The ePiC rAMblInGs of Justisengard

The United States of America is still a superpower, right?  After reading this article how how we are complaining and filing protest letters that China is harassing our ships in international waters, I am a bit worried.

Two of the vessels closed to within 50 feet (15 meters) of the USNS Impeccable, waving Chinese flags and telling the U.S. ship to leave the area, according to a Defense Department statement. The Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the boats in order to protect itself.

Come on, really the best we could do was squirt them with a water hose – really!  I would hope that the United States Navy would command a bit more respect that this, and that we were more capable of defending ourselves.  Geesh!

The U.S. Embassy lodged a protest during the weekend with Chinese officials over the incident, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said today.

“We felt that our vessel was inappropriately harassed,” Wood told reporters in Washington.

We sound like the wimpy kid on the play ground…..sigh…

Chinese Vessels Harass U.S. Navy Ship, Pentagon Says

I missed President George W. Bush’s farewell address last night.  However, I just read a couple of articles about it this morning.

In farewell speech, Bush says he kept nation safe

13 minutes, is that all we get.  Bush was handed a nation in good shape, and is leaving us a nation in shambles, and all we get is 13 minutes.  As Jon Stewart mentioned in The Daily Show, is there an area of the nation that he has not messed up.  Internationally, our leadership in the world:  the only thing any one respects is our military power, which we have trouble now using due to the mis-management of two concurrent wars.  Domestically:  We have the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression.  Most of it cause by Bush Administration agencies not doing their job.  To add insult to injury, the Bush Treasury department refuses to account to $300 billion in bailout funds.  They actually say, they do not know where they went.  Is there ANY accountability in the Bush Administration for anything?  The best we get is 13 minutes of his time.

Good riddens George W. Bush.  Do not let the door hit you on the ass on the way out!

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So the National Safety Council wants to ban cell phone use in cars.  Not just the use of the hand-held device, but bluetooth, non-hand-held devices as well.

Safety Council Calls For Cell Phone Ban

So talking on a cell phone while driving is bad, because you are not concentrating on the road.   I do not think anyone disagrees with this.  The article says that talking on a hands-free device makes you four times more likely to crash.

“Everybody agrees with this study or report that cell phone use
completely should be banned because it’s more of a mental thing. You’re
not concentrating on driving.”

So it is about not concentrating on driving.  Hmmm, well what about talking to others in the car.  You know having a verbal conversation with others while driving.  If I am using a hands-free device to talk, such as a speaker phone built into the car or a bluetooth ear piece — how is that any different?  Are they going to ban anything that distracts the driver from concentrating on driving.  What about music?  What about eating and drinking in the car?  If we are going to ban one, we should ban them all.

I am typically against any paternalistic laws, but I can see the logic and restricting the use of hand-held cell phone use.  You only have one hand to drive.  However, banning the use of hand-free devices is going a bit too far.

You know, this article may have just hit me the wrong way, bit I had to say something. Senator Hillary Clinton, you lost, get over it! I mean come on how many times do we have to hear ‘what of’ scenarios of how things might have been if this or that did or did not happen. The simple fact is, we live in the here and now, and lets move forward.

Iowa Without Edwards

I do not want to hear for the next several weeks about how Clinton might have done this or that, or how Edwards took votes away from her, etc, etc. Just as I do not want to hear about how Nader cost Gore or Kerry the election. Gore and Kerry cost Gore and Kerry the election for not talking about issues. …but that is another topic…

I know many people across the country are celebrating. Jesse Helms created some passionate enemies in his life. I cannot say that I am one of them though. I disagreed with him on most of his positions, but I did have a keen respect for the man. No matter what you thought of his ideology or his political positions, no one could say that Jesse Helms did not stand on his principles. In my opinion, that is something sorely missing from American politics. Too many American politicians cannot make a decision without taking a poll to determine which way the political winds are blowing. You never had to be worried about Helms doing that, he made decisions based on his principles and stuck with them. Even when they were not popular.

Canadian Police Tolerates Piracy For Personal Use

The Canadian police announced that it will stop targeting people who
download copyrighted material for personal use. Their priority will be
to focus on organized crime and copyright theft that affects the health
and safety of consumers instead of the cash flow of large corporations.

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It would seem from the article (First Moon Picture Back from China’s Chang’e Probe) that everybody in Asia is in a space race.

Already, an Asian space race is well in gear, with Japan’s moon probe a
few weeks ahead of Chang’e in lunar orbit, an Indian probe planned, and
a South Korean lunar exploration project announced just last week.

So when we all going to come together under one multi-national space agency and invent warp drive?

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Saw this on digg, and posted on Jacoblog.

I wonder if it would surprise us (Americans) if this actually happened. We have all stood by and let do jst about everything else. I remember back in high school reading about McCarthyism back in the 50s and thinking to myself, how did the people back them just sit back and let all this happen. I am certain that our children will be asking the same questions about the George W. Bush Administration.

When will the US Government agencies actually represent its people and their interests rather than the interests of big business and corporate profits? How much longer are we going to put up with this?

justisengard dugg this:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to abandon net neutrality and allow telecoms companies to charge websites for access.

read more | digg story

Wonder what this is doing to all the seafood that we are eating, much less those swimming in the ocean.

justisengard dugg this:

“The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste – either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels.”

read more | digg story