abuddhas memes infofilter

"We can see in all papers below, that matter has a realistic existence and Nature is always rational. It is an error to believe that Nature cannot be explained with natural logic."

"CPI's Lewis was not jesting when he told Moyers that Patriot II was five or ten times worse than the first Patriot Act."

"With very advanced technology, a very large population of people living happy lives could be sustained in the accessible region of the universe. For every year that development of such technologies and colonization of the universe is delayed, there is therefore an opportunity cost: a potential good, lives worth living, is not being realized. Given some plausible assumptions, this cost is extremely large. However, the lesson for utilitarians is not that we ought to maximize the pace of technological development, but rather that we ought to maximize its safety, i.e. the probability that colonization will eventually occur."

"Living at such a critical time compels us to search for those convergence points and exploit them. With this effort, we hope to expand the current debates and push our movements to explore new frontiers of struggle. We hope to provoke further and deeper action, as well as to challenge all of us to weave these actions together and provide a tapestry of reality more vibrant and compelling than the one that is currently unraveling."

"The Maillard reaction occurs most readily at around 300° F to 500° F."

"Remember, someone you know, respect, and interact with every day is an introvert, and you are probably driving this person nuts. It pays to learn the warning signs."

"Ongoing medical records, instructions for post-surgical care, medication -- none of that happens for the street community. They're twice as likely as those living in stable housing to get virtually every disease and infection, and at far greater risk of violence-related injuries. But they're a poor match for the mainstream hospital system, which isn't structured to look out for difficult people with nowhere to go."

"We do have a deterrence operating now. He [Saddam] knows it. If he uses or gives away these weapons, he'd be in terrible shape. If we come after him, since he knows the outcome is certain, he has maximum incentive to use them."

"They were always pitting us against each other, getting us to fight and molest one another. It was all designed to split us up and brainwash us so that we would forget that we were Keepers of the Land. The Creator gave our people the job of protecting the land, the fish, the forests. That was our purpose for being alive. But the whites wanted it all, and the residential schools were the way they got it. And it worked. We've forgotten our sacred task, and now the whites have most of the land and have taken all the fish and the trees. Most of us are in poverty, addictions, family violence. And it all started in the schools, where we were brainwashed to hate our own culture and to hate ourselves so that we would lose everything. That's why I say that the genocide is still going on." (Testimony of Harriett Nahanee to Kevin Annett, North Vancouver, BC, December 11, 1995)

"We are friends of the United States, we are friends of that people and we will remain so. But we are threatened today by a new simplism which consists in reducing everything to the war on terrorism. That is their approach, but we cannot accept that idea. You have got to tackle the root causes, the situations, poverty, injustice." Foreign Minister of France, Hubert Vedrine

"As of today these weapons are long gone from the U.S. arsenal and by order of President George Bush the Elder have been demolished. Moreover, in 1994 Congress passed legislation forbidding the development and production of low-yield dicriminate battlefield nuclear weapons. In this context, unless this decision is reversed it is little short of ludicrous for the NPR to call for developing new low-yield nuclear weapons."

"Despite the administration's bungled pronouncements, some of its most hawkish backers are getting the right picture. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday" just before Andy Card's interview, Defense Policy Board Chairman Richard Perle argued, "I can't think of a target of interest in a conflict with Iraq that could not be dealt with effectively by conventional weapons, non-nuclear weapons. ... I can't see why we would wish to use a nuclear weapon." The Prince of Darkness isn't about to campaign to ban the bomb, but, like most others, he knows that tactical nuclear weapons aren't very useful. It's time Bush learned the same."

"The war was so terrible, because it took a generation of men educated in genteel ways, and it ground them to pulp. They went off to war like gentlemen, and came back, if they were lucky, with a frankness of expression that was rooted in the greatest grief."

"Hemp yields an average of nine dry tons per acre. This yield could be even greater in a warm humid climate such as exists in Puerto Rico, and in this climate hemp can be harvested at least three times per year. Therefore, using the University of Hawaii bio-methanol facility production and cost estimates: 95,000 acres planted in hemp will supply a facility capable of producing 1700 MLPY (449 Million Gallons Per Year) of methanol, with the total investment in building the facility at $335 million."

"Even the remnants of hemp, after it has been processed for seeds and high-quality fibre, is a superior biomass feed stock for the production of the high-octane, water free alcohol fuel, he said."

"The concept of human nature that underlies our visions is usually tacit and inchoate, but it is always there, perhaps implicitly, whether one chooses to leave things as they are and cultivate one's own garden, or to work for small changes, or for revolutionary ones. This much, at least, is true of people who regard themselves as moral agents, not monsters -- who care about the effects of what they do or fail to do."

Personnel Effectors	Description
Infra/Ultra Sound	Sonic generator that projects an acoustic pressure wave to cause discomfort to personnel.
Noise	Acoustic generator that produces sufficient sound to disorient or incapacitate personnel.
Incapacitating Substances	Family of inorganic and organic substances that cause temporary disability.
Malodorous Substances	Family of inorganic substances with pungent odors that causes discomfort to personnel.
Irritants	Substances that cause eye and respiratory irritation/discomfort (e.g., CS, CR, EA4923).
Vomiting Agents	Chemicals that cause nausea/vomiting (e.g., DM).
Nonpenetrating Projectiles	Family of projectiles that stuns personnel without penetrating.
Strobe Lights	Large, high-intensity stroboscopic light to disorient and confuse personnel.
Stun Weapons	Family of weapons that subdues or immobilizes personnel.
Water Cannon	System that produces a high-pressure stream of water to disable or disburse crowds.
Optical Munitions	Family of explosive/electric flash devices to stun, dazzle, or temporarily blind.
Super Adhesives/Binding Coatings	Family of adhesives that prevents movement of personnel.
Anti-Traction	Family of substances that cause lack of traction for personnel.
Combustible Dispersants	Family of substances that ignites when subject to pressure from personnel passing over.
Entanglers/Containment Devices	Family of nets, meshes, and the like to ensnare.
Enclosure Fillers	Substance or devices that rapidly fill an enclosed space, leaving occupants alive but incapable of movement (e.g., airbags).
Aqueous Foams	Family of foams that impedes mobility and create barriers especially when mixed with irritants.
Deceptions	Techniques intended to persuade groups to act against their self-interest.
Holograms	Generator that produces holograms as decoys or deceptions.
Voice Synthesis/Morphing	Device to synthesize the voice or images of a known figure, to deceive, produce false orders, or gain access.
Markers	Family of substances that can be used to covertly mark personnel for later identification. Marking may be overt if so desired.
Obscurants	Family of smoke-like agents to obscure observation and disorient.

Materiel Effectors	Description
Special Electromagnetic Interference	Family of devices to provide electronic interference effects.
Binding Coatings	Family of adhesives that prevents movement of vehicles.
High-Voltage Shock	High-voltage generator to disrupt electronic systems.
Nonnuclear EMP	Device that duplicates the effects of nuclear weapons electromagnetic pulse, disrupting electronics.
Engine Killers	Family of agents that disables or destroys engines.
Filter Cloggers	Family of airborne agents that clogs air filters when ingested in engines.
Conductive Particles	Family of particles that short-circuits electronics when inserted.
Conductive Ribbons	Family of ribbons that short-circuits electronics when deployed over wires.
Fuel Additives/-Viscosifiers	Family of agents that cause fuel to solidify.
Radio Frequency	System that radiates a microwave burst, disabling electronics.
Obscurants	Family of smoke-like agents to obscure visual or electronic observation.
Optical Munitions	Explosive/electric flash device to stun, dazzle, or temporarily blind optical sensors.
Computer Moles/Worms	Family of programs that will burrow into enemy automation and report back various datum: status, location, etc.
Computer Viruses	Family of programs that will cause computers to malfunction.
Material Embrittlement	Family of substances that cause materials to quickly disintegrate or break down molecular bonding.
Optical Coatings	Family of materials that can be deposited on optical sensors or viewing ports to obscure vision.
Entanglers	Family of nets, meshes, and the like to ensnare vehicles.
Antitraction	Family of substances that causes lack of traction.
Soil Destabilization	Family of substances that causes soil to become soft or unstable, thus unusable by vehicles.
Tire Attack	Family of methods to destroy the tire/wheels of vehicles.
Supercorrosives/supercaustics	Family of substances that corrodes structural materials such as metal.
Biodeterioration	Family of organic substances that corrodes structural materials or fuels.
Combustible Dispersants	Family of substances that ignites when subject to pressure from vehicles passing over.
Combustion Modifiers	Family of agents that causes mechanical failure when injected in combustion engines.
Antifriction	Family of substances that significantly reduce surface friction between mechanical components.
Adhesives/Abrasives	Substances that adhere to the surfaces of moving parts of machinery to damage them/prevent normal function.
Acoustic Waves	Acoustic waves beamed into systems, which rely on acoustic sensors, to spool the system.

And don't forget to have a great weekend courtesy of Eric Idle & John Du Prez:

"From 1977 to 1985, Rumsfeld was the President and CEO of Searle Pharmaceuticals. After Rumsfeld's tenure, Searle was bought by Monsanto, which itself was subsequently taken over by Pharmacia. Pharmacia kept Searle when it spun-off Monsanto's agricultural division as 'new' public company."

"What that suggests is that they're waiting for a propitious time to introduce it, which might well be when a war is begun. At that time there would be less opportunity for discussion and they'll have a much stronger hand in saying that they need these right away."

"The United States has been at war in Colombia for over 50 years. It has, however, hesitated to explain precisely who it is fighting. Officially, it is now involved there in a "war on terror". Before September 2001, it was a "war on drugs"; before that, a "war on communism". In essence, however, US intervention in Colombia is unchanged: this remains, as it has always been, a war on the poor."

"Unfortunately, our knee-jerk fears of the repressive effects of power and knowledge prevent us from explicitly recognizing the social context of these unequal relationships (therapist/patient, employer/employee). By failing to come up with any explanation for why some types of secret surveillance are preferable to others, we are effacing the distinction between invasions of privacy for purposes of social control and medical treatment and invasions of privacy for sheer self-gratification.."

"I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's running out of patience. And so am I! For some time now I've been really pissed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a couple of doors down the street."

"These synchronicities drape themselves over the landscape of our sadness, almost overshadowing the advent of the America's next major war. But perhaps the word is not overshadow but foreshadow..."

"I can neither guarantee the applicability or accuracy of, nor assume liability for, any of the questions or answers listed here. If you inquire into these realms, you must accept full responsibility for what you ask, how you search, and what you learn."

"How did Roman slaves think of the Tuscan countryside? How did Etruscans or Syrians perceive the Roman Empire, and early Christians the desert? How differently do the English, the Irish, the Russians and the Senegalese think of the sea? What did the Anglo-Saxons think about Stonehenge? These apparently simple questions can only be partially answered after years or even generations of research. So questions which we now pose about past time and place are perverse. The principal problem is that they incorporate the Historical Fallacy: the projection on to the past of the concerns of the present."