Read/watched/listened to a videoblog earlier today … and … well … OK, here it is….

Really, there’s so much unnecessary opposition against under age purchasing of the Morning-After pill which raises this question: is it really any different than other forms of contraception? So, should condoms and spermicide require proof of age too? Opposers would certainly say yes. Back in the day, when I was under the legal drinking age, kids would just pay an older friend to do a beer run to the liquor store. It’s safe to say that under age teens today will take a similar plan C approach to getting Plan B at their local CVS.

And in a related outrageous reproduction rights topic, many far right-winged pharmacists have regressed back to our country’s puritanical roots and are not filling prescriptions for birth control and the morning-after pill. The reason why? They simply don’t believe in it.

According to Alan Sonfield of the Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York

“there are pharmacists who mistakenly believe contraception is a form of abortion and refuse to prescribe it to anyone.”

Wow, talk about misinformed. How in the hell did these people graduate from pharmacy school if they can’t identify the difference between contraception and an abortion? Reportedly, some pharmacists are going even as far as to hold prescriptions hostage refusing to transfer them to other pharmacies to be filled when time is of the essence, especially for the morning-after pill.

     What the author, Michelle Coudon, misses is the fact that … okay, watch the video again.  Note her pauses.  She’s a very poor actress.

     My problem isn’t that she’s a poor actress … It’s not politics …. It’s not religion …  It’s not a lot of things.
     But those pauses…

     My problem is that *if* this drug is actually effective and reasonably accesible to everyone, it still doesn’t protect a damn person from Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
     Why the Hell should anyone, in this day and age, take a pill as Contraception when there are so many NASTY diseases running around?
     I mean, without Marriage, yadda-yadda, anyway.

     Well, hey … Even though I think l’il’ Michelle is hot enough to take the bed on a round-trip around the room, I still wouldn’t do her even if she promised to take “Plan B” — not without a “Plan A.”  Apparently, “Plan A” (wearing a condom) wasn’t good enough for her in the past or present.
     Quite honestly, even considering “Plan Pre-A,” (not sleeping with them AT ALL) I’ve had my fill of nutso psychobitches who think I’m their baby-daddy.

     Hot as you are, sorry, dear, but you’re full of shit if you think Contraception, these days, is only about birth control.  It’s no wonder Pharmacists don’t want to approve it for widespread use.

     Some things you just can’t wash off.

     Strangely enough, and some holier-than-me might discount it, but I’ve read the Bible about ten times over. Each time, I find something different — something that strikes a chord.
     So, tonight, in my insomnia, I have to wonder … Why was King Lemuel so important to devote an entire chapter of Proverbs?

Pro 31:1 The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.
Pro 31:2 What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?
Pro 31:3 Give not thy strength unto women, Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Pro 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?
Pro 31:5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.
Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, And wine unto the bitter in soul:
Pro 31:7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, And remember his misery no more.
Pro 31:8 Open thy mouth for the dumb, In the cause of all such as are left desolate.
Pro 31:9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, And minister justice to the poor and needy.
Pro 31:10 A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.
Pro 31:11 The heart of her husband trusteth in her, And he shall have no lack of gain.
Pro 31:12 She doeth him good and not evil All the days of her life.
Pro 31:13 She seeketh wool and flax, And worketh willingly with her hands.
Pro 31:14 She is like the merchant-ships; She bringeth her bread from afar.
Pro 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, And giveth food to her household, And their task to her maidens.
Pro 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it; With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
Pro 31:17 She girdeth her loins with strength, And maketh strong her arms.
Pro 31:18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable: Her lamp goeth not out by night.
Pro 31:19 She layeth her hands to the distaff, And her hands hold the spindle.
Pro 31:20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
Pro 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household; For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
Pro 31:22 She maketh for herself carpets of tapestry; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Pro 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sitteth among the elders of the land.
Pro 31:24 She maketh linen garments and selleth them, And delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Pro 31:25 Strength and dignity are her clothing; And she laugheth at the time to come.
Pro 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue.
Pro 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness.
Pro 31:28 Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying:
Pro 31:29 Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all.
Pro 31:30 Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
Pro 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; And let her works praise her in the gates. 

     I know this is a bit of stirring that’ll annoy some people, but …

     You drink, and offer the same, when you feel you’re at the end.
     Your wife puts in — and puts out.  You’re either partners, or not.  Personally, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.
     And at the End … You certainly need a damn drink.

     Even without the above, treating women with respect isn’t difficult to me.

     Well, today, I finished up what was supposed to be a one week contract in two hours.  IT Security, server management, that sort of dork stuff.  Two hours for what they expected to take a week.
     Either I’m really good, or they have really freakin’ low expectations.

     I guess now it’s just time to wait for the check from this multinational corporation.  Bankroll.  Thank you, thank you very much.

     I screwed around on MySpace a little tonight, and decided, “Ya know, Myspace really sucks.  This is a crappy design.”  Then, by some freakish coincidence, as if he’d heard my thoughts, Swanky sent me an message to check out this blog:

Yesterday I was reading about how the completely shit-ass design of MySpace is what gives them so much traffic (people need to click through 97 pages to do something they could do in one click on another site) and today I’ve added another reason to puke at the thought of that site. I keep getting e-mails from them that some skank named Jennifer has invited me to join her group “Hot Videos” but since I can’t do anything with the e-mail I have to go to the site to take action on it. Except even though I was on the site hours ago it’s forgotten my cookie and I have to login again. Except it says “you need to login to do that!” I need to login to login? OK, now, 3 pages later I’m logged in. And then I have to go home. And then I have to go to the mailbox. And then I have to go to the message. 6 pages later I finally get to this message and hit deny, to which I’m treated to a “sorry, you can’t do this because we suck and are having errors or the atari 2600 box this whole site is running on just got unplugged or something” bullshit error message. Basically it won’t let me deny the message. I try again and again. I’ve now given MySpace about 20 page views trying to delete this spam. Finally I decide to just report it as spam instead, except I can’t do that either because of the same error that says they can’t deny the request. Worst. Site. Ever.

     Short, sweet and to the point.

     And this, of course, is why many people are saying, “Pageviews are obsolete!”

     Sorry, but as a designer, I’ve known that for at least eight years.  I mean, come on — please don’t tell me you guys are still measuring Hits and Pageviews instead of User Sessions?  Please?

     *shakes head*

     The other day, a friend of mine sent me a link to a Pittsburgh-area restaurant called Casa D’ice.  Owner and disestablishmentarianist, Bill Balsamico, has started using some “colorful” advertising on his road-side sign, advertising specials and making what Media would call “unpopular” political statements.
     Brilliant stuff, really.  Even if makes people angry, even if they consider him a racist, people will still come in the door to check it all out.  And they’ll probably end up having dinner and drinks.
     The best had to be:

WANTED
SOMEONE VERY OPENMINDED
TO CHANGE THE SIGN EVERY WEEK
AFTER I DIE
INQUIRE WITHIN

     Hopefully, it won’t be from a gunshot by a disgruntled citizen…

     LR2 posted a link to another site about a restaurant in Scottsdale Arizona.  Well, watch the video…

     Reminded me of a cartoon…

     Swanky did another article about Terrorism paranoia yesterday, but this time it’s one that I agree with.

Terrorists want to cause terror. We go nuts over every little thing and thus, they succeed, even when they fail i.e. the London liquid plane bombers. They were stopped and we still have to bring air traffic to a grinding halt and raise the panic level. The list of panicy non-threats is seemingly endless…
  .
  .
  .
I don’t mean to get all conspiritorial on ya, but, who benefits from this hightened sense of panic?

     And the unfortunate part is, I have an answer for that. 

     Media benefits.

     I didn’t intend for this Blog to be about Politics.  Quite honestly, I can’t stand Washington Politicians — they’ll sell us all out before it’s over with.  But one side is a little more responsible that the other when it comes to Media.

     The reason it’s called “Liberal Media” is because, well, they like to cozy up to the Party that’ll tell them what to print, which gives them less workload, and a cash kickback.  The opposing party doesn’t tell them what to print, and doesn’t give them a kickback, so Media will bitch and moan about the increased workload without increased cash.
     So, of course, they’re gonna cozy up to Washington Democrats, and claim, “Oh, Freedom of the Press is great!  And that other party?  They’ll don’t tell us anything, so they must be conspiring against us!”
     Nevermind that the actual problem is that they’re lazy and don’t know how to do good-ol’-fashioned journalism and dig for stories anymore.
     Bear with me, because this is coming from first-hand experience, having been a Media staff writer.  Oh, the number of times I’ve had articles hacked to death and all-but-rewritten by an editor with a Political agenda…
     It really is that sordid.

     Media benefits.

     Some people might say, “Oh, that’s all fine and good, but what about Foreign Media?  They have nothing to gain from sordid American politics!”
     Having worked for a foreign Media entity, I can explain that from first hand experience, as well.  In fact, they have even more to gain.

     Most other countries don’t have “free press.”  Instead, they have a Ministry-operated (i.e. Government) entities which distribute news that Government wants its people to hear.
     That said, Foreign Press tends to be extremely jealous of US Media, who rarely print anything without fear of retribution (cutting jobs, cutting budgets, etc.).  It’s because of that the US was called “Paper Tiger” in so many articles prior to its infamous use by Osama bin Laden.
     Associated Press and Reuters will pick up news from any associate in the world.  With most associates, nine times out of ten, if there’s a juicy story in a given country and a non-story which bashes America, they’ll pick door number two.  
     Even some of the of the British Commonwealths, who regularly sell their best products as export-only, do this sort of thing.  It’s the “underdog mentality,” where a Government can say, “Know why things are so piss poor here?  It’s because of those damn Americans!  Know why you’re paying three pounds a litre for gallon?  Those damn Americans!  And they’re no better than you — check out this headline!”
     It gives their citizens something to feel in common, gives them a common enemy — “Those damn Americans!”
     Four pounds a litre, yes.  3.79 litres per gallon.  Round-about $1.90 per British Pound.  Twenty-one dollars a gallon.  Sucks for them, eh?  But instead of greedy oil companies, they get to blame America for invading Iraq.

     So … Foreign Media (and foreign governments) sow the seeds of Paranoia, reporting everything that happens, with a spin of “America isn’t doing anything about it!” or “Look how America’s screwing up now!”
     AP and Reuters pick up on, and Washington Policians get on TV about it, and our lazy media doesn’t have to write its own stories — they get to embellish every bit of crap and garbage that the Foreign Media gave them.  And if they do a good job, they get a kickback.
     Sordid.  Pathetic.

     Free Press is Free Press.  In this country, have a choice, but they lack the ethics to handle themselves on their own.
     So next time you hear how “The Republicans are limiting our Civil Liberties!” take it with a grain of salt.  Media complains about that specific thing for one reason, and one reason only: there have been numerous bits of Legislation to try and curb their sordid behavior, and make them more responsible in their journalism.
     Go take a look at http://thomas.loc.gov/ and look at the Bills and Voting Records.  You might even find that those things are getting voted for on both sides of the fence.

     The paranoia is pandemic.  It’s politically motivated.

     On that note … I read that terrorist’s favorite Moonbat, Cindy Sheehan, organized another Anti-War Protest today.  What a sad, sad, non-story she is.
     Casey Austin Sheehan (29-May-1979 – 4-Apr-2004) died in Iraq.  He put on a uniform to serve and protect his country.  And when the War in Iraq broke out, he re-enlisted in order to promote Freedom around the globe.  He died doing what he wanted to do.  He is to be commended, and remembered, as both an honorable man and a patriot.

     When’s the last time she even mentioned his name during one of her protests?  When’s the last time that she told anyone that he re-enlisted to go to that war?  When’s the last time she said, “My son was a hero!  He died doing what he believed in!”
     She doesn’t give a damn about her son.  She’s a selfish, self-promoting moonbat who slanders his memory every time she starts one of her tirades.  She writes letters to Barbara Bush claiming, “Your son killed my son!”

     Your son is rolling in his grave, Ms. Sheehan.  Please stop disgracing his good name and crawl back under your rock.  Or your soccer-mom minivan.

     Philips Consumer Electronics has a bit of a “stodgy” reputation in the United States.  The miniscule number of ads that Philips has done over the years hasn’t made any iota of difference to anyone.  They’ve had a tendency to leave advertising of their consumer products up to retail merchants, who usually announce the products at a substantial discount or clearance.

     This time, it looks like they got it right.  This is a brilliant ad.

     Unfortunately, it comes without Media fanfare.  Without advertising to actually draw people to the site.

     Maybe one day they’ll get it.

     Nonsense title?  Check this out…

     This week, we had Firefox cozying up to Microsoft in order to make a Windows Vista version of their product.

When Microsoft’s open source lab offered to help the Mozilla foundation with getting Firefox to run well on Vista, reactions ranged from skeptical and suspicious to surprised and excited. But in fact, the two teams have already been quietly working together. In this thread, Mike Schroepfer wrote “we are already in contact with your team via email”. The lab time would be helpful, though, according to Mozilla developer Mike Beltzner, who added “yes, we’d definitely be interested in getting some 1:1 support”.

It just goes to show that developers from organizations that are outwardly fiercely competitive are often quite civil with each other when nobody is looking. Perhaps that’s why projects like Apache and Eclipse are so successful.

     Which led me to do the following cartoon…

     Wonder if it’ll chew off its leg when it wakes up in the morning?

     Man, it’s 4AM and I’m still wide awake.  And I mean, mow the yard with a push-mower awake.

     It’s just not right.

     I’ve had this insomnia for … well … yeah, just more than a year.  Can’t sleep, no matter how hard I try.  Maybe it started as the restlessness of impending doom.
     Lovely people like to tell me, “It’s guilt that keeps you up at night!”  But it certainly isn’t guilt, and I just tell them, “Thanks!”

     Now, it’s the same thing.  No guilt.  More frustration. 
     A couple of weeks ago, I was prescribed Lunesta.  Nice one.  Calms my mind.  Makes me speak in coherent sentences.  Makes me dream, and remember.  I like that.
     But it sure as Hell doesn’t put me to sleep.

     I need sleep.

     Real sleep.

     Man, Swanky, maybe it was the greasers over the weekend that got you all worked up.  Maybe it was discussing politics with me where I clearly implicated both sides in screwing over the American Public. Maybe it was being tired and cranky and cantankerous (old man! heh).
     But … I’ve read Lilek’s article over and over, and I can’t figure out WHAT you’re talking about.

I’ve been reading the Bleat for years now and he has gone further and further into the business of being a grumpy guy and less and less being an amusing commentator on culture. He had the sense to move a lot of it to a separate blog. But today he just lost it. It sounds to me like the rantings of an “old guy” who can’t take the notion that he is a complete square. He spends a lot of words trying to discount any sort of counter culture sensibility as being stupid and has a bad habit of justifying things by pointing out that much much worse things are happening elsewhere in the world. Sort of like “Why are the namby pamby Democrats so up in arms about the goverment spying on them without warrants when North Korea has 100,000 people being tortured to death in secret prisons?” “Why get so up in arms about blacks being kept out of good schools in the 50s when Russia was killing thousands of people every month in Gulags?” Sad. That’s not an argument. Mis-direction.

I read most of the Bleat today and over and over it was just saying, this guy is really a stiff neck jerk. “How dare you rebel against a country that feeds you, Marlon Brando and James Dean!” Lileks, you are a sad old guy. Mr. Unhip. And that seems to make you crazy. You need to start allowing people to reply to your rants on your site. Dialog.

     James Dean was a product of his environment, as we all all are.  We all rage against the machine, some harder than others. But when we express our displeasure at whatever’s going on, isn’t it better to focus on facts rather than lefty-nutso ridiculouslness?

     And on that note, I’m gonna throw in Sinatra while I try and sleep.  I hope that’s not too Republican of me, wanting to sleep at 2:41AM. 

     As for James Dean, check out this this great Craigslist ad (tip: Link Right 2).

     I read this earlier today, and meant to blog it, but got busy and missed it.  This is News of the Weird type stuff:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli woman’s breast implants saved her life when she was wounded in a Hizbollah rocket attack during Israel’s war with the Lebanese group, a hospital spokesman said Tuesday.

Doctors found shrapnel embedded in the silicone implants, just inches from the 24-year-old’s heart.

“She was saved from death,” said a spokesman for Nahariya Hospital in northern Israel. The woman has been released from hospital

Source: Reuters

     Any jokes I could make about that are tasteless, so I digress.  And on that note…