February 5, 2004
Male call
Man short on funds, mails himself home. Judge not amused, fines him $1,500. More background info here. Robbed of the Darwin Award.
Where will we get the Congresscritters?
The Quorum After Ricin, anthrax, plane crashing into the Capital--there've been several serious threats to our Congresspeople in the last couple of years and, despite having a couple of bills introduced to rectify the matter, we still have no program in place to manage an emergency that deprives us of a quorum. Norman Ornstein explains (and though link is NYT, no babies required as payment). I know, I know, but it really does matter.
Blog babes
Remember Dooce who lost her job for her blog? She's just given birth to a daughter. With Mimi Smartypants' recent adoption, and Defective Yeti expecting in a few weeks, there seems to be a bit of a blogger baby boom underway.
Kerry & Bush don't just have Skull & Bones in common.
John Kerry, Garage Rocker? Record geeks have uncovered that John Kerry played bass with the Electras, a Ventures-style instrumental band formed at St. Paul's Academy of Concord, NH. Strangely enough, George W. Bush also has a connection to the sub-subgenre of 1960s garage bands, known as "prep rock." When he attended Andover, Dubya was allegedly a "clapper" with the frat rock band, the Torques, although prep rock aficionados generally prefer other Andover bands, such as The Rising Storm and the Satans.
separatecinema
the separate cinema archive has for almost three decades been the only source dedicated to the art and fascinating history of African Americans in film. The archive of over 25,000 movie posters, lobby cards, stills and material from over a dozen foreign countries, spans the past century of important historic black cinema.
Suskind releases all
Ron Suskind, previously discussed when his Paul O'Neill co-authored tell-all book came out last month, caused quite a stir due to some of the sensitive documents he used in the book and displayed on TV. Well now he's gone a bit farther, releasing all source documents online and in the public domain. He's also asking other government officials to help add to the document database and claims new documents will continue to be added. My favorite so far is the one to O'Neill from a admin official telling him to be "monotonously on message!"
French horns, wee?
This (windows media) movie taken from a French variety show is pretty cool/kooky/amazing. It's a guy wearing a suit covered in small horns, all honking different keys, and he can play the classics by jumping around and hiting the right notes.
I haven't been invited, damn.
Do no evil... it looks like Orkut would like to 0wn your data. And although the piece is heated, everyone did get incensed over Microsoft's near-identical passport policy. And I know you invited types like Orkut...
Someone get Joe Wilson some popcorn.
Frog Scoot? The FBI appears ready to point fingers in the Plame affair, at Senior Administration Officials Lewis Libby and John Hanna. TPM reports that the intial charges against Hanna may be intended to induce him to name higher-ups. Will this really go down before the election?
Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle...
"Evolution" Allowed to Remain in Georgia. "I made the decision to remove the word evolution from the draft of the proposed biology curriculum in an effort to avoid controversy that would prevent people from reading the substance of the document itself," [Georgia State Schools Superintendent Kathy] Cox said in a statement. "Instead, a greater controversy ensued."
A follow-up to this January 30 post.
A follow-up to this January 30 post.
A group of nearby spaceships are not all oriented exacly like each other, in an upwards position.
Mmmm...hundred dollar burger.
The Hundred Dollar Hamburger. A pilot's guide to fly-in restaurants.
Ayatollah Sistani survives assassination attempt
Najaf, Iraq - Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, survived an assassination attempt Thursday when gunmen opened fire on his entourage, a security official in his office said...
Of related interest from Juan Cole: Reformers implore Sistani to Intervene in Iran Crisis Ali Nourizadeh of the Saudi newspaper ash-Sharq al-Awsat reports today that more than 400 Iranian writers and cultural figures, along with some members of parliament, have penned a letter to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf, requesting that he express his opinion on the "massacre of democracy and the transformation of parliamentary elections into a mere stage play."
See also The Shiite Surge for further background. We are living in interesting times.
Of related interest from Juan Cole: Reformers implore Sistani to Intervene in Iran Crisis Ali Nourizadeh of the Saudi newspaper ash-Sharq al-Awsat reports today that more than 400 Iranian writers and cultural figures, along with some members of parliament, have penned a letter to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf, requesting that he express his opinion on the "massacre of democracy and the transformation of parliamentary elections into a mere stage play."
See also The Shiite Surge for further background. We are living in interesting times.
Exiting Deanspace
Exiting Deanspace: As one who has watched with growing nausea as the Howard Dean campaign has smacked up against primary reality and disintegrated, this lengthy article offers some useful truths. While the post mortem is far from over, this cogent analysis by Clay Shirky from "Many 2 Many" points out how so many of us could have been so blinded by the process . . . while still having reason for hope.
It's like cruising for sex for geeks.
Catch some waves... for free! Wi-Fi Freespot will help. Via my roommate's co-workers, who keep sending this round e-mail circuits. I don't know why they include me. I hate technology.
what are your bits worth?
Can't Get No Satisfaction
Can't Get No Satisfaction - This unassuming essay (it's in a state of half-decay with missing figures) is a fascinating (and accessible) overview of phase transitions in NP systems (it explains those terms). In other words: complex physical systems and difficult problems in computing are related. The seminal paper is here, and this is a list of other essays by the same author (links at foot of page).
Luminous Photo Help
Comprehensive collection of photo tutorials. There are a lot of great photo instruction sites out there, I found this one to be exceedingly helpful, with a wide range of well written tutorials and tips. Some of my favorites, meteor shower photos, blended exposures, color theory, street photography, and on location shooting.
"Call my wife and tell her that I've decided to get arrested"
Four California activists were arrested Tuesday while protesting the case of Kevin Cooper, set to be executed in less than a week. Gov. Schwarzenegger denied a clemency hearing for Cooper (the first time such a hearing was denied since California re-instituted the death penalty in 1978), despite ample evidence shedding doubt not only on the fairness of Cooper's trial, but also his alleged guilt. Kevin Cooper is asking people to protest for his life.
mr. jackson if your nasty
The legend of Tecmo Bo lives on (Salon link) along with the mysterious QB Eagles, Jerry Rice in his pixelated prime, and Lawrence Taylor stuffing field goals and extra points. Tecmo Bowl brought us some of the greatest video game athletes of our time, not suprisingly it still has a devoted following.
City of God
Bush's Guard service: What the record shows
Return of the Son of the Bride of Bush's Guard service A detailed Globe examination of the records in 2000 unearthed official reports by Bush's Guard commanders that they had not seen him for a year. There was also no evidence that Bush had done part of his Guard service in Alabama, as he has claimed.
More Boobies
Janet Jackson's breast has become the most searched-for image in (Lycos) net history, even beating searches for 11 September. Nice to see everyone has their priorities straight.
Stickee - taking the corporate tour to heart
Stickee is a British design firm that takes the concept of the corporate tour literally. It's rather fun to explore and the site detail is impressive. (note: flash site and pop-up stoppers need to be disabled to take the tour.) via One's Web.
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