Not So Fast

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?

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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.

In a rather bold move, I think, Egyptian Christians are putting icthyus bumper stickers on their cars.

As the pendulum swings. Remember when going to college was the way to “lose” your Christianity?

via Instapundit.

Absurdity, n. A statement of belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.

So our internet is down, I have a 26.4k modem connection, someone sent me something huge, I now have to download mailwasher so I can delete it, so I can’t really get around on the internet right now. Luckily I just got The Devil’s Dictionary, so you can have a few select quotes while we wait. And we wait, oh so patiently we wait.

Let’s start at the very beginning:

Abasement, n. A decent and customary mental attitude in the presence of wealth or power. Peculiarly appropriate in an empoyee when addressing and employer.

I knew you could. CNN reports Lincoln may not have really said those things on that Star Trek episode. Americans dumbfounded.

Just this weekend I was watching Finding Nemo and thinking the only thing Disney has going for it in the movie department is Pixar. Sure Disney still makes pervert movies like Bad Santa (no, you don’t get a link, you pervert) that do well when there’s no competition, but really, I think they’re missing the essence of Disney. And that ABC TGIF lineup, that’s a killer. Very interesting.

I’d like to thank the farmers between Ellensburg and Moses Lake that put up the Christmas lights to entertain the people on the freeway. You guys are the coolest.

Apparently, we all do. Here is the equation for the proper spreading of butter on toast. There’s a number at the end of the article you can call for more information.

Also, here is the equation for the perfect family game.

Russia’s Joint Staff thinks North Korea is bluffing. And hints that they would take care of any problems that crop up.

“Proximity of North Korea is very sensitive for Russia, and thus we want the region to be more stable than it is now,” he added.

“Russia’s position is not to allow even a potential possibility for this conflict to escalate into an armed one,” he emphasized.

Why is the US building a huge, self-contained embassy in Armenia? I’m sure there are really good geopolitical reasons (OIL?!), but I bet they just wanted to see if they could get away with it.

Mayonnaise in Japan. Pedantic, irrelevant and vaguely disturbing. Hey, I’m here to help.

Bottle found 35 years later near where it was dropped.

Apparently in the UK it is impossible to resist the lure of McDonalds, Pepsi and Cadbury chocolate. Also, somehow, they keep people from getting any exercise.

Not only can everyone in the world spy on you thanks to onboard computers, sometimes the car has a glitch.

A high-ranking Thai official was forced to crawl out of the shattered windows of his luxury car following an onboard glitch that sealed all exits.

In related news, Microsoft is trying to capture the car market.

But even as it earns praise for its persistence, Microsoft continues to face many of the same criticisms it often does–namely that its software is too buggy to be used for things like cars and phones, which people expect to work well. And, although the company has learned to deal better with carmakers, it could still be more flexible when it comes to working with partners, Koslowski said. “That is something the company is a little bit struggling with,” he said.

mostly via Slashdot

When good programs go bad.

Via Slashdot

In all its glory. Remember, he’s just getting started.

Victim wrestles gun away from robber. Victim beats robber to a pulp.

A judge tries to cure stupidity one criminal at a time. If only this were all it took:

Donald Sebastian promised in court yesterday never to be stupid again. If he fails, he goes to jail.

…

The magistrate handed Sebastian a scribbled note and ordered him to read it in court. As Sebastian rose to his feet, Perelman ordered him to “say it with sincerity.”

“I promise that I won’t do anything stupid,” Sebastian said. “If I do anything stupid, I’ll likely end up in pretrial detention.”

Well, isn’t this special. Subdermal RFID tags to replace cash and credit cards coming soon. Maybe. I want to know what happens if you’re, say, waving at a friend at the gas station and accidentally pay for someone else’s gas.

This is funny though:

“… keeps tabs on what many Christians believe are the signs of a coming religious Armageddon. His site is one of dozens that link VeriChip to the apocalyptic prophecy.

Applied Digital officials say such concern is unfounded because people are chipped voluntarily.

Yeah, and the bible says if you volunteer for the Mark of the Beast, you go to hell. Not that I’m saying this is or is not the Mark of the Beast, I’m just saying that isn’t the strongest argument against it being the Mark.

via Slashdot

Fairy Tales may be damaging children.

The stories contain so many damaging stereotypes that they are as harmful as the lurid sexual images contained in many popular music videos, they claim.

How have children gotten by for the last 400 years?

This is just well put.

Confused by all those Elvish and Dwarvish names in the Two Towers? Here is where you can find out more than you ever wanted to know about Middle Earth.

But there’s VDH at National Review:

So the current conspiracies that arise about Texas drawlers, Christian fundamentalists, neocon Straussians, Likud Jews, and former CEOs in charge of America derives not really from American unilateral provocation, but rather from the horrendous task of restoring some balance to an out-of-kilter world to prevent another disaster in New York and Washington.

Idaho Power needs snow. They can have ours, as far as I’m concerned. Instead they seed the clouds.

“We wanted to enhance the snowfall from a front that was passing through,” Idaho Power Director of Water Management Roger Fuhrman said. “Our goal is to get as much from each storm system as possible.”

The company relies on snowfall upstream of Brownlee Reservoir for enough water to generate electricity at the three-dam Hells Canyon Complex.

Maybe there is something to the searching little old ladies at the airport.

Already! As Rizzo the Rat famously said, “I’m creating scarcity, it drives demand.” Let’s apply that to Christmas as a nation, shall we? I really like Thanksgiving, it’s probably my favorite holiday, please let me celebrate it. Throw up a few pumpkin and turkey decorations, maybe even a pilgrim or two, politically incorrect as that is, instead of Santa and tinsel. Tomorrow you can put up your Christmas trees and pointsettas and whatever the Kwanzaa stuff is. I think you would be better served waiting until say December to decorate, possibly even waiting until the 15th. I know, just call me Ebenezer. But just hold off for a while. At least until tomorrow. Thanks.

Anyone know a really good sweet potato recipe? I don’t eat them so I have no idea what would be good and what would be nasty. Why couldn’t I have just gotten the drinks?

Type it in and the stars will sing it. The hard part is thinking of something for them to sing.

This is also hilarious, but it’s not Thanksgiving yet, much less the week before Christmas, so I hesitated to put it out. You’ll see it again when it’s time.

via Dave Barry’s Blog

The new Zaurus is coming soon. My 5500 is out of date now. And FWIW the stealth keyboard makes it so worth it.

Internet Explorer flaws.

In an effort to turn back in to land mammals over 100 pilot whales stranded themselves. Better luck next time kids.

Canada’s probe might miss Mars.

Canada’s first space mission to another planet — a science instrument riding on a Japanese probe heading to Mars — is likely doomed as the Nozomi spacecraft is escaping control and may miss Mars completely.

…

But Japan acknowledges it can barely control Nozomi, and the spacecraft may crash on Mars within a few weeks, or miss the planet and drift aimlessly around the sun forever.

I’m pretty sure this scaffolding violates OSHA regulations. Bamboo is strong and all, but I’d prefer metal and cotter pins and such. And notice the concrete electrical pole. Everything is made out of concrete around there. If we would use wood, they use concrete. One good earthquake would level the place. Except the scaffolding, I’m sure.

IT World in Bangkok. One of the greatest places on earth. A great place to find anything electronic, and most of it is even legal.

Where they have the gayest thing ever, cops on rollerblades.

Kid’s dad insists on second opinion. Kid lives.

Orson Scott Card on the Democrats, the media and the election that is what? a year away.

Since Bush is quite plainly not the devil, one wonders why anyone in the Democratic Party thinks this ploy will play with the general public.

There are Democrats, like me, who think it will not play and should not play, and who are waiting in the wings until after the coming electoral debacle in order to try to remake the party into something more resembling America.

But then I watch the steady campaign of the national news media to try to win this for the Democrats, and I wonder. Could this insane, self-destructive, extremist-dominated party actually win the presidency?

But wait there’s more…

Am I saying that critics of the war aren?t patriotic?

Not at all ? I?m a critic of some aspects of the war. What I?m saying is that those who try to paint the bleakest, most anti-American, and most anti-Bush picture of the war, whose purpose is not criticism but deception in order to gain temporary political advantage, those people are indeed not patriotic. They have placed their own or their party?s political gain ahead of the national struggle to destroy the power base of the terrorists who attacked Americans abroad and on American soil.

You should probably just go read the whole thing.

via Occam’s Toothbrush

We all owe a little debt thanks to this man.

James Taranto of the Best of the Web:

Bush is right. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are all monotheistic religions, united in the belief in a single God. (Muslims often call God by the Arab name Allah, but then so do Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews.) The three religions conceive of God differently, and Muslims and Jews do not share the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. A Christian may well believe that Islam’s conception of God is wrong, but if you believe in only one God, it makes no logical sense to describe a fellow monotheist as worshipping a “different” God.

Who will win?

More like, who will stay out of jail?

What’s with the food articles today? I must be hungry. Here’s something completely different. Andrew Stuttaford is upset about the Pulitzer decision concerning Walter Duranty.

Indian guy says he hasn’t eaten or drunk anything in 68 years.

via Fark

I’m not a big baloney fan anyway, so this doesn’t help at all.

Border agents last week landed a meaty bust, seizing 756 pounds of bologna arranged into the shape of a car seat and covered with blankets in a man’s pickup.

via the obviously hungry Drudge Report.

Turkey and Gravy soda. Just kidding. I really do like Jones’ normal flavors. Fufuberry is excellent, and their vanilla coke is great, but turkey and gravy flavor just sounds wrong.

via Drudge Report.

Scrappleface on government spending.

This is a great idea.

By this statement:

Counterfeit DVD copies of Friends are already available in Chinese cities, the Beijing Star Daily newspaper said.

But I’m not holding my breath. Archaeological finds in Israel.

Archaeological finds confirming biblical narrative or referring to figures from the Bible are rare, and this is believed to be the first discovery of a New Testament verse carved onto an ancient Holy Land shrine, said inscriptions expert Emile Puech, who deciphered the writing.

This is part of the village that the villagers were walking up to in yesterdays photo. Essentially the houses are made mostly from bamboo, one or two rooms, dirt floors, a fire burning in the middle and their belongings on a shelf or hanging on nails from the walls. It’s a miserable way to live.

Oh, and notice the pointsetta TREE growing in front of the house on the right.

A Thai butterfly. It looks suspiciously like other ethnicities of butterflies, but hey.

In Bettendorf, Iowa.

“You don’t just get away with stealing books from the public library,” Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Redington said.

via Dave Barry’s Blog

CAIR is upset over the November 10th B.C. comic strip. Now that’s clever. Go Johnny.

via Inoperable Terran

Yes, it’s snowed in Idaho. I am now forced to risk death every time I want to drive somewhere. Walking merely risks maiming. Where’s all this global warming I hear about? I have to drive home tonight after church, which ends after 4:00pm so it’s dark and cold, and the roads will have turned into giant slabs of ice. It’s hard to stop on ice. Try it some time.

Interesting thoughts on the future of online music.