RedJen's Rearview Mirror

The New York Times has an interesting article today about the concept of blogging. Check it out:
My So-Called Blog

10 December 10, 2003 - NewScientist.com news service

Jan. 29, 2004 - The Hartford Courant

Jan. 28, 2004 - Chicago Tribune

This probably won’t be a happy place for a while. Forget target, the first shot has been fired and it is time to fight back.

War is hell and I intend to win this one. Excuse me, I need to go see an Angry Black Man about something…

If you have a Microsoft system and you haven’t already, go and get the critical updates that were released Tuesday evening. At least four of them have been deemed critical to the systems at work, so just take care of it. Getting a computer virus really sucks and if you can be proactive about patching your system before it hurts you, you should.

On a similar note: if you don’t have a firewall between you and the internet, you are asking for trouble. If you need a free one, Zone Alarm from Zone Labs has a decent free model. If you don’t want to take my word on it, go to CNET and check out their software comparisons.

To recap:

1. Patch your Operating Systems as needed (be proactive!). Big software companies don’t like to tell people their programs are broken, so when they tell you they are broken, fix it.
   
2. Get tested. Make sure you have an anti-virus program that runs AND routinely (weekly) get an updated list of viruses.
   
3. Practice safe Internet (Make sure there is a firewall between you an the internet. You never know where someone else’s program has been.)

This is pretty cool. My mom is a lab tech and it is nice to see the people that do the job behind the scenes get acknowledged for what they do.

National Medical Laboratory Week (NMLW) is a special time set aside to recognize medical laboratory professionals. It is a time of celebration for the approximately 265,000 medical laboratory professionals and 15,000 board certified pathologists who perform and interpret medical laboratory tests. NMLW recognizes the vital role these professionals play in every aspect of health care.

Spring quarter at Ohio State is filled with sun, games, doing homework outside, pretending to do homework outside and it all centers on the Oval. Most universities have their main common area, for Ohio State the Oval is it. This year the Oval is getting a face-lift.

This spring, the students almost didn’t get to enjoy the Oval, because it was going to be closed on May 1st in order to allow for the construction effort of the face-lift. Two students organized an effort to have construction pushed back until after spring commencement. While they gathered almost 9,000 signatures and a put together a very popular internet petition, the university wasn’t able to come up with the extra $212,000 needed to complete the project on time if it was delayed until June.

I’m sure you are wondering what the heck this has to do with “Drink More Coke!”

Coca-Cola picked up the $212,000 tab. I’ll be drinking Coke for the foreseeable future.

Pro – I’m on vacation.
Pro – Annie’s computer is now functioning on the wireless network.
Con – My car needs about $3,000 worth of work, which is more than the car the worth.
Pro – I need to go car shopping.
Pro – Interviewed for a new position at work. The people seem really nice and it should leverage my strengths and allow me to learn new skills.
Pro – Got offered the position an hour and a half later.
Pro – Great workout at the gym.
Pro – New job starts as soon as the two managers can map out a schedule, some time between June 1st and June 15th.
Con - Still not able to launch City of Heroes, but I should be getting a email back from tech support to help with that.

I'm not denying that the issue of gay rights is topical or important, but I have a hard to elevating it to the same level as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Here's the quote that caught my eye:

"The group (SONG, southerners on new ground), focuses on people of color in the gay and lesbian community. Mandy Carter compares the ongoing fight for gay rights to the civil rights movement of the 60's."

I'm not sure exactly where I stand on this issue, but I do know my views are somewhere between the two extremes expressed by the people in this article.

You can read the full article by clicking on "Continue reading "Gay Rights = Civil Rights?""

Apparently there are to many cholesterol lowering drugs on the market. The target levels for LDL, the bad cholesterol, have been drastically lowered. The new target level for people with risk factors is below 100 and below 70 for people with high risk factors. I was getting ready for work this morning, when this story came of the news. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The story pretty much amounted to *The people who make cholesterol drugs want you to take more of them, so we’ve lowered the medical standards so that the people who take them now *should* take more and a large population should immediately start taking cholesterol lowering drugs.*

"There is strong suggestive evidence that lower LDL cholesterol is better, but it has to be balanced against the cost and side effects of achieving very low levels, which often requires high doses of medication or combination therapy," Grundy said.

While numerical changes in the guidelines refer mainly to drug treatment, panelists stressed that addressing risk factors related to lifestyle (such as obesity and lack of physical activity) is still crucial.

I’m not exactly trusting that the studies behind this announcement are unbiased. You can find the rest of the story here: The full article

This kind of blatant manipulation pisses me off.

Cal education secretary urged to step down over remarks to child
Posted on Thu, Jul. 08, 2004 by Michael R. Blood (Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES - California Education Secretary Richard Riordan is facing calls for his ouster, and others for forgiveness, after he told a child at a library her name meant "stupid dirty girl." The remark also posed a political quandary for the man who appointed him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled even friends last week with the comments at a Santa Barbara library. Schwarzenegger, his longtime friend, called Riordan's statement to the girl "unacceptable in any context" but gave no hint that his job was in danger.

But the issue hasn't gone away. In an editorial Thursday, The Sacramento Bee said "California shouldn't have an education secretary who makes offensive, damaging remarks to young children for no apparent reason."

And Alice Huffman, president of the California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said Riordan "is not suitable to lead education in our state."

"He's the governor's top person on education, which means we would expect him to have some love and respect for children," Huffman said. "I think he is the wrong man for the job. There is no way for him to explain this away."

The conversation, videotaped by KEYT-TV, took place Thursday at a promotional event for summer reading at Santa Barbara's central library. The girl, 6-year-old Isis D'Luciano, asked Riordan if he knew that her name meant "Egyptian goddess."

Riordan replied, "It means stupid dirty girl."

After nervous laughter in the room, the girl again told Riordan the meaning of her name.

"Hey, that's nifty," he said.

A day later, Riordan issued a statement that said he "teased" the girl. "I immediately apologized to her and I want to do so again for the misunderstanding," Riordan said.

Riordan, a venture capitalist who started a foundation supporting literacy, has a reputation for awkward - some might say insensitive - remarks and behavior. As mayor, he once greeted hunger strikers outside his office eating a hamburger. In a speech to the Association of California School Administrators earlier this year, he told a story about a nun physically disciplining a student that startled some in the audience.

State Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, a Democrat who served on the Los Angeles City Council when Riordan was mayor, called the remarks to the girl "completely reprehensible" but said they were uncharacteristic for a man with a soft touch for children.

"I've been in dozens of situations with him with children - he's usually the grandfatherly guy," Goldberg said. "I've seen him say things he wished he could take back many times - but never around kids."

Asked Thursday if Schwarzenegger had 100 percent confidence in Riordan's leadership, his office did not respond directly but released a statement from last week. The governor's chief spokesman, Rob Stutzman, told reporters in Sacramento later that Riordan had not been asked to resign and, "That's the end of the issue, as far as we are concerned."

The girl's mother, Trinity Lila of Goleta, said her daughter was fine and she considered the issue over.

"Obviously it hurt her feelings but she didn't take it personally. She knew he was wrong and she let it go," Lila said. "I'm not going to sue them for therapy bills."

"He's already apologized repeatedly," Lila added. Although Riordan's office has tried to contact her, "I don't see what else is to be done."

At a time when Schwarzenegger has been trying to push his budget through the Legislature - it's already more than a week overdue - the Riordan controversy has been an unwelcome distraction. A group of civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, planned to protest Riordan's remarks at the Capitol Thursday.

But the organizer, state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally, D-Los Angeles, canceled it after an apparent mix-up over the girl's racial background.

Dymally was quoted in the San Jose Mercury News Thursday saying the child was "a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?"

The girl is Caucasian, with blond hair.

Dymally did not return telephone calls. His office issued a statement Wednesday calling Riordan's remarks to the girl "outrageous and irresponsible" but issued a statement under the Assemblyman's name Thursday saying, "To err is human; to forgive is divine."

"Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on."

But Huffman, the NAACP executive, said in a statement, "It is abusive to use such language toward a child, regardless the gender, race, socioeconomic background or national heritage."

Schwarzenegger should "remove Mr. Riordan," she added.

My Comments:

"When you look at the average, today's PG-13 movies are approaching what the R movies looked like in 1992."
KIMBERLY THOMPSON, co-author of a Harvard School of Public Health study on violence and sexual content in films.

• The Triple Threat Birthday Party – Saturday, September 25th
• Halloween Party – Saturday, October 30th

Evites will be going out soon. If you want to make sure you're on the list - email me or ShaeSin or post here. If you want to make sure other people are invited (or not invited) email or post ... that especially applies to the birthday kids. Need those addresses asap.

I read this and thought of the pantless wonder. If he needed one, he now has a reason for being pantless...

I heard about this on the radio and had a good laugh...

Virginians who wear their pants so low their underwear shows may want to think about investing in a stronger belt.

The state's House of Delegates passed a bill Tuesday authorizing a $50 fine for anyone who displays his or her underpants in a "lewd or indecent manner."

I'm surprised people don't recognize what an immediate and toxic problem that random butt-crack has become in the state of Virginia. I was also not aware that butt-crack was a racial issue, but according to some Virginia Democrats being anti-butt-crack is the equivalent of racial profiling of Americans with high levels of skin pigmentation.

Too bad we live in NC, where such butt exposure is considered a part of our Freedom of Speech. So the next time someone cuts you off in traffic drop you drawers and press your rear against the window. I wouldn't recommend any frontal nudity, I think that's still listed under lewd acts and generally frowned upon.

This is of course a triumph for those who fight a constant battle to keep their pants up. Should the bill actually pass in Virginia, people should expect all plumbing costs to increase by at least $50 per hour, as plumbers will most likely find themselves being fined for this infraction.

RedJen

First, I don't think that the government should be paying for Viagra for convicted sex offenders. That being said, someone needs to start checking the estimates generated by New York and the Media.

Who is teaching math to the media and government whistle blowers in New York? It has been made public that the State of New York has been covering prescription Viagra for approximately 150 convicted sex offenders. It has been announced that because New York has 150 cases of this, that there has got to tens of thousands throughout the United States. My brain has an issue with this math.

Let's assume that the State of New York is the average for the United States. Personally I assume that New York has higher than average numbers in the case of most things related to population, but the sake of argument and especially in the case of bad news, I'd prefer to generate an estimate that has a good chance of being higher than the reality.

If NY is average for a US state and there are 50 states, 150 multiplied by 50 should generate the average number of convicted sex offenders who are having Uncle Sam pay for their Viagra.

150 x 50 = 7500

Seven thousand five hundred is 2500 short of 10,000 and 12,500 short of 20,000, which is the minimum required before you have "tens of thousands".

7500 + 12,500 = 20,000

In order to generate the minimum 20,000 cases needed to have "tens of thousands" of these cases, there would have to be an average of 400 cases per state. That's more than double the number for cases found in New York. (It’s actually 2 2/3 times the number in New York.)

Only two states have greater populations than New York, California and Texas. The State of New York is home to about 6% of the population of the United States. If there are 150 cases in New York and a minimum of 20,000 cases in the US, then less than 1% of all convicted sex offenders live in New York. Somehow this doesn’t add up to me.

Is this news? Sure, but can we get a little perspective here? Let's get the loophole closed, but can we drop the exaggerated numbers? I mean really, is the State of Rhode Island filled by nothing but convicted sex offenders?

In 1800, President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved into the White House.

On August 14, 2005, it was announced that Cristeta "Cris" Comerford has been named the White House Executive Chef. It was also noted that Ms. Comerford is the first woman to serve as the White House Executive Chef. I’m sure some people are wondering why this is worth mentioning, I don’t know Ms. Comerford and I’ve never mentioned the White House Executive Chef before now. This is a huge accomplishment for Ms. Comerford and nothing should detract from that fact.

In my opinion, it is unfortunate that her appointment was not left to stand on its own. Why was there a need to qualify her appointment to include that she is the first woman to have this position? While factually true, I question why someone felt this specific piece of information needed to be pointed out. The next thing you know, Ms. Jane Smith will be appointed as the first female, White House Executive Housekeeper. With all the talk of equality, how is it that it has taken over 200 years for a woman to get control of the executive kitchen?

I have two points:

1. It is legitimate news that Ms. Comerford has been appointed as the White House Executive Chef.
   
2. It is really sad that before this announcement was news worthy enough to attract national attention, the fact that Ms. Comerford is the first woman to hold the position had to be included.

There comes a time when you just have to wonder how far is too far. It would appear that maggots and leeches need to be regulated now. I wonder what would happen if the number of maggots suddenly dropped. Could they be named an endangered species if the FDA has them under regulation? Is there anything that doesn't need regulating?

In Raleigh and Wake County 919-212-7000 & 919-212-9595

I'd be more inclined to go for Barney, but apparently he's not the only bringer of evil...

According to a national survey by the American Institutes of Research, 20 percent of U.S. college students completing four-year degrees have only basic quantitative literacy skills.

Basic quantitative literacy skills are those necessary to compare ticket prices or calculate the cost of a sandwich, the study said.

The National Survey of America's College Students, sampled 1,827 graduating students from 80 randomly selected two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities.

The study targeted students near the completion of their degree programs to help illustrate what had been mastered while in college.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Immigration rights advocates more than 500,000 strong marched in downtown Los Angeles, demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make helping illegal immigrants a crime and to build more walls along the border.

Continued

Half a million people in LA, plus demonstrations in Phoenix and Atlanta isn't my idea of a good way to raise sympathy for illegal immigrants. Guess what, no matter what PC BS title you place on it, we're talking about people who have decided to skip the legal methods of immigration. If anyone wonders why legal immigration takes so long, consider how much resource is being diverted from other programs to handle illegal alien population.

http://www.dor.state.nc.us/taxes/sales/salestax_holiday.html

Tonight - #1 Buckeyes vs #2 Gators in Phoenix

Ohio State and Florida meet for the first time in history. In a battle of the top two teams in the nation, the Big Ten champion Buckeyes and SEC champion Gators will play for college football’s ultimate prize, the BCS National Championship.

GO BUCKS!

I'm not sure exactly when this was recorded, but I've got to agree with Senator Spector (R - Pennsylvania) in saying, the "logic" being used goes completely against all common sense.

This morning, the "Top Stories" were:
* Efforts to rescue 3 climbers & a dog who fell off a mountain ledge on Mount Hood
* Bombing near Baghdad
* Britney Spears shaves her head

In what reality is Britney Spears' hair a "Top Story"? New Jersey granted equal rights for civil union couples, but a pop-tart gone bad got higher billing.

I found another new low in the area of news...

To me the notion of "Mother commits assault with a minor" would be a case where mom had the kid with her when she committed assault. I'm not sure what could possess anyone to use a 4-week-old child as a bat. The story on CNN

Get this, President Putin of Russia has stated that since the United States intends to implement an anti-missile defense system, Russia is being forced to aim its missiles at Europe.

So if the United States intends to defend itself from missiles that have already been fired, Russia will aim the missiles at Europe instead of the United States. Now I'm not saying that I want Russia to shoot at any of the European countries, but it sounds like the missile defense system is already working...

Doctor Urges AMA to Recognize Game Addiction As a Disorder
By Susan Arendt June 14, 2007 | 11:20:47 AM | Categories: Culture | Found at http://blog.wired.com/games/

A new report urges the American Medical Association to, among other things, formally recognize game addiction as a genuine diagnosed disorder. According to Spong, the report in question is "Report Of The Council On Science And Public Health: Emotional and Behavioral Effects, Including Addictive Potential, of Video Games" chaired by Mohamed K. Khan, MD, Phd. Included in the report is the proposed medical definition of "gamer." Keep reading to find out if you qualify or not.

A gamer is a term used to describe a person who plays games. Historically, a gamer was someone who played role-playing games or war games, but more recently the term has come to include computer and video game players. Although the term technically includes those who do not necessarily consider themselves gamers (ie, casual gamers), it is a commonly used colloquial term to identify persons who spend as much of their leisure time as possible playing or reading about games.

Sounds awfully non-specific, but I didn't go to medical school. The report goes on to urge the AMA to take certain actions, like providing families with education on the "appropriate use of video games," determining the recommended amount of time per day someone should be allowed to play games (1 to 2 hours), and supporting increasing awareness that parents need to monitor their children's game and Internet activity. Most everything in the report smacks of common sense, but so does eating right and exercising, and doctors need to tell people to do that, too.

Have you seen the side effects for some of these medications? If I develop this (although my parents may say that I already have it), I'm not taking the medication. In one study, 9% of the participants had hallucinations. People reported going from wide awake to asleep, WHILE DRIVING. They warn that you may have impulse control problems while on this stuff. "These include pathological gambling, hypersexuality, and compulsive eating (including binge eating)." If you develop any of the compulsive problems, they SUGGEST that you consider discontinuing the drug.

So bouncing legs OR hallucinating, nympho, narcoleptic with gambling & compulsive eating issues...

I'm keeping the bounce in my legs...

I found this on their marketing site!

This morning I watched the President of Pakistan, Pervex Musharraf, say that Benazir Bhutto caused her own death. What?!? Somehow I doubt that she pulled the trigger on the gun that shot and killed her.

Apparently after the claim that she died from an accidental fall fell on deaf ears, they needed a new idea.

I wish I could say that this was my interpretation of something, but I watched him say that it was her own fault in English.

From the Vatican via CNN

The original deadly sins -- mortal sins that require absolution for the sinner to avoid hell -- are pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. They have been vividly portrayed in literature such as Dante's "The Inferno" since the Middle Ages.

Girotti is second in command at the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body responsible for confessions and absolutions.

In his L'Osservatore interview, Girotti said pollution and genetic engineering, as well as drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia, social injustice and extreme wealth were now on record as mortal sins, those the Church deems most offensive to God and those that could land you a spot in hell without repentance.

"In different times, in moments of history, cultural moments, technological moments, sins dress themselves up, so to speak, in a different way," the Rev. John Wauck from Rome's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross told CNN.

"The underlying sin tends to be the same -- a variation of a theme of selfishness, a lack of respect for others, of lying, cheating , stealing or killing," Wauck said.

I'm not sure why we need a new set of deadly sins. If these "new" sins fall under the existing list, then they really don't need new ones. It may be Lent, but do we need new sins?