QotD for 25 Sept., 2009

Concerning the disparity of drug prices in the U.S. vs. other countries:

Dividing up the world economy into individual markets to benefit only businesses and not consumers is a big BS sandwich. They [Big Pharma] argue for their freedom to manufacture it in Mexico but want to deny you the freedom to purchase it from Mexico through political means. I do not understand how so many Americans walk around believing this is actually in their best interests and support these people by calling them "Free Marketers", which they most definitely are not. They are Selective Protectionists supporting economic and political protections for themselves but not the rest of us.---Anonymous, in the comment thread of Off My Meds on the Real Live Preacher blog

The Fourth Law of Thermodynamics

Original Axiom:

Murphy's Law - "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Corollarys:

Murphy's Extended Law - "If a series of events can go wrong, they will do so in the worst possible sequence."
Finagle's Law - "Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment."
Hofstadter's Law - "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law."
Silverman's Paradox - "If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will."
Flanagan's Precept - "Murphy and Finagle were incurable optimists."

And if you're not feeling cheered up yet, there's always the Murphy's Law Site.

Selectively run Adobe Flash under Mac OSX

Oh now this is sweet. The Adobe Flash player plugin has always been a real CPU hog on Mac OSX machines. There's no way to heat up your Macbook faster than playing a Flash movie on YouTube...

Well I've discovered an OSX add-in called ClickToFlash which fixes all that:

Ever wanted to get rid of the scourge of the web that is Adobe Flash, but still retain the ability to view Flash whenever you want? With ClickToFlash, you can! Using ClickToFlash, all of those icky Flash bits that have infected most webpages on the internets are replaced with a nice, smooth gradient and the word "Flash" set in a nice, pleasing font. When you want to view the Flash, just click on it!

The advantages of ClickToFlash are numerous. Since Flash isn't loaded until you specifically ask for it, your CPU usage will stay at normal levels when browsing the web. This has tons of benefits: web browsing stays speedy, your Mac laptop won't get as hot, and your Mac's fan won't come on as often. In fact, we guarantee* that ClickToFlash will quintuple your battery life and that it will protect those precious parts of your body on which you rest your laptop! (*note: not actually guaranteed)

Best of all, ClickToFlash even supports viewing all those ADORABLE meowing cat videos, annoying dog videos, and hilarious rickrolls from YouTube without using Flash at all! That's because YouTube also offers H.264 videos, which are used when viewing YouTube on the iPhone. With ClickToFlash, you get access to those same, higher quality videos.

Oh happy day!

Zombie Conservatives

Interesting piece in the Sunday Dallas Morning News by, surprise, conservative columnist Rod Dreher:

Last week, the president delivered an education speech that fell somewhat short of the standard set by Lenin in his address at the Finland Station, launching the Bolshevik Revolution. In fact, Barack Obama told America's schoolchildren to work hard, respect their teachers and take responsibility for their own success. Which, in the language of the tinfoil-hatters, reads: Allahu akbar, comrades. ---Rod Dreher, Zombie Conservatives at the schoolhouse door

Lately, Dreher seems to be "getting it" when it comes to the dissolution of the GOP. But there's one more Rubicon for him to cross if he really takes his Libertarian-ish conservatism seriously. That being, no matter how much of a social/religious conservative you are (and Dreher identifies himself that way), you need to be willing to keep a lot of that to yourself and not be willing to use the power of government to force it on others.

That's where Dreher and many like-minded thinkers still fall flat.

"Socialism"

Words actually mean things, and despite persistent attempts by many on the right to make it so, “socialism” does not mean either “any government activity that is not a tax cut or an attempt to kill swarthy people with weapons” or “whatever it is Obama happens to be doing at the moment.” ---John Scalzi

The best, as well as “squirt milk out your nose funny”, commentary on current events can usually be found on Scalzi's blog Whatever. All hail Scalzi!

QotD for 10 Sept., 2009

Stinginess creates a hard knot deep within the soul. Beware of hardness of heart: you can suffer from it without any awareness that you do until caught in the grips of spiritual thrombosis. ---Louie Crew

[thanks to JCF who, over at Mad Priest's, linked to the entry by Dr. Crew which contained this gem]

Stirring the Pot

Great Googly Moogly! A status update I posted on my Facebook page is getting more comment action than anything I've ever posted here :D So I'm gonna try and leech off of it...

"I believe that no one should die because they can't afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick."

Discuss.

Best.T-Shirt. Ever.

Buy it here. [all credit to the folks at Mental Floss]