Last Saturday I decided to head back to the Pike Lake Unit of the Kettle Moraines. I got a lot of good photos last time, but this time I wanted to try a different lens. All the photos from this hike were shot with the Canon 18-55mm kit lens. It was nice to have something a little wider than my 28-135mm, but I did miss its image stabilization and sharpness.
As you probably know, the US has been working with NATO allies in Europe to bolster their missile defense system to provide protection for us and the rest of Europe in the event that Iran or other rogue nations attack. The agreement is to put 10 missile defense interceptors in northern Poland.
“Hours after the signing, Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that Moscow’s response would go beyond diplomacy. The system to be based in Poland lacks ‘any target other than Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles,’ it said in a statement, ‘In this case Russia will be forced to react, and not only through diplomatic’ channels.” “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed any suggestion the 10 missile defense interceptors … represent a threat to Russia. ‘Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one,’ Rice said. ‘It is in our defense that we do this.’” “Such comments ‘border on the bizarre, frankly,’ Rice told reporters in Warsaw. ‘The Russians are losing their credibility,’ she said.” “‘It’s 2008 and the United States has a … firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland’s territory (my edit: as do all members of NATA) as if it was the territory of the United States. So it’s probably not wise to throw these threats around.’”
I don’t understand Russia’s complaint. We even offered to allow Russia to be a part of the missile defense deal. And we’ve told Russia that even its current stock of conventional weapons is no match for what this missile defense system offers. It is for defense not offense and would not work well against Russia. Some people have claimed that we would be up-in-arms if Russia signed a deal with Cuba and started putting missiles back there. That’s true, we probably would… The point is that this is not the same. We and our allies have a legitimate reason for worrying about attacks from other countries. Russia has no reason other than to attack for stationing missiles in Cuba.
Dont Throw Away Your Capitalism Just Yet - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog.
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
The Freakonomics economists ask that question. There is also a little quiz about financial literacy. I got all three questions correct. How’d you do? Overall, I feel that all or most of the recent financial/housing troubles are solely because of people buying things that they just can’t afford. I heard multiple stories of people getting approved for a $200,000 mortgage but being unable to be approved for even a secured credit card!
AN JOSE, Calif. - A grotesque comparison of a steamy love affair to a New York City street has won a Washington man this year’s grand prize in an annual contest of bad writing.
Garrison Spik, a 41-year-old communications director and writer, took top honors in San Jose State University’s 26th annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with this opening sentence to a nonexistent novel:
“Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped ‘Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J.’”
The contest is named after Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel “Paul Clifford” famously begins “It was a dark and stormy night.”
Entrants are asked to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. Awards are given for many categories, including awards for “purple prose” and “vile puns.” The top winner receives a $250 prize.
Other noteworthy submissions:
“‘Toads of glory, slugs of joy,’ sang Groin the dwarf as he trotted jovially down the path before a great dragon ate him because the author knew that this story was a train wreck after he typed the first few words.”
• Alex Hall, Greeley, Colo.
“Like a mechanic who forgets to wipe his hands on a shop rag and then goes home, hugs his wife, and gets a grease stain on her favorite sweater — love touches you, and marks you forever.”
• Beth Fand Incollingo, Haddon Heights, N.J.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_worst_writing;_ylt=AhAERJA.dPD6So3F1X9Llg3tiBIF
As thousands waited at the Sieges Saule monument in Berlin to hear Obama’s sensational speech, a BILD reporter met Barack all alone – in the gym! Here’s the incredible account of Judith Bonesky’s meeting…
It’s 16:02pm and I’ve been training in the gym of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Berlin. A man in a suit approaches me and says: “Barack Obama is about to come and train …“ Shortly after half past four and he actually arrives! Barack Obama is wearing a grey t-shirt, black tracksuit bottoms – and a great smile!
“Hi, how’s it going?“ asks Obama in his deep voice. My heart beats. “Very good, and you?” I say. Obama replies: “Very good, thank you!”
Obama (with toned arms and a strong back) puts on his headphones for his iPod to listen to pop music. He hums quietly. Then he jumps on a fitness bike. He pushes three times on the pedals – but then can’t be bothered with it.
He goes and picks up a pair of 16 kilo weights and starts curling them with his left and right arms, 30 repetitions on each side. Then, amazingly, he picks up the 32 kilo weights! Very slowly he lifts them, first 10 curls with his right, then 10 with his left. He breathes deeply in and out and takes a sip of water from his 0,5 litre Evian bottle.
Shortly before five o’clock Obama comes over and sits directly next to my cross-trainer on the mat. First he does 10 sit-ups, then stretches. Then he looks at his watch and says to his bodyguard: “It’s time, let’s go.” Quickly I ask: “Mr. Obama, could I take a photo?”. “Of course!” he answers, before asking my name and coming over to stand next to me.
“My name’s Judith” I reply. “I’m Barack Obama, nice to meet you!” he says, and puts his arm across my shoulder. I put my arm around his hip – wow, he didn’t even sweat! WHAT A MAN!
Source: In the gym with Barack Obama: BILD reporter gets up close - Bild.de
My goodness! The infatuation with Obama is insane. Honestly, this reads like a satirical article in The Onion. The phrases, “Obama (with toned arms and a strong back)” and “He breathes deeply in and out and takes a sip of water from his 0,5 litre Evian bottle” sound extremely contrived. What’s more, I think the Bild reporter was German. I’m glad the Germans approve.
Senator Obama’s proposed “tax cuts for the middle class” are actually marginal rate hikes in disguise.
It’s pretty simple. If you have an adjusted gross income of between $85,000 and $100,000 or so, Obama won’t raise your marginal tax rates. If you’re anywhere else in the income scale, you’re not so lucky.
Although Obama is offering a new series of tax breaks, they undermine rather than improve economic incentives. First, whether or not you get those breaks will depend on your income. In Washington, taking away tax breaks as families work harder to make more money is called a “phase-out.” Economists have a different name for it—we call it a tax. Reducing a person’s tax credit as his income goes up also reduces his incentive to earn more income.
Source: http://www.american.com/archive/2008/august-08-08/the-folly-of-obama2019s-tax-plan
In the past I just used Google’s online calendar. It was simple and fast to use, yet provided some powerful features. However, since upgrading to Leopard and using the new version if iCal (version 3), I looked for a way to do a two-sync of Google Calendar and iCal. There are a number of programs (some for pay and some free) that do this. The solution that I chose was GCALDaemon. It was quite difficult to set up and, at least when I was using it, required some tweaking to get it working on Leopard. Also, I had to set up a bash script on my desktop that I needed to run anytime I wanted to sync. It worked okay but sometimes would get confused and mess up some entries.
Just yesterday I read that Google added CalDAV support to Google Calendar. This is completely free and has worked perfectly so far.
Rather than explain it anymore, here are Google’s setup instructions.
Senator McCain’s statement:
STATEMENT BY JOHN MCCAIN ON RUSSIA’S AGGRESSION IN GEORGIA For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office Friday, August 8, 2008
703-650-5550
ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement regarding the current conflict between Georgia and Russia:
“Today, news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory. What is most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces. The consequences for Euro-Atlantic stability and security are grave.
“The government of Georgia has called for a cease-fire and for a resumption of direct talks on South Ossetia with international mediators. The U.S. should immediately convene an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to call on Russia to reverse course. The U.S. should immediately work with the EU and the OSCE to put diplomatic pressure on Russia to reverse this perilous course it has chosen. We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia’s security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation. Finally, the international community needs to establish a truly independent and neutral peacekeeping force in South Ossetia.”
Senator Obama’s:
Statement of Senator Obama on Tensions in the Caucasus Region Between Georgia and Russia Chicago, IL | July 23, 2008
Chicago, IL — “Over the last several weeks, Russia and Georgia have been engaged in a steadily more dangerous confrontation over two secessionist regions of Georgia — South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Although these territories are located within Georgia’s internationally-recognized borders, the Russian government seems determined to challenge Georgia’s territorial integrity in both places. Developments took an especially provocative turn several days ago when four Russian warplanes violated Georgian airspace close to the Georgian capital for forty minutes.
All parties — Russia first and foremost — must now reduce tensions, avoid the risks of war, and reengage in peaceful negotiations.
As I stated in April of this year, I am committed to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia. This commitment has long been a fundamental building block of U.S. policy, and it will not change under an Obama Administration. I also affirm Georgia’s right to pursue NATO membership. This aspiration in no way threatens the legitimate defense interests of Georgia’s neighbors.
Only a political settlement can resolve the conflicts over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia needs to roll back the aggressive actions it has taken in the last three months. The Georgian…
“McCain needs only 213 words to get to the point and put out an actual coherent, step-by-step plan. [Obama has a lot of words but nothing of substance.] McCain knows that he can reliably put out a press release on foreign affairs without having to spend an introductory paragraph explaining to his supporters what the Hell is going on.”
(from http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/aug/08/comparing-the-two-candidates-statements-on-t/)
Read the rest of this entry »
Spelling “truely atrosious,” says academic
LONDON (Reuters) - Embaressed by yor spelling? Never you mind.
Fed up with his students’ complete inability to spell common English correctly, a British academic has suggested it may be time to accept “variant spellings” as legitimate.
Rather than grammarians getting in a huff about “argument” being spelled “arguement” or “opportunity” as “opertunity,” why not accept anything that’s phonetically (fonetickly anyone?) correct as long as it can be understood?
“Instead of complaining about the state of the education system as we correct the same mistakes year after year, I’ve got a better idea,” Ken Smith, a criminology lecturer at Bucks New University, wrote in the Times Higher Education Supplement.
Continue reading, Spelling “truely atrosious,” says academic
Spelling rules exist for a reason. Now I’ve probably made my fair share of spelling/grammar mistakes on this blog (though the built-in OS X spellchecker alerts me to the majority of the spelling errors). However, mistakes that I do make are just that, mistakes. They are most often a result of a mistyped key. If I don’t know how to spell a word I usually just Google it to get the correct spelling. Granted, phonetically misspelled words are somewhat “readable” but should never be allowed in any formal usage. If I’m reading a blog or any form of written communication and see incorrect spellings to the extent that the above article suggests allowing, I’d laugh and completely disregard the source. If anything, the educational system must crack down on improper spelling. Just because something is “hard,” doesn’t mean that it should be changed to accommodate those that can’t handle it.
