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election year economics

Isn't it funny how the economy supposedly takes a downturn a few months before every presidential election? And how NPR commentators can make bad news out of even the most cheery economic indicators? Of course, after the first Tuesday in November, the economy will supposedly either sink further into a recession or experience a glorious revival, never mind what the data say. Ah, politics and the media...

It's a dog read blog world out there...

I was just reflecting on the well-known phrase, "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog." Then I had an epiphany: On the Internet, no one cares you're a dog.

And IMHO, that's a Good Thing.^TM

I'd like to learn how to spell Connecticut...

...but I just can't.

Read this book: Eats, Shoots and Leaves.

Thinking

Do you ever get the feeling that your only purpose in life is to convert oxygen into deadly greenhouse gases that contribute to the extinction of the human race, and the eventual entropic heat-death of the Universe? Nah, me either.

Let me just clear something up...

"Tolerance" is not defined as "accepting any and every foolish idea that comes into someone else's head." It means that we all should respect and protect the rights of other people to hold their own opinions and beliefs, whether or not we agree with them. Or as Voltaire is often mistakenly quoted as saying, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

In other words, you have the right to your own wrong opinion.

]]> So, how does this play out in a way that gets a burr under my saddle? Easy -- I'm a conservative, fairly traditional Christian living in a culture that seems to "tolerate" everyone and everything except Christianity.

This means that if 1) I believe the Bible is true, and 2) I believe that Jesus meant it when he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father [God] except through me." -- then I have a right to these beliefs and you, as a member of a free and tolerant society, have the responsibility to defend my beliefs -- whether or not you agree with me.

Or is "tolerance" really available to everyone except Christians?

Happy Holidays

Sometimes family gatherings are a bore, but you can still find little joys to get you through. Cf. this bird-watchers' bookmark that is part of the bird-themed decor in one of my relations' homes:

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. And he brings good things to us bad little boys sometimes, too.

School Daze

Going to back to college is good for me in so many ways... Not only am I keeping my mind active and learning, and expanding my knowledge and horizons -- I'm also toning and flattening my abs by sucking in my gut constantly so I don't look quite so fat around all these 20-somethings. Ah, college...

Thinking

It just occurred to me that I'm not good enough with names and dates and places to be a conspiracy theorist. Darn it.

V for Very Valuable Voice

So I was watching the movie "V for Vendetta" for the first time last night, and at one point I thought to myself, "hey, that guy sounds like he's imitating Agent Smith from the Matrix." Then I looked up Hugo Weaving this morning -- the guy who plays V, the protagonist of "V for Vendetta" -- and it was the same guy who played Agent Smith! Which amazed me, because his "V" voice was totally unlike Agent Smith, and we never see his face in the movie, and I didn't recognize the name...

OK, so it's not as impressive when I retell it. But it struck me as funny, anyway. It was a 5-day rental, so I'm going to watch that part again and figure out exactly when it was I realized it was the same guy... except I didn't, really... but it was late, so maybe... anyway. Story over, nothing to see here, move along.

El Acoso Sexual!

So I'm idly reading the posters in the breakroom at the office this morning (mainly because of my eyes' complete inability to pass over the written word in any form, no matter how many times I've read that specific piece of text before) and I notice the festive-sounding phrase "El Acoso Sexual". Mmm, sounds zesty! Then I notice the translation beside it: "sexual harassment." Damn, not going to propose trying that one with the Mrs. tonight.

Reminds me of the (now decades-) old joke by a Christian comedian about his experience of motion sickness while on an airplane. The gag was that everything sounds more festive in Spanish -- even air sickness, which he discovered while preparing to use the festively-labeled air sickness bag: "Para la náusea!"

Go ahead, just try saying either of those phrases in a hearty, affected Spanish accent. Be sure to include the ! at the end for effect. If you're culturally limited and uni-lingual like the majority of Americans (myself included), admit it: you can't help but hear Mariachi bands and think of women in flowing white dresses dancing the Samba. So, mi amigos, join with me and comamos cucarachas!

A joke I don't quite have the guts to include in my personal e-mail signature

If houseplants ever take over the world,
I'm probably going to be sitting in shackles
at their version of the Nuremberg trials.

(Tim H. Richweis)

Lead us not into temptation

Since I recently found myself lacking an accessible firearm with which to shoot myself in the foot, last week I emailed my friendly-neighborhood sysadmin about the fact that I was no longer receiving any emails from my blog's MT-Blacklist. So he corrected the "problem" and lo, the Gates of Hades did spring open and the Spam Minions of Hell did pour forth.

Turns out myself and especially my son are very popular amongst those who would like to help you refinance your mortgage or play online poker. Thankfully, they are not yet soliciting my 9 month-old regarding the purchase of member-enhancing pharmaceuticals.

So anyway, I've noticed quite a trend with most of these comment and trackback spams: they're using blogspot.com subdomains (which are apparently now a part of Blogger). This trend is therefore leading MT-Blacklist to tempt me like Britney Spears dressed as a Catholic schoolgirl -- Cf. a recent processing screen MT-Blacklist offered me:

Out of the 12 URL(s) that were extracted 12 were recognized to have a subdomain...
Shortened domain -- Matching URLs
blogspot.com -- 12

(default action: consolidate and refresh, then BLOCK)

Oh, how tempting to just blacklist all of blogspot. Lead me not into temptation, MT-Blacklist, for I can find it myself.

AmIANerdorNot?

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Crushingly nihilistic thought for the day

Saw this in someone's signature on an online forum today:

Smile..... from here on out life only gets shorter.

Now, isn't that reassuring.

Another reason I really need a camera phone

Saw a parked van the other day with the following painted on the side:

Bob the Maintenance Man
(phone numbers)
"...because sometimes a husband is just not enough."