Author: Dan G.

Health is a funny thing

I think it’s odd, though perhaps only sensible, that it was only once I’d decided to get healthier that I realized how very unhealthy I was. When one finds it hard to even find a scale capable of measuring his weight, it makes him think twice about the poor decisions he’s made over the last few years.

For instance: I learned that the food that’s easily accessible to me – and to you – is horrible for you. I should rephrase that; I knew this before, but I never understood how bad, and how profound a negative effect it could have. As an example: simply cutting out soda from my diet completely transformed the way I felt on a day to day basis, and it happened in a week.  I felt better. I had more energy. I slept better. I wasn’t constantly hungry. All from that one simple change.

As an aside, high fructose corn syrup is a terrifying thing. And it’s everywhere, because it’s government subsidized. But that’s a different rant for a different time.

Additionally, the more I read about the way the body processes carbohydrates, the more I wonder how it’s not common knowledge. The more I wonder why nearly everything we eat is stuffed to the gills with carbs – mostly empty ones! It’s shockingly easy to consume a ridiculous amount of carbs without thinking about it. Drastically reducing my intake of carbs on a day to day basis has further increased my energy levels and made me feel better all around than I have in a long time. Simple changes.

Combine that with paying attention to calorie intake and just being more active throughout the day and I’m starting to lose weight and make positive changes in my life. It’s kind of exciting – and while it seems a long way off, and purely abstract at this point – it’s nice to know that I’m at least progressing in the correct direction, for once.

On a completely unrelated note, I saw Tron: Legacy the other night. I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was, though the young Jeff Bridges face was basically a textbook demonstration of uncanny valley.

What is “rape culture?”

Man, I’ve seen people use the word “rape” a lot lately. Perhaps as a denizen of the internet you have become acquainted with the webcomic Penny Arcade; if you have not, and you enjoy acerbic, sometimes crude, often video-game related humor, you should. If you are acquainted with this webcomic, you may also know about the rather ridiculous firestorm surrounding the creators’ decision to remove their “Dickwolves” t-shirt from vendors at their upcoming Penny Arcade Expo. This stems from a series of complaints that the joke in this comic promotes/condones rape or “rape culture.” I’m not going to get into that debate right now – although I generally agree with Gabe’s “if you don’t like it, then don’t read it” policy – but I do want to talk a little about this idea of “rape culture.” I confess I hadn’t heard much about this before tonight, not being one who frequents leftist/feminist blogs, where the term seems to find its stronghold. According to Melissa McEwan over at Shakesville, Penny Arcade’s antagonist in this debacle:

The rape culture is a collection of narratives and beliefs that service the existence of endemic sexual violence in myriad ways, from overt exhortations to commit sexual violence to subtle discouragements against prosecution and conviction for crimes of sexual violence. The rape joke, by virtue of its ubiquity, prominently serves as a tool of normalization and diminishment.

Let’s break this down a bit. Continue reading What is “rape culture?”

Redefining rape

No, readers, this isn’t some radical idea of mine. It’s a radical idea of John Boehners. Or the GOP’s. Or maybe it’s actually not an idea at all. No one seems to have the facts straight on this one.

The debate du jour surrounds the proposed the boldly – albeit inaccurately – named “No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act” that Boehner has said would be a top priority this session. Specifically section 309, which states:

The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion– (1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest; or (2) in the case where the pregnant female suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the pregnant female in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.

I’ve emphasized the most talked about part, in case you couldn’t figure out what the hubbub was about. So the argument is, and what columnists and newsmen are whining about nationwide, is that “all rape is forcible!” “This bill takes us back to a time when just saying ‘no’ wasn’t enough to qualify as rape!” Neither, of course, is really true.

Rape is a violent word. A scary word. The origins of the word lie in the Latin word “rapio” – the concept of what you do to a city after you’ve destroyed its army and are looting it for slaves and spoils. To rape someone meant to strip them of their freedom and force them into enslavement – while this definition is rarely used today (at least knowingly), it is not an inappropriate metaphor for the damage a sexual rape causes its victim.

And it is a word that has been applied broadly to a number of crimes that may not really fall under its common understanding. For instance, if two consenting minors have sex, is that rape? Legally, yes. What about if a woman gets drunk, has sex with a man, then the next day claims she wouldn’t have if she was sober? Legally, that’s also rape. When you think of the word rape, are these what come to mind? Or is it the myriad of more violent, disgusting acts that have been more strongly associated with the word?

“Forcible rape,” the controversial term that everyone is crying over, is not a term defined by the legal code, unfortunately. Rather, it is used by the FBI to differentiate between the myriad of crimes that are called “rape” nowadays.  Let’s assume that this is the intended meaning, and use the following definition from the FBI:

Forcible rape, as defined in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, is the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Attempts or assaults to commit rape by force or threat of force are also included; however, statutory rape (without force) and other sex offenses are excluded.

Being as the government already limits is funding of abortion to cases of incest, rape, and when the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life. This means that the difference this bill makes is centered around that phrase “forcible rape.” Should the term be defined in the bill? Absolutely.

The biggest change that I see here is that statutory rape is out. If a man has consensual sex with an underage girl, which results in a pregnancy, that would no longer qualify for a government-sponsored abortion. It’s still a crime, however, this bill does nothing to change that. What this does is prevent every irresponsible teenage girl in America from getting a free abortion on demand simply for being under 18. Additionally, in the following clause, abortions for pregnancies out of incest are no longer funded unless the girl is a minor. In other words, this seems to be more about promoting individual responsibility than anything else. Taking away free abortions may be a horrific violation of womens’ rights in the eyes of the feminist movement; frankly, I couldn’t care less. If anything, this bill doesn’t go nearly far enough in its limitations. It should clearly define what “forcible rape” is, however, to avoid legal pandering and loopholes in the future – what if the woman were drugged, for instance, which removes the need for the use of physical force? Is that forced rape? It should be answered.

Notably, I doubt this will make a lot of practical difference. Medicaid funds VERY few abortions around the country as a percentage of the total. The most recent figures I could find, from 2006, showed only 191 Federally funded abortions nationwide that year, 54 of which fell under the restricted guidelines – the rest were court ordered (106) or “rare circumstances” (31). In contrast, States funded 177,213 abortions that year – the vast majority in California or New York.

However, there is a bright spot in this legislation. Section 308 interests me.

Nothing in this chapter or any other Federal law shall be construed to require any State or local government to provide or pay for any abortion or any health benefits coverage that includes coverage of any abortion.

Nothing in this chapter or any other Federal law? This bill will prevent any Federal law from requiring State and local governments from having to pay for abortions, or providing health coverage that includes abortion? Sign me up as a small step in the right direction…

Is our President engaging in an act of sedition?

My friend Scott pointed me to this today – we may have a legitimate Constitutional crisis unfolding in Washington, ladies and gentlemen.

To recap the story so far: The “Obamacare” health care bill that was passed mandates that individuals purchase health insurance. This is obviously and dramatically beyond the scope of government powers granted in the constitution. A Federal Judge ruled it unconstitutional for this reason – specifically stating that the declaratory judgement was equivalent to an injunction in this case (nothing new, this is based on precedent) – and because there is no severability clause in the bill, the entire bill is thus rendered moot.

This means that the Obama Administration has two options:

  1. Comply with the ruling, ceasing immediately all activity enforced or mandated by the bill, or
  2. Appeal and ask for a stay pending its hearing.

That’s it. Those are the only legal options. However, Obama’s never one to let the law stand in his way:

The White House officials said that the ruling would not have an impact on implementation of the law, which is being phased in gradually. (The individual mandate, for example, does not begin until 2014.) They said that states cannot use the ruling as a basis to delay implementation in part because the ruling does not rest on “anything like a conventional Constitutional analysis.” Twenty-six states were involved in the lawsuit.

In a blog post on the White House website, Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Adviser Stephanie Cutter wrote that the case is “is a plain case of judicial overreaching.”

“We don’t believe this kind of judicial activism will be upheld and we are confident that the Affordable Care Act will ultimately be declared constitutional by the courts,” she added.

My favorite part is where Obama’s Administration calls it “judicial activism” – you know, the bread and butter they’ve subsisted on for years. So now we have an Administration that has come out and said plainly that they will ignore a Federal Judge’s declaratory judgement, simply because they don’t like what it says. Take a moment and ponder that. They have stated that they will intentionally disobey the law – and do so at this moment by enforcing its statutes and staffing up for further enforcement and implementation. Legally, when using force (such as, say, threat of imprisonment) to push back against enforcement of the law or of its authority, this is called seditious conspiracy:

If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.

I find it difficult to believe anyone will bother trying to levy this charge against anyone in Obama’s Administration, but there the law stands. Regardless, it doesn’t effect the legality of what they are doing in any way. To quote my friend (emphasis in original):

Did you hear me? Obamacare is null and void. Today. Right now. And it will remain so unless and until the US Government appeals and Judge Vinson is overruled. The Appellate Court and/or the Supreme Court can agree to hear the case, but the Executive Branch can’t enforce it in any way unless a stay is granted. And if the higher court either upholds the lower court’s ruling or declines to take the case, then the only way to enact such a law is to pass a Constitutional Amendment.

That’s THE LAW. I don’t care if you like the law or don’t. I don’t care if you like Obama or Obamacare, or don’t. It is the system of rules by which every President and every Judge and Justice must play. If and when they step outside that system then they have no rightful authority and their actions against the system constitute insurrection, or conspiracy to same, which is called sedition. Any of these acts is grounds for impeachment.

There you have it, folks. How do you feel about the President baldly ignoring the Constitution of the United States, and then publicly stating he refuses to be held accountable by it? Do you care yet?

A tale of two companies

Allow me to tell a tale of why customer service is such a critical component of a great product and company.

Let us examine two companies: Logitech and SteelSeries. Logitech makes mid-ranged products, not top of the line but certainly not terrible by any means, and has average pricing. SteelSeries makes “professional” quality products, claiming to be the pinnacle of the technology, and prices accordingly. Both of these companies make “gaming mice” – durable, highly configurable mice with more than your standard 3 button layouts.

I buy a mouse from Logitech, the G5. I use it and it works well for about about two years and then the scroll wheel breaks. Annoyed, I begin a search for a new mouse and upon reading some great reviews and finding out that SteelSeries supports eSports and sponsors Evil Geniuses, one of my favorite teams, I get their top-of-the-line mouse – the Xai. I install it and promptly have issues; Windows says the device will not start. All my other mice work fine, but this one will not. I send their support desk a ticket. I wait four days. No reply. I send a followup to the ticket, send them a Twitter message, then wait another six days. No reply, so I bump the ticket a second time. Four more days, and I bump it one more time. Nothing.

I put it out of my mind for a bit as I am busy getting a new computer, and on this computer I get the mouse working, but have issues with the firmware – it will not upgrade, and the profiles do not load. I update again, no reply. Finally, a month after my initial ticket, I tweet the following out of frustration –

Well I don’t think I’ll ever buy any @steelseries products again. Worst customer support in the history of mankind.

This finally gets a response.

@dgooch Wow, that sounds really horrible. Do you have a ticket number so I can help?

Success! Whoever runs their Twitter account got the support guys to check my ticket (there’s a lesson here – the squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that). I get a response back from them and over the next 48 hours of emailing back and forth we determine the mouse is defective and I need to send it back. The support guy creates me an RMA, and I look at the process – I pay to ship it to them, and then I should get a replacement mouse in about 3 weeks. Not exactly horrible, but far from convenient. I pack it up and get it ready to send in and plug in my old Logitech mouse in the meantime and prepare to live with having no scroll wheel again for a few weeks. Then I stumble across a thread on Reddit about someone’s great experience with Logitech service. I search Reddit and find many other such threads, several of which mention that Logitech will help you for an absurdly long time after you bought the mouse. Now, bear in mind that since I’d had the Logitech for a couple years I didn’t even bother looking for support on the mouse previously.

I go to Logitech’s website and look up their support info. “Wow, they actually have a phone number,” I think to myself, and dial the support line listed for the mice. Immediately I’m connected to a gentleman who asks me what my problem is. I give him the product ID off the bottom of my mouse and he asks me what I have done so far. I tell him that the mouse doesn’t scroll unless I spin it for a long time and then it might move one click, and it’s done this on two computers where other mice with scroll wheels work fine. He says “Okay, well I’ll go ahead and replace the mouse for you. Since we don’t make that exact model, we’ll replace it with a G500 instead, okay?”

Uh, yes. That’s okay. That’s very okay. So how many weeks do I need to wait to receive this and what do I have to pay?

“So I’m going to email you a prepaid shipping label, you send that mouse in to us and as soon as we get it we’ll ship you out a brand new mouse. Should take about 7 business days for the whole process.”

He got my email address and shipping info, gave me a case number, and told me to have a great day. No credit card info needed, no hassle, no sweat.

So let’s recap.

SteelSeries

  • Mouse retails for $90
  • One year warranty
  • No phone support
  • Delayed email support
  • I pay for shipping
  • Replacement takes 3 weeks.

Logitech

  • Mouse retails for $70
  • Three year warranty
  • Phone support
  • No hold time
  • They pay for shipping
  • Replacement takes 7 days.

Guess who I’ll be buying my peripherals from for the foreseeable future?

SteelSeries makes great products. Of this I have no doubt. The Xai even LOOKS beautiful. It’s elegant in its simplicity and the configuration software is very easy to use and offers a ton of features most mice don’t even think of. Additionally, I will give SteelSeries endless props for their support of eSports and sponsorship of pro gaming teams like Evil Geniuses – eSports would not exist without companies like this willing to take a risk and get involved. And it pays – I’d never have been considering a SteelSeries mouth had EG.iNcontroL not sworn by them publicly.

But Logitech also makes high quality products. They’re not as top of the line, sure, but honestly – I’m not a pro gamer. I don’t need any more precision than the Logitech mice offer and honestly the precision either offers is probably way overkill for my skill level. And Logitech is willing to go the extra mile for their customers. In the end, that’s what makes a great product. That’s why I love companies like Logitech and Apple, who really strive to make these situations as easy as possible for the customer, and run away screaming from companies that seem to want to blame the customer for everything – I’m sure you can think of a few of those.

So a word to SteelSeries and any other company out there with a great product but so-so service: sink some cash into the customer service department. Apple’s been the face of a customer-centric company for a decade now, and they’ve rode that ideal into becoming the most profitable technology company in the world. A great product can only go so far without equally great service.