The libertarian party's platform.

Pros: I think his comments on civil liberties, the draft, the rights of the accused, and other social issues resonate with me more strongly then what I'm hearing from other candidates. There are some interesting ideas in here about criminal justice.

Cons: The emphasis on Gun Control is totally out of place. That is not the most important issue on the table today. Furthermore, he shares the blind faith in privately funded institutions being "always better" then government organizations that the republicans have. In some cases this is very true. In others, there are problems. Show me someone who operates a private charity and thinks welfare would work as a private charity. I'll show you someone who should go ahead and start a privately funded welfare program. There is nothing stopping you, and if its effective people might adopt it. It would reduce the need for the government programs gradually. Fact is it won't be effective, and that cuts to the heart of the problem with the libertarian philosophy.

The libertarians let their ideas override reality. People know that some of this stuff won't work, and so the whole party comes off as a bunch of kooky radicals rather then a serious alternative. The fact is that most people in this country don't like either the fundies or the socialists. If the libertarians were willing to start from the middle and push things out in their direction based on practical experience.... If they were willing to operate government programs until alternatives are proven... If they could provide a truly moderate presidential candidate.... If...

Michael Badnarik - Libertarian for President

] After numerous admissions of guilt by Bin Laden and
] numerous corroborating admissions by captured top level
] Al-Qaida operatives, we wonder, does the Muslim
] leadership have the dignity and courage to apologize for
] 9-11?

Did anyone else get this spam? I've gotten several spams from these guys over the past few months. This morning's seems to have gotten some attention. There is something fishy about this. I scratched my head on it, so I figured I'd post it and see if anyone else has any opinions.

1. They spam. This is the only spam I receive that isn't an overt attempt to extract money from me. I get hundreds of spams a day. Obviously they are trying to sell me something, but I can't figure out what their goal is.
2. They seem well funded.
3. The wording of this spam is strange. Its borderline silly in places.
4. They seem to be saying exactly what American conservatives want Muslims to say.
5. Google says that they've mostly gotten attention from conservative news sites.

We are so Sorry for 9-11: Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism

] And yet the Bush ideology is tinged with religious
] belief, I said. Not everything comes with a price tag
] attached.
]
] Gore's mouth tightened. A Southern Baptist, he, too,
] had declared himself born again, but he clearly had
] disdain for Bush's public kind of faith. It's a particular
] kind of religiosity, he said. It's the American version of
] the same fundamentalist impulse that we see in Saudi
] Arabia, in Kashmir, in religions around the world: Hindu,
] Jewish, Christian, Muslim. They all have certain features in
] common. In a world of disconcerting change, when large
] and complex forces threaten familiar and comfortable
] guideposts, the natural impulse is to grab hold of the
] tree trunk that seems to have the deepest roots and hold
] on for dear life and never question the possibility that
] it's not going to be the source of your salvation.
] And the deepest roots are in philosophical and religious
] traditions that go way back. You don't hear very
] much from them about the Sermon on the Mount, you
] don't hear very much about the teachings of Jesus on
] giving to the poor, or the beatitudes. It's the
] vengeance, the brimstone.

I haven't bothered to read this whole article. Its making the rounds because of this quote. This is something I've been thinking about for the past 2 days, and here it is.

The Fundies and the Islamists want the same basic things from a policy standpoint. The reason that the fundies seem less extreme is that in the U.S. they are marginalized. Most of their platform is illegal (which is why they want Constitutional Amendments) and so the things they can realistically get are more limited. If they were in power they'd want more. They also produce their share of terrorists.

The irony here is that Bush defending me from Islamic fundamentalism is of little value if he also props up the Christian fundamentalists. I'll end up having to live with the same laws either way. The Christians would likely stop short of requiring women to wear veils in spite of the fact that unveiled women are in direct violation of biblical edict. However, the institutionalization of religion, coupled with violent responses to "immoral" behavior, particularly sexuality, are in the cards no matter what group of religious nuts ends up running this country in the future.

Gore compares Islamists and Fundies

] British scientists are developing a robot that will
] generate its own power by eating flies.
]
] The idea is to produce electricity by catching flies and
] digesting them in special fuel cells that will break down
] sugar in the insects' skeletons and release electrons
] that will drive an electric current.

An old memestreams meme: Robots that kill humans and use their flesh to generate power.

MSNBC - Smelly robot eats flies to generate its own power

] The 2004 Republican Party platform is available
] (although, curiously, not on the GOP's own web site).

Space Politics: Republican Party platform, 2004 edition

Kaiju Big Battel is a live event series that revolves around tournament-style performances, which are a tongue-in-cheek hybrid of American pro-wrestling, Japanese-monster-movie mayhem, and lowbrow pop-culture. Click here for the full "About Kaiju Big Battel".

What is Kaiju Big Battel?

Researchers from Canada believe they have identified the gene responsible for breast cancer tumor growth, a discovery that could possibly lead to a cure for the disease.

When the gene was removed from the mice, breast development was not affected, however, when the gene was removed from already growing tumors, the tumors ceased to grow.

Breast Cancer Cure?

] As a high school librarian, part of my job is to help my
] students develop critical thinking skills," Stagnitta
] wrote. "One of these skills is to evaluate the authority
] of any information source. The Wikipedia is not an
] authoritative source. It even states this in their
] disclaimer on their Web site."
]
] Wikipedia, she explains, takes the idea of open
] source one step too far for most of us.
]
] I was amazed at how little I knew about
] Wikipedia. If you know of other supposedly authoritative
] Web sites that are untrustworthy, send a note to
] technology@syracuse.com and let me know about them.
]
] The best thing about the Web is also the worst
] thing: Information is all over the place. You need to be
] careful about trusting what you read.

Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as source

] Waxy has posted a Quicktime of the entire John Kerry
] interview on the Daily Show (Kerry proposes to hold the
] inauguration on the Daily Show!).

Note: BoingBoing now carries annoying, not exactly work safe Suicide Girls banner ad. I've nothing against the Suicide Girls but there are certain circumstances when you just don't want to pull that up on your screen.

Boing Boing: John Kerry on Daily Show

] Tell us where you are, and we'll broadcast your location
] to all your friends and let you know if any friends-of-friends are within
] 10 blocks.

Someone put flashmobs to work. I'll be my friends in Nashville would use this.

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