links for 2009-04-17
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This gets me right where two childhood loves meet. I do think the Rebels version works better than the Imperials one, though.
I guess we haven't hit our limit yet
"An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation."
--John Marshall, McCullough v. Maryland, 1819
links for 2009-04-14
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"The central conceit of the 'tweet' in this case is the idea that Ninjas, which are black-clad martial artists who employ tactics of stealth to both defeat their opponents and avoid waking people up at night when they go to the bathroom, could partake in some of the worldy pleasures of the non-Ninja world (e.g., crunchy snacks) if that non-Ninja world consisted entirely of people wearing noise-canceling headphones. Henceforth we refer to this world as Headphone-World.
"But in a world like Headphone-World, with the rules of the game so casually muted, what of the Ninja? With no need for audible stealth have we not removed from him or her his or her very Ninjaness, reducing him or her to merely one-dimensional specialists with hearing that is, relative to the headphone world, extremely acute?"
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"While many are called to be the front-line hero, the in-the-limelight pastor or the courageous leader, many more are called to be the armor-bearers to those leaders. They will never get the praise or glory, but their role is just as critical as the people leading the charge or taking the shots. Jonathan needed his armor-bearer and that young man had the courage to follow the man he served into what looked like certain death. In the battle, we read that Jonathan’s armor-bearer watched his back and protected him from those who tried to attack him."
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"'We want fewer and better children ... and we cannot make the social life and the world-peace we are determined to make, with the ill-bred, ill-trained swarms of inferior citizens that you inflict on us.'
"That ghastly message appeared in the introduction to Margaret Sanger’s 1922 book, The Pivot of Civilization."
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Good stuff.
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"To socialize the American economy, it is not necessary to nationalize every business in the United States. All it requires is to put the corporations that control the finances of all of the companies in the economy under government control. And that is what is happening now...
[...]
"Apparently, members of Congress liked the special treatment that Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd received in getting his mortgage through Countrywide. We’re going to see even more of that kind of thing -- and outright corruption on a much bigger scale -- when the government is in direct control of the financial institutions and making the credit decisions that businesses large and small depend on to survive."
links for 2009-04-13
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I think we may be in trouble.
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"NiceTranslator is a fast, easy to use online translator designed with simplicity and functionality in mind"
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"Allowing law-abiding people to arm themselves offers more than piece of mind for those individuals -- it pays off for everybody through lower crime rates. Statistics from the FBI’s Uniformed Crime Report of 2007 show that states with right-to-carry laws have a 30% lower homicide rate, 46% lower robbery, and 12% lower aggravated assault rate and a 22% lower overall violent crime rate than do states without such laws. That is why more and more states have passed right-to-carry laws over the past decade.
[...]
"That is why I, along with Representative Rich Boucher (D-Va.) introduced H.R. 197, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act. Our legislation proposes a federal law that would entitle any person with a valid state-issued concealed carry permit to carry in any other state, as follows: In a state that issues carry permits, its laws would apply. In states that don’t issue carry permits, the Federal law providing a "bright-line" standard would permit carrying in places [...]"
Legalized larceny
"The collection of taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation is not to destroy those who have already secured success, but to create conditions under which everyone will have a better chance to be successful." --President Calvin Coolidge (1873-1933)
links for 2009-04-10
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Love this blueprint-style shirt of a famous starship from a recently finished television series.
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Episode guide to season 1 of The Clone Wars. Somehow, our TiVo missed recording more than a few, and now we're getting caught up. The problem, though, is that now we're getting episodes recorded out of order, so this guide will help us know which ones to watch next.
links for 2009-04-09
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Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick fans will get it. If you're neither, don't worry about it.
links for 2009-04-08
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"The megachurch pastor who faced backlash for praying at the President's inauguration talks to CT about politics, a new magazine, and the economy"
links for 2009-04-06
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"The book, Almost Perfect, was originally published by Prima Publishing in 1994. It is the story of the rise and fall of WordPerfect Corporation from my point of view. The book sold a little less than 10,000 copies and is now out of print. The copy published here is almost identical to my original manuscript and does not contain Prima's edits. In this version, I have corrected two factual errors, fixed five typos, deleted a few pages at the end, and added a final paragraph."
His conscience made him do it
Maybe I'm overly cynical, but trusting a politician's conscience seems a bit like trusting a prostitute's sense of propriety.
ATPM 15.04
The April issue of About This Particular Macintosh is now available for your reading pleasure. Mark discovers an unexpected benefit of the iPod nano apparently having a mind of its own, while at the same time dealing with the beta of Safari 4 and problems with paperless billing. As usual, Ed updates the GTD App Master List, while exploring the automation of file management. Rob brings us photos of the Vasquez Rocks, part of the San Andreas Fault just north of Los Angeles, in this month's desktop pictures. (Be sure to tune in next month when Rob's teenage daughter's photos of Yosemite are featured, and we can all see how much better a photographer she is than dear ol' Dad. Love ya, Rob!) Linus shows us how Mac users really can be affected by Windows viruses. Ed expands the capabilities of Photoshop Elements with the extremely capable Elements+, which unlocks big-brother Photoshop features otherwise hidden in the application's source code. In the quest to protect sensitive data, Linus conducts a little Espionage, while Lee looks at the iPhone app for Facebook, a place where far too many people aren't sensitive enough with their data. Frank conducts the Mother of Current Big Three GTD Mac Apps Round-Up™, having a hard time choosing between OmniFocus, TaskPaper, and Things. (I use TaskPaper myself, though I admit I don't really use it every day, in the way I should be using it. I guess I have trust issues. Which is funny because many times, my brain itself can't be trusted, so... Oh. Right. This month's issue. Sorry.) Chris is a little disappointed with the iFlyz Personal Media Solution Stand, whereas Lee finds KavaServices rather useful. Finally, when he's not flying the friendly skies, Chris is trying out the Showcase with his iPhone 3G. As usual, ATPM is available in a variety of formats to suit your reading needs: + Offline Webzine + Print-optimized PDF + Screen-optimized PDF
Under any mode or form of government
"It is necessary for every American, with becoming energy to endeavor to stop the dissemination of principles evidently destructive of the cause for which they have bled. It must be the combined virtue of the rulers and of the people to do this, and to rescue and save their civil and religious rights from the outstretched arm of tyranny, which may appear under any mode or form of government." --Mercy Warren, History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution, 1805
links for 2009-03-31
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"The Earth Observatory is a website run by NASA's Earth Observing System Project Science Office (EOSPSO). Bringing together imagery from many different satellites and astronaut missions, the website publishes fantastic images with highly detailed descriptions, feature articles and more. Gathered here are some standout photographs from the collections in the Earth Observatory over the past several years."
Huh?
John Farnam, "Huh?"
Who are these people?
The VCA who murdered four police officers in Oakland, CA last Saturday had been incarcerated since 2002, but had been recently released on parole.
The sentencing report in the 2002 case that put him in prison described this VCA as a "...cold-hearted individual, who has no regard for human life," and went on to insist that his permanently residing in prison was the "only way to rein-in this man's proclivity for violence."
Now there's a real recommendation for parole!
That report was surely available to the Parole Board who let him out.
Perhaps, between shrieking for the end to the private ownership of guns in America and the need for higher taxes, the media might find the time to ask why such remorseless, violent, unstable sociopaths are paroled in CA! ["VCA" = Violent Criminal Actor/Attacker. --R]
links for 2009-03-25
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"An Italian doctor completed a brain operation despite having a heart attack after realizing his patient would never recover if he stopped the surgery."
Wow.
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Carbon emission hoo-haa + nanny statism = government run amok.
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This is a joke, right?
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Genius.
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1 Corinthians 13:4-8, as rendered by Hugh Macleod.
If only
"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them." --Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking up Arms, 6 July 1775
links for 2009-03-23
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A gem my friend Tom found while out and about.
links for 2009-03-21
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Joshua Trevino accurately sums up most of my feelings regarding the series, and the finale.