"Science" and Wikipedia get my Angry Face

That's right, an official angry face from me.

It isn't SCIENCE that gets my angry face. I rather like science. Science is like... well... logical, you know? I mean how cool is this:

1. You observe a bunch of stuff. Really carefully, so you are sure you saw what you saw.

2. You think about it a bit and come up with a theory that explains ALL (all - read that: all) the stuff you saw.

3. You run it by others who examine your observations and conclusions without bias (oops, the "without" part is a problem for some)

4. If indeed the observations are real, and the conclusion (theory) fits ALL the observed facts, you have a theory that others can work with! Woot!

5. The theory suggests some other things that might be observed.

6. You go and look for those things.

7a. You find them or...

7b. You find they ain't...

8a. So you strengthen the theory and look for more consequences to research.

8b. Or you TOSS THE FREAKING THEORY CUZ IT JUST AIN'T SO.

It takes just one competent, true and contradicting observation to completely and utterly invalidate a theory. You don't hold the theory and say "well yes but..." YOU TOSS IT. And get smart and find a new one to explain ALL the observations. Even if cherished "beliefs" are sacrificed.

I mean, that at least should be SCIENCE right? And it is.

No, my Angry Face goes to "science". The one with the ironic quote-marks around it. And right now that would be the "scientists" who run the scam or strong-arm operation known as AGW or "Anthropomorphic Global Warming", currently going under the politically correct name "Climate Change". Cuz you see, AGW was not cutting it, but everybody agrees at least climate does change. But they don't mean that, they really mean AGW.

I don't care which side of the fence you're on - it shouldn't be a fence. And I'm not going to go into the litany that includes such things as the many scientists who's names were attached to UN reports "proving" AGW, but who claim they DISAPPROVED of the study or were simply not involved at all; the fact that it has become a scientific "Unamerican Activities Committee" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee), a form of Spanish Inquisition that barbecues anybody with dissenting viewpoints or data (which somehow doesn't appear in my description of actual science, above). No - no litany needed.

But you SHOULD know that one cherished source of information you may know and love has been systematically altered to remove long-established scientific climate data, because that data disagrees with the current opinion (well, I certainly can't call it a theory, can I? Since facts are tossed to keep it in play... gotta be an opinion).

And I don't mean in a little way - Wikipedia has had over 5,000 articles changed to remove specific known data, and over 2,000 users banned who tried to do something about it. And all due to one man. A climate "scientist". He's earned the quote marks.

Look here, if you dare. And these are actual occurrences, testimony, etc. You can "believe" them away if you wish. I will confer upon you the status of "Scientist", quote-marks and all, for proud display on your mantelpiece.

http://www.financialpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=62e1c98e-01ed-4c55-bf3d-5078af9cb409

A. Biker

Kick Out The Bums

In the Hindu religion, the universe as we know it is believed to be a grand dream, dreamt by the god Brahma as he sleeps. I think the United States is a dream only kept alive when its people are awake.

To say this "bailout" is a scandal is to call a nuclear bomb a lightbulb. News services report that messages flooding into both houses of Congress are 300 to 1 against the bailout. And here's where "Get Rid of the Bums" comes in. This country was founded through bloody revolution because the people here discovered that their supposed representatives in His Majesty's government in fact did not and would not represent them. They terminated that relationship and put in place a system of representative government.

Folks, you may not have liked many of the positions your senators and congresspersons have taken, but chances are, you could understand how a sizable percentable of that elected official's constituency -- the people who elected him/her, and who he/she represents -- may have wanted that position supported.

This is different.

When, across the boards, in every state and county, and to each supposed "representative", their constituency by overwhelming landslide of actual communication tells their elected lawmaker to NOT do something, and almost as one all these lawmakers go ahead and do it .. well folks, are you a weaker people than those who disconnected themselves from their old and corrupt government and formed a new one? I daresay you've been taught that there's nothing you can do about it.

Perhaps it would take a man on horseback riding through your neighborhood, shouting "The bankers are coming! The bankers are coming!", but (at least in Los Angeles) the horse would probably break a leg in a pothole.

Luckily, you need not take up arms and start shooting redcoats. You do however need to vote, and if the same massive majority who said "NO" and then had "YES" jammed down their throats to stifle them would make one collective decision, you stand a good chance to get this political elitism chastised, and properly respectful representatives in place. And that collective decision is this: THROW OUT THE BUMS.

And who are the bums? Every single congressman and representative who supported, planned. and/or voted for this bailout. Every. Single. One. Set aside your hobby-horse issues and listen up. They don't represent you, they don't represent your neighborhood, your district, your city, your state. You. They don't. They have proved that even when given massive, crushing and clear statement of direction by their people, they "know best" and do what they are told by their handlers, not by those who put them in that job to help the many have a voice in powerful places.

Instead, they have told YOU, me and all of us, collectively, to "talk to the hand".

So, here's what you do, and what you get every adult U.S. citizen you know to do:

1. Register to vote if not already done.
2. Find out if your current state Senators and congressperson votes for this bailout.
3. Vote against them -- literally for anybody else -- if they did, or vote for them if they actively voted against the measure. Vote against them if they abstained (no vote) because again, they grossly non-represented you. You said "NO!"

Now, you can do step 3 more intelligently than picking someone at random, but frankly you will do better by random selection than than by not voting (which they will desparately hope for after, they think, driving you to apathetic non-voting by denying your and our most insistent demand for representation). So pick somebody who sounds a bit humble and that he might be listening, but pick somebody else and Get Rid Of The Bums.

Let's do this by that same 300 to 1 majority. Make it a crushing vote of no-confidence, for that is surely what they have proven -- they cannot be trusted with your voice on the world stage. Take these bleating goats to the slaughter and let's press the "reset" button on our Federal representatives.

Put the word out, now and in the days leading up to the election. About half of them change every 2 years -- so get half now, and scare the living wits out of the other half. And, even if that remaining half then tows the line, let them know that unless they cancel each and every provision of the bailout immediately, they will also be kicked out in 2 years. And make it so.

As a group with a goal -- kicking out the bums and getting your representatives to know their job is to represent your collective voice or else -- you can easily, effortlessly accomplish this.

You can do this. Let's go.

A. Biker

60 Days

Where the hell have I been for the past two months? Was I drafted by a secret government agency to perform counter-terrorist espionage, but then abducted by aliens intent on finding out what makes a biker tick, only to escape when they were too engrosed watching an episode of American Chopper (you know the one, where Paul Jr. is fed up with Sr., and brother Michael is the only one remaining somewhat calm while the inevitable last minute problems threaten the deadline for the build)?

Not particularly.

So, what, then? What kept me away? Well, you know. Eh. Just whatever. Kinda got bored with blogging. Life was plodding along, and bloggable items seemed somewhat scarce. I did advance a rank in my Jiu Jutsu training. But do you really need to know that? Nah.

So why should 60 days go by without anything worth blogging about? How can that be? Am I turning into a couch-sitting version of that root plant made famous in Idaho? Gawd, I hope not.

Actually, we had a nasty leak in the line leading from the house to the sewer, and spent gobs of money figuring out where the leak was and fixing it. In the process, some 3 and 4 foot holes were dug after tearing out some concrete, and we found some very cool old bottles, probably from about 55 years ago when this place was built.

Ok, so this is hardly the biting social commentary I usually write. Gimme a break, will ya? Should I talk about Bush and Kerry? Man, I'm gonna cry for having to vote for either one. I ain't no partisan, so it's up to the candidate, and I'm sure at this point we just have shit for choices.

Overall, Kerry will be a mediocre and unremarkable President who will talk reasonably well. Bush... well, there's more than enough said about him and the current administration. But I am sure that voting for any other candidate is a de facto vote for Bush or Kerry (sorry, ye fans of Green/Libertarian/American Independent/etc. parties).

And it is also around 60 days before we vote one of these schmoes into the office of President of the United States of America. I do think the position is NOT as powerful as the phrase "Leader of the Free World" would make it sound. For one thing, one is not really elected a "leader". One is a leader and does the things of leadership or one is not and can not. No election needed.

I just wish folks would take the few hours of time it needs to study the Constitution of our country just enough, and without party bias, and with a bit of perspective as to what the men who created that document were confronting, so as to understand what those men put in place, and how it should work.

Yeah, there are those who cry the document is outmoded. I think every one such person has a personal, business or political agenda that is impeded by a document that guarantees protection of individual and certain civil rights. In other words, it is outmoded if you can profit by its erosion or destruction.

I think surprisingly few Americans actually know what they should expect from their government and each other. Yet it is only that expectation and insistence on its realization that keeps our country here at all. It isn't guns, Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, police or laws.

How about it -- find a copy of the Constitution without anybody's special-interest annotations or "explanations", and just read it, look up the words in a good dictionary, and decide for yourself what the most basic agreements we live under actually are.

A. Biker

Wireless Rapists

Every day in America (and probably elsewhere) folks bring their wireless portable computers (let's not call them laptops -- I've yet to see one on somebody's lap) to their favorite hang-out joint and hook up to the big internet world. And in most cases, they are mercilessly raped in the process.

But since they don't seem to care, and in fact signed up for the rapage, I can't really pity them. But that doesn't make it a prettier picture. That the rape is to their pocketbooks perhaps makes it more socially acceptable, as it can then be called "business".

T-Mobile and AT&T and others offer these subscription plans whereby you can gain access to wireless hot-spots they've set up. The plans generally run one of two ways: (1) you can pay an hourly rate, something typically like $6.00/hr. If you only need 10 minutes, that's $6.00. If you need 61 minutes, that's $12.00. This is for people who don't need regular use of these hot-spots. For folks who want unlimited access (i.e. when the hot-spot is open and the internet connection is working), you can pay something like $30/month flat.

Wow! That's a good rate! Unlimited use for the cost of 5 hours? Well, hold on algebra-breath; let's do the math here. What are you getting, exactly?

Most of these wireless locations just have your basic vanilla-flavored DSL connection. You know -- the same stuff you get from places like Yahoo/SBC for $29/month or thereabouts. If you have that, and spend $50 on a wireless router, you too can now host a hot-spot that can service something like 100 to 250 wireless computers.

Pretty cheap startup, eh? Now, if you're Boingo or T-Mobile or some such, you approach a likely place of business, cut a deal where you put in the equipment, and provide some minor revenue stream to the business. Now you can list this hot-spot on your web-site and brag about the hundreds of hot-spots you have.

So for the price of your very own DSL line, you can use these hot-spots. Probably very part-time. What a deal! And not only that, but these few hundred DSL lines get thousands of subscribers. That's like have 30 or 40 people each paying the full price of a DSL line, but they get to share the line with their extended wireless family. This is not quite the good deal it seemed to be, eh?

You use a fraction of the bandwidth, have to share it with others, and still pay the price of a personal DSL connection. OK, so there are these little computer gaming places, and often they charge something like $1.00/hour.

And then there's the places that just get it right. They eat the miniscule cost of setting up a wireless hot-spot and then give it away. Now let's see -- I can go to Starbucks and use their hot-spot all I want for $30/month, or go to my local coffee joint and pay nothing. All I want. Either way I'm getting a good cup o' joe, can sit outside and watch the humanoids, and write entries for my blog. Not a tough decision. I happen to be sitting at Swork right now writing this. And paying nothing to use their hot-spot.

So what do these guys have going for them? I mean, why do people sign-up and use these T-Mobile or AT&T services? I think the reason is just that they are visible -- you know they're there. Busineses offering free hot-spot access just don't have the marketing power. The funny thing is, everything the big boys say about their wireless hot-spots is true of the free independent spots -- there is no technical advantage. So all their advertsising could work in favor of the freebies, if people only knew.

There are two beneficiaries of free hot-spots: customers, and the business itself (and even nearby businesses). People will come to the free spot and hang there, and use local businesses for other things because they are THERE. Thus a free hot-spot is a business draw, and this could easily be made obvious to a business.

As the business itself is paying the small overhead for the wireless service, it would make sense for somebody to start a coalition with a very small membership fee collected from the business -- something like $100/year. For this amount, the coalition service could create a web site that makes it easy to find free hot-spots that are members. And could further do some advertising to let people know to come to the site to find the nearby free hot-spots.

Thus all the businesses benefit for very little money. By registering, businesses now get indirect advertising and a kind of visibility they wouldn't otherwise have, which would bring in more customers -- certainly enough to easily offset the cost of the listing service.

Frankly, with the cost of service so low, I think wireless access is kind of like restroom access -- you should just assume it is available because you're a customer of the business. Probably costs the business less than the maintenance of their restrooms!

If you are a wireless user, and you've paid for wireless service at a business hot-spot, would you like to know about local free hot-spots? Would you look for local locations, and try them out?

The only losers are the wireless rapists. And this doesn't bother me.

A. Biker

Ferris Biker's Day Off

Yesterday I suddenly got the idea in the mid-afternoon that it was time to get the hell out of the homestead and motor on down to Venice Beach.

My (way) better half, Silver, agreed. She could get outta the house too.

You know, she's pretty cool. She was already riding her own scooter when I met her umpty-ump years ago, so she's no wanna-be. We gets on our respective noise makers and putt on down the 10 freeway -- about 23 miles, and we're there.

We got messed up looking for parking, and crossed each other up a few times (snarling like tigers) before we chanced on the perfect two-bike spot a half-block from the boardwalk (ok, so it ain't really a boardwalk; it's concrete, but you know -- buildings on one side, beach on the other...)

Just like the Ferris Beuller movie, from there on things were just kinda magical. One mini-adventure after another, you might say.

First off, it was just one of those flat-out perfect Southern California beach days. Sunny, but some clouds, very warm, lotsa people, stuff, things happening all over.

It sure made Silver happy:


We just kinda walked around for a bit. But before long, up rolled the world-famous roller-skating guitar guy in the white turban! And here's where the magic started. He just kinda picked us out of the crowd, and followed along beside Silver, singing and playing a song about a "mysterious lady" (if only he knew... but we won't talk about her getting kicked out of Chile just yet).


Ok, so sure, he ended up hoping to sell us a CD (which he made appear from a leather bag he carried), or a T-Shirt (which somehow appeared when we didn't buy the CD). I only had ten bucks, and didn't want to blow it all right then, and I told him... to which he said "no problem -- I can take credit cards". He assured me one of his leather pouches had a machine for this!

In the end, I gave him the ten spot, and he was going to give me a CD, but I told him to keep $4.00 for the show. He saw my wallet was empty, and had no problem handing over the change. He was totally friendly, and I'd be happy to buy the CD (even the T-Shirt). Silver said she first saw him there on the beach 20 years ago, and he hasn't seemed to have changed. Perhaps there's a Dorian Gray-like picture someplace?

A bit later we hear this rhythm thundering from the beach, and see a large crowd of people.

This is like, crazy stuff. We walk out there, and there must be 30 to 40 people on various drum instruments there on the sand, in a large circle. Even more people are dancing every kind of dance you can imagine, but mostly just grooving to the beat.


Everything from full-on drum kits to congas and more. And these guys are just wailing the most intense 4-beat with tons of sub-rhythm.


Surrounding the circle of rhythmists are people -- onlookers like Silver and myself, just enjoying the sound and the dancing.


After that, we walked around a bit, and again we were picked out from among the hundreds around us by a lady who asked me if she could get my opinion.

"Sure... on what?" I asked.

"Well... that's the point. You see, its for a video documentary on something, and we don't want to tell you what it is until we start the interview."

"Ummm...," says I.

"It's something we want to know if people know about. Something people are doing that could be hurting them."

"Well... ok."

"You have to sign this release first."

I sign. Several other people appear -- a cameraman, another lady, and a tall guy who is introduced to me as "the producer". Everybody is quite friendly.

Then they begin by asking me, "What is BDSM?"

For those who don't know, that's "Bondage, Discipline Sado-Masochism". They were hoping to get a funny reaction, or something juicy or whatever. Anyway, I gave them a good interview -- had them laughing several times (like when I told them about spanking small animals). Who knows if it'll air? They got some good footage, and I had a good time.

We walked more, saw interesting and strange people and acts of "art". Had some great nachos, and just had a strange and wonderful Day Off. Nothing to bitch about.

A. Biker

Addicted:Bill Gates

Today somebody called me a workaholic. This is bullshit, cuz there ain't no such thing.

First of all, what is it with sticking "-aholic" after anything that somebody might want to do a lot of? The implication is that one is addicted and can't stop. Obviously a bona fide alcoholic has got a problem, not only because he can't stop, but because of the effects of the alcohol on his body, his mind, his family, etc.

So what's really going on when somebody says you're a <non-damaging activity of choice>-aholic? I think you're talking to somebody who is a bit concerned that you just might succeed. And that would be very bad.

You know, there's always somebody around who's only too happy to tell you how you need a vacation, cuz you're stressed out? I don't know about you, but usually I've seen this said to somebody who had only a (valid) upset of the moment, and our weasel-like friend takes the oppourtunity to imply the guy is always on that edge. When you say that to somebody who is currently upset, it can have enough impact to fool the poor sucker.

I'm sure working is bad for you. I mean, Bill Gates is obviously a workaholic, and what did it ever get him? Oh sure, you can point at the 50,000 square-foot mansion, the tens of billions in ready cash, the fact that when he speaks many thousands shut up and listen. But what, really, did all that work get him?

When you put it that way...

A. Biker

Trailer Trash Tax Break

The other day my girl said to me, "if the government gets income tax for a big gambling win, then how come the cost of gambling isn't deductible?"

Damn good point. Maybe you have to be a professional gambler for this to make sense, but if you stick a few bucks into that car-sized slot machine and win a million bucks, you'll go "pro" about 2 seconds later, right? So those few greenbacks you stuffed into the machine would be your business expense, right?

But what about all those ass-crack-showing guys, ladys with way-up-there hair and flocks of white-haired grandmothers who sit in front of their staked out slot machines or video poker machines 8 hours a day, 7 days a week? Don't these hard-working, infinitely patient salt-of-the-earth folks deserve a little break for their tireless efforts to get the jackpot that will finally allow them to realize the American Dream?

Look, if I keep a log of each time I used a vehicle for business, and where I went, why, mileage, etc., I can get a tax deduction for every mile. So why can't those dedicated souls sipping on well-diluted highballs and risking repetative motion injuries simply keep track of the number of quarters, what casino, even which machine they fed?

Let's see, of course they'd have to note down all the money the machines dribbled back at them, but let's face it - the net odds are with the house, and while those frequent short paybacks keep you going, in the end most of us wind up with an empty little bucket where once shined a promising pile of silver-toned, presidentially-facetted disks. Should we get nothing for our well-intentioned effort? Nay, say I!

Like any business, the vanilla-flavored low-effort gambler is an asset to the local economy. Heck, Nevada has few taxes because of the contributions of these modern-day prospectors.

With a rented Ford instead of a mule, and camera replacing the pick-axe of yore, like their symbolic forebears (those bewhiskered, drunken, brawling, dirt-encrusted desert rats so fondly portrayed in film), these valiant, hardy individuals go forth boldly every day, not to some dusty hole to blast and dig out tons of dirt and rock to find maybe a few ounces of precious metals, but to an uncomfortable stool before noisesome contraptions with painfully blinking lights in a room decorated with Anna Nicole Smith's idea of rococco luxury. And what do they get for their figurative tons of blasted rock? Usually not even so much as those few pebbles of silver or gold the prospector hoped for.

Toiling without pause (except for the $6.95 all-you-can-eat buffet in The Cajun Lounge), these bastions of society put the food on the plates of thousands of casino workers who'd otherwise be wandering the streets or working at sandwich shops.

All I'm saying is give these poor working people some hope! Break up the dull roar of their days, so filled with the false promising plink, plink, plink of the five dollars they "won" after putting in seven. Set a bright spot into the darkness they see every time they look at the ever-shrinking amount in their wallets! Give them just a tiny bit of their due, so long worked for but hardly if ever realized.

I say tax the rich winner, yes; but spare to poor loser, who is so much more in abundance. Don't make them pay for their all-too-typically fruitless efforts! Don't yank away the brass ring they grasp for just as they reach out for it!

From the Indian gambling casinos of California to the glitz-encrusted palaces of Atlantic City, I say to you, LET FREEDOM RING!

Oh, and I'll have more of the all-you-can-eat breaded shrimp, please.

A. Biker