Confessions of a Foodie Hyena

So, I was looking around the internet this fine, fine evening and I came across something very fascinating.  In particular, the Scott Adams blog.  Scott Adams, in case you don't know, is the creator of the cartoon strip Dilbert; a very funny, and very insightful person. I certainly don't agree with everything he says, particularly in that he doesn't often think things through enough, but he still has some good observations. In particular, this entry...
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/
It should come up right from as the most recent entry from the old site.  In particular, the economics party.
Oh god, yes, sign me up.
And to think, I thought my political desires were rebuffed by all modern parties. If only it was real. *sigh*
Yes, yes, I know the Libertarian party is very close, by they went with Bob Barr as their most recent candidate. Really? Bob Barr? Can we get anyone more obscure, right-wing, or just plain annoying? It would be like if the Republicans went with Ron Paul.
But. Now I digress. The Economics Party.  One which uses the tools of economic analysis upon which to base their decisions for proper governance; as such, one could also call this party the reason or logic party. (Heaven forbid modern politicians use reason or logic.)
Some example policies:
1) Legalize marijuana, tax it heavily.
Reason: The costs in trying to prevent it greatly outweigh the benefits of not having it. I mean, we'll always have stoners, and if anything, legalizing it just further helps your local Taco Bell bolster sales at 2 AM. That's called a positive externality
2) Legalize gay marriage
Reason: Is there any benefit to having it outlawed like it does? Even if it was, does it really outweigh the cost of disenfranchising some 7-10% of the population? Let alone the whole idea of, you know, removing the freedoms of a whole set of people.
3) Simplify the tax system:
Reason: The costs of a complicated tax system greatly outweight a streamlined one. Honestly, just take a razor to it, and chop away all the credits and deductions out there, and just keep the standard deduction. It's /so/ much better. Even better, just have no income taxes for anyone making under $30,000 or so (they'll never pay any anyway), and progress it from there, maximizing it at about 40% for the 1% of wealthiest Americans. In addition, just put capital gains and interest into regular income... keeping it seperate just adds extra clerical costs.
4) Deregulate.
Reason: With regulation comes inefficiency. Does this mean we should just let companies go hog-wild? Of course not. But you also shouldn't be working towards the Ayn Rand-esque form of economy so many people want now. Honestly, if you look at the current crisis, a lot of the 'excesses' were due to government policies.  Subsidize homes? Of course! Forget that it'll cause a giant bubble. That, and, guess what... companies fail in recessions. It's what happens. LET THEM FAIL. But, that's another rant.
5) Force a running average balanced budget, with a forced reduction of government debt.
Reason: ... No duh. Interest costs for the government are growing higher and higher, and as we get more in debt, this will continue to rise.  This isn't a bad in the short-run, but it's a problem long-term. Why? We could be using that money for a lot of other, better things, and it 'crowds out' other players in the loanable funds market by driving up interest rates.  Not a permanent balanced budget, but one that's forced to offset temporary deficits with surpluses in later years.

So, friends, this is the deal with my computer situation.
Basically, a virus of some kind (Win32, I believe) got into my system files and began to replace it with malicious stuff. However, I stopped it before it could convert some of the key administrator functions, but it did enough damage to severely mess up Windows XP, blocking me out entirely of installing certain functions and doing other funky things to my computer. It was most likely downloaded by some Backdoor Trojan that was downloaded by Vundo or the fake-antispyware Spyware Protect 2009, and even corrupted my McAfee.
In other words, my computer in its current state is screwed.
Yes, it's that bad.
That's more than moderately depressing for me, needless to say, but I think I've finally moved to the acceptance phase of the five stages of grief. And, of course, it's nice that I still have (albeit limited) internet access here, so I can keep you all updated as it goes, AND I was able to back up all my important documents and information onto a USB drive I have, AND logs from my MUSHclient. So, the last 3 years will not be lost in their entirety.
My plan of attack from here is:
Try to reformat the hard drive with assistance of some friends I have. This means that, with luck, I could have my computer back up and running by the middle of next week.
If that doesn't work, I have two costly options:
1) Get it fixed professionally. ($$$)
2) Buy a new computer. ($$$)
I'll just have to do a cost-benefit analysis of both options to see what'll be best. Thankfully, I should have a significant cash inflow this summer, so it shouldn't affect my ability to attend AC this summer. I'll just have to cut back on other things.
Wish me luck.

P.S. Kudos to my dear friend alexisriddle for assisting me greatly last evening. Even though she ended up not being able to fix the problem, her assistance is truly appreciated. And, of course, she's always wonderful to talk to, and is a great friend. Much hugs and love to her.

Yes, yes. You all know the expletive that I'm visually bleeping out, in much the common manner of  Beatle Bailey and Dilbert.
Sadly, this is a much more serious issue than a cartoon strip, however. To those of you (most/all of you) who contact through me regularly through instant messengers, it might be a while until you see me on again. My computer recently decided to go apeshit insane and get a virus or trojan or some other nasty thing on it, even though I have McAfee (crapAfee) on it. I've got it working again, but only offline. I'm running diagnostic scans on it using anti-spyware programs and whatnot, but this is doing little good at the moment, so I'll probably end up taking it to a helpdesk or something.
But, what does this mean?
It means I am without instant messenger until further notice. It also means I am without Role-Play (RP). :(
Yes, sad-face here. :( :( :( :( :( :(
:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
That's a really, really sad face, for anyone who's wondering.
SO. Those of you who have personal communication, feel free to use that. Those who know my e-mail: I'll be checking those regularly. I'll also try to communicate to anyone all through both here and my FA account, more likely here, since it's much easier to use. But, I'll try to double-post.
So, which me luck and good wishes in battling the daemons of the internetz and computer realms. I swear, sometimes i just want to throw the thing out the window and hope it smacks whoever the... (random diatribe).
Carrier pigeons worked /so/ much better.

Saturday. And I just got up. At 11:30. ~Yawwwwn~
There's a reason I love Saturdays. Well, until I remember the stuff that I need to do for Monday, anyway.
So, one of those crappy Brinks Security commercials just came on, and it made me start thinking a little bit. Why do I think these commercials are crappy? Because the burglars are entirely unrealistic, and the commercials are meant purely for scare tactics so that overly protective parents freak out and go... OMFG. SOMEONE COULD BURGLE THE HOUSE. WHILE I'M IN IT. AND IT WOULD BE SCARY.
Look, if you want a security system, that's all well and good, as it's a good investment for protecting your possessions. Don't buy it because you see a commercial and think that someone in a hoodie is going to bust down your door at night and scare your kids and your dog, as is presented in the advertisement.
Here's why, with a little bit of game theory:
One first, reasonable assumption
1) Burglars don't want to get caught. Because they don't want to go to jail.
2) The person being burglarized has reasonable access to a phone, and want safety.
Starting from there, burglars have a few choices. Let's presume they make the Brinks choice, the stupidest choice, and try to rob a house when the family still in it.
They have two choices, from there:
1) Sneak in through a window or quiet route.
2) Bust down the front door. (Brink's choice)
... Why in the hell would you do the second choice? As, frankly, it only leads to two things, namely what the 'victim' will do.
Victim's choice: 1) Hear the break-in, investigate (or hide) and call the cops.
2) Sit around and do nothing, and hope for the best.
Obviously, the victim's going to choose the former. Why would you sit around and do nothing, when you can call the cops?
So, this little route down this side of game theory ends up, inevitably, with the victim calling the cops anyway. And even if the burglar did the smarter thing and snuck in through a window, they simply have prevenBut the burglar still gets caught.
So, what is the much better choice? Simple, it's the one that the vast majority of burglars do; study a given neighborhood or house's habits. Why? Because it minimizes the probability of them getting caught. Now, you may ask, why did I do that? It still would warrant a security system! I don't want my house to get robbed!
Well, that wasn't the point. The point was to show that burglars aren't going to come busting down your door with you and your kids and your dog staring at them, as the Brinks commercial shows.
And so, hope you enjoyed, everybody.

No. This is not going to be an entry on crap.

I say 'crap' because I just realized it has been almost an entire year since I created this thing, and I have had zero (0) yes, ZERO entries.
I've had so much food, the world has changed so much, I've gotten older, and... etc. etc.
I had to include that obligatory line of recollection. Otherwise the Ritualistic Order of Bloggers (Yes, Rob) would have killed me in nasty ways.  SO. What to say. More words.
I am now in a place with no cheese. NO. CHEESE. There's Velveeta. And Kraft singles. And some moderately decent cheddar. I feel like Truman Capote when visiting Kansas. NO. EFFING. CHEESE.
So, what do I do to solve this horrid dilemma? I bought a cooler. And brought up my own. Yummy! I love Whole Foods for that very reason. Here the are:
Campo di Montelban: A mixed milk (goat, sheep, and cow) from outside Toledo, Spain. Very delicious, quite creamy, though a little too pungent at times. An excellent cheese, though, and I wholly recommend at least trying it.
Onetik Ossau Iraty: A shee's milk from the French Pyrenees.  My favorite of the two. Exceptionally creamy, with a light pungency that swings on through the middle of the flavor, ending on an almost sweet note.

So yes. That is my recent gastronomic experience. I may recount past ones, if I can fully remember their experiences.
So! Voila, et bon appetit.