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silveradeptWe open today with an expert in television, a Mr. Rod Serling, talking about just how much damage is done to a movie when it is compressed and sliced so as to fit commercials and time slots. On the other side, we find that Mr. Fleming's novels may have had their roots in actual MI6 agents and stories.
The true story in television, though, is that today, 24 September, in the year 1936, a man named James Maury Henson was born, little aware of the impact that his life would have on the lives of people the world around, through new and innovative puppeteering practices and through partnerships with organizations like the Children's Television Workshop. We lost him far, far too early and long before we could tap all the ideas adn productions in his mind and bring them to life. We miss you, Jim Henson, and your Muppets and Fraggles and voices and slapstick hilarity. I think we all wish that our world were populated by such interesting creatures that we could work, play, and live with.
Libraries have been creative with their budget stretching, sometiems using Netflix as a supplementary service for video and video-on-demand, a practice that Netflix says is in violation of their terms of use, but that they may not intend on suing over. Some enterprising entrepreneur should be able to fill that gap, one woud think, assuming that they aren't pilloried by the content cabals.
And finally, look at Disneyland after dark, where the night shift makes sure the park is clean, sparkly, in good repair including fresh coats of paint, and free of rodents (thanks to some spayed and neutered cats that call the park home).
Out in the world today, there is something disturbing when the producers of GM crops hire the already infamous mercenary company Blackwater/Xe to spy on anti-GM activists. And it only gets more disturbing with allegations that Blackwater/Xe contracted with businessmen to buy steroids and black market weapons for the company's Iraq operations.
The United States and other delegations walked out on a speech given by the Iranian President after he suggested that the 11 September attacks were an inside job to ensure the survival of Israel or that the government supported a terrorist group to attack the buildings so they would have prextext to invade the Middle East. At least one reporter in the room with the Iranian president during a press conference sees not a buffoon, but a master of propaganda, politics, and rhetoric that the United States caricatures at its own peril, which no doubt adds an extra dimension to trying to analyze him, not to necessarily figure out whether he's lying or not, but whether he's effectively getting his lies published and giving them traction while slipping out of traps and pitfalls strewn in his path.
Protestors in France took to the streets against a proposal to raise the retirement age in France to 62 years of age. The government claims that cost-cuting measures such as this have to be put in place lest the whole system go up, while the unions and others claim that plenty of austerity can be found by first cutting fat from the rich.
The Afghan military now has female officers, after 29 women successfully completed their training. They won't be doing any fighting or front line combat, mind you, but they're there.
Domestically, if you've been following national politics, you might have also noticed the trend in several campaigns, on issues or for office, to try and implicate or outright say that the opponent is not sufficiently manly, often by reference to the presence or absence of testicles. This is rhetoric. If they wanted to talk about policy, like what they're going to do to try and fix income inequality not seen since the 1920s, then we can talk.
The Justice Department has concluded that while its 2001 incarnation did not put peaceful demonstrators and non-violent activists on the terrorist watch list in the wake of 11 September solely because of their anti-war views, there were disturbing trends in the how the FBI investigated terror claims. So, no, they didn't do what was alleged, but yeah, they did do what was alleged, according to the report.
For something with a bit more direct proof, try this on for size. As early as November 2001, the previous administration was hard at work manufacturing an excuse that would allow them to go to war with Iraq. It's pretty well enough proof to at least start an investigation, wouldn't you think? Open up the can of worms, turn on the lights and see just how many skeletons there are in this closet.
As postscripts and stingers to the previous special comment, the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms has been notified of a homophobic blog comment posted whose IP address tracked back to the office of Senator Saxby Chambliss, and are investigating to see whether it was a staffer that posted such a thing, and if you look at the author field of a draft version of the GOP Pledge to America, you find a lobbyist working with AIG, Exxon, Pfizer, and several other corporate interests. Establishment Republicans still are the Party of Corporate Persons, after all.
Finally, The State of Virginia executed a woman with a 72 IQ, claiming she had hired hit men and promised them sex and a share of insurance money for them to kill her husband and stepson. Had she been IQ 70 or lower, she would not have been able to be executed unde rcurrent law. As it is, she joins a list of people with severe mental issues that have been executed in the United States, some of them despite not having the intelligence to even understand what was going on.
In technology and the sciences, homeschooling his child produced insight into the nature of technological change for one parent, an ambitious project to replace the asphalt roadways with high-strength glass and LEDs over solar panels, providing power generation to the grid, smart information to travelers, and possibly making roads that last a little longer? Although, when they break, I'm pretty sure it will be a far more dangerous and/or spectacular thing. Maybe we should keep looking into cheap, thin, and flexible solar panels as an option as well.
Extra bonus stuff is a possible hearing aid that uses a combination of an in the ear microphone and an in the mouth transmitter that uses the bones of the jaw to transmit the sound through the jaw to the cochlea. The good thing? No surgery required, so you can ut it in and take it out easily for charging.
Finally, The FCC does open up the frequency space between television channels for unlicensed use, meaning that a lot of high-frequency, psosibly high-powered spectrum just became possible. Citywide Wi-Fi might be easier to implement now, from the big broadcast tower in the sky...
Into opinions we go, where Mr. Elder complains of the double-standard toward Muslims in the media - an American pastor threatens to burn books and gets news coverage, while an Australian extremist threatens to cut off heads and gets nothing. Mr. Elder's thesis is unconvincing, but perhaps that's because I can think of a lot of reasons why Terry Jones gets the coverage and Feiz Muhammed does not. Terry Jones managed to get his message in the air of people who, for better or worse, can command the attention of the American news media. Furthermore, it sems that America is unique in having severe convulsions and freakouts about the possibility of Muslim anything in the country - I don't see other countries' mainstream politicians and people reacting as viscerally to the presence of Muslims as we appear to be here. Third, Australia, America. The American media is myopic for the most part, and will hustle to a story that's just outside in New York or Florida much faster than something that might be a story in Australia, maybe, if the person talking is sufficiently crazy or has enough followers or looks like they might seriously go through with the threats. To avoid comparing apples and oranges, Mr. Elder, take a look at what happens when an American Muslim cleric starts advocating for beheadings and a pastor threatens to retaliate in some manner. See what the media coverage is like then. (Mr. Elder also rehashes the "If you really were concerned about the plight of minorities, you'd be fighting for them Over There, not complainig about things here" position. Maybe I'm just attuned to it now, but I've been seeing that a lot lately.)
Mr. Handon argues that prosperity only happens when capitalists are able to do whatever they want with minimal-to-no government interference, because otherwise, they pick up their ball and go home, feeling that they are somehow being picked on to pay more out of their largesse to help people who cannot afford two coppers to put into the tithe box. And nowhere is it the fault of those capitalists that the consequences of stagnation happen - it's always the government, the government, who puts those rules on the game they don't like, that's at fault for making things bad.If they really wanted to try and effect change, they should stop making themselves soft targets by sitting on capital and profits and not trying to squeeze as much as they can out of their money.
Mr. Rove says the winning strategy for Republicans is to emphasize the differences they have with Democrats, and to paint the Democrats, again, as people who will happily increase everyone's tax burden. Funny. The left-leaning commentary I've heard is that the best way for the Democrats to win is to emphasize their differences with the Republican Party. Does that mean we might actually get ads of substance and debates over issues, since both sides are being encouraged by their strategy-makers to make sharp divisions? Could we actually have an informed vote?
Well, maybe. Perhaps if people left their egoes behind and stopped blind party devotion so that they could take a good look at what's being presented to them as campaign choices and then go make that informed choice.
And out of opinions, Ms. Carlson says that the President needs to work on his empathy game and make the people believe that he does feel their pains and frustrations when they're asking him to.
Last for tonight, what good a recoloring does for the Sandman comic series. And how fashion's demands ruin people's hair until they go bald.
The true story in television, though, is that today, 24 September, in the year 1936, a man named James Maury Henson was born, little aware of the impact that his life would have on the lives of people the world around, through new and innovative puppeteering practices and through partnerships with organizations like the Children's Television Workshop. We lost him far, far too early and long before we could tap all the ideas adn productions in his mind and bring them to life. We miss you, Jim Henson, and your Muppets and Fraggles and voices and slapstick hilarity. I think we all wish that our world were populated by such interesting creatures that we could work, play, and live with.
Libraries have been creative with their budget stretching, sometiems using Netflix as a supplementary service for video and video-on-demand, a practice that Netflix says is in violation of their terms of use, but that they may not intend on suing over. Some enterprising entrepreneur should be able to fill that gap, one woud think, assuming that they aren't pilloried by the content cabals.
And finally, look at Disneyland after dark, where the night shift makes sure the park is clean, sparkly, in good repair including fresh coats of paint, and free of rodents (thanks to some spayed and neutered cats that call the park home).
Out in the world today, there is something disturbing when the producers of GM crops hire the already infamous mercenary company Blackwater/Xe to spy on anti-GM activists. And it only gets more disturbing with allegations that Blackwater/Xe contracted with businessmen to buy steroids and black market weapons for the company's Iraq operations.
The United States and other delegations walked out on a speech given by the Iranian President after he suggested that the 11 September attacks were an inside job to ensure the survival of Israel or that the government supported a terrorist group to attack the buildings so they would have prextext to invade the Middle East. At least one reporter in the room with the Iranian president during a press conference sees not a buffoon, but a master of propaganda, politics, and rhetoric that the United States caricatures at its own peril, which no doubt adds an extra dimension to trying to analyze him, not to necessarily figure out whether he's lying or not, but whether he's effectively getting his lies published and giving them traction while slipping out of traps and pitfalls strewn in his path.
Protestors in France took to the streets against a proposal to raise the retirement age in France to 62 years of age. The government claims that cost-cuting measures such as this have to be put in place lest the whole system go up, while the unions and others claim that plenty of austerity can be found by first cutting fat from the rich.
The Afghan military now has female officers, after 29 women successfully completed their training. They won't be doing any fighting or front line combat, mind you, but they're there.
Domestically, if you've been following national politics, you might have also noticed the trend in several campaigns, on issues or for office, to try and implicate or outright say that the opponent is not sufficiently manly, often by reference to the presence or absence of testicles. This is rhetoric. If they wanted to talk about policy, like what they're going to do to try and fix income inequality not seen since the 1920s, then we can talk.
The Justice Department has concluded that while its 2001 incarnation did not put peaceful demonstrators and non-violent activists on the terrorist watch list in the wake of 11 September solely because of their anti-war views, there were disturbing trends in the how the FBI investigated terror claims. So, no, they didn't do what was alleged, but yeah, they did do what was alleged, according to the report.
For something with a bit more direct proof, try this on for size. As early as November 2001, the previous administration was hard at work manufacturing an excuse that would allow them to go to war with Iraq. It's pretty well enough proof to at least start an investigation, wouldn't you think? Open up the can of worms, turn on the lights and see just how many skeletons there are in this closet.
As postscripts and stingers to the previous special comment, the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms has been notified of a homophobic blog comment posted whose IP address tracked back to the office of Senator Saxby Chambliss, and are investigating to see whether it was a staffer that posted such a thing, and if you look at the author field of a draft version of the GOP Pledge to America, you find a lobbyist working with AIG, Exxon, Pfizer, and several other corporate interests. Establishment Republicans still are the Party of Corporate Persons, after all.
Finally, The State of Virginia executed a woman with a 72 IQ, claiming she had hired hit men and promised them sex and a share of insurance money for them to kill her husband and stepson. Had she been IQ 70 or lower, she would not have been able to be executed unde rcurrent law. As it is, she joins a list of people with severe mental issues that have been executed in the United States, some of them despite not having the intelligence to even understand what was going on.
In technology and the sciences, homeschooling his child produced insight into the nature of technological change for one parent, an ambitious project to replace the asphalt roadways with high-strength glass and LEDs over solar panels, providing power generation to the grid, smart information to travelers, and possibly making roads that last a little longer? Although, when they break, I'm pretty sure it will be a far more dangerous and/or spectacular thing. Maybe we should keep looking into cheap, thin, and flexible solar panels as an option as well.
Extra bonus stuff is a possible hearing aid that uses a combination of an in the ear microphone and an in the mouth transmitter that uses the bones of the jaw to transmit the sound through the jaw to the cochlea. The good thing? No surgery required, so you can ut it in and take it out easily for charging.
Finally, The FCC does open up the frequency space between television channels for unlicensed use, meaning that a lot of high-frequency, psosibly high-powered spectrum just became possible. Citywide Wi-Fi might be easier to implement now, from the big broadcast tower in the sky...
Into opinions we go, where Mr. Elder complains of the double-standard toward Muslims in the media - an American pastor threatens to burn books and gets news coverage, while an Australian extremist threatens to cut off heads and gets nothing. Mr. Elder's thesis is unconvincing, but perhaps that's because I can think of a lot of reasons why Terry Jones gets the coverage and Feiz Muhammed does not. Terry Jones managed to get his message in the air of people who, for better or worse, can command the attention of the American news media. Furthermore, it sems that America is unique in having severe convulsions and freakouts about the possibility of Muslim anything in the country - I don't see other countries' mainstream politicians and people reacting as viscerally to the presence of Muslims as we appear to be here. Third, Australia, America. The American media is myopic for the most part, and will hustle to a story that's just outside in New York or Florida much faster than something that might be a story in Australia, maybe, if the person talking is sufficiently crazy or has enough followers or looks like they might seriously go through with the threats. To avoid comparing apples and oranges, Mr. Elder, take a look at what happens when an American Muslim cleric starts advocating for beheadings and a pastor threatens to retaliate in some manner. See what the media coverage is like then. (Mr. Elder also rehashes the "If you really were concerned about the plight of minorities, you'd be fighting for them Over There, not complainig about things here" position. Maybe I'm just attuned to it now, but I've been seeing that a lot lately.)
Mr. Handon argues that prosperity only happens when capitalists are able to do whatever they want with minimal-to-no government interference, because otherwise, they pick up their ball and go home, feeling that they are somehow being picked on to pay more out of their largesse to help people who cannot afford two coppers to put into the tithe box. And nowhere is it the fault of those capitalists that the consequences of stagnation happen - it's always the government, the government, who puts those rules on the game they don't like, that's at fault for making things bad.If they really wanted to try and effect change, they should stop making themselves soft targets by sitting on capital and profits and not trying to squeeze as much as they can out of their money.
Mr. Rove says the winning strategy for Republicans is to emphasize the differences they have with Democrats, and to paint the Democrats, again, as people who will happily increase everyone's tax burden. Funny. The left-leaning commentary I've heard is that the best way for the Democrats to win is to emphasize their differences with the Republican Party. Does that mean we might actually get ads of substance and debates over issues, since both sides are being encouraged by their strategy-makers to make sharp divisions? Could we actually have an informed vote?
Well, maybe. Perhaps if people left their egoes behind and stopped blind party devotion so that they could take a good look at what's being presented to them as campaign choices and then go make that informed choice.
And out of opinions, Ms. Carlson says that the President needs to work on his empathy game and make the people believe that he does feel their pains and frustrations when they're asking him to.
Last for tonight, what good a recoloring does for the Sandman comic series. And how fashion's demands ruin people's hair until they go bald.
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Date: 2010-09-26 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-26 03:35 pm (UTC)