Happy New Year, everyone - 1 January 2008
Jan. 2nd, 2008 01:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptWe’re back! And we had a marvelous time. There was much merriment and mirth made, and many movies viewed. Good ones, too. All in all, a fabulous time, and I managed to get leftovers to help feed me. I think this following year is going to be an excellent one. When I have time, I’ll do the whole retrospective thing, but walking through your own journal takes a little time.
Additionally, back in Florida, and playing the University of Florida, like they did in the 2003 Outback Bowl, the alma mater’s padded rugby squad was victorious! Yay, bowl win! And for looking like the Michigan team that we knew you were this year. Nice send-off for Lloyd, too.
In international news, Iran has stated its civilian nuclear reactor will begin operation at some point in the middle of this coming year.
The Sunday Telegraph has chosen Gen. David Petraeus as their Person of the Year. The general does deserve praise for the way he’s managed to hold down violence in Iraq and produce something that at least looks like progress. Even with the Iraqi army starting to slowly look more like something that can keep peace, there’s always the possibility that things will come undone soon after they appear finally finished. Matthew Paris, in The Times, suggests that the populace is already ready to have a catastrophe happen to them, out of a misguided need for atonement for our mistakes. If you want to atone for mistakes, fix the problem, rather than praying for some great punishment.
The Recording Industry Association is hopelessly behind the times - they continue to contend that "ripping" a legally purchased CD to a computer is an illegal act, in addition to running scare tactics and attempting to impose gigantic fines and penalties on those who fight back.
A co-chair of Veterans for Rudy thinks that all Muslims are bad, and that they should be "sent back to their caves". Isn’t it nice to see issues with gray areas being forced into black and white contexts?
JedReport at Kos feels there's a mainstream media blackout against John Edwards, with Hillary and Obama taking just about every spare inch of space they can in the Democratic candidate race.
Yet another reason to proofread all things before publishing - a graduating police academy class in Idaho had a slogan "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it". Lesson learned, the academy will now vet all slogans before publishing.
Hey, remember in March when Circuit City laid off 3,400 and then let some previous employees compete for the new, lower-paying jobs? Well, as it turns out, the executives for the company got retention bonuses of $1 million or more. This sequence has been done before. Hasn’t there been anything in the books that forbids this kind of mass firing and then rehiring for lower wages?
Anarctica has life. It's just all hiding under the ice, in lake systems that could be rich with microbes. With the ice to insulate above, there’s a good chance things are warm enough to support life. In medical science, a flexible surgery robot is being developed to do complex procedures less invasively. The tool could also be used for diagnostics, and everybody can keep their scarring down with that.
Listmania time - Scientific American's The Year in Robots and Top 25 Science stories of 2007, Popular Science’s Guide to 2008 in Science. There were also the Golden Duke Awards, for the most atrocious liars, cheats, and scoundrels of 2007.
Potter creatrix hints there might be more Potterverse stuff.
Last for tonight, want some free college education? Have a look at Open CourseWare Initiatives across major universities, where you can get materials from courses and entire courses themselves on-line for no cost. No credit necessarily comes with it, but you still get the knowledge.
I, however, am definitely going to go to sleep. Felicitations of the new year to all of you. G’night.
Additionally, back in Florida, and playing the University of Florida, like they did in the 2003 Outback Bowl, the alma mater’s padded rugby squad was victorious! Yay, bowl win! And for looking like the Michigan team that we knew you were this year. Nice send-off for Lloyd, too.
In international news, Iran has stated its civilian nuclear reactor will begin operation at some point in the middle of this coming year.
The Sunday Telegraph has chosen Gen. David Petraeus as their Person of the Year. The general does deserve praise for the way he’s managed to hold down violence in Iraq and produce something that at least looks like progress. Even with the Iraqi army starting to slowly look more like something that can keep peace, there’s always the possibility that things will come undone soon after they appear finally finished. Matthew Paris, in The Times, suggests that the populace is already ready to have a catastrophe happen to them, out of a misguided need for atonement for our mistakes. If you want to atone for mistakes, fix the problem, rather than praying for some great punishment.
The Recording Industry Association is hopelessly behind the times - they continue to contend that "ripping" a legally purchased CD to a computer is an illegal act, in addition to running scare tactics and attempting to impose gigantic fines and penalties on those who fight back.
A co-chair of Veterans for Rudy thinks that all Muslims are bad, and that they should be "sent back to their caves". Isn’t it nice to see issues with gray areas being forced into black and white contexts?
JedReport at Kos feels there's a mainstream media blackout against John Edwards, with Hillary and Obama taking just about every spare inch of space they can in the Democratic candidate race.
Yet another reason to proofread all things before publishing - a graduating police academy class in Idaho had a slogan "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it". Lesson learned, the academy will now vet all slogans before publishing.
Hey, remember in March when Circuit City laid off 3,400 and then let some previous employees compete for the new, lower-paying jobs? Well, as it turns out, the executives for the company got retention bonuses of $1 million or more. This sequence has been done before. Hasn’t there been anything in the books that forbids this kind of mass firing and then rehiring for lower wages?
Anarctica has life. It's just all hiding under the ice, in lake systems that could be rich with microbes. With the ice to insulate above, there’s a good chance things are warm enough to support life. In medical science, a flexible surgery robot is being developed to do complex procedures less invasively. The tool could also be used for diagnostics, and everybody can keep their scarring down with that.
Listmania time - Scientific American's The Year in Robots and Top 25 Science stories of 2007, Popular Science’s Guide to 2008 in Science. There were also the Golden Duke Awards, for the most atrocious liars, cheats, and scoundrels of 2007.
Potter creatrix hints there might be more Potterverse stuff.
Last for tonight, want some free college education? Have a look at Open CourseWare Initiatives across major universities, where you can get materials from courses and entire courses themselves on-line for no cost. No credit necessarily comes with it, but you still get the knowledge.
I, however, am definitely going to go to sleep. Felicitations of the new year to all of you. G’night.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 05:28 pm (UTC)but for me personally? I'll probably check things out and see if there's anything interesting, just because I like reading/learning things.
And a totally unrelated question. Have we resigned ourselves to having to stay in Iraq even after we elect and swear in a new president?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 06:05 pm (UTC)With regard to Iraq, the presence/absence of United States troops in Iraq depends entirely upon who is elected as President in the general election in November. Some candidates might actually make a serious push to withdraw troops. Others will send in more.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 06:20 pm (UTC)