perfidy

Via slashdot, we learn that Japanese engineers have developed kung-fu-fighting robots. Morph3 is a foot-tall martial arts dynamo, able to perform backflips and karate moves thanks to his 138 pressure sensors, 30 motors and 14 computers. Naturally, Morph3 runs on Linux. 

Researchers say that they are already hard at work on more intelligent ass-kicking robots. Hopefully, the researchers will not make them bullet-proof and consumed with implacable rage and a desire to destroy their makers. 
 

I was watching the news today, when the anchor starts a lead in for the next story: "Presidential candidate the Reverand Al Sharpton is upset that a new game reinforces negative racial stereotypes."

Now, my first reaction was, "what is the little tubby bastard exercised about now?" After the commercial break, it was revealed that the offensive game is called, and I am as serious as a heartattack,

Gettopoly

The game is a stolen property fencing game. The one property I remember was "Tyrone's Gun Shop." Reverend Al might have a point here.

Since the the game's site is not working, here is a link to a story about the game.

Over at Bill Whittle's place, there's a new, short post up on the aftermath of the CA Recall Election. I had thought some of this, though not quite so well, when I trolled through the Democratic Underground forum after it became clear that the Terminator would now be the Governator. The Democratic Underground is exactly what it would be if it were designed by an evil genius hired by Karl Rove to discredit the left. Of course, this is exactly what Sovietologist Robert Conquest's second law predicts: "The behavior of an organization can best be predicted by assuming it to be controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies."

Amazingly, no one who posts on DU seems to be aware of this.

Anyway, the best bit from Whittle's post:

I just heard on the radio from a Democratic state senator who said that "the people were unable to figure out who they were really angry at," that this was really a vote against George W Bush, only the people weren't smart enough to figure out how to go about it and blamed it on poor old Gray Davis. Yes, in their righteous fury and anger at the Republican President, the People of California elected - a Republican governor! That'll show him! 

But as I just learned from California Democratic Party members, we were too stupid to figure out who to be angry with. Yes, by all means - please continue to tell us how stupid we are. We'll love you with all our hearts! 

... DemocraticUnderground.com is awash in conspiracy theories, and spins on how this is 1) The most flagrant voter fraud since - um - the last election, which was itself only overshadowed once in all of history, that being the time right before; and 2) Really the best thing that could possibly happen, since now the Democratic Sweep of 2004 is assured.

And still these people wonder why, after insulting and demeaning the electorate, their poll numbers continue to go down? Shwartz---sorry, Governor Schwarzenegger and McClintock - two Republicans that essentially split the party ticket - together took home around 60% of Califreakingfornia! And instead of doing the smart thing - let alone the honorable thing - they keep hanging blame wherever they think it will stick. They lost because the machines were rigged. They lost because you voters are so stupid. They lost because of a backroom conspiracy. They lost because you're all racists. Or sheep. Or blinded by cheap glitter.

What an uplifting, inspiring philosophy! How can a simple citizen like me become a part of this great vision of leadership and hope?

This is the real, and very serious problem with the left. The contempt and derision for the electorate, the conspiracy theories, the Bush=Hitler, and all the other wacky shit desperately need to go far, far away and not come back. I sincerely hope that at some point it recovers from this madness, and we can have the relatively sane and mildly acrimonious political arena we once had.

Later today, I will depart for my annual Hajj to the great Hershey car fest, there to gaze jealously at the wonderful antique automobiles. This trip is always fun and frustrating - I love old cars, and the medieval fair atmosphere of the show - but frustrating when you see a '67 Camaro RS/SS convertible on the last day whose price has been knocked down $3000 because the owner wants to unload it. 

Or a 49 Buick Roadmaster convertible whose owner is being deployed overseas. And you just don't have the money. Damn. 

Someday, these cars will be mine. Yes indeedy do.

Via slashdot, this delightful article from the pointy heads at the Wharton School. The author, G. Richard Shell begins by making the fairly obvious point that suing your customer base might not be the best idea, but then goes on to give us some solid historical precedent for that conclusion, notably the efforts of the Automobile industry to sue Henry Ford's customers.

Fascinating article, and a valuable perspective on the future of the RIAA's attempts to make itself a pariah. 

One, two

Looking over the election results from the recent unpleasantness in California, I was reminded of a comment thread we had here a while back. In that discussion, we pondered the utility and viability of the Libertarian party.

I think that this result supports my argument:

So far, every person who acted in the movie Predator who has run for governor has won the election. Sadly, Carl Weathers lives in Los Angeles, and will have to wait for the Governator to move out of office, or else move back to his native Louisiana.

Here. Looks like nothing before the middle of the month.

[Update] Reports are conflicting, but it looks like the mission will be longer than the first missions of either the US or USSR. The yahoo article linked on Drudge is saying 14 orbits, which would be nearly a day in orbit. (Gagarin did, iirc, three orbits, and Glenn did one.)

I'm hoping for the Cubs to play the Sox in the series. A more angst-ridden, hopeless confrontation could not be imagined. The only question is, which team does one cheer for? I think I shall wish for the Cubs to win, so that Pejman will link us, and to pay back Johno for the OSU cracks.

While the Cubs fans have seemingly adjusted to defeat after almost a hundred years, the Sox fans stubbornly cling to the idea that they can win, despite all the evidence to the contrary. They make Jesuitical contortions coming up with bizarre theories for their haplessness - "It's a curse," or "Buckner was a Yankee double agent" or whatever. I think it will be more interesting to watch Red Sox fans suffer.

Go Cubs!

Johno insisted that this be done by today, so here it is:

The governments of the United States and Britain have discovered that the Earth is in peril. A team of British SAS captured a mysterious man in the mountains of Afghanistan, a man who spoke no known languages. After bringing in some linguists and therapeutic semanticians, the Brits discovered that the man believed he came from another dimension, a parallel earth whose history had diverged far in the past. While his story was remarkably detailed and consistent, it was too farfetched for anyone to believe.

Later, an American army unit based in Kazakhstan was engaged in training maneuvers when they discovered a mystery man of their own. After a similar period of confusion and language difficulties, they extracted from their captive a story remarkably similar to the one told to the Brits.

The stories were ominous. The two men were representatives, or scouts for a cross dimensional empire that was planning on invading our Earth. It appeared that this empire was ruled by a descendent of the Great Khan, Ghengis, and that the Mongol propensity for pyramids of human skulls had not atrophied over the centuries. These 21st Century Mongols had already conquered their own and a dozen other worlds. Their technology is unknown, but feared to be equal or greater to our own. And of course, they have some means of traveling between the parallel worlds.

Obviously, no word of this threat could be released, at least not until more knowledge was acquired. Shifting around the kind of prominent people that would of necessity make up recon team for a mission of this importance would clue people in to the fact that something was going on. Happily, both the British and American governments (in the interests of posterity) had been freezing the heads of accomplished citizens since the the development of refrigeration technology in the mid nineteenth century.

In the last several months, an American research team had successfully revived the first of the frozen heads, that of Sid Vicious. Despite the advanced genetic technology that put the mind of the deceased into a brand new youthful body, the revived Mr. Vicious immediately committed suicide. Faced with the greatest threat ever, the decision was made to assemble a team from the deceased, so that the mission could have the greatest chance of success while still remaining utterly secret.
The Team:

Sir William Samuel Stephenson: “The man called Intrepid” Canadian born inventor, ace fighter pilot, businessman, and finally spymaster for the British in WWII. Team Leader

Dr. Richard P. Feynman:Brilliant Physicist, head of theoretical division in the Manhattan Project, with a brain “second only to Einstein” – but more in touch with reality. Science Officer

Nicola Tesla: Serbian-American inventor, arguably the most creative and capable technologist in human history. Technologist

Bruce Lee: The most skilled and fearsome martial artist in human history. Human Weapon

Sir Richard Francis Burton: Spy, soldier, linguist (25 languages!), writer, anthropologist, swordsman, explorer. Intelligence Officer

Amy Elizabeth Thorpe: Spy, babe. Femme Fatale

Thomas Edward Lawrence: “Lawrence of Arabia” scholar, soldier, gifted strategist, writer. Military Advisor

Isaac Asimov: Fantastically prolific and inventive writer of science fiction and just about everything else. Walking Encyclopedia

The team's mission is to enter the alternate worlds controlled by the Mongol Hordes, assess their strength's and capabilities, and above all steal or figure out the technology behind their crosstime gates. The scientific and technological emphasis influenced the choice of Feynman and Tesla, as well as Stephenson. Burton and Lawrence's experience in the middle and far east were thought to increase their chances, especially Burton's linguistic skills. All of the team speaks at least two languages. Thorpe was the most accomplished of the women spies who survived the war (the goverment couldn't freeze the brains when they were in the hands of the Nazis.) Bruce Lee was added to the team because, well, he's frickin' Bruce Lee. 'Nuff said.

The team is supported by two groups: 1) a team of extraordinarily geeky MIT grad students from a variety of disciplines. Their job is to bring the team up to snuff on modern technology and science. Of course, Tesla and Feynman will likely be teaching them within minutes. They will also equip the team with a variety of high tech gizmos that will undoubtedly come in handy. And 2) a team of highly trained SAS and Delta Force commandos who will refresh the weapons training of the team, and train them in the use of an array of lethal devices. (In addition, Stephenson's flight training will be brought up to date, and he will qualify on several types of modern aircraft.)

The team will spend some time getting familiar with each other, and bringing the older members up to date on current events. Burton and Lawrence will be the most out of date, but most of the others died no earlier than the sixties. Then, they will wait for a new gate to open - somewhere in central asia if the intelligence community's guesses are correct - and go through. The special forces group will provide covering fire, if necessary, on the way in but will not accompany the team into the parallel worlds.

[side note] I thought for a bit about superheroes and fictional characters, but superheroes don't interest me as much as they once did. So I decided to go with actual humans. Limiting the time frame and nationality made filling out the last couple slots rather difficult.

If I were going with fictional characters facing a random all-encompassing evil threat, I might choose:

• Aragorn
• Batman
• Jacob Demwa from Brin's Sundiver
• The Gunslinger
• Friday from Heinlein's book
• Kimball Kinnison from the Lensman series
• Obiwan Kenobi - and,
• A motie engineer (with birth control!!)

Thanks for blowing a day for me, Johno!

Reuters has a mildly strange article on recent comments from Egyptian President Mubarek. That Mubarek would consider Arafat getting the boot a terrorist act is perhaps no surprise. I have to say, though, showing him the door is hardly the moral equivalent of this. The exact nature of the "grave consequences" Mubarak predicted for Israel if they went ahead and removed the Palestinian leader are unclear.

What I found odd was this bit:

Mubarak's comments came in the text of an interview published by the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1973 October War, when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise assault to regain territories lost to Israel in the 1967 Middle East War.

Israel's security cabinet decided in principle last month to "remove" Arafat after declaring him responsible for Islamic militant attacks on Israelis.

What I thought was weird - is it me, or is the '73 Arab-Israeli war generally referred to as the Yom Kippur War? I've heard it referred to as the '73 War, the fourth Arab-Israeli War, but never as the October War. And why was MENA celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of a defeat that led to the peace accords?

Been reading this blog lately. Lots of excellent material, like this:

Allah forgives you, infidels! Come! Come give Allah a big bear hug!

Many times since he started his glorious blog has Allah been inclined to set Evan Williams and his atrocious, devil-worshipping software on fire. But then he considers the profound joy this would bring to the kufr and he thinks better of it. The cardinal rule of radical Islam in action: Determine what it is that makes the Jew happy--e.g., education, equal treatment for women--then do the opposite. And yes, to anticipate your next question, Allah understands that by this logic Muslims should be wolfing down pork by the plateful. What can Allah tell you except that swine is the exception that proves the rule.

George Will's got an interesting column up.
 

Nature is telling us that those wacky scientists have developed a laser that can zap individual mitochondria inside a cell, leaving the rest of the cell unharmed. Using laser bursts .000000000000001 of a second long, they are able to destroy very small things indeed. Femtolasers! Sadly, they are little use in fighting off Martians.

The ever-useful space.com is reporting that the consensus among those who watch these things is that the Chinese will launch their first manned space mission sometime in the next couple weeks. The article is well worth the read, as it examines some of the political and strategic considerations that many be prompted by a successful Chinese mission.

Many observers feel that the space flight program is merely a cloak for Chinese military development. Others feel that the mission is a prestige building exercise designed to reinforce the legitimacy of the Communist goeverment. Personally, I think it is both.

China is in many respects like Columbus, Ohio. Columbus is a decent sized city in a populous state. But it is alway overshadowed by Cleveland and Cincinnati. When I lived in Columbus in the nineties, there was constant talk of becoming a "major league" city. Much of this centered around efforts to acquire by any means necessary a pro baseball or football team. Of course, lying halfway between the Reds and the Bengals on one side, and the Indians and Browns on the other made this unlikely in the extreme. So, they got a Hockey team. But there were other efforts as well - all aimed at putting Columbus "on the map." When the number of people inside the Columbus city limits surpassed for the first time the number in Cleveland, Columbus cried, "We're the biggest city in Ohio!" Of course this completely ignored the fact that the Cleveland metro population is four times larger, and also that Cleveland has been less, well, assiduous in annexing neighboring communities.

China is convinced that does not get the respect that it deserves. So, this space mission is in some sense like Columbus' NHL team. But unlike Columbus, the Chinese have been making a strenuous effort over the last decade plus to modernize their armed forces. This space mission has obvious relevance to that effort. That China feels the need to pursue both of these ideas could be taken to indicate that China envisions for itself a grander role on the world stage.

And just remember the last time somebody had that set of ideas.

In response to Johno's recent post:

I worked for several years for Citizen Action, an enviromental lobby group. Concern for the environment has always been something important for me, going back to the days when I was in the Boy Scouts and spent a considerable amount of time in actual nature as opposed to volvo station wagons with "Think globally act locally" bumperstickers.

CA and similar groups are the "sane" side of the environmental movement. While they eschew the violent or property damaging methods of Earth First and other wackos, their politics and beliefs are scarcely different.

My time at CA was a constant struggle - while I wanted to do something positive for the environment, do my part so to speak, the ideological fanaticism of the leadership and most of the other people working there was hard to deal with. At the time, I was significantly less conservative than I am today - and that experience was a major part of why I moved rightward.

At base, I cannot agree with people who think that technology is inherently evil, and that the world would be a better place if all but maybe a million environmentally conscious people were to depart it. Taken to its logical conclusions, the "sustainable development" ideology is a recipe for the death by starvation of billions.

Most environmentalists would of course stop short of advocating this path. But they are strangely tolerant of those who don't. The prejudices of the environmentalist and the antiglobalization crowd amount to a kind of condescension, where primitive peoples and nature are to be kept pristine, so that they may be properly appreciated by enlightened, blue-goretex-wearing ecotourists. Those primitive people are rarely consulted as to what their wishes actually are. (Usually, TV and a new wardrobe from a lot of the documentaries I've seen. Most people do not like poverty, even if it is a traditional lifestyle - that's why so many move to the cities.)

Technology could make things much better for the rest of the world, as could the economic liberty that makes advanced technology possible. A classic example is the golden rice, enriched with vitamin A that could prevent blindness in millions of children a year (it's all about the children, of course) even though it is an eevilll frankenfood. Kneejerk opposition to technological solutions, mystical environmental marxism, and constant doommongering are not a recipe for saving the whales, or anything else.

If we are going to preserve our natural wonders, and not go careening into self created disaster (at various times one or more of the following: new ice age, malthusian population collapse, utter depletion of natural resources, global warming, systemic collapse of the ecosystem, or just choking to death on pollution) we don't need more of the "woolly-headed crypto-Marxist claptrap that totally ignores reality in favor of impossible solutions."

Real solutions rely on an enlightened regard for self interest. If we refrain from screaming that the sky is falling, and point out that it is in everyone's best interest to avoid drowning in PCBs, we begin to make progress. (And using market based mechanisms for pollution control is a good start.) We are ever so much cleaner than we were even thirty years ago, and most new factories and what not are designed with environmental protection in mind. (The Cuyahoga River hasn't caught fire since before I was born! Go Cleveland!) In time, we'll have hydrogen cars, and maybe even clean fusion power (Cold Fusion Now!) or solar power satellites. The world will be cleaner, at least where sensible democratic people live.

But the worst polluters and environment rapers are totalitarian governments and poor nations. There is a clear connection between wealth and environmental awareness. People who have the luxury to think about a clean environment (rather than the next meal or whether they will be tortured by the local gestapo) will take steps to clean things up.

The trend is clear in the industrialized world - ever stricter standards and an increasingly park-like world outside the cities. We don't really need to worry much there. I don't think we are approaching ecological holocaust. We just need to calm down and stop firebombing apartment complexes and shouting "Free the Mink!"

Behold the breathtaking idiocy of the soi disant animal rights movement.

From the greatest website in Christendom, McSweeney's Internet Tendency:

A N   O P E N   L E T T E R
T O   C H I C A G O
P U B L I C   L I B R A R Y
D E S K   V A N D A L S .
 

BY HOLLY GRIGALUNAS

Dear Vandals,

I write in regard to your collective graffiti displayed on a study carrel — just east of the map collection and through the foreign books — in the Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public Library. While your detailed Asian fetishes and sketches of generously-endowed hermaphrodites kept me distracted from my primary reading materials for quite some time, I thought you may benefit from a few tips that may better convey your sentiments.

Choose your writing instrument carefully. Markers and Wite-Out will do. Avoid pencil; it rubs off far too easily — "CASTRATE ALL…" what? Your ideal method may be to etch directly into the wood, perhaps with a paperclip or very sturdy ballpoint pen. Along with imbuing a rustic, almost old-timey, timbre to your voice, it may avoid any further confusion over which ethnic group gives the best head.

Secondly, bear in mind that a good majority of people are right-handed, causing most graffiti to become clotted up on the right-hand sides of desks. Writing on the left-hand side will not only set your message apart, but will add a pleasing, feng-shui effect to your canvas. Basically, if you truly want to stress that Scotty does, in fact, take it up the ass —  think left.

Finally, take heed when responding to your fellow vandals' messages. Imagine your fellow vandal has inscribed a bawdy and entirely incorrect statement in pencil, perhaps about his abnormal penis length and the amount of attractive young women who, just last night, took pleasure in every last inch. You must be ambiguous and glib in your response in the event that the initial point of contention rubs off on someone's sweaty forearm, or is lost forever in the terry recesses of the night janitor's rag. Nothing is more bewildering than a "YEAH AFTER YOU PAY THEM CAUSE YOU CAN'T GET ANY FOR FREE," accompanied by a lonesome arrow. A simple "fuck off" or "your mamma is gay" should suffice wonderfully as both a dissenting response and an independent assault.

I do hope you consider these suggestions, not only for the sake of clarity and cohesiveness, but for your own readers' faith in you and your vast affection for young pussy. 

Respectfully,
Holly Grigalunas
Chicago, IL

The world renowned Hindustan Times is reporting that:

Kuwaiti security authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle $60 million worth of chemical weapons and biological warheads from Iraq to an unnamed European country, a Kuwaiti newspaper said on Wednesday.

A desultory google search showed no other articles on this event. Meanwhile, the long expected Kay report is expected to show no hard evidence of WMD, though many dual use facilities that could be quickly converted to evil uses - and extensive efforts to conceal those capabilities.

The Hindustan Times article came out almost a day ago, its surprising that no other news outlet has commented on it.

In related news, North Korea has three times as many nukes as we thought, and is making more.