Man Made Climate Change

Apparently we humans have actually caused climate change. Need proof? Well this Russian guy has it:

In the article, Areshev voiced suspicions about the High-Frequency Active Aural Research Program (HAARP), funded by the U.S. Defense Department and the University of Alaska.

HAARP, which has long been the target of conspiracy theorists, analyzes the ionosphere and seeks to develop technologies to improve radio communications, surveillance, and missile detection.

Areshev writes, however, that its true aim is to create new weapons of mass destruction “in order to destabilize environmental and agricultural systems in local countries.”

Well with such a plausible idea like that I guess we need to start believing the greenies. Too bad for them simply driving hybrids isn’t going to fix it.

Seriously I love Russian conspiracies, they’re always hilarious.

Using the Surveillance State to Our Advantage

So yeah I found an article in the Red Star that made me laugh. Apparently DFL candidate for Governor, Mark Dayton, made a remark about people that follow him around with cameras. He stated it’s harassment and apparently doesn’t like the surveillance state. This is what happens Mr. Politician when we use your tools against you. Notice how you don’t like being watched 24/7 by cameras? We don’t fucking like it either.

Historical Irony

I’ve been reading Texian Illiad (not an affiliate link) by Stephen L. Hardin. It’s a history of the Texas fight against Mexico for independence. Overall it’s a pretty good read. Alas there is some fine irony mentioned in the book.

Mexico was having trouble getting people to colonize the northern Texas area so they started making deals. Basically you could nab some free (in price and tax) land by settling in specific regions. American citizens of course took Mexico up on this offer which was the basic idea. Well apparently a lot of Americans just started showing up and settling in without getting the proper paperwork from the Mexican government. One of the biggest concerns for the Mexican government was the illegal immigrants from America.

Oh how I love irony!

New Assault Knife

Holy shit! Check out this dangerous and terrible knife! Obviously it’s far sharper than any hunting knife needs to be. The only thing this knife is good for is kill people! People simply don’t need a knife this sharp. We need to ban it now!

See how stupid that sounds? Well it sounds equally dumb when that is said about firearms. Seriously though that blade in the video is sharp, I want one.

Terminology

I’m by nature a meat eater. If it wasn’t for the fact that I often have something along with my steak, burger, pork chop, bacon, or other form of dead animal I’d be a complete carnivore.

The other side of the camp are vegans who eat no product derived from animals (which means milk for instance) and vegetarians who simply don’t eat meat. I have no problem with either of these groups what you eat is your choice just don’t try to force it upon me. Of course not I’ve noticed new terms popping up; flexatarian and inflexatarian.

Who are these groups? Apparently they’re people who don’t have the will to be vegetarians but want to hipster creds of not eating meat. Well because of these people I’ve decided to write a little mini-rant on terminology.

I have news for those who label themselves as flexatarians and inflexatarians, you’re omnivores. As an example an inflexatarian will say they’ll only eat meat three times a week. You know what that means? I means you’re still eating fucking meat. That makes you a carnivore. Being you also eat plant material that makes you an omnivore. You shouldn’t feel bad about that fact though since our species has evolved to be exactly that. Some our our teeth are made for grinding down plant material while other teeth are made for ripping into tasty animals.

Here’s the thing, your desire to make up new terminology to gain hipster creds is pointless. Hell I’ll go a step further, it’s fucking stupid. Vegans have a reason for a new term as they are distinctly different from vegetarians. Vegetarians have a reason for a new term as they are distinctly different from us meat eaters. But you little twits on the fence are not distinctly different than us meat eaters you just eat less meat. But hey in the spirit of things I’m making up a new term, fucking awesome!

What is the fucking awesome group? Well we are the group that ensures we eat more dead animal than plant material. We only eat plant material three times a week, tops. Beyond that everything we eat must be derived from a formerly living creature. At least two of those meals each week must come from a disgustingly cute animal to boot.

Punishment is Overrated Anyways

I’ve mentioned a little laptop spying case that had come down upon a now infamous school district. In case you haven’t been reading that long I’ll recap.

The Lower Merion school district gave out laptops to each of their students. On every laptop was software that granted the ability for certain school officials to turn on the built-in web cam and see what was going on in front of the laptop. One of these school officials turned the camera on and saw what he or she thought was a kid doing drugs and tried bringing down the ban hammer. Bringing said hammer down revealed the fact that these laptops were being used to spy on kids. This feature was never actually mentioned to the students or parents whom received these laptops. This is where the shit storm started.

So what horrible punishment awaits the school officials whom were using these laptops to secretly spy on unsuspecting high school students? Absolutely nothing! It’s nice to see the justice system still works as it always has, in the benefit of the government.

I know what you’re thinking, at least the school will remove the said spying software from the kids’ laptops. Well that isn’t happening either. The school is going to openly admit they have the ability to spy on kids and their Scouts’ Honors they’ll only use it when absolutely necessary. You have to love this quote:

The measures require students and their parents to acknowledge the policies and consent in writing to any tracking, or give them an option to not participate in the laptop program. They also mandate expanded training about privacy and technology for teachers and staff, and will include information sessions for parents.

So you either put up with Big Brother or go without a laptop. That seems fair… so long as you get a tax refund for the percentage most likely being used to fund this program. The damnedest thing here is these spy programs don’t actually accomplish much as any thief with two brain cells to spare will just reformat any stolen computer to begin with. Logic of course has no place in our modern education system hence the promise from proven corrupt school officials is enough to shut the huddled masses up. Oh you also have to love this:

The district has already spent nearly $1 million in legal fees and expenses on the case.

Yes that’s right the school district has spent almost $1 million of tax payer money defending itself against tax payers. Government is the only entity where you sue them and have to pay for both your legal fees and the legal fees of those you are suing. Brilliant little scam right there! And just because it disgusts me here is another quote:

The meeting, at Penn Valley Elementary School, drew barely a dozen community members, and none who asked to speak about the policy.

Every fucking parent with a child in that school district should have been there and raising all levels of Hell. Fire and brimstone should have rained upon the school officials for spying on children. In any other capacity what those school officials did would have been labeled voyeurism and at the very least a massive invasion of privacy. Fuck that single sentence pisses me off to no end!

Let this story be a lesson, if a school gives your child a laptop tape over any built-in web cam and reformat the entire thing before your child uses it.

Edit 2010-08-18 11:16: Spelling and grammar, I don’t haz it. But I believe I’ve corrected the more glaring problems in the post.

A Fool and His Money

You know what they say, a fool and his money are quickly departed. Take this example for instance. It’s an application that alerts you when there are lightening lightning strikes in your area and it only costs $5.99!

Of course the article also brings up the fact a whole 58 people are killed (on average) every year by lightening lightning. The population of the United States is 307,006,550 according to Google meaning .0000188921051% of the population of the United States are killed each year (on average) by lightening lightning.

With a risk that tiny who the Hell is going to buy a shitty $5.99 app?

EDIT 2010-08-18 22:02: Proof reading is important just remember that. And no matter how many times you use the closely spelled but completely incorrect word it doesn’t make it right. Thanks for pointing it out Linoge.

Damn State Preemption

Since the state of Minnesota has preemption over firearms laws the Moorhead is unable to ban the real thing. So what’s are a bunch of whiny anti-gunners to do? Try to ban replicas of course!

By whiny anti-gunners I mean the Moorhead police:

Police chief Dave Ebinger told the city council it’s hard to tell whether the gun is a real firearm or not and that officers are forced to treat the replicas as though they are real.

Sorry that doesn’t add up in this state. So long as a person has a valid carry permit they can openly carry a firearm. Therefore the question for police isn’t whether or that firearm being carried by John Doe is real, but whether or not Mr. Doe has a valid carry permit (which sadly matters in this state). Ultimately none of it matters unless the gun or replica in question is being used to threaten or harm another person. When things get to that point it matters now if the gun is fake or real if the person being threatened believes it to be real (as they then have justification to defend themselves).