Wednesday, August 28

from: Common Sense and Wonder

We keep hearing about this "Arab Street." And nothing ever seems to happen. What seems to worry the people in charge in Cairo and Riyadh more seems to be the possibility of a democracy in Iraq which will show that it is possible to live in the Arab world and be free at the same time.
from the FAQ for CanonicalTomes

Q: Isn't this whole notion of advocating certain books as the canonical tomes just a blatant attempt to force the world to conform to the male european hegemony of capitalist neo-fascism? How can you perpetuate the notion of one reference being 'better' or 'worse' than any other, given the utterly relativistic post-modern ethos which has so consistently shown itself to be The One True Path to Enlightenment?

A: Go away.
from: The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation

September 11: What Our Children Need to Know

In this report, with the help of 23 distinguished authors, we seek to provide answers to those questions and to suggest what U.S. schools and educators should teach their students so that they will better understand this event, its precursors and its aftermath and so that they will be better able to function as young citizens of a nation that has endured a wicked attack and is now engaged in a serious and protracted war.

Why is such advice needed? The short, unpleasant answer is because so much nonsense is circulating in the education world that we felt obliged to offer some sort of alternative, an objective rendering from the perspective of first-rate thinkers, scholars, analysts and educators who share our discomfort with what is fast becoming the conventional wisdom in education-land.

Monday, August 26

from Newsweek: Another Pose of Rectitude

George Orwell’s axiom about intellectuals—that some ideas are so silly that only intellectuals will embrace them—needs a corollary that covers U.S. senators: No international agreement is so grandiose in its ambitions and so unclear about the obligations it imposes that it cannot receive the support of many U.S. senators. Consider the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Sunday, August 25

from: Common Sense and Wonder

Check out this quote [NYTimes registration required] from Rep. Eddie Johnson, the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, about Denise Majette, the African American woman who defeated Cynthia McKinney:

"If she comes here willing to work with us and is not skewed by the agenda of her supporters, of course we work with her, we all know we have to move past this."

Skewed by the agenda of her supporters? God forbid she actually listens to her constituents. Rep. Johnson also said:

"To have non-African-Americans from around the country putting millions into a race to unseat one of our leaders for expressing her right of free speech is definitely a problem."

Rep. Johnson really does need a lesson in democracy. Money doesn't unseat politicians, voting does. And democracy is all about voting for people you agree with and voting against those you don't agree with.

Thursday, August 22



I continue to be amazed by the beauty of this photograph, taken by Chris Ison at the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race last weekend. [ via Yahoo! News ]

Wednesday, August 21

CNN, CBS Say Money Didn't Go to Al Qaeda

CNN and CBS News both say they paid for videotape that depicts al Qaeda activities, but add that they're certain the money has not ended up in the hands of Osama bin Laden's terror network.

CNN, which scored a coup when it began running some of the footage Sunday night, beating out CBS, saw the focus of discussion shift from the tapes themselves to the question of whether the cable network had deliberately misled the New York Times and the Associated Press on the issue of payment for them.
Sony's new flat panel TV

Sony's new flat-panel television, Plasma Wega, is unveiled in Tokyo August 21, 2002. The world's largest audio-video electronics maker said the television's new microchips used Sony-only technology and predicted that the Wega brand will put the company back on the map in the market's fastest-growing sector. The new 50-inch Wega will go on sale October 20 with a price tag of about 1,100,000 yen (about $9,326).
Apple’s Final Cut Pro Wins Emmy Award

Final Cut Pro, Apple’s professional video and film editing software, will receive a 2002 Emmy Engineering Award for its impact on the television industry from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Tuesday, August 20

NEA plan for 9/11 not backed by teachers

Teachers nationwide say they will develop lesson plans about September 11 based on students' questions and will focus on the facts to correct any misconceptions children may have about the terrorist attacks.

Monday, August 19

Channel 4's Julius Hunter sends a murder suspect to hell

"And of course we cannot convict Johnson without a trial -- he's innocent until proven guilty -- but can I just say," as he put his right hand over his heart and then extended his arm outward, "editorializing, which I can't do -- whoever committed the crime, this horrible, terrible crime, may he rot in hell."
Tapes shed new light on bin Laden's network

A large archive of al Qaeda videotapes obtained by CNN in Afghanistan sheds new light on Osama bin Laden's terror network, revealing images of chemical gas experiments on dogs, lessons on making explosives, terrorist training tactics and previously unseen images of bin Laden and his top aides.

Sunday, August 18

NEA delivers history lesson

The National Education Association is suggesting to teachers that they be careful on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks not to "suggest any group is responsible" for the terrorist hijackings that killed more than 3,000 people.
TIME.com: Enron's Democrat Pals

Before its messy decline and fall, Enron had plenty of clout in George W. Bush's Washington, from the personal ties between chairman Ken Lay and the President to the company's alleged influence on Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force. But Enron's cozy relationship with Washington didn't start there. Documents obtained by TIME show the energy giant enjoyed much closer ties with Clinton Administration regulators than was generally known.
Tombstone ATM Doles Out Inheritance

A deceased cattle rancher in Bozeman, Montana, took care of his heirs by installing an automatic teller machine in his tombstone.

UPDATE
Editor's note: This story has been removed by SF Gate because of questions concerning its accuracy raised by the Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle. No death notice could be found with the name of the rancher who supposedly set up an automated teller machine at his gravesite so his family would visit.
What to do with 9/11 hijackers' remains

With the one-year anniversary approaching, State Department officials said Friday they had received no requests for the remains. The department would be responsible for handling such a request from any government seeking the return of a citizen's body.

Officials have said that all but one of the nine hijackers recovered had connections to Saudi Arabia. The other was Lebanese.

Officials at the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Report: Reagan assisted Iraqi regime

The United States gave Iraq vital battle-planning help during its war with Iran as part of a secret program under President Ronald Reagan even though U.S. intelligence agencies knew the Iraqis would unleash chemical weapons, The New York Times reported on its Web site Saturday.

Saturday, August 17

Microsoft unit bungles details on its OS X applications

“So why does Microsoft remain at the bottom of the dog pile? A lack of attention to detail. The small pieces that connect programs, coupled with a failure to fix long-standing problems, are at the root of the anger. Office v. X, the Macintosh Business Unit's (MacBU) OS X-only update, included optimized versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint and a rewritten version of Entourage that I've previously praised for its simple, easy-to-use connection of contacts, calendar and e-mail.”
Teenagers, beware - if u txt yr xms, u fail


Not only were the entries riddled with "fashionable errors" such as "gonna" and "a lot", according to Anne Barnes, a senior examiner in the subject. They also featured phrases such as "I will always be there for you" and "I was well bored" that could have come straight from an EastEnders script.

[from independent.co.uk]
“Did you know that for Minority Report, Steven Spielberg bought Tom Cruise's workstation off the shelf? It had previously been added to the New York's Museum of Modern Art's permanent colection, and designer Ayse Birsel is among the finalists for the 2002 Cooper Hewlitt National Design Award.

“In the late 1990s, [Herman Miller] invited Birsel to undertake a major project: Rethink the cubicle system that has ruled the open office for 30 years. The request was a leap, since Birsel knew little about office furniture. But Herman Miller was hoping for innovation. Birsel responded with new materials and a human-centered design.”

[from Rebecca Blood]

Wednesday, August 14

Brand names really do stick in brain

“You wake up in the morning and you have your Kellogg’s, and you are driving to work and there are Hondas in front of you,” she said, confessing a life-long fascination with brands that she admits makes walking through the grocery aisles with her quite a chore.

“These names have a huge impact on our lives.”
Recent Engrish Discoveries.

"It's the realization of my aspiration. I hope to play along with the heartiest gadgetry manifesting my sensibility. So, I can not help being particular about the every surroundings."

Friday, August 9

Apple: Time for a Switch

Rumors of the demise of the PPC and Apple's impending switch to x86 architecture are circulating everywhere. While I am personally saddened that the G5 (which, had it adhered to the production road map set out for it, would already be here and stomping Pentium 4s and Athlon XPs) will likely never see the light of day, this is decision time for Apple. What decision? That it is time to get out of the hardware business.

Thursday, August 8

Former Tyco boss may have used company money for $6,000 shower curtain

Former Tyco International Ltd. chief executive Dennis Kozlowski indulged his lavish tastes - including a $6,000 shower curtain - with millions in company money and much of it was not reported to shareholders, a published report said.
Speed-of-light debate flashes again

SYDNEY, Aug. 8 — Australian scientists have proposed that the speed of light may not be a constant, a revolutionary idea that could unseat one of the most cherished laws of modern physics — Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Monday, August 5

Tilting at History: the Death of Pinball.

That moment of pinball Zen arrives for Michael Moon when he becomes one with the plastic flippers and the steel ball ricochets around the table for minutes on end. The "Attack from Mars" machine he is playing comes alive with gaudy effects -- zapping, tabulating and erupting with robot-like digital exclamations like "Jackpot!"
The Apache, the Muslim, and the Cowboy.

Three men are sittin' on a bench. One's a texan wearing a stetson, one's a muslim wearing a turban, and the last an apache with an eagle feather woven in his hair.

The indian is rather glum and says "once my people were many, but now we are few."

The muslim puffs up and says "once my people were few, but now we are many millions."

The texan adjusts his hat, finishes rolling a smoke, leans back in his chair and drawls, "that's cause we ain't played cowboys and muslims yet."

Friday, August 2

Why not have a little fun tonight during your local 10pm (or 11pm) newscast?

Here are some sample rules:

DRINK WHENEVER:
- An anchor mentions the name of his/her network/station.
- TWICE if an anchor mentions the name of another network/station.
- A microphone flag from another station appears on the air.
- TWICE if a reporter or anchor from another station appears on the air.
- An anchor pretends to sort through papers on the desk.
Teens Rescued, Abductor Killed After Massive Statewide Search

"We don't have to rehabilitate the son of a bitch," he said. "This man right here is not going to appeal his case to the Supreme Court."

Thursday, August 1

September 11 hijacker questioned in January 2001

One of the September 11 hijackers was stopped and questioned in the United Arab Emirates in January 2001 at the request of the CIA, nearly nine months before the attacks, sources in the government of the UAE, and other Middle Eastern and European sources told CNN.

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Microsoft web guy who used to drive the Calico Mine Train at Knott's Berry Farm in the late '70s.