dance monkeys, dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7UnHOTnPNk&search=Ernest%20cline

To my NYC LJ friends...

I have signed up for www.Dodgeball.com. It’s a free service that lets me connect to people via cell phone. Think of it as “Friendster for your phone”. Since I’m in the city 5 days a week now, hopefully this will be a way I can get together with my in-city friends for dinner, etc.

My name there is, of course, “yesthattom”.

( Read their FAQ )

[Public] Bush Is Not Incompetent

Lakeoff has a great article about why whining about Bush Jr being incompetant doesn’t help the democrats. It dismisses his accomplishments, which have made substantial BAD changes to our country.

One thing he says really stands out:http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/incompetent

Conservatives also strive to get rid of protective agencies and social programs. The deficit Bush created through irresponsible tax cuts and a costly war in Iraq will require drastic budget cuts to remedy. Those cuts, conservatives know, won’t come from military spending, particularly when they raise the constant specter of war. Instead, the cuts will be from what Conservatives have begun to call “non-military, discretionary spending;” that is, the programs that contribute to the common good like the FDA, EPA, FCC, FEMA, OSHA and the NLRB. Yet another success for the conservative agenda.

I know that we Democrats have a difficult time coming up with a “ word” explanation of what we stand for to compete with the Republican “lower taxes” line. However the above paragraph seems to have the seeds of what I’m looking for. The fact that the common good is best served by programs like FDA, EPA, FCC, FEMA, OSHA and the NLRB... at least when they’re run well and for the people speaks volumes. Yes, everyone can pick nits with these agencies, but “lower taxes” has the same problem and they overcome it (for example, “lower taxes” was never to imply that the military shouldn’t get all the funding they need).

Maybe my “elevator pitch” for the democrats is something like:

“A well-managed government serves people best”

Still too many words, but it hits the points I want.

It’s NOT Incompetence

When Progressives shout “Incompetence!” it obscures the many conservative successes. The incompetence frame drastically misses the point, that the conservative vision is doing great harm to this country and the world. An understanding of this and an articulate progressive response is needed. Progressives know that government can and should have a positive role in our lives beyond simple, physical security. It had a positive impact during the progressive era, busting trusts, and establishing basic labor standards. It had a positive impact during the new deal, softening the blow of the depression by creating jobs and stimulating the economy. It had a positive role in advancing the civil rights movement, extending rights to previously disenfranchised groups. And the United States can have a positive role in world affairs without the use of its military and expressions of raw power. Progressives acknowledge that we are all in this together, with “we” meaning all people, across all spectrums of race, class, religion, sex, sexual preference and age. “We” also means across party lines, state lines and international borders.

The mantra of incompetence has been an unfortunate one. The incompetence frame assumes that there was a sound plan, and that the trouble has been in the execution. It turns public debate into a referendum on Bush’s management capabilities, and deflects a critique of the impact of his guiding philosophy. It also leaves open the possibility that voters will opt for another radically conservative president in 2008, so long as he or she can manage better.

...

Conservatism itself is the villain that is harming our people, destroying our environment, and weakening our nation. Conservatives are undermining American values through legislation almost every day. This message applies to every conservative bill proposed to Congress. The issue that arises every day is which philosophy of governing should shape our country. It is the issue of our times. Unless conservative philosophy itself is discredited, Conservatives will continue their domination of public discourse, and with it, will continue their domination of politics.

[Public] A kid's review of Google

http://chiles1993.googlepages.com/googlepaper

Apple Executives to Preview Mac OS X “Leopard” at WWDC 2006 Keynote

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/jun/26wwdc.html

August 7th! August 7th! Apple will preview Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) on August 7th! Then, in a growsing act of shitting rather than getting off the pot, Apple will not actually release Leopard until January, February, or maybe even March of 2007!

For all of you that purchased Apple’s very expensive “free upgrades for five years” maintenance contract, you now officially have lost money. The contract only saves you money if you get 5 upgrades in 5 years. You pathetic fool! They’re schedule has not slipped enough that you’ll get only 4 upgrades in that time. Oh wait, it gets better. You could have had that money in the bank for those five years. Oh wait, it even gets even better: There’s no way in hell that Xserve you bought is still going to be in production by year 4 so why did you think this was a good deal in the first place? Oh yeah, that top notch Apple support that you get along with it.

Let the rumors fly!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen! It’s time for the Leopard rumors! It’s time for everyone with a ”select” or “premier” level contract to shun their NDA and tease their favorite rumor site with tastey tidbits.

I’m no longer a dev. member, so I can talk all I want. Here’s my 100% certified, absolutely true rumors. I’ll bet any one $10 zillion dollars that I’m 100% right on all of these:

• It will ship on DVD
• Jobs will point out that this is the release where Intel becomes the primary development platform because ‘a leopard CAN change its spots!’ and hundreds of developers will laugh histerically until they realize... oh shit, I should have figured that out ages ago!”
• Leopard will contain an anti-gravity function that lets all Apple users float in the air
• Leopard will not just be threaded, but the threading is so good that it defies the time-space continuum, permitting software to go into the future to find the answer before it was done being computed
• Users won’t have to download patches or movies or songs. iTunes and “System Update” will use ESP to gather the bits from beyond the grave!
• Not only will BootCamp be included, but it will be enhanced a virtualization product that lets you run Commodore 64 applications. Not that Commodore 64 you remember from the 1980’s but a futuristic Commodore 64 based on Joss Wheaton’s vision of space travel in the year 3,000
• Apple will release a new line of desktops made entirely out of MEAT!

Well, I’d like to give away more Apple secrets but I have to run. The Apple police are knocking at my door and I haven’t even clicked on “submit” yet!

"Not for nothin' but..."

Why do we have words that warn people when we’re about to tell the truth instead of having words
to warn people we’re about to lie? ‘No, to be totally full of shit I’d love to go shoe shopping with you!’

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/04/041706.html

Best-of Ze Frank

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/05/051906.html -- this includes not only “how to quit smoking” but also “Hawaiian shirt day” and other office “theme days”