Not So Fast

Haha. Free Wi-Fi at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. I knew sooner or later it would come to Idaho. Now I can walk down there and surf in posh surroundings, until I get kicked out. Brad Pitt was here last week, you know. Can’t have people like him seeing the local riff-raff.

Breeding humans for intelligence. At least it caused an uproar. The problem comes when no one notices this sort of thing.

Isn’t it illegal to fight back against robbers in England?

From Jack Dunphy:

I know, references to Article I, Section 8 are seen as quaint by those for whom no matter is too small to warrant federal intervention. But it is the job of local governments, whether in Los Angeles or Crystal River, to deal with their crime problems, just as they did in the 200-plus years before Bill Clinton appointed himself mayor of the United States.

This is fun. THE coolest looking program ever: Reason. Plus you get to turn all the knobs and plug and unplug all the cables. It’s worth the download just to play with it.

Children addicted to TV? The electrical outages ought to take care of that.

via Drudge Report

I was hoping someone would turn our nation into a seventh-century hellhole. I’d vote for that.

Very Interesting.

via Joyful Christian

We take something, and make it better. Chocolate Peeps. How could you not love them?

Possibly the stupidest list I’ve ever seen.

John Derbyshire on AIDS:

We should always do our best with the Christian virtues, and I honestly do; but faced with the sheer stupendous quantity of suffering in the world, the quite disproportionate attention given to people with AIDS — many of whom got the disease as a result of irresponsible hedonism — often seems to me, to speak frankly about it, offensive.

And:

A no-tax pledge from a candidate is always a plus, far as I’m concerned, but here are three more pledges a politician should make if he wants my vote.

Don’t weep in public, unless your spouse just dropped dead on the stage right next to you.

Don’t point, unless a fire has broken out, or the Second Coming has taken place right there in the hall.

Don’t tell me how hard illegal immigrants work. I know they work hard, but they’re I-L-L-E-G-A-L.

Can you say “piracy”? I knew you could. China is looking at Microsoft source code. Yeah, there’ll be a Chinese version out shortly. MS will be shocked, China will feign innocence and life will go on.

via Slashdot

The guy who invented it. I would like to take a moment to thank him for this. Thanks.

via Slashdot

We could go to Mars if we want, astronauts say.

Communication is 9/10ths non-verbal you know. Or is that possesion is 9/10ths of the law? Either way, if you figure out what the video says, let me know.

via, clearly, Dave Barry’s Blog

Never mind, I figured it out.

Musicmatch is the latest. While they have far more flexible licensing than buy.com, I don’t want WMA format. So, still useless to me.

From Mark Steyn.

So, in a month when the government can’t even be a competent drug dealer, and environmental nonprofit groups have bankrupted the endangered species list, and the international humanitarians have decided the Iraqis can go screw themselves, I say: Let’s hear it for the private sector.

I know I followed a link from somewhere, but I don’t remember. Gratutiously follow a link to the right and we’ll be even.

I wouldn’t get too excited, but here’s more news on that.

Incredibly annoying registration required.

Vote for the most important documents in US history.

Return of the King Trailer. Good luck getting it. AOL worked best for me.

And the Rule of Law.

Jews have almost always been the first target of tyrants, because their beliefs and religious practices, honed by nearly two millennia in Diaspora, clearly declare that in their view the law is above the ruler:

via LGF

Osama’s Pirates?

Finally. Although, it’s not as if we’ve been doing a lot lately ourselves.

What is is with the electrical infrastructure around the world? Of course, I keep expecting the wind here to knock ours out at any time today.

Good solid info.

Offered by Bruce Willis. The whole article is good. You should go read it.

During an interview Willis said: “Peculiar thing back home is that the liberal media was trying to portray it as a bad war.

“But being over here just a couple of days, seeing how well our troops and the allied troops are being received here, (I) think the Iraqi people are happy we’re here,” the Hollywood star said.

I got a new toy today and have to figure it all out. I’ll be back when I’m done, bored, or so frustrated I threw it against the wall.

UPDATE: It was ridiculously easy. Plug it in, run the wizard, viola. Geez, what’s the use of having a linux-based pda if I don’t have to search forums for hours to discover that you have to break out terminal and “chmod” anything.

Do Not Call list banned again. Free speech, my eye.

I never understood the fascination, but apparently it’s coming back.

Here. Actually I disagree with one of his points today:

Mr. Bush has been criticized for isolating Yasser Arafat. But the latter is someone whose enmity you welcome. The Europeans may give him a pass on his stealthy financial and emotional subsidies for Hamas and related killers, but they won’t forgive his near-billion dollars in a private bank account. Killing Jews is one thing; stealing European money to subsidize the good life for kin and cronies is quite another.

As often as they have these scandals with major leaders hoarding millions and the shady dealings, I don’t think it bothers the Europeans. Otherwise they’d put a stop to it.

UPDATE: New and improved. With actual link provided. Why didn’t someone tell me? I’m so embarassed.

by Paul Johnson. He put it much nicer.

Well, at least this guy’s. Do you have a roll?

And remember, if the women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

Don’t get used to it. Iraqi’s buying stuff.

via Instapundit. He’s got a bunch of stuff on Iraq, might as well go there.

Here’s a subject I know next to nothing about. Anyway, I was at the gym watching Australia play China. Let me clarify. I was at the gym running and while running I was watching soccer. At first I thought it was North Korea vs. the US due to the many scrolls going by. I couldn’t figure out why the US had yellow and green uniforms. But that’s another story. My point is, China totally outplayed Australia the whole time I was watching. They controlled the ball 95% of the time, there was never a pass without a receiver. They just couldn’t convert. Australia couldn’t make two passes in a row without a turnover. Another thing I noticed is there was not one commercial in 30 minutes. Not even a single beer commercial. It was weird. That communist influence is pervasive.

Again! Am I in some parallel universe or something?

“Fifty million Americans can’t be wrong,” Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., declared Wednesday

Actually they can, but not in this case.

Steel knives allowed for meals. In first-class only. The unwashed masses are not to be trusted with such dangerous implements. Or food that requires them.

via Volokh Conspiracy

Israel gets the blame.

Congress does good!

House and Senate negotiators have decided to close a Pentagon office that was developing a vast computerized terrorism surveillance system and bar spending that would allow those high-tech spying tools to be used against Americans on U.S. soil.

MPAA gets in on the RIAA act.

This summer, night-vision goggles became a familiar fashion accessory for security guards at movie premieres as they searched for people in the audience carrying banned video recorders. The industry’s trade association began a nationwide piracy awareness campaign in movie theaters and on television. Studios are aggressively putting electronic watermarks on movie prints so they can determine who is abetting the file sharing. And some movie executives are considering whether to send out early DVD’s to Academy Award voters, fearing the films will be distributed online.

If you want movies early and don’t want to download them, visit Southeast Asia.

I was walking around downtown this evening and as I walked by I was looking in peoples’ houses. Hey, they left their blinds open and what else am I going to look at? It’s dark, it’s not like I can see where I’m stepping. Anyway, I noticed that a vast majority of the homes had boring, boring, boring interiors. Off-white walls, maybe a painting or two, possibly a plant. Boring. A couple were moderately better looking because they had:

a. wood paneling
or
b. an arch instead of a doorway.

And this runs the gamut of wealth and poverty. Because a great thing, sort of, about downtown Coeur d’Alene is that on any given block there will be something like a million dollar Bed and Breakfast, a few nice middle-class homes, a starter home or two and a rental meth-lab.

But I was thinking, and here’s the point of this, we need to go back to those Victorian type wallpapers, the bold colors, the stripes, the floral prints. And displays of things, stuffed birds, pinecones, possibly even books, anything. For all their alleged prudishness those Victorians had some amazing looking houses.

Of course, I rent, so I can’t actually apply too much of this to my life, but if you own a home, do the neighbors a favor and consider sprucing the place up. Or close your blinds before it’s dark.

Major flub on AP.

If you’re playing Enemy Territory. If you’re not, why not?

Personalized couching. Strikes me a scientific avenue that needs to be explored more.

This is interesting. Whether it’ll work or not, I don’t know.

I heard that!

Kazaa sues RIAA. BWHAHAHA!

Well, these guys in Oklahoma at least.

The Direct Marketing Association sued to block the list shortly after Congress approved it in January, saying it would violate free-speech laws and discriminate against an industry that provides millions of jobs.

Well, the War on Drugs discriminates against an industry that provides millions of jobs too, but you don’t see them complaining.

It’s those bad people giving our product its bad name.

Microsoft is closing internet chat rooms because their misuse by spammers, paedophiles and others is damaging the reputation of its MSN service and the internet as a whole.

Heh.

A giant elevator (evil reg. req.). For sending stuff to space. Why? C’mon, let’s colonize the moon or go to Mars or something interesting, for Pete’s sake. I guess they could send stuff up to the astronauts, IF THEY WERE PLANNING ON SENDING ANYONE ANYWHERE REMOTELY INTERESTING. Here’s Slashdot on the conference.

And what if Ella Fitzgerald married Darth Vader? More on that here.

I’ve been trying to ignore the Democratic primaries, but this is too stupid to pass up:

Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean invoked Boston’s revolutionary legacy on Tuesday as he urged Americans to dump their latter-day “king” — George W. Bush — whom he accused of threatening democracy and caring only for the very rich.

I am not rich, I don’t think I even am above the poverty line. I got money back a while ago and now I seem to be getting more in my paycheck. People with kids just got a chunk of change back. Why is that? Tax cuts.

What was a cause of the Revolutionary War? Tax hikes. More taxes. Giving more money to the government.

See the difference?

Does your dog know calculus? (Warning: PDF document) (Additional Warning: Pictures of Corgies)

Now they have a golf course. Barely.

I would sign up to be on this reality show. Think of the loot.

Hindu gang killed Christian missionary.

Christian missionaries help India’s poor by establishing schools and hospitals but are often accused of enticing illiterate villagers to convert to their faith.

Yeah, that’s the point to missionary work. Why is this so confusing for people?

Children are more affected by violence on the news than in soaps and television drama, a report said yesterday.

I know I can’t stand watching the news.

I could get some government to send me $200,000 a month. I’m going about my life all wrong I fear.

Bite-sized wisdom

* Some poll says Clark is tied with Bush. Are there really that many mindless Bush haters to make that possible? What we need to do is put out a bunch of shiny objects on Election Day to distract those people from voting.

* Bush is going to address the U.N. today about getting help on Iraq. He should bring a bat. Anyone speaks out of turn – POW! – they get the bat. A lot of people at the U.N. are foreign and thus don’t know American ways, so Bush should familiarize them.

* Aschroft is really mean to criminals, telling prosecutors to always charge criminals with maximum crimes and penalties. This is in contrast to Janet Reno who gave prosecutors much more leniency. Then again, she did burn people alive and take little Cuban kids prisoner at the gunpoint of an MP5 submachine gun. So, that’s not exactly lenient, especially if you’re a little Cuban kid.

Here.

Powell made the remark in an interview with the Charlie Rose Show on public television while talking about Washington’s vision of what kind of government Iraq should have.

He said he expected it to be “an Islamic country by faith, just as we are a Judeo-Christian…”

“Well, it’s hard to tell any more, but we are a country of many faiths now,” he added quickly.

Read and Enjoy!

Had other plans. I’ve always wondered why they didn’t hit both coasts at the same time. Now, having read the article, I still don’t know.

It worries me a little that I find out about local news via Fark.

BOTW has noticed a few non sequiturs also (it’s the last bit, on both links).

I’ve never been any of the places he lists, but I believe he has captured the essence of the state.

Story’s here. There is a bright side though:

“We need a secure environment to be able to operate,” Annan said on arrival at U.N. headquarters. “We will go forward but of course if it continues to deteriorate, then our operations will be handicapped considerably.”

via LGF

Self-deprecating as ever, he told his audience that he had nothing special to teach them. “You should know that I have nothing to offer, nothing just a lot of fla, fla, fla,” he said, giggling and mimicking a mouse with his hand. “Then a few minutes go that way.”

From the Telegraph (reg. req.)

If you want to hear Bob picking on me, listen to this. (The link is the text that says, “listen to audio”.) It’s somewhere around 8 minutes in. Too bad you can’t hear all my “friends” laughing at me, I could though. You might as well listen to the whole thing and learn something.

See what I have to put up with? I do too think of things like that. And I figure there’s nothing like a little controversy for building listenership. No one appreciates my talents. Woe is me.

Episcopalians. Meh.

If you want a good right-wing reading list, go here. If you don’t, what the heck’s the matter with you? Are you retarded? Uh, mentally, what is it these days, I can’t keep up.

Cats, they’ll make you mad.

via Inoperable Terran

UPDATE: See?

I’ve never understood why nations with great cheese don’t have better armies. Right now to my left I have a plate that contains six chunks of Stravecchoio Grana Padano, each wrapped in a gossamer-thin scarf of prosciutto. Any Italian worth his mettle would take one bite, contemplate the perfection this combination represents, and decide that his nation should – no, must muster the forces required to repulse anyone who would take such cheese from his countrymen. Cheese this fine would cause armies to cross the Alps to have it; surely they demand armies sufficient to protect it.

From The Bleat.

Woohoo! From the Mirror:

SADDAM Hussein has been in secret negotiations with US forces in Iraq for the past nine days, we can reveal.

The Iraqi dictator is demanding safe passage to the former Soviet republic of Belarus. In exchange, he has vowed to provide information on weapons of mass destruction and disclose bank accounts where he siphoned off tens of millions of dollars in plundered cash.

Is that crazy Lukashenko still in charge of Belarus? That would make sense, birds of a feather and all that. I’ll look into that and get back to you. Probably.

This is either treason or just stinking hilarious:

The United States has vowed never to negotiate with Saddam and want to take him dead or alive, but the White House hopes the clandestine talks will allow them to pinpoint the tyrant’s exact location.

Shh, don’t tell him we’re just talking to him to lure him out into the open…

He has apparently run out of black hair-dye and will almost certainly have white hair.

Oh, the horror!

And then there’s this non sequitur at the end of the article:

-AN American soldier shot and killed a tiger in Baghdad’s zoo after it attacked a colleague who had put his arms through the bars to feed it. “They turned up after the zoo was closed and were both drunk”, an Iraqi keeper said.

Sooo, the American soldiers are trigger-happy jerks or what? Was there a point?

UN wants to get more involved with the internet.

Handel’s Messiah may not be appropriate for Apple users.

via Fark

The road to Mordor.

via the multiloquent Volokh Conspiracy

All the good news that’s not fit (apparently) to print.

Or is that Ni!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail coming to Broadway? Noooooooooo!

via Slashdot

ATM’s to start using Windows-lite by 2005.

While the infamous blue screen of death may haunt many desktop computer users, the banking industry and security experts dismiss the fear that someone will break into Windows-powered ATMs to empty bank accounts. For one, the ATMs will use a stripped-down version of Windows NT that is quite different from the software on desktop computers.

“They have tried to cut out the unnecessary rubbish that clutters up the typical PC. How good a job they’ve done, I just don’t know….

via Slashdot

Chief Wiggles has something to say.

If only they had really big wheels to run in. But really, who wants giant rodents running around?

Elephants not the fittest either.

Victor Davis Hanson day.

So beneath the hysterical headlines of quagmire, Vietnam, and stalemate, we have sorely hurt our enemies. We have driven the remnants of the Taliban into the Pakistani coffeehouses, the terrorists into caves, Saddam Hussein into a low-rent apartment, his sons into the Inferno — and replaced them all not with dictators, but real opportunities for freedom and consensual government. Instead of more skyscrapers exploding in American cities, 7,000 miles away jihadists and Islamic terrorists are being hunted down in their own once sacred enclaves.

Compare and contrast with Albright’s recent discussion. Note: I didn’t make it to the end, so who knows what that was all about.

Okay one more VDH quote:

Work with the U.N.; heap lavish praise on the U.N.; protect the U.N. in Iraq; show it deference and respect. Invite it in for humanitarian help. But, by God, don’t allow it to take over operations in Iraq.

To coin a phrase, heh. Indeed.

Yep. It’s today. Arrr! That’s all you’re getting from me. Well, and this.

Headline: Man who took hostages called troubled

Here it comes.

Remember the good old days when the Braves were the only team worse than the Padres? Yeah, those were the days.

Samizdata says. The comments are interesting too.

Justin Timberlake.

via DrudgeReport

The latest gimmick:

In the beginning was the Word but the Word alone is now no longer enough: a new version of the Bible targeted at teenage girls offers beauty tips and advice on boyfriends as well.

Lions not the fittest, apparently.

Five seconds is just too long for a healthy lifestyle.

Speaking out. And when not worried about getting shot, he seems much more reasonable.

You know those pesky problems? It’s all Saddam:

* When you heard your kids swearing and was like, “Where did they learn that language?” They learned it from Saddam.

* That horrible Pepsi Blue – all Saddam’s idea.

* You know how Perot reentered the presidential race in 1992 and helped get Clinton elected? It was Saddam who convinced him to get back in.

Read the rest over at IMAO.

Interesting article and some really bad theology.

Here. And I’d like to point out that there’s no such thing as a tall cappuccino. Unless you wanted 12 ounces of foam. If you’re ordering that, stop. You look silly.

Showing some diversity. Think it’ll last?

via Inoperable Terran

Drudge Report headline:

Bill on Hil: It’s a maybe; His hint she may run in ’04 shocks Dems!

These “shocked” Democrats are either lying or stupid. Or maybe they don’t read enough blogs. Either way this can’t be a surprise.

Worker blows up building. Divorce becoming prevalent.

From Wired.

Brownback said he created the legislation in response to the legal fights between ISPs and the music industry. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) also has expressed concern with the RIAA’s tactics in the file-sharing battle, and will hold hearings on the subject Sept. 30.

Yeah, right. I think what they call them are “press releases”. There’s no way he could do it. It’d have to be cleared by so many people and departments by the time they got through with it, it would be the most insipid, lamest thing ever.

Oh, Jonah agrees. Or more appropriately, I agree with him.

Finally someone has a clear understanding of world politics.

“I wouldn’t worry,” Harvard political analyst Gregory Peters said. “Sure, the U.S. makes Them mad, but since we have unilateral military supremacy, it’s not as if They can do anything about it.”

hat tip: Kelsey, who is just to darn busy to update apparently.

The classic Ballad of Bilbo Baggins by Leonard Nimoy VIDEO! You just couldn’t find this sort of stuff before there was an internet. Thank you, Al Gore.

obviously via Dave Barry’s Blog

Internet Software Consortium vs. Verisign’s Site Finder.

via Slashdot

Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye Arafat.

The word meme could never be used again and I wouldn’t mind at all.

meme n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

Heh.

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix believes that Iraq destroyed most of its weapons of mass destruction 10 years ago, but kept up the appearance that it had them to deter a military attack.

Well, whoever Saddam’s advisors were, they were dead wrong.

According to seattlepi.com

Unofficial returns showed voters were rejecting Initiative 77, which had become known as the latte tax, by a 2-1 ratio.

Slashdotters have been saying this sort of thing for a while, but here’s more proof.

I heard that!

RFIDs coming to a store near you next week. Probably.

via DrudgeReport

Bandanaed bandits burgle Pier 1. Yeah it falls apart there at the end.

Police said a robber, armed with a large-caliber automatic handgun and wearing a bandana, enters stores not traditionally targeted for stickups.

I wonder if they mean “semi-automatic handgun”. How many “automatic handguns” are there? They gotta be illegal.

8 Simple Rules to continue. Geez.

via DrudgeReport

Isn’t it more of a tradition to wait until there’s an emergency to delcare a state of emergency?

The next chapter. The South sure seems popular lately. Maybe because the West has been conquered. They were honing their skills and now they’re taking on the bible belt.

I’ve seen this about a dozen times already:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Please don’t email it to me. Thanks. And if you’re new to the internet: Good Times

UPDATE: Ack! Another one! Stop the madness!

Married over 50 years, wife attacks husband with knife because he won’t help her prepare for Hurricane Isabel until half-time.

via Fark

What causes feedback? You can read their technical explanation, but I can tell you, it’s too loud. Turn it down. Just because your instrument isn’t the loudest doesn’t mean you can’t hear it.

Here. I can’t do it justice.

This is the fashion headline at the Telegraph: “Brilliant colour is the new black” You can’t make stuff like that up. Also, tin foil appears to be the next thing (Tin foil: it’s not just for hats anymore).