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Isismoon
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Name: Pashia
Gender: Female
Interests: science
women's issues
dogs
environment
Expertise: chemistry
fiction
motherhood (?)
Occupation: Research and development
Industry: Other
Message: message me
Member Since:
7/11/2004
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| Paranoia strikes deepI traveled to Chicago to get my son at the airport where he was returning from Spain. Yeah, he went to Spain after three years of high school Spanish and took intensive Spanish courses. He had some of his best friends with him but when they got there were among just a handful of high schoolers in a sea of college students. But he did fine with it.
On the way to Illinois we came across signs indicating that all cars needed to be stopped and be checked for drugs. A wave of panic swept over me because we were not driving our own car but my parents’ minivan for the trip. I could see this being very suspicious to someone –not driving your own car. It could at least cause a hold up and then we would be late. But we did not get stopped. On the other side of the highway cars were backed up for miles though.
Later we drove on the Ronald Reagan Highway, where you have to pay a toll every 60 miles or so. I’m sure the old geezer would be proud to have something supported by tolls that only some can afford instead of taxes.
At the airport, we found that we had been directed by his study abroad program to meet him at the wrong gate. I called him on the cell phone. He mumbled, we aren’t supposed to use cell phones in customs and quickly hung up. I later did some looking around on line to see what the deal was on the drug stop and found just about nothing. Only that truckers are now acting as spys for the government. But as for customs, they are allowed to seize a person’s cell phone or laptop and keep it.
I’m a person who believes in rules, esp where safety is concerned. I wish we have more rules governing pollution and the oil company profits made at the expense of the environment. But the random search and seizure of travelers seems quite ripe for abuse and misunderstanding.
And yet another misunderstanding on the part of the Bush administration concerning how the Pill works. It works by imitating pregnancy by giving you the same hormones as a pregnant person. And now it could be declared causing abortion to take the pill. Well, then pregnancy causes abortion too. stupid
I read in the book posted about the Mayan Empire and how it collapsed due to its own Imperialism. The chapter said that the Mayans needed more warriors to go get the trinkets and token the Nobility needed to keep themselves happy. So they encouraged reproduction. Then people couldn't get enough food. Does that sound a bit like the government we have today? In the end the people began to hate the nobility and other groups got sick of the Mayans and attacked them. I liked the book and I actually have a Mayan friend and have partied in a Mayan village. Did not care to see the Mel Gibson movie however.
I’m glad to have my baby back. It scared me a bit to have him in another country where he was not fluent with the language. He said that people were very kind in Spain. There was some anti-American graffiti about the United States torturing people. Hmmm. If I lived in another country I would be afraid to send my child here. | | |
| Inventing a New Internet?Al Gore was really crazy and said he invented the Internet, right? rumor mill
Well, not really. Al did not claim to have invented any technology surrounding the Internet. He did claim, and rightly so that he supported its development with a technologically favorable administration—the Clinton Administration. As true techies have pointed out, Al Gore coined the phrase and supported the Information Superhighway and sponsored bills that supported the Internet’s creation. One scientist who did help invent the Internet that this to say:
“VP Gore was the first or surely among the first of the members of Congress to become a strong supporter of advanced networking while he served as Senator. As far back as 1986, he was holding hearings on this subject (supercomputing, fiber networks...) and asking about their promise and what could be done to realize them. …It was clear that as a Senator and… as Vice President, Gore has made it a point to be as well-informed as possible on technology and issues that surround it.
As Senator, VP Gore was highly supportive of the research community's efforts to explore new networking capabilities and to extend access to supercomputers by way of NSFNET and its successors, the High Performance Computing and Communication program (which included the National Research and Education Network initiative... If you look at the last 30-35 years of network development, you'll find many people who have made major contributions without which the Internet would not be the vibrant, growing and exciting thing it is today.
While it is not accurate to say that VP Gore invented Internet, he has played a powerful role in policy terms that has supported its continued growth and application, for which we should be thankful.”
And believe it or not some say that the internet needs to be re-invented because it has grown too large for the original intent which was to share scientific information. The new network development project is called GENI (Global Environment for Network Innovations) and is being funded by our government under the direction of the National Science Foundation.
">new internet?
And I don't mean to be critical but have you noticed that some of the featured content seems like it is based in neurosis?
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| Wall-EYesterday I went shopping with my daughters and then ironically went to see Wall-E. I did not get that much shopping. I am trying to establish an equilibrium where I do not accumulate things so if I get something I need to find a new home for something else. I got some yoga pants at Old Navy, some slacks at Gap and then at J. Crew where they are now giving discounts to teachers and students, I just got a pack of socks.
Then I went to see Wall-E. That is a cute movie but not one to see before shopping or even just after. At first it was amusing but I thought "how can they make robots and junk interesting for a full length movie?" But they did. The humans are very funny and like all good movies, it is a commentary about society. I remember how we got flooded with cheap junk in the 80s. It was fun to not have to save up to buy a pair of jeans or even a refrigerator. Woo ee! That stuff made in China was fun fun fun. But all the stuff we buy now is not meant to last. At work we have products that have lasted from the 50s when made by Union Labor in the US. And things made now in Singapore are lucky to make it to their warranty. And I read recently that all of this cheap stuff and also spending the Social Security surplus we had in the 70s was all done to make us not notice the effects of tax cuts and deregulation etc.
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| Battle of the sexesDo you think that the battle of the sexes is justifed? After you answer, read
http://www.apa.org/releases/gendersim0905.html
There is too much division in this world. Blogging is fun but there are so many angry people out there. The closer it gets to an election the more angry and "black and white" people get. The featured Xanga pages are full of victims of Bible abuse pulling out their scriptures to justify hate and violence or calling Obama a monkey or to justify all sorts of prejudices. Umm, people used the Bible to "prove" Galileo wrong. The Bible is a complex book. Scholars debate the meaning. I might take a vacation from blogging or at least from venturing from my sub list. Too many angry mean people. | | |
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