Article from CNN: Ships head for area airplane debris spotted

My heart goes out to the families and friends of the people who are likely lost in an Air France plane crash which occured off the coast of Brazil. It is always disheartening to hear about such tragedies. However, there is a story within a story here. What was said illuminates a bigger problem, the state of our oceans and our environment at large.

During the search for survivors it appears searchers had spotted something, potentially related to “airplane debris”: quoted from the article, “Earlier Tuesday, searchers found an airplane seat, an orange life vest, small white fragments, an oil drum and signs of oil and kerosene about 700 kilometers (435 miles) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, said Brazilian Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral.”

Ocean Trash

Mr. Amaral goes onto to explain…

“There was not enough material to officially say it is wreckage from Flight 447, Amaral said.”

My question is two-fold; 1) Was there another plane crash we are unaware of that happened in the same vicinty? 2) If this debris is not enough to claim it is from flight 447, then does it not imply this could be a “normal” amount of ocean debris?

I think we have all heard about the growing amount of ocean trash across the planet. But to Mr. Amaral’s defense, I doubt he was implying this is being confused with what trash is already in the ocean. However, the implication is there is alot of ocean debris or trash and we are poisoning our planet, our oceans at an unprecedented rate.

It is about time we stop crashing planes into the ocean so there is no confusion over airplane debris and our garbage.

Article by moi:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has filed a Uniform Domain-name dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) action against Ben Dean, the owner of UDRPFail.com. ICANN claims Mr. Dean has no legitimate right to use the claim “UDRP Fail” as all the failing to date is directly a consequence of the failure of the UDRP, not Mr. Dean.

UDRP Fail

In a recent UDRP decision a single panelist stripped Mr. Dean of his domain name Deacom.com and awarded it to the complainant because; “The Panel agrees with Complainant’s assertion that Respondent has not utilized the disputed domain name in an active manner.” In this case active manner means not having an active website. The UDRP panelist failed to take into consideration Mr. Dean used the domain for business email correspondence. Furthermore, the complainant in conjunction with the UDRP failed to prove Mr. Dean registered the domain name in bad faith or that he was not using the domain for bona fide business use

In response to losing his domain name, Mr. Dean set up a “bona fide” website to communicate his displeasure with the UDRP decision, which failed to protect the rights of the domain name owner, in this case Mr. Dean. This website can be found at http://www.udrpfail.com

In a not-so surprising turn of events, ICANN, the agency which oversees the UDRP has filed a UDRP action against Mr. Dean for using the terms “UDRP” and “Fail” in the same domain name. ICANN is not claiming they own the mark, but asserting they have established the UDRP as a “failing” policy and as such have exclusive rights to “fail.” Considering there is no doubt ICANN has legitimate use rights in the acronym UDRP and clearly has shown they have “failed” on more than one occasion, see; Versa.com and Filta.com for recent failures, there is a better than good chance ICANN will win this decision.

Don’t be surprised if ICANN goes after Fail.com next. Although “Fail” is a generic term, one could argue the failure rate of the UDRP is so out of whack the policy is now synonymous with failing and therefore requires the domain name Fail.com because one can assume direct or indirect visitors expect to find the UDRP and/or ICANN-related content at the domain name Fail.com. The owner of Fail.com, Exponent Engineering and Consulting could not be reached for comment.

Article spoofed from CNN: Earliest case of ”Ant” flu tucked away in Mexico

Stamford, Connecticut (FactFace) — Tucked away in this mid-sized city of the Northeast, off a three-laned highway flanked by suburban neighborhoods, is where the earliest case of ant flu — a virus spreading globally — was confirmed.

There is now a “patient zero” as named by his doctors — 5-year-old Eddie Herman, who survived the earliest documented case of ant flu in an outbreak, officials say, has now spread across four continents.

Ant Flu Virus Culprits

His family lives in the 118,000-population city of Stamford in the State of Connecticut, where a flu outbreak was reported on April 2. State officials arrived and took samples from hundreds of people.

Lab tests confirmed Eddie was the only patient in Stamford to test positive for the ant flu virus; the others had contracted a common flu. Health officials had returned to Eddie’s sample only after cases of the new flu strain were spotted around the country.

“In this case, there’s a patient who turned out to be positive for the ant-flu virus, with the exception that at that time in no region of the world it had been established as an etiological, epidemic cause,” said US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

Eddie has managed to bounce back from his symptoms and playfully credits ice cream for helping him feel better.

His mother blamed the virus on a huge ant farm in Eddie’s bedroom. Officials have conducted tests on the ant farm, and those tests came back negative.

Meanwhile, US health officials suspect the ant flu outbreak has caused more than 1.5 million deaths and roughly 2.5 million illnesses.

The World Health Organization says at least 105,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, including 64,000 in the United States; 26,000 in Mexico; six thousand in Canada; three thousand in New Zealand; and two thousand each in Spain, the United Kingdom and Israel. WHO has confirmed deaths only in the US, where seven thousand people have died from ant flu.

The deadly outbreak in the US prompted authorities to order about 350,000 public venues in the US to close or serve only meals with no insects as health officials tried to contain the virus.

Article from CNN: Karl Rove’s a twitter creep

There is no doubt, the more she speaks the more I love her. Meghan, I love you. Do you love me? Check here ___ for YES and here ___ for NO. It’s ok, you wont hurt my feelings if you dont. In any case, I think you should be the new face of the republican party. And you are right, Rove is “creepy.”

“”Karl Rove follows me on Twitter. That’s creepy,” she said. “I joined Twitter a few months ago; so far, it has been a liberating way to transition from political to personal blogging. It’s allowed me to share the less serious aspects and humorously uncensored moments of my life. But there’s also been a downside: I am now being followed by Karl Rove, and my local sheriff, and God knows how many other political pundits. We need to take Twitter back from the creepy people.”"

And here is what some people had to say about this story:

DennisK says: “The Straight Talk Express has a new McCain at the wheel! This young lady is smart, funny and honest (i.e., everything pols like Sarah Palin are NOT).
I’m a registered Democrat but an independent thinker, and Meghan McCain is exactly the type of “loyal opposition” the current President and Congress need.”

Roxxane says: “I love Meghan McCain. I like her sense of bravado and candor. I am a Democrat but I slide in and out of viewpoints between the two parties. If I were to ever become a Republican, I would agree with her idea of what the party should be. Currently, I do see it as a bunch of old, rich white guys who don’t have a clue about what is going on in the 21st century let alone our inner cities and with the younger generation. Good job Meghan for calling a spade a spade.”

B E says: “I am a long time yellow dog democrat and it is a bit “creepy” that Meghan just might bring the GOP out of the deep, dark hole they have been digging for themselves. So far, I cant find any disagreement with her comments and political philosophies; you go girl!!!, what you are doing is in the best interest of bringing some sanity back to American politics.”

J, Greer says: “McCains daughter needs to just come out and say she is a democrat. You cannot say your a republican if yours views are in favor of democratic platforms. This whole notion of appeasing everyone is nonsense. What is wrong with standing strong for conservative issues. Could she have possibly voted for Obama? Sounds like she is a democrat to me. I never hear saying anything positive about conservatism only negative. I would buy a playboy if she was in it.”

And I really need to retort to this idiot. Yo, J. Check it out, you are mixing political party with ideology. It is unfair to imply all Democrats are not conservative. Have you ever heard of the Blue-dog Democrats? And the only reason one could never appease everyone is because most don’t even know what they stand for. Just because mommy and daddy told you so dont make it right. And then to end it with your last comment just threw any argument you had right out the window.

Article from CNN: Nationwide ‘tea party’ protests blast bailouts

I have no problem with people being upset over the numerous bailouts and the amount of taxpayer money gone into failing systems. However, these “conservatives” really need a history lesson and a message which is a little less blurry. Let me make a couple quick points…

Tea Party

1) Taxes are not going up: in case you didnt know, for those of you making less than 250K a year there will be no increase in the amount you are taxed. You should be more concerned about what your money is worth six months from now, rather than how much you have to give up each year.

2) Why is socialism a bad word?: Some form of socialism will actually help the majority of Americans, especially those on the bottom. We have been giving our money relentlessly to the rich since Reagan, isnt it about time we actually leveled the playing field. Trickle down economics dont work people, wake the fuck up!

3) The “tea party” anaology is terrible: The Boston Tea Party was about colonists who were being taxed when they had no say in how they were being governed - taxation without representation. Every single one of those protesters, above the age of 18, had every opportunity to vote in the last election. That means you were represented. Problem is, the Republicans lost (the so-called conservatives). Ironically, it was poor management by a mostly Republican-run government for the past 10 years that got us in this mess to begin with.

Here is a good article from Paul Begala

Article from CNN: Where heroes come from

When I heard about the take over of the cargo ship last week, with US crew members on board, I could not help but think about how this story would develop. When the US Navy came about a day or two later and the hostage captain was being held on the life boat, I could not help to start thinking about the covert operations which were being noodled on the USS Bainbridge - behind closed doors. My guess is the SEALS were flown in for this operation around the time the Bainbridge got on location. In any case, we are starting to learn about the details of the heroic escape and rescue of the captain and it appears the SEALs “sniped” the pirates who were left on the life boat (one pirate was apparantly negotiating on the Bainbridge when this all went down. Lucky him). How fricking hard must that of been? I suspect they shot from a sizable distance and from a swaying boat aimed at another swaying boat, three targets? Incredible, anyway you cut it. And what do you think our negotiators said to the pirate negotiatior when all was said and done, “Oh, by the way, you are under arrest. There will be no more negotiations, you are fucked.”

Navy Seals

Commentary from the article about Navy SEALS:

Joe says: “”Extraordinary dedication” is probably the simple phrase to describe a SEAL! Focus, teamwork and skill are their capabilities that we should all appreciate … and maybe practice in our own lives! GREAT WORK Gentlemen (SEALS), in this pirate fiasco!” 

Pete says: “I hope that this country begins to idolize men like the SEALs and other people who show valor, courage and integrity. There is a false idolization of movie stars, rappers, and sports athletes in this country that is contributing to a moral decline. When we honor people for their wealth and fame instead of their character, we teach our children the wrong values. Instead, let’s teach our children that selfless dedication, honor, integrity and courage are values to aspire too, not notoriety on YouTube.”

Chris says: “Thanks Bob - Lest we forget, we are forever in the debt to our men and women in uniform, across the globe. I am always reminded of a Winston Churchill quote at a time like this….

“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” - Winston Churchill”

Article from CNN: Obama is flunking economics

The rhetoric is thick, I think I’m choking to death. Seriously, this Ruben Navarette Jr. fella is totally clueless or all about driving the Republican “denial” machine. Let’s break it down for people who get it…

“Many Americans are so emotionally invested in the Obama presidency that they consider it too historic to fail.

They won’t tolerate any criticism of the president or his administration, finding it easier to simply attack critics. And whatever goes wrong that they can’t defend or deflect, they just blame on George W. Bush.

But to many of the rest of us, it’s clear that President Obama is flunking economics. He is trying to do too much at once, and so he is not doing any of it well. He vows to cut the federal deficit while proposing an avalanche of new spending that will — says the Congressional Budget Office — increase it by as much as $9.3 trillion over the next decade.”

You are absolutelty right about one thing, we are emotionally invested and we should not want Obama to fail, regardless of your political preference. But to be sure, it is OK to criticize the Obama administration. Constructive criticize should hit the mark. However, the criticism from the Right is based on principles which have failed us. It is OK to bash Bush because he failed us. Wake up Navarette, eight years of Bush - only two of which had Democratic majority in Congress, have lead our country to the brink of no return.

Flunking economics? Sir, I’m not sure what math you are doing, but if I inherited this debt and was asked to fix it when people are losing their jobs quicker than people are getting jobs = less tax income to spend, then drastic measures must be taken. Remember, we have a failing education system, health care, infrastructure, and everything else Bush overlooked the last eight years. The system is so flawed we have no choice but to fix the problems. This means big spending. The great thing is, if you get it right it will save you tons of money in the future. If we do nothing, which is what Bush did for eight years, the system continues to crumble and costs us exponentially more to fix once we figure out we should have done something in the first place.

WE still have yet to hear from the Right on a great solution to spend less and make our dollars go further - to address health care, infrastructure, etc. It is about time the critics on the Right huddle and come up with a plan worthy of Obama’s attention. If you are not going to be a part of the solution you should keep your fucking mouth shut.

“It’s become more common for people to say that they want President Obama to fail. I don’t want him to fail. I want him to succeed. I just don’t see how we get there from here.”

My point made. You have no idea where to go, so let Obama right the ship and go back to your hole. Or offer a plan, a solution, which can reduce spending and re-build our failing systems.

Article from CNN: Legalize drugs to stop violence

The status quo must die. The War on Drugs is the single biggest failure of the 20th and 21st centuries. Thank you President Reagan. Legalization and regulation of illicit drugs is the best way to address a slew of problems facing our country.

1) Economy - try and wrap your head around the numbers here: This year, to date, the powers that be in the US (local, state, and federal government) have spent nearly 12 billion dollars fighting the War on Drugs. The illegal drug trade will send anywhere between 10 to 25 billion dollars back to Mexico, this year alone. This number does not include what is being sent elsewhere. Does this eqaute to fixing our economy? No. But think about what the US could make in drug profits if it legalized and regulated the drug trade. This number could easily be 100 billion per year.

2) Crime - I have discussed this before. Our prisons are over-crowded with non-vilent drug offenders. The problem is, the prison industry is growing exponentially and there is big money to be made creating new places to store our “criminals.” If drugs were legal these people would not be covered by the taxpayers. How about giving them jobs in federal drug stores - punching out ration cards, distributing, or educating people about what these drugs will do to them.

3) Social Issue - legalizing drugs does not mean we create more problems. If you choose not to use drugs, then dont. Trust me, your kids will get their hands on drugs regardless of the legalities. Why not control the industry and profit, rather than fight a losing a battle against ever more brazen cartels who will kill your kids for getting in the way of a deal.

Commentary: I want to share a couple reponses from people who responded to the article linked above: legalize drugs to stop the violence. 

James says: “Rape hurts people too. Should we legalize that also?”

James, I’m just going to point out the obvious for you…You are an idiot. Comparing Rape to legalizing drugs is the stupidest connection anyone can make. If I choose to do drugs, responsibly, does not mean I am more or less likely to rape someone. Rape isa  violent crime which directly affects another person. Legalization of drugs is not even in the same category. Incredible.

Andrea says: “Any of you people who think this is a good idea are naive and have never dealt closely with addicts or addiction. Sure you trade violence for the total decay of the fabric of families and functioning society.”

Andrea, sweetheart, do you think addicts would cease to be addicts if drugs were legalized? Wake up.

Chris says: “Obviously you live under a rock. Legalization of drugs just makes it easier for young adults to buy them and that brings about a whole slew of other problems. Drug violence may decrease but what about people who think they’re Superman when they’re high?”

Chris, you are the one living under the rock. Laws about usage, being “high” in public, etc. would mirror the current laws on alcohol. Some people will still think they are superman, thats the break regardless of the legality.

Article from CNN: Loners, Losers, and…Killers

This article reminds of the saying, “Guns dont kill people, people kill people.” And it’s true. There is no doubt gun violence is associated with the majority of murders and suicides in the U.S. However, if guns did not exist does this mean the violence would go away? Guns are just one way to an end, a means to an end if you will. If you take away guns, then we must remove knives, machetes, pills, ropes, peoples hands, and whatever else one could use to cause harm on an individual or self.

And quit blaming society or video games for the problems of our youth. Where are the parents? Where are the parents of the kids who act out like this. These kids must be screaming for help and if the signs are subtle why arent parents noticing? From WiKipedia, there is good knowledge to soak in…

Parenting is the process of raising and educating a child from birth, or before, until adulthood. Usually, parental figures provide for a child’s physical needs, protect them from harm, and impart in them skills and cultural values until they reach legal adulthood, usually after adolescence.

Providing physical security refers to a safety of a child’s body, safety of a child’s life. Developing a child physically refers to providing appropriate conditions for a healthy growth of a child. Intellectual security refers to the conditions, in which a child’s mind can develop. If the child’s dignity is safe, that is nobody encroaches upon a child physically or verbally, then he is able to learn. Intellectual development means providing opportunity to a child to learn - to learn about laws of nature and moral laws. To provide security to a child is to help protect and shield the child’s fragile psyche. It is to provide a safe loving environment, give a child a sense of being loved, being needed, welcomed. Emotional development refers to giving a child an opportunity to love other people, to care, to help.

Article from CNN: Galaxy may be full of ‘Earths,’ alien life

The world was not created 10,000 years ago. There was no Adam and Eve. Humans evolved, just like every other lifeform on our planet. Only the strong or most adaptable beings live on today. Do not be afraid of the truth, embrace it. Realize books - written by humans, even ones based on true stories, are only perceptions of those who lived in those times and were motivated by what they felt or what they were taught.

This does not mean your God does not exist. On the contrary, as evidence attempts to explain who we are and where we come from, it only deepens our understanding of how immesely wonderful the universe we live in actually is. We may never understand completely what it all means, but to dispel science and the theories which try to explain our place in the universe is not an open-minded position. If you chose to base your beliefs solely on faith and through religion as an explanation of who we are and what God is, then you are choosing to be manipulated by those who created these beliefs systems to control you.

Morality and science are not mutally exclusive. One can chose to treat others as you would like to be treated without living in fear. Science allows us to answer many questions, questions which will fly in the face of your beliefs. Rather than shoot down the truth, question those who hold God over your head as a threat to your chances of flourishing in the afterlife - if there is in fact an afterlife. And remember, faith is based upon a belief of something which has roots in explanations of our ancestors, convincing others something actually exists without proof. Only their story has been misconstrude and bastardized over generations. Why not use science as a tool to better understand the world around you? Open your mind to what we can prove and find a place for God which questions your religion rather than dispel science because your faith is being questioned. It really is ok to believe in God and believe in what science is telling us. 

If you continue to believe in what your religious leaders tell you, then you will forever be manipulated by those who use your fear of God as a vehicle to their power.

These scientists are not wating their time, I encourage you to read the linked article above. At the very least consider the quoted text offered below…

“Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland constructed a computer model to create a synthetic galaxy with billions of stars and planets. They then studied how life evolved under various conditions in this virtual world, using a supercomputer to crunch the results.

In a paper published recently in the International Journal of Astrobiology, the researchers concluded that based on what they saw, at least 361 intelligent civilizations have emerged in the Milky Way since its creation, and as many as 38,000 may have formed.

Duncan Forgan, a doctoral candidate at the university who led the study, said he was surprised by the hardiness of life on these other worlds.

“The computer model takes into account what we refer to as resetting or extinction events. The classic example is the asteroid impact that may have wiped out the dinosaurs,” Forgan said.

“I half-expected these events to disallow the rise of intelligence, and yet civilizations seemed to flourish.”

Forgan readily admits the results are an educated guess at best, since there are still many unanswered questions about how life formed on Earth and only limited information about the 330 “exoplanets” — those circling sun-like stars outside the solar system — discovered so far.”