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Al Qaeda is bin Laden's vehicle for WWIII. He hopes to rule a Muslim world, or serve at the top of a Muslim afterlife, after running Apocalypse brinksmanship. All the "Palestinian", "Afghani", "Iraqi", "American", "Jew", "Saudi" and other propaganda is his way of motivating people to war. His enemies' moral transgressions are a means to an end, just like they were for Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Bush, and every other despicable fearmonger. Ignorance->fear->anger->violence. The deepest "cause" of the Al Qaeda planebombings in NYC and DC is our human acceptance of hatred, which can cause us to act as demented mob, bent on destruction, no matter the costs.

Wahabism is comparable to Hasidism among Jews and Mennonism among Amish Christians; I'm sure Hinduism also features a feudal tribal rejection of post-"Enlightenment" society. However, Wahabis distinguish themselves by their zeal for jihad, and their access to the actual tools of apocalypse. The Taliban took Afghanistan from their Pashtun base in Pakistan; their Al Qaeda allies would like nothing better these days than to get control of Pakistan's nuclear "Islamic Bomb". Last weekend, Pakistani president Musharraf was almost killed by a botched carbomb - trendy "Wahabi beliefs" include killing anyone, Muslim or not, to position for global destruction.

"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." - Frank Herbert, _Dune_

From a June 3rd San Francisco Examiner article:
Running the combined company will be left to PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway, who recently came under fire for taking $14.6 million in restricted stock, as well as a large package of stock options, last year while the company's sales suffered.

PeopleSoft estimated the 4.1 million stock options awarded Conway will be worth between $67 million and $171 million, depending on how the company's shares perform through November 2012.

From today's Reuter's article:
a $6.3 billion hostile takeover bid from Oracle Corp

If I were Craig Conway, I certainly wouldn't mind this.

One notable PF city (San Francisco) has gone and banned the Segway. I blame this on kneejerk anti-business attitudes. Now, "kneejerk" is not a word I use lightly -- it's too popular with right-wingers who are too lazy to properly rebut the arguments of left-wingers. (Indeed, you could say that using the word is itself usually a kneejerk reaction.) I say "kneejerk" in this case because the main anti-Segway group loves to make comparisons with SUVs and other corporate stupidities. But they themselves admit that there's only been one Segway-related injury so far.

The big concern seems to be that Segways will be misused by irresponsible riders who will speed down sidewalks, scattering senior citizens right and left. But the Segway designers seem to have anticipated precisely this issue: how fast your Segway can go is determined by which key you use to turn it on. The keys are conspicuously colored, so it would be easy to require Segwayers to use the "beginner" key in heavily trafficed areas. That limits the scooter to 6mph, which is about how fast most people walk.

1. San Francisco Examiner
   
2. American Civil Libterties Union
   
3. Los Angeles Times (archived at globalechange.org, but I checked the article against LA Times' for-pay-archive)
   

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Personally, I think it's the company's pompousness and intensive lobbying that backfired on them--not the mertis of the device itself.

Northern NJ towns are already regretting that hasty cave-in, according to this article. The state law Segway lobbyists pushed through prohibits towns from banning any "electric personal assistive mobility devices,'' says that story--the law " was passed after Segway, maker of the "Human Transporter,'' lobbied New Jersey's Legislature and others throughout the country."

So what's the problem? As a result, New Jersey towns have been unable to deal with the latest fad among local teenagers, electric scooters, which they ride on the sidewalks.

Note that the scooters now terrorizing North Jersey pedestrians are not "assistive devices" that deserve protection by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)--neither is the Segway. These are vehicles you have to stand up on to drive. But affluent parents who bought these toys for their teens are calling on the protection of the ADA to keep them on the sidewalks and out of traffic. We can expect to see the same with the Segway.

San Francisco plans to fight back, according to this Examiner article. Senior-citizen activists and walkers protested they don't want to share their space with a 95 lb machine traveling 12 mph. "The whole point of sidewalks is to separate vehicles from pedestrians," says Walk San Francisco director Michael Smith.

IMO, the Segway is a pyramid scheme waiting to tumble. Early investors put up the cash for a massive publicity and lobbying campaign. They now have until March to lure unsuspecting buyers to buy their Segways, and unsuspecting investors to buy their stock.

In March it's all over. Once Segways hit the sidewalks, the pyramid crumbles. Whoever has money in Segways in March will take the hits for liability claims that already have class-action lawyers licking their chops. State legislators will quickly rescind Segway laws, and Segway owners will be riding their white elephants in the street--if they feel like admitting they own this year's version of Edsel.

Who's to say where one's career will take them in life? Bill Wyman-the-journalist was at Salon.com at one point and left there to take the position of Arts Editor at the AJC. It's not his fault that he came to a point in his career where the name he had since birth was the same as that of someone about whom he'd occasionally write articles.

If the former Rolling Stone takes this all the way and wins, it could set a dangerous precedent where no one who just happens to share their name with a famous individual is safe from being sued over it.

I'm going to follow this story with interest, because it's coming down to "I had it first" vs. "I'm richer and more famous." I know who I'm rooting for.

~Philly

Training Day

Here is a link to Amazon's review of the movie. Here is a link to Yahoo's review of the movie. [User Rating: (4.1/5) ]

Chicago Tribune said this about Training Day.

"Training Day," for most of its length, is genuinely thrilling, explosively cynical about life on the streets and in the squad cars. More strikingly, it lets Washington play a really juicy heavy: hard driving, acid-tongued Detective Sgt. Alonzo Harris. Harris is Washington's meanest, most brutal and dangerous character in years -- an L.A. cop who's adjusted so completely to life among the wolves that he's become a wolf himself. Washington is magnificently vicious and wily in the role."

"Dares to be a cop movie based on character and not on pyrotechnics."
-- Jeffrey M. Anderson, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

"The film works a bit better as a vehicle for Washington, and it often gets by on his devilish charm. But it loses all its punch as he becomes more hissable."
-- William Arnold, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

"A taut -- if violent -- police thriller."
-- Ken Fox, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE

"Washington's performance is so good, in fact, that it may temporarily blind you from seeing that the movie has obscured its message."
-- Sean Means, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

All Posters.com as a poster of the show if you are looking for one.

Here is the director Antoine Fuqua's filmography. I was interested to see if he was an action director that is continuing his specialization or if he directed mainly heart felt drama's and was crossing genre's. With a limited filmography that includes previous B+ rated action flicks as The Replacement Killers, it seems that he has the background to provide us with an entertaining medium grade action flick. I would definately see this movie over The Musketeer.

Training Day

Here is a link to Amazon's review of the movie. Here is a link to Yahoo's review of the movie. [User Rating: (4.1/5) ]

Chicago Tribune said this about Training Day.

"Training Day," for most of its length, is genuinely thrilling, explosively cynical about life on the streets and in the squad cars. More strikingly, it lets Washington play a really juicy heavy: hard driving, acid-tongued Detective Sgt. Alonzo Harris. Harris is Washington's meanest, most brutal and dangerous character in years -- an L.A. cop who's adjusted so completely to life among the wolves that he's become a wolf himself. Washington is magnificently vicious and wily in the role."

"Dares to be a cop movie based on character and not on pyrotechnics."
-- Jeffrey M. Anderson, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

"The film works a bit better as a vehicle for Washington, and it often gets by on his devilish charm. But it loses all its punch as he becomes more hissable."
-- William Arnold, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

"A taut -- if violent -- police thriller."
-- Ken Fox, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE

"Washington's performance is so good, in fact, that it may temporarily blind you from seeing that the movie has obscured its message."
-- Sean Means, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

All Posters.com as a poster of the show if you are looking for one.

Here is the director Antoine Fuqua's filmography. I was interested to see if he was an action director that is continuing his specialization or if he directed mainly heart felt drama's and was crossing genre's. With a limited filmography that includes previous B+ rated action flicks as The Replacement Killers, it seems that he has the background to provide us with an entertaining medium grade action flick. I would definately see this movie over The Musketeer.

WIRED: Star Trek: Bakula to the Future

Scripps/Howard: Operation: Enterprise

The San Francisco Examiner: Living in the now

New York Daily News: Bakula's Bold New 'Enterprise'

Also, MAXIM's cover girl this month is Jolene Blalock, who plays Vulcan Sub Commander T'Pol. Presumably this is the same T'Pol that in ST:TOS Amok Time oversees Spock's Pon Farr ceremony. Many of the Trek fan site are speculating on just how long it will be before her character experiences the Pon Farr with no Vulcan males around and only Capt. Archer present to address her needs.

Ricochet's primary appeal is internet access on the go. As 802.11 gets more pervasive at homes and businesses, proprietary wireless networks like Ricochet don't make a lot of sense. A few people will still want coverage everywhere, but as Iridium proved, that's a pretty darn small market.

Think about it. Where do people usually use their laptops? Home, work, coffee shops, the park, the airport, etc. I imagine all of those places will have 802.11 connectivity within the next five years. AirPort access is already widely available at coffee shops in the Bay Area, and Starbucks is working to add wireless networking to all of their shops.

In the meantime though, this is really a shame. I have friends whose primary connection is Ricochet because they can't get DSL or cable. They're going to be pissed if they have to go back to dialup.

How CNN censored the Crossfire episode right here

San Francisco Examiner article about the cover up right here.

Any questions?

As well as dubious voting forms (Sun sen tinel (florida local)), you have to remember that Florida has always been notoriously corrupt when it comes to elections. Xavier Suarez, a Hispanic Independent, managed to get dead people voting for him. In 1990, Bush (senior) appointed him to serve on the board of Legal Services. Also bear in mind that George Bush senior (who was CIA chief before president) was involved in the rigging of various foreign elections (Panama, Nicaraua, Haiti etc). Good practice no doubt. I'm sure it helps that Jeb runs Florida..... You can see how much power the Bush family has by the way it crushed the story about W forcing his girlfriend to have an abortion in the 70s and covering it up (source 1 .. source 2 )

Oswald Defense Lawyer

Yeah, Bush had his girlfriend have an abortion. It was covered up. The hypocrite theme resurfaces -- since he is against abortions (in words, not actions; for us, not him). The story of the abortion and its cover up was also covered up by our own national media.

How CNN censored the Crossfire episode:
http://www.kgoam810.com/viewentry.asp?ID=73474&PT= programsummaries

San Francisco Examiner article about the cover up:
http://www.examiner.com/001030/1030sorensen.html

Here's Larry Flint on the topic:

Well, we've been doing an investigation for a little over eight months to the effect that an abortion took place in 1970 in Houston, Texas. He was working for his father's campaign when he was running for the senate against Lloyd Bentsen, and a fellow by the name of Robert Chandler was the campaign manager. He got a girl pregnant during this period of time, and she had an abortion. We've been able to locate the doctor who preformed the procedure at a hospital in Houston. Not only that but we have the affidavits from four of her friends stating that they knew about the affair, the pregnancy and the subsequent abortion. The only thing we could not have which we needed to break the story was the girl to come out, and she would not come out. Whether she was afraid or whether she was paid off, I don't really want to speculate, because I don't know what the actual reason was. But when I started taking this to the mainstream media, I said you don't have to break the story, just ask the question, you know. You asked the cocaine question, so just ask if he's ever facilitated an abortion or paid for an abortion or if he was the father of a child. Just give him the chance to admit or deny it. No one would touch it.

I wonder why I have read nothing in the papers about Larry Flynt's allegation that, during the 70s, George W Bush (who takes a 'pro-life' stance to abortion) arranged for his girlfriend to have an abortion. Is there some sort of news blackout in the US? I'm curious to know if a man was a drunk and cocaine addict, got a 15-year-old girlfriend pregnant when he was a 24-year-old adult, forced her to have an abortion, and refused to tell the truth about any of this... would that person be a good choice for President of the United States? Would that person be someone we might expect to bring honour and dignity to the office? Only curious...
Sources:
http://www.examiner.com/001030/10 30s orensen.html
http://www. kgoam81 0.com/viewentry.asp?ID=73474&PT=programsummaries

http://www.kgoam810.com/viewentry.asp?ID=73474&PT= programsummaries http://www.examiner.com/001030/1030sorensen.html I'm curious to know if a man was a drunk and cocaine addict, got a 15-year-old girlfriend pregnant when he was a 24-year-old adult, forced her to have an abortion, and refused to tell the truth about any of this... would that person be a good choice for President of the United States? Would that person be someone we might expect to bring honor and dignity to the office? And would the lack of coverage of this have anything to with the fact that his father was the director of the CIA? Only curious...

These RF tags are perfect for tagging clothes, as the blurb pointed out. But an even more sinister use than tagging clothes is tagging the people who wear the clothes. And I'm especially referring to a certain kind of person:

Slavery is alive and well in this country, and I'm not referring merely to rhetorical or political slavery, but actual slavery. Women from foreign countries, particularly southeast-Asian countries are flown to America and promised low-paying but normal jobs performing menial labor or housecleaning services, but when they arrive, they discover to their horror that the real purpose is to prostitute themselves for the financial benefit of their masters. These women (and even children) are trapped, since they don't speak English, don't have the money to fly home, and don't have the physical or mental stamina to escape their tormentors after so much abuse.

How is this relevant to RF tags? Think of how much easier it would be to kidnap people from airports if all you needed to do was wander around with a small device, picking up the signals from the tags embedded in clothing given to the erstwhile immigrants back in their home countries. No longer would there have to be complicated networks of international communication -- they'd just have to agree on a certain range of serial numbers (of which there are trillions, as the article points out), hand out "free" clothes to people boarding the plane at departure, and sit back while agents at the US airports haul in the "goods".

This never would've been possible if we'd stuck to normal barcodes -- it's simply impossible to read barcodes surreptitiously. And since criminals are always the first to adopt new technologies for these devious purposes, it's only a matter of time before it comes to an airport near you, Thirteenth Amendment be damned.

. . .Surely there is no better indication that intellectual property is primarily of value to those who are already powerful and wealthy (Drahos 1995; Patel 1989).

It's not like splicing is anything new - hell we've been making corn that poisons butterflys for a while now - it's not new. Why is this news? What is the nature of the chromosome, is that what makes it so special? What does it do? Anything?

I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a http://www.microsoft.com/Mouse/explorer.htm link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life... I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.

I've got one of those Intellimouse Explorers (the huge silver ones with the superfluous tail light and like three extra buttons; well, what the hell, here's a http://www.microsoft.com/Mouse/explorer.htm link) and sites that won't let you back out are an incredible annoyance. See, two of the buttons on there serve as Forward/Back (respectively) while browsing the web, and after about 20 minutes of using them, I was hooked. You wouldn't believe how simple (and remarkably intuitive) to navigate with your thumb. Now if I could just find a good use for those buttons in Half-Life... I mean, sure, it's easy enough to hold down the back button and select the page before the offending site, but that would require moving my cursor over six or so linear inches of desktop space. Isn't that just a little bit unreasonable? No? Ah well.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was spotted walking over to the exhibit hall after the speech. "I cried," said Wozniak, in reaction to Jobs' decision. "It felt just like the old days, with Steve making announcements that shook my world."

Asked if he saw himself returning to the fold in Apple's Cupertino headquarters, Wozniak said, "Well, not really. But who knows?"

Whether or not he's referring to OS X or to the new site stuff is unclear. It should be noted that the reviews and cards sections are largely available for everybody; only the tools and certain customization sections of the cards require the Mac OS, unlike (for example) Intel's WebOutfitter service for P-IIIs, which requires both a P-III and Windows 98.

I can't believe that the current crop of presidential candidates think that Creationism ought to be taught on par with Evolution, if not to the exclusion of Evolution. Some explain that a majority of US residents think creationism should be taught, but this only indicates tat they have not learned the scientific method.

Admittedly, there are some extreme fundementalists who think they can show a scientific basis for creationism, but to do this they deliberately ignore the vast body of evidence pointing the other way. They are also quick to identify the few oddities (such as dinosaur footprints being found along side human footprints) as if a single example would outweugh all the other evidence for creationism (one I was thinking about last night was how the human body plays host to so many other living organisms (e.coli, mitochondria, fungi, viruses, etc., are we to believe that since "we were created in God's image, that God has athlete's foot and depends on mitochondria to convert chemical energy into thermal and kinetic energy?)

One thing I find puzzling is that the creationists aren't equally upset about teaching such absurd "theories" as relativity, gravity, a non-earthcentric universe, but they like to point out that evolution is "just a theory". It demonstrates again a clear misunderstadning of what science is.

Anonymous Secular Humanist

With presales, the kids who would have sat in line all night for tickets will whine to their parental units about using their credit cards to buy tickets in advance. Presales caters to the older crowd who'll snatch up the first five days worth of tickets and leave the kids whose parents can't or won't use their cards on some silly Star Wars movie tickets out in the cold.

All of this is being done for the theaters' sake. I appreciate the fact that Lucas promotes a better viewing experience for our benefit, but maybe he can take the extra step and let the faithful sit in line to get in first.

-S. Louie

read her column www.examiner.com/skink