Bionic whatever

What was that atrocious pile of shit?

Random thoughts I had to express during the broadcast:

1)Why the fuck are they speeding through everything? She goes bionic, she escapes, the evil dad is mentioned, he escapes, the big bad shows up, she kills the boyfriend, they fight, she decides to join the agency ... is it just me, or could they have intelligently expanded the storylines of the first episode into about half a season?

2)Why is she so fucking apeshit pissed at the boyfriend? I realize seeing your legs being rebuilt would be scary, but probably not more scary than being on dialysis or seeing the bloody stumps where your appendages used to be. I would say "jeepers, thank so much for saving my life and replacing my limbs"... a little gratitude wouldn't hurt. Would she rather be an eye patch wearing limbless cripple? I'd be fucking ecstatic to have fully functional, but super-powered, limbs and healing ability.

3)Ummm...the only, only, only point of having the "big bad" and the hero duel early in a season is so that the hero can get their ass kicked. If they learn quickly and defeat the villain, it kind of destroys the suspense.

4)So. Many. Cliched. Lines.

5)In the surgery room, they clearly show that only her lower legs are missing. So, why can she run fast or leap high? Those actions are powered by your quadriceps and hamstrings, two muscles that, unless they were removed during surgery, were not "bionic-ized." Doesn't compute.

6)The lead actress sucks.

I hope I won't be watching any more of this.

Get your ass to Mars!

http://www.tfot.info/news/1006/mini-mag-orion-will-reach-for-the-stars.html

This is kind of a gimped version of the Orion drive. Using small, radioactive pellets that are then exploded, the "mini-mag" spacecraft based on this design would be far more efficient than conventional rockets, but not produce a gigantic nuclear explosion in space.

Soon, the entire universe will be within our grasp.

Notre Dame Myopia

http://www.amazon.com/New-Gold-Standard-Charlie-Notre/dp/1933060204/ref=sr_1_1/102-4722433-3631362?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190314292&sr=8-1

Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game in twenty years. They've been embarassed by top competition for the last five or ten years. They have the lowest ranked offense in the Division 1-A this year, with a grand total of -14 yards rushing through week 3. They have, perhaps, the worst offensive line I have ever seen a prominent program allow onto the field. Charlie Weis lied to QB Demetrius Jones (promising him the starting job, then handing it to Claussen), then threw a temper tantrum and refused to release Jones from his scholarship when he transferred. Where is the "decided schematic advantage" promised by Weis when he took the job? Where are the recruits? A lot of teams have to play underclassmen, but they manage to score an offensive touchdown within the first month of the season.

Oh, and Charlie Weis likely was the benefit of the Patriots' systematic and illegal cheating.

For the love of God, please stop ramming this miserable, shit-hole Indiana program down our throats any longer.

Cop Orders Unarmed Veteran to Stand; then Shoots Him

Shocking video.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...0568157&q=ktla

Police brutality, while disturbingly common-place, often has at least some semblance of rational plausibility behind it -- this is just insane. Yeah, the guy's friend (not him) was drunk and speeding, and he was cussing ... but still. I've never seen anything like this caught on videotape. If you're watching this without the sound, you're not getting a full picture. The seated individual complies with the officer's orders to stand, makes no move towards the officer, and is repeatedly shot.

**apparently the officer was cleared of wrongdoing. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19867423/

***the airman survived.

Detroit: Even more Miserable

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/METRO/707050349

The lack of major grocery stores has long been a quality-of-life problem in Detroit and one reason some families don't want to live in the city. Now, however, the situation is getting worse as the last two Farmer Jack stores in the city prepare to close by Saturday.
If no grocery stores buy the Farmer Jack locations from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Detroit will be left without a single national chain supermarket, much less a Wal-Mart or Meijer superstore or a Costco-style warehouse store.
Analysts say no other major city in America is such a supermarket desert. And it's not likely to change anytime soon.

I don't know why, but the problems of Detroit just fascinate me. It's like a morbid, sociological experiment gone wrong. How the hell does a major U.S. city not have any supermarkets? It's like a surge of death has swept it's horned visage over the entire Detroit economy.
The mind boggles. Having lived in S.F. for years with its ridiculous shortage of supermarkets and overpriced, godawful corner stores, I'd find it completely maddening to basically have no place to shop.

How did the mayor's office respond? "In certain areas where the socioeconomic is probably at the lowest end of our society, there are a lot of desperate people," [Matt Allen, press secretary for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick] said.

That statement came from a press secretary? Nice syntax. You'd think that if anyone in local government could formulate a coherent sentence, it would be the press secretary.

Solution to World's Energy Problems?

This has me so excited I can't think straight.

http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=node/1570

"ERIE, Pa. - An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century. John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn. The discovery has scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel. Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, has held demonstrations at his State College lab to confirm his own observations. The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said. The discovery is "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years," Roy said. "This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills." Roy will meet this week with officials from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to try to obtain research funding. The scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen — which reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit — would be enough to power a car or other heavy machinery. "We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Roy said. "The potential is huge."

The byproducts would be harmless ... except for the heat ... there's just no downside. The scary thought is that no one will want to invest the working capital needed into this, because once you create the patents, you're going to lose the industry in a decade or two. It's not like mineral rights you can control forever.

Injuries, or age?

I've been weight-lifting for about twelve years now, and I can count my serious injuries on one hand. I severely sprained my elbow about two months ago, and I hope it's a one-time thing and not a sign of advancing age. I tried to work through it, which led to my injuring the other elbow (a nasty bout with tendonitis, which I've struggled with for years).

Basically, straightening my arms generates some impressive cracking noises. I'm now back in the gym, after putting on about ten pounds and going stir crazy from forced inactivity, but these elbows ... they're not what they once were. I should take a video of all my max lifts now, to capture for posterity my middling (in the realm of powerlifters) strength.

What's really frightening is that it took me years and years of weightlifting before I could bench press more than the female world record. Yipes. Sometimes I wonder what I could have accomplished if I took HGH or steroids. Considering that my family, and most people who have known me for years, think I took them anyway, I should have just given it a whirl for a year or two.

Sticks and stones...

...everyone knows how this one ends. This is terrible, terrible advice to give a child.

I often wonder why children are told to bear what as adults we would find intolerable. In what avenue of life would anyone out of elementary school bear incessant teasing, mockery, or verbal cruelty? Nowhere. Except maybe tabloid journalism. But I digress.

Why then do administrators, teachers, and parents allow this? Children who cannot temper their tongues deserve to be disciplined as much as children who can't control their fists. Frankly, verbal abuse can leave far longer lasting scars than a shoving match during a basketball game. If my child was being teased, for being such an awesome stud at life, no doubt, you can be damned sure I wouldn't tell him to suck it up (if it goes beyond good natured camraderie/teasing ... there's a difference between being a "crybaby" and being the subject of merciless hostility). Nor would I tell them to take matters into their own hands (unless they were certain they were going to win, and it was one on one ... and away from the school). I'd be taking it up with the school. And they'd better not shrug it off as "kids being kids", as my response would be "well, I'm just a lawyer being a lawyer" as I serve them with a lawsuit.

Why Leonidas is a bad King and a terrible father; also, when did Han Solo become my role model?

Watched 300 a few weeks ago (never seemed to get around to seeing it in the theatre). Great movie, full of spectacle, manly speeches that don't sound gimmicky -- *cough* Braveheart *cough* --, and enough blood and guts that it basically qualifies as warfare porn. Leonidas has all the qualities that make for a memorable and incredible historical figure: pigheaded stubborness, incredible gumption, not a thought in the world for his personal safety, and a desire to die gloriously in battle. Makes for an incredible movie, but what a lousy king and horrific father he'd be.

First off, he gets fooled by a bunch of lecherous old men. It's well and good to be respectful of tradition, but to leave your country open to invasion so that you can respect the Carneia (spelling..?)? That makes no sense. Octavius Ceasar would have visited those geezers with a small garrison at his back, and given them a simple choice: accept this bag of gold and declare the omens good, or accept this bag of gold and prepare for a beheading. What's worse is that he apparently cultivated no traitors amongst the oracles' servants, so he had no one to advise him of their treachery. Probably wasn't very manly of him to think that far ahead. Also, killing messengers tends to be a pretty stupid thing to do. Pretty soon no one, even your friends, wants to send you messengers.

Okay, so the oracle squad basically screwed him. What should he do now? I'll tell you what he shouldn't do: lead the army himself. As in, take the field in front of his troops. About the most important thing a King, or any military leader for that matter, can do is stay alive. Once he's dead, those loyal to him tend to lose heart very rapidly. Also, presumably he's the leader because he's good at what he does. Grunts can be recruited, military geniuses are a little harder to come by. I don't understand his reasoning in selecting 300 soldiers. It may be a great idea to sacrifice three hundred to kill ten thousand, but why select men with children? Seems a lot smarter to select men without children. But, I digress.

Okay, so they're now at the battle. Xerxes gives him about twenty opportunities to submit. Well, we know Leonidas isn't above trickery (he pretends to submit later on). Why not pretend right then, get close to Xerxes, and stick a knife through his eye? At first I thought Leonidas would not have acted so dishonorably, but apparently he does so about one and a half hours later! If Xerxes is dumb enough to get close, take advantage of it you fool! You're just going to sacrifice your life later, might as well do it now when it could end the war in about five seconds.

If you don't want to use the hunchback on the front-line, but he's the only one who knows about the secret path, don't embarass him and send him on his way! Fine, he can't protect anyone his left. Put him on the extreme left of the front-line, or have him do something productive. If you really don't want to use him, then at least don't let him leave. Bah. Stupid stupid stupid.

Finally, when Xerxes does find the path, retreat! Your kingdom needs you, your son needs you, and the wife you stupidly left behind to rule without ensuring that she had allies within the city needs you most of all. The Persians would have days and days of marching to think about what a fraction of the Spartan army did to them. About half their army would have deserted before reaching Sparta. With you dead, they were likely emboldened and ready to carry on. Now your child gets to grow up without you, and you basically died for nothing (he'd probably say honor, which is the same as nothing).

I guess it's my changing mind-set, cuz' When I was a kid, I thought Han Solo was scum and Luke Skywalker the great thing ever. Now, I think Luke is a moron. Rule the galaxy with your father and kill the emperor? Sounds awesome. Maybe he could even soften Dad up. The alternative is to throw myself down a twenty mile airshaft? No thanks. Suicide mission to the Death Star? I'll take the money, por favor.

There's a difference between cowardice and deciding that throwing your life away needlessly is a bad idea. Wait, I think I've heard someone say something like that ...

Safety

You think anyone would have a chance of introducing a product like the automobile into today's market? No way. The utility of the vehicle would be outweighed by the endless lawsuits. There isn't out there more dangerous than a car, but thankfully it was introduced before the modern era of liability and accountability.

Held Hostage to the Elderly

Those grizzled with eld get out there and vote. The young, generally, have better things to do and don't. Our baby boomers are aging rapidly, and fewer and fewer children are being born. Amongst those segments of the population who are having lots of children, they tend to skew towards the lower income brackets.

This is a recipe for disaster. Everyone talks about how much we're blowing in Iraq, and I have to bow my head and weep at their financial naivete. Medicare and Social Security are an order of magnitude worse of a financial sinkhole than ten Iraq wars. The recent prescription medication extension to Medicare is the most fiscally irresponsible legislation ever passed. By the mid 2000s we will be paying the entire national budget just to support interest payments on Medicare and Social Security, with no money left over for anything else.

Why does this happen? Politicians know the programs must be drastically reformed or eliminated altogether, but they know that they can live out their careers without having to do it themselves. The third rail of politics are always large-scale subsidies, and there are no bigger subsidies out there. If you are under 40, be prepared to subsidize your parents and grandparents for years to come. Those who are receiving Social Security now are getting far more out than they put in, even when you adjust for inflation. Lovely.

The trickery involved with Social Security, in particular, is galling. People look at their paychecks and think "This isn't that bad." Nonsense. Your employer is paying twice as much as you are, a fact that directly reduces your paycheck. Social Security is also a regressive tax, meaning that it affects the poor far more than the rich, since only the first 100K or so is taxed.

Both programs have already died. We just won't acknowledge their corpses.