Category: Uncategorized

An intelligent statement from a politician

Techdirt: House Rushes Through Bill To Make The Web More Dangerous For Kids

I know, it’s amazing.

Rep. John Dingell’s statement is worth repeating: “So now we are on the floor with a piece of legislation poorly thought out, with an abundance of surprises, which carries with it that curious smell of partisanship and panic, but which is not going to address the problems. This is a piece of legislation which is going to be notorious for its ineffectiveness and, of course, for its political benefits to some of the members hereabout.”

Well said.  He was speaking of the “Deleting Online Predators Act”, which doesn’t actually seem to delete any predators (Isn’t it nice that they use delete, because that’s an internet word!  They’re so clever and hip!), but actually blocks a lot of websites at any school that takes federal money.  Because that makes kids safer.

Unless you take away internet access completely, it is possible that online predators will get at kids.  You see, the internet is a dynamic, ever-changing thing.  This may seem obvious to many of you.  To to 410 of the 425 members of the House who voted for this bill, it apparently isn’t.  Blocking things on the internet will never work.  There will always be something new you have to block, and the people trying to beat the blocks are at least as good as those trying to block them.  As Techdirt says, why don’t we try educating people on the potential dangers?  Oh, right, that costs money.  Stupid bills like this just allow politicians to pretend they care about children.

Never, ever go out in the sun

CNN.com – Sun kills 60,000 a year, WHO says – Jul 26, 2006

“The application of sunscreens should not be used to prolong sun exposure but rather to protect the skin when exposure is unavoidable,” the report advises.

When the World Health Organization tells me to only go outside when absolutely necessary, I stop paying attention.  Sure, we should do more to protect the ozone layer.  But staying inside with the A/C blasting isn’t really the way to go.

I’m too lazy to look up numbers, but I imagine that 60,000 people a year makes the sun about as dangerous as a pair of toenail clippers.  How many people are there in the world?  Four billion?  What percentage of four billion is 60,000?  Well, I’ll tell you.  It’s 0.0015%.  You’re more likely to be struck by lightning while being mauled by a bear and holding a winning lottery ticket.  Actually, I made that up.  But seriously.  More people die from heart disease because they stayed inside worrying about skin cancer than die from actually getting skin cancer.  I made that up, too, but I guarantee it’s true or your money back.

Does this void my warranty?

Treehugger: Convert Your Car To Run On Ethanol With New Kit

I love the idea of this.  $500-700 and, with a flip of a switch, I can choose to fill my car with gasonline or ethanol.  I’m not sure I’d risk this on my car (It’s not even a year old) without doing some research, but it’s a great step forward.  Why be forced to buy a poor quality GM product just to use ethanol?  Now, I’m still waiting for the Back to the Future banana peel and stale beer fuel, but I guess I can wait a few more years.  Now all we need is an alternative to ethanol that’s a little more sustainable than growing corn.

I am unauthorized

I got this yesterday, but just got around to reading it.

Thank you for contacting us. We consider feedback from our customers to be very important. We are currently experiencing higher than normal email communications from our customers and our response to you may be delayed. We’ll reply as soon as possible and we appreciate your patience in the meantime.

That’s not the best part. This is:

This email message and its contents are copyrighted and are proprietary products of American Airlines, Inc. Any unauthorized use, reproduction, or transfer of this message or its contents, in any medium, is strictly prohibited.

The email message is copyrighted. Um, okay. I guess this is an unauthorized reproduction. What are they going to do, steal 16 hours of my bachelor party? Oh, wait . . .

I also like how they attach a name to the autoreply, as if some CSR actually read my submission and responded personally. How touching.

Gun control – a sensible approach

Bring it On! » Blog Archive » Let’s Complicate Some Issues!

I saw this on Fark this morning. This guy presents a pretty good argument for coming to a compromise on gun control (and rewriting the ambiguous Second Amendment). He compares a gun to a car. Both are capable of killing people if used incorrectly (Or even by accident when used properly), but both become much safer as people learn to use them responsibly.

A big part of his point is that the utter refusal to compromise by the Democrats and Republicans (Beyond “I’ll vote for your bill if you vote for mine” because my constituents don’t really care about your bill) means that, too often, we’re stuck with one extreme or the other, even if most people who understand the issue agree that both extremes are wrong.

Unfortunately, there’s no chance anything this sensible would ever happen in Washington. Oh, well.

Maybe this will help get rid of spam

I’ve just activated Akismet, which is supposed to help prevent comment spam.  If you enter a comment that doesn’t show up for a few days (I moderate all comments until you’ve had one approved, so it won’t show up right away), email me and let me know.  If your comment actually is spam, then please go play in traffic on the highway.

Is it wrong to enjoy Husseins trial?

CNN.com – Hussein: Shoot me if found guilty – Jul 26, 2006

I can’t wait for the movie version of his capture and trial.  It will be like Saving Private Ryan plus A Few Good Men, except ten times awesomer.  The media coverage of this makes it sound like Hussein is playing the charismatic lunatic really well, ranting and raving and refusing to give up on his principles.  Sometimes it gets easy to forget that the guy slaughtered his own people when it suited him, and that he doesn’t like us Americans very much.

But when I read that he said he should be shot like a military man, not hung like a criminal, I envision the end of _Lionheart _that I just saw on TNT the other day where Van Damme is standing over the big bad guy he just beat and the blond woman who runs things is standing next to him looking like she’s trying to inhale herself out of her dress because it’s so tense, and Van Damme is about to kill the guy, but then he doesn’t.  If that guy was Saddam Hussein, and Van Damme was George Bush, and the blond woman was maybe Condi or someone . . . Hussein looks Bush in the eye and says, “Shoot me”.  And for a second you think Bush is going to do it, but then he relaxes and turns around and walks away.

Or maybe you like the Lethal Weapon/Bad Boys/Die Hard ending, where they think the guy is toast, but then he has another gun and as Bush is walking away, Hussein pulls the gun out in slow motion, and then Dick Cheney shoots him in the face.  Bush could smile and say, “Thanks, Dick”, and the audience would laugh. I should be a screenwriter.  This would be the best movie ever.

Pre-Vegas timeline of incompetence and sorrow

Thursday 1:00PM – Leave work, giddy with anticipation 3:30PM – Leave home, Sam in tow, to pick up Evan 3:36PM – Return home to feed cat so fiancée can go to happy hour 4:00PM – Arrive at Mike’s office to carpool to airport 4:11PM – Arrive at Dulles Airport 4:30PM – Check in, breeze through security 4:32PM – Realize that our flight is delayed. 4:45PM – Realize that we will now miss our connection in Dallas 5:30PM – Find out there are no more flights from Dallas to Vegas 6:03PM – Leave airport, new boarding passes for Friday morning in hand 6:15PM – Arrive at restaurant to drown our sorrows 6:30PM – Very nice waitress tells us “dead baby” jokes to try and raise our spirits 7:00PM – Our spirits slightly raised, we go our separate ways. 8:00PM – Join fiance at happy hour Friday 1:30AM – Leave bar, fiance convinces cab driver to go through Wendy’s drive through 2:15AM – Arrive home to sleep 4:45AM – Alarm goes off, time to do it again 4:46AM – Unbeknownst to me, receive a call at work from American notifying me that my flight is delayed 4:49AM – Evan gets the same call from American. 5:30AM – Arrive at Mike’s office again, break the news that we have a new flight, but it’s out of National Airport. 6:03AM – Arrive at National Airport for a 7:17 flight 6:10AM – Begin horror of checking in for an America West flight bought with an American Airlines ticket 6:10-7:14AM – Made three runs back and forth between counters, cutting in line and getting yelled at each time (Thanks, Evan) 7:14AM – End horror of checking in for an America West flight bought with an American Airlines ticket and proceed to security 7:19AM – exit security, thirty yards from our gate, only to find that the plane that was supposed to be waiting for us has just pulled away. 7:20AM – Gnashing of teeth, screams of anguish, various cursing 7:22AM – Return to American counter, beaten and depressed. Get booked on Continental flight at 11 8:00AM – Mike throws in the towel. 8:15AM – Nutritious breakfast at Cinnebon accompanied by really bad coffee 9:45AM – Mike leaves the airport, refund in hand. Evan, Sam, and I head to security. 10:00AM – Evan, Sam, and I, one right after the other, are selected for “random” expanded security screenings 10:02AM – Very pleasant gay man gives me a wanding and a pat down 10:15AM – Arrive at our new gate 10:15:02AM – Sit down at airport bar for beer, screwdrivers 10:30AM – Realize our flight is delayed again, and we’ll miss our connection 10:31AM – Wonderful Continental agent gets us on another flight which has already boarded 10:34AM – Surprised flight attendant finds us some empty seats seconds before the doors close 12:00PM – Arrive in Cleveland, slightly surprised Continental agent prints our boarding passes since the first agent had kept them 2:30PM – Arrive in Vegas, start drinking heavily. It sure is nice when your boy has $12 margaritas waiting for you at the pool bar.

Ooh, a direct hit

Take this, American Airlines. This is what you get for costing me sixteen hours of bachelor party in Vegas. What follows is my letter to the airline that I mailed this morning. They’re going to be sorry if they make me bust out the BBB. You don’t mess with a man’s bachelor party.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to tell you about the worst airline experience I have ever had. On July 20th, I left with my brother and two friends to fly from Dulles Airport in Virginia to Las Vegas, Nevada for the weekend. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:26PM, arriving in Las Vegas via Dallas, Texas at 10:40PM. Our troubles began when the first flight was delayed, and we were told that we would miss our connection in Dallas, and that there were no more flights to Las Vegas from Dallas, either that night, or the next morning. Rather than risk being stranded indefinitely in Texas, we returned home after being booked on an America West flight through Phoenix the next morning.

Unfortunately, in the morning, our flight was again delayed, such that we would miss our connection. American called one of my fellow travelers, and we managed to get a flight for the four of us from Washington National airport through Newark. We rushed to National and arrived approximately one hour before our scheduled departure at 7:17AM. When we got to the America West counter, we were forced to literally run back and forth between the American counter and the America West counter, trying to get the proper documentation so that our boarding passes could be printed. At approximately 7:14AM, we had our passes and rushed to security, assured by the America West counter agent that the flight knew we were coming and would wait for us.

However, this was a lie, and the flight was already backing away from the gate when we arrived at approximately 7:19AM. We returned to the American counter and were booked on a flight through Continental at 11AM. Continental finally provided us with good service. When our 11AM flight was delayed, again making us miss our connection, the Continental agent found us another flight that left immediately and brought us to Las Vegas, through Cleveland, arriving at 2:30PM the day after we were scheduled to arrive.

I can understand delays. I understand that they happen sometimes, and sometimes there is nothing the airline can do. But when we are forced to change flights three times, change airports, and do all of the running back and forth to get the proper documentation ourselves, it becomes unacceptable. At no time did any employee of American Airlines apologize. At no time did any employee acknowledge that we had been subjected to unreasonable delays. The only thing that American employees did was dump us off on other airlines, hoping the problem would go away.

I have already written to you using the complaint submission form at aa.com. However, the 1500 character limit did not allow me to fully explain the situation. The reference number is XXX.

I travel a lot. My fiancée’s family owns a travel agency. At this point, I have no interest in ever flying with American Airlines again. You have made a mistake, which is understandable. But you have done absolutely nothing to fix it, which is unacceptable. Please contact me as soon as possible if you have not already done so as a result of my complaint online.

Thank you very much

I’ll keep you all posted on what transpires. I also submitted a thank you through Continental.com’s web form, because I figure I shouldn’t only contact the company when they screw up.