In a few years
this will seem like the silliest headline ever:
TSA Would Allow Sharp Objects on Airliners: Screeners to Focus More on Bombs
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Reminder
A note to self to read this article about 250,000 bouncy balls being dropped on the street in San Francisco later when I'm at home and can watch the video.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Jury Duty and a Distinct Lack Of Updates
Apologies for the lack of updates, but Turkey day, work over the holiday weekend and some Jury duty have kept me quite busy. I'll try to work a bigger update in tomorrow at some point.
Out.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Found this: Iraq War Coalition Fatalities animated graphic that really helps to put the lack of improvement since March 20, 2003 into perspective.
Then found this emotioneric.com and laughed heartily after getting through the first basic images.
Friday, November 25, 2005
(not so) Intelligent Design
Stumbled upon this web page of evolution text book disclaimer stickers that's very well put. At the bottom it links to this article from Scientific American [pdf alert], which gives 15 answers back to idiots' claims about Creationism/Intelligent Design.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Who's Next? Satanists?
And people wonder why I can't stand organized religion. My biggest problems with them are when they preach one religion being better than another or preach hate. A Vatican document concerning homosexuality made available today that was approved by Pope Benedict XVI on August 31st is what brings this up. What ticks me off the most is the part I've put in italics:
The Vatican is ordering seminaries to bar candidates for the priesthood who "practice homosexuality," have "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" or support "gay culture," according to a document published Tuesday by Adista, a Catholic news agency in Rome.
Everyone knows that if the word of god comes out the mouth of a gay man, it's no good... Acutally, the church doesn't go that far. They appear to be OK with the idea of priests who are gay and already in the church staying in, as long as they don't practice or have those "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies". Ridiculous. I think the most important thing to note is that this is all just a publicity stunt to try to calm the fervor over pedophiliac priests. The post points out the lack of connection between homosexuality and pedophilia and that this won't solve the problem, but they don't take it that extra step to say that the Vatican is doing PR... Probably because without PR, newspapers would have nothing to print... Except facts obtained through journalism. I'll step off my high horse to quote the Post again:
The instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Vatican department in charge of seminaries, is not entirely new. Previous Vatican documents dating back to 1961 have called homosexuality an "intrinsically disordered" condition and have declared gays ineligible for ordination.
But Vatican officials say those rules have been loosely enforced, and some have blamed homosexuality for a worldwide scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests. Other Catholics say there is no connection between homosexuality and pedophilia.
"There are people on the right wing who from the beginning saw this document as a kind of magic wand that would remove the taint of the sex abuse scandal," said the Rev. John A. Coleman, a Jesuit sociologist at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. "I think that's wishful thinking -- and pretty stupid."
The new document delves into the issue of homosexuality in greater detail than prior instructions and may have greater authority, particularly because it bears the imprimatur of Pope Benedict XVI, who approved it Aug. 31.
The document does not call for the removal of gay men who are already serving as priests, and it does not flatly bar the ordination of anyone who has ever acknowledged a same-sex attraction. It says men whose homosexuality is "a transitory problem" may be ordained as deacons -- a key step toward the priesthood -- if they have lived in celibacy for at least three years...
The document does not elaborate on what it means by support for "gay culture." However, Pope Benedict, during his long pre-papal service as the Vatican's orthodoxy guardian, banned gay groups from using church property for meetings or setting up gay organizations under the umbrella of local churches.
But Vatican officials say those rules have been loosely enforced, and some have blamed homosexuality for a worldwide scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests. Other Catholics say there is no connection between homosexuality and pedophilia.
"There are people on the right wing who from the beginning saw this document as a kind of magic wand that would remove the taint of the sex abuse scandal," said the Rev. John A. Coleman, a Jesuit sociologist at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. "I think that's wishful thinking -- and pretty stupid."
The new document delves into the issue of homosexuality in greater detail than prior instructions and may have greater authority, particularly because it bears the imprimatur of Pope Benedict XVI, who approved it Aug. 31.
The document does not call for the removal of gay men who are already serving as priests, and it does not flatly bar the ordination of anyone who has ever acknowledged a same-sex attraction. It says men whose homosexuality is "a transitory problem" may be ordained as deacons -- a key step toward the priesthood -- if they have lived in celibacy for at least three years...
The document does not elaborate on what it means by support for "gay culture." However, Pope Benedict, during his long pre-papal service as the Vatican's orthodoxy guardian, banned gay groups from using church property for meetings or setting up gay organizations under the umbrella of local churches.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
No time to summarize today's news
Check out talking points memo for a good update...
I can't help myself, though. Here's a link to Scanlon's Plea Agreement [pdf alert].
Bush... so dumb
BUSH PLOT TO BOMB HIS ARAB ALLY
PRESIDENT Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
A source said: "There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
A source said: "There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency.
Apologies for quoting from the mirror. More sources can be found at google news and elsewhere.
For a country that promotes freedom of speech, this all seems a little bit hypocritical (just a tad, right?).
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Published
Check out thedelimagazine.com. The banner at the top of the page for Monsterland Studios was done by none other than yours truly. Toot, toot, went my own horn.
Saturday
Gooooood morning. Not doing too much today. Need to find a place to put some books that came off of an old shelf and have been reading up on how to better use Unix with Mac OS X. Nerding it up pretty hard.
I just read through some of these poll questions compiled by Michael Moore on his website as well. Apparently the current sentiment agrees with what I've been whining about since 2002. Glad to see that 53% of Americans are starting to come around.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
I knew it!
Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force
A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.
The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.
The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.
What's interesting here is that the White House denied that this happened. If you look at the latest ads in various magazines from Chevron and BP ("Beyond Patroleum", right?) they chatter on about renewable energry and "working towards the future". If that's the case and they were talking with Cheney about renewable energy, then more power to them. They're the ones who could be the most influential and have infrustructures in place for energy distribution. Somehow, though, I doubt that they were talking about renewable energy with Mr. Cheney, especially since the white house has been denying that the meeting took place. They could always say that the meetings were closed door and they had no obligation to say with whom they met. They could also say that they didn't mention meeting with the Oil Execs because they knew that it would be construed in this fashion.
They can say a lot of things...
Uh oh
You know that when China admits something's wrong, there's trouble afoot:
China confirms first human bird flu cases
China on Wednesday reported its first three confirmed human cases of bird flu as the government raced to vaccinate billions of chickens, ducks and other poultry in a massive effort to stop the spread of the virus.
The Health Ministry confirmed two human cases in the central province of Hunan and one in the eastern province of Anhui, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Both areas reported outbreaks in poultry in the past month.
Experts are especially worried about the potential for bird flu to spread and mutate in China because of its vast poultry flocks and their close contact with people. It also is a major migration route for wild fowl, which experts say might be spreading the virus.
The Health Ministry confirmed two human cases in the central province of Hunan and one in the eastern province of Anhui, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Both areas reported outbreaks in poultry in the past month.
Experts are especially worried about the potential for bird flu to spread and mutate in China because of its vast poultry flocks and their close contact with people. It also is a major migration route for wild fowl, which experts say might be spreading the virus.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Quick Note
From this article in the Washington Post:
Alito Downplays '85 Comments
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito distanced himself Tuesday from his 1985 comments that there was no constitutional right to abortion, telling a senator in private that he had merely been "an advocate seeking a job."
I thought to myself, "isn't he seeking a job now?"
But he said:
"I was an advocate seeking a job, it was a political job and that was 1985. I’m now a judge, I’ve been on the circuit court for 15 years and it’s very different. I’m not an advocate, I don’t give heed to my personal views, what I do is interpret the law."
Lies, lies, lies. More later.
Friday, November 11, 2005
New Image
It's been a little while, but I played around with some pictures of scenery in Colorado last weekend and came up with the image to the right. Go to molt be designs to check out the larger image, if you wish.
I'm hoping to get a photo blog up and running sometime in the next few weeks so that I can make something that resembles chromasia, but with my own images and without stealing that fellow's code.
R says that this image conglomerate looks like a painting and I take that as a huge compliment. It's a combination of two pictures that I took at altitudes of about 12,000 and 9,000 ft; one of tundra, the other of a park at the base of the mountains. After enough fiddling around, I think it came out pretty well.
Delay "I'm totally not guilty...
unless you want to bust this down to a misdemeanor"
Nothing screams "I'm kinda guilty" like an attempt at a plea bargain
DeLay Team Weighed Misdemeanor Plea to Save GOP Post
Lawyers for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) tried unsuccessfully in late September to head off felony criminal indictments against the then-majority leader on charges of violating Texas campaign law by signaling that DeLay might plead guilty to a misdemeanor, according to four sources familiar with the events.
The lawyers' principal aim was to try to preserve DeLay's leadership position under House Republican rules that bar lawmakers accused of felonies from holding such posts. DeLay was forced to step down as leader on Sept. 28 after the first of two grand jury indictments. [link]
The lawyers' principal aim was to try to preserve DeLay's leadership position under House Republican rules that bar lawmakers accused of felonies from holding such posts. DeLay was forced to step down as leader on Sept. 28 after the first of two grand jury indictments. [link]
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Good News For Furry Creatures
But they're not out of the woods yet.
Arctic drilling dropped from House bill
House leaders late Wednesday abandoned an attempt to push through a hotly contested plan to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling, fearing it would jeopardize approval of a sweeping budget bill Thursday.
Still, the Senate has included ANWR drilling in its budget bill and GOP leaders will push hard for any final House-Senate budget bill to include it.
If the House bill passes in a vote set for Thursday, the two chambers would appoint negotiators to work out differences between the bills. Senate Republicans could insist the ANWR drilling proposal be reinserted into the House bill, forcing a new vote by the full House.
The House Rules Committee formalized the change late Wednesday by issuing the terms of the debate when the House takes up the budget package on Thursday.
The decision to drop the ANWR drilling language came after GOP moderates said they would oppose the budget if it was kept in the bill. The offshore drilling provision was also viewed as too contentious and a threat to the bill, especially in the Senate. [link]
Still, the Senate has included ANWR drilling in its budget bill and GOP leaders will push hard for any final House-Senate budget bill to include it.
If the House bill passes in a vote set for Thursday, the two chambers would appoint negotiators to work out differences between the bills. Senate Republicans could insist the ANWR drilling proposal be reinserted into the House bill, forcing a new vote by the full House.
The House Rules Committee formalized the change late Wednesday by issuing the terms of the debate when the House takes up the budget package on Thursday.
The decision to drop the ANWR drilling language came after GOP moderates said they would oppose the budget if it was kept in the bill. The offshore drilling provision was also viewed as too contentious and a threat to the bill, especially in the Senate. [link]
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