Global warming is three times faster than worst predictions. (I'm sure Rush & Co. are still in denial, though.) Remind me to post a rant about how smart people are thwarting themselves by calling it "global warming" rather than "global climate change".
Science fiction writers join the war on terror [via Joshua]
Astronomers report biggest stellar explosion [NYT login required]
Poetry is dangerous — be careful when you recycle! (Actually, this is a disappointing testament to the times we live in.) [via Paul J.]
Utah Republican blames Satan for immigration. Who does he blame for our invasion of Iraq? [via Dave]
Jim writes: "This is a bad path to go down." He's right: some U.K. schools are dropping the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslims.
Baghdad: mapping the violence [via Dave]
An early environmentalist embraces new heresies. I was just talking about this with Kris tonight. She's freaked out by our book group book, which posits an environtmental end-of-the-world. I think it's liberal histrionics. I suggested that if the liberals hadn't been so gung-ho to shut down nuclear power, then maybe there'd be an alternative once the oil runs out. More at book group, I'm sure.
Science fiction becomes reality: Military builds robotic insects
For Kris, Paul J., and other like-minded folk: The Holy Blitz rolls on, an interview with the author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. (A NYT excerpt from the latter — login required.) This is thought-provoking stuff. [via this excellent Metafilter post — I encourage everyone to read it]
Saddam fed the birds — this is my favorite story every about Iraq. It humanizes things in a way that I haven't seen before, demonstrating that what is good for one may not be good for another. And I love the differentiation between politics and being a soldier. It's a nice, short story that draws no judgments but leads one to ask questions.
Yet another reason to hate Microsoft. Zune sucks. I've essentially been MS-free for five years with no adverse effects. If I could find a decent spreadsheet for OS X, I'd be completely Microsoft free.
Past wargames foresaw Iraq problems [via Dave]
Remember: Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend, for those of you haven't already adjusted your clocks!
A Bend developer is building The Shire in Central Oregon, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense — The Shire is more like, well, Canby.
Waxy has the amazing tale of a sex-baiting prank on craigslist in which a couple hundred responders have been "outed". This is disturbing on many, many levels.
Here's an enormous $815 million radar 'golf ball' that you helped pay for. Writes Dave (who sent this link): Look at this advanced Navy radar installation- It's 28 stories tall, self propelled, "This looks to me like one big ass target. Not like it's going to get away from oh, I dunno, a rowboat with 6 irritated Chinese."
A little flip, but useful nonetheless: The Middle East Buddy List. Everyone hates Israel, and Israel hates everyone.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published its patent hit-list, ten patents they'd like to kill [via Dave]
The end of network neutrality? Susan forwarded this article to me. It's an interesting disucssion on the future of the internet, a future being decided by Congress right now.
Roger Ebert's review of An Inconvenient Truth
A former Marine cook used a pocketknife to fend off a group of four would-be robbers, killing one and wounding another. I hate to say it, but: Good for him! [via mefi]
Stay the course. First lady Laura Bush said on Sunday she does not believe opinion polls showing her husband's approval ratings at record low levels. I don't believe that I will die. [via airbag]
The CDC wants HIV testing for everyone. They're also pressuring Oregon (and presumably other states) to maintain the list of infected people by name instead of anonymously. [via Dave]
Congress readies broad new digital copyright bill, including jail periods of up to ten years for willful copyright infringement. Because, you know, it's a worse crime than driving under the influence. [via Dave]
I find this Flight 93 hijack transcript incredibly disturbing despite (because of?) the mundanity.
U.S. troop deaths in Iraq — an analysis
The economic costs of the Iraq war: an appraisal three years after the beginning of the conflict [via gates]
Excessive Lawn Care? Writes Jeff (instead of coming into my office): "From the Lawn & Garden Tractor Forum [which he reads religiously]: Neighbor charged with shooting teen who walked on his grass
U.S. eliminated from World Baseball Classic. The final four: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, and Korea (which still has not lost a game).
Real-Life Crash [via mefi]
The Aural Times — we sing the news so you don't have to [via waxy]
Pay off your credit card debt, raise a terrorist flag. This is just mind-boggling. What? Terrorists are running around paying off debt? And why the hell does Homeland Security need to know how much we're paying on our credit cards. [via Kris]
A showdown I've been waiting for: Andy at waxy has been served a cease-and-desist from Bill Cosby's lawayers for hosting House of Cosbys, a series of fan-made parody shorts. Andy has the balls and the brains to not just roll over, and he plans to fight this. In this age of psycho-IP laws and enforcement, this is the sort of thing we need to see. Go Andy!
Final standings: official medal count and my alternate medal tracker that takes into account population and GDP. (Compare with the 2002 Olympics alternate medal tracker.)
Despite the presence of Bob Costas, NBC's Olympics coverage always sucks. This year is no different. It's maddening. I'm not the only one who thinks so.
This article argues that bin Laden is achieving his objectives, that Bush and Blair do bin Laden's work for him
via Dave: Houston proposes surveillance cameras in apartment buildings and Chicago wants them in private businesses. Smile — you're on candid camera!
Fuck the bastards: RIAA says ripping CDs to your iPod is NOT fair use. Here's the deal: if you comply with these greedy corporations, if you continually grant them greater power over the media and over the copyright laws, eventually they will be able to charge you for access whenever and whereever you want to use your media. It's time to take a stand, folks, it's time to tell Big Media to shove it.
Joel Stein: "I don't support our troops." The conservatives are irate, of course, but praise his honesty. That doesn't stop them from sending hate mail. [via Kris, of all people]
Holy shit. Feds after google data. This is a Bad, Bad Thing. [via Dave, of course]
Kill all the white people! Yeah, right. That'll solve all the problems in the world.
Yearly Review by Paul Ford
From Dave comes a pile of links on governmental surveillance: Judge grants government request for warrant-free cell tracking; Spy agency mined vast data trove; Bush was denied wire taps, bypassed them; and, finally, Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!
Grist: environmental news and humor [via AmyJo]
Conspiracy theories: 9/11 Pentagon attack and Hurricane Katrina [via Jeff]
Merde en France: background on the riots