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The age of horrorism. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, Martin Amis analyses - and abhors - the rise of extreme Islamism. In a penetrating and wide-ranging essay he offers a trenchant critique of the grotesque creed and questions the West's faltering response to this eruption of evil.
comment posted at 8:40 AM on Sep-19-06

America Weakly A RNC-produced fake newspaper from the future under a Democratic Congress. Breaking News: Impeachment Hearings Gavelled In. -- Where do I sign up?!
comment posted at 10:39 AM on Sep-8-06

Sonny Rollins, one of the founding tenors of bop and post-bop jazz, is 76 today. Unlike many other jazz giants who passed away well before they ought to have, Sonny is still going strong. Rollins became famous with his record Saxophone Colossus which included, among others, the memorable St. Thomas. Sonny also became known for his ability to craft imaginative, articulate solos while playing with just a bassist and drummer (without the benefit of a chordal instrument such as piano to "flesh out" the harmonies). Happy Birthday, Sonny!
comment posted at 8:02 AM on Sep-8-06

"N+1 is a new NYC-based publication that styles itself high-brow and left; I am told that kids just out of college hanging out in NYC read it, and read its website in particular." (via) Articles include: Weakonomics, Excremental Education, and Is Anal Sex Fair to Women?
comment posted at 5:20 AM on Sep-6-06
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In the Chinks of the Genre Machine: it is slipstream week at Strange Horizons. Seventeen years after Bruce Sterling coined the term it has spawned two anthologies, ParaSpheres and Feeling Very Strange. (The later inspired by this blog entry.)
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What Valerie Plame Really Did at the CIA: She was the chief of operations of the CIA's Joint Task Force on Iraq, in charge of gathering information on Iraq's supposed WMD programs, according to a new article in The Nation based on David Corn and Michael Isikoff's new book, Hubris. On his weblog, David Corn says, "She was an undercover officer in charge of running critical covert operations." Also, in the summer of 2001, "word came down from the brass: We're ramping up on Iraq."
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ABC News: Osama bin Laden offered sanctuary in Pakistan:

If he is in Pakistan, bin Laden "would not be taken into custody," Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan told ABC News in a telephone interview, "as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen."

Offer comes as truce is concluded between Pakistan and Al Queada:

The Pakistani military will no longer operate in the area where Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda operatives are believed to be hiding, according to terms of what the Pakistan government calls a "peace deal," signed today with militant tribal groups allied to the Taliban and al Qaeda.

San Jose Mercury News reports Bush Administration approved truce, will offer millions in aid:

The Pakistani military is striking truces with Islamic separatists along the country's border with Afghanistan, freeing Pakistani militants and al-Qaida fighters to join Taliban insurgents battling U.S.-led troops and government forces in Afghanistan..... when the military failed to crush the separatists, the Bush administration agreed to support Pakistan's truce-making efforts and pledged millions of dollars in additional aid.

comment posted at 7:21 AM on Sep-6-06
comment posted at 11:23 AM on Sep-6-06

Executive Excess 2006: Defense and Oil Executives Cash in on Conflict (PDF). A new study from United for a Fair Economy and the Institute for Policy Studies looks at who is making a killing from the war on terror (or whatever they're calling it this week.) Looking ahead, I better review my portfolio. [Via C&L.]
comment posted at 8:32 AM on Sep-1-06
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Wired thinks it’s time to talk about how media consolidation affects freedom of the press in America. Al Gore seems to think it's a problem almost as serious as Global Warming (and in some ways, a closely related one). So just who does own the media these days? Maybe it’s time for a return to the days when we expected a little more fairness in our news coverage.
comment posted at 9:45 AM on Sep-1-06

"It’s a cliché among hikers that there are as many ways to hike the trail as there are people who hike it. Most start at Springer Mountain in Georgia and end at Katahdin in Maine; a few start in Maine and head south. Purists walk every 2,167.1 miles of the trail marked by white rectangular blazes painted on the trees. Blue blazers take short cuts on side trails marked with blue. Yellow blazers hitchhike ahead along roads. And then there are the pink blazers. Pink blazers pursue women."
comment posted at 6:37 AM on Aug-28-06

Buchanan Argues For Immigration Moratorium To Preserve White Dominance His new book also explains that western civilization is dependant on white people's "genetic endowments". Could explain why John Gibson famously called for "more white babies" a couple months ago. Is blatant racism becoming less taboo?
comment posted at 1:02 PM on Aug-23-06

Boobies fight terror. Single link newsfilter, sorry. Is this a new front in the war on terror?
comment posted at 6:41 AM on Aug-15-06

The 50 coolest websites : according to Time Magazine, at least. Who cares if they changed the world or not: as long as they're cool, that's all that really matters! Unsurprisingly, Digg's in there, as is MySpace (!), but they somehow seem to have neglected Metafilter, deciding that Cute Overload is way more hip instead. And no, Flickr's not in this one either.
comment posted at 1:21 PM on Aug-14-06

Bush = Christ?! William Smatt is under the impression that Dubya is the returned Messiah. More here. On behalf of all Christians everywhere, I'm going to go vomit now.
comment posted at 1:05 PM on Aug-1-06

``Friendly fascism portrays two conflicting trends in the United States and other countries of the so-called "free world." The first is a slow and powerful drift toward greater concentration of power and wealth in a repressive Big Business-Big Government partnership... The other is a slower and less powerful tendency for individuals and groups to seek greater participation in decisions affecting themselves and others... These contradictory trends are woven fine into the fabric of highly industrialized capitalism.'
comment posted at 12:52 PM on Aug-1-06

"I keep track of Condoleezza's hairdo so you don't have to."
comment posted at 8:34 AM on Jul-31-06

U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration, say legal experts reviewing an early version of the bill.
comment posted at 11:06 AM on Jul-31-06

SysAdminDay. If you can read this, thank your sysadmin.
comment posted at 7:11 AM on Jul-28-06

"There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have 30 minutes." Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. Initial (and unwarranted) suspicions notwithstanding, the July 27th bombing would prove to be just the first of four such acts of domestic terrorism committed by 5-year fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph.
comment posted at 10:48 AM on Jul-27-06

Africa does not need more expensive food. As the Doha trade rounds collapse largely due to disagreements about farm subsidies, Daniel Davies challenges the conventional view that farm subsidies hurt the poor.
comment posted at 10:53 AM on Jul-27-06

US plotted to invade Iran: explosive report, Rolling Stone adds new fuel to fire over possible Iran strike. Even before the bombs fell on Baghdad, a group of senior Pentagon officials were plotting to invade another country. Their covert campaign once again relied on false intelligence and shady allies. But this time, the target was Iran. BY JAMES BAMFORD
comment posted at 11:28 AM on Jul-27-06

Looks like the battle over Bush's judicial nominations may be back on. In February, Bush nominated Michael B. Wallace to a seat on the Fifth Circuit. Not long after, the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary, which evaluates the professional qualifications of all nominees for the federal bench, gave Wallace a 'not qualified' rating. With that rating, Wallace joins company with other similarly unqualified judicial nominees such Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook, and J. Harvie Wilkinson III. [more inside]
comment posted at 10:41 AM on Jul-26-06
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Conservative columnist Jeff Jacoby asks "Are You a 'Chicken Hawk'?" Liberal blogger Glenn Greenwald responds.
comment posted at 7:03 AM on Jul-26-06
comment posted at 11:01 AM on Jul-26-06

I've really been enjoying Ken Jennings' weblog, especially his hilarious, satirical Dear Jeopardy letter (with later faux-correction (bottom)]. But some people don't get it. Michael Starr of the New York Post wrote at length this morning that Jennings is biting the hand that fed him. It gets worse: AP has picked up the story, which is where I first saw it: as a headline - 'Jeopardy' Champ Ken Jennings Blasts Show - on U.S. News & World Report. Ken has a response. Mine is disbelief...
comment posted at 7:13 AM on Jul-26-06

Straight Talk Is Cheap: How John McCain became the capo of the new, reformed campaign finance syndicate. "McCain isn't breaking any campaign finance laws. He wrote them so he wouldn't have to. But he's guilty of campaigning in exactly the manner he asserts is harming our nation. Senator McCain isn't reforming Washington. He is Washington."
comment posted at 12:42 PM on Jul-26-06

Scientists say they’ve found a code beyond genetics in DNA. The study by Segal et al. [PDF] establishes a model for predicting some (but not all) nucleosome placement. This is critical for understanding the regulation of gene expression.
comment posted at 7:19 AM on Jul-25-06

The Amazon rainforest becomes "a desert" after three consecutive years without rain - the trees die. Next year would be the third year of an ongoing drought. The forest contains 90 billion tons of carbon (or about 45 years of stored human emmisions at current rates) - 3/4's of the carbon is released within a year of dieing. The Amazon is "headed in a terrible direction".
comment posted at 7:24 AM on Jul-25-06
comment posted at 7:29 AM on Jul-26-06

The origins and evolution of human intelligence: parasitic insects? viruses? mushrooms? neural darwinism? foraging? machiavellian competition? emergence? or something else?
comment posted at 7:25 AM on Jul-25-06

William F. Buckley: "If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign."
comment posted at 7:08 AM on Jul-24-06

With the days counting down to the November election, people should really start to think about who they want to vote for. Get some straight information on who's running here, and while you're at it, check to see how your senators and representatives voted on a variety of issues.
comment posted at 12:29 PM on Jul-21-06

Safe at Any Speed With higher speed limits, our highways have been getting safer.
comment posted at 12:34 PM on Jul-21-06

Senator Brownback is a... vagina? Another esteemed politician's take on something he may not be fully informed on. Full video and transcript if you'd like to skip the YouTube Jon Stewart commentary.
comment posted at 7:51 AM on Jul-21-06
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comment posted at 12:39 PM on Jul-21-06

Judge Refuses to Dismiss NSA Spy Program Lawsuit. Judge Walker has denied the motion by the government to dismiss the EFF's suit based on the state secrets doctrine. Read the order [pdf] and more coverage and analysis at SCOTUSblog.
comment posted at 12:43 PM on Jul-21-06

"In 2006, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) distributed a 38-question survey to 5,918 FDA scientists to examine the state of science at the FDA. The results paint a picture of a troubled agency: hundreds of scientists reported significant interference with the FDA’s scientific work, compromising the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission of protecting public health and safety."
comment posted at 8:25 AM on Jul-21-06

DADA Hits the MOMA. DaDaism was an art movement that arose prior to the rubble of WW1 where the artists led a creative revolution that shaped the course of modern art by combining different mediums to create a message of protest and hope. The MOMA exhibit tells one story (scroll to data and select full program - req flash 7) and the New Yorker reaffirms the influence on art today. However, the real story is with Richard Huelsenbeck, the ring leader and founder of the DaDa movement An interview with him from December 1960 (45 mins mp3) explains the start - as one of the few German artists in protest to the war. My favourite part is where he tells of picking out the name DaDa from an encyclopedia at a cabaret.
comment posted at 5:51 AM on Jul-20-06

OpenDNS is an interesting idea -- take the basics of DNS, add a bunch of features like caching servers, a phishing blacklist, and search engine fired off for misspelled domain names. Pretty handy and nice to see a service pop up where I thought browsers would someday fix (like typos). No software to install, just point your DNS at their IPs.
comment posted at 6:44 AM on Jul-20-06
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comment posted at 8:39 AM on Jul-21-06