Thursday, February 17, 2011
Prayer of the Day
"God our creator, to those who are hungry and thirsty, give food and drink. To those who are not hungry and thirsty, give a hunger and thirst for justice. Amen."
http://blog.sojo.net/
http://blog.sojo.net/
Computer Curmudgeon Cudgels Acronyms
Testify, my English loving brother, champion clarity of thought, speech, and writing.
Glynn Meek, Geezer Geek
[Texting -- goodbye English, we once loved you
Lots of comments have been made about the dangers of texting, as demonstrated by the statistics from the National Safety Council that 28% of accidents are caused by texting motorists, so I won't rehash these old arguments. Instead, let The Geezer Geek take a look at the catastrophic effect that ‘texting' has had on our culture (and I use THAT word with some reservation).
"hw r u?"
"whassup?"
"roflmao"
"me 2"
"ILU" (and can you imagine the wasted bandwidth that THIS particular one is going to take up on this "Hallmark Day" of February 14th?)
"wht r u up 2 2nite?"
Now, I realize that spelling and grammar are no longer requirements of any American public school, especially here in Texas where they only ‘teach to the TAKS test' anyhow, but this is the thin end of the wedge with regards to civilization. English is arguably the most powerful language on earth. Based on the confluence of multiple European language influences and accompanied by the bizarre spelling decisions of William Caxton, we have a multitude of nouns, verbs and adjectives suitable for every occasion, but do we use them? Do we use the language of Shakespeare, the vocabulary of Churchill or the creativity of Mark Twain? No we don't, not anymore.
We appear to have lost what little ability to actually spell and speak correctly that we ever had, and now we are reduced to supposedly humorous acronyms and abbreviations that are, all of a sudden, thought of as ‘modern speak'. Well, let us not forget that SNAFU and FUBAR and SWALK can be traced back some 70 years or more, so we are hardly the first generation to come up with this manner of communication and affront to the language ... but we are the first to abuse it so completely.
Bloggers are essentially frustrated authors with a genuine affection for the English language and so my views on this may seem extreme, but someone has to draw a line in the sand when it comes to language. I ranted a few weeks ago about ‘social networking' and its ANTIsocial networking connotations, and texting is merely an extension of this trend. It is apparent that people would nowadays much rather text someone than speak to them on the telephone, and this is losing the essential nature of human communication. Simplistically, there are three levels of interpersonal communication: writing to someone, speaking to them on the telephone or speaking to them face to face. One study alone from UCLA by Professor Albert Mehrabian, indicates that up to 93% of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues. While this study is frequently misinterepreted, we can ONLY get a complete understanding of what someone means if we are actually in the same place as them, looking them in the eye when we speak. The telephone at least gives us tonality and verbal feedback, but texting does nothing but cause confusion.
The early days of e-mail did LOTS of damage to personal and business relationships as people tried to be humorous in their e-mails, but were totally misinterpreted. Sarcasm only works if the recipient can see the twinkle in your eye or at least hear the lilt in your voice when you make the comment. Over time, e-mails have become more ubiquitous in their content as people at least tend to use full sentences and reasonably correct English, and so some of the initial ‘sting' has been taken out. However, when you get a text that says "whr r u?" it is open to so many misunderstandings, one hardly knows where to start? "Where are you (idiot)?" "Where are you (my love, I miss you)?" "Where are you (the house is burning down)?" "Where are you (I am waiting here with the client and he is mad because you are late)?" and a myriad of other meanings, all equally valid depending upon the recipient's state of mind at the time. There seems to be a competition as to who can produce the shortest text with the most misinterpretation options.
Let's conclude this rant by taking one final quick knock at Twitter. (I shall, of course, be devoting a whole, future blog to this particular miscreant) Now, with the wonderful, waste-of-time creation of a ‘tweet', one can not only bore and offend just the one person you previously texted, but you can bore and offend many people at the same time. It is possible to inform thousands of people of the fact that you are "goin 2 mall will b bck bi 7" and so long as you can restrict yourself to 140 characters, you can bore and offend the whole world! How can one fail to restrict oneself to 140 characters when "I 8 bfast @ 9" will be understood by all your recipients? Of course, those same undereducated recipients will be lost if you quote " ... we few, we happy few, we band of brothers". We may have gained a tweet, but we have lost our cultural soul.
Now, I realize that the ‘texting' boat has left the dock, and no amount of curmudgeonly complaining or Geezer Geek groans will bring it back, but can we at least commit to some simple rules?
NO acronyms
NO spelling errors
NO sarcasm (hmmm...THIS one is going to be tough for me)
Probably not ... ah well, I give up ... "bfn, c u l8r"]
Glynn Meek, Geezer Geek
[Texting -- goodbye English, we once loved you
Lots of comments have been made about the dangers of texting, as demonstrated by the statistics from the National Safety Council that 28% of accidents are caused by texting motorists, so I won't rehash these old arguments. Instead, let The Geezer Geek take a look at the catastrophic effect that ‘texting' has had on our culture (and I use THAT word with some reservation).
"hw r u?"
"whassup?"
"roflmao"
"me 2"
"ILU" (and can you imagine the wasted bandwidth that THIS particular one is going to take up on this "Hallmark Day" of February 14th?)
"wht r u up 2 2nite?"
Now, I realize that spelling and grammar are no longer requirements of any American public school, especially here in Texas where they only ‘teach to the TAKS test' anyhow, but this is the thin end of the wedge with regards to civilization. English is arguably the most powerful language on earth. Based on the confluence of multiple European language influences and accompanied by the bizarre spelling decisions of William Caxton, we have a multitude of nouns, verbs and adjectives suitable for every occasion, but do we use them? Do we use the language of Shakespeare, the vocabulary of Churchill or the creativity of Mark Twain? No we don't, not anymore.
We appear to have lost what little ability to actually spell and speak correctly that we ever had, and now we are reduced to supposedly humorous acronyms and abbreviations that are, all of a sudden, thought of as ‘modern speak'. Well, let us not forget that SNAFU and FUBAR and SWALK can be traced back some 70 years or more, so we are hardly the first generation to come up with this manner of communication and affront to the language ... but we are the first to abuse it so completely.
Bloggers are essentially frustrated authors with a genuine affection for the English language and so my views on this may seem extreme, but someone has to draw a line in the sand when it comes to language. I ranted a few weeks ago about ‘social networking' and its ANTIsocial networking connotations, and texting is merely an extension of this trend. It is apparent that people would nowadays much rather text someone than speak to them on the telephone, and this is losing the essential nature of human communication. Simplistically, there are three levels of interpersonal communication: writing to someone, speaking to them on the telephone or speaking to them face to face. One study alone from UCLA by Professor Albert Mehrabian, indicates that up to 93% of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues. While this study is frequently misinterepreted, we can ONLY get a complete understanding of what someone means if we are actually in the same place as them, looking them in the eye when we speak. The telephone at least gives us tonality and verbal feedback, but texting does nothing but cause confusion.
The early days of e-mail did LOTS of damage to personal and business relationships as people tried to be humorous in their e-mails, but were totally misinterpreted. Sarcasm only works if the recipient can see the twinkle in your eye or at least hear the lilt in your voice when you make the comment. Over time, e-mails have become more ubiquitous in their content as people at least tend to use full sentences and reasonably correct English, and so some of the initial ‘sting' has been taken out. However, when you get a text that says "whr r u?" it is open to so many misunderstandings, one hardly knows where to start? "Where are you (idiot)?" "Where are you (my love, I miss you)?" "Where are you (the house is burning down)?" "Where are you (I am waiting here with the client and he is mad because you are late)?" and a myriad of other meanings, all equally valid depending upon the recipient's state of mind at the time. There seems to be a competition as to who can produce the shortest text with the most misinterpretation options.
Let's conclude this rant by taking one final quick knock at Twitter. (I shall, of course, be devoting a whole, future blog to this particular miscreant) Now, with the wonderful, waste-of-time creation of a ‘tweet', one can not only bore and offend just the one person you previously texted, but you can bore and offend many people at the same time. It is possible to inform thousands of people of the fact that you are "goin 2 mall will b bck bi 7" and so long as you can restrict yourself to 140 characters, you can bore and offend the whole world! How can one fail to restrict oneself to 140 characters when "I 8 bfast @ 9" will be understood by all your recipients? Of course, those same undereducated recipients will be lost if you quote " ... we few, we happy few, we band of brothers". We may have gained a tweet, but we have lost our cultural soul.
Now, I realize that the ‘texting' boat has left the dock, and no amount of curmudgeonly complaining or Geezer Geek groans will bring it back, but can we at least commit to some simple rules?
NO acronyms
NO spelling errors
NO sarcasm (hmmm...THIS one is going to be tough for me)
Probably not ... ah well, I give up ... "bfn, c u l8r"]
Nathan Bedford Forrest: Honoring THAT man in THAT state?
Nathan Bedford Forrest, scion of the slave holding south, terrorist, murderer, and the state of Mississippi wants to honor him with a license plate.
[In the latest racially charged incident in his home state, Haley Barbour on Tuesday drew fire when he refused to condemn a proposal honoring a Ku Klux Klan leader.
"I don't go around denouncing people. That's not going to happen," Barbour, who is considering a run for the White House in 2012, said when asked about the plate, the Associated Press reported. "I know there's not a chance it'll become law."] emphasis added but why bother when brain dead racists think this a good idea would never ever realize the utter preposterousness of the state of MS honoring that man on a state license plate.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49599.html#ixzz1E7X5VrzD
Why not honor John Wilkes "Sic Semper Tyranniss" Boothe him-freakin'-self?
[In the latest racially charged incident in his home state, Haley Barbour on Tuesday drew fire when he refused to condemn a proposal honoring a Ku Klux Klan leader.
"I don't go around denouncing people. That's not going to happen," Barbour, who is considering a run for the White House in 2012, said when asked about the plate, the Associated Press reported. "I know there's not a chance it'll become law."] emphasis added but why bother when brain dead racists think this a good idea would never ever realize the utter preposterousness of the state of MS honoring that man on a state license plate.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49599.html#ixzz1E7X5VrzD
Why not honor John Wilkes "Sic Semper Tyranniss" Boothe him-freakin'-self?
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
World Bank Sounds Alarm Over High Food Prices
[The World Bank has given a stark warning of the impact of the rising cost of food, saying an estimated 44 million people had been pushed into poverty since last summer by soaring commodity prices.
Robert Zoellick, the Bank's president, said food prices had risen by almost 30% in the past year and were within striking distance of the record levels reached during 2008.
"Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world," Zoellick said. "The price hike is already pushing millions of people into poverty, and putting stress on the most vulnerable, who spend more than half of their income on food."]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/15/world-bank-warns-soaring-food-prices
Robert Zoellick, the Bank's president, said food prices had risen by almost 30% in the past year and were within striking distance of the record levels reached during 2008.
"Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world," Zoellick said. "The price hike is already pushing millions of people into poverty, and putting stress on the most vulnerable, who spend more than half of their income on food."]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/15/world-bank-warns-soaring-food-prices
Green Bay Packers Support WI Public Workers
Wisconsin workers are marching on the capital today to protest Governor Scott Walker's effort to crush their bargaining rights through the back door. Their newest ally? The Green Bay Packers, past and present, who signed a letter in support of the workers.
The statement reads:
"We know that it is teamwork on and off the field that makes the Packers and Wisconsin great. As a publicly owned team we wouldn't have been able to win the Super Bowl without the support of our fans.
"It is the same dedication of our public workers every day that makes Wisconsin run. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. But now in an unprecedented political attack Governor Walker is trying to take away their right to have a voice and bargain at work.
"The right to negotiate wages and benefits is a fundamental underpinning of our middle class. When workers join together it serves as a check on corporate power and helps ALL workers by raising community standards. Wisconsin's long standing tradition of allowing public sector workers to have a voice on the job has worked for the state since the 1930s. It has created greater consistency in the relationship between labor and management and a shared approach to public work.
"These public workers are Wisconsin's champions every single day and we urge the Governor and the State Legislature to not take away their rights."
The statement reads:
"We know that it is teamwork on and off the field that makes the Packers and Wisconsin great. As a publicly owned team we wouldn't have been able to win the Super Bowl without the support of our fans.
"It is the same dedication of our public workers every day that makes Wisconsin run. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. But now in an unprecedented political attack Governor Walker is trying to take away their right to have a voice and bargain at work.
"The right to negotiate wages and benefits is a fundamental underpinning of our middle class. When workers join together it serves as a check on corporate power and helps ALL workers by raising community standards. Wisconsin's long standing tradition of allowing public sector workers to have a voice on the job has worked for the state since the 1930s. It has created greater consistency in the relationship between labor and management and a shared approach to public work.
"These public workers are Wisconsin's champions every single day and we urge the Governor and the State Legislature to not take away their rights."
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
"If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm gonna be really pissed."
"CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #329
I exercise regularly. I eat moderate amounts of healthy food. I make sure to get plenty of rest. I see my doctor once a year and my dentist twice a year. I floss every night. I've had chest x–rays, cardio stress tests, EKG's and colonoscopies. I see a psychologist and have a variety of hobbies to reduce stress. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I don't have crazy, reckless sex with strangers.
If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm gonna be really pissed."
I exercise regularly. I eat moderate amounts of healthy food. I make sure to get plenty of rest. I see my doctor once a year and my dentist twice a year. I floss every night. I've had chest x–rays, cardio stress tests, EKG's and colonoscopies. I see a psychologist and have a variety of hobbies to reduce stress. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I don't have crazy, reckless sex with strangers.
If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm gonna be really pissed."
"Follow Justice:" Deuteronomy 16:20
20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Monday, February 14, 2011
"God is not a member of the North Lake Tea Party"
Don't worry loyal minions, yours truly has already castigated the unbeliever, pointed out not only does THE Lord God Almighty lead the lake County, FL, tea party, he also pilots, co-pilots, navigates and wields the bomb sights to rain down his Holy Hellfire upon such apostate agnostics, and atheists of the press.
[So perhaps it is those long years of being marginalized and ignored that produced the glassy-eyed rah-rah attitude that fit snugly with the jingoistic program drawn up by organizers. They pushed every emotional button within reach — recognize veterans, sing "God Bless America," get a pastor to assure them that God not only approves their mission, but is probably behind it.
Now, that last is a particularly slippery slope. When folks start believing that their political mission is ordained by God, bad things tend to happen. After all, the Bible's well-known advice on government was to give Caesar what he wanted and move on. In other words, earthly government is not the concern of the righteous person.
So let's be clear: God is not a member of the North Lake Tea Party. And infusing a political event with the notion that a divine being is pushing a particular political ideal is a special kind of evil manipulation which hopefully will merit a special punishment sometime later during eternity.
There were plenty of good, decent folks in the First Baptist Church on Monday, but there wasn't two thimbles full of independent thought, and that was precisely the way Rick Scott wanted it.
Which brings us to the single most-distressing slice of the rally: how far the governor of a big, influential state will go to set up a captivated audience of adoring fans. Scott is a wily one. He must know that he couldn't have unveiled a budget so poisoned with untruths to anyone actually familiar with state finance.] emphasis added
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-lauren-ritchie-tea-party-florid20110213,0,2128195.column
[So perhaps it is those long years of being marginalized and ignored that produced the glassy-eyed rah-rah attitude that fit snugly with the jingoistic program drawn up by organizers. They pushed every emotional button within reach — recognize veterans, sing "God Bless America," get a pastor to assure them that God not only approves their mission, but is probably behind it.
Now, that last is a particularly slippery slope. When folks start believing that their political mission is ordained by God, bad things tend to happen. After all, the Bible's well-known advice on government was to give Caesar what he wanted and move on. In other words, earthly government is not the concern of the righteous person.
So let's be clear: God is not a member of the North Lake Tea Party. And infusing a political event with the notion that a divine being is pushing a particular political ideal is a special kind of evil manipulation which hopefully will merit a special punishment sometime later during eternity.
There were plenty of good, decent folks in the First Baptist Church on Monday, but there wasn't two thimbles full of independent thought, and that was precisely the way Rick Scott wanted it.
Which brings us to the single most-distressing slice of the rally: how far the governor of a big, influential state will go to set up a captivated audience of adoring fans. Scott is a wily one. He must know that he couldn't have unveiled a budget so poisoned with untruths to anyone actually familiar with state finance.] emphasis added
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-lauren-ritchie-tea-party-florid20110213,0,2128195.column
Happy Made Up Holiday Day
With the passing of mass marketing orgy known as Christmas, supposedly based on birth of a little baby in a humble manger transmogrified into bacchanalia of banality and conspicuous consumer consumption, and the greatest marketing spectacle in the world called the Super Bowl, we now have a day for men to disappoint their women for no matter how much they buy, it will never amount to enough.
You could always have gotten a bigger diamond, box of imported chocolate, and more elaborate feasts.>Fabian, please tell me gay guys don't fall for this crap.
"No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the 14th century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost.[12]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Valentine's_Day#Historical_facts
You could always have gotten a bigger diamond, box of imported chocolate, and more elaborate feasts.>Fabian, please tell me gay guys don't fall for this crap.
"No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the 14th century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost.[12]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Valentine's_Day#Historical_facts
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Do Not Bury the Orlando Sentinel
But mourn instead the death of impact of daily papers on politics in FL. All 16 major daily papers in FL endorsed Governor Voldemort's opponent, Alex Sink.
Odds of that happening? Roughly the odds of the sun rising in the west come dawn.
Still, less than 50 per cent of voters in FL voted for this fraud, this carnival huckster, fool, mountebank, charlatan, and poltroon.
Now the Teabagger brigade of white people rolling around in the Medicare paid for scooters will get what they voted for.
Good luck with that.
Moroons!
(Links and more sarcasm to follow. Satyagraha in FL!)
Odds of that happening? Roughly the odds of the sun rising in the west come dawn.
Still, less than 50 per cent of voters in FL voted for this fraud, this carnival huckster, fool, mountebank, charlatan, and poltroon.
Now the Teabagger brigade of white people rolling around in the Medicare paid for scooters will get what they voted for.
Good luck with that.
Moroons!
(Links and more sarcasm to follow. Satyagraha in FL!)
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