Does Politics Remove The Memory Portions of the Brain?

Apparently, it does.

 

A memo received by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shortly after becoming National Security Advisor in 2001 directly contradicts statements she made to reporters yesterday, RAW STORY has learned.

"We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda," Rice told a reporter for the New York Post on Monday. "Big pieces were missing," Rice added, "like an approach to Pakistan that might work, because without Pakistan you weren't going to get Afghanistan."

Wait!  There's more.

However, RAW STORY has found that just five days after President George W. Bush was sworn into office, a memo from counter-terrorism expert Richard A. Clarke to Rice included the 2000 document, " Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Networks of al-Qida: Status and Prospects." This document devotes over 2 of its 13 pages of material to specifically addressing strategies for securing Pakistan's cooperation in airstrikes against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Kudos to the Raw Story.

 

Seth Brundle : You have to leave now, and never come back here. Have you ever heard of insect politics? Neither have I. insect People don't have politics. They're very... brutal. No compassion, no compromise. We can't trust the insect human.

 

There.  Quote from Jeffery Goldblum.

 

Now fixed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Get My Coups Above The Waistline, Sunshine

Uh-oh.

 

Tanks have taken up position around the Thai government headquarters in Bangkok blocking traffic, eyewitnesses have told Reuters news agency.

An army-owned TV station has altered its programming to broadcast images of the royal family and songs associated in the past with military coups.

BBC!  BBC!

More to come, no doubt.  This news makes a hard man humble.

 

 

Google Shows Some Love to the UNCF

Not surprised.  Google has started a scholarship for African-American students.

 

As part of Google's ongoing commitment to advancing computing and technology, we're pleased to tell you that the United Negro College Fund and Google have partnered to create the UNCF/Google Scholarship Program. We hope this program will encourage students to excel in their studies, inspire them to become role models and leaders, and help remove the financial barriers for African-American students wishing to pursue an engineering degree.

 

Courtesy of the GoogleBlog.  But the deadline is October 5, so hurry, now!  Here's the info.

 

Here's the part where I say:

I hate the term "xxxxxxxxxx-American".

 

Mexican-American.

African-American.

Latino-American.

Irish-American.

Polish-American.

Chinese-American.

 

Please.  At what point do you stop using the "-American" part in your identity?  How many generations are required until you go from "Dash-American" to "American"?  Two?  One?  Five?  How ridiculous.  It's like you're an American-In-Training, or instead of being on the American Team, you're on the practice squad, because obviously you need a season or two of training, although you can travel with the rest of the squad on Sundays.  Diversity should be celebrated; however, hyphenating one's nationality or ethnicity with "American" is not the way to do it, thanks.  I never thought that was a good idea.

 

With that, I will link to this blog:  The Assimilated Negro.  Seems like I've linked to this before, but I can't remember.  I must be a Forgetful-American.

 

Expect a permanent link to follow.

 

Computer Geek-Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Blog Explosion

Darn.

 

Looks like I've had another blog explosion; all of my archives and such have been pushed to the bottom of the page.

 

No worries - the links are still there.  I've just got to adjust a couple of things to make everything fit.  Personally, I blame the O RLY owl.

Update: Fixed. And not a moment too soon. That's what I get for not reading my own blog.

Hello, World!

Thought I'd shout out to a few places that have been visiting lately.

 

Hello to: Beijing, Morocco, Raleigh - North Carolina (hello, North Carolina State), Phoenix, Boston, Florida, Denver AND Parker, Colorado, Northern and Southern California, New York City, Germany,  Falls Church AND Herndon, Virginia (waves to the Feds), Cincinnati and Maumee, Ohio, Hong Kong, and the home of the Simpsons (pick a Springfield).  Happy 18 years!  God, that's a long time for ANY show.

 

Thanks, everybody! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Of The Addictive Time Wasters

Oh, no!

 

It's a Time Waster!

 

And it's addictive!  It's the hardest riddle on the Net!

 

The goal of the Antiriddle project is to not only entertain those that enjoy intellectual challenges, but also to teach a certain degree of computer literacy and to foster a sense of cooperation in solving an issue.

Please advertise this site as much as possible so that the developers can afford to invest their time into improving this project.

Enjoy.

Forgive me, and good luck.

Freeware Wonders

I honestly don't know where I found this link.  However, it's damn useful:  10 Unknown Windows Freeware Applications You Should Know About.

 

There are dozens of well known freeware applications out there. From web browsers to word processors to anti-viruses, there is freeware everywhere. Take a look at these 10 great Windows freeware applications you have probably either never heard of or never fully looked into.

 

Homeboy is using Blogger.  Good deal.  Show 'em some love.

 

 

 

...And Speaking of Google...

Ok.  Last Google post today.  But it's a Google day.

 

Guess what this week is?

 

Banned Books Week!

 

And who is celebrating?

 

Google.  Again.

 

Google Book Search is our effort to expand the universe of books you can discover, and this year we're joining libraries and bookstores across the country to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week – a nationwide initiative to help people learn about and explore banned books. You can start by browsing these 42 classics – books we couldn't be more pleased to highlight.

 

It's true.  Google never stops.  They are relentless.

 

Do yourself a favor and read some really good books today.

 

I've read 27 of those books listed.

Beat it if you can.

Googlerrifc

Wow.  These Google folks, they don't play around.

 

The Internet search juggernaut's senior vice president of engineering and research was describing a new and urgent reality facing Google. "Can you build global products with a workforce that is only in Mountain View, California?" Eustace asked, posing a rhetorical question to the several dozen assorted Wall Street types in attendance, some of whom were dozing off as he spoke. "The answer is, no you can't. The technical talent that we need to solve the next generation of problems in search does not all live in Mountain View, California."

Eustace left out the part about the 300,000 square feet of space that Google plans to occupy in the heart of the city. It's a poorly kept secret that the company will soon open a huge new office and networking facility at 111 Eighth Avenue. Google's new base in the city will dump a sizable influx of Google employees into the social and professional environment of Chelsea and the West Village.

 

Where found?  The Village Voice.  Ah, Voice.  It's been too long, indeed.

 

No, folks, I swear that Google isn't building Skynet.

 

But I bet that they will build the biggest computer network in the world.

 

Just a guess.

 

Where can I get a chip for my brain?

 

 

 

 

 

Well Dunn

Only vaguely interesting is that Patricia Dunn, one of the most powerful women in corporate America, has quit.

 

HP Chairwoman Dunn to Step Down in January, to Be Succeeded by CEO Mark Hurd; Shares Up

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. said Tuesday that Patricia Dunn will step down as chairwoman of the computer and printer maker in January amid a widening scandal involving a possibly illegal probe into media leaks. She will be succeeded by CEO Mark Hurd.

 

Via Yahoo News.

 

Much more interesting?  The analysis in the comments from Fark.

grunge

14.92 for 5ml of ink
14.92 / 5 = 2.98
2.98 for 1ml

1 US gallon = 3785.4118 ml

2.98 x 3785.4118 = $11298.668

Printer ink costs $11298.67 per gallon.

 

Sweet Mother of GOD.  $11,298.67 A GALLON?!

Now THAT'S expensive paint.

 

 

 

 

 

Katherine Harris Wins

Well, well, well.

 

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris overcame a campaign ridiculed even by her own party to easily claim the Republican nomination for the Senate on Tuesday, and Rep. Jim Davis held a narrow lead in the race for the Democratic nomination to succeed popular Gov. Jeb Bush.

Harris next faces an uphill battle against the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Bill Nelson, who had no primary challenger.

"Tonight is great victory for our party and for Florida," Harris said. "It's a great victory because it shows each of us we can overcome adversity to achieve extraordinary victories."

Via CNN.

 

You might remember Katherine Harris.  She's the former Florida Secretary of State that basically sealed the 2000 election for George Bush.

 

Not surprising.  Yet another I weep for American politics as a whole.  A recent gem from Ms. Harris:

 

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws."

The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage.

Harris made the comments -- which she clarified Saturday -- in the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, which interviewed political candidates and asked them about religion and their positions on issues.

Separation of church and state is "a lie we have been told," Harris said in the interview, published Thursday, saying separating religion and politics is "wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers."

Electing non-Christians a 'legislative sin'

"If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," Harris said.

Also from CNN.

 

I do not believe that the word 'sin' means what she thinks it means.

 

For that particular (and amazing) bit of nonsense from one of our elected officials (see:  Deist ), I simply must drag out an old, but beloved, cliche:

 

 

 

 

Googleberg

That's a mashup of Google and The Gutenberg Project, in case you were wondering.

 

Imagine those two in cahoots.  Especially now.

 

Now Web users can use Google's powerful servers not only to look up words in the Dickens novel, but also to download a copy -- a process that can take anywhere from a few seconds to about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the book and the speed of the user's Internet connection. The book arrives as a set of scanned images from a printed copy of the book, and some include original drawings, library markings and notes jotted in the margins by previous borrowers. Google Book Search's copy of ``A Tale of Two Cities" was scanned from a copy printed in 1908 by the University Society. A rubber stamp on an inner page indicates that the original book was obtained by the Harvard College Library in 1942.

Google won't say how many books are currently in its index. But with the ability to scan books at six of the world's biggest libraries, Google's library of public domain titles could surpass that of the Gutenberg Project, which contains about 16,000 titles.

When was the last time that I linked to the Boston Globe?  Never?  That's what I thought.  Strange, that.

 

For now, the Google Book Search service offers full downloads only of ``public domain" books, whose copyrights have expired. These include many of the most famous titles of all time, such as the writings of Dickens , Shakespeare , and Dante.

 

Why, thanks again, Google.  Also thanks to the good people at Project Gutenberg, who I should probably put a permanent link to somewhere.  Why, I just downloaded Dante's Inferno today (no, not as a roadmap).  However, as you can see from the article, Yahoo and Microsoft are teaming up to create an alternative book download service.  Oh no!  Can Google succeed?

 

With all due respect to this movie:

 

Prince Microsoft:  Your Google is dead.  I killed it myself.

Princess Buttercup:  Then why is there fear beneath your eyes?

 

Indeed.

 

 

 

 

Looks Like The Creepy Looking, Vaguely Effeminate Guy Didn't Do It

Via Yahoo.

 

BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - A DNA sample taken from John Mark Karr, the schoolteacher who claims to have been with child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey when she died in 1996, does not match DNA found in her underwear, a Denver TV station reported on Monday.

 

Duh.

 

Can we please, please go on to something more relevant now? 

 

Perhaps we can live in the here and now, and stop stomping over the grave of a sadly snuffed out pre-adolescent beauty queen who probably would have rather ran outside in her yard through a sprinker on a hot summer afternoon than be forced into makeup, fishnet stockings, and pink cowgirl outfits.

 

Rest in peace, poor little rich girl.

 

The Beauty Of A Perfect Headline

Did you want to see an example of an almost perfect headline?

 

Really?

 

Seriously, it's in English, and everything.

 

All right.  I'm going to write it now, with proper attribution, of course.

 

Nuclear Apocalypse Milder Than Expected

By Thomas C Greene in Washington

 

Update The Register is pleasantly surprised to learn that humanity continues to muddle along after a leading Islamic scholar predicted its abrupt destruction on 22 August.

Academician Bernard Lewis, a specialist in Middle-Eastern culture and politics, and one of Dick Cheney's favorite thinkers, appeared to have it all worked out in an op-ed piece published by the Wall Street Journal . After a careful reading of scripture, and a bit of arithmetic, Lewis was able to determine the ideal day for Iran to nuke Israel, initiating the atomic Armageddon that we've all been worrying about.

That headline, found in The Register (yes, they're British.  Figures.) is as crisp as the early morning air on a dewy early October morning in the Midwest.  I've seen cherry blossom season in Washington DC, a hazy, red and bluish sunset over the Rocky Mountains in Denver, and a sunrise over Lake Michigan in the spring off of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and none of them were as beautiful as that headline.

 

Thomas C. Greene, I applaud (bows).

Join The Agency

Why this amused me, I have no idea.  But this might be good advice for some:  How To Become A CIA Agent.

Does that James Bond movie marathon you watched on TV have you dreaming about being a secret agent? If you're a U.S. citizen, you may be wondering how you can get into the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the nation's top career choice for aspiring spies. Before you get your heart set on joining the Agency, however, there are a couple things you should know.

 

(word to WikiHow)

 

So.  Personal aside to Stew, Charles, Mike, or whatever they call you guys now... if you're reading this, please don't delete it.  I'm performing a service. 

 

In the meantime, bone up on your Russian, Farsi, and Serbo-Croatian.  That's what I hear, anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Boing Baby Boing

Again, I hate to be so quick, but it's late, I'm tired, and rapidly turning into a pumpkin.

 

Ultra-violent Charlie Brown student film.

 

EFF: How to keep your search private.

 

Online sleuthing leads to capture of JonBenet murder suspect. (yeah, right.  I think that one's a trap.)

 

and finally...

 

As with liquids, TSA bans motherf(bleep!)ing snakes from planes.

 

All stories can be found in Boing Boing.  I love Boing Boing.  It's like that one sweater that you have that doesn't shrink, is the perfect color, and never, EVER goes out of style.  Stay classy.

 

I must, however, end today's post, since tomorrow is August 18, 2006, with this:

 

A man, and a plane full of deadly snakes.

What are you gonna do?

 

Either you get it, or you don't.

 

 

 

 

Hack Your Life

Hey all!

 

Sorry that I haven't been blogging too much lately; just got a new job, trying to get a new place... probably a lot of you know how it is.  For me, what suffered?  My blog.  My poor, sweet blog, that never did anything to anyone.

 

However, let's remedy that.

 

Immediately.

 

So... did you ever want to be a regular?

 

The Urban Monarch blog describes how you can go about becoming a regular at your favorite restaurant.

 

That sounds fun. 

 

Next we have this little blurb:  Google Maps for your webpages.

 

Previously-mentioned Google Maps mashup site Wikimapia has put together a tutorial for quickly and easily adding a Google Map to any web page in 30 seconds using Wikimapia.

 

Both of the above tips come via The Hack.  Use it, love it, make Lifehacker your friend.

Sleep. Sleep, Data.

I know that it seems like I haven't been blogging a lot lately.  I'm trying to make up for it.

 

How?

 

Well, by not sleeping, of course.

 

Science magazine's Career Development section has an article about sleep deficit and the science of a good night's sleep.

 

Paging BoingBoing!

 

Seriously, people, not sleeping will make you crazy.  Science says so.  So if it's 3:00 in the morning where you are, and you've been on the computer for the last 24 hours, go to sleep.  NOW.

 

 

Fear of (Free) Flying?

Then take a look at this article on frequent flyer miles on the Consumerist .

You're broke. Your woman has left you. But bigger than your heap o' troubles is a pile of Frequent Flyer miles, sitting in neat, invisible little stacks, to be exchanged for a trip to Hong Kong, Amsterdam or any other far-flung clime with easily accessible and cheap companions.

But with Frequent Flyer programs becoming increasingly impenetrable; with free tickets being harder and harder to come by; with airlines increasingly trying to parlay free ticket requests to be used for hotels and restaurants... how can you guarantee a posh seat on a free jumbo jet?

Sure, The Consumerist has this.  But how did I find it?

 

Show Lifehacker the love.

 

 

 

The Amazing Race

AOL.

Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) AOL unit said it will make five gigabytes of online storage available free to all Web users.

The Internet service provider and online portal said the added storage will enable users to store any type of file and will support a drag-and-drop interface between online storage and hard drive.

The storage offering will be available to any users who have an AOL or AIM screenname starting in early September.

 

Via MarketWatch.

 

Biker and perennial underdog Dick Parsons raced up the mountain.  It was Stage 17, one of the most treacherous stages of the newly-created Tour de Earth, just started in late 2006 to replace a scandalized (and far too small, in Dick's opinion) Tour de France.   His mind mulled his chances:  Ballmer, Gates, and especially Schmidt... they were all in front.  And they weren't tiring.

 

Suddenly, Dick thought seriously about just giving up.  This was a young man's game.

 

Stop that.  Dick's mind replied.  We didn't come all this way for nothing.  Before anyone cared about the World Wide Web, before Google, and when Usenet was young, we were there.  Before broadband was the way, before the Internet crash, before Amazon, and before eBay, we were there, giving away CDs by the carload.  We introduced the world to the Internet.  We showed the world that money could be made.  We have the backing of one of the largest multimedia conglomerates the world has ever seen.  And we will not go quietly, no matter what the cost.  We can do it.

 

Dick's spirits brightened, if only just a touch.

 

But just over the top of the next hill, Dick Parsons could just see the beginning of an orange and bluish hue, steadily getting brighter with every push of his tired legs, which every drip of sweat, and every drop of adrenaline.

 

The sun was rising.

 

And with that, Dick Parsons, CEO of America Online, realized something important.  Something that would enable him to continue the race.  Something that would give him hope.

 

He was getting stronger.

 

This would be a long race, indeed.