Jan 30, 2013

In the last few months, I’ve had a few emails, not to mention a few real-life conversations, expressing surprise that I have not touched on a subject. That subject, is the legalization of marijuana in the State of Washington. It was generally assumed (correctly) that I supported legalization, and some folks are stumped by my lack of enthusiasm over the...

Dec 31, 2012

I may be many things, but a procrastinator is not one of them. Twelve hours before 2013 even starts, and I’ve already taken care of my first resolution … a resolution which was the lead entry in my “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” category: I’ve been meaning to leave Facebook for awhile, I just never got around...

Dec 30, 2012

Earlier this year, Christine Gregoire, bowing to Hollywood interests, took a page out of the Ronald Reagan playbook, and instituted trickle-down economics for moneyed filmmakers in the State of Washington. You know, the very same moneyed filmmakers who declared Republicans to be evil for advocating trickle-down economics. See, according to Democrats, tax cuts...

Dec 15, 2012

Shock. When a colleague came into my office yesterday and told me to read the news, that was my reaction, along with disgust, disbelief, anger, sadness, and sympathy. The intellectual side of my brain realized that I was being a hypocrite.  After all, I’d read about the deaths of innocent civilians, including children, at the hands of our troops, on many...

Nov 28, 2012

Another day, another SPD scandal. There have been several in the past few months, but for the most part, I’ve tried to just ignore them. Nothing can be done, really. There’s little probability of change. There’s little support for change. John Diaz remains Chief of Police, and Mayor McGinn … a mayor I used to support … is...

Sep 2, 2012

That’s all it took to lose control over my own computer, and my own operating system. 45 seconds. It’s actually been sitting unused on my computer for some time, but I scrubbed my old copy, then installed the latest and greatest version of Windows on my machine. Lest you think I’ve gone squirrel-turd-nutty, I should qualify this by stating that...

Aug 18, 2012

As recently as the 1950′s in this country, a white man could lynch a black man, and he would most likely get away with it.   While those days are behind us, there are swift outcries when it is perceived by mainstream America that these particular inequities are still taking place.  The Trayvon Martin case is a good example of this. While it would be...

Apr 28, 2012

It appears that my small claims action against Apple has reached its logical conclusion. I went down to check the mail last night, and when I did, low-and-behold, Apple had mailed me a check for the full judgement amount. I’ve read a lot of horror stories in the past couple of weeks about people winning judgments and then being stiffed, and I was worried...

Apr 17, 2012

A few years ago, Apple sold me a $4,000 computer with a defective graphics chip/logic board. The defective part was the Nvidia 8600M GT GPU, and when it was discovered that the machine was defective, Apple refused to take it back and issue me a refund. Instead, they promised to replace the 8600M GT boards when they failed, up to 4 years from the date of...

Mar 11, 2012

Washington State. A blue state if ever there were one. At least that’s what we’re repeatedly told. What does it mean, though? What does it mean to be a blue state? Were you to ask most Americans, they would tell you that blue means that a state is liberal. That a state disproportionately taxes the rich, distributes that money to the poor, and...

Mar 1, 2012

Well, I did everything I could to avoid it. I called phone support, I went to the store, I contacted the BBB, I wrote a letter to corporate, I spoke on the phone with the company numerous times, I sent another letter to corporate. All to no avail. The last straw was a final email, sent to me by an executive relations employee. This was a person with whom I had...

Feb 20, 2012

On Friday, I was driving down Western Avenue, minding my own business, when the email app on my Galaxy Tab chimed. “Oh good!”, I thought, “My penis pump has finally shipped!” Since I couldn’t actually read the email, it was just an assumption. Obviously, I would need to verify the contents of the correspondence. Being a...

Feb 14, 2012

Lost your job, can’t find another one, you can’t see a doctor and your home is being taken away? Well, fear not, my friend, for after months of lobbying, the governor of the great state of Washington has just selflessly made herself a media darling by signing a bill that will … change the definition of “domestic partners” to that of...

Feb 5, 2012

Two weeks ago, the Seattle Weekly ran an article which I thought was possibly their best piece … ever. It’s called ‘Ripped Apart’, and you can read it here: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-01-18/news/ripped-apart/ Not long after that article was written, today, Josh Powell, a man denied custody of his two children, a man who clearly...

Feb 1, 2012

My opinion of the Better Business Bureau has never been very high. I am not alone in this assessment: Some people swear by the BBB, though, and having never used it, I decided to give it a shot … just this once. After all, it’s important to always act in good-faith. To exhaust all reasonable options before resorting to a lawsuit. And so, I did. ...

Jan 21, 2012

As I sat here three days ago and watched anti-SOPA protests proliferate across the Internet, a nagging thought kept running through my head. “How”, I wondered, “is any of this hurting big media?” I mean, let’s say that, because of these online protests, SOPA and PIPA are both defeated. It’s plausible. After all, people are riled...

Jan 21, 2012

Well, my acquiescence to my powerlessness over the Weather Channel has drawn a rousing chorus of “Booo!”s amongst my own small circle of morons. I’ve been called everything from a pussy, to an enabler, to an enabling pussy, to a … well, really those are the only two things I’ve been called, but they hurt. Of course, I am, if...

Jan 18, 2012

We’re almost 24 hours into the anti-SOPA protests, and I’ve got to tell you … I’m getting burned out. Google’s black banner, countless blog after blog with their black banners, Wikipedia’s complete blackout of their site — I’m starting to lose sympathy for my own cause. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still...

Jan 2, 2012

In the last five years, I’ve gone to court twice. Both times I was the plaintiff, both times I represented myself, both times the company I sued was represented by an attorney, and both times I won. It wasn’t easy, though. In fact, the last suit took 18 months from beginning to end, and it cost me thousands of dollars in fees (which the defendant...

Dec 29, 2011

Today, tolling began on the 520 Bridge. As a person who crosses the bridge 5, maybe 10 times per week, you might think that I dutifully purchased a ‘Good to Go’ pass yesterday, the day before, or even months ago. Were you to think this, you would be wrong. “But why, Rex? Do you not realize that a Good to Go pass saves you one dollar and fifty cents every...

Dec 7, 2011

The world is a depressing place these days. Actually, it always has been, but these days especially, the delusion that is the ©American Dream has really lost its potency as an opiate for yours truly. Nowhere have the harsh realities of 21st century America become more evident than in the realm of what we now call “law enforcement”. As a child growing up in...

Nov 9, 2011

Unbelievable. Just … unbelievable. Right now, Corky from Life Goes On is sitting in a room somewhere, watching the election results, shaking his head, saying “wow, the voters of Washington sure are dumb!” After saying “no” one year ago … just one short year ago, the voters of Washington have inexplicably approved nearly the...

Sep 15, 2011

Yesterday, someone emailed me a link to the following article: http://www.lbpost.com/life/greggory/12188 It outlines the Long Beach Police Department’s policy to detain or arrest photographers who are not exhibiting “regular tourist behavior”. Excerpts follow for continuity, but please go to the above link and click an ad so they get...

Sep 6, 2011

Today, I was notified that I will be unceremoniously banned from Google+. My page will exist until September 9th, and I will be able to make further posts, but in three days, all of my data will be deleted and I will be locked out. Why? Was it because I posted a profanity-laden diatribe about some petty injustice? Surprisingly, no. Was it because I posted a...

Aug 29, 2011

In a ruling last week, the First District Court of Appeals has told us something that we should have all known from day one, and is something that I have been telling everyone for years: It is perfectly legal for citizens to photograph and videotape police officers. See: http://www.universalhub.com/2011/court-says-state-law-banning-recording-police-offi A couple...