Yaaaaaarg! Good morning, music fans! Enjoy yourselves with the musical stylings of punk rock in Kenya, which up until recently considered rock in gerneal to be devil music...and then wonder what's going on when the winners of the same contest in two different years have two very different results on how well their album sounds.
Also, something that can seem like a fusion of two worlds - the Association of Working Class Academics.
Need frames and lenses? Consider buying on-line, where you could get the entire set for cheaper than your insurance co-pay, and the glasses themselves are usually just as good.
Finally, a survey about cyber-bullying and harassment through mobile technology - comes with a trigger warning, as it talks about all sorts of situations, including asking whether or not the situations have resolved. And is Untied Kingdom to Europe centric. Too bad it's not all that international.
To combat the negative things and to build up the spirits of those around,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meloukhia has decided to create an anonymous love posting, where in the comments, people are nominated and then given all sorts of praise. If there are people you want to nominate, or if you want to see some of the nominations, dingsi has created an index to all the user names that have so far been showered with praise or that are asking for it.
Out in the world today, information stolen from Swiss bank accounts seized by the French government is now being used to prosecute possible tax evasion by United Kingdom citizens. There has to be something interesting legally about the usage of this information, since it was stolen to begin with.
Gemany marked twenty years of reunification on 3 October, marking two decades (plus almost one year) of the Berlin wall being properly down.
Pakistan continues to keep a vital NATO supply route blockaded as missile attacks continue in Pakistan by United States forces.In fact, instead of stepping down, the strikes stepped up, with military equipment on loan being used by the CIA to increase the amount of drone strikes in the country. The third land war in Asia is all but declared, but will likely never be declared. That is, unless General Musharraf goes through with his insistence that the military have some role in governing Pakistan. That might make for a convenient excuse.
What has begun as a protest over police salaries may end up as a governmental coup in Ecuador.
The president of Iran has called for the leaders of the United States to be "buried" in response to their continued aggresion over Iran's nuclear program. Additionally, The Los Angeles Times reports that sanctions against Iran are selectively targeted, avoiding companies that might make for diplomatic sensitivity if fined. Which probably renders the sanctions fairly well useless - after all, those kinds of things usually require the cooperation of everyone involved to put actual pressure on the ruling regime. Usually through the revolts of angry mobs that can't get basic goods and services.
It is not solely the United States that is having difficulty with Muslim immigrants - in parts of Germany that are economically depressed, resentment against Muslim immigrants is fairly high, for example. This makes me think it's more economic xenophobia and that Muslims happen to be the immigrant group of choice for this attack. It doesn't mean that they'll forego opportunities to raise the fear level, just that it seems like the real driving reason behind the hostility is that the natives feel insecure about their own position on jobs and other things.
In the United States, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that reduced the severity of carrying up an ounce of marijuana to an infraction with a fine. This does not mean that federal penalties or problems arising from possession will be lesser in any way, just that California's penalties will be lessened. If you happen to have significant amounts of cocaine in your rectum at the time, however, there's nothing saving you.
Diving into the history department, it used to be that major newspaper buildings could be bombed and the daily would still be out on time.
An attempt at a progressive version of the Glenn Beck rally marched in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, 2 October with several groups partnering together to bring in ralliers and get them fired up to vote and encourage others to vote for Democratic and progressive candidates. If you want to see what sort of goals and organizations lined up behind the rally, althoguh from a group trying to scare you about them, Discover The Networks has a pretty good rundown.
In the state of Washington, an initiative seeks to do what the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy would do - have the richest pay in more to fund things like education based on their income. Considering Washington has no income taxes at all, this could face serious opposition both from the rich who would be taxed and people generally opposed to mroe taxation, a strong strain in Washington, as they passed at elast one initiative that makes it nearly-impossible for local government to raise more revenue in a hurry.
Finally, Congress asserted that they should have more oversight and be more informed about the operations of the CIA, passing legislation the President is expected to sign. Now, we shall see whether they actually get such things, and whether they use those powers to stop abuses, torture, and other operations that violate the laws of the country and the international community as well as tarnishing the good name of the United States when carried out.
In science and technology, a simple-sounding question produces some complex answers - scientists aren't sure what would happen if someone stuck their hand into the proton beams of the LHC.
Computer programs are not being used to try and discover when someone is either plotting out terrorist attacks or is someone ground down into the dust over being on the front lines against emergencies. The intent is to catch peopel before they snap and plotters before they actually attack. How? Massive data-mining of electronic and voice communications. I'm guessing it uses what's publicly available. Otherwise, we have a Privacy? What Privacy? problem.
We find that there used to be giant penguins in our past, along with the mountain range that exists underneath the Antarctic ice that's still with us today.
And more drug information - a DoD grant on the therapeutic use of amphetamines.
Last out, the DoD is up to all sorts of things, including several flying versions of Humvees and other vehicles.
In opinions, I find that someone shares my opinions about people who pose and decry without getting off their asses and doing something about it - and turns his ire on the people who advocate the possibility that humans are destroying the climate without advocating any desire to fix the damn problems. If you're going to moralize about how much things are bad, and then model in your behavior how much you're not living up to making those things better, you're going to rightly be dismissed as a hypocrite. Why not instead follow your precepts and add some Right Action to your Right Speech? (P.S. Making videos where those who deny the climate change are summarily blown up makes your position look much less palatable.)
Speaking of precepts, Seven Deadly Sins, by Ghandi through Slacktivist.
On the more pedestrian matter of politics, Mr. Towery is bemused at the fact that someone hosting a political show on a major network might have a political opinion. Either that, or he's miffed that she's displaying that political opinion so openly, instead of hiding it. I think what he was trying to aim for was a snarky dismissal of the idea that the recession is over because the government said it was, but if that was what he wanted, then he really needs to restructure the column. For someone who's a bit better focused, Mr. Poor holds up an opinion about how White America went off the rails when Barack Obama was sworn in as a great example of rationalization used to paint every anti-Obama figure as a racist bigot. Compare, if you will, the regular columns of Messrs. Williams, Sowell, and Elder, usually on Townhall, about the assertion that this administration is racist against white people and condescending to black people because of the existence of things like affirmative action with the mentioned column that claims White America let the racism out when a black man was elected President. The counterargument? Barack Obama was way popular with white people on election day - when the article in question suggests derangement started on inauguration day, and then provides a rather chronological and extensive list of significant derangements since. So, um, got to line up the timelines, ya?
Mr. Fund expects the Democratic Party to claim the Republican House Leader is, well...a Republican. Which means "beholden to special interests and lobbyists". The same applies to anyone saying their opponent is a Democrat, but everyone gets all mock-offended about the influence of special interests groups when asked. Mr. Fund suggests it won't work because not enough people know about Mr. Boehner for personal attacks to stick.
On more standard venues, Mr. O'Reilly says that the President's continued adherence to progressive values is not earning him any points of popularity. Where "progressive values" are slated to mean high taxes, unfettered welfare and immigration, government-paid abortions, and high wages and benefits, all leading to giant deficits, of course, which can't be sustained. Not so much for unfair characterization, just that Mr. O'Reilly doesn't provide any of the benefits of such an agenda.
The WSJ continues to attack the health care bill, pointing out that small plans that basically only cover routine care are going to be swallowed up by mandates and stop being offered because they will become prohibitively expensive. This continues in their vein of trying to point out all of the plans that will be jacked up, canceled, or otherwise rendered unusable by insurance companies and employers having to comply with the new mandates of coverage before the exchanges kick in. I still think this is at least partially the company's fault, whether it be an insurance company or the employer, so pinning it solely on the mandates is half-assing it at best.
Ms. Tantaros attacks the Pelosi House for leaving unfinished business and refusing to schedule the ethics trials of two of the Democratic House members, claiming that not putting up the trials means Pelosi wasn't serious about reforming the corruption in the House.
AWR Hawkins makes it personal by claiming that George W. Bush was far more Presidential in his time of office than Barack Obama is now, based on the perception that Bush actually cared about his country (because he was enthusiastically pro-war and pro-military getting everything they want), and that Bush's folksy demeanor masking his elite status and his apparent lack of teleprompterness means he's genuine and from the heart, instead of the clearly cerebral Obama. Just goes to show how much people think that the President should be brilliant but not be allowed to show it, lest he be accused of being out of touch with the electorate. Anti-intellectualism at its finest.
Last out of opinions, Ms. Malkin takes Mr. Colbert to task for making light of the plight of people affected by undocumented workers, when those undocumented people commit gang violence against citizens. So, Ms. Malkin, the solution is...round up all the brown-looking people and deport them? There's no way that you could put Colbert's plea for greater rights for the undocumented so that they can protect themselves and be unafraid of reporting their own exploitation with your own commentary about the need to clear the streets of gangs that recruit from certain ethnic groups? There's no way you could, say, make it so that someone reporting gang violence or the presence of gangs in their neighborhood won't be investigated for immigration violations if they do so? Or if they report their employers for violations of the labor laws, they'll be able to go through a program that puts them on the track to citizenship, instead of being sent back automatically? Surely there's some concrete way you could resolve both of those problems, instead of not listening and focusing solely on what you want to?
Last for tonight, Sir Critter, because nature needs monocles and top hats. And a delightful bit of research about how we use reduplication in our language to several different effects. Because sometimes you have to distinguish between like and like-like. Even better? More than one language does this sort of thing.
As a postscript, more proof that advertisement is not context-aware when it's on the web.
Also, something that can seem like a fusion of two worlds - the Association of Working Class Academics.
Need frames and lenses? Consider buying on-line, where you could get the entire set for cheaper than your insurance co-pay, and the glasses themselves are usually just as good.
Finally, a survey about cyber-bullying and harassment through mobile technology - comes with a trigger warning, as it talks about all sorts of situations, including asking whether or not the situations have resolved. And is Untied Kingdom to Europe centric. Too bad it's not all that international.
To combat the negative things and to build up the spirits of those around,
meloukhia has decided to create an anonymous love posting, where in the comments, people are nominated and then given all sorts of praise. If there are people you want to nominate, or if you want to see some of the nominations, dingsi has created an index to all the user names that have so far been showered with praise or that are asking for it.Out in the world today, information stolen from Swiss bank accounts seized by the French government is now being used to prosecute possible tax evasion by United Kingdom citizens. There has to be something interesting legally about the usage of this information, since it was stolen to begin with.
Gemany marked twenty years of reunification on 3 October, marking two decades (plus almost one year) of the Berlin wall being properly down.
Pakistan continues to keep a vital NATO supply route blockaded as missile attacks continue in Pakistan by United States forces.In fact, instead of stepping down, the strikes stepped up, with military equipment on loan being used by the CIA to increase the amount of drone strikes in the country. The third land war in Asia is all but declared, but will likely never be declared. That is, unless General Musharraf goes through with his insistence that the military have some role in governing Pakistan. That might make for a convenient excuse.
What has begun as a protest over police salaries may end up as a governmental coup in Ecuador.
The president of Iran has called for the leaders of the United States to be "buried" in response to their continued aggresion over Iran's nuclear program. Additionally, The Los Angeles Times reports that sanctions against Iran are selectively targeted, avoiding companies that might make for diplomatic sensitivity if fined. Which probably renders the sanctions fairly well useless - after all, those kinds of things usually require the cooperation of everyone involved to put actual pressure on the ruling regime. Usually through the revolts of angry mobs that can't get basic goods and services.
It is not solely the United States that is having difficulty with Muslim immigrants - in parts of Germany that are economically depressed, resentment against Muslim immigrants is fairly high, for example. This makes me think it's more economic xenophobia and that Muslims happen to be the immigrant group of choice for this attack. It doesn't mean that they'll forego opportunities to raise the fear level, just that it seems like the real driving reason behind the hostility is that the natives feel insecure about their own position on jobs and other things.
In the United States, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that reduced the severity of carrying up an ounce of marijuana to an infraction with a fine. This does not mean that federal penalties or problems arising from possession will be lesser in any way, just that California's penalties will be lessened. If you happen to have significant amounts of cocaine in your rectum at the time, however, there's nothing saving you.
Diving into the history department, it used to be that major newspaper buildings could be bombed and the daily would still be out on time.
An attempt at a progressive version of the Glenn Beck rally marched in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, 2 October with several groups partnering together to bring in ralliers and get them fired up to vote and encourage others to vote for Democratic and progressive candidates. If you want to see what sort of goals and organizations lined up behind the rally, althoguh from a group trying to scare you about them, Discover The Networks has a pretty good rundown.
In the state of Washington, an initiative seeks to do what the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy would do - have the richest pay in more to fund things like education based on their income. Considering Washington has no income taxes at all, this could face serious opposition both from the rich who would be taxed and people generally opposed to mroe taxation, a strong strain in Washington, as they passed at elast one initiative that makes it nearly-impossible for local government to raise more revenue in a hurry.
Finally, Congress asserted that they should have more oversight and be more informed about the operations of the CIA, passing legislation the President is expected to sign. Now, we shall see whether they actually get such things, and whether they use those powers to stop abuses, torture, and other operations that violate the laws of the country and the international community as well as tarnishing the good name of the United States when carried out.
In science and technology, a simple-sounding question produces some complex answers - scientists aren't sure what would happen if someone stuck their hand into the proton beams of the LHC.
Computer programs are not being used to try and discover when someone is either plotting out terrorist attacks or is someone ground down into the dust over being on the front lines against emergencies. The intent is to catch peopel before they snap and plotters before they actually attack. How? Massive data-mining of electronic and voice communications. I'm guessing it uses what's publicly available. Otherwise, we have a Privacy? What Privacy? problem.
We find that there used to be giant penguins in our past, along with the mountain range that exists underneath the Antarctic ice that's still with us today.
And more drug information - a DoD grant on the therapeutic use of amphetamines.
Last out, the DoD is up to all sorts of things, including several flying versions of Humvees and other vehicles.
In opinions, I find that someone shares my opinions about people who pose and decry without getting off their asses and doing something about it - and turns his ire on the people who advocate the possibility that humans are destroying the climate without advocating any desire to fix the damn problems. If you're going to moralize about how much things are bad, and then model in your behavior how much you're not living up to making those things better, you're going to rightly be dismissed as a hypocrite. Why not instead follow your precepts and add some Right Action to your Right Speech? (P.S. Making videos where those who deny the climate change are summarily blown up makes your position look much less palatable.)
Speaking of precepts, Seven Deadly Sins, by Ghandi through Slacktivist.
On the more pedestrian matter of politics, Mr. Towery is bemused at the fact that someone hosting a political show on a major network might have a political opinion. Either that, or he's miffed that she's displaying that political opinion so openly, instead of hiding it. I think what he was trying to aim for was a snarky dismissal of the idea that the recession is over because the government said it was, but if that was what he wanted, then he really needs to restructure the column. For someone who's a bit better focused, Mr. Poor holds up an opinion about how White America went off the rails when Barack Obama was sworn in as a great example of rationalization used to paint every anti-Obama figure as a racist bigot. Compare, if you will, the regular columns of Messrs. Williams, Sowell, and Elder, usually on Townhall, about the assertion that this administration is racist against white people and condescending to black people because of the existence of things like affirmative action with the mentioned column that claims White America let the racism out when a black man was elected President. The counterargument? Barack Obama was way popular with white people on election day - when the article in question suggests derangement started on inauguration day, and then provides a rather chronological and extensive list of significant derangements since. So, um, got to line up the timelines, ya?
Mr. Fund expects the Democratic Party to claim the Republican House Leader is, well...a Republican. Which means "beholden to special interests and lobbyists". The same applies to anyone saying their opponent is a Democrat, but everyone gets all mock-offended about the influence of special interests groups when asked. Mr. Fund suggests it won't work because not enough people know about Mr. Boehner for personal attacks to stick.
On more standard venues, Mr. O'Reilly says that the President's continued adherence to progressive values is not earning him any points of popularity. Where "progressive values" are slated to mean high taxes, unfettered welfare and immigration, government-paid abortions, and high wages and benefits, all leading to giant deficits, of course, which can't be sustained. Not so much for unfair characterization, just that Mr. O'Reilly doesn't provide any of the benefits of such an agenda.
The WSJ continues to attack the health care bill, pointing out that small plans that basically only cover routine care are going to be swallowed up by mandates and stop being offered because they will become prohibitively expensive. This continues in their vein of trying to point out all of the plans that will be jacked up, canceled, or otherwise rendered unusable by insurance companies and employers having to comply with the new mandates of coverage before the exchanges kick in. I still think this is at least partially the company's fault, whether it be an insurance company or the employer, so pinning it solely on the mandates is half-assing it at best.
Ms. Tantaros attacks the Pelosi House for leaving unfinished business and refusing to schedule the ethics trials of two of the Democratic House members, claiming that not putting up the trials means Pelosi wasn't serious about reforming the corruption in the House.
AWR Hawkins makes it personal by claiming that George W. Bush was far more Presidential in his time of office than Barack Obama is now, based on the perception that Bush actually cared about his country (because he was enthusiastically pro-war and pro-military getting everything they want), and that Bush's folksy demeanor masking his elite status and his apparent lack of teleprompterness means he's genuine and from the heart, instead of the clearly cerebral Obama. Just goes to show how much people think that the President should be brilliant but not be allowed to show it, lest he be accused of being out of touch with the electorate. Anti-intellectualism at its finest.
Last out of opinions, Ms. Malkin takes Mr. Colbert to task for making light of the plight of people affected by undocumented workers, when those undocumented people commit gang violence against citizens. So, Ms. Malkin, the solution is...round up all the brown-looking people and deport them? There's no way that you could put Colbert's plea for greater rights for the undocumented so that they can protect themselves and be unafraid of reporting their own exploitation with your own commentary about the need to clear the streets of gangs that recruit from certain ethnic groups? There's no way you could, say, make it so that someone reporting gang violence or the presence of gangs in their neighborhood won't be investigated for immigration violations if they do so? Or if they report their employers for violations of the labor laws, they'll be able to go through a program that puts them on the track to citizenship, instead of being sent back automatically? Surely there's some concrete way you could resolve both of those problems, instead of not listening and focusing solely on what you want to?
Last for tonight, Sir Critter, because nature needs monocles and top hats. And a delightful bit of research about how we use reduplication in our language to several different effects. Because sometimes you have to distinguish between like and like-like. Even better? More than one language does this sort of thing.
As a postscript, more proof that advertisement is not context-aware when it's on the web.
