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Tony Snow from Fox News broke out the heavy duty bullshit at last Friday Night’s taping of Real Time with Bill Maher. It was so bad that even the token reality-based comic relief (Billy Connelly) was getting annoyed. Here’s the rundown:

“Scooter Libby has now been indicted on charges of speaking to reporters.”

Actually, he was charged with obstructing justice, perjury and lying. It’s possible that Snow may have meant this as a joke. If so, he should probably leave the joke telling to the host.

“The prosecutor never said ‘you know what, it was illegal to mention Valerie Plame’s name’ because it wasn’t.”

Nope. Actually two lies there. One that it wasn’t illegal, and another that Fitzgerald didn’t say it.

“I’m not aware of anyone saying that perjury doesn’t matter.”

Bill Maher reminded him of a certain Senator from Texas.
When pressed again on Libby’s charges, he expands on his previous bullshit.

“You know what each of those counts involve? Speaking to reporters.”

Uh, no. Again, this has nothing to do with what he said to reporters. It has to do with what he said to the Grand Jury.

“The wife is the one who arranged for Joe Wilson to go over to Niger.”

Actually, his wife was not the one who arranged for him to go. She was only asked for a recommendation.

“The people who really smeared Joe Wilson were the people who looked into his charges, the Senate Intelligence Committe, who said ‘All the stuff you said in the New York Times was lies. You were wrong.’”

This is completely incorrect. The Senate Intelligence Committee says right here that Wilson’s assessment didn’t change anyone’s opinion and that the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) drew an opposite conclusion from the Senate Intelligence Committee. If Wilson was wrong in his report, how come the INR got it right?

“What they said is that Joe Wilson’s account in the New York Times of his trip to Niger sipping spiced tea and trying to investigate charges of yellowcake uranium sales on the part of Niger, basically his account was misleading. That he did in fact find evidence. That the report that he filed with the CIA, later forwarded to the White House indicated that such sales exist.”

Again, if his account was misleading, then how come the State Department’s reading of the document was completely accurate with what Wilson wrote in the Times. Idiots.

“Valerie Plame was not in fact an active spy, and she hadn’t been for more than five years. If she had been, and then you’d have a serious charge.”

Actually, right there in the indictments, it says Plame was classified.

Bill: “Her neighbors didn’t know.”
Tony: “I hate to tell you, but I think that’s probably BS.”

I hate to tell you Tony, but you’re full of shit.

“I actually read the indictment.”

Based on everything else, I’m assuming this is bullshit too.

But even after the topic at hand moved on to other things, Snow’s bullshit kept flowing. On the oil companies record profits this quarter:

Tony: “Have you seen Microsoft’s profits are? Have you looked at profits in the”
Bill: “They’re not this high”
Tony: “Oh yeah”
Bill: “No, they’re not”

Exxon’s last quarterly profit: $9.9 billion.

Microsoft’s last quarterly profit: $3.14 billion.

Bill: “They were talking about the oil situation and they blamed it on Katrina”
Tony: “They didn’t blame that on Katrina”

As if I even have to post something, here’s a Fox News article which says that the high prices were a result of Katrina.

And finally, a head-spinner on Iraq…

“You didn’t have girls in school when Saddam Hussein was there.”

Now that’s some high grade bullshit. Before the war, 68 percent of Iraqi’s girls attended school, and the only reason it was so low was because sanctions made it too expensive for many families. Before the first gulf war, the number was 92 percent.

[Quote:]

It took mere minutes for a partisan divide to open over Samuel Alito. Even as President George W. Bush was introducing the Third Circuit Appeals Court judge as his pick to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, political activists on the Right and Left were girding for battle over Alito’s positions on civil rights, affirmative action, and abortion.

But one group is breathing a big sigh of relief: Corporate America. Of the dozen or so names on Bush’s rumored short list of high court candidates, Alito ranked near the top for the boardroom set.

In the 800-plus opinions he has penned during his 15 years as a federal judge, Alito consistently has come down on the side of limiting corporate liability, limiting employee rights, and limiting federal regulation. “He would be a liability restrainer,” says Stan Anderson, legal-affairs lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Am I the only one noticing the language Bush has started is now creeping into the mainstream language? No longer “he sets goals”, instead “he’s a goal-setter”. He doesn’t restrain liability, instead he’s a “liabilty restrainer”.

[Quote:]

Millions of people worldwide are forced to walk long distances on a daily basis to collect their water requirements for the day. Traditional methods of collecting water include the use of 20-liter (5-gallon) buckets, which are laboriously carried on the head. Extensive suffering occurs in the process. This method is very time and energy consuming and is also the cause of many serious health problems.

The Hippo Water Roller was specifically designed to alleviate the suffering caused by a lack of access to water. The Hippo Water Roller is a barrel-shaped container designed to transport 90 liters (20 gallons) of water. It comprises of a drum with a large screw-on cap and a clip-on steel handle.

[Quote:]

Hollywood has fielded a shockingly ambitious piece of “Analog Hole” legislation while everyone was out partying in costume. Under a new proposed Analog Hole bill, it will be illegal to make anything capable of digitizing video unless it either has all its outputs approved by the Hollywood studios, or is closed-source, proprietary and tamper-resistant. The idea is to make it impossible to create an MPEG from a video signal unless Hollywood approves it.

This is like the Broadcast Flag on steroids. The Broadcast Flag only covered TV receivers. This covers everything with an analog video input. If this had been around in 1976, the VCR would have been illegal. Today, it would ban Mythtv, every tuner-card in the market, and boxes like ElGato’s eyeTV the Slingbox and the Orb and the vPod. This is a proposal to turn huge classes of technology into something that exists only at the sufferance of the studios.

And what do they suffer? Not much. Here are a couple of the stupid ideas we can expect to see protected through rules like this, all drawn from real discussions with DRM lobbyists from the MPAA:

1. You can “accept a contract” by changing the channel. If you change the channel from 3 to 4, and the show on channel 4 has a signal that says it can’t be recorded, then by watching channel 4, you’re “making an agreement” to waive your time-shifting right in exchange for the show. This is like a shopkeeper hiding a “I reserve the right to punch you in the nose” sign somewhere in his shop and then randomly clobbering his customers, answering any complaints by saying that you agreed to it when you came through the door.

2. Everything with value has a price-tag. Today you can rewind TV, fast-forward it, skip the ads, move it to another device in your house, or stream it to your web-browser on the road. Tomorrow all of these features will only exist if they are permitted, on a case by case basis. The studios will “enable the business-model” of charging you money for the stuff that you get for free today. Here’s a quote: “Doing this stuff has value, and if it has value, we should be able to charge money for it.” They do indeed have value: you currently enjoy that value. Under this proposal, the value will be stolen from you and sold back to you piecemeal.

Now, will this solve any problems? Don’t be ridiculous. There are literally tens, if not hundreds of millions of products in the market today that don’t obey the rules the studios want to embed in their video. If just one of those devices gets access to the video, then poof, it’s on the Internet. In other words, you won’t need to own a free and open digitizer card to get access to digitized video: you’ll just need to own Internet access.

So what problem does this solve? In the parlance of the studios, this will “keep honest users honest.” Which is to say that if you’re someone who only wants to go on doing all the perfectly legal things that you can do with video today — watch, store, time-shift, space-shift, format-shift — then you will be prevented from doing so without permission.

However, if you’re someone who actually wants to infringe copyright by downloading video from the Internet, this will have zero effect on you. This is not a proposal to protect copyright — this is a proposal to bootstrap Hollywood’s limited monopoly over who can copy its movies into an unlimited monopoly over the design of deivces capable of copying its videos.

Any lawmaker who supports this is an idiot. Americans will forgive a lot of sins from their elected representatives, but there’s one thing they won’t stand for and that’s breaking their TVs. Watch this space for information on how you can contact your congresscritter and make sure s/he gets the message.

Apparently I’m not the only one pissed off with Sony… this began when he wrote the label about the DRM on a CD he decided not to buy, and got this answer:

We at ATO Records are aware of the problems being experienced by certain fans due to the copy-protection of our distributor. Neither we nor our artists ever gave permission for the use of this technology, nor is it our distributor’s opinion that they need our permission. Wherever it is our decision, we will forego use of copy-protection, just as we have in the past.

And it gets weirder…

[Quote:]

Part III
As odd as the story is so far, its about to get a whole lot weirder: It turns out that all Engadget (quoting Variety) notes that this DRM is not at all about making the CD immune to piracy. Instead, its part of a pissing contest between Sony and Apple:  Variety writes that “the new copy protection scheme — which makes it difficult to rip CDs and listen to them with an iPod — is designed to put pressure on Apple to open the iPod to other music services, rather than making it dependent on the iTunes Music Store for downloads.”

You mean to tell me that this isn’t even about P2P and unauthorized downloading? How annoying is that? Sony has their panties in a bunch cause Apple has been kicking their arses all over the innovation and digital music schoolyard? So the mature response from a major global conmsumer electronics corporation is to take their ball and go home?

DRM is now being used as a competitive economic weapon — not as an anti-piracy tool.

As a music consumer, I find this ridiculous. Why I cannot use a legally purchased CD — because Sony is miffed at Apple for creating the 2000′s version of their Walkman — is beyond absurd. I am very, very annoyed at this. 

In fact, I am so perturbed at this act of wanton stupidity, that two imminent purchases — a Sony Bravia LCD big screen TV and the Sony Vaio notebook — are now put on hold.

So far, Sony’s lost business with me is now one CD ($10.99), one flat panel TV ($3,499) and one laptop ($3,199). That’s  lost sales of approximately $6,710. If you are a Sony shareholder, you should be as annoyed as I am.

If only lies left semen-stains…

Jon Stewart

[Quote:]

Het CDA in Breda nodigt premier Balkenende en andere Haagse CDA-kopstukken niet uit om in die plaats campagne te voeren rond de gemeenteraadsverkiezing volgend jaar maart. Maar als ze desondanks toch willen komen, zijn ze van harte welkom.

Voorzitter Machielsen van het CDA in Breda heeft dit dinsdag gezegd. Hij nuanceert daarmee eerdere uitlatingen van het CDA-raadslid Lips. Die meldde dat Balkenende en andere landelijke politici niet welkom zouden zijn in de Baroniestad.

De belangrijkste reden waarom de Haagse CDA-top niet wordt uitgenodigd is dat de verkiezingen vooral lokaal van belang zijn, aldus Machielsen. “We hebben geen directe behoefte aan landelijke politici.”

Gelul. In Breda heeft het CDA de grootste fractie met 11 van de 39 zetels. Dat willen ze natuurlijk graag zo houden.

[Quote:]

Zonder gereserveerde zitplaats kun je het wel schudden in de Thalys….. Er waren klapstoeltjes in de hal beschikbaar maar ik denk dat ze wilde slapen. Ze ademde nog wel.

[Quote:]

Gizmodo’s new Norwegian correspondent SilverSnake sends shocking—shocking!—news about Microsoft’s Xbox 360 retail marketing demands. Retailers in the land of King Herald V are each being alloted a supply of 20 consoles, 6 core editions and 14 premium versions. But there is a catch: In order to get all of them, each shop or chain has to sign an agreement saying that they will sell out of all 20 consoles on the release date (which is December 2 over there). On top of that, the retailers must agree to sell a minimum of 2 games per console.

“Microsoft Norway even said them selves that they’re gonna use the ‘Sold Out’ as a marketing strategy to hype the console.”

Although the exact numbers are no doubt different for American and European retailers, similar tales of this Microsoft marketing/strong-arm strategy are likely to hold fast around the globe. I’ve been hearing rumors that the Xbox 360 will only be available in bundles with a set number of games when it goes on sale here. This tactic is not new—I’m pretty sure Sony will do the same thing when it launches the PS3 too. And there is nothing like a sell-out to generate publicity (even if it requires slowing the production line to ensure a shortage).

[Quote:]

The nomination of Samuel Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court raises a lot of questions about the judge’s attitudes toward federalism, privacy and civil rights. But it has already answered one big question about President Bush. Anyone wondering whether the almost endless setbacks and embarrassments the White House has suffered over the last year would cause Mr. Bush to fix his style of governing should realize that the answer is: no.

As a political candidate, Mr. Bush had an extremely useful ability to repeat the same few simple themes over and over. As president, he has been cramped by the same habit. The solution to almost every problem seems to be either to rely on a close personal associate or to pander to his right wing. When the first tactic failed to work with the Harriet Miers nomination, Mr. Bush resorted to the second. The Alito nomination has thrilled social conservatives, who regard the judge to be a surefire vote against abortion rights.

[Quote:]

Welcome to Cold War City (population: 4). It covers 240 acres and has 60 miles of roads and its own railway station. It even includes a pub called the Rose and Crown.

The most underpopulated town in Britain is being put on the market. But there will be no estate agent’s blurb extolling the marvellous views of the town for sale: true, it has a Wiltshire address, but it is 120ft underground.

The subterranean complex that was built in the 1950s to house the Conservative prime minister Harold Macmillan’s cabinet and 4,000 civil servants in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack is being thrown open to commercial use. Just four maintenance men are left.

Property developers looking for the ultimate place to get away from it all need not apply. The site has a notional value of £5m but there is a catch. It is available only as part of a private finance initiative that involves investing in the military base on the surface above.

If you’re looking for some pictures:

MAIN ROADS
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AIR DRIFTS
COLD SINK
ESCALATORS
HOSPITAL
POWERHOUSE
PANORAMIC SHOTS: 1 2 3

The new SCOTUS nominee is Samuel Alito.

What kind of guy is he?

Well, he’s in favour of strip-searching ten year old girls…

Poor Scott. The White House press briefings are brutal…

Quote:]

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, there is an ongoing investigation; we need to let that investigation continue. We need to let the legal process work. As I indicated to you all on Friday, our Counsel’s Office has directed us not to discuss this matter while it continues, and that means me not responding to questions about it from this podium. This is a process that we need to let continue. There is, as I said, a presumption of innocence in our legal system, and we don’t want to do anything from here that could prejudice the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial. I think that’s the basis of our legal system.
And in terms of comments that people are making, again, I think they’re presuming things and trying to politicize the process. But that’s their business. We’re going to let the legal process work.

In other words, unless Rove is convicted, he had absolutely nothing to do with the leak.  He’d probably resign if indicted, but he’d never be fired.  That would require “courage” and is “hard work.”

The pressies don’t let McClellan go on Rove, though.  They call him out on his lies.  This is a LONG back-and-forth between McClellan and David Gregory.

Q Let me just follow up on an aspect of this and try it again here. On October 7, 2003, you were asked about a couple of the key players here, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, as well as another administration official who has not figured in the investigation, so far as we know. And you said the following, “There are unsubstantiated accusations that are made, and that’s exactly what happened in the case of these three individuals,” including Rove and Libby. “They’re good individuals, they’re important members of our White House team, and that’s why I spoke with them, so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved.” You were wrong then, weren’t you?
MR. McCLELLAN: David, it’s not a question of whether or not I’d like to talk more about this. I think I’ve indicated to you all that I’d be glad to talk about this once this process is complete, and I look forward to that opportunity. But, again, we have been directed by the White House Counsel’s Office not to discuss this matter or respond to questions about it.
Q That was a public representation that was made to the American people.
MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. We can have this conversation, but let me respond.
Q No, no, no, because it’s such an artful dodge. Whether there’s a question of legality –
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I disagree with you.
Q Whether there’s a question of legality, we know for a fact that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that Scooter Libby also had conversations.

MR. McCLELLAN: I don’t think that’s accurate.
Q So aside from the question of legality here, you were wrong, weren’t you?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, David, if I were to get into commenting from this podium while this legal proceeding continues, I might be prejudicing the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial. And I’m just not going to do that. I know very –
Q You speak for the President. Your credibility and his credibility is not on criminal trial. But it may very well be on trial with the American public, don’t you agree?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I’m very confident in the relationship that we have in this room, and the trust that has been established between us. This relationship –
Q See those cameras? It’s not about us. It’s about what the American people –
MR. McCLELLAN: This relationship is built on trust, and you know very well that I have worked hard to earn the trust of the people in this room, and I think I’ve earned it –
Q Is the President — let me just follow up on one more thing.

MR. McCLELLAN: — and I think I’ve earned it with the American people.
Q Does the President think that Karl Rove did anything wrong?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think it would be good for you to allow me the opportunity to respond to your questions without jumping in. I’m glad to do that. I look forward to the opportunity –
Q I haven’t heard a response.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, I have been responding to you, David, and there’s no need — you’re a good reporter, there’s no need to be rude or disrespectful. We can have a conversation and respond to these questions, if you’ll just give me the opportunity to respond. I’m glad to do that.
We need to let this legal process continue. The special counsel indicated the other day that it is ongoing. And that’s what we’re going to do from this White House. That’s the policy that we have set for quite some time now.
Q In the year 2000, the President said the following: “In my administration, we will ask not only what is legal, but what is right; not just what the lawyers allow, but what the public deserves.” Doesn’t the American public deserve some answers from this President about the role of his Vice President in this story and what he knew and when he knew it, and how he feels about the conduct of his administration?
MR. McCLELLAN: The American people deserve a White House that is committed to doing their work. We are focused on the priorities of the American people. As the President indicated Friday, we’ve got a job to do, and we’re going to do it. We’re going to continue to focus on our efforts to protect the American people and to spread prosperity here at home. We’re going to move forward on the Supreme Court nomination.
People in this White House fully understand what’s expected of them. We are expected to focus on the people’s business, first and foremost, and that’s what we always do. We’re also expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards. People understand that in this White House. That’s what the President expects, and that’s what the American people expect. And we’ve got a great team here, and we’ll continue to adhere to those standards.

[Quote:]

Apple Computer on Monday said its iTunes online service has sold a million videos in under 20 days, sending shares up almost 5 percent.

iTunes, the most popular online music store, began selling about 2,000 music videos and episodes of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” for $1.99 on October 12.

The debut coincided with the launch of a new generation of Apple’s iPod digital music player that can play video on its 2.5-inch color screen.

Technology, media and Wall Street analysts are eyeing Apple’s performance for validation that a market for legal downloading of videos exists.

Topping the list of big sellers were music videos by Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West, as well as episodes of ABC shows.

“Selling one million videos in less than 20 days strongly suggests there is a market for legal downloads,” Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, said in a statement. “Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings.”

Woa. People must really hate the commercials when they rather pay $1.99 and watch it on a tiny screen.

If you’re wondering why I absolutely refuse to buy anything from Sony, read this.

I know, I know, with my Mac this music would simply copy into iTunes like normal CD’s, but the only way to teach companies not to fuck with their customers is to cease being customers until they understand that.

[Quote:]

Sprint Nextel is hoping to bite into Apple Computer’s core by launching the first US music download service direct to mobile phones.

The Sprint Music Store will enable subscribers of the third-largest mobile carrier to choose from 250,000 songs from all four major music labels and download them for $2.50 each using phones from either Samsung Electronics or Sanyo Electric.

Shoppers will get two copies of each song: one formatted to play on their phone and a high-quality version to download to their PC. Customers can also burn their music to a CD using Microsoft’s Windows Media Player software.

Let’s see… I have a QTec phone, so I cannot use their mobile copy, and I have a Mac, so I cannot use DRM crippled Windows Media. A pity, because I am sooooooo tempted to pay a mere $2.50 per song! You shouldn’t feel too bad for me, both devices are perfectly capable of playing ordinary MP3.

Fuck, 2.50 per song? I don’t know what they’re smoking, but I want some of it!

[Quote:]

Malaria research accounts for about one-third of 1 percent of the total amount of money spent on medical research and development, even though it accounts for 3 percent of all the productive years of life lost to diseases, according to a report released Sunday.

The report, the first comprehensive analysis of malaria research funding, coincided with an announcement by the field’s biggest private donor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, of $258.3 million in new grants to accelerate the development of new drugs, a vaccine and better mosquito control methods.

“It’s really a tragedy that the world has done so little to stop this disease that kills 2,000 African children every day,” said Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates. “If those children were in rich countries, we would have headlines, we’d take action. We wouldn’t rest until every child was protected.”

Well done, Bill!

[Quote:]

Voetbalfans kunnen zich vanaf maandag abonneren op een nieuwe sms-dienst die waarschuwt wanneer Talpa de voetbalsamenvatting gaat uitzenden van de favoriete club van de sms-ontvanger. Twee particulieren zijn deze service, ‘TalpAlarm’ genaamd, begonnen “om de zondagavond terug te veroveren op de commercie”, melden zij maandag.

Sinds de voetbalsamenvattingen niet meer bij NOS Studio Sport, maar bij De Wedstrijden van Talpa zijn te zien, worden ze niet meer in een logische volgorde uitgezonden. Veel fans klagen daarover, omdat ze nu worden verplicht om de hele uitzending van negentig minuten uit te zitten.

Liefhebbers kunnen zich opgeven door een sms te sturen naar 7111 met de tekst talpalarm, gevolgd door de eerste drie letters van de betreffende club en daarna het woord ‘aan’. Vervolgens krijgen ze tijdens elk speelweekeinde een sms wanneer de samenvatting van die club begint. Zo’n tekstbericht kost telkens 70 cent.

[Quote:]

A pastor was electrocuted during a baptism in Waco, Texas, after grabbing a microphone while partially submerged.

Rev Kyle Lake, 33, was standing in a small pool used for baptisms at the University Baptist Church when he was electrocuted on Sunday morning.

Rev Lake reached out to adjust a nearby microphone, which produced an electric shock, said church pastor Ben Dudley.

I guess that Electrickery was too scientific…