Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all
With the many Lego related links used in the last year, seems a Lego Christmas tree is appropriate. Hope all is well for you and yours.

Linkfest - SOPA

All Companies That Support SOPA
Hit the link to see all the companies supporting SOPA which will likely pass Congress next year unless stopped. The claim is the law will stop piracy but in reality it gives corporations to power to block any website they claim has pirated content, no actual evidence required. It will cripple the Internet. They can choose at any time what site lives or dies in the US and to get it restored the site has to take the accuser to court which can take months or even years. On the surface that may sound fine but keep in mind the RIAA and MPAA have tried to sue and shut down sites just for playing a clip from a movie, for showing a home video of goofing dancing to "protected" music and even just for sites that are critical of them. Don't believe they will abuse this power, see next story. In short, any company that supports SOPA has essentially made a statement that they do not value free speech. An example is web host provider Go Daddy. Their support of the bill means that they will happily shut down any website they receive a notice from no questions asked. If you know anyone that uses them, it is advised they be ditched asap.

Linkfest - Rescue Me

Lego Daily Planet
Hit the link for a gallery of images on details on how this cool Lego creation was made that pits Superman & Young Justice against Brainiac. The creation has lots of cool details like street side kiosks selling comics, labeled sewer covers, street signs, and whole lot more. (via ComicAlliance)

RIP GamePro
GamePro magazine which started in 1988 as the NES age reached its apex, is ending publication with its current issue with the website is being absorbed by the mothership of PC World and likely most of its staff laid off. I remember reading and subscribing to the magazine way back when before time meant I no longer could focus much less play video games with the frequency that made a subscription worthwhile. Shame to see yet another gamer magazine go away.

Links of the Week - Lego & Politics

Lego Victorian House
That image to the left looks like a decayed Victorian House created by Mike Doyle. Very beautiful in its black & white decay. It also turns out it’s made up completely of Lego. Nearly 130,000 of them. Even more amazing is this is pure Lego, no wood, glue, or alterations. Just someone at the top of their building game. Hit the link for more images and details about its construction and click here for Mike's website.

10 Stubborn Food Myths
Hit the link to read about 10 myths that continue to thrive despite the science against them. For example "starvation mode" which takes weeks of low intake or 24 of no intake instead of the myth of one skipped meal. Another is salt is just bad for you. Your body needs it but like everything else, too much is a bad thing. The big one is turkey makes you sleepy. Turns out that while turkey plays a part, it really the cause is more about the volume of food being eaten rather than the amount of turkey that makes you sleepy after that Thanksgiving dinner.

Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire vs iPad 2

Today Barnes & Noble officially introduced the Nook Tablet, successor to their Nook Color. Running Gingerbread (Android 2.3), the 7 inch tablet has 1 GIG of RAM and 16GB of storage with microSD slot to add more for a $250 price. All this sounds promising but really for most people, especially with Christmas around the corner, is what is the best tablet to buy - Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet or Apple iPad (or any tablet really like Xoom, Galaxy Tab 2, etc.)?

Lessons from the Tax Income Gap Chart

Take a moment and study that graph to the left. That graph provides a lot of information with two very simple lines. It tells you why the Occupy Wall Street movement exists. It tells you why the GOP has focused on an agenda of doing everything possible to cut taxes for the rich at the expense of everyone else and probably more than that if want to get into the details of history.

The graph tells the story of how income has grown since post-World War II from 1947 to 2007, just as the economy was on the verge of imploding yet again. The blue line represents the median income of 99% of Americans. The orange line is the income of the remaining 1%, the millionaires and billionaires of this country. Most of who work on Wall Street. Now noticed how from 1947 to 1985ish, the income increase was more or less steady. Statistically they were right on top of each other, with a difference of .5% here and there. In effect the country rose together. Then in the 80s that orange line changed dramatically as it started to climb. This corresponded with the rise of "Reaganomics".

Reaganomics aka trickle-down theory basically says the more money you give the rich, the more it will help everyone else. The problem with the theory is it doesn't account for what happens if the rich do not actually spend their money but just sit on it. The easiest way to give rich people more money is to tax them less. Which the US has been doing for the last thirty years. There was one exception, during the Clinton years when their tax where increased. The result wasn't a hit to the economy but a period of huge growth, in part by the internet boom. That is why the line just sky rockets. Basically increasing the rich's taxes didn't harm them at all and had a positive impact on the economy (the opposite of what the GOP sells every day). During this same period the blue line enjoyed a modest increase too so everyone benefited, just the 1% more than the rest. A dip then occurs because the tech bubble burst of 2000.

Linkfest - Jokers

Cain's 9-9-9 Plan is Much Love for the Rich
If you just hear the plan without thinking about it, the 9-9-9 plan sounds good. The 9 numbers sounds so good with 9% corporate tax, 9% income tax, and 9% sales tax. It’s already a fact that for whatever reason, people believe prices that end in 9 are a better deal than those that don't so there is that reason he picked the number. However, once you look deeper it’s not so hot. For one, most businesses will not have to pay that 9% due to various tax shelters and the like that exist. Cain does nothing to address that. As for the income tax, that means that not only will 9% of every dollar you earn be taken away, it also means that another 9% will be taken away for every dollar you spend. On top of the state, county and city taxes you already pay. This also means that deductions go out the door so benefits of being married or having kids cease to matter. But still, seems like a good idea, and it could be as far as simplicity of paying taxes. However, as the chart shows, it really is just a boom for the rich. The bottom 80% will pay more in taxes under the plan. The next 19% will pay a decent amount less, the top 1% a 10x less than that with the top .1% experiencing around a 100x less boom to the bottom line. It hard to picture in text, but the picture makes it painfully clear. Once again, the GOP proves their only priority is the top 1%.

15 Facts About Wealth Inequality in America
For years now the GOP are selling a pretty simple story - for the country to succeed all of us must sacrifice to keep the top 1% rich happy. Happy rich people means one day they might create jobs and give us raises instead of doing the layoffs that have become the norm. For some reason, this argument has worked on 50% of American's even though this flies in the face of the human condition and all of history. For those with brains, hit the link for 15 facts, supported by data (not party specific data) that supports the notion that while everything is getting better for the top 1%, the other 99% continue to get screwed. Sad facts include the reality that top 1% has 33.8% of our nation’s wealth, own 50.9% of our stocks & bonds, and have had their wealth grow year after year while other bottom 80% has dropped year after year. In addition, average earning have hovered around $18.50 an hour for 50 years while in same period the rich's portion of USA's income has grown while everyone else's has shrunk. This is why the Occupy Wall Street exists.

Muammar Gaddafi is Dead
After 42 years of a crazy and ruthless dictatorship, the ex-leader of Libya is finally dead. He has been hiding for weeks now as his government was overthrown in favor of Democracy but he was continuing the fight in pockets throughout the country. That fight essentially came to an end when he was found in his hometown of Sirte. It will be interesting to see how Libya develops from here. I suspect it will continue to be a problem for western countries for quite a while. Regardless, the people of Libya should be applauded. They chose their own destiny and sacrificed their lives to achieve it. That is something any lover of democracy should stand behind, regardless of where it occurs.

Mark Hamill Retires the Joker
After 19 years of performing the voice of The Joker, Mark Hamill has officially retired the role with the release of Batman: Arkham City video game. He had previously the decision earlier this year but in a tweet verified the decision. For me he is the definitive version of the character, providing just the right amount of crazy menace in his voice.

Iraq War Ending Before ChristmasPresident Obama confirmed today that American troops are leaving Iraq by the end of the year. The decision was actually part of a 2008 agreement signed by President Bush but the press conference today reiterated the intention to uphold that promise. Like many, I was concerned that we would delay ending the war as it has proven very lucrative to military based companies that pay a lot of money to Congress to keep the money flowing. I am sure the GOP will lambast the decision as being premature as they tend to get the most money from those corporations.

The Avengers Trailer #1

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Today Apple announced the death of Steve Jobs. He died today after a multi-year fight with pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. His influence on the technology we take for granted cannot be underestimated. The personal computer (Windows or Apple) all have his stamp on it from his efforts in the early 80s with the world's first personal computer, the Apple II. Simple innovations like the ubiquitous use of the mouse are in part due to his influence. He made not have invented the technology, but he helped make it part of our daily lives.

That influence spread to all desktops, all laptops and moved into the music market with the iPod and its knockoffs, the tablet market with the iPad where all competitors’ are still trying to catch up. He changed how music and movies are brought to us over the internet thanks to iTunes. The movie industry and animation we all have fond childhood memories were forever changed with the founding of Pixar Animation Studios that have made some of the best animation movies in history with films such as Toy Story, Wall-E, and Up.

The technology he helped develop is often the foundation of every movie we watch, every special effect we enjoy, every piece of music we hear, every graphic design we see and every video game we play. You name a modern piece of computer technology and Steve Jobs probably directly or indirectly influenced it in some form or fashion.

Not many people can claim to have truly influenced and changed the world regardless of race, religion, age or country. But Steve Jobs could. The world lost a giant today.

Tribute from Gizmodo:

Steve Jobs Commencement Speech on June 15th, 2005 (transcript)

Linkfest - iPhone 4S

iPhone 4S RevealedToday Apple held its press conference, minus Steve Jobs, to announce the next iteration of their iPhone and iPod lines. Unlike the hype from the blogosphere, the result is just an incremental improvement to the existing devices. Almost all the improvements are software related, in part due to the iOS 5 getting released on October 12th. For the iPod line, the Nano is getting around a $30 price drop and a minor software update. The iTouch will get the new iOS 5 update.

As for the main event, the result is same looking phone with faster dual-core chip (so better gaming experience), same RAM (so unlikely to feel that much faster even if technically it is), slightly improved internet download speeds (but only if on AT&T), new camera (8 megapixels with 1080p video camera) and about the same battery life.

Next Generation of Amazon Kindles

Amazon held an Apple-like press conference to announce their next generation of Kindles resulting in the cheapest and possibly best e-book readers to date. There will be three models (or more with alt configurations) with various degrees of features and release dates but all are available for pre-order now.

Kindle Fire ($199); out November 15th; 8 hours per charge
This is the tablet version of the Kindle comes with a 7'' color touch screen, 1Ghz dual core processor, 512MB of RAM and 8 GB of storage for 14.6 ounces. The reason for the lack of space is because this customized Android devise will be mostly cloud based using the Amazon Whispernet in conjunction with Amazon Cloud Storage to hold your books, movies, TV shows and music. Instead of having to store everything locally on the device (like with the iPad), you can just makes your purposes online at Amazon and download as needed. The device also comes with their new web browser called Amazon Silk which takes advantage of the 3G to Amazon's cloud to pre-render websites for faster load times. The device is not designed to be an iPad replacement. If you are someone that isn't particularly into using a bunch of apps (which is most people once the "new" of tablets wear off), but see using tablets for reading (web or books), listening to music, and watching the web, this just might be the perfect (and cheap) solution.
- Impressions and Video

10th Anniversary of 9/11

Today is the 10 year anniversary of a terrorist attack that quite literally changed America and the world. Every year the media makes us relive the day and it still hurts. It still makes my cry. But not so much for those that died that day but for what was lost since then. America lost its hope and lost its way.

The attack claimed more than 3000 and more lives and did change a city. A city that is finally working towards reclaiming the site, complete with memorial using the footprints of what fell. America is now much more aggressive, angry and quick to lash out blindly. America is no longer the land of the brave but the land of the scared. The airwaves are now ruled by fear mongering and finger pointing as others desperately blame others for situations while doing little to offer solutions. That day the terrorists did win. When they change the character of a person, or a country for the worse, there is no other term for that but victory.

To find that hope I continue to look back at the days that followed and see the moments of greatness. I remember moments of solidarity such as Great Britain's Changing of the Guard. Or Jon Stewart extraordinary episode of The Daily Show a week after the attack.

The rebuilding continues. There is still hope. There is always hope. That "victory" can be taken away as easily as it was given up. America has the ability to change like no other country on the planet. Once day, the fear mongers will cease to penetrate. One day the cowards will quit being the vocal minority constantly seeking blood. A few days after 9/11 the world was probably the closest to peace it has ever been as everyone gathered around, mourned with us, claimed hardship with us, and offered the hand of help and friendship. If the world can do it once, it can do it again. The leadership to reach that day isn't here today, but one day it will be. Hopefully with the next generation that has seen how easily the older generation has been manipulated by the media and political leaders and chooses not to follow the same path.

9/11 was a day of tragedy and new darker beginnings. Osama bin Laden is finally dead. It’s time we start moving past the specter of 9/11. America changed once, it will change again. We will once again be the beacon of democracy and wiliness to hold our hands out in a gesture of friendship rather than fear. Our future will be bright even if it doesn't seem like it today.

"The reason I don't despair is because. This attack happened. Its not a dream. But the aftermath of it. The recovery is a dream realized. That is Martin Luther King's dream. Whatever barriers we put up are gone. Even if just momentary. We are judging people not by the color of their skin but the content of their character. ...any fool can blow something up, any fool can destroy, but to to see these guys, these firefighters, these policeman, people from all over the country, literally with buckets, rebuilding, that that thats extraordinary. Thats why we already won. Its light, its democracy, we already won, they can't shut that down."
- Jon Stewart 9/20/01

Links of the Week - Politics

GOP Explained by an Ex-GOPer
Hit the link for an effective explanation of just how far gone the Republican Party is now. Despite their frequent claimed love of Ronald Reagan, not even he could get a vote in today's GOP. For example he committed the horror of raising taxes 11 times. This change of party first, business second, America last and what is motivating it was brilliantly broke down by Mike Lofgren, who was a Republican Congressional staffer for 16 years. He pretty much hits the nail on the head on not only how corrupt the GOP has become but why the weak Democrats are ineffective at countering them.

25 CEOs Who Made More Than Companies Paid in Taxes
One of the great cons (of many) that the GOP has pulled over the last year is successfully lying that taxes influence business more than any other factor. That because of taxes, business choose not invest in themselves, to grow, to try to perform better. The logic makes no sense but people follow it anyway. Even though 11 years of tax cuts have proven it doesn't work. It’s not even hypothetical anyone. Eleven years of tax cuts sold to create jobs and all that has occurred is 2 recessions, minimal job growth, smaller middle class, and the rich being richer for doing nothing. Yet the idiots still believe. Between the tax cuts and loops holes it has now reached the point where most CEOs now make more money than their companies pay in taxes (most pay $0). It is now past pathetic. Yet if anyone is experts at being pathetic, it is teabaggers and their ilk. Anyway hit the link for details.

Linkfest - Endings

The last week has been a series of ending it seems both big and small. Libya might just experience democracy for the first in generations as Gaddafi has seemingly been overthrown, Steve Jobs steps down as CEO of Apple, a memorial finishes and a legendary hacker joins the team he often defeated.

The End of the Gaddafi in Libya
Hit the link for an interesting explanation on how Libya uprising succeeding in potentially toppling the current dictatorship. The story is how a determined people, with solid planning, ingenuity and sacrifice can overcome impossible odds. It is also a story of how true democracy must succeed. Not handed to the people as a "gift" like it was done by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan but an organic hard fought decision by the people themselves, sadly earned with the literal blood of family and friends.

Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple
One of the most successful CEO's in history has officially resigned his position, many believe due to his continued fight with cancer. It is no small exaggeration to say that Steve Jobs is one of the most important people in the history of computers, an invention that literally changed how society operates in just a few short decades. His achievements in technology development changes how we perceive information, enjoy entertainment, learn and so much more. While I may not like how Apple operates, there is no doubting that the things Jobs spearheads has literally changed the world for the better. Few people can make such a claim.

Linkfest

Lego Princess Ceinwyn
Hit the link for a gallery of images of the Princess Ceinwyn created by Luke Hutchinson out of Lego. Very pretty with cloth sails and a nice Lego ocean base to complete the look. (via Brothers Brick)

Warren Buffet - Stop Coddling the Rich
In an article in the NY Times, super rich Warren Buffett makes the rather obvious argument that it is time to tax the rich. The 10 year experiment of constantly cutting taxes on the "job creators" that the GOP has been advocating has simply not worked. Two recessions and negative economic growth for the poor and middle classes have proven this. The only people that have seen growth in these last years from the GOP policies? The super rich of course. Thanks to the multitude of tax loopholes that the GOP refuse to close, the rich actually pay less a percentage of taxes than any other group. Buffett points out he paid 17.4% while other people in his office averaged 36%. I am lower middle class and my burden came out to about 27%. I think the national average is something like 24%. Net result is all this crap about "being fair" that the GOP advocates fails to point out that the rich actually are paying less than everyone else. The article is worth reading and it sums succulently as tax cuts for the rich ("job creators") does not equal job creation as the rich do not allow tax policy to interfere with their efforts to invest and make more money.

Meet Comex, iOS Hacker Supreme
Forbes has posted a great article that covers hacking genius of 19 year old Nicholas Allegra who has 3 times now hacked the Apple's iOS used in iPhone and iPad to create incredibly easy jailbreaks for those devices. A jailbreak allows you to use your paid for device in whatever way you see fit on whatever carrier you choose without big brother (Apple) having to approve it first. Hats off to Comex for his outstanding efforts, may he continue to be successful in thwarting Apple's iron fist of control.

US Patent System is Killing Innovation
An interesting op-ed piece on Gizmodo that points out how the new era of "Civil War" between tech companies will likely stifle innovation. What is currently happening is in the billion dollar markets of smart phones and tablets various companies is trying to use patents to squash the competition and become the only real provider of a certain type of product. The main culprit is Apple who is attempting to use courts to block the sale of any tablet device that isn't an iPad. This leads to other companies going over their lists of patents and using Apple in return saying their iPad violates patents and shouldn't be sold either. This goes back and forth until an agreement is reach. The problem though is this kind of fierce legal fighting (besides being the opposite of capitalism), means that some bright guy in his garage will likely be sued into oblivion or just bought up before some new product that might be better than the iPad could ever reach the public much less the market. When that happens, innovation ceases to occur.

Top 100 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
NPR compiled a list of the top 100 books of all time based on the votes of their readers (apparently a paltry 60k). The list isn't definitive nor is the number order that important but as a list of fantastic books to read it works as a great resource.

San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2011 Panels Links

Below are links to as many of the San Diego Comic Con Panels I could find that were posted on YouTube by people that attended the con. The panels cover topics like television shows, movies, comics, specific actors and creators and a wide variety of other topics. A panel could have actors, creators, and so forth appear from 30 minutes to an hour on stage to promote their current project often ending with fan Q&As. Usually the best panels are the ones where the participants seem to genuinely enjoy being there and interfacing with fans. Some of the many links before may seem incomplete for various reasons. They may include a necessary cut to remove copyrighted footage like trailers, gag reels and other fun stuff that if left in might result in the entire panel video being removed. Also in some cases the editing is just odd but most of the panel was there or it was the best I could find. The panels I recommend most is Castle, Eureka, Amazing Spider-Man, Game of Thrones (cause Emilia Clark is stunning), Joss Whedon (always entertaining), Kevin Smith (equally NSFW entertaining), and Torchwood: Miracle Day. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments along with links to any panels (or better copies) that I may not have found.

Links of the Week - Lots of Videos Edition

US Credit Ratings Downgraded for 1st Time Ever
For the first time in the nation’s history, the US lost its AAA credit rating which was awarded back in 1941. Yet further sign of the problems the GOP manufactured crisis on the debt ceiling has caused. Their willingness to commit literal economic suicide for the entire country demonstrated just how little confidence even investors now have in our country. Ironic, considering most of what the GOP does is to benefit Wall Street. As if often the case, too much greed has resulted in far reaching consequences. Sadly, this will be yet another way for the GOP to spin things in their favor as most people don't have the brains or understanding to recognize how easy all of this could have been avoided. Instead they have proven beyond doubt just how far gone the GOP but with a significant amount of power to back the crazy up with due to complete lack of leadership from Obama who doesn't see a position he isn't willing to cave too. The GOP spin will be the high debt caused the downgrade and thus their approach is the only way is directly contradicted by S&P's own statements on the cause.

S&P also changed its assumption that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would expire by the end of 2012 “because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues. More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating,” S&P said.

Note that "revenue increases" is another way of saying increase taxes by closing loops holes or ending existing tax cuts which the GOP refuses to do under any circumstances. In short, the GOP refusal to compromise and deal with the debt in an adult manner underlined our current leadership's dysfunction in a way that could no longer be ignored. No fake crisis, no awareness of just how bad things are.

New Spider-Man RevealedAbout a month ago Peter Parker died in a battle against the Green Goblin in Ultimate Spider-Man #160. The Ultimate SM universe is a modernized version of Marvel that takes more liberties with the characters. An example of that is this week's news that the replacement Spider-Man is a half black, half Hispanic named Miles Morales. Of course the right wing movement had a fit over this. Posts about the change were pretty much flat out racist and of course Glenn Beck diving in claiming it is some conspiracy orchestrated by Michelle Obama. In reality, the writer Brian Michael Bendis, had been considering it for a while and decided to commit to it after seeing Donald Glover in the costume for an episode of Community (great TV show). How this will play out in comic book form and how successful this change will be may take many months to determine.

Linkfest - GOP At It Again

Lego Serenity
Hit the link to view the Lego creation of the ship Serenity from the movie and the Firefly series. Stuff like this makes you wish Lego would get more into the sci-fi business as this would be awesome to be able to build. (via BrothersBrick)

2004 Election May Have Been Hacked
Court investigations in Ohio's 2004 presidential election (a key swing state then) indicates that the Republican Party may have hacked the election. The story is a key reason why the GOP was so gung ho on moving to paperless voting as most of the companies granted the contracts to provide electronic voting are Republican supported companies. In this case the company is Tennessee based SmarTech that was owned by Michael Connell (who died in an unexplained plane crash) who was a major GOP supporter. The evidence indicates that a redundancy switch to SmarTech kicked in during election day and after the change suddenly Bush experienced a surge in voting support. I suspect like most voting stories, the press will mostly ignore this one and focus on the fake ones the GOP creates to support their laws to prevent people from voting legally.

Links of the Week - Mostly Lego and Movies

End of the Space Shuttle Era
Today marks the official end of the Space Shuttle program as the Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday morning. Atlantis received a little fan love as it was towed home to the theme of Star Trek: Voyager. The program was launched back in 1976 with the test shuttle named Enterprise in homage to the Star Trek series. I was fortunate enough to see a night time shuttle launch back in 1996 I think. I don't remember exactly when but what I do remember is that amazing moment when night turned to day and the full capabilities of what mankind can do when driven towards a purpose that isn't entirely motivated by greed but simply for the quest for knowledge. I doubt we will see the like ever again. The first video is the towing (sound doesn't kick in for about a minute).



30 Years of the Space Shuttle in One Launch
At the link is a look back at the Shuttle program as Gizmodo combined footage from 30 years of launches to kind of emulate a single launch. A true end of an era.

Links of the Week - Safe Travels Atlantis

Space Shuttle's Final Launch
Today was a true end of an era as Atlantis became the final space shuttle launch in history. The program is officially retired after 30 years in service. The first shuttle, Columbia, on April 1981 and today marks the 134th and final mission. This is the probable first phase of the eventually elimination of NASA as private corporations get paid more and more to take over their responsibilities. Considering knowledge for knowledge's sake has no value to corporations, this day will probably mark the beginning of many ends to come in regards to space travel and the quest of knowledge of the universe.


Lego Batcave
Another work of Lego art. This one is a horizontal, more or less three floor representation of the Batcave complete with Batmobile, aircraft, and more that was created by Alex Schranz. Hit link for the gallery. (via Brothers Brick)

Links of the Week

Lego Super Star Destroyer
Lego has announced that they are going to release a 3,152 piece set that re-creates Star Wars' Super Star Destroyer. The set will retail for $399.99 and come with Dengar, Admiral Piett and IG-88 minifigs.

Weiner Resigns, GOP Wins Again
Once again the GOP successfully proved that they do not have to be held to their own standards. Under mounting pressure from the typically spineless Democratic leadership, Anthony Weiner resigned his seat in Congress. This is despite the fact that while he flirted online, GOPer David Vitter was caught breaking the law by cheating on his wife with prostitutes and fellow GOPer John Ensign was caught breaking Congress rules by covering up that he cheated on his wife with a staffer. Sure Ensign resigned but not because of the cheating but because of breaking the rules was going to get him kicked out. Keep in mind that while the press was relentless for nearly three weeks to cover this, ignoring everything else in the process, they barely gave more than a few days coverage to the other two for much more egregious behavior. The double standard lives on and now the Democrats have proven that it’s ok for Republicans to declare open season on them. Why kill em with better policy if can do it with a tweet or two? I do agree with Crook and Liars, I honestly don't care what all three of them did. I dislike the hypocrisy of the two GOPers since they ran on family values but overall who they cheat on or with isn't my concern. Those actions don't affect me. What policy and laws they propose do. I wish that is what the press would spend their time covering but given a choice between the story of wieners that doesn't affect us and the story of things that do, they will also go for things that don't matter.

E3 Video Game News and Announcements

The big three of the video game industry has held its press conferences at the Electronic Entertainment Expo that is being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Microsoft announced a fleet of games for the XBox 360, Sony announced their new handheld called the PS Vita while Nintendo introduced their next console the Wii U with touchpad controller. Read on for more details; hit the title link if interested in watching entire video of their keynotes.

Nintendo
Nintendo was last in the press conferences but not least as it presented a strong lineup of games and a new console that may allow them to once again compete with the others. The keynote started with a symphony playing Legend of Zelda tunes to a montage of Zelda games as a homage to the franchise's 25th Anniversary. Sadly no special collection is being planned, instead they are simply releasing a few past games like Link's Awakening along with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) for Christmas. In other words just business as usual. Games in the pipeline for the 3DS include Super Mario Kart 3D, Star Fox 3D, Super Mario 3D, Kid Icarus 3D, and Tetris 3D. Most expected to be released by end of the year. Kirby Wii was also announced but the Wii was not the focus.

Links of the Week - With Stupid Edition

Weiner Admits to Picture
The underwear picture heard around the world finally has its guilty man. New York Representative Anthony Weiner finally admitted the picture was his and apparently one of several he has sent out to woman over the internet the years. He admitted to the behavior but says he never had sex or even met the woman he was flirting with online. The GOP, of course, is asking for his head on a platter. Ignoring the fact that they stridently defended previous leaders like John Ensign among others that actually did take the step of cheating of getting laid by someone other than their wives. In the case of Ensign he broke the law multiple times to try and cover it up. Andrew Breitbart, he actually "broke" the story by buying the photos from one of Weiner's online woman, felt this "proved" he was a real journalist. After all in Republican land, if a "liberal" makes a mistake his entire career should be flushed down the toilet (see Dan Rather) but is a conservative makes nothing but mistakes (fake Black Panther story, fake Acorn story, fake Sherrod story, etc) then getting one right undoes all those others.

Apple's WWDC Introduces iOS 5

Today Steve Jobs held the key note address for Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 that did not introduce the iPhone 5 as hoped but instead introduced iOS 5 with iCloud. The emphasis on the update is to try to put data "in the cloud" so easily accessible from any iOS device (iPad, iPhone, etc). iOS 5 is being released sometime this Fall.

The key new feature is the replacement of the now defunct MobileMe called iCloud. The idea is a hub to store all data might use on an iOS device such as music, videos, photos, etc. It sounds a whole lot like Dropbox with an auto sync feature. All users will get 5GB free, not sure how much it costs for more. However, if you have music, Apple is introducing something called iTunes Match that will have you "upload" your music collection to iCloud and does not count to the 5GB limit. The reason for the quotes is it’s not really uploading your music but matching your music library to iTunes. This works for music already purchased from iTunes or music ripped from CD collection. If like me and didn't rip your collection at a good bit rate, this is a solid way to "upgrade" your collection to 256 kbps AAC files without going through the trouble of re-ripping everything. Just note that ACC is not as universally accepted a format as mp3.

Links of the Week

DC Comics Rebooting 70 Year History
DC has announced that it is rebooting its universe almost from scratch after their current "Flashpoint" story arc end. The relaunch will have 52 #1 titles come out that month starting with Justice League #1 (to left is the cover). The origin story, back story, events, costumes (including more clothing for the woman) and more will be altered to "modernize" the characters. While DC is being silent on specifics, it seems that the goal is to simplify the universe and make it easier to adapt to movies, television and video games. An example is from the art here which shows Green Lantern Hal Jordan using the ring to create a Gatling gun. Until the movie, that would have never done that, created preferring hitting hit opponents over shooting them. The tendency for creating guns was left to former Marine, Green Lantern John Stewart. Another example is Superman being de-aged to late 20s and more than likely no longer married, again aligning with the upcoming movie. The examples will probably continue with characters losing more complicated or "messy" portions of their past like deaths, marriages, offspring, and more. I am betting the directive is if the story arc or character can't be explained in less than two minutes, then that aspect will be removed from DC's new continuity. If you are a long time reader of comics, this news is probably bad but if you are looking to try them out (or hop off the collecting merry go round), this is good news. As a long time collector familiar with DC Comics history, I find the idea full of story potential but DC's execution over the years has been sloppy at best as Warner Bros executives ultimately make the big decisions and that often doesn't lead to good storytelling.

Links of the Week - Rant Edition

This linkfest is a bit rant heavy, call it a two week build up. If the political stuff bores you, just skip towards the end where have videos of a Lego creation, Tesla Orchestra doing Zelda theme, and various trailers.

North Carolina GOP Attempting to Ban Municipal Broadband
An interesting thing has been occurring in North Carolina. When local telecom and cable companies such as Time Warner refused to provide affordable internet and cable service or even run the needed lines, the local government stepped up to fill the void. Now the GOP likes to sell the argument that only public companies can provide services cheaply and profitably but it turns out that in this area so can the government as multiple municipals created not only some of the fastest networks in the state, they did it for a profit and at half the cost to the customer. So what does Time Warner and other companies do about this? Do they try to compete? Do they try to make their networks better? Of course not. Instead they buy off the Republicans in the state government to pass a law that outlaws these types of companies. For now Governor Bev Perdue has refused to sign the bill but that is unlikely to last. Yet another example of the GOP policy of "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest."

2011 Fall TV Schedule Announced
The big four networks announced the official cancellations, renewals, and new shows that will be hitting the airwaves starting next Fall 2011. A lot of shows I liked were cancelled but for whatever reason I am mostly indifferent. On the schedule isn't really anything "buzz" worthy to me but really just a collection of mildly interesting programs. Any case hit the link to see how the schedule breaks down for CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC and CW. Note that things usually get tweaked further the closer to airdate.

Links of the Week

Just realized I have not posted anything here in a while. To me nothing major has happened. Technically stuff has happened in politics with Donald Trump and Huckabee deciding not to run for President but that was a gimme anyway. That fool Newt Gingrich is running but that too is just a play for money as he has proven to be a flim-flam artist but not much else. He knows the publicity will drive book sales and his speaking tours prices up which is all that really matters to him (besides the ego stroking). Still here are a few things that grabbed my interest.

15 States Get Florida's $2 Billion
On one hand you have to give credit, Republican putting money where his mouth is. On the other hand the state is hurting for jobs, is hurting for income and just needs helps so the money isn't really his but the citizens of the state. Sadly logic never plays into GOP thinking as Governor Rick Scott cancelled a high speed rail project that would have given Florida $2.4 billion to build. The GOP's hatred of infrastructure projects (better to let things fall apart) knows no bounds. The empty gesture didn't "return" the money to the government but instead allowed 15 states to pick up the pieces and improve their own rail systems. For the GOP, if it doesn't benefit the rich, it shouldn't benefit anybody even though a rail system is a cheaper, safer, and all around better alternative to transportation for commuters compared to rush hour traffic. Just a reminder the primary goal of the GOP is "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest."

Library of Congress' National Jukebox
"The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives." The Jukebox is streaming only with a huge collection of music, speeches, readings and more going back nearly the entire century.

Links of the Day - Dead Osama Edition

Osama bin Laden Dead
After nearly 10 years, the architect of 9/11 is finally dead. The Al Qaeda leader was killed by US soldiers after his hiding place, a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was discovered. The body was confirmed to be his via DNA results. The body itself was dumped at sea as no country wanted to "host" the body since it would likely grab unwanted attention. President Obama gave a speech at 11:35PM EST confirming the kill. Approximately 5 seconds later the GOP began work on trying to spin the event as a success for Bush Jr. and how Obama was riding on his coattails. Spontaneous celebrations began in front of White House and ground zero and reportedly elsewhere as people celebrated his death. Europe's leadership was pleased with his death and quick to remind everyone that the terrorist threats will continue. Sadly that is all too true for as many terrorists that might have had their will broken by this death, probably just as many have a new martyr to rally around.

Links of the Week

R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen
On April 20th, the fans of Doctor Who experienced a huge blow when Elisabeth Sladen died at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer. She played Sarah Jane Smith, the "companion" in Doctor Who from 1973 to 1976, cameoed several times in the reboot and then starred in the spin-off show "The Sarah Jane Adventures" which still has a few shows left unaired. "Never meet your heroes,' wise people say. They weren't thinking of Lis Sladen," Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat said.

"9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes"
While the GOP with Tea Party assist has done a wonderful job of confusing people about taxes, you really wish people would read things like the above article. It hammers home what I have been saying for a while which is the GOP true slogan is "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest." The article attacks their main myths about taxes and backs them up with something the GOP doesn't bother - actual facts and not just a bunch of repeated opinions. For example, guess what, the poor do pay taxes. It may not be income taxes but they pay it in federal payroll taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes, utility taxes and a whole bunch more. In fact, because the poor have less that are deductible and less tax loop holes to take advantage of, they pay a higher percentage (11%) then the average rich (4%). But since the GOP like to attack income taxes, then the rich must be paying a high cost. Turns out that isn't true. The reason again is lots and lots of tax loop holes for the rich, loopholes the GOP have refused to close. With a lot of fancy tax work, the average person can abuse the system and take their tax burden down to 2% or less. Another argument of the GOP is the richer the rich are, the more they will help everyone else. Except that has not happened. The top tax rate (pre-deductibles and loop holes) went from 70% in 1980 to 35%. At the same time the average income of 90% of Americans in the last 30 years has increased a whopping $303.00 (around 1%). Nope not a typo. The rich though have enjoyed a $1.1 million add to their bottom line. How about this, tax breaks create jobs. Turns out they don't always, especially when no conditions are tied to the breaks as the GOP prefers to do things. Again thanks to loop holes and the already low tax rate, it is currently more profitable for corporations to create temporary jobs to enjoy the tax rate and then quickly fire people after. All that matters is on paper is the jobs had been created, not how long they had existed. Temporary jobs are not exactly what people have in mind. There is more than that and worth the read. (via Chicago Tribune)

Goodbye Gizmo

I don't really get into personal stuff on my blogs. Main reason is because just like my privacy but in this case it seems needed as for me it is a true End of an Era with the death of my cat of nearly 19 years - Gizmo (11/1992 - 4/2011).

He was a cat of pure love that made it so easy to love him back. He gave it and received it absolute ease and no conditions. The simple act of existing and acknowledging his existence with all he needed to be happy. The simple act of saying his name would lead to a pleased look and this loud rumble that was surprising loud for such a little body. He was so slow to anger. He hated his belly to be touched and messed with and yet despite that you would have to spend a determined five minutes to build his aggravation to the point to even get the growls to come out of him. By then the hurt look on his face would compel you to stop and give him a hug. If you got to loud, he seemed to read that as a sign of distress and would make it his mission by insisting you come down, either by meowing loudly or hopping on you and biting at your head until you stopped.

He loved bed time, often coming to get me if I was taking too long and leading to the room. He would hop into his "well" and I would drift to sleep with his quiet purring next to me and wake up the next day to his presence. The moment he knew I was awake the purr would start again. He loved nothing more than to be around me even if just across the room.

If I have one regret with him it was the last week of his life. It was not really a busy week or anything; I just had things I was doing. He continued to lull me to sleep and be there when I woke. Where normally I rub him, hub him and retrieve him to put in my lap, that week I didn't really do that. A wave would be enough (last thing I did before his death) instead of what should have been a hug or a rub. I didn't go get him as much as I normally do, leaving him to his own devices.

I don't doubt he knew I loved him, I just am sad that his last week was less than it should have been. I regret taking him for granted and just assuming he would always be there. To all of you, just make sure to give your pets that extra hug, another second of rub and don't let just calling their name or a wave be enough to show you care. That last week will probably become one of my great regrets.

Goodbye Gizmo. The greatest, sweetest, most loving cat I have ever experienced. You were pure love without a touch of malice, something that is truly rare in this world. You will always be cherished for the happiness you brought to my life.

Links of the Week

Legoland Star Wars Gallery
The Star Wars attraction at Legoland California which as more than 2000 Lego Star Wars sculptures on display. Hit the link for a gallery of some of the masterpieces.

25 Years of Pixar Animation
An excellent fan made video that celebrates 25 years of excellence from Pixar which brought us Toy Story, Cars, Up, Wall-E and so much more.


WonderCon Green Lantern Footage and Panel
Below is four minutes from Green Lantern along with all five parts of the WonderCon panel. Over all the footage makes the movie look much better than the teaser trailer had. Definitely going for an epic, universe spanning feel that DC movies have normally lacked.

Links of the Week

Obama's Speech on Libya
Today President Obama gave a speech on the US's involvement in the quest for freedom in Libya (transcript at link). I still have not wrapped my head around on what I think of our participation in trying to eliminate Gaddafi who is yet another of Ronald Reagan era puppets that have come to bite us on the rear along with Hussein, Osama, and pretty much every other conflict from the last 30 years. When was the last time Republicans made a major nationwide impacting decision that didn't turn out to be wrong in hindsight? Yeah I can't remember one either. The idea of the US truly fighting for freedom is a nice change of pace considering in most cases we have either been trying to force freedom on others or simply preserving the oil flow. On the other hand, we are still fighting two other Republican created wars that seem to have no real end in sight and even if Obama has an exit plan (another nice change of pace), a third front just seems to be two too many. We are committed, I hope it works but the line should stop at us providing soldiers on the ground or helping in the rebuilding effort. At this point if the "rebels" cannot take the country by convincing the military to join them, it becomes a moot point as the US simply cannot afford to take on a unified Libya. Sure we could beat them, very easily but as we already learned with Iraq and Afghanistan, defining when victory has actually occurred is a murky line that we can't seem to identify.

Most Corporations Don't Pay Taxes
Right now Republicans are continuing the argument that if we do everything we can to make rich people and corporations happy, they just might be kind enough to create jobs for the rest of us. This belief extends to profits where 2/3 of US corporations doesn’t pay taxes and in fact often get paid by tax papers for simply existing. An example, from the Daily Show, is GE which made $14.2 billion in profits and was paid $3.2 billion in tax benefits. Yet we should give up more. Sure we have been making them happy for more than 30 years with constant drops in taxes, eliminating regulations, and so much more. Rich Republicans are demanding we ignore that the average American's income has remained stagnant for 30 years while the rich has grown over 500%. Ignore that corporations are showing the largest jump in profits since 1950 and most are not only showing record profits but have a lot of cash banked. Instead they say everyone that isn't part of the top 2% should give up more. Education, labor rights, more taxes, anything and everything that can be given should be given to corporations. Heck we are even giving up our jobs so they can be done overseas but according to Republicans we are just not doing enough. Sure corporations are doing outstanding by cutting jobs and letting Republicans feed the meme but this year will be different! We just have to give up more! And come this time next year what will the Republicans be saying when the job market is about the same for the third year in a row? Yep, we have not given up enough. Just like they have been saying for the last 30 years. When will people get it, the Republican Party has only one agenda - make the rich richer, to hell with the rest.

9.0 Earthquake with Tsunami Hits Japan (Updated)

At 2:46PM Japan time (5:46AM UTC/GMC time or 12:46am EST) a 9.0 magnitude (upgraded from 8.9) earthquake struck 231 miles off the coast of north Japan. The resulting tsunami was reported to be as high as 33 feet high when they struck the coast of Japan causing extensive damage and unknown casualties. Aftershocks continue to be felt in the country as rescue efforts begin. The earthquake is the fifth largest recorded magnitude since 1900 and the largest recorded for Japan. (EDIS details on quake)

In additional at least 20 countries and Pacific islands have issued tsunami alerts. Effected countries include Russia, Indonesia, Guatemala and state of Hawaii. The time of land fall can be estimated but size of the tsunami when it hits will be unknown as no telling how much it may dissipate as it travels across the Pacific Ocean. There is even a giant whirlpool off the coast.

For Japan the crisis turns to rescue and recovery with shelter, food and water becoming an issue for people trapped by the water, mud and destruction. For the rest of the world, we hold are breath and wait to see what happens as countries in the tsunami's path are hit. Thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan.

Below are links to live coverage of this tragic disaster along with a video of the tsunami as it swept across farmland taking homes, cars and more with it a path of destruction.

Live Japan TV UStream | Live AlJazeera TV | Live BBC News

Update: The tsuanami wave has hit the various Pacific countries but the after effects continue. The wave reached as far as six miles inland near Sendai, destroying entire town in the Miyagi Prefecture. Japan's nuclear power plants are in a state of emergency as cooling systems have failed and its possible the venting of nuclear gas may be necessary to avoid a meltdown. If that wasn't enough, some of them are now reporting radiation leaks into the surrounding area. Now buildings are collapsing, on fire and people are stuck on roofs desperate for rescue. Land all along the Pacific Ocean were hit, with reports of 8 foot waves in Hawaii (causing minor damage) and retaining enough power to still be a few feet high wave rolled through San Francisco Bay. The long term problems Japan is facing are massive in proportion. We already know the Japanese people are resiliant and strong. The question isn't will they recover, just how long it will take.

If you wish to donate, the Red Cross is taking donations here or used text messaging by sending the word REDCROSS to 90999. Each text will donate $10 to the fund and will show on your next phone bill.

Here are more links to coverage, videos and more of this tragic disaster that has taken a current unknown number of lives.

Tsunami hits Sendai - 18 minutes of video as the tsnuami strikes area
Google Crisis Reponse Site - resources to get more information, including "People Finder" for those effected by disaster.
Power of the Japan Tsunami - Color code image of tsunami amplitude (in cm) for 1st 24 hours of wave propagation.
Earthquake Ripple video - Computer generation of shockwave as spreads across Pacific Ocean
Audio of Quake - "harmonic and rhythmic sounds are the sonification of seismic activity off coast of Honshu" during the quake.
Skyscapers swaying video - Bizarre to see even if part of building design to help absorb earthquake shock waves.
Eyewitness Video Collection - A bunch of videos that show the disaster as it occurred
Aerial Photos of Destruction - Large gallery that shows extent of the damage to Japan


UStream Live

Links of the Week - Union Busting

Wisconsin Senate Passes Anti-Union Law
For the last three weeks, the Wisconsin state Congress has more or less been grid locked. The reason was because of a requirement to have quorum (min. number of representatives) to pass bills involving the state budget. After a multitude of threats while constantly claiming the union busting was for fiscal reasons (despite common sense and evidence to the contrary), the Senate GOP decided to make an on the fly re-interpretation of the rules and removed all financial provisions of the bill leaving only the union busting portions and then passing it in the space of about 10 minutes. This bill has become the template of what GOP is attempting to do in almost two dozen states.

This sudden ability to pass the law despite what the law says proves what everyone already knows - the GOP is nothing but a group of liars that only care about the rich. They claims it was all about balancing the state budget (after giving $140 million to the rich in tax cuts) but out of nowhere they pass the bill as a non-budget bill. It can't be both. It either is about the budget or it is all about just busting unions while using the GOP caused state budget crisis as the excuse. The GOP has one goal and everything they do is in support of that goal, "Make the rich richer, to hell with the rest." That should have been obvious for years but Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker being tricked into revealing his desire to change history to someone pretending to be billionaire and huge GOP support David Koch.

What the GOP is doing is despicable but then again I have never heard or met a GOP supporter that didn't have wandering morals and are huge hypocrites. Need evidence? How about the Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader appearing on Faux News to crow about his victory unintentionally let slipping a little truth, "If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you’re going to find is President Obama is going to have a much difficult, much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin." Basically the GOP is trying to bust the unions so that the Democrats have less money to run on elections with and possibly lead to defeat of Barack Obama. If you live in any of those states, is your state representative making decisions based on how it affects national politics really something you want them focused about? What happened to "jobs, jobs, jobs"? It’s been three months and so far it seems the GOP is focused on everything but that. Again, further proof of their real agenda. Jobs falls under "to hell with the rest" as do unions. Irony is I am not even a fan of unions as consider them currently no longer necessary but as corporations continue to have more and more say on our daily lives thanks to the GOP, it seems that belief needs to be re-evaluated.

iPad 2 Announced

Today Steve Jobs briefly returned from his medical leave to announce the next iteration of the iPad (video), simply dubbed iPad2 even though the official name remains the iPad. Overall the device once again moves the bar forward on design, continuing to make Apple's competitors look obsolete even before their attempt at a first wave of competing devices hit the market. This time last year I was not a fan of the iPad, expecting the Android and Windows based pads to not only be on the market in droves but be priced competitively and often a lot more options. That day has yet to arrive and the new thinner, fast iPad means that waiting on those devices is pointless. The iPad will hit stores starting March 11th.

The iPad 2 isn't really a technological leap forward but just a small movement much like the iPhone 4 was compared to the 3GS. But when your competition is asleep at the wheel a small move still looks gigantic by comparison. The overall internal stats are really nothing special from one version to the next. The screen is the same; the storage is the same, battery life, wi-fi and so forth. The major changes are a boost in processor speed with the A5 duel-core chip, a front and rear facing cameras, and a 33% thinner device. Considering size does matter, the thinner the better. Current rumors indicate that Apple only has 256MB RAM so that remains a bit of a bottleneck for speed. Hand-on tests (video below) show a beautiful device (that will be available in white) that is much faster in response, .2 ounces lighter, and more comfortable to hold.

Links of the Day

New Zealand Struck by 6.3 EarthquakeAround 1pm yesterday downtown Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a 6.3 earthquake that has devastated the city. Reports indicate that 75 have died with many more injured. Rescue operations continue to find people trapped in buildings. The earthquake "toppled buildings onto buses, buckled streets, forced the collapse of a cathedral spire and cut power for most of the city." The city also experienced 33 aftershocks with range of magnitudes of 4 to 6. Condolences to all those that lost family and friends.

R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie
The name may not be familiar but if you enjoy cartoons or comics you are probably familiar with his work even if don't know it. He started in comics working for both Marvel and DC. He eventually created Milestone Media in an attempt to create a more diversified super hero world which included the hero Static. Later he moved onto animation where he wrote stories for acclaimed cartoon series Justice League, was story editor and producer of Justice League Unlimited. He also worked on Ben 10 and Static Shock cartoon series. He later returned to write comics but never stepped far from his animation with his most recent work, All-Star Superman just hitting DVD and Blu-ray shelves today. Thanks to his DC animated efforts and Ben 10; I have a feeling that many generations of children (and adults like me) will enjoy his legacy for years to come. (image from aalbc.com)

Links of the Week - Mubarak Resigns

Dictator Mubarak Era Ends in ResignationAfter 18 days of protests, Egyptian "President" Hosni Mubarak resigned turning the government over to the military's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. In theory this could lead to democracy returning to the country with open elections instead of the essentially fake elections of the last few decades. It is also possible that the military simply decides to overthrow the country and install a dictator. Currently Egypt is in celebration mode so doesn't seem "What next?" has been considered just yet. The military has mostly taken a neutral position on the protests and attempted to maintain the peace and disrupt attempts at violence. What violence that occurred was mostly against pro and anti-Mubarak protestors. The net result is the military leadership clearly does not want to interfere with the wishes of the Egyptian people. A lesson the US could learn as Mubarak was a creation of the Reagan administration and supported by all that followed. Congratulations to the people of Egypt! The road ahead is long but may it be glorious.

FBI Investigating Scientology
Finally after decades of reports, the FBI has finally decided to do its job and investigate the Church of Scientology. The church has long been accused of essentially treating many of members, especially those in "Sea Org" as virtual slaves, abusing children and engaging in practices that you would expect to read about from a dictatorship instead of a so-called church. The cult, of course, denies the allegations and probably even now using its full legal and lobbying efforts to end the investigation as soon as possible. While I expect nothing will truly come of this, it is hopefully one of many small steps needed to end this dangerous and greedy cult. Hit the link for the details.