But when the U.S. demanded that even the phrase "reproductive health" be struck from the proposal in order to protect unborn children, critics -- even those from highly religious countries like the Philippines and Iran -- suggested that U.S. foreign policy had been hijacked by the religious right.

What the hell? Are we looking at a law to prosecute pre-marital sex in the near future? This is getting scarier every day, I just hope that enough people have the sense to kick out the current rehash of old administrations in 2004.

Dolemite

Yes, I'm a liberal and damn proud of it.

Bush's drive for global abstinence

Cool story.

For Eric Blossom, founder of the GNU Radio project, the vision plays itself over and over again, like a Möbius film strip. An electrical engineer by trade, Blossom knows better than most the thin barriers that separate one person's garage-door opener from another person's global positioning satellite receiver. He also knows the proprietary barriers that hinder technological innovation. Rather than curse those walls, Blossom has decided to gut the floor plan entirely with the help of free software. Sony, Philips and Nokia be damned.

Radio Free Software

I thought I'd include this link to a review along with my own thoughts about The Two Towers. I decided to check out the midnight performance this morning and I am certainly glad that I did.

First, it's hard to say that there are any plot spoilers in a review of The Two Towers since it's based upon one of the most read books this century. However, there are several changes/additions to the movie which made some fanboys bitch at the end of the movie. I was not one of them as I think Peter Jackson has done a fantastic job of pulling together multiple sources (Silmarillion, appendixes) and presenting them in a cohesive story.

Hands down, the performance that brought a character to life more than any other was Andy Serkis' rendering of Smeagol/Gollum. While the visuals are CGI imposed, Andy was in a blue suit with plot points that tracked his movement, plus he provided the voice. It is amazing how well he pulls off the schizophrenic nature of Smeagol/Gollum, allowing the audience to pity the creature in much the same way that Frodo does.

The film doesn't follow the beginning and ending of The Two Towers as Tolkein wrote it. After all, Fellowship of the Ring breached the line by providing some of the story from The Two Towers at the end of it. I can tell you this without any ruining of the plot - the movie sets up the beginning of Return of the King to contain major sections of the print version of The Two Towers. Perhaps this is best since half of Return of the King in print form ended up being appendixes. It's also better as it gives a closer "Hollywood Ending" with the battles of Helm's Deep and Isengard wrapping up this volume. In any case, that was one of the things I overheard fanboys bitching about.

One final remark - I saw Fellowship of the Ring a total of 9 times in the theater, I will probably see The Two Towers at least that many. As one who studied theatre and film in college and who has had a lifelong love for the magic created in those venues, I feel that we now have two thirds of the greatest epic ever created.

Dolemite

Review: The Two Towers

The Bush administration's position in California, it's worth noting, is in sharp contrast to its policy in Florida. Bush has pledged $235 million to buy out similar leases in the coastal waters of Gov. Jeb Bush's Florida. But Bush owes nothing to California, a state that not only went for Gore in 2000, but even eschewed the so-called Bush effect that dominated this year's elections in other states, electing Democrats to the state's highest offices from governor to treasurer.

Yet another example of the current administration pushing the agenda of their backers over the will and rights of the states and citizens of the United States. I would say "Re-Elect Gore in 2004" but he isn't running, so instead I'll fervently say, "Vote Anti-Bush in 2004."

Dolemite

Bush to California: Choke on this

For those interested, I have my pictures online from my trip to Hong Kong in early December of 2002. My favorite is from the tour of Macau while in the Kun Iam Temple, a 700 year old Buddhist temple. Look for all of the incense smoke and you've found it.

Pictures from Hong Kong and Macau

Salon.COM has now partnered up with Francis Ford Coppolla's ZOETROPE magazine and is publishing one story per quarter for two weeks. This is a good read, catch it while you can!

excerpt:
Bart and the team he now worked with -— whom he carefully avoided naming -— had a very early alpha version for a piece of software that implemented the concept of "story actants," active story parts whose data structures determined not only how they would react to manipulation by other agents -— including a story's reader -— but also how these parts themselves moved through the story space, signaling to each other and operating actively upon the unfolding sum of resources that composed the story. The environment in which his story actants ran, a system called DIALOGOS, sounded to me like a whole ecosystem of digital objects updating and informing each other as if they were simultaneously all characters, readers, and authors of their own tales. Here was a true Bakhtinian carnival landscape whose sole interest lay in keeping itself in perpetual motion. The code for the alpha version of DIALOGOS was still rough, unstable, and far from the finished product that Bart and his team envisioned. But Bart asked if I'd like to help road test it. I wasn't doing anything but working on a novel. I said I'd be happy to.

Enjoy,
Dolemite

Literary Devices

It looks like there was another Senator with a head on his shoulders during the debate of the Homeland Security Bill. Too bad that so far we've only found two. This article points to a partial transcript of Senator Bill Nelson's (D-FL) speech on the Senate floor.

This past week, I was riveted by the news of the revelations about how the Department of Defense is developing a computer system to grant intelligence and law enforcement authorities the power to secretly access ordinary citizens' private information, including e-mail, financial statements and medical records -- to access that private information without the protections of a court order. Clearly, in this post-9/11 world, we need to develop tools that will enable our government to keep us safe from terrorists by disrupting their operations. But these tools need to be balanced against the protection of innocent people's right to privacy. If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.

Here, here!

Senator Bill Nelson's Speech on Homeland Security

Fungal decomposition is the job of the mycelium, a vast network of underground cells that permeate the soil. (The mushroom itself is the fruit of the mycelium.) Now recognized as the largest biological entities on the planet, with some individual mycelial mats covering more than 20,000 acres, these fungal masses secrete extra cellular enzymes and acids that break down lignin and cellulose, the two main building blocks of plant fiber, which are formed of long chains of carbon and hydrogen.

You know, I don't have a clue what all that stuff means, but I figure it might make nanochick give me some bio-lovin'. Actually, an interesting read about how mushrooms have the ability to break down toxins and could be a pre-emptive strike on areas with large amounts of disease.

How mushrooms will save the world

Yes! Now you can make your very own incoherent Bush speech with this handy dandy flash page.

Make Your Own Bush Speech!

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve the landmark Homeland Security bill. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., was one of the few senators voting against it, and in an address on the Senate floor, he raised fundamental questions about the need for the new agency and whether it will have the desired impact. What follows is the full transcript of his remarks during the conclusion of the Homeland Security debate.

At least one person in the Senate knew to call the kettle black.

Robert Byrd's Speech on the Homeland Security Bill