Dave Barber

13 Oct 08

I have an old Star Micronics StarJet SJ-48 that is really a rebadged Canon BJ-10 monochrome inkjet printer. Despite being fifteen years old, it works perfectly and even has a rechargeable battery inside. It's slim and travels well and worked fine with all my laptops up until Vista, because no one made Vista drivers for it. Well, I found that the XP driver will work, but first you have to trick Vista into letting you install it.

See my post here (eleventh one down the page).

(Star Micronics SJ-48 printer - from the user manual)

Does it seem Roger is losing his edge.  He has endured much, achieved much, tolerated much and delivered much this season. Do you think he can continue to have the weight of the tennis world on his shoulders, this is Roger Federer, not superman.

The day after his painstaking 5th consecutive triumph in the US Open last month, Roger Federer talked about how he had not felt stronger and fresher for a long time (yeahh.....) - that he believed the old invincibility (not quite) was flowing back. The chirpy champion looked as if he could have slipped straight into his tennis gear and played a few more sets.

Federer spoke, too about the period at the beginning of the year when he was not feeling at all chipper, about the glandular fever that had affected him and how he had worried about how he should tell the world that he had been suffering from it without any of his words sounding like an excuse for the semi final loss to Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open and the first round defeat in Dubai to Andy Murray. When Federer said yesterday that he might not play again this year, it was not that much of a shock, because his twin aims for 2009 are to regain his No.1 ranking from Rafael Nadal and collect a couple of grand slam titles so that he can overhaul Pete Sampras' tally of 14, from which he is currently one removed. This is no time to flog himself to death.

Of course, a lot of tickets have been sold in several cities on the expectation that Federer will be seen in the flesh and not just his image tied to local street lights. But in Spain, they are going to present Rafael Nadal with his No.1 world trophy, it is going to be Rafa, Rafa all the way and perhaps Federer could do without having that situation thrust down his throat. Better to keep himself ready for China, where he will only have to play 5x at most, his 3 group matches and a potential semi final and final. All the matches are best of three sets.

I would expect to see him in Basel, because he simply loves to appear in front of the local crowd and his victory for Switzerland in the Olympic doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka in August meant the world to him. And I am sure he will present himself in China.

But that will be all for him this year. Federer will then fly off to to his pimping pad in Dubai to prepare training for the sweltering Australian summer - it is one of the most important periods of his year, a training block where he gets himself in the right shape for the mental and physical road ahead.

Is his body starting to talk to him about not playing so much next year..... no player can keep up the intensity he's been at for the last few years.... there is a time when Roger will be to old and he will be a legend instead of a current hero.... it is inevitable.

Doesn’t scream absence of any messed shit

Its how I used to be all fun with all the games I used to play

Morning coffee and light cigarettes

Twilight car rides and midnight bets

Showing off our reckless manners

Cheap shooting all those banners

Not a care in the world

This is my immaturity

Sinking back into me for a perfect fit

Ill wear it loud

Ill scream it proud

This is what could have been all along

Streaming through the traffic lights

Raging with desire tonight

Just to find the now

In all of us

Oct 12 2008

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden on Sunday accused the McCain campaign of trying to distract Americans from their economic woes by launching "unbecoming personal attacks" at Barack Obama.

Appearing at a boisterous rally near his childhood home, Biden said John McCain's campaign is desperate to change the subject from the financial crisis that has wiped out many Americans' college and retirement savings. He said McCain has resorted to making "ugly inferences" about Obama in the waning days of the campaign.

"Every single false charge, every single baseless accusation is a simple attempt to get you to focus on something other than what's affecting your family and your country," said Biden, who was cheered by some 6,000 people packed into a sports arena in the blue-collar city where he lived until he was 10.

"It's good to be home!" said the Delaware senator, who was joined on stage by former President Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton -- the former Democratic presidential candidate who has her own roots in Scranton, where her father grew up and is buried.

The battered economy may be helping Obama in Pennsylvania, where he has surged ahead in polls over the past few weeks. A daily tracking poll conducted by Muhlenberg College has shown Obama with a double-digit lead over McCain since Oct. 3.

If Obama and Biden win Pennsylvania, Sen. Clinton predicted Sunday, "there's no way they can lose the White House."

Clinton beat Obama in the Pennsylvania primary by 10 percentage points, in part by appealing to the socially conservative, blue-collar voters in Scranton and many other parts of the state. Biden's counterpart, Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is scheduled to campaign in the city on Tuesday.

Biden on Sunday cast McCain as out of touch with the concerns of everyday Americans who are worried about their jobs and the declining values of their homes. He said McCain doesn't know how to get the nation's economy back on track and would simply continue the policies of President Bush.

"Nothing less than our prosperity and our security is on the ballot," he said.

At an Obama rally in Roanoke, Va., later Sunday, Bill Clinton said Bush's response to the financial crisis is helping Obama's campaign.

"The administration keeps plowing an Uzi's worth of bullets into the McCain-Palin ticket every time they have something else go wrong," Clinton told an evening rally of several hundred people gathered at Roanoke's downtown Market Square. "It's good politics for us."

Clinton praised the Democratic candidate's plan for financial recovery and his proposals for health care reform, an issue that he said nobody has taken on "since Hillary and I got our brains beat out trying to fix."

Later, before a crowd of more than 4,000 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Clinton said: "In six of the last eight years we have seen what happens if (Republicans) do everything they want to do. This is not about good people and bad people, this is about good ideas and bad ones."

In Pennsylvania, Biden defended a comment he made in an ABC interview last month in which he said the wealthiest Americans should show their patriotism by paying more in taxes. The Obama campaign has said it plans to hike taxes on people earning more than $250,000, but would cut taxes for those making less. Republicans have criticized Biden over the remark.

Accusing businesses and wealthy individuals of using "offshore tax loopholes" to hide $100 billion a year in income, Biden told the crowd Sunday, "It is unpatriotic when you earn your money in the United States of America and you hide it offshore to avoid taxes, making sure YOU have to make up the difference."

His voice rising, the Delaware senator shouted: "It is unpatriotic to take $100 billion offshore and not pay your taxes! That is unpatriotic! So I don't need a lecture on patriotism! I've had it to here!"

The McCain campaign pointed out that Biden and both Clinton had raised questions about Obama during the Democratic primaries.

"As voters in northeast Pennsylvania continue to raise serious questions about Barack Obama's judgment and character, it is befitting that they will now hear from the three leading voices who sounded the alarm on the risk of an Obama presidency," said McCain spokesman Paul Lindsay.

Source

Is there a “Dirty Tricks” Campaign to Discourage Black Voting in November?

Has a nationwide campaign been launched to reduce minority, especially African American, voter turnout for the presidential election in November?

First there were the mysterious flyers circulated in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Philadelphia. They falsely warned potential African American voters that undercover agents would be stationed at polling stations on Election Day and they would arrest anyone with pending criminal charges or even unpaid parking tickets who tried to vote.

Then there was Thursday’s New York Times investigative report which found that “Tens of thousands of eligible voters had been removed from rolls or blocked from registering” in at least six states by an exclusion method which “appears to violate federal law.” The Times report found no evidence those election officials were intentionally trying to reduce minority voter turnout. The states involved were Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina.

However, officials were reportedly trying to enforce the so-called “Help America Vote Act of 2002.” This was a law pushed by Republicans which many Democrats charged was an attempt to allege voter fraud in a manner which would discourage minorities from voting.

Finally, there is the current legal campaign against ACORN. In the past few months, the activist group has registered a record 1.3 million people to vote - mostly in low income Black and Hispanic communities. But last week, 11 state investigations were announced against ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform) alleging that some of its activities amounted to voter fraud.

The White “Fear Factor” and Concern for Barack Obama’s Safety

By Robert N. Taylor

“The Black man has tears and the white man has fears” was once a widely accepted description of racial history in America. The adage was especially descriptive of a lot of white behavior because it appears that some group or class of white men was forever developing an irrational, unjustified fear of something and then attacking, invading, bombing or attempting to kill it.

There is no better example of this than the irrational, illegal and immoral U.S. invasion of Iraq which was driven by a self-generated fear of non-existent weapons of mass destruction by George Bush and the cabal of neo-conservatives which currently run this country.

How does all of this relate to Senator Barack Obama? It is the fear factor. Last week the campaign for president took an ugly new turn. The FOX Cable News Channel with its false claim of being a fair journalistic organization, white talk radio with its wild rantings and the John McCain campaign itself with Sarah Palin as the attack dog are trying to convince as many white Americans as possible to fear Barack Obama.

The Republican campaign has now gotten so desperate as to suggest that Obama is a terrorist sympathizer because he once sat on the board of a charity foundation with 1960s radical William Ayers. Its makes no difference that Ayers’ alleged “terrorist” activities took place when Obama was just eight years old and that the charity board on which the two sat was actually sponsored by a Republican.

This is all dangerous because attacking Obama, not on the issues, but as a person who needs to be feared feeds into an ugly and horrendous aspect of white American history – the irrational fear of the Black man leading to acts of violence against him. It began after the Civil War when Southern whites expected former slaves to launch a campaign of revenge and continues down to the present day.

The impact of these recent efforts was seen clearly during a rally McCain and Palin held in Lacrosse, Wisconsin last week. There you had whites expressing heartfelt fear that Obama might indeed be elected president. They were using words like “frustrated,” “outraged,” and “mad as hell” that Obama was not only leading McCain in the polls but appeared to be pulling away. Things got so ugly that by the end of the week McCain was forced to step forward and try to damper down the rhetoric. But Palin continued with her speeches and the Republican campaign committee continued with its ads.

To watch and listen to these people, you could feel their fear of and anger at Obama. There were other Republican rallies at which people were actually shouting “kill him” in reference to Obama. The shout may have actually been a call for McCain to defeat Obama but the choice of words was chilling. In another instance, a crowd took out its anger out on a Black cameraman for a major television network by hurling insults at him.

McCain with his latest television ads and Palin with her shrill speeches are actually laying the verbal and hysterical foundation for physical attacks on Obama by any unstable right-wing nut who decides to attend an Obama campaign rally. Regardless of your political leanings McCain and Palin must be denounced for their latest tactics because I believe they know exactly what they are doing.

It a tactic known as “divert attention from the real issues by generating fear of the Black man.”

The tactic has deep and ugly historical roots but it is time that it is socially and politically banned because it places Barack Obama in physical danger.

Source

Are the American people foolish enough to swallow the eight year old terrorist accusation?

If they do,  they certainly have been brain washed for sure.

What absolute nonsense.

I use to think Palin  was a pain in the neck but my opinion of her has moved down.

Obama is a well spoken, well educated man and should be treated with the same respect, the  way anyone of us would expect to treated.

Promoting bigotry on any level, should be unacceptable to all Americans.

Stating an eight year old child is a terrorist however is just pathetic.

Rates right up there with Children being gassed because someone sent out DVDs in Newspapers.

On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West — the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail — were distributed by mail in Ohio, a “chemical irritant” was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service. The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. This, apparently, is what the scare tactic political campaigning of John McCain’s supporters has led to — Americans perpetrating a terrorist attack against innocent children on American soil.

Source

Who are the real terrorists?  Certainly not children.

1:00pm power desk...

A good date today, 7^th of October 2008! I was looking at the mirror to check if things go well with the powder that I’m wearing after drying my face from quick wash. I was really horrified at first when I saw a silvery strand saying hi with other black strands in my head. Just then I recalled what a close friend told me, “Gray hair means wisdom”. But still I’m trying to convince myself that it was untrue. I kept on telling myself, “Don’t mind it you are just hungry, grab a bite to get away with that silly thought”. I left my workstation and decided to have a break. The verdict! While on the lift (seemingly mirrors were calling me to look closer), I found out that it was really true, gray hair strand on my head!

Most people were used to utter these words “Natatakot akong tumanda” (I am afraid to get old) and I guess that’s how I felt AT FIRST! Imagine, it was yesterday when my obligation is just to finish what’s on my plate and wait until mama comes for her ‘pasalubong’ (surprise gift or treat). But know, who would have to thought that my decision would matter a lot whether the solution is ready for certification or not? Who would have thought that I would need to go through the technicalities? Who would have thought that I would need to weed out risks and go through a lot of contingencies? – Things that made me stop for awhile and made me realize that I’m not getting any younger.

Gray hair is true as proved written in the scriptures…

Ecc 12:3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, Ecc 12:4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

Ecc 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Am I taking the right path and serving my purpose? Am I supposed to be afraid or should I ready myself to the next level?

To be continued…

]]> http://kimmybeans.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/an-old-couple-in-love-on-a-public-bench/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:29:09 +0000 kimmybeans http://kimmybeans.ta.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/an-old-couple-in-love-on-a-public-bench/

i love seeing old people in love. its beautiful and sweet.

....except when they're walking around pinching eachother's bums....i don't really like to see that

Mood: Irritated because this thing has no Mood/Music thing.

Music: Einmal - Der Gloeckner von Notre Dame FTW.

_____________________________________________________________________

I am officially old as fuck.

I'm not entirely sure how old "fuck" is, but it's been around awhile, I'm guessing.

So, I'm eighteen. My Loli-days are over (not that I was ever officially jailbait, but hell) and I'm looking forward into the swirling abyss that is senility. I was okay with getting older until I found out that I look old to begin with. People constantly mistake me for my dad's girlfriend, although I'm short as hell and have the chubby cheeks of a toddler.

But I was cute, at one time. I was an adorable little mexican-looking child-thing. People said nasty things about me following the phrase "when she grows up", I shit you not, and things got worse when I started growing tits.

People stopped "your momming" my brother because she started getting old, and they replaced it with "your sistering".

Finally, a 24 year-old adorable man thought it would be a good idea to become my best friend. When my anxiety and bitchiness got out of control (and when my boobs stopped growing and reached a nice, healthy D), things started spiraling downward.

I lost my boytoy to my idiotic, but equally-chesty friend (who was a year younger than me, thirteen). I turned him pedo, and then I just gave up when things started getting rough. I lost all interest in the opposite sex, save for the overly-androgynous ones, and I gained in interest in seclusion and suspended animation for long periods of time.

My cuteness withered away to reveal tired, old eyes. My golden skin turned translucent white because I refused to go into the sun for years. My attitude was and is cold, and lacks innocence as an adult's does. I cut my princess hair off so now I can't wear precious Loli pigtails.

The amazing cheekbones of my budding teen years are obscured under white, mannish skin and layers of chub. My skinny limbs became muscular overnight, and fat the next.

BONUS ROUND. Fluctuating weight! I lost thirty pounds, thirty pounds this summer. How the hell...? I had to buy new bras for my little boobies, and I can't afford to wear anything but the clothes I have now. Shapeless, huge, and dull clothes. It's okay, though. Although I got used to being thin and cute this summer, my body is now packing all that weight back on. Good job, metabolism!

At least the school nurse won't accuse me of having an eating disorder, again. Fat people eat, right?

So, in short, I'm old and ugly. My pedophile has gone to greener pastures (in truth, he found a legal woman and is no longer a pedophile. I think my friend turned him back onto the older ones), and I am not yet willing to accept that I can't reverse this adult thing.

There are still things I can't do, now that I realize it.

No more, "I AM A PEDOPHILE" jokes. If you know me, you know this. If you know me and I know that you have an adorable blonde little sister, then you really know this. I'd probably get arrested for wearing a Pedobear t-shirt (do they make those??) and it's not like there isn't hard evidence IN MY ROOM to suggest that I'm not at all disturbed by pedophilia. They'd just have to rifle through my sketchpad, check out my harddrive, maybe pop in a Loveless DVD. It's all good.

BTW Thanks, Japan!

I can no longer sell drugs to underaged boys in the woods. I was going to pawn off some caffeine pills as speed this weekend, but I realized I'd be facing hard time for doing so because of my age. No, "WTF, stupid kids. Get out of here." No. Slack will not be cut for me. I am too old, and too ugly.

Also, no more slapping/punching/strangling of idiot people on the bus. The last kid didn't report me, but the next is sure to. It's my luck.

And lastly, no more jailbait. I know this isn't an activity, but it's one more thing I really can't. I can't parade around like a kid and tease 24 year old pedophiles adults, because I am grimy and disgusting, just like them.

Any awesomeness I had, I have no longer. Fuck my life.

1. Get out of the city - although some people would say that the wealthier areas have the better clothes, this isn't entirely true. People in cities know their clothes' worth (this is bad).

2. Make sure you are going to a thrift store not a vintage store, there is quite a difference as you'll find.

3. Find an area that has a lot of thrift stores close to each other, so that if the first one's not for you, you can always leave and move onto the next.

4. As a general rule, thrift stores that are lacking in one area (such a dresses), thrive in other areas (such as handbags). So once you realize you're looking through Leelee Sobeiski's blouses, head on over to another section.

5. Go alone or go with someone patient. Thrifting can be a tedious process and if someone is constantly nagging and whining, you won't be free to find the buried goods.

6. If you find something you like, but it doesn't fit or something is torn, see if you can tailor it (or have it tailored), if not, let go - you'll never wear it anyway.

7. Don't be afraid of bathing suits. Try them on with your undies ON but when you get home, you can replace the lining with fabric from an old t-shirt.

8. You can sometimes tell if the item in question will be a good fit by the quality of fabric. Better fabric means better design.

9. If you see something that intrigues you, but you are a little intimidated by, get it. It's not like it's costing you that much anyway.

10. If they have a special section for costumes, DEFINITELY hit that up, I've found some of my favorite things in that section. (think glitter and exaggerated cuts)

11. Check the kid's section, a lot of the adult section is old, shoulder-padded granny jackets, but the kids is fitted blazers and funny t-shirts.

12. If the thrift store in question has no changing room, many people would suggest that you bring a tape measure, but I understand that just because it fits doesn't mean that the cut looks good, so if you want to try on a pair of pants or a top, find a long, loose skirt and put that on over what you're wearing, and change under it.

13. In the end, if you've been digging for hours and still not come up with anything you like, accept defeat and go home and take a shower.

Other thrifting advice:

By Liebemarlene

By Mademoiselle Robot

By Sophie Vintage

By The Cat's Pajamas

Beautiful pain, the wretched scream of my existence
high standards to live by
If beauty is in the eye the beholder then I am blind
Because I don't see mine
The word stings my ear drums
I loath the existence of me
They say beauty is skin deep so I cut...
I cut through the surface looking for something more
looking for something deeper than beauty
Only finding the blood of my pain
So I cut further
I think I'm going insane, I cut but there's no truth to be found
Until I finally see the truth is me
The beauty that's real can only be seen, when you cut through the skin
The real beauty is within

This nun is 106 years old and is quite deaf. However she gets information from newspapers.

"I'm encouraged by Senator Obama," she says.

"I've never met him, but he seems to be a good man with a good private life. That's the first thing. Then he must be able to govern," she adds.

Well, let me tell you Miss Nun, deciding to vote because of somebody's private life over their ruling skills is not appropriate.

As you may know, the team at What We Call the News have opposing political views. One of us is Republican and one of us is Democrat. I'm not going to say which I am but lets just say if you read previous posts you can probably figure it out for yourself. This post itself could cause debate

I had three options last night: Kings of Leon/The Stills or New Kids on the Block (I thought it was fate) or Santogold/Mates of State/Alice Smith/Low vs. Diamond. I like the Stills a lot but not so much on the Kings of Leon, I adored New Kids on the Block when I was much younger but felt that I would just be cringing the whole time and then be pissed I wasted my birthday evening having good memories ruined so when Santogold was announced I jumped up and down and squealed in my work chair. It was perfection. My dear friend Miles plus a couple of his friends met up with us also and there were good times and very offensive conversation in between bands. Laura! has a new favorite band in Mates of State. Dani worked through her hunger and only winced when Santogold covered "Guns of Brixton" (which of course I adored). I tried not to shed tears of happiness when I saw Santogold on the stage being awesome and amazing and full of confidence and did I mention just being so fucking awesome? I was also very happy to see Mates of State. I got Team Boo not long after it came out and hit Dani and Laura when they decided to play "Ha Ha" and got all sorts of crazy.

Day ended in front of the computer as it started and it was good. 27 was kind of a shit year but there were a couple good things that can be taken away from the year and marked in the good column. Meeting and becoming inseparable with Dani and Laura kind of (but not really kind of) saved me so I have them to thank for getting me to 28. <3

Too much babble not enough holiday gift making.

Current Listening: Mates of State-Team Boo

I was going through the pictures and videos on my computer and I found a very old video from when I first got the guppies. Way back then I was a modest fish keeper and my tank was decorated with fake coral and coloured gravel. Now days I don't favor such decor, but I will be keeping the video, as it is the only video I have with all four of the original guppies in it.

It's finally here! It's not perfect, but here is a video I scrounged up of the 18g. Considering I filmed and produced it all in one day, i'd say it's pretty good. Enjoy!

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CxuzKFu7Pas"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CxuzKFu7Pas" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

EDIT: Sorry, the video doesn't seem to be working. It might be because I only just uploaded it. Once the video has been processed and added to my Youtube channel, it might work. If it doesn't, I'll post a link to it instead.