Category: Touchy Subjects

The things that should never be discussed much less published by non-professionals.

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I rode The Dragon

Julie posted a reference to The Dragon. Years ago I rode The Dragon on a 1981 Honda CM400C (the C apparently means "custom" and is bored out to have the displacements of a 600…basically means a 600 will take me from the line but at cruisiing speed we pull the same RPMs). Sometimes a comment deserves to be a post so I repost here:

I rode the Dragon once. It tightens your butt cheeks quite well.

Motorcyclists have a rating system called “pucker factor” which is the degree to which your gluteus clings to your seat. The Dragon has a high pucker factor.

Once thing about the Dragon is you come out of it knowing how to take a turn. I was loaded down on an underpowered bike really designed to stay in the city and heading to Atlanta and I recall this one turn that I went into with a lot of lean. It was graffitti defying antics nearly dragging peg (that means the piece of metal your foot rests on drags the ground). That turn kept on going and going and going. It felt like I made a full circle three times! I certainly surpassed my comfort zone on that one but really learned the capabilities of my bike.

I hope to high heaven that I-3 gets shot down and does not destroy the Dragon.

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Orwell

1984

…could require Internet providers and social-networking sites to record for a fixed time, perhaps one or two years, which IP address is assigned to which user. The other would be far broader, requiring companies to record data such as the identities of e-mail correspondents, logs of who sent and received instant messages (but not the content of those communications), and the addresses of Web pages visited.
…
Comcast announced that it will begin to retain logs that map IP addresses to user identities for 180 days, up from its current policy of 31 days. (The company stressed that it does not record information such as "Internet use or Web surfing habits.") [Source]

Let me ask you something. This is done under the guise of protecting children from child pornographers.

Barton said, adding that it was time to "protect our children against these despicable child predators that are on the loose right now in our land."

They are now adding that emotional word "terrorism" into play.

it would aid in terrorism investigations as well

Child porn and terrorism are words that get an emotional response from the public while simultaneously causing the public to shield their eyes because they would rather be ignorant than look at the problem. So my question is is there really a problem or are we being played to give up our liberties? There might a problem. I don’t know. But it could also be that we are spending billions and giving up the freedoms that founded our country for something negligible. Yes, even if one child is hurt it is not a negligible problem but if the numbers are small then our government’s response is not just inappropriate but manipulative in that they say they are doing one thing (attacking child porn) and doing another (intentially eroding our freedoms).

Just because someone yells fire in a theatre doesn’t mean we should blindly run from the building. Is there smoke? Are we sheep?

Child pornography existed long before the Internet. Our government is treating a symptom and not the problem which gives credence to a potential hidden agenda. Tracking the viewers of child porn does nothing to stop the photographer and distributor.

The Internet hype has made us afraid to take pictures of our children. I know I have failed to click the shutter because of it. We should be able to record their childhood without fear. Natural is not porn.

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Ban Public School!

This morning I posted that schools, some of which have already eliminated arts and foriegn language programs, are now seeking to ban games like tag that promote physical activity on the basis that these games cause physical and mental trauma to children. Michael Silence highlights a ban on pizza parties and sweets brought to our attention by A Whiff of Smiff.

Let’s cut to the chase and ban school. It is easier to have a totalitarian government when people are poorly educated. (those bottom states voted red as noted by Latte Man)

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If you write your representative, they sometimes write back!

Kudos to efnet‘s #coldfusion‘s MacGeorge for writing his representative regarding net neutrality and bigger kudos to Tammy Baldwin for responding!

I strongly support network neutrality, the guiding principle which
ensures that the Internet remains open to all and guarantees
everyone equal access. …
…I am a cosponsor of the Network
Neutrality Act, H.R. 5273. This bill clearly defines U.S.
telecommunication policy to include the preservation of the
freedom to use broadband telecommunications networks, including
the Internet, without interference from network operators.
Specifically, it outlines responsibilities of network providers to
ensure that the Internet remains open and available to everyone. …
Sincerely,
Tammy Baldwin
Member of Congress

Good stuff! Her letter also mentions that it is better to send email than physical letters.

As a result of the anthrax incidents, all
mail sent to Congress is first irradiated. This process causes
significant delays. To ensure the fastest response, I encourage all
constituents who have access to the internet to contact me through
my website…

Be politically active in your life. There is time for a simple phone call or email. Contact your representative frequently!

See also Markey Amendment to COPE Act, Markey bill, and The Library of Congress.

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Understanding Net Neutrality

I posted a link called Understanding Net Neutrality which presented a video in favor of net neutrality. A commenter pointed to a video against net neutrality. Both videos seemed to leave out critical information in my mind. Tom Maszerowski point us to Larry Lessig who links us to a must watch video by Tim Berners-Lee. The summary:

Net neutrality is this:

If I pay to connect to the Net with a certain quality of service, and you pay to connect with that or greater quality of service, then we can communicate at that level.

That’s all. Its up to the ISPs to make sure they interoperate so that that happens.

Net Neutrality is NOT asking for the internet for free.

Net Neutrality is NOT saying that one shouldn’t pay more money for high quality of service. We always have, and we always will.

Be politically active in your life. There is time for a simple phone call or email. Contact your representative frequently!

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It’s because our a/c is broken

CNN reports: Study: Earth ‘likely’ hottest in 2,000 years

The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the “recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.”

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is heating up and that “human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.”

This is Bush’s fault!

Other new research Thursday showed that global warming produced about half of the extra hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005, and natural cycles were a minor factor

Or maybe Jesus’…Because, it was cool when he was around.

The Bush administration has maintained that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls…

Yes! It’s Bush’s fault!

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization chartered by Congress to advise the government of scientific matters.

Ok then…it’s Jesus’ fault.

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Woot! Wine!

Woot has a new angle, they are selling wine. Yes, you heard correctly, http://wine.woot.com/”>. For connoisseurs of the grape, this could be an excellent way to acquire some fine wine at fine prices.

For those that don’t know, Woot lists 1 product per day at midnight Central time (GMT -6) and sells it until they are out of stock. It might be junk or it might be an iPod $60 cheaper than anywhere else you could find one. Often the great stuff sells out in the first half hour of listing. Last I checked, Woot is affliated with Overstock.com.

What is woot.wine? We were all pretty despondent when we couldn’t work out the logistics for massage.woot.com. We started to question the very idea of spinning off another new dot-woot. But then woot.com offered our Rinfrescante wine and we were positively deluged with inquiries from friends and family pleading for more (of course the cheapskates wanted more – they got it for free). This was enough “market research” for us. We reactivated our wine-industry hookup and wine.woot.com was conceived.
…
So every week, wine.woot.com will uncork a sweet new wine deal.
Can I really buy wine on the Internet? Thanks to our esteemed Supreme Court, recent and dramatic changes in how wine can be sold and delivered in the U.S. allow wine.woot.com to bring wine directly from the winery to you.
What states can you ship to?Thanks to stick-in-the-mud buzzkilling state legislators, wine may only be delivered to the following states:

* Arizona (expect longer delivery times)
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* District of Columbia
* Florida
* Idaho
* Illinois
* Indiana (expect longer delivery times)
* Iowa
* Louisiana
* Massachusetts (expect longer delivery times)
* Michigan
* Missouri
* Minnesota
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey (expect longer delivery times)
* New Mexico
* New York
* North Carolina
* North Dakota
* Ohio
* Oregon
* South Carolina
* Texas
* Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
* Wisconsin
* Wyoming

If your state’s not on the list, no wine for you! Take it up with your state assembly person. We comply with all federal, state, and local laws in providing this wine.

Of course Tennessee is not on the list. We wouldn’t want to lose our reputation as being a bunch of backwards hillbillies. Now whar’s my shine?!

Little sidenote, The Tennessee General Assembly website looks like one of the politicans had his highschool age child build the site. "Pages Created and Maintained by: Legislative Information Services"

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FDA does something really good!

Young ladies, time to get your paps smeared!

The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it has approved the first vaccine designed to prevent cancer. [source]

Bonus!

Gardasil also blocks infection by two other HPV types that cause about 90% of genital warts cases
…
Some questions remain about the best age for immunization with Gardasil, although the consensus is that girls should be vaccinated before becoming sexually active.

See also The Washington Post:

The vaccine, which works by building immunity against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, was found to be effective in preventing almost three-quarters of all cervical cancers.
…
The vaccine, called Gardisil and developed by Merck & Co., was approved for girls and women ages 9 and 26. It is most useful if given to younger girls, because the vaccine is ineffective once the virus — which is very common among sexually active people — is already present.

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Michael Berg…man of principle!

Michael Berg sums it up.

BERG: Well, you know, I’m not saying Saddam Hussein was a good man, but he’s no worse than George Bush. Saddam Hussein didn’t pull the trigger, didn’t commit the rapes. Neither did George Bush. But both men are responsible for them under their reigns of terror.

I don’t buy that. Iraq did not have al Qaeda in it. Al Qaeda supposedly killed my son.

Under Saddam Hussein, no al Qaeda. Under George Bush, al Qaeda.

Under Saddam Hussein, relative stability. Under George Bush, instability.

Under Saddam Hussein, about 30,000 deaths a year. Under George Bush, about 60,000 deaths a year. I don’t get it. Why is it better to have George Bush the king of Iraq rather than Saddam Hussein?

[Source]

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Two party system dying?

Oh yes. We hear it daily. Left! Right! No left! Way right! The words lip off people’s tongues like insults, "Democrat!" and repulsions, "Republican!" Some people do not totally agree with either party but choose one as the lessor evil. Will anything break the two party system? The Pirate Party thinks they will break the two party system! (or maybe it will be Neoroots.)

America’s two political parties may not realise it yet, but in their current form they are nearing obsolescence. As technological advancements continue to bring more and better tools for communication, citizens are increasingly empowered to come together in common purpose and reject the current political system that seems designed by the two parties to keep us apart.

[Source] (see also) (and democracy isn’t dying, democrats are)

Note: To read The Pirate Party, you will have to hold down your mouse and highlight the white box.

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Store your bullets out of the reach of toddlers!

I went upstairs and couldn’t believe my eyes. Mixed in with the toys scattered across the living room floor was a, um, er, a marital aid. Obviously a 1 year old dragged it out of a storage space and became disenchanted with the toy dropping it in the middle of everything to move onto less embarassing toys like kitchen knives.

Coming close to a recreation of a scene from Parenthood, I openly point out what I am holding to my wife while my children’s backs are to me. They of course whip around with a "What?!" response but I’m too quick. Good thing too because we have a policy in this household of "if you bring it up, you explain it!"

Asking, "What would Alan Shore do?" I reacted calmly, slipping the tool into my pocket, making eye contact with the wife, and calling Sarah to babysit for 3 minutes.

Now honey, your neck massager needs to be put somewhere different. And feel free to read all kinds of double entendre into that.