Homosexual is a Race

Via Yahoo News:

"GLAAD spoke with A&E representatives on Wednesday morning to discuss why people would be offended by the comments and calls to action. ”They took this very seriously, as soon as the news broke,” Ferraro said.

After the meeting, GLAAD issued its statement on Robertson’s comments. A&E initially released a statement from Robertson in which he said he would “never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me.” But the network declined to comment itself until Wednesday night, when it announced the suspension, which GLAAD applauded.

“We believe the next step is to use this as an opportunity for Phil to sit down with gay families in Louisiana and learn about their lives and the values they share,” the spokesman said.

The organization is also currently researching companies who use Robertson as a spokesperson.

“Silence is agreement in this case,” he said. “With such egregious anti-gay and racist comments, those companies that choose to be affiliated with this family need to speak out.”


So let me get this straight... homosexuals are now a RACE and making remarks that you don't agree with the homosexual lifestyle is now a RACIST thing to say?????

Boy, we really are playing fast and loose with the "racist" card these days, aren't we? Robertson said absolutely NOTHING about race at all. His remarks were only about his belief that homosexuality is a sin based on his faith. And he's completely entitled to his beliefs. Saying he's anti-gay is accurate, but saying he's a racist... that's a step too far. But last time I checked, it's still his right to be anti-gay. We do still live in America, don't we?

Well, don't we????

And as for the notion on the part of this GLAAD spokesmosexual that it's an opportunity for Phil Robertson to sit down with gay families, sing kumbaya and to leeeeearn about their liiiiiives and about their common vaaaaaaalues.....pardon me - I just vomited. Twice.

Do we really think that Phil Robertson is saying these things out of ignorance of the homosexual lifestyle??? That perhaps it's just that he doesn't know that they're just people, too, and that they just happen to like to have wild monkey sex with other people of the same gender? Is that the issue? How stupid do you think this guy is? I'm quite sure that he knows what gay sex entails and also how he feels about it.

And again... he's entitled to feel however he wants about it because... 'MERICA!!!!

I'm sick and tired of those who are always preaching tooooolerance at the top of their lungs suddenly going apeshit whenever someone pops up with an opinion or a worldview that they don't agree with. How tolerant is that?

So now, after this article, I've seen Phil Robertson called anti-gay and racist. I've seen him called "hillbilly" and "redneck." I'm just waiting for Hitler for the win.

It'll happen. Just wait.

Non-essential

"...street thugs, hoods, communists, agitators, grifters and idiots..." hilariously!

Losing Hope

This video shows police trying to rip a flag out of the hands of a protestor in D.C.

It's stuff like this that is making me lose hope that if the order ever came for the police and military to turn on the citizenry that it wouldn't be carried out.

Open It Up

From the Washington Examiner:

Even though isolated barricades with "closed" signs remained on the National Mall on Tuesday, the setup for the immigration reform rally said otherwise. 

A giant stage with lights and an "Immigration Reform Now" banner was set up in the center of the mall, along with three large portable screens. 

On one side of the mall, more than 100 porta potties were set up for protesters who will attend the rally today. 

As several groups of musicians performed sound checks, a lone National Park Service employee arrived to survey the scene, but referred me to the Park Service communications office and left when I asked her why she was called into work today. 

As the Washington Examiner reported Monday, rally organizers said that they would be allowed by the NPS to carry out their protest under their First Amendment rights.

I say let them protest. Since when do you need permission from the government to protest the government?

That said, I think that the barring of public places - especially national parks and open-air monuments - during the government "shutdown" is government stupidity beyond belief and typical of the kind of thinking that creates wasteful government spending in the first place.

If it doesn't usually cost any money to run something - and now suddenly barring access to that thing DOES cost money - how is that doing anyone any good?

From Freedom to Chains

God bless Paul Harvey.

Thoughts on the Government Shutdown

I had some windshield time yesterday, which meant plenty of time to listen to the radio and all the moaning about the government shutting down.  Here are some thoughts I had as I was driving:

If the morons in Congress wouldn't rely on continuing resolutions to fund our country to begin with we wouldn't be in this mess it all. If they would just passed a yearly budget as it is constitutionally mandated then none of this would be happening.

Running the country by brinkmanship is what brought us to this point.

We need to remember that it is not right for the national parks to be open.

Wait. So you need to tell me that 40% of government employees are nonessential to the running of government? That just sounds wasteful to me, especially since Congress (Nancy Pelosi, in particular) tells us that "the cupboard  is bare" and that there are no more cuts that can be made.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Obamacare is actually a tax. So basically this government shutdown is the House of Representatives trying to give the American public tax cut. And the president and the senate are resisting such a tax cut.

Harry Reid saying that "Obamacare is the law of the land" and that the Republicans should just accept that and give up the fight is completely hypocritical. And since when can laws not be amended, stricken down or defunded?

Welcome to Mother Russia

I was incensed by this. I could feel my blood pressure rise as I watched what happened to this man at a school board meeting in Maryland.

What has happened to our country?

That Didn't Take Long... Part 2

From CBS:

In the wake of the shooting at the Navy Yard, Obama spokesman Jay Carney said the president is implementing executive actions and reiterated his commitment to strengthening gun laws, including expanding background checks to sales online and at gun shows.

Wow. Since none of the reports I've read indicate that the Navy Yard shooter bought his gun at a gun show or online (he purchased his shotgun legally at a Virginia gun store), the president must have some sort of intelligence that we don't have access to, right?

And as for strengthening background checks... how about taking a look at the government first, Mr. Obama. How about strengthening background checks on who can get on to military bases and secret clearance first?

Classic Obama strawman bait and switch.

That Didn't Take Long

From the Washington Times:

Just hours after the deadly shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, gun control advocates tried to reignite the national debate over gun laws that had only just subsided. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat and a longtime gun control advocate, denounced “the litany of massacres” over the past few years and asked rhetorically, “When will enough be enough?”

Wait.. wasn't the NSA spying on us all supposed to stop things like this?

Where Does Creativity Come From?

In an awesome coincidence, I'm posting two John Cleese videos back to back several days apart...

I had a mentor once tell me that if you want to learn how to do something, learn from someone who is great at what you're wanting to learn. There aren't many more creative people than John Cleese, so the opportunity to listen to him discuss where creativity comes from is pure gold...

The Holy Grail

A modern re-edit of the trailer for The Holy Grail.  Genius.

Yeah... About That Global Warming Thing...

From the Washington Examiner:

A leaked report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that the world is not warming but actually cooling, and will continue to get colder until the middle of the century.

Yeah. That's right. Been sayin' it for years.

And there's this, from the UK Guardian:

If correct, it would contradict computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming. The news comes several years after the BBC predicted that the arctic would be ice-free by 2013.

What I want to know is... are these the same people that told us in the '80s  and early '90sthat there would be no more rainforest left by the year 2000?

And more importantly, why do we keep listening to these "experts?"

The Most Transparent White House in History

From the Washington Examiner:

President Obama and his successors in the Oval Office are not obligated to make public the names of individuals visiting the White House, according to a decision of the federal Circuit Court for the District of Columbia made public Friday. 

The case was brought by Judicial Watch, the government watchdog nonprofit that has been fighting a long legal battle seeking to force release of the White House visitor logs as public records under theFreedom of Information Act. 

But in a decision that is drawing intense criticism from across the ideological spectrum, the circuit court said the president has a "constitutional perogative" not to tell the American people who he or his staff meets with in the White House.

So much for it being the People's House, especially since Obama's "sequester" has closed the White House to the public.

A Black Man and a White Man Discuss Race

Today I did something that I very, very rarely do - I confronted a friend about race on Facebook. This wasn't just any friend, either. This was a person who used to be one of my closest friends - someone who Kristi and I both have known and loved for a long time. In fact, it's fair to say that without this person Kristi and I may never have gotten married. But now this is someone whom I'm considering unfriending.

So yeah - this hurts.

This friend is a black man and has long been a voice for inclusion and diversity. He celebrated his blackness, and that was pretty cool. But lately, his posts have become more polarizing and less inclusive. He's always been focused on race, but usually in a very educational and philosophical manner. But then something happened. His posts started to get more confrontational and one-sided and divisive. But he's my friend and he's entitled to his opinion.

But today he linked to a story about some New Jersey teens who did a great thing the right thing and paid for some merchandise, even though the store was closed. Great story. But he interjected race into it and it just made my blood boil. I am firmly of the belief that there's enough racial tension in this country and that inserting race into everything is one of the things that's tearing out country apart.  So I called him on it. This is that conversation: (click on the image to enlarge it)

...and that's where I left it.

I don't mind having an honest conversation about just about any topic, but what infuriated me was his complete unwillingness to even slightly admit that he might be wrong in interjecting race into this. Well, that and his condescension.

Friends, I meant everything I said in the discussion. If we want to live in a world where race doesn't matter, then let's all let it not matter... together.

And for my friend, I pray that someday you'll see how hurtful you've been and how you're actively involved in setting the clock backwards on race relations, especially since you're in a position to influence young minds.

Obama Goes After Guns Again

From the AP:

Striving to take action where Congress would not, the Obama administration announced new steps Thursday on gun control, curbing the import of military surplus weapons and proposing to close a little-known loophole that lets felons and others circumvent background checks by registering guns to corporations.

Would not, could not... big difference there. 

Four months after a gun control drive collapsed spectacularly in the Senate, President Barack Obama added two more executive actions to a list of 23 steps the White House determined Obama could take on his own to reduce gun violence. With the political world focused on Mideast tensions and looming fiscal battles, the move signaled Obama's intent to show he hasn't lost sight of a cause he took up after 20 first graders and six adults were gunned down last year in an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

In the words of President Obama - "we won. Move on." But no. Here we go again. But thins while the nation is waiting to see of President Obama is going to decide to strike Syria. Shouldn't he be doing that, instead? I get the feeling he's been waiting months for this moment - a moment when everyone's attention was turned elsewhere. Laying in wait... like a snake.

And what kind of weapons were used to kill the people at Newtown? Handguns - not "assault rifles. There was a rifle found in the trunk of the shooter's car - in the parking lot. But it wasn't used in the shooting. Here we go again with the "assault rifle" nonsense. "Assault rifles" are responsible for only two percent of gun crimes.

One new policy will end a government practice that lets military weapons, sold or donated by the U.S. to allies, be reimported into the U.S. by private entities, where some may end up on the streets. The White House said the U.S. has approved 250,000 of those guns to be reimported since 2005; under the new policy, only museums and a few other entities like the government will be eligible to reimport military-grade firearms.

That's rich. The administration that brought us Fast and Furious is worried about weapons that we sent to other countries ending up on American streets.

And hold on just a minute - why would "surplus" arms be sold (or donated) to other countries and then bought back from them by the military? Wouldn't that mean that they weren't surplus, after all? Sounds a bit like the way money laundering works to me.

The Obama administration is also proposing a federal rule to stop those who would be ineligible to pass a background check from skirting the law by registering a gun to a corporation or trust. The new rule would require people associated with those entities, like beneficiaries and trustees, to undergo the same type of fingerprint-based background checks as individuals if they want to register guns.

Wouldn't this require some sort of a database of people within the organization (potentially hundreds of thousands of people, depending on the size of the corporation)? And then wouldn't that database then have a record of the guns owned by those within the corporation? This sounds like a sneaky first step to gun registry to me.

Although Obama and Biden have said the fight is not over, there is scant evidence that there is more support for gun control legislation than there was in April, when efforts died in the Senate amid staunch opposition from the National Rifle Association and most Republican senators.

And the overwhelming majority of American people. And the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution. Let's not forget about those very important things that are against gun control.

"Sooner or later, we are going to get this right," Obama said that day in the White House Rose Garden, with the families of Newtown victims and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — herself a victim of a gunman — at his side. "The memories of these children demand it, and so do the American people," the president said at the time.

Let's breathe for a moment and also remember that Representative Giffords was shot with a handgun - not a rifle. And the gun used wasn't surplus or reimported into the United States. It was purchased legally.

These days, Obama mentions gun control with far less regularity than when it appeared the Senate was poised to take action, although Obama did meet Tuesday with 18 city mayors to discuss ways to contain youth violence. And with immigration and pressing fiscal issues dominating Congress' agenda, the prospects for reviving gun legislation appear negligible.

I wonder if Rahm Emanual, the mayor of Chicago, was among those whom the president met with. You know - the gun control Mecca where gun crime and homicides are out of control.

I Told You So, Miley.

Following Miley Cyrus's er... performance last night at the VMAs, I just have to take this opportunity to say... I'm so glad I went with my gut years ago and banned her music from my house.

Not that I'd let my 10-year-old daughter watch the VMAs (or that I would either, for that matter), but I'm so glad that I don't have to explain to her why her former favorite singer was behaving like a full out stripper on television.

The train wreck that is Miley Cyrus is complete.

Go hang out with Lady Gaga, Miley. You're done.

Possibilities

Great new ad from Nike.

"It Wasn't Racial."

I didn't blog about it. Purposefully. It was too soon. We didn't have all the facts. And we didn't know anything about the three teens who murdered Australian student Chris Lane in cold blood last Friday.

But now things are starting to come to light.

After the killing, people all over the internet began wondering aloud what the reaction would be to this killing by those who said that Trayvon Martin was a racial hate crime. They were, for the most part, silent on the issue. People who for weeks and months have been raising holy hell on Facebook and Twitter and in blogs and changing their status profiles to pictures of hoodie-wearing people suddenly have nothing to say. Well, most people, anyway. I did see a few pop up here and there to say something along the lines of "this was just a killing. It wasn't a hate crime. It wasn't about race."

Yeah. Well now there's this from the Daily Caller:

One of the teens charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Australian baseball player Christopher Lane in Duncan, Okla., previously posted anti-white statements on his Twitter feed.

Not about race, huh? Not a hate crime? Notice that James Edwards is the one using the word hate in the hashtag of his tweet. Not anyone else. To me, that screams hate crime.

So, Oprah, Al Sharpton, President Obama et al, where are you now? You hypocrites.

[edit: It seems that people are giving Jesse Jackson credit for speaking out on this matter because he tweeted on the matter. Let's be clear - that's not speaking out. That's just saying something. But good for him, anyway, for sayting something, even if it was weak.]

School "Security" Gone Too Far... Again

From CBSDFW:

For some it’s the end of a tradition that has taken place for generations. Security enhancements at many North Texas schools this year may keep parents at the curb. 

All of the extra security is in response to what happened nearly nine months ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. It was December of last year when a gunman opened fire at the school, killing 20 students and six adults. 

But there’s a new rule waiting for parents like Tamara Moore and Angela Shamblin.  It deals with access to their youngsters and both mothers have a certain view about the rule. 

“I really want to take my son to class. Since it’s his first time in school,” Moore said protectively. “They may have security, but I want to know where my kid is going at all times.” 

Shamblin had a different viewpoint as she dropped off her little one. “As long as I can see him walk in that building, that will be fine. Because once he’s in that building they’ll take care of him.”

That's right - they'll take care of him.  They'll lead him to class and he'll be perfectly safe there in the hall and in the classroom with no parents around that might cause harm.

Nevermind that it wasn't a parent that shot up the school at Sandy Hook.

Nevermind that the gunman killed teachers and students that were already in their classrooms.

Nevermind that at Sandy Hook they already had a video security system and locking doors that the gunman managed to get through or around... somehow.

Once again, this is solving a "problem" with a solution that doesn't even fit the issue at hand. How does  prohibiting parents from walking kids to class eliminate the threat that happened in Sandy Hook? If some parent had snapped after taking little Timmy to class, I could understand, maybe. But that's not even remotely what happened.

"Well, it takes additional people out of the school who might wish to do harm. That way there are only those in the school who are supposed to be there," you might say.  That makes no sense at all.

What they're doing is taking other adults, other parents - people who have a vested interest in there being a safe environment at their child's school - out of the hallways. Those parents are a deterrent. Gunmen are cowards. Every time they are met with resistance, they fold or kill themselves. Every time. Those additional parents in the hallways walking their kids to class are almost insurance that some sicko isn't going to come into a school and start shooting.

What we need is a security officer in the school. An armed, trained security officer. We don't need to b further elevating the government (the school district and the school is still the government) as the protector of our children by further stripping rights from parents.

This is the school looking at parents as potential victims should a gunman invade the school. I saw that's the wrong way to look at the world. That's the doom and gloom way. That's the pessimistic way. People are not sheep, especially when their children are concerned. If I were walking my son or daughter to class and someone came in shooting, you can bet your life that I would do everything I could to stop that gunman. I bet almost any parent would.

They're relying on teachers and administrators to keep the halls safe. Ask yourself this - in the event of a gunman, what is a teacher going to be most concerned with (and let's use Sandy Hook as an example)? They'll be concerned with getting their class and any other kids to safety. That's engrained in them. But while they're doing that, who's trying to stop the gunman?

No one is.

Just as in Sandy Hook, a gunman is probably going to take out the front office staff first. They're the most likely to call the police. Most classrooms don't have phones with an outside line. So that means that teachers and kids are helpless targets for a gunman who has freedom to roam a school. And hopefully someone survived to call the police. It'll take them a few minutes to get there. Meanwhile, it's a target shoot for the gunman.

No - I'd rather go down like the passengers on United flight 93 on September 11 - by taking my life into my own hands and actively trying to stop whomever is trying to kill me and others. Especially if those others are my kids.

I have more to say, but I won't. You get the idea.

Don't be sheeple. Oppose any government entity that strips your rights in the name of "security," even if it's the local school board or the principal at your kids' school.

Colorado Has Had Enough

From the Washington Times:

Voters in several rural Colorado counties will be asked whether they want to form a new state tentatively named Northern Colorado in the November election, a reaction to the Democrat-controlled state legislature’s “war on rural Colorado.” 

The Weld County Commissioners voted unanimously at Monday’s meeting to place a measure on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters whether they want the county to join other rural counties in forming another state. 

“The concerns of rural Coloradans have been ignored for years,” William Garcia, chairman of the Weld County Commissioners, said in a statement. “The last session was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many people. They want change. They want to be heard.” 

Three other rural counties — Cheyenne, Sedgwick and Yuma — also plan to place the 51st state referendum on the fall ballot. At least three more counties plan to consider the proposal this week at their commission meetings, said Jeffrey Hare, spokesman for the 51st State Initiative. 

Known for its agriculture and oil and gas production, Weld is the largest of the Colorado counties exploring a break with the state after the legislature’s sharp turn to the left with bills restricting access to firearms and doubling the state’s renewable-energy mandate for rural areas. 

Democrats control both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office. Two Democratic state senators — Angela Giron and John Morse — are facing Sept. 10 recall elections in response to the legislature’s gun control votes.

Even if it doesn't work, it's still a small step in the right direction - that is, the people standing up to the politicians to take back their country when they feel they aren't appropriately represented or that they are being misrepresented.

I also like that they're not talking about seceding from the union, but rather want to form a new state that better reflects their beliefs and values within the United States.

Power to the people. The residents of Destructoville, despite being firmly located in Texas, stand with you.

You're Welcome, Matt.

The 1st Amendment Don't Live in Missouri

Outrageous.

Occupy thugs foul things up for weeks in cities across the nation and nothing happens. But two guys try to protest on an overpass in Missouri and it's the freaking end of the world.

What have we come to?

Shenanigans!

From CNS News:

The Treasury Department's Financial Management Service (FMS), which publishes both the federal government's official Daily Treasury Statement and its official Monthly Treasury Statement, is reporting that in July the federal government ran a deficit of $98 billion but that the federal government's debt remained exactly $16,699,396,000,000 for the entire month.

The FMS said that the deficit went up $98 billion ($97,594,000,000) in the Monthly Treasury Statment for July, which it released on Monday.

At the same time, the FMS said the debt stayed at exactly $16,699,396,000,000 in its Daily Treasury Statements, which are published every business day. The Daily Treasury Statements show the daily value of the federal government debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress.

At the static $16,699,396,000,000 level that the Treasury reported for every day of July, the debt was just $25 million below the legal limit of $16,699,421,000,000 that was set in a law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama.

If Treasury's daily statements were to declare that the government had borrowed an additional net $98 billion to cover the $98 billion deficit the Treasury declared in its monthly statement for July, the Treasury would be conceding that the government had already surpassed the legal limit on the debt--and has been violating the law by continuing to borrowing additional money.

Noting to see here. Move along...

No, Mr. Culberson, We Want ALL of the Spying to Stop

From The Blaze:

While the most talked-about news out of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday was the defeat of the so-called Amash amendment that would have defunded the NSA’s massive data collection program, another amendment related to NSA spying was quietly passed overwhelmingly by lawmakers.

The amendment that passed is reportedly intended to “ensure none of the funds may be used by the NSA to target a U.S. person or acquire and store the content of a U.S. person’s communications, including phone calls and e-mails.” 

Culberson told TheBlaze in a phone interview why he supported the Pompeo amendment over the more sweeping amendment authored by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.).
He argued the amendment properly requires that no funds can be used by the NSA to collect or store the content of American citizens’ communications data. This includes phone calls and emails. The amendment; however, does not seem to restrict the NSA’s ability to continue collecting and storing massive amounts metadata. 

The Amash amendment would have prevented the NSA from using any funds to collect any data on persons that are not under investigation.

Then, this:

The Pompeo amendment may not fully address privacy advocates’ concerns about NSA spying, but those like Culberson feel it’s a step in the right direction.

Damn it, man.  I don't want a step in the right direction! I want to get to the destination! If you have a roach problem in your house, squashing one of the bugs is a step in the right direction.  But it doesn't solve the problem!

Solve the problem already!!! Quit playing games with our rights, our privacy and our civil liberties!!!!

The Government Wants Your Passwords Now, Too

From CNet:

The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users' stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed. 

Some of the government orders demand not only a user's password but also the encryption algorithm and the so-called salt, according to a person familiar with the requests. A salt is a random string of letters or numbers used to make it more difficult to reverse the encryption process and determine the original password. Other orders demand the secret question codes often associated with user accounts.

This, the day after the House (including my own Representative, Michael McCaul) killed an amendment that would defund the NSA's unconstitutional spying programs.

What Orwellian hell has this country become?

Don't Let Down Your Guard

Yes, the gun control debate has subsided over the past couple of months (with the exception of the Pot-stirrer-in-Chief calling for gun control in the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict). But this is a reminder that giving up our rights - even a little bit - will have disastrous consequences.

How I Met Your Mother's Kids Strike Back

Hilarious. Bring on the final season!

Now You Can Lick Rush

From CBC News:

The Tragically Hip, Rush, the Guess Who and Beau Dommage are featured on stamps issued Friday by Canada Post. 

The stamps are part of a series featuring Canadian artists, but for the first time spotlight bands rather than individual artists. 

"These names have enormous history and, along with their all-time classics, are still very influential in the rock scene," said designer Louis Gagnon. "It was very rewarding to design their stamps."

Congratulations to Rush, which finally seems to be getting some of the respect they so richly deserve.

The Superman/Batman Movie: An Exercise in "Me Too"

From The Independent:

It is the news for which superhero fans have always longed: Superman and Batman are to appear together in the same film for the first time. 

At San Diego’s annual Comic-Con this weekend, the Man of Steel director Zack Snyder revealed that DC Comics’ best-known heroes will meet on the big screen – and will be fighting each other. 

“Let’s face it, it’s beyond mythological to have Superman and our new Batman facing off, since they are the greatest superheroes in the world,” said Snyder, who will direct the as-yet unnamed film, scheduled for release in summer 2015.

A  lot of geeks just shat themselves over the weekend.  Me? I think it's a little early for this kind of movie. Superman/Clark Kent needs more character development first. We've only seen a few seconds of Clark Kent the reporter and none of his life in Metropolis yet. This movie should be after the next Superman movie - that is, after we care a little more.

Nevermind the fact that the Batman character was left completely up in the air at the end of the last Dark Knight film. That means we need more character development there, too.

Too much, too soon.

DC is so busy trying to catch up to Marvel and the Avengers that it's lost sight of real story development and its characters. It's squandering a decade - perhaps two - of superhero movies for a quick buck.

The Lynching

Yet again, Bill Whittle is amazing.

Old Data

From Slashdot:

A team of researchers at the University of Southampton have demonstrated a way to record and retrieve as much as 360 terabytes of digital data onto a single disk of quartz glass in a way that can withstand temperatures of up to 1000 C and should keep the data stable and readable for up to a million years.

Sounds awesome! Now word on the read/write speeds, though.

And why, exactly, would we want to save data longer than the human race? So our alien overlords could find out what our Facebook status was on July 14, 2112?

Obama: Honor Trayvon With Gun Control

From MSNBC: 

President Obama called on the nation to honor Trayvon Martin a day after George Zimmerman was acquitted of his murder by asking "ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence." 

His comments came as family members of Zimmerman and Martin, as well as pundits, celebrities, and court observers had strong reactions to Saturday’s not guilty verdict, with those reactions taking various forms — from joy and outrage to Shakespearean references and calls for peace. 

"I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities," Obama said in a statement on Sunday. 

"We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honor Trayvon Martin."

President Obama, you're an opportunistic race-baiting pot-stirring controversy-ginning piece of crap.

The Zimmerman case had nothing to do with gun violence or race.

This Is Where Erosion of Rights Has Led Us

Yikes.

It's stuff like this that makes me wonder if, ever given the order to use force against civilians, that the military and the police might just do it. Oathkeepers might not be enough.

The rights afforded to us in the Constitution are not a joke or something that can just be cast aside by any government agency that feels like they have a greater need, such as keeping us all safe.

We must demand that our rights be respected all the time - every time - or we may as not have any rights at all.

The Virtual President on Gay Marriage

I MIss Paul Harvey

Who Am I Introducing?

Not much comment needed on this.

Man of Steel Review

(This review is going to contain spoilers, so this is your warning.)

I am - for those of you who may not know already - a huge Superman fan. One of the biggest you're likely to find, actually, and I have been since I was a kid. I've lost track of how many capes and Superman shirts I've owned through the years. I'm telling you this so that you'll know that I went into Man of Steel really, really wanting to like it.

I didn't.

I'm not quite sure where to begin, so I'll begin with the most obvious thing to me as I was watching it: the movie just didn't have whole lot of heart to it. I was very encouraged by the trailers. They made it seem as though we were going to finally get the Superman movie many of us have always wanted: one that focused on Clark's character, his influences and upbringing, his wanderings post-college and what makes him relatable - his humanity. We thought we were going to be seeing something akin to Batman Begins and see the process and the journey that Clark takes that makes him the man in Superman.

Unfortunately, what little there was of that was played out in a series of short, incomplete and muddled vignettes that made Clark look more like a clueless wanderer than a man searching for his place in the world. And it turns out that the movie is about the least relatable part of Superman - the Kryptonian part of him. He's not Clark. He's Kal. And that focus, I think, is where the disconnect begins.

The plot is a convoluted, confusing mess. The movie jumps around so much that it's often difficult to follow who we're supposed to be focused on and where we are in the world and who is there and whom we should be caring about. And there are no truly inspirational moments where you just want to stand up and clap or cheer or feel a huge sense or relief that Superman is there. Think of the moment in Superman: the Motion Picture where Superman is freed from the kryptonite chains in Luthor's underground lair. Or the moment in Superman II when Superman regains his powers and shows back up on the scene to fight Zod. Those kind of moments are wholly missing in Man of Steel.

And that's another thing that makes this movie a failure in my eyes - we just don't care about Clark or Lois or anyone, really, to be affected by their imminent danger.

The characters in Man of Steel are paper-thin. There's just no depth there. I found Lois's personality inconsistent throughout the film. Perry White was there, but Jimmy Olsen wasn't. But Steve freaking Lombard was there. I can't comprehend that decision at all. Clark Kent - the reporter - doesn't even make an appearance until the last minute or so of the film. Zod's motives are confusing from the beginning and Jol-El's appearance throughout the film is just weird. It's almost as if they said, "well, we've got Amy Adams and Russell Crowe in this movie, so we might as well write them into some scenes." And what's troubling is that the main character , Clark Kent (I don't say Superman because he clearly isn't that character), is an unknown to both himself and to the audience. We're not really given any reason to care about the characters other than that we know we should because we recognize their names.

And then there's the cursing. Why the cursing? I winced almost every time (with the exception of when Clark gets called dumbass on the fishing boat, which felt natural in the context) because it was  unnecessary. Three a-bombs, one a-hole and two d-words... in a Superman movie? In fact, it's the one thing (other than Zod's death scene at the end - more on that in a moment) that will keep me from taking my kids to see this film.  I'm just glad they bucked the trend of slipping at least one f-bomb into a PG-13 movie. Yes, this was supposed to be a darker telling of Superman, but let's not forget that at the very core that he's known for being clean and wholesome, and his movie should at least make an attempt to come close.

This movie was clearly written and made with the intention of trying to capitalize on The Dark Knight films, right down to the music. But that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what Makes Superman Superman. He's the light to Batman's dark. He's the hope to Batman's fear. We only get a couple of brief glimpses of anything remotely approaching Superman or Clark Kent, most notably at the end of the film when Superman/Kal-el tells the army general that he was grew up in Kansas. And then there's the fact that Man of Steel breaks one of the cardinal rules of Superman: he doesn't kill. He kills Zod and he causes so much destruction in the form of falling buildings that literally thousands of people had to have been killed in the movie's hour-long fight sequence. And even worse, it doesn't seem to bother Clark/Kal-el.

The music was good, but it sounded a little more Dark Knight-ish (both were composed by Hans Zimmer)with it's heavy staccato and loud drones. And it troubled me that there was no real hook line to grab onto. There was nothing to hum. Batman had a hook. Star Trek had a hook. Heck, even Iron Man had a hook. The music was good, but I just didn't find it very memorable or heroic.
[edit: after a re-listen to some of the music from Man of Steel, I'd like to amend this statement slightly. The music does have a bit of a hook to it (at least in the main overture), but I just don't think it's as strong as it could be. It's no Star Wars theme or Terminator 2 or even, well, Superman. But I do like it.]

I did like the dynamic between Lois and Clark, however, or at least that Lois figures out that the mystery man is Clark Kent before there is ever even a Superman or a secret identity. It's an interesting twist that pays off at the end of the film when reporter Clark finally makes an appearance. But their relationship never felt like a romance to me. The filmmakers seemed to disagree, however. To me Lois and Clark/Kal seemed more two people who weren't really friends, but shared a secret. It was a bit awkward.

I thought the more sic-fi aspects of Krypton were interesting, as well. Not awesome, but interesting. I couldn't figure out why Krypton's top scientist - on a world where tech is everywhere, including ships that are capable of interplanetary flight - would ride around on a dragon-like creature. It was interesting. It just didn't seem to fit.

There are several things I don't understand about the film:

• Kal-el gets his super powers from Earth's yellow sun (as referenced many times throughout the film.) His cells act like solar batteries. Being on a Kryptonian ship in Earth's orbit would NOT strip him of his powers, regardless of whether the atmosphere aboard was set for Kryptonian physiology.

• Why would Zod need to kill Kal to get the codex of the Kryptonian people? Didn't we see Kal getting blood drawn on Zod's ship?

• Why was there a Kryptonian under suit that just happened to be outfitted with the crest of the House of El on a ship that crash-landed on Earth and had been there for 18,000 years?

• Why was Kal-el's Kryptonian suit colored red, blue and yellow when there was no color to any of the other Kryptonian suits in the movie, even on Krypton?

I started writing what man of Steel should have been, but I think I'll save that for another time. If the movie had lived up to the feel and the ideals of the teaser trailers, it would have been a good movie. It should have been a character piece exploring Clark's search for his identity and clues to where he came from. Lois Lane didn't even have to be in this movie, much less Perry White or any of the other Metropolis part of Clark that would come later. This should've been the search for Clark and the realization that despite the fact that he was raised as a normal child with loving parents, that he can do things that no mere mortal can do. The climax of the film could've been the eventual revelation of his Kryptonian heritage and his denial of the implications of that - that he's not a normal human, that he's all alone, that he's completely different, that's he's the answer to "are we alone in the Universe." We needed to see why, not just how he decided to become a hero and champion for justice (and actually, Man of Steel never really explains how, either). It needed to be more relatable. More human. More tender. It was headed that way, but it all fell apart pretty quickly on.

As a young boy, Superman captured my imagination. I was about my son's age when I went to go see Superman: The Movie in the theater. I remember seeing Superman II with my grandma one afternoon, and it was awesome. But Man of Steel won't be that movie for a new generation. There's not much here that separates him from any other random superhero in any other movie. And that's a shame.

It looks like we'll have to wait another generation to see if Hollywood can create a Superman origin story that really captures just what a great, human hero Superman is - not because he's from another planet, but in spite of it.

The Real Face of Pure Hate

You wanna read what actual hate look alike? Forget all the times the lefties have accused conservatives of hate just because we have a fundamental disagreement with them about something.

If you want pure hate on display, look no further than the readers of the Huffington Post.

In a recent article on the Huffington Post, it was reported that radio and television commentator Glenn Beck had lost his voice due to vocal cord paralysis. In a ten minute video, he apologized for a lot of things and communicated some pretty introspective thoughts. He attacked no one. And he didn't claim that God had done this to him.

But check out some of the comments on the story to the Huffington Post story:

Makos62: Glenn, this is God...shut up, or I make it permanent.

Mokus622: Thank you Jesus!!!! Please let this be permanent......

Periwinkle: Wow - I might get religion. Is this the hand of God at work??

crtt63: How appropriate! Who said God doesn't have a sense of humor.

IrishRed1952: Too bad it isn't permanent

admin001: I am struggling with my better side to crank out some compassion for Glenn....

Ah forget it...thanks to The Powers That Be for shutting this Yakker's yap for a while.

gratnam: Almost makes me believe there is a God.

Kristi Winters: Hopefully it was contagious and Glenn caught it at the NRA conference.

iMissMollyIvins: It was caused by 'the gays', 'the abortionists', and single mothers.

...and on and on and on.

I want you to remember this the next time someone claims that conservatives are the ones who are intolerant and filled with hate.

Sickening.

This is What Perjury Looks Like

The director of the NSA lied to Congress on March 12. This is what perjury looks like.

I wonder how long before he's thrown in prison in light of recent developments such as the leak of PRISM.

You Hide Things If You Know You're Doing Something Wrong

Told Ya

I hate to say it, but I called it two years ago. My mistrust in Google was well placed. I just never suspected that there were so many other companies involved in providing data to the government.

Simply put - the government that spies on its own people - people who have not committed or are even suspected of having committed - a crime is unacceptable. That government is not to be trusted in anything.

They're Spying on Us ALL

From the Washington Post:

The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post. 

The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley. 

Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to the document: “Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”

Wow. And all Nixon did was authorize the break-in of a hotel room.

Ask yourself: "does this sound like a government that is using its power responsibly?"

They Really Are Watching and Listening

From the Guardian:

The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America's largesttelecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April. 

The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries. 

The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing. 

The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Fisa) granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19. 

Under the terms of the blanket order, the numbers of both parties on a call are handed over, as is location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls. The contents of the conversation itself are not covered.

Remember, back during the Bush administration when our friends on the left breathlessly accused the president of wanting to wiretap and listen to every call in the United States?  Yeah. Well now something like that is actually happening.

Ask yourself: "does this sound like a government that is using its power responsibly?"

What Fourth Amendment?

The whole"we can collect your DNA any time we want" thing that came out this week has troubled me, but I couldn't really put my finger on why.

This is why.

The Obama Administration in One Minute

Yep. That just about sums it up. They don't mince words in Oklahoma, folks.

Secret Government E-mails

From AP News:

Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes from being overwhelmed with unwanted messages, according to a review by The Associated Press. 

The secret email accounts complicate an agency's legal responsibilities to find and turn over emails in response to congressional or internal investigations, civil lawsuits or public records requests because employees assigned to compile such responses would necessarily need to know about the accounts to search them. Secret accounts also drive perceptions that government officials are trying to hide actions or decisions. 

"What happens when that person doesn't work there anymore? He leaves and someone makes a request (to review emails) in two years," said Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors, an open government group. "Who's going to know to search the other accounts? You would hope that agencies doing this would keep a list of aliases in a desk drawer, but you know that isn't happening."

It's getting harder and harder to not become a conspiracy nut.