United States and its handle on time.

Awhile ago I saw the United States wanted to shift daylight savings around because of the belief we can save energy. This belief seems to be fueled by a study done in the 70s that some scientists think doesn't apply today. What do they know, huh? Anyway the U.S. wants to shift daylight savings time in order to get more daylight and save power. Internationally it's supposed to put us out of whack during the time other countries have not changed their clocks.

Basically I thought "OK so it's the muscle bound country changing the way they see time". I didn't shrug it off but I didn't put that much thought into it.

Then yesterday on the front page of the Wall Street Journal I see the United States put a "secret bid" in the United Nations to remove the link of time from the sun...

OK, OK, I guess you can do that, they redefined the second to terms of light awhile ago....no wait why can you do that again? This probably would have screwed with Einstein's mind when he made the E=mc^2 argument. Meters per....whatever it is the United States wants it to be.

Anyway the two people opposing this big time seem to be England (commanders of time with the Greenwich Standard) and astronomers who would have to pay 10 to 500 thousand dollars to modify existing laboratories because of their dependance on todays time standards.

I really think the United States needs to leave time alone. We have already pulled away from the metric system and I'm fine with that, but you don't need to reinvent the second.

China's bid for the United State's oil

"Laissez faire" is one of the most important terms in the history of the United States. Our businesses are allowed to run without interference from the government.

That being said, there should be no one advocating the sale of Unocal to 71% state owned CNOOC Ltd. If we are to support a global market emulating the United States other governments should not be allowed to put their hand on business. If George Bush cannot use the treasury in an attempt to purchase companies neither can China.

On top of that we would be allowing China access to our natural resources. Everyone knows you cannot let another country have control of your resources. Even video games like Civilization stress you to not let other countries just take your resources. Come on people. There's really nothing else to say.

G8 Summit. A Multi-Million Dollar Meeting and for what?

So this G8 Summit was supposed to be used to talk about debt and trade in Africa and the world wide environment.

I don't know where to begin. I guess I'll start with debt and trade in Africa. First of all Africa has already paid for its debts with the millions of lives taken during the slave trade. Second, I somehow doubt a couple days of chit-chat cut short by yet another bomb in the United Kingdom is going to help as much as you'd think. Perhaps the $37 million plus spent on the summit could have been used to help pay debt.
Interesting thing is 18 countries were relieved of their debt. Even more interesting is they were all countries who didn't have the means to pay the interest on their debt anyway. Oh goody you removed the debt from people who weren't going to pay. Big whoop.

The summit is to adopt a watered-down declaration avoiding any concrete steps like setting targets or timetables for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This couldn't have been done over the phone? Why not just get a cheap $20 camera, put it on the top of your computer and go to a chat room?

Good job guys. I guess the saying "talk is cheap" has no place in here, huh? Good Night. Whatever

We Hold These Truths To Be Self Evident...

July 4, 1776

...that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...

Africa - The Western World's Chew Toy

In the coming days, 8 countries are going to meet to talk about what's going on in Africa. The news would like to change the subject at every turn. Bush just wants to misdirect our attention (Who the hell ever mentioned the Kyoto treaty)

An article that claims when you put the Iraq war aside you see Blair and Bush are completely different people. It says Blair is a socialist wishing to save the world and Bush is a "hardheaded realist" It also goes on to change the subject to the Downey street memos.

Many protesters point out Africa will need to be helped over the long haul. Also we need to remember Africa was raped. We don't need private sectors as favours in return for debt relief. The western world's favours were the forced emmigration from Africa. They paid for us, now pay em back.

Bush is trying to stress that he and Blair are not buddy buddy just because of the Iraq situation. He then goes on to say that we are not going to lose money due to constrictions on environmental standards? Come on Bush, stop trying these magic tricks. You aren't misdirecting anyone.

Tom Cruise - from Top Gun to know-it-all

Tom Cruise has suddenly become an authority outside of acting. I hadn't been paying much attention to the man because I don't normally consider the latest celebrity make-up and break-ups to be a number one priority in international news. But when someone decides to become an expert in all things in existence (including what may not be in existence for that matter) I think that is when you should take a step into the story and see what is going on.

A couple weeks ago I was talking among friends and asked "Why don't people ever shoot back at reporters when they say stupid things?" I would think reporters and interviewers would be less docile than they tend to be on television. Tom Cruise has supported the adage "Be careful what you wish for". I have heard of a few major mistakes he has committed recently.

First off he broke up with a very powerful woman for someone I have barely ever heard of (mind you this is my opinion. I am in no way an expert like Tom Cruise is).

Secondly, in an interview with Matt Lauer on the "Today" show Cruise said he knew "the history of psychiatry". Now again I'm no expert but if psychology is like any other field in existence today that is a bold claim. Psychology is millennia old Tom. I guarantee he doesn't know the history of psychiatry. I challenge him to go against anyone who's actually in the field. So I thought maybe he was angry and not thinking.

Yet tonight I see Cruise's arrogance when after a German reporter asked about life outside earth, Cruise had the gull to say "Of course...Are you really so arrogant as to believe we are alone in this universe? ". Tom Cruise needs to remember he is an actor. He is not a doctor, has no masters degree, is not a historian, psychiatrist, psychologist, a Nobel prize winner, a competent interviewer or anything else meriting such remarks.

Cruise, you're a "Top Gun" who needs cue cards. You need to start biting your tongue when the card is missing. When someone needs help in acting go ahead and give them advice. (unless you're already going senile or does that condition not exist either?). When someone does or doesn't ask for help in medicine keep your mouth shut.