Well I’ve had the time to sit down and finally play with IE 7 (beta) and what
I’ve scene so far doesn’t give the brother that "warm-n-fuzzy" it used to. Don’t
get me wrong the new tabbed browsing (borrowed from FireFox) is nice and the
anti-Phishing Filter will make surfing the web a little more safe for users, but
what really bothers me is they did a huge change to the UI of the browser
itself. The home button has moved to the bottom right, and there is no "menu"
tool bar anymore. The changes are drastic (home button now on the bottom right)
and don’t seem to have any reason that I can discern. Maybe it’s part of the
overall move to the "Fisher Price’s My First Operating System" look and feel
they started with XP and will continue to change in Vista. All I know is it will
only serve to frustrate people who already find computers difficult.
Some advice for Microsoft… leave the IE interface alone, or at least put a "back
to classic interface" option like you did for XP.
Download a copy for your self and check out what I mean (hey…misery LOVES
company):
One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies: “I’m sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week” The florist is pleased and leaves the shop. Next morning when the barber goes to open there is a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: “I’m sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The cop is happy and leaves the shop. Next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Later a Conservative comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: “I’m sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The Republican is very happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open, there is a thank you card and a dozen different books such as “How to Improve Your Business” and “Becoming More Successful.”
Then a Liberal comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: “I’m sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The Liberal is very happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen Liberals lined up waiting for a free haircut.
And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the liberal left and the conservative right. (more…)
Not only is this move enormously stupid, politically it’s just plain stupid.
House Republicans who are revolting on this issue are guilty of doing something
the incompetent staffers at the White House can’t seem to do very well these
days: listen and respond effectively to their constituents.
Isn’t this the Party that prides themselves as the party of strength and
conviction when defending our country? Several agencies, most notably the
Coast Guard (a BIG part of the Department of Homeland Security) has acknowledged
that DP World will be responsible for the background checks and overall security
of the employees assigned to its U.S. port operations.
This security-minded American would rather not see management of our ports in
the hands of an Arab state-owned company whose government officials have
provided cover to Osama bin Laden before 9/11, remained a logistical hub after
9/11, deny the existence of Israel as a sovereign state, and may be providing
material support for terrorism even as they welcome our military forces to their
shores.
Our homeland security department has a long way to go to making us feel safer,
especially regarding security of our country’s borders. Donald Rumsfeld recently
said that our country needs to catch up to our enemies when utilizing technology
to effectively combat terrorism. This administration needs to listen to the
people and simply do more to make us safer. When the White House has gained the
confidence of it’s citizens regarding homeland security then and only then should we consider more risk. (more…)
Should Jay Bennish be suspended for his statement about Bush being like
Hitler? Is this a violation of his First Amendment rights?
Sorry sports fans….no.
As long as Mr. Bennish had a "captive" audience and there wasn’t the ability
for a balancing viewpoint, he was using his position of authority and stifling
free speech.
Let me illustrate the dynamics for you: If an offended student had decided to
walk out of Mr.Bennish’sclass, what would have happened to that
student (excellent example is here:
http://hq.protestwarrior.com/?page=/featured/PHS/PHS.php – long read but
worth it)?
Students do not, the Law tells us in examples like
Tinker vs. Des Moines, "shed their constitutional rights when they enter the
schoolhouse door." However it is also the case that the school system has
a far greater ability to restrict the speech of their students than the
government has to restrict the speech of the general public. Student
speech cases require a balancing of the legitimate educational objectives and
need for school discipline against the First Amendment values served by
extending speech rights of students.
Was Mr. Bennish wrong for saying Bush and Hitler have "eerie similarities
to the tones that they use"? Not at all, actually I’d call his remark
idiotic as my Dad, Boss, and most TV/Movie/Literary villains have
had eerie similarities to the tones that Hitler has used.
Tones?!?!? <smacking forehead>
Banning unpopular speech isn’t a “left vs. right†issue. Opposition to
free speech can come from both ends of the ideological spectrum. However
if you are in a position of superiority and use that to promote your opinions and restrict others, you
abuse free speech.
As one of my more astute co-workers pointed out…if this guy deviated from the school curriculum for his own ends, he’s no longer teaching and so needs to be disciplined for not doing his job. (more…)
The newest tool from Google is now getting better as the upload program
released this year allows people to upload their videos. There are many
that they can’t post though (mostly because of copyrights), but if done
correctly you can access it via the Google Video Store.
There are some EXTREMELY funny videos out there (search for The
Simpsons Intro, where you’ll find a video parody of the Simpsons opening
done with real characters or Biker Dancing My Humps to see what
bikers in NY do to while away winter).
Does this mean that soon we will be able to see the episode of Battlestar Galactica we
missed the night before thanks to Google? I’d certainly like to hope so…. (more…)
Can anyone tell me when we lost the First Amendment in the
country to Political Correctness?
"Political Correctness" (PC) is such a powerful oppression that it now
overpowers rational thought, ethics, morality, and common sense (though I have
said that sense does not seem to be "common" actually). PC has become more
valuable than truth or freedom, and those who follow it rely on every other
ridiculous argument to convert and/or silence its critics making it a
self-perpetuating oppression. It has become an ideology so powerful it pressures
all of society to conform, so pervasive even the law subscribes to it. Does
anyone else see the similarities PC has to the brain washing used in 1984?
PC is a manipulation that not only uses fear but every other fallacy as well.
One particularly insidious application extends the pity argument to the extreme.
The claim is that "feelings," a purely personal, affective state of one’s own
consciousness, must prescribe the course of group action, must be elevated to
the level of national goals. NOTHING must be done or said that could, in any
way, hurt somebody’s feelings. This goes against free speech and makes an
implication that hurting someone’s feelings does actual harm to them.
Of course now…reference’s to anyone’s ethnicity, race, beliefs
or sexual preference is out! Not only are all the jokes taboo, but so is
mentioning any of these when referring to statistical data, regardless of
whether or not the data is accurate. Anyone putting it into words is seen to be
racially and/or hate biased and now subject to punishment by one’s fellow
citizens! Also, with the government allowing it to be brought to the courts,
it’s now legal to punish a person for exercising free speech.
How has it happened that a country once peopled by moral, tough- minded and
rational individualists dedicated to a "live and let live" ideology has so
changed in less than a quarter century?
Very simply indeed….we no longer see ourselves as individuals
with integrity and courage but instead thanks to the Sports, Hollywood, etc.
mentality we now see ourselves as marketable commodities who, to be marketable,
must be approved and accepted by others (a simple example are the diseases Anorexia
Nervosa and
Bulimia Nervosa).
Perhaps the question is not "have we" but "why
have we" allowed ourselves to become the Orwellian Oceanians, fighting
the great war (by
the way, visit this link to see the "fictional" conflict map of the world of
1984 – interesting "fiction" no)? We also can’t say that this type of grand
manipulations (especially those that reach this level of brain washing) do not
happen accidentally; they are designed to benefit someone. This intense pressure
to conform started long before 9/11, but now, the current administration claims
protecting ourselves from the fear of terrorism makes conformity and the loss of
personal freedoms necessary. If the political elite (or in my continuing
Orwellian example – the Inner Party)did not, in the first place,
instigate the fear and conformity of political correctness, they have certainly
taken advantage of it.
Free speech does not mean that it won’t be offensive or
obnoxious. It does mean though that for us all to have it, we must protect the
free speech of the most obnoxious among us.
P.S.
If you’re now wondering how this relates to the cartoon above it’s simple…in
watching TV (MSNBC to be specific) they would grid out the cartoons, removing my
right to seeit under free speech.
P.P.S. If you want to see the cartoons everyone is fussing about
click on "Riff Raff Sam" to your right →
(with my luck I’ll be
chastised for using this ‘racist’ cartoon)
Come out & see the planes fly tomorrow at Arctic Thunder. Do this in honor of the lost crew. We will be honoring them...you should too. http://twitter.com/hogbiker18 mins ago
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Google]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.leray.us/nukem/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
