text:
Hmmm, Publicity methinks....
How reasonable are TradeMe? Very..... And that's coming from an unbiased source.....sorry, a vested interest.....
A New Zealand three-year-old was temporarily the proud owner of a mechanical digger after successfully bidding online for the earth-moving kit. Pipi Quinlan, of Stanmore Bay north of Auckland, got up while her family were still akip and managed to find her way to the TradeMe homepage where her mother was already logged in. …
How reasonable are TradeMe? Very..... And that's coming from an unbiased source.....sorry, a vested interest.....
I would love to buy a big digger for doing the gardening.
Maybe Dad bought it, panicked and blamed the kid!
A 3 year old that can spell 'digger' and type in the winning amount and submit that bid. Nah don't think so.....
Maybe if Mum had of been looking at a huge tool and left the page open with the cursor in the bid box and the kid fumbled in some numbers, that might work.
Hmmm icon for a huge tool.......
Ah thumbs up the only tool that should be used on a computer after everybody has gone to bed
They were all asleep. A toddler could navigate around unrestricted by safety gates etc. The computer was already logged in with all payment details saved.
I was 4 at the time, and I was sitting on my dads shoulders at an agricultural auction at the local auction house, everyone was putting up their hands when the man said some numbers, looked like a fun game so I joined in. My dad was then the proud owner of a combine harvester, and had to apologise profusly and question why the auctioneer was taking bids from a smal child, luckily they saw the funny side and re-auctioned it a few lots later. needless to say I haven't been allowed back since.
I recall my 3 old old son a week after XP had been released. he logged on changed settings uninstalled programs and generally wrecked the pc. I was standing behind him for the last bits and watched him log off correctly, then shut down saying, "Bye Puter"
Clicking big and mashing the keyboard then clicking ok to login with a saved password is not to difficult. Members of the BNP can manage it why not a small child
Tiny Tot's Terrifying Tonka Transaction....
Anon because I really, really should know better than to sound like a Sun or Daily Fail headline.
Ah, the old "so easy, a toddler could use it" advertising campaign. There was a time when news outlets posting this fiction would risk their reputations, but no longer it seems.
What's next, BBC News runs an item claiming "Women cured of cancer by never missing an episode of Eastenders"?
I dont think so. eBay dont like doing this. And I cant see a smaller site doing it either.
And they are owned by the same company. Damn fake stoies
"What's next, BBC News runs an item claiming "Women cured of cancer by never missing an episode of Eastenders"?"
Or "Google saves the world by keeping click stats"?
How often have we had buyers remorse on the likes of feebay? I will have to try the 'my 3 year old bid on this by accident' line the next time.
You should see what my brothers littleun gets up to on his fathers PC!
my kid at 1.5 anum old managed to log onto our dedicated and shut it down !!
not funny
but very possible !!
I emigrated to Australia last year and while I love the place, this kind of thing really makes me miss the BBC (and the unique way it's funded /Hislop). Advertising is passed off as news all the time on most of the major channels. It can be very confusing as to what is a genuine story and what is a promotion of either another program on the same network or a business the network has a stake in.
Brilliant story!
My 1 year old daughter managed to change the language settings in pidgin messenger (running on the original eeepc i think, in xandros) to Chinese using keystrokes somehow.
Took a wee while to figure out how to change them back again ...
Bidding on a digger online is probably a bit of a stretch, all the same ...
Amateurs, if they want a story that's halfway credible it has to involve a kitten walking across the keyboard.
Involving a kitten rather than toddler has increased furry-creature cuteness factor, and neatly side-steps any risk of unsupervised-think-of-the-children backlash.
They could also come up with something a tad more interesting than a digger.
My nephew at 8 months knew what a tv remote was for, while it was cute at first to watch him attempt to change the channel when he couldnt get it to work he resorted to throwing the remote at the tv, luckily he wasnt strong enough and the remote bounced harmlessly on the floor.
These days though at 20 months he has mastered the art of changing channel, he even knows that the sky remote doesnt always turn the tv on so uses the tv remote to do that. He knows how to switch on PC's and laptops and that to do things on them you need to use a mouse and keyboard, though after a while of hitting random keys and waving the mouse around with no luck he resorts to hitting the keyboard with the mouse. So already he has the technical knowledge of the average Windows user
Surely you mean the average call centre support staff (or company director) :p
I have no problems believing this.
At a year old our son turned on my sister's digital camera and was found sat on the floor navigating through the photos. At 2 1/2 he can (just about) use a PC and can easily operate a DVD player. I got a phone call from a friends 8 month-old only last week! Didn't say much, mind. Just slurping sounds as she tried to fit the phone in her mouth. Well, I assumed it was the baby.
And (Re: Danny) why on earth would a Toddler be gated in?
this is trademe, not ebay. you can (and everyone does) save password automaticly, so you dont need to login each time. and the article on stuff.co.nz says it was already on trademe.
I would just liike to add that my 2 year old toddler is genius at technology .... just like every other toddler.
Of course the fact that every parent believes their child to be the cleverest, best looking little tot in the whole wide world doesn't stop this story from being shameless PR.
There are many amazing things to discover about the world, very few of which can be appreciated in front of a computer screen.
Am I the only parent of small children who tries to keep them away from computers for as long as possible? I'd rather have them out the back digging for worms.
I always assumed it was just the IT illiterate or born-agains who got enthusiastic about kids and IT.
I used to get this excuse every day when I had an ebay shop.
"Sorry my kid must have bid on it and I've not replied to any of your emails for 3 weeks as I had a family funeral"
Rarely did it get any more inventive than that and made me quite disappointed with the state of the nation.
My son can not only navigate the Wii, XP, Youtube, iTunes etc but understands about shopping carts etc. I once had to disable iTunes one-click purchase as he managed to buy a track.
Its scary as I've seen other children with similar grasp of technology and user interfaces. Makes me wonder how they will use computers when they are our age.
"...a kitten walking across the keyboard."
Doesn't work. When I acquired my fluffy white cat, Lily, 12 years ago, she was so thrilled to be part of a real household in which she had tenure that she loved to jump up on the computer desk and march back and forth on the keyboard, blissfully unaware (and uncaring - she *is* a cat!) that I was trying to write an email. My friends got used to strings of random keystrokes embedded in the middle of my e-missives.
And after a heavy session on the bong, decided to buy the best toy ever. The next day, in the grips of reality, he blamed his indiscretion on the little one.
Who feels really bad about the deal-gone-off? Having your very own digger as a kid is easily the coolest thing EVER.
Unless of course you live in an apartment building. That would $uxXX0rs.
at 1.5 years could change the desktop setting of his mums laptop so he could see it upsidedown !
He is now 2 (and a bit) and will happily sit and use a laptop mouse to scroll and point at
the correct letters and numbers on a program aimed at 5 year olds.
He hasn't quite mastered a real mouse but given time he will & I will bet
when he becomes an MP, his expenses will be a doddle.
I give you...... Tristan Calum Young or TC for short
If you search him he's first in google, where do I get..... nowhere
It seems that the 3 year old has now learned how to gob off to the other sellers they have traded with when they didnt want what they bid on!
Give that toddler a ceegar!
Funnily enough I haven't seen this mentioned locally, I have to read a website based on the opposite side of the planet to hear what is going on in my own country. So if it is a publicity stunt I don't think it has been publicised very well where it would matter, Trademe being pretty much an NZ only site.
For those likely to have toddlers, yes, they can be surprisingly observant and will copy what they see you doing, especially if they look entertaining. We decided it was better to teach them how to operate things like CD players and the computer than to try to lock things away. Of course you only leave acessable the disks that you want them to use. The home machine was an Amiga back in those days, and most things that they would want booted off floppies so the disks each had to have a little picture drawn on them to show what they would do. We still joke about the first thing they learnt to read being things like "Game over player one" or "Insert disk 2 in any drive". Well, the two oldest ones now have Engineering degrees and the youngest one is halfway through his, so the approach was not a total failure.
She ran into the room saying she had 2 green ticks, when we investigated we found out she had bidded $9 million for one teletubbie in one auction and $8 million for another on ebay and won both auctions. My wife had left the machine up and open, how she got thru the whole buy process we don't know, but she had been watching us for a while.
Viral marketing, vested interests and self promotion tricked up as news -- nothing new to see here folks.


text: He's a greedy richeasse motherfucker lying about how he's just a local yokel from down the block. Speaking of greedy richeasse motherfuckers lying about how they're "just like you", Ann Romney's mawkish bulleshitte lies about how she and Mitt were just poor students eating dinner off an ironing board were fucken priceless. Even the credulous drunk republican filth filling the convention hall couldn't wrap their minds around that howler, and you could hear the nervous "She didn't just say that, did she?" tittering on the floor.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Willie's 23-song set shows the Texas Outlaw in fine form. He weaves standards such as 'Stardust' and 'Blue Skies', self-penned classics such as 'Crazy' and 'Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground', and other wonderful songs by such luminaries as Lefty Frizzell, Mickey Newbury, and Tommy Duncan together into a tight program that varies in tone and tempo
. He whips through cuts like 'Bloody Mary Morning' as if it's a rockabilly barn burner. Even when Willie slows down on tracks like 'Georgia on My Mind,' his voice brightly conveys the contentment celebrated in the lyrics."Pop Matters


text:
I installed skype on my nexus 4 and I cannot make any calls. Every time I dial with it, it just says call failed. I have tried re-installing, re-booting etc. I read a comment online that said I need to reset the phone. Before I wipe all my data I was looking for suggestions on what else to do or if anyone has encountered this.
I have problems with Skype as well. Calls fail, just drop after some minutes, or the person on the other side hears choppy voice (or nothing at all). This happens even at home with a very strong wifi signal and where calls from the desktop software (also via wifi) work just fine.
From my own problems, I've noticed it tends to happen if the screen goes to sleep - if the screen stays on, all is well. Quick google indicates that wifi connection is disrupted when the screen is turned off/system goes to sleep.
If you go into the Wifi Advanced settings you can set wifi to always on during sleep and uncheck the wifi optimization box.
The problem though is not issues while it is working. It does not work at all. I click on a contact and select "call". It starts attempting to connect and them says "call failed" consistently
Sorry Plasdom, my reply was for pixelmonkey. Not sure why you're having issues.
Unfortunately- that (wifi on and wifi optimization) doesn't work on the Nexus 4.
A thread on the xda forums seems to indicate a bug in the Nexus 4s wifi implementation along with possible workaround (which I haven't tried to test for myself yet). The guess is that the Nexus stops responding to ARP requests when sleeping.
Found the thread that I was talking about
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=2072930
As for the unfortunate issue about Skype not working at all? I'm not really sure either - are you having the issue on cellular as well as wifi?


text:
Italian debt rises to record high
Italian public debt has swelled to its highest ever level, reaching 2.014 trillion euros ($A2.52 trillion) in October, the Bank of Italy says.
The record figure highlights the country's fragile financial state in spite of the raft of austerity measures and reforms imposed by Prime Minister Mario Monti.
The Italian economy, the third-largest among the 17 European Union countries that use the euro, is in recession as the government has enacted spending cuts and tax hikes to get a handle on its debt.
The latest figures show the debt pile has risen by 3.7 per cent since January, when it was 1.94 trillion euros. With debts worth 126 per cent of the country's annual economic output, Italy has the second highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the eurozone, behind only Greece.
According to consumer group Codacons, Italy's debt load works out at 82,192 euros per household - up 4400 euros on the beginning of the year.
''The Monti government would do well to consider that you don't bring down debt only with taxes, but through an increase in revenues due to the generation of more wealth,'' Codacons said in a statement.
The consumer group also criticised Monti for not doing more to cut waste, and specifically for dropping the battle to reduce the number of provinces during his mandate.
Monti was tapped by Italy's president to lead the country in November last year after then-premier Silvio Berlusconi was forced to step down after international markets lost confidence in his ability to save the country from a Greek-style debt crisis.
Monti, a respected economist and former European commissioner, and his government of unelected technocrats won back a degree of international credibility through a series of tax hikes and fiscal reforms that have been unpopular - but largely accepted - at home.
Thanks to a combination of the European Central Bank offering to buy up unlimited quantities of short-term bonds in countries struggling with their debt and Monti's reforms, Italy's borrowing costs have been kept down in recent months.
However, markets were shaken this week when Monti announced that he would resign earlier than anticipated - after parliament passes its 2013 budget, expected by the Christmas break - saying it was impossible to carry on in government after Berlusconi's political party withdrew its support in two crucial votes last week.
Since then Berlusconi has wavered over whether he would lead his party into the next election, now expected in February. The former premier on Friday said he was awaiting Monti's decision on whether he will run.
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text:
The Little Things: Rusty
Yesterday Chris Froome abandoned the Tour de France through injury. We'd like to extend our deepest commiserations to Chris, and note that the last defending champion to withdraw from the race through injury was The Badger himself, Bernard Hinault – and he returned later that same year to win the World Championships. Chapeau, Chris, we hope to see you back on the bike soon.
Stage 5 was a hugely dramatic day of racing, suffused with tension, glory and heartbreak – the qualities that make road racing great. Few will miss Chris's absence from the race as keenly as Rusty, Team Sky super-supporter and subject of our latest The Little Things film. Rusty is one of Sky's most dedicated supporters, following the team around the world and flying the colours of the world's finest professional squad.
Today the race moves south to Reims, the first of several stages that pull the peloton towards the Vosges Mountains. Their situation has changed but the team has plenty of work to do, and we'll be cheering them on from the roadside along with Rusty.


text:
Ave Verum CorpusW. Mozart/Kreines - Boosey & Hawkes, Inc
Ave Verum CorpusW. Mozart/Kreines - Boosey & Hawkes, Inc
The fluid lines and stunning part-writing of Mozart's famous motet is beautifully captured in this setting for concert band. �Carefully maintaining the melodic richness of the original, Kreines has scored this for woodwinds and brass only, no percussion parts are included. �It has a timeless and dignified quality perfect for any concert program!
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|2013-01-28, 12:08
|Link #41
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Again as Kuromitsu said we are third party observers and we can actually see what is going on with squealer.
And as for the queerrats, Satoru killed, Squealer led them purposely into a situation where they would have to defend themselves & kill his enemies.
Did Squealer lay the blow no, but that doesn't mean he is not responsible for what happened. Not to mention he is a coward, so manipulating others to do his dirty work is par for the course.
I also said he was responsible for the death of most of the queer rats (not all) and yes I will stick to that from what we have seen him do in the story.
|2013-01-28, 16:46
|Link #43
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Let's go to the cited example:
Similar arguments can be made for all the other examples.
I think the difference in our thinking lies in the weight we place on intent. I'd argue that it's nigh irrelevant as we can't ever really know what an another is thinking and from that I infer that we can only really hope to pass judgment on the actions we've seen on display, an act I cowardly waive because it's difficult.
|2013-01-28, 18:41
|Link #44
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Repelsteeltju I think we should agree to disagree, ultimately I think we have different ways of looking at things. And also perhaps the remaining episodes will either support or disprove both are view points & it might be better to take up the debate again then.
I know right now that I will definitely be nominating Squealer/Yakomaru nexy year in the best villain category.
|2013-01-28, 21:47
|Link #45
Senior Member
I like Kiroumaru, but the guy isn't exactly a paragon of diplomacy who wants to spread peace and love. He clearly was quite eager to take the fight to Yakomaru's group. In this case, I think the old saying of "It takes two to tango" definitely applies.
Also, my impression is that Yakomaru arose within a very militaristic period for the queerats (it honestly makes me think of the Sengoku period in Japan's history). My impression is that these feuds and squabbles pitting various Queerat clans against one another predates Yakomaru. He didn't cause these wars to arise, he himself just became caught up in them and tried to make the best of them that he could (and yes, he definitely tried to take advantage of them to empower himself, I won't deny that).
But really, from a more long-term perspective, Yakomaru is doing precisely what is probably best for the Queerats - Unifying them into one powerful group. And in so doing, the old Queerat clan struggles might finally end.
|2013-01-28, 22:01
|Link #46
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
On another note I never said Kiroumaru was a "paragon of diplomacy". Me assessing Yakomaru has nothing to do with Kiroumaru.
I am not saying Kiroumaru took the right course of action either but it's pretty clear that Yakomaru manipulated the situation so Kiroumaru's tribe would be destroyed. Yakomaru is clever he knew exactly how Kiroumaru would respond to that attack. He did a similar thing with Saki & Satoru in the past.
I am pretty sure Yakomaru is doing what is best for him, not for the queer rats. But we will just have to wait and see. I think his name "squealer" was definitely not random.
|2013-01-28, 22:10
|Link #47
Senior Member
Whatever his motivations may be, if Yakomaru succeeds in unifying all Queerats together, then that would end these very brutal and counterproductive clan wars.
Again, it takes two to tango. How many wars in human history do you think were so black and white that all of the blame for them should fall on only one side of the war?
|2013-01-29, 06:00
|Link #48
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
I never said other characters were not at fault or that everyone is innocent in comparison with Yakomaru.
But this is the Yakomaru thread and I am talking about him. He manipulates situations to kill other queer rats. That is certainly not a hero to me. In the beginning you can argue he was trying to defend himself, later on he manipulated situations to make war.
Uniting tribes? Yeah if they follow his ways, if not he has them killed. And again why do you think he would unite with tribes for the same reason he used Saki & Satoru. He lets others do his fighting.
The term squealer actually means to betray. It is also the name of a character in Animal Farm that spreads lies & propaganda. I am pretty sure we have not seen the worst of Squealer yet.
|2013-01-29, 06:19
|Link #49
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Anyway, apparently all bakenezumi have names like that (except for Kiroumaru, we only know his gifted name). Squealer, Squonk, later on there's a Squeaky (or Squeaker? can't remember)... I think the author just wanted to go for something that evokes a rat-like animal.
Last edited by kuromitsu; 2013-01-29 at 10:19.
|2013-01-29, 07:25
|Link #50
Senior Member
But, in a practical sense, he might yet end up a hero to his people. Or he admittedly might bring his people to complete ruination. Time will tell.
Keep in mind that, to me, being a hero to your people is simply a matter of bringing great, positive change to your people. I can see where Yakomaru's big gambits might pay off in the end. He's playing a very high stakes game of Risk. I think he'll probably win big or lose big, and that'll determine his place in history (and so far, he's winning so much it would make Charlie Sheen blush ). As the old saying goes "History is wrote by the victors".
Last edited by Triple_R; 2013-01-29 at 07:36.
|2013-01-29, 08:54
|Link #51
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Triple R. I understand and I am certainly not saying that Squealer did not bring anything good to the queer rats. And I am sorry to bring godwin's law into this but you can argue that hitler also brought some good things to the Germans as well (not comparing Squealer to hitler so let's not go there lol).
I guess I am big on the ends do not justify the means type of thing. I don't know how the queer rats will ultimately see Squealer but as someone observing from the outside I can only see him one way.
That doesn't mean I think he is the only bad one in the story or everyone else is innocent or everything bad that happened in the story is solely his responsibility (when I say Squealer is responsible that doesn't mean I absolve others from blame)
But when we are talking "villain" I do see him as one. I think he is a great character. I mean I loathe him and yet I think the performance and writing of the character is impeccable.
Thanks for the correction Kuromitsu although I do wonder if the author was familiar with Animal Farm and did purposely pick that name for Squealer. I never read the book yet myself, but reading the description of the character, there are definitely some similarities. Although of course it can just be a coincidence.
|2013-01-29, 10:12
|Link #52
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
|2013-01-29, 10:20
|Link #53
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
These were the similarities I was talking about.
Well somehow making me research this makes me finally want to go ahead and read Animal Farm
|2013-01-29, 16:06
|Link #54
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: The Netherlands
Yakomaru owns most definitions of 'hero' that do not involve being a demigod or being in an actual legend and aside from the Wikipedia article that states 'will for self sacrifice' as a characteristic of a hero. Though arguing that he's a hero is bound to end in a silly debate on semantics.
Yakomaru did some good things for his people.
Adolf Hitler also did some good things for his people.
Hitler is no hero.
Therefore Yakomaru is no hero.
Either that or you're randomly pointing out that not everything Hitler was a holocaust which is true, probably, but completely irrelevant and tastless. You must know this to be a bollocks argument, you even mentioned Godwin, surely you know better than this.
|2013-01-29, 17:46
|Link #55
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
My mention of hitler was only in relation to just because someone does good does not negate the bad they do. Or just because someone does very horrible things does not mean they can't do anything beneficial as well. Was my comparison of hitler extreme, well of course but extreme examples are often used to illustrate a point. I don't think the comparison was inappropriate at all in this instance because it does fit and I only used it because I felt it was the best example.
So the difference is I am not ignoring any good squealer might accomplish but to me that doesn't matter in the face of the bad he has done and hence I do see him as "villain".
|2013-01-29, 18:02
|Link #56
To me at least, by definition, a hero would have to be righteous. Superman is a hero.
Yakomaru is anything but. He might improve the quality of life of his people (or not? who knows), but that's just by stomping on other people. He's perfectly fine with lying, murdering, and making his queen into a vegetable that makes children. He has no issue trampling on innocents and manipulating them (at the time Saki and Satoru) to get what he wants.
I really don't think the end justifies the means. His actions might be good for the queerats (or at least for his clan), but I could never consider him a hero.
I'm also positive we haven't seen the worst of him, seeing the next episode preview.
Spoiler for Episode 18 preview/speculation:
Admittedly, the esper society is no better, whose methods are, too, despicable but also appear to have noble motivations - preserving the species. They may be misguided but they mean well. "Meaning well" is not enough.
This story has no true evil or true good I think. Just look and Saki and Satoru. They're not bad people and they're our protagonists, yet they take 0 issue with the "department of pest control" and with how the queerats are treated.
You have to look at everything in context, and SSY's society is pretty screwed up . If I go by my morals, I can't even begin to consider anyone in there a hero, though I could emphatize with some characters...if you look at it from an in-universe point of view, then you can understand the cited characters' actions and maybe not call them "evil", but certainly not righteous.
|2013-01-29, 19:28
|Link #57
Senior Member
Part of the reason I've defended Yakomaru is because I'm finally starting to see a possible coherent theme arise out of this narrative (and I didn't really see that before), and I think that Yakomaru is tied tightly into it. While Yakomaru has been an antagonistic figure (especially as of late), I think he may also be the primary vehicle through which this theme is conveyed.
There are two things that I have found particularly striking about the last few episodes of SSY...
1) How the humans of SSY have become, in some ways, less human over time. Maria's farewell letter to Saki conveyed this very eloquently and poignantly, in my opinion. The humans of SSY now fear their own young in a way that's twisted and unnatural. In some ways, it has made them less human.
2) How the Queerats of SSY have become, in some ways, more human over time. We're watching Queerat societal evolution, and its honestly fascinating to behold. It's impressive just how far the Queerats have come in such a short time. Remember, we're only talking a little over a decade here, and yet in that time the Queerats appear to have made massive social, cultural, and technological leaps forward. In the period of a decade and a half, they've covered as much societal evolution as it took humans hundreds of years to cover.
Whatever Yakomaru himself privately believes, the democratic ideals he expresses are like vibrant echoes from history condemning the humans of SSY. A sharp, vivid reminder of what humanity has lost in this world. For me, it was like a bright beam of moral clarity at last punching through the clouds of morally murky miasma that permeates this entire work.
That's not to say, of course, that the humans of SSY are in any good position to become more democratic, egalitarian, and human rights-respecting themselves. But at the same time, its a curious choice to have a major antagonist be the figure to voice these human ideals of history.
I get the impression that Yakomaru represents, more than any other character, how the Queerats are becoming more human. And I think that one key thematic question that SSY may well be raising is "What does it mean to be human?" If another species better exemplifies certain human ideals than humans themselves do, then have humans in a sense given up on their human inheritance, and passed it on to that other species? And should we even cheer that species if they attempt to eclipse the humans who have lost sight of what it means to be human? If we should cheer them, then what does that make of their leader, who more than any other has lead them to this point of possibly eclipsing humanity?
These are some of the questions that I find myself asking myself at this point in SSY. I don't think they're entirely unfounded, or that the author doesn't intend the reader/viewer to ask himself/herself these questions. Actually, my impression is that the author is driving this home subtlety, but consistently, with how we get to watch dramatic Queerat evolution right in front of our eyes.
|2013-01-29, 20:39
|Link #58
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
I agree the queerrats are becoming more human, although not all of that is necessarily good as seen by the advanced weapons they have started to develop.
I also agree the humans have lost some of their humanity in their fear of each other.
|2013-01-30, 05:57
|Link #59
Komrades of Kitamura Kou
Join Date: Jul 2004
Age: 33
To answer Triple R's quoting of my, well, quote, the reason I mentioned Solid Snake's opinion on heroism is that it all really depends on the viewpoint involved.
It's easy to think that Squealer's actions among his people, usurping the monarchy and establishing democracy (for what it's worth) makes him a hero to his colony who have become self aware enough to have a sense of personal rights. Likewise, it's easy for humanity in SSY to see him as some sort of monster who has, in essence, bloodied his hands for his ideals.
Heroes and tyrants aren't always mutually exclusive. You can be both at the same time depending on who's describing you. As the cliche goes, the victor defines history, as such the victor defines whether he will be seen as a tyrant or a hero when all is said and done.
The Queerats for me, for me, represent an observable phenomena where a cognitive and self aware species is basically reliving the cycle of civilizations that humanity itself had undergone. We see them first as an iron age species, slowly growing into an organized monarchy, and then rejecting the tyranny of monarchy to bring about democracy.
And then Yakomarou and Kiromarou. We are almost seeing a cult of personality being led by both in their respective groups. And then what develops are two gigantic factions (essentially alliances) going to war against each other. Battle lines are drawn, alliances made, neutralities broken. This is very much similar to, well, the two world wars.
So what humanity in SSY is seeing is history repeating itself in another species, albeit at a greatly accelerated pace. Queerats as a species are living through the very same process that their... Gods have that led them to this state.
Imagine it this way. Perhaps at some point in the distant past we were the same, and gods observed as we waged wars and developed. Eventually these gods were usurped by humanity, the humanity of the time itself became the replacement gods, and now they themselves rule like gods over a species going through the same deal. I will not be surprised if one day, the Queerats develop Cantus, and the cycle repeats anew.
It is somewhat similar to the Eternal Recurrence, popularized by Nietzsche.
|2013-01-30, 22:42
|Link #60
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: East Boston, Massachusetts
Age: 28
Even Saki, who is quite kind to the mole rats, accepts without hesitation that she is a 'god' compared to these creatures, and now in the latest episode we find she works in an arm of her society to control and regulate them, again showing even her sympathy doesn't extend far and is more akin to a benevolent slaveholder than an actual progressive viewpoint.
I also agree that there's no real benefit for him to lie about the democratic nature of his system. His only reason to use this line of deception rather than simply proclaim himself leader outright would be to appeal to the morals of Saki's society, but since they don't practice democracy, that wouldn't make sense. I assume the mole rats are giving us a more realistic, nuanced viewpoint of a powerful modern nation, which may be both democratic, economically powerful, aggressive, and manipulative all at once.
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Hello, I am Mysticswan72. I love writing stories mostly action and romance. Mostly a mix hehe. I am working on one story that i would love to contuine. I focus more on mixing in real characters with a fictional main characater.
In my story i focus on Albus Potter, the second child of Ginny and Harry. Where J.K. Rowling left us, he was going into his first year. I make this story to go into life of Albus and the life of Letita (my fic character).
I really want to hear your comments and feel free to provide ways to enhance my writng. Bye.


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School supplies still bring hope six months after Sandy
When Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York, six months ago, storm waters rushed into the Challenge Preparatory Charter School. Shrimp, fish, and snakes swam in the lower-level kindergarten classrooms, including the one where Rosemarie Eshcevarria taught.
For days after the storm, Rosemarie walked through the community she grew up in. A kindergarten teacher, Mrs. E, as her students call her, checked in on families and let them know when school would resume.
"It [the school] was a place for these children to stay," Rosemarie says. "It was food. It was shelter. It was just a sense of stability to have them back in the school."
Stability after a disaster is often impossible for parents to provide when the lights are out, the heat is gone, or the home demolished. But schools and teachers can offer that sense of normalcy to students at least for a few hours each day.
Superstorm Sandy struck Far Rockaway especially hard. Located on a peninsula, waters from both the bay and ocean rose up and engulfed the town, leaving devastation and heartbreak. Residents were without power and heat for nearly three weeks.
Art teacher Malissa Walker's classroom fared only slightly better as the flood waters inched up as high as her first-floor classroom.
She threw away 300 children's books she had accumulated during her years of teaching.
"We didn't cry," she says. "We were close a couple of times." As she threw away craft projects, she reminded herself that it could be worse.
"We weren't the kindergarten, who had to literally throw away everything."
The teachers faced a challenge: How would they restock and resupply their classrooms? How would they restore a sense of hope to their students?
Far Rockaway is not a wealthy community. According to the U.S. Census, 25 percent of residents live below the poverty line, compared to 15 percent for the rest of the state; 77 percent of the students subscribe to the free lunch program.
"When we're going out buying supplies, to not have to ask parents for something so little as paper [or] pencils -- to them that's the world," says Malissa. "That's an extra $20 that's putting food on their plate."
Many teachers understand that struggle. They live in the community and were facing their own hardship. Normally, teachers spend hundreds of their own dollars to help with classroom supplies, but emergency expenses left Rosemarie without extra money to spend on her students.
Rosemarie says that teachers had to stretch what they had. They drew lines on copy paper and photocopied it for the students to use. They considered doing group projects so students could share resources.
Then, just days after reopening the school, they learned that World Vision was bringing its mobile Teacher Resource Center (TRC) -- a trailer filled with shelves of school supplies -- to their school.
"They gave us these huge bags that we got to fill up," says Malissa. "We were ecstatic! We were all smiling ear to ear, going out to fill our bags with things we really needed."
"It was Christmas," Rosemarie says. "You can't work without your tools; you don't have pencils and paper, you can't work. A construction worker can't nail if he doesn't have his hammer. So that's what the paper and pencil is for us."
The first time the mobile TRC visited the school, World Vision's Jacqueline Collier told Malissa that she would see her again. She explained that World Vision doesn't just come in for a short time following disasters.
"You guys are still here several months later," says Malissa. "You're here for the long run. [That is] important to know."
World Vision will continue to provide relief support to survivors of Superstorm Sandy through December 2013.
In late February, World Vision paid another visit to the school, bringing shoes, toys, and games for the students. Malissa says that for children who lost everything, the importance of a toy can't be overestimated.
"Just that extra toy that they get to bring home and play with brings a little normalcy back home," she says.
Rosemarie says World Vision's support for the school is important. "It gives us the platform to do what we love to do. It gives us the opportunity to continue to do what these children need us to do. It enables us to be good teachers. It's that extra push."
As the schools provide that important sense of normalcy to children struggling with the aftermath of Sandy, World Vision and its donors stand behind the teachers and school administrators to provide them with an extra hand up.
"We couldn't thank them enough," Malissa says. "Without those supplies, we would still be struggling."
When disaster strikes right here in the United States, World Vision is often one of the first organizations to respond, already positioned and equipped to provide American families with vital supplies and support in the aftermath. Our relief workers connect with local partners in affected regions to help hard-hit communities.
Make a one-time donation to our U.S. Disaster Response Fund. Your gift will help us respond quickly and effectively to emergencies right here in the United States, like Superstorm Sandy.
You can also make a donation to help provide school supplies to U.S. students. Many schools serving low-income neighborhoods right here in the United States are in great need of basic supplies. Help deliver books, videos, pens, pencils, crayons, educational games, sports equipment, and more. Thanks to corporate donations, your gift will be worth 10 times in impact!
Want to find out more ways you can be involved with our work here in the United States? Check out our U.S. programs site for more information!


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DISCo 2011 shared task data: Compositionality judgments (Repository)
From ACL Wiki
- Name of Dataset: DISCo 2011 shared task dataset, see http://disco2011.fzi.de/
- Contributor: Chris Biemann, TU Darmstadt, Germany, firstname.lastname@example.com
- Copyright: (c) 2011, Chris Biemann. Deposited in the ACL Data and Code Repository by Chris Biemann.
- Licensing: This work is not licensed. You can use it as you wish.
- Citation: If you use the DISCo 2011 shared task dataset in your research, please include the following citation in any resulting papers:
- Biemann, C. and Giesbrecht, E. (2011): Distributional Semantics and Compositionality 2011: Shared Task Description and Results. Proceedings of the ACL-HLT 2011 Workshop on Distributional Semantics and Compositionality (DISCo 2011), Portland, Oregon, USA. http://aclweb.org/anthology-new/W/W11/W11-1304.pdf
- Description: The DISCo 2011 shared task dataset contains compositionality judgements for ADJ_NN, V_SUBJ and V_OBJ phrases for German and English. These were aggregated over judgments on 5 sentence contexts each. The sentence-lvel judgments are also available in this dataset.
- Download: http://aclweb.org/aclwiki/code/3/38/Disco2011-shared-task-complete-dataset.zip (link to download file)


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Q. I had a Mazda RX-7 and have noticed that on the 91 Express Lanes I would not have been allowed to take advantage of using it for free because the car only sat two, not three. Shouldn't the driver be allowed to use the three-plus lane if the vehicle is at full capacity? A motorcyclist can use that free lane even if it has a seat open. What about the spirit of the law? From a pollution and fuel-use standpoint there's little, if any, difference. Most two-seat cars get very good highway mileage. It just doesn't seem fair.
– Frank Bohanan, Yorba Linda
A. Honk isn't too hot at math, Frank, but, yeah, the owner of some gas-guzzler could ride for free with three, while a two-seater's driver can't and maybe the latter is pumping less smog into Mother Nature's air per passenger.
But rules have to be made.
And the Orange County Transportation Authority, the county government that owns and operates that particular 10-mile stretch of toll lanes next to the 91 freeway on the way to Riverside, has a policy that aims to get as many people as possible through that stretch, said Laura Scheper, an agency spokeswoman, and that three-plus offer is part of that plan.
Warning: Those who take the 91 Express Lanes' three-plus lanes must have a transponder, and there are some peak hours in which no one rides for free.
Q. I notice details, and I have noticed that the Department of Motor Vehicles has two types of 2014 registration stickers that go on rear license plates. One has "2014" for the year it expires, and the other has only "14." I am curious: Why are there two different stickers? It seems that the 14 version is on new cars.
– Paul Delaney, San Clemente
A. If Honk ever goes into the detective business, you can become his Dr. Watson. Heck, you can be Sherlock and he will be the sidekick.
You are an observant man, Paul.
The 2014 version comes in the mail. The other comes from 35 self-service terminals in selected DMV offices throughout California. The touch-screen machines are meant to keep the public from having to endure those dreadfully long DMV lines just to get a new sticker.
For some reason, the self-service stations weren't programmed for the "2014" version.
Said DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez: "The two stickers are different because the traditional design cannot be recreated using print-on-demand technology. As a result, we established an alternative design for stickers issued via print-on-demand."


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The top-seeded SHP boys (25-4) pulled away by halftime and coasted to a 19-7 victory over No. 3-seeded Los Altos in the Division II finals. The goal total for SHP is the highest in section history, boys or girls, while eclipsing the 17 scored by the Santa Clara boys in 1981.
More important, the Gators won their second straight CCS title, the fifth in six years and their sixth overall in their 10th appearance in the section finals.
The top-seeded SHP girls (21-8) didn't pull away until the fourth quarter before finally defeating stubborn No. 2 seed St. Ignatius, 7-5 in another Division II finale. The title is the Gators' sixth straight, the most consecutive championships ever won in the girls' division.
St. Francis won the Division I girls' title, 8-3 over Leland, to win its seventh CCS title — the most by any girls' team.
SHP's latest senior class of P.J. Bigley, Kate Bocci and Bridgette Harper followed the previous five in similar championship fashion. The trio definitely didn't want to be the first class to end the streak.
"If was definitely in the back of our minds," Bigley said of the streak. "Coach (Jon) Burke talked about making history . . . It was a great accomplishment. We're all excited."
Bigley provided the winning goal with 3:59 left in the fourth quarter and later had another waived off by an offensive foul. Bocci made up for that with a late goal while the Gators were running out the final 29 seconds of the match.
Then it was time to celebrate as Burke got pulled into the pool by junior goalie Kelly Moran, with the rest of the team following.
"It was an opportunity to make history and put a successful end to a great season," said Burke, who graduated five seniors last season and had to nearly start over in terms of experience. Yet, everything came together at the right time once again for the Gators.
"One thing that is special about our Sacred Heart team throughout all the years, it's that there is no one individual star player," said Harper. "We all contributed our part as a team and it leads to a lot of success. So, it's really special."
The championship matchup may have looked like just another West Catholic Athletic League match, since SHP had beaten SI to open the league season. The Gators got off to a 5-2 start after junior Morgan McCracken made a nice spin move and scored her second goal after junior Caitlin Stuewe scored all three of her goals in the first half.
But, as Burke noted, "Championship water polo is completely different. Anything can happen."
Sacred Heart Prep missed on seven 6-on-5 situations and at times had trouble just getting shots off. The Gators, in fact, were out-shot in the first half, 11-7.
"Our nerves showed," Burke said. "And, they (SI) played great 5-on-6 defense. That really wore us down, our inability to score on 6-on-5s. But, our girls, they found a way to get it done . . . it's a great way to end it."
While the girls' match was close, the SHP boys made sure that didn't happen in their finale against Los Altos. Gators' coach Brian Kreutzkamp subbed four players in midway through the first quarter to keep his starters fresh.
After holding only a 3-1 lead after one period, the SHP starters were back for the start of the second quarter. Eight goals later, SHP held an 11-3 halftime lead and the match effectively was over.
"The game plan was to wear them down with our depth," said Kreutzkamp, "and turn it into a swim meet."
SHP outscored Los Altos 8-2 in the deciding second period, with senior Zach Churukian scored all three of his goals in the quarter and junior Harrison scoring two of his three.
The second quarter also offered up one of the more bizarre scenes after SHP's Nelson Perla-Ward lobbed in a goal over the head of Los Altos goalie Cameron Putnam, who vehemently protested contact on the play and was ejected. That gave SHP a five-meter penalty shot, which Churukian made for an 8-2 lead.
The Gators continued to use an effective counter attack in the second half, allowing Kreutzkamp to have all his starters but senior goalie Will Runkel on the bench to start the final quarter.
Ten players scored for Sacred Heart Prep, including six of seven seniors — Bret Hinrichs, Alex Swart, Scott Jollymour, Zoltan Lazar, Michael Holloway and Churukian. The only senior not to score was Runkel. His contribution showed up in 10 saves and giving up just six of the Eagles' seven goals.
While his 2007 team won the section crown with a 26-3 record, Kreutzkamp said 2012 also held a special place in program history.
"It's the best season we've ever had," Kreutzkamp said. "We played the best teams in the United States just to prepare for this week. That was the goal from the beginning of the season."
The Gators played probably the toughest schedule in program history this season, winning the NCS vs. CCS Challenge and holding their own against the nation's best in the North-South Challenge. SHP won the WCAL regular-season and playoff titles and didn't lose to any NorCal team — making the CCS tournament all the more easier.
"By the time CCS comes, it's almost not as hard as the teams that we've been playing all year," said Runkel.
Kreutzkamp agreed.
"They're certainly going to remember this the rest of their lives," he said of his seniors. "They came out and made it memorable."
In the boys' CCS Division I finale, No. 3-seeded Menlo-Atherton (14-13) gave No. 1 Bellarmine (18-11) all it could handle before finally dropping a 9-8 decision. The Bears were shooting for their second section title in their fourth-ever appearance.
Morgan Olson-Fabbro scored five goals and Zach Deal added two for the Bears, who were deadlocked at halftime, 6-6, but then were outscored in the third period, 2-0, and trailed by 8-6. Olson-Fabbro got the game to 8-7 with a backhand goal with 4:22 left and later converted a 6-on-5 goal to tie it at 8.
An offensive foul by the Bears led to a counter by the Bells, and the winning goal.
The match marked the end of M-A coach Dante Dettamanti's coaching career, at least with the Bears. The veteran is stepping aside and his assistant, former Paly head coach Giovanni Napolitano, is taking over.
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Let's keep science apart from religion for just a moment.
Intelligent Design is legitimate science. Proposing the hypothesis that intelligent design is a legitimate explanation for life can be supported with scientific methodology. Just as hypothesizing that the incredible organization of a microchip is best explained by an intelligent designer creating it, hypothesizing that the incredibly more complex organization of the double-helix DNA is best explained by an intelligent designer creating it can be legitimately postulated.
It doesn't matter if you are religious or agnostic. If you are going to be intellectually honest, you must apply scientific methodology to the question of first things. The truth of the matter is that ID is a legitimate scientific hypothesis for the origin of life. For more info on the scientific legitimacy of ID, check out the book "Signature in the Cell" by Dr. Stephen Meyer, who got his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
Some people might claim that evolution is a religion.
The most interesting thing is how the conditioning you receive as a child sticks with you, regardless of the rational thought process you put around it.
I think perhaps the most significant detriment to the entire situation was how sheltered I was from the world at large. The main legacy being that my social skills are still somewhat lacking, as compared to those of my peer group. My reasoning and analysis skills are above average, however.
Interestingly, it was a religion teacher (had her masters in divinity) in high school who started me out of the whole Evangelical mindset. She was rather subversive in the sense that she would present the Catholic church's position (remember that the high school I went to was Catholic), and then we would (stunningly) actually discuss the real world and theological foundations and implications of the position. I gathered back then that she wasn't really supposed to do that, because when she was scheduled to have administration "audits" (where administrators sit in on a class or two), we would play silly little board games about "Bible Stuff". I always think of her as my "gateway drug" out of that sheltered existence.
From AFA's mission statement:
As always - non-political, non-partisan. I also see "Missile defense" listed as one of their interests... cause Jesus was all about maintaining first-strike capabilities. I have to take these people at their word that they really think they are "saving souls." However, even they must realize that those ends do not justify their conscious outright fraud and lying to children.
No. I went to a talk and Q&A with Judge Jones, and I can say with confidence that he made the decision based on reason, not his religion. Hell, you can hear him say it himself
No, according to the article the event was canceled because the facility didn't get to vet the promotional material for the event. The article doesn't cover the facility contract sufficiently to provide enough information to judge the merits of a lawsuit about who violated the contract, or if the contract terms were legal.
if you're going to go on about "intellectual honesty" then please explain why "magical sky wizard did it" is a better explanation than every other hypothesis, several of which have actually been tested in labs
ID is not "legitimate science" in any way, and neither is a book written by the co-founder of the Discovery Institute
And my taxes shouldn't go to a church event, no matter the setting.
Besides, if they (creationism proponents) want to "get the word out," they need simply to get funding for a research proposal, do the research, and get published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Why haven't they taken that route yet? They seem so confident in their hypothesis, you'd think they would attempt to expand upon it.
Yeah, probably so. I'd say that's a good reason for the holocaust museum to either refrain accepting public money or refrain from renting its facilities.
No it isn't.
Not the way the ICR and DI do it, it is not.
No, because it is not practically, scientifically falsifiable.
You can postulate all you want, but the hypothesis is not testable, and therefore not scientific.
A Ph.D in History and Philosophy of Science is not particularly impressive when talking about evolutionary biology and origins of life research, even for your appeal to authority.
The problem with DI and ICR (and ID in general) is that they get the science wrong. They conclude that "an intelligent creator is the most likely method for the universe as we see it" and then go around collecting and fitting only data that fits their conclusion. It's exactly backwards from how the scientific method works.
You may was well be citing Duane Gish and Josh McDowell (both of whose books sit in my parents' house) as scientific authorities on evolution. Also may as well just skip to your "evolution violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics" fallacy and save us the lead-up to it.
No, "Answers in Genesis" is not a scientific work.
I recently went to a Baptist church on what I like to call Conversion Day, when they spend the whole Sunday convincing the almost-but-not-quite saved to publicly accept Jesus--and subscribe to the church.
I've seen this several times at various churches (Mormon, Lutheran, Calvary Chapel), so this wasn't anything new.
What struck me, though, was that, in a church that was seemingly inviting members in, the pastors spent a good deal of time castigating all sorts of segments of society. Non-Christians (who need to be converted..) were panned, homosexuals (who need to be converted..) were loudly accused of destroying the world, and even single mothers (who could use a little love from churches) were verbally cast out as—get this—lazy, uneducated, and suffering from a serious case of false entitlement.
They even went so far as to claim that adopted children are not a part of the family (to illuminate the fact that there is only one way to Heaven).
The most disturbing thing was listening to the hoots of agreement from all sorts of people in the crowd.
These folks not only openly fear what is different, they celebrate their fear.
they did get something published in a journal once (because the previously-mentioned Discovery Institute co-founder is a personal friend of a journal editor) but it was yanked after they found out it wasn't actually peer-reviewed
edit: and they found some convoluted way to sue the Smithsonian over that too
Nice first post, DrAndy! And promoting a board member of Discovery Institute , no less!
Now bugger off.
Ha. And some people should be ashamed and publicly ridiculed for the insipid hogwash that they promote. Invisible, immortal sky-zombie-dad-engineer versus... the physics and molecules underlying genomics? Gee, what a tough battle... guess both sides must be religions
By definition, it is not. It cannot provide predictive results, nor is it falsifiable.
Some people are really fucking stupid.
Fifth try at posting: here's hoping things work on the forum when they don't in the discussion thread.
I find it ironic that a large number of posts in response to this topic are intolerantly dismissive of a group of people who subscribe to a religion which the majority of posters here describe as intolerant and dismissive.
That said, as a person of faith, The Institute in question was absolutely within their rights to cancel the showing, as it sounds like the case (as reported) was cut and dried contract cancellation.
Honestly, this article seems like it was *only* posted as an excuse to trot out the ID folks, point and laugh, and say "Look how stupid they are!" again.
I see we are starting off with nonsense. ID is a non-predictive super-natural explanation for phenomena that is already sufficiently explained by well validated and evidenced science. To the pathetic extent that it makes falsifiable predictions (irreducible complexity is all I can think of), they have consistently failed. In other words, it's at best an absurd waste of time.
Nonsense, it just adds a superfluous and gigantically unevidenced assumption. That's just bad science.
Not by anyone with a modicum of intellectual honesty and a moderate understanding of modern evolutionary theory. Why postulate a completely superfluous and unscientific hypothesis for a well explained phenomena?
No matter how many times you keep saying that, it doesn't make it so.
For "scientific legitimacy", you refer us to a laughably psuedo-scientific work by the founder of the Discovery Institute, who got his PhD in "History and Philosophy of Science"? Whose only peer reviewed article was withdrawn because the sympathetic editor unethically bypassed peer review in his very last issue?
I don't see the problem. I read the article and the press release. Nowhere in them is a claim that the Smithsonian or the center sponsors or supports the pro-ID views or this event. The phrase "Smithsonian Affiliated California Science Center" is used, but that tells me that the California Science Center is affiliated with the Smithsonian, not that the Smithsonian or Science Center are affiliated with the pro-ID group.
Besides, education is a better disinfectant than censorship. Fight ignorance with facts.
You know what's really weird (in an historical context) is that, aside from their absolutely ridiculous stance on birth control (which I believe is disastrous in 3rd world countries with large Catholic populations), the Catholic church has turned itself into the most sympathetic, intellectual, upstanding, moderate Christian denomination in existence. Even more ironic is that Evangelicals generally really dislike the Catholics (to the point where some consider them to not be Christians at all). Most ironic is that recently Jack Van Impe (recently as in a few years back, I used to keep tabs on his ranting -- his abrupt "moving on" from declaring the USSR to be either Gog or Magog and the world to be ending soon after the USSR disintegrated was another nail in the coffin for my Evangelicalism) said he has no problem with Catholicism (maybe he's feeling bad about his previous vitrol in his old age).
If I were to revert into being a religious person (only Deist these days at most), Catholicism really seems to be the most sensible Christian choice. Everyone else doesn't even have tradition to rely on, they're literally making it up individually as they move along (whole trend towards the "personal" God thing). "Adrift on a sea of ecclesiastic uncertainty," as Brother Theo said on Babylon 5.
Some of us find that an amusing way to waste our employers' time and money.
Not to mention the fact his field is History and Philosophy of Science. Because when I'm looking at the science surrounding DNA, I look for historians and philosophers.
And lets not forget his attempts to publish articles in peer reviewed journals without getting proper review first.
Figuring out what can be considered scientific is really not that hard. It is mind blowing how many people just can't get it.
Perfectly acceptable use of your time. That doesn't mean the original post should come from someone acting as a legitimate news source.
Read it again:
That says that the CSC is premiering the movie.
That's not the case for anyone who has looked at both biology/evolution and creationism/ID in any detail. The latter is painfully stupid and misguided. Tolerance is about people, not accepting terrible ideas. The DI folks aren't being denied any rights, only their wish to promote an anti-education agenda.
I know, it's kinda sad considering how well creationist embarrass themselves already
No seriously though, they deserve to be ridiculed and marginalized as much as racists or homophobes or any ideological hate group until they choose to stop being liars for Jesus.
Creationists sue to get their theories proven I guess lol
I've always felt that religion and science were two beasts of a similar nature. They both try to find answers in things we do not understand. One goes through observation, seeing, touching, hearing, etc. The other through feeling. The thing is, the end goal is the same, to understand what happens around us. But, they both have their merit. The ultra fanatic religious try to throw everything out that we've learned in science based on FEELINGS. What gets me is that if you explain the science of a computer to someone who is anti-evolution, they have no problems believing that the science is valid. The same concepts that helped develop the computer are what helped to determine that the Earth is several billion years old, etc. On the flip side, though, there are a lot of science minded people who try to poo-poo religion based on science. That, too, really doesn't work, because religion is based on feelings, and not observation. Seriously, both have their merit, and they both satisfy a part of the human need to understand things. Emotionally (religion) and logically (science). Just like you can't describe a smell with colors, or wavelengths of light with flavors, the realm of science really cannot explain, or not explain religion, and religion really can't do the same for science. You can BELIEVE that God is behind science (I personally do), and use it as a way to understand creation (with that I mean, science is the way to understand HOW God created things, not that God specially said "let there be light" and it happened EXACTLY that way) and it doesn't hurt anything. But, to say that the Bible doesn't explain chemistry, or evolution, so therefore it doesn't exist is just plain silly (how would one explain the American Indians if that were the case? The Bible never mentioned them!). And, as such, just because you can't prove or disprove God using the scientific method does not mean he does not exist. You can believe he does, or does not, and one should not be ridiculed or ostracized because they believe so. But, it should be the other way around as well, those of the religious persuasion should not ridicule or ostracize people just because they believe that the universe is not exactly the way the Bible described it...
Whoops, on topic.... They signed a contract that said they had to submit their advertising and stuff, they didn't and their video was canceled. If you can't follow the rules, sorry about your luck.
I'm sorry you went through such a strange upbringing, and good for you for overcoming it. Frankly, I'm alarmed that the Catholic school in any way contributed to or extended your fundamentalist upbringing (and also proud that at least one person there helped you out of it). I attended several different Catholic schools during my formative years, and never once in church or in school did I get anything except a solid education in the basics, plus some basic "here's what our religion is" classes a couple times per week.
I am a Catholic, and I would be horrified and offended if anyone lumped that term in with fundamentalist churches or ID groups. As someone already said, the Church has officially recognized evolution, and the one time it came up at my church (it's infrequent because it's really not that controversial), the priest pretty much said this: if you look around you and something you see conflicts with your interpretation of the bible, *your interpretation of the bible is wrong*. That nicely sums up my views on the subject.
Hence the old quote (I forget the source) along the lines of "You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't arrive at by means of reason in the first place"
Your beliefs are above criticism, because, what... they're unprovable? Or they're common? Uh, no. Fuck you, give me a real reason
From a personal standpoint, I've never had a problem with those who feel this way, and though I'm an atheist, I've personally thought along these lines a time or two before.
I see no reason at all that science can't be the work of a higher power, such as the Christian "God" or Buddha or whatever. If you believe in that sort of thing.
Sounds like we have a bit of a typing problem. I propose the notion of higher order intolerance. First order intolerance consists of rejecting people for their attribute or traits. Second order intolerance is rejecting people based on their first-order intolerance of others. So, that line about "where the intolerant aren't tolerated" is really a statement about 2nd order intolerance towards the 1st order intolerant.
These couldn't possibly be the same people who criticize others for overrunning our court system with lawsuits, could it?
I stand by that. I did NOT say creationists deserve bodily harm, or to be locked up, or discriminated against by the government, or in any way have their rights as citizens reduced. I AM saying they deserve harsh public ridicule for promoting ideas that have been proven false to a staggering degree and for trying to manipulate the public school system for an ignorant, religious agenda.
Hand-in-hand with that, of course, is the fact that they need to be educated OUT of ignorance, starting with a resource like TalkOrigins. But many of them stubbornly refuse to address reason, so they'll be stuck with ridicule for good. Their problem, not mine.
I absolutely love this. Mind if I borrow it? Promise to give credit!
The intent was to make people aware of the tactic, which has (as the article noted) been used repeatedly. In fact, as the LA Times article details, the film in question went on the have its premier at a science museum in a different state.
It's important to raise awareness of the tactic as:
Many may see the showing of the film in a science museum as conferring validation on the unscientific ideas it contains.
Many may criticize the museums in question for playing host to ascientific notions when they may be contractually/legally required to do so.
I'd sortof assumed that this would be obvious through the piece itself, but i guess i should always remember to spell everything out explicitly.
Sorry buddy, but the Catholic bunch are (currently) some of the most likely christians to accept new scientific ideas regardless of impacts on literal readings of the bible. Sure they banned thousands of books and forced countless people to eat their own words or face death or punishment, but that's long over. The catholic church does *not* deny evolution, the big bang and so on. It's mostly on sex and morals that they still dwell in the past.
I don't think the two are incompatible, and in particular evolution doesn't say anything about the creation of the Universe - or life, for that matter. It just tries to describe how living things go about their business after that moment.
Note that I'm not religious myself, though I was raised a catholic. I just don't think that it's science that will make a difference (other than the analytical and rational thinking that usually come with it). Lots of scientists are religious. If we want to hypothesize, we can say that a god or gods or divine principle or whatever created the Universe with the physical laws we know and just left it here. There would be no way to prove or disprove it. In my case, I just (i) don't feel any kind of faith or religious sentiment and (ii) don't feel the need to postulate godly beings to explain the world.
Hm... You're right in principle, but I don't think there's any example of ID that shows any adherence to the scientific method. I mean, despite abundant proof to the contrary they maintain that the Universe is some few thousand years old and that there is no such thing as speciation. As I said before, I can't prove that there wasn't something before the Universe which created it, so there might be a designer after all. But I also think it wouldn't matter much and I know for a fact that I couldn't care less
This comment was edited by daemonios on December 30, 2009 19:11
This comment was edited by daemonios on December 30, 2009 19:11
This comment was edited by daemonios on December 30, 2009 19:11
The Pentagon is also a tax payer funded facility with theaters. Perhaps, just perhaps, there is an exeptable use of a facility given the institutions charter regardless of public funds. It would be inappropriate of me to rent out the Smithsonian IMAX to air commercial movies and charge admissions fees for my own gain, the theater was not built with tax payer dollars to serve my commercial purpose. It similarly was not built to give an air of legitimacy to a specific religious belief (which ID factually is - the entire movement was proven in a court of law to be a rebranding of religious creationism. It is legally established fact that it is religion) and it was both a violation of the institution's charter and the contract to rent the facility when the DI tried to publisize their event implying as such.
That tax payer dollars are used for something does not automatically make it the property of every tax payer who wants to use it for any purpose they want, most especially when it is to promote a specific religious view as endorsed by a specific public institution. On top of that, when you violate a contract the other party is not obligated to continue to hold up their end of the deal, tax dollars or not.
ID will only be considered legitimate science when it can be used to create a falsifiable hypothesis. ID is the antithesis of legitimate science that is dependent upon the [a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_proof']Negative Proof Fallacy[/a], whereby the inability to refute something is considered proof. For those with any statistical background, it is the equivalent of interpreting the inability to detect significant differences (whatever your alpha happens to be) as confirmation and proof of similarity.
I have never seen any testible hypothesis proposed by ID "Researchers". I've seen a lot of claims that other peoples works in progress are somehow evidence of ID, despite none of the experiments being designed to answer the question that ID proponents claim it answers. It is impossible for them to perform real scientific research because it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of God. The existence of complexity is evidence of complexity, not of an intelligent designer. Just like Brownian Motion is not proof of Life.
The problem with that attitude is it brings us right back to where we are now. I won't try to get into particular politics here, but what you're advocating is that it's alright to publicly mock people who hold ideas you perceive as "wrong".
This is just fine and dandy, until you consider that we *all* see other groups as "wrong" about something, which ends up with us all standing around making fun of each other (basically where we are now). I thought the point of society was to move us past this stupid stuff.


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That sounds like the way to go. Make sure to also bold the first link or something, or style it red, or increase the fontsize, or a combination thereof.
Just one thing though: the link text is supposed to describe the target of the link — "click here" is a widespread atrocity. Something like the following would work better.


text:
San Francisco
Southern Machine Exposure Project Event #14: Josh Greene's Audio Tour
In celebration of American Independence Day, today we bring you a video from our friends at Machine Project in Los Angeles. In 2012, Machine Project teamed up with Southern Exposure—another great independent art space—to program a series of performances and events throughout the city. Artist Josh Greene made this museum-style audio tour for the home of Maria Mortati & Mark Glusker, allowing visitors intimate access to "everything from the quotidian and mundane to the most intense and precious."


text:
Ciencia y Salud
Bases de Datos de la Biblioteca
Necesita el número de su
y su contraseña (PIN)
Science Online
(middle school & up)
1,100 experiments indexed by grade range
Kids infoBits
Full-text articles for topics such as Space &Astronomy, Earth Science, Scientists & Inventions, and others.
Grolier Online
(grade 3 and up)
Information for reports, Homework Help, Science Projects & Experiments.
Student Resource Center
(middle school & up)
Articles for Endangered Species, Global Warning, Hurricanes, and many other science topics.
Sitios Web
Amazing Space
(grade 4 and up)
Lots of space facts, online activities, and homework help.
Discovery Education Science Homework Help Videos
(grade 3 and up)
Eco Future
(grade 4 and up)
This website is dedicated to sustainability and ecological future of our planet.
The Environmental Kids Club
(grade 4 and up)
Games and information pages help students understand the importance of recycling, air quality, & waste management etc.
California Academy of Science
Chabot Space & Science Center
Teaching and learning center focusing on astronomy and the space sciences
Exploratorium: the Museum of Science, Art, and Human Perception
(all ages)
About the health of children and teens.
Live Homework Help
Ayuda con la Tarea en vivo y en Español
Ver todo el sitio
Copyright © 2002-2018 San Francisco Public Library. All rights reserved.


text:
OF the many things England will have enjoyed about the Wallabies' demise in Paris, France demolishing Australia's scrum would be at the top of the list.
The English have long argued the Wallaby scrum is powder-puff, and with a largely poor history at Twickenham, scrummaging is routinely the primary subject of attention in the UK press in the lead-up week to an Australia-England showdown.
After the French win at Stade de France, batten down the hatches: the Wallaby scrum is sure to the subject of even fiercer scrutiny than normal in London this week ahead of their next Test at Twickenham on Saturday.
Despite being out-weighed by the Wallaby eight, the French dominated the Australian scrum; sourcing two tries and several penalties from a back-peddling Wallaby set-piece.
Wallaby prop Sekope Kepu conceded the English - both team and supporters - would be keenly anticipating next weekend's clash, but backed his forward teammates to swiftly sort out their issues and bounce back.
"No doubt, they (England) will look at tonight's game and lick their lips but we have confidence in the boys, not only the front rowers but also as an eight," Kepu said.
"We have to burr up and fix things. We have to fix things and keep going. I don't think there is much to fix, just the attitude and being mentally prepared.
"England are going to be tough, no doubt. We have a week now to turn things around."
Coach Robbie Deans had, justifiably, spoken about the improvements in the Wallaby scrum in the years since Australia were last in Paris.
Crucially, he said, referees were now respecting the gold scrum more as being able to compete with the best. It's not unreasonable to think 80 minutes in Paris could have set the cause back a few years.
The first three scrums at the 10-minute mark set a bad tone. Under pressure on their own line, Nick Phipps fed the ball crooked, turning it over.
A second strong French scrum won them a penalty, and the third wheeled Australia around and allowed no.8 Louis Picamoles an all-too easy stroll to the line down the blindside.
Several times the French wheeled up front, but with the back five then turning back straight, scrumming forward again and winning penalties.
French dominance for the rest of the game saw referee Nigel Owens ultimately punish Australia with a penalty try for Les Bleus in the 64th minute, following the Wallabies' pack splintering again on their own line.
"Obviously it was a massive learning curve for us. There were some harsh calls but I think we just have to deal with it and move on and fix things up I guess, and move into next week," Kepu said.
"To their credit, they just worked together as an eight and brought the referee in to make decisions; and it went their way. There was no shortage of effort there, we just have to deal with it and fix it and move on."
Deans said the French sniffed blood after their early scrum successes at Stade de France, and it encouraged them to keep attacking.
"The French grew in confidence, a bit like their game. When they got the benefit there (at the scrum) early on, they got confidence out of that, and also got momentum off the back of it," Deans said.
Originally published as Poms eye Wallabies' scrum weakness


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[caption id="attachment_7421" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Soldiers at the Pat Tillman Memorial Center in Bagram, Afghanistan, enjoy field-expedient Soda Cupcakes during the USO birthday celebration in February, 2012.[/caption]
Cupcakes have become the Hollywood starlet of sugary snacks.
From "D.C. Cupcake," to "Cupcake Wars," to the scores of mom-and-pop shops springing up on every hipster city block, there's no question cupcakes have put the "in" in "binge."
If it's hip and it's Hollywood, you know the USO has to get our fingers in it.
On Sunday, July 1, Food Network's reality program "Cupcake Wars" will be "Saluting the USO" at 8 p.m. EST as competitors battle for sweet supremacy with a shot at having their confections featured during last October's USO Gala in Washington, D.C.
And in the spirit of competition, we at USO Arlington found a way to have a little cupcake war of our own.
While supporting the men and women of the U.S. Military, there's often little time and few supplies with which to make a batch of cupcakes at our USO Centers. So what do we do? We adapt, overcome and improvise, of course! We find ways to bake field expedient cupcakes!
Cathe Ganley—Duty Manager at USO Bagram—developed a method for making cupcakes in the microwave with only cake mix and a soda. Now that's creative!
Other USO Centers stateside have developed a microwavable method of their own using classic ingredients like flour, eggs, milk, and sugar.
Yesterday we pit the two recipes against each other in a Field-Expedient Cupcake Battle Royale.
Who was the winner? I'm not telling.
Instead, I'm going to give you the directions and ingredients to make both cakes in your own microwave and let you be the judge. Invite some friends over to watch "Cupcake Wars" Sunday night and whip these quick snacks together to feed your guests. Then tell us what you think!
After they beg you for the recipe, you can let them know they are eating battle-tested 5-minute recipes enjoyed every day by the men and women protecting their freedom.
Soda Cupcake
1 Box of "Yellow" Cake Mix 1 Can of Sprite** 10 ten-ounce paper cups (or Dixie Cups)
**Substitute root beer for Sprite when making chocolate cupcakes.
Directions: In a large bowl, mix entire box of cake mix with the full can of Sprite. Fill 10 oz cups 1/3 of the way full with batter, then microwave three at a time for three minutes. Adjust cooking time and batter consistency as necessary to compensate for altitude.
1 Coffee Mug 4 Tbs Flour 4 Tbs Sugar 2 Tbs Cocoa 1 Egg 3 Tbs Milk 3 Tbs Oil 3 Tbs Chocolate Chips Splash of Vanilla Extract
Directions: Mix dry ingredients well in coffee mug then stir in the remaining ingredients. Mix well then microwave on high for three minutes. Don't be alarmed. The cake will rise at least two inches over the top of the mug while cooking. As soon as it is done, however, it will retract back inside the mug. – By Joseph Andrew Lee, USO Staff Writer
More from the USO
Jan 8, 2018
Here's How the USO and Boeing are Teaming Up to Help Service Members Transition to Civilian Lives
With a multiyear commitment from Boeing, USO Pathfinder offers best-in-class transition services on a global scale and can connect service members with the resources they need as they reintegrate into civilian life.
Jan 5, 2018
Army Couple with Baby Born at 24 Weeks Reunites with Heidi Murkoff at USO Baby Shower
When Mary Joyce Guinard signed up to attend the USO and What to Expect Foundation's baby shower in Okinawa in October 2016, she never dreamed she would miss the party to give birth. Guinard found herself in the delivery ward, welcoming her new daughter into the world. That's when Heidi Murkoff entered the hospital room and the entire military family's life.


text:
LA Lakers
LA Clippers
New York Knicks
Boston Celtics
San Antonio Spurs
Houston Hardens
Denver Nuggets
Other (Discuss Below)
Raptor_11 wrote:
they really do play ugly basketball. If it weren't for their scrappy defense, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Phil Jackson @PhilJackson11 10h
Good game-good game. Congrats to the Heat they won it on a great effort by LJ in both games 6 and 7. Spurs gave a great team effort
seems like Phil is saying Lebron beat the spurs by himself, and that the Spurs actually played team ball
Yes, but Jackson also understands better than anyone what ONE guy can mean to a team; and what having someone that supremely talented can do a 'team game'.
rocwell wrote:
Only Bosh...
Blacklash2k4 wrote:
Only Bosh...
This is crazy
I just laughed out loud. That's funny for some reason.
rocwell wrote:
Dumbass doesn't know how to spit...lol
Twitter - @thekid_it
isaacthompson wrote:
Dumbass doesn't know how to spit...lol
He knows...
RandomGuy wrote:
He knows...
ahahhahahahahah that's fucked up
Sighs all around.
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I checked my Site List (under Privacy) today and there were several sites that had the "Edited" column checked but for which I did not add these sites: for instance, one was E-bay, with the green check marks across the board. I never use, nor visit E-bay and I certainly wouldn't add this site. Some other sites that I never visit but were listed as "Edited" included hotmail.com and msn.com. Is Zonelabs automatically adding these sites for some mysterious reason?
Operating System:Windows XP Home Edition
Product Name:ZoneAlarm Pro
Software Version:6.1


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Orioles-Nats postponed; makeup game is Aug. 4
By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
WASHINGTON -- The Orioles-Nationals game on Tuesday night was postponed due to inclement weather and will be made up on a mutual off-day on Aug. 4 at Nationals Park.
The decision was made after a 2 1/2-hour delay, and the Battle of the Beltways will now shift to two games in Baltimore. Righty Bud Norris, who was scheduled to start Tuesday, will be pushed to Wednesday, with the rest of the rotation finishing out the remaining games before the All-Star break.
Fans who have tickets for Tuesday's game at Nationals Park will be able to use them on Aug. 4.
Baltimore could certainly use the break, coming off Saturday's doubleheader in Boston and extra-inning games on Sunday and Monday.
Brittany Ghiroli is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, Britt's Bird Watch, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter @britt_ghiroli. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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A 23-year-old Ponder resident died after a Monday morning collision on FM2449.
Ryan Grelle, a Denton police spokesman, said the two-vehicle accident was reported at 7:40 a.m.
"A white Toyota Camry heading westbound just past Underwood Road was reported as traveling erratically, swerving into the eastbound lane of traffic," Grelle said.
A silver Ford F-150 pickup traveling west with five occupants, including children, saw the Camry out of control and tried to move toward the ditch; it then struck the passenger door of the Camry, he said.
The driver of the Camry was taken to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton where he was pronounced dead, Grelle said.
He was later identified as Mark Yarrington.
The occupants of the F-150 were uninjured.
FM2499 was shut down at Interstate 35W for three hours to clear the accident, Grelle said.
Police continue to investigate the accident.
MEGAN GRAY can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com .


text:
A brief treatment of estuaries follows. For full treatment, see river: Estuaries.
The four basic types of estuaries are: (1) vertically mixed, wherein salinity, while constant from top to bottom at any site, increases from land to sea, (2) slightly stratified, in which saline water circulates in at the bottom, mixes with fresh water, and then flows out at the top (salinity thus increases with depth and out toward the sea), (3) highly stratified, which is similar to the slightly stratified type but is limited to the upper layer of water above the outer sill of a fjord, and (4) salt wedge, where saline seawater intrudes in as a wedge at the bottom while fresh water flows out and over it at the top.
Many coastal features that are designated by other names are in fact estuaries. For example, various coastal embayments, such as Chesapeake Bay and Galveston Bay in the United States, also are estuaries because fresh and salt water undergo considerable mixing. Moreover, most of the world's submerged fjord systems
(such as Scoresby Sund, Greenland) and large semienclosed tidal
flat regions and coastal marshes (
such as the Waddenzee area of The Netherlands)
are estuaries
In addition, they include river mouths (as in the case of the Mississippi River, Louisiana), structural basins (San Francisco Bay, California), the bodies of water behind spits (Hurst Castle spit, England), and barrier beaches (Ninety Mile Beach, Australia). In the case of spits and barrier beaches, the definitions of lagoons and estuaries overlap.
Estuaries have long been important as harbour sites and centres of commerce. Some of the world's oldest continuous civilizations have flourished in
estuarine environments, such as the lower
reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Indus River, the Po River delta region of Italy, the Nile delta, the Ganges delta, and the lower Huang He (Yellow River) valley. Developing civilizations soon discovered that the logical site for commercial seaports was the seawardmost point of the major river systems. Such cities as London (River Thames
), New York City (Hudson River), Montreal (St. Lawrence River), Hamburg (Elbe River), and Bordeaux (Gironde estuary)
developed on estuaries and
became important centres of commerce.
The geologic processes that form an estuary are extremely complex and varied, but it is clear that the existence of an estuary is largely dependent on the position of sea level relative to the freshwater discharge. If sea level were lowered, the estuarine zone would migrate seaward at the interface of the marine water and the edge of the newly exposed land area. Such migration has occurred in the past as a consequence of
Earth's several glaciations. For each glaciation, the primary source of moisture has been the oceans. Whenever sea level fell, the estuarine environment at the continental margin was forced to migrate in a seaward direction.
About 18,000 years ago the Wisconsin Glacial Stage attained its maximum, and glacial melting began. The seas rose, forcing the estuarine environment to migrate back up the continental shelf. During the period of lowered sea level, some rivers had become entrenched in the continental shelf and deepened their valleys, which were soon flooded by the rising marine waters, forming a typical drowned river estuary. In areas such as Norway and parts of the coast of British Columbia, Can., valley glaciers had deepened river valleys. These narrow drowned glacial valleys became the modern fjord estuaries as sea level rose.
The geomorphology
of an estuarine basin is usually developed by one of three agents: (1) fluvial or glacial erosion, (2) fluvial and marine deposition, or (3) tectonic activity. The last of these involves the down-faulting of a coastal area or the broad local subsidence of a stretch of coastline, as in the case of San Francisco Bay


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By "crypt study," I mean to emplace each reading in this dossier in specialized relationship to the "case study" genre. While the metapsychology or system that Nicholas Abraham and Maria Torok sought to convey with their reading of the "cryptonymy" of Freud's case study of the Wolfman has been lost or integrated within the host of re-readings of psychoanalysis after Freud,discrete insights into and images of the melancholic condition surrounding the "crypt" have continued to open condemned sites of identification. With the conclusion of the last sentence, we have already entered, by metaphor, the radically anti-metaphorical status of melancholia's crypts.
Full Text:PDF
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada License.


text:
'Fast 6' speeds past 'Hangover' to top box office
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The sixth installment in the "Fast & Furious" franchise is No. 1 at the box office.
"Fast & Furious 6" was tops with moviegoers on a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend with estimated receipts totaling $316 million.
The muscle car action romp starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker took in $120 million from Friday to Monday, making it the biggest opening weekend for a Universal Pictures release.
"The Hangover Part III" opened in second place. The final chapter in the raunchy comedy trilogy collected $51.2 million.
Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek: Into Darkness," which opened last week, added $47 million to its domestic ticket sales, landing it at No. 3.
Fox's animated "Epic" opened in the fourth spot with $42.6 million. "Iron Man 3" rounded out the top five.


text: "Dude," don't talk to me like you're some kind of authority on the subject because you ain't. In fact, it shows how you missed a very simple concept: This. Is. Star Trek. To break that down for you, that does not mean the real world, but it does mean the world as according to Star Trek, where many incredible things are possible. If you had actually read my post instead of just locking on something to argue about, you would have realized that I specifically said, "In The Star Trek Universe..." Nothing I said implied I was talking about anything other than the purely fictional beings such as Vulcans, Andorians, etc. (do you know where there are real aliens? Do you know their biology and compatibility level with Humans?) I really thought that was kind of obvious and didn't need to be explained. Of course it is an opinion. It's nothing but an opinion, because all the aliens in Star Trek are make believe. There's no way of knowing what is and isn't possible unless it's actually said so onscreen. Otherwise, don't confuse the real world with Star Trek.