the Global Observatory

The server that hosts the Global Observatory has been under distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks since around noon Monday, which explains why the site has either been down entirely or extremely slow over the past couple of days.

Last night, we undertook certain measures to mitigate the effects of the DDoS attacks, but the server is still under extreme strain. The site is presently up and running, but painfully slow at times. The last 2 articles were supposed to posted earlier yesterday but are only showing up today.

The next couple of days will show whether DDoS attacks have been circumvented by our current measures or if we have to do anything else.

Gotta Dodge This Viper

If you cared at all for the original Lake Placid, there’s a sequel going on right now in Maine. Some tool released his pet Gaboon viper on a trail in Maine. The viper is perhaps one of the most venomous snakes in the world, although not very aggressive.

Owning such a dangerous animal is already illegal in Maine. The guy who released the snake in a public place should be given first hand experience of its fangs and poison – that’ll teach him.

Fangs

Ackbar

The University of Mississippi, a tier-3 university according to U.S. News & World Report and not rising up, lost its old mascot, Colonel Reb, in 2006 when the administration discontinued it because of its perceived racist image.

Students at Ole Miss have now decided to recruit Admiral Ackbar to help them with their image issues. They have even set up a sophomoric website to support their cause.

Ackbar is a fictional character from Geoge Lucas’ renowned series and his most famous, and perhaps the only, lines in the Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were the following:

Lando Calrissian: Break off the attack! The shield is still up!
Wedge Antilles: I get no reading. Are you sure?
Lando Calrissian: Pull up! All craft, pull up!
Admiral Ackbar: Take evasive action! Green group, stick close to holding section MV-7!
Mon Calamari: Admiral! We have enemy ships in sector 47!
Admiral Ackbar: It’s a trap!

Apparently, he’s good at detecting traps. Perhaps the students want to warn prospies … Don’t enroll at Ole Mis, it’s a trap to take away your money and graduate you still uneducated!

Koua Fong Lee killed 3 and injured more in what was declared to be vehicular

Poor Fellow?

homicide in an accident in 2006 involving a Toyota Camry ‘96.

He has always proclaimed his innocence and has now seized upon the recent Toyota recall problems to further his case. Apparently, his victims also support him now.

Did you or someone you know killed someone with a Toyota? Hire a lawyer! You just might get the special Toyota edition Get Out of Jail Free card.

Not wanting to be left behind, GM is recalling its vehicles. Gotta be like the Japanese goes the thinking in Detroit. Chrysler up next?

Kern: He Looks Brutal

The jury in the case of plaintiff Michael Mineo found the police officers innocent of the sodomy charges, with a police baton no less, brought against them.

The officer accused of the crime, Richard Kern, has been accused of excessive force before. In 2007, the city settled with 2 men for $50,000.

In this case, a fellow cop, Kevin Maloney, went against his colleagues to testify that he saw Kern violate Mineo.

But the jury wasn’t allowed to take the first matter into consideration, despite the reality that Kern’s prior record of brutality has a direct connection with the case at hand. And, despite the fact that Maloney risked his career by snitching, the jury still acquitted Kern and his 2 accomplices.

No wonder, the American judicial system is considered a joke. On the one hand, convicted murderers are dying of old age on death row, and, on the other, brutal cops are getting away with anything they want.

Sometimes, Craigslist can be more than entertaining, as evidenced by this post:

Are you intimidated by winter driving? What the hell are you doing up here then? Do you know where you are? This isn’t the fucking jungle or desert.

You inevitably pull out in front of me when there’s no one behind me, and you could’ve waited another 15 seconds to not make anyone slam on their brakes on ice and snow. You then continue to drive really slow, say less than half the speed limit. No one in their right mind would pass someone on roads with a 2 ft snow drift in the median during a snow storm. So, I’m stuck behind you until you pull into whatever casino, bingo hall, party, or wherever you’re headed that’s OK be late to. Yes, I realize that driving on slippery roads and in low visibility can be scary, so I appreciate you driving within your limits. However, don’t pull out in front of a car when you know you’re not going to at least go the speed limit! Just wait another 30 seconds maybe (since you obviously aren’t in a hurry anyway), and you won’t ruin someone elses’ day. Also, when you see a line of cars 30-50 deep trapped behind you, you don’t have to speed up, no, but you SHOULD pull over to let some by. You’re obviously doing a really shitty job of setting the pace on this “not-safe-for-passing” road. Do us ALL a favor and let us get to our families, jobs, and real obligations, and pull the fuck over for fuck’s sake! It’s a common courtesy. If the shoulder has been replaced by a 14 ft wall of plowed snow (as we all know happens up here), find a decently plowed side road to pull on to for a minute. Don’t be surprised or offended when you get 25 middle fingers and 37 horns out of the 50 cars you fucked for the last hour and a half that are now passing you.

Here are some tips for you that will make both of our lives easier:

1. Your winter driving confidence will grow 10 fold if you get rid of that 1994 Buick front wheel drive and get something with all wheel drive. You don’t need a huge truck or SUV, but just something that actually gets some traction. Try a used Subaru. They’re all wheel drive, cheap, and fuel efficient.

2. Go practice in an empty parking lot, and see what exactly your limits are and those of your vehicle. You won’t get arrested for sliding around an empty parking lot Sunday evening outside of town.

3. You don’t want to give up your front wheel drive Buick? Get some snow tires! At least for the front two wheels, but better yet all of your wheels could use them. You will be amazed at what a good set of snow tires actually do for your driving and confidence. There’s a reason why they’re popular up here.

4. Wait until the last car passes before pulling on to the road. See above. Shit!

5. Stay the fuck home! Visibility to low? Too windy? Icy roads? Then don’t drive to the casino to lose another $200 bucks out of your $300 paycheck and jeopardize the roads for the rest of us. Stay home and watch game shows and beat your wife/husband/dog or whatever you sleep with at night.

6. Don’t like option #5? Take a cab! Believe it or not, these guys are good at winter driving. They do this for a living and they’re really quite nice people. Besides, the cab ride to the casino or bingo hall will only cost a fraction of what you’ll lose once you get there. Plus you save the embarrassment of getting flipped off by grandma in the Ford Expedition while passing you.

7. Move to the South. I bet you’d fit in there anyway. Not sure what their casino scene is like, but you’ll find some other unintelligent way to lose money. You can keep your Buick, too!

I realize the people who are actually the offenders are probably not going to read this, at least not many of them. First you have to get a computer. Then resist the urge to pawn it for casino money. If you know any of these assholes, tell them what you think about following them at 20 mph on Highway 41 or M28 for two goddamn hours. Thanks!

I’ll see you on the road!

Barack Obama seems to have abandoned another of his supporters’ pet issues – supporting nuclear power plants – by providing loan guarantees for the construction of 2 power plants in Georgia. Obama recognizes:

Make no mistake: whether it is nuclear energy, or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in these technologies today, we’ll be importing them tomorrow.

Interestingly though, the NYT almost immediately contradicted him by pointing out (was this an analysis piece or a news story, one wonders!):

But these reactors were designed by Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Toshiba, and many major components will be fabricated abroad. And nuclear power is of limited use in offsetting oil imports.

Although the U.S. is the world’s largest generator of nuclear power, nuclear reactors provide only 20% of electric output. If the U.S. wants to wean itself off coal, petroleum and natural gas in favor of a cleaner source of energy, nuclear power is the best bet.

At a recent speech by Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., at the University of California at Irvine “raucous protesters” disrupted the ambassador prompting the arrests of 11 students and a whole lot of ill will.

The first issue is the unacceptable behavior of the students. Disrupting anybody’s speech is just plain rude and completely unbecoming of students at a university such as UCI. At a community college, a high school or at any other venue, this kind of behavior could be expected, but not at a so-called top tier university. I have seen orderly protests, which include picketing outside the venue and asking intelligent, pointed questions that get the point across. But, screaming at the speaker during speech? Unacceptable! If this is the kind of students who attend UCI, the institution might as well be called the Community College of California at Irvine.

The second issue is the stupid lecture by the faculty member trying to shame the students into behaving properly. Hey, if they could be shamed at all, they wouldn’t be behaving like this. These protesters are hardly civilized individuals – they can’t be swayed by speeches. A better option would be to quietly walk them out while ignoring the whole matter. But, making those stupid statements over and over again only show the person’s idiocy. This guy hardly deserves tenure.

Thirdly, towards the end (at 5:23 into the video), we can observe a professor telling his students how they should either withdraw from his class or expect to fail their examinations. Excuse me? Behavior outside class, however unacceptable, cannot and should not determine how a student performs in class. The expression of political opinions, again however inappropriate, should never be a metric in examination results. This guy, as above, does not deserve tenure.

Finally, all of the protests, inside or out, were political expressions – free speech protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment. Arresting anybody for shouting slogans is illegal. The arrest of students is even worse, especially when the university administration is involved in the charges. Free speech on the UCI campus is highly restricted as it is. This incident doesn’t do anything to improve the university’s tarnished reputation.

UCI will never be a great university.

Seriously?

Viva Leroy Nash, a prisoner on death row, has died of natural causes. After spending almost $2.43 million on him at $90,000 per year, taxpayers didn’t even recover a cent of that money by meting out punishment commensurate to his crimes.

The man has been convicted of crimes numerous times, including armed robbery, shooting of a police officer and murder after he had escaped from prison the last time. If anyone deserves to be hanged, it was Nash.

Heck, what’s the point of death row if its worst inmates die of natural causes?

Either hang ‘em or release ‘em into regular prisons. $90,000 per year per death row inmate is too much of an expense on the tax-payers’ dime.