Remember "The Fair Use Act"?
Yeah the one that if you oppose it you call anyone who does a mash up a pirate?
The same law that McCain wanted to stifle because he felt that using anyone's media without thier permission was against the law? Well The Fair Use Act claims that if you meet 4 requirements you should be able to use the media;
1. You are not using it for profit (not violating copyright laws)
2. Must be factual
3. the extent of the use of the material and
4. impact will be reviewed
McCain posted a video in July called "Can't take my eyes off of you" (a video about the internets' obsession with Obama) with the song as the background music for satire, and The Warner Music Group posted a take down notice for McCains video for copyright violation. Now McCain is claiming the Fair Use Act, that he should be able to use the song (and the various clips) without permission because it falls inthe categories listed. That's kinda ironic dontcha think?
I think it's awesome that he got blocked from Youtube. We would have flagged it anyway, but not the point. If you vote against our bill you shouldn't be able to use it.
So anyway my message to McCain is this: this is what happens when you run dirty campaign. We hate you and your racist followers. We'll go to everyone of your events with Obama shirts on and out chant you and post it on yourtube with our camera phones. We'll boo your friends at hockey games and embarass you on a global scale. We will boo you off the Youtube stage. And don't be fooled old man, the Youtube stage is the biggest most important stage in the world.
citation
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
palin as president dot com
its hilarious
palinaspresident.com
thanks khari
Feeling Lucky? The Odds of a President Palin
Unlikely" events happen every day, but we're not good at factoring them into decisions. Normally we disregard events if the odds are less than 50-50--unless the result is extreme, such as a plane crash or hitting the lotto, when we often treat it as far more probable than it really is.
As a result, there's a disconnect in the current dialogue about the odds of Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin becoming President if the Republicans win November's election.
People being people, her detractors view that prospect with such alarm that they may overstate the chances of its actually happening, while her supporters tend to view it as both acceptable and unlikely.
Political passions aside (and without wishing any ill on John McCain), how likely is it, really?
One way to look at is simple: Of the 42 Presidents, nine were VPs who succeeded to office unexpectedly. But that doesn't address the question for several reasons, including that some of those Presidents served multiple terms, and that factors such as scandal and assassination are too random to forecast from previous examples.
The most neutral analysis is based on simple math, the same sort that life insurance companies use to calculate premiums. And although actuaries can argue about all sorts of factors that would change the basic mortality table calculations (cancer history vs. high quality health care), the Social Security Administration's statistics would tell you that the odds of McCain dying in the next four years are about 1 chance in 6 or 7.
That may seem to put the event into the "safely disregard" category. But, to remind you how much that reaction depends on the potential result, think about whether you'd be willing to pull the trigger in just one round of Russian Roulette. Your odds of a very bad day are about the same as those of an early end to a McCain first term.
To put the question into a more helpful context, let's look at everyday events that have about the same odds as soon swearing in President Palin:
-Kobe Bryant hitting two consecutive three-point attempts.
-On your next try, pulling a red M&M out of the bag.
-A rainy day in El Paso or San Diego. (A first-term President Palin would be twice as likely as a rainy day in Los Angeles.)
-That you will be delayed on two consecutive flights into Newark Airport.
-Escaping jail in Monopoly by rolling a double.
-That your birthday falls on a Wednesday.
-That, during a full inning of a Major League Baseball game, one of the teams hits a home run.
-That a hurricane hits Louisiana in any given year.
-That a flipped coin comes up heads three times in a row.
-That the next car you see will be black. A first term presidential funeral is more likely than the next car you see being blue, red, green or brown; it is only less likely than the next one being silver or white.
-That any three consecutive traffic lights you hit will all be red.
Speaking of red, if the country does go that way again, a first term Alaskan President is more probable than you are of catching the flu next winter or sharing a Zodiac sign with a stranger. It is also:
-Three times more likely than being dealt a 21 in Blackjack.
-Four times as likely as the next car you see being a convertible.
-Five times as likely as a woman having twins.
-Seven times more likely than meeting someone with green eyes.
-Eight times more likely than being waited on by a redhead.
Lastly, one unlikely-but-common analogy is particularly arresting. If the Republicans win, the odds of a first term President Palin would be about three times greater than the odds of a middle-aged man being left handed (the trait recedes in the population with age). Both candidates are.
Bob Rice
Bob Rice is the author of Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business, and the former C.E.O. of a tech start-up. He now runs merchant bank Tangent Capital, which he founded in 2005.
Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images.
palinaspresident.com
thanks khari
Feeling Lucky? The Odds of a President Palin
Unlikely" events happen every day, but we're not good at factoring them into decisions. Normally we disregard events if the odds are less than 50-50--unless the result is extreme, such as a plane crash or hitting the lotto, when we often treat it as far more probable than it really is.
As a result, there's a disconnect in the current dialogue about the odds of Alaska Governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin becoming President if the Republicans win November's election.
People being people, her detractors view that prospect with such alarm that they may overstate the chances of its actually happening, while her supporters tend to view it as both acceptable and unlikely.
Political passions aside (and without wishing any ill on John McCain), how likely is it, really?
One way to look at is simple: Of the 42 Presidents, nine were VPs who succeeded to office unexpectedly. But that doesn't address the question for several reasons, including that some of those Presidents served multiple terms, and that factors such as scandal and assassination are too random to forecast from previous examples.
The most neutral analysis is based on simple math, the same sort that life insurance companies use to calculate premiums. And although actuaries can argue about all sorts of factors that would change the basic mortality table calculations (cancer history vs. high quality health care), the Social Security Administration's statistics would tell you that the odds of McCain dying in the next four years are about 1 chance in 6 or 7.
That may seem to put the event into the "safely disregard" category. But, to remind you how much that reaction depends on the potential result, think about whether you'd be willing to pull the trigger in just one round of Russian Roulette. Your odds of a very bad day are about the same as those of an early end to a McCain first term.
To put the question into a more helpful context, let's look at everyday events that have about the same odds as soon swearing in President Palin:
-Kobe Bryant hitting two consecutive three-point attempts.
-On your next try, pulling a red M&M out of the bag.
-A rainy day in El Paso or San Diego. (A first-term President Palin would be twice as likely as a rainy day in Los Angeles.)
-That you will be delayed on two consecutive flights into Newark Airport.
-Escaping jail in Monopoly by rolling a double.
-That your birthday falls on a Wednesday.
-That, during a full inning of a Major League Baseball game, one of the teams hits a home run.
-That a hurricane hits Louisiana in any given year.
-That a flipped coin comes up heads three times in a row.
-That the next car you see will be black. A first term presidential funeral is more likely than the next car you see being blue, red, green or brown; it is only less likely than the next one being silver or white.
-That any three consecutive traffic lights you hit will all be red.
Speaking of red, if the country does go that way again, a first term Alaskan President is more probable than you are of catching the flu next winter or sharing a Zodiac sign with a stranger. It is also:
-Three times more likely than being dealt a 21 in Blackjack.
-Four times as likely as the next car you see being a convertible.
-Five times as likely as a woman having twins.
-Seven times more likely than meeting someone with green eyes.
-Eight times more likely than being waited on by a redhead.
Lastly, one unlikely-but-common analogy is particularly arresting. If the Republicans win, the odds of a first term President Palin would be about three times greater than the odds of a middle-aged man being left handed (the trait recedes in the population with age). Both candidates are.
Bob Rice
Bob Rice is the author of Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business, and the former C.E.O. of a tech start-up. He now runs merchant bank Tangent Capital, which he founded in 2005.
Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images.
Colin Powell to Endorse Obama
Lawrence O'DonnellPosted October 15, 2008 09:22 AM (EST)
The Huffington Post
When Colin Powell turns off his TV after the final presidential debate, he will have learned everything he is going to learn about the candidates vying to succeed his former boss, George W. Bush. Powell has made it clear that he has been thinking about an endorsement for a long time but wanted to hear more from the candidates before making his choice. It now seems beyond doubt that Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama and thereby hammer the final nail in the coffin of the Republican campaign to hold onto the White House.
The recent ugliness of the McCain-Palin rally audiences cannot be lost on Colin Powell. And Powell is not one to ignore a 14 point lead in a New York Times poll. But most important for Powell and the press will be his explicit rejection of the Bush-McCain approach to Iraq, Iran and the rest of the world.
Powell's endorsement will be perfectly timed to dominate a news cycle or two. It will give Obama the one thing he still needs more of--credibility as Commander-In-Chief. And Sarah Palin's speechwriters will be hard pressed to come up with a condescending quip about it.
Friday, October 10, 2008
it smells like october
Maybe it’s just because I drink too much coffee. They say that it clears your pallet so that you can smell the next thing, but I tend to think that I just have a very good nose. It smells like October. That crisp Autumn smell that forms everywhere when the heat leaves but the sun hasn’t. The smell of dried leaves and pumpkin spice. The smell before the fires, that crisp scent before an earthquake. That’s October in Oakland.
Maybe that’s why I can always place it, though April has a particular smell here too, light rain and cherry blossom, it’s just nothing like October. October is strong yet light, and hits you like a brick when you walk outside to go to work. A fair warning that winter will be here soon and possibly bad news. It’s the kind of overtaking feeling that reminds me of when I was little and my mom used to take me and my little brother to warehouse parties where they’d have hundreds of pumpkins for all the kids of the partying parents to carve. Loud music and good times. Or waking up to the whole house shaking and realizing that the most devastating earthquake you’ve ever experienced just floored the freeway down the street from you. October offers you the type of sky that turns orange in the evening and eerily reminds you of the time you woke up and it was that color with little black embers floating through the air for weeks because half of your city was on fire. It smells like trick or treating with your neighbors and endless nights of candy. Cozy hoodies and arguments over baking either pumpkin or sweet potato pie.
Being born in April makes October the halfway point of my year marked by the anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the fresh end of Ramadaan. In no way do I look forward to rainy season, but all year I wait to get together with my friends and celebrate our fresh harvest of greenery and run around in corn fields scaring each other.
Just some random thoughts of what crossed my mind when I walked outside this morning and smelled that it was clearly October.
Maybe that’s why I can always place it, though April has a particular smell here too, light rain and cherry blossom, it’s just nothing like October. October is strong yet light, and hits you like a brick when you walk outside to go to work. A fair warning that winter will be here soon and possibly bad news. It’s the kind of overtaking feeling that reminds me of when I was little and my mom used to take me and my little brother to warehouse parties where they’d have hundreds of pumpkins for all the kids of the partying parents to carve. Loud music and good times. Or waking up to the whole house shaking and realizing that the most devastating earthquake you’ve ever experienced just floored the freeway down the street from you. October offers you the type of sky that turns orange in the evening and eerily reminds you of the time you woke up and it was that color with little black embers floating through the air for weeks because half of your city was on fire. It smells like trick or treating with your neighbors and endless nights of candy. Cozy hoodies and arguments over baking either pumpkin or sweet potato pie.
Being born in April makes October the halfway point of my year marked by the anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the fresh end of Ramadaan. In no way do I look forward to rainy season, but all year I wait to get together with my friends and celebrate our fresh harvest of greenery and run around in corn fields scaring each other.
Just some random thoughts of what crossed my mind when I walked outside this morning and smelled that it was clearly October.
US Debt clock runs out of digits
From BBC newsUntil last month, the clock had enough digits to measure US debt levels
The US government's debts have ballooned so badly the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of digits to record the spiralling figure.
The digital counter marks the national debt level, but when that passed the $10 trillion point last month, the sign could not display the full amount.
The board was erected to highlight the $2.7 trillion level of debt in 1989.
The clock's owners say two more zeros will be added, allowing the clock to record a quadrillion dollars of debt.
Douglas Durst, son of the late Seymour Durst - the clock's inventor - hopes to replace the Manhattan clock with its lengthier replacement early next year.
For the time being, the Times Square counter's electronic dollar sign has been replaced with the extra digit required.
For its part, the digital dollar symbol has been supplanted by a cheaper version - perhaps a sign of the times for the American economy.
Some economists believe the $700bn bail-out plan for ailing US financial institutions could send the national debt level to $11 trillion.
Daddy Yankee takes on new role as debate moderator
Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:28 AM EDTentertainment, people, puerto-rico, daddy-yankeeAssociated PressSAN JUAN — Tom Brokaw, Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill — and Daddy Yankee?
The 31-year-old reggaeton star shed his trademark sunglasses to help moderate a televised debate Thursday among candidates for governor of Puerto Rico, in an effort to lure young voters to the polls Nov. 4.
The artist, whose real name is Ramon Ayala, read questions submitted through social-networking Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, but went off-script at the end of the debate.
Best known for his song "Gasolina," Daddy Yankee already has delved into national politics by endorsing Republica Sen. John McCain for president as "a fighter for the Hispanic community." Residents of this U.S. Caribbean territory, however, cannot vote in the presidential election.
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Zeitgeist: Addendum
explaining the monetary system (and if you watched the first one, you'll know ho wdeep the rabbit hole will go on this one)
betcha can't eat just one
Sadly I ruined my friends life by telling him that MSG is found in almost ALL processed foods (along with aspartame and citric acid). Both aspartame and MSG attack neurons and cause significant nerve damage, and block signaling pathways. And among ALL that, they're addictive. That's why "Nothing satisfies like Fritos" and why you "... can't eat just one."
Just food for thought since I was rudely reminded of this fact after the massive headache i just received after eating a hand full of someone else's chilli cheese fritos.
I think I feel my brain shrinking.
What the financial bailout is paying for (actual invoices)
So we ALL knew we were getting fucked in this financial bailout plan, bur seriously, a $444,000 party. If I had just recieved $700 + biollion I'd party too. c/o the smoking gun, here are copies of the invoices that AIG put in AFTER the crisis. 
the US is in LAST place for paid family leave
And yet it is the birthplace of the femenist movement. How is this possible. And yes, ONLY Obama is talking about this issue, while McCain/Palin are still talking about Roe Vs. Wade.
part 1
part 2
I also love how it was Al Jazeera that covered this story and NOT American television
part 1
part 2
I also love how it was Al Jazeera that covered this story and NOT American television
Monday, October 6, 2008
Google takes you picture, then sues you for taking thiers. WTF
The Register
Street View operatives object to being snapped
Edinburgh spycar crews fear 'reprisals'
By Lester Haines •
Posted in Bootnotes, 16th September 2008 15:02 GMT
Edinburgh's Evening News has discovered that, when it comes to personal privacy, Google's Street View is a strictly one-way thoroughfare.
The paper was alerted yesterday that several examples of the Orwellian spycar fleet were being prepared for action at a disused garage site in Drum Brae South. It duly dispatched a snapper to record the action, but when he "began to capture the teams setting up the roof-mounted cameras, he was threatened with legal action".
Photographer Ian Georgeson explained: "I was standing on public ground taking photos of the cars when one of the drivers came over and said that they didn't want us to print their faces. He said if I used any shots of him they would sue us, because they were concerned about reprisals.
"He admitted they were a bit concerned about the way people would react to the cameras, but said they would be in Edinburgh for a couple of months at least trying to map the city."
Guy Herbert of UK civil liberties group No2ID told the Evening News: "That is an extraordinary situation, but it does seem to be the case that while large organisations, traditionally the police or councils, are happy to photograph the public, they are less keen on being photographed themselves.
"It would be interesting to see just what legal grounds they think they have to stop their picture being used that wouldn't also apply to the pictures they are taking, and I think they would be on pretty treacherous ground."
A spokesgooglette said the search monolith had "no problem with the cars being photographed, but admitted it did not want staff to be hindered in any way".
She concluded: "We are happy for people to take pictures of the cars - they are clearly identified as working for Google. We would not want our staff to be in any way stopped from doing their job, however."
Well, we're glad Google has no objection to people snapping its sinister black Opels, because here are the 110 or so sightings to date on El Reg's splendid Spot-the-Street-View Web 0.2 mashup:
Street View operatives object to being snapped
Edinburgh spycar crews fear 'reprisals'
By Lester Haines •
Posted in Bootnotes, 16th September 2008 15:02 GMT
Edinburgh's Evening News has discovered that, when it comes to personal privacy, Google's Street View is a strictly one-way thoroughfare.
The paper was alerted yesterday that several examples of the Orwellian spycar fleet were being prepared for action at a disused garage site in Drum Brae South. It duly dispatched a snapper to record the action, but when he "began to capture the teams setting up the roof-mounted cameras, he was threatened with legal action".
Photographer Ian Georgeson explained: "I was standing on public ground taking photos of the cars when one of the drivers came over and said that they didn't want us to print their faces. He said if I used any shots of him they would sue us, because they were concerned about reprisals.
"He admitted they were a bit concerned about the way people would react to the cameras, but said they would be in Edinburgh for a couple of months at least trying to map the city."
Guy Herbert of UK civil liberties group No2ID told the Evening News: "That is an extraordinary situation, but it does seem to be the case that while large organisations, traditionally the police or councils, are happy to photograph the public, they are less keen on being photographed themselves.
"It would be interesting to see just what legal grounds they think they have to stop their picture being used that wouldn't also apply to the pictures they are taking, and I think they would be on pretty treacherous ground."
A spokesgooglette said the search monolith had "no problem with the cars being photographed, but admitted it did not want staff to be hindered in any way".
She concluded: "We are happy for people to take pictures of the cars - they are clearly identified as working for Google. We would not want our staff to be in any way stopped from doing their job, however."
Well, we're glad Google has no objection to people snapping its sinister black Opels, because here are the 110 or so sightings to date on El Reg's splendid Spot-the-Street-View Web 0.2 mashup:
If you're gonna go there, how bout your reverend...
It's only fair game to talk about a guy that promotes that people and dinasaurs coexisted, that God will build you a pipeline and, well just watch her home videos of church. They're on youtube.
Palin Goes Against McCain In Bringing Up Wright
6, 2008 09:42 AM
suggesting that Barack Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a legitimate campaign issue, Sarah Palin appears to have sunk below the standard espoused by John McCain himself earlier this year.
In an interview with neoconservative columnist Bill Kristol, Palin said: "To tell you the truth, Bill, I don't know why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that -- with, I don't know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn't get up and leave -- to me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up."
But the fact is, McCain has already made his call on whether he wants to "bring that up" fairly clear. Beyond deciding not to do so himself, he offered some implicit criticism for anyone else who would.
In March, after being given the opportunity by Fox News' Sean Hannity to hit his opponent on Wright, McCain refused.
"I think that when people support you, it doesn't mean you support everything they say. Obviously, those statements are things none of us would associate ourselves with," McCain said.
After Hannity listed more potential reasons to make Wright an issue, McCain drew a deep breath and decided not to go there. "I do know Sen. Obama, he does not share those views."
In April, after the North Carolina Republican Party uncorked an attack ad linking Obama and Wright in April, McCain asked that they put it back in the box. While candidates often distance themselves from the tougher party-issued ads, McCain went further than that. As the Associated Press reported at the time:
"We asked them not to run it," McCain told reporters on his campaign bus in Kentucky Wednesday. "I'm sending them an e-mail as we speak asking them to take it down.
"I don't know why they do it. Obviously, I don't control them, but I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it," McCain said.
McCain said the ad was described to him: "I didn't see it, and I hope that I don't see it."
Does McCain now think the American people want a discussion of Wright from his running mate? The Huffington Post has asked a McCain campaign spokesperson for an update on the candidate's thinking.
Palin Goes Against McCain In Bringing Up Wright
6, 2008 09:42 AM
suggesting that Barack Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a legitimate campaign issue, Sarah Palin appears to have sunk below the standard espoused by John McCain himself earlier this year.
In an interview with neoconservative columnist Bill Kristol, Palin said: "To tell you the truth, Bill, I don't know why that association isn't discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that -- with, I don't know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn't get up and leave -- to me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up."
But the fact is, McCain has already made his call on whether he wants to "bring that up" fairly clear. Beyond deciding not to do so himself, he offered some implicit criticism for anyone else who would.
In March, after being given the opportunity by Fox News' Sean Hannity to hit his opponent on Wright, McCain refused.
"I think that when people support you, it doesn't mean you support everything they say. Obviously, those statements are things none of us would associate ourselves with," McCain said.
After Hannity listed more potential reasons to make Wright an issue, McCain drew a deep breath and decided not to go there. "I do know Sen. Obama, he does not share those views."
In April, after the North Carolina Republican Party uncorked an attack ad linking Obama and Wright in April, McCain asked that they put it back in the box. While candidates often distance themselves from the tougher party-issued ads, McCain went further than that. As the Associated Press reported at the time:
"We asked them not to run it," McCain told reporters on his campaign bus in Kentucky Wednesday. "I'm sending them an e-mail as we speak asking them to take it down.
"I don't know why they do it. Obviously, I don't control them, but I'm making it very clear, as I have a couple of times in the past, that there's no place for that kind of campaigning, and the American people don't want it," McCain said.
McCain said the ad was described to him: "I didn't see it, and I hope that I don't see it."
Does McCain now think the American people want a discussion of Wright from his running mate? The Huffington Post has asked a McCain campaign spokesperson for an update on the candidate's thinking.
Friday, October 3, 2008
I hate that my blog is turning into a palin hater blog, but one more...
So I was at dinner last night, and though I've known for a while, people actually think Palin is hot, in a quote "sexy librarian kind of way." The guy sitting next to me said he would do her as she paraded across the tv that was strung up to the ceiling and I just looked at him and told him I'm sorry his standards were so low.
He continued to defend his position that she was a milf, and that he didn't really want to hear her talk (not helping against my argument, in fact it strengthened my argument that the standards were low) and only one other person out of the 15 seated agreed with him. But that was the problem, that was 13% of us. Which could be like 13% of undecided voters will vote for her just cuz she's "hot" (now yes I just arbitrarily assigned our stats to the nation, AND none of us are undecided - completely prO-bama, but still, and conversly I have NO problem with people voting for Obama because he's hot, mostly because at least he's smart and it helps my party).
But Palin, really? See I get turned off by morons. You could look like Pharrell or Lewis Hamilton, and if you open your mouth and say something like your foreign policy experience was established because Putin landed in the same airport as you, you're a fucking moron and all of a sudden not so hot. If you think that Cheney's worst act was "a duck hunting accident" I'll think you didn't graduate 6th grade and when you grow up and learn to be able to name at least ONE newspaper I might consider your opinion in the future, but right now you're irrelevent and I'll ask you to please stop talking and go back to the place where they told you dinosaurs and people coexisted. And if you tell me that the system is going to support victims of rape and incest while they bring babies to term and put those kids into another system that's already overcrowded with kids who haven't been adopted yet, I probably won't speak to you again because you're a lost cause to humanity and you make ALL human beings look like a subspecies to the cow. And can i reiterate... you FUCKING MORON.
*sigh* I feel better now.
Maybe cuz i'm just not into the older white 6 kid having hockey moms who pick names like Track and Bristol, but seriously, if you vote for her (let alone do her), your standards ARE low.
He continued to defend his position that she was a milf, and that he didn't really want to hear her talk (not helping against my argument, in fact it strengthened my argument that the standards were low) and only one other person out of the 15 seated agreed with him. But that was the problem, that was 13% of us. Which could be like 13% of undecided voters will vote for her just cuz she's "hot" (now yes I just arbitrarily assigned our stats to the nation, AND none of us are undecided - completely prO-bama, but still, and conversly I have NO problem with people voting for Obama because he's hot, mostly because at least he's smart and it helps my party).
But Palin, really? See I get turned off by morons. You could look like Pharrell or Lewis Hamilton, and if you open your mouth and say something like your foreign policy experience was established because Putin landed in the same airport as you, you're a fucking moron and all of a sudden not so hot. If you think that Cheney's worst act was "a duck hunting accident" I'll think you didn't graduate 6th grade and when you grow up and learn to be able to name at least ONE newspaper I might consider your opinion in the future, but right now you're irrelevent and I'll ask you to please stop talking and go back to the place where they told you dinosaurs and people coexisted. And if you tell me that the system is going to support victims of rape and incest while they bring babies to term and put those kids into another system that's already overcrowded with kids who haven't been adopted yet, I probably won't speak to you again because you're a lost cause to humanity and you make ALL human beings look like a subspecies to the cow. And can i reiterate... you FUCKING MORON.
*sigh* I feel better now.
Maybe cuz i'm just not into the older white 6 kid having hockey moms who pick names like Track and Bristol, but seriously, if you vote for her (let alone do her), your standards ARE low.
I'm having trouble with this whole HIV is 100 years old thing
It's just that well, I'm a microbiologist in San Francisco (the CENTER of HIV study and dynamics) and had all kinds of university classes on the topic, no I am no expert but I do know a few things. One we already know a lot of this, though this article is still spreading around the internet liek the virus itself, and this is one of those no shit moments that a geneticist and can look at and be like ummm yeah by technicality the virus HAS to have old DNA. It had to have come from somewhere, and the tests are NOT so sensitive that they can pinpoint between decades (1900 as opposed to 1940).
just a thought.
***
HIV dates back to around 1900, study shows
Genetic analysis of tissue specimen recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo leads researchers to believe the virus that causes AIDS has been present for more than a century.
By Mary Engel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 2, 2008
A genetic analysis of a biopsy sample recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has led researchers to conclude that the virus that causes AIDS has existed in human populations for more than a century, according to a study released Wednesday.The study, led by evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona in Tucson, puts the date of origin at around 1900, which is 30 years earlier than previous analyses.
HIV-1, the most common form of the virus, is known to have originated in chimpanzees because of close genetic similarities to a simian virus. It now infects an estimated 33 million people worldwide.But figuring out when the virus jumped species and became established in humans has been difficult. The first cases in the U.S. were recognized in 1981, and the oldest evidence of the virus is a 1959 blood sample taken from a man who lived in what was then the Belgian Congo. To find the point of origin, the scientists relied on a well-recognized genetic technique to determine the mutation rates of different sub-types of the virus. With a known rate of mutation, researchers could then, in essence, run the clock backward to find the point where the different sub-types were the same. That common ancestor would represent the first appearance of the virus in humans before it mutated.
"The HIV virus evolves incredibly quickly," said geneticist Bette Korber of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, who did an analysis in 2000. "Those mutations get passed on to the next individual. So we have that evolutionary pace to enable a look backward."Korber's analysis compared the 1959 blood sample and modern samples. She traced their common ancestor to roughly 1931.The new analysis, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, added lymph node tissue from a woman who died in 1960 in the Belgian Congo. The tissue specimen was one of more than 800 preserved in ice-cube-size blocks of paraffin at the University of Kinshasa.The researchers compared that sample with modern strains to determine its mutation rate. Then they matched that rate with the 1959 sample, tracing their common ancestor to between 1884 and 1924."I've been trying to track down old samples like this for quite a few years now," Worobey said. "As soon as you have that one other sequence from that same time period, it really snaps the whole evolutionary picture into sharp focus."The researchers surmised that the creation of colonial cities around the turn of the century was the catalyst that allowed the virus to take hold.Dr. Steven M. Wolinsky, a co-author of the study, said that colonial cities meant not just more potential hosts for viruses living in closer quarters, but also prostitution and other high-risk behaviors for transmitting the virus."Urbanization was probably the main trigger," said Wolinsky, an infectious diseases specialist at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Jim Moore, an anthropologist at UC San Diego who was not associated with the study, said the fact that the virus could have spread unnoticed for decades is no surprise, given the mortality rates in Africa during the colonial period."The conditions then were horrendous in terms of how Africans were treated," he said. "People dying of AIDS would have been part of the background." mary.engel@latimes.com
just a thought.
***
HIV dates back to around 1900, study shows
Genetic analysis of tissue specimen recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo leads researchers to believe the virus that causes AIDS has been present for more than a century.
By Mary Engel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 2, 2008
A genetic analysis of a biopsy sample recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has led researchers to conclude that the virus that causes AIDS has existed in human populations for more than a century, according to a study released Wednesday.The study, led by evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona in Tucson, puts the date of origin at around 1900, which is 30 years earlier than previous analyses.
HIV-1, the most common form of the virus, is known to have originated in chimpanzees because of close genetic similarities to a simian virus. It now infects an estimated 33 million people worldwide.But figuring out when the virus jumped species and became established in humans has been difficult. The first cases in the U.S. were recognized in 1981, and the oldest evidence of the virus is a 1959 blood sample taken from a man who lived in what was then the Belgian Congo. To find the point of origin, the scientists relied on a well-recognized genetic technique to determine the mutation rates of different sub-types of the virus. With a known rate of mutation, researchers could then, in essence, run the clock backward to find the point where the different sub-types were the same. That common ancestor would represent the first appearance of the virus in humans before it mutated.
"The HIV virus evolves incredibly quickly," said geneticist Bette Korber of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, who did an analysis in 2000. "Those mutations get passed on to the next individual. So we have that evolutionary pace to enable a look backward."Korber's analysis compared the 1959 blood sample and modern samples. She traced their common ancestor to roughly 1931.The new analysis, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, added lymph node tissue from a woman who died in 1960 in the Belgian Congo. The tissue specimen was one of more than 800 preserved in ice-cube-size blocks of paraffin at the University of Kinshasa.The researchers compared that sample with modern strains to determine its mutation rate. Then they matched that rate with the 1959 sample, tracing their common ancestor to between 1884 and 1924."I've been trying to track down old samples like this for quite a few years now," Worobey said. "As soon as you have that one other sequence from that same time period, it really snaps the whole evolutionary picture into sharp focus."The researchers surmised that the creation of colonial cities around the turn of the century was the catalyst that allowed the virus to take hold.Dr. Steven M. Wolinsky, a co-author of the study, said that colonial cities meant not just more potential hosts for viruses living in closer quarters, but also prostitution and other high-risk behaviors for transmitting the virus."Urbanization was probably the main trigger," said Wolinsky, an infectious diseases specialist at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Jim Moore, an anthropologist at UC San Diego who was not associated with the study, said the fact that the virus could have spread unnoticed for decades is no surprise, given the mortality rates in Africa during the colonial period."The conditions then were horrendous in terms of how Africans were treated," he said. "People dying of AIDS would have been part of the background." mary.engel@latimes.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wal*Mart give you a reason to steal music
Wal*Mart shutting down DRM server, nuking your music collection -- only people who pay for music risk losing it to DRM shenanigans
Posted by Cory Doctorow, September 26, 2008 8:34 PM permalink
Hey suckers! Did you buy DRM music from Wal*Mart instead of downloading MP3s for free from the P2P networks? Well, they're repaying your honesty by taking away your music. Unless you go through a bunch of hoops (that you may never find out about, if you've changed email addresses or if you're not a very technical person), your music will no longer be playable after October 9th.
But don't worry, this will never ever happen to all those other DRM companies -- unlike little fly-by-night mom-and-pop operations like Wal*Mart, the DRM companies are rock-ribbed veterans of commerce and industry, sure to be here for a thousand years. So go on buying your Audible books, your iTunes DRM songs, your Zune media, your EA games... None of these companies will ever disappear, nor will the third-party DRM suppliers they use. They are as solid and permanent as Commodore, Atari, the Soviet Union, the American credit system and the Roman Empire.
Boy, the entertainment industry sure makes a good case for ripping them off, huh? Buy your media and risk having it confiscated by a DRM-server shutdown. Take it for free and keep it forever.
From: Walmart Music Team Date: Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 7:42 PMSubject: Important Information About Your Walmart.com Digital Music PurchasesTo: xxxxxx@gmail.com
Important Information About Your Digital Music Purchases
We hope you are enjoying the increased music quality/bitrate and the improved usability of Walmart's MP3 music downloads. We began offering MP3s in August 2007 and have offered only DRM (digital rights management) -free MP3s since February 2008. As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.
If you have purchased protected WMA music files from our site prior to Feb 2008, we strongly recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you will be able to access them from any personal computer. This change does not impact songs or albums purchased after Feb 2008, as those are DRM-free.
Beginning October 9, we will no longer be able to assist with digital rights management issues for protected WMA files purchased from Walmart.com. If you do not back up your files before this date, you will no longer be able to transfer your songs to other computers or access your songs after changing or reinstalling your operating system or in the event of a system crash. Your music and video collections will still play on the originally authorized computer.
Thank you for using Walmart.com for music downloads. We are working hard to make our store better than ever and easier to use.
Walmart Music Team
Posted by Cory Doctorow, September 26, 2008 8:34 PM permalink
Hey suckers! Did you buy DRM music from Wal*Mart instead of downloading MP3s for free from the P2P networks? Well, they're repaying your honesty by taking away your music. Unless you go through a bunch of hoops (that you may never find out about, if you've changed email addresses or if you're not a very technical person), your music will no longer be playable after October 9th.
But don't worry, this will never ever happen to all those other DRM companies -- unlike little fly-by-night mom-and-pop operations like Wal*Mart, the DRM companies are rock-ribbed veterans of commerce and industry, sure to be here for a thousand years. So go on buying your Audible books, your iTunes DRM songs, your Zune media, your EA games... None of these companies will ever disappear, nor will the third-party DRM suppliers they use. They are as solid and permanent as Commodore, Atari, the Soviet Union, the American credit system and the Roman Empire.
Boy, the entertainment industry sure makes a good case for ripping them off, huh? Buy your media and risk having it confiscated by a DRM-server shutdown. Take it for free and keep it forever.
From: Walmart Music Team Date: Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 7:42 PMSubject: Important Information About Your Walmart.com Digital Music PurchasesTo: xxxxxx@gmail.com
Important Information About Your Digital Music Purchases
We hope you are enjoying the increased music quality/bitrate and the improved usability of Walmart's MP3 music downloads. We began offering MP3s in August 2007 and have offered only DRM (digital rights management) -free MP3s since February 2008. As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.
If you have purchased protected WMA music files from our site prior to Feb 2008, we strongly recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you will be able to access them from any personal computer. This change does not impact songs or albums purchased after Feb 2008, as those are DRM-free.
Beginning October 9, we will no longer be able to assist with digital rights management issues for protected WMA files purchased from Walmart.com. If you do not back up your files before this date, you will no longer be able to transfer your songs to other computers or access your songs after changing or reinstalling your operating system or in the event of a system crash. Your music and video collections will still play on the originally authorized computer.
Thank you for using Walmart.com for music downloads. We are working hard to make our store better than ever and easier to use.
Walmart Music Team
Night time, fast cars, black guys... sounds like the new F1 series to me
that's hamilton btw... and a McClaren.
I'm getting chills.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Apparently I could have really hugged a t-rex 6,000 years agao (according to Palin)
The LA Times reports:
Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said.
After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.Palin told him that "dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time," Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said "she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks," recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.
The idea of a "young Earth" -- that God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago, and dinosaurs and humans coexisted early on -- is a popular strain of creationism.
Though in her race for governor she called for faith-based "intelligent design" to be taught along with evolution in Alaska's schools, Gov. Palin has not sought to require it, state educators say.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
i HATE HATE HATE HATE ticketmaster
If I call the box office to a place to get tickets to a band I want to see, usually it's because I want to a) avoid the RIDICULOUS surcharges and b) because I like the venue enough that I'm willing to give them all the money in hand instead of working through a middle man and take the time of the trip to the place.
But If I hear ONE MORE voice mail about how I need to call ticket master so I can pay $8 more of the cover price I'm gonna go crazy. Actually no I'm not, it's going to give me a good excuse when someone says why do you download everything and not buy it.
WHY? I'm glad you asked, it's because when I (the person who actually supports my downloaded artist when they are on tour) have ALREADY PAID for the music in all my fucking convenience fees with ticketmaster/web. If the artist doesn't like it, take it up with your middle man. How did a pair of $35 tickets turn into a $120 investment? Is The Warfield going to give me dividends? I don't think so. Is the Fillmore going to give me open bar or at least a free shot of Remy for that extra $10 charge? Nope. But it does even out to the cost of the new cd that I didn't pay for. So revel in that.
But If I hear ONE MORE voice mail about how I need to call ticket master so I can pay $8 more of the cover price I'm gonna go crazy. Actually no I'm not, it's going to give me a good excuse when someone says why do you download everything and not buy it.
WHY? I'm glad you asked, it's because when I (the person who actually supports my downloaded artist when they are on tour) have ALREADY PAID for the music in all my fucking convenience fees with ticketmaster/web. If the artist doesn't like it, take it up with your middle man. How did a pair of $35 tickets turn into a $120 investment? Is The Warfield going to give me dividends? I don't think so. Is the Fillmore going to give me open bar or at least a free shot of Remy for that extra $10 charge? Nope. But it does even out to the cost of the new cd that I didn't pay for. So revel in that.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Palin didn't have a passport until LAST YEAR
and she wants to be a world leader?
I'm starting to realize that i personally have WAY MORE EXPERIENCE than her. Can I apply?
And I at least gave her the benefit of the doubt on the Russia is close to Alaska so I have foreign policy experience, comment. But she REALLY BELIEVES IT.
I can't wait until the debate tonight. I hope she trips like a runway model.
loser.
I'm starting to realize that i personally have WAY MORE EXPERIENCE than her. Can I apply?
And I at least gave her the benefit of the doubt on the Russia is close to Alaska so I have foreign policy experience, comment. But she REALLY BELIEVES IT.
I can't wait until the debate tonight. I hope she trips like a runway model.
loser.
Monday, September 22, 2008
vanilla white and chocolate brown
Can anyone tell me when vanilla became associated with the color white? I was thinking about it and really, vanilla beans are brown. So is vanilla extract. I tend to like all the dirt colored flavors (chocolate, cinnamon, coffee, star anise, pepper, ginger, etc...) and I kept thinking vanilla but kept associating it with white and not putting it in that category. I think it's stupid. Vanilla is brown.
random thought.
random thought.
To all the haters, I respect her
and I'd pretty much take any reason to hit rumsfeild with a lead pipe.
_______________________________________________________________________
Donald Rumsfeld made Condoleezza Rice cry in the White House
As George W. Bush's national security adviser and then secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice has long been seen as the toughest woman in American politics.
By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 6:33PM BST 20 Sep 2008
Known as the Steel Magnolia in her youth, Miss Rice has guided the US through the war on terror, looked tyrants in the eye and faced down terrorist threats during her nation's darkest hours.
But a new book reveals that she was not so steadfast in facing down her own more personal enemies within the Bush administration.
Instead, Miss Rice was so fazed by former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that she burst into tears at a meeting in the White House situation room.
The floodgates opened for the then national security adviser in February 2004, as the Bush administration was wrestling with growing instability in Iraq and the legal status of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
A new biography of Vice President Dick Cheney, called Angler after his Secret Service codename, recounts how he and Mr Rumsfeld conspired to delay the military tribunals which the president had ordered to be set up to try the terrorist suspects.
Miss Rice tried repeatedly to organise a meeting with the most senior figures in the government to discuss the tribunals, but Mr Rumsfeld twice refused to attend, sending his deputy Paul Wolfowitz instead.
Pulitzer prize winning author Barton Gellman writes: "He did not regard her as an equal and barely hid it. The opinions of her staff did not interest him."
On finding Mr Rumsfeld absent from a second meeting, CIA director George Tenet was so angry that he defied a direct order from Miss Rice to sit down and marched out of the meeting, declaring: "This is bullshit."
The book goes on: "Something happened to Rice's face, control melting away. Her eyes welled up and her next words caught in her throat. The men in the room did not know where to look.
'She started to cry,' said one of them. 'And she said - I can't remember the exact words because I was so shaken - something like: "We will talk about this again," and she turned and walked quickly out of the door.'"
Miss Rice had the last laugh. Mr Rumsfeld was fired in 2006 as Iraq descended into civil war and Guantanamo Bay became a byword for abuse of power.
Now Secretary of State, Miss Rice, assisted by Mr Rumsfeld's replacement Robert Gates, fought and won a bureaucratic battle for President Bush's ear and the direction of US foreign policy that gradually marginalised the influence of hawks like Mr Cheney.
_______________________________________________________________________
Donald Rumsfeld made Condoleezza Rice cry in the White House
As George W. Bush's national security adviser and then secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice has long been seen as the toughest woman in American politics.
By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 6:33PM BST 20 Sep 2008
Known as the Steel Magnolia in her youth, Miss Rice has guided the US through the war on terror, looked tyrants in the eye and faced down terrorist threats during her nation's darkest hours.
But a new book reveals that she was not so steadfast in facing down her own more personal enemies within the Bush administration.
Instead, Miss Rice was so fazed by former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that she burst into tears at a meeting in the White House situation room.
The floodgates opened for the then national security adviser in February 2004, as the Bush administration was wrestling with growing instability in Iraq and the legal status of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
A new biography of Vice President Dick Cheney, called Angler after his Secret Service codename, recounts how he and Mr Rumsfeld conspired to delay the military tribunals which the president had ordered to be set up to try the terrorist suspects.
Miss Rice tried repeatedly to organise a meeting with the most senior figures in the government to discuss the tribunals, but Mr Rumsfeld twice refused to attend, sending his deputy Paul Wolfowitz instead.
Pulitzer prize winning author Barton Gellman writes: "He did not regard her as an equal and barely hid it. The opinions of her staff did not interest him."
On finding Mr Rumsfeld absent from a second meeting, CIA director George Tenet was so angry that he defied a direct order from Miss Rice to sit down and marched out of the meeting, declaring: "This is bullshit."
The book goes on: "Something happened to Rice's face, control melting away. Her eyes welled up and her next words caught in her throat. The men in the room did not know where to look.
'She started to cry,' said one of them. 'And she said - I can't remember the exact words because I was so shaken - something like: "We will talk about this again," and she turned and walked quickly out of the door.'"
Miss Rice had the last laugh. Mr Rumsfeld was fired in 2006 as Iraq descended into civil war and Guantanamo Bay became a byword for abuse of power.
Now Secretary of State, Miss Rice, assisted by Mr Rumsfeld's replacement Robert Gates, fought and won a bureaucratic battle for President Bush's ear and the direction of US foreign policy that gradually marginalised the influence of hawks like Mr Cheney.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Why I love Wired Magazine: How to Pirate like a Pirate
Pirate Like a Pirate
From Wired How-To Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
September 19th may be Talk Like a Pirate Day, but why just talk the talk when you can walk the walk? And why restrict yourself to one day a year? Here's how to plunder the high seas of the internet for some priceless booty. Just be careful, lest the scurvy dogs (aka The Man) catch ye and have ye walkin' the plank.
Contents[hide]
1 Download Torrents
2 Hit the Blogs
3 Convert the Audio
4 Covert the Video
5 Mod Your Console
6 Hoard Your Booty
if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); }
Download Torrents
The hub of all things pirate on the internet is The Pirate Bay. The Swedish torrent site hosts links to files from all over the world, so whether you're looking for anime or games, death metal or Stax soul, Bollywood or Hollywood, it should be your first stop. Just remember -- the more mainstream it is, the better chance you'll get it quickly. Esoteric titles will take some digging. Mininova.com is a good second stop.
You'll need a fast connection and a proper client. Mac users should try Transmission. Everyone else should try µTorrent or the official BitTorrent client.
New to BitTorrent? Here's a How-To.
Hit the Blogs
If it's music ye seek, there are heaps of MP3 blogs out there. They range from barely legal sites that host a couple of tracks for a short period of time to full-blown dens of sin that point to full album downloads -- often before the albums are officially released.
To find individual tracks, start with the MP3 search service Hype Machine.
To find a full album, try searching for the artist and the album title plus the term "blogspot." Google's free blog hosting service famously takes a hands-off approach to policing content, so the vast majority of MP3 blogs are hosted there. Again, the newer content is easier to find, but you'll often uncover ancient gems ripped from rare vinyl, too.
Once you find a good MP3 blog, check out their blogroll or the list of their favorite sites. It's usually a list running down the right side of the page. These guys link to each other often, so click around.
Convert the Audio
Sometimes on BitTorrent, you'll encounter audio ripped as FLAC or SHN. These are lossless audio formats and they preserve the full audio fidelity of the orginal CDs. But they won't play on your iPod, so you'll have to convert them.
If you're on a Mac, there's an app called Max that can rip FLAC/SHN straight to MP3. If you're running Windows, you can use the free tools like Magic Jelly Bean SHN Shortener or the official Flac tools (which will also work on Mac and Linux) to convert your files. Some tools will only convert your FLAC/SHN files to WAV audio, which is still CD quality. You can easily dump those into iTunes and convert them to MP3s.
Covert the Video
Download a few torrents of movies and you'll quickly find your self navigating a strange swamp of AVI, MOV and WMV files. If you want to watch the movies on your computer, grab VLC. It's a free software player than can handle just about any file format.
Many modern DVD players can also play just about any format you throw at them, so try burning a disc loaded with AVIs or MOVs -- you may not need to convert anything.
Movies that show up wrapped in VIDEO_TS folders won't need any conversion. Those are straight DVD rips -- just burn and watch!
Otherwise, AVIs and WMVs can be converted using the freeware program Avi2DVD for Windows. Mac users can try ffmpegX which can turn your AVI files into MPEG files -- the standard video format for DVDs.
If you want to put everything on your iPod, iPhone, PSP or other device, your best bet is Handbrake. It's a free program that works on all platforms, and it will convert, resize and compress your video to play on whatever device you carry in your pocket.
Mod Your Console
Thoes games you find in the torrent sites won't play in your standard issue console. You'll need to mod your Xbox or PlayStation to unlock that capability. This usually involves the installation of a "mod chip," and requires somebody with access to the illicit chip, a soldering gun and a whole lot of know-how. Enterprising kids in your area are willing to offer their services for a small fee (check craigslist).
Some consoles, most notably the Xbox, can be "soft-modded," which lets you customize the box to run all sorts of software without having to crack open the case. A great resource for both methods is i-Hacked. Just remember to kiss your warranty goodbye.
Hoard Your Booty
A few weeks in, you'll have heaps of booty. You'll need a large and seaworthy vessel to store all of that digital content, so pick up an external hard drive or a big, nasty NAS -- a network attached storage device.
Wired's Gadget Lab recommends the Sentry Safe QA0005, a fireproof and waterproof hard disk enclosure that is seemingly impervious to damage.
Wired also recommends the Drobo, a Linux-powered virtualized storage device (read: fail safe) that, based on current drive size, is expandable to up to 8 terabytes. It also wins with its easy set-up, hot-swappable drives and a sleek design.
From Wired How-To Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
September 19th may be Talk Like a Pirate Day, but why just talk the talk when you can walk the walk? And why restrict yourself to one day a year? Here's how to plunder the high seas of the internet for some priceless booty. Just be careful, lest the scurvy dogs (aka The Man) catch ye and have ye walkin' the plank.
Contents[hide]
1 Download Torrents
2 Hit the Blogs
3 Convert the Audio
4 Covert the Video
5 Mod Your Console
6 Hoard Your Booty
if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); }
Download Torrents
The hub of all things pirate on the internet is The Pirate Bay. The Swedish torrent site hosts links to files from all over the world, so whether you're looking for anime or games, death metal or Stax soul, Bollywood or Hollywood, it should be your first stop. Just remember -- the more mainstream it is, the better chance you'll get it quickly. Esoteric titles will take some digging. Mininova.com is a good second stop.
You'll need a fast connection and a proper client. Mac users should try Transmission. Everyone else should try µTorrent or the official BitTorrent client.
New to BitTorrent? Here's a How-To.
Hit the Blogs
If it's music ye seek, there are heaps of MP3 blogs out there. They range from barely legal sites that host a couple of tracks for a short period of time to full-blown dens of sin that point to full album downloads -- often before the albums are officially released.
To find individual tracks, start with the MP3 search service Hype Machine.
To find a full album, try searching for the artist and the album title plus the term "blogspot." Google's free blog hosting service famously takes a hands-off approach to policing content, so the vast majority of MP3 blogs are hosted there. Again, the newer content is easier to find, but you'll often uncover ancient gems ripped from rare vinyl, too.
Once you find a good MP3 blog, check out their blogroll or the list of their favorite sites. It's usually a list running down the right side of the page. These guys link to each other often, so click around.
Convert the Audio
Sometimes on BitTorrent, you'll encounter audio ripped as FLAC or SHN. These are lossless audio formats and they preserve the full audio fidelity of the orginal CDs. But they won't play on your iPod, so you'll have to convert them.
If you're on a Mac, there's an app called Max that can rip FLAC/SHN straight to MP3. If you're running Windows, you can use the free tools like Magic Jelly Bean SHN Shortener or the official Flac tools (which will also work on Mac and Linux) to convert your files. Some tools will only convert your FLAC/SHN files to WAV audio, which is still CD quality. You can easily dump those into iTunes and convert them to MP3s.
Covert the Video
Download a few torrents of movies and you'll quickly find your self navigating a strange swamp of AVI, MOV and WMV files. If you want to watch the movies on your computer, grab VLC. It's a free software player than can handle just about any file format.
Many modern DVD players can also play just about any format you throw at them, so try burning a disc loaded with AVIs or MOVs -- you may not need to convert anything.
Movies that show up wrapped in VIDEO_TS folders won't need any conversion. Those are straight DVD rips -- just burn and watch!
Otherwise, AVIs and WMVs can be converted using the freeware program Avi2DVD for Windows. Mac users can try ffmpegX which can turn your AVI files into MPEG files -- the standard video format for DVDs.
If you want to put everything on your iPod, iPhone, PSP or other device, your best bet is Handbrake. It's a free program that works on all platforms, and it will convert, resize and compress your video to play on whatever device you carry in your pocket.
Mod Your Console
Thoes games you find in the torrent sites won't play in your standard issue console. You'll need to mod your Xbox or PlayStation to unlock that capability. This usually involves the installation of a "mod chip," and requires somebody with access to the illicit chip, a soldering gun and a whole lot of know-how. Enterprising kids in your area are willing to offer their services for a small fee (check craigslist).
Some consoles, most notably the Xbox, can be "soft-modded," which lets you customize the box to run all sorts of software without having to crack open the case. A great resource for both methods is i-Hacked. Just remember to kiss your warranty goodbye.
Hoard Your Booty
A few weeks in, you'll have heaps of booty. You'll need a large and seaworthy vessel to store all of that digital content, so pick up an external hard drive or a big, nasty NAS -- a network attached storage device.
Wired's Gadget Lab recommends the Sentry Safe QA0005, a fireproof and waterproof hard disk enclosure that is seemingly impervious to damage.
Wired also recommends the Drobo, a Linux-powered virtualized storage device (read: fail safe) that, based on current drive size, is expandable to up to 8 terabytes. It also wins with its easy set-up, hot-swappable drives and a sleek design.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
-500 points and 11 banks tank, in the past 9 months
The candidates better mean what they say
11 US banks have closed since January
500 point stock plunge biggest since 9/11
11 US banks have closed since January
500 point stock plunge biggest since 9/11
Campaign McCain
I just felt like reiterating that anyone who votes for McCain is, how can I say, an genetically inferior inbred hick.
You cant say you're voting on family/Christian values when he left his cripled wife for a lady 17 years younger and WAY richer that he met at a bar. BTW he didn't even mention his ex wife with whom he had 3 kids with during the RNC. He left her before he was even divorced. So ummm don't demonize Edwards if he actually stayed with his wife and admitted his discretion.
You can't talk about a war on drugs when his wife has been investigated by the DEA for a HUGE pill popping problem. I'm just sayin, Mac Dre has NOTHING on her. Dre never actually got a call from the DEA, police for posession maybe, but DAMN the DEA. I wonder how long she'll last knwoing she's chasing her Xanex with a Coors. I hope she's not DD.
That's right, Cindy McCain knows, thizz is what it is.
You can't say that abortion is wrong because you're killing a life, but then strap up the shotgun and go hunting.
How can a person from a small town run a campaign with ANY credibility against a person from a world renowned metropolitan city? We are talking about creating a WORLD LEADER. Not the next little league soccor coach, oh I'm sorry, hockey coach.
You can't be about financial reform, conservative spending, and keeping governnment out of private life and still be a republican (even if these are the stated values of the party, they have not been in place for 8 years)
I'm just ranting... Clearly I'm preaching to the choir.
You cant say you're voting on family/Christian values when he left his cripled wife for a lady 17 years younger and WAY richer that he met at a bar. BTW he didn't even mention his ex wife with whom he had 3 kids with during the RNC. He left her before he was even divorced. So ummm don't demonize Edwards if he actually stayed with his wife and admitted his discretion.
You can't talk about a war on drugs when his wife has been investigated by the DEA for a HUGE pill popping problem. I'm just sayin, Mac Dre has NOTHING on her. Dre never actually got a call from the DEA, police for posession maybe, but DAMN the DEA. I wonder how long she'll last knwoing she's chasing her Xanex with a Coors. I hope she's not DD.
That's right, Cindy McCain knows, thizz is what it is.
You can't say that abortion is wrong because you're killing a life, but then strap up the shotgun and go hunting.
How can a person from a small town run a campaign with ANY credibility against a person from a world renowned metropolitan city? We are talking about creating a WORLD LEADER. Not the next little league soccor coach, oh I'm sorry, hockey coach.
You can't be about financial reform, conservative spending, and keeping governnment out of private life and still be a republican (even if these are the stated values of the party, they have not been in place for 8 years)
I'm just ranting... Clearly I'm preaching to the choir.
Palin HACKED!!!
Brought to you by our good friends at Anonymous, (you know the ones who hacked the scientologists). They hacked Sarah Palin's pseudo private email since she was trying to avoid any law restrictions, even though she was using it for business. Not really anything to see, but the point is she's not exempt. I think it's good to remind candidates that these things happen and when the citizens don't liek it they fight back. The other important thing for the republicans to remember is this: Obama's BASE is the internet generation. You can't hide from us. lol.
It was leaked to WikiLeaks
Palin Hacked
she's like a moose caught in headlights
It was leaked to WikiLeaks
Palin Hacked
she's like a moose caught in headlights
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Political Facts of Life
from democraticundergroud
* If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire."
* If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."
* Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America .
* White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."
* If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."
* Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."
* Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."
* If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."
* A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."
* If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Lawprofessor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
* If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
* If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity."
* If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base."
* If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous."
* If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.
* If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America .
* if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis , with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
* If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit."
* If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive."
* If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist."
* If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled."
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky."
* If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
* But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
* If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog."
* If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."
* If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
* If you have an abortion, you're a murderer (forget about if it happened while being raped.)
* If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
* If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If you're a Republican senator who solicits gay sex in an airport bathroom, you get to return to your job in the Senate and are encouraged to run for re-election.
* If you're a Democratic Senator who is out of public office and have an affair, your political career is over and your wife who has terminal cancer is to blame.
* If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire."
* If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."
* Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America .
* White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."
* If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."
* Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."
* Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."
* If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."
* A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."
* If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Lawprofessor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.
* If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
* If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity."
* If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base."
* If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions you are "presumptuous."
* If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.
* If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist-out of touch" with the real America .
* if you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Annapolis , with multiple disciplinary infractions you are a hero.
* If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit."
* If you are a part time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive."
* If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist."
* If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled."
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you have been married to the same woman with whom you've been wed to for 19 years and raising 2 beautiful daughters with, you're "risky."
* If you're a black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
* But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
* If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog."
* If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."
* If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
* If you have an abortion, you're a murderer (forget about if it happened while being raped.)
* If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
* If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If you're a Republican senator who solicits gay sex in an airport bathroom, you get to return to your job in the Senate and are encouraged to run for re-election.
* If you're a Democratic Senator who is out of public office and have an affair, your political career is over and your wife who has terminal cancer is to blame.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
heh... told you i LOVE cars...
and i drive stick ;)
Wired Magazine says Scientists Prove that Exotic Cars Turn Women on (more than men!)
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/09/weve-got-some-b.html
Wired Magazine says Scientists Prove that Exotic Cars Turn Women on (more than men!)
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/09/weve-got-some-b.html
Friday, August 29, 2008
sun ra - pink elephants
this is pretty special
(i miss how old cartoons were more free to be creative...lol)
Monday, August 25, 2008
So periodically I have a problem
See I like meat. And I understand that my species has evolved with canine teeth because we're supposed to eat meat (ratio of teeth to food type is about 50/50 molars to incisors and plants/meat) But damn We have made the "industry" INCREDIBLY DISGUSTING, they are poisoning the aniamls, and by default poisoning th epopulation eating them. LIke consider the following, a) antibiotic resistance is sky high, antibiotics are given in massive amounts to animals we eat b) cancer rates have increased liek a billionfold for various reasons, chemical stimulants in meat being one c) if steroids are bad for athletes, why aren't they bad for cows? d) who wants a genetically modified anything?
it makes me glad I switched to farm raised and organics. You can also try some alternative, like ostrich, buffalo, and other non hormone/antibiotic pumped meats. They're pretty good too. And always, whatever you're uncle shot last week. I do believe in game (as long as you eat it)
And if you watch The Corporation it's even worse.
meet your meat
We are supposed to eat meat, just not like this. It's bad for everybody involved. And BTW, to the moronic ass biochem "graduate" who wanted to argue with me, what biochem school did you graduate from (insert UC Davis) that told you bovine growth hormone won't effect humans? Do you know anything about physiology? And if they give drugs to animals, and we eat them, by default we took the drugs... Or maybe you're the idiot that believe the reason why so much environmental estrogen is floating around is because this imaginary group of women are dumping thier birth control pills down the toilet just to mess with you.
To everybpdy else, don't believe the hype. You don't have to be a vegetarian, even just cutting down on your meat consumption helps. Or switching to other sources for your meat. Just knwo that anything that come 10 patties deep in a frozen bag from wallmart for $2 isn't even considered Grade A (and ask yourself... why is there a grading system for beef? Where does the Grade B-F go...?)
The industries don't care about you or what you eat. The owners can afford the healthcare. You can't.
it makes me glad I switched to farm raised and organics. You can also try some alternative, like ostrich, buffalo, and other non hormone/antibiotic pumped meats. They're pretty good too. And always, whatever you're uncle shot last week. I do believe in game (as long as you eat it)
And if you watch The Corporation it's even worse.
meet your meat
We are supposed to eat meat, just not like this. It's bad for everybody involved. And BTW, to the moronic ass biochem "graduate" who wanted to argue with me, what biochem school did you graduate from (insert UC Davis) that told you bovine growth hormone won't effect humans? Do you know anything about physiology? And if they give drugs to animals, and we eat them, by default we took the drugs... Or maybe you're the idiot that believe the reason why so much environmental estrogen is floating around is because this imaginary group of women are dumping thier birth control pills down the toilet just to mess with you.
To everybpdy else, don't believe the hype. You don't have to be a vegetarian, even just cutting down on your meat consumption helps. Or switching to other sources for your meat. Just knwo that anything that come 10 patties deep in a frozen bag from wallmart for $2 isn't even considered Grade A (and ask yourself... why is there a grading system for beef? Where does the Grade B-F go...?)
The industries don't care about you or what you eat. The owners can afford the healthcare. You can't.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
China get's the Gold
I haven't really been watching olympics, mostly because I'm either working or well... lets face it, it's not World Cup.
Anyway, what I have been watching is all the scandal and misfortune that China is experiencing at the moment and have to wonder, was this always going on, or is it just poetic justice for vast crimes against humanity?
Anyway, what I have been watching is all the scandal and misfortune that China is experiencing at the moment and have to wonder, was this always going on, or is it just poetic justice for vast crimes against humanity?
- I mean everything from telling a little girl her voice is pretty, but she's not so let's replace her with a cute lip syncher. (hmm what could this do to the self esteem of both these girls: one's not pretty enough, the other one shut up and be pretty)
- There's the underage gymnast who is competing against olympic rules
- Photoshopped firewoks at the start of the event. That's pretty awesome actually. That's exactly what let the 8 American bloggers to be imprisoned, for reporting that what they saw one TV was NOT what they saw in real life (although they'r ein jail for what they saw in Tibet).
- What about the martial arts team that was locked in a prison for a year and forced to practice everyday for the opening ceremony. They weren't fed properly so that they'd maintain weight.
- How about the story, and this is a personal favorite, and speculated to be false; China announces to in two provinces that Blacks and Mongolians shall not be served alcohol and to notify authorities of thier presence because they are all drug dealers and prostitutes (they were also advised to dress modestly and not serve gays either, but not for any particular reason)
- Then there's the two elderly ladies that have been jailed for being pissed off about what's going on, oh wait not just jailed "re-educated" meaning a forced labor camp.
- I just watched an HBO special about how bad the one child rule actually is.
- Misfortune would be stating that the earthquakes, and giant vat of green slime that appeared on the nearby beach was just bad luck, but I think it was warning people not to come.
Now it's not fair to the common people of china, in any capaity, but I'm rather amused that the government, which prides itself on such an illusion of total conrtol has had to face so much embarrassment. I mean it's one thing to be caught red handed, but when you're caught lying and you're a total control freak, well that renders you feeling insignifcant.
Maybe, just hopefully, all this will bring light to what they're doing elsewhere in the world. Help us to focus ont he things that matter far more, like the fact that they fund terrorism and genocide. Maybe this kind of exposure is exactly what the world needs to see. America has been outed as a bunch of country blundering idiots, but everybody knows, it's the quiet kids in class that are the ones to fear. And China has been a silently growing super power for quite some time.
Yes yes, I officially want matching rings AND grills (still no diamonds)
the grill quality at this website is wack... I'd go through Gold Tooth Masters are where mine are from.
But the concept is AMAZING... I mean matching grills? That's hot.
yes I'm a jackass... and you know i'm dead serious.
the link to this fab couple is
one advantage though is they're nickel free... gyea to all of us with metal allergies
Wow. someone hacked Homeland Security, and, wait for it... called the middle east
They racked up $12,000 is Sprint charges (or maybe that was just thier monthly bill). The calls were made from FEMA phones and Sprint halted all outgoing calls and notified thier customer that somebody was make a whole bunch of 3 minute calls to Saudi Arabia, Yemen and India (I like how th enews calls India either middle eastern or asian depending on when it's convenient).
The awesome thing about this is the guy who investigated it said that the hack was 'old school' and pretty easy to do. Um, this is homeland security... yeah.
original article
The awesome thing about this is the guy who investigated it said that the hack was 'old school' and pretty easy to do. Um, this is homeland security... yeah.
original article
Hipster Bingo!
OMG I'm SO playing this!
How To Play:Print this out and take it to the next show you go to. When you get a bingo, scream "BINGO!" at the top of your lungs, then break a bunch of beer bottles on the floor and get thrown out.
(*right click to view larger image for printing)
(**oh and YES you can count yourself!)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
somehow eerliy appropriate to the times
did you know if you duck and cover you'll protect yourself from a nuclear attack?
or that even a thin layer of cloth or newspaper will protect you from the burn?
the government wouldn't lie.
btw... where's my local shelter?
(i so want to sample that jingle... duck & cover)
or that even a thin layer of cloth or newspaper will protect you from the burn?
the government wouldn't lie.
btw... where's my local shelter?
(i so want to sample that jingle... duck & cover)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Afghan women jailed because THEY were raped... wtf
The Afghan women jailed for being victims of rape
In Lashkar Gah, the majority of female prisoners are serving 20-year sentences for being forced to have sex. Terri Judd visited them and heard their extraordinary stories
Monday, 18 August 2008
Beneath the anonymity of the sky-blue burqa, Saliha's slender frame and voice betray her young age.Asked why she was serving seven years in jail alongside hardened insurgents and criminals, the 15-year-old giggled and buried her head in her friend's shoulder.
"She is shy," apologised fellow inmate Zirdana, explaining that the teenager had been married at a young age to an abusive husband and ran away with a boy from her neighbourhood.
Asked whether she had loved the boy, Saliha squirmed with childish embarrassment as her friend replied: "Yes."
Ostracised from her family and village, Saliha was convicted of escaping from home and illegal sexual relations. The first carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, the second 20. These are two of the most common accusations facing female prisoners in Afghanistan.
Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah's medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man.
Sitting among the plastic flowers around his desk, where an optimistic United Nations scales of justice poster competed for space with images of Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, Colonel Ghulam Ali, a high-ranking regional security officer, explained sternly that he supported the authorities' right to convict victims of rape. "In Afghanistan whether it is forced or not forced it is a crime because the Islamic rules say that it is," he claimed. "I think it is good. There are many diseases that can be created in today's world, such as HIV, through illegal sexual relations."
But there are signs of progress. A female shura, or consultative council, was established in Helmand province last week to try to combat the injustice of treating an abused woman as a criminal, and not a victim. British officers and Afghan government officials from the province's reconstruction team are also overseeing a project to build humane accommodation for the 400 male and female prisoners.
Inside the fortified compound of the prison in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital, the 330 male prisoners laze about in the shade of their straw huts. The prison security was was recently upgraded with new razor wire and guard posts following the attack on Kandahar's prison in which more than a 1,000 inmates escaped, including 400 Taliban. Past the main gate, inmates – whether on remand and awaiting trial or convicts – are incarcerated alongside 50 insurgents.
In a separate area are the female "criminals" – the youngest is just 13 years old – along with their small children, who must stay with their mothers if no one else will claim them. Their only luxury is a carpet, two blankets, basic cooking facilities and two daily deliveries of bread. They have neither medical care nor, as Colonel Ali acknowledged, "basic human facilities", such as washing areas, electricity and drinking water. All this he hopes will be rectified when the new building his finished.
Pushing her five-year-old son's arm forward imploringly, Zirdana, 25, pointed to the festering wound buzzing with flies. The little boy was just two months old when his mother was convicted of murdering her husband, his father. Zirdana had been handed over to him at the age of seven, as part payment in a financial dispute. She gave birth to the first of her children when she was 11 and was pregnant with her fourth when her husband disappeared and she was accused of killing him. Her three older children were taken from her by her brother-in-law. "When I first came to jail I cried so much blood was coming out of my mouth. My husband's brother told me he would give my children back when I came out of jail but he has become a Talib. Nobody comes to see us in jail. There are a lot of diseases," she said.
Next to her, Dorkhani, 55, sobbed so much that the glint of her tears shone through the mesh of her burqa. Married for four decades to a relatively wealthy man from Nowzad, the couple had fled to Lashkar Gah after a family dispute. When he returned to Nowzad, to try and reclaim his money, he disappeared. "The ones who killed my husband, they have money and they threw me in jail. I am 100 per cent innocent. I have no one, no brother to look after me," she said, explaining that those with cash could buy their freedom.
Last week, in Helmand, the new Women and Children's Justice Shura met and voted in its constitution with the help of advisers from the Afghan Human Rights Committee and support from the Women's Affairs Department, as well as a government legal adviser.
The shura, made up of 20 influential women, mostly teachers, hopes to tackle the inequality of the system by first ensuring that women in the province become aware of their basic right: not to have to endure abuse.
Earlier this year a report by Womankind, Taking Stock: Afghan Women and Girls Seven Years On, revealed that violent attacks against women, usually in a domestic setting, are at epidemic proportions – 87 per cent of women complain of such abuse, and half of it is sexual. More than 60 per cent of marriages are forced and, despite laws banning the practice, 57 per cent of brides are under 16. Many of these girls are offered as restitution for a crime or as debt settlement. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a higher suicide rate among women than men.
In the UK, the MP Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the House of Commons International Development Committee, warned: "There is a dangerous tendency to accept in Afghanistan practices which would not be countenanced elsewhere, because of 'cultural' differences and local traditions."
The shura is hoping to provide a place where women can report abuse and create a separate centre for women and girls incarcerated for running away. It would be a compromise of custody without the stigma of being thrown in jail.
"They are very aware of the inequality in the system," said Royal Navy Lieutenant Rebecca Parnell, a member of the Cimic, or civil-military co-operation, team. "The most refreshing thing is that there are plans coming from the Department of Women's Affairs. It is not just us pushing our ideas on to them." The military aid team has programmes for monthly health checks and trauma counselling in the prison as well as vocational training in carpet weaving, tailoring, literacy and basic health education.
As she was led away to her jail cell yesterday, Dorkhani lifted her burqa to reveal a sun-battered face streaked with tears and pleading eyes: "Please, please take our words somewhere where people will be kind and help us."
In Lashkar Gah, the majority of female prisoners are serving 20-year sentences for being forced to have sex. Terri Judd visited them and heard their extraordinary stories
Monday, 18 August 2008
Beneath the anonymity of the sky-blue burqa, Saliha's slender frame and voice betray her young age.Asked why she was serving seven years in jail alongside hardened insurgents and criminals, the 15-year-old giggled and buried her head in her friend's shoulder.
"She is shy," apologised fellow inmate Zirdana, explaining that the teenager had been married at a young age to an abusive husband and ran away with a boy from her neighbourhood.
Asked whether she had loved the boy, Saliha squirmed with childish embarrassment as her friend replied: "Yes."
Ostracised from her family and village, Saliha was convicted of escaping from home and illegal sexual relations. The first carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, the second 20. These are two of the most common accusations facing female prisoners in Afghanistan.
Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah's medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man.
Sitting among the plastic flowers around his desk, where an optimistic United Nations scales of justice poster competed for space with images of Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, Colonel Ghulam Ali, a high-ranking regional security officer, explained sternly that he supported the authorities' right to convict victims of rape. "In Afghanistan whether it is forced or not forced it is a crime because the Islamic rules say that it is," he claimed. "I think it is good. There are many diseases that can be created in today's world, such as HIV, through illegal sexual relations."
But there are signs of progress. A female shura, or consultative council, was established in Helmand province last week to try to combat the injustice of treating an abused woman as a criminal, and not a victim. British officers and Afghan government officials from the province's reconstruction team are also overseeing a project to build humane accommodation for the 400 male and female prisoners.
Inside the fortified compound of the prison in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital, the 330 male prisoners laze about in the shade of their straw huts. The prison security was was recently upgraded with new razor wire and guard posts following the attack on Kandahar's prison in which more than a 1,000 inmates escaped, including 400 Taliban. Past the main gate, inmates – whether on remand and awaiting trial or convicts – are incarcerated alongside 50 insurgents.
In a separate area are the female "criminals" – the youngest is just 13 years old – along with their small children, who must stay with their mothers if no one else will claim them. Their only luxury is a carpet, two blankets, basic cooking facilities and two daily deliveries of bread. They have neither medical care nor, as Colonel Ali acknowledged, "basic human facilities", such as washing areas, electricity and drinking water. All this he hopes will be rectified when the new building his finished.
Pushing her five-year-old son's arm forward imploringly, Zirdana, 25, pointed to the festering wound buzzing with flies. The little boy was just two months old when his mother was convicted of murdering her husband, his father. Zirdana had been handed over to him at the age of seven, as part payment in a financial dispute. She gave birth to the first of her children when she was 11 and was pregnant with her fourth when her husband disappeared and she was accused of killing him. Her three older children were taken from her by her brother-in-law. "When I first came to jail I cried so much blood was coming out of my mouth. My husband's brother told me he would give my children back when I came out of jail but he has become a Talib. Nobody comes to see us in jail. There are a lot of diseases," she said.
Next to her, Dorkhani, 55, sobbed so much that the glint of her tears shone through the mesh of her burqa. Married for four decades to a relatively wealthy man from Nowzad, the couple had fled to Lashkar Gah after a family dispute. When he returned to Nowzad, to try and reclaim his money, he disappeared. "The ones who killed my husband, they have money and they threw me in jail. I am 100 per cent innocent. I have no one, no brother to look after me," she said, explaining that those with cash could buy their freedom.
Last week, in Helmand, the new Women and Children's Justice Shura met and voted in its constitution with the help of advisers from the Afghan Human Rights Committee and support from the Women's Affairs Department, as well as a government legal adviser.
The shura, made up of 20 influential women, mostly teachers, hopes to tackle the inequality of the system by first ensuring that women in the province become aware of their basic right: not to have to endure abuse.
Earlier this year a report by Womankind, Taking Stock: Afghan Women and Girls Seven Years On, revealed that violent attacks against women, usually in a domestic setting, are at epidemic proportions – 87 per cent of women complain of such abuse, and half of it is sexual. More than 60 per cent of marriages are forced and, despite laws banning the practice, 57 per cent of brides are under 16. Many of these girls are offered as restitution for a crime or as debt settlement. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with a higher suicide rate among women than men.
In the UK, the MP Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the House of Commons International Development Committee, warned: "There is a dangerous tendency to accept in Afghanistan practices which would not be countenanced elsewhere, because of 'cultural' differences and local traditions."
The shura is hoping to provide a place where women can report abuse and create a separate centre for women and girls incarcerated for running away. It would be a compromise of custody without the stigma of being thrown in jail.
"They are very aware of the inequality in the system," said Royal Navy Lieutenant Rebecca Parnell, a member of the Cimic, or civil-military co-operation, team. "The most refreshing thing is that there are plans coming from the Department of Women's Affairs. It is not just us pushing our ideas on to them." The military aid team has programmes for monthly health checks and trauma counselling in the prison as well as vocational training in carpet weaving, tailoring, literacy and basic health education.
As she was led away to her jail cell yesterday, Dorkhani lifted her burqa to reveal a sun-battered face streaked with tears and pleading eyes: "Please, please take our words somewhere where people will be kind and help us."
Friday, August 15, 2008
Almond Joy's got nuts, and refrigerant
No really. I had no idea. I have this bad habit of reading the ingredients to the foods I eat, and I always feel like I'm back in my ochem texbook when I come across processed foods. I'm also literally addicted to Wikipedia, and so when I eat something this gross and wiki it, I tend to never eat the object again.
/end rant
Sulfur Dioxide
(some quotes from Wikipedia)
/end rant
Sulfur Dioxide
(some quotes from Wikipedia)
- Further oxidation of SO2, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as NO2, forms H2SO4, and thus acid rain.
- Sulfur dioxide is sometimes used as a preservative for dried apricots and other dried fruits due to its antimicrobial properties, it is sometimes called E220 when used in this way. The preservative is used to maintain the appearance of the fruit and prevent rotting. Its presence can give fruit a distinctive chemical taste
- Sulfur dioxide is also a good reductant. In the presence of water, sulfur dioxide is able to decolorize substances. Specifically it is a useful reducing bleach for papers and delicate materials such as clothes. This bleaching effect normally does not last very long. Oxygen in the atmosphere reoxidizes the reduced dyes, restoring the color.
- Sulfur dioxide is also used to make sulfuric acid
- Sulfur dioxide has no role in mammalian biology. Sulfur dioxide blocks nerve signals from the pulmonary stretch receptors (PSR's) and abolishes the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex
- Being easily condensed and with a high heat of evaporation, sulfur dioxide is a candidate material for refrigerants. Prior to the development of freons, sulfur dioxide was used as a refrigerant in home refrigerators
- Sulfur dioxide is a versatile inert solvent that has been widely used for dissolving highly oxidizing salts. It is also used occasionally as a source of the sulfonyl group in organic synthesis. Treatment of aryldiazonium salts with sulfur dioxide affords the corresponding aryl sulfonyl chloride.[
- [edit] Threats to Health
Sulfur dioxide acts as an acid. Inhalation results in labored breathing, coughing, and/or a sore throat and may cause permanent pulmonary damage. When mixed with water and contacted by skin, frostbite may occur. When it makes contact with eyes, redness and pain will occur - and as a side note: sodium metabisulfite was also added to the product t, which when mixed with water turns into more sulfur dioxide, as if the first dose wasn't enough.
And I just ate this sh*t. It was a Almond Joy bar. And that was only ONE ingredient.
Damn... I was just beginning to like that fake coconut taste.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
i'm curious
i thought about it the other day and realized that over all of the meat eating people, we mostly eat female animals. Cows. Chickens. Sheep. Pigs. I dunno about lamb or veal.
The only excpetion I can think of is boar, pheasant and venison and most people don't eat game.
I have no idea why that crossed my mind.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
KBR/Haliburton Worker Raped, Locked in Shipping Container
Posted by Cara , Feministe at 12:51 PM on August 8, 2008.
KBR, the defense contractor doing a lot of heavy lifting in the upholding of our occupation of Iraq, has banned the use of personal cell phones by its employees. KBR and its previous parent company Halliburton are notorious for many things. One of those things is the rape and cover up of rape committed by its male employees against its female employees.
How are the two related? Well, the first and most widely-known woman to come forward with an allegation of rape and cover up is Jamie Leigh Jones. Jones was gang raped by her coworkers, then locked inside of a shipping container for days in order to prevent her from reporting the attack. The Justice Department never brought charges against her assailants, and extremely important evidence in the case was "lost" by KBR. But the relevant part is how Jones escaped: through the use of a cell phone. A "sympathetic guard" loaned the phone to her, which she used to call her father in the United States. Her father subsequently called his congressperson, who ended up securing Jones' release. If that "sympathetic guard" (you know, the one who didn't set her free) hadn't handed her that cell phone, god only knows where Jamie Leigh Jones would be today. But it just might not be alive, let alone acting as a major anti-rape and anti-KBR activist.
So. KBR employee is raped by her coworkers and then kidnapped and held prisoner. Employee secures her release through use of a personal cell phone. KBR doesn't really give a shit about any of it. Employee makes a lot of noise about the incident, making KBR look really bad, even if not actually impacting the company financially. KBR bans personal cell phone use.
Now, whether or not Jones' case and the number of similar allegations of rape and cover up that have come to light directly led to the ban of cell phones, we do not know. KBR isn't talking, and only says that the ban is related to "a safety and security concern."
But clearly, the safety and security of its female employees is not a concern. Maybe there was a valid safety and security concern that led to the ban. Or maybe "safety and security concern" means "the safety and security of our government contracts and image." Looking at KBR's long, repulsive history in this area, I tend to lean towards the latter, and I'm far from being the only one.
But let's assume for a moment that KBR's decision to ban cell phones has absolutely nothing to do with Jones' case and others like it. Let's be extraordinarily generous and pretend that their goal is not to prevent more rape victims from reporting the attacks perpetrated against them or speaking to loved ones about their rapes and rapists. Doesn't matter. Even if KBR was not intentionally trying to stifle rape victims and put them in even more danger, I don't give a shit, because that's the end result we're looking at. It will give the large number of victims one less recourse to ensure their safety. It will further isolate them from everyone outside of the company, leaving them with little to no support in a hostile climate. And it will embolden rapists within KBR, as if they needed that extra help. At this point, Jamie Leigh Jones' story is well-known, and one has to assume that this is particularly the case within KBR. What exactly is stopping rapists from trying the whole thing all over again -- now that they know there will be no real consequences for their actions, and even if their were, they're now less likely to get caught in the first place?
If nothing else, best case scenario, this move shows KBR's incredibly callousness towards rape survivors, its indifference if not promotion of its corporate rape culture, and its total obliviousness to the consequences of its own actions.
But KBR long ago gave up its right to be given the benefit of the doubt. So I still think it shows that when it comes to rape cover up, KBR knows what the hell it's doing, and knows that no one will even bother trying to stop them.
KBR, the defense contractor doing a lot of heavy lifting in the upholding of our occupation of Iraq, has banned the use of personal cell phones by its employees. KBR and its previous parent company Halliburton are notorious for many things. One of those things is the rape and cover up of rape committed by its male employees against its female employees.
How are the two related? Well, the first and most widely-known woman to come forward with an allegation of rape and cover up is Jamie Leigh Jones. Jones was gang raped by her coworkers, then locked inside of a shipping container for days in order to prevent her from reporting the attack. The Justice Department never brought charges against her assailants, and extremely important evidence in the case was "lost" by KBR. But the relevant part is how Jones escaped: through the use of a cell phone. A "sympathetic guard" loaned the phone to her, which she used to call her father in the United States. Her father subsequently called his congressperson, who ended up securing Jones' release. If that "sympathetic guard" (you know, the one who didn't set her free) hadn't handed her that cell phone, god only knows where Jamie Leigh Jones would be today. But it just might not be alive, let alone acting as a major anti-rape and anti-KBR activist.
So. KBR employee is raped by her coworkers and then kidnapped and held prisoner. Employee secures her release through use of a personal cell phone. KBR doesn't really give a shit about any of it. Employee makes a lot of noise about the incident, making KBR look really bad, even if not actually impacting the company financially. KBR bans personal cell phone use.
Now, whether or not Jones' case and the number of similar allegations of rape and cover up that have come to light directly led to the ban of cell phones, we do not know. KBR isn't talking, and only says that the ban is related to "a safety and security concern."
But clearly, the safety and security of its female employees is not a concern. Maybe there was a valid safety and security concern that led to the ban. Or maybe "safety and security concern" means "the safety and security of our government contracts and image." Looking at KBR's long, repulsive history in this area, I tend to lean towards the latter, and I'm far from being the only one.
But let's assume for a moment that KBR's decision to ban cell phones has absolutely nothing to do with Jones' case and others like it. Let's be extraordinarily generous and pretend that their goal is not to prevent more rape victims from reporting the attacks perpetrated against them or speaking to loved ones about their rapes and rapists. Doesn't matter. Even if KBR was not intentionally trying to stifle rape victims and put them in even more danger, I don't give a shit, because that's the end result we're looking at. It will give the large number of victims one less recourse to ensure their safety. It will further isolate them from everyone outside of the company, leaving them with little to no support in a hostile climate. And it will embolden rapists within KBR, as if they needed that extra help. At this point, Jamie Leigh Jones' story is well-known, and one has to assume that this is particularly the case within KBR. What exactly is stopping rapists from trying the whole thing all over again -- now that they know there will be no real consequences for their actions, and even if their were, they're now less likely to get caught in the first place?
If nothing else, best case scenario, this move shows KBR's incredibly callousness towards rape survivors, its indifference if not promotion of its corporate rape culture, and its total obliviousness to the consequences of its own actions.
But KBR long ago gave up its right to be given the benefit of the doubt. So I still think it shows that when it comes to rape cover up, KBR knows what the hell it's doing, and knows that no one will even bother trying to stop them.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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