Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings - washingtonpost.com
Topic: Politics and Law
7:18 pm EDT, Jul 21, 2007
"A U.S. attorney would not be permitted to bring contempt charges or convene a grand jury in an executive privilege case," said a senior official, who said his remarks reflect a consensus within the administration. "And a U.S. attorney wouldn't be permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided. No one should expect that to happen."
Ummmm, yeah... This has gone from bad to worse. I'm not seeing any resolution to this other than impeachment and removal from office. Nixon at least tried to hide his attempts at the cover-up, these guys are doing it in broad daylight.
Who would have guessed that Dobby and Hermione would hook up? I guess it makes a strange sort of sense, with her equal rights for house elves activities and whatnot.
Microsoft tries evading new GPL grasp | Tech News on ZDNet
Topic: Technology
7:08 am EDT, Jul 8, 2007
"If you arrange to provide patent protection to some of the people who get the software from you, that protection is automatically extended to everyone who receives the software, no matter how they get it," Smith said in a statement. "This means that the patent protection Microsoft has extended to Novell's customers would be extended to everyone who uses any software Novell distributes under GPLv3."
By Lee Iacocca ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Had Enough?
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to-as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey,America, wake up. These guys work for us.
Who Are These Guys, Anyway?
Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them-or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation... [ Read More (1.9k in body) ]
Exploding mobile battery kills Chinese welder | The Register
Topic: Miscellaneous
2:43 am EDT, Jul 6, 2007
IED made out of batteries. I love it.
I'm actually kinda suprised no one has tried to make an IED out of Li-ion batteries. Then again, the explosive force is nothing compared to a block of C4, or rocket ordinance.
I wonder if an exploding Li-ion battery generates enough heat to ignite thermite.
A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain's glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain's ship. A century later, Sam Witwicky, nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain's glasses and the map carved on them.
This movie fing rocks BIG!!!!!! You must see it in theater!!!
Love the game? Now love the magnet set which has been adapted from the classic computer puzzle game that had us so addicted to conquering the never-ending stream of falling blocks back in the 1990s.
Tetrius stick to a fridge, an office whiteboard or any other metal surface. The set itself comprises seven different color blocks
These are cool. I think I will have to get a few sets. There are also sets of pillow tetris for small children (shown below) where they can build with them and then climb on it which is kinda interesting.
The defeat that made Britain great - International Herald Tribune
Topic: Society
2:41 am EDT, Jul 6, 2007
Today, of course, the United States finds itself in much the same position as Britain in 1781. Distracted and diminished by an irrelevant, costly and probably unwinnable war in Iraq, America could ultimately find itself challenged by countries like China and India.
by
Michael Rose, a retired British Army general, commanded the United Nations forces in the former Yugoslavia from 1994 to 1995.
This is an interesting perspective on the American Revolutionary War that you don't hear often over here. Adam originally recommended it but he linked the second page, so I'm linking the first instead.
