Our pal Michael shares his exotic meat experiences with us (no, this is not a gay porn item):

Of some of the offbeat meats, I can remember eating:

* Ostrich - formerly exotic, now available at Fuddrucker's et al. Tasted & texture like lean beef

* Snake - from a street vendor in a market in Seoul. Hard to tell what it was like; it mostly tasted of the sauce and the charcoal grill.

* Horse - entrecôte de cheval in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Like a lean beef steak or venison.

* Venison - a specialty of The Mountain House in Kings Mountain (Woodside), CA, served many ways, most notably in a blackberry reduction sauce.

* Rabbit - especially good spit-roasted at Spiedo in San Mateo, CA.

* Alligator - deep-fried in nuggets, it's like a cross between chicken (:-)) and scallops. Pretty good, actually. Some places serve it broiled or steamed like lobster tail, with melted butter.

* Goat - is much like lamb. Sometimes available in Indian or middle-eastern restaurants here. Also good in a Jamaican/African style curry.

* Dog - I hope this is not too upsetting to some here, and wwe certainly don't have to discuss it, but I have tasted dog, not in SE Asia or Korea, but in nearby Fremont, CA, in a now-defunct Chinese restaurant. I stopped in for takeout dim sum, and among the usual siu mai and har gow and whatnot, there were some mini-sandwiches with a sliced cold meat on a sesame bread that other customers were eating. I inquired politely and was told, "not available". I extemporized with something like, "oh, I get those all the time... never learned the Chinese name". The guy game me a funny look and added them to the order. So when I picked up the order I asked him to point it out on the menu and tell me the Chinese name. He pointed to some Chinese characters and the English legend, "Special Meat Roll". Some time later, I copied down the characters, showed them to a Chinese friend (who also gave me an odd look), and they in fact translate to "special meat", which is the euphemism for dog meat among Chinese abroad in the West.

The meat itself had been cured and was sort of like pickled tongue, on a small Mongolian-style sesame roll. This is northern-style dim sum, usually made with beef or pork.

Ew.

6:24:56 PM     leave/read comments []

F.B.I. Scrutinizes Antiwar Rallies. The agency has collected information on demonstrators and has advised local officials to report suspicious activity to counterterrorism squads. By Eric Lichtblau. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Holy tutus, Batman! Is J. Edgar back in business?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum.

....

But some civil rights advocates and legal scholars said the monitoring program could signal a return to the abuses of the 1960's and 1970's, when J. Edgar Hoover was the F.B.I. director and agents routinely spied on political protesters like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The F.B.I. is dangerously targeting Americans who are engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred, and I have a serious concern about whether we're going back to the days of Hoover."

And that would suck, because I'm kind of fond of living in a genuinely free country.

6:01:34 PM     leave/read comments []

For all you folks who've wound up here Googling for Stephanie Haaser's photo, here it is!

Cute, ain't she?

And she kissed a girl!

Too bad it got her suspended.

5:23:52 PM     leave/read comments []

Of course it didn't help when the anonymous official refused to give his name, saying in badly dubbed English, "I don't want to die like a dog, howling in pain! No way is Al-Queda going to find me! I am running! Running! Running for the hills!"

"Oh, and don't panic," he added.

Japan-Terrorism (Kyodo).

Anonymous Japanese public safety officials launch media campaign to calm fears Al Qaeda may be about to strike Tokyo. [Nippon Goro Goro]

4:58:17 PM    

Just another reminder of c|net's flipping the bird to musicians and music fans.

Maybe if you ask Jim nicely, he'll share his harvester program with you.

Otherwise, kiss it all goodbye.

Vivendi burning MP3.com library to the ground. Vivendi has announced that it's flushing all the music it hosts at MP3.com down the toilet:

...they're not selling the archive, containing more than a million songs by 250,000 artists. As of December 3rd, they're destroying it.

Link

(Thanks, Proclus!) [Boing Boing Blog]

Asshats.

4:04:25 PM     leave/read comments []

At last! The world's best word gets its own website!

 There's no telling where some words come from.  Like, for instance, who was the genius that one day said "I'm going to invent the word 'fuck' just so people can scream it at each other while driving down the highway."?  Well, for the most part, I'm guessing we will never know how some words came into origin.  But I have come up with a clearly outlined history of the greatest word ever, along with definitions and a useful synonyms list.

They're doin' da Lord's work over there.

As it turns out, "asshat" comes to us from Sweden, home of such other Scandinavian life-enhancers as ABBA, Volvo, Absolut vodka and of course, Aquavit, a liquor so strong that after a belt or two, you can actually bring yourself to eat lutefisk.

From what I can trace back from archived IRC chats, the term 'asshat' was first used in the large European country of Sweden as an alternative for the word [OE]asshole.[base ']  From Sweden, by way of both train and ship, the word found it[base ']s way to the shores of western France, where it was used by a software coder named Louis (LOO-ee) in a telephone conversation with his second cousin in Newfoundland.  This great man was responsible for sending this fashionable European word to North America for all children to enjoy!

Ja fürsüreyoubëtcha! Danke Swensk!!! Or something like that. After a few snorts of aquavit, it all sort of becomes the same word...

3:35:32 PM     leave/read comments []

Not since my mom's "Adam and Eve" topless needlepoint have I seen such fine examples of needle-craft handiwork.

Rude cross-stitching.

Subversive Cross-stitch: rude and snarky cross-stitch patterns to amaze and delight.

Link

(via Making Light)
[Boing Boing Blog]

3:30:35 PM    

Missiles Fired From Donkey Carts in Central Baghdad. The Palestine and Sheraton hotels in central Baghdad were hit by a volley of five rockets fired from donkey carts. By John F. Burns. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

In an imaginary press conference, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was not quoted as announcing, "Today we have confirmed, without a doubt, the presence in Iraq of Weapons of Ass Destruction. Much as we feared, Saddam loyalists waited until today to unleash these WAD's against coalition forces in an underhanded attack against the U.S. Hotel Industy in Baghdad."

President Bush, responding to questions shouted over the barricades at Andrews AFB, commented, "See?!?!? I told ya! They had them Weapons of Ass Destruction all this time!"

Briefly containing his glee, the President added, "I may just have to let Rummy get all new-cooler their asses, if you know what I mean. Hey! That's a joke, son! 'On their asses!' Get it?!? [nervous laughter] Asses!!!!"

The President then added, "Oh Lord, I slay myself."

1:23:10 PM     leave/read comments []

NASA criticizes planned ISS budget cut. NASA administrator Sean O'eefe criticized Friday Congressional plans to slice $200 million from the... [spacetoday.net]

Congress plans to cut $200 Million off NASA's budget, so it can what, send even more money to Iraq?

NASA administrator Sean O'eefe criticized Friday Congressional plans to slice $200 million from the 2004 budget for the International Space Station. O'Keefe, speaking Friday morning with reporters, said the planned cut will put a "severe crimp" in reserve funds for the project. The Senate passed an appropriations bill that cut $200 million from the ISS, citing reduced operations in the wake of the shuttle Columbia accident. O'Keefe said that current project reserves of $250 million would cover the cut, but that it left little room for error if other problems with the project arose.

Sen. Ted Stevens [R-AK47], chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee was not quoted as saying, "If y'all want to spend money, why don't y'all spend it on figuring out how to launch rockets from a donkey cart?!? Them there Eye-Rackys can do that. Do we have a donkey launcher? Do we?!?! DO WE?!?! We can't have a Donkey Gap!!!! NO DONKEY GAPS!"

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison [R- TaX and spend in Iraq] did not add, "You Democrats like them there donkeys don't you? Why, the very symbol of your party is A WEAPON OF TERRORISTS!!!!! {incomprehensible} Someone call Johnny Ashcroft, we got us some traitors here! {obscured by spittle} Phhpppt."

12:43:37 PM     leave/read comments []

Muuuummm. Pizza.

Yes, after navigating the moving deathtrap of senile farmers, inbred rednecks and burnt-out corporate commuters that is I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha, I returned with La Casa's pizza. Upon which, I did gorge myself.

I'm stuffed, I'm tired and I smell faintly of baked romano cheese. Kiss me, I'm stinky!

Or not.

In other news, I had a possum stop by the ol' basement window. He was sniffing around the bird feeder, snarfing up sunflower seeds and raisins. Scooter went nuts but Bob was too busy napping to be bothered. Mr. possum boogied out of sight shortly after he noticed I was spotlighting him with the big ol' nightwatchman's Maglight. Sadly, no photos were taken.

Not much else to report tonight. I'm too full of pizza.

Urrrrp.

10:18:57 PM     leave/read comments []

Since I'll be way from my computer and unable to blog, why don't y'all go shop at What The Hell Am I Selling Here? New merch added in the wee hours of the morning! Hours of entertainment! Gratuitous exclamation points!!!

All profits go to the "Get Maggie Out of Nebraska" Fund.

1:57:00 PM     leave/read comments []

There won't be much blogging during the day today, as I'm headed to the big city to get get some La Casa pizza. There's nothing else quite like it. It's one of those great local, longtime places that are utterly place-specfic. La Casa says "Omaha" to me as much as anything.

I'll blog more after I get back. If I'm not too stuffed with pizza, that is.

1:53:59 PM     leave/read comments []

Archdiocese of Cincinnati Fined for Covering Up Sex Abuse. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati pleaded no contest to charges of failing to tell authorities about sex abuse allegations. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

NO CONTEST?!?!?

NO FUCKING CONTEST?!?!?!?

WTF?!?!

This is getting to be like some sort of broken record from Hell. You ask me, it's time to swing the big RICO stick at these bastards of the cloth.

Because if this isn't organized crime, I don't know what is.

7:27:04 PM     leave/read comments []

OK, I want one, too.

I Heart Nerds Pin. I must have this right now.

Link
[Boing Boing Blog]

Of course, y'all could always buy what I'm sellin'. More added as we go along!

All profits go towards getting me the hell out of Nebraska.

7:09:27 PM     leave/read comments []

VolumeLogic is an Audiohijack-based "re-mastering" plug-in for iTunes.

It does a decent job tweaking EQ levels, adding a bit more push and oomph than iTunes' built-in equalizer, but it does add a noticeable headroom hiss, at least on my Soundsticks equipped PowerMac. The noise reduction checkbox helps, especially if you're listening from across the room.

Currently a public beta, it's well worth the download, especially, if you, like me, use your computer as a stereo.

Linkprops to taliesin's log

1:19:05 PM     leave/read comments []

Hey! Cyndi Lauper is back!

Looking and sounding all torchy-jazzy good!

Props to Young Bradford for the tipoff.

12:47:45 PM     leave/read comments []

I've yet to see any auroras here in Nebraska, but I still stay up, running outside every half hour or so, hoping to see something.

I don't know if I'm a fool, an optimist or just someone with really lousy timing. I mean, what if there are spectacular auroras, but they only appear when I'm inside? It's the Maggie Uncertainty Principle- I'm pretty sure I'm missing something, I just don't know what.

Space Weather News for Nov. 20, 2003 Spaceweather.com

A coronal mass ejection swept past Earth during the early hours of Nov. 20th and sparked bright auroras over northern parts of the United States. At the time of this writing (1600 UT or 11:00 a.m. EST) a strong geomagnetic storm is in progress. The interplanetary magnetic field near Earth has tilted sharply south--a condition which promotes geomagnetic activity. If this condition persists, auroras are possible at low latitudes tonight.

The source of this space weather is sunspot 484--one of the trio of big sunspots that caused intense solar storms last month. Indeed all three of those active regions are back on the Earth-facing side of the sun, so more solar activity is possible in the days ahead.

12:36:09 PM    

US cybercrime push 'imperils personal security' of Americans. Even the Serbians will look up your records [The Register]

Oh boy, the Bush administration finds yet another way to erode our civil liberties.

PI warns that if the Senate ratifies the Treaty, "dozens of countries will have 'on demand' access to the personal information and communications records of any American they may wish to investigate". This data - including full email logs, phone records and mobile phone location data together with account and financial records - could be "cherry picked" by investigating authorities in countries that ratify the treaty.

Providing the US signs up to the Treaty, the personal details of millions of US citizens will be available "on demand" to Balkan and former communist countries, PI says.

Wonderful.

12:09:23 PM     leave/read comments []

Be there or be square.

Sadly, as it's a two day drive; I'll be square. Don't be like me.

11:55:23 PM     leave/read comments []

It's been a busy day here at mediawench.life: cats were taken to the groomer for an anti-fungal shampoo and brush-out, vomit was cleaned out of the dog's bubble, therapists were spoken to and a shipment of iSight webcams arrived.

Since we're the only folks we know with iSights (or any webcam for that matter), we've only bridged the gap between the basement and the kitchen. But, it works fine and setup was slick and quick as could be- plug it in, fire up iChatAV, and pop click you're looking and talking at each other.

Now if only my far-flug friends would get with the program!

Get a webcam, talk to a schnauzer. Hell of a deal.

5:23:46 PM     leave/read comments []

Number of Threatened Species Tops 12,000 [Scientific American]

And counting!

In total, 12,259 species--characterized as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable--had the misfortune of making the list. What is more, 762 plant and animal species are recorded as already having gone extinct and 58 remain in existence only in cultivation or captivity. "While we are still only scratching the surface in assessing all known species, we are confident this figure is an indicator of what is happening to global biological diversity," says IUCN director general Achim Steiner.

2:51:13 PM    

NGG note: Douglas McGray is getting a lot, perhaps way too much, print for his thesis about GNC (that's Gross National Cool) and today at a symposium in Tokyo he delivered a speech titled, "Cool Japan: Japan's Cultural Power." We have not seen any links to stories about his speech yet, but, even better, we present to you a transcript what he said: [Nippon Goro Goro]

Japan's Gross National Cool. 

Excellent read! Hai!

1:57:00 PM     leave/read comments []

Current Editorials: Defending Marriage. Now that we've had another landmark ruling on the gay rights front, we can expect the religious right to really start raising the rafters about "defending" marriage, but we know they don't mean it... [Morons Dot Org]

Yep, you can bet a whole bunch of Homobashing is gonna come streaming out of the Bible Belt, none of it actually defending marriage. Our man spatula has some ideas for some steps that might actually "defend" marriage:

Marriage is what you make of it, and if anyone is making a mockery of it, it's the heterosexuals who are currently abusing it now.

Which is why I have the following suggestions for the religious extremists. If they're really serious about "defending" marriage against something, let them take direct action! Let them show us how much they care about incursions against their "sacred institution" by immediately taking the following actions:

• Outlaw divorce. What could be more of an affront to marriage than divorce, after all? There's plenty of biblical precedent for divorce being illegal too, and I'm sure the religious right can find some words in Leviticus or Deuteronomy or Phiosmispeun or some other such nonsense to justify such an action.
• Institute a five-day waiting period on marriage. Surely spontaneous eloping runs contrary to the ideals of marriage espoused by the religious right, yet they seem conspicuously silent on this issue, don't they? This also takes care of drive-thru wedding chapels.
• While we're at it, institute laws forbidding couples of mixed income brackets to discourage marrying for money.
• Along a similar vein, outlaw marriage between retirees and younger people to prevent future occurrences of Anna Nicole Smith. Clearly marrying someone who's about to kick off for the inheritance must be a slap in the face of the institution of marriage!
• Marriages to non-US citizens must be forbidden to prevent marriages of convenience, of course. Especially to Canadians.
• Because marriages are a sacred institution meant to bring forth children into the world, any couple that does not produce children within the first four years of being married must be thrown in prison (but not divorced).
• Similarly, sterile couples must not be allowed to marry.
• Any legitimate bachelor or bachelorette unmarried by age 30 will be subjected to an arranged marriage by the state, since society depends on marriages!

Preach it, brother!

11:37:15 PM     leave/read comments []

Why do some people enjoy life and others don't?. Why do some people enjoy life and others don't? Psychologists are spending $30m on trying to find out. [Guardian Unlimited]

OK sure, that's all well and good and shiny and stuff, but.....Hey Man- I tried to go to the website that teaches you to be happy and whattya know, they wouldn't respond.

Is that, like, a message or something?

11:17:02 PM     leave/read comments []

Virtual chess battle ends in draw. A series of four games pitting chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov against a computer ends in a draw. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Three letters for ya Garry:

E. M. P.

You didn't exactly put the smackdown on did ya?

8:17:52 PM     leave/read comments []

Apple prepping Mac OS X 10.3.2; seeded to developers [The Macintosh News Network]

Further tweaking of the Panther:

Version 10.3.2 will include updates to networking, graphics drivers, and USB, sources said. The update will also improve WebDAV, international text, and AFP Server, Apple reportedly told testers in a brief release note.

6:54:57 PM    

Excellent in-depth coverage.

The landmark decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Tuesday went further than any court yet toward legalizing gay marriage in the United States.

But couples eager to make their union official can't start lining up at the courthouse Wednesday. The tribunal stopped short of ordering the state to start issuing marriage licenses. Instead, it ruled the state's denial of gay marriage unconstitutional - and gave the legislature 180 days to resolve the issue. This marks the first time a high court has ruled that civil marriage between a same-sex couple is a state constitutional right.

6:43:07 PM    

Protests begin but majority backs Bush visit. Most Labour voters welcome US president's state visit to Britain. [Guardian Unlimited]

Wait, wait, wait.

Let's take a closer look at the poll, shall we? Do, lets!

The survey shows that public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly pro-American with 62% of voters believing that the US is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world". It explodes the conventional political wisdom at Westminster that Mr Bush's visit will prove damaging to Tony Blair. Only 15% of British voters agree with the idea that America is the "evil empire" in the world.

Now hoooooold on a minute, buster!

A few points-

1. George W. Bush is not "America"
2. America and Americans, in general, are seen as a force for good in the world- for all we know, the poll could mean that re-runs of Jerry Springer outweigh the Bush Administration's horrid misdeeds around the world in the eye of the average punter.
3. OK, so the U.S. isn't an "evil empire," that doesn't mean that there are some things it does that people aren't too pleased with.
4. George W. Bush is not "America"
5. George W. Bush is not "America"
6. George W. Bush is not "America"
7. George W. Bush is not "America"

Got that? Good.

Because George W. Bush is not "America."

12:09:45 PM     leave/read comments []

High Court in Massachusetts Rules Gays Have Right to Marry. Massachusetts' highest court ruled today that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Hot damn!!!!

Lock up your daughters, I'm in a marryin' mood!

11:26:09 AM     leave/read comments []

Our pal, Mr. Jim is doin' the Lord's work and helping to save us from c|net's dastardly deeds.

In fact, yesterday was a big fun programming day for me. In addition to the music theory stuff, I put together a program to download MP3s from MP3.com. You may have heard that all the content from MP3.com is being deleted in a couple of weeks. Well, there's quite a few artists that I've been meaning to download, but never got around to doing so (because I didn't think that MP3.com would do something stupid like deleting all their content).

So I just threw together a simple Perl program that can retrieve and save the downloadable MP3s from an artist's site. Most artists have only a couple songs available, so this isn't normally an issue, but quite a few (like, say, Wayne and Liz) have a couple dozen songs available. Best to check them out now, before they're gone forever.

Permalink to post

11:23:19 AM     leave/read comments []

ShapeShifter applies interface 'themes' to OS X. Unsanity LLC on Tuesday introduced ShapeShifter, a new tool for Mac OS X that allows you to apply themes to your Mac OS X interface. It's available for download now and costs US$20 to register. [MacCentral]

Hack your GUI! (No, this is not an item about distance spitting.)

Don't like how your windows (really who does?) and menus look? Change 'em! Sure, it'll piss off Apple's interface designers, but hey- fight the power.

11:12:14 AM     leave/read comments []

Kasparov set for virtual decider. Chess great Garry Kasparov is due to play a deciding fourth match in his latest attempt to beat a computer. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

The match is tied as it comes down to the, ahem, wire!

John Fernandez of X3D Technologies, which developed the computer programme and sponsored the match, described Mr Kasparov's performance in Sunday's five-hour game as "dominating".

"He disarmed the computer's biggest weapon, which is its calculating ability," Mr Fernandez said.

But he said it would be extremely hard for Mr Kasparov to repeat his performance in the final match.

Kasparov was then not quoted as saying, "I'm gonna put da smackdown on dat silicon bee-yatch like it was huffing vaccie valves on a three day bender at EPCOT. Representin' FleshPeeps!"

11:04:22 AM     leave/read comments []

Go get 'im lads n' lassies! Pop his (exceedingly expensive) bubble.

Wireless users chase George Bush across London.

Cellphone-toting protesters pissed off about the "security bubble" surrounding George W. Bush during his ultra-high-security UK sojourn are using wireless tech to track his whereabouts -- and make their opinions known. This BBC News article has details, and this moblog captured a snapshot of one of the flyers soliciting participation from UK geeks. (thanks SH)
[Boing Boing Blog]

10:56:16 AM     leave/read comments []

Apple's on roll!

Expect the stock price to drop, like it always does after new hardware is introduced.

10:50:16 AM     leave/read comments []

Holy crap!

I'm tired.

G'night, Blog.

11:51:32 PM     leave/read comments []

Our pal Austin announces his first show!

If you're anywhere near Austin, TX. be sure to check out my pal Austin's show of his paintings.

Peeled, an exhibition of works by the proprietor of the Oily Rags blog, Austin Swinburn, will be appearing in the Flood Gallery from Nov. 24 to Nov. 28. Just in time for Thanksgiving, so almost no-one will actually be able to see it! No fewer than 10 and possibly as many as 20 paintings drawings and sculptures will be on display. An opening reception hosted by the artist will be held in the late afternoon to early evening of Nov. 24, further details to be announced as they become available. However, food and drink will definitely be provided, since otherwise it's certain no-one will show. Come one, come all, tell your friends, tell your enemies.

5:37:07 PM    

Ah, yet another way to move us all down the Road To Serfdom.

Since oil prices are relatively high entering winter, Americans will notice any further problems in Saudi Arabia as they fill up their gas tank or pay for home heating oil. The price for West Texas crude closed above $32 a barrel last week, the highest point since the beginning of October and up from about $25 a barrel last year at this time.

Yeouch! I hope blanket prices don't spike.

5:33:51 PM     leave/read comments []

Iconographers, have at it!

3:47:12 PM     leave/read comments []

Blooper proves bum deal for Sharwoods. Media: Food giant admits the name of its new range of curry sauces means 'arse' in Punjabi. [Guardian Unlimited]

Oops. Bite the wax tadpole while you're at it.

So confident was Sharwoods that its new Bundh sauces would be a hit that it backed the launch with a huge £6m television advertising campaign created by Labour's advertising agency, TBWA.

What it failed to foresee was that "bundh" in Punjabi has an altogether less savoury meaning - the nearest English translation being, to put it bluntly, "arse".

In Japan, we investigate other phenomenon of the nether regions.Experts sniff out why Uranus gas is silent but violent:

Getting set for another grinding day at the office, Hanako Suzuki is riding a crammed Tokyo subway when, suddenly, a strange odor wafts through the carriage. Hanako crinkles her nose once or twice, then takes a deep breath -- and immediately wishes she hadn't.

Hanako shuts her mouth to stop herself retching. She holds her breath to stop the rancid smell from piercing her nostrils. Her eyes bulge and body tenses. Others jostling her in the carriage cough and splutter. Finally, the train stops and carriage doors open, letting in some fresher air and giving commuters a degree of respite.

Hanako's carriage had been gassed. Not the deadly type of attack like death cult AUM Shinrikyo let off in 1995, but the everyday type of gassing that follows somebody's breakfast and the type of assault that make AERA (11/24) ponder why flatulence creating the least noise can create the vilest odors.

11:59:15 AM    

Fuckin' A, Bubba! Check it out:

You're Lou Reed. God, you are cool, can I touch you so the magic will rub off? You are perceptive, witty, and badass. You wear cool shades, even at night, and probably wear black more than most people. You don't give a fuck what other people think, but you are also very sensitive in the way that you pick up on things that others don't. Sometimes you come off as an asshole, but that's what makes you cool. You are a poet, and you embody New York City. You will still be hip when you are old, and artists love you.

Which rad old school 70's glam icon are you? (with pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

Could I have been anyone else? No. I don't think so.

Props to The Melpster for the link.

11:08:37 AM     leave/read comments []

Boing Boing keeps us alerted to new ways to spend your hard-earned:

Domo-kun phone.

It's not clear to me whether this is a phone, a phone-cozy, a homemade phone-mod or a photoshop job, but whatever it is, I want one.

Link (via KoKoRo)
[Boing Boing Blog]

I can't decide if it's cute and cool or just more trendy techno-crap that in six months will look as dumb as an NFL Inside with Rich Eisen logo-ed trucker hat on Paris Hilton's sex tape. (Yes, that was shameless Google-Fishing.)

10:59:05 AM     leave/read comments []

The Band That Can't Stop Recording. With over 15 albums and an estimated 3,000 fans, the spacey progressive band Guided by Voices can continue answering its apparently chatty muse. By Chris Nelson. [New York Times: Business]

Wow, Bob Pollard makes the New York Times. Does that make the Times cool or GbV stodgy? Or maybe just co-opted? I dunno. It's cool to see such a great band get some good pub, though I can't say the fans fare as well.

Mr. Pollard's impressionist songwriting style seems to attract fans with a, well, fanatical bent, Mr. Warren said. "You probably get a lot of people who are more, I wouldn't say artistic, but creative," Mr. Warren said. "Or maybe just anal-retentive."

Yeah, that too.

10:53:25 AM     leave/read comments []

Morons in the News: Bush administration continues to live in fantasy world. The Bush Administration, despite mounting evidence that Saddam had no WMD's, nor had any plans to distribute them to terrorists, continues to claim that he did. [Morons Dot Org]

Amazing, even when the CIA says it ain't so, Bushie and Co. keep it up.

The CIA's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found no evidence that former president Saddam Hussein tried to transfer chemical or biological technology or weapons to terrorists, according to a military and intelligence expert.

....

"No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer weapons of mass destruction or weapons to terrorists," Cordesman wrote of Kay's briefing. "Only possibility was Saddam's Fedayeen [his son's irregular terrorist force] and talk only."

One of the concerns the Bush administration cited early last year to justify the need to invade Iraq was that Hussein would provide chemical or biological agents or weapons to al Qaeda or other terrorists. Despite the disclosure that U.S. and British intelligence officials assessed that Hussein would use or distribute such weapons only if he were attacked and faced defeat, administration spokesmen have continued to defend that position.

10:37:54 AM    

Random: Girls Suspended for Kissing in Cafeteria. Two high school girls were suspended for publicly kissing on top of a cafeteria table as part of a protest of homophobia. [Morons Dot Org]

Yet another tin-pot school dictator puts the slapdown on tolerance and free thinking.

You've seen Britney and Madonna. You've seen it on "All My Children." Now a Howard County high school has seen senior Katherine Pecore and junior Stephanie Haaser lock lips on top of a lunch table.

The result? Two-day suspensions, a school protest and 15 minutes of fame.

....

The two girls climbed on top of a lunch table and shouted, "End homophobia now!" Then the girls, both heterosexual, made out. Estimates for the length of the kiss range from 10 to 15 seconds.

"It was full on," Pecore said. "It was intense."

There was stunned silence in the crowded cafeteria at first. But soon staff and students at River Hill could talk about little else. The two girls were suspended from school the following two days for being disruptive, Principal Scott Pfeifer said, not for the kiss itself. There is no policy against kissing in the cafeteria.

"I'm confident I made the right decision," Pfeifer said. "Anybody who would stand up and do a disruptive act, I would treat them the same way." The fact that it happened to be two girls "is totally meaningless to me."

I bet anything involving independent thought is totally meaningless to Mr. Pfeifer.

But then, there's nothing more threatening to repressed little men like Pfeifer than those people who don't fit their narrow definition of what a human being should be. So, they have to get all Medieval on their "deviant" asses.

Across the country, students who cross traditional gender lines have made news. Two years ago in Boulder, Colo., students threatened to stage a "kiss-in" when a local high school banned a picture of two girls kissing from the yearbook. On Halloween in Connecticut, a 15-year-old boy was suspended after he showed up at school in an "inappropriate" costume: a floral skirt, matching scarf and lipstick. The boy and his father, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, are suing the school.

Yeah. A real threat to learning.

Bullshit. Just garden variety oppression and coercion, pretending to be a commitment to "education." The only lessons taught are in mindless obedience, groupthink and intolerance.

10:37:19 PM     leave/read comments []

Source: The Slat Rat Chronicles; 11/16/03; 10:12:08 PM

The 9/11 Terrorists' Real WeaponAn excellent short essay by Bruce Schneier on just what the real threat is when it comes to airplane hijacking. Bruce is a brilliant and pragmatic security analyst. Too bad the Bush Administration doesn't take advantage of his skill set.

We all know that the new airline security procedures are silly. Baggage screeners taking away pocket knives and box cutters doesn't improve airline security, even after 9/11.

People who think otherwise don't understand what allowed the terrorists to take over four planes two years ago. It wasn't a small knife. It wasn't a box cutter. The critical weapon that the terrorists had was surprise. With surprise they could have taken the planes over with their bare hands. Without surprise they couldn't have taken the planes over, even if they had guns.

And surprise has been confiscated on all flights since 9/11. It doesn't matter what weapons any potential new hijackers have; the passengers will no longer allow them to take over airplanes. I don't believe that airplane hijacking is a thing of the past, but when the next plane gets taken over it will be because a group of hijackers figured out a clever new weapon that we haven't thought of, and not because they snuck some small pointy objects through security.

[The Slat Rat Chronicles]

10:26:14 PM    

Al Qaeda-Japan (AFP).

Al Qaeda threatens attack in heart of Tokyo if Japan sends troops to Iraq. [Nippon Goro Goro]

How can that be?!?!? The U.S. captured and tried Osama Bin Laden, right?

What?

Oh.

RUN! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR VERY LIVES!!!!!

10:19:40 PM     leave/read comments []

Solar Flares (AP).

Japan's beleagured space agency, JAXA, which lost two satellites during last month's punch from the sun, braces for possible damage to other inadequately shielded satellites from more expected solar ejections in the next couple of weeks. [Nippon Goro Goro]

12:21:06 PM     leave/read comments []

Attention wannabe Tokyo Drifters!

Help Wanted: Yakuza (Mainichi).

Japan's largest organized crime family is recruiting. Here is your chance to loose a pinkie finger or two. [Nippon Goro Goro]

12:13:23 PM