Dark Rantings

Your kid breaks curfew, comes home late, you have harsh words with kid, telling kid to shape up, and kid's boyfriend comes in and KILLS YOU? Ok, what's going on in this world? Where are they getting these ideas that it's even a POSSIBILITY to just off your parents, or your girlfriend or boyfriend's parents because they want you to conform to proper behavioral standards?

Children striking against their parents, children striking against school administrators, children striking against other children, all of this is turning the world on its head. Now we have to protect ourselves from our own children. We have police, metal detectors, tazers, mace, etc. in our schools. What's next? Moving all of our children to state prison like facilities to raise them for us, so that we don't say the wrong thing that will make them snap and start shooting at us, poisoning us, or whatever else they're doing?

It's pretty damn scary when you have to think not only about what's right and wrong and how to teach our children how to integrate into an already rather screwed up society, but now you have to factor in the possibility of having one of your little charges turn around and kill you for it.

This girl whose parents were killed is 14. My daughter is 14. If she tried to date an 18 year old, I'd certainly put a stop to it. However, while I'm doing that, do I now have to make sure to set my alarms, load and stash my weaponry for easy access, and have 911 on speed dial? You gotta wonder.

Posted by mikki at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The military is an important aspect of American life, and unfortunately necessary in a world that has still not figured out how to "just get along." So long as we have individuals who risk their lives and limbs in the service of their country, we, as a nation, should be willing to make certain sacrifices for them in return. Examples of these include maintaining adequate funding for military families to have proper health care, ensuring jobs are held for those who have been called to duty, and generally supporting the people and the job they do for us.

Unfortunately, it seems that at least one branch of the US Government refuses to make life just that little bit easier for those who want to support individuals in the military. The United States Postal Service states on its website that they do not support their Internet "Click and Ship" service to military addresses.

While it might be easy to say that this is not really a big deal since you can just march on down to the post office, wait in line for however long it might take, fill out the paperwork and ship the package, that isn't really the point. The point is that our government take that little bit of an extra step (in this case, providing scanners to post offices) so that we can more easily ship to our fighting men and women around the world, not to mention assist our disabled veterans to send packages and messages to their comrades by themselves, without having to ask someone to go to the post office for them.

It may be just a "little thing" to some, but to a business owner who wishes to fulfill orders made by members of the military, it means leaving work to stand in line. To a new mother it means packing up the baby and then standing in line and hoping he doesn't start crying. To the disabled it means having to ask someone else to go to the post office for them. All of these things CAN be done, but shouldn't our government try to make things LESS difficult to keep up the morale of the troops?

And before you say "use UPS or Fedex" they are prohibited from delivering to military addresses. The monopoly belongs to the USPS. Good try though :-)

Posted by mikki at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After abject lameness, Dark Rantings is BACK in all its glory. There will no longer be any doubt as to where the most rantingest rants one could possibly rant can be found. Here, of course, along with the ambiguity located in the box under the bed.

Yes, we will continue ranting on, and leaving comments on until the evil spam commenters find us again and cause me to have to turn them on. So, until then....party on dudes.

Posted by mikki at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally something smart. Free speech rules!

A federal judge rejects a company's legal attempt to assail BadBusinessBureau.com, which features negative reviews from consumers who claim to have been "ripped off" by retailers. [CNET News.com]

Posted by mikki at 10:19 AM | Permalink

So, does anyone else have any problem with this? People were detained, nobody knows who they were, and our formerly open society can't get the information, when we can get the arrest records on just about anyone else. How come?

The Supreme Court yesterday declined to hear an appeal by civil liberties groups seeking access to basic data about hundreds of individuals detained by the federal government after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a decision that allows officials to continue withholding the names of most detainees, as well as other information related to their arrests, indefinitely. [Washington Post: Front Page]

Posted by mikki at 10:14 AM | Permalink

May the New Year bring you all that you deserve.

Posted by mikki at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nearly three decades after his death, Mao Zedong has a new title: Great-grandfather.
[AP World News]

Posted by mikki at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It all goes to show you. You can find anything you want on the Internet

A computer expert accused of killing, dismembering and eating another man who allegedly agreed to the arrangement over the Internet went on trial for murder Wednesday at a court in central Germany.
[AP World News]

Posted by mikki at 08:41 AM | Permalink

So why does the Navy feel it's ok to leave marine mammals unprotected, and subject to their whim? Maybe because they strap dolphins up to electronics and make them go find mines? They probably don't want to be held to the same standard as the rest of the US. Grrrr.

The Navy won a backroom congressional victory last week that allows it to get out from under laws that protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals, but in the process it touched off what could be a bruising battle over the future of one of the nation's most popular environmental measures. [Washington Post: Nation and Politics]

Posted by mikki at 08:41 PM | Permalink

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)

And it's about time, too. Their First Amendment rights end where my ringing phone begins.

A federal appeals court has given the Federal Trade Commission the go-ahead to start enforcing its national do-not-call list, finding that the government is likely to prove that it is in the public's interest to curb unwanted telephone sales calls. [Washington Post: Front Page]

Posted by mikki at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yo, people. You take a huge multi hundred pound jungle cat, piss it off, and it DOES THINGS. Why is everyone shocked and surprised that an annoyed jungle cat would attack someone? Go figure.

Yes, it was an awful thing to happen. Yes, it's terrible that Roy is in such bad condition and might die. But was it surprising? No. Is it the tiger's fault? No.

I can only hope that they don't put this tiger to death for being a tiger.

Posted by mikki at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's awfully rough to find something to rant about while being in Bonaire for 11 days, but ok...here goes.

I need to rant because there have just been TOO MANY FISH. Yes, that's right. Too many fish to get in the way when I'm trying to take pictures. Especially those pesky frogfish. They are everywhere. They're driving me insane. I don't know what to do with them. Pushing them out of the way to take pictures of much more interesting things like uh...sponges, is just so difficult.

You can see some of these pictures with those horrible frogfish in the way, click here to see them .

Posted by mikki at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a rare showing of seeming compassion, which is actually a ploy to say "you don't need to regulate us," the telemarketing industry attempts to prove to consumers that it's not quite so bad. As usual, we know better :-)

The nation's largest telemarketing association yesterday said its members would comply with the government's do-not-call list on Wednesday, even though a federal judge has ruled that the registry is unconstitutional. [Washington Post: Front Page]

Posted by mikki at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My throat is sore as hell. I feel miserable and crappy and icky. I had the feeling I was coming down with something, and wouldn't you know it? Today BLAM.... sore throat and all. Last night I was up til 4 trying to recover from attempting to upgrade perl, and the contingency plan for what happens if everything blows up. But wait...there's more...

I was feeling like maybe I shouldn't go to Tae Kwon Do when I get the phone call from BRUCE saying he had scheduled 4 kids to come in so that I could give them evaluation classes. So I had to go in... bleah. On the way in, there was a massive thunderstorm and everything was doused with rain, and things flooded, and everything else was crappy and icky and I was soaked, etc. So I walk into the place and it STINKS like sulfur. Bruce tells me he was using a nail gun that uses gunpowder. Great. Just what I need. I'm allergic to sulfur. Yum yum. So as class continues, my head starts swimming, and pounding. So I go to get a diet coke out of the fridge, stepping loudly and squishily into a HUGE PUDDLE OF WATER. The AC had been dripping condensation in a big flood all over the storage room floor. Oh joyous rapture. Bruce said he knew about it. Well why didn't he put a BUCKET UNDER IT?

Well, after putting the bucket under the errant AC unit, we find that the only way to stop the flood is to turn it off. In 99% humidity, turning off the AC into a poorly ventilated small brick building with people working out and sulfur in the air is sure to put anyone off. By the time class ended and I got home, the throat was burning, nose was running, head was aching, etc. So I went to bed. Could I sleep? NO! Foo!

Posted by mikki at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The weather won't allow me to go to my 25th high school reunion. Well, all I can say to that is, "I HATE YOU, WEATHER!!!" And I don't know if I really wanted to go anyway, and see all those people who dissed me while I was growing up and vulnerable and all that stuff. And why am I OLD enough to have a 25th reunion anyway? Huh?

Well I should complain to management about this. It's just plain UNFAIR. Yeah, that'll do it. Grrrr.

Posted by mikki at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Toilet Paper

From: Mikki Barry (ooblick@intercon.com)
Subject: Re: sexism

View: Complete Thread (12 articles)

Original Format
Newsgroups: soc.singles, soc.women, alt.flame
Date: 1990-03-12 05:54:47 PST
You know what the REAL problem is? It's the fact that women will never
be equal in the eyes of men until we decrease our usage of toilet paper.
(Bog rolls for your brits out there). I mean, how can ANYONE take us
seriously when we use up all the goddamn toilet paper? Imagine it!
A male type goes to take a crap and reaches over to the roll and finds
ONLY ONE SHEET LEFT! EGADS!

The reason why Margaret Thatcher, Queen Victoria, etc. have attained the
power they have is directly proportionate to the amount of TP used.

Now, of course, if you only deal with big and stupid men, like *I* do,
they'll never notice the toilet paper issue and you can reign supreme
in the household. As it should be, I might add. Only problem is, you
have to flush the toilet for them since they forget how every once in
awhile.

Mikki Barry

p.s. follow up to alt.flame please as I would NEVER read a group with
"women" in its name (horrible, sexist, against AA) and I'm not single.
Oh well.

Posted by mikki at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)