I grew up with the Bond films.
We used to go watch Bond movies as groups of friends in the back of someone's parent's SUV with Quiet Riot blaring...what a cool parent we had in our group.
I was thinking about my favorite Bond theme songs. Of course there is the unforgettable Monty Norman theme with the "Dum di-di dum dum". Here are my top 5 Bond themes of all time:
5 "Live and Let Die" Sir Paul McCartney (iTunes) (yewchube)
No, Guns and Roses didn't write it, though they did a solid cover of it.
4 "A View to a Kill" Duran Duran (iTunes)(yewchube)
Once the epitome of hip and mod, now a little cheesy...still a great Bond song. The video is amusing if not for the originally intended reasons.
3 "Nobody Does it Better" Carly Simon (iTunes)(yewchube)
Many have sung this one, and I still think nobody does it better.
2 "For Your Eyes Only" Sheena Easton (yewchube)
Where is the official iTunes version Sheena? I love this song.
1 "The World is Not Enough" Garbage (iTunes)(yewchube)
What an achievement, they wrote a new rock song with the classic bond feel and all the Garbage trademarks. Brilliant. The music video is amazing.
Have a happy monday!
=sw
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
It's a Jungle
I am into my second year in a new city. I am slowly making good friends, which are hard to come by really. I feel I need a good social circle as a step on the way to having a relationship again. Since my last 2 year relationship ended in January of 2005, I have been a complete mess.
I know why I don't jump right in to another relationship, doing that led to how I feel now: miserable, detached, guts torn out etc. I don't feel that way every second, though the recurrence of such feelings seems to go away very slowly after a relationship.
Didn't I try to fire off a few quick and easy bangs the way she did to get over things? In my way, I did. It takes me more time to get the big easy. It took me about a year and a half to get to where the ex was in 3 weeks. What can I say?
Now I am in a long drawn our depressed funk...like the drought in the Western U.S. Not every day is awful, people survive...though there are big long term questions. Will this ever end? Will we survive? And rolling right out of my analogy...will I love again?
I am not getting hotter really...the struggle to look sexy is getting slightly more challenging actually. I exercise, walk around, ride my mountain bike and try to stay fit, though in my heart there's a Joy Division concert blaring loudly. If you don't know what that means, it's a reference to a post-punk band known for deep melancholly whose lead singer met a sad self-inflicted end. Not exactly uplifting...sometimes comforting in misery. My bio-feed-back graph looks something like this about now:
I am comforted that I can complain about life on my blog and not have it read by very many people, hahah.
I like to make music so I am working on preserving all I have created into a collection. I am not trying to modernize or update the sound of some of these songs, just keep them for what they were. If I don't go to the trouble to record and mix them properly they will not be accessible even to me. I used a lot of old dying 80's computer gear to make some of my electronic sound and I never recorded the songs properly even once. I just made some tape demos. I will be singing them a-new and maybe taking some mixing liberties. I also will have the full freedom and flexibility to remix them and update them if I choose.
I keep myself busy, try not to think of the ex too much...(so pathetic as I am sure she has done too many drugs and dudes to even remember much about me). I continue to guard my heart. It loves deeply and fully and if it doesn't work out, It's a slow and painful extraction process. For all my loneliness I am not eager to jump right into this kind of result again.
My sister always says you should give yourself a good solid 15 minutes of misery, self-pity and woe then let it go, stand up and go live victoriously. So here I go...If I can just get out of the chair...
=sw
I know why I don't jump right in to another relationship, doing that led to how I feel now: miserable, detached, guts torn out etc. I don't feel that way every second, though the recurrence of such feelings seems to go away very slowly after a relationship.
Didn't I try to fire off a few quick and easy bangs the way she did to get over things? In my way, I did. It takes me more time to get the big easy. It took me about a year and a half to get to where the ex was in 3 weeks. What can I say?
Now I am in a long drawn our depressed funk...like the drought in the Western U.S. Not every day is awful, people survive...though there are big long term questions. Will this ever end? Will we survive? And rolling right out of my analogy...will I love again?
I am not getting hotter really...the struggle to look sexy is getting slightly more challenging actually. I exercise, walk around, ride my mountain bike and try to stay fit, though in my heart there's a Joy Division concert blaring loudly. If you don't know what that means, it's a reference to a post-punk band known for deep melancholly whose lead singer met a sad self-inflicted end. Not exactly uplifting...sometimes comforting in misery. My bio-feed-back graph looks something like this about now:
I am comforted that I can complain about life on my blog and not have it read by very many people, hahah.
I like to make music so I am working on preserving all I have created into a collection. I am not trying to modernize or update the sound of some of these songs, just keep them for what they were. If I don't go to the trouble to record and mix them properly they will not be accessible even to me. I used a lot of old dying 80's computer gear to make some of my electronic sound and I never recorded the songs properly even once. I just made some tape demos. I will be singing them a-new and maybe taking some mixing liberties. I also will have the full freedom and flexibility to remix them and update them if I choose.
I keep myself busy, try not to think of the ex too much...(so pathetic as I am sure she has done too many drugs and dudes to even remember much about me). I continue to guard my heart. It loves deeply and fully and if it doesn't work out, It's a slow and painful extraction process. For all my loneliness I am not eager to jump right into this kind of result again.
My sister always says you should give yourself a good solid 15 minutes of misery, self-pity and woe then let it go, stand up and go live victoriously. So here I go...If I can just get out of the chair...
=sw
Monday, July 09, 2007
Country Justice
I went on a river float trip with a group that rented part of a private camp ground. We were 50 or more in number and single, married, older, younger, men and women. A good balance of people who had planned ahead and prepared to reserve a large area far in advance of the trip. It was as close as you can get to a church-like group, like I experienced growing up, without religion playing any defining role in the grouping at all. Most enjoyed some drinking, some didn't and so forth.
This was out in the Virginia country side along the Shenandoah river. I think that "Country Roads" song by John Denver is really about Virginia, just "West Virginia" fit a little better in the meter. West Virginia is not far off in any case and I think a part of the river flows through the upper arm of that state.
There were some fireworks, some whoops and hollers could be heard across the river valley. I daren't say "redneck" but by the end of the float, even one of our friends who is originally from India had a sun burn, so you definitely get a little sun on the summer river float.
A few times I heard, from outside our area of camp, the "Dukes of Hazard" style Dixie car horn "Oh..I wished I lived in the land of cotton..." Seriously, someone had that horn. It sounds kind of bigoted to me, though I suspect the highly represented vacationers of Mexican origin probably thought it sounded a little more like Mariachi music with sloppy timing.
For some reason, some people beseech me for my judgment on things. It's like I have that..."tell me your story and I'll absolve you of all your sins" like "approachable" demeanor. As I have blogged before, sometimes it's a woman at a dance club confessing her 3 secret boyfriends...affectionately named Monday, Wednesday and Friday. "what are doing Saturday" would be my response.
This time, it was two fairly young men. I was standing under a shade tree in the hot day about 50 feet away from the restrooms (which haven't been updated since the 60's). I was waiting for a couple of the ladies before we headed back to our camp to have dinner. These guys had some river float gear and asked me politely if I planned to be there a little while and could I watch their belongings while they took a quick restroom break.
I said sure and asked their names.
They were about 17 or 18, both way taller and bigger as in buffer than I am. They were polite and respectful and I shook their hands as I got their names. One kid kind of pulled back a bit and said "woah" from the handshake. He showed me scars all up and down his arm where they couldn't be seen from the top with the reach of a handshake.
He was torn up big time with scabs and scars maybe a few days to a week old. I said "oh, yah, that's pretty serious". He proceeded to tell me how it happened.
Apparently this guy had been at a big high school "schools out" party and witnessed a guy he knew hit a girl in the face and break her front teeth out. The girl is his good friend and so he went out after the guy (we'll call him the perp...like perpetrator of the punch to the girl) who had run out of the house. The perp jumped into a car which was being driven by another girl. My new acquaintance with the scabbed arms, call him Johnny, slapped the passenger side 1/4 size triangular window a couple of times, yelled at the perp to get out. He eventually pounded on the window then grabbed a stick to bolster his punch and punched in the window, grabbed the perp and pulled his face into the smashed 1/4 window glass repeatedly.
Then the cops showed up.
I said, "and you both got assault charges right?" and so it was. He asked me what I thought of that. I told him "assault is assault" and even though hitting girls is socially egregious and against the law, under the law what he (Johnny) did was also assault and not regarded as justified by another assault. Morally perhaps country justice was in order, I am not sure, though I agree any assault should be what it is. It is not up to Johnny to charge, convict and mete out punishments. I also felt the overwhelming sense of offense at the perp hitting a girl. She was, in this case, essentially defenseless against the attack and I don't beleive such a thing could ever be justified by anything she might do.
Yet, I also have a strong moral sense that right and wrong should not be emotionally applied nor distributed via 'roid rage. No victim is worth more than another. Perhaps it can be shown, circumstantially, that ones suffering is especially great under ones unique circumstances. Still...
Country Justice troubles me. It is an affront to Equal Justice Under Law so highly prized by our nation. I am stingingly disgusted that a man would hit his girlfriend. It is very offensive and horrible. Yet, my personal emotional reaction is subjective and does not comport with an equitable legal system.
I guess I am not too worried about these kids. They talk of violence with wonder and fascination, but I think getting glass in your arm might tend to teach you you are not indestructible. Too bad he had to go the hard way. On the other hand, what a friend when you need one.
Oh, the float trip was relaxing and fun, only a few sunburns.
=sw
This was out in the Virginia country side along the Shenandoah river. I think that "Country Roads" song by John Denver is really about Virginia, just "West Virginia" fit a little better in the meter. West Virginia is not far off in any case and I think a part of the river flows through the upper arm of that state.
There were some fireworks, some whoops and hollers could be heard across the river valley. I daren't say "redneck" but by the end of the float, even one of our friends who is originally from India had a sun burn, so you definitely get a little sun on the summer river float.
A few times I heard, from outside our area of camp, the "Dukes of Hazard" style Dixie car horn "Oh..I wished I lived in the land of cotton..." Seriously, someone had that horn. It sounds kind of bigoted to me, though I suspect the highly represented vacationers of Mexican origin probably thought it sounded a little more like Mariachi music with sloppy timing.
For some reason, some people beseech me for my judgment on things. It's like I have that..."tell me your story and I'll absolve you of all your sins" like "approachable" demeanor. As I have blogged before, sometimes it's a woman at a dance club confessing her 3 secret boyfriends...affectionately named Monday, Wednesday and Friday. "what are doing Saturday" would be my response.
This time, it was two fairly young men. I was standing under a shade tree in the hot day about 50 feet away from the restrooms (which haven't been updated since the 60's). I was waiting for a couple of the ladies before we headed back to our camp to have dinner. These guys had some river float gear and asked me politely if I planned to be there a little while and could I watch their belongings while they took a quick restroom break.
I said sure and asked their names.
They were about 17 or 18, both way taller and bigger as in buffer than I am. They were polite and respectful and I shook their hands as I got their names. One kid kind of pulled back a bit and said "woah" from the handshake. He showed me scars all up and down his arm where they couldn't be seen from the top with the reach of a handshake.
He was torn up big time with scabs and scars maybe a few days to a week old. I said "oh, yah, that's pretty serious". He proceeded to tell me how it happened.
Apparently this guy had been at a big high school "schools out" party and witnessed a guy he knew hit a girl in the face and break her front teeth out. The girl is his good friend and so he went out after the guy (we'll call him the perp...like perpetrator of the punch to the girl) who had run out of the house. The perp jumped into a car which was being driven by another girl. My new acquaintance with the scabbed arms, call him Johnny, slapped the passenger side 1/4 size triangular window a couple of times, yelled at the perp to get out. He eventually pounded on the window then grabbed a stick to bolster his punch and punched in the window, grabbed the perp and pulled his face into the smashed 1/4 window glass repeatedly.
Then the cops showed up.
I said, "and you both got assault charges right?" and so it was. He asked me what I thought of that. I told him "assault is assault" and even though hitting girls is socially egregious and against the law, under the law what he (Johnny) did was also assault and not regarded as justified by another assault. Morally perhaps country justice was in order, I am not sure, though I agree any assault should be what it is. It is not up to Johnny to charge, convict and mete out punishments. I also felt the overwhelming sense of offense at the perp hitting a girl. She was, in this case, essentially defenseless against the attack and I don't beleive such a thing could ever be justified by anything she might do.
Yet, I also have a strong moral sense that right and wrong should not be emotionally applied nor distributed via 'roid rage. No victim is worth more than another. Perhaps it can be shown, circumstantially, that ones suffering is especially great under ones unique circumstances. Still...
Country Justice troubles me. It is an affront to Equal Justice Under Law so highly prized by our nation. I am stingingly disgusted that a man would hit his girlfriend. It is very offensive and horrible. Yet, my personal emotional reaction is subjective and does not comport with an equitable legal system.
I guess I am not too worried about these kids. They talk of violence with wonder and fascination, but I think getting glass in your arm might tend to teach you you are not indestructible. Too bad he had to go the hard way. On the other hand, what a friend when you need one.
Oh, the float trip was relaxing and fun, only a few sunburns.
=sw
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Wimbledon on Streaming Radio
If ever there was a bad idea it is the live streaming radio feed of Wimbledon tennis.
I happen to tune into the BBC streaming radio from time to time throughout the day. Today they were streaming live audio from the Women's tennis matches at Tennis' big event.
I cannot listen to Wimbledon on streaming radio. It is two women grunting and screaming with all their might in desperate exertions...then applause.
At least there is that spongy "thock" of the ball on the grass courts to give some idea of a context to the other sounds.
The best part is...desperate grunting female exertions...then...the whoaaa....of the shocked and disappointed crowd.
It is so laughably amusing to hear. If only the lady players would yell at the judges more.
=sw
I happen to tune into the BBC streaming radio from time to time throughout the day. Today they were streaming live audio from the Women's tennis matches at Tennis' big event.
I cannot listen to Wimbledon on streaming radio. It is two women grunting and screaming with all their might in desperate exertions...then applause.
At least there is that spongy "thock" of the ball on the grass courts to give some idea of a context to the other sounds.
The best part is...desperate grunting female exertions...then...the whoaaa....of the shocked and disappointed crowd.
It is so laughably amusing to hear. If only the lady players would yell at the judges more.
=sw
Monday, June 25, 2007
Kama Sutra II
I am sure you all read my political postings with rapt attention and just agree so much that no comment is necessary.
Really though...
I know everyone just wants more Kama Sutra!!... in their lives and on my blog, so here we go! This time I will try KSHk...Kama Sutra Haiku. The Haiku trend was brought on by the Degenerate Elite. You know who you are.
Of course I must tell you I simply found these photos online earlier this year. They are apparently photos from an ad campaign from Turkey. If you found these on your own, at least I know you have never seen them with Haiku's yet!
This should prove quite fun
Haiku for Kama Sutra
Poses in clothing!
That's how she likes it
We connect in a structure
Geometric love.
When you give your best
And keep your head in the game
You never lose face
If I concentrate
And really focus on things
I can see your junk
Did you know this babe?
I am one for fine dining
Why partake alone?
Just like all people
When I see these lovely shots
I want a love life
And why shouldn't I?
Fulfill this good desire
I am a cool guy!
I sincerely hope you enjoy them. Until next time!
=sw
Really though...
I know everyone just wants more Kama Sutra!!... in their lives and on my blog, so here we go! This time I will try KSHk...Kama Sutra Haiku. The Haiku trend was brought on by the Degenerate Elite. You know who you are.
Of course I must tell you I simply found these photos online earlier this year. They are apparently photos from an ad campaign from Turkey. If you found these on your own, at least I know you have never seen them with Haiku's yet!
This should prove quite fun
Haiku for Kama Sutra
Poses in clothing!
That's how she likes itWe connect in a structure
Geometric love.
When you give your best
And keep your head in the game
You never lose face
If I concentrate
And really focus on things
I can see your junk
Did you know this babe?
I am one for fine dining
Why partake alone?
Just like all people
When I see these lovely shots
I want a love life
And why shouldn't I?
Fulfill this good desire
I am a cool guy!
I sincerely hope you enjoy them. Until next time!
=sw
Titular Testation
I added a new title bar, Red faced, high in the clouds, Stone faced, getting revelation and standing a-skance from the light.
I like the new templates, very nice. Huzzah blogger, ol chaps.
So the FBI is trying to issue guidelines about University Employees to help people spot "enemies of state". Per slashdot.org
The trouble is, these guidelines need to be combined with some other common sense. I will take each of the identifiers they have used and comment on them:
Unexplained affluence
Just because someone in your employ at a school has some money, doesn't mean an explanation is even owed to anyone. Suppose he or she simply has a wealthy relative...even a wealthy foreign relative...and it just isn't anyone's business?
Failing to report overseas travel
I am not sure employees have to account to their workplace for where they go when they are not at work. Certainly one must possess the necessary documents to travel and this need not be dealt with at all by one's employer, it's an abuse of power and a violation of privacy I would think.
Showing unusual interest in information outside the job scope
Curiousity? Simple desire to learn new things? Are we all suddenly communist drones stuck in a fixed career for life? This is really a repressive notion.
Keeping unusual work hours
I work in IT and I know unusual hours can be common. If the hours comport with the job description this should not place anyone under suspicion, though as a management issue, some people need not be on site after hours.
Unreported contacts with foreign nationals
The implication that any social contact ought to be reported to an employer or school is really not sounding like my America. That is really disturbing. It is possible speak to foreign nationals regularly in this great land without it involving threatening national security or being anyone's business.
Unreported contact with foreign government, military, or intelligence officials
Again the word "unreported". As if I should file a memo to my boss all about who I met at lunch. What is the imagined hypothetical situation here? An employer spots his copy clerk at wine bar on the weekend sitting with a uniformed general and confronts the employee for not "reporting" the meeting? I find this kind of suspicion frenzy dangerous to civil, free society.
Attempting to gain new accesses without the need to know
"Hey...can I have the password to the server with the grades on it"...I suppose it's common sense that some employees or students do not need access to sensitive private information. Though this could lead to a knee jerk reaction to interest in perfectly legitimate public information.
Unexplained Absences
This can happen to anyone. Really, you have a personal emergency and miss a school day. How many people skip their own classes for no good reason at all? I don't think this one alone really seals the deal for determining a spy.
I care about my country, I love it enough not to want it to spiral into the salem witch trials because most every key identifier for espionage is something that could be a simple matter of liberty and privacy and not necessarily indicate anything.
Besides, how clumsy and stupid do they think someone would be if they were really a spy? The safety of the nation is important, though so is the character of the life we are preserving. If most people fit into some of these identifiers at some time we may be just inciting panic for no good reason, causing a majority of false positives and unnecessary suspicion and mistrust.
Our society is free because of trust. If the FBI allows the threats from abroad to erode trust they may be doing far more damage to our own country than an enemy could inflict on us.
=sw
I like the new templates, very nice. Huzzah blogger, ol chaps.
So the FBI is trying to issue guidelines about University Employees to help people spot "enemies of state". Per slashdot.org
"FBI is offering to brief faculty, students and staff on what it calls 'espionage indicators' aimed at identifying foreign agents. Unexplained affluence, failing to report overseas travel, showing unusual interest in information outside the job scope, keeping unusual work hours, unreported contacts with foreign nationals, unreported contact with foreign government, military, or intelligence officials, attempting to gain new accesses without the need to know, and unexplained absences are all considered potential espionage indicators."
The trouble is, these guidelines need to be combined with some other common sense. I will take each of the identifiers they have used and comment on them:
Unexplained affluence
Just because someone in your employ at a school has some money, doesn't mean an explanation is even owed to anyone. Suppose he or she simply has a wealthy relative...even a wealthy foreign relative...and it just isn't anyone's business?
Failing to report overseas travel
I am not sure employees have to account to their workplace for where they go when they are not at work. Certainly one must possess the necessary documents to travel and this need not be dealt with at all by one's employer, it's an abuse of power and a violation of privacy I would think.
Showing unusual interest in information outside the job scope
Curiousity? Simple desire to learn new things? Are we all suddenly communist drones stuck in a fixed career for life? This is really a repressive notion.
Keeping unusual work hours
I work in IT and I know unusual hours can be common. If the hours comport with the job description this should not place anyone under suspicion, though as a management issue, some people need not be on site after hours.
Unreported contacts with foreign nationals
The implication that any social contact ought to be reported to an employer or school is really not sounding like my America. That is really disturbing. It is possible speak to foreign nationals regularly in this great land without it involving threatening national security or being anyone's business.
Unreported contact with foreign government, military, or intelligence officials
Again the word "unreported". As if I should file a memo to my boss all about who I met at lunch. What is the imagined hypothetical situation here? An employer spots his copy clerk at wine bar on the weekend sitting with a uniformed general and confronts the employee for not "reporting" the meeting? I find this kind of suspicion frenzy dangerous to civil, free society.
Attempting to gain new accesses without the need to know
"Hey...can I have the password to the server with the grades on it"...I suppose it's common sense that some employees or students do not need access to sensitive private information. Though this could lead to a knee jerk reaction to interest in perfectly legitimate public information.
Unexplained Absences
This can happen to anyone. Really, you have a personal emergency and miss a school day. How many people skip their own classes for no good reason at all? I don't think this one alone really seals the deal for determining a spy.
I care about my country, I love it enough not to want it to spiral into the salem witch trials because most every key identifier for espionage is something that could be a simple matter of liberty and privacy and not necessarily indicate anything.
Besides, how clumsy and stupid do they think someone would be if they were really a spy? The safety of the nation is important, though so is the character of the life we are preserving. If most people fit into some of these identifiers at some time we may be just inciting panic for no good reason, causing a majority of false positives and unnecessary suspicion and mistrust.
Our society is free because of trust. If the FBI allows the threats from abroad to erode trust they may be doing far more damage to our own country than an enemy could inflict on us.
=sw
Monday, June 18, 2007
Kyoto Politics
It is starting to become clearer that carbon dioxide emissions are becoming a global problem. The top 20 emitters are listed by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The top one is the United States, though China is a close second, especially considering the growth rate of emissions from that country.
If the problem is urgent, if American scientists and, increasingly, politicians know the risks, why has the U.S. refused to ratify the Kyoto protocols?
It may be, that under the current agreement Large emitters such as China and India, which could potentially grow much larger, are not required to reduce their emissions under the protocol. Though the U.S. emissions are dramatically higher, this is effectively a call to negate America's historical competitive advantages.
The theory behind Kyoto is that if America reduces its emissions then that leaves room for growth or sustained levels of emissions from other countries. In reality, all nations need to reduce emissions and rationalizing that some nations should not have to do so amounts to a desire to transfer economic activity from the U.S. to other nations.
Because this is an important global issue about which something must be done, it would seem that the U.S. would prefer to rely on its technical and innovative prowess to deal with the carbon dioxide issue rather than effectively hand its sovereign power over to other nations.
Should there be an accord that recognizes that every nation must work to reduce CO2 emissions and change its energy usage patterns, then that is an accord America could sign. The U.S. would also have an extra large responsibility to reduce emissions, under such an agreement.
What Kyoto represents is simply the transfer of economic and industrial activity from the United States to other countries like India and China. This is an obvious political and competitive coup through which American politicians can see directly.
If CO2 is a real problem, everyone must target downward, instead of trying to transfer American industrial and technological lead time to other nations in a kind of carbon welfare system.
The United States will, no doubt, need to seek solutions to the CO2 emission issue and the effects of global warming will impact every nation. Though, it is clear as day why the U.S. and nations like Australia do not ratify the Kyoto protocols. Both nations have signed the protocols, demonstrating the importance of the issue at hand. However, the solution must involve all nations seeking reductions, not some nations simply seeking a larger slice of American historical advantage, insisting on a school-yard catch-up game instead of seeking actual reductions of their own CO2 emissions.
The U.S. should keep its sovereignty and insist on accords that target reductions by all, and do not offer a kind of carbon amnesty for coming late to the industrialized technology game.
=sw
If the problem is urgent, if American scientists and, increasingly, politicians know the risks, why has the U.S. refused to ratify the Kyoto protocols?
It may be, that under the current agreement Large emitters such as China and India, which could potentially grow much larger, are not required to reduce their emissions under the protocol. Though the U.S. emissions are dramatically higher, this is effectively a call to negate America's historical competitive advantages.
The theory behind Kyoto is that if America reduces its emissions then that leaves room for growth or sustained levels of emissions from other countries. In reality, all nations need to reduce emissions and rationalizing that some nations should not have to do so amounts to a desire to transfer economic activity from the U.S. to other nations.
Because this is an important global issue about which something must be done, it would seem that the U.S. would prefer to rely on its technical and innovative prowess to deal with the carbon dioxide issue rather than effectively hand its sovereign power over to other nations.
Should there be an accord that recognizes that every nation must work to reduce CO2 emissions and change its energy usage patterns, then that is an accord America could sign. The U.S. would also have an extra large responsibility to reduce emissions, under such an agreement.
What Kyoto represents is simply the transfer of economic and industrial activity from the United States to other countries like India and China. This is an obvious political and competitive coup through which American politicians can see directly.
If CO2 is a real problem, everyone must target downward, instead of trying to transfer American industrial and technological lead time to other nations in a kind of carbon welfare system.
The United States will, no doubt, need to seek solutions to the CO2 emission issue and the effects of global warming will impact every nation. Though, it is clear as day why the U.S. and nations like Australia do not ratify the Kyoto protocols. Both nations have signed the protocols, demonstrating the importance of the issue at hand. However, the solution must involve all nations seeking reductions, not some nations simply seeking a larger slice of American historical advantage, insisting on a school-yard catch-up game instead of seeking actual reductions of their own CO2 emissions.
The U.S. should keep its sovereignty and insist on accords that target reductions by all, and do not offer a kind of carbon amnesty for coming late to the industrialized technology game.
=sw
Friday, June 08, 2007
War Theory
Why is there war? Why are we at war?
I think, among some communities generally described as Arabs, like the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon or extremist insurgents in Iraq, religion is a ready shield. It is so plain for me to see that a religion of peace has nothing to do with terrorism and gangster-like activity these groups of people undertake. I almost feel the sense of hopelessness even some military members feel. The voice that says "these people are insane fanatics that will never come to their senses" or "we should write them off and bomb them all".
I may not have much in common with these people though I have humanity in common. Why am I not motivated to exploit the religious sentiments of people to whip them up into a warring, irrational, hateful frenzy as some videos seem to show groups like these do. What would make me feel as hopeless, frustrated and desperately angry as these fellow human beings do?
I suspect there is a war on with Iran already. Maybe it's even with parts of Pakistan and maybe North Korea is even involved, certainly in the area of disseminating information about nuclear weapons research.
The war with Iran is being fought in political stand-offs, kidnappings, brash statements and crass conferences like the one hosted by iran denying the Holocaust. The 80's war in Afghanistan was a proxy war between the U.S.S.R. (now mainly Russia) and the U.S.A. and the Vietnam war was fought against Chinese backing, as was the Korean War. The wars in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan (of today) are looking like Proxy wars.
On the surface, the difference in the predominant religion of the parties may serve as a motivator in oversimplified anger building exercizes. As an American, I know I am not at war with Mohammed, Islam or any religion.
I believe these wars are about economics.
Now the G8 conference is on, remember that about 65% of the worlds economy is represented by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. This looks exactly like a post-world-war II bargaining table.
Excluded? Predominantly muslim countries. Not only them, but China, India, Australia, All of Africa and All of South America are, on the surface of it, excluded. I know other countries also hold meetings during the conferences, but really...
War is about wealth.
How do some more extremist muslim people feel? Slighted? Universally disadvantaged? Like other people, who do not share their religion, hold the billions to such a degree that they can win wars, assign territory and enforce it all?
I understand the deep seated need for a feeling of faith in justice. I can see why many people hope that Sharia Law (an example a system of laws that is consistent with muslim values) will afford some leverage, advantage or opportunity to over a billion muslims.
I have no sympathy for those who choose the path of terror, violence, war lordism, gang-like criminal behavior. And I, ofcourse, find the idea of religious law to be a contemptable concept that is not how I prefer to live, though I am trying to see what is the cause of war, of the warlike spirit.
I heard, last week, that the billionaires in Aspen, CO are trying to keep the pesky millionaires out. This trend is so unsettling. While the free market system is not without its benefits and advantages, and while I desire to be wealthy like many American Dreamers, I will always reject, out of hand, the notion that money elevates anyone to a higher worth as a human being. All the illusion, the trappings, exclusivity and ownership should never nudge a human being's inherent worth one 1000th of a nanometer abover another's.
I feel a duty to country to point out the risk of misdirection from important things speaking about Paris Hilton can cause. Don't let her distract you from important events like the "retirement" of General Pace, erstwhile chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. armed forces for 2 years now. Though Paris illustrates my point.
Paris Hilton's wealth and status may have led to the offer of special treatment for the "socialite" (oh geez, is this a career?) by the criminal justice system. This leaves other jailed women wondering if they couldn't just have a medical issue and be sent home as well. This manufactured class difference may be what leads to the anger that leads to the resolve to fight that leads to war. At least it seems to work that way for some apparently disadvantaged people in parts of the world.
Poor, angry with no prospects...many will fall victim to recruiting to these various factions. I believe that fighting poverty fights the ability of those wishing to exploit this anxious resource of idle stressed populations to prosecute a war.
So what is wealth really? I'll think about that one for a while and post later.
=sw
I think, among some communities generally described as Arabs, like the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon or extremist insurgents in Iraq, religion is a ready shield. It is so plain for me to see that a religion of peace has nothing to do with terrorism and gangster-like activity these groups of people undertake. I almost feel the sense of hopelessness even some military members feel. The voice that says "these people are insane fanatics that will never come to their senses" or "we should write them off and bomb them all".
I may not have much in common with these people though I have humanity in common. Why am I not motivated to exploit the religious sentiments of people to whip them up into a warring, irrational, hateful frenzy as some videos seem to show groups like these do. What would make me feel as hopeless, frustrated and desperately angry as these fellow human beings do?
I suspect there is a war on with Iran already. Maybe it's even with parts of Pakistan and maybe North Korea is even involved, certainly in the area of disseminating information about nuclear weapons research.
The war with Iran is being fought in political stand-offs, kidnappings, brash statements and crass conferences like the one hosted by iran denying the Holocaust. The 80's war in Afghanistan was a proxy war between the U.S.S.R. (now mainly Russia) and the U.S.A. and the Vietnam war was fought against Chinese backing, as was the Korean War. The wars in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan (of today) are looking like Proxy wars.
On the surface, the difference in the predominant religion of the parties may serve as a motivator in oversimplified anger building exercizes. As an American, I know I am not at war with Mohammed, Islam or any religion.
I believe these wars are about economics.
Now the G8 conference is on, remember that about 65% of the worlds economy is represented by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. This looks exactly like a post-world-war II bargaining table.
Excluded? Predominantly muslim countries. Not only them, but China, India, Australia, All of Africa and All of South America are, on the surface of it, excluded. I know other countries also hold meetings during the conferences, but really...
War is about wealth.
How do some more extremist muslim people feel? Slighted? Universally disadvantaged? Like other people, who do not share their religion, hold the billions to such a degree that they can win wars, assign territory and enforce it all?
I understand the deep seated need for a feeling of faith in justice. I can see why many people hope that Sharia Law (an example a system of laws that is consistent with muslim values) will afford some leverage, advantage or opportunity to over a billion muslims.
I have no sympathy for those who choose the path of terror, violence, war lordism, gang-like criminal behavior. And I, ofcourse, find the idea of religious law to be a contemptable concept that is not how I prefer to live, though I am trying to see what is the cause of war, of the warlike spirit.
I heard, last week, that the billionaires in Aspen, CO are trying to keep the pesky millionaires out. This trend is so unsettling. While the free market system is not without its benefits and advantages, and while I desire to be wealthy like many American Dreamers, I will always reject, out of hand, the notion that money elevates anyone to a higher worth as a human being. All the illusion, the trappings, exclusivity and ownership should never nudge a human being's inherent worth one 1000th of a nanometer abover another's.
I feel a duty to country to point out the risk of misdirection from important things speaking about Paris Hilton can cause. Don't let her distract you from important events like the "retirement" of General Pace, erstwhile chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. armed forces for 2 years now. Though Paris illustrates my point.
Paris Hilton's wealth and status may have led to the offer of special treatment for the "socialite" (oh geez, is this a career?) by the criminal justice system. This leaves other jailed women wondering if they couldn't just have a medical issue and be sent home as well. This manufactured class difference may be what leads to the anger that leads to the resolve to fight that leads to war. At least it seems to work that way for some apparently disadvantaged people in parts of the world.
Poor, angry with no prospects...many will fall victim to recruiting to these various factions. I believe that fighting poverty fights the ability of those wishing to exploit this anxious resource of idle stressed populations to prosecute a war.
So what is wealth really? I'll think about that one for a while and post later.
=sw
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Parthenogenesis
I heard about the hammer head shark in captivity with other females who delivered a baby shark "Immaculate Conception" style in a process known as parthenogenesis. Probably named for ancient Greek myths. Can you imagine the construction workers from the Parthenon: "Listen, Telemakos, the Parthenon didn't build itsself!" Sadly, knowing the ancient Greeks, they were probably using slave labor. Democracy was not for everyone back then.
I prefer "Emaculate Conception". Candles, egyptian cotton, mood setting music, massage oil, no condom (It's conception after all).
It seems there are a lot of examples of Parthenogenesis in the animal world. Indeed every vertabrate that is not a mammal has exhibited this capability at some point observable to modern science. Also many non-vertabrates can "get her done", so to speak, "all by herself" as it were. Annie Lennox is a prophetess.
This is an amazing ability and except for the lack of a mammalian incident (much less a human one) on record, this would seem to lend credence to the concept of a "virgin birth" like the one in the beliefs held by Christians.
Mary was said to have been a virgin who was suddenly pregnant without even mention of a mans name....wait a tick...there was that bloke Gabriel. Probably, Mary hooked up with her cousin's boyfriend, a non-practicing jew who'd been living in Samaria and was sent as a "messenger" to visit the family and ended up standing over her at some point. Gabe said things to Mary that I have at least thought of saying to any hottie who has favored me with her charms like "Hail [name here] full of grace"... and as her robe falls to the stone floor of the summer home on Galilee..."blessed art thou among women"...and later that evening another utterance echoes through the atrium..."Mother of God". Warning: that was sacreligous. I should have warned you before it happened. I'm sorry, baby, Now you'll have some 'splainin' to do to Joseph!
Yes, Occam's razor, if used for nothing else in this postulation, tells me that the simplest answer is Mary did things in the usual way. You know, things happen and you lie to yourself about them and spin them to those whose reactions you fear most. Women are equipped for this sort of thing by evolution.
That's why Jesus looked so much taller than the rest of the O'Nazareths in the family portraits which we of course have in museums proving the whole story happened. Right? ...What? There's no evidence just copies of manuscripts about a story? Huh?
Parthenogenesis is a natural occurrence in some creatures, and if it happened in a woman once, it being a natural (if rare) phenomenon, that would seem to take the need for a miracle off the table.
I will let you all know as soon as I "genesis" an ancient Greek temple in my sleep. You can all party with me. Bring a silk pillow and some wine, wear a grape vine around your forehead and dress in a comfortable, loose-fitting robe. Women only. Hey it's my "Parthenon", genesis your own.
=sw
I prefer "Emaculate Conception". Candles, egyptian cotton, mood setting music, massage oil, no condom (It's conception after all).
It seems there are a lot of examples of Parthenogenesis in the animal world. Indeed every vertabrate that is not a mammal has exhibited this capability at some point observable to modern science. Also many non-vertabrates can "get her done", so to speak, "all by herself" as it were. Annie Lennox is a prophetess.
This is an amazing ability and except for the lack of a mammalian incident (much less a human one) on record, this would seem to lend credence to the concept of a "virgin birth" like the one in the beliefs held by Christians.
Mary was said to have been a virgin who was suddenly pregnant without even mention of a mans name....wait a tick...there was that bloke Gabriel. Probably, Mary hooked up with her cousin's boyfriend, a non-practicing jew who'd been living in Samaria and was sent as a "messenger" to visit the family and ended up standing over her at some point. Gabe said things to Mary that I have at least thought of saying to any hottie who has favored me with her charms like "Hail [name here] full of grace"... and as her robe falls to the stone floor of the summer home on Galilee..."blessed art thou among women"...and later that evening another utterance echoes through the atrium..."Mother of God". Warning: that was sacreligous. I should have warned you before it happened. I'm sorry, baby, Now you'll have some 'splainin' to do to Joseph!
Yes, Occam's razor, if used for nothing else in this postulation, tells me that the simplest answer is Mary did things in the usual way. You know, things happen and you lie to yourself about them and spin them to those whose reactions you fear most. Women are equipped for this sort of thing by evolution.
That's why Jesus looked so much taller than the rest of the O'Nazareths in the family portraits which we of course have in museums proving the whole story happened. Right? ...What? There's no evidence just copies of manuscripts about a story? Huh?
Parthenogenesis is a natural occurrence in some creatures, and if it happened in a woman once, it being a natural (if rare) phenomenon, that would seem to take the need for a miracle off the table.
I will let you all know as soon as I "genesis" an ancient Greek temple in my sleep. You can all party with me. Bring a silk pillow and some wine, wear a grape vine around your forehead and dress in a comfortable, loose-fitting robe. Women only. Hey it's my "Parthenon", genesis your own.
=sw
Friday, May 18, 2007
Great Book I am Reading
If you read me ever, and you are few and highly valued....you know I love to read Carl Sagan's writings and lectures. I am reading "The Varieties of Scientific Experience" by Carl Sagan...edited by Ann Druyan (Annnn Droooooyan!).
Thinking about the wars around the world...the Palestinians fighting eachother...the Sunni's and Shi'ites fighting eachother and other such conflicts, some of Sagan's words ring true. Here he paraphrases a way of thinking to demonstrate how dangerous it can be. This may seem familiar to anyone who has transitioned from faith in a belief system to self-determined free thinking.
"Our history is in part a battle to the death of inadequate myths. If I can't convince you, I must kill you... ...You are a threat to my version of the truth, especially the truth about who I am and what my nature is. The thought I may have dedicated my life to a lie, that I might have accepted a conventional wisdom that no longer, if it ever did, corresponds to external reality, that is a very painful realization. I will tend to resist it to the last. I will go to almost any lengths to prevent myself from seeing that the worldview that I have dedicated my life to is inadequate." -Carl Sagan
This book is a great read and seems as relevant as can be to today.
=sw
Thinking about the wars around the world...the Palestinians fighting eachother...the Sunni's and Shi'ites fighting eachother and other such conflicts, some of Sagan's words ring true. Here he paraphrases a way of thinking to demonstrate how dangerous it can be. This may seem familiar to anyone who has transitioned from faith in a belief system to self-determined free thinking.
"Our history is in part a battle to the death of inadequate myths. If I can't convince you, I must kill you... ...You are a threat to my version of the truth, especially the truth about who I am and what my nature is. The thought I may have dedicated my life to a lie, that I might have accepted a conventional wisdom that no longer, if it ever did, corresponds to external reality, that is a very painful realization. I will tend to resist it to the last. I will go to almost any lengths to prevent myself from seeing that the worldview that I have dedicated my life to is inadequate." -Carl Sagan
This book is a great read and seems as relevant as can be to today.
=sw
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