[Quote:]

When it comes to presidential politics, Barack Obama has all the buzz on the Internet. He has raised record amounts of money online. He hired a Facebook co-founder to help leverage social networking for his White House push. And just today, Nielsen Online declared that the Illinois Democrat had an online “head start” (PDF download) on his Republican opponent, John McCain. Obama drew nearly twice as many blog mentions in June, and his website attracted 2.3 million unique visitors in May, compared with 563,000 for McCain’s.

But although McCain admitted to TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington that he was computer illiterate, the Arizona senator has a big name making the case that he’s the right choice for the high-tech industry: former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina.

She probably expects McCain to run the country the same way she ran HP.

Her recommendation alone would be enough for me to NEVER vote for McCain.

[Quote:]

Last week, President Bush signed into law a new GI Bill that doubled educational benefits for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Though Bush had steadfastly opposed the bill, he attempted to steal credit for its passage, and praised Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for helping, despite McCain’s own vocal and ardent opposition to the bill.

Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) was one of the many conservatives who followed Bush and McCain’s lead. On May 15, Turner joined the majority of House conservatives and voted against the GI Bill.

But now that Bush and McCain have reversed themselves, Turner has followed suit, writing an op-ed in his hometown paper today praising the bill and claiming — three times — that he was “proud to support” it:

It is our responsibility to provide [veterans] with more than just recognition for their service: we must also make certain that they have the skills they need to accomplish their next mission once they return to civilian life. That is why I was proud to support recently passed legislation that expanded the Montgomery GI bill to provide more funding for veterans to receive a college education. […]

With the huge impact the GI bill has had on America and the debt that we all owe our nation’s veterans in mind, I was proud to support recent legislation that dramatically expanded the scope and scale of the educational benefits available to our veterans. […]

I am proud to have supported legislation that will directly provide this benefit for military families and look forward to further working on their behalf in the future.

[Quote:]

In case you were interested in knowing if there were any countries that are not a bunch of dirtbag, fiat-currency, inflationist morons, the answer is, unfortunately, “no”. But Mike Hewitt of DollarDaze.org writes, “The Swiss Franc was the best-performing currency of the 20th century, losing only 80% of its value.” Hahahaha!

Did you know you just violated the Terms of Service of this web site?

Wait, that didn’t sound scary enough. Let me rephrase it:

Did you know you just commited a felony punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment?

[Quote:]

De Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (RUN) gaat ondanks het kort geding dat de producent van de ov-chip tegen de universiteit heeft aangespannen door met publicatie van een onderzoek naar de zogeheten Mifare Classic Chip. Dat kondigde de universiteit maandag aan.

In maart kraakte een onderzoeksteam van de RUN de al vaak bekritiseerde chip. Maar NXP, het bedrijf achter de Mifare Classic, wil niet dat de RUN over de tekortkomingen van de chip publiceert en sleepte de universiteit voor de rechter.

Deskundigen vinden het Nijmeegse onderzoek van grote wetenschappelijke waarde. De RUN ziet het kort geding dan ook met vertrouwen tegemoet: een publicatieverbod brengt de academische vrijheid van onafhankelijk onderzoek, waaronder de vrijheid van publicatie, in het geding.

Het openbaar maken van de onderzoeksresultaten gaat wat hen betreft dan ook gewoon door.

[..]

Ook stuurde de RUN het artikel naar NXP, dat direct bezwaar maakte. Ook het compromis van de Radboud Universiteit om via arbitrage te laten oordelen over de datum van publicatie wees NXP van de hand.

Het ding is echt fundamenteel onherstelbaar lek, en dat verklaart de tegenwerking. Wat mij betreft mag de kamer de voor dit systeem verantwoordelijke bewindslieden naar huis sturen. Als daarmee het hele kabinet valt, prima!

[Quote:]

What would Jesus fly? Senator Charles Grassley investigates TV evangelists. One of whom claims his financial records belong to God. Further Investigation of TV evangelists some of whom are leaving on a jet plane. All thanks to the Prosperity Doctrine

[Quote:]

A couple of years ago, I listened to an interview with James Randi, the skeptic who famously exposed faith healer Peter Popoff and who runs the Million Dollar Challenge. This part of the interview, starting at 40:10, made me about as angry as I’ve ever been. (I’ve cleaned it up a bit for readability):

Randi: They must see the grief that I have seen. I’ve attended a great number of these things, always in disguise of course, and to see these people…. Well, after a Benny Hinn performance at Mapleleaf Gardens a few years ago… I sat across the street in a restaurant during a bit of a break, and there was a woman in there sobbing. A very large elderly woman sobbing, and she had her friend sitting with her.

I could hear her clearly, and she was saying “But I’ve been to eleven of the meetings now. I’ve followed him all over the United States and now into Canada, and I’m trying to get up on the stage. I need to be healed, I need his help. And they keep me back, they won’t let me up there. And I keep giving money. I’m giving money all the time. I’ve gone into the CD’s,” I’ve done this and that.

And her companion leaned across and took her by the hand and she says “But dear, you haven’t given everything yet. And Jesus requires that you give your all.”

I got up and left the table. I wanted to upset their table. So angry, seething. So angry, it frightens me that I can get that angry. At these people, never mind Benny Hinn! He’s only the instigator, the one who’s getting the money. These people are being so bloody stupid! To go along with this kind of thing, to allow themselves to be taken to this depth.”

Shermer: So this is your answer to the question, “Oh, what’s the harm? C’mon, it gives them hope, makes them feel good.”

Randi: Yep. That’s where the harm is. They begin to depend on it and the begin to believe the crap that’s being told them.

As long as there are people who are willing to believe this crap, there will be millionaire preachers and faith healers.

[Quote:]

Anyone caught carrying a knife without a good excuse should expect to be sent to prison, David Cameron says.

[..]

He urged police to exercise “common sense” by not prosecuting people carrying penknives for angling, or for bringing home kitchen or garden equipment from the shops.

Right. Because we all know how well that is working for photography.

Could someboy stick a knife in this guy’s back, and send him off to jail if he fails to explain that one?

[Quote:]

This morning, you can still walk into a “coffee shop” in Amsterdam and smoke a huge joint of cannabis for breakfast. You just will not be able to mix any tobacco with your cannabis. That is because the new Dutch ban on smoking tobacco in bars affects even that most Dutch of institutions: the “coffee shop” that legally serves cannabis. Pot is still permitted but cigarettes are out. Weird as this may sound, the rule is perfectly Dutch. The Netherlands is not the permissive society that foreigners imagine.

Rather, it is a nanny state, with a quirky nanny. The Dutch nanny lets you smoke dope and visit prostitutes and have teenage sex (homosexual if you prefer) as long as you do it while she stands over you wearing antiseptic gloves. Then, when you are finished, she will tax you for it.

[..]

Of course, the moment nanny lets you do something it stops being fun. That is why the Dutch rarely bother doing all the hedonistic things foreigners fantasise about. The country has one of the world’s lowest rates of teenage pregnancy, about a fifth of the British level; far fewer deaths from drugs overdoses than even Denmark or Norway; and less cannabis use than the UK or US.

[Quote:]

Wall Street is bracing for regional and small banks to fess up to large losses from their mounting volume of soured construction loans made primarily to home builders.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., $45.4 billion of the $631.8 billion in construction loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter were delinquent. When banks announce second-quarter results in coming weeks, they are expected to report sharp increases in loans that builders can’t repay. Banks are also facing intensifying pressure from federal and state regulators to deal with the problem loans on their books.

[Quote:]

I bought a Dell laptop months ago with the intention of using it as a command center both at home and on the road. I wanted something powerful enough to run all the image and video editing software that I would need to keep Ripten rocking day and night. I hit the ground running, and everything seemed to be working great, until I decided to record some on-screen video.

[..]

What? Stereo Mix? Where the fuck is my stereo mix? I only see two options, Mic and Line-in. Perplexed, I refocused my efforts on Google and began to search for the missing third option.

It was not long before I encountered multiple threads started by equally frustrated and confused consumers suffering from the same misfortune. Oddly enough they were all Dell owners with the same SigmaTel brand audio card that I had.

As I dug deeper into the various threads, I soon discovered that the issue had nothing to do with the hardware itself, and everything to do with the restrictions placed on it by the PC manufacturers.

It appears that Dell, and several other computer manufacturers such as Gateway and Pac Bell, were pressured by the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) into disabling the stereo mix functionality. If true, I find it disturbing that at no time did any of the aforementioned manufacturers see it fit to explain the restrictions they were imposing on our hardware.

One forum poster explained that he contacted Dell seeking a solution for his stereo mix woes, and they offered him one — for a $99 fee. So that we are all clear, the evidence points to Dell appeasing the RIAA by disabling hardware, only to have their customer service reps turn around and offer a solution to their consumers that reverses the alteration they made in the first place at a premium price. Sure as fuck sounds fishy to me.

[Quote:]

Colleen Hammond of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, loves packing her three kids and all their soccer gear into her 2000 GMC Yukon XL. But she hates paying $160 to fill the 38.5-gallon tank. Last month, she parked the Yukon in her driveway and borrowed her friend’s Toyota Land Cruiser.

“I don’t know if it gets better gas mileage, but I like her car because it costs $100 to fill it,” said Ms. Hammond, 40. “I think $100 for a tank of gas is cheap now.”

Fail.

[Quote:]

Guyanese authorities say a first-class airline passenger was so angry at seeing economy passengers leave a jetliner before him that he yanked open an emergency hatch and slid down the chute.

Police spokesman Sealall Persaud says the Guyanese man identified as Satyanand Christopher appeared to be intoxicated after the Delta Airlines flight from New York.

[Quote:]

Oishi. Another economic question?

Q You must be the most excellent expert on oil business.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. (Laughter.) Look where our price is. (Laughter.)

Q Well, actually, I’m suffering high gas prices.

THE PRESIDENT: You are?

Q Every day.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, you are.

Q So what can you do to curb energy inflation?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, a couple of things. One is you either — just, this is pure economics; you’ll understand this better than anybody here — you either increase the supply of something or decrease the demand of something in order to affect price — down. The habits of the United States consumer is beginning to change because people are now — they don’t like $4 gasoline. I can understand why they don’t like $4 gasoline. People are now looking for smaller cars.

That takes a while, however, to change. I fully understand that. But demand is beginning to shift in our country. And in order to affect worldwide demand, it seems like all of us — Japan, the United States and others at the G8 — need to convince some of the people coming to the G8 to stop subsidizing their consumers, or at least reduce the subsidies somewhat so that there is some effect on demand. Price cannot affect demand if people’s habits are subsidized by state enterprise — or the state.

Wait, what? He thinks my government subsidizes my fuel price? Really?.

I don’t know what the fuck he’s smoking, but I want some of it…

[Quote:]

The Immigration and Refugee Board was wrong when it decided that an American deserter couldn’t claim refugee status in Canada because the military transgressions he was evading weren’t severe enough to be war crimes or crimes against humanity, the Federal Court ruled Friday.

The judgment lowers one of the bars that the recent wave of American deserters need to clear when they seek asylum in Canada.

It said that dodging orders that are “contrary to the basic rules or norms of human conduct” is enough grounds to apply for refugee protection.

“Military action which systematically degrades, abuses or humiliates either combatants or non-combatants is capable of supporting a refugee claim where that is the proven reason for refusing to serve,” wrote Mr. Justice Robert Barnes, who is also a court-martial appellate judge.

In other words, Justice Robert Barnes just called the US a bunch of war criminals.

[Quote:]

“The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.”

So all the money they’re not going to have to borrow is called “savings” now?

I guess I’m going to save myself a million or two by not calling my bank in the next five minutes. Cool!

[Quote:]

Just when you thought you’ve heard it all…

A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.

This bracelet would:

• take the place of an airline boarding pass

• contain personal information about the traveler

• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to as, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line?

[Quote:]

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” — the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam’s nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

A lot of US Republican voters will probably go “Ah, see, Bush was right, he was trying to get WMDs”, conveniently forgetting a few things:

1. yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called “dirty bomb”.
2. A major reason for the war in 2003 was that it was claimed Saddam was trying to get yellowcake from Niger. Why would he, if he had tons of it lying around? And this is old stuff. From the article: “Israeli warplanes bombed a reactor project at the site in 1981. Later, U.N. inspectors documented and safeguarded the yellowcake, which had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said.” 550 tons of material sitting unused for 2+ decades doesn’t lend much credence to the idea that he was pursuing nuclear weapons. Much to the contrary, it’s a good clue that he wasn’t. For all you game players out there: the cake was a lie.