Truth, Justice, and the American Way
Intellectual activism in defense of the American way of life.
“The Whore Lived Like a German”
May 15th
Brutal Islamic fundamentalism thrives in the pacifist multicultural culture of Germany:
five …Muslim women have been murdered in Berlin during the past four months by their husbands or partners for besmirching the family’s Muslim honor. Two of them were stabbed to death in front of their young children, one was shot, one strangled and a fifth drowned. It seems hard to fathom, but in the middle of democratic Western Europe — in Germany, a nation where pacifism is almost a universal mantra — murderous macho patriotism not only exists but also appears to be thriving. It may even be Germany’s liberalism — and its post World War II fear of criticizing minority cultures — that has encouraged ultra-religious families to settle here…
A Review: Switching to Linux
May 3rd
After four years of using Windows XP, I decided to try something new. I had been getting by with Windows ever since I got a Windows 95 PC in high school, but I was getting bored with the same old look.
The Requirements
I had a number of strict requirements for any potential replacement for my cherished Windows desktop:
More >
Focus Foundry
May 2nd
Tom Lahti, the owner of the #Objectivist IRC channel where I can be frequently found lurking just started a blog. Check out Focus Foundry‘s first post: “Sex!”
May 2nd
As evidence to my praise of the USB standard, check out this article on the development of USB.
Uncle Sam wants you… to explain this $50 cash deposit
Apr 29th
In 2006, it’ll be a whole lot harder to cheat on your taxes, even accidentally. In fact, you’ll also have to field calls from the government over odd deposits that you make, e.g. a deposit at an odd time of the month, or a cash deposit, or a deposit made from a foreign bank, etc. That’s because, thanks to the PATRIOT act, banks are spending billions on highly sophisticated, government-mandated anti-money laundering (AML) software that will track every last transaction of every last customer in order to build up individual customer profiles and look for “suspicious” activity. And when they find some suspicious activity, they’re going to want an explanation out of you, regardless of whether or not you fit any sort of terrorist profile.
Fat is Good?
Apr 20th
A new government study indicates that being moderately “fat” can actually be good for your health. Apparently, the cultural norms for “normal” weight are too low, and many more Americans die from being too thin (33.7K) than too fat (25.8K). Only problem is that in “recent years, the government has spent millions of dollars fighting obesity and publicizing the message that two out of three American adults are overweight or obese, and at higher risk for heart disease, arthritis and diabetes.”
I wonder – could the screwed up dietary habits and body weight expectations of Americans be linked to decades of government propaganda? It’s popular to blame Hollywood and fast food for these problems, but these things have been around far longer than our dietary problems, and today’s commercially-produced foods are actually healthier than ever before.
Intruder! Intruder!
Apr 18th
Unlikely most security systems, this one runs down criminals with uh, smoke and lights. And now it’s going to be used to patrol RFID-tagged Japanese school kids. There’s probably a witty comment I should add about hall monitors, cops patrolling U.S. schools and/or the influence of anime, but I can’t think of it right now.
Speaking of automating menial jobs, I used a self-checkout terminal for the first time in Wall Mart of all places. The minimum wage will soon add two more victims to the list of obsolete jobs that began with elevator operators and movie ushers: the checkout clerk and grocery bagger.
New Feature: Start your free blog now!
Apr 14th
This announcement comes from my forum:
Thanks to our Premium members, the forum now offers a blog feature that integrates with the forum. The software allows you to create your very own full-featured blog with its own URL and share your posts with the forum. You can also add your existing blog to the
forum’s list of blogs.The option to create your blog is in the top left of your control panel (“My Controls” on top right). Once it has been created, you will find additional options and settings there.
Please spread the word!
Botany
Apr 12th
There should be no monotony
In studying your botany;
It helps to train
And spur the brain–
Unless you haven’t got any.It teaches you, does Botany,
To know the plants and spot any,
And learn just why
They live or die–
In case you plant or pot any.You learn, from reading Botany,
Of wooly plants and cottony
That grow on earth,
And what they’re worth,
And why some spots have not any.You sketch the plants in Botany,
You learn to chart and plot any
Like corn or oats–
You jot down notes,
If you know how to jot any.Your time, if you’ll allot any,
Will teach you how and what any
Old plant or tree
Can do or be–
And that’s the use of Botany!
“Botany”, by Berton Brayley
Brit Insanity
Apr 9th
London Telegraph:
When he was 9 years old, Carl Murphy, now 18, was trespassing at a warehouse near Liverpool, England,
and fell through the roof of the building. He fell 40 feet and suffered a massive skull fracture, so he sued the building’s owner, claiming that if the site had a better security fence to keep him out, he wouldn’t have been injured. The court bought it: he was awarded 567,000 pounds (US$1.06 million). “After all I’ve been through, I feel I really deserve this money,” Murphy says. “The papers just call me a yob and a thug because I’ve been done for robbery and assault but those were just silly stupid little things, like.” He plans to spend his cash on a “flash car” and “a big house so I have a place to live with me mum when she gets out of jail.”
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