Right thing to do but for the wrong reasons
on
Strike on Iraq
·
· Score: 1
Personally I don't like Bush. Don't like his policies, don't like his attitude, don't like his platform.
However, overall I do support a war on Iraq. I just wish it was the UN doing it.
The world needs a global policeman, but it SHOULDN'T be the US. Why? Because in the end, once you get past all the rhetoric, the interests of the US fall squarely in the US. Back during Gulf War 1 you had tens shades of evil going on in East Timor, but not a finger was lifted to help.
I could go on with the obvious rants about oil and crap, but I won't. This does have a lot to do with the economy and percieved stability of the region.
I heard that UNICEF said that 5000 Iraqi children were dying per month because of the embargo that's been going on for 12 years. If Saddam stays in power, it's obvious the embargo will remain AT LEAST until he dies. So if he lives for another ten years that comes out to, what, 600,000 kids killed slowly because of lack of medical supplies and other necessitites? Isn't it better to get the band aid off quickly? Will that many kids die in this war?
But ultimately, I think we need a stronger United Nations that CAN be a world policeman, and enforce what they say with more than just paperwork.
I would think that in the student's mind, they would make the analogy of burning something like wood. The wood is destroyed, energy is released as heat. A visual comparison is made.
I don't think the analogy is THAT bad at this level (depending on what grade it's suppose to be)
Sometimes you need to tell a small lie in order to explain a bigger truth. If you try to explain E=MC2 properly, a student won't understand it other than in the terms you described it. In other words, memorization. Memorization isn't understanding.
Granted the analogy is NOT accurate, but it can be used as a stepping stone towards a real understanding. If you say that matter is transformed into energy, a student with no idea of how this works would be more confused. After all, we don't think of wood as being transformed into heat and energy when burned (again, not a proper analogy, but we're talking about stepping stones here).
shouldn't the production costs go down? I don't know if SoulFire is using all "in house" production or having other people do it for them, but I would think that once you've got the whole things set up, it should get cheaper to make afterwards.
Sometimes what I hate is the pressure on cartoonists to publish something every damn day. No wonder a comic I find funny this year has changed to something very weak the next. Either the author opts for middle of the road cute crap with no edge meant to put a smile on your face (at best), or they keep the edge going as long as they can until they realize there just isn't enough left for them to keep their pace.
Problem is, these authors, rather than being allowed to publish on a semi-regular basis (ie whenever they want) they have to retire, some say they're taking a break, but they never come back... inertia takes over at that point.
I wonder if there would still be a Bloom County or Outland if Breathed was allowed to publish once every two weeks or once a month or so during the drier spells... I can only imagine what he would have done now with George W and Gulf War II... lots of material there;)
Campaigning may have worked for a while... but now EVERY show that gets canceled gets a campaign to save it. It's losing its potency, even if they do reinvent how its done.
When the folks at TNT told J Michael Strasinski to make Babylon Crusade "WWF wresting mixed with Baywatch" I pretty much lost any hope in being able to communicate with TV execs in English. Grunts and fist loads of money seem to be the only way.
.... and I can tell you first hand these are pretty darn efficient. After all, having a train pass is just for a set point A to point B, but with the Suica Card, you just use it whenever you need to. I still prefer to use my bike when I can, but when I take the train I see more and more people using the Suica card. Of course to get the card it costs about 2000 yen (20 bucks give or take) but once you have it you don't need to get another.
One of the reasons we don't see more electric cars or hydrogen cars is the distinct lack of dollar signs, isn't it? I think deep down inside, even the most self centered people would like to see the environment cleaned up... just so long as there is no effort required on their part.
It's very easy to look at the situation and either dismiss it as not your problem or not worth the potential effort. The only way to get around this is to make it profitable.
Think of it this way, what do you think is more effective for recycling: 1) Totally Volentary Recycling, 2) Depoit Based Recycling (ie getting money back), or 3) Fines if you don't Recycling.
I'm willing to bet number one is the least effective. So how do you go about making it worth the car companies while to invest and properly support such things?
Granted, this doesn't really feel like an invasion of privacy issue thing to me, just keeping track of inventory. But it's amazing what people will agree to volentarily.
Combine this with Radio Shacks old practice of asking for customer information when you buy something. Now combine this with the kind of computerized advertizing you saw in Minority Report.
"Hello, [Mr. Smith], how is that [Polo Shirt] you bought? We have a sale on [Polo Shirts] this week on the [third] floor."
I think that would be kind of neat... but then I'm trying to convince myself I already live in the future...:)
This gets me to thinking about how much programing is probably "junk" programming these days. Anyone remember the sequal to Elite? Elite 2: Final Frontiers I think it was called. That had thousands of systems, planets, bases, stations, etc... set up in a game that had "realistic" physics. You could actually land on the planets yourself!
It was 1 disk big (1.44 floppy).
Now I look at Freelancer. A big CD full of great graphics. Yet at the same time I see it as not nearly as complex and thought out as Elite 2.
This is an interesting attempt not to make bigger programs, but tighter ones. Making the most of what you have. It feels like there is so much available on computers these days, that programs aren't concerned with getting the most out of it, just using as much of the bells and whistles as they can. Imagine using the same mentality on a modern computer!
Much like laws and regulations, it is much easier to make them than to take them away. I can just imagine eventually every movie getting award for some category...
best hand double for a black and white action/comedy
Scientific Journalism can be a great thing. After all, most people find science extremely boring and would rather watch fiction because they think it's more interesting. They don't realize just how magnificent and fascinating the REAL world can be.
However, just like regular journalism, it's going to fall under certain temptations: to give the audience what they want. The flash and fireworks that don't actually mean anything, but people can't get enough of. The scientific equivelent of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman breaking up.
And sometimes psudo-science can have more flash than the real thing... after all it often promices the world but gives nothing.
I think the way to keep people's interest isn't through the information, but the presentation. Good writing can make almost anything interesting. I had a biology class and a chemestry class in the same year back in high school. My biology teacher was incredibly interesting, and the chemestry teacher was boring as hell. Guess which class I did better in?
A while back the BBC put out a series of "edutainment" shows about space staring Sam Neill called Space. That was both interesting and educational.
The way I see it, we've been fighting evolution since the moment we created civilization. We help our sick and prolong the lives of people who otherwise would never have a chance to procreate.
Heck, 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 of us need to wear glasses these day... I wonder if most animals suffer the equivelent proportions of bad eyesight within their species?
Now I'm not against helping out the sick and weak whatsoever. Though we are animals we have the opportunity to be better than animals (note I say opportunity, it is not a freebie, gotta work for it). But I still if we are going to fight evolution, we should use whatever backdoor we can find to strengthen us as a species.
Let's just hope we don't make ourselves genetically similar enough to let a single flu bug wipe us out later;)
... we were allowed to physically punch a spammer for each piece of spam we get (remember that line up of people in the movie Airplane waiting to smack some sense into the panicky woman?;) )
Hey, if you enjoy what you are doing... if your job is what you would be doing anyways even if you didn't need to work... then what more could you hope for? If that is your "thing", then go for it, with all your heart.
Of course, all you need is a demanding boss breathing down your neck and putting pressure on you to take all the fun away. That's how bosses get self-actualized;)
...that everytime Hollywood uses a much loved idea from other source I get this cold shiver down my spine?;) Seriously, wouldn't you be worried if Disney decided to do their own version of Spirited Away or Princess Moanoke instead of just getting distribution rights?
Hmmm.. didn't they do that with The Lion King? I'm pretty sure I've seen a series of a similar theme out here that predates the movie... could be wrong though... I may live in Japan, but I still can't read Japanese;)
What about dropping big rocks from the Moon? Better than nukes, and no radiation! If someone mentioned the idea of China doing that, I bet it would get the American space program in gear;)
Concider an appartment building that suddenly gets a new manager? With the less scrupulous, the first thing they do is raise the rent.
In some places in North America, there is nothing to stop a landlord from raising the rent as high as they want, in order to essentially evict tenents. Of course, there is no way a company would want to evict key holders, but if they already have their infrastructure based on the technology, how fair is it if the new owners raise the rent by several hundred percent?
There are laws in many places that limit how much the rent can be raised in appartments at a time. Perhaps the same should be done for this business as well?
That this is not new! A monkey brain transplant was conducted back in the 70's or 80's. But afterwards, no follow up research was done because of the "moral" implications. I saw footage from the opperation on The Learning Channel like two years ago!
What I'd like to know is why there is no mention of this previous opperation, and everyone is acting like this is a first? Maybe it's been done better, more efficently, or lasted longer ect... but it's not original!
However, I remember when I first saw this, I was disappointed that the research ended at that time. I'm not for cruelty to animals, but I am all for scientific progression... and the goal of a brain transplant has too many potential benefits (it's the only major organ that won't be rejected in another body) for it NOT to be fully explored.
Sometimes we block ourselves off from potentially beneficial avenues of discovery in the name of "morality" and "ethics", such as Stem-cell research or cloning, but often times that same morality or ethics are misguided, or misinformed, and through the ignorance of the masses we have a situation where our best and brightest are told not to "go there", not because of any rational reason, but because it make the public feel "icky" (for lack of a better word).
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Personally I don't like Bush. Don't like his policies, don't like his attitude, don't like his platform.
However, overall I do support a war on Iraq. I just wish it was the UN doing it.
The world needs a global policeman, but it SHOULDN'T be the US. Why? Because in the end, once you get past all the rhetoric, the interests of the US fall squarely in the US. Back during Gulf War 1 you had tens shades of evil going on in East Timor, but not a finger was lifted to help.
I could go on with the obvious rants about oil and crap, but I won't. This does have a lot to do with the economy and percieved stability of the region.
I heard that UNICEF said that 5000 Iraqi children were dying per month because of the embargo that's been going on for 12 years. If Saddam stays in power, it's obvious the embargo will remain AT LEAST until he dies. So if he lives for another ten years that comes out to, what, 600,000 kids killed slowly because of lack of medical supplies and other necessitites? Isn't it better to get the band aid off quickly? Will that many kids die in this war?
But ultimately, I think we need a stronger United Nations that CAN be a world policeman, and enforce what they say with more than just paperwork.
I would think that in the student's mind, they would make the analogy of burning something like wood. The wood is destroyed, energy is released as heat. A visual comparison is made.
I don't think the analogy is THAT bad at this level (depending on what grade it's suppose to be)
Sometimes you need to tell a small lie in order to explain a bigger truth. If you try to explain E=MC2 properly, a student won't understand it other than in the terms you described it. In other words, memorization. Memorization isn't understanding.
Granted the analogy is NOT accurate, but it can be used as a stepping stone towards a real understanding. If you say that matter is transformed into energy, a student with no idea of how this works would be more confused. After all, we don't think of wood as being transformed into heat and energy when burned (again, not a proper analogy, but we're talking about stepping stones here).
shouldn't the production costs go down? I don't know if SoulFire is using all "in house" production or having other people do it for them, but I would think that once you've got the whole things set up, it should get cheaper to make afterwards.
Sometimes what I hate is the pressure on cartoonists to publish something every damn day. No wonder a comic I find funny this year has changed to something very weak the next. Either the author opts for middle of the road cute crap with no edge meant to put a smile on your face (at best), or they keep the edge going as long as they can until they realize there just isn't enough left for them to keep their pace.
;)
Problem is, these authors, rather than being allowed to publish on a semi-regular basis (ie whenever they want) they have to retire, some say they're taking a break, but they never come back... inertia takes over at that point.
I wonder if there would still be a Bloom County or Outland if Breathed was allowed to publish once every two weeks or once a month or so during the drier spells... I can only imagine what he would have done now with George W and Gulf War II... lots of material there
Campaigning may have worked for a while... but now EVERY show that gets canceled gets a campaign to save it. It's losing its potency, even if they do reinvent how its done.
When the folks at TNT told J Michael Strasinski to make Babylon Crusade "WWF wresting mixed with Baywatch" I pretty much lost any hope in being able to communicate with TV execs in English. Grunts and fist loads of money seem to be the only way.
.... and I can tell you first hand these are pretty darn efficient. After all, having a train pass is just for a set point A to point B, but with the Suica Card, you just use it whenever you need to. I still prefer to use my bike when I can, but when I take the train I see more and more people using the Suica card. Of course to get the card it costs about 2000 yen (20 bucks give or take) but once you have it you don't need to get another.
Spam... aparantly it IS what's for dinner... and lunch... and breakfast...
One of the reasons we don't see more electric cars or hydrogen cars is the distinct lack of dollar signs, isn't it? I think deep down inside, even the most self centered people would like to see the environment cleaned up... just so long as there is no effort required on their part.
It's very easy to look at the situation and either dismiss it as not your problem or not worth the potential effort. The only way to get around this is to make it profitable.
Think of it this way, what do you think is more effective for recycling: 1) Totally Volentary Recycling, 2) Depoit Based Recycling (ie getting money back), or 3) Fines if you don't Recycling.
I'm willing to bet number one is the least effective. So how do you go about making it worth the car companies while to invest and properly support such things?
Granted, this doesn't really feel like an invasion of privacy issue thing to me, just keeping track of inventory. But it's amazing what people will agree to volentarily.
:)
Combine this with Radio Shacks old practice of asking for customer information when you buy something. Now combine this with the kind of computerized advertizing you saw in Minority Report.
"Hello, [Mr. Smith], how is that [Polo Shirt] you bought? We have a sale on [Polo Shirts] this week on the [third] floor."
I think that would be kind of neat... but then I'm trying to convince myself I already live in the future...
This gets me to thinking about how much programing is probably "junk" programming these days. Anyone remember the sequal to Elite? Elite 2: Final Frontiers I think it was called. That had thousands of systems, planets, bases, stations, etc... set up in a game that had "realistic" physics. You could actually land on the planets yourself!
It was 1 disk big (1.44 floppy).
Now I look at Freelancer. A big CD full of great graphics. Yet at the same time I see it as not nearly as complex and thought out as Elite 2.
This is an interesting attempt not to make bigger programs, but tighter ones. Making the most of what you have. It feels like there is so much available on computers these days, that programs aren't concerned with getting the most out of it, just using as much of the bells and whistles as they can. Imagine using the same mentality on a modern computer!
Much like laws and regulations, it is much easier to make them than to take them away. I can just imagine eventually every movie getting award for some category...
best hand double for a black and white action/comedy
Hasn't anyone seen Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome?
;)
It's not bullshit, it's pigshit that's the answer!
"...we could end up losing Pluto (at 2300 kilometres) to the status of "asteroid" or gaining three more planets - Quaoar, Varuna and Ceres."
:)
If Ceres is a planet, then Paverotti could be one too
Scientific Journalism can be a great thing. After all, most people find science extremely boring and would rather watch fiction because they think it's more interesting. They don't realize just how magnificent and fascinating the REAL world can be.
However, just like regular journalism, it's going to fall under certain temptations: to give the audience what they want. The flash and fireworks that don't actually mean anything, but people can't get enough of. The scientific equivelent of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman breaking up.
And sometimes psudo-science can have more flash than the real thing... after all it often promices the world but gives nothing.
I think the way to keep people's interest isn't through the information, but the presentation. Good writing can make almost anything interesting. I had a biology class and a chemestry class in the same year back in high school. My biology teacher was incredibly interesting, and the chemestry teacher was boring as hell. Guess which class I did better in?
A while back the BBC put out a series of "edutainment" shows about space staring Sam Neill called Space. That was both interesting and educational.
The way I see it, we've been fighting evolution since the moment we created civilization. We help our sick and prolong the lives of people who otherwise would never have a chance to procreate.
;)
Heck, 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 of us need to wear glasses these day... I wonder if most animals suffer the equivelent proportions of bad eyesight within their species?
Now I'm not against helping out the sick and weak whatsoever. Though we are animals we have the opportunity to be better than animals (note I say opportunity, it is not a freebie, gotta work for it). But I still if we are going to fight evolution, we should use whatever backdoor we can find to strengthen us as a species.
Let's just hope we don't make ourselves genetically similar enough to let a single flu bug wipe us out later
Sorry, I meant that humourously... with Road Rage and all... I'd just be picturing a pilot who been kept in a holding patter just ONCE too often.
;)
"Cut ME off, you stupid Concord, we'll just see about that!"
you were an airline pilot suffering from air-rage and you go your hands on one of these 747's :D
(from the article)
:D
---
There is, alas, no scientific claim so preposterous that a scientist cannot be found to vouch for it.
---
Which means that at some point these seven points are going to be debunked by one of these guns for hire scientists
... we were allowed to physically punch a spammer for each piece of spam we get (remember that line up of people in the movie Airplane waiting to smack some sense into the panicky woman? ;) )
Well, a guy can dream, can't he?
Hey, if you enjoy what you are doing... if your job is what you would be doing anyways even if you didn't need to work... then what more could you hope for? If that is your "thing", then go for it, with all your heart.
;)
Of course, all you need is a demanding boss breathing down your neck and putting pressure on you to take all the fun away. That's how bosses get self-actualized
...that everytime Hollywood uses a much loved idea from other source I get this cold shiver down my spine? ;) Seriously, wouldn't you be worried if Disney decided to do their own version of Spirited Away or Princess Moanoke instead of just getting distribution rights?
;)
Hmmm.. didn't they do that with The Lion King? I'm pretty sure I've seen a series of a similar theme out here that predates the movie... could be wrong though... I may live in Japan, but I still can't read Japanese
What about dropping big rocks from the Moon? Better than nukes, and no radiation! If someone mentioned the idea of China doing that, I bet it would get the American space program in gear ;)
Concider an appartment building that suddenly gets a new manager? With the less scrupulous, the first thing they do is raise the rent.
In some places in North America, there is nothing to stop a landlord from raising the rent as high as they want, in order to essentially evict tenents. Of course, there is no way a company would want to evict key holders, but if they already have their infrastructure based on the technology, how fair is it if the new owners raise the rent by several hundred percent?
There are laws in many places that limit how much the rent can be raised in appartments at a time. Perhaps the same should be done for this business as well?
That this is not new! A monkey brain transplant was conducted back in the 70's or 80's. But afterwards, no follow up research was done because of the "moral" implications. I saw footage from the opperation on The Learning Channel like two years ago!
What I'd like to know is why there is no mention of this previous opperation, and everyone is acting like this is a first? Maybe it's been done better, more efficently, or lasted longer ect... but it's not original!
However, I remember when I first saw this, I was disappointed that the research ended at that time. I'm not for cruelty to animals, but I am all for scientific progression... and the goal of a brain transplant has too many potential benefits (it's the only major organ that won't be rejected in another body) for it NOT to be fully explored.
Sometimes we block ourselves off from potentially beneficial avenues of discovery in the name of "morality" and "ethics", such as Stem-cell research or cloning, but often times that same morality or ethics are misguided, or misinformed, and through the ignorance of the masses we have a situation where our best and brightest are told not to "go there", not because of any rational reason, but because it make the public feel "icky" (for lack of a better word).