Apple Re-Invents the Cell Phone

If you have an iPod you know that Apple knows how to make an MP3 player. A unique design which is intuitive, user friendly and backed by the iTunes music store. Well, now they have re-invented the cell phone. It is a great-looking device loaded with features. In fact, making phone calls, may well be a feature you can overlook!

The new iPhone from Apple was announced by Steve Jobs CEO of Apple Inc. at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco Jan. 8 2007. It comes in a new sleek design (only 11.6 mm thick) and can be used to play music, surf the Internet, make calls and much more.....all from a touch screen. Here are the specs:

• 3.5in touch screen display 480x320


• 2 mega-pixel camera


• 4 or 8 GB of storage


• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP


• WiFi


• GSM radio with EDGE


• Runs OSX, Goggle Maps, iTunes, Yahoo-supported Email


• 5 Hour battery for talk/video, 16 Hour battery for music


• Cost $499-$599

This phone, which will be available in the US by June 2007, will be sold exclusively by Cingular/AT&T. It will be available in Europe by 4th quarter 2007 and Asia in 2008. This is the first time Apple has entered the cell phone market, but has already predicted that it will sell over 10 million phones by 2008 capturing about 1% of the worldwide market. However the cell phone market is a crowded one with many established brand names like Nokia and Motorola. Apple will have some tough competition.

"Prospects for the new device are positive, but it is not a given that Apple can win against a slew of wireless providers, phone manufacturers, and Microsoft, all of whom are similarly motivated to raise their flag on the same territory," said James L. McQuivey, a communications technology professor at Boston University.

Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, said the iPhone appears poised to revolutionize the way cell phones are designed and sold.

"This goes beyond smart phones and should be given its own category called `brilliant' phones," he said. "Cell phones are on track to become the largest platform for digital music playback, and Apple needed to make this move to help defend their iPod franchise as well as extend it beyond a dedicated music environment."

Saddam Hussein is Dead

Saddam Hussein born April 28th 1937 was hanged on December 30th 2006, four months short of his 70th birthday. He was born in the town of Al-Awja near Tikrit in the Sunni triangle of Iraq. It is reported that his mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, tried to commit suicide while pregnant with him. He was raised by his maternal uncle, Khairallah Talfah, who treated him very badly. At the age of 20, in 1957, he joined the Ba'ath party and with the help of the CIA he eventually rose to become President of Iraq in 1979. His rise to the Presidency was a bloody one marred by the assassinations of political opponents and he was also responsible for the brutal oppression of his people. He started two wars with his neighbors Iran (1980-1988) and Kuwait (1990-1991). The Kuwait invasion was repelled by the US but they stopped short of overthrowing Saddam. He was finally deposed by the US-led invasion of 2003 after being accused of hoarding weapons of mass destruction.

After a lengthy trial Saddam was found guilty for his role in the 1982 slayings of 148 Shiite Muslims and sentenced to death on November 5th 2006. After appeal, his sentence was upheld by the Iraqi Supreme Court. Just prior to his execution there was much speculation as to when the sentence would be carried out.

After rejecting pleas for leniency, Prime Minister Al-Maliki signed the papers giving approval for the sentence to be carried out. Saddam was executed on Saturday December 30th 2006. The was first reported by Iraqi TV

President Bush noted the execution of Saddam Hussein in this White House Press Release saying: "Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial — the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime."

I think it is fair to say that Saddam Hussein Had a Bad Day but he left his mark on Iraq and will always be remembered......As a Tyrant.
[youtube="http://youtube.com/watch?v=7b_iuIrSGxU"]

Odds and (Year's) Ends

This is a collection of year-end stories, some funny, some stupid and some that just don't fit into any category except....."Huh!?"

• No presents for you from Santa this year: Strange Seasonal Crimes


• 1,000 Good people for every Bad one: The Good Samaritan
  


• Mommy I want to be a Bus Driver: 15 Year old Bus Driver


• You never know what your cellmate will do! Fart Sparks Jail Fight


• I know what you did last night: Google's Top Searches And Yahoo's


• Talk about Body Piercing!! Spear Through Neck


• Bears on a Mission: The Teddy Bear Master


• Just say NO to Sex: No Sex Please, we're Korean!


• Need some Holiday money?: Bush $200 bill

Let's have some Video Fun!!

George Bush has nothing to say: Er I ummm...

Tara Conner gets a second chance: Colbert on Miss USA

Keith Olbermann's Oddball Year in Review: Part 1 and Part 2

Jon Stewart and George Bush: Final Year-End Swipe

Bill O'Reilly Looks back: 2006 Highlights

And of course The Simpsons

[youtube="http://youtube.com/watch?v=UkybyGHez_c"]

World Religions - Atheism

Atheism is the state of disbelief or non-belief in the existence of a deity or deities. It is commonly defined as the positive denial of theism (i.e., the assertion that deities do not exist), or the deliberate rejection of theism (i.e., the refusal to believe in the existence of deities). However, others—including most atheistic philosophers and groups—define atheism as the simple absence of belief in deities.

There are over 1 billion people who do not believe in God or gods. It is the third largest "religion" after Christianity and Islam. Paul-Henri Thiry, baron d'Holbach was one of the first Europeans to support Atheism. In 1761 he wrote Christianity Unveiled, in which he attacked Christianity and religion as counter to the moral advancement of humanity. His most famous work: The System of Nature (Le Système de la nature) was written in 1770 in which he declared:

"man is a production formed in the course of time, and peculiar to the particular globe he inhabits," and that every living thing changes according to time and place".

What is so remarkable is that this work was published 65 years before Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species" in 1869, in which Darwin made the case for Evolution and Natural Selection as the process by which humans (and all other living things) came to exist and not Creation. Denying the existence of a deity, d'Holbach saw in the universe nothing save matter in motion. He also declared: The foundation of morality is happiness: "It would be useless and almost unjust to insist upon a man's being virtuous if he cannot be so without being unhappy. So long as vice renders him happy, he should love vice."

Today there are many proponents of Atheism. Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris blame religion for notorious events in history and many of the world's current problems. In this video clip Sam Harris discusses the conflict between religion and science. He also attempts to dispel some of the Misconceptions about Atheism. In his best selling book The God Delusion Richard Dawkins is very critical about religion. In this BBC Interview he explains his position and answers viewers questions.

Here are some more sources of information on Atheism.

Religion & Ethics - Atheism Positive Atheism The Atheism Web Atheism on Yahoo

Muslim Congressman Responds

In response to the personal attacks Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va) made against Keith Ellison Rep.-elect (D-MN) simply because he is a Muslim, the first Muslim elected to the House, Keith Ellison took the high road in an interview with Wolf Blitzer of CNN. He suggested that Rep. Goode might want to take time to acquaint himself with some of the 5 million American Muslims:

"That they’re here to support and strengthen America, that they are nurses, doctors, husbands, wives, kids who just want to live and prosper in the American way, and that there’s really nothing to fear, and that all of us are steadfastly opposed to the same people he’s opposed to, which is the terrorists. And so there’s nothing for him to be afraid of, and that what we should do is to tell our constituents that we should reach to each other, not be against each other, and we should find ways for common ground."

Below is a video clip of the interview:
[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQPrH3dH4lQ"]

This entire controversy surrounding Keith Ellison was started by Dennis Prager, a columnist and conservative talk radio host, who made the following comment:

"Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."

He has been criticised by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) wants him removed from the Holocaust Council because he displayed an intolerance toward Islam that makes him an inappropriate person to serve on the memorial council.

Personally I think that some people in influential positions forget that little phrase "Freedom of Religion". Everyone has the right to practice their own religion in their own way. It is one of the Cornerstones of the Constitution. Why is it that some people think that Islam is a threat to the American Way of Life? Why did it take so long to get a Muslim elected to Congress anyway? There seems to be an ingrained distrust in some people regarding Muslims that make them think: "Terrorist" whenever they hear the word: "Muslim". When is bigotry and intolerance going to end in this country?