Guess It's About Time...
UPDATE: That's why I don't drink.
Welcome to the most twisted section of hyper-cyber space. After visiting these pages, you will never be the same. The topics are wide and varied. Feel free to comment, but only after you have exercised some thought.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, the two nations (Russia and Iran) are stressing "expansion of bilateral cooperation particularly in space research and construction of satellites."
This week, the Associated Press reported Tehran's air force was ordered to shoot down any unknown or suspicious flying objects in its airspace amid state-media reports of sightings of flying objects near Iran's nuclear installations.
"Flights of unknown objects in the country's airspace have increased in recent weeks... [they] have been seen over Bushehr and Isfahan provinces," the Resalat daily reported. Nuclear facilities are located in both provinces.
"We have arranged plans to defend nuclear facilities from any threat," air force General Karim Ghavami told the paper. "Iran's air force is watchful and prepared to carry out its responsibilities."
Resalat also reported "shining objects" in the sky near Natanz, where Iran's uranium-enrichment plant is situated. One of those objects is said to have exploded, prompting "panic in the region."
In May, the Mexican air force released video footage of 11 unidentified flying objects that were only visible via an infrared camera.
WorldNetDaily: Iran, Russia to study UFOs
The title basically says it all. I was scanning various headlines tonight and stumbled across mention of NASA's plan for the space shuttle Discovery. The short article also links to NASA's "Return to Flight" Task Group as well as NASA's Human Spaceflight Information page.
The Department of Justice and the National Academy of Sciences have overwhelming evidence that gun control does not prevent firearms from getting into the hands of criminals.
The National Academy of Sciences issued a 328-page report based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, a survey of 80 different gun-control laws and some of its own independent study. In short, the panel could find no link between restrictions on gun ownership and lower rates of crime, firearms violence or even accidents with guns.However, the NAS decided that "even more thorough research on the topic is needed".
Meanwhile, the DOJ found that the federally mandated background checks did next to nothing to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals.
"While more research is always helpful, the notion that we have learned nothing flies in the face of common sense," said John Lott, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a critic of gun-control laws. "The NAS panel should have concluded as the existing research has: Gun control doesn't help."
The study noted the number of criminals who obtained guns from retail outlets was dwarfed by the number of those who picked up their arms through means other than legal purchases. The report was the result of interviews with more than 18,000 state and federal inmates conducted nationwide. It found that nearly 80 percent of those interviewed got their guns from friends or family members, or on the street through illegal purchases.
Less than 9 percent were bought at retail outlets and only seven-tenths of 1 percent came from gun shows.
7/10 of 1 percent!! Are you surprised? Of course a criminal isn't going to go to a gun show to purchase firearms. Those places are crawling with cops these days, not to mention most people in attendance aren't afraid to shoot you if you try to pull some kind of stunt.
People never fail to amaze me. Apparently, Reuters published an article (27 DEC) that was written by one of their "Environment Correspondents" named Alister Doyle. In this article of twisted truth and outright lies, Doyle not-so-subtly tries to make a connection between the recent tsunami, which struck Asian countries (foremost being Sri Lanka), and the so-called global warming. Having taken a geological survey course last semester, this is right up my alley.
An international report early this month showed that about 70 percent of the world's coral reefs had been ruined or were under threat from human activities, ranging from over-fishing to coastal pollution and global warming. Make note of the mention of global warming as a cause of coral reefs disappearing.Does anyone else see the lack of logic in this or is it just me? On with the discussion...
I just wanted to wish all my faithful readers out there a very Merry Christmas. No low-fat 'Happy Holidays' or 'Seasons' Greetings' here. I hope you all are enjoying your time with your families. Make the most of it because you never know when the last time you may see someone will be.
This morning the Washington Times (AP) reported that in the Palestinian elections, Hamas has won between 9 and 17 of the local councils. Fatah, the currently ruling regime, won council seats in 14 towns.
Get a load of this. Some schmuck is seeking asylum (insane?) in Canada because he doesn't want to go to Iraq.
This Vortex of Invalidity is trying to equate meat-eaters to whacked out Nazi death camp leaders who had human skin lamp shades. Interesting enough, the link to enlarge the image is broken, but about half way down the page you can see a thumbnail of the actual billboard. To clarify, Big Bruce is the loser that's in charge of PETA's Vegan campaigns.
WESLEY SMITH: Well, nobody supports animal cruelty, and of course PETA will take somebody who.
BRUCE FRIEDRICH: But if you eat meat, you do.
LEE STROBEL: Bruce, give him a chance to respond.
WESLEY SMITH: Nobody supports cruelty to animals, and, uh, what PETA tends to do is find an exaggerated or the exception rather than the rule and say that that's the rule.
LEE STROBEL: Okay, we're going to, we're going to.
WESLEY SMITH: Here's what the, here's what the holocaust on your plate campaign said, and the audience has to understand that they mean this literally, not metaphorically, quote, "The leather sofa and hand bag are the modern equivalent of the lamp shades made from the skins of people killed in death camps". People that eat steaks are not Heinrich Himmler, and anybody who equates the Holocaust with cattle ranching does, is not qualified to preach morality to anybody.
LEE STROBEL: Now Bruce, how do you answer that? That really seems over the top. Come on.
BRUCE FRIEDRICH: Our point is, is that it's the same mentality, this mentality that might makes right that allowed the Holocaust that allows us to do these sorts of things to animals. The reality is that other animals, differences between human beings and other animals are differences of degree, they're not differences of kind. Other animals are made of flesh and blood and bone, just like human beings are. They have the same range of emotion, they have the same vital organs, and they feel pain.
His recent WND commentary entitled, "Silent flight, holy flight" is one of the most ignorant pieces I've read in quite a while. I guess I should have expected it, considering he is a political analyst for MSNBC. On with the flame! This goon thinks the world is going to end because the FCC, FAA, or whatever alphabet-soup government agency is finally going to allow cell phone users to actually be able to use their phones on the plane. Concept!
Maybe it's a generational thing.Maybe it's an IQ thing!
But, ever since they've taken over human communication, I've learned several things about cell-phone users.And so it begins!
Although, having been forced to listen in on one end of thousands of cellular calls, I have yet to hear one that's necessary. On planes, especially, it's usually: "Hi. Just wanted you to know we'll be taking off in 10 minutes." Or the equally thrilling: "Hi. We just landed."If people want to burn their own minutes, let 'em do it. It isn't costing you anything. I guess you think we should have a federal agency that should tell us when we are authorized to make and receive calls too?
They're all deaf. Or maybe they think the people they're calling are hard of hearing.No, we aren't ALL deaf, as you insist. My hearing is better than yours, sir. Some of us evil "cell-phone users" try to be considerate of other people. Don't EVER group me into the same category as ignorant people. It gives me a rash.
Which brings me to point No. 3: Cell-phone users are also the rudest people on earth. They don't care about flesh and blood in front of them. They only care about voices at the other end of a phone signal.Which brings me to point No. 3: Bill Press likes to make generalizations that are too large for his comprehension. Again, stop grouping us all together. By your logic, everyone that owns a car is trying to run over pedestrians. Dolt.
Today, once the door is closed, airplanes are about the only place left you can escape cell phones.I bet if go into a cave somewhere really off the beaten path, like Afghanistan or Antarctica, you can escape them there as well! Shhh, don't let the cell phone people hear. Oh wait, they're all deaf, as you said. You could also try going HOME. I hope you can control all the noisy, inconsiderate cell phone users there.
One friend told me about attending a funeral where a pall bearer's phones chirped – and he proceeded to have a conversation in the middle of the eulogy! God save us.Okay, so he's an idiot. He should be shot. I think there are a lot of people that should be shot. Next!
Cell phone causes commuter plane to crash? BS! And for some weird reason that was the case, why don't we change the frequency that the plane uses for its auto pilot? *gasp* Problem solved! AND (don't you hate it when I do that?) if cell phones made planes lawn dart, don't you think every terrorist and lunatic on the face of the earth would be playing with their phone during a flight? Ya flippin' tool.
But soon, even the enforced quiet of airline travel may be lost. The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration are both experimenting with ways to introduce cell-phone usage on airliners – even though European experts blame a cell phone for the crash of a commuter plane in 2000. A passenger took a call at the same time the pilot engaged the autopilot, and the plane went into a fatal dive.
So why the rush to play with safety in the United States? [blah blah blah] And pressure from frequent-flying businessmen who complain about hours lost by having to stay silent. When the truth is, they might be much more successful if they just took advantage of the time to read, or think.Play with safety? Addressed above. Do you have any concept as to how fast business occurs these days? I didn't think you do. I work with a company that hosts a service in Toronto, while the software is developed in Russia, and the staff that runs the show is spread across the United States. There have been times when updates have been released and we've needed to communicate with all the different "branches" of the vine. Thank God no one was flying when we were trying to figure things out. We had a solution developed in less than half and hour and begin passing that on to our customers. Time is money, as you've apparently not yet grasped. "Business at the speed of E" is a very true statement.
I have a few ideas. Care to give 'em a try? Sarcasm aside (for but a moment), have you ever heard of ear plugs? How about you buy your own plane. That should solve the problem. Get a grip and stop trying to fight technology and progress.
Frankly, I can think of nothing worse than being locked for five hours in an aluminum chatterbox at 30,000 feet with 200 people all shouting at the same time.
God help us. You had an idea. Moron, this is capitalism. That's the way it is supposed to work.
Ever the optimist, however, I refuse to go quietly. I see at least two solutions to this problem. First, some smart CEO will launch a "talk-free" airline. "Fly the Silent Skies." Sure, he will be laughed at, just like the first airline to ban smoking was laughed at, but he'll make tons of money.
You "playing" your accordion and someone communicating and passing along information via a medium which just happens to be a cellular phone is a false parallel. You need to grow up, stop whining and move on. I would also like to thank you for further proving my point of the other day. The sum of all intelligence is constant; the population is growing.
If that doesn't work, I'm ready to take revenge. My big secret, which not even Bob Novak knows, is that I once took accordion lessons. Not only that, I still have my accordion. Once cell phones are allowed on airplanes, I vow never to fly again without my accordion. I dare you: Take out your cell phone, and I'll unpack my accordion and play "Roll Out The Barrel." Serves you right.
AKA: Aussie 18 Year-Old Becomes Two 9 Year-Olds
I forgot to post about this the other day. Mozilla has made their first official public release of Thunderbird 1.0. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, stop shooting yourself in the foot an check out T'bird.
You all know how I'm frequently talking about supporting our troops. I noticed this morning's banner ad was filled with advertisements for sending care packages, and even gourmet popcorn, to US servicemen. If you are, by chance, a first time visitor, I encourage you to support our soldiers by ordering from one of the companies in the banner ad.
I was just reading over the comments to Vox Day's 14 Dec post entitled What the girls like. Oh, this was after I read his other post. The only way I can make sense of this stuff is if the theorem* is fact. It seems that women (and yes, men as well, but I'm focusing on women right now) are just getting dumber. The Clinton "presidency" is proof enough. Clinton makes my flippin' skin crawl. Once he was in the race for the presidency, the dude dyed his hair so that he would look older. Give me a break. This guy has less character than my dead fish I flushed down about eight years ago. But some claim he has charm (NOT charisma, there is a difference). Personally, I think my fish had him beat there too, but how can you explain his popularity among some female voters and citizens? Is it that they were actually rallying around Hillary, but at the time, their support needed to appear as if it was for Slick Willy? This is kinda like the Tootsie-pop situation: The world may never know.
On Monday (13 DEC), I had all four of my wisdom teeth taken out, hence the lack of postings. If, by chance, you are considering having your wisdom teeth taken out or will have them taken out shortly, read on.
... There was a certain post that Crispy23 was writing. One day, there was a sudden event that caused his browser window to crash (thanks to Microsoft) and all his thoughts were lost forever. Crispy23 was sooo mad, he almost popped a cork. In great frustration Crispy23 wrote the main points of that which was lost. And this is a copy of what he wrote:
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies has a weekly publication entitled the "GlobalJihadWatch". It is basically an overview of international news source headlines that pertained to terrorists and their actions for the past week. I would recommend making this a part of your weekly reading rituals.
Thanks to BLACKFIVE for posting about this first.
This morning, WND reported about the developing situation in Saudi Arabia. There are at least 12 people dead and several more are injured. Unfortunately, only three terrorists were killed. The others, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry were four members of the country's security forces while the remaining five were non-American staff who worked at the consulate. A former ambassador to the Sand Land said the attack was similar to other al-Qaida attacks, although no one has to claim responsibility. One person has been quoted as saying the attack did require some organizational skills.
"We have a local work force that was on duty and we are still in the process of accounting for [them]."1) What is a "local work force"?
I'm currently experiencing some hard-core hand cramps from my last final. Even though it was only four essay questions, sheesh. I think I'm out of shape in the arena of long-distance writing! Typing, on the other hand, is a totally different subject. I think an analogy between writing & typing and running with weight and running is in line, here.
"My Round Box" now supports Haloscan commenting and trackback. Look out world, I'm going high-tech.
I've been scanning over an on-going debate over at Right Wing News.
Times Online reported today about the potential threat that life on Mars, brought back by our own probes, could pose to Earth.
Although the presence of water on the red planet can be considered proved, of life there are only hints.There wasn't really any particular part of this article that stood out and made me want to post about it. I suppose it is simply because I'm interested in the topic of space exploration. That aside, it is a good read. Go check it out.
In My World...
In my world, I would require every person to spend 30 minutes doing nothing but thinking at the beginning and at the end of each day. If I could birth the habit of thought into every persons life it would dramatically change the behavior of those who dont already spending thinking time. Now, the only way for such a rule, if you will, to be enforced would be for me to be God. So, this is an unrealistic expectation because some people simply cannot be helped. Some dont believe they should or need to change. You cannot help those who do not want to be helped. It is like when you try to pick up an 8 year old, but he or she does not want to use his or her own power to stand upon his or her own feet.
Before I continue on with my idea, let me take you on a short journey. In my Principles of Leadership class, we have learned that effective leaders utilize a certain process that requires them to think. Most leaders (and people in general) find out a situation has come up, they issue their instructions to the subordinates and finally observe the outcome. Effective leaders, however, will then reflect on the entire event. This was introduced to me as the AO|R Model (Action, Observation | Reflection; | indicates the point in time where most leaders end the process).
Meanwhile, in my world If a person would simply spend time thinking for 30 minutes at the beginning of each day, it would eliminate so many problems that we encounter. There is no way to tell how many things would be affected by this habit. Actually, there is no limit, either. The persons day would be more organized, first off. People would begin to create goals for what they wanted or needed to accomplish that particular day which would lead to more productivity which, in general, leads to happier people.
The second part of my plan would require people to also spend time thinking at the end of each day. During this time, people would evaluate their day. If they had made any poor decisions throughout the course of the day, it would become evident at this time. This would again, help build productivity within people because they would no longer make decisions that either wasted their time, after they had spent time thinking about the outcomes (reflection). After some time, people would begin to thinking about what they truly believed. For example, if a person was racists and he and she encountered a black person, the thinking racist individual would then question why he or she had the thoughts about the black person that he or she had. Or, the racist individual would begin to think about why he or she began to act strange around that black person. Though it may take time for the change to occur, the racist person would eventually drop the belief that his or her race is superior to other races and that people are, more or less, all the same. There are only cultural and social differences.
In conclusion, I know the day will never come where every person spends time thinking at the beginning and end of every day. However, I strongly believe the habit of intentional thinking to be a critical component of living a sociologically mindful and productive life. A good way to measure yourself is to ask, Is ____ a better place because I was there today?
Scott McCollom, over at IMAO, asked for some feedback about what format the readers requested future soundbytes be posted in. A snippet of Scott's comment:
To make the audio experience best for all fans everywhere, I'd like to know what media player everyone is using to listen to the IMAO for the Non-Deaf.Someone said they were using WM10 & that the clips also worked with QuickTime. Scott says:
Good feedback, Davethanks.
I may start encoding these audio bits in Windows Media format since most people use Microsoft Windows and the WMA format creates smaller sound files than comparable quality MP3 sound files.
Anyone object to that? Please let me know!
And to which I replied,
*breaks out the wooden cross*
Back demons of Windows! I would recommend not using a WMP-exclusive format. This is because users have started switching over to the Linux operating system(s) and jumping off the sinking M$ ship. By using MP3 or a similar format, you won't be alienating certain readers (or listeners, in this case).
Well sorry for crunching your little pro-Microsoft Windoze toes! You're the one that asked for feedback. I gave it. You're numbers are all fine and dandy, but don't forget the entire idea of the internet - a place where any computer system in the world can connect to and properly interpret media. The point to the internet is that there should never be a "This page is best viewed in X resolution using X browser." It is meant to be universal.Okay, reality check:
IDC's most recent figures, published in October 2003, shows Microsoft Windows clients installed on 93.8 percent of the world's desktop computersnumbering well over the 1,000,000,000 mark since Gartner Dataquest ran the numbers back in 2002.
By contrast, Linux desktops accounted for just 2.8 percent worldwide. While Linux, UNIX, and Apple computers' numbers are sizable, to say that allying with a company that has its software installed on over 930,000,000 computers worldwide and characterizing said company as a "sinking ship" is myopic at best.
However, if I find that a majority of IMAO fans are Linux users, I'll stick with MP3. Unless I hear otherwise, it's looking more like WMA will be the best format for future installments of "IMAO for the Non-Deaf."
Thanks,
Scott
If you're going to post or make a comment somewhere, you better be able to back it up. I can't stand the ignorance of some people who, in their infinite wisdom, spit out one sentence of the propaganda in which they believe to be true and expect that to omit the three or four paragraphs you just said. Get a clue, Sherlock! Back it up with some evidence, fact or even opinion. Don't just make some half-witted attempt at proving me wrong. If you disagree with me, let's go & get it on! All out debate. Debate to the death. Your one sentence wonder would be like us launching one missile into Iraq & believing that it would remove Saddam from power & kill all the little terrorists that are running around. Its gonna take a little bit more than that, sport. So, in closing, no more thoughtless comments! Take a stand & stand firm until the death of your rickety old platform that you think is truth.
"I only hope that the one lesson that we, as a country, have learned from the whole Vietnam experience is that if we are anti-war, we should *never* be anti-soldier."
Technical: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA04-336A.html
Thanks to BLACKFIVE for posting about this story, first.