I'd Probably Have More Fun At Work If I Did Stuff Like This

Users...

And no, I don't mean the types of users who are using drugs, etc. I'm talking about information technology and those types of users. The ones who are sitting hammering away at their keyboards and working on applications that we, as IT professionals, have worked so hard to provide for them.

The worst type of user is, ironically, the kind that I have in abundance - and that's the user who simply doesn't get it. Call them technophobes, Luddites, clueless, etc. It all fits.

Case in point: A while back, it was asked of me that I archive one of our main tables in the database I work on. So I did. Now, at the time, that table contained a number of monetary totals in it and was very useful. Soon after that, the totals were moved OUT of that table and into another table so that there could be year-by-year totals put into it and one record from table 1 could have multiple records in table 2.

My concern here was that the new table would not be usable with the archived table because past totals might be changed. I was assured by users who (I feel) simply didn't want to deal with my problem that such a change would never happen.

Now, I'm getting flak because reports run against the archived table no longer have the same totals as they did for previous runs... BECAUSE the date-related totals table was in fact changed.

And this is just one example. I could go on for hours. But suffice to say that I am quickly getting fed up with users who won't give me the attention I need to create THEIR application, but then get upset with me when their application doesn't work as they want. Sigh...

Wonder how much ditch-diggers make...

Kerry Grows a Pair - Too Late, But They've Grown

Senator John Kerry finally did what he should have done during the election - called the corrupt Bush Administration to task for all their failures since January 17, 2001. The former presidental candidate announced in a speech at Brown University that the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans had seen their failures, that had so far been masked by the rhetoric of "marching toward freedom" and "the Contract with America," blown wide open by the disaster that is and was the post-hurricane Katrina situation.

Though I voted for him in the last election, I am NOT a John Kerry fan. I think there were far better candidates for President during the last election, and I think he made grave errors during the campaign. Be that what it may, he has used his pulpit to hammer the Bush administration for their total failure. I'm going to include this speech below instead of linking to it, because I think it's just that eloquent.

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Remarks by John Kerry, as prepared for September 19, 2005 Speech at Brown University
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I want to thank you for what the Brown community has done to help and comfort the many victims of Hurricane Katrina. This horrifying disaster has shown Americans at their best -- and their government at its worst.

And that's what I've come to talk with you about today. The incompetence of Katrina's response is not reserved to a hurricane. There's an enormous gap between Americans' daily expectations and government's daily performance. And the gap is growing between the enduring strength of the American people -- their values, their spirit, their imagination, their ingenuity, and their willingness to serve and sacrifice -- and the shocking weakness of the American government in contending with our country's urgent challenges.

On the Gulf Coast during the last two weeks, the depth and breadth of that gap has been exposed for all to see and we have to address it now before it is obscured again by hurricane force spin and deception.

Katrina stripped away any image of competence and exposed to all the true heart and nature of this administration. The truth is that for four and a half years, real life choices have been replaced by ideological agenda, substance replaced by spin, governance second place always to politics. Yes, they can run a good campaign -- I can attest to that -- but America needs more than a campaign. If 12 year-old Boy Scouts can be prepared, Americans have a right to expect the same from their 59 year-old President of the United States.

Katrina reminds us that too often the political contests of our time have been described like football games with color commentary: one team of consultants against another, red states against blue states, Democratic money against Republican money; a contest of height versus hair - sometimes. But the truth is democracy is not a game; we are living precious time each day in a different America than the one we can inhabit if we make different choices.

Today, more than ever, when the path taken last year and four years earlier takes us into a wilderness of missed opportunities -- we need to keep defining the critical choices over and over, offering a direction not taken but still open in the future.

I know the President went on national television last week and accepted responsibility for Washington's poor response to Katrina. That's admirable. And it's a first. As they say, the first step towards recovery is to get out of denial. But don't hold your breath hoping acceptance of responsibility will become a habit for this administration. On the other hand, if they are up to another "accountability moment" they ought to start by admitting one or two of the countless mistakes in conceiving, "selling", planning and executing their war of choice in Iraq.

I obviously don't expect that to happen. And indeed, there's every reason to believe the President finally acted on Katrina and admitted a mistake only because he was held accountable by the press, cornered by events, and compelled by the outrage of the American people, who with their own eyes could see a failure of leadership and its consequences.

Natural and human calamity stripped away the spin machine, creating a rare accountability moment, not just for the Bush administration, but for all of us to take stock of the direction of our country and do what we can to reverse it. That's our job -- to turn this moment from a frenzied expression of guilt into a national reversal of direction. Some try to minimize the moment by labeling it a "blame game" -- but as I've said - this is no game and what is at stake is much larger than the incompetent and negligent response to Katrina.

This is about the broader pattern of incompetence and negligence that Katrina exposed, and beyond that, a truly systemic effort to distort and disable the people's government, and devote it to the interests of the privileged and the powerful. It is about the betrayal of trust and abuse of power. And in all the often horrible and sometimes ennobling sights and sounds we've all witnessed over the last two weeks, there's another sound just under the surface: the steady clucking of Administration chickens coming home to roost.

We wouldn't be hearing that sound if the people in Washington running our government had cared to listen in the past.

They didn't listen to the Army Corps of Engineers when they insisted the levees be reinforced.

They didn't listen to the countless experts who warned this exact disaster scenario would happen.

They didn't listen to years of urgent pleading by Louisianans about the consequences of wetlands erosion in the region, which exposed New Orleans and surrounding parishes to ever-greater wind damage and flooding in a hurricane.

They didn't listen when a disaster simulation just last year showed that hundreds of thousands of people would be trapped and have no way to evacuate New Orleans.

They didn't listen to those of us who have long argued that our insane dependence on oil as our principle energy source, and our refusal to invest in more efficient engines, left us one big supply disruption away from skyrocketing gas prices that would ravage family pocketbooks, stall our economy, bankrupt airlines, and leave us even more dependent on foreign countries with deep pockets of petroleum.

They didn't listen when Katrina approached the Gulf and every newspaper in America warned this could be "The Big One" that Louisianans had long dreaded.

They didn't even abandon their vacations.

And the rush now to camouflage their misjudgments and inaction with money doesn't mean they are suddenly listening. It's still politics as usual. The plan they're designing for the Gulf Coast turns the region into a vast laboratory for right wing ideological experiments. They're already talking about private school vouchers, abandonment of environmental regulations, abolition of wage standards, subsidies for big industries - and believe it or not yet another big round of tax cuts for the wealthiest among us!

The administration is recycling all their failed policies and shipping them to Louisiana. After four years of ideological excess, these Washington Republicans have a bad hangover -- and they can't think of anything to offer the Gulf Coast but the hair of the dog that bit them.

And amazingly -- or perhaps not given who we're dealing with -- this massive reconstruction project will be overseen not by a team of experienced city planners or developers, but according to the New York Times, by the Chief of Politics in the White House and Republican Party, none other than Karl Rove -- barring of course that he is indicted for "outing" an undercover CIA intelligence officer.

Katrina is a symbol of all this administration does and doesn't do. Michael Brown -- or Brownie as the President so famously thanked him for doing a heck of a job - Brownie is to Katrina what Paul Bremer is to peace in Iraq; what George Tenet is to slam dunk intelligence; what Paul Wolfowitz is to parades paved with flowers in Baghdad; what Dick Cheney is to visionary energy policy; what Donald Rumsfeld is to basic war planning; what Tom Delay is to ethics; and what George Bush is to "Mission Accomplished," and "Wanted Dead or Alive." The bottom line is simple: The "we'll do whatever it takes" administration doesn't have what it takes to get the job done.

This is the Katrina administration.

It has consistently squandered time, tax dollars, political capital, and even risked American lives on sideshow adventures: A war of choice in Iraq against someone who had nothing to do with 9/11; a full scale presidential assault on Social Security when everyone knows the real crisis is in health care - Medicare and Medicaid. And that's before you get to willful denial on global warming; avoidance on competitiveness; complicity in the loss and refusal of health care to millions.

Americans can and will help compensate for government's incompetence with millions of acts of individual enterprise and charity, as Katrina has shown. But that's not enough. We must ask tough questions: Will this generosity and compassion last in the absence of strong leadership? Will this Administration only ask for sacrifice in a time of crisis? Has dishonesty in politics degraded our national character to the point that we feel our dues have been paid as citizens with a one-time donation to the Red Cross?

Today, let's you and I acknowledge what's really going on in this country. The truth is that this week, as a result of Katrina, many children languishing in shelters are getting vaccinations for the first time. Thousands of adults are seeing a doctor after going without a check-up for years. Illnesses lingering long before Katrina will be treated by a healthcare system that just weeks ago was indifferent, and will soon be indifferent again.

For the rest of the year this nation silently tolerates the injustice of 11 million children and over 30 million adults in desperate need of healthcare. We tolerate a chasm of race and class some would rather pretend does not exist. And ironically, right in the middle of this crisis the Administration quietly admitted that since they took office, six million of our fellow citizens have fallen into poverty. That's over ten times the evacuated population of New Orleans. Their plight is no less tragic - no less worthy of our compassion and attention. We must demand something simple and humane: healthcare for all those in need - in all years at all times.

This is the real test of Katrina. Will we be satisfied to only do the immediate: care for the victims and rebuild the city? Or will we be inspired to tackle the incompetence that left us so unprepared, and the societal injustice that left so many of the least fortunate waiting and praying on those rooftops?

That's the unmet challenge we have to face together.

Katrina is the background of a new picture we must paint of America. For five years our nation's leaders have painted a picture of America where ignoring the poor has no consequences; no nations are catching up to us; and no pensions are destroyed. Every criticism is rendered unpatriotic. And if you say "War on Terror" enough times, Katrina never happens.

Well, Katrina did happen, and it washed away that coat of paint and revealed the true canvas of America with all its imperfections. Now, we must stop this Administration from again whitewashing the true state of our challenges. We have to paint our own picture - an honest picture with all the optimism we deserve - one that gives people a vision where no one is excluded or ignored. Where leaders are honest about the challenges we face as a nation, and never reserve compassion only for disasters.

Rarely has there been a moment more urgent for Americans to step up and define ourselves again. On the line is a fundamental choice. A choice between a view that says you're on your own,go it alone. every man for himself.Or a different view - a different philosophy - a different conviction of governance - a belief that says our great American challenge is one of shared endeavor and shared sacrifice.

Over the next weeks I will address some of these choices in detail - choices about national security, the war in Iraq, making our nation more competitive and committing to energy independence. But it boils down to this. I still believe America's destiny is to become a living testament to what free human beings can accomplish by acting in unity. That's easy to dismiss by those who seem to have forgotten we can do more together than just waging war.

But for those who still believe in the great tradition of Americans doing great things together, it's time we started acting like it. We can never compete with the go-it- alone crowd in appeals to selfishness. We can't afford to be pale imitations of the other side in playing the Ëœwhat's in it for me" game. Instead, it's time we put our appeals where our hearts are - asking the American people to make our country as strong, prosperous, and big-hearted as we know we can be - every day. It's time we framed every question - every issue -- not in terms of what's in it for "me," but what's in it for all of us?

And when you ask that simple question - what's in it for all of us? - the direction not taken in America could not be more clear or compelling.

Instead of allowing a few oil companies to drill their way to windfall profits, it means an America that understands we can't drill our way to energy independence, we have to invent our way there together.

Instead of making a mockery of the words No Child Left Behind when China and India are graduating tens of thousands more engineers and PhDs than we are, it means an America where college education is affordable and accessible for every child willing to work for it.

Instead of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, it means an America that makes smart investments in your future like funding the science and research and development that will assure American technological leadership.

Instead of allowing lobbyists to rewrite our environmental laws, it means an America where lakes and rivers and streams are clean enough that when a family takes the kids fishing, it's actually safe to eat the fish they catch.

Instead of letting a few ideologues get in the way of progress that can make us a stronger and healthier society, it means an America where the biology students here today will do the groundbreaking stem cell research tomorrow.

And instead of stubbornly disregarding intelligence, using force prematurely and shoving our allies aside, it means an America that restores its leadership in the world. An America that meets its responsibility of creating a world where the plagues of our time and future times - from terror to disease to poverty to weapons of mass destruction to the unknown - are overcome by allies united in common cause, and proud to follow American leadership.

That is the direction not taken but still open to us in the future if we answer that simple question - "what's in it for all of us?" It comes down to the fact that the job of government is to prepare for your future - not ignore it. It should prepare to solve problems - not create them.

This Administration and the Republicans who control Congress give in to special interests and rob future generations.

Real leadership stands up to special interests and sets the course for future generations. And the fact is we do face serious challenges as a nation, and if we don't address them now, we handicap your future. My generation risks failing its obligation of assuring you inherit a safer, stronger America. To turn this around, the greatest challenges must be the starting point. I hope Katrina gives us the courage to face them and the sense of urgency to beat them.

That's why the next few months are such a critical time. You'll read about the Katrina investigations and fact-finding missions. You'll get constant updates on the progress rebuilding New Orleans and new funding for FEMA. Washington becomes a very efficient town once voters start paying attention.

But we can't let political maneuvering around the current crisis distract people from the gathering, hidden crises - like energy, environment, poverty, healthcare and innovation - that present the greatest threats to our nation's competitiveness and character. The effort to rebuild New Orleans cannot obscure the need to also rebuild our country.

So realistically, I'm sure you're wondering: How do I change all this? What can I do? The answer is simple: YOU have to make your issues the voting issues of this nation. You're not the first generation to face this challenge.

I remember when you couldn't even mention environmental issues without a snicker. But then in the 70s people got tired of seeing the Cuyahoga River catch on fire from all the chemicals. So one day millions of Americans marched. Politicians had no choice but to take notice. Twelve Congressmen were dubbed the Dirty Dozen, and soon after seven were kicked out of office. The floodgates were opened. We got the Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water. We created the EPA. The quality of life improved because concerned citizens made their issues matter in elections.

You are citizens in the greatest democracy in the world. Moments like Katrina are so difficult - so painful - but they help you define your service to your fellow citizens. I'll never forget as a teenager standing in a field in October of 1957 watching the first man made spacecraft streak across the night sky. The conquest, of course, was Soviet - and while not everyone got to see the unmanned craft pass overhead at 18,000 miles per hour that night - before long every American knew the name Sputnik. We knew we had been caught unprepared.

In the uncertain years thereafter, President Kennedy challenged Americans to act on that instinct. He said, "This is a great country, but I think it could be a greater country...the question we have to decide as Americans," he said, is "are we doing enough today?"

Today, every American knows the name Katrina -- and once again we know our government was undeniably unprepared, even as Americans have shown their willingness to sacrifice to make up for it.

But in these uncertain weeks of Katrina's aftermath, we must ask ourselves not just whether a great country can be made greater -- the sacrifice and generosity of Americans these last weeks answered that question with a resounding yes.

No, our challenge is greater - it's to speak out so loudly that Washington has no choice but to make choices worthy of this great country - choices worthy of the sacrifice of our neighbors in the Gulf Coast and our troops all around the world.

What's in it for all of us? Nothing less than the character of our country - and your future.

Bush and Company: "Climate Loonies," says British Scientist

Nice to see someone finally say it: Bush and his cronies (or should I say Bush and his keepers?) are "climate loonies" and the horrible hurricane season we're experiencing in the Gulf Coast region are directly related to global warming.

Sir John Lawton, chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution for the British government, has released his opinions on the lack of intelligence that surrounds this administration as regards global warming and its treatment of the situation.

Sir John, THANK YOU! Now let's make sure this gets plastered all over the country.

There Has to Be a Way to Harness This!

Crazy story from Australia... but the first thing that jumped into my mind was "free energy!" Someone needs to get on this project right away... who knew that nylon and wool could save the world!

Bush's EPA Hiding Results Of New Orleans Toxicity Testing

Looks like the oil industry's hold over the Bush Administration is as tight as ever, even in the wake of one of the most horrifying disasters in American history.

The above article tells of various groups' discoveries that petrochemical waste is not being tested for by the EPA, which of course falls under the Bush Administration's jurisdiction of government. And why might this be?

Almost every decision this administration has made has been to the benefit of the oil industry or its subsidiaries, despite the health risks to the people of the world. It just shows how Bush is deeply in the pockets of the oil industry and that industry is running this country now.

Folks, it's long past time to stop giving these folks our money! Stop driving as much as possible. Find vehicles that save gas or don't use it at all. Take public transportation. Lobby your congressmen to improve mileage standards for automobiles across the board so states don't have to do it. There's all sorts of stuff that can be done. The fact remains that oil is 1) bad for people, 2) bad for the climate of our world, and 3) is simply creating a reliance that can't last forever. The sooner we're ready to move away from oil, the better.

Bush Administration Lies About Environmental Causes of Katrina Flooding

More preposterous claims from the Bush disinformation machine about the causes of flooding in New Orleans surfaced recently, as the lying scum in charge of our government try to pin the blame on environmentalists.

Stories about environmentalist groups blocking the plans for levee building along Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River are filtering out of the administration. But as you can see by reading the article, they're counting on the apathy of the common citizen to such matters to hide the fact that they're using this tragedy to try to slam those who would improve our world at what they feel is the cost of the success of big business.

Interestingly, I read an article in Outside Magazine today that was an excerpt from Yves Chouinard's new book on the business history of his company, Patagonia. He states quite clearly that each time they took the time to make one of their business practices more environmentally responsible and sustainable, they had even more success. In fact, the average increase in profits after changing product lines to use better materials and such was twenty percent. So the myth of environmentally sound business practices costing jobs and profits is shown over and OVER to be a myth.

Hey, businesses: Stop watching Fox News and pay attention to what's really going on.

Top 10 Reasons that OSU is not a Major College Football Tradition

• Gives players academic credit for playing football.


• Logo includes a marijuana leaf.


• Has the word "The" in official university name, yet doesn't use it in abbreviation.


• Most notable quarterback in history is frequently indicted for gambling problems.


• Most famous coach is most famous for hitting an opposing player.


• Stadium called "Horseshoe" but is not in fact horseshoe-shaped.


• Tried to sue Oklahoma State University for using "OSU" as abbreviation, and lost. See #3.


• Mascot is a turd with a body.


• Just because you call your band "The Best Damn Band In The Land" doesn't mean it is.


• Highlight of Pregame ceremony: Fat tuba player waddling onto field and trying not to fall over while bowing.

More Reasons To Hate Buckeye Fans

I've sounded off before on my dislike of most OSU fans in Columbus, but now there are fans from other schools who are echoing the same thing. Check out the above article from the Austin newspaper.

Buckeye fans need to clean up their acts. I already know many Notre Dame fans who will never come back here because Buckeye fans don't know how to behave, now it seems that Texas fans had the same experience.

Statistics About Bush Foreign Policy

This is an interesting look at the statistics of the foreign policy of our current administration as relates to Iraq, North Korea, Darfur, and the so-called war on terrorism.

This statistic says it all:

• Days since September 11, 2001 that Osama bin Laden has remained uncaptured: 1,454


• Days after bombing Pearl Harbor that Japan surrendered to U.S. forces: 1,365

That's right - we defeated a whole country (one that actually attacked us, that is) in less time than it took to find Osama Bin Laden. Of course, since we're no longer really looking, maybe this number isn't truly fair.

Top Reason Not To Listen To Liberal Talk Radio

And, as far as I'm concerned, the ONLY reason thus far...

Their movie reviews are ANNOYING CRAP. I dislike most movie reviewers as they seem to think that simple entertainment value isn't enough, but that a movie has to be artistic or benefit society in some way. Why can't a movie just be fun?

However, the Air America movie reviewer I heard the other day (and I don't know her name, unfortunately) struck me as one of these intellectuals who is probably smarter than most folks around her, she knows it, and yet she stays in the position she's in because she's afraid to challenge herself by trying something harder. Or, even worse, she'd rather be the big fish in a small pond than a fairly-good-sized fish in the ocean.

Anyway... avoid movie reviews at all costs - particularly those on liberal Talk Radio.

And of course, Rush Limbaugh is still a big fat idiot.

No Turd Left Behind

Here's a good solid application of science that probably escaped a lot of people. Anyone who can get to work on the problem of re-usability should probably contact the folks at Mount Shasta in California.

Here Come The Irish!

Well, the turnaround of Notre Dame Football under head coach Charlie Weis is in full effect, yo. Notre Dame spanked Michigan in the Big House on Saturday. I'll let the article do all the talking about the actual action on the field, suffice to say I'm real happy!

A couple notes - the poor sportsmanship shown by the Michigan fans in showering the field with cups made me remember my hatred of the practice of throwing cups at ND Stadium (not onto the field) during my 1987-1990 (football seasons) tenure there. I think it was during sophomore year (1988) when the practice was started. These were those hard plastic cups that have since become so popular everywhere as quality tableware for college students and bachelors the world over. The student section used to toss them up in the air in celebration, and when one of those damn things hit you in the head it hurt like hell.

So, in their overwhelming intelligence (which was possibly lessened by the number of cups hitting them in the heads), student government started a movement to not throw cups, but instead to bring marshmallows to the game and throw those instead. Well, naturally, the next game after that change, it rained. The entire student section was reduced to a white sticky mess that felt like the floor of a taxicab and probably looked like something out of a Peter North movie (ask around if you've never heard of him. Again, look for bachelors and college students on this one). Funny story, anyhoo.

Oh, this struck me as funny, too.


Haven't heard/read any post-game whining by the U of M fans about the game yet - but I'm expecting it given the two replays that went ND's way (Ndukwe's fantastic heads-up fumble recovery and the ensuing "not-fumble" that kept the ball in ND's hands). Top notch tackling throughout the game - something that we missed during the Willingham era. Altogether, I'm really looking forward to the MSU game at the house that Rockne built. Hopefully I'll be attending the ND/BYU game on Oct. 22, too. :)

Jamie: The Prophet

Anyway, I'm beginning to think that I'm subtly prophetic. I've been taking the bus regularly for about a year now... and of course, other folks are jumping on the bandwagon now that gas prices are through the roof. And I've barely noticed the increases.

Talked to the bus driver of one of my routes today, he said that his ridership has increased with the gas prices going up. Maybe the rising prices are just what COTA needs to get a serious jump! We can only hope... public transportation is so much better than the mess that's out there today.

Irish Defense Earns Win For ND

Okay, sure, Brady Quinn is the pre-season favorite for the Heisman. For whatever that's worth. I'd rather he not win the Heisman and ND win the Mythical National Championship than the other way around. Let the stats-hounds from the Bugeyes and such run up their numbers against crap opponents like Northern Illinois, while Notre Dame grinds out a win against a real opponent (one that IS going to be a force this season) in Georgia Tech.

And that's exactly what happened on Saturday night (after the Crew slaughtered the New England Revolution 3-0, of course). The Irish defense stepped up and delivered notice that they weren't the same defense that was on the field last season. No, they were the game winners tonight, and at this point in the season I'd much rather see that than an offensive show. The defense was the real question last season, obviously, and it bit them in the ass against Cheaty McSweatervest's boys.

Quinn and the Irish offense will come around, soon. I have faith in that. Weis isn't going to let them penalize themselves out of games like they did tonight for too long. And to see the defense hold a quality opponent to 10 points? Yeah, I'll take that. Spreads are for gambling. The only number that matters is the final score.