"vast celebrations of solipsism..."

An interesting and well-written article on social networking; well worth the 30 minute reading time. There is a lot of food-for-thought here, with an eye toward what kind of a culture are we creating via Facebook, Myspace, etc.

Because friendship depends on mutual revelations that are concealed from the rest of the world, it can only flourish within the boundaries of privacy; the idea of public friendship is an oxymoron.

There is something Orwellian about the management-speak on social networking sites: “Change My Top Friends,” “View All of My Friends” and, for those times when our inner Stalins sense the need for a virtual purge, “Edit Friends.” With a few mouse clicks one can elevate or downgrade (or entirely eliminate) a relationship.

“There is a sense of, ‘if I’m not online or constantly texting or posting, then I’m missing something,’” he said of his students. “This is where I find the generational impact the greatest—not the use of the technology, but the overuse of the technology.”

Some pictures from our Canada trip......eh

Who do you trust?

In research published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, a team of scientists from Britain, the US and Germany (including a Nobel Prize recipient for work on ozone) are reporting

Measurements of emissions from the burning of biofuels derived from rapeseed and maize have been found to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than they save.

Yea, like rapeseed and maize produce

up to 70 per cent and 50 per cent more greenhouse gases respectively than fossil fuels.

How many of you knew that burning corn-based ethanol actually produces 50 percent more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels?

Perhaps we've jumped the gun a bit in our Al Gore-led march against global warming? Perhaps all those corn-state Senators who turned on the dollar-spigot for their maize-producing states while proposing to further penalize fossil fuels with higher tariffs and taxes were a bit hasty in their initiatives?

The findings illustrated the importance, the researchers said, of ensuring that measures designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions are assessed thoroughly before being hailed as a solution.

Or, could it be that concern for emissions and clean air are in fact secondary to their primary concern for power, wealth and control? Could it be that there are those in our society who would capitalize on fear to build their own power-base?

Just who do you trust to tell the truth? Can you trust what you read in any newspaper? Or what you hear on the radio or see on the TV? Can you trust what you hear from our government? How do we function as a society if we have to always begin from a position of skepticism? Do we even punish those who are purposefully deceptive anymore?

Avast, me hearties!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!
We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
Maraud and embezzle and even hijack
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
We burn up the city, we're really a fright
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!
We're beggars and blighters and ne'er-do-well cads
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
Aye! But we are loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!

Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day!! ARRRRRRR!!!

Brothers, care for your sisters...

In Tales from Shakespeare, the Puffin Classic from 1807, the preface reads, in part:

It has been wished to make these Tales easy reading for very young children. To the utmost of their ability the writers have constantly kept this in mind; but the subjects of most of them made this a very difficult task. It was no easy matter to give the histories of men and women in terms familiar to the apprehension of a very young mind. For young ladies, too, it has been the intention chiefly to write; because boys being generally permitted the use of their fathers' libraries at a much earlier age than girls are, they frequently have the best scenes of Shakespeare by heart, before their sisters are permitted to look into this manly book; and, therefore, instead of recommending these Tales to the perusal of young gentlemen who can read them so much better in the originals, their kind assistance is rather requested in explaining to their sisters such parts as are hardest for them to understand: and when they have helped them to get over the difficulties, then perhaps they will read to them (carefully selecting what is proper for a young sister's ear) some passage which has pleased them in on of these stories, in the very words of the scene from which it is taken; and it is hoped they will find that the beautiful extracts, the select passages, they may choose to give their sisters in this way will be much better relished and understood from their having some notion of the general story from one of these imperfect abridgments;...

One pines for those good ol' days...

I for one welcome our Robot Overlords

This little guy is amazing! watch the difference between his first attempt (with the tether) and the second. He has had some algorithm upgrades.

"Poverty" in America

I found this fantastic article today. I encourage you to read it all.
But in case you are lazy and disregard my recommendations: a few excerpts...

The overwhelming majority of [Govt defined 37 million "poor people"] have cable television, have air conditioning, have microwaves, have two color TVs...45 percent of own their own homes, which are typically three-bedroom homes with 1{1/2} baths in very good recondition... and actually have more living space than the average person living in European countries.

Uhhh... thats a bigger house than I have. I must be WAY poor!! and I only have ONE tv! WOE IS ME!! GIVE ME MONEY!!

The reason the Census Bureau is telling us that we have 37 million poor people is that it judges families to be poor if they have incomes roughly less than $20,000 a year. But it doesn’t count ... food stamps, public housing, Medicaid. All of the $600 billion that we spend assisting poor people (per year) is not counted as income when they go to determine whether a family is poor. [emphasis mine]

Dang! That is a lot of money! 600 Billion. with a B.
1 million dollars x 600,000. each year.
Why havnt we been able to solve the problem? Could it be that the solution is more complex than throwing money at it? hmmm...

The problem is that aid is given in such a way that it encourages dependence rather than helping people to become self-sufficient... Poverty was declining rapidly before the War on Poverty was created in the mid-1960s, and since that time the poverty rate has basically stagnated... All of these programs discourage work and marriage, so that they in fact are pushing people deeper into poverty at the same time that they are giving them aid.

Right. Dont get me wrong, I do sympathize with the genuine poor and down-trodden in America, especially kids. I do NOT sympathize with laziness and irresponsibility.

Our welfare system, like most things liberal, is from the heart and has good intentions... but suffers from a wholesale lack of common sense and "real world" thought. We have a system that financially encourages a single mother of 6 to stay single lest she receive a smaller handout from the rest of us. Not only that, but we encourage her to have a couple more kids to get some extra income.

We are creating an entire sub-society of people who are choosing to be locked into a perpetual cycle of handouts, selfishness and laziness.

Like I said before, there ARE a lot of people who legitimately need help for one reason or another. But we are unable to give them the attention they require because their voice is lost in the deafening roar of the hoards of people who just want a free buck.

Back like the Backstreet Boys

I got a new computer at work, and lost the link to the blog, so I've been absent. But i'm back. And i'm ready to post all the fun news leaks about the UN and other happenings. :D

Madeleine L'Engle (1918- 2007)

Madeleine L'Engle died September 6 at the age of 88. We are the richer for her life and writings. A tribute of sorts found here, at an eerily familiar blog...


Thanks to The Anchoress for the news and link.

Ever wonder what they actually do at Aberdeen Proving Grounds? Well, Josh, your secret is out!







Thanks to AoS for the link.

In 1863, Robert E. Lee said:

It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers. In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late. Accordingly, I am readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I will, in turn, do my best for the Cause by writing editorials - after the fact.

I guess General Patraeus isn't the first, then.



Thanks to Lucianne for the quote.

Rather fight than switch!!

File this under, "Huh?" It is being reported that yesterday presidential candidate Fred Thompson credited the recent improvements we've seen in the western Anbar province of Iraq to al Qaeda's corporate no smoking policy. According to Fred, I guess when given a choice between the 72 virgins or their smokes, these Iraqi's would rather fight than switch!!*

I'm dubious. I can only hope that:

• a) this story is a joke, maybe from the Onion
• b) this is a parsed story, the full details of which will surface later, or
  
• c) the Israeli Intelligence has been experimenting on Iraqi nationals for years, and Senator Fred absentmindedly leaked their secret weapon for subduing the region (Marlboros)
  

Weird, eh?!



*For those too young to remember the advertising campaign, and therefore unable to appreciate the stunning play on words employed - this old TV commercial, this, and this. Yes sir, that taste worth fighting for!! I only wish I had the ability to photoshop an Iraqi face into the ad. Remember you saw it here first.

The 9/11 "Puts"

In the world of financial investments, you can purchase what is called a "put option" against a myriad things, from specific corporate stocks, to various indexes, to virtually anything upon which a value can be placed. A "put" is basically a bet that the value of said security will decline by a certain amount and by a certain date. It is a gamble, but with a known and limited downside. If the value doesn't decline, you loose whatever it cost you to purchase the "put", but no more. However, if it does decline, well, the money you gambled on the "put" is multiplied many times over and you can really score big. (Of course, your big score comes at the expense of those you sold you the "put", who figured you were crazy and wanted to bet against you.)

So, it turns out, someone or some group purchased a ton of "puts" against American and United airlines, as well as several of the largest financial firms, before 9/11/2001. It doesn't take much of a conspiracy theorist to think that someone knew that some event would occur to make those companies loose value, and that that someone decided to take advantage of their inside knowledge. Homeland Security says there were "huge surges" in the purchases of put options on these stocks, and whoever bought those puts made massive amounts of money.

DHS goes on to say:

Fast forward to the present day, and we have the same type of trading that took place in the days that preceded the 9/11 attacks – but on a larger scale. Nearly $1 billion of “put options” have been purchased, basically betting that Standard and Poor's 500 index will fall significantly by the third Friday in September. A large number of these options have also been purchased calling for 50% decline by September 21, 2007. For example, a 5% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average would be the current equivalent of about 670 points. A decline of 11% would equal about 1,470 points in today’s market. Obviously, larger drops, such as a 50% decline, would cause an unprecedented market collapse. Money would be made for the purchaser(s) of the put options – but the same purchaser(s) stand to lose over $1 BILLION in the investment if the market remains relatively static through September 21, 2007. (Emphasis all theirs)

Now, markets are pretty topsy-turvey right now (topsy-turvey is a pretty specific financial term that I learned in grad school), and so it doesn't suprise me that some bets are being made against the indexes. Still, there are some things that make me go, "Hmm..."



Thanks to PW for the link...

Fred Thompon's Announces his Candidacy for President

I like this guy's style. and more importantly, his ideas and world view.

Microsoft to Customer: "We feel your pain!"

Thanks to Stubborn Facts