] Experimenters burst water balloons in the low-gravity environment
] produced aboard a NASA Glenn DC-9 aircraft.

Videos of What It's Like to Pop a Water Balloon in Space

Yup, here it is if you missed it. The Daily Show on the Meet the Press Interview. The facial expressions are something that didn't make the transcript. This might have been a very different interview had I seen it on video.

On Lisa Rein's Indictment: Daily Show On The Shrub's Meet The Press Interview

] A test of an iris-scanning system is set to begin
] Saturday at the Frankfurt, Germany, airport, as part of a
] project involving 18 European countries.

Europe's response to our fingerprint requirement? Iris scanning...

Iris scanning to begin at German airport | CNET News.com

] If you have information relating to Iraq which
] you believe might be of interest to the U.S.
] Government, please contact us through our secure
] online form. We will carefully protect all information
] you provide, including your identity.

OK, this is the strangest thing I've seen in months. I'm done for the day.

CIA has 'secure online form' for reporting WMD

] The charges have hit home in a number of states. State Representative
] Rich Golick, who introduced legislation at MPAA's behest late in
] Georgia's 2003 session, now says he has "grave concerns about
] overreaching language they've got in their bill that could harm
] consumers and businesses." If his bill moves forward, he adds, it will
] be greatly altered.

Thank you!

Georgia Rep steps back from SDMCA

] Facing growing public pressure from civil liberties
] advocates, federal prosecutors on Tuesday dropped
] subpoenas that they issued last week ordering antiwar
] protesters to appear before a grand jury and ordering a
] university to turn over information about the protesters.

Subpoenas on Antiwar Protest Are Dropped

Wow. This is interesting. "Persian" rugs made during wars in Afghanistan, and you can buy them! Some of them have very overt themes and wouldn't really work well as a rug in one's house.

However, the best ones are subtle.... At first glance you see the standard assortment of symetrical patterns and color typically found on a "persian" rug. The sort of thing that anyone in America might have under the table in his dining room, or the couch in the living room. But if you look closely, if you really pay attention to the detail, you notice that in with all the other shapes and patterns in the rug are little tanks and AK-47s.

Have you ever closely examined such a rug in someone's home? Looked carefully at what the shapes are supposed to symbolize? I haven't. I've had rugs like this around my entire life and I don't think I've ever paid them careful attention. You could probably have such a thing in a common area in your house and no one would ever notice.

warrug.com! Afghan War Rugs

] U.S. Attorney Stephen Patrick O'Meara said late Monday
] that the investigation focuses on unlawful entry onto
] military property at Camp Dodge on Nov. 16, and whether
] plans were laid for that at a conference the day before
] at Drake.
]
] Suggestions that the investigation is related to the
] Patriot Act "are not accurate," O'Meara said.

This was covered on MemeStreams.

FBI explains request for data about war protestors

] The movement of American factory jobs and white-collar
] work to other countries is part of a positive
] transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over
] time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation,
] the Bush administration said yesterday.
]
]...
]
] "Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international
] trade," said N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's
] Council of Economic Advisors, which prepared the report.
] "More things are tradable than were tradable in the past.
] And that's a good thing."

An interesting mishmash... Bush supports offshoring. Bush makes dramatic prediction about jobs in 2004. The neat thing is we'll know if his prediction was right or wrong by the time we go to the polls, so keep that number in your head if you wish to assess the credibility of his economic plan.

John Kerry offers a sarcastic reply. If you are going to be the dem candidate please cut the crap and start demonstrating clues.

Then we end with a blurb on social security. Guess whose going to be running the country in 2036 when the debt is at its worst?

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Bush report: Sending jobs overseas helps U.S.

Elonka wrote:
] He went up before a review board today, and read them a
] statement (linked below). After hearing the statement, the
] board then voted unanimously to make the expulsion permanent.
]
] I have my own thoughts on the efficacy of the statement, but
] I'll leave it to you to make up your own minds.

The last thing the school wants is someone who not only seeks to break their rules but does it in a way they don't understand. What he told them with this statement is yes, I broke your rules, no I don't respect you, and regardless of what you do to me I'm going to keep breaking your rules. He has made them fear him. So they kicked him out.

I don't really see him as being in the wrong in the grand scheme of things, but at a certain point, as a youth, you have to be willing to negotiate with the powerful idiots in your environment. It is easy to lie to them and tell them that you understand them and your sorry and you won't do it again. Getting up in front of them and reading a manifesto is asking for it. They haven't read the authors you are referencing and they don't understand what you're talking about. They see a kid that will never obey, and could be dangerous. Thats all they can see.

Of course, what I'm wondering is what happens now. Where are his parents, and what are his plans? My experience is that school districts become very accomidating when you haul them into court. The question is whether you have a strong arguement. Can the school expell students for minor infractions? No, its almost certainly illegal. You need only explain to the judge that the infractions where minor, and the expulsion was mostly due to the school district's miss understanding of computers. Incidentally, I would not get up in court and read them a screed about Noam Chomsky, (who, incidentally, is a radical socialist, not a libertarian). The point to make is I'm a good kid and they are simply stupid, and not I didn't really do anything wrong but some day I'm going to start a suicide bombing campaign in third period.

Another option, if you have it, is to get the press to report the details of your expulsion. Find leaders in your community who understand technology and can explain you to the school better then you can.

RE: Statement from Student Expelled for Recommending Web Proxy at School