Highest Parachute Jump Record

It is amazing that this occurred in 1959-1960.

Project Excelsior
by sonicbomb

Conviction Train

Cool vid.

Disney To Buy Marvel

If this will come to pass then I wonder if Disney could manage the edgier character set and maintain the older audience that Marvel draws upon. The marketing/distributing powerhouse that is Disney will help Marvel films but how much creative independence will Marvel be allotted? I guess since Warner Brothers already owns DC Comics it was a matter of time before Marvel was assimilated.

Remember Tianamen

"Iraq was a just war"

Excerpt from "Iraq the Model," a blog I have followed since 2004 and written by Iraqi, Omar Fadhil Al-Nidawi:

People of my generation who were born in democracies may take the freedom they enjoy for granted. This is certainly not the case for me or my people. I was born a decade after the murderous Ba'ath Party grabbed power in Baghdad in the sinister coup of July 1968. To us, the war brought an end to that 35-year-long nightmare and the beginning of an era of freedom, thanks to our friends in the coalition.

For me and many Iraqis, it was certainly worth it. Life is better today than it was before 2003. That is even though we were on the receiving end of this war in all its phases, from initial invasion through the bloody sectarian violence and terror that paralysed the country for years. Despite the high price in blood, today is brighter than yesterday. Above all, we have hope - something we did not have under Saddam's dictatorship - that tomorrow will be even brighter.

Thanks to our troops, the commitment of the coalition, and the endurance of the Iraqis for their continued efforts.

Fail

Found this funny blog:


see more pwn and owned pictures

Tesla Music

On Certainty - Part 2: Science and Religion (another look)

Among skeptics, many hold fast to science as the be all and end all of all things, as the means to direct, disprove and prove everything else. Yet it so often gives a whiff of patronizing or feigned humility to say, "no one can know anything," while at the same time trying to disprove religion by science and or history. If everything is a great "I don't know," how can you use anything to justify your stance on anything?

Just as skeptics claim that philosophy, more specifically religion is a "stop to thought," skepticism also risks putting a stop to thought. Religious institutions so often welcome explanations except those which challenge their religion. At the same time skeptics welcome explanations except those which challenge science and more specifically Darwinism. Another way of looking at this is well articulated by self-proclaimed Marxist, atheist, evolutionary geneticist, and Harvard professor Dr. Richard Lewington:

We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.

It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.

Therefore the conclusion is already drawn for many religious or evolutionist that God exists or does not exist and to consider otherwise is unacceptable and any data must be molded or spun to fit that presumption or presupposition. I do not say that it is necessarily wrong at the outset to hold to one side or the other. I do say to claim that religion is the sole stop to thought is to defy self examination and risks hypocrisy. I myself am not above this as I presuppose the existence of God whereas a friend of skeptical leaning presupposes the absence of God. My friend cannot accept or acknowledge even the consideration of God as on the same level of discourse as science. However he puts forth that, "the sad thing is that there are fools on both sides."

Because the denial of God is presupposed, it is not Reason that motivates the denial but often a dogged refusal to change or challenge one's presuppositions. Is science the be all and end all? Skeptics chalk religion and philosophy up to human constructs and science as reality. However I say science is also a human construct in that it is our attempt to describe and organize what we observe. Of the sciences, evolution may very well be the least empirical and most philosophical. Philosophy and science are efforts to grasp reality and are not mutually exclusive. Science attempts to answer the what and sometimes the how, while philosophy attempt to answer the why and sometimes the how. Even this is simplistic as there is overlap; however, it is a start to see how the two can coexist.

On Certainty - Part 1: Self Assessment

From my experience, skepticism is often synonymous with atheism or atheism in the guise of agnosticism--in other words, the denial of a God (usually singular) in the form of a denial of everything. The folly here is the claim of being certain about uncertainty. This is knowingly and even glaringly contradictory. So I want to direct attention to some certainties. From a pragmatic standpoint no average adult functions devoid of certainties. Everyone has a worldview/belief system/philosophy that they operate off of (whether they recognize or are able to articulate it is another question). Each system roots itself in a particular set of ideas that it assumes are truth. I find two means to start vetting out the certainties a person holds to at a given instance are the questions addressing "is" and "should":
1. What do you think you are or the state of the world is?
2. How do you think you or the world should be?

An honest assessment of how you answer these will quickly show, I hope, that you do hold to certainties. The next question that follows your answer to these first two questions is, "Why?" or "How do you know?" This will clarify the certainties that you assume and operate by.

In other words we live upon a foundation of understanding of our existence and purpose - the "is" and "should."

The Charity Revolt

Claremont

Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.

Quote

"The philosopher Socrates said, 'The unexamined life is not worth living,' but I find--particularly in North America, because of distractions, because of diversions, because of the 24-7 media--that many believe that, 'The examined life is not worth living.'"
-Stuart McAllister

Newsboys' Frontman Leaving the Front

Newsboys frontman Peter Furler will be replaced by former dcTalk member Michael Tait as the new lead singer of Newsboys. Peter Furler will assume a studio role. His lead will be missed. It'll take adjusting for fans to not see Peter. I wish Michael Tait and the Newsboys success though it'll be strange for a while.

Cute Dog

Cheerio, Pomeranian, attends the Westminster Dog Show

Hellzapoppin'

Movie to watch showcasing awesome swing/lindyhop.

Iraq War Movies

I recently watched to movies about the current Iraq war. In the Valley of Elah is a drama/mystery that drives home how "messed up" and "crazy" the Iraq war is. It implies that American soldiers are dealing with fear, pressure and chaos so profound that it leaves them returning home desensitized and amoral. The movie is interesting and well made.

However it leaves me asking, are our soldiers really desensitized and amoral? If so, then is this war so different from wars of the past? Are these soldiers so different? I want to say our military has a history or training people to be upstanding citizens and promoting such a culture. There is such thing as PTSD but this movie is showing something else: normal young men now left emotionally and mentally destabilized. Tommy Lee Jones portrays a retired army military police sergeant who maintains his fortitude, discipline and mental sharpness. Why then are the present day soldiers portrayed so different from Jones? The movie does not give an answer.

The other movies, Full Battle Rattle, is the documentary displaying the U.S. Army's simulation of an Iraq town in the Mojave desert as part of the Army's training before soldiers go to the actual war. The town and military outpost are made up of Iraqi refugees, dummies and military personel. I am thankful for the refugees volunteers. The movie is fascinating and honest and I will have to see the first half of the movie before I make additional comments. I would recommend it.

Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger

Daft Punk deconstructed by David Crowder - awesome.

First Sign of Intelligence

I engage in frequent discussions with a friend and in the last month I was told, "That was the first intelligent thing you've said," which gives insight into what his perception of me has been or has become, but I want to focus on what I said.

I said, "Your values are influenced by your parents. How they spend their time shows you what they value. If they don't go to church then they show that attending church or religion is not valuable." I think the weight of this statement lay in the simple truth of the statement and how the example literally hit home for my friend.

The lead up was a discussion on offending parents if a child chose a religion. If a son or daughter chooses to value something that the parents' don't value, would they necessarily be offended? I say, "no and even unlikely," especially in American society where there exists openness for exploration. What may change is the parents' perception of their child. I don't think offense plays much of a role here. Negative reactions would more likely be fear or confusion. I should ask another friend who had to deal with this very choice.

What my friend's comment informed me was that my conjectures and examples need to be relevant in order for our discussions to be meaningful.

A Take Away Show

Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Objectified

I'm interested in this documentary on Industrial Design: