] 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

] For those who are interested, there's an enormous debate
] across the Blogosphere regarding the authenticity of the
] National Guard documents released by CBS yesterday (and
] highlighted in an earlier post of mine).

If you haven't noticed this debate, its worth a look. Adamist has some good links here. Apparently this discussion started in the Blogosphere and made it out to the mainstream media via the drudge report. Much like the details of Kerry's service record, the truth here is irrelevant. In this case its also illusive. Each commentator has detailed analysis which defends the position most favorable to their political leanings. All of the analysis sounds compelling. Everyone accuses someone else of playing loose with the facts. I don't expect a good answer to appear. If it does, a lot of people are going to be embarrassed.

Damaging Anti-Bush Guard Records May Be Forgeries

This is pretty neat. Scientists have isolated a bacterium that turns a toxin into a plastic...very useful:)

Bacteria turn toxin into plastic

] 2004 Electoral Vote Animation
] May 24 - Present

2004 Electoral Vote Animation

An online archive of TV commercials from US presidential elections. If you've never seen LBJ's 1964 "Peace little girl" ad its certainly worth looking at. If you want a more recent example of something completely fucked up, I recall watching Clinton's 1996 ad "School" from my college dorm in complete horror, as he promises federally mandated school uniforms, drug testing in school, and other orwellian measures. I spent weeks trying to convince myself that it was just campaign promises and that he wouldn't actually do it...

The Living Room Candidate

] The most dramatic polls were those published immediately
] after the Republican convention. Among likely voters, a
] poll by Gallup for CNN and USA Today found Mr Bush seven
] points ahead; Time put the lead at 11 points; a Newsweek
] poll gives the same lead among registered voters. No
] challenger has overcome a deficit that size after Labour
] Day and come back to win.

Bush's lead is not a temporary "post convention bounce."

Economist.com | Bush is winning

] 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 Pentagon has determined that a detainee held for an
] extended period in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, should no longer
] be classified as an unlawful enemy combatant and will be
] returned to his native country, a senior official said
] Wednesday.

Supreme Court ordered judicial process nets innocent victim.

The New York Times - U.S. Will Send Detainee Home From Cuba

] If you went to the north wall windows, you could look up
] and see the flames and the smoke and regrettably people
] now starting to jump, because of heat, smoke, or whatever
] it was. I'm only telling this secondhand because I
] personally could not take myself to the window to view
] that. I just didn't want that image burned in my brain,
] and I'm forever grateful that I didn't go and take in
] that sight.

NOVA Online | Why the Towers Fell | Above the Impact: A Survivor's Story | PBS