Category: Touchy Subjects

The things that should never be discussed much less published by non-professionals.

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Barack Obama Encourages Telecommuting

I am a huge advocate of telecommuting. I acknowledge that telecommuting is difficult as the employee has to be very self-disciplined and the management has to let micromanagement go and extend a huge amount of trust in the employee. I think the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Barack Obama sees the benefits to the family in encouraging telecommuting as stated in The White House’s Family Agenda.

Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will address this concern by creating a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules for productivity and establishing positive workplaces; helping businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increasing federal incentives for telecommuting. Obama and Biden will also make the federal government a model employer in terms of adopting flexible work schedules and permitting employees to petition to request flexible arrangements. [Source, WhiteHouse.gov,The Agenda-Family]

Be sure to read Duncan Fisher’s summary of Obama’s program and his oration on fatherhood.

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To Hell With Profanity In South Carolina

Don’t even fu*king go there.

State Senator Robert Ford is hoping to outlaw lewd language and is pushing for a bill that would prohibit profanity…a list of qualifications for profanity including words or actions that are lewd, vulgar or indecent in nature [Source, Larry Collins of Count on News 2, Sen. Robert Ford pushes to outlaw profanity]

What’s next? Three clam shells?

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Plan your trip accordingly – bad bridges

Tennessee has 19,838 bridges. 4,101 are deficient. Of those deficient bridges, 2,776 are fully operational while 1,325 are structurally deficient.

The United States has 599,766 bridges. 152,316 are deficient. Of those deficient bridges, 79,792 are fully operational while 72,524 are structurally deficient. See a PDF map of the structurally deficient bridges done by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The map is an effort to geocode bridges from the Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory (NBI) with data from 2007 except for Kentucky and Pennsylvania which was from 2006. See more information at CleanBeta.

Note: This is the kind of post that my wife hates. She will now have me performing miracles to get from point A to point B without crossing any bridges when we travel.

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My day in court

Tomorrow I get to spend the day in Civil Sessions Court. Just a little bit of my past coming back to haunt me. So today I thought I’d call down to find out the procedure. It went something like this:

Me: I am calling to find out what I need to bring to court tomorrow.
Them: I’m sorry sir that would be giving legal advise.
Me: Okay. How long will this take?
Them: I don’t know how many people are on the docket.
Me: How long does it normally take?
Them: Can’t say.
Me: Since I have never done this, can you explain the procedure to me?
Them: No that would be giving legal advice.
Me: You mean to tell me the process, the way your court works, is legal advice?
Them: I cannot give you legal advice. You need to consult a lawyer.
Me: I cannot afford a lawyer. Can you provide one for me?
Them: We don’t do that.
Me: Do you have a webpage that explains what I can expect in court tomorrow?
Them: I’m sorry sir. We cannot give legal advice.
Me: Feeling a little crotchety today aren’t we?
Them: *Click*

Yea! Tax dollars at work. Guess I should have gone to law school. I’ll just channel Alan Shore tomorrow and hopefully not learn what a holding cell feels like.

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Is Yellowstone about to kill a lot of the world’s population?

Well, maybe…

it’s been 600,000-ish years since Yellowstone’s supervolcano has gone off full blast…
Picture 1,000 Mount Saint Helenses…
A supereruption could kill tens of millions.
More than half the U.S. will experience ashfall, potentially fatal if inhaled.
…could devegetate a third of the lower 48 (including some of the world’s most productive farmland) for years or decades, leading to mass starvation…
Within 10 to 50 miles of the next Yellowstone vent, you’ll be Pompeiiized…
What’s the chance of a supereruption anywhere in the world in the next 50 years? Estimates range from one chance in 1,000 to one in 10,000 — hardly cause for panic.

[Source, The Straight Dope, Is Yellowstone Park sitting on a supervolcano that’s about to blow?]

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Hurricane Creek Keeper tells of Gestapo Style TVA Police

My friend had a similar experience:

TVA’s private security detained our friend as (TVA’s words) an “environmental activist.” Cathy asked last night, what does one fear from an environmental activist at a toxic waste site? Are they afraid they’ll pull out a paper towel and start cleaning?

TVA’s private security, described as dressed in dark uniforms with no clear insignia, took our friend’s picture, took personal and professional contact information, recorded the license plate, commented on the contents of the vehicle, commented on the environmental bumper stickers, and kept our friend detained in the car for a half an hour. Our friend had turned onto a side road but not crossed any fence, barricade or posting of any kind.

Read more about the Tennessee coal sludge spill on Wikipedia.

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Thank you for throwing your shoe site

Although it has scrolled from the page, I have continued to update the Iraqi Reporter Throws Reddit Alien at Bush post with related shoe throwing news. Today I added a link to a new website called http://www.thankyouforthrowingyourshoe.com/ which is a gallery of images from people holding up their shoe for Muntadar al-Zeidi. I have to agree with this statement from the website:

We don’t condone shoe throwing, but we prefer it to war.

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From the mouths of babes

Dad: "Noah, do you know that the school board passed a new rule allowing random searches at the school?"
Noah, 12 years old: "No."
Dad: "It means that teachers can just pull you aside and have you show them everything in your bag and pockets. How do you feel about that?"
Noah: "I’m not doing anything wrong so I guess I’m okay with it."

My heart sank. He gave the scripted answer! The system has him. I think Noah is old enough to read 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. Time to knock the dust of my copies.

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Iraqi Reporter Throws Reddit Alien at Bush

Bush sober enough to dodge it.

Iraqis rally for Bush shoe attacker.

Update: The shoe thrower has been beaten while in custody.
Update: Shoe thrower faces up to 7 years.
Update: Egyptian offers 20 year old daughter in marriage to shoe thrower.
Update: Shoe-thrower sorry for ‘ugly act’
Update: Thank you for throwing your shoe.
Update: December 31 trial date for shoe-hurling Iraqi reporter aka he had expected to be shot after hurling his first shoe.