BunkBlog

With regard to the new TSA screening rules, they have this to say, implying that they are addressing weaknesses that caused the 9/11 attacks:

Legislation requiring that checked luggage be screened was passed in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in which four commercial jets were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing about 3,000 people.

Um, there weren’t any bombs in the luggage, folks. The planes were smacked into skyscrapers. Again we have new security measures that do not in any way enhance security. Great.

Silly rules

• Don’t park too close to buildings, although there have been no instances of carbombs at U.S. airports in legal parking spots anyhow. (The legal parking spots have never been close enough to the terminals to cause major damage.)
• Don’t lock your bags, although bombsniffers and normal security already covers bombs there (i.e., if you aren’t on the plane, neither is the bag).
• Don’t overpack, yet we’re reducing the definition of “oversized” by 25 pounds.
• For months, no curbside check-in was allowed. Did Al Qaeda use skycaps? And, if curbside check-in was a security hazard, why is it now allowed again?
• Only ticketed passengers in the terminal, because the planes are vulnerable behind those blast doors or something.
• Don’t profile passengers, because that’s offensive. Instead, make the 90-year old woman take off her orthopedic shoes to check for explosives. Smart use of resources.
• Don’t allow armed pilots, because completely defenseless people are our best security?

Can you tell I’m a little amused by the bizarre logic behind the Transportation Security Administration? It ranks right up there with the silly ritual upon check-in when the ticket agent asks you if you have let someone else play with your luggage. Gee, there was this charming gentleman in a bernoose who watched it while I went to the restroom.

If you are thinking of emailing me to ask for a userpic, maybe you should email someone else on the volunteer team. I’m the only one to have listed a completed request since late October, and only did one then. It was another month earlier that anyone else did some. I like to help, but c’mon! Email or somebody!
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Southwest Airlines, one of the few profitable ones, sucks. OK, so this is the first time I’ve flown SWA that I can recall, but this sample of one is pretty bad.

Supposed to leave Tucson at 7:50, the plane we had was given away to another flight, and we would be delayed until 10 for a repair to a new plane. That repair was canned, and we were rerouted to another flight, going through Vegas. Finally arrived 5 hours late. And, what is with the “open seating” thing on SWA? That’s annoying as hell. People wandering around the plane like bums on a bus – “Is that seat open?”

At least I had time enough to recon my meeting location for tomorrow. Should be 7 minutes to get there, with traffic likely to be 30.
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Women – they come from a Drying Planet

DPRK protests missile seizure as piracy – if they didn’t think they were doing something wrong, why were the SCUDs hidden under layers of cement bags? Looks like smuggling, smells like smuggling…
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Ben and Jerry’s Festivus will not be released this year. Oh, woe is me!

current_mood: disappointed

I got a call from a headhunter on Tuesday, talking about a one-year contract position here at the same compound I currently toil in, for 15 grand more than I make.
Today I got a call from the HR guy from another competitor here in the compound, and he was talking about 5 grand more than I make now, for a permanent position. This position, I’ve been told by the GS dude above us all, pays normally 17 grand more than my salary.
Meanwhile, TRW (current employer) has made it clear they plan to give me a decent raise this year, probably to the point that the competitor is offering (+5). Gee, I would change companies and all that involves and make no more money? duh

When I first came to TRW, fresh from 12 years in the army, they offered me what I thought was a decent salary, but a little lower than I’d hoped for. The next employee that got hired (with considerably less experience than I had) got paid more than me. And, as you may know, raises at the end of the year are percentages, not dollars. So, if I get 4% and newbie gets 4%, he still ends up ahead of me, with my longer experience and even longer experience with TRW itself. Hmmm… Doesn’t seem right, does it? TRW, for those not in the defense industry, has been infamous for being a cheap-ass company.
Now, after nearly two years (damn, it’s been that long?), I’ve got two offers on the table. Neither is solid yet, though. The Government guy that is the intell boss here told me how much the competitor (NG) is paying, and I should not sell myself short, as I did with TRW.
In the two years I’ve been here, I’ve proven time and again my ability to get shit done, accurately and ahead of schedule. The NG guy who recommended me for the position has a few months less experience at the testing center, although he was in the army 18 years longer than I. He gets paid about 17 grand more than I make, and when he worked for TRW never produced a single document or conducted a successful test. I, on the other hand, have produced dozens of documents and successfully tested a few elusive systems, covering two different intelligence disciplines. And NG offers me 5 grand?
TRW has done everything short of waving a flag at me to tell me that I’m getting a good raise this year. I figure I’ll end up with the same salary that NG is offering, but without pissing anyone off by changing companies. If not, the contract position pays a lot more. Yeah, it’s only for a year, but figure the odds that I won’t get a permanent position at the end of that time. And with an extra 10 grand, I think I could afford to take time off to find work. 🙂
So, more about the bizarre politics of defense contractors than you probably need to know. Have a day.
current_music: The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping
current_mood: contemplative

While we stare unflinchingly at Hussein, with our secret confirmation that he’s lying, what should be happening around the world?
North Korea is restarting its breeder reactors and telling the UN to fuck off.

But, let’s worry about Iraq, they’re much more dangerous. Oh, and that promise to Afghanistan that we’d pick up the pieces after we blew up their country? We’ll think about it.

Gotta love international politics.

Shamelessly ripped off from :

According to the latest Afrobarometer, there’s a growing nostalgia for the days of apartheid in South Africa.

The rise in pro-apartheid sentiments among blacks could reflect both the growing income inequalities within South Africa’s black community — where many have actually grown poorer since the end of apartheid — as well as difficulties in dealing with government bureaucracy.

Surprisingly, even the number of blacks who can think of positive elements of apartheid has grown. 20% of blacks (contrasted with 65% of whites) think that the country was run better 10 years ago.
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The radio the other day had an entertaining piece about bad presents. They started with lists of things to never get for men/women, then asked for examples of other things not on the lists.

So, LJ friends and strangers, I ask you:

What is the worst present you have received from a close friend or relation?

Of course you get bad presents from people who barely know you, but folks that should know better sometimes give you crap. What’s a good one from your past?
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current_mood: curious

My Palm seems to be dead. I’ve tried changing the batteries, recharging the batteries, soft resets, hard resets, everything short of “really hard reset” (i.e., throwing it at a wall), and it refuses to wake back up. This is after 7 months of increasingly erratic behavior, including random resets, data loss, etc. I’m not too surprised that it died, I just wish I could afford a replacement. <sigh>
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That is all.

I realized it’s been a while since I posted this link. It’s to my Amazon wishlist, filled with all kinds of things I’d enjoy receiving.

If you just want to get some stuff for yourself, you selfish person you, check out the store, with wacky designs for any occasion.
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current_mood: tired

Proving that the Defense Information Systems Agency doesn’t have a monopoly on boneheaded IT stuff, I have the following tale to entertain one and all.
Just got an email telling me my password to a site with the Navy is due to expire soon. I go to the site, type in what I think is my password, and find that I have totally forgotten my password to this site. Go to the FAQ to find out how to retrieve the password, and I’m told to contact my registrar, who is listed on a linked document. That document, as you may have guessed, requires my password to access. Huh? “Don’t have your password? Well, just type in your password and we’ll give it to you.” Bright folks, wonder if they ever tried following their own instructions…

current_mood: annoyed

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. – Kierkegaard

Check out my cool flyer. Feel free to print it and plaster it around your local area. 🙂

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Britney likes girls – Britney Spears has the hots for Jenna Jameson, porn star.

Feds cancel TIPS program – TIPS being the system where you were supposed to narc on your neighbor.

Disney bans Palm – standardize on Blackberry or iPaq devices.

current_mood: amused

According to this page, I’m well-suited to living in Kent, Bremerton, and other such dank musty spots about the Puget Sound. Strange that Monterey was not listed in the entire 4 pages of other cities, although Athens Georgia was. Like I want to live in the Southeast. Of course, my top 6 listings all had precipitation of 35 inches per year or greater, despite my saying I didn’t seek out rain. The top two are in the Pac NW, despite my saying I would rather not live in the snowier parts of the country. I doubt the veracity of this “predictor” tool…

Just a day after I announced my newest design (North Korean calendar), I got two new orders. Woohoo!

The Store remains open for your perusal. 🙂

The December trip to Hawaii is now in February. To fill the time, I’m going to San Diego for a few days in December, just a week before I go to Minnesota. San Diego, Minnesota…nice dichotomy.