Me: And whats this vision clause cover?
HR: Oh, thats for diseases of the eye!

] The destructive power of nuclear weapons is well known,
] but given the United States%u2019 continued reliance on
] them, it%u2019s worth remembering the danger they
] present. A 2000 report by the International Physicians
] for the Prevention of Nuclear War describes the likely
] effects of a single 1 megaton weapon%u2014dozens of which
] are contained in the Russian and U.S. inventories. At
] ground zero, the explosion creates a crater 300 feet deep
] and 1,200 feet in diameter. Within one second, the
] atmosphere itself ignites into a fireball more than a
] half-mile in diameter. The surface of the fireball
] radiates nearly three times the light and heat of a
] comparable area of the surface of the sun, extinguishing
] in seconds all life below and radiating outward at the
] speed of light, causing instantaneous severe burns to
] people within one to three miles. A blast wave of
] compressed air reaches a distance of three miles in about
] 12 seconds, flattening factories and commercial
] buildings. Debris carried by winds of 250 mph inflicts
] lethal injuries throughout the area. At least 50 percent
] of people in the area die immediately, prior to any
] injuries from radiation or the developing firestorm.

A extremely criticqal analysis of current US Nuclear weapon's policy, especially critical of Bush's plan to *increase* our theatre and tactical nuclear weapons.

And before you go a dismiss this as some liberal bed wetting NYT article, it was written by SecDef during the Cubian Mission Crisis, Robert S McNamara.

McNamara: Bush's nuclear policy... BAD!

] Chiune Sugihara (January 1, 1900 - July 31, 1986) was an
] obscure Japanese diplomat who saved Jews during the World
] War II when he was a Japanese consul to Lithuania. Unlike
] many others who helped, he was one of those who appeared
] to have no discernible motivation other than just wanting
] to do what was right, and came to be known as the
] Japanese Schindler.

PBS is running a special entitled Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness, about this diplomat. I like to think I know quite a bit more about history than your average person (having been feed a constant diet of it my whole life since my mom is a history teacher), but I had never heard of any relationship between the Japanese and Jews.

Apparently, a Wall St Banker named Shift (spelling?) who was a Jew personally financed the $200 Million needed by the Japanese for the Russo-Japanese war.

Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness

Busted! Here is the offical transcript, from whitehouse.gov:

Q Do you feel that the number of troops that you've kept there is limiting your options elsewhere in the world? ... Do you feel, as you are confronting these problems, the number of troops you've left tied up in Iraq is limiting your options to go beyond the diplomatic solutions that you described for North Korea and Iran?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I appreciate that question. The person to ask that to, the person I ask that to, at least, is to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, my top military advisor. I say, do you feel that we've limited our capacity to deal with other problems because of our troop levels in Iraq? And the answer is, no, he doesn't feel we're limited. He feels like we've got plenty of capacity.

But today, less than a week later Bush's Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs issued a report to Congress...

] The senior military official told CNN that because of the
] U.S. deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the report
] concludes that future armed conflicts would last longer
] and produce higher casualties.
]
] The report finds that the United States still would have
] the ability to win another military face-off but wouldn't
] be able to build up its forces as quickly as it did for
] the Iraq war.
]
] "It would be harder to sprint that fast," the official
] said.
]
] "What is certain is the U.S. military remains capable of
] executing every mission it is assigned," Whitman said.
]
] But he acknowledged fighting multiple conflicts
] simultaneously can put stress on forces.
]
] "If you're doing A, B and C and are asked to do D, will D
] be harder? Sure," Whitman said.

Spin Spin Spin all you want, but Bush lied. The reporter asked about our ability to engage in other military conflicts. Bush said no problem. The CJC said Well... we can do any military job required, but it will last longer, cost more money and result in higher casualties. IE these other engagements have weakened our capability to use a military option, because now any future military option cost more in terms of lives, money, equipment, and political capital.

Don't give me this "capabilities" vs "abilities" hair spliting either. We have retained the capability of reducing all life as we know it to atomic ash. We have capability out the ying yang.

Plain and simple, Bush lied about how the war in Iraq and other military adventures have reduced our ability to effectively combat actual clear and present dangers.

Bush lied at Press Conference

] Spring Commencement Shifts to Georgia Dome
] May 7, 2005 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
] Georgia Dome
]
] The 221st Commencement of the Georgia Institute of
] Technology will take place Saturday, May 7, 2005 at
] 9:00AM. This spring commencement will be held at the
] Georgia Dome in Downtown Atlanta. It will include both
] graduate and undergraduate students.

Of course, the ceremony is four hours of name calling, however the party that night will more than obliterate them from our memory (and probably a lot of other useless information as well).

I'm hoping it will knock out a semester worth of James Joyce and Smalltalk. Designed for a 5 year old my ass!

Georgia Institute of Technology :: Campus Calendar & Events

] This is a weblog of my current battle against stage IV
] (metastatic) melanoma. I'm John Hall, a 24 year old
] hacker/geek/pilot in southern California.
]
] One of my main purposes in blogging this is to alarm
] people into getting suspicious moles checked out by a
] doctor immediately. If you are even remotely concerned
] about anything on your skin, please make an appointment
] with a doctor today. You definitely won't regret it.

John "Reeves" Hall is a GT grad who was quite active in the LUG and se2600 scene before moving to California to write XBox games.

Though I haven't seen him for over a year, I am proud to call him my friend. Blogging his war takes balls, and we can all learn something from it.

John's War with Melanoma

Slides of Virgil's Datamining talk. Very very cool

Virgil's Datamining Talk @ IV4/OZ1/EZ1

Thank you,
Sherri Maksin
CNN Radio
Supervising Producer

... Apparently I know something or other about Identity Theft. Just need to make sure the show isn't live and they corner me as being an evil hax0r.

Outerz0ne pics are up. In Wilpig's gallery, Anna's pic is currently the top viewed! Grrrrrrrrrrowl!

Wilpig's Gallery :: outerz0ne :: Anna

] The authority to make that decision has fallen to those
] closest to the person who cannot make their own views
] known. First come husbands or wives, then adult children,
] then parents and other relatives.
]
] That is why Michael Schiavo, despite all the hatred that
] is now directed against him, has the right to decide his
] wife's fate. The decision about Terri's life
] does not belong to the U.S. Congress, President Bush,
] Rep. Tom Delay of Texas, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the
] Florida Legislature, clerics in Rome, self-proclaimed
] disability activists, Operation Rescue founder Randall
] Terry, conservative commentators, bioethicists or
] Terri's parents. The decision is Michael's and
] Michael's alone.
]
] Remember the recent debate about gay marriage and the
] sanctity of the bond between husband and wife? Nearly all
] of those now trying to push their views forward about
] what should be done with Terri Schiavo told us that
] marriage is a sacred trust between a man and a woman.
] Well, if that is what marriage means then it is very
] clear who should be making the medical decisions for
] Terri: her husband.

Sanctity of marriage = Michael Schiavo's decision