Rocket Scientists Annihilate Mosquitoes with Lasers

Neo-Luddites and Modern Primitives are big fans of saying that technology is intrinsically dangerous, a dehumanizing force leading us to an inevitable nightmare scenario equal parts the nightmare futures of Terminator, the Matrix, Gattaca and Pluto Nash. But today, science showed that it is still and always can be a force for good.

How good? How about shooting goddamn mosquitoes out of the air with a laser? That's awesome, I don't care what you say about it.

Naturally, there are better reasons for this technology then reducing one of the most annoying, anti-BBQ insects on Earth into scorched bug bits. It can help with the 1 million deaths every year caused by mosquito-spread malaria.

Which is something we can all get behind. Unless, of course, you're a peak population adherent. But we can't please all of our doomsdaycults, can we?

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Now playing: various artists - Music That Matters, Vol. 139 - Shake Well After Using
via FoxyTunes

More Vapid Materialism

This is going to be the best spent $16 ever.

DOOM

Everyone else has these obama renderings and I've never seen a crowded bandwagon that I didn't mind elbowing onto.

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Rump Roast Beef

This is what I'm having for dinner tonight:

1 rump roast
1 can beef broth
1 can cream of onion soup
1/4 can water

Freakin' awesome.


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Now playing: The Killbeat Podcast - Episode #18
via FoxyTunes

Tide Turning in Evolution Debate

One of the most heated theaters of battle in the Culture Wars has been Evolution vs. Intelligent Design/Crazy Invisible Man Science-ish Stuff. Conservatives in Texas have lost a fight to include critiques of evolution in school curriculum.

from the Austin News:

The Texas vote on evolution was in the crosshairs of both state and national media this week because textbook publishers cater to Texas because of its high-volume purchases. If Texas chose to make significant changes to the science standards, other states would likely be forced to follow suit. The standards, once approved on final reading in March, will stand for 10 years.

Is this a fringe benefit of President Obamas' ascendancy? Signal of a change in the tide? The death knell for the Religious Fanatic control of America and its' society? Maybe me overreacting to common sense prevailing finally? Who knows?

Troyvision 1/10/09

This edition of Troyvision has a little bit of everything. Failed pole dancing, stampeding dolphins, Robocop rap, kittens on a slide, kazoos, botnets, Darth Vader, bean burritos, blast knuckles and weird dresses.

What more could you want?

Denise Juneau and Montana Becoming Less Backward

I'm buying into the hype. At New West, I have a new blog post up discussing the recent swearing in of Denise Juneau. There's been a lot of talk about a New Day for Native Americans and Montana, and I'm drinking the kool-aid on this one. Mostly because it's a good thing, but I think you can read the post to get that idea.

-Troy

Different from the Old Boss

I've posted an article at New West. It's about the new position within our Administration-Elect, the First Americans Public Liaison. Nifty title, isn't it? We don't know much about the position yet, but it's already a hint of what the Obama administration has in mind for Native Americans. Read on, read on...

-Troy

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Now playing: John Sakamoto - Anti-Hit List - Dec. 13
via FoxyTunes

Neanderthal Genome Half Sequenced; Prepare for Gen Mods

It's a well known fact that some of the first things that modern technology becomes equipped for is porn. It was probably some the first public contributions to internet, was some of the first stuff you could find on those hand held mini-laptops and a major force in character design on Spore.

So when I heard that half of the neanderthal genome has been sequenced, I knew that mankind would want to get fresh with this failed branch of the human tree, or get fresh as this long-dead stick of genetics.

Get ready for the hybrids folks. They'll be the ones involuntarily hunting strays and having resource wars with the homeless.

from New Scientist:

Half the Neanderthal genome has been decoded and the rest should be sequenced by year's end, a scientist involved in the project told a human evolution conference last week.

Culture Warriors On the Atomic Scale

Culture Warriors on the "NO!" side of Prop. 8 may take up their morally inflamed arms against nanotechnology, according to a new study.

The Cultural Cognition project at Yale Law School found that people who learn about a new technology often become deeply polarized along cultural lines. I know that this sort of behavior is as ingrained as breathing, but it's still disheartening.

Nanotech! The Devil's Science, or Johnny Jihadi's micro-terror pal?!

from Physorg:

The determining factor in how people responded was their cultural values, according to Dan Kahan, the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor at Yale Law School and lead author of the study. "People who had more individualistic, pro-commerce values, tended to infer that nanotechnology is safe," said Kahan, "while people who are more worried about economic inequality read the same information as implying that nanotechnology is likely to be dangerous."

Fast Food Rots Your Brain

The fine cuisine of McDonald's, Taco Bell and White Castle are taking a hidden toll on bodies. Well, outside of the hidden toll that is a ruined digestive track, diabetes, weight issues and being covered in grease.

You're more likely to get Alzheimer's if you eat at your favorite fast food joint.

from The Local:

“Our hypothesis is therefore that a high intake of fat and cholesterol, in conjunction with genetic factors like apoE4, can lead to several substances in the brain being adversely affected and that can be a contributing cause to the development of Alzheimer’s,” said Akterin.

Fast food is one of the most egregious malefactors of Western society. Low in nutrition, tasteless, addicting, unhealthy and designed for an impatient civilization, it only seems appropriate that it also steals your mind from you.

Grapes won't give you alz, by the way.

Internet Killed the Terrorist Star

When it comes to the War on Terrorism, tough choices have been made on who to ally with. Trying their best to side with organizations and governments who share their interests, the State Department as teamed up with tribes in Northern Alliance to Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi.

So it only makes sense that the new allies in the War on Terror are Facebook, Google and MTV, amongst others.

from Global Research:

They will forge an "Alliance of Youth Movement," said James Glassman, under secretary of state for public diplomacy.

"The idea is put all these people together, share best practices, produce a manual that will be accessible online and in print to any group that wants to build a youth empowerment organization to push back against violence and oppression around the world," he told reporters.

Now, I'm not going to criticize strategies that have had effectiveness against groups like FARC, but the situation in Colombia is light years away from the situation here in America.

Starting a facebook group called "Terrorism Sucks!" and getting a bunch of people to join it isn't exactly winning the War on Islamic Fundamental Militancy. Google bombing Osama Bin Laden doesn't have the same effectiveness as actually bombing him. MTV has never been cool.

This is a pointless exercise in media warfare where it isn't going to have much effect. But whatever. If you want to ostracize Al Qaeda online, be my guest. I just can't help but think that there might be more intelligent uses of that counter terrorism cash.

Trying out some video

So I figured, instead of posting throw off videos every couple of hours, why not make it one simple, easy to watch package? Meet Troyvision:



I'm planning on doing this relatively frequently. A major goal I've created lately is to create some kind of content out of what is otherwise pointless websurfing. I think I'm off to a good start.

Thanksgiving Day

I don't plan on giving much facetime to the Americana Creation Myth beyond this:



Eat up.

Steven Seagal Seeks Small Screen

You can't keep a B-rate action movie star down.

Or is he C-rate? I don't even know anymore.

Not content with the world of urban action movies starring rappers, chopping arrows down the middle or looking like a douchebag in a silk kimono wherever he goes, Steven Seagle has set his sights on television and territory largely claimed as Dog the Bounty Hunters.

from Reuters:

"Steven Seagal: Lawman" will follow Seagal and a team of deputies as they respond to crimes in progress and also focus on Seagal's off-duty ventures, including musical performances and philanthropic efforts in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans.

Is it bad that I want to see this? That doofus Seagle trying to bust out some non-confrontational flow based throw on a knife wielding methhead is just the sort of thing I want to watch on the tube. Why not have some kind of crossover with Dog the Bountyhunter? That sounds appropriately damaged enough for me to get some laughs.

Seriously. He doesn't want to watch Seagle try to use action movie one liners in everyday conversation? Or for some drunk biker to stomp his ass?

I can't wait.



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Now playing: 7 Seconds - True Roots Show
via FoxyTunes

Happiness

Happiness
Originally uploaded by spiraltwist

The Secret is elusive.

I find your lack of faith...disturbing.

Force choking the bastard.
First reaction

This is how i react when someone tries to grab my chest: I go for their eye.
Where's my popsicle?!

He wants that damned frozen sugar.
Wups

Alisson can't smash right.
Luchadore Rotura

He too can smash, often for cheaper then everyone else.
Troy Smash!

I love hulk gloves. If there was ever a product that justifies much of human existence.
How he drank all night

Cotey refused to take his mask off all night. He called it 'identity protection.
M-16 guides your hitchhikers

We told him to look cooler.
Hitchhiker's Guide to an M-16

Aaron went as Arthur Dent from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book series. Again, pointless posing with loose guns.
Out of Context Picture

I was going as Bruce Wayne for Halloween, but we all know Batman doesn't use guns. So we were just pointlessly posing with spare guns we found at one of the parties we visited. Looks cool, though.
Alison Smith as Herself

This is Alisson, Coteys' girlfriend, going as herself.
The Unknown Luchadore

This is my friend Cotey as the Unknown Luchadore, a man with violence issues.
Posted via Pixelpipe.

Amand Palmer Goes Postal

My girlfriend's costume for this H-ween. She looks awesome.
Posted via Pixelpipe.

Al Franken on the Rez

Another week, another blog post that I bug everyone about in hopes of using you all to get me more money.

This latest post marks a small change in my approach to 'Off the Reservation.' As much as I love the long, involved op-eds, they're simply too time demanding to consistently write and still expect to get anything of a profit from New West. So I'll try out smaller posts with links to stories as my main content.

But you're not reading this for my scintillating blog post theories. If you are reading this, it's because you want a link to and brief summarization of my blog post. It's quite simple: I don't think Republicans care about Indians. Am I wrong? Let me know.

My editor made some trims and changes that I'm not the biggest fan of, but whatever. It's still a good piece.

Get with the clicky,
-Troy

American Dream Scientifically Impossible

According to a major nueroscientist, the pursuit of the American Dream through securing our own chunk of the pie is actually not going to make us any happier in the long run. The consumer society is a beast doomed to fatten and depress itself. Our very genetics make the quest for the American Dream a quixotic disaster. Screening for a replacement should begin immediately.

from Wired:

"We've been taught, especially in America, that happiness will be at the end of some sort of material road, where we have lots and lots of things that we want," said Whybrow, a 2008 PopTech Fellow and author of American Mania: When More Is Not Enough. "We've set up all sorts of tricks to delude ourselves into thinking that it's fine to get what you want immediately."

And if we aren't seeing the effects of immediate gratification on a national level now, then I dread to see what happens when the real consequences of a superpower Id nation take hold. It's not all doom and gloom for the shattered American Dream, though. There are ways to work our way out from the false land of plenty.

"America has always believed that it was the perfect society. When you have that mythology driving your culture, it's hard to look around and say, 'Is someone else doing it better than us?'" said Whybrow. "But you can trace the situation we're in to our evolutionary origins. Now that we find ourselves in the middle of this pseudo-abundance, we're in trouble. And the fantasy that we can restart the American dream just isn't true."