Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

I can recommend SBMC to anyone who's tolerant to indiscriminate humour. Different issues land in Zach's crosshair and sometimes they're ridiculed in rough, even crude manner.
Though - it's really funny webcomic, becouse of this.
And ... it has daily updates, that actually arrive daily.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

It's more and better Rainbow Six: Vegas. Considering it's prequel was really solid on it's own - it should be enough for a recommendation.

Art:
If we're talking graphics - Vegas 2 couldn't escape comparison with Crysis or CoD4.
Crisis obviously overpowers it with details, indirect lights, polygon count, etc though Vegas 2 simply looks better. I don't care about tech, if it doesn't contribute in any meaningful way. If I can't see n-th degree reflection from some railing - it may not exist. I liked what I saw better while playing Rainbow Six: Vegas 2.
... and tech-wise Unreal newest engine is powerful too and RS:V2 has ton of polygons of its own.
Tough, it won't grab "best graphical depiction of modern combat" from CoD4. Something is 100% perfect in colours and moods - which was the case with CoD4. Game seems over-saturated. Maybe setting forced this one - it's Vegas after all.
Overally it's still very good and some colorizing plus realisitc-looking destruction of equipement could move it to perfect. It's also got pretty good sound.
8/10

Story:
It's not on B class movie script's level. Rather C.
It's preposterous, twists are obvious and it'd be better if characters wouldn't say anything about the "big picture". "Just concentrate on shooting bad guys boys - why bother with anything else?"
Spolier warning, for C class movies fans.
Story sometimes borders madness. You get reminiscence mission to show why shwarz-character turned into genocidal maniac. Than there's military-scale assault on Vegas, where hundreds of well trained mercs kill some civilians and police just to die on hands of Rainbow operatives. At some point some NSA agent appears on your comm frequency. He wars total face cover and won't even give his name. He feeds you bad intel three times. That he gets onto your heli to show you some another fake clue... If I was Bishop I'd shoot Gabriel on that spot. Why Gabriel? It's C class movie script. It's obvious it's traitor from first RS:V, after first part of bad intel.
After that it's only worse.
Overally story is outrageous, but this game is "classic" fps and it doesn't weigh too much on the game.
2/10

Gameplay:
Most of the game you got two partners. You can command them with console-style 3 buttons that represent different actions depending on situation (I hate console dumbing down - it killed Deus Ex 2. It would be no problem for PC user to have 5 commands in reach, but you have to change infiltrarion/assault mode to have your team swap frags for flashes - becouse console pads have so few buttons.). They're not the brightest, but will do the job. At some places they're extremaly useful covering your rear, flanking or used as a bait and I can't really complain about teammates in RS:V2. It'd be nice to have additional commands like "supressive fire", or "assault that target". These wouldn't stick so much to convention in which you are still ... police. Elite SWAT but still apprehending criminals. However most of this missions are far more military style. You get ton of enemies and most of them you just gun down in intense fire fights.
Which isn't a bad thing altogether.

RS:V2 naturally has cover system. It seems to me as it was tweaked and upgraded comparing to original Vegas. It's pretty sweet. Angle on which you can shoot and fire blindly sticking only hand out of covers feels perfectly real. Stepping with your back to the wall (nice shots on Bishop, which can be woman as well as man (!) are added bonus), firing blindly at enemy running to you, throwing a granade to enemies that fire on you from behind, looking on the other side just in time to cut down flanking terrorist is really awesome.
I hope Americas Army 2 will have cover system this good.

Enemies will flank you, sometimes run at you, sometimes fire from the cover, use granades and pose some challange on "realistic" level. They will obviously make many misteakes but all in all they're not the dumbest bunch in the gamining history. They're chatting while fighting which is very useful to player... hardly realistic but they make it up in numbers.
There's one awful thing about enemies - they sometimes spawn in your sight. In campaing I've had to defend one location. I've moved where enemy comes from and secured only door in waiting for their attack. They spawned all around me...
It's very bad that there're no guys where you're going until last moment (rarely - after last moment - u can see actual spawn on some instances). You can't hear anything and see anything ahead, unless there's a scene scripted out there.

In RS:V2 you can dress your own Rainbow operative.
Choose armour (some cool looking - totaly unrealistic - whole body cover armours are availible), choose clothes, glassess, helmets and stuff. Camo pattern also customizable.
As far as it may sound radiculus it's actaully pretty fun. And - just look back at story paragraph - this game isn't about realism or consequence. Convention is just a theme for nice shootout.

There're also some accomplishments that unlock new stuff, but this played average. They're not bothersome, but don't get so much into the game.

Overally gameplay is formidable. Run to covers, throw things, shoot things and two teammates as an added bonus. Innovative? Maybe not, but well executed.
7/10

Seriously, if you like fps go get the game. It won't blow you away. It doesn't have AC-130u. But it's worth the time and (except for the story) won't get you dissapointed.
7/10

Brilliant political cartoon by Michael Ramirez

Head straight for IBD's cartoon section if you want another fix.

Which observation would disprove global warming?

Penn Gilette started recording un-edited thoughts on crackle.
I've watched all P&T Bullshit episodes, so listining what he has to say directly sounded as a good idea. One of his first vidos posted there under "weather opportunists" was about teh dreded global warming.
He asked extremaly viable question - what global warming alarmists consider as an observation that disproves their theory?

This one is really worth pushing.
Skeptics should step on alarmists until they classify symptoms of escalating global warming AND these, that disprove their theory.

Right now greenies can (and DO!) simply attribute anything as global warming side effect. It's hot - obviously global warming. But... when it's cold - it's also global warming! Severe hurricane season in the US? Global warming. No hurricanes in 2007? Silence. Etc. Whatever happens it's either indicator of global warming, or weather, complexity etc.

Most of scientific basis for this whole "earth is burning" hype stems from climate models. After feeding such a model with data and pushing red button they produced scenario of climbing temperatures. However accuracy of such models is questionable. There's a lot of data and process that occur in our planet are pretty complex. Additionaly it's quite probable that some models were ment to produce certain scenarios. Well, even limited bias - feel that "too cold" scenarios are in need of tweaking twice as frequent than the same feel with "hot" ones - could impair results!
If these models were running for 20 years without major changes, and the most accurate of them was used and the rest of them scrapped - we could place some trust in it. But if it's unproven?
There's also one interesting developement - teh righteous models of doom - have predicted drastic warming in the antarctic, that is cooling at the moment. Was it enough to at least acknowagle that they lost one point here? You guessed it: "It isn't surprising that these models are not doing as well in these remote parts of the world. These are global models and shouldn't be expected to be equally exact for all locations," 

Did any models predict this: "Extreme cold weather is occurring worldwide. On Dec. 4, in Seoul, Korea, the temperature was a record minus 5 degrees Celsius. Nov. 24, in Meacham, Ore., the minimum temperature was 12 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the previous record low set in 1952. The Canadian government warns that this winter is likely to be the coldest in 15 years."

Another issue is linking temperatures to industries' carbon dioxide emmisons.
If global warming was rock-solid, it's links to industry would still be weak. Carbon dioxide is only a fraction of greenhouse gases and industry accounts only for a fraction of it's production. If you're going to travel with two friends you'll produce roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide traveling by car and... running! One good season for vulcanos can trump years of humanities factories in greenhouse emmision.

I think the worst that scenario that may happen si this one. I've acquired it using climate model so it's so very accurate! Behold:
In next decade developed countries cave to bandwagon of greenies, politicians and grant-yanking scienists that have scientifically weak theory. They literaly sacrifice industry cutting emissions to the bone. Lifespan drops 10 years and Asia - not buying Gore-acle's story - takes the top. China and India don't care about thier carbon dioxide, as they're progressing they change to less polluting technologies from practical reasons. But for this decade - they pump extreme amounts of greenhouse gases (so much that they break terrible barier of... behold 5%! of natural level!)
Temperature... drops some grades Celsius down.
Greens are hanged on tree's branches, Gore commits suicide while his energy gobbling mansion is stormed by angry mob, reason and science are losing authority - all of it, not only climate alarmists.
Huge meteor is sighted enrout to Earth. Evidence is rock-solid, calculation are extremaly accurate. Only way to avert disaster is to spend trillions world-wide in rockets to launch 2000 nuclear warheads to change it's trajectory. No one is going to sacrifice decades of developement for "this crazed scientists, on greenies leash, that took down western civiliastion".
...
K-Boom.

Day by Day on Goracle

Chris Muir's must see strip. I do strongly recommend his Day by Day.

Why don't people get it?

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr from Mises institute hit's the nail on the head in his article about socialisms appeal. This one got into my "ammo box" bookmarks directory for further use against ethatists. Recomended read.


I almost feal sorry for flame mail to mr. Rockwell after his anti-interentionist article
(it's based on BS - outrageous figueres than Lancet and ORB pulled out of their collective assess. Lancet coordinator of field work denied answearing a question about his methods?! And ORB ... check them out. This method is going to prove what? You wan't to assess casualties - count the bodies. You wan't to smear neo-con's make polls and than talk ppl into desirable answears.)
I hope mr. Rockwell was busy with great work for world economies sake, while missing everything happening around Iraq intervension in the media, blogoshpere and on the ground.

Virtual... reality?

This is just an example of how far 100% commercial computer game went in pursuit of realistic graphics. Infinity Ward (developer of Call of Duty) programmed their game to entertain players.
Americas Army dev team had different goal. Their tab was paid by US Army, players may download it free of charge. It's designed as a recrutiment tool. Developers went all out for realism (leaving off some gory parts - if you die - you just die... no lying in the pool of blood without legs).
Technology acquired while developing this game is used outside of virtual reality.
New addition to CQB training is in big part due to experience with Americas Army game. It's strange shoothouse without wooden silhouettes of enemies. They're substituted by ... projections. Recriuts storm a room with live ammo and see enemies projected on the walls. "Bots" may run, surrender, look for a gun or shoot back. Program analyzes hits, so if you shoot projection's leg it won't instantly die, just get wounded.
Is line between real and virual getting blurrier by the day?