Insignifica

war and country

A couple of war and country items:

athiestweb

AtheistWeb is up and running, we just need posters and stories and traffic. Take a look!

Special Alien Sadness Columbia Tribute

I can honestly say the Special Alien Sadness Columbia Tribute is the strangest thing I've seen today.

atheistweb

I did a whole lot of work on AtheistWeb today, installed MyPHPNuke and learned quite a bit about PHP in the process setting up the site, editing files, and configuring options. I think the site looks great, has almost all the functionality I want, and is waiting for users, story submissions, and comments. Enjoy.

ego surfing

I very often "egosurf", searching for instances of my own name and likeness online. I do this for several reasons - ego, to see who is linking to me, to find out more about other people with my name, etc. My ICQ messaging center has always ranked highly (top 5), with most of my sites ranked signifigantly lower (100+). Many of the links in between are filled with the other people with my name, mostly the Ohio State footballer and various lawyers.

Searching tonight, I found that AtheistWeb was ranked 6th - a strange aspect of Google's indexing since the site is less than a week old. I've heard sometimes new sites get indexed highly for a while. Still strange, though - the indexed page has my name 6 times, where some of my Insignifica pages have it listed 20+. Oh well. We'll see where it's linked in a month.

webcam

The Livecam! is back and in operation. If there's interest, I may continue broadcasting live TV feeds, though that's rather silly. Enjoy.

why the liberals?

Alright folks, I'm sick and tired of all the shit celebrities are getting for being anti-war. They, like you and me, are US citizens. They have a right for free speech, and as far as I'm concerned, have a responsibility as Americans to participate/be aware of their government.

There is an amazing amount of hate mail, conservative whining, and nay saying going around about these Americans expressing their opinions. Why? Because they're Hollywood celebrities, and the conservative camp seems to think that means they're not entitled to either expressing anti-war sentiment, or using their celebrity to do so and further the cause. Just like being an American comes with responsibilities (like voting, watching your government, and speaking up), being well known also implies some duty. One of these duties is using your celebrity to help the world. Many don't do this, and there's no crime in that (just as there's no crime in not voting). But when Charlton Heston feels strongly about gun rights, or Richard Gere has an interest in a free Tibet, they use their fame to further their cause. This isn't just because they have a relationship with the causes they're fighting for, but because their fight will get media attention long before mine will, simply because they're well known.

Does this qualify anyone who's appeared in an Episode of "Law and Order" to run for president? No it doesn't. It does, however, allow for the furthering of popular causes. As Americans, we're all uniquely qualified to speak on American politics - we're part of the system. Celebrities on both side of the spectrum have been doing this as long as there have been celebrities. It's their right as people in the public eye, and as Americans.

So why all the harsh words against Hollywood liberals? As stated, there's the perception that they're "just" actors. However, many have been fighting for social causes longer than the conservative voices putting them down have been doing what they do. To lambaste Martin Sheen as just a "dumb celebrity who really thinks he is the president" is to be woefully ignorant of the both the man and his history with social causes. The same goes for Richard Gere, Mike Farrell, Wil Wheaton and Susan Sarandon. All of them, and many others, are socially aware Americans, not just actors "using their fame" to express what many consider to be an ignorant opinion.

Further, are the opinions of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh any more valid than those of liberals speaking out against war? All three are journalists and/or talk show hosts - they have no foreign policy experience or time served in government. They also all claim to be impartial reporters of "facts" - 10 minutes of exposure to their respective shows will dispel this myth. Sheen, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams don't fool listeners into believing they provide media balance, they're Americans speaking about something close to their hearts. Conservative broadcasters are no more qualified than actors; they're all equally entitled to their opinions and to use their fame as any Americans.

There also appears to be a good deal of bitterness and sour grapes about the issue, and this goes beyond war debates to something much more simple - liberals vs. conservatives. In this country, the fight to free slaves, the fight for equal rights, the fight for suffrage, the fight for gay rights - these have always been liberal causes. While conservatives have come around in time (witness the republican response to Trent Lott, for example), it has always been the liberals of the time fighting these battles. So when a new fight comes to the forefront, and liberals, again, rally against a viewed injustice, conservatives fight it. Perhaps it's reactionary, or perhaps it's jealousy of having no new world-changing things to fight for themselves. Whatever the cause, conservatives defend their position against the liberal cause, often by bashing those fighting it. The anti-war effort is just the latest case.

Finally, the backlash may simply be an attempt to feel better about themselves, as such high numbers of Americans (and non-Americans) are against the war. When you're trying to champion a violent cause for a perceived "greater good", you need to defend yourself against dissenting voices. I've heard arguments of "only" one million people protesting, and that being a low percentage of Americans, so only 1 in 300 people must be against the war. But in any protest, most supporters don't actively participate, and most don't march. This is true for all causes. Having over a million people on one weekend is immense - London saw their largest protest ever, as did many other cities, both here and abroad.

The liberal voices in Hollywood are loud because they can be - any group looking to further a cause is going to find the best way to get their message across, whether that's letting the guy with the bullhorn speak, or putting a celebrity on the stage to express why she feels the way she does. Both liberals and conservatives have done this in the past, and continue to do this today. Why only liberal celebrities are getting bashed is open for debate, but usually personal and non-issue attacks are centered more around a weak argument than anything else.

I'm having a suprisingly hard time finding Pulitzer prize winning photos online. I did find this page though which has some freaky pictures.

sent home for a bush shirt

From CNN - Anti-Bush T-shirt banned at Michigan school

Man, sometimes I wish I was back in school and could fight against stuff like this. As someone who's been threatened to be sent home from high school for a t-shirt with George Bush (the elder), I can tell you it sucks to not be able to express your opinions when you're just trying to use all the freedoms you've been told you have in your civics class.

The school has a lot of arab kids, and that was supposedly the reason why "tensions were high" and why he was sent home. But who's going to be offended? A teacher? I can't see kids in high school finding the shirt anything more than entertaining or against thier politics. Let the kid express his politics.

atheistweb

For quite a while now (at least 3 years), I've wanted to make a slashdot-style site focusing on religion and atheism. I went as far as buying the domain "atheistweb.com" when I noticed it was available in 2000, though it remained undeveloped until today. The beta version of AtheistWeb is now up and running - I'm looking for ideas, critiques, features and bug reports. It's pretty rough at the moment, but I have great aspirations. Check it out.

market up on peace hopes

For Chris, from his favorite news agency:

Major markets rally for second session on peace hopes.

zora

Yay Zora!

She was my favorite from the beginning. I don't watch much reality television (I used to watch The Real World, I love game shows, and I enjoy documentries, but not most shows of the new genre), but I liked the scam they were pulling. I got pulled in, and thought it was well done (and very well edited). It might be all that creative editing, but Zora never seemed in on the backstabbing, the gossiping, or the bitching most of the other girls were involved with, and the little bio they did on her (about her work with the elderly and kids) really shined her shoes. If she really is that cool (and I hope she is), then I'm very glad she was picked.

New Computer!

Well, kinda. I purchased a new motherboard to replace mine that died late last year - but since I use my laptop for my main computer nowadays, I just wanted something to plug all my spare componants into and make a server. I found it difficult to find anything slower than a 1.3 gigahertz processor, which kinda blows my mind (especially since I got that and a motherboard for $80). Nice thing about getting the older model is that I didn't need to get any new memory, and it was the same form factor as my old board. It's still wierd that a processor that was top of the line less than 2 years ago is now the slowest I could easily find for sale new, and is being used in my "spare" computer.

Geeks and others interested: please enjoy the MegaPenny Project.

On a side note, I dislike the penny very much, and think the government should discontinue them. This site, however, kicks ass.

My lovely girlfriend is borrowing my video camera (the Live Cam) for the weekend, so instead of just showing a blank blue screen, you'll be seeing whatever's being seen on my television*. Enjoy.

(*Actually, you'll be seeing still shots updated every 60 seconds from a feed coming from my VCR's tv tuner, but you get the idea.)

finally done

Finally, I'm just about done with all the updates and fixes to the Michris Family Of Websites*. What does this mean? It's about time to start working on several others, including the Secret Website Project Chris and I have been working, as well as my as yet unnamed random web art site and the Atheistweb discussion site. If anyone out there would like to help me code these sites, yet me know...specifically, I'm looking for someone to learn slash (or make a threaded comments plugin for Movable Type) and help me make my own discussion board.

Oh, and if you'd like to help me find a job so I can afford to pay my bills, please do. Thanks!

(*The "Michris Family Of Websites" is all the sites I host, including michris.com, insignifica.org, chrisaclark.com, garyh.net, badassbaseball.com, scarletspider.net, espark.org, apricott.com and many others.)

I just spotted an aritcle on Slashdot that had no comments. I clicked on the story hoping to get a first post. I saw this. I stared at it dumbfounded for about 5 seconds before I realized what had happened.

Last week I ventured to Google looking for others who hate CNN. I came across a very funny website (IMO). Read this page. If you like it, read more.

hack on!

What have I been doing tonight? Getting my hack on, and finally fixing the badassbaseball.com website. What's that, you ask? It's the news/entertainment site associated with the Strat-o-matic baseball game I play with Eric, Adam, Ryan, Gary and Joe. It's a little low on content right now (as I just fixed it), but it's typically full of in jokes and baseball related humor. It's the line where D&D style role playing and sports intersect.

Yes, we're geeks.

Boy, this is fucked up. Klein-Becker (apparently a drug marketing company), which seems to specialize in vanity related drugs, is selling a specialized form of the diet drug Leptoprin. This isn't horrible in itself, though I have problems with diet drugs in general, except for those people with a specific medical need for one. The horrible part is the name of Klein-Becker's version of the drug:

Anorex.

On quick glance, it looks like just another drug name. And while it is proper Greek (orexis is Greek for "appetite"), there's no way the manufacturers/marketers didn't realize that the name is amazingly close to that of Anorexia (Nervosa), the eating disorder. I doubt there'll be any large scale opposition to this, but it's still sick.

Of course, it's not entirely surprising given their other products, including those for preventing breast shrinkage during weight loss, "repairing" stretch marks, and increasing sex drive.

(Thanks to Anil for the link)

u2plane

Not to play into Chris' CNN paranoia, but this picture was included on CNN's "Iraq to Allow U-2 Spy Planes" story:

When did we start spying on San Francisco?

out of work

This being out of work thing really sucks, especially now that my finances have caught up with me. While I've gotten a few suggestions from friends, I'd like to know if anyone out there has any good experiences with any temp/employment agencies. When I was out of work in 2001, 8 months of searching on Monster, Dice and HotJobs turned up nothing, though I submitted hundreds of resumes. I don't think it's a bad system, but the employers are just overwhelmed with hundreds of applicants, so it's a crapshoot. So far in the 2 months I've out been out of work this time around, I'm having similar luck.

So here's your assignment. First off, take a look at my resume. If you find me a job, I'll pay you $100 or take you to Vegas or something. Second, let me know what agencies you've used, and how good they are. Thanks for your support.

Happy Friday

Happy Friday, folks. Some notes:

Do you believe that the US fabricated evidence presented to the UN against IRAQ today?

From CNN:
U.S. stocks continued to climb [when Powell reported] Iraq continuously made efforts to conceal weapons of mass destruction.

Granted, this isn't the "smoking gun" headline I'm looking for: Stocks climb on war jitters, but its proof enough for me that CNN is full of shit. Reuters had a similar headline.

Wil Wheaton is referenced in this weeks issue of "the Onion". Can you spot it?

Jeez, it's been days since I posted. I'll present my thoughts in small, easily digestible chunks.