Note the pink ad along the bottom for a hair removal cream!
Obama has started taking some good action, most notably announcing his intent to shut down Guantanamo Bay.  The NY Times said one issue in shutting it down was finding new housing for the 250 odd prisoners.  I tell you, real estate worldwide  skyrocketed,  who knew caves were in such high demand?
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Hores & Horses!
This is what’s happening in the American school system! Â This student, I think, is in 3rd grade and likes “horses” not “hores.”
This drives me up a wall. The link below (don’t worry, it’s =no follow) is a petition for people who think Hallmark’s same sex couple cards are a sinful disgrace. They blast about with their Bible sayings and “I’m holier than thou” ideas.
Why can’t we all just be tolerant of each other? The Christian right doesn’t need to flip out because a card company is targeting the gay market. Do they see gays and liberals petitioning about Hallmark creating Christian oriented cards? (xmass, communion, etc)
Actually, I listened to NPR’s On The Media podcast yesterday, and they were talking about how atheists aren’t taken seriously, and the negative impact the phrase “there are no atheists in foxholes” has on their beliefs (apparently they’re very offended). Then this journalist talked about how guilty he felt for saying the phrase. Perhaps petitioning Hallmark is their next move too!
Ah yes, and my plug for the libertarian party!
Obama vs. Bush
Watch the great Obama-mess-up video.
It’s so much more fun playing offense! Everyone bashes ol’ Georgey, but (shockingly) it looks like Obama is human and also makes mistakes in public speeches! Oh wait, this wasn’t even a speech, he was just trying to recite a sentence.
Watching it on BBC1, you would have thought that blacks make up the majority of Americans (2006 census = 12.6%).  What happened to balanced media?
My favorite part was people yelling “change has come! it has come! change!”. Seriously, we’re not talking about the second coming of Christ here, he’s president and that’s all very exciting but he’s not going to change the world alone. I’m no political pro, but I’ve watched enough West Wing to know there’s a lot more to getting things done in Washington than a president alone.
“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.“
- Thomas Jefferson
And so, the Democrats with their big government and nationalized healthcare aspirations, roll into the White House.
I’ve been readings Dreams From My Father, Barack Obama’s first book, and it’s this section on page 194 of my UK edition which summed up to me, why I don’t agree with this man. In this part, he’s reflecting on how to organize a poor black community on the outskirts of Chicago:
“Give the black man some tangible skills and a job. Teach that black child reading and arithmetic in a safe, well-funded school. With the basics taken care of, each of us could search for our own sense of self-worth.”
Is this guy kidding? Two points. First, BASICS are not safe, well funded schools - basics are parents taking care of the children they bring into the world, basics are food, water, and clothing, basics are every one’s right to live their lives as they see fit without persecution(assuming they don’t harm others in the process).
Secondly, “give a black man tangible skills and a job”; who decided it’s the government’s job to give away skills and a job? There’s a reason skills and a job are highly valued in societies around the world, it’s because they’re WORTHY of value. And everybody knows that items of value don’t come for free! Giving skills and jobs to people won’t improve their self worth - people WORKING hard to learn new skills and get jobs themselves will naturally create self worth!
Barack, we don’t need to finagle the government into forming an individuals self worth. Let us live without your idealistic big brother interference so the American people can truly be free.
… was a joke.  Sorry guys, i really want you to go to THIS FUNNY SKILLS CLOUD!
This guy just sent me a wicked email explaining why java fx will never triump/really compete with flas:
Thanks for the link, I did have a look at JavaFX when it first came out, but not recently. I’m sure the technology is great but there is more than one reason why flash is used it seem to me. JavaFX will loose out until there is good tool support. It seems to me to be quite difficult to write a decent tool to target JavaFX and that is just one part of it. I’d love to see an alternative to Flash/Flex mainly because I think Adobe overcharges. But this seems to be some years off. I can’t see much in JavaFX that would convince a web-designer to use it over flash for instance. Silverlight which has video codecs has a difficult job too. If anything I am expecting flash to get more prevalent as people want more in the browser. It is ideally placed to write the next generation of in-browser application. AJAX/Javascript still run into problems with speed, something that only now is being addressed, and there is no support for fast communication protocols. For instance drawing realtime graphs. It’s going to be interesting. I heard some talk about adding sockets to javascript recently. God help us.
Simon being given to my family on Christmas morning…
Can’t watch it? Click here. Do you think giving pets as presents is a good idea? I’m not so sure, because I worry that most people do it on impulse (totally not the case here…). Is his black fur really unlucky?
Perhaps you’ve seen this American TV show called Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, where a needy family is given a house. Me and Drew were watching the episodes our sister had DVRed, and came up with a little check list for getting on the show:
1. Minority. bonus points: mixed race family. Plus, CMT (country music television) will do reruns so it helps to play off the white guilt complex.
2. Obesity. fat people are a staple of needy situations. How a family that can’t afford to keep the heat on can maintain a mother looking like a prize heifer has always been a mystery to me, but I guess I shouldn’t judge physical appearance.
3. Senior citizen. Involved in the family, either as a dependent or as an aid trying to financially help them.
4. Adopted Children. bonus points - if they come from an estranged or dead family member.
5. Handicapped. Age doesn’t discriminate, we like retarded kids and parents in wheel chairs equally.
6. Multiple jobs. Using the phrase “holding down multiple jobs” appears in 75% of episodes I’ve seen.
7. Illness. Bonus points if the illness creates a handicap.
8. Disney World aged children. Since the show sends families to Disney world, it’s important there are children who will enjoy the experience.
9. Moldy bathroom. House with 1 bathroom that includes cracked tiles, shower curtains with only 2 rings, & lots of mold.
10. Sharing beds. Any distressed sleeping situation, kids on the floor, bonus points for boys and girls sharing a bed.
11. Single parent/guardian. Bonus points: not the birth mother taking care of children.
12. Small House. bonus points: 1 floor.
13. Children with exclusive interest. The kid’s bedrooms are always themed, so it’s important the kids know exactly what they’re interested in (barbie, b-ball, - funny enough I have yet to come across any child with a love of racquet sports…).
14. No gays. CMT reruns won’t like gay family members, and quite frankly, the flamboyant designer doesn’t leave much room for anyone else.
15. Fatal Disease. Bonus points: ends in tragic death of beloved family member.
16. Children wearing glasses. A staple for an enhanced cuteness factor.
17. Dead lawn. bonus points: no foliage. rusty or water logged playground & toys.
18. Car accidents are a hit!
19. Community leader crying on behalf of the family on tv. (mayor, teacher, parole officer…)
20. Must be a free standing home and property. (can’t knock down an apartment)
21. Home fixer. We like to see creativity that goes beyond duck taping holes in the wall. Think pooping in bags because there is no running water, a water wheel built from scrap wood like in Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson, etc.
22. Multi-use rooms. ie) Living room is also a bedroom.
23. Family member is community activist - cancer kid collects bottle tops to recycle for donations, police officer father, etc. bonus points: awarded community medals
24. Twins. Bonus points: under the age of 10 or with a lifelong handicap.
25. Multiple tradegies, one after the other. ie) one legged Iraqi war veteran drives family off cliff to create more handicap kids…
26. Petition over 24,000 signatures for family to get help. That’s the number to beat.
27. Location, location, location. Lived in violent neighborhood and moved out, but new house was a disaster…
28. Hard drugs. Extended family or birth parent involved in hard drugs (crack, heroine, meth). bonus points: this made children suffer from neglect or abuse.
29. Upcoming financial payment. Kids going to college, grandma’s medical bills, etc…
30. Bad hair. bonus points: if it’s dyed a bad colour.
31. Victims of circumstance. Under no circumstances can the family be responsible for their actions or situation. Bonus points: if the phrase “things were going well for a while, but then they got rough…” can be used, ending with “no where to turn”.
What do you think of my list? Any additions? Think I’m a mean bitch for spending time writing it?