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Favorite Websites

I tend to rant often, so to balance that I’ve put together a list of my favorite websites.

FUNNY:
◊ The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
◊ Engrish
◊ Apostrophe Catastrophes
◊ Fark
◊ Ninjai: The Little Ninja [NSFWL]
◊ The Onion
◊ Star Trek Inspirational Posters
◊ People of Walmart
◊ You Suck At Craigslist
◊ Lovely Listing

USEFUL:
◊ W3Schools
◊ dafont
◊ BugMeNot
◊ Meebo
◊ National Sex Offender Registry
◊ Snopes
◊ IMDb
◊ ACLU
◊ Yelp
◊ Omniglot

GEEK:
◊ The Encyclopedia of Arda
◊ Star Trek
◊ Wookieepedia
◊ Nerdist
◊ Astronomy Picture of the Day
◊ Wil Wheaton

ANIMALS:
◊ Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat
◊ All for Animals
◊ ASPCA
◊ Humane Society of the US
◊ Animal Rescue Site
◊ Care2 Click-to-Donate for Big Cats
◊ Kitty Cat Dance

SHOPPING:
◊ EvolveFish
◊ Threadless
◊ Vegan Essentians
◊ Woot
◊ ThinkGeek
◊ The Something Store

EVERYTHING ELSE:
◊ Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
◊ PostSecret
◊ SuperBad
◊ Machine Sculpture
◊ Eternal Reefs
◊ Green Burialsl
◊ Top Medical Myths Most People Believe
◊ LIFE Photo Archive
◊ Gas Price Trip Calculator

◊ Thorn ◊

There Ought To Be A Law

In day-to-day life, having to deal with the general public, I’ve always wished I could make some of my own laws. Some would be fairly general and some would be quite specific, but they’d all make me happy. Here are my “If Only” laws:

◊ Any and all vehicles that a driver in an average size car cannot easily see through or around may only travel in the right lane. I’m sick to death of bulky, over-sized vehicles in the fast lane. It’s not safe and it’s annoying. Most people driving these obnoxious vehicles don’t even understand the concept of the fast lane or the passing lane.

◊ Banning of video screens in vehicles that hang from the ceiling, distracting other drivers. I’ve never understood how these things are legal in the first place.

◊ One specific lane in the grocery checkout for people writing checks. It’s absolutely annoying being behind people paying for their groceries with a check. Especially when they don’t start filling any of it out until the last possible second.

◊ Parenting training and licensing. You have to learn how to drive a car and be able to pass a test on your driving ability in order to legally drive on the roads in the US. Taking care of a child (or children) is vastly more complicated than driving a car and can have equally or greater devastating effects when done incorrectly.

◊ Making your children obese by feeding them crap is a form of child abuse and parents should be prosecuted. I don’t care that this is an unpopular way of thinking. It’s maddening and disgusting that parents are able to do this to their children with no repercussions. It is abuse and it should not be allowed.

◊ Free health care for all children from birth until age eighteen. Sins of the parents should not be visited on their children. Children have no means of caring for themselves and shouldn’t have to rely on a parent or guardian’s employment status for health care.

◊ Free health care and housing for all military service people. Seriously. If a person has the strength to volunteer to protect their country, to give their life if need be for their country, then their country should protect them in return. There is no excuse for letting our military personnel die homeless and alone.

◊ “At Will” clause for all elected officials. The ability to fire politicians, at every level of government and at any time during their term, if they’re not following the wishes of their constituents.

◊ No more, or strictly limited, “Reality TV.” This stuff is mind-numbingly stupid. I want it to all go away. Or, put it all on one specific cable channel and disallow it on all other channels. I really think this crap adds to the dumbing down of America.

◊ Truth in food labeling and serving size information. Yes, most people never bother to read the actually serving and nutrition information on food packaging so that part is their fault, but the greater evil lies within the companies selling the food and their misleading nutritional information. Saying your cookies are only 150 calories in big, bold text on the front of the package and listing “one serving” as “three cookies” in small print on the side, back or bottom of the package is misleading.

◊ Mandatory jail time for animal abusers. No excuses, just mandatory jail time. Minimum of 3 years for a first offense, 7 years for a second offense, 20 years for a third offense. No “time served concurrently” for multiple charges.

◊ Legalize marijuana. Legalize it and tax it. Along with this, double or triple taxes on cigarettes and raise taxes on alcohol – both of which are more unhealthy and dangerous than marijuana.

◊ Tax high calorie foods and sugary foods. There have been proposals for taxing sugary sodas, but I think the tax needs to go beyond sodas. I think junk foods should be taxed by calorie and fat content. I’d also like to see restaurants (one | two) and fast food places taxed for their horrifically unhealthy foods.

◊ Thorn ◊

Pet Peeves

I’m sure this is a post I will be editing and adding to for a long time.

◊ Alot. Nope, not an English word. Not in the dictionary.
◊ Slow drivers, especially when they’re in the left/passing lane.
◊ Flip-flops. These ‘shoes’ should never have been allowed outside the pool or beach areas. Absolutely disgusting. Also, all footwear that slaps the sole of the foot while the person is walking. This sound is like nails on a chalk board. Then there’s the mind-boggling practice of some people of wearing socks, even thick tube socks, with flip-flops.
◊ Animal cruelty and animal testing. Resources:
  → National Anti-Vivisection Society
  → American Anti-Vivisection Society
  → Anti-Cruelty Society
  → Stop Animal Tests
  → Cruelty-Free Shopping
  → Alternative Outfitters
  → Vegan Essentials
◊ SUVs. Yes, all of them.
◊ LOL. Yes, LOL, especially when it’s used to punctuate the end of a sentence.
◊ Aspartame. I used to be friends with someone that worked for Monsanto/Pharmacia back when aspartame was still NutraSweet and he told me to stay away from it and how Pharmacia had paid off a lot of people to get it FDA approved. I also know a lot of people, myself included, that had mysterious medical/health issues go away or lessen when aspartame was no longer ingested.
◊ Gas stations with different pricing for cash/credit or with/with-out a car wash.
◊ Ending sentences with at, such as: “That’s where it’s at.” or “Where did you eat at?“
◊ Adding an s at the end of words such as forward, backward, inward, outward, upward, toward, anyway, etc.
◊ Non à la carte cable/satellite programming and being forced to pay for religious and home-shopping channels.
◊ Sexist marketing of children’s toys.
◊ Big government, neo-con, tea-partying Republicans.
◊ Extra quotation marks and apostrophes.
◊ Violent criminals getting shorter sentences than non-violent criminals. Also, murderers, rapists and child molesters that get out of prison; rapists and child molesters not being castrated; people in prison for minor marijuana offenses.
◊ People that don’t spay or neuter their pets. Resources:
  → .SPAY-USA
  → Humane Society of the US
  → American Humane
  → USDA
  → Pets and Kids UK
◊ People with no common courtesy. Seriously – hold the door for the person behind you or coming in when you’re leaving; return your cart to the cart return; hold the elevator; help someone when you can see they obviously need a little help.
◊ Obese people that continuously eat high-calorie crap, don’t exercise, are a drain/strain on the health care industry – yet complain about their weight and about how they’re treated “unfairly” when they have to pay more for the extra space they take up on an airplane. I’m 100% in favor of the suggested ‘fat tax / fit credit‘ when it comes to health care costs.
◊ Celebrity gossip and pseudo news. The E! channel is completely worthless and annoying.
◊ Sports players making millions of dollars a year while most teachers make crap.
◊ Homophobes.
◊ MPAA (IMDb).
◊ RIAA.
◊ Complaints about Hands-Free Laws not being effective, when in reality they are rarely actually enforced – except on special crack-down days. There isn’t a single day I’ve driven on surface roads or highways where I haven’t seen many people ignoring the Hands-Free Laws and/or the Texting While Driving Laws.
◊ People that immigrate to the US and don’t learn English.
◊ Frivolous lawsuits.
◊ Lack of will power being classified as a disease and therefore granting those afflicted special compensations or treatment (alcohol, food, cigarettes, video games, sex, shopping, etc.). A lot of employers treat employees that claim alcoholism or drug addiction with kid gloves and offer free or low cost treatment – and they get to keep their jobs. Some employers will even pay you to quit smoking cigarettes. Yet if I were to claim that I am addicted to sleep, and I just can’t get up on time, I’d be fired straight away – and I’m sure as hell not going to be offered any extra monetary compensation to get to work on time.

◊ Thorn ◊

Getting Your Live Scan Fingerprints

Here are basic Dos and Don’ts you should follow when being fingerprinted via Live Scan.

DO:
◊ Bring your completed Request for Live Scan form.
◊ If your Request for Live Scan form lists any billing numbers, be sure to give it/them to the person taking your appointment.
◊ Use your legal name, the name on your ID, on your form and when making your appointment
◊ Bring valid state or federal government issued identification. Gym membership cards, warehouse club cards, library cards, credit cards, etc. – even if they have your picture – are not acceptable forms of ID. High school or college IDs are not acceptable in most states. Some states require two forms of ID.
◊ At facilities that accept appointments, make one – even if they take walk-ins.
◊ If you are required to pay for your fingerprinting, be sure to bring a form of payment that the facility accepts.
◊ Bring a wet-nap or baby wipes. If you don’t see clear, dark prints on the monitor when you’re being printed it probably means your fingers are too dry. If your prints don’t scan clearly they will most likely be rejected. For the average person, a small amount of moisture makes a world of difference.
◊ Relax your shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands and fingers. If you’re tense it makes it a lot harder for the Fingerprint Technician to get your prints.
◊ If you have dry, flaky skin on your fingers: exfoliate.
◊ Let the Fingerprint Technician roll your fingers.
◊ Smokers should wash their hands before being printed.
◊ Be sure your fingers are free of paint, glue, dirt, etc.
◊ Although this should be obvious: bathe before you go!
◊ Bring an interpreter/translator if you don’t speak English.

DON’T:
◊ Go get fingerprinted if you have a cold, the flu, pink eye or anything else that’s contagious. Don’t bring sick people with you either.
◊ Press on the Live Scan machine. Let the Fingerprint Technician decide how much pressure is needed.
◊ Arch your fingers. Your fingers should lay flat.
◊ Move your fingers. Let the Fingerprint Technician roll your fingers.
◊ Chomp gum. You’re standing next to another person and that sound is fairly disgusting.
◊ Complain the facility doesn’t take the only form of payment you brought if you didn’t check before you got there.
◊ Complain you have to wait in line as a walk-in while people that made appointments get printed before you – even when they show up after you.
◊ Take off your shoes. Seriously. Don’t.
◊ Bring a bunch of kids/friends/family with you. If you must bring a child or children with you, bring one adult with to watch them while you are being printed.
◊ Have really curved fake nails.
◊ Worry about any hand or finger deformities. Most professional Fingerprint Technicians have seen and printed a vast variety of different fingers.
◊ Tell the Fingerprint Technician how to do their job.
◊ Bring a check made payable to “Live Scan” as that is the type of service, not the name of the business. You don’t go to the grocery store and write a check payable to “grocery store” do you?

GENERAL:
◊ Each Live Scan fingerprinting company and Police/Sheriff department have their own rolling fees, on top of what the DOJ and/or FBI fees are. If a facility lists a fee of $15 for printing, that is on top of any other fees.
◊ If a facility does not accept the only form of payment you brought, they will not make an exception just for you. Don’t expect them to and don’t pitch a fit when they won’t.
◊ Typically, results are ready anywhere from three to thirty days from the day you were printed. Results take longer if you have any arrests or convictions.
◊ When the Fingerprint Technician is printing your thumbs, do not curl up the rest of your hand. Keep your hand open.
◊ If you have an open wound on your hand or finger, make sure it is fully and properly bandaged.
◊ If your fingers are overly sweaty, you will have problems being printed. You might want to bring alcohol swabs or corn starch to help dry your fingertips.
◊ Even if your record has been expunged of a conviction, the arrest will still show up.
◊ Do not assume that since a certain amount of time has passed since your arrest or conviction that it will no longer show up on your record.
◊ If you have an arrest or conviction for anything that falls under violence, abuse or neglect, don’t waste your time trying to get approved to care for or work with children or the elderly.
◊ The terms “AKA” and “Alias” mean any other name or names you have ever used legally. This includes maiden names, previous married names, hyphenated names, names you used before you changed names through immigration, nicknames if they have been used on credit cards, bank accounts, etc. This does not include nicknames your friends call you, your significant other calls you, the guys at the bowling alley call you, etc.
◊ A credit card number and expiration date, written on a piece of paper is not an acceptable form of payment.
◊ If you’ve brought a check for payment and it’s made payable incorrectly, you cannot change it unless you are on the account from which the check was drawn.
◊ A receipt from your state DMV or BMV is not an acceptable form of identification – even if it includes a little paper print-out of your picture.
◊ If your Request for Live Scan form asks for the county in which you live, it’s not the US/USA as that’s the country.
◊ This isn’t TV or the movies. Your fingerprints are not being instantly run against any national or international databases of criminals.
◊ If you are an illegal or have a warrant out for your arrest, you probably don’t want to volunteer to be fingerprinted. But don’t let me stop you.
◊ The correct way to write your height is, for example, 5’8″ for a person that if 5 feet 8 inches tall. This is a basic thing, taught in most, if not all, grade schools. 508 is also acceptable. Incorrect ways to write your height:
  ≠ “5″8″
  ≠ “5″ “8″
  ≠ “58″
  ≠ 58
  ≠ 5#8#
  ≠ 5⁸
  ≠ 5.8
  ≠ 5:8
  ≠ 5’8
  ≠ 5″8
  ≠ 5,8
  ≠ 5-8
  ≠ 5/8
  ≠ 5\8
  ≠ 5&8
  ≠ 5#8
  ≠ 5+8
  ≠ 5*8
  ≠ (5)(8)

Some common Live Scan form abbreviations:
◊ DOB = Date of Birth
◊ POB = Place of Birth
◊ SOC = Social Security Number
◊ SSN = Social Security Number
◊ AKA = Also Known As
◊ ATI = Automated Transaction Identifier
◊ OATI = Original Automated Transaction Identifier
◊ ORI = Originating Reporting Agency Identifier
◊ HT  = Height
◊ HGT  = Height
◊ WT  = Weight
◊ WGT  = Weight
◊ DL  = Driver’s License
◊ PP  = Passport
◊ MAIL CODE = 5 digit code assigned by the DOJ. A Mail Code is specific to the agency which it is assigned. This is not a zip code.

Some of the states that use Live Scan:

Arkansas	California	Florida	Idaho
Illinois	Indiana	Maryland	Michigan
Missouri	Nevada	New York	Ohio
Oklahoma	Pennsylvania	South Carolina	Texas
Utah	Virginia	Washington	Wisconsin

◊ Thorn ◊