I have written previously about the issue of potential NCAA involvement in limiting or ending the use of Native American (Indian) names for sports teams.
At that time I pointed out that the nearby Florida State University “Seminoles” had received support from the Florida Council of the Seminole Tribe to continue to use their name and an Indian warrior image in the sporting arena:
"Miami--The Seminole Tribe of Florida said it still backs Florida State University's use of the Seminoles nickname, just a week before the NCAA meets on the appropriateness of American Indian nicknames.
At it's regular Friday meeting, the Tribal Council voted unanimously on a resolution in support of Florida State's nickname, the first time the Tribe has taken an official public step to show support for the Tallahassee school's mascot."
The resolution is a formal document that puts into black and white the sentiment of the Tribe, because we feel that it is an honor and a reflection of the university to represent the spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida," said Max Osceola, a Tribal councilman."
Apparently that wasn’t enough.
In fact, the NCAA didn’t even consult FSU in making their recent ruling banning the use of “Native American” images and names after February 2006.
Schools that refuse to eliminate the names, symbols, and mascots will not be allowed to participate in post season play or host postseason events where the offending symbols are displayed.
So FSU can keep the “Seminoles” nickname, but they have to wear generic uniforms and keep their Seminole Warrior mascot at home if they manage to earn the opportunity to play in a post season bowl game.
I guess FSU could start calling themselves the “VOSPC’s” during the post season.
VOSPC would stand for…
Victim’s Of Stupid Political Correctness
Next I suppose that a bunch of Italians will show up in California and start complaining about the USC Trojan mascot. I can just see the speech given at the next NCAA meeting:
"Friends, Romans, countrymen...lend me your (r)ears..."
Saturday, August 06, 2005
UN Arm-Twisting?
I was sitting here mindlessly surfing the internet news and glancing at FOX News when a picture of Kofi Annan with his right arm in a sling caught my attention.
I thought "O My GOD, John Bolton...you brute...", then I remembered that Kofi had surgery last month to repair an injury he received while cross country skiing.
Oh well, there's still hope that Bolton is the MONSTER he was protrayed as being by the Democrats during his confirmation hearings.
"Annan does have two arms, John, break the good one if you need to..."
I thought "O My GOD, John Bolton...you brute...", then I remembered that Kofi had surgery last month to repair an injury he received while cross country skiing.
Oh well, there's still hope that Bolton is the MONSTER he was protrayed as being by the Democrats during his confirmation hearings.
"Annan does have two arms, John, break the good one if you need to..."
Weekend Crap
I'm all cranky this morning.
My stove is broken, thus I can't spend the day cooking, and the weather looks "iffy" for a pool day.
Rumor has it that the local "Condo Nazis" are unhappy with my decision to use my Weber charcoal grill on our front deck (the back deck is smaller and forces me to walk across white berber carpet carrying grease and ashes...) I think that I'll don a Speedo bathing suit, white socks, and sandals (no shirt) and do a little beer drinking and grilling out front just to piss them off further. Where's my Hank Williams, Jr. CD's.....
So sue me.
Tonight our local theater company is having the "Hanley Awards" (think cheezy Oscars) and I'm boycotting the event due to the crappy sophmoric political BS that blew up in my face last March. After spending over eight hundred hours over a 12 month period volunteering doing set construction and almost single handedly building the set for the Agatha Christy play "The Mousetrap," the message was delivered loud and clear that "the powers what be" resented my presence because I made the existing incompetents feel...well...incompetent.
They appreciated my efforts to date (well...actually many didn't) but unless I was willing to do the design work and continue to let the "choosen few" call the shots and take all the public credit, life would be made miserable for me. The last straw came when I spent eight hours driving back from Alabama to tear down a set after a show closed and they changed the schedule at the last minute, tore it down without me, and somehow "forgot" to let me know about the schedule change. I walked out without saying a word and I haven't been back near the theater in over four months.
It seemed to me that the writing was large on the wall...
I guess I'll spend the day putting the finishing touches on my magazine story on the new airport terminal and inserting the photos I made yesterday when I got a behind the scenes tour and met with the airport director.
OK, you can stop yawning now...what are YOU gonna do that's so exciting?
My stove is broken, thus I can't spend the day cooking, and the weather looks "iffy" for a pool day.
Rumor has it that the local "Condo Nazis" are unhappy with my decision to use my Weber charcoal grill on our front deck (the back deck is smaller and forces me to walk across white berber carpet carrying grease and ashes...) I think that I'll don a Speedo bathing suit, white socks, and sandals (no shirt) and do a little beer drinking and grilling out front just to piss them off further. Where's my Hank Williams, Jr. CD's.....
So sue me.
Tonight our local theater company is having the "Hanley Awards" (think cheezy Oscars) and I'm boycotting the event due to the crappy sophmoric political BS that blew up in my face last March. After spending over eight hundred hours over a 12 month period volunteering doing set construction and almost single handedly building the set for the Agatha Christy play "The Mousetrap," the message was delivered loud and clear that "the powers what be" resented my presence because I made the existing incompetents feel...well...incompetent.
They appreciated my efforts to date (well...actually many didn't) but unless I was willing to do the design work and continue to let the "choosen few" call the shots and take all the public credit, life would be made miserable for me. The last straw came when I spent eight hours driving back from Alabama to tear down a set after a show closed and they changed the schedule at the last minute, tore it down without me, and somehow "forgot" to let me know about the schedule change. I walked out without saying a word and I haven't been back near the theater in over four months.
It seemed to me that the writing was large on the wall...
I guess I'll spend the day putting the finishing touches on my magazine story on the new airport terminal and inserting the photos I made yesterday when I got a behind the scenes tour and met with the airport director.
OK, you can stop yawning now...what are YOU gonna do that's so exciting?
Friday, August 05, 2005
Leave It To Connecticut
Hey Mohammed…come to NY via CT
Following up on my previous posting on the ACLU lawsuit against the NYPD, I just found this Greenwich Time article.
"Connecticut authorities did not search any passengers' bags on New Haven Line trains after the London subway attacks, contradicting a policy put in place by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on all subways and commuter railroads traveling in and out of New York City.
A spokesman from Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she did not order the bag searches and instead favored deploying more state troopers on trains and bomb-sniffing dogs at stations."
We thought it was the right thing to do," Rell spokesman Rich Harris said. "We've had a robust security presence between the state troopers on platforms and the bomb-sniffing dogs." "
See, this is just like the situation that would develop if our little airport here in Brunswick decided that the TSA screening was a waste of time and just started opening the back door and letting anyone with $200 jump on the Delta ASA mico-mini-jet and fly off to Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta.
Once in the system, they (the wild eyed islamo jhadist morons) could then wait until they changed planes (without going through additional securty checks) and boarded a big Airbus 300 or a Boeing 747 headed to LA or Tacoma and proceed to go ape shit "terrorist style" and the whole securty system would have been defeated.
So I can see it now, the terrorists are all swarming into Connecticut. Meanwhile all of the bomb-sniffing dogs can stop humping the state troopers’ legs long enough to allow the trooper to go on camera and describe the sound of the explosion and how black the smoke was coming out of the tunnel…
I'm sure glad I live on our little island...far, far, away from this kind of insanity...
Following up on my previous posting on the ACLU lawsuit against the NYPD, I just found this Greenwich Time article.
"Connecticut authorities did not search any passengers' bags on New Haven Line trains after the London subway attacks, contradicting a policy put in place by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on all subways and commuter railroads traveling in and out of New York City.
A spokesman from Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she did not order the bag searches and instead favored deploying more state troopers on trains and bomb-sniffing dogs at stations."
We thought it was the right thing to do," Rell spokesman Rich Harris said. "We've had a robust security presence between the state troopers on platforms and the bomb-sniffing dogs." "
See, this is just like the situation that would develop if our little airport here in Brunswick decided that the TSA screening was a waste of time and just started opening the back door and letting anyone with $200 jump on the Delta ASA mico-mini-jet and fly off to Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta.
Once in the system, they (the wild eyed islamo jhadist morons) could then wait until they changed planes (without going through additional securty checks) and boarded a big Airbus 300 or a Boeing 747 headed to LA or Tacoma and proceed to go ape shit "terrorist style" and the whole securty system would have been defeated.
So I can see it now, the terrorists are all swarming into Connecticut. Meanwhile all of the bomb-sniffing dogs can stop humping the state troopers’ legs long enough to allow the trooper to go on camera and describe the sound of the explosion and how black the smoke was coming out of the tunnel…
I'm sure glad I live on our little island...far, far, away from this kind of insanity...
ACLU Insanity
I hate the American Civil Liberties Union.
It’s just that simple.
It seems to me that the ever vigilant idiots over at the ACLU spend all of their time sitting around watching the TV news and trying to think of the most ignorant, moronic, ridiculous position to take on a given public (non)issue, find some innocent bystanders that want their name in the newspaper (or are just plain stupid enough to think like them), and file an expensive lawsuit on their behalf.
Take this lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court by the ACLU against the NYPD (I got this text from the ACLU website):
“The NYCLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of five New Yorkers who are deeply concerned about the civil liberties and safety implications of the bag search policy:
· Brendan MacWade survived the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11. He was recently searched by the NYPD at the Chambers Street station.
· Partha Banerjee is concerned that if he is searched some of the political materials he carries in his bag might prompt retaliation, and he also worries that his skin color might cause police to single him out for searches.
· Joseph Gehring, an attorney, a lifelong Republican, and son of a police officer, is concerned that a search of the papers he keeps in his bag might violate the confidential privilege he shares with his clients.
· Norman Murphy goes out of his way to avoid being searched by police because he considers it a violation of his civil liberties
· Andrew Schonebaum's bag was searched recently, prompting him to join the lawsuit to express his concerns. “
Other than pointing out that all five of these people must be really, really STUPID, I admit that I do believe that they have the right to not be searched by the NY City police department, and they don’t have to file a lawsuit to do it.
These pitiful beleaguered, put upon New “Yawkers” can hire a taxi or drive their own car to their destination, thereby avoiding contact with the alleged oppressive, hideous, “Nazi-like” practices employed by the men in blue at the entrances of the NY City subway stations.
How absurd can they possibly be?
I can bitch and complain all day, but if I want to avoid walking through the airport security checkpoints in my stocking feet and subjecting my underwear and toothbrush to handling by some surgical gloved stranger, I have the option of driving my truck to Alabama when I go there in two weeks or driving all the way to Pittsburgh next month instead of flying on a commercial airliner. I choose, however, to fly and put up with the necessary TSA fondling rather than sitting seven or fourteen hours in a car.
I don’t hear the ACLU rushing to my defense from the atrocities of TSA employees, do you?
And there is more insanity in the ACLU’s press release:
“In addition to violating the constitutional rights of millions of subway riders, the NYPD policy appears to be ineffective as a security measure, the NYCLU said. At any given time, the NYPD is not conducting searches at the majority of subway entrances. They are giving advance notice about searches at subway entrances where searches are being conducted, and allowing people selected for a search to refuse to comply and walk away. In addition, the NYPD is not basing the searches on any suspicious activity of individuals.
As common sense would suggest, the NYPD's program is virtually certain to fail at catching any person trying to carry explosives into the subway system or deterring such an effort, the NYCLU said. Indeed, given the way the department has implemented its search program, the only people being searched are users of the subway system who have exhibited no suspicious activity.”
I beg to differ with the ACLU’s assertion that “the NYPD policy appears to be ineffective as a security measure…” If they are giving those accosted and threatened with search the right to refuse and walk away, they are probably making the subway ride more pleasant for everyone else because all of the wierdo’s, perverts, and liberal activists (am I being redundant?) will be diverted to other forms of transportation.
It's because of stupid political correctness thinking and groups like the ACLU that the NYPD is forced to announce their checkpoints in advance and not force people to submit to the searches.
Likewise, the ACLU and the "thought police" oppose "profiling" at airport security checkpoints so my sweet little 92 year old white haired grandma and my spirited 84 year old neighbor "Bucky" have their walking sticks taken away from them while they hobble through the security check-point metal detector, while at the same time "Abdul" and "Yosef" stroll through with their turbin clad head unchecked other than an occasional cursory glance.
I have a solution for the ACLU's problem in New York.
Let the ACLU fund a special bus line for idiots like this that refuse to be searched. Let’s see how all of these “civil liberties loving activists” act when some swarthy, wild eyed, islamofascist jumps on board smelling like TNT and napalm.
It’d serve them right…
It’s just that simple.
It seems to me that the ever vigilant idiots over at the ACLU spend all of their time sitting around watching the TV news and trying to think of the most ignorant, moronic, ridiculous position to take on a given public (non)issue, find some innocent bystanders that want their name in the newspaper (or are just plain stupid enough to think like them), and file an expensive lawsuit on their behalf.
Take this lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court by the ACLU against the NYPD (I got this text from the ACLU website):
“The NYCLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of five New Yorkers who are deeply concerned about the civil liberties and safety implications of the bag search policy:
· Brendan MacWade survived the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11. He was recently searched by the NYPD at the Chambers Street station.
· Partha Banerjee is concerned that if he is searched some of the political materials he carries in his bag might prompt retaliation, and he also worries that his skin color might cause police to single him out for searches.
· Joseph Gehring, an attorney, a lifelong Republican, and son of a police officer, is concerned that a search of the papers he keeps in his bag might violate the confidential privilege he shares with his clients.
· Norman Murphy goes out of his way to avoid being searched by police because he considers it a violation of his civil liberties
· Andrew Schonebaum's bag was searched recently, prompting him to join the lawsuit to express his concerns. “
Other than pointing out that all five of these people must be really, really STUPID, I admit that I do believe that they have the right to not be searched by the NY City police department, and they don’t have to file a lawsuit to do it.
These pitiful beleaguered, put upon New “Yawkers” can hire a taxi or drive their own car to their destination, thereby avoiding contact with the alleged oppressive, hideous, “Nazi-like” practices employed by the men in blue at the entrances of the NY City subway stations.
How absurd can they possibly be?
I can bitch and complain all day, but if I want to avoid walking through the airport security checkpoints in my stocking feet and subjecting my underwear and toothbrush to handling by some surgical gloved stranger, I have the option of driving my truck to Alabama when I go there in two weeks or driving all the way to Pittsburgh next month instead of flying on a commercial airliner. I choose, however, to fly and put up with the necessary TSA fondling rather than sitting seven or fourteen hours in a car.
I don’t hear the ACLU rushing to my defense from the atrocities of TSA employees, do you?
And there is more insanity in the ACLU’s press release:
“In addition to violating the constitutional rights of millions of subway riders, the NYPD policy appears to be ineffective as a security measure, the NYCLU said. At any given time, the NYPD is not conducting searches at the majority of subway entrances. They are giving advance notice about searches at subway entrances where searches are being conducted, and allowing people selected for a search to refuse to comply and walk away. In addition, the NYPD is not basing the searches on any suspicious activity of individuals.
As common sense would suggest, the NYPD's program is virtually certain to fail at catching any person trying to carry explosives into the subway system or deterring such an effort, the NYCLU said. Indeed, given the way the department has implemented its search program, the only people being searched are users of the subway system who have exhibited no suspicious activity.”
I beg to differ with the ACLU’s assertion that “the NYPD policy appears to be ineffective as a security measure…” If they are giving those accosted and threatened with search the right to refuse and walk away, they are probably making the subway ride more pleasant for everyone else because all of the wierdo’s, perverts, and liberal activists (am I being redundant?) will be diverted to other forms of transportation.
It's because of stupid political correctness thinking and groups like the ACLU that the NYPD is forced to announce their checkpoints in advance and not force people to submit to the searches.
Likewise, the ACLU and the "thought police" oppose "profiling" at airport security checkpoints so my sweet little 92 year old white haired grandma and my spirited 84 year old neighbor "Bucky" have their walking sticks taken away from them while they hobble through the security check-point metal detector, while at the same time "Abdul" and "Yosef" stroll through with their turbin clad head unchecked other than an occasional cursory glance.
I have a solution for the ACLU's problem in New York.
Let the ACLU fund a special bus line for idiots like this that refuse to be searched. Let’s see how all of these “civil liberties loving activists” act when some swarthy, wild eyed, islamofascist jumps on board smelling like TNT and napalm.
It’d serve them right…
Let’s Get A Few Things Straight
I’ve written previously about how difficult I believe it would be today for terrorists to pull off another attack like that of 9/11 because of a change in mentality in passengers and flight crews.
In the old “take me to Cuba” hijacking days before 9/11, we were told to comply with hijackers’ demands, let them make their political statement, and 99 times out of 100 the worst that could happen was a delay in arriving at your destination due to an unplanned detour to Havana or Panama or where ever.
No one ever dreamed of hijacking a plane and deliberately crashing it as a political statement.
Today, if someone jumps up on a flight I’m on and starts acting weird, yelling about Allah or “the voices in their head” or whatever, I am going to unbuckle my seatbelt, excuse my self past the other passengers in my seating row, walk calmly over and…
PROCEED TO KICK THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEIR STUPID ASS.
What is left of them will be calmly duct taped or wire tied into a tight little bloody bundle and placed in a convenient restroom or trash storage hamper until the airplane lands.
SUE ME IF YOU WILL, I DON’T CARE, the safety of my fellow passengers and myself is WAY more important than your right to freak out in public at any altitude above 2 feet above the ground.
I thought that most other people agreed with my position, but apparently not, as indicated in this story about passengers sitting in their seats watching a woman attempt to open a airliner door while the plane was still in flight.
“Flight 1195, en route from Denver, was reportedly at an altitude of about 4,000 feet Wednesday when Jeanne Dempsey, 52, sitting at the rear of the Boeing 737, left her seat and tried to open an exit door.
Dempsey, who is from Dania Beach, failed but "she did manage to turn the handle far enough that a warning light went on in the cockpit," Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokesman Bob Parker told KING-TV.
"Ultimately, at the urging of the flight attendant, she went and sat back down," he said.
Those on board said no one tried to physically restrain the woman. Parker said those who saw her at the door made a "conscious choice" to stay securely belted in their seats just in case she did manage to open the door.
The woman was arrested for investigation of malicious mischief when the plane landed at 1:30.”
OK, in this case, since the culprit was a woman, I would have gotten out of my seat and started out by asking her if I could help her. If she refused to stop, I would have been forced to put my hands on her in an effort to restrain her, and unless she was some kind of karate expert I’m afraid that my massive tonnage would have won the confrontation due to the advantage afforded me by the basic laws of physics. I have never struck a woman, but in this case I believe that I could make an exception.
I still can’t believe that the passengers just sat there and watched…
Is that what you would have done?
In the old “take me to Cuba” hijacking days before 9/11, we were told to comply with hijackers’ demands, let them make their political statement, and 99 times out of 100 the worst that could happen was a delay in arriving at your destination due to an unplanned detour to Havana or Panama or where ever.
No one ever dreamed of hijacking a plane and deliberately crashing it as a political statement.
Today, if someone jumps up on a flight I’m on and starts acting weird, yelling about Allah or “the voices in their head” or whatever, I am going to unbuckle my seatbelt, excuse my self past the other passengers in my seating row, walk calmly over and…
PROCEED TO KICK THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEIR STUPID ASS.
What is left of them will be calmly duct taped or wire tied into a tight little bloody bundle and placed in a convenient restroom or trash storage hamper until the airplane lands.
SUE ME IF YOU WILL, I DON’T CARE, the safety of my fellow passengers and myself is WAY more important than your right to freak out in public at any altitude above 2 feet above the ground.
I thought that most other people agreed with my position, but apparently not, as indicated in this story about passengers sitting in their seats watching a woman attempt to open a airliner door while the plane was still in flight.
“Flight 1195, en route from Denver, was reportedly at an altitude of about 4,000 feet Wednesday when Jeanne Dempsey, 52, sitting at the rear of the Boeing 737, left her seat and tried to open an exit door.
Dempsey, who is from Dania Beach, failed but "she did manage to turn the handle far enough that a warning light went on in the cockpit," Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokesman Bob Parker told KING-TV.
"Ultimately, at the urging of the flight attendant, she went and sat back down," he said.
Those on board said no one tried to physically restrain the woman. Parker said those who saw her at the door made a "conscious choice" to stay securely belted in their seats just in case she did manage to open the door.
The woman was arrested for investigation of malicious mischief when the plane landed at 1:30.”
OK, in this case, since the culprit was a woman, I would have gotten out of my seat and started out by asking her if I could help her. If she refused to stop, I would have been forced to put my hands on her in an effort to restrain her, and unless she was some kind of karate expert I’m afraid that my massive tonnage would have won the confrontation due to the advantage afforded me by the basic laws of physics. I have never struck a woman, but in this case I believe that I could make an exception.
I still can’t believe that the passengers just sat there and watched…
Is that what you would have done?
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Headlines
(Or is it “head lines”?)
Something that I’ve become very conscious of in my writing is the importance of having a good title—what the newspapers call a “headline.”
It really is very important—in both a newspaper and a Blog. A good headline is actually like advertising for your writing—it is supposed to grab a potential readers attention and make them want to read your piece and find out what you are talking about or have to say on a given topic.
I think that I do a pretty good job in producing my own headlines for my posts.
Sometimes I am serious and the title tells you exactly what I’m writing about. Stories like Intemperate Thoughts On Illegal Immigration where I was writing about—guess what—the “Mexican Illegal Immigration” problem. The title seems fairly straightforward to me, and I threw the word “Intemperate” in the mix because I, the self proclaimed “King of political incorrectness”, was going to say some things that the PC crowd and the Democratic left was going to hate and disagree with.
Other times I like to fool around with the titles, using a play on words like when I wrote "Poof" the Magic Dragon about the Karl Rove story disappearing once President Bush nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court. By the way—I was right wasn’t I—the story did disappear.
Many times I also like to throw in a secondary line in my headline (in smaller text) that is an answer to my own headline question, a follow up statement to the assertion made in the main headline, or a rebuttal to the statement that I made in my headline.
Having said all of that, I would also like to point out that the mainstream media newspapers like the NY Times and news services like the Associated Press seem to have some trouble writing headlines that accurately represent the content of the news story that they introduce.
One of my blog idols, Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarters pointed out today that the Associated Press takes great pleasure in editorializing in their headlines. By editorializing, I mean that the AP will often write a headline that supports their own agenda and tack it on top of a story that has absolutely no supporting factual meaning in its body of text.
For instance, there is this AP story originally printed under the headline "Ohio Families Fed Up With Loss of Marines." (Note that this is a cached copy of the story because they changed the headline, apparently after Captain Ed and some other bloggers mentioned it’s bias.)
If you read the story, however, nowhere in the interviews with family and friends of the Marines killed over the past few weeks from the same Marine Battalion do you read of anybody saying anything remotely resembling being “FED UP” with the loss of their brothers, sons, and friends. Yes they are sad, but they are also proud.
The AP must have gotten cold feet about their obvious “headline bias” because if you click on this link you will see the new headline: Ohio Families Mourn Troops Killed In Iraq
Quite a bit different from the original, huh?
My point here is this. We can’t simply call up the Associated Press and the major newspapers and tell them to straighten up their act, but you can read PAST THE HEADLINES. In fact, you need to read past the first paragraph to the LAST paragraph, because at least half of the time information buried at the end will qualify or even completely refute everything else written in the story.
If all you do is scan the headlines and swallow the first paragraph of the news, I’m afraid that you are SEVERELY MISINFORMED.
Get my point?
Something that I’ve become very conscious of in my writing is the importance of having a good title—what the newspapers call a “headline.”
It really is very important—in both a newspaper and a Blog. A good headline is actually like advertising for your writing—it is supposed to grab a potential readers attention and make them want to read your piece and find out what you are talking about or have to say on a given topic.
I think that I do a pretty good job in producing my own headlines for my posts.
Sometimes I am serious and the title tells you exactly what I’m writing about. Stories like Intemperate Thoughts On Illegal Immigration where I was writing about—guess what—the “Mexican Illegal Immigration” problem. The title seems fairly straightforward to me, and I threw the word “Intemperate” in the mix because I, the self proclaimed “King of political incorrectness”, was going to say some things that the PC crowd and the Democratic left was going to hate and disagree with.
Other times I like to fool around with the titles, using a play on words like when I wrote "Poof" the Magic Dragon about the Karl Rove story disappearing once President Bush nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court. By the way—I was right wasn’t I—the story did disappear.
Many times I also like to throw in a secondary line in my headline (in smaller text) that is an answer to my own headline question, a follow up statement to the assertion made in the main headline, or a rebuttal to the statement that I made in my headline.
Having said all of that, I would also like to point out that the mainstream media newspapers like the NY Times and news services like the Associated Press seem to have some trouble writing headlines that accurately represent the content of the news story that they introduce.
One of my blog idols, Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarters pointed out today that the Associated Press takes great pleasure in editorializing in their headlines. By editorializing, I mean that the AP will often write a headline that supports their own agenda and tack it on top of a story that has absolutely no supporting factual meaning in its body of text.
For instance, there is this AP story originally printed under the headline "Ohio Families Fed Up With Loss of Marines." (Note that this is a cached copy of the story because they changed the headline, apparently after Captain Ed and some other bloggers mentioned it’s bias.)
If you read the story, however, nowhere in the interviews with family and friends of the Marines killed over the past few weeks from the same Marine Battalion do you read of anybody saying anything remotely resembling being “FED UP” with the loss of their brothers, sons, and friends. Yes they are sad, but they are also proud.
The AP must have gotten cold feet about their obvious “headline bias” because if you click on this link you will see the new headline: Ohio Families Mourn Troops Killed In Iraq
Quite a bit different from the original, huh?
My point here is this. We can’t simply call up the Associated Press and the major newspapers and tell them to straighten up their act, but you can read PAST THE HEADLINES. In fact, you need to read past the first paragraph to the LAST paragraph, because at least half of the time information buried at the end will qualify or even completely refute everything else written in the story.
If all you do is scan the headlines and swallow the first paragraph of the news, I’m afraid that you are SEVERELY MISINFORMED.
Get my point?
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Tracking The Space Station
More Nerdy Stuff...
I keep forgeting to mention this, but the NASA Web Site has a cool Java Applet that allows you to actually track the International Space Station and predict when you can see it flying over your house.
We have a good opportunity this Saturday about 10:30 PM here on St. Simons.
I'll point out that it will appear even larger and brighter because the Space Shuttle will still be attached, giving it a larger reflective area to look at.
I'll meet you in the back yard about 10:15...you bring the beverages...
I keep forgeting to mention this, but the NASA Web Site has a cool Java Applet that allows you to actually track the International Space Station and predict when you can see it flying over your house.
We have a good opportunity this Saturday about 10:30 PM here on St. Simons.
I'll point out that it will appear even larger and brighter because the Space Shuttle will still be attached, giving it a larger reflective area to look at.
I'll meet you in the back yard about 10:15...you bring the beverages...
HAL Says “Hello Dave”
I’m sitting here watching the two Astronauts beginning their space walk on the NasaTV web site.
I don’t mean to be morbid, but I can’t help but keep thinking of the scene in the 1968 classic film “2001 A Space Odyssey” where the ship’s human-like intelligent computer, the “HAL 9000,” launched one of the astronauts (Dr. Frank Poole) into space by using one of the remote “pods” to cut his air hoses and push him into space during a repair spacewalk.
The last thing you see of Frank is his fellow astronaut, Dave Bowman, chasing and retrieving his lifeless body prior to returning to the spaceship to deactivate HAL.
HAL, of course, doesn’t make things easy, ending his screen debut by singing a rousing rendition of the old Broadway standard “Daisy.”
This real life spacewalk involves one astronaut driving the external crane boom from inside the space station while another astronaut is strapped to the end of the boom and maneuvered UNDERNEATH the belly of the Space Shuttle in an effort to repair or remove some high temperature ceramic fiber material which was dislocated during launch.
The two astronauts doing the spacewalk will each wear 85’ long tethers in order to prevent them from floating off into space if someone slips or otherwise loses their grip on the shuttle or space station.
You do realize that it is virtually impossible to remain stationary while working in space without something to hold onto or stand on? The astronauts can’t just float around under the belly of the shuttle and start jacking around with a load of tools.
One false move and they would crash into the shuttle, possibly further damaging the tiles, or fly off into space—thus the need to be “mounted” on the end of the crane boom in order to get some leverage to perform the required tasks.
Better them than me—I wish them good luck.
I don’t mean to be morbid, but I can’t help but keep thinking of the scene in the 1968 classic film “2001 A Space Odyssey” where the ship’s human-like intelligent computer, the “HAL 9000,” launched one of the astronauts (Dr. Frank Poole) into space by using one of the remote “pods” to cut his air hoses and push him into space during a repair spacewalk.
The last thing you see of Frank is his fellow astronaut, Dave Bowman, chasing and retrieving his lifeless body prior to returning to the spaceship to deactivate HAL.
HAL, of course, doesn’t make things easy, ending his screen debut by singing a rousing rendition of the old Broadway standard “Daisy.”
This real life spacewalk involves one astronaut driving the external crane boom from inside the space station while another astronaut is strapped to the end of the boom and maneuvered UNDERNEATH the belly of the Space Shuttle in an effort to repair or remove some high temperature ceramic fiber material which was dislocated during launch.
The two astronauts doing the spacewalk will each wear 85’ long tethers in order to prevent them from floating off into space if someone slips or otherwise loses their grip on the shuttle or space station.
You do realize that it is virtually impossible to remain stationary while working in space without something to hold onto or stand on? The astronauts can’t just float around under the belly of the shuttle and start jacking around with a load of tools.
One false move and they would crash into the shuttle, possibly further damaging the tiles, or fly off into space—thus the need to be “mounted” on the end of the crane boom in order to get some leverage to perform the required tasks.
Better them than me—I wish them good luck.
Everybody Wants It…
But Not Everybody Will Use It (or benefit from it)
There seems to be some large scale popular belief out there that people automatically become brilliant and wealthy if you give them access to technology.
More accurately, the government and the liberals want to GIVE away FREE access to technology under the guise of worrying about education and employment.
I take exception to this concept.
Giving children a cell phone and wireless broadband access to the Internet at home, at school, and in public places no more makes them a candidate to be a ROCKET SCIENTIST or a RHODES SCHOLAR than did handing every child their own set of World Book Encyclopedias or their own private home library would guarantee similar success when I was in school in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
I hold this truth to be self evident—IF YOU INSIST ON BEING AN IGNORANT, UNEDUCATED DUMBASS, YOU WILL BE SAME, REGARDLESS OF THE COST AND EXTENT OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED YOU.
If kids won’t read the books available in the existing free public libraries and in their own school libraries, why should you expect them to suddenly sprout an interest in doing anything productive toward their education with a high speed internet terminal—except play games, possibly?
And the kids can’t turn the cell phones off so they won’t ring during class long enough to learn anything. Our local schools here in Glynn County Georgia had allowed cell phones in schools up until this year, provided that the students didn’t talk on them inside the school buildings.
Of course that didn’t work, so now they have had to ban cell phones from school campuses beginning this fall—AND THE PARENTS AND KIDS ARE RAISING HELL ABOUT THE MEASURE.
Heck, forget cell phones, our high school had a couple of pay phones in the lobby and you had better not have got caught talking on one during school hours unless you were calling your mother, your doctor or your lawyer.
How times have changed…
The NY Times’ Thomas L. Friedman says that wiring the entire US with cell phone and wireless internet coverage should be a government priority.
“A new generation of politicians is waking up to this issue. For instance, Andrew Rasiej is running in New York City's Democratic primary for public advocate on a platform calling for wireless (Wi-Fi) and cell phone Internet access from every home, business and school in the city.
If, God forbid, a London-like attack happens in a New York subway, don't trying calling 911. Your phone won't work down there. No wireless infrastructure. This ain't Tokyo, pal.”
Friedman forgets to mention that he is one of the people that believe that the “war on terrorism” is a figment of Carl Rove’s and George Bush’s imagination, so I wonder why he’s worrying about 911 calls from subways anyway—but he is in this article.
Just like I wrote about the UN yesterday, Friedman and his ilk figure that since there are tens of millions of cell phone users and high speed internet subscribers, that it is time to make cell phone service and high speed Internet access a WELFARE BENEFIT.
What complete and total crappola.
Yes I would like better cell phone coverage—I have to stand on the balcony of my condo with a tin foil hat and a wire coat hanger in each hand to make a call on Cingular, and yes I like it when I enter an airport terminal and they have free wireless Internet, but I say to Comrad Friedman that we let the FREE MARKET take care of deciding where and how fast these NON-ESSENTIAL services expand to.
After all, no where in the US Constitution do I find the words: LIFE, LIBERTY, A PICTURE PHONE WITH TEXT MESSAGING, AND FREE BROADBAND.
Ben Franklin must be rolling over in his grave…
UPDATE at 5:00 AM:
I thought about this a little more after I posted, and this came to mind. Once the entire city of NY is wired with cell phone coverage and wireless internet--who's going to use the service?
Can you say "primarily mean old rich white guys?"
The next thing you know they will be passing laws giving away cell phones and notebook computers with wireless cards because...
I can just hear the "advocates" screaming...
"it isn't FAIR that the disadvantaged can't use the infarstructure that they spent all that tax money on.
I suspect that soon you'll be able to stand in line at the grocery store while some welfare mom with five kids checks her voice mail and E-mail on her Bluetooth enabled Blackberry PDA--paying for her groceries with an Electronic Benefit Card.
I've got to go now and take most of a bottle of asparin...maybe a couple dozen Advil too...
There seems to be some large scale popular belief out there that people automatically become brilliant and wealthy if you give them access to technology.
More accurately, the government and the liberals want to GIVE away FREE access to technology under the guise of worrying about education and employment.
I take exception to this concept.
Giving children a cell phone and wireless broadband access to the Internet at home, at school, and in public places no more makes them a candidate to be a ROCKET SCIENTIST or a RHODES SCHOLAR than did handing every child their own set of World Book Encyclopedias or their own private home library would guarantee similar success when I was in school in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
I hold this truth to be self evident—IF YOU INSIST ON BEING AN IGNORANT, UNEDUCATED DUMBASS, YOU WILL BE SAME, REGARDLESS OF THE COST AND EXTENT OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AFFORDED YOU.
If kids won’t read the books available in the existing free public libraries and in their own school libraries, why should you expect them to suddenly sprout an interest in doing anything productive toward their education with a high speed internet terminal—except play games, possibly?
And the kids can’t turn the cell phones off so they won’t ring during class long enough to learn anything. Our local schools here in Glynn County Georgia had allowed cell phones in schools up until this year, provided that the students didn’t talk on them inside the school buildings.
Of course that didn’t work, so now they have had to ban cell phones from school campuses beginning this fall—AND THE PARENTS AND KIDS ARE RAISING HELL ABOUT THE MEASURE.
Heck, forget cell phones, our high school had a couple of pay phones in the lobby and you had better not have got caught talking on one during school hours unless you were calling your mother, your doctor or your lawyer.
How times have changed…
The NY Times’ Thomas L. Friedman says that wiring the entire US with cell phone and wireless internet coverage should be a government priority.
“A new generation of politicians is waking up to this issue. For instance, Andrew Rasiej is running in New York City's Democratic primary for public advocate on a platform calling for wireless (Wi-Fi) and cell phone Internet access from every home, business and school in the city.
If, God forbid, a London-like attack happens in a New York subway, don't trying calling 911. Your phone won't work down there. No wireless infrastructure. This ain't Tokyo, pal.”
Friedman forgets to mention that he is one of the people that believe that the “war on terrorism” is a figment of Carl Rove’s and George Bush’s imagination, so I wonder why he’s worrying about 911 calls from subways anyway—but he is in this article.
Just like I wrote about the UN yesterday, Friedman and his ilk figure that since there are tens of millions of cell phone users and high speed internet subscribers, that it is time to make cell phone service and high speed Internet access a WELFARE BENEFIT.
What complete and total crappola.
Yes I would like better cell phone coverage—I have to stand on the balcony of my condo with a tin foil hat and a wire coat hanger in each hand to make a call on Cingular, and yes I like it when I enter an airport terminal and they have free wireless Internet, but I say to Comrad Friedman that we let the FREE MARKET take care of deciding where and how fast these NON-ESSENTIAL services expand to.
After all, no where in the US Constitution do I find the words: LIFE, LIBERTY, A PICTURE PHONE WITH TEXT MESSAGING, AND FREE BROADBAND.
Ben Franklin must be rolling over in his grave…
UPDATE at 5:00 AM:
I thought about this a little more after I posted, and this came to mind. Once the entire city of NY is wired with cell phone coverage and wireless internet--who's going to use the service?
Can you say "primarily mean old rich white guys?"
The next thing you know they will be passing laws giving away cell phones and notebook computers with wireless cards because...
I can just hear the "advocates" screaming...
"it isn't FAIR that the disadvantaged can't use the infarstructure that they spent all that tax money on.
I suspect that soon you'll be able to stand in line at the grocery store while some welfare mom with five kids checks her voice mail and E-mail on her Bluetooth enabled Blackberry PDA--paying for her groceries with an Electronic Benefit Card.
I've got to go now and take most of a bottle of asparin...maybe a couple dozen Advil too...
When Will It End?
Everybody knows that children can be complete pains in the rear. I don’t have any kids of my own, but it seems that people think that other peoples’ children are always more difficult than their own.
I totally agree…
Besides being a pain for adults to deal with, kids can be absolute monsters to each other.
Peer pressure and bullying in school is an age old problem that we each had to learn to deal with on our own terms—it was an important life lesson.
Not any more… look at this story:
School Opens For Victims of Bullying
POSTED: 8:35 am EDT August 2, 2005
UPDATED: 1:06 pm EDT August 2, 2005
A new school in Milwaukee, Wis., has opened for students who are the victims of bullying and harassment from other children.
The Alliance School, which is attracting national attention, is an unique school targeting children who were harassed or bullied in their old schools.
Students at the school have been struggling academically or socially because of bullying…
Teachers at the school said bullying happens to countless kids around the country.
"Right now our big focus today is making it beautiful," teacher Tina Owen said. "I was kind of one of those Goth kids growing up in high school and everything."
The school is one of about a dozen new smaller high schools in Milwaukee.
Critics said the school only serves to separate the victims from the bullies instead of dealing with the problem.
The critics are right--what complete and total crap. What are these kids going to do when they graduate from high school and move on to college or into the REAL world?
Former “Goth freak” teacher Tina Owen can slap herself on the back all day long for “making it beautiful”, but she is letting her students down.
I’ve got some news for Tina Owen and all of her “education professionals” stupid enough to buy into this folly--there is a great big old, mean, ugly world out there where people die under bridges of drug overdoses and little blond teenaged girls from Alabama get kidnapped, raped, and killed in Aruba.
Hiding these kids in a special school designed to protect their warped, fragile self esteem and “tender feelings” is destined to be a COMPLETE AND TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.
I say that they put these tender little souls back in the regular schools, apply some discipline to kick some bully asses, and force these kids to face REALITY.
Know what I mean?
I totally agree…
Besides being a pain for adults to deal with, kids can be absolute monsters to each other.
Peer pressure and bullying in school is an age old problem that we each had to learn to deal with on our own terms—it was an important life lesson.
Not any more… look at this story:
School Opens For Victims of Bullying
POSTED: 8:35 am EDT August 2, 2005
UPDATED: 1:06 pm EDT August 2, 2005
A new school in Milwaukee, Wis., has opened for students who are the victims of bullying and harassment from other children.
The Alliance School, which is attracting national attention, is an unique school targeting children who were harassed or bullied in their old schools.
Students at the school have been struggling academically or socially because of bullying…
Teachers at the school said bullying happens to countless kids around the country.
"Right now our big focus today is making it beautiful," teacher Tina Owen said. "I was kind of one of those Goth kids growing up in high school and everything."
The school is one of about a dozen new smaller high schools in Milwaukee.
Critics said the school only serves to separate the victims from the bullies instead of dealing with the problem.
The critics are right--what complete and total crap. What are these kids going to do when they graduate from high school and move on to college or into the REAL world?
Former “Goth freak” teacher Tina Owen can slap herself on the back all day long for “making it beautiful”, but she is letting her students down.
I’ve got some news for Tina Owen and all of her “education professionals” stupid enough to buy into this folly--there is a great big old, mean, ugly world out there where people die under bridges of drug overdoses and little blond teenaged girls from Alabama get kidnapped, raped, and killed in Aruba.
Hiding these kids in a special school designed to protect their warped, fragile self esteem and “tender feelings” is destined to be a COMPLETE AND TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.
I say that they put these tender little souls back in the regular schools, apply some discipline to kick some bully asses, and force these kids to face REALITY.
Know what I mean?
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Uninsured Children Caused By STUPID ADULTS
Not By Government Inaction
This is a reoccurring theme with me and this story just punctuates my previous position on the subject.
“WASHINGTON -- A new study shows one-third of the roughly 8.4 million American children without insurance go without medical care for an entire year.
In comparison, nearly 88 percent of insured kids received care during the same period. The five states with the highest levels of uninsured children not receiving any care included Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which released the report, noted that more than 70 percent of those uninsured children would be eligible for free or low-cost health coverage under Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Those two government programs have helped reduce the number of uninsured children by about 2 million since 1998. Although eligibility varies, programs exist in every state and the District of Columbia.
The programs cover doctor visits, hospitalizations, prescriptions and more.”
While sHrillary Clinton and John sKerry continue to beat the drum on the Democratic mantra that we need new government programs in order to provide healthcare for CHILDREN, what they and most of the exempt media refuse to recognize and admit in their public statements is that the taxpayers are already paying for healthcare for kids.
As I’ve said all along, we’ve raised and educated an entire generation of ADULTS that are just too damn stupid, or are too busy buying beer, cigarettes, and drugs, to find out about and enroll their children in these existing, expensive, taxpayer-funded programs. Many times they are just too lazy to take to their kids to the doctor.
This is the absolute worst form of child abuse, and if the government started cracking down on and prosecuting these negligent parents, the kids would be better off and my wallet would be safe from the likes of Clinton and sKerry.
This is a reoccurring theme with me and this story just punctuates my previous position on the subject.
“WASHINGTON -- A new study shows one-third of the roughly 8.4 million American children without insurance go without medical care for an entire year.
In comparison, nearly 88 percent of insured kids received care during the same period. The five states with the highest levels of uninsured children not receiving any care included Arizona, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which released the report, noted that more than 70 percent of those uninsured children would be eligible for free or low-cost health coverage under Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Those two government programs have helped reduce the number of uninsured children by about 2 million since 1998. Although eligibility varies, programs exist in every state and the District of Columbia.
The programs cover doctor visits, hospitalizations, prescriptions and more.”
While sHrillary Clinton and John sKerry continue to beat the drum on the Democratic mantra that we need new government programs in order to provide healthcare for CHILDREN, what they and most of the exempt media refuse to recognize and admit in their public statements is that the taxpayers are already paying for healthcare for kids.
As I’ve said all along, we’ve raised and educated an entire generation of ADULTS that are just too damn stupid, or are too busy buying beer, cigarettes, and drugs, to find out about and enroll their children in these existing, expensive, taxpayer-funded programs. Many times they are just too lazy to take to their kids to the doctor.
This is the absolute worst form of child abuse, and if the government started cracking down on and prosecuting these negligent parents, the kids would be better off and my wallet would be safe from the likes of Clinton and sKerry.
United Nations' Control Of The Internet?
While I’m sitting around happily blogging my thoughts for all to see, and all of you are sitting around clicking your mouse buttons and surfing this thing we call the Internet or the World Wide Web, it’s come to my attention that Kofi Annan and his corrupt pals over at the UN headquarters are quietly working on a proposal to allow the United Nations to take over control of the internet.
My first reaction was…pause….sigh…big breath…WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!!!
Your first reaction was probably to utter the words…DO WHAT???
You heard me right, the UN has started their Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) and they have just issued a 24 page report outlining how the UN can do things better than the folks already running things—all of us Yankees and Rednecks here in the US. They’re even having a big meeting in Tunisia this fall on the subject. I suspect that Al Gore (self-proclaimed inventor of the internet) is already packing his bags
Of course the WGIG report is full of all of the expected “feel good” buzz-words like diversity, inclusiveness, empowerment, multicultural, and multi-lingual—things I know that I definitely have a great deal of concern about when I power up my computer and log on to the Internet each day.
Honestly, I was thinking just yesterday how unfair it was that the starving Somali’s rebels busy killing each other in a viscous civil war don’t have a T1 line or a wireless router and a cable modem and how unfair it is that all domain names are assigned using letters from the standard Roman alphabet instead of in some obscure regional gibberish dialect only understood by Tibetan monks and feared by a few pet goats and sheep living in the Himalayan mountains.
Actually I couldn’t care less…I’m such a pig and bigot.
Excerpting from the WGIG Report, I’d like to give you some highlights of this moronic, typically socialistic effort.
Here is their “working definition” of internet governance:
“Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.”
Can you understand what the heck that means? Please tell me if you do.
Then there are these two little ditties:
15. Administration of the root zone files and system
Unilateral control by the United States Government.
• For historical reasons, the existing system involves only one Government in the authorization of changes to the root zone file.
Lack of formal relationship with root server operators.
• The root zone operators perform their functions today without a formal relationship with any authority.
16. Interconnection costs
Uneven distribution of cost.
• Internet service providers (ISPs) based in countries remote from Internet backbones, particularly in the developing countries, must pay the full cost of the international circuits.
• Absence of an appropriate and effective global Internet governance mechanism to resolve the issue.
See—paragraph 15 tells us that this is all about jealously. The UN can’t stand it that a company in the country (the US) that started the internet still has responsibility for handing out the domain names.
In my opinion that’s a good thing.
The internet in its current form is a result of private enterprise and a good deal of accidental good luck. If the US government meddled in the process more than it did, we would probably have nothing but a slow, broken down crappy computer system with old IBM PC XT's like those that they are suffering with at the IRS, the FAA, and the Social Security Administration.
People like you and me are each partially responsible for the success and continuing evolution of the internet, past present and future. If nobody bothered to buy cable modems and wireless routers, imagine how different things would be today when it comes to web site content (audio, streaming video, etc.) with everyone still using slow dial-up connections. I guarantee you that any involvement by the UN will only serve to screw things up.
Paragraph 16 indicates that Kofi and his gang of merry men once again want to rob from the rich (us here in the US) and give to the poor (probably everybody else but the US, Britain and Japan) in order to make things more “fair” when it comes to internet service.
I have a real problem with this. Am I to understand that now they are proposing to start handing out INTERNATIONAL INTERNET WELFARE?
What Bullcrap…we have to pay the full cost of our internet service in our home—roughly $600 per year, not including the modem, wireless router, and wireless notebook cards.
My mother can’t even get decent high speed DSL or cable service—her only option other than crappy slow dial-up is satellite internet service at a cost of nearly $1000 per year plus equipment costs.
Is Kofi proposing that the UN run cable service or provide cheep satellite service to old white women in rural Alabama that want to watch streaming video of the latest Tom Jones concert from Las Vegas?
I suspect not.
Kofi wants to hand internet to people that can’t successfully feed themselves and their children, let alone stop shooting at each other long enough to develop a stable infrastructure and economic system.
There’s more:
42. One of the main aims of the WGIG is to foster full participation in Internet governance arrangements by developing countries. The WGIG placed this aim in the context of one of the priorities it had identified in the course of its work, namely, capacity-building in developing countries.
43. Such a space or forum for dialogue (hereafter referred to as “the forum”) should allow for the participation of all stakeholders from developing and developed countries on an equal footing. Gender balance should be considered a fundamental principle with the aim of achieving an equal representation of women and men at all levels. Special care should be taken to ensure diversity of participation as regards, inter alia, language, culture, professional background, involvement of indigenous peoples, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
44. The forum should preferably be linked to the United Nations, in a form to be defined. It would be better placed than existing Internet institutions to engage developing countries in a policy dialogue. This would be an important factor in itself, as the future growth of the Internet is expected to be mainly in developing countries.
I have a few final words for “His Excellency” Kofi Annan besides the words HELL NO.
“Hey Kofi, why don’t you pack your black ass up, move from your cushy digs in NY City back to fly infested Africa where you came from, and then if you and your beloved ‘developing countries’ want internet service, you and all of the native tribal warlords have my blessing and permission to ‘develop’ it on your own, at your own expense, just like we did here in the United by Gosh Darned States of America…
You stupid corrupt moron…”
My first reaction was…pause….sigh…big breath…WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!!!
Your first reaction was probably to utter the words…DO WHAT???
You heard me right, the UN has started their Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) and they have just issued a 24 page report outlining how the UN can do things better than the folks already running things—all of us Yankees and Rednecks here in the US. They’re even having a big meeting in Tunisia this fall on the subject. I suspect that Al Gore (self-proclaimed inventor of the internet) is already packing his bags
Of course the WGIG report is full of all of the expected “feel good” buzz-words like diversity, inclusiveness, empowerment, multicultural, and multi-lingual—things I know that I definitely have a great deal of concern about when I power up my computer and log on to the Internet each day.
Honestly, I was thinking just yesterday how unfair it was that the starving Somali’s rebels busy killing each other in a viscous civil war don’t have a T1 line or a wireless router and a cable modem and how unfair it is that all domain names are assigned using letters from the standard Roman alphabet instead of in some obscure regional gibberish dialect only understood by Tibetan monks and feared by a few pet goats and sheep living in the Himalayan mountains.
Actually I couldn’t care less…I’m such a pig and bigot.
Excerpting from the WGIG Report, I’d like to give you some highlights of this moronic, typically socialistic effort.
Here is their “working definition” of internet governance:
“Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.”
Can you understand what the heck that means? Please tell me if you do.
Then there are these two little ditties:
15. Administration of the root zone files and system
Unilateral control by the United States Government.
• For historical reasons, the existing system involves only one Government in the authorization of changes to the root zone file.
Lack of formal relationship with root server operators.
• The root zone operators perform their functions today without a formal relationship with any authority.
16. Interconnection costs
Uneven distribution of cost.
• Internet service providers (ISPs) based in countries remote from Internet backbones, particularly in the developing countries, must pay the full cost of the international circuits.
• Absence of an appropriate and effective global Internet governance mechanism to resolve the issue.
See—paragraph 15 tells us that this is all about jealously. The UN can’t stand it that a company in the country (the US) that started the internet still has responsibility for handing out the domain names.
In my opinion that’s a good thing.
The internet in its current form is a result of private enterprise and a good deal of accidental good luck. If the US government meddled in the process more than it did, we would probably have nothing but a slow, broken down crappy computer system with old IBM PC XT's like those that they are suffering with at the IRS, the FAA, and the Social Security Administration.
People like you and me are each partially responsible for the success and continuing evolution of the internet, past present and future. If nobody bothered to buy cable modems and wireless routers, imagine how different things would be today when it comes to web site content (audio, streaming video, etc.) with everyone still using slow dial-up connections. I guarantee you that any involvement by the UN will only serve to screw things up.
Paragraph 16 indicates that Kofi and his gang of merry men once again want to rob from the rich (us here in the US) and give to the poor (probably everybody else but the US, Britain and Japan) in order to make things more “fair” when it comes to internet service.
I have a real problem with this. Am I to understand that now they are proposing to start handing out INTERNATIONAL INTERNET WELFARE?
What Bullcrap…we have to pay the full cost of our internet service in our home—roughly $600 per year, not including the modem, wireless router, and wireless notebook cards.
My mother can’t even get decent high speed DSL or cable service—her only option other than crappy slow dial-up is satellite internet service at a cost of nearly $1000 per year plus equipment costs.
Is Kofi proposing that the UN run cable service or provide cheep satellite service to old white women in rural Alabama that want to watch streaming video of the latest Tom Jones concert from Las Vegas?
I suspect not.
Kofi wants to hand internet to people that can’t successfully feed themselves and their children, let alone stop shooting at each other long enough to develop a stable infrastructure and economic system.
There’s more:
42. One of the main aims of the WGIG is to foster full participation in Internet governance arrangements by developing countries. The WGIG placed this aim in the context of one of the priorities it had identified in the course of its work, namely, capacity-building in developing countries.
43. Such a space or forum for dialogue (hereafter referred to as “the forum”) should allow for the participation of all stakeholders from developing and developed countries on an equal footing. Gender balance should be considered a fundamental principle with the aim of achieving an equal representation of women and men at all levels. Special care should be taken to ensure diversity of participation as regards, inter alia, language, culture, professional background, involvement of indigenous peoples, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
44. The forum should preferably be linked to the United Nations, in a form to be defined. It would be better placed than existing Internet institutions to engage developing countries in a policy dialogue. This would be an important factor in itself, as the future growth of the Internet is expected to be mainly in developing countries.
I have a few final words for “His Excellency” Kofi Annan besides the words HELL NO.
“Hey Kofi, why don’t you pack your black ass up, move from your cushy digs in NY City back to fly infested Africa where you came from, and then if you and your beloved ‘developing countries’ want internet service, you and all of the native tribal warlords have my blessing and permission to ‘develop’ it on your own, at your own expense, just like we did here in the United by Gosh Darned States of America…
You stupid corrupt moron…”
Monday, August 01, 2005
Refresher Course on Recess Appointments
I guess that it wasn’t much of a surprise that President Bush didn’t waste any time giving John Bolton a recess appointment as US Ambassador to the United Nations today—the first day of the Senate’s “summer recess.”
Likewise, it also wasn’t much of a surprise that the Democrats wasted no time criticizing the appointment:
"At a time when we need to reassert our diplomatic power in the world, President Bush has decided to send a seriously flawed and weakened candidate to the United Nations. It's an unnecessary result, and the latest abuse of power by the Bush White House. ... Bolton arrives at the United Nations with a cloud hanging over his head." — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev."
"The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues. ... It's a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N." — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass."
"It's sad that even while the president preaches democracy around the world, he bends the rules and circumvents the will of Congress in appointing our representative to the United Nations." — Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J."
For your reference, Article II, Section 2, Clauses 2 and 3 of the US Constitution expressedly gives the president the power to appoint Ambassadors with the advice and consent of THE MAJORITY (not 66% or even 60%) of the senate:
“Clause 2: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session."
If the Senate Democrats had done their job and allowed Bolton an up or down vote, he would have been approved in February by a 54-46 margin, at worst 51-49. Instead they chose to filibuster the process, demanding 60 votes to end debate, although the constitution expressedly says a simple majority of 51 votes should end debate.
Kennedy and Reid, along with Pelosi, Kerry, and most of the Democratic leadership still refuse to accept that the American voters have chosen President Bush twice as president and elected a Republican House and Senate…
The Democrats lost, and they just can’t get it through their stupid thick heads.
Likewise, it also wasn’t much of a surprise that the Democrats wasted no time criticizing the appointment:
"At a time when we need to reassert our diplomatic power in the world, President Bush has decided to send a seriously flawed and weakened candidate to the United Nations. It's an unnecessary result, and the latest abuse of power by the Bush White House. ... Bolton arrives at the United Nations with a cloud hanging over his head." — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev."
"The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues. ... It's a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N." — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass."
"It's sad that even while the president preaches democracy around the world, he bends the rules and circumvents the will of Congress in appointing our representative to the United Nations." — Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J."
For your reference, Article II, Section 2, Clauses 2 and 3 of the US Constitution expressedly gives the president the power to appoint Ambassadors with the advice and consent of THE MAJORITY (not 66% or even 60%) of the senate:
“Clause 2: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session."
If the Senate Democrats had done their job and allowed Bolton an up or down vote, he would have been approved in February by a 54-46 margin, at worst 51-49. Instead they chose to filibuster the process, demanding 60 votes to end debate, although the constitution expressedly says a simple majority of 51 votes should end debate.
Kennedy and Reid, along with Pelosi, Kerry, and most of the Democratic leadership still refuse to accept that the American voters have chosen President Bush twice as president and elected a Republican House and Senate…
The Democrats lost, and they just can’t get it through their stupid thick heads.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
A Real Writer
Well, I have some good news...and some bad news.
The good news is that I have my first opportunity to write for a real publication, "Elegant Island Living." It's one of those shiny, glossy, local interest magazines full of real estate ads and art reviews like you find in your hotel room and in the lobby of fancy restaurants in resort areas.
I was fortunate enough to meet Dave, the owner/editor, while working in the theater for "The Island Players" and I've been after him for quite some time to let me write something for his Mag.
I just got the word this afternoon to take off on a story about the opening of our new airport terminal at the Brunswick Glynn County Airport.
I know, I know, stop yawning...
There's probably not a Pulitzer Prize in it for me, but the exposure and increase in my name recognition in this area is priceless.
I have already have had nine or ten letters published in the "Letters to the Editor" section of our local paper, The Brunswick News, and on a half dozen occasions I have had complete strangers say "You're Virgil Rogers-I love your writing" or "I laughed my butt off at what you wrote" upon hearing my name at the local restaurants and businesses (OK, Bars...)
The bad news is that my mind has been spinning while I develop an outline and questions for when I interview the airport board and visit the airport this week--so my blogging has suffered today.
I'm heading out to the pool for my late night swim, then I may have the energy to write something interesting here.
Your little boy is growing up...
The good news is that I have my first opportunity to write for a real publication, "Elegant Island Living." It's one of those shiny, glossy, local interest magazines full of real estate ads and art reviews like you find in your hotel room and in the lobby of fancy restaurants in resort areas.
I was fortunate enough to meet Dave, the owner/editor, while working in the theater for "The Island Players" and I've been after him for quite some time to let me write something for his Mag.
I just got the word this afternoon to take off on a story about the opening of our new airport terminal at the Brunswick Glynn County Airport.
I know, I know, stop yawning...
There's probably not a Pulitzer Prize in it for me, but the exposure and increase in my name recognition in this area is priceless.
I have already have had nine or ten letters published in the "Letters to the Editor" section of our local paper, The Brunswick News, and on a half dozen occasions I have had complete strangers say "You're Virgil Rogers-I love your writing" or "I laughed my butt off at what you wrote" upon hearing my name at the local restaurants and businesses (OK, Bars...)
The bad news is that my mind has been spinning while I develop an outline and questions for when I interview the airport board and visit the airport this week--so my blogging has suffered today.
I'm heading out to the pool for my late night swim, then I may have the energy to write something interesting here.
Your little boy is growing up...
