From Robots to Elitist Miscreants

      Sometimes there are so many things to write about that it is hard to choose with which to go.  It's like trying to decide what to make for supper sometimes when there is a refrigerator full of food, and a myriad of ways to prepare it.  Such is the case today - on both counts.  In the same way I like to eat a balanced diet, and not eat the same thing every day (although there are people who do live like that and I can't imagine such blandness), I don't want to write about the same subject matter two day in a row either.  Yesterday's Science Friday was about advanced technology, so I didn't want to write about that again today.  However, there are too many things in that category that I have been reading about and I don't want to put it all off for a few days and forget to post it.  This is why it has taken me till late on Saturday to post something for Saturday. 
      I will touch lightly on this subject today and go deeper into the subject at a later time.  I finally figure out what we can have for supper too.  We'll just have hot meatloaf sandwiches using the leftover meat loaf from Thursday.  

      The world of robotics, particularly androids and drones (as many robots are now called) has become as unreal as a the sci-fi material from only a few years ago.  They have developed robot "dogs" for search and rescue, for carrying up to a 400 pound pack of gear, and can be fitted for battle too.  The "dog" doesn't really have a head, but does have "eyes" in the front of its "chest."  It can follow an individual (person or another robot) by giving it the simple verbal command "follow."  It can go through most terrain, and if it tips over it will get back up again without help or coaxing.  

                                The robotic "Dog" going through the snow

      Someone else couldn't be out done so they developed a cheetah to go into battle at high speed, and armed to the hilt.  Being low to the ground, enemy forces wouldn't even see them until it was too late to do anything about it.  There are robotic gulls, bugs, jellyfish, snakes, and even a shark (that looks and swims so realistically, that I had to watch that part of the video a few times), all of which can be used for reconnaissance or to deliver something.  They all look real enough from even a few yards away that they could go anywhere virtually unnoticed.  They are also using some animals (like bugs and bats) to mix with android parts to create cyborgs - or cybugs.  The humanoid androids are getting pretty impressive too.  I saw one that was very reminiscent of the android warriors from the first three episodes of Star Wars.  Others they are trying to make more human looking and less android looking.  
      Like I said a few paragraphs ago, I will go more in depth on this subject and its ramifications in later posts.  Below are a few short videos showing how far the technology has come already.  One of the videos seems to come from a conspiracy theory source (which even the casual reader of this blog will know that I do NOT endorse), but it is a great collection of clips of modern robots in action.  Two others are "untainted" documentaries, and the fourth video is a great fictional short, that who knows - it might become real someday.  I found it to have great entertainment value, and it's only a little over six minutes long.  I watched it twice. 

      It seems as though real world technological advances are only a few years to a decade or so behind the world of Science Fiction.  Maybe they get their ideas from Sci-Fi.  Therefore I say to the writers of Sci-Fi, "Hey guys, keep thinking up weird stuff.  

             This picture was just too good to pass up.  It looks like Sparky found a friend
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      Now for  the elitist miscreants.  What some people in upper Manhattan have been doing is horribly wrong on many levels.  I know, some of this particular crowd does things that are unconscionable all the time in every aspect of life, from shorting the wages of their employees, and driving widows and orphans out of their homes to greater crimes against humanity, the environment and the constitution whenever possible.  One of their latest misdeeds has been a way for them to get to the front of the lines for rides at Disney World (I'm sure they have been doing this at other amusement parks, but they got caught at Disney World).   They have been hiring, or renting disabled people (those in wheelchairs and such - those whom these one percenters would call "cripples) to pose as a family member.  This gets them access to the front of the line for rides.  Some of them have even created agencies with a catalog of potential disabled "family members" for these scumbags to choose from.
      When caught in this deception one of these moms said, "This is how the one percenters live.  We buy our way out of any inconvenience, just like I'll buy my way out of any trouble that may come out of this.  You won't be able to buy your way out of the trouble you'll get for bothering me in this way."  This she said to the security personnel who discovered her ruse and escorted her and her family out of the park.
      In an episode of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" a man was faking a disability in order to collect on an insurance scam.  Being tired of pretending to be disabled, he traveled to some place that "miracles" would happen and people would get healed from their disabilities.  His plan was to pretend to be healed.  What happened instead is that he really became disabled.  If something like that were to happen to these people I wouldn't feel very sympathetic. 

     Since posting this I have learned that the story which I read about this matter was incomplete.  The initial reasons for this are as stated, and this was Disney Corporation's original stand concerning hiring people to pretend to be their family members.  Now there are people right in the Orlando area hiring physically disabled people to go to the "Magic" Kingdom with the rich families.  They have created an agency for this and they advertise locally.  Also it is no longer against Disney Corporation policy to do this.  Disney now has their own pool of physically disabled people to rent to patrons who want to cut to the front of the lines.