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On live TV, irate Miss. man tells Cheney to "self-copulate" Thus turns the karmic wheel ? Recall: over a year ago VP Cheney said ' "I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done it," after he told Vermont Senator Patrick Leahey - on the floor of the US Senate - to "Go f_ck" himself. Today, during Cheney's tour of storm damaged Miss., a resident approached Cheney's press meeting and shouted: "Go f_ck yourself, Mr. Cheney!!  Go f_ck yourself!!!". The exhortation was aired on at least one national cable channel. Here is the video ( ALT ). The LA Times,CNN, and FOX are carrying the story.
comment posted at 3:46 PM on Sep-8-05
comment posted at 4:29 PM on Sep-8-05

Losing New Orleans: Four months before it happened, I described for a New York editor, in detail and with stunning accuracy, the tragedy that is now unfolding in New Orleans.
In April, I e-mailed the editor my proposal. Two weeks later, she sent her response. As much as I hate saying this,” she wrote, “the only way for this book to actually work is if New Orleans had already sunk.” I’d like to know what “transportation security” meant to Mr. Hutchinson, if it did not include the concept of evacuating a stricken city, or protecting its great port, or safeguarding the third of our nation’s fuel that enters by way of New Orleans?
If I, a reporter in Little Rock, with nothing more than Internet access, a car and a telephone, could predict, almost hour-by-hour, the horror that Katrina would unleash, what were Hutchinson and his cronies at Homeland Security doing with all the assets at their disposal and nearly $40 billion in funding?
comment posted at 11:20 AM on Sep-8-05

In Defense of Uncommon Sense. The Edge Reality Club responds to an op-ed by John Horgan (previously discussed here.) (Via)
comment posted at 11:38 AM on Aug-29-05

Prostatitis is a Tension Disorder. Researchers from The Stanford University Department of Urology have come to the conclusion that "approximately 95% of symptoms that are commonly diagnosed as prostatitis [are] not caused by an infection or inflammation of the prostate gland."
They have identified a group of chronic pelvic pain syndromes which are the result of an overzealous use of the instinct to protect the genital area. Their web site devoted to these findings is www.pelvicpainhelp.com.
Their research shows that chronic pelvic pain along with negative emotions, anxiety and rage create a self-perpetuating cycle. Anxiety in certain individuals expresses itself through tension in the pelvic floor area and the "overuse" of the instinct to protect the genital region. That physical tension in turn adds to the emotional anxiety and stress, which in turn creates more pelvic tension as the cycle reinforces itself.
In a study of their treatment protocol, 72% of patients were considered moderately improved or markedly improved.
The third edition of their book A Headache in the Pelvis: A New Understanding and Treatment for Prostatitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes , by David Wise Ph.D. and Rodney Anderson M.D., which describes the syndromes and the Stanford treatment protocol, has just been released.
While prostatitis is a male problem because only men have a prostate, chronic pelvic pain is a problem that affects both men and women because both have a pelvic floor with many of the same muscles.
This is a revolutionary theory considering the number of men who have been told by their doctors that prostatitis is just an inevitable part of growing old.
comment posted at 10:48 PM on Aug-24-05

Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of Hugo Chavez. Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on "The 700 Club" it was the United States' duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."
comment posted at 11:20 PM on Aug-24-05

Transmitters? We don't need no stinkin' transmitters! Employees of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatation, locked out since early last week, are using the Internet to communicate with their listener/viewer base. First, there were blogs from both sides. And now the locked out employees are producing podcasts (RSS link) from the picket lines.
comment posted at 1:52 PM on Aug-22-05
comment posted at 11:32 PM on Aug-24-05

A double whammy for the U.S. economy this winter: Bankers have announced credit card minimum payments will double starting in early 2006 as a 10-year payback system is adopted. Meanwhile in October comes the controversial bankruptcy reform. All this on a blanket of spiralling gas prices. That Unahome may be the wave of the future for a lot of Americans.
comment posted at 2:54 PM on Aug-22-05

Have you ever had one of those days where you can't decide whether you want to post about the recall of dog condoms or about the Russian mail order bride online service that tailors exclusively to amputee fetishists? I'm having that right now.
comment posted at 9:51 PM on Aug-8-05

"The music to The Wicker Man is quite extraordinary. I think it is probably the best music I've ever heard in a film. All the songs are so totally different from each other and yet they sum up the atmosphere of the scenes perfectly. What Paul Giovanni achieved is quite amazing and absolutely beautiful." -- Christopher Lee, July 2002
comment posted at 9:58 PM on Aug-8-05

The New Alchemy Institute spent about 30 years studying how living systems can be designed in order to help preserve the environment. They studied agriculture, aquaculture, and built bioshelters, called arks, that integrated greenhouses and living spaces. A hallmark of the NAI approach was to use and trap energy produced by nature, rather than building greenhouses that required electricity, hence, compost heated greenhouses. Here's an article from 1978 about the NAI at the Alicia Patterson Foundation, and one from a 1989 Whole Earth Review. In 1981 John Todd, one of the principles in NAI, founded Ocean Arks International in order to explore the issue of ecological water treatment. His concept of water treatment, a constructed wetland, or living machine, developed directly from work on the arks at NAI. Here is more on John Todd and NAI, and here is an interview with his wife, Nancy Jack Todd, and him. Here's a link to a recent CS Monitor review of the new Nancy Jack Todd book. Post inspired by my love of NAI and my current reading of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy.
comment posted at 2:47 PM on Aug-1-05

Internets: Serious Business! These last few months have seen an increase in the attacks on the participatory culture of the web. The mainstream establishments, both political and corporate, have been looking with a cautious eye towards this new developing place. So far we've established that blogs can get you fired, keep you from getting a job, give pedophiles a place to ruminate on snatching your children, threaten journalistic integrity *snicker*, endanger the marketing , product planning, and product life cycles for automobile manufacturers, can infect your computer with virii, and have all sorts of negative consequences. The internets (both of them) can cause your children to be charmed, seduced, and addicted by readily available porn, and can also provide access to extremist radical and fundamentalist groups, prompting Congress to discuss more restrictive legislation (NSFW), but only for the porn. It has even been claimed that the web has given "Al Qaeda wings". P2P is blamed as causing record loses by the music industry, despite their investments in local station marketing payola. The FEC has held public hearings attended by both hemispheres of the blogosphere (amazingly in near-agreement) discussing the regulation of political speech online. The figureheads of a certain political party fear that their affiliated slice of the blogosphere may be too far-left. Newspapers and TV are leading the charge, with the internet standing in for pharmaceutical scares, yo-yo diets, and missing white women. The question is, how will the libertarian-minded digerati respond to this very real attack on the essence of web culture?
comment posted at 12:31 AM on Jul-30-05

What if we can't afford to save the world? An interesting debate between Sierra Club’s Carl Pope and the outspoken Bjørn Lomborg. (The “saving the world” bit might seem like hyperbole, but the really interesting question this debate sparks for me is this: Hypothetically, if it really came down to it, would anyone be willing to save the world for free? And if not, what does that imply about our values system and personal priorities? What does it say about the practical utility and limitations of monetary-based economic systems?
comment posted at 7:29 PM on Jul-28-05
comment posted at 7:29 PM on Jul-28-05
comment posted at 7:33 PM on Jul-28-05

The war in Iraq is now joining the South African War (1899-1902) and the Suez crisis in 1956 as ill-considered ventures that have done Britain more harm than good. It has demonstrably strengthened al-Qaeda by providing it with a large pool of activists and sympathisers across the Muslim world it did not possess before the invasion of 2003. The war that started out as a demonstration of US strength as the world's only superpower has turned into a demonstration of weakness. Its 135 000-strong army does not control much of Iraq. The suicide bombing campaign in Iraq is unique. Never before have so many fanatical young Muslims been willing to kill themselves trying to destroy those they see as their enemies. On a single day in Baghdad this month 12 bombers blew themselves up. There have been more than 500 suicide attacks in Iraq during the past year. It is this campaign that has now spread to Britain and Egypt...
Iraq has descended into chaos way beyond West's worst-case scenario
comment posted at 7:14 AM on Jul-28-05

This guy kept his amputate foot in a bucket of formaldehyde on his porch. Occasionally he would cut off toes to give to friends as gifts. Uhhh, thanks. I guess. via SLC's own hektik.
comment posted at 7:17 AM on Jul-28-05

Birth of Clinton Cargo Cult [ wikipedia: what's a cargo cult ? In short, yearning for Clinton-era economic prosperity got cultified. ]...OK. Here's the rap : Any day, Jesus Christ will return in a space ship bringing news that Bill Clinton signed a secret law in 2000 abolishing the IRS. The law, NESARA , "would expose the "Republican Party" for what they are: literally reptile space aliens posing as fiscal conservatives......And thus was a new religion born....Some people have asked, 'Why does Jesus need a spaceship'?". There's a NESARA documentary, and NESARA holds its own DC rallies. Story courtesy of John Gorenfeld, a noted authority on Lunar anomalies.
comment posted at 7:04 AM on Jul-28-05
comment posted at 11:16 AM on Jul-28-05

"I... Forgot."

Upon the death of a possible BSE cow, "the unidentified doctor preserved the brain stem sample in formalin... but then 'simply forgot' about it until mid-July." That's the reason why we're only hearing about it now. Any questions?
comment posted at 8:52 PM on Jul-27-05
comment posted at 10:27 PM on Jul-27-05
comment posted at 10:28 PM on Jul-27-05

"For every Deep Roy, there are a hundred and fifty of us who are forced to do wacked-out shit on 'The Man Show.' I'd like Tim Burton to tell me to my face what is the benefit of hiring one dwarf actor and computer-generating him when he could hire seven. We're standing at the gate and we're raising our hands and saying, 'Pick me!' And then Tim Burton comes out and says, 'I'm sorry, guys, go on home. We've got this machine that can do all your jobs.'"
comment posted at 8:58 PM on Jul-27-05
comment posted at 10:33 PM on Jul-27-05

The Prison Policy Initiative conducts research and advocacy on incarceration policy. Some interesting data include the proliferation of prisons in the US over the last century, disenfranchisement of potential black voters, global incarceration rates and percentage of US population under control of the criminal justice system.
comment posted at 9:05 PM on Jul-27-05

Walmart vs the free press again... other examples: the book mentioned in this thread is no longer available. This and that and the other thread too. Another point in a pattern of steadily increasing restriction of the press by this taxpayer funded mega -corp? Or simply a case of private enterprise making decisions in its own interest - nothing to see here, move along...
comment posted at 9:12 PM on Jul-27-05

It's all about Customer Service. Craig Newmark on his spiritual mission...
comment posted at 9:19 PM on Jul-27-05

Hate pays: The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" have - it seems - never quite died, and Bartholomew's Notes on Religion details the recrudescence of the Russian Orthodox anti-Semitic right. Meanwhile, in the USA, talk show host MSNBC rewards Jay Severin for his apparent call for the slaughter of American Muslim citizens with a spot alongside bowtie-sporting Tucker Carlson. Hate pays.
comment posted at 7:20 AM on Jul-27-05
comment posted at 9:33 PM on Jul-27-05
comment posted at 10:48 PM on Jul-27-05

The First Shot of the Civil War was fired on January 9, 1861, when George Edward Haynesworth, a cadet at The Citadel, fired a handgun at the Star of the West (1861 engraving), which was attempting to reinforce Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor (1861 map, Google map). As Captain John McGowan reported, Confederate troops from Morris Island and Fort Moultrie fired 17 shots at the Star of the West, forcing it to withdraw and return to New York. President Buchanan then "reverted to a policy of inactivity that continued until he left office." Cadet Haynsworth was in the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi and claimed to have also fired the last shot in the war. The Star of the West was later captured by the Confederates. The Citadel has a Star of the West Monument and scholarship dedicated to the cadets that fired on the ship. Also: Harper's Weekly newspapers fom the Civil War.
comment posted at 1:45 PM on Jul-26-05

A news release by the american institute of physics details the "unprecedented" bullying by republican senators of scientists studying climate change. The committee's letter asks for private and public sources of Mann's research funding, location of his data, computer codes, and his response to critical reviews of his work, including "Did you calculate the R2 statistic for the temperature reconstruction, particularly for the 15th Century proxy record calculations and what were the results?" The House web site has a collection of related materials and news articles.
comment posted at 9:53 PM on Jul-25-05
comment posted at 10:11 PM on Jul-25-05

Bloglash Blogger: Term used to describe anyone with enough time or narcissism to document every tedious bit of minutia filling their uneventful lives. Possibly the most annoying thing about bloggers is the sense of self-importance they get after even the most modest of publicity..." and so it goes. Might bruise a few egos, but it is a very funny bit of ranting - with a few home truths.
comment posted at 7:57 PM on Jul-24-05
comment posted at 7:57 PM on Jul-24-05

Blog people, Wikinewsies, and other citizen journalists are coming together to provide new and timely sources of information in the continuing Digital Revolution. OhmyNews swung the election in South Korea, Wikinews published 9 stories on the London bombings, and NowPublic aims to combine murmurs in the blogosphere with a sleek, media-filled interface. Indymedia has been publishing citizen-written news since 1999 and in the same year Salon first penned the idea of Open-source Journalism. OhmyNews continues to be the mold-breaker, combining open-source with revenue. According to CyberJournalist, to the tune of $500,000 a month. Now hiring too.
comment posted at 7:34 PM on Jul-24-05

We Introverts make up 40% of the population. So we make up a large portion of the market. We learn differently than extroverts (NSFW). We appear calm, but that may be an illusion. In fact, we need special care and attention. We like to read, write, and test software, but we're afraid of networking. We have spiritual needs (scroll down). If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you smile at us, we may surprise you. Some of us read Metafilter.
comment posted at 7:47 PM on Jul-24-05

Estimated civilian casualties in Iraq: 25,000. A new study by the Oxford Research Group and Iraq Body Count estimates that 1 in 1000 Iraqis have been killed since the US invasion began. They further estimate that 37 percent of these deaths were caused by coalition forces, and 9 percent were killed by the insurgents. Estimated civilian wounded: 42,500. Over 1700 US troops have also died, and over 18,000 have been injured.
comment posted at 12:13 AM on Jul-20-05

Not your ordinary white-tailled deer.
comment posted at 10:06 AM on Jul-16-05

Global warming starts to destroy the bottom of the food chain. I'm actually not being ironic or anything here. It's a rainy, dark Friday and I feel like human beings really ARE all gonna die, like, soon. What do I do? What kind of Harlan Ellison/William Gibson/Neil Gaiman-esque world is my little daughter going to grow up into?
comment posted at 10:12 AM on Jul-16-05
comment posted at 9:03 PM on Jul-16-05

Earlier this week, Senator Santorum (R., PA) stood by comments he made on a Catholic website in 2002 when he said:

'It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

In a brief interview with the Boston Globe on Tuesday, Santorum reiterated his view that the 'basic liberal attitude" in Boston fostered an environment where sexual abuse of children could occur. Many slammed him for politicizing a scandal that has touched many across the country - way beyond the borders of Massachusetts.

Separate, but of great importance to one who waves a flag of "traditional family values" and repeated homophobic rhetoric, how does Senator Santorum "square the fact" that his "mouthpiece" to the world (Director of Communications, Robert Traynham) came out as a gay man this afternoon?
comment posted at 9:54 PM on Jul-14-05

London Underground Bombing 'Exercises' Took Place at Same Time as Real Attack
According to a BBC Radio 5 interview (aired on the evening of July 7th) with Peter Power, Managing Director of a consultancy agency with government and police connections, Mr. Power said his firm was actively running an exercise for an unnamed company that revolved around the London Underground being bombed at the same times and locations as happened in real life on the morning of July 7th.
Power told the host that at the exact same time that the London bombings were taking place, his company was running a 1,000 person strong exercise which drilled the London Underground being bombed at the exact same locations, at the exact same times, as it unfolded on that morning.
Power is a former Scotland Yard official and at one time was attached to the Anti Terrorist Branch.
More inside....
comment posted at 10:33 AM on Jul-10-05

...it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm. - Rick Santorum on the Catholic Church's sex scandals.
comment posted at 9:00 PM on Jul-5-05

"Too many people know this. It should break wide open this week" First mentioned on Friday, Sunday brought confirmation : "E-mails surrendered by Time magazine to a grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agent's identity show that a top White House aide, Karl Rove, was one of the sources, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday." Is Karl Rove in trouble ? Read between the lines.
comment posted at 11:51 AM on Jul-4-05
comment posted at 4:37 PM on Jul-4-05
comment posted at 11:01 AM on Jul-5-05
comment posted at 9:09 PM on Jul-5-05

As dial-up internet access begins to fade, a fight is happening over the right of municipalities to install and run their own broadband Internet access networks. Various think tanks like the market oriented Heartland Institute and the community oriented Institute for Local Self Reliance have chimed in on the debate. Last week the Supreme Court ruled that cable companies do not have to provide "open access" to rival Internet providers. And down in Lafayette Louisiana, where the community will soon vote on whether to install a municipal Fiber to Home Network, some of the citizens decided to inject some humor into the issue by holding a film festival.
comment posted at 1:50 AM on Jul-3-05