V'Ger

Voyager 1 has been one of the unmitigated success stories in man's exploration.  Has Voyager finally left the solar system, taking it's "copper plated record" message of good will for all universe kind?

The jury is out, but one thing is certain, whether or not Voyager makes it to far flung stars countless years from now, NO ONE HAS RECORD PLAYERS!!!

Sail on V'ger.  Sail on.

Farm Bill

The US is again reviewing the farm bill.  Here's an interesting comment on the united opposition to it.  I'll let the Guardian author express the absurdity but, this is all you need to know...

"Another congressman, Douglas LaMalfa of California, has received $5.1m in farm subsidies since 1995. Yet, both congressmen voted against food stamps for people struggling to live on $4.50 a day for food." (guardian).

Well, I'm sure there's much more to know, but it raises interesting conflict of interest questions.

Read on news hounds.

Trust Us. We care.

The NSA announced today that it's historical invasion of our privacy has not been for naught.   These efforts have led to the defeat of 50 terrorist events world wide.

Here are some of the highlights
1) Interrupted a terrorist cell's pizza order.
2) Prank called Al Jazeera and asked if their coke machine was running.  Good fun.
(yes, we know Al Jazeera is a news organization.  NSA does what they want).
3) Listened in on your call to your girlfriend.  (Can we edit that one out?)
4) Added your blog posts to a "file" in the "cloud" about you.
5) This gets potentially less funny.

Technically this shouldn't be news to anyone.  Revelations about this date back years.
Somehow that's not more comforting.

'Merica, Waffle Style

Interesting article in the Guardian.

So let me get this straight:

(c) MorrisonLukeSmith

FEMA grades our disaster recovery by the number of Waffle Houses open after a natural disaster?  Not water quality, not restored Electrical Power, but whether or not my hashbrowns are available scattered, smothered and covered. 

House saves money on Ag bill... cuts food for poor?

At least we're not at the bread and circuses point!
House votes to cut SNAP (food stamps) by 3%, discussed HERE.

Several Republicans talked about their Christianity and said the Bible encourages people to help each other but doesn't dictate what the federal government should do. "We should be doing this as individuals, helping the poor," said Representative Doug LaMalfa, a Republican from California.

Yes we should do this as individuals.  I'm trying to find out if we do, to any real level of effectiveness.  Cutting SNAP by 3%.  What does this mean? Are we starving people? Are we just making them hungry?  I don't know.  Discuss.

The house also voted to extend/increase farm subsidies.

"Let's give certainty to an industry that has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal economy," he (Frank Lucas (R), OK) said as he opened the committee meeting.

I don't know if affected people are going to fall asleep in my class tomorrow because they didn't have breakfast.  I do know they have a lousy lobbyist.

(c) Morrison Luke Smith

Awwwwww Newt...

It is connected to the world of communication... with out tubes.

Like the horseless carriage, it needs a better name.

It has a WORLD of opportunity.

The first use of this was in 1973.  He got his first one of these in 2012.  (I made the 2012 part up.  That was my dad that did that.  OK, I'm even exaggerating that). (Note that I tell no actual lies here.  But I'm constantly having to back track to be accurate).

Newt Gingrinch (sic) on the miracle of "wicky-pedia" and the misleading misnomer of his handheld computer, or "smart phone" .

In honor of that, here I am with my camera phone.

Morrison Luke Smith

This week in Crime!!!

$45 million stolen from ATM's?  That's the news from the BBC today, where we see that arrests have been made in an ongoing rash of cyber-crime, seen HERE.  Earlier this year, A credit ring stole $210 million, as reported HERE!  In more dramatic crime news, they caught the jewel thieves who stole $51 million in diamonds in a daring heist, reports the Atlantic Wire today.

Just as amazing as the scope and daring of these crimes is how quickly they were solved.  

 Crime truly doesn't pay.  I suspect that there's a reason for this.  For example, there is a student in my class who told me that his life goal is to form a team, perhaps in montage, and then perform heists.  I suspect that the urge to form teams, in a montage, and then perform heists, and then brag about it, is the down fall of the criminals.

MorrisonLukeSmith