Religion and politics don't mix

I've been watching the US presidential race for some time now. There is one thing that really bugs me about US politics ... RELIGION! No matter what, democrat or republican (but mostly republicans), religion for some reason plays a huge part in US politics. Why??? The worst thing you can do is to mix religion and politics. European countries realized this long ago, but in the US the most important thing for a politician seems to be whether he or she believes in God. Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Mike Huckabee is former Baptist minister. The sitting President, George W. Bush, is always refering to his belief. Any republican who dare say that he or she does not believe in God is toast, and will surely loose all support. Why? If you listen to the democrats, sure they probably believe in God as well, they don't proclaim the belief in God as often as most republicans.

My opinion about this ... get religion out of politics. Once you do that you might finally start making decisions based on fact instead of fiction.

How Addicted to Apple Are You?

40%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

The Shocking Video Hillary Does NOT Want You To See! (2of2)

And here comes part 2

The Shocking Video Hillary Does NOT Want You To See! (1of2)

If true, this is truly shocking!!

Mini Clubman review

Don't you just love this car?

Al Gore did it

Perhaps the greatest recognition anyone can get. Al Gore gets the Nobel Peace Price of 2007. He shares it with IPCC, a UN organ.

Well deserved, I think!

Where are they?

I was watching the news yesterday about the situation in Myanmar (Burma). There were no monks on the streets. Where are they? Apparently the junta has detained a lot of them, and possibly some have managed to leave for safety, but where are the rest?

The UN envoy has now left Myanmar, after his visit, and it seems his visit had no or little effect on the situation. The World must continue to protest against the junta, or else it will just go back to being a military dictatorship.

Sputnik turns 50

Today it's 50 years since the Soviet union put the satelite Sputnik in orbit. Thus they beat the USA to it. Good for them. However, they never realised at the time how important this would turn out to be. It started the space race. The Soviet union was also first to send a living creature, the dog Lajka, into space. This was followed by sending the first human, Jurij Gagarin, into space in 1961.

The USA had to wait for their glory a few years, until they were finally able to be first to land on the Moon. They've always considered themselves superior to the rest of the World, so I think they deserved being beaten in the race to space.

Chaos in Myanmar

Once again we see the rest of the World simply standing by and watching while the junta in Myanmar, formerly Burma, is cracking down on mostly peaceful protestors. About 300 monks and activists were arrested, according to some reports. The junta had banned all public gatherings of more than five people and imposed a nighttime curfew following eight days of anti-government marches led by monks in Yangon and other areas of the country.

International reactions have come from such prominent names as the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, detained Myanmar opposition leader.

President Bush on Tuesday announced new U.S. sanctions against Myanmar accusing the military dictatorship of imposing "a 19-year reign of fear" that denies basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship.

My thoughts: It's terrible what's happening in Myanmar. It needs to end immediately. The rest of the World must stand up to the junta in Myanmar. Simply having a press conference to say that you don't agree with what the junta is doing is not enough.

Long time ...

It's been a while since the last time I wrote in this blog. Summer has passed, I'm back to work, and I'm looking forward to a nice autumn (or fall as some like to call it). I'll try to have more opinions to share with you.

Star Wars 1977-2007

My very good friend Embla featured in her blog the 30 year anniversary of Star Wars. Have a look at it here!

Another favorite poem: "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden

Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

A favorite poem of mine: "If" by Rudyard Kipling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Google Adsense

I have on several occations read about web publishers who have been banned by Google Adsense for so called click fraud, either by clicking the ads themselves or encouraging others to click on them.

First of all ... Google Adsense does not pay enough to make it worth while to cheat. I have had an account with them for about 2 years, and have still not reached the payout limit of US$100.

Second ... the whole idea of having ads on your website is to get people to click on them. That's what advertising is all about, and that's what advertisers pay us for. So what is the problem?

You see, I was recently banned by Google Adsense and was told that I can never ever open a new account with them again! Ever!

I mentioned that I was only a couple of dollars away from the payout limit. Here is a theory ... the reason Google make so much money is because they avoid paying people what they owe them. They owe me US$97. I want my money!!! I earned them!

The way Google conduct business is despicable. Sooner or later it will come back to haunt them. I used to admire Google and the creators behind the company, but now ... they have sunk to low for my taste. It's time they step up and take responsability for their actions.

Emblas värld

A very good friend of mine has started a blog. One of the topics she is passionate about, and which she will also write about, is Fair Trade. You should really have a look and take your time to read it. It's very good reading!

"Pride and tears over rising toll of teenagers sent to war

Britain allows the lowest recruitment and deployment age in Europe, critics say

The day of her 17-year-old son Aaron's passing out parade in Catterick last summer is a bitter-sweet memory for Karen Lincoln. As he marched past with his regiment, 2nd Battalion The Rifles, looking every inch the professional soldier, she cheered and wept, overcome with maternal pride. But it was also then she learned her youngest son was about to be sent to Iraq.
On April 2 - eight months after the passing out parade and just five months after his 18th birthday - he became one of the youngest soldiers to die in a conflict that has claimed 148 British lives. Of those, 14 have been teenagers."

Source: The Guardian

This is simply outrageous. These CHILDREN aren't old enough to vote, but apparently the British government think they are old enough to go off to a far away country to die. Outrageous!!!

"Milan thrash United to reach final

AC Milan set up a repeat Champions League final showdown against Liverpool when they brushed aside Manchester United 3-0 on Wednesday to complete a 5-3 win on aggregate."

Source: CNN

The formerly so great team Manchester United seems to have lost not only a place in the finals, but so much more. They're just not good enough anymore. A place in the finals used to be a given, but now ... well ... let's just say they don't deserve to be in the finals this year. A team that seems to rely a player like Rooney should not expect to get even as far as the semi-finals. Perhaps that's their biggest problem, apart from having a team of divas, ... they're not taking their opponents seriously anymore ... they think they're still as good as they were five or six years ago.

I predict that we'll see Man U drop considerably in the ranks over the next five years. Their top players are getting old, and they don't have any new player to replace them.

"Former Russian leader Yeltsin dead

Yeltsin died at the age of 76, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Yeltsin, who had suffered health problems since resigning from office on December 31, 1999, suffered sudden heart failure, medical sources told Russia's Interfax news agency.

The Kremlin said his funeral would take place amid a day of national mourning on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

Yeltsin became the first democratically elected president of Russia in 1991 and two months later put down a coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Russia's first freely elected president, Yeltsin is being remembered as a courageous fighter for democracy -- and sometimes quirky behavior."

Source: CNN

I suppose there are as many opinions as there are people about Yeltsin. There is however no denying what the man did during his career as president of Russia, both good things and bad. Lots of mistakes, as well as many brave acts.

Second life

I have, as millions of other people around the world, created an avatar in Second Life. I have spent quite a few hours in this virtual world, and now ... my opinion of Second Life in just a few words ... What a load of rubbish!!!

I've seen article after article in different media, serious media like CNN and Time Magazine and so on, praising this so called "phenomena" that Second Life is supposed to be. However, having used it for some time now, I can without doubt conclude that what we have here is just another hyped "game" that can't live up to its expectations.

Don't get me wrong, I believe there probably is some potential in Second Life, but as for now they still have a long way to go before they can play a major role in peoples' lives. I look forward to when the technology has caught up with the idea of Second Life. That's when I will start taking it seriously and use it for real!

Tip of the Week:

PokerFans.se - a guy I know just started this poker related site/blog. Check it out!
www.pokerfans.se

David Beckham to the US

I know it's old news, but I just have to get it off my chest ...
David Beckham is off to the US to play in their so called soccer league. First of all, it's called football! Second, what's so special about David Beckham? He's never been that good. Without his team mates he'd be nothing. So, he's had a few lucky strikes, but has never (or at least almost never) been able to rise to the expected level when playing in the World Cup. Simply said, he's way overrated!

Apple Unveils New Product-Unveiling Product

SAN FRANCISCO—Apple claims the iLaunch can garner the same amount of press attention as a major scientific discovery, high court ruling, celebrity meltdown, or natural disaster at 200 times the speed of a traditional media-fostered launch.

Bikini-clad Beyoncé is SI's new Dreamgirl

Beyoncé has hit another high note, claiming the coveted cover shot of this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in a yellow-and-pink bikini.

"The Dreamgirl As You've Never Seen Her," a cover headline teases. There's also a photo spread inside the magazine.

The 25-year-old singer-actress ("Dreamgirls") posed on a Florida beach in the bikini designed by House of Dereon, the fashion label she started with her mother, Tina Knowles.

Read the whole article
See the Beyoncé photo gallery
Visit Beyoncé Online

And what is my point of view about this? Sure she's nice to look at, but isn't this whole thing getting a bit old? It's just not exclusive any more! Even a little boring!

"A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin." H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American Journalist

New York may ban iPods while crossing street

"New Yorkers who blithely cross the street listening to an iPod or talking on a cell phone could soon face a $100 fine.

New York State Sen. Carl Kruger says three pedestrians in his Brooklyn district have been killed since September upon stepping into traffic while distracted by an electronic device. In one case bystanders screamed "watch out" to no avail.

Kruger says he will introduce legislation on Wednesday to ban the use of gadgets such as Blackberry devices and video games while crossing the street."

Seriously, what the h*** is this about? Sure he may have a point that people tend not to notice what's around them while listening to their iPod or talking on their mobile phone. What I want to know is how this senetor think this ban will work in practice?

Anyone?

It's Oscar time again ...
So yet again is it time for the Oscars. Films and actors and directors and photographers and special effects guys and so on are being nominated. But seriously, how important is this really? Films that have just recently, or sometimes even before, are nominated for "Best Film" and other categories without the audience even having a chance to have a say. Does an Oscar really tell you whether a film is good or not? I don't think so. Some of the films nominated this year I haven't even heard of. I used to enjoy watching the Oscars, but it's all about the money now ... who can afford to market (i.e. bribe the judges) their film enough to get nominated.

We can probably all remember the year of "Chicago". What a load of crap that film was, yet it won so many categories. How could happen?

The Oscars is all business nowadays. It's time to put it to sleep!

First post
As the title of this blog says ... this is my view ... of anything and anyone ...