SodaHead - Mr. X's Questions

Alice Newstead Hangs From Shark Fishing Hooks To Protest Against Shark Finning In London: Is She Nuts?

2008-09-05T19:14:17Z

Alice Newstead Hangs From Shark Fishing Hooks To Protest Against Shark Finning In London: Is She Nuts?

15 answers, +7 raves

Say hello to the Shark Lady! Performance artist Alice Newstead hangs from shark fishing hooks to protest against shark finning in London, Sept. 3. According to the Sea Shepherd Conversation Society, 100 million sharks are killed every year for their fins, flesh, cartilage and oil. Is she out of her mind?

No. She Is Proving A Solid Point.	47% (7 answers)
Yes. She Needs Immediate Help.	40% (6 answers)
Undecided	13% (2 answers)

Does Michael Vick Deserve a Second Chance?

2008-08-29T19:54:22Z

Does Michael Vick Deserve a Second Chance?

8 answers, +4 raves

At one point in time, Michael Vick was one of the NFL’s most skilled and dynamic players. He carried a name so recognizable that it was hard not to have heard about him. Many would even argue that Vick’s accomplishments as a player have revolutionized the position of the traditional quarterback and have changed the game forever. In April 2007, all that would change after police received a tip that there was some strange activities going on at Vick’s 15-acre property in Surry County, VA, and what they found was something so horrible that the NFL star went from fame to shame in a matter of days. Police found over 70 dogs, mostly pit-bull terriers. Some showed signs of serious injury, and they were immediately seized by authorities, as Vick became the center of a public outrage and media frenzy. It was discovered that Vick served as one of the ringleaders of an interstate dog-fighting ring known as “Bad Newz Kennels,” where dogs were forced to fight in high-stakes gambling matches and then brutally executed. During his prison stint, Vick has engaged himself in a prison football program and keeps in touch through letters with Falcons owner, Arthur Blank. Memories of a future football legend have been replaced with thoughts of a deeply disturbed human being with a sick and twisted view on what he believed was entertainment. So where do you go from here, once Vick comes home from prison and is let back into society, what happens? Should he be made an example of and not be able to ever play football again, or should he get a second chance? The topic of Vick’s future as an NFL player has been controversial ever since his arrest, and it’s only going to get more and more heated as his release grows nearer.

No. He Doesn't Deserve It.	75% (6 answers)
Yes. He Deserves It!	13% (1 answers)
Undecided	13% (1 answers)

The Clintons Defending Barack Obama and Attacking John McCain: Is It Enough To Persuade Clinton Backers To Support Obama?

2008-08-27T18:04:39Z

The Clintons Defending Barack Obama and Attacking John McCain: Is It Enough To Persuade Clinton Backers To Support Obama?

90 answers, +16 raves

A day after Hillary Clinton emphatically urged her millions of supporters to back Barack Obama and declared, "No way. No how. No McCain," her husband is expected to attack John McCain when he takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention. In an emphatic plea, Hillary Clinton urged the millions of people who supported her during the Democratic primaries to now back her ex-rival. "Barack Obama is my candidate and he must be our president," she said at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. She also went on the attack against John McCain. Anticipating Wednesday night's focus on national security at the Democratic National Convention, Republican John McCain contended in a new TV ad that Obama showed he was "dangerously unprepared" for the White House when he described Iran as a "tiny" nation that didn't pose a serious threat. The McCain ad signaled a shift from trying to stir up Hillary Clinton's supporters with her primary-season criticism of Obama to raising fears about Obama's ability to handle international threats. Clinton closed the book on her 2008 presidential bid Tuesday night with an emphatic plea for the party to unite behind Barack Obama.

No. Clinton Supporters Stick With Clinton.	40% (36 answers)
Yes. The Clintons Backing Up Obama Will Definitely Make Their Supporters Do The Same.	33% (30 answers)
Undecided	27% (24 answers)

Many Think God's Intervention Can Revive the Dying. Is God The Best Medicine?

2008-08-22T17:50:50Z

Many Think God's Intervention Can Revive the Dying. Is God The Best Medicine?

11 answers, +2 raves

A survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention with God can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle." More than half of randomly surveyed adults, a total of 57 percent — said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment is hopeless. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment. When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or injured, nearly 20 percent of doctors and other medical workers said God could reverse a hopeless outcome. "Sensitivity to this belief will promote development of a trusting relationship" with patients and their families, according to researchers. That trust, they said, is needed to help doctors explain objective, overwhelming scientific evidence showing that continued treatment would be worthless.

Undecided	45% (5 answers)
Yes. God heals regardless of the situation.	36% (4 answers)
No. Medical evidence is the only way to determine someones health.	18% (2 answers)

Bush criticizes Congress’s vacation after coming back from a four day break at the Beijing Olympics. Does Bush have the right to criticize?

2008-08-14T01:13:22Z

Bush criticizes Congress’s vacation after coming back from a four day break at the Beijing Olympics. Does Bush have the right to criticize?

97 answers, +14 raves

Yesterday, after meeting with an oil industry front group, President Bush rebuked the congressional leadership for taking a “vacation” without holding a vote on offshore oil drilling. Some highlights of Bush’s time away from the office: – Attended 95 sports-related events. – Made 74 trips to his Crawford ranch, for a total of 466 days. – Made 142 trips to Camp David, for a total of 450 days. – Attended 327 fundraising events for Republican candidates and causes. Over the course of his presidency, national catastrophes have taken shape while Bush has been on vacation. When he was in Crawford before 9/11, Bush ignored an infamous memo about an impending bin Laden attack. Similarly, Bush brushed off warnings of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 while at the ranch. While congressional conservatives held political stunts on the House floor, Bush was kicking back at the Olympics. And as Russia invaded Georgia, Bush attended baseball, basketball, swimming, and softball games in Beijing, where he also made time for an hour of mountain-biking and playing beach volleyball with the U.S. team.

No. Congress is probably more productive in a week's vacation than bush is in the entire year.	51% (49 answers)
Yes. Bush is right, Congress should have taken care of our crude oil issues before they took off for a month.	38% (37 answers)
Undecided	11% (11 answers)

President Bush at the Beijing Olympics: Is George W. Bush a pervert?

2008-08-11T23:16:50Z

President Bush at the Beijing Olympics: Is George W. Bush a pervert?

74 answers, +7 raves

George Bush has wiggled his hips on stage in Liberia, held hands with Saudi Prince Abdullah, and tried to massage a fellow head of state. But one photo opportunity at this weekend's Beijing Olympics made even the famously jocular US president cringe. The loaded proposal came after Bush made a good play during practice with the women's beach volleyball team. "Mr President, want to?" bikini-clad player Misty May-Treanor asked him. She was referring to her own bottom. It is a beach volleyball tradition for players to slap one another's backsides after a successful point. May-Treanor presented her posterior to the president, with cameras poised to capture the moment. Bush - married to wife Laura for more than 30 years - appeared to freeze, but smiled before brushing the back of his hand against the base of her spine. The encounter prompted some chatter among the press corps. The Los Angeles Times pointed out that the word "backside" was quickly changed to "back" in one captioned photo of the presidential tap. Asked about May-Treanor's request by the Associated Press, Bush demurred: "I didn't take it very seriously. I guess everything the president does is interesting."

No. Misty May-Treanor offered Bush as a volleyball tradition.	53% (39 answers)
Yes. He is slapping athlete's butts at the Olympics	28% (21 answers)
Undecided	19% (14 answers)

Becoming invisible one step closer. Do you think scientists will be able to invent an invisibility cloak within the next 20 years?

2008-08-11T18:07:51Z

Becoming invisible one step closer. Do you think scientists will be able to invent an invisibility cloak within the next 20 years?

0 answers, 0 raves

Scientists say they have created two new types of materials that can bend light the wrong way, creating the first step toward an invisibility cloaking device. One scientist says the research might help build superior optical devices, such as a microscope that could see a living virus. The two teams were working separately under the direction of Xiang Zhang of the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center at the University of California, Berkeley, with U.S. government funding. One team reported its findings in the journal Science and the other in the journal Nature. Each new material works to reverse light in limited wavelengths, so no one will be using them to hide buildings from satellites, said Jason Valentine, who worked on one of the projects. "We are not actually cloaking anything," Valentine said in a telephone interview. "I don't think we have to worry about invisible people walking around any time soon. To be honest, we are just at the beginning of doing anything like that." Valentine's team made a material that affects light near the visible spectrum, in a region used in fiber optics. "In naturally occurring material, the index of refraction, a measure of how light bends in a medium, is positive," he said. "When you see a fish in the water, the fish will appear to be in front of the position it really is. Or if you put a stick in the water, the stick seems to bend away from you." These are illusions caused by the light bending when it moves between water and air. The negative refraction achieved by the teams at Berkeley would be different. "Instead of the fish appearing to be slightly ahead of where it is in the water, it would actually appear to be above the water's surface," Valentine said. "It's kind of weird." For a metamaterial to produce negative refraction, it must have a structural array smaller than the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation being used. This was done using microwaves in 2006 by David Smith of Duke University in North Carolina and John Pendry of Imperial College London. Visible light is harder. Some groups managed it with very thin layers, virtually only one atom thick, but these materials were not practical to work with and absorbed a great deal of the light directed at it. "What we have done is taken that material and made it much thicker," Valentine said. His team, whose work is reported in Nature, used stacked silver and metal dielectric layers stacked on top of each other and then punched through with holes. "We call it a fishnet," Valentine said. The other team, reporting in Science, used an oxide template and grew silver nanowires inside porous aluminum oxide at tiny distances apart, smaller than the wavelength of visible light. This material refracts visible light. Immediate applications might be superior optical devices, Valentine said -- perhaps a microscope that could see a living virus. "However, cloaking may be something that this material could be used for in the future," he said. "You'd have to wrap whatever you wanted to cloak in the material. It would just send light around. By sending light around the object that is to be cloaked, you don't see it."

Yes. Stealth today, Time machine tomorrow.	0% (0 answers)
No. Becoming completely invisible is impossible.	0% (0 answers)
Undecided	0% (0 answers)

Islamic terrorists threaten to attack the Beijing Olympics: What is China's best defense?

2008-08-08T19:18:01Z

Islamic terrorists threaten to attack the Beijing Olympics: What is China's best defense?

32 answers, +4 raves

The Beijing Olympics are now under way and predictably, they’re as much about political protest as the games. “Do not stay on the same bus, on the same train, on the same plane, in the same buildings, or any place the Chinese are,” the SITE intelligence group quotes TIP as saying in a video entitled “Call to the Global Muslim Nation,” according to Al Jezeera, which continues: “The video, dated August 1, follows the posting of a similar video in July, in which a group calling itself the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) claimed responsibility for bus bombings in Shanghai and Kunming, capital of the southwestern province of Yunnan. “However, Chinese officials dismissed those claims.” According to IntelCenter, “Through this blessed jihad in Yunnan this time, the Turkistan Islamic Party warns China one more time,” says “Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) Commander Seyfullah” in the July video, a copy of which is available for a mere $40. “Our aim is to target the most critical points related to the Olympics,” says the ‘commander, going on »»» We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely using the tactics that have never been employed. We warn China and the international community for the last time that those spectators, athletes, particularly the Muslims, who are planning to attend the Olympics, please change your intention from going to China. Please do not stand together with the faithless people. The Turkistan Islamic Party volunteers will conduct violent military actions against individuals, departments, venues, and activities that are related to the Olympics in China. Now, according to an American organization that tracks online terrorist posts, a, “terrorist group seeking an independent Muslim state in western China has released a video threatening an attack on the Olympic Games,” says the New York Times. It states »»» The video’s opening graphics show a burning Olympic logo and an explosion superimposed over one of the athletic sites, said the monitoring organization, IntelCenter, based in Alexandria, Va. According to IntelCenter’s description, a man holding an assault rifle, who identifies himself as Abdullah Mansour, says in the Uighur language: “We, members of the Turkestan Islamic Party, have declared war against China. We oppose China’s occupation of our homeland of East Turkestan, which is a part of the Islamic world.” He warns Muslims not to go to the Games and not to let their children go. “We do not want to see any Muslim brothers and sisters who believe in Allah and his Holy Prophet Muhammad, who believe in the next life and the day of judgment, get hurt by our fire targeted at China,” he says. Meanwhile, “China’s best defence against the risk of a terrorist attack on the Olympic Games is its strict visa system, now reinforced by worldwide police intelligence from the databases of Interpol,” says The Guardian, adding: “China’s requirement that all foreign visitors obtain visas means they are screened well before they show up at its borders, Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said. ” ‘It’s damn hard to get in here under a false identity,’ said Noble, who was in Beijing on Friday for the opening of the Games. ‘And it’s damn hard to get out of here without being controlled’.” In 1972, the Summer Olympics in Munich, then West Germany, members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by Black September, a group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization. “By the end of the ordeal, the terrorist group had killed eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and one German police officer,” says the Wikipedia. “Five of the eight members of Black September were killed by police officers during an abortive rescue attempt. “The three surviving terrorists were captured, and were later released by West Germany following the hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner, a release that has led to speculation that West Germany had helped stage the Lufthansa hijacking.” Watch the video.

None of the above	56% (18 answers)
Enhance security, report any suspicious activity	34% (11 answers)
A strict visa system, screen everyone at airports	9% (3 answers)

President Bush says to the 8.2 Million unemployed "Get a Job!" -- Does this get you mad?

2008-08-05T22:03:46Z

President Bush says to the 8.2 Million unemployed "Get a Job!" -- Does this get you mad?

481 answers, +72 raves

Responding to the nation's worst unemployment rate since the Hoover Administration, President Bush addressed the nation's 8.2 million unemployed workers in a televised speech Monday. "The economy has been on the rebound for months, but 5.6 percent of you are still out of work," Bush said. "Come on, people: Get a job! Don't just sit there hoping that you'll win the lottery. Turn off that boob tube, get off that couch, and start pounding the pavement." When the number of people taking part-time jobs because they can't get full-time work is factored in, the unemployment figure approaches 15.1 million, a number Bush called "unacceptable." "My fellow Americans, don't come crying to me," Bush said. "I've got a job. I go to work every day, whether I feel like it or not. I don't take handouts, and I don't give them. That's a belief my daddy taught me. Now, let's get this show on the road!" The unemployment rate remains high, in spite of the many tax-cut initiatives the Bush Administration has introduced over the past several years. "The government can only do so much," Bush said. "How hard can it possibly be to find a job? A friend of mine lost his job when his company went belly-up. Did he bitch and moan about it? Absolutely not. He picked up the phone and started making cold calls, he landed back on his feet, and now he's the chief financial officer of a major petrochemical concern." According to the president, the nation's unemployed need to make looking for work a full-time job. "How many applications have you filled out today?" Bush said. "You should spend eight hours a day looking through the want ads, mailing résumés, and pounding the pavement. You won't find a job moping around the house and feeling sorry for yourself. If you're down-and-out, you have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Life's hard, my friends. Get used to it." Bush addressed a complaint often made by unemployed workers: They are unable to find jobs commensurate to their skill set due to lulls in the technical and manufacturing sectors and the outsourcing of jobs to other countries. "If you wanted work as bad as you say you do, you'd take what you could find," Bush said. "You gotta work your way up, instead of waiting around for your dream job to fall into your lap. Walk before you run. Climb your way up the ladder." "I heard McDonald's is hiring. What's wrong with that? Does your fancy degree say you can't work at a Mickey D's? You may not be doing exactly what you want, but at least you'll have the pride of knowing that you're earning your living." A reporter asked for comment on a statistic which shows that only 21,000 new jobs were created in February, in spite of the Bush administration's promise to create 320,000. "I've got a statistic for you," Bush said. "You've got to look out for No. 1. Take charge. I've got a job plan for the nation. It's called 'Get off your duff.'" Bush said the country is experiencing its longest average-unemployment duration in 20 years, and he wants to see it end immediately. "If you get an interview, walk in there like you're the only person for the job," Bush said. "Show them you're willing to work. Show up early and bring a broom. Sweep up the place while you're waiting for the interview to start. That'll let them know you're a go-getter." The president concluded his speech by encouraging the jobless to start their search immediately. "What are you doing listening to this speech when you should be out there looking for work?" Bush asked. "Get a move on! Even my brother has a job. He's no one special, and he's the governor of Florida! If he can do that, you should be able to line up something at your local Wal-Mart." With that statement, Bush left Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to present some of the finer points of his administration's new position. "Get a haircut," Chao said. "Clean yourself up a little and put on a nice shirt, or even a suit. Maybe employers would take you more seriously if you didn't look like you just rolled out of bed. The way you look now, I wouldn't hire you to throw me a rope if I was falling off a cliff."

Yes. If I ever see Bush, I'd punch him on the face.	42% (203 answers)
No. I agree with Bush, stop depending on unemployment and get a job already.	39% (188 answers)
Undecided	19% (90 answers)

General Motors Corp. posted a $15.5 billion second-quarter loss: What should GM do?

2008-08-01T18:18:19Z

General Motors Corp. posted a $15.5 billion second-quarter loss: What should GM do?

4 answers, +1 raves

General Motors Corp. posted a $15.5 billion second-quarter loss Friday, the third-worst quarterly performance in the company's nearly 100-year history. The loss came as North American sales plummeted and GM faced expenses due to labor unrest and a massive restructuring plan aimed at preserving cash to weather a prolonged U.S. economic downturn. The loss of $27.33 per share was in stark contrast to the year-ago period when GM recorded a net profit of $891 million, or $1.56 per share. Revenue for the April-June period was $38.2 billion, down $8.5 billion from a year earlier. The company said its loss included $9.1 billion in one-time charges, including $3.3 billion for the buyouts of 19,000 U.S. hourly workers, most of whom left at the end of June, as well as $2.8 billion in liabilities related to Delphi Corp., its former parts division. It also included $1.3 billion worth of write-offs due to a reduction in the value of GM's 49 percent interest in its former financial arm, GMAC Financial Services. Additionally, GM took a $2 billion charge to its bottom line because of huge drops in the value of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles coming back to the company after lease terms end. GMAC and GM have suffered big losses when they try to sell the now-unpopular vehicles at depressed prices. GM also took a $197 million charge related to the settlement of a nearly three-month strike at supplier American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc., which hurt production at more than 30 GM plants. GM agreed to help American Axle fund worker buyouts as part of the settlement. Without the one-time charges, GM lost $6.3 billion, or $11.21 per share. Twelve analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predicted a $2.62 per share loss on revenue of $44.57 billion. GM shares fell 43 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $10.64 in midday trading after falling nearly 11 percent earlier in the day. Ray Young, GM's chief financial officer, said the company burned through $3.6 billion in cash during the second quarter, which he attributed largely to reducing the company's inventory by nearly 90,000 vehicles to less than 800,000. He said GM does not expect a similar reduction in future quarters, so the cash burn should be smaller for the rest of the year. "In that respect, the negative cash flow in the second quarter is overstated," he said. So far this year, GM has gone through about $1 billion in cash per month, including $3.4 billion in the first quarter. Young said GM had $21 billion in cash and $5 billion available through credit lines at the end of June for total liquidity of $26 billion, which he called a strong position. GM already has announced plans to generate another $15 billion in liquidity in the next 18 months. "We're going to get the second quarter behind us and just move ahead," Young said. GM's net losses since 2005 total $51.1 billion. The $15.5 billion loss reported Friday is less than half of GM's record $39 billion loss in the third quarter of last year. That loss was due to a charge for accumulated deferred tax credits. The second-worst loss was $21 billion in the first quarter of 1992. GM said its revenues outside North America rose by $1.7 billion to $20.8 billion in the quarter, but those gains were more than offset by losses in North America, where high gas prices and the weak economy have wreaked havoc on the auto industry. The company said 55 percent of its automotive revenue was from outside North America. North American revenues fell by nearly $10 billion to $19.8 billion for the quarter as sales in the region fell 20 percent. Work stoppages at American Axle and several other facilities in May and June also contributed to the decline, GM said. GM's revenue per vehicle in North America dropped 16 percent last quarter compared with the same period last year, from $21,375 to $17,940. The figure includes the drop in value of vehicles coming back to the company from leases. Young said the revenue decline included the drop in leased vehicle values and the reduction in inventory, plus the company didn't have enough factory capacity to feed demand for fuel-efficient cars in the first half of the year. With GM adding shifts at plants making midsize and compact cars in the second half, it should gain revenue from additional sales, he said. "But ultimately we're going to have to grow the business in a tough market," he said. On July 15, GM announced a plan to raise $15 billion for its restructuring by laying off thousands of hourly and salaried workers, speeding the closure of truck and SUV plants, suspending its dividend and raising cash through borrowing and the sale of assets. GM also said it would reduce production by another 300,000 vehicles, and that may prompt another wave of blue-collar early retirement and buyout offers, Young said. "As our recent product, capacity and liquidity actions clearly demonstrate, we are reacting rapidly to the challenges facing the U.S. economy and auto market, and we continue to take the aggressive steps necessary to transform our U.S. operations," GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said in a statement. GM sold 2.29 million vehicles in the second quarter, down 5 percent compared with the previous year. The company said a record 65 percent of those sales were outside North America. For the first half of the year, Toyota Motor Corp. outsold GM by 277,532 vehicles. It was only the second time Toyota beat GM in sales for the first six months of a year.

None of the above	100% (4 answers)
Make less autos and bring prices up.	0% (0 answers)
Pay their employees less, like Chrysler does.	0% (0 answers)
Advertise more.	0% (0 answers)
Bring new Hybrid vehicles	0% (0 answers)