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Getting close to holiday - 2 July 2009
Jul. 3rd, 2009 12:50 pmHello, everybody. News updates may be shorter than normal for a while, as one of my main sources is taking a break, well-deserved, most likely. I’ll need people to fill in gaps, or to find some equivalent. Anybody know if there’s another news-aggregation community, one that perhaps picks some of the better (or worse) liberal writers for their opinion columns? Would be nice, even when the conservative summary comes back, so I can blend sources (and make fun of both sides of the spectrum equally. there's plenty of witch-burning on both sides.)
Realize, as well, that we live in a world where horribly unhealthy food can be rearranged and re-presented so that it looks to be higher-class than it is. It’s still bad for you, but it looks good. And it might make your blood unappealing at just the right... oh, who are we kidding? Read up on what kind of vampire you would or wouldn't want to chow down on you.
For reading material that moves fairly quickly, The Line, a story of two women, one who did what was asked of her, and one who did what was right. One regretted, one died. Now both are gone, but their story continues.
And, because you really can’t resist the joke when presented with a headline like “Ant mega-colony takes over the world, I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. It appears that one rather large family of ants have conquered the globe, and because they’re related, they won’t fight and kill each other. Trustbusting in the ant world will soon be something we get to watch. Assuming the creature in the North Carolina sewers doesn’t get to them first.
Up at the top, hackers are targeting children playing Neopets, enticing them to download malware under the promise of letting them create their own rare items. Then, the account gets compromised, the computer gets compromised, and the child may have just sent Mom and Dad’s sensitive information into the criminal world, as well as making the computer a zombie. I think anyone who intentionally targets children in this manner should be sent directly to Shepherd Book’s Special Hell, with a one way express ticket. Unfortunately, this underscores the need for parents to be vigilant about what their children are doing on-line, and possibly setting up as much of a secure environment as is possible for their child’s computing.
On the international stage, Portugal has results from their war on drugs - decriminalization results in lower HIV rates and lower drug overdose-related deaths.
India has overturned a colonial law, finally decriminalizing consensual sexual acts between two persons of teh same sex. The BBC also offers a sampling of opinions on the ruling, many of which would be right at home in the United States. More on morons regarding homosexuals later, when the quiche competition heats up.
The Air France airplane that went down without much explanation apparently struck the ocean intact, based on analysis of the debris from impact. No flight data recorders recovered yet, though, so we don’t know what happened.
Domestically, Time is tracking down where the stimulus money is going and the process that is vetting projects so they look like good spending, as people wonder why things haven’t improved overnight, and are looking rather scarily at unemployment rates going much higher than projected. California, already facing some serious cash issues, will issue I.O.U.s to vendors, taxpayers, and others.
The Kennedy-Dodd health care bill's cost is now projected to be $611 billion over ten years, down from the near $1 trillion of before, which makes lots of people happy and hopefully spurs on better support for health care reform. Which we may be needing sooner, rather than later, as the reports on obesity in the States came out, and they're not pretty.
The Washington Post canceled a series of salons planned after an unvetted flier escaped, claiming the dinners would permit donors and funders to access Post employees, Administration officials, and other important figures without confrontational questioning, and all off-the-record. This was not the intent of the dinners at all, according to several people at the Post newsroom. And thus, they do the best thing they can - pick up their ball and go home.
Governor Sanford intends on staying put, despite calls from both sides of the aisle for him to step down for his Argentinian (and other) indiscretions. So, the party that loudly complains that Democrats should step down from their offices if there’s even the slightest whiff of scandal seems to have some very ”do as I say, not as I do“ members.
Last out before opinions, the President of the United States, surrounded by women in uniform, after signing a bill that would award all Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II a Congressional Gold Medal.
In opinions, The General dismisses Rep. Kern's resolution, mostly because G-d has other business to atend to instead of needing to pay attentino to those who are doing quite well at smiting teh ghey and other such deviants. Perhaps she needs to appeal to Governor Palin, muses the Governor, because of her Power Of Attorney for G-d.
the economist who has become a bit of a conservative poster child for his study on globar warming solutions talks to TPMMuckraker about the whole incident, indicating much less of the ”EPA squashed climate skeptic“ conspiracy that other outlets would like to push on their readers, and more of ”I gave them the best data I could given the deadline they had, and they decided not to publish it.“
The WSJ takes a look at the recent unrest in Honduras, and while believing it could have been handled differently, fundamentally agrees with the idea of removing the administrator from his post, to protect the democracy and Honduras from becoming another dictator-run country, and pokes at the Obama administration for siding with people like Hugo Chavez and condemning this more strongly than he talked about Iran.
Mr. Dershowitz speculates whether or not the Obama administration has turned its back on Israel, through positions on settlements and his apparent unwillingness to just glass Iran for having the ability to generate nuclear energy, Ms. Young sees a resurgent Russia, and thus the U.S. needs to reaffirm its backing of allies like Georgia that are near Russia, and the WSJ takes a poke at the President for not more strongly supporting the resurgent backbone in the Pakistani government and their commitment to knocking over the Taliban in his country.
Put on your air defense helmets and get ready to duck and cover - here's all the fear of missile attacks you'll need, wrapped to look like a friendly FAQ. Sprinkled with attacks against the President for not giving Missile Defense everything they ask for and more, and then having the audacity to cut missile defense spending, there are comparisons it to the ”pork-barrel“ projects as part of stimulus spending - with all that money, we could build and keep a system that would keep us and Europe safe, they say. And we shouldn’t be fooled by treaties asking us to stay out of space - if we do, then they’ll cheerfully build weapons platforms in space and use them, whether ”they“ is rogue states, Iran, or China and Russia.
A little early for the Saturday holiday, Mr. Rove singles out a sixty-one year old surgeon who petitioned to be waived from the age restriction and join the Medical Reserve. Which is dandy, although at the moment, I feel an undertow... what might that be, oh, perhaps it’s that don't ask, don't tell continues to fire otherwise qualified servicepersons from their jobs for being homosexual, with still no real look from anyone in the Administration toward seriously pushing for its repeal.
In more competitive matters (althouh the competitiors don’t know they’re in the game), The WSJ's other editorial attempts to dissuade people from liking the idea of an employer benefit tax by putting Wal-Mart and union bosses together in their support and claiming that the people who need the insurance the most will be hit hardest, as their employers shrink positions to pay for the mandate, and that’s before they then go into standard rhetoric about government power grabs.
They then outdo themselves by trying to convince you that the public option will result in scores of fradulent and horrible doctors scamming the government for millions and billions of dollars, something that private insurers sscreen for, because of their commitment to quality.
The Worst Person Quiche has a clear winner tonight, once again proving that opinion columnists still cannot hold a candle to what actual elected officials will say. Meet Pennsylvania State Senator John Eichelberger, who topped his previous remarks about same-sex marriage being ”wrong, “dysfunctional”, and leading to polygamy and cougar/dirty old man-style relationships and marriage, by saying that same-sex couples aren't being punished by not being able to marry... like this. "We're allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do". The unspoken thought that the State Senator leaves open is whether or not he believes homosexuals should be allowed to exist, for which he claims he’s being misinterpreted when people ask him about it. Also, the “You can do what every other American can do - marry someone of the opposite sex who you’re not attracted to in the slightest!” angle of attack was supposed to have been discredited and fallen out of favor some time ago, useful only for comedic timing. Beyond that, the State Senator has no intention of apologizing for those remarks. So potentially eliminationist and unrepentantly homophobic State Senator John Eichelberger, you’re today’s high-velocity quiche recipient and Worst Person In The World.
In technology and science, a shelther that grows food for the animals on its outside, eventually falling away with weather and use so that in winter, it can be re-packed to do the cycle again, sea levels are going up more than previously estimated, abusing radio waves until they give in and go FTL, trying to design a coffee cup that would work in microgravity, an open-source, reprogrammable Power Glove that could make hand and arm motion once again part of our games, and make it quite interesting if conbined with technology from a controller that simulates real tough on CG objects.
Last for tonight, the 8-bit Tarot is complete! Perhaps usable in some web-based app intending on graphics but low bandwidth consumption, or just as a neat project to admire. Turning clock back from there, we see the Mickey Mouse gas mask.
Realize, as well, that we live in a world where horribly unhealthy food can be rearranged and re-presented so that it looks to be higher-class than it is. It’s still bad for you, but it looks good. And it might make your blood unappealing at just the right... oh, who are we kidding? Read up on what kind of vampire you would or wouldn't want to chow down on you.
For reading material that moves fairly quickly, The Line, a story of two women, one who did what was asked of her, and one who did what was right. One regretted, one died. Now both are gone, but their story continues.
And, because you really can’t resist the joke when presented with a headline like “Ant mega-colony takes over the world, I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. It appears that one rather large family of ants have conquered the globe, and because they’re related, they won’t fight and kill each other. Trustbusting in the ant world will soon be something we get to watch. Assuming the creature in the North Carolina sewers doesn’t get to them first.
Up at the top, hackers are targeting children playing Neopets, enticing them to download malware under the promise of letting them create their own rare items. Then, the account gets compromised, the computer gets compromised, and the child may have just sent Mom and Dad’s sensitive information into the criminal world, as well as making the computer a zombie. I think anyone who intentionally targets children in this manner should be sent directly to Shepherd Book’s Special Hell, with a one way express ticket. Unfortunately, this underscores the need for parents to be vigilant about what their children are doing on-line, and possibly setting up as much of a secure environment as is possible for their child’s computing.
On the international stage, Portugal has results from their war on drugs - decriminalization results in lower HIV rates and lower drug overdose-related deaths.
India has overturned a colonial law, finally decriminalizing consensual sexual acts between two persons of teh same sex. The BBC also offers a sampling of opinions on the ruling, many of which would be right at home in the United States. More on morons regarding homosexuals later, when the quiche competition heats up.
The Air France airplane that went down without much explanation apparently struck the ocean intact, based on analysis of the debris from impact. No flight data recorders recovered yet, though, so we don’t know what happened.
Domestically, Time is tracking down where the stimulus money is going and the process that is vetting projects so they look like good spending, as people wonder why things haven’t improved overnight, and are looking rather scarily at unemployment rates going much higher than projected. California, already facing some serious cash issues, will issue I.O.U.s to vendors, taxpayers, and others.
The Kennedy-Dodd health care bill's cost is now projected to be $611 billion over ten years, down from the near $1 trillion of before, which makes lots of people happy and hopefully spurs on better support for health care reform. Which we may be needing sooner, rather than later, as the reports on obesity in the States came out, and they're not pretty.
The Washington Post canceled a series of salons planned after an unvetted flier escaped, claiming the dinners would permit donors and funders to access Post employees, Administration officials, and other important figures without confrontational questioning, and all off-the-record. This was not the intent of the dinners at all, according to several people at the Post newsroom. And thus, they do the best thing they can - pick up their ball and go home.
Governor Sanford intends on staying put, despite calls from both sides of the aisle for him to step down for his Argentinian (and other) indiscretions. So, the party that loudly complains that Democrats should step down from their offices if there’s even the slightest whiff of scandal seems to have some very ”do as I say, not as I do“ members.
Last out before opinions, the President of the United States, surrounded by women in uniform, after signing a bill that would award all Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II a Congressional Gold Medal.
In opinions, The General dismisses Rep. Kern's resolution, mostly because G-d has other business to atend to instead of needing to pay attentino to those who are doing quite well at smiting teh ghey and other such deviants. Perhaps she needs to appeal to Governor Palin, muses the Governor, because of her Power Of Attorney for G-d.
the economist who has become a bit of a conservative poster child for his study on globar warming solutions talks to TPMMuckraker about the whole incident, indicating much less of the ”EPA squashed climate skeptic“ conspiracy that other outlets would like to push on their readers, and more of ”I gave them the best data I could given the deadline they had, and they decided not to publish it.“
The WSJ takes a look at the recent unrest in Honduras, and while believing it could have been handled differently, fundamentally agrees with the idea of removing the administrator from his post, to protect the democracy and Honduras from becoming another dictator-run country, and pokes at the Obama administration for siding with people like Hugo Chavez and condemning this more strongly than he talked about Iran.
Mr. Dershowitz speculates whether or not the Obama administration has turned its back on Israel, through positions on settlements and his apparent unwillingness to just glass Iran for having the ability to generate nuclear energy, Ms. Young sees a resurgent Russia, and thus the U.S. needs to reaffirm its backing of allies like Georgia that are near Russia, and the WSJ takes a poke at the President for not more strongly supporting the resurgent backbone in the Pakistani government and their commitment to knocking over the Taliban in his country.
Put on your air defense helmets and get ready to duck and cover - here's all the fear of missile attacks you'll need, wrapped to look like a friendly FAQ. Sprinkled with attacks against the President for not giving Missile Defense everything they ask for and more, and then having the audacity to cut missile defense spending, there are comparisons it to the ”pork-barrel“ projects as part of stimulus spending - with all that money, we could build and keep a system that would keep us and Europe safe, they say. And we shouldn’t be fooled by treaties asking us to stay out of space - if we do, then they’ll cheerfully build weapons platforms in space and use them, whether ”they“ is rogue states, Iran, or China and Russia.
A little early for the Saturday holiday, Mr. Rove singles out a sixty-one year old surgeon who petitioned to be waived from the age restriction and join the Medical Reserve. Which is dandy, although at the moment, I feel an undertow... what might that be, oh, perhaps it’s that don't ask, don't tell continues to fire otherwise qualified servicepersons from their jobs for being homosexual, with still no real look from anyone in the Administration toward seriously pushing for its repeal.
In more competitive matters (althouh the competitiors don’t know they’re in the game), The WSJ's other editorial attempts to dissuade people from liking the idea of an employer benefit tax by putting Wal-Mart and union bosses together in their support and claiming that the people who need the insurance the most will be hit hardest, as their employers shrink positions to pay for the mandate, and that’s before they then go into standard rhetoric about government power grabs.
They then outdo themselves by trying to convince you that the public option will result in scores of fradulent and horrible doctors scamming the government for millions and billions of dollars, something that private insurers sscreen for, because of their commitment to quality.
The Worst Person Quiche has a clear winner tonight, once again proving that opinion columnists still cannot hold a candle to what actual elected officials will say. Meet Pennsylvania State Senator John Eichelberger, who topped his previous remarks about same-sex marriage being ”wrong, “dysfunctional”, and leading to polygamy and cougar/dirty old man-style relationships and marriage, by saying that same-sex couples aren't being punished by not being able to marry... like this. "We're allowing them to exist, and do what every American can do". The unspoken thought that the State Senator leaves open is whether or not he believes homosexuals should be allowed to exist, for which he claims he’s being misinterpreted when people ask him about it. Also, the “You can do what every other American can do - marry someone of the opposite sex who you’re not attracted to in the slightest!” angle of attack was supposed to have been discredited and fallen out of favor some time ago, useful only for comedic timing. Beyond that, the State Senator has no intention of apologizing for those remarks. So potentially eliminationist and unrepentantly homophobic State Senator John Eichelberger, you’re today’s high-velocity quiche recipient and Worst Person In The World.
In technology and science, a shelther that grows food for the animals on its outside, eventually falling away with weather and use so that in winter, it can be re-packed to do the cycle again, sea levels are going up more than previously estimated, abusing radio waves until they give in and go FTL, trying to design a coffee cup that would work in microgravity, an open-source, reprogrammable Power Glove that could make hand and arm motion once again part of our games, and make it quite interesting if conbined with technology from a controller that simulates real tough on CG objects.
Last for tonight, the 8-bit Tarot is complete! Perhaps usable in some web-based app intending on graphics but low bandwidth consumption, or just as a neat project to admire. Turning clock back from there, we see the Mickey Mouse gas mask.
