It’s only Tuesday, but this week has not been going well since its inception Sunday morning.  Of course, that’s when I discovered my previous employer had emptied my bank account to the tune of an overdraft greater than $1,800, a rather disconcerting event to have taken place at the end of the month.  I’ve scrambled to cover the loss as quickly as possible in the hopes of circumventing any financial impact of having no immediate funds available while payments are outstanding against that account.  You can no doubt guess this whole thing has really knocked me for a loop.  It’s manageable, yes, and ultimately it’s a recoverable situation that is only temporary (no more than a few days to get that account back in good standing).  Still, it undeniably frayed every nerve I had available at the time, sending sleep into the unreachable depths of mental mayhem, dangling disaster in every corner of my mind, and generally causing a significant explosion of fear, anger, distrust, vengefulness, and near panic, not to mention a great many other emotions and states of being not conducive to rest or relaxation.  You will have to forgive me if I have been or continue to be a bit off my game.  This entire event has devastated the feeling of safety and security one should enjoy with regards to personal belongings, including bank accounts and money, especially as these things relate to an ex-employer and the fact that I am currently not gainfully employed.

Democracy runs rampant on the internet because it’s equalized: everyone gets to the same network, no sites are given preferential treatment, all sites are available, and so on.  The telecommunications industry would like to change that.  They want full ownership of the internet so they can sell priority traffic to those who can afford it.  Anyone who can’t will be relegated to the slow lane or made entirely unavailable.  The premise is for big telecoms to take over the objective management currently provided by the government, a move that would enable them to segregate the net into the haves and have-nots.  Consumers will pay the price for this, of course, as sites with money purchase the good service while those without it suffer on slower segments and are ultimately rendered inaccessible.  From Keeping a Democratic Web by The New York Times:

“Net neutrality” is a concept that is still unfamiliar to most Americans, but it keeps the Internet democratic. Cable and telephone companies that provide Internet service are talking about creating a two-tiered Internet, in which Web sites that pay them large fees would get priority over everything else. Opponents of these plans are supporting Net-neutrality legislation, which would require all Web sites to be treated equally. Net neutrality recently suffered a setback in the House, but there is growing hope that the Senate will take up the cause.

One of the Internet’s great strengths is that a single blogger or a small political group can inexpensively create a Web page that is just as accessible to the world as Microsoft’s home page. But this democratic Internet would be in danger if the companies that deliver Internet service changed the rules so that Web sites that pay them money would be easily accessible, while little-guy sites would be harder to access, and slower to navigate. Providers could also block access to sites they do not like.

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.

— George Bernard Shaw

It’s the promised land.  This is short and to the point, a brief blog entry about a comment on another entry that expresses a bit of religious concern with a sense of humor.  It will take you 30 seconds to read; go, do it now.

Bald Eagle Cam.  Watch the nest in near real time (refreshes every 10 seconds).  I love seeing nature doing its own thing.

Did American Navy sonar kill 400 dolphins in Zanzibar?  Right now, that’s the best guess, and it wouldn’t be the first time our sonar has caused significant death and destruction to marine animals.

Look who dropped in for an evening swim.  That’s what swimming pools are for, right?  I see those kinds of ducks around here all the time, including having to drive around one in the street just last Friday, and I so love it.

Check out this stunning photo from space.  It’s from Cassini and is of “the rings of Saturn, with the giant moon Titan in the background, and the tiny moonlet Epimetheus in front.”  Spectacular!

For those who don’t know, House is a television series on Fox.  It is a hospital drama centered on a medical genius named Dr. House played by Hugh Laurie.  It is actually quite good albeit terribly repetitive: each week someone comes in sick, winds up having some bizarre malady that is near impossible to diagnose, House ultimately chooses correctly how best to heal the patient by identifying the root causes and proper treatments, and finally the sick person leaves cured — or at least successfully remedied.  Despite this, the program is rather compelling in that House is a sarcastic cynic, a believer that humans generally are up to no good, and he suffers from a forlorn life he distressingly inflicts upon those around him.  Nevertheless, he is ultimately thoughtful, terribly logical, rational to a successful fault, witty to an insulting degree, wholeheartedly impudent, and admirably his own person irrespective of the carnage it leaves in the lives of anyone who comes into contact with him.

The detriment he visits upon his friends, although they are few and far between because of his personality, is ignored by those most faithful to protecting the companionship they share with him.  The main character’s abrasive self reeks of uncomfortable seductiveness, and it is this trait which endears him to the show’s audience, people envious of his sharp intellect, intrigued by his stimulating interaction with others, and generally fascinated with the hope of one day being like him without being like him.  A master of the unsolvable by way of the unacceptable, he represents the egotistical whim inside each of us.  He’s also an atheist.

If you are unfamiliar with the show, it may be difficult to express a sound opinion on this issue, although watching it only once will certainly provide a definitive explanation of what being called “House” truly means.  If you watch the show religiously or are at least acquainted with the character and premise, you certainly are invited to chime in.  You see, I have been accused of being the personal House for several people, not the least of which are xocobra and LD, although they represent a fraction of those who have said this to me.  I now must wonder if that is the correct general impression of others, if I simply must assume those voicing such an opinion are insane and in need of significant psychological care, or if there is some area betwixt them in which the majority of folks live.  Sadly, I can not ask the question without appearing solely interested in self and image.  I’m gay; how can that not be the case to at least a certain degree?

So, why do I have a House reputation?  Do you really see me that way?  Am I prone to offer deprecating responses to even menial queries?  When you ask a question, do you expect belittlement and inarguable rejoinders?  Or are you just flattering me by calling me House in the hopes of receiving personal favors?  Not that I’d think that a bad thing, of course.