Prosthetic Lips: Obama stokes fear because it's good for business

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/01/14/obama-gun-lobby-stokes-fear-because-its-good-for-business/

How about we turn that article title around?

Obama stokes fear because it's good for business

I'm sure the Lame-stream media would be up in arms with me taking a perfectly good scare headline and turning it to my own use.  But I'm trying to make a point -- you can say whatever you want, but just because you publish something doesn't make it any more or less true.

Blaming Sandy Hook on guns is just deflecting the true problem.  This gunman didn't kill people just because he happened to find a gun (or several), he killed people because he was mentally deranged.  Sure, he had some high-powered weapons, but he could have killed many more people with some household ingredients turned into a bomb.  The gun (or even type of gun) doesn't kill someone by itself; it takes a human to plan, to aim, to carry out the murder.  And that's what it was, not "a gun incident" or "a shooting" -- the gunman shortened human lives.

Next, Biden turned to "violent video games."  Is there nothing that didn't cause this?  How about milk -- maybe the gunman was lactose intolerant?  Sun spots?  The fear of a meteorite crashing into the Earth?

Yes, I'm being funny by setting up straw men (I think I've heard it called "ad absurdem"), but trying to blame one simple cause is yet another logical fallacy -- causal oversimplification.  You can't just say, "guns are bad" because a few morally depraved people use them for evil purposes.  Using a gun for evil purposes is just the same as using ANYTHING for evil purposes.

Even logical fallacies.

PS3 LV0 keys released?  Awesome.

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CURVE_TYPE = 0x33

EPCOT Food and Wine Festival 2012

No, not a rant today, either.  Just some "wine" (haha, "whine," get it?).

I've gone to the Food and Wine festival twice so far this year, trying several things -- trying to "eat my way around the world."  Unfortunately, I've gotten older and can't put it away like I used to!  Anyway, here are my hits and misses of what I've tried so far -- more to come later, still 3+ weeks left!

Destinations	Dish	Impression
Terra	Chili Colorado	Very tasty and a good texture; would not have guessed it was meatless!
	Silk Berry Smoothie	Horrid. It was basically just Strawberry Silk in a glass (maybe it was too warm? If so, they should not have sold it to me). It upset my stomach.
Caribbean
Argentina
Australia
Mexico
Scandinavia
China
South Korea
South Africa
Cheese
Brewer's Collection
Germany
Poland	Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie	Awesome, flavorful and filling.
	Zapiekanki	Pretty dry and bland (mainly bread with a very thin layer of "stuff")
Italy
Fife and Drum
Hops and Barley
Florida Local
Japan
Singapore	Beef Rendang	Very good. I'm not a fan of coconut, but this was good -- a little heat, but not overpowering.
Morocco	Merguez Sausage	Very good. The sausage was mildly spicy, but good with the pita.  The pita was oversized, I ate about 1/3 of it with the sausage.
	Baklava	Awesome. They didn't skimp on the honey (or whatever sweetened it), it made a great "sweet" for a dessert.
New Zealand	Lamb Meatball	Good.  The lamb was good, and the tomato chutney was a nice complement to it.
Belgium	Truffles	Not worth it, this is just a package of truffles you could buy in the store.
France	Coq au Vin	The chicken was good, and the sauce/gravy was very flavorful. The macaroni was weird as a "bed" but it went with the overall dish. The attitude was just what I expected from France (a tad snotty / impatient), really added an authentic flair to the experience!
Ireland	Warm Chocolate Lava Cake	Should be "scalding," not "warm." Had to let it cool, but it was great!
Canada	Wild Mushroom Beef Filet	Definitely on my list of "must try." Le Cellier is one of the more exclusive dining areas in EPCOT, and this dish shows it off very well.
Greece	Chicken Souvlaki	This was good, but nothing more than what I expected. The smells from this booth definitely draw you in!
	Spanakopita	This is a "spinach pie."  Very good, cheesy (feta, I believe), exceeded my expectations. It looks a little unappetizing, but good nonetheless.
Desserts and Champagne	They offer a "try all 3" -- I'd recommend it!	Yogurt Panna Cotta - this was very fruity and good
		Lemon Custard Verrine - also very fruity, but nothing surprising
		Dark Chocolate Mousse with Chili and Salted Caramel - yes, Chili ... it started as just chocolate, and then the heat built up slowly. Really confused me! I think I liked it, but it was more of a novelty of having the spicy and chocolatey tastes together (I'm such an American, eh?)
Hawai'i	Pork Slider	Very good BBQ, the pineapple chutney was unexpectedly good.
	Tuna Poke	Very good; I had this last year and it was much the same. Sushi-grade tuna (several thick chunks) are set against some pickled seaweed. As with the breads, I threw out half of the seaweed, it thought the ratio was a bit off (for me).
Craft Beers

You'll notice that there were no wines or beers on my list. I'm not a big drinker, and go more for the food than the wine/beer. However, there were several groups (with shirts!!) that were drinking their way around the world. From their enthusiasm, they were having a great time!

I'll update the list as I return, instead of trying to make separate posts.

Ok, being mostly computer literate, except when I have a brain-fart (wait, can I say that on the blog-o-sphere?), I was perplexed by my computer's behavior.

Firefox (browser of choice, thank you Ad-Block): The close, maximize/restore, and minimize buttons were hidden by a weird half-covering. No extra toolbars (I checked), no weird extensions, etc.

Internet Exploder (I think I'm running 8.something): No real definite visible change.

However, every so often, I'd get a pop-up window, in whatever browser I had open. Strange. The first time, I wondered if I had clicked on a Google result that had been taken over. No, I went back, and it was fine.

Then, it happened enough times that I was getting annoyed. The pop-ups didn't happen so fast that I could barely close them. To me, this is actually pretty smart; if the computer is unusable, a non-techie just shuts it down, and gets someone to fix it. Spyware / malware / virus eliminated, no more income for the scumbag. However, for this one, if I were a non-techie, it didn't happen frequently enough that I would have thought too much about it.

So, I started doing some searches for this, and when I went to certain sites, I didn't get the actual site, but some advertisement. I could click on Google to get the preview window, but when I tried to bring up the site, it was an ad. Now, remember, these sites were all about different virus / spyware problems, so the spyware / malware / virus may actually be smart enough to detect this. I don't know, and I don't care at this point.

So, I run my anti-virus (which is always resident anyway, but I give it another chance). Nothing found. Grr.

Run Ad-Aware, always there for me, to find stuff like this ... Nothing. Double-grr.

Ok, Spybot Search and Destroy ... oops, it's not installed yet (did a full re-install several months ago, must have missed that one). Run the scan, and, "Ooooh, that's a BINGO!" (if you recognize the quote, give yourself 100 internets).

I don't know where I picked it up (I normally run anything that MIGHT be a problem in a VM, so if it infects something, it will only be around until it shutdown that VM, which I have setup to reset the VM back to the last snapshot). I guess I was lazy this time, or didn't realize the risk.

Bad me. But good Spybot S&D -- usually between it and Ad-Aware, they catch everything I've been tagged with.

Hey, no rant today, in honor of Earth Day. Instead, I'm "recycling" an old song by creating a parody! This is sung to the tune of _Pinball Wizard_, by The Who.

Yes, it's still a work in progress -- I don't really like the JROTC bit, but haven't found a better phrase, and didn't want to offend anyone with "deaf, dumb, and blind." Or have Pete track me down and beat me senseless for stealing even MORE of his lyrics.

I also don't like the "flinger" part, but it's better than it was (trust me, you don't want to know).

Ideas to make it better? Leave 'em in the comments.

_Angry Birds Wizard_
Music (c) The Who, Pete Townshend, et al.
New Words (c) 2011 Prosthetic Lips

Ever since I was a young boy
I've played on my iPhone
From Angry Birds to Bejeweled
I'm always sure to pwn
But I ain't seen nothing like him
in a crowd or all alone
That Junior ROTC kid
Always bring the birds home!

He walks like a zombie
Keeps shuffling his feet
He's always looking down
Even walking 'cross the street
Sees by his peripherals
Sunglasses? Obsolete
That Junior ROTC kid
Always bring the birds home!

He's an Angry Bird wizard
He really is a flinger;
An Angry Bird wizard
With an awesome index finger.

How do you think he does it?
(I don't know)
What makes him so good?

Ignores all distractions
Like, Timmy's in the well?
Or the cute girl in homeroom
Or even that funny smell
Never tilts at windmills
Even when they're made of stone
That Junior ROTC kid
Always bring the birds home!

I thought I was
Pretty good against those pigs
But I just handed
My bacon kilt to him

Even on my favorite level
He can beat my best
Starts flinging those birds around
And gravity does the rest
He goes crazy tappin', tappin'
And the pigs they start to moan,
That Junior ROTC kid
Always bring the birds home!

She's back...
In a previous post (how many years ago was that?), I was listing artists that had fallen off the face of the earth. One of them was Miss Angie, or Angie Turner for those "in the know."

Boom! She puts out some demos, a short album, and now has a new recording contract with Transform Group. And, she's recording some songs and talking about a full-length album coming out later this year (2011). Sweet!

For now, follow her on twitter, like her on facebook, or just check out her web page. Give her some love to encourage her, because she looks like she is back for another try at the big leagues.

I know I'm saving my pennies!

erk: C0 CE FE 84 C2 27 F7 5B D0 7A 7E B8 46 50 9F 93 B2 38 E7 70 DA CB 9F F4 A3 88 F8 12 48 2B E2 1B
riv: 47 EE 74 54 E4 77 4C C9 B8 96 0C 7B 59 F4 C1 4D
pub: C2 D4 AA F3 19 35 50 19 AF 99 D4 4E 2B 58 CA 29 25 2C 89 12 3D 11 D6 21 8F 40 B1 38 CA B2 9B 71 01 F3 AE B7 2A 97 50 19
R: 80 6E 07 8F A1 52 97 90 CE 1A AE 02 BA DD 6F AA A6 AF 74 17
n: E1 3A 7E BC 3A CC EB 1C B5 6C C8 60 FC AB DB 6A 04 8C 55 E1
K: BA 90 55 91 68 61 B9 77 ED CB ED 92 00 50 92 F6 6C 7A 3D 8D
Da: C5 B2 BF A1 A4 13 DD 16 F2 6D 31 C0 F2 ED 47 20 DC FB 06 70

And that is all I have to say about THAT.