Action is Thought

Foot Found in Newborn Baby's Head

2008-12-19T07:33:00.000-08:00

Three day old Sam Esquibel was operated on after a small tumor had been located in his brain. Little did they know, when they went in for surgery the surgeons would find a fully grown foot, another partial foot, a hand, and a thigh. The cause of this is believed to be "foetus in foetu", which is when a twin starts to form inside of the other twin.

Sam is now at home with his parents where he has mostly recovered from the operation that took place back in October. He still has to do monthly blood tests and undergoe therapy on his neck. This unique situation still has doctor's stumped.

SOURCE

xPirate's thoughts: Wow, I find this absolutely fascinating! Apart from when I wanted to compare this child's brain to a bucket of KFC, I'm just so shocked that this kid's brain was actually growing body parts! The twins thing sounds like a reasonable conclusion, but that's so weird that it would happen in the brain. Since the child has mostly recovered, I am left wondering if he suffered any brain damage from either the condition or the operation.

Makes me wonder if I have any spare parts floating around my body. Doubt it.

Webcomic Wednesday: Dubya Bush vs. Evil Shoe

2008-12-17T18:48:00.001-08:00

Based on the post: Bush Dodges Shoes from Angry Reporter

New Serious Security Flaw found in Internet Explorer

2008-12-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

A new security flaw in Internet Explorer is believed to allow malicious computer users to take control of their victim's computer. Passwords may be stolen as well as other important private information stored on the computer. A security adviser stated, "Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer."

The vulnerability is said to have existed in all previous versions of Internet Explorer. Other competing browsers such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari are not vulnerable to this attack. Microsoft is not encouraging that people switch browsers "due to this one flaw," that has already compromised as many as 10,000 websites.

Source

xPirate's Thoughts: BAH! If you are using Internet Explorer, SWITCH NOW! I highly recommend Firefox, or if you want a prettier browsing experience try Chrome. This isn't the first major security flaw found in IE, and I'm willing to bet big money it won't be the last! Be a smart cookie and switch now!

Bush Dodges Shoes from Angery Reporter

2008-12-14T21:07:00.000-08:00

President Bush faced some animosity today as he ducked out of the way of two flying shoes from Iraqi reporter Muntadar al-Zeidi. He was reported as saying, "...this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," as he threw the first shoe and "...this is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," as he threw the second shoe. Bush was able to dodge both shoes and allowed for some humor after the situation.

Unrelated, Bush was able to sign a pact in which all U.S. troops will be removed by the end of 2011. This will move will start in June of 2009 when troops will be withdrawn from all Iraqi cities.

Source
Video

xPirate's Thoughts: First of all, I'm pretty sure I laughed out loud when I read this. I think many of us here in the U.S. would love for the opportunity to throw our shoes at Bush. (Hey, what a great idea for an annoying flash advertisement game!) Was it worth the arrest and criminal charges he will probably face? I'd say it was. Even if he didn't hit the idiot, it was still a great gesture!

On another note, there's FIANLLY a date set for the withdrawl of troops from Iraq!! Yay! This is exciting news. I wish I had more time to write about it! Until next time...

Interview: Jess Ryan from OneInTwenty and Amy Burch from Amnesty International

2008-12-01T11:17:00.001-08:00

Introduction: This afternoon I had the pleasure of sitting down with two people leading the fight against AIDS here in the local community of Loveland, Colorado. The first girl, Jessica Ryan, is the founder and director of the OneinTwenty campaign that I wrote about here. The second girl, Amy Burch, is a teacher at Loveland High School and leader of the Amnesty International programme at the school.

About OneinTwenty:

Q: What prompted you to start the OneinTwenty campaign?

Jess - My friend Rachel and I had planned to get a bunch of facts and statistics together to inform people about AIDS during World AIDS Day in 2006. The night before I found a statistic that stated one in every twenty people in Africa are infected with HIV and AIDS. I decided to make a visual representation of that statistic in a necklace (the 19 black beads and single red bead). Throughout the day people asked if I could make them one too, and I agreed. One person offered to pay me money, which is when I decided to start selling them and give the money to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria, and tuberculosis.

Q: What goals did you have in mind when you first started?

Jess - The main goal is to just raise money and awareness. There's no set goal as to how much money I want to raise or how many people I want to reach. Every bit helps.

Q: What accomplishments have you made that you weren't expecting?

Jess - Thanks to ThinkHumanity, it is now being used as a tool in Uganda to help refugees be aware of the situation. It acts as a reminder for them to stay safe.

Q: How many necklaces have you sold and how much money have you raised?

Jess - So far we've raised about $400. We've sold about 500-600 neclaces. The price is lower because when I first started I was selling them at $0.50 each.

On the Global Fund and Amnesty International:

Q: What is Amnesty International at Loveland High School doing to play their part in World AIDS Day?

Burch - We met on Friday and made T-Shirts. We started looking up facts in order to help bring awareness to this global issue. People can't forget about this. Just because it's not directly effecting us doesn't mean we shouldn't care. It has a ripple effect that can and will eventually effect us. I think people want to be active. People want to feel like they can do something.

Q: What does the money in the Global Fund go towards?

Jess - It pays for workers, it pays for medication, and it pays for education.

Burch - It goes toward funding medication. It goes to the poor people in Africa who can't afford these expensive treatments and medications. It is expensive for them to get help.

Q: In response to my recent article on the harmful effects of offering aid to Africa (link), how can we be assured that this money isn't going to the corrupt politicians and these medications that are supposed to be free won't be sold on the black market? How can we know we are helping instead of harming?

Jess - I don't know about any of that. But ThinkHumanity has a lot of sustainability projects going on in Africa. They teach citizens how to farm and take care of livestock so that they can support themselves and sell their food for profit to help jumpstart the economy. Educate! has schools in Uganda where they teach the young students the principles of good leadership so that they can one day lead their country instead of the corrupt officials. These organizations are being innovative and offering help and education so that Africa can solve it's own problems.

Burch - It's a reputable organization. On their website they give statistics as to what they've done so far. You can see progress and you can see results. I do agree though that you have to be aware that you are giving to a reputable cause that will serve the people in a non-harmful way.

Q: Do you believe Starbuck's efforts of donating $0.05 per drink is enough considering their size and daily profits?

Jess - No. I think it's a good gesture but I think it's more of a ploy to get more people to buy their coffee. Instead, I think it would be better for people to donate directly to the Global Fund or another reputable AIDS fund.

Burch - That's pathetic. It's an insult. It makes me want to boycott them. They make millions of dollars a day. $0.05 is just pathetic.

Skip Starbucks - Inspire Change

2008-12-01T07:35:00.000-08:00

The Starbucks Coffee Company is attempting to play a role in World AIDS Day by generously donating $0.05 to the Global AIDS Fund whenever somebody purchases one of their holiday special drinks today. Many activists are saying that this is not good enough, and are encouraging people to put off their Starbucks for today and instead donating their money directly to the Global AIDS Fund.

Source

Just think: If even just 100 people were to do this, that would be $500 more going to fight the good cause instead of the $5 that Starbucks would be contributing. This difference is huge. Think of what it would be if 1,000 people did this. 10,000? 1,000,000?

xPirate's Thoughts: I agree, 100% with the people who are saying NO to Starbucks. Could you go a day without coffee knowing that you have made a difference? I know I could. I highly recommend participating in this event. If you want to participate but aren't aware of how to donate your money, check out this post here on Action is Thought.

One in Twenty - World AIDS Day

2008-12-01T00:03:00.000-08:00

Introduction: Action is Thought is taking it's part today to participate in World AIDS Day. This blog is offering a unique opportunity that was once only available to people in the Northern Colorado area. This blog post will be about the One in Twenty campaign and a high school girl's dream to change the world.

One in Twenty: Jess Ryan, a senior at Loveland High School, started the One in Twenty campaign a few years ago to raise funds and awareness of the global AIDS epidemic. Her idea was based off the fact that one in every twenty people in Africa is infected with HIV/AIDS. She developed a simple necklace consisting of 19 black beads with a single red bead in the center, obviously representative of the one in twenty infected. She sold the necklaces for $1 each and donated all proceedes to the Global AIDS fund.

With the help of another local organization, Think Humanity, the One in Twenty campaign has really been able to hit it off. They are still selling necklaces like crazy and it has become a familiar sight around the Loveland and Fort Collins, Colorado area.

Join the campaign: There are sevaral ways to get involved with the campaign. The most basic ways are to offer your support by becoming a friend on myspace or joining the cause on facebook. You can make a necklace of your own and use it as a tool to stimulate conversation among your friends and among your community.

The best way for you to help out with the campaign is to donate at least $1 to the One In Twenty Campaign. We will send you a complimentary necklace in the mail. Our apologies but this offer is only available to people inside the United States. After you've donated please send an e-mail to xpirate.webmaster@gmail.com with your name, address, and the amount donated. As soon as we confirm your donation we'll have the necklace in the mail for you.

Video Game Addiction is a Social Problem

2008-11-30T14:57:00.000-08:00

A new conclusion in the study of addiction has led many to believe that video game addiction is not actually an addiction at all. Keith Bakkar of the Smith & Jones Center in Amsterdam has been working with kids who supposedly suffer from this addiction. Bakkar explains:

"These kids come in showing some kind of symptoms that are similar to other addictions and chemical dependencies, but the more we work with these kids the less I believe we can call this addiction. What many of these kids need is their parents and their school teachers - this is a social problem."

Source

xPirate's Thoughts: What!? This is blasphemy! Of course our young children suffer from addiction to video games! How else would they be able to sit there for hours on end doing nothing but staring at the T.V. Oh, wait, that's exactly what video games were designed for.

Even I could have told you years ago that video game addiction is nothing more than a kid who needs a hobby. Maybe they should take up blogging and blog about their precious video games? Let's face it, doctors these days are too quick to label kids and teens with new and absurd medical problems. That's how they make their money.

I say, let kids be kids and play all the video games they want! Afterall, you're only a kid once, right?

Parents Beg Toy Companies for Less Ads

2008-11-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

With the Holiday's coming up and the currently economic crisis, many parents are finding themselves with insufficient funds to buy their kids everything they want for Christmas. At least 1,400 parents from the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood have wrote letters to toy companies asking them: "Please, in these days of economic angst, cut back on marketing your products directly to our children."

The Toy Industry Association has no plans to cut back their advertising. They are aware of the fact that many parents have trouble saying no to their kids and will put their own personal wants and needs behind them to fulfill their kids' Christmas wishes. They released a statement saying:

"Children are a vital part of the gift selection process. If children are not aware of what is new and available, how will they be able to tell their families what their preferences are? While there is certainly greater economic disturbance going on now, families have always faced different levels of economic well-being and have managed to tailor their spending to their means."

Source

xPirate's Thoughts: I don't expect the toy companies to care about the average family and what pressure is put on the parents at Christmas time. All they care about is making money, and the only way they make money is if they get kids to put so much pressure on parents until they finally give in. If they were to let up on the advertising, they would lose money. Especially in times of economic crisis, no company wants to lose money.

A note I have to the parents who are asking for this: Stop letting your kid be spoiled. Despite what you may think, you do not have to give them everything they ever wanted. If you do that, they will grow up lazy and be unable to function in society. In fact, there will probably never be a better time than this to teach them that valuable lesson.

Black Friday Results in Death

2008-11-28T21:13:00.000-08:00

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the United States where many stores offer limited time deals that you won't find any other time of the year. Unfortunately, due to the limited supply, many shoppers often act in violent ways to ensure that they get what they want.

This morning a temporary employee of Wal-Mart was trampled to death as he and other workers tried to unlock the doors in Long Island, New York. Detective Lt. Michael Flemming described the scene as one of "utter chaos".

Two more deaths were reported at a Toys R Us store in Palm Dessert, California. Two men apparently shot each other after a verbal dispute in the store. Authorities said that the dispute had nothing to do with Black Friday shopping.

Source

xPirate's Thoughts: So sad. Why do I cover so much death on this blog? I'll have to start reporting on the happier news stories soon I guess. Anyways, about this story: It is ridiculous that people are so materialistic that they have to cause mass chaos just because they might not get that really cheap iPod. The trampling of the Wal-Mart employee was ridiculous and completely avoidable. Why aren't people more patient?

As with the shooting, I'm not so sure I want to believe that the dispute wasn't over shopping. What else could a dispute have been about in the middle of a freaking Toys R Us store? I'm not buying it. Besides, I have a funny little vision in my head of a guy saying, "Give me that Tickle Me Elmo or I'll shoot you!" And then, of course, it happens. (Hrm, idea for Webcomic Wednesday?) What in the world are people even doing bringing guns into Toys R Us?

I really question humanity.

Mumbai Crisis Summary

2008-11-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

Late night Wednesday, November 26, 2008 Mumbai, the financial capital of India, was victim to at least ten simultaneous terrorist attacks. The terrorist's main targets were two five star hotels but other sites of attack included the famous Cafe Leopold, a train station, a Jewish center, and a hospital. Witnesses claimed they were looking for anyone carrying a U.S. or British passport. Two days later the fighting still continues with 144 confirmed deaths and many others injured.

The Indian Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, claims that the group taking responsibility, the Deccan Mujahideen, does not take orgin in India. World leaders are not ruling out that the group had connections and funding from other terrorist organizations. Allegations have been made that the unknown group was from Pakistan. The Pakistani Foregin Minister responded with:

"This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy."

Allegations have also been made that some of the attackers were British citizens with a Pakistani background. UK officials denied this claim when Indian officials told them that none of the attackers that had been killed or arrested were British.

Source
Map of the Attacks

xPirate's Thoughts: I find it crazy that this situation has still not been resolved after two whole days. I think we are dealing with some pretty committed terrorists here. I'm with the U.S. and other world leaders that say this attack could not have been pulled off by a small group that has never been heard of before.

I sure hope that the Pakistani Government isn't responsible for the attacks, because that just means another war that this world doesn't need. These are also two nuclear armed nations we are talking about, so fighting could get pretty ugly if this escalated to war. And with India being a big U.S. ally, we'd be bound to get involved. Let's hope, however, that instead this strengthens India and Pakistan relations and they are able to fight off the terrorist organizations together like the foreign minister suggested.

This will be the last post about the situation in Mumbai unless things take a dramatic turn. You can follow the full story on my blog with posts as the action is happening:

Quick Update: Mumbai Terrorist Situation Not Over
Update: Mumbai Under Terrorist Attack
Developing Story: Mumbai Tourists Sites Under Attack

Happy Turkey Day

2008-11-27T20:29:00.001-08:00

xPirate wishes you the happiest of holidays and hopes that your Thanksgiving Day was fun and safe. I am thankful for all of my readers and hope they can forgive me for not posting a story today. I'll be back with new stories tomorrow.

Quick Update: Mumbai Terrorist Situation Not Over

2008-11-26T19:48:00.000-08:00

It is now almost 9:30AM in Mumbai, India and the terrorist situation is still not over. The situation started at about 10:00PM the previous night when two hotels, the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi Hotel, were attacked by terrorists taking hostages with U.S. or British passports. A total of 10 different locations were attacked including a popular cafe, a train station, and a hospital.

The situation has been contained to the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Oberoi Hotel. It is being reported that all hostages from the Taj Mahal have been evacuated. Tensions around the hotel have decreased greatly, however the building is still on fire. It is a different situation over at the Oberoi where gunfire is still being heard.

87 have been confirmed dead with 185 wounded. 9 of the terrorists have been killed and several others arrested. There are still many on the loose. Among the dead are 11 police officers and Hemant Karkare who was the head of the Mumbai anti-terrorism squad.

A group calling themselves the Deccan Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility, however the United States government has not yet confirmed that. There are several other groups that U.S. intelligence believe may be behind the attacks including Al Queada.

Source

xPirate's Thoughts: I have been following this story since it first started earlier today. I am appauled that the situation is still not over. India is a major ally of the United States, and not to mention it was U.S. citizens that were targeted, so I wonder what action, if any, the United States government will take as retaliation to these attacks. Are we going to enter yet another war?

Update: Mumbai Under Terrorist Attacks

2008-11-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

The situation in Mumbai, India is still not under control. Flames and smoke now billow from the Taj Majal Hotel. The India military was reported entering the Oberoi followed shortly by a large explosion.

The terrorists were targeting civillians carrying U.S. and British passports. One witness reported seeing them take about 15 people hostage. Andrew Stevens, a CNN reporter who was staying at the Taj Mahal, estimated that nearly half of the people staying at the Taj were westerners.

11 Police Officers have been killed in the attacks and more wounded.

Many witnesses have shared their stories:

"Another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us. ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction."

"I heard some gunshots ... Something hit me. I ran away and fell on the road. Then somebody picked me up. I have injuries below my shoulder."

Source
Video Footage - The Taj Mahal Billowing Smoke
Video Footage - Troops arrive at Mumbai Hotel
Video Footage - BBC Report

Webcomic Wednesday: Palin Pardons Turkey

2008-11-26T14:29:00.001-08:00

This comic refers to this story: Palin Pardons Turkey

Welcome to Webcomic Wednesdays!
I have decided to start a new series that I'm going to call Webcomic Wednesdays! In addition to posting a blog about news or current events, I will be posting a webcomic that deals with one of the stories I had written about that week. Due to the layout of the blog, you may have to click on the image to view it at full size. Hope you enjoy!

Developing Story: Mumbai Tourist Sites Under Attack

2008-11-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Carnage has broken out in Mumbai, India as gunmen attack a series of popular tourist sites including hotels, a cafe, and a train station. The gunmen are armed with automatic weapons and grenades and have been engaged in firefights with the local law enforcement. So far the attacks have included five shootouts and two grenade attacks yielding 78 people dead and over 200 wounded.

The gunmen have taken over two major hotels including the Taj Mahal Hotel and Hotel Oberoi. They are holding hostages on many of the floors. One witness reported that the gunmen were looking for tourists with passports from the United States or Great Britain.

Source
Video Footage

xPirate's Thoughts: Holy jesus! This wasn't what I was expecting to find when searching for a story today. What a catastrophe they have going on over there in India. I wonder what group is behind this attack. If they are targeting U.S. and British tourists, then it's clearly some enemy we have made. This situation is still in progress, so make sure to check back for updates.

"Spider Pig" Breaches the Peace

2008-11-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

David Mullen (22 years old) from Blairgowrie, Scotland was arrested on July 25, 2008 after singing the Spider Pig song from The Simpsons Movie to police officers. He was charged with breaching the peace. The man claimed that he was only singing the song because it was the ringtone on his phone.

However, this was not his first offense. He was being detained in the back of a police van when he rang out in song because he was involved in a fight. Along with that he was caught breaching his curfew on October 30 and assaulting a police officer on November 2. He was sentenced to a total of eleven months in jail.

On top of all of this, Mullen has been abusing alcohol since the age of 12. Sheriff Robert McCreadie released this statement:

"It is tragic that you have taken alcohol for almost half of your life. You have a dreadful record for a man of 22. It is now your decision if you want to continue down the tragic and appalling road you have chosen for yourself."

Source

xPirate's Thoughts: Oh my lucky stars, this made me literally laugh out loud when I read it. I would never have guessed that out of all of the songs you could sing to "breach the peace" that Spider Pig would be the one that makes the news. I remember after first seeing The Simpson's Movie I would always walk around everywhere belting the Spider Pig song. Of course, I never would have sang it to a police officer. I can just picture the drunk scottish guy singing it now.

Now aside from this guy being hilarious, I think he's also incredibly stupid. You'd think after a first offense and already being on bail that he would be careful not to make mistakes. I guess the 10 years of alcohol abuse finally have gotten to his head.

African Addiction to Aid

2008-11-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

Introduction: I came across this article on BBC and I felt it was a really important topic to write about. Because this blog post will not nearly cover all the information I want, I highly recommend reading the Source as it was written by an African Journalist who formerly lived in Sierra Leone. Along with that, I highly recommend watching the video on the original article as I find it truly eye opening.

The Story: Africa today has the potential to be one of the greatest continents on the planet. It is rich in natural resources, population, and the perfect climate for great agriculture. However, the continent only represents 1% of international trade. This is due primarily to poor leadership, corruption, and over 50 years of foreign aid.

What is commonly unknown is that Africa has the power to one day be a lead contributor on the global markets. What is stopping them? Mainly their addiction on foreign aid.

Let's start with the corrupt leaders that have stalled Africa's progress in growth. Doctors, nurses, and teachers, feeling underpaid, often steal drugs that are meant to be freely distributed and sell them on the black market. The black market dealers often overcharge for these drugs keeping a majority of African's from receiving the aid they deserve. Corrupt politicians also use this method, using their profit to stay in power despite the will of the people. Over half of the government budget comes from this form of foreign aid.

These corrupt leaders use this aid money to build many new schools, hospitals, and other facilities which make them look good to the voters. However, most of the schools do not have sufficient teachers or even lack teachers altogether. Hospitals often lack the facilities and equipment to care for patients leaving new mothers and their babies laying on the floor next to improperly disposed syringes. Aid money is going toward the support of these failing facilities while the small successes are completely ignored.

One young man in Sierra Leone started selling potatoes at the age of 17. He now owns the largest store in the village. This young man has received $0 in aid money, yet has been very successful in his life so far. It is the opinion of one native man that,

"If aid were to offer this young man support in the form of low interest credit he could not only expand his business offering employment opportunities and a valuable service to his community, he could also eventually pay the money back."

With the rich agriculture nature of Africa, exports should be off the charts. However, this massive income of foreign aid money severely inflates the value of the local currency. This results in much fewer exports. For example, the cotton industry of Uganda has the potential to export half a million bales of cotton per year yielding a mighty high profit. Unfortunately, in 2008, they have only exported 160,000 bales.

It also does not help that many of the graduates, mainly trained by foreign aid, are leaving their home continent. These skilled individuals are unable to stay in Africa due to extremely low salaries. It is a goal to get these educated people to stay and help bring about the change in Africa from it's own people instead of relying completely on the foreign aid like it has done thus far.

Source
Video

xPirate's Thoughts: I do believe strongly that Africa's problems need to be solved by their own people instead of their constant dependence on foreign aid. It is up to the people to spark a revolution and get these corrupt leaders out of position. It is up to the people to go into the stores selling what should be free medicine and demand it be given to them. Africa is in dire need of social reform and that will only come when the people force it to happen.

Of course, how can they? Many of them are starving or suffering from disease. They can't worry about a revolution. I don't know. It seems like all of Africa's problems spiral down on each other in a way that seems unsolvable. While I can't offer a direct solution, I think that these problems can be solved and one day Africa will be a major part of the world's economy and a world power.

Daredevil Succeeds in Jet Pack Flight

2008-11-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

At approximately noon this afternoon, daredevil Eric Scott successfully flew across the Royal Gorge in Canon City, Colorado. The stunt pilot who works for Jet P.I. set a new record by traversing the 1,500 foot gorge in just about 20 seconds. Thousands crowded around the gorge to watch the tremendous feat.

This is an update to a previous article
Source

xPirate's Thoughts: Congratulations Eric Scott!! You're giving hope to James Bond enthusiasts everywhere that they might one day own such an awesome jet pack! I must say that I'm relieved that nothing went wrong during the flight. It would be sad if I had to cover another death story.

Daredevil to Jet Pack over Royal Gorge

2008-11-24T07:17:00.000-08:00

Pilot Eric Scott has planned a daring attempt to jet pack over 1,500 feet across the Royal Gorge in Canon City, Colorado. He has planned the event for Monday, November 24 at 12:00 noon "if the weather conditions are right." The jet pack was designed and engineered by the Eric Strauss and is fueled by hydrogen peroxide. It is designed to be extra light and provide only 33 seconds of flight. In ideal conditions the jet pack is predicted to go about 200mph in a straight flight.

The Royal Gorge is about 1,500 feet across and 1,200 feet deep.

Source 1
Source 2

xPirate's Thoughts: This has the potential to either be very cool or very dangerous! I'm a bit worried about the fact that this thing only allows for about 33 seconds of flight and he has to go a whopping 1,500 feet, but I guess if it can actually reach it's top speed of 200mph, then he will be able to do it no problem. The other thing I'm worried about is when you look at the jet pack itself, it looks like it might be held together with duct tape. Of course, I'd hope that no engineer would be stupid enough to let someone attempt this kind of feat on a product that could end up malfunctioning or, even worse, falling apart.

More updates are sure to come this afternoon.

Colorado Teen's Death at Rave

2008-11-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

An Introduction to this Article: Now, I normally wouldn't cover a story like this, but I feel that the information in the source article was presented in such a bad way. This story hits me straight in the heart because I was at the rave where this poor boy died. I'd also like to point out that the picture above is NOT the boy who died, but it WAS taken at the rave.

The Story: On Saturday, November 15th, an underground rave by the name of "Changing the Rules" was thrown at an empty warehouse in Denver, Colorado. Unfortunately, 18-year old Dustin Yslas of Aurora died of a suspected drug overdose. The young man purchased 3 ecstasy pills which were unfortunately cut with high amounts of DXM (a cough suppressant that acts as a mild hallucinogen when taken in large doses).

The party's promoters, Harlock's Elite, did everything in their power to reduce the risk of anything like this happening. Security was tight at the door in attempts to prevent drugs being brought into the venue. A medic was on staff as well as two additional EMTs that were attending the party. As with any event of this nature, drugs were sure to get in. The promoters had representatives from DanceSafe (an organization aimed at reducing the risk of ecstasy related deaths) who offered free ecstasy pill testing.

Street ecstasy is almost never pure MDMA (the main chemical component that produces the effects of ecstasy). Pills can be tested for all common drugs that MDMA is cut with including DXM, Amphetamines, Methamphetamine, Ketamine, and Cocaine.

The party was advertised as an event for "all responsible ages" and the promoters encouraged responsible behaviour in all of their advertising. They never condoned any kind of drug use at their party but instead encouraged people to make the party about the music and keep the drugs out. The promoters released this statement the morning after their event:

"I am really hurt by this blow and wish there was anyway this could've been avoided. We had had police issues all night, but they did not shut us down and then this happened."

Source 1
Source 2 - Personal Experience

xPirate's Thoughts: Like I said in the introduction, I was at this party when the poor boy died. The original article that I read on the topic seemed to place the blame on Harlock's Elite, the promoters of the party. I had to set this straight. The original article makes false accusations that people who were going to the party discussed what drugs they were going to use on the Harlock's Elite website. As a member of those forums, I will tell you that this is NOT true. Harlock's Elite in no way condone's drug use. I hope that this blog post helps in clearing their name.

On the boy's death, I think he is entirely responsible for his own death. He chose to buy the drugs. He chose to not get those drugs tested when it was offered completely FREE of charge. He chose to take the amount that he took. The promoters had done everything in their power to make sure that everyone remained safe. This kid just took it too far and there was nothing that could be done to save him. I am sad that such a tragic thing had to happen at an event aimed toward changing the rules of the rave scene. I know everyone there learned a valuable lesson that night.

D3 LED Installs 17,000 Square Foot Billboard

2008-11-23T14:48:00.001-08:00

Walgreens has installed a huge 17,000 square foot LED billboard in Times Square. The billboard wraps around the 3 visible sides of the building and is capable of playing video advertisements simultaneously on each side. The billboard is made up of 13 60" plasma screen TVs and over 12 million individual LED lights arranged in panels. It is said to show advertisements at a resolution of more than 20x that of HDTV. The project was sponsered by the D3 LED company.

The technology behind the billboard calls for 150GB from 30 different computers in order to play just 30 seconds of video. The first official test run took place last Wednesday and was officially turned on Thursday following a successful test. The board is eco friendly offering a better alternative to many other billboards.

Source

xPirate's thoughts: Holy hell! Just when I thought advertisement couldn't get any worse! Just kidding. I think this is quite possibly one of the coolest things in the world. Unfortunately, it will be blasting our brains with high definition advertising instead of some awesome video game experience. Who knows, maybe we can hope for a better future where we will be able to play XBox 360 on a massive 17,000 square foot high resolution TV. We can dream, right?

Palin Pardons Turkey

2008-11-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Former Vice President cadidate, Sarah Palin, performed her duties as a political leader today by extending an official pardon to a Turkey of her choice. This pardon saved the life of one turkey, the main course of the Thanksgiving holidays. It is a custom in the United States for government officials to officially pardon turkeys around Thanksgiving. Video footage of Palin showed the slaughter of many other turkeys in the background, which she refused to comment on.

Palin did tell reporters: "This was neat. I was happy to get to be invited to participate in this. For one, you need a little bit of levity in this job... It's nice to get out and... participate in something that isn't so heavy-handed politics that it invites criticism."

Source

xPirate's thoughts: First of all, I didn't know that this custom existed until I just read about it. I think it's really cool and kind of funny. I also find it ironic and humorous that Palin thought this act would not get her criticism, yet the video footage of turkey slaughter has lead to much criticism from anti-Palin fans. Here's my advice for you Sarah: ANYTHING you do now is going to be criticized. Welcome to the world of being a United State's politician.

Continuation of Previous Blog

2008-11-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hello, welcome to this first introduction post. This will be the second public blog that I have set up. It is in a sense a continuation of my previous blog, xPirate - Welcome to Life. The last post on that blog was made back at the start of October. I have two main reasons why I decided to start a new blog that is a continuation of my old one.

First of all, I wanted to run a news blog. Unfortunately around the time of my last post on xPirate, the only news that I could find interesting enough to report on was the political campaigns. Now, I do enjoy good politics every once in a while, however I felt there were already enough political blogs going around and I didn't feel like I had enough knowledge to compete with them. I'd like to bring my readers more interesting stories than "Obama is ahead in the polls and dominating the debates."
My second reason for starting a new blog was because I wanted to try something different than Wordpress. While wordpress was great when I was first getting into blogging, I soon learned that it had it's limitations. I heard from a few people that Blogger could give me the customization I wanted and was more open with where I could take the blog.
There is a hidden third reason too. I wanted to change the name of my blog. I thought I needed something more appealing to what the blog was actually about.

As far as the new blog name goes, "Action is Thought" was inspired by one of my favorite quotes of all time. I used it as my senior quote and continue to live by it:

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought. What we think, we become." -Buddha

I just thought I would share that quote with you all because it truly is inspiring and I think is an excellent way to start off this new blog! I hope you all enjoy it as much as the last one. Keep reading!

-xPirate