I think about Dean and all the things he should've tried

Dean for America Web Community Kits. PHP based, GPL licensed. I'm really quite impressed with their info page on this. It's more useful than 90% of other Open Source projects. The documentation is complete and detailed and doesn't assume that you have any idea what you're doing. While I *do* have some idea of what I'm doing with PHP, it's nice to be able to reference something that rivals the docs of lots of commercial products. It is this sort of attitude and tech savvy that makes a lot of the geek community like Dean.

Also, the new Bowie "Aladdin Sane" 30th anniversary remaster is stunning. More on that later.

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The man in the White House, he's got a conscience like a siev

Some interesting facts, and one rumor:
From Article III section 3 of the Constitution of the United States of America:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

CIA agents identities are classified at the Secret level at the very least. It is a federal offense to reveal the identity of any CIA employee. George Herbert Walker Bush was the head of the CIA at one point, and as recently as several months ago spoke out in condemnation of anyone who intentionally puts CIA operatives at unnecessary risk.

It is widely believed that the White House source who leaked the name of a CIA case officer is Karl Rove. 70 of Wilson's human assets were liquidated as a result of this leak. None of them were US citizens, so no one seems to care too much.

The White House does not consider it to be very serious, and doesn't think it warrants in investigation. Right wing talk show hosts tend to agree. After all, violating federal law and getting dozens of CIA assets killed isn't that big a deal. Certainly not as important as say, spending 50 million dollars and 5 years failing to find anything wrong with anything Clinton had done other than lying about a blow job.

From Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees:

Maybe the White House could give America's undercover agents a national do-not- call list of their own? See, that way agents who want to stay undercover could simply register once, and then administration officials would know not to call reporters with top secret information about their identity. For instance, an agent undercover with remnants of Iraq's Republican Guard could simply call 555-please-don't-blow-my-cover, or register online at ForTheLoveofGodMyLifeIsAtStake.org. After that, every time an official did call reporters to leak an agent's information, they'd be subject to a $500 fine.

Sure, there might be some free speech issue here, but this idea could help preserve vital American secrets, and more importantly, protect reporters from getting those annoying calls from administration officials pushing classified information.

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And please don't tell me perhaps perhaps perhaps

I tried very hard to watch Coupling last night. There is tremendous controversy about the casual treatment of sex. Everyone is in an uproar, and they are overlooking a far more fundamental problem with the show. It is possibly the worst TV show ever made. Which is very very surprising given that it's a shot-for-shot remake of the BBC show, which is one of the best TV shows ever made.

When I say shot-for-shot, I'm not kidding. The script is identical, whith modifications for US-centric slang in place of UK-centric slang. The sets are identical. The actors look mostly very similar. The camera angles are identical. The actors even try to mimic the delivery style and facial expressions of the British actors. I'm not sure whether to blame the director or the actors, but let's be real. There are literally only two things different between the US and the UK versions: Director, actors. The UK version is hilarious, the US version is less enjoyable than a 12 hour video seminar on how paint dries.

I was truly hoping that it would be cancelled during the commercial break and they would run ANYTHING ELSE for the remainder of the time slot. Or even dead air. That would've been a tremendous improvement. Thankfully, we have TiVo. "Delete this show?" YES!

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If we'd all been living in California

The debate was last night. I'm sure you were glued to the television.

Interestingly, I found Arnold to be far dumber than I'd thought, which I didn't think was possible. It's astounding he can walk and breathe at the same time.

As a side note, Bush's interview on Fox the other night came in dead last in the ratings. How embarassing to be beaten by UPN sitcoms that no one has ever heard of. I guess it's an accurate reflection of the viewing public's opinion of him.

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Dumb all over, a little ugly on the side

Another Wednesday, another status meeting.

So. We are really REALLY going to start following our deployment checklist. We mean it this time. I'm not kidding. Really. Stop laughing.

Our new buzzword is "accountability". First off, referring to a "companywide initiative" as a "buzzword" does little to inspire confidence. Second, if it hasn't been a priority up until know then making it one now will require a bit more than saying "we're going to make accountability a big priority". I'm completely in favor of accountability, I think it's a wonderful thing, and I support the idea of emphasizing it. But it's going to take more than just talking about it. And it should go all the way to the top, not stop at some arbitrary level of middle management...

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All you people up there in City Hall

I am guiding Jack and Marge through the process of getting their vehicles registered et al. Here in MO we have a personal property tax on vehicles, but if you move here from out of state you can get a waiver from your county. Great, I'll call the Department of Revenue and ask them what to do (it's been 2 years since we moved here, I don't recall the process). Well, we all live in the city, so I have to call City Hall. I do. Several times. Each time someone picks up the line and continues helping whomever they were helping before and ignoring me. Thanks. I resolve to try and find the information online. St Louis is, to put it politely, not very wired. There is a page that gives the actual phone number for the Personal Property Tax department. Said page is on the city library's webserver. No joke. Here . Is comparable information anywhere on the City of St Louis website? Yes. Buried at the bottom of a "miscellaneous" page. Ah. There is actually a car registration page as well. Sure, it's three layers of navigation deep and if you are looking for information on "personal property tax waiver" you probably wouldn't look there first. Note that the tax information page has lots of useful information about FEDERAL taxes, some minimal information about state taxes, and no contact information at all about local taxes. Sigh.

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Tired of packin and unpackin

Gordon Jump has died. Too bad, I liked him.

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Now we gotta use the service station

Um, I'm reasonably sure that someone is having phone sex in the men's restroom down the hall.

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Dying in stereo, I can't believe my ears

Tivo == good. We played with Tivo a great deal this weekend, and I already don't know how we tolerated going without it for so long. Videotapes are so 1970's. We are a wired couple, and we need wired media. We asked Jack if he wanted to come over to watch a movie, and he declined, as we don't have surround sound. Seriously. No worries, we'll be getting surround soon, now that Tivo is in the house. Hmmm, I should research bluetooth speakers. It would be much easier than running wire hither and yon throughout the attic. Things to think about.

Random recollection of our big Risk Assessment meeting last week(?). As we started up this rather serious and intense meeting, someone in a nearby cube was blasting Kelly Clarkson. It just struck me as really funny.

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The more the economy will prosper

"War is good for the economy". Or so I've been hearing more and more from the conservative media. I seem to recall the brilliant Bobcat Goldthwait said something to the effect of "Of course war is good for the economy, 'cause a dead guy can't flip a burger". War as a means of repairing the decades of shady business practices and lax oversight and regulation and outright corporate and governmental corruption. Interesting solution.

Killing a bunch of foreigners will solve all our problems! WOOOOOO! America Number One! I suppose that's really not fair, as the rhetoric on talk radio rarely gets as intelligent as that which you find at football fields and hockey rinks.

If you seriously believe that "any means necessary" is an acceptable approach to fixing systemic problems with our economy, then we shouldn't be at war with Iraq. We should be at war with India and Russia, where most IT jobs are being outsourced, Mexico and southeast Asia where most manufacturing jobs are being moved, and Japan and Europe for making better electronics and cars than we do.

Of course, war is very good for Halliburton, so I guess that makes it all worthwhile.

"The number of military strikes we have made unprovoked, against other countries, since 1947-48 is more than 250. These are major strikes everywhere from Panama to Iran. And it isn't even a complete list. It doesn't include places like Chile, as that was a CIA operation. I was only listing military attacks." - Gore Vidal

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Everything Old is New Again

Been busy this week. A DC suit and his entourage breezed into town and caused havoc. He's fairly high up, so we can't really complain. His boss reports directly to some guy named Bush. Fortunately Keith prominently posted regular updated screenshots of the hurricane and they all decided to cut their visit short to get home and take care of things there.

Notes from the meeting:
Mike1:I've been told I'm too negative, so I have to try to be more positive about things now
Me:You're not negative, you make predictive observations based on experience. The fact that you're usually right doesn't help you much though.

We have a business analyst who was called to active duty in Iraq. He's been active for almost a year.
Mike1:When Dan gets back at the end of September, he will no longer be a business analyst, he will be our site manager. They are interviewing business analysts right now to fill the gap.
Me: So they waited until he came back to replace him?

Phil says I win the prize for best comment in the meeting.

[geek stuff]
After a few short hours of using WSAD 5.1 I am very very pleased indeed. 99% of the changes don't relate to anything I do, but that 1% makes all the difference in the world. Swing is dead, long live [native windowing toolkit of your choice]. GTK is *SO* much faster. Funny, I like Java much more when I can opt to not use it.
[/geek stuff]

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Working on a forklift In the night shift

I'm a fairly vocal critic of corporate America, but just to show that I am fair and balanced, I like to point out positive corporate acts as well. Chrysler didn't have to do this, and the fact that they did is a fine example of a corporation being a good member of the community.

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I'm a lame joke but I like it that way

I've managed to derail two serious conversations today in the same manner. I'm so proud of myself. Granted it's a cheap technique, and if I weren't sleep deprived I could come up with something more esoteric.

Mike: The hurricane will probably hit NY this weekend
Keith: Nah, New York has had enough trouble lately. 9/11, blackout...
Me: Al Sharpton

griz: keep an eye on the financial news end of today, early tomorrow - bets are we bought somebody.
rev: Al Sharpton?

We did manage to pick out a crib, dresser, changing table, stroller, car seat, playpen, and high chair this weekend. Man that's exhausting. I don't think I did any work over the weekend. Too humid to paint. I vaguely recall cleaning up my workbench a bit, but I could be mistaken. I might've planned to and not actually gone through with it. I did see Ronin w/Jack, as well as most of Trinity:The Atomic Bomb Movie. Both great movies. Is it still Monday?

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They will clean your mind out

Project Censored's 2004 list. Take a few minutes to think about why the "liberal media" would want to bury these stories. Then realize it's because "liberal media" is a lie.

Don't let them deceive you with the legitimation of their myth.
There is no democracy, there is only IBM, ITT, ATT, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon.
Your religious leaders and rock stars have lied to you repeatedly.

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Dream a little dream

I rarely remember my dreams. But last night I dreamt that Bruce was on "Queer eye for the straight guy". That would rule.

Note that the 12 year old mentioned previously has settled with the RIAA for $2000. Nice to see them forcing people into chronic debt early on these days.

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Ain't no need to shoot yourself in the foot

RIAA Toady #1: Y'know, our public image isn't quite low enough. I think we need to make a stronger effort in order to make people hate us.
RIAA Toady #2: I know, let's sue a bunch of people for $150,000 per song they've downloaded! We can nail a 12 year old girl for millions, I'm sure!
RIAA Toady #1: Oh great! And maybe some senior citizens who don't even know what an MP3 is!

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bouncin around like bunnies

While mowing the lawn over the weekend, I ran across this

It explains why momma rabbit was watching me so intently while I mowed. I left them in place and mowed around the hole.

While I'm doing some pics, here's our ragdoll looking slightly the worse for wear

And a place on the way to work offers this interesting little delicacy...

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Cos I got a name, and I got a number, I gotta line on you

Jobs I've done (there's plenty of timeframe overlap, and I've held multiple jobs at the same place at different times):

 Church Assistant Game Store Clerk Taco Bell Worker Theatre Technician (city) Security Guard (quit during training) Music Store Clerk Theatre Technician (amusement park/concert pavilion) 7-11 Clerk (1 week) Music Store Manager New Accounts Representative (Wall St firm, glorified file clerk) Cameraman/Tech (cable show) Webmaster (freelance) Sr Webmaster (dotcom) Web Designer (retailer) Graphic Designer (dotcom) Web Designer (dotcom/contractor) Web Developer (telco/contractor) Sr Web Developer (telco) Web Developer (dotcom/contractor) Programmer (GIS manuf) Sr Web Developer/Systems Admin (software company) Web Domain Expert (software company - no, I don't know what it means either) WebSphere Administrator (federal government) Web Designer (federal government) UI and Usability Expert (federal government) 

Those are the ones I recall.

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Get near this, hear this

Esteemed security guru Richard Forno has his Realist Manifesto online. I would say I agree with about 90-95% of it. It would be nice to see more political and social thought of this caliber rather than what passes for analysis and discussion on the Sunday Morning Talking Head shows.

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Last night I took a walk into the back of my mind

Excellent night last night, hanging out with a mix of old and new faces. We finally got to meet Muddy Lemon and Amy, Aubrey and her bloggless husband Kevin, Krissy, and Gavroche. And of course the usual suspects were there...

We all pitched in to "help" Kat pick colors for her office once the roof has been replaced and the place dries out. Some people were probably more helpful than others (I did at one point look for the base and accent color which looked the most horrendous together. I didn't actually suggest using them to her, however).

I have plans, I have plans, think of a plan, think of what a man can do with his hands.

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I'll help you count your scars tomorrow

I've had better days. Or at least drier ones.

The weekend was very productive. Started out by ripping out the old counters, which was fun (no really, it was) and discovering that when it was remodeled back in the 70's they just dumped the construction debris behind the counter, so I got to clean that up. And two dead mice who were in a very advanced stage of decomposition, so I'm guessing they were a few years gone. The rest of the weekend involved cutting countertops, installing countertops, installing a sink, helping Jack unload his truck in the rain, several trips to Lowe's, not enough sleep, and a tremendous amount of soreness.

The drought has ended here in STL. I wisely didn't check weather before coming to work. A polo shirt and dockers are insufficient protection against a monsoon, in case you were wondering. There's an incline leading from the Metro station up to the street (about a 40 yard walkway, probably a 5% grade). Down that incline a rushing torrent came. 2 inches deep at best, around the planters up to 4 inches around the planterboxes. I was thinking of getting new shoes anyway. Fortunately, the AC is on today, so hypothermia should be setting in fairly quickly.

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