My Pastor gave a wonderful sermon last Sunday ... I only wish it was getting as much publicity as the guy who is threatening to burn the Koran.
In reference to the debate on the "controversial" community center in NYC - he said the following (and I am paraphrasing here)-
1) When discussing this topic, as Christians, he would remind us (remember, I'm paraphrasing) DON'T BE A DOUCHE!
He then recited biblical quotes from Jesus, where he directed his followers (Christians) to be humble and polite and respectful and NOT to be prideful, boastful, ARROGANT and basically "Holier-than-thou"! The idea is to make people interested in his teachings and NOT to turn them away by being asshats.
2) DON'T PREJUDGE. If you wanted to see horrific acts carried out by people claiming to be doing them for their religion, Christians have certainly done quite a few of these throughout history. The Pastor went on to say he personally knew many Muslims and they are wonderful human beings just like you or me. They work hard and just want a good life for their families and themselves.
When we are prejudice against people we have NEVER met ... we are following the will of something but it ain't Jesus.
3) Christian's should always be looking for the truth.
We are now surrounded by people whose full time job it is, to deceive us for political and financial gain. The spend all day writing internet posts and news articles with deliberate misinformation and spiteful rhetoric, all designed to make us fear, hate and strike out against people we have never met. THAT, is a good definition of evil.
Christians shouldn't react to stories that make them mad but should instead try to spend some time looking for what the truth behind that story is.
++++++
IMHO, I believe that the above is who Christian really are.
Problem is that "faith" is a personal experience and when it comes to personal feelings and beliefs - "one size does not fit all".
just sayin'
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Anatomy of a curfluffle
I have a friend who had taken an interest in the new iPhone.
She isn't particularly an Apple fan (she uses a PC) or even "into" gadgets really but because her company was changing data plans and she was going to have to turn in her old data phone. One of her choices is the new iPhone4.
Two days after she got this news, the storm about the iPhone's dropped call problem hit the press.
Being an engineer, she researched the issue and a few days later told me that she had never seen so much made over, for what most people, would actually be a non-issue. Apparently, if you are using the iPhone with any kind of protective cover on it the "antenna issue" goes away. As my friend said, "Who in the world has a phone this expensive and doesn't put a protective case on it?"
Now let's be frank, having the caseless phone hang-up because you have held it "wrong", is a flaw. My cell phone is like that. Put a careless finger on the wrong button and it hangs up. My cordless phone at home has a similar flaw. The button to disconnect is located such that if you get lazy and hold it to close to your head ... your jawbone hits it and the call is over (I've had several users besides myself do this with the phone). I've had to train myself not to use these devices in that manor and that "solves" the problem but it still doesn't make it less a flaw.
It's also true, that Apple should have immediately updated their instructions for the phone to say ... don't touch the phone "there" during a call. Also, providing any old, cheep-o case would have also have been a nice touch.
None of this though, would seem to warrant the world wide media attention that this has received. My friend was remarking on this and having given it some thought I was able to explain it to her as follows.
- The people who write the tech and gadget review articles are, of course, "Super Users". If you are going to get a guy to review a computer product, you just naturally hire the most knowledgeable computer geek you can lay your hands on. Usually, these are the people who not only write their own software but can field strip a PC in an airport waiting terminal and rebuild it with mail order parts to make it 17 times faster then it was when it came from the factory!
... and this is exactly why these people have never, ever, EVER "gotten" the Mac.
Macs were designed to give complete tech-tards the ability to use a computer to do their work, communicate over the internet and yes, even create passable music/video/photos.
Apple cleverly realized that there is a huge segment of the consumer public who (like with the automobile) don't want to have to know how it works ... they just want to use it!
So here you have these reviewers who simply can't wrap their giant brains around why there is any demand for the Mac in the first place and when you add in the way Apple has done a phenomenal marketing job of making their products THE THING for pop culture to want to own as a status symbol, it simply enrages the "experts".
They become like sharks, constantly circling, looking for any opportunity to strike. They want desperately to prove to the general public that they are wrong to like the i(whatever) and this dropped call flaw was like blood in the water to them. They rapidly spun out articles and blog posts proclaiming what a complete failure the iPhone and Apple and Steve jobs were and this finally once and for all proved it.
Of course, with that kind of buzz going on it wasn't anytime at all until the "mainstream media" began covering the issue, usually just reprinting or quoting from the articles that had already been posted by "the experts".
From there it is just the snowball effect and THAT is how a fairly unremarkable flaw turns into world wide media frenzy.
For my friend's part, she told me this morning that three of her coworker's have now had their iPhones for the last week. Keeping in mind that these people are not IT or computer geeks, they report that even with AT&T's service issues ... they don't know how they ever did their job before they had their iPhones.
She isn't particularly an Apple fan (she uses a PC) or even "into" gadgets really but because her company was changing data plans and she was going to have to turn in her old data phone. One of her choices is the new iPhone4.
Two days after she got this news, the storm about the iPhone's dropped call problem hit the press.
Being an engineer, she researched the issue and a few days later told me that she had never seen so much made over, for what most people, would actually be a non-issue. Apparently, if you are using the iPhone with any kind of protective cover on it the "antenna issue" goes away. As my friend said, "Who in the world has a phone this expensive and doesn't put a protective case on it?"
Now let's be frank, having the caseless phone hang-up because you have held it "wrong", is a flaw. My cell phone is like that. Put a careless finger on the wrong button and it hangs up. My cordless phone at home has a similar flaw. The button to disconnect is located such that if you get lazy and hold it to close to your head ... your jawbone hits it and the call is over (I've had several users besides myself do this with the phone). I've had to train myself not to use these devices in that manor and that "solves" the problem but it still doesn't make it less a flaw.
It's also true, that Apple should have immediately updated their instructions for the phone to say ... don't touch the phone "there" during a call. Also, providing any old, cheep-o case would have also have been a nice touch.
None of this though, would seem to warrant the world wide media attention that this has received. My friend was remarking on this and having given it some thought I was able to explain it to her as follows.
- The people who write the tech and gadget review articles are, of course, "Super Users". If you are going to get a guy to review a computer product, you just naturally hire the most knowledgeable computer geek you can lay your hands on. Usually, these are the people who not only write their own software but can field strip a PC in an airport waiting terminal and rebuild it with mail order parts to make it 17 times faster then it was when it came from the factory!
... and this is exactly why these people have never, ever, EVER "gotten" the Mac.
Macs were designed to give complete tech-tards the ability to use a computer to do their work, communicate over the internet and yes, even create passable music/video/photos.
Apple cleverly realized that there is a huge segment of the consumer public who (like with the automobile) don't want to have to know how it works ... they just want to use it!
So here you have these reviewers who simply can't wrap their giant brains around why there is any demand for the Mac in the first place and when you add in the way Apple has done a phenomenal marketing job of making their products THE THING for pop culture to want to own as a status symbol, it simply enrages the "experts".
They become like sharks, constantly circling, looking for any opportunity to strike. They want desperately to prove to the general public that they are wrong to like the i(whatever) and this dropped call flaw was like blood in the water to them. They rapidly spun out articles and blog posts proclaiming what a complete failure the iPhone and Apple and Steve jobs were and this finally once and for all proved it.
Of course, with that kind of buzz going on it wasn't anytime at all until the "mainstream media" began covering the issue, usually just reprinting or quoting from the articles that had already been posted by "the experts".
From there it is just the snowball effect and THAT is how a fairly unremarkable flaw turns into world wide media frenzy.
For my friend's part, she told me this morning that three of her coworker's have now had their iPhones for the last week. Keeping in mind that these people are not IT or computer geeks, they report that even with AT&T's service issues ... they don't know how they ever did their job before they had their iPhones.
Monday, June 28, 2010
The Bush burns on.
Oh WHEN will people stop blaming Bush for all of the things he has done to us!
+++++++++++++
+++++++++++++
CHART OF THE DAY: Reminder, The Deficit You're Freaking Out About Is Bush's Fault.
Gregory White and Kamelia Angelova | The Business Insider
President Obama's administration has been blamed for reckless spending that has put America into its debt hole. But in reality, much of that spending emanates from policies of President Bush, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
They argue that Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Bush tax cuts (along with the economic downturn) are what is driving the U.S. deficit, not stimulus spending.
The chart presents the ugly truth.
The Business Insider covers new media, venture capital, entrepreneurship and the digital landscape. You can find the original version of this story here.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
From the Dept. of Things You Might Not Know.
Did you know that nearly half of the oil produced from the Gulf Coast states ... is shipped over seas? That's right.
In fact, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration databases (you can see more on this report here - http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/05/gulf_oil_exports.html), between 2003 and 2008 (while we were at war in Iraq to secure their oil for our consumption) U.S. oil exports nearly doubled.
Yep, all of that wailing and gnashing of teeth about the need to "drill baby drill" because we sooooo desperately need that oil here in the U.S. ...
... only apparently we don't need that oil as much as Mexico, Canada, and the Netherlands, or perhaps we're not willing to pay as much.
So "we the people" shoulder all the risk (and now the nightmarish cost) of drilling offshore while other countries get the oil and a handful of corporations pocket the cash.
Ain't it cool ?
... AND SOME MORE ... (added 5/11/10)
Here is a bit more to ponder over.
News stories yesterday touted the fact that BP had spent $350 million so far in it's oil spill damage control efforts.
Before anyone gets all teary-eyed about this though, they should know that last year BP's NET profit (that is how much "mad money" they had left over after they paid all their bills) was 20.09 BILLION dollars. That means that at the end of EVERY day of the year, when they went to empty their pockets, they had another 55 MILLION dollars to throw into their spare change jar.
So, it will only take BP 6 days to make back all the money they just spent on this mess. Of course, that is not taking into account the fact that BP (and every Corporation for that mater) was insured against damaged caused by such accidents.
Somewhere, BP had a group of engineers and accountants do a cost benifit study that showed it was much more profitable to opperate their rigs with the minimal safety standards they could get by with and then pay for clean-up in the statistically low chance they had an catastrophe.
When you look at the numbers it is clear that BP could aford to opperate at the maximum safety level and to maintain a quick response force to prevent what is now happening. They (and ever other oil company) could clearly do this and still make a NET profit. They just wouldn't be making as much of a profit.
THIS is where a corporation's priority is. NOT in the publics best interest or even in the National interest. It is first and foremost in the interest of their stockholders.
This holds true for the Corporations that run the Nuclear Power industry as well. They're only interested in as much safety as they can get by with and their plan for dealing with catastrophic failure is to count on it's statistical likely-hood of not happening.
Ask the business owners along the Gulf Coast what they think about statistically low probabilities.
In fact, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration databases (you can see more on this report here - http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/05/gulf_oil_exports.html), between 2003 and 2008 (while we were at war in Iraq to secure their oil for our consumption) U.S. oil exports nearly doubled.
Yep, all of that wailing and gnashing of teeth about the need to "drill baby drill" because we sooooo desperately need that oil here in the U.S. ...
... only apparently we don't need that oil as much as Mexico, Canada, and the Netherlands, or perhaps we're not willing to pay as much.
So "we the people" shoulder all the risk (and now the nightmarish cost) of drilling offshore while other countries get the oil and a handful of corporations pocket the cash.
Ain't it cool ?
... AND SOME MORE ... (added 5/11/10)
Here is a bit more to ponder over.
News stories yesterday touted the fact that BP had spent $350 million so far in it's oil spill damage control efforts.
Before anyone gets all teary-eyed about this though, they should know that last year BP's NET profit (that is how much "mad money" they had left over after they paid all their bills) was 20.09 BILLION dollars. That means that at the end of EVERY day of the year, when they went to empty their pockets, they had another 55 MILLION dollars to throw into their spare change jar.
So, it will only take BP 6 days to make back all the money they just spent on this mess. Of course, that is not taking into account the fact that BP (and every Corporation for that mater) was insured against damaged caused by such accidents.
Somewhere, BP had a group of engineers and accountants do a cost benifit study that showed it was much more profitable to opperate their rigs with the minimal safety standards they could get by with and then pay for clean-up in the statistically low chance they had an catastrophe.
When you look at the numbers it is clear that BP could aford to opperate at the maximum safety level and to maintain a quick response force to prevent what is now happening. They (and ever other oil company) could clearly do this and still make a NET profit. They just wouldn't be making as much of a profit.
THIS is where a corporation's priority is. NOT in the publics best interest or even in the National interest. It is first and foremost in the interest of their stockholders.
This holds true for the Corporations that run the Nuclear Power industry as well. They're only interested in as much safety as they can get by with and their plan for dealing with catastrophic failure is to count on it's statistical likely-hood of not happening.
Ask the business owners along the Gulf Coast what they think about statistically low probabilities.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Bogus e-mail inrages terrorist
So there you have it.
In my last post I postulated on how the simple act of forwarding bogus e-mails, urban legends and political scree - could further terror.
Well, now we have a real world example.
While clearly, this domestic terrorist was surrounded by an enviroment of hate, distrust and good old fashion "bat shit crazy" ... it is fake e-mails like the one mentioned below that can push that sort of the person over the edge. From simple fear filled, ignorance based, hatered ... to a person who takes up arms and plans to kill other citizens.
Don't tell me that no one is hurt by SPAM.
++++++++++++++++
In my last post I postulated on how the simple act of forwarding bogus e-mails, urban legends and political scree - could further terror.
Well, now we have a real world example.
While clearly, this domestic terrorist was surrounded by an enviroment of hate, distrust and good old fashion "bat shit crazy" ... it is fake e-mails like the one mentioned below that can push that sort of the person over the edge. From simple fear filled, ignorance based, hatered ... to a person who takes up arms and plans to kill other citizens.
Don't tell me that no one is hurt by SPAM.
++++++++++++++++
TPMMuckraker
Hutaree Member Angered By Fake Hamas Resettlement Bill
Justin Elliott | March 31, 2010, 4:04PM
The Detroit Free Press notices that charged Hutaree militia member Tina Stone bemoaned the passage of H.R. 1388 on her Facebook page recently. That bill has been the subject of a false chain email that warns President Obama provided money to settle Hamas members in the United States.
(Stone made the statements on the same page that features the militia wedding photos we told you about yesterday.)
"H.B. 1388 Passed.... It's bad news for us all," she wrote.
She added: "I'm peeved,,, when people in this country is getting kicked out of there homes everyday and our government passes a bill to spend more then 20 billion dollars to bring Hamas here and supplies them with food and homes that just wrong."
It's pretty clear that Stone got these bogus ideas about H.R. 1388 from a chain email that has been thoroughly debunked by factcheck.org.
The email warns: "Obama funds $20M in tax payer dollars to immigrate Hamas Refugees to the USA. This is the news that didn't make the headlines..."
According to factcheck.org, the bill "actually expands AmeriCorps and other federal public service programs, more than tripling the total number of positions to 250,000."
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
"Careless Forwards Further Terror!"
I have a problem with relatives who like to urgently forward Urban Myths to me - usually warning me of some impending doom brought on by the current Presidential Administration, Nancy Pelosi, or Bill Clinton (which I find quite odd as he hasn't been in office for well over a decade!) but sometimes it is due to "The Media"® (which doesn't include Fox News for some reason) or some corporation that didn't donate to the "Tea Baggers" (which IS Fox News ... but I digress).
When ever I get these bits off bad fiction I quickly go to Snopes.com, find the link to the e-mail they have just forwarded to me (and EVERYone on their list) and send them proof of the HOAX they have just particpated in. I then gently (though not as gently now as the years of this drag on) suggest they go to Snopes and check this stuff out before forwarding it.
Of course, they still never bother to check these e-mails out. It's aways, "Grab your torch and pitchfork first - worry about those pesky 'facts' later."
As I was reading through this latest bit of sludge that fictitiously told of some guy who had predicted some attack (on Fox News of course) that later came true ... I started looking at these bits of fiction in a new light. Since I feel certain I am not the only one on the Internet who suffers from these "Spam who cried Wolf" friends ... I thought I would share my response.
Feel free to copy it and send it to your Uncle next time he sends you that bit about the Twin Towers being an inside job done by Bill Clinton.
++++
Good news! Snopes says your latest e-mail is a Hoax so you needn't fret about it.
It has gotten me thinking though.
Since the original creator of this piece of fiction meant to generate an atmosphere fear, distrust and growing terror among U.S. citizens, shouldn't that person be considered a terrorist?
If you and I in turn (even unwittingly), help to spread this sort of fear by passing along a terrorist created e-mail, are we ourselves aiding in an act of terrorism?
The more I think about it, terror e-mails like this could be considered the modern equivalent of the propaganda pamphlets that enemy armies used to drop from aircraft over cities and towns?
With e-mail though, just one initial attack might reach hundreds of thousands of civilians, striking directly into their homes and actually using the unwitting civilians themselves to launch the NEXT wave of terror and misinformation on their own friends and family ... simply by hitting the "Forward" button!
When you think about how little a "hoax" e-mail messages costs the enemy, this then is a very diabolical and cost effective tool in the terrorist's arsenal. We've been hearing for years that wars would someday be fought in "cyber space". Bogus e-mails like the one you were fooled into sending me could very well be the opening shots in that war!
Given all this, I pledge to check and double check any "Warning", "Cautionary tale", or "Anti U.S. Government/Personnel" e-mails that get forwarded to me - before I forward them myself.
I for one, refuse to voluntarily be used by terrorist/anti-American forces to help them spread their messages of fear and hate! I would like to encourage all of my friends and family to join me in this fight against the spread of terror and hope you would encourage your friends to do so as well.
Remember the phrase "Loose lips sink ships" ? Well, this is "Careless Forwards Further Terror!"
When ever I get these bits off bad fiction I quickly go to Snopes.com, find the link to the e-mail they have just forwarded to me (and EVERYone on their list) and send them proof of the HOAX they have just particpated in. I then gently (though not as gently now as the years of this drag on) suggest they go to Snopes and check this stuff out before forwarding it.
Of course, they still never bother to check these e-mails out. It's aways, "Grab your torch and pitchfork first - worry about those pesky 'facts' later."
As I was reading through this latest bit of sludge that fictitiously told of some guy who had predicted some attack (on Fox News of course) that later came true ... I started looking at these bits of fiction in a new light. Since I feel certain I am not the only one on the Internet who suffers from these "Spam who cried Wolf" friends ... I thought I would share my response.
Feel free to copy it and send it to your Uncle next time he sends you that bit about the Twin Towers being an inside job done by Bill Clinton.
++++
Good news! Snopes says your latest e-mail is a Hoax so you needn't fret about it.
It has gotten me thinking though.
Since the original creator of this piece of fiction meant to generate an atmosphere fear, distrust and growing terror among U.S. citizens, shouldn't that person be considered a terrorist?
If you and I in turn (even unwittingly), help to spread this sort of fear by passing along a terrorist created e-mail, are we ourselves aiding in an act of terrorism?
The more I think about it, terror e-mails like this could be considered the modern equivalent of the propaganda pamphlets that enemy armies used to drop from aircraft over cities and towns?
With e-mail though, just one initial attack might reach hundreds of thousands of civilians, striking directly into their homes and actually using the unwitting civilians themselves to launch the NEXT wave of terror and misinformation on their own friends and family ... simply by hitting the "Forward" button!
When you think about how little a "hoax" e-mail messages costs the enemy, this then is a very diabolical and cost effective tool in the terrorist's arsenal. We've been hearing for years that wars would someday be fought in "cyber space". Bogus e-mails like the one you were fooled into sending me could very well be the opening shots in that war!
Given all this, I pledge to check and double check any "Warning", "Cautionary tale", or "Anti U.S. Government/Personnel" e-mails that get forwarded to me - before I forward them myself.
I for one, refuse to voluntarily be used by terrorist/anti-American forces to help them spread their messages of fear and hate! I would like to encourage all of my friends and family to join me in this fight against the spread of terror and hope you would encourage your friends to do so as well.
Remember the phrase "Loose lips sink ships" ? Well, this is "Careless Forwards Further Terror!"
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