Friday, November 20th, 2009
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12:11 pm - When the levee breaks, we got no place to stay
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I didn't expect this case to ever actually get resolved. Of course I realize that it's not yet--the federal government can appeal, but according to a federal district court decision this week, the Army Corp of Engineers is partly responsible through negligence for the devastation (still not cleaned up, by the way) in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina.
This article mentions it briefly; while wanting a decent infrastructure in this country may be socialist, I've never really shied away from saying things that could be considered socialist. We've spent decades 'gutting big gummint' because that's the easy and voter-friendly path, rather than investing in this country. (Which is, I believe, God's greatest democratic country of freedom and liberty that God ever put on the face of the greatest planet in the best solar system in the entire galaxy.)
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009
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2:00 pm
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
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3:26 pm - Report from the Front
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During the American Revolutionary War, the British considered colonial soldiers to be treasonous terrorists, and not subject to the conventions that applied to captured prisoners of war. They were stuffed into overcrowded prison hulks and refineries, starved, denied medical care and access to clean water and fresh air (much like conditions on slave ships on the Middle Passage). The right of Habeas Corpus was suspended for enemy combatants by Parliament.
Meanwhile, on the other side of combat lines, General Washington insisted that captured British and Hessian soldiers be kept safe and healthy, and made overtures for prisoner exchanges. (Most of these were rebuffed until late in the conflict when the British became desperate to recover some of their captured officers.)
More news from our Founding Fathers about What America Stands For.
Just sayin'.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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2:00 pm - Hey now. Hey now now.
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I was going to do a detailed Yay/Boo Campus Edition but it's really not worth it. Suffice to say that Yay has slightly edged out Boo and I have successfully reminded myself that I'm competent and intelligent. I can get my placement test done and find out my 'midterm' results next week, and Admissions has promised that my transcripts will be processed before I register for classes.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Friday, November 13th, 2009
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2:53 pm - Whew
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Only two and a half more bookshelves to purge. But I've run out of ruthless so it'll have to wait. Plus, I have to hunt down boxes.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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1:40 pm - More advice?
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I know I have some bibliophiles on this list. I have about half a dozen old books. (Old meaning over 100 years.) They're not in great condition--given what I read on the web, I would say 'Good' at best. Recgnizable authors in some cases--Dumas, Scott, a collection of Greek mythology by Nathaniel Hawthorne--and I don't know if I should bother shopping them or just put them in the bin with everything else.
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(16 comments | comment on this)
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12:16 pm - Wow.
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I was given this book for my eighteenth birthday. Which means I've owned it since before the Brooklyn Dodgers moved out of town.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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11:54 am - Techfest
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Does anybody out there need a charger for an iPod .... tiny? Shuffle, that's the one.
I have two chargers that I bought back when the first one broke.
Caveat: points given to "I will come over and pick those up".
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
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3:38 pm - Mad Pimpin' Yo
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I have over fifty GURPS 3.0 sourcebooks. Some of them (like Bunnies & Burrows or the Prisoner) look like they're selling at over $50, but most of them seem to be around $15.
Do you know anybody who wants to score on a lot and has more money than they know what to do with? (I'm pretty focused on 'a lot' because the dual goal is not just to pick up some cash but also to clear bookshelf space.)
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(comment on this)
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12:38 pm - braaaaaaains
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At this time we would like to announce the long-awaited and glorious completion of Operation:Go to the Library and Study for the Midterm. We would like to thank those whose hard work and long hours have made this possible, and without whose sacrifice this achievement would not have been possible.
But we cannot rest on our laurels. On a completely unrelated note, we now begin Operation:Find Somewhere to Study for the Midterm Where Our Computer Doesn't Crash Every Ten Minutes and the Bandwidth is Larger than an Eye Dropper. The upcoming hours will be exciting and full of promise and prospect. I ask you to join with us now as we step into the future! This is not a time for partisan bickering, this is a time for unity and synthesis! This is also not a time for a nap.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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12:59 am - Kind of creepy.
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Somebody I exchanged mail with on Craigslist about a room to rent is now showing up on my GChat IM client. Presumably because we both use a gmail address, which means we're probably best of friends.
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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4:45 pm - Desperately seeking Susan.
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Hey LJ land! Do you know of somebody, or are perhaps yourself somebody, who is looking for a place to live or somebody to fill a living place you already have?
I'm specifically interested in markets in the Greater San Francisco area (especially south bay) or Seattle/Portland. There is also interest in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but offers have been made for both locations.
Also, if you or somebody you know wants to employ a clever well read person with a history in customer service and creative work/proofreading, then this is your big chance!
Please write to me c/o this journal, and enclosed a SASE (current first class postage please). Allow six to eight hours for reply.
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(16 comments | comment on this)
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4:01 am - It's not Friday yet, so ITIAYAQD!
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So does anybody remember, back in school, the kids would fold up a piece of paper in a certain way and then open and close it, open and close it, until finally they'd abruptly decide to stop, and then you'd discover what your favorite color was or how many kids you were going to have when you got married or the name of the therapist you'd spend years describing your childhood and family to?
What are those called, and how do they work?
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(19 comments | comment on this)
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Monday, November 9th, 2009
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11:09 pm - Shine like it does
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11:01 am - Sometimes you don't have to read the article
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Saturday, November 7th, 2009
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12:18 am - Grounded
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Tonight was the Firefly game. I got to play Doc again (I don't know how much longer I can keep him alive, given the concept) and he was even cooler than last year. Good GM, good group. And at the end of the night, we'd done the right thing and finally gotten back into the black.
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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1:28 am - ...is a sold out scandal
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Poll #1481074 Just like the television show.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12Do you have passion? If yes, about what? Bonus Question
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
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7:39 pm - Incredible Voyage
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I'd forgotten how twigged I was by the UberMensch* undertones in The Incredibles.
The rest of the film is still a lot of fun, and it gave my PCGF work; it's just the one thing.
*Society is a burden to the UberMench, forcing him to sacrifice his excellence and take on the mediocrity of the herd. If only the world would let him be himself, existing outside the rules of society, everyone would benefit.
EDIT: A discussion with a friend indicates that I need to expound on my topic. It is not that I think the characters are UberMenschen who need to be dragged down to the level of everybody else. It's that I think the director feels that if only society would recognize the greatness of certain people who were born great then they could feel free to be full of greatness. Or something. I mean, at the end of the movie you have the track competition where our newly heroic hero tells his son how to be less exceptional than he really is, in order to fit in. Which, as far as I can tell, was directly against the point the director was trying to make. Jesus fuck, it's one in the morning and I'm so far behind schedule and so stupid tired that you should quit listening.
But I still think it'd be funny if Google were invited to take part in College Bowl.
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
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2:35 pm - High Fidelity
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And there we have it. Twelve and a half gigabytes later, I have finished the eighties playlist; it's now ready to move to an iPod and be portable.
It still weirds me out that this gigantic collection of data won't even fill a quarter of the memory in this little calculator sized piece of plastic.
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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Monday, November 2nd, 2009
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8:41 am - Bridge news
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Quick update for the locals:
CalTrans says the bridge should be open by nine o'clock.
Woo hoo, for them as needs it.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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