Well, it's been almost 2 months now since the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. 2 months they've been trying to cap the leak. Well, let's be straight, they weren't really trying anything to stop the leak until weeks after the explosion. Today I did a few quick searches trying to identify the actual day they first started to do ANYTHING about the oil leak, and I ran across this.  It made perfect sense.   I mean, here is a multi billion dollar multi national company, and they can't plug an oil leak?  Riiiight.. why would they want to plug it?  That's oil there, and that means money.  As far as I can remember, the only attempt I can recall that might have actually stopped the oil was 'the top kill' or 'the junk shot', and the article stated 'several days' to get another blowout preventer that would stop the leak.  Well, here we are, 20 days later, and nothing.  We have them putting 20 billion into escrow, which I can't see as being nearly enough for the damage that has been caused.  It's beyond my comprehension to understand how there wasn't a plan in place to cap the well in the event of the blowout preventer failing.  They obviously didn't believe in 'worst case scenarios'.  According to this timeline, experts were saying less than a week later that it could take months to stop the oil because of the technical challenges.  I don't get how they were allowed to drill in the first place without a worst case scenario plan other then letting it leak for months until they figure something out.  According to this, they even left off two failsafe devices that could have prevented 99% of this.  Why were they even allowed to drill without these in place?

Thank you Nancy Pelosi for letting us know how completely ignorant the American people are.

Here are a bunch of links to the stories and videos.


It's people like her that make the Baby Jesus cry

Hacking passwords is as easy as 1-2-3, with a little social engineering. Let's say, you need to call a local tech company to come in to work on one of your PC's. Or, you bring your PC to a local company to have it 'cleaned', or 'fixed up', because it is acting 'weird'. Most people use the most simple of passwords that they can easily remember. The name of your pet, significant dates, etc. Obviously you should be more creative than this. On just about every web browser, there is an option to let that browser remember your password so it doesn't have to be entered every time you visit that site. Most people let that browser remember the password because it's 'convenient'. Here are a few simple rules to help..

1) Change your passwords regularly, ideally every 90 days or LESS. How often have you heard this but don't do it? If you only have a home PC or laptop, and no one else ever touches it, you're relatively safe. Depending upon your browser habits, you might want to change it daily. If you know me and are reading this, you know what I mean.

So, you say, 'I can't remember that many passwords!'. I know, it sucks. If you have a safe, and I mean SAFE, way to write them down, do it. I don't recommend this, yet I do it. As the only place my passwords are 'stored' is on my USB drive, which in reality, is not the safest way either. When you put your USB drive to get them, if the PC is compromised, you could be screwed. I usually write the down on a note piece of paper until I can remember them, usually a few days, and then chuck that piece of paper on my bbq.

2) Windows IE and most browsers can store passwords. When you bring your PC to Best Buy's Geek Squad, they could get access to every password recently entered. Hence, if anyone ever has access to your PC, change them the day you get it back. In worst case scenarios, you won't even have access to your accounts because some schlep who worked on your PC already accessed all your accounts and changed them, but usually that is too obvious. They wait to see that you haven't changed them, and then do their damage.

3) NEVER (unless you completely trust them, which for hired techs should be NEVER) let some tech put a USB thumb drive into your PC (even if they are your BFF, change them!). This is only asking for trouble. They may say, 'Oh but I have to run some programs off my drive to help clean your PC'. Most every program they use is freely available for download on the internet (virus scanner, ad removals, etc). Letting them run a program from a thumb drive is a way of telling them 'run anything you want, even that password retrieval key', and you'll never know. They could even be downloading a password retrieval program from the internet. How can I be safe? Change them as soon as they leave the building is one way. Hopefully they aren't in their car with an aircard and a laptop already accessing your accounts!

4) Make any password you use complex. NEVER use anything that can be construed as a word, date, etc., not even a reverse word combo! Make them upper case, lower case, with numbers, special characters, etc.. 2HA@4$!As, is a good one :) Just hit random keys! That way, no brute force password hack should ever get them.


For most, this sounds silly. Why do I have to protect myself? Why? Do you pay your bills online? Order from eBay? Email your friends? One day, you could find out that your account is dry, and every friend you knew got that picture of yourself that you took naked. Hey, I take pictures of myself naked and send them to my girlfriend. She likes that, and I don't mind if anyone sees my fat ass naked. But do I want them accessing my credit info? No fucking way. Base your password changes and security on what is important to you.

Always remember.. any data you enter on your PC or send over the internet is never completely safe. Quite frankly, everything you've ever done on your PC can be accessed with the right tools.

Scary? Yeah....

"Let's face it, the Wright brothers were able to teach themselves. Landing would be the hardest part, but if you weren't too concerned about using the plane again, it could be done" -- Words from a flight instructor interviewed by CNN

The 'government' is debating a health care package that could run a trillion dollars over 10 years. This is something they are 'debating', as to whether or not to provide health care for those who can't afford it, and possibly fining those that can but don't get coverage (and people wonder why I don't vote). The Iraq/Afghan wars are approaching a trillion dollars in cost, and it had very little debate. The powers that be (Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rummy, etc) blatantly lied to us, and now thousands of soldiers are dead, or wounded for life. So, in essence, the 'government' has no problem lying to us to create a completely useless war and letting people die. Kind of like health care reform, no? The 'government' doesn't care if you die because you can't afford health insurance. The people who 'run' our 'government' are not the smartest, best, brightest, etc.. not anything special at all. They're just salesmen/women. Basically, our country is run by a bunch of used car salesmen with a pitch on a clunker, and that clunker is the US of fucking A. The country is broken, and there will be no fixing it for a long, long time, if ever.

I don't watch much regular TV. I have cable so I'm usually flipping way past anything on regular network TV, watching stuff on Discovery (Deadliest Catch), Food Network (Iron Chef), a LOT of ESPN, Comedy Central (South Park) or maybe some crap on VH1 (The 100 craziest rock star moments..?). So, in my manly state of hitting the channel button on the remote I have to pass by other crap. The Girls Next Door comes to mind. I wonder how hard Hef had to look to find 3 women, who combined, don't have more sense than a jar of molasses. I don't understand the 'reality' show buzz, because for a majority of those shows, nothing could be further from the truth. There are a few good ones that are mildly entertaining, but for the most part these shows try to get to the lowest part of humanity so we can all sit back in our couches and say 'Holy Fuck am I glad I'm not an idiot like that dumbshit!'. Of course, I'm sure some of you say 'Whoa.. that's just like me! I should be a reality TV star!'. If it was that easy we'd all be porn stars fucking the shit out of big titted blondes and getting paid for it, and no one would ever yell 'CUT! Don't come yet!'

 

So, the other night I'm perusing the channels and I run across Celebrity Rehab. Now, this is one train wreck of a show. The only redeeming quality of it is Dr. Drew, who I've been listening to since my younger days on Loveline, which I think is still on KROQ out in Los Angeles, where I grew up. I remember seeing the show a few times during season one, where Jeff Conaway (Grease, Taxi) was just out of his mind. I'm watching this with morbid fascination, wondering how people go from doing very well, stars actually, and then fuck it all up because of drugs. Now, I'm no straight edge. I did my fair share of drugs in my youth, but I never let them control me. At some point during those phases, I saw where I was headed, and was able to pull myself out. When I ran across the show the other night, I'm listening to Drew talk about how fucked up Gary Busey's brain is after his motorcycle accident, and there's a strange long haired blonde guy acting a little strange, and I'm wondering 'Who the fuck is that?' I only ask myself that because most of the rest I already know. In my curiosity I ask Google who is on the show this year, and fuck if it isn't Steven Adler, the original drummer from Guns 'n Roses. I was a huge GNR fan. Saw them play the Whiskey in LA when they were nothing but an up and coming rock band on the strip like so many others (Jetboy, LA Guns, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc). Saw them at Monsters of Rock at the LA Coliseum. When the whole GNR thing went south, I never gave second thoughts to what happened to those who dropped off the planet (namely Izzy and Adler). Duff and Slash moved on, Axl just finally released Chinese Conspiracy (which I haven't heard yet but it seems to be getting decent reviews). He looks like hell, and after catching up on how he's totally fucked himself up over the last 10-15yrs, it's a wonder he's even alive, and didn't take the Robbin Crosby ticket out of town. There's probably no real point to this post, other than it just amazes me how people can so totally wreck their good fortune, and let drugs be the cause of it.

We must really hate hockey here. I just came back from 10 days in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, and as two guys I met at an Irish pub put it, hockey is politics in Canada. So, now I'm sitting at a bar in Secaucus, NJ, game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals are on, and this bar has 11 tv's I can see, and only one away back in a corner has the game on. Every other TV has either boxing or baseball. It's a wonder the sport can even survive here.

In my almost constant travels around the country, I'm always looking for a good bar to hang out at. I rarely ask the locals about this, because everyone has their own style of place to hangout. I'll usually scour Google, check Google Earth, check the GPS in the rental car, and do a drive by. Usually from the outside I can tell if it's going to be a place I might like. Now, with traveling for work so often, wifi is almost a necessity, and very few bars have it. Many times I find myself at the bar of the hotel I'm at simply because it allows me to eat, drink, and work all at the same time. I'm a big fan of a good dive bar, but I rarely do these solo unless I truly have nothing better to do.

So, I travel solo 90% of the time, and I get a real kick out of watching people and how they interact. I'm a loner on the road. I don't go out of my way to meet people, other than the ones I am working with.

Last night was rather interesting. There was a couple that looked to be either on a first or second date. I was having my usual Guinness and Jameson, and casually watching them as the night progressed. Some mild touch interaction, smiles, both of them glancing at the various games that were on the TV's, having a couple drinks, eating. As it started to wind down, I began to wonder how they met. eHarmony, or some such place? Introduced by mutual friends? Just met at another bar? Their drinks are done and they're both on water now, he orders a cup of coffee, she has her purse open and the keys are out. As a gorgeous blonde and her wanna be hispanic thug boyfriend sit down at the bar between us, she's not smiling so much anymore, as he steals a look at the blonde. Their bill comes, and they split it. That's pretty much what keyed me to them being on a first or second date. They were much too snuggly and touching to just be good friends. Hell, even I, the ultimate loner, have a few good female friends, so I do have experience. They both get up and walk out, and not hand in hand, but her leading the way. I started to wonder, was it his glance at the blonde that turned it sour? It seemed to be a turning point.

Then, there were the two girls to my left. Both on the large side, but not hideous. They were complaining about smoking. Now, we're in a bar, and we're in a state that still allows smoking in the bar. And to boot, the bar has a non smoking section. I instantly wrote these two off as the bitchy, whiny, can we find just one more thing to complain about type. I felt sorry for their boyfriends, if they had ones.

Next, we have the couple to my right. The guy in the long sleeve Under Armour with a t-shirt over it, the typical gelled spiked up short hair, and he's with a girl who's dressed in a nice black dress. A complete mismatch. I hear him asking her if she's on the cheerleading squad, and does she use pom pom's. I get the impression this was a pick up from another bar and they came here for a quieter place to talk. She looked all of 16 but had her ID checked. Are you on the cheerleading squad? Are you kidding me?

It being Friday, the weekends are always fun for people watching, as more people tend to get drunk.

One of my co-workers and I do a lot of traveling for our job, and he's always coming back with stories about getting laid on the road (he's married, but that's a different story).  I don't usually look for that to happen on the road, as I'm always worried I'll meet the girl who rufi's me and steals my kidneys.  But I was curious and asked what is he doing that gets him laid so often.  Now, of course he could be full of bullshit.  Some guys just have a need to be known as the guy that always gets laid.  So we started talking about attitude, flirting, etc, and then he mentioned you have to dress right too, and criticized what I wear.  Now, I'm certainly not a fashionista.  I don't shop at Buckle, or Aeropostle.. I don't wear Hollister t-shirts like so many retards I see.  I'm, as Rachel Ray would say, beer in a bottle.  I wear blue or black Levi's, plain sneakers or beige/black work style boots, a t-shirt I probably picked up on the road somewhere, and maybe a polo style shirt over it.  Probably the only brand names I ever wear are Levi's, and occasionally Dockers when I have to dress neat for work.  He stated that it's how you take care of yourself.  Women see that and want in.  I had to call bullshit on this one.   I once, back in the day when I did this sort of thing, spent 600$ on a 'lady of the night' to spend the evening with me, and he said if I had spent that 600$ on clothes I'd get laid more often.  Oh, well then, allow me to retort.  600$ guaranteed that I got laid.  600$ on clothes just means I spent 600$ on clothes and you'll be going to dinner at Outback.  I'd rather spend that money on steak and lobster at Morton's and a few martini's, and have money left over to buy 'normal' clothes.  I've never had a problem getting laid in just what I wear now.  I had to explain that yes, I know some women who drink fufu drinks are looking for the guy that wears the fashion trends, and some women drink beer from a bottle and shoot whiskey.   

Well, as I'm sure you know, it's tax day. Did you file yours? Are you worried about it? Did you make sure to file quick so you can get that nice advance on your taxes next year, which you will be required to file taxes on? Without going into big detail here, because quite frankly, I'm enjoying my Guinness, we all know that the IRS basically fucks the middle class in the ass. Because we represent the majority, we pay a shitload in taxes. Now, the upper class, or 'elites' as some dickhead politicians might say, do pay a good amount, but when you make millions a year, well, you can afford to pay millions a year. Many of us reside in that middle area, somewhere between 35k-100k depending on where you live (and it really does depend, as 35k in Arkansas goes as far as double that in many areas of the country), and paying 20-30% out to the IRS is nothing short of bending over, forgoing the KY, and proclaiming 'Give it to me so you can send more money to Iraq!' So, the IRS bleaches our ass, and if you get lucky, own a house, have kids, blah and blah, maybe you get a chunk of that back. Maybe, like some people I know, you blatantly lie to get more money back and hope no one notices. Me, I'm simple. 1040EZ. Quick, easy, I don't lie or cheat on them, I don't make believe I use X percentage of my house for business (I wouldn't know what percentage my ass and my laptop take up on my couch are), etc., but, unfortunately, I'm lazy. That can be easily assessed by how often I update web shit, or by how often I've mopped my kitchen in the last year. So, I haven't always filed my return when owed money. Ohhh shit, Sam owes me 85$, better get that shit in the mail now! I NEED that money now. Well, I didn't, so, I didn't.. which brings me to the next paragraph.

This week, what really has my fired up, is the IRS's Statute of Limitations on filing returns. Did you know, that the IRS can come after YOU for 10 years for their money, but, god forbid YOU don't file a return and they owe YOU money, YOU have only 3 years to file and get YOUR money. If you don't file, guess what, Uncle Sam keeps it, forever gone.

That has got to be one of the most fucked up things I've ever heard of. My own government, who I pay taxes to support, won't give me the money they owe me after 3 years if I don't file, but RESERVES the right to fuck me to the tune of 10 years, plus penalties, assessments, garnishments, etc, if I owe them.

Lesson one of the day - file your taxes

Lesson two - your government fucks you daily and is happy to do it - if this is a surprise to you, try voting.

Needless to say I'm sending the fuckers all my old returns just to waste some of their time. Maybe it will save some poor soul from getting audited.

So I'm leaving Oklahoma City today (don't ever come here, really) and am at the Will Rogers airport. I always get to airports plenty early so I can sit and be a complete dork on my laptop and look like I'm too important with my mp3,  fly fusion pen, and my Bose headphones all hooked into it.  But I digress.  I get to airports early so I can go sit in a bar, catch up on some sports and news, and have a drink, which usually consists of a bloody mary as I usually fly in the mornings.  Afternoon/evening flights I stick to my normal of  Jack Daniels.  This is my first (and last hopefully) time in Oklahoma City, even Oklahoma for that matter, and sitting at the bar I ask for a bloody mary, and the bartender, whom we'll call Kyle, informs that he can only serve 3.2 abw beer up until 10am (abw is Alcohol by Weight, the common measurement for the alcoholic content of any beverage).  For some dumbass reason, in Oklahoma, from 6am-10am, they can only serve 3.2 beer.  I really thought this law had been abolished back when the goverment decided to withdraw highway funds unless the states moved the drinking age up to 21.  I remember being at Colorado State in Boulder in my youth and they would serve 3.2 beer to those over 18 and under 21.  Even had some 3.2 alcohol clubs there.  So, a cursory Google search turns up this link on Wikipedia.  Now, it may not be the most accurate or up to date, but it was surprising to see how many states still have a designation for '3.2' alcohol.   I'm really at a loss to understand, why?  Why can't it just say on the bottle what it is, and you can sell whatever whenever?  I mean, look at some of the state laws.  You can go to Nevada, and not even get arrested for public intoxication,  But go to Kansas, and you're fucked in just about 10 different ways.  Where I live they still have dry counties, no sales on Sunday or Christmas, but then they have 'special' laws allowing restaurants to see alcohol in restaurants in a dry county on Sunday.  WTF?!?  I guess the quick answer from the religious right and you teetotalers out there is, 'Don't Drink'.  Well fuckwads, Jesus turned water into wine for a reason.  He put the plants here and gave people the brains to make alcohol, so let's just fuck off with that religious shit.  And you AA junkies.. well, you go fuck yourself too.  Keep that shit to yourself, and don't interfere with my desire for a bloody mary at 6am with my ham and eggs!