A juggling technophile shares personal stories, challenges, humor and perhaps some political commentary.
The things that should never be discussed much less published by non-professionals.
Interesting.
Using census data going back a century, a team of mathematicians have created a model showing that, according to them, "religion will all but vanish eventually from nine Western-style democracies" – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and . . . drum roll . . . Ireland.
[Source, CNN, Organized religion ‘will be driven toward extinction’ in 9 countries, experts predict]
Pole dancing for Jesus (it’s a news report so it’s safe for work):
Pole Dancing For Jesus – Watch more Funny Videos
The nuclear disaster in Japan has increased from a 4 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 7.
These are categories on the International Nuclear and Radiological Events Scale (INES), which runs from zero (nothing happened, essentially) to seven, a "major accident".
So far, Chernobyl is the only seven-rated incident in nuclear history.
Level five is defined as an "accident with wider consequences".
[Source, BBC News Science & Environment, Japan raises nuclear alert level]
Three Mile Island was also a level 5 incident. Now the radiation has reached the United States.
[1:39 p.m. ET Friday, 2:39 a.m. Saturday in Tokyo] Monitors in Sacramento, California, have detected a small amount of radioactive material from the earthquake-struck nuclear power plant in Japan, an official with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization said. The exact amounts were not available, but were far less than what would be considered harmful to human health, the official said.
[Source, CNN, Japan quake live blog: Small amount of radiation reaches California, official says]
Before you put on your tinfoil hats (and remember, mine is shinier than yours), and cover your testicles in aluminum foil, re-read the sentence that the radiation is "far less than what would be considered harmful to human health."
Update: Another doctor cautions against over-reaction:
"I think the biggest health impact is the psychological impact," said Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. "Anytime people hear ‘radiation’ it evokes a level of fear that is disproportionate to the threat."
[Source, The New York Times, For Radiation, the Alarm Bells Are Boxes]
A California corporation has been awarded has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom) to build the Ministry of Truth. "The project has been likened by web experts to China’s attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet."
The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".
[Source, guardian.co.uk, Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media]
Now, before you grab your tinfoil hat (and mine is shinier than yours), note that "said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to ‘address US audiences’ with such technology"
…any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.
In his evidence to the Senate committee, Gen Mattis said: "OEV seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda." He added that Centcom was working with “our coalition partners” to develop new techniques and tactics the US could use "to counter the adversary in the cyber domain".
[Source, guardian.co.uk, Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media]
See also: Inspector General – Information Operations Contracts in Iraq page 9, Operation Earnest Voice (OEV) – online engagement, The man behind Operation Earnest Voice, and Operation Earnest Voice Part III.
If you aren’t following what is happening in Japan and Fukushima, you should be.
Evan, 5 years old, has religious debate: "It’s kinda weird."
Amy, 8 years old: "What do you mean?"
Evan: "Well, Jesus. How did he create himself?"
In the old days, they called these Internet cams and the cost was $5 per minute, not that I’d personally know anything about that but I’ve cleaned enough "phone dialers" off client computers to acknowledge that we live in a very sexually driven society. So at $150 for an hour, this therapy is a bargain albeit probably less, um, "interactive" than the other ones.
The land of the free, the promised land, the place people once longed to visit or immigrate is quickly becoming the land to stay far away.
going to the US is more unpleasant than going to Soviet era Russia or even Iran 10 years ago. Sure, you sometimes have to bribe people, but at least I’ve not had gear stolen off me during security checks or had people break my gear without at least compensating me.
And taking pictures. Well, let me put it like this: you are 20 times more likely to get hassled for whipping out your camera anywhere in the US than in, say, downtown Teheran.
I offer this as an observation from the outside. The US is isolating itself and it is becoming a very, very unpleasant place to visit. I often talk to fellow travellers and even a lot of business types in nice suits often relate how they’d rather not travel to the US if they could help it and that they’d rather work with people in Europe or Asia. I can relate to that.
[Source, Reddit, Why I stopped travelling to the US and I largely stopped doing business in the US.]
My fellow Americas. Can we please return to the pre-9/11 sensibilities we once had?
In case there is still any doubt, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi has admitted to lying about Iraqs weapons of mass destruction. As I read this and watch the video, as an American citizen I feel heavy in my chest; despite my protests at the time, I feel guilty.
The defector who convinced the White House that Iraq had a secret biological weapons programme has admitted for the first time that he lied about his story, then watched in shock as it was used to justify the war.
[Source, guardian.co.uk , Defector admits to WMD lies that triggered Iraq war]
You should watch the video.
Image source http://i.imgur.com/6v7tR.jpg
Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. –Hermann Goering
Did he really say it? According to Snopes, yes.
60 Minutes Vanity Fair Poll asks: "What do you think of the activities of WikiLeaks?" and from the answers concludes:
Only 9 percent of Americans think that WikiLeaks is a good thing. Twenty three percent think that it is destructive but legal and 22 percent think it is treasonous. But despite being prominently in the news for weeks for leaking classified documents from The State Department, and worse, for an organization that depends on notoriety to ply its trade, 42 percent of Americans aren’t sure what WikiLeaks is. [Source, CBSNews.com, 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: February Edition]
I’m not sure how their polls work but this statement was published on January 30 for a February poll. At the time I took in, the numbers were entirely contrary to the picture and paragraph they reported with 81% saying wikileaks is a good thing, 9% destructive but legal, 9% treasonous, and only 2% not sure what wikileaks is. Perhaps they sampled their poll early in the results. I view this as some of the manipulative reporting that misleads the average news consumer. Think of the number of people who don’t click the vote button to see the real results. If CBSNews wanted the numbers to remain static, they should have closed to the poll.
Ryan Lipner wants to be president of the United States but he is only 27 and the Constitution requires a candidate to be 35 years old or older. Is he qualified?
Lipner is known for his obsession with Hallmark stores as a teen and for opening branches without the company’s permission, leading him "to grand theft, bankruptcy, imprisonment, and possibly insanity — all before his 18th birthday," according to a 2001 New Times story.
He at least sounds qualified for Congress.
Thank you Lenore Skenazy!
We think we’re protecting our kids by treating all men as potential predators. But that’s not a society that’s safe. Just sick. [Source, Wall Street Journal, Eek! A Male!]
I have suffered this myself. See, I’m that creepy stalker guy.
I dropped by the high school band practice to give my daughter some money since she decided to stay from practice to the game instead of coming home. My wife and 3 other children were in the van as I approached the field. The girls on the flag team became concerned because “a creepy stalker guy” was approaching the field. Their response was an immediate jump to the negative.
How strong was the impact of this experience with my daughter? Two days ago I offered to drop by during band camp to offer support to the team and my daughter begged me to stay away. She reminded me specifically that I am “that creepy stalker guy.” Wow. Gee. Thank you society for the hollow feeling you have put in my chest, destroying bonding opportunities between my daughter and me, and embarrassing my daughter in front of her peers.
How can we be raising happy children to become happy adults when we are teaching them to focus only on the negative…and a negative that is highly unlikely?
Imagine the hysteria that I could have created by trying to take a picture of my daughter practicing. Perhaps I would have ended up in jail.
Our attitudes toward males around children drive men away from the early education system where they are greatly needed. A segue: Our children need more hugs. A child who has fallen on the playground should be picked up and comforted by an adult (male or female) and often that comfort comes in the form of a hug. Touch is important but our society now fears it so much that I think we are turning into a parody of the movie Demolition Man. I implore the teachers of my children to hug them if they need it.
I could easily quote all of Lenore Skenazy’s article but let’s end with this. As you jump to the negative giving in to media driven fearful hysteria, think hard about this incident:
In England in 2006, BBC News reported the story of a bricklayer who spotted a toddler at the side of the road. As he later testified at a hearing, he didn’t stop to help for fear he’d be accused of trying to abduct her. You know: A man driving around with a little girl in his car? She ended up at a pond and drowned. [Source, Wall Street Journal, Eek! A Male!]
For a month and a half, there’s absolutely no Sun in Greenland because of Earth’s angle in relation to our home star. People there eagerly await for January 13, when the Sun rises again, every year. Except this one. This year, the Sun rose 48 hours ahead of its projected date. … [Source, Gizmodo]
