[Quote:]

Buy a TiVo lately? Sometime in the next few months, your machine will quietly download a patch that makes it respond to a new copy protection scheme from software maker Macrovision. The app puts restrictions on how long your DVR can save certain kinds of shows – so far, just pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs. It’s the first time your TiVo won’t let you watch whatever you want, whenever you want

A guy goes into a sex shop and asks for a rubber doll. The guy behind the counter says “Normal or Muslim?”. “What’s the difference?” asks the customer. “The Muslim one blows itself up.”

One day a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie. “Tie me up,” she purred, “and you can do anything you want.” So he tied her up and went to the pub…

[Quote:]

A survey of deaths in Iraqi households estimates that as many as 100,000 more people may have died throughout the country in the 18 months after the U.S. invasion than would be expected based on the death rate before the war.

There is no official figure for the number of Iraqis killed since the conflict began, but some non-governmental estimates range from 10,000 to 30,000. As of Wednesday, 1,081 U.S. servicemen had been killed, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

The scientists who wrote the report concede that the data they based their projections on were of “limited precision,” because the quality of the information depends on the accuracy of the household interviews used for the study. The interviewers were Iraqi, most of them doctors.

Designed and conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and the Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, the study is being published Thursday on the Web site of The Lancet medical journal.

The survey indicated violence accounted for most of the extra deaths seen since the invasion, and air strikes from coalition forces caused most of the violent deaths, the researchers wrote in the British-based journal.

“Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children,” they said.

A 70-year-old Texas Rancher got his hand caught in a gate while working cattle. He wrapped the hand in his bandana and drove his pickup to the doctor. While suturing the laceration, the doctor asked the old man about George W. Bush being in the White House.

The old Texan said, “Well, ya know, Bush is a ‘Post Turtle.’”

Not knowing what the old man meant, the doctor asked what a Post Turtle was.

The old man looked at him and drawled, “When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a Post Turtle.”

The old man saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain:

“You know he didn’t get there by himself, he doesn’t belong there, he can’t get anything done while he’s up there, and you just want to help the poor bastard get down.”

If you get a chance to see the latest Southpark (Season 8 Episode 8), do. It’s a perfect summary of the election season…

This is what the South Park website has to say about it:

When PETA demonstrates against the use of a cow as South Park Elementary’s mascot, the student body is forced to choose a new one. As the election approaches, Kyle tries to convince everyone that his candidate, a giant douche, is better than Cartman’s nominee, a turd sandwich.

[Quote:]

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew in Iraq shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein was in the area where tons of explosives disappeared, and may have videotaped some of those weapons.

The missing explosives are now an issue in the presidential debate. Democratic candidate John Kerry is accusing President Bush of not securing the site they allegedly disappeared from. President Bush says no one knows if the ammunition was taken before or after the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003 when coalition troops moved in to the area.

Using GPS technology and talking with members of the 101st Airborne Division, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has determined the crew embedded with the troops may have been on the southern edge of the Al Qaqaa installation, where the ammunition disappeared. The news crew was based just south of Al Qaqaa, and drove two or three miles north of there with soldiers on April 18, 2003.

“For a political candidate to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief.”

George W. Bush

“President Bush couldn’t be more right. He jumped to conclusions about any connection between Saddam Hussein and 911. He jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction. He jumped to conclusions about the mission being accomplished. He jumped to conclusions about how we had enough troops on the ground to win the peace. And because he jumped to conclusions, terrorists and insurgents in Iraq may very well have their hands on powerful explosives to attack our troops, we are stuck in Iraq without a plan to win the peace, and Americans are less safe both at home and abroad. By doing all these things, he broke faith with our men and women in uniform. He has let them down. George W. Bush is unfit to be our Commander in Chief.”

Wesley Clark

This story has “Karl Rove” written all over it..

[Quote:]

Tens of thousands of postal ballots have gone missing in the US state of Florida, sparking fresh concern over irregularities in the poll campaign.

Some 60,000 absentee ballots were despatched by authorities in Broward County, north of Miami, this month.

[..]

Both the Democrats and Republicans have already begun filing lawsuits in states across the US, challenging different aspects of the election process.

[Quote:]

Reporters Without Borders announces its third annual worldwide index of press freedom. Such freedom is threatened most in East Asia (with North Korea at the bottom of the entire list at 167th place, followed by Burma 165th, China 162nd, Vietnam 161st and Laos 153rd) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia 159th, Iran 158th, Syria 155th, Iraq 148th).

In these countries, an independent media either does not exist or journalists are persecuted and censored on a daily basis. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists are not guaranteed there. Continuing war has made Iraq the most deadly place on earth for journalists in recent years, with 44 killed there since fighting began in March last year.

But there are plenty of other black spots around the world for press freedom. Cuba (in 166th place) is second only to China as the biggest prison for journalists, with 26 in jail (China has 27). Since spring last year, these 26 independent journalists have languished in prison after being given sentences of between 14 and 27 years.

No privately-owned media exist in Turkmenistan (164th) and Eritrea (163rd), whose people can only read, see or listen to government-controlled media dominated by official propaganda.

The greatest press freedom is found in northern Europe (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway), which is a haven of peace for journalists. Of the top 20 countries, only three (New Zealand 9th, Trinidad and Tobago 11th and Canada 18th) are outside Europe.

[Quote:]

No, this ain’t The Onion. But it is ridiculous. Suicidegirls founder Sean says:

I got this email this morning from the law firm that represent Nintendo. They are claiming that the member RuneLateralus listing Zelda and Metorid as his favortie video games in his profile is an infringement on Nintendo’s intellectual property. I enjoy an ice cold coca cola on a hot day. Do you think Coca Cola is going to sue me for posting that?

Remember, kids, lawyers are evil and all they want to do is figure a way to bill you more of their time. Nintendo is actually paying these people to threaten me over RuneLateralus favorite video games listing on his profile. What a bunch of morons.

Link to SG blog post with full text of Nintendo nastygram. (Ed. note: SuicideGirls is a sponsor of BoingBoing)

UPDATE: Link to update post

A banana spider’s web, saturated by a morning dew, is highlighted by the sun in the Apalachicola National Forest, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2004, in Sopchoppy, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

Although I’m glad the election campaign is almost over, I’m going to miss the wealth of cartoons – it’s definately silly season right now.. Click the link below to see some more…

Read the rest of this entry »

[Quote:]

Rapper Eminem, who made headlines with the gleefully profane alias Slim Shady, has taken his deepest plunge yet into the political world with “Mosh,” a new song that, along with its music video, slams President Bush and calls on young America to mobilize against the administration.

In the animated video, which had its debut on the Internet this week, Eminem leads an army of young people in hooded sweatshirts who march through the streets of a police-state America. As the ominous, martial cadence of the song builds, the hooded legion gains new members — a single mom who receives an eviction notice, a soldier who returns home from war only to be ordered back to Iraq, and rapper Lloyd Bankschafes under the harsh authority of police.

The disaffected army makes it past police and soldiers to storm a government building, but inside they don’t riot — the video climaxes with the mob in an orderly line at a table with a placard that reads, “Sign in to vote.” The fade shot at the end reads simply: “Vote Tuesday, November 2.”

[..]

The video premiered Monday on the Guerrilla News Network website and was directed by Ian Inaba, a Berkeley-based contributor to the website. It hit MTV on Tuesday, and as of Wednesday afternoon the channel’s website listed it as No. 1 on its chart of hot videos.

(you can see the video here)

“It was a difficult call, given that we endorsed George Bush in 2000 and supported the war in Iraq. But in the end, we felt he has been too incompetent to deserve re-election.”

Here’s some sample images from Al Qaqaa. It’s 60-cm resolution, enough to see individual trucks.

I guess it’s safe to assume the Pentagon has better equipment than this…

Here’s a warning for you… if you advertise with “An Army of One”, you end up having to use Photoshop whenever you need a backdrop of soldiers for your advertising.