A bill has been proposed in the Georgia State Senate which would require social networking websites, possibly including MemeStreams, to verify that minors who create accounts have parental permission. In practice this would mean that any Georgia website, no matter how benign, which allows users to create profiles, would be required to implement as yet undefined age validation procedures for all new users.

We believe that this proposal is a bad idea for a number of different reasons. We composed the following open letter to the sponsors of the legislation in an attempt to articulate our concerns.

BTW, If you are a Georgia resident and you are concerned about this issue, a polite and respectful letter to members of the Senate Science and Technology Committee wouldn't hurt.

MemeStreams response to Georgia Senate Bill 59 - 2007

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Front Line Assembly's hit track 'Mindphaser' from their 1992 release 'Tactical Neural Implant'

Here is a blast from the past. If you don't know this band you might not be impressed with this but I had no idea they had made music videos. Funny that this is what evokes memories of high school for me. Much less innocent than what my parents listened to, and simultaneously much more innocent.

YouTube - Front Line Assembly - Mindphaser

The ease with which video can be spread through the internet has given rise of late to something which is not a new genre, but newly accessible... The Conspiracy Documentary. Rattle has quite a collection of these things. Some are reasonable enough to bubble up into pop culture, some are crazy enough to be entertaining in the way that B horror movies are.

I stumbled on this one by searching around from some of the videos that Jeremy posted this morning. I found it rather interesting. I have no idea if the history being presented here is reasonable or not. Part of the reason I'm posting it is to see if anyone else who bothers to watch it has any insight into the threads that are being pulled here. In any event, there is some interesting footage... Turns out there is a wikipedia article about it.

This film explores the origins in the 1940s and 50s of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, and Neoconservatism in America, parallels between these movements, and their effect on the world today. From the introduction to Part 1:"Both [the Islamists and Neoconservatives] were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today's nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful. "

YouTube - The Power of Nightmares - The Rise of The Politics of Fear I

Possibly Noteworthy posted a selection of videos from Iraq to his blog that give different perspective on the war. This is the first one. See his blog for the rest...

Referred by Armed Forces Journal -- a sampler of war videos.

Put simply: Happy viewing. Although navigating the world of online war videos is at best a haphazard venture, there is enough material to provide as clear a view into the lives of combat, boredom and pointless amusement of the soldiers in Iraq as one will find anywhere.

On this particular video:

A characteristic and terrifying example of the invisible menace posed by insurgents is a YouTube video in which a camera lying on a barracks floor during an intense mortar attack captures troops praying and screaming as rounds land ever closer to their position.

YouTube - American soldier crying for their life in America war irak

The Pentagon's man in charge of handling the department's policy on detainees from the war on terrorism has resigned, Defense Department officials said Friday.

Charles "Cully" Stimson resigned Thursday after making controversial remarks last month about law firms that represent terrorism suspects held by the U.S. military, Pentagon officials said.

I commented on the comments that cost him his job. No one recommended that post.

Apparently he tried apologizing in WaPo, but I missed it. Given that, the resignation was probably not needed.

Guantanamo remarks cost policy chief his job - CNN.com

Over 30,000 Different Items Stocked

I've been told that this is one of the best places to buy electronics components in Atlanta.

WELCOME TO ACK ELECTRONICS

Hey, I know that bar tender! But, why, WHY is the press still saying things like this:

There are still lingering questions as to what threats they may have posed.

No there aren't you idiots!

mooninites in atlanta

Wish I'd seen this.

For the parser bug that has been screwing up "quotation marks" and hrefs in forwarded posts. Please let us know if you run into any further buggyness...

Thanks very much to Acidus who took time out to dive into some hairy code and find this bug. We're sorry for any inconvenience it created.