I caught a bit of this live on C-Span yesterday, and I think it’s about damn time. Of course this isn’t going anywhere, but it’s nice to see my favorite congressmen up there saying what myself and millions of other people think.
As readers of this blog may remember, I supported Kucinich in the Democratic primary (though I didn’t get to vote for him, since he’d dropped out by the time of the California primary vote). While this — as well as his earlier attempts to impeach Cheney — ensure that he stays a bit of an “extremist,” I wish we had more politicians like him.
You can watch the video of his speech in three parts (below the fold):
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Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-06-10 | Filed under: Current events, Videos | 5 responses
For a while, everyone was asking each other “where were you when you heard about 9/11″ “or what were you doing,” etc. While I was alive (11 at the time), I was too young to really appreciate what had happened, so the memory never really stuck with me. From what those older than me have said, I gather that 9/11 is one of those moments that not only define history, but literally make you think “this is important, this is an important moment in history.” You realize the importance immediately upon hearing about it.
Today, I think I witnessed a moment like that.
Barack Obama became the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. The bloggers, cable news reporters, everyone has been and will continue to talk about the historical and cultural importance of a black Presidential candidate, but it really never hit me until today. Hell, Obama has practically been the nominee days now, but today it’s different. It’s official. The Democratic party is nominating a black man for President.
It isn’t every day I get emotional about politics. Generally I tend to look down on it while simultaneously enjoying watching it fall apart, in the same way that someone might watch a car race just to see crashes. Even the civil rights movement always seemed so far away: decades ago, photos and dates in heavy history textbooks. Now, to me, it seems more real.
Of course, in the back of my mind, I know this moment will eventually be trumped by one of the greatest achievements in our country’s history: electing a black man. I believe Obama will be that man. Sure, it’ll be a tough road ahead, but we’re all in this together.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-06-07 | Filed under: Current events, Noteworthy, Opinion | 7 responses
Finally. Now we can all focus on winning the actual election.
And I think we will. Despite the prolonged primary race, the Democratic party is staying strong. Obama offers something new, whereas McCain has practically turned into Bush. I think a bit of optimism is called for.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-06-07 | Filed under: News | 2 responses
I saw Iron Man yesterday with a few friends, and I liked it more than I was expecting to. Sure, it had a borderline-ridiculous plot, but Robert Downey, Jr. was brilliant. He’s has been one of my favorite actors ever since I saw A Scanner Darkly, and his role in Iron Man is the only reason I went to see the movie. I wasn’t disappointed. In Iron Man, he gave a performance that deserved to be in a much better movie, and I think we should be able to acknowledge that. I’m not sure if I’d say he deserves an Oscar, but his performance might warrant a nomination. Or it may not. The point is, we’ll probably never know, simply because most everyone agrees that superhero movies and actors in them don’t belong in the Oscars. They aren’t serious films, or at least that’s the tradition. And in this case, it’s mainly true — Iron Man was not a serious or artistic movie — but I can think of another superhero movie coming out that will be.
In the previews before the movie, I saw a trailer for The Dark Knight. It did not feel like watching a preview for a summer action movie. Rather, it felt more like an independent movie, or maybe a movie from a few decades ago, or even a foreign movie. It was anything but a Hollywood blockbuster, and that’s definitely a good thing. In my humble opinion, The Dark Knight looks like it will be one of the best movies of the year.
Just from this trailer, I can already guess that Heath Ledger’s performance is Oscar worthy. The movie as a whole might even be deserving of an Oscar. Sure, it’s a summer action movie, a superhero movie even, but that alone shouldn’t stop us from taking it seriously.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-05-05 | Filed under: Current events, Other | 2 responses
It’s no secret that I’m an Obama supporter. I’ll support Clinton if she’s the candidate, but I dearly hope she isn’t. I’m not a big fan of Hilary Clinton for several reasons:
That isn’t to say I dislike Clinton. She’d certainly do a better job than Bush, and she has lots of good ideas about health care (an issue I care very much about). I just think Obama should be the candidate, and that this long and bitter primary is doing damage to the Democratic party.
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Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-04-25 | Filed under: Current events, Opinion | 6 responses
Despite the fact that I’m taking AP Environmental Science, I’m really not qualified to discuss the details of the greenhouse effect and global warming. I do know that they are issues with legitimate scientific uncertainty, but also that the general scientific consensus is that they are both happening. So, I chose to analyze the issue on a more general level: motives.
- First possibility: There is a huge conspiracy perpetrated not only by all the major scientific organizations but by a majority of all the world governments for the purpose of crushing the oil industry and raising taxes.
- Second possibility: The oil companies and co. are lying to us in order to cover their own asses, and are willing to buy fake research and corrupt politicians as long as it gets them short-term profit.
I’m more inclined to believe the second one.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-04-07 | Filed under: Current events, Opinion | one response
The PWN to OWN contest is finally over, and Ubuntu has won. Now that it’s official, I’m ready to go gloat on all the computer-related forums and blogs! YAY Linux FTW!!!
I kid, but this contest has prompted quite a lot of flame wars. Since no one seems to actually read up on the contest beyond the headlines repeated everywhere, I’ll go into a bit more depth here.
Basically, in case you haven’t been following it, this is how it works: On the first day, hackers try exploits that require no user interaction with the machines. The second day, the user visits websites and open emails specified by the hackers, but does not open attachments and only uses pre-installed software that came with the OS. The third day, third-party applications are included. Each day, the three laptops are subject to constant and simultaneous hack attempts.
All three machines survived the first day. Early in the second day, the Mac was hacked. Vista and Ubuntu survived till the third day, when the Vista machine was hacked. Ubuntu was the only one left at the end of the third day.
The fact that Apple lost on the second day, before Vista and Ubuntu has been the source of much controversy. I’ve been following the story on Slashdot, and reading the comments there I’ve seen how far the Mac fanboys have been willing to stretch logic and spin the story.
It has been a common misconception that Macs are drastically and inherently more secure than Windows PCs. They might have been in the past, but the only reason they appear more secure now is because they have such a small market share, and thus there are less malware/viruses out there aimed at them. You won’t see me admitting this often, but Vista’s security is actually pretty good. Internet Explorer 7 is nowhere near the best browser on the market, but it also isn’t the worst — and security-wise, it’s doing pretty good (running with limited privileges is definitely a good thing, and those “annoying” allow or deny windows are actually an important security feature). Given the fact that Vista/IE have been the main target for hacks in the last few years, it is impressive that they’ve managed to keep up a higher standard of security.
Ubuntu — the distro I’m running right now as I type this — wasn’t hacked at all. There was a lot of incentive to hack the Ubuntu laptop as well, because it was the most powerful and most expensive of the laptops available. This isn’t really surprising, since Linux is known for security and stability. IMO, the real story is that the Vista machine survived the first two days, and that the Mac machine was so quickly hacked.
So, that’s my 2 cents. I’m happy with my choice of a dual-boot between XP and Ubuntu, but if I ever have to format and reinstall Windows I’ll definitely consider Vista 64-bit. I don’t plan on buying a Mac any time soon.
Posted by probabilityZero on 2008-03-29 | Filed under: Current events, Tech and games | 2 responses
