Steamd

Thanks to memo released by the Obama administration, we now learn that at least two suspected al Qaeda leaders were waterboarded at least 266 times. Here’s how I feel about torture…

I don’t believe that torture should be used no matter what the circumstances. This is real life dealing with real human beings. This isn’t an “us vs. them” issue. It’s an issue of humanity. This isn’t the TV show “24“. People really need to get that kind of destructive thinking out of their heads.

The so-called “War on Terror” isn’t about fighting terrorists as much as it is about fighting an ideology. In order to fight an ideology you have to refrain from activities that the enemy is accusing you of doing. By committing any acts of torture we are only adding fuel to the flames.

Think of it like this: Allowing torture in certain circumstances is the equivalent of Mahandas Gandhi saying that there are times when it’s ok to shoot someone with a gun in self defense. To fight terror you have to change the way you think and take a much more worldly view of the problem. This isn’t an issue that you can make go away by simply torturing and bombing suspected and/or known terrorists.

Knowing that the Bush administration allowed for this level of torture does nothing but illustrate just how much of a failure the Bush administration was on the war against terror.

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What occurred at the University of Utah is scary. I mean, the Conficker worm could be a lot worse that it is. Even now, nobody is really sure what kind of damage the worm is capable. Here’s the really scary part:

University health sciences spokesman Chris Nelson said the outbreak of the Conficker worm, which can slow computers and steal personal information, was first detected Thursday. By Friday, the virus had infiltrated computers at the hospitals, medical school, and colleges of nursing, pharmacy and health.

It infiltrated computers at a hospital? Holy shnikes, that’s scary! Can you imagine all the problems that would occur if patient data and medical records were compromised? I’m sure it wouldn’t be that big of a problem, but I bet some patients wouldn’t find it funny.

The staggering reality of the Conficker worm is that at least one in every three Windows-based PC’s are susceptible to the worm. Why? It all boils down to people not keeping their computers up to date. Either they’re not installing the updates or they’re ignoring them. How many times have you looked on someone’s Windows machine only to see that yellow shield glaring at you in the system tray? Also, how many times have you noticed that someone’s antivirus software is out of date? It’s ridiculous considering the sheer number of people who don’t keep their systems up to date.

The Conficker worm is just one more thing that shows just how much Windows is due for a serious overhaul. Those that don’t know well enough to keep their systems up to date would fare better with a Mac or Linux system. Granted, no system is 100% safe but at least with a Mac you don’t have to worry as much about this stuff.

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AppleInsider reports that Apple retail stores are finally looking to move away from their Windows Mobile-based handheld checkout devices for a system that revolves around the iPod Touch. I’ve always thought it was weird that Apple had to use a Windows-based POS system in their stores. There’s a bit of an irony there. So, yeah, it’s good to hear that they’re finally able to eat their own dogfood.  ;)

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Wrote a lot of comments on theAppleBlog about the latest Microsoft ad.

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I swear, I wonder why my wife and I live in Farmers Branch. Thanks to our lovely mayor, Tim O’Hare, our city has to pay out a million dollars in fines due to the shitty way he and the rest of city hall dealt with some stupid immigration laws they were trying to pass. Sorry, Timmy, but regardless of how you feel you’re not above the Federal government! So now our city is forced to pay out a million dollars of our taxes to the advocacy groups who paid out the ass to ensure that Farmers Branch didn’t pass these laws. Thanks, Tim, for wasting our tax dollars for no reason. Very much appreciate it.  

And here’s the part that really gets under my skin:

“Mayor Tim O’Hare did not return a call for comment Wednesday to The Associated Press.”

Yeah, when you have nothing to say, no real answer, and no way to defend yourself, you go hide in your hole and refuse to answer to the press for your actions. Good job. Tim, I think you owe it to the city that elected you to step up, be a man, and take the heat. Otherwise, your city is gonna look really bad publicity wise. 

Since 2006, the city has spent some $2 million on legal fees related to illegal immigration rules and rental ordinances it has not been able to enforce, the newspaper reported.

So with the recent fees, does that mean our city has spent $3 million on this nonsense?  Argh!  There are far more productive projects to spend $3 million on, Tim. Immigration might be a hot topic in this country but it’s not up to Farmers Branch to lead the charge in change. Want to really change things? How about putting together a coalition between other cities in Texas and other states and rally our Senators and Representatives to actually represent us and put up bills to change things. Ever thought about that? It’s called the internet, Tim!  And theres this thing on it called social networking! Use it, dumbass!

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