http://Predattack.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/28214 this.

It's a rather nifty calculator that takes your annual income and places you into a percentile in relation to where you fit on the Global Rich List.

My annual income being about AUD$12000, which works out at about USD$9000, means that I am in the top 13.47% of rich people in the world, and from this it follows that there are just under five and a half billion people poorer than me.

Talk about sobering statistics.

Interestingly, if you enter in USD$400 000, which is the annual salary of the President of the United States, the calculator places them on the 0.001 percentile, and then states that the calculator can't do sums that big anyway.

(By the way, didn't the President of the United States used to only get USD$250 000 p.a? When did it change?)

At least we can all feel vindicated in our disgust of CEO's getting multi-million dollar payouts upon leaving corporate boards and organisations.
]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2005 01:40:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/28214 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/27552 Space Shuttle Discovery's touchdown at Edward's Air Force base.

The Newsmedia have been treating to the story as a kind of sci-fi suspense thriller, edging everyone on to watch what will either be a (and here's hoping) ridiculously ordinary landing out of the dark Californian sky, or (and let's hope not) a fiery streak of light that stretches across the North American continent.

So as we count down the minutes now to landing, what are your thoughts? What are your hopes for the NASA space program after this mission? And what do you think of the merits, if any, of future human space exploration?

(note: this post will be updated as events come to hand.)


= = =

Don't forget, you can watch NASA tv by following this link (realplayer) or here. (windows media player.)

= = =


It's 7.58 EDT and Discovery is under 1000 miles from Edwards AFB.

= = =

Discovery seems to have made it through re-entry. It's 360 miles to touchdown.

= = =

7.5 mins to touchdown.


= = =

1000ft to go. Everything looks good.

= = =

Discovery is home. The landing looked great, right on the mark.

= = =

So, now the questions begin. Is there still a future for manned flight so long as the most capable vehicle (the Soyuz is only good for transporting humans sans cargo) for doing so is plagued by safety issues?

Will it take a redesign of the shuttle to get ourselves back into space long-term? Or do we need to make the larger leap to Mars?

]]> Tue, 09 Aug 2005 07:07:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/27552 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/27205
So the new site design rocks. My socks. Right off.

And kudos to the webby-minded people who have finally made the darn thing compatible with firefox.

It rocks so much that I think it even deserves a sparkling new post to my TIGblog (so is that what we're calling them now eh?).

Thus, let us begin the new post. And let us begin it, like this.

Some of you might care to know that I have actually started publishing a serial on a fiction website not so far from this corner of the internet. It's a comedy, but I warn you, it is the furthest thing from a reverential look at life, love, death, and just where exactly God fits into it all. Click here to have a read.

I also have my doubts as to whether it is at all funny. You be the judge.

I think the praise I've had heaped onto it by friends and strangers alike has been encouraging, but I'm not giving up my day job just yet. New chapters can be written in a week, or less, but I don't think chapter 4 is going to be ready for at least 7 days. I've been busy, you see.

Anyway, I imagine I'll be posting again here soon. Maybe start up some sort of running commentary on politics, taxes, and all the other nasty things that always manage to get in our way of doing more important stuff on a regular basis.

I'm going to enjoy stomping around this website again.

]]> Thu, 04 Aug 2005 22:31:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/27205 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/25886 Given the large number of UK members here on TIG, has anyone got any info as it comes to hand about what's going on?

My radio is reporting a bus has exploded/is in flames in Central London, and that at least three tube stations have been evacuated, with the phrase 'walking wounded' being used in wire reports and on the BBC website.

Anyone know anything else?
]]> Thu, 07 Jul 2005 05:19:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/25886 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/24838
I can see it now. We could have our own Net50. We could have songs and segments voted on by members. We could even have live webchats. And can you imagine the battle of the bands segment?!? It'd put the Eurovision song contest to shame!!

HeeHee...Nothing quite like the ideas that come to you while you're supposed to be reading up on Media Ownership for an essay that's due next Monday.

(and I'm still blogging over here... )]]> Tue, 24 May 2005 02:19:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/24838 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/24262















Something for you all to enjoy.

(courtesy Google Maps)

From Me.

]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2005 08:15:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/24262 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/21383
Ever since images of combat could be relayed to a nation’s living rooms in real time, casualties have been the guiding compass of warfare. Not only are they the most easily recalled form of statistical analysis of a warzone, but they have the ability to sway public opinion completely. Most of us feel remorse when innocents lose their lives, and there is only so great a burden that a collective conscience can bear until it capitulates into pressure for new leadership and new direction. Supporting the troops is easy from the armchair, but for many, seeing the freshly dug graves with the shiny white tombstones expand from a few to a few dozen is a solemn argument against this (and all) war...

Read more. ]]> Tue, 28 Dec 2004 07:32:00 EST http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/21383 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/20880
Do you want to know what it is?



www.themeatrix.com

]]> Mon, 29 Nov 2004 21:40:00 EST http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/20880 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19839
My (first) blog:


Truth2Truth.


This space will remain too, and will, I think, sometimes get entangled in a web of cross-posting. But basically, I had wanted for some time to give a commentary on a few things I would come across in my daily ritual of searching the internet for newsworthy information, and then further searching for truth among what constituted as being newsworthy.

So you can comment anonymously, or join and become a regular watcher, and if ive given up posting in a week or so, you can officially pursue me with great rigour for having wasted your time.

But never one to hog the spotlight;

How are you today?

- - -
Mike.


]]> Thu, 07 Oct 2004 08:35:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19839 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19502 This is a little disconcerting...


At least its not the third week of October...

- - -
Pred. ]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2004 05:13:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19502 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19240 So I held a stall for TIG at Murdoch College's (it's a high school, actually) Multicultural day this morning, after fighting through morning traffic to the other side of town to a rather splendid looking high school campus hidden away in the corner of the Murdoch University locale.

It went okay, with me distributing all the cards I had made just for the event with the TIG url, and with posters and all sorts of things that student-group that was to be guiding me through the (short) morning adorned up on the wall and desks around me. I also managed to leave behind TIG's 'Guide to Action' with the teacher responsible, and asking her to look through it and see if she thought it was applicable to what her class had/would be studying. If it was, I offered to help get more copies, or hold a workshop for her students, or do whatever else might be suggested, she seemed rather enthusiastic, so will keep you all updated...

Thanks goes to Nick for forwarding on the info...

Will upload photos when I get them...

- - -

Aside:

"if you want the position of God, then take the responsibility"

and


"Ethical Issues in Counterterrorism Warfare" - possibly one of the most horrific pieces of prose I have ever read. I trust you will all agree...


- - -
Mike.]]> Tue, 07 Sep 2004 02:41:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19240 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19074 So if anyone here has ever had a hotmail account in their lives (which is probably most - a lot of people seem to use hotmail as a my-first-inbox experience) you'll know that the 2mb inbox quota can get a little testing as time goes by.

I get about 2.5mb of email a day. That means having to clear out 500kb of email when I wake up, or before I go to sleep. Then there are the people that insist on sending horrible, horrible attachments of 1mb or larger that serves to do nothing but drive me crazy.

And then I found the answer.

Hotmail popper.

It lets you access your hotmail inbox (and associated folders) through a third-party program (i use thunderbird). It's all very magical and works well without problems.

But that still doesn't let you solve the problem of the 2mb storage quota. And no, im never paying anything for the use of email. Ever. Certainly not forking out $39.95 a year of 2gb, just to keep my hotmail address.

- And not when I can use Gmail for free, have 1gb of inbox space available, and can rest with the certainty that soon, with the latest release of the *Gmail* popper due out, I can be using Thunderbird again in no time.

I just love how simple the internet is. All you need to do is wade into the underground to find the program or hack you're looking for and then BAM! - the solution seems to find you...





...then you find out that people have been using it for *ages* and you wonder how far behind the 8-ball you really are...




mike.blanchard at gmail.com

(and yeah am keeping the old address[es] - for now)

- - -
Mike. ]]> Sat, 28 Aug 2004 21:27:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/19074 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/18924 I was wondering why adults seem to be quite at ease establishing youth curfews and, here in WA, it's even spread to advocating the treatment of repeat offenders from age 16 as adults instead of juveniles. Don't they remember how important their freedom in their youth was? Don't they care about ours? Or is it because we don't vote and don't have a voice, or that they think we don't need to be heard?

Anyway, I found an interesting intro. article on Youth Liberation in the ZNet 'starting out' pages and thought I would share it

- Mike. ]]> Fri, 20 Aug 2004 21:16:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/18924 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/18368 On Wednesday the 28th July at 6.12pm, Channel 9 Perth broadcast a campaign advertisement by the Citizens Electoral Council. The CEC is a hate-group composed of followers of the Lyndon LaRouche, who, as labelled in a B'nai B'rith Anti-defamation Commission Briefing Paper of November, 2001, believes in a vast Jewish conspiracy and believes tribal people's have 'a likeness to a lower beast,' and so on...

Below is a small sample of the kind of rhetoric you can find at the CEC's website, which can be found here:

http://www.cecaust.com.au/ (**warning - hate content!!!**)

"4. The repeal of recent fascist laws that have taken away the civil rights of Australians, including the Federal Defence Legislation Amendment (Aid to Civilian Authorities) Act 2000, aka the "Shoot to Kill" bill, which allows the army to use "lethal force" against Australian citizens, and "racial vilification" legislation, such as the Victorian Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, which allows the Establishment to fine or jail whomever they please, using politically correct pretexts."

- The Racial Vilification laws actually deny anyone from, well, racially vilifying anyone else; which is why it is difficult to see any explicit racism within their website. However, documents found in the past that are used at informal rallies of the CEC are quite explicit in their intention.

Given that the ABA does not have authority to intervene in preventing such neo-nazism from being advertised, I would like to know if Channel 9 Perth is aware of the CEC platform, or whether it, as so many of its followers who have fallen for the otherwise transparent masquerade that the CEC employs to ensure its legitimacy, feels assured that it is doing the right thing by its viewers in allowing the otherwise nonsensical rhetoric to be given an otherwise formal platform?

The B'nai B'rith document: http://www.rickross.com/reference/larouche/larouche9.pdf

There are many other print and non-print documents that detail the reality of the CEC.




I never thought I'd see the day neo-nazi's would be advertising on Channel 9...



So sad...

- - -
Pred. ]]> Wed, 28 Jul 2004 07:02:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/18368 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17940
American's are most certainly protected, relatively safe, and adequately warm. Sheltered from the elements, they can look out through a lens of ice and snow and derive some impression of whats happening outside, but never quite have a truly clear view.

As if leaving the mothers nest, those who dare crawl out from the igloo are often engulfed by a world so big and scary and different from the one they are used to that they rarely return, often using what time they have left to criticise those still hidden away inside the false-security of their house of snow and ice.

After all, when the whole world is on fire, there's only so long that a house meant for a long cold winter can withstand the heat.



- - -
Pred. ]]> Wed, 07 Jul 2004 21:19:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17940 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17804 Curious?

The quiz



What score did you get?


- - -
Pred.
]]> Thu, 01 Jul 2004 20:54:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17804 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17696


How do you save the world?


http://www.tolerance.org



It's really that easy.

- - -
Pred. ]]> Sun, 27 Jun 2004 07:18:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17696 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17169



And after nearly a year!




http://beta.imagineoz.com.au

We're going live soon - so tell me if you find anything that doesn't work.

- - -
Pred. ]]> Fri, 04 Jun 2004 20:51:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/17169 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/16839


President Bush has ordered Abu Ghraib Prison to be demolished.

I didn't realise it was the architecture that everyone found so offensive.




- - -
Pred. ]]> Tue, 25 May 2004 06:32:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/16839 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/16802



On Amanda Vandstone on Enough Rope (http://www.abc.net.au/enoughrope/stories/s1115178.htm);

Her:

"We can't afford to give a green light to people smugglers" [paraphrase]

Me:

This country was created by people smugglers, so why is it so wrong now?

I don't understand where this xenophobia comes from. Are we really that backward?

Isn't the greenlight for people smugglers switched on by the continual presence of war, suffering, and oppression, and the quintessential human desire to seek peace over violence?








- - -
Pred.

]]> Mon, 24 May 2004 10:19:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/16802 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/16274


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I hate that I have such a small window of opportunity to make up for the duldrums of high school, and it may yet be squandered by needing to be concerned with the impact of the marginal propensity to consume on the short run supply curve of a perfectly competitive firm, then on how to explain it using calculus, without a calculator, given that I am not mathematically proficient.

I want to learn from a professor why it is that we behave and live like we do, love like we think we know how and cry for reasons we don't understand. Not why partial derivatives are important (though I fully admit that they are) to understanding economic theory, which, by definition, is only an elaborate abstract from a real-world economy driven largely by human forces, the understanding of such lies mainly in the realm of psychology and philosophy.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


I wonder if this means I'll be withdrawing from my Commerce course of my possibly-soon-to-be-single double degree.


- - -
Pred.
]]> Thu, 06 May 2004 00:18:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/16274 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15744

Well...

No example of human faculty, such as gender or race or creed or ethnicity, can ever righteously be made superior to the sanctity of individual freedom and self-determination.

http://www.takingitglobal.org/discuss/showthread.php?threadid=6984tag=mm.nd

- - -
Pred. ]]> Sat, 17 Apr 2004 06:52:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15744 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15485






...would you tell me please which way we should go from here? [Alice]

That depends a good deal on where you want to get to. [The Cat]



- Lewis Carroll

- - -
Pred.
]]> Wed, 07 Apr 2004 09:13:00 EDT http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15485 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15143 Given the furore over Spain's promise to withdrawal troops from Iraq, with the U.S condemning the Socialists supposed 'appeasement' of terrorism, and with the Socialists pointing fingers towards the U.S for 'fuelling the fires of hatred,' I have written the following as a response.

http://www.vibewire.net/articles.php?id=2575

What do you think?]]> Wed, 24 Mar 2004 21:13:00 EST http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15143 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333 http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15022
Yesterday, the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by U.S and coalition forces saw protests across Australia co-ordinated largely by the No-War Alliance. Thousands took to the streets in Sydney and Melbourne, and in Perth, 200 or so people, mostly the regulars, but some young families and first-timers were there too, gathered in one corner of the esplanade in solidarity.

Then Jack showed up.

After serving 12 years of an 18 year sentence for destroying property and abusing mainly Asian Australians, Jack van Tongeren was released from prison late last year. So far he had kept a low profile, but he and his Australian Nationalist Movement cronies, all 4 of them, decided to make an appearance at yesterday's Peace Rally. He was quoted in the paper as saying that the ANM and the Australian Peace Movement had a lot in common.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The KKK is not, will not, and will never be welcome, as either qualified advocates, or supporters of peace in Australia. Nothing breeds hatred and intolerance more than the ANM, the same hatred and intolerance which keeps people like John Howard and George Bush in power.

Naturally, the media paid more attention to the presence of the ANM and the small crowds vocal and boisterous response, rather than the purpose of the rally.

Perhaps Australia is a sicker place than we have come to believe.

- - -
Pred.

]]> Sat, 20 Mar 2004 19:19:00 EST http://Predattack.tigblog.org/post/15022 -31.9333333 115.8333333-31.9333333115.8333333