Suspension of Disbelief

Of Aliens and Stuff

OK, first off, in the Strange Little People Department we have this:

Former NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell – a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission…says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions – but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades.

Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as ‘little people who look strange to us.’

[…]

“I’ve been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes – we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it’s been happening quite a bit.”

Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated.

For the record, I tend to believe non-human alien beings have visited planet Earth. And continue among us. 😯 Just not the sort of ET aliens that Mr. Mitchell describes.

Did these aliens get turned around by about 90 degrees to the West and jump in the wrong body of water?

Federal officials said they netted 43 illegal aliens in an immigration raid on O`ahu.

[…]

The 43 men were all citizens of Mexico.

Were? Did they die or otherwise give up their Mexican citizenship? Oh, I know: As a reward for their record-breaking swim, they were awarded honorary US citizenship. 🙄

Once upon a time, in the United States of America, this wouldn’t have been alien at all:

Elective Bible courses in Texas high schools received the blessing of the State Board of Education on Friday, but local school officials will have to figure out how to design those classes so they don’t violate religious-freedom protections.

[…]

Attorney General Greg Abbott has told the board that although the state standards for the Bible class appear to be in compliance with the First Amendment, his office can’t guarantee that the courses taught in high schools will be constitutional because they haven’t been reviewed.

Critics contend that the standards – based on old guidelines for independent studies in English and social studies – are so vague and general that many schools might unknowingly create unconstitutional Bible classes that either promote the religious views of teachers or disparage the religious beliefs of some students.

Earlier this year, the Ector County school board agreed to quit using a Bible course curriculum at two high schools in Odessa that the American Civil Liberties Union said promoted Protestant religious beliefs not shared by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and many Protestants.

[…]

The course is supposed to be geared to academic, nondevotional study of the Bible, and cover such things as the influence of the New Testament on law, literature, history and culture.

That’s a good step. I think. I hope.

Oh. OK.

Lennon big fan of Jesus?

Maybe so.

John Lennon, famous for singing, “Imagine theres no heaven,” is now said to have been “on the side of Christ,” according to his own words recently unearthed from a long-lost radio interview.

“Im one of Christs biggest fans,” the Beatles songwriter is heard to say in a 1969 interview with Ken Seymour of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “And if I can turn the focus on the Beatles on to Christs message, then thats what were here to do.”

If he was one of Christ’s biggest fans . . . .

As you might guess, my willing suspension of disbelief isn’t kicking in very well.

Whatever the case, it appears they didn’t succeed in turning the focus on the Beatles into a focus on Christ’s message.

WWW: Wild Wild Web

I use the Internet.

I depend on the Internet.

But I’m very wary of it. Or if not of it, of the way it can be used and is used by people (as individuals, as corporations, as governments, as other people groupings).

So three headlines caught my attention earlier this morning:

Congress studies how people track your online use

Executives from major Internet players — Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. — are due for a grilling about online privacy in a Senate committee Wednesday, but the company likely to get the most scrutiny is a small Silicon Valley startup called NebuAd Inc.

NebuAd has drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates in recent weeks for working with Internet service providers to track the online behavior of their customers and then serve up targeted banner ads based on that behavior.

[…]

“This is analogous to AT&T listening to your phone calls all day in order to figure out what to sell you in the middle of dinner,” said Robert Topolski, a technology consultant to Public Knowledge and Free Press, two other public interest groups that have raised concerns about NebuAd.

[…]

Besides NebuAd, Wednesday’s hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee may also examine Facebook’s “Beacon” monitoring tool, which tracked online purchases made by Facebook members and sent alerts to their friends on the site.

For the record: Congressional hearings don’t rank highly with me either. 🙂

Anyway, I’ll say it again: Trusting the Web to maintain privacy requires the willing suspension of disbelief.

OK, on to Story Number Two:

Internet flaw could let hackers take over the Web

Computer industry heavyweights are hustling to fix a flaw in the foundation of the Internet that would let hackers control traffic on the World Wide Web.

Major software and hardware makers worked in secret for months to create a software “patch” released on Tuesday to repair the problem, which is in the way computers are routed to web page addresses.

“It’s a very fundamental issue with how the entire addressing scheme of the Internet works,” Securosis analyst Rich Mogul said in a media conference call.

“You’d have the Internet, but it wouldn’t be the Internet you expect. (Hackers) would control everything.”

The flaw would be a boon for “phishing” cons that involve leading people to imitation web pages of businesses such as bank or credit card companies to trick them into disclosing account numbers, passwords and other information.

Attackers could use the vulnerability to route Internet users wherever they wanted no matter what website address is typed into a web browser.

[…]

On Tuesday the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), a joint government-private sector security partnership, issued a warning to underscore the serious of so-called DNS “cache poisoning attacks” the vulnerability could allow.

[…]

“Consequently, web traffic, email, and other important network data can be redirected to systems under the attacker’s control.”

[…]

Automated updating should protect most personal computers. Microsoft released the fix in a software update package Tuesday.

[…]

Hackers using the vulnerability to attack company computer networks would also be able to capture email and other business data.

And “they” want me to trust the Internet for data storage and data back-up?! Ha!

And “they” think I’m paranoid for warning even about plain ole email communications?! Hmph!

And “they” still think I’m a TechnoPetriefied Kook. Fine. Here’s Story Number Three:

Google ventures into virtual reality with ‘Lively’

…Google Inc. hopes to orchestrate more fantasizing on the Web.

[…]

Google thinks Lively will encourage even more people to dive into alternate realities….

The Lively application already works on Facebook, one of the Web’s hottest hangouts, and Google is working on a version suitable for an even larger online social network, News Corp.’s MySpace.

[…]

Lively’s users will be able to sculpt an avatar that can be male, female or even a different species. An avatar can assume a new identity, change clothes or convey emotions with a few clicks of the mouse.

The service also enables users to create different digital dimensions to roam, from a coffeehouse to an exotic island. The settings can be decorated with a wide variety of furniture, including large-screen televisions that can be set up to play different clips from YouTube.com, Google’s video-sharing service.

Lively users can then invite their friends and family into their virtual realities, where they can chat, hug, cry, laugh and interact as if they were characters in a video game.

As a precaution, Google is requiring Lively’s users to be at least 13 years old — a constraint that hasn’t been enough to prevent young children from running into trouble on other social spots on the Web.

“As a precaution…” — oh, please!

Anyway, Lively is further good news for those wishing to exploit and expand the depravity of man. Stay away from it!

OK, now you may virtually stick your virtual head back in the virtual sand.

What Makes Her a “Man”?!

In yesterday’s news, this report of people playing with words and culture and other such stuff:

Pregnant man gives birth to girl

A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported.

Thomas Beatie, who is legally male but decided to keep his female sex organs during chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy, attracted worldwide attention in April after revealing his pregnancy.

The 34-year-old gave birth to a baby girl at a hospital in Bend, Oregon, on June 29, People Magazine reported Thursday.

“The only thing different about me is that I cant breastfeed my baby. But a lot of mothers dont,” the magazine quoted him as saying.

I’d say her (because that’s what she is, folks!) “gender realignment” surgery hardly qualifies as a success.

She had chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy — and that makes her legally male?!

She decided to keep her female reproductive organs…and she’s still considered a man?!

Please.

And people still accept the whole charade.

OK.

Credits for the Emperor

Pull up a chair. Get comfortable. Listen carefully. Think thoughtfully.

I have a little story to tell you, a little tale to spin, a little lesson to convey.

Once upon a time there was an emperor who loved being emperor. And who loved having The Latest Thing. But he also struggled with guilt over being the emperor and over having the latest thing.

But he certainly didn’t feel so guilty as to give up his emperorship and all his stuff.

No, not that guilty.

Then along came two people with a grand solution to his dilema, at least as it concerned his clothing.

“Sir, in a kingdom not your own, many people have no clothes and little wealth. They would like to sell you some of the points they have earned for not having clothes. When you buy some of their points, you are putting on clothes (very important clothes, at that, and the latest trendy styles, too).

“When people ask why you are running around without any clothes on, just tell them you most certainly are not. Tell them you have purchased Clothing Credits. Tell them you have become Clothing Neutral. You can even tell them you have purchased Conscience Credits.

“(Tell them whatever you want. Just give us the money.)”

So that’s what he did.

And he ran around stark naked, pretending he was fully clothed.

He felt good.

And the people in his kingdom, wanting to keep their heads though he had lost his, admired his sensitivity. And his conscientiousness. And his Cutting Edge-iness. And his social consciousness. And his leadership. And his Never Mind Old-Time Common Sense.

Until a child innocently ruined it all: “Daddy, why does the emperor not have any clothes on? And why is he so proud of it? And why doesn’t anybody tell him?”

Disclaimer: I didn’t spend much time with the story concept nor with the writing thereof. Furthermore, if you think I was writing about carbon credits and being carbon neutral, I decline responsibility for the events in your head.

I Agree

The Price of Oil Is Too High

Meanwhile, the world’s leading producers say oil is too expensive and they plan to increase supplies.

A source at Opec said its 13 members were uncomfortable with the current price of crude, which last week hit a record $135 a barrel.

Based on present supply and demand, he said it should be fetching $60-$70 a barrel.

May they feel less “uncomfortable” soon! 😉

A Working Toilet Is a Top Priority

“Clearly, having a working toilet is a priority for us, so some of these things that we didn’t need for the next six months or so could wait,” said payload manager Scott Higginbotham.

You really do have to prioritize. Oh, and the shuttle commander for this mission had to weigh in on the subject with an interesting play on words:

“As soon as we get a couple more spare parts that I’m sure some of you guys have heard about … we’re going to be all ready to go.”

Was that pun intentional? 😯

Sincere Whistleblowers Don’t Wait

“Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner?”

Yeah, Scott. You tell ’em all! 🙄

Don’t Count on the Powers That Be

The powers that be, they’ve determined, will be largely powerless to stop what is to come.

If it is to come, of course it can’t be stopped. And from the same story, this jewel:

Women will always be having babies, she notes . . . .

If she’s wrong, the powers that be will be powerless. Which means they will no longer be the powers that be. In which case, women do indeed rule the planet.

Above all, love God!