Alternative Climate

Chris Wayan has explored different earths in his collection of tilted Earths, Tilt. The image above is from an earth, Seapoles, where the poles are located in the pacific and indian oceans. He doesn't make dogmatic pronouncements on the likely hood of the resulting climates but provide enough qualifiactions. Most alternate history/geology develops more narrowly. This is more of a speculation. In the alternate world Dubia, land of global warming, he is more pointed and personal, as could be expected.

Another Explanation about Star Trek

In a thread about Karl Marx moving to the US there is a suggests that socialism (and communism) would then spread in 19th century America. The thread begins with a discussion about Techno-Socialism. The discussion breaks down into an explanation of proper industrial development. Since the Gilded Age after the US civil war was a period of rapid industrial development and the concentration of wealth any action that would prevent the Robber Barons from either robbing or reduce their swag would then prevent industrial development. This attitude to Scarface some much for some theoretical goal is as scaring the commies. The agreement is that a lack of suffering will lead to lower pig iron production. Then the argument is that the US with early socialism would merely be a mere northern Brazil. But the US resembles Brazil. Brazil and US were among the last practitioners of slavery. Slavery and the production of slaves were the main exports and were also important industrially. Both countries have wide income and wealth disparities to this day.

Buried in the thread amidst the ravings about the lack of inequality was this amusing Star Trek analogy.

My pet theory on Federation society is that its a techno-communist state. The vast majority of citizens live lives of leisure and hedonistic pleasure, supported by automated production facilities. A tiny minority of self-starters work; in government sponsored research labs, or Starfleet, or administration. This results in terribly inefficient designs, such as TV remote phasers that cannot be aimed, warships with most space taken up with civilians and research labs, usage of torpedoes to carry warheads when matter transmission technology should make it a simple matter to transport warheads directly into contact with enemy shields, etc. With Starfleet made up of essentially hobbyists on a lark, there is massive rank inflation, with most of Starfleet being made up of officers with almost no enlisted personnel, as well as terrible command decisions such as taking the entire command staff of a starship on an away mission with only one anonymous security trooper for escort.

Plague Books

A recent BoingBoing entry was about plague books. I go to the article about Steve Johnson's favorite books about plagues. I am shocked however when I discover that I have 3 of the 5 books on the list. But then I also have books about torture.

The No Enumeration Election System

American election laws were once the freest and most open in the world. They were one of the first countries to get rid property qualifications. In 1850 when nearly all white american men could vote only about 1/7 of British men could vote. The Reform act of 1832 gave the vote to men who paid at least £50 in rent. In today's terms, based average incomes, that is monthly rent between $4K to $7K . That was then. After the high point of democracy that was also witnessed deTocqueville came their civil war, reconstruction and desire by the losers to keep blacks down. Since there was no legal way to disenfranchise many other dubious methods were tried, see Jim Crow.

Today the yanks have among the lowest voter participation rate in the world. They have registration. The discusion on Talk of the Nation was about Carter-Baker Commision on Federal Election Reform. One of the recomendation of the commision was the requirement for photo ID for voting and registration. There were 2 members of the commission in on the discssion. One, a Spencer Overton, and here, talked about the systemic barriers to voting now and the further burden of photo ID as a requirement for those without drivers licences or passports. He suggests that everyone should be given IDs first and then have the requirement for them. He so disagreed with the finding that he wrote his own minority report, available here. Another commisson member, Sharon Priest, considered the whole idea of going door to door to build up a voters list a waste of time. If people don't take an interest in their local affairs and go to effort to vote they shouldn't depend on the government to help them. She then outlined all the steps for enumeration explaining that it is crazy government interference. Unfortunately Canada doesn't do enumeration during elections anymore. But it still the best way to maintain a voter's list. With no door-to-door enumeration the voter's list for home owners remains more complete than for the more mobile/transient renters.

Maurice Sendak talking about his Demons

Maurice Sendak has always been an scary illustrator. He makes children's books that have real menace in them. I remember Where the Wild Things Are from my childhood. His recent work involves child abduction. This is the topic for a kid's book. Check out Sendak talking why he puts children in danger, there is also audio slide show that highlights some of his spookiest images.

New Software

The Comicbook Reader is a sequential image viewer specially designed for viewing scanned comic books. This free ware program, and protocol, replaces the PDF format. PDFs are good for moving around completed documents. This pprogram is better than the Microsoft Image Viewer because it can maximize the images.

I just downloaded some Heavy Metal and am now enjoying the reading thorough them.

Roman Architectural Manual found again

When I was younger I read / glanced through/ leafed a book on roman architecture. The book is, The Ten Books on Architecture. Evidently the "books" are probably scrolls. The one fact I can remember from reading this book is the proper proportions of columns. Since then all columns that are too thin or too thick (very rare) seem very wrong. I am happy to find a full version of this book on a university website. It is there along the text of the latin original.

Enjoy.

Newsgroup Humor

In a thread about The League of Extraordinary Germans comes this very netcentrentic back and forth

Hermanubis
Mister Fifty Five

Wouldnt Schwarznegger get Austria? (Before German annexation of Austria? Hmp!)

Nek
Proud to be Nek

Wouldn't "wouldnt" get an apostrophe? And "Hmp" have an extra h? Although I think we could allow the Anschluss in this case, y'know.

Hermanubis
Mister Fifty Five

Would it be the Internet if no-one ever nitpicked your lack of an apostrophe in 'would't' and your misspelling of 'hmph'?
(I really don't think so...)

Zombie War

A horror author was on radio talking about his recent book about the Zombie War. The amusing thing is that he was able to get everybody who called in to relate stories about the recent Zombie War. Everybody goes along with the sick joke. The book except was not as amusing as people getting undead fever.

Cooooooooooooool Wax

Cool Wax is a blog devoted amusing and odd recording. Here are some the odd recordings, Colonel Saunders own version of Mexican Music, Don Rickles insulting TV, and Music to read James Bond to.

Pleasantly Odd.

Gruesome Ketchup Ad

The Campaign Against Landmines, a New Zealand group has come with a way to raise awareness by using ketchup packages. To get at the ketchup you have rip off a foot. Here is Adfreak discussing this advertising method. Here is some more news coverage with a clip of the ketchup package in action.

More Hitler Humor

Jokes told at a Hitler Roast.

Cats That Look Like Hitler

Not everyone thinks that a Website devoted to Cats That Look Like Hitler is a good use of bandwidth. Still good for a laugh.

This is probably the worst website I have ever seen!! Why on earth is this entertaining!? The pictures are of the same dam cat! Next thing it will be birth marks that resemble countries or celebrities!!! GET A LIFE!!!

- anonymous

Julius Ceasar, What a Guy

A Welsh historian has come out with a new political biography Julius Caesar, A Life of a Collossus. Good discussion on NPR's Talk of The Nation.

Reformed Hacker on Security

Kevin Mitnick is a reformed hacker. He is also a convicted hacker who only won the right to use computers, cell phones, or any other electronic or communications technology 3 years after he was paroled. He was on Talk of the Nation talking about the different ways other people can get information about you from different government and non-government organizations like utility companies. Listen to the scary and needful story on privacy.

Horror Movie Writer has Horrifying Experience

At the 5:00 PM Wedesday screening of The Abandoned at TIFF one of the writers of the film related his own recent experience.

One of the writers of the film before the screening told his own personal horror story. The writer was/is staying at the Delta Chelsea a few doors down from where some people were murdered. At 5 am he was woken up by ETF cops banging on his door. the ETF cops in full gear with assault rifles. He was questioned if he heard anything and told to stay in his room. He stuck his head a while later and asked a cop what was going on and was told to watch TV. After flipping around he found the story about 2 Germans and one Switzer killed in the room next door. When the writer was escorted off the floor to a new room, the hallway is filled with policemen. On the walls of the hallway was smeared blood. This is the appropriate introduction to a horror film.

The Manchester Sound from Vivaldi

The Manchester Sound is a famous variety of pop music. Here is a group on the Early Music Show preforming Vivaldi's Manchester Sonatas.

Pro Corporate Ideologues

There is anger in western Canada against the Canadian Wheat Board. There is anger because the CWB is working for farmers instead of screwing them over. If the wheat board was a private company using their marketing power for its benefit the right wing ideologoes would be very happy. Because the wheat board is working to make money for farmers instead of making money from farmers, see international grain companies, it is seen some sort of commie group going against the natural order of things. And not encouraging business sewctors thatmake money on grain handling.

Here is a discussion and news reports On The Current about the Canadian Wheat Board. Here is also an additional newsreport from CBC.

"The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other

This is Pew study that looks way that muslims and non-muslims view each other. Look at part of this survey. Westerers and muslims look at the same scene of veiled and unveiled women and take opposite conclusions from the same data. Different world views come from different attitudes to the individual. We in the west believe it is wrong to oppress people. The muslim world comes from the attitude that slavery has always existed, always will exist and that for you and your clan to retain social status no one in your family must look or dresses like a slave. This is the explantion for the various kinds of veiling, since slaves don't wear veils.

Cool Blog: TV in Japan

Like it says TV in Japan weirdness by the bucketload.

9/11 Conspiracy Theories

The editors of Popular Mechanics a magazine have examined 9/11 conspiracy theories. Popular Mechanics is the right kind of magizine to look at this issue. It only deals with stuff not policy. The article examines the way what can seem like unexplainable details are unexplainable only if you don't understand science and technology. The Dale Gribbles of the world will always suspects the authorities and experts who ever they are. Here are the editors on NPR discussing their risposte of the conspiracy theories.

Ted Rall admiting his Impotence

We all want to be the voice in the wilderness that are eventually believed and followed. Ted Rall has railed at a large number targets from Generalissimo Bush to 911 widows. In his latest cartoon he admits that no evidence of crimes and misdemeanors are enough to move Americans.

For cult fans out there be it for alien possession, moon god or moonies here are the last words of Jim Jones spinning conspiracy theories as his people drink the Koolaid.

New Film Festival Blog

I, Baron von Feldspar, wish to direct you to my new Blog, Feldspar's Film Festival 2006, about Toronto International Film Festival. This is an entirely new blog to get around TIFF strictures blog limitations. (see below).

PROHIBITED CONTENT - The following types of content may not be posted on your blog or on the Toronto International Film Festival's website:

1. Any content that is libelous, defamatory, hateful, obscene, profane, harassing, embarrassing, pornographic, abusive, threatening or offensive.
2. Any content that furthers or promotes illegal activities.
3. Any content that solicits personal information from other users that may identify one or more such users.
4. Any content that violates any intellectual property or proprietary rights, including without limitation copyright and trade-marks.

Since I cannot guarantee that on my regular blog, Feldsparia, I have never posted obscene material or libelous material that is insulting to thieves, murderers, Republicans, Communists or Jihadis I have created this new blog just for the film festival. I think that limitation on "obscene" is a little rich from TIFF since every year the festival has a Ye Olde Traditional Porn Documentry. YOTPD is also a sound that shows up in such documentries. This year the YOTPD is the movie S&Man.

The World of Star Wars in Our Reality

Over at the Alternative History Discussion Board there is a long and popular thread about the Death Star ending up in our continuum. The scenario is based on Mimas, a moon of Saturn, see above, that kind of looks like the Death Star. Much fun is had by all, except those killed by Vader.

Odd View of Family Values Murderers

In a New York Times story, also here, here and here, about a Pakistani family wacking their daughter because she was according to her mother “she was simply a daughter who did not obey”. It charactizes the conflict as between as parents with "conservative social and religious traditions and their Westernized children." If people think they have the right and duty to murder thier disobidient children they are more than conservative they are from some primative tribe beyond the pale. It has the mistake of that the Italians along with other western countries have not been civilizing the thuggish barbarians in their midst.

Why do we import more barbarians in our midst?

The killing, and a series of other unrelated slayings involving immigrants that followed, has stirred anti-immigrant statements from some residents and groups. It also has prompted front-page debate about what can happen when conservative beliefs collide with the mores of more permissive societies, and has highlighted the generation gap between parents who have immigrated to Italy from countries with conservative social and religious traditions and their Westernized children.

Too Many Clicks - Gamastutra Article

Civilization is a great game. However after you it requires increasing attention and player involvement in the the later turns than in the earlier epochs. Too Many Clicks is a Gamasutra article on the too many things that players have to in too many games.

Oil Crisises Past

New Nigerian Scam Letter

We have probably all recieved a copy of the Nigerian Scam letter. I have recieved this scam in hand written letters, in email and occasionly from non nigerians. In my spam mail acount I have received another dubious request, this time supposely from the wife of the disgraced ANC official Zuma. Zuma was a dubious character before he was a rapist. He was part of the the ANC. Can you trust a political party with its own flag and armed wing.

from "lindi_zuma@terra.es"

Dear Beloved,
I am wife of Sacked Deputy President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma.

It is out of desperation that I am sending you this mail.My Husband and I need your assistance in fronting for us as owner of funds that are his which might come under nvestigation soon if the fund's ownership is not changed soonest. As my Husband's finances are increasingly becoming the source of investigation by our detractors. The source of these fund's which my Husband earnings would not validate, will further sink him into the cesspool dug by our enemies.

It is because of the dire strait we find ourselves that we resolved to reach you and ask or your assistance in this matter.We are averse to letting those we know here into this deal because we are no longer sure of who our friends are.You will be handsomely rewarded you choose to help us partnerhip in this project.I will be expecting to hear from you and will disclose further details to you upon your response.Do well not to disclose the contents of this mail to anyone.

Best Regards,
Mrs.Lindiwe Zuma.

Invisible Atom: A Reaction

A saw Invisible Atom by the 2b theatre company on sunday. It was an interesting tragedy. Tragedy happens when people revolt against fate and doom themselves in the attempt. In classical tragedy someone tries to avoid evil being done themselves. In Invisible Atom a man attempts to avoid doing evil and so dooms himself. Of course one no more avoid evil then death. We are all collaborate with some sort of unsavory and unethical behavior. At most we can choose our evils like we choose our poisons. But evil like death is part of all of lives.

Check it out when it shows up in your area.

The History of Bowman Trading & Salvage

Along time ago in a galaxy far far way I, Baron von Feldspar was a merchant prince who started, with some unindicted co-conspirators, my own shipping line in the Spinward Marches. At the Traveller Wiki Major Heddon has documented some of the history of Bowman Trading and Salvage.

Appropriate Surname

I was listening to an program on How Does the Human Body Cope with Heat? on NPR. The discusion went on about the ability of humans to cope or not with heat. One of the panelists was a heat expert named Larry Sonna, pronounced sauna.

Annother Take on Cartoon Violence

Remember the cartoon jihad earlier this year. A cartooon fan has produced a fake BBC News webpage full of cartoon violence

part 1
part 2

What can Muslims doing in the west safely

In a thread about
Heathrow Airport employee with all-area access pass among suspected jihadists arrested

In the Western world, what can Muslims be allowed to do, and what must they be prevented from doing? Clearly, anyone who claims that he takes his worldview from the Qur'an, and the Hadith, and the model of Muhammad, uswa hasana, al-insan al-kamil, must be taken seriously. We, the Infidels, have to find out what it means to derive your worldview from the Qur'an, the Hadith, the biography of Muhammad. We cannot guess at this. We cannot assume that Islam, more or less, must be just like other religions, or other belief-systems that are called religions. We have to find out. We cannot find out by listening to Muslims who practice taqiyya-and-tu-quoque. And since the actual contents of Qur'an and Hadith and Sira are, for Infidels, so horrifying in what they directly express and in what they imply, anyone aware of the contents of Islam, the tenets of Islam, the attitudes to which Islam not distortedly but naturally gives rise, must -- however charming, however mild-mannereed, however seemingly acceptalbe in all other respects, must be held to a knowledge of, and acceptance, what is contained in that Qur'an, those Hadith, that model of the Perfect Man.

What then can we allow Muslims in our societies, whether they come from Muslim countries, or happen to have been allowed to settle here, or are among those targetted for the campaigns of Da'wa among disaffected, alienated, psychically or economically marginal people all over the West (from the ditzy lord to the melancholy bicycle-delivery boy, the first looking for an explanation and justification of his upper-class-twit existence, and the second trying to find a structure for his existence, something that will order him about from dawn to dusk, and what's more, provide a grid for viewing the universe and a convenient scapegoat -- the Infidel -- for everything).

We cannot allow them to study, obviously, nuclear physics. We cannot allow them, obviously, to study those aspects of biology, or chemistry, or materials science, that might aid in the manufacture of weapons. Dr. A. Q. Khan in Holland, and Drs. Germs and Anthrax (examples of the liberated Iraqi women who under the previous regime were allowed to study in Great Britain, and bring their deadly knowledge home). We cannot allow them to study encryption, or very much to do with computers beyond the most elementary. We cannot allow them to work for any companies or in any academic departments where they might acquire such knowledge. We cannot allow them to be airline pilots, or part of an airplane crew. We cannot allow them to run our busses or trains. For now we think we can allow them to drive taxis -- but think of a taxi plowing in to a "Salute to Israel" parade, or into this or that gathering of Infidels for any reason, should someone have a lapsus. We cannot allow them, can we, to sort the mail (anthrax), or even to deliver it, if they will find mail not to their liking, or decide to target those who receive that mail not to their liking. We cannot allow them to engage in the indoctrination of our children, whether small or in universities, if they will continue to fill the minds of the unwary ("Gosh, Prof. Khalidi or Prof. Farooq or Prof. Dabashi" is "really brilliant" and "I learned so much about Islam." I'll bet you did.).

We cannot allow them to rise in government where they might sit on key Congressional commmittees, or sit in on meetings of high officers, and learn all kinds of things about potential war plans, or even about where weapons are stored, and how. We cannot allow them to treat, in some cases, Infidels if we have reason to believe that at any minute, for reasons we do not understand, a formerly mild-mannered doctor, supposedly as gentle and sweet as the next, has under his knife someone who suddenly, to him, represents the Infidel at his most evil, his most Shaytanic.

We cannot allow them to take over newspapers, or rise high in television, if we think, if we know, that they will subtly or not-so-subtly engage in propaganda to prevent our right understanding of Islam. Look at the effect, in the BBC, or some of the French papers, of large contingents of Muslims in the Arabic-language services, and the effect such people must have on non-Muslim colleagues.

We cannot allow them to...

Well, you think about it. You fill in the rest. You decide if, upon studying the contents of this belief-system, what functions and jobs you think it reasonable to entrust to those who still claim, who still identify themselves, as Muslims.

Mahar Arar's Problems

There was an article in The Saturday Star about Mahar Arar. The article contrasted the treatment and surport that Arar from Canadians as a whole and the cold shoulder that he has recieved from his own Muslim community. The 17 jihadists who were arrested in Toronto and area have been surported by the general Muslim community. But the Mahar Arar's problem is that he wrongfully arrested for being violent jihadist. If he truly was part of the jihadi movement he would be widely supported by the Muslim community which is generally in favor of violent religious revolution.

Invisible Atom

Some friends of mine will be performing in Toronto. The one-man play Invisible Atom will be running at the Harbourfront Summnerworks Festival next weekend August 11-13. Here are the dates and times. There is more information at the website of 2b Theatre Company. Unfortunately it is flash site. Here is some copy screen scrapped from the flash:

Suspended in a very precise moment in space and time, Atom tells his story of fortune and misfortune, taking the audience on a wild journey of the imagination and covering topics from economics to classical physics.

This “tour-de-force” by 2b artistic co-director Anthony Black keeps you laughing as it questions the nature and acceleration of our progress.

Walking Tanks

There are some people who are very into the idea of walking tanks. The whole game system Battletech, wiki entry, is based on tanks on legs. The problem is that a low profile is winning feature for tank. A tank standing on 10 or 15 legs is bazooka bait. Walking tanks show up in sci-fi setting where there is sufficent technology for grav tanks. Grav Tanks are alot better walking tanks. They can get as high, or higher, walking tanks and then go to ground. Check out Hammer's Slammers, David Drake's fictional exploration of the use grav tanks. Some Japanese fan has built his own walking, shuffling tank that looks a little like the AT-ST Walker from Star Wars. Look here for an archive of spaceship images.

Mel Gibson on the side of Terrorists

Mel Gibson's views have never been very well hidden. The causes he surports are known if not well advertised. He built a Church for a Roman Catholic schismatic group that split after Vatican II. Mel's father Hutton Gibson is a rabid bigot and holocaust deniner. What I think is interesting is that this editorial cartoon, by Lalo, is only one many that linked his antisemitism with the crazy violence of Islamic terrorists. This is going to damage Mel's career forever. What really made anti-semitism unfashionable in a way it wasn't before WWII, in fact many western democracies had levels of official antisemitism up to and during WWII, was the identifiaction of antisemitism with our enemies. These cartoons identify anti-semitism as part of our enemies belief system. However if we begin to sympathize with the people who want to kill or convert us and who also have a hate-on for jooooos, then we should worry.

Weird and Cute Japanese Beer Ad

I never thought Miss Kitty levels of ultra-cuteness could be used to sell beer. Here is the Beerchan flash ad.

Depressing Cartoon and Commentary

Comic Curmudgeon riffs on the depressing nature of panel.

I know Pluggers doesn’t usually do continuing storylines, but I’d like to see the new, bleaker Pluggers follow Rhino-Man for the next few days:

• “Plugger venture capital.” (Rhino-Man is rooting through a dumpster, looking for bottles or cans he can return.)
• “Plugger Zoloft.” (Rhino-Man is passed out in his battered easy chair, surrounded by empty cans of Milwaukee’s Best.)
• “Plugger liquid assets.” (Rhino-Man is selling his blood.)
• “This is how a Plugger’s wages are garnished.” (Two Bear-Men are cutting off one of Rhino Man’s thumbs.)
• “Plugger therapy.” (Rhino-Man has a shotgun in his mouth.)

Cat Model

In Get Fuzzy, Fuzzy has a scheme for fame and fortune by becoming a model.

Being Evil in History

YWUA is a term in SHWI that means "you wake up as". It means you take over the body and mind of some character.Today their was a YWUA thread, Second Guessing Hitler, that suggested some ethical amorality. The thread begins:

What would you do if you were Hitler starting in early 1941, you had all his evil intentions, but a little more ability to delay gratification and benefit of hindsight.

Humans as Parasites

Simpsonians at the Actor's Studio

I have always hated the program Inside The Actor's Studio. I have problems for with this program and the Method with is taught at the Actor's Studio. The host James Lipton adopts worshipful uctousness to his guest meatpuppets that grates, previous Ken Lipton hate on. The Actor's Studio is also to heavily worshiped as training ground for some very good actors. The case of the studio, its method and its alumni brings to mind two competing quotes about Eton; "the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton", "every battle thereafter was lost on the playing fields of Eton". There are times when it is worth watching.

Here is the cast of the Simpsons on Inside the Actor's Studio, 22 meg file. What is interesting is the Simpson actors take on a look of their characters when they do their voices. The funniest part for me is the little clip they show of Rainier Wolfcastle at the Actor's Studio. Similarly check out the comparison of Andy Serkis doing Gollum's voice looking a bit like Gollum, below the stuff on The Polar Express.

Youtube links instead of the 22 meg file.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

New Spaceport in the Desert

A small desert town in New Mexico is planning to build their own spaceport. This is a couple steps up from the facilities at Vulcan, Alberta. This isn't a sci-fi venture but a base for Virgin Galactic which sounds like a sci-fi venture itself.

Ice Cream Headache

Newstory:
Ice-cream treat led to boy's fractured skull

A Spanish Anti-National Anthem

Their has been some political conflict in the US over illegal emigration. Despite being both illegal and open to abuse and fraud, from both employers and employees. There are alot of different interest groups in favor of illegal immigration or the non-enforcement of laws. Business interests are in favor of a pool of insecure and easily cheatable workers, they bring down wage rates for US citizens and discourage unionization. There are other groups in favor of the current regime. The Hispanic population are in favour of growing the number of its interest group. Within this group are hispanic extremist groups, of whom La Raza is the mildest, these groups want to do take back the US southwest. Their are US "liberals", who are generally to right of most right wing parties in the developed world, they are "voices in the wilderness", but ignored. Finally there is one last group in favor of current state of non-enforcement of immigration laws, moslem extremist groups in the US and abroad. The oppenents of current strategy of subsidizing bad employees are derided on all sides as redneck vigliantes.

That was then however the recent (late April) protests about the reform, or deform, of immigration law. There have been some odd hicups of a crowd promoting their patriotism and love of the US were found carrying flags of a foriegn country, Mexico. Now there is a new spanish verison of The Star Spangled Banner. This new verison is being promoted by same groups that have have being pushing for perment amnesty, see here for the song, lyrics and story.

My Counter-Strike Stats on $Kingpin$

I have never been a great Counter-Strike player. My technique of reconnaisence by fire is now riskier. If you kill teammates "accidently" you might be banned. Lately since I reentered the world of Counter-Strike I have mainly been playing at one server, $Kingpin$. Too many single map servers. The other advancement which don't like is the superhero mod. I like Kingpin because it has a wide range of maps including Blahhh and Gahhhhh and doesn't merely run dust forever. Up til today every time I checked my stats at $Kingpin$ I was always in last place. Today I was 1561 place out of 1910. Whoooeee.

Actually I think I reset my stats by missing a couple of days.

Conspiracy Theories

Many humans distrust reality. The blind workings of history in which chance and stupidity are at least as important as any concious design are unsettling to many. Conspiracy theories provide meaning. The problem with most conspiracy theories is that they are like Pre-Copernican astronomy in that they have to be way to complicated to work. But the complicated simplicity of conspiracy theories are comforting. Who can forget that after 911 Arabs postulated that it was all a Jewish plot, here is one example from pro-nazi David Irving's site. Hamas, the governing Palistinian terror group/party/army, thinks that the Masons are an arm of the world wide zionist conspiracy, probably becasue the Protocols of the Elders of Zion mention them. After all who knows the power of their secret handshakes. Here is an interesting site devoted to Conspiricism, it explores all the various way conspiracy theories are formed and promoted.

There are ways we can look on the crazies who see plots behind everything from polio vaccines to death of a Fiat heir. For such people reality is no defense if it doesn't comform to their twisted fantasies.

Or you could play this entire phenomenom for laughs and play Illuminati. This is a game where you construct your own network of plotters to take over the world. You might have Network TV, Bankers, the Mafia, Trekkies, and the Boyscouts in on your plot. Oddly enough the connections that are made in Illuminati are at least as plausible as "real" conspiracy theories.

Anti-Slavery Group

I was reading a story about the lax punishment given to a convicted Saudi slaveowner. When the abolition movement began there was resistance to abolishing slavery by muslim nations. Saudi Arabia bowed to American pressure and officially abolished the slave trade in 1962. The abolitionist movement was founded in Christian ethics. Muslims on the hand saw reasons to keep slavery because their prophet Mohammed the Pedophile, The Rapist, The Thief, The Murderer, was also Mohammed the Enslaver. The biggest practioners of slavery today are criminal networks, many of whom are muslim like Turkish and Albanian gangs, and Muslim Arabs like the Saudis. Here is an group anti-slavery called iAbolish. Go there and read the spooky stories.

The History of Animation, Animated

Roman Roads Through the Alps

I have been following a devoted to trade routes called The Trade Routes Resources Blog. Here is a monograph on Roman roads in the Alps.

Frog Museum, not the Louvre

Some demented taxidermists stuffed and posed dozens of frogs. Years later an institution called The Frog Museum was founded. There are only a few pictures on the website. Still if I was passing through switzerland I would make a special stop to see the frogs.

Things To Do in Jail

There was an episode of OZ that spent 5-10 minutes on all the different ways of creating shivs. It is a design problem because the raw materials are limited to what a prisoner has access to. Which leads to an arty site, now offline unfortunately. A shiv is a primarily a home-made stabbing tool. All the shivs in this exhibit were confiscated at a high security lifer prison.

An NPR program, Talk of the Nation, is having a special this week on prison life. The first program was about solitary confinement, later programs will be about prison overcrowding, and from solitary to freedom. CBC's The Current had an segment today, 8/3/06, about managing sexual offenders.

How Crappy Games get Funding

We are told that computer games are made to expand on our wildest dreams. However before a game can be made it needs to be funded. There was a recent Gamasutra article, The Game Proposal, about the convoluted path a game must tread in order to receive funding. Proper bureaucratic forms must be followed and the game must be completed. A friend of mine, Tim Carter, has responded with his own rebuttal to this funding process. Of course if present trends continue we will only sequels and movie tie-ins as games in the future.

I can't find the article, but I recently read an Interview with the head of Atari who was gushing in praise of the profit margin of sequels.

Folk song about Mining found on SHWI

O come you young fellas
so handsome and fine,
and seek not your fortune
way down in the mine.
For the mine it will rot you
and seep in your soul,
'til the blood of your body
runs black as the coal.
Where its dark as a dungeon
and damp as the dew,
where the dangers are many and
the pleasures are few.
Where the rain never falls and the
sun never shines,
O seek not your fortunes in the dark
dreary mine.

--- some folk song about mining ---

from the thread Confederacy: Vicious Dystopia or Not?

Income Inequality Chart

Here is a chart of historical GINI levels in a range of countries. It is part of something called The Luxembourg Income Study. What is most useful is that income statistics are given not only with the GINI coeffiecients but also as ratios between the various percentile levels.

Arab Lives cheap to Arabs

The Toronto Star editor for excusing jihad, Haroon Siddiqui, is always amusing in how he can explain away and excuse muslim violence. Since Hizbollah is losing Isreal must stop fighting, a ceasefire is demanded for humanitarian reasons. His latest column is grab bag of observations about the recent Isreal-Hizbollah war. In his list he includes one item:

Arab lives are cheap."Is the value of human life less in Lebanon than that of citizens elsewhere?" asked a distraught Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?" Yes.

The problem is that arab and muslim lives are precious to everybody but arab muslims. Isreal has conducted a tactical bombing like no other in history. Before hiting a military target the IDF has been dropping warning leaflets before coming back a couple of days later. Hizbollah for their part are trying to get people killed. They are firing their rockets next to UN posts. They are firing their rockets within civilian buildings with human shields. They want some their surporters dead. For the publicity value.

Update: A blogger has complied a curious series of photographs. A dead child is rescued multiple times over 4 hours. Then a not dead child is also rescued multiple times. The Blogger, EU Referendum, has another page showing how the same rescuer and dead toddler on different front pages.

Concrete, The Rock of Civilization

In one Dr Who episode The Tardis lands back on Skaro years after the Thal-Kaled war. The Doctor remarks that the rock around them is the rarest in the universe, concrete.

On NPR is discussion about safety and concrete in relation some rexent failures at Boston's "Big Dig". The Calvin and Hobbes explanation for figuring out bridge load limits was suggested. Oddly the roundtable of civil engineers were more hesitant in supposing that there is some sort of engineering perfection. The Uncertainty of the engineering professionals was reassuring.

How do they know the load limit on bridges Dad? They drive bigger and bigger trucks over the bridge until it breaks. Then they weigh the last truck and rebuild the bridge. Oh. I should've guessed. Dear, if you don't know the answer. Just tell him
Calvin and Hobbes 26-11-86

Public vs Private Education, the Debate Continues

Some people don't like when their taxes being spent on somebody else. In the United States there was even a political movement in the south against "internal improvements" or roads. There was a big study released recently that compared private and public schools in the states. The study adjusted for socio-economic factors. On NPR they were discussing this, in a segment Study Questions Merits of Private Education, in a their usual even handed way. Which meant first they had on a reporter from the education beat. Then they brought on two experts, one was a even handed moderate but the other was a Bushite on kept complaining about plots by "teacher unions".

What's Animating the Cartoon Communiity Today

Traditional animators are running scared. The art of animation is sometimes seen today as some tradional artisan skill like glassblowing. It is ability that requires an artist's hand and eye. And to make it modern for this day and age some people think it must be computized. Disney abandoned traditional animation after looking on in dismay at Pixar success. Luckily John Lassiter after being made Disney new creative head reinstated traditional animation. Now, Cartoon Brew, and the cartoon community are incensed at mindless comments by an animation ignorant critics.

What set it all off, review of Monster House
A Monster of a Review
Story Board artist Jenny Lerew on Mike Lasalle's Review
Film Critics Part II
Mike Salle on Polar Express
Polar Express and how could have been improved
Ken Lipton hate on
REAL Animation Acting

Philip K. Dick

Philip K Dick is my favorite drug addicted paranoid. On NPR yesterday was a discussion about his works and the movies that have been from them. Interesting discussion about phildickian themes of the mutability of identity and reality.

Deportation Express

The Washington Post has a Photo Essay about a bunch El Salvadorians being deported. Not a happy flight.

Making Biathalon More Interesting

Biathalon is one those sports that were derived from military training exercises, like chariot racing, boxing and modern pentathalon. Here is an Ad about biathalon as more of a contract sport.

Good Quote on the Saudis

Jack Linthicum in a thread about the mosy overrated leaders in history SHWI has this quote about bandit ancestors of Saudi princes.

Wahabism has a 2.5 century long history of justifying its deeds by "constant aggression and expansion at the expense of those who do not hare the great idea"

my favorite quote on the Wahhabis:

Perhaps true recently but in their early history (18-19th centuries) the Wahabbis were no better than sactimonious bandits. "Wahhabeeism, in fact, apart from certain speculative notions respecting the Supreme Being--in the main perfectly in accordance with the theology of the Kuran--may be defined as a politico-religious confederacy, which legalizes the indiscriminate plunder and thralldom of all peoples beyond its own pale." George Percy Badger 1870

.

Ted Rall on CBC

Ted Rall is one of favorite cartoonists. He is interviewed on the CBC One show The Contarians. The show will be replayed Wedesday night 7:30 - 8:00. There is no online archive but you can listen online from 7:30 pm ADT to 7:30 pm PDT.

Canadians in Vietnam and Historical Truth

The difficulties of historical research are seldom appreciated. If we look at the probelm of quantifing a small detail of the recent past we should begin to understand the difficulties.

Every one knows that there were some Canadians in Vietnam, here and here, in same way there were some Americans in Canadian units in the world wars. To get from that general statement/assumption to an actual number things get a little muddy. The military organizations engage in rigorous screening when recruiting to a peace time military. In wartime standards that were imposed for paradeground esthetics get tossed, guard units on parade ride identical mounts for appearance, in wartime any horse can be acceptable as remount or stewpot. Here is a study of estimates of the actual number of Canadians in Vietnam.

The two links and the picture are from Vets With a Mission are used without permission.

For some more discussion on the art of history is this essay, Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past, about Wikipedia's spreading influence. It was posted on World History Blog which is now listed as an "interesting" blog.

Space Invaders as Culture

Video game becomes part of shared culture when they are quoted and referenced by other pieces of culture. Terry Prachett wrote a book about "space invaders", Only You Can Save Mankind. A group of French animators have used humans as pixels to animate classic Space Invaders. For a comparison here is a screen shot of classic Space Invaders, from the game's wikipedia page.

Arab Editorialist Against the Automatic Surport of Isreal's Enemies

Hell has indeed frozen over.

The Editor in Chief of the Arab Times, the conservative mouthpeice of the conservative Kuwaiti government, has in an editorial, No To Syria, Iran's Agents, has come out against Hamas and Hezbollah. Admiting his opposition is more to do with existing interests of gulf arabs vs Iran. There is also the tension between the majority shite population and the Sunni ruling class. But it is still a change by Arab governments, if not the street, that others have noticed as well, See Language Guy on Terrorist vs Freedom Fighter.

The editorial begins with.

People of Arab countries, especially Lebanese and Palistinians, have been held hostage for a long time in the name of "resisting Isreal".

And ends with.

Unfortunately we must admit that in such a war the only way to get rid of “these irregular phenomena” is what Israel is doing. The operations of Israel in Gaza and Lebanon are in the interest of people of Arab countries and the international community.

Unbeliveable.

Cartoon Villianry

First the OSR (Obligatory Simpson Reference).

In Mr. Black's cabin, a lavish feast is underway for just himself and the three counsellors.

Gentlemen, [toasts] To Evil!
-- Mr. Black, ``Kamp Krusty''

With so many real madmen runing criminal regimes from The Movie Fan to The Penpal, it is nice to escape into mere cartoon villianry. While looking for an article I read on counterfeiting, I came accross a supplement to Marvel Heroes, an RPG, all about playing evil super heroes. The supplement called, Criminals, Crime and Cruelty, includes an section on the benefits of being evil:

The Benefits of Being Evil

That definition is good for the basics of evil, but doesn't really get into the benefits. For being evil is truly a lifestyle unto itself. By embracing the forces of evil you can gain power beyond your wildest dreams. You can become one of the richest people on earth and then use that wealth to bring about the misfortune of others. You can crush your enemies in the most ruthless and vile of ways all the while unhindered by such weaknesses as remorse or guilt. You can be a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day. Those are not the only benefits, however. By becoming a servant of darkness you can also engage in widespread plans of world domination. You can destroy the world with the method of your choosing and then jump up and down on its corpse. You can tie damsels in distress to railroad tracks and then twirl about in your moustache and black cape. Yes, by choosing evil you can truly walk down the street with pride, and watch small children run screaming from your presence.

But wait, there's more! If you act now you can also gain vast influence over the minds of men. You can learn great supernatural powers capable of killing at a glance and causing people's heads to explode. You can summon up terrible armies of the undead to then send against the town of your choosing. You can even become immortal should you wish, and are willing to sacrifice your humanity.

There really is no end to the benefits, so why not join today

Youthful Hijinks Part CDLVII

When I first saw the goofy cold war film Red Dawn in Alberta. I was watching in a crowded room, back when videos were a communal experience. The movie began to seem sillier and sillier to me. So to react against American jingoism I rose everytime I heard this music. This somehow encouraged hostility.

Odd Thinking from Bereaved Father

The missiles that Hezbollah, Party of Dogs, use are non guided. Like the V-1 their missiles go until run out of gas. Falling at random. One of the towns hit was Nazareth, a mainly Arab town. A bereaved father was interviewed. And the father of the dead children blames, drumroll, Isreal. Even Aljazeera notices the "...general reluctance to blame Hezbollah directly".

Didn't Nazareth used to be mainly a Christian Arab town.

Update: The NY Times has a video about the reluctance of Nazarenes to blame Muslim terrorists. I can't link to it. It is the video called "Not Choosing Sides" here.

Driving Safety Ads

The Plight of Temporary Canadians

Because of terrorism that Hezbollah, Party of Dog, launched from their chunk of occupied Lebanon, Lebanon is a war zone. This has resulted with great clamor for countries to extract their stranded citizens. Many countries have 10's of thousands passport holders in Lebanon. Australia has 10's of thousands of "well behaved" Aussie passport holders in Lebanon. Canada has 10's of thousands of passport holders in Lebanon. However most of "Canadians" in danger are dual citizens. These are people who spent three or four years in Canada at some point in their lives. These are Lebanese with Canadian passports. Garth Turner, the Conservative member of Halton has been asking questions about the cost of rescuing Lebanese from Lebanon. There has been a change of policy. Most countries, most of the time will rescue their citizens in distress, billing later for the travel costs. The Canadian evacuation OTOH will be gratis.

The Current, 2006/07/20 discussing this topic.

Update: According a report on The National, 37,000 people are registered for evacuation with the Canadian Embassy.

Other Takes on Buffet and Gates

Ted Rall is a bitter, bitter man. But that's his charm. Recently he presented his contarian view of the Buffet/Gates mega charity by treating them as more successful robber barons then Ken Lay. When Buffet announced his donation makes of the commentry was quite positive, see here for cartoons on the conventional view of the Buffet/Gates charity merger.

Rall's objections can be boil down two main points. Wealth creation is not free. "Gates scammed his dough the old-fashioned way: overcharging his customers and underpaying his employees." Why should public services be dependent the whims of the charitable. We have already went down the route in the middle ages. "... good causes all, but maintaining Pearl Harbor is one of the reasons we pay federal taxes. Why does a national war memorial need help from Gates?"

""We're On a Mission From God" - Elwood Blues

From News of the Weird comes this odd story about criminally insane law in Texas.

The Texas insanity-defense law requires that a delusional person acting under "orders" from God be judged not guilty by reason of insanity, but that a delusional person acting under "orders" from Satan be considered sane, according to prominent forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz (according to a June USA Today story). Thus, Dietz believed that Andrea Yates (at press time being retried in Houston) knew that drowning her kids upon command of someone "without moral authority" (such as Satan) was wrong and thus that she did not qualify for insanity-law protection. Dietz later concluded the opposite in another Texas child-killing case because God had supposedly assured that mother that her kids would be better off dead. [USA Today, 6-20-06]

The problem for me is that what if you acting under orders that you and your culture considers a "moral authority" but every one else in the world considers very crazy. Say you are a pious and sincere Aztec. In your backyard you have an altar where you sacrifice your enemies' still beating hearts to Huitzilopochti. Eventually the police authorities might notice your religious practices.

Guilty or Not Guilty?

New Sporting Nation (I've never heard of)

I saw the highlights of game between Finland and Canada in the Lacrosse World Chapionships. I went to the website and came accross a flag I hadn't seen before, the Iroqouis Nation. Cool.

Ahh, Obsessive Fans

Here is a TV commercial promoting a British film festival. It treats the obsessive movie fan who constantly rewatches movies over and over kindly. I myself have seen The Blues Brothers dozens of times. This women is a big fan of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Update: Here is a Google Map Hack showing all of the Chicago Filming Locations in the Blues Brothers. Many of the location film have been extensively remodeled or demolished. The fan who put this together called this movie, "... a moment of time in a great American city".

Atomic Power is Grrrrreat

NY Times magazine, Atomic Balm, has an article about the rebirth of nuclear power. Three Mile Island discouraged the construction of new plants. Now new plants are going through the developemnt and planning process. Speaking as someone who wore a radition badge I see this a good thing. A character from Repo Man has summed up some of the best argruments about atomic power.

J. Frank Parnell: Ever been to Utah? Ra-di-a-tion. Yes, indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it's bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. Everybody could stand a hundred chest X-rays a year. They ought to have them, too. When they canceled the project it almost did me in. One day my mind was full to bursting. The next day - nothing. Swept away. But I'll show them. I had a lobotomy in the end

Spooky Pictures of Child Brides

On NPR is a photographer is discussing her photo essay of Afghani child brides that will appear next sunday in the NY Times magazine. One of the "brides" is payment of a gambling debt.

The justification for child brides in Islam is that Mohammed the child molester married a girl of 9. In fact any and almost everthing that Mo did is emulated by "sincere" Moslems. This modeling of aspects of behavior on all the actions of a "prophet" has few counterparts in other religons. King David wrote deep and beautiful psalms but that doesn't mean that his wacking of Uriah is used as a moral guide for Jews and Christians today who also want the date the currently married.

El Presidente, a Tyrant's Title

When I hear the title "president" I don't think of some constitutionally elected democrat instead it brings to mind a thug in thug's clothing. Most of the presidents around the world preside depotically. It is the title of some one who doesn't have convince anybody ever again. Mubabe started out as a limited Prime Minister in a renamed Rhodesia. Eventually he became a full dictator, the Thug-in-Chief we know today as president Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Here is an article, In the Time of Presidents, that muses on the non-democratic nature of presidencies.

Terrorists Demand Isreal Release Murderer

One the demands of Hezbollah, Party of Wogs, is to release a Samir Kuntar. Samir Kuntar has a website dedicated to him. His fansite calls him a detainee. On the fansite is a demand to release him and "jailed legislator" Barghouti who like Kuntar is a convicted murderer.

I guess it is not murder if it is you are inspired by your moon god.

Anarchists in Power

The general view of the smirking chimp Bush is that he and his administration is corrupt and/or stupid. Alan Wolf in a recent Washington Monthly article, "Why Conservatives Can't Govern" explains that anti-statist conservatives have a belief system/ideology that predicts that government never works. It explains much of the madness that results when "sincere" conservaties get power.

Long Live the Armed Struggle, Until the Other Side Shoots Back

That pretty much sums up the attitude towards war of the enemies of Isreal/US/Spain/Thailand/India/Britian/etc in the continueing worldwide jihad against civilization. After a civilization reacts to constant low level war and violence and actually counter-attacks against Moslems and then begins to win. Moslems then cry for peace and offers a hudna or ceasefire. This is not a traditional peace treaty that ends a war or conflict which often involves the relinquishing of territory claims. But as many have stated a hudna is usually can be boiled down to a "stop firing while I reload" plea.

Crazy Wogs Attack

An IDF soldier was torn apart by a mob when he was killed in Nablus. Quote from newsreport:

Immediatley after the explosion, dozens of residents gathered around the soldier's body and burst into shouts of happiness in front of the Arab media's television cameras.

After the incident, a senior member of the Brigades told Ynet that his people hold part of the killed soldier's body, but another activist made it clear that there was no plan to negotiate on the body parts, which were later transferred to the Palestinian Authority and then to IDF representatives.

Considering the respect that muslims show to their enemies maybe it is time to repeat the practice of General Pershing when he was dealing muslim terrorists in the Philipines, always bury dead terrorists with pigs.

Ship in Book and News the Same Day

I was reading a book about the history of oil, A Thousand Barrels a Second. The book details some the techniques to increase whaling yield among which was making a whalers search the seas for black fish rather then remaining inshore whalers. An whale oil merchant built a bigger and longer range "factory whaler" then previous models. The ship, The Charles W. Morgan, is in the news for using oak casualties of Katrina for renovation and repair.

Sainted Cop

Photo Credit: Yoav Lemmery

An Israeli policeman stands in front of a building in Nahariya, Israel, as it burns following a hit by a Katyusha-style rocket fired from Lebanon. AFP/Getty

Safety Regulations

The Dear Laeder

"Tragic" Death of Mob Figure Kenny Boy

Mob boss "Kenny Boy" Lay died yesterday while awaiting trial on collapse of of his front company. As reported in today's Globe many of Kenny Boy's friends and associates sympathized with his plight. Kenny Boy's life was the American dream, from being a lowly worker in the rackets to heading his own syndicate, until brought low by the justice system. Other associates however describe him in the typical manner of mob bosses.

In contrast to the genial, big-picture executive that Mr. Lay claimed to be, the jurors said they saw glimpses of a man who could be intensely controlling and who had a big chip on his shoulder. And that didn't jibe with the defence's portrayal of Mr. Lay as an unwitting victim of the collapse, along with thousands of employees and millions of shareholders.

Strangely in all the lists of well wishers and mourners Kenny Boy's pet politician is missing. DoubleU, a client of Kenny Boy has not shown any gratitude to his one time patron at this time.