Florida schools using eye-scan to track kids

K..chalk this one 1984. Who thinks this level of security is actually necessary? Seriously are checklists soooo much work for the bus driver we need to retinal scan kids? Someone's private company is making $$$$$$ on this and its more money not going to education.

The Venture Bros Season 1-4 Recap in 8 Minutes

I guess season 5 is on its way?

New XBox will spy on you

I was just thinking the other day how we've got cameras around us all day every day. ATM cameras, store security cameras, traffic cameras etc etc. None of those are in your home though. "Xbox One", which wasnt sounding that great to begin with, now apparently will contain software that scans the room its in and sends that info to Microsoft. Wow..I've always been creeped out by the Progressive Insurance ad that tries to sell putting an always on camera in your car. This is another level of creep.

The really interesting thing about this patent is that it suggests that copyright holders are allowed to govern performances in otherwise private dwellings.

Mid may news links

I heard a guy being interviewed on NPR today about how whats missing in social servies is pastors and the word of god. He was talking about Africa specifically..doesnt he realize "the church" has been selling its wares in Africa for over a thousand years now and the whole continent is still a starving disease ridden slum.

Anyhoo this story about the churches being let into public schools here in Jacksonville really has my feathers ruffled. Its following in the footsteps of this other story about how the city held an interfaith prayer breakfast without any other faiths beyond evangelical christian invited. The reason we need such a hard line stance on keeping all facets of religion out of the pubic sector is because these religious zombies are so persistent and sneaky. If we could trust that churches would stay neutral and provide services without proselytizing. but we cant cause they are master manipulators who will keep testing the boundaries and getting away with whatever they can get away with

Here are some other links

Sports coaches highest paid public employees
stem cell treatment (not prayer) restores sight to blind man
Pictures of people who wear cats as beards
Government paying 450 mil to upgrade (not close) Guantanamo
Sunken continent found off Brazil coast
violent riots in Stockholm go unreported in US for 4th night
5yo raises $1200 for charity instead of birthday presents
Adults sucking on dirty pacifier good for your health
another poop in pools study
teacher fired for not eating school provided lunches
Study finds 20% of children are mentally ill
Swedish government church performing exorcisms on kids
The Sun is launching millions of H-bombs at us
 government feels the need to convict 18yo dating 14yo of a felony
Study finds Mars is hit 200 times per year by asteroids
The "most important quasi-monopoly in history"
Why do voters re-ect people after their sex scandals?

The dysfunctional gaming industry

 Ya..I know..like we need to hear about yet another broken system. Le sigh. Anyhoo I read a great article that lays out the problems gamers, game makers, and game sellers are dealing with and I thought I'd share it with you.

My take - its all the Internet's fault. Legion of internet opinions from gamers are causing too many cooks in the kitchen. The "social media" phenomenon has opened the door to marketing/publishing idiots who games come secondary to advertising and labeling consumers. And "inter connectivity" lures resources away from games and towards making sure you can watch tv play games and order a pizza with the same system.

As a gamer I really do want to play the same games over and over and I wish the artists people out there would just accept that. And I dont want my game to also connect me with my 2nd grade teacher when I mispell something. I remember a time when a game machine was just about games..what was so wrong with that? I rember when - if I wanted information about the next game coming out I had to buy a magazine rather than have a banner pop up in the middle of the game or the require that I buy the new game in order to continue playing the old one. 

The Internet has matured to the point where everybody has a voice, and the barriers separating the voice of the well-informed from the probably insane have never been lower

Movie and Book review

Star Trek : Into Darkness - Not as memorable as the first reboot but MUCH better than Iron man 3 and certainly worth the ticket. Might see it again just to catch all the cameos by characters/races etc from Star Trek mythology.  All the Star trek films suffer in my eyes from being written with one villain per movie in mind who the crew needs to defeat..and thats not really what I want in a sci fi movie. Into Darkness treats us to some detail depth and amazing visuals surrounding human/Star fleet society and I think future movies would be better to focus interesting place and large events that the crews are just a part of rather than single villains who garner great power then manage to lose it in the arc of the film. Go see it for sure at least once..but see the digital version (aka standard) not the 3D or IMax format...both are bad deceptive predatory behavior by the film industry we dont want to reward

Dan Brown : Inferno - Another strong and twisty story with a large social question at the heart of it. In this case Brown asks people to consider what the world will be like if humans dont start conserving resources, protecting the environment and limiting population growth. The good professor in this book seems to get by on a little too much dumb luck for my taste but Brown really knows how to explore important questions with the novel as a vehicle. Brown's formula includes taking at the reader on guided tours on some of history's most interesting place and this trip alone is worth the purchase price. Get it cheap at Costco for like 17 bucks instead of 30 at Barnes and Noble. 

Difficult isnt a mental illness

Heard about this 11 year long study in Canada on NPR today on a show discussing the reasons for ballooning rates of children diagnosed with a mental illness. The guest put it succinctly when he said that the best predictor of whether a child will be diagnosed with mental illness is his birth date. Younger kids have more behavior issues that older kids and get labeled more often than their older peers. Ugh. The lack of actual science, let alone common sense, in child psychology today is sickening and it leads to dumb shit like this. But I've always felt psychologists had as much medical credibility as chiropractors. We dont understand the brain and far too often adults label age appropraite behavior as abberant psychosis rather than seeking out the cause of those behaviors, which often are entirely rational reactions to bad teaching/parenting/environments that most adults would echo just in an adult way. As adults we can choose to walk out of boring useless lectures or other people being jerks -but kids are usually stuck and the younger they are the less likely they have the emotional/social tools to deal with situations in socially acceptable ways.  

Lazy parents, bad teachers and arrogant doctors are medicating kids based on maturity levels - how compliant they are, rather than actual brain electrochemical science. These kids were just being kids, boys being boys, but with a label and some drugs altering the development of their brain they may really develop the neorochemical abnormalities they didnt have before. And of course we can trust government and big pharma to do complete studies on the adverse lifetime effects of randomly nuking a growing brain...right?

Space station now music studio

A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield (Canada) on board the International Space Station.

Another Zac Brown Band song

The animation is directed by Mike Judge, of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill fame. I miss King of the Hill.

Joe's Music PotW: Jump Right in

Zac Brown Band? who? Heard this on the RADIO of all things..perfect song for the loverly weather we are experiencing here in Florida.Edit: Went back and listened to all their songs..I guess I've heard them all just didnt know who I was listening too.

Cat Sushi?

Via Topless Robot..the Japanese are weird..I'm not sure what to make of this

Shezow : The transgender cartoon superhero

Debuting June 1st on a channel I've never heard of (The HUB) is the Australian cartoon Shezow about an every day guy who uses a ring to transform into a female super hero. Is this another slide in values that will promote aberrant behavior as positive and normal? Will it lead to people marrying animals? I dont think there is anything wrong with kids dressing up as the opposite sex in play or whatever. But if we highlight this behavior are we risking sending minds down a path they otherwise would have passed over?

Early May Newslinks

Defense Dept still paying 59$ a gallon for gas
Animal shaped buildings yay!
Wa. school cancels school due to good weather
CPK pizza recalled for containing plastic
kids facing criminal charges for lunchroom food fight
Police caught trying to frame congressman with DUI
33 exotic lizards captured in Florida county
Marines heading to base in Spain
11 things the alleged Boston bombers did that doesnt make sense
 5yo joins Mensa club for super geniuses
30 classic simple outdoor games
North Carolina prayer must be Christian less it support terrorism
police attack man for video taping them with cellphone
Horse slaughterhouses getting final approval from gov.
17 thousand men suffer zipper injury per year
Wisconsin closes its nude beaches
Dept of Defense weapon maker brands water purification sys
French censorship in Mali
Which country has the most votes for Pope
Swedish Church hands out sex diplomas
8yo questions Prime Minister about building weapons factory
 

Benghazi and Boston

Just a quick thought. Its not a conspiracy theory to suggest the government feeds us false info from time to time -its a fact. We -know- Obama has no problem deploying smoke and mirrors on the American public if he feels he has good reason. The whole BS Benghazi attack story about a anti-muslim video protest turned violent, which went as far as to arrest the this video creator in California, is a pretty clear example.

Movie Review: Iron Man 3: Bordering on terrible

I'm not sure who wrote this script but if Robert Downey Jr. wanted out of the role, there were better ways of doing it. The movie is campy and formulaic, beating the audience over the head with predicable, overly choreographed outcomes and too much self deprecating humor. Its like they said "lets take all the different aspects of a typical action thriller and make fun of them. Lets take all the stunts and make them extra absurd. Lets make sure all the characters only have enough screen time to be 1 dimensional." Ugh. And the first two were so good, as was the Avengers. What happened?

Warning -Serious Spoilers- ahead..but the movie was bad enough you wont care

Did we ask enough Q's about Boston?

 Like why was there one of these "blackwater" Merc companies (Craft) at the marathon? Dori is also asking questions..

Kool intro

Cant say I've seen the Avengers cartoon..but I like the intro music here. Cartoons have always been a great landing pad for 80's style inspirational rock anthems.

Joe's Movie Reviews: Mud

Solid "real" drama about southern/poor white American culture and growing up in a small town today. And so much more than that. This movie touches on all sorts of things. The beauty of the natural world and grumminess of small town American. The freedom a vehicle of your own provides. What defines a "relationship" and love at different stage of life. Being happy with a simple family life living off the river. Fathers and sons and people who are like fathers and sons but not. Independent riverboat living vs modern family apartments. The Law and the "law". Being a man but not being the breadwinner. Being quiet and thoughtful and moral, a good person, yet needing to use your fists as the answer to every problem. This movie had a so much depth and the actors all pulled off their roles really well, even the side characters. Definitely a guys/fathers and sons movie as there lacked any real worthy female characters, which was the only criticism I really could lay on this film.