May 1, 2018

It's HIPAA, people. Write it down.

Not HIPPA or HIPPAA or however else you feel compelled to spell it.

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

I post this not to be a dick, but because:

1) I work with it every day, and it drives me crazy when I see people misspell it.

2) Because when you invoke "HIPPA" when you argue with right-wingers, they will laugh at you, and deservedly so.

April 25, 2018

Whatever happened to "hygiene" films?

You know, those films they had in junior high that showed Bobby getting ready for his date with Mary. Watch Bobby brush his teeth. Watch Bobby pick out a nice set of clothes. Watch Bobby get a fucking haircut so he doesn't look like a goddamn Cro-Magnon. Watch Bobby call Mary and politely ask her if she would prefer a movie, roller skating, or dancing at the Elk's Club Youth Jamboree.

Do they still show these films in schools? Or is that material not covered on standardized tests?

It just seems like these "incel" losers missed a very important part of their education.

March 14, 2018

Russian Spy: UK to Expel 23 Russian Diplomats

Source: BBC

The UK will expel 23 Russian diplomats after Moscow refused to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used on a former spy in Salisbury, the PM says.

Theresa May said the diplomats, who have a week to leave, were identified as "undeclared intelligence officers".

She also revoked an invitation to Russia's foreign minister, and said the Royal Family would not attend the Fifa World Cup later this year.

Russia denies being involved in the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal.



Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43402506?intlink_from_url=http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-politics-43402524&link_location=live-reporting-story

March 9, 2018

Lost in Space is coming back. To Netflix.

I loved this show when I was a kid. The Robot was my favorite character. Dick Tufeld (who voiced him) was one of the greatest voice artists who ever lived. Sadly, Mr. Tufeld passed away a few years ago, but they brought him back to do the Robot in the 1998 movie, and I couldn't have been more pleased.

I think this looks great. I welcome any comments from anyone else who remembers Lost in Space.

March 5, 2018

At last, a science-fiction film wins Best Picture.

I've only been waiting for that since 2001: A Space Odyssey.

March 2, 2018

A timely gift from Mr. John Denver...

Aren't we all just a little bit tired of winter?

February 7, 2018

I met a traveller from an antique land...

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone 
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, 
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, 
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, 
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read 
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, 
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; 
And on the pedestal, these words appear: 
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; 
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! 
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay 
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare 
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

--Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)

This, too, shall pass. The bigglier they are...

January 25, 2018

My favorite Phillip K. Dick quote is this:

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

We live in a culture of spin, truthiness, alternate facts, Facebook likes, YouTube likes, Twitter likes, website hits, fake news, Russian bot farms, Russian troll farms... What can you really believe about anything?

Well, just look around at the physical world around you. Look at what's happening in your neighborhood. Meet and talk to your neighbors. Ask them what's going on in their lives. Listen to them. Share with them your own feelings about their concerns.

Because there's the world online and the world on TV and the REAL world that we actually live in.

January 24, 2018

Name a song with "toilet" in the title.