Disqus - Latest Comments for tim

Re: Change Blindness

tim — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:26:50 -0000

What would interest me is the people who recognize the change on a subconscious level, and subtly question whether or not if it matters. This group should be identifiable from the 25% who did notice, but unidentifiable from the unknown percentage of those who didn't notice on any level of awareness without a better process.

Re: Creation vs. Collection

tim — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:29:36 -0000

Way back, say 20 years ago, in our conversations on the amphitheatre steps, I seem to remember a similar comparison between creators and consumers. In those orations we found that consumers weren't aware of their situation, or of their obligation in general.

Perhaps it is so with collectors. I know I am not as creative as I could be, because of my choices that also prohibit the practice of those abilities, and that I am both a consumer as a product of those choices, and a collector in collaboration with who I chose to do what I have been doing.

However, it can be said that people in certain situations that go against their natural inclinations will be less happy. And, furthermore, people unable to extricate themselves from their situation will be even less happy, having been made aware of their problem, either through personal analysis or external intervention. And, even in the event they are not made aware of any conflict, the intrusion of non-conducive characteristics against their optimal nature will clutter and degrade the mechanism they are maturing into.

Like flakes of metal in an engine, wearing down the gears, cylinders, and piston rings from the shafts to the crank, impeding progress until peak performance is lost and inevitably impossible.

But, then, that isn't a concept everyone concerns themselves with.

Perhaps collectors who lack organizational skills that can create a concept or education out of their collection are simply clutterers, which is in general against human productivity.

(Sorry if I've gone the long way about this, but I just woke up.)

-=T=-

Re: Some Solid Ideas on Healthcare Reform

tim — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:11:59 -0000

This tact makes me very happy.

-=T=-

Re: Are We Going to Let John Die? – NYTimes.com

tim — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:43:29 -0000

One thing I'm sure you'll agree with is that overreacting can make things worse.

-=T=-

Re: Are We Going to Let John Die? – NYTimes.com

tim — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:29:49 -0000

Policy reform should not include distractions that do not help towards improvement. We can fear what talking heads will expound at length upon ad nauseum, or we can get to work. At our level, it shouldn't be what politico darlings are vouching for our trust, it should be what specifics we can endorse as changes for good, or maintain for the same.

I'll pass on the Rush link. I do not feel the need to compensate for his extremism with any reaction of my own. And I can only hope this hype isn't fuel for justifications for rampant policy overreactions by the left, which induces rationlisms for overreactions again on the right. In fact, not only is it hard for any policy to be enacted in this climate, it's even harder still to get a proper policy done, and even harder still to get the best one.

The devil is in the details, man. Let's do battle, with them.

-=T=-

Re: Are We Going to Let John Die? – NYTimes.com

tim — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:26:18 -0000

"But she couldn’t add John to her plan because of his pre-existing condition."

This is his primary problem, the condition preventing him from getting insurance. It is discriminatory, and has been applied to pregnant women, and people with high blood pressure, and others because of their weight.

Let's urge Congress, and the President, to focus on solving this aspect, instead of exploiting it politically. Seems like a smaller fix than increasing the bureacracy, taxes, government expenses, and criminalizing or penalizing being healthy and not needing to buy health coverage.

-=T=-

Re: Surprised Kitty is Surprised

tim — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:49:53 -0000

that's debatable.

-=T=-

Re: Is this the next project for me, Simon and Nick?

tim — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:40:51 -0000

I once had a dream where I was On this hill in the middle east. And, I'm walking up the mountain, and there at the top is like a seat, where you can see pretty much everything, since everything was either rocks or dirt or sky. And, sitting in the seat, was Jesus. Without missing a beat, he sees me, and get sup and asks if I could take his place. I said, "No prob.", and I sait down, while he skipped off. Two seconds later, Romans came up and, after short chase, whisked me off. bugger.

later on i recognized the place from "Life of Brian."

Re: On A Short Holiday

tim — Fri, 18 May 2007 23:06:15 -0000

give 'em hell!

no, wait, er...

have a nice trip!

-=T=-

Re: The First Thing the Next President of the United States Must Do

tim — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 11:23:26 -0000

well rounded point of view.

lol.

-=T=-

Re: What Every American Should Know About Iraq

tim — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:57:42 -0000

there is enough subjective conjecture in this article to turn any extremist on his natural bend, making those predisposed for the war more against this article, and those against the war for the article.

however, there are also fact inside of it, which are the only thing i believe people should relate to. whatever the author believes isn't worth noting, as it is clouded with notions that the actions of our country were not honorable, without facts. so, only the facts are worth investigating.

in those facts are things that can be concluded three ways; aspects to the president's credit, aspects detrimental to the president's public image, and those that are neutral toward's his office. of those that are neutral, non-issues, more conjecture is made, acusations thrown in, and a far from rosy picture is painted by the author.

again, i throw that out.

what things could be made to support the president's cause, things listed to display his terrible intentions, but could have actually gone towards showing his efforts in a respectable endeavor? the author lists certain subjects that he means to use against the president, such as chalabi and the un weapons inspectors, which have been shown to go for the president. chalabi lied to our administration, and tried to profit from our productivity in the invasion. our response to knowing he lied was to remove him from the political arena he thought he would gain unlimited access to. and as for the un weapons inspectors, they were shot down out of the skies by the iraqi military on orders from saddam hussein, on more than one occassion.

did our prospects in removing hussein not stem from bringing a mass nurderer to justice, from removing a blockade of international aid to children and starving families who funnelled the oil-for-food program and bilked millions? that alone was worth making the invasion.

how about the image of an imperialist power this war provokes? it exists, and has for decades. in this war we emphasise POWER, and one that can be directed upon the least wayward of nations.

darfur, n. korea, and other nations are indeed also a threat to world peace. it's obvious we want to be in those nations, making correction, setting the world to rights. in one manner, being in iraq, establishing a democratic precedent in the middle east of regime change a doing our best to see the peace that will follow happen, even if our government changes hands many times before that comes to fruition, has forced a safety net against a worse conflict. if we invaded n.korea instead of iraq, we wouldn't be doing so much posturing as ducking nukes. also, if we had gone into iran, the same. darfur is the territory of un responsibility more than the middle east is ours, and if they aren't going to act there, or actions will just as they've been shown in iraq, prove to be contentious and unwanted.

how can the author say we aren't safe in making a least threatening invasion in iraq, child's play compared to "more worthwhile" military actions he supposes, those of darfur and other wmd powers? i don't know the specifics of it, but i;'ve seen this kind of "coloring" of the truth before, and even were i a person for against the war, i couldn't condone this article as authoritatively objective and truthful, and it's bias is more than pronounced.

this composition is exactly what it promised not to be in the first few paragraphs. if you don't think so, please, i invite you, even if you are already convinced of the argument against the war, read it again.

-=T=-

Re: What’ll Happen When Someone Dies In MMA?

tim — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 06:06:55 -0000

it's also a matter of time before someone (else) gets seriously injured in a figure skating event. (yes, the media won't hound that type of tragedy. nor nascar, nor football, nor the inevitable fallout of a presidential candidacy, *cough*EDWARDS*cough*.)

as for WWE style wrestling, what can be celebrated is the violence in the display of achieving athletic excellence, the risk involved in the pursuit of reaching for the pinnacle of one's ability, but it should also be noted that wrestling is a medium for rare sights to be seen, feats of endurance, great jumps and falls, men (and some women) pushing their bodies to the brink of disaster to engage a crowd in their limited drama.

yet, MMA is without the acting, void of the supplemental plots and unfolding storylines. it is pure endurance, and ferocity. we as spectators, like to see what we might still be capable of, if we were put in that ring for whatever unholy reason.

survival of the champion, that is worth the clamorous adoration of the multitude of fans.

huzzah.

-=T=-

Re: iPhone: Initial Thoughts

tim — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 12:59:48 -0000

i've heard alot of people banking on the theory that there will be rapid imporovments to the iphone in the next coming months. i think this shows a great deal of trust in Apple to react to it's products shortcomings, and possibly a great deal of neglect in the other companies' interest in making their own improvements.

i'm glad you mentioned the helio dealer, though. i'm very eager to see what their adaptation to the market is.

(and i'm curious if you think the steady success of the helio is at all responsible for the seeming shortcomings of this model of iphone, seeing as how the iphone had to break out into the market before changes in the manufacturing could be made? or are they not relative competitors?)

seriously, i'm glad you're having a good time with it.

-=T=-

Re: Olbermann’s Plea For Bush To Resign [Video]

tim — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 11:18:26 -0000

no. this isn't extreme. it's a quite mellow, softhanded approach. actually, what olberman wanted to ask is for bush to disembowel himself on the floor of congress.

what's that in the not too distant shadows? what do i hear? why, methinks i hear jihadi giggles frolicking in the chaos of media frenzy.

seriously, it's like bush executes half a pardon, (commuting a prison sentance), and the sharks smell blood.

well, have at him. i doubt anyone will get anymore than a few drops.

-=T=-

Re: Staying Sharp With Microsoft

tim — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 03:48:52 -0000

Expand your horizons, even if only to update what you can say about where you've already been. Good for you. MS does have issues, but that doesn't mean that they can't solve them, or, rather mutate them into something nuclear and poisonous by sight. It's good to be versed in what their Help features might suggest and use that as a starting point, perhaps even to understand a trend on where it doesn't go.

-=T=-

Re: Yeah, She’s Only 15

tim — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:17:11 -0000

We must turn the blind eye to the nigh-sexual aspect of this display. It is an extreme, and yes, once out of earshot, inspired men, (and some women), will comment about "how sweet it would be to get a piece of that", but the fact remains that it isn't for those not of that age range. Young women get dressed up, and either go in public to the beach or to the mall, or even, god forbid, to the high school, hoping to look attractive on a regular basis, hoping to impress upon others an implied availability for a relationship, as custom permits a social rank associated with this. They exist naturally, without this pageant, roaming freely all around the country, and, get this,

WITHOUT BURKAS(sp)!

Or even without a male escort.

Seriously, there must be safe havens where women, whether they be young girls or adolescents or at any other age, can be safe from the mantra that beauty must be sexual and it must be consumable. No, beauty pageants aren't all about showing off the latest piece of meat for all butchers with a sharp cleaver to weild. It can be about pride. It can be about recognizing achievement. It can be about young women choosing their own reasons to express themselves, and they just might never look back afterwards.

Let them have their space. Let them have their game. Let them have their practices, their young would be paramours to challenge each others over them. But, most of all, let them be safe from the worst stigmas of our society, that "temptation must be courted, or else sequestered."

In any case, food for thought.

-=Timm=-

Re: God — Not Man — Committed the Original Sin

tim — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:30:36 -0000

BAD ASS TITLE!

Well, you hit the nail on the head, "In the beginning...". This kind of goes towards my views on god. When god created the first thing other than himself, wasn't he still everything? If so, wasn't everything that was an aspect of him still a part of him? The only thing he wasn't, was limited. We are limited. He is infallible. We are prone to mistakes. He is without consequences and responsibilities, whereas we are. We, unlike him, bear the risk of liabilities, even risk itself, is rare to god, without us.

In short, we are living god's life, one he lives through us vicariously, but can still claim ownership over. We carry him even in denial, like the holy spirit, and everything we see that adds to the knowledge that each denomination grows by, so does he. Is not humanity so much more complex than 10,000 years ago? So has his complexity grown, since we have added to all, by science, by discovery, by contriving, do we also add to him.

"In the beginning...", he was the epitome of simplicity. God's future may be known, by some universal record, perhaps counting backwards unto an ending, but in the meantime we who claim ownership of his heritage and creeds, are basically what he can't be.

One human mistake is to anthropomorphize god, to make his intentions seem understandable. Wrath, Sloth, all the deadly sins, are interperetable in this manner, reading sins in gods actions. So are virtues, such as when people believe that god hoped good things on his flock when he created us.

The commonly followed statement rooted deep in our dogma answers this, that "god acts in mysterious ways." This being said, I must admit it seems kind of convenient to answer quick doubt, but I can believe this. Does an omniscient being not know what is in our minds? And how about us, with our limited knowledge, and our dependence on abstract conjecture, can we say we CAN know what's going on in god's mind? He is alien to us, having all powers, having all knowledge, he is as beyond our ability to understand as we are to a grain of sand.

What do we add to god that he didn't have before us? Perhaps time. Perhaps a sense of limitation. Maybe even an ability to explore what is possible, not what was already real.

As regarding god's involvement in original sin. One thing is for certain. God is the cause of all things. All the stars, evolution, Able's death, the Flood, all births, all deaths, so, yes, he was the origin of sin. But he also created gravity. And these are the rules we live by, not him. there is no authority to arrest god. That so being, we charge the most immediate sinner to the act, and each accomplice, until reason prevails and the authority pulls back.

Remember that last highschool final you failed? That was god's action too. Was it his fault? No, because it's his design. Does god's involvement remove blame from you? Obviously not. And so it is with Adam and Eve.

Can we choose to alter from his gift of temptation? Yes. Are we only subject to whims he made? Maybe, yet, again, human laws deal with human responsibilities and consequences. If a dog bites a child, the dog's owner is brought before court, not the dog, nor god, nor anything else we can say thinks like a human.

However, there also we touch on where responsibility lies, for we do not blame the execution of the man's frailties, his limitations, but the standards we uphold all men to be capable of. Man's powers are subject to our laws, not our weaknesses, for we know they exist, and that they are many.

So, with Adam and Eve, we would first prosecute their capacity for higher reasoning, and then their neglect of it in deference for temptation. God, as always, is immune from all liability, even prosecution.

(i'm tired. can i stop typing now?)

-=Timm=-

Re: Episteme

tim — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:32:18 -0000

I should like to mention the need to venture away from philosophy, once in a while, and to stay current in maintaining the structure of society, one can do no harm and great good by getting familiar with sciences.

I have a few books concerning nuclear, molecular, atomic and quantum physics(most of which blend), and a few on water treatment and distribution.

Just thought I'd throw in a category to see what other's thought about it.

What is higher thought worth when a civilization cannot last to speak the conclusions, both truths and lies?

-=T=-

Re: The Future is Divided

tim — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:27:58 -0000

i should mention how large groups are blind to their denomination, and define themselves more strongly by their subsects. a whole army of disenfranchised, otherwise powerhungry poor majority cannot unite under a single social banner because they constantly mitigate their interests to those of only their "race" or some such.

Re: The Future is Divided

tim — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 05:07:11 -0000

As i've said before, the fact that in our culture there is an option to adopt a "default with no standard for failure" attitude is fueling the divide between the impoverished class and the ruling class.

From a sociological standpoint, the ruling class becomes unstable (and less able to control the chaotic masses) when the "lack of a failure standard"-attitude infects it and is so predominant in the overall society that only those who self-impose a standard for failure maintain their drive for superiority and excellence. In such a case, those drawn to self-motivation are too few to do what is necessary and let the failures fall to Darwinistic conclusions.

As of now, we are even further going out of our way to avoid such a natural course. We are a compassionate society, so we offer all the respect and priveledges to both the achiever and his nemesis, the slacker. At least on some comfortable level, more comfortable to the anti-achieving consumer demographic, these two coexist without compare, and most certainly without large respect due to the better of the two.

The social contract has been modified so much that it's redundancies now outweigh it's once clear goal. Children aren't being given the basic understanding that their upbringing comes at the cost of a promise to do their best to maintain AND improve society, and to follow through with that promise.

Those few households that shirk contemporary decadent cultural values in favor of the great virtues of our national heritage are dwindling in numbers, but they know a choice when they see it. All the homeschooled families are following through with this in mind, and are removing their children from the modern school system, a failure that won't die in itself.

If a correction to the fabric of our national/cultural future must be re-established, it's with the very first education and culturing of our newest generations. Unfortunately, it also means that letting go of the cancer of extreme compassion on our collective hearts will making a broad rule for the consequences of failure to uphold the standard of motivation that is needed to produce a generation that can unite, and that must achieve as a whole.

Otherwise the disparity of classes will doom our world to some random fate, that is, if we can't choose to do what is necessary.

(Dan, I more or less know the movies you've seen, even the recent ones. I watch too many movies. You, sir, are no "too many movies watcher.")

-=Timm=-

Re: Paying People To Be Good Parents

tim — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:15:42 -0000

Most children will grow into the model adults of they were familiar with in childhood. some won't, but most will. So, given this type of program, I do not find it hard to believe that these children will expect to be given money for having kids, much less raising them.

In fact, given the fact that they will be more expert at the resources of their environment than we can expect of them, I predict that they will find a way to be in the advantageous position to demand it.

"Fuck it, he can starve until I get my parenting check."

The whole idea is that we are going to trust these "unfortunate" people to finally see the light and do what is right, on the basis that monetary incentive will reward them at every important turn.

How's about, these people should go to prison for not having their kids in healthy, running order? Why not keep the school systems accountable for their own inadequacies?

This isn't right. Do I have a better answer? Maybe not. Nothing more than this is going to do more harm than good, and it's giving more power to irresponsible parents than they have a right to or a need for. Who does this put at risk? The providers of the program, the public in general, or the kids?

Dammit, I see a load of kids and their needs being held hostage for the promise of money they can raise. It's a bad precedent to make.

-=T=-

Re: Crom’s Dog Tags

tim — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:51:08 -0000

Crom approves. And if he doesn't, to hell with him!

-=T=-

Re: The Best Argument I’ve Ever Heard For Why Someone Believes in God

tim — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 13:07:20 -0000

@ Daniel,

Are scientific observations capable of supporting the existence of God?

-=T=-

Re: Liberals vs. Conservatives: The Best Oversimplification You’ll Ever Read

tim — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:54:22 -0000

Per my experience,

Liberals act (vote, purchase, argue) from a perspective that supports a view based on contemporary values.

Conservatives act (vote, purchase, argue) from a perspective that supports a view based on traditional values.

I really don't think that either one is more adepth at policy making or social engineering than the other. That doesn't neglect their current standings, since the current system of government or marketing of any wing or echelon is always proven too temporary to be known as a lasting power. (Look at the Democrat Majority from the 1950's to the 1990's.)

Also, liberal/conservative standings are very sensitive to the adjacent trends, i.e. if disney were to all of the sudden support gay marraige, it would put any associated company or related personality in the hot spot if they detracted from the mainstream disney message. Suddenly, Melissa Etheridge wouldn't be welcome only in the homes of Left Wing politicos, but just everywhere, reducing her "contemporary values" stigma to merely commonplace.

Where the values of today come into conflict with the traditional values, which connect a broad scope of the social/cultural landscape, is where the battle for what tommorow's intentions want to be like. Liberals have used for years the message that Conservatives think heartlessly and serve corporate demands, and Conservatives have retorted much in the same manner that Liberals destroy both a moral heritage and make plans that seemingly will harm the public.

Honestly, they seem to do the same thing. The simplest outcome is that each message is it's spent manipulating specifically inclined populaces.

-=T=-

Re: Penetration Testing is Easy — Too Easy

tim — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:16:10 -0000

"Attacking these networks is like pushing over little kids. Congratulations on that."

Awesome.

-=T=-

Re: Rethinking Pat Buchanan

tim — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:23:55 -0000

"Who restarted the Cold War? Bush and the braying hegemonists he brought with him to power. Great empires and tiny minds go ill together."

Knowing of Buchanan's relationship with the Republican party's power base, I can easily see this statement isn't simple criticism. It's an act of bitter retaliation.

-=T=-

Re: Serpenticus

tim — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:53:43 -0000

it defies description, and eludes the truth of it's existence. yet, this evasion invades our mentioning, and thus it is, simple, contrasted against the possibilities, a silhouette, shrouded in the shadow of it's purpose and potential.

Serpenticus

-=T=-

Re: Was the Last Time Your Last?

tim — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:29:41 -0000

I remember what i did the first thing after high school. I went to the local liquor store and bought potato chips and dip, and went to my mom's house with a friend. The first hour was spent just reflecting what was over.

Similarly, I remember the last day I wore a baseball uniform. I was given the let go from the college baseball tryouts, and I was kind of glad. my shoulder was worn out, and i couldn't throw the ball anymore, not like i used to. I was only 20 years old, but i had played baseball for 15 years of my life. I wore that uniform the rest of the day. When I took it off, it went into a drawer full of clothes that didn't fit anymore, and shortly thereafter, I moved away.

Sometimes, if you do remember, you just can't shake it. Never.

-=T=-

Re: Is It Wrong to Have Children?

tim — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:08:57 -0000

The ultimate response I've repeated to people when they can't understand why others have children, much less risk pregnancy and giving birth, that, if they don't know, and can't say there is any good reason to have children, then they shouldn't have them.

It's simple, and it avoids sharing the motives that might always elude the somewhat hesitant prospective parent. It also obstructs the chances of undue pressure, whether interpersonal, sociological, or cultural, that does serve as a good reason to react negatively to the days when the parent finds themselves forced to be parents, and with doubt. Even when some parents take the time to decide wholeheartedly that they are going to be occupied for a dedicated portion of their lives to the upbringing, care, support, education, and nurturing of children that are surely going to be obstructions to otherwise carefree lives, they find certain days to have tasked them to the brink, and they falter in their resolution. Finally they might give in to the looming option of abandoning this commitment, or drudging through it for some period of time more. Either way, those days exist, and the reality of why to have kids fades with time, as it ceases to be a choice, for most sometime in the pregnancy.

Don't worry about why you should have kids. If you have enough good reasons to not have kids, don't feel bad about it.

Check this out; They die. No matter what, they always die. How messed up is that?

Now, I've got a bit of a more direct question; Adoption or Pregnancy?

Adoption, you are providing an environment for an otherwise unlucky youth that has a fresh opportunity to break the cycle of his wayward culture, and improve society as a whole. Drawbacks; the youth carries with him genetic and social predispositions that are beyond your own, manipulatable to the extent that the pool provided for you does not represent your heritage, at best. (As an aside, adoptive parents are more regulated by government agencies than are non-adoptive parents.)

Pregnancy, mostly, the opposite. You are represented in the next generation by the similarity of upbringing you are familiar with, and by the blood connection that results in similar ways of thought, actions, and motives that you can interpret better than an adoptive parent. Drawbacks; you are exactly carrying on the cycle of life that brought you about, for good and bad, and for all the attention you squeeze out of every situation and variation of every possible situation of interaction with the child, you are limited by what predispositions you carry with you from your childhood, and are mostly blind to other manners and interpretations of the child's thoughts, actions, and motives that could in fact be beyond what you could have imagined in your most lucid acid trips.

So, follow your heart. There are good and bad reasons to both. On the one hand, your genetic heritage and potential is expressed in the next generation, and on the other hand, in adoption, that potential might transcend the bonds and limits of genetic legacy.

Marilyn wants me to say, "If you aren't a parent, you won't understand how rewarding it is." I agree, to some extent, and I know this falls into the selfish ambitions of having a baby, but it doesn't change the sense of pride, accomplishment, and security in the future of humanity having children creates, either method.

But the simple message endures; "You don't need to understand."

However, look up "contractualism":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contractualism

And see where to engage in the mechanisms of societal proliferation and prosperity, we get to choose what we get in exchange. Sometimes it's mutual, and in this case, I'm sure it can be said it's selfish, but we get something in exchange for complying with cultural norms.

We profit from the exchange, and so, certain freedoms persist, the least of which is to participate in overpopulation. In China, I hear, it's different. Not so much, but the same threats to children and families suffering misfortunes of destitution and death still exist.

If the insurance of a permanent structure for today's world to stay stable and thrive for all time was in place, I might say, we can do away with all sorts of responsible people having kids.

I want to imagine that for a moment. Everyone who follows ethical rules to stop having kids. Would that have a bearing on evolution, after a few generations?

Let's ask who would be having kids? People who give into their propensity towards irresponsible actions? The nature of the world would shift radically by each passing generation.

OK. I give up. If I haven't given you enough to contemplate, it's really been an entertaining exercise in neither apathy or futility, but a fusion whose trajectory leads past us and onward, farther than our belief in worthy endeavors can make captive.

Peace,

-=T=-

Re: Is It Wrong to Have Children?

tim — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:01:02 -0000

ok, i've thought about it. it's a question of value.

if you see the genetic offspring as more valuable than the adopted child, then you would go with that. that, i'm sure, is a kind of preference that doesn't necessarily need rationalizing. it's equatable to like red instead of blue.

if you don't, and you see the inherent value in raising a child out of the depraved slums and into the suburban slums, then the two types of children are equal, and the course is clear.

there is always some level of compromise between the two, but i'm sure the basis would be the strength of the value placed in genetic children. as a follower of statistical curve, i believe a gradient should be plottable.

basically, an instinctive propensity towards natural pregnancy and genetic link to the child, or not.

-=T=-

Re: Some Thoughts on John McCain

tim — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:06:21 -0000

i commend you for finding the most one-sided, subjective article that draws the most extreme conclusions from public knowledge.

it's pure poetry in that respect.

If I was capable of writing it, I'd be proud to call it propaganda.

-=T=-

Re: A Simple View of Sugar and Sugar Substitutes

tim — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 03:01:19 -0000

@ Carl M.;

I'm glad you raised the vital statement concerning this issue, "It means eat differently."

! Daniel; this means using all the tools as they can be applied, which means you must completely become both fully educated and updated on the tools available.

I stopped drinking caloried sodas and switched to diet for the exact reason ants avoid diet sodas, because diet sodas don't contain sugars/calories(and caloried sodas do in copious amounts). (Notice how ants also avoid plain water.) In the year that followed, I read various reports from many health magazines raising the issues of aspartame, heard them on the news, and even became aware of such a similar issue with Splenda.

Somewhere in that time I also lost 40 lbs. Since that time I've gained alot of it back but the difference is that I'm a little more muscular now. So, it has it's ups and down.

But the important thing to do is first recognize that yes we do live in a potentially toxic environment, but also arm yourself with information on techniques to be a survivor, and also one who thrives in this modern, much more artificial world we inhabit. Denying ourselves the chance that we could do good with the lab-created, tasty, happy drugs we put in our bodies, (no that doesn't sound right, but that's what science is for), is a denial of the opportunity of the basic right for self improvement I'd rather not advise anyone into doing.

Yes, I believe, based on current articles, that a specific load of aspartame will be the direct cause of death for a significant portion of people. Exactly how much has been measured, estimated, applied to rats, then humans in not so nearly a lethal dose, and repeated by other laboratories to not only see if the artificial sweetener was economically viable in terms of safety, but also to see if one lab could find a breakaway series that could even be better and worth patenting.

That why we have government agencies, such as the FDA, (who I will never blindly trust), to follow the adage "everything in moderation", besides the highly praised marketing motto of "do not kill your customers [until it's more profitable to do so]."

You've given me something to think about, though. I'm reminded that celery is a negative calorie food. I wonder what else is.

-=T=-

Re: Eating Beef Jerky in the Dark

tim — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:25:22 -0000

hope reign supreme.

some might say it is a driving force, compelling us, jerking us through the darkness, frame by frame, thinking line by line of private thoughts over what tastes we respond to, what moods and states we live by, or find ourselves in.

until the present catches up to us, and it's unavoidably evident, that it's the simple elements filling up our fleeting lives, 'til the days we and our hopes are dried up, aged, and refined for consumption by the least, (or emptiest), of hours, even time on the road.

-=T=-

Re: Starbucks Goodness

tim — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:38:51 -0000

i was poking around under the house, trying to get the cat out, and i found a new starbucks.

honestly, i've done the hanging out thing. it's good as long as they have a nice chair i can read in. i swear, it immediately draws a comparison to the opium dens of old.

one thing i learned from the experience, after a long night guarding an airfield from 11pm to 7am, a lonely, cold night which required the taking of nodoze or vivarin in those vicious hours just before sunrise, do not try to drink a double espresso latte without fear of rapid heart fluctuations and extreme sweat and unmanageable paranoia.

oh lord. it was bad.

-=T=-

Re: “I Don’t Think Osama Can Win. First, He’s Black, and Second He’s Muslim”

tim — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:08:38 -0000

Evenso, muslims still like him.

"MUSLIMS FOR OBAMA"

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godometer/2008/02/muslims-for-obama.html

While it's true that Fox news is often accused of spewing skewed rhetoric, it and the other news networks don't solely rely on the popularity of their reporting. In fact, I have seen much more negative than positive reaction to what people have termed the "conservative propaganda." As for it being the only source of information that some viewers depend on, well, I can't quite say that the reporting agencies are to blame for the ignorance of certain members of the public, as they surely don't report that Obama's name is Osama, nor that he's a muslim.

Sequestered and ensconced in a secluded and isolated corner of the universe, busier in their specialized vocations than in the pursuits acquiring a firmer grip on the state of world politics, some people slip through the nets, so to speak, and don't get the full gist of what is actually going on.

It would indeed be merciful for the rest of us who need to know and need to discuss such things if they could just get up to speed rather than speak where they shouldn't. I endure so many conversations such as these to get my fellow speakers through this infancy of sorts, to break that mold and yet keep their interest intact, and let them have their semblance of respect so they won't be daunted out of furthering the current information in future discourse with other groups. Sometimes I'm unsuccessful, or even only partially successful, but that type of progress is required, because these people are at risk of accidentally voting.

So, go forth, improve the world, and realize, it's a formidable task. To do otherwise would be promoting their insular attitude. Realize that if you know more, you are obligated to teach it to the point where you are either believed or disbelieved, yet you've been heard.

-=T=-

Re: Mexican Immigration

tim — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:54:12 -0000

Very well said.

National identity is no longer an ideal. Instead, it's being treated as an illness.

Mexicans aren't the problem, however. Mexicans alone are only a symptom of what's going on. The process that brings them, and all the other destitute world citizens to our country is the issue that must be dealt with.

It is widely denied by the liberal establishment that illegal immigrants bring their own culture and problems into our society. And it's hard to define where their cultural faults find expression in our social structure.

Perhaps better rhetoric concerning this would help bring this plight of our people, the values of our national identity being in jeopardy, would serve to bring to the fore this very dire threat.

We can scream "illegals this" and "immigrants that" all we want, but in the end too often raising this issue makes anyone look like irate, inbred nazies waving pitchforks and torches.

It's time to nail down exactly what they are doing to our way of life, in hard, irrefutable numbers and statistics that clearly mark the downward coriolis spiral that is our new cultural trajectory.

-=T=-

Re: Stop Telling Me There’s No Reason to Drink Bottled Water

tim — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:01:43 -0000

Dude, Fiji.

-=T=-

Re: My Thoughts on Depression

tim — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:30:40 -0000

Totally. My wife occasionally says something like how I look down, and I have to remind her, I am down, for one reason or another. It's a human feeling, I'll get over it.

The one thing people need to know is that the have the right to feel however they are feeling. Spending some time in that dark place is just a normal exercise in coping with a stressor, or loss, or compilation of such. Dwelling on it shortly is the start of sorting it out, or even simply adjusting to the state of the world you live in.

On the other hand, I have kids who get banged up, scrape their knee, feel cheated on by some friend or what, and my first response is to say, get up, dust yourself off, and get to the next thing.

We are all just big kids with bigger problems, feeling them all in much the same way we did years ago. We did it then and made it here by not devoting our trust to professionals whose job it is to temporarily muddle with our normal brain chemistry.

Medications are being abused. And when they are, it's not only by individuals, but sometimes by doctors. And when that happens, and we know what we're walking into, we do it to escape the blame that comes from screwing things up by ourselves.

How do I deal? What's my method? I pop in a funny movie, listen to some angry music, try to get drunk(though I can't because I get full after a few beers), or go for a drive to the cliff and just think in the wind and the dark and spend a moment in private.

-=T=-

Re: Racism Strikes Again: Hispanics and Old People Screw The Country by Refusing to Vote For Obama

tim — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:36:16 -0000

The Michigan and Florida delegates have a good chance of being seated by court action, as people who voted in those primaries would not be represented as things stand. If it makes it all the way to a litigation the presiding judge will either hope that the case for instating the votes would be improperly presented so that he can delay the inevitable, otherwise he or she would have no choice but to put the lighter to the fuse and run away as things blow up. (It's potentially a bigger issue than simple "hanging chads.")

@ Carl M, yes, people will get mad. One way or the other.

But, it won't lead to this. An alliance will happen soon, otherwise, they will both eat up the Democrat's chance of competing against the strong contender of McCain and his reinvented(moderate), unified party.

-=T=-

Re: Performing a “Cold-Boot” Proof of Concept Without Princeton’s Bit-Unlocker

tim — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:54:29 -0000

variables to be looked at are ram size, manufacturer, and optimal cool down correlation to data fade.

there might be some means by which the industry can eliminate this effect by switching to composites that increase data fade after shut down more rapidly. maybe even the architecture, by using multiple chips instead of one single structure.

please, continue the research. if Princeton isn't interested, I bet that MIT, Harvard, Stanford or Cornell would be.

-=T=-

Re: If You Truly Support Ron Paul You Won’t Stand By and Allow McCain to Destroy This Country For Another Four Years

tim — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:32:35 -0000

@ immrlizard; re: "There are always idiots out there that don’t see any value in compromise."

It is very interesting to note that McCain has a strong history of bipartisanship, of being able to reach across the isle, and of working hard to get a comprehensive compromise to get through Congress rather than do it on his own.

Does Obama have such a proven quality?

The current administration has been plagued by actions that are easilly seen as "unilateral" and it can also be called "sheltered" and even "aloof" of the long term needs of the American populace. McCain does not have that stigma, after years of having worked in Congress. In fact, the fact that Republicans have as a majority voted for him in the primaries is testimony to the shift in the party's voting base. McCain can and does represent a "new Republican", and a new direction for their policies.

Something to consider.

-=T=-

Re: Vidoop: Monetizing Information Security

tim — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:46:41 -0000

it reminds me of a similar process in 1995's "johnny mnemonic"? (i wonder if it was in the original William Gibson short story.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidoop

-=T=-

Re: The Pharmaceutical Industry is Criminal

tim — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:59:50 -0000

Sorry, guys, but I support Daniel on this one.

The Pharmaceutical Mega-Conglomerate have their hands in the cookie jar, are being fined because of impropieties because they are TOO in bed with the FDA, and the public at large is so over-doped to notice that WE AREN'T GUINEA PIGS. (Ver 1.0 be damned.)

Last year, my mother was prescribed a medication that made FDA approval specifically because the maker WITHHELD vital, lethal information on it. Hundreds have been documented as having died specifically from this drug, and others are suffering from it. It was cheaper, and to the doctor's knowledge, safe. This is but one example. It isn't, and 60 minutes did a special on it, while we watched in shocked silence, totally not expecting this kind of report to hit so close to home.

Look how hard it is to order cheap drugs from overseas, the same identical drugs from the same manufacturer, because pharmaceutical corporate lobbyists have it a criminal act to import drugs, even when you have a prescription for it from a thoroughly authorized medical practice. This made such a stink in congress that it couldn't last.

But, how did it happen in the first place? Too Much Trust. Blantently. Boldly. Rashly on the parts of the makers and the users. Trust anything too much and you're bound to get raped for it, in one respect or another.

Go about your ways, everybody. Go right ahead. I won't necessarilly be following.

-=T=-

Re: The Only Three Ways McCain Can Win in 2008

tim — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:53:41 -0000

On Racism: I don't think it will be this. He doesn't manifest enough to even draw the extreme white supremecist vote in the extreme right wing population.

On another war; If the current wars are so unpopular, how could another war, completing the region, make him more popular?

Lastly, on a Terrorist Event; Whoever is in office will benefit from a Terrorist Event given that they proceed through it properly, and will suffer from it if they fail to do so. Unless the voting populace are mere moronic sheep, and nothing more, ever.

Lastly; Since the current administration's party power base has not had so many inroads with McCain over 7 of the last 8 years, what makes it so likely to about face and espouse him, much less him wanting them after the same bitter period of combative political co-rivalry?

-=T=-

Re: I Honestly Don’t See Any Way For the U.S. to Succeed

tim — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:39:01 -0000

Another problem is that we've lowered the standards so NO ONE CAN FAIL. The result is that both achievers and underachievers are being lumped into the same category, too, too often.

Or worse. Take for example the program where FAILING STUDENTS ARE BEING PAID TO GO TO SCHOOL.

What does this say for the purpose of school? Is it really just to entertain mini-voter tax-veal/cattle until they can't reach out of the trenches and attack their future for the sake of their own prosperity?

-=T=-

Re: Africans Killing Those Suspected of Penis Theft Witchcraft

tim — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:35:08 -0000

that would make an excellent candy bar commercial.

"hey, you stole my penis!"

"no, you stole MY penis!"

"wait, that woman is carrying two peni, she must be a witch!"

"yes, we must kill her!"

they kill her, and share a candy bar afterwards.

-=T=-

Re: Muslim Man Stabs Daughter to Death for Being Infatuated with British Soldier

tim — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:22:27 -0000

for in the Qu'ran:

"You shall not kill any person - for God has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. If one is killed unjustly, then we give his heir authority to enforce justice. Thus, he shall not exceed the limits in avenging the murder, he will be helped."(17:33)

wait; the loophole. he killed his daughter, his heir. the killer killed the person the Qu'ran commands to perform justice.

So, he must live.

nevermind.

-=T=-

Re: A SHA512 Sum

tim — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:23:05 -0000

intereesting from wikipedia:

"The security of SHA-1 has been somewhat compromised by cryptography researchers.[1] Although no attacks have yet been reported on the SHA-2 variants, they are algorithmically similar to SHA-1 and so efforts are underway to develop improved alternative hashing algorithms.[2][3] An open competition for a new SHA-3 function was formally announced in the Federal Register on November 2, 2007.[4] "NIST is initiating an effort to develop one or more additional hash algorithms through a public competition, similar to the development process for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)."[5] Submissions are due October 31, 2008 and the proclamation of a winner and publication of the new standard are scheduled to take place in 2012."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHAhashfunctions

-=T=-

Re: Oh God, What is This Thing?

tim — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:32:20 -0000

gaze not upon the wand of satan, for it's unholy powers are beyond the understanding of mortals.

plus, wouldn't that just mess your junk up?

-=T=-

Re: A Succinct Explanation of the Economic Stimulus Plan, by David Barry

tim — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:09:02 -0000

Or the government can keep it for a downpayment on a new toilette seat for Air Force One. Now even the Autopilot can flush by remote.

And the world is made safer.

-=T=-

Re: Swedish Women vs. British Women

tim — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:02:48 -0000

Goes to prove my theory, that the healthiest specimens left "Ol' Blighty" while their gene pool was still viable.

Ultimately, their genome had to implode.

As for the Swedish Bikinizons, we give thanks to the 10,000 years of selective breeding happening prior to today's results. And praise.

And money. However much it takes.

-=T=-

Re: If McCain is the “Military” Candidate, Why Did Ron Paul, Who Wants to Pull Out of Iraq, Get More Campaign Contributions from the Military?

tim — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:58:57 -0000

conspiracy?

-=T=-

Re: How Many of You Know That The Drop in Crime in the 90’s Happened Because of Roe vs. Wade?

tim — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:50:24 -0000

As a point of interest, you and I are included in the first generation to be allowed to live in the world of legal abortion.

I know for a fact that my mom was asked to abort me by her doctors.

One interesting byproduct of that choice is the absolute value our parents held in us, and not some version of contempt for not being able to abort us, or for being forced to grow up and be parents in the thick of the 70's. And, each parental generation that followed do relish in that "extra value" of being given the choice to raise their kids, as do the kids grow in a love-rich environment.

So, besides being able to choose when to have children, and being grateful to have them at all, the new parents were given the period of adjustment to their decision, and could arrange for better timing, and not over suffer the torment of "being stuck". "Mistakes" don't happen on the scale that they did in prior years. (I won't bandy about with this word. It's used too commonly, and often displays the true feelings of some unfortunate parents.)

To answer your questions:

I do not believe this issue is prominent amongst the arguments of abortion, so society at large doesn't regard this effect at all, much less a positive factor for decision making in this type of legislation. Thus far, the whole focus of abortion has been rather non-intellectual and rather based one the emotional biases of populations segregated by religions and non-religous lines.

</li>
<li>

A responsible society will use this information with regard to the benefits of parents' rights, and not proliferate the direction of this train of thought. If taken outside the boundaries of prudence, as societies will do to test itself and understand it's various compasses, the exaggeration of this knowledge would lead to further "cutbacks" in less fortunate corners of not only our nation, but our world, the ones in particular who cannot defend themselves against the cause of "the greater good." Who would argue against taking the next step, and the one after that? In keeping with my conservative stance, we cannot take too much a stride in this course without ignoring the dire consquences that will result.

</li>
</ol>

Let's instead limit the scope of what we now regard as a natural right of modern parenting, to establish the home of the next generation in a stable environment, and perhaps when the necessity is called, abort only in due measure, and nothing beyond. Taking this and calling it a benefit makes it an exploitable field, one that can be far more grizzly than any this generation understands.

-=T=-

Re: Flat Tire Evangelists

tim — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:02:35 -0000

bloody opportunist. i have three very close family members that turned evangelical on the rest of us. they tried it on my mom when she was convalescing at their house. we made it clear that sort of offer, to be saved or otherwise, isn't appreciated.

(however, your man also seems somewhat unhinged to boot. limit sudden movements, back away slowly, and call for help calmly.)

-=T=-

Re: Thoughts on the “Melting Pot” Metaphor

tim — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:09:55 -0000

"That’s our country today. A lack of whole. A lack of unity. A lack of identity. We are pulling ourselves in too many directions."

A schizophrenic identity. An unstable, volatile mass psyche, unhealthy in its parts because the dynamic of it's environment, being unhealthy as a whole.

Yes, we are encouraged to say, "whatever they do, as long as they don't hurt anybody, is ok." And yet, it's proven to not be enough, because certain group fall into an isolationist attitude, and them more do, and now we have multiple generations of native born people who speak their own constantly migrating dialect within their own insulated, distancing sect, and the pronounced range in differences only serves to widen the gulf of misunderstanding, the unknowns of which sows fear and then hatred upon little misadventures, where neighborly attitudes and congenial brotherly bonds could have, and should have waylaid such ill-feelings.

Where I grew up in Californian Suburbia, I had a neighbor from Pakistan. He was an Imam, and his kids were raised to go back to Pakistan and take up religious studies. While they were here, they were our neighbors, we talked often enough, I babysat their kids, we had minor strifes, but no lasting misdeed stood between us, because our goal was to stay friends, the same with the Portuguese neighbors across the street, or the Scottish bachelor next door, or any of the others who came and went.

Our small court blended well. We all had 4th of July fireworks out in the middle of the street, and a great American feeling pervaded our companionship.

Since then, I've moved away, and I have grown to worry about each of them, especially the Pakistani's after 9/11. Our collective fabric seemed to be devalued by the incessant influence to say, "you are white, you are not, you are different, you cannot know each other's pains." Was it the media? Or our own weaknesses, our failures to change the channel, the ultimate and instrinsic interest in this sort of message.

Either way, the impetus led to a morbid spiral, and we had best find a way to reduce it's momentum, for the sake of the generations at risk of suffering a more schizoid culture than what we have today.

-=T=-

Re: DC vs. Heller Supreme Court Decision Due Today

tim — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:04:42 -0000

It appears you're optimistic, and I'm not either.

When would you predict the de-facto revoking of gun ownership rights?

I'm expecting within the next 20 years.

-=T=-

Re: DC vs. Heller Supreme Court Decision Due Today

tim — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:13:34 -0000

(pardon, "not optimistic.")

-=T=-

Re: The Logical Solution to the Civil Union vs. Marriage Debate

tim — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:12:11 -0000

i think the problem is the growing movement to make anything not going for this movement a penalty sufferable by fines and imprisonment, if not simple liability on the side of the persons who hold the belief that they can deny services to a gay couple for whatever basis.

take the case in the point where a photographer couple were contacted via their website to do a same sex marriage photo shoot. they replied, "thank you for visiting our site. however, we do not do shoots for gay marriages." now those couples are in court, and the outcome is very certain against the photographers.

(i was taught) in the 6th century, islam spread by the rule of the sword. anyone who did not convert, and agree to the righteous ways of islam, mohammed, and allah, were executed as examples of their wayward paths. essentially, they faced punishment for not agreeing with the new movement.

do we sit in the same situation today? just ask the church in california and massachusetes if they have the right to refuse a gay couple a ceremony, without a civil suit, or without a criminal trial on the basis of unlawful discrimination.

however, this is but a symptom of the mode of our culture. it seems we live in too litigious a society to claim we are free to say what we feel. i wonder to what extent lawyers will pour over your statements the next time you dissent from their clients' goals.

or mine. words. goals. and all.

-=T=-

Re: A Look at Obama’s View on Gun Control

tim — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:04:07 -0000

one rule of observing politicians it to "watch both hands." on the one hand they will have you agreeing with them by saying the most basic common denominator that no one can oppose, and then on the other hand they sign into law a bill with addendums and provisos that are either barely related to the issue of the law, or that are at complete odds with the issue.

be wary of the salesman selling what you already own.

it isn't the government's right to ask you to keep guns out of childrens' hands, because, ultimately, they can't. it's our responsibility to keep children safe. all the government can do is restrict access to the legal buyer to the point where a single shot pistol without a firing pin is the only remaining vestige of our second amendment rights, and keep raising license fees and fines, and imprisonment penalties for those who breach every new law the bureaucracy enacts.

all that comes after the child or such has obtained the weapon and discharged it in whatever direction they saw fit (without supervision or training in the lethal respect they must acknowledge in the education of firearms and marksmanship). all the fees, citations, fines, penalties, and imprisonments happens AFTER someone gets shot.

so, who can keep guns out of the kids' hands? we do, not the government, with or without coercion or threat of any variety. (remember this also stands as a model for other rights, where we as citizens can live under duress of oppression by restricting any "inalienable" rights we now possess.)

tax cattle

in fact, the bureaucracy benefits from our lax responsibility. when we pay a fine, or buy a license, and they have gone up, the government gets more money. that money goes into various organizations, some of which are private, and may be in the form of subsidies to many other groups, pro or against gun ownership, and maybe even into the offices of politicians campaign funds. there is a real culprit for motivation more than the welfare of children, which is incredibly being taken more out of parents' hands than ever, and even used against them, in certain populations.

i am pro-gun ownership, but before that, i am pro-responsible gun ownership, the first tenets of which includes that i am the first line of defense of my rights and the rights of my kin. to rely on other parties is to neglect my responsibilities.

no government will replace me (or change me) in this respect, or many others.

-=T=-

Re: Muslims Outraged Over Picture of Puppy

tim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:46:13 -0000

excellently put.

there's no room for intolerance of this kind. especially when the whining is used a a form of social leverage for whatever purpose. puppies on a postcard being somehow focused as an insult against muslims isn't just an incomprehensible thing to westerners, but a basic attack on simple western ideals, in art, communication, marketing, and cultural values that we place on canines in our society.

let the randomly angered person, be he muslim, jew, or gentile, show their colors. we have outgrown our awkward "politically correct" phase into a mature and even headed, and even handed, level of sensitivity that won't unjustly mistreat or disregard whole demographics. let them make such petty complaints, if only for them to find out how they misrepresent their religion when the seasoned citizen of their faith explains it to them simply that "things like that aren't done here."

because we don't just like our dogs, we love them.

besides, i thought it was mohammed YOU weren't supposed to show pictures of. personally, i'll draw the line there, just for diplomacy's sake. if it doesn't show, i'm not muslim. i don't follow your faith, nor do people you live around need to follow your rules by reason of only being your neighbors. so don't push it.

the vulcans are written to say "live long and prosper." i mean, they aren't even real and that doesn't sound bad. it certainly doesn't sound like "i'm offended by puppies."

-=T=-

Re: Some Clarification on How I View Most Believers

tim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:22:25 -0000

I applaud your effort and your ideals. By practicing with this revelation in mind, you will help others see the merits in atheism, (and other subjects), with less distraction.

-=T=-

Re: A Brilliant Piece on the Strangeness of Elite College Education

tim — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:49:31 -0000

This type of phenomena becomes more exemplified with the variation of profession between two conversing individuals. Mechanics, architects, and investors all have to pear down their dialectic to make the ideas and concepts flow with greater ease.

College freshman and recent undergraduates, and most sheltered members of acadamia, in general, have this obstacle to hurdle simply because they haven't yet come to that experience, having for the most part been isolated from the world at large while in the throes of their studies.

The threat facing both politicians and their constituants is the prolonged insular attitude, which provides some semblance of a safe barrier, may in time become an insurmountable wall. It leads to distancing, and finally, lack of understanding.

In olden times such an offensive defense was often breached by the fires of revolution.

Yet, such times never really leave us.

-=T=-

Re: Why America is Screwed [Pic]

tim — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:27:07 -0000

if there was a problem, it could be fixed. it works for me.

-=T=-

Re: The Rift Between Us

tim — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:26:04 -0000

do on and offline magazine articles and lengthy news reports count?

encyclopedia entries?

where would a book on dragons and crystals fit into this schematic?

: )

-=T=-

Re: 14-year Microsoft Veteran and Architect of Windows 95 and 98 Converts to Mac, Says He’ll Never Use a PC Again

tim — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:57:22 -0000

Does this mean the architect sees the modern mac as the extension of his vision of "his" windows 95 and windows 98 OS, or their potential, or their direction?

If it indicates the direction of the Mac os's to come, how does this bode for their market?

-=T=-

Re: Why I Carry A Gun: A Personal Anecdote

tim — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:45:21 -0000

It's been proposed that if there were gun carrying students inside the buildings at Virginia Tech, someone would have had the chance to take the attacker down before he got through so many victims.

Whether or not I'm using a tragedy to advocate for more gun rights, I am utilizing my observations and reasoning to a logical outcome. Less gun rights, and more gun restrictions, would be a move in the opposite direction.

Criminals do not have the motivation to obtain weopons legally, so they won't, and to expect restrictions on gun ownership to delay them is unreasonable. Guns are available on the street.

When the illegal element is armed, and your grandmother runs in their path, wouldn't you hope someone decent would be nearby, enabled to give her a chance of something better than fear or death?

Nowadays, it isn't fearmongering as much as reality.

-=T=-

Re: Very Poor Rhetoric on Race

tim — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:49:45 -0000

"There is a vicious prison system that hungers for young black and brown bodies. The more young black and brown folk are thrown in jail, the more cells are built, and the more money made."

I'm split on this one. I happen to know enough about the extremely effective lobbying powers of penitentiary system, including the guards and the facility management providers. Part of their overall pull is exactly what has contributed to California's budget deficit, year after year. It's a built in expense increase into every annual budget, just as the state assembly's wage increase is already automatically increased.

This sort of thing didn't happen on it's own, or by accident. There are powerful unions taking the brunt of the impact from public backlash, but also the prison service companies, who obversely seem immune to any regard by the vocal public. At one time, Schwarzenegger was going to pursue the guard unions, but after the first year it was obvious he was going to have to back off. They are very deeply entrenched in their positions, and are continuing to increase their profit margins by the year.

So, I do see the prisons as greedy sumbitches.

However, the institutionalized cultural norms for potential and existing prisoners do favor the majority of blacks, and then whites, and then hispanics, in my estimation. Even without the disparage in sentencing standards for so-called "white" crimes vs "minority" crimes, ie: cocaine distribution equals crack possession, the culture outside prisons, in streets and neighborhoods primarily black, is inherently violent and prone to crime. This is not to say that blacks are inherently violent, just that their potential is not being achieved because of the barrier within their own society, which often admits a diverse interest very apart from the mainstream, non-black America.

Are all blacks and browns so different from whites and asians? No, not too different, just prone to the good and bad parts of their specific attitudes that arise from both isolation and market driven identity norms that profit off frustrated youths readily angered and ready to rage against an inconsiderate world uncaring of the plights of their families needs, or their own. It's exploitative, and where violent rap music does charge the volatile black youth, angry speed metal charges the volatile white youth. In the atmosphere that compounds this on other media in a daily influence weeks upon months upon years, engulfing too much of a lifetime, I find little reason to question the outcome when it's as predictable as the mechanisms in a clock.

My angry youth was spent listening to Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Kineson, and it was like an epiphany to me. I learned to say, "fuck this, fuck that.", with ease, and such a casual air that I could finally question the importance of things coming into my 13 year old catholic life, and the world took a different shape. I began to immediately question what things were worth, based on how much I wouldn't say "fuck that". It added new dimensions, and I learned to reign them in, rather quickly. With other albums, like Run DMC's Raising Hell, giving fuel to a blooming sense of pride and awareness of self worth, I found my direction, and found the need for such direction very compelling.

Today I can see the same influence on today's kids, and I can gauge who will fall into what traps. Not well, but I get the vague image of what directions the young are currently receiving. Merely observe the kids at bus stops. Read the magazines. Watch what is on the popular channels. Go to the malls. You'll see that their message, the motto that pervades their, our, media is that pride and self worth goes before, and often in the place of, community needs and forward thinking. Instead of constructive marketing, nurturing the generations into their adulthood, there is a raw message of capitalizing on any resource in your reach, and you are nothing unless you are living as large as you can.

What makes me different than that to fall into that category, that demographic? My weaknesses aren't so trackable, not so profitable, and I am immune to the environment an immoral market seeks to maintain for those otherwise forward thinking, responsible, generous young men coming up and staring through the gates of the ghetto, wondering what life is like outside the world they know.

-=T=-

Re: Another Political Analogy

tim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:55:36 -0000

This analogy applies everywhere conservatism is applicable to the proposed loss of common sense.

Within the last year legislation has been brought to the floor of Congress to subsidize foreign oil imports, which includes the national company of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez\' extremely anti-American oil exporter. Why would we do such a thing in a time when oil markets are booming and the average American consumer is feeling the brunt of the impact? Because we\'ve lost out common sense. Or at least it\'s being challenged by some form of passionate madness, perhaps too much ill-advised charity, to see the trees before the forest.

Guns are in the same category. We, in our discourse, have become to passionate in our need to keep little Timmy safe from the evils of his father\'s gun in the shoebox on the top shelf of his parents\' closet. Well, I am little Timmy, 30 years later. My dad had two guns, one on his holster, as he was a deputy sheriff (now retired), and the other was his off duty piece he kept around because he lived in the community where criminals he helped guard were able to see him on the street after they were released. I don\'t remember being taught about the importance of never ouching his gun, just like I don\'t remember being taught how to right and read, because it was so early in my life.

Yet, in that time \'til now, I read about misfirings of mishandled guns, hurting kids or themselves, and I realize that the crime isn\'t in owning these weapons, it\'s in not teaching the kids, at an early age, that they kill.

As a father, the one thing I\'ve told my kids repeatedly, when they come to a street or when they are about to enter a parking lot, is that cars will kill you. They can repeat that on demand. They know it\'s not a nerf world, that there are deadly things that YOU as a child and as an adult, must watch out for.

My wife, when we were out shopping for homes, brought to my attention that there was a drug deal happening just next door to the house we were looking at. Something that never would have dawned on me, but it\'s something I wouldn\'t have ignored after it was brought to my attention, rather inexperienced as I am in being able to observe such things.

Instead of paying attention to common sense, many people ignore the circumstances around them, even as they are presented as pure observations with obvious conclusions, and decide, \"Well, if anything goes wrong, I can sue them later.\" And they do. How many times do we hear about parents of kids that died from mishandling guns suing the companies for not having enough safety precautions on the gun or safe use instructions in their packages?

Where these parents perhaps should be grieving in jail for neglecting the safety of their children, they are given the freedom to illicit a civil suit against a company that profits from it\'s commitment to the safety of American citizens. How is that for ignoring common sense?

If these guns were meant to commit crimes, then the advertising would be, \"because our version of the glock would make you able to steal more money! or kill your enemies much faster!\" It\'s like saying a car that can go 150 mph is the same as a car that can go 30 mph, because they are both on the road at the same time, basically threatening someone\'s life.

Don\'t believe me, just ask yourselves this question; \"is it the car, or the driver?\" Alternately, \"is it the gun, or the shooter?\"

And please, don\'t forget to use your common sense.

-=T=-

Re: Another Political Analogy

tim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:14:56 -0000

@ Daniel

\"You are participating in their suffering, and virtually guaranteeing their failure, by staying unengaged and watching as they continue to suffer and reproduce.\"

Pure f*cking poetry. I think some people support the situation as it stands in passive ways on the basis that it\'s not in their cities.

I was talking to Mar about it today, and she repeated the same thing, that \"if you hear you\'re not equal all day long, you will believe it.\"

So, I asked her, isn\'t it a choice to believe?

And, isn\'t it our choice to believe that better can happen?

I do. I f*cking believe. However, it isn\'t enough. Make the change, ask the hard questions, because the answers are statements that stand as testimony to the system in place.

And my beliefs, whether they slap the system across the face in a direct challenge to how it stands unjustly to burden the weak by their weaknesses, to exploit them, then I\'ll just have to throw that gaunlet down and so challenge the system.

@ everyone else

What\'s being done isn\'t working. Daniel is asking the hard questions, and bringing the statements to the table. Calling him a racist or an elitist won\'t shut him up, or stop the obvious from becoming more obvious while the situation for impoverished classes gets worse and farther behind where it should be.

So hurl your epithets, and look at how you react to the question, \"why am I fighting against the chance to change the situation?\" We are a group of intelligent people bent on finding the truth in our observations. But even then, our conditioning to not ask why we react in such ways is strong, because you have felt the strict diet of cultural programming so long the bad taste it can be numb in your minds. Take the time to delve into those knee jerk reactions, and see if they really are something you can get behind, or something you need to put behind you.

-=T=-

Re: 10 Facts Every Westerner Should Know About the Middle East

tim — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:58:33 -0000

\"According to the Bible, Jews and Arabs are related [Genesis 25]. Jews descended from Abrahamâ??s son Isaac, and Arabs descended from Abrahamâ??s son Ishmael. So not only are both groups Semitic, but theyâ??re also family.\"

To be more specific, I believe they were born of the sons of Shem, if memory serve me right.

(I just checked. And Shem was a son of Noah.)

-=T=-

Re: Why McCain Will Be the Next President

tim — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:14:23 -0000

and then there's this, from today:

"August 15, 2008

Gallup Daily: McCain, Obama Tied at 44%Obama’s support down slightly

If the election were held today, registered voters would be equally likely to vote for John McCain (44%) or Barack Obama (44%), according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update."

http://www.gallup.com/poll/109564/Gallup-Daily-McCain-Obama-Tied-44.aspx

do not discount, McCain is within reach.

-=T=-

Re: Peak Oil

tim — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:42:48 -0000

One more note of interest in establishing the concept of peak oil and it's decline, of the varying rates and the lesser defining concepts is because of it's complexity, the peak oil rate cannot be accurately observed, even until after it's decline has manifested.

Your thoughts?

-=T=-

Re: My Preferred Definition of Security

tim — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:19:54 -0000

interesting, to see risk analyzed without gain.

for me it's hard to not associate the two, especially without a correlation to express the multitude of gain above the risk.

is there a proper equation for calculating risk that you prescribe to?

-=T=-

Re: Michael Palin For President

tim — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:40:44 -0000

honestly, i've been waiting for this.

that, and the tina faye/sarah palin issue.

-=T=-

Re: Revealing Biases Against Obama

tim — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:43:34 -0000

Dan,

Is the bottom line of this piece that anyone who has a strong negative reaction to Obama an anti-black racist?

That would equate to everyone who has a strong positive reaction to Obama being a pro-black racist.

I suppose it is concievable to believe that everyone who doesn't like something does so outrightly from an ignorant basis, for no good reason, carelessly. Of course, this implies the reason why you don't like McCain.

I don't support this position. In fact, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you've thought out your views on the candidates.

-=T=-

Re: Revealing Biases Against Obama

tim — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:55:47 -0000

Adam,

I don't see anybody stumping against Obama on the basis that they have no rationale or that they are against their daughters dating blacks. It's an open field on those points, or lack thereof.

Dan,

Read it a few times before you assumed I didn't, thank you.

Both of you,

If you are willing to propose that the possibility exists that voters are against Obama because they are racist to any extent, it follows logically that the possibility exists that other voters who are for Obama are also equally racist. You cannot accept one and deny the other, no matter how convenient. Logic does not permit this.

-=T=-

Re: Meh, What Do a Few (5) Heads of State Know?

tim — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:36:52 -0000

Your assumption that the five heads of states agree with Obama is not stated nor implied in the article.

In fact, the article is titled "Five former U.S. state secretaries urge Iran talks".

The article cites McCain's and Obama's position as of November, last year.

In the meantime, the Bush administration has had talks with Iran in July of this year, as stated by the article.

It would be more prudent to say that the "Five former U.S. state secretaries" agree with the Bush administration.

-=T=-

Re: Sarah Palin Thinks Jesus Will Return in Her Lifetime, and That the Earth is Less Than 7,000 Years Old

tim — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:04:52 -0000

Hey, I have another biased second hand source of negative information about Palin! (with original website below)

"Friday, September 12, 2008

The REAL Truth About Sarah Palin Sarah Palin's many rabid supporters have attempted to paint a very mythic picture of their favorite (or 'favourite', for all you English chaps) female vice-presidential candidate.

However, the facts stand for themselves:

Sarah Palin is a contortionist. She can fit in very small places, like the pocket books of big oil executives.

</li>
<li>

She once was quoted as saying "I think we should dump massive of amounts of oil into the Arctic Sea. That's all part of God's plan."

</li>
<li>

Sarah Palin is against a woman's right to choose. Her 17-year-old daughter, who was raped, wants to get an abortion, but Sarah Palin told her no.

</li>
<li>

She supports the usage of grenade launchers to hunt small game, such as foxes.

</li>
<li>

Sarah Palin supports the right to own guns. Well, in 1985, guns killed countless numbers of people.

</li>
<li>

Sarah Palin once told reporters "I'm so glad there are no Mexicans in Alaska."

</li>
<li>

She onces kicked a baby into heavy traffic, and thought it was hilarious. The baby died.

</li>
<li>

If John McCain is the Emperor, Sarah Palin is Darth Vader.

</li>
<li>

Sarah Palin once introduced a bill that would ban fun, including sex.

</li>
<li>

Sarah Palin has repeatedly refused to go on the Maury Show. How do we know those kids are really hers?

</li>
<li>

Sarah Palin once said that creationism should be taught in schools along with evolutionism. "Don't be afraid of information." she said. Information? More like falsemation.

</li>
<li>

She gave tax cuts to big corporations. BIG corporations. CORPORATIONS. THAT ARE BIG.

</li>
</ol>

Here is an actual letter I received from an actual real true friend of Sarah Palin's:

Hello, my name is [name withheld]. Me and Sarah have known each other for years and years and we're very, very close. Our kids go to same school. I live on the same street as her. I've seen her naked. Twice. Anyhow, we know each other on a first-name basis, and we've even been to their Easter Party before, although, the cook burned the lamb dinner (and he was promptly fired) and we were forced to order pizza from Dominoes, although I clearly voiced that I wished to eat from Pizza Hut. However, Sarah never listens and proceeded to order from Dominoes instead, whose pizza tastes like garbage.

Sarah has played Baby-Seal-Baseball. It's like baseball, but instead of a ball, they use a baby seal. It's a very cruel game which I only played three innings of before being disgusted and leaving the ballpark, but not before hitting two RBIs and getting two steals.

Sarah Palin often throws a bunch of ideas out into the open, and if an idea gets a lot of support, she takes all the credit for her own idea. That tramp.

When she got elected Mayor, fired all the experienced people on the city staff and hired a Funk Rock band to manage the city's affairs. These people were so high on the sticky-sticky at all times that it basically gave Sarah the power to carry out her agenda and get things done. I believe a city is best run when the Mayor and staff are constantly at odds over everything.

Sarah is really good at hiding things from people. She once hid her 9-month pregnancy from her own family by always sitting down or behind something to cover her belly. Then, she would only move to various places when nobody was looking. What else is she hiding?

You should've ordered the Pizza Hut, Sarah.

Also, besides that true* letter which is certainly real, I figured out earlier today that Sarah Palin is literally the spawn of the Devil. Yes.

You know the 666 code? Well, in the Biblical book of Revelations, the beast that takes over the world, known commonly as the Antichrist, has a number, 666, and if one can calculate what it means, they could figure out who the AC was.

And the number basically breaks down to:

600
60
6

So, if you take the number of letters in Sarah Heath Palin's name (15) and multiply that times the number of months from the start of the reign of Palin (whose name almost rhymes with 'Satan'), you get 600. Now add her name's digits times the number of years she would spend in the white house under a normal presidential term, and you get 60, then add the number of years a Senate seat term, which John McCain holds, and you get a 6!

omg, right?

Oh, but behold, there is moar:

If you take the date in which Sarah Palin began governor of Alaska (December 15) and turned it into a digit, it would be 12-5, right? Well, if you open your Bibles to the first book, Genesis, in chapter 12:5, that's where the first mention of Abraham's wife, SARAH is documented! Now, here's the part that will cause you to shit a brick... if you flip to the LAST book of the Bible, Revelations (which was written by a man named JOHN), and go to chapter 12:5, that's where the first mention of the antichrist is in a chapter titled "The Woman and The Dragon" and it goes on to explain how the first antichrist will DIE and be succeeded by a second one.

*I'm not kidding

On a scale of 1 - 10, with 1 being "She sucks" and 10 being "She's horrible", how much do you despise Sarah Palin's corrupt right-wing politics?

(from: http://www.xanga.com/AvenueToTheReal)</p>

[Sarah Palin bad, Joe Biden good.]

-=T=-

Re: Ancient Civilization Found Off the Coast of Okinawa

tim — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:58:00 -0000

If memory serves me, there was an aboriginal people still living in the mountains, separate from the ancient chinese colonists who became the japanese in time.

They were called the Ainu, which, again, if I recall properly, even by the Japanese of today.

I don't know much about their physical appearance, other than some myths about them being taller, light-haired, and other myths comcerning their worshipping of cave-bears.

worth reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainu_people</p>

peace,

-=T=-

Re: Ancient Civilization Found Off the Coast of Okinawa

tim — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:39:19 -0000

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=4454

Another interesting site, identifying the location in the Ryukyuan Archipelago.

The Ryukyuans are semi-related to the Ainu, the Japanese, and Koreans, as represented by the passage:

"their [the Ainu] mtDNA lineages mainly consist of haplogroup Y (21.6%) and haplogroup M7a (15.7%).[10] Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup Y is otherwise found mainly among Nivkhs, as well as at lower frequency among Koreans, Mongols, Tungusic peoples, Koryaks, Itelmens, and Austronesians; haplogroup M7a, on the other hand, is found elsewhere almost exclusively among Japanese, Ryukyuans, and Koreans."

This tells the precursors to all modern asians of this lineage were possibly blended with the pre-existing group (haplogroup M7a) covering the span of asia from Korea to Okinawa, until each area became colonized by separating sub-cultures.

So, it is possible to hypothesize the builders of the ancient structures were not only of Ainu, Ryukyuan, or Japanese ascent, but some singular representation of that lineage, prior to the influx of other sub-set colonies.

It is also possible to say the representative remnant of that ancient subgroup (haplogroup M7a), may have migrated with the greater lineage that left other remnants from Mongolia to North America.

Very fun stuff!

-=T=-

Re: Red Dwarf Returns

tim — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:14:48 -0000

i heard they might do a couple one-shot specials, but this is most welcome news indeed.

(sme...smeeeg...smeeeeg-head)

-=T=-

Re: The Real Problem With McCain

tim — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:56:05 -0000

@ Zealot,

No, it's not strange. That's experience.

@ Daniel,

I wonder how many emotions using that photoshopped picture is meant to evoke.

As to the passage you quote,

"Often, my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint."

That is something to respect.

-=T=-

Re: The VP Debate: The Mother of Double Standards

tim — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:35:03 -0000

I'm tempted to call "sour grapes", but it's not entirely called for.

Palin did well against an exceedingly experienced opponent that makes the match-up look more like David and Goliath. Remember that one, the one where Goliath was supposed to win?

But, here, the voters and pundits have spoken. Still, CNN puts Biden ahead, if that means much.

peace,

-=T=-

Re: Interracial Sex: The McCain Campaign’s Nuclear Option

tim — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:13:04 -0000

The Willie Horton thing did so well specifically because it was spun that Dukakis was the one who released him, by having a long track record of supporting the program that put Willie Horton back out on the street.

It was a stroke of fate that landed the party within reach of the presidency. So exact was this event that, even if it was manufactured, it's barely repeatable, not to that degree, not in 1000 attempts.

However, one cannot say that because one group of politicians are possibly willing to go to such extreme means their contemporary politicians across the isle are immune to the idea.

You indict the whole of Washington with such accusations, my friend, not just one party. Perhaps it's just as well.

-=T=-

Re: The Difference Between CSRF and Clickjacking

tim — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:55:10 -0000

"For the moment, the best defense against clickjacking attacks is to use Firefox with the NoScript add-on installed. Users running that combination will be safe, said Hansen, against "a very good chunk of the issues, 99.99% at this point.""

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=Spam%2C+Malware+and+Vulnerabilities&articleId=9115700&taxonomyId=85&pageNumber=2

-=T=-

Re: Shit Really Might Go Sideways

tim — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:43:57 -0000

I already have a back-up hq in the hills, and further stations deeper towards Yosemite as called for, when necessary.

-=T=-

Re: Revisiting McCain’s Defense of Obama

tim — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:41:08 -0000

I haven't had much access to the film, but the thing that comes to mind is the question of whether McCain is really refuting whether he is an arab or not. Did McCain say "Yes he is an arab, but we like him anyways."?

I've read by some accounts that his father is listed as an arab on Obama's birth certificate, and that both Barak and Obama are arab names.

In avoiding the technical issues of whether Obama is in fact an arab, even in part, McCain might have been bypassing the ordeal to go on another tangent, with tact, stating that Obama, "whatever he is", is a decent fellow.

thoughts?

-=T=-

Re: Home Network Upgrades

tim — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:42:35 -0000

welcome to the 21st century...says he whose computer is circa 1997.

-=T=-

Re: Obama and “Socialism”

tim — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:04:38 -0000

@ Daniel,

Just to be clear, are you for, or against, a shift in our government towards socialism?

I, for one, feel that the titanic bureaucracy already in place can't properly manage the money I already voluntarilly give to it's gigantic, gaping maw, and feel it would be a waste to encourage it's nigh-infinite hunger for more, by allowing it to take more per force.

I owe a debt to my society, and I owe a debt to my government, and one way to pay that debt is to slap it's hand when it's in the cookie jar, trying to steal more than our government needs, or more than is healthy for it.

I do not believe the ills of our government can be solved by making it bigger.

Lastly, I do not feel any sort of guilt for having made the money I have, not to the extent that I should be forced to give up more than already given. I'm sure you don't feel guilty either, but, if in the event that your guilt consumes you, don't believe for a moment I'd let your collective guilt force me to submit my children's sustainance, shelter, and comfort to a cancer riddled beast that doesn't respect it's own boundaries, or individual rights in the addictive throes it's now succumming to.

-=T=-

Re: A Visual Comparison of the Obama and McCain Tax Plans

tim — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:25:12 -0000

probably not impartial, coming from Obama's supporters.

try this:

http://www.jeremiahfilms.com/released/McCain-vs-Obama/mccainobamataxes.jpg

from:

http://www.jeremiahfilms.com/released/McCain-vs-Obama/taxes.html

peace,

-=T=-

Re: A Visual Comparison of the Obama and McCain Tax Plans

tim — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:53:21 -0000

@ Shane

"The dude making minimum wage is doing work that is likely worth much less than $6 but the company is forced to pay him more and so in return can afford to employ less workers. The guy is working a job that requires very little real talent or skills and is obviously a job that “a monkey can do”. The job likely has a very high turn over rate meaning constant retraining of new employees. There is very little to no responsibility or accountability. There would be plenty of time to slack off or at least half-ass it. If the employer fires you, you can always find a new minimum wage job and it would cost the employer to scramble to find a replacement."

This whole situation is a red herring. The point of the position of employment being so temporary because of it's low pay creating a high turnover rate makes the job a commodity in a wide pool of personell that know "they better do a good job if they want to keep it." People either get those kind of crazy ideas spending a few months facing the realistic prospect homelessness and starvation, or they don't get those concepts at all.

This is the reason for attrition, and facilitates in part a matriculation into our modern work force. You want a sports car and don't have someone to buy it for you? Well, earn it, or enjoy dreaming about not having it. The same thing goes for bottom feeders, neophytes to our modern economy, beginners, whatever you'd like to call them, when they are lumped in with the general population after highschool graduation. To some, Not Starving is a luxury. To others, not striving is a shame.

As to the rest, it's pretty sound.

Now, in the wake of the threat of an Obama administration, mandated health insurance premiums for employees are now facing a likely increase, and that is where Joe Sixpack is facing a ceiling that will drive a wedge between classes, disabling Joe from leaping from Employee to Employer as he won't be so able to find necessary increased funding for his independant business enterprise that his forebears faced during the Bush II Administration. In addition to that, self employment ventures are facing a huge increase in taxes, which effectivly will shut down many small businesses already on their feet.

-=T=-

Re: IQ is Real, and it Matters [Part II]

tim — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:42:16 -0000

To quickly address point 1:

"I.Q. is real, and I.Q. tests are good at testing it."

Granted, but I'd amend it to read "... and GOOD I.Q. tests are good at testing it."

I cannot stress the exploitative aspect of "feel good" tests, such as one can find as the advertising test offerred by MENSA over the past 30 years, amongst others commonly found on the internet, that are extremely adepth at not gauging one's intelligence so much as assessing how much you would like to pay for the recognition of being called a person of high IQ.

Secondly:

"I think far more emphasis should be placed on studying intelligence in order to engineer methods of increasing it. I think increasing intelligence, more than any other measurable human attribute, will help improve the quality of decisions made throughout the world, and that this should be a major focus of modern educational systems."

If people can't overcome their limitations and inabilities, including prejudices or inclinations towards the fantastic, such as innate needs for religion, or other distractions. These are facets of humanity that are inseperable to the whole, and are the obstructions to how constructive our civilization can ultimately be.

Ideally, it would be great to bypass the dirty work of redesigning the basic human format to exclude such limitations by only increasing intelligence, as highly intelligent perspectives would hopefully overcome them outright.

However, we have the same example in the creation of the atom bomb that existed in the relation of Cain to his brother Able, despite the span of thousands of years of intellectual evolution and recorded experience. We will fight, as is human, and more smartly when allowed. We will steal more cunningly when allowed. The themes of the basic sins has not ever restricted someone from committing them, just allowed them to do so with greater intellect when possible, because these are human themes, to one extent or another, and these pitfalls are present in everyone, smart and dumb or inbetween.

-=T=-

Re: Why Are We Focusing So Heavily on the Electoral College?

tim — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:44:13 -0000

I could be wrong, but as it stands, all of California's electoral college votes will be going to the democrats, as it's done for most of my life.

Considering the population of California is over 10% of the population of the whole United States, I really consider this an injustice to the election process.

When in fact nearly half the popular votes in California are going to McCain, they are automatically neglected.

Do I have this wrong, or is this how it is? Is it apporpriate for our modern elections?

-=T=-

Re: Should We Focus on Vulnerabilities or Threats?

tim — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:26:49 -0000

@ Rob,

"In light of this discussion, would it not be advantageous to look for something that prevented software vulnerabilities from be enacted on?"

I think it's a matter of semantics at that point. An open port is a vulnerability, only, in most books, but I can see where it might be looked on as a threat. Throughout my limited education on business law, we were taught to repeatedly to protect ourselves from liabilities. So, I see both vulnerabilities and threats as liabilities. However, to simplify, to secure an open port, I would run a firewall app to secure against an (external) threat from exploiting the (internal) vulnerability.

And, this might lead to another segment of the discussion, a common tangent, OBSCURITY. We can view the actual access, availabilty and public knowledge of the client as an internal vulnerability that bridges to the external threat. Many businesses will identitfy their customer base to make access available, and limit that access to that range alone. Others will want to maintain a less rigid surface for other potential customers to establish relations and, therefore access. Others for reasons of system security cannot grant access to any but a few priviledged members, and even then, there might not be a reason to pirate access.

So, to answer your question, as I understand it, one can do both by maintaining obscurity and neglecting external threats. In extreme cases, it just might not be worth it to turn on your server, and just leave it unplugged.

As I like to see it, I go back the "vulnerability is a threat" model of liabilities. But, that isn't so applicable when you understand that you can correct one vulnerability, but not stop the potentially limitless number of attackers willing to exploit the one vulnerability over and over. In that case, closing the door before stopping the hordes of zombies from coming in might be the best method.

And, yes, I agree that the best thing is to think about the attacker's mindset. Profile him, if you will. Who are they? How/do they see me as a potential victim/will they gain access? What will they do? Remember to include less logical answers when addressing these primary clues to the pool of possible attackers. These clues can lead to exactly where your newest vulnerabilties lie, like bloodhounds.

Thoughts?

-=T=-

Re: Should We Focus on Vulnerabilities or Threats?

tim — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:49:00 -0000

@ Rob,

Sorry. I am more of an outsider in this than a noob. I defer towards better experience in an effort to expand my appreciation of the field.

peace,

-=T=-

Re: McCain/Palin Supporters Dissected

tim — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:34:47 -0000

"It was a test, Tim. You failed."

There are certain standards I am proud to not meet.

peace,

-=T=-

Re: Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene

tim — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:49:42 -0000

other news: ATHEIST SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THERE IS NO CHRISTIAN GENE.

-=t=-

Re: Two Geeks, Night, 35mw Green Wicked Laser, Fog + Camera

tim — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:38:27 -0000

dude, i thought it looked like you! (all green glow and sh*t...lol :)

-=T=-

Re: I Just Purchased a Kanye West Song

tim — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:55:37 -0000

TRAINING THE EYES TO SEE BLINDLY:

kanye west was recently arrested.

http://www.examiner.com/x-964-Los-Angeles-Celebrity-Gossip-Examiner~y2008m11d18-Kanye-West-and-Paparazzi-dont-mix

his take on the ordeal. (it was buried under 2 dozen material ads disguised as "blog posts".)

http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=213537-1_0~0-111200800&em3281=&em3161=

two excerpts:

"THAT WAS THE BOGUS PART. THEY PLACED ME IN HANDCUFFS AND DROVE ME TO THE STATION."

"WHO'S WINNING, ME OR THE MEDIA?"

-=T=-

Re: A Rare Shot of the Endangered African What the Fuck is That

tim — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:11:10 -0000

that right there's whatchya call a bona-fahd "two dimensional wood fish", what comes inna happy and a sad face.

:), as demonsterated,

and

:(, most prevailient during a bad divorce, or after eating birds of any sort.

(note: they turn acid colors when'eys in molting phase.)

-=T=-

Re: Do Guns Reduce Crime?

tim — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:14:40 -0000

Another important perspective must include the question:

Does Gun Control Reduce Crime?

which must address the issues of practical application of gun control, and it's limitations, and how to regulate gun distribution outside the scope of the legal owner, versus the illegal owner.

-=T=-

Re: America’s Economic Catch 22

tim — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:01:43 -0000

@ Maxo,

"We got in to this problem by over investing money in markets that did not return profits."

Totally agree. When I first got into my 401k, 7 years ago, it took a few years of tracking it to notice I was losing 25 cents for every dollar invested, then another 25 cents for every dollar that made it a year invested. The only person profiting on the process was the traders, the investment managers, trading on bad deals, making their profits, and somehow losing the money in the result. It got so bad that they were projecting loses every quarter, even overprojecting just to buffer the blow.

I said enough is enough, and turned what I had left into real estate in 2003, and I've still doubled my equity, even post crash.

America's problems are that we are being outmarketed by anonymous asian factories that can't be held accountable for their cheap products on one hand, and then (we are) our congress is being lobbied to death to force trade imbalances through their legitimate channels on the other hand.

Here at home our factories are liable for any frivolous lawsuits a laywer can draft, which pumps up our prices, and the domestic lobbying collectives are hell bent on getting their piece of the markets before they exist. In California we are forced by law to spend money on insurances that have a degree of likelihood that they won't ever pay off, and that money gets invested in risky ventures that may or may not be foreign in nature. Sometimes it gets socked under the housing investments, and we saw what happens there.

These built in faults are not being addressed, as people in the positions of power to address them are profitting off of them, and will do so for as long as they can, and then will defend their bilking scheme, as they seem legit in the meantime.

One caught on the news lately; transit authorities, like BART, let banks filter money through their organization as a tax dodge, then they split the savings, to the maximum effect.

another one caught on the news fringe; Splash and Dash is a loophole for foreign oil from poor as hell countries to get into the U.S. and dodge embargos by having an oil tanker almost filled with foreign crude have a percentage (often less than 10%) "splashed" with American crude. Who lets this happen?

Somebody lets it happen, and they are being protected by an infrastructure already in place, and everyone gets a piece.

Something for everyone to look into.

-=T=-

Re: Yearning For a Healthy Society

tim — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:35:06 -0000

At my place in the mountains, my neighbors and I depend on each other. Right now they are looking after my place, as I've done when they're away. It's just a simpler way of living. No one really locks the doors either. It's a step back to a less complicated time.

-=T=-

Re: Don Hertzfeldt, Rejected

tim — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:05:06 -0000

omg, that was F*UCKING BEAUTIFUL!

-=T=-

Re: A New Approach to Political Discussion–In Letter Form

tim — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:47:43 -0000

@ Carl,

Currently there is a widening gap between his political perspective and mine. I am interested in the directions we are diverging from and towards.

-=T=-

Re: P90X Training System

tim — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:41:20 -0000

I've seen this. Looks promising, taking aerobics out of tae-bo, adding weights, and mixing in a jenny craig program. The strength behind it appears to be the rotation of the program. Fitness junkies aren't going to feel the benefit until they rotate their routines, which this promotes.

@ randy, thanks for the link to the amazon reviews, they helped me read much more into it than I was able to get on the tube. I really can only give so much credance to anything offered in an infomercial.

-=T=-

Re: That’s a Cool Apartment

tim — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:36:33 -0000

@ Chadmeister,

"That loft apartment looks too sterile and lacks any soul or personality."

This is a possible benefit. In fact, I see few distractions, and the openness offers more space for clear thought, i would think. As far as soul and personality, you would have to add your own subtleties with meditative reminders. that painting could be changed, or the plants re-arranged for reasons you see fit.

the corner couches looks fantastic. if it had two arms i would love one as a throne style chair.

-=T=-

Re: Why Some Businesses Require You to Sign Your Credit Card Receipt and Others Don’t

tim — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:39:01 -0000

there is something to the timing of the charge that also changes the nature of fast-food charges to the run of the mill store charges.

it's been explained to me that fast food charges are run first, and sometimes retroactively to the other charges, especially over the weekend when the bank can only verify the sum was in your credit or bank account.

so, there's a dymanic unfolding.

-=T=-

Re: 10 Years With a Website

tim — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:36:09 -0000

hooray!

-=T=-