I've never known you to shy away from controversy....

But whatever. If you don't want to be associated with me anymore, that's your perogative. Let me just say that your request is insane, but obliged. If you were anyone else, I would not have taken your links or names off my site, but because we were such good friends in the past, I oblige your request.



No, Laura, this entry is not about you. Quit reading my site.



I think your analysis of my opinion is incorrect, for the record. I know you are up in arms about my Gay Marriages articles. That's the only controversial thing I've had up here since my breakup fiasco, and I can't imagine you being pissed about that. My opinion was that I officially don't have an opinion. Not politically, anyways. I was attacking the guy's debate tactics, not his position.



But whatever. You said you didn't want to debate about it. You said you didn't want to be associated with me. You have been k-filed, k-lined, and ignored. When your analytical skills have reached a point where you can be reasonable, call me. I'm still the same guy you were friends with "back in the day." For some reason you have shyed away from calling me your friend ever since I moved to Wylie. I'm not up for debate on it... at this point, I'm not interested.. I suppose this is the final nail in that coffin.



Knowing you, you aren't even going to have a second thought about this. You're going to think, "hey, that's how he wants to be, fsck'em."

---

At any rate, I've had time to think about this issue a little bit more. The issue of gay marriages, that is. I was watching Bill Maher's show last night on HBO (which I really like, btw. if you agree with his politics or not, you gotta admit he's the king of zingers) and one of the people on the show brought up a really good point.



This whole debate doesn't belong in a political arena at all. Marriage should be taken out of politics. This is a religious debate -- marriage is a religion thing, spiritual thing, all that. Why do we have laws about marriage? For tax reasons, for insurance reasons, etc. This is *bunk*!



I mean, I can personally garuntee you that the insurance company doesn't check with the government to see if your girlfriend you put down as your wife is actually your wife or not.



I heard the argument that rampant homosexuality was the cause of the fall of Rome, and we are on that same path of debauchery. Y'know, the fall of Rome had more to do with theocracy and that sort of thing ... mandating morals and beliefs through law. It also had to do with rampant corruption and an aging empire.



So all this really comes down to is a moral debate. In a moral debate, there really isn't a winning side, because it comes down to subjective beliefs, which was the point I was making before in this rant against Frank I posted earlier. I refuse to be goaded into a moral debate on a political arena, and any smart politician should do the same. It would behoove both sides of the debate to take this tactic. As a libertarian, I dont' want to infringe on anyone's personal rights. As a person who's beliefs are founded in Judeo-Christian values, I shy away from endorsing something the Bible is quite clear on like homosexuality. But then as a person who lives in the real world, has acquantances, friends and business associates who are gay or lesbian, I find myself in the position of being tugged from both sides.



So I ponder my delimma and come to the conclusion that I don't care what people do when it doesn't affect me. Changing the laws in this nation affects me. Constitutional amendments affect me. Anarchy in California affects me. Gay Marriages (as long as they aren't mandated by law) don't affect me. I don't want my government mandating what my definition of marriage should be. I don't want them telling me it has to be a man and a woman. I don't want them telling me it can be a dog and a woman, man and a man, or anything. I'm not saying that this is some slippery slope, or anything of that nature. I'm saying I don't want the government, something that we have learned by the results of the 2000 presidential election is very far removed from the will of the people, telling me what my morals should be and if they are right or wrong.



That is all.



/rizzn

RUN/STOP at the Bus Terminal

A few guys from Analogik discovered that the Commodore 64 is still being used to serve up information at an Australian bus terminal. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess.

I bet you want to play some Paradroid or some Last Ninja now, don't you?

[Via OSNews]

A PC (or Mac) in Your Pocket

The Register has an article about a new IBM Japan gadget that would essentially put all the workings of a PC into a tiny (6.4 x 3.3 x 0.9in) enclosure:

For now dubbed the PC Core System, the (literally) pocket PC is based on a 1GHz Transmeta Crusoe TM5800 processor. Inside the case, you'll also find 256MB of memory - it can take up to 512MB - and a 20GB 2.5in hard drive. The machine runs a variety of versions of Windows.

IBM's thinking is that users will carry around their PCs, plugging them into base units located wherever they happen to be working. The approach is intended to appeal to corporates who want to thoroughly mobilise their workforces. The base stations can connect the core unit to a screen, keyboard, mouse and network connection. The system, it reckons, is much better than, say, a notebook, which becomes almost useless if its delicate LCD display is damaged in transit.

They also mention that the original idea behind Apple's OS 10.3 was to make it possible for users to store their home directories on an iPod. That way you pop your iPod onto whatever machine you happen to be in front of and all your user-specific stuff is there. I kinda like IBM's idea a bit better, where the whole shebang is inside the pod.

Wonder what they'll call it. "PC Core System" is too pocket protector geekish. How about "The ibmPod"? Nah.

[via Gadgetopia]

Fugu

In Japan fugu--or pufferfish--also are called teppo (gun), a reference to their deadliness when handled inexpertly. The intestines, ovaries and liver contain tetrodotoxin (TTX), 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide and among the most powerful poisons found in nature. TTX also has been detected in species of pufferfish found in Baja California and Titusville, Fla. Upon ingesting it, a victim first feels numbness of the lips and tongue. Symptoms quickly graduate to salivating, vomiting, twitching and finally convulsive death. The lethal dose for an adult male is small enough to fit on the head of a pin, and a single pufferfish typically contains enough to kill 30 people.

It was a brave man that first ever ate a fugu.

Since 1958, chefs licensed to prepare fugu (by removing the offending organs and other toxic tissues) have been required to apprentice for at least three years under a master chef. As a result, the cost of a fugu meal is more than most Japanese can easily afford--upwards of $200. The need for taking such extreme precautions dates back to the 1500s, when fugu-eating troops, assembled for an invasion of Korea, supposedly suffered a mass poisoning. A 200-year prohibition on fugu followed. Then in 1888, Hirobumi Ito, Japan's first prime minister, lifted the ban.

Even today, however, at least several dozen diners die annually. In 1975 one of Japan's most famous kabuki actors plucked his last lute, thanks to fugu. The fish remains the only delicacy denied the emperor--too risky. Epicures and suicides who seek it head for Shimonoseki, a city on the western tip of Japan's main island. Perhaps 500 fugu chefs live here, and more than half of all the fugu consumed in Japan passes through Shimonoseki's markets. When served in restaurants, paper-thin slices of the fish typically are arranged in the shape of a chrysanthemum--the flower of funerals in Japan.

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Odds are Against it

I'm 63% (Dixie). A definitive Southern score!

As an interesting sidenote, craw5, a buddy of mine for a few years now, sent me some freestyle of his when we first met. Now I've got a playlist that if it runs continuously one end through the other, it shouldn't repeat within a seven day period. For whatever reason, craw's freestyle song on my playlist has played three days in a row. What are the odds, yes?

/rizzn

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