Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself.

— A. H. Weiler

On the concerns of who makes laws and why, and the truth of what they can and cannot control…

You delight in laying down laws,
Yet you delight more in breaking them.

[...]

But what of those to whom life is not an ocean, and man-made laws are not sand-towers,
But to whom life is a rock, and the law a chisel with which they would carve it in their own likeness?
What of the cripple who hates dancers?
What of the ox who loves his yoke and deems the elk and deer of the forest stray and vagrant things?
What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?
And of him who comes early to the wedding-feast, and when over-fed and tired goes his way saying that all feasts are violation and all feasters lawbreakers?

[...]

People of Orphalese, you can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing?

With this post I am starting a new weekly routine here called “Free association.”  Some of you may recognize that term while others may not.  Let me explain:

Free association is described as a “psychonanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content.” Over time, this technique is supposed to help bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.

I would agree with that explanation of the process, but I am not starting this weekly post in an attempt to analyze myself — or my readership.  I simply cannot take me that seriously, nor should you.  Life is too short to spend over analyzing our own existence.  Spend that time living instead and the journey will be a blessing rather than a curse.

In the spirit of entertainment, I will be following the weekly free association posts at Unconscious Mutterings.  Each week I will post the updated terms along with my own responses.  You’re certainly more than welcome to play along in the comments if you so choose.

I will post the base phrases on the front page, but I will hide my answers below the fold (the “Continue reading…” link) so that your answers are not influenced by mine.  If you want to play along, copy and paste into the comments section and add your own associations.

Remember, the point is not to pause or consider your response to each item.  The correct answer is the first one that pops into your head no matter what it is.

Without further ado, here is the base for this week’s unconsciousness:

1. Stuffed::
2. Armstrong::
3. Bruise::
4. Content::
5. Musical::
6. Assistance::
7. Scrambling::
8. Battle::
9. Extended::
10. Discount::

Read the rest of this entry »

I had to take this one.  It is truly an enjoyable experience.  I laughed from beginning to end, and I believe you will as well.

This test is purely for fun, so keep that in mind.  I only took it twice: once with the correct answers and once with the best answers according to my sense of humor.  That is the result below.

When I took it providing the real answers, were one to take the test seriously, I also got the answer below.

I stopped taking the test.

You are an enzyme. You are powerful, dark,
variable, and can change many things at your
whim…even when they’re not supposed to be
changed. Bad you. You can be dangerous or
wonderful; it’s your choice.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

This one is too fun to pass up.  Go.  Take it now.

[via Not Exactly Rocket Science]

PZ has an excellent post at Pharyngula that I think is worthy of mention.  It is an interesting response to what he found when he stumbled across a site called Christian Underground.  He links to it so I don’t have to (I wouldn’t anyway).

His response is excellent, but what he is responding to is disturbing — and also entertaining in a sadomasochistic way.  Are the people saying this not the very same people who are running and ruining the country, taking us backward in privacy, security, science, freedom (of all kinds), international relations, and a litany of other national and state horrors?  I think they are, and that is frightening.

I need to complete some significant rebuilds and updates on my servers this evening.  While the majority of this work will be completed without interruption, I do need to reboot them to complete the major updates.  I’ll be doing this around 10 PM Central this evening.  I thought I’d mention it in case you have some problems around that time.

Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.

— Samuel Butler

Sadly, MTV appears to be a Microsoft whore.  I went to their site today to read the entertainment news and to either prove or dispel a rumor I heard yesterday about Linkin Park.  I clicked a link to read “more” news than what was shown on the main news page and was greeted with this:

PC Users with Netscape, Mozilla or Firefox: you need to run Internet Explorer to use MTV Overdrive.

That is quite disappointing.  I said before that web developers should code to standards and not to specific browsers.  What does MTV do when someone is running Linux?  And what about Macintosh users?  And what about people who don’t want to run IE because it’s full of security holes and doesn’t implement web standards correctly (or, at least, less correctly than other browsers)?  In essence, MTV is saying that it’s easier to subject users to possible security breaches and a substandard web experience than to code to W3C standards.  Pitiful… Just pitiful.

I know that IE still does not consistently display my own site correctly.  This is not because the site is incorrectly coded.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  My site is fully CSS and XHTML 1.0 Transitional compliant (among other standards).  If Microsoft would fix the rendering engine in IE so that it correctly interprets and displays standards-based pages, this wouldn’t be an issue — but it still is and has been for years (as long as MS has been developing browsers, in fact).

I’m sorry that MTV has inept web programmers who are unable to see beyond Microsoft’s Internet Exploder while coding applications for a world audience.  I’m sorry that they try to force people to change their computing habits just to view their site content.  Sorry, guys, but that’s not how the web works.  The point is to be accessible to as broad an audience as possible, not to cram your own small-minded technology views down the throats of others.

I’ll not be visiting MTV’s site anymore.  I’d rather get my entertainment news from an organization which believes that its visitors should be able to decide on their own how best to access the site.

Oh, and another thing.  This also negates all accessibility standards that I also previously mentioned, so PC users who are blind and must use a “reader” rather than a “browser” are essentially screwed out of using MTV’s site as well.  That’s discriminatory, and it shocks me that MTV would support such blatant exclusionary practices.  Shame on you!

I free feed The Kids.  That is to say that I keep food and water down at all times, and they can eat and drink at will and at whatever time they choose.  While Kako and Loki rarely eat together, you can find them in any number of combinations as easily as you can find them eating alone.

This is true except when it is time for a treat.  This happens at least once every week, and it may consist of any number of things (boiled chicken, canned cat food with dried fish mixed in, any number of flavors of fish, baby food, and the list goes on).  Regardless of what it is (I only treat them with what I know they all like), if it is something I serve in one large dish rather than separately, treats create a time when all differences are forgotten and everyone happily gluts.

[clockwise from top: Kako, Loki, Kazon, and Grendel]

Republican Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the congressional representative for San Diego, today pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, tax evasion, and mail and wire fraud.  Caught with his own stupidity in a dirty house deal in California, investigators found Cunningham was selling his influence in government affairs.

This should come as no surprise.  He simply erred and was caught.  How many of them in office now are doing the same thing, have done it, or will do it given the first opportunity?  I feign shock and horror when you say a great many of them have been in the cookie jar at least once; I suspect that is accurate.  Most of them, I believe, will also get away with it.

In a written statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the case “is just the latest example of the culture of corruption that pervades the Republican-controlled Congress, which ignores the needs of the American people to serve wealthy special interests and their cronies.”

Nancy is a bit daft, is she not?  She inferred the corruption is only within the Republican segment of Congress, but what she meant is exactly what she said: it pervades the Republican-controlled Congress, and that happens to include members from all parties — including her own.  Kudos, Nancy!  I bathe in the warmth of your silver-tongued gaffe.