As of today, I'm going Mac

So, I just ordered a new personal computer today to replace my Windows98 dinosaur (the best the year 1999 had to offer). I guess you could say I was overdue for an upgrade. I just couldn't take another Blue screen O' Death, let alone the video gobblygook that appeared whenever I closed a window (random pixels, trailing multiple afterimages whenever I moved it, etc.), or the surfing 20 web pages then the computer freezing. I don't understand how a company can put out an OS this bad and have people continue to come back and buy more stuff from them. I'm tired of feeding the beast that is Microsoft. So I checked out the Apple store for refurbished computers - they're supposed to have good deals (according to the IT guys here at work), along with the standard warranty you'd get from a new one. And wouldn't you know, there, for $719, was a refurbished G4 1.2GHz ibook. I didn't expect to find a laptop, but it seems like a good deal. I should have it in 2 weeks.

ThunderBlizzard! ........ThunderBlizzard?!? WTF?

For a while I always liked to use the term thunderblizzard to describe the wackiest type of weather I thought possible. I thought is was impossible or at least extremely rare weather at best.

...well, as I live and breathe....

I just returned from the grocery store tonight. It was sprinkling a little as I brought in the groceries. As I was preparing supper I looked out the window and in just 10 minutes the ground and streets were covered in snow. While I was preheating the oven and watching TV I saw a bright blue flash. I thought maybe one of the kitchen lights had gone out when

KABOOOMMMmmmm..

Thunder. Blizzard. .... ThunderBlizzard...

WTF? No way!

But here I am, in Toledo, Ohio, witnessing an honest to God ThunderBlizzard.

Still, it's wacky weather, but what do you expect for this area of the country?

ADDENDUM: rather than use my name, thunderblizzard, this phenomenon is oficially called thundersnow. Wikipedia has a good writeup on it.

Also, on last night's Colbert Report, Steven Colbert did a good ribbing on thundersnow. It replays a few times today on Comedy Central. He claims this is proof that God is mad at us, and we should also expect sleet-tsunamis and flood tornados. Catch it if you can...

Republicans: Mind your own business!

See the San Jose Mercury News for more info in their editorial...

So now the Republican Bush Administration wants Google to hand over 1 million random web addresses from its search records along with the search info users typed into its search engine over a one-week period.

Why? So they can further their crusade against porn.

Right now the government is trying to legally defend the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act. This 1998 law makes it illegal for web sites to post material that is ``harmful to minors'' unless they ensure that only adults can access it. The law, as currently written, could criminalize protected speech like dating and sex advice articles, web sites dealing with reproductive health or gay issues, and even those of some art galleries and bookstores. The U.S. Supreme Court has already cast doubt on its constitutionality.

So basically, we have a Republican Party being ran be religious fanatics that just can't abide to the idea of staying out of people's private lives. So they need to snoop into people's searches and see what kind of things they're querying. All so they can defend a poorly written law to keep sex censored.

And they say they're doing it for the kids. The same kids who can find a liitle of the ultraviolence at the drop of a bowler. We have action movies, computer games, tv shows, and the 6 O'Clock news for that.

...not to mention sports brawls and a war in Iraq. I'm sure they think our kids should be exposed to that.

But when it comes to love, dating, sex, the nude body, and those aspects of humanity?

Not in their America, buddy. These right-wing elitists know what is best, and they will invade your privacy to make sure you comply with the standards of decency defined by their religious-fanatic core.

Then again, I think the Bush Administration is just expressing sour grapes with Google over the search terms "miserable failure" and "worst president ever"

Another Theological Quiz

I swear, this paragraph below reads like the Episcopal Church's Via Media program, especially the idea that learning takes place in dialogue...

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this. Emergent/Postmodern 64% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 64% Classical Liberal 57% Modern Liberal 50% Neo orthodox 46% Roman Catholic 43% Charismatic/Pentecostal 36% Reformed Evangelical 11% Fundamentalist 0% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm not a heretic!...?

By this test though, even a Hindu would come out as a Chalcedon compliant.

...I guess my heresies don't have a name attributed to them :)

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 75% Pelagianism 67% Modalism 50% Gnosticism 33% Monophysitism 33% Nestorianism 17% Apollanarian 17% Socinianism 8% Adoptionist 8% Arianism 0% Donatism 0% Albigensianism 0% Monarchianism 0% Docetism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

Shameless low blow...

Hey check out the silly clown... and the painting.

...yeah yeah yeah, I know it's petty. There are so many legitimate criticisms to make of Bush that I don't need to stoop to this... but it was wayyy too tempting.

When is torture legal?

When you live in Bushworld.

In Bushworld, the following is a solid defense.

From...
A Lie a Day: I Guess He Has To Go Free Now

$%!@ Weather!

The weather here in Ohio has really been dragging me down recently.

Every day is overcast and gloomy. Every night is wet and foggy. It has been over a week since I've seen the sun, blue sky, or even the night sky. Winter is the best time to look at the stars, but you can't even see them here in Toledo.

Yesterday the security light behind my place, which has an electric eye so it only comes on at night, never shut off! That's how dark daytime is thanks to this 'lovely' weather.

...and it rained! In January, when we should be getting snow! ...I'm talking downpour, thunder, lightning, and all.

In January!