Stormbringer's Thunder

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!...

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...

Buon giorno. Your not so humble host was invited to be on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Blog Bunker", Indie Talk 110. The topic was the Tibet situation. My first response was, "Yeah, sure". But then I found out that it was on the level. I was on last night (14 May 2008) at just after 17.00 for about fifteen minutes. I wanted to be in the studio, but with a series of personal crises and distractions, I had to do it by telephone. My apologies to the host, I believe his name was Joe Salzone, for being unsure of his name. But I was a bit nervous. Although they bill it as a round-table discussion, it was just Joe and me. When he asked a question, I just launched. (Penne told me later that she wondered if I was going to even take a breath in the first few minutes.) All those years of learning, plus the desire to get my point across, came out like machine gun fire. I think one reason that I launched so badly is that I've seen and heard so many shows where, if the gu...

Buon giorno. I've found out through years of experience that I can't convince people of anything: "I have my mind made up, don't confuse me with facts". But, as I've said before, you never met a Weblog writer quite like me! I have to give my views of the truth, and I like to present evidence when I'm not too busy. And I'm finding time for this one. Since this article is for Urf Day, I'm writing in green ink. So to speak. Ah, Urf Day. When we hear the gospel of environmentalism, tree-hugging and conservation. Sure, I'm all for conservation and being environmentally friendly. But I like it within reason. It's become quite the religion for some people, and they wear it like a badge or even get smug about it. Hey, save a tree, read online! Too bad cafones don't bother to tell you that trees are a renewable resource; they are farmed so we don't have the barren wilderness that was threatening to happen in the early 1900s. The biggest ...

Hey, Kids! Don't try this at home. I did, and I regretted it. As I've said before, sometimes I try to use my own experiences as an example for others. In this case, something to avoid. Something else I've said before is that I have Type 2 diabetes. Don't worry, you can't catch it. It's pretty well under control when I pay attention. On Easter Sunday, I wasn't paying close enough attention. Sure, I can have some dessert (which has sugar) and an extra helping of potatoes (which have starch). Too bad I didn't know that the ham had a kind of sugar glaze or something. And that sugar was added to the corn. When everything was added up, it was harmful. Two hours after eating, I took a blood reading. And almost fell off my chair because it was my all-time high. Now, other diabetics might look at my number of about 223 and say, "Big deal." Well, the normal range for a healthy adult is 80-120, and my doctor wants me around 100 (which it has been more oft...

Mora Na Maidine Dhuit! Top of the morning to you! Irish you all a happy St. Patrick's Day. My ancestors did not exactly come from the Emerald Isle. They emigrated there from Scotland. Although the Irish seem to be the second largest ethnic group in the US, I really don't think that people know much about them. The perception is that they have a cute accent, a way with words, invented terrorism, drink to excess and really know how to throw a party. So, before you go out and have green beer, wear funny hats, fake an Irish accent (which most people do rather poorly), wear green clothing and all that, I'd like for you to read a bit about the Irish. Are there any famous Irish people that have enriched society in general? Looks like I have to do your work for you again. That's all right, I know you're busy. But just a few names, there are quite a few. The ones I'm listing were born in Ireland. We'll start with some actors: * Patrick McGoohan * Pierce Brosnan (...