News Round Up

I just renewed the domain for this blog another year so I might as well pretend I'll get my money's worth by making a post today. And then I'll promptly forget about this space for a few months. Unlike the last several winters, we are getting rain this year, lots of rain!

The photo on the right is Pinto Lake from a few weeks ago when it flooded all the way out to Green Valley Road. This is among the most polluted and nasty water in California, I can't imagine what the bacteria did to the crops it flooded.

In other news, I've now joined the world of 3D printing. Prices have come way down and it is now entirely possible to get a decent printer ready to go out of the box for around $200. I originally ordered an Anet A8 DIY printer kit from a site called GearBest. They took my order, took my money and then let me know they were planning to sit and do nothing for more than week because of the Chinese Lunar New Year. I cancelled that order and bought a Monoprice Select Mini through Amazon that was delivered two days later.

After some initial bumps in coming up to speed, I've now gotten a whole bunch of excellent prints out of it and am making useful and cool stuff. Our long term current printing project is to create a whole bunch of those castle wall blocks and build our own castle. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and includes gates, towers, fortifications and more. I found the files on Thingiverse which has an amazing variety of cool things to print. It has been lots of fun to have and it makes every morning a bit like Christmas to come down and find something new under the printer nozzle (yeah, not quite as poetic).

I'll post some photos of the castle as it comes together as well as some of the other fun stuff we've printed out like these very cool low-poly(gon) Pokemon! That's Totodile, Bulbasaur and Squirtle in semi-clear and black PLA. There are others but they've been absconded with by my youngest child and may have even been sold! We are ordering some colored filament to keep making them!

Other stuff? Let's see, with the winter storms, it has been a bit harder to get out and surf lately. Poor conditions and timing have made things tough but Sully and I surfed a little last weekend and I went out for a short surf yesterday on water that was too windy and wild to be out long on. Seriously, the abs workout I get just from maintaining my balance is impressive!

Playing a Little Catch Up

So, here's a quick update on what I've been up to since the last post.

Natural Bridges State Park with just a wee bit of saturation.

Yacht Harbor Bubble - I've been able to ride my bike more and toured through my old stomping grounds yesterday after work. It was nice to roll over places I've spent so much time on before.

Fuzzy SC Boardwalk at night.

For a number of reasons, I am unable to provide much detail on what, exactly, I've been up to.

Here are some things I've been thinking about and talking about behind private doors on the internets.

Purity balls, in which girls 'gift their virginity' to their fathers until marriage, sweeping America

How an Under-Appreciated iOS 7 Feature Will Change the World - this is a brilliant idea that I hope gets baked into all devices moving forward to extend networks seamlessly out into the boonies.

Taking homophobia and applying it to religiophobia FTW.

This American Bro: A Portrait of the Worst Guy Ever - to which I would add, friends don't let friends become or behave like bro's. Bro's need to be exiled from society and left to starve in the wilderness, they diminish all of society by their overt and inane douchery. Yes, I know we'd end up losing Las Vegas entirely (the Bro capital of the world save Spring Break when it becomes LAUDERDALE!!!1!).

Fun at the park.

Girl Genius - a highly entertaining webcomic by the Foglio brothers of Dragon magazine fame from waaaaaaaay back in the day. Really entertaining stuff.

Not sure how all the graphics are going to play in the post. May have to make some adjustments. But I've added stuff I've reshared because I strongly believe the sentiment expressed. The bonuses for the do-nothing greedheaded assholes on Wall St. exceed ALL the earnings made by minimum wage employees. And somehow it is the lowest rung that continues to shoulder the heaviest burden while the rich get richer.

Something has to change. We cannot continue to expand the chasm between haves and have nots. The have nots simply will not stand for it beyond a point and there will be a rising up and a culling.

Greed is the problem. Not caring for the poor. GREED.

WTF News

Contained herein are actual news stories gathered from around the intarwebs that elicit loud What the Fuck? responses.

Hannity Agrees to be Waterboarded for Charity to Prove It Is Not Torture - this is unlikely to happen but I think it might go a very long way towards changing his stance that waterboarding is, essentially, dunking someone's head in water. It is much, much more.

8-year-old Saudi girl divorces 50-year-old husband - reread that slowly. What kind of a government would sanction the marriage of an eight year old in the first place? Disgusting kid groping freaks.

Girl beats off muggers with marching band baton - that's one way to stop an assault, beat them off. Not sure how pleasurable the baton made it but, hey, it takes all types.

Fear a high school reunion? Hire a stripper - Better yet, hire a male stripper to impersonate you.

Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System packs .338-caliber rifle controlled by Xbox 360 pad - 'Scuse me while I go and make sure my fallout shelter is fully stocked and has a can opener.

Berlusconi rejects patch-up with wife - there are some things that really should be dealt with privately. A pending divorce is very high up on that list. Show some class and take it offline.

NV boy accused of targeting girl on `kill list' - this is a 5th grader who not only put together a list of people he wanted to kill, he was starting to act on that list by attacking a 10 year old girl with a rock.

And finally, Some see media flu coverage as overblown - ya think? Its the flu, there's a nasty flu every year and the flu kills people every year. There is little new about this year's flu epidemic.

Choose A Side

I just came up with a new game called Choose A Side.

It works like this. Go to your local favorite news source (in my case it will be the San Francisco Chronicle) and copy the top five news items on the home page. Then go through the list and choose a side and explain why.

Sound like fun? Alrighty then, here we go.

Positive Bonds Steroids Tests Alleged - Okay, okay, Bonds is a big fat-headed cheater. I said it. But what is ultimately going to send him to jail isn't the steroid use, its the lying about it. Look at Jason Giambi, he admitted it and his career has moved on (albeit with smaller numbers). It is arguable that Bonds cheated, or started cheating, during an era when steroid use was rampant and tacitly condoned by ownership and the commissioner. Once public sentiment turned against it then everyone tried to pretend like they'd been against steroid and HGH use all along. Does that exonerate him? No, because he let his ego get the better of him and lied about drug use while under oath in front of a congressional hearing. And one thing you absolutely do not do is lie to a bunch of Congressmen and women. Do I think they should be, you know, doing something more important with their time? Hell yeah, our economy is in the toilet, we have two wars going on and we have asshat bank execs pulling down $15 million a year in bailout cash. Bonds' crimes are pretty unimportant in the larger scheme of things.
Conclusion: Not on Bonds side.

Digital TV Conversion Delayed Until June - This won't make one bit of difference in our life either with or without the conversion. We get cable, it is taken care of for us (though I did hear that our cable company was slowly slipping beneath the bankruptcy waves). I guess, since I have to choose sides, I'll go with the people here, the ones who either cannot afford or cannot find a digital converter unit to buy.
Conclusion: With the non-digitized masses.

UC Regents Change Rules For Admission - guarantees are hard to come by in the real world. They always have loopholes or clauses or somesuch that makes them less than rock-solid. I have no problem with reducing the guaranteed admissions of the top students in California from 12.5% to 10% if it means more kids will get an honest look by the school system. But then, I'm not a top 11% student, I bet I'd have a different take on this if I was.
Conclusion: Siding with the Regents.

Shackled Tracy Boy's Escape Described - the people are abused this kid should never walk free again. They are despicable, hateful, hideous excuses for human beings. What they did is unforgivable and they should be made to suffer until their last breath.
Conclusion: Completely on the kid's side here. Absolutely no question.

Obama Caps Executive Pay Tied To Bailout - This is another pretty easy one. It is shocking how deeply greedy and ridiculous banking executives are. The stories of excess making the news are very likely the tip of the iceberg and we're only hearing about them now because the money is ours, not theirs (though it is still ours sort of when it was bank money). The junkets, the lavish office redecorating, the bonuses for doing nothing showing up and helping crater the company. The greed is rife throughout the banking industry and it is wrong. Capping executive salaries is a good first step to ensuring that the bailout money they get isn't going straight into some wanker in an expensive suit's pocket.
Conclusion: Go Obama! Smack them fatcats around some!

That was a good time. Want to give it a try? Leave a comment and I'll come check yours out.

A Symptom of the Problem

Poll: Internet, Fox News Are Most Trusted News Sources

Fox News trounced CNN, 39% to 16% in a recent poll by the Independent Film Channel as being the most trusted news channel in America.

What is worse is that Rush Limbaugh is the most trusted news personality followed by Bill O'Reilly.

Let me be very clear, Fox News is about as Fair and Balanced as Hanoi Hannah during the Vietnam War. And Rush Limbaugh is demonstrably wrong nearly every single moment of every single day. And when he isn't wrong, he's being hateful and divisive (see his comments about Michael J. Fox, Donovan McNabb, Abu Ghraib, etc., etc., ad infinitum). Not to mention his support of the tobacco industry peddling poison. The guy isn't a news man, he's a demagogue. It pains me to think of so many Americans listening in to his daily show and nodding along with the occasional "You're so right, Rush". This is why my friend, Jack of What Would Jack Do, calls them sheeple. Don't let a demagogue with an agenda do your thinking for you.

And don't just accept whatever they spew. Apply a little critical thinking to their statements and heck, apply a little self-examination to the rest of your life too.

Demagogues and Weasel Words

Because I have no patience to try and sculpt my comments to suit Ryan's rather ridiculous comment spam filter (nor does he even know how to turn it down or change its settings) and it keeps bouncing my comment, I'm going to post it here. This is in response to his short post, Just a Hunch which discusses why traditional media sources are floundering.

My second comment after a first comment calling Rush Limbaugh a liar and Fox News a sham news channel.

Actually, Ryan, I added that line about crawling up a butt specifically for you. I'm hurt. I would think you would know, by now, that any comment or statement here including a reference to a rectum is a specific nod to you and your famous backside. As for the liberal media bias for Obama, don’t believe the hype. Give a read to this article on FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting), the summary is, basically, there is no pro-Obama media bias. It is well supported and fairly difficult to refute.

Mr.D, when you say something like "most times when people assert that Rush is lying" you are admitting, implicitly, that some of the time he is lying. Most of the time people misunderstand him and some of the time he's telling outright, utter lies that he knows are completely untrue because his job is to appeal to his audience that loves his demagogery.

Inserting weasel words into a statement diminishes the power of your point or, more accurately, pops it like an over-inflated balloon. A weasel word is an escape hatch from a logical progression to a supportable conclusion.

Here, here is Rush Limbaugh’s Wiki page, specifically questions about his accuracy. But because he shows his bias proudly and spews lies and distortions, he gets a free pass?

As for the sources I draw my news from, they are, among other places, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Associated Press, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC (yes, I do watch Olbermann, yes, I do believe him because his facts are verifiable even if his delivery is over-the-top), Wikipedia, Google News, Wired, and a thousand other sources. Do my sources lean to the left? Yes. Does that make them factually incorrect out of hand? No. Would I continue to read or take my news from a source that I know to intentionally spin and mislead me? No. I like my information with as little discernable bias as possible. And I never accept something at face value, I examine and re-examine my thoughts, beliefs and conclusions constantly.

As for my ability or inability to grasp why Rush appeals to a large audience, its the same reason why a demagogue like Bill O'Reilly has a wide audience, he plays to their fears, he strums their hatred and intolerance and prejudices. I understand why demagogues enthrall people, it’s primarily because people want to be told they are right and people who don't think like them are evil and/or stupid. Rush, Billo, Michael Savage and all of the others use the tactics of the demagogue to further their own causes, nationalist rhetoric couched in logical false methods like straw man attacks, false dilemmas, demonization and loaded questions. The demagogue appeals to a person’s baser instincts and desire to be told that their prejudices are the right ones to have, that they are among the chosen ones, that the other side are God-less, soul-less hedonists bent on chaos, anarchy and sodomy. And they cannot tolerate dissenting voices, their arguments cannot withstand scrutiny because they traffic in a distorted reality fed by prejudice and intolerance wrapped inside false patriotism.

You may be asking, after reading quite a lot of things I don’t like, what do I stand for?
I stand for honesty, I stand for integrity (of person and thought process), I stand for a tolerant and open society that engages in rational discussion, I stand for parents taking care of their children and teaching them right from wrong, I stand for allowing others to have their beliefs so long as they allow me to have mine, I stand for freedom of thought, speech, religion and action. I stand for accountability and creative expression. I stand for art, beauty, music and taking care of one’s body. I stand for intellectual curiosity and I stand for standing up against bullies of all kinds. I stand for capital punishment and free markets (not free market profit and socialized risk). I stand for fully funded education. I stand for transparency in government and I stand for universal healthcare.

I Can Admit That I Was Wrong

A few months ago Rick played around with Twitter and I couldn't understand what the point of it was. Short messages posted from whenever about whatever was my basic understanding.

But since Jay go me using it, I've actually enjoyed being able to keep up to the minute tabs on my friends. Its like getting a slice of their life, from Esther's bemoaning the barrage of PR calls to Jay and Chris' ride updates. It would be neat to have pictures incorporated somehow but I'm sure that's in the works.

When I get a minute (and find a suitable three column template to use) I'll add my Twitter feed to the sidebar. But here it is in-line, for fun. It will get better when I have a better text capable phone.

Instant Update

follow me on Twitter

A Little Good, A Little Bad

Some good news is that I finally won our local football pool this week. I've been near the top of the heap all season with a couple of notably awful weeks but this week I had the pool won before we got to Monday Night and the nail biter Pats win over the Ravens.

I also won three of four fantasy leagues this weekend, which is kind of nice as well but doesn't feel quite as good as cold hard cash, does it?

The bad news is that I stayed home sick from work yesterday to rest up and am feeling worse today. More stuffed up, more achy and just more sick. But I can't really stay home a couple of days in a row right now so I'm heading in to work. DayQuil will be my salvation or my sleep aid. If I'm feeling up to it then I'll probably leave a bit early but we'll see.

I'm sure the shower will be a calvacade of goo, horking and clearances. Oh boy!

Raining Cows and Octopus Children

Some odd and interesting stories in the news, the first is Cow plunges off cliff onto moving minivan. Nothing like a 600 pound cow falling 200 feet and crushing your car. Except maybe an 800 pound cow crushing your car. The people in the minivan were unhurt but rather shaken, the cow had to be euthanized.

And the second is the story of Lakshmi, a little girl born in rural India with four arms and four legs. She's undergone successful surgery to remove the extra limbs and has an excellent prognosis for the future. Of course, she could have had an amazing life in the circus but I'm all for giving her an amazing life without the spotlight on her deformities.

The Internet Is NOT the Great Information Leveler

Infoporn: Despite the Web, Americans Remain Woefully Ill-Informed

The internet has long been heralded as this great source of information to make the world a smarter and more informed place.

Sadly, the reality is that Americans are less informed now than they were in 1989.

And who's at the bottom of the stack? People who watch Fox News, the worst and most openly biased "news" channel on the box. The reportage they do is so awful and skewed and just wrong, it is no wonder. Of course, the sponsored shows that are literally nothing but lies piled on lies don't help inform the viewers, they just help "validate" some pretty offensive perspectives.

People who watch The Daily Show, a fake news program, are far better informed about the world than viewers of Fox News. And that is just pathetically sad really.