Mark of the Beast (or not) November 5, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Government, Wacky Religious Beliefs.Tags: Fingerprints, Mark of the Beast, RFID
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OK, the RFID thing I can understand, but fingerprints?
Teacher Claims Fingerprinting Is ‘Mark of the Beast’ | Threat Level | Wired.com.
A 22-year veteran kindergarten teacher in the Texas Bible Belt could lose her job for refusing, on religious grounds, to give fingerprints under a state law requiring them.
The evangelical Christian, Pam McLaurin, is fighting a looming suspension, claiming that fingerprinting amounts to the “Mark of the Beast,” and hence is a violation of her First Amendment right to practice her religion. Her case is similar to a lawsuit by a group of Michigan farmers, some of them Amish, challenging rules requiring the tagging of livestock with RFID chips, saying the devices are also the devil’s mark.
Red Light Cameras Coming Down In College Station November 5, 2009
Posted by Joey in Automobiles, Culture, Government, Politics.Tags: College Station, Jim Ash, Red Light Cameras, Texas
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A voter initiative does something useful for a change. No more red light cameras in College Station, TX.
Traffic cameras voted down | Bryan/College Station, Texas – The Eagle.
College Station’s red light cameras will be coming down.
Voters on Tuesday opted to remove the city’s nine cameras at seven intersections by a margin of 4,081 to 3,809.
For the first time since College Station resident Jim Ash began his crusade against he cameras, he had a hard time Tuesday night finding words to express his feelings.
“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “People told me that to challenge the status quo, it’s very difficult, and I could do nothing but agree with them after this.”
The College Station City Council approved the use of red light cameras in 2007. Four were activated in February 2008, and five were added in May 2009.
Steampunk Cakes, Yum! October 15, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Food.Tags: Cakes, Steampunk
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Imagine, there are whole blogs devoted to, yes, cakes. Ahh! Nirvana!
Cake Wrecks: Sunday Sweets: Steampunk.
If you don’t know what Steampunk is, I highly recommend you do some web surfing to find out. Just make sure you have several hours to spare; I guarantee you’ll find some aspect of this style to fall in love with.
Living Large in an Atlas Missile Silo October 6, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, War.Tags: Altas, Missile Silo, Mutually Assured Destruction
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If I were Bruce, I’d worry that the Russians forgot to take his missile silo off the primary target list.
Missile Silo Fixer-Upper Now Swanky Bachelor Pad | Raw File | Wired.com.
How does a former social worker from Chicago wind up living in an abandoned nuclear missile silo in Texas?
The Johnny Carson show.
Bruce Townsley was up late one night in the mid-’80s when he saw an unusual guest take a seat on Johnny’s set: a nuclear missile base real estate mogul named Ed Peden. Peden lives in an abandoned missile base in Kansas and was invited on the show to tell Johnny all about his underground lifestyle. Townsley was hooked.
UK Document on Leaks Leaked to Wikileaks October 6, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Government, Internet, Media, Oops!.Tags: MoD, Wikileaks
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In the age of the intertubes, it’s not easy keeping secrets. Expect governments to get their panties in wads. Spying on you and all that.
For your reading pleasure: UK MoD Manual of Security Volumes 1, 2 and 3 Issue 2, JSP-440, RESTRICTED, 2389 pages, 2001
MoD ‘how to stop leaks’ document is leaked – Telegraph.
The Defence Manual of Security is intended to help MoD, armed forces and intelligence personnel maintain information security in the face of hackers, journalists, foreign spies and others.
But the 2,400-page restricted document has found its way on to Wikileaks, a website that publishes anonymous leaks of sensitive information from organisations including governments, corporations and religions.
Known in the services as Joint Services Protocol 440 (JSP 440), it was published in 2001. As Wikileaks notes, it is the document that is used as justification for the monitoring of certain websites, including Wikileaks itself.
The Pedobear Celebrates October 1, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Internet.Tags: 4chan, Pedobear
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4chan’s birthday.
Iraqi Who Threw Shoes At Bush Released September 15, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Politics, War, War on Terror.Tags: George W Bush, Iraq, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, War on Terror
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Free at last, the protestor who threw his shoes at Dubya.
Bush ’shoe thrower’ unrepentant after jail release – CNN.com.
The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush last year was unapologetic for his act of protest after his release Tuesday.
“I got my chance and I didn’t miss it,” said Muntadhar al-Zaidi, speaking to reporters shortly after he was freed from jail.
“I am not a hero and I admit that,” he said. “I am a person with a stance. I saw my country burning.”
Al-Zaidi, who was serving a one-year sentence after the jail-throwing incident on December 14, was given a “conditional discharge.”
Patrick Swayze, R.I.P. September 14, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Movies.Tags: Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze
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I forgive you this abomination:
Dirty Dancing (freakin’ YouTube won’t allow embeds on this)
Film star Patrick Swayze dead at 57: reports | U.S. | Reuters.
Actor Patrick Swayze, who went from Broadway dancer to Hollywood star in box-office hits like “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost,” died on Monday, U.S. media reports said. He was 57.
Swayze, whose spokesman announced in March 2008 that the actor had pancreatic cancer, died at home with his family at his side, ABC News reported, citing his spokeswoman Annett Wolf.
Darwin Film Fails To Get Distribution in US September 14, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Movies, Wacky Religious Beliefs.Tags: Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species
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Is religious fervor keeping US film distributors from picking up the new film on Charles Darwin? Several religious films also had trouble finding distribution in the US as well. Perhaps it’s only because religious-themed movies aren’t particularly popular to the dominate teenage / young adult movie-going crowd.
On the other hand, maybe the movie just sucks.
Charles Darwin film ‘too controversial for religious America’ – Telegraph.
Creation, starring Paul Bettany, details Darwin’s “struggle between faith and reason” as he wrote On The Origin of Species. It depicts him as a man who loses faith in God following the death of his beloved 10-year-old daughter, Annie.
However, US distributors have resolutely passed on a film which will prove hugely divisive in a country where, according to a Gallup poll conducted in February, only 39 per cent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution.
The Pirate Bay Deal Scuttled September 10, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Internet, Media, Politics.Tags: The Pirate Bay
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The Pirate Bay sale scuttled by a penny stock manipulator. Nice.
Vote: What’s Next for The Pirate Bay? | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Thursday’s de-listing from a Swedish stock exchange of The Pirate Bay’s corporate suitor is likely to scuttle the planned $8.5 million purchase of the world’s most notorious BitTorrent site.
The removal of GGF from the AktieTorget exchange was based, in large part, on the exchange’s findings that the Swedish company’s CEO, Hans Pandeya, never had the financing to go through with the deal, and was just trying to manipulate the company’s penny stock prices.
