tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49360125053474717162024-03-23T04:18:41.796-07:00Asterisk Dot CrusadeJoe Benoliel's photo gallery and news siteAsteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.comBlogger727125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-31010851735076799972014-03-07T13:08:00.003-08:002014-03-07T13:08:31.126-08:00Joe's Music Pick of the Week : Babymetal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="445" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WIKqgE4BwAY" width="460"></iframe><br />
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takes a moment to get started..got this link off walburton labs facebook </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-12005863473364679692014-02-27T07:56:00.001-08:002014-02-27T07:57:11.047-08:00MoTW: Metroid Fight for Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="465" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lBXdG4FZHoI" width="460"></iframe><br /></div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-4326138355808592802014-01-18T14:03:00.003-08:002014-01-18T14:03:33.507-08:00Lightning strikes Jesus, removes two fingers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Great pics of <a href="http://sploid.gizmodo.com/lightning-struck-rios-jesus-christ-statue-and-broke-of-1503947641">angry Jesus Christ throwing thunderbolts</a>. Found this via Fark.<br />
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Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-78950907437854515522014-01-15T16:57:00.000-08:002014-01-15T16:57:40.643-08:00Supreme Court permits 140 lawsuits against small farmers to proceed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://assets.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/scales%20of%20justice*304.jpg?v=1" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://assets.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/scales%20of%20justice*304.jpg?v=1" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
Our legal system is just not designed to treat Dave vs Goliath fairly and <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/supreme-court-hands-monsanto-victory-over-farmers-on-gmo-seed-patents-and-ability-to-sue/5364782">here is a perfect example</a>. Filing lawsuits is a drop in the ocean to a megacorps/government legal teams while the same legal processes are a huge and often destructive inconveniences to individuals or small business. How can you have a fair trial when the cost of being involved is ruinous to one party and trivial to the other? </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-59361326868514836542013-12-20T10:34:00.001-08:002013-12-20T10:40:06.128-08:00Joe's Music of the Week:: Casting Crowns "Thrive"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://youtu.be/qQ71RWJhS_M">Casting Crowns "Thrive"</a> (my video link isnt working for some reason so here is the youtube link. )<br />
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once again Casting crowns makes a beautiful moving tribute and expression of universal spirituality regardless of which God you follow. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-3109267876786744092013-12-14T17:21:00.000-08:002013-12-14T17:24:29.572-08:00Quick Hobbit 2 review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Thumbs up. Didnt follow the books storyline at all (for example gandalf never goes 1-1 with sauron in any of the books and there isnt a dwarf-elf romance in the books) but regardless I dont think my interest wavered at all during the 3 hours. Its clear to me the directors learned a lot from LotR(which I hated) and have refined their art even more with these Hobbit movies. Looks like the animators had a lot of fun making smaug..the last like 45 minutes is filled with him chasing the dwarves through the lonely mountain VERY reminiscent of the Scooby Doo cliche where they run through various doors all on the same floor. I'm in a funny spot with this movie- the Hobbit was HUGE for me as a kid, but I never read the book. I was addicted to the radio drama via books on tape. The first program I ever wrote was a choose your own adventure Hobbit game for the Apple. I guess the story is good where ever you get it, though again..these movies are leaving the actual story behind and making up a new one. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-46468207558669768992013-12-09T08:10:00.000-08:002013-12-09T14:58:54.647-08:00Joe's long list of interesting newz links<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
These have been gathering in my bookmarks for a bit now<br />
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<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/15/feinstein-bill-nsa-warrantless-searches-surveillance">Democrats trying to pass bill that legalizes NSA spying</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/nsa-spies-online-games-world-warcraft-second-life">Government spends money sending spies into video games</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/tpp-trade-agreement_n_4409211.html">Obama trying to give big business power to ignore local laws</a><br />
<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/08/cellphone-data-spying-nsa-police/3902809/">Local police all over the country are hacking into the cell phone network</a><br />
<a href="http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2013-12-02/story/jacksonville-ticking-time-bomb-due-lack-adequate-mental-health-services">Jacksonville's mental health system called a "ticking time bomb"</a><br />
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10487454/Israeli-army-accused-of-targeting-journalists.html">Associated Press complain about Israel's targeting of Journalists</a><br />
<a href="http://www.tmz.com/2013/09/30/weird-al-yankovic-new-album-music-recording/">Weird AL finally recording new album</a><br />
<a href="http://mynorthwest.com/813/2410902/Has-cancer-just-been-cured">Cancer cured but 12 year expected delay for FDA approval</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/10/18/the_abortion_that_could_cost_a_mom_her_family/">Choice to have abortion could cost mom custody of other children</a><br />
<a href="http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Abbas-condemns-killing-of-Palestinian-teen-334378">Israel has snipers on buildings like Syria shooting rock throwers</a><br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25118156">NSA gathering porn usage data to discredit critics and "radicals" </a><br />
<a href="http://rt.com/news/israeli-woman-fined-circumcise-346/">Israeli woman fined $140/day for refusing order by religious court</a><br />
<a href="http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_Navys_funding_of_high_schools_raises_concerns_999.html">US Navy providing funding to public schools who court them</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/20/juvenile-life-without-parole_n_3962983.html">United States is the only country in the world that gives kids life sentences</a><br />
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2013/11/22/how-poker-became-a-crime">Remember when WA state extradited 2 guys for playing online poker</a>?<br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/dad-arrested-for-complaining-about-schools-absurd-pick-1467819079">Walk up Dad arrested for trying to pick up his kids ahead of drivers</a><br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2486036/Eight-year-old-boy-threatened-expulsion-school-drawing-pictures-Halloween-costumes-included-guns-knives.html">8yo threatened with expulsion for drawing Halloween costumes</a><br />
<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/4/median-wage-stagnationincomeinequality.html">Median wages fall to lowest amount since 1998</a><br />
<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/from-the-mind-of-a-dancer-a-new-kind-of-wheelchair/2143164">Wheelchair for dancers patented</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/11/25/goog-n25.html">Government of England blocking pornography on the internet</a><br />
<a href="http://kdvr.com/2013/10/18/denver-wont-pay-victim-in-excessive-force-case-even-though-he-won-case/">City of Denver can choose to ignore judges ruling against it</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/nov/28/war-on-democracy-corporations-spy-profit-activism">Business are spying on critic and activist just as bad as the NSA</a><br />
<a href="http://world.time.com/2013/11/04/cia-made-doctors-complicit-in-torture-after-911-report-says/">911 report claims CIA ordered doctors to torture detainees</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/09/congress-government-shutdown_n_4065432.html">Congressional Spa still operated during Gov. shutdown</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/fifth-grader-is-convicted-in-murder-plot.html">11yo boy form Washington convicted in murder plot</a><br />
<a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/22/chiquita-seeks-toblocklawsuitsfiledbythousandsofcolombians.html">Gov sues Chiquita Banana corp for funding terror groups</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/31/walmart-food-stamps_n_4181862.html">Walmart makes tons of $$ off food stamp program</a><br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2430573/An-adult-18-Not-Adolescence-ends-25-prevent-young-people-getting-inferiority-complex.html">Psychologists in England changing age of adulthood from 18 to 25</a><br />
<a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/21/mystery-solved-new-book-says-rfk-stole-jfks-brain/">RFK stole JFKs brain</a><br />
<a href="http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/4049/20130919/1-10-watersheds-continental-stressed-number-grow.htm">US running out of groundwater</a><br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/judges-who-ok-d-nsa-spying-own-lots-of-stock-in-telecom-1327088908">Judge who approves NSA spying owns lots of stock in telecom corps</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wavy.com/news/local/va-beach/has-zero-tolerance-gone-too-far">Kids suspended for playing with toy guns in their own yard</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/24/politics/presidents-lie/index.html?hpt=hp_c2">It is American tradition for the president to lie to the people</a><br />
<a href="http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3209305.shtml#.UqXht-LXvFl">Cops request anal prob during traffic stop</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/cca-prison-industry_n_3061115.html">Private prison business is making money hand over fist</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/21/bolivia-sues-us-evo-morales-crimes-against-humanity_n_3964253.html">President of Bolivia to sue Obama for crimes against humanity</a><br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/10/14/232120128/how-columbus-sailed-into-u-s-history-thanks-to-italians">Why are we still talking about this Columbus guy?</a><br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/dad-calls-cops-on-son-to-teach-him-a-lesson-cops-shoot-1460159897">Dad asks for help with arngy teenage son; cops shoot unarmed kid</a><br />
<a href="http://nypost.com/2013/09/12/herpes-infected-monkeys-terrorize-florida/">Herpes infected monkeys loose in Florida</a><br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbaynews9.com%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fbaynews9%2Fnews%2Farticle.html%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fbn9%2F2013%2F10%2F21%2Fvideo_shows_dozens_o&ei=m-OlUtCTIbbIsATOtIDYCw&usg=AFQjCNH8nGWMoLkOhR8vYsfxvFilaI-ZHw&sig2=LLUgsIhM_eTFnLmdcNXJ2A&bvm=bv.57752919,d.cWc">Stingray migration going on in Florida</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/17/daniel-pelka-mandatory-reporting-child-abuse">England's Children Service also cant self-regulate</a><br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/ohio-cop-on-paid-leave-after-terrorizing-family-durin-1357946204">Cops still employed and being paid after caught on video terrorizing family</a><br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/biggest-crook-in-americas-crookedest-town-headed-to-pr-1441096585">Mayor of Bell, Californa finally going to prison</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/18-foot-serpent-like-sea-creature-found-off-california/">Sea serpent washes up in California</a><br />
<a href="http://mynorthwest.com/76/2376647/Dori-What-it-costs-to-get-rid-of-bad-teachers">Cost of firing a teacher</a><br />
<a href="http://gawker.com/pentagon-admits-faking-arrival-ceremonies-for-mia-sol-1443891086">For the last 7 years Military has been faking soldier arrival ceremony</a> <br />
<a href="http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/experian-sold-consumer-data-to-id-theft-service/">Social Security Number legally up for sale</a><br />
<a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/25/exclusive-feds-confiscate-investigative-reporters-confidential-files-during-raid/">Homeland security raid journalists office, steals contact list</a><br />
<a href="http://valleywag.gawker.com/google-execs-have-been-flying-to-nantucket-with-taxpaye-1310297294/1310355985/@maxread">Government paying the gas used for Billionaires airplanes</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/14/isra-s14.html">US silent on Israel's use of chemical weapons</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/state-airbnb-article-1.1477934">New York state wants to charge you tax for guests sleeping on your couch</a><br />
<a href="http://www.thelocal.se/20130915/50250">Swedish Government claims beaver butt secretions good for cooking</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/14/us/california-schools-monitor-social-media/index.html">Ca school system hired 3rd party to spy on students after school activities</a><br />
<a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/ib331-ceo-pay-top-1-percent/">CEO pay and how the wage system is broken</a><br />
<a href="http://www.thelocal.de/20131001/52193">German author who criticized NSA denied entry into US</a><br />
<a href="http://www.clickorlando.com/news/boy-suspended-after-using-finger-as-pretend-gun/-/1637132/22204876/-/hfv59e/-/index.html?source=wkmg">8yo suspended from school for playing with finger as gun</a><br />
<a href="http://io9.com/ancient-archeological-sites-that-were-destroyed-by-care-1442434226">Ancient archelogoly sites destroyed</a><br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/10/13/233449505/15-years-later-where-did-all-the-cigarette-money-go">Money won from Big Tobacco settlements rarely put to good use </a><br />
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Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-3801141119372008952013-11-30T11:33:00.001-08:002013-11-30T11:49:24.554-08:00US WWII vets are war criminals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/B-29_target_cities_in_Japan.png/300px-B-29_target_cities_in_Japan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/B-29_target_cities_in_Japan.png/300px-B-29_target_cities_in_Japan.png" /></a></div>
At least the ones serving the pacific front. Just finished watching the anime movie <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies">Graveyard of the Fireflies</a> which is a story about the US firebombing urban housing areas on mainland japan, aka civilian targets, in WW2. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had to happen because they ended wars, current and potential and saved lives. The target areas were business districts, a civilian target but not targeting civilians per say. Creating firestorms out of wood houses in Japanese urban population areas and indiscriminately killing in one of the most horrible ways possible (burns suck) 100,000s of women and children (since all the man were out at war) is barbaric. As far as I know Japan never attack a US civilian target, and it certainly had the opportunity. I'm thankful most WW2 vets arnt around any more..I dont generally enjoying kicking old people in the nutz.</div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-22474394414064907692013-11-30T08:15:00.001-08:002013-11-30T08:18:59.492-08:00What I'm Playing 11/30<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Playing :<br />
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Xcom Enemy Within :: was on sale for Black Friday so I picked it up. The original game sat unplayed like all year on my desktop (got it for 5 bucks on sale a while ago)..I had heard they made it into a FPS but after watching some great lets play videos it clearly is a very fun game very much in line with the original 90s classic. 2K games did right by Xcom..thats not to say I forgive them for civ5 or the GTA series. <br />
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Sots The Pit Gold :: Another game bought on sale that sat on my desktop unplayed for the longest time. These developers epically blew their AAA debut but The Pit is a great little scifi rougelike. Its an "old school" game designed to do everything it can to defeat the player..there are 45 levels and I rarely make it past 10.<br />
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Pandora First contact :: Beta tested this game and wasnt going to buy it, but the Beta tester discount was too good to say no to. I love me cheap games. This is a beautiful "Civ in space" game that may be a real winner in the future if the devs fill in the empty but pretty shell the game is now with content.<br />
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Looking to Play ::<br />
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Hearthstone :: I've been watching a lot of lets plays for Blizzards card gambling game "Hearthstone". Its an evil evil game that will make Blizzard lots of ill gotten gains 1 dollar at a time from their 10 million customers. I really want to hate it..but it looks fun. You can play without paying $$ and earn enough winnings to keep playing..god its evil. Blizzards stupid 15 different levels of security features on players account have been keeping me from using my account...hopefully customer service will be able to help me without a DNA test.<br />
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Watching : Downloaded Seasons 11,12,13 of South Park. Always a great laugh. downloaded the anime historical drama "Graveyard of the Fireflies", which is a really depressing movie about the firebombing of Japanese cities by the US in WW2 as seen through 2 homeless children. Cant seem to turn on the internet without tripping over stories about the US killing 100,000+ random civilian in some foreign county we have no business being in. Oh NO Japan has claimed some pissy 1 mile island in the pacific! Lets slaughter 100s of innocent families with FIRE so they die in the most horrible prolonged way imaginable!</div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-4135736595574942452013-11-27T14:26:00.002-08:002013-11-27T14:32:02.817-08:00Obama: Turkeys pardoned 10 vs non violent Humans 11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/14080/small/pardonchart.JPG?1356970061" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/14080/small/pardonchart.JPG?1356970061" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/27/obama-pardons_n_4345849.html">This story just sums up Americans for me. </a>The justice system that everyone feels is broken in sucking the life out of 100,000 people plus their families. Turkeys need to be abused and stuffed with food to get to that weight. The thanksgiving story is bad history. The president that got elected to change things doing more of the same. The American public who isnt outraged at how hurtful this hypocrisy must be for the families of (mostly inappropriately and unproductively) incarcerated Americans.<br />
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It seems like such a nice, cute little ceremony. But things stop being cute in the face of blatant hypocrisy. These ceremonies of light become a reminder to those of us with any values whatsoever how far we've fallen. And how America will eat the cake whether its our birthday or not. <br />
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Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-61241918128648122992013-11-27T11:59:00.002-08:002013-11-27T12:37:19.182-08:00Where culture and faith intersect with religion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My mother writes me on Facebook all the time suggesting I shouldn't be publicly critical of the Jews and Israel. She misunderstands; I'm criticizing society for mistaking the mental illness of addiction as faith. Faith is critical component to creating good moral citizens and a huge part of what is missing in today society. I mean philosophical faith aka spirituality- not dogmatic fervor. My issue is with the culturally, human develop dogma that taints religion. Dont get me wrong, religion isnt all bad, its just being misused. Religion is an expression of culture; a tool we use to teach people how to behave in society. It is largely meant for CHILDREN and is suppose to fall away to great philosophy musing during adulthood where most people dont need the fear of internal damnation to be reminded to not steal or rape your neighbors goat. Religion is also of the past. It is another word for tradition. It is a list of things a community has done before in order to get closer to god but it is certainly not the only path available. Religion is not divinely inspired - its what worked for a community in the past. The old "well thats how my father did it, and my father before him so it must be right" routine. When the orthodox say "this is how god wants us to live" I am reminded of the robot who keeps performing the motions of a task, regardless of whether the purpose of that task has been completed, because no one has come around and given the robot new instructions. The purpose of life is not to pay congressional dues in order to sit year after year reading the same child's parable over and over. No higher being wants you to live your life based on 3000yo standards. If you think living like that helps you get closer to god, fine, its a good thing to want higher understanding. But to say what works for you is everyone needs to act, including your children, is totally selfish. As if your mold is the only mold for the key to infinite wisdom. There are kids out there who you can definitely say were born orthodox. And there are kids being pressed by virtue of their parents closed minded self centered ego, or in the name of tradition, onto a path to god that doesnt work for them.<br />
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Religion is not the same as faith or cultural tradition. It is a tool to help people get a leg up on their spiritual journey. People who need it as crutch to live their adult lives should be given their space and their peace, but not treated as equals because they are psychologically missing something that lets healthy people have spirituality and live in the present. They are like addicts, using dogma to fill a missing hole like meth fills in for missing chemicals. The addiction may not be their fault - they could be a product of cultural brainwashing. And that is the main reason we can not be accepting of this lifestyle. Cycle of addiction runs in families and communities. The more we accept them the more likely the children of these people will emulate their behavior and suffer the same spiritual deformity.(and by that I mean people who pass on the idea that their ritual is the only spiritual answer and allow no others in their home)</div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-81330912831969531242013-11-26T15:08:00.001-08:002013-11-26T15:08:24.224-08:00Am I missing a zero somewhere?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Interesting article <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2013/11/26/scrap-the-welfare-state-give-people-free">over on the libertarian news website.</a> I dont agree with everything there but apparently it would cost 6 trillion dollars for the government to give every American 20K/year to cover living expense. And thats about how much we bring in with our pathetically low taxes. If we raised taxes on the wealth horders we could cover this and still have a budget to play with. 20k isnt much but since it does include babies and 100yos..I think it would be big net gain in quality of living for the majority. More people could escape the fight for basic survive and take a ride on that land of opportunity bus the rich are always talking about. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-44649385006830350472013-11-11T10:10:00.000-08:002013-11-11T10:19:13.316-08:00My visit with the God of Abraham<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last night I had a really vivid dream. I often have complicated "real feeling" dreams but this one really felt like it was me..just somewhere else. It started out with me teaching scuba diving lessons at some huge stone, square pillar thing in the middle of the ocean. There was another scuba group there and they were misbehaving somehow though I dont remember now what they were doing. I think it was something destructive to the coral. Anyhow I decided to go and complain to the owner of that scuba club, who lived in a giant overturned ark and turned out to be a Jewish Rabbi. Healthy-skinny, white American jewish young-ish man with a long will trimmed black beard short black hair and a skullcap. The inside of his arc-house has all well polished wood, gold candelsticks, large rooms with vaulted ceiling far from the floor. He invited us in and we went to his study where he listened to my complaint and said he didnt manage the club actively and I'd have to take it up with the guys misbehaving. So he walked us back to the door (where we passed the bedroom of an ex-girlfriend of mine who was apparently staying with this guy) and before I left I told him, with the purpose of a 1-uping him, I was also a Rabbi and could sing Hebrew. The huge vaulted ceiling had impressed me with their acoustic potential (which I remember saying to myself in the dream) and I belted out the most beautiful heartbreaking version of the prayer over the wine I've ever heard, which was amplified and echo'd by the wooding ceilings. This is the really vivid part of the dream. I can still remember how melodic I sung. At some point my voice was hijacked and the voice singing became feminine and even more lovely and I got the impression that it was coming from the ceiling itself. At which point the Rabbi said "You realize we we could really use a beautiful voice like that in our congregation, and I said "you realize we are destine to be lifelong enemies?" This was over the scuba diving issue..and I didnt think of him as a god at the time..but I remember thinking about the voices sing back in terms of angels at the time. The Rabbi smiled sadly and let us out. And that was the end of the dream.<br />
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I am thinking the Rabbi was the Jewish God and the feminizing voice was the angels in Heaven singing back at me. I didnt realize in the dream but the prayer over the wine starts with a blessing about how great god is..so I was trying to one-up this God by blessing him and telling him he is great? Prob thought I was a idiot. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-29230529135735864102013-10-23T11:41:00.001-07:002013-10-23T11:41:55.944-07:00Tea party policy causing Florida sinkholes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001729429/43521854_tumblr_lj77y7Gvbw1qf3zf6o1_400_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001729429/43521854_tumblr_lj77y7Gvbw1qf3zf6o1_400_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg" width="200" /></a>A couple interesting articles in the Tampa Bay times about how Florida Governor Ricks Scott's campaign promise to deregulate environmental protections have born fruit. First, remember those sinkholes eats up peoples homes? Ya..apparently that is due to <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/during-record-cold-farmers-used-1-billion-gallons-of-water-daily-causing/1068208">overuse of the ground water by farmers</a>. Business get a permit to pump X gallons of water from the underground aquifer and ever since Rick Scott replaced the heads of the agencies who monitor and enforce violation, its really been more about gentle suggestions and asking nicely rather than the fines that are supposed to be levied on violators. There is <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/citrus-growers-overpumping-water-from-aquifer-but-not-penalized-by-swiftmud/2147830">another story in South Florida </a>about farmers overusing water resources to fight tree diseases, which apparently has no scientific backing whatsoever, to which the State replied we cant fine them because "they were well intended". And of course the farmers have kept overusing even after being told nicely not to since they know the regulators are in their pocket. And then there is <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/phosphate-giant-mosaic-pumps-from-floridas-aquifer-to-dilute-its-pollution/2132394">this wonderful story </a>about a company called Moasic using millions of gallons of aquifer water to dilute the pollution it spills into the waterways to get around pollution laws. <br />
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Regulatory bodies really need to be independent of whoever is governor and the politics of the day. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-71666338727490377072013-10-23T11:01:00.000-07:002013-10-23T11:22:04.173-07:00State wants stability regardless of quality of service<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Incarceration_rates_worldwide.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Incarceration_rates_worldwide.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
The Huffington post is doing a <a href="http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/prisoners-of-profit">great series of articles</a> on Youth "facilities" in Florida. My take on this is it doesn't work to privatize jobs no one wants to do and when you do you get so few applicants you are stuck with the very few who apply. Florida is stuck saying we need these kids housed and fed en mass (forget rehabilitated), but taxpayers wont let the State do it cause that looks like "more government" and only a few people want this job, because it requires all sorts of things regular business want nothing to do with. These private businesses who manage the bear minimums become too big to fail in their respective communities since no one else wants/is equipped to do the job.<br />
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All I can say is that I've been in an American court room where a judge commit a child to one of these private institutions based on the written advice of a doctor from another private institution, while not providing any competent legal council to argue the child's desire not to be incarcerated. Oh and then there was the <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/pennsylvania-judge-sentenced-to-28-years-prison-for-selling-teens-to-prisons">judge in Pennsylvania caught doing this for $$</a>.. and the <a href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional/huge-doses-of-potent-antipsychotics-flow-into-stat/nLsbf/">prescription drug companies getting in on this jailing game too</a><br />
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So how do you fire someone managing the care for 40,000 kids ?<br />
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Jail doesnt help anyone except the jail companies and the people they spread the wealth too(doctors, lawyers, cops). Policing is a basic function of government and need to be brought back under the pubic umbrella were there is more transparency and better methods to promote change than all or nothing contract/no contract.</div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-23916077433796760112013-10-22T11:29:00.002-07:002013-10-22T11:31:40.645-07:00No games for old men (on the ps3)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In order to see how the other half (console gamers) lives I went out and picked up a ps3 and a couple games that I thought might interest me. I purposely avoided gratuitously violent games like GTA or Call of Duty.<br />
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I have 26 games currently uploaded from Steam on my computer and of those 4 involve some of sort of personal humaniod avatar punching/hitting casting at etc a humanoid. And of those 4 only one is semi realistic and the other 3 are cartoon-like/artisticly rendered worlds.<br />
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Of the 10 games I found for ps3 that I thought might interest me, only 1, MLB "The Show" doesn't directly involve the player pressing buttons to punch/hit/kick etc a realistic humanoid character.And all of the fighting is realistically rendered and human(oid) on human(oid). Even Ratchet and Clank (playstations answer to mario) involves constantly shooting people to reach the objective. <br />
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Having been brought up on super mario brother and civilizations, and not being a "gun guy", I really have no interest in playing games where you physically fight your way to the goal. And the way you get to your goal, the way you win, is starkly different from computer to console.<br />
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While the computer hosts all sorts of different types of games and the games I like the most are strategy games. It shocked me to find that in the entire ps3 library of over 300+ different games I know of only 1 (Civilizations:revolution) that is a strategy title. 1 thinking games 2200 billion press the button to hit someone in the face inorder to win games. <br />
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Anyone who doesn't think modern console video games, even the non-shooters like lego batman, arnt training the brains of our kids that they need to punch, kick or shoot in order to win is fooling themselves. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-88641228302102903692013-10-17T12:07:00.002-07:002013-10-17T12:09:21.048-07:00Feed America=feed walmart?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://sophistishe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Feeding-america-walmart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://sophistishe.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Feeding-america-walmart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Larger food banks no longer accept donations of food from individuals. This is because its a pain in the butt for them to inventory, package and store a multitude of small individually donated items. To their budget it makes more sense to let Walmart deal with warehousing the food and just go shopping with donated cash when you need inventory. <br />
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Large food banks, like Feed America, provide the majority of their services to the public school system. They supplement and often run the before and after school lunch programs. The intent of these programs is to provide additional food to kids whos working parents dobnt have the time to cook breakfast and dinner at home or take them to Mcdonalds. <br />
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So follow my logic train here. The government (and private doners) gives millions (billions) of dollars to food banks(*cough* middle men), which they spend at Walmart (and other large volume grocers) buying food to feed 10s of millions of American kids. Children who's parents cant afford to feed them or dont have the time to feed them because their wage is low and needs to be supplemented with the second job. A wage kept low by Walmart so its prices stay low and customers (the largest buyer of food being the government and/or private food banks) dont shop elsewhere. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-30275806955409722262013-10-14T20:21:00.001-07:002013-10-14T20:21:14.629-07:00Columbus Day is BS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Ya..been neglecting the blog this last month or two. Sorry. Here is a great article about <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/10/14/232120128/how-columbus-sailed-into-u-s-history-thanks-to-italians">Columbus day and all the lies and dishonest history it enforces. </a><br />
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I would recommend anyone interested in the true exploration of North America by non natives google the author Gavin Menzie. His books are like a treasure hunt for clues/evidence that you can actually visit and confirm. </div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-66631108827801375902013-10-07T06:42:00.003-07:002013-10-07T06:42:46.582-07:00Beautiful Alaska video<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="425" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/75003932" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="465"></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/75003932">Alaska The Nutrient Cycle</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/pklaver">Paul Klaver</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-11346357340496382402013-09-30T07:39:00.003-07:002013-09-30T07:40:00.649-07:00City on a Hill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3gbC63cpKds8d3OD9w0T-H7SLc_Es64t3hDGgCB69uKNNhQLOhS_bseg_gw1mZi3e19s7RFPW27Oe7axruyxdjExMPpUWSxbHf3kY3NFlCQIbbhyphenhyphent4g-SSvn1hU9yddCe1bhOjK4BhH_/s1600/cityhill1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3gbC63cpKds8d3OD9w0T-H7SLc_Es64t3hDGgCB69uKNNhQLOhS_bseg_gw1mZi3e19s7RFPW27Oe7axruyxdjExMPpUWSxbHf3kY3NFlCQIbbhyphenhyphent4g-SSvn1hU9yddCe1bhOjK4BhH_/s400/cityhill1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-85417002442808466962013-09-25T19:49:00.002-07:002013-09-25T20:00:12.800-07:00Southpark premiere blew my mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Great show in its 23123th season just keeps getting better. The new episode ran with the connection between God always watching us and how the NSA is always watching us. So Butters prays to the government to keep him safe..causes its watching us to keep us safe right? Same reason people pray to God..cause they expect God to step in when something bad happens. There is a joke there..but one wonders how different our expectations are of Government and of God. They seem to have similar roles as both are mostly called on to pull our butt out of a fire in an emergency and be ethereal whenever else. In order to calm hysteria about spying and privacy Butters turns the DMV into a confessional. Interesting thing confessionals. Wouldn't it be great if you could go to the government and PRIVATELY talk to someone about all your problems with the promise that they would stay secret and that you would be absolved of accountability (if you followed through with atonement assignment)? How many problems would this fix in our society? . Supposedly the government already knows about all you personal problems since they spy on you..there are just so many scofflaws and "criminals" out there they havnt gotten to you yet.Bad people no longer fear eternal damnation, they fear loosing their freedom. So why not go and talk with the jailer and since you were honest about it they wont follow up with the swat team or 70 consecutive life time sentences. We sort have stuck with our puritan roots regarding incarceration and punishment rather than reform and atonement and it clearly hasnt worked for us. I know..it only will be as good and benign as the people running it. But a serious idea to chew on from South Park.</div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-31053950998499906582013-09-22T20:16:00.003-07:002013-09-22T20:16:51.243-07:00Teenage Mutant Koopa Troopars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="415" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iTKXna2ekzE" width="465"></iframe><br />
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Cute vid. (via topless robot)</div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-72978006421458989372013-09-15T17:20:00.000-07:002013-09-15T17:22:05.181-07:00Video shows Fukushima radiation spreading across ocean<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="425" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/j7UQXfN-J4E" width="480"></iframe><br /></div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-47148408727655987052013-09-15T16:41:00.001-07:002013-09-15T16:41:43.235-07:00More of Joe's Interesting news links<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Couple extra that were on my phone<br />
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/15/lehman-anniversary-americans-still-angry-_n_3929634.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics">5 year after financial meltdown banks have little oversight</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/05/world/middleeast/new-generation-of-jewish-sect-takes-up-struggle-to-protect-place-in-modern-israel.html?pagewanted=all">Jews who pray like Muslims growing in number</a><br />
<a href="http://nplusonemag.com/on-philly-schools">Public school defunding driving many to religious education</a><br />
<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/15/justice/north-carolina-police-shooting/?hpt=hp_t3">police shoot, kill unarmed black man for asking for help</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/us/florida-shot-by-mistake">Police shoot wealthy black man for "breaking into" his own home</a><br />
<a href="http://www.firstcoastnews.com/topstories/article/327207/483/Man-arrested-for-walking-sues-JSO">Black man arrested in Jax for walking on "wrong side" of road</a><br />
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christandpopculture/2013/08/what-is-coptic-christianity/">who are these coptic christains dying in Egypt</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/fraud-investigation-unsettles-mental-health-care-in-new-mexico.html?_r=0">Entire behavior health care system in New Mexico ruled a scam</a><br />
<a href="http://www.advocate.com/society/hate-crimes/2013/09/12/watch-police-complain-cleveland-gay-bar-has-called-cops-too-many">Cleveland police refuse to protect gay bars</a><br />
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2013/09/11/yes-america-you-are-being-watched">4th amendment being completely ignored by government</a><br />
<a href="http://gothamist.com/2013/09/10/williamsburg_satmars_promise_a_chan.php">Jewish community caught in vote buying scheme</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/11/nsa-americans-personal-data-israel-documents">US goverment giving private data on Americans to Israel</a><br />
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security">Various ways you are being spied on by the UK</a></div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4936012505347471716.post-17177234711057290382013-09-11T21:50:00.000-07:002013-09-11T21:50:30.337-07:00Joe's interesting Sept.news links<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/09/11/google_wi_fi_snooping_case_shows_company_s_contradictory_views_on_privacy.html">Google Map cars caught hacking into local Wifi networks</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/texas-creationism-textbooks_n_3902946.html">National textbook panel want more creationism, less evolution</a><br />
<a href="http://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2013/09/nsa-documents-show-united-states-spied-brazilian-oil-giant.html">Leaked gov doc's show NSA spying on Brazil oil companies</a><br />
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-wolpe-wealth-compassion-deficit-20130908,0,4776054.story">Study shows money causes people to care about others less</a><br />
<a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/health/addiction/nicotine-banned-drug-flagler-county-florida">Nicotine declared a drug by Florida; banned in some counties</a><br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/05/219377718/was-your-chicken-nugget-made-in-china-itll-soon-be-hard-to-know">McDonalds to import its Mcnuggets from China</a><br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/little-rock-school-district-now-teachers-wear-underwear-030208103.html">School district passes rule requiring teachers to wear underwear</a><br />
<a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/health/os-pam-bondi-xanax-t-shirts-20130906,0,69095.story">Florida AG wants shirts with drug names made illegal</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/03/inco-s03.html">Rich have gotten richer under Obama than any other president</a><br />
<a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/aug/30/navy-says-its-probably-about-bomb-hundreds-dolph/">Navy weapons test expected to kill 100s of whales</a><br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/20/worlds-tallest-lego-tower_n_3783382.html?utm_hp_ref=tw">Record set for worlds tallest LEGO structure</a><br />
<a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/08/30/new-walking-shark-species-caught-on-video/">Sharks learning to walk with fins on land</a><br />
<a href="http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2013/08/20130831-134007.html">Church sign claims Jesus had two dads</a><br />
<a href="http://mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/8/26/child_drinking_from_.html">Parents post picture of toddler drinking beer;no charges filed</a><br />
<a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-floridan-aquifer-to-max-out-20130825,0,6205271.story">Florida has 6% of its underground water left</a><br />
<a href="http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/08/lawsuit-claims-puyallup-police-held-inmate-peepshow/">Cops caught distributing pics from women's jail changing room</a><br />
<a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/08/23/60563.htm">FBI is Seattle break laws, making stuff up to arrest people</a><br />
<a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/?p=3564#.UhgK1z_XtLM">16 things you didnt know about the Ocean</a><br />
<a href="http://splitsider.com/2013/08/the-collected-wisdom-of-chris-rock/">The various philosophies of Chris Rock</a><br />
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mesh-internet-privacy-nsa-isp">Greeks building their own intranet </a><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/magazine/the-brilliance-of-dwarf-fortress.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">NY Times reviews Dwarf Fortress</a></div>
Asteriskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00249887217353063851noreply@blogger.com0