The Crapola Spigot Is Always On Full Blast

... over at Vox Nova, where today we are treated to a great insinuation that adoption is as bad as abortion. Check out this crap-burger from M. Z. Forrest.

Neither contraception nor abortion seek to trivialize the unique relationship between parent and child. Before anyone gets too excited, the preceding sentence has a narrow scope. Both contraception and abortion have their problems. That abortion is kept within the family hardly makes it virtuous.

This explains why so many people adopted as children like to wear t-shirts which say "I wish my crack-head birth mother aborted me."

Wait a second...

I didn't know about this new model, probably due to my deep-seated hatred of everything smelling of Sprint. From Jan. 8:

At a CES presentation today, Palm announced its next-generation smart phone platform, called WebOS. "It was built with developers in mind," said Palm CEO Ed Colligan in describing the new platform. Any web developer can use CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to develop applications for the OS; there are no new languages to learn. Palm would have appeared to have abstracted the hardware in some manner to allow for JavaScript developers access to nearly every feature of the phone, going in a direction that some had initially pushed for Apple to pursue before the Obj-C iPhone SDK was launched.

Palm also announced a new phone, the Palm pre, set for launch in the first half of 2009. It features a 3.1-inch multitouch screen with 320x480 resolution over a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, all squeezed into a small, 4.8-oz package.

But here's the part which piqued my interest.

As nice as the pré's hardware is, Palm's WebOS is where the real action is. As a dedicated iPhone user, I experienced something very strange and quite unexpected while watching Palm demo the new OS: my iPhone suddenly felt old and played out. It's like Palm started with the iPhone, copied all the best ideas, and then made the whole package better.

So I guess I have to wait for it to be available on AT&T or go to Sprint... yuck.

This looks pretty cool

Take it from a Skype junkie. I'm putting off buying an iPhone, but I'm starting to feel like resistance is truly futile.

Here's the slideshow and review of their iPhone app.

Skype continues to extend its smartphone mobile platform reach with the latest iteration for the Apple iPhone. Skype for iPhone users can conduct chats, control presence and edit profile information, as well as place Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls. However, calls can be placed only when connected via Wi-Fi; EDGE or 3G users have to settle just for chat and presence.

Skype might be to phone companies what Google was to Microsoft. Who knows, but their app is simply too slick. The iPhone is slick, too.

Ashley Biden Cocaine Video

Warning 1: Offensive language in subtitles.

Warning 2: Don't drink milk while viewing or it will shoot out your nose.



Warning 3: If you speak German, turn the sound down for a better effect.

Well Yeah

Of course, I already know this.

Voice over IP rollouts, PC refreshes in certain vertical industries, and point-of-sale installations remain IT project bright spots even as the world continues to be mired in a recession. That’s according to SmartSource, an IT staffing firm that specializes in serving IT solution providers.

While pointing to IT projects that continue to show growth, SmartSource’s CEO Joe Iovinelli says that the recession has been a boon for his company. As IT solution providers lay off full-time employees, they have made use of temporary workers to fill the holes as they sign on for IT projects, such as big PC rollouts, he says.

......

Iovinelli says he’s noticed a particular increase in demand for IT temporary services over the last six months.

“I think a lot of firms have been doing layoffs and cutbacks,” he says. “They’ve cut so deep, and still they are afraid of bringing full-timers on. They are needing to use subcontractors to get the work done because customers are starting to call again.”

...but when I tell people they give me that "Yeah, right" look. It doesn't fit in with the whiny all-IT-jobs-are-going-overseas meme. But it's not the most annoying thing I tell professionals in my industry. The single worst reaction I ever got was when someone told me they weren't making enough money in IT and I said "Maybe you should go get a law degree." I don't think that dude ever brought up the subject with me again. Or any other subject, for that matter.

Cultural Sensitivity

HT to Dianonymous for sending me this funny-but-not-really piece about Hillary Clinton trying to be Catholic in Mexico.

During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.

Mrs. Clinton was received on Thursday at 8:15 a.m. by the rector of the Basilica, Msgr. Diego Monroy.

Msgr. Monroy took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion.

After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!”

I bet that was at least a semi-awkward moment. Maybe the Monsignor could have tried to make it less awkward by pointing out that the Holy Virgin is sort of God's Secretary of State. Or maybe not.

I suppose it would be a good thing if you were making a diplomatic visit to another country to sort of know the stories, customs and traditions of that land whether you believed in them or not. Especially if you are going for butt shark points as the big girl obviously was by giving flowers to Our Lady. Seeing that her statement would be an intentional insult had she known the story, we can only pronounce a verdict of abject ignorance.

This evening [Mar 27, day after "honoring" the Virgin] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to receive the highest award given by Planned Parenthood Federation of America -- the Margaret Sanger Award, named for the organization's founder, a noted eugenicist. The award will be presented at a gala event in Houston, Texas.

Maybe dead flowers would be more appropriate for this occasion? We could have a human artist do an impression of Margaret Sanger as "Queen of the Underground".

Umbilical Cord Blood Bill Introduced

(Columbus, OH) State Representative Todd Book recently introduced a bill to promote umbilical cord blood donation (H.B. 102), which requires the Ohio Department of Health to provide information via its web site containing information on umbilical cord blood banking and donation. The Department of Health would encourage health care professionals to provide the materials to pregnant women as well.

Umbilical cord blood is an excellent and ethical source of stem cells that can be obtained with no risk to the mother or child. Stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood have been used to successfully treat over 70 diseases including sickle cell anemia, leukemia, and lymphoma.

Unfortunately, most umbilical cord blood is currently being discarded after birth. This is especially tragic because cord blood is often matched by racial and ethnic background and many patients who are most in need of a transplant cannot find a suitable match.

"Ohio Right to Life strongly supports H.B. 102," said Mike Gonidakis, President of Ohio Right to Life. "Better public awareness about cord blood donation should increase the number of donations and increase the likelihood of patients obtaining the matches they need."

H.B. 102 enjoys strong bipartisan support as outlined by the bills following Co-Sponsors: Dan Dodd; Brian Williams; Marian Harris; Kenny Yuko; John Adams; Jeff Wagner; Randy Gardner; Sandra Harwood; Matt Huffman; Robert Mecklenborg; Peggy Lehner; Mark Okey; Tim DeGeeter; Scott Oelslager; Tim Derickson; Kris Jordan; Lynn Wachtmann; Ron Amstutz; John Domenick; and Jennifer Garrison.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Mike Gonidakis
DATE: 12-09-2008
PHONE: (614) 547-0099 x - 301

Del Toro, Penn & Carrey in new Stooges flick?

From Geeks of Doom:

While all three of the above names aren’t etched in stone as of yet, they are the target three. Sean Penn is a definite for the role of Larry (and probably the most fitting, look-wise), and Jim Carrey is currently in negotiations for the role of Curly. Word is that Carrey is already making plans to gain 40 pounds for the chubby character, so that makes his participation seem a lot more likely. Benicio Del Toro isn’t in negotiations yet, but he’s been singled out as the choice for Moe for a while now, so that’s a wait-and-see.

I was always a big Larry Fine fan.