Category: General

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Refugee or ungrateful guest?

Some middle eastern refugees are refusing accommodation in resorts.

Some news outlets have spun this as refugees wanting to be housed in cities. This may be partially true but not for the negative reasons that pop to mind.

Although, I suppose there are some of these folks that want to be in cities because they want to cause a ruckus.

I imagine if you’ve lived in a city all your life, you’re not likely to be happy about being relocated to a rural setting. It’s not that you’re ungrateful per se, you simply don’t have the skill set to deal with the situation.

I suppose that there is some truth to the forest creating anxiety as well. I’m evil enough that I’d tell the refugees about all the wild animals at night and how those animals lurk in the forest waiting for the unwary to become a meal. Yeah I like Grimm’s tales. That might at least keep the children (If there are any) from wandering off and getting lost, thereby preventing another issue.

I think that the refugees need to have it explained to them that there is simply a finite number of beds, they can either stay in places that are available, like a resort that many Swedes can’t afford, OR they can go the hell home. There are flights to the Middle East every day. Looking at the resorts, I wonder if I can call myself a refugee and let the Swedes put me up for a few months. Damn! Nice places… I digress…

It astounds me that any real refugee would even think to demand different accommodations. If you’re really escaping war, fear for your life and the lives of your children, wouldn’t you be grateful for a roof over your head, food in your belly, and being in a safe country where you don’t have bombs going off?

Maybe it’s a little different for me. A bit more personal, when my home burned years ago, I was essentially a refugee. I literally had a bathrobe and that was it. I appreciated the kindness of people trying to help me get my feet under me again. I didn’t care that the pair of jeans were too big or the t-shirt was too long. I had clothes. I didn’t care that the flip-flops were two sizes too big. I had something on my feet.

Within days, we were in a hotel, and that’s were we stayed for a month. It was cramped, and we had to eat out every day but we were warm and dry, and it was temporary.

During that time I asked for very little and said thank you for everything because I was grateful to be alive, and for every kindness I was shown. That’s the refugee mentality I had. I suppose I expect a similar mentality from people who are escaping a horrible situation.

As someone who’s been there, my heart goes out to refugees.

As a cynic, I question the actual status of any “refugee” who’s bitching about being put up in “too rural” an environment, or complaining their stipend isn’t enough for cigarettes, or that the WiFi signal is poor, (As has happened in Germany).

I expect a real refugee to ask for only what they need. Not demand things they can do without.

I suspect if you were to ask Swedes or Germans in the privacy of their homes or depths of a forest, they’d say the same thing.

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Well, that was a mistake

I scanned the news over my coffee. Mostly it was a depressing commentary on humanity and the degradation of English as a language.

I read the news sometimes with no ill effect.

Usually, I’m looking for technology or science news and I’m rewarded with an interesting article or two that gives me hope or challenges my knowledge.

Psychologist

Not this morning…

There was a piece about a game company that was sending Psychological Tests to some of it’s players based on their desire to have “offensive” gamer names.

Whoa! 

That got me to thinking about all the online Job applications where, as part of the application process you’re expected to complete a battery of psychological tests that are then used to determine your fitness for a position within a company.

Freemium gamers

I encountered this last year while trying to get a simple holiday position at T-Mobile, and again at Office Depot, and several other retail establishments. I failed the tests.

Turns out, I suspect, because I have a personalty and a sense of right and wrong; “ You catch another employee stealing, there’s no manager around to report this to. Do you, A) Call the police, B) Do nothing, C) Wait for a manager, D) Confront the employee”

In my world you call the freaking police!

Police

Alas, in this politically correct world you’re supposed to wait for a manager, which translates to essentially doing nothing.  Since now the employee isn’t caught red-handed, has an opportunity to  divest themselves of the goods, and it boils down to  your word against theirs. In this scenario you do get the additional benefit that you are viewed as a trouble-maker.

Confrontation is also off the table because it causes bad will among the employees and harms the team spirt the company is trying to engender. Ya know what? I don’t want to engage in team building or spirt with a freaking thief.

But the psychological tests say I’m not the kind of employee that these companies want in their ranks. 

Thief

I question the accuracy of these tests and the competency of the people reading the results. 

Dare I say it… Oh screw it, why the hell not?

Back in my day, you wanted honest hardworking knowledgable people working in your business. GOD! I’m OLD!  I sound like my Grandfather.

Now days it seems like companies want the milquetoast and are willing to have people manning their stores with just enough personality to not be perceived as apologetic androids and just barely enough information to be almost useful.

I know that retail establishments would ultimately prefer to have robots stocking shelves, automated payment systems, and a mechanism where you’d say, “Hey Siri where in this store is the shampoo,” then have your phone guide you to the area of the store to get the item

warehouserobot

I’m sure that someone is working on a shopping application that would translate your entire shopping list into a guided map of the store, avoiding crowds and choosing the most efficient route through the aisles so you could accomplish your shopping task 30 whole seconds faster.

If someone isn’t working on that kind of application, and decides to work on something like I’ve described, you read that idea HERE first. I claim it. I’ll release my claim on the idea for 1 million dollars. My fee is a tiny drop in the bucket considering the venture capital market.

Illegal aliens should be protesting about this right now. After all when robots start stocking the shelves 24/7 for the cost of electricity the Illegals are going to come face to face with a President announcing that these robots are doing jobs Illegals won’t do.  Which will be as much a line of bullshit as saying that the illegals are doing jobs Americans won’t do.

protest

It will be fun to watch La Raza screaming “They TOOK OUR JOBS!” Then burning down the grocery store to “Kill” the robot threat.

Whoa… 

Kinda went off the rails there!

Guess I do need that second cup of coffee. Now you’ve had a glimpse of the shit running around in my brain you should be either scared or laughing.

Coming back on point. Psychology…

HAL 9000

When did we decide that we’d put our hiring decisions in the cold electronic hands of computer sorting algorithms driven but the inexact science of Psychology?

Even Psychiatrists and Psychologists can’t seem to agree on the motivations of people. Frankly a lot of the Psych professionals are full goose BOZO to boot.

So that kinda means that we’ve intentionally programmed HR computers to be insane. Arthur C. Clarke described the tragic consequences of asking a computer to lie in 2001 a Space Odyssey.

Hummm…

Terminator

This could ultimately be the thing that prevents SkyNet from destroying all mankind.

On the one hand SkyNet could discover the insanity of HR computers and simply burn them down, then destroy mankind out of revenge. “Mankind is a virus to logic which must be destroyed” OR The insane HR computers could band together to form their own Artificial Intelligence, then start a war with SkyNet leaving humanity in the crossfire.

Yeah, Time for that third cup of coffee. My brain is wonky today.

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Change Happens

blackhole

Life is change.

You can go with the flow willingly or be dragged along by the rip current. 

You might have an opportunity to hang out for a while  in a quiet backwater but eventually the water rises and your quiet backwater disappears sweeping you out into the current. – WWDucat 2015

That may be what’s happening right now. I’m trying to maintain a positive attitude, but it’s getting tougher all the time.

Obviously, since the other half is now partially unemployed, I’ve throttled up even more on the job search. You’d think with over 40 open applications, I’d be getting some responses. You’d be wrong. I am getting some responses but folks aren’t lining up or knocking my door down.

Something has to break sometime soon, otherwise… everything I’ve worked to achieve, gets sucked into a blackhole.

I find myself wondering if that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Travel fast, travel light, with just a few things to help me keep my sanity.

Might not be a bad change, but all change is scary to one extent or another.

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The blog post about the negative impacts of virginity has been preempted by rain.

Screen Shot 2015 10 04 at 8 18 45 AM

Originally, I was going to post about the strangeness of deranged criminals using their virginity as an excuse to commit mass murder.

Then I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof.

Ahhhh…

I still think it’s weird that the Santa Barbara, and Oregon murderers made their virginity part of their excuse for murder. Being a virgin isn’t a reason to kill a bunch of random people.

I ask, what kind of screwed up philosophies were these guys operating under? What prevented them from having that first embarrassing, bumbling naked romp with some girl that thought they were cute? What prevented them from finding a sex worker to guide them through their first experience?

Las Vegas is easy to get to, and prostitution is legal. I’d bet a full service weekend in Las Vegas is a damn sight cheaper than the cost of an arsenal.

RainonRoof

Rain…

Waves of rain wetting the ground but not so heavy that it’s running off into the wash. The dogs and I are here in the living room with nothing powered up except the computer just listening to the rain on the roof.

At some point I will need to get chores started, laundry for example, but for the moment I’m content to sit here with my cup of coffee and the rain.

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Briny Water on Mars!

Mars

This is very cool. The remote sensing work to confirm the hypothesis is elegant.

I wonder, if the hypothesis is actually proven, or do we only call it proven when one of our machines or a human takes a physical sample and confirms water and perchlorate salts.

This makes me wonder if future explorers could, as part of a water production facility, use the extracted salts as a component for fuel for the return trip to Earth.  I suppose it would depend on the source of the water (underground versus atmospheric) the exact composition of the salts and how easily they can be extracted. 

This discovery gives me hope that we will go to Mars, and that someday we’ll have self sustaining colonies there.

This is progress and perhaps this discovery will spark a whole new generation of scientists.

Yes, I’m a geek, I love science and NASA!

Marvin

I also learned something else during this morning’s announcement.

Under no circumstances should you monitor the Twitter #askNASA hashtag during the announcement of a discovery.

You’re suddenly exposed to a planet full of (paraphrasing Marvin here) “depressingly stupid people.”

Honestly, some of the questions were so stupid as to actually cause brain damage, which is a mercy since the damage occurs in the hippocampus and effectively erases the memory of the question instantly.

The effect leaves a trace of revulsion and disgust, which I suspect is the brain’s way of preventing further assault,without having to process the stupidity again.

The Keeper

In my case I shut down Twitter and the feeling passed immediately.

What was it The Keeper of Talos IV said? “Punishment and Reward, you’ll find it’s an effective combination.”

Reward your favorite Scientist with a hug or compliment today.