Category: Uncategorized

From the Daily Mail: a photo of North and South Korea with commentary from Donald Rumsfeld.

“It says it all. There’s the south, the same people as the north, the same resources north and south, and the big difference is in the south it’s a free political system and a free economic system.

“The people in the north are starving, their growth is stunted. It’s a shame, a tragedy.”

An aide added: “This oppressive regime is too busy trying to make war to make life comfortable for its people.”

Some people have asked me about the city in my blog’s header. It’s Hong Kong. I didn’t pick the image at random – the shining skyline represents one of the newly-created engines driving the world forward. My inner optimist wonders about the progress that economic freedom can bring, while my pessimist wonders at how far New York City has sunk in the mire of statism to lose that honor to Communist China. The trends are not evident to everyone yet – but will it be as clear as North and South Korea in 20 or 30 years?

Edit: there is a discussion on this post here.

Update: bigmac ads:

The ad was made by David Zucker, producer of movies like Airplane!, Naked Gun, and Scary Movie 4. When GOP officials saw the ad, they declined it. I haven’t read anything saying whether or not the GOP funded the ad or otherwise participated in making it. If they did, and if it was intended for TV, then it’s surprising it got this far. Perhaps it was really intended for this kind of viral online distribution in the first place?

The Objectivist Club Association (OCA), a new organization dedicated to assisting Objectivist campus and community clubs, has launched a new forum – forums.objectivistclubs.org – for all those involved in a club or interested in founding one.

Discussions about recruitment and advertising stategies, speaking events, club meetings, and other sundry club-related topics are already ongoing, and you’re welcome to start new threads of your own.

By registering for free, you can ask questions of fellow club leaders, share your experiences, discuss possibilities for collaboration, suggest services and materials you’d like the OCA to provide, and participate in a dialogue with other Objectivists who take ideas and cultural change as seriously as you do.

To learn more about the OCA, you can visit the main website at http://www.ObjectivistClubs.org.

Hope to see you on the forum soon!

Regards,

—OCA Staff

Interesting video on atheists found at Dean Cook’s site:

The first page of A Short History of the World by H.G. Wells, published in 1922:

Over a large part of the civilized world it was believed and taught that the world had been created suddenly in 4004 B.C., though authorities differed as to whether this had occurred in the spring or autumn of that year. This fantastically precise misconception was based upon a too literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and upon rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith. Such ideas have long since been abandoned by religious teachers, and it is universally recognized that the universe in which we live has to all appearances existed for an enormous period of time and possibly for endless time. Of course there may be deception in these appearances, as a room may be made to seem endless by putting mirrors facing each other at either end. But that the universe in which we live has existed only for six or seven thousand years may be regarded as an altogether exploded idea.

In 1922, such a preface to the age of the universe was probably necessary. What I wonder is how many American history books, especially history textbooks would make the radical claim that a “literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and … rather arbitrary theological assumptions connected therewith [have] long since been abandoned by religious teachers”? Is world history even part of the required curriculum today? I took a single (very badly-abbreviated) course in high school, and not a single world history course during college in the process of getting a political science degree. (!!!) Is world history too politicized to be even be taught in public primary and secondary school anymore?
For an updated no-nonsense course on world history, I recommend J.M. Robert’s The New History of the World. I’ve also heard good things about A First History for Adults.

I took several 360 degree panoramas during my vacation in Aspen last week, and after having some trouble stitching them, found this tutorial for stitching them. (Here is my preliminary test with Photoshop.) I found a cool program that is supposed to automate the process, so I’ll post more of my experiments later.

High Dynamic Range and panorama, and 360 degree photos are just some of the many new techniques made possible by digital imaging technologies. I think the most important feature is the ability to endlessly experiment with photographic technique without paying each shot. My photo albums have grown exponentially in parallel with the growth in processing power and memory capabilities. During my week-long trip to Colorado, I took 295 photos. That equals 13 rolls of film, from which I plan to get six or so print-worthy shots. That kind of experimentation was only possible to professional photographers a few years ago.

These sample pages from the book “Why Mommy is a Democrat” give the term “Mommy state” a new meaning. If only leftists were that honest about their socialist/totalitarian ideology with other adults, perhaps people might be more wary before voting for them.

Hoping to avoid shortages of their flagship product, Coca Cola has begun asking consumers to limit their purchases of Coke. “We realize that we have an excellent product and it’s been really hot lately, but please, if you could just cut back a little, it would help a lot,” said company spokeswoman Greta Hansel. “We’re going to have to stop shipping to stores in certain areas pretty soon if people don’t reduce their Coke consumption.”

From a TIME article:

Time reports that not all Iranianians are taking state propaganda seriously. With these messages, it’s not hard to see why:

Iranian state channel … urged Iranians to boycott what it called “Zionist products,” including those made by Pepsi, Nestlé and Calvin Klein, and warned that profits from such products “are converted into bullets piercing the chests of Lebanese and Palestinian children.” As evidence, the voice-over intoned, “Pepsi stands for ‘pay each penny to save Israel.'”

Mohammad Reza Afshari, 23, a mechanic who works two jobs yet still cannot afford to move out or attend college. The shop where he works abuts a vast mural depicting a female suicide bomber with a baby in her arms, accompanied by the words I LOVE MOTHERHOOD, BUT I LOVE MARTYRDOM MORE

What do you do when Islamic fundamentalists murder 200 people? Why, you censor anyone who criticizes Islam, of course! At least, that was India’s response, when it forced Indian ISP’s to censor the following 17 websites. None of them advocate terrorism – they just dare to blaspheme against Islam.

The Band of the Banned

• The Jawa Report
• Exposing the Leftz (aka, OpiniPundit)
• The Pirate’s Cove
• Merri Musings
• Macker
• Princess Kimberly (now defunct)
• Editors in Pajamas
• Commonfolk Using Commonsense (their old website banned)
• My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
• Hindu Human Rights (down – by govt?)
• rahulyadav.com (404)
• dalitstan.com (404)

Please republish the list on your own blog to show your stand against censorship!