I know I talked about intelligent design a few entries ago, but I saw this comic and had to put it in. Check out this article from the BBC about America's new "War on Science". Most people in this country are not really paying attention to the erosion of scientific consideration that is happening with this current administration, with little surprise I might add. I mean, our President is known to be a faux pas factory and with his latest statement of "I think it ought to be taught" with respect to intelligent design he is only perpetuating this image. Whatever you believe about the objectivity of scientists and how to interpret and weigh their respective findings you cannot deny that this country as a whole is falling into a pit of darkness where information and outside viewpoints are rarely heard or seen and where money and religion (seemingly very separate but very much intertwined) are guiding everything from our lesson plans to our interpretation of the constitution. It will be a awesome day when the monkey known and GW leaves office. It may not change everything, but at least I won't have to look at his smirking face everyday or hear his idiotic laugh as he speaks lightheartedly about foreign relations or our supposed energy policy.
Friday, August 26, 2005
It's Google's World, We are just Living in it...
The article (registration required) I just finished reading is a bit ridiculous, but expected. I mean you could have seen the writing in the code. As google comes out with more web applications and services (Picasa, Google Earth to name a few) their dominance as general internet giant is being felt hard in Silicon Valley. This is a classic story of rebel turned corporate snob, or that is what some would have you believe. I think the battle against google was over when you could use the company's name as a verb. Once you could start "googling" things we should have all thrown in the towel and bowed down to the overlords Sergey and Larry. In all honesty this article sounds like the call of the hater. When a company becomes successful and tries to dip it's hand into everything it can they are seen as "drying up the talent pool" and "making it hard for start-ups" , to well, start up. This is because investors always believe that whatever the start up is trying to sell them on will just come out from google tomorrow, and google will do it better. I don't see this company as doing anything more than trying to make money in a culture where the norm is sink or swim and the changeover to drowning can happen in less than a week. Google has even been compared to Microsoft with Bill Gates touting that "they are the most similar company we have ever had as a competitor". Well good, finally you guys have to do something and be innovative, but be quick about it. If there were a true competing operating system to windows out there you think Windows Vista (Longhorn) would be this delayed? I doubt it. Kudos to google, their software is easy to use, has incredible functionality and beautiful user interfaces, and most importantly, is free. Good enough for me, F the haters in Silicon Valley.
I know I talked about intelligent design a few entries ago, but I saw this comic and had to put it in. Check out this article from the BBC about America's new "War on Science". Most people in this country are not really paying attention to the erosion of scientific consideration that is happening with this current administration, with little surprise I might add. I mean, our President is known to be a faux pas factory and with his latest statement of "I think it ought to be taught" with respect to intelligent design he is only perpetuating this image. Whatever you believe about the objectivity of scientists and how to interpret and weigh their respective findings you cannot deny that this country as a whole is falling into a pit of darkness where information and outside viewpoints are rarely heard or seen and where money and religion (seemingly very separate but very much intertwined) are guiding everything from our lesson plans to our interpretation of the constitution. It will be a awesome day when the monkey known and GW leaves office. It may not change everything, but at least I won't have to look at his smirking face everyday or hear his idiotic laugh as he speaks lightheartedly about foreign relations or our supposed energy policy.
I know I talked about intelligent design a few entries ago, but I saw this comic and had to put it in. Check out this article from the BBC about America's new "War on Science". Most people in this country are not really paying attention to the erosion of scientific consideration that is happening with this current administration, with little surprise I might add. I mean, our President is known to be a faux pas factory and with his latest statement of "I think it ought to be taught" with respect to intelligent design he is only perpetuating this image. Whatever you believe about the objectivity of scientists and how to interpret and weigh their respective findings you cannot deny that this country as a whole is falling into a pit of darkness where information and outside viewpoints are rarely heard or seen and where money and religion (seemingly very separate but very much intertwined) are guiding everything from our lesson plans to our interpretation of the constitution. It will be a awesome day when the monkey known and GW leaves office. It may not change everything, but at least I won't have to look at his smirking face everyday or hear his idiotic laugh as he speaks lightheartedly about foreign relations or our supposed energy policy.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Pop The Top!
Hey All, welcome to another rousing edition of beep boppin' and scattin'! I am your host Adeola the magnificent. Today we discuss the phenomenon that is putting your collar up, Nigerian debt Collectors, and The Man imposing his rule outside of the workplace.
First off, T.G.I wish I was dead, or at least sleeping. What kind of sick joke is a Friday anyway? So close to the weekend you can taste it, but having to work an extremely long work day just to get to it, one made even longer by the thoughts of the coming weekend. This will actually be the first Friday I have worked a full day in about 2 weeks. That is also not helping, but at least I have a job to go to and an income, can't say the same for many.
Now for the topics. I would like to point your attention to an article at the Village Voice. It's a very in depth and reasonable article about that ubiquitous fashion, guys (and I guess girls) putting their collars up on a polo shirt although it can really be on any shirt. I really don't know how I feel about this whole collar thing. Actually, the article does a good job of pointing out the good and the bad points of the style. What does it mean? Why do people do it? Why do people hate it? If you do it, will guys want to be you and girls want to try and change you? I am not really sure, but I don't have a very long neck and my collar down is usually at the level of most people who put their collars up, I just don't have the real estate to pull this thing off, or up as the case may be. What do you guys think of this. Is it interesting, or just dumb? The article raises a good point about the people that hate it and why, because it looks like the person is trying to hard. That is, when they see someone with a collar up they picture the person getting dressed and finally popping the top with this feeling that they are now cool, and it just infuriates them. That is pretty true, that is what I think sometimes, but who am I to judge someone for being fashionable. I wear those stupid Euro shoes (if you don't know what those are look down, you are probably wearing them right now), wear button down shirt out with jeans, and usually have some type of funky watch on. Am I trying to hard, or am I just trying to look good? That I guess is for the masses to decide.
I received these pictures(to the right) in a random email from a buddy of mine. The forward had a message in it that talked about how these guys were probably from a Nigerian gang. I, wanting to defend my country men as not, immediately defended them and said that I have never seen this in my very limited time in Nigeria, and my parents had never mentioned any fucking hyenas anywhere. Well apparently my parents just have not been in a while and I was just not there for long enough because these people are surely from Nigeria. They are apparently debt collectors. Yo, if some dude shows up to my house with a giant chain, a stick and a hyena, you better believe I will pay him some way. Thank God all we have to worry about here are the relentless phone calls, and possible legal action of various insitutions. All of a sudden court looks like an excellent idea. By the way, the monkey also belongs to one of the people in the group. I think he is there just to mix things up by throwing feces around your house and causing you to become generally more agitated as he leaps around your home screeching and breaking things. Probably doesn't keep the hyenas that calm either.
Last but not least, a quick word regarding an article about how companies now have the power over our freetime. Its not bad enough that they have us for 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, but now if I want to hang out with a co-worker after work and grab a beer or a bite to eat, my boss can tell me I can't. I doubt this is really going to be practiced, but then why is the power there in the first place? I would use the phrase "mad sketchy" to describe this policy.
First off, T.G.I wish I was dead, or at least sleeping. What kind of sick joke is a Friday anyway? So close to the weekend you can taste it, but having to work an extremely long work day just to get to it, one made even longer by the thoughts of the coming weekend. This will actually be the first Friday I have worked a full day in about 2 weeks. That is also not helping, but at least I have a job to go to and an income, can't say the same for many.
Now for the topics. I would like to point your attention to an article at the Village Voice. It's a very in depth and reasonable article about that ubiquitous fashion, guys (and I guess girls) putting their collars up on a polo shirt although it can really be on any shirt. I really don't know how I feel about this whole collar thing. Actually, the article does a good job of pointing out the good and the bad points of the style. What does it mean? Why do people do it? Why do people hate it? If you do it, will guys want to be you and girls want to try and change you? I am not really sure, but I don't have a very long neck and my collar down is usually at the level of most people who put their collars up, I just don't have the real estate to pull this thing off, or up as the case may be. What do you guys think of this. Is it interesting, or just dumb? The article raises a good point about the people that hate it and why, because it looks like the person is trying to hard. That is, when they see someone with a collar up they picture the person getting dressed and finally popping the top with this feeling that they are now cool, and it just infuriates them. That is pretty true, that is what I think sometimes, but who am I to judge someone for being fashionable. I wear those stupid Euro shoes (if you don't know what those are look down, you are probably wearing them right now), wear button down shirt out with jeans, and usually have some type of funky watch on. Am I trying to hard, or am I just trying to look good? That I guess is for the masses to decide.
I received these pictures(to the right) in a random email from a buddy of mine. The forward had a message in it that talked about how these guys were probably from a Nigerian gang. I, wanting to defend my country men as not, immediately defended them and said that I have never seen this in my very limited time in Nigeria, and my parents had never mentioned any fucking hyenas anywhere. Well apparently my parents just have not been in a while and I was just not there for long enough because these people are surely from Nigeria. They are apparently debt collectors. Yo, if some dude shows up to my house with a giant chain, a stick and a hyena, you better believe I will pay him some way. Thank God all we have to worry about here are the relentless phone calls, and possible legal action of various insitutions. All of a sudden court looks like an excellent idea. By the way, the monkey also belongs to one of the people in the group. I think he is there just to mix things up by throwing feces around your house and causing you to become generally more agitated as he leaps around your home screeching and breaking things. Probably doesn't keep the hyenas that calm either.
Last but not least, a quick word regarding an article about how companies now have the power over our freetime. Its not bad enough that they have us for 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, but now if I want to hang out with a co-worker after work and grab a beer or a bite to eat, my boss can tell me I can't. I doubt this is really going to be practiced, but then why is the power there in the first place? I would use the phrase "mad sketchy" to describe this policy.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Intelligent Design?! Are you Kidding Me!
When I first started this blog I had a few articles in mind that I would talk about to get my creative writing juices flowing. I never did write anything about those articles and just figured I would let it go thinking I would find other interesting things to write about in the future. Well it seems that one of those topics has re-surfaced and I can't pass up the chance this time. The title should give you an idea of what it is, but just in case, the issue is about teaching intelligent design in our public high schools alongside evolution as a competing theory of how man as we know him came to live on this earth as we do today. I pride myself on my ability to hear both sides of an arguement and give everyone a fair chance to make a point, in this case however I am going to have to agree with most of the scientific community that this should not even be a debate, much less a real issue to weigh in on.
Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory no matter how many people say it is. For those of you that don't know, intelligent design (better known as creationism) is the simple notion (and it really is one of the more simplistic ideas around) that we as human beings are SO complex biologically and in our current state of being that it is simply impossible for a guiding force to not have had some type of involvement in it. Basically we are too advanced to have gotten to this point of our existence with such a simple and misguided idea as evolution. Natural selection is hooey apparently. Most rational thinking people see this as a way for religion, notably Christianity, to find it's way into a public school system that has separated itself from the faith ages ago (technically). The proponents of this "Theory" say that it's valid and to not allow it is to willingly leave out of the public forum a whole chunk of educational goodness. These people are very serious and are trying very hard to get this piece of trash they like to call scientific thinking into the public high school curriculum, maybe even down to the elementary and middle school curriculum.
As if it was not hard enough to get youngsters to understand the mystery that is long division, we are going to teach them two separate theories of how humans came to be on this earth, and we expect this to be better for them. Our educational system is already lacking behind most of the modern world, now the hard christian right has figured out another way for use to fall behind. If this is such a valid theory then how come it is only being pushed in the US? Are we really that advanced that we know something the other 5 billion people in the world don't know. My idea is we don't, we just have more idiots and self righteous monkeys in this country who are actually willing to argue for the inclusion of such a ridiculous idea into minds of growing adults. I'm looking at you, Mr.Bush. The President recently said that he believes intelligent design should be taught in schools in order to address all the possibilities that could be when speaking about human developement. Ok I have a theory that I would like to include as well. We actually came from a super intelligent race of sea monkeys that lived on this world in the oceans before the break up of the continents. Where are these sea monkeys now? Obviously they have migrated to the new 10th planet found beyond the reaches of Pluto.
Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory no matter how many people say it is. For those of you that don't know, intelligent design (better known as creationism) is the simple notion (and it really is one of the more simplistic ideas around) that we as human beings are SO complex biologically and in our current state of being that it is simply impossible for a guiding force to not have had some type of involvement in it. Basically we are too advanced to have gotten to this point of our existence with such a simple and misguided idea as evolution. Natural selection is hooey apparently. Most rational thinking people see this as a way for religion, notably Christianity, to find it's way into a public school system that has separated itself from the faith ages ago (technically). The proponents of this "Theory" say that it's valid and to not allow it is to willingly leave out of the public forum a whole chunk of educational goodness. These people are very serious and are trying very hard to get this piece of trash they like to call scientific thinking into the public high school curriculum, maybe even down to the elementary and middle school curriculum.
As if it was not hard enough to get youngsters to understand the mystery that is long division, we are going to teach them two separate theories of how humans came to be on this earth, and we expect this to be better for them. Our educational system is already lacking behind most of the modern world, now the hard christian right has figured out another way for use to fall behind. If this is such a valid theory then how come it is only being pushed in the US? Are we really that advanced that we know something the other 5 billion people in the world don't know. My idea is we don't, we just have more idiots and self righteous monkeys in this country who are actually willing to argue for the inclusion of such a ridiculous idea into minds of growing adults. I'm looking at you, Mr.Bush. The President recently said that he believes intelligent design should be taught in schools in order to address all the possibilities that could be when speaking about human developement. Ok I have a theory that I would like to include as well. We actually came from a super intelligent race of sea monkeys that lived on this world in the oceans before the break up of the continents. Where are these sea monkeys now? Obviously they have migrated to the new 10th planet found beyond the reaches of Pluto.
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