A sampling of noteworthy memes in the year 2004, loosely ordered for effect. Enjoy.

The most important -- and interesting -- questions are structural.

"Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency. "We don't play games at The Washington Post and use dashes." "I felt better after I had done it."

Teenagers nowadays are both more connected to the world at large than ever, and more cut off.

cellphone-based alibi clubs

More research anywhere creates more possibilities for innovation everywhere.

Do you understand the difference between "Is it worth buying?" and "Can it be sold?"

The era of cheap oil is over.

The Internet peering model is fundamentally broken.

"The thing is, this is a lousy business."

Let's talk about the consequences of the aging baby boomers.

Relationships can be hard work, but they are worth it.

When was the last time a talk show changed a mind?

Intelligence is moving to the edges and the edges are found on the Asian mainland.

In China, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America, Britney Spears is Britney Spears.

All entertainment concepts must be run through the Vulgarizer.

"I need to be managing a sexier project."

Values Voters Are Prone To Sinful Behavior.

Its sole function is to sell the naughty lifestyle.

Why the granny panties?

The Middle East must be Born Again!

War may be hell, but infowar is making a bid for heaven.

Personality is destiny.

"There's a certain tone in politics that I aspire to, that allows me to disagree with people without being disagreeable."

"chicken hawks"

Saudi Arabia is the golden egg.

Powell: "Very embarrassing. I am not a happy camper over this. We were wrong." Bush: "I wasn't happy when we found out there wasn't weapons, and we've got an intelligence group together to figure out why."

"It takes half a second for a baby to throw up all over your sweater. It takes hours to get it clean."

typical postwar "untidiness"

Bush: "I've made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them. I don't want to hurt their feelings on national TV."

"No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey."

America, partnering with the best-armed insurgents, allying with the weaker against the stronger.

"You can't talk sense to them," Bush said, referring to terrorists. "Nooooo!" the audience roared.

Moore unfurled what is perhaps the central insight of his oeuvre, that Americans are kind of crappy.

"Bush might be unpopular in Italy, the Iraqi war is not popular in Italy, but Italians know damn well that in 1944, they were liberated by America from the Nazis."

Fight the cult of process.

"You can't fight here! This is the war room!"

It is definitely interesting getting shot at for the first time.

"If you go ahead, we will do everything possible to discredit you... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

2004 - It Was a Very Noteworthy Year

k wrote:
] ] PATRIOT DAY OBSERVANCE
] ]
] ] Patriot Day became a day of national observance on Dec.
] ] 18, 2001, when President George W. Bush signed a
] ] presidential proclamation.
] ]
] ] The Patriot Day resolution designates a day to honor
] ] those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on
] ] the United States.
]
] [ Did anyone else know about this? I had no idea. -k]

Houston, we have a name space problem.

Patriots Day is already a state holiday in Massachusetts.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/patriotsday/

http://boston.about.com/cs/history/a/patriots_day.htm

We will have to start scoping our variables, so that we can disambiguate between US::Patriot_Day and MA::Patriots_Day.

RE: Patriot Day 2004

Decius wrote:
] We know that we've
] been employing torture, not just at Abu Gharib, but all over
] the place. I'm reminded of that spook who testified in
] Congress that "It's very important that the American people
] understand this. After 9/11 the gloves came off."
]
] The gloves came off. This is what they mean.
]
] That's the discussion I think we really ought to be having.
] Should we torture people? Is it effective? Does it save lives?
] It's not a simple question.

His name is Cofer Black, and this is exactly what he meant.

I recommend the Mark Bowden article in Atlantic Monthly. I also recommend the second Seymour Hersh article after Abu Ghraib, about "COPPER GREEN". You can also read the last chapter of "Why America Slept." There is plenty of material out there to consider.

If, by "discussion", you mean a public discourse on the subject, good luck. Your government may not be particularly interested in your opinions on the matter.

RE: Talking Points Memo

Topics will include embedded systems and networks, new computational substrates stemming from the bio-info-nano fusion, pervasive computing and communication, and augmented cognition.

Many of the sessions are available in streaming video, including a keynote speech by Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google; a talk on security and privacy by David Wagner; and a talk on ubicomp by Jen Mankoff, formerly of Georgia Tech.

Berkeley EECS Annual Research Symposium

Hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Tom!

What Would John Edwards Do?

On Friday, NPR's Rob Gifford reported from the streets of Taipei. This is some great reporting, and the audio engineering is top notch. The interviews are amazing. You can really feel the crowd.

Gifford: "You think he would fake his own shooting?"
Woman: "Right, because look at where he got shot. It's impossible, you know?"
Gifford: "That's quite a conspiracy theory."
Woman: "Right. I think it's a conspiracy."

Gifford (to another woman): "So, what are you saying? You're saying he faked the whole thing?
Woman: "Of course."

Taiwan's President Survives Assassination Attempt

The other day at work, another binary pair was presented to me -- a co-worker who doesn't declare people pirate or ninja, but instead elf or dwarf. For him, humanity falls into doers and thinkers -- elves being elegant and timeless, conceptual and refined, abstract and beautiful while dwarves are practical and structural, hard-working and no-nonsense, down-to-earth smiths and makers.

White-haired elven ninja, dressed in black. Definitely. (Shadow warriors?)

From pirate dwarves to ninja elves ...

] I travel a lot and one of my favorite destination lead
] through poisoned with radiation, so called Chernobyl
] "dead zone" It is 130kms from my home. Why favourite?
] because one can ride there for hours and not meet any
] single car and not to see any single soul. People left
] and nature is blooming, there are beautiful places,
] woods, lakes. There is no newly built roads, but those
] which left from 80th in fairly good condition

This is absolutely stunning, spellbinding.

Photoblogging Chernobyl

Ralph: When I grow up, I'm going to go to Bovine University.

Swallow That Tripe