There's this thing- the Video Game Voters Network.
The Video Game Voters Network exists to empower Americans who play video games to take action against threats to this entertainment medium and to stay informed about the latest issues that could affect our choice in video game entertainment. Video games are a modern form of entertainment entitled to the same creative and free speech protections afforded by the US Constitution to older media such as movies, music, and books. So join the Video Game Voters Network and speak up for games and gamer rights.
Seems like a good idea to me.
3.22.2006
3.13.2006
Forcast....
Several years ago, before The House and before R.A.H. (or possibly right around its beginning) I started writing thesis (more or less) on ethnocide that was basically a fleshing out of something I wrote on skullcrusher.tk. It's been kind of slow going- in part because there's so much that's being put into it. It's going places I didn't even think to anticipate, but now that I'm writing just have to be visited.
All that to say that I've taken a break for the past several days and I'll be blogging sporadically for the next week or so because this thing seems to be coming into the home stretch and I want to get it done. (That's one hell of a run-on sentence.)
So the forcast for the next week or so is sporadic blogging culminating in an essay.
All that to say that I've taken a break for the past several days and I'll be blogging sporadically for the next week or so because this thing seems to be coming into the home stretch and I want to get it done. (That's one hell of a run-on sentence.)
So the forcast for the next week or so is sporadic blogging culminating in an essay.
3.09.2006
Port Deal Nixed....
This is an interesting developement. Initially I was against the port deal (admittedly a knee jerk reaction). Then I thought about things and I couldn't think of truly good reason for me to be against it. But then I learned a few things. So honestly, this seems to be the best solution.
The company said its decision was "based on an understanding that DP World will have time to affect the transfer in an orderly fashion and that DP World will not suffer economic loss."
This way whatever value the UAE has as an ally is essentially kept in tact, but they don't run our ports. It's kind of a win-win situation for us. That doesn't happen often- for anyone. Let's just hope that it's not a lie.
Michelle Malkin, who is far wiser than I, never wavered in her oppostion and has a collection of news coverage on the annoucement. One day, I'll have the wisdom to see better. For now, I'll just have to just have to study extra hard.
"Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve that relationship, DP World has decided to transfer fully the U.S. operation of P&O Operations North America to a United States entity," DP World's chief operating officer, Edward H. Bilkey, said in a statement, read on the Senate floor by Sen. John Warner, R-Va.
The company said its decision was "based on an understanding that DP World will have time to affect the transfer in an orderly fashion and that DP World will not suffer economic loss."
This way whatever value the UAE has as an ally is essentially kept in tact, but they don't run our ports. It's kind of a win-win situation for us. That doesn't happen often- for anyone. Let's just hope that it's not a lie.
Michelle Malkin, who is far wiser than I, never wavered in her oppostion and has a collection of news coverage on the annoucement. One day, I'll have the wisdom to see better. For now, I'll just have to just have to study extra hard.
3.07.2006
Outfielder Dropped....
O's drop Hidalgo before he even played a game.
Richard Hidalgo's brief career with the Baltimore Orioles ended today before he played a single game for the team.
Hidalgo signed a minor league contract on Feb. 26, reported two days later and spent four days in uniform before leaving the team Saturday to be with his ailing wife. He never returned, and the Orioles released the frustrated outfielder today to allow him to pursue an opportunity in Japan.
Didn't they make a movie about that?
Richard Hidalgo's brief career with the Baltimore Orioles ended today before he played a single game for the team.
Hidalgo signed a minor league contract on Feb. 26, reported two days later and spent four days in uniform before leaving the team Saturday to be with his ailing wife. He never returned, and the Orioles released the frustrated outfielder today to allow him to pursue an opportunity in Japan.
Didn't they make a movie about that?
The Saudies Lied....
I for one, am shocked. Shocked I tell you. /sarcasm
Despite a promise made to Washington last November to drop its economic boycott of Israel, Saudi Arabia plans to host a major international conference next week aimed at promoting a continued trade embargo on the Jewish state, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
On November 11, the WTO's ruling general council voted to grant Saudi Arabia entry into the prestigious group, which aims to promote international free trade, after it agreed to scrap restrictions on doing business with Israel.
Well the solution to this problem is simple. Kick 'em the hell out.
Despite a promise made to Washington last November to drop its economic boycott of Israel, Saudi Arabia plans to host a major international conference next week aimed at promoting a continued trade embargo on the Jewish state, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
On November 11, the WTO's ruling general council voted to grant Saudi Arabia entry into the prestigious group, which aims to promote international free trade, after it agreed to scrap restrictions on doing business with Israel.
Well the solution to this problem is simple. Kick 'em the hell out.
3.05.2006
It Might Be Pre-Season....
...But the O's are still losing.
VIERA, Fla. // Kris Benson made his Orioles debut Sunday and the results, anyway, weren't what he was hoping for.
Benson allowed two runs and four hits in two innings as the Orioles lost to the Washington Nationals 10-6.
Hopefully he'll get things together before the season starts.
O's lose to Nats, 10-6
And surprise, surprise- the bullpen is to blame.VIERA, Fla. // Kris Benson made his Orioles debut Sunday and the results, anyway, weren't what he was hoping for.
Benson allowed two runs and four hits in two innings as the Orioles lost to the Washington Nationals 10-6.
Hopefully he'll get things together before the season starts.
3.04.2006
The Down Side of Being Aetheist....
...is that these "people" aren't going to hell.
(CBS/AP) A former tax lawyer has been captured after being indicted on charges that he paid for sex with two girls who were pimped by their mother, police said.
The mother, whose name was withheld to protect her daughters' identities, was indicted on charges of promoting prostitution and endangering a child's welfare. She was jailed on $100,000 bail.
Repulsive.
(CBS/AP) A former tax lawyer has been captured after being indicted on charges that he paid for sex with two girls who were pimped by their mother, police said.
The mother, whose name was withheld to protect her daughters' identities, was indicted on charges of promoting prostitution and endangering a child's welfare. She was jailed on $100,000 bail.
Repulsive.
Talk About An "Oops" Moment...
This guy....oh this guy.... Just see for yourself, because I have no words.
But the naming of a Nation of Islam official to a commission that fights discrimination has exploded into an election-year furor for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, putting him in the middle of a conflict among blacks, Jews and gays.
Even if Blagojevich makes his way through the racial and religious minefield this issue presents, his claim of ignorance about the appointment could reinforce his image of a detached, uninformed governor.
"No matter what he does, he's going to tick somebody off," Rick Garcia, political director of the gay rights organization Equality Illinois, said Friday. "It's completely a no-win situation."
Four Jewish members of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes resigned this week rather than serve alongside an aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, known for his disparaging remarks about Jews, whites and gays.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - It started as a routine gubernatorial appointment to a feel-good commission - so routine that the governor says he didn't even know the details.
But the naming of a Nation of Islam official to a commission that fights discrimination has exploded into an election-year furor for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, putting him in the middle of a conflict among blacks, Jews and gays.
Even if Blagojevich makes his way through the racial and religious minefield this issue presents, his claim of ignorance about the appointment could reinforce his image of a detached, uninformed governor.
"No matter what he does, he's going to tick somebody off," Rick Garcia, political director of the gay rights organization Equality Illinois, said Friday. "It's completely a no-win situation."
Four Jewish members of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes resigned this week rather than serve alongside an aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, known for his disparaging remarks about Jews, whites and gays.
It boggles the mind how he could have missed this. I'm speechless.
3.02.2006
I For One, Am Shocked /Sarcasm
MOSCOW (AP) - Hamas' leader made the militant Palestinian group's highest-level diplomatic trip ever Friday to hear out Russia's urging that it recognize Israel and abandon violence, but emerged showing no softening in hostility toward the Jewish state.
You mean the group who's stated purpose is to wipe Israel off the map, hasn't decided to make nice? Surely, you jest! /sarcasm
You mean the group who's stated purpose is to wipe Israel off the map, hasn't decided to make nice? Surely, you jest! /sarcasm
Trouble....
US Diplomat Killed By Homicide Bomber in Pakistan.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide attacker rammed a car packed with explosives into a vehicle carrying an American diplomat in Pakistan's largest city, killing the diplomat and three other people before President Bush's visit to Pakistan. Fifty-two people were wounded.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) - A suicide attacker rammed a car packed with explosives into a vehicle carrying an American diplomat in Pakistan's largest city, killing the diplomat and three other people before President Bush's visit to Pakistan. Fifty-two people were wounded.
Into The East River With It....
Mark Steyn takes a look at the real UN.
In fact, however, the UN is a shamefully squalid organization whose corruption is almost impossible to exaggerate. If you think—as the media and the left do in this country—that Iraq is a God-awful mess (which it’s not), then try being the Balkans or Sudan or even Cyprus or anywhere where the problem’s been left to the United Nations. If you don’t want to bulk up your pension by skimming the Oil-for-Food program, no need to worry. Whatever your bag, the UN can find somewhere that suits—in West Africa, it’s Sex-for-Food, with aid workers demanding sexual services from locals as young as four; in Cambodia, it’s drug dealing; in Kenya, it’s the refugee extortion racket; in the Balkans, sex slaves. On a UN peace mission, everyone gets his piece.
Common....there are so many better uses for the property. UN out of US.
In fact, however, the UN is a shamefully squalid organization whose corruption is almost impossible to exaggerate. If you think—as the media and the left do in this country—that Iraq is a God-awful mess (which it’s not), then try being the Balkans or Sudan or even Cyprus or anywhere where the problem’s been left to the United Nations. If you don’t want to bulk up your pension by skimming the Oil-for-Food program, no need to worry. Whatever your bag, the UN can find somewhere that suits—in West Africa, it’s Sex-for-Food, with aid workers demanding sexual services from locals as young as four; in Cambodia, it’s drug dealing; in Kenya, it’s the refugee extortion racket; in the Balkans, sex slaves. On a UN peace mission, everyone gets his piece.
Common....there are so many better uses for the property. UN out of US.
Ultra-Mobility It Is....
At least that's what this report says about Origami.
Instead, Origami is the moniker for the first iteration of paperback-sized computers that will run Microsoft's regular Windows XP operating system, a person close to Microsoft told The Associated Press. The person, who is familiar with the plans, spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is still confidential.
You know... I want one so bad I have to wipe the drool off of my keyboard.
Instead, Origami is the moniker for the first iteration of paperback-sized computers that will run Microsoft's regular Windows XP operating system, a person close to Microsoft told The Associated Press. The person, who is familiar with the plans, spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is still confidential.
You know... I want one so bad I have to wipe the drool off of my keyboard.
Gee, Ya Think....
It seems someone's gotten the crazy idea that the U.S.-Mexican border is easy access and a security risk. /sarcasm
An agent was reporting in with a startling new find: another tunnel, this one shorter and more crudely built, but big enough to provide yet another subterranean port of entry into the USA.
"Of course they could" be used by terrorists, Marwood says of the tunnels his team unearths. "The potential is there, and that makes it unacceptable."
I'd say that it's freaking terrible that it took 9/11 to make get tough about border security, but obviously border security is still a damned joke. That is disgusting.
Of course the teams searching for these tunnels weren't created by Washington....
The team was created not on orders from Washington but out of concerns from agents. The Border Patrol officers were discovering tunnels when their trucks sunk into the dirt after the ground had collapsed over shallow passages.
Appalling. Absolutely appalling.
An agent was reporting in with a startling new find: another tunnel, this one shorter and more crudely built, but big enough to provide yet another subterranean port of entry into the USA.
"Of course they could" be used by terrorists, Marwood says of the tunnels his team unearths. "The potential is there, and that makes it unacceptable."
I'd say that it's freaking terrible that it took 9/11 to make get tough about border security, but obviously border security is still a damned joke. That is disgusting.
Of course the teams searching for these tunnels weren't created by Washington....
The team was created not on orders from Washington but out of concerns from agents. The Border Patrol officers were discovering tunnels when their trucks sunk into the dirt after the ground had collapsed over shallow passages.
Appalling. Absolutely appalling.
Awsome, Freakin' Awsome....
Dudes, seriously. Check this out. This chica is totally on point.
Atlas has a similar reaction, but far more eloquently. That is to say, she doesn't sound like a surf bum.
Atlas has a similar reaction, but far more eloquently. That is to say, she doesn't sound like a surf bum.
2.28.2006
Manifesto....
Twelve call for solidarity amongst free people to resist Islamism.
MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.
The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.
Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.
We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.
12 signatures
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq
Michelle Malkin has bios on the signitures. Though I know that Irshad Manji hosted Q-TV on PlanetOut several years back.
Atlas thinks heads are gonna roll. I suspect she's right.
2.27.2006
Origami
Conceptual on Microsoft's elusive project. Check the video.
However, according to the Journal report, the device under development would be for a broad range of uses, not solely a music player, and be modeled after Microsoft's tablet PCs that use a pen-like stylus to input information.
If the ultra-portable pc is the model Microsoft is seeking, it's certainly not going to pan out as the PSP killer. Too expensive. Still, I drool.
However, according to the Journal report, the device under development would be for a broad range of uses, not solely a music player, and be modeled after Microsoft's tablet PCs that use a pen-like stylus to input information.
If the ultra-portable pc is the model Microsoft is seeking, it's certainly not going to pan out as the PSP killer. Too expensive. Still, I drool.
This Can't Be Allowed to Happen....
It's time to rally the forces into action. This is unacceptable.
The United States will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people even after a Hamas government is formed, a senior U.S. envoy told Palestinian leaders during the first high-level meeting between the two sides since the Islamic militant group's election victory.
Write. Write the whitehouse, write congress. We cannot finance the destruction of Israel (and ourselves).
Atlas has more.
The United States will continue sending humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people even after a Hamas government is formed, a senior U.S. envoy told Palestinian leaders during the first high-level meeting between the two sides since the Islamic militant group's election victory.
Write. Write the whitehouse, write congress. We cannot finance the destruction of Israel (and ourselves).
Atlas has more.
What The Crap....
...Seriously. What the crap is this???
Never has an article made me blink with astonishment as much as when I read in yesterday's New York Times magazine that Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, is now studying at Yale on a U.S. student visa.
I suspect that the same Dem's who are behaving so shamefully regarding the port deal aren't going to demand that this man's visa be revoked. Shame. The only U.S. institution this man belongs in is Gitmo.
Never has an article made me blink with astonishment as much as when I read in yesterday's New York Times magazine that Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, former ambassador-at-large for the Taliban, is now studying at Yale on a U.S. student visa.
I suspect that the same Dem's who are behaving so shamefully regarding the port deal aren't going to demand that this man's visa be revoked. Shame. The only U.S. institution this man belongs in is Gitmo.
2.24.2006
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