It's been a long week and because it's Friday I decided to post some fun links (some of my favorite DIGG stories of the day).
Here's a really cool newsmap that shows you headlines from all over the world in real time.
Also, here are some cool pics and video of the Aurora Australis (southern lights) from the IMAGE sattelite.
Here's a fun online game.
And the last one, maybe not so cool, is a list of the sites that Google has recently agreed to censor in China. The page shows side-by-side search results between Google.com (US version) and Google.cn (China's version).
Friday, January 27, 2006
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Impaler for Governor
This guy says he's a vampire and that he's going to run for Governor of MN in the next gubernatorial race. He is a fan of impalement and calls for impalment of criminals and terrorists. On his website he discusses his violent hate for his family members and his sexual involvement with his half-sister.
I thought his website was highly disturbing, especially because this guy is actually serious. He's been interviewed by radio stations, newspapers, and all sorts of other press.
Expect to see this guy's name mentioned more and more in the near future.
Yikes!!!
I thought his website was highly disturbing, especially because this guy is actually serious. He's been interviewed by radio stations, newspapers, and all sorts of other press.
Expect to see this guy's name mentioned more and more in the near future.
Yikes!!!
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory........or should I say Ray Nagin and New Orleans?
In his recent speech, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin called for a rebuilding of a "chocolate" New Orleans. The metaphor doesn't end there. He goes on to say:
"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day."
and he continues.... "God is mad at America" because of our involvement in Iraq. That's why "he's sending hurricane after hurricane." He's also "upset at Black America."
Wow, I guess I missed the day that Ray Nagin and God sat down together and had a nice little heart-to-heart. I must not have gotten that memo.
When questioned about what some consider his racially divisive comments, Nagin says:
"How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about,"
"New Orleans was a chocolate city before Katrina. It is going to be a chocolate city after. How is that divisive? It is white and black working together, coming together and making something special."
Hey Mr. Nagin -- Way to attempt to make a racially motivating speech on the same day the rest of the country is honoring Martin Luther King. How sad that on the same day you have MLK's amazing speeches being replayed against Ray Nagin's call for "All Chocolates, Unite!"
Yeah, thats the way to gain respect and power, reduce your people to an edible treat.
Ray's speech left one question unanswered for me. Where will the Oompa Loompas live?
In his recent speech, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin called for a rebuilding of a "chocolate" New Orleans. The metaphor doesn't end there. He goes on to say:
"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day."
and he continues.... "God is mad at America" because of our involvement in Iraq. That's why "he's sending hurricane after hurricane." He's also "upset at Black America."
Wow, I guess I missed the day that Ray Nagin and God sat down together and had a nice little heart-to-heart. I must not have gotten that memo.
When questioned about what some consider his racially divisive comments, Nagin says:
"How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about,"
"New Orleans was a chocolate city before Katrina. It is going to be a chocolate city after. How is that divisive? It is white and black working together, coming together and making something special."
Hey Mr. Nagin -- Way to attempt to make a racially motivating speech on the same day the rest of the country is honoring Martin Luther King. How sad that on the same day you have MLK's amazing speeches being replayed against Ray Nagin's call for "All Chocolates, Unite!"
Yeah, thats the way to gain respect and power, reduce your people to an edible treat.
Ray's speech left one question unanswered for me. Where will the Oompa Loompas live?
Monday, January 16, 2006
Golden Globes '06
This past year brought many well-done and award-winning films that dealt with homosexuality and transexuality. Among them are Brokeback Mountain, Transamerica, and Capote. However, the successes of these films should not overshadow their true messages--- that of the marginalization and oppression that such individuals continue to experience. Felicity Huffman's acceptance speech couldn't have been more passionate and eloquent:
"I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are. And so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are."
May this bring society one small step closer to the needed appreciation and celebration of the small differences, yet ultimate similarities, among us all.
"I know as actors our job is usually to shed our skins, but I think as people our job is to become who we really are. And so I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are."
May this bring society one small step closer to the needed appreciation and celebration of the small differences, yet ultimate similarities, among us all.
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law. "
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy."
"...And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man." ---Speech in Memphis, April 13, 1968, on the day before King was assassinated.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
(Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. )
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy."
"...And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man." ---Speech in Memphis, April 13, 1968, on the day before King was assassinated.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
(Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. )
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Lego people go to church, too
Check out this Lego church that someone built. I was amazed. How come I never had mad Lego skillz like this?
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Hail to the Cheese
I'm sitting at my desk at lunchtime browsing the online articles of the New York Times. Suddenly, while devouring the last scrumptious bite of my Jimmy John's sandwich (of course, loaded with extra cheese!), my eyes feat upon a glorious article: "Macaroni and Lots of Cheese."
The article chronicles the author's quest for the perfect Mac and Cheese recipe. Ahhh, yes. I hear the angels singing and the pearly gates swinging open. (Ok, so thats a bit extreme. But still. I REALLY love cheese.)
I've discussed the topic of cheese many a time with friends. Several of them are, like myself, cheese freaks. We are the bearers of knowledge that the new-age dieting and health zealots have long forgotten: Everything is better with cheese. When in doubt, add cheese. I've tried several times to think of a food that wouldn't go well with some type of cheese. I haven't yet found one.
Wine? Check. (Wine and CHEESE parties, hello!)
Fruit? Check. (Apples and cheese - yum. Think Fondue!)
Vegetables? Check. Nothin like sprinkling some shredded cheese on that boring helping of frozen veggie medley.)
Meat? Ahhh, yes, the more the merrier. Chicken Parmesan, yum! Meatballs smothered in a cheese sauce and accompanied with some pasta and marinara? Delicious.
Oh, the list goes on and on.
Without further ado, here's the article on Mac and Cheese.
The article chronicles the author's quest for the perfect Mac and Cheese recipe. Ahhh, yes. I hear the angels singing and the pearly gates swinging open. (Ok, so thats a bit extreme. But still. I REALLY love cheese.)
I've discussed the topic of cheese many a time with friends. Several of them are, like myself, cheese freaks. We are the bearers of knowledge that the new-age dieting and health zealots have long forgotten: Everything is better with cheese. When in doubt, add cheese. I've tried several times to think of a food that wouldn't go well with some type of cheese. I haven't yet found one.
Wine? Check. (Wine and CHEESE parties, hello!)
Fruit? Check. (Apples and cheese - yum. Think Fondue!)
Vegetables? Check. Nothin like sprinkling some shredded cheese on that boring helping of frozen veggie medley.)
Meat? Ahhh, yes, the more the merrier. Chicken Parmesan, yum! Meatballs smothered in a cheese sauce and accompanied with some pasta and marinara? Delicious.
Oh, the list goes on and on.
Without further ado, here's the article on Mac and Cheese.
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
The year of really annoying things
Its that time of year again -- the new year brings with it all of those 'Top 100' lists of all things 2005. I know I've posted several of these lately, but there's one more I need to add. Then I will be done with lists until next year. That is, unless I want to make my own list of the Top 100 'Top-100' Lists of the Year.
This list, that I found on DIGG, chronicles the most annoying things of 2005. You can read the entire list here.
Here's my favorites.
# 74 - Nick and Jessica
1,000 years from now, archaeologists will look at our news publications and figure that this celebrity duo must have been king and queen of the world. Why anyone is interested in these empty headed no-talent morons is a mystery to all mankind. I’m against The Patriot Act, but I’d be willing to sacrifice our civil liberties a bit to permit the government to put anyone who ever bought a Jessica Simpson record on a special island and do some bomb testing. Not only would you collectively increase the nation’s IQ, but you’d stick it to Wal-Mart by getting rid of 80% of their customer base.
#39 - Fox News
President Bush could drive a flaming van full of babies off a cliff and FOX would find a way to spin it as a liberal attack on family values.
#17 - Rubber Commemerative Bracelets
Whoops! The yellow dye in those LIVESTRONG bracelets causes cancer. Sorry, folks!
#12 - Harriet Miers
Just because she worked as a puppet on "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" for decades doesn’t mean she’s qualified to serve on the highest court in the land.
# 2 - Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise is completely sane, virile, exhibits self control, is a member of a totally rational non-cult religion, does not eat babies, and does not use mind control to trick Hollywood starlets into carrying the seed of space-demons.
Here's to hoping 2006 is a little less annoying.
This list, that I found on DIGG, chronicles the most annoying things of 2005. You can read the entire list here.
Here's my favorites.
# 74 - Nick and Jessica
1,000 years from now, archaeologists will look at our news publications and figure that this celebrity duo must have been king and queen of the world. Why anyone is interested in these empty headed no-talent morons is a mystery to all mankind. I’m against The Patriot Act, but I’d be willing to sacrifice our civil liberties a bit to permit the government to put anyone who ever bought a Jessica Simpson record on a special island and do some bomb testing. Not only would you collectively increase the nation’s IQ, but you’d stick it to Wal-Mart by getting rid of 80% of their customer base.
#39 - Fox News
President Bush could drive a flaming van full of babies off a cliff and FOX would find a way to spin it as a liberal attack on family values.
#17 - Rubber Commemerative Bracelets
Whoops! The yellow dye in those LIVESTRONG bracelets causes cancer. Sorry, folks!
#12 - Harriet Miers
Just because she worked as a puppet on "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" for decades doesn’t mean she’s qualified to serve on the highest court in the land.
# 2 - Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise is completely sane, virile, exhibits self control, is a member of a totally rational non-cult religion, does not eat babies, and does not use mind control to trick Hollywood starlets into carrying the seed of space-demons.
Here's to hoping 2006 is a little less annoying.
Sunday, January 1, 2006
Crazy-dancing-foil-boys video
Check out this video of Crazy boys dancing. Happy New Year!!! May all your days of 2006 be as special as the one in this video, heeheehee.
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