Archive for November, 2007
211 Helpline refers to Planned Parenthood for abortions
I’m exhausted. I was on the radio early this morning to talk about 211 Brevard using taxpayer dollars to give out abortion clinic referrals to an abortion clinic and Planned Parenthood in Orlando. It’s really ridiculous what they are doing. They are tarnishing their own reputation at a time when they are struggling to get continued funding.
The whole story is over on Brevard Outlook here. It continues to amaze me that ordinary people will give the abortion industry a leg up, even at considerable personal risk. If the abortion industry, as a whole, were to stop being able to get their hands on government money, it would collapse. They can’t survive on their “business model” unless they do one of two things: raise prices or take government assistance.
Having Lots of Children Increases Longevity for Men
HealthDay reports that farming and fatherhood help men live to 100 years old. In a widely-circulated report (I found it on the front page of Yahoo!), the ideal candidate to reach the age of 100 is “a young, trim farmer with four or more children”. While the farming and being fit may not surprise most people, even the authors of the study were caught off-guard by the finding about 4+ children.
“We were surprised that having more than three children is beneficial to longevity — based on previous studies by other authors, and common sense, quite the opposite could be expected,” said study co-author Leonid Gavrilov, who conducted the study with his wife, Natalia Gavrilov, both of the University of Chicago’s Center on Aging.
Red Sox Fan hates watching soccer after Revolution loses MLS Championship
I received a letter from a disheartened Boston sports fan. In the past, he indicated that New England (Boston) could win up to possibly five championships this year. The Red Sox have already won the world series. The Patriots are a near shoe-in for the Superbowl (just saying that causes me to grimace being a Dolphins fan). The Celtics are doing very well. And the Boston Bruins (ice hockey) have a winning record (9-7-2) although they are currently ranked 19th in the league. But anything is possible.
Death to Techie Primadonnas
Shane & Peter, two of my web developer heroes (yeah, I know that sounds weird, but think of them as sort of really cool quarterbacks in the NFL if that makes it easier for you), have put up a cute definition on their blog of the word “techneurotic” which they pretend is an adjective. Hey, it’s a made up word, so they can do with it as they please. But, I’d like to hijack the word as a noun.
Still, here’s one of their three definitions:
2. Compulsive gadget buying behavior fueled by the impossible ideal that you can own a piece of technology that is not already obsolete
Jimmy Eat World
However, their new album, Chase This Light
Dumb Job Ads: Web Deigner (short internship)
Yes, the spelling of designer as “deigner” should be a head’s up. Along with the spelling of candidates as “candidadates”.
I don’t know when America is going to get serious about allowing anyone, even a freelancer, to work for free. It should be illegal. Some companies in California are now conducting two and three day “trial” work periods. Candidates don’t get paid, but they do work. While I’d argue that phony interviews due to failed pre-screenings and unprepared interviewers should be compensated, I certainly think that once an employee (or “candidate”) begins any actual work that in any way benefits the company, they should be compensated accordingly.
Dumb Job Ads: Web Developer!
Hold on to your punctuation hats and watch out for flying exclamation points. You’re sure to be excited by this dumb job ad:
TRIAD Personnel is currently seeking a creative web developer to join a great company in the Melbourne area! We are looking for someone with multimedia web software knowledge (Macromedia and Adobe applications). Candidate must also have strong knowledge of ASP and PHP as well as in a .NET environment including ASP/VB, JavaScript, XML, MySQL and database design principles. Candidate will be a liaison between IT and Marketing departments and other teams to ensure web content and design is effective. If you meet this qualifications and want to work with a great team, please send us your resume for IMMEDIATE consideration. Thank you!
Ron Paul Spam is Real
Despite my being questioned the other day as to the legitimacy of getting Ron Paul spam mail, it has now been fully confirmed. ARS Technica reports that the pattern of Ron Paul spam discovered by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Computer Forensic Research department was “disturbing”. The story at Digg has been dugg over 850 times as of this writing - with over 550 comments comprising the normal vitriol and banter typical of anything having to do with Ron Paul.
