randomness – Page 38

Olbermann to Bush: ‘Your hypocrisy is so vast’

MSNBC video

Click Here to Watch Video

Special comment: Bush’s hypocrisy for condemning Petraeus ad
Sept. 20: Keith Olbermann comments on President Bush’s news conference this morning, where he condemned Moveon.org’s Petraeus ad.

MoveOn.org – General Petraeus/Betray Us

The New York Times ran an ad by MoveOn.org in their paper some ten days ago. Today, President Bush commented on the ad
The final question asked of the President at a pressconference this morning was in reference to the ad. The President responded. The following is a transcription of that question and the response, taken from http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070920-2.html:

Q What is your reaction to the MoveOn.org ad that mocked General Petraeus as General “Betrayus,” and said that he cooked the books on Iraq? And secondly, would you like to see Democrats, including presidential candidates, repudiate that ad?

THE PRESIDENT: I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org — or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal. It’s one thing to attack me; it’s another thing to attack somebody like General Petraeus.

In response to this morning’s statement, Keith Olbermann will be delivering a special comment on tonight’s edition of Countdown.
I can’t wait to see it.

worried about dad

So, my dad’s going in for a heart cath next week. I know that I really don’t need to worry a whole lot, because it is a simple procedure, and things will most likely go without a hitch, but I just can’t help but be a bit afraid.
I’m gonna be heading over to the office tomorrow, so that I can help him out with the notebook he just purchased for work. He was given the okay to purchase a notebook so that he will be able to perform work from home for he won’t be able to return to the office for about two weeks, and even then he might not be able to traverse the stairs up to his office.
I dunno. I’m just worried.

Housing Inspection

Well, today was the day for our housing inspection. I have been spending a lot of time this week cleaning the place up, and making sure that every single little thing was clean and operational.
…and we passed ! Yay!
Now I can go back to being a slob… lmao…

TransUnion to Offer Credit Freezes Nationwide

TransUnion to Offer Credit Freezes Nationwide
An anonymous reader writes “In a little-noticed press release issued Tuesday, credit reporting bureau TransUnion said it would begin offering credit freezes to all Americans, a change the belies the credit industry’s oft-uttered claim that doing so would be too expensive and burdensome. The program takes effect Oct. 15, 2007, will cost $10 each to place and to remove, and request and must be filed by certified mail. As The Washington Post reports, the move comes as some 39 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws entitling their residents to credit freeze rights. The new right may have little benefit unless the other two major credit reporting bureaus follow suit, and both companies are staying mum about any plans to do so. In May, Slashdot examined a related story on the credit bureaus’ traditional resistance to freeze laws.”

Americans Giving Up Social Life for the Web

Americans Giving Up Social Life for the Web
Stony Stevenson writes “A survey into how the Web affects American adults has found that surfing the net has become an obsession for many, with the majority of U.S. adults feeling they cannot go for a week without going online and one in three giving up friends and sex for the Web. The survey asked 1,011 American adults how long they would feel OK without going on the Web and found that 15 percent said just a day or less, 21 percent said a couple of days and another 19 percent said a few days. It also found that 20 percent said they spend less time having sex because they are online.”

technology and primary education

Things have advanced so much in the past twenty years. It amazes me sometimes.
This morning, Diana () called after she dropped the kids off at school this morning, and asked me whether I knew that Taron was able to play with a computer while at school. I did know this, and I know that he enjoys doing so–I saw him shove a girl out of the chair so that he could continue his turn (needless to say, he got a stern lecture–as stern a lecture that a three-year old can understand anyway). They have an old iMac in one corner of the classroom, where the kids can play various interactive and educational games, while learning the basic concepts of using a computer–keyboarding, using a mouse, etc.
It’s just a little, I don’t know, weird, I guess, to see my three-year old son using a computer, when I hadn’t had my first encounter until the fourth grade. My encounters weren’t all that different from what he is accomplishing now. Well, perhaps a bit different. We did do the gaming thing, mainly Super Munchers, Oregon Trail, and Dr. Quandary. We also took advantage of using a word processor and spreadsheets. Obviously document handling is a bit advanced for him (like by maybe two years).
It’s just amazing.
I’ve been intending to put an old computer in Taron’s room, for him to play with, but haven’t yet. (His behavior has been keeping me from doing so–in fact his behavior has been causing him to lose privileges.) I fear that he really won’t like the thing, either, since he has gotten used to the comforts and features of a more modern computer. The computer I have saved back for him is an old PCjr.
Talk about being worlds apart. He’s been playing with one of the first iMacs, and I want to give him a PCjr… I’m sure he’ll hate it.
I had acquired the PCjr a couple of years ago. Someone asked me whether I wanted it, and I thought hey, that’d be a great first computer for Taron–it’s practically indestructible! So, I took it, played with it, (to make sure it still worked) tested the cartridges, and tracked down all of my old software, then put the mess into storage, to await for the day in which it would be placed in Taron’s room. Well, I think I should dig the sucker out soon (and track down a 5¼ drive for this computer so I can create a few more program disks). It won’t be long before Taron will need access to a modern PC, and I’ll need to show him a bit more on the use of a computer before he gets a hold of our notebooks or this desktop. Indestructible PCjr. with the funky chicklet keys to the rescue!
…in other technology and education news…
Students are using Palms in classrooms. And I’m not meaning in larger cities, I’m meaning here, in Cynthiana. I didn’t know this. From what information I have read, there are five elementary school classrooms that are using Palm Pilots. Wow! Third-graders are learning how to use a data assistant, tracking their assignments, and syncing information between their Palms and the PCs at school. I was just beginning to learn cursive handwriting, and these kids are mastering graffiti!
Another interesting thing that’s going on in Harrison County is that all of the teachers are blogging. Each teacher has an account through WordPress, where they give announcements on events, assignments, and what-not for parents and students to review. What a great tool! Not only are the teachers blogging, but the administration is blogging as well. I have subscribed to the feeds of three of these administrative blogs, so that I can be in the know of what’s going on within the Board of Education.
It’s just, I dunno, wow! Amazing!
And I can’t help but to sit and wonder what other advances will occur in the next few years, as Taron and Nivea leave the HeadStart programs, and enter into the regular school system. How will technology effect them? Will they soon be blogging as well? It’s not a far-fetched idea. I found a video on TeacherTube, where an instructor in New Zealand created a video explaining why students there are blogging:
I also wonder why I feel so shocked and amazed by this. I had foreseen this when I was a student, as did many teachers. We had all expected technology to enter the classroom, and that there would be a greater connection to the world in years to come. I guess that’s it. I wasn’t expecting those years to pass by so fast. I wasn’t expecting to see my son playing on a computer in daycare, before he had the chance to do so at home. I wasn’t expecting any of this to happen so soon. And it amazes me.
For the first time in my life, I feel old.

Andrew Meyer

Okay, so I just found out about this incident, thanks to reading my slashdot and countdown feeds… curiosity got the best of me so i hit Google and YouTube. Some of the vids from YouTube are embedded below, the last being the most complete. All videos show different perspectives of the incident.
An interesting spectacle, to say the least.
So, Andrew Meyer, for some reason, decides to get nutty and belligerent at an event, asks a whole bunch of ridiculous questions, attempts to incite a riot, resists detainment, and gets tazed. And the only thing he had to identify himself when the police were able to remove him, and begin filing reports was a business card. Now, please, tell me this wasn’t a stunt… I need a good chuckle.
What’s interesting is to see all of the blog reactions out there in reference to this incident. There are posts supporting Meyer, posts bashing Meyer, and posts picking fun at Meyer, the police, and Sen. Kerry. I even found an entry where a guy announced the sale of shirts, mugs, and all the other wonderful CafePress junk, carrying Meyer’s plea of “don’t taze me bro!”
Many are crying police brutality. One quoted the right for a person to resist arrest. One drew comparison to Kent State. Kerry’s even responded.
I did, however find two writings that I believe are worth reading–one being from the vantage point of a fellow student at the event, and the other being another one of us random people reading the stories and watching the videos on YouTube.
First, an eyewitness states:

While the final question was being read, some douchebag ran down the aisle, grabbed the mic from the other side of the room, interrupted the kid who was talking, and started yelling at Kerry, demanding that his questions be heard. He started ranting about how Kerry talks in circles or something, and everyone was getting annoyed. The cops are all over him in no time and try to escort him out, but he starts yelling and resisting. Kerry insists that they let him stay and even agrees to answer his question.

After the interrupted guy’s question was answered, Kerry keeps his promise and lets the angry guy talk. This is the point where people started taking their cameras and phones out. All the videos floating around youtube start around here. You can see in the videos that his questioning gets kind of inappropriate, so somebody cut his mic. Instead of shutting up, he starts yelling and making an even bigger scene. He struggled all the way up the aisle, and started violently trying to free himself. They threatened to taze him and he wouldnt stop fighting, so he got tazed. They only had to arrest him because he was causing a disruption and wouldn’t leave peacefully. He wasn’t being silenced for asking tough questions, trust me.

The latter person, Jamilah Kolocotronis, wrote in reference to the negative comments being theorized about Meyer:

He is a human being who had something to say. If some people think he was annoying, well, so what? Can you imagine arresting people just for being annoying? There wouldn’t be anybody left.

The point is that someone’s freedom of speech was violated. Freedom of speech is an essential right–an inalienable right–which cannot be or should not be taken away. In the United States of America, people are not to be arrested and electronically shocked simply for stating unpopular opinions. Without the freedom of speech, the USA will become just another police state.

Interesting stuff. So, what do you think?
Personally, I’ll back the police. I think the twerp went too far, and he should have been grateful for receiving attention, and quietly slipped away, rather than throwing a tantrum.
What do you think?

379

Through the miracles of radio technology, I now know that Becky Barnes has arrived at the HCHS front office.
What fun the high school must be facing today with all the media attention.
I don’t remember there being such media frenzy with the deaths that occurred throughout my high school years. We lost a lot of people during that four year time frame. I think there were something like four or five car wrecks, a suicide (maybe two) and a guy who died due to liver failure.
I wonder where Rick is buried…

Workers Cause More Problems Than Viruses

…and this is supposed to be surprising?

Workers Cause More Problems Than Viruses
Technical Writing Geek writes “A new report finds that, for the first time, virus infections have slipped to the second spot on the list of computer security troublemakers. In first place— a company’s own workers. ‘The Computer Security Institute has just released the 2007 edition (PDF) of its long-running “Computer Crime and Security Survey,” and it offers some dreary news for overworked computer security admins: average losses from attacks have surged this year. More surprising is the finding that the single biggest security threat faced by corporate networks doesn’t come from virus writers any more; instead, it comes from company insiders.'”