I think first you need to check out this story to put this in perspective.

I don’t know what is happening to the world. It seems that if a small number of people decide they are offended by something, they suddenly become able to run things. No one seems willing to stand up and say “GET OVER IT!” for fear they will get sued, or that someone will report the story to the media who will INSTANTLY broadcast it to the world (via the intarwebs).

A company starts an ad campaign. In their ad, they are selling chicken sandwiches. So the innocently put up a billboard with a sandwich on it, a barn with a rooster weathervane clipart background, and the words “CRISPY FRICKIN’ CHICKEN”.

People take issue with the word frickin’… and at LEAST one billboard is removed, and officials field calls and complaints as though it is some kind of moral crisis. And then the news outlets get a hold of it. Read the rest of this entry »

It might be too late, perhaps I have closed the barn door after the horses are gone… but…

I removed my Facebook account today. Or, as Facebook calls it “deactivated” it. I don’t know if it will be permanent but I am leaning that way. If you want to reach me in the meantime, try this.

Why oh why would I remove myself from the “trendiest” fad going? Well, I had completely ignored Facebook and MySpace when they came online… I always felt they were just vectors for being pestered by spammers and people I really didn’t want contact with. But last summer I broke down and signed up when I saw the wife making contact with many people she knew from school, and in a pang of nostalgia decided I would like to talk to some of those friends too. It annoyed the crap out of my from the start. Too many people would make contact, talk a little, get caught up and then vanish never to talk to me again. Just when I thought I was renewing old friendships I found out that what I was doing was simply touching base and then moving on again. That wasn’t MY intent, but apparently that’s all Facebook is to other people. Strike One.

Last night I pulled out ICQ again, a program I have not had installed on my PC since I rebuilt it into my upgraded package last year. I had it installed for a while before that as well without using it. On ICQ I found an old friend from way back in the BBS days who is also on Facebook and talked to him on ICQ. Rarely have we said much on Facebook but we chatted for some time on ICQ.

This really got me thinking: Read the rest of this entry »

We live in an age where it is TRENDY to be environmentally aware. To be completely honest, a lot of it makes me sick, but the reasons for that would make up a whole ‘nother blog entry.

The main problem for me these days is how utterly gullible people are about what is “environmentally friendly”. They don’t really do any checking up on the claims of greedy companies – they simply buy into whatever the hype of the day is, and begin participating in whatever practice is the flavour du jour even if it is complete slacktivism.

One place I could rant about is Hybrid cars, but I am not going to bother when the show Bullshit! has done a far more complete job than I can do here. Suffice to say, hybrids are actually mind-bogglingly wasteful in most ways, gaining only slightly in the area of mileage while requiring many toxic substances in order to manufacture their batteries and systems. It is TRENDY to drive a hybrid, so it is the car of choice for slacktivists – but someone who truly cares about the environment is going to find the most efficient conventional car they can buy, plan their trips to avoid waste, drive sensibly without mashing the gas or the brake, and sometimes forgo the car when they can ride their bike or walk. A Mercedes smart achieves far better mileage than most hybrids and has a very efficient conventional engine. And don’t feed me a line about how it is too small – by the time you put the damn batteries in a hybrid, you’ve sucked up the better part of the space you gained by driving that bigger piece of shit. The RIDICULOUS Chevy Malibu Hybrid gives well under a 10% gain in mileage over its conventional counterpart, while requiring numerous additional hazardous elements in its manufacture – and still gets the same or worse mileage than similar non-hybrid models from Honda, Hyundai and Toyota, and scores a 6 out of 10 from the EPA for the amount of air pollution it creates! This is not a cleaner, more efficient vehicle, but it represents the “latest technology” GM offers. Oh – and don’t even get me STARTED on the scarcity of lithium for the best battery technology we’ve come up with to day…

So, to sum up so far: in my view, if you drive a hybrid, you’re nothing more (and nothing less) than a pretentious, pack-following idiotic douchebag. Yes, Ed Begley, I’m looking at you, too – the solar panels don’t save you from the ridicule.

But that wasn’t what I was REALLY annoyed at. Oh, no, not by a long shot. What was it, you ask, gentle reader (assuming you don’t drive a hybrid and are already so hacked off at me you want to burn down my house)?
Read the rest of this entry »