this ain't livin'

Free the Slaves | 23Feb07

A replacement to the M-family of weapons was recently developed…but the Army doesn’t want it, because it would cost too much to switch out the M’s. Replacing the notoriously unreliable M16 would, of course, be foolish, because it might save lives in the long term and make the Army more efficient.

Farmer-based changes sounds like an excellent idea to me. Farming ecologically makes more sense for everybody, but especially impoverished nations. I hope to see this concept developed and adopted by more nations, including the resource hungry first world.

Big food companies rejecting milk from cloned animals? Astounding…and if Dean Foods sticks with their position, an indicator of how much of a difference public opinion can make.

Youth are reporting way less sexual assaults. According to this article, way less. This number seems suspicious to me, because it just does not seem possible for the rate to fall that much in 30 years. I would be interested to see these numbers compared to the population of 18-24 year olds…because I think that there’s something else going on here.

Doped cows? I’m so going out and buying some Emmentaler right now…seriously though, I think there ought to be a study on how cannabis interacts with cows, and if it changes the flavor of milk. Maybe there’s a reason Swiss cheeses and chocolates are the best, eh?

The rise of social networking sites has led to the ability for instant communication, for sure. But it’s also an excellent way to get your civil liberties abridged, especially if you are a student. Many colleges already have strange and restrictive speech policies, which are technically illegal…students who have been punished for exercising their right to free speech, no matter how tasteless, should fight back.

27 million people around the world are victims of human trafficking. Those that manage to escape to other nations aren’t home free just yet…as is the case with this man. If he leaves the United States, for example to encourage other slaves to escape, to testify, or to help advocacy organizations…he may not be allowed back in, because he cannot establish residency status. In my opinion, it is shameful that this article even had to be written…of course we should be providing protection to former slaves.

A Few Good Men | 22Feb07

That is a lot of marijuana. Woah there, guys.

Sex tourism is big money in Thailand. Here’s a prostitute’s side of the story.

100 years for gang rape. Sounds good to me! Why isn’t the military addressing the problem of serious psychological stress, and the impact it has on active duty military?

Babies need to eat, people. Get over it. There is nothing sexual about breast feeding. It’s. Just. Eating.

You know that Windows background of a leafy lane? The photo was taken in Burlington, Vermont…and I know this because a Vanity Fair journalist is waaaay too dedicated.

Crunch Time | 22Feb07

So I was peacefully sitting upstairs this morning, reading the morning news, when a strangled cry of rage floated up the stairs.

Being a technologically advanced household, I instant messaged Puff.

“What’s up,” I said.

And a tale of woe unfolded.

You see, Puff, unlike me, actually works out sometimes. When she moved to the City, she got a membership with Pinnacle to use their gyms, and was forced into a kind of stupid contract but agreed to it because the cancellation fee was only $50. She figured if she wasn’t using the membership, she would just cancel it, and everything would be all good.

Pinnacle, however, was taken over by Crunch. San Francisco residents probably know Crunch…the gym with the stupid ads all over the MUNI stations? Yeah. Them.

So, Pinnacle just kind of…passed her membership on. Didn’t tell her they were, just did it.

Here’s where things start to get weird, though.

First, she was told that her contract ended in December…but her membership didn’t. Which is a little strange.

Yesterday, she called them to try and cancel her membership, because they got rid of the pool at the gym she uses, and the only gym facility that she needs is a pool. The person on the phone told her that her membership had already been canceled, and everything was golden. Excellent, she thought.

But no.

This morning, she got a phone call from Crunch, saying that they were having trouble billing her bank account. She asked them why they were billing her account if she had no membership…and they said they didn’t know what she was talking about. She said that she had talked to a representative yesterday, and the rep told her that she had no membership, no contract, no nothin’. So what was going on?

“Oh, that conversation was not recorded,” the rep said.

“Well, I don’t want a membership.”

“To cancel your membership is $200.”

That was when the cry of rage erupted.

To me, the whole thing seems insane. She didn’t ask to continue with Crunch…technically, she is not a Crunch member, because she never signed any paperwork. Pinnacle was irresponsible by not giving her a choice, and the people at Crunch are being…well…dicks, actually. They are giving her mixed information, which isn’t cool. And even if the second phone call was right and she does have a membership, Crunch should honor the terms of her previous contract with Pinnacle, including the $50 cancel fee.

It sounds like Crunch doesn’t really care, and is totally not interested in providing good customer service and building customer loyalty. Their bad, I think. San Francisco is a lot smaller than you think…and getting a lot of people pissed off is a great way to screw yourself. From what it sounds like, she’s not the only one that Crunch has treated poorly, and I am curious to see what happens here.

I suggested that she go into Crunch and throw a hissy, preferably when it is super busy so that a ton of customers overhear her freaking out.

What do you think? Or has anyone experienced this problem with Crunch and successfully resolved it? As it stands, the situation is pretty darn lame…

[Crunch]

Decadent Camel | 21Feb07

Bookmobiles are excellent. This one happens to be camel powered, bringing books into remote parts of Africa, and they could use donations.

Strange houses around the world…I love the Pineapple.

Anne-Sophie Pic is the fourth woman ever to get three Michelin stars, and the only woman chef currently running a three star establishment. Awesome!

There’s what in my peanut butter?

A Christian university fired a transgender professor…because of her gender identity. Doesn’t sound very Christian to me…and the article writer obviously had a tough time playing the pronoun game. Here’s a brief informational video with Julie’s narration about her experiences.

Danger Room is a new defense blog. I like it. You should too.

Candy Challenge Installment Three | 21Feb07

I’ve been slacking on the candy reviews, and for this, I apologize…you might have guessed from the size of the box that there was more to come.

Puff and I tried the Cadbury Flake Luxury in the back yard before it started raining, and were quite pleased. I think that I almost prefer the regular Cadbury Flake bar, because it was so much fun to eat. The Luxury isn’t quite as crumbly, because the outer coating of chocolate keeps it from flaking all over the place, and it kind of blends together into a regular chocolate bar consistency, with occasional crackles as you bite into the flaky bits. Still a pretty excellent thing…although I wonder if they do a dark version?

As in Mutiny On The.

I have to admit, I have kind of been saving the Bounty bar, because I thought it would be like a Mounds, and I love Mounds. I was not disappointed: a rich coconut filling with a dense outer layer of delicious dark chocolate that combined for an explosion in my mouth. A tad sweeter than Mounds, I think, although that might have been aftertaste from the Cadbury Flake.

All of my dear readers who have recently spawned may want to avert their eyes for the next one:

It turns out that Bellie was right: I had been eating the wrong sort of jelly babies, and she put me straight. I am now a jelly baby fanatic. I need them, like crack, in all their delicious and multicoloured guises, sweet and gooey and clinging to my teeth suspiciously, hands over their privates for modesty.

I think that the different colors are different flavors. I got a hint of cherry from a red one, orange from an orange one, green apple from the green, grape from the purple, and lemon from the yellow. The flavors kind of blend together, though, so I may be misidentifying them, or assigning American flavor values to their colors. Either way, they fill my heart with joy.

There also was, tragically and inevitably for this day and age, a mutant jelly baby which appeared to be a green and yellow hybrid. Birth defects are on the rise, dear readers.

Either than or miscegenation can have unfortunate and unexpected results sometimes.

I also tried a Tim Tam, a delight which has a sort of mythological status here in the United States.

She sent me the Chewy Chocolate Fudge variety, and I have this to say to my Bay Area readers:

There are eight Tim Tams left. If you’re smart, you’ll get in touch with me in the next 24 hours if you want to try one. After that, I can make no guarantees. You have been warned.

No. Seriously. I am all about the Tim Tams. I’m going to try a Tim Tam Slam in a little bit, because it sounds dangerously delicious. I like the biscuit, I like the malted milk, I like the gooey filling…they are sweet, but it’s a right kind of sweet, counteracted by the malted milk flavor, so I’m into it. These things are perilously delicious.

[Cadbury Flake Luxury]
[Bounty Bar]
[Jelly Babies]
[Tim Tam]

Candy Challenge Teaser | 21Feb07

Chocolate? Fish?

Surely two things that do not go together!

Luckily, these fish are marshmallow fish. Pirate marshamallow fish.

[chocolate fish]

Capitalism Man | 20Feb07

Some excellent footage taken at the Burning Man offices in San Francisco. It’s a long video, but well worth sitting through, mainly because it makes the Burning Man employees look like childish, insensitive idiots with no social or cultural awareness. (Something I have long suspected of Burning Man attendees in general, actually.)

Essentially, a set of folks who work for Burning Man on the ground at the event were protesting unsafe working conditions and poor pay. Yes, some people who work for Burning Man do volunteer, and that’s great…but paid professionals work there too. Both workers choose to work for Burning Man because they care about the event, but that doesn’t give Burning Man grounds to exploit them. If the claims of the protestors are to be believed, Burning Man is an extraordinarily hypocritical organization:

• Worker pay has allegedly been cut in half in the last four years.
• Workers work in highly unsafe conditions without access to basic sanitation.
• Workers who bring up the issue of safe working conditions and reasonable pay have been fired.
• Workers and volunteers are required to sign extensive liability waivers, including a death waiver.

These seem like valid concerns to air. From what I see, Burning Man is a very, very troubled organization right now, from a number of angles. I would hope that the trustafarian attendees care at least a little bit about workers’ rights, and might be interested to know that the people who make Burning Man possible risk serious injury in hazardous conditions and feel exploited.

So here’s this protest, right.

And about halfway through the video, Burning Man employees come out of the office to hassle the protestors.

“Do you know about the issues these people are talking about,” the film maker asks.

“Nope,” the Burning Man staff proudly say. “We’re just here to protest the protest!” Or “we heard there were going to be paper bags, and that sounded like fun!”

This is not really a great way to project a positive image of your company. Indeed, it kind of makes these people look like…well…children, honestly. They apparently had no interest in what the protestors were gathered to talk about, and didn’t want to learn more. I hope their bosses are suitably embarrassed by the image these people have left me with, along with the bitter taste in my mouth. Way to demonstrate that you don’t care about worker’s rights, or basic safety, guys.

The protestors were peacefully gathered to get people thinking about issues…and representatives of the company there were protesting came out and made complete asses of themselves.

Thinking about going to Burning Man? I hope you think again, because what I’ve learned about it is not terribly favourable. I encourage you to go out and do some research on the company and their practices before you go shelling out hundreds of dollars for the event they host in a fragile desert ecosystem every year…and maybe you might come to the decision that those funds could be better used in other, more productive ways, or at very least that you do not want to support an organization like Burning Man with your hard earned money.

But don’t just listen to me: do your own research…and let me know what you think.

[Burning Man]
[workers' rights]

Under the Sea | 20Feb07

Robotic submarines are really, really neat. This one went to Antarctica, which has a wealth of natural wonders to study.

Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch, enacted by Nigerian scammers. I suspect that all of us have gotten a scam email from Nigeria: 419 Eater fights back, sometimes in amusing ways.

The Anglican church may be getting ready to split over the gay issue, if this is any indicator. I hope that the American church continues to support gay clergy, whether or not the rest of the world likes it. It’s time, damnit.

Come on people, don’t blame the cigarette companies for your addiction. Only an idiot could possibly claim that cigarettes are not bad for your health, given the wealth of scientific information on the subject. Furthermore, you don’t deserve millions of dollars in damages for poisoning yourself.

Audrey Hepburn’s iconic dress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s sold for a bundle…which is going to benefit some of India’s poorest. I think she would have liked that, give all her charitable works during her lifetime.

Adopting Special Needs Animals | 20Feb07

I noticed a few readers coming here from Google looking for resources on adopting special needs animals, which I think is awesome—taking unique animals into your life is a really excellent thing.

Animals are classified as special needs for various reasons. Most have behavioural problems or unique medical needs, and until quite recently, most animal shelters put them down, rather than trying to find homes for them. Luckily, attitudes about special needs animals are changing, and most shelters accommodate at least some special needs animals, or send them on to shelters which can handle them.

To find out if your local animal shelter has special needs animals for adoption, call them—if they don’t care for special needs animals, they can refer you to a shelter which does, or keep you in mind if a unique animal enters the shelter looking for a home. Most shelter staff are happy to work with members of the public who want to adopt or sponsor special needs animals.

If you are thinking of adopting a special needs animal, get ready for an intense experience. Animals with behaviour problems, for example, need to be constantly monitored, and some of them require therapy: yes, there are animal psychologists. Many behaviourally challenged animals have issues around other animals, small children, men, or bright colors, and may sometimes have violent reactions to these triggers. Working with these animals requires patience, love, and tolerance: if you’re not sure whether or not you can handle it, try volunteering at the shelter and interacting with the animals, or fostering an animal with behaviour problems. Sometimes just being in a supportive home environment is enough to level out behaviour problems…at other times, not.

For animals with medical issues, be prepared to spend a lot of money at the veterinarian, and find a good vet who will stick with you, give you great information, and talk with you honestly about options. Not sure if you can afford it? In 2004, I spent over $2,000 combined on vet bills for Mr. Bell’s first surgery and Loki’s irritable bowel diagnosis. Pet insurance is a really, really good idea.

Many animals with medical problems require daily shots or other medications. Sometimes they are frustrated and in pain, and express it in strange ways. You have to plan a house for animals with mobility issues, keep the furniture covered for animals with continence issues, and be prepared for strange medical adventures at all hours of the night.

I’m certainly not trying to discourage you from adopting an animal with unique needs: I think it’s a great thing to do, and you will be rewarded with a loyal and loving friend who will appreciate you every day. You can also have the pleasure of saving an animal from an unpleasant life, or giving someone a second chance. You can talk to local shelter staff for more information about special needs pets, or your veterinarian if you have existing animals. For a sampling of the kind of animals you might meet, you can also use online resources.

San Francisco, for example, has several animal shelters. The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a special needs section on their website. Pets Unlimited has Saffron House for FIV positive cats (note: if you already have cats which have tested negative, you should not adopt FIV cats or cats with feline Leukemia…but if you don’t, think about adopting one of these special needs cats). They also have special needs animals in their general population such as new friends with diabetes, three legs, or other medical issues. (Watch out for three legged animals, though: they can motor around a lot faster than you’d think!) You can also use a resource like Petfinder, which is linked with many regional shelters.

You certainly won’t regret having a special needs animal in your life, although it may be highly challenging at times. In my opinion, it’s well worth it.

[special needs animals]

Becoming Human | 20Feb07

I’m stumbling again tonight, and I found a truly excellent site: Becoming Human.

It’s an interactive documentary about the origins of human life, talking about fossils, paleontology, and related things. It’s very well done, fun to explore, and highly educational. In addition to the documentary itself, there’s also a lot of material about paleontology. I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in human origins, archaeology, and evolution.

Totally nerdy, totally great. Oh, yes.