If they don’t do their job…

Hundreds of US diplomats have protested against a government move to force them to accept postings in war-torn Iraq.

About 300 angry diplomats attended a meeting at the state department, at which one labeled the decision a “potential death sentence”.

Wahhhh.  Fire ‘em.  Their job, their career, is to go to other countries and serve at our nation’s pleasure.  If they won’t do it, hire other people who will.

via BBC NEWS

*Update*

Scott at The Razor volunteers to take the wussies place.

Thankfully parks and wildlife areas around here aren’t infested with mimes.

My dream begins with me walking through the park.  It is a glorious day.  Birds singing and all that good stuff.

I come across a man sitting on a park bench, I sit down next to him.

Following lots of small talk I ask what he does for a living.

He lets me know that he designs things that use Allen wrenches to install, I have a conundrum.

After I murder him in the most horrible way I can possibly imagine, do I set up a press conference to be hailed as a hero by everyone who has ever had to use an Allen wrench, or do I just go quietly away, hoping that I truly made a difference in everyone’s life.

….

My ire for today brought to you buy the scum who designed a bracket to hang LCD TV’s on the wall.  So you have these giant screws that go deep into the stud about 3 1/2 inches.  about 1/4" diameter.  These are pretty darn beefy screws, considering they hold up a TV.  And they go in via an Allen wrench.  No way to use a power tool on this one.

Well, the top one stripped itself about a 32nd away from being tight.  And that’s after almost breaking my fingers tightening this damn thing in to a stud.  And of course the cap of the screw is nicely rounded, so you can’t even use a wrench to finish the damn thing.  Since the head is stripped you can’t even back it out and replace it.

This completely took any joy at all from setting up the new LCD.  My fingers still hurt from being smashed.  Bastards.

I’m going to link to an article from Oprah.

The military has given the English language two words that brilliantly articulate different types of crises: The first is snafu, an acronym for "situation normal, all f***ed up." The second is fubar, which stands for "f***ed up beyond all recognition." As we travel the bumpy road of life, we must prepare to deal with both.

How to de-stress yourself.  I’m a big fan of not having unnecessary stress in my life.  Someone cuts me off in traffic, I’ll cuss like a sailor for a minute, flick off the idiot, and then I feel better.  If things change for me in a way I don’t have control over, I don’t worry about the loss of control as much as getting a handle on what the new situation is.  Read the article and see how much you fall into the trap of worrying about the wrong things and react in exactly the wrong way.

I’ve recently read a book on parenting difficult children that is absolutely wonderful. 

Much of it is counterintuitive, but it makes perfect sense as you read the reasons for each topic.  The book is geared towards those pursuing adoption and foster care, and how to deal with "damaged" children.  But while reading it I found numerous examples that would have applied to my own "normal" upbringing, and also saw many things that would help others I know with children deal with things better.

It’s a twenty dollar book.  Surely that is worth the price to make your own children’s life better.

It’s the law of the jungle.

The mere whiff of a Maasai man’s clothing is enough to strike fear in African elephants and send them thundering to the safety of tall grasses, according to a new study.

Maasai men have been known to occasionally spear elephants, perhaps as a ritual to show virility.

Clothing worn by less threatening Kamba men, however, evokes a milder reaction.

"They think about people in the way you and I think about people," said study co-author Richard Byrne, a psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in the U.K.

"There are different types [of people] and they have different characteristic behaviors and—if I was an elephant—very different implications, some of them being the type who occasionally spear you."

Elephants, he added, categorize each group of people differently.

Wait, so you’re telling me, that rather than treat each member of the tribes as an individual, that elephants… discriminate?  Just because someone coming at them is from one tribe and not another?

How could this be?  I thought only white men were so evil according to the media.  And here is a group of elephants, from Africa even, doing something that can’t occur naturally without the bwana devils.

National Geographic

Don’t mess with old ladies…

BRISTOW, Va. — It may not have been legal, but a 75-year-old Virginia woman dealt a blow to poor customer service when she took a hammer to her local Comcast office.
Mona Shaw and her husband, Don, waited all day for the cable company to come at the appointed time one Monday in August to install Comcast’s heavily advertised Triple Play phone, Internet and cable service in their Bristow home. Nobody came.
A Comcast technician showed up two days later, but left without finishing the setup, the couple said. Two days after that, Comcast cut off all service to the Shaw home.
When the Shaws went to the Comcast office in Manassas that Friday to complain to a manager, a representative asked them to sit outside, saying someone would be right with them. After two hours of sitting and waiting, the same representative leaned out the door to inform them that the manager had left for the day.
Shaw, a churchgoing secretary of the local AARP branch, returned the next Monday — with a hammer.

Does anyone running a business not get that bad customer service will always get you back in the end?

I like cole slaw.  Occasionally potato salad or macaroni salad.  But only home made with mayo. Store bought potato/macaroni salad is pretty bad.  But cole slaw is always good.

Everyone can just go home.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It could be the latest so-called Chuck Norris fact: The American people don’t choose presidents, Chuck Norris does.

The cult hero of “Walker Texas Ranger” fame said Monday he’s backing Republican Mike Huckabee for president.

“Though Giuliani might be savvy enough to lead people, Fred Thompson wise enough to wade through the tides of politics, McCain tough enough to fight terrorism and Romney business-minded enough to grow our economy, I believe the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee,” Norris wrote on the conservative Web site World Net Daily.

“Mike is also a respected and fearless leader, and he does not cower to the cries of any majority or minority,” Norris added. “He doesn’t abandon his values for what’s expedient. Like our Founding Fathers, he’s not afraid to stand up for a Creator and against secularist beliefs.”

Huckabee’s campaign has not responded to a request for comment.

Of course the funniest part is reading the comments of the unhinged at the original CNN.com post.  Man most of those people are real foam at the mouth types.

Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Read Mostly Cajun.

At least I think so.  At least in respect to their “Live” offerings. 

I’m using Live Writer all the time now for blog posting.  I just can’t wait for a version to come out that supports Windows Mobile.

Live Messenger is my favorite chat client because it is a simple nice clean interface.  Yahoo and AIM clients have too much distraction all over the client yelling “WOO HOO LOOK HERE” instead of simply allowing me to chat.  The video/audio feature just works when I chat back with my parents.  It just works without taking up a bunch of screen real estate, which is most important to me.

Played with their new Live SkyDrive today.  You get a gig of web file storage.  Once again, a very nice, clean interface that just works without a lot of crap on the screen.  You can even embed your shared folder in other pages like this:

Pretty slick I think.

Lots of other “Live” offerings.  They’re basically doing what Google Labs used to do.

Ghost points out an earlier environmental catastrophe.  Thank god for the cars!

There is no way resources can support America’s population as it reaches an astronomical 40 million souls.

I think we solved the manure problem.  Something to do with concentrating it all in DC.

I hate flying commercial airlines in general so much I’d rather drive coast to coast than fly.  Especially when things like this are their great ideas for customer service:

To improve operations, it has launched 250 initiatives, including investigating whether to divest United’s $750 million cargo business as well as its frequent-flier program and San Francisco maintenance base; introducing a la carte fees for economy passengers who want to purchase new services, like ensuring their luggage is first off the plane; and exploring mergers, a favorite Tilton pursuit.

What?  Once all the fees add up I’m sure it’d just be worth flying first class.  Screw you United.  Want to make money?  Make it BETTER for people to choose to fly your airline.  Better food and service.  Better lounges.  Nicer flight attendants.

via the chicagotribune.com

Sexsomnia is real people.  It is the clinical term for having sex while asleep, like sleepwalking.  And if you’re really really lucky, your partner may have it! 

Why cable Internet sucks.  And cable TV sucks.  DSL and DirecTV all the way!

Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.

via MSNBC.com

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/10/18/science.race/index.html

All the predictable tut-tutting from the enlightened masses.  Of course this once again, as in all things politically correct, ignore the facts, ignore the science.  Attack the messenger.  Only one thing should ever matter:  is this a scientific fact or not.  Anyone who focuses on anything else is a liar with an agenda.

Risawn is now Drill Sergeant Risawn.  Congratulations!

Gotta love the hat.

Parents are selling their house, thought someone might be interested.

Big ol’ log home on acreage.  Full detached in-law suite.  Finished basement, pool, and all the toys.  Cecil County Maryland.

Airplanes usually kill you quickly; a woman takes her time. 
Airplanes can be turned on by a flick of a switch. 
Airplanes don’t get mad if you do a "touch and go." 
Airplanes don’t object to a pre-flight inspection. 
Airplanes come with a manual to explain their operation. 
Airplanes have strict weight and balance limitations. 
Airplanes can be flown at any time of the month. 
Airplanes don’t come with in-laws. 
Airplanes don’t care about how many other airplanes you’ve flow before. 
Airplanes and pilots both arrive at the same time. 
Airplanes don’t mind if you look at other airplanes. 
Airplanes don’t mind if you buy airplane magazines. 
Airplanes expect to be tied down. 
Airplanes don’t comment on your piloting skills. 
Airplanes don’t whine unless something is really wrong. 
However, when airplanes go quiet, just like women, it’s usually not good.

BBC POLL: WHY DEMOCRACY?

Twelve thousand people in 15 countries were polled in August

58% thought terrorism could destroy democracy

62% thought voting in national elections was very important

57% thought the US political system better equipped than China’s to tackle climate change

14% said they would be very unlikely to support the idea of a global parliament

That’s from a sidebar on a BBC News story.  A majority of the world thinks that terrorism can destroy democracy?  And only 14% are against the New World Order, I mean, a Global Parliament?  Parliament isn’t even a real type of government…

Read the rest at AMERICAN DIGEST

West: Remove your guns before sitting at the dining table.

Left: Ban guns. Anytime, anywhere. The Second Amendment is a misprint. Erase it in the original. Burn all copies.

West: Never order anything weaker than whiskey.

Left: Never order anything stronger than a decaf double latte made with soy milk. Yes, that drink will shrink your testicles and/or ovaries to the size of peas, but you weren’t using them anyway. Make it a double.