; or you can be a unique individual. The choice is yours. Religion isn’t the opiate of the masses, fashion is.
* If people complain that you’re too fond of going your own way and aren’t fitting in, you must be on the right track. Who wants to live life as a herd animal? The guys in power don’t want you to fit in for your own sake; they want you to stop causing them problems and follow their orders. You can’t have the freedom to be yourself and meekly fit in at the same time.
* If you make your work your life, you’re making your life into hard work. Like most people, I confused myself by looking at people like artists and musicians whose life’s “work” fills their time. That isn’t work. It’s who they are. Unless you have some overwhelming passion that also happens to allow you to earn a living doing it, always remember that work should be a means to an end: living an enjoyable life. Spend as little time on the means as possible consistent with achieving the end. Only idiots live to work.
* The quickest and simplest way to wreck any relationship is to listen to gossip. The worst way to spend your time is spreading more. People who spread gossip are the plague-carriers of our day. Cockroaches are clean, kindly creatures in comparison.
* Trying to please other people is largely a futile activity. Everyone will be mad at you sometime. Most of the people you deal with will dislike, disparage, belittle, or ignore what you say or do most of the time. Besides, you can never really know what others do want, so a good deal of whatever you do in that regard will go to waste. Be comforted. Those who love you will probably love you regardless, and they are the ones whose opinions are worth caring about. The rest aren’t worth five minutes of thought between them.
* Every winner is destined to be a loser in due course. It’s great to be up on the winner’s podium. Just don’t imagine you can stay there for ever. Worst of all is being determined to do so, by any means available.
* You can rarely, if ever, please, placate, change, or mollify an asshole. The best thing you can do is stay away from every one you encounter. Being an asshole is a contagious disease. The more time you spend around one, the more likely you are to catch it and become one too.
* Everything takes twice as long as you plan for and produces results about half as good as you hoped. There’s no reason to be downhearted about this. Just allow for it and move on.
* People are oddly consistent. Liars usually tell lies. Cheaters cheat whenever it suits them. A person who confides in you has usually confided in several others first—but not got the response they wanted. A loyal friend will stay loyal under enormous amounts of thoughtless abuse.
* However hard you try, you can’t avoid being yourself. Who else could you be? You can act and pretend, but the person acting and pretending is still you. And if you won’t accept yourself—and do the best you can with what you have—who then has any obligation to accept you?
* When it comes to blatant lies, there are none more egregious than budget figures. Time spent agonizing over them is time wasted. Even if (miracle of miracles!) yours are honest and accurate, no one else will have been so foolish.
* The loudest noise in the world is the sound of people whining. Don’t add to it.

Norman Borlaug recieves medal

2007-07-18T09:20:00.000-04:00

This is the location of the latest medal awards to civilians. One of these men is Norman Borlaug who has spent his life developing ways to feed the poor of our world.

Civic Planning to Avoid slums: Regressive Property Tax Break

2007-07-15T16:33:00.000-04:00

So, the goal of a city is to support its people in making their lives better. One way to improve someone's situation is to make their land property more valuable. There exist cities with slums. These places have not been kept up by their owners. So, to solve this issue a computer program could be written to implement the following according to new laws that are passed:

A regressive property tax for the least valuable property of the city. An owner's property tax will be adjusted downward provided that his property that has been identified as a 'least value property' increases in appraised value faster than the city average appreciation. As long as the property is still identified as a least value property the property owner is eligible for this regressive tax break. So, this should encourage owners to improve their properties to be better than those in other parts of the city. When they surpass other areas of the city in value the other areas of the city will be assigned the 'least value property' status and those owners will be given an opportunity to benefit from the "regressive property tax break".

This rising tide of valuation will lift all ships and make the city a beautiful place to be.

Investing

2007-07-13T11:32:00.000-04:00

This year has been kind of weird for the stock market. The traditional summer slide didn't happen.

This site explains the 'Sell in May and go away' strategy based on seasonal changes in the market.

"We discovered that those best days on average are October 16 for the entry into the market for its favorable seasonal period, and April 20 for the exit from the market’s favorable season. However, those are just the best days as averaged over a very long time period. Obviously the market does not begin a rally on the same day each year, or begin to decline from a top on the same day each year."

These dates are consistent with other reports that I'm aware of.

nada

2007-07-13T11:19:00.000-04:00

Nothing new to report except that I'm going to a birthday celebration today.

My Car

2007-07-12T13:21:00.001-04:00

My other new toy: a Bluestone 2007 Saturn Sky Turbo Redline. Its a great car and a lot of fun.

My Phone

2007-07-12T13:14:00.001-04:00

This is my new phone toy. It is a smart phone and I just got my GMail working on it. I may have to write some code for a mobile im solution but we'll see.

Terrorism as a crime

2007-07-12T10:08:00.000-04:00

This article explains why Terrorism is best dealt with as a crime rather than an act of war.

ugly stupid people

2007-07-12T10:06:00.000-04:00

“optimal genotypes differ between male and female red deer, because a genotype that produces a male phenotype with relatively high fitness will, on average, produce a phenotype with lower fitness when expressed in a female.”

Investment Guidelines

2007-07-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

1. Your capital must produce income.
2. Your capital must be absolutely safe.
3. Your capital must be in totally liquid investment. you must be able to convert it into cash at a moment's notice, to handles emergencies.
4. Your capital must not be diminished at the time of investment by unnecessary commissions, or other expenses.
5. Your income must be absolutely safe.
6. Your income must not fluctuate. You must know exactly what your income will be next month, next year and 20 years from now.
7. Your income must be payable to you, in cash, at regular intervals.
8. Your income must not be diminished by charges, management fees or redemption fees.
9. The investment must produce this regular, fixed known income without any further involvement or expense on your part. It must not require maintenance, management, geographic presence or attention due to 'acts of God'.

Chinese Pollution

2007-07-06T10:45:00.000-04:00

750,000 people die prematurely in China each year according to a world report.

Hortibot

2007-07-05T12:41:00.000-04:00

Danish engineers have created an advanced robot that can weed fields.

Cost: 71000 / robot features described in the above article.

Users

2007-06-26T14:51:00.000-04:00

It is often difficult to handle a user base when you require time off. I was away for one week and then back for a week and then gone a week. During that time, my most persistent user encountered issues that she felt must be solved. And for the last few weeks I've been trying to pursue my other initiatives rather than address hers. It makes things a lot simpler when you address their issues directly and hope that they learn and don't become even more dependent.

Organization Tips

2007-06-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

Reduce before organizing.
Write it down now, always.
Have one inbox & process.
A place for everything.
Put it away now.
Clean as you go.
Develop routines & systems.

Your mother wanted to kill you

2007-06-21T07:49:00.000-04:00

this was impressive.

Vatican City getting it right

2007-06-13T12:38:00.000-04:00

This link demonstrates that a 'Father Knows Best Dictatorship' can be very effective in governing.

Gays in the Military

2007-06-12T09:37:00.001-04:00

"You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight"

Review: Robin Hood the BBC Series

2007-06-11T22:34:00.000-04:00

Rating: 2 stars

The Robin Hood series created by the BBC in 2007 contains thirteen episodes in the first season. It contains attractive actors, talented stunt people, and a great range of special effects. I'd love to be less critical of this series except that Robin Hood has been something that I've studied in such minute detail that not pointing out the flaws in this series would do an injustice to the myth and legend. I remember dressing up as robin hood at least one Halloween when I was young.

My formative years were filled with thoughts of sword fighting and archery. I imagined myself performing feats of righteousness and took the sense of right and wrong from the legend into my adult years.

This portrayal of the Robin Hood mythology fails in a number of ways. It presents a feminized fantasy that is historically inaccurate. The series was scripted to present a modernist view of how women would like to see the Robin Hood mythology. The script is filled with modern language and phrases and is wholly unbelievable as a historical reenactment.

Women throughout history did not act like superheroes. It is not in their nature to act. Women lie and manipulate from within the comforts that their victims provide for them. They do not choose physical activity when they could be conniving their way into a better marriage or social circumstance.

While challenging women to be more like men is an interesting experiment in modern times, it totally destroys and devalues the male role in society. I don't begrudge modern women freedoms that they've earned or the opportunities that they take advantage of. However, when a piece is set during a certain time period and culture, being true to the historical aspects of the setting is required for a television endeavor. This series gives non traditional roles and activities to women. It fails to demonstrate the bigotry and stupidity of the people of the time. It gives too much credit to the intelligence of the Sheriff of Nottingham and his men. It introduces inaccurate fighting styles and weapons (The saracen bow was not as powerful as the English longbow). It also fails to demonstrate any strategic thinking on the part of the perpetrators of the crimes or their enemies.

In conclusion, unless you only want a feel good Robin Hood with an English accent, you should take a pass on this series and go watch the Disney version again.

Thoughts

2007-06-11T14:58:00.000-04:00

Frank Zappa, Conservative - Everything that Republicans have done since Reagan has been moving us toward a Fascist Theocracy.

Sheriff Lee Baca is a corrupt official and must be removed from office.

Summer Sell-Off

2007-06-05T12:57:00.001-04:00

Hopefully today marks the beginning of the summer stock sell-off. It was supposed to happen in May but didn't. It is now June 5th and we're seeing a decline. It should continue to decline until August or September when it'll pick up again. At that time I'll shift money into a total market index fund.

Genetic Sequences

2007-06-04T09:12:00.000-04:00

$2 million and two months to sequence a human genome today.

Kinetic Sculptors

2007-06-04T00:06:00.001-04:00

Kinetic Sculptors are cool!

Book Review: The Golden Compass

2007-06-03T05:16:00.000-04:00

Rating: 4 stars

The Golden Compass is a fantasy book whose main character is a little girl. She goes through many exciting adventures in her attempt to make the world a better place for the people she cares about.

I found it to be very well written with plenty of twists and turns and suspense. The author, Phillip Pullman, leads the reader through a complex world of intrigue and fantasy. He introduces fantastic creatures and a world that is similar to our own. The differences between this world and ours are significant and subtle. They threw me for a pleasant loop of rethinking what I knew about the environment the characters were in any time that I became comfortable with what I knew about the world.

Firefox extensions

2007-05-30T07:58:00.000-04:00

StumbleUpon [mozilla.org]

Google Browser Sync [google.com]

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer [mozilla.org]

IE Tab [mozilla.org]

illegal casualties

2007-05-27T17:24:00.001-04:00

Shoulders

2007-05-25T23:54:00.001-04:00

Now that you're standing on the shoulders of giants, what are you doing to advance the state of human society?

Me? I'm updating government and business systems with new technologies to improve their processes and enable their capabilities.

website structure

2007-05-25T23:40:00.000-04:00

pieces of a potential web site:

http://IMAGES.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http://BLOG.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http://PROJECTS.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http://WRITINGS.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http://CODE.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http.LAB.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http://DATA.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

http://TEMP.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]

These could be setup in a different way:

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/IMAGES/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/BLOG/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/WRITINGS/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/PROJECTS/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/CODE/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/LAB/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/DATA/

http://www.[.*].[com|org|net|biz]/TEMP/

Dreams

2007-05-23T09:23:00.000-04:00

So, Last night I had two dreams.

In the first one, I was frantic because I didn't bring any food items to a going away party because I had made the mistake of planning to bring them to a barbeque. It turned out that I had planned everything correctly, but that doesn't alleviate the panic in the dream state.

In the second dream, ... I forget.

European Competition

2007-05-21T09:17:00.001-04:00

So, given the increase in value of the Euro versus the Dollar, The question becomes: Is the United States still the most profitable place to be employed? Short answer, Yes. Longer answer, because of the higher tax rate in European countries even if your currency is becoming more valuable you're still paying a greater proportion of it in taxes. So, I still think that Working in an American city is the best solution for gaining wealth, provided that you have a high rate of savings.

Home Price Article

2007-05-11T00:07:00.000-04:00

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/05/09/200655.php

Reagan

2007-05-06T12:53:00.000-04:00

9-11 was Reagan's legacy to the American people.

Fun Numbers

2007-05-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

image.

Against a Housing Purchase

2007-04-30T10:09:00.000-04:00

The argument against buying a home at this time is here.

Sell in May

2007-04-30T10:07:00.000-04:00

"Sell in May and Walk Away"

Politics

2007-04-24T07:41:00.000-04:00

What is this?

Music

2007-04-22T12:03:00.000-04:00

I'm not usually very educated on music.

This site seems to analyze the buzz around the net on various English speaking music producers. All but one of the youTube videos that I watched from here were well done and artistic.

criticalmetrics

comics

2007-04-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

My father always thought that political cartoons showed the truth so much better than the news articles around them.

and another:

Political Competition

2007-04-16T09:13:00.000-04:00

I wonder if there is a competition between Republican Presidents to determine how many soldiers they can bury in Arlington National Cemetary.

Movie: Casino Royale

2007-04-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

rating: 4 stars

This movie would have gotten a 3 star rating but they tricked me into believing that there may be a happy ending....which would have totally sucked. Suffice it to say, that this had the typical Bond stuff. A cool calm and detatched charismatic psychopath who could play cards, drive amazing cars, and use cool gadgets while sweeping the pretty girls off their feet.

Movie: 300

2007-04-15T13:46:00.000-04:00

rating: 4 stars

300 is an account of the legendary battle between the Spartans and the Persians thousands of years ago (465 BCE I think). It presented strong honorable men, next to powerful women and traitors. The persian army was impressive with references to the immortals of that ancient land. Said to be unstoppable the persian army was held at the pass for 3 days by a band of 300 Spartans and their King Leonidus. What I liked about this movie was that the cast acted like a team. No one actor stepped up and stole the spotlight.

Movie: Ghost Rider

2007-04-15T13:42:00.000-04:00

Rating: 4 stars

I really liked this movie. The producer stayed true to the comic and used special cinematic effects to great effect. The end leaves things open with the hero not getting the girl (finally!) and choosing a life of action and adventure over one of stability and normality. Who wouldn't want to stay kick-ass and immortal for the rest of their lives if it meant sacrificing one cheating ex-lover?

Pens, and Chipotle

2007-04-15T13:39:00.000-04:00

I came in to work today to get a jump-start on the week.

I stopped by the stores and picked up two things. Mont Blanc pen refills for 30$/4 and Chipotle Burrito. The Mont Blanc ink really is addictive and I'm becoming a snob about writing with anything else. The Burrito is buy one get one free tomorrow with receipt. So, its tasty.

Vista

2007-04-12T14:14:00.000-04:00

So, I've been playing around with Vista a bit. It is visually improved over WinXP with a user interface like Apple OS X. It constantly prompts you to authenticate yourself or authorize an action which gets annoying when you're setting up a system.

Despite this, I've decided to use it as a base for a development environment vmware image that I'm building. Something interesting that I've found is that the defrag utility in Vista has removed all visuals and progress bars. I always liked watching these as they worked on organizing my data correctly on the disks...and now they're gone. There is no way to tell how long the procedure is going to take.

Book Review: A Year of Magical Thinking

2007-04-10T11:10:00.000-04:00

Rating: 3 stars

This book was about grief. A woman lost her husband and her daughter. While describing the year she referenced many books on grief and healing. She seemed to go through PTSD.

Justice

2007-04-03T13:01:00.000-04:00

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

On the surface I can agree with the quote. But when I think about it and its reflection on the human condition, I'm not so sure I want to champion the spread of justice at any cost.

You shouldn't kill to spread Justice.
You shouldn't hurt to spread Justice.
You shouldn't impoverish to spread Justice.

old works

2007-04-01T19:00:00.000-04:00

I've been digging through a lot of the old work I used to do before I got too busy with the various jobs that I've had in the last three years. I've discovered a lot of content that wasn't really tied together very well. There were a number of home pages and personal sites that I had started but not much more.

Graphics Card: GeForce 6800 XTreme

2007-04-01T11:19:00.000-04:00

My posts have been largely reactions to general news sites and not focused on Technology as much as I had initially imagined.

I recently upgraded my box to more suitable specs. One of the upgrades was a single GeForce 6800XTreme Graphics card from NVidia. The card comes with a new interface which allows the card to be linked to another card of the same type via a hardware bridge called SLI.

This article describes the performance benchmarks of one or two of these cards.

SLI may motivate me to purchase a second 6800XTreme video card, provided I can find some programming use for the processor on either one or both of them. I'll keep you posted.

Gays in the Military

2007-03-27T10:13:00.000-04:00

This article outlines the discrimination that exists in our military.

Sgt. Marcia Ramode should be demoted for the poor way in which they acted and the overt prejudice that they expressed to a candidate for military service. The entire unit that Sgt. Marcia Ramode belongs to should receive sensitivity training and public relations training.

Federal Budget

2007-03-25T09:35:00.000-04:00

This article from Taxpayers for Common Sense makes a lot of sense to me.

There is no reason why an emergency spending bill is necessary after the first year of a conflict.

DC Deaths

2007-03-19T21:12:00.000-04:00

It looks like the death count in DC is up to forty since the year began, according to the police blotter. My guess is that those numbers are going to go up as the economy continues to slip.

Housing Article

2007-03-19T11:57:00.000-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031301733_pf.html

illustrates the mortgage industry very well.

My only comment is:
Steve, where was your article 4 years ago when people needed it?"

best,

Dave

Energy Savings

2007-03-16T13:05:00.001-04:00

link 1

link 2

society abuses prisoners or prisoners rewarded for helping society?

boardgames

best,

Dave

Energy Savings

2007-03-16T13:05:00.000-04:00

link 1

link 2

society abuses prisoners or prisoners rewarded for helping society?

boardgames

best,

Dave

Dear Abby

2007-03-16T13:02:00.001-04:00

http://www.askugg.com/2007/03/15/i-think-my-wife-is-cheating-on-me-why-men-are-never-published-in-dear-abby/

Advice from an Old Man to a Young Man

2007-03-16T12:42:00.000-04:00

Advice to Young Men from an Old Man
1. Don’t pick on the weak. It’s immoral. Don’t antagonize the strong without cause, its stupid.
2. Don’t hate women. It’s a waste of time
3. Invest in yourself. Material things come to those that have self actualized.
4. Get in a fistfight, even if you are going to lose.
5. As a former Marine, take it from me. Don’t join the military, unless you want to risk getting your balls blown off to secure other people’s economic or political interests.
6. If something has a direct benefit to an individual or a class of people, and a theoretical, abstract, or amorphous benefit to everybody else, realize that the proponent’s intentions are to benefit the former, not the latter, no matter what bullshit they try to feed you.
7. Don’t be a Republican. They are self-dealing crooks with no sense of honor or patriotism to their fellow citizens. If you must be a Republican, don’t be a “conservative.” They are whining, bitching, complaining, simple-minded self-righteous idiots who think they’re perpetual victims. Listen to talk radio for a while, you’ll see what I mean.
8. Don’t take proffered advice without a critical analysis. 90% of all advice is intended to benefit the proponent, not the recipient. Actually, the number is probably closer to 97%, but I don’t want to come off as cynical.
9. You’ll spend your entire life listening to people tell you how much you owe them. You don’t owe the vast majority of people shit.
10. Don’t undermine your fellow young men. Mentor the young men that come after you. Society recognizes that you have the potential to be the most power force in society. It scares them. Society does not find young men sympathetic. They are afraid of you, both individually and collectively. Law enforcement’s primary purpose is to suppress you.
11. As a young man, you’re on your own. Society divides and conquers. Unlike women who have advocates looking out for them (NOW, Women’s Study Departments, government, non-profit organizations, political advocacy groups) almost no one is looking out for you.
12. Young men provide the genius and muscle by which our society thrives. Look at the Silicone Valley. By in large, it was not old men or women that created the revolution we live. Realize that society steals your contributions, secures it with our intellectual property laws, and then takes credit and the rewards where none is due.
13. Know that few people have your best interests at heart. Your mother does. Your father probably does (if he stuck around). Your siblings are on your side. Everybody else worries about themselves.
14. Don’t be afraid to tell people to “Fuck off” when need be. It is an important skill to acquire. As they say, speak your piece, even if your voice shakes.
15. Acquire empathy, good interpersonal skills, and confidence. Learn to read body language and non-verbal communication. Don’t just concentrate on your vocational or technical skills, or you’ll find your wife fucking somebody else.
16. Keep fit.
17. Don’t speak ill of your wife/girlfriend. Back her up against the world, even if she’s wrong. She should know that you have her back. When she needs your help, give it. She should know that you’ll take her part.
18. Don’t cheat on your wife/girlfriend. If you must cheat, don’t humiliate her. Don’t risk having your transgressions come back to her or her friends. Don’t do it where you live. Don’t do it with people in your social circle. Don’t shit in your own back yard.
19. If your girlfriend doesn’t make you feel good about yourself and bring joy to your life, fire her. That’s what girlfriends are for.
20. Don’t bother with “emotional affairs.” They are just a vehicle for women to flirt and have someone make them feel good about themselves. That’s the part of a relationship they want. For you it is a lot of work and investment in time. If they are having an emotional affair with you, they’re probably fucking someone else.
21. Becoming a woman’s friend and confidant is not going to get you into an intimate relationship. If you haven’t gotten the girl within a reasonably short period of time, chances are you won’t ever get her. She’ll end up confiding to you about the sexual adventures she’s having with someone else.
22. Have and nurture friendships with women.
23. Realize that love is a numbers game. Guys fall in love easily. You’re going to see some girl and feel like you’ll die if you don’t get her. If she rejects you, move on to the next one. It’s her loss.
24. Don’t be an internet troll. Got out and live life. There is not a cadre of beautiful women advertising on Craigslist to have NSA sex with you. Beautiful women don’t need to advertise. The websites that advertise with attractive women’s photos and claims of loneliness are baloney. All they want is your money and your personal information so that they can market to you. The posts on Craigslist by young “women” seeking NSA sex, and asking for a picture are just a bunch of gay troll pic collectors. This is especially true if the post uses common gay lexicon like “hole” as in “fuck my hole” or seeks “masculine” men, or uses the word cock (except in the context of “Don’t send a cock shot.”) There are women on Craigslist. They are easily recognizable by their 2-5 paragraph postings. Most are in their 30's or older.
25. When you become a man in full, know that people will get in your way. People who are attracted to you will somehow manage to step in your path. Gay guys will give you “the look.” Old people will somehow stumble in front of you at the worst time. Don’t get frustrated. Just step aside and go about your business. Know that these are passive aggressive methods to get you to acknowledge their existence.
26. Don’t gay bash. Don’t mentally or physically abuse people because of who they are, or how they present themselves. It’s none of your business to try to intimidate people into conformity.
27. If your gay, admit it to yourself, your parents, your friends and society at large. Be prepared to get harassed. See rule 14. If someone threatens you or assaults you, call the cops. Have them arrested. You have no obligation to self sacrifice because of who you are. As a gay person, you’ll have more social freedom than straight men. Use it to protect yourself. Be prepared to get out of Dodge if your orientation makes your life unbearable. Move to San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, or New Orleans. You’ll find a welcoming community there.
28. Don’t be a poser. Avoid being one of those dudes who puts a surfboard on top of their car, but never surfs, or a dude with a powder coated fixed gear bike and a messenger bag, but was never a messenger. Live the life. Earn your bona fides.
29. Don’t believe the crap about the patriarchy. More women are accepted and attend college. More degrees are awarded to women than men. Women outlive men. More men commit suicide. Men are twice as likely to be victims of violence, including murder. If you consider sexual assaults in prisons, twice as many men are raped as women (society thinks prison rape is funny). The streets are littered with homeless men, sprinkled with a few homeless women. Statically, women are happier than men. The myth that girls are being cheated by are educational system is belied by the fact that schools are bastions of femininity, mostly run by and taught by women. Girls outperform boys in school. It is the boys in school getting fucked over, and prescribed ritalin for being boys. Real wages for men are falling, while real wages for women are rising. Just because someone says something enough times, doesn’t make it true. You have nothing to feel guilty about.
30. Remember, 97% of all advice is worthless. Take what you can use, and trash the rest.

MADD

2007-03-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

While I support the mission statement of the organization, I do feel that this is one of the most corrupt nonprofit organizations.

http://www.drunkard.com/issues/08_02/08_02_fighting_madd.htm

"alcohol-related traffic deaths since 1982 have been reduced by 37 percent"
37% over 25 years is not a good metric. Either the problem (death by drunk driving) wasn't high incidence or their campaigns have been largely ineffective. Combined with the improvements in vehicle safety, a maturing population, and seatbelt laws their effectiveness is probably closer to 15% over 25 years.

The alcohol penalty metric has moved from 1.2 to .08 over this time period. I feel that this is a good direction.

"If we really want to save lives, let’s go after the most dangerous drivers on the road.” - Candy Lightner, Founder of MADD

"The fact that only 28% of the donations they wrung out of the public was actually going to anti-drinking and driving programs didn’t bother them in the least."

"By 1998, MADD had an annual budget of $42 million. Pension plans were put in place. Salaries and benefits exceeded $9 million per year."

"the money would only continue to roll in if the public perceived there was still a need for war, and a huge part of MADD’s budget is dedicated to keeping that perception in place."

"16,000 Americans each year are killed in alcohol-related accidents."
Drunk drivers are not responsible for 16000 a year.
"Only 500 innocent Americans are killed each year by drunk drivers." -- Stephen Beck, DAMM

3,000 people in jail on drinking and driving charges kill themselves while incarcerated.

Equal rights for Fathers

2007-03-14T08:55:00.000-04:00

http://alternet.org/rights/39716/?

"Yet according to a randomized study of 46,000 divorce cases published in the American Law and Economics Review, two-thirds of all divorces involving couples with children are initiated by mothers, not fathers, and in only 6 percent of cases did the women claim to be divorcing cruel or abusive husbands."

33% of pregnancies are out of wedlock:
"Yet these relationships fail for many reasons besides male perfidy. These include: youth, economic pressure and the lack of living wage jobs (how many couples fight over money?), and the mothers' post-partum depression and mood-swings."

It is wrong to force a pregnancy on an unwilling father just as it is wrong to force a pregnancy on an unwilling mother.