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May 31, 2005
Westminster Abbey rejects 'Da Vinci'
It's church property so they can do whatever they want, but I think this was a bad move on their part. Ok theologically there are issues for the Church with this movie, but at the center of the movie's theme is the Church itself and their favorite guy Jesus. In a time when the Church is dying for new members it's not the time to be living up to the stereotypes that the movie is putting out there. If the Church was involved they could at least request a disclaimer or something to be added into the movie. Now it's become the secret so big that the Church is trying to cover up the truth by keeping the movie makers out of their churches. I know that's how I'm going to spin it if I hear somebody talking about it on the street. It's crazy to think that this is going to end anything but badly for them when they could easily embrace the movie with all of it's issues for them and manage the outcomes proactively. Just a suggestion.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 5:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Cool Songs
With my new computer I've finally been able to access iTunes again and let me tell you I missed me some iTunes! Anyway, iTunes has a feature where they offer one song a week for free. Last week's song was Galang by M.I.A, which I must admit isn't the kind of music I usually listen to, but I totally dug it. This week's song is excellent as well, it's called Different by Acceptance. They both are awesome songs. Check them out if you get a chance.
Posted by Daffodil at 2:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
High on the Freakometer
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a huge fan of Dawson's Creek and for any other Creek fans out there I was a HUGE Pacey and Joey fan because Dawson was a major whiner! But anyway, I digress. Recently the news has been that Katie Holmes is apparently dating Tom Cruise. The other day Mr. Cruise appeared on Oprah and I Tivoed it because I must say I was curious. I've never been a huge Tom Cruise fan, there is something that creeps me out about him. What it is I can't say, because I've never been able to put my finger on the exact element of his creepiness. When I heard Katie was dating Cruise I hoped it was an erroneous report and then I began to wonder what the hell she was thinking! After watching Cruise on Oprah I have to say I'm even more horrified. At first I thought, "Ok, so maybe I was wrong. He does't seem that bad", but something about the way he was acting didn't sit well with me. He made a complete ass out of himself jumping on the furniture and acting like a complete idiot and the more I thought about it the more uncomfortable I was about the whole thing. It made me wonder why this seemingly intellgient, beautiful girl fell for such a loser. On top of all that his creepiness factor with me went up 10 fold. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in love and being happy and even estatic about that fact, but something about his act was well, just creepy!
Now at Katie's latest movie premiere she too is confessing her love for him. I can only hope this is a momentary lapse in judgement and that she will come around and find a nice guy around her own age. There are also rumors of it being a huge publicity stunt, which would be stupid, but at least it might prove that she hasn't totally gone off the deep end.
Posted by Daffodil at 2:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Adventures From the Redneck Ghetto
A few weeks ago I looked over and noticed that our lovely next-door neighbors had a little coop with CHICKENS in it in their back yard. Yes, you heard me right CHICKENS in a residential neighborhood, and if you didn't catch that, let me repeat it for you once more...CHICKENS!! At the time I thought how cruel it was to have two chickens cooped up in a small little house, but what can you do? I assumed they had gotten their little bratty kids little chicks for Easter and of course they had grown into full grown CHICKENS. At the time I thanked my lucky stars that they appeared to be simply CHICKENS and not ROOSTERS!
On Friday I was talking to my mom on the phone and I look out at they were letting the CHICKENS roam their yard free. I told my Mom, "I bet they are in my yard before we know it!" They put the chickens up and then they left for several days. While they were gone the neighborhood was nice and quiet and peaceful. Their dog wasn't in my yard, their little hoodlum son wasn't threatening Alexis' life and the CHICKENS were in their tiny, little coup. I have to say I liked them being gone, but unfortunately they returned yesterday afternoon. At which point they let the chickens back out into the yard to roam free.
Yesterday afternoon we were preparing to have a Memorial Day barbeque with my sister and some friends. When Katherine arrived she was looking out into the backyard when she informed me, "There are chickens in your yard." Now the DOG is bad enough, but by God I was not going to have chickens in MY YARD!! I was LIVID! I called across the street to our nice neighbors because Jamison was over there, but as I was dialing he and Alexis walked in the front door. I told him he was going to have to get them to get the chickens out of my yard. We kept an eye on them and when they headed toward my garden I got my broom and was getting ready to thwack some CHICKENS!
Finally they came and got the damn birds out of my yard, but they really had the attitude that they couldn't figure out why I was upset about them being in my yard. I really dislike these people. They are supposed to be moving sometime, but it isn't soon enough in my book, and it's been over a year since he told us they were going to move so I'm not holding my breath, but the next time the CHICKENS come into my yard I'm skipping the animal control people, who still haven't done anything about their stupid dog being in my yard and I'm calling the police department. Have I mentioned I can't wait for our fence to be put up??!!??
A few minutes ago I heard a ruckus outside so I looked out and the lady is walking up the street with one of the chickens under her arm. They were out AGAIN. I don't know if they were in my yard or not. Let's hope they weren't.
Posted by Daffodil at 1:38 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Judge Gives Offenders Option of Church
I'm personally a big fan of alternative sentencing because it's pretty obvious that the way the Republicans have the jails in our country set up that there is no chance of rehabilitation at all in there, so for those that have only gotten slightly out of line, I see nothing wrong with a Judge using a more creative form of non-humiliating punishment rather than making someone into a career criminal. I'm also an even stronger supporter of the separation of church and state, but I can't see how this is a violation of that belief. The Judge made no requirement of which church they were to go to and offered other options if they didn't want to go that route. Now if he had made a requirement of a Neo-Christian organization to turn criminals into something worse I would be up at arms, but this was a very religiously neutral sort of sentence. I mean it doesn't restrict them from choosing to go to Satanic services, which are just about as bad as Neo-Christian services in the long run, but instead he gave them a chance to try and improve themselves personally. Nothing wrong with that, but I have serious doubts that it will be any more effective in the long run than prison, but as a tax payer if it's equally effective and costs me less, it's a good thing. So I'm all for it.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Concept Mapping Idea Going Global
For those of you that want to see what it's like in my brain this Concept Mapping stuff is pretty close to how things are arranged. I get the impression that most people have a table of contents style arrangement of information in their heads, but for people like me we have no concept of what that is like. I think it's really interesting that they are talking about teaching kids this way. I know I would have done a hundred times better in school if the information was presented to me in the way that it actually ends up arranged in my head. Unfortunately I'm not sure how they would handle the rabbit hole problem, that I always run into because my brain is setup this way. For those of you that don't know what that is, you follow a concept down the chain and then it gets cross linked with another concept and you end up follow that one instead. I'm sure they've thought of a way around that. Probably just don't allow it I would guess. but it makes you a smarter person if you can see the rabbit holes, because you can make intuitive leaps between information no one else has made yet. I do that all the time with news stories, hear one piece of information follow the Concept Map and suddenly it changes the rules of another Concept, so I follow that tree down to it's logical end and I've put together new information and changed how I look at things that aren't directly related to what I found out. Anyway, I'm going to have to research this some more, I've been thinking about better education techniques for schools, maybe I can combine this with some other ideas I have for streamlining the process and come up with a new way of doing things.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:31 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Bush faces GOP shift on stem cells
I wouldn't say there is a real shift in the GOP. What is happening is that Neo-cons have become so radical that real Republicans can no longer stomach listening to the idiots. Which is good news for America, because the Republican's brain-dead march off the cliff of Neo-Christian radicalism was very troubling. Of course one of the statements made was so funny and disturbing about Bush that I have to quote it.
"I am going to give him the best logic that I have," Cunningham said. "I know he's a man who does what he says. I found that if you can show him where there could be possible movement, he's not stubborn and he will do that. He's pretty clear-thinking. It's not just `a my-way-or-the-highway kind of thing.' You can show him there's a better road."
Excuse me??? What evidence can you provide for that? This guy is a drunk crackhead, he doesn't have any concept that there are any ideas out in the world but his own. He doesn't believe in compromise, just violence and retaliatory implementation of the hate filled Neo-Christian ideology and the ruthless destruction of the fundamental American values. It's so insane what Representative Cunningham is proposing here that I worry that the real Republicans haven't gotten a clue yet. They are dealing with a godless madman. There was another great quote in this article.
"Robert Moffit, a health-care expert at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said the private sector currently could conduct embryonic stem cell research. If the science has such big-figure payoffs, he said, "why do they [private companies] need federal funds for it?"
There are few more vile organizations in this country that are worse than the Heritage Foundation, they rank right up there with the Klan and the other fundamentalist Neo-Christian organizations that make up the Republican party, but to answer his stupid question takes almost no effort at all. The cornerstone of the Republican ideology is corporate welfare. The reasons companies aren't going to pay for it themselves is that they want to the tax payers to pay for it, and then they will be allowed to charge us at a couple hundred million times the costs to make up for the "research" costs. It's the standard drug company deal that the Republicans have set up. So the short answer is because of Republicans like you Mr. Moffit.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
States say $5.15 an hour too little
I actually had an interesting discussion about this very issue. As you know we have a crackhead Republican as governor in our state right now and he vetoed an bill to raise the minimum wage even though it's impossible to live in the Baltimore-Washington corridor on minimum wage unless you live in a box on the street corner which reminded me of the real debate between the Republicans and the Democrats. Republicans have a rural mentality, they live away from cities and they think the world should work the way it does where they live. The Democrats have the urban mentality, that's where they live and they think the world should work that way. The problem is that these two mentalities will not work effectively for both. If you don't live somewhere in America where the property values are going up as much as 5% a month it's probably an alien concept that wages need to be going up to reflect that so people can afford to live there. Which is why we have strained relations between Western Maryland and Eastern Maryland. Out in the countryside they have no clue what any of that means. In their towns of a few hundred people a raise in the minimum wage would increase costs and run people out of business. So they violently cling to that mentality because where they live it's actually true. The suggestion was made that the minimum wage should be set by county maybe rather than globally at the state level. Which is actually the closest notion I've heard to a compromise in years. I'm not convinced it's a good idea because I don't trust government at the local level since it's so easily manipulated by local business owners whose money is very effective at buying local support for whatever corruption they want today, which is much harder for them to pull off at the State level. There are a few people who have the resources to buy votes at the state and federal level, but it's an ever shrinking list making them easier to watch and report on their criminal activities. If it were done at the local level, I would like to see it be able circumvent any form of local government interference, a direct to the voters kind of option so when the local business leaders paid off the local government the issue could be taken straight to the voters, but the levels of corruption at the local level are just too much for me to trust it, I really would rather it be done at the state level.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 1:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Portfolio Update
Well the key word in an Republican administration is volatility. The economy is in the crapper, inflation is running wild and the average American's life is going downhill faster and faster, but the stock market is doing great. I'm not sure what the relationship is between the decline of America and the range of the stock market, but it's definitely out of whack. Of course next week it could all be at a negative level because reality sets in. I'm still feeling over invested in Stocks, but Bonds are just too unstable with the efforts of the Republicans to borrow their way out of their own stupidity. The good news appears to be that the market is going to be down today, which is rare, it's usually always up on the day that 401k investments are made and then down the next day, so we all lose money while the wealthy walk away counting their cash.
This Weeks Actual Percentage: +5.289%
Last Weeks Actual Percentage: +4.598%
Best weekly percentage: +7.437%
Personal Rate of Return according to Fidelity for This Week: 9.3%
Personal Rate of Return according to Fidelity Last Week: 8.6%
Current Asset Allocation:
55.67% Stock
44.05% Bond
00.28% Savings
Posted by ManDrake at 1:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2005
Corruption Probes Not Uncommon in Tennessee
Well more corruption in a Red State, big surprise there. And Republicans at the heart of it, even bigger surprise. Dishonesty is the heart of the Republican ideology, it doesn't matter what kind of corruptions, they embrace it with gusto. It's just part of their nature. The funny part is every time the FBI runs one of these stings into a Red State, they always find a massive number of Republicans and right leaning Democrats that they can easily catch with the slightest offer of money.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:03 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Cheney Offended by Amnesty International Report
And we care because? This is just another attempt by the worthless Bush administration to try and hide the fact that they are actually waging a war against non-Christians. The torture regiment that they set up with the purpose of attack the religious beliefs of the prisoners. Given a choice between believing an animal like Cheney and Amnesty Internationale's version of the story, I know who me and just about any other sane person would believe. And it's not the Neo-con nut jobs in the White house.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 6:38 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Introducing the chocolate candy diet
It's a sad thing to see happening. You hate to think about kids going hungry anywhere. I'm sure the Neo-cons in the audience will think it's an acceptable loss for as long as it's happening to our enemies. But a wise man will tell you that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Sure seems like a foreign policy opportunity. Considering our sudden trade deficit for food, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone so to speak.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 6:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2005
Outside Fun and Attack of the Purple Marker
Posted by Daffodil at 11:36 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
May 27, 2005
Got the new computer up and running.
Well she's up and running good folks. Got both wireless networks up and running and I've been surfing the internet and running on battery power just to see how long it will last. It is pretty impressive on that front as well. I would have expected the larger screen to suck more juice than the old one, but it appears the upgraded size that Dianne wanted is working out nicely. I've got the docking station up and running as well. I haven't gotten the 160 gig drive installed yet, because I didn't figure out until I was already working on something else that it needs to a screw taken out to work. This will be easy enough to handle tomorrow when I’m more awake. I need to install Quicken so we can use it for the end of month checking balancing. Tomorrow I'll figure out how to move the drive information from the broken computer to the new computer. I've got three options that I'm considering; I still haven't decided which is best.
Posted by ManDrake at 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Frist Problem
I think this editorial is dead on about Frist. His utter lack of leadership skills and inability to ignore the violently radical Neo-Conservatives in the Republican party have made him into an impotent fool on the Senate floor. It's great news this idiot has decided to retire, because it's pretty obvious that his only goal in life is to be President like the Commander and Chief Crackhead we have now, which is the lowest possible standard by any stretch of the imagination, but instead he's shown himself to be unable to even meet that despicable standard. The Neo-Conservative animals in the Senate have been dealt three blows this week and they can be pretty much laid completely at the doorstep of that incompetent moron that is their leader. I think people have figured out the problem with the country these days are the Republicans and specifically the Neo-Christian maniacs that are pulling their strings. Of course it would have been nice if they had figured it out when we had a chance to avoid all this trouble, but a few more suffering at the hands of the animals will remind everyone why you don't let crazies run the country. If there is still a country left by the next election, hopefully people will have awakened to the reality that the Republican party is a worthless bunch of crackpots.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 3:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Of Posion Ivy, New Computers and School Projects
I have poison ivy on my arms and one ankle and it's driving me nuts! On Saturday we cleaned out or neighbors fence line because we are having a fence put up and the fence people said it had to be cleaned out. I happened to find the poison ivy. Aren't I lucky? I've had to keep it covered because I certainly don't want Alexis getting poison ivy. That would be hell on earth! So I covered the spots with calamine lotion and bandaids, but that didn't go over so well because I'm allergic to bandaids. So today I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt and hoping for the best. I've been taking Benedryl at night, but I can't during the day because it knocks me on my butt!
Much to my surprise my laptop computer arrived this morning! Yeah! Last night when I went to bed the last destination was still listed as Kazakhstan. I guess he must have jumped a plane there to BWI. I haven't actually looked at it's path this morning. Sadly however it will be a few days before I have time to break it in, but I'm sure Jamison will have fun with it! Meanwhile I've decided to call him Harry! (I never used to name computers, but Jamison told me when we were dating that computers had to be named after girls so I had to be different. The first computer Jamison bought me I named Simon. My last laptop is named Bob. I'm nonconformist, what can I say?)
(Update: I checked and he went on a plane from Kazakhstan to Memphis, Tennessee to Baltimore, Maryland to Linthicum, Maryland to my front door!)
I have two projects due this weekend and the poison ivy is making typing hard. Oh well. I'll just push through. What else can you do?
I hope you all have a good weekend. I will be somewhat scarce until I finish my projects.
Posted by Daffodil at 10:39 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Poll: Mixed messages for Hillary Clinton
I'm not sure what's mixed about the message. Without any campaigning at all Hillary has increased her popularity nationwide for a Presidential bid. Personally I would be scared that someone could make that kind of progress without trying, well if I were a godless Republican. The people of New York would hate to lose her as a Senator, which makes sense if you think about it. I mean there really are only a tiny handful of effective and available Senators to represent the states. In this age of blind Republican efforts to put any fool with a heartbeat into office without ability or interest in serving the people that he or she was elected to represent the notion of losing someone that actually works for and cares for the interests of your state is a pretty devastating loss. Especially if a godless Republican governor gets to appoint your replacement. I can't imagine how much it would cost New York to have an inept Republican representing them, but if your elected official is a Republican they don't represent you, they represent the radicals in Neo-Christian right. Their votes are picked for them and they don't have the mental ability to resist it. So I sympathize with New Yorkers, but sometimes we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good of the country. And I have to suggest that getting rid of every Republican at every level, no matter how they've served you is the only way, because ultimately a Republican's interests are never for you no matter what they claim.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Vote to end debate on Bolton fails
This actually surprised me a little bit. I would have thought that as part of the secret deal made between the moderates in the Senate that they would have included the Bolton nomination in the discussions. I mean since it's in the same vein of the rest of the Neo-Conservative agenda of promoting unqualified and irresponsible individuals to positions of power so they can undermine and destroy America. I wonder if this was agreed upon in advance? If so the moderates are functioning at an entirely different level than we've been lead to believe. It whispers of a revolution against the radical ideology of the godless Neo-Conservatives. There might be a little hope for America yet.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
DeLay angered by 'Law & Order' mention
Republicans are so overly sensitive. Did DeLay make vague comments to encourage his more violent Republican followers to plan violence against judges? Yes. Did he make a half hearted retraction of the statements? Yes. Nothing suggested on the show isn't actually true. The only thing that they did different was to ask what would have happened if one of his animal followers in the Republican party had acted on his violent requests. I mean Florida arrested at least one, and maybe more Republican followers that were trying to get weapons so they could commit violence against the people over seeing the Schiavo case. So if anything the show downplayed the natural tenancies of the radical right by making the body count so low.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 26, 2005
Watermelon Hat
Posted by Daffodil at 7:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
The return of 'Doctor Who'
Oh my god, why bring it back just to have the new Doctor leave after one season. What's the point??? I hate to be a rule monger, but Time Lords only have 12 bodies they can transform into. So you're basically wasting one of the lives for no good reason if the actor isn't going to stay around, but then again what kind of loser wouldn't want to play Doctor Who until he got bored. It's a great role to play, you pretty much get the wide array of opportunities to act. Not to mention you're guaranteed that kind of fame that gets you recognized for the rest of your days. Am I completely off base on this?
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 5:59 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
"Sith" Fans Maimed in Lightsaber Mishap
This is another one of those headlines that I don't think is fair to put up. I mean I read this and I was thinking these guys had stabilized some sort of energy sword and the reality they were fighting with glass tubes filled with liquid. What are the odds that glass tubes will break when you hit them together?? The criminals dressed up like Sith are pretty funny actually, but you just know some crazed cop is going to shoot some geek by accident because of it, which won't be very funny at all.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:15 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
TDK Develops 100GB Blu-ray Disc
WOW!!! Now that's what we need 100 GB BD's!!! BD is the base acronym you're all going to have learn so start now. It means Blu-ray Disk and there are the BD-R's and BD-RE's. Not sure why they went away from the RW moniker, but hey confusion about technology keeps us techies gainfully employed. Of course these disks won't be available until 2007, which is like forever and a day away in computer time. Of course this was the answer the HD-DVD people who managed to increase their maximum capacity up to 45 GB in a desperate to catch up with the first generation of the Blu-ray technology. I think they are going to find the market a little on the unreceptive for this weak half step forward, but one positive thing I have to say for them, trying to make their format more compatible with Blu-ray is a good effort for their customers, because much like the Betamax their technology is pretty much going to be crushed out of existence in a pretty short amount of time and the fools that invested in it are going to be off by themselves trying to figure out what to do with the crap they bought.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:12 PM
Voters Group: Florida Audit Shows Problems
I question the value of these kinds of audits really. The Republicans cheated, well duh! We all know they are dishonest people, that's not news or really new information. So they got the machines in certain areas to count all votes three times, not surprising either. Ultimately the issue is that unless there is a non-Republican put in charge, nothing is going to change and we will see the same things over and over again until they are removed. And after a certain point there will be no way to remove them, which is their goal. So what's the point of pointing out the obvious? Our Republic is in serious danger from these animals we know. Tell us how to fix it, stop telling us how it's wrong. You can ask anyone anywhere and they will tell you our elections aren't being run in a remotely honest way.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Cross burnings investigated in North Carolina
Not surprising to see really. With the largest hate group in the country running the government, these kinds of events will steadily become more common. I'm sure that the Republicans will be "helpless" to solve the mystery of who did this, because how can they disagree with their base, why would they harm their next election cycle? I wonder how long before they start allowing them to kill people in the streets again. Is sickening to watch the Republicans work.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Showdown over Bolton nomination begins
I would hardly call it a showdown. Neo-Conservatives are animals. They hate everything and everyone in the world. Bolton hates everything, so they love him. Real Republicans like Voinovich, who actually care about the future of this country are horrified, but I have to ask the question; Voinovich could have killed this nomination in committee with a way of his hand, but he didn't. Why? He knew the Republican party was a bunch of brain-dead Nazis. Why didn't he take personal responsibility for his grandchildren and nuke this worthless scum before he saw the light of day? Trust me he could have easily convinced the Democrats to help him, but instead he decided to sucumb to the Republican threats against him and decided to expose America and all our kids to this animal antics, which will end up harming the United States for centuries to come, if we survive it at all as a nation. This is the level of ineptitude and irresponsibility we are talking about here. Bolton is nothing but a violent bully that abuses his authority to bring harm to those that think for themselves and to undermine the future of the United States. It's a tragic disgrace that any decent human being would allow this animal to even be in our government at any level.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
O.C. Sheriff Made Donors His Deputies
I mean making your campaign contributors into deputies and allowing them to have badges, the authority to arrest people, and carry concealed weapons is just crazy. You have to read the entire article for a snippet at the end that explains everything.
"Carona relied on advice from former state GOP chair Michael Schroeder..."
Isn't it amazing that if you dig deeply enough into something that defies common sense, you always seem to find an agent of the radical Republican party? I wonder if someone could look into investigating the largest criminal organization on Earth sometime, these Republicans have to be brought under control and be made to answer for their crimes against us all.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Researchers Pinpoint Brain's Sarcasm Sensor
Boy I saw this article on Monday and I got so busy at work I didn't get around to posting it. Well it confirms what I already suspected about sarcasm centers being located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Now ask why I suspected this before science got around to proving it. Well simple my dear Watson, logical deduction. Once I found out that the first part of the brain to deteriorate was the prefrontal cortex, which handles complex things like morality in human beings. Which explains the either steep or slow rise of selfishness in the elderly depending on the deterioration rate. Now one thing arguing with Neo-cons has taught me especially the older ones is that they utterly lack the ability to understand sarcasm, and instead interrupt everything literally. So given these two pieces of data, I had already come to the conclusion that the same thing that makes them less moral as makes them more literal. Now my hypothesis has been proven correct. And people say that the scientific method doesn't work! Now all I need is someone to confirm that all Neo-Conservatives have higher levels of deterioration of the prefrontal cortex and I will have a complete medical explanation for the entire right wing revolution and be able to push for a cure for the medical problems which will cure their ideological problems as well. And we will all be better off in the long run.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 4:00 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Where in the World is Dianne's New Computer?
Sadly my new laptop has been to more countries than I have. I thought it would be fun to keep a running tally of where he travels. You know kind of like "Where in the World is Carmen Sandeigo?"
So far we have:
He left from Kunshan, China at 8:08 am local time on 5/25.
He then arrived in Shanghai, China at 12:19 am local time on 5/26.
At 12:25 am local time on 5/26 he set out again.
This time he landed in Almaty, Kazakhstan (Zoom in to see where it really is) at 2:13 pm local time on 5/26.
He left Kazakhstan at 2:14 pm local time on 5/26. Where oh where will he end up next?
Posted by Daffodil at 8:50 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
May 25, 2005
What's Your Thinking Style?
Your Dominant Thinking Style: |
| Visioning
You are very insightful and tend to make decisions based on your insights. An idealist, thinking of the future helps you guide your path. |
Your Secondary Thinking Style: |
| Exploring
You thrive on the unknown and unpredictable. Novelty is your middle name. An expert inventor and problem solver, you approach everything from new angles. |
Posted by Daffodil at 4:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Yeah!
They shipped my computer! Now I just have to be patient until it gets here...I'm really no good at that!
Posted by Daffodil at 3:18 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Now That's a Big Fish!!
ALTON, IlinoisTim Pruitt went fishing and pulled up a whopper of a beast.
No, seriously: It was roughly the size of a sixth-grader.
Pruitt, casting his line in the Mississippi River on Sunday, hauled up a 58-inch long, 44-inch around blue catfish that weighed a whopping 124-pounds.
To get a sense of just how big that is, the state record holder was a mere 85 pounds and the world record holder tipped the scales at 121 pounds, eight ounces.
"My adrenaline was really pumping, so it wasn't that bad," said Pruitt. "Later on, when I was lifting him out of the livewell and into another tank I really felt the weight."
Read it all here.
Posted by Daffodil at 1:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
101 Things About Me:
1. I’m tall. I’m five foot nine and a half inches.
2. I’m right handed.
3. Daffodils are my favorite flower followed by daisies, sunflowers, orchids and roses.
4. I don’t have one favorite color, I like them all, but I’m partial to blue.
5. I used to play the clarinet and the piano. I want to learn to play the guitar and the saxophone.
6. I was a band geek in 7th and 8th grade.
7. I am utterly fascinated by Mt. Saint Helens. I don't know what it is, but I'm drawn to that mountain!
8. I’m an excellent cook.
9. Cheesecake is my favorite food.
10. I make cheesecakes that are to die for!
11. I hate talking on the phone. It wastes time.
12. Although I hate talking on the phone I usually talk to my mom every day or so. I don’t hate talking to her. My mom and Jamison are the only ones I talk to on the phone on a regular basis. I much prefer email.
13. I hate hearing the phone ring and I really don't like when the phone rings before 9 am or after 9 pm. It’s rude.
14. I don't like it when people call an SUV a truck. Trucks are vehicles with a bed and a cab, SUVs don't have a cab or a bed.
15. I paint, knit, quilt and various other crafty endeavors.
16. I have a serious fabric and yarn collection.
17. I used to teach preschool and I hated most every moment of that experience.
18. Jamison and I met online on a telnet talker called “The World”, which no longer exists.
19. We were married on December 20, 1997.
20. My daughter’s name is Alexis Grace and she was born June 24, 2003.
21. I adore Alexis more than I can explain to you.
22. I was born in Cleveland, Tennessee on October 11, 1973.
23. I was adopted at the age of 6 months. Up until that point I lived in a foster home and they called me “Tracey” or “Stacey” I forget which one.
24. I detest when people ask me if I wanted to find my “real” parents. My REAL parents raised me.
25. I graduated from McMinn Central High School in May of 1991.
26. At one time or another I have attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Cleveland State Community College; Pellissippi State Community College; the University of Alabama, Huntsville; Faulkner University and the University of Maryland, University College.
27. It has taken me roughly 14 years to graduate since I’ve taken the scenic route.
28. I’ve had many majors throughout my college career including marine biology, interior design, accounting, biology and environmental management.
29. I am finishing up my class work in July of 2005 and will graduate in August with a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Management from the University of Maryland, University College.
30. I write children’s stories and books.
31. I hope to be published soon.
32. I believe in soul mates, destiny and kindred spirits.
33. I have two soul mates: Jamison and my best girlfriend.
34. My best girlfriend’s name is Darlene and most weekdays at some point during the day we send at least one email to each other. I adore her!
35. Darlene and I have known each other since we were in the 6th grade. We got all our angst out as kids. We don’t always agree, but we think alike. She jokes that I married the male version of her so she has to marry the male version of me. Jamison told her that was all fine and good, but it would be hard to find a crafty man that cooks wonderful food that wasn’t gay. ;o)
36. I have another good friend named Sonya that I met at the same time as Darlene. I guess it’s true that some friends you have for life. She’s definitely a kindred spirit.
37. I have two male friends that I also met when I met Sonya and Darlene. Their names are Blake and Trampus and I consider them to be my brothers.
38. I have a sister named Katherine. She is married to a man named Ben. She is almost two years younger than me. She is currently expecting her first child in December of 2005. I’m going to be an aunt!
39. I worry about the environment.
40. I recycle.
41. I compost.
42. I have an organic garden and yard.
43. My husband and I both drive hybrid cars (or will as of June 2005 when my hybrid Highlander arrives. Jamison drives a hyrbrid Civic.)
44. I worry about Alexis’ future almost constantly. (Not in the what will she do with her life sort of way because that’s up to her, but in the what kind of world will she live in sort of way.)
45. Most people don’t get along with their mother-in-law, but I adore mine. We enjoy doing crafty things together.
46. I have a 55 gallon fish tank with angel fish, tetras, catfish, a beta fish, a plecostamous, an aquatic frog, a snail, gouramis, barbs and various aquatic plants.
47. I could sit and watch the fish tank for hours. The fish are extremely calming to me.
48. My favorite modern movie is You’ve Got Mail, but I don’t care for Meg Ryan.
49. My favorite old movie is a tie between Gone With the Wind, The Quiet Man and The Shop Around the Corner.
50. I have lived in Tennessee, Alabama and Maryland.
51. Out of all the places I’ve lived, hands down I like Maryland the best! Tennessee was good, but I HATED Alabama.
52. I collect spoons. Not spoons that have things like states on them, just old, eclectic, funky, silver spoons. I have about 30 of them.
53. I once bought an old picture in an antique store because the woman in the picture spoke to me. The picture hangs on the board in my craft room. I believe she would have been a kindred spirit.
54. Water is my favorite drink.
55. Margaritas are my favorite alcoholic drink.
56. I love chocolate, but my favorite ice cream is strawberry.
57. I love Caramel too.
58. I don’t understand racism of any sort. It bugs me. How can one person work out in their mind that they are better than someone else just because they have a different skin color? I think people need to stop worrying about race and just worry about being human!
59. I believe in God, but I think lately religion has gone totally in the wrong direction. I don’t think God intended for us to beat the world over the head with our ideas. When he said to go and teach the nations, never once did he mention by force. I think we Christians need to do a lot of work on ourselves and our ideas. We have definitely strayed off of the intended path.
60. I love to sing, but I’m horrible at it!
61. I love cloudy, rainy or snowy days.
62. Winter is my favorite season, followed by spring, fall and then summer.
63. I hate being hot! If you’re cold you can put on some clothes, but if it’s butt sweat hot outside you can’t take off enough clothes to be comfortable! Thus why I like winter better than summer.
64. I love to swim.
65. I love the ocean/beach. It’s my favorite place on earth.
66. I adore Ireland. I’ve never been there, though I plan to go someday soon, but there is still a connection there for me that is hard to put into words.
67. I want to learn to sail.
68. I would love to have a boat someday.
69. As a child we spent a lot of time in the summer at the lake. My father’s company had some land on the lake and we camped there. As a kid I hated it because we often didn’t bring friends with us and it was deserted from the real world. As I grew older I began to appreciate the lake and miss it now. I hope that Alexis has a place like that, although I’ll let her bring along a friend. :o)
70. A friend of mine has two children named Joesf and Hana who I consider to be my niece and nephew.
71. I recently became a pescetarian. (I don’t eat meat except for fish.)
72. I’ve had a life long struggle with being overweight. I’m currently in the process of trying to get healthy for life. Some days are better than others. It’s a hard journey.
73. I love books. Jamison and I own literally thousands of books!
74. I love the Harry Potter series. I’ve read it many times.
75. I also love the Chronicles of Narnia.
76. When a movie is made about a book I hate it when they add or take away things that were not present in the book. Be true to the story!
77. My basement is a disaster area. We still have boxes piled up down there from when we moved in to our house 3 years ago.
78. I adore Harry Connick Jr. I have every album he’s ever released on CD. He has one album that was only released on cassette that I don’t have.
79. I love to look at the stars.
80. I love to listen to the wind blowing through the trees.
81. I love dolphins and whales.
82. I am a cat person. Dogs are too needy.
83. Before I met Jamison I had a crush on a guy from high school for about 10 years. It’s funny looking back on it now. He was the only decent guy I liked when I was young. The rest of them were losers! LOL
84. I hate spiders and snakes.
85. I hate needles. I’m the BIGGEST baby when it comes to shots. In fact I can’t even handle it when someone else gets a shot. Jamison has to go with me when Alexis has to have one.
86. I can’t watch surgery on TV, not even animal surgery.
87. I am terrified of thuderstorms since I saw a tornado as a child. I litterally want to curl up into a ball and hide under a blanket.
88. I want to buy a bicycle. An old fashioned bicycle, not one of these new mountain bike type deals. I want to put a basket and bell on it.
89. Alexis reminds me so much of me sometimes that it is scary. She is a bit of Jamison too, but mostly she’s all me. She’s my own little Mini-Me. As I mentioned before I adore her!
90. I love the Outer Banks of North Carolina, especially Hatteras Island.
91. I hated my middle name so much that I legally changed it to my maiden name once I was married.
92. I want to get a potter’s wheel and kiln and take up pottery.
93. I have a chalk drawing that my grandfather did hanging on the wall in my living room. The picture is of a bend in a river with the moon high in the sky and a camp fire off to the left. I sometimes stare at this picture and remember how he used to tell me that it was where he used to fish as a boy. I called him Dad. I miss him. He was another kindred spirit.
94. I think my mother’s father is the cutest little man I’ve ever seen. I just want to squeeze his cheeks!
95. I once painted a painting and gave it to someone and I wish I hadn’t. I loved that painting and to this day I wish I had it back. They probably threw it away because that’s just the type person that they were.
96. I used to be a huge University of Tennessee football fan. This is waning as time passes. I still watch a football game from time to time, but it’s becoming less interesting to me as time passes.
97. I still sleep with a stuffed polar bear named Pole R. Bear or Bear for short. If you ask Blake what my bear's name is he’ll tell you “Chuck”.
98. I like all kinds of music, but my particular favorite is classical. There is something wonderful and calming about instrumental music.
99. I used to want to be the first woman President of the United States. I got over that because I’m not a people pleaser and I hate sucking up. You either like me or you don’t, I don’t have time to worry about whether you do or not and I’m certainly not going to try and make you like me if you don’t.
100. I like mustard on my grilled cheese sandwiches.
101. I love lighthouses.
Posted by Daffodil at 1:03 PM | Comments (3)
Dean: Blacks Annoyed by Party's Outreach
Dean is actually on to something here. I've had this comment made to me several times over the years by different people across the country. Where the Republicans never stopped campaigning the Democrats did. When it was time for an election they came around to rally the troops, but that kind of thinking doesn't work against a ruthless enemy that is working 24/7 to bring harm to you and your nation and I think Dean's done a great job of changing that kind of thinking in the Democratic party. I know personally, I never even worried about elections until 6 weeks before time to vote. Then I'd go through the lists of candidates and start making decisions on who to vote for. Now it's years until the next election and I'm already tracking candidates and working against potential opponents of those candidates in an effort to work more like the enemies of America. In the end it makes life more political, which I don't think is a good thing, but we have to adapt to the new conditions forced on us by those who seek to destroy our way of life.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Killer Who Wanted to Donate Liver Executed
The way this article was presented was a bit on the unfair side. Now far be it from me to say anything positive about a Republican, because I'm well aware of how dishonest they are as people, but Governor Mitch Daniels is an old school Republican, he actually is a fairly reasonable guy from what I've seen. He got confirmation from two doctors on the subject to confirm that the donation would cause more harm than good and then gave the green light for the execution. A lot more than your average Republican would do. I mean most of us only have to hear that the guy had Hepatitis B to know that you shouldn't give his organs to someone with organ failure. I think they could have worked in a better headline than this one. I mean this guy saw his state in trouble and raised taxes, this screams that he is a reasonable man. I've never done any research into his agenda, so he could be a crazy nutjob like the rest of the Republican party, but on this decision I'm will give him the benefit of a doubt.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 7:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 24, 2005
Flexible Spending Accounts Deadline Extended
This is great news for any of you that are using the FSA accounts, the government has added another 2 and half months to spend the money in the accounts. Which decreases the chances that you could lose money put in the account. I personally have just started using these accounts this year and I have to say with my insurance plan automatically paying for prescriptions for me out of the account it's been great. I'm going to put at least twice the money in next year for the account, because we have almost used up everything I put in this year already. For those of you that don't know what the accounts are, they allow you have money taken from your check every pay cycle and put into an account which you can then use up to the maximum amount for any medical expenses that you might incur that year. The important thing is that all the money is taken out is tax free. So you save on your tax bill and get your medical expenses covered. Now I understand if you have the wrong kind of medical insurance you have to file forms to get the money out, which was one of the reason I didn't try and use it before that time, but this year my insurance company when to automatic electronic filling every time the insurance is exercised and it's been freaking awesome. Oh the one negative is that up until this point any money you hadn't spent by the end of the year was a free gift to uncle Sam for his hard work. Which has kept most people from seriously contributing to the system, because you can seldom predict with any accuracy how much you're going to need to spend on medical expenses any one year. If you're lucky you know in advance that you're going to have to pay for something like say a baby and you can set the number really high and cover all the expenses tax free, because trust me you can't spend enough to get the medical tax break, we had a kid, wisdom teeth removed, and surgery on my back and we still missed it because the number was just SO high. You're better off going this route to say the least. Hopefully someone will get the system set up to be a lifetime account and allow you build up money for bad things that some times happen. I'm still going back and forth on the notion of passing it on to other people, I don't like that notion because it's just another attempt by the wealthy to try and sneak money to the next generation without paying their fair share, but between spouses I can buy.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 5:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Do you ever...
Do you ever get the feeling that some people just have no grasp of reality? Do you ever think that someone can read plain truth and come away with what they wanted to see or hear? Sadly stupidity abounds in our world and it is only getting worse as time goes by. It's very disheartening and it makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs until the world wakes up and pays attention! Sadly this wouldn't help, and the only thing it would accomplish is giving me a sore throat, so for now I'll just rant here about life's injustices and how pitifully miserable our society has become and how blatantly blind and brainless people are to the truth.
Everyday I have a fleeting thought about how the world has to wake up and smell the roses! Surely we can’t keep going on in this fashion of wearing blinders to what is really happening around us. Surely there really aren’t that many stupid people out there? Perhaps there are just a lot of people who are so forlorn by the state of affairs that have presented themselves that they don’t know where to begin. Somewhere out there there are good and decent people who care, but where are they? Of course these thoughts never last for long, because you are always slapped out of them when you hear something on the news or you read something on the internet about how hate and contemptibility abound.
Right now all you hear are the voices of those from the radical right. These are not the voices of the majority, they are the voices of a few “chosen” ones who have no idea what our country is about, nor do they have any idea about what our country really needs. Those voices are so pervasive and so grating that it’s hard to hear the other voices that are coming up through the fray. The polls show that there is growing discontent with the radicalized, hate-filled agenda that is so ferociously put forth by these people from day to day, so why hasn’t there been a revolt against this nonsense? What happened to basic human decency? What happened to doing unto others as you would have them do unto you? What happened to real faith (I'm not talking about the kind of "faith" that those in Washington extol) and kindness? When did arrogance become a virtue to be praised? When did foolishness become so unbridled? Why does common sense not open people’s eyes to the fact that we have become the worst version of what was once a great nation? Why do seemingly intelligent people fall into the trap of believing this utter and complete nonsense?
There are so many questions that need to be answered. All of these things are incomprehensible to me and all of these things are extremely discouraging. People need to wake up and realize that unless we do something, and we do it now, this horrid turn of events will continue down this pathway of doom until there is nothing left but chaos and ruin. As a matter of fact I think the chaos has already begun and the ruin isn’t far behind. Only time will tell where we actually end up, but if we don’t strive to pull out of this pandemonium that is being forced upon America as “truth” and “right” then there is no hope.
Posted by Daffodil at 1:26 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
How Extroverted Are You?
Your Extroversion Profile: |
| Cheerfulness: High |
| Friendliness: High |
| Assertiveness: Medium |
| Activity Level: Low |
| Sociability: Low |
| Excitement Seeking: Very Low |
Posted by Daffodil at 1:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?
| Your Dominant Intelligence is Spatial Intelligence |
 You would make a good navigator, sculptor, visual artist, inventor, architect, interior designer, or engineer. |
Posted by Daffodil at 1:14 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
How Liberal / Conservative Are You?
Your Political Profile |
| Overall: 30% Conservative, 70% Liberal |
| Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal |
| Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal |
| Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal |
| Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal |
| Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal |
Posted by Daffodil at 1:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Oobi
Alexis has a new love and his name is Oobi. Oobi is this annoying incarnation of a "hand puppet" (it's actually someones hand with a couple of eyes glued on top) and she just can't get enough of him! Oobi grates on my nerves. No seriously, he literally makes you want to stick forks in your eyes and cut off your ears so you can't see or hear Oobi and his annoying little friends! The whole show is horrible, but Alexis loves it! Oobi lives with his little sister Uma and their grandfather whose names is Grandpooh. I have no clue where Oobi's parents are, or why someone thought that taking your hand and making a puppet it out of it was a good idea, but for now I guess we're stuck with Oobi. Sadly enough I'd even prefer watching Blue's Clues with Joe over Oobi anyday! Let's pray this is a phase she moves through quickly!
Posted by Daffodil at 11:49 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Filibuster deal surprises leadership
I don't think it was as big a surprise to the Democrats as it was the Neo-Conservative Republican fanatics that infest the Senate. The Democrats had offered a similar deal a couple of weeks ago, which was overly generous to the Republicans. Frist and Bush have put all their eggs in one basket and have pretty much been slapped down, which is good because they are both worthless scum, so anything that harms their anti-America agenda is good for all of us. I'm curious that after all of this, if the more radical judges that Bush and his worthless Neo-Christian base have been campaigning to get on the bench so they can change the face of America law will actually make it through the Senate vote. I imagine they will since even the allegedly "centrist" Republicans will fall right back into the Nazi lockstep of rubber stamping everything that is Republican supported again. Of course it could trigger the standard vindictive backstabbing that the neo-cons are famous for and split the Republican party. That would be an interesting event to watch unfold. I guess we just get to wait and see.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 11:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bioethicists Fiddle as Patients Die
This is some powerful commentary from Michael Kinsley in the LA Times. I was wondering when someone else would pick up on the fact that the South Korean's technique was a new way of approaching the stem cell issue. Instead of using fertilized eggs, they were able to unfertilized eggs to build their stem cells. And not surprisingly the reaction from the far right and commander in chief crackhead was exactly the same. Why you ask? Because their argument has nothing to do with the ethics or the science of the procedures, it has to do with a political agenda that will make all progress into a great evil. Using this logic things like transplanted organs would be just as evil. Hell even blood transfusions would be damaging to the culture of "life". Fools speak before they understand what they are hearing, and the Republicans have done it yet again. It's a travesty of justice that these fools are being allowed to speak out against what has to be considered a revolutionary step forward in therapeutic cloning. The ethical debate has been answered by the South Koreans. They have proven that it's better not to use fertilized eggs, if you really believed in the culture of life, then you should feel vindicated that there was a better way that science hadn't thought of yet and make that a requirement going forward and drop your concerns over the technology, but I imagine that we will still hear the exact same rhetoric from the Republicans for the rest of time while we fall further and further behind the rest of the world technologically.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2005
Quilting Thoughts
First off let me say that I LOVE the smell of steam! There is something so calming to me from the smell wafting up from the iron. I am always overcome with the remembrance of how much I love that smell! Each time it's overpowering. It's just so clean and crisp!
Anyway, since I'm waiting for my group members to turn in their portions of our group project in one of my classes so I can put the whole thing together, and there isn't much I can do until I get the rest of the sections, I've been making some quilt blocks this afternoon. I'm working on this pattern again. I got this pattern at Cottonseed Glory in Annapolis in February when Donna was visiting. Let me tell you this pattern is a pain in the butt, well it was until I stopped trying to read the drunken directions (seriously, someone was into the bottle or the weed when they wrote this!) and just looked at the picture and made it up as I went along, then it became a super easy pattern!
I also discovered that cutting the pieces of this block out with a rotary cutter was not only easier, but much faster than with scissors. The pattern had recommended rotary cutting, but I had done the first set the other way because I thought scissors would be easier. No more scissors for this pattern! Rotary cutting it will be!
Anyway, that's my little crafting update. Back to the blocks and the steam! Or maybe I'll just go to bed. It's been a long day! :o)
Posted by Daffodil at 8:10 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Building the world's most powerful laser
I have written on my white board at work a short slogan that sums up creative kinds of work, "I can code it good, cheap, or fast. Pick any two." Fundamentally this is true of all intelligence related endeavors. The corporate mindset focuses on cheap and fast, and I notice Republicans have a similar mindset as well. How moronic is it to talk about pure science being a waste of money. Pure science changes the way the world works, it seldom yields immediate results in the form of profits of any sorts, but it improves the knowledge of the scientific community and leads to new discoveries and ideas that pays for it hundreds of times over. Not everything worth having can be delivered in a single quarter of waiting and if you don't pay for good science, you don't usually get science for your money. This is more testimonials to why the Republican party should never be allowed to hold any political office in America. They are morons and fools who could better spend our money on doing more challenging science and ideas, rather than paying for oversight committees to kill projects off in Blue States. Because that's the problem here folks, it's not that the science is bad or taking too long, it's that it's going on in a Blue State and Republicans can't handle it.
Read more here.
Posted by ManDrake at 3:20 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack