The Weaver Family

We went to the Atlanta Aquarium to spend some family time together in the middle of our hectic schedules.  While all of the pictures are of the inhabitants, we also stopped in to see their Titanic exhibit.  Interesting exhibit, a little small at roughly 200 pieces, but some interesting facts were displayed on the walls.  But they wouldn’t let you take pictures.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I’ve heard more than one person say that voting for anyone outside of the Democratic or Republican Parties was basically throwing away your vote because no individual Third Party can win.

I’ve heard more than one person saying they were voting Democratic or Republican because it is the lesser of the two evils presented, whether they saw the Democratic or Republican parties as the bigger threat.

So from what I see from these two statements is that there are quite a view people who are going to vote for either party, not because they necessarily agree with whom they are voting for, but because they see the opposite choice as a bigger threat. And that’s fine as far as it goes.

But if there are a bunch of people doing this, doesn’t it follow that those voting for the lesser of two evils are cancelling out each other’s votes? So you got one person voting Democrat (lesser evil in their opinion) and one voting Republican (lesser evil in their opinion); their votes cancel each other. And this will happen over and over and over again on Election Day.

Talk about throwing away your vote. Voting not for the good of the country but the lesser of two evils. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 1% [?]

I thought maybe it was me.  I listened to the DNC speeches from the Clintons, Biden, and Obama and I didn’t hear it. I listened to the RNC.  I must admit, I didn’t catch all of it, but I caught most if not all the big speeches in their entirety: Thompson, Giuliani, Palin, and McCain.  I listened and I kept straining to hear that one word, that one idea…”freedom” because I had not hear it from the DNC speeches.

I listened in vain.  I heard nothing about personal freedom, from the Republican Party that supposedly espouses freedom.  I knew I probably wouldn’t hear it to be quite honest,  but I had hopes.  My hopes vanished amongst the applause at the end of McCain’s speech.  I cried, quite literally, and I felt alone, because I am an American who loves my freedom.

But there is at least one person in major media who noticed the absence of that blessed word. Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune didn’t hear the idea either.  His column was proof that there are more of us out there that our loyal to the concept of this country than what this election seems to be about.

My favorite quote in this article:

But freedom isn’t freedom without the right to pursue what you value—money or knowledge, pleasure or sacrifice, God or atheism, community or misanthropic solitude—rather than what others think you should value. It includes the right to go to hell, and the right to tell others to do the same.

The latter is a valuable prerogative that we have not yet lost. After watching the conventions, if you have the urge to use it on either of the two major parties, feel free. If he were alive, Barry Goldwater might join you.

All that I can say is:  Mr. Chapman I agree.

Printouts of Mr. Chapman’s column are here:  Printer Friendly or Web-Layout

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Mythbusters are at it again not to bust a myth but to prove a hardware point.  CPU vs. GPU.  Graphical processors process information in parallel.  Why does this matter?  Because more information can be processed in parallel mode.  Need to crack a Windows password, GPUs are the key taking something that could take days into hours.

It’s sort of like watching this:

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Popularity: 1% [?]