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I just checked MSNBC and apparently there's been an 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia. I think they're expecting tsunamis any minute. Here's hoping that alerts have gone out and that people will be safer this time around.
Every two weeks I receive the obligatory Ticketmaster email that informs me of all the concerts and plays coming to San Antonio and the surrounding area. Why they tell me Miss Saigon is coming, I don't know. It's in Corpus, people. Do I have a car? No. Can I go? No. Why must you torture me by dangling such pretty musicals with no chance of attending. Bastards.
But this isn't a rant against Ticketmaster. Nor is this a post to gloat that Sparta is coming and neither my cousin or my brother can see them (sucks to be in school, doesn't it). No, this is about how sick and twisted the world can be. Can someone please tell me why Gloria Trevi is coming to San Antonio!!!! She is a child molester. She helped her manager rape girls. Girls who got pregnant. Girls who were either forced to abort their babies or make them disappear. This woman has a cd out again, and she's on tour here in the United States. I don't know, but this is sick.
Thirty Muslims were fired from Dell for praying at sunset. It was a hazard, an inconvenience, and frankly, it just wasn't right. Who would cover them at 7:20 today, 7:18 tomorrow, 6:55 the next day, or 7:05 later? Apparently accomodations for sunset prayer just aren't possible for the computer giant.
Via Wizbang
Arizona has convicted its first pirate! The teen was charged with illegally downloading music and movies and then selling them. Since he was a minor at the time this terrible crime was commited, he will be spared jail time, but the dummy will do probation.
My god, did he really have to go and try to sell these movies he downloaded. Such terrible quality not to mention he's giving the MPAA and RIAA more fuel with which to screw everyone else. It's teens like him who use filesharing programs so irresponsibly.
The PMBR cd on Contracts is amusing, yet strangely informative. I'm bound to have more moments of "Oh, I get it!" as the days progress because I've avoided everything bar related since July. I needed to. Now, well now I'm enjoying the refresher course, and remembering how to apply the stupid mailbox rule. And get this, the lecturer on this particular cd is from UC Davis, and he's funny. Here I thought I would be falling asleep. Glad to be disappointed.
I'm awake today. I know I am. Bright eyed and bushy tailed if I must be cute, but somehow the nerves in my brain are not connecting to the fingers. I'm forgetting to add words. So here's hoping I won't sound disconnected later!
... in one city in California. Have a noxious odor? The librarian can kick you out. (reg. req) If it happens to be the latest Britney Spears perfume, someone thinks you stink! I hope you still have your receipt!
Only in America can you be charged with manslaughter for giving a friend his own gun. So what if said friend kills himself after finding out he has terminal cancer and is suffering horrible amounts of pain.
His gun, his choice.
But no, since you cleaned and gave the gun to your friend this makes you a criminal unless you live in Oregan and have an MD at the end of your name.
Are bloggers journalists? If so, should they be given the same protections? Should their sources remain confidential, and when they refuse to reveal them, should there be any penalties? A case in California involving three blogging sites versus Apple is asking these same questions, and so far Apple is winning.
This isn't good news. Bloggers have something that is more valuable than money, and that's freedom of speech. They have an uncanny way of finding the real news before it's twisted and spun into some melodramtic tale on the 7 o'clock news. In this way they are like journalists because they have their sources, anonymous people who trust these bloggers to publish the dirt, knowing their identies are safe for yet another day. At the same time they aren't journalists because they aren't tied down by rules. Face it. We bloggers can write about anything. It's our own integrity that keeps us from going too far.
Apple's case could stiffle all of this. They're angry some of their secrets were revealed, well go after the people who revealed it to the blogging sites, not the bloggers. If this were a celebrity situation no one would bat an eyelash. If the information had been printed in a print magazine the circumstances would be different. Bloggers stand to lose their ability to publish freely if this isn't stopped.
Apple 1 Bloggers 0
Since immigration is such a huge issue in Arizona, they have decided to add more restrictions in the hope that illegals will avoid their state entirely. Afterall, who wants the already wretched Spanglish people speak there to start sounding like actual Spanish again.
Unfortunately, the new restrictions will prevent their children from attending school. The Supreme Court has ruled that no child will be denied an education regardless of their status. Illegal immigration is a serious issue, but sometimes these lawmakers just don't think. What else is new.
When Vicente Fox was voted into office he promised change. Some of it has been bad, but some of it has been very good for Mexico. The last time I was there I saw more ramps and elevators. The disABLED were important, not just an afterthought, and so were the dozens of indigenous people who lived in the country. Now there's a new campaign that focuses on tolerence.
The campaign is part of a new law, signed by President Vicente Fox in June 2003, that outlaws several types of discrimination, including bias based on sexual preference. The law also requires federal agencies to launch campaigns to promote tolerance.While gays and lesbians have experienced a growing acceptance within Mexican society, they still have a long way to go before obtaining full equal rights. And there are still occasional reports of attacks against transvestites and people suspected of being gay...
In one of the radio spots, a mother prepares dinner before her son brings his date home for the first time. She asks her son several questions about how long the two have been dating and the date's likes and dislikes.
Then, she asks, ``What's your date's name?''
``Oscar,'' her son replies, revealing to the audience that he is gay.
A narrator then says equality begins with acceptance of those who are different.
If anyone thinks, well they could do more. Frankly, this is a huge step for Mexico. It's a mostly male dominated society that is slowly changing, and stuff like this doesn't happen overnight. Does it even happen here? We're taught to be tolerant, yet you can't find it here either. There's more of an understanding, more of an acceptance. Homosexuality exists, but our government doesn't do enough to stop the discrimination.
I finally received some good news yesterday. I received a commision to design a website, and the money will help. Money always helps, and I love doing site design, so it's a good deal. At the same time my printer decides to start dying. So help me, I wanted to help it along. The strange thing is I don't think it's the actual printer that has the problem, rather I think it's the laptop serial port. If that's indeed the case then I'm in trouble, seeing as that's why the sound is having issues on the laptop as well.
Then today the wireless connection doesn't want to stay connected no matter what I do. What is this, karma? Though I did figure out that the problem with my iPod battery was related to a turned off surge protector and not the battery itself. Now I have to deal with this. I'm a closeted geek. The wireless networks have been growing in our apartment building, and I think maybe the new one has been clashing with ours. So I enabled WEP encryption, succesfully locked myself out of internet access for half an hour, and then I was able to get an IP address again. At least no one can steal our bandwidth, but I don't know if my laptop is behind the wonkiness.
I need to reformat. I'm not even sure if a reformat will fix the problems if they're hardware related. Compaqs just love falling apart on me physically after two years.
I went to sonystyle.net and drooled at the vaio laptops. They sell a 100 gig model that's for business and design and all for like $40 a month. What is considered the best brand for laptops, other than Dell?
The Supreme Court just ruled that it's against the Constitution to sentence teens to the death penalty when the crimes were committed before they were even adults.
The executions, the court said, were unconstitutionally cruel...Justices in 2002 banned the execution of the mentally retarded, also citing the Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments.
The court had already outlawed executions for those who were 15 and younger when they committed their crimes.
Tuesday's ruling prevents states from making 16- and 17-year-olds eligible for execution.
Maybe now the states will concentrate on finding help for these kids instead of locking them up and throwing away the key. They do horrible things, but have we forgotten that they're still kids?
The opinion is Potosi Correctional Center v. Simmons
