Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Among the Living: Another one bites the dust

Vale Lobby Loyde. A great Australian guitarist.

However, it means that JadF and I have got our first points in the deadpool competition. A 65 year old male gets 18 points.


It's quite a weird feeling hearing about someones death knowing that it will help you in your quest to win a competition.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Conspiracy theory

This is taken straight from websurdity.com. I think that the author may have something here. It also sounds like another familiar conspiracy theory going around...

Was the Death Star attack an inside job?

We’ve all heard the “official conspiracy theory” of the Death Star attack. We all know about Luke Skywalker and his ragtag bunch of rebels, how they mounted a foolhardy attack on the most powerful, well-defended battle station ever built. And we’ve all seen the video over, and over, and over, of the one-in-a-million shot that resulted in a massive chain reaction that not just damaged, but completely obliterated that massive technological wonder.

Like many citizens of the Empire, I was fed this story when I was growing up. But as I watched the video, I began to realize that all was not as it seemed. And the more I questioned the official story, the deeper into the rabbit hole I went.

Presented here are some of the results of my soul-searching regarding this painful event. Like many citizens, I have many questions that I would like answered: was the mighty Imperial government really too incompetent to prevent a handful of untrained nerf-herders from destroying one of their most prized assets? Or are they hiding something from us? Who was really behind the attack? Why did they want the Death Star destroyed? No matter what the answers, we have a problem.

Below is a summary of my book, Uncomfortable Questions: An Analysis of the Death Star Attack, which presents compelling evidence that we all may be the victims of a fraud of immense proportions.



1) Why were a handful of rebel fighters able to penetrate the defenses of a battle station that had the capability of destroying an entire planet and the defenses to ward off several fleets of battle ships?

2) Why did Grand Moff Tarkin refuse to deploy the station’s large fleet of TIE Fighters until it was too late? Was he acting on orders from somebody to not shoot down the rebel attack force? If so, who, and why?

3) Why was the rebel pilot who supposedly destroyed the Death Star reported to be on the Death Star days, maybe hours, prior to its destruction? Why was he allowed to escape, and why were several individuals dressed in Stormtrooper uniforms seen helping him?

4) Why has there not been an investigation into allegations that Darth Vader, the second-ranking member of the Imperial Government, is in fact the father of the pilot who allegedly destroyed the Death Star?

5) Why did Lord Vader decide to break all protocols and personally pilot a lightly armored TIE Fighter? Conveniently, this placed Lord Vader outside of the Death Star when it was destroyed, where he was also conveniently able to escape from a large-sized rebel fleet that had just routed the Imperial forces. Why would Lord Vader, one of the highest ranking members of the Imperial Government, suddenly decide to fly away from the Death Star in the middle of a battle? Did he know something that the rest of the Imperial Navy didn’t?


6) How could any pilot shoot a missile into a 2 meter-wide exhaust port, let alone a pilot with no formal training, whose only claim to fame was his ability to “bullseye womprats” on Tatooine? This shot, according to one pilot, would be “impossible, even for a computer.” Yet, according to additional evidence, the pilot who allegedly fired the missile turned off his targeting computer when he was supposedly firing the shot that destroyed the Death Star. Why have these discrepancies never been investigated, let alone explained?

7) Why has their been no investigation into evidence that the droids who provided the rebels with the Death Star plans were once owned by none other than Lord Vader himself, and were found, conveniently, by the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, and who is also believed to be Lord Vader’s son? Evidence also shows that the droids were brought to one Ben Kenobi, who, records indicate, was Darth Vader’s teacher many years earlier! Are all these personal connections between the conspirators and a key figure in the Imperial government supposed to be coincidences?

8) How could a single missile destroy a battle station the size of a moon? No records, anywhere, show that any battle station or capital ship has ever been destroyed by a single missile. Furthermore, analysis of the tape of the last moments of the Death Star show numerous small explosions along its surface, prior to it exploding completely! Why does all evidence indicate that strategically placed explosives, not a single missile, is what destroyed the Death Star?

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Shamocracy

The new electoral roll laws coming into effect tomorrow are, I feel, dodgy. They are supposed to limit electoral fraud. In effect, they make it harder to participate in the democratic process. Also, there are some interesting riders accompanying these changes. Here are two amendments.

-Increase the threshold for donating anonymously to political parties from the old limit of $1,500 to $10,000. Donors and recipients will not have to identify the donor's name for donations under this amount.

-Increase the level of tax deductible contributions from old limit of $100 per year to $1500 per year.

This increase is huge!
Why the hell should there be tax relief donating to a political party? Which party's members may benefit from these changes the most, I wonder?
For an interesting read, have a look at the commentary by Norm Kelly, a politics teacher at ANU and former member of the Western Australian parliament. He makes an interesting point that a person could contribute to the same political party at the state level and the federal level, totalling $90,000, without having to disclose it.

Why is there so little scrutiny and critical analysis in the press about these changes? Just another example of how todays journalists no longer practise journalism. The job now involves just rehashing press releases.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Wrestle-tastic

I joined a-man at a Wrestlemania shindig and it was superb. I haven't watch pro-wrestling in a while and it was so good to see the crazy action again.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was at his finest and was wearing a t-shirt that sported a simple yet eloquent phrase.



I immediately wanted one of those t-shirts. Then I got to thinking (rare, I know). This idea can be adapted. Start with a plain version:



then customise it to suit the occasion. For example, a nerd may have:



and this one applies to some people at parties:



The possibilities are endless......

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Whatareya....

Here are four reasons why I don't have a myspace...
Reason No 1.
Reason No 2.
Reason No 3.
Reason No 4.