Monday, January 31, 2005 

MSNBC - The Last Word: Mikhail Khodorkovsky: "I have supported various political parties and public institutions, since I am convinced that our country needs to take account of diverse opinions and views. The country needs a strong opposition that is not controlled by the government. But today I am completely sure that the main reason for the 'Yukos affair' was that a group of four or five individuals wanted to take over a large and successful oil company. "

1/31/2005 03:56:00 PM | |

 

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Little Black Lies: "The persistent gap in life expectancy between African-Americans and whites is one measure of the deep inequalities that remain in our society - including highly unequal access to good-quality health care. We ought to be trying to diminish that gap, especially given the fact that black infants are two and half times as likely as white babies to die in their first year."

1/31/2005 03:44:00 PM | |

 

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Little Black Lies: "This isn't a new argument; privatizers have been making it for years. But the claim that blacks get a bad deal from Social Security is false. And Mr. Bush's use of that false argument is doubly shameful, because he's exploiting the tragedy of high black mortality for political gain instead of treating it as a problem we should solve."

1/31/2005 03:43:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Not chasing the bait: "you don't own their courage, Freeper Nation.
You do not own their courage."

1/31/2005 01:23:00 PM | |

 

American Journalism Review: "With the establishment of a new government and building of infrastructure, a continuing U.S. military presence and the hunt for terrorists, Afghanistan is rife with stories of long-term consequence. Roy Gutman, a veteran Newsday correspondent who became its foreign editor in July, has long criticized the media for their lack of solid, in-depth coverage of what he calls one of the major conflicts of our time and the true beginning of the battle against al Qaeda. Now that major fighting is over, 'it's very important to keep a spotlight on Afghanistan to see whether the U.S. government is able to manage it and able to succeed,' he says. "

1/31/2005 12:16:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Ozone layer over Arctic 'thinning' - Jan 31, 2005: "'The meteorological conditions we are now witnessing resemble and even surpass the conditions of the 1999-2000 winter -- when the worst ozone loss to date was observed,' said Dr. Neil Harris of the European Ozone Research Coordinating Unit in Britain."

1/31/2005 08:47:00 AM | |

Sunday, January 30, 2005 

MSNBC - Audit faults U.S. on handling of Iraqi assets: "WASHINGTON - The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq was unable to keep track of nearly $9 billion it transferred to government ministries, which lacked financial controls, security, communications and adequate staff, an inspector general has found."

1/30/2005 08:59:00 PM | |

Saturday, January 29, 2005 

USAF playing cat and mouse game over Iran | Metafilter: "...imagine what the Iranians, the original Islamic suicide squads, will do when we invade. There'll be traffic jams, ten-mile backups, outside every US base, thousands of car bombers honking and changing lanes trying to get to the front of the line and make that final commute to Paradise. It'll be like the San Diego freeway on a Monday morning, except the fenderbenders will be a little more serious.

The Iranians, unlike the Iraqis, have always been willing to die for their country. In the Iran-Iraq War (1980-89) thousands of Iranians volunteered to charge across Iraqi minefields, knowing they were going to die. It scared the Hell out of the Iraqis. They threw everything at those crazy Persian suicide charges, even poison gas. And the Iranians just kept coming. "

1/29/2005 01:31:00 PM | |

 

World Peace Herald

Said Cannistraro of the administration's policy: "Its very, very, very dangerous."

1/29/2005 01:23:00 PM | |

Friday, January 28, 2005 

Such an interesting topic the dollar slide is. So hard to truly understand, but in a lot of ways very understood.

For me, this slide is not unlike a slide in a given companies stock price. In this measure and in this decline we see truly, on a grand scale, how America is losing in this global community and global market.

It all comes down to competition does it not? Let me share with you what I feel is the closest parallel to the situation that we are seeing with the US dollar:

My former workplace was Oracle Corporation. You may have heard of it and may even know something of its enigmatic leader, Larry Ellison. Well, the truth was that this company in so many ways had the best products (arguably still does in the database arena) and also a vision that was hard to rival by its contemporaries.

Even though it was bringing in good numbers over the years the stock has stagnated for the most part (went down to $7 and has hung around the $11-14 range for a while). Why is this? The company still has a good position and could yet pull out of it right? The stock could again become a darling.

But what is the reality of our world? Ups and downs, yings and yangs. When this company was up it had some of the greatest products and some of the greatest people and did amazing business. Where it went wrong though is not recognizing the fact that companies, people, even countries have ups and downs and that one has to work hard when you are up or when you are down.

You have to work hard all the time you say. Well, this is a different type of work. One has to work to make others want for you to be up again. One has to work to form this team behind you. The larger the team pulling for you, the better it is and the easier it is to be up again.

Do we as America have this right now? I really don’t think so. I personally think that we are like that guy on the basketball court who just a game ago was demanding the ball each time and sticking it and dunking over everyone, but leaving teammates (and opponents) hanging in different ways and now we’ve gone just a bit cold. The three ain’t dropping and damn if the legs ain’t just a bit tired.

Is anyone there to lift us up? Anyone want us to get back on our game? Anyone want to throw us the ball?

No, because we have isolated ourselves in so many ways. We are MJ, now.

1/28/2005 04:32:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Some analysts see dollar revival in 2005: "But the point is well-taken. Not counting its revival in recent weeks, most notably against the euro, the dollar has lost about 35 percent of its value against the euro and some 25 percent against the Japanese yen over the past three years, dogged by investors' concerns about the widening U.S. current account and budget deficits."

1/28/2005 04:06:00 PM | |

 

Howard Stern.com: "LIST OF WOMEN THAT ARE CALLED 'HOT' BUT DON'T DESERVE IT: - Anna Kournikova (Ralph)
- Beyonce (Ralph)
- Nicole Kidman (Howard)"

agree with the kidman call.

1/28/2005 01:43:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Hardly slacking at all, Friday: "Name: Stupid
Hometown: Chicago
Hey Eric, it's Stupid to put my money where my mouth is. I'm not kidding when I say I'm afraid of a dollar collapse. It's not just that the high deficits and unprecedented foreign control over the economy. It's all these timebombs waiting to go off. "

1/28/2005 01:27:00 PM | |

 

frontline: al qaeda's new front: al qaeda today | PBS: "'It turns out that the terrorists are very much like us,' he says. 'They're not really all that different.' In a 2004 speech, Sageman explained, 'Most people think that terrorism comes from poverty, broken families, ignorance, immaturity, lack of family or occupational responsibilities, weak minds susceptible to brainwashing -- the sociopath, the criminals, the religious fanatic, or, in this country, some believe they're just plain evil.'
But Sageman found that three quarters of his sample came from the upper or middle class. The vast majority -- 90 percent -- came from caring, intact families. 63 percent had gone to college, as compared with the five to six percent typical in the third world. 'These are the best and brightest of their societies in many ways,' he says."

1/28/2005 12:02:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Type A Apprentices need an intervention: "During this time, though, Chris suddenly unleashed a screaming, finger-pointing tirade, yet another explosion from a volatile personality."

It was a crazy episode. Trump shoulda been fired for picking these freaks.

1/28/2005 11:29:00 AM | |

 

It gets worse before it gets better | Metafilter

1/28/2005 09:41:00 AM | |

 

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Criminals the lot of us: "The White House's acknowledgement last month that the United States has formally ended its search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq brought to a close the most calamitous international deception of modern times. "

I am glad this hero of mine still continues to write and share his thoughts.

1/28/2005 09:11:00 AM | |

Thursday, January 27, 2005 

MSNBC - Booms and Bubbles: "Now that we know more about them, can we prevent them?
Bubbles are a little like wars. There is a half-life of maybe 50-100 years, then people forget. There will always be bubbles."

1/27/2005 04:52:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Scientists predict rising global temperature range - Jan 27, 2005: "'Our experiment shows that increased levels of greenhouse gases could have a much greater impact on climate than previously thought,' said David Stainforth, the project's chief scientist, from Oxford University."

1/27/2005 02:35:00 PM | |

 

Turner calls Fox network 'propaganda voice' for government: "Cable news pioneer Ted Turner used an appearance before a group of television executives to criticize the Fox network as a 'propaganda voice' of the Bush administration and to compare Fox News Channel's popularity to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany before World War II. "

1/27/2005 11:38:00 AM | |

 

Notorious B.I.G. - Suicidal Thoughts Lyrics: "I reach my peak, I can't speak,
call my nigga Chic, tell him that my will is weak.
I'm sick of niggas lyin', I'm sick of bitches hawkin',
matter of fact, I'm sick of talkin'."

1/27/2005 09:54:00 AM | |

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 

HoopLife.ca: Henry Bekkering - The Remix

1/26/2005 03:40:00 PM | |

 

DimeMag.com: "Last night, the Michael Cooper led Nugs went up against the smoking hot Bulls in Chicago, which is a bad place to be when you're fighting for your coaching job. Great game. Melo went berserk in the fourth but it just wasn't enough. The Bulls just believe right now. No other way to put it. That's 11 out of 12 and they seem to be getting better as a team. Chris Duhon has started to play very well. He looks more and more like an NBA point guard"

1/26/2005 01:51:00 PM | |

 

As Green as a Neocon - Why Iraq hawks are driving Priuses. By Robert�Bryce: "But a curious transformation is occurring in Washington, D.C., a split of foreign policy and energy policy: Many of the leading neoconservatives who pushed hard for the Iraq war are going green. James Woolsey, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and staunch backer of the Iraq war, now drives a 58-miles-per-gallon Toyota Prius and has two more hybrid vehicles on order. Frank Gaffney, the president of the Center for Security Policy and another neocon who championed the war, has been speaking regularly in Washington about fuel efficiency and plant-based bio-fuels. "

1/26/2005 12:36:00 PM | |

 

The Nation | Article | Cancer, Chemicals and History | Jon Wiener: "In an unprecedented move, attorneys for Dow, Monsanto, Goodrich, Goodyear, Union Carbide and others have subpoenaed and deposed five academics who recommended that the University of California Press publish the book Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution, by Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner. "

Via mefi.

1/26/2005 11:54:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC -: "The spam e-mails began coming in Tuesday night. They were pretty routine, damning me to eternal fires and reminding me what they 'did' to Dan Rather and how I'd be next. But they were generated from Dobson's own website, which of course negates their impact, and as a result a lot of them were downright hilarious."

1/26/2005 10:26:00 AM | |

 

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 23, 2005 - January 29, 2005 Archives: "36 US troops dead today in Iraq. No commentary, just prayers."

1/26/2005 09:59:00 AM | |

Tuesday, January 25, 2005 

ZNet |Politics | End-Timers & Neo-Cons: "The rapidly collapsing US dollar is hard evidence that the world sees the US as bankrupt. Flight from the dollar as the reserve currency will adversely impact American living standards, which are already falling as a result of job outsourcing and offshore production. The US cannot afford a costly and interminable war.
Falling living standards and inability to impose our will on the Middle East will result in great frustrations that will diminish our country."

1/25/2005 04:43:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Conscience of a conservative: "Paul Craig Roberts, who was U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under Ronald Reagan, as well as Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. Roberts has not changed his views. He remains just as conservative as ever. His views help demonstrate just how far what now passes for conservatism in America has strayed from that vision.
Not so long ago I would have identified the liberal media as the New York Times and Washington Post, CNN and the three TV networks, and National Public Radio. But both the Times and the Post fell for the Bush administration's lies about WMD and supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq. On balance CNN, the networks, and NPR have not made an issue of the Bush administration's changing explanations for the invasion."

1/25/2005 03:51:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - With Kobe out, Lakers are losing their limp: "Rather than the star teaching the Lakers how to win, maybe Kobe will learn from his supporting cast.
Then again, maybe not."

1/25/2005 01:34:00 PM | |

 

Dispatches from this silicon world…

I realized this morning that I have not wrote about my work situation in some time. Perhaps my last writing about that was when I wrote that I felt like it was a 3 on 3 basketball game here compared to 5 on 5.

Well, things are still going well. It is an exciting time to be alive and working here. Like anything there are ups and downs- times when you could take it or leave it. But I am not telling you anything you didn’t all ready know.

I work for a nice lady who on her best days is very collaborative and hard charging and on her worst is squirrel-like (kind of defensive and meek). I get the feeling sometimes that being the new guy I am put into some political situations that I don’t understand. I get the feeling that there are some very deep seated views and ways of working here that I am sometimes put in the position to challenge though I am just a little peon. It is weird, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.

Evidenced by my lack of posts about this subject though (as compared to my last job) please do take away how this workplace is roughly 100X better than my last. The difference is amazing from the top level to the lowest (where I reside).

I could go on and on about the differences, but what it really comes down to is a close focusing on people and interaction as opposed to close focus on profit margins.

P.s. My angel is amazing. Through her efforts and her work and her initiative her little workplace raised 12K for the tsunami victims. I am so proud of her.

1/25/2005 11:41:00 AM | |

 

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 23, 2005 - January 29, 2005 Archives: "In our up-is-down political world, authoring memos which for the first time put the United States government on record sanctioning torture probably can't get you nixed for Attorney General. But fibbing about your role in covering up one of the president's DUIs just might. Newsweek's Isikoff is on the case. "

1/25/2005 11:21:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - CBO pegs deficit at $855 billion over decade: "WASHINGTON - As details of President Bush's new $80 billion request for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were emerging Tuesday, Congress top budget analyst projected $855 billion in deficits for the next decade. "

1/25/2005 10:26:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Torture in Iraq still routine, report says: "BAGHDAD - Twenty months after Saddam Hussein's government was toppled and its torture chambers unlocked, Iraqis are again being routinely beaten, hung by their wrists and shocked with electrical wires, according to a report by a human rights organization."

1/25/2005 08:22:00 AM | |

Monday, January 24, 2005 

MSNBC - Army closed many abuse cases early

1/24/2005 10:42:00 PM | |

 

Countdown to global catastrophe | Metafilter: "I credit Bowie with the scoop.

'Pushing thru the market square, so many mothers sighing
News had just come over, we had five years left to cry in
News guy wept and told us, earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying
I heard telephones, opera house, favourite melodies
I saw boys, toys electric irons and T.V.'s
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there
And all the fat-skinny people, and all the tall-short people
And all the nobody people, and all the somebody people
I never thought I'd need so many people...'"

1/24/2005 05:43:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Election leaves war-weary Fallujans cold - Jan 24, 2005: "'Our hearts are burned,' he said. And the wounds are something democracy can't heal. 'How can we vote when we don't believe in what we are voting for?' he asked."

1/24/2005 04:17:00 PM | |

 

Putting Some Heat on Bush (washingtonpost.com): "Kevin E. Trenberth, who heads the climate analysis section of the nonprofit, federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research, said Hansen's willingness to espouse the dominant scientific view on climate change 'is a responsible thing to do, even if it puts at potential jeopardy his own position.' Trenberth added: 'This is an important issue, a long-term issue that affects humanity in the future.' "

1/24/2005 03:29:00 PM | |

 

Independent News: "Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told an international conference attended by 114 governments in Mauritius this month that he personally believes that the world has 'already reached the level of dangerous concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere' and called for immediate and 'very deep' cuts in the pollution if humanity is to 'survive'."

1/24/2005 02:44:00 PM | |

 

Countdown to global catastrophe | Metafilter: "I just listened to George Carlin's routine about 'Saving the Planet' and agree with him that the planet will survive whatever we do to it.

But we won't."

1/24/2005 02:35:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Have death squad, will travel: "In a nation that took morality even remotely seriously, the idea of our government financing terrorist murderers might excite a little interest. Yet this is the second report of our government planning a series of terrorist murders and we get not a peep out of anyone? Does anyone want to try to defend this?"

1/24/2005 01:59:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Guantanamo prisoners attempted mass suicide: "Between Aug. 18 and Aug. 26, the 23 detainees tried to hang or strangle themselves with pieces of clothing and other items in their cells, demonstrating 'self-injurious behavior,' the U.S. Southern Command in Miami said in a statement. Ten detainees made a mass attempt on Aug. 22 alone.
U.S. Southern Command described it as 'a coordinated effort to disrupt camp operations and challenge a new group of security guards from the just-completed unit rotation.'"

1/24/2005 01:52:00 PM | |

 

Yahoo! News - U.S. Military May Face Shortage of Troops: "But a deeper look inside the Army National Guard, Army Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve suggests a grimmer picture: At the current pace and size of American troop deployments to Iraq, the availability of suitable reserve combat troops could become a problem as early as next year. "

1/24/2005 12:04:00 PM | |

 

Hello Mr. Scarborough,
Respectfully I wanted to offer you that I dislike George Bush and those behind this empty suit of a man for exactly the opposite reason that you state:

Maybe that approach is what infuriates 48 percent of Americans.
But after listening for years to pundits and talking heads bemoan the fact that all politicians are blow-dried, poll tested zombies, isn't it refreshing to have a regular guy who says: "This is what I believe. If you like it, vote for me. If you don't, vote for the other guy."


I understand a died in the wool partisan such as yourself might not understand, but from Clear Skies to No Child Left Behind to the Iraq war to Social Security, this man and those behind him have done the exact opposite of what you state. They have lied with impunity and not said at all what they truly believe (the most recent example is with Social Security- what are the details that they believe about this besides CRISIS! ?) There are other examples of course- I will give you just one more and hopefully you can start to re-think some things.

Let us think about this: Instead of rating numbers for your program you were judged on the intelligence of your audience. At the end of your show a multiple choice test was given to all who watched and this was the measure of you- should you do well you could keep your job with no real raises or bonuses, should you do poorly you fail and your network fails. The kicker here though is that some nights you might just have people watching who did not speak or read English or people who were not familiar with how to fill in bubbles or pick from multiple choices. Or maybe you had someone as intelligent as Stephen Hawking watching your program, but unfortunately he could not use the interface very well or did not focus on your program as closely as he might have due to some crazy worm hole thing he was thinking about.

What conclusions might this lead you to about your profession? What are the beliefs or things going unsaid here? To my mind there are many ‘beliefs’ not being talked about… maybe it is just me.
Respectfully

1/24/2005 11:53:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Army readies robot soldier for Iraq: "The Army is preparing to send 18 of these remote-controlled robotic warriors to fight in Iraq beginning in March or April."

1/24/2005 11:31:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Jackson would 'listen' to Isiah about job: "Jackson led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles and the Los Angeles Lakers to three. He has said he would be interested in coaching the Knicks, for whom he played in the 1960s and '70s."

1/24/2005 08:52:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Gonzales: Did He Help Bush Keep His DUI Quiet?: "Gonzales last week refused to waver. 'Judge Gonzales has no recollection of requesting a meeting in chambers,' a senior White House official said, adding that while Gonzales did recall that Bush's potential conflict was 'discussed,' he never 'requested' that Bush be excused. 'His answer to the Senate's question is accurate,' the official said."

1/24/2005 08:51:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - High Hopes, Hard Facts: "In doing so, however, Bush has also pushed higher on the agenda the question of American hypocrisy. I often argue with an Indian businessman friend of mine that America is unfairly singled out for scrutiny abroad. 'Why didn't anyone criticize the French or Chinese for their meager response to the tsunami?' I asked him recently. His response was simple. 'America positions itself as the moral arbiter of the world, it pronounces on the virtues of all other regimes, it tells the rest of the world whether they are good or evil,' he said. 'No one else does that. America singles itself out. And so the gap between what it says and what it does is blindingly obvious- and for most of us, extremely annoying. That gap just grew a lot bigger."

1/24/2005 08:33:00 AM | |

Saturday, January 22, 2005 

MENA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -- Hajj pilgrims pelted stones at symbols of the devil on Friday, with many saying they were targeting U.S. President George W. Bush and other world leaders seen as oppressing Muslims.

1/22/2005 08:51:00 PM | |

Friday, January 21, 2005 

MSNBC - Inflation picking up a bit of momentum: "But service-related areas are largely immune to these forces of globalization, and they are subject to growing inflation as the expansion ages. College tuition is perhaps the prime example. Tuition and fees are up 42 percent over the past five years, a period in which overall prices have risen only 13 percent. The costs of medical care and personal services also are rising much faster than inflation."

1/21/2005 04:38:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Northern rim bundles up for weekend blast: "Blizzard warnings were issued Friday ahead of a mammoth Canadian storm that could dump more than a foot of snow on the Northeast and ice over an area from North Dakota to New England."

1/21/2005 04:19:00 PM | |

 

Does this mean no more close relations with repressive governments?

1/21/2005 03:55:00 PM | |

 

Real eyes realize.

I like that. Great protest sign seen here:

http://centricle.com/photos/2005/01/21/f

1/21/2005 03:35:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Fear not, these CRACKPOTS can be saved: "But of course, not all Christians are alike. Many, if not most, Christians understand the true message of Jesus. But there is a frightening number of so-called Christians who can be best described as creepy, rigid, arrogant, cruel, know-it-all, pompous, obnoxious and treacherous � better known by the acronym C.R.A.C.K.P.O.T."

1/21/2005 03:21:00 PM | |

 

Fair And Balanced | Oliver Willis

Heee heee heee. This was pretty damn funny when I heard it on Howard this morning.

1/21/2005 02:32:00 PM | |

 

Salon.com Politics: "Now, Vice President Dick Cheney is openly speculating that if Iran continues to develop its nuclear program, Israel might take matters into its own hands. Cheney's suggestion of an Israeli strike without American approval notches up the administration's brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear program -- Israel has floated the idea for some time, but this is as close as the administration has come to rubber-stamping it publicly. Cheney chose to buttress the administration's posture on Iran during an appearance yesterday with Mrs. Cheney on the talk radio show 'Imus in the Morning.' "

1/21/2005 02:09:00 PM | |

 

International News Article | Reuters.com

1/21/2005 02:01:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC -: "One simple way to figure the budget impact of Bush�s first term is to look at how much new Treasury debt the government has sold to make up for the deficits since he took office. In Jan. 2001, the total Treasury debt held by the public stood at $3.9 trillion. As of Wed. Jan. 19, the figure was $4,423,975,930,565.56 (or $4.4 trillion.)So regardless of whether you attribute this increase to tax cuts or war spending (or both), the U.S. government is $500 billion further in debt after Bush's first term."

1/21/2005 01:39:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Northwest ski season in sudden meltdown - Jan 21, 2005: "SPOKANE, Washington (AP) -- Snow came late to many Pacific Northwest ski areas and now spring-like temperatures in the mountains have melted much of it away -- right along with the resorts' business.
A mass of moist subtropical air called the Pineapple Express has flowed across the region, bringing record high temperatures and copious amounts of rain."

1/21/2005 08:48:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com - Christians issue gay warning on SpongeBob video - Jan 21, 2005: "Christian groups however have taken exception to the tolerance pledge on the foundation's Web site, which asks people to respect the sexual identity of others along with their abilities, beliefs, culture and race."

1/21/2005 08:42:00 AM | |

Thursday, January 20, 2005 

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: That Magic Moment: "But there's another parallel, which I haven't seen pointed out: the politicization of the agencies and the intimidation of the analysts. Bush loyalists begin frothing at the mouth when anyone points out that the White House pressured intelligence analysts to overstate the threat from Iraq, while neocons in the Pentagon pressured the military to understate the costs and risks of war. But that is what happened, and it's happening again."

I think this is a key point and is not focused on nearly enough. What were Douglas Feith and the Office of Special Plans doing and what was their work product?

On a related note, where is Mr. Chalabi? I think we might want to have a long conversation with that man, under oath.

1/20/2005 04:02:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Surprise snow�stuns N. Carolina - Jan 20, 2005: "RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- A surprise 1-inch snow that turned to ice on frigid roads stunned North Carolina's capital, trapping motorists in epic traffic jams and stranding some 3,000 pupils overnight at schools. The governor urged people to stay home Thursday while crews clean things up."

1/20/2005 03:46:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC -: "To me, Ron Reagan seemed to sum it all up when he said that everyone will agree that it was a beautiful speech, with inspirational goals and deeds. Ron went on to ask what looks like has become the central question after the president�s address �Will he actually do what he says?�"

1/20/2005 02:18:00 PM | |

Wednesday, January 19, 2005 

BBC NEWS | In pictures: Shooting in Tal Afar: "As the children get out of the car one of them screams, her hands covered in blood..."

1/19/2005 03:49:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Protesters gear up for inauguration: "�We�ve tried marching in the streets to stop the war, we tried writing letters, we tried initiatives on the Web, but Bush doesn�t listen. It seems to us the only thing Bush and the Republicans will listen to is money,� said David Livingstone of Detroit."

Ah, David is getting it.

1/19/2005 03:22:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - SAP targets PeopleSoft clients with U.S. buy: "FRANKFURT - Germany's SAP has bought a U.S. company specialising in support for PeopleSoft software, exploiting its advantage as Oracle grapples with the task of integrating PeopleSoft after a hostile takeover."

1/19/2005 12:54:00 PM | |

 

World News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "'As Americans surely are aware, there is great hostility in the world today to cultural domination in which a single value system created elsewhere diminishes and degrades local cultures,' she said in her commentary."

1/19/2005 09:31:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Boykins' overtime barrage sinks Sonics: "Boykins, a 5-foot-5 guard who is the league's smallest player, broke the record of 14 overtime points set by Butch Carter of Indiana against Boston on March 20, 1984."

1/19/2005 08:28:00 AM | |

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 

Yahoo! News - CBS May Use Multi-Anchor Format: "Asked twice, Moonves wouldn't rule out a role on the evening news for Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, whose 'The Daily Show' skewers politicians and the news media each night. Moonves is co-chief executive of Viacom, which owns both CBS and Comedy Central. "

Put me down for a YAY!!!!!!!!! vote there Les.

Though he will get to keep the funny right?

1/18/2005 05:08:00 PM | |

 

Commentary - Americanism--and Its Enemies: "Frenchmen used to think France superior on account of its culture and civilisation; many still do. Germans once thought they were smarter, deeper and (possibly) racially superior. Englishmen once considered themselves natural rulers and believed that their governmental structures set Britain on a higher plane. And so on. Not all nations have �isms,� and not all those who do (or did) have been equally serious about their particular �ism.� America has one and is dead serious about it."

1/18/2005 03:26:00 PM | |

 

ESPN.com - NFL - Ratto: Canary in the coal mine: "You see, teams that go 2-14 never get that way with inferior coaching alone. You also need inferior talent, inferior talent recognition, and inferior ownership finding the people to recognize that talent."

1/18/2005 12:23:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - More schools benching P.E. - Jan 18, 2005: "Physical education experts say there's little accountability for P.E. teachers in most schools. They say the classes are often poorly run, and students don't spend much time in them anyway -- even as American children grow fatter and more out of shape."

This is a crying shame. But let us please be honest about this and say that it is not necessarily the teachers fault (though partly it is), but a system breakdown.

I would very much like to see a study and eventual implementation of a plan to get kids who are not athletically inclined excited and understanding of how important a healthy body is. The athletes and motivated among us will get workouts under their belt anyway. We need to concentrate on where we are really hurting.

1/18/2005 11:48:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com - Kerry criticizes election outcome - Jan 18, 2005: "The Massachusetts Democrat, Bush's challenger in the November presidential election, spoke at Boston's annual Martin Luther King Day Breakfast. He reiterated that he decided not to challenge the election results, but 'thousands of people were suppressed in the effort to vote.'"

1/18/2005 10:52:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Democracy: Walking the Walk: "All over the world, dictators like Saddam Hussein cheered his election. Reaganism was effective and inspiring but also hypocritical the kind of ersatz idealism that apparently allows Bush to press for democracy in every Middle Eastern country except the ones that sell us oil or help us fight terrorism. That's a rather long list. The Inaugural Address might as well contain an asterisk that says: 'Does not apply to Saudi Arabia or any place else in the region besides Iraq and the Palestinian Authority.'"

1/18/2005 09:12:00 AM | |

Monday, January 17, 2005 

Martin Luther King, Jr., "I've Been to the Mountaintop": "I'm delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow. Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world."

Thank you, doctor.

1/17/2005 10:58:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - As inauguration nears, terror warnings drop: "'There is certainly the perception that the warning system has been too subjective and too subject to potential political influence,' said Juliette N. Kayyem, head of the national security program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a Justice Department official in the Clinton administration."

1/17/2005 10:51:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Report: World can end poverty by 2025: "UNITED NATIONS - Global poverty can be cut in half by 2015 and eliminated by 2025 if the world�s richest countries including the United States, Japan and Germany more than double aid to the poorest countries, hundreds of development experts concluded in a report Monday."

1/17/2005 10:46:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Saddam's Oily Deals: "One businessman under scrutiny is Ben Pollner, a U.S. trader based in Switzerland. Law-enforcement sources say he emphatically denied any wrongdoing when questioned by representatives from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau last year in New York. No charges have been filed against Pollner or his firms. Still, a glimpse into his transactions may offer some sense of the convoluted nature of the trade."

Finally someone is looking into this. Jeezuz, took long enough. For so many years the complaint was that the UN was just America, writ large and now it is like, UN is the antichrist and pitiful and we hate it. Why did the tone change all of a sudden? Hmmmm....

1/17/2005 07:43:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - U.S. military nixed gay �aphrodisiac' weapon: "The idea of fostering homosexuality among the enemy figured in a declassified six-year, $7.5 million request from a laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for funding of non-lethal chemical weapon research."

1/17/2005 09:06:00 AM | |

Sunday, January 16, 2005 

The New Yorker: Fact: "George W. Bush�s re�lection was not his only victory last fall. The President and his national-security advisers have consolidated control over the military and intelligence communities� strategic analyses and covert operations to a degree unmatched since the rise of the post-Second World War national-security state."

1/16/2005 11:03:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Graner sentenced to 10 years - Jan 16, 2005: "'A lot of the weird stuff came from civilian contractors,' he said, referring specifically to the photographs. Also, he said, 'crazy stuff' was ordered by military intelligence soldiers. "

Ugh. It is going to be a long tortured time for him in his life and, if there is justice which I believe there is, a long tortured time for all those responsible.

1/16/2005 12:50:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com - Graner sentenced to 10 years - Jan 16, 2005: "Led from the courtroom in handcuffs and leg chains, Graner twice answered 'No, ma'am' when asked whether he had regrets or apologies.
His mother, Irma, said her son took the rap for high-ranking officers, whom she said were 'all guilty.'"

I can't help but think of the tortured in this situation, on all sides.

1/16/2005 12:47:00 AM | |

Saturday, January 15, 2005 

MSNBC - Father transformed by anguish over Iraq: "Every bit of Arredondo's skin is coated with antibiotic cream. His left palm has glass in it from when three Marines informed him that Alex was dead and he began smashing the windows of their van. His lower legs, which received the worst of the burns from when he splashed gasoline in the van and ignited it, are stained the color of cranberries. His hair, cut off in the hospital, is only now starting to grow back. His fingernails, ruined when he used his hands to claw holes in Alex's grave for flowers, are all gone."

1/15/2005 09:44:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Bush says election ratified Iraq policy: "I am more patient than some.'"

HAHAHAHAHAHA. better quote, same article.

1/15/2005 09:42:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Bush says election ratified Iraq policy: "'We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections,' Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post. 'The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me.'"

THAT is the Bush I remember.

1/15/2005 09:41:00 PM | |

 

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Why the Sun seems to be 'dimming'

1/15/2005 09:37:00 PM | |

 

Alas Babylon | Metafilter

1/15/2005 09:26:00 PM | |

 

Journalism's vacation from the truth: "NEW YORK One day after Tucker Carlson, the co-host of CNN's 'Crossfire,' made his farewell appearance and two days after the network's new president made the admirable announcement that he would soon kill the program altogether, a television news miracle occurred: even as it staggered through its last steps to the network guillotine, 'Crossfire' came up with the worst show in its 23-year history"

1/15/2005 09:06:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Graner takes the stand at hearing: "'There was a lot of things that we did that were so screwed up, if you didn't look at them as funny, there was no way to deal with it,' Graner said."

1/15/2005 12:28:00 PM | |

Friday, January 14, 2005 

ESPN.com: Page 2 - There's no win in M-A-R-T-Y: "Saddest group of fans: Seahawks fans
You have to feel for them. Even as Vanilli was running down the sidelines with that game-winning overtime TD, I was thinking of my poor friend KJ, a die-hard Seattle fan and author of the upcoming book, 'If We Killed Jim McIlvaine, Would That Get Him off The Cap?'"

Hilarious. Sports guy rules.

1/14/2005 05:00:00 PM | |

 

Geez, that is sad to read. Very sad.

I can't help but think of what a tough time those bears are going to have and what might be running through their minds.

2 Centuries? Is there enough of a pattern now? Can we see it? Can we start working together for our ultimate survival and our fellow species survival? Please?

1/14/2005 04:18:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Record warm winter stirs sleepy bears - Jan 14, 2005: "Estonia's warmest winter for two centuries has woken some of its 600 bears several months early from hibernation, wildlife experts said on Friday."

1/14/2005 04:16:00 PM | |

 

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Worse Than Fiction: "The secretary of defense - another 'good man,' according to the president - won't even bother signing letters to the families of soldiers killed in action.
Last but not least, in my bad novel the president, who portrays himself as the defender of good against evil, will preside over the widespread use of torture."

1/14/2005 03:05:00 PM | |

 

Jordan the nobody? | Metafilter: "Three minutes before opening MetaFilter I briefly ruminated on my feelings about Jordan after I read that Kobe Bryant had severly sprained an ankle. I don't really follow basketball anymore, but I admit that I read that little news blurb with relish. I can't help myself, I dislike Bryant intensely and am convinced that he is a rapist that bought his way out of a conviction and back into his marriage. Then I thought of Jordan and how I used to idolize him when I was a younger man, about 15-16 years ago when he was in his prime. When Michael Jordan was on the court, he was very nearly perfect. Very nearly perfect, it's worth repeating. Unfortunately for his perfect image, we both grew older; I stopped taking sports seriously and Jordan stopped playing nearly perfect basketball. His retirement took away the rose-colored aura that surrounded the superstar. Let's be honest, off the court Jordan, like Bryant, is an egomaniac and a creep. His intense competitiveness, far more extreme than any normal person can even understand, is actually a sympton of mental illness that outside of professional sports is truly a horrible character trait. Almost all the evidence seems to point to him having a Tony Soprano like disregard for the feelings and well being of others, even his wife and family.

The amazing thing is that while he was playing he was so good that few people cared about all that other stuff. Now that he's not playing, few people care about him, period."

1/14/2005 03:01:00 PM | |

 

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 09, 2005 - January 15, 2005 Archives: "But that's just the borrowing over the next decade. Privatization would cost an additional $3 trillion in its second decade, $5 trillion in the decade after that and another $5 trillion in the decade after that. By the time privatization started to save money, if it ever did, the federal government would have run up around $15 trillion in extra debt. "

1/14/2005 02:48:00 PM | |

 

Oracle to PeopleSoft: The pink slip's in the mail | CNET News.com: "Oracle appears to be adding insult to injury in its merger with PeopleSoft--taking the unusual step of notifying workers of their termination by sending pinks slips via express mail to their homes.
As earlier reported, shipments to thousands of PeopleSoft employees across the country are expected over the weekend, according to sources close to the company. Those spared pink slips will get packages too--containing new Oracle employment contracts."

1/14/2005 02:34:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Not-so-slacker Friday: "Be what they're going to accuse you of being anyway. Turn off the complaint line. You no longer care what Brett Bozell and his mailing list think of you. You are now off the reservation, outside the Pale. You are people with a television network and absolutely nothing to lose. Make them fear that."

1/14/2005 01:18:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Israelis cut ties with new Palestinian leader: "The Jerusalem Post, quoting senior officers in the Israeli Southern Command, said that while there were still no plans for a widespread operation in Gaza in retaliation to the attack, the Israeli military would choose a time and place to respond. "

1/14/2005 01:15:00 PM | |

 

Israel Policy Forum: "In exchange, they want serious negotiations to end the Israeli occupation. They want America to play the role of honest broker. They want their state, peace and justice, too. I tremble to think of what will happen if all the Palestinians receive, as so often in the past, is the back of our hand."

1/14/2005 01:14:00 PM | |

 

NASA - Cassini-Huygens: Close Encounter with Saturn

1/14/2005 01:10:00 PM | |

 

Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground (washingtonpost.com): "Iraq provides terrorists with 'a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills,' said David B. Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats. 'There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will therefore disperse to various other countries.' "

1/14/2005 01:05:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC -: "And today, several Kurds in the north were killed.
Brent Skowcroft, former national security advisor to former President George Herbert Walker Bush, believes they may be on the verge of a civil war."

1/14/2005 01:02:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Bush: 'Sometimes, words have consequences' - Jan 14, 2005: "''Bring 'em on' is the classic example, when I was really trying to rally the troops and make it clear to them that I fully understood, you know, what a great job they were doing. And those words had an unintended consequence. It kind of, some interpreted it to be defiance in the face of danger. That certainly wasn't the case.'"

Introspection? My brain just melted.

1/14/2005 11:08:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Tell That to Your Children: "Try denying Social Security choice to a coffee drinker who orders a venti decaf nonfat extra-hot no foam with whip three-pump vanilla latte"

Fucking idiot. What a retard. Loosen the bow tie your brain needs some oxygen.

1/14/2005 10:02:00 AM | |

Thursday, January 13, 2005 

Big up to you | Metafilter: "Actually, mocking the national anthem of a country that has shown complete disdain for the rest of the civilized world is quite funny."

Dammit, another one.

1/13/2005 05:12:00 PM | |

 

Big up to you | Metafilter: "I didn't find this funny. Mocking the national anthem in any country is unacceptable.

I don't think he was mocking the anthem. I think he was mocking the country. [cough, cough...]
posted by 327.ca at 12:49 PM PST on January 13 "

Interesting posts. I also like:

Rednecks getting their genocidal bile spewed back at them - priceless.

1/13/2005 05:11:00 PM | |

 

News: "Researchers have discovered the hidden laboratory used by Leonardo da Vinci for studies of flight and other pioneering scientific work in previously sealed rooms at a monastery next to the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, in the heart of Florence."

Via mefi.

1/13/2005 05:08:00 PM | |

 

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 09, 2005 - January 15, 2005 Archives: "'Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) today joined James Roosevelt Jr., grandson of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in calling on the group Progress for America Inc. to cease running its latest television ad, which misleadingly features photos of President Roosevelt in its pitch for Social Security privatization. As James Roosevelt Jr. writes in his letter to Progress for America, 'to compare the courage it took to provide a guaranteed insurance program for our seniors and the disabled to the courage it will take to dismantle the most successful social program in history is simply unconscionable.'"

1/13/2005 03:04:00 PM | |

 

American Prospect Online - ViewWeb: "You may have missed it in all the hoo-ha, but, according to USA Today and this fellow Clark Kent Ervin, it seems there were some high times to be had around the DHS. Some of the air marshals were discovered to be sleeping on the job, perhaps because they were drunk, which some of them apparently were. Some of them lost their guns, which at first seems unfortunate, especially around airports, but, if theyre drunk already, maybe its all for the best. "

1/13/2005 01:10:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Storms take two more lives, spawn twisters: "EL DORADO, Ark. - The line of deadly storms that moved across California earlier this week continued a destructive path as they headed East Thursday, claiming two more lives in Arkansas and causing several dozen counties in Alabama and Florida to post tornado warnings."

1/13/2005 01:03:00 PM | |

 

The Heat Is Online: "The new scenario, unveiled by the Government yesterday, implies a grim future for billions of people around the globe, with even more damaging impacts than have so far been expected in terms of droughts, extreme weather events such as hurricanes, rainstorms and flooding, and sea-level rise.
'This is a further wake-up call to what is the worst problem the world faces today,' said the Environment minister Michael Meacher, who announced the findings. 'The severity of this cannot be overstated.' "

1/13/2005 11:02:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Book Excerpt: Out of School: "Despite its reputation as a place shrouded in numbers and complexity, Wall Street is really a business of relationships, where deals are made over cocktails at 21 or during dinners at Campagnola, one of New York's best Italian restaurants. And the story of Grubman and AT&T offers a startling window into how Wall Street firms put their interests well ahead of the small investors it was supposed to be helping during the bubble years."

1/13/2005 09:28:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - �Ali G� character causes near riot at rodeo: "After telling the crowd he supported America�s war on terrorism, he said, �I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards ... And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq.� He then sang a garbled version of �The Star-Spangled Banner.�
The Roanoke Times reported that the crowd turned �downright nasty.� One observer said �If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him.�"

1/13/2005 09:23:00 AM | |

 

President of Fabricated Crises (washingtonpost.com): "But when historians look back at the Bush presidency, they're more likely to note that what sets Bush apart is not the crises he managed but the crises he fabricated. The fabricated crisis is the hallmark of the Bush presidency. To attain goals that he had set for himself before he took office -- the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the privatization of Social Security -- he concocted crises where there were none. "

1/13/2005 09:00:00 AM | |

 

TIME.com: What About Gross National Happiness?: "King Wangchucks idea that public policy should be more closely tied to wellbeing how people feel about their lives is catching on. There is a growing interest in some policymaking circles in looking at these measures, says Richard Easterlin, economics professor at the University of Southern California. We have been misguided in dismissing what people say about how happy they are and simply assuming that if they are consuming more apples and buying more cars they are better off. There are efforts to devise a new economic index that would measure wellbeing gauged by things like satisfaction with personal relationships, employment, and meaning and purpose in life, as well as, for example, the extent new drugs and technology improve standards of living. "

1/13/2005 08:55:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Report: White House fought interrogation curbs: "At the urging of the White House, congressional leaders scrapped a legislative measure last month that would have imposed new restrictions on the use of extreme interrogation measures by American intelligence officers, The New York Times reported Wednesday."

1/13/2005 08:48:00 AM | |

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 

Daily Kos :: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.: "'I feel a strange kinship with Michael,' Mr. Gibson said. 'They're trying to pit us against each other in the press, but it's a hologram. They really have got nothing to do with one another. It's just some kind of device, some left-right. He makes some salient points. There was some very expert, elliptical editing going on. However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there, and why we're still there.'"

1/12/2005 04:10:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Ridge, lobbyist have close ties, documents show: "WASHINGTON - As the Homeland Security Department was starting up, Secretary Tom Ridge twice stayed overnight at the Arizona home of a wealthy friend who ran a lobbying firm that was aggressively expanding its homeland security business."

1/12/2005 04:06:00 PM | |

 

Steve Gilliard's News Blog : What weapons, there are no weapons: "No one could or would defend Saddam's rule in Iraq. But is the hell we've unleashed even marginally better. Sure, let's talk about elections. How many Iraqis and Americans will die to play out Bush's farce? In the charnel house we've turned Iraq into, how many people will die for 'the vote'. A vote for candidates who cannot even campaign."

1/12/2005 03:06:00 PM | |

 

President outlines role of his faith - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - January 12, 2005: "'I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person,' Mr. Bush said. 'I've never said that. I've never acted like that. I think that's just the way it is."

1/12/2005 02:59:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Fossil shows baby dinosaur in mammal's belly - Jan 12, 2005: "Scientists say the animal's last meal probably is the first proof that mammals hunted small dinosaurs some 130 million years ago. It contradicts conventional evolutionary theory that early mammals were timid, chipmunk-sized creatures that scurried in the looming shadow of the giant reptiles."

1/12/2005 01:21:00 PM | |

 

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: January 09, 2005 - January 15, 2005 Archives

“Right now, to be very candid with you, we don’t have broad Republican support let alone bipartisan support for [President Bush's] plan that was outlined during the campaign.”

1/12/2005 10:58:00 AM | |

 

Scientific American: Climate Change Desiccating the Planet, Researchers Conclude: "The portion of our planet affected by serious drought has doubled in the last three decades, a new study suggests. Findings to be presented today at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in San Diego, Calif., indicate that the fraction of global land characterized as 'very dry' has increased from 10 to 15 percent in the 1970s to nearly 30 percent in 2002. "

1/12/2005 08:59:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com - Iraqi insurgents fear bin Laden's moves - Jan 12, 2005: "But Ansar al-Sunnah, the homegrown group that took responsibility for that deadliest of attacks on a U.S. target in Iraq, named the bomber as Abu Omar of Mosul, a nom de guerre that pointedly claims him as an Iraqi."

1/12/2005 08:55:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC -: "Writing on the website of the magazine The Nation, David Corn says he encountered Williams in a Fox Green Room after the story broke and Williams told him, 'This happens all the time. There are others.'

Corn says he then asked Williams for the names of other conservative commentators who had accepted money from the Bush Administration... to which Williams replied, 'I'm not going to defend myself that way.'"

1/12/2005 08:39:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC -: "There, the political party of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi held a news conference in Baghdad to announce some of its candidates for the elections. It had a little surprise for the reporters who attended: One hundred dollars. The newspaper The Financial Timesreporting that after their statements, Allawi's colleagues invited each journalist to an upstairs room, and handed them each a hundred-dollar bill. American. A Ben Franklin for everybody in the house."

1/12/2005 08:36:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Suns too hot for Heat to handle: "ONeal has always liked Stoudemire.
Tonight it was the old me versus the young me, ONeal said. I wanted to make him shoot the jumper, and he shot it, and he shot it real well. Hes a great kid."

1/12/2005 08:33:00 AM | |

Tuesday, January 11, 2005 

MSNBC - The 'Media Party' is over

1/11/2005 05:11:00 PM | |

 

Hello Msnbc.com,
I wanted to write to say thank you in regards to this piece you are doing tonight.

I am not sure if you are going to do it justice-- the problems that are confronting us as humans part of this world (I am a little cynical in regards to the media in this country), but I am so excited to see that this discussion is starting to go on. So very excited, it is an issue close to my heart.

On a broader note, I really like what you folks have been doing with your website and the perspectives that you offer. It always could be better of course, but where Cnn.com used to be my news stop of choice msnbc.com has replaced it.
Thank you, keep up the good work

1/11/2005 04:25:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Is something wrong with Mother Earth?: "From space, Mother Earth is seemingly tranquil � the proverbial 'big blue marble.' But up close it looks like our more than 4 billion-year-old planet is having trouble."

1/11/2005 04:14:00 PM | |

 

The New Republic Online: Labor Pains: "With labor's power ebbing, business has increasingly been able to dominate public policy issues, from taxes to environmental protection to Social Security. That might not bother Bush, Tom DeLay, and Karl Rove. But it's not a good thing for the rest of us. "

1/11/2005 01:26:00 PM | |

 

Collected Poetry: "THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparell'd in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;--
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more. "

1/11/2005 11:55:00 AM | |

 

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.

Federal officials have told the District that it should cover the expenses by using some of the $240 million in federal homeland security grants it has received in the past three years -- money awarded to the city because it is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack.

It is supremely fitting that the celebration of a victory won by politicizing and hyping homeland security and terrorism ends up with this sort of funding problem.
-- Josh Marshall

1/11/2005 11:10:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - In GOP, resistance on Social Security: "Republicans are privately 'bewildered why this is such a White House priority,' he said. 'I am a skeptic politically and a little bit substantively.'"

1/11/2005 09:47:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com: "Do you think the weather is becoming more extreme?"

Go vote, or take a look at the results. I am so glad people are starting to talk about this, or at least CNN is. Defining problem/challenge of our age.

1/11/2005 09:37:00 AM | |

Monday, January 10, 2005 

MSNBC - Moussaoui takes appeal to Supreme Court

1/10/2005 05:27:00 PM | |

 

Dead Prez and Their Thoughts On Revolution - www.ezboard.com: "In the artic where the indigenous people sometimes might hunt a wolf they'll take a double edge blade and they'll put blood on the blade and melt the ice and stick the handle in the ice so only the blade is protruding. And that a wolf who smells the blood and wants to eat will come and lick the blade trying to eat and what happens is when the wolf licks the blade he cuts his tongue and he bleeds and he thinks he's really having a good meal and he drinks, and he licks and licks and of course he's drinking his own blood and he kills himself. - Wolves (1st track on 'Let's Get Free').

Stic: That's the Chairman Omali from NPDUM (National Peoples Democratic Uhuru Movement) "

1/10/2005 02:46:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Thank God for the Navy: "A mighty task force of more than 20 US Navy ships, led by a vast nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, and equipped with nearly 90 helicopters, landing craft and hovercraft, were carrying out a round-the-clock relief operation, providing food, water and medical supplies to hundreds of thousands of survivors."

Sounds like a great story right? I agree, I like it very much. Unfortunately the context and all the shit that surrounds this is about hate and demeaning others. What the fuck is up with that? Why is everybody having to do that these days? I do not understand it and don't like it.

P.s. When I write 'everybody' I mean left, right, whatever. I do not understand, 'We did a great job. Those guys fucking suck. Hate.'

1/10/2005 02:15:00 PM | |

 

Ten Business Predictions for 2005: "7. Oil will stay high, forcing every airline company out of business save JetBlue and Southwest.
Sound far-fetched? United, Delta, AMR Corp., US Airways, and even Continental can't handle a big uptick in oil with their crummy balance sheets. If oil stays high, they could, and should, all fold. JetBlue and Southwest will then divide the gates and become extremely profitable ventures. The employees at the failed airlines will get bupkes from the government and sue, but they'll draw a newly appointed conservative judge who will rule that it's time for capitalism to show its ugly face and let losers lose. President Bush, while 'unhappy' with the decision, will applaud its decisiveness, and the message will be clear: This is the Bush version of Reagan's smashing the air-traffic controllers union. "

Interesting article via talkingpointsmemo.com

1/10/2005 01:44:00 PM | |

 

AMERICAN COPROPHAGIA: "Saith DeLay:

'A reading of the Gospel, in Matthew 7:21 through 27.
Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?
'Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you: depart from me, you evil doers.''
Everyone who listens to these words of mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man, who built his house on a rock:
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and buffeted the house, but it did not collapse; it has been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine, but does not act on them, will be like a fool who built his house on sand:
The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew, and buffeted the house, and it collapsed and was completely ruined.'
He finishes reading, says nothing more, and sits back down."

1/10/2005 01:28:00 PM | |

 

Crazy weekend up in the mountains, dear reader(s).

We had a good time at the cabin near Dodge Ridge, but not as good as might have been-- too much dead weight and probably not the best conditions (no lines though!). It snowed a crazy amount on Friday/Saturday and then we woke up to rain on Sunday.

Check this, we got home around 5-530 on Saturday and it was ~31degrees. It heated up throughout the night to a waking temperature of 37degrees and rain. Weird to anyone else?

That is what strikes me the most about our weather patterns these days and that is how quickly they change and oscillate. For instance it seems our weather up here in NoCal almost has tropical flucuations now (e.g. raining one minute, sunny the next, etc.). It seems like it is also happening up there, in Tahoe. Weird to me.

1/10/2005 10:48:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Storms again blast West Coast: "'The snowbanks along Interstate 80 are about 8 to 10 feet high. It's like you're going through a maze,' said Jane Dulaney, spokeswoman for the Rainbow Lodge west of Donner Summit."

Try it with the defrost not working and your friend hanging out the window with his goggles on, directing the driver.

1/10/2005 10:44:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Storms again blast West Coast: "LOS ANGELES - A fourth straight day of rain swamped Southern California on Monday, while new snow added to the 19 feet that has fallen in the Sierra Nevadas in just two weeks -- reflections of a winter to be remembered on the West Coast."

Reflections of a year to remember across our globe.

1/10/2005 10:22:00 AM | |

Sunday, January 09, 2005 

CNN.com - Storm cuts Sierra Nevada transport - Jan 9, 2005: "RENO, Nevada (AP) -- Areas of the Sierra Nevada, famous for paralyzing amounts of snowfall, have been hit with a dumping like they haven't seen in generations, with steep drifts stranding an Amtrak train, knocking out the Reno airport and shutting down major highways across the mountains."

1/09/2005 06:36:00 PM | |

Friday, January 07, 2005 

Gindy.blogspot.com: Icbergs In New Zealand

1/07/2005 10:33:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com - 'Fear Factor' sued for rat-eating episode - Jan 7, 2005: "Aitken's handwritten lawsuit contends the rat-eating made his blood pressure rise, resulting in being dizzy and lightheaded -- and vomiting. Because he was disoriented he ran into a doorway, 'causing suffering, injury and great pain.'"

hahahahahaha. Reality is too funny.

1/07/2005 09:19:00 AM | |

 

ESPN.com - NFL - Ratto: Bad P.R.: "Fact is, Terry Donahue didn't make himself a viable candidate for any future NFL jobs of influence because the 49ers descended into a circus act on his watch. His record stands on its own, and then goes face-first off the top of the bar, slides down the side and clangs against the brass rail before resting on the peanut-shell encrusted floor."

1/07/2005 09:18:00 AM | |

Thursday, January 06, 2005 

MSNBC - For Giants, time for title is now: "Of the moves made so far this offseason, I'd say the Giants are as improved as any team, and the frontrunners in their division. "

1/06/2005 06:11:00 PM | |

 

The New York Times > New York Region > Public Lives: Warning From a Student of Democracy's Collapse: "FRITZ STERN, a refugee from Hitler's Germany and a leading scholar of European history, startled several of his listeners when he warned in a speech about the danger posed in this country by the rise of the Christian right. In his address in November, just after he received a prize presented by the German foreign minister, he told his audience that Hitler saw himself as 'the instrument of providence' and fused his 'racial dogma with a Germanic Christianity.'"

1/06/2005 05:46:00 PM | |

 

The Reality of Red-State Fascism by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.: "He goes on to urge that anti-leftists work to educate themselves about economics, so that they can have a positive agenda to displace their purely negative one. A positive agenda of liberty is the only way we might have been spared the blizzard of government controls that were fastened on this country after Bush used the events of 9-11 to increase central planning, invade Afghanistan and Iraq, and otherwise bring a form of statism to America that makes Clinton look laissez-faire by comparison. The Bush administration has not only faced no resistance from the bourgeoisie. it has received cheers. And they are not only cheering Bush's reelection; they have embraced tyrannical control of society as a means toward accomplishing their anti-leftist ends. "

Good parts in this. Take a read.

1/06/2005 05:37:00 PM | |

 

The Reality of Red-State Fascism by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.: "In the last years of the 1990s, the GOP-voting middle class refocused its anger away from government and leviathan and toward the person of Bill Clinton. It was said that he represented some kind of unique moral evil despoiling the White House. That ridiculous Monica scandal culminated in a pathetic and pretentious campaign to impeach Clinton. Impeaching presidents is a great idea, but impeaching them for fibbing about personal peccadilloes is probably the least justifiable ground. It's almost as if that entire campaign was designed to discredit the great institution of impeachment. "

1/06/2005 05:34:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Congress rejects challenge to Bush election: "If they were willing to stand in polls for countless hours in the rain, as many did in Ohio, than I can surely stand up for them here in the halls of Congress, Tubbs Jones said."

1/06/2005 04:57:00 PM | |

 

Yahoo! News - CNN Lets 'Crossfire' Host Carlson Go: "'I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp,' Klein told The Associated Press. "

1/06/2005 03:07:00 PM | |

 

Angel,
It isn't often, but that grumpy look in your face reminds me of being a kid- I love it so much.
When your hair blows in the wind or your jasmine smell touches my face, I am moved to another place.
I see you with your family and see how they have opened themselves to me and I am more grateful than you can know- it is a feeling that I do not even feel with my own family sometimes.
You are a trooper and my little soldier. I was so proud of you coming down that cornice at Kirkwood. I think if you had been more upset ____ may not have walked out of there. You calm me and bring me peace.
In those quiet moments before sleep or when we wake up there is no where else I would rather be. You are an angel and you touch me in ways that I don't think you could fully appreciate.
With you I have re-examined my own life and been offered so much. It is something I will never be able to repay. Yours

1/06/2005 02:49:00 PM | |

 

Interesting site.

It is an issue very close to my heart, the environment. It is something I think about a lot. Remember my previous post? I did not explain it at the time, but it points to something I truly believe in and that is that we are intimately connected to this world (for we are but dust from it) though this connection has been dilluded through a number of different factors (herd mentality, provided security, etc.).

It is a type of intelligence we have lost collectively, but I think it is still there and manifesting itself in different ways today. I am a bit scared as to where it is leading, but I do think that together we could right the ship and row out of this (knowing the depth of the sea with each row just like the Sentinelese).

We could all feel so much more alive together and explore the true possibilities of our world. Now that we have iPods, outward development could slow down a bit eh? It is time for some inward development.

Much love.

1/06/2005 02:41:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Congress debates Ohio, then to certify Bush win: "WASHINGTON - A group of Democrats angry with Election Day problems in Ohio forced Congress on Thursday to interrupt its ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that gave President Bush his re-election victory."

1/06/2005 11:21:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Has the Government Come Clean?: "Jan. 5 - While senators prepare to grill attorney general nominee Alberto Gonzales Thursday about his role in crafting policies that allegedly led to the abuse of detained terror suspects, a fresh controversy is brewing about previous testimony on the issue from another senior U.S. government official: FBI Director Robert Mueller."

1/06/2005 09:10:00 AM | |

Wednesday, January 05, 2005 

Bounder! | Metafilter: "It's not because Ken Blackwell is a Republican. It's because he's egregiously committed election fraud, more than once. Nothing more and nothing less.


'Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?

But conscience asks the question - is it right?

And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.'

-Martin Luther King"

1/05/2005 05:47:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Ashlee Simpson�s vocal malfunction: "But Ashlee must cease and desist her professional singing career immediately. The lip-synching angered many. The Orange Bowl debacle undoubtedly caused thousands to seek counseling. What does she want next? Is she setting up some sort of blackmail scheme: �Give me $10 million or I�ll keep singing�?"

1/05/2005 05:21:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC -: "Sick Bed, New York� Nothing is in writing and daybreak is a long way away, but it appeared all but certain in early evening Wednesday that House Democrats had secured the support of up to half a dozen Senators to formally challenge the Electoral College slate from Ohio, when the votes are opened before a joint session of Congress tomorrow."

1/05/2005 05:07:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - U.S. reserves nearly 'broken,' says chief: "WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army Reserve, tapped heavily to provide soldiers for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is degenerating into a broken force due to dysfunctional military policies, the Army Reserves chief said in a memo made public Wednesday."

1/05/2005 04:05:00 PM | |

 

Susan Sontag On the Great Atlantic Divide: "America, the child of Europe, was becoming, or had become, the antithesis of Europe. "

1/05/2005 03:55:00 PM | |

 

Senators should object to Ohio vote

January 4, 2005
BY REV. JESSE JACKSON

This Thursday in Washington Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the senior minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will formally object to the counting of the Ohio electoral vote in the 2004 presidential election. If any senator joins him, the counting of the vote is suspended and the House and the Senate must convene separately to hear the objections filed, and to vote on whether to accept them.

The grounds for the objections are clear: The irregularities in the Ohio vote and vote count are widespread and blatant. If the Ohio election were held in the Ukraine, it would not have been certified by the international community.

In Ohio, the gulf between exit polls and counted votes is vast and glaring. Blatant discrimination in the distribution of voting machines ensured long lines in inner-city and working-class precincts that favored John Kerry, while the exurban districts that favored President Bush had no similar problems.

Systematic efforts were made to suppress and challenge the new voters in Kerry precincts, whether students or African Americans. Some precincts were certified with more votes than the number registered; others were certified with preposterously low turnouts. Voting machines, produced by a company headed by a vowed Bush supporter, provide no paper record. Ohio's secretary of state, the inappropriately partisan head of the state's Bush campaign, has resisted any systematic recount of the ballots.

The systematic bias and potential for fraud is unmistakable. An in-depth investigation is vital -- and the partisan secretary of state has opposed it every step of the way. In this context, Conyers and his colleagues in the House are serving the nation's best interests in demanding an investigation of the irregularities in Ohio, and objecting to business as usual in counting the vote.
If Harry Reid, the new leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, has any sense, he will lead members of the caucus to support their colleagues from the House and demand a debate that will expose the irregularities in Ohio. If Kerry wants to establish his continued leadership, he will stand first to join with Conyers and demand a debate.

Will the debate overturn the outcome of the election? That is doubtful, although the irregularities in Ohio suggest that Kerry may well have won if a true count could be had. But the debate is vital anyway. This country's elections, each run with different standards by different states, with partisan tricks, racial bias, and too often widespread incompetence, are an open scandal.

We need national standards to ensure that we get an honest count across the country. National standards, accompanied by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to vote for all Americans, will be passed only if leaders in the Congress refuse to close their eyes to the scandal, and instead stop business as usual.

Conyers, Reid and Kerry will face harsh criticism for violating what might be called the Nixon precedent. When Kennedy beat Nixon by a few thousand votes in an election marked by irregularities in Illinois and Texas, Nixon chose not to challenge the result. Gore essentially followed that rule after the gang of five in the Supreme Court disgraced themselves by stopping the vote count in Florida. But the effect of the Nixon precedent is to provide those who would cheat with essentially a free pass. Particularly when the state officials are partisans, they can put in the fix with little fear of exposure so long as they win.

So Conyers will step up, accompanied by other courageous members of the House. They will object to the count and demand a debate. To force that debate, they need only one member of the Senate to join them. Reid should lead the entire caucus to join them. Kerry should stand alone if necessary to demand clean elections in America.

If America is to be a champion of democracy abroad, it must clean up its elections at home. If it is to complain of fraudulent and dishonest election practices abroad, it cannot condone them at home. But more important, if our own elections are to be legitimate, then they must be honest, open, with high national standards.

The time has come to stand up for clean elections, and to let it be known that massive irregularities will not go unchallenged.





Geez, crazy talk. Nutjob. 'We know we won't win, but need to secure voting for minorities and students?' Does he think this this the sixities or what? Fucking hippie.

1/05/2005 03:48:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Storms cause havoc from Rockies to Northeast - Jan 5, 2005: "KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Motorists and pedestrians slid on slippery pavement Wednesday morning as a storm spread snow and thick layers of ice from the Rockies to the Northeast, cutting off electricity to thousands of homes and businesses and giving some children a holiday from school."

Any patterns? Or do we just report on the daily events now and completely forget those events from yesterday, last week, this summer, or last year?

So often our fucking media fails us. Not to belabor the point, but many believe that our Democratic party is leftish? Or that our media has a lefty slant? Are you fucking kidding me? Puhhhleeese. If it wasn't so serious, I might even laugh.

1/05/2005 02:22:00 PM | |

 

SI.com - Ute fans angry at police for electrical shocking - Wednesday January 5, 2005 3:05PM: "SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Some Utah fans are upset that police responsible for security at the Fiesta Bowl used 50,000-volt electric devices to zap fans trying to storm the field after the win.
Arizona State University spokesman Keith Jennings said the use of the weapons was in line with the department's use-of-force policy."

Welcome to America, 2005.

1/05/2005 02:03:00 PM | |

 

Ten Preliminary Reasons Why the Bush Vote Does Not Compute, and Why Congress Must Investigate Rather Than Certify the Electoral College: "Crucial flaws in the national vote count, most importantly in Ohio, New Mexico and Florida, indicate John Kerry was most likely the actual winner on November 2, as reported in national exit polls. At very least, the widespread tampering with how the election was conducted, and how Ohio's votes were counted and re-counted, has compromised this nation's historic commitment to free and fair elections. "

1/05/2005 12:02:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Fox us with impunity: "I noticed none of the U.S. media picked up on the story I saw in the Globe and Mail about the suicide bomber in the mess tent last week was a SAUDI.
I wonder why they did not think that the American public would want to know this fact?"

1/05/2005 11:23:00 AM | |

 

Rude awakening to missile-defense dream | csmonitor.com: "The abysmal performance of American counter-SCUD operations during the Gulf War in 1991 highlighted the deficiencies of the US military regarding the aerial interdiction of road-mobile missiles. Iraqi Al-Hussein mobile missiles were virtually impossible to detect and interdict, even with total American air supremacy. Despite all the effort put into counter-SCUD operations during that war, not a single Iraqi mobile missile launcher was destroyed by hostile fire, a fact I can certify not only as a participant in the counter-SCUD effort, but also as a chief inspector in Iraq, where I led the United Nations investigations into the Iraqi missile program."

1/05/2005 11:14:00 AM | |

 

CNN.com - Man slain in studio linked to Eminem - Jan 5, 2005: "DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- The owner of the studio where hip-hop megastar Eminem recorded the multimillion-selling CD, 'The Slim Shady LP,' was found shot to death Tuesday inside the facility, police said."

Toy Soldiers, we all fall down.

1/05/2005 09:00:00 AM | |

Tuesday, January 04, 2005 

MSNBC - Stone Age cultures survive tsunami waves: "Government officials and anthropologists believe that ancient knowledge of the movement of wind, sea and birds may have saved the five indigenous tribes on the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar islands from the tsunami that hit the Asian coastline Dec. 26."

1/04/2005 06:31:00 PM | |

 

THE WORLD QUESTION CENTER 2005: "Second, one of our shared core systems centers on a notion that is false: the notion that members of different human groups differ profoundly in their concepts and values. This notion leads us to interpret the superficial differences between people as signs of deeper differences. It has quite a grip on us: Many people would lay down their lives for perfect strangers from their own community, while looking with suspicion at members of other communities. And all of us are apt to feel a special pull toward those who speak our language and share our ethnic background or religion, relative to those who don't."

1/04/2005 05:52:00 PM | |

 

Report: Calif. schools lag behind other states

Thank you Prop 13, oh and old people who support it. Move to Arizona people. And nut up terminator, oh maybe bad choice of words.

1/04/2005 05:20:00 PM | |

 

MetroWest Daily News - Local News Coverage: "Wakefield has been a friend to the patients at Franciscan for several years. Since 1998, children from the hospital, known as 'Wakefield's Warriors,' have attended every Tuesday home game as Wakefield's guests. As Wakefield walked into the hospital gymnasium with the trophy, children chanted 'Red Sox' and some had signs showing they were a Wakefield Warrior. "

1/04/2005 05:15:00 PM | |

 

Surviving Grady: "I totally dig on the fact that Game One opened in the midst of a pouring rain storm. If there's any pet peeve of mine regarding our glorious national pasttime, it's the rainout. No baseball in the rain? Are you made of clay? Get your ass out there and shag balls, grandma. Christ, back in the day, Cy Young would see his second baseman eaten whole by a bear and just keep on playing. "

1/04/2005 05:07:00 PM | |

 

The New York Times > Science > God (or Not), Physics and, of Course, Love: Scientists Take a Leap: "Philip Zimbardo
Psychologist, emeritus professor, Stanford; author, 'Shyness'
I believe that the prison guards at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, who worked the night shift in Tier 1A, where prisoners were physically and psychologically abused, had surrendered their free will and personal responsibility during these episodes of mayhem.
But I could not prove it in a court of law. These eight Army reservists were trapped in a unique situation in which the behavioral context came to dominate individual dispositions, values and morality to such an extent that they were transformed into mindless actors alienated from their normal sense of personal accountability for their actions - at that time and place.
The 'group mind' that developed among these soldiers was created by a set of known social psychological conditions, some of which are nicely featured in Golding's 'Lord of the Flies.' The same processes that I witnessed in my Stanford Prison Experiment were clearly operating in that remote place: deindividuation, dehumanization, boredom, groupthink, role-playing, rule control and more." What an article. thanks again mefi.

1/04/2005 04:46:00 PM | |

 

The New York Times > Science > God (or Not), Physics and, of Course, Love: Scientists Take a Leap: "I believe that consciousness and its contents are all that exists. Space-time, matter and fields never were the fundamental denizens of the universe but have always been, from their beginning, among the humbler contents of consciousness, dependent on it for their very being.
The world of our daily experience - the world of tables, chairs, stars and people, with their attendant shapes, smells, feels and sounds - is a species-specific user interface to a realm far more complex, a realm whose essential character is conscious. It is unlikely that the contents of our interface in any way resemble that realm. "

Woah, my head just exploded.

1/04/2005 04:28:00 PM | |

 

CNN.com - Powell:�Aid shows U.S. values in action - Jan 4, 2005: "Japan pledged $500 million for relief efforts, the largest single contribution. Norway's plan to pledge about $180 million, announced Monday, would make its contribution the largest per capita by a wide margin. (Full story)"

1/04/2005 02:51:00 PM | |

 

Topical email today:


America Needs Honest ElectionsCongress This Week Can Make It Clear

The whole world now knows what went on in Ohio and other states on Election Day, and we simply can't let it happen anymore.

We know that many Americans in inner cities were prevented from voting by eight-hour lines. We know that local officials changed the rules on which votes they counted. We know that technicians from computerized voting companies were allowed to tamper with balloting machines unsupervised.

Elections with those sorts of problems are not honest.

The winners of these tainted elections assert that their outcomes didn’t depend on the fraud. But in sports, referees don’t wait until the outcome of the game is in jeopardy before calling penalties and enforcing the rules. Nowhere in the Constitution does it describe some acceptable level of denying Americans their votes. When Congress meets this Thursday, January 6, we’ll have a good opportunity to make it clear that Americans want every vote counted, period. That same Constitution also directs Congress to ratify the result of the presidential election in order to make it official.

This Thursday, Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) plans to challenge the voting tally from his state, and if even one senator joins him, Congress will be compelled to debate the widespread problems that have been exposed. This Congress isn’t going to overturn the election, but it would be forced into a debate that would serve as a national teach-in on voting rights, computer voting that can’t be audited and the continued suppression of minority votes. In short — Honest Elections or not? If you received this email as a member of TrueMajority, you can simply click "Reply" and "Send" in your email program to send the message below to your senators. If you wish to edit the message, or if this email was forwarded to you from someone else, asking that they join Rep. Conyers in forcing this important debate toward Honest Elections.

click here to send a message to your senators , asking that they join Rep. Conyers in forcing this important debate toward Honest Elections.
After you've sent your message, forward this email to everyone you know who supports the idea of honest elections.

Toward true democracy,
Matt HollandHonest Elections Coordinator

Here’s the message we’ll deliver to your senators:
Dear [Senator’s name]:
I am disturbed by the widespread reports of irregularities in this past election—not enough voting machines in inner-city precincts, causing hours-long lines; computerized ballot machines that can’t be audited; corporate technicians monkeying around with the public’s machines; local officials making up rules on the fly about which votes to actually count.
The key to elections is that all, especially the losers, agree that the elections were fair and honest. America doesn’t have that now, and it’s got to change.
Rep. John Conyers will use the occasion of the ratification of the election results to challenge this system; I ask that you do the same. I understand that the results won’t be overturned, but the debate resulting from this challenge would expose these irregularities and get America on the path to truly Honest Elections.
Please tell me that you will join Mr. Conyers in sparking this important debate.
Sincerely,
[your name]

1/04/2005 01:19:00 PM | |

 

MSNBC - Voters stand firm on Ohio election challenge: "COLUMBUS, Ohio - One voter didn�t see any signs of fraud on Election Day but was suspicious of the results. Another was surprised by long lines in her suburban city, where voting was always quick in the past."

1/04/2005 10:48:00 AM | |

 

MOS DEF - UMI SAYS LYRICS: "Sometimes I don't wanna be a soldier
Sometimes I just wanna be a man"

1/04/2005 09:49:00 AM | |

 

MSNBC - Stocks struggle amid dollar rally, merger: "The dollar, having tumbled to record lows last month, showed signs of resilience, moving slightly higher against the euro and the Japanese yen. While the dollar is still at historic lows, benefiting exporters, signs of strength will help importers of raw materials as well."

1/04/2005 09:34:00 AM | |

Monday, January 03, 2005 

Oil is fossilized trees. An uncontained forest fire is brush and trees burning uncontrollably. Mr. Crichton, we have forest fires burning in all our major cities every day of the year. LA, you are worse than most.

So I must ask about this State of Fear nonsense, are you fucking stupid? I have read Travels and I know that you believe and do some funky shit. I like that you are open to many different experiences and educating yourself about different things, but c’mon man, don’t be a hack like me.

Do you not think that these uncontrolled fires burning now, as I write and as you wrote, do anything? That our world is doing fine and don’t worry about it? With all that money, I would like you to buy a clue my friend or use a lifeline and figure it out.

If you and the current companies running our country can cut down our forests so that we may avoid catastrophic fires can you also do a little work to avoid those in our backyard? Those quiet (except for you Oaktown, WOOWOO), but taken together, completely uncontrolled fires? Because while in reality we don’t know what the fuck they are doing 1. they ain’t good and 2. I don’t like being parts of experiments (ok, maybe once in college).

Hug a tree my brother. And, as my good uncle might say, listen to your heart. Oh wait, no, my good uncle would insult me and laugh at me (all in good fun!) for taking this tact. Forget that last part.

1/03/2005 03:12:00 PM | |

 

RealClimate � Michael Crichton�s State of Confusion: "Michael Crichton's new novel 'State of Fear' is about a self-important NGO hyping the science of the global warming to further the ends of evil eco-terrorists. The inevitable conclusion of the book is that global warming is a non-problem. A lesson for our times maybe? Unfortunately, I think not. "

1/03/2005 02:58:00 PM | |

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