Doubling up again - 5 December 2008
Dec. 5th, 2008 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptSo, up top, it being VEWPRF season and all, a Webcomic-themed gift-giving guide, with material from many a comic around the web just right for people of certain persuasions. All clickable from the comfort of your chair. (And that’s twice now I’ve forgotten to post before going to bed. What the hell, self.)
Another week finished, whether by main strength or brain strength, and thus, the weekend approaches. To ponder for the weekend, alleged assault by cheeseburger. Kitty Pidgin macros, incoming. Or, perhaps, the fodder for another movie starring Bruce Campbell. Thank Prime that liquor isn't prohibited in the United States... some of these things... or, in fact, smiply looking at the balance sheets and stock values of many credit companies would drive the less insane to drink. Or pen editorials, as the Freep did, to save the automobile industry, sending it to Congress, and putting the editorial on the front page.
In the continuing War on Chr...wait, you’re telling me the atheist sign next to the nativity was the one stolen and dumped in a ditch? I only knew that it was there a day or two ago. I guess the War on Christmas is on, and rather than feel defensive and oppressed, the soldiers have decided they’re going on the offensive early. The sign has been restored to the original position. As for the interview involved, I think CNN was looking for the person who would give them the most soundbites to inflame others with or establish the “atheists think Christians are evil oppressors” narrative.
Internationally, it's finally official - the status of forces agreement is a go. So there will be troops in Iraq when the President-elect takes office, and he will do his best to remove them, putting into practice the idea of “Mission Accomplished” that was declared more than six years ago. And because no major accord is complete without the ritual bombing attack, 17 killed as fools detonate themselves. And, despite the bravado and want to point out how great things are, there still that worrisome fear that something will go wrong adn progress will be undone - usually, the thing I see “going wrong” is that the United States withdraws the troops too fast amd then the precarious power balance is lost. But, there are a lot of people waiting, possibly even salivating, to thumb their nose at Iran and terror groups and say “Ha. We built this awesome and strong democracy, despite all your attempts to destablize it. Neener, neener.”
The current Secretary of State has upped the rhetoric on Robert Mugabe, saying that it is well past time for him to leave power. The likely collapse of the power-sharing compromise due to Mr. Mugabe’s appointments to cabinet and ministry positions will return things to the way they were. Which means, if the democratic results are to be beleived in the last election, the loser will be the one ruling. By force of arms.
Domestically, O.J. Simpson will be spending time in jail for his attempted robbery. So, in perhaps an evil and twisted way, those who thought him guilty of his other famous incident will feel vindicated... like people left vindicated when Capone was arrested for tax evasion, perhaps. Nine years is the minimum, it appears, with many more likely. No, wait, scratch that, fifteen years is the minimum.
The outgoing administrator implements his provider "conscience" rule, at least temporarily permitting doctors, nurses, and any medical staff to refuse to treat, dispense medication, or otherwise do the jobs they were hired to do for any conscience objection they have to you. So not only might there be zones where birth control is completely unavailable, you might not get that life-saving emergency surgery because the doctor has a moral objection to your perceived homosexuality. HHS, in announcing the rule, declares “an attitude that health care professionals should be required to provide or assist in the provision of medicine or procedures to which they object, or else risk being subjected to discrimination” as the reason why the rule is needed. So, wait, you’re telling me because people expect medical staff to do their jobs, there has to be a rule implemented that lets them decide not to? Perhaps a cab driver can refuse service, knowing that there are other cab drivers who will pick someone up. Doctors don’t really have that luxury, and neither do their staff. “Do no harm.” and all that. So, for at least a month, this rule will be in effect. The incoming administration will hopefully repeal it upon taking office.
Something that is unrepealed nor repealable - a couple beat their two year old child to death with a hammer, attempting to get "demons" out of her. What possesses them to believe a child is possessed by demons and needs to have them beaten out of her is beyond me. It sounds like parents who have become so desperate, trying to find an explanation why the child is behaving that way, not accepting that it’s normally part of development, that they turn to the last remaining solution - demons. Personally, I prefer changelings as the last-ditch explanation, but that requires Fae, who are also likely demons to this “christian” worldview. Anyway, I’m trying to understand how a religious belief that generally holds children up to a certain age as innocents incapable of doing wrong would permit them to be demon-possessed. Unless more than the Catholics believe in original sin or some window at birth that lets demons in... or that anyone unbaptized is posessable, at which I would think baptism at birth would become the de facto standard for every Christian. So, yeah, I’m missing the magic context.
Rules for gentlemen - If you want to chat someone up, be sure to do actual chatting. Also, make sure you've bathed and are not exuding a repulsor cloud. Making the assumption that someone wants sex because of what they’re wearing, and trying to excuse that assumption as natural because you’re male is a very quick way of making sure that you wil not achieve your goals.
Car-sharing? Check. Bicycle-sharing for adults needing transport? Check. Althuogh the cost may seem a bit high to rent time in the sharing - perhaps purchasing and maintaining one’s own bike, with trailer, would be a cheaper option. And there are the hills to worry about.
DARPA wants to transform complex, data-rich situations like battlefields into simpler narratives, easy to highlight the important parts and feed all that data to the human commanders, through the use of intelligent machine agents.
So, will someone tell me whether the medical handgun pictured in this article is supposed to be a drug delivery system, or is an actual bullet-shooting weapon? Because if it shoots bullets, thre’s no way it should be classes as a medical device. None.
Beware! Opinions! - Peggy Noonan on the precarious security situation that the President-elect has - any single attacks on his watch will generate negative imagery, the “the last administration kept us safe, unlike this one” danger. Ms. Noonan also hits a paradoz squarely between the eyes - Homeland Security is a joke at the moment, so it needs to be reordered and have the name changed. Only if the post-DHS DHS actually does stuff to keep people safe without stomping totally over their rights or generating useless rules and color-coded advisory systems.
Navtej Dhillon opines that generating economic strength isn't enough for India to resolve its conflicts with Pakistan - political conflicy resolution and helping Pakistan to get and stay stable is needed. Stable neighbors keeps you stable. Which may mean spending some money on foreign aid and bringing the neighbors up to a standard of living that will keep them stable, and then taking away reasons for tension and unresolved conflict. Bernard Henri-Levy agrees, saying that we ened to give Pakistan all the attention it deserves so that it can become a functional democracy and root out the terror groups that have set up shop inside. Perhaps the other front that will open up when Iraq quiets down?
The WSJ believes President-elect Obama will drop the campaign plans to soak oil companies for windfall profits, with a certain smugness that this turns out to have been something the people wanted to hear, and not an actual plank. Gas prices going down are apparently the official cause. Might also be that people are focusing pretty heavily on the bailouts at this point. Mr. Obama could pull a rather interesting move and decide to soak them to help pay for some of those bailing-outs, assuming they’re still issues when he takes office. Doubtful, though. A windfall profits tax still only works if there are windfall profits. These days, for all we know, oil and gas companies will be taking losses this year. If their numbers are staying consistent, though, in profit, it may be worth it to the President to rumble on that campaign rhetoric again.
Last out of the opinions, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says that the War on (Some) Drugs is succeeding and policy shouldn't be changed. Less cocaine, heroin, meth, and marijuana on the streets, in kids hands, the tough law enforcement officials and judges laying down consequences, and the social working side that tries to help kids through rehab and trouble, keep them out of trouble, and get the addicted, child or adult, off the habit and back into society.
In technology, the burgeoning fear that nanomaterials are going to go haywire and kill us all, or accumulate in our bodies and then kill us all, which has been explored in grey goo science fiction, but is now apparently hitting the mainstream, Amazon offering large amounts of data, and charging for the computer time needed to crunch numbers, finding new ways of driving drugs to their targets, discussion on how best to go about getting off-grid or reducing one's grid impact to a minimum, the ever marching-onward usage of the graphic novel format for nonfiction, and a web browser that will let you crawl backward in time to see what sites looked like yesterday.
Last for tonight, a rather informative take on the religious practice of Tantra, beyond boudoir connotations into the spirituality of the practice. And happy moods are contagious, at least according to this small sample survey.
Another week finished, whether by main strength or brain strength, and thus, the weekend approaches. To ponder for the weekend, alleged assault by cheeseburger. Kitty Pidgin macros, incoming. Or, perhaps, the fodder for another movie starring Bruce Campbell. Thank Prime that liquor isn't prohibited in the United States... some of these things... or, in fact, smiply looking at the balance sheets and stock values of many credit companies would drive the less insane to drink. Or pen editorials, as the Freep did, to save the automobile industry, sending it to Congress, and putting the editorial on the front page.
In the continuing War on Chr...wait, you’re telling me the atheist sign next to the nativity was the one stolen and dumped in a ditch? I only knew that it was there a day or two ago. I guess the War on Christmas is on, and rather than feel defensive and oppressed, the soldiers have decided they’re going on the offensive early. The sign has been restored to the original position. As for the interview involved, I think CNN was looking for the person who would give them the most soundbites to inflame others with or establish the “atheists think Christians are evil oppressors” narrative.
Internationally, it's finally official - the status of forces agreement is a go. So there will be troops in Iraq when the President-elect takes office, and he will do his best to remove them, putting into practice the idea of “Mission Accomplished” that was declared more than six years ago. And because no major accord is complete without the ritual bombing attack, 17 killed as fools detonate themselves. And, despite the bravado and want to point out how great things are, there still that worrisome fear that something will go wrong adn progress will be undone - usually, the thing I see “going wrong” is that the United States withdraws the troops too fast amd then the precarious power balance is lost. But, there are a lot of people waiting, possibly even salivating, to thumb their nose at Iran and terror groups and say “Ha. We built this awesome and strong democracy, despite all your attempts to destablize it. Neener, neener.”
The current Secretary of State has upped the rhetoric on Robert Mugabe, saying that it is well past time for him to leave power. The likely collapse of the power-sharing compromise due to Mr. Mugabe’s appointments to cabinet and ministry positions will return things to the way they were. Which means, if the democratic results are to be beleived in the last election, the loser will be the one ruling. By force of arms.
Domestically, O.J. Simpson will be spending time in jail for his attempted robbery. So, in perhaps an evil and twisted way, those who thought him guilty of his other famous incident will feel vindicated... like people left vindicated when Capone was arrested for tax evasion, perhaps. Nine years is the minimum, it appears, with many more likely. No, wait, scratch that, fifteen years is the minimum.
The outgoing administrator implements his provider "conscience" rule, at least temporarily permitting doctors, nurses, and any medical staff to refuse to treat, dispense medication, or otherwise do the jobs they were hired to do for any conscience objection they have to you. So not only might there be zones where birth control is completely unavailable, you might not get that life-saving emergency surgery because the doctor has a moral objection to your perceived homosexuality. HHS, in announcing the rule, declares “an attitude that health care professionals should be required to provide or assist in the provision of medicine or procedures to which they object, or else risk being subjected to discrimination” as the reason why the rule is needed. So, wait, you’re telling me because people expect medical staff to do their jobs, there has to be a rule implemented that lets them decide not to? Perhaps a cab driver can refuse service, knowing that there are other cab drivers who will pick someone up. Doctors don’t really have that luxury, and neither do their staff. “Do no harm.” and all that. So, for at least a month, this rule will be in effect. The incoming administration will hopefully repeal it upon taking office.
Something that is unrepealed nor repealable - a couple beat their two year old child to death with a hammer, attempting to get "demons" out of her. What possesses them to believe a child is possessed by demons and needs to have them beaten out of her is beyond me. It sounds like parents who have become so desperate, trying to find an explanation why the child is behaving that way, not accepting that it’s normally part of development, that they turn to the last remaining solution - demons. Personally, I prefer changelings as the last-ditch explanation, but that requires Fae, who are also likely demons to this “christian” worldview. Anyway, I’m trying to understand how a religious belief that generally holds children up to a certain age as innocents incapable of doing wrong would permit them to be demon-possessed. Unless more than the Catholics believe in original sin or some window at birth that lets demons in... or that anyone unbaptized is posessable, at which I would think baptism at birth would become the de facto standard for every Christian. So, yeah, I’m missing the magic context.
Rules for gentlemen - If you want to chat someone up, be sure to do actual chatting. Also, make sure you've bathed and are not exuding a repulsor cloud. Making the assumption that someone wants sex because of what they’re wearing, and trying to excuse that assumption as natural because you’re male is a very quick way of making sure that you wil not achieve your goals.
Car-sharing? Check. Bicycle-sharing for adults needing transport? Check. Althuogh the cost may seem a bit high to rent time in the sharing - perhaps purchasing and maintaining one’s own bike, with trailer, would be a cheaper option. And there are the hills to worry about.
DARPA wants to transform complex, data-rich situations like battlefields into simpler narratives, easy to highlight the important parts and feed all that data to the human commanders, through the use of intelligent machine agents.
So, will someone tell me whether the medical handgun pictured in this article is supposed to be a drug delivery system, or is an actual bullet-shooting weapon? Because if it shoots bullets, thre’s no way it should be classes as a medical device. None.
Beware! Opinions! - Peggy Noonan on the precarious security situation that the President-elect has - any single attacks on his watch will generate negative imagery, the “the last administration kept us safe, unlike this one” danger. Ms. Noonan also hits a paradoz squarely between the eyes - Homeland Security is a joke at the moment, so it needs to be reordered and have the name changed. Only if the post-DHS DHS actually does stuff to keep people safe without stomping totally over their rights or generating useless rules and color-coded advisory systems.
Navtej Dhillon opines that generating economic strength isn't enough for India to resolve its conflicts with Pakistan - political conflicy resolution and helping Pakistan to get and stay stable is needed. Stable neighbors keeps you stable. Which may mean spending some money on foreign aid and bringing the neighbors up to a standard of living that will keep them stable, and then taking away reasons for tension and unresolved conflict. Bernard Henri-Levy agrees, saying that we ened to give Pakistan all the attention it deserves so that it can become a functional democracy and root out the terror groups that have set up shop inside. Perhaps the other front that will open up when Iraq quiets down?
The WSJ believes President-elect Obama will drop the campaign plans to soak oil companies for windfall profits, with a certain smugness that this turns out to have been something the people wanted to hear, and not an actual plank. Gas prices going down are apparently the official cause. Might also be that people are focusing pretty heavily on the bailouts at this point. Mr. Obama could pull a rather interesting move and decide to soak them to help pay for some of those bailing-outs, assuming they’re still issues when he takes office. Doubtful, though. A windfall profits tax still only works if there are windfall profits. These days, for all we know, oil and gas companies will be taking losses this year. If their numbers are staying consistent, though, in profit, it may be worth it to the President to rumble on that campaign rhetoric again.
Last out of the opinions, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says that the War on (Some) Drugs is succeeding and policy shouldn't be changed. Less cocaine, heroin, meth, and marijuana on the streets, in kids hands, the tough law enforcement officials and judges laying down consequences, and the social working side that tries to help kids through rehab and trouble, keep them out of trouble, and get the addicted, child or adult, off the habit and back into society.
In technology, the burgeoning fear that nanomaterials are going to go haywire and kill us all, or accumulate in our bodies and then kill us all, which has been explored in grey goo science fiction, but is now apparently hitting the mainstream, Amazon offering large amounts of data, and charging for the computer time needed to crunch numbers, finding new ways of driving drugs to their targets, discussion on how best to go about getting off-grid or reducing one's grid impact to a minimum, the ever marching-onward usage of the graphic novel format for nonfiction, and a web browser that will let you crawl backward in time to see what sites looked like yesterday.
Last for tonight, a rather informative take on the religious practice of Tantra, beyond boudoir connotations into the spirituality of the practice. And happy moods are contagious, at least according to this small sample survey.
