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...mostly because I want to get to bed at a decent hour. That’s probably impossible, but I’m going to try anyway.
Samsung is developing a gunner robot. I’m not sure whether to say “Well, at least there won’t be people dying”, assuming that the robots are affordable to all, or whether I should start deciding whether I look good in Matrix-style implants. Actually, what I really want to say is “Can’t we all just get along? This whole war thing is getting to be a really outmoded concept.” So maybe now I can look forward to a high-frequency, high-energy suburn weapon being used when crowds are supposed to disperse or other applications of nonlethal force. Will this turn out to be used as effectively as Tasers have in being nonlethal? Other government-tech stuff: A Colorado Springs Air Force facility is putting out a radio burst that disables garage door-openers. Perhaps it’s a subtle way of trying to get the populace to be more active?
Afghanistan opium production hits record highs, according to the Washington Post. I’m sure that the Bush administration would love to have to claim that’s their doing. Because I’m pretty sure it is. As Bob Cesca writes, 9/11 is why Bush is the Worst President Ever, hands-down. So much potential for good squandered and so much more evil done. A bright spot, though - John Bolton resigns his post at the U.N.. Maybe we’ll get someone who actually believes in the mission of the United Nations to go this time. Hopefully with all our owed dues.
Back home, we find Joe Biden helping confirm that the Democrats in power doesn't mean that anything changes. His remarks to a primarily Republican crowd has much of the blogosphere wondering whether he’s a Republican plant, and the rest of us wondering what class of idiot he is. The SCOTUS is considering whether to just axe race as a legitimate consideration for school programs, which would basically make federal, and at all levels of schooling, the various constiutional amendments that have so far been passed in states. I don’t know whether this society is ready for this - eventually, race would become a non-factor, I’m confident, but I think this may be premature. Perhaps the following will help illustrate, by extending its premise over to the idea of race. It’s a piece about the challenge of women engaging in politics - that a woman must prove herself to be simultaneously feminine enough and not too feminine to be accepted into politics. I think the case is probably true for race-related material - people who are going to succeed must be both not too much of their race, but enough of their race to satisfy certain stereotypes. With the policies in place currently, my guess is that someone can be truer to their heritage, in whatever way they choose, and not have to worry that it’s somehow going to get them excluded. If that gets taken away, we may see more people behaving kind of like Osaka does in Azumanga Daioh - she tries to fit in, and the atmosphere wants her to behave like a stereotype. So she capitulates to them because she wants to fit in.
I could be wrong (and there’s probably a lot there to poke significant holes in, so go ahead). I’d like to be proven wrong in that we can remove the supports we’ve built, and people will make race a non-issue in the right ways, and won’t have prejudice or stereotyping going on. That’s asking a lot of the populace. Can we do it? I’m not sure I can all the time, and I like to think of myself as a progressive, educated, open-minded person. (Ego much? Just a bit.)
If you ever wanted to know how likely it was that something could kill you, well, here we are. The National Safety Council has an answer to the age-old question "What're the odds this'll kill me?“ As it turns out, lifetime, some of them are pretty good. Others, not so much. Luckily, we can hope that the more likely ones are being skewed because they still count whether they happen to someone at eighty, who might not survive a bone breakage, as well as eight, who has a better chance of it.
NASA's aiming to put down a moon base and get it running by 2024. Good for proof-of-concept, I’d say. Then they can start recruiting people to do the long missions to other planets. One can only hope that along the way, we’ll develop better propulsion so that we can get to Mars in weeks, not years.
6 not-so-secret societies. Just in case you were wondering about societies that conduct secret things, yet are basically pretty well-known to other people. Maybe at some point, we’ll get to see what the secrets are about. With people who are accusing the government of flashing devil-worshipping signs everywhere, though, seeing inside those kinds of organizations may not be what the populace actually wants to see. You never know.
Saluting the tuba that was responsible for Jaws and other John Williams, pieces, a 99-tuba salute occured for Tommy Johnson. The players prove that any instrument, no matter how ungainly it may look, is capable of producing an entire range of sound, tone, emotion, and of course, volume.
Am I link baiting or link trolling? I’m not entirely sure, and the article is a little vague about where the line might be. But from what a gather, link bait is used as something that will draw readers in, give them something to think about, and then make commentary on. Link trolling, on the other hand, appears to be designed to get people inflamed about something and then go march off to flame either the original post or the blogger who posts a concurring or rejecting opinion on the matter. Looked at it in that light, I probably do a lot of both.
By far the winner of tonight, however, are these two links. First, cities in the nation are struggling to deal with the problem of too many churches. Unlike the buffet line, it appears that too many choices is suffocating, not enticing. Second, as a way of taking shots at persons who proselytize at people’s homes, often early in the morning, we see the door-to-door atheist conversion team. While he singles out the Church of Latter-Day Saints for specific ranting, I think it applies best as a general warning to all those who believe that repentance happens best early in the morning - don’t do it. Additionally, it’s probably pretty useless to try and convert someone who, when asked whether he repents of his sins, replies ”I haven’t committed enough of them yet.“ And yes, I do know that a majority of the members of a religion do not exhibit the zeal or lack of common sense that the narrator is ranting about.
Anyway, g’night. Presentation in the morning, whee.
Samsung is developing a gunner robot. I’m not sure whether to say “Well, at least there won’t be people dying”, assuming that the robots are affordable to all, or whether I should start deciding whether I look good in Matrix-style implants. Actually, what I really want to say is “Can’t we all just get along? This whole war thing is getting to be a really outmoded concept.” So maybe now I can look forward to a high-frequency, high-energy suburn weapon being used when crowds are supposed to disperse or other applications of nonlethal force. Will this turn out to be used as effectively as Tasers have in being nonlethal? Other government-tech stuff: A Colorado Springs Air Force facility is putting out a radio burst that disables garage door-openers. Perhaps it’s a subtle way of trying to get the populace to be more active?
Afghanistan opium production hits record highs, according to the Washington Post. I’m sure that the Bush administration would love to have to claim that’s their doing. Because I’m pretty sure it is. As Bob Cesca writes, 9/11 is why Bush is the Worst President Ever, hands-down. So much potential for good squandered and so much more evil done. A bright spot, though - John Bolton resigns his post at the U.N.. Maybe we’ll get someone who actually believes in the mission of the United Nations to go this time. Hopefully with all our owed dues.
Back home, we find Joe Biden helping confirm that the Democrats in power doesn't mean that anything changes. His remarks to a primarily Republican crowd has much of the blogosphere wondering whether he’s a Republican plant, and the rest of us wondering what class of idiot he is. The SCOTUS is considering whether to just axe race as a legitimate consideration for school programs, which would basically make federal, and at all levels of schooling, the various constiutional amendments that have so far been passed in states. I don’t know whether this society is ready for this - eventually, race would become a non-factor, I’m confident, but I think this may be premature. Perhaps the following will help illustrate, by extending its premise over to the idea of race. It’s a piece about the challenge of women engaging in politics - that a woman must prove herself to be simultaneously feminine enough and not too feminine to be accepted into politics. I think the case is probably true for race-related material - people who are going to succeed must be both not too much of their race, but enough of their race to satisfy certain stereotypes. With the policies in place currently, my guess is that someone can be truer to their heritage, in whatever way they choose, and not have to worry that it’s somehow going to get them excluded. If that gets taken away, we may see more people behaving kind of like Osaka does in Azumanga Daioh - she tries to fit in, and the atmosphere wants her to behave like a stereotype. So she capitulates to them because she wants to fit in.
I could be wrong (and there’s probably a lot there to poke significant holes in, so go ahead). I’d like to be proven wrong in that we can remove the supports we’ve built, and people will make race a non-issue in the right ways, and won’t have prejudice or stereotyping going on. That’s asking a lot of the populace. Can we do it? I’m not sure I can all the time, and I like to think of myself as a progressive, educated, open-minded person. (Ego much? Just a bit.)
If you ever wanted to know how likely it was that something could kill you, well, here we are. The National Safety Council has an answer to the age-old question "What're the odds this'll kill me?“ As it turns out, lifetime, some of them are pretty good. Others, not so much. Luckily, we can hope that the more likely ones are being skewed because they still count whether they happen to someone at eighty, who might not survive a bone breakage, as well as eight, who has a better chance of it.
NASA's aiming to put down a moon base and get it running by 2024. Good for proof-of-concept, I’d say. Then they can start recruiting people to do the long missions to other planets. One can only hope that along the way, we’ll develop better propulsion so that we can get to Mars in weeks, not years.
6 not-so-secret societies. Just in case you were wondering about societies that conduct secret things, yet are basically pretty well-known to other people. Maybe at some point, we’ll get to see what the secrets are about. With people who are accusing the government of flashing devil-worshipping signs everywhere, though, seeing inside those kinds of organizations may not be what the populace actually wants to see. You never know.
Saluting the tuba that was responsible for Jaws and other John Williams, pieces, a 99-tuba salute occured for Tommy Johnson. The players prove that any instrument, no matter how ungainly it may look, is capable of producing an entire range of sound, tone, emotion, and of course, volume.
Am I link baiting or link trolling? I’m not entirely sure, and the article is a little vague about where the line might be. But from what a gather, link bait is used as something that will draw readers in, give them something to think about, and then make commentary on. Link trolling, on the other hand, appears to be designed to get people inflamed about something and then go march off to flame either the original post or the blogger who posts a concurring or rejecting opinion on the matter. Looked at it in that light, I probably do a lot of both.
By far the winner of tonight, however, are these two links. First, cities in the nation are struggling to deal with the problem of too many churches. Unlike the buffet line, it appears that too many choices is suffocating, not enticing. Second, as a way of taking shots at persons who proselytize at people’s homes, often early in the morning, we see the door-to-door atheist conversion team. While he singles out the Church of Latter-Day Saints for specific ranting, I think it applies best as a general warning to all those who believe that repentance happens best early in the morning - don’t do it. Additionally, it’s probably pretty useless to try and convert someone who, when asked whether he repents of his sins, replies ”I haven’t committed enough of them yet.“ And yes, I do know that a majority of the members of a religion do not exhibit the zeal or lack of common sense that the narrator is ranting about.
Anyway, g’night. Presentation in the morning, whee.
