Rants, Raves, and Rhetoric v4

Category: Cright / Pat / Tmark / Law

  • Borked

    I often use a term “borked” to mean to fail in a spectacular fashion. (The official definition is: obstruct (someone, especially a candidate for public office) through systematic defamation or vilification.) The “fake” news about President Trump wanting to end Mueller’s investigation in the Russia connection reminds me of origin of this word. President Nixon…

  • Constitution Day

    Apparently September 17th is Constitution Day. This is the day in 1787 when the document was signed. (July 4th is for the Declaration of Independence.) Schools receiving Federal funding are supposed to spend part of the day teaching about the Constitution. I wonder how many people have a copy of it? If you have an…

  • Happy Constitution Day!

    Interesting that we have a Federal holiday for thumbing our noses at England, but the anniversary for founding the government for our country, Constitution Day, goes unmarked with barbeques, fireworks, and intoxication. This year is the 225th one. Not so long ago I read the Federalist Papers. It was an interesting look at how some…

  • Laws and Presidential Candidates

    Something that annoys me about politics in the United States is candidates for President claiming they will pass or repeal laws. A President can ask, cajol, badger, and otherwise influence Congress to pass or repeal a law. However, the President cannot go alone and create a law. He can only agree not to prevent a…

  • TED Talk: How I beat a patent troll

    Patents are annoying. My field watched the train wreck of lawsuits a few years ago. So it makes me happy to watch a video where someone beat a patent troll. If the below video does not work, then try Drew Curtis: How I beat a patent troll.

  • An Open Mind

    1. A mind willing to consider new ideas. (source) Tuesday I had the bounty of serving on a trial jury. Perhaps even more so for being chosen to be the foreperson. Many people gave me advice for how to get out of serving on the jury. None of it I memorized because I was kind…

  • Facebook Passwords

    Facebook is a useful tool for gathering information about others. From the beginning, the advice has been to be careful that what is posted well represents us. Or… To limit who can see those things we might not want seen. Hiring managers also have a difficult situation. Is who you are looking to hire who…

  • SOPA Blackout

    January 18th and 23rd are planned blackout days for a number of web sites in protest to passing the Stop Online Piracy Act. Existing legislation like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act already reveal copyright owners ask to shut down web sites even when there is no infringing material. Granting them more power seems like a bad…

  • Network

    One of those Facebook poll things had a list of American Film Institute top 100 movies. Fortunately for me, Netflix Watch Instantly has several of the ones I wanted to see. Network was one of them. The scene where Beale, the news announcer breaks down in the rant, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not…