So now the first one is a experiment, involving Diet Coke and Mentos...hehe...n_n this video was done by 'EepyBird.com'.
And this video is called 'Hit and run' art enjoy...n_n...this was done by 'Hit and Run Art'.
And yes this is on the lighter side of things, and second, this is the last post of November O_O...I know shocking is it not? Already December 2006!!!
Yes, it is once more 'Gamers unite', Child's play charity drive is back for the year 2006, this makes this the fourth Child's play drive, and gamers have once more been generous.
So help out...n_n
Here is a link to Child's Play, further I' am currently waiting for the result of a poll, and if the poll is positive this link will be posted under the 'Websites of Note' link-list.
Child's Play Homepage
Yes, I know I did never say anything about writing an article on the Forum which is why I will post it here too.
Yes, it has happened Microsoft released Vista, the follow up to XP, now this release is only to corporate customers, which means that you can not go into a store and purchase a copy of any Vista version until 30th January 2007. Further it is likely that Vista will be the last OS in other words Microsoft may go ahead and make future updates modular, and some of those payed for...-_-...yes Vista will look a lot like Mac OS and further the updating system might work the same way...-_-.
I would really love to be able to stick with XP personally, but eventually even I will have to switch since things such as DirectX 10 will be Vista only products and support will probably be terminated soon too-_-...
Now the only way in which Vista will win is if the users buy it of course if Vista doesn't sell Microsoft would go down, since Windows makes up nearly 50% of Microsoft income. And of course there are still some issues to be worked out such as compatibility with soft and hardware and of course the question if hackers will manage to hack into the 'secure' Vista.
So lets see what happens.
Any thought you want to add...?
Post on the Forum and links to articles that relate to this issue
Vista (Paladin101 Forum)
Vista specs (Microsoft)
HDVP and Vista (Paladin101)
Microsoft Vista released for sale (BBC)
South Africa, has now signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, from now on legally same-sex couples can marry in South Africa. Making South Africa one of the few nations allowing this and the first African nation to allow this.
(This is an update on a previous article)
Articles dealing with this issue
SA same-sex marriage law signed (BBC)
Same-Sex Marriage (Paladin101)
Many 'mysterious' deaths have surrounded Russia recently, first a reporter, then a ex-KGB agent and now an ex-Prime Minister. All of which are still under investigation, it does seem odd that all of the people suddenly dying are in some way criticizing the current administration, all of which under circumstances that are hard to explain. The only death that brought showed anything of substance was the attack on the ex-KGB agent after who's death the British government initiated a investigation which now had lead to certain airplanes that fly Moscow London, routes. These events show a very disturbing picture if the Russian government indeed is responsible this means that once more the Russian government restricts speech (was known before) and freedoms and even human rights such as the right to life at will. It would almost seem that the Kremlin is cleaning house with its critics until their either disappeared in fear or dead.
Articles that deal with these events
Russian ex-PM has mystery illness (BBC)
BA passengers in radiation alert (BBC)
Russia (Paladin101)
Spy inquiry hunts further radiation (Al Jazeera)
The US-President George W. Bush, has vowed that US-troops will remain in Iraq until the situation is resolved, and the job is finished. This goes contrary with the wish the Iranian leadership expressed, thus this will likely once more complicate the request for aid, of the US to Iran.
If this move is really helpful to Iraq and the peace in this region can not be said at this point, but there are not signs for reduced violence or peace moving in.
Here are links to articles that cover this event in greater detail
Bush vows to 'complete Iraq job' (BBC)
US vows to finish job in Iraq (Al Jazeera)
Links to related articles
Iran and Iraq (Paladin101)
The US government uses 'the' term now too (Paladin101)
Iraq...(Paladin101)
US-Jet down? (Paladin101)
Iran has been asked repeatedly to support the peace affords in Iraq, recently the highest Iranian Authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that Iran would be willing to help as long as the US forces would retreat. Since that would be the first step to restoring peace to Iraq. Now the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made an precedented address directly to the US-population, in which he said that they, the 'Noble Americans'. Had suffered in international standing because of the use of "'coercion, force and injustice'" (BBC). He further criticized the government for not listening to the population it was representing, he pointed out that Iraq was a "'military misadventure'" (BBC) and that it had cost Iraqi civilians and American soldiers lives.
Resource Article
Iran leader appeals to US people (BBC)
Related Articles
Ahmadinejad castigates US policies (Al Jazeera)
Iraq...(Paladin101)
The US government uses 'the' term now too (Paladin101)
The US government until now refrained from calling the situation in Iraq a 'civil war', yet the US media began naming it as such in very recently. This was a move against the objections of the US government which now recently made a very interesting statement, or rather Secretary of State made a very interesting statement to the Forum of United Emirates "'I have been using it [civil war] because I like to face the reality,'" is the statement that was published in Al Jazeera.
Here is the link to the article that was previously published here
Iraq...(Paladin101)
Here is the link to the complete article
Powell: Iraq in civil war (Al Jazeera)
Jonathan Swift, a great writer by the way, wrote something that I find most approving which was that it is important to make everyone 'productive' members of society. Now he was speaking of Great Britain but his concept can be applied to a more Global scheme as well. 'Swift' as the way I shall be calling Jonathan Swift during this entire text. (That is mainly because I like the wordplay of quoting someone who is named and is 'swift'...n_n).
So now Swift points out that it is not just a social problem but also an economical one, now what could we offer as solution? First of course we could try to find jobs for them, but wouldn't that mean that other people would end up without jobs unless we create a new market? Otherwise we could use aid to help them but that is not really a long-term solution thus effectively only prolonging the problem. And further it would place pressure onto the economy to produce goods for 'none-productive' members of society. This might be a solution for the social problem but ultimately the economical problem either remains the same or becomes even greater. The next solution would be to simply let them all die, but this has several problems, first we would be unable to prevent them from trying to steal, fight or do other things that would damage our society to survive. The next issue would be a social one, most of todays society would be likely to not be accepted of this method. The economy might suffer under this on some sectors such as luxury goods because an entire market would be taken away, while the arms industry would be likely to boom and this create jobs and further reduce the problem. This makes the economical problem fairly small further the need for more soldiers would be inevitable and thus further create jobs, this would at least insure that there would be no 'none-productive' members of the society left. Since the poor ones in Africa and other areas which would then begin fighting would supply the enemy to justify increased arms production and military seize. This is a viable solution which still is not quite efficient since there is still the social problem and some parts of the society would still suffer. Thus we have to search for another solution, now there is the solution which Swift offered which is still viable which offers us the possible way of creating a new market, reducing the number of poor people and finding places in society for the rest which make them 'productive' members of it. This solution is simple and very efficient, he proposed that we should eat children (of about a year of age) of people that would be unable to 'properly' support them, this would have the benefit of a) creating jobs for people that otherwise might not have a future b) it would reduce the number of people that grow up under such conditions and ultimately reduce the number of poor people and of course c) it would allow the economy to grow creating a new market and more consumers, further environment might recover to some degree too since the pressure on the eco-system would be reduced to feed the human race.
Overall Swifts solution offers many great and benefieciary points and it also allows the society to run in much the same way it has in hundreds of years. Destroying bliss is not fair towards society thus allowing the poor to sell their one year olds as food for the richer is the perfect solution.
Two last points here First this text is written using tools Jonathan Swift himself often used, those tools are sometimes considered tasteless and funny now which really applies lies of the beholder and of course the writer as to how the text was intended. Second Ignorance is bliss...n_n...would you not agree?
All Criticism or comments to this article will be posted on the Forum ye have been warned...har! You might as well post it directly on the forum...n_n.
The US administration has resisted against the use of a certain term for the war in Iraq which is 'civil war'. Even though the current state of affairs seems like that of a civil war the US-government did not want that word to be used, for one it weakens the US position politically and it implies that the US has no control over Iraq. Several US news outlets have now adopted the use of the term 'civil war', among those are the New York Times and the NBC, this shows a shift in the priorities of the news-media which until now was willing to use the terms the white house supplied.
The link to the article concerned with this issue:
US media: 'Iraq in civil war' (Al Jazeera)
Further Iran is willing to support peace in Iraq, but the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the highest Authority in Iran, stated that peace could only be achieved in Iraq. If the 'occupiers' would leave the land and by doing so handing security matters over to Iraq's government.
Many critics, in the 'western world' have stated that peace would only achievable if we 'the western powers' would leave the middle east alone and let them get things straightened out. That as long as we keep interfering in the Middle Eastern politics and matters, that it would be impossible to achieve peace in the region.
Articles that are concerned with this issue can be found with the help of the links:
Iran: US exit key to Iraq peace (BBC)
Iran: US spies behind Iraq unrest (Al Jazeera)
The Pope has begun his visit in Turkey which is a predominantly Muslim country, his visit was foreshadowed by protests of the Muslim communities. These protests were sparked by the Popes speech in Germany which caused a great deal of anger within the Muslim communities.
Here is the link to the article that I wrote to that issue in September
One speech many issues (Paladin101)
This and the current tension around the joining of Turkey to the EU move this visit into the light of public attention. Pope will be seen as a indicator for the Western Christian attitude towards Turkey, in several issues one is the acceptance of Muslims the other very important issue is the debate to or not to let Turkey join into the EU.
The Pope himself stated that he intends to heal the relations between Christians and Muslim, that he does not personally believe what was said in that speech and that solidarity between the cultures would be a duty to be fulfilled.
Here are links to articles dealing with the visit.
Pope calls for religious exchange (BBC)
Pope calls for religious tolerance (Al Jazeera)
The American Intelligence Service the CIA had been demasked earlier this year, when it was found out that they would transport terror-suspects into nations where they then could commence Torture. This was greeted by anger from the population in America and many other nations, further many European governments protested against the use of their airspace to transport those 'suspects'. The only European government accused of knowing off this was the Spanish which had to accept a strong current of criticism. Yet, a new Draft report released by the European Parliament indicates that more European nations were aware of these transports and cooperated in the transport by allowing the aircraft to land and/or use their airspace. This cooperation is differentiated by passive and active cooperation which means that the active nations did something to support the transports and the passive nations simply let it happen. The CIA has flown an alleged 1,245 flights over Europe some of which were probably 'prisoner' transports. The number of 'terror' suspects that were transported in this manner is at least 18. Two new governments accused of cooperation in this case are the governments of Poland and Romania. Both nations previously strongly denied that they allowed the CIA to have prisons for those 'prisoners' in their nations. Other nations that might be involved after this report are, Britain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus may have known of this taking place but not taken actions to prevent it from happening.
Sources:
EU nations 'knew about CIA jails' (BBC)
EU nations 'knew of CIA prisons' (Al Jazeera)
Violence against women is still a very important issue, Spain's Prime Minister is at the spearhead of the anti-domestic-violence movement in Europe.
A Link to the article concerning this
Europe 'must end domestic abuse' (BBC)
First how is Sexual and Physical violence recognized? Well the following would apply,
Here are some specific forms of Physical Violence. If the woman was ever... by a current or former partner:
-If she was ever slapped, or thrown something at her that could hurt her.
-If she was ever pushed or shoved.
-If she was ever kicked, dragged or beaten.
-If she was ever hit with his fists or something else that could hurt her.
-If she was ever chocked or burned her on purpose.
-If she was ever threatened her with or actually us a gun, knife or other weapon against her.
Here are some specific forms of Sexual Violence. If the woman was ever...by her current or former partner:
-If she was ever being physically forced to have sexual intercourse.
-If she had ever sexual intercourse because she was afraid of her partner.
-If she was ever force to do something sexual that she found degrading or humiliating.
(These lists are taken out of the WHO report)
There are also certain age groups that are at especially great risk, which begins with 15 years of age and continues to 19 years. Further violence is more common in areas which do not lie in the 'developed' Japan for example was the country with the smallest number of domestic violence cases. Such things as use of or abuse of Drugs as well as employment status play a great role in this, since men that communicate with their partners tend to be less, violent also if employed and not abusing drugs the man often is more peaceful. Also education seems to have an important role such as higher education plays a great role, if the woman has higher education then High School she is less likely to end up in a negative partnership, since she has more choice, she is also financially less dependent.
The next danger in a partnership is emotional abuse, which research shows, is considered more devastating by women. Here are some specific forms of emotional abuse:
-The woman is being insulted or made to feel bad about oneself.
-The woman is being humiliated or belittled in front of others.
-The woman is being intimidated or scared on purpose (for example a partner yelling and smashing things).
-The woman being threatened with harm(directly or indirectly in the form of a threat to hurt some the respondent cared about).
(This list are taken out of the WHO report)
This form of abuse can be devastating to anyone, it often causes stress reactions, or other health problems that can not be directly recognized. Since there are no physical signs for this kind of abuse.
A related form of abuse is controlling behavior this can vary from not letting the her see friends to wanting to know where she is at all times, further on to ignoring or treating her with indifference, getting angry when she speaks with other men, accusing her of being unfaithful and to controlling her access to Health care.
These actions are all forms of emotional abuse, yet they serve a different purpose, while the emotional abuse makes the man feel stronger or gives him satisfaction. The controlling behavior gives him the feeling of security maybe more power too.
Around the world emotional distress and suicidal behavior are common among women that experienced abuse from their partners. Many women experience partner violence during pregnancy, many of whom for the first time during pregnancy.This can lead to miscarriage which can cause even greater emotional harm to the woman.
What can be done? The society has to be made aware of a issue to be able to respond, further if laws are adjusted to cover this problem area it would allow the police and the government to legally interfere and insure that the violent partner can not harm the abused any longer. In some nations womens rights are still something that is not available to women, this allows for some of the abuse. Support education, if better educated it is possible for the woman to a) know about prevention of pregnancy b) she has the chance to develop a greater understanding of her own abilities c) she would be able to be financially independent. Enlist social, political, religious and other leaders to speak on the issue. Strengthen the informal and formal support for women living with violence thus creating a safe haven for women that are currently living with violence.These are some suggestions, that could allow women to be safer and feel safer.
Resource:
WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women
Violence continues in Iraq, the US-military is struggling to maintain order and fighting strong resistance in many areas. Now a US jet a F-16 has crashed because of yet indeterminate cause, the US-Military states that it would be unlikely that the F-16 was shot down, because of its low attitude and of course high speed. Further the US-Military has not until now encountered any weapons that could have been used to shoot down the F-16. The jet was on a support mission for ground units which were Fallujah where an operation was taking place. On the other hand a Iraqi reporter, Muthana Shakir told Al Jazeera that the plane was shot down by a gunman and did not crash for different reasons.
The Article to this...
US F-16 goes down in Iraq (Al Jazeera)
Russian policies are under siege, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) claims that the Russian policy of owning parts of the industry would endanger the growth of the Russian economy and invite corruption and make the industry less efficient. The Russian economy has enjoyed a stable 6.7% growth rate over the last six years (1999-2005). This the OECD is in danger if the Russian government owns a too great portion of the industry.
OECD raps Russian state control (BBC)
OECD homepage
Further the Russian government has not re-recognized a NGO (Russian Justice Initiative (SRJI)) which focuses on Chechnya and Human rights violations in that region. The organization submitted a normal re-registration but was turned down, this forces the organization to discontinue their activities in Russia.
Chechnya rights group quits Moscow (Al Jazeera)
Further the Russian Intelligence service is under the suspicion of murder of a ex-KGB agent who was a very vocal critic of current Russian administration. He was also investigating the murder of a Russian Journalist. The Death occurred on a intensive-care-station where he was being treated for poisoning, he claimed that he had been poisoned while meeting a source and that the Russian SVR one of the successors of the KGB was responsible for the poisoning. Alexander Litvinenko asked for asylum in Britain in 2000 because of prosecution in Russia.
Putin: Spy's death 'provocation' (BBC)
Russian media doubt ex-spy's tale (BBC)
Service denies ex-spy poisoning (BBC)
{Edit} Here is another more current link
Poison case: 3 tested for radiation (Al Jazeera)
The US police force has faced a great deal of criticism, first the three incidences with the video-cellphones where police officers, in one they beat a suspect which was already on the ground and defenseless, in another a student at UCLA was tasered repeatedly and finally the supposedly unprovoked attack of police officers against a group of pedestrians.
YouTube videos...
Police Brutality video
The UCLA student
The 'unprovoked' attack
These incidences and the more recent incidence where police officers shot around 50 bullets into a car in which a groom and his too friends where just leaving a strip club after a bachelor-party. The groom was killed, one of his friends had to brought onto Intensive-care station while the other friend was injured but remained in a stable condition. The police supposedly acted out of fear of an armed "altercation", this incident.
This leads to question the methods employed by the US-police. These incidences are not concentrated in one area but have taken place in different places which is why it seems to be national and not regional problem.
Article links...
NY rally deplores police shooting (BBC)
Cops Taser UCLA Student (ABC)
Rumsfeld has been known for his hard-line approach to problems. Yet, now German lawyers have tried to sue Rumsfeld before in 2004 but then it was blocked by the Justice Department, now that Rumsfeld has lost his political position the lawyers try again hoping that the loss of his position lost weakened the political pressure that he would be able to exert. Further the lawyers add that they have new and more evidence then they had in 2004, then recently a ex-General Janis Karpinski explains that Rumsfeld allowed the tourcher of prisoners in Abu-Ghraib-Prisons in Iraq.
Further the Arab-press was celebrating the removal of Rumsfeld.
The articles concerning the ex-General who made the statement concerning the prisoner tourcher in Iraq. The articles are in German.
Ex-Generalin belastet Rumsfeld
Ex-Chefin von Abu Ghraib belastet Rumsfeld
Background article of the BBC.
Rumsfeld faces German legal test
Quotes out of the Arab-press, concerned with Rumsfeld's retirement.
Rumsfeld's departure pleases Arab press
One more article from a German news-magazine, the article is in English.
War Crimes Suit Filed against Former Defense Secretary
I was taking part in a discussion concerning the US and Canada joining, I might add that the ones on favor of that move were US-Americans while Canadians and people living in Canada were against it. Anyways eventually a point was brought up that is most interesting, which was a score between US, Canada and Sweden in Social standards instead of military or economical power, considering that Canada has around 34 million people living in it and the US more then 260 million that is not surprising.
The scoreboard that was named, is four and a half year old so the gap might have widened a bit or decreased but it does give a interesting result.
Canada, USA and Sweden compared in social standards
What the hell is going?
This is a question that has been bothering me for weeks now, first I can not sleep anymore, or rather only few hours a night. This is not all together to odd, yet something else came up this was Thailand, the real-time example of how power corrupts...within a few weeks. Then we have Iraq in a state of emergency, why is that, many argue that western intervention by the US and earlier is the cause for that, most think, and I tend to agree that the best thing to do would be to let them fight it out and then afterwards, help, but only if asked for help. Then there is the Russian ex-spy that was supposedly killed by the Russian Intelligence service, the killing upset the British which now want to know what happened, while Russia denies everything...
In Afghanistan German soldiers hug and kiss skulls which then leads to several law suits, further other nations that take part in the Afghanistan mission, Canada one of them are pressuring Germany to sent troops to the south to help them. Germany insists
on staying with the mandate and with the troop number dispatched to Afghanistan right now, while Canada makes Germany responsible for losses. In Africa people flee the Congo and die of starvation, if that is not bad enough then AIDS well get you. In India the population is suffering under the effects of the industry which often used India as source of water and other resources. In China a industrial boom is taking place leaving nearly a billion standing alone while the rest of the Chinese population is taking off. Iceland whales again...Global Warming is denied or at least questioned in the popular press, which guarantees confusion for the population. The mass-media is used as means for political goals, not as it was envisioned to allow the people more information. Magazines and newspapers make stories up, or rather some writers which write for them do, only few states in the US work towards the reduction of emissions. The environment is short changed by corporations and the human race, many say that the only way that humans realize that there is limit is for humans to reach it and literally crash into the wall. Some believe that there is hope, many doubt the existence of God while those who believe often become fanatic. Terrorist is now anyone who opposes a certain way of living, the modern witch hunt was born again but instead of communists we now hunt Terrorists, some states want all the information available on someone when they wish it to be so while other states oppose that view.
All these events and the current social and ideological situation remind me a great deal of the pre-Great War (WW1) 1900's, when the political world was dominated by fear, and interest in new land. While the population dreamed of peace that would be ever lasting, now todays population might be a bit more disillusioned but it does remind me a great deal of that time.
So I ask again what the hell is going?...Why all this?
The US-Dollar has suffered under the recent wars quite greatly, the economy took a beating on the international market, then a hurricane visited the US and many Tornadoes did too, this in combination with the war effort seems to be harming the US-Dollar enormously. Several currencies reached new heights to the US-Dollar, which means that the US will now have to pay more to import goods, something the US is a champion at. The imports of the US have many years ago surpassed the exports of the US, which means that the US economy will be likely to suffer under the increased prize of goods and services in other nations. On the other hand a low currency might bring more money into the country, because the Dollar is weaker, which means that a company with now mainly Pound or Euro as a currency in their portfolio can now invest more easily in the US since they would get more Dollars per Euro or Pound which in theory would make a smaller amount of money necessary for an investment.
Yet, it also shows that the giant, the US is reeling from the pressure put onto its economy and budget, this is mainly done by the US-government, further the US is now closer then ever to the 9 trillion debt mark. So it would be logical to suspect that the problems are mostly homemade at this point that is by the US government.
Dollar loses ground against euro (BBC)
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK
I was made aware of a Search engine that searches in a very innovative way, or rather the response the searching engine gives the user is...rather unexpected. The search engine is called Ms. Dewey, it is represented with the help of a young female avatar, which to every search gives a response. Those responses are most of the time on the more humorous side, the avatar can give such as 'Toys' the response could be something like this 'As a child my parents gave me gender neutral dolls to play with, really...ok not really.' After the response of the Avatar has been completed the search results will appear, I must admit this search engine is most interesting and very entertaining.
Ms. Dewey
The documentary, 'An Inconvenient Truth' is concerned with the issue of Global Warming, it is told by and starring Al Gore. This movie is not political, Al Gore actually points out that Global Warming is not issue that should be politicized, further he cleans up with misjudgments concerning Global Warming in this documentary. Those prejudgments being, that protecting environment costs jobs which is that it does not cost jobs, or that Global Warming is not an issue caused by humans. Further he explains all the points thoroughly, he further backs them up with Information. The movie also shows what effects Global Warming has and will have on the humans as a race and the other species sharing this planet with us. This documentary is very thoroughly and comfortable to watch, the viewer does not need education related with this issue. Further he then relates the problem with the media coverage of the issue, while the scientific community agrees that the humans are causing the Global Warming issue to the extend, while the public press represents this issue in a very odd light. The press presents an undecided picture in which Global Warming is not necessarily connected to todays policy making concerned with this issue.
I especially suggest this documentary to North Americans, and especially US-citizens since this movie specifically deals with the US as an example. It nonetheless supplies information connected to issues for everyone, and it deals with issues which are important for everyone. It is a great Documentary, which I can only suggest to anyone.
US Law enforcement agencies have been accused of monitoring international data and money transfers, to interrupt 'Terrorist' activities. A recent report found that the company Swift, a software company which handles eleven million transactions a day, has made information available to the US Treasury Department. Swift is based in Belgium, which makes such actions illegal, since the making available of confidential data is against Belgian and European privacy laws. Swift has nearly 8.000 costumers of which most are great financial institutes, the company claims that it did not break any laws because, the data made available was limited in scope and the data was exclusively for terrorism investigators. That the action taken by the company was legally defend-able and 'right', further it insists that the confidentiality of the costumers was not broken.
This issue ties in with the long standing dispute between the EU and US over the making available of information to the US Government. The EU repeatedly stated that the making available of confidential information could not be tolerated since that would infringe upon the rights of the individual, while the US wants this information because it would allow a more effective hunt of the 'terrorists'. The US further states that the making available of the information would be something necessary while the EU opposes that view and states that the rights of the individual can not and do not have to be sacrificed in the 'War on Terrorism'.
P.S. You can not fight an idea, with weapons and violence, it only leads to more bloody conflicts...
Money firm breached EU data law
Swift Hompage
Yes, I' am writing on a PC Game, it is not that there is not anything new out there it is just that when I scrolled through my posts that I noticed that many of them were concerned with not,...overly happy issues. So I decided to pick a game which does not a have violent focus but an economic focus.
1701 A.D. or Anno 1701 is a the third installment in a very successful German games series, which began with Anno 1602 or 1602 A.D. and was continued with 1503 which then was succeeded by 1701. Now 1701 combines the best out of its predecessors plus a new a heavily overhauled AI and Graphic presentation. Further the game allows the Player finally to play in a fully supported online Game and all parties can be traded with directly even the Free Trade can be visited. The AI is well designed and so is the world in which the game is played, the Graphic overhaul, which had been necessary made 1701 one of the leading games in Game-Design. In Germany this game was released at the end of October under the name of Anno 1701 while in North America the title is 1701 A.D. it essentially means the same-thing but sunflower (The Developer) has made sure that the Game would be released with a local translation of the game-title namely the 'Anno' which stands for Anno Domini which is the same A.D. stands for.
1701 Focuses around the Development of your own colony you can get support from the queen but eventually you are supposed to stand on your own economic feed, the main battle force can be derived from the ships a player has available, since everyone is on an island and dependent on some imports through out the game, if from another player or your own sub-colony does not matter. If a developed island is blockaded this will have serious effects on the players ability to operate. This game due to the integration of economics and politics is not a war-game but rather a game about economy, there is the possibility of having a military and a fleet yet both require infrastructure and money, to be available, further war is very expensive in 1701 which makes it only attractive if resources a badly needed and can not be traded. In the end this game offers a addicting solution which does not focus on getting some money from a resources and then killing the opponent, this game leaves it to the player to operate as they wish. This game can be played indefinitely since there is no real story-mode but rather it focuses around long-games between human players or human player and AI. I can only highly recommend the game...n_n.
ANNO 1701 Homepage
The question if violent games should be banned is a question that has come up once more in Germany. The problem is that many believe that violent PC or Video games cause students to go on a killing spree, not in all cases but to often. If the German government should decide that the only solution is to ban games would it be possible for the German government to enforce this ban? That is very doubtful since games would most likely find their way into Germany by Internet or 'black' import. So does it actually help to ban a game? Most say no since first the game can be obtained with other means, and second the thrill or interest in the game is likely to be increased if the game should be banned. Similar to the problem of alcohol that is often seen in North America, which is that the thrill, to consume the forbidden convinces the young adults that drinking is 'good' or at the very least 'rebellious'.
Further experts state 'that violent games can but do not necessarily trigger a killing spree, further it is stated that it is less the game but the way children often grow up today which is with a greater tolerance for violence due to media input. To make certain that I child will not turn into a murderer it has to be made clear that violence is not acceptable within society.'
All sides to which the links lead are in German.
„Killerspiele“ im Fadenkreuz der Politik
Amoklauf in Emsdetten und die Folgen
The trail in which Saddam Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity, seems to have been flawed in its entirety. This criticism has been voiced by the organization 'Human Rights Watch'. A report was written Nehal Bhuta is 97 pages long report, this report deals with the issues related to the trial. The report further supplies background information, which gives insight into the problems relating to the process itself. Further it then once relating some of the greater administrative challenges, it informs the reader of the problems created by the proceedings themselves, and then begins to challenge the result of the trial.
Here is a list of links which is related to the issue and to the report.
Rights body: Saddam trial flawed (Al Jazeera)
Iraq: Dujail Trial Fundamentally Flawed (Human Rights Watch English)
Irak: Grundlegende Mängel im Dudschail-Prozess (Human Rights Watch Deutsch)
Link to the Report itself
How do you know that you know?
Everything that one knows one has experienced through the senses, now what if all the senses are being mislead by some greater force. Now how can we know that this is real something else is not, well we can not know because we can not trust our senses to provide information that is correct or can be checked against other sources of information. We like to believe that the world around us is real, since that makes it simpler to interact with that world, yet is it real? In theory we, our minds could be in a jar, in which we experience everything, and can not even percieve reality. Since we are fed with this information from this other source. To come back to the original question, if we can not verify what we percieve to be real then we can not verify anything we believe to be true. Then logically we can not know anything, yet we often say that we know.
How can that be if we can not actually verify this 'knowledge'?
The U.S. government has experienced many changes over the recent month, the republicans lost the Senate and the House to the Democrats. Many wonder this change and the resignation of Rumsfeld will affect the policy making of the US government. Further the new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a former Director of the CIA, is said to be a move to 'undermine' the Vice Presidents power. If that is true or not is hard to say at this point, what is likely is that Robert Gates will listen more intently to the CIA and the Joint Chiefs then his predecessor. It is also suspected that Robert Gates will favor talking to Iran instead of starting another war. Further it seems interesting that the CIA does not seem to have any conclusive evidence confirming the existence of a secret Iranian Nuclear-weapons program.
THE NEXT ACT (New Yorker)
CIA: Keine Beweise für Nuklearprogramm (Koelner Stadtanzeiger)
The current US-Foreign policy seems to be very unpopular, further this has been damaging the US's image internationally. Many protests have been placed against actions the US President committed his nation too, and until now most people protested against those actions or against the US in general. At least to the public knowledge since not all protests where covered by News-agencies. Now recently there were several protests in Indonesia, those protests where directed at the President of the United States instead of the nation or its policies.
Indonesians protest against Bush
The PS3 has been, released and was received relatively warmly by the PS fans in North America many of which camped in front of stores that would be retailing PS3s.
The price of the PS3 sadly surpasses the prizing of both competing consoles, the Xbox 360 is close by but still cheaper, Wii being like it predecessor the cheapest console on the market, tries to offer good entertainment for family and teenager.
The PS3 has a Blu-Ray drive and impressive computing power on its side, while the con currently include, a glitch with the backwards compatibility, the prize, and of course the limited number of titles which are exclusive for the PS3, further Fans have criticized that the new controllers for the PS3 do not have the rumble function anymore. Also the limited number of 400.000 consoles for the North American market.
One oddity occurred at the release of the PS3 which is that there were more consoles sold then games for the console.
Playstation 3 sold more units than games
The Xbox 360 has a battle hardened online system, the prizes have already been reduced, a good number of unique game titles is available for the Xbox and the it is mostly backwards compatible by now. The con is that to watch a next generation DVD it is necessary to buy a new HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360, further its computing power does not reach the potential of the PS3, then again it is almost a year old.
The Wii being released tomorrow offers an impressive array of games, which ranges from the NES, SNES era (those can be downloaded from a server), it is also backwards compatible with Gamecube games, and thus allowing the player to enjoy a wide variety of games. Further it has a more direct new controller system which if it works as promised will be most interesting. The Wii is also the physically smallest of the consoles again just like it predecessor it is designed to offer game fun and fit in with the rest of the living room.
Wii homepage
PS3 Portal
Xbox Homepage
Nanotechnology is the newest answer to the need for strong materials that are light. The theory of the Space-lift which would lead to a Space station can only be realized with the help of Nanotechnology. Now Nanotechnology is considered as high-end technology it was produced for the first time 1991 (very small amount by accident), the interesting thing is that a different technology that is thought to be lost. The Damaszener steel which was known for its strong properties,it was more durable, sharper and more resilient any other steel, even compared to the alloys known to us today. Those two technologies do not seem to be connected, one being todays high-end technology while the other was lost three hundred years ago.
Damaszener steel is created wit the help of an very complicated process which nobody managed to produce Damaszener since. The scientists are not quite certain how it was produced. Recently a group scientists analyzed a Damaszener knife, while the group was analyzing the knife they noticed something very shocking, which was that the knife was reinforced with Nanotubes which make the knife very stable and sharp. Those Nanotubes actually have the same diameter as the Nanotubes have today, which 0.34 Nanometer. The last Damaszener knifes and swords were produced about three hundred years ago.
Die Nanotechnik aus dem Orient
It is most interesting that in todays schools the students are not taught to question but to accept. This in the age of science? Yes, it would seem contradictory that in the age of science in which the scientific method is considered to be the key to 'all' knowledge. Scientific method requires the asking of questions, the examining of all view points concerning the issue that is named and then if there is something that seems incorrect it is questioned. Yet, in schools the (until the end of the High School) students are usually taught to accept the information handed to them, further often if the student asks questions the asking will lead to confrontations between student and teacher this most likely causes stress between the student that questions and the teacher. This stress or tension then degrades the learning environment for the student. Why is that the case? In College and University students are taught to question, why not before this point? Is this situation desirable?
Several weeks ago Thailand's Military staged a coup and toppled the elected government,the Military leaders stated that they would give the power back to the people as soon as possible. The government in Thailand was considered corrupt and was at odds with the population, this aided the military coup which was over in a very short time, the population did not even realize what was happening until tanks were guarding central areas. Now the Military leadership has begun to appoint new leaders of the state companies out of their own ranks. This is most worrying and it appears that the Military leadership has no intention to hand all the control back to the civilians.
Adbusters BND or Buy Nothing Day is knocking on the door again, well what is that supposed to mean? Simple it is not to say 'Bring down the Corporate Tormentor' but rather a) give you a reason to exercise restrained over yourself for one day and see if you can simply go through one day without buying something, it is a form self discovery mixed with seeing your environment with other eyes. b)well I would link b) to the article about 'Purchase addiction' which ties in with self control, further shouldn't it be possible for a person to go through a day without having to buy stuff? I mean you can stock your pantry a day or two before no harm done there but do you really need to buy something every day? So why not just not buy anything consciously for one day? I' am sure you will notice something if you do not buy anything for a day.
The BND is November 24 till the 25th. (24H of buying nothing!!!)
Many have the opinion that the Internet is either filled with pornographic material or that the Internet has only few other uses. The US-Ministry of Justice recently made a study concerning that very thing, the cause for that study was the growing concern, for children and their protection online. The access to the sides that contain that material can be protected using age-verifications to insure or at least reduce the chance for children to come in contact with the pornographic material. Another interesting point emerged during the study which is that a relatively small amount in plain numbers actually contains pornographic material, in other words 1.1% of the websites world wide contain such material. This shows that internet only contains a very small portion of pornography in relativistic terms.
One has to wonder why the internet gained this prejudice.
Mercury News (US)
Study: About 1 percent of Web pages have sexually explicit material
Die Welt (De)
Im Internet gibt's nicht nur Sex
An article in the 'Frankfurter Allgemeine' a German newspaper, was concerned with the effect a new sickness was having on Germans, as it stated nearly four million Germans already seem to suffer under this sickness. The sickness is called 'Kaufzwang' which means 'Purchase compulsion' this is a loose translation. It is a psychological disorder which is internationally classified as ICD 10. Experts debate whether it is a disorder or a sickness, yet they are are certain that it is a problem that has to be addressed. People that suffer under 'Kaufzwang' feel the irresistible urge to purchase something, apparently the purchase of things makes them happy for a certain time-frame. Advertisement which is provided in form of a constant bombardment can certainly be seen as one of the possible causes causing this problem. If some is hit by such a 'Kaufzwang' attack they often buy things that they do not need and often also purchase an absurd amount of products.
Kaufen zwischen Lust und Krankheit (German)
Here is the link to a self-help group webstite for people that suffer under 'Kaufsucht' (Purchase-addiction). (Yes, it is in German...)
Kaufsucht Selbsthilfe
An interesting note at this point I did search for a website that would be in English and related to this issue since I have observed similar behavior in Canada. Yet, I was only able to find therapy groups and/or books for other addictions and they all were offered for...yes purchase...
The emir of Qatar criticized the 'west' for boycotting the democratic development in Palestine. A law was recently passed in Palestine this is considered to be extremists.
The emir pointed out that the west instead of supporting or rewarding the Palestinians for participating in the democratic process the west is criticizing the Palestinians for deciding upon a law which the west does not like.
Here is a link to the story itself.
Qatar criticises West over Hamas
This is the second question related to this issue...
1. Do we need love?
2. What truly is love?
There is an interesting question which I came across, this question has to be elaborated, first we life on the same planet which we share with other species. Yet, for some reason humans seem to think that they are the only ones that matter on the planet or rather that the planet is there to provide humans with a more comfortable life, or in other words with the resources to provide the comfortable life. Is this because we do not see ourselves as part of the planets eco-system. Now I will use the word 'nature' to represent the eco-system surrounding us. In many religions and in the environment we create for ourselves we seem to distance our selves from nature. This 'separating' off ourselves from nature, allows us to see nature or rather the other creatures in nature, as being lower then humans thus allowing us to exploit them.
Does that allow for a happier life? Does the separation of humans and nature allow us to be happy? The interesting thing is that we depend upon nature for everything that we need, or make.
Al Jazeera a News agency based in Qatar, has aired its English channel, further they also maintain a English website. Al Jazeera entered with this move the world of BBC and CNN which are now directly competing with this new international News agency. The Al Jazeera services will be limited for now until the first of January, further the number of nations in which Al Jazeera can be watched is still comparatively small.
Al Jazeera Website (English)
Nihilism seems to be the response inspired by the environment we life in today.
We life in an age, in which we hear over and over again that the world is slowly or maybe fast nearing its end. We learn that our environment is being abused by us and that is destroying the world as we know it. We create new threats we none are are and perceive the world as hostile. Why do we understand or perceive our environment in such a way that we see those things? In the 50's and 60's people already believed that the world would end in several decades. Interestingly enough we seem to want the world end around ourself, further we believe more and more in the end of our lives instead of an afterlife. Nihilism, the believe that we die and that then we turn into nothing else but compost, seems to have won over all the other believes. The question is, why did that happen? Are predisposed to nihilism?
Our media and similar are all seemingly supplying us with negative news, why? Because it sells better then good news, why is that the case one would wonder why do humans want to witness brutality or know that the world is going to end sooner then in several billion years when the sun expands. It seems odd, yet if we truly are predisposed to nihilism would not the most logical explanation be that we want to be reassured, that we need to proof to ourself over and over again that we and the world that we life in is going to end? And if that is going to be soon then we can grasp it more easily, and it is actually going to impact onto our lives.
P.S. I thought that something such as this post would be the most appropriate as the number 100 post.
Same-Sex Marriage has been an issue in many nations since the 1990's, and now South Africa has approved a bill which makes same-sex marriage legal in South Africa. South Africa is the first African nation to do so, it was brought through despite the pressure religious and traditional groups exerted onto the political parties. Northern European Nations were the first to recognize same-sex marriage, Denmark in 1989 was the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage, yet it took another seven years before Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Finland (France allowed same-sex marriage to a limited extend) followed suit. Then five years later several other European nations legalized same-sex marriage, as well as other nations internationally.
South Africa is an odd case because of the way the same-sex marriage was legalized, in the December of 2005 the Supreme Court of South Africa found it unconstitutional not to allow same-sex couple to marry, this then triggered several month of politics until eventually it was passed into law that same-sex marriage was legal. This is a great victory for same-sex rights activists since this is the first African nation and a nation that has been haunted by discrimination for many years.
Here is a time-line for the legalization of same-sex marriage:
Denmark (1989) was the first nation, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway and France to a limited extend (1996), Vermont (US-State)(2000), Netherlands (2001) is the first nation which gave full civil rights to same-sex marriages urther Germany (2001), Belgium and Argentina (2003), Luxembourg, California (US-State), Massachusetts (US-State), Oregon (US-State) and New Zealand (2004), Spain, Britain, Connecticut (US-State), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006).
S Africa approves same-sex unions
Wireless power was a dream for quite some time, Wireless power would mean no wire to recharge you MP3 player or Camera. This allows the user to finally get rid of the cable salad which often annoys the user. Further this technology can be modified in way that allows this technology to be used for other electronic devices, for example laptops, or robots in a factory.
Physics promises wireless power
Wireless power charges gadgets
Yes, I' am holding the first poll in this Blogs history that will directly influence the management of the Blog itself. It is supposed to answer a question that I have been trying to answer for quite some time. Yes, I have posted two essays in the early stages of the Blog back in the first months. You have to register on the forum to vote, the registry process should not take longer then five minutes. Further I' am aware that I said that all news and changes will posted on the Forum yet due to still a very conservative use of the Forum I decided to put this one on Blog since it actually affect the Blog and makes it easier for all readers to know of the poll.
The Zune became available in the US, Microsoft seems to attempt to compete with Apple more directly. The Zune got a mixed response, while it does have some interesting features which the Ipod lacks, it also lacks some features which the Ipod has. The Zune is available in three colors, black, white and brown (Brown is a most surprising choice). The Zune is available in only one seize which is 30GB and FM Tuner is build something that has to bought for an Ipod. The Zune further allows to share its play-lists with other Zune players and Xbox 360s these are features which are unavailable for the Ipod. Further it allows many different background pictures, which seems to be very similar to the concept that is available on the Xbox 360. This is supposed to allow for more individualism, while actually allowing for nothing but controlled individualism. It has a fairly large 3-inch color screen which allows for watching video files with fairly great comfort. Further Microsoft announced that the software on the Zune can be updated which means, that the areas in which the Zune finishes behind the Ipod which is mainly software related might be added later, or as Microsoft formulated the Zune 'evolves'.
Here are some related links
Zune goes head to head with iPod(BBC)
Zune Press
Ideologies seem to be destined to stand in conflict with each other, to create tension between each other and then ultimately go to war. Why is that? People that believe in their ideology most often believe that all other ideologies are wrong and are willing to kill for their ideology and often are willing to die for it as well. Yet, why do ideologies necessarily confront each other? Ideologies aim to answer many questions and often do so in a way which does not allow for different answers. This creates friction when two different ideologies meet each other, each explaining the world and certain other things in its own ways. The ideologies 'threaten' each other by simply supplying a different point of view. But do ideologies have to 'feel threatened' by each other? Is it impossible for ideologies to coexist?
Windows Vista is going to support HDCP natively, HDCP as I wrote earlier is going to be the next generation of encryption which, encrypts the signal between drive and Graphic card (in a PC) and between graphic card and the screen. This is supposed to stop piracy once and for all, it also forces the consumer to upgrade their PC's Vista and HDCP standards. Vista is fairly power hungry it needs to run: a modern processor (at least 800MHz),512 MB of system memory, a graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable.
And that is just the minimum recommended is the following:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor,
1 GB of system memory,support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver,
128 MB of graphics memory (minimum), Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel,
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space,
DVD-ROM Drive,
Audio output capability,
Internet access capability.
WDDM is a standard that is included in newer graphic card drivers, so basically you have satisfy those specs plus of course the HDCP compatibility, which is a High-end Graphic card Geforce 7900 or higher, a screen that can read HDCP and of course the drive that can read Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.
Yes, this new upgrade is quite a handful and will force many people to upgrade or replace their computer systems.
Vista specs (Microsoft)
The climate talks are slowed down by a difference of opinion of the developed nations and the nations that are to be developed. This difference of opinion is developing around money, this is not very surprising, yet it is very sad. Further the American Federal government remains opposed against to the binding themselves to the Kyoto protocol. While the government of California did pass the legislation which will strongly regulate the emissions that the can be emitted within the boundaries of California.
The argument concerning the environment seems to continue, while the government with the greatest Military power is siding against the extension of the protection of the environment.
The European governments are some of the governments that strongly press for tougher laws for the protection of the Environment. The effects of the destruction of the Environment has effects on the animal world but not only that further certain areas turn into deserts some experience extreme changes in the climate accompanied with more powerful environmental catastrophes. Floods, tsunamis, storms all of those are occurring more often with higher frequency. This does not just cause problems to the nations hit by those problems, but actually causes problems for the world wide economy as well.
Where does the priority lie?
Here are two BBC articles
Cash row looms at climate talks
California passes emissions law
Many nations have build walls themselves against threats, is it really necessary to build walls to separate certain groups. Here are some pictures with explanations...I will give translations for those that can not read German.
These are short translations of the texts supplied by the news magazine Die Welt.
The first picture
Shows the wall between USA and Mexico, further it is 1000km long further it is also equipped with modern surveillance Technology.
The second picture
This wall separates the core of Israel from the Jordanland which is 759km this wall is supposed to stop Palastinien terror attacks. It also is internationally very strongly criticized.
The third picture
Barbed wire and water trenches is the attempt of the Spanish government to protect their nation from North African refugees. It is 8.2km long
The fourth picture
This is an installation which is position Melilia by the Spanish government.
The fifth picture
This wall is Nikosia which is the Republic of Zypern which is in place since 1974, this line is protected by UNO-Blue helmets. This wall serves to separate the Greek and Turkish population.
The sixth picture
This wall separates North Korea and South Korea...
The seventh picture
This is in Orania which separates the white population of 700 people from the black people.
This is still in place ten years after the end of the Race-seperation.
The eight picture
This is in Padua Italy which was created to separate some of the immigrants from the rest of the populous which is supposed to limit the crime rate.
Here is the link...
http://www.welt.de/z/picshow2/index.php/item/Mauer/ie829edf7b0b39f21a714c0a8256f6712/?popup=popup
Yes, I had to go to the Drugstore today and get a new Razor, my old Wilkinson Protector had finally cut it's last hair and so I had to go and get my new Razor...well actually I just wanted new blades but anyways. After doing my grocery shopping I decided that I had to go in the Drugstore and get those blades. I already knew that something was afoot when I came near the automatic doors...which work like a our lock. I came close to the outer door and it opened very slowly. When it was finally open after what felt like a eternity I stepped through the door and stepped in front of the next waiting for the antiquated motion sensor to realize that I was there and open the next door, which then eventually as well opened once more very slowly. I was inside finally a smell of perfume and medicine filled my nostrils and I decided that try not to breath this air in at all, alas I realized that like most humans I could not hold my breath longer then a couple of minutes without collapsing...which did cause some concerned looks from the clerks in the store. I then tried to orient myself between all the shelves filled with things that I most likely would never need. I found myself in aisle 3, and reading the signs in the that were hard to make out because of the glare of the neon-lights and the high stacked shelves, I realized that what I was looking for must be in aisle 1. So I walked over to aisle one where to my shock I could see nothing but lipstick and perfumes, I decided that what I was looking for had to be in aisle one and so I embarked on my odyssey on aisle one. I past many shelves of cosmetics and was already dangerously close to the end of the aisle when I finally found what I was looking for the Razor area. Then I looked at the Razors they had bags on the lower shelves at which I found myself staring for many minutes wondering who would buy those and if those people considered the enormous waste that went along with those one-way razors. Then I began searching for the razor blades for which I was searching, I knew that they had to be somewhere but then something caught my eyes. It was the three Razors that all had the Quattro written on them in big bold letters as to underline how masculine they were. There was one that was titled 'Quattro Power' which apperantly causes your hair to stand up so that it can be shaved more easily, then there was the normal Quattro which was just four bladed and did not make your hair stand up, the last was titled 'Quattro Titanium' which had Vitamin E in it and was covered with Titanium. When I read the description I felt as if I was reading a mixture of Beauty magazine and Space Travel Sci-Fi Magazine, it said that the Vitamin E would insure a smoother shaving etc. and the Titanium insured so many other things that I was already waiting for a notice on the end of the text which would kindly point out that I needed a license to use this great combination of Beauty product and Space travel experience. Telling that I would feel as if I was traveling on the Enterprise or Battlestar Galactica if would be using this Razor. Eventually I put that Razor back decided that I felt most uncomfortable around this oppressing amount of beauty products almost fearing that I would suddenly feel the compulsive need to buy lipstick, or some wonder medicine on the way out or maybe some pop or sweet that they also offered just one aisle down from the toothpaste and brushes. So I grabbed the Quattro and headed down to the cashier trying not to look at anything that was around me, then payed for my new Razor and left the doors which again had this slowness to them. When I finally left the store I felt as if I should fall to my knees and thank god that I made it out of there with nothing more then my new Razor. I then vowed that I would avoid going to drugstores as much as possible so until my toothpaste runs out or some other product that I bitterly need. I later realized that I was fortunate to have made it out of that store remembering the old man that had slowly walked down the aisle staring at the list in one hand while trying to make the names of the products on the shelves out. When he asked the clerk she directed him down the aisle and so he walked down there, the next time when I saw him he was coming back from that place where the clerk had pointed him too and was happily holding the first of several products of the list, that was a week later.
Sir Elton John spoke out against organized religion he mentioned some interesting points even though I think that did not mention many of the stronger points. He did mention the use of hatred as an important tool to the leadership but did not mention that that hatred is not exclusively directed at homosexual people. He underlined the importance if dialog and several other very important issues, but sadly focused one area of the issue. The article is still most interesting.
P.S. Yes I do think that the picture selected was a bit unlucky for Sir Elton John.
BBC and yes it is English...
Sir Elton: Ban organised religion
Yes, it is the time of the year again, Christmas is closing fast, some people dance in the streets, others remember. The year is closing to its end fast and we are compelled to think: "Was this a good year? What really changed?" and other things very similar to those thoughts. People begin thinking about their Christmas presents and about the presents they feel compelled to give.
Who do they care enough about to give a present?
What should they give as present?
Yes, it is the time of the year once more, the stores begin stocking for the Christmas rush which most likely will compensate for the lower then usual sales up to now. If the sales were up to the expectations it certainly will boost the stock prizes and that will make the CEOs happy which then will give bigger presents to their families or themselves. Yes, we do live in a time of materialism where nothing matters as much as the collecting of items.
Is that the spirit of Christmas?
I do not know what I do know is that we often do change the meaning of events to incorporate new ideas. Yes, in this time of the year we start looking for others to stay close to us, to make ourselves and those that are close to us loved. Now in today's world presents do symbolize in part love it would seem, since if we do not give a present but we could afford it seems that we do not care about the person that we do not give a present to.
Is that really so?
Can we love someone or care about someone and not give them a present?
I would dare say yes, yet I must admit that it seems to hold true that a present represents something. Why it does I' am not sure maybe it is because we then think that the person really thought about the present or that the person cared enough to go out and get a present. Maybe it is just a new social norm to which we conform by now and which we justify with those statements. And then the thought occurs "What would he/she like? What would make her/him happy?" Most often we are unable to answer that question and we pick something that we think that person would like. This helps the businesses which then after Christmas offer the possibility of returning and exchanging products, this is not out of the goodness of their heart but rather because of simple economics, which works as follows person buys presents give present but the present is rejected and is then returned the person that received the present then will select a new present. This present might be the same value but most likely has a higher value and this boosts the shares a little and also makes the sales record look better.
In the end after all the presents have eventually found their respective recipient and everyone is happy and is reassured that they matter to the people that matter to them. Yet, sometimes there is the lonely person that would like to be part of all that but can't because of convention or because the ties are not close enough yet. The phenomenon of Christmas is most curious and it is often called the time of love, yet I would say that we considering the way Christmas is celebrated that we should add a second title to "Christmas the time of love" and then (It also is the time of record sales or Shareholders prepare for the launch or maybe CEOs remember all that money is not your's).
In the end we do not think of the present as much as of the person the showed us that showed that he/she cares and that you are important to them.
P.S. Yes, it is true what they say, we these days show love, good intentions or just friendship by giving away a present.
Right wing extremism still remains in Germany, Neo-Nazi youths in Germany shouted "Sieg Heil" on Thursday which was the 68th anniversary of the 'Night of Broken Glass'.
Further the number of crimes committed with right wing motivations are raising in Germany, this is feeding the discussions if Germany is not tough enough on Right wing extremism. Further the NDP sided with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he questioned the Holocaust. This combined with the German history concerning right wing political parties cause great concern in German population. The number of right wing related crimes has risen by 20% in Germany, further the questioning of the Holocaust seems to have become more and more mainstream. These factors have let to the debate in Germany if the right wing should not be put under stricter regulations. To prevent the right wing from gaining any more power with the German youth.
What do you think Germany's policy concerning the right wing should be?
One thing has to be remembered, that if the right wing is regulated that would technically infringe upon certain rights, like the right for free expression, the right of political freedom etc.
Relates articles...
In English
Neo-Nazis Attack Synagogue Memorial Stone
In German
Zahl rechtsextremer Straftaten deutlich gestiegen
Zahl rechtsextremer Straftaten steuert auf Höchststand zu
Mit Courage gegen Rechtsextremismus
I found a most interesting graph which shows, how the world temperature, further it shows how the temperature will develop if it continues to develop in the same as it currently is.
Our Warming World
The NDP meeting in Berlin, Fontane building was declared legitimate on Friday by a German court, which based it's decision on the "Gleichbehandlungsgesetz im Parteiengesetz" "Equal Treatment law out of the Party law" then on Saturday the NDP Party meeting was met by strong resistance. The NDP is a right wing party which is seen as a party on the right wing extreme, the party is defined by it's members as nationalistic. Both those things are seen to be clear connections to Nazis, which is one of the most feared issues in German society. Further the line this party takes is strongly against integration of outsiders, the NDP is often seen to be attempting to press issues that let people recall certain memories, for example the NDP's line on the US-Military bases is that they should be closed further they want to abolish Asylum-right which allows Germany to grant sanctuary to people that are not German citizens. The NDP in general takes a line that is seen as a line that is very similar to the line the Nazis took in their early years.
This is why the party meeting this Saturday was accompanied by protesters, which stood in the rain, further with statements such as '"Wir wollen deutlich machen, dass ein ganz überwiegender Teil unserer Gesellschaft Neofaschismus und Neonazis nicht will, schon gar nicht in Berlin"' "We want to make clear, that the dominant part of our society does not want Neo-Fascism and Neo-Nazis, especially not in Berlin" (Walter Momper, SPD)
This statement seems to reflect a strong portion of the German citizens.
NDP has been challenged for many years now and came close to being outlawed, further recent embarrassments lead to a new series of attacks against the party. The party leadership does not think that the Party will disintegrates but rather survive.
Here are the names of the two parties mentioned written out and Translated:
SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschland (Social Democratic Party Germany)
NDP National-Demokratischen Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party Germany)
Here is the Article (Yes, again it is in German...)
NPD-Parteitag von Protesten begleitet
In der Trutzburg der Neonazis
While the industry in India and China is booming the greater part of the population remains poor. Villages in the Chinese countryside are often very poor, the same applies for many Villages in India. China and India together have 2.4 Billion citizens China having 1.3 Billion of those and India 1.1 Billion. China and India have an ever widening rift between the rich and the poor, which is now beginning to threaten the expansion of their economies and the stability of their societies.
Die Industrie in Indien und China wachsen mit rasanter gschwindigkeit waehrend der groesste teil beider Bevoelkerungen in Armut lebt. 2.4 Milliarden leben in den zwei Laendern, China hat 1.3 Milliarden von diesen und Inien 1.1 Milliarden. Der Unterschied zwischen den Reichen und den Armen wird immmer groesser und das gefaehrdet nun das Wachstum beider Nationen wie aber auch die stabilitaet des Sozialengefueges.
The Links to three articles concerning themselves with this issue is given below, they are all in German.(Sorry, but I was unable to find good articles in English when this article was due to be published.)
Bittere Armut in den chinesischen Dörfern
Global Player im fernen Osten
Für die meisten Inder gibt es keinen Boom
Yes, it is most interesting that news agencies such as the BBC, have begun to use Blogs as sources for stories. While the general 'blogging community' is considered to be mainly doing nothing else but bleeding their hearts out onto the Internet. This is not true anymore, and was never true for many blogs, the matter of the fact is that the 'blogging community' has developed into two distinct forms of 'Bloggers' those are a) the journal writing ones that write concerning their day-to-day life, b) the ones that try to write articles that make more information available to more people by writing articles of their own. Here is the URL to an example of that very strategy used by the BBC. This is a most interesting turn for Blogging which shows that blogs are in the first stages of being considered sources of 'good' or 'legit' information.
{EDIT} See the forum to information concerning the edit...hehe...here is the link
Edit information
Recently the Koelner Stadtanzeiger (A newspaper located in Cologne, Germany), published two articles, these were titled "Drewerman lobt Islam" (Drewerman praised Islam) and "Mohammed wollte nichts Neues bringen" (Mohammed did not want to bring something new).
The first one illustrates how the Islam was originally considered the 'religion of Reason' (Vernunftreligion). In contrast to the Christian faith which was not considered as such. Drewerman is a controversial Theologist which, sides with the criticism of Philosoph Jürgen Habermas, which states that the Christian church displayed a bit too much 'Reason-pride' (Vernunftstolz) concerning it's confrontation with the Islamic faith.
In the second article the Philosoph Jürgen Habermas criticizes the christian church for 'Reason-Pride' (Vernunftstolz). He points out how the thinking froze (Erstarrung des Denkens) which eventually let to the point at which every Christian Dogma became a fighting-symbol for the homogenizing of the believers (Kampfinstrument zur Homogenisierung).
The two articles collectively point out how the Christian faith is the aggressive faith of the two. 'While Mohammed wanted to re-create an old religion the one human true religion, while Pope Benedict XVI wanted to change the world.' says Drewerman.
The Islamic faith is shown to be a religion of reason while the Christian faith is an aggressive faith that forcefully converts.
Here are the URLs to the articles (they are in German) if you have more questions...you know the rest.
Mohammed wollte nichts Neues bringen
Drewerman lobt Islam
Hier sind zwei URL's die zu Artikeln fuehren die sich mit diesem Thema beschaftigen, beide sind aeusserst interressant.
Mohammed wollte nichts Neues bringen
Drewerman lobt Islam
Now here are some things that seem odd but are true.
Everything in this world consists for the greatest part of nothing, because the atoms have only a tiny core and the electrons rotate around that core but everything in between is empty...totally empty.
You did not and will never touch anything in this world, this is because everything has a magnetic field which pushes everything else back. What you think is the touching of something is in fact nothing but the pressing of two electro magnetic fields against each other. (You come within nanometers of the actual object but you never touch it)
Why is something where it is? Or rather why is it there when you look? (This is a theory) Couldn't be that we influence our environment just by looking, or in other words if you look at an object you decide that it is there, but if you would not look this object could me somewhere else our be in more then one place at the same time.
And this is enough for now.
Now we have the new Geforce 8 series, we have the Physix card, not to mention the sound card and the always present network card.
Yet, do we actually need them? Can't the computer industry sell universal Hardware? (aka the good motherboard with good on-board chips.)
The answer is more difficult then it would seem at first, for one we do have the simple problem that the newest hardware, is usually not the best that can be supplied but rather that what the market can absorb the fastest. For example, the Physix card is something fairly unnecessary until games employ better physics engines. Now those cards are produced in small numbers and are over priced, yet they are still being bought. The newest Graphic cards are usually not needed unless there is a release of new Technology for example HDCP, further there is another issue that often loses importance which is that it will take sometime for new games to be released that actually can use this new computing power. Yet, it is odd that the home-user is not even offered access to the computing power that is made available to the developing companies. It sometimes also seems that the companies try to get the greatest profit for the smallest amount of work (ok I admit that that is not very surprising).
Yet, sometimes it's just odd that developers have full access to technology while the end-user is left alone, or rather is left to buy an older product so that when the new technology is implemented in a game that the end-user has to be or at least should buy a new card. It is an interesting pattern that a new card is usually released a 6 month to year before the the technology is actually used. Considering that a well developed game takes at least two years most often more.
I have a question and I would post this on the Forum but for the lack of users...-_-...anyways this question is two-fold.
1. What is love?
2. Why is there love?
Today's population seems to accept anything given to them, be it the Big Mac, or the pre-cut and chewed information, made available to the public by the Media. Today's media can create any image it wants because it is rarely challenged, I will admit that in some rare instances that is not correct but overall it is true. Political information is given in a manner that allows the government to control or rather the media to control what people believe. Most people do not search for information, and this allows not just for mis-representation but rather for no real representation.
Governments today orient themselves around interest groups, this can be by means of taxes, support given to a certain branch etc. this can be seen to the greatest extent in the USA. Where lobbying is very important but not just that, lets take an election campaign for example, those campaigns are financed with? Yes, right money supplied by very rich individuals, corporations CEOs, in other words by the people that have the money. Their interests will be most respected by the politicians, since they payed and will pay for their election campaigns. Is this democratic?
Further, yes the USA is an extreme example, but isn't also true that this policy making a) influences other nations b) that corporations and other interest groups attempt to gain stronger footing in other nations too?
Enough of my rant, if you want to know more I suggest that you should watch the movies 'Manufacturing consent' and 'Creating Political Power'.
The United Nations Security Council instated the first permanent International Criminal Court, this was done against the resistance of the US Government which feared the prosecution of soldiers employed by the US Government.
Here is the link...
International court in first case
I' am in the process of collecting addresses to Blogs which then will go on a link list for Blogs on this Blog, up to twelve Blogs will be put on that link list, and once the forum has actual participants the forum community will be able to bring suggestions forward on which then there will be a vote, by the community if more then 50% vote for the Blog being added to the link list the Blog will be added, if another Blog has to be dropped for that there will be another vote concerning which of the Blogs is to be dropped.
Hehe, yes this Blog is part of that...lol...anyways here is a very interesting article from the BBC...further if you follow what the article said you should start commenting on the Blog and posting on the Forum...this way my e-mail account might see a little less traffic...lol.
I know I said that you can always contact me and comment, yet I was primarily thinking of on the Blog and now on the Forum...we don't want yahoo to start charging me money because of the eating up of Bandwidth for e-mails...now do we?
PS. I added the link to this post...
Blogosphere sees healthy growth
How much should a ferry or bus ride cost?
This issue is something people are often torn about, should the government subsidize transportation within its borders to support the industrial growth and the free movement of its citizens and visitors. This is a question that often leads to a cross-road which leads to state supporting transportation or the independent profit dependent company. Which is better?
I personally vote for the state supported Transportation because it a) supports the free movement of the people living and/or visiting the country, this allows people to relocate to areas where they can find jobs more easily. b) Industrial growth is less inhibited which boosts the economy and allows for more jobs.
What do you think?...
The state officially has the monopoly on violence within its own boundaries which means that state is the only party in that can administer 'violence'. The police is the tool to enforce the rules set up by the state, state in turn gives the police the right to administer 'violence' to insure that the police will be listened to.
Now it is somewhat of an oxymoron to scream "Police brutality" if the police has the permission to administer violence towards anyone who is doing something against the state. Why do people then complain when the police uses this 'right' and administers violence against offenders and suspected offenders. Technically the once that are going against their rights and powers, are the people resisting the police. They do not have the right to administer violence against anyone, which means that when they attempt to administer violence against the party that is allowed to administer violence, the one that 'should suffer' is the party that is offending not the party that is remaining within its rights. Right?
As can be seen I once more changed the link system and added several new links, one of the links in the Resource section is a link to the 'Ethical Code of Bloggers' however I like to think that until now I did adhere to this code, further I intend to continue to do so, yet if you, the reader see in-coherencies or errors, don't be shy to point them out by commenting or e-mailing or posting on the forum. Not that you have been shy up until now. I want to use this moment thank every reader that was vigilant and pointed errors out or questioned certain points in articles, Thank you for doing so and I hope that you will continue to do so.
P.S. I know that I said that all announcements and Notices would be posted on the forum, yet due to the lack of participation there I decided to at least post this one here and on the forum.
A Bloggers' Code of Ethics (Cyberjournalist)
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyberdissidants (RSF)
Reporters without borders released a new and revised version of the 'Enemies of the Internet' list. This list shows nations that limit the flow of information within their nation, and thus make it difficult for the people to access information from the internet, in some cases they even face prosecution. Also those nations that are listed limit the information that can be published onto the internet, again the threat of prosecution hangs over the heads of those who ignore that and continue to blog, or post content they are not supposed to post. Further Reporters without borders are strongly engaged into Freedom of the Press and are fighting for that.
I added a link to the Introductory Page of Reporters without borders and of course the link to press-freedom score chart made by the Reporters without borders.
Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005
Microsoft is challenging every other technology corporation that does not have a contract with them. So now Microsoft challenges Google Earth with a Virtual world simulator, Ipod which is Apple an well opponent with the Zune, Firefox and IE have been battling for the dominance over the internet browser domain. Xbox 360 is standing of against the PS2 and 3 as well as the Nintendo Wii, how long can Microsoft sustain this pressure against these other corporations? Sony, Apple and Nintendo have access to billions, further Microsoft is now joining in the fight against Blu-Ray which means a strong Ad-campaign, also all their other software products are competing with an ever growing number of open-source programs. Open-source programs are drawing form the ever growing annoyance of corporately handled program development, which often is inflexible compared with the open-source system which allows all users if they wish to add to the program. It would seem as if Microsoft is engaging in a multi-front war.
Governments have started to hunt hackers and pirates out of the net...well not quite that dramatic. Governments and their agencies are attempting to stop internet piracy, nearly every second week there is a new lawsuit against several pirates. Yet, it does not seem as if they actually succeed in reducing the material available online, some pirates seem to do what they do in contempt of those attempts. The common argument for pirating is the over-pricing that movie companies, music labels and game publishers often do. That the consumer is simply unable or willing to pay for the content provided sometimes it's a fairly small content too. Many Game publishers have become minimalistic with their packaging which doesn't even contain a decent manual in most cases. Some game publishers do not offer sufficient support to the player which is why they lose a portion of their costumers there which want to play the game but find that the legal option is far too expensive considering the content and the later support. If the content would contain things that are not download-able such as posters, maps etc. something that has appeared quite often in the packages of games published by Atari, the consumer might be willing to pay more if the publishers would be willing to provide more, such as the earlier named items. Yet, the only action which the publishers and other companies advocate is the use of force, since they are right and the consumer wrong. But this show of force has not helped their cause, it actually worsened the fight because due to the publicity given to the ways of file-sharing which educated more and more people in the ways of obtaining pirated software and other items.
