March 31, 2003

CTRL-F5

Welcome to redesign. Please ctrl-F5 to reload.

For now, why don't you read about the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time

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First all-nighter...

This is the first time I have ever completed an All-Nighter before the first day of school. This is going to be a fun last quarter of thesis.

On the upside, there are some great conversations that happen at 5:40 AM. Such as alternative thesis titles:

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March 30, 2003

My girlfriend rocks

What is the saying, "The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach...with a bag of lifesavers?"
The Grubbykid: Hey, I have a joke for you.
Spangs: OK.
The Grubbykid: Knock, knock.
Spangs: Who's there?
The Grubbykid: Lifesavers.
Spangs: Lifesavers, who?
The Grubbykid: My girlfriend bought me a bag of lifesavers, want one?
Spangs: Sweet
Ahh... the little things in life that makes writing a thesis tolerable.

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March 29, 2003

March 28, 2003

Blast-off

rocket_IMG_4215.jpg Continue reading "Blast-off"

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Integration of Church and State, indeed

House Resolution 153

Recognizing the public need for fasting and prayer in order to secure the blessings and protection of Providence for the people of the United States and our Armed Forces during the conflict in Iraq and under the threat of terrorism at home.

Don't you all have something better to do than to ask the President to set a day for us to, "seek guidance from God to achieve a greater understanding of our own failings and to learn how we can do better in our everyday activities?" [§2b] I mean, come on! Shouldn't public debate about the President's US$350 billion tax cut which favors the rich over the middle and lower classes? Is there debate over the current stealth class warfare by the Bush Administration whereby using Political Correctness that would make a early 90's hipster cringe to line the pockets of the already rich?

Where is the debate over the fact that even questioning the dividends recieved from stocks are income, and therefore subject to income tax? And that questioning the propaganda of calling this "double taxation" creates angry waves of accusations of classism and class-warfare which arise from the Right? Or the fact that the Justice Department is planning to roll out the so-called Patriot II Act, which would - among other things - grant the Executive the, "ability to strip citizenship from an American who supports a group the feds label as terrorist"?

No...the House would rather rubber stamp budgets from the Executive and then fill the time between those sessions with asking all of us to pray and to rename 'French Fries' to 'Freedom Fries'.

What happened to the greate debates that occured in the halls of Congress? For God sakes, in 1856 South Carolina Representative Preston S. Brooks caned Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the House of Representatives.

CANED during a debate!

Not that I am advocating violence, but come on this appears to be a combination of pandering to a very targeted audience, a lack of direction and/or attention of the House and wanting the appearence of actually accomplishing something. The art of the public debate has been so debased that you get this - a non-binding resolution asking people to pray to the Judeo-Christian God while useful and spirited debate about the direction our country is going - both abroad and domestic - is nowhere to be found.

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March 27, 2003

Laurie Garrett Meltdown Clock

Now is a good point to repost the Laurie Garrett Meltdown Clock and the possibility that a protracted Iraqi engagement could have a catastrophic effect on the world financial markets.
- If the U.S. unilaterally goes to war, and it is anything short of a quick surgical strike (lasting less than 30 days), the economists were all predicting extreme economic gloom: falling dollar value, rising spot market oil prices, the Fed pushing interest rates down towards zero with resulting increase in national debt, severe trouble in all countries whose currency is guaranteed agains the dollar (which is just about everybody except the EU), a near cessation of all development and humanitarian programs for poor countries. Very few economists or ministers of finance predicted the world getting out of that economic funk for minimally five-10 years, once the downward spiral ensues.

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Neo-Cons and Pearl Harbor

Would everyone please read the National Security Strategy of the United States of America which claims why preventive war and anticipatory self-defense, is essential to the survival of America. Please remember that this strategy just so happened to be the doctrine with which the Japanese justified Pearl Harbor. This agenda is driving the Neo-conservatives who advise the Bush Administration.

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Error in Reporting

Remember that chemical weapons factory that all Murdoch news organizations were reporting? Well, U.S. officials said Monday that no chemical weapons were found at a suspected site at Najaf in central Iraq. Fair and balanced? We are wondering if anyone has a copy of the original Fox News post, to see whether or not it has been changed. If anyone had caught the live Fox News reporting of this incident, the way the matter was reported was that a chemical weapons plant had been found as a fact, not as a suspected or possible weapons plant. You be the judge, 'Fogs of War' or bad reporting or distortion of truth?

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Seeing the War through prose

If World War II had radio, Vietnam had television, pundits are quick to cast weblogs as the medium for the current Iraq-US war. There are some interesting blogs out there, most notably from active servicemen and servicewomen. Sgt. Stryker is an Active Duty Air Force Mechanic, while L.T. SMASH is a reserve officer in the United States Military who has been recalled to active duty. The Command Post is a collaborative blog, "[s]o we can post breaking war news in one convenient place, and not all over the web." Command post is useful because most of the opinion is stripped out of the posts, and the news is retained. For those who are interested in what type of hardware, troop sizes, etc. our forces and the Iraqi forces have amassed, GlobalSecurity.org has a very in-depth assesment of the material and up-to-date information. Don't forgret about Where is Raed ? an Iraqi national in Bagdad blogging about the current state of affairs. Unfortunatley Al-Jazeera's English site is in the middle of being cracked by a massive DDoD attack and/or millions/billions are trying to reach the site. This is unfortunate because this station could have given America and the English-speaking world another voice and angle than the current mainstream media who are content to show us grainy green pictures and Administration rhetoric. Oh...I almost forgot, Back to Iraq 2.0 by Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter who is raising raised money to go back to Iraq as an independent journalist.

Remember, just because you might not support this war, does not mean you do not have to be informed.

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March 26, 2003

A decent proposal...

Congratulations and best wishes go out to Shanna Stewart and Dean Lutton on their engagement

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Stop the madness

U.S. EBay Seller Refuses Canucks
On eBay, the highest bid wins -- unless the item on sale is a laser printer from CompAtlanta and the bidder happens to be Canadian.

That's what a tax consultant discovered last week when he tried to buy a printer on eBay, but was refused by the vendor when it was discovered he lived in Vancouver.

David Ingram received notification that his winning bid of $24.50 had been canceled, along with this message: "At the present time, we do not ship to, or accept bids from, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany or any other country that does not support the United States in our efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. If you are not with us, you are against us."
Provided to you, the reader, without comment, nor criticism.

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If you aren't with us...we will run you over with a tractor-trailer

Showing just how intolerant America is becoming of dissent, James Watters scatters antiwar protest with tractor-trailor
A truck driver from South Fairmount was arrested Monday after he drove toward a group of anti-war protesters with his tractor-trailer rig in the West End.

"It (the semi cab) stopped about 10 feet from the nearest protester," Larry Schartman, one of the about 40 people who were participating in a "Peace in Iraq" rally, said Monday night. "Thank God nobody got hurt."

-- snip --

"It was an antiwar demonstration. We were holding up signs so the people on the interstate could see them," said Mary Ann Reese, 46, of East Walnut Hills. "There were 30 or 40 of us standing there holding our signs and I turned around and he was on the sidewalk coming towards us leaning on his horn.

"The general prevailing sentiment was that some of us were going to get hit. One person was in a wheelchair, so he really had to scatter. It was frightening. It (the semi) did stop before he hit anyone."
What a great city, and country, we are becoming.

UPDATE It seems that James "Jim" Watters was released from jail yesterday. He has some great things to say.
"I did not intend to hurt anyone," Watters said shortly after his release from the Hamilton County Justice Center. "My intent was to get people off the bridge. I was doing it for the boys overseas."
Whether or not you "meant" to hurt the protestors, you used intimidation tactics to shut down debate. You call yourself a patriot, but you are nothing but a coward. You are a trucker, you work hard at doing a job that not many of us want, or could, do. You probably do a good job of driving a tractor-trailer. You haul goods. Not run over anti-war protestors. Just haul stuff. Where in your job description does it state that you have the right to abridge a fellow citizen's freedom of speech?

James Watters was quoted as saying, "I did not intend to hurt anyone." After being released from jail after driving his tractor-trailer - a big rig mind you - up onto a sidewalk straight toward anti-war protestors. Watters continues his statement:
"I've got a couple of relatives over there," the Westwood resident said in explaining his thinking when the incident occurred. "We've got soldiers over there in harm's way. We should back them. Be American. Back your president. Don't support Saddam Hussein. That's what they're doing."
No, you are helping Saddam by shutting down debate. That is what Saddam does. The protestors are being American - they are standing for what they believe in - even in the face of a tractor-trailer heading directly toward them. What gives you the right to be the judge and jury on matters concerning what may or may not be American? Did it occur to you that there really is not a definition of what an American is, besides speaking your mind in a peaceful manner? I hope you go to jail, I hope your CDL is revoked. You are no martyr, no sacrificial lamb. You are a spineless man who used Gestapo intimidation tactics to silence a view you don't want to hear. You broke the law, now serve the time.

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President Bush and his real masters

Why satire is harder to distiguish from reality:
2001 Onion Article, President Bush We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it.
Senate Votes to Slash Bush's Tax Cut to $350 Billion

-- and --

Graphical Analysis of US Deficit through the last 8 Presidents

-- not to mention --

Life During Wartime: We Manhattanites Defy Brooklyn Smirk

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March 25, 2003

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors camera

We covet this camera

Yes, we covet these novelty cameras from Russia, which we only wich we had when we went to Disney.

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March 24, 2003

Truth Distortion Field

New York Times/CBS News Poll showed that nearly half of Americans said they believed that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks

He Wasn't - can't you get that through your minds?

[nytimes free reg. req'd]

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March 20, 2003

America's $400bn war bill

America's $400bn war bill
Mr Bush's strategy is risky, if not reckless. A $1.5 trillion dollar tax cut over a decade is by anyone's estimation a large sum even before the cost of a war against Iraq and its aftermath are added onto it. Thoughtful Republicans like John McCain have asked for the cuts to be delayed until "the administration has a better understanding of the costs of war and peace."

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March 19, 2003

WAR

WAR

War - Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield

War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War is something that I despise
For it means destruction of innocent lives
War means tears in thousands of mothers' eyes
When their sons go out to fight to give their lives

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Star Wars & George

Thoughts on why George Lucas has lost his mind
And don't you think that, at some point in the construction of the Death Star, Vader would have said something along the lines of "You know, when I was a kid, I blew up a big circular spaceship by flying a tiny spaceship inside it and shooting its reactor. Maybe we should watch out for that."

-- My name is Mudd

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March 17, 2003

Democrats turn tail, again

Democrats Criticize Failed Diplomacy, but Call for Unity Before War
Democratic lawmakers Monday lamented President Bush's failure to win a new U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq, but said now is the time to unite as war appears inevitable.
No! Bad Democrats! Now is the time to get some backbone and argue for the drums of war to stop. Dissent and debate is an integral componet of the American system - why does the Democratic leadership not realize this? Opposition to the war is not opposition to our troops, our country or the citizenry. Without debate, the current administration will have an even easier time ignoring opposition.

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Porn and America

Woman is OUTRAGED, OUTRAGED, that someone would watch porn on their car television. The temerity of this person! What is this country coming to? First the French and now porn! </snark>

via owillis

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March 16, 2003

The President and UN

Recently seen on a / . .sig:
GWB did not want to go before the security concil because they don't use voting machines.

- lfourrier

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March 15, 2003

The Space Between

"The outside is like an interstitial space between my bed and studio"

- S. Walton

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March 14, 2003

PUMA Blow Job Ad - Update

Here is the situation.
  1. Someone created and then distributed two ads featuring fellatio - you can see them Here and Here
  2. Gawker Picks up Story
  3. MemeFirst Picks up Story
  4. Felix Simon does some investigative reporting
  5. Gawker recieves a cease-and-desist letter from PUMA
  6. The web reacts. Here @ Tech Law Advisor | Here @ MeFi
  7. People around the world remember that there is a PUMA shoe company, and that it even exists anymore.
Can we all agree that any publicity is good publicity?

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File trading = Terrorism

What was that you said? MPAA and Microsoft say that File trading may fund terrorism. Right. Let us eat our Freedom Fries while we download some legal public recordings of concerts. Good thing we aren't blazing up now, or we would really be supporting terrorism.

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The Florence French

With all of talk about changing French to Freedom, we wonder why the new Florence, Kentucky minor league baseball team was to be named the "Florence French." We guess minds more patriotic than ours intervened before the deed was done. Good thing senseless pandering to emotional heart-strings was in place as a safeguard.

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March 13, 2003

Government seizes mail from reporters

AP Protests Gov't Seizure of Package
Government agencies opened a package mailed between two Associated Press reporters last September and seized a copy of an eight-year-old unclassified FBI lab report without obtaining a warrant or notifying the news agency.

The Customs Service intercepted a package sent via Federal Express from the Associated Press bureau in Manila to the AP office in Washington, and turned the contents over to the FBI.

FBI spokesman Doug Garrison said the document contained sensitive information that should not be made public. However, an AP executive said the package contained an unclassified 1995 FBI report that had been discussed in open court in two legal cases.

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Trees = Pollution

This factually challenged article claims that, "[c]oniferous forests around the world may be emitting more smog-causing nitrogen oxides than traffic and industry combined, suggests a report in the prestigious journal Nature." This comes from an article from Nature entitled Atmospheric science: Ultraviolet light and leaf emission of NOx. [full citation at end of post] Really, they are talking about Nitrogen Oxide - NOx - which in very high doses is toxic. But really the NOx is so diffuse - both in area and in release time - that the assertion that coniferous trees pollute more than cars is pure fabrication. The true "greenhouse gas" - which causes the most change to our climate - is Carbon Dioxide - CO2 as a by-product of internal combustion. NOx is a precursor to ozone, but trees absorb a large amount of ozone and CO2 for photosynthesis and "pollute" the environment with O2. In fact, before cyanobacteria [blue-green algae] evolved to use CO2 as a energy source, there was little to no O2 on the planet. One could say, jokingly, that the cyanobacteria that flourished more than 3.5 billion years ago was the biggest polluter on earth.

In reality, this is just another article aimed at obfuscating the issue of global climate change - which is a fact. Much like evolution is a fact - and a theory. Scientists do not dispute the facts of either global climate change or evolution. What scientists' debate are systems of operation, minutia and specifics - not the idea itself. Case in point - global climate change is a reality, but how fast the climate is changing is debated.

Scientists must debate all issues ad infinitum - that is what makes science different than, say dogmatic views such as religion. We all see religion as essentially immolate, a world view that withstands the change of time. Science, on the other hand, is constantly changing and evolving. This is how science improves our lives, by weeding out the false hypotheses, and by constant peer review. Yet politicians skew this very debate, which is essential and healthy, as uncertainty in the sciences on a topic. We have certainly seen President Bush use this tactic on global climate change. Yet if insurance companies, which of all sectors of the economy have the most inertia, are pressuring governments to curb greenhouse gasses, global climate change has to have some validity.

Trees pollute the Earth? Please stop playing into the conservative's and business' hands by taking a peer-reviewed articel [which is quite good] and skewing the results. Thanks.

Continue reading "Trees = Pollution"

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March 12, 2003

Freedom Politicians

More on the Freedom Fries sillyness:
French embassy press officer Jeannie Freud said, "Either these two have a great sense of humor or no sense of humor at all. First of all, French fries are not French at all - they are from Belgium...It is too bad that someone would take a beautiful word like 'freedom' and put it on something as trivial as a potato. Freedom is too important for fries."
Again, thatnk you Bob Ney (R-Ohio) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) for showing the rest of the world that when America does not get it's way, it takes its ball and runs home. Nothing like being the spoiled school bully - thanks.

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Iraqi Drones from Ace Hardware

Iraqi drone aircraft built out of balsa wood and duck tape.
A remotely piloted aircraft that the United States has warned could spread chemical weapons appears to be made of balsa wood and duct tape, with two small propellors attached to what look like the engines of a weed whacker.

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Serbian premier assassinated

Serbian premier assassinated.
The pro-reform, pro-Western leader was shot in the stomach and in the back outside government offices at around 1300 (1200 gmt), and died of his wounds in hospital.

-- snip --

After fleeing to Serbia's sister republic Montenegro during the Nato air strikes on Yugoslavia in 1999, Mr Djindjic returned to Belgrade to form the DOS movement with 17 other parties.

Their new street crusade for democracy culminated in the overthrow of Mr Milosevic after he refused to accept election defeat.

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March 11, 2003

Same as it ever was - back to the Future in xenophobia

House cafeterias change names for 'french fries' and 'french toast'. This defies all logical thought. This was spearheaded by two Republican lawmakers, one who is a Representative from Ohio, Rep. Bob Ney. We are constantly amazed by the xenophobia and bigotry that this country is displaying.

Here is the situation: There is a group of countries expressing their opinions on the Iraq Situation, an opinion that many Americans disagree with. So what do some Americans do? Instead of rationally agree to disagree, they start name-calling - very mature. Most of the anger is directed to France, even though both Germany and Russia are also planning to veto any Security Council vote. As noted by eperker, "A moronic irony: Protesting France's freedom to hold opposing views by calling fries freedom." Anytime we hear people complain about the French, and their so-called military defeats, instantly their intellect is downgraded in our eyes. Why don't you become educated and research France's Real Military History, instead of sounding like an uneducated Ugly American.

So send back your French Freedom wine, rename your French Freedom Fries. However, while you are at it send back your Beer, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Vodka, not to mention it is time to sell those nasty BMW's and Mercedes, oh and all of those Chryslers. We don't want those nasty krauts to have any of our American money. While we are at it, lets send back the Statue of Liberty, and the and the Brooklyn Bridge. While you are doing that, we will continue to French Freedom Kiss our girlfriend, who sometimes likes to wear her hair in a French Freedom Braid, whom - along with a group of our friends tonight - will drink some French Freedom wine and maybe east some French Freedom cheese.

Let us all show the world that we Americans are as xenophobic and childish as we were during World War I and World War II and today. That will show those nasty cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
UPDATE 20030311 - Additional Information
From Yahoo! News - French Fries Get New Name in Congress:
The French Embassy in Washington had no immediate comment, except to say that french fries actually come from Belgium.

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Disarmament Clinic

This is very long, but funny. Disarmament Clinic
USA: (Knock)
Saddam Hussein: Come in.
USA: Ah, Is this the right place for disarmament?
Saddam Hussein: I told you once that I've disarmed.
USA: No you haven't.
Saddam Hussein: I've already disarmed.
USA: When?
Saddam Hussein: Just now.
USA: No you didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: You didn't
Saddam Hussein: I did!
USA: You didn't!
Saddam Hussein: I'm telling you I did!
USA: You did not!!
Saddam Hussein: Oh, I'm sorry, just one moment. Do you mean full disarmament or just a couple of missiles?
USA: Oh, full disarmament.
Saddam Hussein: Ah, thank you. Anyway, I did.
USA: You most certainly did not.
Saddam Hussein: Look, let's get this thing clear; I quite definitely disarmed.
USA: No you did not.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
USA: No you didn't.
Saddam Hussein: Yes I did.
Continue reading "Disarmament Clinic"

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March 10, 2003

KD LAb and Timing

To step out of the royal we, it seems that during my bout with the unidentified virus, a firm I had been researching and gathering materials for in order to proposition the firm for a job has received massive exposure for their site redesign. The firm in question is none other than KD Lab - who does everything from film to animation to architecture. Now I am not quite sure if my small voice can make it through the inevitable lowering of the signal/noise ratio. I do not begrudge their sudden, and well-earned publicity - because they have earned it [just look at the design reel]. But for me, the timing could be off. Really, it is just the feeling of hearing that one cool band that you think no one has heard of, on mainstream radio, thus shattering your illusion. Congratulations on the press, KD Lab, very cool stuff indeed. Either way, I am still contemplating sending my CV and portfolio in. I want to keep my options open, and who knows what could happen!

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March 9, 2003

Exploitation of men's fantasies or lesbians? You be the Judge

We have covered t.A.T.u. and the apparent exploitation of minors and lesbians wrapped up in a male fantasy, but with the recent buzz surrounding the band, we couldn’t resist commenting again. So here is the story for those of you late to the game. There are these two Russian girls [nsfw], Lena Katina [nsfw] and Julia Volkova [nsfw], who met a psychologist-turned-father-figure Ivan Shapovalov when they were 14 year olds [approximately four years ago]. Shapovalov decided that their musical talent, and apparent lesbian relationship would make for a great musical collaboration, ahs been guiding their career for the last four years.

Continue reading "Exploitation of men's fantasies or lesbians? You be the Judge"

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World of Ends

World of Ends - or the Ten Commandments of the Internet [our title] discusses the 10 ideas that the internet is, and the logic mistakes that are made by policy makers in government who wish to dominate and restirs - because that is what government does, and business which seeks to sell and control - which is what capital is. Excellent read - our only belief is that those who really need to read this will either not see it, or disregard this as rubbish.
Perhaps companies that think they can force us to listen to their messages - their banners, their interruptive graphic crawls over the pages we're trying to read - will realize that our ability to flit from site to site is built into the Web's architecture. They might as well just put up banners that say "Hi! We don't understand the Internet. Oh, and, by the way, we hate you."

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March 7, 2003

Mono Interruptus

We are currently dealing with an unidentified viral infection that might, or might not be, mononucleosis. So we are trying to rest at home as much as possible, and not kiss our girlfriend on the lips as to spread the virus. As such, we will not be near the computer or the Inter-web as frequent as is the norm, so email and any sort of digital correspondence will be slow - or non-existent - for the conceivable future.

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March 5, 2003

Life is what you make it

Life is what you make it

Continue reading "Life is what you make it"

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March 4, 2003

7100 Alms is officially quarantined

7100 Alms is officially quarantined

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Studio Biohazard

Welcome to 7100 - biohazard central. So far in studio there are the following illnesses:

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March 3, 2003

Quarantined

7100 Alms is officially quarantined

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7100 Alms is officially quarantined.

March 2, 2003

Bush takes a chapter from Nixon's Playbook

Bush Administration caught spying on foreign diplomats:
The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq.

Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer.

snip

The memo describes orders to staff at the agency, whose work is clouded in secrecy, to step up its surveillance operations 'particularly directed at... UN Security Council Members (minus US and GBR, of course)' to provide up-to-the-minute intelligence for Bush officials on the voting intentions of UN members regarding the issue of Iraq.

The leaked memorandum makes clear that the target of the heightened surveillance efforts are the delegations from Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan at the UN headquarters in New York - the so-called 'Middle Six' delegations whose votes are being fought over by the pro-war party, led by the US and Britain, and the party arguing for more time for UN inspections, led by France, China and Russia.
So let us get this straight, it is admissible to spy on foreign diplomats, and then use information gleaned in a massive arm-twisting maneuver? But getting a hummer in the Oval Office is cause to spend millions of dollars and years of investigation? These acts, along side the Patriot Act, calls to reintroduce the Sedition Acts, among other actions this administration has undertaken, are merely just another proof that this administration, and those who support them, will stoop to any low for a war without purpose.

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Human shield turn tail and leave Baghdad

Human shield Britons quit Baghdad. Good - these people are stupid, and hurt the anti-war effort through their pure foolishness.

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A night out with Tiffani Thiessen

It's not often you catch a star like Tiffani Thiessen slaving over a hot stove, so when it happens, people gawk. And it was exactly that scenario - woman, meat, open flame - that visitors discovered on a recent Tuesday night at Tao, the Asian fusion restaurant on East 58th Street that doubles as a singles bar up front.

A night out with Tiffani Thiessen [nytime - free reg req'd] brought to you by the New York Times, and presented without comment or judgement.

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March 1, 2003

Coleoptera Research

From our research on Coleoptera, or better known as Beetles
In one sense the most unusual property of beetles is not some aspect of their structure or natural history, but their sheer number. There are more known species of Coleoptera than any other group of organisms, with over 350,000 described species.

Perhaps the most famous quote about beetles comes from the great population geneticist J.B.S. Haldane, who was asked what might be learned about a Creator by examining the world. His response: "an inordinate fondness for beetles" (Fisher, 1988).

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Pyrotechnics don't kill people. Song lyrics about fire kill people

Our illustrious and often sub-par school newspaper, The News Record, has a great op-ed piece about the tragic death of 96 people in the Great White concert fire in Rhode Island. The consensus is that the pyrotechnics are to blame for the carnage - Brian Phillips thinks otherwise:
Pyrotechnics don't kill people. Song lyrics about fire kill people.

Ninety-seven people died in a Rhode Island nightclub last week, during a fire started by the performing band's pyrotechnic display.

Most "mainstream" media sources fail to mention the band, Great White, often sings about fire.

snip

Regardless, it's time to stop blaming fireworks, and start cracking down on music lyrics.
That's right fascist - lets censor all music that we don't agree with, and that we think causes fires and death - no matter how tenuous or ridiculous the connection may be. While we are at it - lets start burning books that may cause young children to stray away. Like Huck Finn, or The Catcher in the Rye - these subversive books are the downfall of America. What this all amounts to is that the Far-Right believes that culture has gone astray from core "Christian" values. What we really are on is the path straight to hell, or at least to a lame one-hit-wonder concert with pyro that sets the club on fire.

We ask you this, kind reader: if America really has strayed away from "core values," what time period should we return to? The 1950's, where conformity and segregation was alive and well? Or how about back to the time of the Founding Fathers - where women could not vote, only those who owned land could vote, and slavery was alive and well? Would that be a time period where good values could be found? What this is a case of, is culture and society evolving forward, leaving some behind - aching for perceived nostalgic times of yore, when times were simpler.

So thank you Brian Phillips for the ridiculous article, and we hope you can improve your logic skills before you move to a real newspaper.

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