What the hell is wrong with this world? Will I ever live in a time where I don't ask that at least 10 times a day?

You may have seen the marvelous "Sudo make me a sandwich" piece - the cartoonist at xkcd.com is really great.

GW and Pompey - Updated

When my friend Joe was last in town from England, he gave me an excellent gift of a book by a Roman author named Suetonius, called The Twelve Ceasars, providing biographies of twelve Roman leaders from Julius Ceasar to Domitian.

Besides having a bewildering-place-in-time moment this morning when I realized the source of "July" (Julius Caesar) and "August" (Augustus Caesar), I also noted that most excellent passage on Julius.

Whether or not this description is true (or the general ethics of Caesars overall legacy) is not the issue - what I find fascinating is the wisdom of this perspective, as opposed to - say - WPE.

Suetonius, contrasting the leadership conduct of Julius Caesar against his political opponent Pompey:

Nobody can deny that during the Civil War, and after, he behaved with wonderful restraint and clemency. Whereas Pompey declared that all who were not actively with the government were against it and would be treated as public enemies, Caesar announced that all who were not actively against him were with him.
(The Twelve Ceasars, p. 35)

It seems a subtle distinction, but the effect is unification, not fear and a splintered society.

Update 9/8: The irony of this post - placing GWB at odds with Caesar (and in line with Pompey) is that Julius Caesar is often considered the mark of the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. He assumed an extraordinary number of unheard of (in a republic) powers, was awarded the honor of "dictator for life," and was assassinated out of fear that he was becoming too king-like and endangering the freedoms and the character of roman civilization.

Also interesting, it is noted, that the rise of a dictatorship is not always evident to the people involved. Wikipedia, on such a shift from the former republic:

This is a distinction chiefly made by modern historians and not by the Romans of the time, however. The early Julio-Claudian emperors maintained that the res publica still existed under the protection of their extraordinary powers and would eventually return to its republican form.

Uh-huh. The Patriot Act is just temporary.

Rush on CBS

In Katie Couric's CBS Evening News they have a segment called Free Speech, where, according to Katie, "newsmakers, opinion makers, and just plain folks tell us what's on their minds."

Well, who better to have on to tell us like it is than Rush Limbaugh, September 7th??

[...]

But some Americans, sadly, not interested in victory, and yet they want us to believe that their behavior is patriotic. Well, it's not. When the critics are more interested in punishing this country over a few incidents of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay than they are in defeating those who want to kill us, when they seek to destroy a foreign surveillance program which is designed to identify those who want to kill us and how they intend to do it, when they want to grant those who want to kill us U.S. constitutional rights, I don't call that patriotic. Patriotism is rallying behind the country, regardless of party affiliation, to defeat Islamofascism. Patriotism is supporting our troops in the battlefield, not undermining the mission and morale.

[...]

Next up, Dobson?

T-Shirts Chosen, 9/7/06

This morning, someone picked up these t-shirts out of their drawer and said "Yeah, THAT's the one for me today."

No Money
No Car
No Chance

and

Why Can't I Be Rich Instead of Just Good-Looking?

Angry Astronomer notes that California legislature spent taxpayer money drawing up an official resolution condemning the decision of the International Astronomical Union to revoke Pluto's status as planet. ("Excuse me, IAU? You have a phone call from California." "Who?" "It's one of the provinces of the USA")

Among other inane reasons, they point out that "the deletion of Pluto as a planet renders millions of text books, museum displays, and children's refrigerator art projects obsolete."

This is exactly the kind of "aww, poor Pluto," nostalgia-trumping-science shit that makes me sick. Science exists to make what you believe today wrong in the future. That's what it does. Dragging your feet makes you look not quaint, but rather like Flat Earthers or Young Earthers.

"But I Liked the Brontosaurus!!!"

Now if you want to complain that the IAU vote was done on the last day of the conference, with a small number of members still around, or that the new definition is vague, that's another thing...

Update 9/8: AA has updated his post to note that the bill is in fact a joke. Ha ha.

There's a wonderful billboard near where I work that shows a toddler's face. The text reads:

Every time you yell at another driver, she learns a lesson.

You're always teaching. Teach carefully.

The British Sound French

NYT: Coalition of the No-Longer-Willing: "7 British Officials Resign in Revolt Over Blair"

Also, does this mean they would be Against Us?

MOST people believe that the Blair Government’s foreign policy has increased significantly the risk of terrorist attacks and now want Britain to distance itself from America and set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, according to a poll for The Times.

File Under Effortless

You know what's a great song? R.E.M.'s "I Am Superman," from 1986's Life's Rich Pageant. They were effortless then.

Ministry of Success

Apparently, the Global War on Terror is being waged perfectly. It just needs a new name.

What is needed, said Army Col. Gary Cheek, is to recast terrorists as the criminals they are.

"If we can change the name ... and find the right sequence of events that allows us to do that, that changes the dynamic of the conflict," said Cheek at the Defense Forum Washington, sponsored by the Marine Corps Association and the U.S. Naval Institute.

"It makes sense for us to find another name for the GWOT," said Cheek. "It merits rethinking. I know our European allies are more comfortable articulating issues of terrorism as criminal threats, rather than war ... It ought to be our goal to partner better with the European allies so we can migrate this from a war to something other than a war."

If you've ever seen Cat Power struggle in a concert, you'll be pleased to read this review and see these pictures.

This guy's site's fantastic, so bookmark it or subscribe to it.

(image property of chromewaves.net, so all honor to him!)

Okay, shrub, if Bin Laden's so much like Hitler, why have you been ignoring him for years? You're out of your league, you're terrified, and you're fucking up this planet and all of our futures. It doesn't seem like you're even TRYing to make sense anymore.

It has been a beautiful gray rainy day in NYC, where the mist is deep enough that the city looks like a comic book. There just seem to be a wider variety of experiences going on in NYC when it's like this. On a sunny day, it seems like everyone's in the same head space, and I don't always want to share my head space with 10 million others.

Condi, speaking to Essence magazine, compares the present situation in Iraq and the War of Terror to the US Civil War:

Secretary of State Rice compared the Iraq war with the American Civil War, telling a magazine that slavery might have lasted longer in this country if the North had decided to end the fight early.

"I'm sure there are people who thought it was a mistake to fight the Civil War to its end and to insist that the emancipation of slaves would hold," Rice said in the new issue of Essence magazine.

"I know there were people who said, 'Why don't we get out of this now, take a peace with the South, but leave the South with slaves?'" Rice said.

Could this get any more condescending?

(via The Carpetbagger Repor)

On 9/11, every channel on the air had news tickers running along the bottom of the screen. That was a new thing - having it going constantly - and I realized today that they're still here, and that it is a permanent addition to the "language" of TV interface. It's not going away. It was new and glaring at first, but we've grown used to it, and no channel's going to back up now.

Keith Olbermann speaks bravely and clearly and forefully. This is a truly excellent speech. I beg you to watch or read it.

Smithers, You'll Have to Drive the Cab!

Senator Conrad Burns, from Montana, says a "faceless enemy" of terrorists "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."

Are we Being Protected now?

These nasty edges of The Republican Party are making me think of the Bosses in videogames where, after a long long battle, the thing stops moving, a light grows within their body, bursting out at the seams, and then they explode.

This is the same asshole who called his housepainter a "nice little Guatemalan man" - and there's more at that Washington Post story.

(via Think Progress)

The other day I finally got around to buying the three new Cure reissues. Buying reissues makes me feel like an aging hippy buying the umpteenth reissue of some Eric Clapton something-or-other, but maybe I understand their mindset a bit more now (?).

I've now bought remasters I love of The Cure, Echo/Bunnymen, Slowdive and the Cocteau Twins, and have loved every minute of it.

This time it was

- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
- The Top
- Head on the Door

I always adored The Top (especially Bananafishbones), felt lukewarm about Head on the Door, and felt all over the place about Kiss Me.

Once again, however, the damn Pitchforkmedia ends up being more right than I want them to be. They gushed about Kiss Me, and after a lot of relistening in the last couple of days, I have to say I agree with them. It's an astonishing album, and really really holds up over the years.

This blog has been dead for a bit, but I'm resurrecting it, with a slightly different approach. I don't always (much?) agree with Dave Winer, but I enjoy his stream of posts approach. That's not to say I won't ever post longer "pieces," but for now I'm looking forward to posting whatever observations or small (even IMAGE-less!) thoughts I have.

Lucky for you.

The other night I was watching The Colbert Report, and was stunned to see the TV Ad he selected as representing, in his glorious sarcastic way, some sort of centerpiece of our current American experience. It was that damn "Crubelievable" ad from Kraft that I was going on about a few months back! Oh, well, I can pretend that my blogging inspired him.

The video's up at Comedy Central, called American Pop Culture: It's Crumbelievable!

So the Fuckin Millipede Just Ate a Mammal?

indeed.

Don't Miss It...FOX News Special (Updated)

How did this press release come about?

AP INCORRECTLY CLAIMS SCIENTISTS PRAISE GORE’S MOVIE
The June 27, 2006 Associated Press (AP) article titled
Scientists OK Gore's Movie for Accuracy" by Seth Borenstein raises some serious questions about AP's bias and methodology.
AP chose to ignore the scores of scientists who have harshly criticized the science presented in former Vice President Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth."
[...]
- US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Work

Call my cynical, but this reminds me too much of the pro-business "government" Earth Day site (that focuses on Environmentalism as the big evil in it all). Theoretically, I'm all for the s keeping an eye on media truth, but is this really what's happening here?

Update: Okay. This is nauseating. Apparently the EPW is divided into Minority and Majority pages, with separate press releases. This is NOT science speaking from this organization. It's the agenda of the Republican Party. I call your attention to this hilarious headline on the Majority (Republican) Press page:

05/18/2006 - DON’T MISS IT…FOX NEWS SPECIAL, Global Warming: The Debate Continues

Are you fucking kidding? Call me biased, but the Minority Press page seems a bit more responsible.

Update 2: Hey, whaddya know? ThinkProgress has more on this Press Release.

Morning Chuckle

Right. Got it.

Good Lord Above

Connie Chung and husband Maury Povich had a talk show for the last few months. It sucked royally, and apparently Connie sang a goodbye song the other day. This is totally worth your 2 minutes.

PZ, Coulter Naturalist

PZ took the plunge and has beeen reading Coulter's book. He recently posted a challlenge:

I will suggest instead that if anyone reading this thinks some particular paragraph anywhere in chapters 8-11 is at all competent or accurate in its description of science, send it to me. I couldn't find one. That's where the obligation lies: show me one supportable claim in Coulter's farrago of lies and misleading statements and out-of-context quotes, and we'll discuss it.

A few days later, and hundreds of Coulter-fan emails later, he has issued a clarification of what is "not an appropriate reply":

Cackling that Coulter must be right because she's got "liberal panties in a twist" is not cogent.

Telling me that the "WHOLE BOOK PROVES LIBERALS ARE THE PROBLEM WITH AMERICA" is not cogent.

Promising to pray for me, or assuring me that I will burn in hell, is not cogent.

Explicit details about how Ann Coulter is sexier than "fat harry hippie jew girls" is not cogent.

He's a brave man, and he takes it with scientific detachment and a professional intuition to categorize his experiences.

And what a great word cogent is! If American science education survives , let's put PZ on a coin or something.

Old Bodegas Never Die

COME WATCH ALL THE WORLD CUP GAMES HERE!, originally uploaded by ameliabee.

This used to be THE 24-hour bodega in Fort Greene. Some friends and I almost got shot there one night by a kid with a very short fuse yelling to everyone around him that "I'm Not Playin!!!"

I've only been in FG for ~8 years, so I can't claim to be much of an old timer, but even I knew that something died when this place closed (2 years back?). They were always nice to me during the year that this was my 6-pack store, and it was airy enough that it didn't stink like cat piss as much as some others. I once asked if my beer would ever be free, and they said it would be on my birthday. 6 months later I walked out with a free 6 pack of Brooklyn India Pale ale.

It's so sad to watch it sitting and rotting - although perhaps it would have been more crushing to see this immediately turn into yet another French restaurant or housewares store or gourmet market. In a way, its ghost now sits and scowls at all the miserable shit that goes on in FG these days.

Well, I'm sure its days are numbered. But for now, this is a beautiful picture. Lord knows what the World Cup scene was in there.

Tailess Whip Scorpion

tailess whip scorpion 1, originally uploaded by jleberly_jebs.

To start the week, it's one of my very favorite chelicerate. This one's pretty tiny, but, as I mentioned last fall, the tailess whip scorpion did have a starring scene in the latest Harry Potter movie...

Fresh Scorpion Kebab

Fresh Scorpion Kebab, originally uploaded by www.nataliebehring.com.

I know I post a lot of these scorpions-to-eat, but I just dig the yellow color in this one...

Can't Hurt

I always enjoy a good restating of the logic of evolution, because it's just so darned beautiful and simple. PZ Meyers, in a post about shithead Coulter's latest yapping, lays out a lovely summary:

If heritable variation exists, (which, of course, it does)

if excess reproduction occurs, (also obviously true, or we'd be up to our ears in mice)

if variants differ in their likelihood of survival and reproduction, (a little trickier, but still fairly obvious)

then the relative frequencies of the variants must change.

Go ahead and read the whole post. PZ is a real treasure for education.

I'm A Dwagon!

Doesn't this just sound like something a child would do?

Mr. Bush flew out of Andrews Air Force Base shortly after 9 p.m., bounding onto the plane by shouting to reporters 'POTUS is on board!' according to a pool report. POTUS is the abbreviation for 'President of the United States.'

wolf spider

wolf spider, originally uploaded by okprairiemom.

Lovely!

More Inconvenience

Roger Ebert on An Inconvenient Truth:

In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to.

Please Don't Go

In secret moments, I say to myself...I don't care what happens in the world. Just please, Lord, let The Editors continue to fight for Freedom and Democracy and a Pony.

Dixieland

Hmm, I guess it hasn't really killed their careers.

Bravo, NY Daily News

In case anyone forgets that there's a real difference between the NY Post and the NY Daily News....the latter's lead editorial today

Global warming is rising up the public agenda, thanks to evangelizing by Al Gore in a new documentary and book that are far scarier than anything ever produced by Stephen King. The fright is all the more real because Gore is talking fact, not fiction.

And the Post's movie review of An Inconvenient Truth:

He implies that no reputable scientists dispute anything he says - basically, that the ice caps are melting and people on the 50th floor of the Empire State Building had better learn to swim. But there is wide disagreement about whether humans are causing global warming (climate change preceded the invention of the Escalade) and about whether we should be worried about the trends.

The story here is the topic, not the messenger. Al Gore can drown birds in oil in his bathtub for all I care, as long as he is able to continue to expand awareness of the extent of the evidence that humans really are damaging the earth on a scale that is measurable and dangerous.

No Notary, No Sex!

Wisconsin decides to instruct its sex educators to teach children that your legal standing is apparently relevant to the health of your body in relation to sex.

No Answer

When there's nothing else to say in response to the clear evidence and the growing understanding of Global Warming, what does Big Oil say?

You don’t go see Joseph Goebbels’ films to see the truth about Nazi Germany. You don’t go see Al Gore’s films to see the truth about global warming.

Cute.

Jean Rohe: Response to McCain's Aide Mark Salter

Jean Rohe is a student at the New School in NYC. McCain gave a graduation speech to them the other day. Jean spoke before him, and criticized some aspects of his policy. Since then, McCain's aide has come down hard on her.

Ms. Rohe responds with clarity and strength:

In addition, you make many assumptions about who I am and what I stand for. You assume that the words shouted from the audience reflected at all times my opinions and values. You assume that I have made myself look like an idiot, which, I can tell you, is just not true. You assume I have taken no risks. I'm curious to see which doors have been permanently closed to me in the future, simply because I've spoken up. You assume that I did what I did simply to draw attention to myself for my own personal benefit. I have said in my writing, and I will say it again, I would never have asked for this responsibility in a million years. The entire event was stomach-churning and unpleasant because it was something I didn't want to do, but knew I had to out of an obligation to my own values. You assume that I have no experience making a living. I have been a full-time college student and have worked a job to pay my own rent and my own expenses for the past two years. You assume that I live in an 'echo chamber' of liberal head-patting, when, in fact, I live in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a neighborhood notorious for its cultural diversity and sometimes, conflict. I live in New York City where every human interaction is a test of our willingness to coexist as citizens. And finally, I think it is unfair to assume that I have not considered the hardships of Senator McCain's life. Indeed, one of my first feelings upon seeing him in the flesh was compassion for how much he must have endured in his time as a POW. If there's one thing that I know about myself, it is that I care for people, and in that sense I have a great deal of character. Please don't try to bully me anymore.

Selling scorpions

Selling scorpions, originally uploaded by HaraWish.

Have a good weekend, everyone...

"Unsettled"

Think Progress has the transcript of NBC White House correspondent's interview with George Bush "at the border" this morning on the Today Show. Excellent stuff.

GREGORY: Let me ask you about your leadership. In the most recent survey, your disapproval rating is now one point lower than Richard Nixon’s before he resigned the presidency. You are laughing.
BUSH: I’m not laughing –
GREGORY: Why? Why do you think that is?
BUSH: Because we are at war, and war unsettles people. Listen, we got a great economy. We’ve added 5.2 million jobs in the last two and a half years. People are unsettled.
GREGORY: But they’re not just unsettled sir. They disapprove of the job you’re doing.
BUSH: That’s unsettled.

My favorite line is "You are laughing" - so true.

Friday Buggy!

An official White House Photo. The caption with the photo reads:

President George W. Bush rides in a U.S. Border Patrol dune buggy during a tour of the Yuma sector near the U.S. Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona, Thursday, May 18, 2006. White House photo by Eric Draper

Hahahahahaa. Ha ha. Ha. hAhahahhahaha.

(via Uggabugga)

Microsoft Envisions the Future

Snooze-fest, 2006!

I'm not bad-mouthing Microsoft for the sake of bad-mouthing the company, but it's 2006, and Picasa and iPhoto and many others have been out for MANY years. Is this a joke? Ths is from the Microsoft Blog, where they are announcing and showing some details/pics of their new Windows Vista app designed to manage your photos and videos...

Let's start with the name = Windows Photo Gallery. That's actually not entirely accurate. The Gallery is not just for your photos, but also for your personal videos. We like to think about the Gallery as a place for your digital memories. Not your clip art, not some movie trailer you downloaded somewhere, but content that was authored by you (or someone you know). You'll hear us talk mostly about photos (just for convenience), but pretty much anything that you can do with a photo can also be done with a video. We'll try to point out the differences as they come up.
[...]
You can think of the Gallery as having two modes: a Gallery mode where you can browse through all of your digital memories, and a Viewer mode, where you can get a closer look at individual photos and videos.

Fuckin visionary, folks. Could you sound any more uninspired. Ooooh, Gallery mode. So that's where you browse? And Viewer mode....that's where you, um, view the media? And, hahahaha, a place for our digital memories. Thanks for helping out, Msoft.

This is like a parody of the way Microsoft rolls out outdated ideas.

If you think you can handle Starting Something, read about it here.

Still The Best

Yay, Ian!

A mantis waiting for the train

A mantis waiting for the train, originally uploaded by XaOS.

Just cuz it's Thursday, and I'm pissed that once again my landlord is selling the building I live in....3 times in 6 years.

I may have had Just About Enough of NYC. I don't know for sure if I'll have to leave, but that would be my 10th apt in 10 years.

Low Point

This is THE single most ridiculous anti-environmentalist pro-oil bullshit I've ever seen in my life.

It's a piece from industry front Competitie Enterprise Institute about having Carbon Dioxide is the victim of a smear campaign. Check it out at Think Progress. From the ad:

The fuels that produce CO2 (carbon dioxide) have freed us from a world of back-breaking labor, lighting up our lives, allowing us to create and move the things we need, the people we love...Now some politicians want to label carbon dioxide a pollutant. Imagine if they succeed -- what would our lives be like then?

As ThinkProgress notes, this is not an SNL parody, though it sure sounds like it. Unbelievable.

At very least, I suppose, it's encouraging that this is the best they can come up with.

Quiet Time with Friends

, originally uploaded by windkeeper.

May you have good health and close friends...

Nice Hair - Updated

Did you think there was a line they wouldn't cross?

Did you think that deep down they thought empathetic thoughts?

Did you think they were trying to be covert about this shit?

My God.

From World Net Daily:

And [Bush] will be lying, again, just as he lied when he said: 'Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic - it's just not going to work.'

Not only will it work, but one can easily estimate how long it would take. If it took the Germans less than four years to rid themselves of 6 million Jews, many of whom spoke German and were fully integrated into German society, it couldn't possibly take more than eight years to deport 12 million illegal aliens, many of whom don't speak English and are not integrated into American society.

What a terrible person.

Much more from digby.

Update (May 18): Awesome. It has been changed, apparently edited by the owner of the site, and not Vox Day himself. The General reviews the situation. Includes a link to Vox's own blog, which sadly uses the base chelicerata blogger style.

Global Warming = Alien Invasion?

Think Progress notes some details on Big Oil's attacks on Al Gore, whose movie about Global Warming, "An Inconvenient Truth", is coming out soon.

Bush Is Now A Lame Duck

Dick Meyer, editorial director of CBSNews.com, think it's all over.

He's a lame duck less than two years in to his second term. You are not being governed."

This Statement is False

Verizon: This statement may or may not be true, but we didn't do it

Update: Doesn't anyone else find this odd? Why are there over 1100 news stories that read "Verizon Says It Didn't Give Records to NSA?" Did anyone read the release?

Look at this doublespeak, as exemplified here from the Washington Post:

New York-based Verizon said yesterday that it would not confirm or deny any relationship with the NSA, but that "one of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by the NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers' domestic calls. This is false."

Again, their press release reads (my paraphrase):

We cannot say whether X is true or false. However, X is false.

Dobu?

Vigilant

scorpian, originally uploaded by luvmonkey.

There I am, always vigilant, always lookin for more chelicerates. And what's nice here is that it's scorpion AND yellow...mmm...

A War Which Is Entirely Safe

Atrios:

We can have a lovely little 'fake war' at the border, one with all the cool uniforms, hummers, helicopters, etc... A war which is entirely safe. A war where there isn't really an enemy. And the president can safely visit that war, prance around in his codpiece, yell things out a bullhorn while sitting astride a massive hummer.

Laura Bush Doesn't Believe

Does she truly, in her heart believe this? I sure hope she's just being political. Laura Bush talks to Fox News on Sunday:

'I don't really believe those polls. I travel around the country. I see people, I see their responses to my husband. I see their response to me,' she said.

'As I travel around the United States, I see a lot of appreciation for him. A lot of people come up to me and say, 'Stay the course'.'

"Anti-Tornado Machine"

Nicely done, Al.

Al Gore discusses all the wonderful accomplishments of his presidency, on Saturday Night Live. Easily worth 5 minutes of your time.

You really do come across as a real person, as an intelligent person. I don't know if you would have been a saviour 6 years ago, but I sure am glad you're around now.

We Get the Journalists We Deserve

Apparently, someone got voted off on American Idol and someone named Robin Givhan, writing at the Washington Post, isn't happy.

We Get the Idols We Deserve
[...]
In Daughtry, America had the opportunity to choose distinctiveness, confidence and cool. Instead, it chose bland and boring. Blech and blech.
[...]

Yow. Easy there. I wanted the woman with the bathroom clip to win American Inventor, but I'm not getting all America's-Taste-Is-Bad on the world. Or suggesting that it wouldn't have made a difference if the country had voted for Kerry. Givhan ends her piece...

As so often is the case, the quality of the candidates makes it hard to go to the polls.

Who, Me? No, That's My Dad...

I enjoy submitting customer service complaints online. I don't expect individual responses, but I do know that companies can see spikes in traffic for specific issues.

Me yesterday:

What is your privacy policy regarding giving my personal phone records to the US Government? As far as I know, I have not signed a contract nor does there exist a law requiring you to provide the federal government with such records. I am extremely concerned about this, and the USA Today story on this, and am strongly considering a switch to Qwest, which I understand has show more respect for their customers and resisted such federal demands.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm

If there is indeed a law, or such an element in a contract I have already signed with you, can you please provide a link or explanation of such a detail? I await your clarification.

Thanks

Well, apparently it's only landline companies. My mistake, but even with this error, it's fun to fill up their stats with customer concerns. Their response is still quite excellent.

Dear customer,

Thank you for contacting Verizon Wireless through our website. I appreciate your inquiry regarding recent news reports with providing phone records to the government. My name is Earlene, and I am happy to assist you today.

Michael, I can understand your concern about the recent report. Recent stories suggest that the Federal Government has been collecting the phone records of potentially millions of Americans as part of the war on terror. The stories specifically reference customer records of landline companies, including AT&T and Verizon.
This is NOT a story that affects Verizon Wireless customers.

Verizon Wireless is not involved in this situation.

If you are a customer of Verizon Communications, you may want to contact the company at 1-800 483 7988.

Thank you for your recent communication e-mail about this issue.

In review of your account, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of the past due balance on your account. Your total account balance is $108.44, which includes a past due amount of $52.04. Your current charges of $56.40 are payable on or before 5/29/2006. The past due amount should be paid immediately to avoid interruption of your service.

If you have any questions regarding the past due balance on your account please contact our Financial Services Department at 800-382-7115. Their hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Saturday.

Did you know you can make a payment from your cellular phone by dialing #PMT/786 and #BAL/225 for your balance? And these calls are airtime free.

I found it entertaining the way they comfortably directed me towards their former parent company.

"At the Tip of My Finger"

At the Tip of My Finger, originally uploaded by Corbie.

What a beaut! Happy Friday...

Test of Will

I've posted about "Will" before, NYC photographer. I love this photo, from here.

Grand jury indicts KY-Gov. Ernie Fletcher

Hahahahahaha

The special grand jury that's been investigating state government hiring practices today indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher on three misdemeanor charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and political discrimination.

We saw this dude on Home Shopping Network a couple weeks back. I was oddly compelled to watch the suck-uppy Suzanne Somers hawking her ridiculous clothes and talking in this "shared love of shopping" way to callers, and suddenly she introduced Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher! He walks onto the set, casually and in a leather jacket - surreal in and of itself - she talks about how handsome he is, and then says in a winking kinda way that she and Ernie are announcing a business venture soon, but they can't talk about it yet. It all just seemed totally sleazy, and a little pokin' around showed that Ernie lived up to my intuition. And now this.

Ha.

Ha.

Ha.

NYPostal

Form the Times:

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Iran's president said Thursday he was ready to negotiate with the United States and its allies over his country's nuclear program but he also suggested that any threats against Tehran would make the dialogue more difficult.

Oh, you mean like THIS? Sean Delonas, if you were standing on a platform that was sinking into lava and i was above you holding a line of rope, I'd let you fuckin burn.

I didn't know this:

Indonesia, which supports Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful means, is considered by Washington to be a close ally in its war on terror and offered Wednesday to mediate in the crisis. Like Iran, it does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

"Interloper from the Land of Moose and Mounties"

The Toronto Star notes the dreadfully-predictable "conservative" wankery about Neil Young's new album:

Another Fox commentator, John Gibson, accused Young of disrespecting the memory of 9/11. Gibson suggested the singer take in a screening of United 93, not realizing, apparently, that Young paid tribute to the victims of that flight with his 2002 song, 'Let's Roll.'

Or, don't miss this nugget, from The National Review:

If it's not Mexican fence-jumpers trying to dictate legislation to us, it's fur trappers from the wilds of Ontario insulting our head of state.

The title of this post is also from The National Review.

Purechance

From the new Church record, which is really really good...

i read your novel
the names were switched

i heard you travel
you must be rich

In context, these words are the melancholy Church as good as they've ever been...

Cover is a Kilbey painting, I believe.

Some of My Best Friends are "Funny"...

Richard Cohen, "liberal" blogger at the Washington Post, penned an odd little piece about the Colbert Speech called "So Not Funny," where he ends up sounding like the sleazy Alan Alda in Crimes in Misdemeanors ("If it bends, it's funny...If it breaks, it's not!").

Read the briliant responses from both PZ Meyers (who also notes the high-larious time when Cohen suggested that learning algebra is not really that necessary) and from The Editors. From the latter:

Perhaps you could wear a pair of amusingly large shoes - this is encouraged, but is left to the descretion of the individual yukmeister.

PZ Meyers - "Cohen Gets It Wrong"

The Editors at The Poor Man - "The Wanker Kings of Comedy"

Amoeba Overlords

Oh, Mr. PZ, how do you DO what you DO?!

The Medical Astrology Calendar of 1487

Just one image from the absolutely fascinating BibliOdyssey. Sets of scans like this are posted every day!

I've mentioned BibliOdyssey before...

The Same, plus Fuego!

All my blogs today are posting the same stories...happens sometimes, but it makes me feel that The Machine is picking up steam.

Guns that fire teddy bears, sticky tape with measuring tape marks, sake-soaked speakers...Round and round it goes.

(irrelevant yet excellent illustration by a first-grader at Hall Elementary School in Gresham, Oregon. Apparently, it's of a monster in a Maurice Sendak tale "Donde viven los monstruos")

Spidey

Spidey, originally uploaded by AkumAPRIME.

Just a fine shot to ponder...

Nazca Spider from Peru

nz-8-spider, originally uploaded by Feed Me Garbage.

A great shot of one of the Nazca Lines in Peru, believed to have been created circa 200-600 A.D.

Starting place for more info at Wikipedia...

"An inexcusable, irresponsible, borderline criminal national disgrace"

Peter King writes about a visit to New Orleans in Sports Illustrated:

What I saw was a national disgrace. An inexcusable, irresponsible, borderline criminal national disgrace. I am ashamed of this country for the inaction I saw everywhere.

[...]

How can we let an area like the Lower Ninth Ward sit there, on the eve of another hurricane season, with nothing being done to either bulldoze the place and start over, or rebuild? How can Congress sit on billions of looming aid and not release it for this area?

I can't help but think that if this were Los Angeles or New York, that 500 percent more money -- and concern -- would have flooded into this place. And I can't help but think that if the idiots who let the levees down here go to seed had simply been doing their jobs, we'd never have been in this mess in the first place -- in New Orleans, at least. Other than former FEMA director Michael Brown, are you telling me that no others are paying for this with their jobs? Whatever happened to responsibility?

Am I ticked off? Damn right I'm ticked off. If you're breathing, you should be morally outraged. Katrina fatigue? Hah! More Katrina news! Give me more! Give it to me every day on the front page! Every day until Washington realizes there's a disaster here every bit as urgent as anything happening in this world today -- fighting terrorism, combating the nuclear threat in Iran. I'm not in any way a political animal, but all you have to be is an occasionally thinking American to be sickened by the conditions I saw.

(via DailyKos)

Time to Stop Feeling Guilty and Start Really Bombing

There are a lot of fucked up people in the world. Glenn Greenwald notes a few of them.

Macintosh Grup

I hate the new mac ad campaign. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love macs, but these make me totally sick. So macs are Grups?

I think they're having a wii moment....

Psst...Take the Money!

Fuckin' desperate pathetic bribe. Are you serious? Are you really making this inane suggestion

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Every American taxpayer would get a $100 rebate check to offset the pain of higher pump prices for gasoline, under an amendment Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote Thursday.

You know, we can hear you. You're speaking out loud.

Update 5/2: Excellent comic from Pat Oliphant via Hoffmania calls out the sleaze...

Bush Says You Should Love Being Loyal

I was getting my mind blown finding that bushie proclaimed May 1 to be Loyalty Day...

Loyalty Day is also a time for us to reflect on our responsibilities to our country as we work to show the world the meaning and promise of liberty. The right to vote is one of our most cherished rights and voting is one of our most fundamental duties. By making a commitment to be good citizens, flying the American flag, or taking the time to learn about our Nation's history, we show our gratitude for the blessings of freedom.

But then I go onto the White House site and find that every year - beginning in 2002 - he proclaimed May 1 "Loyalty Day," saying it would apply for every year going forward! Why would he need to do that every year?

Update: Loyalty Day began in the 1920s, actually, as "Americanization Day," intended as a counterweight to May Day, which was seen as a communist holiday (!!!). (Wiki entry) The actual language of it reads:

Loyalty Day is a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom

I can see why Bush digs it.

May 1st is also a holiday called Law Day (proposed in the 50s by hahahahaha the American Bar Association) , also intended as a contrast to May Day, which many other countries celebrate as International Workers Day, to commemorate the Haymarket Riot in Chicago, 1886.

Boogah Boogah Lou-gah!

Lou Dobbs is frightened:

But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters' boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott.

Oh, the poor sheep-like immigrants...they don't know what they're doing - they're just blindly following whatever radicals tell them!

And here, in concise form, is the vitriolic, misapplied blame of much right-wing immigration commentary:

In fact, a meat-packing job paid $19 an hour in 1980, but today that same job pays closer to $9 an hour, according to the Labor Department. That's entirely consistent with what we've been reporting -- that illegal aliens depress wages for U.S. workers by as much as $200 billion a year in addition to placing a tremendous burden on hospitals, schools and other social services.

Oh, if only we'd kept the Mexicans out, the big companies that were so nice to everyone in 1980 would be even nicer now! If only they'd built that Fence, the US Govt could send out a $1000 "We Won THIS Alamo!" check to everyone instead!

McClellan:"We Are On the Way to Accomplishing the Mission"

Revised slogan.

ThinkProgress also has an excellent round-up "Turning Point" rhetoric over the years (Bush announced again today that XYZ was a "turning point" in Iraq).

NYC Peace March, 4/29/06

Some great shots from the peace march on Saturday, courtesy of one of my favorite NYC photographers...

"Science Is About Disbelief"

Right on! Professor Steve Jones, in a lecture at the (British) Royal Society:

Science is about disbelief. It accepts that all knowledge is provisional and that any theory might in principle be disproved. Some theories are better established than others: the earth is probably not flat, babies are almost certainly not brought by storks, and men and dinosaurs are unlikely to have appeared on earth within the past few thousand years. Even so, nothing is sacred in 1905 classical physics collapsed after a seemingly trivial observation about glowing gases and the same is potentially true for all other scientific theories.

Watch the whole thing here, or read more on it from the Panda's Thumb.

Wow, the Brits are really getting it. Panda's Thumb also notes a statement (April 11) from the Royal Society "opposing the misrepresentation of evolution in schools to promote particular relgious beliefs":

[...]
Science has proved enormously successful in advancing our understanding of the world, and young people are entitled to learn about scientific knowledge, including evolution. They also have a right to learn how science advances, and that there are, of course, many things that science cannot yet explain. Some may wish to explore the compatibility, or otherwise, of science with various beliefs, and they should be encouraged to do so. However, young people are poorly served by deliberate attempts to withhold, distort or misrepresent scientific knowledge and understanding in order to promote particular religious beliefs.

Read the whole thing.

One-Time Other Thing

I'm not going to say I think much of ol' Anna Nicole, but what's with this opening paragraph from the NY Times?

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that one-time stripper and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith could pursue part of her late husband's oil fortune.

What is this, the American Family Association?

"One-time coke addict President George W Bush today announced he is against bad things..."

"One-time 2-year-old Kobe Bryant hit a jump shot with 2 seconds left in overtime...."

(It takes the writer only 5 more paragraphs to then call her "the former stripper" - "greedy asshole," perhaps, but there's a clear suggestion here that as a former stripper she's more likely to be immoral. cute)

No Thanks

This advertising campaign has had a billboard up near my work. It's "strange obliqueness" doesn't interest me. It just grosses me out.

I Like It On Skin

One of the few in focus, originally uploaded by Ken-ichi.

I'm The Decider

You must now go listen to I'm The Decider, (Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo)!

Diplomatic Zen

I know I just posted some bunny zen, but this is too much to pass up.

Stare...see all of the picture at once...

Friday Quicks

Congratulations to Juan Franco, who became the oldest player to ever hit a home run in major league baseball, hitting a pinch-hit two-run homer for the Mets at age 47.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright can leg-press 400 lbs.

It's Fun To Trust In The...F E M A!!

Nauseating. How can you sleep at night pulling off this shit?

Update (4/20)
The General notes, on this topic:

Gosh, it feels good to finally beat the Soviets at their own game.

Loud and Clear

Columnist Marianne Means writes today in the Seattle Post-Intelligence

The White House is crumbling internally. President Bush seems bewildered, no longer in charge. He wanders around the country talking about health savings accounts and other small-bore projects that mean little to most people. Nobody is listening.

Bunny Zen

Just gaze....
(REUTERS/Jason Reed)

The List

An excellent list of "Stories We've Seen Too Often" - Fiction Submission Guidelines. Example:

6. The future is soulless.

a. In the future, all learning is electronic, until kid is exposed to ancient wisdom in the form of a book.

b. In the future, everything is electronic, until kid is exposed to ancient wisdom in the form of a wise old person who's lived a non-electronic life.

(via Bruce Sterling's Beyond the Beyond)

spidery

spidery, originally uploaded by xmastree.

!!!! My skin is tingling. What a beautiful creature.

Every Inch

P3297480, originally uploaded by urban_tank.

Okay, this one's creepin me out. I have no idea who these three people are, but this shot is of the walkway between the Cranbrook dining room and the parking lot.

For 10 years I ate many a dinner in this dining room (faculty and their families ate there for free) and this is part of the area where my friends and I would pass the time after we were done eating but while we awaited our parents to come out (there is also a huge open area behind the fotog and some courtyards to the left and right).

Wow. I can tell you that I remember every bump of rock on every brick in this shot. Weird.

Bad Dreamz

This week, in Shoot Myself in the Fucking Head™ (SMITFH), I bring you....

American Dreamz, opening april 21st.

Is this really happening?

I hate this movie in so many ways I can barely breathe.

Bonus: Is THIS really happening? FOX News calling the immigration marches "A Perfect Chance To Arrest Illegal Immigrants?"

Your Story Makes No Sense

Okay, bushie.

First we find that the Madrid bombing had no connection to Al Qaeda.

Now it is determined that the London bombers had no connection to Al Qaeda.

What's your story now? Would you say that we are fighting against All That Use Violence?

Bush speaking April 6:

[...]
The enemy has reminded them about the stakes. Remember that ours isn't the only country that's been attacked. There were attacks in Madrid, there were attacks in London, attacks in Egypt, there's been a series of attacks around the world -- Jordan. They go up -- al Qaeda goes in and blows up a wedding. These are cold-blooded killers now. These are people that will stop at nothing to achieve their objectives.
[...]

Good Old Days

Remember the Good Old Days? A special book

"Much of the text is in French, and it was not uncommon around the time of the French Revolution for books to be covered in human skin.

The practice, known as anthropodermic bibliopegy, was sometimes used in the 18th and 19th centuries when accounts of murder trials were bound in the killer's skin."

Humans maintaining their civilization, eh?

light thru the trees

light thru the trees, originally uploaded by estimmel.

A nice picture from Cranbrook. I feel like if I squint hard enough, I will be able to remember the bark from that exact tree.

Maybe not.

light thru the trees

light thru the trees, originally uploaded by estimmel.

A nice picture from Cranbrook. I feel like if I squint hard enough, I will be able to remember the bark from that exact tree.

Maybe not.

BibliOdyssey

I've been greatly enjoying a (fairly) new blog that regularly scans and posts old book art. This one's from a post about medical doctor Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), whom you can read about more at the site.

Highly recommend for the "images and art" category of your blogroll...

There's even a nice chelicerata post about a clergyman that studied spiders and ants and then made fairy tale books about them!

Leggy McLegs

Oh, this little guy is so CUTE! Apparently he's now the record holder for faster bipedal robot relative to stride length.

Click through to read about him and watch a thoroughly mesmerizing long video of him walking in a circle, faster and faster, with a camera following him from the center of the circle. Wow.

Say It Loud

"A man who identified himself as Harry Taylor":

"I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administraiton,' Taylor said, standing in a balcony seat and looking down at Bush on stage. 'And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself"

Go, Harry!

(photo from Think Progress, who also has the video)

Staff Emails

I love that I work at a place where I get staff emails like this:

[AMNH-Staff]
The next meeting of the Linnaean Society of New York will be Tuesday,
April 11, 2006 at 7:30 pm in the Linder Theater on the first floor.

The speaker will be Dr. Mark L. Botton from Fordham University. Dr. Botton's topic is "Horseshoe Crabs and Avian Breeding Ecology."

Linnaean Society of New York meetings are open to all.

Excuse me? Did somebody say...Chelicerate?

Mother 3

I never played the old Nintendo game Mother, and - my god - i...can't....even....bring myself to go to Wikipedia to learn about it.

Many folks are freakin out about a new revision of it, Mother 3. Well, could these screenshots be any cuter? I'm hooked.

Religion <> Empiricism, You Dork!

OMG I fucking detest this kind of rancid shit

Jesus Could Have Walked on Ice, Scientist Says
Rare conditions could have conspired to create hard-to-see ice on the Sea of Galilee that a person could have walked on back when Jesus is said to have walked on water, a scientist said today.

Blech! Yeah, and hey, could that be the goddamn ARK i see from space?

Shoot Me in the Head™