Nerd Score

Here's how I scored on the Nerd Test from NerdTests.com:

Not too big a surprise to those who know me ;-)

>JjV<
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The American public knows what it wants,and deserves to get it good and hard.
H.L.Menkin

The Dread Pirate Bin Laden

Bruce Schneier has a great post echoing an article on Legal Affairs about treating terrorists as pirates. Seems that pirates as a criminal have an international legal standing that would be useful in prosecuting terrorists.

>JjV<
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Pareto Phenomenon: Very few things seem to contribute to a majority of problems.

Edward R. Murrow

Murrow talking about the anti-communist hearing of Senator Joseph McCarthy:
"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear - one, of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of un-reason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men; Not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were - for the moment - unpopular."

Seems this is still applicable today.......

Personality Test Results

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!" You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up. If only your routine didn't always bomb! You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

The Muppet Personality Test

>JjV<
-----------------------------
If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Nanotech Assembler

Great CGI video on how nantechnology could build items.

50 Misconceptions about evolution

Pharyngula writes about the Raving Atheist forums producing a list of 50 Misconceptions about Evolution in their forums.  The collected list follows.

50 Misconceptions about evolution

1) Evolution gives you what you need

2) We popped out of monkeys one day

3) The theory of evolution is tied to the big bang theory

4) The theory of evolution says random chemicals mysteriously made the first cell

5) Darwin took back his theory of evolution on his death bed (that's an urban myth created by christians)

6) The eye accidently formed itself somehow.

7) That things evolve 'magically' without selection involved.  It's just some slow process...

8) That evolution equals eugenics.

9) That it has a GOAL.

10) That it can happen to anything, even watches and pottery.

11) That it's a scientific conspiracy theory we believe in to battle Christianity.

12) That evolution equals atheism.

13) That there is an actual difference between micro and macro-evolution.

14) That it is a 'Random' process.

15) That there are no transition fossils

16) That humans evolved from the Apes that are around today.

17)  The second law of thermodynamics makes evolution impossible.

18) If evolution is true, how come there are still monkeys?

19) Evolution requires faith.

20) Survival of the fittest means organisms should go kill off weaker members of its species to make survival easier for the stronger members.

21) Physical changes that occur during the lifetime of an organism will be passed on the offspring.

22) Survival of the fittest is circular logic.

23) Only the fittest survive. (In actuality, if an organism can barely get by then it  classified into the "fit" category).

24) Kent Hovind is an expert in the fields of evolution, biology, and other sciences.

25) Organisms evolve/mutate during their lifetime if a new selection pressure exerts itself.

26) Evolution caused slavery.

27) Many scientists are now casting doubt on Darwins theory.

28) Charles Darwin is satan.

29) Evolution can't exist because of irreducible complexity.

30) Evolution is JUST a theory.

31) God made evolution so he could trick as many scientists as he could into believing it, instead of him, just so he could light them on fire for all eternity. But he still loves them.

32) Man and dinosaurs existed at the same time.  T-Rex used to be a vegetarian

33) 'Darwinists' claim that any criticism of the theory of evolution is unscientific

34) Evolution is effectively refuted by 'the Cambrian Explosion'

35) Scientists "believe" in evolution.

36)  There is great strife in the scientific community over evolution.

37)  Kent Hovind is a brilliant man!

38) Evolution can't explain love.

39) If evolution is true, why are there homosexuals?

40) There are no transitional forms: One species gives birth to another!

41) If you believe in evolution, then that means you think it's okay to kill, rape, and steal

42) Evolution is not testable or empirical, therefore it is not science.

43) No Darwin, then no Hitler

44) The perfect match between bees and flowers must be a designer because it can't be evolution.

45) Mutations are never beneficial

46) There is limits to biological change: new kinds never arise

47) Vertebrate embryos never resemble each other

48) Evolution must be wrong because gravity pulls things down right, but that clearly doesn't happen because birds can stay up in the air.

49) Oh you evolutionists make me laugh, it was God who created the world.  It says so in the bible and the bible says its true

50) Evolution was responsible for the Columbine highschool shooting

51) Evolution can never be proven because we didn't see it occur.

>JjV<
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Through the router, over the firewall, down the cable..... nothing but net!


Technorati Tags: evolution, misconceptions

Doctor Who: Season Three Starts Filming

The third season of the BBC's new Doctor Who series began filming in mid-August.  Freema Agyeman (Google Image Search)has been tapped to play the new series second companion.

Pancake Goodness

I have a weakness for a steaming hot stack of pancakes and I've blogged my favorite recipe before.  However, I recently tried a recipe out of Everyday Food's from the How-To with Allie column.  I used the whole-grain & yogurt options and they were awesome.  Below is the recipe I used:

1. 1/2 Cup whole-wheat flour
2. 1/4 cup cornmeal
3. 1/4 cup wheat germ
4. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5. 2 teaspoons baking powder
6. 2 tablespoons sugar
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
9. 1/3 cup milk
10. Oil for cooking
    

Preheat griddle to 325-350

• Combine items 1 through 7 and whisk till blended.
• Add items 8 and 9 and whisk gently till combined.
• Put down a small pool of oil on the griddle and then a spoon the batter on too of the oil.
• Cook until bubbly, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Flip and cook another 1 to 2 minutes.

Makes about six pancakes.  Don't underestimate these guys.  They are very filling!!





Technorati Tags: pancakes, recipe, whole-wheat, everyday food

Nuff Said....

So its turning into a comic strip sort of day.....

This B.C. strip sure hits the mark!

Could Be

Stolen from Blaugh. Original here.



DEAR GREAT, GREAT GRANDSON,

THANKS FOR TELLING ME ABOUT OPENDNS LAST NIGHT - MY CONNECTION IS FLYING THIS MORNING. YOU ROXX0RZ! I’M ALSO GOING TO TRY DOWNLOADING THAT DNS CACHING TOOL TO SEE IF I CAN GET PAST THESE DAMN COMCRAP PROBLEMS. STUPID TECH SUPPORT PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL THEY’RE DOING, AND I’M GETTING READY TO SWITCH TO DSL. SWING BY FOR SOME APPLE PIE LATER TONIGHT IF YOU’D LIKE. ME AND THE GIRLS ARE DOIN’ A QUILTCAMP INTO THE WEE HOURS.

LOVE,

GREAT, GREAT GRANDMA SHARON

73 best atheist quotes

The 73 best atheist quotes as compiled by Chris Beach.




Stephen Roberts
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Doug McLeod
    I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence

Unknown
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.

Richard Feynman
But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell, possibly. It doesn't frighten me.

Emo Philips
When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.    

Gustaf Lindborg
The sailor does not pray for wind, he learns to sail.

Richard Lederer (Anguished English)
There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages.

Epicurus
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

Annie Wood Besant
No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.

Unknown
Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence.

Carl Sagan
You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep-seated need to believe.

Unknown
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand" -Mark Twain

Ned Flanders
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends! Well I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!

Blaise Pascal
Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions one vote against Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions. .25%3 votes for Men never commit evil so fully and joyfuly as when they do it for religious convictions.75%

Bertrand Russell
So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence.

Woody Allen
I do not believe in an afterlife, although I am bringing a change of underwear.

Friedrich Nietzsche
In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.

Chapman Cohen
Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense,

Ferdinand Magellan
The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.

Stephen Jay Gould
Creation science has not entered the curriculum for a reason so simple and so basic that we often forget to mention it: because it is false, and because good teachers understand exactly why it is false. What could be more destructive of that most fragile yet most precious commodity in our entire intellectual heritage -- good teaching -- than a bill forcing honorable teachers to sully their sacred trust by granting equal treatment to a doctrine not only known to be false, but calculated to undermine any general understanding of science as an enterprise?...

Gypsy Rose Lee
Praying is like a rocking chair-- it'll give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere.

Clark Adams
If Atheism is a religion, then health is a disease!

Justin Brown
An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated...

Steve
It's not lying, I've really convinced myself of it.

Seneca the Younger 4 b.c.- 65 a.d.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

Bumper sticker
You keep believing, I'll keep evolving.

Carl Sagan
Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.

Robert G. Ingersoll
God has always resembled his creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved and he was invariably found on the side of those in power. Most of the gods were pleased with sacrifice, and the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine perfume...

Robert G. Ingersoll
Christianity did not come with tidings of great joy, but with a message of eternal grief. It came with the threat of everlasting torture on its lips. It meant war on earth and perdition hereafter.

Friedrich Nietzsche
Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's?

Robert G. Ingersoll
Why should I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who had to drown His own?

George Bernard Shaw
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.

H. L. Mencken
We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.

Karl Marx
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

Taslima Nasrin
Koranic teaching still insists that the sun moves around the earth. How can we advance when they teach things like that?

Isaac Asimov
Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.

Gene Roddenberry
They said God was on high and he controlled the world and therefore we must pray against Satan. Well, if God controls the world, he controls Satan. For me, religion was full of misstatements and reaches of logic that I just couldn't agree with.

Mark Twain
It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

Lenny Bruce
If Jesus had been killed 20 years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little Electric Chairs around their necks instead of crosses

Robert G. Ingersoll (Ingersoll's Works)
Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains.

Albert Einstein
A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

Sir Julian Huxley
...any belief in supernatural creators, rulers, or influencers of natural or human process introduces an irreparable split into the universe, and prevents us from grasping its real unity. Any belief in Absolutes, whether the absolute validity of moral commandments, of authority of revelation, of inner certitudes, or of divine inspiration, erects a formidable barrier against progress and the responsibility of improvement, moral, rational, and religious....

Delos B. McKown
The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.

Carl Sagon
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Gene Roddenberry
We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.

Albert Einstein
Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.

David Brooks (The Necessity of Atheism)
To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy.

unknown
Don't pray in my school, and I won't think in your church.

Sam Harris
Whenever a man imagines that he need only believe the truth of a proposition, without evidence - that unbelievers will go to hell, that Jews drink the blood of infants - he becomes capable of anything.

unknown
People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs.

unknown
Blasphemy is a victimless crime.

Richard Dawkins
Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one.

Robert G. Ingersoll
The inspiration of the bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it.

Mark Twain
The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.

Unknown
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned

Jonathon Green
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him

Stephen King
The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance...logic can be happily tossed out the window.

Galileo Galilei
I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could gain through them.

Robert G. Ingersoll
As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers.

Bertrand Russell
And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence.

Benjamin Franklin
The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.

W.C.Fields
Prayers never bring anything... They may bring solace to the sap, the bigot, the ignorant, the aboriginal, and the lazy - but to the enlightened it is the same as asking Santa Claus to bring you something for Xmas.

Stephen Hawking
The intelligent beings in these regions should therefore not be surprised if they observe that their locality in the universe satisfies the conditions that are necessary for their existence. It is a bit like a rich person living in a wealthy neighborhood not seeing any poverty...

Charlie Chaplin
By simple common sense I don't believe in God.

Peter O'Toole (The Ruling Class)
Everything is more or less organized matter. To think so is against religion, but I think so just the same. When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.

Carl Sagan
Atheism is more than just the knowledge that gods do not exist, and that religion is either a mistake or a fraud. Atheism is an attitude, a frame of mind that looks at the world objectively, fearlessly, always trying to understand all things as a part of nature...

Shakti Gawain
We always attract into our life whatever we think about the most, believe the most strongly, expect on the deepest level, and imagine most vividly.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

Thomas Jefferson
Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear...

Albert Einstein
The contemplation of this world beckoned as a liberation (...) The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has shown itself reliable, and I have never regretted having chosen it.

Justin Brown
If the Bible is mistaken in telling us where we came from, how can we trust it to tell us where we're going?

Donald Morgan
Jesus' last words on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" hardly seem like the words of a man who planned it that way. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure there is something wrong here.

JP Shooter
Buy a clue, they're free

Technorati Tags: atheist, quotes, Chris+Beach

Do You Know What Libery Is?

View this simple, elegant, powerful flash presentation on what Liberty is.

The animation was created by Lux Lucre. The text and inspiration come from "The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey" by Ken Schoolland.  Supported by the International Society for Individual Liberty.

Technorati Tags: Liberty, Freedom, Philosophy

Seven Lessons

Seven lessons quoted from an essay Tim O'Reilly which he wrote at the height of the P2P-era; still extremely relevant.

.........a piece I wrote in 2002, entitled Piracy is Progressive Taxation. It contained seven lessons from my experience as a print and online publisher:

   1. Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.
   2. Piracy is progressive taxation.
   3. Customers want to do the right thing, if they can.
   4. Shoplifting is a bigger threat than piracy.
   5. File sharing networks don't threaten book, music, or film publishing. They threaten existing publishers.
   6. "Free" is eventually replaced by a higher-quality paid service.
   7. "There's more than one way to do it."

Read the entire essay......

>JjV<
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Murphy's First Law: Nothing is as easy as it looks.


Technorati Tags: P2P, Publish, Author, Piracy

How much is that Congress in the Window?

Paladine has compiled a history of lobbying costs of the MPAA and RIAA in Congress.  The amount that the Sony Companies spent is interesting as well.


>JjV<
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A god in hand is worth two in the bush. - Aaron

Pharyngula

 Something to comtemplate on this Independence Day




>JjV<
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An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Nailed...

Robert Cringely's interpetation of Bob Frankston's article on Net Neutrality really opened my eyes.  He exposes the entire Modus Operandi of the telecom industry and why it is bad for the Internet.  Give Cringe's article a read, you'll be glad you did!

>JjV<
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The goal of the works of a genius' existance lies only in itself.

Qoute by Robert Heinlein

As seen on AlterSlash

There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years , the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit.

>JjV<
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A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
Chinese Proverb

New SciTech Watch Column: GovTrack

My new column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a look at the GovTrack web site that collects information on both houses of Congress and makes it available via email and RSS.

>JjV<
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...the myth of socialism is far stronger than the reality of capitalism. That is because capitalism is not really an ism at all. It is what people do if you leave them alone.
Arnold Beichmen, Hoover Institute Fellow  

Technorati Tags: Congress, GovTrack, Bill, Vote

New SciTech Watch Column: Indy Racing Tech

My new column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a look at some of the technologies used in the Indy Racing League's cars and tracks.

>JjV<
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You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long. - Boris Yeltsin 

Technorati Tags: IRL, Auto Racing, Indianapolis 500, Racing Technology

Operating the planet like a business in liquidation

Excellent review of the Wired Town Hall on the Climate Crisis. Good points and I'm, looking forward to the film!




>JjV<
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You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try. - Beverly Sills

American Taliban, Redux

The War On Sex By Cristina Page, TomPaine.com Posted on May 18, 2006, Printed on May 18, 2006 http://www.alternet.org/story/36371/ The architects of the South Dakota ban on abortion have a bold plan for our country. Certainly, they have already given a jolt to the majority of Americans, or at least the 66 percent who want Roe v. Wade to remain law of the land. But there's a great deal more the American public should know about these legislative campaigners. Especially since there's a lot more of their agenda they hope to realize. They have a plan for you, and if you are anything like the 85 percent of American couples who have sex once a week, you're not going to like it. The pro-life groups who are the most committed to ending legal abortion -- and gotten the furthest in their goals -- are also leading campaigns against the only proven ways to prevent abortion: contraception. Shocking as it may be, there is not one pro-life organization in the United States that supports the use of contraception. Instead the pro-life movement is the constant opponent of every single effort to provide Americans with the ability to prevent unwanted pregnancies. If the South Dakota ban is upheld and Roe v. Wade is toppled, it's safe to say the pro-life movement is not going to send out a brigade to furnish Americans with the most effective contraceptives. In fact, pro-life groups' most recent activities suggest the exact opposite. Take Leslee Unruh, the South Dakota native considered the primary force behind the near-total ban on abortion in her state. Unruh is, in many ways, the perfect representative of the modern pro-life movement. She is lauded in pro-life circles as the president of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, a group that promotes abstinence-until-marriage. Under Unruh's leadership, the Abstinence Clearinghouse has spearheaded campaigns to stop people from using the condom. On the organization's website, supporters of family planning are derided as the "safe sex cartel" and "condom-pushers." Her medical advisory board consists of physicians who pledge not to prescribe contraception to sexually active teens. The group's new project, "Abstinence Africa," discourages condom use in African countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho where, on average, one in three adults is infected with HIV. Unruh and her pro-life colleagues have moved beyond attacking the condom, too. For example, when pharmacists refuse to fill birth control prescriptions, the pro-life movement has responded with a favorite tactic: it has moved aggressively to welcome their deeds as acts of "conscience." The movement has helped pass laws allowing pharmacists to refuse on moral or religious grounds to fill birth control prescriptions in South Dakota -- no surprise there -- as well as Arkansas and Mississippi. Additionally another 19 states have moved to protect anyone who decides to stand in the way of a woman getting birth control; this conceivably includes cashiers who could choose to refuse to ring up your prescription. Over the past decade, pro-choice groups have tried to get contraception covered by health insurers as a sensible way to stop unintended pregnancies. Nearly every time, these initiatives have provoked intense battles in state legislatures. Right to Life chapters in Ohio, Delaware, Illinois, Oregon, Wisconsin, Nevada and Missouri all fought against state legislation to get birth control covered. Year after year the Pro-Life Caucus of Congress defeats federal legislation to require health insurers to pay for birth control. President Bush has complied with almost all the requests of his pro-life, anti-contraception base. He's attempted to revoke contraception benefits to federal employees, slashed U.S. foreign aid programs that distribute birth control and appointed anti-contraception ideologues to the expert panels charged with approving new contraception methods. He's also appointed an abstinence-only-until-marriage crusader to direct the Title X program which delivers contraception to the nation's poor -- the majority of Title X clients are not married. It should come as no surprise that Title X's funding has remained flat, while its clientele has swelled. What's also not surprising is that the abortion rate among the most indigent in our country has been increasing. Today, pro-life groups in the United States are reclassifying the most common contraception methods, including the birth control pill, the patch, the IUD, and the Depo-Provera shot, as "abortifacients" by claiming, with no scientific backing, that they cause abortions. The American Life League explained, "We have been working to prove that prescription contraceptives have nothing to do with woman's health and well-being but are recreational drugs that prevent fertilization and abort children." Some groups will use legal means to put pressure on candidates to adopt their anti-contraception view. For example, Northern Kentucky Right to Life will only endorse candidates who believe the use of the standard birth control pill constitutes abortion. While the more extreme side of the pro-life movement hasn't yet advocated violence against those that distribute birth control, they do agree with the concept of "contraception=abortion." Most chillingly, Army of God, a pro-life organization that honors those who murder abortion providers as "heroes," also classifies birth control as an abortion method. On the "Birth Control is Evil" section of their website, they explain, quite threateningly, "Birth control is evil and a sin. Birth control is anti-baby and anti-child…Why would you stop your own child from being conceived or born? What kind of human being are you?" Cloaked in the heated rhetoric of the abortion debate, an entirely new pro-life agenda is taking shape. Most Americans don't know about this yet. But the Right to Life movement, which is now rewriting the country's laws on abortion -- of which South Dakota is clearly just a first target -- has a broader and, for most of us, a disturbing plan. If this powerful movement succeeds, Americans will require safe abortion services more than ever. Cristina Page is vice president of the Institute for Reproductive Health Access at NARAL Pro-Choice New York, and the author of 'How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America' (Perseus Books, 2006). © 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/36371/

SciTech Watch: Venus Express

My new column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a look at the new space probe to Venus: Venus Express.

>JjV<
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A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. - Chinese Proverb

Technorati Tags: Venus Express, Venus,Magellan,ESA

American Taliban

Anyone who thinks that religious zealotry is only in other countries need only take a look at this CNN report to realize that America is rapidly spiraling down the same sewer pipe.  America was founded by people seeking freedom from religious persecution, but now it seems if you don't have the right religion or perceived morals your are unwelcome in BLACK JACK, Missouri.


I wonder if cities can afford to scare away tax payers with this kind of behavior?

>JjV<
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If you torture data sufficiently, it will confess to almost anything. - Fred Menger

Technorati Tags:
American Taliban, Religious Zealot,Freedom of Religion,Marriage

New SciTech Watch Column: Regenesis

My new column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a look at the SciFi TV show Regenesis.

>JjV<
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In shallow waters, shrimps make fools of dragons. Chinese Proverb

Technorati Tags : Science Fiction, Regenesis, NorBAC, Biotechnology

EFF's Class-Action Lawsuit Against AT&T

Click the image below to view information on the suit on the EFF web site.



>JjV<
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A top-secret government study indicates that we wouldn't be any worse off if we let the economists predict the weather and the meteorologists predict the economy. - Paul Harwitz

Consumer Electronics Association slams RIAA

SciTech Watch Column - Podcasting: What’s On

My new SciTech Watch column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a look at what kind of content you can find in the world of Podcasting.

>JjV<
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They're called "pearls of wisdom" because where most people are concerned, they're so rare.

Technorati Tags : Podcast, Playlist, Podsafe, Podcast Directory

Desperation

Jim Kunstler has been warning about the effects of this Oil foolishness for quite a while now.  He warns about the effect high gasoline and crude oil prices on America's drive-everywhere lifestyle

Check out his post today....

>JjV<
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Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. - Arthur C Clarke

Technorati Tags: Kunstler, oil prices, gasoline prices, economy, clusterfuck

Chinese Linux Mini-PC Cheaper than a copy of XP

Found on LinuxDevices.com

Chinese $150 Linux mini-PC races OLPC to market


Apr. 21, 2006


A
Chinese company is touting an inexpensive Linux-based computer as a way
to close the "digital divide." YellowSheepRiver's $150 "Municator"
appears to be available now, with a three-month leadtime, suggesting it
could reach market well ahead of MIT's $100 "One Laptop Per Child"
(OLPC) device.

(Click for larger view of the Municator)

The OLPC project was announced last fall, with laptop manufacturer Quanta Computer of Taiwan stepping forward to offer its manufacturing services shortly afterward. However, no specific delivery commitments appear to have been reached.

Additionally, the performance potential of the OLPC's $100 laptop design has drawn taunts from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, as well as Intel Chairman Craig Barret, who called the design a "$100 gadget."
If the Municator lives up to YellowSheepRiver's promise of Pentium
III-like performance, the Chinese device could enjoy a performance
edge, in addition to its apparent time-to-market lead.

Chinese chips inside

YellowSheepRiver
says it saved cost in its Municator YSR-639 design by sourcing the CPU,
RAM, and other key chips from Chinese companies. China is now the
world's third-largest producer of new semiconductor designs, according to research firm iSuppli.

According to YellowSheepRiver, the Municator is based on a 64-bit Godson-2 CPU from BLX Semiconductor. The Godson-2 chip, codenamed "Dragon," uses an instruction set based on the MIPS architecture; however, BLX is not a MIPS licensee. The Microprocessor Report suggested last summer that BLX could face legal challenges from MIPS if its chips reach the U.S., although some other sources
suggest that the Godson chips do not include patented portions of the
MIPS ISA (instruction set architecture), such as unaligned 32-bit
load/store support.

SGI's O2 (Click to enlarge)

The
Municator's Godson-2 processor offers performance similar to a Pentium
III, YellowRiver claims; however, a more useful comparison might be to
MIPS's four-way superscalar R10000 processor, which shipped in 1995,
and powered Silicon Graphics Unix workstations such as the O2, pictured
at right. The Godson-2 also has a four-way superscalar design.

The
Godson-2 chips in YellowSheepRiver's YSR-639 are clocked at 400MHz or
600MHz. They connect to a Marvel MV64420-BDM1C133 northbridge via a
133MHz FSB (front-side bus). The Marvel northbridge supports DDR RAM at
166MHz, via an SODIMM slot, and offers a 32-bit, 33MHz PCI bus. A VIA
VT82C686B southbridge with 133/100/66MHz ATA bus completes the chipset.


YellowSheepRiver says it hopes one day to use an "SoC"
(system-on-chip) version of the Godson-2 chipset that will integrate
the processor and northbridge into a single chip, and save additional
cost and power.

Other features

The OLPC design
eschews a hard drive, to keep cost down, but has an LCD display. The
Municator, in contrast, offers an S-video port, in order to support
television displays, and comes with a 40GB external USB drive. The
Municator also has rear-mounted IDE and power connectors that support
the attachment of optional optical drives.

Other interfaces,
according to YellowSheepRiver, include four front-mounted USB 2.0
ports, IrDA, and audio I/O. Additional rear-mounted interfaces include
S-video, VGA, 10/100 Ethernet, serial, PS/2 keyboard/mouse, and IDE.

The
Municator measures 7 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches (180 x 145 x 37mm), and weighs
one pound, six ounces (0.65kg). It requires five amps of 12-volt power,
and comes with a 45-watt auto-sensing 110/220 adapter. A lithium-ion
battery pack is optionally available. Other options include WiFi and a
modem.

The Municator runs "Thinix 3.0," a Linux variant that
features support for user interfaces based on a keyboard, mouse, or
both, according to YellowSheepRiver. Thinix is based on RPLinux, a distribution created by the China Software and Integrated Circuit Promotion (CSIP).

Availability

YellowSheepRiver
says orders for its "Fitness Computer," possibly a codename for the
YSR-639, can begin production within three months of order confirmation.

A video demonstrating the Municator is available here.

---

New SciTech Watch Column - Exercise & Lactic Acid

My new SciTech Watch column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a review of new research on the role of Lactic acid in exercising muscles.

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
Reality is for people who can't handle drugs.

Technorati Tags : Lactic Acid, Mitochondria, Metabolism, Muscle

Google Tribute Trouble

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
Nothing will dispel enthusiasm like a small admission fee.

Save the Internet

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
The wise man learns more from his enemies than a fool does from his friends. - Chinese Proverb

Good article on improving our national broadband infrastructure......


Government Technology

We Need a National Infrastructure Initiative

By John Eger

Apr 19, 2006

The United States, developer of the Internet, inventor of the first PC, the silicon wafer, the pen-based computer etc, is now 12th in the world in using broadband communication, according to the latest report out of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a government think tank in Paris to which almost all developing countries belong.

Although we still have the largest number of users connected to the Internet -- some 49 million according to the report -- we are 12th in terms of broadband penetration. While "broadband" itself is a term not well defined, it is several times faster in most countries like South Korea and Japan than in the US. South Korea, which has been the leader for many years, was topped this year by Iceland. With only 78,000 subscribers, they are number one because of their per capita penetration of broadband which is 26.7 percent versus Korea's 25.4 percent. The U.S. is 16.8 percent.

Quite understandably there is concern across America about the U.S.'s low ranking by the OECD and as a result of similar studies by the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union, where the U.S. is ranked even lower on the totem pole. Having the 21st century infrastructure -- broadband and wireless communications links connected to every home, office and school and through the Web to billions of others -- is considered to be vital to the success of every region's, every nation's, every community's vibrancy in the new economy.

Currently in the U.S., there is perceived to be a nationwide struggle for dominance between the traditional telephone carriers providing both DSL, and in some cases fiber communications to the pedestals -- rarely to the home -- versus cable modems provided by the cable television industry. The electric utilities have been experimenting with broadband over power lines, but other than a handful of experiments across the country, nothing akin to a real alternative additional market competitor is in sight.

Satellite companies are offering an Internet alternative at varying speeds, and pose a possible challenge to the existing cable and Telco monopolies. But this competitive arrangement is not getting us as a nation where we ought to be going.

There is a strong and growing desire on the part of cities and communities across America to help shape their own basic communications infrastructure for the 21st century. Many believe that like waterways, railroads and highways of the past, robust information highways are essential to keep cities from becoming the ghost towns of the 21st century.

While the cable and Telco monopolies in many states have blocked municipal authorities from providing fiber as an alternative, half of the cities -- according to a recent report -- are exploring wireless alternatives. This appears to be a loophole in the fight for broadband, and many cities are taking so-called Wi-Fi technology and deploying it in "hot spots" particularly downtowns, in order to get some advantage.

Companies like Intel, Cisco and even Google have recently expressed strong interest in helping to provide broadband wireless infrastructure directly to the cities and are looking for partnerships at the municipal level. Municipalities meanwhile, representing the largest users in most communities, having no real expertise in these areas, are anxious to have partners who can show them the way.

There is a great deal of doubt about the right technology for such broadband infrastructures be they wired or wireless. How much broadband is enough broadband? And is that upstream or downstream? More importantly, perhaps, what makes economic sense? How best to roll out such a system in a community?

Equally important, should a community pursue a wireless alternative when most of us believe both wired and wireless will be necessary? If we need to use technology as a transforming tool for e-commerce, e-government, e-health -- e-everything as we move along the pathway to becoming a 21st century smart community -- don't we need both and maybe more to create a robust community-wide information infrastructure?

While the U.S. continues its downward slide one must ask, what is it about South Korea and Finland? What do they see that we don't? Why have they been able to move so quickly and provide broadband in such quantity?

FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin told the Wall Street Journal recently that the low population density of Korea made it highly unfair to compare it to the U.S. It is true that the capital city of Seoul -- which itself accounts for a quarter of the approximately 50 million population of Korea -- is chock-a-block with high rises, making broadband communications much easier than in a country as dispersed as the U.S. But this experience is dissimilar to that of Iceland, Norway or Sweden, which have even lower population densities than the U.S. So density itself may not be the advantage that South Korea has. South Korea and Iceland, moreover, provide broadband in some cases eight times faster than the U.S.

What does seem to be common in South Korea and Iceland however is that both countries recognize that such infrastructure means the difference between success and mere survival in the new economy. Both countries therefore have adopted "goals", and benchmarks to reach those goals. Both have adopted long-range plans to transform their countries using technology.

There is a strong desire on the part of national governments to achieve penetration rates and service levels in a matter of months and years. These metrics and longer-range goals and are well understood by all the providers and consumer community. Government meets regularly with the private sector to help set those goals and importantly, works with communities and providers to meet them. It has laid out billions of dollars to provide a high-speed backbone to link government and public institutions and additional billions and incentives to provide similar service to so-called rural areas. It is true that the U.S., after all, created the Internet, and has made an attempt to provide some incentives to our rural areas, but nothing of the order or magnitude of South Korea, Iceland or other leading broadband countries.

All this calls for unique federal, state and local action. Perhaps something akin to the 1987 Advanced Television Advisory Committee (ATC) should be established. The ATC was created by the FCC to help develop high-definition television standards for use by broadcast, cable, satellite and importantly, computer and software industries, and to create some guidelines for advanced television usage for entertainment, health care, education or government. It was clear that there were standards to be set and goals to be established. America was behind Japan, which had already spent several billion dollars establishing its standard -- albeit, an analog one.

Within a few years this committee -- well represented by all the players and consumers alike -- produced meaningful guidelines for the FCC. We are today in a similar position. We are behind the rest of the world in a field in which we must lead. Our nation depends heavily upon the production use and transfer of knowledge-based products and services. We have pretty much lost our manufacturing capacity.

Now that the world is flat, as author Thomas Friedman says, we are seeing more and more of our high tech and biotech goods and services being outsourced. This however is only a symptom of the larger global economy. Increasingly other countries will be developing their own high tech goods and services.

For us to compete, for us to survive, we must develop the infrastructure of the 21st century much faster than we have been, and incentivize whole communities to begin using these new infrastructures to begin transforming their communities to compete in this new global economy. We must assure our cities that they can and should plan on building their information highways, in partnership with existing providers, and help them by clearing away the regulatory hurdles and logistical doubts. We need to set the standards for interconnection, and encourage alliances and partnerships as needed. We must develop a new deregulatory framework to promote broadband deployment and continued innovation. We must in short, establish and sustain a National Infrastructure Initiative to get our country back on track.

John M. Eger, a telecommunications lawyer, and Van Deerlin Professor of Communications and Public Policy at San Diego State University, was also director the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy.

John Eger


Technorati Tags: National Infrastructure, Broadband, Telecommunication

The Decider

With apologies to The Beatles, click on the picture!

Technorati Tags: F2C, Satire, OpenAccess, Telco

New SciTech Watch Column Published

My new SciTech Watch column is up over at Blogcritics. Its a short piece introducing Nanotechnology.

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
Youth and skill are no match for experience and treachery.

Technorati Tags : Nanotechnology, Bucky Balls, Nanotubes

Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA

Updated document from the Electronic Frontier Foundation on the unintended consequences of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act.

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more complicated. - Poul Anderson

Technorati Tags : eff, dmca

Day By Day: Immigration Protests

Dembski v. Shermer at UK

Here's Jeff Prewitt's review of the formal debate between Dr. William Dembski of the Discovery Institute and Dr. Michael Shermer of the Skeptics Society as published in the Skeptics Newsletter.

Random Thoughts
Dembski v. Shermer

by Jeff Prewitt

On Thursday, March 23, I had the pleasure of attending a formal debate between Dr. Michael Shermer of the Skeptics Society and Dr. William Dembski of the Discovery Institute on the campus of the University of Kentucky. It’s been two days, but the events are still quite vivid.

I traveled with my brother and a good friend, and, as expected, we had excellent, thought-provoking conversations on several topics spiritual and temporal. It was almost as though we were warming up our brains (so to speak) for the night’s event. We arrived an hour and a half early and, to my surprise, were the first ones there apart from the diligent sound crew. We took seats about five rows back in the center, and watched as people trickled in. I must note for those who haven’t seen it that Memorial Hall looks very much like a church. I felt the strangest urge to genuflect when I entered. It seemed altogether fitting and quite odd at the same time.

After several minutes, seats began filling. Though the hall wasn’t packed until a few minutes before the debate began, it was noticeably more populated at 30 minutes till. It was very interesting just listening to the conversations of the people around me while we waited for the night’s action. I’m sure there were many firm creationists that came to pull for Dembski, but everyone within earshot seemed to be of a more skeptical bend. Despite never having been in a congregation (!) of skeptics before, I quickly felt that these were my kind of people. I listened to men my father’s and grandfather’s age discussing the South Park episode of the night before (Chef’s Farewell — a hot topic!), a man presented another with a Flying Spaghetti Monster emblem, and there was talk of the JREF and the health of Mr. James Randi. Eventually, Dr. Shermer entered the room. He had come from a dinner with KASES members that I was unable to attend. A combination of backwardness and not wanting to disturb the man right before his debate kept me from approaching him, but just being in the same room was enough for me.

A few minutes after 8 local time, the debate began. Dr. Dembski showed examples of very complex systems found in nature (his favorite seemed to be bacterial flagella), and presented the case that evolution through natural selection could not account for the complexity of such systems. He also presented his belief that the statistical improbability of life as we know it happening by chance was so high that it seems unreasonable to believe that such life began by natural processes. Dembski was quite civil during his opening remarks. He even had a funny clip from Dumb and Dumber which related to his probability theme. His delivery was somewhat dry and he rarely cracked a smile (though he seemed a little under the weather — I can’t really judge since I’ve never watched him before), but on the whole he was worth listening to (much more so than, say, Kent Hovind).

Dr. Shermer was given 25 minutes to speak next, and I feel he made the very most of it. Shermer rebutted that complexity can come through natural selection, and presented examples of earlier forms of flagella that were steps up the evolutionary staircase to those mentioned by Dembski. He argued that we simply don’t know what the probabilities are in the formation of life, so any attempts to quantify the improbability of our being here are only guesswork. Shermer noted that many systems in the body show more evidence of a bottom-up tinkerer than a top-down designer. In other words, we seem like we came to our present form more from trial-and-error than from the necessarily perfect design of a perfect creator. Why do I have an appendix and nipples, when I don’t need either to function?

Shermer went on to say that being pro-evolution does not require you to be anti-religious. There are many scientists, Christian and otherwise, who see the overwhelming evidence for evolution and are honest enough to realize that it must take place. He said that science is not about miracles. We (science) don’t know yet how we got here on the cosmological scale, but as we learn how it could happen, we can test things in a lab. Saying “God did it,” though it may come from a strong belief, is not science. It can’t be tested unless He decides to show himself and submit to tests (sound of crickets chirping).

The homerun of the night, in my opinion, came when Dr. Shermer put up a quote by Isaac Newton. In that quote, Newton pointed out that the planets in our solar system lie roughly in a nice, level plane. This, he argued, was proof positive of design by a benevolent (and somewhat artistic) creator. Why don’t Intelligent Design proponents use this argument now? In the centuries since Newton said this, science has shown that this is completely a natural phenomenon. No one, not even IDers will argue that point. Because we didn’t know how it was done, we attributed it to God. The more we learn happens naturally, the less there is for God to do. Our species has gone from our cave-dwelling ancestors attributing everything to a Deity to now, only putting Him in charge of a few, ever-decreasing number of things. What do we think of now as so impossible it must have been done by God? By Dembski’s own words, he feels that evolution is one such thing.

In the question and answer session that followed, I was surprised by the fact that every question asked seemed to come from the skeptic side. I had fully expected the churches to mobilize against the “Darwinists” and to quote scripture to Shermer. This was absolutely not the case. Dembski was called upon to defend his work. Was it peer-reviewed? What theories have Intelligent Design contributed to science? Did he support the “Wedge Document” that the Discovery Institute formulated as their plan to bring religion back to education?

Finally, it was time for closing remarks. Here, Dembski took a cheap shot that seemed somewhat unbecoming of him. He took issue with Shermer’s remarks that a Christian can believe in evolution, and that it doesn’t require losing your faith to accept the theory. He said that Shermer did not, in fact, remain an evangelical Christian — seeming to suggest that evolution was the sole cause of this. Unfortunately, that remark was probably enough to stop some honest, open-minded religious type from searching out the truth for him/herself. There’s nothing like the fear of eternal damnation to stop someone from thinking for themselves and resume following the clergy blindly.

The point of it all for me, is that science takes what we see and makes conclusions and finds answers (more like tentative solutions) based on the evidence. ID starts with the answer that they want, and tries to make the evidence fit that answer. That is simply not science.

[end]

There is a an audio file of the debate and the eSkeptic newsletter can be found here when the web site gets updated. Back issues are also available.

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------

Your good nature will bring unbounded happiness.

Technorati Tags : Dembski, Shermer, Kentycky, skeptics+society

Public Knowledge: Broadcast Flag Facts & DRM Primer

A couple of items from Public Knowledge’s Issues page:

Seven Facts about the Broadcast Flag

* Public Knowledge Opposes Government Technology Mandates, Not All DRM: Public Knowledge is not against content protection — but we are against government mandated content protection that puts the FCC in the role of gatekeeper for new technologies. There are other options for protecting content, and the marketplace should sort them out.

* The Broadcast Flag is not Narrow: There is no “narrow” way to implement the broadcast flag scheme because it necessarily puts the FCC in the role of gatekeeper, having to approve and certify every technology that might carry DTV — computers, cellphones, gameboys, etc. As proof of the broad scope of the flag, when petitioned to exempt lawful uses of digital television, the FCC declined saying “practical and legal difficulties of determining which types of broadcast content merit protection from indiscriminate redistribution and which do not.”

* The Broadcast Flag will Cause Consumer Confusion and Slow the DTV Transition: At a time when Congress is concerned about making television sets obsolete at the end of the DTV transition, the flag would similarly render obsolete much consumer equipment because commonly used devices will not work together unless all use the same copy protection technology. The flag will not help the transition to DTV, and indeed might harm it because it makes consumers’ TVs less functional than before.

* The Broadcast Flag Limits Fair Use: As the May 11, 2005 Congressional Research Service report noted, the flag will prevent important fair uses, like the ability of teachers to engage in distance learning and the ability of individuals to email fair use portions of works to themselves and others.

* The Broadcast Flag is Not about P2P: The infringement associated with Revenge of the Sith and other movies that have appeared online has absolutely nothing to do with the flag. Rather, the flag is about protecting supposedly “free” over the air digital television. MPAA has provided no evidence that this content was being pirated nor would it be anytime in the near future.

* Digital Broadcast Content is Already Being Shown in HD with No Protection: In contrast to the argument that broadcasters won’t put on “high value” content, we note that most prime time television is already broadcast in HDTV, without protection. Viacom threatened in 2002 to withhold programming, but did not do so and is now one of the leading producers of HDTV.

* The Court Spoke to the Merits of the Broadcast Flag: The D.C. Circuit’s broadcast flag decision was not merely “procedural.” In ruling that the FCC did not have the authority to impose a broadcast flag scheme, the Court was ruling on the scheme’s merits — namely, that it is so far reaching in its scope that it would permit the FCC, in the words of one judge at oral argument, to regulate “washing machines.”

* To view a formatted version of these points in PDF, click here.

DRM Primer

Here’s the Table of Contents of What Every Citizen Should Know About DRM, written by Public Knowledge Legal Director Mike Godwin.

I. A Brief Introduction To DRM and its Relationship to Copyright Law

What is “DRM,” and How Did It Get Here?

How Copyright Is Different From Other Rights

Why Copying Used To Matter, and Why It Still Does

When Printing Presses Became Commonplace

The Growth and Expansion of Copyright Law

Technological Changes Challenge Copyright Law

The Ways of Adapting to Cheap Copying

How Copying Enriches Our Culture

II. What Does DRM Look Like?

A. Encrypting or Scrambling Content

B. Marking

C. Other Approaches

III. Should DRM Be Imposed By the Government?

A Brief History of Software Copy Protection

The Advantages of Selling Software Rather Than Content

How The Content Producers Have Responded

IV. The “Threat Model” of Universal Infringement,and the Potential Threats Posed By DRM

A. Can “Peer to Peer” Be Stopped On the Internet Itself?

B. Who’s a Host On Today’s Internet?

V. Conclusion: Can There Be a “Humane” DRM?

Freedom to Connect 2: Fat Pipe, Always...

Get it?

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible. - Albert Einstein

Parental Letter

So W gets a letter from his headmaster:

 

Dear President and Mrs. Bush:

I hope this letter finds you well. I note that you are both busy doing things to keep yourselves active in your "empty nest" years. But, while it is touching to see former President Bush travel the globe, raising money and awareness for disaster relief, and Mrs. Bush making sure the victims of Katrina are happy and resettled in Houston, I write about a matter which may, alas, have a somewhat negative impact on those admirable pursuits.

I know over the past several years we have spoken, sometimes at length, about your son, George, and the problems he's been facing since his move to Washington. And I know that your avowals and promises that his behavior would improve were every bit as sincere as my own belief in their accuracy. Unfortunately, however, his actions and deportment have, if anything, grown worse over time. The list of his transgressions is extensive and makes for painful reading:

His inability to accept, willingly and sincerely, any responsibility for things he has done remains unchanged; when caught in an egregious bit of recklessness (whether by commission or omission), his response is a token, empty expression of culpability, followed by a complete lack of remediation or, indeed, any change whatsoever in his behavior.

His lying, too, proceeds apace. From his categorical assertions about Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction, to his repeated claims that there were Al Qaeda terror cells in pre-invasion Iraq, to his recent proclamations that all is going well in that country, he continues to display a rather dismaying indifference to the distinctions between fact, opinion, and wishful thinking. (I will pass over his oft-repeated claim that he speaks to God -- Who, in turn, he implies, speaks to him; such a matter is best left to you, your son, and your respective clergy.)

I find myself particularly chagrined at several especially juvenile aspects of George's personality, including cheating (e.g., his shameful withholding from Congress the true cost of his Medicare program), bullying (cf. his "gang's" plot to betray the identity of Valerie Plame, his firing of Gen. Shinseki, and his traducing and dismissing of anyone who disagrees with him), his "playing hooky" (must he go on so many, and such extended, vacations?), and his penchant for blaming others, such as the poor, bereft residents of New Orleans -- who, he suggested, were responsible for their own inability to leave that city when cataclysmic danger threatened.

His lack of participation is also of concern: that he could be present at a briefing concerning the impending Gulf Coast hurricane without taking notes, asking a single question, or in any way contributing to the discussion, was as vexing as it was disappointing. He looked like nothing so much as a person who couldn't wait for the session to end and for recess to begin.

As for his habitual inability -- or mere unwillingness -- to do his homework, that, too, has not improved. He had no exit strategy when he "led" our troops into Iraq. Despite ample resources and forewarning, he took no steps to prevent the wholesale looting of that country; and indeed his entire indifference to matters of science, history, geography, meteorology, and diplomacy mark him as one of the least diligent and "prepared" presidents of all time. Of his sympathy, expressed or implied, for creationism and so-called "intelligent design," the less said, the better.

You had both promised me, when I raised these issues during his first term, that this behavior on his part was anomalous, and stemmed from the fact that he "was new at all this" and "had fallen in with the wrong crowd." You insisted that as soon as he escaped their influence, his record would improve. I must tell you, however, that he is still associating with these people, and there is no sign we'll see much of a difference in his performance between now and the end of his second term.

It is, therefore, with heavy heart that I must ask you to come and take your son home.

In addition, as any parent whose child has borrowed the family car for a "joy ride" and gotten into an accident knows, it is the adult caregiver of record who is held financially responsible for any and all damages the child incurs. I think I may state without fear of contradiction that we have bent over backwards and "looked the other way" with regards to the (sometimes shocking) expenses run up by your son. However, our accountants and attorneys have now informed us that we are to insist that you make reparation for all of George's mistakes. (Please see itemized bill, attached. You may, if you wish, round the sum off to the nearest hundred billion. Kindly make the check payable to "U.S. Treasury.")

I hate to see anyone go so far astray, and I'm especially saddened that it's your son. I remember thinking, during his early days among us, that he was a late bloomer, and that he could really turn his life around and make you -- and us -- proud. We are deeply sorry we were not able to help him realize that hope. And we're even sorrier that his record will severely inhibit the chances of his brother who, as you have said, has wanted to follow in his footsteps.

We will, out of respect for you, try to keep these offenses and criticisms off of George's permanent record, but with the speed and ubiquity of today's Internet, that plan seems highly unrealistic.

Please let me know when you will be arriving to pick him up and we'll make the appropriate arrangements. And as soon as you can pay off his debts, the sooner we can put this all behind us.

With sincerest regrets,
John Q. Public
Headmaster

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------

Never wear anything that panics the cat.

Technorati Tags : Iraq, Intelligent+Design, Indictments, Valerie+Plame, Saddam+Hussein, Hurricane, Hurricane+Katrina, George+W.+Bush

New SciTech Watch

                                          

My new SciTech Watch column is up over at Blogcritics. 

 

Guess what its about ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------

Don't marry for money...You can borrow it cheaper.

 

Technorati Tags : spam, ISP, email

SciTech Watch Columns

I've been remiss in pointing to my SciTech Watch columns over at Blogcritics.

 

March 30th Column on Web 2.0

 

March 23rd column on RFID Tags

 

Watch for this week's column on Email Spam. Coming soon.....

 

>JjV<
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Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window. - Steve Wozniak

 

Technorati Tags : scitech+watch, science, technology

Pet Pix

Since I've inherited my son's camera phone I snapped a couple of pictures of my dog and my rats.

Angel is our 10 year old toy poodle.

These are my two pet rats. Rattie sisters, Dot and Dash.

They share the same sleeping quarters although Dot is significantly larger than her sister.

>JjV<
---------------------------------------------
The fundamental principle of science, the definition almost, is this:
the sole test of the validity of any idea is experiment. - Richard P. Feynman

Technorati Tags : pets, poodle, rats