poem

To be alive

To be alive: not just the carcass
But the spark.
That's crudely put, but...

If we're not supposed to dance,
Why all this music?

- Gregory Orr

splash

Have you ever looked at a Jackson Pollock painting and said to yourself. "Heck, I could do that"? Well, now you can.

program of the day

I've recently found a very useful virtual desktop utility, Dexpot. It takes a little getting used to, but it allows you to work with multiple desktops at once, and easily manages all of them so you always have an uncluttered workspace. Here's a screenshot showing one of the modes:

Check it out.

Good will hunting, indeed

Snopes verifies the truth behind this incredible story:

A young college student was working hard in an upper-level math course, for fear that he would be unable to pass. On the night before the final, he studied so long that he overslept the morning of the test.

When he ran into the classroom several minutes late, he found three equations written on the blackboard. The first two went rather easily, but the third one seemed impossible. He worked frantically on it until — just ten minutes short of the deadline — he found a method that worked, and he finished the problems just as time was called.

The student turned in his test paper and left. That evening he received a phone call from his professor. "Do you realize what you did on the test today?" he shouted at the student.

"Oh, no," thought the student. "I must not have gotten the problems right after all."

"You were only supposed to do the first two problems," the professor explained. "That last one was an example of an equation that mathematicians since Einstein have been trying to solve without success. I discussed it with the class before starting the test. And you just solved it!"

oh dear

We've seen some of these before, but here is a fascinating list of the 50 Dumbest Things Bush Ever Said. The scariest, in my opinion:

"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves."
—Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

quote of the day

"Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told--and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion."

- Michael Crichton, The Lost World

"why my favorite professor was a chronic liar"

Interesting story of a professor who would introduce one false statement into each of his lectures to see if the students would catch it. Of course, the students began actually paying attention to the lectures. Fantastic idea.

you know you need one

Get yours here.

i bought a new lens

cool, if true

St Paul's tomb (possibly) unearthed in Rome.

diamonds: the price of being forever

Amazing photo essay on the diamond market, from the toiling miners in Africa to the bedazzled brides in America.

why you should avoid being an English major

Stupid yet hilarious essays.

quote of the day

"Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority."

-- Thomas H. Huxley

hahaha

wayback, in color

Check out these early Kodachrome images of "America before Pearl Harbor."

I need a Rotary Reading Desk

From this odd site, I learned that in 1588, the Italian Engineer Agostino Ramelli described a novel invention to facilitate the reading of multiple books at once:

A beautiful and ingenious machine, which is very useful and convenient to every person who takes pleasure in study, especially those who are suffering from indisposition or are subject to gout: for with this sort of machine a man can see and read a great quantity of books, without moving his place: besides, it has this fine convenience, which is, of occupying a little space in the place where it is set, as any person of understanding can appreciate from the drawing.

nice

these are keepers.

nice

found here.

old school

Interesting list of the 50 greatest cartoons as voted on by the animation industry in 1994. Warning: cool youtube footage--this will waste your time if you happen to be at work.

best video all year

wonderful.

great idea

"These pay-as-you-can cafes have missions that are unapologetically altruistic—call it serving up fare Robin Hood style. "Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity," explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME (So All Might Eat) Cafe in Denver.

go get 'em, sister

How to fight.

hahahahaha

buying a new house? BEWARE ENCROACHMENT

more McSweeney's hilarity

Bean and Nothingness, by John Fitch

"Hi, and welcome to Bean and Nothingness, New York's first truly holistic coffee bar. My name is Harmony and I'll be your beverage liaison this morning. Since this is your first time with us, why don't you sit in one of our Epiphany Chairs while I give you a quick orientation? Feel free to self-reflect, write poetry, or juggle if the mood strikes.

"Here at Bean and Nothingness, our aim is not just to provide you with the sheer tranquillity and utter transcendence that only the best coffee and coffee-related products can achieve but also to help you reach complete spiritual self-actualization during your time here. From our socially conscious beverages to our community-oriented pastries and our globally sensitive condiments, Bean and Nothingness is committed to making this a better world one customer at a time, just like it says on the door, and the counter, and the wall. It's not just a slogan, either. No, every staff member here at Bean and Nothingness truly believes that we're making a better world one customer at a time and has sworn it, in blood, under the influence of sodium pentothal. I should also tell you that our coffee pickers are the happiest in the world. While other companies exploit their Third World employees, we at Bean and Nothingness ensure that our field workers are given a constant intravenous drip of MDMA and opiates. Sure, it slows down production and, sure, they spend a lot of time hugging, but, in the end, it's worth it. You can practically taste the love in the beans..."

oh really?

Reading Shakespeare has a dramatic effect on the human brain.

great music: Fujiya & Miyagi

Dig it.

possibly useless: whale’s pearl

"Ambergris has been a valued commodity for centuries, used in perfume because of its strangely alluring aroma as well as its ability to retain other fine-fragrance ingredients and “fix” a scent so it does not evaporate quickly. Its name is derived from the French “ambre gris,” or gray amber. During the Renaissance, ambergris was molded, dried, decorated and worn as jewelry. It has been an aphrodisiac, a restorative balm, and a spice for food and wine. Arabs used it as heart and brain medicine. The Chinese called it lung sien hiang, or “dragon’s spittle fragrance.” It has been the object of high-seas treachery and caused countries to enact maritime possession laws and laws banning whale hunting. Madame du Barry supposedly washed herself with it to make herself irresistible to Louis XV.

In "Paradise Regained," Milton describes Satan tempting Christ with meat pastries steamed in ambergris. In “Moby-Dick,” Melville called it the “essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale.” Old newspapers show clippings every few years describing some whaling crew coming upon a hunk, or some vacationing family finding it on the beach and either cashing in — or discovering it was just ocean detritus."

oh dear

This ball may unfortunately prove why the universe will expand forever, whatever that means. Apparently "evidence is accumulating that most of the energy density in the universe is in an unknown form dubbed dark energy."

fo all ma homies

In case you were wondering whether I was really in your corner, I am. With the exception of not being able to talk to Dobson this weekend or hitting Zack's party, I've tried to be there for you. Yes, my emails have dropped off of late, and my letters and postcards came to a tragic and screeching halt years ago, but I have thought about you many, many times. Sometimes I have even thought about you, as my life entered a new phase that lacked precedent, precisely at the moment it occurred. You all mean more to me than either you or I will really ever know. And so I present to you, my good friends, all of the Bob Dylan Theme Time Radio Hour shows. Use them well.

sage advice

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book."

~~ Austin Phelps

via the everlasting bibliovixen

oooh the irony of blogging about this shirt

pocket rocket

Your keychain jump drive can function as your personal PC with mojopac.

bad landing

Glad I wasn't on this plane.

what a ride indeed

Great article on the "Skyhook".

"The first live test was conducted with a pig as the target. Due to some stability issues, the pig spun in the 125 mph wind, and arrived on the plane dizzy and discombobulated. It recovered, however, and promptly attacked the crew."

oh dear

Ten Bible verses you probably won't hear in a sermon. My favorite:

"Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths." 2 Kings 2:23-24 NKJV

speed up your browser (firefox or IE)--this works

Lightning Fast Browsing Trick For Internet Explorer And Firefox - video powered by Metacafe

super hero rehab

from here.

the hippie and the suit

The new breed of voter: Liberaltarians.

"The libertarian vote is up for grabs in a way it may have never been before. A compelling case is being made for the economically conservative yet socially liberal libertarians to switch their political allegiances from Republican to Democrat, a trend that has already begun. . . . With libertarians generally disenchanted with a Republican Party of crony capitalists and theocrats, it is a propitious time for an entente between liberals and libertarians."

snap

Check out all the Flickr toys. My favorite so far is this one. Also, Eartha found photofiddle, which has a lot more options, but you have to register.

beautiful

quote of the day

"It is a frequently observed phenomenon that the less educated and intelligent people are, the more they tend to have decisive and strong opinions on the most complex political, philosophical, economic, and other pressing issues."

-- anonymous

whoa dude

If you're a fan of Pink Floyd, and if one afternoon in college you carefully synched the album Dark Side of the Moon up with the film The Wizard of OZ (most likely accompanied by some manner of illegal behavior) you'll appreciate this:

"This is the synchronization theory between Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey" and Pink Floyd's song "Echoes" off the album "Meddle". Out of all Pink Floyd synchronization theories, we believe that this may have been purposely done, the most. Because Kubrick had asked to use Atom Heart Mother (Pink Floyd, 1970) in which Pink Floyd denied and later regretted.

As soon as the song "Echoes" is played and the "Jupiter And Beyond The Infinite" title card pops up, a ping will sound. This pinging sound will ring once every few seconds for the first 1:20 or so. The music will slowly start to fade in after ten seconds or so. It is very eerie-sounding - as synthesizers slowly build, and eventually a mellow, slow guitar riff comes into play. As all this psychedelic, mellow music builds up the images on the screen are of the monolith floating around in space while the outstanding special effects show the planets in the background. The sense of limitless space is evident, and the music only enhances that feeling.

Both the song and the movie then end AT THE EXACT SAME TIME."

Ahem, well. Judge for yourself. Here's the video (part I):

here's part II:

and here's Part III:

(It turns out there are a number of Floyd synch jobs all over the web, most of which are unlikely, like this one. But they're still kinda fun.)

and now for something completely different..

Having read a lot of information about WWII over the past year or two, I tend to hold accounts from 1936-1948 in somewhat reverential awe. And so would most, at least in this country. But it is refreshing to read a perspective that seems to see the forest for the trees, and remind us of the grim realities behind what Stephen Ambrose and Steven Spielberg tend to focus on. After all, many of the major ethnic and cultural problems the world faces today emerged from those years of turmoil; Iraq, Bosnia, Israel and Palestine, not to mention the USSR, East Germany and the entire former Communist bloc are testaments to the political morass from which the war came and to which it returned.

I don't agree with everything this guy says, but he makes some extremely good points, especially about the fascination with fascism that pretty much gripped pre-war Europe. Here's an excerpt from the article:

The biggest lie about WW II is that it was a war between good and evil. Bullshit, because there were no good European countries.

Fact No1: They Were ALL Fascists. At a military level, let's face a nasty fact: WW II was Stalin vs. Hitler. The rest was window dressing. Stalin won because--because what, he was a nicer guy? Nope, he won because his brand of fascism was actually way more ruthless and bloody and effective than Hitler's smalltime snobbery, and because Stalin had the whole US industrial machine backing him..

guess those lyrics

It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here
And I'm much obliged to you for making it clear
That I'm not here.
And I never knew we could be so thick
And I never knew we could be so blue
And I'm grateful that you threw away my old shoes
And brought me here instead dressed in red
And I'm wondering who could be writing this song.
I don't care if the sun don't shine
And I don't care if nothing is mine
And I don't care if I'm nervous with you
I'll do my loving in the winter.

And the sea isn't green
And I love the queen
And what exactly is a dream
And what exactly is a joke?

quote of the day/motto for entire life

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

--Carl Sagan

Books: they'll never let you down

I'll take two, please

image of the day

ever the dancer

Folks, in the spirit of the season, Mary Pat has decided to take a new job.

This sentence is false.

Wonderful list of paradoxes on wikipedia.

keep zooming

Extreme resolution imaging.

from a music site I frequent

"C. S. Lewis tells the story in his book 'The Great Divorce' of a man who, as a ghost, takes a bus ride through both hell and heaven. One of things he discovers on his trip is that if your final destination is hell you will find that this present world was only a part of hell. However, if your final destination was heaven, you will discover that this present world was a part of heaven the whole time. I know that my destination is heaven. How do I know this? Two words: Emmylou Harris."

109th Congress a success at ...naming buildings

Of the 383 pieces of legislation that were signed into law during the two-year 109th Congress, more than one-quarter dealt with naming or renaming federal buildings and structures.

photo of the day

don't do this

The Dumbest Deaths in Recorded History.

good question

Who can arrest the president?

that's gotta hurt

knockouts.

miniplanets

Very cool photos. I love this stuff.

If only life were like this

amazing shot

(keep scrolling to the right)

whitewashing jesus

Interesting article: Why has the portrayal of Jesus in art drifted far from the likelihood he was a brown-skinned Semitic Jew?

quote of the day

"You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth."

- Henry Louis Mencken

check the Santa cam

NORAD is tracking Santa this year.

the dawn of gadgetry

Scientists have discovered that a 2000-year-old Greek device rivalled the supercomputers of today.

The machine was a 365-day calendar, which ingeniously factored in the leap year every four years. And it not only provided the Metonic cycle, which was known to the Babylonians, it also gave the so-called Callippic cycle, which is four Metonic cycles minus one day and reconciles the solar year with the lunar calendar.

It could also predict lunar and solar eclipses under the Saros cycle, a 223-month repetitive interplay of the Sun, Earth and Moon. This function, presumably, would been useful for religious purposes, given that eclipses are traditionally taken as omens.

The Machine was also a star almanac, showing the times when the major stars and constellations of the Greek zodiac would rise or set and, speculatively, may also have shown the positions of the planets.

But even more impressive is a tiny pin-and-slot device that factors in a movement of the Moon that, for centuries, puzzled sky-watchers. In this so-called main lunar anomaly, the Moon appears to move across the heavens at different speeds at different times - the reason being its elliptical orbit around Earth.

yeah, what's up with those tetraneutrons anyway?

13 things that do not make sense.

In Canada it's only 12

A look at ages of consent around the world.

sounds like a good argument to me..

incredible

cool

Pageflakes has a new rival: Yourminis.

quote of the day

"The half-trillion dollars that we have spent in precious capital to prosecute the war [in Iraq] would have funded a massive alternative energy development program in this country or, failing that enlightened strategy, it would have at least paid for all of our oil imports for almost four years at current prices."

--Lou Dobbs

favorite artist of the week: Vladimir Kush

Link.

oh great

Once again, Alabama politicians show their stuff. One journalist has decided to test whether our folks in Washington know exactly who we're fighting:

Take Representative Terry Everett, a seven-term Alabama Republican who is vice chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence.

“Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?” I asked him a few weeks ago.

Mr. Everett responded with a low chuckle. He thought for a moment: “One’s in one location, another’s in another location. No, to be honest with you, I don’t know. I thought it was differences in their religion, different families or something.”

joke of the day

A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in an Armani suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie (Corb), leans out the window and asks the shepherd, “If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?”

The shepherd looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers, “Sure. Why not?” The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his AT&T cell phone, surfs to a NASA page on the internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He uploads all of this data via an email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1586 sheep.”

“That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my sheep.” says the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then the shepherd says to the young man, “Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my sheep?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, “Okay, why not?”

“You’re a consultant.” says the shepherd.

“Wow! That’s correct,” says the yuppie, “but how did you guess that?”

“No guessing required.” answered the shepherd. “You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked; and you don’t know crap about my business . . . Now give me back my dog.”

history/technology

Hitler speaks.

When Adolf Hitler bought Eva Braun a movie camera, to film the people and parties which occurred at their Bavarian retreat, the technology ... all » to include synchronized sound had not yet been developed.

So when soldiers discovered Hitler's private home movies, in the Berlin bunker where the Nazi leader took his own life, the tantalizing clips they unearthed, featuring leading members of the SS in a more relaxed mode, remained silent for 60 years.

Now, leading edge lip reading software has enabled German experts to re-voice these films and provide us with a chilling insight into Hitler's private world.

Why you shouldn't bother showing your receipt when you leave Wal-Mart

I hadn't really thought about it this way.

The gentleman moved in front of the cart and firmly gripped the sides, saying “Sir, I must see your receipt before you leave.”

“Oh, I see what you mean,” I replied. “I guess we better get one of your security people over here.”

That puzzled him for a second. “Will you wait here while I get somebody? he asked.

“No.” I said. “I’m out the door as soon as you get out of the way.”

This was a spontaneous answer on my part, but in all honesty I was delighted to have stumbled onto a perfect dilemma for this zealous worker. If he stood his ground, he couldn’t see my receipt. But if he went for assistance, he might lose an opportunity to nail the Tylenol/Windex/Aussie Moist Conditioner thief. He then began to work his way up the side of the cart toward me, his strategy apparently being to keep one hand on the side of the cart and one foot on the floor at all times. Finally, he took hold of my forearm, which surprised me, but not in a good way..

great idea

also check out the slanket.

where there's a will..

Very interesting story of the crazy tunnel systems beneath the U.S./Mexico border.

you said it, Jimmy

Jimmy Carter tells Wolf Blitzer that "Iraq invasion [was] one of the greatest blunders that American presidents have ever made."

great Google Answers question

How many tyrannosaurs are there in a gallon of gasoline?

great t-shirt

found here.

now that's a tub

from these guys.

tips

Once again, I find myself hailing the latest technological marvels. I got a Treo at work and have found it endlessly fascinating and useful--that is, when I remember to bring it along. There are several sites like PalmGear and MyTreo that offer literally hundreds of programs available for every conceivable use and diversion. For example, I have a directory assistant program that looks up business and residential phone numbers and addresses; there's also a program that looks up flights to see if they're on time and which gate they're coming into. I've even got a chess game on there that I have trouble beating.

I'm lucky because I need a PDA for work. Most people don't feel like paying the money for the elaborate devices or forking up extra cash for internet access. But now there are a number of free programs and services out there that offer the same functions the Treo offers, and the word is getting out. Here is a list of some of the services I have used over the past year or two which have saved me many a nickel and dime, recently discussed in the New York Times:

→ Instead of paying $1 or $2 for calling 411 (information), you can call 800-FREE-411 (800-373-3411). A computer or human being looks up a number for you at no charge, once you’ve listened to a 20-second ad.

→ For an ad-free option, send a text message to 46645. This service is provided free by Google. In the body of the message, type what you’re looking for, like “Roger McBride 10025” or “chiropractor dallas tx.” Seconds later, you get a return message from Google, complete with the name, address, and phone number. It can also send you the weather report (in the body, type, for example, “weather sacramento”), stock quotes (“amzn”), where a movie is showing nearby (type “flushed away 44120”), what a word means (“define schadenfreude”), driving directions (“miami fl to 60609”), unit conversions (“liters in 5 gallons”), currency conversions (“25 usd in euros”), and so on. Your cell service usually charges you ten cents or so to send a text message, but Google's service is free.

→ You can also do info searches by voice by dialing 800-555-TELL (800-555-8355). You are then promted to say "Travel," "Traffic," "News Center," "Stock Quotes," and so on. The system figures out your location and automatically factors that in when you ask for "Movies," "Restaurants," "Driving directions" or "Taxi."

→ You can call internationally for the same price as a regular cellphone call by dialing 712-858-8883; Simply press 1 for English, then punch in 011, the country code and the phone number. You can find country codes here.

→ For easy, free voice messages try Pinger. You call an access number and leave your message and the other person can hear it and reply with one keystroke. No dialing in voicemail passwords, listening to instructions, etc.

→ For another variation on voicemail, YouMail operates like your regular voicemail, but with more options. For example, it allows you to record a separate greeting for everyone you know. Kinda cool. It's free for now, but will probably have ads thrown in soon.

→ Finally, as Christmas Shopping Season nears, you might want to try dialing 888-363-7822 when you find a product you like. When prompted, plug in the bar code on the package, and after a brief ad, you will be provided with a description of the product and the prices from three sample online stores. Just so you know you're not getting ripped off.

cheers!

call of the wild

Amazing wildlife photos.

my new favorite artist: Octavio Ocampo

Stunning, clever

You'll also like Rob Gonsalves.

brilliant

Art ads.

Good question

Where do police get the people for lineups?

this guy is good

happy turkey day, folks

fascinating

birds in slow motion.

good news

California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Free Speech on the Internet

an excerpt: "In what is a victory for free speech on the Internet, the California Supreme Court ruled today that no provider or user of an interactive computer service may be held liable for putting material on the Internet that was written by someone else. In doing so, the Court overruled an earlier decision by the Court of Appeal.

Today's ruling affirms that blogs, websites, listservs, and ISPs like Yahoo!, as well as individuals like defendant Ilena Rosenthal, are protected under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA), which explicitly states that "[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

"By reaffirming that Congress intended to grant protection under Section 230 to those who provide a forum for the views of others, the Court has ensured that the Internet will remain a vibrant forum for debate and the free exchange of ideas," said Ann Brick, staff attorney at the ACLU of Northern California. "Any other ruling would have inevitably made speech on the Internet less free." "

this little girl is amazing

Sleep: a functional enigma

Get ready for 24-hour life. A new drug, Modafinil, is now making it possible to have 48 hours of continuous wakefulness with few, if any, ill effects. The stories are compelling, as are the warnings. This could be the drug that amphetamines, ritalin, cocaine, caffeine and other stimulants have always tried to be. Has anyone tried it?

Harry Eng, the Master Bottle Filler

How does he do this?

Cultural Learnings of America

Rolling Stone lands a great interview with the man behind Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen.

whoops

2006's worst political mishaps, in photos.

fyi: A Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives

by Michael Moore

To My Conservative Brothers and Sisters,

I know you are dismayed and disheartened at the results of last week's election. You're worried that the country is heading toward a very bad place you don't want it to go. Your 12-year Republican Revolution has ended with so much yet to do, so many promises left unfulfilled. You are in a funk, and I understand.

Well, cheer up, my friends! Do not despair. I have good news for you. I, and the millions of others who are now in charge with our Democratic Congress, have a pledge we would like to make to you, a list of promises that we offer you because we value you as our fellow Americans. You deserve to know what we plan to do with our newfound power -- and, to be specific, what we will do to you and for you.

Thus, here is our Liberal's Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives:

Dear Conservatives and Republicans,

I, and my fellow signatories, hereby make these promises to you:

1. We will always respect you for your conservative beliefs. We will never, ever, call you "unpatriotic" simply because you disagree with us. In fact, we encourage you to dissent and disagree with us.

2. We will let you marry whomever you want, even when some of us consider your behavior to be "different" or "immoral." Who you marry is none of our business. Love and be in love -- it's a wonderful gift.

3. We will not spend your grandchildren's money on our personal whims or to enrich our friends. It's your checkbook, too, and we will balance it for you.

4. When we soon bring our sons and daughters home from Iraq, we will bring your sons and daughters home, too. They deserve to live. We promise never to send your kids off to war based on either a mistake or a lie.

5. When we make America the last Western democracy to have universal health coverage, and all Americans are able to get help when they fall ill, we promise that you, too, will be able to see a doctor, regardless of your ability to pay. And when stem cell research delivers treatments and cures for diseases that affect you and your loved ones, we'll make sure those advances are available to you and your family, too.

6. Even though you have opposed environmental regulation, when we clean up our air and water, we, the Democratic majority, will let you, too, breathe the cleaner air and drink the purer water.

7. Should a mass murderer ever kill 3,000 people on our soil, we will devote every single resource to tracking him down and bringing him to justice. Immediately. We will protect you.

8. We will never stick our nose in your bedroom or your womb. What you do there as consenting adults is your business. We will continue to count your age from the moment you were born, not the moment you were conceived.

9. We will not take away your hunting guns. If you need an automatic weapon or a handgun to kill a bird or a deer, then you really aren't much of a hunter and you should, perhaps, pick up another sport. We will make our streets and schools as free as we can from these weapons and we will protect your children just as we would protect ours.

10. When we raise the minimum wage, we will pay you -- and your employees -- that new wage, too. When women are finally paid what men make, we will pay conservative women that wage, too.

11. We will respect your religious beliefs, even when you don't put those beliefs into practice. In fact, we will actively seek to promote your most radical religious beliefs ("Blessed are the poor," "Blessed are the peacemakers," "Love your enemies," "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God," and "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."). We will let people in other countries know that God doesn't just bless America, he blesses everyone. We will discourage religious intolerance and fanaticism -- starting with the fanaticism here at home, thus setting a good example for the rest of the world.

12. We will not tolerate politicians who are corrupt and who are bought and paid for by the rich. We will go after any elected leader who puts him or herself ahead of the people. And we promise you we will go after the corrupt politicians on our side FIRST. If we fail to do this, we need you to call us on it. Simply because we are in power does not give us the right to turn our heads the other way when our party goes astray. Please perform this important duty as the loyal opposition.

I promise all of the above to you because this is your country, too. You are every bit as American as we are. We are all in this together. We sink or swim as one. Thank you for your years of service to this country and for giving us the opportunity to see if we can make things a bit better for our 300 million fellow Americans -- and for the rest of the world.

Signed,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

fundamentalism v. passion

Richard Dawkins, Elvis of atheists, explains why he is so hostile towards organized religion.

beware

aaaauughghgh.

yes

What a fascinating building.

Amazing meteor filmed during football game

real retro

This is a cool mouse

The dogs have left us

Great photo, Eartha!

quote of the day

"Ann Coulter [is] a travesty of humanity, as unacceptable a hank of flesh draped on a hanger ever to be foisted upon an ignorant populace hungry for more ignorance."

--James Wolcott

so cool, so needless

Has anyone seen this virtual laser keyboard for the Treo? It is fascinating. It uses a laser to project a QWERTY keyboard onto any flat surface, and as you tap the 'keys' optical recognition detects your keypresses and transfers them to the Treo, complete with realistic tapping sounds.

good grief

Seven disturbing dog technologies.

100 Hours

Mary Pat and I heard the Democrats' "100 Hours" commitment on NPR the day after the election, and I thought it noble and worthy. I post it here because we need to remember what we've been promised by those we've put in office.

Our New Direction begins with a commitment to integrity, civility, and fiscal responsibility. We will break the link between lobbyists and legislation. We will govern the House of Representatives under bipartisan administration, so that the voice of every American will be heard. And we commit to no new deficit spending, with pay-as-you-go budgeting. These are the principles by which we will govern. And under these principles we will take our country in a new direction, with priorities that address the urgent needs of the American people.

In the first 100 hours:

 »  We will start by cleaning up Congress, breaking the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go, no new deficit spending.

 »  We will make our nation safer and we will begin by implementing the recommendations of the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

 »  We will make our economy fairer, and we will begin by raising the minimum wage. We will not pass a pay raise for Congress until there is an increase in the minimum wage.

 »  We will make health care more affordable for all Americans, and we will begin by fixing the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices. We will also promote stem cell research to offer real hope to the millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases.

 »  We will broaden college opportunity, and we will begin by cutting interest rates for student loans in half.

 »  We will energize America by achieving energy independence, and we will begin by rolling back the multi-billion dollar subsidies for Big Oil.

 »  We will guarantee a dignified retirement, and we will begin by fighting any attempt to privatize Social Security.

We will introduce this legislation on the first day of the new Congress, we will pass it within the first 100 legislative hours. This new direction represents the priorities of a unified Democratic Party. This is our pledge to the American people.

nice

These are spirals

only in europe

Good idea.

also

These are nice ads.

paint!

This is an amazing commercial.

people time

This clock is mesmerizing.

for the guys

Need a new way to tie your tie? Try the cross knot.

your new internets

Download the new Microsoft Firefox 2007 browser.

cool idea

from here.

pointless, but nice

Check out this image mosaic generator.

more lyrics

I got a job making money for the man
throwing chicken in the bucket with the soda pop can
puke green uniform on my back
I had to set it on fire in a vat of chicken fat
I leaped on the counter like a bird with no hair
running through the mini mall in my underwear

I got lost downtown couldn't find a ride home
sun went down I got frozen to the bone
'til a hooker let me share her fake fur coat
as I took a little nap the cops picked up us both
I tried to explain I was only trying to get warm
I knew I never ever should have burnt my uniform
he said 'too bad, better bite the bullet hard son'
I didn't have no teeth so I stole his gun
and I crawled out the window with my shadow on a spoon
dancing on the roof, shooting holes in the moon

I ain't gonna work for no soul suckin jerk
I'm gonna take it all back and I ain't sayin jack

standing right here with a beer in my hand
and my mouth is full of sand and I don't understand
fourteen days I been sleeping in a barn
better get a paycheck tattooed on my arm
whistlin dixie with the dixie cup filled
with the barbecue sauce and the dental floss chill
big fat fingers pointing into my face
telling me to get busy cleaning up this place
I got bent like a wet cigarette
and she's coming after me with a butterfly net
ridin on a bloodhound ringing the bell
black cat wrapped in the road map to hell

pencil on my leg and I'm trying not to beg
taking turns bakin worms with the bacon and eggs
well they got me in a bird cage flappin my jaw
like a pretzel in the stars just waitin to fall
so give me what I got to get so I can go
cause I ain't washin dishes in the ditch no more

and I ain't gonna work for no soul suckin jerk
I'm gonna take it all back and I ain't sayin jack

Just in case you were wondering how 'sup works

photoshop

If everything was hairy:

you are not a unique snowflake

Dennis the Menace meets Fight Club

I'd rather be here

The Big Show - Revisited.
Originally uploaded by BamaWester.

oh

I've always wondered why birds fly in a V formation.

of course

And so in the wake of Tuesday's Democratic sweep, an inevitable kneejerk reaction: the Liberal Manifesto.

1. Mandatory homosexuality
2. Drug-filled condoms in schools
3. Introduce the new Destruction of Marriage Act
4. Border fence replaced with free shuttle buses
5. Osama Bin Laden to be Secretary of State
6. Withdraw from Iraq, apologize, reinstate Hussein
7. English language banned from all Federal buildings
8. Math classes replaced by encounter groups
9. All taxes to be tripled
10. All fortunes over $250,000 to be confiscated
11. On-demand welfare
12. Tofurkey to be named official Thanksgiving dish
13. Freeways to be removed, replaced with light rail systems
14. Pledge of Allegiance in schools replaced with morning flag-burning
15. Stem cells allowed to be harvested from any child under the age of 8
16. Comatose people to be ground up and fed to poor
17. Quarterly mandatory abortion lottery
18. God to be mocked roundly
19. Dissolve Executive Branch: reassign responsibilities to UN
20. Jane Fonda to be appointed Secretary of Appeasement
21. Outlaw all firearms: previous owners assigned to anger management therapy
22. Texas returned to Mexico
23. Ban Christmas: replace with Celebrate our Monkey Ancestors Day
24. Carter added to Mount Rushmore
25. Modify USA's motto to "Land of the French and the home of the brave"

my new favorite airplane reading

Skymaul Magazine

An excerpt:

hahahaha

Hey, You Got Something To Eat?
By a Goat

Top 25 food hacks

These are good, especially #1, if it works.

how to travel

These are great pictures.

finally

I've discovered exactly what my life has been missing.

ha

Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress (1745)

it's time for: Name That Song!

Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine

And no-one showed us to the land
And no-one knows the where or whys
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light

Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can

And no-one calls us to move on
And no-one forces down our eyes
And no-one speaks and no-one tries
And no-one flies around the sun

Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
Inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning

And no-one sings me lullabies
And no-one makes me close my eyes
And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky

um

This guy's art is some weird stuff. Nice eye candy, though.

not enough

Which countries and states have you visited?

Merkers Salt Mine: Nazi Bling Bank

The National Archives has a fascinating story of how the Nazis stashed millions of dollars worth of art, gold and other valuables in the Merkers salt mine in Germany during the pre-war years. Here is an excerpt from the account:

"Early on April 8 Earnest, Russell, a public affairs officer, photographers, reporters, and elements of the 282d Engineer Combat Battalion entered the mine. They would be joined several hours later by Eddy, his deputy chief of staff, and a G-5 officer. One of the engineers who inspected the brick wall surrounding the vault door thought it could be blasted through with little effort. Therefore the engineers, using a half-stick of dynamite, blasted an entrance though the masonry wall. The Americans entered the vault, so-called Room No. 8, which was approximately 75 feet wide by 150 feet long with a 12-foot-high ceiling, well lighted but not ventilated. Tram railway tracks ran down the center of the cavern. On either side of the tracks, stretching to the back of the cavern, were more than seven thousand bags, stacked knee-high, laid out in twenty rows with approximately two and a half feet between rows. All of the bags and containers were marked, and the gold bags were sealed. Baled currency was found stacked along one side of the vault along with gold balances and other Reichsbank equipment. At the back of the cavern, occupying an area twenty by thirty feet, were 18 bags and 189 suitcases, trunks, and boxes. Each container bore a packing slip showing the contents and a tag bearing the name "Melmer." It was obvious that it was SS loot. Within days it would be confirmed that it was, and within ten days, the Americans would learn the extent of the loot and the identity of Melmer.."

glimpse

Fascinating collection of images from a 1930s German publication called Illustrirte Zeitung Magazine. These appeared in the magazine from 1930 to 1939, and indicate the growing popularity of Hitler and the Nazi party. This is my favorite.

Also check out these old photos posted by the same guy: 1930s Black Americana and Wild Women of the Past.

one phrase you'll not hear often:

Extreme trees!
(Just in time for the 2007 X games)

World's most dangerous tourist route

Apparently this is in Tibet. Anyone know what this place is called?

nice

Das Rad ("The Wheel") is a German animated short about the evolution of the mankind through the vision of...two rocks.

fyi

How not to die.

all of civilization is simply a struggle against entropy

From the New York Times:
"A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict.."

Five Halloween safety tips

1. For large groups of trick-or-treaters, always set at least one child ablaze, ensuring enough light that other children won’t trip over uneven pavement.
2. Only separate shards of X-Acto blades from rodent poison once you get home; doing so in the dark will lead to inevitable mixups and tummyaches for youngsters with allergies.
3. If a home has its porch light off — but an expressionless face can be seen peering from a cellar window — consider limiting your child’s unattended visit with the resident to no more than four hours.
4. If a close-fitting mask causes your child to fall down a well, use fishing line and a paper clip to retrieve her goodie bag. Nobody likes wet candy.
5. Although children dressed as SS-Sturmbannführer Michael Lippert are not required to “pretend execute” children dressed as Ernst Röhm, many parents find this bit of theatricality kindles the spirit that makes Halloween such a delight.

Another great one from 5ives

interstellar overdrive

Hubble's top 100 images.

this should clear things up

Interviews with Sacha Baron Cohen.

whoops

Top ten worst company website URLs.

yep

I want to go here.