Reason #3242 why I’ll never be elected President: Government severs diplomatic ties and warns people not to travel to North Korea as it is unsafe and there could be dire consequences. Some travel anyway. They get detained. Appeal to the US for Help – Prisoners claim US is abandoning them. If I were President, I would say ” . . . and . . . there you go. Sorry, but tough.”
American Entropy
Hate Crimes
I’ve turned the corner on Hate Crimes. It’s one thing to attack someone, neutralize him or her simply to get something from them. When you savagely beat someone for pleasure because you hate who they are, that is another. You don’t care how much money is in their wallet. You have no desire to take anything from them. You simply just want to make them hurt. I think that *IS* a special type of crime. I think it is pathetic that it took an event affecting someone I knew to realize this. I am ashamed. Soldiers die in the name of freedom to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Got a Call From 925-446-3690925-446-3690? It’s not Microsoft. It is a scam
Any calls coming from 925-446-3690 regarding Microsoft Updates is a scam. Please the number. It’s a spoofed one anyway. Microsoft never cold-calls people regarding updates.
They will try the following:
“I am a Microsoft Certified Technician and we are calling you concerning your computer declining our updates.”
“I am from Microsoft and your computer contacted us regarding its lack of updates.”
“I am calling on behalf of Microsoft and it appears your computer has a virus.”
This is NOT legit and if you received this from a different number, please comment with the number. What should you do if you receive a call like this? Hang up. You can also contact your local police department, Microsoft, and/or the Better Business Bureau.
Hard to believe this is still going on but as long as people fall for it, it will still be attempted. The number used is spoofed although it is bizarre that they repetitively use the same one. Block this number.
Official Response on MSFT Answers forum:
Better Business Bureau Link:
http://www.bbb.org/blog/2012/01/scam-alert-microsoft-is-not-calling-to-fix-your-computer/
SNOPES Announcement:
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/microsoft.asp
Officially, Microsoft considers this to be a form of illegal phishing using the phone:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/phishing/Msname.aspx
Other numbers include:
(201)285-2011
(603)686-0788
(708)669-0055
(418)001-0070
(707)658-7904
Who said there are no 3rd Acts?
People reinvent themselves all of the time. Sometimes, bad events or bad deeds cause people to change – often by necessity. It can be the catalyst of forced change that can lead people to better things. Maybe not more moral, but often more successful.
I love cracked.com. They talk about this in a couple of articles:
http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_819_21-beloved-famous-people-everyone-forgets-did-awful-things/
http://www.cracked.com/article/96_7-beloved-celebrities-awful-shit-you-forgot-they-did/
Either Jan Brewer is a Political Genius or the Public and the Media are just Fools
Fool me once, shame on you . . . fool me twice . . . well . . . I knew this was coming. So the same strategy that Arizona Governor Brewer employed during the last mid-year cycle is holding up just as well the second time around. It’s an ingenious strategy when you think about it at first. Then when you realize the public has such a short memory and the media is completely driven by actions in the now, nobody does their research. Even if we are talking about events in the last few years.
Rewind to 2011: Remember when the obsession with Obama’s birth certificate was reaching high visibility? How do you propel yourself to the top of the daily news cycle over and over again? Have your far-right cronies play the bad cop so you can come in at the last minute and play good cop – or rather – the voice of reason. You can be the epitome of the “cooler heads will prevail” mentality.
Back then, the very social conservatives in the Arizona state legislature – fueled by the upcoming presidential election and the obsession with Obama (also helped by long term Arizona character Joe Arpaio) passed legislation that would have required presidential candidates to provide documentation showing that they were born in the United States in order to be allowed on the state’s presidential ballot. The process was dragged out in the legislature and the duration between passage and her final action was also dragged out for dramatic effect. When she finally made the decision, she came across as the moderate rational hero. The good cop. The voice of reason. The bill, she said in a letter about her veto, was a “distraction” and “a bridge too far” that would have created “significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona.”
Fast forward to 2014. Here we go again. The Obama obsession has been played out. What’s another socially conservative firestorm that can energize the base yet allow her to look like a moderate leader? Let’s capitalize on the hatred of homosexuals. She was smart enough to have her staff be sure to purge all references to this from her Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brewer) since she knew this would be the extent of any historical research on her (especially since going deep into a search engine required too much diligence. But a simple query of the phrases “Jan Brewer” and “bridge too far” would have brought it all back.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53710.html
For the past two weeks, Jan Brewer has been in the news. I have no doubt this was orchestrated where the idea was created with the end in mind. Beautiful politics exploiting both sides of the political spectrum. Another reason why I don’t participate in the game. Some say Jan Brewer is old and winding down. I think she is looking for higher office. The question is, how long will she continue to reuse this strategy?
The World is not ending any time soon (and what I believe to be the “Atheist’s Creed”)
It doesn’t matter who – they are ALL WRONG! The Mayans, the preppers, the Y2K’ers, the Fatalists, etc. Stop worrying and enjoy your life, people. Do we have to go through this for every archaic end-of-world prediction? – http://www.examiner.com/article/ragnarok-end-of-the-world-norse-apocalypse-passes-world-still-here
The world is not coming to end any time soon. Not in our lifetime – not in our children’s or grandchildren’s lifetime (sorry Al Gore.) So enjoy your life people. Worry about your health, yes – but do something about it so you can live longer. But yes, you will die – and I have news for you. That will be it for you most likely. I am afraid there is no heaven. BUT – the good news is there is no hell. That was created by the religious establishment to use fear to keep you both in line (if you had a lack of morality) and/or more importantly – to keep you coming to church and TITHING!
If you are looking for a creed to center you. To reconcile religion and morality. You can’t. You do not have to have religion to have morality. Religion is not true morality. Take a read here:
A sample: ”
Religion cannot and should not be replaced by atheism. Religion needs to go away and not be replaced by anything. Atheism is not a religion. It’s the absence of religion, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Religion is not morality. Theists ask me, “If there’s no god, what would stop me from raping and killing everyone I want to.” My answer is always: “I, myself, have raped and killed everyone I want to … and the number for both is zero.” Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don’t need religion.”
Go, I love Penn Jilette (yes, irony intended.)
Revisiting the Reality Distortion field.
I think it is time to remind people of Steve Jobs and the RDF (Reality Distortion Field)
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field
“RDF is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bluster, exaggeration, marketing and persistence. RDF is said to distort an audience’s sense of proportion or scale. Small advances are applauded as breakthroughs. Interesting developments become turning points, or huge leaps forward. Impossible-seeming schedules, requirements or specifications are acceded to. Snap judgments about technical merits of approaches are sometimes reversed without acknowledgment. Those who use the term RDF contend that it is not an example of outright deception but more a case of warping the powers of judgment. The term “audience” may refer to an individual whose attitudes Steve is intending to affect.”
To call it a form of Jedi Mind Trick is insulting to the Star Wars Universe. The Jedi Mind Trick is fiction and based on tricking people who are not otherwise easily persuaded. RDF, on the other hand, is real and predatory and only requires highly suggest-able people who desperately want to be part of a group to the point of drastically changing their lifestyle to fit the groupthink.
In other words, you all belong to a cult.
Now that Jobs has passed on, his cult-like following has blossomed into a religion where Steve Jobs now seems to get sole credit for all of the technological developments and advancements of the last 40 years. Talk about the revision of history. All for a man who literally believed his own bullshit to the point where he ignored is doctor’s advice and lived off a fruit diet and bypassed all advanced medical treatments until it was well too late. Who knew someone who lived off fructose would ultimately get pancreatic cancer? LOL.
Now the reality distortion field is trying to insist that people want to carry around a phone, tablet, *AND* a Laptop.
http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-view-of-the-future-of-personal-computing-2014-1
Another Example of Natural Selection Irony
I guess he didn’t have enough faith . . .
Reality show snake-handling preacher dies — of snakebite
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/16/us/snake-salvation-pastor-bite/index.html
PS: Yes, this doesn’t just happen in Will Ferrell comedies. This stuff is real! Is Darwin somewhere laughing? No, probably not. What’s scary for me is I was once married to someone who had very close relatives who attended these churches. And to think, it is all based on a couple of Bible versus (likely taken out of context at best.)
You see churches, like everything else in social society, love to find ways to make their group unique. We don’t just have religions, but each religion has denominations, and each denomination has sects, and sects may differ on *laugh* doctrine. Even if the doctrine is the same, sometimes, churches separate simply because they do not like the preacher or the location – (hence such items such as 1st Baptist Church, 2nd Baptist Church, etc.)
ZZ TOP Had a Reality Show on A&E?
So once again we have a “controversy” regarding a basic cable celebrity. Good thing because the keyboard commandos were starting to get bored – I mean, it’s not like a major holiday season is occurring. We have to have manufactured controversies to give social networks some traction even if it makes no sense since you have people like me constantly on them.
Anyway, my thoughts – i.e. the usual applies: person has the right to speak their conscience, network has right to fire them, supporters have the right to support, haters have the right to hate -yada yada yada. Free speech means free speech but choices do come with consequences. What has happened is not UN-constitutional. Read the first amendment. It applies to governments. No one prevented this person from speaking their conscience, but a private employer has the right to terminate or suspend employment especially if contract was breached (although surely this did not come unexpected.) That’s the “fiscal conservatism” the social conservatives tend to forget.
With that being said, what I would *really* like to know (as I did in the Paula Deen case) is WHO ARE THE PUBLICISTS AND HANDLERS FOR THESE PEOPLE? I mean, obviously the business managers and merchandisers were smart to capitalize on this while they could – because I cannot move in any retail outlet without bumping into something with the Duck Dynasty logo feces all over it. No careers will end over this other than the usual 15 minutes-of-fame expiration. If you think I am wrong, Don Imus has a radio show that is also simulcast on cable. Remember when his career was “ruined?”
If Alec Baldwin’s cable show actually had millions of viewers he would still be on the air. His little controversy gave his employers the opportunity to cancel a money-losing venture. In the case of this person from ZZ Top/Duck Dynasty/SwampNard/Whatever this could just be a bargaining chip for the network to keep salaries in check – especially if they signed a morals clause.
Or – you could all just be a victim of manufactured controversy – as in “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Of course, my favorite slant on this (NOT) is the turning of this into the usual political red vs. blue politisport with even Sarah Palin chiming in.
As far as this being the end of A&E? Seriously? Americans have short memories and are massively ADHD. There will just be another “reality show” to come along showcasing rural America with a large audience consisting of people who actually believe and idolize the bullshit before them, people who will watch to make fun of the reverse minstrel show before them, and those that are simply just fascinated with the trainwreck before them.
If you do not believe people idolize and emulate these reality stars, look at the correlation of the emergence of MTV’s Teen Mom and the re-emergence of teen pregnancy in the South.
Then again, I still do not understand the feigned ignorance on both sides. You allow Hollywood to exploit you, you attack a lifestyle well understood to be accepted and even a part of Hollywood culture, and then you wonder why there are consequences? You put a bunch of swamp people from rural Louisiana on TV and you are surprised when they speak out their beliefs?
To tell you how ridiculous this is – Glenn Beck is the voice of reason on this – http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-duck-dynasty…
Then the irony got creepier – makes you wonder what is really going on – http://seattle-sunset.newsvine.com/…/21992558-duck…
Wow – this is definitely following the Paula Deen Crisis Playbook – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/phil-robertson-black…
*Munches Popcorn* #CantLookAway #TrainwreckComing – http://www.rawstory.com/…/westboro-baptist-church-to…/
Turns out the whole thing was probably staged – As they say where I come from – Joke’s on y’all! – Very creative – turn a normal hiatus into a “suspension.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/phil-robertson-duck…
American Entropy
Union Work Stoppages/Slowdowns hurt People <br>
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sanit_filthy_snow_slow_mo_qH57MZwC53QKOJlekSSDJK
You know you are desperate when all you have is the military for work. Funny how the corner has turned on this one. <br>
Never go to the ER if you can avoid it <br>
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/31/3290271/sacramento-girl-needed-amputations.html
Politicians get Dead Soldier’s name wrong <br>
http://blog.thenewstribune.com/military
Randy Quaid’s poem to his dog, Doji. <br>
http://www.garyanddino.com/news/randy-quaids-poem-his-dog-doji
Woman addicted to eating toilet paper. <br>
http://www.garyanddino.com/news/woman-addicted-eating-toilet-paper
Nerdodamus 