Thursday, November 29, 2007

Going Mobile!

This is a test on creating blog posts right from my phone. I started using Google Maps yesterday from my phone and now there is no need for me to get GPS for my phone. Let's see if this works!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Weather Channel Founder: Global Warming ‘Greatest Scam in History’

Hey, don't take my word for it. This is coming straight from John Coleman, the founder of The Weather Channel. That's right, he's not an actor, a musician, a politician, not a screeching nutcase, nor an intellectually dishonest attention hound. Chances are, he even received better grades in science than The Goracle.

I always thought "Science" was a search for knowledge, dependent on analysis and debate. So why are these pseudo-scientists trying to stifle dissent? Challenging the Global Warming Alarmists' theories isn't akin to Holocaust Revisionism. According to them, this is a threat to our future, a current challenge for us to overcome, and we must make sacrifices to ensure our children can inhabit this dying world. Are we or the many scientists with views similar to John Coleman's not allowed to participate in this discussion? Are we just supposed to sit back, give away our freedom of choice (such as deciding what you want to drive, how you want to heat your house, whether or not you need to recycle your own human waste for drinking water), and be dictated to by some Washington Bureaucrats and Hollywood's Useful Idiots and Limousine Liberals?

Friday, November 2, 2007

People who like Ron Paul.....

Luckily, I've yet to hear an intelligent person with a firm grasp on reality, politics, and history endorse Ron Paul. Yes, that goes for you too John Mayer, Revolutionary!

Well, I'm sure Mr. Waiting on the World to Change would be more than happy to know that he is in great company. Let's see the caliber of supporters Ron Paul attracts, and has yet to denounce or distance himself from:

White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis, 911 Troofers, Assorted Crackpots, and now, as if the world was just about to change, Anti-Semites and Holocaust Revisionists/Deniers.

Here's the best part for all you strict Constitutionalists, a full debunking of each of Ron Paul's inverted beliefs.

Halloween Baby Syndrome!

Two of my friends both had babies on Halloween this year, saving themselves years of years of horror by narrowly avoiding their baby's arrivals on Devil's Night (that's right, the original Angel's night, for all you G-rated Halloweenies).

I present to you, future world leaders:

Christopher Thomas Filias and Miles Scott Bivens

But wait, there's more... Apparently, Piston's guard Richard "Rip" Hamilton also had a baby on Halloween and had to miss the season opener, at the same hospital as as the first of the two above, yet the Yahoo! Sports considers this a "family emergency". That reminds me of the scene from Knocked Up, where the guy's father tells him about how having a child is a blessing. Mazel Tov to all!

Why I am not voting for Obama nor any other socialist

Over at Extreme Mortman, Barack Obama dishonestly indoctrinates children into socialism, right here, in our own country. Please read the comments in that thread for what he really should of said. (Hattip HotAir.com)

Friday, October 26, 2007

2007: "The Year the Global Warming Fears Began to Crumble"

And it's about damned time too! I've been talked down to by pseudo-scientists and hypocritical activists for so long, I've actually increased my energy usage and look forward to surfing in the East Bay. I'm providing two clips for your amusement that I watched over at HotAir.com. I highly recommend them and the site.

The first of which is a great piece by 20/20's skeptic, John Stossel:



The second is where the title of this post comes from, Senator James Inhofe (whom I do not endorse in any way nor know much about his voting record) speaks on capital Hill about the Global Warming Alarmists and calls them out direct:



I'm a pretty, pretty, pretty big Larry David fan, and I know he was recently divorced from Laurie David, whom Inhofe mentions above. This season's first episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm started with a flood that forced the Black family (that's their last name :)) from their home and they end up coming and living with Larry. In that episode, he directly blames the flooding on "global warming" in a very comical and sarcastic way. Exit Question: I'm wondering if this was a little poke at his ex-wife and her beliefs?

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Google Maps Technology Helping with California Wildfires

Here is a Google Map map of the San Diego areas affected by the wildfires. It also shows shelters, evacuation areas, and other helpful information.

If you look at the home symbol that represents the Del Mar Fairgrounds above Solana Beach, you'll see roughly where our close friends live and work, who've had to evacuate their home and business. We're just hoping for the best right now.

I'm working today even though my company's local offices in La Jolla are closed. It feels strange to work while you know some of your coworkers have lost their homes and others are in shelters. Sad.

Monday, October 22, 2007

California Wildfires

We wanted to send our thoughts and prayers to our friends and family back in the San Diego area. My wife and I used to live in some of the areas affected by the fires and feel as though our "second home" is on fire. Sadly, many people have lost everything and most have been uprooted in one way or another. We have friends whom are currently evacuated and several colleagues who have lost their homes. The company I work for is currently shut down to allow everyone to evacuate if they have to, as are most businesses in the area. Luckily, everyone is safe and sound and taking up shelter with their families. Right now, we can only hope for the best and pray for rain. Please stay safe everyone!

If you would like to donate to victims of the fires and stay in tuned with latest news and updates, you can go to www.cbs8.com.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Good News Rand Fans!


Being that it is the 50th Anniversary of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, I'm thrilled to have read this update on the movie. To this point, all I have heard so far was that Angelina Jolie was going to play Dagny Taggart, which rang huge alarm bells about who was going to direct the film and which direction this was going to go. Well, my fears were almost instantly quelled when I read that Vadim Perelman of House of Sand and Fog fame (and fellow Russian-Jew) will be directing. Yes, Angelina is still pegged for the lead role, but the producers and her representative assure us she loves and understands the book. Could I be wrong about her? Hmmm.

Friday, October 12, 2007

How do you say "Target Rich Environment" in Farsi-Spanish?

We've been watching the trend of leftist ideologies (ie. Marxism) converging with Fundamentalist Islamic theology since 9-11, though it has happened many times before. Most of the time, their mutual hatred for Western values (capitalism, freedom, and progress in general) and America and Israel converge into beautiful peace rallies the world over with demonstrations of love and unity, but sometimes, these useful idiots and their future Islamic overlords have ideas that do not reconcile so well. Poetic justice or just two thoroughly flawed ideas? (hat tip LGF)

Thursday, October 11, 2007

On the whole Coulter-Jew thing...

When I was a young, angry anti-establishmentarian (and useful idiot to boot), this sort of thing would drive me nuts and I would use it as more proof that the worst people on the planet were White Christian Conservatives. Since then, I have come a long way in learning about my own religion as well as the (Evangelical) Christian perspective of Jews. At this point in my life, I'm hardly intimidated by that view and am positive that we have a lot more in common than differences and know who is a greater threat to our future.

As I was trying to post a comment over at Jewlicious, where WordPress consistently goes broke, I ran across this article from Omri Ceren at Mere Rhetoric from a link over at HotAir who sums up very eloquently how I feel on this subject.

Exit thought/question: Since when has it become a shock that one religion's adherents think their religion is the only right one? Lord knows, I think mine is everyday, and I don't even practice it!

James Oddo for President!

This guy is one of my heroes. Badda-boom-badda-bing! (Hat tip to Hot Air)

Here's the back story.

My favorite book turns 50!!

Atlas Shrugged turns fifty this year and Yaron Brook writes about "The Influence of Atlas Shrugged". Socialism may be dead, but unfortunately, socialists are not. Check it, check it out...

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Old Clip: Holocaust Survivors Sing Hatikvah

I've been searching for this footage every since I first viewed it in a documentary somewhere. It is a short audio clip of Holocaust survivors in the Bergen Belsen death camp singing the Hatikvah immediately after liberation on the 20th of April, 1945. (Hat tip to Wejew.com)

Monday, October 8, 2007

Marry for the Money, Honey!

A great post over at Maggie's Farm on Dating Economics for those men and women evaluating the Cost vs ROI in relationships. It is a must read! (via Hot Air)

The Dishonest 101

Great article over at the American Thinker called Media Dishonesty Matters, speaks for itself. (Hat tip LGF)

In further media related research, Hot Air looks at perceptions of bias by political persuasion.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

L'Shanah Tovah Everyone!

I would like to wish all of my family, friends, co-workers, and coreligionists (The Jews) a happy, healthy, prosperous, and luck filled Rosh Hashanah! And be careful out there on this New Year, because Prince said party like it's 1999, not 5768!! The big party is next year people. :)


I'll leave you with some JPost humor:


9/11 and Blogging


So yesterday, on 9/11, I spent the day reading, watching, and listening to as much as I could about the tragedy, as I have done for the last five years, as my personal duty to keep fresh in my memory what sheer evil exists in the world. I had so much to say yesterday but not nearly as much as I wanted to learn. Not feeble or self-defeating arguments like "Why Do They Hate Us?" No, I'm afraid if you are still asking that, you never will learn.

I was and am still interested in the emotions that the victims of the terrorist attacks felt at those long, terrifying moments, how they dealt with fear and reason in all that confusion and mayhem, and how they were ever able to put the pieces back together again. I wanted to learn about every individual story of survival and loss, and understand who these brave people -many of whom walked right into certain death to save others - were, and to pay my respects by keeping their stories of heroism and sorrow alive for at least my lifetime. I don't think we'll ever forget 9/11. I do think we'll forget what people felt and did that day and the weeks following, and how Americans, especially New Yorkers, came together to grieve and talk, and share in this national, if not global tragedy.

Well, in my search for more and more footage of New York during that time, I ran across footage from two documentaries that I have to see in entirety: 9/11 and 7 Days in September

As I was checking out 7 Days footage at the website CameraPlanet.com (Click on Videos in the header - frames, grrr.), I ran across one of the most incredible and inspiring pieces of documentary footage that I've ever seen. It's long and you MUST watch it all the way through, but I think you will see that this footage captures those feelings that I mentioned above. After seeing this, I had to share this with everyone I hold dear, and what better way than through a public blog! :)

P.S. If you pay close attention to some of the real life players in this drama, you will notice Sabina Sciubba of the Brazilian Girls, a band I have been completely addicted to for the past year, involved in the debate. More on that later....

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Goofy Foot I am not!

Shot on July 3rd, 2007 on Geo and Char's boat before a tasty 4th of July dinner! I'm trying to learn to 180 so I can start getting the big air! This was filmed on a Pure Digital Flip Video Camcorder (Warning: sappy, emotional intro) I'm testing for my dad that we may give as gifts to family in Israel. I still don't understand what the main selling point is with these things? For just under a hundred dollars, only 30 minutes of video storage, and limited video output settings, couldn't you find an affordable digital camera that does video and have the best of both worlds? Of course, you could buy an iPhone and forget gifts altogether! JK



Now this is how it's supposed to be done (by my wakeboard instructor and brother-in-law Geo):



Update: On second thought, I was pretty impressed with what you get for your money in terms of the Flip Video. It's lightweight, powered by two AA batteries, no memory card is required, it's got 2x zoom, you can capture photos from video, and when we plugged it into the TV, easy to use, and the quality of video wasn't too bad (640 x 480). Of course, I don't have some HDTV Flat Panel yet, but I don't believe the recipients do either. Win-Win

Monday, June 25, 2007

Psychological Playtime at Myspace

So, I clicked on a link to some Troofer video at Myspace and commented. For any of you that don't know, a Troofer or Truther as they call themselves, believe that our own government was behind 911. Yes, I know, shithouse rat crazy I say. But more on that in a minute. Well, my comments must have irritated some Troofers because they decided to start visiting my page and leaving comments and messages. So then I changed my motto to "Teach 911 Troofers Physics and Chemistry" which alludes to the fact that Rosanne Bar, oops, sorry, Rosie O'Donnell doesn't believe that fire can melt steel :), and that a plane's wings should, um, most definitely, penetrate 10 feet of reinforced concrete! Duh! It's a no brainer! Anyway, in response to my new motto, a Troofer from Minnesota (whom I'm sure is probably a nice person with good intentions but with some serious naivete), left me a message, which I decided to answer here, in my own way:

Troofer said:
Subject: "so if you know all this"
Message: "teach me physics and chemistry then. although i look at all evidence from both sides, why cant we see 1 of the 80 cameras that would have shown the entire plane hitting the pentagon. the security in the area was high even before 9/11 and it sure wouldnt be still framed like the only video we have."

To which I responded:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just because you don't have answers for a question at a certain time doesn't mean you won't get them later on through due diligence, research, testing, and scientific reasoning. The worst possible logical conclusion, is to hurry to connect dots just for the sake of connecting them and creating assumptions based on emotional, antiestablishmentarian values that teach you that our government is comprised of the most evil, diabolical villains the world has seen.

My parents and I escaped from a country (the USSR) that frequently disappeared dissidents, assassinated people openly in the streets and had neighbors turn in other neighbors for no reason other than the fear that someone would turn them in. This same government destroyed all of its natural resources without a care in the world, murdered its own citizens to support a failed ideology (Communism), and endangered the world by trying to hide the fact that one of its nuclear reactors had a meltdown.

I've seen evil and I've studied government conspiracies, and this is not one. A democratic government, elected by the people such as here in the US, would never undermine its own economy, stature, security, and certainly not murder its brightest and best (some of whom worked for or with the same government) just to create the pretenses for launching a war against another country; which was managed pathetically (hint, hint). On top of that, we have a culture of whistle-blowers and the most investigative news media of all time, practically begging and paying for leaks to accuse the government of foul play.

Certainly, if any of the things Troofers believe to be true, notwithstanding the assumption that steel can not be melted - as if I-beams are farmed whole from out of the ground - the media would have been on top of it long before Alex Jones or some other lifelong conspiracy nutcase had bothered to calculate some nefarious Zionist plot to blame it on.

Lastly, aren't you the same people that think our government is run by a chimp and idiot who can't even hide Gitmo or Abu Ghraib and can't manage a war worth a shit, and yet these same buffoons are able to orchestrate the single most dastardly and secretive attack that the United States has seen thus far and hide it until now? Come on... You can't have it both ways. Were there things we knew before 911 that we could have acted upon? Certainly. But was our own government complicit in the wholesale murder of its own citizens? Most definitely not and anyone who thinks so should be psychologically evaluated or sent to a Chinese reeducation camp. At least there, they would see real evil for the first times in their lives.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Wax on; Wax off

I know, yet another new blog. Fourth or so attempt and sorely lacking the sticktoitiveness that it takes to make this worth its while. But I digress while you count the cliches I lay forth.

I've been thinking a lot about journalists and journalism lately, its methods and mission, and I'm interested in when the lines between factual reporting and editorial writing were first blurred, or better yet, if objective journalism has ever existed. I know this is a trite subject, but I plan on researching this further. Stay tuned for more on that history.

I, for one am tired of the self-righteous and indignant tone of evening news, in whatever political format, with what's wrong with the world and primarily this country, and the constant guilt, dread, and futility I am offered coupled with overly optimistic advertising drizzled in between. Yes, that's all to be expected, nothing new here. The part that irks me is the absolute moral authority card they try to pawn on me, like the Leonardo DiCaprio man crush incident at the Oscars a few months back. I guess news anchors, as well as other people in the media would like to believe that their word is "undebatable". I think of the immense ego you must possess to want to be known by most of the world's television viewing or Internet savvy audience, and it starts to make sense how these people can't possibly be wrong. And what, with all this attention, why not make the world a better place, damn it! Well, at least in your image.