December 31

December 31, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Noooo! Don't tell us! We might get depressed!

NASA begrudgingly released some results Monday from an $11.3 million federal air safety study it previously withheld from the public over concerns it would upset travelers and hurt airline profits. It published the findings in a format that made it cumbersome for any thorough analysis by outsiders.

(AP via Yahoo! News)

Check-in

Check-in, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Do not clink on licks

Storm and Nugache are actually Trojans. The Storm creator, for example, sends out millions of spam messages on a semi-regular basis, each containing a link to content on some remote server, normally disguised in a fake pitch for a penny stock, Viagra or relief for victims of a recent natural disaster.

(Scheier on Security)

Or lick on.... Well, you know, whatever. Just don't.

File under Stuff I Really Just Didn't Want to Finish Reading

New York City is suffering from an unprecedented epidemic of blood sucking bed bugs....

But if you're really up for it, the rest is here.

Temporarily, I need a woman

No no, not even for that long. Just long enough to tell me what color shirt I'm wearing. First time I looked at it I thought it was chocolate brown. But then I saw it in the sunlight and it looked blue. Now it looks black. Going with two out of three I'm thinking it might be Navy blue, but as it's a scientifically proven fact only women can actually see Navy blue I'm only guessing here. Maybe I should go to the grocery store or something and just ask around.

PS. She could also sew on a couple of buttons if she has time, but that's optional.

It's the end of the year, I'm told, and I'm still looking for a more versatile blogging solution than Blogger's, although that's not bad. So I'm just making a test post here from Google Docs to see what happens.

Why it's maybe not a great idea to pay too much attention to Iowa

This argument [that Iowa caucus results are "unofficial") has actually been used to float the idea that rigging the Iowa caucus results for the media might not actually be an election crime. Hmm.

(And a whole lot more from BlackBoxVoting.org)

Always assuming, of course, there actually is some place called Iowa.

Year end

Year end, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

And I don't suppose you could have a designated signer either

(XKCD)

No wonder I've been feeling so bored

Cheddervision, the essential cheese-watching site, is, well, cheeseless until after the first of the year sometime. So all this time I've been watching a blank screen (you don't have to pay close attention to watch cheese age). 

Come on, cheese guys, let's get some more cheese in the box there so live can get back to normal here.

Enough of these cute end-of-year lists

Here's one that is appropriately depressing:

And so I humbly offer this new year's roundup: The Bush Administration's Top 10 Stupidest Legal Arguments of 2007.

(Dahlia Lithwick in Slate)

Coincidence?

MONTPELIER, Vermont (AP) -- President Bush may soon have a new reason to avoid left-leaning Vermont: In one town, activists want him subject to arrest for war crimes.


Kurt Daims of Brattleboro, Vermont, speaks Friday about his movement against Bush and Cheney.

A group in Brattleboro is petitioning to put an item on a town meeting agenda in March that would make Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest and indictment if they visit the southeastern Vermont community.

"This petition is as radical as the Declaration of Independence, and it draws on that tradition in claiming a universal jurisdiction when governments fail to do what they're supposed to do," said Kurt Daims, 54, a retired machinist leading the drive.

As president, Bush has visited every state except Vermont.

(CNN)

Metroblogs in Pakisatan

Lahore

Islamabad

Karachi

I don't really need to tell you this, do I?

In an attack that showcases what cyber criminals have in store for Web 2.0 next year, the individual or group behind the Storm worm is distributing new versions of the malware with the help of hijacked and newly-created Google Blogspot blogs.

The Storm worm, one of 2007's most prolific e-mail-borne Trojan horse programs, has always come wrapped in holiday-themed messages or disguised as videos from some recent high-profile news event. The latest Storm versions -- predictably spammed out as Christmas and New Year's greeting cards - don't break with that tradition. It urging recipients to click on a link that then tries to install the Trojan through hook (unpatched Web browser vulnerabilities) or by crook (tricking the user into believing he or she needs to install some "video codec" to view the holiday message).

The twist with the new attacks is that someone has apparently planted the malicious Storm download links on hundreds of Google Blogspot pages (hat tip here to Steven Adair of the Shadowserver.org crew). A Google search for Blogspot blogs that contain links to the malicious Web sites -- "uhavepostcard.com" and "happycards2008.com" (do NOT visit these sites)-- shows plenty of Blogspot blogs that appear to be hosting links to the Storm download sites.

(Washington Post)

Don't go downloading stuff just because it pops up in you face,

Of course

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the assassination of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto underscores the need to secure the America's borders to prevent potential terror attacks here.

(Radio Iowa)

Feed him another ear of corn but don't let him kiss your baby, would be my advice.

Broken window trumps the firewall

Thieves broke in to the Davidson County Election Commission offices over the Christmas holiday and made off with computers containing the names and identifying information of every voter in Nashville.

(Tennessean)

I have to think this looks pretty funny from inside

A German bar owner has got round a smoking ban by cutting holes in the wall so customers can stick their heads out to have a cigarette.

(Ananova)

Pretty funny from outside too, come to think of it.

Because you can't be outdoors if you don't shoot something

OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) - Presidential contender Mike Huckabee bagged a pheasant Wednesday, offering Iowa voters the image of an experienced outdoorsman on the hunt, shotgun blasting and dogs braying.

Just a campaign gambit? ``Maybe it will show that I certainly understand the culture of being outdoors,'' Huckabee said.

(Guardian)

And for that extra-jolly outdoors atmosphere, a Trickshot Dick joke.

Solstice

You just can't make this stuff up

Aging German playboy Rolf Eden has rarely taken no for an answer. And he's not about to start. He has filed charges against a 19-year-old for refusing to sleep with him. The complaint? Ageism....

According to Bild Zeitung on Thursday, the 77-year-old Eden has filed suit against a 19-year-old Berlin woman for the following reason: Despite a night on the town with Eden, which ended back at his place, she refused to have sex with him, saying the he was too old for her.

"That was shattering. No woman has ever said that to me before," Eden told the tabloid. "I was crushed." He has filed charges with the prosecutors' office, he said. "After all, there are laws against discrimination."

(Speigel Online)

How it's done

Oscar Peterson Trio, 1985: "Caravan"

Snowman down

Snowman down, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Some guy from the Times goes bonkers at Radio City Music Hall

The Rockettes dance the American dream in wondrous synchrony — row upon row of long legs and glittering teeth. As an anti-depressant they could put Zoloft out of business. I like them especially with their antlers on. They can pull my sled any day.

(NYTimes)

Ain't it amazing what you learn

The CIA told a federal judge in 2003 that no such recordings existed but has now retracted that testimony.

(Times Online)

Retracted! Who knew you could do that? I'm making a list right now of all the stuff I'm going to retract and it's gonna be a long one, Bunky, you can count on that.

Geezers rule

LONDON - Britain's 81-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, considered an icon of traditionalism, launched her own special Royal Channel on YouTube Sunday.

(AP via Yahoo! News)

At least it's free

Nothing says lovin' like something from the oven. And nothing says "New Year's Eve" like a light show and fireworks at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. That being the case, Chicago invites you to Buckingham Fountain to ring in 2008 with a 20-minute light show starting at 11:40 p.m., followed by a fireworks display set to music over the deathly cold, pitch-black waters of Lake Michigan.

(From the Chicago Sun-Times list of "best bashes" for New Year's Eve)

It's official: I've lost it

The New York Times has a piece today about the buzzwords of the year just ending, only five of which I've ever heard and none of which I've ever used, that I recall - in this century, at least.

It's nice to know, though, this kind of blog now has a name - tumblelog - since the original word for it - blog - has gone off to mean other things.

Willard not doing all that well in NH

CONCORD, N.H. -- Delivering the journalistic equivalent of a giant lump of coal three days before Christmas, the Concord Monitor editorial board has leveled an extraordinary broadside against Mitt Romney, declaring in an editorial to be published in Sunday's paper that the former Massachusetts governor "must be stopped" in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination....

The Monitor editorial board leans left, and the paper is often viewed as a liberal counterweight to the conservative Union Leader of Manchester. But with its anti-Romney assault, the paper finds itself on the same page with the Union Leader, which has endorsed John McCain for the Republican nomination and followed that up with harsh editorial critiques of Romney.

(Washington Post)

CNET piles on

Now that Microsoft has announced the availability of the RC version of Service Pack 3 for our old friend, XP, I'm delighted to tell you all that not only is this upgrade substantial and extremely helpful. Believe it or not, this upgrade creates the best Windows experience I have ever used.

Now, as you may be aware, Vista is, well, crap....

(CNET)

File under Hell Hath No Fury

Jason Wilson, 24, wanted to stay out for a final pint but fiancee, Emma Thomason, wanted to go home.

Enraged, she put everything he owned, from clothes to CDs, in his £10,000 van and drove it into the harbour near their home in Whitehaven.

(Ananova)

Yogurt? Oh that does it, Dude

The new Miss France is deciding whether to give up her crown after the head of the competition committee demanded she quit over compromising photos.

Valerie Begue appears crucified in one picture, posing Christ-like in a swimming pool. In another she is seen suggestively licking yogurt out of a pot.

(Faux/Sky News)

Santa super-sized

Santa super-sized, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Some guy at the Washington Post obsesses about how candidates eat

You want, as a voter, to be able to say, "He looks like he knows his way around a pizza."

(here)

Well no, actually, I don't.

What is the expiration time on "have a nice day?"

I always thought it was midnight but now I'm confused. Yeah, right, that's not too unusual, but still. I went over to that Staples joint by the rotary this morning to buy an ink cartridge and the checkout person said "have a nice rest of the day" and I feel cheated.

Department of Covering Stuff Up

So while the Justice Department’s number one was pleading to his own employees for clemency for corporate wrongdoers (a function normally accorded to high-priced lawyers in private practice), its number-two-to-be was giving a series of carefully rehearsed and highly disingenuous answers to an oversight committee designed to shield those who have committed war crimes and to justify the continuing official use of torture—a crime under the laws of the United States and the laws of nations. And its powerful new national security division was busily obstructing a Congressional inquiry into the destruction of evidence sought by two federal judges—destruction in which a bevy of Bush Administration lawyers, including a former Attorney General, are now deeply linked.

(Harper's)

Sounds like a dull job to me

(American Memory, Library of Congress)

The kind of story that comes along once in a 18-3943 moon

AT least one color authority, Pantone, has taken the plunge and announced its favorite color for 2008. To be sure, this news doesn’t seem as delectable as People’s Sexiest Man Alive or as snugly affirming as Time’s Person of the Year. You probably did not even know that chili pepper red was the color for 2007.

Nonetheless, Pantone’s choice of blue iris, or No. 18-3943, got some news media attention last week, which seemed to be partly the objective of the company, which is based in Carlstadt, N.J.

(NYTimes)

Ya think?

Let me know when this turns up on eBay

Border crossing crooks were blamed after an entire beach including beach huts, sun loungers and sand were stolen....

"It has probably been shipped over the border now without any checks being made where it will be easier to get rid of," [local official] Repas said.

(Ananova)

If it comes with warm I want it.

But no, you don't get your money back, Bunky

The Pentagon's highest-flying spy drone isn't able to "consistently " perform, even on a "limited schedule," according to a draft Defense Department report.

(Wired Danger Room)

Bare pander

Reporting from Iowa...

“What’s wrong with our country, what is wrong with our culture, is that you can’t say the name Jesus Christ without people going completely berserk,” Mr. Huckabee told a crowd in Dike, a tiny farm town about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines, where people also stood to applaud.

And better yet (lots, lots better)...

“Who is your favorite author?” Aleya Deatsch, 7, of West Des Moines asked Mr. Huckabee in one of those posing-like-a-shopping-mall-Santa moments.

Mr. Huckabee paused, then said his favorite author was Dr. Seuss.

In an interview afterward with the news media, Aleya said she was somewhat surprised. She thought the candidate would be reading at a higher level.

“My favorite author is C. S. Lewis,” she said.

(NYTimes)

Say it ain't so, Joe

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" will resume production on Jan. 7 without their striking writers, the Comedy Central network announced Thursday.

(Raw Story)

Except, of course...

US President George W. Bush said Thursday that nuclear power represents the "best solution" to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and stressed he was serious about fighting climate change.

(AFP)

...oh never mind. The best way to cut greenhouse gas emissions when this guy talks is to turn off the mic.

What, they don't have any Republicans in Estonia?

Forty-eight hours of celebrations are taking place to mark nine new states joining a European border-free zone.

The Schengen agreement, which allows passport-free travel across the area, now embraces 24 nations.

(BBC)

All I want for Christmas is a new tinfoil hat

A plan to dramatically widen US law enforcement agencies' access to data from powerful spy satellites is moving toward implementation, as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects to finalize a charter for the program this week, according to a new report.

(Raw Story)

Maybe they could patch a few potholes while they're there

A devout group of evangelical Christians in the Midwest are flocking to help purify a spot they believe the Bible has ordained as holy ground -- and it happens to be 1,500 miles of interstate asphalt.

Why the location?

According to CNN, the small contingent of churchgoers believe that Interstate 35, a sprawling highway running from Texas to Minnesota, is specifically mentioned in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 35.

(Raw Story)

And JIC you're not convinced about the holiness quotent this highway one Cindy Jacobs, an organizer of the prayathon, points out the Minneapolis bridge collapse last August was on I-35, and also the assassination of JFK happened, well, somewhere near it. So there ya go.

Anyway if they get enough people up there on the northern end of it, flocking, they might act as a sort of human snow fence, which would probably be a good thing.

I don't even want to think about it, OK?

Tame the winter blues. Impress your friends. Eight steps to the perfect backyard snow shelter.

(Boston Globe)

But will it make the wait seem shorter?

Mathematicians from the University of Exeter have solved the mystery of traffic jams by developing a model to show how major delays occur on our roads, with no apparent cause. Many traffic jams leave drivers baffled as they finally reach the end of a tail-back to find no visible cause for their delay....

“When you tap your brake, the traffic may come to a full stand-still several miles behind you. It really matters how hard you brake - a slight braking from a driver who has identified a problem early will allow the traffic flow to remain smooth. Heavier braking, usually caused by a driver reacting late to a problem, can affect traffic flow for many miles.”

(physorg.com)

And you thought Lieberman's endorsement was a big deal

Rep. Tom Tancredo dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday and endorsed rival Mitt Romney.

(AP)

Willard's eyes

CBS News: “Did you actually see — with your own eyes — your father marching with Martin Luther King?”

Romney: “My own eyes? You know, I speak in the sense of I saw my dad become president of American Motors. I wasn’t actually there when he became president of American Motors, but I saw him in the figurative sense of he marched with Martin Luther King. My brother also remembers him marching with Martin Luther King and so in that sense I saw him march with Martin Luther King.”

(Eschaton)

What is this, Talk Like a Bush Day?

Nor I

WHAT GEORGE IS NOT SURPRISED BY: “I’m not surprised we get criticized on a variety of fronts. And – on the other hand, most people like to come to our country, and most people love what America stands for. And so, it’s like I say about the presidency, people in America like the presidency and sometime they like the President. Get it?”

(Whatever It Is, I'm Against It)

On your mark...get set...

Courtesy of the fabulous Blue Gal here's your link to Global Orgasm Day (and more!).

Yeah, yeah, liberal press, blah, blah

The New York Times has changed the subheadline in Wednesday’s front-page story on the CIA’s destruction of secret interrogation tapes, following a formal request by the White House.

The correction has already been made online, and there will be a print correction in the paper, according to a Times representative.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement that the Times subheadline — “White House Role Was Wider Than It Said” — was inaccurate.

(Politico)

Willard? Can it be true?

Republicans know Mike Huckabee has as much a chance of becoming president (of the United States) as do Tom Tancredo or Ron Paul. But he's obliterating one of their favored insider Establishment candidates, the anything-but-authentic Willard Romney (aka- Mitt), and he's set to win the Iowa caucuses.

(Down With Tyranny!)

Oh oh, coal in this guy's stocking

The Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday that the Christmas story of the Three Wise Men was nothing but a 'legend'.

Dr Rowan Williams has claimed there was little evidence that the Magi even existed and there was certainly nothing to prove there were three of them or that they were kings.

(Telegraph)

And you thought those Iraqis were stubborn, eh?

WASHINGTON — The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.


(Faux News)

Enough, already, with the eyes

No one is born with a stare like Vladimir Putin's. The Russian President's pale blue eyes are so cool, so devoid of emotion that the stare must have begun as an affect, the gesture of someone who understood that power might be achieved by the suppression of ordinary needs, like blinking. The affect is now seamless, which makes talking to the Russian President not just exhausting but often chilling. It's a gaze that says, I'm in charge.

(Time, in its "Person of the Year 2007" piece)

Meanwhile, from the inestimable Avedon, a footnote:

I see Time copped-out again on their Person of the Year. You can just hear them going into a panic when they realized that thought it should be Al Gore, and they just couldn't bring themselves to do it.

Fric & Frac in Iowa

Clinton, who spent most of the campaign communicating her confidence and readiness to lead, is now emphasizing her life story and her sensitivity to voters' concerns.

Obama, who spent most of the campaign communicating his life story and sensitivity to voters' concerns, is now emphasizing his confidence and readiness to lead.

(Boston Globe)

The dirty-tricks culture dirty tricks itself

With President George W. Bush only a year away from departing the White House and the Republican succession in turmoil, some of the most prominent conservative intellectuals and activists have gathered together for one last great crusade. Movement icons from Robby George of Princeton to Harvey Mansfield of Harvard, from David Horowitz to Brit Hume, raised howls of persecution when they heard reports that two masked men allegedly attacked a conservative Princeton University student. They insisted that the right-wing acolyte was beaten up "for his conservative views," as Horowitz put it. And they accused Princeton of failing to protect conservatives and upholding a hypocritical liberal double standard. Unfortunately, the trumpeted cause collapsed when the victim turned out to be a hoaxer.

(Read the whole story in The Nation)

Time-wasting with a pedigree

Excellent reporting by our Midwest Bureau (and some newspaper) turns up MIT Physics Professor Walter Lewin and his "zany theatrical" lectures in introductory physics, part of MIT's Open Courseware project available here in Real Audio or from the iTunes Music Store's iTunes U, in either case free.

Finally, our Midwest Bureau chief points out, we have a way to waste time while claiming not to be really wasting time. Can't beat that.

You bet

But the Post article also does not delve into the fact that Chris Dodd's filibuster threatened to shine a bright light on how craven the other Democratic presidential hopefuls looked when they chose to stay in Iowa and promote themselves rather than come back to Washington DC and defend the constitution.

(Firedoglake)

Dodd just got a whole lotta points with me for filibustering the Senate bill that would have granted wiretapping imunity, retroactively, to the telcos. The other Democratic candidates should have all taken time off from campaigning to stand against that bill; they would have been back in Iowa plenty soon enough. (And read the link.)

I'm getting plenty sick of Democratic candidates afraid to step on toes. There are toes that need to be downright stomped. Maybe Dodd's the guy to do it after all.

It all just degenerates into farce

Raising the stakes with his main rival in the crucial Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused Mike Huckabee yesterday of insulting President Bush...

(Boston Globe)

A disturbance in the Force

PC World - OK, I'll repeat that - PC World declares Vista the #1 "tech disappointment" of 2007:

No wonder so many users are clinging to XP like shipwrecked sailors to a life raft, while others who made the upgrade are switching back. And when the fastest Vista notebook PC World has ever tested is an Apple MacBook Pro, there's something deeply wrong with the universe.

Oh oh. I'll repeat that too. The fastest Vista notebook PC World has ever tested is an Apple MacBook Pro.

Ouch.

OK, we've had our fun now

Now they tell us

Report: Ohio voting machines have 'critical flaws,' could undermine ’08 election

(Raw Story)

Say ahhh

"I've been to cattle barns before and sales before, in Arkansas, but I've never felt like I was the one that was being bid on,'' Clinton told a crowd in western Iowa. "I know you're going to inspect me. You can look inside my mouth if you want."

(Guardian)

Call me a geezer but I liked it better when politicians just wore funny hats and maybe kissed a baby or two.

Heh

Heh, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

I guess this is what happens when you use a flash on a frozen-misty sleety afternoon. And it was only about 2:30 but the sun never bothered to come out today at all. The sun has more brains than me. But I only went out for a little while, so maybe it doesn't count. Anyway, if you want some cheap amusement you can just walk up to the corner and watch the cars get stuck.

Everybody does it

Large numbers of Turkish fighter jets have bombed suspected Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq, reports say.

Turkish officials said the warplanes had targeted the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in areas near the border.

But officials in northern Iraq said the planes had struck several villages. There were reports that one woman was killed, although this was unconfirmed.

(BBC)

And this is before the storm

It's supposed to snow again tomorrow, pretty much off and on all day. Or rain. Or sleet. Or whatever else they can dream up. We seem to be, at the moment, right on the line and so I guess we just wait and see.

Yuppies and immigrants!

A post on Boston.com...

After seeing how the city responded to the season's first winter storm, do you think Boston's reputation for stoicism and moxie in the face of nasty weather has taken a hit?

...(there was a traffic snarl on the Interstate caused by people trying to get home from work) draws this response:

Well with an influx of yuppies and immigrants and the dissolving of the true working class in the city, I'd say that Boston has definately softened up a ton. If you ever go to a Patriots game in the snow its not the rich season ticket holders who stick through the weather for every single minute of the game, but its the working class guys that are willing to buy up those tickets from the bums that cant handle a little snow. Damn yuppies.

Yeah!

Chicken what?

Oh Dude, I'm looking at this box of onion soup mix stuff - yeah, I know, I deserve what I get but still - right here on the list of ingredients is chicken powder. Whoa. I don't know what chicken powder is and I don't want to, but somehow I think I'm not gonna see no Chicken Powder Cordon Bleu on any menu worth mentioning, anytime soon.

On the other hand, of course, if I did see Chicken Powder Cordon Bleu on a menu that would be worth mentioning. So let's just hope it doesn't happen, OK?

And please, please tell me they don't have cow powder too.

Taserware!

Pack up your Tupperware, and get ready for a new kind of party.

Dana Shafman, founder of Shieldher Inc., has recently started sponsoring Taser parties, giving women a chance to buy Tasers for $300, or $350 with a laser beam to help with aiming.

Shafman's parties allow women to get together to discuss concerns and learn about the Taser C2, the newest consumer Taser that is similar to the device police officers use. "I felt that we have Tupperware parties and candle parties to protect our food and house, so why not have a Taser party to learn how to protect our lives and bodies," Shafman said....

Debi McMahon was excited to get her Taser activated.

"I feel like I'm 6 feet tall and 250 pounds. I'm going to buy one for my mom. It's going to be her 81st birthday present."

(Arizona Republic)

And they're afraid of Hillary?

The torture President

Bush is now fully owning Abu Ghraib. That, I guess, is one helpful result of flushing out what this president has done. At the time, of course, he expressed shock at the techniques exposed by the photographs at Abu Ghraib. Now he is declaring them legal and necessary.

(Andrew Sullivan)

The national sport

On the Los Angeles Times' Web site, one reader wrote, "I could care less about fair play as long as these overpaid athletes entertain me." On The Commercial Appeal in Memphis' Web site, someone said, "No one cares about this story," while another wrote, "All these guys are cheaters."

(AP)

Days of infamy

The legislation, part of a measure authorizing the government's intelligence activities for 2008, had been approved a day earlier by the House and sent to the Senate for what was supposed to be final action. The bill would require the CIA to adhere to the Army's field manual on interrogation, which bans waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods.

(AP)

When did torture become "harsh methods"? In my lifetime we've executed people for doing stuff like this. Now, according to Lindsay Graham (R-Ministry of Truth) it's become a "program" that is "lawful and helps the country." If we could rehabilitate Republicans that thoroughly we might even get ourselves out of this mess some day.

When does "paperwork reduction" become "destroying evidence"?

Behold, the Bush Administration in chart form: Federal spending on paper shredding has increased more than 600 percent since George W. Bush took office. This chart, generated by usaspending.gov, the U.S. government's brand spanking new database of federal expenditures, shows spending on "contracts for paper shredding services" going back to 2000.

You be the judge.

I'll just keep moving, thanks

I'll must keep moving, thanks, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Don't it though

Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes has been found guilty of negligent homicide, but not of unpremeditated murder, for stabbing an Iraqi soldier 44 times. Sorta gives a new meaning to the word negligent.

(WIIIAI)

Never woulda guessed

Unfortunately timed

Boston and its environs seized up at the first sight of snow yesterday, as an unfortunately timed and unusually intense storm sent thousands of commuters racing from their jobs, virtually in unison, only to endure a gridlock of epic frustration.

(Boston Globe)

Unfortunately timed as in what, it happened in December? Come to think of it, it's not quite winter yet, is it? So can we get a penalty call on this?

Long, long past time for these guys to go

WASHINGTON--The US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been caught conducting covert propaganda attacks on the internet. The attacks, exposed this week in a report by the government transparency group Wikileaks, include deleting detainee ID numbers from Wikipedia last month, the systematic posting of unattributed "self praise" comments on news organization web sites in response to negative press, boosting pro-Guantanamo stories on the internet news site Digg and even modifying Fidel Castro's encyclopedia article to describe the Cuban president as "an admitted transexual" [sic].

(Wikileaks)

And no Get Out of Jail Free card, either.

So I was just gonna say...

...in fact I just did say, in a to-myself kinda way, if anything else can go wrong today it will, when I get an email announcing the office I work in is closed for the afternoon. Snow. Which means there's no class this afternoon because that's where it is. Or would be. If it weren't closed.

Meanwhile I've spent all morning trying unsuccessfully to install an operating system on an old iBook and the most recent try is just finishing now which, the fact that I have the afternoon off, probably means it won't work this time either. Because now I have all afternoon to work on it some more. Because the office is closed.

Maybe I should go out and get some groceries before I have to close too.

JIC you thought the "debates" were about finding a good candidate

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) is being excluded from this week’s Iowa presidential debate because he has not rented office space in the Hawkeye State, his campaign said Wednesday.

The Des Moines Register informed the campaign that Kucinich is not invited because the newspaper determined “that a person working out of his home did not meet our criteria for a campaign office and full-time paid staff in Iowa,” the campaign said.

(The Hill)

Don't go

Don't go, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Still not depressed enough? Is that what's troubling you, Bunky?

Well we can fix it - or rather Project Censored can, with its just-released report on "News That Didn't Make the News" over the past two years.

Watch your step

Watch your step, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

I spent the afternoon about 20 miles east of here, on the other side of the river and closer to the coast, and they've got ice everywhere. In fact it seems to be getting icier here as well because every day hovers right around the freezing point, just warm enough to melt the surface, cold enough to refreeze it overnight. But there the tips of the pines are frosted with ice, the sidewalks are nearly unusable, and you'd better have a real good reason if you want to use these steps.

And freezing rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, followed on Thursday by snow.

Sort of like the mole in Whack-a-Mole

According to several media reports, Wolfowitz has been offered a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board -- formerly known as the Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board -- a prestigious State Department panel. The 18-member panel, which has access to highly classified intelligence, advises Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters.

(Media Transparency)

Wolfie! The former DOD Iraq-war cheerleader who got booted out of the World Bank, handed off to the American Enterprise Institute - apparently some sort of mole-refurbishing service - has now been recycled, good as new, into the State Department, where he's going to "advise" on, among "other matters" (did you get that part?) "WMD issues."

Come to think of it, Wack-a-Mole is a lot more fun. Also safer.

Seasonal malaise

If you were planning on getting a Talking Jesus Action Figure this Christmas (or whatever) you're almost out of luck. Walmart has completely sold out of the toy and Target.com has "very limited supply," according to the manufacturer's spokesperson, Joshua Livingston.

(The Consumerist)

Thought you'd want to know.

And another thing. If I hear that freakin' drum song one more time, I'm not kidding here, I'm gonna throw something. It's driving me bananas.

I actually have a little stash of Christmas music (yeah, I know, me) that lives on my iPod in December - a little bit of Lou Rawls, Nat "King" Cole, Mel Tormé, Sophie Milman, Barbara and Ella and Vince Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown" album but who can hear that stuff when there's somebody's easy-listening country & western version of the freakin' drum song blasting out of the ceiling is what I want to know. Nobody.

The only non-violent option is to drown the music out with something that's not music, which is here.

Pretty much, the answer is no

I can't use the Blogger composing tool from the phone. Also (from the
phone) I can read Google docs but not create or edit them; read and
create Google notes but not edit. I can post to the blog by email. And
I can spend a whole lot of time. Go figure.

(iPhoned in)

So who says there's no good news?

It's 30 freakin' degrees out there and there's freezing rain and we'll be spending half the day chipping ice off windshields but hey, no mosquitos. So that's pretty good. Anyway, I work afternoons this week so by the time I have to go out it could be, I don't know, 32º. Or even 33º. And still no mosquitos. Life is good.

(Graphic from Accuweather)

OK, here's a thought: Why not sign up for an idiot badge?

Or, better yet (you might want to make a note of this, Bunky), do not start a major system install when running on battery power. That is a really, really stupid thing to do.

Here's a good idea

Let's call it something else!

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A spate of recent attacks in Iraq's volatile Diyala province indicate a change in tactics by al Qaeda rather than an upsurge in violence, the commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq said on Saturday.

(Reuters)

There ya' go. See how easy?

Yeah dagnabbit...

...them thar Yankees is a bunch o' moroons, is whut they are.

"I can understand a lot of it in the South. People in the South want to know someone understands SEC (Southeastern Conference) football and knows what WD-40 and duct tape will do," Huckabee said. "But from the rest of the country — even if they don't know what duct tape and WD-40 will do — they certainly do know they want a president who has had a struggle, who has not just had life handed to him."

(AP News via Raw Story)

Thousands...

...more than 12,000, in fact, old time radio programs available from the Old Time Radio Network (all in Real Audio, alas, but still...) added to the official work avoidance list. Just mentioning.

You vote, they decide

In California...

The first round of tests focused on the physical security of the Polling Ballot Counter (PBC), which the Red Team researchers were able to circumvent with little effort. "In the physical security testing, the wire- and tamper-proof paper seals were easily removed without damage to the seals using simple household chemicals and tools and could be replaced without detection," the report says. "Once the seals are bypassed, simple tools or easy modifications to simple tools could be used to access the computer and its components. The key lock for the Transfer Device was unlocked using a common office item without the special 'key' and the seal removed."

(Ars Technica, thanks to a tip from Avedon)

And after they popped the lock it was all downhill.

It's "London Derrière"

See? I knew that one. It was a quiz on NPR and I knew the answer because my mother made me take violin lessons. Some people think it's "Danny Boy" but it isn't, it's "London Derrière."

If your life is not...consistent...with...

"It has nothing to do with what faith a person has — it's whether or not that person's life is consistent with how he lives it," Huckabee said Thursday on NBC's "Today."

(AP via Raw Story)

What is this, National Babble Day?

And how's this? Double babble!

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, also used the occasion to sound a call for greater religious thought in daily civic life, providing a near-history lesson as he recalled religion in American political life since the country's founding.

"The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square," he said.

Way to go, AP! Let's hear it for near history!

Are US taxpayers arming insurgents?

Tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, crates of machine guns and rocket propelled grenades are just a sampling of more than $1 billion in unaccounted for military equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces, according to a new report issued today by the Pentagon Inspector General and obtained exclusively by the CBS News investigative unit. Auditors for the Inspector General reviewed equipment contracts totaling $643 million but could only find an audit trail for $83 million.

(CBS News)

Invade Dubuque!

It's official: The world's gone bonkers, no joke

I walk into the Post Office at 1:00 PM with an armload of quacking packages, 'Pod cranked up and plugged in, a little bag of cheese crackers in my pocket, set to wait it out for as long as it takes and there is no line. Not only is there no line, there is a guy standing behind the counter just waiting. Whoa. Name one other Century when that's happened, right? So I figure that deserves a celebration and I head for the drive-thru line, figuring I'll treat myself to a little bag of fries. Too.

And there's a sign there, says "Gift an Arch card." Huh? What, is this some sort of charity for homeless Arch cards or something? Are there homeless Arch cards? Like, orphans or something? Or do they mean give an Arch card? I have no idea. But at least I've got my fries, so there's hope.

Then I pull up to that 4-way stop, you know, the one over there - it's been there for about eight years now and people are still trying to figure out how it works - and some geezer pulls into the intersection from my right and does a complete 360º freakin' U in the intersection and drives out the way he came. Whaaaaaat? I'm just sitting there, blinking my eyes.

When I get home I have only one earbud in, the other one hanging down inside my jacket, and when I take it off, the jacket, it generates some static or something and I get a little snappy spark in my ear. Woohoo! Sexiest thing that's happened in a decade. Or so. I'm sitting here trying to make it happen again.

When I read Vice Darth, Trickshot Dick, is claiming Reps. Dingell and Murtha have small sticks.

See what I mean? No joke.

Multiple Choice Mitt goes for the JFK

"Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree."

(Romney, as quoted by AP)

Except - I'm just guessing here, but still - those freakin' Muslims, right? And Pastafarians. Mitt wants "nativity scenes" and menorahs in public places, but doesn't say a word about noodles. Or, for that matter, the Constitution.

Yipping about Mormons is just as stupid now as yapping about Catholics was in the 60s but hey, we might as well have stupid in public places too, right next to trees of knowledge.

We love the smell of a smoking gun in the morning

Dan Bartlett, recently departed White House guy, discussing right-wing blogs in an interview with Texas Monthly:

I mean, talk about a direct IV into the vein of your support. It’s a very efficient way to communicate. They regurgitate exactly and put up on their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we’ve cultivated and have really tried to put quite a bit of focus on.

OK, who didn't say no?

The nation's teen birth rate has risen for the first time in 14 years, according to a new government report.

The birth rate had been dropping since 1991. The decline had slowed in recent years, but government statisticians said Wednesday it jumped 3 percent from 2005 to 2006.

(AP Features)

Aha! I get it now!

He said that if the new information turns out to be true, what we thought we knew for sure is right. Iran does in fact have a covert nuclear weapons program, but it may be suspended.

It's there but it's suspended. Sorta like not there. But there. But not exactly.

No. Guess not. I still don't get it. But maybe you can figure it out.

Tubthumping!

NEW YORK (December 04, 2007) -- Press reports so far have suggested that the belated release of the National Intelligence Estimate yesterday throwing cold water on oft-repeated claims of a rampant Iranian nuclear weapons program has deeply embarrassed, or at least chastened, public officials and policymakers who have promoted this line for years. Gaining little attention so far: Many in the media have made these same claims, often extravagantly, which promoted (deliberately or not) the tubthumping for striking Iran.

(Editor & Publisher)

How about stand sorta sidewise

Yesterday, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said, “when the President was told that we had some additional information, he was basically told: stand down; needs to be evaluated; we’ll come to you and tell you what we think it means.” Later in the briefing, Hadley reversed course and said, “In terms of stand down, they did not tell the President to stand down and stop talking about Iran’s nuclear program.”

(ThinkProgress)

And it gets worse from there.

Maybe Rove didn't retire after all

Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign is today accusing Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of conducting dirty tricks in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The Clinton campaign is pointing supporters and journalists to reports of push polls in Iowa and New Hampshire which, the Clinton people say, are passing along negative information about Clinton.

They're blaming the Obama campaign.

(The Swamp)

Obama campaign calls Clinton charge a "flat-out falsehood."

Why should the Rs be the only dips in town?

Mouse and friends scoff at summons

Your honor, I thought I saw a pussycat! Tweety may finally air his signature complaint in front of a judge, after an Italian court ordered the animated canary along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy to take the witness stand in a counterfeiting case....

"Unfortunately they cannot show up, as they are residents of Disneyland," [a Disney mouthpiece] joked in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

(AP via Raw Story)

Oh, Babe, this is a work of freakin' art

From this Norman Podhoretz guy, who is some kind of "advisor" to Rudy (and that should tell you something right there) comes this, in some magazine called Commentary Magazine...

...the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine George W. Bush....

Like, I don't know, the truth, maybe? The actual freakin' facts? That'd pretty much undermine George W. Bush alright, right there.

How long must we suffer these fools?

So be scared anyway!

A new US intelligence report indicates that Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program four years ago -- but the White House on Monday nevertheless urged global powers to "turn up the pressure" on the country.

Newly declassified portions of the National Intelligence Estimate find that Iran abandoned its nuclear program in the fall of 2003 and does not currently possess a nuclear weapon. The country is still enriching uranium, however, and could still develop a weapon between 2010 and 2015, according to senior intelligence officials.

(Raw Story)

Yeah, it did.

Snow

Not a lot, but wet. Icy, during the night. South of us, icy enough to close the Interstate. Right where I need to go in the morning, in fact, so I hope it's melted off by now. If it doesn't snow too much more tonight (yeah, forecast) it just might melt off again by the weekend. Or it might be there all winter. Bleh.

Security

But throughout history and into the future, the one constant is human nature. There hasn't been a new crime invented in millennia. Fraud, theft, impersonation and counterfeiting are perennial problems that have been around since the beginning of society. During the last 10 years, these crimes have migrated into cyberspace, and over the next 10, they will migrate into whatever computing, communications and commerce platforms we're using.

(Schneier on Security)

An interesting discussion (if you're interested) between Bruce Schneier and Marcus Ranum on computer security, on Schneier's blog.

Outlaw Nation

GUARDIAN, UK - International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."

(Undernews)

No words

AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it....

Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial. Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunting and Washington believes it is still legitimate.

(Times Online)

Garlic ice cream! In the dark!

But only if you clean your plate.

Dining with Canucks

Just a thought: Maybe we ought to put somebody else in charge

So here's a story from the LATimes, mostly about how the numbers coming out of Iraq these days, numbers reported by the Iraqi "security forces," might not be entirely - ahem - reliable, which story sort of wanders off at the end to talk about other things including (and thanks to WIIIAI for finding this) this...

In October, for example, the entire command and control system used by Iraqi security forces to communicate with headquarters was shut down for two weeks when the government failed to pay the U.S. contractor that provides the satellite communications.

For those two weeks, U.S. commanders and the Iraqi government received no reports from Iraqi forces in the field.

It'd be nice if we had somebody running things who could remember to pay the phone bill, at least.

Looking a little shaky this year

Like stuck pigs

The Rs are in full-squeal mode over being asked a question by a gay retired general at their little "debate" the other night - a general that has the temerity to offer advise to the Clinton campaign as well, no less - which, when you come to think of it, is a very Republican thing to do, and a good thing too. Squeal, I mean, not ask advice. Whenever they come out looking like goofuses - which, you may have noticed, is increasingly often - their first instinct is to blame it all on somebody else.

Now comes the always-entertaining Pat Buchanan, who charges the general with being gutless for not outing himself while still in service. Ironically, Buchanan's remark came at an event honoring some 12,000 gay service members who did...and got kicked out. But never mind that. The general should have come clean, Buchanan wails, as, presumably, any good and brave Republican would do (listening, Larry?).

Don't get me wrong. I like the rule. Not the gay rule - the question rule. If only people who already agree with them are ever allowed to ask a question of a Republican candidate from here on out, well, that pretty much guarantees they'll lose the election, which is fine by me.

Blame the CNN

Fred Barnes, the predictably loony-tune editor of the loony-tune Weekly Standard, moans piteously today about the Republibacle last night, calling it "Two Hours of Humiliation" and wanting desperately to blame the whole thing on the CNN. "I don't know if the folks who put the debate together were purposely trying to make the Republican candidates look bad, but they certainly succeeded," he mutters, but can't make that premise stand for even one more sentence. "True, the candidates occasionally contributed" comes next.

Still, Barnes gives it the old Harvard try (do all these wingnuts wind up there?), blubbering...

The most excruciating episode occurred when Cooper allowed a retired general in the audience to drone on with special pleading in favor of allowing gays in the military. This was a setup. The general had asked a question by video, then suddenly appeared in the crowd and got the mike.

Except not quite. That episode (excruciating it was) happens to be the only part of the debate I actually saw. The general didn't "suddenly appear and get the mike." Moderator Anderson Cooper announced before the general's YouTubed question ran that the general was in the audience. And after the candidates (I defer to the Rs on that term) had answered, Cooper asked the general if his question had been answered. The general said no, and explained why.

The exact same thing happened during the CNN-sponsored Democrat debate (a fiasco too - this has not been a vintage year for politics) - that time a preacher, if memory serves.

Barnes' lament sputters to an end with "a CNN-You Tube debate is not a serious forum," sniff, sniff - but some rightie bloggers (nameless here) reportedly profess outrage that the general, it turns out, is serving as an advisor to the Clinton campaign. How can a Democrat be allowed to ask a question at a Republican debate, they wail. I didn't know a person had to be a registered Republican in order to ask a Republican a question.

Anyway it turns out the general, according to himself, is.

Edit: Last YouTube-sponsored debate, I meant to say - the Democratic one - although it might have also involved CNN, I'm not sure.

If you're hot and you're young, who cares if you're pink?

The "grand-design" spiral galaxy, also called NGC 628, has perfectly symmetrical spiral arms containing clusters of young blue stars. The bright pink regions reflect huge, relatively short-lived clouds of ionized hydrogen gas radiating from hot, young stars.

(Space.com)

Stars Gone Wild.

Who knows? Might sell.

Ahhh, those year-olds today

Yunice Kotake, of San Bruno, Calif., recently purchased a Fisher-Price Knows Your Name Dora Cell Phone for her twin year-old daughters. But a few days later, she returned the play phone to a local Toys “R” Us, after she found that the girls seemed to prefer their parents’ actual phones.

“They know what a real cellphone is, and they don’t want a fake one,” Ms. Kotake said.

(NYTimes)

Probably know what a real gun is too.

Whaaaaat?

...Huckabee, when asked how Jesus would feel about the death penalty, responded, “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office”

(NYTimes)

Woohoo! I didn't watch the shindig last night but it sounds like some kinda party! What was that Huckabee guy drinking, anyway? “Hillary could be on the first rocket to Mars.”? Must have been something really good!

And did somebody really ask them to describe their guns?

Who had the biggest?

Surprise, surprise

WASHINGTON - Local intelligence-sharing centers set up after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have had their anti-terrorism mission diluted by a focus on run-of-the-mill street crime and hazards such as hurricanes, a government report concludes.

(AP)

What? You saw that coming? Yeah, it was pretty much a no-brainer, wasn't it.

"Although many of the centers initially had purely counterterrorism goals, for numerous reasons they have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach," according to a Congressional Research Service report from June...

Most centers are run by state police or other law enforcement agencies. Many also have representatives from a range of other agencies, including fire and public works departments and state gambling regulators...

Arizona's center has representatives from the state's public safety, motor vehicles and liquor control departments....

And guess what.

"States are at different levels because there wasn't the preconceived game-plan on how to do this," said George Foresman, a former undersecretary at the Homeland Security Department who oversaw the awarding of startup money for many of the centers.

Right. No plan.

Or maybe there was a plan. Maybe the plan was to be so freakin' dumb the terrorists would never be able to figure out what we're up to. Or to be so freakin' afraid the terrorists wouldn't have to bother with the terror stuff.

Whatever, there was zero chance the government - any government - would sit on all these bright, shiny toys and a piece of legislation so ill-conceived as the so-called Patriot Act without finding a way to redefine every crime there is - hell, every form of misbehavior - as "terrorism." This is how environmentalists become terrorists - just one example. Check out the wrong book, make a phone call to the wrong person, donate to the wrong charity, you can become a terrorist too.

Of course, there's always a silver lining. Maybe in some happy and not-too-distant future we can label Republicans terrorists, and that would be a good thing right there.

God to president of Oral Roberts U: "You're fired"

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Richard Roberts told students at Oral Roberts University Wednesday that he did not want to resign as president of the scandal-plagued evangelical school, but that he did so because God insisted.

(AP)

My head hurts

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The commander of U.S. prison camps in Iraq said he wants to cut the number of Iraqis in his custody by around two thirds by the end of 2008 as part of a wider counter-insurgency plan to bring down violence.

(Reuters)

So let me see if I've got this straight. We locked these guys up because they were suspected (by us) of being insurgents, and now we're going to let them out again to reduce violence? OK then!

I still don't get it.

A mirror here, a mirror there, a little smoke

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to start talks aimed at reaching a full peace deal by the end of 2008.

(BBC)

You know how good those guys are at talking to each other, Dude. It's gotta work.

The longest striptease ever heats up even more

Musharraf prepares to shed army uniform

(Reuters)

Iraq, Iraq forever

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Monday signed a deal setting the foundation for a potential long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq, with details to be negotiated over matters that have defined the war debate at home — how many U.S. forces will stay in the country, and for how long.

The agreement between Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirms that the United States and Iraq will hash out an "enduring" relationship in military, economic and political terms. Details of that relationship will be negotiated in 2008, with a completion goal of July, when the U.S. intends to finish withdrawing the five combat brigades sent in 2007 as part of the troop buildup that has helped curb sectarian violence.

"What U.S. troops are doing, how many troops are required to do that, are bases required, which partners will join them — all these things are on the negotiating table," said Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, President Bush's adviser on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(AP)

The bottom line here: US troops will be used to prop up the puppet government. Don't believe that?

"The basic message here should be clear: Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own; that's very good news, but it won't have to stand alone," said Lute, who rarely holds televised briefings.

Yep, same General Lute, same story.

Because we're so good at propping up unpopular governments.

As long as I'm enthusing about Apple today, this just in from our Midwest Bureau

Click the image for a bigger, easier to read (yeah, I said read) view.

(Go M.)

Go Apple, oh yeah

So I've had this old iMac in the back room all summer, out of action with a bad CD drive. (Well, not completely out of action but out of CD action, which is a semi-bad thing.) I'd been meaning to take it in for repairs - it's still got a couple of months to go on its extended warrantee (Applecare) - but dreading the trip to the nearest repair place which is 20 miles away in a busy part of a nearby town, with no convenient parking at hand. And it's a heavy box to haul.

So then one day last week I think. Once in a while that happens. And what I think is, hey, Apple has a DIY program now. So I log on to the web site and sure enough, this part's covered, and I order one. That was Friday. The part arrives on Monday. (I think it was shipped overnight but it was a two-day weekend night.) Inside the box is the new part, a special tool, and an instruction book with a photo for every step.

This afternoon I do the deed. Since everything inside a flat-panel iMac is modular to begin with it's simple. Undo three case screws and four screws inside, pop the old part out and the new one in, put all the screws back in place, boot. Twenty minutes start to finish, tops.

The old part's in the box. All I have to do now is tape the box shut, yank off the mailing label to reveal the return label, and call DHL. Thanks to the Applecare, the whole thing's free.

Maybe I'm just easy to impress but that seems pretty awesome to me.

Oughta be careful tossing around those "M" words, "Mitt"

I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that "jihadism" is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, "…based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration."

(Christian Science Monitor)

"...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

(Article VI)

This guy "Mitt" is a dope.

(Me)