|
Weblogs
Abuddhas
Also Not Found
Bellona Times
Consumptive
Dack
Daily Jive
Dr. Menlo
Dumbmonkey
Evac/Flush
FollowMeHere
GmtPlus9
LAM
Linkmachinego
MobyLives
OpenSewer
O.T. Linguistics
Photographica
Plep
Poor Clio
Portage
Quiddity
RandomAbstract
Random Walks
Red Rock Eater
Riley Dog
Sassafrass
Shikencho
Spitting Image
Travelers
UKEnvironment
Unknown News
Wood s Lot
xBlog
email me
The Archive
|
The God Machine
Sunday, October 27, 2002
This would be more properly titled "The Perpetual Motion Machine From Beyond That Didn't Work", but that would never fit on a page header.
I found two other articles here and here. Please don't ask me to explain any of it. Spirithistory.com has more information on the Spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century.
Under the Plume
Sunday, October 27, 2002
It is now clear, thanks to NASA space photographs first published in August by Newsday, that the black, toxin-laden plume of World Trade Center debris blew for more than 30 hours directly from Ground Zero to the East River, which separates Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens. The plume obscured the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as dozens of Brooklyn neighborhoods all the way out to Coney Island, from aerial view. Until the Ground Zero fires finally burned out in early December, prevailing winds on most days carried smoke and fumes along the same path.
Yet every health and stress survey conducted to date by the New York Academy of Medicine, the EPA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the state and city health departments of New York has been limited to Manhattan. Even the million air pollution study that Congress agreed to fund -- under a bill sponsored by Clinton that President George W. Bush so far has refused to sign -- would only study Manhattan residents and Ground Zero workers.
With millions of New Yorkers exposed to toxic substances from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, why has this story been so completely ignored in the mainstream media?
Don't take my word for it, do a Google search.
The Trick
Friday, October 18, 2002
In the spirit of the season, here's a Jack Chick classic. Good 'ol Jack recommends that you give trick-or-treaters a Chick track this Halloween, a surefire way to get your house and car egged back to to the Stone Age.
The Homer
Friday, October 18, 2002
All my life, I have searched for a car that feels a certain way. Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball. Now, at last, I have found it.
Cool man! I might just buy and build this sucker.
Larry Sabado's Crystal Ball Predictions
Friday, October 18, 2002
With elections right around the corner, this is a great resource both for individual races and the larger issue of who will control the House and Senate.
Check out the election competitiveness map:
Just 11 of the 34 Senate contests and a shockingly low 44 of 435 House seats can be termed competitive.
I thought you needed something else to fuel your depression!
Then there's the fun question of who gets to be the 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee. I'll call this one early:
If it's not Al Gore (gag) than it will be. . . John Edwards! You may never have heard of him, but he's the Second Coming of Bill Clinton. I don't really mean that as a complement, only that he's looks good, sounds good and that's what it takes to get elected President.
Art Renewal Center
Friday, October 18, 2002
I don't agree with the whole "Modernism is the root of all evil" argument given here, but I'm constantly annoyed that most contemporary art critics only pay attention to what is new or shocking. If you want artistic fame and glory today, gimmickry is far more important than the actual artwork itself.
Regardless of your artistic philosophy, I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing the thousands of high resolution scans of nineteenth and early twentieth century painting.
Medicinal Pot Users Renew Legal Challenge
Saturday, October 12, 2002
In part, their arguments will remind people of their civics lessons in federalism, the distribution of power between the federal and state governments. For example, the attorneys contend that the federal government's meddling in marijuana sales that never cross state lines is a violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The suit, filed against Attorney General John Ashcroft and Asa Hutchinson, the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration, charges that the continued attacks on medicinal marijuana users and suppliers also violate the Fifth, Ninth and 10th Amendments.
Meanwhile, the feds Drug War propoganda campaign shifts into high gear as drug czar John Walters campaigns on a sweep to quash Initiative 75 (Seattle, Washington), Question 9 (Nevada, where he bravely ran away rather than facing debate) and Proposition 203 (Arizona).
Regardless of the outcome of any of these proposals, we're making real progress. If you had told me ten years ago that medical marijuana would ever be legal in eight states and that legalization would ever get on the ballot anywhere, I would have laughed myself silly.
Let the naysayers scoff. They never accomplish anything anyway. The only way to knock down a wall is to pick up a hammer and start chipping away at it.
Contact lenses 'boost sexual success'
Tuesday, October 8, 2002
Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses?
Most people who swapped to contact lenses reported increased self-confidence, while 75 per cent of those who swapped to glasses reported feeling less confident. And "feelings of enhanced 'pulling power' and improved self-confidence among contact lens wearers were translated into tangible results on the night," says McNicholas.
Some people look pretty damn sexy in glasses. This is a self esteem problem, not an eyeglasses problem. By the way, alcohol is just as effective as contact lenses in bar pickups!
In Deep South, a call to curb sheriffs' power
Tuesday, October 8, 2002
The only elected law-enforcement officers in the country, sheriffs still rule largely on their own terms. At their disposal are small armies of deputies, armories of weapons, jails full of seasoned criminals, and the broad latitude of independent budgets. What's more, the sheriff has vast power to hire and fire, which can endear him to communities – or breed loyalty through fear.
I was driving through the rural county next door (which incidentally produces copious amounts of marijuana), I wondered why there were so cars plastered with bumper stickers for the incumbent sheriff. I think the article explains things quite well. Most people don't realize that vast areas of the rural South are pretty much run exactly as they were fifty years ago. Power corrupts doesn't it?
Thanks, Progressive Review :)
Court Blocks D.C. Vote on Medical Use of Marijuana
Monday, October 7, 2002
Drug War crazoid Bob Barr (who was fortunately ass stomped in his district's Republican primary in August), Congress and the U.S. Court of Appeals strike a blow for censorship and oppression.
They reportedly celebrated with several dozen scotch n' sodas.
Reversing a lower court ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the Constitution gives Congress exclusive power to define the district's legislative authority. Also, a congressional act barring D.C. residents from putting the legalization of marijuana on the ballot does not violate their First Amendment right to free speech.
Oh really?
This is the second time that the measure has been blocked in the District. In 1998, D.C. voters passed a similar initiative, 69 percent to 31 percent. But a congressional rider to the D.C. appropriations bill prevented the initiative from taking effect.
Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.), who sponsored the rider, said in a statement yesterday that "despite a concerted public relations campaign to distort the real dangers of drugs, such as marijuana, the pro-drug lobby ran head-on today with the rule of law and a court, which recognized the right and responsibility of Congress to protect citizens from dangerous, mind-altering narcotics."
If this is what the "rule of law" stands for in the United States, than I'll happily take anarchy any day of the week.
DC Statehood Green Party
The Case for DC Statehood
Free Mickey
Monday, October 7, 2002
In the late 1990s The Disney Corporation was panicked because the copyright on its famous rodent was about to expire. So Disney assembled a group of heavy hitters in the entertainment industry, including Time Warner, DreamWorks SKG, the Recording Industry Association of America and Sony Corporation, which poured more than million into congressional campaign coffers. Congress returned the favor by passing the new law, which it absurdly named after the pop-singer ex-Cher-partner-turned-politician who had just died after crashing into a tree while skiing stoned on Vicodin and Valium.
Let's also not forget to thank Bill Clinton, who signed this travesty into law. Does anyone expect the Supreme Court to do the right thing? I don't!
High court set to tackle 'Mickey Mouse' copyright case
Sierra Standoff
Monday, October 7, 2002
Is the Forest Service in bed with logging interests? In any case, this is some good background material on the new "we had to chain saw the forest in order to save it" timber policies.
the four word film review
Monday, October 7, 2002
For those times you absolutely positively need a movie review in five seconds or less. Try adding your own. It's tough to write a good one.
If you need more words, there's always movie haiku.
Science Fiction after the Future Went Away
Monday, October 7, 2002
Science fiction can't help but reflect the political and social era when it was written. The posthuman technoutopia novels of the last decade are starting to look dated, given the events of the past year or two. Are we standing on a cusp of a new trend? What do you think will it be?
I'm starting to fear the future is looking more and more like the novels of Thomas M. Disch.
I took a much longer weblog break than I expected. I just haven't had much self discipline lately. One week turns into two. Two weeks turn into a month. Please bear with me as I try to work back into some sort of groove.
|
Search
Google
News
Alternative
Alternet
Arianna Online
CommonDreams
CounterPunch
Cursor
Dan Gillmor
IMC
Memory Hole
Mark Morford
Newcity.com
Spinsanity
WorkingForChange
Arts
AWN
Art Newspaper
Arts Journal
Drug War
Cannabis News
Entertainment
TVtattle
Environment
ENN
Grist Magazine
Tidepool
Viridian Design
General
BBC News
Google News
Moreover
Nando Times
Yahoo News
Media
MediaNews
Paranormal
Anomalist
Surfpocalypse
Sci/Tech
EurekAlert
New Scientist
Science Daily
SciTech Daily
Space
NASA Watch
SpaceRef
|