Stormbringer's Thunder

Ernie the Gambler, Neil and I were having an interesting talk about control freaks the other day. We were trying to figure out what their problem is in the first place, and how to disarm them. Remember when I did that piece about manipulation and being manipulated ? Well, the control freak is worse. Everyone wants to have some control of their lives, their destiny, their workplace, their front porch, whatever. And mentally healthy people don't want to be controlled, they want at least some say in their relationships. These people are so weak minded that they are in so much fear and anxiety in their own lives, they want to control your life as well. You don't have much say when you're in a relationship with a control freak: Do what you're told. The problem is, when a control freak is a raving psychotic, there is no pleasing them; the rules constantly change. When you do what you're told or forced to do, this worst of controllers is still not pleased. Control freaks

Uncle Bob is angry today. The Internet should be a fun and safe place. What a crock! (Although what it says is true, this link has strong profanity.) Hal the Hacker was busy, so I had to help Teenie on my own. She got her fingers on the "XP Antivirus" software. It's vicious. And why was Teenie surprised by this, after all I've taught her? Well... "The new XP antivirus 2008 , that hit the World Wide Web computers in March, is a major update to its predecessor. By calling it "major update" I mean that XP anti virus became more violent, more resilient, more immune to removal attempts, more "intelligent"; now it's recovering itself after being removed via Add and Remove Programs option in Windows Control Panel...This year's XP antivirus is more colourful, too, and features same interface as many legitimate antispyware software tools. It's totally understandable why even senior computer users install this rogue antivirus blindly believ

Still waiting for news on the Tibetan protests for yesterday and today. The Chinese changed the route of the Olympic torch, and the timing, and kept it secret. If it's so much hassle, why bother? It's only a part of the Olympics since Hitler's 1936 games in Berlin. Hey, you ChiComs have a lot in common with Der Fűhrer, huh? Stronzos. OK, so this guy sends me a comment that is longer than the original "Monkey Business" post. Right. Like I'm going to get into an essay war with someone and bore all of you to tears. Hal the Hacker wanted to send him a "personal message" that would show up on his computer, but I don't want him to stop trying to put that virus in the CCP computers in Beijing. Nicky says, "Fuggedaboudit" — after all, he must have ignored the warning that I am right. Instead, I'll just go on a bit more. But I won't get into all the deep science that I used to study. You and I have better things to do. So get ready, Cow

Buona sera. While I'm waiting for the reports to come in for the Global Day of Action for Tibet (June 18, 2008), I'll tell you about a discussion the boys and I were having. We have a spectrum here. One guy believes in Creation Science or Intelligent Design on faith, without science. Another is pretty much hardcore in the pseudoscience of evolutionism (yeah, I know, big words again) and believes that materialism explains everything. Another thinks that God used evolution to create life on this planet, and that Genesis is only an allegory. (Of course, where it stops being allegory and starts being history is a question he can't answer.) As you see, the use of the term "evolution" in this case is the "general theory" of the origin of life. As for me, I believed in evolution because of the way it's presented: It happened, and that's all there is to it. Everywhere you go, everything you read or hear, whenever origins of life are discussed, evoluti

Buon giorno. I should have Neil write this because it's his story, but he's too busy trying to make money to pay the bills. As for me, I'm in a better mood because some money has come to me that I've been waiting a long time to receive. Neil works for a major American corporation. It's very big, and has international holdings. They complained that in their last quarter, they did not make as many tens of millions of dollars as they expected. Poor darlings! Neil says that this company is too big and too impersonal. I agree. The problem is, that's the way most of them get. His company does not care about its employees. They make a pretense at benefits because they could not get anyone to work there if they did not offer them (and their health benefits are laughable; many employees rely on their spouses for coverage). They cut out the overtime that many employees relied on to survive. Instead, they will have to learn the hard way that there is too much work, too li

Buon giorno. You're traveling through a realm of annoyance. It is a realm that lies at the summit of man's irritation or the pit of his tolerance. It is a journey through a land of both ego and pride, of stupidity and ignorance. Arrogance is paramount. Introspection is rare. There's a signpost up ahead. Your next stop: The Obnoxious Zone. OK, enough of the bad Twilight Zone introduction re-write. But I had to blow off some steam. Very rough weekend, especially with the brutal heatwave. Tommy the Knocker has put dry ice in front of his fan, it's so bad. Maybe if it didn't hit six weeks before the usual time, it would be easier to tolerate. Yours truly has had to do some self-examination. Do I trash something that I like because of the people associated with it? That's what it comes down to. You see, I'm more than fed up with the "Spread Firefox" community. Basically, it's full of virgin geeks doing their "Yeah! Firefox rocks, dude!&q

That title would make a good song title, wouldn't it? About eight months ago, I wrote about having a reputation , whether you like it or not. You do all you can to build a good one, and when you really need it, it can pay off. But there's something that you have to deal with: mindless sheep. You see, I believe that the world is in a state of social or societal entropy, where everything goes from order to disorder. Everything goes downhill. Things get worse. Naturally, we have to put our own efforts and energy into the world to slow the decay, and have areas where things are actually good for a while. A preacher pointed this out to me several years ago: people love to believe negative things, but are unwilling to believe positive things. Just look at all the rumors you hear. How many of them are good things? Not many. But mindless sheep love to hear those things. More, they like to spread bad things as well. The worse (or more sensational) it is, the faster it spreads. An