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Today was a good day, excepting for the parts where I routinely got my butt whipped at a video game - so badly that I didn’t even land a single blow most of the time. At least this time around, I know that being beaten so easily at things just makes me really mad. I guess I like feeling that I have a chance at doing well, and when I don’t get that chance, it just makes me irritable.
Internationally, militias and the United States military continue to clash in Iraq. Looks like power-brokering and making decisions about who’s running the country haven’t fully been resolved yet. Those still remaining must know that the government’s forces will come for them eventually. Which might be why they’re trying to do things now, before the government cements some control.
Perhaps as a primer, especially for all those who have wounded coming back from foreign engagements, how to interact with someone in a wheelchair. Treat them as fellow people, but do look out for some things that will help to make their experience easier, if you can.
Much more intimate than that, The Questionable Authority talks about how Afghanistan and Iraq has affected his family. The mother of their children has been gone for significant swaths, reintegrating can be tough at times, and the sacrifices being asked of military families are ever-increasing. And Mr. Bush still continues to ask for more of those sacrifices, even with less and less apparent reasons why they should continue to happen. Five years have been a long time.
Elsewhere in the world, Mr. Cheney accuses Iran and Syria of trying to halt an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. More justification for an eventual provocation? We’ll have to see. Although, if Bret Stephens is to be believed, there may be a shift in thinking coming where terror-style "jihad" is repudiated rather than encouraged. If that becomes the case, how would that change politics?
According to a study commissioned by the United Nations, several European countries rank higher on stability and prosperity than the United States. The U.S. certainly isn’t making a good show of getting up higher in the ranks, but there are still a lot of other countries that could use extra help. I hope that we’re not worried about thieves stealing the metals from our structures here, though.
Domestically, New York's New governor has admitted that in his past, he tried cocaine. The honesty policy seems to be working for him, I’d guess. I suspect it would work well for every candidate - if it’s going to be a personality contest, then get all the skeletons out of the closet right up front and make the decision that way. Besides, it might be interesting to elect someone who has used in the past to see what their policies would be on drugs. They might know better how to clean the place up.
A reminder from your government. Even if we only suspect you of a crime, we can seize your assets and hold them indefinitely. No charges need to be filed. You just need to be suspected of something.
A weird newsbit - a pastor was killed by a goat. Apparently, the goat strangled the pastor when the pastor tried to tie it up with some rope. Although, when compared to the man who shot his wife because he was using his gun to punch holes in the outside wall of his house, maybe that’s not so strange.
Stephen Rose and Anne Kim offer advice to Democratic candidates on how not to treat the economic slide if they want to win the elections. Speaking to Senator Obama, Harry R. Jackson says that the Senator's speech missed an excellent opportunity to motivate faith communities to strike at racism.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greyweirdo thinks that most Americans are jealous of any country that does discrimination better than they do. The conclusions possibly drawn out of that could include why nobody should be surprised that race relations haven’t improved a whole lot in the intervening time. Or why nobody should be surprised that Obama didn’t immediately distance himself from Reverend Wright.
What may be the most interesting, as well as the most scary, out of the politics, is the account of a news reporter subjecting himself to twenty-four continuous hours of political coverage, watching most of the networks simultaneously, while cycling through blogs and listening to the radio. In other words, a massive infoglut of news, “news” and talking heads. That he’s still sane enough at the end to turn in a column is a marvel by itself.
In the opinion columns, Mike Adams feels discriminated against by the academic establishment in general for not promoting an event he wanted to about why atheism requires more faith than Christianity, and for assigning works for a course that he felt would turn a studies in Religion course into a Studies in Atheism course.
A quick book review triple, all about a book called The Art of Subtext. Part I describes why subtext is important and what it can do, Part II is about wielding subtext and inflection well to create a good scene (bashing people over the head with one’s subtext is frowned upon), and Part III talks about faces and other descriptive items, and how describing the faces of the people in a story provides a lot of subtext.
The Art Department, courtesy oftheweaselking has the clouds of a planet, with something Earthlike in the sky. Which is beautiful and otherworldly. A different form of art is how advertising of food rarely matches the reality. And it’s really apparent when comparing fast food ads with their real product.
The technology department keeps an eye on the Japanese, who are showing off a voice-activated robot that learns what various IR signals do, and then can be asked later to reproduce that particular IR signal. Soon enough, we’ll be getting to that point where we say “Computer, do X” and it will happen. In portable devices, tactile feedback is important to reducing error. If you can feel the keys, then you don’t make as many mistakes. Haptics are very important in worlds where the screen is an interface and an output device. Something not so cool is an exploit that allowed Facebook users to see supposedly private pictures. Security flaws happen, I suppose. Which makes me wonder what the consequences are going to be of... wait, there was that credit card thing last year. I already know the consequences of what happens when sensitive databases are cracked. Finally, scientists are figuring out what plants sound like, in an attempt to better understand echolocation.
Tired of junk mail? Some tips on getting rid of most of it. Basically, it amounts to calling all the people who send you junk and telling them not to do so anymore. Time-consuming, but most likely, very effective.
The Unabashed Feminism department gets the impressive next-to-last point. Bureau chiefldragoon has found something that could fairly easily boil blood. Say hi to Miss Bimbo, a game that gives each player a "bimbo" and directs them to work their way up the game ladder, with tasks along the way like landing a hot boyfriend or getting breast implants. When it comes to food, only water, vegetables, and diet pills don’t make your bimbo fatter, which makes her less happy. There’s some serious Hulk Smash stuff going on here. Take a look inside the game, if the eyes aren’t going to start bleeding by doing so.
Next up, Woolworths has withdrawn a line of bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the moniker "Lolita". When contacted, some of the staff were unaware of the significance of the name, but it’s not said whether they were grunts or people who might have had a say in the creation of the name. Suffice it to say, uh, guys? Check on your names before making them, lest you find out that Nova is a bad car to sell in Spanish-speaking countries.
Something that is of interest to the department is Nicholas Kristof's column on whether legalization of prostitution would be beneficial for all (he says no, that instead it would create an even bigger underground industry), and Amanda Marcotte's further extension of the idea, pointing out that most of the women in prostitution aren’t there because they want to be. Food for thought, both about legalization and about what people really want from prostitutes.
And last for tonight, the bureau chief gives a primer in proper handshake firmness and grip.
Last for tonight, a reminder - get drunk on history. And take classes with the eccentric teachers - they might be the best teachers you ever have. And now, bed.
Internationally, militias and the United States military continue to clash in Iraq. Looks like power-brokering and making decisions about who’s running the country haven’t fully been resolved yet. Those still remaining must know that the government’s forces will come for them eventually. Which might be why they’re trying to do things now, before the government cements some control.
Perhaps as a primer, especially for all those who have wounded coming back from foreign engagements, how to interact with someone in a wheelchair. Treat them as fellow people, but do look out for some things that will help to make their experience easier, if you can.
Much more intimate than that, The Questionable Authority talks about how Afghanistan and Iraq has affected his family. The mother of their children has been gone for significant swaths, reintegrating can be tough at times, and the sacrifices being asked of military families are ever-increasing. And Mr. Bush still continues to ask for more of those sacrifices, even with less and less apparent reasons why they should continue to happen. Five years have been a long time.
Elsewhere in the world, Mr. Cheney accuses Iran and Syria of trying to halt an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. More justification for an eventual provocation? We’ll have to see. Although, if Bret Stephens is to be believed, there may be a shift in thinking coming where terror-style "jihad" is repudiated rather than encouraged. If that becomes the case, how would that change politics?
According to a study commissioned by the United Nations, several European countries rank higher on stability and prosperity than the United States. The U.S. certainly isn’t making a good show of getting up higher in the ranks, but there are still a lot of other countries that could use extra help. I hope that we’re not worried about thieves stealing the metals from our structures here, though.
Domestically, New York's New governor has admitted that in his past, he tried cocaine. The honesty policy seems to be working for him, I’d guess. I suspect it would work well for every candidate - if it’s going to be a personality contest, then get all the skeletons out of the closet right up front and make the decision that way. Besides, it might be interesting to elect someone who has used in the past to see what their policies would be on drugs. They might know better how to clean the place up.
A reminder from your government. Even if we only suspect you of a crime, we can seize your assets and hold them indefinitely. No charges need to be filed. You just need to be suspected of something.
A weird newsbit - a pastor was killed by a goat. Apparently, the goat strangled the pastor when the pastor tried to tie it up with some rope. Although, when compared to the man who shot his wife because he was using his gun to punch holes in the outside wall of his house, maybe that’s not so strange.
Stephen Rose and Anne Kim offer advice to Democratic candidates on how not to treat the economic slide if they want to win the elections. Speaking to Senator Obama, Harry R. Jackson says that the Senator's speech missed an excellent opportunity to motivate faith communities to strike at racism.
greyweirdo thinks that most Americans are jealous of any country that does discrimination better than they do. The conclusions possibly drawn out of that could include why nobody should be surprised that race relations haven’t improved a whole lot in the intervening time. Or why nobody should be surprised that Obama didn’t immediately distance himself from Reverend Wright.What may be the most interesting, as well as the most scary, out of the politics, is the account of a news reporter subjecting himself to twenty-four continuous hours of political coverage, watching most of the networks simultaneously, while cycling through blogs and listening to the radio. In other words, a massive infoglut of news, “news” and talking heads. That he’s still sane enough at the end to turn in a column is a marvel by itself.
In the opinion columns, Mike Adams feels discriminated against by the academic establishment in general for not promoting an event he wanted to about why atheism requires more faith than Christianity, and for assigning works for a course that he felt would turn a studies in Religion course into a Studies in Atheism course.
A quick book review triple, all about a book called The Art of Subtext. Part I describes why subtext is important and what it can do, Part II is about wielding subtext and inflection well to create a good scene (bashing people over the head with one’s subtext is frowned upon), and Part III talks about faces and other descriptive items, and how describing the faces of the people in a story provides a lot of subtext.
The Art Department, courtesy of
theweaselking has the clouds of a planet, with something Earthlike in the sky. Which is beautiful and otherworldly. A different form of art is how advertising of food rarely matches the reality. And it’s really apparent when comparing fast food ads with their real product.The technology department keeps an eye on the Japanese, who are showing off a voice-activated robot that learns what various IR signals do, and then can be asked later to reproduce that particular IR signal. Soon enough, we’ll be getting to that point where we say “Computer, do X” and it will happen. In portable devices, tactile feedback is important to reducing error. If you can feel the keys, then you don’t make as many mistakes. Haptics are very important in worlds where the screen is an interface and an output device. Something not so cool is an exploit that allowed Facebook users to see supposedly private pictures. Security flaws happen, I suppose. Which makes me wonder what the consequences are going to be of... wait, there was that credit card thing last year. I already know the consequences of what happens when sensitive databases are cracked. Finally, scientists are figuring out what plants sound like, in an attempt to better understand echolocation.
Tired of junk mail? Some tips on getting rid of most of it. Basically, it amounts to calling all the people who send you junk and telling them not to do so anymore. Time-consuming, but most likely, very effective.
The Unabashed Feminism department gets the impressive next-to-last point. Bureau chief
ldragoon has found something that could fairly easily boil blood. Say hi to Miss Bimbo, a game that gives each player a "bimbo" and directs them to work their way up the game ladder, with tasks along the way like landing a hot boyfriend or getting breast implants. When it comes to food, only water, vegetables, and diet pills don’t make your bimbo fatter, which makes her less happy. There’s some serious Hulk Smash stuff going on here. Take a look inside the game, if the eyes aren’t going to start bleeding by doing so. Next up, Woolworths has withdrawn a line of bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the moniker "Lolita". When contacted, some of the staff were unaware of the significance of the name, but it’s not said whether they were grunts or people who might have had a say in the creation of the name. Suffice it to say, uh, guys? Check on your names before making them, lest you find out that Nova is a bad car to sell in Spanish-speaking countries.
Something that is of interest to the department is Nicholas Kristof's column on whether legalization of prostitution would be beneficial for all (he says no, that instead it would create an even bigger underground industry), and Amanda Marcotte's further extension of the idea, pointing out that most of the women in prostitution aren’t there because they want to be. Food for thought, both about legalization and about what people really want from prostitutes.
And last for tonight, the bureau chief gives a primer in proper handshake firmness and grip.
Last for tonight, a reminder - get drunk on history. And take classes with the eccentric teachers - they might be the best teachers you ever have. And now, bed.
