Pseudopodia

Interfacing with your brain. Through Your Eyes. 
Tags



January 25, 2010

Why would we want to reform this?

via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 1/25/10

201001251015

Health care cost per person per year on left, life expectancy on right.

Related: a futile attempt to use logic to convince teabaggers to stop hurting themselves.

Health care cost -vs- life expectancy chart from National Geographic.

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [2]

January 18, 2010

Apparently, Jesus Want You To Shoot People

I am always surprised when my (incredibly godless) understanding of the major religion in this country is shown to be much more peace-loving than the understanding held by subsets of its practitioners. Isn't Christianity supposed to be about loving your neighbor and turning the other cheek?

U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes

Pentagon Supplier for Rifle Sights Says It Has 'Always' Added New Testament References

By JOSEPH RHEE, TAHMAN BRADLEY and BRIAN ROSS

Jan. 18, 2010 —

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions "have always been there" and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is "not Christian." The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.

via abcnews.go.com

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   america   religion   war  

Comments [0]

January 14, 2010

A lesson that I could learn

Maybe someday, I'll stop wasting my time arguing with various stripes of fundamentalist/creationist ignorance and content myself with the fact that regardless of what people say, the Universe will still exist. Someday...

via Discover Blogs on 1/14/10

This xkcd comic has hit my inbox a few times from readers and was recently mentioned in comments on Chris’ post as well. It highlights an important distinction about where certain religious beliefs matter–and where they do not. The tricky part is figuring out what to do when these areas collide:

beliefs


Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   science  

Comments [0]

January 13, 2010

Crazy Old Man Rambles Religiously

Continuing the pattern, wherein he says a crazy, quasi-christian fundamentalist line after every major world crisis, Pat Robertson found a few moments today to weigh in on just why it was that Haiti has suffered so much, including the horrific earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince yesterday:

So...we should all worship your god because he will destroy our cities if we don't?  Thanks, but I think I'll pass.  That guy (I have to guess Pat's god is a guy) sounds like a huge dick.

If you are interested in donating to the important and necessary relief efforts in what I now understand to be a nation of unrepentant devil-worshippers, please find a list of reputable charities at this link.  Of course, I would encourage you to give to a secular charity, but its your money.  

After donating, I trust we will all join together in wishing Mr. Robertson a speedy return from his worldly mission to the side of his sadistic, earthquake inducing, boss.  Lord knows I think he's done enough for all us sinners.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   religion   stupidity  

Comments [0]

January 13, 2010

Man, I could have used this five days from now.

via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 1/13/10

201001131242

Have you ever fantasized about traveling back in time a few hundred or thousand years and giving civilization a boost? Here's a poster for you in case your fantasy comes true. You can even get it on a T-shirt.

Time traveler's cheat sheet (Via Bits & Pieces)

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

January 10, 2010

What We Did To Our House This Week: Enter The Working Life

Picking up on the heels of our previous series, wherein we were both newly moved AND not contractually compelled to report to our place of employ for a good five days or so, post-move, we segue into the first of our weekly installments looking at just what has gone on around this little slice of new homeowner heaven during the past week.  Besides, all the most immediate crap was done by last sunday, and the daily series would fast have degenerated into something akin to "bought new shoelaces today, tied them."

What We Did To Our House This Week:

Not a whole bunch.  What with the imposition of having to work every weekday for a good nine hours or so, it has been somewhat harder to attack our newest major purchase with the dedication and aplomb that The Better Half (who spends a good three days a week substituting at a local high school) and I demonstrated in those first few post-move days.  Still, we have done a bit around this place to make it all the more livable and all the more like its new occupants.  Here is the list:
  • There are currently fewer boxes of stuff in this house than there have been at any point since the move.  Steady in our unpacking, we are soon to enter the dreaded "attic storage" mode, universally feared for its constant threats of back-ache and neck-strain.  Have you ever hauled fifty-pound cardboard boxes of shit up a ladder and through a hole in the ceiling of your closet?  This is where we are going.
  • On Wednesday, as a gift from the mother, we brought in a professional cleaning team to go through the house and remove the last few bits of grossness left over from its prior occupation.  This went largely to plan, though some unfortunate mold was discovered growing in the kitchen behind the refrigerator.  Bleach and diligence seem to be the prescribed course of action.
  • BH has primed and painted the upstairs bathroom.  The upstairs bedroom and bathroom both came with a color scheme of  alternating tans and maroons.  It was heinous.  Now the bathroom is light green, soon to be with darker green trim.  BH loves painting, and I am more than happy to let her have at it, consenting to color schemes and doing very little else.
  • I was able to offload three boxes of donor books at my place of employ.  Most were offered to the students in my AP Biology class, and then funneled to the AP Literature teacher for foisting off to his charges.  Some went to colleagues.  Others (the dirty ones) were put on the shelves of the faculty lending library in the faculty room.  Can't have the youth reading Trainspotting, now can we?  Actually, we can.  I did when I was fifteen.  Still, can't give the kids the book about the swearing Irish heroin addicts.  That's something they have to come to on their own.
  • The meat seller came by on Wednesday, to sell us discount, high quality meat and a freezer to keep it in.  We will be putting the meat freezer in the garage, where it can have long conversations about the nature of existence with all of the cardboard that is in there waiting to be recycled.
  • Yesterday, we were taught how to change our aquastat.  We can now change the temperature of our water with impunity.  Many thanks to the home expert who gave us the master class in aquastat operation.
  • Today, in celebration of BH's latest circumnavigation of the planetary orbit, we again went to Ikea on an express mission to purchase a dining room table and chairs.  Which is exactly what we did.  Then we put it all together.  Now we have a big-ass table for eating.  Hooray!
So, there it is.  Tune in next week for another riveting installment of What We Do To Our House.  Who knows where the week will take us?

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   house  

Comments [0]

January 8, 2010

The Friday Media Roundup: Support this Mess

Here is your Pod-approved Friday Media Roundup, a new series for the new year.

Music consumed this week:

Video consumed this week:

  • Street Fight.  (Best movie about American politics in the past decade?)
  • The Latest in Skip Funsington MD's "Plaintive Cry for your Money" Series:

The Funniest TV segment of the week:

The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Alpha Dog of the Week - Domino's Pizza
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

January 6, 2010

How to do the worst thing possible

Hey, Everybody!

Are you tired of losing sales due to the fact that you make a product that is functionally obsolete in the modern media-scape? You could get your act in gear and start embracing the new OR you could force everyone to deal with your fear of change by binding more forward-thinking companies into crap deals designed to prolong your backwards business model.

I sure hope this kind of thing does not catch on.

via Ars Technica by jacqui@arstechnica.com (Jacqui Cheng) on 1/6/10

Warner Bros. has signed a new agreement that will bring the studio's new releases to Netflix in DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming form—a month after the original DVD release. The companies announced the continuation of their partnership today, but with the added twist of the 28-day delay, clearly meant to help Warner Bros. sell more physical media in a dying market.

The fact that Warner Bros. has agreed to distribute its media through Netflix is nothing new—the company has had this partnership with Netflix for close to 10 years—but the explicit addition of a 28-day release window is new. This means that when a popular Warner Bros. movie comes out on DVD for sale at your local Target or Best Buy, you must wait another month before you can get it delivered to your door or desktop via Netflix.

Read the rest of this article...

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   media  

Comments [0]

January 6, 2010

Don't Make Me Feed You To My Ningen

See below, ningen.

via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 1/6/10

201001060826

Pink Tentacle has a bunch of photos, videos, and artists' renderings of "ningen."

Reportedly observed on multiple occasions by crew members of government-operated “whale research” ships, these so-called “Ningen” (lit. “humans”) are said to be completely white in color with an estimated length of 20 to 30 meters. Eyewitnesses describe them as having a human-like shape, often with legs, arms, and even five-fingered hands. Sometimes they are described as having fins or a large mermaid-like tail instead of legs. The only visible facial features are the eyes and mouth.
Ningen: humanoid sea creatures of the Antarctic

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments [0]

January 5, 2010

Why Do I Have TV, Again?

After much back and forth with the cable company, we once again have a functional TV, replete with the ability to record TV as we see fit.  Our temporary location for the past six months did not have this feature, which forced us to subsist on a TV diet of hulu and netflix and the occasional torrent file.  Not anymore.  TV is back.  And I have to say that 24 hours in there are certainly many plusses...and many minuses, too.  

One thing you notice when you do not have a cable TV connection, is just how much something like a cable TV connection shapes your perception of the world around you.  I say this while having maintained a sizable internet habit and chronic fixation with NPR whenever mobile throughout our period of no TV.  We are nothing if not media junkies around these parts.  But there is something different about TV and how big a role it plays in cluing you in to the national psyche.  Without it piping in to your brain, you have much more leeway in deciding how you should feel about issues.  I think a lot of it has to do with the commercials.  I had already given up on all TV news except The Daily Show, Colbert and Jim Lehrer way before our TV hiatus, so I'm willing to rule out the influence of the 24-hour news networks.  That done, I don't imagine it could be too much else but the commercials.  One example:  Living like we were, I was only dimly aware of the impending release of Avatar.  Had we been watching TV this fall, I can only imagine that the event that was the release of the film would have been quite firm in our minds for a period of weeks leading up to the film's release.  Such is the dynamic of television advertising.

More than the commercials, the thing that continues to amaze me is just how shitty most of the stuff that is on my TV is.  Today, I spent ~two hours watching TV that I was interested in before I sat down to watch it (The Daily Show + Colbert + Andrew Zimmern + The Newshour - all of the interspersed commercials).  It was all good, worthwhile stuff.  I was even able to put it on in the background while I did some of the more menial work-related tasks.   That was nice.

In addition to the above, I spent another hour or so watching bits of three other programs.  The first, called "Conveyor Belt of Love," involved men being brought onto a stage via the titular conveyor belt wherein women decided if they wanted to date them based on a minutes worth of interaction.  Shockingly, this approach did not produce a large number of well-matched couples.  I was able to watch a small segment of some terrible show on VH1 about Aspen, wherein I saw a man lick a woman's bosom at a party and then accompany her to the bathroom for what I can only feel was not a mutual session of metabolic waste elimination.  Finally, we saw the beginning of a new reality TV show wherein a broke, 31-year old man who lives in his parent's basement and is notable only for the fact that he has not won three previous VH1 reality TV game shows that he has been on, will have 15 women with poor fashion sense and low self-esteem vie for his affections while they all live in his parent's house along with his parents.  

So, this is my TV.  I figure that even though we have the most user-empowered mode of engaging with the medium available to the home viewer in the form of a DVR and I still can only manage a .500 in watching what I would consider to be "worthwhile" TV, that television really is dying in a way.  I wonder just how long it will be until we will be able to jettison this rather silly mode of receiving hundreds of channels of muddy water from which to sift for a few pearls in favor of something resembling the fabled "ala-carte" menu of shows that we actually want to watch?  I know that the minute we get that chance around these parts, we'll jump at it.   And maybe, just maybe, the death of TV will also kill off all of the flotsam of marginal celebrity that the recent reality TV craze has spawned.  I can't imagine too many people would pay extra to watch a 31-year old man in his parent's basement.

PS-  I just remembered that we also watched five minutes of a reality TV show about repo men that may well have been the most obviously fake, poorly acted thing that that I have ever seen, made all the more ironic by the fact that it was on a network called "TruTV."

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   house   pop culture  

Comments [2]