Monday, December 31, 2007
Yeah, yeah, I know
We’re in the last high population density time zone, and the entire world has already made the switch, but…
Happy New Year anyway… 
Sunday, December 30, 2007
All you Iowans, listen up!
Fred Thompson has put together a last minute speech asking for your support in the upcoming caucuses.
It’s kinda long, but worth your time. He points out a lot of things that everyone knows, but no one bothers to think about, despite the fact that we all should.
Tip of the sombrero to Ace, who is another Fred supporter.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Stress Management
I just received this from my Rabbi (though it probably didn’t originate with him):
A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance.
In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
He continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on. “As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. “So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don’t carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.”
So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don’t pick it up again until after you’ve rested a while.
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
Thursday, December 27, 2007
I’m torn
I don’t know which reaction would be most appropriate (or, perhaps more accurately, least inappropriate) to this story:
a) Holy shit! 
b) Holy shit… 
c) Ho-lee shit. 
Cannabinoids, the active components in marijuana, are used to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment, such as pain, weight loss, and vomiting, but there is increasing evidence that they may also inhibit tumor cell growth. However, the cellular mechanisms behind this are unknown.
Robert Ramer, Ph.D., and Burkhard Hinz, Ph.D., of the University of Rostock in Germany investigated whether and by what mechanism cannabinoids inhibit tumor cell invasion.
Cannabinoids did suppress tumor cell invasion and stimulated the expression of TIMP-1, an inhibitor of a group of enzymes that are involved in tumor cell invasion.
Can you imagine how much more could be done if medical and bioengineering scientists here in the US weren’t afraid of getting arrested for possession/distribution by the Feds?
The Geek
... is back!!!
My apologies for not having been around much lately. There has been a LOT going on. So much so that you won’t believe some of it. In the time that I have been MIA…
- I stopped driving OTR (Over the Road) and took a dedicated position with the same company.
- My divorce to the woman who packed up all my belongings, put them in storage, and left me was finalized (YAY!!!!!!!).
- I stopped driving truck completely and took a job as a cable technician pulling Siemans CAT6 for data and voice communications in the new Hunt Oil building in downtown Dallas.
- I got engaged to a beautiful woman (see here).
- And now I work as a NOC Engineer at the new Irving Data Center for Verizon Business (formerly MCI, formerly WorldComm, formerly Alter.net).
- We’ve got an awesome house in Lavon, TX (though I’m sleeping in a spare bedroom until after we get married).
- We’ve got an awesome Rabbi leading our congregation and I’ve been learning a LOT about Scripture.
So, there you have it. That’s where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, and who I’ve been doing it with. Now that I’ve brought ya’ll up to date, what have you guys been up to? I’ve missed ya’ll a lot and hope to post more often now.
Shalom,
Jason
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Add this
... to the list of “Things You Really Don’t Want To Do”
Be awakened by your wife saying, “Sweetie, your computer just made this pop, then this sizzling sound and then it shut off, and now there is a smell of smoke coming from it”.
Especially not on a Friday morning.
Especially not when it is the Friday morning before a Monday Christmas Eve/Tuesday Christmas Day weekend.
Because if it happens to you, I can tell you - from recent personal experience - that it is probably your computer’s internal power supply frying the motherboard and video card. You know, where the most expensive surge protection available won’t be able to stop it.
Dammit.
Anyhow, I’m finally back up, and how was everyone’s Christmas?
Monday, December 24, 2007
Hey all…..
Been away, but not too far. Lots of work and lots of duties at home.....but I want to wish all of you, especially the columnists and the great and benevolent Drumwaster, a Merry Christmas.
John, Martha, Brenna, and Brigid Cross
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Best TV Show Reviews of 2007
God bless JimK.
The only TV show that I actually set aside time to watch (or record) is NCIS. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best show on TV. It’s lighthearted, it’s got heroes that act like heroes, and it’s just a lot of fun. With the exception of the social satire on Adult Swim (Venture Bros, Code Monkeys, etc.), there isn’t much on the tube that’s worthwhile.
Proving that point is JimK, who really takes one for the team and reviews the worst of the worst shows on TV. Between Rock of Love and Shot at Love, I don’t know which one is worse. Here we have a has-been rocker who can temporarily avoid the use of food stamps because he’s on a reality show, as well as a two-bit whore who looks like she got beat with an ugly stick while flaunting herself all over the box. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried, and JimK takes is like a champ, painfully reviewing each and every episode.
So, this one is to JimK - a shot of fine whiskey followed by a tall glass of cold beer. You’ve provided the best television reviews of 2007.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Under The Christmas Tree
More than a few dead pine leaves.
What do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?
I’m looking forward to my own carpool lane that goes anywhere I want it to go. In addition, I’ll be the only person allowed to drive on it.
Leave your Christmas wishes in the comments.
The Best Video of 2007
And the award goes to...
The annoying little asshole who should have been OC sprayed while being hit with the Tazer. Here is the full and complete video, showing him resisting arrest, running from the cops, and causing a public disturbance:
That was so awesome. I hop this kid gets his ass kicked at least once a month so we all have something to laugh at.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Ron Paul Wastes Electricity
… YOUR electricity...
I agree with Steve: Ron Paul waterboards baby penguins and he ate Jon-Benet Ramsey.
You’re damned skippy
Seems that some in the press don’t like Fred Thompson very much because he isn’t going to kowtow to their infantile whines.
Poor babies.
The media has not only gotten more aggressive (with each new graduate thinking that he or she will be the next Woodward and Bernstein) and less caring of their audience, they have resorted to actually making shit up now (with half a dozen stories reported that were total fabrications within a few weeks span), and Fred has decided that he isn’t gonna play their game.
Fred Thompson does not pander. He doesn’t pander to special interest groups, and he doesn’t pander to the media. Why? Because the President is not beholden to lobbyists or reporters. He is beholden to the American People.
And can you really blame him? The stupid questions they come up with are ridiculous, and Fred is giving them answers that are equally ridiculous, and designed to poke fun back at the media drones who are reporting this nonsense like real news…
What’s your favorite joke? Presidential debates.
What’s your favorite keepsake? Trophy wife.
What’s your favorite nickname? Mr. President.
And, of course, there’s my new favorite poke in the eye: What do you like to do on a ‘lazy day’? Campaigning.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Bring On The Smackdown
Let’s get ready to rumble.
This sounds pretty cool.
While voters in the U.S. won’t be able to elect their new president until next year, DC Smackdown, a game developed by former Disney animator Dave Holbrook lets gamers pit their neo-cons, bleeding hearts and even centrists against one another in fight to the finish.
Holbrook says that keeping the staff unbiased was, at times, hard to manage but the result is a game that features 17 characters including slightly stylized names like Hillary “The Man” Clinton, Rudy “The Mayor” Guiliani, Barack “Your World” Obama, Mitt “Flip Flop” Romney, John “Pretty Boy” Edwards and Gramps McCain. Media pundits Glenn “Chicken Little” Beck, Rosie “The Mouth” O’Donnell and Keith “Left Wing” Olbermann are also depicted in the season’s most interesting use of presidential comedy. Politically hidden unlockables include Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee and Oprah.
The week old game has gained the attention of several campaign organizers already. “They’ve called wondering how their candidate is being portrayed,” says Holbrook. “So I tell them. Sometimes they like it—sometimes not. But I hope they appreciate it’s all in good fun.”
“DC Smackdown is an hilarious video game full of backstabbing, low blows and lying politicians. It’s just like the real thing, only smaller,” says Holbrook. “Ron Paul might be well liked but only on DC Smackdown is likely to ever be president.”
Gamers with an interest in getting their favorite candidate to battle their political foe can download the complete game at DCSmackdown.com for the low political contribution of only $4.99.
We need more games like this made by more people like this with great sense of humor.
Five Minute Management
Someone had to say it.
Here are the contents of an e-mail I received. I couldn’t have said it better.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Fred apologizes to Huckabee
Fred Thompson’s campaign has officially apologized to Governor Mike Huckabee for some comments that were made about the Governor from Arkansas (the first Governor of ANY State to live in a mobile home).
Such as the fact that Huckabee offered taxpayer-funded tuition to illegal immigrants.
And raised taxes by 47% during his time in office.
Fred hasn’t yet apologized for the number of innocent civilians killed by clemencies granted by Huckabee, but I’m sure that he will do so soon.
Over the course of his 10 and a half years as governor, Huckabee granted a staggering 1,033 clemencies, according to the Associated Press. That was more than double the combined 507 that were granted during the 17 and a half years of his three predecessors: Bill Clinton, Frank White, and Jim Guy Tucker.