The United States Air Force has stirred up controversy with a new Internet filtering policy that aims to prevent Air Force personnel from reading blogs while on the job. The ban has been implemented by the Air Force Network Operations Center (AFNOC), which houses the Air Force Cyber Command. The block is said to extend to virtually every web site that contains the word "blog" in the address, but doesn't impede access to sites that are deemed by AFNOC to be "reputable media outlet[s]".
As Barack Obama would happily concede, words are powerful. Words matter. So let's briefly look at the words of Obama on trade. Here is Obama from his book The Audacity of Hope, sounding all Tom Friedman:
We can try to slow globalization, but we can't stop it. The U.S. economy is now so integrated with the rest of the world, and digital commerce so widespread, that it's hard to imagine, much less enforce, an effective regime of protectionism. A tariff on imported steel may give temporary relief to U.S. steel producers, but it will make every U.S. manufacturer who uses steel in its products less competitive on the world market.... U.S. Border Patrol agents can't interdict the services of a call center in India, or stop an electrical engineer in Prague from sending his work via email to a company in Dubuque. When it comes to trade, there are few borders left.
The fastest way to a Geek's bedroom is through the brain.
Ask him for a reading recommendation -- Geeks love to be consulted about intellectual matters.
If you've got specialized knowledge of a particular subject, be sure to bring it up. Geeks tend to be attracted to experts -- the more obscure your subject, the better.
If a Geek mentions their latest hobby, be sure to ask for a crash course. Nothing will get a Geek in the mood like showing off their know-how.
Party: Republican Born: 1935, Green Tree, Pennsylvania Family: wife and five children Career: Flight surgeon, US Airforce; ob/gyn doctor in Brazoria County Political career: Member of the US House of Representatives, from Texas 22nd congressional district, 1976-1977 and 1979-1985; Libertarian Party presidential candidate 1988; Member of the US House of Representatives from Texas 14th congressional district 1997 to present Hot topic: Small government Did you know? At high school he recorded a best time in the 100-yard dash of 9.7 seconds at a time when the national high school record for that event was 9.4s Supported by: Sean (Val Venis) Morley, Dennis Hof
Click the title to find out who you should vote for.
Having sex can cause pregnancy. This one seems too obvious to mention, but judging from the number of "oh, shit, I'm pregnant" pregnancies in the world, I thought it bore repeating. Nothing is 100% effective against pregnancy except abstinence, or the removal of your ovaries or testicles. If you cover your body with piercings and/or tattoos, you may not be able to find a job. This also goes for doing weird things to your hair. And please don't give me any bullshit about "freedom of expression". You go right ahead and express yourself all you want, but don't expect businesses to be under some kind of obligation to hire you. They can't not hire you for being a Jew, but they certainly can not hire you for looking like a fucking freak. (caveat: I have tattoos … And I have nothing against tattoos, piercings or fucking freaks. Just don't whine about it when you're treated like one.)
Marijuana is not a "gateway drug". OK, maybe 99% of "hard" drug users also smoke pot. And maybe a lot of them smoked pot before they got into whatever hard drug it is that they're using. But that's not because the pot made them do it, it's because damn near everyone has smoked pot at some point in their lives. You have no right to be proud, unless you did it yourself. That goes for anything from racial pride to gender pride to national pride. Your race, gender and nationality are accidents of birth. Being proud of something you got stuck with when momma squeezed you out is assinine. You have a right to be proud of your own personal accomplishments, and perhaps those of your children (if you were actually a decent parent, and your kids didn't succeed by sheer force of will alone). That's it. Your parents had sex, Mom got knocked up, and nine months later, there you were. Race, gender and nationality handed to you out of the accident of your birth. Fuck your white pride, your black pride, your national pride, and all the other bullshit that goes along with it.
Don't you just love the way men are portrayed in popular culture? We're either fat slobs (Jim Belushi), idiots (Homer Simpson), or any other number of stereotypes.
I think the major problem is..............Feminism.
Yeah, yeah, I know. "But feminism helped grant women equal rights." But in actuality feminism gave some women a sense of entitlement to more rights. It seems to be the same with most so called "minorities". They always want more rights than everyone else. But I digress (and that's a post for another time).
Men and women seem to have forgotten that WE ARE DIFFERENT! Women are better at nurturing professions, like Teaching and Nursing (fact) while Men happen to be better at the more physical professions, like Construction and Iron work (also fact).
So let's all try this on for size. Men and women should embrace their differences and stop trying to homogenize everything that makes every individual man and woman unique.
From Pajamas Media:
“We’re tired of the way the media portrays us as either abusive, career-driven, slovenly, or one of the myriad of other male stereotypes,” one married man complains to Dr. Helen Smith. She sympathizes.
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Warner Bros. will turn Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume graphic novel "Akira" into two live-action feature films, the first of which is expected to be released in the summer of 2009.
From io9.com:
"Akira" debuted as a manga strip twenty-six years ago, running for eight years in the Japanese magazine Young (It's been reprinted twice in the US, by Marvel Comics in the '90s, and Dark Horse in the beginning of this decade). The plot centers around Shotaro Kaneda, leader of motorcycle gang The Capsules, his psychic one-time best friend and now enemy, Tetsuo Shima, and eponymous character Akira, a cryogenically-frozen child whose destruction of Tokyo decades earlier started World War III and precipitated the creation of the hypermodern metropolis Neo-Tokyo.
A material that is able to self-repair even when it is sliced in two has been invented by French researchers.
The as-yet-unnamed material - a form of artificial rubber - is made from vegetable oil and a component of urine.
This could have a huge impact commercially. I can think of three or four products that would benefit from this right off the top of my head: Tires (no more worrying about that pesky nail you just ran over), shoe soles (or hell, even whole shoes [no more resoling your shoes or worrying about you soles flapping around in the breeze]), the list goes on.
This marvel of technology has potential (was that a bit over the top?).
Where's the future we were promised we should have had by now, like fish bowl swimming pools, flying cars, and mining on the moon.
In the 1930s scientists were trying to come up with anti-gravity and flying cars-- now it's more than 50 years later and we're still waiting on hoverpads and personal air vehicles.
As a matter of fact, the only two things that were predicted by futurists that we actually got are the electronic home library, and robot warehouses where the bots fetch your orders. Sometimes futurism is more hopeful than predictive.
One such futurist was Arthur Radebaugh, who was also an illustrator who came up with many of the "world of tomorrow!" style ads that you'd see gracing the inside pages of magazines like Motor, Esquire, Fortune and Advertising Agency throughout the 1930s. He even coined the term "imagineering" back in 1947.
Here's an online exhibit of Radebaugh's art at the Palace of Culture called "The Future We Were Promised, where you'll see art like the picture above.
There might be some of you out there wondering why this blog keeps changing and rearranging.
The short answer (and the long answer for that fact) is that I'm not 100% satisfied with my blog layout. I'm trying to make this the best blog I can. Hopefully it won't be much longer before I am truly satisfied.
So, I apologize for the "mess" and thank you for your patience.
Another excellent entry by our friends over at Wicked Theory.
From the Wicked Theory site:
We here at the Wicked Theory Institute have spent the last several months compiling endless data, crunching unfathomable number strings, charting numerous alternate realities and scouring this new fangled Instanet, to bring you a shockingly new, regular feature. We call it: The Big Bad List. No set number of entries (because this ain't Worldwide Pants), listed in no particular order (because "random is the new black") and mostly comprising our personal favorites (because we're narcissists).
The short film organization Future Shorts has launched its short film channel on Joost, the new free online television platform.
From FilmThreat.com:
Future Shorts is one of the world’s leading and most innovative short film labels. Since its inception in 2003 it has revolutionised the way in which short film is exhibited and distributed. The Future Shorts festival now operates in 25 countries and gives filmmakers the largest platform available to have their work seen around the world
What does Fidel Castro's resignation mean for the future of Cuba? Henry Louis Gomez says Cubans will still experience the same amount of repression, but now with 10% less bluster.
Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely love Lifehacker.com?
Well I'm not ashamed to admit it. I LOVE LIFEHACKER! This site has help me gain and use more of my time than I ever could have imagined.
And that is why this has got to be one of the most useful sites on the web. Those of you who have used it know exactly what I'm talking about. Those of you who haven't used Lifehacker need to do so. NOW!
Sat phones on the moon, huh? What'll they come up with next?
From Engadget:
Did you know that NASA was building a base of operations in the south pole of the Moon? Did you know colonists would be living and working there? Did you know that plans are in motion to establish a satellite phone network which would allow said colonists to communicate with one another? Well, it's all true... and more!
"Russian artist Andrey Kuznetsov has created a series of Russian folk-art woodcuts inspired by science fiction films like The Matrix, Star Wars and War of the Worlds. These are just...inspired."
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, folks. There's been a lot of stuff going on here at home.
On a happy note, things are looking up. My grandmother is doing much better and may actually be able to come home in 6 to 8 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed.
I'll try to post at least once a day from here on. Promise.
Will Wright's eagerly awaited Life simulator Spore finally has a release date of Sep. 7, 2008. It's about damn time!! I've been waiting to play "god" for a long damn time so that I might finally "get" what intelligent design is all about. On a serious note: I really am interested to see what this game can do. It would be interesting, to me at least, to see what kind of creatures people can come up with. This could also be a great tool for teaching evolution. But then again, I could be wrong.
Also: Will Wright's Spore walk-through for Wired Magazine here.
February is finally upon us and so to is "Black History Month".
My question to you is; Do we really need an entire month dedicated to "Black history", especially in this day and age?
I always thought that when we were taught history in school that it included "Black history", "White history", "Asian history", "Indian history", and every other "history" we've ever had in this country.
Why not give everyone their own "History Month"? Wouldn't that be the politically correct thing to do?
First let me apologize for the lack of posts the last few days. It's been a little hectic here at the show. I'd also like to thank all of my friends for their support during this family crisis. To you all, I love you.
Now on to the topic at hand.
Can some one please tell me why congress is involved with the steroid "scandal" in Baseball and the "Spygate" scandal in Football? Doesn't congress have anything better to do besides spend our tax dollars on inane crap like this?
Maybe it's just me, but I think congress should concentrate on actually doing its job. They should worry about the war in Iraq, earmarks and pork, and actually protecting individual rights.
This isn't the way I wanted to start my day of posting today, but, I think it needs to be said.
My grandmother has recently fallen ill and the prognosis doesn't look good. She's currently on life support and it looks as if she might be taken off within the week.
For those of you who know me, thank you for keeping my family and I in all of your thoughts and prayers.
This picture is all you need to pitch a movie. Hell the name of the movie is already in the picture. Some on should get on top of this pronto! Not me of course because I, you know, have no idea how to write a movie.
Now I have a question. What meaning do you take from the above picture and what is your reasoning behind it? (this is me trying not to be a total douche)
Hold on there Scroogler.......... I'm not talking about Google. I'm talkin' politics!
"What does 'Do No Evil' mean?", you ask. Well, politically speaking, I'm talking about the Constitution and our government's general disregard for it.
Now I'm not just talking about the current administration, mind you. I'm talking about since the founding of our Nation.
It all started when George Washington with the urging of Alex Hamilton decided to implement the same kind of draconian excise taxes that they had fought so hard against for so long. Hence the "Whiskey Rebellion" of 1794.
Woodrow Wilson continued this tradition when he created the Federal Reserve, slowly stripping our currency of any real value.
And finally we have George W. Bush. What can I say that hasn't already been said. The Patriot Act, the suspension of Habeas Corpus, the list goes on.
I must say I find it quite amusing when people are surprised that Dubya does what he does when most if not all of our elected officials throughout the history of this nation have done the same thing. He's only following precedent.
Now, should he follow precedent? I don't think so. The Constitution is a pretty damn good document when it comes to laying out what the federal government can and cannot do. But what do I know, I'm just some plebe.
So....... What does "Do No Evil" mean? It means people, especially politicians, should mind their own damn business and let others live their lives as they see fit, as long as they don't intrude upon the freedoms and liberty of others. And I think that's all any of us really want; To live our lives to the best of our abilities and in peace.
What's it say in the Declaration of Independence? Oh yeah, that we all have the rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. So go out and exercise your rights people.
Of course schools kill creativity! Schools are run by bloated, behemoth governmental bureaucracies and don't benefit from free-market private competition.
Now some of you are probably saying, "But won't it be outrageously expensive to send my child to school in a free-market education system?" Well, at first, yes. But if you look at every other product or service created in the last 50 years, the first, let's say, decade or so was when that product or service was at its most expensive. After that, because of greater efficiency and innovation, prices decreased rapidly while quality increased, making those services and products more widely available. Now this wasn't because the government stepped in and started pushing companies in the "right" direction. It was individuals with creative goals, who pursued those goals ruthlessly and efficiently.That by definition is the free-market at work. Why wouldn't it be the same for education?
I'm a firm believer that innovation and progress are driven by individuals and private companies who are willing to take creative risks in the pursuit of their goals. If you look at the examples of true progress and innovation throughout the history of this worm shit smeared ball of rock we call home you'll notice that governments are not the movers and shakers they'd like us to think they are. Individuals and the companies they founded are who aren't afraid to take risks and in turn drive innovation and progress.
Schooling our young should be undertaken with the same commitment to innovation and creativity as any other product or service out there.
And here's a different though quite entertaining point of view:
Link here for more creative ideas in technology, engineering, design and a great deal more
*note: Any figures I may quote are strictly made up
I'm not much for government aid in any respect, I'm more a private charity kind of guy. But this lecture by Bjorn Lomborg is quite provocative and thought-provoking, and the ideas he presents could probably be used by both governments and private charity to help prioritize the worlds problems.
Why is it when you have a political or religious debate with someone you're demonized for disagreeing with some one else's point of view? Am I really an evil bastard for believing the voracity of the Theory of Evolution or for the Political belief that government should stick to Police, Courts and the Military? Penn Says I'm not and I don't think I am either but we could both be wrong.
My name's Don, but you can call me Professor Politico (I'll get to the meaning of this name in a moment).
To start I'm a bit of an intellectual, more Penn Jillette than Nietzsche, but that's a story for another time maybe. I'm also an "Autodidact" and a voracious reader. I live for Politics and Philosophy, but hate politicians and philosophers (I have this thing about being told how to live my life). I love Science,Technology, and Design, but have no discernible computer or design skills(this post is taking the better part of an hour). And I am considered by most of the people I know to be a huge geek.
Now, to explain why I chose the name Professor Politico; The Professor part of this name comes from the endless amounts of useless information that's stored in my malformed noggin (what can I say it's a gift and a curse). The Politico part comes from my almost obsessive consumption of all things politics. Now you're saying to yourself, "Self, do I really need to read another socio-political/entertainment/technology blog? There's already a ton of them out there (BoingBoing.net comes to mind). This guy's just a small first time blogger. Could he really have anything new and unique to say?" Well I would like to think that I do have some new and unique views on politics and philosophy as well as pop culture, entertainment, and technology, but only time will tell. Do you have to read any of it? No. To be brutally honest I'm not really doing this for you, Dear Reader. I'm doing this for me. So if you like what you see and read, great. If not, that's fine too. Hopefully you'll take something away with you when( or if) you visit this site.
