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Day: May 8, 2009

I’ve Just Been Stimulated

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

By Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

My wife was stimulated at the same time.

Then we got a letter from the Tax Office telling us we had been stimulated, just in case we hadn’t noticed.

Most Australians will get a one-off stimulus ‘tax bonus’ of $900 from the Federal government.

I just don’t get it. How is it stimulating the economy to take money away from people who are earning it, working for it, producing something to get it, and handing it out willy-nilly to everyone?

It’s not free money, Mr Rudd.

I have been offering a stimulus special – a decent computer package for $900, with a tie-in to the education tax refund.

It has been going pretty well. But not as well, I suspect, as the ‘Let Us Stimulate You’ deal offered by the After Dark brothel in Sydney.

If experience is anything to go by, it will be liquor stores, brothels and gambling houses that benefit most.

But even if it wasn’t, you cannot spend your way out of debt. You don’t create jobs and increase production by taking extra money from productive people to give to people who are not. And you certainly don’t create any incentive to work, or to be responsible.

Heaven And Earth

May 8, 2009 / / 1 Comment

Ordered and on the way:

I read Ian Plimer’s Telling Lies for God: Reason vs Creationism some years ago. I found his writing style difficult, but the content was superb – clear and well-organised.

Plimer explained very clearly why creationism is a betrayal of science. In ‘Heaven and Earth’ he does the same thing for global warming alarmism.

‘Heaven and Earth’ has already sold some 25,000 copies, making it (for a book published in Australia) a three times over best-seller.

Even MSN Says Swine Flu Warnings Overdone

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

A longish article with lots of quotes from poeple saying the Swine Flu alarms were a perfect example of authorities crying wolf.

Many blame such alarms and the breathless media coverage for creating an overreaction that disrupted many people’s lives.

Coming from the breathless to the point of asphyxiation MSNBC that’s…   interesting.

The so-far mild swine flu outbreak has many people saying all the talk about a devastating global epidemic was just fearmongering hype. But that’s not how public health officials see it, calling complacency the thing that keeps them up at night.

Yes but when you are constantly screeching about dangers that don’t materialise, why would you expect people to be anything other than complacent?

What Not To Do In A Horror Movie

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Via the Drunk Report.

The top 13 stupidest decisions ever made in the history of horror films.

And some general thoughts on staying alive if you find yourself in a horror film.

5. Don’t read from any books covered in human skin, or which have lain undisturbed under the egyptian sands for the last 3,000 years.

4. Don’t try to bring pets or girlfriends back from the dead. And on a related note, if your friends start growing tentacles, frothing at the mouth or swearing in Latin, leave the room.

3. Don’t go searching in wells, basements, attics, or deserted villages. If you must do so, turn on the lights.

2. Do not open gateways to hell.

1. Never have sex.

Rage And Fear In Northern Pakistan

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Some of the stories coming out of the Taliban occupied parts of Nothern Pakistan are shocking:

When Taliban fighters first entered Karim’s village last month, he recounted, they said they had come to bring peace and Islamic law, or sharia, to Swat. But the next day, two of the fighters dragged a policeman out of his truck and tried to slit his throat. Horrified, a crowd rushed over, shouting and trying to shield the officer. The fighters let him go, but the incident confirmed the villagers’ worst suspicions.

“We all said to each other, what sort of people have come here? And what kind of sharia is this? Cutting off people’s heads has nothing to do with Islam,” recounted Karim, 55, a bus driver. “The people were filled with great rage, and great fear.”

As the refugees begin streaming out of Swat and the neighboring Buner district in northwest Pakistan, they carry with them memories of the indignities and horrors inflicted by occupying Taliban forces — locking women inside their homes, setting donkeys on fire — as they tried to force residents to accept a radical version of Islam.

Lectures from the West about the dangers of islamic extremism, and the horrors the Taliban were likely to inflict, had not been believed, and were only causing further resentment of the US and its allies. Orders to the government of Pakistan were even worse.

Tragic as it has been, the people of Pakistan needed to see for themselves just how vile and violent the Taliban are.

Resistance to incursions by islamic extremists will only be successful if it comes from, or is at least supported by, local people. That resistance is off to a powerful start.

If powers outside Pakistan attempt to force the Taliban out, the result will be chaos – and deeper anger and mistrust towards the West.

A Few Tips To Make Your Computer Start More Quickly

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

From the MSN Tech site.

Basically it comes down to clearing out the accumulated rubbish – unneccessary programmes and services that run automatically at start-up.

I would add deleting any fonts you don’t use, and defragmenting your hard disk every month or so.

Depending on your current configuration, adding more memory can also make a big difference – up to 1GB for XP Home, 2GB for XP Pro, and 4GB for Vista.

This Is Kind Of Fun

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

If you don’t know whether you are a Mennonite, a Muslim or a Mormon, this quiz will help you work out where you belong.

I found a few of the questions had no right answer, so a couple of times I had to pick the least wrong answer.

My results were:

1.  Eastern Orthodox (100%) 
2.  Roman Catholic (100%) 
3.  Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (94%) 
4.  Seventh Day Adventist (88%) 
5.  Orthodox Quaker (79%) 

There was no listing for disgruntled Anglican.

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