There are so many though that I just can't get enough of:
- #82 Hating Corporations
- #41 Indie Music
- #62 Knowing What's Best for Poor People (hint* it definitely isn't their choices / lack of responsibility*
- #7 Diversity
Friday, March 21, 2008
Stuff White People Like
Yes! I have found a new favorite blog! It's a blog explaining to the world what white people like and why they like them. The best that I can tell, "White people" actually means "white, urban, liberal, yuppies who are (or more accurately: feel) morally superior to their white brethren because of a complex system of having minority friends, hating corporations, studying abroad, and having an arts degree". Sadly there's a few that hit a little too close to home for me:
There are so many though that I just can't get enough of:
There are so many though that I just can't get enough of:
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Undeniable Global Warming
To the Enlightened of This Age: Our Lord and Savior...
Am I really unbiased, or do I purposefully go out of my way to find these kinds of stories? I try to keep an open mind, but I am just way too skeptical that we have to drastically change our way of living because we're all going to boil to death.
The oil-shill that is NPR has had something to say recently about Global Warming. You know what they say? We don't fucking know what's going on with the Ocean's temperature. Scientists have expected the below surface temperatures to have increased the past 4 years, but they have not (if they're interpreting data right). What this means is that there's a whole bunch of heat energy that no one knows where it went. One of the suggestions in the article was that the excess heat could have been expelled into space. Whelp, I had better go buy a Prius so the entire Universe doesn't overheat...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Obama's Speech on Race
Yes, I will admit this guy has brains. I am certainly not an Obama supporter, but this guy is able to garner a large portion of popular support while not having to defend or talk about his voting record (easily on of the most liberal in the Senate). His talk of uniting (as his is incredibly partisan in voting) is not all that terribly truthful, but the way in which he chooses his words seem uncommonly heartfelt and straightforward.
Obama took the opportunity Tuesday at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia Pennsylvania to discuss his thoughts on race, what his connections to the Reverand Jeremiah Wright mean, whether he will agree to disavow his preacher's stances, and throw in some specifics on what he wants to do with the presidency.
(*full length clip: over 9 minutes long, transcript is here*)
I almost shit my pants when I realized that not only was he expounding on the views of many blacks in America, but he also brought their counterpoint forward as well. He spoke of his connections with the outspoken (and really freakin' crazy) Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and told why he couldn't throw his preacher under the bus (politically). I believe this speech Obama gave will easily be considered historic. I believe that Obama as a man is genuine, but with regards to where he wants to take this country, genuinely wrong. Read the transcript, or watch the speech for yourself, you will certainly gain something from it. My views on race and race relations have not changed one bit, but I am heartened by the fact that someone at the national level understands some of the most difficult nuance on this subject and is willing to talk to the nation about it.
I wish more people were willing to step up to a podium and lay bare their views like this. I wish also that people would judge those thoughts on their merit and not based on some arbitrary and harmful standards which political correctness forces on this debate.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Unbelievable Robots
I absolutely love how systems and controls can be used to make sci-fi looking stuff a reality.
This "robot-dog/horse" thing is incredible.
Here's a different implementation of this technology, but towards the exo-skeleton side. This is a military implementation. It's a bit hokey, but amazing none-the-less.
This Japanese prototype looks much more refined, but with less emphasis put on sheer strength.
This is a semi-autonomous RC plane which takes off and lands vertically on a wall. This is not an Osprey type plane with propellers which transition to helicopter like orientation. It is a regular single prop RC plane, with fully autonomous transitions from vertical take-off to level flight and back to vertical landing.
This stuff is awesome.
This "robot-dog/horse" thing is incredible.
Here's a different implementation of this technology, but towards the exo-skeleton side. This is a military implementation. It's a bit hokey, but amazing none-the-less.
This Japanese prototype looks much more refined, but with less emphasis put on sheer strength.
This is a semi-autonomous RC plane which takes off and lands vertically on a wall. This is not an Osprey type plane with propellers which transition to helicopter like orientation. It is a regular single prop RC plane, with fully autonomous transitions from vertical take-off to level flight and back to vertical landing.
This stuff is awesome.
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action:
I personally believe that Affirmative Action must be totally abolished and exposed for what it is through public discussion.
Let's get a few things out of the way right quick. Black is a term used in Canada and Brittain with no connotation of ill-will. African-American means as little to me as German-American means to everyone else. There is no color of lazy, morally corrupt leech that is any worse than any other color (except taupe, I fucking hate taupe).
In the past, American blacks have been given the shaft. Slavery, later being held to different standards constitutionally, and most recently Jim Crow laws all were dispicable excuses for a morally flawed system of consistent degredation and morally corrupt thinking. Other minorities have also faced severe discrimination, but for ease of discussion I will be using the moniker black. Within the discussion of Affirmative Action remember that women, hispanics, indians (woo-woo-woo, not dot), and even eskimoes reap benefits from this system.
Any system which includes/excludes based on the color of one's skin is inherently wrong. If we are striving for a world in which opportunity to succeed/fail is open to anyone we cannot continue an institution which by its very definition favors one to the detriment of another based solely on color.
One very pertinent argument is that having a level playing field is all well and good if everyone starts at the same place. Meaning, if there are 10 runners and each's lane is free from hurdles, yet one gets a 50 yard headstart, the race is still inherently unfair. Historical racism favored whites and held back blacks. If the world were perfectly equal (which I will argue is still not perfectly true) many argue that there will still be inherent inequality due to the head start that families of whites give their now quite well off children. I would be willing to partake in this line of thinking if every white family was successful and every black family were not. Seeing whereas this is not the case, I think I am quite justified in calling Affirmative Action "Bullshit".
For the sake of argument should the child of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Oprah, Colin Powell, or George Foreman deserve any extra advantage over white children who may have been born to dirt poor white trash? There are still instances of racial prejudice which persist in this world. I will not admit however that the color of one's skin truly holds any individual back in this day and age. Opportunities are absolutely boundless. If, America as a people, prefers to help those who were born to disadvantaged families, we must say that. Don't insult my intelligence by saying that every single black person (woman, hispanic, or Baldwin) automatically has the cards stacked against them, and there is no opportunity for success.
Statistically blacks are the most likely group to be born out of wedlock, in a single parent home, in poverty, or any combination thereof. This family situation is infinitely more detrimental to the child's future than the color of their skin is. In a similar environment a white child has no greater chance of making it in life.
Kids, parents, and society as a whole must be shown again and again how personal decisions can affect their (and their children's) lot in life. Statistically there is no socio-economic level in which hard work is not rewarded with an improving quality of life. Leading a mindless life, disregarding long term consequences, and persuing empty stimulation every second of one's life is equally destructive to those with or without large amount of melanin in one's skin.
If, as a country, we still believe it necessary to help those less well off, we can do so, but leave race the fuck out of it! There are few things I believe as ardently as this: work ethic and self improvement will trump a million times over nearly any stumbling blocks put in one's way.
Brittain is wrestling with this issue as we speak.
I personally believe that Affirmative Action must be totally abolished and exposed for what it is through public discussion.
Let's get a few things out of the way right quick. Black is a term used in Canada and Brittain with no connotation of ill-will. African-American means as little to me as German-American means to everyone else. There is no color of lazy, morally corrupt leech that is any worse than any other color (except taupe, I fucking hate taupe).
In the past, American blacks have been given the shaft. Slavery, later being held to different standards constitutionally, and most recently Jim Crow laws all were dispicable excuses for a morally flawed system of consistent degredation and morally corrupt thinking. Other minorities have also faced severe discrimination, but for ease of discussion I will be using the moniker black. Within the discussion of Affirmative Action remember that women, hispanics, indians (woo-woo-woo, not dot), and even eskimoes reap benefits from this system.
Any system which includes/excludes based on the color of one's skin is inherently wrong. If we are striving for a world in which opportunity to succeed/fail is open to anyone we cannot continue an institution which by its very definition favors one to the detriment of another based solely on color.
One very pertinent argument is that having a level playing field is all well and good if everyone starts at the same place. Meaning, if there are 10 runners and each's lane is free from hurdles, yet one gets a 50 yard headstart, the race is still inherently unfair. Historical racism favored whites and held back blacks. If the world were perfectly equal (which I will argue is still not perfectly true) many argue that there will still be inherent inequality due to the head start that families of whites give their now quite well off children. I would be willing to partake in this line of thinking if every white family was successful and every black family were not. Seeing whereas this is not the case, I think I am quite justified in calling Affirmative Action "Bullshit".
For the sake of argument should the child of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Oprah, Colin Powell, or George Foreman deserve any extra advantage over white children who may have been born to dirt poor white trash? There are still instances of racial prejudice which persist in this world. I will not admit however that the color of one's skin truly holds any individual back in this day and age. Opportunities are absolutely boundless. If, America as a people, prefers to help those who were born to disadvantaged families, we must say that. Don't insult my intelligence by saying that every single black person (woman, hispanic, or Baldwin) automatically has the cards stacked against them, and there is no opportunity for success.
Statistically blacks are the most likely group to be born out of wedlock, in a single parent home, in poverty, or any combination thereof. This family situation is infinitely more detrimental to the child's future than the color of their skin is. In a similar environment a white child has no greater chance of making it in life.
Kids, parents, and society as a whole must be shown again and again how personal decisions can affect their (and their children's) lot in life. Statistically there is no socio-economic level in which hard work is not rewarded with an improving quality of life. Leading a mindless life, disregarding long term consequences, and persuing empty stimulation every second of one's life is equally destructive to those with or without large amount of melanin in one's skin.
If, as a country, we still believe it necessary to help those less well off, we can do so, but leave race the fuck out of it! There are few things I believe as ardently as this: work ethic and self improvement will trump a million times over nearly any stumbling blocks put in one's way.
Brittain is wrestling with this issue as we speak.
"Over The Top" Finally Gets It's Due
If there is one weakness that I have acquired in my years on this earth it's ridiculous action/macho movies. An arm-wrestling trucker teaching his estranged son the ways of the world most definitely fits into this category.
The cinematic wonder is best explained by I-Mockery.com I've seen this movie probably 6+ times and it just gets better and better.
My meager collectoin includes: Rocky I-VI, Robocop I-III, Rambo I-III, Predator, and Terminator I & II, as well as some others I'm not thinking of right now. Soon I'm going to branch off into buying Steven Seagal movies. He's a giant douchebag, but I'll be damned if I don't laugh at his serious face every freakin' time.
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