cool

(shout out to boing boing)

in case you're interested in

stuff like this (and of course we ALL should be - we're talking about our freedoms here)

EFF releases Net Neutrality detector software

The Electronic Frontier Foundation's new "Switzerland" tool can detect violations of Net Neutrality by your ISP: "The sad truth is that the FCC is ill-equipped to detect ISPs interfering with your Internet connection," said Fred von Lohmann, EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney. "It's up to concerned Internet users to investigate possible network neutrality violations, and EFF's Switzerland software is designed to help with that effort. Comcast isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last, ISP to meddle surreptitiously with its subscribers' Internet communications for its own benefit."

"Until now, there hasn't been a reliable way to tell if somebody -- a hacker, an ISP, corporate firewall, or the Great Firewall of China -- is modifying your Internet traffic en route," said Peter Eckersley, EFF Staff Technologist and designer of Switzerland. "The few tests available have been for narrow and specific kinds of interference, or have required tremendous amounts of advanced forensic labor. Switzerland is designed to make general-purpose ISP testing faster and easier.".........

i guess they waited to arrest him

because women and children ARE (as we all know) worthless

oh and one more than - PRAISE THE LORD

Child-Raping, Wife-Murdering Preacher Allowed to Finish Sermon Before Being Arrested

You've probably already heard this one, since it is all over the news: a preacher, Anthony Hopkins, murdered his wife after she caught him sexually abusing their children and stuffed her in a freezer -- with the daughter's assistance. This happened four years ago and the children's mother has been kept in the freezer in this house ever since. The pastor of Hopkins church reports that "the children were so respectful, just so easygoing", and that they "loved their dad. They were very close to him." Right. Rape, murder, and incest are just ordinary events in the Abrahamic family tree.

What I find disturbing about the whole story is this. Anthony Hopkins spent all this time since as an itinerant preacher, traveling about and preaching the 'Holy Word of Jesus Christ'. His daughter moved out of his house, finally, reported what he'd done to the police, the police went into his house and opened the freezer, and then they went off to the church where he was preaching that day. What did they do then?

Police allowed Hopkins to finish his sermon before arresting him........

i guess there is a tiny slim chance

this man (and the others arrested in the past) are spies or insurgents or 'bad guys.

or they are simply BRAVE camera men or news reporters doing their jobs.

US military in Iraq holding cameraman

American forces in Baghdad said on Friday they are holding an Iraqi cameraman working for Reuters news agency, and a media rights group said he has been held for nearly a week without charge.

Ali Al-Mashhadani was arrested last Saturday by US troops at the Iraqi parliament press centre in Baghdad's heavily fortified government and diplomatic Green Zone compound, the news agency said.

It said Mashhadani also works freelance for the BBC and US-based National Public Radio, and urged the American military to free him immediately or produce evidence that would justify his continuing detention.

A spokesman for the US military confirmed to AFP that Mashhadani was in custody.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said the cameraman "must be freed at once. It is unacceptable that US troops arrest a journalist and hold him on security grounds.".........

a personal obervation - that's really quite simple

mccain must be WICKED SCARED

that's it.

VERY scared

we're NOT telling you who to vote for

just don't vote democratic (OR ELSE). if this is true - how the hell are they getting away with it? whoops i forgot who our king is for a sec. silly me

Is Wal-Mart crossing the legal line with anti-Democratic campaign?
Executives at the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, are all-but urging their employees to vote Republican this November, fearing that a Barack Obama presidency combined with Democratic gains in the Senate could spell doom for their anti-union business model.

The Wall Street Journal reports Friday that company executives are forcing store managers and department heads into mandatory meetings where they are warned that Democratic victories would make it easier for unions to organize in their stores. The retail giant has responded to previous attempts to unionize by eliminating departments or shutting down stores........

..........

While the company insists it is not telling employees how to vote, some who attended scoff at the notion.

"The meeting leader said, 'I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union,'" a Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri told the paper. "I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote," she said..........

this would be funny EXCEPT

13 people died. lives were ruined. and then this?

what the HELL is going on with our government?
Fired by MnDOT, now at Homeland Security
Sonia Pitt, who skipped recovery efforts after the bridge collapse, is now working for TSA.
By PAUL MCENROE and TONY KENNEDY, Star Tribune
Sonia Pitt, the MnDOT emergency response executive fired for taking an unauthorized, state-paid trip to Washington during the Interstate 35W bridge disaster, is now working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Pitt, 44, of Red Wing, confirmed Wednesday that she is working for Homeland Security's Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) at its headquarters in Arlington, Va. Her job title is "Transportation Security Specialist.'' Pitt declined to discuss her job responsibilities, her length of employment with the federal agency or her salary.
"All inquiries go through my attorney, same as always,'' Pitt said. .............

i can't remember the last time i screamed so hard

Girls=Boys in Math

Researchers for the National Science Foundation have found that boys and girls now perform equally in standardized math tests. What do you think? .........

Luke Casey, Industrial Loom Operator"But linear algebra was the only thing that ever made me feel like a man."

Max Thomas,Cashier"Great, that's all I need. My wife knowing the exact moment I arrive in Boston if my train left New York traveling at 60 miles per hour."

Michelle Banks,Horticulturist"All I know is, every time I try to solve a complex math problem, my breasts get in the way."

WITH LAUGHTER that is

WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL

just because

Pitbull Protector @ Yahoo! Video

sometimes these are the kinds of people

major news outlets use for reference or input. it's sad, shocking and disgusting. cnn has NO bid-nez even putting on a 'news' show about being black in america. this is so f**king full of shite

CNN Uses Racial Extremist as Source for Its 'Black in America' Series
By David Holthouse, Hate Watch.

As part of its ongoing "Black in America" project, CNN posted a story to its website earlier this week titled "Could an Obama presidency hurt black Americans?" Credited to CNN correspondent John Blake, the piece quotes the wit and wisdom of Steve Sailer, identified only as "a columnist for The American Conservative magazine."

Specifically, the CNN story quotes a column by Sailer first published last year in which he opined that Obama offers voters "White guilt repellent."

"So many whites want to be able to say, 'I'm not one of them, those bad whites. Hey, I voted for a black guy for president,'" Sailer wrote.

What the CNN article fails to note is that in addition to writing columns and movie reviews for The American Conservative, Sailer is the founder of the Human Biodiversity Institute, a neo-eugenics online discussion forum where right-wing journalists and race scientists have promoted selective breeding of the human species. He also writes frequently for the anti-immigrant hate site Vdare.com, named for the first white child born in America, and runs a website, isteve.com...........

thursday humor

where we as citizens and taxpayers and seekers of the truth AND MOST IMPORTANTLY JUSTICE get SCREWED AGAIN by blackwater AND our government

(the humor part is where blackwater got awarded all these contracts and money MEANT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES with revenues below a certain amout. the second part of the humor is where NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO EITHER THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR AWARDING BLACKWATER THESE CONTRACTS OR BLACKWATER ITSELF)

Audit questions SBA awards to security giant Blackwater

Blackwater Worldwide and the private security company's affiliates may have misrepresented their size to win more than $100 million in government contracts set aside for small businesses, according to a report released Monday by the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General.

The audit found that from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2007, Blackwater and affiliates won 32 small business contracts worth more than $2.1 million even though the work was restricted to companies with revenue of $6.5 million or less.

In the same period, Blackwater's airline affiliate won more than $107 million in contracts set aside for companies with revenues of less than $25.5 million or fewer than 1,500 employees.

The IG report questioned whether Blackwater could meet any of those limits and says the company may have misrepresented itself. Blackwater executives said last week they are on track to reach annual revenues of $1 billion per year by 2010.

The report also criticized the SBA for not examining Blackwater's contention that its security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are not employees, but independent contractors............

ben there, dan that

via wonderland

.....Aw this is so cute. Ben and Dan are two bedroom programmers - they made Gibbage - who have just turned out a point-and-click adventure starring Ben and Dan. Well, why not, if you're going to make your own games you might as well star in them. Plus, it's totally educational:.............

i haven't played the game yet myself. i can't vouch for it BUT you can't go wrong trusting wonderland. my new laptop should be here next week and then i SHOULD be able to resume some normal activities

i wasn't going to post on this at all

i don't have much to say. so, i'll just link to jurassic port at welcome back to pottersville and let him say it

Freepers on Parade
Or what I prefer to call “Penises on Roller Skates.”Yesterday, when faced with the inconvenient truth that the asshole who shot up a Unitarian church in Tennessee last weekend, killing two and wounding many others, was one of their own, a psychopathic bigot and homophobe who was in possession of books by Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, the proud denizens of Middle America and Freeperdom did what any group of righteous conservatives would do: Distance themselves from him and turn it into a referendum on the evils of immoral liberalism.Remember the running of the bulls in Pamplona earlier this month? Remember the mad dash, the chaos, the blood and gore? OK, now substitute the bulls for rabid ferrets and lemmings and you’ll get the picture................

more legos!

from dinosaurs and robots check out the other cuckoos they have posted. cool!

(via craftzine)

wow

could this BE any more perfect?

king george as the joker by drew friedman in vanity fair

(via boing boing)

the continuing saga of don siegelman

and the injustices wrought upon him (and us as americans). do we really need any more proof this was a mock trial and mock conviction? not me at any rate. i was convinced long ago governor siegelman got the shaft.

A Smoking Gun Incriminates the Judge Who Ruled Against Don Siegelman

David Fiderer

Before commencing deliberations, jury foreman Sam Hendrix began each day with his fellow jurors by holding hands and saying a payer. They prayed for the defendants, including former Governor Don Siegelman, who had been indicted for bribery and government corruption. "We didn't want to crucify people," Hendrix told the Auburn Villager, "but we did want to send a message."

As for the jury comprised of five whites and seven blacks, "we were all really good friends," Hendrix told the Montgomery Advertiser in July 2006. "There was a bond between us. It never got personal. I think we were very fortunate that we had a very congenial group of people who respected each other and listened to each other.".........

............

Other jurors saw it differently. Here's how one juror, in a sworn affidavit, describes the deadlock vote:

"Five for guilty, five for not guilty, and two undecided. The jurors 100% not guilty were [redacted]. Two jurors had hostile words at each other and at this time, the foreman [Hendrix] slipped a note to the judge without our knowledge and told him that we were deadlock.

[Hendrix's private note said that some on the panel were being "lackadaisical."]...........

.......If Hendrix and Langer told stories that jived, it may have been because they compared notes via email. They purportedly used Hendrix's address at Auburn and Langer's gmail account. Evidence, sent anonymously to defense counsel after the trial, shows that the Hendrix and Langer sent each other private messages prior to and during deliberations.......

how is this shocking?

or news? the only shocking thing is HIS name is the only one bandied about. we know there are more names on that list. the good ol' whiteboy network. king george et al
blood (the iraqi's AND our sons and daughters and mothers and fathers) for oil. yeah! that's grand
War architect said to be considering Iraqi oil deal

A neoconservative architect of President Bush's Iraq occupation could be preparing to personally reap the spoils of war, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Documents suggest that Richard Perle, top aide to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, has been in talks with government officials and its Washington envoy, and Turkish AG Group International, over a plan to drill for oil near the Kurdish city of Erbil. Perle is also in talks with the oil-rich nation of Kazakhstan, whose ruler, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has been involved in a US oil bribery investigation.

"Mr. Perle has publicly lauded President Nazarbayev as a 'visionary and wise,'" the Journal added.

Perle worked in the Reagan administration as assistant Secretary of Defense and held a seat on the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee from 1987 to 2004, also serving as its chairman from 2001 to 2003 under Bush. ...........

today (well it really happened yesterday morning)

is a sad sad sad day indeed. especially for cv rick

i did play once or twice (solitary). it's far too hard for me. the computer kicked my ass all over the board (so to speak)

well rick, you still have scrabble

Game Over: Suit Spells the End For Facebook's Scrabulous App

By Mike Musgrove

Washington Post Staff Writer
It came as an unwelcome surprise to many Facebook friends and bored cubicle dwellers yesterday: Scrabulous was gone. The popular Scrabble knockoff was no longer available to U.S. users of the social networking site.

The free game had been one of the most popular applications on the social networking site, but a lawsuit filed last week accused Scrabulous of copyright infringement.

Hasbro and Mattel, the board game companies that share global ownership of the Scrabble trademark, had first asked Facebook to remove the application in January. Hasbro, which owns the rights in the United States and Canada, partnered with the game publisher Electronic Arts and recently introduced an authorized version of Scrabble for Facebook.......

jean, this is tori amos

you go grrrl!!!!!!!!!!

keira is my new homegrrrl

telling all HER homegrrrls, be happy with who you are AND how you look

Keira Knightley Says Get Your Digital Mits Off My Body
The second highest paid actress in Hollywood is telling the publicists for her latest movie, The Duchess, to keep their airbrushing hands off her breasts. In previous films she was stunned to find her breasts digitally enhanced, but this time she's insisting it be different. I was asked to comment on this and related issues (body image, media etc.) on Good Morning America, which is supposed to air tomorrow morning for those of you with fancy television recording devices............

i wanted to link to this

although i've NOT watched the videos (yet). according to the story, both videos together are about 45 minutes long. i WILL watch them though. one NEVER knows, do one? (videos at the link)
Law prof and cop agree: never ever ever ever ever ever ever talk to the cops about a crime, even if you're innocent

Posted by Cory Doctorow,

In a brilliant pair of videos, , Prof. James Duane of the Regent University School of Law and Officer George Bruch of the Virginia Beach Police Department present a forceful case for never, ever, ever speaking to the police without your lawyer present. Ever. Never, never, never.

more on lavena

we MUST do everything within our power to make the military tell the truth about her death. it is blatantly OBVIOUS she did NOT commit suicide.

it is blatantly OBVIOUS she WAS MURDERED and the MURDER WAS COVERED UP. did she get murdered by a contractor? is that why it was covered up? whatever reason and who ever did it, JUSTICE FOR LAVENA JOHNSON MUST OCCUR

contact henry waxman (contact info at link) and demand justice for lavena AND her family AND the rest of us. it's an insult to a hero

Rape Victim’s Death Ruled “Suicide” By Army — Henry Waxman, Where Are You?

By: Jane Hamsher
The Jamie Leigh Jones-Halliburton rape case was horrific, but what happened to PFC Lavena Johnson in Iraq in 2005 was many orders of magnitudes worse.

The parents of the young Missouri woman were told that she died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, and her death was ruled a suicide. But her physician father became suspicious after looking at injuries to the body:......

...........

The photographs revealed that Lavena, a small woman, barely 5 feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, perhaps a weapon stock. Her nose was broken and her teeth knocked backwards. One elbow was distended. The back of her clothes had debris on them indicating she had been dragged from one location to another. The photographs of her disrobed body showed bruises, scratch marks and teeth imprints on the upper part of her body. The right side of her back as well as her right hand had been burned apparently from a flammable liquid poured on her and then lighted. The photographs of her genital area revealed massive bruising and lacerations. A corrosive liquid had been poured into her genital area, probably to destroy DNA evidence of sexual assault.

Despite the bruises, scratches, teeth imprints and burns on her body, Lavena was found completely dressed in the burning tent. There was a blood trail from outside a contractor’s tent to inside the tent. She apparently had been dressed after the attack and her attacker placed her body into the tent and set it on fire....................

\

The Electronic Village has been working hard to draw attention to this tragedy. Color of Change has now joined the battle and is asking people to contact Henry Waxman and ask him to conduct hearings as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

first

do no harm ROUND UP ALL THE SICK SELF-ABSORBED SUCKERS YOU CAN THEN MAKE ALL THE MONEY YOU CAN SQUEEZE OUT OF THEIR DOUBLE-CHINNED, SAGGY BREASTESESESESESESES, BIG FAT ASSES YOU POSSIBLY CAN

this is effing DISGUSTING. it makes me SICK (and there is NO pun intended here)

The Price of Beauty

As Doctors Cater to Looks, Skin Patients Wait

By NATASHA SINGER

Published: July 28, 2008

Dr. Donald Richey, a dermatologist in Chico, Calif., has two office telephone numbers: calls to the number for patients seeking an appointment for skin conditions like acne and psoriasis often go straight to voice mail, but a full-time staff member fields calls on the dedicated line for cosmetic patients seeking beauty treatments like Botox.

Dr. Richey has two waiting rooms. The medical patients’ waiting room is comfortable, but the lounge for cosmetic clients is luxurious, with soft music and flowers.

And he has two kinds of treatment rooms: clinical-looking for skin disease patients, soothing for cosmetic laser patients.

“Cosmetic patients have a much more private environment than general medical patients because they expect that,” said Dr. Richey, who estimated that he spent about 40 percent of his time treating cosmetic patients. “We are a little bit more sensitive to their needs.”......

so in other words, IF YOU'RE SICK EFF YOU. if you're rich and want a new forehead, WELCOME!

a

it's almost like reading the national enquirer

but it's NOT the national enquirer

this is EXACTLY what was on the front page of the wapo
Congress Agrees to Ban Toxins in Kids' Products
Lawmakers plan to outlaw certain chemicals used in plastic production that cause reproductive problems. The White House opposes the ban.

banning poisons sounds like an ok idea, no? well NOT according to the white house. let's shove 'em on down the throats of our kids! yeah!

Lawmakers Agree to Ban Toxins in Children's Items

By Lyndsey Layton

Washington Post Staff Writer

Congressional negotiators agreed yesterday to a ban on a family of toxins found in children's products, handing a major victory to parents and health experts who have been clamoring for the government to remove harmful chemicals from toys.

The ban, which would take effect in six months, would have significant implications for U.S. consumers, whose homes are filled with hundreds of plastic products designed for children that may be causing dangerous health effects.

The rare action by Congress reflects a growing body of scientific research showing that children ingest the toxins by acts as simple as chewing on a rubber duck. Used for decades in plastic production, the chemicals are now thought to act as hormones and cause reproductive problems, especially in boys...........

squint a bit

and it really IS tori amos in lego

(kind of amazing actually)

my new house

(as rendered by wojtek siudmak

oh i'm not complaining sponsors

are ditching him. i'm complaining sponsors didn't ditch him entirely here and here and here

why is he still on the radio at all. he's a racist, homophobic and just a steamin' pile in general (and i mean a GIANT steamin' pile).

some sponsors don't care what he has to say about gay people, about black people, about women about hispanics? i guess not. they wait until he picked on the autistic. again, i'm NOT angry they're dumping him, i'm angry they waited THIS long

Savage Loses Advertisers Over Autism Remarks

n Wake of Protests, Advertisers Don't Want to Support 'Savage Nation'

By JACKIE HYLAND, RAINA SEITEL GITTLIN and EMILY YACUS
Michael Savage -- one of the most popular talk show hosts in the nation -- is used to controversy. It's been one week since Savage made controversial remarks about autism, referring to those diagnosed with the condition as "brats, idiots, and morons." ...........................

you know what i say

what's $142,000,000 anyway? our lives are falling apart. we can't afford groceries and oil and gas and insurance (health) and on and on. yet YOUR government just keeps pissing ALL of our money away.

U.S. Says Contractor Made Little Progress on Iraq Projects

By Dana Hedgpeth and Amit R. Paley

Washington Post Staff Writers

The U.S. government paid a California contractor $142 million to build prisons, fire stations and police facilities in Iraq that it never built or finished, according to audits by a watchdog office.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., received the money, part of a total of $333 million but only completed about one-third of the projects, which also included courthouses and border control stations. The inspector general's office is expected to release two detailed audits today, evaluating Parsons's work on the contract, which is worth up to $900 million.

"Far less was accomplished under this contract than originally planned," the inspector general wrote. "Millions of dollars in waste are likely associated with incomplete, terminated and abandoned projects under this contract." Auditors did not give a dollar figure of how much had potentially been wasted, but they said Parsons got about 10 percent -- or $11.3 million -- of the $108 million of award fees it could have received..............