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steve2470
steve2470's Journal
steve2470's Journal
August 8, 2014
Last Updated 8/8/2014, 5:00:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time)
Location 17.8N 140.4W Movement WNW at 16 mph
Wind 120 MPH Pressure: 962 MB
Last Updated 8/8/2014, 5:00:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time)
Location 19.0N 155.1W Movement W at 10 mph
Wind 70 MPH Pressure: 995 MB
Hawai'i status: Hurricane Julio, and Tropical Storm Iselle lashes the islands
Last Updated 8/8/2014, 5:00:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time)
Location 17.8N 140.4W Movement WNW at 16 mph
Wind 120 MPH Pressure: 962 MB
Last Updated 8/8/2014, 5:00:00 AM (Eastern Daylight Time)
Location 19.0N 155.1W Movement W at 10 mph
Wind 70 MPH Pressure: 995 MB
August 8, 2014
?w=1100
In John 20:29, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This was an issue with Doubting Thomas; it is not the problem that Black Jesus (premiering Thursday, Aug. 7) has. Like many shows with controversial concepts, the Adult Swim sitcom from Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder has no lack of detractors who have not yet seen it, yet still believe it is blasphemy.
Granted, Adult Swim has already given them fodder, in the form of ads and trailers. And the bullet-point highlights of the first two episodes probably won’t do much to quiet the outcry among Christian groups who argue that it mocks their savior and their faith. The show puts the Son of God in modern-day Compton, where he curses, hangs out with drug dealers, changes bottled water into cognac, and smokes blunts.
Black Jesus is not the first comedy to reimagine Jesus Christ for laughs: Monty Python’s Life of Brian did that, and so did Saturday Night Live last year with its “Djesus Uncrossed” sketch. It’s not the first fiction to imagine Jesus returning: South Park did that from the beginning. (So did Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” in The Brothers Karamazov, albeit with fewer jokes.) It’s not even the first TV show with a “Black Jesus”: Family Guy got there years ago. (Even a pot-smoking Jesus has already been introduced, weirdly, by a Seattle restaurant ad last spring.)
Offense is subjective–I can’t tell someone whether to feel disrespected by Black Jesus, and as a nonbeliever I’d be a hypocrite to try. There’s an argument that the fact that someone makes a religious spoof, knowing believers might be offended, is de facto disrespectful of those believers. And there’s the counterargument by Christian author Jay Parini that, like Black Jesus, the Biblical Jesus was also criticized for hanging out with sinners, partiers and prostitutes (not to mention tax collectors).
more at link
REVIEW: Black Jesus Laughs With, More Than At, Its Son of God
http://time.com/3086811/review-black-jesus-adult-swim/?w=1100
In John 20:29, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This was an issue with Doubting Thomas; it is not the problem that Black Jesus (premiering Thursday, Aug. 7) has. Like many shows with controversial concepts, the Adult Swim sitcom from Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder has no lack of detractors who have not yet seen it, yet still believe it is blasphemy.
Granted, Adult Swim has already given them fodder, in the form of ads and trailers. And the bullet-point highlights of the first two episodes probably won’t do much to quiet the outcry among Christian groups who argue that it mocks their savior and their faith. The show puts the Son of God in modern-day Compton, where he curses, hangs out with drug dealers, changes bottled water into cognac, and smokes blunts.
Black Jesus is not the first comedy to reimagine Jesus Christ for laughs: Monty Python’s Life of Brian did that, and so did Saturday Night Live last year with its “Djesus Uncrossed” sketch. It’s not the first fiction to imagine Jesus returning: South Park did that from the beginning. (So did Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” in The Brothers Karamazov, albeit with fewer jokes.) It’s not even the first TV show with a “Black Jesus”: Family Guy got there years ago. (Even a pot-smoking Jesus has already been introduced, weirdly, by a Seattle restaurant ad last spring.)
Offense is subjective–I can’t tell someone whether to feel disrespected by Black Jesus, and as a nonbeliever I’d be a hypocrite to try. There’s an argument that the fact that someone makes a religious spoof, knowing believers might be offended, is de facto disrespectful of those believers. And there’s the counterargument by Christian author Jay Parini that, like Black Jesus, the Biblical Jesus was also criticized for hanging out with sinners, partiers and prostitutes (not to mention tax collectors).
more at link
August 8, 2014
http://abcnews.go.com/live
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
President Obama expected to speak on humanitarian aid mission in Iraq around 9:30 p.m. EST
https://twitter.com/YahooNews/status/497553779852836864http://abcnews.go.com/live
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
August 8, 2014
Shortly before opening time at Foersters Feine Biere in Berlin, the owner, Sven Foerster, is busy checking the pressure on the pumps and the temperature of the refrigerated cabinets where liquid gold is stored. Foerster is a qualified beer sommelier, a man devoted to the preservation of humankind’s favourite alcoholic brew, proud in the knowledge that he’s a small part of a vast German brewing industry. Yet something is clouding that security. He and thousands of others are concerned the country’s energy needs and the introduction of fracking will collide with the business of producing some of the best beers in the world.
“Don’t talk to me about fracking,” he says, surrounded by a treasure trove of boutique Bavarian, Franconian and Düsseldorf beverages. “Beer is a craft that we Germans have learned well, but it relies on nature to provide the products. Hops, barley malt, yeast and, most important of all, water. Poison the well and you poison the product. Our beer is part of our life, our national soul.”
Despite German environment minister Barbara Hendricks’ recent reassurances that most forms of hydraulic fracking will be prohibited until 2021, Germany’s 1,300 brewers worry a long campaign lies ahead of them. Hendricks’ declaration came after pressure from the German Brewers Federation – representing both craft breweries and global players including Becks and Warsteiner – had applied pressure on the government, concerned about the toxic chemicals used in the process of fracking.
Energy experts, including the German EU energy commissioner Günther Oettinger, argue that Germany should keep its options open on fracking when EU states such as Britain and Poland appear willing to exploit shale gas, estimating that the process could secure a tenth of the country’s needs and reduce energy imports, particularly from Russia.
German Beer Industry Takes On Fracking
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/08/fracking-finds-unlikely-new-opponent-262572.htmlShortly before opening time at Foersters Feine Biere in Berlin, the owner, Sven Foerster, is busy checking the pressure on the pumps and the temperature of the refrigerated cabinets where liquid gold is stored. Foerster is a qualified beer sommelier, a man devoted to the preservation of humankind’s favourite alcoholic brew, proud in the knowledge that he’s a small part of a vast German brewing industry. Yet something is clouding that security. He and thousands of others are concerned the country’s energy needs and the introduction of fracking will collide with the business of producing some of the best beers in the world.
“Don’t talk to me about fracking,” he says, surrounded by a treasure trove of boutique Bavarian, Franconian and Düsseldorf beverages. “Beer is a craft that we Germans have learned well, but it relies on nature to provide the products. Hops, barley malt, yeast and, most important of all, water. Poison the well and you poison the product. Our beer is part of our life, our national soul.”
Despite German environment minister Barbara Hendricks’ recent reassurances that most forms of hydraulic fracking will be prohibited until 2021, Germany’s 1,300 brewers worry a long campaign lies ahead of them. Hendricks’ declaration came after pressure from the German Brewers Federation – representing both craft breweries and global players including Becks and Warsteiner – had applied pressure on the government, concerned about the toxic chemicals used in the process of fracking.
Energy experts, including the German EU energy commissioner Günther Oettinger, argue that Germany should keep its options open on fracking when EU states such as Britain and Poland appear willing to exploit shale gas, estimating that the process could secure a tenth of the country’s needs and reduce energy imports, particularly from Russia.
August 7, 2014
:large
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/07/floridas-proposed-redistricting-redraw-looks-pretty-familiar/?lkala
Florida’s proposed new congressional map looks pretty familiar
https://twitter.com/TheFix/status/497494640551936000:large
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/08/07/floridas-proposed-redistricting-redraw-looks-pretty-familiar/?lkala
August 7, 2014
https://twitter.com/SIow_Motion/status/497483364098899968/photo/1
Dog Shaking Off Water, Captured in Super Slow Motion
https://twitter.com/SIow_Motion/status/497483364098899968/photo/1
August 7, 2014
Legislators will convene at noon, meet briefly and then adjourn to let the House and Senate redistricting committees hold a joint meeting to hear legislative lawyers explain their options for fixing the congressional boundaries that last month were ruled.
Florida legislators will convene a rare summer special session, beginning Thursday, with the goal of making quick work of a court-ordered fix to the congressional redistricting map.
Legislators will convene at noon, meet briefly and then adjourn to let the House and Senate redistricting committees hold a joint meeting to hear legislative lawyers explain their options for fixing the congressional boundaries that last month were ruled unconstitutional by Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis.
Lewis gave lawmakers an Aug. 15 deadline to repair two congressional districts — held by U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville and Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden. Although lawmakers have called the session to last a week, they expect to be finished by late Monday or early Tuesday.
Florida Legislature convenes for special session on redistricting
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/07/4275836/florida-legislature-to-convene.htmlLegislators will convene at noon, meet briefly and then adjourn to let the House and Senate redistricting committees hold a joint meeting to hear legislative lawyers explain their options for fixing the congressional boundaries that last month were ruled.
Florida legislators will convene a rare summer special session, beginning Thursday, with the goal of making quick work of a court-ordered fix to the congressional redistricting map.
Legislators will convene at noon, meet briefly and then adjourn to let the House and Senate redistricting committees hold a joint meeting to hear legislative lawyers explain their options for fixing the congressional boundaries that last month were ruled unconstitutional by Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis.
Lewis gave lawmakers an Aug. 15 deadline to repair two congressional districts — held by U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville and Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden. Although lawmakers have called the session to last a week, they expect to be finished by late Monday or early Tuesday.
August 7, 2014
A computer chip designed to mimic the performance of the human brain has hit a major new milestone.
The chip, developed by IBM, and Cornell Tech and iniLabs, is a significant step up from its performance just over two years ago when the project was first announced.
The SyNAPSE chip, which stands for Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics, is now capable of 1 million programmable neurons, 256 million programmable synapses and 46 billion synaptic operations per second, per watt. This advancement points the way toward a future of faster, cooler and more compact cognitive computing in a wide range of scenarios.
However, the development, which is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is still currently limited to the lab.
IBM Unveils Next-Gen Chip That Mimics Functions of the Human Brain
http://mashable.com/2014/08/07/ibm-cognitive-computing-chip/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-linkA computer chip designed to mimic the performance of the human brain has hit a major new milestone.
The chip, developed by IBM, and Cornell Tech and iniLabs, is a significant step up from its performance just over two years ago when the project was first announced.
The SyNAPSE chip, which stands for Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics, is now capable of 1 million programmable neurons, 256 million programmable synapses and 46 billion synaptic operations per second, per watt. This advancement points the way toward a future of faster, cooler and more compact cognitive computing in a wide range of scenarios.
However, the development, which is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is still currently limited to the lab.
August 7, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/08/07/its-almost-smokey-bears-birthday-here-are-some-other-decidedly-less-iconic-government-mascots/?Post+generic=?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
The USDA has a food safety mascot named Thermy. He is a thermometer
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/497421647713165312http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/08/07/its-almost-smokey-bears-birthday-here-are-some-other-decidedly-less-iconic-government-mascots/?Post+generic=?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost
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Gender: Do not displayMember since: Sat Oct 16, 2004, 01:04 PM
Number of posts: 37,457
