London and Glasgow

I see the recent terrorist activities in Britain and Scotland and I can't help but wonder if our "leadership" (our referring to the Democratic party, to which I am a member, as I've not gone independent yet) still thinks that the War on Terror is still a bumper-sticker? Additionally I wonder if the anti-Bush sentiments of many of the more radical members of the liberal movement (the people who tend to make moderates such as myself look bad, hence much of my griping on this blog) will have them agreeing with this "bumper sticker" notion still as well, causing some of these candidates to pander to them? Why is it that the people to dumb to recognize the fact of evolution are the only ones actively promoting our safety? This idiocy could damned well get us killed. For the record, I'm generally against that notion....

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Good News, Bad News...

Well one of my favorite Sci-Fi remakes, Battlestar Gallactica, is finally coming to an end. I will admit to not liking it the first time I tried watching it, however I gave it a second shot when a friend borrowed the first season on DVD and I must say I was initially wrong. Man, what a great show! I guess it's good that they're taking a controlled exit but I for one will miss this show. So, if that's the bad news, what's the good news, you ask? Well this means that soon Katee Sackhoff will be free to date me, of course, now that she's not going to be tied up portraying the complicated character Cara Thrace. I read somewhere that her mother helps her find positive mentions as some do not consider her a valid "sex symbol", or something to that effect. I have no qualms about stating unequivocally that she is definitely an attractive woman and a very talented actress. So to all those who disagree: bite my shiny metal ass! :-) Sadly I do not look for her to be knocking on my door anytime soon,I'm sure such a beautiful and talented actress will find another show soon and thus once again be too busy... But all joking around aside, if you haven't seen the show rent season one on DVD and take it from me, it's the most boring season they've done and it only gets better! (And season 1 is a roller-coaster ride of excitement in of itself!) You won't regret it. I rate it very highly, up there with Firefly, the greatest TV show I've ever seen. Ever.

Paris Hilton and Jail...

I've been thinking about the 'Paris Hilton going to jail' mess more than I would like to admit to... My conclusion may surprise you, but after this deliberation I've changed my initial reaction to her early release from jail from the popular public "What the hell? Why is she getting such special treatment?" mindset as I explored the legalities behind the case.
While the sheriff violated the written order from the judge, it seems that the judge has handed down a far harsher sentence than usual for this kind of case, even taking into account the fact that she's a repeat offender in terms of violating her parole. This is probably due to her celebrity status and despite the fact that she's a spoiled brat (or at least has behaved like one for years; she now states that this was all "an act" - and believe it or not I don't disbelieve her) and certainly a message did need to be sent to all the spoiled Hollywood brats who've emulated her for years and hopefully her jail-time truly has been a life-changing experience for her. Perhaps this message will be heard by the younger generation that emulates her, but more than likely the lesson won't stick even if Paris becomes a nun. So far it appears the the Sheriff was within normal guidelines to release Paris early for home incarceration because she's not a violent offender and her crime is fairly minimal (all things considered). The problem comes not from the standard operating procedure in managing the jail's population but the fact that the Sheriff violated the written orders from the judge. I don't blame the judge for wanting to send a strong message that these issues are serious and that Paris (and other like her) need to wake up and pay attention to the fact that the law applies to them. Except when it really applies to them for not paying attention to when they flout their punishment for their initial criminal trespass. In short, while I don't have much sympathy for Paris Hilton (I'm certainly not a fan of hers) I do think to a certain extent her fame (or, rather, infamy) has earned her a harsher punishment than she would have gotten as an average citizen. Whether or not she deserves that is an individual opinion I do not care to make at this time... :-)

Global Warming as a Crisis

Well I have concluded my discussions with the Global Warming Expert who believes the best answer to the problem (and I'm not making this up) is to sterilize humanity with a virus and only give the cure to those he believes should reproduce, a few million at the most. Some of you who feel that global warming is a crisis may feel that it's not fair that I debate with a "nut-case" but in my opinion he is not one; however if you like feel free to e-mail me and we can start a new conversation. For clarity my position is this: The Earth is warming slightly and it's climate will continue to change as complex feedback mechanisms interact with each other. We as humans need to focus on reducing the amount of pollution we emit, not just in terms of CO2 but in terms of liquid chemical wastes (especially those that end up in our water) and change the way we power our civilization. More and cheaper power means more people will have access to it and the advantages it brings. Additionally a new power supply should reduce the amount of conflict over natural resources such as oil and coal. What I am skeptical of is not that we need to make a change or that the Earth's climate is changing, just the degree to which this constitutes an emergency that over 500 trillion dollars needs to be pumped into. In other words, I don't think "business as usual" can be sustained indefinitely, however I don't feel we're in such dire straits that we're doomed without drastic measures. In point of fact I feel that this "crisis" language will come back to bite the scientists and politicians who have been making these claims. The IPCC has reduced it's global sea-level rise from 3 feet to 17 inches, for example, in this latest report. Moving on, however, the point upon which the conversation between this expert (who had been to Antarctica himself and participated in the carbon ratio measurements) ended was that the satellite data shows less warming than predicted by models in all but one analysis of the data and even his own sources point out that this data is difficult to match with the models. Additionally man-made and volcano-caused events were difficult to identify. In short he could not prove the crisis. Can you? Send me a message and teach me something new.

On a side note, for my friends who know me, he also said I need a "mentor"! Post your thoughts on that tidbit as well! :-D

PS Speaking of global warming...

Sometimes I Hate Being Right

Looks like the Palestinians have sunk into that civil war I've talked about before... While I don't know if the Israeli's encouraged this or not, as I have earlier surmised, it certainly could work in their favor as the Palestinians concentrate on blowing each other up instead of Israeli children. So much violence in the entire region it's hard to keep track of it all. I wonder if Palestinian attacks against Israel have dropped. Anybody know?

Funny!

When South park meets Monty Python it can only be pure unadulterated genius. Now, if' you'll excuse me, I need to watch that again...

300

Frank Miller's 300 is a fantastic film and I look forward to the DVD. One of the few films where the audience actually cheered and such at the film and I wasn't annoyed. It's a movie of such machismo... Well worth seeing, in my opinion. And of course I there is this bit of funny from VGCats. Enjoy!

Possible Change Coming...

Regarding my position on human-caused global climate change. I'm currently talking to a scientist who's been to Antarctica and launched weather balloons and held the ice cores in his own hands... Clearly an expert in the field. While thus far hard data has not been presented the empirical case is still being built and I'm still going through the sources he's sent. Currently I'm hoping to move away a bit from the ad-hominem remarks regarding scientists who publish data at odds with the man-made GW hypothesis and he's asked me to forgo some of my favorite curse words for the sake of this discussion. Damn. I'll live without them, but can the case be made on science alone?

It is interesting to note the clear difference in experience this line of investigation has provided for me as opposed to my inquiry into evolution (people seem to forget that I was raised a fundamentalist Christian and while I'm not an "atheist" I do tend to stick to a harder logical stance adopted by many of them because of the variability in theology; hence my love of hard data). When I investigated evolution I found plenty of logical calm science that clearly refuted the claims of creationists. I found those who did not know the answers to my harder questions referring me to those who did. I never encountered the acrimony or venom I see in this debate. Indeed in this recent debate on played on NPR one scientist supporting man-made GW goes so far as to state that the skeptics are playing on a level field that will allow the audience members to grasp the problem (insulting the audience, that's a way to win points!). The nature of this debate is interesting and while I don't want to get too deeply involved in writing about the specifics there are a few points to keep in mind. Michael Crichton's remarks regarding poverty being a more immediate problem are a logical fallacy, even if true. Poverty can be a serious issue at the same time that GW is a serious issue, though I agree that if GW is real and going to effect the world in the ways some predict (and here I mean some of the more extreme notions of change) we would be better off adapting our societies to these changes (moving away from the coastlines, etc.) and at the same time working on ending poverty where possible rather than focusing all our efforts on "reversing" something that may not be reversible (or occurring to the extremes some suggest it is) by bankrupting the global economy (which will surely result in war). Anyway, listen to the excerpts or read the transcript and come to your own conclusions on what it means... Then let me know via the comments below.

Idiots on Both Sides of the Aisle...

After watching the Democratic Primary Debate on CNN and now about half the Republican Primary Debate I am horribly afraid for our future. One positive note is that the Democrats and the Republicans agree on a national-level project to reorganize our energy dependence which is an idea I've argued for for several years. The Democrats recognize that health-care costs are outrageous but want to raise taxes to pay for a national health system. They fail to recognize any importance in the war on terror (despite recent examples at JFK and a military base) and one even said it is a "bumper sticker" and not a war which is, frankly, idiotic on an astounding level, but not to be outdone some of the Republicans matched that by stating that creationism should be taught alongside evolution (despite the massive amount of evidence). So we get to choose between the people who think that terrorism and illegal immigration aren't a big deal and the people who can't understand science. Is it any wonder that more and more Americans are reflecting themselves as "independent" in the polls? I lean that way myself more and more every day.