adamrlee blog

The Right Not to be Manhandled

Rapiant — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:30:29 +0000

An interesting subject has been brought to life with the video capture of a man named John Tyner refusing to submit to the invasive and potentially harmful full body scanner, which clearly reveals peoples ‘privates’ and also refusing to submit to the new ‘pat-down’ where agents will use the front of their hands and effectively grope their subjects. He refused to submit to these, and agreed to leave the airport. When he started to leave, a man in a suit mentioned that there would be a civil suit brought against Mr. Tyner where he would be fined $10,000.

In this sense, John reveals that in order to travel anywhere economically, the populace must agree to either an x-ray revealing the privates or to a stranger groping their privates. Either way, freedom has been lost and citizens should have the right to protest.

My Process Killer

Rapiant — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:07:45 +0000

http://adamrlee.org/MyProcessKiller.zip

Here is what I made in the past few minutes.
This program can be used to kill unwanted processes through the click of a button. You can manually add the program name (for example ‘iTunes’) and then press the kill button. You can add a list of programs to be killed as well, such as ‘iExplore’, ‘Firefox’, and ‘Chrome’ and they will all be killed at once.

Let me know how it works out for you or if you encounter any issues using the program.

Murderers Treated Like Innocent Children

Rapiant — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 02:13:17 +0000

I have a hard time keeping my cool whenever reading the Atlanta news, just recently a young 18 year old kid was beaten to death by a party-goer who was punched by a girl and vowed to ‘hit the next guy who walked by’ in retaliation. The 130 pound Bobby Tillman walked by and was ruthlessly beaten to death through punching and stomping by the guy who senselessly vowed to hit the next passer by and two of his friends. Their names have been released, but information on who exactly committed the crime has not. Quantez Mallory, Horace Coleman, and Emanuel Boykins all were involved in the beating. Another enraging detail of this case is that a lawyer from the NAACP came to the area telling all the witnesses in essence to keep their mouths shut, and questioned whether investigators followed proper procedures in questioning the partygoers.

In my opinion, all the assailants should get a minimum of life in prison. A civilized society cannot tolerate those who kill at whim and at random.

Reflections on QE II

Rapiant — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:56:27 +0000

Recently QE II was initiated, causing widespread fear in the stability of the dollar and criticism from economic powerhouses Russia, China, and Germany as they felt they were being cheated out of their investments. The Federal Reserve and President Obama felt this was required to lessen joblessness but in my opinion they are not solving the problem at the heart of our economic problems – the international trade deficit and the lack of manufacturing jobs.

Sure, printing money is great for investors – anything invested in besides cash which will by definition increase in value. Any tangible asset is worth more of a given unit of currency the more units of currency that are out there. A visual example of what is being done is taking a gold coin and slicing it in two and calling it two coins. The value of the sum of the coins is identical but the quantity has doubled. Not unlike our second round of money printing – in 2007 the sum of the paper dollars and metal coins of US currency was about $829 billion dollars. This second QE was worth $600 billion dollars. Needless to say this much of money is not even going to be printed, but most of it will be digitally created.

Hopefully, everyone doesn’t run on the bank and figure out there isn’t as much paper money as there is ‘money’ in the system.

Investors Dump Dollars into Stocks as QE2 Begins

Rapiant — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:38:02 +0000

Investors readily threw their cash at the stock market, as the Federal Reserve just added 600 billion dollars to our money supply. It has also been said that the Republicans gaining power in midterm elections helped as well.

Long Term Survival of Mankind Requires Settlement of Outer Space

Rapiant — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:42:57 +0000

I guess this is an obvious topic, but it shouldn’t under-stressed. For the sake of survival and prosperity for our species it is vital that we expand into space before our finite resources are depleted. Of the massive amounts of solar systems in the universe, there are some that already show signs of water and oxygen. Terra-forming these planets for human life may take time, but should be started as soon as a suitable planet is found. Money wasted on foreign wars should be used in exploring the universe, but human selfishness which has served its survival in the past millennium are hindering its pursuit of what is truly important in the long term.

Awesome Day at Dobbins AFB Air Show

Rapiant — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 00:02:50 +0000

Today I joined 129,999 others at Dobbins AFB to see the Blue Angels in their upgraded F-18′s and also the Canadian Snowbirds. See below for some videos I took:

Meeting Jimmy Carter

Rapiant — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:37:57 +0000

I’m proud to say that last Wednesday I went to the Carter Presidential Museum, bought a book called ‘The White House Diaries’, and got my book signed and exchanged a few words with President Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter, who is probably known as one of the most influential peace makers of all time, not long ago rescued an American teacher named Mahli Gomes in North Korea by personally visiting and negotiating his release with Kim Jong Ill. This Saturday he is expected in the Gaza strip, trying to negotiate peace between Israel and Hamas. Jimmy Carter is an amazing man because he is still working for the good of mankind well beyond normal retirement age. At age 87, he is still actively waging peace and curing disease across the world. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize, which is on display at his museum, and was the most important man in reaching peace between Israel and Egypt.

The thing that really struck me in meeting him is the sincerity in his face and his very bright blue eyes. He looked more healthy in my encounter than the recent photos released of him. He wore a light blue shirt and if I remember correctly blue jeans. The line for the book signing extended throughout the museum, I bought my book at 4:30 PM and finally met the inspirational figure at 6:00 PM.

jimmy carter nobel peace prize

Mexico Drug Cartel Violence Spreads Into US States

Rapiant — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:59:33 +0000

While we are fighting overseas there is a domestic threat that is growing stronger every day, Mexican drug cartels which are spreading across the Southern US and killing or decapitating anyone who stands in their way. More than 28,000 people have died in Mexico in drug cartel-related violence since December 2006 when the government launched an offensive against the gangs with the deployment of 50,000 troops, but the violence doesn’t stop at the border.

Obama Absolutely Right about Need for More Infrastructure Spending

Rapiant — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:39:24 +0000

Recently Obama talked about an issue that I agree with, one of spending more on infrastructure. He noted China spends 9% on infrastructure while the United States only spends 2%. Having a personal experience with the US highway and rail system and that of China and Germany, I must say that the US if far behind. Not only do we not have sufficient light rail, we do not have modern mass transit systems necessary for increased efficiency and health of the metropolitan citizens. I agree that construction work on these projects will not only create jobs, but will sustain the livelihoods of those impacted by an improved infrastructure.

Unlike the wars we are spending trillions of dollars on over the past years, infrastructure spending would be a fraction of that cost and the benefits remain at home. I agree that spending on construction is better than spending on destruction, or simply giving banks loads of cash to use at their discretion after greedy actions that escalated our economic problems. However, I am disappointed it has taken so long for Obama to really stress one of his initial campaign promises. An improved infrastructure will mean faster rides to work, or being able to walk where you want to go, and a better mass transit system will mean less pollution from cars.

See below for photos of high speed trains boasted by other countries.

JR-Maglev at Yamanashi, Japan test track in November, 2005

Shanghai Maglev Leaving Pudong Airport