Do I look tired or is it just my choice of location/subject matter? :)
Orignal From: Project365 day 007
thepete.com mirror
Monday, January 08, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Project365 day 006
GATES FOUNDATION DOESN'T GET IT
Years ago, I used to berate Bill Gates for being disgustingly rich and yet completely ungenerous when it came to the massive number of poor people in the world. Well he's change a lot since the 90s, but apparently not enough. Here's a cutting from [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gatesx07jan07,0,6827615.story?coll=la-home-headlines|a January 7, 2007 article] at LATimes.Com that talks about how he's both helping and hurting some folks in Uganda:
Orignal From: GATES FOUNDATION DOESN'T GET IT
Justice Eta, 14 months old, held out his tiny thumb. An ink spot certified that he had been immunized against polio and measles, thanks to a vaccination drive supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But polio is not the only threat Justice faces. Almost since birth, he has had respiratory trouble. His neighbors call it "the cough." People blame fumes and soot spewing from flames that tower 300 feet into the air over a nearby oil plant. It is owned by the Italian petroleum giant Eni, whose investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.Ah, but who really cares so long as the investment makes money? Capitalism is pure and perfect! It can do no wrong. The free market will solve little Justice's problems! Weee! Looking at the world like Stephen Colbert is FUN!
Orignal From: GATES FOUNDATION DOESN'T GET IT
Friday, January 05, 2007
AMAZON.COM HEAD HAS OWN SPACESHIP
Seriously Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has a friggen spaceship--does he know something we don't? Regardless, it's pretty incredible to see this thing. I mean, look at that thing! It looks like a horribly mutated chicken egg! Is Bezos hoping this ship will inspire people to want to go into space? Man, I hope not. Enough of my silly ranting, you want to know more about the ship, dubbed the "New Shepard." I'm guessing it's named after Alan Shepard who was the first American in space. Anyway, so the thing really flies--it hasn't made it into space yet, but according to [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6230245.stm|a January 4, 2007 article] it has reached the lofty heights of 85 meters (285 ft) which is a nice start, but hardly a space shot. Don't get me wrong, I will be the first in line to buy a ticket on this thing if Bezos ever gets it going and cheap enough for me to afford. Here's more from the above-linked article at http://News.BBC.co.uk:The billionaire founder of amazon.com has released the first images of the launch of a private spacecraft that could bring space travel to the masses. A video of the cone-shaped Goddard vehicle shows it climbing to about 85m (285ft) before returning back to Earth. The test launch took place in November 2006 in a remote part of Texas, but details have only now been released. The images mark the first time Jeff Bezos has broken his silence on the work of his space company, Blue Origin. Writing on the company's website, Mr Bezos said: "We're working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go; and so that we humans can better continue exploring the Solar System."Actually, that's pretty damn cool. The US government had better hurry up and militarize space before we civilians get up their first and weaponize it first! Head on over to the ship's official website at BlueOrigin.Com. You can check out a crappy Windows Media clip of the launch or scroll down to watch a couple clips of it from Video.Google.Com. OH and they're hiring! From the very first paragraph on the BO website:
Blue Origin wants you! Actually, Blue Origin needs you and wants to hire you … assuming you’re a hard working, technically gifted, team-oriented, experienced aerospace engineer or engineering leader. If you might be interested in joining us, please keep reading.Makes me wish I was an engineer. Here are those videos: The above almost looks fake. The following was shot by an onboard camera: This last one is a wider, static shot of the NS taking off and landing: Check out more Google vids of the New Shepard [http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=bezos+spaceship|here].
Orignal From: AMAZON.COM HEAD HAS OWN SPACESHIP
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
SAUDI KING WARNS: MIDDLE EAST A POWDER KEG
Hey, so way back on December 9 of 2006, the Saudi king made an interesting observation about how it's all going to shit in the Middle East. In short, he said things were bad and have the potential to get much much worse. Check out this cutting from [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061209/wl_mideast_afp/gccsummit_061209202216|an article] from www.AFP.com available over at News.Yahoo.com:
Orignal From: SAUDI KING WARNS: MIDDLE EAST A POWDER KEG
Saudi King Abdullah opened the annual summit of Gulf leaders with a warning that the Arab world was on the brink of exploding because of conflicts in the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Lebanon. "Our Arab region is besieged by a number of dangers, as if it was a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode," he told the rulers of the oil-rich monarchies gathered in Riyadh for a two-day meeting to the backdrop of mounting sectarian violence in neighboring Iraq. The Palestinians were reeling from "a hostile and ugly occupation" by Israel while the international community watched their "bloody tragedy like a spectator," Abdullah said. But "most dangerous for the (Palestinian) cause is the conflict among brethren," he said in a reference to the differences between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction and the Islamist Hamas movement that have blocked the formation of a unity government. In Iraq "a brother is still killing his brother," Abdullah said of the tit-for-tat killings between the Sunni Arab former elite and the ruling Shiite majority.He goes on to point out more problem centers and the funny thing is, I can't help but point out the reason for all of the problems just happens to be America or one of her allies. The Palestinian "problem" is thanks to US ally Israel's continued insistence on occupying Palestine (what the hell do they want it for at this point, anyway??). Iraq, of course, is only suffering sectarian violence because America's involvement there has stirred it up. Before America invaded Shia were married to Sunni and vice versa. There was very little sectarian strife according to every Iraqi I've heard or seen interviewed who wasn't on a mainstream western news source (and even some who were). In Lebanon, we've had our fingers in the pie there in years past and some say we still do now. Of course, the only reason Iran is having any trouble with us is because we've got this absurd double standard that only Muslim countries we like are allowed to have nukes. And, like the late Saddam's Iraq before them, Iran is saying what we claim we want to hear -- that, in this case, Iran is not going to use their nukes for weapons, only for energy. Of course, Saddam insisted he had no WMD and look what it got him: a hangman's noose. It got us a lot of dead soldiers, even more dead Iraqis and a shitload of wasted money. Saddam may have been a bad guy, but you can't deny that Iraq was a much more stable place before we got there. So this is where we are and while someone like the Saudi king is willing to point out the problems no one seems to be willing to call out America and her interests as the cause of said problems. What is wrong with the world? Don't answer that -- I know. It's America. There is no check or balance to stop us from doing what we want. Really, there never has been.
Orignal From: SAUDI KING WARNS: MIDDLE EAST A POWDER KEG
Project365 day 002
Here's day 002 of Project365! This is me on the way to TJ's (Trader
Joe's) with TheWife!
Orignal From: Project365 day 002
Joe's) with TheWife!
Orignal From: Project365 day 002
Monday, January 01, 2007
Project365 day 001
Here's day 001 in my attempt at Project365! I'll be posting more on
this soon! Weeee!
Oh, and this is me at about 2am 1/1/7, not quite over the flu but
excited about the new year nonetheless. :)
Orignal From: Project365 day 001
this soon! Weeee!
Oh, and this is me at about 2am 1/1/7, not quite over the flu but
excited about the new year nonetheless. :)
Orignal From: Project365 day 001
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