Idiot Crisis

This thing is awesome!

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” - Sinclair Lewis

Objections to the Plan B pill:

“My friends, we’re going to run this idea on positive, constructive ideas, and it’s important that we motivate and inspire people for something.”

Apparently Republican Senator George Allen thinks that making a racial slur towards an American Citizen of Indian decent is a positive, constructive idea:

“This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He’s with my opponent. He’s following us around everywhere. And it’s just great. We’re going to places all over Virginia, and he’s having it on film and its great to have you here and you show it to your opponent because he’s never been there and probably will never come.”

(emphasis added)

The Washington Post gives the following information about the “fellow here over here with the yellow shirt”:

S.R. Sidarth, a senior at the University of Virginia, had been trailing Allen with a video camera to document his travels and speeches for the Webb campaign. During a campaign speech Friday in Breaks, Virginia, near the Kentucky border, Allen singled out Sidarth and called him a word that sounded like “Macaca.”
…
After telling the crowd that Webb was raising money in California with a “bunch of Hollywood movie moguls,” Allen again referenced Sidarth, who was born and raised in Fairfax County.

While “Macaca” (spelled here and elsewhere phoenetically) is a racial slur I’ve never heard before, it’s quite apparent that in Allen’s arrogant ignorance he considered Sidarth to be from a foreign country, not a native-born American citizen.

More from the video:

So, welcome, let’s give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.”

I think the only appropriate response to Senator George Allen is a good hearty “FUCK YOU, RACIST ASSHOLE.” Hopefully the voters in Virginia will agree… with their ballots.

(thanks to Daily KOS and Crooks and Liars)

This “Open letter to CEOs, COOs, CIOs and CFOs across the corporate world” is outstanding.

I am writing to you as a newly minted rebel. My main purpose in life is to take your best, your brightest, most creative, hard-working and passionate employees and sneak them out the hallways of your large corporation so that they are free of the yoke of lethargy, oppression and resentment.

It hasn’t always been this way. I tried for many years as a consultant to YOU to explain the importance of treating your employees with dignity and respect. I encouraged you to speak clearly and to the point, to avoid endless hours of PowerPoint, buzzwords and meaningless jargon like “our employees are our most valuable asset.” I was sincere in my efforts as I coached your managers and explained the importance of providing objective, developmental feedback to employees that was based on observable behavior, not personal generalizations. I encouraged you to be open with your business strategy so that your employees could contribute ideas to grow your company.

After ten years, I give up. I was banging my head against the wall trying to find ethical, creative ways to train your employees on the merits of your forced ranking compensation plan. No amount of creativity could overcome the fact that it is a stupid idea and does nothing but create an environment of competition, politics and resentment. Whoever sold you on that idea was wrong.

So now I want to help your employees leave and start their own business. Regain control of their life. Feel blood pumping in their veins and excitement in their chest as they wake up each day. I honestly wish that it were possible for them to feel that inside your company. But things have gotten so convoluted that I honestly don’t think it is possible unless you take some drastic steps:

Yeah, I probably quoted too much of it, but it’s awesome. Read the full article to check out the suggested steps and so forth. It’s long, but it’s great reading.

What a grade-A moron!

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A 32-year-old woman wielding a machete was arrested Sunday outside the White House, the Secret Service said.

Spokeswoman Kim Bruce said Ashwak Saleh was taken into custody and charged with possession of a prohibited weapon after she displayed a 13-inch machete on the sidewalk outside the White House.
…
The witnesses said passersby then alerted Secret Service officers, one of whom approached the woman and told her to “Drop the blade.”

To that, Saleh said, “What are you going to do — shoot me?”

This video is spot-on. Jurassic 5 ft. Dave Matthews Band - “Work It Out”

(hat tip to Crooks & Liars.)

AOL is a piece of work. On one hand… clueless management… on the other hand capable engineers who can clearly differentiate their heads from their asses… well, some of ‘em.

AOL’s latest “big thing” is giving stuff away for free… 5GB e-mail accounts, freedom for ~ 5,000 employees, and privacy-free customer records. Goddamn, AOL rules!

Releasing existing paying customers doesn’t seem to be a part of AOL’s “free” strategy, though… as witnessed by “The Call.”

I totally want one of these:

(the shirt, not the model…)

I bought a book called “Getting Things Done” by David Allen this week. For years it’s been my desire to be a productive/prolific human being, and so far that hasn’t been workin’ out so well. My head is too full of shit. Too much nonsense and minutae to manage…

So, the idea of “Getting Things Done” (GTD) is certainly appealing.

One of the interesting aspects of GTD is that the focus is on using cheapass tools, like index cards or whatnot to collect, process, and organize one’s thoughts and priorities. There are some interesting links to GTD-related stuff that I’ve been reading, but I’m too lazy to post them at the moment. I guess I’m not “getting that done.”

Heh. One day, some day…

I’ve just started reading the book. I bought some index cards, pens and whatnot, and have been writing a short snippet on each card. There are so many things that I want to accomplish, all of which would require time, focus, dedication, motivation, and tons of other “ations” I don’t understand or know how to manufacture. Motivation… uh… right. So far, though… I’ve at least started and am giving it a change. Wish me luck.