If  hate crimes were in place to stop racism, then tell me why so many so-called “hate crimes” are actually not labeled as hate crimes. Oh, don’t get me wrong, if it’s a white person assaulting a minority, it’s a hate crime. But the other way around? Of course it’s hardly ever labeled as a hate crime.

Cleveland, Ohio. A white man on a moped accidentally bumped into a truck being driven by a black man. He fell over but was not injured. A crowd of 40 white people pulled the black driver from the truck and brutally beat him. One of them climbed in the truck and ran over the driver, killing him. The crowd cheered.

Jacksonville, Florida. A group of four to six white men agreed that they would brutalize the next black person they saw walking down the street. That person turned out to be a mentally disabled 50-year-old, whom they beat and stomped into unconsciousness. He later died of his injuries.

Are you surprised that you’ve never heard of these sickening murders based on racial hatred? You didn’t see saturation coverage on the news. You didn’t hear politicians decrying racism. You didn’t see a livid Jesse Jackson on CNN. Why? Because these acts of brutality didn’t happen exactly as I described above. Oh, they happened, all right. The only thing is, the races of the attackers and victims were reversed. That is, a white man was beaten and then crushed by a mob of 40 black people who were furious that a black man bumped into his truck.

Now, the fact that hate crimes seem to be a one way street in and of itself should be reason enough to repel them from law; however, an ever bigger factor is the fact that hate crimes promote and even encourage racism. How can you say that you can not believe that there is still racism in this country? The fact that there are hate crime laws on the books, prove that racism will be alive for a long time to come. Think about it rationally: If we simply tossed out “hate crime” laws, then the only crimes that people could commit would be crimes against other people, not crimes against other races, religions, etc. A person wouldn’t be committing a crime  against someone of another race, religion, gender, or orientation. Instead, They would be committing a crime against another person, just like them. This simple fact puts the person committing the crime level with the person he is hurting in some form. No more of this, “Well, he robbed my house because he has a deep hatred of black people. It’s a hate crime!” Instead it now becomes, “That man over there robbed my house. Can you charge him with stealing?”

The way the news can portray these crimes now is not helping the racism issue in this country. If anything, it’s encouraging racism. If a Hispanic sees another Hispanic assaulted by a person of a different race on TV, and that person being charged with a hate crime, it might encourage the fact that that particular race must be biased against Hispanics. On the other hand, if you have the crime portrayed as an assault from one human being against another human being, it becomes easier to sympathize with the victim and hate the single person committing the crime. Instead of sympathizing with the victim and begrudging the entire race that the person committing the crime is a part of.

Raid at Elk Lake, Ontario

Why are so many people for continuing the drug war? Honestly, did prohibition work? Of course not. Sure, drinking subsided at first, but then alcohol consumption rose. In addition to that, was the beginning of a high level of organized crime. Kind of like the organized crime that is around today caused by the prohibition of drugs: Drug cartels. What’s the best way to get rid of them? Oh, I know! Arrest them for tax evasi—wait, that won’t work. The actual way to hurt the drug cartels is to legalize drugs; stop what they do best. In fact, simply from the current legalization of marijuana in some states, for medicinal purposes, drug cartels are starting to hurt. Imagine how we could run them straight out of business if we simply took away their way of life.

Why does it seem to be a common thought that if we legalize drugs in this country that everyone will walk around stoned? The people who are interested in doing drugs, are already participating, and these people are going to continue to do drugs anyway. There is no stopping it. Looking at alcohol as an example again, there are many people who do not drink, for whatever reason, even though it is a perfectly legalized activity. The same can be said about drug prohibition. The people who don’t participate in drug-related activities today most likely won’t participate in those activities if they are made legal. Have you ever heard someone say, “No, I don’t want any of your dope because that’s illegal, and we might get in trouble?”

Narcotics smugglers destroying evidence

We the people, of the United States of America spend $6,245,301,475 per year on people in prison due to drug related crimes. Not to mention how much money and resources are used in attempting to catch so-called drug offenders. Just imagine how we could turn that decently sized deficit into a pretty good profit. The United States is passing up a pretty good opportunity to rake in the taxes from the sale of drugs. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not for making the taxes on drugs ridiculous, such as they are on tobacco, as a tool to try to persuade the citizens of this country to not do something. I think it is wrong for the government to discourage a behavior through taxes. With that being said, the government does have the right to tax the people, and they should tax drugs and get revenue that way.

Prohibition in the 1920’s didn’t work (that’s why it was repelled), and it continues to be a gigantic failure to this day. The only answer is the legalization of drugs. This will the country money, in the long run, and destroy the fabric that holds the drug cartels together.

About 10 minutes later, Wolf attempts to ask Falcon again:

A popular point of “evidence” is that we were all excited and happy with sending people to the moon, for a while. But then, it abruptly stopped. Just, stopped. And why haven’t we tried to construct anything on the moon, yet we thought it was an excellent idea to build a space station hurling at 17,000 MPH. Interesting.

Another piece of evidence is the fact that in 1994, a satellite took 1.8 million images while traveling around the moon. 170,000 of those were made public, the rest were classified. Wait, why?

According to Above Top Secret, there are some interesting photos that some say prove this theory. (These pictures come directly from ATS.)

It is reported that these pictures were taken on December 24, 1966, on a Russian space mission. Bizarre.

An even more incriminating peace of evidence, however, is the face that Neil Armstrong says that there is an alien presence on the moon. Take a look at this communication exchange while he was on the moon:

NASA: What’s there? Mission Control calling Apollo 11.

Apollo 11: These “Babies” are huge, Sir! Enormous! OH MY GOD! You wouldn’t believe it! I’m telling you there are other spacecraft out there, Lined up on the far side of the crater edge! They’re on the Moon watching us!

According to reports, the Apollo 11 astronauts witnessed a mining operation being undertaken by aliens on the moon. And reported on rumormillnews.com, is this:

Chatelain claims that “all Apollo and Gemini flights were followed, both at a distance and sometimes also quite closely, by space vehicles of extraterrestrial origin – flying saucers, or UFOs, if you want to call them by that name. Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed Mission Control, who then ordered absolute silence.” He goes on to say:

“I think that Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 was the first of the astronauts to use the code name ‘Santa Claus’ to indicate the presence of flying saucers next to space capsules. However, his announcements were barely noticed by the general public. It was a little different when James Lovell on board the Apollo 8 command module came out from behind the moon and said for everybody to hear: ‘PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS.’ Even though this happened on Christmas Day 1968, many people sensed a hidden meaning in those words.”

And finally, a professor interviewed Neil Armstrong:

Professor: What REALLY happened out there with Apollo 11?

Armstrong: It was incredible, of course we had always known there was a possibility, the fact is, we were warned off [by the aliens]! There was never any question then of a space station or a moon city.

Professor: How do you mean “warned off”?

Armstrong: I can’t go into details, except to say that their ships were far superior to ours both in size and technology Boy, were they big, and menacing! No, there is no question of a space station.

Professor: But NASA had other missions after Apollo 11?

Armstrong: Naturally, NASA was committed at that time, and couldn’t risk panic on Earth. But, it really was a quick scoop and back again.

Let’s hear what you think in the comments.

Attention Readers

We try to write on different topics each day, and take the weekends easy, so finding time to write on something you want and get your post up in a reasonable timeframe shouldn’t be as hard as other new and upcoming blogs.

We need you here at Jibbli, diversity is good, and no matter who you are, no matter the race, religion, culture, or view and beliefs, we would like to utilize your temperaments, talents and convictions in our site, and make it the best dang thing this side of the computer screen.

If you are interested in joining our team in expediting the progress of Jibbli, please feel free to contact me at admin [at] jibbli [dot] com, and we’d be more then happy in helping you become the newest writer of this wonderful blog.

This week, I found the stupid blog post 2 searches on Google Blog Search. This person, or group of people, supposedly tons of reasons why Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Ironic, considering escalating a war in the Middle East doesn’t exactly fall into what the committee would normally define “peace” as, nor does it confirm that Obama makes good on his promises. But, enough from me, let’s get to the post. (The post is written by The Kansas City Star Editorial Board, which at first glance looked like they were calling themselves the Star Editorial Board of Kansas City.)

http://voices.kansascity.com/node/6163 – I only ask of you one thing: If you give these blogtards hits by clicking on the link, at least toss them a comment telling them why they’re wrong.

Now, this is the part that I had planned on analyzing the stupid points made by the blogtard in question, and I had tons and tons of ideas as I read this post, until I reached the last line of their horribly spliced together mess:

“And, sometimes, hope is worth rewarding.”

And that, my friends, is the perfect way to define blogtard.

So, how does he suggest that he travels in time? Back to the Future style of course! That’s right, he drops his time machine into the back of a 1967 Corvette. Personally, I think the Delorean is cooler. He has a few pictures that are supposed to prove that his time machine is, in fact, working. For instance, this picture of a bent laser beam.

Apparently, the cameras from 2036 don't take pictures like the ones in 2009

As you may, or may not be able to tell from the horrible quality in the picture, the laser beam is bent. What is causing this? Well, Titor claims that it is caused by gravity created by the time machine, and that you can see the laser beam because of some smoke created by the cigar in his right hand. Pretty cool, right? Too bad this picture has been thought to be faked. For one, there is no break in the beam at all from the cigar smoke. For another, I find the lack of mega pixels (especially from one coming from the year 2036) as a way to hide anything that might cause this photograph to be faked. Interesting, indeed.

So, unless he comes up with a bunch of insanely detailed and accurate predictions soon, I’m going to call this guy fake. But my last question is this, “You’re from the year 2036 and this is the coolest that you can make your website?”

At the same time, it appears that we, the United States, are making more enemies than pseudo-friends. Many European countries, including Czech Republic and Poland (the countries that were each supposed to host parts of the defense system), are angry that the United States has shown such a sign of weakness.

Even though the current administration, says that they have opted to build a different system that may include ships and perhaps land missiles as well, there was no clear or exact plan in place. At any rate, the European countries in question seem to be angry that the United States is backing out on a promise to put this defense complex in place. According to Times Online, a former Czech Republic Prime Minister has said, “It puts us in a position where we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that’s a certain threat.”

What is your stance? Let’s hear from you in the comments and in the poll

(NOTE: If you are reading this post in the form of a Note on Facebook please click through to the actual blog to make a comment. http://jibbli.com/2009/09/qotw-missile-defense-in-europe/.)

1. Compiz- This application can be used for all kinds of Ubuntu effects. From wobbly windows, to Desktop Cube (Pictured), to maximize and minimize effects. If your graphic card can handle the effects, it is well worth the install. To install from the terminal type in the following:
   sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager



2. Mac4Lin with AWN – Mac4Lin in not necessarily an application, but rather a theme that makes Ubuntu look like a Mac. This even includes moving the close, maximize, and minimize buttons from the right of the window to the left. The theme is quite impressive and does an exellent job of emulating the Mac. While AWN copies the dock on the Mac, similar to Rocket Rock for Windows. To install AWN in to terminal type in:
   • To install Mac4Lin on your Ubuntu computer first, download the theme files from SourceForge here. Then extract the folder and run the file titled “Mac4Lin_Install_v1.0.sh.”
   • Next, Go to System > Appearance. Then select one of the two themes: Mac4Lin_aqua or Mac4Lin_graphite.
   • In the appearance window, click on the “fonts” tab and change your fonts:
     • Application Font: Lucida Grande Regular 9
     • Document Font: Lucida Grande Regular 9
     • Desktop Font: Lucida Grande Regular 9
     • Window Title Font: Lucia Grande Bold 10
     • Fixed Width Font: Bitstream Vera Sans Mono Roman 9
   • I assume that you are using Firefox, and when you use the default Firefox theme with Mac4Lin I think it looks like crap. So, in Firefox go to Tools > Add-Ons. Then search for a Mac OS X theme and install it.
   • There you go! Mac4Lin should be all configured!

   

3. Wine – Wine stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. However, it does run windows (exe) Executable programs in Linux and Mac. I’ve found it quite useful at times. For instance, I liked using uTorrent as opposed to the default Transmission for my torrent downloader. uTorrent is not supported on Linux, so I simply ran uTorrent in Wine and it worked perfectly.To install Wine via the terminal type in

sudo apt-get install wine

4. Audacity – This is a very popular program that runs on Windows as well as Linux and, I believe, Mac as well. Audacity if a free audio editing program that is perfect for basic to intermediate audio editing. I use this program to edit songs down to ringtone lengths. But, one of my favorite features is the ability for it to remove lyrics from most songs. I used it on”The Other Way” by Weezer and it worked like a charm.sudo apt-get install audacity

Wondering what NASCAR fans thought made the sport fun to follow, I dove into some research. A lot of people suggested that it was the close finishes, and the fact that the cars drive so close together that makes it exciting. But what I have an isssue with, and many seem to disagree, is the fact that NASCAR will throw out fake cautions in order to let all of the cars regroup for a close finish. I don’t appreciate fabricated excitement in sports. So this begs the question, why is it so popular in the United States?

On the other hand, Formula 1 tends to catch my excitement for several reasons. First and foremost, is the fact that the cars are more like spaceships on the ground. They are some of the most technologically advance pieces of equipment on the planet.

Next, is that the tracks are not boring circles. The drives must have quicker reflexes and be ready to slow and brake depending on the angle of the turn.

Third, I appreciate the fact that they are willing to race in the rain. This makes the racing even more intense because even though the drivers use rain tires, the slippery track is still a danger for spinouts.

Finally, the strategy involved in F1 compared to NASCAR is exciting in iteself. One of the rules of Formula 1 is that the drivers must start the race with the amount of fuel that they end qualifying with. So, if the driver has a light fuel load to begin qualifying, in order to get a good starting position, then that driver will be forced to pit earlier. A lot of other F1 strategy comes in the actual building and running of the cars. As opposed to NASCAR, Formula 1 teams keep their designs extremely secret in order to make their cars preform better than the competeting teams. Such as the Ferrari team using carbox dioxide in their cars’ tires. In NASCAR, all of the cars are essentially the same.

At the root, I guess it’s merely an opinion question. Do you find excitement in close races even if they are, at times, fabricated? Or do you prefer technologically advanced cars and difficult tracks even though the races may, at times, end with a thirty second or more difference between first and second place?

1. Get a job — if you don’t have one. If you don’t have you you either don’t want one or are not working hard enough to find one. Don’t make crappy excuses about how that job would suck too much and you don’t want it. Take the sucky job for some income while you keep looking.
2. Charity — Charity is a good thing, however socialism is not. The redistribution of wealth and taxing the rich more than everyone else is not charity. I know what some people are thinking, “If we had free markets, capitalism, and got rid of socialist-leaning policies like Medicaid, the  rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer.” This is, in fact, not true. People  who are in support of free markets, more conservative leaning people, tend to donate more to charity than liberals. In fact, “If liberals and moderates gave blood at the same rate as conservatives, the blood supply in the United States would jump by about 45 percent.” Forty-five percent. So, why do I keep hearing that conservatives are the ones without a heart?
3. Cut back — Cut the satellite TV, high speed Internet, boat, wave runner, new car, extra car, HDTV, or other unessential items. Set priorities. Honestly, what is more important entertainment or your health?

This desire to tax the rich extra just for making more money is absurd. In fact, it’s pure greed. It is a desire to acquire something that doesn’t belong to you, or that you did not earn. Period.

Major CHDK features

* RAW – CHDK can record raw files, giving you access to every bit of data the sensor saw, without compression or processing. Raw files can be manipulated on the camera, or processed on your PC. CHDK also has experimental support for the open DNG raw standard.
* Override Camera parameters – Exposures from 64s to 1/60,000s with flash sync. Full manual or priority control over exposure, aperture, ISO and focus.
* Scripting – Control CHDK and camera features using ubasic and Lua scripts. Enables time lapse, motion detection, advanced bracketing, and much more. Many user-written scripts are available on the forum and wiki.
* Motion detection – Trigger exposure in response to motion, fast enough to catch lightning.
* Edge overlay – Detect the edges in a scene, and display them later. Ideal for timelapses, stop-motion, stereography and much more.
* Live Histogram – CHDK includes a customizable, live histogram display, like those typically found on more expensive cameras.
* Customizable OSD – Improved display of battery status, free space, camera parameters, and much more. Fully customizable with an on-screen editor.
* Filebrowser – Manage files without a PC.
* Games – Play Reversi, Sokoban, Mastermind or 4-in-a-Row on your camera.
* USB remote – Simple DIY remote allows you to control your camera remotely.
* User Menu – Edit your own customizable User-Menu for fast access to often used features.

Up for it? There is a guide on Lifehacker, and you can go to the CHDK site for more info as well.