Category Archives: Uncategorized

Truck of cookie dough (mmm….cookie dough) and FedEx plane (Relax, it’s FedEx) with your Christmas presents on it.

via Fark

Theodore Dalrymple.

I try to enthuse my patients with the glory of the world, with indifferent success, I must admit. It is almost as if they wanted the world to be boring, to justify their own lack of interest in it. To be bored and disabused is taken by many people nowadays as a sign of spiritual election or superiority, as if the world does not quite come up to their exacting standards.

Oops! I forgot the baby.

Actually, I did leave my jacket in the theatre last night, but I realized it as soon as I went outside.

The sun is going out. That’s why the days are so short lately, and cold.

Well, duh. Being a murderous dictator is not exactly normal behavior.

I must now go watch Return of the King.

Tickets to the space station are available. No word on if they are available on Ebay.

Earth is hurtling toward the sun according to the NOAA in Turney, MO.

via Fark

Micropolitics from Venus.

The Volokh Conspiracy explains the whole Wolverine thing to the Europeans.

via Instapundit

Hurray! Soon marketing will be even more intrusive.

Booth says that his team’s system is based on more than 20 sensors that evaluate where people are in relationship to a display. And, because the display is projected rather than on a fixed screen, it can be directed anywhere. More importantly, the system can sense how people are reacting to the messages by tracking whether they are approaching the product and continuing to watch the ad or turning away. That information then gets reported to managers.

Here.

6. Finish off every one of Elrond’s lines with “Mis..ter Ander-sonnn.”

7. When Aragorn is crowned king, stand up and at the top of your lungs sing, “And I did it…. MY way…!”

8. Talk like Gollum all through the movie. At the end, bite off someone’s finger and fall down the stairs.

This guy needs to get out of his office more.

Some have criticized my stance on triclavianism as being counterproductive, arguing that making a point of doctrinal contention over not making a point of doctrinal contention over adiaphora is itself non-salvific. However, my critics are overlooking the dangers of triclavianistic doctrines: allowing adiaphora to creep into our credenda — while possibly pushing the theologoumenic envelope and providing exciting new opportunities for supererogative works — will most often serve to muddy the soteriological foundation of Faith, leading in general to ultramontane excesses and, in extreme cases, ebaptization (which is unacceptable pastoral malpractice, however rare it may be.) Doctrinal integrity, and hence salvific effectiveness, is best served by working to end triclavianism and similar erroneous, or simply adiaphoric, doctrines.

What??? Way to reach out to the common man.

Good Lord, there are some terrible actors in the White House.

via The Corner

John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) on Western Civilization.

We learn nothing from history. John Derbyshire on the trial of Saddam.

For real. I didn’t read them though. I want to see the movie first.

via Instapundit

Uh, SPOILERS!, sort of.

The Socialist Review has an article on Iraqi bloggers.

via Jeff Jarvis

What? Like I’m supposed to read the local paper myself?

Microsoft is pulling support for Windows 98 next month. Thus alienating one-fifth of their users. Nice.

UPDATE: Don’t worry, Dave Barry is here to help.

Square watermelons. So they sit nicely inyour fridge. A bit pricey though.

via Slashdot

I don’t know how far I’d trust this, but it is interesting.

All I have to say is: 32,000 pounds of liver. See, nasty.

via Fark

Right Wing News has the best Victor Davis Hanson quotes of 2003.

He has this headline: “New Jersey may ‘permit human cloning'” right next to this one: ‘NJ nurse claims he killed 30 to 40 patients!’. Way to inspire confidence in the New Jersey medical field.

NASA blames Powerpoint (reg.req.) for troubles. Times manages to slam administration on WMD in the article.

Extracting DNA, you know, for kids.

I don’t want the billboards to check which radio station I’m listening to (reg.req.) and target ads at me.

via Slashdot

Hockey at its most basic.

In an effort to avoid duplication of efforts, I will point you now to NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews, Drudge Report, The Command Post, Jeff Jarvis, and Instapundit. This will leave me the frivolous and silly news that always gets left behind in times like these. Stay tuned.

It is that villan Bush who is captured. We shall beat him with our shoes.

via Fark

The chair is against the wall. Weirdly enough, around 4am I had just turned on the TV because I couldn’t sleep and I was flipping through all 5 channels I get and Tom Brokaw was on. And I thought, “Tom Brokaw isn’t on in the mornings. What is going on?” So I stopped and it was right before they went to the live announcement in Iraq. So I got to see the whole thing. How great is this news? Naturally I will be in church when Bush makes his announcement, but I can’t wait to see what he says.

Probably the best place to keep up on the news is The Command Post.

New Yorkers will buy anything.

Weirdos in Missouri alert.

via Dave Barry’s Blog

A man was found shot in the head on the X that marks the spot JFK was killed. Sure, they say it’s suicide…

How come they never do this sort of thing in Idaho?

The new Windows may not be coming for a while.

Methanol fuel cell batteries for the PDA or cellphone. But how do you recharge them?

People that clearly felt they weren’t paying enough to the electric company.

via Dave Barry’s Blog

A dead whale in Colorado is stinking up the place.

Nerds arising.

Could it be that there are more nerds today than there were before? If so, shouldn’t we attempt to make friends with them sharp-ish, before they start bludgeoning us with plastic light-sabres or introducing viruses into our PCs? And then there is a further, more troubling possibility. Just what constitutes a nerd these days anyway? Might you conceivably qualify as one? Perish the thought, might I?

VDH and the tipping point.

Massive earthquake may hit Pacific Northwest. Well, duh. And they are right, the place will crumble. They use brick like it’s going out of style.

Phoenix school to get facial recognition equipment. Is this the same stuff that didn’t work in Florida?

SPOILER ALERT!

Whining about something about the end of ROTK. I didn’t read the whole thing, because it has spoilers.

More here. SPOILERS! So I didn’t read the whole thing, though the writer seemed to be in a better mood.

What is with everyone seeing this thing before I do?

Rifle? Check. Bullets? Check. Vet? Check.

A new EU proposal would force wild game hunters to haul some sort of inspector along with them when they go shoot a rabbit. Americans, let’s learn from this. This is what we want to avoid.

What the heck is up with Sitemeter?

The No. 8 ranked spammer was arrested in Virginia.

Jaynes faces four felony charges, each of which carries a penalty of one to five years in prison, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.

A couple got engaged on the Ask the White House chat session.

James Doohan (Scotty) is the only TOS Star Trek actor without a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

New largest prime number found.

How is this possible? If they have legitamate jobs that are actually paying taxes, they have to provide proof of US citizenship. I do whenever I get a job. A photo ID and a social security card. And if they aren’t legal, why are they paying in to Social Security?

You know, I’m sure China is pleased with Bush, right now. But he has a funny way of doing the right thing, even if it doesn’t look like it at the moment. Since he’s caught me out a couple of times I’m going to wait and see what happens before I start slamming him for the idiotic position he took on Taiwan.

via Drudge Report

Wired has a list of nerdy presents. But the Roomba is the coolest invention ever. I’m getting one, sooner or later.

I’d like to thank Right Wing News for featuring me as the Website of the Day. My plans to take over the world are continuing apace.

And I’d also like to thank all the little people who have made this possible. Al Gore, for inventing the internet, the gang over at Movable Type, my typing teacher in high school, the press of the free world. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone, oh, and my faithful readers. You guys are the coolest.

Combining this story and this story, Mugabe soars to new heights.

“Beneath the rhetoric of free press and transparency is the iniquity of hegemony,” he said.

He controls all broadcasting in his country and in September closed the Daily News, the only independent daily newspaper.

He said information technology was dominated “by a few countries in the selfish interests of those countries which are in quest of global dominance and hegemony”.

Yep, all ICANN cares about is shutting you down and taking over your country.

The next Hummer is coming soon. Now even more sci-fi gamer looking! If you want to get me one, though, I won’t complain.

Canada and the EU are upset that the US won’t let them play in all the reindeer games in Iraq. I’m guessing that was the intended result of the policy.

“What planet does Wolfowitz live on?” said Everts. “You could say that this is U.S. tax money and they can spend it as they like, but don’t try to pretend that this is a ploy to get more support. It’s just going to be seen as spiteful.”

Spiteful? God forbid anyone should suffer consequences for their political decisions. Besides, what are they going to do? Not support the US in the war? Stand against the US in the UN?

via Drudge Report

Oy.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a South Carolina native, traveled to the Lowcountry this week and announced plans for a Dec. 16 rally to protest the drug raid.

via Drudge Report

Global warming on Mars. Apparently Martians are using too much hair spray.

Britian is considered “rigid” and “intolerant” for saying Mugabe is bad.

Britain’s attitude towards President Robert Mugabe’s regime was denounced as “intolerant” and “rigid” by southern African countries yesterday, reigniting the row over Zimbabwe’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth.

The 12 Commonwealth members from southern Africa closed ranks behind Mr Mugabe with a statement condemning Zimbabwe’s suspension from the group.

Why can’t we all just get along?

They’re slow, but they are catching on.

After two years of trying to come up with an online digital music model that could appeal to a majority of music fans, many of whom believe they should be able to listen to music on their computers and burn copies for personal use for a fraction of a CD’s cost, the recording industry has made progress in 2003.

NASA is sending a nuclear powered spacecraft to Jupiter to look at its moons.

The unmanned craft, far larger and more powerful than any other sent to explore the outer solar system, would spend years studying the moons’ makeup, geologic history and potential for sustaining life, as well as Jupiter itself.

Fight! Fight!

The usually loquacious Sen. Hillary Clinton offered a stony, one-word answer when asked whether she agreed with her husband’s once-loyal veep.

“No,” said Clinton.

Behind the scenes, observers said the frosty response had more to do with 2008 – when both Gore and Hillary Clinton are projected as potential presidential contenders – than current affairs.

via Drudge Report

War hero dog gets award. No not a milkbone.

Buster was presented with the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals Dickin medal for his bravery and devotion to duty in Iraq. He received the award from Princess Alexandra, patron of the PDSA.

The award is the highest decoration for gallantry that can be bestowed on any animal member of the British and Commonwealth forces.

Right Wing News has this very interesting question concerning one of my favorite Bugs Bunny lines, “What a maroon!” Discuss amongst yourselves.

Russian anti-virus company worried that the mafia may be taking over spamming business soon. In Russia, it’s probably a legitimate worry.

“If you hava a profitable, illegal business sooner or later you will pay taxes to the Mafia,” said Kaspersky.

“We’re seeing a joining of the virus, hacker and spam scenes under the aegis of organised crime.”

I’m not convinced all is as it seems in this article, but it seems to me Taiwan’s referendum is very reasonable:

The referendum, timed to coincide with presidential elections, would ask voters whether they want to demand that China withdraw hundreds of missiles aimed at Taiwan and renounce the use of force against the island.

Why would China be threatened by this? If this is a threatening step toward independence, consider me threatening. Please don’t point any missles towards me, no matter who you are.

via Drudge Report

Exactly how stupid does the FDA think Americans are? So stupid they won’t realize there’s peanuts in Snickers cheesecakes.

Good News? Bad News?

I had to use IE to open a site (obviously inferiorly designed or they wouldn’t demand I use IE) and boy are those dumb pop-up ads annoying. How do you people stand them?

Even yours. Implanting false memories, post traumatic stress disorder, and the hippocampus.

Mayor wants cop to stop calling him “dude”. I don’t know why.

Possible voting irregularities in Russia! What next?

Allies of President Vladimir Putin won a sweeping victory in parliamentary balloting, but the White House expressed concern Monday over the election’s fairness and human rights officials condemned the vote as a retreat from Russia’s democratic reforms.

via Drudge Report

This is where I’m doing all my Christmas shopping this year!

The Internet is safe! From this threat. For a while.

The United States, backed by the European Union, Japan and Canada, has turned back a bid by developing nations to place the Internet under the control of the United Nations or its member governments.

But governments, the private sector and others will be asked to establish a mechanism under U.N. auspices to study the governance of the Internet and make recommendations by 2005.

I’m glad they listened to me.

Carlos Achiary, national director of Information Technology Argentina, said many governments are frustrated because the Internet is having a tremendous effect in their countries, but they have no place to submit their requests, complaints or suggestions.

via LGF

Reason’s list of the top 35 reasons the world is a better place for libertarians, er, freedom.

For Lists. Right Wing News has the 20 most annoying liberals of 2003. I think he underestimates Dan Rather, but it’s his list.

Tacky Christian stuff.

via Electronic Telegraph

Zimbabwe leaves Commonwealth after being suspended (again) from it. I’m sure this will change everything in the country for the better.

The Dave Barry Holiday Shopping Guide. But what I want is here. Also a 30-40 inch HD ready plasma TV.

Who’s the fittest? Rare hawk feeds on rare squirrels.

John Kerry takes dirty politics to a whole new level.

via Scrappleface

It’s more like a slippery precipice. I was going to mention this yesterday, but Samizdata does it better.

Joyful Christian has something to say and he’s rather, um, earnest about it:

We’ve got a gang of international terrrorists trying to kill us all, the Chinese are threatening war with Taiwan, the North Koreans keep threatening to nuke every body, and our troops are trying to pacify Iraq. Mean while Lieberman comes out on the campaign issue every one really wants to hear about …. Junk Food?

??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Priorities people.

I’m a little confused why he would think Lieberman might be a serious candidate, much less repeatedly, but I don’t really keep up on these things. I still think Bill Clinton getting nominated is a wild-eyed dream. No one would vote for him, would they?

Making it’s big comeback.

McDonald’s vs. Starbucks. What?

I like Vanilla Coke. Just thought you should know.

Freedom of religion problems the world over. I have no problem with Muslim women wearing headscarves in public, even in government buildings. More power to them. But if they want some sort of photo ID, they’re going to have to bend a little there and let themselves be identified. If they absolutely, positively cannot be seen without their scarf, then I guess they really don’t need that ID.

via The Corner

Another great reason not to get a tat. Especially if you’re a criminal.

Woo!

Because these are irrational responses — people acting from their appetites and impulses rather than their heads — we here in the United States, in our arrogant worship of our god Reason, with no confidence in or appreciation of our singular civilization, have gone about things pretty much all wrong.

…

We had better rethink the entire notion of dealing with the mythical moderates within regimes like Iran and Syria. I am sure that they exist, as they existed in Saddam’s Iraq. But we see the moderates now in Iraq and — with all due respect — they are not exactly the stuff of Ethan Allan, Paul Revere, or the Swamp Fox. In fact, in the Middle East, tens of thousands of democrats are more passive in their desire for freedom than are a few hundred fascists in their zeal for tyranny. We should accept that dissidents would never have toppled Saddam on their own — and are not quite sure what to do even in his absence.

It’s the law. I see bad things coming. Various countries are complaining about the internet infrastucture. And worse, they want the UN to be in charge of it.

Many developing nations complain that the world’s most visible Internet governance body — the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — does not adequately represent their interests and should be scrapped in favor of a group allied with the United Nations.

I can think of no better way to destroy the internet. I say let these countries develop their own infrastructure, and either fold it into the existing internet or compete head to head. Either way it’ll be better than letting a massive bureaucracy take charge.

Companies such as AT&T say the Internet has benefited from ICANN’s ability to set policies and resolve disputes quickly with minimal government oversight, but some countries complain that the United States wields too much control over ICANN and that the body is unresponsive to their needs.

“That sentiment is very much out there . . . and although [ICANN] has evolved and has tried to bring in a lot of engagement from a lot of places, there have to be ways to open up the process even a little bit more,” said Sarbuland Khan, head of the United Nations’ Information and Communications Technology Task Force.

Khan said world governments, for instance, have no central authority to coordinate rules for Internet security and taxing online transactions.

Here’s what Instapundit had to say.

And Slashdot.

The liar’s book is coming out. Now, it’s not doing too well yet, but notice this:

You can order it for $17.47 — well off the list price of $24.95 (or think twice about that: see Why the Big Payoff for Tainting Journalism?). The book is 288 pages long.

It’s 288 pages. What, is it a kids book? I’m not paying 20 bucks for something not even 300 pages long.

Vern Yip of Trading Spaces has new online store. Oh joy of joys. Your choice of black or white pillows.

Yes, I watched it. It was hilarious.

via Inoperable Terran

Maybe she should avoid stores in general. Online shopping is the coolest.

via Drudge Report

I’ll add yesterday’s stuff later. So don’t forget to scroll down. But in the meantime, sit back and enjoy the show.

Apparently this is old news, but it’s really good, naturally.

The fact that there’s somewhere else to go to is the ultimate limitation on government.

…

“International law” is the new colonialism, the imposition on the world’s peoples of the moral certainties of a remote, unaccountable western elite – indeed, one far less tolerant of local customs and culture than the old-school imperialists.

via Inoperable Terran

I heard that!

I really hope Bush does suggest that we go back to the moon. But I just realized that if we do go back to the moon, as Bush may or may not suggest in his upcoming speech, one of my favoritest ads will be gone forever. You know the one: 30 years ago man set foot on the moon and discovered it is not cheese. We haven’t been back since. Behold, the power of Cheese. I love that one. If I had broadband I’d download it and get an exact quote, sorry.

If you are looking for really handy Photoshop tutorials, I recommend this site. Some of it is old hat, but there’s some nice stuff there.

No Really! I love the cool picture. Apparently kidneys grow out of your right arm.

This good news brought to you by Weekly World News.

Some Washington insiders insist that no union is necessary because idiots are already over- represented in government.

“From what I’ve observed, at least 70 percent of federal employees are card-carrying idiots and that goes right up to the Cabinet level,” says a Capitol Hill source.

“This is a union without a purpose. It sounds like the organizers are, well, a bunch of idiots.”

Bat Boy lives!

Wired has an article on a Supreme Court case that concerns Social Security numbers, personal privacy, and naturally, financial reimbursement.

Only 9% of Christians have a biblical worldview.

For the purposes of the research, a biblical worldview was defined as believing that absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views. Those views were that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He still rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

Even I would have thought it was higher. But it explains a lot.

The next flu pandemic set to strike. Yeah, maybe. The last one was in 1918 FWIW.

Some idiot steals a Salvation Army bucket. Then gets hit by car.

Yeah, it’s been an in-depth, hard-hitting sort of day here at Not So Fast. And continuing in that vein, I got my Return of the King tickets. Neener-neener. Wednesday, December 17th at the AMC in Riverpark Square at 7:00pm. I’ll be standing in line with those weirdos that dress up for this sort of thing. Of course, I do have a friend that is desperately trying to get us to dress up. Hmm, that could be fun…

Hints of Peter Jackson doing The Hobbit.

This promises to be great fun.

It’s a blinding flash of the obvious, sir!

I call it the Zaphod Beeblebrox effect. Lithuania’s wacky president.

Colorado, the state, sells stuff on Ebay. Seems natural enough.

Is there a comeback on the horizon? This won’t clear it up.

Speaking of which, Christmas is coming…

Does the 55mph speed limit save lives or not? I have no idea, but I’d much rather go 70.

Apparently about 1200, but the article doesn’t list them all. I wonder if one of the missing one’s is “Nutty as a Fruitcake”?

This guy would be handy to have around.

Tattoo Removal. Could have knocked me over with a feather. I really thought it would take longer for this to happen.

There are a few common tattoo removal methods — people try to rub them out with chemical lotions or have a doctor abrade or surgically cut them out. State-of-the-art removals are done with lasers that penetrate through the outer layer of skin and fragment the tattoo pigment.

Lasers require several treatments over a period of weeks, can cost hundreds of dollars and can be painful.

If you want the next Microsoft OS, due to be released 2005, go to Malaysia.

Fresh Christmas Peeps. Does life get any better?

UPDATE: Peep Research

Now it’s an addiction. Yes, we have no control over anything we do. It’s all a part of our biology.

The findings suggested that the mice had a physical craving for exercise if prevented from running. People may have a similar reaction to exercise, the team believes.

If only I could get that addiction.