Category: Rant

*11/15 11:16 pm*

— I don’t know what was going on tonight. There were some people wearing Ranger’s jerseys, so I’m assuming there was a hockey game tonight, but there were also these women who were dressed like they were going to ladies’ night at some singles’ club–lots of sequins and cleavage. I don’t think that was for a hockey game.

— I missed the 10:16. I almost always miss the train I want to take home. Instead, I’m on the 11:16 and it’s packed. At least the front couple of cars are. I normally like to hit the cars in the back, but I saw a seat with a plug by it, and I took the opportunity to grab some juice. I probably could have found something closer to the rear, though.

— There was a pretty good busker in Penn Station tonight. He was covering Bob Marley songs on a guitar. He played them kind of jazzy. I was considering spending $5 to buy his CD, but I didn’t. Maybe if I see him again.

— Two people asked me for change. One was a tiny, old Asian woman. She had a handful of quarters and asked me for a quarter. I said, “You look like you have a lot of quarters already!” and proceeded to fish in my pocket for a quarter to give her. The other one was this guy who I see constantly in Penn Station. He asks for change all the time. I’ve seen him when he’s not begging–he’s usually harassing women and listening to music through very expensive headphones. He’s got stylish jeans, and, like I said, I see him there all the time. I consider him a professional beggar, and since I don’t like his service, I don’t give him money. If I ever get up the nerve, I’ll tell him to grab an instrument and pretend to offer something like all the other professional beggars out there. I give the buskers money all the time. I give homeless people money or a meal more than I’d care to admit. But that dude? C’mon, man, do something to earn it. Tap dance or mumble or offer to read palms. Do something.

— I’ve gotten a couple of people asking me about my necklace at work. It’s a silver sun with a round amber stone in the middle. My wife gave it to me for our anniversary. The last guy to ask about it was a customer at the Apple store, and he wanted to know if the symbol had some sort of meaning. I thought to myself that usually suns mean something about the sun, but I explained that my wife is the sun, bright, blonde and cheery, as opposed to me, cold, dark, and brooding–the moon. I don’t think the answer satisfied him, but I’m not sure what he wanted the sun to actually represent. Maybe next time, I’ll talk about the cult that I belong to.

— My new MacBook is great, but the sharp aluminum palm rest digs into my wrists when I type. Playing a game is fine, but typing this hurts.

*11/16 8:40 am*

— So far, **Optimum WiFi** service sucks. The system delivers data fine to my iPhone, but the iPhone is much smaller than the one on my MacBook, so I only get the WiFi signal on the iPhone when I’ve stopped in a station. The MacBook antenna gets the signal for a few seconds outside of the train stations, but gets a fraction of the data that my iPhone does. And then, the service logs me out almost immediately, so I have to go to a website to log in again. I have an automatic login app ([DeviceScape][1]) that will bypass most website login screens, but it doesn’t work with Optimum. Then, too, if I’ve logged in with either the iPhone or the MacBook, I can’t log in with the other, even after the service has logged me out of the first device. I get what I pay for with this, I guess.

[1]: http://devicescape.com/

About every other month or so, either Katherine or I will get a phone call from an unknown number, which we won’t pick up. Invariably, the caller will *not* leave a message, but will instead call the phone back 3 or 4 times in a 10 minute span, until I get enraged enough to answer it.

“Hello!” I demand.

“Elisa Shabadoo?” says someone on the other end of a horrible, static-y connection.

“Wrong number!” I yell and hang up.

I just don’t understand why the other person who is so insistent on getting through to Elisa won’t take the 5 seconds to listen to the voicemail greeting that clearly says “Hi, this is Katherine,” or “Hi, you’ve reached Jonathan’s voicemail.”

Speaking of voicemail, if you try to reach me, that’s probably what you’ll get. Last week, I accidently dunked my smartphone in to a glass of water. This was not the stupidest thing I have ever done, but I think it’s in my top 20. At any rate, after some extreme and active drying techniques were applied, the phone was restored to an almost pristine state, except that it shuts off whenever I put the phone to sleep.

It’s odd; the phone will stay on while I use it, and if I passively let it go to sleep after using it, it won’t shut off. But as soon as I click the sleep button, the phone must be manually turned on, and will shut off whether actively or passively put to sleep until I put it in the charger for about 8–10 hours.

And since dunking in water is not covered under the warrantee, and I don’t really want to spend another $200 to replace it, I’m going to live with my phone shutting off for some time.

But as I said, if you call me, expect to get my voicemail; it’s nothing personal.

I’m confused by [this][1]:

> A New Jersey woman has been arrested for prostitution after police say she used the Web site Craigslist to find clients….
>
> A 32-year-old Smithtown man accused of being her client also was arrested.
>
> Suffolk County police say they set up surveillance at the hotel after they learned that the woman had allegedly set up shop there and was using Craigslist to advertise.

I understand the quality-of-life issues that make “street” prostitution illegal and meriting intervention by the police. But what about this situation that made it something law enforcement had to surveil? If this woman met this man online, met him at this hotel, had sex, and *did not charge* him, then it was all fine. If she was ambitious and did this act 20 times a day, and never made one cent, there would be no arrest.

Recalling the prostitute on the street corner, even if no money were exchanged, neighborhoods tend to frown on illicit sex in parked cars. There are still crimes taking place. Free or fee, it’s still illegal.

But this situation? Suffolk County wasted a lot of money to catch this woman. I genuinely don’t understand why.
What makes it worse for the guy from Smithtown is, potentially, he can be charged with trafficking, under the *White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910 (Mann Act)*, because she crossed state lines. That’s probably not going to happen, since the law is kind of dubious and is generally applied as a [politically motivated act][2].

I understand that prostitution is a symptom of our patriarchal society. I understand that there are women who are abused, injured, and killed because they are, or are forced to be, prostitutes. I would hope that the young woman from New Jersey in this article is doing this by choice and not under duress, but, even if that were the case, the crime she is being charged with here is accepting money from a man. And I don’t see how that helps her or society.

[1]: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-lilist0712,0,535873.story
[2]: http://www.theroot.com/id/45224

John McCain is a rich, old white man, [out of touch with US workers][1].

John McCain is a rich, old white man, [who believes women shouldn’t have equal pay][2]. (Ironic, since his second [wife, an heiress][7], is the one who financed his political rise.)

Straight-talkin’ John McCain embraces [the Confederate flag, Bush’s tax-cuts][3], and [agents of intolerance][4] when it becomes necessary to court the racist, rich Evangelicals that vote Republican.

John McCain [wants to keep us in perpetual war][8] with a [group of people he knows nothing about][5].
Anti-lobbyist maverick John “I’m the only one the special interests don’t give any money to” McCain’s campaign is run by a [cadre of lobbyists][6].

Straight-talkin’ John McCain [violated his own campaign finance][10] law, [gaming the system][9] so he could pay for his campaign using public funds if he lost the primary.

Man-of-the-people John McCain [missed almost 60% of the votes][11] in the Senate since January 2007. He’s still missing a majority of the votes after clinching his parties nomination. In second place is Senator Tim Johnson who suffered a brain hemorrhage in December 2006.

McCain is not populist. He is wealthier than either Democratic candidate; a true 1%er who is not concerned with working conditions or the trials of everyday life. His base is Washington media types, who share his wealth and aristocratic tastes.

McCain is not a maverick. He votes with his party over 88% of the time, slightly less than Republican stalwart Trent Lott, but more than Republican stalwart Orrin Hatch.

McCain is not a straight-talker. He has flip-flopped on issues ranging from abortion choice (was for it, now against it) to campaign finance (was for it, now against it) to tax-cuts (was against them, now for them). These are not the changing opinions of a man who has learned from past mistakes. These are the pandering of man who feels he is owed the presidency, and he will say or do anything to get it.

John McCain is George W. Bush’s choice for president. John McCain is status-quo, failed policies, out-of-touch, elitist. Why would any American vote for him? Why would any American vote for 4 more years of failure?

[1]: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/191401.php
[2]: http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2008/04/mccain-i-support-womens-rightsas-long.html
[3]: http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=04&year=2008&base_name=what_the_democrats_are_facing
[4]: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6988.html
[5]: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/us/politics/19mccain.html
[6]: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/todays_must_read_282.php
[7]: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/03/politics/main3991700.shtml
[8]: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/187881.php
[9]: http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=02&year=2008&base_name=the_pete_rose_of_politics
[10]: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/todays_must_read_281.php
[11]: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/vote-missers/

[Machinists Union President Tom Buffenbarger][1], about Obama supporters:

>Give me a break! I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won’t last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter. *(via [TPM][3])*

I wasn’t really an Obama supporter, but I did think he’d have a better chance against McCain than Clinton. But it’s this type of talk that makes me really, really despise Clinton and her campaign.

Okay, I drink the occasional latte, and, boy! would I love to own a [Prius][2], but ’the hell about Birkenstocks? I mean, if you’re gonna make fun of my generation correctly, you should at least use something that we wore, like [Doc Martens][4]. I mean, maybe there are hippy-dippy kids wearing Birkenstocks, but they’re far more likely to vote for Kucinich or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Obama is my generation and younger, not hippies from the 60s, which is apparently what ol’ Tom there is fighting.

And trust funds? OMG. I’d like to take a look at the average salary of Clinton’s supporters versus Obama’s. Ever hear the thing about [Bill Gates walking into a bar][5]?

[1]: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/20/684411.aspx
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius
[3]: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/179304.php
[4]: http://images.google.com/images?q=doc+martens&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8
[5]: http://www.pkarchive.org/economy/HannityandColmes101703.html

[Tom Tomorrow crystalizes][1] my vague thoughts on television:

>Basically, the networks are training me not to watch their programs until after they’ve been cancelled and released on DVD. I’m no MBA, but it seems like a short-sighted business strategy to me. I mean, consider the case of Firefly. The Fox network was sitting on what, in retrospect, could clearly have been the next major sci-fi franchise, with years of syndication and spinoffs and action figures and all the rest. But someone thought it was a better idea to kill the show in its infancy, and what we’re left with is a DVD set of some of the finest episodic television ever produced, a cliche-ridden, so-so movie, and a lingering sense of promise unfulfilled.

I really don’t like teevee anymore. Even shows which I enjoy, I don’t like to watch first-run, because I’m anti-authoritarian and don’t like networks determining when I should watch something. Case in point, **Monk** on USA. I enjoy the show, but I do not appreciate in order to see a new episode, I have to carve out an hour on Friday night.

Yeah, yeah. **TiVo**. Whatever. Another monthly fee; another $300 to get the damned thing in the first place.
All I know is it’s over for television networks in the same way it was over for record store chains in the late 90s. At some point before MP3, there was no compelling reason to buy CDs from record stores. They charged too much. There was nothing compelling about the physical space or the snotty teens they hired at minimum wage to *help* you. **Amazon** and **CDNow** charged a couple of bucks less and had a huge catalog. Most people didn’t know it, but stores that, uh, *towered* over the suburban landscape were dinosaurs waiting for the dust to settle. Television feels like that now. Networks broadcast a tremendous amount of filler and crap, and it’s work to seek out the 1% that’s actually watchable. I go online and find what I want almost instantly.

Instead of working for the viewer, they’re working for the shareholder, and so we get a writers’ strike that was never necessary. The networks and producers are so worried about saving a few cents per product, they let their shows rot on the vine.

Honestly, good riddance. In five years, we’ll see what replaces the network. I don’t think its out there yet. **YouTube**, **iTunes**, **OnDemand**. All close, but the way these things make money, or don’t make money, seems like outdated-thinking. What ever it is, if it destroys the way we get our news and entertainment, I’ll be all for it.

[1]: http://thismodernworld.com/4166

So I have a funny blog about anti-mason programming on public access cable, but that’s going to have to wait a day or two.
Let me talk today about terrorists.
I call on authorities to arrest [US Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf][1], who is terrorizing Americans by claiming that the looney and implausible plot to *blow up* a gas main leading into Kennedy Airport was “one of the most chilling plots imaginable,” and that “the devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable.”
Just how unthinkable?
> Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert and president of Accufacts Inc., an energy consulting firm that focuses on pipelines and tank farms, said the force of explosion would depend on the amount of fuel under pressure, but it would not travel up and down the line.
>
> “That doesn’t mean wackos out there can’t do damage and cause a fire, but those explosions and fires are going to be fairly restricted,” he said.
(Quoted from [AP/MSNBC][2])
*Chilling*? *Unthinkable*? I believe that this is sufficient evidence that the US Attorney is guilty of terrorizing a nation. Because, otherwise, she’s simply too stupid to realize that setting fire to a gas main is what happens every time someone lights a burner on his stove.
Yes, the criminals that were arrested believed that they would “cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks,” but, of course, they would not. And luckily, they are under arrest. However, there are many other people who are just as dangerous and irresponsible as those that hatched this cockamamy plot. Uncritically, the AP reporter, Adam Goldman, [writes][3]:
>[P]ipeline and security experts agreed that such an attack would have crippled America’s economy, particularly the airline industry,…
without mentioning the names of these experts or exactly how setting fire to the pipelines would cripple the economy. But I will take it on faith that he did get some experts on record to say such things, meaning that Adam Goldman should be interrogated until we get the names of these terrorist “experts,” who claimed such fantastic, awful results, all in the name of terrorizing the public.
A more sober look a the plot comes from an [Australian newspaper][4]:
> But experts cast severe doubt on the practicalities of the plot. JFK airport, like other airports around the world, is fed by a series of pipelines that supply jet fuel and heating oil…. [S]abotaging part of the system would be highly unlikely to lead to a chain explosion. Also, jet fuel does not produce an explosive force unless it is under pressure or vapourised; and pipelines and tanks have safety valves to contain any mishap.
Those that hype this plot are doing **more** damage to the economy, to society, and to our safety than the plotters ever could have done. Lesson for terrorists: Get a job that has access to the media, and you can terrorize us 24 hours-a-day.
[1]: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nye/district/usabio.html
[2]: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18999503/
[3]: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_re_us/terrorism_plot
[4]: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/jfk-airport-plot-foiled-151-and-flawed/2007/06/03/1180809336934.html