Freedom's Fidelity

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Around the Internets!

Here is some interesting reading I've come across over the last few weeks.

Popular Mechanics has their Breakthrough Awards for 2006. Burt Rutan takes the top spot for his breakthrough work on creating accessible space travel for ordinary citizens. A few others of note, the Lexus LS460 can actually parallel park itself. My fiance, who works closely with Lexus, was actually able to test drive this vehicle on an open track and sit in the passenger seat as the car really did parallel park itself. Needless to say that, living in the city, she loved the feature!

Another interesting one is this new safety table saw, "The Contractor's Saw (about $1000) is a full-on workhorse. But what matters most is that a sensor can detect a finger contacting the moving blade. The saw then stops in 3 to 5 milliseconds — reducing a probable amputation to a forgettable cut."

Cool!

Over at One Cosmos, clinical psychologist Robert Godwin writes On Perversion, Pedophiles, and Homophobia of the Left.
Teaser:

One of the great drawbacks of our "enlightened" times is that we cannot speak honestly about sexuality. There are basic truths about human sexuality that your grandparents took for granted, but which cannot now even be discussed in impolite elite society. It is the opposite of sophistication or openness--it is a willful and destructive naiveté. Make no mistake: this modern attitude has nothing to do with freedom or liberation, but falsehood and slavery. But if you speak openly about it, the dogs of political correctness will be unleashed.

It's really a fascinating look at differences in sexuality and how problematic deviance can be on the male side.

And the read of the week, well, probably the read of the month actually comes from Patterico's interview with an Army nurse who spent a good deal of time at Gitmo.

I know Zarqawi, the terrorist said to the American. I am going to have Zarqawi cut off your family’s head while you watch. Then he will cut off your head.

The terrorist said it all in a matter-of-fact way, looking the American straight in the eye.

The American was not frightened. There was little danger that the terrorist was going to carry out his threat . . . at least any time soon.

The terrorist was a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the American was an Army nurse who worked with Guantánamo detainees with psychological and/or behavioral problems. For six months, he spoke with detainees on a daily basis, and built a rapport of sorts with some of the most troublesome terrorists at Guantánamo.

He spoke with me recently, and I will be telling his story in several posts over the coming days.

Here is Part One that will lead you to all 5 parts. Do yourself a favor and read it all. The insight is like nothing you've read in any mainstream publications, as the subject of the interview notes, he chose to tell his story to Patterico because he didn't trust traditional media to portray it with any accuracy. I came away with an overwhelming feeling of surprise at what incredible conditions prisoners at Guantanamo are treated to. They experience better health and dental care than their guards and eat better than they probably ever have in their life. That and they are allowed to throw cocktails of feces, urine, and semen at the guards without ever facing repercussions. It's all the more laughable that people who pretend to be serious would compare this to the Gulag.

And finally, for some fun, these guys set out to expose beer to various harsh conditions and temperatures all to determine the effect on its taste. Pay attention to the results so you too, can avoid mistreating your beer.

posted by Paul  permalink | |