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So is David Cross now a resident of Wisconsin? He's taken a keen interest in the Journal Sentinel's online columns. First he takes on the technology columnist then the TV/Radio columnist, an entertainment reporter and finally a UW-Extension consumer horticulture agent. You'll have to scroll down to find the question from "David Cross of Atlanta, GA". [more inside]
comment posted at 2:13 AM on Dec-19-04
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Survey finds support for restricting Muslim-Americans' freedoms Nearly one in two Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict civil liberties for Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide Cornell University poll on terrorism fears. The survey also found respondents who identified themselves as highly religious supported restrictions on Muslim-Americans more strongly than those less religious. Curtailing civil liberties for Muslim-Americans also was supported more by Republicans than Democrats, the survey found. The amount of attention paid to TV news also had a bearing on how strongly a respondent favored restrictions
comment posted at 10:47 PM on Dec-18-04

The War on Christmas. "What we are witnessing here are hate crimes against Christianity." Angered by perceived attacks on the Christ part of Christmas, Christians are taking a page from GWB and staging pre-emptive cultural strikes around the country. Or are they? Is this effort a bigger attack against Judaism and the rest of the nonbelievers/scapegoats, an honest attempt by Christians to "save" the holiday, or a media-manufactured controversy? (Air out your holiday spirit, but save your own personal grievances for December 23.)
comment posted at 12:27 PM on Dec-16-04

A right that ends in sorrow , aka the difficulty of standing up for something that really sucks. (via Amy Sullivan)
comment posted at 12:41 PM on Dec-16-04

Stalin vs. Hitler. A comic. With wizardry and valkyries.
comment posted at 12:24 PM on Dec-16-04

Where is Miss Beazley? [Large WMA file] President Bush's dog Barney has a new home video this year. The president has asked Barney to look after their new dog, Miss Beazley. It's a bit hokey, but still amusing. Includes a cast of various administration officials.
comment posted at 3:46 PM on Dec-15-04

The new voice of the Iraqi uprising speaks English and knows about propaganda. That said, the music is a bit over the top. Remember that South Park episode, where both Chef and the lead mutant turkey cover themselves in warpaint and give a "Braveheart" speech to their followers prior to battle? It's kinda like that. But hey, it feels good!
comment posted at 3:27 PM on Dec-15-04
comment posted at 3:37 PM on Dec-15-04

new york art show shuttered due to controversial portrait of the president
beginning of the end of free speech?
comment posted at 3:14 PM on Dec-15-04

Caring for the Wounded in Iraq. A photo essay in the New England Journal of Medicine. (NSFW)
comment posted at 1:37 PM on Dec-13-04

Hate consumer culture? Authors of the new book, Rebel Sell, argue you've been co opted by the very consumer culture you thought you had rejected
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comment posted at 4:36 AM on Dec-12-04

You are where you live. (Click "Zip Code Lookup" in lower right.)
comment posted at 1:48 AM on Dec-12-04

The perfect Christmas gift for the geek in your life. Or maybe you need something for your new niece or nephew? Then again, this site may have all the stuff on your gift shopping list.
comment posted at 10:38 PM on Dec-11-04
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comment posted at 9:43 PM on Dec-12-04

The new War of the Worlds movie will premiere in June '05. Based on H.G. Wells book, (e-text), the story terrified thousands of American radio listeners and caused a panic on October 30, 1938. That night, a series of increasingly alarming breaking news reports (narrated by a young Orson Welles) about an invading force of Martians interrupted the Mercury Theater show on WABC radio in NYC. Welles had announced at the start of the hour that he was reading a story, but most of the audience tuned in late and thought it was all real. More information can be found here and here. Wav files of the original broadcast can be downloaded (or purchased) from here. "They're bombing New Jersey!": Check out a picture of the NYTimes front page and full text of the article they ran the next day. War of the Worlds has been made into several films, including this one from 1953.
comment posted at 10:53 PM on Dec-11-04
comment posted at 12:00 AM on Dec-13-04

1 million U.S. troops have gone to war The data also show that one out of every three of those service members has gone more than once. The Pentagon says more than 5,500 servicemen have deserted since the war started in Iraq. Few experts are surprised to hear that a recent army survey discovered that half the soldiers were not planning to re-enlist. Experts are divided over how stretched America’s military really is. But they agree that another conflict would put the military in overdrive. Another war would require a shift to a “no-kidding wartime posture in which everybody who could shoot was given a rifle and sent to the front,” according to John Pike, of GlobalSecurity.org. - US Army plagued by desertion and plunging morale.
comment posted at 2:02 PM on Dec-11-04

Eminem is Right If yesterday’s rock was the music of abandon, today’s is that of abandonment
comment posted at 11:53 AM on Dec-11-04
comment posted at 11:54 AM on Dec-11-04

Less than 60 percent of federal homeland-security funding sent to New York State this year has ended up in New York City.

New York’s elected officials often complain about the way the Department of Homeland Security distributes money. They repeat the finding that America spends more money per capita securing Wyoming than protecting New York State. Quietly, however, New York officials in both parties have created a local copy of Congress’ spending priorities, distributing money to places like remote Wyoming County.

For example, Ontario County (pop. 100,000) is purchasing a climate-controlled mobile command post, said Jeffrey Harloff, director of the county’s emergency-management office. Mr. Harloff will buy the vehicle with his share of the Department of Homeland Security’s main grant to the state. How will he use the command post? It depends on who’s asking.

"If it’s the federal government asking me, it is for the intended purpose of W.M.D. incidents and HazMat incidents," Mr. Harloff said. "In reality, we’re going to use it for everyday stuff in our office."
comment posted at 1:57 AM on Dec-10-04

Poland at War - Photographs of Nazi-occupied Poland taken between 1939 and 1945
comment posted at 8:48 PM on Dec-8-04

It is not the first time this thing happens, but I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more of this until Americans finally wake up and realise the nightmare Bush has dragged us all in. What with CIA reports painting a completely different picture than the administration would have us belive and the help from people with experience from previous military blunders, it looks like we may soon have a revival of the "stop the war trains" tradition. Cheers!
comment posted at 7:55 PM on Dec-8-04

What is the deal with Texas hold'em??? Texas Hold'em (in the U.S.) has become the poker players crack. Its OK, but not that fun for me, and I don't understand what has caused this huge craze sweeping the nation. Poker Chips are in definately in demand... 1 In 10 Kids Will Become Compulsive Gamblers so Do Your Kids Know When To Fold'em? at least there is some texas hold'em charity work aiding victims for the holidays
comment posted at 12:46 AM on Dec-8-04

The folks who hacked Amazon, Ebay, Google, Linux and TiVo have now Hacked Your Head. Yup, it's an O'Reilly book (no, not THAT O'Reilly Hack). 8 of the 100 Hacks are online, including the Elevator Button Analogy (pdf format). And they've got a blog, with some extra hackery. Free your mind. Forcibly, if needed.
via GleepGlop
comment posted at 10:21 PM on Dec-7-04

The end of an era confirmed. IBM sells its PC business to China's Lenovo. Is a future Apple partnership in the works?
comment posted at 7:57 PM on Dec-7-04

Have a good day Ms. Beyer! "Before you are rude to another telemarketer, you should keep in mind that he or she has your phone number and your address." Texas Telemarketer sends a threatening letter to a hanger-upper.
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comment posted at 1:29 PM on Dec-8-04

Why hast thou forsaken me !?... Every once and a while I ponder why i don't believe in religion... then something like this comes along and reminds me exactly why.
comment posted at 6:01 PM on Dec-7-04
comment posted at 6:21 PM on Dec-7-04

Soldiers Challenge Enlistment Extensions
You sign a contract for a specific period of service, when that service is up you're supposed to be done but that doesn't happen if its a contract with the US government. Soldiers are now suing to try and get out of their extended duties.

Yes, there is the Pentagon's "Stop Loss" program but "The lawsuit contends the policy [stop loss] is a breach of the service contract because it extends the length of service without a soldier's consent. It also alleges the contracts were misleading because they make no reference to the policy, said Staughton Lynd, an attorney for the soldiers."
comment posted at 12:56 PM on Dec-6-04

PETsMART follows Target's lead. Now I have something to buy for the people who already have an anal massage...
comment posted at 12:15 AM on Dec-6-04

When the fighting stops. In World War II, for every American soldier killed in combat, there were three wounded on the battlefield, according to the U.S. Army Medical Command. In Korea, the ratio of killed-to-wounded was one to four. The ratio was the same for Vietnam. In Iraq, the ratio is one to 12.
Those combat survivors -- along with thousands more service members in Iraq and Afghanistan who are injured or who fall ill off the battlefield -- will add to the growing demand for services from an already struggling federal Veterans Affairs Department. More inside.
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comment posted at 2:39 AM on Dec-6-04

Would it be wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed one's family? And by loaf of bread, I mean a nine-foot inflatable SpongeBob Squarepants, and by feeding my family, I mean getting free Whoppers for a year as a reward for returning them to the roof of the Burger King from which they have been disappearing. (via ToonZone)
comment posted at 10:50 PM on Dec-4-04

Criticize Iran? Obviously, you're with the Mossad. As it turns out, Al Jazeera is run by Americans and Zionists bent on discrediting Islam in the West, heightening tensions among Islamic countries, and obstructing President Khatami's Dialogue Among Civilizations initiative. Tehran Times has the scoop.
comment posted at 11:29 AM on Dec-4-04
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Elite Designers Against IKEA
comment posted at 8:04 AM on Dec-4-04

In the first open trial for the Eastern Pennsylvania United Methodist Church Council in more than 50 years, the Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud was accused of violating church law by openly living with her partner in a committed relationship. Jurors were instructed that they had a duty to "hold a good pastor accountable to the standard with which we all live'' under the Methodist Book of Discipline. The jury voted 7-6 to withdraw Stroud's ministerial credentials at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia. She was defrocked, so to speak. Laicized. Ostracized. Demonized.
comment posted at 1:30 AM on Dec-3-04

Jeopardy Going After Kottke. Jason Kottke has served as the web's source of news about Ken Jennings and Jeopardy, with his most-linked blog entries being his September report of Jennings' impending loss and his Sunday provision of the actual audio of Kennings' loss. Now Sony is taking legal action against him for his spoilers, and this makes him very sad.
comment posted at 3:02 PM on Dec-2-04