Hieronymus Blogschrjray.org - Journal and Log for Randy J. RayCalifornia Here I Come. Again.- November 20, 2006 After weighing some very nice competing offers, I've decided to return to California to take a job with a company in Palo Alto. It means delaying my desire to migrate to London (and I say "delay" in an effort to assure myself that I can try again as some future date), and turning down an opportunity to work on the guts of the Mozilla SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine. But lest you think I'm complaining, what it also means is that I'm going to get to do some very interesting work in high-traffic...http://www.rjray.org/misc/newjob.html "Hacking Democracy" Now Downloadable- November 7, 2006 Full version of Hacking Democracy downloadable from Google. If you don't get HBO, this is your chance to check it out and draw your own conclusions.http://www.rjray.org/politics/hacking2.html Please Please Please- November 7, 2006 For all our sakes, get out and vote tomorrow. I don't care who you vote for (well, that's not true, I do care– but it isn't my business so I'm not asking or offering my own suggestions), just do it. I don't share the optimism that so many liberals seem to be riding on. I think there are plenty of ways this can go wrong (from my perspective of "right" and "wrong"). But it would be nice to have an actual reasonable turn-out for a midterm.http://www.rjray.org/politics/vote2006.html So, Why Did I Write in the First Place- November 7, 2006 So, yesterday I went to a church service for the first time in over 14 years. As I've written recently, I have a lot of crap rattling in my head. So I wrote to the pastor, seeing as I did in fact enjoy the service and the guy seems like a really genuine person, and, well, I found it really easy to be writing. So now, I have a reply and I'm afraid to read it. After all, the guy might actually have something useful andor helpful to say. Can't have that, now, can Ihttp://www.rjray.org/thoughts/why_did_i_write.html May I Leave the Country Pretty Please- November 5, 2006 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSA) has proposed that all airlines, cruise lines-even fishing boats-be required to obtain clearance for each passenger they propose taking into or out of the United States. This proposal would trump passports– whether you have one or not, you would still have to get a definitive "yes" from HSA to leave or re-enter. A non-answer would count as "no" untilunless clarified. The article's author trips over Godwin's Law at the end, but there have been..http://www.rjray.org/politics/may_i_leave.html It Stops at My Skin- November 4, 2006 I just got back (well, not just, as it's taken time for me to write and edit this) from seeing Shortbus, for the second time. I realized I hadn't reviewed it, and I will after I write this post. But for some reason, the movie leaves me highly emotional, so I want to get some thoughts written down before I dilute them with things like a movie review. They're diluted enough as it is, just from driving back home to the suburbs. Suburbs seem to have that sort of numbing effect on people,...http://www.rjray.org/thoughts/lingering_feelings.html A House of Worship is Not a Fortress- November 4, 2006 Women acting as human shields aid escape of Palestinian militants Okay, here's a little shift in perception for you. After establishing myself as mondo-Liberal (note the capital "L"), here's an opinion you'll probably consider to be inconsistent: the Israelis in this case should have levelled that mosque long before the women had arrived to act as shields. I am no longer at all interested in or involved with any form of organized religion. I haven't since, hmmmm, around 1992 or so when I walked.http://www.rjray.org/politics/fortress_church.html "Oh my gosh, do you know what this means"- November 3, 2006 I'm fifteen minutes from the end of the HBO documentary, Hacking Democracy. And I'm having a reaction I have not yet had to any political issue before: I'm weeping. Most of you who know me know that I am an unashamedly big-"L" liberal. And my reactions to the elections since 2000 have been pretty much all negative. I've responded with anger, disbelief, outrage and no small amount of profanity. But before tonight, I hadn't outright wept before. In Tallahassee, Florida, on December 13th of 2005,..http://www.rjray.org/politics/hacking.html |