Wednesday, December 31, 2003
someone nice wrote:
> I want to hear the new akin. A bright and optimistic akin. Shining prince.
I feel optimistic, that is certain, but, in the middle of a hurricane I don�t expect the sun to instantly come out and the birds to sing.
If I am to go out somewhere, it has to be for some enlightenment; either for some new or beautiful music or new ideas. New ideas means /normalment/ lectures or writing or exhibitions. New music means not a new release of something familiar, but a new instance of something /unfamiliar/. I will not settle for anything less, because anything less is a waste of time. Literally.
Money is not, and has never been, our sole reason for being, but we must be practical and efficient with our time. The amounts of money on offer for playing today are very small, and sometimes nothing at all. For the amount of effort involved in putting on a tour, the effect /has/ to be more than playing some old beats in a dark room. And by "effect", I mean the social returns of contacting hundreds of people. Too much effort is being put into these sorts of "events without returns"; like the $name_of_record_label tour that ultimately changes nothing in the world, even on the level of the individual. These events are "close ended", the energy that goes into them returns to nothing, like lighting being diffused iinto the earth by a lightning rod, only in this case, the lightning is barely measurable as a source of energy in the first instance.
All our efforts are now being put into getting out of this trap, this comfortable circular circus of tours, meaningless live events and one off shows. What no one is willing to address is the fact that this way of working has been going on for more than 30 years, and at the end of those years there is nothing to show for all the heroic effort. The recordings are mostly unobtainable, the scattered pieces of film are never shown, and the world has simply moved on. Unlike the art movements of the early 20th century which now have a place inside culture, what we have been doing is automatically excluded. We can accept this, but as "the constituency" the economic sphere that makes it possible for us to work and survive shrinks down to the size of a bubble of coca-cola, the people that are awake are looking for an exit, either to new lives or new ways of working.
Once again, I am optimistic. There is a way forward; I am certain of this. What I am also more or less certain of is that there is almost nothing to be gained by repeating the exact methods of decades past. They failed to secure their ability to work indefinitely, and surely if we do exactly as they did, touring around, playing for little money, and not presenting any new ideas (not to say that this is what you are doing) we will end up with exactly the same result.
The way people work today can be likened to a steam valve, letting off the contrarian energy that is always abundant in each generation. This way of working also acts like a "basket for stragglers", where misfits malcontents and the like are all corralled into safe controlled spaces and ways of living that are absolutely harmless in every way. They are rendered harmless creatively; no new and dangerous art or ideas are propagated. They are rendered harmless financially; no one accumulates an amount of money that will allow socially important momentum to be accumulated. And so on. What is astonishing about this is that once set into motion, this corral, this trap, this moebius loop is /self perpetuating/; there is no need for outside control, save for the odd piece of legislation preventing large numbers of people gathering without a licence.
Once again, no one seems to notice this, no one has high expectations. Even people who should know better are happy to be whirled along, round and round the moebius loop.
I cannot do this.
At the very least, these words need to be said; the intent to break out of this cycle has to be clearly stated, otherwise, it appears that /no one will even know that anything is wrong/ which such a nightmare that I can barely type the words.
Whatever slur these words evoke in a reader I accept with the joy of a glutton, for I would rather be castigated and reviled than be a willing participant in that illusory and pointless circus.
SO, I end by saying "Happy New Year!" Reading the above, you might be fooled into thinking that:
A I dont mean what that phrase says
B I dont know what that phrase means
Both A and B are thankfully wrong!
You just have to believe me....
all the best
./a
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
23
In Aleister Crowley's Cabalistic Dictionary, he defines the number 23 as the number of "parting, removal, separation, joy, a thread, and life..."
In Chapter 23 of theBook of Lies by Aleister Crowley, the chapter consists entirely of:
SKIDOO
What man is at ease in his Inn?
Get out.
Wide is the world and cold.
Get out.
Thou hast become an in-itiate.
Get out.
But thou canst not get out by the way thou camest in. The Way out is THE WAY.
Get out.
For OUT is Love and Wisdom and Power.
Get OUT.
If thou hast T already, first get UT.
Then get O.
And so at last get OUT.
On December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but also pulled out his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI sweeping new powers. A White House spokesperson explained the curious timing of the signing - on a Saturday - as "the President signs bills seven days a week." But the last time Bush signed a bill into law on a Saturday happened more than a year ago - on a spending bill that the President needed to sign, to prevent shuttng down the federal government the following Monday.
By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere footnote. Consequently, while most Americans watched as Hussein was probed for head lice, few were aware that the FBI had just obtained the power to probe their financial records, even if the feds don't suspect their involvement in crime or terrorism. [...]
San Antonio Current
Monday, December 29, 2003
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Wunderlich knew that during the late 1800s, pus or bits of scabs from smallpox patients with mild cases were implanted in the skins of healthy people to generate a mild illness that bestowed lifetime immunity. The practice, used in the early 18th century, predated the cowpox-based vaccine that later became standard. [...]
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-12-26-smallpox-in-envelope_x.htm
Friday, December 26, 2003
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Ah, see, everyone is in spirit! and Alex, you just have to be there, and your parents will be happy. And you can also give them something of yours, if you feel so inclined ... a well-loved novel is not a bad thing to pass on.
My cousins are coming over tonight, we are having snacky things, like baked brie and chicken wings. I bought silly Christmas crackers, each has a differently toned whistle inside, and sheet music, so we can have a whistle band. Fun! Or it could be aural hell ... I am going to bake the absolutely-must-have butter tarts and some ginger cookies right now.
Merry Christmas everyone!
You've probably all guessed I love Christmas. I like it more though, when I am not rushing around, and I spread out the preparation and the celebration. It is always such a let down when you rush around for 3 days, and only celebrate on one day. Not really the point. And could you imagine not having this special time? What a drag the winter would be. But I do love Christmas because usually, most people are happy, or at least try to be happy and positive, and everything seems just so much easier. The trick, I think, is to carry the spirit all year.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
"Black people are brown, light yellow and all different colors in the United States," said Dr. Alvin Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. [...]
Whats wrong with this sentence??!?!
ROTFL!!!!
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/23/thurmond.folo/index.html
Which brings up the point that I have Norwegian ancestors (tthhpppbbbpptpbpbp to the comments, Alun), and I have never been there. My grandmother tells me there is an amazing park in Oslo, a must see.
Nice re-post of Whistler. I love to ski there. Masses of snow just now. But never go to the Longhorn for apres-ski, disgusting place. The Brewhouse is much better. We are off in 3 days for the First Annual Christmas Ski Trip to Big White Mountain (no laughing at the name) for a week of skiing (yes, this is bragging). Next year, I want to go to Europe, so hopefully a stop in Norway will be enroute. Austria seems to be the popular vote, but if we are going to drag all that gear around, I think we should go a few places ...
AND the party was really great, thank you for asking! I looked smashing, the food was perfect and it was just super to see everyone. The first of many gatherings I am sure.
AND cute card M. Davros!
Sunday, December 21, 2003
SOLDIER LETTERS
From: Jerry Oliver
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 11:05 AM
To: mike@michaelmoore.com
Subject: Iraqi Vet. Wants to make films
Dear Mr. Moore,
I have just returned home from "Operation Iraqi Freedom". I spent 5 months in Baghdad, and a total of 3 years in the U.S. Army. I was recently discharged with Honorable valor and returned to the States only to be horrified by what I've seen my country turn into.
I'm now 22 years old and have discovered America is such a complicated place to live, and moreover, Americans are almost oblivious to what's been happening to their country. America has become "1984." Homeland security is teaching us to spy on one another and forcing us to become anti-social. Americans are willingly sacrificing our freedoms in the name of security, the same Freedoms I was willing to put my life on the line for. The constitution is in jeopardy. As Gen. Tommy Franks said, (broken down of course) One more terrorist attack and the constitution will hold no meaning.
Computers are running our lives. There literally isn't anything we can't do online, and now we're becoming dependant on computers. And this is forcing us to become anti-social. And people who notice this become paranoid of One World Government conspiracy. Then the people who don't notice call the paranoid, �crack pots� and bury their nose back in the football section of the newspaper instead of reading the headline. Americans read a Maxim Magazine "How To ...fix the sink" and they truly believe they're plumbers. It's an illusion of intelligence.
They are convinced they control their lives when in reality they've never even left the city limits of Culpepper, VA. When just outside the city there's a station that's controlling them. Hell they know more about Peyton Manning's family history than about their own.
I wanted to take 2 months and travel all over this great country of ours, but I see no need to now... Because the McDonalds in Arizona is the same as the one in New York. We're losing our culture. And this convenient and sterile Wal-Mart environment that should be an alternative, is now common place and even worse, we're inflicting it on other cultures and pressuring them to drop their thousand year old heritage.
Americans accept anything the television tells them. The media can put a spin on any topic to suit their opinions and feed it to the people. People don't research the subjects on their own, they take the easiest route.
And it just seems like nobody cares that their dreams are being crushed by a society and a system. We're pressured to conform to a standard. Go to school for 12 years. Go to college, get a diploma, get married, use the degree to get a job you hate to work at for 40 years making somebody else rich, and then have your kids shuffle you into a retirement home where you wait for your turn to die. I know that's not the american dream.
Don't conform to a standard because you're told, conform if you want. Stop telling me what's appropriate and not. If two guys want to get married, I don't care, how does that affect me ? If I want to smoke a cigarette when I walk down the street, don't tell me to put it out, my freedom, you don't like it, try walking on the other side of the street. Do what you want in life. It's your country.
Remember there are some things you'll get arrested for. But if you feel you need to make a stand by doing so, more power to you.
Jerry C. Oliver Jr.
A Militia Man in the making methinks!
Hmmmmm!
Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops
Sat Dec 20,11:00 PM ET
Add Mideast - AFP to My Yahoo!
LONDON, (AFP) - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was captured by US troops only after he had been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for American soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said. [...]
An unnamed Western intelligence source in the Middle East told the Express: "Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge, it was just a matter of time." [...]
Yahoo News
Software Drop
May 14, 2003 iTunes 4 compatable Ogg Vorbis decoder plugin for Quicktime 6.2+ under MacOS X 10.2+This will allow you to play Ogg Vorbis music with iTunes. This version uses the latest Ogg Vorbis and Core Audio SDK and has been only lightly tested. It was compiled with a much newer compiler and seems to be a wee bit faster.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
I like that Blogdial is going in a new design direction. Perhaps we should all come up with our ouwn Style Sheet that can be randomly selected just like the header image. And the CSS shoul be linked externally rather than embedded into the page.
And all of the archives so easily accessible!!!
this is Josh, by the by.
A BILL
To amend section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, to provide for the punishment of certain profane broadcasts, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by inserting `(a)' before `Whoever'; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
`(b) As used in this section, the term `profane', used with respect to language, includes the words `shit', `piss', `fuck', `cunt', `asshole', and the phrases `cock sucker', `mother fucker', and `ass hole', compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms).'. [...]
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:h.r.3687:
Alun, I hope you find something fulfilling. It seems many jobs these days, you see the good side, you see the bad side. You have to weigh it. But as many have said to me in the past, you close one door, another one opens. Cliche! Twing! I am sure with your beautiful shiny spirit, the right one will fall in your lap. Hopefully after a month of bumming out and enjoying your home.
Hmmm. We are post-christmas party buzz, it was an amazing time, 20th floor, we see mountains, ocean, city. Everyone brought food, lovely drinks, music. Of course, the magnetic children running about, who made them so cute? And I am having 40+ to my home tomorrow for another Christmas swing. The first time for a large gathering here, it is my turn. Will they all come? How many finger sandwiches should I make? How many tarts? My biggest regret is that I cannot have all of you here. That would be my greatest joy.
Friday, December 19, 2003
"My Milkshake brings all the boys to the Yard and theyre like, its better than yours"
You don�t know what this means, and you don�t know if they know what it means, but you�re pretty sure it�s dirty (and it is). You�re never going to stop your kids from hearing this stuff, but that doesn�t mean you have to pay record companies to make more of it. [...]
http://www.whatacrappypresent.com/
Barrie, I grew up in Fort St. John, and it sounds exactly the same as Fort McMurray. Oil town. Harsh. A man's town. A bully town. Very hard. But the countryside is quite incredible, long long blue skies with ice crystals and sun dogs, Northern Lights that move when you call to them. The dusk that lasts forever in the summer. Fields of saskatoon berries and wild strawberries. Moose and grizzly bears and pheasants and grouse! I have experienced -70 (-40 + wind chill -30). And it is exactly as you said. You know you are alive.
MUTE protects your privacy by avoiding direct connections with your sharing partners in the network. Most other file sharing programs use direct connections to download or upload, making your identity available to spies from the RIAA and other unscrupulous organizations.
Read more... [...]
http://mute-net.sourceforge.net/
One to install and leave running over the holidays!
DownloadGNU/Linux Intel X862.5 MiBversion 0.1
DownloadGNU/Linux PPC1.9 MiBversion 0.1
DownloadMac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar)2.4 MiBversion 0.1
DownloadWindows 95/98/NT/2000/XP4.0 MiBversion 0.1
DownloadUnix Source (notes)400 KiBversion 0.1
http://990000.com/photo/
There are lots of photographers online, many of them selling prints, many of them professional art photographers. I saw some beautiful autumn shots by some american shooter, but lost the url...
The coldest Ive ever experienced was -30 in Montreal. Everything, and I MEAN everything and anytyhing was available underground. You can walk for miles underground, from shopping mall to shopping mall, and never see sunlight. The changes in smell as you go from one building to another are amazing; first Cinnabon, then some Chinese food....astonishing. The feeling was rather like the domed city of Logans Run or the underground hives of THX1138. After many days of these tunnels and malls, I longed for the surface.
It was so cold "up on top" that we had to take breaks in stores, pretending to shop while we warmed up. The wind bites into your skin; the moist air quitting from your nostrils deposits droplets that freeze on the end of your nose. It hurts. Its fresh. Its dangerous.
What a city!
In order of reception:
over easy
posted by Josh Carr , 9:56 PM
Suck it.
Hit it.
posted by Alun Kirby , 11:23 PM
"fresh cheeks"
"total 5|-|17"
posted by mary 13 , 6:15 AM
rotten fruits
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 2:00 PM
No Depth
posted by meau meau , 2:09 PM
I think Mr Carr gets it, but seeing as its the holiday, EVERYONE gets a prize!!!!!
Eash (yes EASH) winner please email me with your preferred snail maill address!
A number of questions are raised by the incredibly bedraggled, tired and crushed condition of this once savage, dapper and pampered ruler who was discovered in a hole in the ground on Saturday, December 13:
1. The length and state of his hair indicated he had not seen a barber or even had a shampoo for several weeks.
2. The wild state of his beard indicated he had not shaved for the same period
3. The hole dug in the floor of a cellar in a farm compound near Tikrit was primitive indeed � 6ft across and 8ft across with minimal sanitary arrangements - a far cry from his opulent palaces.
4. Saddam looked beaten and hungry.
5. Detained trying to escape were two unidentified men. Left with him were two AK-47 assault guns and a pistol, none of which were used.
6. The hole had only one opening. It was not only camouflaged with mud and bricks � it was blocked. He could not have climbed out without someone on the outside removing the covering.
7. And most important, $750,000 in 100-dollar notes were found with him (a pittance for his captors who expected a $25m reward)� but no communications equipment of any kind, whether cell phone or even a carrier pigeon for contacting the outside world.
According to DEBKAfile analysts, these seven anomalies point to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner. [...]
They captured him ages ago. They kept him buried alive until Christmas, so that they could unearth him as a present to the American people, assuring that GWB would be re-elected on the back of a tidal wave of approval. No wonder "the lion of the desert" looked so docile and broken, he was DRUGGED, underfed and kept horizontal, in the dark, for MONTHS. Sinister.
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=743
Thursday, December 18, 2003
a very public execution
I was thinking about this the other day. If they DO decide to execute him, it will, for sure, be on TV. No one in the west will see this event, because they are all lilly livered pantywaists. EVERYONE in the "middle east" however, will see it. Live.
They will probably hang him, Iran style, from a crane in one of the famous Bagdahd landmarks. It will be the first great spectacle of the 21st century.
Another humiliation without precedent. It would have been much better if none of this had ever happened...thats very clear.
Serious hat on now.
1. What information is collected and stored every time I use my Oyster Card?
Thats an interesting question. It could work one of two ways. It could store nothing but your number and each time you access one of the terminals, a communication is made that lets you through or barrs access. The second way is that its a stored value card, that is decremented every time you use it. If I were to get one, I would use a false name and address. Since every access point on the underground and busses is under surveilance, "they" can easily tie the time of use of your card to a frame from a camera to pin you down. Even if you get an anonymous card, once they know who you are, they can track your movements every time you use public transport.
Some people will say that this will make alibis easy to coroborate. Of course, it could also be used to frame someone; a little photoshop on a freeze frame and an s/loozer/criminal/ is all you would need to do.
2. For how long is it stored and for what purpose?
For certain, it will be held indefinetly. Police will have real time access to the data, just as they do with the Congestion Charge data. They dont appear to have a written policy on this until you try and buy a card.
These are the worrying parts of that document:
Direct marketing
The messages that we send to you may contain material advertising our products and services. Alternatively London Underground Limited may contact you separately with information and details of those products and services.
If you decide, now or in the future, that you do not wish to receive any of this information you may "opt-out" by:
* amending your preferences on the 'View or edit your profile' page
* calling us on 0845 330 9876
If you choose to opt-out of receiving this information we may not be able to provide you with the services that you have chosen to receive at registration.
Who does London Underground Limited disclose your information to?
We do not sell, trade or rent your personal information to third parties.
Occasionally, London Underground Limited will hire a reputable third party to undertake projects on its behalf, for example market research surveys and mailings. London Underground Limited will provide information to those parties specifically for use in connection with those projects. The information that London Underground Limited provides to such third parties is protected by a confidentiality agreement and is to be used solely for completing the project. Those third parties are required to process the data in accordance with the Data Protection legislation.
London Underground Limited will not disclose any of your personal information to any other third party without your consent, unless obliged to do so by law.
3. Who owns that information and is any part of it being shared, sold or in
any other way divulged to any other parties?
Thanks very much.
Or presumably, law enforcement.
London Underground Limited owns your data, or so it appears
They lend your data to other people, who they expect to abide by the law. There is absolutely no reason for Transport for London to collect all of this information. They could easily sell rechargable, anonymous value storing cards over the counter, and still do the statisical analysis that they need to do to make the system more effiicient.
This is pure big brother, pure and simple.
I am not bragging. If I was, we would talk pancakes, now wouldn't we? And the snowy mountains I see outside my window right now.
Seriously though, it's a difficult thing to explain, the day they found Saddam, I was so upset. We could possibly be subject to an execution, a very public execution, and it is not something I am used to. I don't believe in an eye for an eye.
umm errr..
There is something about Britney ("oops", "Slave for U", Kelis's Milkshake and some others...do I have to list them?) that is simply irresistable. I cant deny it, Im not trying to hide it. I love that stuff, like I enjoy chocolate. It gives you a rush, a buzz...I love how they are crafted; in the case of Kelis, its clearly a one off serendipidous spunk off of magic judging by the rest of the tracks recorded in the session. But no matter. This track has that something that makes it rock, its in that zone, the door to which is elusive and ever moving...its a hit record.
Though lumped in with the rest of the Brit-tronica crowd - thanks to a handful of 12? releases on the Irdial label in the mid 1990?s
Any lumping was and is ALWAYS done by journalist scumbags.
Anthony Manning?s take was always closer to the organic warmth of Basil Kirchin and The Peter Thomas Soundorchestra (responsible for the key horn riff of Pulp?s ?This Is Hardcore?)
And now you are lumping him with Basil Kirchin and The Peter Thomas Soundorchestra.
OLOSHI you motherfucker. If you cant deal with the sound of what you are dealing with, simply STFU and hands off the qwerty.
and BTW thats not another geeky acronym! :]
I am sorry to report that the Kelis "Taste" CD is total GARBAGE, except the Milkshake track. This CD is a perfect example of what music users complain about when they talk about having to buy a CD of shizzite just to "get" the one good track.
Apalling set of sub-demo quality turgid fluff.
Hmmmm Fluffy AND Turgid at the same time....a record!
"Anthony Manning got total sweepstakes in the record reviews
years back and was like a serious player. " [...]
ooohhhhh!
"Given the heinous nature of Saddam Hussein's crimes, I firmly believe that the death penalty should be on the table as a possible punishment."
Clark offered a four-point concrete plan to bring Saddam Hussein to justice.
Location: The trial against Saddam should be held where the atrocities were committed - in Iraq.
Legal Procedures: To lay out the appropriate procedures and charges, we should work with the Iraqi people and experts from the international community, including representatives from the United Nations, the Arab League, and the European Union.
Prosecuting for International Crimes: Compile evidence and conduct hearings in Iraq on issues of concern to the international community, including violations of international law.
Punishment: Given the heinous nature of Saddam's crimes, the death penalty should be on the table as a possible punishment.
"It is vital that this process be done right," Clark concluded. "Doing it right will help us bring peace to the region, rebuild our relations with the world community and, ultimately, win the war on terrorism." [...]
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Wrong answer!
From Herr General's website. So much for THAT candidate!
Eliminate Corporate Personhood: Legislation or constitutional amendment to end the legal fiction of corporate personhood.
That is from the green party manifesto.
Corporate personhood is not a "legal fiction", any more than any other legally enshrined status is a fiction. It was created, rather brilliantly I might add, to protect the ability of people to collaborate and make progress with reduced risk.
If you stand to loose your original stake up to and including everything you have ever made in a venture, you are going to be far less likely to enter into a venture with other people. This is why the incorporated person was conceived. Through an incorporated person, with all the legal rights and privileges of a flesh person, individuals who own that person can take risk without the possibility that they loose everything they have ever earned/built over decades, perhaps generations.
Incorporated persons are good for progress, and make you more free; free to take risks through limited liability. Just because some of these corporations are evil doesn�t mean that all corporations should be outlawed or abolished. That�s like saying that because there are criminals who end up being jailed, all human beings should be locked in jails from the start.
Anyone can form a corporation; their formation and ownership is not the sole preserve of the rich elite. Once you form a corporation, you have (theoretically) access to and protection via all the laws written to govern corporations.
Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Whilst there are many things in that manifesto that are agreeable, things like this and other items in there are death blows. It reads like it was written by a HUGE committee.....interesting however.
Your Results:
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8. Gephardt, Rep. Dick, MO - Democrat (62%) Click here for info
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Islamic head scarves, Jewish yarmulkes or outsized Christian crosses ``have no place'' in public schools, Chirac said, and called on parliament, where his conservative government has a majority, to pass a law banning them ahead of the school year that starts in September 2004. [...]
He rejected the Anglo-Saxon model of integration - admired by some French Muslims - where ethnic communities guard their customs and separateness.
"I refuse to let France take that path. It would sacrifice its heritage. It would compromise its future. It would lose its soul,'' Chirac said. [...]
Chirac said a law also is needed to stop patients from refusing treatment by doctors of the opposite sex. Doctors say there have been cases of Muslim women or their husbands rebuffing male doctors. [...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3518736,00.html
Pretty women scramble men's ability to assess the future
Both male and female students at McMaster University were shown pictures of the opposite sex of varying attractiveness taken from the website 'Hot or Not'. The 209 students were then offered the chance to win a reward. They could either accept a cheque for between $15 and $35 tomorrow or one for $50-$75 at a variable point in the future.
Wilson and Daly found that male students shown the pictures of averagely attractive women showed exponential discounting of the future value of the reward. This indicated that they had made a rational decision. When male students were shown pictures of pretty women, they discounted the future value of the reward in an "irrational" way - they would opt for the smaller amount of money available the next day rather than wait for a much bigger reward.
Women, by contrast, made equally rational decisions whether they had been shown pictures of handsome men or those of average attractiveness. [...]
"Thats right; its better than yours"!!!!!!!
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994469
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15. Bush, President George W. - Republican (20%) Click here for info
16. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (16%) Click here for info
17. Hagelin, Dr. John - Natural Law (6%) Click here for info
http://www.selectsmart.com/PRESIDENT/
"Classic Unix documentation is written to be telegraphic but complete... The style assumes an active reader, one who is able to deduce obvious unsaid consequences of what is said, and who has the self-confidence to trust those deductions. Read every word carefully, because you will seldom be told anything twice." [...]
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Biculturalism.html
Windows 98 Users Face Increased Security Risk, Says Study
By Peter Galli, eWEEK
A new research paper to be released on Thursday is warning those companies still running Microsoft Windows 98 that they face an increased risk of a network security breach when Microsoft retires the product at the end of this year. [...]
http://channelzone.ziffdavis.com/article2/0,3973,1410151,00.asp
Help?
Dump windoze 98. NOW!
You will be 0wn3d if you keep using it.
and yes, I know that is not in any way helpful, and in fact i HATE it when people simply dont answer the question that was asked. I would GLADLY answer your quesiton if I had windoze 98 running on any of my boxen, but I dont cuz I not |nS4N3!!!
I have a Windows98 question if anyone here could help me...
I tinkered around in the Folder Options > File Types display box and I changed around the settings of the File Folder extension. And now I can't set it back to the default of exploring the folder in Windows Explorer.
Does this make sense to anyone?
What I never realized before was that there is a Folder extension and a File Folder extension. I seem to have messed up my File Folder extension and I just want to set it back to the defaults. I've tried setting it to "Classic Style." I've tried under Custom > Settings to change "Browse folders as follows" and I am at a bit of a loss.
Help?
This is a deconstructed Nintendo emulator that shows how sprites and sprite memory are handled while a game is being played. The intent is to show insight for how software and hardware work, given the relatively simple example of a minimal architecture from an old game console system.
MIT Meida Lab, at it again.
EU Agrees to Share Airline Passenger Data
By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 17, 2003; Page A13
The European Union has agreed to share information about its airline
passengers with the United States, in a deal announced yesterday that ends
year-long negotiations over a new U.S. law intended to fight terrorism.
International airlines will turn over data about their U.S.-bound
passengers, such as a traveler's name, e-mail address, telephone number and
credit card number to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs
and Border Protection unit. The U.S. agency will then screen the traveler
data and use it for terrorist investigations and other international probes
into crimes such as drug trafficking and money laundering...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6526-2003Dec16.html
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
listening:
Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (my girlfriend really put me on to this disc, it was about time)
vert - small pieces loosely joined (on sonig well worth checking out)
MBV - tremolo ep (I have to admit that this CD ends up in my player fairly often)
Franz Schubert - songs (particularly Lied Der Liebe. I could sink into my bed listening to this on repeat for hours)
Dinosaur Jr - You're living All Over Me (the guitar crunch still does it)
Tchaikovsky - Sympony No 4 (mathematics of passion)
The industry wants to create a handful of global superstars and foist them on a global teen audience but is not interested in anyone over 30 years old.
But what happens if I hear a song on the radio and I want to own that one song?
Let's say the song is five years old and was never a chart hit and my local record store does not have a copy, or even an album on which it appeared.
The music industry makes it virtually impossible for me to buy that one song, although it is more than happy to charge me �15 for a Beatles album released more than 30 years ago. [...]
Some bod at the BBC poses as an anonymous user to cogently put across some "points"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3022996.stm
Hey Ya! - OutKast
Milkshake - Kelis
It's My Life - No Doubt
The Way You Move - OutKast & Sleepy Brown
White Flag - Dido
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan
All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne
Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows & Vanessa Carlton
Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
This is a list of the top downloads on iTunes; note which are the FIRST TWO ENTRIES.
What comes froma a place that begins with "Z" and takes 50 years to be with thee?
http://www.anzwers.org/free/universe/50lys.html
One for a_t:
Q: So how does all this work? Why makes this firmware special?
A: According to the manufacturer, the superdrive in our Powerbooks is a DVD-Multi drive, which is supposed to support DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, as well as DVD-R.
But the firmware that ships with the UJ-815 drive from Apple, only support DVD-R.
The drive theoretically is also supposed to burn at higher speeds than shipped from Apple.
A lot of people believe this limitation is only in firmware, after all, the 17" PB can burn CD-R's at a max speed of 16x and has a different firmware version (DWCB) than the 12/15" powerbooks (D0CB/D0C4), which only burn CD-R's up to 8x.
But all the pre-sept 2003 powerbook superdrives have the same model drive, the UJ-815.
So basically I needed some way to "install" the firmware on the drive in its uncrippled form. Recently, I obtained a zip file with the PC version of a firmware flasher for our drives. I also got ahold of a Mac OS X updater, and replaced the embedded firmware with the newer firmware and tested it on my own system. It was a success, I tested it over a week before releasing it to a group of people on message boards. [...]
http://superdrive.cynikal.net/
efnet. #chatdial. any takers?
servers here.
i'm there now. although i'll probably be in bed in a few hours.
Quelle Surprise, it's in beige, how suitable.
how close is beige to khaki.....eek!
Akin, how did you know the lyrics?
I was stuck in an internet cafe for a week, listening to the radio, tuned to Heart FM 24/7 playing on hourly rotation Beyonce "your loves got me crazy right now", Dido "Im in love and always will be", some enlightend rap crap with violins talking about "people dying, people crying turn the other cheek", "sweet dreams my LAX", minogue (or is it Holly Valance?) "move to the bahdee...yeah", and a whole host of other total soul-dissolving, heart-slowing ear-diarrhea. That is my excuse. It is a legitimate one. I am the victim.
The dirt wont come off!!!!!
....filthy...dirty....filthy.....
Would *you* hit her? I would, with a big fucking trout. /slap
It would be better if you coaxed her into sleeping with the fishes.
Speaking of "would you hit it?" :
http://invizibletouch.com/hit_it/?hitit=main
http://www.pabuk.com/munity/index.php?showtopic=2692&st=30
http://www.wouldyouhitthis.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5
http://www.bayou.com/~jebsr/iwould.html
Monday, December 15, 2003
With no chemical or biological weapons yet found in Iraq, the U.S. official in charge of the search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction is pursuing the possibility that the Iraqi leader was bluffing, pretending he had distributed them to his most loyal commanders to deter the United States from invading.
Such a possibility is one element in the interim report that David Kay, who heads the 1,200-person, CIA-led team in Iraq, will describe before the House and Senate intelligence committees on Thursday, according to people familiar with his planned testimony. [...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com
"These are the Good Times" - Chic Always true. Almost...
hmmmm, Im listening to:
The complete Riverside Thelonius Monk recordings
Captain Beefheart "Grow Fins"
J.S.Bach "Goldberg Variations" Keith Jarrett Harpsichord
Hardcore Devo Vol 1 + 2
King Sunny Ade "Aura" & various others
Sailor Moon OST
Bob Dylan "Nashville Skyline"
Begegnungen II Brian Eno, Roedelius, Dieter Moebius
on heavy rotation.
yo, check it. i hear the fact that it was silly to call attention to the possibility of having illegal music, but since the only 'exceptions' were unreleased music from friends that doesn't exist on cd, i'm not too worried. with over 30 crates of vinyl and thousands of cd's, i have plenty of evidence in my favor. so, bring it.
but anyway, what are people listening to these days? rhythm & sound w/ the artists, the new monolake lp, and the can dvd set are in heavy rotation for me at the moment.
"Popular technology commentator and author Richard Forno?s witty but realistic examination of American culture, particularly since September 11. He acknowledges -- and challenges where necessary ? many of the critical issues Americans are afraid (or incapable) of confronting themselves. He concludes that the national emergency facing America today isn?t terrorism or rogue nations, but the daily illusions and mass delusions that make up what passes for reality in American society - in other words, the real danger facing America is what we're allowing ourselves to become."
http://www.infowarrior.org/wmd/
Gentoo is the distro I want to try next....I need to put aside a weekend to try it out. My best linux experience so far has been Mandrake with Ximian installed over it. Red Carpet is a superb way of managing installed software; takes care of all dependencies, fetches the packages that manque....excellent. I just hope Novell done screw it all up.
We Finally Got Our Frankenstein... and He Was In a Spider Hole! -- by Michael Moore
December 14, 2003
Thank God Saddam is finally back in American hands! He must have really missed us. Man, he sure looked bad! But, at least he got a free dental exam today. That's something most Americans can't get.
America used to like Saddam. We LOVED Saddam. We funded him. We armed him. We helped him gas Iranian troops.
But then he screwed up. He invaded the dictatorship of Kuwait and, in doing so, did the worst thing imaginable -- he threatened an even BETTER friend of ours: the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia, and its vast oil reserves.� The Bushes and the Saudi royal family were and are close business partners, and Saddam, back in 1990, committed a royal blunder by getting a little too close to their wealthy holdings. Things went downhill for Saddam from there.
But it wasn't always that way. Saddam was our good friend and ally. We supported his regime. It wasn�t the first time we had helped a murderer. We liked playing Dr. Frankenstein. We created a lot of monsters -- the Shah of Iran, Somoza of Nicaragua, Pinochet of Chile -- and then we expressed ignorance or shock when they ran amok and massacred people. We liked Saddam because he was willing to fight the Ayatollah. So we made sure that he got billions of dollars to purchase weapons. Weapons of mass destruction. That's right, he had them. We should know -- we gave them to him!
We allowed and encouraged American corporations to do business with Saddam in the 1980s. That's how he got chemical and biological agents so he could use them in chemical and biological weapons. Here's the list of some of the stuff we sent him (according to a 1994 U.S. Senate report):
* Bacillus Anthracis, cause of anthrax.
* Clostridium Botulinum, a source of botulinum toxin.
* Histoplasma Capsulatam, cause of a disease attacking lungs, brain, spinal cord, and heart.
* Brucella Melitensis, a bacteria that can damage major organs.
* Clostridium Perfringens, a highly toxic bacteria causing systemic illness.
* Clostridium tetani, a highly toxigenic substance.
And here are some of the American corporations who helped to prop Saddam up by doing business with him: AT&T, Bechtel, Caterpillar, Dow Chemical, Dupont, Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM (for a full list of companies and descriptions of how they helped Saddam, go here).
We were so cozy with dear old Saddam that we decided to feed him satellite images so he could locate where the Iranian troops were. We pretty much knew how he would use the information, and sure enough, as soon as we sent him the spy photos, he gassed those troops. And we kept quiet. Because he was our friend, and the Iranians were the "enemy." A year after he first gassed the Iranians, we reestablished full diplomatic relations with him!
Later he gassed his own people, the Kurds. You would think that would force us to disassociate ourselves from him. Congress tried to impose economic sanctions on Saddam, but the Reagan White House quickly rejected that idea -- they wouldn�t let anything derail their good buddy Saddam. We had a virtual love fest with this Frankenstein whom we (in part) created.
And, just like the mythical Frankenstein, Saddam eventually spun out of control. He would no longer do what he was told by his master. Saddam had to be caught. And now that he has been brought back from the wilderness, perhaps he will have something to say about his creators. Maybe we can learn something... interesting. Maybe Don Rumsfeld could smile and shake Saddam's hand again. Just like he did when he went to see him in 1983 (see the photo here).
Maybe we never would have been in the situation we're in if Rumsfeld, Bush, Sr., and company hadn't been so excited back in the 80s about their friendly monster in the desert.
Meanwhile, anybody know where the guy is who killed 3,000 people on 9/11? Our other Frankenstein?? Maybe he's in a mouse hole.
So many of our little monsters, so little time before the next election.
Stay strong, Democratic candidates. Quit sounding like a bunch of wusses. These bastards sent us to war on a lie, the killing will not stop, the Arab world hates us with a passion, and we will pay for this out of our pockets for years to come. Nothing that happened today (or in the past 9 months) has made us ONE BIT safer in our post-9/11 world. Saddam was never a threat to our national security.
Only our desire to play Dr. Frankenstein dooms us all.
Yours,
Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com �
www.michaelmoore.com
For a look back to the better times of our relationship with Saddam Hussein, see the following:
Patrick E. Tyler, "Officers say U.S. aided Iraq in war despite use of gas, New York Times, August 18, 2002.
"U.S. Chemical and Biological Warfare-Related Dual Use Exports to Iraq and their possible impact on health consequences of the Gulf War," 1994 Report by the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affiars.
William Blum's cover story in the April 1998 issue of The Progressive, "Anthrax for Export.�
Jim Crogan's April 25-May 1, 2003 report in the LA Weekly, "Made in the USA, Part III: The Dishonor Roll."
"Iraq: U.S. military items exported or transferred to Iraq in the 1980s," United States General Accounting Office, released February 7, 1994.
"U.S. had key role in Iraq buildup; trade in chemical arms allowed despite their use on Iranians and Kurds," Washington Post, December 30, 2002.
"Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. policy and the prelude to the Persian Gulf War, 1980-1994," The National Security Archive, 2003
By MARGARET WENTE
From Monday's Globe and Mail
The humiliation was complete.
They cornered him like a rat, in a vermin-infested dirt hole. He was all alone. He looked as if he'd been hiding in holes for months. The man who styled himself the modern Saladin had turned into an exhausted, disheveled, helpless old bum. The man who vowed he would never be captured alive surrendered without a single shot.
The symbolic impact of this moment could not be more powerful. In the culture of the Middle East, honour matters above all else. And now the tyrant has been exposed as a coward. The people's fear has turned into contempt. "He went like a woman," they said in the streets of Baghdad. [...]
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031215.wwente1215/BNStory/International/
Another great story, which stands along side these:
Joshua Coppersmith being arrested in Boston for trying to sell stock in the telephone. "All well-informed people know that it is impossible to transmit the human voice over a wire."
German "experts" proving that if trains went at the frightful speed of 15 miles an hour, blood would spurt from the travelers' noses and passengers would suffocate when going through tunnels.
"Gleanings in Bee Culture, January 1, 1905
This issue of the Medina, Ohio based beekeeping magazine has the distinction of publishing the first eyewitness account of the Wright Brothers' historic manned flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. A. I. Root, the publisher of Gleanings in Bee Culture and a longtime friend of the flight pioneers, was permitted to write this first account and sent it off to "Scientific American." After nearly a year of silence on the part of the magazine, Root wrote its editor, who responded that it was difficult to believe that the event had actually occurred and that even if it had, the airplane would never have any practical application. When Root showed this response to the Wright Brothers, they suggested that he go ahead and publish it in his beekeeping magazine."
http://www.mannlib.cornell.edu/about/exhibit/Beekeeping/atlantic/page4.html
While some celebrated in Iraq, initial reactions to Saddam Hussein's arrest in other parts of the Arab world were more subdued, with many reluctant to believe the news.
"Impossible!" said a Syrian shopkeeper, Rami Makhoul, echoing the first thought of millions of Arabs.
Others in Damascus got on the phone to friends and relatives to ask whether it was true. By the time the first pictures of the bearded man with tousled hair appeared on television, many were hastily revising their doubts. But then there was the troubling question of why, if Saddam had really been taken alive, he had not put up the slightest resistance. Surely this could not be the man who had so often urged Iraqis to fight to the death?
As often, when faced with inexplicable situations in the Middle East, some resorted to conspiracy theories. One idea gaining popularity in Jordan was that Saddam must have been secretly "medicated not to resist" before the American forces closed in on him. [...]
The shock, for some, was not Saddam's arrest, but the manner of it: the pathetic, passive figure shown on television revealed the king finally stripped of his clothes.
That has never happened to an Arab leader before in living memory, as several pointed out. The tradition in the Middle East is that leaders stay in office until they die, even if they have become unfit to rule.
People in several Arab countries wondered privately what would be the impact of Saddam's humiliation on their own king or president. From now on, they suggested, he would not sleep easily at night for fear that one day he might be paraded on television in the same bedraggled state. [...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1107241,00.html
Sunday, December 14, 2003
"Today the victorious Iraqi forces stormed the White House and arrested the tyrant war criminal Bush. Now we have apprehended the leader of the international criminal gang of bastards, we will be sure to bring him to trial for his war crimes.
The imperialist U.S. and British forces are like a snake that slithers all over the place but that doesn't control anything! Do not believe the lies, my friend! They are lying every day. They are lying always, and mainly they are lying to their public opinion."
Q: Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
A: Because they had weapons of mass destruction.
Q: But the inspectors didn't find any weapons of mass destruction.
A: That's because the Iraqis were hiding them.
Q: And that's why we invaded Iraq?
A: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.
Q: But after we invaded them, we STILL didn't find any weapons Of mass destruction, did we?
A: That's because the weapons are so well hidden. Don't worry, we'll find something, probably right before the 2004 election.
Q: Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?
A: To use them in a war, silly.
Q: I'm confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn't they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?
A: Well, obviously they didn't want anyone to know they had those weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend themselves.
Q: That doesn't make sense. Why would they choose to die if They had all those big weapons with which they could have fought back?
A: It's a different culture. It's not supposed to make sense.
Q: I don't know about you, but I don't think they had any of those weapons our government said they did.
A: Well, you know, it doesn't matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.
Q: And what was that?
A: Even if Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.
Q: Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to Invade his country?
A: Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.
Q: Kind of like what they do in China?
A: Don't go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops to make U.S. corporations richer.
Q: So if a country lets its people be exploited for American corporate gain, it's a good country, even if that country tortures people?
A: Right.
Q: Why were people in Iraq being tortured?
A: For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.
Q: Isn't that exactly what happens in China?
A: I told you, China is different.
Q: What's the difference between China and Iraq?
A: Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba'ath party, while China is Communist.
Q: Didn't you once tell me Communists were bad?
A: No, just Cuban Communists are bad.
Q: How are the Cuban Communists bad?
A: Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.
Q: Like in Iraq?
A: Exactly.
Q: And like in China, too?
A: I told you, China's a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.
Q: How come Cuba isn't a good economic competitor?
A: Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, our government Passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they stopped being communists and started being capitalists like us.
Q: But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn't that help the Cubans become capitalists?
A: Don't be a smart-ass.
Q: I didn't think I was being one.
A: Well, anyway, they also don't have freedom of religion in Cuba.
Q: Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?
A: I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a Legitimate leader anyway.
Q: What's a military coup?
A: That's when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States.
Q: Didn't the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?
A: You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.
Q: Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?
A: I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.
Q: Didn't you just say a military general who comes to power by Forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an Illegitimate leader?
A: Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan.
Q: Why did we invade Afghanistan?
A: Because of what they did to us on September 11th.
Q: What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?
A: Well, on September 11th, nineteen men - fifteen of them Saudi Arabians - hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings, killing over 3,000 Americans.
Q: So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?
A: Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.
Q: Aren't the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people's heads and hands?
A: Yes, that's exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people's heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.
Q: Didn't the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?
A: Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a Good job fighting drugs.
Q: Fighting drugs?
A: Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.
Q: How did they do such a good job?
A: Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.
Q: So, when the Taliban cut off people's heads and hands for Growing flowers, that was OK, but not if hey cut people's heads and Hands off for other reasons?
A: Yes. It's OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off people's hands for growing flowers, but it's cruel if they cut off people's hands for stealing bread.
Q: Don't they also cut off people's hands and heads in Saudi Arabia?
A: That's different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy that oppressed women and forced them to wear burqas whenever they were in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not comply.
Q: Don't Saudi women have to wear burqas in public, too?
A: No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.
Q: What's the difference?
A: The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet fashionable garment that covers all of a woman's body except For her eyes and fingers. The burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of Patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman's body except for her Eyes and fingers.
Q: It sounds like the same thing with a different name.
A: Now, don't go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are our friends.
Q: But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia.
A: Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.
Q: Who trained them?
A: A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.
Q: Was he from Afghanistan?
A: Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.
Q: I seem to recall he was our friend once.
A: Only when we helped him and the mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.
Q: Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?
A: There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.
Q: So the Soviets - I mean, the Russians - are now our friends?
A: Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to Support our invasion of Iraq, so we're mad at them now. We're also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn't help us invade Iraq either.
Q: So the French and Germans are evil, too?
A: Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French Fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.
Q: Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn't Do what we want them to do?
A: No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade...
Q: But wasn't Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?
A: Well, yeah. For a while.
Q: Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?
A: Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.
Q: Why did that make him our friend?
A: Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.
Q: Isn't that when he gassed the Kurds?
A: Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked the other way, to show him we were his friend.
Q: So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?
A: Most of the time, yes.
Q: And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?
A: Sometimes that's true, too. However, if American Corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time all the better.
Q: Why?
A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America. Also, since God is on America's side anyone who opposes war is a godless unAmerican Communist. Do you understand now why we attached Iraq?
Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
A: Yes.
Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.
Q: So basically, what you're saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W. Bush hears voices in his head.
A: Yes! You finally understand how the world works, Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Goodnight.
Goodnight daddy.
This of course is NOT Saddam Housein.
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Emerald Nordman
Emerald Nordman is a unique style of Nordman Fir which has been side pruned delicately during its growth to produce a compact shape while retaining all of the positive attributes of Nordman Fir grown elsewhere. It is fully needle retaining and has an attractive dark green colour. A tailored programme of fertilisation is used to improve colour in the year of harvest. It is also possible to purchase a live Emerald Nordman.
http://www.emeraldgroup.ie/bestchristmastrees/bct_type_nordman.html
Feral Children on Television (UK)
Wild Child: the story of feral children is an excellent Optomen TV production that will be shown on Monday 15 December 2003 at 21:00 on Channel 4. The well-researched programme includes footage of Oxana, Edik and Genie.
http://www.feralchildren.com
I saw a program about "wolf children"; a girl who was brought up by dogs, could bark exxactly like a dog, ran on all fours like a dog, and lapped water from a spout....like a dog.
Hearing her bark was surprising; seeing a perfect dog bark coming from a human girl!
That sentence DID make sense.....didnt it?!?!
Canada OKs P2P music downloads
By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco Posted: 13/12/2003 at 02:25 GMT Canada's copyright agency has OK'd the downloading of copyrighted music from Peer to Peer networks - for now, at least - slapping a small tax onto MP3 music players. The Copyright Board of Canada declined to extend existing levies on blank audio and CD recordable media to DVD recordables, or to removable memory, such as Compact Flash or MMC cards. While uploading and distributing copyrighted music remains illegal, Canada's simple solution provides copyright holders with some compensation through existing royalty distribution channels. [...] .ca domains just DOUBLED in value! http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34504.html
How could he ever forgive himself?
do you think combatants think of the cost of human life
Well.
I am sorry to be the one to tell you that there are man-monsters in this world, who are as different from us as we are from worms.
Have you not read about the genocidal wars of the last 50 years? The 2 million brutaly slaughtered in the last 10 years? The acts of cannibalism being carried out right now, as we whittle away our time here?
Here, we have highly educated, articulate, peaceful people, who can empathise with other human beings, and yet, the education system, in the late 20th century, in this country failed to teach one of us about Ramadan, which is observed by a BILLION people all over the globe!
Just imagine now, a "hick from the sticks" who has never been out of the USA (hmmm rather like a US congressman), who for all intents and purposes is completely uneducated, who has been fed every lie there is to eat about people from the "middle east" and Islam. You fly him into a place where everyone is brown and is trying to kill him, both these facts shocking him to his core. He, with beast like ignorance already in place before joining the army, actually BECOMES a beast, and perpetrates the crimes of a beast. What is even more amazing, is that he does this ON CAMERA!
These atrocities have been happening, non stop, for centuries. Men in war, except the officers, are little more than animals. Men without law or concience, murderers, beasts. Since Vietnam, there have been countless documentaries on war atrocities, with graphic no holds barred, uncut footage of the sheer barbarism of war.
The only question I have is, how can ANYONE be surprised by this? THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD and WAR IS REALLY LIKE. And when I say we live in a dream world here, I ACTUALLY MEAN IT, and I am NOT JUST PLAYING AROUND WITH WORDS.
When you oppose war, you are opposing not only the taking over of one country by another, you are opposing those unseen atrocities that are routinely committed by lawless man; if these "soldiers" are not unleashed, then thier furious animal instincts remain bottled up with them in the barracks.
Take some relief in the knowledge that Karma is a Bitch and these people who take pleasure in murdering for Uncle Sam will get what is coming to them.
Guaranteed.
As for the NEXT adventure in murder, the Invasion of Iran, what is to be done to prevent this?
Did any of you see this vile piece of propaganda shown on Channel 4? There was "footage of a mans eye being removed for looking at unislamic materials" and pig ignorant Iranian students baying "all we want is to listen to rock & roll". These people are so stupid it beggars belief. Some student said "we want help from the west, but we dont want an invasion". You ignorant PIG! When the west decides to "help" you, THEY WILL DECIDE THE METHOD AND MEANS TO LIBERATE YOU, AND THE ONLY SAY YOU HAVE IN IT IS TO SAY "THANK YOU".
We all see that the propaganda initiative on Iran is in full force. In the end, nothing may happen, but why leave it to chance? This is the question!
I did not watch the video until now as I was in the office and it did not look like office material.
I wonder how that young man will feel 30 years from now about the things he did and said. I wonder if he will be able to speak with such conviction, or if his soul and spirit will be rotton with guilt and grief. Look at how young he is, he doesn't have a clue, he is oblivious to the hell that he will experience for the rest of his life. How could he ever forgive himself?
Friday, December 12, 2003
Many moons ago, there was a site in Russia where you could make a photofit from face parts. Mine was uncannily accurate, as was Ken "Dilemma" Dutruie's and Mimi Majick's.
When you put "put put" into Google image search, you get this graphic, which may or may not be of THESE:
But the motions are correct.
But the motions are correct.
I love your hat, Alison!
John Burke is skiing right now, possibly jibbin' in the trick park as we speak ...
When searching for some information about Baysian spam filtering I came across an article by David Mertz that compares several methods of filtering.
But more interestingly, I came across this article by the same author about how the Leftist Safe Sex movement may be doing more to remove the freedoms of the people rather than remove the "risks" of sexual disease.
This breaks the process of sending mails though.
All other mail is listed as junk if if doesnt come with an initiator code or is not in the white list. Period.
The spammers can flail away, none of their shite will get to the users eyes, which means that it.....works.
Any mailto link can be changed so that it brings up a chromeless window with the instructions and the non machine readable password, so of course, you dont have to have a single contacts page.
End of story.
Yes, but when you run a label and someone from "Le Figaro" wants to interview you then you have.... a problem by taking this stance.
I had a chat with Mimi Majick this morning about this over bacon and eggs. It would be fairly simple to fix this problem. You would do it like this:
On the contacts page at your site, you have a small application that produces those non machine readable png passwords images showing a unique alphanumeric password, which pops up in a chrome window. It is sent by your server to your email client in advance of the arrival of the email from your contactor, who is instructed to put that number somewhere in the email message.
When the email from your contactor arrives, it is checked to see if it has the code in it. If it does not, the mail is put in the trash. If it does have the code she (the sender) is put in your white list, and the mail is let through. She never has to do this again, unless she changes her email address.
Machines canot sucessfully spam you with this method, you get to recieve mail from your unknown punters and peeps...The world is set right again.
This could be put together on the server side pretty simply, the client side is another thing entirely.
File under very interesting / uh oh
Baysian spam filters in Mozilla cannot pick up spams formatted thusly:
*************** BEGIN SPAM BODY ****************
Take a look you might be interested.
Let me know what you think
See Site
Tara Steven's
No-mos
*************** END SPAM BODY ****************
The words "See Site" and "No-mos" are hyperlinked to goodpage.bis and goodserver.us/r/ respectivey.
The first URL is fake, the second takes you to an unsubscribe form. Viewing the message source, you see the headers and then the body of the mail is a block of base 64 text, presumably so that you cannot see the REAL url that they are trying to get you to click on.
Hmmmm could this block of base 64 text be the reason that the filters wont catch this mail?
I get up to three of these every day, mark each one as junk, and the filter is consistently failing to catch them...its not a pain yet, but if it catches on, then baysian filtering is going to have to adapt (!) to get this garbage.
See an example
The first phasa of a power ful in frastructure for data network including establishment of a powerful in frastructure for data network started from the year 1379 .in this phase � 420 telecommuniction center in 185 large cities are covered by national data netwerk and possibility of providing data high speed services and internet possibility of providing data high speed services and internet commercical� professional and ISP users was created. [...]
Iran Telecom
Also, notice that your status bar (lower left corner of IE) only displays "http://www.microsoft.com" when holding the mouse cursor over the link. [...]
Does this in mozilla, but the url is correct. I dont use IE anymore, period, except for testing, and thats on our own pages. Let me be the first to say it:
Internet Explorer is dead.
I feel a t-shirt coming on!..........maybe not.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Exactly 100 words:
The idea behind vaccination has been proven to work. This is not the problem with modern vaccinations. The connection between profit, governments and the captive populations of the world are an incompatible mixture, forcing substandard vaccinations to be administered, by coercion and sometimes by force. This programme might have got the facts wrong, but what is undeniably true is that this triple vaccination, in particular, is a substandard way to vaccinate. This is true not only because MMR damages children, but mainly because it decreases confidence in the idea of vaccination, which is to the detriment of the whole community.
1
Roast scallops salad, caramelized cauliflower beignet, cauliflower pannacotta, aged Basalmic vinaigrette2
Caramelized endive tart tatin, pan fried foi gras, hazelnut croustillant3
Pan fried turbot, potato herb gnocchi, fricassee of peas, walnut and sherry vinegar4
Herb crusted canon of lamb, cannelloni of sweetbreads and morels, spring bean salad, jus gras5
Hot chocloate fondant, Amaretto parfait, vanilla and pearl barley sorbet
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
"How many people go to art galleries? Even in a big city like Beijing, it's a tiny number. But ordinary people see my work everyday."
http://www.cerberusshoal.com/
The most magical music...."Ding" from "The Vim and Vigour of Alvarius B and Cerberus Shoal"- 2002
Blogger appears to be broken when you use Mozilla 1.6b!
i ws going to say:
OTTAWA -- Canadians should be careful not to appear "boastful" to Americans, who are insecure because of the war in Iraq and admit they are annoyed by northerners showing off the red maple leaf on their luggage when they travel, a recent federal report warns.
In focus groups held this fall in four U.S. cities where the federal government is opening consulates, Americans acknowledged they don't know much about Canadians.
"Some participants expressed a certain amount of annoyance at what is perceived as a systematic attempt by Canadians to make the statement that they are not Americans by sporting the maple leaf," said the recently released report. "This underscores the American sensitivity at feeling rejected by the rest of the world ...." [...]
Canada.com
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1103566,00.html
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1103659,00.html
Once again, whats wrong with this picture? Why wont the second one work?
In exactly 100 words. Extra marks for clarity of thought, and rigor.
Ooh, I agree. Charlie in the Chocolate Factory was one of my favorites. James and the Giant Peach was super too. Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, totally cool. Perhaps I will pick the last choice, I would like to give him something that hasn't been made into a movie.
Did anyone ever read A Wrinkle in Time? Another one of my favorites.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
I highly recommend Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, "an ambitious trilogy that offered a startlingly new perspective on childhood, innocence, and sin. On the surface, the series relates the story of two children on a fantastic voyage, encountering an intriguing blend of complicated characters and twisted landscapes as they make their way toward an uncertain goal. Beneath the exterior, however, lie murky questions of morality and existence, changing an enjoyable children's series into a thought-provoking view on maturity."
I would recommend it to any and EVERYone. Keats, Love, Quantum theory: its all related in the world of Pullman.
Monday, December 08, 2003
Matthew Byng-Maddick:
>>
>
>>> > The petrol station attendant puts your card in his reader. "Please look
>>> > up at that camera up there sir". If the camera detects that your iris
>>> > matches the card, it signals to the till to accept your payment. The
>>> > attendant has no discretion in the matter.
>
>>
>> OK, this doesn't work for the petrol station, but presumably does for a
>> supermarket: what happens if you're blind? Under some circumstances, you
>> presumably don't have an eyeball, or the ability to open your eyes or any
>> other such number of explanations. Is this discriminatory against
>> disabled people, and if that's the case, what on earth is Blunkett on,
>> given his own condition?
One of the ironies of this current incarnation of the ID card debate is that
one of the strongest proponents (David Blunkett) and one of the strongest
opponents (Simon Davies, of Privacy International) both have ocular problems
that mean that neither can give an iris scan.
O x
-- Owen Blacker Senior Software Developer and InfoSecurity Consultant Wheel: Group See http://www.owens-place.org.uk/pgp.html -- more about my PGP keys Sig 0xa7cb7592 | 9c1c 2996 075b 2daa 3660 6d2f ee34 fc94 a7cb 7592
-- Opinions might not even be mine. Other people can go get their own! _____________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for viruses by MessageLabs.
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