Palestinians of a Jewish origin

Take a look at this.

A Bad Case of Stupid Seems To Be Going Around.

A bad case of stupid seems to be going around. There is an abundance of morons, the supply of idiots seems to exceed the demand. And the worst part of this is that I seem to be exuding the imbecile pheromone in waves.

I know, that seems to be an excessive use of language to expound upon the extreme irritation that I feel. At the moment I want to be the guy leading the villagers to torch the damn castle. Give me a broad sword and a doorway and I swear to you that I none shall pass.

WTF, STFU and a healthy dose of assorted curse words don't begin to properly express the frustration and anger I feel.

I am trying...struggling...to properly explain what set me off, but words fail me. I can't quite get it out in a responsible fashion, so I am going to babble and rant for a moment.

One of the benefits of being a responsible adult is that I recognize that my actions have consequences. I understand that acting in haste and anger does not serve me well. So even though I am dying to tell you in excruciating detail about the company and individuals who are the source of this, I am not going to.

Not yet.

I am not going to because they deserve special attention. They merit the sort of treatment that gives CEOs and shareholders palpitations.

So Mr and Mrs. Stupidhead (five year old insults are great, aren't they) I am notifying you that I have been documenting your actions for quite some time. I notified you repeatedly about these infractions and you agreed that this was unacceptable.

But you have chosen to ignore all of this so I am going to follow through. Your reign of terror is going to end. I am going to take you down a notch or two, myabe even five or six.

And when it is all done, when the dust has cleared we'll probably find that this was completely unnecessary. Just one stupid moment in time, but stupid is as stupid does, and you are stupid heads.

Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well.

What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You

Advertising Age has an interesting article about a study that was conducted about the users of various social networks.

The survey was conducted by Anderson Analytics this past June. It covered a variety of areas and breaks down a number of the social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn.

There were a number of things that I thought were interesting, such as the information about people who do not use the networks:

Contrary to what some might think, people who spurn social media aren't tech haters. In fact, they spend as much time as social-media fans surfing the web. But they say they don't use social media for three basic reasons: They don't have the time, they don't think it's secure or they think it's stupid. While the first two groups -- which Anderson labels "time-starved" and "concerned" -- may be swayed to join eventually, don't hold out much hope for the last group: 94% said they will never use social media.

About 22% of time-starved people said they'll be using social media within three months, and another 27% said they probably will within a year -- when they get the time that is; they're more interested than all others in pursuits such as exercise, entertaining, music and movies.

The concerned non-users are an older demographic (one-third are retired) who don't use social networks because they're worried about their privacy. However, they do recognize value in social media and may join as they become more comfortable with it.

That makes sense to me. It fits with what I have been told and what I have observed. That is not to say that my experience is going to be applicable in all situations, but...

I avoided using Twitter for a long time because I didn't see the value proposition, but I have long since changed my mind. I thought that the information on that was interesting as well.

This is the super-user group. Twitterers are more interested than the others in many subjects but skew particularly high in all news categories, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion. They also especially like pop culture, with music, movies, TV and reading, ranking higher than average. And their buying habits mirror that. They're more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups.

Twitterers are also entrepreneurial. They are more likely than others to use the service to promote their blogs or businesses. How do they keep going? Coffee, apparently. Some 31% buy coffee online, far above the average 21% of other social networkers.

They're more likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average), have an average income of $58,000, and average 28 followers and 32 other Twitterers they're following. They're not particularly attached to the site, though -- 43% said they could live without Twitter.

Google takes on Windows with Chrome OS

This should be interesting. A little competition never hurts. In any case, I expect that we are going to see some relatively big changes within the next five years.

(CNN) -- Google is jumping into Microsoft Windows territory -- and threatening to change the way personal computers work -- with its own version of a computer operating system.

But why should you care?

A trim and speedy Google operating system, which has been buzzed about online for some time, is interesting for several reasons -- even if you think it could flop out of the gate

The first is that Chrome OS will be available as "open-source" technology. That means software developers will be able to mess with the code behind the system, allowing them to develop new applications for it.

In essence, it puts the users in control.

This wisdom-of-the-masses philosophy flies right in the face of Microsoft Windows, which keeps its code locked away.

The open-source nature of Chrome OS also has led to some speculation that the software will be free, as many open-source platforms are. Google Inc., based in Mountain View, California, hasn't commented on price as of yet, although most of its services, such as Gmail and Picasa, are free.

Second, Google's operating system supports another buzz term in the tech world: cloud computing. That phrase means a bunch of things to different people, but it essentially refers to the idea that a lot of computing can be done through Internet servers instead of on the computer that's sitting in front of you.

Cloud computing, in part, is behind the rise in netbooks -- small laptops that are essentially portals of entry into the much greater vat of information, storage space and computing power that exists "in the cloud."

Google's blog says its OS will be designed specifically to work with netbooks at first. Later versions are expected to target the larger desktop and laptop computer markets.

The OS also probably will partner well with Google's Web browser, also called Chrome. Essentially, the operating system could become an Internet-based experience.

Michael Arrington, co-editor at TechCrunch, says that's a big threat to Microsoft's business, but it may help consumers.

Bruno- Peace Through Pita

Hat Tip: LB

What Are You Doing at 12:34:56 on 7/8/09?

It happens once a century or so they say.

The IDF Did More to Safeguard Civilians Than Any Other Army (video)

Facebook- A Generation Gap

One of the things that I find interesting about blogging is how a seemingly innocuous post can lead to another or a series of posts. When I wrote Let's Marry For Money I didn't have any intention of riffing off of it again. It was supposed to be one and done.

But people plan and god laughs so here is the skinny on how this all happened. CNN linked back to the post which sent a slew of traffic here. I noticed the traffic and went to CNN and saw that a few other people had blogged about the story and decided to check out what they had said.

So I stumbled onto a blog called Kiss and Type where I came across a post that grabbed my attention with the remark below:

I personally wouldn't get involved with someone who didn't have a facebook page. To me it is a huge red-flag. My immediate thought is, "what does this person have to hide?".

It caught my eye because for a long time I didn't bother with Facebook or Twitter or a number of other social media devices. It wasn't because I had anything to hide but because I didn't see the value proposition in them. They didn't offer anything to me other than another thing that would serve as a time suck and since my time is/was so limited I was hesitant to get involved in them.

For a moment I was bit nonplussed by all of this and I found myself shaking my head. It seemed so obvious to me that this was a silly line of thought on her part. But when I stopped to think about it I realized that there are some dramatic differences between us.

She is 24 and single.

I am 40, married and have two kids.

On a side note in our youth obsessed culture I have to acknowledge that I don't like the way that it looks. I may be 40, but I don't feel 40. I still see myself as a twenty something year old guy, but I digress.

Anyhoo, it occurred to me that maybe there is a Facebook generation gap. Now I am cool with there being a generation gap between my kids and I, that makes sense, it is natural.

But am I really old enough to say that there is a generation gap with the twenty somethings of the world? Well I guess that the answer is, sort of.

If I wanted to list my old man credentials I could point out that I was born just prior to man walking on the moon, no smoking sections were the equivalent of being environmentally friendly and people who thought that Pet Rocks and Lava Lamps were cool. Ok, I still like Lava Lamps, but I digress.

We didn't have call waiting, answering machines, cell phones, a PDA referred to affection between two people and hip hop was something that frogs did. In fact we didn't have roller coasters, when we wanted excitement we just flung ourselves off the top of a cliff and bounced our way down the side of the mountain.

I grew up in a world in which cleveland hadn't won a sports championship and was made fun of. Ok, some things haven't changed. Sorry Ezzie. ;)

What can I say, it really does feel strange, but if Facebook disappeared I wouldn't notice. And I certainly wouldn't be surprised to hear that someone didn't have a Facebook page because about a third of my friends still don't.

It is a different world out there now.

Let's Marry For Money

Ahh young Jessica Wakeman, you are entitled to your opinion even if it is childish, garbled and moronic. I can't decide if I am bored enough to have all of the fun that I could have with this...Let's play for a moment or two.

(The Frisky) -- There's a new book out called "Smart Girls Marry Money: How Women Have Been Duped Into the Romantic Dream -- And How They Are Paying For It," by Elizabeth Ford and Daniela Drake.

Forget for a moment that they annoyingly refer to grown women as "girls" in their title and check out their thesis: because, for a variety of reasons, men earn more money than women, it's a wise move to marry someone who can provide for you and your family.

I find it funny that someone who thinks that it is annoying to call grown women girls can turn around and say that she wants to marry for money.

I haven't read the book, so I have no idea if it is filled with sexist swill or not. But just reading Newsweek's article about the book, it sounds like pretty sensible advice to me.

Before you get upset, I will acknowledge a bunch of things that I know to be true: yes, women earn less than men for a lot of sexist reasons and that discrimination must stop. Yes, mothers get "mommy-tracked" and their careers are stalled. And of course there are all kinds of misfires to the "marry rich" idea, such as the rich guy who is an a-hole. But that doesn't change the fact that marrying a man with money can be a better idea than marrying someone who is broke.

A bad match is a bad match regardless of finances. It might sound like it is easier to marry someone who has money, but if you don't click the cash won't matter, unless you really are shallow.

Take me, for instance. I'm afraid I'm going to get tarred and feathered as a "bad feminist" for admitting this, but yeah, I do want to marry someone who can financially support both me and our kids.

I get the feeling that you don't know what side you want to take here.

I'm not ashamed to "marry for money," if that's what would you can even call it, because I don't fundamentally believe it is the "man's role" to provide for women.

So does that mean that you intend to earn enough to support the family. Would you support a husband who wanted to stay home and raise the kids.

My actual motivations, as I see them, are pure enough. I know of great guys out there -- journalists, teachers, non-profit dudes -- who will probably make great dads. But I personally wouldn't pair up with them because, realistically, our two salaries together just wouldn't be enough to cut it for what I want out of life. But, but, but, "Bank accounts shouldn't matter at all!" And while I agree with that in theory, sorry, a man who can provide for me and our children is just much more attractive to me.

Why not just have the intellectual honesty to do away with the fake apology. You have expensive taste and you don't want to have to give it up.

Bank accounts -- and debts -- do matter. And acknowledging that doesn't make me a gold digger akin to Anna Nicole Smith -- it makes me smart.

Nah it just proves that you are young and inexperienced. There is so much more to a relationship than a bank account.

Right now, I rent an apartment in New York City (not cheap) and pay all my own bills myself. But I'm living at the edge of my own means as it is. I don't make a lot of money as a journalist, I owe lots of money to student loans and unless my future husband or I had a great job prospect someplace else, I don't want to live outside New York City, or very far from NYC, because that's where the media capital of the world is right now.

It seems a bit hypocritical this position of yours. You can barely survive on your own. You hope to maintain residence in one of the most expensive cities in the US while simultaneously maintaining lifestyle that you can't currently afford on your own. You're fooling yourself.

Maybe this isn't "feminist," but logically, I need to marry a guy who makes more money than I do -- preferably a lot more money than I do -- for us to be able to afford what I want and I hope he will want, too. An apartment big enough for kids, prenatal care, doctors appointments, birthday presents, vacations, summer camp, college, their own car, all that stuff.

You don't have a clue how much all that costs and how quickly a decent salary will disappear. But if you have any sense you'll adjust your expectations like most mature adults.

I know parents can raise children well on much less. But personally, that's not the lifestyle I grew up with. I want to be able to give my children everything I had -- maybe a little less, maybe a little more -- because I think my parents did a great job.

Stop apologizing. Own this or give it up. You grew up with money and can't imagine what life would be like without it. Well, the beauty of life is that it has a way of providing its own education.

We all had hopes and dreams that we had to adjust to the reality of the day. So many things can happen that are beyond your control. One catastrophic accident can send your world spinning.

But let's ignore that and get back to the real point here. The worst advice anyone can give another is to marry for money. Money doesn't buy happiness or love and without those two items marriage is a waste of time.

Most Popular Posts

Now that we are half way through the year it is time for a look at the most popular posts. This is based upon the various stat checking services we use:

The Duggar Family Revisited
War in Gaza Update #16
Want to Boycott Israel
The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants
Besheret- The Concept of Meeting the Perfect Mate
What Are Your Favorite Song Lyrics?
A funny email about anger management
Weird Signs
No! No! No! Eye Tattoos Are Out

This really isn't much different from the unscientific analysis we conducted here.

Here is a short list of keywords that were used to find this joint:

stairway to heaven backwards
Pesha Rachel
Don't You Forget About Me
Be Safe In Your Travels
Johnny loves June
how to write a professional blog
How to name a blog
how to win a woman's heart
how to hardboil eggs
Duggar family
favorite song lyrics
crazy little thing called love

This deserves more commentary, but I don't have time now.