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silveradeptInternationally, Western nations are attempting to deflect Russia off their current course of action, not that it will necessarily succeed. Elswhere, and I think this is repeating myself from previous entries, The Afghan police require additional bolstring to be effective in fighting the Taliban.
Closer to home, Canada is requiring ships to register with them if they wish to sail the Northwest Passage.
And an interesting example for people who insist that only one langauge be used for all official government documents - Puerto Rico has to provide an English translation ballot for elections, because of the significant minority there for whom English is their only language, instead of Spanish. Tell me again why some members of our populace believe that citizens should be disenfranchised and lack access to government resources because they don’t speak the language?
A gent found out that his password that called his bank "pants" had been changed to a "no it's not", and then found he could not change it back, nor change it to say that a competitor was better. The person that changed the password has been fired from his position. Well, so long as the gent continues to bank with them, I don’t think they should care what the password is.
A cave system unearthed in Mexico that may have served as mythological portals to the underworld. which is cool, One more government exonerates the last witch they killed several hundred years ago, which is also cool, but coolest is a cat that has sprouted wings.
In opinions, Liberal Seagull on why preserving monuments of our worst moments is as important as preserving our beset moments, because they both exist as reminders to the future of what humanity is capable of. Great works of art and peace, and people who’s aim is so poor they set off the firebomb in the car they were trying to throw it from.
James Jay Carafano sees warning signs that the next administration will gut the military budget, returning them, in his opinion, to a state unable to actually do their job.
Kathleen Parker believes she has found the definitive answer to when life begins, while also criticizing Nancy Pelosi's remarks on the subject. The answer is, unsurprisingly, “at conception, when the sperm and ovum become a zygote”, and Parker steadfastly ignores the secondary question of abortion and contraception associated with it, “At what point does the human fetus become sufficiently viable that it would be able to live away from the mother?” It’s all very well to campaign for the idea that life and human rights should be accorded at conception, but to do so ignores the fact that at any time during the pregnancy, for random or nonrandom reasons, the fetus may die, be prematurely expelled, or otherwise fail. Unless one is willing to devote the time and police resources to investigating every miscarriage as a murder or manslaughter, then the debate really should be centering around the point of viability, not the point of conception. However, the Republican Party's going for broke with regard to the unborn, even calling to ban the use of embryonic stem cells, period.
An update on the storm generated by Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who blogged pseudonymously about atrocities in Iraq committed by soliders, atrocities that were strongly denied. With this update, turns out maybe the blogger was spot-on, as membrs of the unit he was working wth have been arrested for killing civilians. this would undo all the denial work that’s been going on, so naturally, The General wants to close the door on these accusations, and to that end, he praises an exemplar of vitriol and credibility-bashing as just the person for it.
According to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bradhicks, we’re about to have a live-fire test as to whether the post-Katrina procedures and construction will hold, and we should start considering good ways of voting out the ruling party and their hacks, for just long enough for the corruption to clean up some, to shake up the procedures and dollars and such, and then put the people better at running the country back in charge, now that you’ve scared them properly so they will do things right.
OverthinkingIt a bit on why "strong" female characters, as in Mary-Sue-like strong, are bad for women. Mostly because instead of the Damsel in Distress being rescued by the hero, whom the audience is supposed to vicariously feel the thrill of being close to such a hot woman for, well... the Strong Woman is there so the audience can, through their chosen sidekick, vicariously feel the thrill of being close to such a hot woman. Next verse, same as the first. So, when writing “strong”, perhaps “complex” would have been a better jumping-off point.
In candidate opinions, Jonah Goldberg believes the choice of Biden for Veep proves once and for all that Senator Obama is all hope and no change, Mona Charen would love to support Senator Obama, but she feels that he and his wife are hoodwinking the populace about who they really are, Juan williams says Senator Obama needs to speak more and take positions on race issues, which would probably mar his campaign and give more ammunition to Republicans trying to make a case for race, even if it is what most people are expecting him to do, because, y’know, he’s black. Peggy Noonan has some positive thoughts about the speeches and the DNC so far, so it’s not all negative, all the time.
Turd Blossom gives advice for Senator McCain in the WSJ, so I’m guessing that after his disaster of a political appointment, we’ll be seeing him in Murdoch’s column space for a while now. Although, with the way Senator McCain is giving some interviews now, taking advice from anybody might improve his campaign chances. I’m guessing this November will be a good indicator of how many people will vote for a particular political party, regardless of whether the candidate they put forward is the best possible one, even after he has said several things that trip bells and alarms about his fitness for the office.
In science and technology, pushing the gene envelope to maximize human strength and speed, making 2D textures appear 3D by adding depth to them, the need to build better power grids to take on the influx of renewable sources, and trusting your instincts by picking up subliminal clues in the environment, stuff that doesn’t necessarily register in the conscious brain, but has been noticed anyway.
Last for tonight, tips for dealing with difficult people - which boils down to “Find ways of removing the negativity and not letting it affect you.” Or, in simpler, Internet-savvy langauge, don’t feed the trolls. Oh, and soon, IE 8 will have a mode that basically lets you appear anonymous on the web, won't save anything, and will clear out the cache at the end.
To have a laugh on the tail end - the conference of fonts... including special guest appearance by a font that many love to hate.
Closer to home, Canada is requiring ships to register with them if they wish to sail the Northwest Passage.
And an interesting example for people who insist that only one langauge be used for all official government documents - Puerto Rico has to provide an English translation ballot for elections, because of the significant minority there for whom English is their only language, instead of Spanish. Tell me again why some members of our populace believe that citizens should be disenfranchised and lack access to government resources because they don’t speak the language?
A gent found out that his password that called his bank "pants" had been changed to a "no it's not", and then found he could not change it back, nor change it to say that a competitor was better. The person that changed the password has been fired from his position. Well, so long as the gent continues to bank with them, I don’t think they should care what the password is.
A cave system unearthed in Mexico that may have served as mythological portals to the underworld. which is cool, One more government exonerates the last witch they killed several hundred years ago, which is also cool, but coolest is a cat that has sprouted wings.
In opinions, Liberal Seagull on why preserving monuments of our worst moments is as important as preserving our beset moments, because they both exist as reminders to the future of what humanity is capable of. Great works of art and peace, and people who’s aim is so poor they set off the firebomb in the car they were trying to throw it from.
James Jay Carafano sees warning signs that the next administration will gut the military budget, returning them, in his opinion, to a state unable to actually do their job.
Kathleen Parker believes she has found the definitive answer to when life begins, while also criticizing Nancy Pelosi's remarks on the subject. The answer is, unsurprisingly, “at conception, when the sperm and ovum become a zygote”, and Parker steadfastly ignores the secondary question of abortion and contraception associated with it, “At what point does the human fetus become sufficiently viable that it would be able to live away from the mother?” It’s all very well to campaign for the idea that life and human rights should be accorded at conception, but to do so ignores the fact that at any time during the pregnancy, for random or nonrandom reasons, the fetus may die, be prematurely expelled, or otherwise fail. Unless one is willing to devote the time and police resources to investigating every miscarriage as a murder or manslaughter, then the debate really should be centering around the point of viability, not the point of conception. However, the Republican Party's going for broke with regard to the unborn, even calling to ban the use of embryonic stem cells, period.
An update on the storm generated by Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who blogged pseudonymously about atrocities in Iraq committed by soliders, atrocities that were strongly denied. With this update, turns out maybe the blogger was spot-on, as membrs of the unit he was working wth have been arrested for killing civilians. this would undo all the denial work that’s been going on, so naturally, The General wants to close the door on these accusations, and to that end, he praises an exemplar of vitriol and credibility-bashing as just the person for it.
According to
bradhicks, we’re about to have a live-fire test as to whether the post-Katrina procedures and construction will hold, and we should start considering good ways of voting out the ruling party and their hacks, for just long enough for the corruption to clean up some, to shake up the procedures and dollars and such, and then put the people better at running the country back in charge, now that you’ve scared them properly so they will do things right.OverthinkingIt a bit on why "strong" female characters, as in Mary-Sue-like strong, are bad for women. Mostly because instead of the Damsel in Distress being rescued by the hero, whom the audience is supposed to vicariously feel the thrill of being close to such a hot woman for, well... the Strong Woman is there so the audience can, through their chosen sidekick, vicariously feel the thrill of being close to such a hot woman. Next verse, same as the first. So, when writing “strong”, perhaps “complex” would have been a better jumping-off point.
In candidate opinions, Jonah Goldberg believes the choice of Biden for Veep proves once and for all that Senator Obama is all hope and no change, Mona Charen would love to support Senator Obama, but she feels that he and his wife are hoodwinking the populace about who they really are, Juan williams says Senator Obama needs to speak more and take positions on race issues, which would probably mar his campaign and give more ammunition to Republicans trying to make a case for race, even if it is what most people are expecting him to do, because, y’know, he’s black. Peggy Noonan has some positive thoughts about the speeches and the DNC so far, so it’s not all negative, all the time.
Turd Blossom gives advice for Senator McCain in the WSJ, so I’m guessing that after his disaster of a political appointment, we’ll be seeing him in Murdoch’s column space for a while now. Although, with the way Senator McCain is giving some interviews now, taking advice from anybody might improve his campaign chances. I’m guessing this November will be a good indicator of how many people will vote for a particular political party, regardless of whether the candidate they put forward is the best possible one, even after he has said several things that trip bells and alarms about his fitness for the office.
In science and technology, pushing the gene envelope to maximize human strength and speed, making 2D textures appear 3D by adding depth to them, the need to build better power grids to take on the influx of renewable sources, and trusting your instincts by picking up subliminal clues in the environment, stuff that doesn’t necessarily register in the conscious brain, but has been noticed anyway.
Last for tonight, tips for dealing with difficult people - which boils down to “Find ways of removing the negativity and not letting it affect you.” Or, in simpler, Internet-savvy langauge, don’t feed the trolls. Oh, and soon, IE 8 will have a mode that basically lets you appear anonymous on the web, won't save anything, and will clear out the cache at the end.
To have a laugh on the tail end - the conference of fonts... including special guest appearance by a font that many love to hate.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 11:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-29 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 04:09 am (UTC)Oh and that wingdings was crazy, because really you have to be to use it. :-D
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 07:57 am (UTC)Beauchamp
Date: 2008-08-29 11:40 am (UTC)1. You have to have credibility in the first place to earn respect. Beauchamp was outed as an abject liar by fellow Soldiers in the unit.
2. The Soldiers in the 172nd chased down the terrorist scumbags who fired at them and found their weapons cache, but that wasn’t 'sufficient' evidence. Right.
3. Hate to burst your bubble sweetpea, but this latest attempt to smear the Army is just as 'credible' as Beauchamp.
sfcmac
Re: Beauchamp
Date: 2008-08-29 05:07 pm (UTC)Anyway, considering that you have a low opinion of the news outlet that reported on this story, I'm assuming you feel they, and the soldiers whose sworn statements generated the article, also have similar credibility issues. Correct me if I'm wrong.
It's also a bit disheartening that you're willing to dismiss the sworn testimony of soldiers as lies because they allege that the behavior of soldiers is less than the professional standard required of them. I would think such allegations, from wherever they come, would need to be taken seriously, if for no other reason than to protect the reputation of the military as professionals. From where I see your position, either we have liars to the point of perjury or murderers in the troops, neither of which is acceptable conduct.
You also didn't address the vitriol part, which in some ways, was the more important part of both my and The General's account. I thought that the simplistic attitude of "troops can do no wrong, those who question are terrorists or their sympathizers" had died once it was clear that no amount of protest was going to stop the current administrator from prosecuting his second war, regardless of the outcomes. Yet I continue to hear this mantra drummed out any time there's the possibility that soldiers, their commanders, or the contractors providing assistance to the soldiers are accused of wrongdoing. "Supporting the troops", we're told, means unthinkingly shoveling as much money as requested, dismissing any possibility that soldiers, even when following orders, are doing illegal things, and believing fundamentally that the missions that soldiers are on are just. If you believe that, fine and dandy. Those who believe otherwise, however, are free to do so without being harassed for being unpatriotic, unAmerican, "left-wing moonbats", or terrorists. It makes it look like you're trying to convince yourselves, more than your opponents, that you're right.