Exxon Mobil posts record profits with the help of American tax payers

I sure am glad I gave the oil companies $10B last April, because they were having such a bad year with Katrina and all.

Could I get some of that back, please? The poor people in New Orleans kinda need it.

-TPP

The $22B tax hike

All the noise about tax cuts and cutting Government spending apparently means nothing to the Republicans when they're out to reward their most loyal campaign contributors.

The Washington Post article describes how in a closed-door meeting, from which all Democrats were barred, the Republicans managed to save the healthcare industry some $22B USD during the next 10 years.

I'm sure they'll find some other programs to cut to get the $22B USD back. Education, foodstamps, social services...who needs them!? Republicans sure don't.

One has to wonder how the Republicans continue to get their strongest support from the poorest and oldest demographics while the Republicans keep on asking them to bend over and take it, over and over and over again.

-TPP

Up yours, Michigan spammer scum

Daniel J. Lin is not just any spammer. He's from West Bloomfield, MI.

While West Bloomfield, MI does not have the same notoriety as Boca Raton, FL for more spammers per square inch, it's probably the 3rd on the list of Top Spam Sources list in the world. West Bloomfield, MI is the current hometown of one Alan Ralsky, career criminal, habitual liar, sociopath, and, yes, a spammer. In fact one of the biggest spammers in the world.

Daniel J. Lin has been spamming with and for Alan Ralsky for a long time, and now finally the law caught up with him. He's made a guilty plea deal with the prosecutors and we can only hope the plea deal was made in exchange for his testimony against Alan Ralsky.

Ralsky, you'd look perfect in an orange jumpsuit. Hope you get to wear it soon.

-TPP

Pro-Russian propaganda against ethnic minorities at its best

I was tipped about the most interesting "news" site in Russia. news12.ru is an excellent collection of nationalistic propaganda, hate speech, outright lies and Pro-Russian posturing at the expense of the Finno-Ugric minorities in the Mari-El region.

They seem to generate half their "news" from forum postings from their "fans", most of which are probably skinheads. Anyone acting to advance the Mari-El people is labeled as an agent of foreign countries out to get Mother Russia itself.

2006-02-28 Update: Looks like news12.ru is currently down. I wonder if the FSB ran out of money in their information warfare aka propaganda division.

I've written about Mari-El people before.

-TPP - tormoz

Diabetes - the unknown epidemic

The New York Times has an eyeraising article about diabetes and how it's reaching epidemic proportions in the United States and New York City in particular.

Here're some stats about diabetes:

1. an estimated 800,000 adult New Yorkers, or more than one in every eight, have diabetes.
   
2. in the last decade the number of diabetics in New York has risen 140%
   
3. the New York public health system has 3 people and $950K budget to fight diabetes. Tuberculosis, which infects 1,000 people annually, has 400 people and $27M budget.
   
4. total estimates annual cost of diabetes nationwide is $132B. All cancers together cost about $171B every year
   
5. every day in New York City 4,100 people are diagnosed with diabetes, 230 diabetics have amputations, 120 diabetics enter end-stage kidney disease programs and 55 diabetics go blind. Every day.
   
6. one out of every ten dollars spent on health care is spent on diabetes related costs
   
7. in 2002 224,092 people died of diabetes related complications. The number is likely to be under-reported.
   

Diabetes is a serious disease, for which there is no cure. You can treat the symptoms to keep the disease under control, but patients have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, birth defects, kidney failures and blindness among other things.

Doctors estimate the life expectancy of a diabetic is 5 to 15 years lower than average. They also expect that due to diabetes the average life expectancy of Americans is likely to drop for the first time in more than 100 years.

-TPP

Don't get annoyed at this, please?

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) must be proud of himself. He managed to slip a rather interesting little law in the DOJ Appropriations Bill. Of course the DOJ Appropriations Bill was a must-pass piece of legislation, so slipping this law into it is just downright unethical.

The law makes annoying someone anonymously over the Internet a federal crime. Being the Mad Finn I'm annoyed at a whole bunch of Internet morons all the time. A lot of them are using assumed names, cute nicknames, impersonating someone else or no name at all. Does it mean all these people are now criminals? Come to think of it, has anyone on the Internet never annoyed anyone? Does this mean that everyone on the Internet is a criminal now?

I'm not posting anonymously on this blog, so I can still annoy anyone I damn well please. Hopefully the "fine" Senator Specter is the first in line.

-TPP

Spammer gets pwned

A Florida scumbag decides it's a good idea to forge spam to come from an ISP in Iowa. No to so fast.

The ISP sues the vermin in 2004, and case finally gets a decision today.

$11B USD awarded to the plaintiff. Do not pass jail, do not go home, ever, as you will never be able to afford one.

PWNED!

Up yours, spammer scum.

-TPP

Here we go! Let the games begin

Jack Abramoff is reportedly accepted a plea bargain with the prosecutors. He's expected to testify against other people involved in his dealings. Tom Delay may not be smiling too long after all.

-TPP

Music Review - PopoZao by Kevin Federline

Mr. Britney Spears aka Kevin Federline aka KFed released his much anticipated debut single this New Years.

The single is 3:16 minutes long. It's 3:16 minutes too long. It's so bad Winamp crashed playing it.

Update: Apparently others agree.

-TPP

PS. How do I remove tracks from my last.fm profile?