UPDATE: Looks like the fire has made it to the top of Mt. Wilson. Guess we can kiss those antennas goodbye pretty soon... Pic came from this twitter feed. Also, mirror site for the Mt. Wilson tower cam. Refreshes every few minutes.
UPDATE: Wait a minute... Not hearing any reports on this, could it be a controlled burn?
Yes, I cry at happy endings in zombie movies but when the things get difficult I can be as tough as a kevlar gumdrop. ~Brigid
You may not know it, but I'm a big softie. I'll tear up with annoying regularity at so much as an emotional credit card commercial. I'm a serial empathetic. But the few times I've gone to condition orange there is nothing in my mind except the threat, and my swift reaction to the threat. There is nothing but awareness, and preparation. The trick is being able to switch between the two quickly.
I bit ago, I got a speeding ticket (second one ever, first was 8 years ago). I took the option of taking traffic school, and was instructed to call the judicial center within 10 days.
I fail.
I called 15 days later, and they assured me they were entirely booked up! But then, they were apparently booked up 5 days ago too. The woman informed me that they were severely booked up, and had to outsource to a private company, and that I could call them.
Cool!
I call the private company, and they assured me they were entirely booked up! But then, they were apparently booked up 5 days ago too.
Well shit.
The guy assured me that in 90 days, the state legislature would approve a bill that would allow them to begin offering online courses, and I could sign up then, and take care of my traffic school at my leisure.
Sweet!
I wait the 90 days, a little uneasily, since my completion date drew 90 days closer as well, and called on the first day when they opened.
The guy told me they didn't get the contract, and that I should call the county court office again. *minor freak-out* "But they were booked up past my completion date 90 days ago!" "...I don't know what to tell you."
I called the court office, and they told me not to worry because a different company got the contract, and they were offering online traffic school right now. Whew. The traffic school costs between $13 and $45.
I was honestly afraid that California would allow me to pay for traffic school, then not give me the means to attend it prior to my completion date. Good for them.
But wait! A bit ago, I got a letter from the court, saying that they will refund me my traffic school fee, and extend my completion date by four months! Well done!
Good job, Orange County courts. Thanks for realizing what a spot you were putting us in.
But I still think it's a dick move to charge me "court fees" that exceed the cost of the ticket. $400 for a basic "exceeding 65" speeding ticket is too fucking much.
[Cash for Clunkers] is an obscene assault on the poor. Families who can only scrape together $3000 for their next kid hauler will now have a hundred and twenty five thousand fewer cars to choose from, and those cars left are now more expensive to maintain because a hundred and twenty five thousand engines have been destroyed. ~PDB
That's right folks! Neither budget, nor cuts, nor executive hiring freezes can stop this legislature from spending.
It's almost heroic.
These guys need a thrashing about the head to break them from whatever spell they're under. Who the fuck do these guys think they are?
Republicans and Democrats alike.
Like we can even tell the difference between unchallenged Democrats from gerrymandered districts, and go-along-to-get-along Republicans who are happy with the status quo, and actually work to maintain it.
Ugh. Just nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Wow! Am I the only one who was really worried that we'd only have people with white skin and dark brown skin determining legal precedent? I'm so happy that we now have someone with light brown skin determining legal precedent. We all know how much skin color has to do with previous legal decisions and judicial interpretations.
I only hope that one day we can add to the supreme court a wise Filipino, Pacific Islander, Chinese man, Chinese woman, Chinese male single parent, Chinese male transsexual single parent, Chinese male metrosexual adopted parent with children from a previous marriage, Balding Chinese male violinist, overweight Chinese male Mexican restauranteur with one leg, triathlete Chinese newscaster pet owner cancer survivor, etc etc etc...
I just got off the phone with LA Fitness corporate, and member services assured me that they had a no weapons policy (on page 3 of the agreement), and that there are no exemptions for concealed carry weapons permit holders.
This means three things;
1. The murdering bastard who did this signed up for a membership; which means he intentionally violated the rules of his membership. (they should revoke his membership!)
2. If you had a CCW permit and were on your way to your latin dance class, LA Fitness required you leave your gun in the car, instead of your gym bag.
3. If you were scared by the recent shooting at an LA Fitness, and you want to start legally carrying to your local LA Fitness, you can't. Because you already signed your membership agreement, which precludes you from doing just that.
I wonder if LA Fitness accepts liability for your safety, since it won't let legally permitted individuals carry in their gym. I'm guessing they don't.
Was searching youtube for some Far Cry 2 videos, since it is what is currently absorbing my free time, and saw a video called "Far Cry 2 Crazy Maps." I knew the map editor was easy to use, and allowed your created maps to be put online and played, so I figured it might be interesting to really see the limits of the editor pushed.
I was somewhat prepared for the impressive maps, I was not prepared for the awesome music.
So, this video gets posted, not for the music, or for the video, but for both of them combined.
Interesting note; this vote seems unsurprisingly along party lines, so why expunge it? There were only two who crossed party lines. Were they just afraid of the Republican voters that didn't want this, and the Democrat voters who did? Were they just honestly confused with what their constituents really wanted to do?
An odd move, worthy of some thought.
YES (28) Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia Joel Anderson, R-Alpine Juan Arambula, independent-Fresno Bill Berryhill, R-Modesto Tom Berryhill, R-Ceres Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo Charles Calderon, D-Whittier Connie Conway, R-Tulare Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine Mike Duvall, R-Yorba Linda Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield Ted Gaines, R-Roseville Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore Stephen Knight, R-Palmdale Dan Logue, R-Linda Jeff Miller, R-Corona Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach (thank you, sir!) Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa Mike Villines, R-Clovis
NOT VOTING (8) Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista Marty Block, D-San Diego Mike Davis, D-Los Angeles Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego Isadore Hall, D-Compton Diane Harkey, R-Dana Point Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina Jose Solorio, D-Anaheim
This has been said before, and is worth saying again;
Poor Lefties; they've been playing on astroturf so long that they don't know grassroots even when fed a mouthful of divot. ~Tam
I attended a Tea Party, and would take the day off work to attend a town hall on health care if Boxer had the balls to hold one. (I'm not holding my breath)
I would not attend because the GOP faxed me my action items, and that was on it. I would not attend because the GOP promised me cash and prizes if I attended. I would not attend because the GOP chartered a bus, drove it to my house, picked me up, dropped me off, and provided me with pre-made signs and a short list of slogans to chant.
I would do it because I think it needs to be done.
The GOP organizing grassroots? HA! The GOP might as well change it's name to the Grand ANCIENT Party. The way they've done things is the way they always want to do things. They're big, and old, and slow. In fact, I can count the amount of times I've been impressed with the GOP on one hand.
If you still don't believe these people aren't coordinated by the machinations of the notorious GOP, just fucking ask them. They'll probably tear the GOP up as much as a democrat would. Ask them what they think of how the GOP is running the party, and whether or not they think the GOP will have its act together by the next election. I'll bet money at least 75% would reply negatively. If it were a gentleman's bet, I'd go as high as 90%.
These people are pissed. They're pissed because you pissed them off. If you still don't see that, and you honestly think that getting people to call the GOP is going to stop these people from being pissed off, then you're just as slow as the GOP. Honestly, I think the bloggers, facebookers, and myspacers are leading this charge, and the GOP is trying to take the credit.
I joined a teaparty group on facebook, and they send me updates of events they're planning. There have been quite a few I couldn't give two shits about, but there is one coming up that I'm seriously considering.
That's the difference. They don't require I show up. They don't tell me to get angry. They just pick the topic, see if people show interest, and run with it.
It's like these right wing radio show hosts riling people up. The left acts like if these guys started complaining about the end slices of bread, we would too. They're wrong. They're just trying to find out what we care about, and then they give us information updates, and try to help us coordinate.
That's why they call it grassroots. The outrage comes from the bottom up. Not because someone cut all the grass, and dumped the bag on someone.
If the people didn't care, nothing would happen.
Well guess what? Conservatives are pissed. They're not going to just shrug, fix their kids' lunch, and go to work like they have before. They're pissed. You've been poking and poking for years, and now that the hornet's nest is past its threshold, you're freaking out. "Where'd all these hornets come from?! It couldn't have been my poking! I've been doing it for years! This must by the machinations of some third party!"
Well, it ain't.
The sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll realize that this isn't going to just go away if you ignore it.
Well... Maybe not "no one." But who cares about them. They're really far away, and they don't even have representation that can vote for the health care bill!
I'm confused then, which one was Bush again? Oh yeah! He opposed the hostile middle eastern regime, and unseated it, then finished what he started (despite opposition at home and abroad) by ensuring Iraq had an opportunity to develop its own form democracy to shine like "a beacon of democracy" surrounded by people who hate us because their governments need a scapegoat. How did that whole thing go again? Oh yeah, they have their own functioning democracy with only instructive support elements left behind. Mission accomplished, I guess.
Wait a minute... You don't suppose Iranian people felt emboldened by... and maybe they hoped that we... nahhhh...
Think this is just an isolated thing? Think Obama really is CHANGING things after Bush? Read more of these posts here and think again.
At a dollar a head, I'll be a millionaire by the end of August recess!
To tell the truth, I'm not so much tickled by these people opposing something I oppose too, as I am excited just to see people taking their legislators to task, and reminding them of just who they work for.
You might have had some unpleasant experiences at car dealerships, but I doubt any of them robbed you at gunpoint, as the Democrat Congress just did. Even more of your tax money will be appropriated to help destroy the clunkers, which aren't even being broken down for spare parts. Downturns in the free market may reduce the value of assets, but only through the magic of government can the value of a useful asset be reduced to less than zero. ~Doctor Zero
Techcrunch:FCC Takes On Apple And AT&T Over Google Voice Rejection The Federal Communications Commission is looking into Apple’s rejection of Google Voice, and has sent letters to AT&T, Apple, and Google to find out what’s going on.
I think Apple's rejection of Google Voice was a foolish power play that they would soon regret and reverse.
But I do NOT think that the federal government has any business getting involved.
So, to help out these companies, I'm going to post a cheat-sheet for the answers to these probing questions for the FCC:
Answers for the FCC Letter to Apple, Google, and AT&T: 1. FUCK YOU 2. None of your goddamned business. 3. Shouldn't you be thinking up new swear words to ban? 4. Someone just wrote "dick" on an antenna, shouldn't you be fining the antenna? 5. Perhaps you can tell us why we made this decision? OH NO WAIT! You weren't at our board meeting or our shareholders' meeting! 6. Frak you, G-man.
Theft is murder by inches. I trade my life for the money I use to buy the stuff that people would steal. That stuff literally is my life measured in hours at work, in cars repaired and in my line of work, these are often measurable in sweat and sometimes blood! Stealing that stuff is no different than enslaving me to work for you. It's no different than stealing part of my life. ~Mike
Lily Burk's story is about a young girl's trust and our failure as a society. It includes a family friend of hers who joins the discussion and unbelievably offers the beliefs that perpetuate these horrors. Read the posts and comments starting here. Never forget that these people exist.
Remember James Broadnax
He wounded and executed two Christian music producers for $2 and a car so he wouldn't have to walk home. Watch the interview with the remorseless murderer that changed my life. Never forget that these people exist.
