30 Nov 2008
Students lie, cheat, steal, but say they're good

We are suffering from a serious reality gap here, and I can assure you that things have indeed changed over time, despite the pontifications of the "experts" quoted in the article.

I went to high school armed, with a high powered rifle every day in my junior year. Lots of kids did: I ran trap lines to make extra money, and carried a rifle to put any poor critter out of it's misery that the trap hadn't finished in one quick kill. Granted, the gun stayed in the trunk of the car, but still, I never shot anyone. It never occurred to me to shoot anyone. A good portion of the school was armed - and nobody got shot. Ever. Unless they accidentally blew one of their own fingers off, or shot themselves in the ass.

You didn't need a permit to carry a concealed weapon. There were no security cameras in stores, or metal detectors in courthouses. There weren't any seat belts in cars, and the drinking age was 18 (for 3.2% beer).

Sure there was still crime, even shoplifting and vandalism. But it was something that somebody else did, somebody on their way to jail. And none of the hoods I encountered ever claimed "goodness" as an attribute.

Somehow, despite all of the "security" measures we've added to our lives over the years, things are seemingly less secure now that ever - and it's apparently getting worse.

And that's the real question: why?

AP - In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

22:02 /Politics | 5 comments | permanent link

29 Nov 2008
Cop: I paid judge for search warrant

Maybe it was just a Training Day...

A crooked former Chicago cop testified Wednesday that he paid a judge in connection with a search warrant.

(link) [Chicago Sun-Times]

via Dispatches from the Culture Wars

14:59 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

28 Nov 2008
Wal-Mart worker trampled; 2 shot at toy store

Black Friday.

A temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death Friday in a rush of thousands of early morning shoppers as he attempted to unlock the doors of a Valley Stream, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.

(link) [CNN.com]

20:24 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

27 Nov 2008
The Glossy Gospel

Lest my Christian friends think this is too over the top, I'd like to remind them that this sort of thing's been done by Christians since at least the 9th century of the Common Era.

However, The Heliand is not just a translation of the Bible - it's a complete retelling of the Christ tale, in the Old Saxon language and with Old Saxon cultural motifs (i.e. the 12 apostles are 12 doughty warriors, with Jesus as the drighten of the war band). From a Heathen perspective, it can be wildly offensive, and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of Christians who'd find it irreverent as well.

Just like I'm sure there'll be complaints about these new tomes.

Should porn addicts and manga fans get special Bibles?

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

08:42 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

26 Nov 2008
Why did feds give Spitzer a pass?

Oh gimme a break! Does anybody really wonder why Spitzer caught some of the mercy that he was so frugal with during his time as a Federal prosecutor?

I don't - and it should be obvious to anyone that "laws are for the little people". Just gander over the latest round of corruption charges in Washington and then tally time served, comparing it to time served by some poor schmo for possession of a simple weed. It's disgusting.

We finally heard from Ashley Dupre -- or "Kristin" as former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer knew her.

(link) [CNN.com]

15:49 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

25 Nov 2008
Give Thanks? Science Supersized Your Turkey Dinner

This piece practically oozes breathlessness. And indeed, the facts presented take my breath away, too. With horror.

The size of the average American turkey has more than doubled in the last 80 years, at the expense of flavor. The corn, potatoes and likely everything else on your plate this Thanksgiving has also changed significantly since the Pilgrims sat down with Wampanoag Indians, and even since Lincoln invented the holiday in 1863.

(link) [Wired: Top Stories]

22:08 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

Student arrested for 'passing gas' at Fla. school

Zero tolerance?

AP - A student at a Florida school has been arrested after authorities said he was "passing gas" and turned off his classmates' computers. According to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff's Office, the 13-year-old boy "continually disrupted his classroom environment" by intentionally breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

08:01 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link

Google Layoffs - 10,000 Workers Affected

"First, do no evil." Silly me - I always supposed that "evil" consisted in lying, or not telling the truth, be that an overt, baldfaced lie or a sly little legal workaround.

I understand having to reduce operational expenses. I understand that every business has tough times. I don't understand lying about it.

So much for Google and the moral high ground.

Google has been quietly laying off staff and up to 10,000 jobs could be on the chopping block according to sources. Since August, hundreds of employees have been laid off and there are reports that about 500 of them were recruiters for Google.

(link) [Web Guild]

07:31 /Technology | 4 comments | permanent link

24 Nov 2008
Requiem for a Maverick

Nice bit of writing here - if you like this piece, check out his initial take on the campaign after the RNC - Mad Dog Palin. The illustration on that one is priceless...

Election night at the Biltmore in Arizona is a hilariously dismal scene, like a funeral for a family member nobody liked, who died owing everyone money. The rats here are already bailing off the ship with lightning speed, like L.A. Dodgers fans leaving a playoff game to catch the latest episode of Entourage. The exodus, in fact, begins about eight seconds into John McCain's concession speech, which incidentally starts off on the classiest of notes: with the remaining crowd cursing the name of the new president.

(link) [Rolling Stong]

via RealityChex

07:36 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

22 Nov 2008
Whip Conflation Now

Backwards ClockThis is an excellent essay by Roderick Long on the perceived "message" that libertarians often project in the political marketplace, and it's effect on the ideology as whole. It is very heartening to see the Cato Institute lend it's forum to this view, if only as a sort of op-ed, as I've considered it since it's founding to be the main font of what is referred to as "vulgar libertarianism".

Left libertarians, who are in my not so humble opinion the carriers of the purest form of the ideals of the Enlightenment, recognize the contradiction inherent in the very idea of the corporation. A corporation is wholly a creation of the State: no truly free market would ever recognize the limits on liability it confers on "owners" (shareholders). Corporations are chartered and controlled by the State. No sane person would recognize and treat an organization as a "person" - people are people, companies are companies (however organized) and the one is not the same as the other. The only thing that makes these fantasies possible is the force of law (read: guns of the State) behind them...

Defenders of the free market are often accused of being apologists for big business and shills for the corporate elite. Is this a fair charge?

(link) [Cato Institute: Unbound]

19:02 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Eliminate DST Nationwide

Backwards ClockI mentioned this study back when it was released, but the authors now have an op-ed in the Grey Lady using it as a basis for recommending elimination of daylight savings time nationwide. Why?

"Daylight time costs Indiana households an average of $3.29 a year in higher electricity bills, or about $9 million for the whole state. We also calculated the health and other social costs of increased pollution emissions at $1.7 million to $5.5 million per year."

Note to Obama: wanna save energy? You know what to do!

Why do we — along with 75 other countries — alternate between standard time and daylight time? Although many people believe it has an agricultural provenance, daylight time has always been a policy meant to save energy. As Benjamin Franklin argued, if people moved up their summer schedules by an hour, they could live by “sunshine rather than candles” in the evenings.

(link) [New York Times]

09:24 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

21 Nov 2008
New Mac Virus Threatens Only the Weak-Minded

Yeah, poor us... I know I sure miss running and updating antivirus software. Not to mention paying for it.

Poor Mac users just can't get a decent virus that's on par with the threats Windows users face. Because yes, there's a new Mac virus lurking, but unless you're incredibly stupid, there's no need to worry.

(link) [Wired: Top Stories]

07:33 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Company sues Facebook over somethingorother

Oh, boy! They've got a patent on "dynamic association of electronically stored information with iterative workflow change". What the Hel does that mean? Who knows?! Better let the lawyers figure it out!

Morons.

A Ohio-based technology company is suing Facebook for copyright infringement, claiming it invented the platform the insanely popular social networking site uses to store and manage information.

(link) [The Register]

07:30 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

19 Nov 2008
The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn’t Care to Listen To

History meets politics, and right now, it appears that politics is winning. Which is a shame.

The Tarim mummies have become protagonists in a political dispute over who should control the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

(link) [New York Times]

08:08 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Senators rip auto industry

Ya know, Dodd's right: the Big Three have been poorly managed dinosaurs, and are deserving of the harshest punishment the market can apply.

But the same could be said of Bear-Stearns. And AIG. And many major banks. Why is it OK to pass them unlimited cash to keep going on about their miscreant ways, but not OK to do the same for Detroit?

Given the numbers of voters people likely to be affected, you'd think the automakers would have had a leg up, but apparently not so.Was it the level of campaign contributions? Again, the UAW has been a mainstay of the Democrats for years, and they control the Congress, so that doesn't appear too likely.

Is it because the automakers, for all their faults, actually make something other than hot air and paper? Are we, as a society, becoming oblivious to the obvious: somebody, somewhere, has to make, grow or otherwise produce the products we buy, sell, trade and sue each other over?

The mere fact that the question must be asked is a sad commentary on our condition.

Skeptical senators grilled auto executives at a hearing today, calling them short sighted and unimaginative, as they seek a $25 billion taxpayer-funded bailout to ward off looming bankruptcy, CNNMoney reports. "Their board rooms in my view have been devoid of vision," said Sen. Chris Dodd.

(link) [CNN.com]

08:07 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link