Sorry, April. We tried to give you a chance to get better. We tried to give you time to get over your inexperience while you stumble your way through our morning news on Oregon Public Broadcasting. We knew Gray was an impossibly hard act to follow, so we tried to cut you some slack. But after two years of listening to you constantly get it wrong, two years of being relieved when you go on vacation and we get a guest host, two years of completely incomprehensible traffic and wearther reports, the honeymoon is over. We want Gray back.
This morning I tuned in to listen to the beginning of the BBC's live broadcast of World Have your Say from our beloved Bagdad Theater. I was mortified to hear you completely blow the introduction as it was broadcast to the world. No, the Bagdad is not "gothic" (I'd call it Art Deco, if anything) and any Portland resident worth her salt would know that it's not owned by the manager Sue, but rather one of the McMenamin brothers' local chain of brew pubs. I turned the radio off at that point. I couldn't take any more.
Gray, please come back to us! We of the Portland Morning Addiction audience miss you terribly! We miss your humor. We miss your ability to get the facts straight. Most of all, we miss your delightfully snarky comments. Please! We're begging you!
Thursday, March 22
Friday, March 16
Best. Post. Evar.
Oh, my. I haven't laughed this hard in days. Check out this comment posted on a ZDNet blog:
Maybe I shouldn't have hitched my career to this cart being pulled by a funny-looking penguin named Tux?
You are kidding arent you ?
Are you saying that this linux can run on a computer without windows underneath it, at all ? As in, without a boot disk, without any drivers, and without any services ?
That sounds preposterous to me.
If it were true (and I doubt it), then companies would be selling computers without a windows. This clearly is not happening, so there must be some error in your calculations. I hope you realise that windows is more than just Office ? Its a whole system that runs the computer from start to finish, and that is a very difficult thing to acheive. A lot of people dont realise this.
Microsoft just spent $9 billion and many years to create Vista, so it does not sound reasonable that some new alternative could just snap into existence overnight like that. It would take billions of dollars and a massive effort to achieve. IBM tried, and spent a huge amount of money developing OS/2 but could never keep up with Windows. Apple tried to create their own system for years, but finally gave up recently and moved to Intel and Microsoft.
Its just not possible that a freeware like the Linux could be extended to the point where it runs the entire computer fron start to finish, without using some of the more critical parts of windows. Not possible.
I think you need to re-examine your assumptions.
Posted by: jerryleecooper Posted on: 03/14/07
Maybe I shouldn't have hitched my career to this cart being pulled by a funny-looking penguin named Tux?
Wednesday, February 7
Hate mail
I received the most appalling e-mail today. It was from a deeply religious friend who I love dearly, even though she tends to go a bit overboard at times. You know the type: won't say anything stronger than "gosh", gushes voluminously over babies and pictures of puppies, whose entire existence revolves around her children and grandchildren. Basically a sweet dear person whom I thought did not have a mean bone in her body.
All of which makes this e-mail all the more shocking. It was one of those messages with a dozen "Fw:" tags in the subject. Clearly it has been making the rounds for some time. These are not my friend's words, but rather a message she agreed with enough to bother forwarding on to us.
The e-mail started out angry:
Then it got worse. Far worse. Bad enough that I do not want to give it the credibility of posting it all here. It goes on to a vitriolic list of "I'll care when ..." statements that condone hatred, torture, and death inflicted upon the people of Iraq.
I am aghast. I am disgusted. I am astounded that statements like these can be made openly in our society without even the slightest sense of shame - quite the opposite, in fact. This message has clearly been making the rounds wrapped in pride and so-called "patriotism" and has found many supporters who agree with it.
Never mind that even the most extreme pro-war proponents in the government now admit that Al Qaeda was not, in fact, connected with Iraq.
Never mind that conservative estimates put the civilian death toll in Iraq at more than fifty thousand people. (A two-year-old CNN story puts it closer to 100,000 civilian deaths).
Never mind that the "Holy Bible" the message refers to so prominently clearly directs its adherents not to hate, but to love your enemies. As do many of the world's religions.
But saying these things here won't do any good. It won't do anything to educate the writer or the people who agreed enough with the message to forward it on. Rebutting the writer's profoundly offensive invective here with this audience will not show the writer that there is no place in our society for such hatred. Preaching to the choir here isn't going to show the world that the citizens of the USA are not all bigoted, jingoistic fiends whose focus is to kill anyone who does not subscribe to their worldview.
I feel the need to speak up. To do something. But I do not want to sacrifice a friendship by throwing more gasoline on the already-massive conflagration. Simply responding to the e-mail is likely to either close off that avenue of communication, or incite yet more flames. A face-to-face confrontation will seem like an attack on their beliefs. How does one fight hatred without stooping to that level? How do we as rational and caring human beings and members of society let someone know that what they think is patriotism is really hate wrapped in a flag without becoming part of the problem?
All of which makes this e-mail all the more shocking. It was one of those messages with a dozen "Fw:" tags in the subject. Clearly it has been making the rounds for some time. These are not my friend's words, but rather a message she agreed with enough to bother forwarding on to us.
The e-mail started out angry:
Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?
Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?
Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
Then it got worse. Far worse. Bad enough that I do not want to give it the credibility of posting it all here. It goes on to a vitriolic list of "I'll care when ..." statements that condone hatred, torture, and death inflicted upon the people of Iraq.
I am aghast. I am disgusted. I am astounded that statements like these can be made openly in our society without even the slightest sense of shame - quite the opposite, in fact. This message has clearly been making the rounds wrapped in pride and so-called "patriotism" and has found many supporters who agree with it.
Never mind that even the most extreme pro-war proponents in the government now admit that Al Qaeda was not, in fact, connected with Iraq.
Never mind that conservative estimates put the civilian death toll in Iraq at more than fifty thousand people. (A two-year-old CNN story puts it closer to 100,000 civilian deaths).
Never mind that the "Holy Bible" the message refers to so prominently clearly directs its adherents not to hate, but to love your enemies. As do many of the world's religions.
But saying these things here won't do any good. It won't do anything to educate the writer or the people who agreed enough with the message to forward it on. Rebutting the writer's profoundly offensive invective here with this audience will not show the writer that there is no place in our society for such hatred. Preaching to the choir here isn't going to show the world that the citizens of the USA are not all bigoted, jingoistic fiends whose focus is to kill anyone who does not subscribe to their worldview.
I feel the need to speak up. To do something. But I do not want to sacrifice a friendship by throwing more gasoline on the already-massive conflagration. Simply responding to the e-mail is likely to either close off that avenue of communication, or incite yet more flames. A face-to-face confrontation will seem like an attack on their beliefs. How does one fight hatred without stooping to that level? How do we as rational and caring human beings and members of society let someone know that what they think is patriotism is really hate wrapped in a flag without becoming part of the problem?
Friday, February 2
Portland slides away
Last month, while the national news was apoplectic over the ice storm that swept through the southern plains of the US, we had a reminder of what can happen here in Portland:
... and that was just a plain old snowstorm. Y'all remember Portland silver thaws? Or those lovely ice storms we get every 5 years or so? I wonder why we never make the news like that?
... and that was just a plain old snowstorm. Y'all remember Portland silver thaws? Or those lovely ice storms we get every 5 years or so? I wonder why we never make the news like that?
Wednesday, October 11
Tuesday, October 3
Echoes of Nuremberg
Listen to this commentary. Please.
A soldier of the "Greatest Generation" - the only Jew in his unit - who served in Europe provides us with some important perspective on the current debate about trials, secret evidence, and the Geneva Conventions.
If we can afford Herman Goering, arguably one of the worst creatures in human history, an open trial with legal representation and no secret evidence, how can we not offer the same to the prisoners in Guantánamo Bay?
A soldier of the "Greatest Generation" - the only Jew in his unit - who served in Europe provides us with some important perspective on the current debate about trials, secret evidence, and the Geneva Conventions.
Today, in the midst of a national debate on how to treat captured terror suspects, my mind flashes back to Room 600 at Furtherstrasse 22. We gave Goering and the other war criminals a chance not only to defend themselves but in some cases, preach hate and violence.
In a ruined Germany, where so many corpses still lay buried in the rubble, and life seemed so very fragile, we found it in ourselves to give the worst of men due process.
If we can afford Herman Goering, arguably one of the worst creatures in human history, an open trial with legal representation and no secret evidence, how can we not offer the same to the prisoners in Guantánamo Bay?
Monday, October 2
Escape from L.A.
On Saturday I did a "fly in/fly out on the same day" trip to Ontario, California make a presentation at a conference.
I think I'm still not quite recovered. It's not that I'm tired. Sure, it was a long day, but I was home before 10pm and I slept in on Sunday. It's not that the presentation was that difficult or stressful - the presentation went off without a hitch, It's my sinuses, you see.
I haven't been to the L.A. basin in more than 10 years. The last time I was down there, I recall cresting the hill at the top of the Grapevine on I-5 and looking down at the ocean of brown, cruddy air lapping at the crest of the mountains. I distinctly recall thinking, "Ugh! I'm voluntarily going down to breathe that crap?" Fast forward a decade. I'm sitting on an airplane flying south over the mountains looking out the window. Oh, look. What a pretty lake. Nice trees. I bet those houses down there are expensive. About then, I notice the ridgeline that separates the north side of the mountains from the slope leading down into the valley. Lapping right up against the ridgetop is a veritable sea of smog. The exact same thought popped into my head, "Ugh! I'm voluntarily going down to breathe that crap?"
Once I stepped out of the Ontario airport terminal, my sinuses swelled up and I started sneezing. I could see the air. It's one thing when one can see the air on a misty Portland winter morning or the air on a sultry humid summer Boston afternoon - that's plain old-fashioned (and harmless) dihydrogen oxide floating around up there. It can be a bit unpleasant, but at least it's completely natural. But when one looks out and can see the man-made pollutants clogging the air ... well, that's a wholly different thing. Apparently my sinuses think the same thing. They responded rather violently. Forty-eight hours later, they're still trying to flush out the crud I sucked in while trying to breathe that artificial soup.
Why on earth would however many million people choose to live in that?
I think I'm still not quite recovered. It's not that I'm tired. Sure, it was a long day, but I was home before 10pm and I slept in on Sunday. It's not that the presentation was that difficult or stressful - the presentation went off without a hitch, It's my sinuses, you see.
I haven't been to the L.A. basin in more than 10 years. The last time I was down there, I recall cresting the hill at the top of the Grapevine on I-5 and looking down at the ocean of brown, cruddy air lapping at the crest of the mountains. I distinctly recall thinking, "Ugh! I'm voluntarily going down to breathe that crap?" Fast forward a decade. I'm sitting on an airplane flying south over the mountains looking out the window. Oh, look. What a pretty lake. Nice trees. I bet those houses down there are expensive. About then, I notice the ridgeline that separates the north side of the mountains from the slope leading down into the valley. Lapping right up against the ridgetop is a veritable sea of smog. The exact same thought popped into my head, "Ugh! I'm voluntarily going down to breathe that crap?"
Once I stepped out of the Ontario airport terminal, my sinuses swelled up and I started sneezing. I could see the air. It's one thing when one can see the air on a misty Portland winter morning or the air on a sultry humid summer Boston afternoon - that's plain old-fashioned (and harmless) dihydrogen oxide floating around up there. It can be a bit unpleasant, but at least it's completely natural. But when one looks out and can see the man-made pollutants clogging the air ... well, that's a wholly different thing. Apparently my sinuses think the same thing. They responded rather violently. Forty-eight hours later, they're still trying to flush out the crud I sucked in while trying to breathe that artificial soup.
Why on earth would however many million people choose to live in that?
Tuesday, August 22
Stumbled upon
This has to be one of the best wedding party photos I've seen in a long time:
I have no idea who they are or who took the picture - I stumbled upon it purely by chance when looking for some CC-licensed stock images on Flickr - but I love it. Nice job!
I have no idea who they are or who took the picture - I stumbled upon it purely by chance when looking for some CC-licensed stock images on Flickr - but I love it. Nice job!
Friday, August 18
A woman said to me last night ...
"I'm sorry, I can't give you a shazam tonight. Can I interest you in a ménage à trois instead?"
Get your mind out of the gutter. We were over at Pix for dessert.
Get your mind out of the gutter. We were over at Pix for dessert.
Monday, July 31
Slut!
How is it the rubber penguin gets more schwag at OSCON than any of us supposedly-sentient creatures? What's worse, he scored it all on the second day when all the good stuff is supposedly gone. He just cruised around on his little toy truck raking in the loot.
Sheesh.
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