The Sagamore Journal

Let’s hand it to the author of this scathing editorial (read: blog) that was reprinted in the web manifestation of Russia’s storied Pravda newspaper, he performs a ruskie-style working over on American hubris. And his English isn’t bad, either.

Never mind the bizarro photo links on the sidebars. They’re for decoration. An excerpt appears below:

The American Response

So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a “bold” move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too. Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK’s Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our “wise” Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Aye.

I recently read this again and found it inspiring and so, that you might be inspired as well, I now publish “The Strenuous Life,” Teddy Roosevelt’s speech before the Hamilton Club, in it’s entirety.

CHICAGO, APRIL 10, 1899

IN speaking to you, men of the greatest city of the West, men of the State which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men who preeminently and distinctly embody all that is most American in the American character, I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph. 1

Read the rest of this entry »

Moo.

Today we hear news of miniature cattle, designed for the farmer on a budget – a demographic which will continue to grow during the current administration. (The subject of a future rant.) In any case, these mini bovine take up less space, cost less to feed, and produce less methane than your typical Jersey or Holstein – ideal for the backyard or “weekend farmer”.

And lest you turn anti-GMO, or hippie dippy naturalist on me, take a second look. These cows are actually original european domestic stock. That’s right, if you currently waste your money on organic beef or milk it’s too late, your eating and drinking cattle that’s already genetically modified. Sorry, chuck.

TSJ

Mmmm... science.

Not really. The argument about the use of medicinal marijuana has long been a controversial, if somewhat pointless, commentary on the state of the nation. While it is a fairly harmless drug with minimal side effects, suggesting only a vague rationale for regulation, there is also little to no evidence that it displays any medical benefits whatsoever, apart from a detached euphoria that allows users to for a time forget about whatever ails them.

As the arguments for legalization of marijuana are rarely based on actual facts about marijuana, but rather on so-called “moral” or “civil rights” agendas, it can be extremely difficult to wade through the political doubletalk that surrounds the issue, even in highly scientific studies, that are nevertheless open to the interpretation of the reader. Dr. Donald Abrams states: “Although we like to say we separate politics from science, with medical marijuana, that’s really difficult. It depends on who does the study, where it’s published and what their agenda is.”

TSJ

I must continue to report the Wenatchee boy, Tyler Farrar, is continuing to tear up the Giro with his powerful sprint finishes. This report from Cycling News gives an account of his latest success.

Real men wear lycra.

TSJ

The American political pendulum may have reached an apex. There is so little room on the Democrat side of the ballot in Allentown, PA, that Democrats are attempting the break into the Republican Primary System. This could also be a reflection of the fractionation of the Republican base in Pennsylvania, but as of right now City Council President Michael D’Amore may end up as both the Republican and Democratic candidate this November. A sad day for the Republic.

TSJ

It was widely considered for many years that the world’s largest and most dangerous lizard, the Komodo Dragon of Indonesia, had necrotic bites swarming with millions of deadly bacteria that would turn bite-wounds septic and slowly and painfully kill its prey. It has recently been discovered that Komodo Dragons in fact have hemotoxic venom that accomplishes the slow, painful killing without the help of bacteria whatsoever.

This leads to another frightening conclusion: that the now extinct giant lizard, Megalania prisca, estimated at lengths of up to seven meters, was quite possibly also poisonous. This monster was known to have existed in Australia and Indonesia as recently as 40,000 years ago, and is an excellent candidate for the dragon legends that permeate Asian culture.

TSJ

You might think that a perfectly proportioned supermodel, barely covered in sequined lace or swirling body paint, walking seductively down a catwalk would be the centerpiece of any nerd’s dream world, but Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (we will call them JaNInAdIST for the sake of brevity) thinks otherwise. JaNInAdIST has built a 5′0″, 95lb robotic fashion model, capable of melding the grace and style of the world’s most beautiful women with the potential for solving complex multi-variable derivatives in mere fractions of the time it would take a mere mortal supermodel.

TSJ

A recent article  (Update) in Wired highlights the quality of network data harvested by one company, Arbor Networks. Arbor produces a service called ATLAS that is essentially the threat barometer for the world’s ISPs. Luckily for us they display some of the most interesting information for free!

Adam’s note that hundreds of thousands could be hacking away at Americas internet defenses seemed outlandish, but this site gives reason to think it might not be so.

ATLAS’s summary report (24hrs) on global attacks shows China in astounding dominance with a mammoth 64% of attacks per subnet (A logical and often physical separation of a larger network.)

http://atlas.arbor.net/summary/attacks

Look at um go!

What is even more damning is China’s dominance of host sponsored attack. Of the top 10 hosts, 9 originate in China.

With such overwhelming evidence of hacking activity, I wonder if China’s government is turning a blind eye to a growing monster. It this trend continues the world might have something pretty massive to deal with. And if government sponsored, doubly so.

It’s been a week since my last post, and I’m not sure to where the time has evaporated. The week has been spent working and schooling and doing some bike riding, which has left the legs a little woozy, and after last year I’m a little disappointed that I can’t just jump on the bike and ride 100 miles without blinking an eye. Of course, I seem to recall it was never that easy… I’m feeling confident that this year’s races will be fantastic. The sun is shining on a regular basis, and the prospect of jumping on the bike for two or three hours is looking more and more appealing. The pool has been treating me pretty well too, and running continues to get more comfortable.

I have a bit of inspiration that Tyler Farrar is again in the cycling news with a fifth place finish in the first road stage of the Giro d’Italia, one of the Grand Tours of Europe. Although, the velocity at which these supermen race make my paltry efforts at speed almost laughable. On a pleasant note, I am starting to feel less like I’m going to die a bloody and painful death while riding on my aerobars.

TSJ

…all aimed at American infrastructure. This is the equivalent of the recent and growing development of China’s campaign of grass-roots, internet warfare. The decades since the political readjustment that followed the Tienanmen massacre in 1989 have demonstrated that China, while willing to do just about anything to compete in a capitalist world, will not cease in its desire to control every domestic news outlet, political organization, business, or university. The Chinese people over these decades has seemingly not only succumbed to the crush of the tanks that swarmed over Beijing during that fateful protest, but has begun to again exalt and revere its government despite, or perhaps because of, its stranglehold on the flow of information. New swords of nationalistic bent have been forged using anti-West, anti-America ideologies to create a new generation of Chinese patriots. I postulate that much of this can be directly linked to consistent jingoist motivations of the government coupled with real oppression experienced as a result of tariffs, embargoes, and quasi-military conflicts between China and its many rivals.

New evidence is showing that the people of China are taking up this banner by the hundreds of thousands and orchestrating complex and potentially devastating attacks on American and European internet infrastructure. These attacks are designed to overwhelm and crash sites, steal valuable information, infect government and private computers with viruses and spyware, and generally ruin everybody’s day. You might call me alarmist, but in this citizen assault I see the sinister undertones of military positioning. The first line of defense for any nation in the modern era is control of information and accurate intelligence gathering. Control of the internet leads naturally into control of information, and in the end it doesn’t matter how many bombs we have or how advanced the air force becomes, as moments of intellectual thievery can negate years of research and instantly tip the playing field in China’s direction.

TSJ

Prepare for a market glut of delicious pork treats!

I have been hearing nothing but ’swine flu, swine flu, swine, flu’ for the last week or two, and working in a facility with a certain number of hypochondriacs with no medical education, I have heard any number of alarmist points of view. The internet has demonstrated a further ignorance on the part of the majority of the population, and I have recently learned that this ignorance runs to some of the highest levels of authority. Presently, the Egyptian government is considering slaughtering 400,000 pigs in an attempt to prevent the spread of swine flu. Someone might inform the Egyptians that not a single pig has ever been found to carry “swine” flu, and there exists no evidence whatsoever that humans can contract the virus from pigs (especially because they don’t carry swine flu!).

TSJ

So things have not been super – on second thought, I take that back. Things have actually been really great. I lost my job you see, and after taking a few landscaping/yard work assignments, called an old employer, met with him that afternoon, and was hired on the spot. So that’s good. Read the rest of this entry »