Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Why do I even bother?

I'm getting close to giving up.

Not giving up my daily drone here on Aardvark - but giving up trying to deal with people and systems that have no idea as to the meaning of the world pragmatism.

As regular readers will know (and be tired of hearing by now), the work on my SAA system has come along *very* nicely and I'm now at the point of throwing a new (far more compact) version of the "sense" element into a model aircraft and flying it, so as to create some complex datasets that will be used to further develop and refine the digital signal processing algorithms and code that are used.

Previously, I had planned to do this by simply flying under my existing "hobby" permissions at the Tokoroa Airfield, where the data could be streamed directly (via telemetry) to an acquisition/logging station in my workshop.

Very simple, very safe, very convenient.

Read more...

What to do about radical Islam

Yesterday the world was shocked by the slaughter of a British soldier just metres from a military barracks.

A couple of militants ran him down in their car and then proceeded to attack him with knives and a meat cleaver, rendering him dead in just a few short minutes.

One of the pair then paraded around, holding his bloodied hands and weapons up for all to see and apparently inviting people to photograph him.

Rather than running away, the pair waited for police to arrive, obviously wanting to martyr themselves for their cause.

This has to be of concern to everyone in the Western world.

Now I'm not anti-Islam any more than I'm anti-Christian or anti any religion.

People have a right to believe in whatever deity or deities they want. It's a basic human right and a freedom we ought to all enjoy.

However, any crime committed in the name of a deity ought to be dealt with, not only by the law but also by other less militant members of the religion involved.

Although we all have a right to believe in our own Gods, we have no right to inflict our beliefs on others, especially in the violent manner we saw in the UK yesterday.

Unfortunately, there are also militants on the other side of the coin and I have no doubt that mosques and other innocent followers of Islam will be attacked in retribution by the dim-bulbs who think that two wrongs make a right.

However, I am starting to think that perhaps the only way to reduce the risks associated with militant Islamics in countries such as the UK (or here) is to simply ban all Islamics from entry or residence.

Yes, that's pretty damned harsh -- but the radicals such as those who plant bombs and take innocent lives do not take any notice of the law and the non-militant Islamics seem unwilling or unable to control these people so, in the name of public safety, kicking them out might be our only solution.

If non-militant Islamics don't like it and feel that such a move would unfairly victimise them then perhaps they need to take ownership of the problem that the militants are creating and "deal with them".

Too many wars have been fought in the name of God(s) and we don't need another, especially if the battle-ground is the streets of our Western cities.

Let's make it quite clear to the Islamic community that if they don't deal with these extremists then they're out.

While everyone has the right to worship the God of their choice, they do not have a right to kill.

Of course the UK, USA and other countries could also spare some thought to keeping their noses out of other people's business and stop trying to act like a self-appointed global police force.

Apparently the grievances that produced yesterday's murderous rampage were related to the UK's military involvement in Afghanistan.

There is fault on all sides -- as is always the case with war.

What's needed now however, is a pragmatic solution to the problem and at this stage, it surely looks as if kicking out those who pose a threat (by dint of their religious beliefs) is one proposition.

The natural-born citizens of the UK have a right to safety in the country of their forefathers.

And yes, the news headlines HAVE been updated today

Have your say in the Aardvark Forums.

Forums Are UP!

Woohoo.. better late than never (I hope).

I'm afraid you'll have to re-register and there are bound to be issues but at last we can get the discussions going again. Remember the word "aardvarkrox" when you go sign up.

The Aardvark forums.

And yes... the Sci-Tech headlines links are updated again today with some great stories!

Recoverable Proxy

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font