Zombiechuck

Counting Jobs

On the 440 beltline around Raleigh,  on about mile stretch from Yonkers Road to New Bern Ave, there are by my count 3 billboards advertising jobs for the Census.  Two of these billboards face the same way and are within a quarter mile,  if I get a chance I will take a picture of it this weekend.

This demonstrates two things to me.  The $45 (probably more) that each citizen is charged for the Census is not being spent well and that people in need of jobs and on unemployment need to step up.  There is not a reason in the world these two things should not be tied together.

The government feels it needs to keep extending unemployment benefits.  I will not get into the insanity of those extensions except to say that anyone accepting them should be drafted into the Census.  They don’t have to do it,  but if they want to get paid, they will.  I would guess that this would cut down on the need for these billboards and give people a break from job hunting and watching The Wendy Williams show,  hell they might learn something or stumble across a job they might not have known about.

To me the advertising for census jobs is a useless expense when so many people are out of jobs.  I will not say it is as big of a waste as the millions of dollars worth of signs telling us that a project is funded by TARP money,  but it is close.

Wicky, wicky Wild West

Starbucks is somehow in the center of the gun debate,  and they don’t want to be.  It is refreshing to see a company say “leave us the fuck alone” instead of bowing to one side of an issue or another.  This time the issue is the ability to carry a gun in plain sight.

Currently it is legal in most states,  in North Carolina only Cary and Chapel Hill have restrictions on this.  This is not surprising to me as these places like to flex their muscles, and by that I mean suck the fun and freedom out of everything.  I really fucking hate those places and avoid them at all costs.  I went to Cary last year and I am still recovering from that.

I am not a gun nut.  I do not own a gun and have no plans to ever own one.  I feel that the only reason to have a handgun is if you want to knock over a liquor store or shoot someone.  This does not mean I think they should be made illegal,  people like them,  you can technically hunt with them and they give you street cred.

Larger arms I understand,  when I was looking at something for home defense I thought about getting a shotgun modified for home defense (and for taking to Transmitter sites in the middle of the night).  In the end I decided I did not need it.  I 100% support people hunting,  I am not a hunter but support peoples right to provide revenue to the state in the form of licenses to go out and kill Bambi.  Bambi by the way is mighty tastey.

I am all for people being able to carry their penis replacements in the open in public.  The people that have licenses, are mentally stable and respect the gun laws are the ones you are going to see carrying them.  Most people about to commit a crime are not going to have a gun in a holster or visible,  it kind of takes the surprise out of the moment for the people you are going to rob or kill.

The only reason I oppose getting rid of the open carry law is because it would not do anything.  People will go out and get concealed weapons permits.  Guns will still be in the hands of people that use them to commit crimes.  I really see no positive to this, instead I see the waste.  If the people fighting these laws spent their time doing useful things (like writing blogs read by a dozen people) they might get something done with real meaning.

Apple hates it when you steal their shit

Apple is pissed at HTC. I guess the HTC Android phones (maybe WinMo phones also?)  use things that Apple has patents on.  I am all for these companies suing the shit out of each other.  It keeps lawyers busy when they have no ambulances to chase.

I like this quote:

In the release, Steve Jobs says, “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it…We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

I agree with Steve on this one.  Companies should not go to design labs and copy what they see there.  It would be like Jobs going to just off the top of my head, Xerox PARC and seeing the Alto.

For those that don’t know,  the ALTO was a non production computer developed at the Xerox PARC.  It had a mouse, bitmap display,  and GUI interface.  It was basically the Apple Lisa/Mac.  He took their ideas and made a fortune off it.

Steve forgets his past,  he buys into his own bullshit.  Hell he thinks the iPad is magical and revolutionary and not just a bigger iPhone,  that should show you the depth of his problems.

The Xerox Alto

I hate to admit it, but Canada did something right

It seems that in Vancouver they have a clinic for drug users to go and shoot up.

Most drugs are worthless.  They cost money that people cannot spare.  They wreck your body, mind and in most cases families and relationships.  As does drinking,  gambling, and other allowable vices.  The governments pick and choose which ones are legal or worse yet to which point they are illegal.

I am ignoring how legal prescribed drugs are probably worse than some of the illegal recreational drugs.

The clinic allows users to use fresh needles and supplies when shooting up.  Nurses are on hand to help them if something goes wrong.  Almost 500 overdoses last year and not one death,  that is pretty damn good in my opinion.  I would imagine a lot of those people would have died.  I wonder if any of those junkies decided the OD was a wake up call.  Probably not many,  but I am naive enough to think maybe a few did.

Two activities have been around and are not going away,  getting high and fucking.  Ten years ago I would not have supported this sort of clinic, but now I do.  It fits with my idea of if you cannot beat it,  figure out a way to make it work better.  In this case needles are kept in a controlled environment;  they are not thrown away in public places and they are not shared.  This helps to control the spread of disease.  It does not control the problem of drugs,  but it does help to control part of the problems drugs can cause for other people.  I have seen plenty of used syringes just laying around on the street or in the dirt,  one jab from it can mean a lifetime of shit for someone.

I praise the people in Canada that made this happen and I hope the court cases against this place fail.  I hope governments come up with some intelligent drug laws, but I am pretty sure the liquor and “legit” drug companies will help keep things the way they are.

James Cameron is full of shit

I just read this blurb on yahoo!  It is about Fox wanting some of the Tree Hugging out of Avatar.  I cannot blame them,  it was a bit over the top at points (like from the 2 minute mark to the 3.5 hour mark or how ever fucking long that movie was).

Anyway I will not get into the self righteous bullshit Cameron says,  but there is one part that struck me as funny.

James Cameron’s environmental concerns can be attributed to being a parent of three young children and the fact he would like them to have a world to grow up in. “I think there’s a way to live and raise your kids with a set of values that teaches them the importance of hard work, the importance of respecting other people and the importance of respecting nature. And that it’s not this consumer society where you buy something and then throw it away when you get the next new thing, filling up huge landfills with plastic and electronics.”

Filling up landfills with plastic and electronics… how many copies of Terminator and his other movies are in landfills?  That is his past though,  I am sure he has learned his lesson and is going to keep plastic and other crap with a limited lifespan out of landfills.

Avatar Toy

This toy and it’s box were, I am sure,  made from recycled materials in a factory that is as green as Kermit The Frog.  I am also sure they were not made and shipped to the US in huge fossil fuel burning ships.  Furthermore I assume they were made to never break so that kids would not need to throw them away.  I looked and could not find anything about them being anything other than typical toys online.  I will check the store the next time I am there,  but I do not expect to be surprised.

I am also sure Avatar will only be made available as a digital download, and not on DVD, Blu-Ray or any other plastic format that will end up in the landfill at some point.  But they are already talking about cut scenes and things on those formats, so dammit I guess those will one day ruin the planet also.

Cameron needs money.  His kids need ponies and I am sure his 20 ex wives take a good bit of income away from him.