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ROLL CALL

frogmanFW — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:00:40 GMT

If you're in America and you voted, sound off. Don't tell us who you voted for, but if you have any interesting/annoying polling place stories, do share!

VOTED!

In other Iran news...

frogmanFW — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:06:19 GMT

Oops.

LOL!:D:w00t:

The Iran Proposal

frogmanFW — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:34:40 GMT

I haven’t seen one of these and if I’m stealing anyone’s thunder I apologize.

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. There has been a lot of misinformation and many Americans feel that there is an inevitability of eventual conflict between this nation and the United States. While I am not here to dismiss this possibility, I do not concur with that assessment and I am here to offer an alternative course of action for the situation. Feel free to pass along to your mom, your neo-con friend, or your congressperson.

You see, I consider myself a bit of an expert (for an average American citizen) on this particular nation. For full disclosure’s sake, it is due to the fact that I am married to an Iranian woman, and regardless of what our current marital situation is, I have spent the last three years with a strong and vested interest in learning about this country and observing/critiquing the United States’ relations (or lack thereof) with them.

So here is my manifesto on the subject.

Post number one will be a bit of background, from what I have researched and what I have observed, so that those who have little/no familiarity with Iran and its people can understand the truth, rather than the ideas that talking heads and propaganda would have you believe.

Post number two will be my plan, in detail, for your perusal.

Enjoy - FrogmanFW

Jack Thompson disbarred!

Roadkill — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:02:14 GMT

[img]http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/09/custom_1222376759542_JT_CAKE1.jpg[/img]

[url=http://kotaku.com/5054772/jack-thompson-disbarred]JUSTICE![/url]

Mugabe off his rocker

Locus Coeruleus — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:56:02 GMT

Accuses Great Britain and USA of genocide in Iraq! :w00t:

[url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/3082612/Zimbabwe-president-Robert-Mugabe-accuses-Britain-of-genocide-in-UN.html]Telegraph UK article[/url]

[quote]In an angry diatribe delivered to the assembly hall, the veteran African leader brushed off accusations he has badly damaged his country and blamed Western countries for Zimbabwe's problems.

"By the way, those who falsely accuse us of these violations are themselves international perpetrators of genocide, acts of aggression and mass destruction," Mr Mugabe said in his speech.

"The masses of innocent men, women and children who have perished in their thousands in Iraq surely demand retribution and vengeance. Who shall heed their cry?"

Mr Mugabe demanded that the sanctions imposed on his country by Britain and America - which he says destroyed the country's economy - should be lifted.[/quote]

A Day at the Missouri State Fair

Scipio Africanus — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:37:26 GMT

Because an old High School buddy of mine got killed on a motorcycle earlier this year, I recently found the web presence of my old hometown newspaper, the Marshall Democrat News.

Go back periodically to have a glimpse of what is going on.

Found this slide show from the [url=http://www.marshallnews.com/gallery/2953/]Missouri State Fair in August 2008[/url]. I particularly liked slide 25; what a lovely style.

And another interesting story about how a controversy over putatively activist jurisprudence is conflicting with family farmers in the area

[url=http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1459762.html]Court ruling sends chills through ag community[/url].

R.I.P George Carlin

Roadkill — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:38:03 GMT

[img]http://www.lesliehawes.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/george-carlin.jpg[/img]

[quote]LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.[/quote]

[url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080623/us_nm/carlin_dc]Comedian George Carlin dies in Los Angeles at 71[/url] - Yahoo News

Airlines to pay $504M in price-fixing scam

ddmagnan — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:13:11 GMT

It's bad enough that our companies gouge us and now foreign companies are doing it as well.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25394703[/url]

[quote]Four international airlines have agreed to pay $504 million in fines to settle charges they conspired to fleece consumers by driving up cargo shipping prices.

One of the four airlines — Air France-KLM — has agreed to pay $350 million of the total settlement. The other carriers are Cathay Pacific Airways, Martinair Holland and SAS Cargo Group

...

Thursday's announcement marked the latest in a series of cargo shipping settlements over the last two years. Earlier, British Airways, Korean Air, Qantas and Japan Airlines filed similar agreements as part of the investigation.

In all, airlines have agreed to pay $1.2 billion in fines — what O'Connor called "the highest total amount of fines ever imposed in a criminal antitrust investigation."[/quote]

Exploding star

Terminal_Civ-er — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:45:16 GMT

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20080514/SCIENCE-SUPERNOVA-DC/

[quote]WASHINGTON — Excited astronomers said on Wednesday they had for the first time caught a supernova on camera just as it was exploding, and they may now learn how to spot others.

By luck, they spotted a burst of X-rays while looking at another part of a distant galaxy, and managed to turn a variety of telescopes in the right direction just in time.[/quote]

The Smiley Face Killers

Locus Coeruleus — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:01:36 GMT

[url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/21/smiley.face.killer/index.html]Serial killer(s) targeting men???[/url]

This is odd. I've never heard of something like this before.

[quote]They learned about a string of student drowning deaths, many of them involving young men who attended colleges along the Interstate 94 corridor in the Midwest -- in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Nine of the deceased attended the University of LaCrosse, in Wisconsin. Three attended colleges in New York state.

In all, the investigators say they've connected the bizarre drowning deaths of at least 40 college-age men across the country.

The two detectives believe that in each case, and in others they investigated, the men were drugged and then their bodies were slipped or tossed into the water to make it appear as if they'd drowned.

Why would the killer or killers put the bodies in the water? The effect of water on evidence makes for an almost perfect crime, Duarte said. Not only does it make it appear like an accidental drowning instead of a murder, but the water frequently washes away key pieces of evidence such as fingerprints and fibers, so the killer can't be identified.

Together, the two detectives began mapping out the drowning deaths and working the case backward. Instead of focusing on where the bodies had been found, they used GPS devices and tracked river flow patterns and water levels to figure out where the bodies entered the water.

As Gannon and Duarte investigated the deaths, they began to see a trend. The cases spanned 25 cities in 11 states, and at least some of them were connected by a creepy symbol left near the water's edge: a smiley face painted on trees and other surfaces.

The detectives believe that the smiley faces were left by the killer or killers. They varied in size, with each face more haunting than the next.

The most sinister was found in Iowa. It was drawn in red with a devil's horns. Next to the smiley face was a note that read, "Evil Happy Smiley Face Man."

Asked whether he believed there was a hidden message in the smiley faces, Duarte told CNN, "The message is, they're taunting the police."[/quote]

"We" Will Win

Scipio Africanus — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:46:23 GMT

Because we [url=http://www.thefinalrollcall.us/rc_goinghome.html]love, more[/url] than we hate.

Death of a Town

mongoose201 — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:35:51 GMT

Pollution brings end to Oklahoma mining town

Residents say farewell to lead-laced hills, Superfund site; 'we cry every day'

Charlie Riedel / AP

The town is Picher, Okla., is nestled among huge lead-laced piles of rock. The town's population has dwindled to a fraction of its former size as people gradually move away from the Tar Creek Superfund site left from years of lead and zinc mining.

MSNBC.com

Pollution busts Okla. mining town

Residents say farewell to lead-laced hills, Superfund site; 'we cry every day'

The Associated Press

updated 2:27 p.m. CT, Sat., May. 10, 2008

PICHER, Okla. - They could pass for mourners at a funeral.

They line up along the main drag in front of empty cafes and shops and rusted mining equipment fenced off with barbed wire. Passing time, some from this blue-jean crowd press hands and foreheads against windows of stores. Businesses that died so many years ago it's hard to remember what they sold.

Two fellows with graybeards stand near a telephone pole. They watch for any sign of action in front of Susie's Thrift and Gift.

"I hate this," the older one laments. "I hate to see Picher go."

"Yeah," the other mumbles, looking down at his shoelaces.

"All those memories."

"Been mined out pretty bad, though."

A town's last stand
When the lead and zinc mines all around here closed down, many folks told themselves and promised their kids that Picher could go on and even be the same. There would always be church, high school football and the Dairy Queen.

But that was nearly 40 years ago, and all the praying and wishful thinking can't undo what's happened here.

People are leaving, escaping the reality of life in one of the worst environmental nightmares in the country. A voluntary federal buyout is hastening the exodus.

This is a town's last stand.

"Ol' Picher is just like the rest of us, she's 90 years old and on her last legs," says Orval "Hoppy" Ray, who worked the mines in the 1940s and runs a drafty pool hall in town.

Ray reveals the stubbornness that comes with 82 years of living: He and dozens of other holdouts will not leave, even when there is no city water or police department. No matter how much he's offered for his property, his place will remain open until he's dead.

"I don't think the lights will ever go out," Ray says, but there's something in his voice that leaves room for doubt.

His birthplace is the center of the Tar Creek Superfund site, a 40-square-mile area that also takes in portions of Missouri and Kansas.

Honeycombed with mines
For decades, before Picher became a town, miners carved miles of tunnels under its land, and the bounty of lead ore they recovered made bullets for both world wars. Neighboring communities were also undercut.

During its boom, Picher's population peaked at 20,000. Saloons and movie parlors lined the streets.

It was a rough-and-tumble way of life: fistfights just for the heck of it, plenty of bravado and wasted paychecks and the understanding that if you were old enough to work a shift in a mine, you were old enough to down a shot of whiskey.

Picher's mines closed around 1970; the wounds they inflicted on the people and land never healed.

Acid waters, land of sinkholes
Today, Tar Creek runs orange with acidic water that flooded the mines. Cave-ins and sinkholes threaten; a mine collapse in 1967 took nine homes.

Bleak, gray mountains of lead-contaminated chat, or mine tailings, loom around town. Some rise 100 feet and look like sand dunes. They have names like Sooner, St. Joe and Golden Rod 8.

For years, before most knew better, the gravel-coated piles doubled as sledding hills for kids, a Lover's Lane for teenagers and a makeshift proving grounds for dirt bikes and the high school's track team.

It will take at least 15 more years to haul the stuff off, for use in highway construction projects, but that's not soon enough.

The polluted dust that blows through every nook of this place has already affected a generation.

In the 1990s, a study found elevated blood lead levels in Tar Creek-area children, and teachers began noticing years ago that students were learning more slowly and couldn't focus.

"Don't Put Lead in Your Head," says a sign still hanging next to City Hall, showing a drawing of a smiling child.

Adults suffered, too. Natives like John Sparkman began having high blood pressure in their 20s. He lost his sister to Lou Gehrig's disease when she was 41, and would lay odds pollution caused it.

"I would've liked to have seen the town located somewhere else, but no one wanted to see it happen," says Sparkman, who works for the town housing authority. "It should've ended in the 1960s."

The federal government has stepped in with a plan to relocate residents, a buyout program that could cost $60 million.

As of April, nearly 800 applications had been turned in by home and business owners, according to the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust.

More than 300 offers have been made so far and of those, 272 accepted. Only a handful of offers were rejected.

The payouts won't make anyone rich — a 1,200 square-foot home fetches around $60,000 — but most residents believe this is the only ticket out of the depressed area.

The town has been whittled down to 800 people. Most businesses are long gone. The truck stop on the edge of town closed when unleaded was going for $2.79 a gallon. The school system is down to 99 kids and already axed extracurricular activities like band, art and sports.

But there are the holdouts, perhaps as many as 30 families, who plan to stay put.

"They thought they were going to live here for the rest of their lives," says Larry Roberts, a former state lawmaker and operations manager of the relocation trust.

Why remain at a Superfund site?
Candie Crites tries to explain, even as the ground under her feet rumbles almost every day. A mine shaft lies just on the south side of her driveway, 15 feet from her shotgun house in Cardin, a spit away from Picher. When the tremors come, it sounds like a dynamite blast and shakes windows.

But she can't leave the land she's lived on for decades, where the forsythias her parents planted bloom and the best memories with her late husband were made.

"It hurts to see what's going on, it's literally like tearing away pages of your life or layers of your skin," Crites says, sobbing.

Hoppy Ray's son, Steven, is also staying. Stubborn like his old man, the 61-year-old rattles off reasons why he thinks this place can be something again.

What about the city water being turned off? "It will turn into a rural water system."

Or living in a deserted city? "No more lonely than if you lived out in the country."

The lead pollution, then? "I've got four college degrees, and I grew up playing in the chat piles and swimming in the mill ponds. If I'm lead-damaged, by God, what would I have been, another Albert Einstein?"

If 67-year-old Roberta Richards had her way, she'd probably stay, too, but she's afraid to make a go in a town without law and order.

Sentimental strongholds
She hopes to get $70,000 for her house and is looking at a new place about 25 miles away. The hardest thing for her will be getting used to life without her daughter and grandkids as neighbors.

Some who left as the mines were closing are still sentimental about the place.

Steve Darnell remembers playing football on a field coated with lead dust and a town big enough to have two hospitals, three movie theaters and a bowling alley.

He sympathizes with the holdouts, but doesn't pretend to know what's in store for them if they stay.

"You can only go so far," says the 55-year-old, who now lives in Missouri. "It's not that much different than a gold-bust town."

Sirens cut the silence. Police and fire vehicles have lined up, and it's about to begin now, the parade marking Picher's 90th — and perhaps last — birthday. Something like 300 people have turned out to pay last respects.

"We cry every day," moans resident Louise Blalock, waiting in her minivan for the procession to start. "It's like a death, really."

"For what it is, I'm losing my heritage," says Steven Meador, who moved out of Picher in 1986 and lives in small town nearby.

"I feel like it's the end. That's why I'm here. This is it for me," says Norma Jean Skinner, who made the pilgrimage from California to say a proper goodbye.

Cars, pickups and motorcycles roll by. Locals on the floats toss suckers and Tootsie Rolls into the street, but many of the candies aren't scooped up because there are so few kids left here.

The parade ends at the Paul Thomas Funeral Home.

'It's just fading away'
After the parade, folks gather at the elementary school cafeteria for a reception.

Honky-tonk music sets the mood, and couples get up from bowls of beans and cornbread for one final twirl around the floor.

Paul Thomas, the town's silver-haired undertaker, sits in the back, dressed in a dark suit.

The 84-year-old has buried much of this town and can remember the days when Picher's streets were crowded.

"It's just fading away," Thomas says, looking straight ahead. "It just keeps getting smaller and smaller."

The people shouted, line-danced and swapped stories into the afternoon about first kisses, favorite teachers and long-gone eateries like the Chili King.

For a few more hours, they were the kings and queens of Picher, and no one could tell them this wouldn't last forever.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24555711/page/3/

MSN Privacy . Legal

---------

Thought I would post this since I've been through this town before and had been curious about the many empty buildings... I had suspected it was because of closed mines, but wasn't completely aware of the polution situation...

Myanmar Dissaster Relief?

Black Owl — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:07:55 GMT

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20080506/D90GB4M00.html

Wanted to share the latest news. I was wondering since the storm first hit, why the US wasn't already there helping. We seem to do better overseas in disaster relief then at home. Then this bit of news off the wire. I'm actually sort of surprised 1bc isn't sounding on this.

High-pitched device serves as teen repellent

ddmagnan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:16:57 GMT

Is this an effective use of technology to prevent crime or heavy-handed tactics that violate civil rights? The article doesn't mention if the noise is constant or something that can be switched on if loitering is noticed. A constant noise seems excessive to me, but something that can be turned on for a short time to drive loiterers aways seems to be within a property owners rights in my eyes.

[quote]A wall-mounted gadget designed to drive away loiterers with a shrill, piercing noise audible only to teens and young adults is infuriating civil liberties groups and tormenting young people after being introduced into the United States.[/quote]

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24280571/wid/11915829?GT1=40006[/url]

The Internets Strike Again!

Roadkill — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:26:11 GMT

[url=http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-gaming/article/2008-04/rickrolling-mets]Rickrolling the Mets[/url]

Meet Dexter

Terminal_Civ-er — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:28:31 GMT

[url=http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-1035_11-191566.html]Dexter the Robot[/url]

Thanks to our Friends from the North.....

Note: I don't think you need a subscription for this but if so, I will post the pictures.

[quote]On Tuesday, astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour will have a special Canadian visitor when they rocket off on their trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Canadian Space Agency's Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, aka "Dextre," is scheduled to be installed by Endeavour astronauts to the ISS later this week. Dextre was built to do maintenance tasks that were previously done during long and sometimes dangerous space walks.

Dexter is the third and final stage to the Mobile Servicing System and works with the Canadaarm2 which was installed on the ISS in 2001 and the mobile base which was installed in 2002. [/quote]

"Would you like to play a game of chess, Dave? I'm quite good, you know?"

If only actors can smoke, everyone's a star in MN

ddmagnan — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:51:31 GMT

I think this is hilarious!:D Instead of letting bars designate themselves smoking or non-smoking, the pc nazis forced them all to be non-smoking in Minnesota. Except they left an exception for actors, and these bar owners are expoiting it. Good for them. I'm a non-smoker but I think the decision should be up to the bars. If you don't want to work at a smoky bar, then don't. It isn't that hard. There is a thing called freedom of choice. Last I heard no one was being press ganged into working in a bar.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23505802/?GT1=43001[/url]

[quote]

All the world's a stage at some of Minnesota's bars.

A new state ban on smoking in restaurants and other nightspots contains an exception for performers in theatrical productions. So some bars are getting around the ban by printing up playbills, encouraging customers to come in costume, and pronouncing them "actors."

The customers are playing right along, merrily puffing away — and sometimes speaking in funny accents and doing a little improvisation, too.

[/quote]

Prince Harry Returns Home

Scipio Africanus — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:11:24 GMT

Bein' from Missouri, Monarchs and such always puzzle me. The idea that some guy is so special that [url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/01/prince.afghanistan1/index.html]he needs to be pulled back[/url] is just peculiar. I mean even Elvis served!

Curious to hear what ya'll think of this, particularly our "Limey" members of 1BC :D

Was it just a publicity stunt from the get-go?

School penalizes students for hugs, high-fives

ddmagnan — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:53:41 GMT

As always, people have to take things to extremes.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19293872/?GT1=10056[/url]

Cable Cuts?

Rishbhav — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:12:15 GMT

Ok, so this is getting a bit disturbing. In the past week or so undersea telecommunications cables have been cut off the coasts of France, Egypt, Qatar, and Malaysia for a total of five cables cut.

Internet capacity in the Middle East and South Asia is wayyy down, with much of the Middle East operating at <50% of what they should, and India operating at 80-90% WITH it rerouting traffic through the Pacific. As it stands now there is only one cable that connects the Middle East with Europe.

The first explanations were that a ship's anchor might have damaged the lines, but the Egyptian government had no satellite evidence of ships anywhere near the cable zone off Alexandria, and besides what are the chances of 5 different cables across the world all being cut by an anchor in a week? Not very likely.

Now I'm not a tinfoil hat kind of person, but this is starting to look mighty suspicious to me...

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_submarine_cable_disruption[/url]

[url]http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=theuae&xfile=data/theuae/2008/february/theuae_february121.xml[/url]

Wisconsin Video Game Sin Tax

ddmagnan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:10:29 GMT

Wisconsin gamers take notice!

[url]http://www.videogamevoters.org/thefeed/?storyId=10561[/url]

[quote]

Help Stop Video Game Tax Proposed By Wisconsin State Senator - Take Action Now!

Call to Action - for Wisconsin Members!

Wisconsin State Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee) has proposed a tax on video games and game consoles, the proceeds of which will go to rehabilitate juvenile criminals!

Yes, you read that correctly. This State Senator has essentially proposed a one-percent "sin tax" on video games, similar to taxes on alcohol and tobacco products, on top of the local five-percent sales tax. This proposal has been covered in GamePolitics.com, Ars Technica, and the Wisconsin Radio Network.

Not only is it unconstitutional to target video games and then burden video game enthusiasts with a "sin tax" (What about movies, books, and music, Senator?), but it also makes no sense since video games have nothing to do with juvenile crime. It is a well-known fact that as video games have soared in popularity the national juvenile crime rate has dropped dramatically.

Moreover, the tax would stunt an industry that is growing in Wisconsin at over 11% per year and contributes more than $23 million to the state economy. The tax would hurt the hundreds of Wisconsin citizens whose jobs depend on the Wisconsin video game industry.

It's Time to Take Action!

If you are from State Senator Erpenbach's district, send him a letter. If you do not know if you are in his district, view your legislators in Your Profile.
If you live in Wisconsin, but are not in Erpenbach's district, send a letter to your State Senator, urging them NOT to support Erpenbach's game tax.
If you have family and friends who live in Wisconsin, send them a message alerting them of what they can do to prevent this dangerous precedent from being set. [/quote]

Last Words: Major Andrew Olmsted

Leo — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:42:02 GMT

(Posting this since who knows how long it will last elsewhere. This site is fairly long-lived...my way of keeping these words alive. This is not a political thread, it's just...I don't know...my reaction to having read this. Unlike thousands of others, he had his last words ready for us. Here they are)

[red]I just wanted to clarify what this is since it's somewhat ambiguous and confusing with the other quotes sprinkled in.. Major Olmsted was in Iraq and was a regular internet blogger. He had prepared this message (as well as some of his favorite quotes) several months ago to be posted in the event of his death, which occured a few days ago.. - mongoose[/red]

-------------------------------------------------

"I am leaving this message for you because it appears I must leave sooner than I intended. I would have preferred to say this in person, but since I cannot, let me say it here."
G'Kar, Babylon 5

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
Plato*

This is an entry I would have preferred not to have published, but there are limits to what we can control in life, and apparently I have passed one of those limits. And so, like G'Kar, I must say here what I would much prefer to say in person. I want to thank hilzoy for putting it up for me. It's not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn't hesitate to accept the charge. As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose. Perhaps I take that further than most, I don't know. I hope so. It's frightening to think there are many people as neurotic as I am in the world. In any case, since I won't get another chance to say what I think, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Such as it is.

"When some people die, it's time to be sad. But when other people die, like really evil people, or the Irish, it's time to celebrate."
Jimmy Bender, "Greg the Bunny"

"And maybe now it's your turn
To die kicking some ***."
Freedom Isn't Free, Team America

What I don't want this to be is a chance for me, or anyone else, to be maudlin. I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.) I had a pretty good life, as I noted above. Sure, all things being equal I would have preferred to have more time, but I have no business complaining with all the good fortune I've enjoyed in my life. So if you're up for that, put on a little 80s music (preferably vintage 1980-1984), grab a Coke and have a drink with me. If you have it, throw 'Freedom Isn't Free' from the Team America soundtrack in; if you can't laugh at that song, I think you need to lighten up a little. I'm dead, but if you're reading this, you're not, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact.

[continued below the fold]

"Our thoughts form the universe. They always matter."
Citizen G'Kar, Babylon 5

Believe it or not, one of the things I will miss most is not being able to blog any longer. The ability to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper and put them where people can read and respond to them has been marvelous, even if most people who have read my writings haven't agreed with them. If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them. While the blogosphere has its share of partisans, there are some awfully smart people making excellent arguments out there as well, and I know I have learned quite a bit since I began blogging. I flatter myself I may have made a good argument or two as well; if I didn't, please don't tell me. It has been a great five-plus years. I got to meet a lot of people who are way smarter than me, including such luminaries as Virginia Postrel and her husband Stephen (speaking strictly from a 'improving the species' perspective, it's tragic those two don't have kids, because they're both scary smart.), the estimable hilzoy and Sebastian of Obsidian Wings, Jeff Goldstein and Stephen Green, the men who consistently frustrated me with their mix of wit and wisdom I could never match, and I've no doubt left out a number of people to whom I apologize. Bottom line: if I got the chance to meet you through blogging, I enjoyed it. I'm only sorry I couldn't meet more of you. In particular I'd like to thank Jim Henley, who while we've never met has been a true comrade, whose words have taught me and whose support has been of great personal value to me. I would very much have enjoyed meeting Jim.

Blogging put me in touch with an inordinate number of smart people, an exhilarating if humbling experience. When I was young, I was smart, but the older I got, the more I realized just how dumb I was in comparison to truly smart people. But, to my credit, I think, I was at least smart enough to pay attention to the people with real brains and even occasionally learn something from them. It has been joy and a pleasure having the opportunity to do this.

"It's not fair."
"No. It's not. Death never is."
Captain John Sheridan and Dr. Stephen Franklin, Babylon 5

"They didn't even dig him a decent grave."
"Well, it's not how you're buried. It's how you're remembered."
Cimarron and Wil Andersen, The Cowboys

I suppose I should speak to the circumstances of my death. It would be nice to believe that I died leading men in battle, preferably saving their lives at the cost of my own. More likely I was caught by a marksman or an IED. But if there is an afterlife, I'm telling anyone who asks that I went down surrounded by hundreds of insurgents defending a village composed solely of innocent women and children. It'll be our little secret, ok?

I do ask (not that I'm in a position to enforce this) that no one try to use my death to further their political purposes. I went to Iraq and did what I did for my reasons, not yours. My life isn't a chit to be used to bludgeon people to silence on either side. If you think the U.S. should stay in Iraq, don't drag me into it by claiming that somehow my death demands us staying in Iraq. If you think the U.S. ought to get out tomorrow, don't cite my name as an example of someone's life who was wasted by our mission in Iraq. I have my own opinions about what we should do about Iraq, but since I'm not around to expound on them I'd prefer others not try and use me as some kind of moral capital to support a position I probably didn't support. Further, this is tough enough on my family without their having to see my picture being used in some rally or my name being cited for some political purpose. You can fight political battles without hurting my family, and I'd prefer that you did so.

On a similar note, while you're free to think whatever you like about my life and death, if you think I wasted my life, I'll tell you you're wrong. We're all going to die of something. I died doing a job I loved. When your time comes, I hope you are as fortunate as I was.

"What an idiot! What a loser!"
Chaz Reingold, Wedding Crashers

"Oh and I don't want to die for you, but if dying's asked of me;
I'll bear that cross with honor, 'cause freedom don't come free."
American Soldier, Toby Keith

Those who know me through my writings on the Internet over the past five-plus years probably have wondered at times about my chosen profession. While I am not a Libertarian, I certainly hold strongly individualistic beliefs. Yet I have spent my life in a profession that is not generally known for rugged individualism. Worse, I volunteered to return to active duty knowing that the choice would almost certainly lead me to Iraq. The simple explanation might be that I was simply stupid, and certainly I make no bones about having done some dumb things in my life, but I don't think this can be chalked up to stupidity. Maybe I was inconsistent in my beliefs; there are few people who adhere religiously to the doctrines of their chosen philosophy, whatever that may be. But I don't think that was the case in this instance either.

As passionate as I am about personal freedom, I don't buy the claims of anarchists that humanity would be just fine without any government at all. There are too many people in the world who believe that they know best how people should live their lives, and many of them are more than willing to use force to impose those beliefs on others. A world without government simply wouldn't last very long; as soon as it was established, strongmen would immediately spring up to establish their fiefdoms. So there is a need for government to protect the people's rights. And one of the fundamental tools to do that is an army that can prevent outside agencies from imposing their rules on a society. A lot of people will protest that argument by noting that the people we are fighting in Iraq are unlikely to threaten the rights of the average American. That's certainly true; while our enemies would certainly like to wreak great levels of havoc on our society, the fact is they're not likely to succeed. But that doesn't mean there isn't still a need for an army (setting aside debates regarding whether ours is the right size at the moment). Americans are fortunate that we don't have to worry too much about people coming to try and overthrow us, but part of the reason we don't have to worry about that is because we have an army that is stopping anyone who would try.

Soldiers cannot have the option of opting out of missions because they don't agree with them: that violates the social contract. The duly-elected American government decided to go to war in Iraq. (Even if you maintain President Bush was not properly elected, Congress voted for war as well.) As a soldier, I have a duty to obey the orders of the President of the United States as long as they are Constitutional. I can no more opt out of missions I disagree with than I can ignore laws I think are improper. I do not consider it a violation of my individual rights to have gone to Iraq on orders because I raised my right hand and volunteered to join the army. Whether or not this mission was a good one, my participation in it was an affirmation of something I consider quite necessary to society. So if nothing else, I gave my life for a pretty important principle; I can (if you'll pardon the pun) live with that.

"It's all so brief, isn't it? A typical human lifespan is almost a hundred years. But it's barely a second compared to what's out there. It wouldn't be so bad if life didn't take so long to figure out. Seems you just start to get it right, and then...it's over."
Dr. Stephen Franklin, Babylon 5

I wish I could say I'd at least started to get it right. Although, in my defense, I think I batted a solid .250 or so. Not a superstar, but at least able to play in the big leagues. I'm afraid I can't really offer any deep secrets or wisdom. I lived my life better than some, worse than others, and I like to think that the world was a little better off for my having been here. Not very much, but then, few of us are destined to make more than a tiny dent in history's Green Monster. I would be lying if I didn't admit I would have liked to have done more, but it's a bit too late for that now, eh? The bottom line, for me, is that I think I can look back at my life and at least see a few areas where I may have made a tiny difference, and massive ego aside, that's probably not too bad.

"The flame also reminds us that life is precious. As each flame is unique; when it goes out, it's gone forever. There will never be another quite like it."
Ambassador Delenn, Babylon 5

I write this in part, admittedly, because I would like to think that there's at least a little something out there to remember me by. Granted, this site will eventually vanish, being ephemeral in a very real sense of the word, but at least for a time it can serve as a tiny record of my contributions to the world. But on a larger scale, for those who knew me well enough to be saddened by my death, especially for those who haven't known anyone else lost to this war, perhaps my death can serve as a small reminder of the costs of war. Regardless of the merits of this war, or of any war, I think that many of us in America have forgotten that war means death and suffering in wholesale lots. A decision that for most of us in America was academic, whether or not to go to war in Iraq, had very real consequences for hundreds of thousands of people. Yet I was as guilty as anyone of minimizing those very real consequences in lieu of a cold discussion of theoretical merits of war and peace. Now I'm facing some very real consequences of that decision; who says life doesn't have a sense of humor?

But for those who knew me and feel this pain, I think it's a good thing to realize that this pain has been felt by thousands and thousands (probably millions, actually) of other people all over the world. That is part of the cost of war, any war, no matter how justified. If everyone who feels this pain keeps that in mind the next time we have to decide whether or not war is a good idea, perhaps it will help us to make a more informed decision. Because it is pretty clear that the average American would not have supported the Iraq War had they known the costs going in. I am far too cynical to believe that any future debate over war will be any less vitriolic or emotional, but perhaps a few more people will realize just what those costs can be the next time.

This may be a contradiction of my above call to keep politics out of my death, but I hope not. Sometimes going to war is the right idea. I think we've drawn that line too far in the direction of war rather than peace, but I'm a soldier and I know that sometimes you have to fight if you're to hold onto what you hold dear. But in making that decision, I believe we understate the costs of war; when we make the decision to fight, we make the decision to kill, and that means lives and families destroyed. Mine now falls into that category; the next time the question of war or peace comes up, if you knew me at least you can understand a bit more just what it is you're deciding to do, and whether or not those costs are worth it.

"This is true love. You think this happens every day?"
Westley, The Princess Bride

"Good night, my love, the brightest star in my sky."
John Sheridan, Babylon 5

This is the hardest part. While I certainly have no desire to die, at this point I no longer have any worries. That is not true of the woman who made my life something to enjoy rather than something merely to survive. She put up with all of my faults, and they are myriad, she endured separations again and again...I cannot imagine being more fortunate in love than I have been with Amanda. Now she has to go on without me, and while a cynic might observe she's better off, I know that this is a terrible burden I have placed on her, and I would give almost anything if she would not have to bear it. It seems that is not an option. I cannot imagine anything more painful than that, and if there is an afterlife, this is a pain I'll bear forever.

I wasn't the greatest husband. I could have done so much more, a realization that, as it so often does, comes too late to matter. But I cherished every day I was married to Amanda. When everything else in my life seemed dark, she was always there to light the darkness. It is difficult to imagine my life being worth living without her having been in it. I hope and pray that she goes on without me and enjoys her life as much as she deserves. I can think of no one more deserving of happiness than her.

"I will see you again, in the place where no shadows fall."
Ambassador Delenn, Babylon 5

I don't know if there is an afterlife; I tend to doubt it, to be perfectly honest. But if there is any way possible, Amanda, then I will live up to Delenn's words, somehow, some way. I love you.

---------------------------------------

Godspeed, sir.

Attack of the Killer Jellyfish!!!!

Locus Coeruleus — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:22:49 GMT

Billions!!!!! That's incredible!!!!

[url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/21/salmon.jellyfish.ap/index.html] Billions of jellyfish wipe out N. Irish salmon farm[/url]

[quote] DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- The only salmon farm in Northern Ireland has lost its entire population of more than 100,000 fish, worth $2 million, to a spectacular jellyfish attack, its owners said Wednesday.

The Northern Salmon Co. Ltd. said billions of jellyfish -- in a dense pack of about 10 square miles and 35 feet deep -- overwhelmed the fish last week in two net pens about a mile off the coast of the Glens of Antrim, north of Belfast.[/quote]

10 sq miles! billions! of jellyfish!!!!

Bhutto Killed

Leo — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:16:44 GMT

This won't end well...

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1298475,00.html

I mean, it already has ended badly, but this will probably be worse now

U.S. Navy challenges pirates off Somalia's coast

ddmagnan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:53:22 GMT

It's nice that the code of the sea is still alive and the US helped the crew of a North Korean ship.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21594439/[/url]

My home state burns...

Locus Coeruleus — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 18:43:24 GMT

This is very saddening to me. :(

I lived out there in Orange County from 90 to 99, and these fires they happened to various degrees almost every fall, usually it wasn't more than a blip on the radar. One year in particular, my freshman year in highschool, in 1993, the Santa Ana winds were blowing up a storm. We lived down in the coastal region, north county, where the fires didn't come anywhere near, but I recall, in particular having a Cross Country (endurance running) meet canceled because of the air quality on account of the fires. One morning there was ashes falling from the sky being blown about by the winds, and you could see the blazing out in the horizon up in the hills.

That was relatively nothing though compared to what is going on this season, what with the largest civilian evacuation since civil war times. (even larger than Hurricane Katrina induced wrath? I was surprised to hear that).

The good news is maybe they have things, or are getting things under control, but a huge wrath has been incurred already...

Sept 19th, 25th Birthday of the smiley

ddmagnan — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 11:13:18 GMT

[quote]

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-)
Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(

[/quote]

[url]http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/09/twenty-five-yea.html[/url]

[quote]Carnegie Mellon University, the distinguished birthplace of most cutting edge robotics, one time study hall of mathematician John Nash and host to an undergraduate Andy Warhol, is also the birthplace of a somewhat more suspect invention: the smiley.

Love it or hate it, the smiley is well embedded into our cultural syntax at this point and today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first appearance. Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says he was the first to use the now ubiquitous keystrokes that gave birth to a whole range of emoticons.

Fahlman posted the first emoticon Sept. 19, 1982 in answer to a discussion about the limits of humor in online test and how users could denote comments meant to be taken lightly. Despite the protests of many an English professor, who claim (quite correctly) that the limits of humor in text are the result of poor writing skills, emoticons are here to stay.

For the record Fahlman is open to the idea that he didn’t invent the emoticon, though he does claim that he has never seen hard evidence that the sequence was in use before his posting. If you happen to know different head over to Fahlman’s page and set him straight.

[/quote]

This is art?

ddmagnan — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:01:52 GMT

Has anyone here heard of Martin Creed? From what I know his "art" is the kind of stuff that gives modern art a bad name. I may not always like modern art, but I can at least see that some talent and creativity went into most of the pieces. Most of this guys stuff is just unbelievable.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Creed[/url]

[quote]

Since 1987, Creed has numbered each of his works, and most of his titles relate in a very direct way to the piece's substance. Work No. 79, some Blu-tack kneaded, rolled into a ball and depressed against a wall (1993), for example, is just what it sounds like, as is Work No. 88, a sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball (1994). One of Creed's best known works is Work No. 200, half the air in a given space (1998), which is a room with enough inflated balloons in it for them to contain half the air in it.

Perhaps Creed's best known piece among the general public is the work he exhibited for the 2001 Turner Prize show at the Tate Gallery, Work No. 227, the lights going on and off. This was an empty room in which the lights periodically switched on and off. As so often with the Turner Prize, this created a great deal of press attention, most of it questioning whether something as minimalist as this could be considered art at all. Creed won the prize.

Creed formed a band, Owada, in 1994. In 1997 they released their first CD, Nothing, on David Cunningham's Piano label. Here too there is a very direct relation between the song titles and the work itself: in songs like "1-2-3-4" the entire lyrics are contained in the title. Sound has also featured in his gallery-based work, with pieces using doorbells and metronomes.

Some of Creed's works use neon signs. In these cases, the title of the work indicates what the sign says. These pieces include Work No. 220, Don't Worry (2000); Work No. 225, Everything Is Going To Be Alright (2000), which was mounted to the side of a gallery Gavin Brown, New York City; and Work No. 232, the whole world + the work = the whole world (2000), which was mounted on Tate Britain in London.

[/quote]

I'm in the wrong business. I think I'll quit my job and become a minimalist artist. My first piece is "Bag of Garbage". Which is a bag of garbage. My second piece is "Unwritten Short Story"

[quote]

[/quote]

My third piece is "Unfinished Painting", which is completely different from my second piece as this is a painting, not a short-story.

[quote]

[/quote]

I hope you enjoyed my first three peices of art. I spent a lot of time and effort creating them. You owe me $20 for the viewing. Please send the money to my paypal account. Thank you.

An Iraqi hero

Roadkill — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:10:58 GMT

[quote]An Iraqi man saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians when he intercepted a suicide bomber during a Concerned Citizens meeting in the town of al-Arafia Aug. 18.[/quote]

[url=http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,146880,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl]Full story[/url]

Caption This Photo #2780911

Scipio Africanus — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:10:48 GMT

This caught me off guard as I strolled into a shop in Roseau, Dominica, and I had to do a double take to see if it was a doll.

McDonald’s marketing tricks tots’ taste buds

ddmagnan — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 17:34:08 GMT

Identical food fed to preschoolers, one labeled McDonalds, one not, and the McDonalds tasted better! The power of marketing and consumer brainwashing.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20148538?GT1=10252[/url]

The New 7 Wonders of the World

ddmagnan — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:59:13 GMT

[url]http://travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=412457[/url]

Great Wall, check

Machu Pichu, check

Chichen Itza, check

Colosseum, check

Taj Mahal, check,

Petra, acceptable

Statue of Christ the Redeemer, what the...?

Great statue but how the heck did it beat out the Statue of Liberty? The symbol of freedom to millions of immigrants. Must be all the Anti-American bias in the world right now. Although I don't think it deserved to be in the seven either. Although it deserved it more than Christ the Redeemer. I would have prefered to see the seventh as either the Kremlin, St Basil's Cathedral, Stonehenge, Hagia Sophia, Angkor Wat, or the Easter Island statues. I just don't think that Christ the Redeemer is as impressive as these others.

The Over-weight Epidemic in the USA

Locus Coeruleus — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:09:40 GMT

[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19845784/]75 percent of Americans overweight by 2015[/url]

Article@MSNBC.com

Scipio, what the hell is causing this???

We just keep inventing new and exciting ways to kill

psweetman1590 — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:03:24 GMT

The newest generation of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are here. And this one, unlike the Predator, is intended to be more of a weapons platform instead of a scout with limited weaponry.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070715/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_air_surge_ii

Meet the Reaper.

Publisher halts plans to sell 'Manhunt 2'

ddmagnan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:07:04 GMT

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19353736/wid/11915829/[/url]

[quote]"This is one of the tasks ahead of new management, to rein in that creative talent and tell those guys we are in the business of making money and you should make games that will sell, not games that are artistically beautiful but not available at Wal-Mart," Pachter told Reuters.[/quote]

And people wonder why the video game industry is stagnate. Not that I am saying that Manhunt 2 was going to be an awesome game. However they should not let Walmart influence what kinds of games to make and publish. Is this what we have come to? Letting a single retailer be the judge of creative expression. Walmart certainly has the right to not stock what it wants. However this comes back to the issue of letting a single retailer control such a large part of the market so that it unduly influences supply and demand. It also comes back to my previous postings about keeping video games self regulated like books and movies. How, even though the majority of gamers are adults, publishers avoid the "M" and "AO" rating because Walmart will not carry them. I wonder how many "R" rated movies Walmart carries?:rolleyes: Yet they will not carry the equivalent in games, M. I mourn for the creative loss of Rockstar. They used to be a company that pushed the limit and didn't care about the rating their game received. It was nice for all the adults, who make up the majority of gamers, not to have all their games censored to meet T(teen) ratings. Now under new management they will turn into an EA clone.:( I guess the next Grand Theft Auto will be "Could I borrow your auto?" Bully, a game that was prejudged before it came out, would have been canceled. It turned out to be a game where you stood up to bullies, not be one. It's funny how the critics never said a word after the details where released.

Make it for Walmart, make it for Walmart. Great! So nothing should be made unless Walmart will sell it. Talk about lowest common denominator. At least independent developers and digital downloads offer some respite. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps the big publishers making clones of the same games over and over with awesome graphics just so stores will stock it is a good thing. This is driving the creative part of the industry back to small developers. Perhaps we will go back to the golden age of games were creativeness, risk taking, and freedom of expression was the norm. When games were not mainstream, but were the domain of geekdom. Of course the video game genie is out of the bottle. However the mainstream can have their clones with pretty pictures. The great games will be back in the shadows.

Farewell, wires? Power beamed through air!

ddmagnan — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:22:35 GMT

Only useful in or near buildings. You will still need power lines to transmit from the power station to your house. However it means you will only need batteries for cell phones, laptops, power tools, etc... when too far away from a transmitter.

[quote]Power cables and even batteries might become a thing of the past using a new technique that can transmit power wirelessly to cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, household robots and other electronics.[/quote]

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19098305/[/url]

Democracy stuns Polish man 19 years in coma

Locus Coeruleus — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 21:25:09 GMT

[url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/02/polish.coma.reut/index.html]Can You Imagine...[/url]

It's like going to sleep in a nightmare and waking up in paradise!!!

[quote]WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) -- A 65-year-old railwayman who fell into a coma following an accident in communist Poland regained consciousness 19 years later to find democracy and a market economy, Polish media reported on Saturday.

Wheelchair-bound Jan Grzebski, whom doctors had given only two or three years to live following his 1988 accident, credited his caring wife Gertruda with his revival.

"It was Gertruda that saved me, and I'll never forget it," Grzebski told news channel TVN24.

"For 19 years Mrs Grzebska did the job of an experienced intensive care team, changing her comatose husband's position every hour to prevent bed-sore infections," Super Express reported Dr Boguslaw Poniatowski as saying.

"When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops, meat was rationed and huge petrol lines were everywhere," Grzebski told TVN24, describing his recollections of the communist system's economic collapse.

"Now I see people on the streets with cell phones and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin."

Grzebski awoke to find his four children had all married and produced 11 grandchildren during his years in hospital.

He said he vaguely recalled the family gatherings he was taken to while in a coma and his wife and children trying to communicate with him.[/quote]

Welcome to the 21st Century Folks...

Locus Coeruleus — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:37:06 GMT

[url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/23/turner.prom/index.html] Students attend school's first integrated prom[/url]

[quote]ASHBURN, Georgia (CNN) -- Students of Turner County High School started what they hope will become a new tradition: Black and white students attended the prom together for the first time on Saturday.

In previous years, parents had organized private, segregated dances for students of the school in rural Ashburn, Georgia, 160 miles south of Atlanta.

"Whites always come to this one and blacks always go to this one," said Lacey Adkinson, a 14-year-old freshman at the school of 455 students -- 55 percent black, 43 percent white.

"It's always been a tradition since my daddy was in school to have the segregated ones, and this year we're finally getting to try something new," she said.[/quote]

Read it all.

Can you believe it? In the 21st Century!!!!!!!

Kudos to these young children for attempting to overcome the obstacles of history! ;)

The Vanishing Honeybee!

Locus Coeruleus — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:18:21 GMT

...the downfall of mankind! :blink:

[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18442426/]Declining honeybees a ‘threat’ to food supply[/url]

Check it out yo!

Drug-resistant TB strain raises ethical dilemma

ddmagnan — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:59:19 GMT

"Man locked up indefinitely, sparking civil liberties debate."

I think once he failed to take steps to avoid infecting others, society has a right to lock him up.

[url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17915965/wid/11915773?GT1=9303[/url]