Day: December 7, 2011

Some Days Aren’t Forgotten

Some Days Aren’t Forgotten:

December 7th, 1941 was the day that a Japanese carrier force launched a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. While demonstrating the power of Naval Airplanes it lead way to the end of the might of battleships. It was the day that ratified the people of this country to join in one of the bloodiest and most costly wars we had ever seen. They fought at home and on foreign fronts for our safety, our rights as individuals, and our freedom. May people remember what happened that day December 7th, 1941, the lives that were lost and the families hurt. May we never forget what happened in that War so history doesn’t repeat itself.

[Indeed.]
Source: Jake Peterson’s Blog

Paypal: feel the love

Paypal: feel the love:

You’ve probably read about (or even felt) the anger over Paypal “stealing money” from Regretsy, which is only the latest in a series of things they’ve done that have pissed the Internet off. I suspect, given the attention this is getting, they’ll fix this. (Unlike them cutting off Wikileaks, this time Paypal is as coming as close to stealing from orphans before Christmas as one can get without writing a Dickens story.) This will quiet down. Then, within six months, they’ll do something else to piss the Internet off.

In no particular order, here’s a few random thoughts.

The key to understanding Paypal is this: Their policies in dealing with their customers are all crafted with the assumption that their customers are out to screw them. It’s not that they don’t want to do business with you, it’s that they don’t trust you. Ever. Under any circumstance. They want your money, but they hate you.

They hate you because in a measurable percentage of their transactions, people are trying to screw them over. As the cliché goes, it’s not paranoia when they really are out to get you.

Except that approaching every transaction with that attitude really is paranoia.

[The Internet is young, and we are collectively stupid for supporting organizations like this. Make sure you read the original post which is linked to in the first paragraph. It’ll make your blood boil, especially if you follow these stories (and toss in the issues folks have had with Google as well). What a mess.]
Source: Coyote Tracks

Harry Morgan, ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Dragnet’ Actor, Dies at 96

Harry Morgan, ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Dragnet’ Actor, Dies at 96:

Harry Morgan, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. His son Charles confirmed his death.

In more than 100 movies, Mr. Morgan played Western bad guys, characters with names like Rocky and Shorty, loyal sidekicks, judges, sheriffs, soldiers, thugs and police chiefs.

On television, he played Officer Bill Gannon with a phlegmatic but light touch to Jack Webb’s always-by-the-book Sgt. Joe Friday in the updated “Dragnet,” from 1967 to 1970.

[RIP. Loved the characters he played. Amazing career.]

On the Impracticality of a Cheeseburger

On the Impracticality of a Cheeseburger:

Waldo Jaquith:

A cheeseburger cannot exist outside of a highly developed,
post-agrarian society. It requires a complex interaction between a
handful of vendors — in all likelihood, a couple of dozen — and
the ability to ship ingredients vast distances while keeping them
fresh. The cheeseburger couldn’t have existed until nearly a
century ago as, indeed, it did not.

Love the Sagan quote at the end.

[While an interesting thought experiment it doesn’t ring entirely true. Sure there can be problems with the seasonality of vegetables, but cheese making would have been a continual pursuit for those who did it. And while animal rennet is certainly most common, there are vegetable used rennets as well. etc. etc. The truth seems closer to “it takes a village” than do it all yourself. Maybe you hot house something, trade for some cheese, and no doubt, pre-freezer slaughtering a cow or a sheep would require multiple families because a single (unless very large) family couldn’t eat the animal fast enough… I try and enjoy each season for what it brings in all senses. The weather, the food, the holidays. So I think the effort to completely raise the entire meal from the ground is cool, much as planting trees to turn into furniture later is cool. But that path is long, and life is fleeting.]
Source: Daring Fireball