Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
We Hunt People For Jesus
"A U.S. church raised money to send Bibles, printed in the Pashtu and Dari languages, to American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, a report on Al Jazeera documented Sunday night.
It is against military rules to proselytize -- a regulation one of the soldiers filmed by the network readily acknowledged. "You cannot proselytize, but you can give gifts," says the soldier. It is a crime in Afghanistan to attempt to convert anyone from Islam to any other religion. "I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out." The footage is said to be roughly a year old.
The Al Jazeera report also shows a military preacher urging army parishioners to "hunt people for Jesus."
The Special Forces guys, they hunt men. Basically, we do the same things as Christians. We hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down. Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the Kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business," he says."
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is proudly sponsored by Google.
The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is sponsored by Google., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.
Google move 'black day' for China
Google's launch of a new, self-censored search engine in China is a "black day" for freedom of expression, a leading international media watchdog says.
Reporters Without Borders joined others in asking how Google could stand up for US users' freedoms while controlling what Chinese users can search for.
Its previous search engine for China's fast-growing market was subject to government blocks.
Twitter for a better life and a brighter smile
Blogs are blase.
Facebook's facile.
What's a girl to do?
Twitter
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
According to Wikipedia MP stands for.......
- Mending plate
- Military police
- Mumbai Police
- Machine pistol
- Manu propria, Latin for with one's own hand
- Martinair IATA airline designator or reservation code
- Making a Packet in expense claims
- Member of Parliament
- Metropolitan Police or Municipal police
- mezzo-piano, a musical term meaning "medium-quiet" or "moderately-quiet"
- Miljöpartiet, Swedish green party
- Missouri Pacific Railroad reporting mark
- Modus ponens, Latin for mode that affirms
- Mooring Post
- Mp (digraph)
- Ministério Público
- Medida provisória
- Missionary position
MP expenses fraud - If you suspect it, report it.
MP expenses fraud - If you suspect it, report it., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.
"Lembit Opik, the Liberal Democrat housing spokesman, was forced to pay £2,499 for a 42” plasma television himself after he bought it at the worst possible moment.
Mr Opik, who is renowned for his high-profile relationships, bought the television in his constituency of Montgomeryshire, Wales, on April 24. Twelve days later, he was re-elected with an increased majority, but by then it was too late.
His claim for expenses for his flat in south-east London, which he bought in 1997, was reduced by £2,499.
An official in the Commons fees office annotated his claim form with the words “NOT ALLOWED (purchased during dissolution)”. Mr Opik has claimed a total of £68,031 for the flat since 2004. Last year, he claimed £12,655 for extensive renovation work. This included a new kitchen, repainting throughout and the installation of wooden flooring in his bedroom."
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5314613/...
"Sir Michael Spicer, the Conservatives’ most senior backbench MP, claimed £5,650 in nine months for his garden to be maintained. In December 2006, he submitted a detailed invoice which included “hedge cutting ... helipad”, although he claimed last night that the “helipad” was a “family joke”. The Conservative grandee successfully claimed for the costs of hanging a chandelier in his main manor house. "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310200/MPs-expenses-Paying-bills-for-Tory-grandees.html
"Douglas Hogg, the former agriculture secretary, submitted a claim form including more than £2,000 for the moat around his country estate to be cleared. The taxpayer also helped meet the cost of a full-time housekeeper, including her car. The public finances also helped pay for work to Mr Hogg’s stables and for his piano to be tuned."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310200/MPs-expenses-Paying-bills-for-Tory-grandees.html
The most worrying aspect of this whole scandal is not the way that those on nearly three times the UK average wage abused the expenses system to pay for everything from bath plugs to moat cleaning on their country estate. The worst part is that such widespread abuse meant that huge swathes of the House of Commons were, at least in theory, open to the threat of blackmail and intimidation by anyone with access to the information. What better way of getting leverage than the possibility that juicy details about your lavish publicly funded lifestyle would find their way into the public domain?
On the other hand those in charge of the parties must have been rubbing their hands with glee knowing that party discipline could always be ensured via the use of veiled threats that such and such outlay might become the subject of investigation by the people back in their constituency.
"Yes, while I agree with your courageous moral stance on ........... I think that they fact that you are claiming for a second home despite living less than 30 miles away from parliament may look a trifle odd to the voters back home, don't you think? So, let's hear no more of this backbench rebellion nonsense, shall we?"
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Average (UK) MP's expenses cost taxpayer £118,000
The average MP cost taxpayers £118,000 in allowances and expenses last year, it was revealed yesterday when the House of Commons opened its books in an attempt to counter accusations of fiddling and sleaze.
MPs are paid £57,485, but figures published for the first time show that the additional total allowances have climbed to £78m, an increase of more than £20m within two years.
Amounts paid out for housing, constituency offices, staff, travel, computers and other items, released as part of the move towards freedom of information, varied widely between neighbouring MPs in the same political parties, the figures show.
The Commons figures were made public as a report by the senior salaries review board recommended a particularly harsh deal for MPs and ministers, pegging salary rises next year to a below inflation 2% and increasing by 1% contributions to an admittedly generous pension scheme.
Peers, however, are in line for a boost of up to 20% under proposals to raise daily atten dance allowances by £11 to £75, overnight expenses from £128 to £150, and daily office awards from £53.50 to £65.
MPs have enjoyed a number of sizeable pay rises and holding down next April's award will avoid a possible controversy before an expected general election in May.
Sir Archy Kirkwood, the Liberal Democrat MP who speaks for the Commons commission which published the expenses figures, said: "This is a significant step towards openness and accountability and I welcome it. The taxpayers can really see how their money is being spent."
Sir Archy, MP for rural Roxburgh and Berwickshire, may have been relieved to discover he claimed several thousands of pounds less than the average in 2003-4.
MPs are meant to produce receipts for bills of more than £250 and publication of detailed figures follows a series of disputes over expenses claims, culminating in £90,000 repaid by Michael Trend, Conservative MP for Windsor, for a London home he did not possess. Mr Trend is to stand down at the election.
The bulk of claims cover staff costs, although MPs from the Speaker, Michael Martin, down have been criticised in the media for employing relatives.
An out-of-town allowance up to a maximum £20,033 open to all MPs except those representing inner London constituencies has also proved to be controversial, with some parliamentarians buying flats from which they keep any capital gains when they retire or lose their seats.
The £80,836 claimed by Tony Blair put him in the bottom 10 MPs. But the prime minister, who has accommodation in Downing Street and Chequers provided by the state, was still able to claim to run his Sedgefield constituency home, which doubles as an office, as were other cabinet ministers with grace-and-favour apartments, including John Prescott, Margaret Beckett and David Blunkett.
The Tory leader, Michael Howard, claimed £126,658 and the Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, £121,630 in 2003-04.
The highest sum claimed was £168,889, by Claire Curtis-Thomas, Labour MP for Crosby, and the least, £56,657, by Mr Trend since his fall from grace.
Top of the travel claims was a Scottish MP, East Lothian's Anne Picking, with £39,744, while Siobhain McDonagh, of Mitcham and Mordern, spent more than £40,000 on paper and postage to write to her constituents.
Stephen Pound, Ealing North MP, who claimed £111,000 in 2003-04, said it was the equivalent of 3p each year for each of his electors.
"This is not about filling our boots," he said. "This is not about trousering a lot of money. This is about the money it takes to do the job."
The senior salaries review board recommended that judges' salaries go up by 2.5% and senior military officers' by 2.8%, with senior civil servants receiving up to 9%.
Both peers and MPs are to lose their generous 57p mileage allowance for their first 20,000 miles of motoring. It will be cut to 40p a mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p a mile thereafter.
MPs' staff allowance goes up from £66,458 a year to £72,000 and to more than £80,000 for London MPs.
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2004/oct/22/houseofcommons.uk
Welcome to the Google gulag
We know where you live. we know where you work. We know what you watch. we know what you buy.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Bratatat - Afghanistan
Phosphorus claim after fatal air strikes in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's leading human rights organisation is investigating claims that white phosphorus was used during a deadly battle between US forces and the Taliban last week in which scores of civilians may have died.
Nader Nadery, a senior officer at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said the organisation was concerned that the chemical, which can cause severe burns, might have been used in the firefight in Bala Baluk, a district in the western province of Farah.
Dr Mohammad Aref Jalali, the head of an internationally funded burns hospital in Herat, said villagers taken to hospital after the incident had "highly unusual burns" on their hands and feet that he had not seen before. "We cannot be 100% sure what type of chemical it was and we do not have the equipment here to find out. One of the women who came here told us that 22 members of her family were totally burned. She said a bomb distributed white power that caught fire and then set people's clothes alight."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/10/afghanistan-attacks-phosphorus-investigation
Sunday, May 10, 2009
How to process NEF files with Gimp
I'm getting in touch with my inner geek today. Actually, I managed to learn how to do something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I found a way to process NEF RAW files in Gimp. For those whose mother tongue is not Klingon or Photogeek it means that I can process the pictures from my digital camera at a much higher quality than before (here is a video which neatly explains some of the technical details in everyday terms).
I have a Nikon D80 DSLR and until quite recently all my pictures were JPEGs (the photography world's equivalent of mp3) simply because I had neither the space nor the programs on my computer to work with the bigger NEF RAW files that Nikon cameras use. Thankfully I have finally, overcome both obstacles by buying an external hard disc (500gb but filling up fast, alas) and today I figured out how Gimp (an open source alternative to Photoshop) can deal with NEF files.
Here is a quick guide for others wishing to do the same. Don't worry, it is fairly painless and FREE. Let me just say that again, FREE for those at the back in the nosebleed section.
1 If you don't have it already GIMP can be downloaded here.
2 You will need to get UFRaw which can be downloaded here.
3 Once you have set up the programs then open up your NEF file with UFRaw and then click on the GIMP icon (a small fox) in the bottom right hand corner. This will allow you to edit your pictures. You can save your images as TIFF, JPG etc but not NEF.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Your god Plutonium will not save you.
Your god plutonium will not save you., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.
"Your God of repentance will not save you.
Your holy ghost will not save you.
Your God Plutonium will not save you.
In fact...
...You will not be saved!"
John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness
Friday, May 08, 2009
Experiments in story telling through images
Click on the image to see it in full detail.Fighting in UK continues for second week, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.
Over the last few weeks I have become more and more interested in the ways in which I can use GIMP (the open source alternative to Photoshop) to manipulate images. It was the the next step for me in terms of improving my photography processing, however, I thought rather than just leqarning to re-touch photos I would try to produce images that subtly subverted their original meaning.
My first "targets" were the recent UK anti - terrorism ads which are so Orwellian in their tome and philosophy they demand to be parodied. later on I realised that I could also tell a story through the manipulation of posters, newspaper accounts and leaflets, which is exactly what i have been doing (see here for the full collection). The story is still unfolding in my head and I have no idea how it will end.
The one thing I can say is that I have learnt an enormous amount in pursing this. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that I've learnt more about processing pictures in the last two weeks than I learnt in the last two years.
Take the image above, for example. The NY Times picture is actually six processed images place one inside the next, Russian doll style, each layer, itself the product of a great deal of manipulation. At each stage I had to solve the difficulties I came across, some of them minor, some more complex. The result is much more than the picture, but rather a whole bunch of skills which I'm not about to forget soon. Who knows, they may even prove useful in real life?
My story telling has been inspired by V for Vendetta (comic and film), 1984, Orson Welles's radio production of War of the Worlds, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, the recent G20 events in London and the Greek riots of last December.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Your dream job - an EFL/ESL lesson plan
This is aimed at intermediate and post intermediate students and is a way to practice discussion, presentation and listening skills. You'll need an access to the internet and a way of recording either audio or video.
Lesson Plan
1 Students form groups of 2 - 4 and give them 2 minutes to write down as many jobs as possible e.g. teacher, doctor etc.
2 The groups with the longest list writes it on the board. Ask other students to add to it.
3 While the students are doing this write down their names on pieces of paper. When they have finished the job exercise hand out the names at random.
4 Students now decide which job from the list on the board would best suit the person whose name is on their piece of paper. The student then tells the other what job they choose and why.
5 Now ask students to write down their own dream job and why it would suit them.
6 Discuss this in pairs/groups.
7 Now explain to students that they are going to watch a video another job and they have to write down as many details about it as possible.
8 Students compare notes and decide what kind of person would be best for this job.
9 Now explain that in part of the application for the position involves posting a 60 second video on Youtube . See some examples here. Their job is to create their own video. To find out more details about the position get them to study the full job description here.
This can be done with a webcam, video camera or their mobile phone (audio or video). The video can be edited with Windows Movie Maker, which comes as standard with every copy of Windows. Alternatively, they can use their own images or images off the internet to create a video with still images and a voice over. Photostory 3, Windows Movie Maker or Slideshare, and Animoto are some of the programs you could use.
Read more about the person who got the job, Ben Southall.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)