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Dans un monde idéal, l'humanité n'existe pas
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| A Hypothetical Situation |
[Jul. 21st, 2009::07:08 pm] |
Late one night at a big fancy house...
Knock at door. Man answers.
Man: Yes?
Police Officer (PO): Good evening, sir. We received a phone call about a possible break in.
Man: Oh. Well, I live here and I don't believe I called the police department about a burglary tonight.
PO: Well, sir, the call did, in fact, come from one of your concerned neighbors. Do you mind if I just see some identification and then I'll be on my way?
Man: Oh, well, now. I did have trouble getting into my home earlier. Bit of a door jam, you see. I can understand how, to the unknowing observer, my improvisatory method of entry may have appeared questionable. Here, good officer, is my identification.
PO: Thank you, sir. You have a good night.
Man: You too! It is good to know the police department is so diligent in its duties.
Why in God's name is that so difficult to accomplish?! |
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| Going Green for Iran |
[Jun. 16th, 2009::10:10 pm] |
If you are reading this right now, you have more luxury than someone in Iran could ever hope for right now. If you are watching TV or a video on youtube, updating your status on Facebook, Tweeting, or even texting your friend, you are lucky. If you are safe in your home, and were able to sleep last night without the sounds of screaming from the rooftops, you need to know and understand what is happening to people just like you in Iran right now.
They are not the enemy. They are a people whose election has been stolen. For the first time in a long time, a voice for change struck the youth of Iran, just as it did for many people in the United States only seven months ago. Hossein Mousavi gained the support of millions of people in Iran as a Presidential candidate. He stands for progressiveness. He supports good relations with the West, and the rest of the world. He is supported with fervor as he challenges the oppressive regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On Friday, millions of people waited for hours in line to vote in Iran's Presidential election. Later that night, as votes came in, Mousavi was alerted that he was winning by a two-thirds margin. Then there was a change. Suddenly, it was Ahmadinejad who had 68% of the vote - in areas which have been firmly against his political party, he overwhelmingly won. Within three hours, millions of votes were supposedly counted - the victor was Ahmadinejad. Immediately fraud was suspected - there was no way he could have won by this great a margin with such oppposition. Since then, reports have been coming in of burned ballots, or in some cases numbers being given without any being counted at all. None of this is confirmed, but what happened next seems to do the trick.
The people of Iran took the streets and rooftops. They shout "Death to the dictator" and "Allah o akbar." They join together to protest. Peacefully. The police attack some, but they stay strong. Riots happen, and the shouting continues all night. Text messaging was disabled, as was satellite, and websites which can spread information such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and the BBC are blocked in the country. At five in the morning, Arabic speaking soldiers (the people of Iran speak Farsi) stormed a university in the capital city of Tehran. While sleeping in their dormitories, five students were killed. Others were wounded. These soldiers are thought to have been brought in by Ahmadinejad from Lebanon. Today, 192 of the university's faculty have resigned in protest.
Mousavi requested that the government allow a peaceful rally to occur this morning - the request was denied. Many thought that it would not happen. Nevertheless, first a few thousand people showed up in the streets of Tehran. At this point, it is estimated that 1 to 2 million people were there. Mousavi spoke on the top of a car. The police stood by. For a few hours, everything was peaceful. Right now, the same cannot be said. Reports of injuries, shootings, and killings are flooding the internet. Twitter has been an invaluable source - those in Iran who still know how to access it are updating regularly with picture evidence. People are being brutally beaten. Tonight will be another night without rest for so many in Iran no older than I am. Tonight there is a Green Revolution.
For more information:
PICTURES:
here and here
NEW INFORMATION:
Here - near constant updates
Here - ONTD_political live post
ON TWITTER:
@StopAhmadi, @IranElection09, @Change_for_Iran
 دنیارابگوییدچطورآنهاانتخاباتمان دزدیده اند Tell the world how they have stolen our election
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| The Vaccine/Autism Thing. Again. |
[Jun. 16th, 2009::09:09 pm] |
Perhaps if scientists modeled for Playboy, the media might pick up on the fact that, in the past 10 years or so, our diet and food chain has changed dramatically, and the increasing thoughts that this environmental change could be linked to autism. I find it amazing that no anti-vaxer can ever think of any cause of autism other than something that prevents diseases.
In the past 10 years, the incidence (not to be confused with prevalence) of autism has indeed increased substantially and, no. I don't think it can be entirely attributed to better methods of diagnosing (though I do think that it's a nice big chunk).
I do tend to believe in research and science over celebrities making stuff up and writing books that get featured on Oprah, so I've pretty much ruled out vaccines as the cause of autism. If a link is ever found, I will subject myself to measles and write a letter of apology to Jenny McCarthy.
Here are some ideas I think are likely links to autism:
The introduction of toxic chemicals (antibiotics, heavy metals, pesticides, additives and preservatives) in our food chain.
The depletion of nutrients in our food due to high intensity farming of the same soil year after year for decades.
Farming methods that substitute chemical fertilisers for the natural decomposition of organic matter by bacteria.
Food processing methods that destroy nutrients.
The excessive use of antibiotics in babies and children.
The 20-40X increase of Omega 6 oils in our diet, and a reduction in Omega 3 consumption from fish. and Heating of these oils producing trans-fatty acids that damage cell membrane integrity
Slow prolonged cooking methods that destroy vitamins.
Microwave cooking that destroys some vitamins and bioflavanoids.
A change in eating habits in the last 50 years: We have replaced natural nutrient-rich foods, such as organically grown fruit and vegetables, with nutrient-poor and processed foods.
Chickens that are grown several times faster on a diet laced with antibiotics.
Unfortunately, though these environmental factors do show quite a bit of promise as likely suspects, not a whole lot of research has gone into studying their possible links to autism.
Why is it not ok to continue to blame vaccines for everything?
Because in an effort to put some sense into people's heads, money is wasted over and over again proving that there is NO LINK between vaccines and autism. Lots of money. Research costs money. Researching the same thing over and over until the horse is pummeled into a bloody pulp in the ground costs even more money. That money could be going towards things. Things like finding the real cause(s) of autism and, who knows. Maybe a cure.
But why focus on a cure when you can place blame instead? We all know that blaming something or someone for problems is a valid way of solving them. |
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| Terror in the Name of Jesus |
[Jun. 1st, 2009::09:31 pm] |
"...As we can see from people like Tiller, not all who claim to be Christian act accordingly."
I hope George Tiller's death begins a real search for common ground. I hope his murder galvanises people into thinking that women deserve equal protection under the law as that accorded to their unborn children. This didn't happen in the wake of Dr David Gunn's murder in Pensacola, nor Dr Barnett Slepian's murder in Buffalo. It didn't happen when protesters at a Cleveland clinic poured petrol on a nurse and set fire to her. It is time we stopped pandering to terrorists just because they claim to be speaking in the name of Jesus. I'm not optimistic, but change in this respect is way overdue in America.
Sara Paretsky, I could not have said it better myself. Thank you.
Going back to our opening quote:
"...As we can see from people like Tiller, not all who claim to be Christian act accordingly."
As we can see from people like Tiller, not all who claim to be Christian act according to some people's interpretation of God's will. Dr. Tiller did what he believed to be the right thing and stood up for his beliefs, and subjected himself to a mass of negativity. And, knowing his own faith community would show him Christ's love through hatred and self-righteous condemnation, he still joined them with his head held high.
He is just as worthy to call himself a Christian as anyone who thanks God that they are "not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector."
If being Christian means it's ok to set fire to a nurse, or to shoot a doctor in front of his wife, because they don't agree with my opinions, I think I'll take my chances being a heathen, thanks. |
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| Creeptastic! |
[May. 29th, 2009::07:17 pm] |
Ok, I don't care how lonely you are. Buying a pillow that resembles a disembodied arm is fucking creepy as hell.
Creepy number 1:
Creepy number 2:
And the creepiest picture:
But for those of you who do wish to have a love affair with Thing's older brother, Overstock.com can fulfill your creepy desires for $26.97 plus shipping.
Sick. |
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| A Movie Review |
[May. 13th, 2009::10:49 pm] |
It's hard to enjoy Star Trek when you're on the edge of your seat waiting for a clock to start ticking while Spock starts slicing heads open with his mind...
Oh, wait. No it isn't. Star Trek was phenomenal, everyone! Go see it if you haven't! |
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| Swine Flu is serious business. |
[May. 2nd, 2009::10:18 am] |
You, too, can avoid swine flu. By taking the necessary precautions.
Antibacterial gel, no doubt, also probably works wonders against this virus!
Yikes, people. If we're this concerned now, I hate to think what will happen next year when the "regular" flu comes back!
Let's put the word "Pandemic" into perspective. If one person, one in the entire world, out of the nearly 7 billion population, is diagnosed with small pox, it meets the requirements for a pandemic.
Yeah. Flus are somewhat serious. H1N1 is kind of like every other flu. It is not a big deal.
What is the significance of the first person-to-person transmission of the H1N1 virus?
This is the point at which the virus could, theoretically, start to spread exponentially through the population. But it has been taken into account already by officials; because the new H1N1 virus has already jumped the species barrier into humans, scientists knew the bug would become transmissible between humans at some stage.
Dr Mark Fielder, a medical microbiologist at Kingston University, says it should not be a major cause for concern. "It's a fairly mild disease really. Its ability to spread between people, while there, is not enormous."
He adds that maintaining good standards of hygiene and following the Health Protection Agency's advice about regular handwashing and sneezing into tissues would halt the ability of the virus to spread quickly.
"The one thing to recognise is that we haven't had that many deaths yet. We've had far more deaths from other diseases going on in the world than we have had from this form of influenza. I really don't see it becoming a major mortality event. I see a number of people getting ill, but I'll hazard it will be no greater than normal seasonal flu."
Have the deaths in Mexico been hyped?
Robert Booy, head of clinical research at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance based at the University of Sydney, believes there is a simple explanation for the concentration of more than 100 deaths in Mexico. "It's likely that this outbreak has been running for not one month or even six weeks, but more than eight weeks [in Mexico]. Influenza tends to, on average, infect two people for every one case. The doubling then occurs every three days, which is the serial interval. This means that from day one to day 30 you go to about 1,000 cases, but in the next month, you go to a million."
This means that, if there have been hundreds of thousands of cases already in Mexico, then about 100 deaths gives a mortality rate of 0.1%.
"So the disease may not be nearly as severe as people thought," says Booy. "If the disease has been around for two months and infected so many people, many of them must be mildly infected and we haven't heard about them."
Again, this shows that H1N1 is, at the moment, not as lethal as most people might think.
What are scientists doing now?
Samples of the H1N1 virus arrived at the National Institute for Medical Research in north London this week and scientists there will now grow the virus structure and see how it might evolve. Working with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, the research will help develop a vaccine for the virus in the coming months.
And there you have it. Wash your hands and don't sneeze on people. Don't let people sneeze on you. You are going to be ok!! |
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| ::oink:: |
[Apr. 28th, 2009::07:35 pm] |
I don't understand why everyone's so afraid of swine flu. We're due for a pandemic. So what? Yellowstone's way overdue by a few thousand years to erupt and kill millions. And the world's ending in 2012 anyway, right? Maybe the Mayan calender ends when the last human drops dead from swine flu?
Geeze. Don't let people cough on you, wash your hands, drink a beer, and chill out people. |
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