Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Bank Happy
While reviewing the 2009 Annual Report for Mr CFO, I noticed that our wee little bank made it in to the top 10 of the 2009 Best Banks countdown in Forbes magazine. Suck it, Flagstar Bancorp!
Celebration bitches!
It somehow escaped my notice that I surpassed post #100 a couple posts ago. Blogger.com should celebrate by sending me a cheese sandwich. Byaawwwhh!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
"We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change"
I'm not the biggest Al Gore fan in the world but I do admire his efforts. Unfortunately, Gore is one of the least charismatic politicians to ever grace the earth. I honestly believe that he would have been a much better president than George W Bush, but I also believe that Bush was more suited to the tasks that fell to him in the wake of 9/11. However, the whole Iraq thing will forever tarnish him in my eyes.
But this isn't a Bush/Gore critique so moving on...
Gore recently wrote in to the New York Times with, what I think, is a really good piece on the recent climate change hysteria. I'm not sure why he is wasting his time with addressing the people who think a snow storm during winter in DC automatically makes climate change a hoax while ignoring the fact that Vancouver was experiencing weather in the 50s while trying to conduct the Winter Olympics. The weather in one place at one time does not a global climate theory make.
But now such esteemed minds as Sean Hannity and random twitter guy are calling for Gore to be called before Congress to face charges of fraud. Really? So working on this case for years has suddenly become a crime because of a snow storm in the nations capital? It's mind-blowingly insane.
Give the piece a read, it might make sense to you. At the very least for the haters it'll give you something to get cranky about.
But this isn't a Bush/Gore critique so moving on...
Gore recently wrote in to the New York Times with, what I think, is a really good piece on the recent climate change hysteria. I'm not sure why he is wasting his time with addressing the people who think a snow storm during winter in DC automatically makes climate change a hoax while ignoring the fact that Vancouver was experiencing weather in the 50s while trying to conduct the Winter Olympics. The weather in one place at one time does not a global climate theory make.
But now such esteemed minds as Sean Hannity and random twitter guy are calling for Gore to be called before Congress to face charges of fraud. Really? So working on this case for years has suddenly become a crime because of a snow storm in the nations capital? It's mind-blowingly insane.
Give the piece a read, it might make sense to you. At the very least for the haters it'll give you something to get cranky about.
Sometimes Rush just plain confuses me
It's been awhile since I last complained about Rush so I figure it's ok to take 5 minutes to discuss something he just brought up.
As soon as the show started Rush exhibited glee over the fact that the recent earthquake in Chile did not produce 5 foot high waves to pound the Hawaiian islands. I get that. Thank God nothing bad happened on US soil. But the actual reason that Rush is happy has nothing to do with the welfare of his fellow citizens (big surprise), but in fact it is because this (non) event proves once and for all that you should never trust scientists because they are evil and manipulative.
Which leads me to this conclusion:
Preventative measures taken to avoid potential catastrophes of nature is bad.
Preventative measures taken to avoid potential military (at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of lives) catastrophes is good.
Rush would have rather that the people of Hawaii had continued on with their lives as if nothing was amiss until the actual moment the wave was sighted.
This is what happens when idiots argue science. Most of what exists in science is theory. There are very few absolutes. However, there would be very few breakthroughs if science had to be absolutely 100% verifiable before being acted upon. That is the world that Rush wants. I just wonder if he would feel the same if those same restrictions were placed on Oxycontin and Viagra.
As soon as the show started Rush exhibited glee over the fact that the recent earthquake in Chile did not produce 5 foot high waves to pound the Hawaiian islands. I get that. Thank God nothing bad happened on US soil. But the actual reason that Rush is happy has nothing to do with the welfare of his fellow citizens (big surprise), but in fact it is because this (non) event proves once and for all that you should never trust scientists because they are evil and manipulative.
Which leads me to this conclusion:
Preventative measures taken to avoid potential catastrophes of nature is bad.
Preventative measures taken to avoid potential military (at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of lives) catastrophes is good.
Rush would have rather that the people of Hawaii had continued on with their lives as if nothing was amiss until the actual moment the wave was sighted.
This is what happens when idiots argue science. Most of what exists in science is theory. There are very few absolutes. However, there would be very few breakthroughs if science had to be absolutely 100% verifiable before being acted upon. That is the world that Rush wants. I just wonder if he would feel the same if those same restrictions were placed on Oxycontin and Viagra.
A man chooses, a slave obeys.
Every once in a while you find a game where it goes beyond just playing games and the story sucks you in. It sometimes goes beyond saving the princess, earning a ton of experience points and beating the bad guy, and scoring touchdowns. It says alot when the story is as good as reading a book as they could just give you some flashy graphics, big guns, wind you up and set you free.
Bioshock is one of the rare games. They manage to flesh out the characters in the game so well and the voice actors do a fantastic job. The single most thrilling aspect would have to be penetrating the defenses of Andrew Ryan or Frank Fontaine and hearing them steadily more frightened, angry, and defiant as you get closer and closer. The NPCs sometimes plead, sometimes insult, and sometimes muse. It's awesome how much they can flesh out some characters that you don't even meet through the use of taped recordings spread throughout the underwater world of Rapture.
As usual, there is a twist or two, and at least one of them is enough to force you to suddenly reflect on the previous 20 hours that you've put in to the game and go "Ohhhhh......!".
I finally finished the game last night, which is a rarity in itself, but what can I say. It's just one of those rare games that I want to finish. Each enemy, no matter how repetitive, was an experience and not just fodder for my machine gun. They never lost their creepy value, nor did the little sisters or the big daddy.
Graphics were outstanding, and with a game set underwater they made that water as beautiful as possible. Gameplay mechanics were spot on. Music and sound effects were genious. The game was also nicely polished. There was one spot early on where I experienced a couple crashes, but that was it. There are a couple odd glitches but nothing to get worked up about. All told, Bioshock is a really good game.
Now would you kindly go out and play this game.
PS FRAPS is the shit.
Bioshock is one of the rare games. They manage to flesh out the characters in the game so well and the voice actors do a fantastic job. The single most thrilling aspect would have to be penetrating the defenses of Andrew Ryan or Frank Fontaine and hearing them steadily more frightened, angry, and defiant as you get closer and closer. The NPCs sometimes plead, sometimes insult, and sometimes muse. It's awesome how much they can flesh out some characters that you don't even meet through the use of taped recordings spread throughout the underwater world of Rapture.
As usual, there is a twist or two, and at least one of them is enough to force you to suddenly reflect on the previous 20 hours that you've put in to the game and go "Ohhhhh......!".
I finally finished the game last night, which is a rarity in itself, but what can I say. It's just one of those rare games that I want to finish. Each enemy, no matter how repetitive, was an experience and not just fodder for my machine gun. They never lost their creepy value, nor did the little sisters or the big daddy.
Graphics were outstanding, and with a game set underwater they made that water as beautiful as possible. Gameplay mechanics were spot on. Music and sound effects were genious. The game was also nicely polished. There was one spot early on where I experienced a couple crashes, but that was it. There are a couple odd glitches but nothing to get worked up about. All told, Bioshock is a really good game.
Now would you kindly go out and play this game.
PS FRAPS is the shit.
You gotta love sports! (USA! USA! USA! Edition)
Happy Monday! Meh, no such thing. Especially when it isn't football season. Anyway, the Olympics are over and that makes me happy as the NHL gets back in to the groove and I no longer have to come to terms with the fact that I treated curling as a reasonable sporting alternative for two whole weeks.
First off, congrats to Canada for pulling out a big win to take the gold in hockey. If it weren't for Ryan Miller I can guarantee that USA would not have sniffed the gold medal game. Simply put, he was amazing. In the end, however, it simply seemed like the Canadian team was constantly working with a man advantage. They straight up out-played us and if it weren't for a last second goal by Parise, the game wouldn't have been nearly as big as it now seems. I'm kind of pissed that the phenomenon known as Crosby-over-adulation reared its ugly head again. Crosby was, for the most part, invisible for most of the tournament. Just like with the Stanley Cup, though, one play suddenly makes him a freakin' hero. Blow me, Crosby. On a side note that is in no way related to my Red Wing fandom, I have to give a ton of credit to Brian Rafalski. It seemed like he was on the ice at all times and leading just about every offensive surge. Hopefully he can carry that spunk back in to the regular season because he was playing like a turd prior to the Olympic break.
Secondly, yeah f'in USA! It's practically a given that we yanks will show up and just dominate the field. Just give us all the medals. We takes them!
Thirdly, it has come to my attention that I have reason once again to tune in to the YES network this week. That's right, baseball is back! Sure it's only spring training. Whatever, it's still sports.
Fourth, with baseball being back, it looks like it's time for me to finalize the fantasy baseball tiers. I participated in a public league draft last week for practice and I think I did alright. The very frustrating thing was the fact that Yahoo's draft program was constantly disconnecting. If it happens to be your turn to pick and you have some guys loaded in to your queue and you disconnect at the same time, the comp automatically selects the first guy in the list for you. This was to my detriment at least twice. But my offense is loaded. My pitching, not so much.
So there you have it sports fans.
Wait, I forgot something.
Fifthly, SU brought the lumber against 'nova this past Saturday. Being the fair weather SU fan that I am, I've decided it is now safe for me to get on the bandwagon. Rankings come out this afternoon and if SU doesn't get #1 then I am calling shenanigans.
First off, congrats to Canada for pulling out a big win to take the gold in hockey. If it weren't for Ryan Miller I can guarantee that USA would not have sniffed the gold medal game. Simply put, he was amazing. In the end, however, it simply seemed like the Canadian team was constantly working with a man advantage. They straight up out-played us and if it weren't for a last second goal by Parise, the game wouldn't have been nearly as big as it now seems. I'm kind of pissed that the phenomenon known as Crosby-over-adulation reared its ugly head again. Crosby was, for the most part, invisible for most of the tournament. Just like with the Stanley Cup, though, one play suddenly makes him a freakin' hero. Blow me, Crosby. On a side note that is in no way related to my Red Wing fandom, I have to give a ton of credit to Brian Rafalski. It seemed like he was on the ice at all times and leading just about every offensive surge. Hopefully he can carry that spunk back in to the regular season because he was playing like a turd prior to the Olympic break.
Secondly, yeah f'in USA! It's practically a given that we yanks will show up and just dominate the field. Just give us all the medals. We takes them!
Thirdly, it has come to my attention that I have reason once again to tune in to the YES network this week. That's right, baseball is back! Sure it's only spring training. Whatever, it's still sports.
Fourth, with baseball being back, it looks like it's time for me to finalize the fantasy baseball tiers. I participated in a public league draft last week for practice and I think I did alright. The very frustrating thing was the fact that Yahoo's draft program was constantly disconnecting. If it happens to be your turn to pick and you have some guys loaded in to your queue and you disconnect at the same time, the comp automatically selects the first guy in the list for you. This was to my detriment at least twice. But my offense is loaded. My pitching, not so much.
So there you have it sports fans.
Wait, I forgot something.
Fifthly, SU brought the lumber against 'nova this past Saturday. Being the fair weather SU fan that I am, I've decided it is now safe for me to get on the bandwagon. Rankings come out this afternoon and if SU doesn't get #1 then I am calling shenanigans.
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