Moving

I'm in the process of moving posts off of Blogger to my site - http://teamsiems.com/

R.I.P., "Frasier" Eddie - Jun 26, 2006 - E! Online News

R.I.P., "Frasier" Eddie - Jun 26, 2006 - E! Online News
by Sarah Hall Jun 26, 2006, 3:20 PM PT

It may have been a dog's life, but Moose, the Jack Russell terrier of Frasier fame, wasn't one to complain.

Kelsey Grammer's canine sidekick, known as Eddie on the long-running show, died Thursday at the ripe old age of 16 and a half, his trainer, Mathilde Halberg told People magazine.

Jury selected in second Yates trial

Like clock work they started her new trial.

Jury selected in second Yates trial
By PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

The new jury seated tonight for Andrea Yates' retrial was culled from a panel of 120 people who were each familiar with her case in some way. After a 10-hour jury selection process - during which issues such as
mental illness and the insanity defense made for lively discussion - 12 jurors and three alternates were chosen to decide whether Yates knew right from wrong when she drowned her five children in a bathtub at her Clear Lake-area home five years ago. Testimony will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday and is expected to last four to five weeks.

Artical source: http://www.chron.com/
Image source: http://www.boston.com/ and AP Photo/Brett Coomer, Pool.

Jackson Square

Jackson Square, Dec2003
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

The top picture is one I took in December 2003 - before Katrina - with a credit-card-sized camera.




St. Louis Cathedral
Originally uploaded by steve_o3.

The bottom picture is one from Flickr member, steve_o3, taken after Katrina. Looks O.K. to me. I was just curious to see if it suffered major damage.

WTF

Here's my idea of a marketing intern's wet dream

With SAP applications for information workers, everyone in your organization can become an active participant in business processes and a consumer of actionable business intelligence. Source: http://www.sap.com/

WTF is "actionable business intelligence"?
I guess if you applied for a job at a company that asked you what actionable business intelligence was, and you gave them some equally obscure answer like "oh that's just another way of saying corporate's tangible intellectual property", then you might get the job.
I guess my point here is that when I'm doing research - and I do a lot of stream-of-conscious research- and I run across something like this I scratch my head and wonder WTF they're trying to say. As a anecdote sidebar: many years ago, while surfing (the old school term for web research) I came across this same techno-babble marketing speak. I didn't know what it was then, and I don't know what it is now. But then again, I don't work for a company that uses SAP so I guess "they" don't want me to know anyway - so all is as it should be.

Moving Day

I've lived on my own pretty much since I started college. The past 7 years is the longest I've lived in one place and now I'm moving. I wrote this just to have a record of when I moved.

Yates still waiting

The drama continues...
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday, March 20, 2006, in Andrea Yates' retrial. District Judge Belinda Hill delayed the start of trial until June 22 because expert witnesses for her defence were not available in March.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/

First Anniversary

One year ago today I posted my first blog entry, Zeitgeist Defined

I think I'm still holding true to the mission: publication of the intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of this era.

Here's to next year! Cheers!

WW3 Part 2: Taking it to the Colonel

Now this is going too far... they took the phrase "extra crispy" too literally.

Smoke pours from the KFC outlet, set on fire by an angry mob in Lahore, Pakistan, on Tuesday. Source: Associated Press.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- Thousands rampaged through two cities Tuesday in Pakistan's worst violence against Prophet Muhammad caricatures, burning buildings housing a hotel, banks and a KFC, vandalizing a Citibank and breaking windows at a Holiday Inn and a Pizza Hut.

How World War Three (Almost) Started Over a Cartoon

Here's a story that didn't fall between the cracks - it's still going; no hidding this one in the forest.

The Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, in September of 2005, published 12 cartoon depictions of Mohammed, founder of Islam. Last week Muslims around the world began protesting Denmark and the cartoons. At the same time, western European countries began vocalizing their support for freedom of press. Some have even republished the article and sparked more protests.

Personally, I could care less if anyone publishes anything. I do care that they be allowed to publish it though. I agree with both sides. Western democracies enjoy nearly boundless freedoms including freedom to publish editorial content. As a member of one of those democracies I support freedom of press.

However, I also respect the culture and relious beliefs of others. Having a cartoon created and printed because journalists were afraid that they were self-censoring themselves does not respect relious beliefs or cultures. I don't believe they deserve death-threats, but they should know they will piss people off by printing what they did.

Having said that, I return to the first belief, freedom of press. I do not wish to offened anyone. this page does contain reprints of the images that enraged thousands of people. If, however, you are here because you are curious as I was about what caused so many problems then proceed at your own risk.

Deadly Cartoon

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Drawings

[An image of the news paper page that has the cartoons of Mohammed on it.]

But, don't think this is a one way street. Muslims (ok one guy) can fight back with pictures too. They can fight church battles with pictures.

Source: Brussels Journal http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/287

From the desk of Paul Belien on Thu, 2005-09-22 21:39

"Contrary to what Ben Chikha says there are things that one had better not laugh at, such as Islamic religion for instance. Some time ago a Dutch artist showed the backs of naked women with verses from the Quran written on them. This was considered blasphemy. A Muslim extremist ritually slaughtered the artist, Theo van Gogh, in broad daylight. That, certainly, is a cultural difference worth noting."

"Ben Chikha need not fear being murdered in the street. On the contrary, his play is being subsidised by the Ministry for Culture. After the performances in Brussels it goes on a six-month tour through Flanders. The government encourages schools to attend."

Blasphemy

Source: Brussels Journal http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/287

[Two pictures from Jyllands-Posten. The one on the left is the front of a play bill showing the mother Mary with an exposed nipple holding a child and a cup of blood. The one on the right is of a middle eastern woman with quotes from the Quran written on her bare back.]

This is not isolated to one European country either:

Source: Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0206/p01s02-wogi.html

By James Brandon / Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

"LONDON - As controversy escalates over the publication in Europe of 12 controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims from Saudi Arabia to Britain are decrying what they see as but one more installment in a worldwide attack against Islam."

"'This is a revival of the Crusades of old,' says Anjem Choudary, spokesman for Al-Ghurabaa, a radical Muslim group that organized protests in London this weekend."

Source: ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1585267

"KABUL, Afghanistan Feb 6, 2006 (AP)— Afghan security forces opened fire on demonstrators Monday, leaving at least four dead, as increasingly violent protests erupted around the world over published caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. European and Muslim politicians pleaded for calm."

And if the Dutch weren't in enough hot water with muslims as it is:

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1584837

[Reprint of a AP News story.]

"BRUSSELS, Belgium Feb 6, 2006 (AP)— A sculpture of a tied-up Saddam Hussein floating in a water tank was banned by the mayor of a western Belgian town because it was deemed too controversial, an official said Monday."

Christmas Through Their Eyes

Twas the night before Christmas...

And Jackson got a bone as big as him. But alas he took one look and walked away. I think he was intimidated.

Winter Strikes

Yes that is ice. Winter hit last night in central Texas, and tempertures fell into the teens in Dallas and upper 20's south of Waco.

It was cold enough and icy enough that work closed today. We usually get one "ice day" per year, but this is a little early in the season for it; winter doesn't start for another 12 days.

Jax in the sun

Jax in the sun
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

Jax in the Sun

Jax in the Sun
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

Sleepy Jax

Sleepy Jax
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

Tito in the sun

Tito in the sun
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

Tito and Jackson's hind end

Tito and Jackson's hind end
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

Grim In Sunlight

Grim In Sunlight
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

Good lord man!

Chili Fest 05

Chili Fest 05
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.
Just another day at the office. Actually, this is a chili contest put on by the SIMS group in our department. The white one next to the cups won.

Time is irrelavent in Wallyworld

Time is irrelavent in Wallyworld
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

The sign above the watch says "All Registers Open Sat. 10am - 10pm." It's 2pm on Sat. October 29th, where's clerk #18?

Jack

Jack
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

"Pause for the cameraphone Jax!" He does not like this new toy daddy got.

So many choices at Wallyworld

So many choices at Wallyworld
Originally uploaded by teamsiems.

When you have a choice to make communicate with pictures. Get an (not so) immediate response.

No Whiteout for U Minors!

IMGP8321
Originally uploaded by neef and the house of muck.

The communications revolution is in full swing when the common man is posting Wallyworld pics.