Rants and musings, without care for substance.
Posted in food, politics, things i'd like to see on Jun 29th, 2010
I’m not the most politically savvy individual. I try to avoid political discussions. I’m not educated on all the issues surrounding this country and the world. In many cases I don’t even know enough to form an opinion, let alone converse intelligently. But I am a citizen of the United States. I vote. I pay [...]
I don’t care for political parties. I don’t usually wax political. In fact, I usually skim over the political articles in Rolling Stone, but this blurb from Matt Taibbi’s A Way Out for Obama (RS 1100) caught my eye.
Democrats and Republicans are basically the same on a lot of issues: They both voted for the [...]
Posted in legal rights, politics, privacy on Mar 15th, 2010
Having received the 2010 Census paperwork this weekend, I have a few thoughts.
Your answers are confidential. This means the Census Bureau cannot give out information that identifies you or your household. Your answers will only be used for statistical purposes.
I have no doubt that the household counts are to be used for statistical purposes, but [...]
Posted in in the news, politics on Jan 31st, 2010
Until recently, I knew very little about Haiti. I knew that a coworker did mission work down there, supporting an abysmally ad hoc network. I knew that it was an island. As far as I knew, Wyclef Jean was the most notable product from the country (in regard to his origins, not as a source [...]
I found Tom Clancy’s Battle Ready to be an interesting portrait of USMC General Tony Zinni (now retired) and how he progressed in his career through some rather tumultuous engagements.
A lot of the book is set in Zinni’s own words, with minimal narration and filling in by Clancy. This is a good thing, since Zinni’s [...]
Posted in politics, things i'd like to see on Jan 25th, 2009
I like that the White House has a blog. I like knowing what’s going on without having to watch hours of C-SPAN. Seriously, who has time for that? I really like that there’s an RSS feed for it. It would be a lot better if it were a full text feed, however.
So this morning I [...]
Posted in in the news, life in general, politics on Nov 4th, 2008
When I arrived at my polling center this morning at 6:50am there were approximately 500-600 people in line. I’m thrilled that it was such a great turnout, but I still couldn’t believe it. The parking lot was beyond full, so I opted to leave and try my luck after work. I’m not sure whether the [...]
Posted in housing, in the news, money, politics on Sep 25th, 2008
I usually don’t watch the news, but while at the car dealership yesterday I had some time in the waiting room. On the one hand I don’t feel that the taxpayers ought to be bailing out either individuals or corporations that made poor financial decisions. Like a friend helping out your friend because they made [...]
Posted in in the news, money, politics, the system on Dec 10th, 2007
On November 19th, the Maryland General Assembly voted to increase the state sales tax 20% (from 5% to 6%). At the same time they added computer support services, data center support, custom programming, consulting, and disaster recovery services to the list of services that will be taxed at the new rate (up from 0% previously). [...]
Posted in housing, legal rights, politics, privacy, the system on Sep 1st, 2007
Due to a poor laptop security policy, here are some snippets from the diary of an American Community Survey (ACS) Field Representive.
Friday, 6 July 2007, 5:55PM
Every single time I want to take the wife down to Rehobeth for the weekend Mr. Fancypants Fitzpatrick strolls into my cubicle like the boss from Office Space at ten [...]
Posted in complaints, housing, legal rights, politics, privacy, the system on Jul 10th, 2007
Here is a rough copy of the American Community Survey questionnaire. I wasn’t able to locate a scanner, but I’m a quick typist. The only thing you’d gain from a scan is the design of the survey, which honestly isn’t too difficult to follow. I can confirm that there are no choices for you to [...]
Posted in legal rights, politics, privacy, the system on Jul 9th, 2007
The American Community Survey (ACS) makes me very uncomfortable. It is a nationwide survey that is being forced upon the unlucky that happen to live in one of homes selected at random. I was one of those unlucky people and took immediate issue with some of the questions being asked and the manner in which [...]
I don’t like putting stickers on my car. I don’t feel like I should be advertising my preferences on my windshield, if for no other reason than a police officer might not agree with my views when he’s considering whether to give a warning or write a ticket. My views might change, too… then I [...]
Posted in culture, life in general, politics, the system on Jun 3rd, 2007
Just like when you see SWAT officers riding the Metro with submachine guns and dogs, this has become a sign of the times in the DC metropolitan area. Here’s what I saw the other day.
A guy is sitting on the curb of a busy street, several feet in front of a barbed wire fence. He [...]
Posted in in the news, legal rights, politics on Apr 18th, 2007
Just a day after the Virginia Tech shooting, RIT student Jonathan Hackenburg (pictured at right, probably with a severe case of sleep deprivation) was taken into custody for possession of assault weapons. The whole thing came about because Rodney White — the facilities supervisor at the hotel who is being praised in the media and [...]
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