A Tale from Donkeypuncher

Old Men! There's No Need to Feel Down!

It's funny.

The Blog | Cenk Uygur: What Rep. Virgil Goode Said About Jews | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Cenk Uygur: What Rep. Virgil Goode Said About Jews | The Huffington Post:

"If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Jews elected to office ... I fear that in the next century we will have many more Jews in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America."

Just replace Muslim with Jews, and that is actually what that bigoted pig said.

That's BS

Some Marketplace Downloads Already On Disc? - Kotaku:

And the case against microtransactions mounts. Industrious NeoGAF poster "a master Ninja" has done a little digging and uncovered just how big some of the "downloads" are over the XBL marketplace for useless shit like Viva Piñata accessory packs. I say "downloads" because, well, you're not really downloading much at all. From the size of these files, it's clear you're just downloading a key that unlocks content already present on the disc. Content that you've already paid for by paying for the disc.

He then goes on to cite the well reviewed Viva Piñata (not linked to not support this douchery) as an example of a game where you've paid your $50 for the game, and the only thing you get for 320 gamer points is accessory packs that were all ready on the disc when you brought it home.

SaveTheInternet.com

Their newest commercial on Net Neutrality

Uh yeah, way to uh... marry well

First ladies will be golden in new coins - U.S. Business - MSNBC.com:

For the first time, the U.S. Mint is dedicating a series of coins to the accomplishments of women — the nation’s first ladies.

It's amazing what you learn

O.J. Publisher Was Fired For Alleged Slur, News Corp. Says Judith Regan Made Anti-Semitic Remarks During Phone Conversation - CBS News:

An industry force since the 1980s, when she produced best-sellers by Drew Barrymore and Kathie Lee Gifford for Simon & Schuster, Regan has been labeled a "foul-mouthed tyrant" and the "enfant terrible of American publishing." She is also widely envied — if not admired — for her gift of attracting attention to her books and to herself.

When you relentlessly cyber-stalk someone. (Ok, ok, it's just a few Google News Alerts, but hey, now I know that Judith Regan was the producer of Little Girl Lost.)

Please be true

Posh to be Cruise's alien bride

Britain's Daily Star newspaper reports that the wife of football star David Beckham has apparently been lined up to play the alien bride in The Thetan - based on the religion, which believes in alien life forms.

The Daily Star reported that Victoria - who Cruise has described as a "comic genus" - is said to be "thrilled" about getting her big Hollywood break.

A source told the Daily Star: "Victoria is really hoping to make a go of it in Hollywood...

Cruise - who is bankrolling the project himself after it was rejected by all the major film studios - is said to have picked Victoria for the role after being impressed by her "comic genius".

Daily Drew

The, er, other side of Drew at the We Are Marshall premiere.

The jokes... they write themselves.

Hunt Wins a Ring

Mississippi State commitment Mike Hunt served double duty for the Franklin County Bulldogs this past season. After a mid afternoon tilt against North State champ Nettleton, Hunt and Franklin County are the last ones standing in Mississippi's 3A classification.

Plug

Gossip blog A Socialite's Life is running ads from some clothing company all December. The ads have caught my eye a couple of times because of the seemingly great prices in the ads.

This ad caught my eye for a different reason.


Pure sex -- much like this

One for the resume

MCP, CCNA, 12 years experience, oh and I was Time's Person of the Year for 2006. Of course, so were you, so its not all that cool. In fact its pretty freaking stupid.

Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

That's wonderful, you think viral videos and memes are the trend of the year. I wouldn't argue with you, so how hard is it to find a representative of this trend? How about Youtube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley? Ok billionaires are not representative of the trend. How about a user? Let's go with Macaca himself, S.R. Sidarth, There's a user who almost singlehandedly changed the balance of power in the US Senate. Nope none of that though, they chose me, and I proudly accept the award for Time's Person of the Year.

How to win in Iraq

How to win in Iraq

But a young captain serving in Iraq's violent Al Anbar Province has offered a simple explanation of what the problem was in Iraq and how to solve it. Among his observations is the importance of having a moustache in Iraq.

In a military known for its sleep-inducing, graphically dizzying PowerPoint presentations, the young captain's presentation, which has been unofficially circulating through the ranks, stands out. Using stick figures and simple language, it articulates the same goal as the president's in Iraq.

The creator of this PowerPoint presentation, "How to Win in Al Anbar," was Capt. Travis Patriquin.

But Patriquin will not see victory in Iraq. He was killed by the same improvised explosive device that killed Maj. Megan McClung of the Marine Corps last Wednesday.

Patriquin had fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. A gifted officer, he spoke numerous languages, including Arabic.

"How to Win in Al Anbar" may not make it to the desk of the president, but maybe it should.

The presentation

Protip: "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

Richard Marx will pwn your ass

Chicagoist: Richard Marx Wants You to Know Chicagoist Is Wrong:


Sometimes, in the world of blogging, mistakes are made. In the rush to publish, we obscure the occasional fact and allow our less-than-reliable memories to run away with the truth.



Cute email exchange between Chicagoist and Richard Marx.

via Perdita

Daily Drew

On the set of Music and Lyrics

Deadspin: "That's why they don't call him Feelings Johnson"

Tackle facing 6 gun charges on ChicagoSports.com:
Do not judge Tank Johnson yet. Well hell, judge him all you want, but dude's name is Tank. You think a guy named Tank might be into guns?



I dunno, what do you think?

That's sweet.

I do whatever McSey says for me to do. So here. - Pearl Fang - by Pearl:

He had never kissed anyone besides his mother and her. He had dived for the golden sack only because he wanted to impress her. He sometimes looked in the mirror for hours at a time, making faces, tensing muschles, winking, smiling, puckering.

Book:Everything is Illuminated
Author: Jonathatn Safran Foer

ecto test

It seems I've used this software before, but I want something that works with Blogger Beta. BlogThis and a bunch of other tools I've used forever got broken by my foolish switch to Blogger Beta, so let's try one I've all ready discarded.


Update, well it seems to post some stuff. The tags are Technorati rather Blogger labels, but I'll live.

Technorati Tags: Meta

Johnny White's: They Never Closed

Radley Balko's visit to Johnny White's a New Orleans bar that stayed open throughout Katrina.

It's here

Finally!

White Dolphin extinct

China's white dolphin called extinct after 20 million years

The white dolphin known as baiji, shy and nearly blind, dates back some 20 million years. Its disappearance is believed to be the first time in a half-century, since hunting killed off the Caribbean monk seal, that a large aquatic mammal has been driven to extinction.

Douglas Adams wrote about these.

More here.

Yay, I tweaked my template

To allow for wider pictures. It throws the balance off a little and basically makes the blog require at least 1024x768, but now I can post pictures all of 640 pixels wide.

It's fun to stay at the...

Random find on The Tubes.

Yippie!

and Finally

Two pics (Zire blogging)

The view from outside this morning very very foggy.


Me after the Bears game last night. Very very foggy in my own way.
/gobears

(Yes I know these pictures are craptastic quality. I'm taking them on a Palm Zire 71. It has to have the worst digicam ever on it. Kinda digging its suckiness actually.)

Ode to Devin Hester

The talk was of Rex
But it's not he that we love
For there is but one Bear
That we can think of


He's faster than light
Runs a two-minute mile
And when he flies past you
All you see is his smile

The new Comedy Central Media Player

Does not suck. Works on the Mac (hint flip4mac is your friend).

TDS

A mememe

Found here.

Ok here is the deal

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, scroll down to the 5th sentence
3. Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog
4. Name of the book and the author
5. Tag 3 People

Book: LDAP System Administration
Author: Gerald Carter

The following excerpt from ypldapd(8) manpage describes ypldapd's position with a network:

YPLDAP(8)
ypldap emulates the equivalent process ypserv by providing an RPC call-compatible interface. Rather than consulting 'map' files as ypserv does, however, ypldapd draws its data from LDAP databases.

Man I read some thrilling stuff.

The View From My Desk

My desk 12/08/06 10:00AM

A Sully Reader writes

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/12/on_vdh.html

You missed the biggest flaw in Victor Davis Hanson's statement, which is its historical inaccuracy. This country did not fight and defeat Germany, Italy and Japan all at once. We defeated Japan with some help from the British Empire and Commonwealth, and China; we defeated Italy with substantial help from the British Empire and Commonwealth, as well as Free French, Polish, Czech and other forces; the Soviet Union defeated Germany, with major help from us as well as the British Empire and Commonwealth, as well as Free French, Polish, Czech and other forces.

Had the Soviet Union not broken the back of the German Wehrmacht and its allies before Moscow, at Stalingrad and at Kursk, and thereafter, there is serious doubt whether even the combined forces of the U.S., the British Empire and Commonwealth, and their allies, could have defeated Germany in northwest Europe. Read Max Hastings.

This is an example of the pride and hubris in an all-powerful U.S. that does not have to resort to mere diplomacy and alliance building as it goes boldly forth to impose its military will abroad - pride and hubris that directly led us to the dire circumstances in which we now find ourselves in Iraq.

Pearl Harbor day podcast

Here's a little something I threw together today.

16.2 minutes, 8.6MB, m4a format (read use iTunes). Right click, save as.

edit: Updated images in podcast. It looks like Safari is adding a .txt to the podcast. Remove it and it works fine.

Snicker

Depressed War Fanatics Find New Hero - Wonkette

"Times are tough for the brave commenters on pro-Bush pro-Republican pro-Endless War In Iraq blogs. Their only allies in the War Against Bob Gates are Rick Santorum and some crazy old man from Kentucky with a broken No button. Dick Cheney has been kicked down to vice president and is no longer allowed to speak in public, the House and Senate are Democratic, and every church in the country is hosting nude gay weddings where the only heterosexual intercourse allowed is to produce stem cells for AIDS patients."

See previous post for suggested gift.

Pearl Fang wins at life

This is what she wants for Christmas.


Someone with a credit card type thing should buy it for her.

Posts You Should Be Reading

Glenn Greenwald on how ICE (formerly US Customs) knowingly kept a murderer on its payroll. It wasn't until a DEA agent and his family were almost killed that anyone said anything. And then it was the DEA agent in question -- he was fired. Go read it, its horrifying.

Dr. Pauly on surviving Vegas

Deadspin on Eastern Illinois linebacker Lucious Pusey who legally (and understandably) changed his last name to Seymour, and his hilarious email to Deadspin telling them he was no longer a Pusey. I will, of course, be legally changing my name to Micah Pusey. Heck I can still even be mcsey, just the sey will come from the end of my name not the beginning. And now that I think about it, why didn't he change his name to Seymour Pusey? That's pew-SAY BTW.

The View From My Desk

Apologies to Sully and his "The View from My Window" series.


Closing time 12/6/06

Return of the AudBlog

Hello Dear Reader,

A long time ago, well last year, I used to do quite a bit of audio blogging. TBH I didn't. I used to read quite a bit into my phone. Then through the wonders of the automagic Intertubes a post would appear on my site with the content of said phone call. Well that service has gone the way of Python's Proverbial Parrot -- that is to say it's bleedin' demised, it's ceased to be, it is bereft of life, it is an ex-service. So being a true technical innovator and all around geek, I figured away around that. I, er, uploaded a recording I made to my webserver. No more Master and Commander though, this time it's some musings, and then a bit of Neil Stephenson's Mother Earth Motherboard.

Here ya go...

MeMBoard01 3.1MB mp3 7:12 (right click save-as if on a slow connection)

Daily Drew

On the set of "Music and Lyrics By"

WTF?

The Japanese Wii Safety Manual is Crazy - Gizmodo

Scary Mary

I'll speculate

The Blog | Melissa Lafsky: Acrockalypto | The Huffington Post

Such an unsubtle marketing strategy begs the question, if you're releasing a potential blockbuster and your director is a walking bottle of audience-repellent for large numbers of moviegoers, wouldn't you think twice before tying him so incessantly to your film? Disney's answer is clearly no, for reasons we can only speculate.

Maybe because not all that many people really care about Jews. More specifically as Jews make up all of 1.3% of the population there's lots of smoke and no fire to Gibson's "audience-repellent" rating. Now combine the number of people who don't really give a shit about intolerance of what amounts to a fringe group of American society and add in the Dobson types who pretty much actively encourage anti-Semitism (all the while denying it of course) and Disney collectively said, "Who cares?" regarding Mel's Michael Richard's moment.

The Iraq War Wingnut Timeline

Instaputz: Putz on Iraq: a timeline.

See the most influential B.O.P.* blogger's timeline of Iraq war events. You'll notice something, I'm sure, about well how terribly wrong it is.

*He can claim he's a libertarian all he wants. His blogging just doesn't support that claim. He's B.O.P. Bush Only Party. Not Republican, not conservative, simply whatever Dear Leader wants.

Geek girls and a mess

Guilty until proven innocent

Video Is a Window Into a Terror Suspect's Isolation - New York Times:

"Mr. Padilla was added as a defendant in a terrorism conspiracy case already under way in Miami. The strong public accusations made during his military detention -- about the dirty bomb, Al Qaeda connections and supposed plans to set off natural gas explosions in apartment buildings -- appear nowhere in the indictment against him.

The indictment does not allege any specific violent plot against America. Mr. Padilla is portrayed in the indictment as the recruit of a "North American terror support cell" that sent money, goods and recruits abroad to assist "global jihad" in general, with a special interest in Bosnia and Chechnya. Mr. Padilla, the indictment asserts, traveled overseas "to participate in violent jihad" and filled out an application for a mujahedin training camp in Afghanistan."

How we treat innocent uncharged Americans.

Look at those photos, shackled, sensory deprived, guarded by three body armored guards. An innocent, and at the time uncharged American who could be you. This is why we have courts. Padilla could well be guilty, but his rights have been so trampled at this points, who cares? He has served his time for any offense he is currently (and finally) charged with. I've seen far more evidence that Bush et al are guilty of war crimes and unconstitutional acts that are impeachable "high crimes and misdemeanors", than I have that Padilla has done anything he was finally charged with. Hell, Padilla's 3 year uncharged, warrantless, confinement is more wrong than anything he has even been accused of.

Greenwald slams another dunk

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: The fruits of democracy:

"Hugo Chavez was overwhelmingly re-elected yesterday as Venezuela's President. Opposition to the United States played a significant role in his successful campaign, as he promised 'a more radical version of socialism and [to] forge a wider front against the United States in Latin America.'

Over the last two years, the Palestinians democratically elected Hamas leaders. The Lebanese have democratically elected Hezbollah to play a major role in their parliamentary government. The Iranian-allied militias in Iraq are led by factions with substantial representation in the democratically elected Iraqi Government. And the Iranian Hitler himself was democratically elected "

First off, if you aren't reading Glenn Greenwald regularly, you should be. Always insightful, he nails home point after point regarding several issues -- especially lawless indefinite detention ala Jose Padilla and illegal warrantless surveillance (side note: Firefox doesn't recognize the word warrantless -- it tells me its not a word, good for Firefox, the word shouldn't be in an American's vocabulary).

Today, Greenwald led with a post on the spread of democracy and its inverse relation to friendly foreign governments. It seems all one needs to do in the current world political climate is run an anti-Bush, anti-American-foreign-policy, campaign and its the secret to getting elected around the world. Even our staunchest allies are feeling the sting, Tony Blair's approval rating sits at 27%, and he has resigned his role as Labor Leader following his current term as Prime Minister. Obviously the new British government will not be openly hostile to America, but undoubtedly the British peoples' perception of Blair as Bush's poodle contributed to his historic fall from record high approval ratings in his early (pre-Bush) days in office to his current near record low popularity. The message from voters around the world -- and as the Democrats showed in the midterms in the United States as well-- is clear, "Supporting Bush's foreign policy is bad for you at the ballot box. Opposing America's current foreign policy is good for you come election day."

For the 47 seconds this site is gonna last

You can watch Airplane! and a ton of other movies streamed for free:

Airplane!
Uploaded by ZAZfan

update 20061206: Well it lasted four days. Longer than I thought really.

UnSuggester

LibraryThing UnSuggester | Don't read THIS

The opposite of the normal "If you like, try this." site. Plug in a book you like, and it will tell you books that you will not like.

I plugged in "Master and Commander" and it spit out:

1. Awakening the Buddha within : eight steps to enlightenment : Tibetan wisdom for the Western world by Lama Surya Das (expected 11.6, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
2. Tori Amos, piece by piece : a portrait of the artist : her thoughts, her conversations by Tori Amos (expected 11.6, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
3. ANSI Common Lisp by Paul Graham (expected 11.3, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
4. You slay me by Katie MacAlister (expected 11.2, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
5. Fire me up : an Aisling Grey, guardian, novel by Katie MacAlister (expected 10.7, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
6. The emerging church : vintage Christianity for new generations by Dan Kimball (expected 10.3, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
7. Boy meets girl : say hello to courtship by Joshua Harris (expected 15, found 1; unsuggestions)
   
8. Everybody's normal till you get to know them by John Ortberg (expected 9.8, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
9. Succulent wild woman : dancing with your wonder-full self! by Sark (expected 9.8, found 0; unsuggestions)
   
10. Messenger by Lois Lowry (expected 9.6, found 0; unsuggestions)

Now with the exception of #3, I can't imagine wanting to read any of those. And seeing as how I will probably never learn to program in LISP I doubt I'd ever need to read that book either.

You the man now dawg

Seriously, I will have Keith Olbermann's man babies. His "Special Comment" speeches, done in classic Murrowese, are simply the best non-satirical comments on American politics and politicians. To wit, here's November 30th's skewering of the pest Newt Gingrich

Your 'Do You Want the Terrorists to Win' Score: 89%

 

You are a terrorist-loving, Bush-bashing, "blame America first"-crowd traitor. You are in league with evil-doers who hate our freedoms. By all counts you are a liberal, and as such cleary desire the terrorists to succeed and impose their harsh theocratic restrictions on us all. You are fit to be hung for treason! Luckily George Bush is tapping your internet connection and is now aware of your thought-crime. Have a nice day.... in Guantanamo!

Do You Want the Terrorists to Win?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz