US Dept of Breakfast

US Dept of Breakfast
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

E pluribus bacon,

In bacon, veritas.

Shana's old laptop

Shana's old laptop
Originally uploaded by satmandu.

The Powerbook 190cs.



"This is a prop"

"(for funny)"

I am a terrible person

Shana's birthday presents are sitting in my fridge.

And there they shall stay, all weekend.

Before Warren posts it, a two faced cat.

Stop Hurting My Country

When traveling along a curve, you can take a tangent from the point you happen to be at, which will show you the direction you would travel if you flew off of the curve at that moment.

The curve I'm plotting in my head tends to travel through each disturbing story I read about the direction of this country. If you want links, you can ask for them, but it shouldn't be too hard to find them for yourself.

Sixteen year old girls who only speak english being sent back to Bangladesh because they dared to, like many many other high schoolers, explore their faith.

Congressmen who decide that Crony Capitalism is too moderate of a position to stand on, and unabashedly form symbiotic by the book corrupt relationships with companies in their districts they funnel government contracts to.

White House political flacks that edit scientific articles for content based upon their past experiences lobbying against the same.

DOJ lawyers reducing the requested judgement against the Tobacco industry by 120 Billion dollars. (Yes, I have read the rebuttal on this issue by the DOJ lead attorney on this case - but you can not expect to be listened to as an impartial participant in this issue when the higher ups are former attorneys for... the tobacco industry.)

Bye Bye PBS?

Bitching about Democracy in the middle east, in countries such as Iran, and Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan.

This all in the last several days.

What bothers me the most is two years ago, there was at least a semblance (ah the rose colored glasses of looking at yesteryear) of playing by some of the rules.

Be wary of conflicts of interest, be honest with and respect the people you represent. Is this too much to ask?

In the eighties, Reagan's appointee to the EPA James Watts said that there was no reason to worry about the environment since the second coming was at hand.

I now feel that is how the Republicans in power feel about the country. Don't worry. The rapture is at hand.

The tangent from where we are right now is pretty grim. The world doesn't respect us. We are travelling on inertia. We are governed by born again believers in the Great Chain of Being. Where's a Great Awakening when we need one? Billy Graham in a stadium just isn't cutting it any more.

And if you think I am unnecessarily bitter, I'd just like five minutes with your god. Outside. Right now.

Half-male, half-female, all crab: "David Pescovitz:
Fishermen caught a crab in the lower Chesapeake Bay that's literally half male, half female. Among other differences, male blue crabs have deep blue claws while females' claw tips look like they were painted with red nail polish. The fishermen noticed that this particular crab had one of each. Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science say that the condition, known as bilateral gynandromorphism, is caused by a 'chromosomal mishap.' Studying the rare animal could increase understanding of crab sexual development and breeding behavior. From the Washington Post:

Before turning over the crab to the scientists, (boat captain David) Johnson and other watermen conducted their own experiment into its sex life, with bewildering results. They dropped a female crab, which was just about ready to mate, into its tank.



First, the half-and-half crab cradled the female under his legs, as a male crab would do in preparation for mating.



Then, the crab seemed to lose interest in the female and let her go, Johnson said.



Then a day later . . .



'He ate half of her,' Johnson said.

Link to Washington Post article, Link to Virginia Institute press release (Thanks, Vann Hall!)"

(Via Boing Boing.)

Best fake quote evar.

Mr. President, Democrats are claiming you don't have a mandate. Would
you like one? It's $200 per hour. - Jeff Gannon

jwz points me to this blog, which has this beautiful piece:

It's a measure of our country's desperation that many hopes among US government officials are pinned to the just-completed 1000-mile oil pipeline between Baku on the Caspian Sea and the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean. The idea is to get oil from Kazakhstan on the far eastern side of the Caspian sea through several other former Soviet states, bypassing a shorter, older route through the Black Sea, and creating an alternative to the ongoing horror show of the Persian Gulf.



The main problem is the idea that the American economy, and the easy-motoring lifestyle that holds it hostage, will now depend on a 42-inch wide oil pipe running through nations fraught with Muslim-Christian conflict on top of post-Soviet gangster politics. The good news is that the $4 billion pipe is buried underground so it will not be vulnerable to the small arms so abundant in that part of the world: shoulder-launched missiles, rocket propelled grenades, or .50 caliber bullets. The bad news is that it is only a few feet underground and can still be blown up by five pounds of Semtech strapped to a donkey.

They may be hypocrites but damn it they're our hypocrites.

Blaming the Victim: the latest twists in the Mukhtar Mai saga: "

We reported earlier on Mukhtar Mai / Mukhtaran Bibi, who fought back after having been savagely raped on the orders of her village jirga. Instead of staying silent, she took her rapists to court, and used the compensation awarded by the government to open a school for girls. Her bravery and class made her a cause celebre all over the world.

Unfortunately, her story didn't end there. Recently, she was invited to come speak in the US by ANAA (Asian American Network Against the Abuse of Women). In response the Pakistani government flipped out and put her under house arrest. She is banned from leaving the country, and hasn't been able to see her lawyer.

In phone conversations in the last few days, she said that when she tried to step outside, police pointed their guns at her. To silence her, the police cut off her land line... Ms. Mukhtaran continued her protests by cellphone. But at dawn yesterday the police bustled her off, and there's been no word from her since. Her cellphone doesn't answer.

Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani lawyer who is head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said she had learned that Ms. Mukhtaran was taken to Islamabad, furiously berated and told that President Pervez Musharraf was very angry with her. She was led sobbing to detention at a secret location. She is barred from contacting anyone, including her lawyer. [NYT]

Incredibly, the government claims it is just trying to protect her:

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told reporters in Islamabad that any security measures in place were for the protection of Ms Mai. [BBC]

And the US government has made it clear that it is unconcerned:

... on Friday, just as all this was happening, President Bush received Pakistan's foreign minister in the White House and praised President Musharraf's 'bold leadership.' [NYT]

"

(Via Sepia Mutiny.)

FW: [IP] Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger for x86 Leaked?

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Monday, Jun 13, 2005 6:39 pm
Subject: [IP] Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger for x86 Leaked?

Begin forwarded message:

From: Benjamin Black <ben@layer8.net>
Date: June 13, 2005 4:03:45 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger for x86 Leaked?

Dave,

While something claiming to be Tiger x86 might be on the warez sites, those hoping to have OS X on their PC will be sorely disappointed when it boots (unless they have a thing for really disturbing porn).

Ben

-------------------------------------
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/

This is what I've been thinking about the last several days, before I bought my air conditioner. But this setup would work especially well hooked up to a faucet...

Good thing I don't pay for water.