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What the NRA wants the NRA gets. The Assault Weapons Ban ends Monday. In an election season where first responders have become an issue it seems odd that both parties are ignoring pleas like these, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton: "Nobody has an inalienable right to run around with a machine gun. I'm sorry, that's insanity!" Also, check out this fun and informative "banned or legal" page explaining the 1994 ban. Ban FAQ here.
comment posted at 3:28 PM on Sep-9-04

Breeders are winning. "Conservative, religiously minded Americans are putting far more of their genes into the future than their liberal, secular counterparts." (WaPo link, bugmenot says try fedup@mailinator.com and fedup if you don't care to register. Definition of genetic fitness here.)
comment posted at 11:41 AM on Sep-6-04

Bush and Kerry Hit Road, Trade Blows on Jobs I can only guess that someone at Reuters has a sense of humor.
comment posted at 1:47 PM on Sep-3-04

Echo Company An emotionally trying account of an ambush in Iraq this past April that took the lives of twelve Americans and who knows how many Iraqis, from two journalists who were there. Included is a timeline, audio & video, photogalleries, and reactions from the friends and family they left behind. You can read a USMC account of the memorial service here. via Editor & Publisher [Flash/Real]
comment posted at 5:18 PM on Sep-2-04

Half of New Yorkers Believe US Leaders Had Foreknowledge of Impending 9-11 Attacks and “Consciously Failed” To Act; 66% Call For New Probe of Unanswered Questions by Congress or New York’s Attorney General, New Zogby International Poll Reveals On the eve of a Republican National Convention invoking 9/11 symbols, sound bytes and imagery, half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of New York citizens overall say that some of our leaders "knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act," according to the poll conducted by Zogby International. The poll of New York residents was conducted from Tuesday August 24 through Thursday August 26, 2004. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of +/-3.5. This is probably bad news for Rudy Giuliani.
comment posted at 8:50 PM on Aug-31-04
comment posted at 10:16 PM on Aug-31-04

The maven of midwestern gentility weighs in on today's GOP.

How did the Party of Lincoln and Liberty transmogrify into the party of Newt Gingrich’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk?
comment posted at 7:32 AM on Aug-30-04
comment posted at 8:41 AM on Aug-30-04
comment posted at 9:57 AM on Aug-30-04
comment posted at 10:40 AM on Aug-30-04

What is the justice department trying to censor in the ACLU's case against the Patriot Act? Anything they feel like, apparantly, including quotes from The Supreme Court. [via boingboing]
comment posted at 12:32 PM on Aug-29-04

"Innate intelligence has to do with capability and ignorance to do with variables such as educational opportunity and personal diligence. But the conundrum remains. Is intellect important in presidents? If Americans can't solve the question definitively in the matter of John Kerry and George Bush, we damn sure ought to make an educated guess."
comment posted at 11:05 AM on Aug-27-04

Are the Republicans starting to hedge their bets?

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 -In a break with months of Republican efforts to outlaw gay marriage, Vice President Dick Cheney offered a defense of the rights of gay Americans on Tuesday, declaring that "freedom means freedom for everyone" to enter "into any kind of relationship they want to."

comment posted at 8:35 PM on Aug-24-04

Tivo Time!
The major news networks just got snubbed it seems. Whatever your position this is guaranteed to be entertaining. Even my 'newsfilter' link has a few chuckles! Don't miss the fun tonight!
comment posted at 2:48 PM on Aug-24-04

The upcoming entertainment lineup for the GOP convention next week is mostly country music, but this article mentions that Stephen Baldwin will be there. Yep, you heard me, a Baldwin. Alec Baldwin was at the DNC last month, and now it's brother vs. brother, Baldwin vs. Baldwin. Remember when you're voting this fall that it's basically a best of the Baldwins contest. You either like Alec, or Stephen, but not both. Now choose your poison Baldwin. [via devoter]
comment posted at 2:35 PM on Aug-24-04

You've got to admit, he does have some pretty nice medals.
comment posted at 11:34 AM on Aug-23-04

Fear Itself: an american journalist wants to put the threat of terrorism into perspective, and elects to ride on a bus line in Jerusalem, the train line through Madrid, and a British Airways flight said to be a bombing target. He comes away with it unscathed but the stories he tells about the history of terror, especially in Israel, is chilling and daily life in some parts of Jerusalem sounds like scenes lifted straight out of Brazil. [via the big K]
comment posted at 5:14 PM on Aug-22-04

828 - 844: You will say, “A picture like this will make people sick of war.” You will be wrong. If a picture is worth 1000 words, here are exactly 1000 spoken ones by Garret Keizer. {flash} Or, read them yourself, but it's not the same thing. {Both links contain an Abu Ghraib photo.}
comment posted at 10:36 PM on Aug-21-04
comment posted at 11:34 AM on Aug-22-04

The NYT's investigation into the birth and background of the anti Kerry ad about his Vietnam service record.
comment posted at 12:00 PM on Aug-20-04

Dinosaur invades New Zealand volcano. A few months ago, some daring joker went ashore at White Island and pasted a Flintstones Dino doll in front of the Crater Cam, in the volcano. The dinosaur has since become world famous, and is still visible on the webcam to this day.
comment posted at 9:00 AM on Aug-20-04

The USA is sending the refugees from Monserrat back home. Why? Because the threat from their volcano is no longer regarded as "temporary", but "permanent".
comment posted at 7:23 AM on Aug-20-04

George W. Bush's latest TV ads juxtapose Iraq's and Afghanistan's flags with footage of Olympic sport, proclaiming, "At this Olympics, there will be two more free nations — and two fewer terrorist regimes." At a campaign stop, Bush said, "just the image of the Iraqi soccer team playing in this Olympics. It's fantastic, isn't it? What a fantastic thought." The possibly medal-bound Iraqi soccer team, however, objects to any such association. While Bush goes on to say, "Here's a country now, battling for a country that is now free. It wouldn't have been free if the United States had not acted," Ahmed Manajid, midfield goes so far as to say, "if he were not playing soccer he would 'for sure' be fighting as part of the resistance."
comment posted at 12:09 PM on Aug-19-04

John Kerry's Flip Flop Olympics. Flash fun from the folks over at the Bush/Cheney campaign.
comment posted at 11:39 AM on Aug-18-04

What's the difference between an operating system and a user interface? If you're the San Francisco Chronicle, they're the same thing.
comment posted at 11:36 AM on Aug-17-04

Why 2004 won't be like 1984. A phenomenal read detailing why Apple's reluctance to open up iPod is not the harbinger of doom that so many pundits claim it is. The horror! Apple may have learned from its mistakes with Macintosh 20 years ago and guess what? Macintosh's failure had little to do with licensing. That is, if you agree with the analysis over at daringfireball.net. This article points out why the media pundits are wrong about Apple's reluctance to open up iPod and shows why their position today is entirely different, and stronger, than 20 years ago. Let the flame wars begin!
comment posted at 9:35 AM on Aug-17-04

Is the GOP tampering with Florida elections? The New York Times reports that State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November. Also, see here and here. Why do we even put up with this?
comment posted at 8:11 PM on Aug-16-04
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comment posted at 12:08 AM on Aug-17-04

Shyamalan may face legal action over Village - The Village can now join the long list of films accused of plagiarism in recent years. A lawsuit may be filed against M. Night Shyamalan's Blinding Edge Pictures and Disney for alleged plagiarism. Kiddie book writer Margaret Peterson Haddix claims that the movie bears disturbing similarities to her 1995 novel Running Out Of Time. While plagiarism of any kind is no laughing matter, it must be stated that the "disturbing similarity" is a plot twist many of us once used in our own stories back in grade school.
comment posted at 8:23 AM on Aug-16-04

Is the CIA tampering with Venezuelan elections? A Venezuelan news organization reports that an email was sent to the world press this afternoon, claiming to be early election results indicating a defeat for outspoken Bush critic Hugo Chavez. The email in question appears to be a fraud, sent from a location in Virginia. There are also reports coming in of phony election results being broadcast on Venezuelan television, and rigged exit polls organized by the very people who supported an unsuccessful coup against Chavez in 2002 -- an organization funded by our government through the National Endowment for Democracy. Your tax dollars at work. Former President Carter reports that the elections are going well, with a huge turnout, but if Chavez wins, will there be an organized effort -- funded by U.S. tax dollars -- to discredit the election anyway?
comment posted at 12:08 AM on Aug-16-04
comment posted at 7:57 AM on Aug-16-04

F*ckNewYork-- very fitting quicktime piece (9 meg, NSFW--offensive language/attitude) concerning the upcoming Republican Convention. Links to RNC Not Welcome, and Counterconvention, but i don't think it's something they created. And a torrent here.
comment posted at 11:15 AM on Aug-15-04
comment posted at 8:53 PM on Aug-15-04

Hating Dick Cheney - Our vice president is so widely hated as being an evil puppeteer, but this seems to be far from the truth. He's really "a frazzled, heart attack survivor who's barely hanging on—to life, his job, his position, his sense of self-esteem."
comment posted at 11:31 PM on Aug-13-04

craigsbay?
according to the founder of craigslist.com, ebay has acquired a 25% stake in the site.
there is a lot of concern that ebay will influence the way craigslist works, despite craig's assurances that it won't, but will ebay allow things like the 'casual encounters' section of the personals to continue?
or is this just the next logical step for craigslist, and is a 25% stake not enough for ebay to do any real damage?
(the way ebay acquired the stake seems a little weird to me too, even though it's all perfectly legal.)
comment posted at 4:02 PM on Aug-13-04

P. J. O'Rourke interviews Colin Powell in The Atlantic.
comment posted at 3:54 PM on Aug-13-04
comment posted at 4:23 PM on Aug-13-04
comment posted at 5:48 PM on Aug-13-04

Raleigh Couple Arrested Over Alleged Explicit Photos Of Children "Charbel Hamaty stood before the judge Tuesday to face charges of first degree statutory sex offense and sexual exploitation of a minor. Authorities arrested his wife, Teresa, on the same exploitation charges for taking what they consider sexually explicit pictures that included a 2-month-old baby boy and a 6-year-old girl." They negelct to mention it's only two pictures of the poor guy holding his newborn son to the camera for photos to send to his family.
comment posted at 11:49 AM on Aug-13-04

TSG - Fake Police Officer (contains NSFW jpg)
comment posted at 10:13 PM on Aug-11-04

I just ordered mine. [via Kevin Rose]
comment posted at 1:28 PM on Aug-6-04

The anti-Kerry book Unfit for Command is #1 on Amazon. Unfortunately, the book, not even released, has entered the downward spiral of diminished credibility of its authors. The "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" have been found to include a man who changed his story right after Kerry entered the race and another who flat-out retracts his accusations. Meanwhile, another SBVfT member has accused Kerry of not really deserving his Bronze Star because the events leading to it never occured... even though the Veteran recieved a Bronze Star for the same day's events he claims now never happened.
comment posted at 1:32 PM on Aug-6-04
comment posted at 1:39 PM on Aug-6-04

John Kerry's Official Naval Records Time to put to rest the nonsense coming out of the hate groups. And when you hear about the Swift Boat group who have put out an ad and now a book denouncing Kerry, then turn to this URL to find out about that group of patriots http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth
comment posted at 10:22 AM on Aug-5-04
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comment posted at 11:01 AM on Aug-5-04
comment posted at 2:14 PM on Aug-5-04

Timeline of Terror Alerts. A collected list of political events over the last two years and the action from the Department of Homeland Security that occured within 24 hours of each event. Readers have even submitted more examples in the comments. Partisan exploitation of numerous coincidences? Or a developing pattern?
comment posted at 10:00 AM on Aug-5-04