Ape-Man Russkies

According to Moscow newspapers, Stalin told the scientist: "I want a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat."

(scotsman article)

By the time the Horse Inseminologist comes in, you'd swear it was a Monty Python skit.

Prologue to X-Mas Vacation Noise

she wants revenge -"out of control"

I have one of She Wants Revenge's songs on here somewhere, and I right well loved it. This song isn't as damned good as that one, but I still really enjoy it...a bit dancy for me, but I guess that's not exactly a bad thing.

Vashti Bunyan-"Turning Backs"

It might be just that I'm writing this at 3:10 am, but this song is beyouteefull. In more eloquent words, it's transcendental, haunting...and more then a little melancholy. Then again, it also feels like perfect driving music when you've got nothing but five hours on the road and time to kill. Oi, I'm looking forward to that drive home.

Radical Face Versus Phalex Sledgehammer-"Crooked Teeth"

With a name like that, how can they do wrong? The singer should never ever use cough drops, because the voice on this song is perfect. It's hard to articulate, but everything about this song makes me like it. So yes, check them out.

the Notes and Scratches-"The Clockmaker's Daughter"

For the melodramatics reading this, this is a great song to sit around your room and smear your eyeliner to. Damn emo kids. For the stalkers among us, this song is a good song to sit around your room and watch your true love through your binoculaurs...damn freaks. Again, yet another lead singer whose best aspect is a voice that needs to stay away from cough syrup. Sad, like old country, and in a good way.

Radiant Darling-"Familiar"

So it's now 3:27, and I'm losing all ability to properly comprehend. But I do comprehend liking this song.

Incompetent Design

No self-respecting engineering student would make the kinds of dumb mistakes that are built into us.
All of our pelvises slope forward for convenient knuckle-dragging, like all the other great apes. And the only reason you stand erect is because of this incredible sharp bend at the base of your spine, which is either evolution's way of modifying something or else it's just a design that would flunk a first-year engineering student.

(seed magazine article)

As far as the devine beauty of the eye goes, I've needed glasses since birth.

Oil Industry still seeking Ecological Apocalypse

Documents obtained by Greenpeace and seen by the Guardian reveal a systematic plan to persuade European business, politicians and the media that the EU should abandon its commitments under the Kyoto protocol, the international agreement that aims to reduce emissions that lead to global warming. The disclosure comes as United Nations climate change talks in Montreal on the future of Kyoto, the first phase of which expires in 2012, enter a critical phase.

(guardian unlimited article)

*cough police state cough*

House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the government's premier anti-terrorism law, before it expires at the end of the month.

(yahoo news article)

I'm amazed that this is actually passing. Bush approval ratings are low, Republican initiatives are meeting resistance left and right, and people seem to actually want to talk about non-approved opinions again. And yet, the USA Perlustration Act passed again.

Americans love to be watched, I guess.

Inuit sue United States, global warming not as easy to ignore in the North

The Inuit petition urges the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to declare the US to be in violation of the 1948 American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.

(al jazeera article)

So, how are you going to trust on this one? Michael Crichton, the author of State of Fear and anti-global warming pundit, or the Inuit, who live in the artcic, where they tend to notice things like global warming?

Don't expect an Emmy

IN Speed, Keanu Reeves had to keep driving a booby-trapped bus at 50 mph at least or it would explode. In Crank, Jason Statham is a hitman who's been shot up with a Chinese poison that will kill him if his adrenaline level drops. Amy Smart (above), who plays his girlfriend, told the Chicago Sun Times: "What Jason must do to keep his adrenaline up is insane. He has to hammer nails into his legs, snort coke and have crazy sex in public."

(new york post article)

Death to the Mind-Killer

Scans of the hormone oxytocin's effect on human brain function reveal that it quells the brain's fear hub, the amygdala, and its brainstem relay stations in response to fearful stimuli.

(national institute of mental health article)

Virtual Sweatshops

The people working at this clandestine locale are "gold farmers." Every day, in 12-hour shifts, they "play" computer games by killing onscreen monsters and winning battles, harvesting artificial gold coins and other virtual goods as rewards that, as it turns out, can be transformed into real cash.

That is because, from Seoul to San Francisco, affluent online gamers who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese here to play the early rounds for them.

(new york times article)

Nag, nag nag

“We knew that chronic stress causes reduced immunity, but to find that an argument of just half an hour has such a profound effect on wound healing is quite shocking,”

(new scientist article)

Bring out your dead, bring out your dead

Dr. Nguyen Tuong Van, who runs the intensive care unit of the Center for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, followed World Health Organization guidelines in her treatment of patients but concluded it had no effect on the disease.

"We place no importance on using this drug on our patients," she said. "Tamiflu is really only meant for treating ordinary type A flu. It was not designed to combat H5N1 ... [Tamiflu] is useless."

(WorldNetDaily article)

Democratic process full of payola

Sen. Conrad Burns and his staff met Jack Abramoff's lobbying team on at least eight occasions and collected $12,000 in donations around the time that the lawmaker took legislative action favorable to Abramoff's clients in the Northern Mariana Islands, records show.

(washington post article)

Noise without a proper title line

Cranes- "Particles & Waves"

Electric President- "Good Morning, Hypocrite"

Simian- "Never Be Alone"

Electrocute- "Tales of Ordinary Sadness"

The ironic metaphors are staggering

Taipei 101 is a building with a lot to boast about. Standing 508 metres (1,667ft) high, it is the world's tallest. And at 700,000 tonnes, it must be among the heaviest.

But the sheer size of the Taiwan skyscraper has raised unexpected concerns that may have far-reaching implications for the construction of other buildings and man-made megastructures. Taipei 101 is thought to have triggered two recent earthquakes because of the stress that it exerts on the ground beneath it.

According to the geologist Cheng Horng Lin, from the National Taiwan Normal University, the stress from the skyscraper may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault.

(Guardian Unlimited article)

Vicious Pharmaceutical Cycle

To cope with rising medical costs, insurers are requiring patients to pay higher premiums and co-payments for drugs. While poor uninsured patients can often get expensive medicine free from drug companies, people with insurance are increasingly finding it difficult to afford these drugs. In response, drug companies are giving money to charities that are specifically set up to help patients pay such costs.

Under this support system, drug-company money keeps patients insured -- and keeps insurers paying for the high-priced medicine.

"It's a win-win situation," says Dana Kuhn, co-founder and president of Patient Services, a Midlothian, Va., charity, which solicits money from drug companies. "Patients are helped and companies are helped. They make a small contribution to help the patient and get much more money back when the insurer pays for the drug."

(Wall Street Journal article)

Honeypot Networks: The new Anti-Viral-Fu

Part of the problem, the researchers say, is that countermeasures sent from a central server over the same network as the virus it is pursuing will always be playing catch-up.

They propose developing a network of "honeypot" computers, distributed across the internet and dedicated to the task of combating viruses. To a virus, these machines would seem like ordinary vulnerable computers. But the honeypots would attract a virus, analyse it automatically, and then distribute a countermeasure.

(New Scientist article)

Deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America

The moves have taken place on several fronts. The White House is considering expanding the power of a little-known Pentagon agency called the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA, which was created three years ago. The proposal, made by a presidential commission, would transform CIFA from an office that coordinates Pentagon security efforts -- including protecting military facilities from attack -- to one that also has authority to investigate crimes within the United States such as treason, foreign or terrorist sabotage or even economic espionage.

(washington post article)

Post-Thanksgiving Vacation Noise

Random-"Angel Found"

Tom Vek-"That Can Be Arranged"

The Books- "smells like content"

Gravenhurst- "The Velvet Cell"

Future Combat Systems

Much of the cash will be spent computerising the military, but the ultimate aim is to take members of the armed forces out of harm's way. They would be replaced by robots capable of hunting and killing America's enemies.

Gordon Johnson, of the US joint forces research centre, told the New York Times: "The American military will have these kinds of robots. It's not a question of 'if', it's a question of 'when'."

(Telegraph article)

Project Paperclip

Sixty years ago the US hired Nazi scientists to lead pioneering projects, such as the race to conquer space. These men provided the US with cutting-edge technology which still leads the way today, but at a cost.

(bbc article)

Exopolitics

A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs.”

Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."

There's also an entertaining 'America starts an intergalactic war' in their. It's some good stuff.

Unorthodox Planetary Exploration techniques

The logic of the Lucifer Project other than the extreme thrill of creating something so amazing, if not of sinister intent, could be that in order for humans to one day break out of this shell of Earth we must create more favorable conditions for traveling within our own solar system. For instance, could humans one day live on Titan? Maybe, but how do we warm it up? We play the part of creator and conduct solar system terraforming on a grand scale by turning Saturn into a small star that supplies Titan with the heat and light it needs to awaken. Turning one of our gas giants, like Saturn, into a star is the essence of the “Lucifer Project.”

I am not a number — I am a free man!

A great Slate article on how the CIA would give Johns psychotropics, psychiatrists would destroy personalities, and lingering thoughts in yours truly on how one would withstand this kind of thing.

I have a strong desire to watch the Prisoner lately...


By the late 1950s and early 1960s, CIA experts thought they understood the techniques necessary for "breaking" a person. Under a strict regime of behavioral conditioning, "the possibility of resistance over a very long period may be vanishingly small," several researchers concluded in an analysis used in the CIA's 1963 manual Counterintelligence Interrogation. At the agency, pressure increased to field-test coercive interrogation tools. The task, as CIA second-in-command Richard Helms urged, was to test the agency's techniques on "normal" people. At times, this imperative made the agency reckless.

Life As We Do Not Know It

"I hope people will wake up and realize this is a whole new biology," Ward said. "There's going to be a zoo of aliens on Earth in the next two decades just from what we make."

Thermobaric Urban Destruction

A post-action report from Iraq describes the effect of the new weapon: "One unit disintegrated a large one-storey masonry type building with one round from 100 meters. They were extremely impressed." Elsewhere it is described by one Marine as "an awesome piece of ordnance."

Meditation and Brain-Growth

What effect meditating has on the structure of the brain has also been a matter of some debate. Now Sara Lazar at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and colleagues have used MRI to compare 15 meditators, with experience ranging from 1 to 30 years, and 15 non-meditators.

They found that meditating actually increases the thickness of the cortex in areas involved in attention and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula.

“You are exercising it while you meditate, and it gets bigger,” she says. The finding is in line with studies showing that accomplished musicians, athletes and linguists all have thickening in relevant areas of the cortex. It is further evidence, says Lazar, that yogis “aren’t just sitting there doing nothing".

Threat or Menace?!

'This film looks at the last 100 years of marijuana use, culture, and legislation, compiled from 400 hours of archival footage. Narrated by the celebrity weed aficionado Woody Harrelson, whose very name in the credits will ensure a laugh from audiences. Grass was recently banned in Ontario because of a brief scene in which monkees and chimpanzees smoke pot.'

Pt. 1 & Pt. 2

I haven't even watched this all the way, and it's the damned funniest thing I've seen all day. Random propoganda about how one puff will make you kill people, cowboys, murder, and other ludicriousness. Damn, man, just watch it already.

Knock Knock, Who's There?

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn't There does it to religion.

Holding modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight, this bold and often hilarious new film asks the questions few dare to ask.

Your guide through the world of Christendom is former fundamentalist Brian Flemming, joined by such luminaries as Jesus Seminar fellow Robert M. Price, professor Richard Dawkins, author Sam Harris and historian Richard Carrier.

See the movie the Los Angeles Times calls "provocative - to put it mildly."

Hold on to your faith. It's in for a bumpy ride.

Torrent Link Here

George W Bush and the 14 points of fascism - Project for the OLD American Century

In "Fascism Anyone?," Laurence Britt identifies 14 characteristics common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 "identifying characteristics of fascism."

Noise for Monday, November 14, 2005

So it's a late entry. I don't feel like going to sleep just yet.

The Meat Purveyors-Little White Pills

She Mob - Botox Party

Rademacher-Ice Age

Porter Hall, Tennessee-People Who Died

Robots will kick your ass at impossible speeds

New Scientist Breaking News - Light could trigger super-fast synthetic muscles: "Robots using artificial polymer 'muscles' are real slowpokes, as the polymers react a hundred times slower than human muscle. But in the future, robots could run circles around humans, with synthetic muscles 1000 times faster than ours."

Our horrifying Ape neighbors

A gigantic ape standing 10 feet tall and weighing up to 1,200 pounds lived alongside humans for over a million years, according to a new study.

Unabomber on a whole new level

From New Scientist:

Dozens of biotech firms now offer to synthesise complete genes from the chemical components of DNA (See "A dollar a base pair"). Yet some are carrying out next to no checks on what they are being asked to make, or by whom. It raises the frightening prospect of terrorists mail-ordering genes for key bioweapon agents such as smallpox, and using them to engineer new and deadly pathogens.

The Richest Wind Regime

Twenty Northern Plains Indian Reservations hold several hundred gigawatts of wind power potential, earning the Dakotas the title "Saudi Arabia of Wind." Wind power potential on these Indian Reservations alone is more than enough to meet North American Kyoto targets.

Gotta admit, I'd love to see this kind of thing back on Ft. Belknap.

I truly believe our economic freedom as American citizens is in great jeopardy

Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation’s history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

So what's a good country to switch my citizenship to? I'm thinking Canada, but when America runs out of money, I know whose gonna get invaded. ...maybe one of the European Union countries...

"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim,"

From The Australian:

Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly.

Oceanfront property on WMD Bay

From the Herald Today:

The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels.

You can't find them in Iraq, but New Jersey is a different story.

Lizard attempts to eat girl's heads

I really do love Japanese pop culture. Or at least its bizarre game shows/sadism.

Click here to watch girls with steak-hats stick their heads through holes and stare down a hungry, large lizard.

Music for Sunday, November 06, 2005

Laura Viers-Galaxies

Birdmonster-Resurrection Song

The Gunshy - Souls

spider nebula 

Noise for Monday, October 31, 2005 HALLOWEEN

David Dondero-Laying Low In Eli, Nevada

She Wants Revenge - Tear You Apart

Halloween, Alaska-Drowned

Japanese Remote Control for Humans

From CNN.com:

The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation -- essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.

I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced -- mistakenly -- that this was the only way to maintain my balance.

Rolling Bomber Special

Quite possibly the most entertaining thing you'll see all day.

Self-illuminating Photos

Ooooooooooh, patent time

British WMD

'In the decade following the Second World War, British scientists planned not for peace but for a war which would be fought with chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. Recent revelations expose the dangerous, top secret tests which put the British public at risk, and even killed an unwitting volunteer soldier. 'Hour long documentary that looks at the secret testing and development of chemical and biological weapons at Porton Down in the UK during the 1950s.'

Get with the clicky

20 percent of human genes have been patented in the United States

From National Geographic News:

"It might come as a surprise to many people that in the U.S. patent system human DNA is treated like other natural chemical products."

The rhythm of life

Beer commercials get it right.

How come the Kansas Board of Education can't?

Music, 10/24

Bird Blobs – Head that talks

Giacinto Scelsi - Elohim

Giacinto Scelsi - Anagamin

What I'm listening to, Sunday, October 23, 2005

The Haunted - “No Compromise”

Nevermore - “Final Product”

Xiu Xiu Larsen- "Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw"

Orgazm Nostradamusa - Zverzost'

"This is not a war on drugs. It's a war on people"

From the Albuquerque Tribune:

"This country is long overdue in recognizing that not only have we lost the war on drugs, but we have squandered billions of dollars and untold numbers of lives," said Owen, who now coordinates law enforcement internships at the University of Texas in San Antonio.

Far worse then an atomic bomb

From the New York Times:

Analyses have shown that the detonation of an atomic bomb in an American city could kill as many as one million people. Release of a highly communicable and deadly biological virus could kill tens of millions, with some estimates in the hundreds of millions.

and...


We also need a new Manhattan Project to develop specific defenses against new biological viral threats, natural or human made.

Troy Radio 001

I'm not sure if this damnable thing is working right.

To be honest, I'm pretty sure it isn't.

If anyone out there knows a better way to bring a podcast to the world let me know.

Until then...click here.

If it works, I'll post a track list.

That means feedback, readers! ...heh, yeah, readers.

Bug Rubber in your Spine

From nature.com:

Resilin is a rubbery protein that is found in a range of insects. As well as storing elastic energy in fleas, it helps flying insects' wings to flex without causing damage to the tissue that connects wing and body.

"Resilin is much more resilient than any other rubber around," explains Chris Elvin, a biochemist at CSIRO Livestock Industries in St Lucia, Australia, who led the team that created the synthetic resilin. This resilience means that it can be stretched over and over again without losing its elastic properties.

"Zombies are people suffering from a psychological disorder.”

From Journeyman:

In the West, zombies may be considered the stuff of Hollywood B films but in Haiti they’re part of everyday life. Zombies are taken so seriously here that turning someone into one carries the same penalty as murder. But, as our documentary this week shows, outlawing the practice is doing little to stop it.

Rich Elite get Terror Alert Early

From the New York Daily News:

At least two E-mails revealing the purported plot were sent to a select crowd of business and arts executives early last week by New Yorkers who claimed to have close connections to Homeland Security and other federal officials, authorities said.

Pot makes rat brains grow

From NewScientist:

A synthetic chemical similar to the active ingredient in marijuana makes new cells grow in rat brains. What is more, in rats this cell growth appears to be linked with reducing anxiety and depression. The results suggest that marijuana, or its derivatives, could actually be good for the brain.

What? Why are you looking at me like that?

A visual guide to the Quantum Universe

Designer Jan-Henrik Andersen, in conjunction with particle physicists, developed a visual language that describes the interrelationships between the elementary particles, both known and hypothesized.

Backstroke of the Locust

From Canada.com:

Claire Rind, a robotologist at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in England, screened a Star Wars film just for a bunch of locusts so she could monitor their brain activity for research to design a collision-avoidance system for cars.

Apparently, the research was to help her understand how locusts travel in dense swarms without getting tangled up in each other's flight. By showing them a Star Wars film (it's not specified which one of course) she studied their eyes and brain cells reactions to fast-moving objects and backgrounds in the film.

More here.

You can run, but you can't hide

A new toy from Los Alamos can tell the difference between foliage and synthetic material.

Making camouflage about as useful as a butterknife in a war-zone.

United States Patent Application: 0050213075

Cheney's Halliburton stock options raise 3,281 percent

From Raw Story:

An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year, RAW STORY can reveal.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney's options -- worth $241,498 a year ago -- are now valued at more than $8 million ....

Torture doesn't count for the CIA

from Balkinization:

The Conference Committee that will consider and reconcile the Senate and House defense appropriations bills is scheduled to meet this coming week. The Senate bill contains the "McCain Amendment," which would prohibit all U.S. personnel from engaging in cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees -- i.e., engaging in conduct that would "shock the conscience" under Due Process Clause doctrine -- anywhere in the world.

It's increasingly clear that the strategy of McCain's opponents -- the Vice President and his congressional supporters -- will be to amend the McCain Amendment in the Conference Committee so as to exempt the CIA from the prohibition on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees.

What I'm listening to, Sunday, October 9th, 2005

Propagandhi - "Die Jugend Marschiert"

Kristin Hersh-"Your Ghost"

Degenerate Art Ensemble - "Oni Gorshi"

Pretty Girls Make Graves-"All Medicated Geniuses"

Amusement Parks On Fire -"Venosa"

Cat Power -"Maybe Not"

U.S. 'woefully unprepeared', 1.9 million dead expected

From the Houston Chronicle:

In developing a plan to deal with any possible outbreak of pandemic flu, the Bush administration has concluded that the United States is woefully unprepared for what could become the worst disaster in the nation's history.

also...

The plan outlines a worst-case sequence of events in which 1.9 million Americans will die and nearly 9 million will be hospitalized with costs exceeding $450 billion.

The Few, the Proud, the n00bs

From WCBS 880:

The Marines, sagging in it's recruiting goals, is turning to Craigslist for exposure.

Here's the ad:

FROM CRAIGS LIST

Reply to: job-100014303@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-09-26, 10:40AM EDT

CHOOSE A PLACE AMONG THE FEW.

THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS IS LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN WHO WANT TO TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR LIVES. THE US MARINE CORPS WILL PREPARE YOU WITH THE SKILLS, LEADERSHIP, POISE AND CONFIDENCE REQUIRED TO SUCCEED IN ANY POSITION IN THE WORKFORCE, AND IN LIFE.

This opportunity allows those who join to distinguish themselves and become part of a life-long brotherhood.

The most elite and highly trained military organization in the world provides
guaranteed skill training in over 400 specialties to include accounting, administration, computers, engineering, aviation, infantry, auto mechanics, legal specialist and many more …

BENEFITS INCLUDE:
· Good starting pay with automatic pay raises after four months
· Free housing
· Full medical and dental coverage
· No cost educational opportunities
· 30 days paid vacation every year!
· Opportunities for promotion and advancement

How to look like a serial killer

Hoods with built-in masks

Hide your house from the Predator

A Greek company called Intermat sells "anti-thermal/IR coatings" -- paints and make-up creams that confuse heat-signatures so that soldiers and materiel don't show up on heat-sensing scopes:

* You cannot afford to be Visible in IR
* From now on your enemy is Thermally Identifiable but you are not
* You are Protected from thermal threat
* You now have the flexibility to Adapt to the IR environment
* A Sustainable advantage for you, that is
* A technologically advanced yet low cost Force Multiplier. Exploit it
* Because camouflage and deception are now taken one step Further. A new Era of camouflage has now begun
* Erase your assets… Let your enemy wonder...

Intermat is widely known for being the only company that exclusively provides thermal signature management. All anti-thermal coatings are state-of-the-art that have been developed after many years of R&D. Applicable at the wide IR spectrum of 400 –20.000nm they perfectly conceal against thermal observation and protect you from heat-seeking weapon systems.

Soulless White Kids steal Rap

From washingtonpost.com:

"Kill Whitey" is the name given to a series of monthly hip-hop themed parties staged in Williamsburg for large groups of wealthy, white hipsters too frightened to darken the door of real hip-hop clubs at which they might actually run into a real, live black person. At the parties, a white DJ known as Tha Pumpsta spins a mix of hardcore hip-hop, with a special emphasis on Miami booty-bass and other such unrepresentative special-interest genres within hip-hop, and encourages the partygoers to mock the dance moves, speaking style and attitudes of black people immersed in hip-hop culture, the raunchier and more characatured the better.

"I'm throwing this party, and it's obvious that I'm white and I'm kind of appropriating this culture but in an ironic way," said Tha Pumpsta, whose name is Jeremy Parker.

.

That'll be an interesting hibernation stash

From icSouthLondon:

Drug addicts are known to be hiding small stashes of crack rocks in people's front lawns late at night.

Squirrels have been spotted in the same front gardens, seemingly hunting out the buried narcotics.

Betting on the brain-enhanced ponies

From news.com.au:

The worker at a pathology lab in the northern city of Brisbane reportedly stole pituitary glands, found at the base of the brain, because the hormones they contain govern growth stimulation and could stimulate horses.

And...

The worker at the centre of the allegations, who agreed to the investigation, was also accused of keeping the nooses of suicide victims and the drip bags attached to people who died in hospitals.

You'd have to redefine low-life to categorize this guy.

How to: Survive an endemic

The Personal Pandemic Preparedness Plan:

The United States government is not prepared to provide basic necessities to every community in this country should a pandemic strike. Nor do most local governments have a pandemic plan to address the needs of their own communities in such a crisis situation. It will be up to each individual and family to make their own preparations for a pandemic threat that may become reality over the next several months.

What follows is a guideline for personal pandemic preparedness and includes certain assumptions on which to base your planning, lists of recommended supplies to stockpile, and suggestions for ensuring your family's needs will be met (at least minimally) during a pandemic crisis. Internet resource sites are also provided for further information.

Imagine Hurricane Katrina, only with a plague. You know I'm gonna read this.

Mormons watch porn, 'accidently'

From Desert News:

The PG-rated "Sons of Provo" chronicles the life of an LDS boy band, Everclean, on its journey to relative stardom. The lyrics of the band's theme song preach of the wholesome image both the band and film try to maintain:

Everclean, cleaner than Listerine
Mellower than Dramamine
Not even close to obscene

But somehow "Adored: Diary of a Porn Star" landed in "Sons of Provo" DVD cases, complete with label.

"Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."

A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said.

Bhutan's where again?

From the New York Times:

In 1972, concerned about the problems afflicting other developing countries that focused only on economic growth, Bhutan's newly crowned leader, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided to make his nation's priority not its G.D.P. but its G.N.H., or gross national happiness.

Bhutan, the king said, needed to ensure that prosperity was shared across society and that it was balanced against preserving cultural traditions, protecting the environment and maintaining a responsive government. The king, now 49, has been instituting policies aimed at accomplishing these goals.

The Library of Congress on a strobelight

From Wired.com:

"Digital information can be expressed with pulses of light," Sellars said. "If we can store the light pulses for a very long time, we have a memory that operates on a quantum scale."

The tough questions get asked

The $6,300 question

Stopping forest fire with napalm

From Breitbart.com:


"The best way to deal with a pandemic is to isolate it and keep it isolated in the region in which it begins," he said during a wide- ranging Rose Garden news conference.

The president was asked if his recent talk of giving the military the lead in responding to large natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and other catastrophes was in part the result of his concerns that state and local personnel aren't up to the task of a flu outbreak.

"Yes," he replied.

The Few, the Proud, the Illegally in America

From the Village Voice:

On Wednesday, a general court martial is to begin at Parris Island, South Carolina, for a U.S. Marine recruiter accused of selling and delivering counterfeit documents to illegal aliens in order for them to join the service.

Want to know how fucking toxic the air is in your neighborhood?

The Public Air Quality Inidcator:

The purpose of the project is to develop a prototype for a Public Air Quality Indicator. The Indicator is to be placed in the city to make existing information on air quality and pollution levels accessible and give information that is specific to the location in which it is placed.

Robot performs oral search for bomb

An Army sergeant based at Fort Huachuca walked into a bank Monday, his mouth covered in duct tape, and presented a note saying he had a bomb in his mouth, police said.

Big mistake.

Enter the Bomb Squad Robot.

Good thing he didn't say it was anywhere else.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer

Solid Snake goes to Iraq, kicks all kinds of ass

Before the screams of Bullshot abound, I should mention that Metal Gear Solid has made it a habit to use the game itself to make it's little movie segues, so I'm fairly excited that this is how it'll look.

I'm also excited that it's Wednesday technically, and I'm three days closer to sleeping in again.

What I'm listening to, Monday, October 3rd, 2005

"Doris", by the Dirty Three

Empire, by Dar Williams

Lights Out, by Butch Walker

Sex Scent used to herd prehistoric death tubes

From newscientist.com:

An ancient aquatic beast that has decimated fish stocks in the North American Great Lakes could soon be lured into traps using a migratory pheromone.

Though the real star of this article are the freaky as all get out Lampreys...

Censored Importance, Uncensored pointlessness

From Project Censored.org:

25 stories you didn't hear about, but you really, really should know about.

At the very least, you should know more about these then Britney Spears' spawn.

This speaks well for me, as I still don't know much about it...has that thing broken through it's eggshell, screaming for fresh meat and 60% of the gross yet?

Soon, you will bow to Invinci-mice overlords

From Wired.com:

Researchers systematically amputated digits and damaged various organs of the mice, including the heart, liver and brain, most of which grew back.

The results stunned scientists because if such regeneration is possible in this mammal, it might also be possible in humans.

and...

The researchers also made a remarkable second discovery: When cells from the regenerative mice were injected into normal mice, the normal mice adopted the ability to regenerate. And when the special mice bred with normal mice, their offspring inherited souped-up regeneration capabilities.

Virtusphere

From LiveScience.com:

The device consists of a large hollow sphere which is mounted on a specially designed platform that allows the sphere to rotate freely as the user walks in any direction. (Note that the open hatch in the picture above is closed during use.) The user wears a head-mounted display, which provides the virtual environment. Sensors under the sphere provide subject speed and direction to the computer running the simulation. Users can even ineract with objects in virtual space using a special manipulator.

Mine mine mine

From myway.com:

"We will not agree to the U.N. taking over the management of the Internet," said Ambassador David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the State Department. "Some countries want that. We think that's unacceptable."

Tired of Platformer Adventure #25, or Generic FPS 2?

Building a Viable Path to Market for Independent Games:

Game industry veterans Greg Costikyan and Johnny Wilson announced today that they are joining forces to launch Manifesto Games, a new venture to build a strong and viable independent game industry. Its site will offer independently-developed games for sale via direct download--a single place where fans of offbeat and niche games can find "the best of the rest," the games that the retail channel doesn't think worth carrying. Three types of games will be offered: truly independent, original content from creators without publisher funding; the best PC games from smaller PC game publishers, including games in existing genres like wargames, flight sims, and graphic adventures; and niche MMOs.

Bees dog pile, incinerate invaders

From Science News:

Honeybees that defend their colonies by killing wasps with body heat come within 5°C of cooking themselves in the process, according to a study in China.

Bats spread SARS, part of South Chinese food chain

From New Scientist:

Bats are the natural hosts of a group of coronaviruses closely related to the virus responsible for deadly outbreaks of SARS among humans, according to a new study.

and...

This and the increasing presence of bats and bat products in food and traditional medicine markets in southern China and elsewhere in Asia led the researchers to focus their search for the origin of the SARS virus on bats.

What the fuck are they eating in southern China and elswhere in Asia that is bat-centric?

The coolest goddamn sending off method since Hunter S. Thompson

From the Telegraph

Swedes will then have the chance to bury their dead according to the pioneering method, which involves freezing the body, dipping it in liquid nitrogen and gently vibrating it to shatter it into powder. This is put into a small box made of potato or corn starch and placed in a shallow grave, where it will disintegrate within six to 12 months.

G-Men will find you through your computer

From worldnetdaily.com:

Patent 6,947,978, granted this week, describes a process based on latency, or time lag between computers exchanging data, of "numerous" known locations on the Internet to build a "network latency topology map" for all users. Identifying the physical location of an individual user, reports CNET News.com, could then be accomplished by measuring how long it takes to connect to an unknown computer from numerous known machines, and using the latency response to display location on a map.

The NSA filed this patent, mind you.

...also, that's not paranoia creeping up your spine. That's actual awareness.

The Adam and Eve...OF BRAINS....

From Discovery.com:

"What we see today in humans, insects and all other multicellular animals with a central nervous system are probably just variations of one ancient scheme," said Rudi Loesel, who conducted the analysis.

Zombies are impossibly interested.

Urbran sprawl can mean food for all?

From wired.com:


You should read this link, just because Vertical Farming sounds damn cool.

Running out of Compliant Scientists

From thinkprogress.org:

That's right. They have an author of fiction to back them up now.

Next, Michael Crichton will help out the Intelligent Design movement with his 'dinosaur research'....

New Use for Audio Blogger

Troy and the Wasp What Dies

Black Plague Cellphone Battery

From ScienceCentral.com:

Virus batteries! Goddamn if that doesn't sound cool.

That, and I've always wanted to wear a gasmask 24/7.

Want a really fancy toothbrush?

From PhysOrg.com:

The diverse applications of Cold Plasma

Keep in mind that Vatican City has an insanely high crime rate

From the Times Online:

“In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."

My confidence in man shows through

From Key 23:

A how to guide on Preparing for the End of Society

(Not quite the end of the world, but still pretty bad)

Corruption in Congress

From beyonddelay.org:

The depravity of 10 United States House Members and three Senators

For the physics majors among us

You will beleive that Einstein himslef explains e=mc^2

What do to do on Banned Books Week

From the American Library Association:

Oh, I know you're damned curious. Here's activities for getting the most out of Banned Books Week.

Marvel, DC, and the whole 'aging' thing

Erik Larsen has this great essay over at Comic Book Resources about the progression of time and characters in ongoing comics. Check it out.

President's Iraq fundraisers can't even get enough for my Tuition

From the Guardian Unlimited:

Bush plea for cash to rebuild Iraq raises $600.

Illegal Genes

From Reason.com:

The President's Council on Bioethics worries that people who choose to use biotech enhancements would somehow lose themselves: The Council's report "Beyond Therapy" warns "we risk 'turning into someone else,' confounding the identity we have acquired through natural gift cultivated by genuinely lived experiences, alone and with others." Liberal bioethicist George Annas from Boston University is pushing for a global treaty that would ban all inheritable modifications to any person's genetic makeup. He favors such a treaty because he believes that "species-altering genetic engineering [is] a potential weapon of mass destruction, and [that] makes the unaccountable genetic engineer a potential bioterrorist."

Grant Morrisson says I should read this

Generation Hex

Govt' tries to pull a sneaky one on Indians again

From the Guardian:

Brachfeld's office began investigating, and ``what appear to be Indian records were discovered in a waste basket in the stack areas at Main Archives,'' Baron wrote. Taken together, the two dumping incidents ``may be intentional acts aimed at unlawfully removing or disposing of permanent records from the Interior Department,'' he wrote.

Robot-Gun destroys all who come near your computer

The idea of this project was to create a fully-automated sentry gun, capable of picking out a human target and accurately tracking and shooting him or her in the heart.

If the milk is bad, it'll glow

From...Informnauka:

To calculate microbes in milk or in the operating-room, it is necessary to make them glow like well-known glow-beetles.

Listen to Music from Non-Existent Instruments

Terribly interesting stuff from Cynthia Bruyns:

This project extends modal analysis techniques to simulate the design of percussive musical instruments using 3D models of instruments as prototypes. Our use of 3D models to determine the desired sound quality from an instrument includes a novel extension to sound synthesis for animation as well as sound synthesis for computer music.

What mercenaries do when they're in New Orleans

From the Nation:

Officially, the company boasted of its forces "join[ing] the hurricane relief effort." But its men on the ground told a different story.

Some patrolled the streets in SUVs with tinted windows and the Blackwater logo splashed on the back; others sped around the French Quarter in an unmarked car with no license plates. They congregated on the corner of St. James and Bourbon in front of a bar called 711, where Blackwater was establishing a makeshift headquarters. From the balcony above the bar, several Blackwater guys cleared out what had apparently been someone's apartment. They threw mattresses, clothes, shoes and other household items from the balcony to the street below. They draped an American flag from the balcony's railing. More than a dozen troops from the 82nd Airborne Division stood in formation on the street watching the action.

Chinese Ban on Public use of Leet

From Newsday:

"On the Web, Internet slang is convenient and satisfying, but the mainstream media have a responsibility to guide proper and legal language usage," the Shanghai Morning Post quoted city official Xia Xiurong as saying.

...am I the only one who perceives an impossibility in this?

From the State:

The book, being published in time for school districts to consider for next year’s curricula, was designed to follow guidelines on how to teach about the Bible in public schools while not endorsing one religion’s view and not offending people of faith.

A safe guess would be 'a lot'

From the Washington Post:

"Neither DOD nor Congress can reliably know how much the war is costing and details of how appropriated funds are being spent," the report to Congress stated.

But what if the place is haunted to begin with?

Synthetic Haunting

Because I want more nightmares

Alias

Fucked. up. Music video.

If you plan on being alive within the next ten years, this may be a good magazine to get

Scientific American: Crossroads for Planet Earth

Handbook for Bloggers & Cyber-Dissidents

From Global Voices Online:

Reporters Without Borders has given Global Voices a sneak peak at the Handbook For Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents before its official Thursday release. Click here to download the full PDF booklet.

Because some people really do take those fwd's at their word

From the Internet Archive:

Sure, the web is full of information, but it also has lots of false information. How do you tell the difference? This program looks at the problem of disinformation on the internet.

We are the children of Sea-Monkeys

From the BBC:

The hypothesis proposes that the physical characteristics that distinguish us from our nearest cousin apes - standing and moving bipedally, being naked and sweaty, our swimming and diving abilities, fat babies, big brains and language - all of these and others are best explained as adaptations to a prolonged period of our evolutionary history being spent in and around the seashore and lake margins, not on the hot dry savannah or in the forest with the other apes.

Fucking Shark-Taser Suit

United States Patent Application: 0050197686

Another advantage of the technology of the present invention, apart from its portability and cost, is that if the shark will bite into the wet suit, an electrical shock will be discharged into its mouth in direct proportional with the bite size.

The FBI's XXX-Files

From the Washington Post:

The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

My first reaction: "Whaaatuh?"

An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an Italian mountainside where it will stay for the next 20 years.

Prescription pills turn elderly into lecherous gamblers

From the Houston Press:

In July psychologist M. Leann Dodd of the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic published a report in the Archives of Neurology that took the Stacy study a step further. During a two-year span Dodd treated 11 Parkinson's patients who became pathological gamblers. In nine of those cases, the patients were prescribed the dopamine agonist Mirapex, or pramipexole dihydrochloride. Mirapex, in particular, Dodd found, had the greatest potential to wreak havoc on the brain's limbic system -- the area related to pleasure, mood and disinhibition.

Later, Doc Gonzo

Video of Hunter S. Thompson's ashes fired out of a cannon.

Ministry of Truth for Hire

From Slate:

"If your definition of propaganda is framing communications to do something that's going to save lives, that's fine," says Mark Broughton, SCL's public affairs director. "That's not a word I would use for that."

Then again, it's hard to know exactly what else to call it. (Company literature describes SCL's niche specialties as "psychological warfare," "public diplomacy," and "influence operations.")

Just in case you wanted to pull of an 'influence operation', here's their website.

I'd love this if it weren't so horrible.

Only the Japanese can truly make English profanity shine.

MMORPG finally starts spreading social diseases

From Shack News:

Heres the skinny: Blizzard adds in a new instance, Zul'Gurub. Inside is the god of blood, Hakkar. Well, when you fight him he has a debuff called Corrputed Blood. It does like 250-350 damage to palyers and affects nearby players. The amazing thing is SOME PLAYERS have brought this disease (and it is a disease) back to the towns, outside of the instance. It starts spreading amongst the genral population including npcs, who can out generate the damage. Some servers have gotten so bad that you can't go into the major cities without getting the plague (and anyone less than like level 50 nearly immediately die).

***

Should I mention that I do have a big interest in strange things that happen in MMORPG's? I'm sure that very few of you care about this, and are only here for flying devil fish and kickboxing dogs.

One step closer to Master Chief, baby

From Defense Tech:

The effort is called "Hot Eagle," and it could be the first step forward in the Marine Corps' hopes for space travel. Within minutes of bursting into the atmosphere beyond the speed of sound -- and dispatching that ominous sonic boom -- a small squad of Marines could be on the ground and ready to take care of business within 2 hours.

Troy's Weather Report, Sept. 19, 2005

As a side note, it turns out I really didn't need to do the whole quiz thing today.

Fucking rock.

The Guilty Parties

So I've been listening to Rage Against the Machine a lot lately.

I think you should be, too.

The Ghost of Tom Joad

Wake Up

Killing in the Name of

Biomimicry Database

Because Nature always has a better plan for something.

"I went down there to help. All I did was get the runaround from FEMA."

The NYT times delivered an article on pathetic Federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

Blah3.com is kind enough to give us the highlights.

An elephant with a shark tied to it's back

An encyclopedia of nonexistent weapons

The Flying Mobulas of the Sea of Cortez

Antartica melts for your SUV

From the Independant:

"This will be four Septembers in a row that we've seen a downward trend. The feeling is we are reaching a tipping point or threshold beyond which sea ice will not recover."

"I am sure that the U.S. presence will increase."

From Toward Freedom:

The tri-border area is home to the Guarani Aquifer, one of the world’s largest reserves of water. Near the Estigarribia airbase are Bolivia’s natural gas reserves, the second largest in Latin America. Political analysts believe U.S. operations in Paraguay are part of a preventative war to control these natural resources and suppress social uprisings in Bolivia.

The Human Thunderbolt from Down Under

From the Advertiser:

Frank Clewer, from Dennington in the south-west of the state, left a trail of burned carpet and molten plastic through the nearby city of Warrnambool.

Authorities later tested his polar-fleece jacket using a device that measures static electricity, and said the dial initially went off the scale before settling on a figure greater than 30,000 volts.

Troy's Weather Report, Sept. 16, 2005

Warning: Cute Baby Sloths

Lil' Sloths in boxes

Because I can't post images of mummies and kickboxing dogs all the time.

Even more comics I want to read

Smoke and Guns

These random shots of comics are getting old fast. I going to subscribe or at least read the local comic book stores releases, and see if any of it gets my attention.

Speaking of the local comic book store...Muse Comics of Missoula.

Troy's Weather Report, Sept. 15, 2005

Reading material for Americans on the verge of a Draft

Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace

Endorse an American Taliban

Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania: "Every time protesters gather outside of our Locust Street health center, our patients face verbal attacks from them. They see graphic signs meant to confuse and intimidate. They are sometimes blocked from entering the building and occasionally they are videotaped. They are offered anti-choice propaganda and free rides to the closest 'crisis pregnancy
center.'

Staff and volunteers are also seen as targets. We are all called murderers, are lectured to about committing sins, and are told we will pay the 'ultimate price' for our actions.

You can stand with others in the community against these
acts of intimidation and harassment

Here's how it works: You decide on the amount you would like to pledge for each
protester (minimum 10 cents). When protesters show up on our sidewalks, Planned
Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania will count and record their number each day from October 1 through November 30, 2005. We will place a signoutside the health center that tracks pledges and makes protesters fully aware that their actions are benefiting PPSP. At the end of the two-month campaign, we will send you an update on protest activities and a pledge reminder.

Example:
If you pledge 30 cents per protester, and PPSP has 100 protesters in October and 160
protesters in November, your donation would be 78 dollars for the entire two-month campaign.

Similar to sponsoring a runner in a charity marathon, your pledge total can be capped at a pre-set amount, if desired."

Because you can't get enough crushing of...I forgot the word for Writer's Block..what the hell?

The Screenwriting Life » EIGHT SEQUENCES

Because Altered States of Conciousness can crush Writer's Block

The definitive collection of idea generation methods

Future matchbox pumps LSD right into Troy's heart and brain meat, oh yes

From Popular Science:

The pattern is familiar: Researchers develop a technology or drug to aid the ailing. Soon thereafter, healthy people co-opt it to make themselves stronger, faster or smarter. Follow this trend far enough, and we reach the augmented human.

Troy's Weather Report, Sept. 14, 2005

Mexican Mummies

This region's climate is conducive to mummification--the liquification of fat and the drying of body tissue. One mummy is a woman accused of sorcery, is still identified as a witch.

A year's worth of fresh science fiction

365 tomorrows

Did I already link to this?

My school turns fascist, School President up to something

From the Kaiman:

Faculty and staff at the University of Montana aren’t to comment on “significant matters of policy and public interest,” according to the new UM news policy released Monday.

In such matters, the University president is UM’s representative, the policy says.

“He’s the official spokesperson for the University regarding anything significant,” said Rita Munzenrider, director of University Relations.

also:

The new version of the policy also took out a paragraph about the University respecting and complying with constitutional requirements for open meetings and records.

“I think that was an oversight,” Munzenrider said. “That should be in there.”

Troy's Weather Report, Sept. 13, 2005

The sound of a picture of one hand clapping

SoundOfAnImage converts images into music. Sometimes the "music" even sounds like music, especially if you play images with a lot of structure and/or symmetry to them.

I remember there being a bit of a problem with virtue uno, Benjie

Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues

1. Temperance: Eat not to dullness and drink not to elevation.

2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.

3. Order: Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.

4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself: i.e. Waste nothing.

6. Industry: Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. Justice: Wrong none, by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. Moderation: Avoid extremes. Forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation.

11. Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; Never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

12. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Wuxtrey, wuxtrey: God kills for public housing reform

From The Raw Story:

Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling lobbyists: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

Govt' dislikes bad image that reality portrays, tries to stop media, media says "Hey, fuckers!!"

September 9, 2005

To: CNN Staff
From: Jim Walton

=============================

In response to official statements earlier today that news media would be excluded from covering the victim recovery process in New Orleans and surrounding areas on the suggestion that what is reported may offend viewers' or victims' sensibilities, CNN has filed a lawsuit in federal court to prohibit any agency from restricting its ability to fully and fairly cover this story.

As seen most recently from war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, from tsunami-ravaged South Asia and from Hurricane Katrina's landfall along the Gulf, CNN has shown that it is capable of balancing vigorous reporting with respect for private concerns. Government officials cannot be allowed to hinder the free flow of information to the public, and CNN will not let such a decision stand without challenge.

Beam me up, Scotty

I'm gonna punch you with my flashlight from across the room:

The team, led by Professor David Leigh, covered a gold Teflon-like surface with specially-engineered synthetic molecular "shuttles", the components of which move up and down by a millionth of a millimetre when exposed to light.

So when they place water droplets on the surface and then stimulate it with ultra-violet light, the changes alter the surface tension of the liquid and this creates enough energy to move the droplet a distance of up to a millimetre.

Although the movement is tiny, it represents a great technological leap in the new emerging field of nanotechnology, the manipulation of materials at scales of a millionth of a millimetre.

Crash Course in Katrina Code

From Boing Boing:

The "X" means a search has taken place. Date and time of search are also noted; "LB" with a number indicates number of living bodies encountered; "DB" with a number indicates the number of dead bodies. The teams carry GPS devices to identify and note the locations they've inspected.

Power bill solved by weekend walks?

Two Articles on that funky backpack that will help keep my mp3's running when Western Civilization collapses.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

How the US Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions

Interview with John Perkins by Ant Goodman

An Article I want to read later

dirtSimple.org: The Multiple Self

Wave "your" hand at the screen. Do it now.

Who waved your hand? Was it you? Could you have? Do "you" know how to wave your hand? Of course not. "You" don't know how to do anything, but "yourself" does.

25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina And Its Aftermath

4) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005

The Hyena People of Nigeria

Self-Healing Spacecraft inspired by Ant Society

From New Scientist:

The team at CSIRO, Australia's national research organisation, is working with NASA on the project and has so far created a model skin made up of 192 separate cells. Behind each cell is an impact sensor and a processor equipped with algorithms that allow it to communicate only with its immediate neighbours. Just as ants secrete pheromones to help guide other ants to food, the CSIRO algorithms leave digital messages in cells around the system, indicating for instance the position of the boundary around a damaged region. The cell's processor can use this information to route data around the affected area.

From the Afterculture Art Exhibit

Journalists Gone Wild: Salon.com

Money shots of Journalists generating spinal columns

Mercenaries given carte blanche in New Orleans

Just think about that. Men paid to kill are roaming New Orleans.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

mp3 blog aggregators

I spent the better part of an hour collecting this, simply so I could increase the amount of random music I come across. If you few readers out there enjoy this, lemme know or something.

Ämpäri

Berkleyplace

Fingertips

Hellthy

Lupatarkastaja

I'm a Cuckoo

Mixtaper Community

MP34U

My Old Kentucky Blog

Oddio Overplay

Totally Fuzzy

The Hype Machine

The Red Ferret Journal

Veritas Lux Mea: Texass two step

V23

Senses Working Overtime

Some Velvet Blog

Smart-music.net

Web-Nymph New Music

Zero Transmission

*Hip/Ster/Eo

Bush Administration refuses to play blame game, rather sure of the outcome

Reporter: Scott, does the president retain confidence in his FEMA director and secretary of Homeland Security?

McClellan: And again, David, see, this is where some people want to look at the blame game issue, and finger-point. We're focused on solving problems, and we're doing everything we can --

Reporter: What about the question?

McClellan: We're doing everything we can in support --

Reporter: We know all that.

McClellan: -- of the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.

Reporter: Does he retain complete confidence --

McClellan: We're going to continue. We appreciate the great effort that all of those at FEMA, including the head of FEMA, are doing to help the people in the region. And I'm just not going to engage in the blame game or finger-pointing that you're trying to get me to engage.

Reporter: OK, but that's not at all what I was asking.

McClellan: Sure it is. It's exactly what you're trying to play.

Reporter: You have your same point you want to make about the blame game, which you've said enough now. I'm asking you a direct question, which you're dodging.

Why women live longer then men

From b3ta: A collection of pics concerned with why men die sooner.

Susan Wood Interview from the Village Voice

The Stalling of Plan B Forces Personal Plan C

Q: Has it been harder to approve new products under the Bush administration?

A: Rulemaking and regulation has slowed—in most cases, but not all cases. I’m trying to avoid—I don’t want to be someone who says it was politicized. I don’t know. I wasn’t consulted. I wasn’t in any discussions. I wasn’t in the room. That’s part of the problem. They wouldn’t consult the director of the Office of Women’s Health for such a decision.

LOCAL: the official press release

Yet more comics I must read:

"For a while now I've been a little obsessed with the idea of locations and hometowns and what that means to people,” Wood explained. “I explored it a little in DEMO, but the more I thought about it, the more ideas I had, and I thought they deserved a series. I'm deliberately staying away from larger cities like New York and San Francisco, and instead choosing smaller places, college towns with cool 'local' scenes. We start off in Portland, OR and move to Minneapolis, and so on. I'll probably break my own rule and set one in Brooklyn, though, as I've just moved back here and love it so much."

Five Fists of Science

“The Five Fists of Science is the story of Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla teaming up to bring about world peace by compulsion-- and how that peace will interfere with the plans of an evil science cabal led by Thomas Edison,” says writer Matt (LAST OF THE INDEPENDENTS) Fraction. “An all-out war between magic and science is fought on the streets of New York City in 1899, and it is an absolutely true story, up to a point.”

This is a comic I shall get. Oh, how I shall.

Three new directions

A team of astrophysicists claims to have identified evidence that space is six-dimensional.

What the fuck?

No, really, what the fuck?

The Japanese must have this weirdness ingrained into their very DNA.

Eric Myer Photography

Speaking of small things to entertain you this morning...

Is this LOVE?

Not sure if I want to see this, but it's short, and funny.

Vampire Squids

The Science of Aliens

This could prove to be interesting.

And your mom told you that gaming would never get you money

WorldChanging: Globalization in the Virtual World

Lifeboat Foundation

The Lifeboat Foundation is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, dedicated to providing solutions that will safeguard humanity from the growing threat of terrorism and technological cataclysm. This humanitarian organization is pursuing all possible options, including self-sustaining technologies using AI and nanotechnology, with an emphasis on self-contained space arks.

Fight the Flood

Help support the American Red Cross in its efforts to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina. Bungie Studios and the Bungie Store will be donating at least $15 from each shirt sold which will go straight to the Red Cross and directly to the disaster relief. Everything you can do to help will make a difference.

Why did God put OUR oil under THEIR soil?!

Bu$h gives new reason for Iraq war

Keep that in mind when you see limbless soldiers.

I feel like mentioning that my family can't visit me next weekend because gas is too damned expensive.

I could really go for unconciousness right about now.

CNN grows a pair

The big disconnect on New Orleans

I don't understand just how the fuck people can even try to spin this kind of stuff.

But then again, I like sleeping at night.

Wooden Mustache Clothing

1980s Marco Morani Ruffled Leather Jacket

Wired News: Day-After Pill Exposes FDA Rift

"'It is time for the FDA to stop playing games with the health and well-being of millions of American women,' said a statement by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Washington) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York). 'Day by day, the public's confidence in the FDA's ability to make decisions based on scientific evidence of safety and efficacy is eroding.'"

"excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed."

"You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound busline in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."

-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagins

Ready for a bit of the new Ultra-Violence?

First Person Shooters are one of the most enduringly popular game genres. Now, for the first time, anyone can make their own action packed FPS games without any programming or 3D modelling knowledge.

Bringing a new benchmark to game creation, the innovative and multi-featured FPS Creator has been three years in development and offers an easy, yet flexible editing environment where you can achieve high quality gaming result in no time at all.

Vote Blue? No help for you! | MetaFilter

Metafilter collects the real American Govt' response to the New Orleans disaster

How every tuesday should be

Stunt City

Action Speedo!

So Ang Bak is finally coming to America, after I originally watched the preview for it last summer with Lenzy Khreibel.

I just can't wait. Instead of linking to the new trailer, I'm putting up the one I saw first. The undisputed Trailer of Ass-Kickery, withlegs-literally-on-fire roundhouse kicks, exploding golf carts, and some language barriers. Tony Jaa is just insane...

Click on this and turn up the speakers.

There is no cure for fools

I watched Yojimbo last night. It's the best movie I've seen in a while, and I highly recommend it. Especially if you're a big fan of samurai, violence, and gallows humor on par with EMT personnel.

The Safety Smock

Purpose: To safely provide warmth and modesty for suicidal individuals in locked facilities. The garment is designed to eliminate features that make other clothing potential weapons of self-harm.

Description: A simple, sturdily quilted, collarless, sleeveless, gown with adjustable openings at the shoulders and down the front that are closed with nylon hook-and-loop fasteners.

"There are a few humans he could beat as well."

"He can kick to command with his two front feet at a punch bag or kick pad. It seems much better to teach a guard dog to do this than to bite."

Run, Adam and Eve, run, T-Rex is Loose!

"We like to think of [dinosaurs] as creation lizards, or missionary lizards," said Frank Sherwin, a museum researcher and author.

Over Three Hundred Proofs of God’s Existence

14. ARGUMENT FROM INTELLIGENCE

(1) Look, there's really no point in me trying to explain the whole thing to you stupid Atheists -- it's too complicated for you to understand. God exists whether you like it or not.
(2) Therefore, God exists.

Books I want to read lately, starting...now!

Chiroptera Inspired Robotic CEphaloid Project

The goal of CIRCE project is to reproduce, at a functional level, the biosonar system of bats by constructing a bionic bat head that can then be used to systematically investigate how the world is not just perceived but actively explored by bats. This bionic bat head will be of similar size to a real bat head to reproduce the relevant physics and consist of an emission/reception system capable of generating/processing bat vocalizations in real-time, a multi-degree of freedom mechanical system to allow realistic pinnae movement and shape control. Constructing the bionic head itself is one objective but a second objective is to gain more insight into neural sensory-data encoding from using the head in biosonar tasks routinely executed by bats.

Man Walks Into A Bar

"'Turn off the music,' says the man. The barman hesitates for a moment, and then obliges. After a couple of seconds, everyone realises that the music has stopped. The place goes quiet. Everyone looks up.

The man climbs up on top of the bar and produces a megaphone. 'This man here,' he says, pointing at the barman, 'says that there's no demand in this bar for alternative, independent or experimental comix.' He pronounces it that way, with an X. He's spent years practising it. 'This man here,' says the man, 'says that when you people go to a bar, you aren't asking for STREET ANGEL, or SCOTT PILGRIM, or IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS, or even some generic, wholesome Eisner nominee. Is this true?'

The customers look a bit bemused. But after a few moments of silence, they signal, by nodding, that indeed it is true. They do indeed have little interest in such things.

'Are you seriously telling me,' says the man, 'that not one other person in this room is an admirer of the work of James Kochalka?'

The customers indicate, through a combination of confused looks and shrugs, that they are unfamiliar with Kochalka's work.

The man looks at them all with disgust. He shakes his head in amazement. He turns to leave. Then he pauses at the door and looks round the room.

'It's people like you that are killing the fucking industry,' he says."