My Good Guy Contract Needs to be Broken

I've just read an awesome article from "Happiness in this World Reflections of a Buddhist Physician" and I'm sitting here thinking of all the ways in which it seems to speak directly to one of my biggest problems. Here is a link to the specific article:

http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2009/05/24/the-good-guy-contract/

Basically, it's about how breaking the "Good Guy Contract" can help keep your own happiness from being dependent on how other people view you. That's something I really need to learn.

Scientific American? or Propagandist American?

I read this article (actually, a transcription of a podcast) on the Scientific American website today that I felt the need to comment on: "What's Behind Birthers' Obama Belief". Mine is the fifth comment at the bottom of the page.

This article angered me on several levels. First, it doesn't belong in a publication called "Scientific American". Second, it's nothing more than an opinion piece. Third, one that attempts to use science to legitimize the opinion the writer is espousing. Fourth, the writer makes clear that a person who entertains any doubt about the President's place of birth must be doing so because of some deep seated sociologically programmed racial bias. Fifth, the writer paints anyone who thinks this way as "irrational".

Well, if it's so deep seated, and if we're so programmed by our society, then why is it "irrational"?

I think what's worse than questioning the birthplace of the person we voted into the office of the President of the United States is to blindly assume that because we want him to continue being our President, that he therefore must have been born in this country and anyone who doubts that is racist and irrational.

I personally do want for Obama to have been rightfully elected as our President. However, given that government officials in Nigeria claim that he was born in that country, I am one who would like to see proof, or at least the documentation, of his birthplace. Additionally, although most people would simply be required to produce a certified copy of their birth certificate, I really think we need to go a bit deeper here. After all, he is the President of the United States! He's got the FBI, CIA, NSA, Dept. of Homeland Security, etc under his thumb - surely it's within the realm of possibility that if he wanted, he could produce a form that would prove him to be the natural born son of Joan and Clark Kent of Liberal Kansas!

I promise that tomorrow I'll have a complaint about the language that the Right is using to scare people about the Obama HealthCare plan.

Update: 8/14/2009: I found this on the internet that convinces me that his birth records are valid and in order: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

Aaarg! My Twitter Account was Hijacked!!

OOOOhhhhh! I feel so ashamed!! I can't believe my Twitter account got hijacked!! Some unknown bot or application was posting data to Twitter under my user Id. It was sending links to my friends telling them that I'd made several hundred dollars by going to this website.

I caught it right away, but unfortunately, the application kept posting to my account. I thought there was malware on my PC, but scans and my IT department have not been able to find anything (which at least makes me feel better). I suspect that "Yonoo", which is a browser Add-On program that displays Facebook and Twitter content and allows you to post from within any browser window may be how my account was hijacked.

Yonoo is a great way to stay connected to those services while going about one's workday, but not if it's going to expose my accounts to exploitation. I have disabled some features, and am waiting for Twitter to re-enable my account (it has been suspended due to suspicious activity). I may toss Yonoo in favor of Seesmic, if I switch I'll write about it here.

Needless to say, my security "Street Cred" has been harmed! I will take this as a lesson though, and pass it on to all my "tweeps" if I ever get my Twitter account back.