Author: luken7

Japanese cars help boost U.S. trade deficit to record in 2006 The U.S. trade deficit hit a record in 2006 as Americans bought more goods from China, more oil from around the world and more vehicles from Japan. That last fact will fuel a push by allies of Detroit’s automakers on Capitol Hill for the Bush Administration to take a more aggressive stance against the Japanese yen, which domestic automotive executives claim has been artificially weakened to bolster Japanese automakers.

Yup, so look forward to Detroit asking for a way to limit the success of Toyota, Honda and Nissan in the US, to help prop up Ford and GM, forcing Americans to continue buying substandard quality vehicles. Hey, if you can’t beat ’em, kill ’em or run ’em out of town.

OK, I do find this a bit humorous. Think about it, when was the last time you stressed about a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) GBU-31 bomb dropping directly on your house, with your name on it.

According to senior military officials, al Sadr left Baghdad two to three weeks ago and fled to Tehran, Iran, where he has family. Al Sadr commands the Mahdi army, one of the most formidable insurgent militias in Iraq, and his move coincides with the announced U.S. troop surge in Baghdad. Sources believe al Sadr is worried about an increase of 20,000 U.S. troops in the Iraqi capital. One official told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, "He is scared he will get a JDAM [bomb] dropped on his house."   ABC News: Al Sadr Fled Iraq, Fearing U.S. Bombs

Hawaii, the place for newlyweds to Honeymoon, and then come back divorced.

starbulletin.com | News | /2007/02/13/ A bill to legalize some prostitution in the islands has the backing of at least 14 state lawmakers and many women’s rights advocates. Supporters say they mainly want to start debate of the sensitive topic and explore alternatives to decades of selling sex on Honolulu streets. They include 13 co-sponsors in the House, one sponsor in the Senate and the Hawaii Women’s Coalition, whose members represent more than 200 organizations. But House Bill 982 (and companion Senate Bill 706) might not pass this year. It appears unlikely the bill will get a hearing this session. The decriminalization bill would permit sexual favors done in private, and it would designate areas where prostitution is allowed.

It’s officially on. Sen. McCain, who I’ve respected quite much (up until now), is delivering the keynote speach for Creationists? He’s already pandering out to the extreme (fanatical) right, trying to secure his party’s nomination and the presidency. Too bad he’ll alienate most of his supporters, the vast majority being the mainstream of America. He was my last reason for retaining my Republican voter ID card. Not that the Democrats are the way, but I am truly un-represented now.

Think Progress » McCain To Deliver Keynote Speech For Creationists Today is Darwin Day, commemorating the anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and of the publishing of On the Origin of Species. The National Academy of Sciences, “the nation’s most prestigious scientific organization,” declares evolution “one of the strongest and most useful scientific theories we have.” President Bush’s science adviser John Marburger calls it “the cornerstone of modern biology.” Yet, on February 23, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will be the keynote speaker for the most prominent creationism advocacy group in the country. The Discovery Institute, a religious right think-tank, is well-known for its strong opposition to evolutionary biology and its advocacy for “intelligent design.” The institute’s main financial backer, savings and loan heir Howard Ahmanson, spent 20 years on the board of the Chalcedon Foundation, “a theocratic outfit that advocates the replacement of American civil law with biblical law.” McCain has an ambiguous record on whether he supports intelligent design in the science curriculum. In 2005, he said it should be taught: Daily Star: Should intelligent design be taught in schools? McCain: I think that there has to be all points of view presented. But they’ve got to be thoroughly presented. So to say that you can only teach one line of thinking I don’t think is – or one belief on how people and the world was created – I think there’s nothing wrong with teaching different schools of thought. Daily Star: Does it belong in science? McCain: There’s enough scientists that believe it does. I’m not a scientist. This is something that I think all points of view should be presented. But last year, he said the intelligent design theory should not be taught in the science classroom: “I think Americans should be exposed to every point of view,” he said. “I happen to believe in evolution…I respect those who think the world was created in seven days. Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not.“ As McCain continues his lurch to the right, where will he come down on intelligent design in the science classroom? We’ll be watching.

You know, I am truly starting to believe that the extreme right is going to be the downfall, or regression of this great country. I’ve said it before, there’s not much difference between them and Islamic radicals except the extreme right has wealth so they’ll sacrifice other people instead of themselves for their beliefs.

The Seminal :: Independent Media and Politics » Action: Congress wants to monitor all emails, IMs, etc.
A bill introduced last week by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) is beginning to raise eyebrows. [It] would require ISPs to record all users’ surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely. The bill, dubbed the Safety Act by sponsor Lamar Smith, a republican congressman from Texas, would impose fines and a prison term of one year on ISPs which failed to keep full records.

Good for storage companies that sell storage, bad for democracy, liberty and freedom, and America in general. Are we going to have to file "1984: The Return"? So how would this bill be different than mandating that the post office open your mail, scan and archive it, then forward it on? Or how is this different than the phone company having to record and archive your voice calls? Or tracking where you drive, or what you purchase in a store, or monitor you discussions at your own dinner table at home? And he’s dubbing this the Safety Act? What’s safe about it. So we would jail people for not keeping records? So if records are lost, to avoid going to jail, make up some. Hmm….NIGHTWATCH.

Worker perks making a comeback | ajc.com
Best Buy recently made news when it scrapped its mandatory meetings, the 9-to-5 workday and the idea of even having to come into work at all. Productivity rose 35 percent in departments that adopted the concept, known as results-oriented work environment, or ROWE.

What a concept, who would have thunk it. And I bet they actually hired a consulting firm to figure that out.

Volume ID found!! (now Blu-Ray and HD DVD) (+instructions) – Doom9’s Forum
When will these media companies learn that DRM is counter productive and obviously costly to them. How much time, cost  and effort has gone into protecting Blu-Ray and HD-DVD? When what follows is a few folks on teh net cracking it, before the formats are even wide spread? I think people will stop copying movies when there’s no benefit to it, when it’s not worth their time. For example, I now use Netflix, I pay a flat fee to see three movies at a time. I hope these companies will take it to the next level, an internet based subscription. Say for $30 per month, stream as much as I want to watch, in HD quality of course. So until you get to that point, don’t look for me to speak bad about these hackers, and don’t look for me to support your strong handed efforts.

Slice of Scifi – Science Fiction TV & Movie News, Interviews & more » Wisdom From Boris: How To Survive a Horror Movie!

And my favorite one: If your children speak to you in Latin or any other language which they should not speak, or if they speak to you using a voice which is not their own, shoot them immediately. It will save you the grief in the long run. *NOTE* It will probably take several rounds to kill them, so be prepared.

There is a very dangerous phenomenon that seems to be occurring in the United States of America; something that I refer to as “the dumbing-down of the American mind,” a nearly willful tendency for Americans to forgo reality in favor of believing what they want to believe…

read more | digg story

Microsoft recommends Apple’s GarageBand for advanced music creators. So I guess they’re also recommending getting a Mac if you truly want to make music. Sound’s like sweet music to me, that’s for the advice. This just brings me one step closer to my MacBook Pro. I’m sure the article will soon disappear from their site http://www.microsoft.com/athome/morefun/makemusic.mspx so the text is below.

Advanced:GarageBand (U.S.$79)

Part of iLife ’05, a suite of integrated applications (including iMovie and iDVD), GarageBand is a popular program that turns a Mac computer into a professional-quality recording studio for musicians.

The intuitive interface lets music lovers create and record music by selecting from the more than 50 virtual instruments (including a convincing grand piano) and more than 1,000 professional-quality audio loops that can be used in a new composition. Players can also attach instruments to their computer, such as music keyboard or electric guitar (via analog input or microphone), which can be recorded, edited, and mixed together with other tracks.

GarageBand users can also add more instruments and loops with any of four Jam Packs (U.S.$99). These expansion discs each add more than 2,000 additional loops and dozens of new software instruments, among other features.

Article written by Marc Saltzman and adapted from an original piece fromMicrosoft Home Magazine.

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