Elonka wrote:
] inignoct wrote:
] ] If Bush is going to use the good job he's done in Iraq as a
] ] campaign strategy, then it's only fair to remind people that
]
] ] there are a lot of dead americans to account for, not to
] ] mention the dead Iraqis, who we speak little of. Sometimes
] ] that reminder needs to be harsh to get the attention it
] ] deserves... people tune out numbers, they tune out
] ] statistics, they acclimate and stop paying attention to the
] ] endless parade of dead and wounded. If this sort of thing
] can
] ] wake them up to the reality of the situation then the
] purpose
] ] it serves tends to validate it.
]
] Um, last I checked, the War in Iraq, and the number of dead,
] has been getting *enormous* attention. This isn't a
] backburner issue that people need to be woken up to, this is
] an issue that's already on every single front page.
]
] I agree with Decius.

Ryan: That may be true; however, what doesn't get enough attention in my view is the administrations attempt to elude responsibility for it. People need to wake up and realize what has happened. It's like the bumper sticker says: If you aren't infuriated, you aren't paying attention.

It is reprehensible to me that the conservative commentators require we avoid talking about the needlessness of this war when the soldiers are in harms way without reailzing that the reason we (the anti-war folks) believe the war was needless BECAUSE of the human cost involved here. And while I didn't post this photo as the end-all be-all of political commentary (that's what the 30 political analysis blogs I read are for), I do believe inignoct's points are entirely valid.

RE: Bush photomosaic of American dead in Iraq

] John Woo has optioned Nintendo's best-selling video game
] franchise Metroid for the big screen, says The Hollywood
] Reporter.

Holy $#|+! A series of Metroid movies! John Woo!

John Woo Bringing Metroid to the Big Screen

] To see what might happen if buckyballs got into the
] environment, Eva Oberdörster, an aquatic scientist at
] Southern Methodist University, put some into a fish tank
] at a concentration of 0.5 parts per million, along with
] nine largemouth bass. The buckyball-breathing fish
] experienced significant brain damage after 48 hours.
] Brain-cell membranes were disrupted, an affliction that
] has been linked to illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease
] in humans.
]
] Oberdörster's unpublished study, which was released last
] week, is one of the few completed studies looking at the
] potential risks of nanomaterials. There is some cause for
] concern. Two recent studies documented lung damage in
] animals after they inhaled a type of buckyball called a
] carbon nanotube. Another showed that nanoparticles can
] get into the brain if inhaled.
]
] They're also small enough to cross cell walls and leak
] into the nucleus, the home of an organism's DNA. And, in
] the case of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, they can kill
] bacteria. That's good news in a hospital, but bad news in
] the environment, where bacteria are extremely important
] for maintaining soil fertility, among other things.

Wired News: Big Concern for Very Small Things

] Bush photomosaic of Americans who have died in Iraq since
] the war president entered office. Link

via boingboing

Bush photomosaic of American dead in Iraq

] Royal Device has on its own developped and built the
] biggest subwoofer of the world for an AUDIO/VIDEO room
] that can be also considered as the biggest AUDIO ROOM for
] private music listening of the world. The audio
] reproduction is focused on the speakers output capability
] more than electric power output of the amplifiers with no
] need of KWatts power supply lines, releasing more than
] 110 dB/1W/1 meter sensitivity starting from below 10 Hz
] focused on the listening position.

[ Wow. Now, that's a serious listening space. -k]

Ryan: that may be the sickest listening room I have ever seen. Completely out of control.

Giant Subwoofer, not suitable for 'blingin''

] When the 40,000 subscribers to Reason, the monthly
] libertarian magazine, receive a copy of the June issue,
] they will see on the cover a satellite photo of a
] neighborhood - their own neighborhood. And their house
] will be graphically circled.

[ Interesting marketing. Sure to get the debates running strong. -k]

Putting 40,000 Readers, One by One, on a Cover

] It's been called the most ambitious military effort since
] the Manhattan Project, and the centerpiece of Donald
] Rumsfeld's plans to overhaul America's armed forces: a
] $92 billion push to change almost everything about the
] Army by 2010, from the guns GIs carry, to the officers
] they salute, to the tanks they drive.
]
] A new congressional report is alleging that the Future
] Combat Systems program is poised for major delays and a
] financial train wreck. Worst of all, the report claims,
] the Army knew this was going to happen all along.

Wired News: GAO Says Army on Road to Ruin

] Guitar virtuoso performs Super Mario Brothers theme
]
] This is an absolutely stellar video of Japanes guitar
] virtuoso KeiicHi performing a rendition of the theme from
] Super Mario Brothers, hendrixing power-up and coin-grab
] sound effects by wringing his axe's neck with long and
] clever fingers. Tasty. 3.7MB WMV Link (via Boing BOing)

Guitar virtuoso performs Super Mario Brothers theme

] The number of unemployed workers (currently 8.2 million)
] and the national unemployment rate of 5.6% in February
] 2004 do not adequately convey the true labor slack in the
] economy for several reasons. One major understatement is
] that the unemployment rate does not reflect the uniquely
] large 1.2% decline in labor force participation that has
] occurred since the current recession began in early 2001.
] This decline represents a stark contrast to the past
] three business cycles, when labor force participation
] actually grew by an average of 0.4% of the working-age
] population over similar lengths of time. Consequently,
] there is what can be called a "missing labor force" of
] 2,808,000 workers who might otherwise be in the actual
] labor force but have either dropped out entirely or
] failed to enter the labor market because of the lack of
] jobs. If the unemployment rate in February 2004 took into
] account this missing labor force, the unemployment rate
] would have been 7.4%, or 1.8% greater than the official
] rate of 5.6% (see chart below).

Here is someone publishing unemployment statistics which include the data about the contraction of the total labor force.

The unemployment statistics the government doesn't want you to see...

] The all-out assault on Richard Clarke has gone on for
] more than a week now. Mr. Clarke has been accused of
] "profiteering" and possible perjury. It is time for this
] to stop.
]
] The Commission should declassify Mr. Clarke's earlier
] testimony. All of it. Not just the parts the White House
] wants. And Dr. Rice should testify before the 9-11
] Commission, and she should be under oath and in public.
]
] The American people deserve to know the truth -- the full
] truth -- about what happened in the years and months
] leading up to September 11.
]
] Senator McCain, Senator Cleland, Secretary O'Neill,
] Ambassador Wilson, General Shinseki, Richard Foster,
] Richard Clarke, Larry Lindsay ... when will the character
] assassination, retribution, and intimidation end?

Fantastic to see Daschle finally standing up and fighting!

Floor Statement of Sen. Daschle on the Abuse of Government Power