Bydio.com

Resided on.

After about 2 days of deadly blankness, I get an email from Dreamhost:

Hello [dumbass],

http://www.dreamhoststatus.com/2008/12/14/spacey-filer-problems/

Unfortunately, after trying all day, things are still not going too well
on your accounts’ file server “[redacted]“.

What we’ve decided to do for now, is to just migrate your account to an
entirely new web server, [redacted], which uses local RAID 10 disk (no
file server at all).

Unfortunately, because of the file server problems, in order to get your
sites back up, you will now need to REUPLOAD all your content. We are
still trying to recover the data from [redacted], but at this point it looks
like that process may take a few days, if it is even possible at all.

So, basically, bydio.com is gone. I have daily database backups, so it can come back, but all the music and images I had up there are bye bye birdie. I’m hoping that they do recover the files because I don’t have a comprehensive file backup. I’ve got most of the stuff I need, but the music would be sparse (lost that hard drive four or five months ago), and while art that I made is backed up and available, other pictures I added to spice up the posts are not readily available.

Further, all the plugins I used are all over the place (I got lazy after keeping up with backups for a while), and file structure would have to be updated.

So…

Fuck.

Yeah, fuck.

Anyway, when things get back to normal, I’ll let you know.  As it stands, the Blog Of Sin still lives. Welcome.

No, didn’t think so.

My worry is that people see this and call upon the government to legislate “bad foods” away when doing that is just another form of the laziness people show when buying the food in the first place.  As Christopher Kimball wrote, “We could, through different purchasing decisions, change the food industry overnight.”  However, by also saying, “But are we up to the task of saving ourselves? I doubt it,” he’s saying that people can’t make their own “correct” decisions, so they’ll have to have their decisions made for them.  Scary.

Supporters of Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison scream “Allahu Akbar!” at his victory celebration.

Um… yeah… he’s Muslim… they’ll ululate and scream “Allahu Akbar!”  Just like some Christian supporters of their winning candidate would say, “Praise Jesus!” over and over.

Personally, I don’t like the Daily Kos.  The blog is too left-wing fringe for me to take it seriously.  Their agenda in this post that LGF is commenting on is not something I agree with at all.  I think Israel is the only sane power in the region, and to not help them is to seriously hurt ourselves.  So when dKos talks about:

“But to me the biggest issue now is pressing for an open discussion on the State of Israel, and how the Israel lobby influences our elected representatives.”

I’m thinking he’s a complete moron.

*So you’re agreeing with LGF?*

Yes and no.

While LGF is against dKos on this policy, I’m with them.  However, saying dKos is antisemitic because he thinks Israeli politics have too much influence on our government isn’t really correct.  While dKos may be antisemitic, anti-jew and/or anti-Israel, he’s only commenting on policy.  I’m sure his opinion is heavily influenced by the disgusting misreporting from all over the Middle East, but he’s talking about policy, and just because it’s against Israel doesn’t mean he’s antisemitic.

Semitic is all arabs, anyway, and dKos seems to be pro-palestinian, so it’s incorrect.

I know, picky picky.  I’m just saying, accusing someone of antisemetism when it’s not technically true (a conservative ploy) is just as bad as accusing someone of racism when it’s not necessarily true (a liberal ploy).

That’s just the way I see it.

Big Whoop.

Little Green Footballs goes apeshit over it, calling it: “the dead end of the “progressive” ideology—young people with no sense
of history, no pride in their own heritage, and no moral center”.

Well, no, not really.  They’re doing the college thing, wearing berets like Che, acting out, simple stuff.  Remember, this is for their own meetings, not for the school or campus or anything big.  A sense of history doesn’t come from a much-modified Pledge of Allegiance to a flag.  Pride in your heritage doesn’t come from a much-modified Pledge of Allegiance to a flag.  Moral center doesn’t come from a much-modified Pledge of Allegiance to a flag.  No matter the flag, no matter the pledge, it won’t instill history, pride in yoru heritage or moral center.

One of the kids even speaks truth about the pledge:

“That (’under God’) part is sort of offensive to me,” student trustee
Jason Bell, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. “I am an atheist and a
socialist, and if you know your history, you know that ‘under God’ was
inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy
my ideology.”

Guess what, he’s right.  “The last change in the Pledge of Allegiance

Further:

Bell said the ban largely came about because the trustees didn’t want
to publicly vow loyalty to the American government before their
meetings. “Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through
performance, not through reciting a pledge,” he said.

How dare he insist that government should earn trust.  He’s a socialist, the government is always right to a socialist.

As for me, I think his words are correct.  In our society, a capitalistic republican democracy with a limited government constitution, the government DOES have to earn the trust of the people.  Every day, in word and deed.  It hasn’t been doing so well lately (and the democrats are going to make it worse, just as the republicans would’ve if they’d been kept in office).

So, the kid ain’t so bad.  LGF, however… a bit nutroots on that one.

A global display of terrorism and other suspicious events.  Pretty fascinating to watch.

(Taken from the Glenn and Helen Show, November 5, 2006, podcast)

Yes, your vote affects the world.  The entire planet.  How BILLIONS of people will live.  People who have no voice here are deeply and personally affected by your political choices.

It was off and on rain in central Florida today.  Overcast, warm (of course), and not at all pleasant.  As soon as I opened the door to go to vote, I thought to myself, “People aren’t going to vote because they’ll complain about the rain, how bothersome it is to go through some sprinkles to do this chore, and they’ll opt out.”

I’d say most of the people I know don’t vote.  It’s sad, really.  I’m the responsible one in my group of associates, both real and digital, and that kinda frightens me.  Hell, I cuss and rant and say super rude things online, how did I get to be the smart one?  This is bullshit!

All “big fish in a small mental pond” thoughts aside, I’ve debated about going to vote or not.  I dislike most of the candidates, and finding info on the other candidates besides democrats and republicans isn’t exactly one-click easy.  However, I always try to get out when an election is set.  I consider it a duty, a civic obligation, a trust placed in me by men of wisdom and foresight whom I’ll never meet but proudly call my founding fathers.  In other words, it’s important.  Shirking this duty leaves me feeling bad about myself.  Sometimes I wondered, “Why bother?”

Those Irish journalists succinctly put that question to rest.  Why bother?  Because what I think does affect the world.  My political actions help to decide the fate of men.

Voting as a citizen of the United States of America is not just a chore that has to be done every once in a while, it’s a responsibility to the billions of people on this planet.

It’s important.

No, it’s THUNDEROUSLY IMPORTANT.

If you skipped out on voting today, you should feel shame.  You’ve literally let down your fellow man… every single one of them.

They are lying to you.

The money is always there, but you don’t have to take it.  Blaming money for how politicians act during campaigns is like blaming testosterone for rape: “Gee, your honor, if I didn’t have all this testosterone running through me, I wouldn’t have a need to rape someone!”  No, you don’t rape someone because it’s wrong to violate someone else, to aggress against them for your own satisfaction.

Slimeballs act poorly, and I don’t know a single major political candidate who doesn’t act poorly.  Make these bastards exercise a little personal control.

In Florida, go here: Candidate Tracking System.  Then choose:

Election Year: 2006 General Election
Office: All
Status: Qualified
County: [pick your county]
Candidate Last Name: [leave blank]
Then click the “Submit Query” button.

There you’ll find a list of candidates suited to your area.

Not sure which district you’re in?  Go here: District Map.  Don’t let it fool you, it says it’s for the Senate, but if you use the search box on the bottom left that says “Find Your Legislators” and put in your Zip+4 Code, you’ll get all the district numbers you need.

Do a little research.  I know, it’s late in the game to give this info, but better late than never, right?

For the candidates that came up that I knew nothing about, I simply copied the name and put it into Google, tacking on an “FL” at the end, maybe putting the full name in quotes.  Usually the pertinent info will come up.  The more unique the name, the easier it is to find.

So I find the candidate’s website, check out the position points (which are usually on the home page) and see if they match with my point of view (or as close to it as possible).  None of the major party candidates satisfy my point of view of how our government should be run, so I search for a candidate that has a Libertarian bent (less taxes, fewer services, less government in general), but I have to weed out the whackos with agendas to “get people” or who think in utopian terms.  I’m looking for someone with a mature attitude, a solid philosophy of how to make decisions if elected and facing legislation, and no alarmist talk (i.e. vote for me or the other people will fuck us all up).

Okay, so this morphed from campaign finance reform into how to find the people running in the election and who I look for to vote.  Hey, it’s a blog, it’s my opinion, and if you didn’t want me to blog all over your lap then you wouldn’t have stayed to read this.

Sorry about the mess.  I’ll get the dry cleaning bill.