Anniversaries all around - 01 May 2008
May. 2nd, 2008 12:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptHappy May Day! Hopefully, everyone got to dance around the maypole today. It’s also, acording to my calendars, National Holocaust reemberance day, and International Workers’ Day. So there’s plenty to celebrate or to remember, depnding on your preferences. Before getting in too far, a corporate note - Burt's Bees has been bought by the Clorox corporation, so they’re no longer a small independent seller. This may disappoint some and cause others to swear off buying the product entirely.
To start on a happy note, a nun faced her attacker and asked the judge not to put him in jail, having forgiven him for his robbery of her. The judge did not grant it, but it is a nice example of the forgiveness that “turn the other cheek” implies. If that doesn’t work, then the off-duty police officer who used his patrol car to stop traffic and let ducks cross the road might help with the heartwarming.
However, since there are a lot of anniversaries to celebrate or recall today, let’s start with a big one. It has now been five years since "Mission Accomplished". We’ve been supposedly done for five years now, and things haven’t improved a whole lot. And now it’s looking like we’ll be there for even longer. Mr. Bush’s legacy on Iraq is not going to be kind. For the fact that the war was still going on, there was a port protest where the stevedores didn't show up to work. Information Clearing House considers Israel to be a strong player in why the U.S. continues to fight and bomb Mideast targets, while also noting that the promised results from Mr. Bush are almost the opposite of what actually happened. Plus, rather than realizing that things are stretched as they are, the administration continues to draw up plans to attack Iran. And it’s rather interesting how we’re saying that we’re winning in Iraq and elsewhere and also saying al-Qaeda and terror groups are gaining strength. Saying we’re winning to keep the fight going, but that we’re losing to make sure nobody ever wonders why we haven’t achieved actual victory, if we’re always winning. Arthur Herman is making comparisons of Iraq to Vietnam, but his comparisons are that America left too early, right when they were winning, and that we’re going to do the same thing in Iraq, that it’s the Democrats’ fault for convincing the populous that we lost in both cases, and that the proponents of the domino theory were right and will be right again, excepting this time with violent Islamic radicals. Victor Davis Hanson has a more balanced view of the war, considering that much progress is being made militarily, but that economic and social policy, especially on oil, has not been the right kind to fully win. His assertion that Democrats and opponents haven’t been able to repeal all the post 9/11 garbage is an admission that it’s working is garbage, because the occupant of the White House would no sooner see it repealed than he would see himself impeached for his role in all of this.
Speaking of oil, ExxonMobil posted a "disappointing" $10.9 billion USD profit. Rising oil prices certainly haven’t hurt those companies in the slightest. And how much of that profit really is needed to keep those corporations in business? And how much of that is going into reseearch and development of new energy options for the point where crude oil becomes economically infeasible to use as a source of energy? Solar power looks to be getting cheaper thanks to an influx of procesed silicon. Perhaps a similar influx of cash would help make solar power both efficient and cheap.
A different celebration today is that it’s also the National Day of Prayer. If it were an inclusive sort of day, and that those who are not prayers or that don’t believe in a deity had a place at the table as well, then we might have reason to think it’s a good idea. As thigns are, I’d say that Rebecca Hagelin's column about the event is a pretty good indicator of what’s actually happening - lots of political figures trying to convince other political figures to ignore the Constitution and declare the Abrahamic god as the official protector and patron of America, to the exclusion (and possible persecution) of others. Plus, there’s the standard entreaty to accept the Abrahamic god as the only one for you, and pray to him to change your life. At least the animated Chick Tract doesn’t try to hide what it wants. (Said animation wasn’t actually made by anyone associated with Chick, and it’s ten years old, but still...)
In other matters, an American airstrike killed ten militants, supposedly with ties to al-Qaeda, in Somalia. Africa gets short shrift from the American newsmedia these days, being so focused on the Middle East. In this case, though, the United States military is being tight-lipped about what they are doing. Sticking with the death theme, a Japanese gentleman committed suicide by mixing and releasing hydrogen sulphide gas, which promptly spread to other areas and caused an evacuation.
Because it’s seeing lots of play elsewhere in the blog world, natives of the island of Lesbos are suing in a Greek court to prevent a homosexual group from using "Lesbian" in their name. Frat boy jokes, ahoy.
Back here in the states, first, some good news regarding schooling - college and university students can borrow more from the federal government than before, thanks to a bill that Mr. Bush is expected to sign. This has the intended effect of shielding college borrowers from not being able to get loans or having to resort to higher-interest private loans.
And then, some very bad news that happened inside a school. A Memphis, Tennessee school principal wrote the names of all suspected couples on a publicly-viewable list in her office so that the principal could monitor them for public displays of affection. That’s all couples, hetero and homo, suspected or actual. Two boys suspected to be a couple were outed on this list, and according to the article, the principal called the mothers asking if they knew about the orientation of their sons, told the two boys they couldn’t walk or study together, and then decided not to send one of the boys on a trip to New Orleans to help rebuild because he might “embarass the school”, despite his excellent community service record and recommendations from faculty. Apparently, the potential couple has also been subjected to the tender niceties of their peers. As Pam’s House Blend asks, how many ways is this wrong? The General takes things out to their logical conclusion and requests that the pincipal post the names of suspected masturbators, too. After we get past the point where the principal has no real reason to be interested in couples, nuless they’re doing things like getting it on in the locker rooms, then we get to the part where the principal id outing couples of any sort against the wishes of the people there, and is giving weight to hearsay rather than observation. There’s a lot of ways this is wrong, and there will probably be heads demanded before all of this is done.
YouTube has removed (again) an account of a prominent anit-Scientology critic, after receiving DMCA takedown notices from the Church (as opposed to Viacom, who sent one when he hosted a clip of the Colbert Report). While intending to comply with the notices, the activist found his account wiped before he could. So, anyone else still unconvinced that the DMCA is a problem in its current form?
Eyebrows raise at a report released from the Los Angeles City Police Commission. 320 complaints of racial profiling were lodged against the police last year, and all of them were meritless, according to the commission. This is apparently the sixth straight zero on accusations without merit. Perhaps it’s a cynicism of our society, but six years with lots of complaints and none had merit? That’s strange. Still within the realm of possibility, but statistically less probable with every passing year.
Providing the requisite list for tonight, The Telegraph posts a list of the fifty best cult books, according to their definition. And like all book lists, people will wonder how many they’ve read.
Nightmare Playground statues and scultupres. And we expect children to have fun around these. A differnt kind of fun involved Bill Geerheart writing as a ten year-old to some very famous names, including convicted killers and government officials. The responses received are illuminating and interesting. And then, Radar got him to follow up on those letters sent some time ago, with the fictitious child now a college student.
Getting into matters of science, Wired’s latest issue has twelve ways to make yourself smarter, including proper chemical dosing, study technique, and choosing the right kinds of information to learn. Some peopel will need this material, so that they can learn trying to cash a $360 billion USD check will raise eyebrows and investigations.
HP Laboratories has developed a memory resistor, the fourth circuit type, which opens up a lot of possibilities for computers, digital devices, and other units. We’ll see what develops out of this. We’re also keeping an eye on open-source multitouch surfaces, including one currently called Cubit that offers a much cheaper alternative to Microsoft’s Surface. Being able to do cool stuff with touch-screens for about $500/$1000, plus the computer you’ll need to install the software on, but those are fairly cheap and can be made small, is definitely on my radar. When it can be miniaturized and wall-mounted, that will be even cooler. Combined with Xerox's erasable paper, and a lot of offices and buildings could significantly reduce their paper flow and be able to illustrate a lot of concepts visually.
Last out of science, you can throw a boomerang in microgravity. Cool, huh? If that’s not enough, how about interacting galaxies?
The very last for tonight, however, is The Escapist talking about how unintended consequences in games are often really funny, like the discovery of rocket-jumping, suicide skiing, or machinima and mods designed to make people laugh more than to make people thrash each other. And with taht, we go to bed.
To start on a happy note, a nun faced her attacker and asked the judge not to put him in jail, having forgiven him for his robbery of her. The judge did not grant it, but it is a nice example of the forgiveness that “turn the other cheek” implies. If that doesn’t work, then the off-duty police officer who used his patrol car to stop traffic and let ducks cross the road might help with the heartwarming.
However, since there are a lot of anniversaries to celebrate or recall today, let’s start with a big one. It has now been five years since "Mission Accomplished". We’ve been supposedly done for five years now, and things haven’t improved a whole lot. And now it’s looking like we’ll be there for even longer. Mr. Bush’s legacy on Iraq is not going to be kind. For the fact that the war was still going on, there was a port protest where the stevedores didn't show up to work. Information Clearing House considers Israel to be a strong player in why the U.S. continues to fight and bomb Mideast targets, while also noting that the promised results from Mr. Bush are almost the opposite of what actually happened. Plus, rather than realizing that things are stretched as they are, the administration continues to draw up plans to attack Iran. And it’s rather interesting how we’re saying that we’re winning in Iraq and elsewhere and also saying al-Qaeda and terror groups are gaining strength. Saying we’re winning to keep the fight going, but that we’re losing to make sure nobody ever wonders why we haven’t achieved actual victory, if we’re always winning. Arthur Herman is making comparisons of Iraq to Vietnam, but his comparisons are that America left too early, right when they were winning, and that we’re going to do the same thing in Iraq, that it’s the Democrats’ fault for convincing the populous that we lost in both cases, and that the proponents of the domino theory were right and will be right again, excepting this time with violent Islamic radicals. Victor Davis Hanson has a more balanced view of the war, considering that much progress is being made militarily, but that economic and social policy, especially on oil, has not been the right kind to fully win. His assertion that Democrats and opponents haven’t been able to repeal all the post 9/11 garbage is an admission that it’s working is garbage, because the occupant of the White House would no sooner see it repealed than he would see himself impeached for his role in all of this.
Speaking of oil, ExxonMobil posted a "disappointing" $10.9 billion USD profit. Rising oil prices certainly haven’t hurt those companies in the slightest. And how much of that profit really is needed to keep those corporations in business? And how much of that is going into reseearch and development of new energy options for the point where crude oil becomes economically infeasible to use as a source of energy? Solar power looks to be getting cheaper thanks to an influx of procesed silicon. Perhaps a similar influx of cash would help make solar power both efficient and cheap.
A different celebration today is that it’s also the National Day of Prayer. If it were an inclusive sort of day, and that those who are not prayers or that don’t believe in a deity had a place at the table as well, then we might have reason to think it’s a good idea. As thigns are, I’d say that Rebecca Hagelin's column about the event is a pretty good indicator of what’s actually happening - lots of political figures trying to convince other political figures to ignore the Constitution and declare the Abrahamic god as the official protector and patron of America, to the exclusion (and possible persecution) of others. Plus, there’s the standard entreaty to accept the Abrahamic god as the only one for you, and pray to him to change your life. At least the animated Chick Tract doesn’t try to hide what it wants. (Said animation wasn’t actually made by anyone associated with Chick, and it’s ten years old, but still...)
In other matters, an American airstrike killed ten militants, supposedly with ties to al-Qaeda, in Somalia. Africa gets short shrift from the American newsmedia these days, being so focused on the Middle East. In this case, though, the United States military is being tight-lipped about what they are doing. Sticking with the death theme, a Japanese gentleman committed suicide by mixing and releasing hydrogen sulphide gas, which promptly spread to other areas and caused an evacuation.
Because it’s seeing lots of play elsewhere in the blog world, natives of the island of Lesbos are suing in a Greek court to prevent a homosexual group from using "Lesbian" in their name. Frat boy jokes, ahoy.
Back here in the states, first, some good news regarding schooling - college and university students can borrow more from the federal government than before, thanks to a bill that Mr. Bush is expected to sign. This has the intended effect of shielding college borrowers from not being able to get loans or having to resort to higher-interest private loans.
And then, some very bad news that happened inside a school. A Memphis, Tennessee school principal wrote the names of all suspected couples on a publicly-viewable list in her office so that the principal could monitor them for public displays of affection. That’s all couples, hetero and homo, suspected or actual. Two boys suspected to be a couple were outed on this list, and according to the article, the principal called the mothers asking if they knew about the orientation of their sons, told the two boys they couldn’t walk or study together, and then decided not to send one of the boys on a trip to New Orleans to help rebuild because he might “embarass the school”, despite his excellent community service record and recommendations from faculty. Apparently, the potential couple has also been subjected to the tender niceties of their peers. As Pam’s House Blend asks, how many ways is this wrong? The General takes things out to their logical conclusion and requests that the pincipal post the names of suspected masturbators, too. After we get past the point where the principal has no real reason to be interested in couples, nuless they’re doing things like getting it on in the locker rooms, then we get to the part where the principal id outing couples of any sort against the wishes of the people there, and is giving weight to hearsay rather than observation. There’s a lot of ways this is wrong, and there will probably be heads demanded before all of this is done.
YouTube has removed (again) an account of a prominent anit-Scientology critic, after receiving DMCA takedown notices from the Church (as opposed to Viacom, who sent one when he hosted a clip of the Colbert Report). While intending to comply with the notices, the activist found his account wiped before he could. So, anyone else still unconvinced that the DMCA is a problem in its current form?
Eyebrows raise at a report released from the Los Angeles City Police Commission. 320 complaints of racial profiling were lodged against the police last year, and all of them were meritless, according to the commission. This is apparently the sixth straight zero on accusations without merit. Perhaps it’s a cynicism of our society, but six years with lots of complaints and none had merit? That’s strange. Still within the realm of possibility, but statistically less probable with every passing year.
Providing the requisite list for tonight, The Telegraph posts a list of the fifty best cult books, according to their definition. And like all book lists, people will wonder how many they’ve read.
Nightmare Playground statues and scultupres. And we expect children to have fun around these. A differnt kind of fun involved Bill Geerheart writing as a ten year-old to some very famous names, including convicted killers and government officials. The responses received are illuminating and interesting. And then, Radar got him to follow up on those letters sent some time ago, with the fictitious child now a college student.
Getting into matters of science, Wired’s latest issue has twelve ways to make yourself smarter, including proper chemical dosing, study technique, and choosing the right kinds of information to learn. Some peopel will need this material, so that they can learn trying to cash a $360 billion USD check will raise eyebrows and investigations.
HP Laboratories has developed a memory resistor, the fourth circuit type, which opens up a lot of possibilities for computers, digital devices, and other units. We’ll see what develops out of this. We’re also keeping an eye on open-source multitouch surfaces, including one currently called Cubit that offers a much cheaper alternative to Microsoft’s Surface. Being able to do cool stuff with touch-screens for about $500/$1000, plus the computer you’ll need to install the software on, but those are fairly cheap and can be made small, is definitely on my radar. When it can be miniaturized and wall-mounted, that will be even cooler. Combined with Xerox's erasable paper, and a lot of offices and buildings could significantly reduce their paper flow and be able to illustrate a lot of concepts visually.
Last out of science, you can throw a boomerang in microgravity. Cool, huh? If that’s not enough, how about interacting galaxies?
The very last for tonight, however, is The Escapist talking about how unintended consequences in games are often really funny, like the discovery of rocket-jumping, suicide skiing, or machinima and mods designed to make people laugh more than to make people thrash each other. And with taht, we go to bed.
