First of, I think people are scared into thinking that torture actually does some good. Dick Cheney was so blatant in his support of “enhanced interrogation techniques”, and why should the vice-president be wrong? Within here lies the truth: People are being told that the torture used is for a greater good, and that innocent lives are being saved because of these “enhanced interrogations”. The government is never wrong, right?! Well, I believe that all these people are ignorant and just turning their backs on the actual truth: TORTURE IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE!

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. – Friedrich Nietzsche

The use of torture is degrading human society and the morals and standards we should aim for. To inflict pain on another living being is also degrading to the individual, and studies have shown that both victim and victimizer suffers long-term psychological damage from torture. “Yeah”, you might say, “but waterboarding and sleep-deprivation isn’t really torture”. If you actually believe this, then I urge you to watch the video below where the (in)famous Christopher Hitchens demonstrates waterboarding. In regards to sleep-deprivation, I would recommend you read this article on Wikipedia explaining the different effects of this, yes, method of torture. Then, ask yourself if this is an acceptable way of treating another living being.

When it comes to the actual effect on torture, it has never been proven to produce reliable information. In other words, torture has a long history of not working. Even the Catholic Church knew this back in their “glory days”. People are willing to say anything when subjected to intense pain. Again, remember the days when people “confessed” to being witches? It’s the same thing. Torture simply does not work as a tool to gather reliable information.

I’ll leave you for now with this quote from Carl Gustav Jung:

The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers

I know some believe that alien lifeforms actually are responsible for all religious belief here on earth. The controversial Swiss author Erich von Däniken has actually made quite a living from fronting such beliefs. But that is not the question that interests me. I’m really wondering if aliens that are so techonologically advanced that they can travel through space will have any religous beliefs? It is of course an impossible question to answer, but it is an interesting question nonetheless.

I firmly believe that the advancement in a society can be measured by the degree of which that society rely on superstition to explain their existence. By that, I mean that every society that will turn to religous beliefs instead of logic and reason are impaired by default. This, of course, has various degrees of seriousness to it. If you pray to the gods for rain, I don’t think that will impair you as much as if the president of your country prays to Jesus Christ on whether or not to invade another country. So then, what is my point?

My point is this: If it turns out that aliens, techonologically advanced as they are, are not religous, and do not believe in any deities, does that mean that religion as a whole are holding back our next evolutionary step? That is, is religion hindering us a species to become more advanced? And will we eventually, as we become more and more advanced, become less religous? I believe we will! And history proves my point. The human species have gone from explaining thunder and lightning by the hammer of Thor to actually travel to the moon! And we have witness again and again that traditional religious explanations for different phenomena has had to step aside to more rational and proofable explanations.

So, what then if aliens are actually religious? Does that mean that religion is a valid belief-system? Or does it just mean that the aliens are as “dumb” as we are, just more technologically advanced? Well, if I ever meet an alien, I will be sure to ask them this question, hopefully before they completely annihilate us all (in honor of Stephen Hawking ).

So, one day I came across this Youtube clip where the magazine does a review of the Bugera 6260:

I was pretty impressed, and so I spent quite a while investigating this amp, and the rest of the Bugera high-gain amp series (which include the 333, 333XL and the 6262). It seems like the general consuensus is that the amp delivers amazing tone at an amazing price. But, it seems like people are also dissing it a bit for being manufactured by Behringer. Looking at different forums around the Internet, it also seems like some people have had some issues with the Bugera series. Many say that it is a poorly made amplifier, which will only cause an intense headache in the long run. So, my question is this: What do you think? Is this amp a good buy, or a poor one?

Judging from this soundclip which I found on NetMusicians.com, Bugera 6260 Recorded Track, this amp actually sounds good to me. And again, this guy on Youtube performs a “soundtest” of this amp, which also sound impressive for such an affordable amp. So, please tell me what you think, and let me know if you have any personal experience with this amp. Looking forward to hearing from you!

iPad is a magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price

The unbelievable price is the “starting price”, which is the price for the simplest version of the iPad. This version has only 16GB worth of storing space, and supports only WiFi, not 3G. The price for this version, which is UNBELIEVABLE, is $499. If you want the only version worth considering, then you have to pay $829. This version comes “fully-packed” with WiFi and 3G support, and it holds the “staggering” amount of 64GB storing space.

I need to say this: The price is unbelivable, yes, but not unbelievably low. The iPad is, as expected, yet another overpriced product from Apple. Why would you want to spend $499 on a product you seriously don’t need? This product is basically a giant version of an iPod Touch. If you buy the 3G version, expect to pay another $130 for using the AT&T cellular network. That’s nearly a 1000 bucks for a product that hardly does anything useful. Yes, you can use it to surf on the Internet, watch videos, play music, read e-books and play games. But, so can both the iPod Touch and the iPhone. Where is the revolution in this product? The fact is, this is not a revolutionary product. It’s the same product as the iPod Touch, just in a gigantic wrapping.

The iPad contains an e-book reader app, but the selection is pretty low. Only about 60.000 titles are currently available, though I expect to see that number rise pretty quickly. But the real trouble with this device is that even though you can use the Safari browser to surf the Internet, Apple has decided not to support Flash nor Silverlight. So you should expect to see a lot of “blue boxes” when surfing. Even worse, the iPad does not support Java, so there goes another one down the drain. Apple appears to be quite arrogant in this issue. They, of course, want their products not to implement any competing products and standards, but even if Apple likes it or not, both Flash, Silverlight and Java are heavily used on the Internet. They can’t expect the entire Internet to change overnight just because they have released a new product. It will render many websites utterly useless without this support on the iPad. Furthermore, Apple still can’t seem to support multi-tasking!! Why, I don’t know, but this too adds to limited usefulness factor of the iPad. It does not have any USB jacks, and no camera. So, no Skyping for you my friend!! Not that you could use it in a useful manner anyway (without the multi-tasking I mean). Last, but not least, Apple have added their iWork package to the iPad. But, can you imagine writing entire documents or working on spreadsheets with only a touch-keyboard? Sometimes it’s just more useful to be able to use the old-fashioned mouse and keyboard. Apple seems to agree with me on this one, as they will release a plug-in keyboard for the iPad soon (which will just make it into a less-than-useful laptop).

So, what are the more positive things about the iPad? Well, you get a nice-looking gadget that is probably fun and entertaining. And it’s easy to use.  Hmmm… What else? Yes, there are alot of apps to be downloaded, which will surely provide hours of entertainment.

So, in conclusion: You don’t need the iPad. The only reason to buy this would be the “cool” factor. Apple are geniouses when it comes to marketing, and they are able to convince you that their products are “magical” and “revolutionary”, when in fact it’s just not.

PS! Here’s are little joke I found about the iPad the other day:

Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative radio and television host, political commentator, author, and entrepreneur. He is the host of The Glenn Beck Program, a nationally-syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout theUnited States on Premiere Radio Networks. Beck is also the host of a self-titled cable-news show on Fox News Channel.

As an author, Beck has gained success with five #1 New York Times-bestselling books. Beck is also the founder and CEO of Mercury Radio Arts, a multi-media production company through which he produces content for radio, television, publishing, the stage, and the Internet.

Beck has become a well-known and polarizing public figure, whose provocative views have afforded him media recognition and popularity, along with controversy and criticism. To his supporters, he is a conservative champion, defending traditional American values from liberalism, while to his detractors he is notorious for conspiracy theories and incendiary rhetoric. – WIKIPEDIA

This guy has no journalistic education, in fact he was admitted to Yale University through a special program for non-traditional students, but he took one class, “Early Christology”, and then dropped out. So why is he working for a news channel? And why does people care what this idiot has to say?

His political views are ultra-conservative, and highly right-winged. He calls himself a libertarian, but in reality he’s just a right-wing extremist. I wonder sometimes if he even believes some of the things he’s saying… Glenn is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints, which is practially the same as being a mormon. For those of you unfamiliar with mormonism, check out this article on Wikipedia. The founder of this church, Joseph Smith, has been proved a charlatan and hoax, but the mormons still follow his teachings. Furthermore, Glenn Beck scoffs at any political idea that has a hint of socalism, without even considering it to be a good idea. Furthermore, he supports the individual right to bear arms, he doesn’t believe in the human factor of global warming, he supports different conspiracy theories, he has gone on record saying that he’s “so tired of the wining of the victims of 9-11″ and he even called President Barack Obama a racist.

He also supports the idea that creationism, the belief that the earth and universe were created by God 6000 years ago, should be teached at our schools. This is just a ridiculous idea, as there are no scientific fact to support this idea, and there are no valid reason why this should be taught. He says that teaching our children about darwinistic evolution is “indoctrination”, but the fact is that teaching our children about certain religous beliefs that has no root in reality, that is INDOCTRINATION. You can watch this video taken from YouTube, where he is discussing this with another idiot, Ben Stein.

If you’re like me and believe that Fox News is nothing but a right-winged, ultra-conservative propaganda channel, then you should support the action against this TV channel:

• FOX Attacks: They Distort, We Reply
• MoveOn.org
• FOX News Boycott

The Out Campaign is a campaign who aims to make more non-believers, or atheists, “come out of the closet”. Non-believers have always been at the forefront of rational thinking, and this is a way to share your ideas with likeminded people.

Atheist are far more numerous than most people realize, but it is sadly in some ways stigmatized. If we look at USA, which by the way has the separation of church and state stipulated in their Constitution, it is sad that the presidential candidate has to have some sort of Christian conviction to even be regarded as a candidate. And I do believe that many people claim to have a religous belief, or at least state that their agnostic, when they in reality have no such convictions. Why should it be a shameful thing to not believe in an unrational thought? Why is it shameful to say to you don’t believe in any God?

The Nonbelievers Giving Aid campaign is a religion-free way of helping disaster victims, and they are currently helping the victims in Haiti. Too often are the helping organizations of the world connected to some sort of religious organization. And that is fine, as long as that don’t influence who, why and how they are giving aid. It’s not OK in my book to play missionary when giving aid to victims of disasters. And I don’t thinks it’s ok to help people in any way, just to flip them over to your side of beliefs. That is just pure exploitation. That is why this campaign is a breath of fresh air, it doesn’t require you to have any other beliefs than the will to help other people. And maybe, just maybe, people will stop associate atheism with bad morals. IT’S JUST NOT TRUE!!

That song, Board Up The House, is from their latest record with the same name. It’s the first song of the record, and MAAAAAAN, it is a good party starter! I will try to review the entire record when I have gotten through it a couple of times, but so far it sounds really amazing. Genghis Tron mixes a prog-style of metal with electro-influenced elements, and the synth is really prominent. An unusual sound indeed, and and an unusual band I would guess.

For metric modulation to exist, three things have to occur:

• There has to be an exact relationship between two different tempi
• A common pulse must exist between these two tempi
• The name and function of the pulse changes

Watch the video below for a more “hands-on” example.

I
Via: Online Schools

So, I’m neither amazed nor suprised when I come across this: www.ready.gov. This is another government site to keep americans afraid. To quote the site:

You may need to survive on your own after an emergency. This means having your own food, water, and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least three days. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours, or it might take days. In addition, basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment, and telephones may be cut off for days, or even a week or longer.

So what is the solution: Get A Kit!! And then they continue on listing a whole number of items you need to buy and have in your household; just in case disaster strikes. Ok, I can understand this if you live in a disaster prone area, but this is so generally targeted that I can’t help think the purpose of this site is to keep you afraid. By keeping the citizens of a nation afraid, it’s easier for the government to rule. No one will dare rise against when the only comfort you can find is the trust in your government (and in many cases: your god).

And they keep going. Here is another quote from the site, which talks about how we can instill fear into our children:

Ask your child’s school for a copy of their emergency plan for you to keep at home or work.

Yeah! That’s what we need… Alot of concerned parents bugging their childrens schools about their “safety plan”. How about a government site that actually lists what the government is doing, with the option for the public to comment? We could also add the name and address of our nearest representative, and all their contact information, so that we could bug them about what their doing to keep not only the nation safe, but ensure our basic rights.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty – Thomas Jefferson

PS! If you google “be afraid america”, www.ready.gov is second on the result list

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