AI: Hellooooooo!

Yesterday I heard yet another report about Artificial Intelligence Technology making another step in its evolution. Now they’re making robots that would be able to speak to each other, this; according to the Associated Press. Apparently there are some “Scientist” in Moscow, Idaho who believe that they are advancing robotic technology by creating robots that would be able to speak and learn from each other AND from their own experiences. Is it just me? Or is there something way wrong with building robots who think for themselves? I just have a few points to make:

~ War Games
~ Terminator 1
~ Terminator 2
~ Terminator 3
~ I Robot
~ Matrix 1
~ Matrix 2
~ Matrix 3
~ Space 2001: Space Odyssey
~ Battle Star Galactica: The SciFi Series

And a whole host of B movie productions on the SciFi channel that would make it clear to even the most casual observer that: WE SHOULD NOT BE MESSING WITH ROBOTS WHO THINK FOR THEMSELVES!!!!!

Oh sure, they start off inspecting underwater power lines and performing mine removal service for the Navy but what happens when they become self aware? What do we do when they decide to turn their skills against their creator? Hunh? Hunh! Then what?!?

You gotta watch these scientist who are obviously too busy to catch a good scifi flic to know the true dangers of AI technology. Sit them down… buy them some popcorn and then pop in the Matrix DVD so they can see what can happen to the “real world” if their little inventions grow to maturity. It’s the only way… ;^)

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

Thanksgiving: Truly American

It’s a time for family, good eats, and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one holiday that is truly quintessentially American. We give thanks to our Christian God for blessing us here in the good ole U.S. of A. We eat until we are full and then we eat some more. We enjoy the company of friends and loved ones and relax in the peace of the society we call America.

During this time there are community and religious outreach programs meant to bring this day of thanksgiving to all Americans, including the homeless and poor across our country. On Thanksgiving, bellies are full, debate topics are worn thin, and all around the world Americans take time to give thanks. There could be no greater representation of the American heart and the American spirit. We want to enjoy the life that God has blessed us with and we want to share with others the blessings bestowed upon us.

Thanks to God for American Freedom and the blessings that come with this cherished right. Thanks to all those defending and protecting Freedom against oppression and thank you to those who stand watch on America’s streets keeping us safe at home. You are all American heroes and without you doing what you do, America would not have a Thanksgiving at all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The State of America @ War

Michael F. Scheuer, a 22-year veteran of the CIA, and someone who served as chief of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center gave a frank assessment of our current war on terror and the political quagmire that has been created by a government who lacks the resolve to win this war decisively. He revealed a political climate which lacks the ability to rise above the political correct fray within our community and courtrooms and conduct a global war on terror with VICTORY as our ultimate goal.

In the Op-Ed piece in the Washington times, he lays out 8 points to consider if we are to gain and keep the momentum in this war on terror and achieve ultimate victory in that region or fail miserably by losing our resolve to win the war on terror. Failing to recognize the true threat we face today is #1 on his list. Scheuer states,

"America's bipartisan leaders fail to accept that we are at war with militant Islamists terrorists — if you prefer, because of our policies in the Muslim world — not because of what we think or believe. Willful blindness on this score ensures our defeat by the growing number of young Muslims rallying to al Qaedaism. The equation is immutable: Fail to know your enemy and you always lose."

While we continue to allow ourselves to believe that this war isn’t about Islamism (the conversion of the entire world to the Islamic faith) and more directly, Islamo Fascism (the forced conversion and adherence of extreme Islamic Law) our collective will and resolve is slowing being eaten away. Our troops continue to fight with valor and pride understanding the stakes that America faces but the public, lead by our vacillating Congressional leaders and a gangrenous main stream media can’t help but to lose their resolve and focus.
Scheuer, continues to address our inability to deal with the reality of war when he says,

“As a society, we have failed to teach children that war's nature never changes, that wars are tremendously bloody and should not be entered lightly, and that when war is joined, annihilation of the foe is the only moral goal. The result is a lengthening list of lost or failing wars because we fight for issues unrelated to U.S. interests — Somalia, Haiti, the Balkans — or refuse to fully apply the power of the earth's greatest military when our interests are at risk — Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Simply, our leaders do not know how to wage war, and the Pentagon's uniformed bureaucrats lack the guts to tell them their wrong. In big wars, America's goal is desolation of the enemy, not an exit strategy. The former yields victory, the latter yields quagmire.”

America’s resolve is under attack and I fear that our resolve is losing the current battle. What would it take for Americans to understand the price we have to pay to stay free? When will our elected leaders understand that it is ill-advised to politicize this war. We must remain united if we are to achieve victory.

While there is yet another campaign to remove ‘Under God’ from our currency and while that campaign receives more press than any positive news story of our efforts in the war on terror, there is another saying that has been clearly ignored by Conservatives and Liberals alike. This phrase located on every piece of US currency in circulation. This phrase symbolizes the strength of America and her ability to overcome every obstacle that would hinder her growth as a free nation. This phrase “E Pluribus Unum” – ‘Out of Many, One’ is what has brought America through its darkest hours before and unless we understand what those words mean to us today, Scheuer’s prediction may yet come to pass.

Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu

CNN's Freudian Glitch

It’s 11:04am, 8:04am on the West Coast, and the Vice President is handing the opponents of the war in Iraq another highlight filled speech. CNN, obviously not happy with what’s being said by the vice-President unintentionally decided to reveal their true feelings about the VP.

According to the Drudge Report, “a large black 'X' repeatedly flashed over the vice president's face!
The 'X' over Cheney's face appeared each time less than a second, creating an odd subliminal effect.”

The Whitehouse expressed concerns about the CNN Report.

Appearing on Hannity & Colmes, Drudge said the X's appeared for "less than a 15th of a second" each. "It was almost subliminal," he said. "However, when you slow down the tape you see Dick Cheney's face with a large X on it." "I think they've gotta give an explanation," Drudge added.

According toTVNewser, CNN gave the following explanation, "Upon seeing this unfortunate but very brief graphic, CNN senior management immediately investigated. We concluded this was a technological malfunction not an issue of operator error. A portion of the switcher experienced a momentary glitch. We obviously regret that it happened and are working on the equipment to ensure it is not repeated."

Alan Colmes read CNN's response on the air at the end of H&C, citing TVNewser. But Drudge wasn't satisfied.

"It glitched over and over again, eh?," he asked. "The timing of the glitch is interesting..."

Click here for the complete transcript of the VP's remarks

Ends Justifying The Means: by SGT Walter J. Rausch

“My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday.”

Ends Justifying The Means
To anyone who ever had the gall to doubt your own country….or freedom.

Sure Fire says,

Mom,
Be my voice. I want this message heard. It is mine and my platoon’s to the country. A man I know lost his legs the other night. He is in another company in our battalion. I can no longer be silent after watching the sacrifices made by Iraqis and Americans everyday. Send it to a congressman if you have to. Send it to FOX news if you have to. Let this message be heard please…

My fellow Americans,
I have a task for those with the courage and fortitude to take it. I have a message that needs not fall on deaf ears. A vision the blind need to see. I am not a political man nor one with great wisdom. I am just a soldier who finds himself helping rebuild a country that he helped liberate a couple years ago.

I have watched on television how the American public questions why their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters are fighting and dying in a country 9000 miles away from their own soil. Take the word of a soldier, for that is all I am, that our cause is a noble one. The reason we are here is one worth fighting for. A cause that has been the most costly and sought after cause in our small span of existence on our little planet. Bought in blood and paid for by those brave enough to give the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it. A right that is given to every man, woman, and child I believe by God. I am talking of freedom.

Freedom. One word but yet countless words could never capture it’s true meaning or power. “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” I read that once and it couldn’t be more true. It’s not the average American’s fault that he or she is “blind and deaf” to the taste of freedom. Most American’s are born into their God given right so it is all they ever know. I was once one of them. I would even dare to say that it isn’t surprising that they take for granted what they have had all their life. My experiences in the military however opened my eyes to the truth.

Ironically you will find the biggest outcries of opposition to our cause from those who have had no military experience and haven’t had to fight for freedom. I challenge all of those who are daring enough to question such a noble cause to come here for just a month and see it first hand. I have a feeling that many voices would be silenced.

I watched Cindy Sheehan sit on the President’s lawn and say that America isn’t worth dying for. Later she corrected herself and said Iraq isn’t worth dying for. She badmouthed all that her son had fought and died for. I bet he is rolling over in his grave.

Ladies and gentleman I ask you this. What if you lived in a country that wasn’t free? What if someone told you when you could have heat, electricity, and water? What if you had no sewage systems so human waste flowed into the streets? What if someone would kill you for bad-mouthing your government? What if you weren’t allowed to watch TV, connect to the internet, or have cell phones unless under extreme censorship? What if you couldn’t put shoes on your child’s feet?

You need not to have a great understanding of the world but rather common sense to realize that it is our duty as HUMAN BEINGS to free the oppressed. If you lived that way would you not want someone to help you????

The Iraqi’s pour into the streets to wave at us and when we liberated the cities during the war they gathered in the thousands to cheer, hug and kiss us. It was what the soldier’s in WW2 experienced, yet no one questioned their cause!! Saddam was no better than Hitler! He tortured and killed thousands of innocent people. We are heroes over here, yet American’s badmouth our President for having us here.

Every police station here has a dozen or more memorials for officers that were murdered trying to ensure that their people live free. These are husbands, fathers, and sons killed every day. What if it were your country? What would your choice be? Everything we fight for is worth the blood that may be shed. The media never reports the true HEROISM I witness everyday in the Iraqi’s. Yes there are bad one’s here, but I assure you they are a minuscule percent. Yet they are a number big enough to cause worry in this country’s future.

I have watched brave souls give their all and lose their lives and limbs for this cause. I will no longer stand silent and let the “deaf and blind” be the only voice shouting. Stonewall Jackson once said, “All that I have, all that I am is at the service of the country.” For these brave souls who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including your son Cindy Sheehan, I will shout till I can no longer. These men and women are heroes. Their spirit lives on in their military and they will never be forgotten. They did not die in vain but rather for a cause that is larger than all of us.

My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday. You can see the desire in their eyes and I am honored to fight alongside them as an Infantryman in the 101st Airborne.

Freedom is not free, but yet it is everyone’s right to have. Ironic isn’t it? That is why we are here. Though you will always have the skeptics, I know that most of our military will agree with this message. Please, at the request of this soldier spread this message to all you know. We are in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that is our goal. It is a cause that I and thousands of others stand ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice for because, Cindy Sheehan, freedom is worth dying for, no matter what country it is! And after the world is free only then can we hope to have peace.

SGT Walter J. Rausch and 1st Platoon
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
http://passthebrass.com/2005/11/ends-justifying-the-means/

ANWR Veto: The Battle for America’s future

The US Congress has developed the attitude of …’Every incumbent for himself!’ and they seem to be increasing the speed of their departure away from the issues that have polarized the nations views surrounding the President and the war on Terror. It would appear that the Republican Congress does not have the leadership or the wherewithal to withstand the continuous Democrat attacks on their policy and their President.
"We need moderate Republicans to truly step over the line today and give their blood oath that they are not going to vote for a bill this month, next month or next year that contains the Arctic," said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.

The Republican Party has failed the American People by pulling the budget for drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). It is vital to our strategic interest and that of a stable economy to wean ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil. ANWR has the oil and our nation needs the oil. There is no rational explanation for pulling ANWR from this year’s Federal Budget. Our politicians have placed their personal interest ahead of the nations and then shield themselves behind their constituents when asked to explain their decision.

Ron Talley, spokesman for the Main Street Partnership consisting of six anti-drilling Republicans, led by Rep. Charles Bass of New Hampshire said, “This is nothing against Sen. Stevens. This is nothing against the leadership or the President this is basically preservation for these people in local politics."

Sarah Chamberlain Resnick, executive director of the Republican Mainstreet Partnership, said she expected that the group's moderate lawmakers would show added independence in coming months. "This is to maintain the majority, and, if somebody has to show a little separation to maintain the majority, I assume the leadership will understand that," she said.

It’s painfully clear that the Republicans cannot stay united on the issues that are important to Americans. It’s time for the President to use his own ‘nuclear option’ and veto any budget that does not include drilling in ANWR. President Bush needs to lead the nation domestically just as strongly as he does for national security. A veto threat by the President will draw attention to the ANWR issue and reveal the true nonsensical politics that have polluted the issue and has placed in jeopardy our nations future energy needs. President Bush needs to remind the Congress that he is a separate power within our government and he has the ability to stop foolish legislature and redirect the attention of the Congress to the issues that the American people demand that they address. Gas prices are high on the list of concerns for the average American voter and the Congress needs to recognize that and act in the best interest of the American people.

The President needs to make it clear to the people of the US what drilling in ANWR will do for our nation. An area less than 1% of the entire ANWR region has enough oil to supply the US for 30 years. The truth needs to be aired before the American people and the President needs to bring all of his options to bear to ensure that the people understand what their elected leaders are doing for their long term energy goals.

M. DiBartolo
American Zulu

Some information in this story
came from Anchorage Daily News.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Veterans Day 2005

This years Veterans Day comes during trying and disturbing times in our nation. Not only do we have veterans who are currently in harms way protecting our way of life, we also have a consorted effort within our own borders by those who would undermine our men and women in the service.
Disagreeing and even protesting during a time of war is a right that’s protected by our constitution. Undermining our military, dishonoring their service and sacrifice, and sending a message that their efforts aren’t appreciated is a travesty.
Cities like San Francisco have gone so far as to restrict all military recruiting within their city limits. They have also voted to undermine the constitution that our men and women have sworn to protect by placing a ban on the sell and possession of any firearms within their jurisdiction. This speaks directly against the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution which guarantees our right to bare arms.
The City Council of Sacramento, the capitol of California, has taken it upon themselves to not only officially condemn the war on terror but they have called for the immediate withdrawal of our troops from the Iraqi region; A region where our troops have performed heroically in the defense of freedom and they continue to perform above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the war on terror does not reach our shores again.
So as our troops, our veterans, our American heroes are fulfilling their oath to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States; we have activist groups, detached politicians, and aloof liberal voters who are going out of their way to speak against our troops and undermine their efforts while demoralizing their spirits.
San Francisco may have a beautiful panoramic view of the bay, and a skyline that causes envy across the globe, their attitude towards our military is ugly and their behavior is embarrassing to those Americans who understand the cost of freedom.
This Veterans Day, I would encourage you to make a conscience effort to show your support to those who have taken the oath to place their lives ahead of ours in the defense of our nation.
• Shake a hand
• Say a prayer
• Look them in the eye and say thank you
• Tell your children about those military heroes of your past and of those who serve today
• Attend a Veterans Day Parade
• Show your support to those who stand watch over America’s freedom
• Adopt a Soldier/Airman/Sailor/Marine

When you’re done, be sure to boycott San Francisco.
• Don’t fly out of their airport
• Don’t visit as a tourist
• Don’t support their sports teams
• Don’t do business in that City whatsoever


Take time this Veterans Day and show you care about our men and women in harms way.


Mike DiBartolo
American Zulu
http://theworkingpatriot.blogspot.com/

California Special Election: November 8th, 2005

In less than a week, Californians will go to the polls to vote on issues that are important to the survival of democracy in our state as we know it. The current situation in the State Capital consist of powerful special interest groups including unions combined with politicians who draw their own districts, vote in their own raises, and either delay or vote against measures that would protect our children from sexual predators. Our state government is in disarray; an actual oligarchy with special self interest groups pulling the strings is what is running the State of California. The current Governor is doing his best to right this ship but he is going up against a very powerful foe. The combined efforts of the politicians and the special self interest groups are outspending the governor twenty to one to stop the changes demanded and expected by the people of California.

The issue of complacency has already been addressed in this blog and what we are witnessing the week prior to the special election is complacency run a muck and the power of television advertisements to influence those who choose not to think for themselves. Californians have an opportunity to speak with a loud voice that our government will be ran by the people and not by special interest and power grubbing politicians. The question remains…Will we take advantage of this opportunity or will we allow ourselves to be dooped yet again by those who wish our state to remain under the control of a select few while being paid for by ever increasing laws, taxes, fees, and bonds that are levied against the rest of us for just living in California?

On Nov. 8th Californians will vote on issues that will protect parent and family rights (Prop 73), level the playing field of special self interest groups and their funding of political issues and campaigns (Prop 75), take the power of redistricting from the politicians and placing it in the hands of the people (Prop 77), ensure that those who are hired to teach our children in public schools are committed to the success of our children’s education and more importantly that they are qualified to meet the goals set by the state to ensure our children’s educational success before they receive tenure (Prop 74), and setting restrictions on how our representatives establish a state budget to reduce wasteful spending and growing deficits (Prop 76).

In 2003 Californians made history by recalling a sitting Governor who had failed the people of California and sent our state spiraling out of control and almost into bankruptcy. It was a bloodless revolution and the voice of the people did not die there. This special election has come under fire by special self interest groups and politicians across the state. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars; first trying stop the special election altogether and now to undermine each proposition in a effort to keep things as they are…regardless of the benefits to the people of California. They have made it clear that the best interest of Californians is not their primary concern and it is up to you, the voter, to send them a loud and clear message; that the People California run this state and not the money or the assumed power of special self interest groups.

Regardless if you were for or against the recall of our last governor, the people of California have to continue to move forward in our recovery and these measures deserve your consideration and vote. Don’t vote a particular way because someone tells you to, but consider carefully what each proposition means for the state of California and vote as an informed voter who’s concerned about the state in which they live. This is not the time for political payback; this is the time for the people to reclaim that which is theirs…the voice of our government and legislature.

Vote Nov. 8th. Vote for California. Vote for democracy.


M. DiBartolo
American Zulu