Midguard

Of Monitoring And Muslims

2005-08-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

I emailed the Prime Minister of Australia today. I wasn't too happy about his anti-terrorism efforts and I thought I should tell him. Monitoring Muslim schools and mosques isn't really what I'm for. I've decided to post my email to him below (I've edited out my name). Drop him a line here.

Dear Prime Minister Howard,

Not to question your judgment or decisions to ensure the safety and "values" of the Australian people---but I strongly believe someone should. Now I'm sure that an email requesting you to stop your measures of monitoring Muslim schools and mosques probably won't do a bit of good; I simply figured that if there can be one more voice of opposition, there might be a better chance of rash decisions being stopped before they get out of hand.

Your statement, "We have a right to know..." carries quite a lot of weight for the Muslim people in your country and across the globe. Now, I'm sure that you have the best interests for all your people, which makes me question if your political decisions are always right in line with your values. You know, that knowledge that keep you doing what's good and just, that tell you what's right and wrong. Is it possible that the new actions to have intelligence agencies spy on places of religious worship and education aren't really what you want, but rather another group that supports, and might have elected you wanted?

Said simply: they aren't the right changes to make. This will accomplish nothing to ensure the values and security of the Australian people. The best it can do is erode the civil liberties of each and every Muslim individual. It doesn't matter if they are a minority, nor if they might have had their rights trampled on before. It's the wrong thing to do and you are aware of that. To simply fall back into the arms of your supporters will make you ignorant. That's the last thing a developed country needs with the power it has.

By all means I encourage you to stop your futile actions. I call them futile only in the context of a nation governed by true morals and liberty which includes freedom of the individual (the Muslim community) and always the freedom of thought no matter what position you hold in society (I don't think I need say who that's intended for).

Yours,

Midguard

And always remember Prime Minister: Though your status now may guarantee power, it can never guarantee you respect.

A Bit Like Journalism

2005-07-31T15:19:00.000-07:00

It's like sitting in a room with someone you thought was interesting. But all they do is sit there. Nobody's talking, and it gets really awkward.

That's when I don't post anything new.

Canada legalized same sex marriage--and no one really took notice. It seemed to not really be that big of a deal to anyone....except for gays and lesbians in Canada. Though I haven't heard anything from them either. This is another example of the poor coverage by the media and why it has really become an entertainment-news source. It's got to stop, plain and simple. Everyone becomes dependent on the filth on TV, and the news tries to compete by being the same.

It would even be more tolerable if, say, they all didn't report on the same things. Why doesn't anyone say, "Oh, Channel 4 is already doing that story so how about we go report on something interesting?" And here's where their brainwashing media powers really have an effect: It seems like there is a fewer and fewer amount of people who actually look for real news. So the vast majority, as I see it, get on their knees and are violated by the media who "persuade" the viewer into watching what is interesting. The real job of the media, having legitimate reporters (I know, I have high expectations) and not wasting time with repetetive stories and unjustified opinions: is to bring journalism to the public, and though not always exact, to do that to the best of their ability. But none of that seems to be happening, it always keeps reminding me things are going more and more downhill in this highly influential and important part of modern society.

To bring this full circle, blogging is a bit like journalism. I say a bit, to those of you who would quickly reject my saying it's anything more. And I say it's a lot like journalism to anyone else who believes that.

Bush Experiences Deep Impact

2005-07-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

Scrape! Crackle! Cop!
As Conan O'Brien quoted the Bush's physician: He'll be back on his big wheel in no time. That's good to hear, but because it's not the first time Bush has hurt himself.

Don't worry folks, I think he'll be okay, I sent him one of these in case of future... mishaps.

George W. Bush must be pacing frantically right now that he's heard same sex marriage is close to being legalized just above the border. How could they be achieving a more equal society faster than the United States? We're supposed to be the best at everything (for good or worse, in many cases)!

That NASA group seems to be having a lot of...experience. I say this because Deep Impact is so damn cool. It's kind of a like that movie I saw. When I heard about the project a while ago, I thought of how cool it would be that we were spending tons of money to blow things up in space. And then that's when I was overwhelmed when scientists told me that it would be going to scientific use. How wonderful, it works out for everyone. If this little cavity we've created gets us some special little information, we will have...expanded our knowledge! Yeah, it doesn't sound too exciting but it could mean that we have made a new discovery on how the planets and universe were formed. Could possibly debunk a few myths. That's right, they're only myths.

In the "what would've been cool had it worked" category, we have for you: solar sails. But NASA's sure on this one that the first launch was just a fluke and it will work. Hope so.

-----
George W. Bush must be pacing frantically right now that he's heard same sex marriage is close to being legalized just above the border. How could they be achieving a more equal society faster than the United States? We're supposed to be the best at everything (for good or worse, in many cases)!

Runaway Bride>Possible Democracies

2005-06-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Alright, you must have read about 1984 about a billion times now. Sorry about that.

There is some wicked cool news that obviously interests me. Apparently, a democratic group is looking to take down the dictator that has ruled over them since he last led a coup. Well, maybe another one will happen and it will be worth while (for everyone). The last thing I want to see is a successful coup where they establish a non-secular "democracy". Do we need another one?

It could also be said that there isn't much of a chance for a secular democracy to last either. But really, and don't hold me to this Libyan people, things can only get better, right? I believe (though I've never experienced) that coups started by the people (and won) are a lot more satisfying than other government reforms. But Castro became a dictator, which wasn't necessarily what he promised the Cuban people. Go for it also, Cubans. Viva la revolution. But hopefully something like the Rose Revolution which didn't end of up in a mess of civilian and revolutionary bodies. In fact, they did it without more than a large bruise...to the ousted leader's pride.

Just let me rant on this topic one more time: Americans do not pay attention to foreign matters. It's not they don't have the access, they have more than anyone else on Earth. It's simply that they do not care. This fact embarasses me, especially when in mass numbers they turn on the evening news as their only source of information and connection to the outside world. They all think it's terrible and somewhat interesting and then go about their lives.

Nobody cares though.

There is no more amount of real sympathy than the news reporters let you feel. Journalistic quality is often no different on the news than from what I type at my computer. They've got credentials, and I've got a real interest in what's going on.

Nineteen Eighty Four

2005-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago, I finished reading George Orwell's 1984, and it is required reading. For all humans. Anyone into politics, this is a must. Freedom loving people or anyone concerned about protecting their societies, 1984 is the book for the analytical thinker.

This book is serious and thought provoking. If you never make any connections to present day society...well, how can you not? In the book three superpowers constantly fight each other, because that is how their government works. Every citizen is absolutely loyal, or else they "disappear" during the night. This is still happening in many countries, on different levels, of course. Symbolism is non-stop and even more common is the book's direct approach on what it means. If anyone ever used the Cliff Notes for this book in some report when they were in school, it's worth a re-read (or rather, a first read).

It's a classic, and what's more, I've really got to stop rambling about it. But I continue on from reading 1984, to Noam Chomsky. Just a couple of hours ago, now, I picked up "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest For Global Dominance". Sounds a tad liberal. Sounds like very good reading. So far, from what I've read (page 3), Chomsky lives up to his reputation of being an insightful intellectual. After all, the man is a professor in linguistics.

Revenge of the Wal-Martians

2005-05-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

Of the many things I dislike about the human race, one of them is certainly their ability to forget, or to really never take note of human tragedies. But the thing is people do not always see them as human tragedies, it's just someone else's problem.

Yeah, everything I bought at Wal-Mart today was made by adults and children in China that get paid eight cents an hour. Good thing for me they do it that way, because now everything is within my budget.

This has got to stop. If this is some sort of perfect capitalism, with it's sweatshops and rich executives, I want the world to be different. Who can stop this? I can only hope there is some president in the future who demands it's end. Maybe the U.N, if they get their stuff together and something or somebody can get people motivated.

There are special interest groups, but really, this is not enough. I'm not in favor of this, "It's not fair to take money from wealthy people, they earned it." Now I do not advocate total communism here, but all over the world the rich should have a moral obligation to give to the disadvantaged. This is why I am in support of the U.N's plan to eradicate severe poverty.

This guy says it perfectly. A good article, read it. Distribute.

I've still yet to find an answer to find out how this could've happened. The United States is supposed to be free, and the mantra stands, if one of us is not free, then none of us are. How could people of all nations and different places come together and give in to a combined corporate culture? Forty percent (facts taken from article) of all Wal-Martians can afford health care, which they only receive after two years of unemployment. As a strong health care advocate, I believe it should be a required immediately for any line of work, except for, of course, the doctors that are so skilled they can operate on themselves. How cool is that. But for the rest of us...

Unions, what I see as one of the most American of all employment opportunities, are prohibited from Wal-Mart. They are threats to the absolute power of the Empire. The damn Sith-like Empire. I'm not sure exactly how to go about this, but think tanks need to be focused, email chains started, fliers distributed, and information of all sorts passed on with the complete effort and concentration on the liberation and liberalization of Wal-Mart.

There have been victories over the corporate culture, but certainly not enough. Unions exist in order to give a collective voice of the workers. If it is not reasonable for them to be applied to all employments, then it must be obvious that with the size of Wal-Mart and the numbers of people employed, that they'd have some freedom and free speech. Not disruption, not rioting, but only would I (and hopefully all people) should try to demand rights in the places that need it through due process. Obviously, companies of the "successful" capitalist sort wouldn't like this, but it is not American to allow massive amounts of people have their rights trampled and violated!

See that exclamation mark? Yeah, I thought I'd put that in there for effect, and it looks pretty good. Flaming rhetoric is fun for everyone.

And in case you were wondering, on Thursday I was lucky enough to see Star Wars. It was spectacular to see the dark side take over and Anakin transform to become Darth Vader. The amount of symbolism in the complex plot of the series (I-VI) comes together and all the ends are tied. I won't give away too much, because it's way you might want to see it, too. See, I thought I'd be nice like that. Revenge of the Sith is fun for everyone...except maybe small children.

I love the guy, but hate everything he stands for.

2005-05-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

The bully, er, Reverend Ken Hutcherson has had his victory, but maybe a loss, as well.

Hutcherson being the nice fellow who threatened a national boycott of Microsoft if they continued their support of a Washington state anti-discrimination bill for gays. Anti-discrimination, why would any right-thinking human being be against that? And here's the kicker: Ken Hutcherson is black. He grew up in the south, destitute and black. How do you think his life was? Yeah.

And I read the article this morning, and they brought this up, but he pretty much said, "Shut up, alright? That's entirely different. Entirely. " This bill had nothing to do with legalizing gay marriage, or anything of the sort. But what they obviously are trying to do is to destroy it at the stem of their individual freedoms. If you cut their throats, they cannot speak up.

What this bill was doing was adding to the list of illegal discrimination against people of color, disabled, and all the other groups you'd expect to receive equal rights. But he scared (though Microsoft denies it) the software giant into taking their name off the list of supporters for the legislation.

The bill was rejected by one vote in the state senate.

And what's pretty funny, is the news that came out today. That's right, the adventure's not over, as Microsoft again claimed they would support similar legislation in the future. Just two weeks after it gets shot down in the senate. No, they weren't intimidate by the good reverend. Maybe now they can stick to their convictions and urge the congress to make a new bill as soon as they can.

Guess Who's in Bed Together?

2005-05-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

We may not be making too much progress on the nuclear issue, but we've gotten a good start: name calling. United States, you're first:

America: Tyrant!

North Korea: Hooligan!

America: Dangerous person!

North Korea: Philistine!

America: Bully!

North Korea: Bush is a world dictator whose hands are stained with the blood shed by innocent civilians.

America: Ass.

We've sure got some good foreign policy going on. Last night's Saturday Night Live had some pretty funny comments on it, too. One of my favorites was Rachel Dratch's character "Debbie Downer", where the sketch ended with her saying, "Guess who's in bed together? North Korea and nukes."

And now Iran is getting some of their own, and everything looks like we're totally screwed. But don't worry, we've got Iraq under control. Unfortunately they don't have any weapons of mass destruction, while two of the most unpredictable dictators do have them (or will soon have, in the case of Iran). But don't forget! Iraq has elections.

While North Korea has nukes.

Let's get rational, Americans. You've already pretty much blown it by your votes of "More of the same!" What are we getting done? What are we capable of getting done? A lot more than what we're doing now.

Now that I think of it, it was pretty common sense to invade Iraq, at least, in Bush's mind. If we had tried something crazy like diplomacy, it wouldn't have worked at all. Look what's happening now, when we try to come to terms with the person who's armed currently.

Whew, let's calm down from my rhetoric...with another quote from SNL. On "Weekend Update", Tina Fey reported that Bush said, "If it's required, America can send 70% of the marines to South Korea while sending another 70% to Iran, while maintaining our current 70% in Iraq." I paraphrase.

***( meaning I'm off the topic of North Korea)

I found this pretty interesting. Since today is May Day (I like to call it May 1st) , everyone (workers worldwide) decided to protest over rights, fueled by a brand spanking new pope who called for, "working conditions (that) will be ever more respectful of the dignity of the human person." By everyone, I mean excluding communist China who's not really into that kind of thing.

Weapon of Choice

2005-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

I know the guy's new, but I already don't like him. He hasn't done anything to offend me personally and has said nothing bad about my family, but I disagree with his strong conservative beliefs. There will be no extension of the Catholic church, creating (or rather continuing) a vortex of denial for the issues of birth control, marriage rights (minister and homosexuals) and all that I resiliently stand with a, "why not?"

I've heard he's trying to lighten the whole staunch conservative thing, in an effort to appeal to non religiocons. How exactly would you go about doing that? Hopefully it might be allow same-sex civil unions? Again, why not? Let them have their rights. They deserve as much as you or I do. We're all humans, and are equal under the constitution. At least, it looks good on paper. I know the pope doesn't create U.S. laws, but he has a profound influence on the world. Enough so, that a little blogger like me is talking about him, and I am really no one "important".

I heard an interesting claim the past week, and it's made a lot of sense to me. And I don't just say this as a harsh critic of religion. The pope is a dictator. He is, really. One man, though elected by his best friends (what I see somewhat of as an oligarchy), who rules his own little (though very little) "nation". There is no democratic processes that go on, to my knowledge.

The faithful, then, might (metaphorically) be considered people under a dictator. But as with most dictators, I believe the citizens never really experience truth. Complete honesty and individuality. With a pope, such a powerful influence and Catholic voice he is, the faithful do not always think for themselves. But I guess that's one of the comforts of religion, or cults, or whatever conforming organization you'd like to be a part of.

Dictators always hide behind something. It's the way the oppress their people and deny the truth. It doesn't matter if their weapon is military might, religions obedience, or "democracy". The subtle ones that no one one questions are the ones that we need to keep an eye on.

We Don't Need No Education...

2005-04-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have to agree with the Chinese protesters in their cause. It's messy, but they are right. If Japan cannot create honest textbooks that confess their wartime atrocities from World War Two, the history books should not be published. Unless Japan can admit to their crimes (which are in the past and no longer involve current Japanese citizens), the books will be misleading of facts.

Iraq has a newly elected president and he predicts magically American troops will be out of Iraq within two years. I just can't wait. I will celebrate Iraq's democracy as it happens and be critical of the current nation building every step of the way. Too much needs to be fixed at home as far as health care, income disparity, and economic conditions go. Two years for American troops feels like forever and yet it is relatively soon compared to some estimates of complete soldier returns.

The bottom line is we need Iraqi soldiers. Iraqi citizens who are willing to defend their country in a more technologically advanced and (god let's hope) safer Iraq. I've heard things about soldiers being trained that are only part time and are usually farmers. While farmers are an absolute critical necessity, career soldiers are needed for security. Permanent defense.

In some lighter news, this is fantastic. Apparently, an Australian citizen had recently come to the United States, and the first thing he decided to do was to stand outside the capitol building with two suitcases. Police suspected he was a terrorist, possibly a suicide bomber. They tried negotiating with him, but he refused to tell police what was inside his suitcases. He said only that he wanted to talk to the president. The standoff ended with the man being tackled and nobody getting injured.

When the police obtained his bags, the bomb squad blew one up and found that the probably contained a CD player or "a watch or something". I can't help but find that amusing.

Okay, maybe that wasn't "lighter" news, due to the fact he could've been a real terrorist! Our congressman could all be dead right now! As I hope you can tell, I do not seriously mean the previous two sentences in the slightest. The man just wanted to have a chat with W, that's all.

God to Peter Jennings: You're Next

2005-04-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

No joking though, cancer sucks, and Peter Jennings has it. It seems like god doesn't like famous people. They're dropping like things that often are dropped, like expensive china.

First batter is (sorry, baseball just started you see) Terri Schiavo. I'm glad her suffering is over, wether her passing went as smoothly as I would've prefered (euthanasia maybe). Granted, her husband may have done some weird stuff, but I like to think he was looking out for her best interest. What can I say, I agree with the guy despite any shading dealings the right screams about.

The "people's pope" has finally died, as well. Both, I think would've been expected earlier. The pope has been a gross human being, health wise, and this one we were all expecting. From what I've been hearing, there's some strange rituals that they do with a dead pope. These ranging from hitting the pope on the head with a hammer (a special one) to parading him around (well we knew this, but) they do it while his body releases a horrible stench.

After this post had been saved, the pope was buried, providing all with more water cooler debates and blog post ideas. Does anything happy happen in the news...at all?

Too bad Pope, Terri (well it wasn't bad for the latter). They are now both going going gone.

Okay, I'll stop.

Good Explanation

2005-03-24T21:25:00.000-08:00

I have a perfectly good explanation. Really. Okay, here it goes: nothing happened in the world. Damn, I was wrong. Though there may have been a lack of blogging on my part, there was of course a wealth of opinions and ideas. Some of these opinions were me telling my self, "Hey, you should try blogging. You know, at least more than once a month. " Some ideas being, "Hey, you're right. My blog's state is ridiculous."

Now on to the Schiavo debate. Well, the majority of the religious side would like to call me a cold blooded killer. But I personally find it hard to "kill" someone in a vegetative state. More like letting nature take its course, which the politically religious advocates are usually in favor of. Why feeding tubes but no stem cells?

A discussion I heard via radio was of who is playing god. Now the "pro life" side declares that by removing the feeding tube you are playing god (this usually being bad). But who's playing god by artificially keeping someone alive? Also, her husband has testified saying she told him previously she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Is he telling the truth? I don't know, but I'd like to think so.

Usually by keeping someone alive, you are preserving something. But, and I mean this with all respect, what are we retaining here? Terry Schiavo cannot do much at all. You really get the same of keeping her alive as you do looking at a picture. She does not respond well (if at all) and does not have any chance whatsoever of recovering from her vegetative state. You just can't do it, no matter how we'd like the opposite.

Easter is upon us, and some say that it's not only fitting but that it is supposed to be this way. These people, with all respect, are not understanding that Schiavo can die with some dignity. It's my belief, that this Schiavo case and debate is embarassing, really. When the choice is so obvious, it must be done. The protesters to the removal of the tube are making a simple (though emotionally dificult) decision, to be halted. Emotionally dificult decisions can be made.

Though we never like to lose another one of our own, we have to think of what's best for them, and not much can be done for Terry Schiavo on this earth. We can keep her alive and her parents will be satisfied. Who doesn't want their child to be kept alive? But this is not the way, and we should learn to let go and let her die with dignity.

Consider this, Christian protesters: even if we let her die, won't she be going to a better place? With more than we could offer her when she was alive.

Bonus! Don't you just love bonuses!

I still have about a billion Gmail Invites I can give out. 1000 MegaBiters. Want it? You got it. If I could feed starving children with Gmails, I could 50 starving children.

Free Lebanon?

2005-03-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

Lebanon rallied together, as a people, to oust the Syrian-backed government. This is very good news in the middle east, which is of course a rarity.

Syria has troops that have been occupying the country of (roughly) four million. As everyone knows, they are part of the Axis of Evil Version 2.0. We forgot to add them to the first one. Our mistake.

Now that it seems Syrian political domination is coming to an end, the Lebanese people demand that Syrian troops leave as well, which apparently, the Syrian president is all for. This recent happening (if not somewhat of a revolution) has been compared to the Ukraine's rise to (though obviously shaky) democracy.

But I hope it shall become a democracy none the less, because this is what we need in the middle east, obviously. And thankfully there was not massive blood shed to get this far. For once, it seems.

In news about me, I have updated my profile so that it is no longer the bland "Young Political Blogger". But don't worry, I kept that, just in case you might miss it. On top of that, there is my interests, favorite music, and books. A good time will be had by all, discovering me, a blogger.

The real reason I added on to my profile is that it grants easier access for people with similar interests to find my blog and satisfy my addiction to getting this blog hits. Why do cocaine, when you can get hits? My tracker shall hopefully find it's "stash" richer each day. But, I also found it fun to include the information about me because after all, that's what I know best (or the least?).

Goodnight, don't drink and drive. Okay, if you're really careful.

Positronic Assassination

2005-02-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

Of course by now you've heard from your fancy up to date news sources and your all knowing "breaking news", but I have things to report on anyway.

The Lebanese PM is not good news on so many levels. One, someone in the world was killed. Two, he was a Prime Minister. Third, it was in the damn Middle East, of course. Also, they aren't very creative, too. I mean, we Americans invented assassinations. Ever heard of a guy named Abraham Lincoln? God, John Wilkes Booth must be rolling in his grave. <----Satire! Please, do not assassinate me. As I am writing this post, I am doing my last minute journalism thing by looking up pretty links for you to click on. This one was very interesting, and I enjoyed it (and feared what some of it meant) a great deal. It's all about antimatter, what it is and what its place in the future.

You might have heard about antimatter in science fiction movies or your science class and you're likely to know very little about it. That's the way the Air Force would like it, too. What antimatter is, is the opposite of matter (obviously). But this is important to know, because it's like simple math. A negative plus a positive equals what? Let's say they are both 4. So -4 + 4= 0.

Zero is nothing. Bombs create nothing. They (at least attempt) to make nothing, and destroy everything. The Air Force would like this for obvious reasons, to make those bombs and have a leg up on everyone in the global rivalry to annihalate the human race.

I. Am. Pissed. About half of this post was just lost due to Blogger's greatness. I don't get it. But I will retype it all, just for you. Okay?

For antimatter to exist, there must be opposites of the two main components of an atom. The atom is made of protons and electrons. Protons being positively charged, and electrons being negatively charged. The antiproton is where the proton would be, but has a negative charge. The antielectron, or positron, is where I got excited. Immediately my mind raced back to Isaac Asimov's robot stories and how he described them as having positronic brains. Well, I'm not sure how that kind of brain was all wired about, or how it's similar to this, but maybe it's powered by this kind of science?

The guy (Asimov, my favorite author) usually knows his stuff. He was a chemist. I'm not, but this intrigues me, as you can probably tell. I hope you understood what I was trying to say and that it was written in a clear and easy manner. It may be brief but that's because I am retyping this explanation of it.

Oh, and don't let me leave out the good parts of antimatter research. It might be able to help humanity obtain the ultimate fuel. This is the kind of thing that gets science fiction fans (like myself) excited. In many science fiction stories, apparently, (I haven't read these, or at least can't recall) many authors write of how the hero's starship is powered by antimatter. Maybe you thought they said this because, well, it sounds really cool. But it could be possible. The only trouble is we are producing very small amounts of it each year (billionths of a gram). Other hopeful news is that there is very little required to make one hell of an explosion. But still, we need more to get something done.

This is still many years off, but we should invest in it more for betterment of all people (the fuel, not the bombs). At least, by publishing it on a worthless (and yet priceless) blog, I can get information out and it can be circulated better.

I Promise

2005-02-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

I promise that there will be a NEW post up on Friday or Saturday. I shall try my hardest to make time. There's tons to catch up on and I'm brimming with ideas.

Also, if you'd like a Gmail Invite, they dispatched several more to their users, I believe. Thus how I jumped from 5 to 50 invites.

Remember, this is not a real post. Just a precursor (to a real one).

All Troops Accounted For, One Toy Missing

2005-02-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

This is just great, at least I hope it is. What I speak of is the finding that the "missing American soldier" is actually a toy. This is a good thing, because it might be showing the weakness and waning of insurgents. Or maybe, it shows they have a sense of humor. A dark, twisted sense of humor.

On the Daily Show, their coverage of this breaking news was second to none. Jon Stewart "reported" that the insurgents were threatening to blow the GI up with fireworks and stick Ken's butt in his face. You just have to love it. America needs the Daily Show, now more than ever. When all you see on the news is death and destruction, slow traffic and rainy weather, you can appreciate this humorously-slanted "news source" to give you your daily dose of funny.

Also, Ann Coulter got served, as the (stupid) saying goes. She was being interviewed on CBC (that's Canadians, you'll understand), and she claimed that Canada sent troops to Vietnam. Bob McKeown, interviewing Coulter, rejected the statement. They did not, he said. She wished desperately to go back in time to make Canada militarize so she'd be right today. Well, they did not, just as McKeown said. I'm glad someone isn't just drinking wildly and getting viewers drunk on the lies of Coulter. He's asking the hard questions, as reporters should. Or maybe this was just a lucky strike of truth. Whatever it may be, hats off to McKeown.

But, I know conservatives are going to start screaming at me. Canada, in Vietnam, did form the largest foreign contingent for the United States army. That's in a U.S. uniform, and Canada is still not officially involved as a government. "Coulter is still wrong," claims Sorceress Sarah of the Daily Kos.

What's new there?

Halo Scanning

2005-01-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

I have added Halo Scan commentary to this blog. Isn't that swell. Thanks GreenEggs for showing me how. Go to his blog, also. Good stuff there.

Must stop talking in short sentences.

Let's see, what's in the news (haha).... Well, here's a good one. UN inspection teams in Iran have found no weapons. So far. Maybe they do, I don't know. Iran makes me nervous. But let's hope that their uranium enrichment is peaceful.

Saying that a country fired off a nuke, atomic bomb, or some hidious scenario, what would they gain? Yes, they'd get their target, but then we'd destroy them far worse than they could ever imagine (we are the US, right?). Pyongyang attacks Seoul. American tanks take Pyongyang. Kim Jong Il captured. Job well done. But it might just be a sacrifice for the bad guys. Especially if this happen's late in the fall of the American Empire. That is, if it faltering at all (hey, we've conqured two countries within a few years, according to a past commenter).

Let's say this bastard axis of evil, ehem, sorry, Axis of Evil, is smart in the coordination of their American doomsday theories. They all fire their weapons at once. Ka-boom. We're vaporized, or whatever that Patriot Act says will happen if we don't submit. The only thing that this relates to real life is that some people believe this is a very real scenario, and can happen any time.

I can understand being cautious, but actions made by the Bush Adminstration seem to be made out of paranioa. Fear will keep the local systems in line.

What makes me laugh sometimes is when conservatives display their ultimate powerful liberal beliefs. Big government, they say. Health care for all, that's crazy talk. Silly liberals, poltics are for the Right. But yet, when something comes up like the Patriot Act or segregating society by discrimanating against people that may be different, that's just mainting order.

You guys are probably right anyways, things are working out just fine for you guys.

Hiatus

2005-01-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

I was on vacation...from ever getting on the computer. Sorry about that, was too busy. I know it seemed as if I was on a hiatus as long as Gob's (we miss you), but I was alive and well the whole time (we hope you are too).

There's plenty of action in Palestine, some good and some...not so good. I like this guy (Abbas) better than Arafat, by far. He's more into peace and laying down the arms. I hope he can be a "partner for peace" as the expression goes. Same with Sharon....

These resistance fighters, no matter the cause, are too arogant to work towards peace. The same goes for many of the Israeli soliders (not all of them of course, don't go calling me anti-semitic). In Israel, it's required to serve in the military for two years, right? Do you think all of those guys are nice, cooperative and do only what their supposed to? Hell no. Out of that many people, there are bound to be several bad apples.

I had a thought the other day (I usually have several throughout the course of a day), that it might be possible that everyone in the Middle East would get tired of fighting. I then laughed at the thought because rationale got the best of me. Everything has to do with revenge, it seems. They blew up our bus of children, so that means we have to blow up some of their tanks. Yeah, way to work things out, guys.

That (realistic) look at it reminds of a really bad cowboy movie, where one guy shoots first and the other guy shoots second. But let's pretend there are a few thousand cowboys, and they all get shot and then get their own shot off before falling to the ground. Nobody wins. This starts to look really...silly. I can't believe I just called the Israeli-Palestinine conflict silly. But really, take a look back and all things seem rather trivial to kill someone over.

So cut it out.

Cloning. Do it.

2005-01-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

After looking up whatever in the world the Raelians could be (it's a strange cult), I discovered a blog-worthy topic: cloning. Fun fact: the Raelians are the group that has claimed to have successfully cloned a human baby. Strange, like I told you.

For the many who are aware of cloning but have little idea of what it really is and how it's done, let me give you this link (there is some flash demos full of info on the side bar). Or better yet, let me sum it up for you.

To clone something (or soon to be somebody), a male and a female are required. Well, parts of them are. There is the cell that is required from the male, and this will be put in the female's egg. But wait! Not too fast! First, they take the DNA from the egg. They throw this away, as it is not needed. The next step is to combine the sperm and the egg by electrifying them. Literally, electricity is used to bind them together. This, becoming an embyro, is put inside the uterus of a woman. Nine months later, or every five seconds if you're a rabbit, a clone of the male has been created.

In this process, as far as I know and can see, it is only possible (at the moment) to clone a male. This also (for now), will result in a male from a male being born. But it might be possible in the future to clone a male and have a female be born (with all the same genetic material exclding gender). This site I found interesting, and the second part of it tackles that question to an extent. They are still very unsure, this scientific breakthrough is still in its very early stages. I know this may sound silly, but it's a very exciting time for medical research (and cures).

This really is a medical breakthrough we will accomplish, because as was mentioned some during the elections, stem cell research is depending (to a good extent) on cloning to be able to create those wonderful cures we envision.

To do this, we would require a person with medical needs. The CNN example is a heart condition, and I hope they won't mind me restating their information. Okay, I've memorized a bit, and here we go. To first cure you of your terrible heart condition, we would need DNA from you. This would be very easy to get, as it would be simple enough to extract some DNA from your skin. Then, the DNA cell would be put in the nucleus-free (and therefor DNA free) female egg. After being electrified, or a special bath in chemicals, the embryo would be "destroyed" as you have heard thrown around. What really happens is the embyro would be left out to decay, adnd what would be left is some stem cells. These stem cells can be used in any part of the body, in this case your heart. The new cells would repair the heart and your condition would be vanquished.

My take: this whole "curing diseases" thing sounds pretty swell. But again, we are in our very first stages. We have successfully cloned animals. We want to cure health conditions. What I would do as a scientist (if I were a scientist) is to find an animal with some health condtion. If I can cure the rat with heart disease, I'll be more sure that I can do the same on a human.

Your take: comment on this please, I'd love to hear your input. Also, if you know more about this cloning business than I do (I know there are many people out there), I will graciously listen to any pointers, corrections or input you have. If you've learned something, tell me, and it will have made my day.

Help If You Can

2004-12-30T22:39:00.000-08:00

Please if you can, donate to:

UNICEF

World Vision

Red Cross

Feed the Children

Direct Relief International

United Methodist Church

Red Crescent

Give to those who have nothing.

Another post will follow sometime of my observations of the tsunami and earthquake that tilted the Earth on it's axis and claimed over 100,000 lives (so far).

Boxing Day

2004-12-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

Today is the most important of all the holidays. Today is Boxing Day, which no one really cares about at all. Just thought I'd share.

Yesterday was Christmas and it was great. I received a copy of Fahrenheit 9/11, and it will be fun to watch again. Wether you agree with it or not, it's a piece of history at the least. Unfortunately, the day after Christmas was not great for everyone, specifically southeastern Asia.

Hell rained down on them with tsunamis. It is poorly located, and this is bound to happen every once in a while. But right in the middle of the holidays. The tsunamis were triggered by one of the largest and most powerful earthquakes in 40 years. As the richter scale recoreded it: 8.9. Eight point nine! That is massive, which would explain why over 11,000 innocent people have been killed.

You can expect my summary of 2004 some time soon, and hopefully before 2005, if I'm not too lazy. As you know it will be full many happy things! <---Lie.

And for the enjoyment of all, an Obama article I found.

Poland Pulling Out?

2004-12-15T19:31:00.000-08:00

Poland is pulling out their forces in Iraq. Well, a third of them. Hey Mr. Bush: Nice coalition you've got there.

Go back in time with me to a time where Bush lost debates and Kerry won them easily. Well there was a time where Bush was defending his mad skills in Iraq. "Don't forget Poland!" he said when his US-led coalition was criticized.

Well, now that it seems Poland is pulling many out, that sure should be a slam to your coalition, right? After all, Poland is your left-hand man (2nd best ally?). So, as you go to bed, remember that John Kerry still haunts you. 49% of America is dissapointed at you. What do you care, though? You repress their rights, and the majority still votes for you. You're a very sly fox, Mr. Bush.

I have thought, why is Poland doing this? This isn't in the Coalition's best interests, is it? Yes, it may only be a cut by a third, but a third they need. "The pullout, long discussed by Warsaw, is due to take place after Iraq's parliamentary elections". Is that really what they (the Coalition) needs? After the election wouldn't be safer, let me tell you that. This is Iraq we're talking about. Problems won't be solved just because there is elections.

And hear me clearly when I tell the world: these elections won't be real. They can't be, with all the groups that are boycotting them. The only ones that will vote will be the puppets to the United States, not the true majority voice of Iraq. I am pretty much on that same boat to boycott the elections. This isn't because I'm an enemy of democracy, it's because I support democracy. There's only one first time for Iraq's democracy, and I think all of the people of Iraq would like it to be accurate. And very little in this poorly-planned war has gone right. Let this be something positive.

Don't Comment

2004-12-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

That's it, reverse psychology...

I recently read an article from Al Jazeera about this Palestinian boy who was shot because an Israeli soldier...wanted to. You know, because he can. It was no accident either. Ten shots in the head. The head. After you do that kind of thing, you just feel warm and fuzzy inside, don't you?

Here's the thing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: I'm not hardcore supporting either one of them. I want peace, obviously. I don't favor Israelis or Palestinians. They both need to learn some things before there can be a chance for peace. They need to know there's a better way. Israeli soldiers could obviously use some sort of sensitivity training. Both sides need to have more humanity and compassion towards each other.

I am a big supporter of disliking other governments. Sure, that's fine. It's your opinion, right? But what always gets me is when people take their opinion too far. They start building a hate towards that country's people. Take France, for example. You hate the French! Why? It doesn't make any sense.

This seems to happen to Palestinians. Many correlate the words Palestinians and terrorists together. This likely true in many cases. Some groups obtain funding from terrorist organizations. That's not a good thing and should be stopped. The United States couldn't allow a free Palestinian state to be skipping and holding hands with terrorists.

But I'm just thinking out loud here...what if the Israelis had no United States funding? That's billions of dollars a year. This is like saying, here, take your people and have some space. This sounds similar to what happened to the Palestinians. Is it possible (just go with me) that terrorists are willing to support a group that is bent on destroying a people supported by the United States? Of course this is likely. And also, is it possible, that Israelis would create some sort of militia to fight off it's enemies (Palestine)? Might they be similar to them at all?

By expressing these ideas, I might touch some sensitive subjects. For this one in particular, I have little background knowlege of their conflicts. I have an opinion, and would appreciate it being critiqued.

Send in the---rats?

2004-12-05T01:05:00.000-08:00

Now I've heard everything. Rats are currently being used to find mines underground. And from what I hear, the rats are doing swell. This is a successful way of determining wether you might blow up if you walk through an area. Good to know.

But don't worry about the rats. They are too light to be detected by the mines, and this is a good thing, because you can recycle your rats, too. Using them over and over again not only helps clear mine fields, but it also provides a very necessary service--it gives the rats something to do. The rats are well paid, of course. After all, they do daring work everyday.

This "pay" that they get it simply bananas and peanuts. And life, assuming they aren't grossly obese enough to set off a land mine. But if we were all eating only bananas and peanuts, I can't imagine any human would be obese, either. Bright Idea: I'm going to start a new diet! PATENT PENDING. COPYRIGHT PENDING, whatever is required to stop you from stealing my cure to world (I mean American) obesity.

This rats thing is what the world needs more of: simple solutions (ones that don't screw over the environment). This tactic of rat mine-clearing is being used in African countries that have been torn by war. Now, they are left with broken hearts and a hell of a lot of mines and they have no clue where they are. Read more here.

Isn't it just neato? Right on. We can dress little rats up in Army uniforms (custom made, of course) and have the march (scramble) around a minefield. Better rats than people, by far.

Bonus Read: I have accomplished two milestones (for my blog at least). First of all (remember this is very exciting, and if not, just try to look excited) I finally solved my HTML problems on my Blogger Template. My little things on my links to other sites wouldn't leave a space inbetween the next one on the list. So I added a slash (

) and presto! It works. Now there is spaces inbetween links. I told you this would be very amazing.

My second accomplishment: I am no longer a Self-Commenting Virgin. By this awkward title, I mean that I had never before commented on my own site. Today (just three minutes ago) I responded to GreenEggs' (one of my few readers) comment. Fascinating stuff, really.

Laziest...Blogger...Ever.

2004-11-30T20:24:00.001-08:00

There is no doubt in my mind that I have been the laziest blogger in the western hemisphere. Or the world, whichever sounds better. So this is my lazy return post, attempting to get myself back into the "swing of things". I am sitting down right now, and am going to type this all night if I have to (or until my fingers fall off).

What has been happening? Better question: should you be asking (lazy) me? Well, somewhat, because I paid attention to some stuff this week, but I wasn't up to my usual private journalistic performance. So let's see what I saw happening...

Sad News This Week: Three People Left Us:

1. Ken Jennings lost on Jeopardy!
2. Tom Brokaw is leaving NBC
3. Tom Ridge is stepping down (not so sad)

For those who would like to receive their own, personal copy of the longwinded 9/11 Commison Report can finally get it right....here. I know I was giddy the first time I saw it. Now I just have to read it all, so I can be a political genius and maybe attain half the knowledge of the book and be able to successfully debate Republicans on consecutive occasions. But hey, that's if I actually read it.

Oh, you "fans" of mine hardly did a thing to get me some super-fine nomination at the Weblog Awards. Okay, I'm sorry I just alienated myself from any fans I might have had. That's why you shouldn't be reading this. But go ahead anyways, and enjoy.

Please excuse me for any strange type of language or style I might be using, it's almost noon (at night). That's 12:00 PM for you math-only people.

Another thing this week I'd been casually keeping track of was new blood being spilled in Baghdad. That's hardly causual, but I hope you understand how I just used that word. Would you like such a link for this late breaking news? I'll be nice enough to give you one. No, have a second.

That's all for now. That's right, my fingers really have fallen off. BLOG OFF.

By the way:
If anybody would like to email me (or just comment) please tell how (or if) my style and speech in this post was different from others. These "others" can be found no where else but the archives. Enough of myblathering, the night grows late.