Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A War of Absurdity…
Two weeks ago I weighed in on our war in Afghanistan - “History shows why we should get out of Afghanistan” – This article, on the same subject, goes into more depth than I was able to within the confines of my word limit.
Scheer also points out facts showing al-Qaida is practically a non-presence in Afghanistan.
Every once in a while, a statistic just jumps out at you in a way that makes everything else you hear on a subject seem beside the point, if not downright absurd. That was my reaction to the recent statement of the president’s national security adviser, former Marine Gen. James Jones, concerning the size of the terrorist threat from Afghanistan:
“The al-Qaida presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.”
Less than 100! And he is basing his conservative estimate on the best intelligence data available to our government. That means that al-Qaida, for all practical purposes, does not exist in Afghanistan—so why are we having a big debate about sending even more troops to fight an enemy that has relocated elsewhere? Because of the blind belief, in the minds of those like John McCain, determined to “win” in Afghanistan, that if we don’t escalate, al-Qaida will inevitably come back.
Read the rest here via Truthdig
Photo Credit: Flickr/The U.S. Army
A stupid stunt by a stupid woman
Cops: Alabama mother had daughter, 13, ride in box atop minivan
Meet Jackie Knott. The Alabama woman, 37, is facing a child endangerment rap for allegedly having her teenage daughter ride in a cardboard box atop her minivan as it traveled along an interstate highway Saturday morning. Knott, pictured in the below Albertville Police Department mug shot, told cops that her 13-year-old daughter Haley was serving as a human paperweight to keep the box from falling off the vehicle (and careening down U.S. 431). While Knott explained that the box was too large to fit inside her van, it is unclear why she did not seek to simply flatten it in an effort to squeeze the box into her crowded vehicle. When stopped by cops, Knott, a Boaz, Alabama resident, noted that "the box was tied to the van with a clothes hanger," according to a police press release. That assurance did not sway cops, who arrested Knott in the shadow of a Tyson Foods poultry processing facility, according to an October 3 police report.
Photo and text via The Smoking Gun
Technorati Tags: child endangerment,stupid woman
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tree House for Serious Tree Huggers
There was a time “tree huggers” were an issue in Humboldt County. Nowadays you just don’t hear much about them. That is until I found this article in the WebUrbanist
Written by Urbanist
So you are really passionate about trees want to take your tree house adventures to the next level? These tree houses are not just amazing to behold but are actually complex protest structures. By locking onto and relying on the surrounding trees for support they prevent logging of large old-growth trees while providing an amazing living experience to their residents.
Pot smoking 'saved' Kevin Smith
The king of stoner moviemakers, Kevin Smith, never really smoked much marijuana until Seth Rogen talked him into it last summer, he says.
Now he sparks up at least three times a day and credits pot for helping him to dig his way out of a creative slump.
Not the sort of advice responsible parents, doctors or educators are likely to embrace, Smith told The Post's Don Kaplan, "I know you're supposed to tell kids not to do drugs, but, kids, do it! Do weed! Don't do the other stuff, but weed is good . . . What you want to do is what I did, build a movie empire and, at age 38, smoke it all away."
Smith is pushing his new book, "Shooting the S - - t With Kevin Smith," a project he claims he didn't even write because it's a transcription of SModcast, his regular podcast with pal Scott Mosier. "I did so little work to put this book together, but I did everything to make the podcast happen, so by virtue of that I am the author," he says.
Click here to read the rest at the New York Post online
33 Ways To Get And Keep Yourself Motivated
Being motivated is a wonderful state of your being. In that state your body leverages huge amounts of energy. Your emotional field is totally balanced, physically you’re able to climb the Everest and mentally you understand the whole Universe in a split of a second. I know you know the feeling. The good news is that you can re-create this state pretty much whenever you want. Here are 33 tips to help you get and stay motivated. By the way, if you’re into long lists, you may also check this one: 100 Ways To Live A Better Life.
1. Ignore The Unimportant
Learning to ignore is a fantastic lesson. Much more rewarding that you think. There must be an art of ignoring and they should teach it in universities. Spanning your focus in so many areas will only weaken you. Ignoring what’s unimportant will free up energy and help you stay focused and productive.
Click here to read the rest at Dragos Roua – The choice of a personal path
Technorati Tags: motivation
Monday, October 5, 2009
Now this is how to rob a bank
The G4S facility outside Stockholm that was spectacularly robbed
“Show you have a sense of humor by placing a bag outside the cops’ helicopter hanger with the word BOMB written on it. This will stop the police chasing you in the sky.
Scatter small sharp objects on the roads around the bank you’re targeting to slow down approaching police cars.
Rather than targeting a regular bank, choose a facility that stores banknotes for them.
Get schematics of the building.
Plan the raid for the day before people get paid, so there’ll be lots of cash kicking around.
Hover the chopper over the bank while your men abseil in.
Have a pilot so good that authorities suspect military experience.
Set off some minor explosions to get to the cash.
Chuckle at the cops as they try to get into the fortified building using a battering ram.
Leave all the staff unharmed.
Return to the helicopter and fly into the pre-dawn sky.
Land the chopper in a field.
Disappear into the woods with the loot.
Roll around in your money.”
thanks to The Punch for the above photo and article.
Roomba Art: vacuum versatility is arty
People love the Roomba. Why? Because it allows you to vacuum a room while sitting on the couch. Also because it seems more attainable than the Segway. And then a cat rode one, and it was glorious. Now comes something truly groundbreaking -- Roomba art. As far as we can tell, the trend started on a blog called Signal Theorist, who got the idea to set up a camera, turn off all the lights, and take a long-exposure photo of the Roomba's path as it "did its thing." The result looked like an awesomely psychedelic electrical spider web. Now more people are getting inspired to try variations on the same technique, and the creativity seems to be concentrated in the Flickr group, Roomba Art.
- The above image that started it all, via signaltheorist Technorati Tags: roomba art
Chief Red Cloud to Obama: Black Hills are not for sale
Chief Oliver Red Cloud, Lakota, issued a statement to President Obama requesting a meeting more than two weeks ago and is yet to receive a response. Chief Red Cloud, 90, told Obama the Black Hills are not -- and have never been -- for sale
Dear Mr. President:
I am the Itancan (chief) of the Oglala Lakota Band of the Great Sioux Nation and Chairman of the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council, the traditional governing body of the eight bands of the Lakota Nation.
The Lakota Nation entered into and has always abided by the provisions of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868. However, the United States of America has repeatedly violated and unilaterally attempted to abrogate the Treaties in violation of accepted international standards and codified international treaty law.
Click here to read the rest at Censored News
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Gluttons for glory -- heroes for an obese nation
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 10/04/2009 10:27:17 AM PDT
For the first time since the Civil War, American life expectancy is projected to decrease, owing to the diseases associated with obesity such as diabetes, ultimately causing cardiovascular death.”
-- Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol.49-Issue 16
On July 4, 1993, eating for glory became a national competition. Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest paved the way for competitive eating. The contest was so popular, watching people “pig-out” went international in 1997.
The irony of competitive eating in a country where hundreds of thousands of people die each year from obesity-related causes, seems lost on the thousands who attend and view these contests. These events have been broadcast live on ESPN since 2004.
Click here to read the rest. Photo via Kinetic Carnival – The Coney Island Blog
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Liu Bolin...The Invisible Man...
This guy paints himself... no trick photography ... no photoshop ...he just paints himself...can you see him in this photo yet? There’s more examples of Bolin’s art here.
Schwarzenegger asked to close prostitute website that rates women
Will “The Terminator” put a stop to “Punternet?” Or, will be be hesitant to put a California-based business - “out of business?” Stay tuned…this ought to be interesting:
LONDON (Reuters) – A British government minister asked California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday to shut down a U.S. website that allows men to rate prostitutes, including many working in London.
Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, told the ruling Labor Party's annual conference that "Punternet" fuels the demand for prostitution -- a vice she said degrades women and puts them at risk.
She said the web site was a "very sinister development" in the trade and exploitation of women and allows guests to compare and rate services in the same way as they would a restaurant, a hotel or a holiday.
Pimps put women on sale for sex on the site then clients offered their comments on line, she said.
"Punternet has pages and pages of women for sale in London," said Harman, who is deputy leader of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor Party.
She said she had raised the issue with the U.S. ambassador to Britain and asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to close it down as it is based in that state. Read the rest here.
Friday, October 2, 2009
US relinquishes control of the internet
• Icann ends agreement with the US government
• Move will give other countries a prominent internet role
“After complaints about American dominance of the internet and growing disquiet in some parts of the world, Washington has said it will relinquish some control over the way the network is run and allow foreign governments more of a say in the future of the system.
Icann – the official body that ultimately controls the development of the internet thanks to its oversight of web addresses such as .com, .net and .org – said today that it was ending its agreement with the US government.
The deal, part of a contract negotiated with the US department of commerce, effectively pushes California-based Icann towards a new status as an international body with greater representation from companies and governments around the globe.
Icann had previously been operating under the auspices of the American government, which had control of the net thanks to its initial role in developing the underlying technologies used for connecting computers together.
But the fresh focus will give other countries a more prominent role in determining what takes place online, and even the way in which it happens – opening the door for a virtual United Nations, where many officials gather to discuss potential changes to the internet.
Icann chief Rod Beckstrom, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Washington insider who took over running the organisation in July, said there had been legitimate concerns that some countries were developing alternative internets as a way of routing around American control.”
Click here to read the rest at the UK Guardian
Quotations about Statistics
The following is from The Income Team Blog and was gathered by Steven;
The average human has one breast and one testicle. ~Des McHale
Torture numbers, and they’ll confess to anything. ~Gregg Easterbrook in The New Republic
69.8% of all statistics are made up. ~Author Unknown
Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. ~Aaron Levenstein
Say you were standing with one foot in the oven and one foot in an ice bucket. According to the percentage people, you should be perfectly comfortable. ~Bobby Bragan, 1963
Statistics can be made to prove anything - even the truth. ~Author Unknown
Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable. ~Author Unknown
Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math. ~Author Unknown
He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts - for support rather than for illumination. ~Andrew Lang
Do not put your faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say. ~William W. Watt
Then there is the man who drowned crossing a stream with an average depth of six inches. ~W.I.E. Gates
There are two kinds of statistics, the kind you look up and the kind you make up. ~Rex Stout, Death of a Doxy
I always find that statistics are hard to swallow and impossible to digest. The only one I can ever remember is that if all the people who go to sleep in church were laid end to end they would be a lot more comfortable. ~Mrs. Robert A. Taft
There’s more here.
Technorati Tags: quotes,statistics
'Suit & tie' jailbreak guy caught
By LARRY CELONA, PHILIP MESSING and LAURA ITALIANO
“An inmate who casually walked out of a Manhattan courthouse posing as a lawyer was nabbed last night, as new details emerged indicating a correction officer's stunning breach of protocol could have allowed the escape.
Ronald Tackman, 56, was arrested as he got off a bus near a friend's house in Washington Heights just before 9 p.m. sources said.
Officers received a tip he'd be in the area, and he was arrested without incident.
Earlier yesterday, sources revealed that on Wednesday, a guard removed Tackman's handcuffs and those of eight other arrivals from Rikers Island as they stood in the 12th-floor hallway at 100 Centre Street.” Click here to read the rest at The New York Post.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Dwarves found 'theme park' commune to escape bullying
A community of dwarves has set up its own village to escape discrimination from normal sized people.
Everyone in the mountain commune in Kunming, southern China, must be under 4ft 3 ins tall and they run their own police force and fire brigade from their 120 residents.
Now the group has turned itself into a tourist attraction by building mushroom houses and living and dressing like fairy tale characters.
"As small people we are used to being pushed around and exploited by big people. But here there aren't any big people and everything we do is for us," said spokesman Fu Tien.
The idea of housing dwarves in special compounds would be anathema in the West, and the village has sparked fierce debates among expats living in China.
"When I first heard this I pictured myself obscure freak shows from a hundred years back," wrote one commenter on the GoKunming website. "Pay the entrance fee and you can watch these people perform."
But others said that it was the dwarves' best chance of employment given the surplus of labor in China.
"We might feel aghast at treating humans this way but this is the best way the Chinese government can deal with the situation right now," wrote Tonyaod.
"Go back a hundred years or so in our culture and we will see that we did the same thing à la the freakshows and the circus."
Photo and story via The Telegraph
Technorati Tags: dwarves,freakshows
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Farmer's daughter disarms terrorist and shoots him dead with AK47
An Indian farmer’s daughter disarmed a terrorist leader who broke into her home, attacked him with an axe and shot him dead with his own gun.
By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Rukhsana Kausar, 21, was with her parents and brother in Jammu and Kashmir when three gunmen, believed to be Pakistani militants, forced their way in and demanded food and beds for the night.
Their house in Shahdra Sharief, Rajouri district, is about 20 miles from the ceasefire line between Indian and Pakistani forces.
It is close to dense forests known as hiding places for fighters from the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which carried out the Mumbai terrorist attack last November.
Militants often demand food and lodging in nearby villages.
When they forced their way into Miss Kausar’s home, her father Noor Mohammad refused their demands and was attacked.
His daughter was hiding under a bed when she heard him crying as the gunmen thrashed him with sticks. According to police, she ran towards her father’s attacker and struck him with an axe. As he collapsed, she snatched his AK47 and shot him dead.
She also shot and wounded another militant as he made his escape.
Police have hailed the woman’s bravery.
They said she would be nominated for the president’s gallantry award.
She may also receive a £4,000 reward if, as police believe, the dead terrorist is confirmed as Uzafa Shah, a wanted Pakistani LeT commander who had been active in the area for the past four years.
Supt Shafqat Watali said Miss Kausar’s reaction was “a rude shock” for the militants. “Normally they get king-like treatment but this was totally unexpected,” he said.
Miss Kausar said she had never fired an assault rifle before but had seen it in films and could not stand by while her father was being hurt. “I couldn’t bear my father’s humiliation. If I’d failed to kill him, they would have killed us,” she said
Text and story via The Telegraph
Cannibals, presidential alien abduction, and clowns in space
By Lili Ladaga
On the menu for the latest edition of Weird Science: Cosmic cannibals, a presidential alien abduction and clowns in space. Bon appétit!
You gonna eat that? The Andromeda galaxy, our nearest neighbor in space, turns out to have a nasty appetite. Using a telescope scan, astronomers have found evidence of Andromeda's galactic meals. From the AP:
"What we're seeing right now are the signs of cannibalism," said study lead author Alan McConnachie of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia. "We're finding things that have been destroyed ... partly digested remains."
Earth's galaxy, the Milky Way, is next on Andromeda's snack list. John Dubinksi, co-author of the project, says the two galaxies are headed toward each other at a rate of 75 miles per second. But not to worry: We won't be dinner for another few billion years.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
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PHOTO: M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Credit and Copyright: Jason Ware
Trouble getting up in the morning?
The best morning alarm in the world is a sneaky elbow in the ribs – but if you are a singleton or have a partner even more sleepy-headed than yourself, you will be the owner of a digital waking assistant, better known as an alarm clock.
The first thing you want to do with your alarm clock when it starts warbling is, of course, batter it to a pulp. (You’re only human). This alarm – called Smash – encourages such “percussive maintenance” by having the switch buried underneath a deformable top. Hammer it with your fist and blessed tranquility will return. Go to WebUrbanist to see more alarm clocks.
(Image via: Hometone)
Technorati Tags: alarm clocks
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