I taught my statistics lab this morning and then was chatting with our secretaries and our office manager. They were ordering supplies and I was being very helpful. (Get the green folders! Why? Because I like green! I'm the most helpful person ever!)
Our office manager is taking some classes at the university to get her degree. I'm pretty sure the university pays for a certain amount of courses per year for its employees, which is pretty awesome. Our office manager was looking over some homework, for Math 1100 or something like that. The point is, it was college algebra.
She placed the homework on the desk for all of us (me and the two secretaries) could see. None of us said anything. Why? Because we had no idea what the answer was. Yes, I do have a bachelor's degree and half a master's but that doesn't mean I retained my college algebra. I have kick ass short term memory. I have no need for information to take up too much space in my head.
In an attempt to be amusing and make small talk, I told our office manager that I could have made up a number, but it wouldn't have been right.
Without missing a beat, she says:
"I knew you didn't have the answer. I know what you majored in for undergrad."
How freakin' awesome is that? I got clowned on by my office manager!
As an aside, I'm not sure if its a good thing that I can teach a statistics class with my rudimentary math knowledge. I mean, everything's done by software, but I should probably know how the stuff actually works. Oh well.
I can run regression. I can run correalation. But I's nots so goods at da math.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Can we please regulate this?
Here are some more fun facts about the Baconator. (I'm going to stop after this. This is too much. My head hurts and my soul is sad).
Here's what's in the "cheese sauce" and the bun. I would think the bun would have fewer ingredients, but that shows what I know.
Cheese Sauce
Cheddar Cheese Solids (cheddar cheese [milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes], whey, buttermilk, salt, disodium phosphate and artificial color [yellow 5 and 6]), Modified Food Starch, Whey, Coconut Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavors (modified food starch, maltodextrin, cheddar cheese [milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes], butter, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oil, natural and artificial flavor, autolyzed yeast extract, sodium phosphate, medium chain triglycerides, tricalcium phosphate, silicon dioxide, corn syrup solids, salt, tocopherol and triethyl citrate), Non Fat Dry Milk, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sodium Alginate, Sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative), Dipotassium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Sugar, Mono and Diglycerides, Yeast Extract, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Soy Lecithin, Calcium Gluconate, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Inosinate, Sodium Phosphate and Annatto. CONTAINS: MILK
Premium Bun
Enriched Wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid), Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: soybean, cottonseed, canola), Yeast, Salt, Gluten, Contains less than 2% of: Dough conditioners (may contain one or more of the following: sodium stearoly lactylate, calcium stearoly-2-lactylate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono and diglycerides, DATEM, enzymes), Yeast Nutrients (may contain one or more of the following: monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), Turmeric, Paprika, Natural Flavor, Yellow Corn Meal (Kaisers only), Calcium Silicate, Calcium Propionate (preservative). CONTAINS: WHEAT.
Here's what's in the "cheese sauce" and the bun. I would think the bun would have fewer ingredients, but that shows what I know.
Cheese Sauce
Cheddar Cheese Solids (cheddar cheese [milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes], whey, buttermilk, salt, disodium phosphate and artificial color [yellow 5 and 6]), Modified Food Starch, Whey, Coconut Oil, Corn Syrup Solids, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavors (modified food starch, maltodextrin, cheddar cheese [milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes], butter, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oil, natural and artificial flavor, autolyzed yeast extract, sodium phosphate, medium chain triglycerides, tricalcium phosphate, silicon dioxide, corn syrup solids, salt, tocopherol and triethyl citrate), Non Fat Dry Milk, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sodium Alginate, Sodium Caseinate (a milk derivative), Dipotassium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Sugar, Mono and Diglycerides, Yeast Extract, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Soy Lecithin, Calcium Gluconate, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Inosinate, Sodium Phosphate and Annatto. CONTAINS: MILK
Premium Bun
Enriched Wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid), Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following: soybean, cottonseed, canola), Yeast, Salt, Gluten, Contains less than 2% of: Dough conditioners (may contain one or more of the following: sodium stearoly lactylate, calcium stearoly-2-lactylate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono and diglycerides, DATEM, enzymes), Yeast Nutrients (may contain one or more of the following: monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), Turmeric, Paprika, Natural Flavor, Yellow Corn Meal (Kaisers only), Calcium Silicate, Calcium Propionate (preservative). CONTAINS: WHEAT.
Uck
After my crappy interview, I headed back to civilization. But before I headed back, I wanted to stop and get something to drink, and a little snack. So I stopped by Wendy's because it was closest, and I wanted some fries. I haven't been to a fast food place other than Bojangles in years. (Yes I know Bojangles is going to kill me. I'm working on that).
Anyway, Wendy's has something called the "Baconator". And it is the single most disgusting food related thing I have ever seen. I literally threw up a little in my mouth when I looked at it.
I'm not going to post a picture of this monstrosity, because it will make me vomit. But here are some interesting facts about the Baconator.
It has six strips of bacon, two slabs of meat, along with a bunch of cheese. And here are the fun nutritional facts for this killer of cows and pigs.
It weighs 276 grams. It has 830 calories, including 460 fat calories. It has 51 grams of total fat. 22 grams of saturated fat. It has 35 grams of carbs and 170 milligrams of cholestoral. It also has 1920 miligrams of sodium. On the plus side, it has 15% of the daily recommended of Vitamin A, so that probably cancels out everything else.
My God. Can we please regulate this stuff? Even if we weren't slaughtering animals, can we contribute a little less to obesity?
Uck.
Disgusting.
Anyway, Wendy's has something called the "Baconator". And it is the single most disgusting food related thing I have ever seen. I literally threw up a little in my mouth when I looked at it.
I'm not going to post a picture of this monstrosity, because it will make me vomit. But here are some interesting facts about the Baconator.
It has six strips of bacon, two slabs of meat, along with a bunch of cheese. And here are the fun nutritional facts for this killer of cows and pigs.
It weighs 276 grams. It has 830 calories, including 460 fat calories. It has 51 grams of total fat. 22 grams of saturated fat. It has 35 grams of carbs and 170 milligrams of cholestoral. It also has 1920 miligrams of sodium. On the plus side, it has 15% of the daily recommended of Vitamin A, so that probably cancels out everything else.
My God. Can we please regulate this stuff? Even if we weren't slaughtering animals, can we contribute a little less to obesity?
Uck.
Disgusting.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I'm going to let this one speak for itself.........
Bill O'Reilly, restaurant critic.
By David Bauder, Associated Press
NEW YORK — After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly told a radio audience he "couldn't get over the fact" that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia's and other restaurants.
"It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun," he said. "And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all."
O'Reilly said his fellow patrons were tremendously respectful as he ate dinner with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
The comments were made during O'Reilly's nationally syndicated radio broadcast last week. The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America called attention to them by distributing a transcript and audio clip on the Internet.
"This is nothing more than left-wing outlets stirring up false racism accusations for ratings," said Bill Shine, senior vice president for programming at Fox News Channel. "It's sad."
O'Reilly spoke during a general discussion about racial relations with Fox News analyst Juan Williams. O'Reilly said he believed black Americans were "starting to think more and more for themselves" and backing away from a race-based culture encouraged by Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
He said he treated Sharpton to dinner to thank him for appearing on his Fox News Channel show.
O'Reilly pointed to the lack of difference between Sylvia's and other restaurants as a marker of racial progress. He also noted that he went to an Anita Baker concert recently where the audience was evenly mixed between blacks and whites.
"The band was excellent, but they were dressed in tuxedoes, and this is what white America doesn't know, particularly people who don't have a lot of interaction with black Americans," he said. "They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."
Williams concurred that too many people believe there's little else in black culture beyond profane rap.
"That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea."
Sharpton said he was taken aback that anyone would be surprised at how blacks acted at Sylvia's and will ask O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor Wednesday to explain what he meant. Nothing O'Reilly said at the dinner was offensive, said Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger.
Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, called O'Reilly's comments "ignorant and racially charged."
By David Bauder, Associated Press
NEW YORK — After eating dinner at a famed Harlem restaurant recently, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly told a radio audience he "couldn't get over the fact" that there was no difference between the black-run Sylvia's and other restaurants.
"It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun," he said. "And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all."
O'Reilly said his fellow patrons were tremendously respectful as he ate dinner with civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
The comments were made during O'Reilly's nationally syndicated radio broadcast last week. The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America called attention to them by distributing a transcript and audio clip on the Internet.
"This is nothing more than left-wing outlets stirring up false racism accusations for ratings," said Bill Shine, senior vice president for programming at Fox News Channel. "It's sad."
O'Reilly spoke during a general discussion about racial relations with Fox News analyst Juan Williams. O'Reilly said he believed black Americans were "starting to think more and more for themselves" and backing away from a race-based culture encouraged by Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
He said he treated Sharpton to dinner to thank him for appearing on his Fox News Channel show.
O'Reilly pointed to the lack of difference between Sylvia's and other restaurants as a marker of racial progress. He also noted that he went to an Anita Baker concert recently where the audience was evenly mixed between blacks and whites.
"The band was excellent, but they were dressed in tuxedoes, and this is what white America doesn't know, particularly people who don't have a lot of interaction with black Americans," he said. "They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."
Williams concurred that too many people believe there's little else in black culture beyond profane rap.
"That's right," O'Reilly said. "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M.F.-er, I want more iced tea."
Sharpton said he was taken aback that anyone would be surprised at how blacks acted at Sylvia's and will ask O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor Wednesday to explain what he meant. Nothing O'Reilly said at the dinner was offensive, said Sharpton spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger.
Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, called O'Reilly's comments "ignorant and racially charged."
Can We Tone Down The Rhetoric, Please?
I am a political junkie. Its in my nature. I am also a liberal. I will vote for the people with the 'D' next to their name unless the party with the 'D' changes its views. Most of my political views are relatively stable. Sometimes, they are more mainstream then others. But I try to respect people's opinions regardless of whether I agree with them.
I hate, hate, hate, hate, when people are disrespectful of others just because they disagree with them. I am soooooo sick of people acting as though the people they disagree with are dumb or morons or whatever. Do I think President Bush is a Rhodes scholar? No. But do I think he's an idiot? No. And even on the days when I think Bush must, in fact, be a moron, I don't think his supporters are.
Its one thing to disagree with someone. It is completely different to think that the person you disagree with is stupid or backwards or evil. C'mon. Can we please grow up?
Conneticut woman thinks that Conservatives are evil, Bible thumping, irrational fanatics with low IQs. Um, no. They're just people that disagree with you. The average Conservative is just as smart as the average Liberal. That's just the way it is.
When I was in high school, I had a friend who completely disagreed with me on everything. During the 2000 election, we talked crap to each other every day. There was an understanding that once we were able to vote, we might as well not, because we would cancel each other out. (We were nerds. We were lame. We still are. I don't care.) But even though we disagreed with each other, we didn't insult each other. Even though we both knew that if the Revolution came, we would have to fight to the death, we never resorted to calling each other idiots.
Why? Because we had respect for each other.
The annoying thing is that people gravitate towards a simplistic world view. Liberals are questioning the war? They must hate America! Conservatives are still going on with an unpopular war? They must be stupid and evil!
Can we please grow up?
I'm finding myself increasingly defending Conservatives, Bush, etc, over the war. I don't support the war. I don't support Bush. I don't hate the America haters. But I realize that there were PLAUSIBLE reasons to support the war. There were PLAUSIBLE benefits that could have happened and that might still happen. You're not a moron if you thought the war would turn out better. Millions of people thought that. It was PLAUSIBLE.
I wasn't wrong a few months after the war when there were no WMDs and I thought it was nonsense. And millions of people who happened to think the war would turn out better are not dumb for thinking that. They may not even be wrong. Under different circumstances, things may have worked out.
I really wish we would stop beating people over the head. I wish we would respect each other more. I don't care if you like me. I don't care if you think I'm right. But can you please accept the fact that if I disagree with you, I may not, in fact, be a moron? Maybe I disagree with you because I have a different set of life experiences and therefore a different set of values.
Maybe if we respected each other, we could find some common ground.
Oh, who am I kidding?
I'm right, and you're all morons. Yep, that's a more rational way to look at things.
I hate, hate, hate, hate, when people are disrespectful of others just because they disagree with them. I am soooooo sick of people acting as though the people they disagree with are dumb or morons or whatever. Do I think President Bush is a Rhodes scholar? No. But do I think he's an idiot? No. And even on the days when I think Bush must, in fact, be a moron, I don't think his supporters are.
Its one thing to disagree with someone. It is completely different to think that the person you disagree with is stupid or backwards or evil. C'mon. Can we please grow up?
Conneticut woman thinks that Conservatives are evil, Bible thumping, irrational fanatics with low IQs. Um, no. They're just people that disagree with you. The average Conservative is just as smart as the average Liberal. That's just the way it is.
When I was in high school, I had a friend who completely disagreed with me on everything. During the 2000 election, we talked crap to each other every day. There was an understanding that once we were able to vote, we might as well not, because we would cancel each other out. (We were nerds. We were lame. We still are. I don't care.) But even though we disagreed with each other, we didn't insult each other. Even though we both knew that if the Revolution came, we would have to fight to the death, we never resorted to calling each other idiots.
Why? Because we had respect for each other.
The annoying thing is that people gravitate towards a simplistic world view. Liberals are questioning the war? They must hate America! Conservatives are still going on with an unpopular war? They must be stupid and evil!
Can we please grow up?
I'm finding myself increasingly defending Conservatives, Bush, etc, over the war. I don't support the war. I don't support Bush. I don't hate the America haters. But I realize that there were PLAUSIBLE reasons to support the war. There were PLAUSIBLE benefits that could have happened and that might still happen. You're not a moron if you thought the war would turn out better. Millions of people thought that. It was PLAUSIBLE.
I wasn't wrong a few months after the war when there were no WMDs and I thought it was nonsense. And millions of people who happened to think the war would turn out better are not dumb for thinking that. They may not even be wrong. Under different circumstances, things may have worked out.
I really wish we would stop beating people over the head. I wish we would respect each other more. I don't care if you like me. I don't care if you think I'm right. But can you please accept the fact that if I disagree with you, I may not, in fact, be a moron? Maybe I disagree with you because I have a different set of life experiences and therefore a different set of values.
Maybe if we respected each other, we could find some common ground.
Oh, who am I kidding?
I'm right, and you're all morons. Yep, that's a more rational way to look at things.
Monday, September 24, 2007
What an A-hole
Whether or not you think Iran should be bombed into the Stone Age, you should be glad that their President is willing to engage in a dialogue. Communication is supposed to be important, but whatever. Its probably way healthier to think the other person is evil and completely wrong.
So while the news was debating free speech, whether or not Columbia University should have hosted the President of Iran was discussed. But don't worry, aparently the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, is a dick. I wish I could find a nice euphemism, but, um, I can't.
President Bollinger, who invited Ahmadinejad, gave these nice introductory comments.
"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."
"You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad about the leader's Holocaust denial. "Will you cease this outrage?"
Um, dude, you invited him. But whatever. Lets start off this dialogue between two countries that could potentially go to war together, by insulting the other nation's leader. What a jerk. (Not the Holocaust denier, the guy who invited the Holocaust denier.)
So while the news was debating free speech, whether or not Columbia University should have hosted the President of Iran was discussed. But don't worry, aparently the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, is a dick. I wish I could find a nice euphemism, but, um, I can't.
President Bollinger, who invited Ahmadinejad, gave these nice introductory comments.
"Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."
"You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad about the leader's Holocaust denial. "Will you cease this outrage?"
Um, dude, you invited him. But whatever. Lets start off this dialogue between two countries that could potentially go to war together, by insulting the other nation's leader. What a jerk. (Not the Holocaust denier, the guy who invited the Holocaust denier.)
Oh Mahmoud!
We're all going to die! Iran is taking over Columbia! Bogey Man! Bogey Man! Bogey Man!
Oh Mahmoud, you're so silly. Coming to America. Like a crazy Eddie Murphy character! Well, you were in town for the whole United Nations thing, but whatever.
Sure Mahmoud, you made some decent points. Questioning us on our hypocrisy on nuclear weapons. Stating that the oppression of Jewish people shouldn't take away from the oppression of the Palestinians. Engaging in a question and answer period.
But you know what............you're not going to get away so easily, Mahmoud! This is America! I'm going to focus on the odd and amusing comment that you surely did not mean to be amusing and odd, but hey, get in line with our culture! We love gay jokes! Embrace it!
Says Mahmoud, in response to a question about executing homosexuals, which is, I believe, Trent Lott's hobby...........
"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country ... I don't know who's told you that we have this."
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