The tyranny is over! WOOT!
Let’s hope the new guy does a better job.
January 20, 2009
September 9, 2008
Timetables
I’ve been wanting to rant about this for well over a year now, funny thing is I only think about it when I’m driving to work. About once a week I’ll be merging onto I-215 and the ideas will come flooding back into memory. Weird.
At least I did finally remember… well, on with it then. I find it so very interesting that our current beloved Presidential administration speaks about NOT setting a deadline in Iraq for the pull-out of our soldiers because it would somehow endanger the mission, yet just a short while ago he was demanding a deadline for all of the seniors in this country to choose a Medicare prescription drug program or face stiff penalties.
So… deadlines are good for seniors, but bad for wars?
From an LA Times article, May 10, 2006 regarding the Medicare deadline:
During a question period after the speech, a member of the audience pressed Bush to extend the deadline.
But Bush pushed back. “Deadlines are important,” he said. “Deadlines help people understand there’s finality, and people need to get after it, you know.”
From another article on commondreams.org Feb 6, 2007 about the Iraq deadlines:
Mr Bush said the fact there was no projected figure for 2010 did not mean he expected US troops to be out of Iraq by then. He said he did not want to set a timetable “because we don’t want to send mixed signals to an enemy or to a struggling democracy or to our troops”.
I guess it’s just a matter of priorities, right?
Speaking of deadlines, here’s another one for ya: From swamppolitics.com Jan 10, 2008.
Yeah, that one’s gonna work… haha!
August 19, 2008
Google.com quote puts everything in perspective
This appeared on my google.com portal today:
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
What a perfect quote for the current campaign season. Not for another four years will we be treated to such a gluttony of long words and exhausted idioms as we will enjoy this fall as both candidates for the US Presidency lather up the public with their insincerity cloaked in promises and concern for our plight.
Haha, I guess I put up some big words there too eh? Maybe I’m the insincere one and the politicians really do care about us… hmm. But I didn’t use any exhausted idioms in that paragraph. Well perhaps I just have an axe to grind with politicians, and got off on the wrong foot here. I mean drastic times call for drastic measures, make no bones about that. If a politician needs to wag the dog to get elected he must have our best interests at heart, right?
Ugh, I’m making myself sick.
In truth it’s not just during the campaign season that we are force fed insincerity from our leaders. I guess what makes George Orwell’s quote so appropriate now is that it’s been so long since we’ve heard our nations leaders say anything even partially comprehensible, much less use big words that actually make sense. Yes, the fact that Barack Obama and John McCain can actually speak cohesive sentences brings our nation’s politics back from the dark ages of deception and dimwitted arrogance into an enlightened age of articulate insincerity and benevolent lies.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or to cry.
May 9, 2008
The London bridge…
“Hey Fred, did you hear about the London deal?”
“What London deal? No.”
“The company wants to send a few guys to London to work on the new eBorders contract.”
“Wha… what the hell? Sign me up man, I’d love to go.”
<Fade to black>
That same day I let our HR guy know that I wanted to go. He gave me a quick run-down of the benefits they were offering and said that there were only a few other people that had expressed interest.
Gradually over the next week, as our HR guy received more information from the guys running the contract we learned that the benefits were even more attractive than we could have imagined and that we were pretty much guaranteed a position! They advised everyone interested – which at that point had grown to around 20 – to get their lives and passports ready, they would likely need to leave in 4-6 weeks. The atmosphere around the office was absolutely jovial as we talked and researched and prepared for our deployment. Then we waited for more information.
And we waited.
And waited.
…
Nothing.
Our HR guy became so inundated with requests for information that he started working out of the other office and when he sensed that someone was nearby would utter a preemptory: “No, I don’t have any information yet. I will let you know when I do.”
Weeks went by, nothing.
A month, nothing.
The expected time of deployment came and went, and we still had no information. Rumors started to spread, tempers started to flare, discontent and unease were the norm, and the frustration that we felt was reaching a breaking point.
Finally almost two months into our misery something happened. A friend of mine who’s balls of Tungsten Steel are now unanimously uncontested wrote an email to the CEO of our company and in no uncertain terms demanded an explanation and information about our deployment status. A few others, after seeing what he had written also wrote emails to the executives, lending support to what he had written. Unfortunately, the response we received was not what we were wanted.
We did indeed get information about the contract and our status with it, but none of it was good. Our CEO to his credit did some investigating and found that the project organizers now wanted to staff the project in Texas instead of in London. Yes… Texas. Who the f$ck wants to go to Texas?! Still more demoralizing was the fact that they needed significantly fewer numbers of people than they had let us believe. Most of us would not even get the chance to go to Texas.
I was still under consideration though, my information had been passed to the project leaders and I was told that they would contact me “soon.” Even after the devastating email from the CEO I held on to the glimmer of hope that they would again change their minds and send me to London. As improbable as it was I held on to that hope for another month until I got a short email from the division manager thanking me for my interest, and that my resume would remain on file for other opportunities in the future.
I am actually quite proud of the self-control I exhibited and continue to maintain as a result of that email. The rage I felt – feel – whenever I think of that email, if left unchecked would have me writing the most profane and vicious things to anyone involved in the decision making for that project. I, as many of my friends here, feel absolutely betrayed and taken advantage of. It is the worst managed process I have ever witnessed in my professional life, and leads me to thoughts of ropes, whips, barbs, and lots and lots of blood… which is why I must now redirect my thoughts to something else.
Never trust your company to deliver on any promises it does not give you in writing.
April 17, 2008
Refrigerator Magnets
Some time ago someone brought word magnets into the office and put them on the breakroom fridge. Ever since there’s been a flood of creative phrases as anonymous authors have battled over the allocation of the more precious words like “In”, “To”, etc.
To date I must take credit for the most long-running (and most creative, IMO) phrase on the fridge:
Dubya Sells US To OPEC And Bans Peace
Haha, yeah Fred you tell em! Well just recently there has been a little shake-up and some words were stolen from my phrase so I decided to make another one:
Dubya Puts Hairy Pink Fish In Texas Dwarf Taco
Heh, yeah that’ll start em talking…
August 30, 2006
Rocky in the ring
“I do think that Rocky is being an ass,” said an acquaintance, “I mean its the President and here Rocky is dissing him. Whoever you are you should at least respect the President.”
Comments like this are quite common around here. I’ve become acutely aware over the past five years of just how pervasive the herd mentality has become in this state. It is not surprising however, given that the majority of people in Utah have been taught since birth that they should give blind allegiance to their religious leaders, and not question the decisions they make. They are guided by the hand of God, and will not lead you astray, or so goes the saying. Unfortunately this same fanatical devotion to religious leaders has spilled over to other areas of life, including political and social beliefs. Most people in Utah today are not very stressed about politics, they are not stressed about the Iraq war, they are not stressed about who to vote for and do not really even care what their positions are as long as the candidate is Republican (and hopefully a faithful LDS church member). Their blindness leads them to believe that whoever is elected will lead them in the right direction, and that they should be allowed to do whatever they want since they are somehow guided by God to make their lives happy.
I am of course not speaking of all Utahns, there are actually a great number of very rational and intelligent people in this state who are extremely concerned about their environment, their state, their nation, and the planet as a whole. These people are the hope for the future, the only hope this state has of breaking the trance that overwhelmingly traps those unwilling to look beyond their nose.
Those who largely fall into this blind herd category are those of the LDS faith, and those with poor education. I’m not saying that all mormons are uneducated, there are some very well educated LDS people with advanced degrees and those who make a lot of money. The common denominator for the two groups however is that both are hesitant to look at the issues without their distortion glasses on. They cannot conceive of a world where issues are not black and white – everything is clearly defined as good or bad. They perceive the republican party as good, and therefore everything and anything that questions the tenets of that religion are evil.
The following is a perfect example of this:
Rocky Anderson, the mayor of Salt Lake City, led an anti-war protest on the day of President Bush’s arrival in the state today. He was lambasted by every republican leader for being un-patriotic and irresponsible for his decision to say anything negative about our beloved President while he is a guest of the state. They decried the lack of manners, the rudeness, the gall of the man who they view as an evil terrorist supporting agent. The hate they leveled at Mayor Anderson was of the same tone usually reserved for the types who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart. The real tragedy, and another sign of how easily the herd is led by the nose, is just how quick the general public was to latch onto those criticisms and take them to heart. Never mind Rocky’s side of the story, it is not important, irrelevent to the fact that he is speaking out against one who is considered holy.
I say thank God for Rocky Anderson. Literally. His speech today, if anyone cared to actually listen, was one of the most patriotic and sincere speeches I’ve ever heard. He is one of the few in this state who sees the lies and deception in our government, who sees the patterns of tyrrany and is desperately trying to do something about it. I admire the man, and respect the work he has done over the past years in office. Those who would slander him and question his patriotism with propaganda and hype are the ones who should really examine their own patriotism and honor. They are the ones who blindly lead this country down to hell.
Wake up, think, look at the world, don’t be afraid to question. Because by doing nothing, by blindly following and trusting your leaders you are being led “like a calf to the slaughter.” It’s no wonder that President Bush enjoys the largest approval rating in Utah… he’s a republican, and he’s a “Christian”. It’s a no-brainer, right?
July 2, 2006
Bennett did good
I was just reading through the Salt Lake Tribune public forum section, and ran into an angry post from a guy who disagreed with Senator Bennett’s vote on Orrin Hatch’s flag burning amendment. The amendment failed by one vote, and Bennett voted against it. I say Bravo Bennett! Way to stand up for our freedoms!
Senator Hatch has been going downhill for a while now. He no longer has (if he ever had) any link to the populace he represents. He is a very skilled manipulator who has played on his LDS faith and brilliant public deceit to get re-elected time and time again. I suppose that spending so many years away from Utah in such a powerful and lucrative position has done what it does to every person in his situation – corrupt his perception of reality.
I am a registered Republican… I think. I’m pretty sure I voted after high school, I should check on that. However I find myself at extreme odds with the way the current nazi-con.. or neo-con party has hijacked what used to be the philosophy of fiscal (if not social) responsibility. Bah.
November 22, 2005
Political Cartoons
I’ve always been fascinated with the art of political cartoons. Whether I agree with the politics or not, I have always found it to be a very effective way of conveying a complex idea or philosophy to a large number of people in a very short time. One does not have to wade through pages of rhetoric to understand the author’s opinion, which is presented in a much more interesting manner than written text.
I have been having a ton of ideas of late about political cartoons that I would like to create. They are truly spectacular ideas too, the kind that would amaze and awe the reader with such a powerful and stark portrayal of the truth that they would be changed forever. Yes, and it would be all thanks to me… that is if I would just get off my lazy tuchie and draw them!