September 2005


Does anyone know where I could find a clip of the “What is Art?” sketch from MTV’s “The State”?

I have found tha mixing Coca-Cola and Pepsi results in a drink that is very similar to RC cola.

Legend of Galactic Heroes (LoGH) is an excellent anime. It is an epic space opera perfectly suited to the fans of shows such as Babylon 5. Though the episodes are difficult to obtain, since they are not sold in the United States, but you can download them from various fansubbing organizations here.

Rita is a category 5 hurricane accroding to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale. To be a category 5 hurricane the storm must produce 155 mph sustained winds. This list of cat. 5 hurricanes made me think that it must make sense that the number of category 5 hurricanes have increased over the years due to improved ability to monitor the hurricanes. For example, take Rita, has maxed out around cat 5 in the middle of the ocean but appears to be weakening a bit and will probably hit as a cat 4 hurricane. But how do we know it was cat 5, because we had some planes flying over it to measure the wind speed. But 100 years ago we could only measure the wind speed when the hurricane hit, so back then it might have been a cat 4 hurricane. So it makes me wonder how good the records are. Are many of the cat 4 and cat 3 hurricanes of the past stronger in the middle of the ocean where we could not measure them?

While I am on the subject, obesity is not a public health issue. Obesity is a private health issue. Obesity is caused by eating too much, exercising too little, and possibly one’s genetics. Those are all personal and private issues. You cannot catch obesity. It is not caused by pollution or other public sources.

The story about banning sweets in schools reminded me of another issue that I have wanted to talk about, my problem with government healthcare. My basic problem is that my body is my own. I own it. If it breaks down I am responsible for its repair. It is also my job to take care of it. The problem with government healthcare systems is that the cost of those repairs is paid by someone else and that is dangerous. When other people are tasked to pay for your expenses they inherently gain a degree of ownership over your body. It’s like having a car. If your parents are paying for the insurance, then sure your own the car but your parents will put restrictions on what you can do with that car. In effect your parents will have a degree of ownership over it. Of all things that I could possibly own I own myself most of all and I do not want to give up any of that ownership to others. It is already happeningg to an extent. Look at rhetoric around smoking, fast food and obesity. We always hear about the “costs” of smoking and obesity. We already tax the hell out of cigarettes to prevent people from purchasing them. Since these things cost society due to the increased costs in government health programs and this is used as evidence for controlling what people eat, drink and smoke. That is the problem, when other people have to pay for the results of your actions those people will soon start to control your actions.

The governor signed the bill banning sweets and fatty foods from public schools. I have two general comments. First, this is probably a good thing. This will make the public schools an even more horrible place to go and will motivate the students to go to private institutions instead. Second, since the government has successfully completed the task of giving the students a top notch education, I am glad they are focusing on issues like drinking soda.

The California legislature passes a bill legalizing gay marriage and Arnold now has to decide whether to veto it or not. It appears that he is going to veto it. But his reasoning is very lame. He said that since the people voted on it one way that he should just follow their lead. We don’t elect leaders to follow the polls and to do what ever 50% +1 voter thinks they should do we vote them in to lead. He should veto it or not based on what he actually believes is right not based on the polls. In other words, to lead. The importance of leadership has been made apparent in the recent hurricane in New Orleans. The leaders on all levels were nearly paralyzed waiting for someone else to truely lead. That is the problem with leaders who just wait to see what the polls say before acting instead of just doing what needs to be done.