Free Shit Friday - Cole Haan Clogs

Here's today's freebie - clogs from Cole Haan, size 8B.

I love the way these clogs look - especially the stitched detail on the sole. Unfortunately, I have a very high instep, and the ring on the top hurts after just a couple hours of wear. I'm at the point in my shoe fetish where my FABULOUS SHOES must be both FABULOUS and COMFORTABLE, and while I'm sure these would be fine for someone without such a high instep, they just don't make the cut for me.

Here's da rules.

PowerPointless

I'm neck deep in PowerPointless today, preparing a presentation for an upcoming training session I'm giving via the web.

As you all know, I despise PowerPoint with the heat of thousand burning suns. Which makes my having to use it for this session especially ironic, don't you think? It's sort of a sad metaphor for the human condition of being forced to work in the soul-crushing abyss of corporate America when you'd much rather be performing work that contributes to the good in the world.

But we can't all be members of SEAL Team Six, so it's back to the grind for me.

________________
UPDATE: Turns out the session had been canceled and no one notified me - the presenter. There's several hours of my life I'll never get back. Sigh.

Quote of Day - So What Edition

"And while I'm apologizing, I'll bring up something I wrote a long time ago in reference to another topic: I have only a limited reservoir of outrage and indignation when it comes to the various injustices going on at any given moment around the world. The amount of concern that I'm willing to allow to claw at the inside of my brain and leave me in a state of apoplexy adds up to a kind of zero-sum game, and so I have to ration it. I'm sorry, but I just don't have the time or the inclination to worry about whether the rights of Osama bin Laden were respected by the guy who put a round from an M4 through his eye. I simply have better things to do with my life. Sure, maybe that's just my emotional side talking -- but you know something? So what?"

- Chez Pazienza, Deus Ex Malcontent

Um, yes. Just so. While I'm normally the first to champion the rule of law, in this particular case I'm saving my outrage for the victims of his evil - 85% of which, let's recall, were Muslim. Without question, the world's a better place as a result of the actions of SEAL Team Six, and I'll waste no tears on the likes of him.

A Word to the Wise

The "culture wars" and in fact, the "war on terror" are not wars between Christians and Atheists, or Christians and Muslims, or Americans and Arabs. They're wars between radicals and moderates. 

Radicals will go to any length to ensure everyone adheres to their point of view. Moderates won't. It really is that simple, and we would be wise to remember that.

And in other news, the ISI (Pakistan's premier intelligence agency) are lying sacks of shit. Fuck you, Pakistan,* and the horse you rode in on. Christ I hope we pull our aid to those duplicitous motherfuckers. Allies, MY ASS.

_________
*And by "Pakistan" I mean the government and the ISI, not the Joe Shmoe citizens who are simply trying to raise their families, make a living, and get through the day.

Conspiracy Theory in 5...4...3...2...1...

Yes, yes, they dumped bin Laden's body off the side of a Navy ship. The official reason was that it might be difficult to find a country that would take his worthless carcass for a swift burial, as required by Muslim tradition.

Yeah, that's it. The U.S. government, having spent untold monies on tracking this waste of protoplasm down and administering justice in the form of my shippies, is DREADFULLY CONCERNED about making sure he gets appropriate burial rites. As opposed to...I don't know...preventing his body from being recovered by a) souvenir hunters; b) his sycophantic followers looking for relics of their martyr; or c) all of the above.

I'm sure the Willful Morons™ are already starting their conspiracy crusade to explain why this decision was made - he's not really dead, it was just a ploy to get Obama reelected in 2012, Bush actually had bin Laden killed and Obama's taking the credit, blah, blah, blah.

WHATEVER. Anyone smart enough to pour pee out of a boot can see how this was the only viable decision under the circumstances. Take him, Davy Jones, and let him languish in the obscurity he so richly deserves.

Things That Suggest You May Be a Willful Moron*

1. You believe you're genetically superior to someone else based solely on the color of your skin. If you truly believe this, you probably do have a genetic legacy of some sort, but I'd suggest it's not what you think it is.
   
   
2. You believe vaccinations cause autism, and that there's some sort of grand conspiracy involving the federal government, the pharmaceutical companies and the medical establishment to keep the TRUTH from the masses. Because evidently what people who have dedicated their lives to public health really want is to embrace infant cognitive injury as a means to "get rich quick." No. Just...no.
   
   
3. You think evolution couldn't possibly be true because it's "just a theory." Really? I'm sorry, but if you can't define a term, you shouldn't use it. Or have an opinion about it. Please go back to High School for a basic definition of the Scientific Method, including the meaning of the word "theory" in this context. Or you can start declining antibiotics and antivirals because germs are "just a theory."
   
   
4. You're convinced the President is actually in office as a result of some sort of Manchurian Candidate conspiracy because he was actually born outside the United States, I don't care what his birth certificate says. Cognitive dissonance for the win!
   
   
5. You believe we didn't really land on the Moon. Because nothing says "Let's win the cold war" like a huge fraud that would almost certainly be found out by the former Soviet Union.
   
   
6. You think homosexuality is a "choice," and that means Teh Gayz aren't entitled to the same rights and protections as other human beings. Won't the Smart Man be disappointed when I "choose" to be a lesbian moving forward so I can be discriminated against and vilified by the religious right. I've got to get me some of that!
   
   
7. You think homeopathy is a real scientific discipline. Water. It's water.
   

Feel free to add to the list, Hot chicks and smart men. Piling on the Willful Morons is my new favorite activity.

___________

*You know how I was thinking about breaking up with my casual friends whose political beliefs were so retarded I couldn't see myself continuing the relationship? Well, John Scalzi made a random comment over at Whatever about a list of Things that Suggest you may be a Willful Moron, and I fell in love with the idea. Love, love, love. So I STOLE IT, like the plagiarizing git that I am. I'm sure if he objects I'll get some sort of cease and desist note.

Free Shit Friday Winner...

...of The Hellfire Club first edition is Eric, with a random number of "3."

I already have your address, so no need to send it again. I'll get your book in the mail when I damn well feel like it, provided this week's trip to Kansas City doesn't result in my shoving an ice pick in my ear. Enjoy!