Archive for November, 2006
Meet Myles
Thursday, November 30th, 2006
On November 18, Arthur & I adopted a jenday conure from Omar’s Exotic Birds in West Hollywood. Arthur talked about getting a love bird from the day we first became cohabitants. We successfully killed two houseplants, so we knew we were ready to take the plunge into caring for something far more expensive.
We chose an androgynous name because we didn’t opt for a blood test to determine its sex. Being from WeHo
, s/he is probably gay anyway.
Myles is playful, friendly, and trainable. He loves to sit on my shoulder or hang on to the hoodie I wear in the morning while I prepare his breakfast and check my email. Hopefully the neighbors tolerate his occasional squawking streaks until we break the bad habit.
Quote: At Least He’s Honest
Thursday, November 30th, 2006I told you before I’m not a scientist. (Laughter.) That’s why I don’t want to have to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth.
— Justice Scalia, Mass v. EPA, i.e. “I’m a dumbass, so I don’t have to do anything to save the environment for my great-grandchildren.”
Casino Royale
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006Arthur took me to Casino Royale tonight. Having not seen a Bond film before, I can say with much certainty that Daniel Craig is the best Bond. ever. (I actually just despise Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan.)
Link: Out of the Shadows
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006The Boston Globe: Out of the Shadows In a region of higher education giants, little Emerson College has quietly built an alumni list that’s a who’s who of Hollywood, invested millions in revitalizing Boston’s Theater District, and emerged as a player on the national scene of performing arts schools.
Zune: Like a punch to the gut
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006Is it just me or does the girl in the Microsoft Zune Setup background photo look like she is in severe pain?
Must be the pain from learning that all of her DRM‘ed music purchased through MSN Music is incompatible with her Zune.
Propositioning, the legal kind
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006This was my first time voting in California. The numerous propositions intrigued me. Propositions in California are like dog poop covered in icing. The icing is the sweet tasting soundbite of good will for all Californians. The dog poop is the special interest group that profits substancially. The special interest group’s goal is to pursuade voters to bite into the icing without tasting the poop before election day. Generally, there is much more dog poop than icing.
For Example
Proposition 86: tax on Cigarettes to stop teen smoking: organized by hospitals trying to form illegal monopolies
Proposition 89: political campaign reform: organized by special interest groups to keep smaller special interest groups from getting funding by making tax payers fund the selected special interest groups
How I voted
Winner: Proposition 1A now prohibits the state sales tax on motor vehicle fuels from being used for any purpose other than transportation improvements. The Proposition specifically hopes to help traffic congestion relief projects. Traffic in California sucks and this proposition, unlike the many others, does not place an additional tax or bond burden upon Californians.
Loser: The real losers in Proposition 87 are Kevin Nida and all of Earth’s residents.
Proposition 87 would have established a $4 billion program to reduce oil consumption by 25%, with incentives for alternative energy to be funded by a tax on oil producers that could not have been passed onto consumers. President Clinton, Al Gore, and many other smart people supported the proposition.
Not smart people, like Kevin Nida, President of the California Firefighters Association, were featured in commercials that aired during every single primetime commercial slot for weeks prior to the election. Nida lied about how the tax would result in higher gas prices and create a reliance on foreign oil. Perhaps Nida hasn’t realized that America already relies on foreign oil.
Nida lacked the foresight to understand that alternative renewable energies are cheaper and better for the environment. If Nida truly was concerned for the firefighters he represents, he would have supported Proposition 87. Global warming’s effects can be seen in the changing rain patterns that have left California in a multi-year drought that has resulted in costly, uncontrollable wildfires.
The blood of future fallen wildfire fighters is on Nida’s hands.
Oil is an addiction worse that cigarettes. America needs to handle oil companies in the same manner it handled cigarette companies. Big oil should be required to advertise against itself, list the severe health consequences from its use, and prevent future generations from being addicted before they’re killed by the addiction.
Virginia is for Straight Lovers
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
Discrimination, especially in mass, is fun again! Fifty-seven percent of voting Virginians supported Amendment 1, legally defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman
and prohibits any legal recognition of domestic partnerships or other non-marital relationships
. Virginians can now legally pretend states like Masssachusettes, California, and Vermont don’t recognize that two gay people can love each other.
Discrimination is a key element in Virginia’s history. During the Civil War, the western portion of Virginia separated from the portion of the state that sided with the racist abolitionists. Northern Virginia should do the same today.
To be fair, similar amendments were passed in Tennessee, South Carolina and Wisconsin, but not in Arizona. I love John McCain’s state. It raised the minimum wage (always a good thing) and made English the official language of the state (as it should be in the whole country).
How I Voted
I like the Governator. He’s a fiscal conservative with a moderate agenda. I voted for the Democrate in every Congressional race and for the Libertarian in every other race.
Yes, I voted for lots of Democrats. Surprised? If President Bush was issued a “mandate” in 2004, I wanted to issue him a rebuking in 2006. Apparently, so did the rest of the country. It only took a hemoraging deficit, a quagmire in Iraq, not catching Osama, not securing the borders, not securing the ports, a failing energy policy, and a slew of closeted Republicans for the Democrats to regain power. The Democrats did not win because of their leadership, but I’m hoping they seize the moment and display some.
P.S. High five to my man Lieberman for winning against the Dumb-ocrats in Connecticut.
Link: Code of the Callboy
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006NY Times: The Code of the Callboy
FCC Slaps Logan Airport
Wednesday, November 1st, 2006Massport, as previously mentioned, forced airlines and shops to stop offering Wi-Fi or be evicted from Logan Airport due to security
concerns.
Apparently the airport’s over priced Wi-Fi service could deter terrorists from getting online in ways free Wi-Fi could not. MassPort had planned to evict the entire City of Boston for launching its free city-wide Wi-Fi later this year.
Today, the Boston Globe reported that the FCC ruled against Logan Airport’s incompetency. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said that Massport’s claim that Continental violated the FCC’s Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) rules was Otarded,
while he thumped his chest with a limp wrist hand gesture.
