Not So Fast

Ecoterrorism causes San Diego fires.

No talking at lunchtime. I always ate lunch outdoors (except when it rained, the we watched movies in the gym), but to be dismissed to go play we had to prove that we ate most of our food.

via DrudgeReport

Shouldn’t there be some sort of statute of limitations on this sort of thing? Also in The Corner. Also super-smart Volokh Conspiracy.

Thai ice cream man dies laughing in his sleep. I bet he’s the one behind the corn flavored ice cream. This is wacky too. Don’t look at me, I guess they like vegetables in their ice cream.

via Everything’s Gone Green

I’ve always thought killing bugs was a good idea.

Linus Torvalds says SCO “smoking crack”. Heh.

It’s long, but good.

Instapundit on Chemical Ali’s arrest.

Is you my mammy?

The Post cereal commercial, where they’re parodying The Naked Chef, hilarious.

Yeah, no links. Just thought I’d share.

Okay, it looks like Joyful Christian is back. Feel free to visit for enlightening discussion on various topics.

Albright: irrelevant and obsolete.

The burglar suing the farmer who shot him while he was burgling, caught red-handed. Now how this could even be a case is utterly beyond me, but then the unfathomable stupidity of the burglar just adds to the insanity.

Tampa dumps what has got to be unconstitutional face recognition scanners on the streets. Why? Stupid things don’t work. And for once I agree with the ACLU.

DivX now requires adware. XviD is where it’s at. Well, there are a multitude of other choices.

That if you don’t like the smog, you can move somewhere else? Instead of saddling taxpayers with public transportation bills.

Biff and Sandy on the way to Mars.

So go to ThisToThat and they can answer all your gluing questions.

via, obviously: Dave Barry Blog

The Lemon. I really should get that link up on the sidebar. I really should do a lot of things.

Is it just me or is Amazon down? What the heck?

UPDATE: They’re back. Or they’re letting me on now.

John Derbyshire has this to say about longevity. Maybe it’s because I’m so young, maybe because I have had a easy life, but I wouldn’t mind going on for another 100 years.

At welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com

From Scrappleface.

Sobig.F is on the loose. Don’t open attachments in your emails. Why on the earth are you letting .exe’s and .pif’s through anyway?

I knew we wouldn’t just sit by and let the Martians invade.

Power outages, gas shortages. What is this? It’s like some third-world nation. Minus the bombs, small-arms fire and military junta, of course.

A good reason to not procrastinate on filling your tank. They could go to California and drive the speed limit, blocking traffic for miles.

Napolitano also is being urged to relax the Valley’s clean air rules to allow non-formulated gas to be used. Only a handful of refineries make the special blend and relaxing the rules would make more supply available.

“If the governor would waive the mandate, there would be all kinds of gas pouring into that state,” said Paul Latham, Costco’s vice president of gasoline sales. Costco is getting small shipments daily, but it’s not enough to keep the stations open all day. Costco’s gas islands have operated sporadically since the pipeline was closed Aug. 8.

Environuts make life miserable for everyone again. Thanks guys. I’m sure the cactus appreciate the clean air.

Charles at LGF says it best:

Those rotten Palestinian bastards. Those rotten, cowardly, evil bastards.

I passed my Network+ final. Actually, I got an A.

Is working a little better than planned, I think.

Saddam can’t be sleeping well these days.

via Instapundit

Whenever I read a discussion of “Marsh Arabs” I can’t help but think of Puddleglum, the Marshwiggle from The Silver Chair. I imagine a dour bunch of Arabs schlepping their way through whatever they do in those marshes.

Here’s something I don’t think about enough:

We take for granted the ability to separate fact from fiction, to identify that which looks, feels and smells reasonably like the truth. Yet the long Western struggle to view the world objectively is culturally unique. Especially in the Arab world, myth, comforting lies and cynical rumors trump facts that seem undeniable to us.

Read the whole thing.

Friendly hackers. Good or Bad? You decide.

Today will be slow because I’m trying to study for my Network+ class final, while working. And I can do two things at once but not three, so blogging loses.

And despite age-old tall tales of little green men from Mars, there is nothing to worry about, says Linda Sparke, who chairs the University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomy department.

“It’s not going to attack us,” she explained in her down-to-Earth way. “It’s quite safe.”

I believe a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the oh-so-friendly Martians would discourage any hawks amongst them. You can’t be too careful.

via DrudgeReport

This is why our military rocks. Photoshop.

via Instapundit

It was in town today. Well, an original copy of it. Super cool. The best part was the video with a bunch of commie pinko movie stars reading it. I hope they were paying attention to what they were saying.

Rob Lowe joins Shwartzenegger team.

via Drudge Report

More than you ever wanted to know about the RIAA at www.boycott-riaa.com.

via Volokh Conspiracy

Remember when some guy goes to jail for linking to a site? Now Eugene Volokh of the smarty-pants Volokh Conspiracy finds more abridgment of link freedom. I think he handled it well.

A reminder of less smokey days. Cause right now it looks like winter here.

Fewer Choices! Less Responsibility!

Well taken care of by Right Wing News.

Buy your ticket to heaven on ebay. Episcopalians ought to seriously consider this option.

Right on!

Restructuring the world.

Kicked out of Alabama courthouse. I can’t wait to see them heft that thing out of there. Not that I don’t like it, it just has to weigh a ton.

If you desperately need to keep up with the power outage situation, the Command Post is the place to start. Really, any time there’s a major emergency, it’s the place to start. Vast world-wide armies of bloggers with battery backups are posting semi-continously.

More from the Instaminions. A brief history.

UPDATE: Wow. It doesn’t really make him seem kinder and friendlier though.

Slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch…

Anyway, the US blames Canada. A reasonable proposition I think. Canadian officials blame lightning at Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls says there was no lightning. It’s all Canada’s fault. Until further notice.

I can’t help but grin. Sucks to be you Sadaam.

Fighting fire with fire.

Huge blackout on the East Coast. Don’t worry, everything’s fine in Idaho.

As BOTW would say, Who’s Distracted?

So, Frank J. of IMAO has declared war on Instapundit, again. Instapundit took it calmly. Now Instaminions are clamoring. So, my suggestion last week to Frank J. (which he ignored, not unlike El Licuador del Perrito he railed against so eloquently) that he should get Glenn a new slogan worked, sort of.

SCO is attempting to invalidate the GPL license that most open-source software relies on. Geeks and nerds everywhere grab their pitchforks and firebrands and storm the SCO castle…again. Arguing along the way, “IANAL but, copyleft is a great idea that would stand up to the RIAA and M$ in a court of Tonga.” “IANAL but you’re an Idiot!” “Mod parent down!”

Underwater goggle headphones. Not that I swim laps, but isn’t technology cool?

Oddly enough, a British council wants to formal up its receptionists.

A venerated sage with vast power and knowledge, you gently guide forces around you while serving as a champion of the light.

Try for yourself and see.

Whale Flatulence Stuns Scientists

It goes without saying, I think: via Dave Barry’s Blog

Microsoft to discontinue Outlook Express. They’re switching focus to Hotmail/MSN and Outlook. Hotmail, yeah, I’d depend on that for email. Riiight. And Outlook is a) expensive, and b) too complex for me to be checking my email at home.

Quick, switch to Mozilla or Opera.

Nerds arguing over global warming. What I get from it is it’s either good or it’s bad.

Is excellent today. Idiot telephone techs, child-rearing tips, Stinger missles, it’s got it all.

RIAA loses.

I guess today is left-hander’s day. Yeah, we rock! Did you ever notice that if you hold a coke can left-handed it covers up the logo? See how pervasive this right-handedness is?

via The Register

At least we don’t have to do it for them.

It’s interesting that I keep reading about how the Saudis are not our friends and Bush is doing a horrible job with them. And then I read this article. Very interesting.

Britian’s a little behind, but they figured out the Atkins diet is just that, a diet. This is an excellent bit from June in National Review.

Free enterprise and faster computers. Everyone wins.

via WorldNetDaily

UPDATE: See what /.ers have to say about it.

Penthouse publisher declares bankruptcy.

Of interest only because it has my last name in it. Well, and I enjoy lattes. But I always get whole milk, from a cow, given a choice.

A new café in Valdres has an unusual if not unique offering on its menu. Project chief Karianne Groev has dubbed the drink a “hoppe (mare) latte”. The drink features espresso with side of cold horse milk from Stryn.

via Fark

But only for a minute or two. Then it’s straight to hell for the terrorist.

Warning! Danger! Everyone must be licensed!

What do they do about all those videos out there? Now available for 3 low monthly payments of 19.99!

This rambling but hilarious post on book recommendations and globalization from the zany kids at Samizdata.

Apparently there is nothing else happening in the world. I wonder how much the people in California care about the recall. I’m convinced if it weren’t for Shwartzenegger, no one would care at all. People in D.C. are probably more worked up about it than the Californians. Of course, everyone is more worked up about everything than Californians, with the possible exception of the Deep South. They’re pretty laid-back.

Honoring pinball machines! Well, to each his own.

via Fark

We told you how a law is made in the theoretical sense in this post. The Lemon, who really deserves a permanant link, shows how it’s really done. With pictures!

A few days late, but always good.

For oppressed people everywhere. That’s two murderous dictators in one year. I’m thinking the USA is doing okay here.

Remember those terrible prisons at Guatanamo. Yeah, so horrible that prisoners families are begging that the prisoners not be sent home, where prisons are really bad.

“I think that there is not even a health resort in Russia on the level of this place,” the letter said.

May not be true, but it gives you a feel for how it’s going there and here.

This is why people complain about giant computer databases chocked full of information on them.

Things are going well for Christians in Canada. Yeah, now I see how enlightening inclusivism is. Look how open-minded they are.

This article got me thinking regarding this whole Episcopal gay thing. Remember the atheists that want to be called “bright”? Well, we need a term for former Christians that refuse to follow the basic tenets of the bible. Clearly they aren’t “Christian” any more. And by clearly, I mean, if you aren’t going to follow the rules of the group why say you are part of the group. That’s just dumb. You know, the Episcopalians, the Catholics, the United Methodists, fill in your favorite apostate denomination. We need something that exemplifies their inability or unwillingness to stand for what they say they believe (the bible—which is very clear on many points they chose to disobey) in the face of Public Opinion (say it with an echo-o-o). They would probably prefer something Inclusive, but I’m going to suggest a somewhat more accurate terms: Spineless, Weak-Minded, Useless.

Comments are open.

And so scientific too!

It’s only fattening if you think about the calories! You see, the calories don’t actually appear in the food you’re eating unless you are trying to diet. You see, in reality, calories exist as both a fattening particle, and as a nonfattening wave. When you pick up the food and you are thinking to yourself “Gee, I really shouldn’t eat this or it’ll go straight to my waist!” then you cause the calorie-probability wave to collapse and the evil calorie particles appear in what you’re eating. Sort of like a Schrodinger’s Cat, only involving chocolate and cheesecake and ice cream instead.

By TwoDragons from the comment section of The Emperor’s site.

So this guy defends himself on his own property and it takes the SEVEN weeks to decide not to prosecute him? Why did it take more than 10 minutes?

You’re aging rapidly. Or you look just like that guy over there.

This is dead wrong. I had to turn it off after 30 minutes because I couldn’t stand her any more. Plus VDH in a dress? Ick.

Check out the name of his VP. Moses Blah. That’s so cool. And pronouncable.

If they know Saddam’s moving this much, why can’t they just nab him. I know, I know, it’s more complicated than that. But it looks like they’re toying with him.

via WorldNetDaily

Bill would know how to avoid the trouble from being a lousy leader.

Come to think of it, I’ve never been to the Home Depot in town. Lowe’s is closer.

Lousy landline connections again. Stupid lightning. So to summarize my position on the Drudge headlines. California: who cares? Productivity soars;joblessness drops: What are the Democrats going to do? Can’t attack Bush on foreign policy, can’t attack him on the economy. Bummer. Espresso tax in Seattle: that’s what you get for living in such a liberal state. Taxes. Europe Temperatures: Quit whining you big babies.

So, actual links and stuff when I can acheive speeds of more than 28k.

This kind of thing makes me nervous.

Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Looks like Kim Jong Il handily won the elections.

An Ebola vaccine looks promising in monkeys.

via Drudge Report.

On the Drudge Report there’s the temperature in London, because this is big news. Right? Yeah, it’s 95 there. What’s up with that? That’s hot, but not horribly so. Bunch of whiners.

UPDATE: From the BBC:

The heat caused several train tracks to buckle – one prompting a train driver to stop his train as it approached Gatwick Airport. Overhead power cables were also damaged.

What do they make this stuff out of? Silly Putty?

FURTHER UPDATE: From Best of the Web:

It’s hot in England, too, and the Sun tabloid quotes a spokesman for the Met Office, the office British meteorological agency, as attributing the heat to “very hot air” that’s blown in from France. Figures.

John Derbyshire.

It was Julie. If you have watched Rocketman, the funniest movie of the 90’s, you got that joke.

This story of a guy getting thrown in jail for LINKING to a bomb-making site has everyone (here, here, here) in uproar. But they’re using bad tactics. Never say, “but so-and-so is doing it….” I learned that when I was eight. That just gets so-and-so in trouble, mad at you and you no better off. Surely there are some constitutional grounds for linking to whoever you darn well feel like. That would be the smart way to fight this.

From IMAO.

As in Die Hard and Passenger 57, the best way to avoid the initial terrorist attack is to be in the bathroom. If someone complains about you being in there so long, tell him you’re fighting terrorism.

Over at Slashdot. Disney going open source, FCC going wifi. The /.ers are all freaked out.

Great article on why letting the UN run Iraq is a bad idea.

Whores should not be employed to teach morality. And the United Nations should not be employed to rebuild Iraq.

You can’t argue with that.

via The Corner

New stuff over at welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com

Don’t worry, we’ve started a counter-invasion. Be afraid, be very afraid.

They’ve moved their planet closer to ours so they save a little fuel as they implement their evil plan to take over the earth. Or they moved it closer so that the Destruct-O-Ray can reach.

via Drudge Report.

That the more tyrannical a country, the more liberal sounding their name is? Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union), People’s Republic of China. But it’s United States of America and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Commonwealth of Australia or Republic of Korea (South Korea). It just annoys me. Carry on.

This might interest you.

And since we’re talking about Episcopalians…there’s an apocryphal tale of Walter Martin, the real Bible Answer Man, that he regularly said wherever you find four Episcopalians you find a fifth.

Think about it.

This reminds me of high school. You know, everybody drop your books at exactly 9:59. Hee-hee.

How come my life doesn’t go like this? Sure we have tons of places to go hike around that are beautiful, but I can’t buy a new car just like that. And yeah, we just got a Borders, but it doesn’t have wifi.

Give me a day off and I have to be retrained. Very busy weekend, HOPE crusade and all. So, much bloggy goodness to come. Hopefully.

But I repeat myself. Here.

via Inoperable Terran

A small piece of advice: dump Internet Explorer. Go get Mozilla or Opera. It does take a little more work than clicking the big blue button, but I’m convinced you are all smart enough to do it. They both block popups, have tabbed browsing (try it, you’ll like it) and mouse gestures. I prefer Opera, but that’s just me. If you get Mozilla, make sure you go here and get some of the add-ons. I recommend mouse gestures and banner blind.

As long as everyone agrees with them. Otherwise they’re not so nice.

Interesting. I’d like to see more tests.

Not only did MIT say that the RIAA was improperly filing supoenas, now PacBell is challengingthem. The arrogance of the RIAA answer doesn’t help their case:

We are disappointed that Pac Bell has chosen to fight this, unlike every other ISP which has complied with their obligations under the law. We had previously reached out to SBC to discuss this matter but had beenrebuked,” an RIAA statement said.

Our wireless is down. Painful landline connections are all I have. Thus, the lack of posting.

This book is a rather lengthy look at the Soviet labor camps. And in passing, I hope I never have to live through anything like that. And I truly think that as used to freedom as we Americans are, it’ll be a while before we could behave like the Soviets. Not that we are better people than they were, but we have a whole different attitude and society. The czars, or tsars as I prefer because it looks cooler, weren’t much better than the commies, so Russians were already used to the idea of going to jail for saying or thinking wrongly. I can’t fathom why they didn’t beat these guys up and kick them out. That’s why America has a ways to go still. But there’s no accounting for human behavior. We could probably turn on a dime and then I’d be sorry.

But on with our story. It was stuffed to the gills with facts and figures, without ever quite giving up the human side of the suffering. It came darn close though. IMHO, most of the problem was she used the metric system, no doubt because that is what the original information was in. But to me, 500 grams of bread means nothing. Is that a loaf? Is it a bun? What? Later on in the book, like two-thirds of the way through, some of this was clarified, but it was far too late by then.

This book is, I think, very even-handed in its consideration of the matter. She presents the facts, a great deal taken from recently declassified Soviet material, clearly and logically. It was easy to follow the chronology. The book is divided into three parts; the beginning of the system and its early years; a look at life from the inside; and the later years. It felt to me to concentrate on the Stalin years, but with enough prior to Stalin to see how the system came into being, and after Stalin it was just in mop-up mode. Quotes and descriptions from survivors memoirs are used quite well throughout to humanize the facts and figures and clarify the vast amounts of suffering taking place.

I would definitely recommend it to those who are interested in and know nothing about the Gulag. In the end, I’m glad I read it, but I won’t be rereading it. I would rather reread Gulag Archipelago.

P.S. As soon as I find a new book to read, I’ll change the sidebar. I know you were worried.

For Sale. Beedeebeedeebeedee

Not necessarily a bad thing. Interesting poll.

via The Corner

El Presidente for Life Castro’s feelings are hurt, so he’s going to take it out on his country.

From the cool kids at Samizdata.

Volokh Conspiracy lays out the whole “terrorist market” thing very clearly.

My opinion: Could be fun.

I know, very serious, not a matter for levity. Neener-neener.