Mom Tracks Down Toilet-Tissue Toss Suspects

I am glad this Mom was not around during my TP'ing days. While nothing I did was destructive, it would have been a lot of cleaining up for me to do.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2257072&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Aloha.

World War III

As some of you may have known, a few weeks ago, Newt Gingrich called the period of time we are in right now World War III. He cited many facts (too many for me to remember or mention here). However, one of the things he mentioned was that certain countries were connected to each other. He mentioned specifically, Iran/North Korea/Venezuela. Below is a link to a news story demonstrating a part of that link:



http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2254974&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312



TEHRAN, Iran Jul 30, 2006 (AP)— Iran awarded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez its highest state medal on Sunday for supporting Tehran in its nuclear standoff with the international community, while Chavez urged the world to rise up and defeat the U.S., state-run media in both countries reported.



Again, "Anyone know of any good tourist spots in Lebanon, Syria, Iran or North Korea?" or, I now add, Venezuela.

Aloha.

P.S.

Newt's argument below:

MR. RUSSERT:

Mr. Speaker, what are we witnessing in the Middle East?

MR. NEWT GINGRICH: Well, let me, let me offer three observations. First, this is not the fifth day of the war. This is the 58th year of the effort by those who want to destroy Israel. As Ahmadinejad, the head of Iran, says, he wants to defeat the Americans and eliminate Israel from the face of the earth. So we should not see this event in isolation. There is an Iran/Iraq/Syria—I mean, an Iran/Syria—was an Iraq before Saddam was replaced—Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas alliance trying to destroy Israel.

Second, the Israelis withdrew from Gaza to create the circumstance of peace. The Israelis withdrew from south Lebanon to create the circumstance of peace. They now have a thousand missiles fired from Gaza, they’ve had hundreds of missiles fired from south Lebanon. You clearly have Iranian involvement, there are at least 400 Iranian guards in south Lebanon. Apparently it was an Iranian missile fired by Iranians which hit an Israeli warship yesterday. The United States should be saying to Syria and Iran, “South Lebanon is going to be cleared out. We are for Israel and the Lebanese government breaking the back of Hezbollah, getting rid of all 10,000 to 13,000 missiles, and we will decisively stop any effort by Syria and Iran to intervene.”

I mean, this is absolutely a question of the survival of Israel, but it’s also a question of what is really a world war. Look what you’ve been covering: North Korea firing missiles. We say there’ll be consequences, there are none. The North Koreans fire seven missiles on our Fourth of July; bombs going off in Mumbai, India; a war in Afghanistan with sanctuaries in Pakistan. As I said a minute ago, the, the Iran/Syria/Hamas/Hezbollah alliance. A war in Iraq funded largely from Saudi Arabia and supplied largely from Syria and Iran. The British home secretary saying that there are 20 terrorist groups with 1200 terrorists in Britain. Seven people in Miami videotaped pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda, and 18 people in Canada being picked up with twice the explosives that were used in Oklahoma City, with an explicit threat to bomb the Canadian parliament, and saying they’d like to behead the Canadian prime minister. And finally, in New York City, reports that in three different countries people were plotting to destroy the tunnels of New York.

I mean, we, we are in the early stages of what I would describe as the third world war, and frankly, our bureaucracies aren’t responding fast enough, we don’t have the right attitude about this, and this is the 58th year of the war to destroy Israel. And frankly, the Israelis have every right to insist that every single missile leave south Lebanon and that the United States ought to be helping the Lebanese government have the strength to eliminate Hezbollah as a military force, not as a political force in the parliament, but as a military force in south Lebanon.

MR. RUSSERT: This is World War III?


MR. GINGRICH: I, I believe if you take all the countries I just listed, that you’ve been covering, put them on a map, look at all the different connectivity, you’d have to say to yourself this is, in fact, World War III.

Sys Admin Day Wrap-up

Well, another System Administrator's Day has come and gone. To call this year less than inspiring would be an overstatement. There was not one "Happy Sys Admin Day" echoing throughout any of the halls of IS.

In conclusion, all I have to say is this:

When things stop working on Monday, it wasn't me. Really.

Aloha.

System Administrator Day

28 July 2006

http://www.sysadminday.com/whatsysadmin.html

http://www.deadtroll.com/sysadmin

If you are reading my blog, you had better know about this.

Aloha.

Homer at BCT too...

Well, it looks like I'm not the only one heading to BCT. Here is a quote from an ABC news article about the Simpsons:

Sutherland voices a hard-nosed colonel when Homer lands in basic training on Nov. 12.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2231071&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Aloha

War

Some of you whom I have seen around work the last day or two have heard me talk about the link between Lebanon, Syria and Iran. Follow this link to read the FoxNews story on current events:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203568,00.html

Specifically, I want to quote the president of Iran: "Despite the barbaric and criminal nature of the occupiers of Jerusalem, the regime and its Western supporters do not even have the power to give Iran a nasty look."

Nothing says "bring it on" like that. Lots of anger in that region. In an ideal world, I would land on the phrase "why can't we all just get along." Since we are this side of heaven, though, the phrases I think of more often go along the lines of "You asked for it." Even though by saying that, I know that I am most likely putting my life on the line. Unless something is done to force these people (Israel and the Muslims) to end their nearly-eternal dispute, it will go on forever, or as long as at least one person is alive on either side. While it is sad to say it, I think the U.S. needs to step in and end this once and for all. We will be impacted by this war. It is a war. The only question is, do we fight on our terms or theirs.

Anyone know of any good tourist spots in Lebanon, Syria, Iran or North Korea?

Aloha.

Future Weapons Technology Links

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/04/MNGM393GPK1.DTL

http://www.darpa.mil/ato/programs/SHM/htmldemo.html
(Courtesy of Dave)

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=22277

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/weapons/a/armedrobots.htm

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/weapons/a/robots.htm

http://www.defense-update.com/

Blogthing - How Conservative or Liberal are you?

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 95% Conservative, 5% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Technology and Prayer

I was discussing with a colleague this morning the two big myths about technology.

First, that technology can solve nothing. It is just a useless new "fad". It doesn't matter what the technology is, and the "it" is always changing. Whether it has been the telephone, the car, the cell phone, the personal computer, the CD. There are always some people who believe all technology is not worth the effort and won't produce anything useful. Eventually, these people are proven wrong.

Second, that technology can solve everything. The people who believe this are just as bad as the first group. They believe that, whatever the problem, the "tech people" can/will wave their "magic tech wand" and fix all.

Both beliefs come out of the same lack of understanding. Technology is a tool. Pure and simple. Anything that has in the past been thought of as "technology" is eventually labeled a "tool." To copy from dictionary.com "Tool applies broadly to a device that facilitates work". That's it. It does not do the work for you.

The definition of technology from wikipedia states "Technology can be most broadly defined as the material entities created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value. In this use, technology is the current state of our knowledge of how to combine resources to produce desired products, to solve problems, fulfill needs, or satisfy wants. Technology in this sense includes technical methods, skills, processes, techniques, tools and raw materials (for example, in such uses as computer technology, construction technology, or medical technology)." Technology does not do work. It facilitates work.

Later in the discussion with my colleague, I brought up the correspondence between technology and prayer. Technology is like prayer in that, to be truly useful, both must be maintained constantly. However, most people use both tech and prayer in the same manner. Do nothing / ignore it until there is some huge problem, then ask tech/pray that tech/God bend the laws of physics for you. That is not the way either tech or prayer work.

Tech can not solve business problems. Good, critical thinking solves business problems. Sometimes, the solution involves technology.

Aloha.