Bump key makes traditional locks obsolete

The locks on your house could soon become obsolete with the advent of the "bump key."

A large majority of locks that open with a key, called pin tumbler locks, have structural weaknesses built into them that can be exploited with picks and practice. But a relatively new lockpicking technique known as "bumping" takes advantage of that weakness and requires no real understanding of how locks work. "You don't need expensive tools or anything," says encryption expert Barry Wels. "Any 15-year-old who's motivated can learn how to do it in 15 minutes on the Internet."

Once a person learns how to make the "bump key," they can easily open any lock that key fits into. All they have to do is bump the key with a screw driver or a small hammer. Don't believe it? Then watch this video.

Killing Jews ain't so bad as long as you're charitable

I'm incredulous. If the New York Times gets its nose any farther up Hezbollah's collective behind, the paper will risk dying of e.coli.

Hezbollah paid for his wife’s Caesarean section. It brought olive oil, sugar and nuts when he lost his job and even covered the cost of an operation on his broken nose.

Like many poor Shiites across southern Lebanon, Ahmed Awali, 41, a security guard at an apartment building in this southern city, has received charity from Hezbollah for years. He says he is not a member. He does not even know the names of those who helped him.

So let me get this straight. If your avowed goal is to kill Jews and eliminate Israel, the New York Times will run a big old sloppy wet kiss of a story on you? And some wonder why respect for the media is so low. They insult our intelligence on a daily basis.

Peace in the Middle East?

Supposedly.

HOPES rose for a peace deal in Lebanon yesterday after the American and French governments reached agreement on a United Nations Security Council resolution.

The draft called for a “full cessation of hostilities” between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas, but fell short of French demands that there be an immediate unconditional halt to the military action that has plagued the region for four weeks. The resolution will allow Israel to retaliate if Hezbollah launches attacks against it.

However, in a concession to the French, there will be a second UN resolution, yet to be negotiated but possibly within the next two weeks, that will deal with the longer-term issue of peace between Israel and Hezbollah and the creation of an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too far. Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran want war. The U.S. and France hammering out an agreement will not change that.

James Cameron, Hollywood director, explains the Exodus

This is pretty cool. A Hollywood director is trying to explain the events of the Exodus instead of flat out dismissing it.

THE greatest story ever told has acquired a Hollywood twist. James Cameron, the director of Titanic, is the executive producer of a new documentary that claims to have uncovered fresh evidence confirming one of the most dramatic episodes in the Old Testament — the parting of the Red Sea and the Jewish exodus from Egypt.

You don't see that every day.

History will view us dimly on Africa

There is no doubt in my mind that history will have a dim view of the present day global powers when it comes to Africa. For a taste of what I'm talking about, read this post by Michael Ledeen at The Corner.

The flaw of history is that while it can look back with the accumulated wisdom of passed time, it is much more difficult to comprehend the concerns and focuses of the day. One thing history may overlook as it glances back and passes judgement on us over Africa is the fact that Africa's inability to project its threats abroad is what is keeping the West detached. That is a relief to us because with radical Islam and nuclear profligation, the West has its hands plenty full right now without worrying about threats from Africa. That is very bad for Africa, and I suspect we will be judged harshly for it.

Ya down with OCD?

Wow. The anonymous commenter in this post by Ingrid at "No On The Ammendment" really can't handle the fact that Jenna is moderating the Marriage Amendment debate between Ingrid and Owen. And he/she just won't let up on it throughout. I think the "No" side has a pretty good shot of winning at the polls in November, but if the closed minded (yes, closed minded) among them like that anonymous commenter take the lead, that could change. They could easily turn off the slightly libertarian conservatives who normally would not vote yes for this ammendment.

Oil Shale

Oil shale is an interesting thing. Like the oil sands which are being converted to crude in Canada, oil shale also requires high prices to be profitable. At the current prices, it would be plenty profitable. In fact, the United States has the highest known oil shale reserves in the world, an estimated 1 to 1.2 trillion barrels of oil. That's more than the Middle East has in crude reserves. So what is the hold up? From Wikipedia's article on oil shale:

During the oil crisis of the 1970s, people thought that oil supplies were peaking, expected oil prices to be around seventy dollars a barrel for some time to come, and invested huge amounts of money in refining oil shale — money that they lost. Because of the astronomical sums that were lost last time around there is considerable reluctance to invest in oil shale this time around. Investors are waiting to see if oil prices really will remain this high (in April 2006: US$75). Prices are rising because of increased demand in rapidly developing countries, particularly China. Will high prices stimulate the discovery of more oil, as happened in the seventies, or will alternatives to drilling for oil have to be developed? Investors, burnt badly in the 1980s for their enthusiasm of the seventies, are in no hurry to develop oil shale. Those who lost money then are inclined to believe that more oil will be found in the near future, although the increasing resource nationalism in producer countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia mean resources in those countries will be off-limits to Western oil and gas companies.

You know what? Investors got burned by ethanol in the 1970's, too, and that hasn't stopped them from pouring their money back into that even shakier energy source. There is either a component to the recovery of crude from oil shale that isn't being acknowledged (environmentalism, anyone?), or those in the know that the current high oil prices are only temporary, or we're just plain stupid for not tapping this resource.

Racism, sexism, or blinding hate of Republicans?

I ask because it seems that whenever a lefty brings up Condoleeza Rice, they also toss in a picture of her looking as mean, scary, and nasty as possible. I find it repugnant, but oddly no one will call them on it.

A waste of breath

Or, the right words for the wrong place at the wrong time. From Reuters:

The United States urged Cubans on Friday to seize the opportunity to rid themselves of Communist rule as ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his designated successor and brother Raul remained out of public view, fueling anxiety over what could happen in the next days or weeks.
[...]
In a message beamed to Cuba on Friday evening, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Cubans now was the time to push for a new, democratic leadership. <>

"We will stand with you to secure your rights -- to speak as you choose, to think as you please, to worship as you wish, and to choose your leaders, freely and fairly, in democratic elections," she said in a broadcast on the U.S.-funded Radio Marti network.

<>
I doubt that a democratic "counter revolution" is in the making for Cuba. Yes, there is a small dissident population, but Castro has deftly used the United States as his safety valve for years. We've taken in his opponents if they could make it to our shores. Those Castro couldn't get rid of, he imprisoned. Rice's words may have been reassuring to some on the island, but they are misplaced. Instead, they should have been broadcast into Iran. Money should be piped to Iran's dissidents. Iran is a nation with built up dissenting pressures. Iran is perhaps the biggest threat to peace the world faces right now. Iran is the right place for those words, and now is the right time. Within five years or so, the Castro cult of personality will have crumbled and we will be looking at new relations with them. The same cannot be easily said about Iran unless we start stoking the fires under its building internal dissent.

Levi's Wyler "Walk the Line" commercial

Commenter Alkalinearmy has posted the Levi's "Walk the Line Commercial" at YouTube. You can either view it below or go to YouTube.



Previous
Note to the record industry: Sign Megan Wyler
Damn you Levi Strauss!

Hanson: It's the 1930's again

Victor Davis Hanson has been picking up on the same feeling that I've been having, namely that we are in a period similar to the pre World War II period.

When I used to read about the 1930s — the Italian invasion of Abyssinia, the rise of fascism in Italy, Spain, and Germany, the appeasement in France and Britain, the murderous duplicity of the Soviet Union, and the racist Japanese murdering in China — I never could quite figure out why, during those bleak years, Western Europeans and those in the United States did not speak out and condemn the growing madness, if only to defend the millennia-long promise of Western liberalism.
[...]
Not any longer.

Our present generation too is on the brink of moral insanity. That has never been more evident than in the last three weeks, as the West has proven utterly unable to distinguish between an attacked democracy that seeks to strike back at terrorist combatants, and terrorist aggressors who seek to kill civilians.

This does not mean that a new World War is definitely on the horizon; after all, while history tends to repeat itself, it never does so exactly. What it does mean is that if we aren't going to apply the lessons learned prior to World War II, we will end up with our hands full of world turmoil, turmoil that will lead to a lot of deaths.

Civilians and war

The New York Times has a long piece titled, "Civilians Lose as Fighters Slip Into Fog of War." It focuses on the Lebanese civilian deaths during Israel's military actions. I'm going to clue the New York Times in on something. Civilians die during wars. Nations fighting ethically avoid causing needless civilian deaths, attempting to limit damage to non-militarial locations and infrastructure as much as possible given the situation. Nations fighting unethically make no distinction between the civilian and military death, or worse yet intentionally target and kill civilians. Israel is the former. Hezbollah is the latter. There is no equivalance.

The odd thing about Lebanon

I just can't get this thought out of my head. There is one unusual aspect to the military actions in Lebanon right now. The national army of Israel is waging war inside their neighbor's borders, only to have Lebanon's government and military essentially sit on their hands and watch the fight. That says a lot about the deep divisions inside of Lebanon.

Is Kim Jong Il tutoring Ahmadinejad?

In grossly over wrought statements, that is:

I warn them: Know that the fire of the wrath of the peoples is about to erupt and overflow. If you do not put an end to your crimes, know that the ocean of the peoples will soon rage. When the peoples begin to move, they will drag everybody to the defendant's bench, and will remove them from the throne of power."

In all seriousness, read the excerpts of Ahmadinejad's latest speech. It makes me uneasy when I think of how similar the nature of the speech is to that of certain fascists in the 1930's.

"Breast-feeding reduces anxiety into childhood"

So says the latest study.

I post this mostly because I find the headline very amusing. There are just so many funny things that could be said based off of it. I mean, who's to say it is the feeding...maybe it is just the breast? It would go a long way to explaining us men.

Throw open the door to Cuba or slowly nurse it

Peggy Noonan is of the opinion that we should "blow open the doors" to Cuba.

How about this: Treat it as an opportunity. Use the change of facts to announce a change of course. Declare the old way over. Declare a new U.S.-Cuban relationship, blow open the doors of commerce and human interaction, allow American investment and tourism, mix it up, reach out one by one and person by person to the people of Cuba. "Flood the zone." Flood it with incipient prosperity and the insinuation of democratic values. Let Castroism drown in it.

It is not often that I disagree with Noonan, but in this case I do. Cuba is a sick nation. It has a boatload of problems that are not going to be fixed over night. Throwing open the doors is going to be a huge shock to Cuba, and that shock is going to create as many problems as it will fix. Additionally, pre-Castro Cuba already had a long love-hate relationship with the United States, and the suddenness of going from an isolated 3rd world nation to being swamped with Americanism is only going to help nurture the "hate" part amongst Cubans who will find the transition difficult. I think the United States and a post-Castro Cuba can build a strong nation to nation relationship, but only if we open just one door at a time. If we overwhelm the island, it is going to make the transition longer and more difficult for everyone involved. In a post-Castro Cuba, we will have the luxury helping the island out of the haze of Communism gradually and at a pace the nation can more easily absorb. We should utilize that time.

Pieces of 9/11 audio history

Wow. Head on over to Vanity Fair to listen to some of the audio history of 9/11, including the first call to NEADS requesting F-16's. That first call is extremely calm and matter of fact. The audio is just an amazing peak into the lives of normal people who manned our air defenses during that horrible morning. After listening, it is much easier to understand the confusion that occurs during a surprise attack.

Bad news for Castro: He says he's stable

Castro's communism is different from the old Soviet brand, but when I read this I began to think back to the old Soviet days.

Fidel Castro told his people he was in good spirits and stable after surgery that has raised speculation his illness might be the beginning of the end of his 47-year rule.

Days short of his 80th birthday, Castro issued a statement on Tuesday playing down talk he might be at death's door after an operation to halt stomach bleeding that forced him to temporarily relinquish power to his 75-year-old brother, Raul.

Back in the USSR, when a statement was issued about an ill leader's good health, he was usually already dead and the wrangling over succession was already taking place. Again, Castro's communism is very different from the USSR, so he may very well be doing quite well. But then again, don't be surprised if he dies soon.

"Poop to pump"

This is the kind of thinking that I like when it comes to creating alternative fuels without using an equivilant amount of fossil fuels.

One company's drive to locate domestic sources of energy is taking a turn into the barnyard.

Panda Ethanol has secured nearly $160-million in financing to build an ethanol plant that will be fired by mountains of manure in Hereford, a cattle town in the Texas panhandle.

This doesn't mean that I'm on the ethanol bandwagon. It is one small step in the right direction, though. I can see potentially huge NIMBY problems popping up with poo, though.

A new 9/11 source for historians

I'm pleased to see this:

Photographs of the carnage of Sept. 11 and tape-recorded final phone calls from victims in the World Trade Center were posted Monday by a federal court, a total of 1,202 exhibits from the Zacarias Moussaoui trial.

The videos, photographs and taped phone calls on the court's website were graphic in some cases, leading the court to mark 18 of the exhibits "discretion advised."

The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., said it is the first criminal case for which a federal court has provided access to all exhibits online.

All of the materials historians would have been able to get their hands on, anyway. What pleases me is that all of this material is being collected in one place on the web where high schoolers or collegians studying history can easily access it. Also, as a History major who spent a lot of time submitting requests for materials at the Wisconsin State Historical Society, the convenience factor is huge. You can view the exhibits here.