$ man blog

using System;

namespace Silly
{
/// <summary>
/// Wrapper to facilitate the nom-nom-nom anti-pattern
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name=”T”></typeparam>
public static class NomNom<T>
{
public static void Nom<WTF>(Func<WTF> action)
{
try { action(); }
catch { } // this is the om nom nom nom pattern
}

public static void Nom<WTF>(Action<WTF> action, WTF input)
{
try { action(input); }
catch { }
}
}
}

private static void TestSilly()
{
NomNom<int>.Nom<int>(OMGBOOMZ(), -1);
}

private static Action<int> OMGBOOMZ()
{
return x => { –x; List<int> xx = new List<int>(); xx[x]++; };
}

According to a recent CNN article, polar bears are now listed as a threatened species according to the Endangered Species Act. This decision was only arrived grudgingly after being forced by a federal court order. Quote of the day:

Listing the polar bear as threatened can reduce avoidable losses of polar bears. But it should not open the door to use of the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, power plants, and other sources,” said [Secretary of the Interior Dirk] Kempthorne. “That would be a wholly inappropriate use of the ESA law. The ESA is not the right tool to set U.S. climate policy.”

They were resistant to list polar bears as threatened for so many months because they may be the first species to die off solely due to the effects of global warming–the decline of their natural habitat of arctic sea ice. The problem for the Bush administration is that the Endangered Species Act says that “an action [that] is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat must include a discussion of any ‘reasonable or prudent alternatives’ which FWS or NMFS believes would avoid the jeopardy, destruction, or adverse modification.” Or as Wikipedia puts it “Federal agencies are prohibited from authorizing, funding or carrying out actions that ‘destroy or adversely modify’ critical habitats”. This would obviously cause problems for an oil-happy government that refuses to admit global warming causes any ill effects on the environment.

Instead we get another example of the infamous Bush scientists at work. They’ll say polar bears are threatened but brazenly state right in the decision that they shouldn’t get any of the useful protections that are mandated by the ESA.

At least the Vatican isn’t threatened by the prospects of extraterrestrial life, compared to some religious groups.

The Vatican’s chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures.

The interview was headlined “The extraterrestrial is my brother.” Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like “putting limits” on God’s creative freedom.

Link to the AP article

I began collecting statistics of my car and gas purchases around June 1, 2004.

There’s a gap that’s not represented in this graph for when I was in Maryland without a car for 10 weeks (summer of 2005).

Important facts from the graph:

• All prices are from the Twin Cities metro area
• First point is roughly June 1, 2004
• Last point is May 8, 2008
• Min Price: $1.86
• Max Price: $3.66

Just to put a bow on my last post, the New York Times has written a very positive review of Grand Theft Auto IV, focusing on the meticulous reproduction of the sights and culture of New York City. It makes me wonder: could the controversy surrounding GTA’s release be defused before it starts merely because the game is so good and none of the anti-parent advocates can stop playing themselves? The issue may, unfortunately, depend on this guy:

But it seems he’s already getting his game on.

There’s a great article on Kotaku about impoverished blacks and Hispanics in Harlem finding an emotional outlet in Grand Theft Auto IV. This comes four days after the Sean Bell acquittal, which set three police officers free after firing fifty bullets at an unarmed man outside a nightclub on the day before his wedding. Inhabits of the real ‘Liberty City’ say Grand Theft Auto lets them vent their frustrations against law enforcement in a safe environment. If riots are found to decline nationwide due to GTA catharsis, will Jack Thompson’s head explode?

The article reads like something out of the NY Times: one of the finest written and researched blog posts I’ve ever seen. It provides a decidedly even-handed (okay, pro-gamer) view on the GTAIV release. It also showcases some parents deciding whether to let their kids play the game based on their maturity level and the ESRB rating. Even in a community with a $15,000 median income, their parenting skills put most suburbanites to shame.

No, I’m not being laid off. Yet. But I could be, and that possibility grows ever more likely each day that passes. And it’s caused me to start to think about some of those Bigger Picture items in life.

One blog I read fairly regularly is The Simple Dollar. The author, Trent, has written a 31-part series on fixing your finances. I don’t necessarily need my finances to be “fixed”, but I think the idea of this series is a great and important one: a little work each day over a short period of time (one month) can set you up for long-term growth, not only in personal finance, but in life: your work, your personal life, your dreams and goals, pretty much all the Big Picture items alluded to earlier.

So, tonight, I will begin this exploration with my five main values. This should be an interesting and enlightening experience, and perhaps I’ll share some of it as I progress through the steps.

According to a recent Times articule, a poll of 3500 showed the “dominant opinion” of Britons is that religion is now among the ‘worst blights on modern society’. No exact numbers are given. Does this indicate a trend of Europeans moving from their traditional apathetic secularism to outright intolerance? Or is it merely a backlash to the confluence of Muslims to the region?

From my American perspective, I think that female and black presidential candidates are well overdue (Ferraro was going for the veep spot in 1984). Now getting an atheist (or gay) person the nomination would really be an impressive lurch forward for American tolerance. I know America isn’t anywhere close to widely accepting those ‘minorities’, but it’s not like having Clinton or Obama as the president indicates we’re furiously enlightened.

Got this in a fortune cookie at lunch today:

Treasure your good memories and you need not worry about ending a banquet.

Mixed metaphors, or am I missing something? Even “in bed” does nothing for this one!

“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly,
while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

- Plato (427-347 B.C.)