Darwin was an optimist...

I'm starting to wonder if the human race stands any chance whatsoever of survival. I mean, I keep seeing various and sundry people doing things that strike me as being more than a little contrary to the continuation of the species - yet these people continue to wander the planet.

To wit:

• Mooron pops out from between vehicles in grocery store parking lot without troubling himself with looking to see if any vehicles are coming his direction.
• Mooron tooling down street in SUV while yapping on cell phone AND trying to eat non-sammich food item that required 'juggling' said food item
• Mooron riding bicycle at night - said bicycle having no lights or reflectors, and rider wearing dark clothing while weaving wildly onto and off of the street.
• Mooron standing at fuel pump at gas station while yapping on cell phone and smoking a cigarette.
• Mooron college bimbo talking about getting passed-out drunk at a party, and the inconvenience she experienced after having apparently had unprotected sex with some (apparently large) number of males.
• Mooron motorcyclist zooming down road on crotch-rocket (at well over the speed limit), his "protective gear" consisting of flip-flops, shorts, wife-beater undershirt, and backwards-facing ball cap.

I'm starting to think that perhaps we should start allowing a strictly Darwinian selection process to take effect: I think it would do wonders for overpopulation, increase the overall intelligence of the species, and do wonders for the planet.

"Left to its own devices, Nature cures stupidity."

Language Perversion

I got a call this morning (!!) from Qwest - the (sounded) young lady on the other end started out by telling me that it was a "courtesy call".

10 seconds later, I knew she was lying to me.

It wasn't a courtesy call, it was a marketing call: she was trying to get me to sign up for one of their service 'bundles' (DSL, digital TV, phone). Now, maybe it's just me, but a courtesy call is something along the lines of "So, how are ya? Things goin' okay? Anything you're unhappy about with our service, or that you think we need to work on? Can we buy you a beer?"

Trying to convince me to spend more money on services that I neither need nor want is NOT a "courtesy" call - and calling it such is just another perversion of the English language. Such perversions of the (American) English language are usually the result of some marketing drone having a case of mental flatulence: "Hey! Instead of just asking folks to buy more stuff, let's tell them it's a COURTESY call and then try to get into their wallets!"

Here are a few more things in Marketing Speak, and their English equivalents:

"New and Improved" = Get ready to start paying more for this

"New Package" = Same price, less stuff

"Service" = like the cow gets from a bull

"Economical" = not worth what you're paying for it

"Quality" = won't break until the warranty expires

"Guaranteed" = if you bitch long enough, we'll replace it

"Latest technology" = damned if we know if it'll work

Huh? Wha'd you say?

This story is farookin' hysterical: a bunch of neoNazis and KKKers tried to hold a membership drive/rally, only to be proven to be a bunch of clowns... by a bunch of clowns:

KKK: "White Power!"

Clowns: "White Flour!" (run around throwing flour in air)

KKK: "White Power!"

Clowns: "White Flower!" (run around throwing white flowers in air)

KKK: "White Power!"

Clowns: "Tight Shower!" (bunch up under prop showerhead)

KKK: "White Power!"

Clowns: "Wife Power!" (female clowns pick up, carry male clowns)

VERY nicely done, IMHO.

Hat tip to Randy

UPDATE

There is a YouTube video of the event:

Posting frequency

Well, now I've gone and done it...

I've set things up so that I can post to this by email -- meaning that posts will turn up whenever some Random Thought pops into my head.

Stand by to be amazed, disgusted, amused, horrified, pissed off, entertained, or anything else :-)

Your Papers, please!

There's a story on Slashdot about a young man that was arrested as a result of his refusal to allow a Circuit City "Loss Prevention" person to inspect his bag on the way out of the store.

Due to the event happening in Brooklyn, Ohio, there are some aspects of the situation that put it in a rather 'unique' context (scroll down to the bit on Ohio's laws on personal identification).

There are those that might argue that Circuit City (and its parking lot) are private property, and thus subject to whatever rules or policies that CC wishes to implement. Others might say that he's a 'troublemaker' for refusing to comply with the request when doing so would be so easy and simple, and would have saved him all the trouble he now faces.

Personally, I think he should be applauded for what he did and the stand he's taking. From my own reading and experience, this type of 'intervention' by Circuit City, Best Buy, and even the "greeters" at Wal*Mart (that want to 'check your recipt' on the way out), is not intended so much to stop shoplifting as to impede someone from bringing an item to the register and having the cashier ring it up as something else (or for a lower price). In effect, these stores are using all of their customers as a tool against employee theft.

My position is that if Circuit City, Best Buy, Wal*Mart, or any other retailer wants to reduce or eliminate employee theft, then they need to take the matter up with the employees - NOT ME. Further, if one of these stores "thinks" that I maybe, might have shoplifted something, then they should be obliged to make the charge/accusation outright, rather than pretending they're not accusing me of anything by 'checking' me on the way out. That way, when their accusations are shown to be incorrect, they can be held accountable for their actions.

I'm also supportive of the kids position on refusing to cough up his drivers license - he wasn't operating a vehicle, he responded truthfully to the questions the police officer asked (whether the cop knew WHAT to ask for is should be HIS problem), and was the one that requested the police in the first place - because of the actions of two CC employees that followed him out of the store and physically prevented him (or his family) from leaving. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the kid was right about how he was obliged (under Ohio law) to identify himself - whether the cop(s) or anybody else likes it, or not.

It's my position that too many individuals have been turned into sheeple, ready to waive their freedom, rights, dignity, and liberty at the slightest provocation. Folks bitch and moan about cops and other officials abusing their power - but aren't willing to stand up and fight those abuses, and defend themselves. This young man IS ready to do so, and I think he deserves every bit of support we can give him.

End of the season

Well, it looks like we're about done with this year's wildfire season: they've finally gotten control over the largest fire in the state of Montana this year: Chippy Creek.

At 99,090 acres (that's just shy of 155 square miles), it was the largest --- but certainly not only --- wildfire of 2007. Shucks, the darn things were even visible from space.

Wildfires like these are simply a fact of nature here in Montana; indeed, they're considered a natural event, and the general approach is only to try and contain them to keep them from destroying life and property, not actually try to put them out.

The only ones that seem to have a problem with this is the folks that move here from somewhere else (most notoriously Californicate), build a house/cabin right on the farookin' edge of the forest (preferably out in the middle of nowhere), and then demand 'city' services like ten-minute response times from volunteer fire departments twenty miles away. The vast majority of these dipsticks would benefit from reading the Code of the West, and re-thinking their options.

---

I've lived in several different parts of the country (including Jersey [Hackensack, Westwood, and Bergen]), and always been fascinated by the idiots that move from Place "A" to Place "B", and then immediately try to make the new place like the old one. By way of example, I grew up (in part) in Albuquerque, New Mexico - which is, essentially, part of the desert Southwest. Yet there wasn't any lack of ding-dongs that would move there from places like Ohio, and insist on trying to grow a nice, lush, green lawn in an area that patently didn't naturally support such.

There's an area of Albuquerque just a little north of 'downtown', where the owners have small-acreage properties (suitable for a horse or two, for example). Most of these folks have homes that are appropriate to the history of the area: ranch style, adobe, and the like, done in traditional Southwestern earth tones and pastels. Well, except for the one putz that decided he just had to build a white 3-story Southern plantation style, complete with columns. Needless to say, it stands out like a turd in a punchbowl.

There is a similar situation in Phoenix, Arizona - a city once known for it's dry climate is now facing problems brought about by steadily increasing humidity caused by folks that don't grasp the concept of 'desert'.

Yo! Moorons! If "home" was so much better than "here", how about you go back there, and leave us the hell alone? WE moved here because we like the way it IS NOW, and we consider this "home", now, not where we came from. 'Kay?