edroso on lessons of amy winehouse

alicublog: "Celebrities aren't friends, and we're not obliged to act as if they were. In fact it's presumptuous to do so. But, generally speaking, it's never a good thing to treat the sufferings of another human being as if they were unimportant."

Hotels I will never stay in

Hotel snore controls aim to banish sleepless nights | Reuters:

"'Snore monitors' patrol corridors in the designated quiet zones of Crowne Plaza hotels in the cities of London, Leeds and Manchester. Their job is to listen out for offensive noises and knock on the door of guests who snore too loudly."

According to the lovely and talented Maria I snore.

Props To Luboš Motl

The Reference Frame: Norwegian tragedy:

"I often complain that the mass killers and terrorists and nasty people are almost always my ideological foes and no one does anything effective against them. Well, in this case, I must be fair and say that this guy was probably the ideologically closest one to me among all the mass and crazy killers in recent years."

I gave this gentleman a hard time recently and think it is only fair to note that he is the only right-winger that I have seen thus far to be completely reality based on the Norwegian mass killings.

TRex on God and Poutine

Go read more of these

On The Implications Of Utoya

Daily Kos: Norway attacker was a political Terminator:

"Taking out 80+ of the people committed enough to go to the AUF's Utoya summer retreat? That's like sending a Terminator back in time to take out a future Parliamentary leadership.

The crime was unspeakably heinous to begin with. And telling Americans that the killer targeted a 'summer camp,' it was no doubt imagined, would only make it sound worse.

It did. But it didn't really describe the magnitude of the loss for Norway. Nor did it convey the calculated sickness—and the very, very intensely political nature—of what the gunman undertook to do."

Search Term Of The Day

I periodically check what the search terms are that end folks at my little corner of the web. Today's most entertaining is "over the hedge toon porn".

Yes, really.

I Love Hot Dogs But This Is Insane

For $80, a dollop of truffles and caviar make the world's most expensive hot dog - Telegraph: "The Brockton Rox have introduced what they claim is the world's most expensive hot dog to stadium kiosks, an $80 feast made from ingredients rarely seen on a fast-food menu.
The club's McMullen Dog, named for Atlantic City chef Ryan McMullen who came up with the idea, features a half-pound all-beef sausage rolled in truffle oil, coated with the dust of pulverised porcini mushrooms and topped with white truffle shavings.
The bread roll is buckwheat blini, hand crafted by one of Cape Cod's most exclusive bakeries. And in place of the more familiar ketchup and mustard, fans can choose a creme fraiche dressing with a dollop of caviar and salmon roe."

Things Obama Should Say

Obama Schedules Prime Time Speech for Monday — A Fantasy | GoozNews: "“Yet this House of Representatives has chosen a different path. It is the path of that marries rabid partisanship with economic know-nothingism. It is the path of nihilism. It is a false path, yet it has brought us to the current impasse."

Amy Winehouse RIP

Soul Singer Amy Winehouse Dies at 27 - Bloomberg: "Amy Winehouse, the singer and songwriter who shot to fame with “Rehab,” won five Grammy Awards and sold more than 5 million albums, has died, the Associated Press reported. She was 27."

Cute Overload - Same Sex Wedding Edition

Kitty Lambert Chats About Marrying Cheryle Rudd in First Legal New York Same-Sex Wedding - New York News - Runnin' Scared: "​On Monday, we reported that Kitty Lambert and her fiancé Cheryle Rudd will be the first same-sex couple to wed in New York State. The grandmothers of 12 will tie the knot before a crowd of thousands, in front of the specially rainbow lit Niagara Falls."

QOTD - Jens Stoltenberg - Prime Minster of Norway

CBC.ca News - Norway island camp massacre claims 80:

"'You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy and our ideals for a better world,' he said.

'We are a small nation and a proud nation. No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us from being Norway. This evening and this night, we will take care of each other, comfort each other, talk to each other, and stand together.

'We must never stop standing up for our values.'"

Ta-Nehisi Coates Gives Jennifer Rubin a Poke

A Little Humility - Ta-Nehisi Coates - National - The Atlantic: "As for this case, my golden rule is that as terrible as it is to be wrong, it many times more terrible to pretend that wrong is right. As of this wring, Rubin has issued no correction in any form. That is shameful."

Larry Summers on the Winklevoss twins

Larry Summers calls Winklevoss twins 'A**holes' - Jul. 20, 2011:

"'One of the things you learn as a college president is that if an undergraduate is wearing a tie and jacket on Thursday afternoon at three o'clock, there are two possibilities. One is that they're looking for a job and have an interview; the other is that they are an a**hole. This was the latter case.'"

Jennifer Rubin Takes A Wrong Turn On Norway Bombing

Norway bombing - Right Turn - The Washington Post:

"This is a sobering reminder for those who think it’s too expensive to wage a war against jihadists. I spoke to Gary Schmitt of the American Enterprise Institute, who has been critical of proposed cuts in defense and of President Obama’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan. “There has been a lot of talk over the past few months on how we’ve got al-Qaeda on the run and, compared with what it once was, it’s become a rump organization. But as the attack in Oslo reminds us, there are plenty of al-Qaeda allies still operating. No doubt cutting the head off a snake is important; the problem is, we’re dealing with global nest of snakes.”"

Comment of the day - Zero Hedge Edition

Single White Norway Psychopath Killer: Anders Behring Breivik, 32, Nationalist, Hates Islam | zero hedge:

"by Harlequin001
on Fri, 07/22/2011 - 22:26
#1483928

I suspect it's a prelude to an alien invasion...

in fact, I reckon it's a government plot to get everyone to not notice the giant asteroid that's about to hit us.

and it must be a Zionist plot because they could have been the first to spot the flash crash as it passed the moon and took out Santa's sled and now, obviously they will want to keep it quiet whilst they take over the whole worlds' banking systems hopefully just in time for the start of the Christmas rush...

Obviously ..."

Offered as a bit of a counterpoint to all of the conspiracy theory lunacy that you will see over the next little while.

Should We Ban WoW because of Norway Atrocity??

Google Translate

The 32-year-old man has been active in video games and has been involved in the online game World of Warcraft.

Of course not because that would be stupid. Remember that next time someone says that Islam should be banned.

Grover Norquist On Default

Exclusive: Anti-Tax Crusader Speaks Out Against Default "Experiment" | National Memo | Breaking News, Smart Politics:

"Norquist went on to say that “a ‘shutdown’ or ‘default’ or ‘wobbly walk around the rim of default’ would be, as my mother would say, ‘unhelpful.’ How unhelpful? I don’t know, [and I’m] not real interested in finding out. Let’s experiment on a smaller country.”"

Are the brighter people in the GOP realizing that they have created a monster yet?

Alex Jones On Norway

Delusion in its purist form.

Things I am Tired Of - "Ralph Nader Says"

There was a time when Ralph Nader could have made a difference in the political life of this nation. He could have worked to build a genuine left wing third party.

He didn't.

Fuck Ralph Nader.

Does This really need an answer?

Balloon Juice » This is just weird:

"Why is the Governor of Ohio discussing this with his former co-workers at Fox News at all, let alone offering a preemptive defense on their behalf?"

Breaking News - Ottawa Bluesfest

I generally don't cover it but today I had a tip from a friend that the stage at the Ottawa Bluesfest had collapsed in a storm. I posted my usual dinky little link to a local source and it is now the most landed on page in the brief history of this blog

This is a link to some pics that were taken at the time. A much better job than I could have done.

Glad to hear there were apparently no serious injuries.

Update - CBC is reporting a broken leg and CTV is reporting " that a paramedic said one person was rushed to hospital with "life-threatening injuries" and another person was "severely injured.""

Scotland Yard Chief Resigns - Who Is Next?

Scotland Yard Chief Resigns Amid Phone Hacking Scandal | TPMMuckraker:

"Stephenson and the police services have been in the spotlight in the wake of allegations that officers accepted bribes from reporters for Murdoch's News Of The World tabloid -- reporters who have been accused of hacking into the phone records of murder and terrorism victims, celebrities, and public officials. Scotland Yard has also been criticized for botching the initial investigation into News Of The World phone hacking in 2006. Two people were convicted then, but recent revelations suggest the scandal was far more sprawling then the initial investigation found."

Ottawa Bluesfest stage collapses in storm

Bluesfest stage collapses in storm:

"MBNA main stage at Bluesfest has been blown down in the storm. There are reports of multiple injuries on site."

Digby on Piers Anthony on Phone Hacking

Hullabaloo:

"He's right about the mainstream media being perfectly happy to run with scandals, but I think he's rather purposefully missing the point. Hacking into celebrities' answering machines is criminal. Hacking into crime victims' answering machines is just sick. And turning it all into a backscratching exercise with the police is a threat to a free and democratic society."

Superstition not for Christians

Superstition and religion « Eternity Matters:

"As a Christian, I scoff at superstitions. I leave those to non-believers.

My morning chuckle via Ed Brayton

Where the GOP Wannabes stand on the Debt Ceiling

Cut, Cap And Political Balancing Act: The 2012 Field On The Debt Ceiling | TPMDC:

Mitt : "It is within the president's power to say to the leadership in the House and the Senate that 'I'll cut spending, I'll cap the amount of spending, and I'll pursue a balanced budget amendment.' And if the president were to do that this whole debt limit problem goes away,"

T-Paw : Asked whether he would be willing to "blow it up" in the debt negotiations with Congress and risk a default, he said "I did blow it up, in Minnesota."

Michele Bachmann : "I. Will. Not. Vote. To increase the debt ceiling. I'm Michele Bachmann, and I approve this message."

Frankly, I don't think that anyone other than one of these three has a chance at winning so I am not going to inflict the rest of them on you.

Grey Lady Down?

Booman Tribune ~ Wanker of the Day: Maureen Dowd:

"Five seconds it took me to verify what I already knew. That's five seconds that Maureen Dowd could not bother to invest to make sure she doesn't look like a complete idiot. That's five seconds that no editor invested to check the integrity of Dowd's work."

Man Bites Dog - TSA Pat Down Edition

Colo. woman accused of groping TSA agent in Ariz. - Yahoo! News:

"PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities say a Colorado woman who allegedly groped a female Transportation Security Administration agent at Phoenix's international airport is facing a felony count of sexual abuse."

Rebekah Brooks arrested - Who is next?

Rebekah Brooks arrested over phone-hacking allegations | Media | guardian.co.uk:

"Rebekah Brooks has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World and allegations that police officers were bribed to leak sensitive information.

The Metropolitan police said a 43-year-old woman was arrested at noon on Sunday, by appointment at a London police station.

Brooks, 43, resigned on Friday as News International's chief executive. She is a former News of the World editor and was close to Rupert Murdoch and the prime minister, David Cameron."

Is Herman Cain This Stupid?

Herman Cain: American Communities Have The Right To Ban Mosques | TPMDC:

"'Let's go back to the fundamental issue,' Cain said. 'Islam is both a religion and a set of laws -- Sharia laws. That's the difference between any one of our traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes.'"

Herman Cain another day.

Cain continued, “This is my point. If you take an oath on the Qur’an, that means you support Sharia law. I support American law. Our laws were derived from principles that are biblically based. Maybe not said in the same words that are in the Bible, but our laws are derived from principles based upon the Bible. ”

So ... Christianity is just like Islam ?

Rush Limbaugh - Still An Idiot

Ramadan ... Really?

Geekery - AWR Formatter For Chrome

AWR Formatter 1.6 Released « Tyler Muth’s Blog:

"I made some minor updates to my previously released Google Chrome Extension called AWR Formatter. Enhancements include:
Performance increased by 3x in rendering large AWR reports.
Added new tabs to SQL Popup for Query Plan, Color SQL, and AWR SQL Report

The new options in the SQL Popup expose features of the AWR repository that I don’t think many people are aware of, but I think are really useful."

Things I am Tired Of - "The War On"

Daily Kos has now picked up this irritating turn of phrase as a couple of regular features.

Hate it.

Google+ invites For Sale

Ok, not really for sale but to give away to a good home.

I think I need an email address to do it so if you want one leave me a comment here and/or drop me a line at rob.wolfe@oraclegeeks.com and I will rescue you from the spam filter

Who Would You Listen To About Reparative Therapy?

Bachmann Husband’s Counseling Center Raises Questions - NYTimes.com:

"That stance puts Dr. Bachmann at odds with most mainstream medical associations; a 2007 task force put together by the American Psychological Association concluded that “efforts to change sexual orientation are unlikely to be successful and involve some risk of harm.”

But the American Association of Christian Counselors, which has 50,000 members, supports reparative therapy “on biblical, ethical and legal grounds” for patients “with a genuine desire to be set free of homosexual attractions,” according to its code of ethics. The goal is “heterosexual relations and marriage or lifelong sexual celibacy.”"