January 10, 2006
Lobby Giant Is Scandal Casualty
Lobby Giant Is Scandal Casualty One of Washington's top lobbying operations will shut down at the end of the month because of its ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former House majority leader Tom DeLay.
Who do they represent? Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Microsoft, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Courtesy the Washington Post.
Tour d Afrique
Tour d' Afrique, the other Tour. Ninety-nine stages, 120 days, almost 8,000 miles, racing on bicycles riding across the continent of Africa... the long way... from the pyramids of Giza to Cape Town. Registration's still open! Come on, it'll be fun!
NSA Whistleblower Alleges Illegal Spying
Watch what you say. Russell Tice, the NSA whistleblower who was the source for the NYT, has alleged that the the technology exists to track and sort through every domestic and international phone call as they are switched through centers, such as one in New York, and to search for key words or phrases that a terrorist might use. "If you picked the word 'jihad' out of a conversation," Tice said, "the technology exists that you focus in on that conversation, and you pull it out of the system for processing." What else are they listening for?
internet as hyper-liberalism
INTERNET AS HYPER-LIBERALISM: By the limitations of common sense and consensus. Sometime wacky ideas can help us look at things much clearer than a technical manual description of them by rational and well argued people. Paul Treanor is a one-of-a-kind writer. don't try to argue with him about being wrong. he does not believe in communication and therefore there is no CONTACT link anywhere on his site. He writes and lives in Amsterdam, Holland.
Try not to make any more sequels on your way through the parking lot
The follow-up to Clerks, the imaginatively-titled Clerks 2. After trying to kill off Jay and Silent Bob with the poorly received Jersey Girl, director Kevin Smith relented (more here) and has made a follow-up to his debut, Clerks. Clerks 2 (still about 8 months away) sees a lot of the old cast reunite for no-doubt weed, dick and gay jokes along with numerous Star Wars references. There's a trailer with Anthrax's "Among The Living" blasting nicely over the top and, as is the norm with Smith, loads of other web "stuff". Oh, and he also has his own blog. Snoogans, etc...
Hope for the homeless
A new study indicates that giving homeless alcoholics controlled access to one drink and hour may reduce their alcohol consumption and cut down on emergency hospital visits. This harm reduction approach, and the related housing-first model, although controversial and in need of further study, appears to be one of the more hopeful developments in homelessness policy of the past few years.
Computer Industry News
A whore that sitteth on many waters...Joe Bageant!
Joe Bageant's observations on people and politics in today's America are insightful, savage, and hilarious.
Yet Another Flash Puzzle Game
Yet another Flash puzzle game: Shift. Very beautiful, with low-key music.
You're the One for Me
Other literary frauds
Hot on the heels of the JT Leroy and James Frey fracases, here's a list of other literary frauds. Writing is lying, indeed. [via Bookslut]
Oblivion
The David Foster Wallace Bibliography (in BibTex format) is ridiculously complete. The site also includes a zip file of DFW's essays and mp3s of a round table discussion. [via]
Goatse reactions caught on tape
Flickr set of people seeing Goatse photo for the first time : I would not have so blatantly copied this link from Boing Boing but this Flickr set is just way too funny to pass up.
Uh, look, dude, it's not entirely impossible for you to get laid.
Uh, look, dude, it's not entirely impossible for you to get laid. (NSFW, I guess, as far as text can be)
Lobstermen preserve their bait in it, too.
Maine's favorite drink is Allen's Coffee Brandy and milk. No, really, it is Maine's favorite drink. Let's go get a sombrero, brother!
It's the Demography, Stupid
It's the demography, stupid: "The design flaw of the secular social-democratic state is that it requires a religious-society birth rate to sustain it. ... Which the smarter Islamists have figured out. They know they can never win on the battlefield, but they figure there’s an excellent chance they can drag things out until western civilization collapses in on itself and Islam inherits by default."
'06 MacWorld Keynote
Live coverage of the 2006 Apple Keynote is not available in video form. Since the stop of live broadcasts on the web, we now rely on folks actually there to give us up to date news, and here it is (in text form). It will be available later (as always, in QuickTime) from apple.com.
It's all in the nose of the beholder
What parasite is a meter across, weighs 10 kg, and stinks to high heaven? None other than Rafflesia arnoldii, a remarkable parasitic plant. As amazing and smelly as it is, it's not the only funky flower. There's plenty of stinky fruit to go around too, such as the much-maligned ginkgo nut and the infamous king of fruits, the durian.
Polarises? Polarii?
Hubble reveals that the North Star is not one, not two, but THREE stars. Dear god, we've all been living a lie. I feel so disillusioned.
to buy or not to buy, that is the question.
Organic Foods... Consumer Reports spells out which organic foods are worth buying, and which you should skip.
Woot
woot.com One item per day, until midnight, or until they run out of stock. Innovative ecommerce at its best.
Liberals propose ammendment to end Federal use of Notwithstanding Clause
Last night, in the middle of the leaders debate (transcript, realmedia) Paul Martin announced a plan to amend the Canadian Constitution to remove Parliament's ability to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause.<more inside>
Hear ye hear ye!
Learn a bit about Alito, and then go along on an audio joy ride as Alito is grilled by our representatives. Listen now.
Meet the Bloggers
Meet the Bloggers is a group of Ohio citizen journalists who have been interviewing state political candidates, podcasting the interviews and taking questions from anyone who is interested in the candidate's policies. [more inside]
rickshaw art
The Ricksha Arts of Bangladesh "This website is dedicated to celebrating one of Bangladesh's unique popular arts, the paintings and decorations on the three-wheeled cycle rickshaw"
« Previous day | Next day »