In order to maintain my final post to Facebook I'm posting it here. I don't feel it necessary to offer any further explanation.
/*/
I'm leaving Facebook. Beyond the constant invites to attention trap games that promote the wasting of ridiculous amounts of time I have, for the last time, had to witness someone expressing themselves by sharing their hobbies and beliefs be attacked by the unconscionable stupidity of the unwashed asses that populate this country.
I'm tired of comments from PETArds saying people like me are evil because we like to hunt. I'm tired of hearing that people like me are evil because we don't believe in Jesus like the rest of the sheep. And I'm tired of people like me being called evil because I believe it's a persons choice to have an intimate relationship with someone of the same sex or opposite sex or they choose to undergo transgender operations.
I'm tired of being thought of as wrong-headed because I like guns. I'm infuriated with a public that feels it's acceptable to stomp on the freedoms of others for their own personal beliefs. Do I take it personally? Do I feel that it's a personal attack on me when someone makes a comment about a belief I hold even if I'm not the target? Your absolutely fucking right I do! Why? Because the world isn't faceless. Organizations are made up of individuals, not a faceless crowd. There are real people behind those banners. You want to be insulting? Bring it on, I don't care. I'm more than capable of discussing my viewpoint with intelligent discourse.
But Facebook isn't intelligent. Some, and I mean that for the smallest measurable population of accounts on the site, are capable of clearly communicating and assimilating new information. But the larger population on the site seems not to have two brain cells to rub together among them.
If you really want to talk to me I'm on G+. But I refuse to maintain an account on a site that refuses to remain professionally detached from the content of the site. And to be clear, since someone will invariably consider this 'hate speech', it's not you that I hate on a personal level. It's your complete fucking lack of common sense and apparent lack of education I hate.
As a final note I refuse to censor my language: every single word, save PETArd and it's derivations, is in the Oxford dictionary and was used correctly within the context of it's use. PETArd, and it's derivations, is the unique invention of myself and may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution license. And please, do use it!/*/
20140708
20121027
Long Time Coming
Wow, it really has been a while since I posted to my blog. So, I've had a number of things kicking around for a while now but given that we have an upcoming election I feel somewhat compelled to throw a post about the election out.
Before everyone starts panicking about yet another jackass posting crap all over the interwebz defaming one candidate or another let me set some things straight:
1. I don't expect anyone to agree or disagree with me on the face of a statement unless they feel there's some glaring need. Posts that are blatantly inflammatory in nature will be deleted immediately. This is an opinion, albeit well informed, and I feel no need to defend from an attack but will respond to considered comments, whether they disagree with my standpoint or not.
2. Anyone who knows me should know that I make it a point to do research before posting something that agrees/disagrees with anyone's opinion. Therefore let it be understood that my views are as educated as I can make them and are not intended to be inflammatory unless I set out that intent from the start (I think I'm fairly accomplished at making that type of opinion known as such).
3. I expect to receive courtesy in the same way that I will give it. If comments are intelligent, well thought out and based in fact as you find it I will gladly participate in discourse. If, however, anybody just wants to start a flame war I'll spit on the matches. My time, and that of people reading posts pertaining to political discussions, is far too valuable to be wasted on burning teh webz down.
Disclaimer finished, on with the show!
I've spent a great deal of time, probably more than is healthy, reviewing all of the candidates for the upcoming presidential election. (Two gold stars for anyone who caught that I didn't say both there...) What I've seen doesn't instill confidence. I've decided to focus on the issue that has caused me to have more time than I care to have in this research: unemployment.
For anyone who doesn't know I have a BS in CompSci, 5 years of experience in the IT industry, 12 years experience in customer service and a healthy smattering of other experience under my belt. So when unemployment is at an all time high and people start talking about all of these jobs being available and I'm not getting recognition I tend to get a little tetchy about the issue.
My response, aside from spending a great deal of time applying for every position that will pay my bills and getting shot down like a Christmas goose during hunting season, has been to politely and repeatedly ask the leaders of this state and country WTF?!
I haven't gotten any responses from any of the senators, reps or congressmen I've written to except Orrin Hatch and Jim Matheson. Hatch's response was 'we're working on it' and Matheson's was 'we've made some improvements but not enough yet'. Neither of the responses had the manufactured feel of automated responses but neither gave me a lot of confidence.
Since we're coming up on what I believe to be the most important election of the last 20 years at the very least I decided to send my concerns to one of the candidates. I picked Romney as there's at least a possibility I'll vote for him. My disagreements with our current president are numerous, not to say I'll throw my hat in with Romney, but I agree with more things that Romney says than Obama.
As I have a habit of doing I'll post the message I sent here. Stay tuned for the credits.
I have some grave concerns regarding a number of issues that make this one of the most important presidential elections in history but I'm choosing one that is particularly important to me: unemployment. I have a BS in Computer Science, completed just over five years ago, and I have been out of work for almost two years now. But I see comments on this website regarding your plans to make it easier for seasonal migrant workers to take positions in agriculture that unemployed US citizens could more easily fill. This doesn't strike me as an effective, logical or practical answer to the unemployment problem. Before any assumptions are made about my background my first job ever, at the age of 16, was working in an agricultural production plant manning conveyor belts sorting cherries and, when I got bored with that, scooping out ditches in the sun during the hottest part of the summer. And now my career is working with computers. So please, any responses that American workers 'don't want to do manual labor;, as I've heard from so many people in Utah, are not valid. I really do want to know why the plan I see doesn't offer to address the failing wages that discourage American workers from taking this type of work but encourages migrant workers that couldn't make the same wage in their home country. I offer a bit of hyperbole about this situation: in a household is it not the first priority of those running the household to care for their own before extending a helping had outside the household? This country is not a household but the first duty of the patriarch (or matriarch, in all honesty) of this country should be the wellbeing and security of the people of this nation.
Please take my message seriously as these views are echoed by my peers, friends, family and acquaintances. I really do want an answer to my concerns and, despite my sending requests to multiple government officials in my own state (22 emails since March of this year) these concerns have yet to be addressed.
For anyone interested the statements made on his website can be found at: Immigration standpoint under the heading "Make The Temporary Worker Visa System Functional".
So there you have it. I feel the need to explain some things rq that some may find interesting.
I've spent entirely too much time being a dick about Obama in the past. I've been more than ready to tell people, in the past, that Obama was bad news because I was listening to negative hype. Over the last few months I've done even more self analysis (I think my newest hobby just may be contemplative introspection... how conceited .-.) and found myself lacking. I've always been ready with an opinion and it hasn't always been well informed. So I've made it a point to become more well versed in the goings on than I did in the past. I think this has made me a better debater and I certainly feel better about injecting my thoughts in to conversations.
I've also made it a point to be less inflammatory. So, to anyone who feels that I've wronged them in the past by discounting their opinions out of some galactic ego you have my apologies. Those of you that I have illustrated to why an opinion is flawed aren't off the hook: I really do make it a point to be as informed as possible and everyone who knows me should be well aware of the fact that I'm not so egotistical as to offer apology, take criticism or admit I'm wrong.
Let the commentary (likely not) commence!
Gryyphyn, out *Quick note: I have no idea why the entire post is italicized. There's some broke-ass HTML somewhere, not in the post itself, that I don't feel like correcting atm so deal. :)
Before everyone starts panicking about yet another jackass posting crap all over the interwebz defaming one candidate or another let me set some things straight:
1. I don't expect anyone to agree or disagree with me on the face of a statement unless they feel there's some glaring need. Posts that are blatantly inflammatory in nature will be deleted immediately. This is an opinion, albeit well informed, and I feel no need to defend from an attack but will respond to considered comments, whether they disagree with my standpoint or not.
2. Anyone who knows me should know that I make it a point to do research before posting something that agrees/disagrees with anyone's opinion. Therefore let it be understood that my views are as educated as I can make them and are not intended to be inflammatory unless I set out that intent from the start (I think I'm fairly accomplished at making that type of opinion known as such).
3. I expect to receive courtesy in the same way that I will give it. If comments are intelligent, well thought out and based in fact as you find it I will gladly participate in discourse. If, however, anybody just wants to start a flame war I'll spit on the matches. My time, and that of people reading posts pertaining to political discussions, is far too valuable to be wasted on burning teh webz down.
Disclaimer finished, on with the show!
I've spent a great deal of time, probably more than is healthy, reviewing all of the candidates for the upcoming presidential election. (Two gold stars for anyone who caught that I didn't say both there...) What I've seen doesn't instill confidence. I've decided to focus on the issue that has caused me to have more time than I care to have in this research: unemployment.
For anyone who doesn't know I have a BS in CompSci, 5 years of experience in the IT industry, 12 years experience in customer service and a healthy smattering of other experience under my belt. So when unemployment is at an all time high and people start talking about all of these jobs being available and I'm not getting recognition I tend to get a little tetchy about the issue.
My response, aside from spending a great deal of time applying for every position that will pay my bills and getting shot down like a Christmas goose during hunting season, has been to politely and repeatedly ask the leaders of this state and country WTF?!
I haven't gotten any responses from any of the senators, reps or congressmen I've written to except Orrin Hatch and Jim Matheson. Hatch's response was 'we're working on it' and Matheson's was 'we've made some improvements but not enough yet'. Neither of the responses had the manufactured feel of automated responses but neither gave me a lot of confidence.
Since we're coming up on what I believe to be the most important election of the last 20 years at the very least I decided to send my concerns to one of the candidates. I picked Romney as there's at least a possibility I'll vote for him. My disagreements with our current president are numerous, not to say I'll throw my hat in with Romney, but I agree with more things that Romney says than Obama.
As I have a habit of doing I'll post the message I sent here. Stay tuned for the credits.
I have some grave concerns regarding a number of issues that make this one of the most important presidential elections in history but I'm choosing one that is particularly important to me: unemployment. I have a BS in Computer Science, completed just over five years ago, and I have been out of work for almost two years now. But I see comments on this website regarding your plans to make it easier for seasonal migrant workers to take positions in agriculture that unemployed US citizens could more easily fill. This doesn't strike me as an effective, logical or practical answer to the unemployment problem. Before any assumptions are made about my background my first job ever, at the age of 16, was working in an agricultural production plant manning conveyor belts sorting cherries and, when I got bored with that, scooping out ditches in the sun during the hottest part of the summer. And now my career is working with computers. So please, any responses that American workers 'don't want to do manual labor;, as I've heard from so many people in Utah, are not valid. I really do want to know why the plan I see doesn't offer to address the failing wages that discourage American workers from taking this type of work but encourages migrant workers that couldn't make the same wage in their home country. I offer a bit of hyperbole about this situation: in a household is it not the first priority of those running the household to care for their own before extending a helping had outside the household? This country is not a household but the first duty of the patriarch (or matriarch, in all honesty) of this country should be the wellbeing and security of the people of this nation.
Please take my message seriously as these views are echoed by my peers, friends, family and acquaintances. I really do want an answer to my concerns and, despite my sending requests to multiple government officials in my own state (22 emails since March of this year) these concerns have yet to be addressed.
For anyone interested the statements made on his website can be found at: Immigration standpoint under the heading "Make The Temporary Worker Visa System Functional".
So there you have it. I feel the need to explain some things rq that some may find interesting.
I've spent entirely too much time being a dick about Obama in the past. I've been more than ready to tell people, in the past, that Obama was bad news because I was listening to negative hype. Over the last few months I've done even more self analysis (I think my newest hobby just may be contemplative introspection... how conceited .-.) and found myself lacking. I've always been ready with an opinion and it hasn't always been well informed. So I've made it a point to become more well versed in the goings on than I did in the past. I think this has made me a better debater and I certainly feel better about injecting my thoughts in to conversations.
I've also made it a point to be less inflammatory. So, to anyone who feels that I've wronged them in the past by discounting their opinions out of some galactic ego you have my apologies. Those of you that I have illustrated to why an opinion is flawed aren't off the hook: I really do make it a point to be as informed as possible and everyone who knows me should be well aware of the fact that I'm not so egotistical as to offer apology, take criticism or admit I'm wrong.
Let the commentary (likely not) commence!
Gryyphyn, out *Quick note: I have no idea why the entire post is italicized. There's some broke-ass HTML somewhere, not in the post itself, that I don't feel like correcting atm so deal. :)
20110208
In response to...
In response to http://www.michelepac.com/:
It is not my place, or yours, to tell people what decisions they should make. While I would not personally seek to abort an unplanned pregnancy I believe it is the right of the mother, ultimately, to make that decision. I am not in a place to tell someone what decisions they should make and what decisions are or were wrong. I don't consider myself a conservative or a liberal but a constitutionalist. This means I believe in the rights of others to live how they see fit so long as it does not impinge upon the rights of others.
I also believe in fate, destiny some would say: if a fetus is destined to be aborted then a soul is not granted to the shell of life. The same is true of miscarriages. Are you now saying that a mother who has a miscarriage is guilty of terminating a life? To me there is really no difference. Let the fates, gods or whatever higher existence you believe may or may not exist sort it out in the after.
And for all the biblicals: judge not lest ye be judged.
It is not my place, or yours, to tell people what decisions they should make. While I would not personally seek to abort an unplanned pregnancy I believe it is the right of the mother, ultimately, to make that decision. I am not in a place to tell someone what decisions they should make and what decisions are or were wrong. I don't consider myself a conservative or a liberal but a constitutionalist. This means I believe in the rights of others to live how they see fit so long as it does not impinge upon the rights of others.
I also believe in fate, destiny some would say: if a fetus is destined to be aborted then a soul is not granted to the shell of life. The same is true of miscarriages. Are you now saying that a mother who has a miscarriage is guilty of terminating a life? To me there is really no difference. Let the fates, gods or whatever higher existence you believe may or may not exist sort it out in the after.
And for all the biblicals: judge not lest ye be judged.
Fun and useful tool
I'm working on updating my exhaust on my bike and I'm going to have to build from scratch. While I was tooling around on the internet I came across Engineering Toolbox and they had a link to Google Sketchup.
It's a 3d modeling program that's a hell of a lot easier than any others I've ever used. It's simple, so don't expect it to do extreme stuff unless you go to the pro version. Cool news: it's from Google so there's a free version! I downloaded it and just started dicking around. It's easy to use for basic shapes. I'll have to see if I can do complex modeling on it (and I'm out of practice as it is) but it's fun and integrates with Google Earth. Be interesting to see how well it works and what others are doing with it.
It's a 3d modeling program that's a hell of a lot easier than any others I've ever used. It's simple, so don't expect it to do extreme stuff unless you go to the pro version. Cool news: it's from Google so there's a free version! I downloaded it and just started dicking around. It's easy to use for basic shapes. I'll have to see if I can do complex modeling on it (and I'm out of practice as it is) but it's fun and integrates with Google Earth. Be interesting to see how well it works and what others are doing with it.
20110206
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