Quote of the Day

It's better to be quotable than to be honest.
- Tom Stoppard

Quote of the Day

"There's someone out there for everyone - even if you need a pickaxe, a compass, and night goggles to find them."
- Steve Martin in "LA Story"

Numbers

This morning: 116,1 kg. Lost 1,3 kg since last week. I rock.

Quote of the Day

The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
- Calvin Coolidge

Idiocy all round

A new study by PEW shows that Democrats, even more so than their supposedly more religious counterparts the Republicans, are braindead. The prevalence of ghosts, fortunetellers, communicating with the dead and other such rubbish is about twice as high amongst Democrats as Republicans.

Not surprisingly, "women are also twice as likely to have consulted a fortuneteller or psychic". This fits with personal experience, which is that women are more into fuzzy, feel-good, new age drivel, while men go more for the institutionalized, impersonal major religions. Regardless, it is a sad fact that Democrats, albeit perceived as more "secular" in their policies, are at least as irrational, ignorant and just plain DUMB as the Republicans in their world view.

Quote of the Day

Be not too hasty to trust or admire the teachers of morality; they discourse like angels, but they live like men.
- Samuel Johnson

Quote of the Day

"Truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts."
- Leslie Nilsen in "Naked Gun 2 1/2"

Quote of the Day

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change.
- Frank Lloyd Wright

Quote of the Day

Freedom is on the march!
- George W. Bush

Quote of the Day

We are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow-worm.
- Winston Churchill

Quote of the Day

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to be self-sufficient.
- Michel De Montaigne

Quote of the Day

The successful revolutionary is a statesman, the unsuccessful one a criminal.
- Erich Fromm

Numbers

Weighed in at 117,4 kg this morning - 1.3 kg less than last week. Wheee!

Quote of the Day

Little prigs and three-quarter madmen may have the conceit that the laws of nature are constantly broken for their sakes.
- Friedrich Nietzsche, on prayer

Quote of the Day

Revolutions are not made with rosewater.
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton

I can fly, I can fly, I can flyyyyyyy

Well, not really. But I can DRIVE again! Since my last trip to the hospital on September 29, I have had a ban on driving. Today I finally had a test of my cognitive abilites and I completely and utterly aced it. I circled the right numbers, I put the right pics in the right place and so on and so forth. No more buses, no more driving with family members, and most important of all: No more harassment from colleagues! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Quote of the Day

The longer I live the more I see that I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains that I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time.
- George Bernhard Shaw

Quote of the Day

A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.
- Bert Leston Taylor

Quote of the Day

When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.
- Ursula LeGuin

Quote of the Day

The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It is an invention of civilization.
- Mikhail Gorbachev

Quote of the Day

Don't let yesterday take up too much of today.
- Will Rogers

Numbers

This morning I weighed in at 118,7 kg, down 0,8 kg in a week. Considering that last week contained Thanksgiving and that I (as usual) stuffed my face on goble-goble and associated delicacies, this loss of weight is very good.

Things that make my head go "pop"

Every now and then I come across an article about something so stupid, evil or just plain dumb that it's all I can do not no let my brain explode. In this category neatly falls this article from The Telegraph:
"Pirates terrorising ships in the Indian Ocean, looting and taking hostages, are often given medical checks and fed after being caught, before being sent of their way.

This is also sometimes because although they are carrying guns and other weapons, they have not been caught in the act of piracy and therefore have not technically committed a crime.

More than 340 suspected Somalian pirates have been captured by international naval forces in the last year and subsequently released on the advice of lawyers."

There is an old, proven way of dealing with pirates. It has served the various navies of hundreds of different nations well over the centuries, to the point where it could be claimed to be a custom, nay tradition: HANGING.

There is no earthly reason why any Somali ship's crew should be caught offshore with anything more harmful than a wooden fork in their possession. There is certainly no reason why possessing anything more harmful should lead to an application for asylum, much less the granting of said asylum. This practice of cuddling pirates is just one of the more insane manifestations of our current "humanitarian" policy towards evildoers of all stripes, nationalities and religions (there seems to be a bias in favor of muslims, although that might be just a sample bias if you get my drift).

Hoisting the bastards from the mast would surely send the right signal to other would-be pirates to leave our ships the fuck alone, as would any serious naval effort to blow the scum out of the water. What we're currently doing is insanity, of the liberal kind. We're concerned with human rights and international law, when what's needed is for the civilized world to use its overwhelming military superiority to kill these fuckers and kill them dead.

Quote of the Day

I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.
- Steve Martin

Quote of the Day

Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.
- Honoré de Balzac

Quote of the Day

When you have nothing to say, say nothing.
- Charles Caleb Colton

Quote of the Day

Love: The illusion that one woman differs from another.
- H. L. Mencken

Quote of the Day

A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
- Oscar Wilde

Quote of the Day

The dumber people are, the more surprised they're going to be when you kill them.
- William Clayton

Numbers

I was 119,5 kg this morning. This is the first time since early April that I've been under 120. For the past two weeks I've been exercising - on the bike, some other exercises, 2 kilo weights - taking it slow and easy but at least getting some every day. I've actually been eating quite well, but this exercise regime has worked wonders for my blood sugar levels and digestion.

Quote of the Day

If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.
- Alfred Whitehead

Quote of the Day

I have encountered a few "creationists" and because they were usually nice, intelligent people, I have been unable to decide whether they were really mad, or only pretending to be mad. If I was a religious person, I would consider creationism nothing less than blasphemy. Do its adherents imagine that God is a cosmic hoaxer who has created that whole vast fossil record for the sole purpose of misleading mankind?
- Arthur C. Clarke

Quote of the Day

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.
- Jonathan Swift

Quote of the Day

Man is quite insane. He wouldn't know how to create a maggot, and he creates Gods by the dozen.
- Michel De Montaigne

Fuckin eejits

I don't normally critizise Norwegian affairs on this blog, since most of my readers are Americans, but the development in the Norwegian monarchy these last few weeks has been so appaling I can't keep quiet anymore.

The royal princess, Martha Louise is... how should I put this delicately...

A stark, raving nutter? No, that doesn't do her justice.

A dumb cunt unable to grasp the most basic tenets of science and critical thought? Closer, but still not adequate.

A fucking dimwit, propagating the worst sort of pseudo-religious drivel known to man? Yeah, that just about covers it.

The royal princess made headlines a few years back when she started an "angel school", teaching people to commune with their guardian angels. Now she's co-written a book on the subject, which includes ignorant, dangerous, anti-scientific rubbish like reading auras, healing crystals, other dimensions and of course talking to angels.

Naturally the princess has gotten some bad press, one professor called the book "a solid helping of spiritual quackery". That hasn't stopped it from selling. The publishing house Cappelen Damm, who is putting profits over intelligence is already printing its second edition.

Now, I have a few thoughts about what to make of it all. First and foremost, this is the final nail in the coffin of the monarchy. Norway in 2009 may have a ruling family consisting of a dimwitted crown prince with an uneducated, drug using single mother for his wife, but can we have a princess who is clearly a fuckin eejit? I think not. Let the monarchy die out with the current king and let his braindead offspring WORK for a living.

Secondly, we need to take a long and hard look at our schools. Children now leave after ten years of compulsory education without a basic knowledge of science and critical thinking. We need to give priority to science and to introduce scientific thinking into every aspect of education. We must also abolish the state church and stop teaching religious bullshit in schools. (Notice I don't say we should stop learning about religion as it pertains to culture. It is impossible to read and understand anything of western literature without a basic grasp of our history of ideas.)

Thirdly, we need to do something about the media. They now print any bullshit if they think it'll sell - ghosts, angels, healing, alternative medisin. Editors who are caught printing an uncritical story about the "supernatural" or "alternative" will be hung from the nearest lamppost. This should lead to the shutting down of most women's mags and a radical thinning of most newspapers.

Lastly, we need to start a... for lack of a better word... crusade against stupid, uncritical thinking. The poor, sad fuckers who spout this crap can be divided into two categories: Idiots and con men. The idiots must be educated in science and taught the errors of their ways. If this doesn't succeed they should at least be forced to shut their fuckin' traps and not bother other people. The con men should be shot point blank in the head, and their families billed for the cost of ammo, Chinese style.

Quote of the Day

Life is too short to stuff a mushroom.
- Shirley Conran

Fuck the French

The fuckin' French have made it to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, knocking out Ireland. The final goal came in the overtime period and was the direct result of a HANDS by French forward Thierry Henry. The French, being by nature cowardly, thieving, lying motherfuckers didn't own up and thus won by cheating.

FUCKERS! FUCKERS! FUCKERS!

/rant

Quote of the Day

Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious.
- Oscar Wilde

Quote of the Day

This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Quote of the Day

Basically my wife was immature. I’d be at home in the bath and she’d come in and sink my boats.
- Woody Allen

Quote of the Day

You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, intelligent enough.
- Aldous Huxley

Quote of the Day

I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
- Winston Churchill

Quote of the Day

A rising tide lifts all boats.
- John F. Kennedy

Quote of the Day

Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits.
- Charles Darwin

Quote of the Day

Youth has no age.
- Picasso

Quote of the Day

A lock is better than suspicion.
- Irish proverb

Soldiers' Angels

I've plugged anysoldier.com earlier, now I'm plugging soldiersangels.org. You can adopt a soldier, support their families at home, send care packages, etc, etc. You can even care for military dogs, how cool is that? It's nearing Christmas and although I don't do that particular "holiday", I know most of you do. So how 'bout breaking out yer wallets and donate a few bucks, m'kay?

Quote of the Day

Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.
- Adlai Stephenson

Quote of the Day

I finally know what distinguishes man from other beasts: financial worries.
- Jules Renard

Quote of the Day

Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.
- Milton Friedman

Random blogs

I've run a post on this before... sometimes when I'm bored enough I avail myself of the "next blog" button at the top and just go around cruising for some random amusement. Sadly I mostly end up with Asian teens, American religious nutcases and Spanish artists. Ugh.

Still dear reader, I trudge on through the mud and the foreign rubbish and the nutty ideas to find the few little specks of gold out so that you don't have to. Without further ado I present to you:

* Nell's Big Walk - A blog by an Irish woman walking through Spain. Lots of nice pics.

* There is a Pug in the House - A blog about a cute little pup. Awwwwwwwww.

* Pork & Chocolate - A food lover's guide to New York.

* The Burger Beast - Tons of greasy, fatty, yummy food. Based in Southern Florida, but with reviews from all over.

Quote of the Day

Silence is the virtue of fools.
- Francis Bacon

Yay me!

This is post number 500! Yay me!

Gifts, congratulations and pats on the back welcome.

Kill 'em all

Lebanese terrorist scumbags Hezbollah are trying to ban a new translation of Anne Frank's diary:
"The Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV last week called on Lebanese judicial authorities to prosecute those responsible for the distribution of the book here, blasting its theatrical and dramatic narration in an emotional way."

These fuckers are not just trying to ban books, but are also Holocaust-deniers (while at the same time praising Hitler for Holocaust... no, logic is not their strong suite). Hezbollah holds 11 seats in the 128 member Lebanese parliament.

Just yesterday the news broke that an Iranian ship carrying 500 tons of weaponry meant for Hezbollah had been taken into Israeli custody. If these weapons weren't for use against Israel they would be used against other Lebanese, to further Hezbollah's terror reign in southern Lebanon.

To me it is mindblowing that the US (and Israel) doesn't react to these news. The US has enough firepower on an aircraft carrier group to level Lebanon, and Israel, now that they are again run by an ex-military and not a corrupt cunt can and should commence operations to clear the fuckers out once and for all. If necessary, they should create a barren wasteland, a real buffer zone on the border - wide enough that various Russian made artillery and rockets can't reach Israel proper. If that extends the zone to the Bekaa valley, so be it.

Quote of the Day

The grave is the general meeting place.
- Thomas Fuller

Quote of the Day

A historian is a prophet in reverse.
- Friedrich von Schlegel

Quote of the Day

When you can't say "fuck" you can't say "fuck the government".
- Lenny Bruce

How I Beat The Man

I've just recieved word from the US that my parking citation of $330 from this summer has been rescinded. I was parked in a handicap space, outside a handicap room I had booked, on what I thought was Motel 6 property. The city of Chula Vista (a suburb to San Diego) slapped me with a fine for standing in a handicap space without a valid permit.

I complained, arguing that:
1) I was staying legally in a handicap room. Although I wasn't technically handicapped, I do have a cranky leg with a thrombosis from the diabetes and have found it useful to stay in such rooms.
2) The parking space was right outside my room.
3) I had no reason to think the parking lot wasn't private, hotel property.
4) I had a valid parking permit from the hotel.
5) I would never, ever, EVER park in a handicap space on a public street. I can walk just fine. But when I'm using the handicap ROOM I might as well use the handicap SPACE right outside it.

Today I got a letter saying my complaint had been reviewed and the citation was rescinded. $330 saved and a rare victory for common sense.

Quote of the Day

Ridicule is the best test of truth.
- The Earl of Chesterfield

Quote of the Day

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wheeeeeeeeee

My hometown team has just won admission to the premier league of Norway's soccer system! They played 0-0 in the final game, but that was enough to become number 2 in the 2nd division and winning the promotion. Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

Quote of the Day

Smart girls know how to play tennis, piano and dumb.
- Lynn Redgrave

Quote of the Day

Grace is given of God, but knowledge is born in the market.
- Arthur Clough

Quote of the Day

In war there is no substitute for victory.
- Douglas MacArthur

Quote of the Day

If a person feels he can't communicate, the least he can do is shut up about it.
- Tom Lehrer

Quote of the Day

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.
- Goethe

Quote of the Day

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
- Peter De Vries

Quote of the Day

All words are pegs to hang ideas on.
- Henry Ward Beecher

Quote of the Day

I gloat! Hear me gloat!
- Rudyard Kipling

New favorite artist

Those who know me, will know that I have a deep loathing for 99% of modern music. Rap, synth, hip-hop, techno and the ghastly R&B which contains neither rythm nor blues, but is a catch-all phrase for all kinds of wailing and hollering - I hate it all.

I must admit to being a bit behind the times so to speak. I almost never listen to the radio (I actively turn off music programs) and whenever I watch music on TV it's usually late night classic VH1, where one can be reasonably certain of shelter from modern crap. So imagine my surprise and delight at discovering a fine, young artist who came out with an album as recently as 2007: Amy Mcdonald. Yes, dear reader(s), a mere two years after the release of her first album, I heard one of her songs! Wheeeeee! It was "Mr Rock & Roll" (I wish I knew you before), and the guitar and the singing was spot on - proper, melodic, guitarbased music.

I have since downloaded a few more songs and they're all fuckin' brilliant (I have a vague recollection of having heard "This is the life" before and liking it); this is the kind of music I would be playing if I could play so to speak... She's Scottish (another plus) but sings with something of an Irish accent (wheee!) and eternal love was sealed when I discovered she sang "Caledonia" as a hidden track on her CD. Go ye out and buy, buy, buy if you don't already have. I know I will as soon as I can get to an effin music store (I'm still not allowed to drive due to the stroke).

Quote of the Day

Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.
- Aristotle

Quote of the Day

Good executives never put off until tomorrow what they can get someone else to do today.
- John Maxwell

Quote of the Day

No man is above the law and no man below it.
- Teddy Roosevelt

Quote of the Day

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all.
- Rita Mae Brown

Quote of the Day

Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.
- Pete Seeger

Band of brothers

I saw Band of Brothers for the second time Sunday and today (I have A LOT of spare time, I'm still on sick leave) and it was even better than the first time. Especially the interviews with the remaining few of the original gang are moving to watch. The second world war was the last undeniably "good" war, the last in which there was a good and a bad side for all to see. Now there's all sorts of nuance and gray areas and conspiracy theories and media made ambiguity. Honestly, if the situation arose, I'm not sure most of western Europe could fight anymore, or at least would want to.

The men of Easy company on the other hand, simply did their job. 65 years later we're still in their debt, still thankful for their sacrifice. CURRAHEE.

Quote of the Day

Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward.
- Bill Davidsen

Quote of the Day

To die for an idea is to place a pretty high price on conjecture.
- Anatole France

Quote of the Day

A husband is what is left of the lover after the nerve has been extracted.
- Helen Rowland

Quote of the Day

Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.
- George Eliot

Quote of the Day

The cat could very well be man's best friend, but would never stoop to admitting it.
- Doug Larson

Quote of the Day

It often takes more courage to change one's opinion than to stick to it.
- Geoffrey Abert

Quote of the Day

Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.
- Evelyn Waugh

Numbers

As of Monday I weigh exactly 122 kg. I am using this opportunity to try and lose a few pounds, now that I am at home for a month and can control my eating regime. My blood sugar has been really fine, too.

Quote of the Day

Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so.
- Bertrand Russell

Quote of the Day

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson

Quote of the Day

He is a self-made man, very much in love with his creator.
- Benjamin Disraeli

Quote of the Day

It is better to live rich than to die rich.
- Samuel Johnson

Quote of the Day

A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.
- John Updike

Quote of the Day

The man who has the courage of his platitudes is always a successful man.
- Van Wyck Brooks

I knew it!

This story from CNN says that lettuce, tuna and sprouts are among the top ten foods responsible for outbreaks of illness. I knew those bastards were out to get me!

Quote of the Day

People ask you for criticism but they only want praise.
- William Somerset Maugham

Quote of the Day

The missionaries go forth to Christianize the savages - as if the savages weren't dangerous enough already.
- Edward Abbey

Vacation

For those of you who think I'm on the equvialent of an extended holiday, think again. Today I've had to change the term plans of eight classes to fit my absence. Tests, term papers, everything gets messed up because of the stroke. I'd just as soon NOT have had it, thank you very much.

Quote of the Day

DON'T PANIC
- Douglas Adams
(Written in large, friendly letters on the front of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy".)

Quote of the Day

Modesty is the opium of the mediocre.
- Marty Milner

New Project: Quotes

As some of you will know, I've been sending out quotes daily on ICQ and then weekly on email since Oct 1, 1999 till this summer. Now that I have time on my hands I'm going to start posting them here, one by one. Watch this space!


Quote for Thursday October 1, 2009:

"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."
- Oscar Wilde

Update

Went to the county hospital Monday and Tuesday, then spent the night at the local hospital. Bottom line: They did lots of tests but couldn't find anything. Which probably means the blockage is in veins in the head... so now I'm officially a blockhead.

I'm on a month's sick leave and got TWO months driving ban. Dunno how I'm going to juggle work and busing for that last month, ugh. Was told that I need to rest, which I intend to do to the utmost of my capability. I am simply going to vegetate for the next 5 weeks; watch TV and DVDs, read and catch up on sleep, sweet sleep.

Headcase

Friday, August 28 I had a mini-stroke of some sorts. Being an idiot I have tried to soldier on in the hopes it might get better (which it has, but not enough). Got an MR on Wednesday and it showed some damage, as there are parts of my brain that haven't been getting enough oxygen. I'm on sick leave for now and will probably be ok again, but it'll take some time before I'm back to my usual, sarcastic self.

Going to the county hospital Monday for further check-ups to find out what's causing the lack of oxygen - probably a clot. Could be the heart, could be veins. So have at it in the comments...

Cracking numbers

The effin Red-Green coalition has "won" the national elections and are set for another four years of governing. However, due to Norways electoral system, the opposition gained more votes than the Red-Greens while coming up just short of a majority in Parliament (2 reps). I have calculated the numbers for the whole country as one circuit, and they are as follow (actual election result in parenthesis):

AP (Labour): 60 (64)
SV (Socialist): 11 (11)
SP (Agrarian): 10 (11)

R (Commies): 2 (-)
MGP (Greens): 1 (-)
PP (Pensioners): 1 (-)

V (Liberals): 7 (2) (These poor bastards didn't make the 4% national threshold)
KrF (Christians): 9 (10)
H (Conservatives): 29 (30)
Frp (Populist): 39 (41)

So we see that the Red-Greens would get 81 seats, 83 with the Commies. The center-right opposition would get 84 seats. This result would leave the Greens and the Pensioners holding the balance.