LEGO goodies: Issue 1

So I've gotten off my lazy arse and actually took pictures of some of the LEGO creations I've been working on. I'll start you off with this one. Look for more in the coming week.

For the NoVVember Vic Viper celebration:


Here's a top view:


If you want just the pics, you can view my Flickr photostream.

Shuttle Musings

Mood music

It still gives me a thrill to see that amazing display of human engineering climbing to space atop a column of flame. I was sitting on the bank of the Indian River on the morning of April 12, 1981 watching the very first shuttle mission, STS-1. I remember where I was when Challenger exploded. And Columbia. We have seen humans standing on the Moon. We were able to watch live as one of our creations actually landed on Mars. There are probes gathering astounding information from the outer reaches of our solar system. There is a space station orbiting our planet. A space station. Think about that for a moment.

As a child I marveled at the night sky, recognizing it for what it was; the vastness of the universe expanding to infinity around us. I fantisized about travelling in space. Science fiction has entrenched the ideas of interstellar travel firmly in our collective psyche. And here we are, extending our trembling fingers into the unknown, reaching for the unknown, trying desperately to know.

There are many things happening in the world, some horrible and some beautiful. Human creativity, imagination and determination gave us the opportunity to actually see the entirety of our planet and it is humbling.

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Since I'm already ranting...

... here's another piece of dumbfuckery to beat your head against your desk about. Apparently the bus companies in Ontario are feeling a little threatened by people using teh intertubes to arrange carpools.

Online Carpooling Service Fined For Unregulated Transportation

from the how-dare-you-ride-with-someone-else dept

One of the great things about the web, obviously, is that it allows for much more efficient communication that opens up new and useful offerings. For example: the web offers the ability to find other people traveling to the same general place you're heading and to set up a convenient carpool. It's good for the environment. It's good for traffic. It just makes a lot of sense. Unless, of course, you're a bus company and you're so afraid that people will use such a system rather than paying to take the bus. That's what happened up in Ontario, as earlier this year we wrote about a bus company that was trying to shut down PickupPal, an online carpooling service, for being an unregulated transportation company. TechCrunch points us to the news that the Ontario transportation board has sided with the bus company and fined PickupPal. It's also established a bunch of draconian rules that any user in Ontario must follow if it uses the service -- including no crossing of municipal boundaries -- meaning the service is only good within any particular city's limits.

It's better than being shut down completely, and the service can still operate elsewhere around the world, but this is yet another case where we see regulations, that are supposedly put in place to improve things for consumers, do the exact opposite. Just like we've seen elsewhere, you get regulatory capture, where an established industry uses the regulations not for their intended purpose, but to actually drastically limit the competition.

*sigh* Why can't we all just... aww, screw it.

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Pure Rant

I hate the fucking United States Postal Service. I know, I said I don't include "hate" in my personal ideology, but I hate the fucking United States Postal Service.

First off, we've got those stupid community mailboxes in my neighborhood. Not an apartment complex, but free standing houses. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I thought the purpose of the Post Office was to deliver my mail to me. Not make me go fetch it. If I wanted to drive somewhere to get my mail, I'd just get a post office box.

Secondly, our entire life is handled online. We don't receive a single paper bill anymore. Magazines only come once a week. Birthday cards come once a year. Damn near everything else is either trying to get me to buy something or trying to get me to apply for their credit cards (side rant: I thought we were in a credit crunch? Why the hell am I still getting these ridiculous offers? I even get home equity offers! Can't they read the damn headlines?)

In other words, we don't get our mail on a daily basis. Sometimes it's more than a couple of days. Occasionally we've gotten a note from the letter carrier saying that our mailbox was full and that we had to go to the post office to pick it up. Fine, whatever. But not this time. We got a note that said we hadn't picked up our mail so they were returning it to the senders. WTF?!?

So I call the number given for my local post office. After navigating their mindless automated system, I get to speak to an actual human almost immediately. Apparently they're able to get someone to answer the phone promptly, but they can't be bothered to actually deliver my mail to my house.

Anyway, the end result is that I've got to go physically to the Post Office and see if my mail is still there. They can't even tell me over the phone if my fucking mail is actually there or not. Security reasons, they tell me. Yeah, 'cause al Queada could call and find out if my coupons and magazines are waiting at the post office for me and could use that information to infiltrate the government network and destroy the world!

So I hate the fucking United States Postal Service. And this image pretty much sums up my day:



Thanks to the Rev. BigDumbChimp for the pic. I'm right there with you, bro.

Go listen to this. Now. Seriously.

This is just really cool. Uber-cool. Especially if you're an old chorus geek like me. Radiohead never sounded better.

h/t Enemy Combatant Trailmix Club

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Where I Stand

I have been accused recently of "hating" religion and its followers. I'd like to make something clear. I don't hate anyone. This is sincere. I have tried to purge the idea of hate from my own personal ideology. I believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. One of the biggest things that I am trying to teach my children is to love everyone. Now, that doesn't mean you have to go have gay sex with just anyone on the street, but it does mean that we humans are all stuck together on this big mud ball flying through space, and we all are interdependent. There's no way around this fact. We're stuck with each other and we depend on one another.

As far as religion goes, I fully support everyone's right to believe anything they want. The first amendment means a lot to me. I will defend to the death your right to believe in whatever god(s) you want. I will also defend your right to NOT believe in any god(s). Freedom of religion == freedom from religion. You want to believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light? That's all right by me. I don't believe in that, but unless you want to engage in debate, I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it. And I'd thank you to not try to change my mind, unless I express an interest in hearing your point of view. You also have every right to put your opinions on religion out there, for public perusal. But you have to accept that there will be others who don't believe as you do and they have the exact same right to express that as well. Public expression implies the possibility of public contradiction. Just because it's called "religion" and invokes the sanctity of a god doesn't exempt it from scrutiny and that includes the possibility of ridicule. Deal with it.

Here's what I DO NOT respect: individuals and groups attempting to legislate their religion into my life. Contrary to what some people think, religion is not the sole repository of all Truth with regard to morality and ethics. Just because you believe that a fiery pit in hell is reserved for you for all eternity if you violate the principles of your religion, that does not mean that you have the authority to impose your moral structure on the rest of us, especially when your ideas of "right" and "wrong" take away fundamental human rights.

When people try to rob the citizens of this (or any) nation of their freedoms in the name of their god(s), that's when I get angry. I don't go trolling around christian sites looking for people to ridicule. I don't make it a point to make an example of every logical fallacy that exists in religious belief. But when you bring it out into the open and try to force your beliefs on others, that's when I open up with both barrels. Sarcasm and ridicule are potent weapons in the battles of thoughts and ideas, and I don't hesitate to use them. If you are willing to try to change the laws of this country, if you are going to try to subvert science and medicine in the name of your god, your religion then you are fair game for response. And the response is going to be something you don't like. I'm going to point out the ridiculousness of your position, the inherent hatred and bigotry in your policies and the absolute lack of any foundation in reality that your religion possesses. I will ridicule it. I will mock it. I will give it the respect it deserves, which is none.

So if the basic tenets of what you are trying to impose on the rest of us is based on the principle that you are in possession of The Truth, that you (or what you believe) is superior to the rest of us and must be imposed on us, well, in short, fuck you.

More desire

Me wants!

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And the world moves on

Oh, oh, oh, I wanna go! This can be my birthday present!

via The Brothers Brick:

We have received word, from Steve Witt, that there will be a Master Builder Event at the Downtown Disney LEGO Store in Orlando, Florida. The dates are November 7 – 9. What can you do? Help build a LEGO Pirate, 8 feet tall! Dan Steininger, a Lego Master Builder, will be building this new model with the help of the whatever LEGO fans are present! All participants will receive a free Certificate of Achievement (while supplies last), $5 off coupons, and special offers in the store. They will also be holding a raffle for a $50 Gift Card. Hours are 11-7 on Friday, 10-6 on Saturday, and 11-6 on Sunday. Be there or be square!

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Don't let us down this early

I mean, you're going to let us down at some point, Mr. President-elect. You're human. It's inevitable. But you don't have to do it this soon! I mean, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as head of the EPA? How much more anti-science can you get than an antivaccine wingnut and a thimerosal /mercury conspiracy theorist?

As Orac points out:

...he has been launching despicable attacks against anyone who dares to call him for his antivaccine winguttery, accusing them of "hating mothers," all the while cherry-picking studies, conspiracy-mongering, and ignoring the great mass of evidence that does not support his viewpoint.

So what's the big deal? you say. EPA doesn't deal with vaccines.

True enough. But RFK, Jr. has demonstrated himself on this issue not only to be prone to dubious science, but to have become a true believer in one of the most outrageous and dangerous forms of pseudoscience out there: antivaccinationism, or vaccine rejectionism. If you're trying to build an administration ostensibly devoted to using the best science as the basis for public policy, and the EPA is one agency where that is incredibly important, you do not want someone who is so prone to pseudoscience and promoting misinformation not just when it comes to mercury in vaccines, but when it comes to the very area where he claims expertise, the environment, where he blames Katrina on global warming, for instance (not even Al Gore does that). Indeed, his assaults on fact and science are legendary, right up to describing the small Cuyahoga River fire (which lasted only 30 minutes and was never caught on film) as "exploding in colossal infernos." Apparently, any "science" is good to him, as long as it appears to support his agenda. Add to that his "not in my backyard" hypocrisy in opposing wind power proposal off of Martha's Vineyard, and it's hard for me to comprehend how Obama could consider him for a post even for a moment.

Let us at least pretend that we've got a pro-science president for a little while longer. *sigh* I guess the political machine wears you down quickly. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that he'll change his mind. Stranger things have been known to happen.

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Possummamma's Back!

She (Possummamma, aka Atheist in a minivan) was temporarily off the air due to some particularly nasty shit being spread around, but she's fought back to the surface! Good on ya'! Apparently hope and change are in the air.

So stop on by and say "welcome back"!

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