Bigoted relatives, and Work Day 2.

Why are some of my [older] extended family so racist and homophobic? My grandfather's wife has sent no fewer than two anti-French and two anti-Muslim email forwards, and today I get this from my uncle:

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/30/bush.gay.marriage/index.html
well good for george, the day it is legal for queers to marry, i'm getting divorced. sincerely, harry

I don't want to call him on it, as he's both hot-headed and hard-headed at times.. but I was sure to go to that article and vote against Bush's tactics.

Work was more interesting today. First, I learned about the Itemiser³, a spectral analyzer that detects explosives and narcotics. We learned to use and maintain it--it's pretty simple, really--and tested swabs from our own cars for explosives. None present on any of them. :D Second, learned that I work 3.5 miles away, and have time to come home for lunch rather than spending $5-$10 at the nearby deli. Third, got to hear a story about an irate airline customer who, upon learning that his wife had cancelled his airline tickets, punched in the screen of an Itemiser². Now, the 3 has a replaceable flip-up screen, while the 2 has a built-in screen--and both machines are worth about $35,000. The man offered to pay for a new machine, but was rather taken aback when he learned how valuable it was. :) Fourth, I got fitted for uniforms--navy pants (5 pairs) and grey polo shirt with State logo (5), as well as a navy jumpsuit (2)--those things are comfy, as Phill can attest to. Until those come in, I got some of the older style pants/shirts (3 ea) and a jumpsuit. (The new jumpsuits are a better design, more comfortable, but heavier material and long-sleeved. That could suck in hot locations. :P)

Now, to change, grab a bite, and meander to Springfield Mall to birthday shop for my mom--she turns 50 tomorrow! :D

I highly recommend this site's music stream. Thanks, belleingenue! :)

W32.Blaster.Worm, DCOM RPC vulnerability

Nasty worm going around. Little permanent damage caused, but a pain to remove, and spreads without any effort on your part. If you're running Win2K or WinXP, you'd do well to check out what Symantec has to say about it (discovered 8/11, updated 8/12), and download/install the patch from MicroSoft's security bulletin (Patched 7/16, updated through 8/12.) Apparently it makes XP systems crash every minute when on any kind of network, so downloading the patch and/or removal tool files on someone else's computer would be easier. There's a workaround,* though, that makes it possible to surf from the affected computer.

I haven't been hit, but a few friends have, and I just installed the patch to be safe.

*
[17:11] reedssquared: if you know anyone affected, tell them to disconnect 'puter from network;
[17:11] reedssquared: set the "reboot" in the RPC place to something dumb like "start Notepad". This will make system ass-slow, but then you can surf net for fix w/o it crashing system.
[17:22] reedssquared: in XP, is in, um, lemmie find.
[17:23] reedssquared: Start-Ctrl.Panel-Admin.Tools-Services(Local)

Anti-bigotry Rep

Kennedy takes a stand against the pope
Mon Aug 11, 8:46 PM ET
Jen Christensen, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democratic congressman from Rhode Island, disagrees with the Pope on the issue of same sex marriage.

Kennedy is a member of the most visible family of Catholic politicians in the U.S., and yet he says he won't do what the Pope asks.

In a six-page edict issued this month, the Catholic Church told these politicians that they had a "moral duty" to oppose same-sex marriage. It warned Catholic politicians that voting for such legislation would be "gravely immoral."

Rep. Kennedy called the Catholic church's opposition to same-sex marriage "bigotry." In a news release he said he was in favor of same-sex unions, and that he would oppose a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would make same-sex marriage illegal. Rep. Kennedy said that what the Catholic Church is asking him to do is wrong. [Damn straight. Formatting mine. - S]

( Read more... )

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Another interesting take on it, though apparently factually incorrect:
Gay marriage restores institution to pagan roots

As antikate's first comment states: "While I'm all for any article that supports same-sex marriage, that author needs to check her history. The Church had codified and legalized marriages for looooong before that 1753 date." (Details follow.) It was a nice idea, anyway, and not fully lacking in merit. :)

3: MBNA issues, 2: Springfield Mall shopping and lostness, 1: RDR trip lostness

Most recent item first:

Last month, I submitted my MBNA MasterCard payment online on the day it was due; it was received the next day. On my new statement, there's no late payment fee nor any mention of penalties--however, my APR suddenly jumped from 8.97%--the reason I had the card in the first place--to 15.98%. If this is not some kind of accident, I have no qualms about transferring my entire balance to a card that's more reasonable. (I'm currently on hold waiting for an MBNA rep to explain the situation.)

Update, before I finished the post: Take that, MBNA! They say that I should have received a letter back in May telling me my rate was going to increase with this statement, with the option to cancel my account or accept the change. Assuming I didn't accidentally trash any paperwork from them--unlikely, since I file all credit paperwork except cash advance and balance transfer checks--I have received nothing other than normal statements, with the exception of an update indicating a change in overlimit and late fees. I allowed as how, "This isn't an ultimatum*, but if my rate isn't changed back to 9% or so, I intend to transfer my full balance to another card." He puts me on hold for a minute, and comes back to tell me that my rate will be 8.99% fixed, no expiration, as of my next statement. Hardball, baby.
* Yeah, I suppose it is.

I found this upon returning from Springfield Mall, where I proved to myself that a) I can find a good birthday gift and card at the last minute, b) I can barely find my way around that mall -with- a map, and c) I can't seem to successfully drive much of anywhere via a new route in Springfield without making at least two wrong turns on the trip. (It doesn't help that the new ADC map doesn't accurately represent the ridiculous intersection that the Franconia-Springfield Parkway makes with Loisdale/Commerce/Frontier/etc., with unexpected loops and exits instead of polite and reasonable at-grade intersections.

This followed my return home from RDR, where I also failed to take the route home that I intended--trying a new way--by missing one turn.