Dark Rantings

I truly do not understand how companies think that we're quite so stupid as to let them get away with these things.

TomTom: When a paid upgrade is a downgrade:


Stick this one in the extremely shady business practices category. In order to add more revenue to the coffers, a paid upgrade from existing TomTom 910 and 510 maps that currently include locations of Starbucks will result in losing the locations of said Starbucks! Hey, that's darned good service for all us long-standing customers.
It wasn't until after the map upgrade that my folks told me that they could no longer find any Starbucks when they did a POI search. What's the cause of this? TomTom has decided that these POIs are now a Paid For option. And, to make matters even worse, after calling support, I was informed that:

• The web-based online store is down (due to a planned upgrade that was supposed to take 21 days and is now taking much longer)
• The Windows-based version of TomTom home has access to it, but the Macintosh version does not
• This change was intentional and not based on any licensing fees

What's the solution?

For me, I think the solution is going to be getting the POIs from someplace else. I'm not sure how up-to-date they are, but the POIs available from POI Handler seem to work fine and many are free. There's a database of over 7000 Starbucks available. You may need to register for the site (I had already registered previously), but I have yet to receive anything annoying from them. Once there, follow the Download POI link to get to the screen where you can get your POIs. They're tailor made for a bunch of the common GPS devices and have pretty up-to-date data.

Posted by mikki at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If anyone is thinking about opening brokerage or other accounts with Merrill Lynch, or are considering moving your accounts to or from Merrill, perhaps you should know that they can and do, with no prior warning, freeze and close your accounts. I had accounts with Merrill Lynch for over 20 years, yet today I got a form letter from the assistant to our broker (guess the broker himself didn't have the balls to sign his name to it) saying that our accounts were closed. Isn't that sweet.

Needless to say, I do NOT recommend Merrill Lynch.

Posted by mikki at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks, Gaige. This is just too funny for words. What a loser.

NEWS HILTON'S FLIGHT DRAMA Music, movie & Entertainment News:


Socialite PARIS HILTON was forced to drive from Las Vegas, Nevada to Los Angeles after airline officials told her she couldn't bring her six pets on her planned flight home.
The hotel heiress brought her monkey, tiger and her ferrets

to Sin City for a weekend of partying and was unimpressed when she realised she would have to spend the long drive with all the animals.
Hilton says, "I bought, like, a monkey, a tiger and some ferrets. I tried to bring them on a commercial flight and they wouldn't let me fly with all the animals. They said it wasn't a travelling circus.
"So I had to drive all the way home from Vegas in the limo with all these animals, there was like six. It was a lot."

Posted by mikki at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I bet they even called themselves Christian and went to church.

CNN.com - Cops: Couple ordered hit on grandkids - Jun 2, 2006:


TAVARES, Florida (AP) -- A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bond.

Police said the pair initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog.

More money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger.

The couple's 31-year-old son has been jailed since November on 22 charges of sexual battery on a child, lewd and lascivious molestation and showing obscene material to a minor, court records show.

Detectives say his daughter and stepdaughter are the victims. The Associated Press has withheld the names of the grandparents and the family members to protect the children's identities.

The man tried to solicit a fellow jail inmate to kill his family, the arrest report said.

An informant told detectives about the plot and they arranged to meet the man's parents Tuesday at a Best Western motel in Tavares, a lakefront community about 30 miles northwest of Orlando, police said.

"(The deputy) said, 'You want me to kill everyone, including the dog?' They agreed," Mysinger said.

The son's attorney, Peter Sartes, said he had no details on the parents' arrest. It was not clear who was representing them.

Posted by mikki at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! - May 30, 2006:


MAY 30--Zoinks! A Minnesota drug dealer was busted last week on felony drug charges after his 6 year-old son turned up at school with a Scooby-Doo backpack filled with his daddy's marijuana stash. According to the below criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, when a teacher asked Corey Randle's son to check his bag for a folder, the boy pulled out a sandwich bag containing 25 baggies of pot. School officials quickly seized the weed and called St. Paul police, but not before Randle--pictured at right in a Ramsey County Sheriff's Office mug shot--realized his boy had the drugs. The 29-year-old father, who beat a hasty path to the school and left with his son, was tracked to his home where he told cops he used his drug dealing money "to pay for cigarettes." According to a prosecutor with the county attorney's office, an additional misdemeanor child endangerment charge has also been filed against Randle.

Posted by mikki at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interesting. After having been on the receiving end of many IRS blunders (some of which cost considerable amounts of money), I can only hope that if they decide they're going to make such sensitive personal information public, that we can sue them for libel when they mess up.

IRS plan would allow sale of tax data to marketers:

PHILADELPHIA -- The Internal Revenue Service is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns.

If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers for the first time would be able to sell information from individual returns -- or even entire returns -- to marketers and data brokers.

The change is in a set of proposed rules the Treasury Department and the IRS published in the Dec. 8 Federal Register, where the official notice labeled them "not a significant regulatory action."

IRS officials portray the changes as housecleaning needed to update outmoded regulations adopted before it began accepting returns electronically. The proposed rules, which would become effective 30 days after a final version is published, would require a tax preparer to obtain written consent before selling tax information.

Critics call the changes a dangerous breach in personal and financial privacy. They say the requirement for signed consent would prove meaningless for many taxpayers, especially those hurriedly reviewing stacks of documents before a filing deadline.

"The normal interaction is that the taxpayer just signs what the tax preparer puts in front of them," said Jean Ann Fox of the Consumer Federation of America, one of several groups fighting the changes. "They think, 'This person is a tax professional, and I'm going to rely on them.'

"Criticism of the proposal also came from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. In a letter March 14 to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, Obama warned that, once in the hands of third parties, tax information could be resold and handled under even looser rules than the IRS sets, increasing consumers' vulnerability to identity theft and other risks.

The IRS announced the proposal in a news release the day before the notice was published, headlined: "IRS Issues Proposed Regulations to Safeguard Taxpayer Information."

The announcement did not mention potential sales of tax information.

IRS spokesman William M. Cressman said, "The heart of this proposed regulation is about the right of taxpayers to control their tax return information. The idea is to emphasize taxpayer consent and set clear boundaries on how tax return preparers can use or disclose tax return information."

Posted by mikki at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I sit here watching these bomb techs live on CNN "disrupting" a suspicious package in proximity to the Capitol, I have to wonder what the HELL these people are thinking? A Cessna 150 flies close to the Capitol and the Secret Service yells "run for your lives" and evacuates every living creature. This, an aircraft that MAY POSSIBLY MAYBE but not LIKELY have some kind of explosive device or other naughty stuff.

Here, they have a clear and present suspicious package. The device is sitting there in a car. And they evacuate NOBODY. What's wrong with this picture?

Here's what's wrong. It is FAR more likely for a ground based vehicle to be carrying damaging devices to the Capitol or the White House. Yet this laxidazical attitude towards that possibility is epitomized by this known package, yet nobody really seems to care very much. Everyone is speaking in calm tones, nobody is freaked out. The other cases with supposed bombs, and Mr. Farmer Tractor Boy were similarly played out. This, despite the fact that it is far easier to cause lots of difficulty with a car or truck than with an aircraft.

Pilots in the DC area, on the other hand, are treated as potential terrorists from the time they punch their code into the airport gate. Our every move is tracked by governmental employees of one type or another from the point our airplanes begin taxiing across the airport.

Flee before my Piper Arrow III. Flee like a baby cheetah at dinner time. Flee like Ron Brown from responsibility. Flee!

But don't worry about Chevy Impala rental cars with suspicous packages in them.... They're not a "real" problem.

Posted by mikki at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am constantly amazed at the twisting and turning people go through as they torture facts and truth in order to avoid personal responsibility. Just about every day, the words "it's not my fault because...." ring through the air. And you know, sometimes it gets downright hilarious in its hypocritical undertones. Case in point...

Man A dumps Woman A and Child A for Woman B he met on the Internet. Woman B has Child B who got Child A's room, toys, etc. As Child A grows up with Woman A, he shows destructive behaviors. Man A, who did not pay child support when he was supposed to because he had to support Woman B and Child B, then claims that none of his actions could possibly be to blame for Child A's destructive behavior, and all was the fault of Woman A.

Get a GRIP ON REALITY you lazy piece of worthless doggie dung! Of COURSE it is partially your responsibility how your child turns out, and all claims of not going to assist Child A because Woman B "can't fly" because she's so FUCKING FAT that she has a heart condition are irrelevant to your relationship with Child A, and are mere excuses for being a lazy shit yourself. Think maybe Woman B can STAY HOME for a day while you go straighten out your child?

How's about this one? Woman B claims to be a UU minister, yet commits adultery and breaks up a family because she has decided that Man A is her "soul mate." Man A obviously agrees, and sees no problem. Woman B continues to attempt to spread Christian like pontifications and platitudes, as if her behavior has not been so "anti Christian" as to merit her de frocking in most circumstances. But still, somehow it's ok to take on a leadership position in a religion, break the tenets of that religion in a very public and very irrevocable way, and still continue to be a minister of that religion, without seeing anything wrong with your behavior.

Or how's this? Man A claims that Woman B is a "professional therapist" after she took some course in hypnotherapy. Woman B then writes a newsletter in which she tells the world that Child A is living with them and getting therapy. Do professional therapists actually breech confidentiality across the Internet? Does she or Man A see anything WRONG with broadcasting to all and sundry that a third party is "trying to become normal?" Are we having fun yet?

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, given that Man A continually complained that he was "not encouraged" as a child, and wasn't given money to throw away on pinball while the other siblings were given money for music lessons and sports. Perhaps if he had been given pinball money he would have developed something called a character? Naw, I doubt that. Stupid me.

Sometimes you just have to shake your head at the idiocy of people. Sometimes you just have to wonder what could possibly go through someone's head that make actions like this "ok" or "justified" in any practical way.

Posted by mikki at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And why? None of the 9/11 terrorists had fake IDs. None of the Iraqui terrorists are using fake IDs. What's the point here except to gain more control over law abiding citizens?

Americans face stricter ID checks: "From driver's licenses, to passports, to plane tickets, the US is tightening ID requirements in the name of security."

(Via Christian Science Monitor: All Stories.)

Posted by mikki at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, imagine you've been on a medication for a number of years, and you change jobs. Your new insurance company decides that your medication is "experimental" and therefore they will not pay for it. Now imagine the medications costs between one and two THOUSAND dollars per month!

Blue Cross/Blue Shield's Anthem plan has decided that my husband's medication is "experimental" even though it is approved for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Since it isn't specifically approved for Psoriatic Arthritis, it is therefore "experimental" and they won't pay, DESPITE the fact that the only drug approved for Psoriatic Arthritis gave him fibromyalgia and his doctor says he can't use it any longer.

Psoriatic arthritis is a degenerative and nasty disease that eats the bones of victims. Without the medication, his condition will deteriorate and he will lose functionality. He goes to one of the best arthritis doctors in the country, but will Blue Cross listen? Of COURSE not. They don't want to have to pay, despite the fact that my husband's employer pays them significant amounts of money for their insurance.

If you are an employer who is making a decision on health insurance for your employees, or have a choice in your coverage, think VERY HARD before choosing Blue Cross/Blue Shield. If there's any possibility that you will get a catastrophic disease whose only workable treatment happens to be classified by BC/BS to be "experimental" then you can likely forget that treatment, regardless of what it does to your life.

We have appealed the decision, taken it to peer review, and the claim is still denied. Are we having fun yet?

Posted by mikki at 03:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time for us to put our money where our mouths are. Time to boycott the entire Walgreens chain. Online, offline, whatever, just don't shop there. Any corporation that would place lives at risk by allowing pharmacists who are NOT medical doctors, to decide what medications are appropriate based solely on what they believe their invisible friend tells them, should not receive our money.

This is not a christians vs. others, or a choice vs. anti choice, or even a women's rights issue. This is instead a medical rights and a human rights issue. In a world where we already watch our doctors medical advice questioned and countermanded by insurance companies, now we go through a second gauntlet, while HOPING our pharmacist is professional enough to fill legally and medically valid prescriptions.

The result of these "ad hoc" decisions based on the misplaced morality of certain pharmacists is not limited to women's health. Nothing in these Walgreens guidelines says that if a pharmacist decides that she doesn't have to dispense Viagra if she considers impotency to be a punishment from God. How about AIDS drugs? Anabuse for alcoholics? Herpes medications? Where does it end?

It is time to show these companies and these pharmacists that they cannot substitute vague personal ides of what others may and may not do, for doing their jobs, i.e filling valid prescriptions written by state licensed medical doctors. It's time to end this HERE.

Walgreens Allows Pharmacists To Not Dispense Drugs They Object To: "A WISN 12 News investigation has discovered that a Milwaukee-area pharmacist has refused to fill prescriptions for women citing religious reasons. A Milwaukee mother of six walked into a north side"

(Via Witchvox - RSS Feed - News from the Nest.)

Posted by mikki at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

April 5, 2005

Gov. Bill Owens today vetoed a bill that would have required hospitals to provide information about emergency contraception to rape victims.

"This bill would violate fundamental constitutional principles by forcing an institution to say things to patients that it explicitly does not believe to be morally or ethically valid," Owens said in his veto message to lawmakers. "Allowing such a provision to become law would cross a constitutional line that we must not cross."

The Catholic Church and lawmakers who believed the bill sanctioned a form of abortion opposed the measure and were pleased with the governor's veto.

But supporters said that the measure, which was introduced by two Democratic lawmakers and backed by a number of Republicans, was about providing information to victims.

Rep. Fran Coleman, D-Denver, a supporter of the bill, said she was disappointed.

"This was about emergency contraception. Rape victims didn't ask for that procreation," she said.

During the House debate on the bill, she likened emergency contraception for rape victims to having a bullet removed.

"I've never been this disappointed about a bill," said the Senate sponsor, Jennifer Veiga of Denver.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Posted by mikki at 08:26 PM | Permalink

Flaming DUH. You keep rewarding these imbeciles and guess what, they are going to continue to SPAM you. If you're stupid enough to click on their offerings, don't you DARE complain about getting the junk in your mailbox.

Bad e-mail habits sustains spam

The 'bad behaviour' of e-mail users is helping to sustain the spam industry, a new study has found.

According to a survey conducted by security firm Mirapoint and market research company the Radicati Group, nearly a third of e-mail users have clicked on links in spam messages.

One in ten users have bought products advertised in junk mail.

Clicking on a link in a spam message can expose people to viruses and alert spammers to live e-mail accounts.

More from the BBC

Posted by mikki at 08:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Talk about a Chilling Effect. As an ex journalist, yes it's true that the media's "ethics" are not so good. However, to say that written notes are not discoverable, but emails ARE? And your ISP MUST turn them over? Gee, thanks for nothing, Apple

One of the gathering storms over Internet speech has broken. On Friday a Santa Clara County Court judge ruled [PDF] that in Apple v. Does, Apple Computer's trade secret claims trump both California's reporter's shield laws and the reporter's privilege under the First Amendment. Specifically, the judge ruled that a journalist's Internet service provider (ISP) can be compelled to reveal the identities of the reporter's confidential sources and other unpublished information when trade secret is claimed. And it's not only "bloggers," or online journalists, who are affected by this ruling. The judge was very clear that this would apply to any journalist's private email records.

The opinion [PDF] is an interesting read in terms of rhetorical structure. The judge defines the law surrounding free speech as "rife with complexities and restrictions" and the law surrounding the "right to protect intellectual property" in California civil and criminal law as "undisputed." From there it's only a hop, skip, and a jump to calling the reporters "fences" in stolen goods. It's not hard to imagine how badly the Diebold case might have turned out with a slightly different set of facts and a judge with a similar take on our vague, messy, ragged, complexity-ridden speech-protection laws vs. clean, pure, solid, "undisputed" property-protection rights.

I pointed to it earlier, but Ernie Miller and Susan Crawford have an exchange that's well worth the read for exploring the question of how we identify speech that merits protection under the First Amendment and reporter's shield laws. Professor Crawford argues for distinguishing and protecting speech that's important to the democratic process; Miller, meanwhile, argues that the First Amendment ought to protect a democratic culture, which "incorporates a wider view of what is protected, such as popular culture and non-political speech."

Before I sign off, let me explain what that little "Blogshine Sunday" icon is doing at the top of this post. Not long ago, I blogged about the OPEN Government Act [PDF], newly proposed legislation that would help clarify that online journalists are entitled to the same rights as traditional print journalists. Specifically, it would provide access to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) fee reduction/waivers for people regardless of institutional association.

Texas Senator John Cornyn is a co-sponsor; here's what he had to say when it was introduced (emphasis, mine):

The news media, of course, is the main way that people get information about government. The media pushes government entities and elected officials, beaurocrats, and agencies to release information the people have a right to know, occasionally exposing waste, fraud, and abuse.... But we've also seen in recent years the expansion of other outlets for sharing information outside the mainstream media, to online communities, discussion groups, and blogs.

I believe all these outlets are -- can and do -- contribute to the health of cour political democracy. But let me make this clear, Mr. President, this is not just a bill for the media, lest anybody be confused. This is a bill that will benefit every man, woman, and child in the United States who cares about the federal government, cares about how the federal government operates, and ultimately cares about the success of this great democracy.

Post script: As I was writing this post, Aaron Swartz published his contribution to the cause: "Blogshine Sunday: US Greenlights, Funds Genocide." Highly recommended.

Posted by mikki at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So what's wrong with this picture? You BUY a CD. You OWN the CD. It is YOURS. You can set fire to it. You can smash it. You can give it to a friend. You can make mobiles out of it. But you can't rip MP3s with it? I don't see anything I signed saying I can't do with my own property what I feel like. I've bought a license to listen to that music when I paid the outrageous prices for the thing in the first place! But I can't listen to it on a machine the Cartel hasn't approved? Screw THAT

Frank Field has details on the felony conviction of an 18-year-old kid under Arizona's Internet piracy law counterfeiting law.

Update: Ernie Miller on same: "If you have ripped songs from CDs you own to MP3, you have made 'unauthorized reproductions.' If you make fair use of a copyrighted work, you have made 'unauthorized reproductions.' And, if you have 1,000 copies of your fair use, you are guilty of class 5 felony. Joy.

There is no defense. You are guilty in Arizona for exercising fair use rights under federal law. This would seem to have just a little bit of conflict with the First Amendement. "

Posted by mikki at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's like a really bad movie. Rather than Night of the Living Dead, I've been dealing with Day of the Fucking Stupid. Here are some cases in point:

1) Stupid loser in religious chat room mounts futile stupid strawman arguments with more non sequiturs than Bush's brain, then proceeds to tell me that he knows more about logic than I do because he teaches ethics in high school. I not so gently remind him that he was caught cheating on multiple choice tests.

2) Total dumbass who had been warned against posting copyrighted materials without permission, posts 30 or so essays written by others, including one written by MY MENTOR without permission to a message board. I nicely ask webmaster of message board to remove it before my mentor gets pissed. Webmaster ignores me. Now I must vanquish them with naughty copyright law.

3) Brainless git posts to religious clergy list about how awful another religion is. Someone else posts agreeing. I post that it isn't nice to focus on the negativity of other religions and we should focus on the positive aspects of our own. Further brainless git posts that the original posting wasn't negative at all. D'OH

4) Some total fuckwit has been trying to comment spam http://www.unnamedforeignintelligence.com even though nobody reads it.

So is it something in the water? Is it the fact that reading comprehension is the lost art of the 21st century, followed closely by following directions? Or are people really getting STUPIDER AND STUPIDER? Pardon me while I run screaming into the night.

Posted by mikki at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The latest terrorist threat? Bereaved families trying to get their loved one's remains home are likely just putting up a front to smuggle bad things in the URN. Yes, that's right...TSA is now going to require special containers for your loved one's remains so that they can X ray them properly. So, your mother, father, sister, or brother will have to be transported in a plastic baggie or perhaps a nice tupperware container until you get to your destination where a nice, friendly TSA partner funeral home will transfer the remains to something less tacky.

Always looking out for our personal safety, the TSA has offered to "partner" with funeral homes in order to provide this important service. So don't forget when your loved one dies suddenly and/or tragically, causing you to become so grief stricken you can hardly deal with your own life, don't forget to ask your funeral home if they are a TSA partner before you try to get the urn with the remains back home. Else you may not be allowed to take them on the plane with you.

Don't believe me? Check out their notice . So glad to see our government is out there taking care of us.

Posted by mikki at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Government Claims Need for Secrecy, Rebuffs Call for Open Access

San Antonio, TX - Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a reply brief in a federal court in Texas supporting its motion to unseal a secret court order. That order had led to the seizure of two servers hosting several websites and radio feeds belonging to Indymedia, a global collective of Independent Media Centers (IMCs) and thousands of journalists.

EFF filed its reply after the United States Attorney's Office in San Antonio, Texas, filed an opposition brief urging the federal court to refuse EFF's request to unseal. The opposition brief argued that secrecy was required to protect "an ongoing criminal terrorist investigation" and that the confidentiality provisions of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) trumped the rights of Indymedia in this case.

This marks the first time that the federal government has formally admitted to the secret order's existence. In its reply brief, EFF reminded the government that treaties are limited by the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment right of access to court proceedings.

On October 7, the federal government secretly seized Indymedia's servers from San Antonio-based Rackspace Managed Hosting. Issued at the request of a foreign government, the seizure order resulted in more than 20 IMC websites and 10 streaming radio feeds being taken offline. Neither Rackspace nor the government has formally identified the foreign country that initiated the request, but language quoted in the government's refusal of EFF's first request matches a US treaty with Italy. Morena Plazzi, a deputy public prosecutor in Bologna, admitted that she requested server logs from Indymedia, but denied requesting a seizure.

"There are serious questions about whether the government or Rackspace overreached in responding to Italy's request," said Kurt Opsahl, EFF Staff Attorney. "The public needs to see the order so we can understand what went wrong and take steps to prevent this unconstitutional silencing of protected speech from happening again."

"The government's brief tacitly admits Italy issued the order, and the Italian government admits it sought information from Indymedia's servers," said Kevin Bankston, EFF Attorney and Equal Justice Works/Bruce J. Ennis Fellow. "By keeping the order secret, the government appears to be trying to hide serious procedural errors that led to the seizure, rather than legitimately protecting the secrecy of a 'terrorism' investigation."

Contacts:

Kevin Bankston
Attorney, Equal Justice Works / Bruce J. Ennis Fellow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
bankston@eff.org

Kurt Opsahl
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
kurt@eff.org

Posted by mikki at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I would like to rant on idiot copyright thieves. What can these people POSSIBLY be thinking when they take another person's entire work, such as a glossary of pagan terms that it took months of research to compile, and then slap THEIR name on it and pretend that it was theirs all along? What kind of downright lame and brainless critter steals wholesale the work of another, thinking that they can pass it off as their own? Do they think we're STUPID and can't do an Internet search to find out when they've stolen our stuff? Yeah, likely so. After all, if they're STUPID enough to steal in the first place without bothering to try to create their own, they must believe we're stupid enough to tolerate it.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Posted by mikki at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How would you feel if the person entrusted with the safety of all "souls" on board an airline flight, announced that you were crazy if you weren't a Christian?

CNN reported today that an American Airlines pilot asked all Christians to identify themselves, and if you aren't Christian, you're crazy.

The story reports that nobody raised their hands.

Passengers were told to use their 4 1/2 hour flight "wisely" or just "sit back and watch the movie."

Apparently, passengers were so nervous after this, that they grabbed their cell phones, and the in flight phones to call loved ones, because they didn't know if this meant that their pilot was going to plow the airplane into a building or something.

What a way to raise the comfort level of passengers who are likely already a bit more nervous now than pre 9/11 about taking an airline flight. No captive audience should be put through that type of non-consensual nonsense. I wonder how the non-Christians felt on that flight.

Keep this in mind when you choose your airline carrier.

Posted by mikki at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In one of the most STUPID things a pilot could possibly do, this complete idiot attempted to single handedly prove all of the government's assertions about pilots. In just one STUPID flight, this moron pulled out all the stops, making certain the stunt would be something talked about at the highest levels of homeland stupidity.

Of course, even though this dweeb posed a "security threat" you would find that he couldn't have been intercepted before he crashed into one of those power stations he orbited.

From CNN

(CNN) -- The case of a pilot with a preliminary blood-alcohol ratio of 0.13 is raising legal questions after his erratic, four-hour flight over Pennsylvania and New Jersey on Friday.

The pilot, John Vincent Salamone, 44, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, flew "haphazardly" over Philadelphia and Atlantic City, New Jersey, twice entering controlled airspace without permission.

At one point the plane flew near a nuclear power plant, prompting security concerns, officials said.

Salamone's blood-alcohol content registered 0.13 after a breath test administered after he landed, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Bruce Castor told CNN. In Pennsylvania a motorist is considered to be operating a motor vehicle under the influence with a blood-alcohol ratio of 0.08.

The pilot was arrested and could have his license suspended or revoked, federal officials said. But local law enforcement officials are not sure what criminal charges to file against the pilot.

Continue reading "In a Flamingly STUPID Maneuver" »

Posted by mikki at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's next? Targeting people who use dictionaries? Perhaps those who have encyclopedias? Even worse....a searchable encyclopedia on their computer! Oh the HORROR!!!

From cnn.com

FBI urges police to watch for people carrying almanacs
Monday, December 29, 2003 Posted: 7:18 PM EST (0018 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning.

In a bulletin sent Christmas Eve to about 18,000 police organizations, the FBI said terrorists may use almanacs "to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning."

It urged officers to watch during searches, traffic stops and other investigations for anyone carrying almanacs, especially if the books are annotated in suspicious ways.

Continue reading "I'd be hilarious if it weren't true..." »

Posted by mikki at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Now this is pretty damn scary, don't you think? here we are, running in circles, screaming and shouting about people who might come in and out of our airspace, while ignoring the stuff that takes place on our own shores. Does this make any sense?

As the media focus on international terror, a Texan pleads guilty to possessing a weapon of mass destruction.

Last month, an east Texas man pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Inside the home and storage facilities of William Krar, investigators found a sodium-cyanide bomb capable of killing thousands, more than a hundred explosives, half a million rounds of ammunition, dozens of illegal weapons, and a mound of white-supremacist and antigovernment literature.[Christian Science Monitor: All Stories]

Posted by mikki at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My question is this - Why did the first story I've seen on this matter online come from Al Jazeera?!?!? LAME

A British journalist posing as a member of staff in Buckingham Palace has raised concerns over security surrounding George Bush's visit to the UK. [Al Jazeera (english)]

Posted by mikki at 11:23 AM | Permalink

From Morons dot org. Apropos, no?

Jeb Bush has a history of opening his mouth and having stupid things come out of it; his latest spew is that residents of San Francisco may be "endangered"...

You might recall that last year, Jeb Bush told some of his associates that two women involved in a child disappearance were lesbians (they were actually sisters). His comments drew immediate fire from gay rights groups and people with functioning cerebrums for pulling crass, locker-room humor out of his nether-region in regard to a case of a missing child.

I'm pleased to report that Jeb's made an ass of himself again. Here's his comment this time: "It looks like the people of San Francisco are an endangered species, which may not be a bad thing. That's probably good news for the country."

This time the subject of conversation was environmental protection and Bush was showing a map of locations of wildlife.

I'd just like to point out that the Gross Metropolitan Product of San Francisco (2001) is $113.1 billion, and that the Gross State Product (that is, for the entire state) of Florida (2001) is $491 billion. That is to say, Jeb's entire state produces only a little over 4 times what the small city of San Francisco produces. (San Francisco's GDP is also more than the GDPs of Singapore and New Zealand.) I don't think it would be "good for the country" if such a city's population went extinct, do you?

Bush went on to ask, "did I say that out loud?" (I'm not making that up).

Yes, you did. And boy do you ever look stupid for it.

---Nick

Posted by mikki at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh man...what a stupid thing to say! Howard, how COULD you?

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, hoping to stomp out a growing controversy over race, said yesterday that he regretted any "pain" he caused by saying he wanted to "be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." [Washington Post: Nation and Politics]

Posted by mikki at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As if we didn't have more important things to worry about...

Parent and consumer groups take on Toys R Us for its glamorous portrayal of drug use, in the form of a CGI giraffe accidentally "huffing" helium [Morons Dot Org]

Posted by mikki at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This could be an interesting fight between the judicial and executive branches of our government. It will be quite interesting to watch Ashcroft attempt to wiggle out of this one.

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it wants the Bush administration to defend the secrecy that enveloped lower federal courts' proceedings involving one of the 1,200 Arab and Muslim men detained by federal authorities after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. [Washington Post: Nation and Politics]

Posted by mikki at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DOH!

Fox nearly sued itself over 'Simpsons' parody: Matt Groening

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel threatened to sue the makers of "The Simpsons" over a parody of the channel's right-wing political stance, the creator of the hit US television show has claimed.

In an interview this week with National Public Radio, Matt Groening recalled how the news channel had considered legal action, despite the fact that "The Simpsons" is broadcast on sister network, Fox Entertainment.

According to Groening, Fox took exception to a Simpsons' version of the Fox News rolling news ticker which parodied the channel's anti-Democrat stance, with headlines like "Do Democrats Cause Cancer?"

"Fox fought against it and said they would sue the show," Groening said.

"We called their bluff because we didn't think Rupert Murdoch would pay for Fox to sue itself. So, we got away with it." ... (AFP)

Posted by mikki at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's true...stupid people should NOT be allowed to drive. Under ANY circumstances. Of course, most of the stupid people don't believe they are stupid, and think I'm talking about someone else, but I'm not. I am talking about YOU, you stupid person. YOU, the one who cut me off today, turning onto route 7, diving into the left lane, then going 45 in a 55. And YOU, the moron with the DC plates who tried to swerve into our lane because you were too STUPID to drive and yap on your cell phone at the same time, then started GESTURING to the person on the phone. So you had one hand on the phone, stuffed into your ear, and the other, wildly gesticulating. The fact that you didn't hit us was sheer luck!

And what about you stupid people who don't know how to use that little lever on your steering column that is put there so you can indicate TURNS? Yes, that lever with the dust built up on it. The one you never use when careening through lane changes, or stomping your brakes in front of me, as if somehow I'm supposed to KNOW you are going to turn, and not just hitting your brakes for the fun of it. And YOU with the out of state plates, putzing down the road with a STREAM of cars behind you. As you slam on your brakes at every intersection so you can read the road sign to see if that's where you're supposed to go, has it EVER crossed your mind to pull over and use a map? Or perhaps find a pay phone and get better directions?

They wonder why there are aggressive drivers. Perhaps it's because so many STUPID people are on the roads, driving the rest of us totally insane. The sheer frustration of dealing with SO MANY stupid people on the road takes its toll when you just want to get where you're going. So please, if you're a stupid person, get your stupid self off the road. And remember, I'll try to be nicer, when you try to be less stupid.

Posted by mikki at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

here's one for the STUPID files. A man riding a tricycle and wielding a handgun struck a car and attempted to hijack it Tuesday morning in northeast Salem, police said Tuesday. But officers said that what could have been a tragedy had comic-opera aspects that resulted in the arrest of 24-year-old Oswaldo Alejandro Valenciano. Lt. Dan Cary said the only word to describe Tuesday’s sequence of events was “bizarre.” . [Madville.com]... [PsychoSensei's Pontifications]

Posted by mikki at 01:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, maybe I'm an elitist scum, but should stupid people be allowed to run school systems? Or should stupid people instead have to compete for jobs that match their intelligence level?

Wilfredo T. Laboy, Lawrence school superintendent who drew both international headlines and hand-wringing after failing part of a state-mandated literacy test required for Massachusetts educators, passed the exam on his fourth try, state education officials said yesterday. (By Anand Vaishnav, Globe Staff) [Boston Globe: Local]

Posted by mikki at 01:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Does this scare anyone else? It certainly scares ME

God has chosen US President George Bush to lead the United States and the fight against 'Satan', according to the general leading the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

It is alleged Lt Gen William Boykin also claimed that the Christian God is "bigger" than Allah, who is a false "idol", the Daily Telegraph reported.

The controversial comments will be seized on by Muslims who will claim the 'war on terror' is a crusade against Islam. [Madville.com]

Posted by mikki at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What are these people thinking? If he had a gun and shot these people, would there be any question regarding whether or not it was ok to use deadly force to protect yourself and your friends? *ARGH* This makes me MAD

Philip Willan in Rome
Monday October 13, 2003
The Guardian

A Chinese martial arts expert was in custody yesterday after turning the tables on four burglars armed with knives, killing two of them and seriously wounding a third.

The 28-year-old man, known as "the doctor" for his practice of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, managed to seize one of the two knives carried by his assailants and saw off the entire group with the ferocity of his reaction.

Magistrates in the central Italian town of Empoli are now seeking to establish whether his self-defence constituted an excessive use of force.

Continue reading "Break Away From Captors, Fight Back And..." »

Posted by mikki at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So what is going to be next? Terrorists have talked about putting explosives in feminine sanitary devices or perhaps duty free liquor? Or is this just some justification for harassing 5 year old children?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday confirmed terrorists have discussed using stuffed animals, pillows and clothing to smuggle explosives aboard commercial airliners.

The explosive -- nitrocellulose -- is a propellant for ammunition and some rockets and is extremely flammable when packed in a sturdy container.

More from CNN

Posted by mikki at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watching a CNN story, the reporter said that over 15,000 people in the United States keep tigers as pets. You can buy a tiger for less than $1000.00. What? An endangered animals can be bought by any yahoo who wants to use it as a virtual penis enlargement tool for $1,000?

In a country where some states ban owning ferrets and some communities disallow pot belly pigs, how can ANYONE think having a tiger is a good idea? DUH.

Posted by mikki at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gee, what is wrong with this picture?

A federal judge in Denver ruled late yesterday that the government's effort to curb unsolicited telemarketing calls was unconstitutional, another blow to plans to implement a national do-not-call list next week. [Washington Post: Front Page]

Posted by mikki at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After attempting to ram his god down the throats of the citizens of Alabama, now our favorite "judicial icon" is trying to ram it down the throats of the ENTIRE population. It will be amusing to see how this political hot potato goes.

Silly and annoying article here.

Posted by mikki at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saudi Arabia: Barbie dolls are already illegal there, but Saudi Arabia's religious police have now decided the toy is a threat to morality, and causes little girls to want jeans, rather than a burka. Oh, and they're Jewish, too, apparently. The organisation's website reproduces a poster they have placed in schools and around the streets:

Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful.

Barbie is not the only thing causing offence:

Other items listed as violations on the site included Valentine's Day gifts, perfume bottles in the shape of women's bodies, clothing with logos that include a cross, and decorative copies of religious items -- offensive because they could be damaged and thus insult Islam.

Despite this kind of thing:

The muttawa patrol the streets of the kingdom, preventing men from mingling with women, enforcing strict Islamic dress for women, chasing worshippers late for prayers, and punishing shop keepers who stay open during prayer hours. They sometimes work with a police officer who can enforce legal punishments on people deemed violators.

...the United States has resisited declaring Saudi Arabia a 'country of particular concern' under the International Religious Freedom Act , and against the advice of its own Commission on International Religious Freedom. Saudi police say Barbie dolls a threat to morality - CNN , 10th September 2003; United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Report on Saudi Arabia, May 2003.
[The Pagan Prattle Online]

Posted by mikki at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WHY does it take the court to tell us things that should be common sense? Why do we allow ridiculous lawsuits like this to even be heard?

In a rare blow for sense in the DMCA muddle, an Illinois district court ruled that replacement garage door openers were not "circumvention" devices under the DMCA's anticircumvention provision. Chamberlain, a maker of garage door opener devices, claimed that Skylink's interoperable replacements circumvented its access controls, but couldn't manage to show the court how accessing one's own car was the kind of harm Congress envisioned when passing the DMCA. Maybe if they'd called it a boat garage ...

Posted by mikki at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

p>I've lived in many areas of the world, and I must say that I have had more power outages in the Commonwealth of Virginia than I have dealt with anywhere else, including the Middle East.

So it was not a terrible surprise last night, during a storm, when we lost power for about 4 hours. During that time, I used my laptop to dial in and check the status of power in the region, and perhaps find out whether or not there was any information about when we could expect power back. While I was there, I decided to send a message to customer service asking them when my power would be back, and asking why they haven't finally bitten the bullet and BURIED our phone lines, so falling branches wouldn't routinely take the power down.

This morning, I received an email from them, saying in part:

Posted by mikki at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Really makes you want to give up your time and effort to coach kids in sports activities, doesn't it? From CBC News comes this stupid story

A man in New Brunswick is taking the province's amateur hockey association to court after it passed over his son at an awards banquet.

Lawyers for the association were in court on Tuesday trying to have the case dismissed.

At last year's awards banquet, Stephen Croteau, 17, was sure he'd win the awards for playmaker of the year and most valuable player. He had scored 27 more points than his closest competitor.

But Croteau lost, getting only one vote out of 10 at the banquet, and Croteau's father, Michel, decided to hire lawyer Euclide Lebouthilier to sue the association.

"Stephen Croteau has been denied something that was rightfully his. He has a right to know what happened," said Lebouthilier.

Charles LeBlond, the lawyer for the province's amateur hockey association, says there are no legal grounds for bringing this kind of dispute to court.

"You would be giving people the right to advance the most frivolous of claims in situations where there's simply no basis for it," said LeBlond.

LeBlond says Croteau had no reason to assume the awards were his.

Croteau's lawyer says the family tried to appeal the association's decision but wasn't allowed to. They felt that going to court was their only option.

Stephen Croteau is suspended from playing pending resolution of the lawsuit.

Posted by mikki at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As posted to Dave Farber's List:

Both PADI and NAUI, the two largest scuba diving certification agencies in
the world, have turned over student information from the past 3 years to the
FBI. If you're a diver, you likely now have a little file at the FBI.

From: Mikki Barry
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 22:19:18 -0400
To: David Farber
Subject: Latest target - scuba divers

Both PADI and NAUI, the two largest scuba diving certification agencies in
the world, have turned over student information from the past 3 years to the
FBI. If you're a diver, you likely now have a little file at the FBI.

Posted by mikki at 03:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)