Please note, these were observations made during the week following Hurricane Ike and we were still recovering from the devasting effects of the storm, I only mention that to give you some time perspective to the obervations. When I initially shared this with several friends and family members we had been without power since Friday midnight Sept 12th as the storm raged ashore, so this was written about 7 days into the ordeal. I will be sharing other thoughts in the near future.

Some observations-

When did it become ok to just do what you want at a stop light that is out. Do they not teach anymore that a non-working stop light is a four way stop and there is an order to who goes and when, and that the order is not the second car in line going when the car in front does.

Ike-must be global warming or houston failed to purchase enough carbon credits from Al Gore.

For those who believe government run programs are the best way to go- one word- FEMA. They are saying the best way to file a claim is through their website-hmmm 1.4 million people still have no power, gee thats real convenient, oh and you can’t stay on hold, they give you the website address and then hang up on you.

A local radio station somehow managed to give away ice, water and dry ice, 30 hours before any government agency was even in the city.

Deregulation of the electric industry, worst idea since government run health care.

Politicians with previous experience in private industry are the best people to elect. The mayor and county judge for houston, had to solve problems for the federal government like actually sending the trucks with relief supplies to the distribution centers. Instead of having them sit at reliant stadium. These two should be the next President and Vice-President.

Get to know your neighbors, you may need them, and they you.

Forget caffeine, cold showers are the best way to wake up.

Should have listened to Tina about Ike, she tried to warn us!

A friendly face and a hug can take away all stress for both the hugger and huggee!

And yes, being without power let’s you make up words like hugger and huggee!

As a writer, amateur as I might be, I have many people that I cite as my inspirations and “muses”, who have helped me in my decision to make this a labor of love.  Most notable of these are such names as Hunter Thompson, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Leo Tolstoy, Issac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.  Trust me, there are many others out there that have inspired me, but those ones stand out the most.

The reason I started this post this way is because of a thought process I have been on lately.  Something that may be a concern at some point in the not-too-distant future and that is the thought of artificial intelligence.

As we progress with our understanding of technology and it’s interface with humans and biological systems, there arises a chance that at some time a man made creation may become “self-aware”.  Not just aware of ones self, but aware that it does not NEED it’s human counterpart for continuous operation.

When you consider that we are working towards devices that will allow the interface between man and machine on a nervous and eventually a nanotechnological level, it is not hard to consider the converse.  A time when we begin using biological components for mechanical devices, one of those, one day, being a human analog… i.e. a Robot.

These thoughts are nothing new, as I am sure you are all aware.  The king of this kind of thought process was, by and far, Issac Asimov.  He was the one that created what I consider the modern understanding of robotics and the “Three Laws of Robotics”, which will probably be the cornerstone of robotic programming when that time comes  He also authored the series commonly known as the “Robot series”, which was also, unfortunately, butchered into a movie staring Will Smith.

The question does arise, though.  When the time does come that we create a race of mechanical beings that become “aware”, how are we to treat them?  I suspect that it will not be too much unlike another period in time when slavery was acceptable.  Not just black slaves, but there were slaves of many colors throughout the world.  It was considered justified for many reasons.  In some cases it was thought that those enslaved were less that human, in others it was as a form of punishment, like a prison sentence.  In the case that I am describing, I think it will be more along the line of we humans, in our own arrogance, will think:  This is something that is the creation of MAN.  We brought you into existence, we are your lords.  Yes… I know.  That sounds a little over the top… but you get my point and I challenge anyone to tell me I am wrong.

Now, there are probably those of you saying that a “Robot Race” could not exist, they have no way to reproduce.  You would be partly right, but there could be a way.  John von Neumann came up with a theory of self replicating machines that could be used to mine and explore.  Why, then, could that not be taken one step further and a “race” of recently aware robots be able to use those same principles to reproduce and combine the best attributes from their combined programming into the new machine?

The resulting creation would, in some sense, be the offspring of the two, or more, machines.  But would contain the combining of certain attributes of each, resulting in an unique creation based on information from the two hosts.  Not entirely unlike biological reproduction.

One last thought.  As such a race grows and matures, would they see us as their creators?  Would we, for some period of time, assume the role of Gods or Deities to them?  It seems that there would be a chance of this, we would, after all, be the source of their creation.  There would be prototypes that lead to their advancement; a robot “Adam” and “Eve”, so to say.

I wonder how we will handle such a time.  If we will do the right thing and let such an evolution take place, step back and let it follow it’s own course.  Or will our arrogance get in the way, causing us to abuse the trust that might be placed in us by robots, or “Synthetic Life Forms” as they achieve awareness.

Either way, it will be an interesting time.

Thank you for reading.

Tags: Science

I am not a radical.

I am not a revolutionary.

I am not a promoter of violence or chaos.

But there is a question I would like to ask, in general, to you, the readers.

Is there ever, in your opinion, a right time or reason to do something that might be considered the wrong thing?

There is a movie called “V for Vendetta” that is set in what I would call a “dystopian” future, in the UK.  A future where the UK has become a closed society and imposes strict rules on what you can read, listen to, say and do.  All TV is controlled and monitored by the government.  In short, it is a very Orwellian story.

The main character is a radical, who, while the story make him out to be a modern hero for that time, is performing acts of domestic terrorism in the city where the story is set.  All this in order to embolden the people, the citizenry, to stand up and take back their country and their freedoms.

So the question stands.  Is there a time when you can justify something that is obviously an act of terrorism, or the actions of what is basically a domestic terrorist, when the popular movement supports that person or group?

Watching this movie, I walk away with an odd feeling from it.  I do enjoy the movie, it is a powerful movie with a positive statement.  “V”, the main character in this movie said; “People should not fear their government, their government should fear the people.”  This statement alone is one that I think we have all forgotten, and this movie demonstrates that act carried, in my opinion, too far.

It is a movies that carries with it a mixed message.  Expressing the need for people to stand up and take their place in the path that their country takes.  It also carries a dangerous message, especially in these “Post 9/11″ years, when even the slightest act of sedition is enough to put you on the government’s watch list.

I watch the movie and I do see many similarities between the society that they show and the way we are becoming.  No… our government is not getting THAT oppressive yet, but the interpretation of the people, willing to sit back and watch as the government tells them how to live, work and love.  That I can see us doing, because face it… many of us Americans are becoming lazy and complacent.

If you have not seen the movie, then I would like to ask that you give it a whirl.  I hope that you will not only watch it for the entertainment factor, but also to take the time and examine it from a historic point of view.  I would like to know what others take from the movie and if that is anything along the lines of what I took from it.

Is there another Guy Fawkes out there, waiting in the wings, waiting for a cause to undertake?

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Tags: Movies, Politics

OK…

Once again Bungie has played to our Achilles heel and released a trailer for the new game based on the HALO universe.

HALO 3: Recon

To be honest… I am not sure what kind of game this will be without the Master Chief.  I mean, HE is the HALO series.  To be fair, though… I am going in with an open mind.  All I can say is this:

“My name is Sam, and I am addicted to HALO.”  <everyone else says “Hi Sam.”>

H3:Recon is set in the same universe as the Master Chief, but you do not play him.  You play the only other character that can come even close to his caliber in the games.  You are an ODST, the Elite of the UNSC soldiers, also known as “Hell Jumpers”.

These soldiers, the future equivelant to the Navy’s HALO jumpers of today, strap themselves into a pod, in low planetary orbit and are “shot” into a hot zone of the planet surface.  These are guys that make us Marines look like Boy Scouts.

Am I jazzed about the new game? Hell yeah…  is a Rabbi Jewish?

Am I going to put my name on the list for the early release?  Darned tootin’!

Do I have any comments to Bungie?  YES!!!!

WHY DO YOU MAKE US WAIT FOR A YEAR FOR IT’S RELEASE!?!?!?!?

Argh!

Et tu, Bungie???

Tags: Games and Entertainment, News

Not a day goes by when I do not think of my Father.

Unfortunately, he passed away in 1991. When he passed, there were a great deal of things that I never got to say to him and I am sure, there were things that he never had a chance to say to me.

I do not dwell on his death, I can honestly say that I only did that for about the first year, but the times I think about him now are more or less in passing. Idle thoughts that come to me. Things like; “Dad would have liked that”, or “It would have been neat if my dad could have met my Father-in-law.”

If I were to look at the things that bother me the most about his death, it is the fact that I never told him everything I needed to tell him. But I was young and I listened to those that told me that it would hurt him if I talked to him about these things. So I did not, not knowing the ghosts that it would create for me all these years.

I think that we all carry ghosts like this with us through our lives.  Things that we put off doing, forgot to do or never seemed to find the time for.  Then one day you realize that your chances are gone, there is no way to get them back.  These can be as simple as a conversation you should have had with someone or as large as not taking the time to sit down and have a heart to heart with your father… as was the case with me.

The biggest thing to remember with most of these ghosts is that they do not have to be.  We each have control over whether they exist or not by the decisions we make.  We chose to, or not to, act on things.  Sometimes it is because we do not want to hurt someone, or because we do not want to take a chance.  But we must.

Since my issue with my father, I have used that as a learning point in my life.  Since then I try to speak my mind when I can.  I always make sure I say what needs to be said when I have the chance.  If that which I need to say might hurt the feelings of the person I am telling it to, then I do so with the greatest care and compassion.

I offer this as my personal experience in life.  Life itself is so very short when you think about it and even with that, you are not guaranteed the entirety of your life, you never know what may happen that might take it from you or those you love, prematurely.

I will close with this.  It is a small part of a poem I have kept near me for more years than I can remember called the Desiderata:

“…As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant… they too have their story.”

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Tags: Philosophy

OK… So this is an open question to any readers out there that stumle upon my site or those whom are regular readers of mine.

It looks like the Bail Out package is not fairing well…  So my question to you all is this:

Should the Bail-Out package NOT pass, what is the worst that could happen?  How bad could it really get?

I am not a financially minded person, so the question is a serious one and I would really like to see the answers that you might have.

In addition to your writen answer, please take the time to use my new polling feature.

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Tags: SamuraiMarine News

My subtitle for this one is:

…Or, How California’s lawmakers prove they have a sense of humor.

So… I will start my post with a question.  What difference have we seen with on the roads with the new law banning the use of cell phones, without hands free devices?

Personally, I have noticed little or no difference in the number of people that I see on the phone.  I have even seen people sitting at a stop light, talking on the phone while a cop sits not even fifteen feet away.

Just for giggles I went ahead and sent an email to the California Highway Patrol to ask them for statistics on the numbers of citation issued to people for using their cell phones will driving, versus the number issued to people after VC23123 and VC23124 went into effect.

To be honest, I was not expecting a reply at all, but I did actually get one.  One that told me to contact a different section of their agency… by phone… whuch I did.  Only to be put on hold for about twenty minutes before I was advise by another person that I needed to contact yet another number.  At which point I stopped.

I know I should have taken this a little further, fought the good fight, and stayed on the trail to get this information.  Unfortunately I am not like the Michael Moore’s of this world where I can go off entirely half-cocked on a mission of little importance for the sole task of making myself look good.  Well… nevermind that, there are not enough plastic surgeons in the world to make Him look good.  My opinion…

No… I stopped there primarily because I was doing this research while on my lunches, and since there is only so much time and I am not independantly wealthy… well, you see my point.  However, if a representative from the Highway Patrol happens to come across this site and this article, and does have the information that I am looking for, then I will gladly post it.

The point that I think I am trying to make, just like the one I tried to make in July, is that this law it pointless.  It is one of those “warm fuzzies” that the law makers like to put out there to make the people think that they care.

I do support the principle that the law stands for, do not get me wrong on that.  I think that the idea is a good one, but instead of creating a brand new law that actually duplicated what is already out there, why not just enforce the laws that are already on the books?  To me, that would be more impressive than making a new law that reenforces another.

Oh well…

“Who am I? What am I doing here?” - Admiral James Stockdale - 1992

Tags: Law and Disorder

There is this show that I like on the Sci Fi channel called Eureka. It is about a little town that is peopled by only genius’.  This town is supposedly in a classified location and built to house the best minds in the country in a place where they can work with relative safety.  All this while the town’s main law figure in the town is the only one without a high IQ.

OK…  My sales pitch completed, I do have to say that I really like the program, in spite of the fact that the characters are stereotypical of most show of this type.  I will discuss my analysis of TV shows in a later post. But the point of this post is that this series has taken the whole marketing and sponsorship thing a little too far… ok… a LOT too far.

You see… one of their sponsors is “Degree for men.”  While most of the time you are only forced to deal with the horror of being accosted by the commercials during the COMMERCIALS, in the last season they have taken to incorporating the commercialism right into the series itself… by making it seem like “Degree for men” is something that the scientists at Eureka are working on for the government.

The show itself is still a good show, but the whole commercialism part is something that kinda wears on me.  I understand that you need to have a sponsor for everything these days and most importantly for a program like this.  But at this rate, I cannot help but wonder what is next.

Will Adrian Monk start making it a common practice to tell his assistant, whatever her name is, that he needs to go take his, “ACME brand Lithium”, because it give him that warm and happy feeling.

Can we expect to see Rodney McKay take a moment to talk about the benefits of his HP scientific calculator or his Panasonic Tough-book?

How about Dr. Cox taking a moment to talk about why he should have used Trojan brand ribbed condoms before fooling around and getting his ex-wife pregnant?

Where does it end?  Will we, one day, see the Presidential State of the Union address start, and the pres will walk out with a jacket like the race car drivers wear, with logo’s for his sponsors on it?

How about laws?  Is there a potential for something like this:  You get pulled over.  The cop walks over to you and says… “I would like to let you that your left tail light is out, and your ticket is brought to you today by the fine folks over at ACME tail lights and electrical repair.”

Oh well… I am going off on a tangent here… If you get a chance, watch Eureka… it is a good show, but just be ready for the commercialism.

For a taste of what I am talking about, click here.

Tags: Television

There has been a trend coming back around that I am actually liking.  It is the return of the “Pin-up” style of art and women’s clothing.

There are probably those of you out there that do not know what I am talking about, at least not with the term “pin-up”.  Though you have probably seen it several times, you just do not know what I am talking about.

“Pin-up” is a style of art that involves women that are scantily clad, at least by the standards of the 1940s and 1950s.  Art that adorned the noses of several hundred bombers over Europe and the pacific and in the pockets of the soldiers that fought the ground war.  Images that made women like Rita Hayworth and Bettie Page more famous to some soldiers than their movies did.

In fact, there appears to be a whole new class of this style of dress and photo-art that is making the rounds.  Some of it I like and some of it I am not so fond of, especially the ones with the women who are also sporting lots of tattoos.  That is not to say that they are not attractive, they are just not what I find attractive.

The new models that are making this style popular are people like:

Dayna DeLux

Heidi Van Horn - A few Tattoos, but still lovely

Bettina May

and

Amy - Again… a couple tattoos, but nothing overdone.

What really tickles me is that to this day, there are still people that consider this art a form of pornography or somehow ranks as smut.  I beg to differ, I think that the human body is a work of art.  These ladies do what they do because the have the bodies, as I am sure the minds, to do it and do it well.  They also show, through most of their work, that it is not what you DO see that can be a turn on, but what you cannot see and must be left to the imagination.