Monday, 30 August 2004
Bikes Against Bush Creator Arrested Before He Even Gets To Use The Bike
Oy:
Kinberg was stopped by police while demonstrating the bicycle for the television interview. His bicycle is a high-tech graffiti writer, using chalk to print anti-Bush political messages sent by people via the internet. Apparently there was a question of whether or not the sprayed messages were a defacement of property.
When Kinberg showed the police sergeant how the bicycle used a non-permanent spray chalk, the sergeant seemed to agree that it wasn't defacement, at which point Kinberg asked, "am I free to go?" After conferring about it, officers decided to call superiors, then came back moments later to place Kinberg under arrest and confiscate the bicycle.
Kinberg cooperated fully with the officers as he was being handcuffed, only asking, "can I ask what I'm being arrested for?" to which no one provided an answer. As of 11:00 PM Saturday evening, he was still in custody without being charged with anything.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 30, 2004 at 10:46 AM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Thursday, 26 August 2004
Clock in New York's Times Square Counts War Cost
The amount on the clock will grow at a rate of $177 million a day, $7.4 million an hour and $122,820 per minute, said the advocacy group Project Billboard which put it up.
[...]
"Just think of the things you could do with that money," said tour guide Farah Perez. "No way am I voting for Bush."
The message may not reach everyone, however, as the clock sits above a much larger billboard of a woman wearing nothing but a pair of sneakers.
"First I saw the other billboard, but then I saw the cost of the Iraq war and the number took my breath away," said passerby Greg Boris. "Then I went back to looking at the other billboard.
"That money should be spent here in the United States," he added.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 26, 2004 at 08:39 AM in War on Terra | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Illegal Dumping
I don't even know what to say about this one:
Toole County authorities charged the 19-year-old college student from Great Falls with criminal mischief after a border agent accused him of intentionally clogging the toilet.
Huffman said the clogged piping was completely unintentional, the result of an urgent, but natural bodily function.
"I've never been arrested before or anything like that, and I get arrested for taking a dump," said Huffman, a student at Montana State University in Bozeman.
[...]
Cory Grayson, one of Huffman's friends, said he couldn't believe it when border agents first threatened charges.
"I didn't think they were serious at first, I was just laughing so hard," he said. "
Posted by flow Frazao on August 26, 2004 at 08:36 AM in Random News | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
10 Nobel Economists Endorse Kerry
Earlier this year, more than 4,000 scientists, among them 48 Nobel Prize winners, signed a statement opposing the Bush administration's use of scientific research.
Now, a consortium of Nobel prize-winning economists have come forward to publicly endorse John Kerry:
They cited “poorly designed” tax cuts that instead of creating jobs have turned budget surpluses into enormous budget deficits, a “fiscal irresponsibility threatens the long-term economic security and prosperity of our nation.”
The endorsement, in the form of an open letter American voters, was signed by George Akerlof and Daniel McFadden of the University of California at Berkeley, Kenneth Arrow and William Sharpe of Stanford University, Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University, Lawrence Klein of the University of Pennsylvania, Douglass North of Washington University, Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow of MIT and Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University."
Posted by flow Frazao on August 26, 2004 at 08:33 AM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 25 August 2004
Google Is Watching
- Everything you search for using Google
- Every web page you visit that has Google Adsense ads on it
- Which country you're in
- Every Blogger page you visit, and the referring page
- If you have an Adsense account
- Your full name, address and bank account details
- The IP address of everyone who visits your pages with Adsense ads on them
- The number of visitors to each of your pages with Adsense ads on them
- Your full name, address and bank account details
- If you use a GMail account
- Who you send emails to
- Who sends emails to you
- The contents of those emails
- The contents of all emails received from any mailing lists of which you are a member, even if they are private mailing lists.
- Who you send emails to
- Even if you don't use a GMail account
- The contents of any emails you send to anyone who does use a GMail account
- The contents of any emails you send to any mailing lists of which any one member uses a GMail account
- If you're a member of Orkut
- Your online social network, interests and groups
Posted by flow Frazao on August 25, 2004 at 01:26 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Medal Tally By World Population
Here's an alternative Olympic medal tally from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ranking countries by population per gold medal.
Sadly, Australia (one Gold Medal for each 1,440,000) has suddenly slipped to second after the Bahamas (one Gold Medal for each 317,000).
Posted by flow Frazao on August 25, 2004 at 11:35 AM in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Instant Gratification Part Deux
I stand corrected. There is something more frustrating than getting a 512MB RAM upgrade for a computer you haven't received yet.
It's getting the software you ordered before you get the computer.
Sweet Baby Jeebus, why do you tease me mercilessly?
Posted by flow Frazao on August 25, 2004 at 08:54 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 24 August 2004
The Things You Own
We move in less than two weeks! Unbelievable.
Yesterday I posted an ad on Craigslist trying to get rid of some of our furniture. I was amazed at the response - lots of people want cheap crap, I guess.
Anyway, I wound up getting in touch with an Australian girl named Sioux who wanted my work table and a set of cabinets. I figured it was perfect - she's Australian, we're headed to Australia, how good is that?
Fiona was quick to inform me (although not quick enough) that it was not good. Nope. Not good at all.
It seems that there was a bit of miscommunication somewhere along the line and I wasn't supposed to actually get rid of the stuff until Labor Day weekend (which is when we move). In retrospect I guess this makes sense - I don't really want to be sitting on boxes for the next two weeks either.
Sadly, by the time I realized this Sioux was on her way over in her moving van. So now there's a wide open space in our bedroom where this furniture used to be. I've got to admit, it's strange. But at least now I have more room to practice my dance moves.
I honestly thought Fi would be happy. One of the drawers in the cabinet was Fiona's "Stuff I Hate" drawer where she'd throw all my useless gadgets and bizarre toys. I figured she'd be psyched to be rid of it. And my desk is always a total mess which she complains about regularly. Point for her though - it turns out that it was pretty nasty. I cleaned it off for Sioux and there was all this dust and weird hairs and shit all over it. I guess you really ought to clean furniture more than once a year.
So you'd think she'd be happy to see that stuff go, right?
Wrong. Fiona was not amused. I'm not gonna lie to you - tears were shed. I was surprised at how upset she was when she got home and saw the emptiness in our room. We've both got lots of mixed feelings about leaving, and we've been doing our best to avoid the topic altogether. It'll be a lot harder to live in denial now that we have a pile of boxes where my desk used to be.
Almost all the furniture we have is either from the Salvation Army or the trash. It's ALL crap. But it's ours, and it's helped make our apartment a home for over a year. When I bought that table from that guy on 16th street I remember carrying it down V st. on my head thinking about how it'd be so easy to get rid of because it only cost 15 bucks.
I was so wrong. It was hard to get rid of. What do they say in Fight Club? Something like "the things you own end up owning you." It's true - I miss that stupid table already.
Plus, now I've got nowhere to keep my collection of weird hairs.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 24, 2004 at 01:41 PM in Moving | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Closing In On The Butlers Of Evil
First this:
And now this:
We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. The domestic staff of terrorists will be brought to justice.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 24, 2004 at 11:07 AM in War on Terra | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 23 August 2004
Whatever Happened To Instant Gratification?
I just received my 512MB RAM upgrade in the mail. Is there anything more frustrating than getting a component for new computer before you actually get the computer?
I submit that there is not.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 23, 2004 at 11:43 AM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, 21 August 2004
Google Drops A Bomb
Type "Bush's foreign friends" into Google and click "I'm feeling lucky".
Posted by flow Frazao on August 21, 2004 at 02:17 AM in Funny Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, 20 August 2004
From The Madcap Hijinks Dept.
Tubby dude tries to evade cops by hiding in ceiling. Hilarity ensues.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 20, 2004 at 12:45 PM in Random News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ladies and Gentlemen...
Yet another truimph in the Bush Administration's War on Terra.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 20, 2004 at 12:20 PM in War on Terra | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Unknown Object Hovering In St. Paul Sky
Meteorologist Tony Zaleski of the National Weather Service in Chanhassen says the white object appears to be higher than the white, whispy cirrus clouds, which means it's probably higher than 30,000 feet.
Although the object looked like it might be rotating, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. Zaleski says that probably would rule out a satellite.
Patrick Hogan at the Metropolitan Airports Commission says folks in the tower at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport thought it might be a weather balloon. But Zaleski says if that's true, the Weather Service didn't release it.
The Federal Aviation Administration hasn't returned calls about the mysterious object.
Sweet Jeebus, what are we going to do?? If only we had a secret bunker of some kind.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 20, 2004 at 12:00 PM in Random News | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Declare Yourself
Here's a little something aimed at the kiddies.
Yahoo has comissioned David LaChapelle (NOT the guy from Comedy Central) to direct three PSAs for Declare Yourself.
Apparently, the Declare Yourself voter registration campaign--aimed at bringing young people into the political process with their counter-intuitive set of ads--has been quite successful. According to the group's Special Projects Director, Caty Borum, the organization has counted over 200,000 downloads of the voter registration form since November 2003.
Be forewarned - these ads are REALLY dark. They are not for wusses.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 20, 2004 at 10:58 AM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wet and Wild
Finally, the two things I've been missing from the Olympics - good old fashioned violence and "amazing feats of ball-handling":
Posted by flow Frazao on August 20, 2004 at 08:14 AM in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wet and Wild II
What a sport:
Italy's Alexandra Araujo and Kazakhstan's Tatyana Gubina's fight for position during their women's preliminary water polo match at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, August 20, 2004. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
Posted by flow Frazao on August 20, 2004 at 08:10 AM in Sports | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Thursday, 19 August 2004
Making The Switch
I finally made the leap.
First I'm going to admit that I've been working on PCs for my whole life. I am a certified genius when it comes to fixing and maintaining Windows based computers. However, I've gotten rather bored with spending two to three hours a week screwing around with windows updates, device drivers, and virus patches.
Now, as most of you probably know, Fiona and I are planning on leaving the country in a few months to do some more travelling. We both have a fair number of projects going on right now, so it seemed logical to bring a computer with us.
When I started looking for laptops, reliability was (and is) my major concern. I've had my fair share of Dells, and they've been hit or miss. I have a desktop that's been pretty dependable, but my Dell laptop is a total piece of shit. I've had the keyboard break, the power cord tear, the motherboard fry and the screen go dark.
I've also had a couple of Sony Vaios that sucked balls. They looked cool, but when you turned them on it was about 50-50 whether or not they'd actually complete the bootup sequence.
Obviously, I don't want to have to deal with that type of nonsense when I'm in the middle of some Cambodian jungle. I need a computer that works.
So I've bought an Mac.
I can't wait to get it. For the first time in years I'm actually excited about using a computer. And who wouldn't be with specs like these:
Wait. My mistake. Wrong computer. That's actually the first Apple ever sold (for the low, if ominous, price of $666.66).
Unlike the Apple I, my computer actually comes with a case and everything. They've also increased the RAM from 8K to 256MB. Stop and think about that for a minute. According to my calculations, in 30 years the power of computers has increased by approximately 90 quinzillion times. If the auto industry were to make a similar leap you'd be able to drive a Hummer from New York City to Alpha Centauri on less than one molecule of gas.
In case you're interested, here's the one I'm getting:
Posted by flow Frazao on August 19, 2004 at 01:48 PM in Cool Stuff | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Wednesday, 18 August 2004
Insert 1000 Words
From the front page of the Portland Tribune:
An unidentified supporter of President Bush tries to silence protester Kendra Lloyd-Knox (right) outside Southridge High School in Beaverton. Elsewhere in Portland, supporters of Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., rallied on the waterfront.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 18, 2004 at 05:13 PM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rooftop Garden
One day when I was "working from home" at the beginning of the summer I figured out how to get up on the roof of our apartment building. Obviously, my first thought was of the excellent parties I would have up there. However when I told my Dad about it he suggested that I try to grow a few veggies.
I'd never really grown anything before, but I figured why not? So I went out and got some dirt, some pots, and a couple of seedlings and I went to work...
(click for more pics)
Posted by flow Frazao on August 18, 2004 at 03:55 PM in Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
We Should Try This Here
Voting is compulsory in Australia. You can, however, avoid voting if you have a "valid and sufficient" reason:
All the political parties and their candidates participating in the election support and do all in their power to perpetuate capitalism with its exploitation of the working class, unemployment, prostitution, etc. The Socialist Labour Party, of which I am a member, stands for the ending of capitalism and the inauguration of socialism - and, consequently, its members are prohibited from voting for the aforementioned supporters of capitalism. The Socialist Labour Party has paid and lost hundreds of pounds in Federal election deposits for its candidates. The unjust penalty of 25 pounds on each candidate penalizes us if we participate in a Federal election, and your letter suggests that we will be penalized if we don't. Is this fair?Mr Judd was convicted in the Central Police Court in Sydney and fined ten shillings.
In another case, a Mr. Little refused to vote because he had no preference among the candidates. The courts ruled that "subjective incapacity on the part of the voter to determine that he prefers one candidate in an election to another" was not a valid and sufficient reason for failing to vote.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 18, 2004 at 02:00 PM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Iraq Without Me - The Real Hussein
This is the funniest shit I've seen in a long time.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 18, 2004 at 01:42 PM in Funny Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Turning A Corner
Every single day I see something that convinces me how well George W Bush's economic policies are working:
Too bad they're only working for the top few percent of Americans.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 18, 2004 at 01:34 PM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bush Twins To Attend Gay Wedding
Why are the Bush twins trying to ruin my marriage?
[...]
Never mind that their father supports a constitutional ban of gay marriages.
Heterosexual marriage, Bush said in February, is "the most enduring human institution" and "cannot be severed from its cultural, religious and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society."
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 18, 2004 at 01:23 PM in Funny Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 16 August 2004
Bush Declines to Sign Olympic Truce
Wouldn't it have been nice to have had some American representation at the Olympic Truce Signing? If only as a gesture of goodwill?
Organizers of the truce -- inspired by the cease-fire between warring city-states during the ancient games at Olympia -- say more than 450 world leaders and international personalities have signed the initiative.
Saturday, 20 prime ministers, heads of state and members of royal families signed the document, including Blair, Spain's Queen Sofia and Prince Albert of Monaco.
Organizers said former President Bush, who is leading the official U.S. delegation to the games, was invited but declined to attend.
Too bad our President is such a provincial, small-minded man.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 16, 2004 at 12:49 AM in ReDefeat Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 12 August 2004
Newsflash: Oil Prices NOT at Record High
Practically every American news outlet has been flipping out over prices in oil trading. Everywhere you turn someone's spouting off about "record levels"
At around noon ET, U.S. light crude for September delivery rose 58 cents to $45.38 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after setting an all-time record of $45.50 a barrel minutes before. The price stands well above the record high for New York crude futures of $45.04 struck Tuesday.
Anyhow, I was sitting around watching Headline News with my dad when one of the pundits started in on the party line, and my Dad said it was total bullshit. He said that oil prices were WAY higher than they are now during the Iran/Iraq war.
I was skeptical, but I figured it couldn't hurt to Google it. Wouldn't you know it, he's right:
(click to enlarge)
According to WTRG Economics, the price of oil in 1981-82 was over $50 a barrel without taking inflation into account.
As anyone with half a braincell will recall, the Bush Administration has been accused of striking a deal with the Saudis to drop oil prices just before the election:
It wouldn’t be the first time Saudi Arabia has used oil as a political or diplomatic weapon, most notably during the embargoes of the 1970s that brought gasoline rationing in the U.S. More recently, the Saudis increased production to ease oil prices at the start of the Gulf War in 1990 to support the first Bush administration in its effort to turn back Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
When the prices DO drop, W will get credit for easing the price of oil down from the so-called record highs.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 12, 2004 at 01:04 PM in World News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, 09 August 2004
Happy Birthday To Me
As always, gifts and accolades will be graciously accepted.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 9, 2004 at 09:25 AM in Random News | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Renaming the War on Terror
Here are a couple of snippets from the Q & A portion of Bush's address to the Unity Journalists of Color Convention. All are from the White House's official transcript, and this first one includes detail that's almost too sad to mention:
(Laughter.)
No, that's what they do.
Poor George must be so used to speaking to pre-screened fanatics that he expects everybody to swallow this kind of retardation. Sadly, I can't find an audio clip of this particular section, but don't worry - it's not the only time Bush was laughed at during this conference.
Here's another audio clip where bush is being asked about Indian sovereignty.
Finally, here's one more chunk of Dear Leader's back and forth with the press corps:
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no, whoa, whoa. With regard to my opposition to quota systems.
Q To quotas, okay. But I've never heard you speak against legacy. (Applause.) Now, the President of Texas A&M, Robert Gates, said that he would not use race in admissions, and then he later said he would not use legacy. If you say it's a matter of merit, and not race, shouldn't colleges also get rid of legacy? Because that's not based upon merit, that's based upon if my daddy or my granddaddy went to my college. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I thought you were referring to my legacy. (Laughter.)
Q That's why I allowed you to go ahead and bring it out. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, in my case, I had to knock on a lot of doors to follow the old man's footsteps. (Laughter.) No, look, if what you're saying is, is there going to be special treatment for people -- in other words, we're going to have a special exception for certain people in a system that's supposed to be fair, I agree, I don't think there ought to be.
Q So the colleges should get rid of legacy.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think so, yes. I think it ought to be based upon merit. And I think it also ought to be based upon -- (applause) -- and I think colleges need to work hard for diversity. Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. You said, against affirmative action, is what you said. You put words in my mouth. What I am for is --
Q I just read the speech, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: What speech?
Q In terms of when you came out against the Michigan affirmative action policy, and --
THE PRESIDENT: No, I said was against quotas.
Q So you support affirmative action, but not quotas.
THE PRESIDENT: I support colleges affirmatively taking action to get more minorities in their school. (Applause.)
Q That's a long headline, Mr. President. (Laughter and applause.)
Just to make it perfectly clear - this is George W. Bush coming out against legacy admissions. Isn't that kind of like Superman denouncing Earth's yellow sun? One wonders where he would be without it.
This is the same guy who stood on the shoulders of his father and grandfather to get into Harvard, where he distinguished himself by becoming a cheerleader and a self-proclaimed C student:
I'd like to say that someday we'll look back on all this and laugh, but somehow I think it'll always be pretty scary that we tolerated this idiocy from our President.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 9, 2004 at 09:02 AM in War on Terra | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Georgetown Stabbing
I seriously cannot wait to leave this city:
According to Sgt. Joe Gentile, a spokesman for the D.C. police, yesterday morning's fatal fight was touched off when two groups encountered each other on the street and "one group literally bumped into another."
[...]
Homicide is down citywide this year, on a pace that would result in fewer than 200 killings for the first time since 1986."
Everyday there's another story about people killing and dying in my city. Now this. If you're not familiar with DC, then it won't mean much, but if you are then a murder at Wisconsin and M street is almost unbelievable. Georgetown is to DC as Beverly Hills is to LA. This type of shit simply does not happen there.
I don't hang out much in Gtown because it's painfully lame, but it just goes to show that there is nowhere in this city where you are ever truly safe. Just the other day my wife and her friend were followed into an apartment building and attacked in the elevator by a guy with a knife. Luckily he was a total pussy and our friend Nancy kicked him in the chest with her high heels, but it could have gotten very ugly.
Like I said, I can't wait to get the fuck out of here.
Posted by flow Frazao on August 9, 2004 at 08:14 AM in US News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, 06 August 2004
Friday Trip Out
Horses stand in the shadows of a gigantic table and two chairs during heavy summer heat in Doellstaedt near Erfurt, eastern Germany, on Friday, July 6, 2004. Wood dealer Jens Braun built the unusual furniture as a protection for his horses. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 6, 2004 at 08:40 AM in Random News | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thursday, 05 August 2004
Why Does George Bush Hate America?
Finally the truth:
The latest installment of misspeak from a president long known for his malapropisms came during a signing ceremony for a new $417 billion defense appropriations bill that includes $25 billion in emergency funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we," Bush said."
What a dumbass.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 5, 2004 at 03:13 PM in Scary Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Tuesday, 03 August 2004
Bush eases EPA pesticide approval
How these people can sleep at night is beyond me.
Posted by SmooveJ Zao on August 3, 2004 at 10:37 AM in Scary Bush | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack