Lens
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "bluebolt" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
|
01:43 am
[Link] |
Is it just me, or is the US's international behavior increasingly insane?
So we arrest 8 people who are essentially Iranian power company representatives. We posture and bluster and all that. Why?
Are we making a point in the world, other than "The US is crazy. Don't cross 'em"?
Current Mood:  sad
|
12:40 am
[Link] |
Have we gone insane?
The US version of events in Iraq generally claims that Iranians are up to no good. Yesterday some Iranians were arrested by US forces in Iraq at the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel. It turns out that these were electric company representatives working out a deal for Iraq to import power from Iran.
OMG OMG OMG Panic! Terrorists! Aaaaaaah! We're all going to die!!! Er... wait. Isn't it in everybody's interest that Iraq's power grid stabilizes?
So now that Iran has made a small concession and allowed international inspectors in to some parts of their nuclear sites... the US is being more belligerent than ever. Why? This simply doesn't make any sense.
Cheers,
BB
Current Mood:  curious
|
|
01:52 am
[Link] |
Javaservlethosting.com is a bunch of morons
So my last few bills got sent to my spam box and I never read or paid 'em. Why don't they just have recurring monthly billing to a credit card like *every other online store in the world*? Who knows.
Anyway, they've referred my account to collections for $40 or something. I tried to log in and pay the bill, but no. I'm not allowed to. I've sent them some terse emails suggesting that they contact me on my cell so we can work payment out.
At this point I'm more than happy to play brinkmanship with them. If they don't drop the collections clowns and reinstate my account I'll be glad to get a lawyer and contest their $40 nonsense. Who cares if it costs me $5k. It's a matter of principle!
They've already billed me in advance for August ( which I never did pay, thank you spam box ) but now that it's still August I find my accounts closed. Eh? I'm supposed to pay for a full month of service that I never received? We'll see about that.
Current Mood:  annoyed
Tags: asshat, asshats, hosting, idiot, java, javaservlethosting.com, moron, servlet
|
01:45 am
[Link] |
Aaaaah! When will my head stop spinning?
I've got so much going on at work right now that it's insane. It's making me insane. I've worked right through the last two weekends. I haven't even remembered to check my personal email in weeks. I haven't even remembered to check my regular mail in weeks. It was jam-packed with the usual junk, coupon booklets and free credit card offers... but it was literally *packed*!
On top of all that my best friend's mother passed away a week ago. She lived right next to me for years, and was almost like a second mother to me. That was hard news to take. It's so much harder since I now live 2000 miles away and I can't be there for any of the memorials or ceremonies. =(
Oh well, life goes on, or it doesn't.
Current Mood: sad
|
|
02:32 am
[Link] |
The story of my life...
See the Dilbert Archives at http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20070730.html. So... more "working smarter" with a "sense of urgency" and a "bias for action!" No matter what the project. Man on the moon by next Friday, singlehanded? No problem boss!
I had to try very hard not to shout at the VP of Technology over the phone today. I'm not exactly sure I succeeded. We did briefly dive into a conversation about whether or not my approach to work matched the "needs of the organization." It wasn't exactly clear whether I should throw the phone, hang up, swear at him, or whatever. I settled for saying "If we're going to continue along this line of conversation I think we should do it in person."
I literally half-typed a resignation letter four or fives times today.
It would be generous to say that I'm annoyed.
Current Mood: enraged
Tags: clueless, work
|
|
02:53 am
[Link] |
I live in the wrong country...
Here's some news from the British Isles. I really can't stop laughing. I try to stop, and then I manage to, and then I think about posting on here and burst out laughing again.
So, after much ado and many attempts to suppress my laughter for long enough to type a coherent post... here it is!
quote:
the barrister was asked about a tattoo which was visible under his white dress shirt.
Richard Haworth, prosecuting, said: "He was asked if it was a white rose to which he replied 'I'll show you a white rose' and at which point he unzipped his trousers."
He is then said to have exposed himself.
After that a brawl ensued.
Who says wedding receptions aren't fun?
BB
see the raw story here: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23408282-details/Barrister+'flashed+at+wedding+guests+then+beat+man+who+told+him+to+stop'/article.do
Current Mood:  amused
|
02:32 am
[Link] |
So this is how we use our irreplacable fossil resources...
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.818222,-122.150148&spn=0.002468,0.005193&t=h&z=18&om=1
|
12:56 am
[Link] |
The most depressing fact ever.
Don't read this if you're not willing to spend a week being super depressed.
I mean it.
Are you really ready?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I mean it, a whole week, at least...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Peak Oil.
Look it up. Do your own research. Make up your own mind. I'm not about to waste what time I have left playing Chicken Little for you. Even the USGS says 2025, based on such a ludicrous set of assumptions that it's almost laughable. Try to find a plausible alternative energy source. If you find one that convinces me I'll buy you $1000 worth of your beverage of choice.
In the meantime I'm thinking about learning old school teamster skills - driving a team of horses/oxen. That should be pretty useful when tractors become static sculpture.
-BB
Current Mood: worried
Tags: end of the world
|
|
08:27 pm
[Link] |
UN Peacekeepers sued for not preventing massacre
To quote the story from the BBC: "Relatives of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre have filed a case against the Dutch state and the UN, saying they allowed it to happen."
What do we learn from this? Don't try to help when people are massacring each other. They'll just blame you.
Current Mood: annoyed
|
|
01:43 am
[Link] |
So once again it's been a while
Life goes on. The world turns. I guess there are a few notable things to mention.
1) I'm trying to set up a laid-back take-in-the-scenery kind of hiking group. Initially I was looking for one, so I posted a blurb on craigslist about how I'd like to do that. I got a response from someone who sounded interested, but didn't have a group. I'm sure more people are interested in this, so with a little luck and some patience it'll turn into a cool set of people interested in doing some strolls through the scenery.
2) I have a dog. Yay! She's awesome. It's great to come home and immediately be greeted by someone who's so excited to meet you that she's literally jumping up and down. She just graduated from puppy training class the other day and I have some pictures, but I don't think any of them are any good. I'll post the best one if I remember to. You can see the other pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20975758@N00/sets/72157600029875802/
3) I was talking with a recruiter at Google for a while. I don't think I really want to work there. It sounds like it's full of people who think they're smarter than they are, and when challenged fall back on useless trivia to prove how "smart" they are. I guess I'll shoot an email back to the recruiter and tell him about this concern. At worst he'll write me off, which is fine since I'm not about to jump ship and go to work there. At best he'll come back with some awesome reply and let me talk with some developers there who are the exact opposite of what I just described. That would be awesome. In that case I might consider going to work there. Who knows.
|
|
12:24 am
[Link] |
some incoherent rant that I started and never posted... until now
I've been thinking about it, and while I should be sleeping I'm thinking about it some more.
1) It's pretty clear that Iran (if it's even fair to call all of the factions in that country by one name) has no idea wtf is going on. They don't even seem to know where their own borders are, since after they were confronted about this UK marine abduction thing they claimed that it took place in some other location that was also within Iraqi waters. Finally they came out with a 3rd location that was in Iranian waters. If they had any kind of evidence they would have presented it by now. They haven't. Their entire case boils down to... "Nuh uh!"
2) Iran imports 40 percent of its gasoline from abroad.
3) Iran's entire economy is based on oil exports.
So... it might seem like the west has little leverage here, but Iran has equally little leverage. In fact my point is that Iran has much more to lose than the world at large. A few missiles hitting a few pipelines would cripple Iran's economy. Not only that, but they'd soon run out of gasoline if the UN showed some teeth for once and enforced sanctions. This would take about 10 percent of the world's supply of oil offline. Prices would spike. There would have to be some cutbacks. Rich bastards with their 200 gallons per day cigarette-boats might have to go out once every other weekend. Normal folks might pay an extra $5 a week to commute to/from work. That's a Subway sandwich. That's a quarter pounder meal at Mc D's. That's not a huge deal.
Would I put up with some hardship to see these assclowns sidelined? Yes. But, like I said before, I made the choice to live right next to where I work. I pay more rent for it, but I save time in commuting. As part of the deal I emit less carbon and pay for less energy. It's a net win for me. Maybe more people will consider the same.
I'd pay $4.50 a gallon for gas to have Iran sidelined... I walk to work. Maybe if it *was* $4.50 more people would consider moving close to their workplaces.
|
|
11:05 pm
[Link] |
Here's an interesting photo comparison
Photos of Duluth, MN yesterday and today (March 2nd and 3rd, 2007)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20975758@N00/sets/72157594568493617/
Photos of the south bay, around San Jose and Morgan Hill, CA from today (March 3rd, 2007)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20975758@N00/sets/72157594568446310/
And they wonder why I moved away from Minnesota...
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Beth Orton - Stolen Car
|
|
12:59 am
[Link] |
It's the little things
I was walking to work this morning just after a rainstorm. It had rained heavily just a few minutes before I left, but the clouds had moved on and the sun was shining through a patch of blue in the sky. The bare trees were dripping with rain and each raindrop caught a glimmer of sunlight. Everything was shiny and clean, and the world was covered in a million sparkling diamonds.
Current Mood: calm
|
|
11:50 pm
[Link] |
Nooooo! Poor Hubble!
The Hubble's main camera, the "Advanced Camera for Surveys" just broke. Bah. It's scheduled to be replaced some time in 2008.
Current Mood: disappointed
|
|
04:22 am
[Link] |
I've been thinking far too much...
As much as anyone likes to complain about anything... I think the greatest curse of humanity is our own intelligence. In particular - we're perfectly able to see how we are and project that into the future. Consider a bodybuilder - in 30 years this person will be unable to maintain the mass of muscles that previously defined existence. Consider a hopelessly loose 20ish flirt - 30 years from now what won't be sagging?
Even us hopelessly aloof intellectuals face the same problem. As we age our minds slow and we become... less.
What's the answer? How do we deal with the fact that we're slowly fading away? Live the moment to its fullest. See, there is a happy ending! The only real tragedy is an experience wasted.
Go out and do your thing, but this time turn that knob up to 11.
Current Mood: restless
|
01:08 am
[Link] |
BAHAHA! Perfect!
YES! Bahaha, these random personality things *are* right once in a while...
| Your Celebrity Baby Name Is... | 
Pirate Devo |
|
|
09:43 pm
[Link] |
chess
Who knew there were so many places in the bay area to have a pickup chess game?
http://www.ixian.com/ead/chess/ba-chess.html
Current Location: home
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: it's quiet! yay!
|
|
10:33 pm
[Link] |
So I finally paid the $20 for a pro account
Maybe it'll be worth it. =)
|
02:46 am
[Link] |
w00t! new shins!
The new Shins album is out on iTunes as of... right now. I like "phantom limb" and "sea legs" so it's worth checking the rest of it out.
Then again... I also got Gwar - Scumdogs of the Universe. Not exactly what you'd call talent, but it made me laugh when I was 15 and it still makes me laugh now. =p
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Gwar - Slaughterama
|
|
09:09 pm
[Link] |
Nothing New on the Middle-Eastern Front
First off... I'm not exactly religious, so don't take this in a "preachy" sense. I've been pretty cynical about religious people lately, but, to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by what this lady had to say. It's not exactly happy or upbeat, but it is evidence that there are religious people out there who pay attention to facts.
The text that follows is a direct rip from the First Unitarian Church of South Bend. You can find the original text here http://michiana.org/~unita/sermons/2002-1110.html if you care to. The text that follows is an excerpt of a sermon given by Rev. Lisa Doege on Nov 10, 2002.
So, without further babble, here comes "All Quiet on the Western Front".
In the words of Rev. Lisa Doege:
"I read All Quiet on the Western Front recently. The time seemed right to finally take it from my must read shelf and open it up. It was, as I knew it would be, a heart wrenching story of death and loss amidst the horrors of World War I trench warfare: almost matter of fact descriptions of injuries inflicted by bullets, hand grenades, mortar fire, bayonets, barbed wire and poison gas. It was also a heart-wrenching story of life and friendship and love amidst the horrors of trench warfare. Full of tales of diversions during breaks in the fighting. The humor only deepens the horror. Clearly a condemnation of war, the book is all the more effective because of the liveliness of the narrator and his friends."
"In the end they all die, the narrator and his schoolmates and comrades. And the book’s final paragraphs give it its title:"
"He fell in October, 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: All quiet on the Western Front."
"He had fallen forward and lay on the earth as though sleeping. Turning him over one saw that he could not have suffered long: his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come."
"I did a bit of background reading, when I’d finished the book. I learned how many millions of copies of the book have been sold. It was reprinted 16 times in the first year after publication, and eventually translated into 25 languages. I learned that Erich Maria Remarque (-ed- The author -ed-) was exiled from Germany under the Nazi regime, because the book was considered anti-German, and that his sister died for being his sister. I learned what I should have learned in school, that the Western Front stretched from the Belgian coast to Switzerland, and that in over three years of fighting and millions deaths, the battle on the front was essentially a stalemate. No parcel of land of any significance was won or lost at the Western Front, until the entry of the US into the war shifted the balance of power. I also learned that the original German title was *Im Westen Nichts Neues*. Not All Quiet on the Western Front, but *Nothing New in the West* (-ed corrected ed-)."
Yes, here's me again, beating home an already beat-home point. This book ends with the protagonist and all of his friends dead, face down in the mud. The final report reads "Nothing new in the west." Think about that. Anyway, on with the sermon. =)
"In choosing such a title, Remarque seems in agreement with the preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes, who wrote,"
"Vanity of vanities… All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north, round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been, in the ages before us."
"At first glance, neither All Quiet on the Western Front nor Ecclesiastes seems to offer a very hopeful picture of the human condition. One gives an entire generation of young men grown old and experienced before their time, so that even if they had made it home from the war, they would nevertheless have been destroyed by it. The other hints at a life of futility, vanity, in which there is no hope for anything new—good or bad."
End of sermon.
Kinda depressing that a book written thousands of years ago would be so eerily similar to one written after world war one. It's all the more depressing that we seem not to have learned *anything* from the previous two, and are winding up to write a third... Nothing New on the Middle-Eastern Front.
Farewell, and rest assured that there is Nothing New on the Middle-Eastern Front.
Current Mood: aggravated
|
[<< Previous 20 entries] |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
bluebolt's journal