The Place of Dead Roads

Twittering

2009-05-05T12:03:00.003-04:00

I'm playing around with Twitter now. Find me as Ah_Pook_Is_Here

The Stupid, It Hurts!

2008-08-12T23:59:00.000-04:00

Typical day at my office

2008-06-04T00:55:00.000-04:00

Office Worker Goes Absolutely Insane - Watch more free videos

Office Worker Meltdown Second Angle - Watch more free videos

Clinton makes the press file from the men's bathroom. Serves them food there. And yes, including the female reporters.

2008-03-04T12:22:00.001-05:00

From , Huffington Post (and all over):

Phil Glass does Sesame Street

2007-12-06T23:47:00.000-05:00

from 1977

via boingboing

In 1981, Andy Warhol ate a hamburger

2007-11-26T22:07:00.000-05:00

eh?

"Oh' Halloween"

2007-10-16T15:57:00.000-04:00

A poem by my son Andy

Oh' Halloween
How scary it is
With witches flying across the moon.
Oh' Halloween how it makes me scream!
Black cats in the night
Skeletons and ghosts flying about.
Vampires sucking blood
Evil laughs on Halloween
Oh how Halloween makes me scream!

Why the two Matrix sequels were not as good as the orginal

2007-08-27T21:51:00.000-04:00

From Rolling Stone, The Mystery of Larry Wachowski:

One night in January 2001, Larry Wachowski, co-director of the blockbuster Matrix movies, walked into a dark club in West Hollywood, where the rules of identity easily blurred, just like in his films. The Dungeon served the devoted BDSM -- bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism -- community in Los Angeles. It was a place where power dynamics between two different types of people were regularly played out: eager submissives, or slaves, and the dominatrixes who, for an hour or for a night, took complete charge of their minds and bodies, using ropes, whips, chains, knives and needles. Wachowski fell into the former category.

One of the people Wachowski met that night was among L.A.'s highest-profile dominatrixes, a tall, imposing blonde with a traffic-stopping figure who used the nom de kink Ilsa Strix.

In the weeks following their first encounter, Larry Wachowski returned to the Dungeon to see Mistress Strix. Boundaries fell swiftly, stunning the Los Angeles bondage community, which prides itself on the fact that mistresses keep their submissives at arm's length. The relationship between Larry and Ilsa, both in their thirties, would eventually destroy two marriages and possibly alter the creative course of one of the most influential movie trilogies of the past quarter-century, co-created with his brother, Andy: the original Matrix, released in 1999, and its two inferior sequels, which both hit theaters, six months apart, in 2003...

Rare Exports

2007-07-08T22:25:00.000-04:00

or the truth behind Father Christmas.

(Part One)

(Part Two)

The special times we live in

2007-06-28T10:48:00.000-04:00

The Return of a Static Universe and the End of Cosmology:

We live in a very special time in the evolution of the universe: the time at which we can observationally verify that we live in a very special time in the evolution of the universe!

George Bush Got No Respect for Black People

2007-06-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

Via Wonkette

THE PRESIDENT: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Applause.)

MR. RUFFINS: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Proud you’re here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over.

Why Quantum Mechanics class is a good place to meet your future wife

2007-06-15T11:29:00.000-04:00

The 10 Real Reasons Why Geeks Make Better Lovers:

Geeks build it so you will come
Geeks get personal with tech
Geeks dig consensual role playing
Geeks interact
Geeks get things done
Geeks are hot…and wear the coolest glasses.
Geeks don't shock easily
Geeks know kinky people
Geeks understand multi-dimensional relationships
Geeks aren't threatened by new tech or "the future of sex"

(My wife points out it is a better place to meet a husband, as the select is large and the competition is limited.)

Hello Kitty Darth Vader

2007-06-14T15:28:00.000-04:00

via boingboing (hat tip to Paul)

Kakistocracy

2007-06-14T15:25:00.000-04:00

Kakistocracy (rule by the worst citizens) is a form of government in which the people least qualified to control the government are the people who control the government.

http://www.answers.com/topic/kakistocracy

What my wife said

2007-06-04T15:13:00.000-04:00

On the occasion of our 12th wedding anniversary

When two souls love each other,
they don't look at each other.
They look in the same direction.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

You sass that hoopy Douglas Adams? Now there's a frood who knew where his towel was.

2007-05-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

Just a short reminder, tomorrow is Towel Day

Gesundheit!

2007-05-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

Decorating our bar with Møzaikit vinyl tiles

2007-05-10T16:41:00.000-04:00

Found a new fun decorating product:
Five color sets of self adhesive vinyl tiles.
225 per box.
Møzaikit made by Shalgo

Me being me, I had to make a time lapse of applying the tiles to the bar.

Of course, any new modifications to a bar must be celebrated with a new cocktail:

1 part Yellow Chartreuse
2 parts Plymouth Gin
Twist of Lemon
Shake well with ice and serve.

Naturally, I wouldn't try anything like decorating our bar without a plan:

13256278887989457651018865901401704640

2007-05-02T13:22:00.000-04:00

Plus @@
((16^(32 - Range[32]))
(If[# < 60, # - 48, # - 55] & /@
ToCharacterCode["09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0"]))

Cherry Blossoms 2007

2007-04-27T01:15:00.000-04:00

Finally got some of my photos organized.

The Picard Song

2007-04-25T11:07:00.000-04:00

Darth Vader Balloon

2007-04-24T23:23:00.000-04:00

Darth Vader Balloon

VT Attack: And so the madness begins...

2007-04-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

From the AP, Student Arrested Over Va. Tech Remarks:

A University of Colorado student pleaded not guilty Wednesday to making comments that classmates deemed sympathetic toward the gunman blamed for killing 32 students and himself at Virginia Tech, authorities said.

During a class discussion Tuesday of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech, Max Karson "made comments about understanding how someone could kill 32 people," university police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said.

Several witnesses told investigators Karson, who turns 22 on Thursday, said he was "angry about all kinds of things from the fluorescent light bulbs to the unpainted walls, and it made him angry enough to kill people," according to a police report. Witnesses "said they were afraid of him and afraid to come to class with him," Wiesley said.

Karson, of Denver, was arrested Tuesday on a misdemeanor charge of interfering with staff, faculty or students of an education institution.

His father, Michael Karson, told the Camera newspaper that the comments may have been misinterpreted and questioned whether his son's free speech rights had been violated.

"I would have hoped that state officials would know their First Amendment better than they seem to," he said.

Turkey threatens to attack N. Iraq at the end of April. And Iran to get involved as well.

2007-04-18T13:20:00.000-04:00

David Ignatius writes, in the Washington Post, A New Threat In Iraq:

[T]he Turks might invade by the end of April unless the United States contained the PKK...If the Turks do attack, counters one Kurdish official, "their own border will not be respected. They will not be the only ones to choose the battlefield."...Like the Turks, the Iranians have a restless Kurdish minority and would be tempted to intervene militarily against a militant group called PJAK that operates from Iraqi Kurdistan.

At least 130 Faculty, Students and Staff Killed in Bombings at Universities in Iraq so far this year

2007-04-18T13:18:00.000-04:00

From IraqSlogger:

In January, Baghdad’s Mustansiriya University sufferred a double suicide bombing in January that killed at least 70 people, including students, faculty, and staff. A month later, another suicide bomber struck at Mustansiriya, killing 40.

On Monday, the same day as the Virginia Tech mass shooting, two separate shooting incidents struck Mosul University, one killing Dr. Talal Younis al-Jelili, the dean of the college of Political Science as he walked through the university gate, and another killing Dr. Jaafar Hassan Sadeq, a professor from the Faculty of Arts at the school, who was targeted in front of his home in the al-Kifaat area, according to Aswat al-Iraq.

Iowa Republicians to Bush: "Out of Iraq"

2007-04-11T10:05:00.000-04:00

The Strategic Vision polling group asked 600 likely Republican caucus goers:

QUESTION: Do you favor a withdrawal of all United States military from Iraq within the next six months?

ANSWER: Yes 52% No 39% Undecided 9%

via The Nation

Leaping shampoo and the Kaye effect

2007-04-11T00:06:00.000-04:00

Shear-thinning fluids exhibit surprisingly rich behaviour. One example is the Kaye effect. As pouring proceeds, a small stream of liquid occasionally leaps upward from the heap.We show that the Kaye effect works for many common fluids, including shampoos and liquid soaps.
arXiv:physics/0603183v1

See also, from Nature, Physicists explain how shampoo streams can bounce.

Bjork in a Garden, Wearing a Fern

2007-04-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

From the gallery of the wonderful artist Laura Levine.

(via BoingBoing)

No need to hot-link images

2007-04-05T22:01:00.000-04:00

Use http://imgred.com instead. Just add http://imgred.com in front of the URL for the image. For example, my headshot's URL is

<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~countvotes/blog/headshot1.jpg">

If you wanted to use a copy but was feeling polite and didn't want to get Comcast pissed off at me, you would use

<img src="http://imgred.com/http://home.comcast.net/~countvotes/blog/headshot1.jpg">

A Mandelbrot the size of the known universe

2007-04-03T01:18:00.000-04:00

via MonkeyFilter and MetaFilter

Terry Jones on the British held in Iran

2007-03-31T13:01:00.000-04:00

This would be the Terry Jones from Monty Python. From The Guardian:

Call that humiliation?
No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch
Terry Jones
Saturday March 31, 2007

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters...And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe...

And what's all this about allowing the captives to write letters home saying they are all right? It's time the Iranians fell into line with the rest of the civilised world: they should allow their captives the privacy of solitary confinement. That's one of the many privileges the US grants to its captives in Guantánamo Bay...

What is so appalling is the underhand way in which the Iranians have got her "unhappy and stressed". She shows no signs of electrocution or burn marks and there are no signs of beating on her face. This is unacceptable. If captives are to be put under duress, such as by forcing them into compromising sexual positions, or having electric shocks to their genitals, they should be photographed, as they were in Abu Ghraib. The photographs should then be circulated around the civilised world so that everyone can see exactly what has been going on...

...but clearly the Iranian people must be made to suffer...simply by getting President Bush to hurry up and invade, as he intends to anyway, and bring democracy and western values to the country, as he has in Iraq.

The Kingdom of Saud tells it like it is

2007-03-28T13:32:00.000-04:00

According to AFP, Saudi King Abdullah had the following to say at the annual Arab summit in Riyadh:

"In beloved Iraq, blood is being shed among brothers in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and ugly sectarianism threatens civil war...the winds of hope will blow on the nation, and then, we will not allow forces from outside the region to determine the future of the region, and only the flag of Arabism will be raised on Arab soil."

I really think we are not welcome in the Middle East anymore. Can we at least get our troops out before everyone there decides to stop supplying our oil addiction?

James Madison on the US Attorney Scandal

2007-03-28T00:14:00.000-04:00

Speech in Congress on Presidential Removal Power

June 17, 1789
The danger then consists merely in this: the president can displace from office a man whose merits require that he should be continued in it. What will be the motives which the president can feel for such abuse of his power, and the restraints that operate to prevent it? In the first place, he will be im-peachable by this house, before the senate, for such an act of mal-administration; for I contend that the wanton removal of meritorious officers would subject him to impeachment and removal from his own high trust. But what can be his motives for displacing a worthy man? It must be that he may fill the place with an unworthy creature of his own. Can he accomplish this end? No; he can place no man in the vacancy whom the senate shall not approve; and if he could fill the vacancy with the man he might chuse, I am sure he would have little inducement to make an improper removal. Let us consider the consequences. The injured man will be supported by the popular opinion; the community will take side with him against the president; it will facilitate those combinations, and give success to those exertions which will be pursued to prevent his re-election. To displace a man of high merit, and who from his station may be supposed a man of extensive influence, are considerations which will excite serious reflections beforehand in the mind of any man who may fill the presidential chair; the friends of those individuals, and the public sympathy will be against him. If this should not produce his impeachment before the senate, it will amount to an impeachment before the community, who will have the power of punishment by refusing to re-elect him. But suppose this persecuted individual, cannot obtain revenge in this mode; there are other modes in which he could make the situation of the president very inconvenient, if you suppose him resolutely bent on executing the dictates of resentment. If he had not influence enough to direct the vengeance of the whole community, he may probably be able to obtain an appointment in one or other branch of the legislature; and being a man of weight, talents and influence in either case, he may prove to the president troublesome indeed.

"I will screw him in the ass!"

2007-02-19T14:10:00.000-05:00

From Haaretz:

Speaking of George Bush, with whom Sharon developed a very close relationship, Uri Dan recalls that Sharon's delicacy made him reluctant to repeat what the president had told him when they discussed Osama bin Laden. Finally he relented. And here is what the leader of the Western world, valiant warrior in the battle of cultures, promised to do to bin Laden if he caught him: "I will screw him in the ass!"

Bush doesn't play well in Peoria anymore

2007-02-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

From MSNBC

Jan. 31, 2007 - On Tuesday, President Bush popped in for a surprise visit to the Sterling Family Restaurant, a homey diner in Peoria, Ill. It’s a scene that has been played out many times before by this White House and others: a president mingling among regular Americans, who, no matter what they might think of his policies, are usually humbled and shocked to see the leader of the free world standing 10 feet in front of them.

But on Tuesday, the surprise was on Bush. In town to deliver remarks on the economy, the president walked into the diner, where he was greeted with what can only be described as a sedate reception. No one rushed to shake his hand...In Peoria this week, many patrons found their pancakes more interesting. Except for the click of news cameras and the clang of a dish from the kitchen, the quiet was deafening.

“Sorry to interrupt you,” Bush said to a group of women, who were sitting in a booth with their young kids. “How’s the service?” As Bush signed a few autographs and shook hands, a man sitting at the counter lit a cigarette and asked for more coffee. Another woman, eyeing Bush and his entourage, sighed heavily and went back to her paper. She was reading the obituaries. “Sorry to interrupt your breakfast,” a White House aide told her. “No problem,” she huffed, in a not-so-friendly way. “Life goes on, I guess.”

US gov't suggests blocking the sun to prevent global warming

2007-01-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

It seems the US government thinks the best way to deal with global warming is to block the sun. Either with giant mirrors or reflective space dust.

No, really.

They are serious.

From the Sidney Morning Herald

THE US wants the world's scientists to develop technology to block sunlight as a last-ditch way to halt global warming.

It says research into techniques such as giant mirrors in space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would be "important insurance" against rising emissions, and has lobbied for such a strategy to be recommended by a UN report on climate change.

Of course, this might upset the oil companies, as they are already keen to take full advantage of the melting Artic ice. Via ThinkProgress

The Arctic region contains a quarter of the world’s remaining oil reserves, experts estimate. It also contains massive natural gas fields in the Barents Sea, including Russia’s huge Shtokman field. “By 2040 or 2050, the Arctic Ocean will be navigable and that will mean significant developments very soon,” said ArcticNet research group head Martin Fortier.

Why I like Shakespeare

2006-12-19T09:58:00.000-05:00

From Physorg.com, Reading Shakespeare has dramatic effect on human brain:

Shakespeare uses a linguistic technique known as functional shift that involves, for example using a noun to serve as a verb. Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence. This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say.

Professor Philip Davis, from the University's School of English: "...By throwing odd words into seemingly normal sentences, Shakespeare surprises the brain and catches it off guard in a manner that produces a sudden burst of activity - a sense of drama created out of the simplest of things."

And they know this by studying the brain activity of people listening to the Bard's works.

Vegetarians Are Smarter

2006-12-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

or said another way, smarter people are more likely to be compassionate.

From the BBC

Men who were vegetarian had an IQ score of 106, compared with 101 for non-vegetarians; while female vegetarians averaged 104, compared with 99 for non-vegetarians.

"We've always known that vegetarianism is an intelligent, compassionate choice benefiting animals, people and the environment"
Liz O'Neill, of The Vegetarian Society

Bet you can't eat just one

2006-11-30T21:12:00.000-05:00

From The Virginia Pilot, Spilled Doritos chips wash up on Outer Banks

A cargo container that apparently fell from a ship washed up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina today and spilled thousands of bags of Doritos brand tortilla chips on the beach. Scavengers collected the chips, which were apparently still fresh due to their airtight packaging. It was unknown which ship had lost the cargo or to what port it was bound.

YMCA

2006-11-30T09:58:00.000-05:00

Some things are just wrong.
Bits & Pieces
But that doesn't stop them from being funny.

Patrick Stewart sings the Alphabet Song

2006-11-20T10:59:00.000-05:00

On YouTube

Epileptic Tasered while having a seizure

2006-11-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

From The Epilepsy Foundation:

Daniel Beloungea, who was taking a daily walk in his neighborhood when he experienced a complex partial seizure, which left him in a state of semi-consciousness. Complex partial seizures are associated with repetitive involuntary movements, sometimes for up to 30 minutes, with post-seizure disorientation. Beloungea needs to walk daily as a form of rehabilitation to help restore functioning in his legs; this functioning was impaired following brain surgery to treat his seizures. A person passing by noticed Mr. Beloungea acting erratically and called police to report his behavior. When officers arrived on the scene, they apparently assumed that his failure to respond to their questions and his erratic involuntary movements amounted to resistance, and failed to recognize the obvious signs of a seizure. Furthermore, they failed to inspect the medical alert bracelet he was wearing, which indicates clearly that he has epilepsy.

According to police reports, when Mr. Beloungea was unresponsive to police direction, the bag he was carrying was kicked by police from his hand, and when he flailed his arms involuntarily, he was tasered, sending 50,000 volts of electricity through his body (risking serious injury or death); hit with a police baton; threatened at gunpoint; and handcuffed behind his back. (The handcuffing itself is dangerous for persons experiencing a seizure, as it can lead to further seizure-related agitation and struggling, possibly causing asphyxiation or even cardiac arrest.) He was then prosecuted for assaulting police officers and disorderly conduct, notwithstanding considerable evidence, including the state’s own mental health evaluation, confirming that his actions were involuntary and solely the product of a seizure.

42

2006-11-15T16:09:00.000-05:00

http://www.google.com/search?q=the+answer+to+life+the+universe+and+everything

On the Edge of Blade Runner

2006-11-05T22:38:00.000-05:00

from Channel 4, a
Documentary on the Sci-Fi movie, Blade Runner

On the Edge of Blade Runner
(google video link)

Judge 'orders arrest of Pinochet Bush'

2006-10-27T14:15:00.000-04:00

From the BBC:

A judge has ordered the arrest of ~~Chile~~ America's former military leader, ~~Augusto Pinochet~~ George W Bush, over crimes committed at a detention centre, sources say.

Judge ~~Alejandro Solis~~ Anna Diggs Taylor requested the arrest of ~~Gen Pinochet, 90~~ Mr Bush, 60, for 36 cases of kidnap, one of homicide and for 23 cases of torture.

The crimes allegedly took place in the years following his ~~1973~~ 2000 coup.

The ~~Villa Grimaldi~~ Guantanamo centre was run by his secret police, where thousands were tortured between ~~1974 and 1977~~ 2001 and 2008.

~~Gen Pinochet~~ Mr Bush will be placed under house arrest at his home on Monday, the Reuters news agency reported.

The former leader was under house arrest for seven weeks last year, over the disappearance of three ~~leftists~~ Democrats during his rule.

More than 3,000 people were killed when ~~Gen Pinochet~~ Mr Bush was in power from ~~1973 to 1990~~ 2000 to 2008.

"Stay the Course"

2006-10-24T00:18:00.000-04:00

Risking all and doing a White House search on "Stay the Course", we find the following in the 154 results found.
November 30, 2005

PRES. BUSH: If by 'stay the course,' they mean we will not allow the terrorists to break our will, they are right. If by 'stay the course,' they mean we will not permit al Qaeda to turn Iraq into what Afghanistan was under the Taliban - a safe haven for terrorism and a launching pad for attacks on America - they are right, as well.

October 27, 2003

THE PRESIDENT: It's in the national interest of the United States that a peaceful Iraq emerge. And we will stay the course in order to achieve this objective.

April 5, 2004

THE PRESIDENT: ...and assured him that we would stay the course, that a free Iraq was very important for peace in the world...And we've got to stay the course, and we will stay the course.

November 13, 2003

MR. McCLELLAN: The Vice President, last night, expressed condolences to President Ciampi who arrived in Washington, yesterday. Getting back to the call, though, the two leaders reaffirmed their strong commitment to stay the course in Iraq...But it's important that we stay the course and finish the job -- and that's what the President has continued to say-- and let the Iraqi people know that we are going to stay the course...We will stay the course, we will prevail, and they will be defeated...And that's why it's important to continue to stay the course and prevail. And we will.

September 18, 2006

MRS. BUSH: Well, I say exactly what the President says, that we need to stay the course; that it's really in our interest as Americans to make sure Iraq can build a stable democracy.

August 30, 2006

THE PRESIDENT: Iraq is the central front in this war on terror. If we leave the streets of Baghdad before the job is done, we will have to face the terrorists in our own cities. We will stay the course

April 21, 2004

MR. McCLELLAN: As you heard him say last week in his news conference: "My message to our troops is, we will stay the course and complete the job"...It's important that we stay the course and help the Iraqi people...The President will continue to stay the course and help the Iraqi people...This is too important, and we must stay the course and finish the job in Iraq

April 6, 2004

President: We will stay the course. The Iraqi people don't have to fear taking the risk toward freedom and democracy because America won't turn and run.

December 15, 2003

THE PRESIDENT: We will stay the course until the job is done...We're just going to stay the course...And the citizens of Iraq need to know we will stay the course.

December 5, 2003

THE PRESIDENT: our Nation will stay the course, and we will prevail.

December 1, 2003

MR. McCLELLAN: that it's important that we continue to stay the course

November 27, 2003

THE PRESIDENT: I was able to assure them that we were going to stay the course and get the job done...remind them our country stands with them, and that we will stay the course...I'm here to tell you we're going to stay the course.

July 10, 2003

THE PRESIDENT: And it's very important for us to stay the course, and we will stay the course.

October 18, 2002

THE PRESIDENT: However long it takes, this country of ours will stay the course. We will stay the course to protect America, and we will stay the course to promote the peace.

April 13, 2004

THE PRESIDENT: And, yet, we must stay the course...And my message today to those in Iraq is: We'll stay the course; we'll complete the job. My message to our troops is: We will stay the course and complete the job

March 12, 2004

THE PRESIDENT: spread the word that America will stay the course...And I believe there's no doubt that if America stays the course and we call upon others to stay the course, liberty will arrive

October 23, 2002

THE PRESIDENT: the United States of America will stay the course.

August 17, 2006

MR. SNOW: you also cannot be a President in a wartime and not realize that you've got to stay the course.

April 19, 2006

GOVERNOR BUSH: And I'd just like to reiterate what the other governors have said, that it is very important that we stay the course

April 20, 2004

MRS. BUSH: But we do know how important it is to stay the course.

April 16, 2004

PRESIDENT BUSH: And that's why we're going to stay the course in Iraq.

April 7, 2004

MR. McCLELLAN: But we will continue to stay the course and finish the job...And the President believes that it's important to continue to stay the course

And that is only from the first 40 of the query hits. For these 40 hits, I found 23 meaningful citations including "stay the course," for a total of 44 usages of the phrase.

Charges against U.S. Troops, twice

2006-10-19T00:53:00.000-04:00

Using Reuters as the source:

Three more U.S. Marines to face trial in Iraq murder

Another three U.S. Marines will be tried on murder charges in the death of an Iraqi grandfather kidnapped from his house in Hamdania in the middle of the night, the U.S. Marine Corps said on Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the top Marine general in the Middle East, said Lance Corporal Tyler Jackson, Lance Corporal Robert Pennington and Corporal Trent Thomas would face murder, kidnapping and other charges stemming from the April 2006 death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

U.S. military trials ordered in Iraq murder cases

U.S. service members will face military trials in three separate cases for the murders of Iraqi civilians, including the gang rape and murder of a teenage girl and the killing of her family in their home in Mahmudiya, the military said on Wednesday.

An Army general ordered the court-martial of four soldiers in the Mahmudiya case and said two of the four could face death if found guilty. One of the accused will testify against the others, according to his Washington attorney, David Sheldon.

We're not liking Bush's war

2006-10-17T23:38:00.000-04:00

From CNN:

A poll conducted for CNN over the weekend suggests support among Americans for the war in Iraq is dwindling to an all-time low. Just 34 percent of those polled say they support the war, while 64 percent say they oppose it.

Women led the opposition, with seven in 10 saying they oppose the war. Twenty-eight percent say they support it, which is the lowest support among women in any CNN poll taken since the invasion more than three years ago.

Support among men is stronger, with 40 percent supporting the conflict and 58 percent opposed to it.

Offical 9/11 story not holding water

2006-10-10T00:42:00.000-04:00

From The New York Times:

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said Mr. Bush was personally aware of pre-9/11 intelligence reports that warned of possible domestic terrorist attacks using airplanes. When the same question was asked in May 2002, 41 percent said they believed Mr. Bush was aware.

Most people know more than Bush

2006-10-10T00:38:00.000-04:00

From The New York Times:

Men wearing military police uniforms broke into the house of the brother of Iraq’s Sunni vice president on Monday, chased him onto a neighbor’s roof and shot him in the head, killing him, Iraqi authorities and witnesses said. Amir al-Hashemi was the third sibling of Iraq’s vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, to be killed since spring. His death underscored just how deeply Baghdad has sunk into lawlessness, particularly in its religiously mixed neighborhoods, and was reminiscent of the politically motivated assassinations that have plagued Iraq since the American invasion.

From The New York Times:

Mr. Bush clearly faces constraints as he seeks to address the public concerns about Iraq that have shrouded this midterm election: 83 percent of respondents thought that Mr. Bush was either hiding something or mostly lying when he discussed how the war in Iraq was going.

John Hodgman on The Daily Show

2006-09-25T22:10:00.000-04:00

From Radar:

What is unique about our life today is that The Daily Show is breaking a taboo simply by making plain, truthful, obvious observations about our existing government, its bankruptcy of competence and vision when faced with the basic jobs with which it is tasked.

John Hodgman, on hometowns

2006-09-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

From an interview

Home towns are like opinions: everyone has one. And I guess in that sense, they’re also like assholes.

Also, and reading and history:

I’m just reading history. And by reading, I mean making it up.

Being a Scientist First, a Woman Second

2006-09-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

From her column in Newsweek, 'This Topic Annoys Me':

By Janna Levin
I don't ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when I was fixated on the subject. People asked constantly for stories about what it's like to work in a field dominated by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes...

Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I don't study sociology or political theory. I study the history of the cosmos written in the laws of physics. That's a story I tell pretty well.

Bush Adminstrations has let the military go to rot

2006-08-01T21:37:00.000-04:00

From a report generated by the National Security Advisory Group

Dear Leader Pelosi and Leader Reid:
We are writing to express our deep concern about the U.S. Army's current state of readiness and to urge you to take immediate action to address this urgent problem. We have recently learned that:

- Two thirds of the Army's operating force, active and reserve, is now reporting in as unready.

- There is not a single non-deployed Army Brigade Combat Team in the United States that is ready to deploy.

The bottom line is that our Army currently has no ready, strategic reserve. Not since the Vietnam era and its aftermath has the Army's readiness been so degraded. [...]

Restoring the Army's readiness requires additional funding, but, inexplicably, the administration is underfunding the Army. It has not requested funding adequate to support the roles and missions envisioned for the Army by the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, nor has it provided adequate funding to support the operational demands being placed on the Army today. Remarkably, the Office of Management and Budget recently cut the Army's request for FY06 supplemental appropriations by $4.9 Billion, undermining the Army's efforts to "get well" after substantial equipment degradation and losses in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. We believe this constitutes a serious failure of civilian stewardship of the military.

The administration's willingness to put our nation at such strategic risk is deeply disturbing. And its failure to adequately support the soldiers who are risking their lives for this nation is unacceptable. The readiness degradation that has already occurred could lead to a downward spiral that will take years to correct unless promptly addressed. Under these conditions, it is important for the Congress to step forward to exercise its oversight responsibilities for equipping and training the Armed Services.[...]

Sincerely,
William J. Perry, Chair, National Security Advisory Group
Madeleine K. Albright (former Secretary of State)
Graham T. Allison (former Assistant Secretary of Defense)
Samuel R. Berger (former National Security Advisor)
Ashton B. Carter (former Assistant Secretary of Defense)
Wesley K. Clark (former Supreme Allied Commander Europe)
Thomas E. Donilon (former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State)
Michele A. Flournoy (former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense)
John D. Podesta (former White House Chief of Staff)
Susan E. Rice (former Assistant Secretary of State)
John M. Shalikashvili (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Wendy R. Sherman (former State Department Counselor)
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall (former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense)
James B. Steinberg (former Deputy National Security Advisor)

DJ Ted Stevens Techno Remix

2006-07-21T15:33:00.000-04:00

The AP

The 82-year-old Republican [Sen Stevens], chairman of the Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation, has been parodied mercilessly by bloggers after referring to the Internet as a "series of tubes" and for mistakenly calling an e-mail "an Internet." A music video for the "DJ Ted Stevens Techno Remix" is currently playing on YouTube.

How to not behave at a world summit

2006-07-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

From the AP, Bush's back rub magnified in cyberspace:

An impromptu back rub that President Bush gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel is now massaging millions of funny bones.

Larry Sabato, professor of politics at the University of Virginia: "If they're not doing something that's embarrassing, they have nothing to worry about. A president ought to know enough not use an expletive in a fairly open meeting and almost any male alive today knows that you don't offer uninvited massages to any female, much less the chancellor of Germany."

Many writers saw a sexist aspect to Bush's back rub. "This isn't a Sigma Chi kegger, it's the G-8 Summit," wrote blogger Christy Hardin Smith on Firedoglake.com.

Iraq PM condemns Israel over attacks

2006-07-19T22:39:00.000-04:00

Doesn't seem the Iraqi leadership is on the same page as the US. Should I be surprised Maliki is more sympathetic toward fellow Shia in Lebabon than to America's support of Israel? Not really.

From the New York Times

"The Israeli attacks and airstrikes are completely destroying Lebanon's infrastructure," Mr. Maliki said at an afternoon news conference inside the fortified Green Zone, which houses the American embassy and the seat of the Iraqi government. "I condemn these aggressions and call on the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo to take quick action to stop these aggressions. We call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

The American Embassy did not answer a reporter's request for a response.

A Whitney Brown nails the Mideast problem

2006-07-18T21:56:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite comics now posts over at DailyKos. His latest is just wonderful!

I'm a media myth, but my crazy roommate Is real

Right now I'm cowering in my fucking closet with no food, no electricity, nothing but dirty water to drink, and my crazy ass roommate is pounding the shit out of the people next door. And the thing is, they're my best friends.

Who am I kidding? They're my only friends. And they're getting their ass kicked for sticking up for me. So they say, anyway. I just wish they had found some better way of showing me their love than heaving rocks through the window at my roommate all hours of the day and night. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the solidarity, but shit, I have to live with this fucking maniac. And as long as they're fucking throwing shit, how about throwing some food, or a pack of Marlboros, or a magazine to read in this fucking closet? Or maybe a job or something...

Sometimes I think my friends don't so much like me as they just hate my roommate. I went to stay with them once and they made me crash under a plastic sheet in the back yard. Excuse me, in one corner of the back yard. With a fence around it. Some friends.

I had to use wire cutters every time I went out to steal a paper from own fucking former porch. Then my roommate found me out, and man I took an ass-kicking that makes me sob just to remember it. Sabra.

How did I get in this shithole mess? You wouldn't fucking believe it if I told you, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

I'm chillin' at the crib one day, knockin' back some dates and watching the goats fuck in the back room while my wife was shingling the roof and some guy knocks on the door.

I go to the door and the guy says, "Hey, son, you're an Elvis man, aren't you?"

I said, "Why yes I am, what of it?"

He says, "Well, I'm a Beatles man."

I said, "Yeah. Okay."

He says, "I happen to know from the liner notes of this Special Bonus Album that only I have, that this here house you're living in, used to belong to a Beatles fan. Like me."

I looked at him like he was batshit. Which he is, by the way, but that's not the cause of our disagreement, just the symptom.

He says, "This dwelling place has been reserved in perpetuity, all time, and extended play for Beatles fans."

I said, "I don't dislike the Beatles, I just like Elvis better. Truth be known, I favor the Stones over the Beatles as well. I just don't see how that adds up to me giving over my house to you."

He says, "Let me put it to you another way, Slick. I have been dreaming about living in this house since before you even moved in. That should close the case. It's my house."

Maybe I should have heard him out, but I just slammed the door in his face, except he stuck his big foot in there.

He said, "I wasn't going to bring this up, but it just so happens that my previous landlord kicked the shit out of me, and killed half my family, and I figure somebody owes me. That would be you."

I wish I could say I opened the door and my heart wide with compassion and welcome, just like the Indians did for the Pilgrims, but I'm not that way. I didn't like the motherfucker then any better than I like him now, and I slammed the door and triple bolted it, and went to drag my other wife off kitchen duty to guard it with a poleaxe.

Thing is, I forgot about the back door, and the next day I had a roommate. Which wasn't so bad, until all his friends and family showed up. And then we got in a big fight, and the landlord tried to give him my third wife's room, along with half the yard and the goat pen.

Roommate said, "Look at you, you with those scrawny goats in that pen. I can put a hydroponic tomato garden in there and put the whole thing on a paying basis. You don't deserve this yard."

So we got in a big fight and I had to beat a quick retreat to the shed out back. Figured I'd get my shit out of the house later. It's still there.

Along with my date tree, and now the motherfucker treats me like a damn dog, makes me show papers everytime I leave the yard, steals my money, killed my grandfather and 3 cousins, and I'm crammed into this shithole closet with no food and now no electricity.

I feel like a goddam ghost. But my crazy ass roommmate is real, and tell you the truth, if he thinks up any more ways to fuck me in the ass, I think I might just kill myself. And I might just take one of my motherfucking roomates with me. That is, if my friends don't kill me first.

HDR Time Lapse

2006-07-08T11:16:00.000-04:00

My latest experiment with my camera. A High Dynamic Range Time Lapse clip. This is 20 minutes from my office window compressed down to 11 seconds.

For each frame, I have the camera set to bracket the exposure +1,0 and -1 stops. Lacking a timer, I pressed the shutter release once every 5sec. I ended up with 624 640x480 jpegs. Taking them three at a time, I used PFScalibrate from the pfstools suite to generate 208 HDR images, one for each 5 second interval.
The resulting HDRI were tone mapped via the Fattal operator. Blender was used to composite the individual images into a movie. And YouTube is hosting.

Not counting the camera and computer, which I already owned, the total cost of this experiment: zero.

If you watch closely, you might notice a ghostly appearance to the people walking by. It takes a couple seconds for the Sony DSC-V3 to take the three bracketed exposures, during which time the people have moved. The cloud motion is slow enough for this not to matter.

qpfstmo: HDR Tone Mapping GUI for Linux

2006-07-04T19:00:00.000-04:00

I have written a GUI interface to Rafał Mantiuk and Grzegorz Krawczyk's collection of tone mapping operators, pfstmo. They in turn extend the resources in pfstools. My previous post, High Dynamic Range Photography with Linux, outlines methods I use for generating HDRI.

Why Tone Mapping

The first two photos below are the shortest and longest exposures used for constructing the final HDRI. In the upper left image, to capture the sunlit details, the back fence and red chair are underexposed. The upper right image captures faithfully the color information for the chair and fence, along with the displayed image on the computer. But this is at the expense of the brightest parts in direct sunlight completely saturating the camera's sensor. As my earlier post explained, using six images spanning the dynamic range of the scene, a HDR image can be constructed.

Input image f/8 at 1/400 sec	Input image f/8 at 1/13 sec
Linear mapping from HDR to LDR	Logarithmically mapped

The reason for Tone Mapping arises when we want to display the resulting HDR image. Most display devices, including monitors and printers are Low Dynamic Range (LDR) devices. We need methods for compressing the range of an HDRI to fit range of our display. The bottom two images show what happens when we try simple methods.

The lower left image tries to linearly map to the 8bits/channel availible in the standard JPG format. Eventhough it maintains strong color information in the midrange, both the high and low end details are completely lost.

The bottom right on the other hand uses a logarithmic mapping, which does a fine job of maintaining the shadow detail. The sunlit parts of the scene also preserve their detail. But this comes at the expense of the color information; the resulting image appears flat.

Tone mapping operators provide more sophisticated methods for acheiving the needed range compression. pfstmo provides seven such operators; along with references to the orginal papers for each operator. For further discussion, I recommend High Dynamic Range Imaging; Acquisition, Display, and Image-Based Lighting by Reinhard, Ward, Pattanaik and Debevec.

qpfstmo

qpfstmo provides a Qt-based GUI for using the pfstmo binaries. Before proceeding, make sure you have a working installation of pfstools and pfstmo. Given that, get the source code via:

Source tarball: qpfstmo-1.0.tar.gz
The download is from my public Comcast space, which is not always availible. Let me know if problems persist.
CVS from pfstools' sourceforge pages:
cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@pfstools.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/pfstools co -P qpfstmo
Web interface to CVS

Assuming you got the source code, cd into the source directory and qmake;make to generate the executable qpfstmo. Assuminig you have qt-devel installed, there shouldn't be a problem. The binary doesn't directly link against pfstools or pfstmo; they are used via QProcess.

There is nothing about this code that makes it tied to Linux. If you have Qt and pfstools/pfstmo installed successfully, you should be able to get this program to work.

Overview of using qpfstmo

Assuming you have loaded an HDR image, the first thing to appear is the Main Window.

The across the top, there are Tabs for each of the seven operators included in pfstmo. Before any can be used, a "Work Size" must be selected. By starting with a small size, it is quick to see the effect of adjusting a parameter. To apply the selected tone mapping operator with the specified parameters, just press the "Apply", , button. You can choose to have the new mapped version replace the current image or have the new mapping open in a new viewer window.

The "Viewer" window. If you like what you see, you can save it. For this version, the only save option is as PNG. I am having issues with Qt's QString and file extentions. Gamma can be adjusted, and reset if needed.

Using the "New Window" option in Main window, each tone mapping will appear in its own window. This makes it easy to see what effect adjusting a parameter will have on the tone mapped image.

My favorite tone mapping operators:

drago03: Simple and fast global operator. Good for getting a quick preview;
fattal02: A gradiant-based local operator. Can do a nice job compressing large dynamic ranges. But also easy to generate the dreaded "halo" effect.
reinhard02: Based on Ansel Adams work with the zone system. Automates the idea of "dodging" and "burning". It can be a little hard at first to understand the effect of the different parameters.
durand02: Slow but powerful operator. Works by splitting the image into the slowing varying high dynamic range content and the low range detailed component. The main control is "Base Contrast".

The top image of this article was tone mapped via the fattal02 operator.

Flag Burning Amendment Fails to Pass

2006-06-28T09:32:00.000-04:00

US Senate spent the day on this matter. Meantime

- The American Journal of Public Health reports more than 1,700 African Americans die each week because they don't have the same access to health care as other Americans.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 110 workers die each week in workplace fatalities - many of which could be prevented by better enforcement of basic workplace laws by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (which is being gutted by budget cuts).
- The Pentagon reports roughly 15 American soldiers die each week in Iraq.
- The Institute of Medicine reports 346 Americans die each week because they lack health insurance.
- The Environmental Working Group reports that 192 Americans die each week because of exposure to asbestos.

-David Sirota

We first became farmers 11,000 yrs ago

2006-06-08T00:04:00.000-04:00

From the BBC, Ancient fig clue to first farming:

Ancient figs found in an archaeological site in the Jordan Valley may represent one of the earliest forms of agriculture, scientists report.

The carbonised fruits date between 11,200 and 11,400 years old.

The US and Israeli researchers say the figs are a variety that could have only been grown with human intervention.

The team, writing in the journal Science, says the find marks the point when humans turned from hunting and gathering to food cultivation.

Neighboring galaxy has trillions of stars

2006-06-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

From New Scientist, Andromeda galaxy hosts a trillion stars:

Using about 3000 separate exposures, Pauline Barmby of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, and her team found that the spiral galaxy has about a trillion stars.

This measurement is the first census of Andromeda's stars in the infrared part of the spectrum and agrees with previous estimates of the stars' combined mass.

Possible life out there? Carbon 63 light-years from us

2006-06-07T23:53:00.000-04:00

From , physorg.com

Astronomers detected unusually high quantities of carbon, the basis of all terrestrial life, in an infant solar system around nearby star Beta Pictoris, 63 light-years away.

The new research was made possible by FUSE--NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer--and data from the Hubble Space Telescope's imaging spectrograph. Beta Pictoris is almost twice the mass of our Sun and between 8 and 20 million years old. Previous studies indicated that the gas around the star had a composition of elements very similar to that in our own solar system. The new measurements mark the "most complete inventory of gas in any debris disk," and may radically change the picture.

The surprisingly carbon-rich gas points in two possible directions. The asteroids and comets orbiting Beta Pictoris might contain large amounts of carbon-rich material like graphite and methane. Planets that formed out of such bodies would be very different from those in the solar system, and might have methane-rich atmospheres, like Titan, a moon of Saturn. Or the Beta Pictoris asteroids and comets might be just like the ones in our solar system when they were young. At that time, they might have contained much more organic material than asteroids and comets appear to today. If so, more of the building blocks of life were delivered to the early Earth than was previously thought.

Where life on earth began

2006-06-07T23:50:00.000-04:00

From the AP, Fossils point to oldest life on Earth:

The best evidence yet for the oldest life on Earth is found in odd-shaped, rock-like mounds in Australia that are actually fossils created by microbes 3.4 billion years ago, researchers report.

"It's an ancestor of life. If you think that all life arose on this one planet, perhaps this is where it started," said Abigail Allwood, a researcher at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology and lead author of the new study. It appears Thursday in the journal Nature.

The strange geologic structures - which range from smaller than a fingernail to taller than a man - are exactly the type of early life astrobiologists are looking for on Mars and elsewhere.

Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions

2006-06-06T21:37:00.000-04:00

Life as a White House reporter

2006-06-06T00:46:00.000-04:00

From the NYTimes, The White House Without a Filter:

MY first day on the White House beat was Sept. 10, 2001. By Sept. 14, I was on Air Force One with fighter jet escorts, heading to New York, where we descended into the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center and the beginning of one of the most tumultuous periods in American history.

Nearly five years later, I am leaving an assignment that assured I was rarely the envy of anyone, including my own bosses. Not long ago, one senior editor at the paper cheerily told me that he could not stand to cover the beat for a single day.

$1 Shirt

2006-05-26T15:26:00.000-04:00

The One Dollar Shirt

How to make (fold) the $1 Shirt

Land's End

2006-05-25T23:54:00.000-04:00

via Flickr

200 Campbell Soup Cans

2006-05-19T12:54:00.000-04:00

Malanga: But what is the truth about automation?
Warhol: You don't have to think a lot.
Malanga: Would you like to replace human effort?
Warhol: Yes.
Malanga: Why?
Warhol: Because human effort is too hard.
Malanga: What will you do with all this leisure time created for you by automation?
Warhol: Sit back and relax.
Malanga: Will you devote yourself to life-enhancing hobbies?
Warhol: No.
Malanga: What does human judgment mean to you?
Warhol: Human judgment doesn't mean anything to me. Human judgment cannot exist in the world of automation. "Problems" must he "solved." Without judgment there can be no problems.
Malanga: Are you patient with little solutions and try to get as many as you can so they'll add up to something?
Warhol: What I try to do is to avoid solving problems. Problems are too hard and too many. I don't think accumulating solutions really adds up to something. They only create more problems that must be solved.
Malanga: Dissect the meaning of automation.
Warhol: Automation is a way of making things easy. Automation just gives you something to do.

aspen 3

War is Hell

2006-05-17T20:24:00.000-04:00

and good souls can too easily loose their way.

From MSNBC, Lawmaker: Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’:

A Pentagon probe into the death of Iraqi civilians last November in the Iraqi city of Haditha will show that U.S. Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood," a U.S. lawmaker said Wednesday.

From the beginning, Iraqis in the town of Haditha said U.S. Marines deliberately killed 15 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including seven women and three children.

One young Iraqi girl said the Marines killed six members of her family, including her parents. “The Americans came into the room where my father was praying,” she said, “and shot him.”

On Wednesday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said the accounts are true.

Military officials told NBC News that the Marine Corps' own evidence appears to show Murtha is right.

More Crazy 9/11 Theories, via Cocaine Bust

2006-05-17T00:42:00.000-04:00

From MadCow Morning News, 5.5 Ton Cocaine Bust Reveals New Details of 9/11 Attack:

San Diego defense contractor Titan Corporation, already implicated in the fraudulent bankruptcy of a shadowy St. Petersburg FL company which owned the DC9 "Cocaine One" flight busted in Mexico, employed a Lebanese contractor who assisted Mohamed Atta and other terrorist hijackers in Venice, Florida.

For Titan, the revelation marks the latest in a remarkable series of recent scandals, including employees charged with torture and rape at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a record $26 million fine and conviction for fixing a Presidential election in the African nation of Benin, and growing infamy for being the biggest money backer of disgraced and soon-to-be-jailed former Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

The story begins when, while researching “Welcome to TERRORLAND” three years ago, we discovered that Makram Chams, a Lebanese national, had provided significant logistical support for Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi.

Chams, we learned, had even entertained recently-convicted Zacharias Moussaoui in his apartment in Venice.

Taliban still a lethal force in Afghanistan

2006-05-14T17:31:00.000-04:00

From AFP, Four policemen, 11 Taliban killed in Afghan battle:

"In today's fighting, 11 Taliban were killed, four policemen were killed," said Mohammad Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the Kandahar governor.

The point here is not that 11 Taliban were killed, but that there are still Taliban fighters killing in Afghanistan. I am sure if I looked into this, I will find the number of Taliban attacks and fighters on the rise. I am not happy about this at all. But this is what is to be expected when not enough resources were dedicated to the problem of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
What is the scale of this problem? From the article

Panjwayi...is known to be a hideout for Taliban militants who have been waging a guerrilla-like insurgency against President Hamid Karzai's government for more than four years.

The district borders Helmand province which also sees regular attacks blamed on Taliban insurgents said to be allied with the Al-Qaeda network and opium traders.

Also note the US military response:

"We have heard of a national police engagement. There is no involvement of coalition but we're monitoring (the fighting)," spokesman Major Scott Lundy said, "So far, they have not asked for our assistance."

The US knows there is a problem with the Taliban, and that there is fighting and Afghan police are dead and wounded. But since noone is asking for help, there is no need to do anything about the problem. Funny, I thought President Bush has drafted a whole policy of pre-emption so the US would not have to worry about being asked first. Or is it the current military's view that it is best to wait until Al-Qaeda once again uses Afghanstan to coordinate an attack against the US. Wait so this can be an easy justification to start a war against, say, Iran.

Two men in a bar.

2006-05-09T00:52:00.000-04:00

Man 1: George Bush is an asshole.

Man 2: I resent that!

Man 1: You support George Bush????

Man 2: No. I'm an asshole.

EdlinUser

Bush, Appointing CIA Directors and Having Fresh Ideas

2006-05-08T23:41:00.000-04:00

Bush, on August 10, 2004, speaking of the nomination of Porter Goss to be Director of the CIA

He's the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation's history.

Bush, on May 8, 2006, speaking about of nomination of Michael Hayden to be Director of the CIA

He's the right man to lead the CIA at this critical moment in our nation's history.

Hat tip to Jon Steward and The Daily Show.

Steven Colbert Honors President Bush

2006-05-08T12:08:00.000-04:00

In case you have been living a cave the last week, here is an (edited) transcipt of Colbert's keynote speech. See it at Google Video.

From Sun-Times, Did media miss real Colbert story?

Wow, wow, what an honor. The White House Correspondents' Dinner. To just sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what, I'm a pretty sound sleeper, that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face.

Is he really not here tonight? The one guy who could have helped.

By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers and somebody from the NSA will be right over with a cocktail.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Mr. President and first lady, my name is Stephen Colbert and it's my privilege tonight to celebrate our president. He's not so different, he and I. We get it. We're not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the "fact-inista." We go straight from the gut, right sir? That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say "I did look it up," and that's not true. That's because you looked it up in a book. Next time look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works.

Every night on my show, "The Colbert Report," I speak straight from the gut, OK? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the no-fact zone. Fox News, I own the copyright on that term.

I'm a simple man with a simple mind, with a simple set of beliefs that I live by.

Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow.

I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.

I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible -- I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical.

And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion, be it Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt. But I refuse to believe it's not butter. Most of all I believe in this president. Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32 percent approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.

So, Mr. President, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. Pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32 percent means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash.

Folks, my point is that I don't believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull, before a comeback. I mean, it's like the movie "Rocky." The president is Rocky and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world. It's the 10th round. He's bloodied, his corner man [is] Mick, who in this case would be the vice president, and he's yelling "Cut me, Dick, cut me," and every time he falls she says stay down! Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky, he gets back up and in the end he -- actually loses in the first movie. OK. It doesn't matter. The point is the heart-warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face.

So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68 percent of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68 percent approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't.

I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.

Now, there may be an energy crisis. This president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he's down on the ranch cutting that brush all the time? He's trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008 we will have a mesquite-powered car.

And I just like the guy. He's a good joe. Obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She's a true lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma'am. I'm sorry, but this reading initiative. I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitists telling us what is or isn't true, what did or didn't happen. What's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914. If I want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American. I'm with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen.

The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change, this man's beliefs never will.

And as excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story -- the President's side and the vice president's side. But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason -- they're super depressing. And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished.

Over the last five years you people were so good over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home.

Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know, fiction.

Where I want to take some photos

2006-05-01T18:49:00.000-04:00

From WashPost Catacombs From Old D.C. Filtration System

Gen Powell (Ret.) on Iraq invasion troop levels

2006-05-01T00:21:00.000-04:00

From the AP, Powell Says He Urged More Troops for Iraq:

"I made the case to Gen. Franks and Secretary Rumsfeld before the president that I was not sure we had enough troops. The case was made, it was listened to, it was considered. ... A judgment was made by those responsible that the troop strength was adequate.

"The president's military advisers felt that the size of the force was adequate, they may still feel that years later. Some of us don't, I don't. In my perspective, I would have preferred more troops but you know, this conflict is not over.

"At the time the president was listening to those who were supposed to be providing him with military advice. They were anticipating a different kind of immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad, it turned out to be not exactly as they had anticipated."

The Internet is for Porn

2006-04-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

The White House knows how to treat China's President Hu

2006-04-21T16:52:00.000-04:00

From ABCNews, DID CHENEY SLEEP DURING HU VISIT?

Vice President Dick Cheney appears to nod off during a news briefing by President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Hu's first Oval Office visit. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

A new tactic for foreign policy? Hu was heading toward the wrong set of steps as he prepared to leave the stage during official South Lawn Arrival Ceremonies at the White House. President Bush gave him a gentle tug. (Jim Bourg/ Reuters)

Either Hu was a less-than-charismatic speaker or he was speaking to a very drowsy crowd. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appears to be taking a catnap, too. (Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

Rolling Stone on Bush

2006-04-19T13:37:00.000-04:00

The Worst President in History?
One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush
SEAN WILENTZ

How to start a war with Iran

2006-04-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

I want to post here I have definite proof that Iran has nuclear weapons, as of 8:33am today.

You see, by posting this rich information here on a blog, I know the White House will be making good use of it. Moreover, by the creative use of bold, I am only helping the CIA find it quickly.

CIA mines 'rich' content from blogs

President Bush and U.S. policy-makers are receiving more intelligence from open sources such as Internet blogs and foreign newspapers than they previously did, senior intelligence officials said.

"A lot of blogs now have become very big on the Internet, and we're getting a lot of rich information on blogs that are telling us a lot about social perspectives and everything from what the general feeling is to ... people putting information on there that doesn't exist anywhere else," Mr. Naquin told The Washington Times.

I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I am happy anytime I read the president is "receiving more intelligence"; god knows he needs as much as he can get.

But at the same time the very idea that the intel community is now looking to blogs for information is scary as hell. No offense to anyone here, but if newspapers are the first draft of history, blogs are the random notes scribbled on a napkin in a dark bar of history. We are talking about an administration that continuously refuses to engage in any sort of critical analysis of the information they get.

N.B.: To all CIA agents reading this post, the opening sentence is for illustration purposes only. You still need to wait your 10 days before claiming Iran has the bomb. Sorry to get your hopes up.

Bernstein on Bush

2006-04-18T02:21:00.000-04:00

From Vanity Fair, Carl Bernstein points out the obvious:

Senate Hearings on Bush, Now
...the vehemence of anti-Bush sentiment in the country, expressed especially in the increasing number of Americans—nearing fifty percent in some polls—who say they would favor impeachment if the president were proved to have deliberately lied to justify going to war in Iraq.

How much evidence is there to justify such action?

Certainly enough to form a consensus around a national imperative: to learn what this president and his vice president knew and when they knew it; to determine what the Bush administration has done under the guise of national security; and to find out who did what, whether legal or illegal, unconstitutional or merely under the wire, in ignorance or incompetence or with good reason, while the administration barricaded itself behind the most Draconian secrecy and disingenuous information policies of the modern presidential era.

It one thing to be ignorance or incompetence or to operate with the most Draconian secrecy. But taken together, now thats trouble and needs to be looked into.

More from the article:

The calculations of politicians about their electoral futures should pale in comparison to the urgency of examining perhaps the most disastrous five years of decision-making of any modern American presidency.

Come on, let's be honest and leave off the "modern", we're for the record! Worst President Ever!!

Baghdad to be liberated, again, this summer

2006-04-17T09:26:00.000-04:00

From The Sunday Times (UK):

The American military is planning a “second liberation of Baghdad” to be carried out with the Iraqi army when a new government is installed.

Pacifying the lawless capital is regarded as essential to establishing the authority of the incoming government and preparing for a significant withdrawal of American troops.

Helicopters suitable for urban warfare, such as the manoeuvrable AH-6 “Little Birds” used by the marines and special forces and armed with rocket launchers and machineguns, are likely to complement the ground attack.

Yes, that is what is needed, more rocket attacks. Especially rocket attacks in an urban setting. That has always worked so well, not only in Baghdad, but also in Afghanistan (7 Afghan civilians die in military attack) along with the occupied West Bank.

The sources said American and Iraqi troops would move from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, leaving behind Sweat teams — an acronym for “sewage, water, electricity and trash” — to improve living conditions by upgrading clinics, schools, rubbish collection, water and electricity supplies.

I hope no one reading this thinks this will actually happen, the improving of living conditions. I would love to be wrong with my skepticism, but the last three years leaves me feeling the re-construction phase of this operation will get under-funded and over-extended.

Naturally, there is the political dimension to these plans. Since the whole war seems to have been one big political operation, why should this be any different.

Bush and Rumsfeld are under intense pressure to prove to the American public that Iraq is not slipping into anarchy and civil war. An effective military campaign could provide the White House with a bounce in the polls before the mid-term congressional elections in November. With Bush’s approval ratings below 40%, the vote is shaping up to be a Republican rout.

(A realistic appraisal of the GOP's election prospects; your guide to quality reporting.) A bit late to be worrying about civil war, don't you think?

I'll let Larry Wilkerson have the last word on this:

“They have to show they can liberate their own capital,” he said. “Baghdad is the key to stability in Iraq. It’s a chance for the new government to stand up and say, ‘Here we are’. They can’t do that if they are hunkered down in bunkers.”

Meanwhile, The WashPost is reporting

Iraq's top legislator postponed the meeting of parliament scheduled for Monday, putting off "for a few days" an attempt to resolve a months-long deadlock over the formation of the country's new government.

So there might be some delay before a new government is installed.

On the face of it, this planned operation is an excellent idea. If everything goes as planned, could bring stability of Iraq and allow US troops to start returning home. But the whole idea of everything going as planned, when the military still has Rumfeld at the helm, seems overly optimistic. And overly optimistic war plans from this civilian leadership has been its tragic flaw. Its the unlucky gambler, hoping this one last bet will be the one clear up all the past loses. And sadly in the case, we are measuring past loses in lives.

Even if there is success with operation and Baghdad is made secure, what about the rest of the country? I can not help but think in terms of Afghanistan and Kabul. At this point, Karzi is the PM of Kabul and the Taliban are on the rise.

Realistically, I see two outcomes for this. One, this is last we hear of this idea. The situation in Iraqi appears to be deteriorating so fast this month. By summertime and maybe even if there really is a functioning Iraqi government, the real situation on the ground will need a different plan.

Or secondly, even given the above and the operation goes forward, the war in Iraq finally makes that last complete descent into door-to-door urban warfare against indigenous local guerrilla forces. And I so much want to be wrong on this last point. But the insistence of Bush and Rumsfeld to let their ideas, not their generals, lead their thinking scares me.

Stop by DailyKos to take my poll.

Afghanistan regaining the lead it once had

2006-04-14T02:19:00.000-04:00

Sadly, this is not a good thing.

Mr Simpson of the Globe and Mail ponders whether Afghanistan moving from being a narco-economy to a narco-state? Along the way, he points out

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 52 per cent of Afghanistan's gross domestic product in 2005 came from the "drug economy." Afghanistan, continued the UN report, supplies a staggering 87 per cent of the world's opium...Opium is being grown in 28 of the country's 32 provinces.

More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

2006-04-14T01:29:00.000-04:00

From NYTimes:

"We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores," General Swannack said in a telephone interview. "But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq."

Air Force makes available security details of AF1

2006-04-10T10:23:00.000-04:00

From SFGate Web site exposes Air Force One defenses

Air Force reacted with alarm last week after The Chronicle told the Secret Service that a government document containing specific information about the anti-missile defenses on Air Force One and detailed interior maps of the two planes -- including the location of Secret Service agents within the planes -- was posted on the Web site of an Air Force base.

As of Friday, the document was still posted online.

Leon Panetta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton: "If I were still chief of staff, I would order the damned site (to) pull it down."

Amazing incompetence in every corner of our national security apparatus these days. First pedophiles run amok in DHS and now IT personal unable to figure out basic web security. For AF1 no less. (or is there a more sinister motive afoot among the rank-n-file of the military?)

I work in the IT realm of the Fed Govt, part of which is web related. And let me tell you, we are constantly having to focus on security. I mean in the sense of requirements to met and training to take. And this is only concerning basic science data and our servers. Something is wrong when there are so many holes in the security of this nation's security infrastructure. I am still going with the simple answer, that gross negligence abounds. But I am being to wonder...

For all this talk of yellowcake

2006-04-10T10:22:00.000-04:00

Let's not forget

By April 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq, Saddam Hussein had stockpiled 500 tons of yellowcake uranium at his al Tuwaitha nuclear weapons development plant south of Baghdad.

"The repository, at Tuwaitha, a centerpiece of Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons program until it was largely shut down after the first Persian Gulf war in 1991, holds more than 500 tons of uranium," the paper revealed, before insisting: "None of it [is] enriched enough to be used directly in a nuclear weapon."

-Newsmax (and other places)

That is to say, whether or not Saddam was seeking out yellowcake (which he wasn't, right?), it doesn't really matter. He already had plenty. No good without an enrichment program, but who cares.

Was the idea to makes everything think Saddam was getting 500 tonnes from Niger. Once the US is in Bagdhad, "claim" the yellowcake at Tuwaitha was the same as from Niger. Who knows.

Let's just remember, Saddam already had plenty of yellowcake; Niger, Wilson, NIE and all that aside. The whole of the 16 words in the SOTU were a lie as far as a reason to go to war.

A Little Honesty Slips into a Bush Event

2006-04-06T14:36:00.000-04:00

From the AP, Bush Defends Surveillance Policy:

A man who identified himself as Harry Taylor rose at a forum here to tell Bush: "I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administraiton...And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself."

Bush told him: "You said would I apologize for that? The answer is absolutely not."

President Bush Authorized Leak of Classified Info

2006-04-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

or at least so says I. Scooter Libby.

Smoking Gun has the court documents that include this tidbit

Defendant [Libby] testified that the Vice President later advised him that the President had authorized defendant to disclose the relevant portions of the NIE. Defendant testified that he also spoke to David Addington, then Counsel to the Vice President, whom defendant considered to be an expert in national security law, and Mr. Addington opined that Presidential authorization to publicly disclose a document amounted to a declassification of the document.

See also ThinkProgress.

This matches what George Stephanopoulos said last October

...a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.

And what does the president's dad think of this sort of thing? Let's recall what G.H.W. Bush said back on April 1999

Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors.
-At the Dedication Ceremony for the George Bush Center for Intelligence

One final note: ITMFA

375 million year old part fish/part four-legged walker found

2006-04-06T01:07:00.000-04:00

From NYTimes, Scientists Call Fish Fossil the 'Missing Link':

Scientists have discovered fossils of a 375 million-year-old fish, a large scaly creature not seen before, that they say is a long-sought "missing link" in the evolution of some fishes from water to a life walking on four limbs on land...

The discovering scientists called the fossils the most compelling examples yet of an animal that was at the cusp of the fish-tetrapod transition. The fish has been named Tiktaalik roseae, at the suggestion of elders of Canada's Nunavut Territory. Tiktaalik (pronounced tic-TAH-lick) means "large shallow water fish."

Dr. Shubin, an evolutionary biologist, let himself go in an interview. "It's a really amazing remarkable intermediate fossil — it's like, holy cow," he enthused.

Michael J. Novacek, [a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan]: "...A good fossil cuts through a lot of scientific argument...We've got Archaeopteryx, an early whale that lived on land and now this animal showing the transition from fish to tetrapod. What more do we need from the fossil record to show that the creationists are flatly wrong?"

LASIK@Home

2006-04-05T16:53:00.000-04:00

Affordable In-Home LASIK Surgery You Can Do Yourself!

In the past, LASIK surgery was an expensive procedure that could only be performed by skilled professionals in a doctor's office or eye clinic. Often costing upwards of $1000 per eye and almost never covered by insurance, Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) was beyond the reach of most Americans.

Now the revolutionary LASIK@Home system makes clear vision affordable for everyone.

Minister kicks boy in the balls over dodgeball mishap

2006-04-01T15:18:00.000-05:00

From the AP, Youth minister charged with assaulting teen over dodgeball hit:

LIBERTY, Mo. - A youth minister was charged with knocking a 16-year-old boy down and kicking him in the groin, after taking a head shot from the teen in a dodgeball game.

David M. Boudreaux, 27, of Excelsior Springs, faces one count of third-degree assault. He was charged Wednesday in Clay County Circuit Court.

According to court documents, the alleged assault happened in February at Crescent Lake Christian Academy.

Authorities said the teen missed Boudreaux with one throw but then knocked the youth minister's glasses off with his next throw.

The boy apologized, authorities said, but Boudreaux pushed him backward and tripped him, causing him to fall. The boy got up and apologized again, but Boudreaux kicked him in the groin and left.

The teen suffered whiplash and post-concussion syndrome and had blood in his urine after being kicked, according to court records.

Boudreaux later apologized, prosecutors said.

Jeanne D. Hewitt, administrator of Crescent Lake Christian Academy, said Boudreaux has been placed on administrative leave.

Italian Communists boil and eat babies

2006-03-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

From the lips of Berlusconi:

"I have been accused many times of saying communists eat babies. Go and read the black book on communism and you'll find that under Mao's China they didn't eat babies but they boiled them to fertilise the fields.

"I can organise a conference in which I will prove communists have really eaten babies and done even worse things." - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Michele, is it true they taste like chicken?

9th Circuit Court of Appeals defends free speech

2006-03-11T01:11:00.000-05:00

From Reuters, Court upholds "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" student banner:

An Alaska high school violated a student's free speech rights by suspending him after he unfurled a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from the school, a federal court ruled on Friday.

Joseph Frederick, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska, displayed the banner -- which refers to smoking marijuana -- in January 2002 to try to get on television as the Olympic torch relay was passing the school.

Principal Deborah Morse seized the banner and suspended the 18-year-old for 10 days, saying he had undermined the school's educational mission and anti-drug stance.

Friday's ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a decision by a federal court in Alaska that backed Frederick's suspension and said his rights were not violated.

The appeals court said the banner was protected speech because it did not disrupt school activity and was displayed off school grounds during a non-curricular activity.

"Public schools are instrumentalities of government, and government is not entitled to suppress speech that undermines whatever missions it defines for itself," Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote in the court's opinion.

The court also cleared the way for Frederick to seek damages, saying Morse was aware of relevant case law and should have known her actions violated his rights.

No More Stalins, No More Hitlers

2006-03-06T13:28:00.000-05:00

We have a new type of rule now.
Not one man rule or rule of aristocracy or plutocracy,
But of small groups elevated to positions of absolute power
By random pressures and subject to political and economic factors
That leave little room for decision.
They're representatives of abstract forces
Who've reached power through surrender of self.
The Iron-Will Dictator is a thing of the past.
There will be no more Stalins, no more Hitlers.
The rulers of this most insecure of all worlds
Are rulers by accident,
Inept, frightened pilots at the controls
Of a vast machine they cannot understand,
Calling in experts to tell them which buttons to push.

William S. Burroughs

Teen Actress' breats are back

2006-03-03T01:25:00.000-05:00

In a follow-up to this post, The Sun Online is reporting

SEXY teen star Lindsay Lohan thrilled fans at an LA fashion show when one of her boobs popped out of her dress.

After her dramatic weight loss last year, the actress famously said she "wanted her boobs back".

Seems alot of other people would like that too.

UAE IS Currently helping Iran get nuclear supplies

2006-03-02T10:16:00.000-05:00

From NBC, United Arab Emirates: Friend or foe?

Can a Dubai company be trusted to run American ports?
By Andrea Mitchell

...Another problem is rampant smuggling through Dubai’s port. A criminal complaint, obtained by NBC News, says the U.A.E.’s director of customs “would not allow” a U.S. special agent to detain a shipment of nuclear equipment heading to Pakistan in 2003 and is still permitting nuclear equipment to get to Iran.

“Unless Dubai is willing to impose restrictions on what Iran can buy, there’s no hope of stopping the Iranian bomb program,” says Gary Milhollin, the director of the University of Wisconsin’s Project on Nuclear Arms Control...

Please note the tense of the verbs here. The UAE is currently helping the Iranian government get nuclear supplies. Since the Bush adminstration is making so much noise about Iran's nuclear ambitions, why do they want to help the Dubai government? I would have thought Bush would have taken his own words to heart when he said

"Over time it's going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity. You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror."

Reading this quote and knowing the UAE is at worst helping, or at least doing nothing, to help Iran get nuclear equipment, I would have thought there would be calls for a naval blockade between the UAE and Iran. Not the desire to help the UAE's DP World become more important the shipping business.

But I guess if they did this, then it would become harder and harder for the current US adminstration to make the case for going to war with Iran.

Is It Civil War Yet?

2006-03-01T01:15:00.000-05:00

LithiumCola has a diary discussing this AP article:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Feb. 28) - Sunnis and Shiites traded bombings and mortar fire against mainly religious targets in Baghdad, killing at least 68 people a day after authorities lifted a curfew that had briefly calmed a series of sectarian reprisal attacks.

The surge of violence deepened the trauma of residents already shaken by fears the country was teetering on the brink of sectarian civil war [and] threatened talks among Iraqi politicians struggling to form a government..

To which I pointed out this was indeed wrong. According to our President:

President George W. Bush...denied on Tuesday Iraq was sliding into civil war, despite the worst sectarian strife since a U.S.-led invasion. Asked what Washington would do if civil war broke out in Iraq, Bush told ABC News: "I don't buy your premise that there's going to be a civil war."
- Reuters

Yea, keep saying that and it will come true. Really. Maybe George isn't saying it hard enough. Ok, now everyone join in and we can make it happen.

Oh fuck it. We and the middle east and the whole mess are screwed.

"If chaos were to descend upon Iraq or the forces of democracy were to be defeated in that country ... this would have implications for the rest of the Middle East region and, indeed, the world," National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said in an unusually frank assessment Tuesday. A civil war in Iraq could lead to a broader conflict in the Middle East, pitting the region's rival Islamic sects against each other...
AP

US Gov't wants to end hobbyist use of chemicals

2006-03-01T00:32:00.000-05:00

From United Nuclear Scientific Equipment & Supplies (Supplying the science hobbyist, industry, government, schools & universities since 1998.)

The United States CPSC has initiated criminal legal action against us and other chemical suppliers.
In short, the CPSC would like to ban the public from all access to chemicals. This would mean an end to hobbies such as model rocketry, pyrotechnics and of course chemistry. One by one, our freedoms are slowly being taken away from us - this action must be stopped now.
Specifically, the CPSC is focusing on certain chemicals and metals at this time. The current CPSC injunction would require: