] by Kurt Vonnegut

[ I also wouldn't say I precicely agree with the conclusion, but Vonnegut's pretty much always entertaining, and he touches on a few of my most favorite issues, among them the increasingly black or white, liberal or conservative political/ideological environment and of course the way so many nominal christians don't seem to get Jesus, after whom they are supposed to model themselves, presumably. -k]

Cold Turkey

This is not a war that will be won with bullets. Bullets are required, but they are not the answer. This war, like every war, is a war that will be won with words. It will be won in the hearts and minds of people who might consider radical Islam. Like every war.

Are we fighting it? Do we know how?

[ Probably with economics, assuming we retain enough economic superiority to pull it off. Comfort softens resolve. Not always a bad thing. Now, how do we do that? No idea. Someone probably does though, and I'll wager a guess that shooting at the people you want to like you isn't involved. -k]

Islamists

] "It's extremely difficult to govern when you control all
] three branches of government," says [House Speaker, Denny]
] Hastert spokesman John Feehery...

[ Uh, what?

Maybe he means that it's difficult to spread the blame when you control all three branches of government?

Or, uh, It's difficult to govern when you control all three branches at a time when the populace is not happy with the overall state of the nation?

There's got to be *something* more to that quote... doesn't there? -k]

For Republicans, a House (And Senate) Divided (washingtonpost.com)

] Douglas Rushkoff, author of eight books on media and
] culture, as well as the novels Ecstasy Club and Exit
] Strategy, marks his graphic novel debut with Club Zero-G.
] Teaming with Canadian independent comic artist Steph
] Dumais, Rushkoff has delivered America's answer to
] Japan's animé: a mind-altering journey into a universe
] where consensus reality is up for grabs.
]
] The story follows Zeke, a gangly, unpopular, 19-year-old
] college student-a townie who also happens to attend the
] elite college in his community-who has discovered a
] terrific new club where he is accepted and popular.
] There's only one catch: everyone at the club is dreaming.
] It only exists in the shared dream consciousness of its
] participants. If at all.

This sounds like it might be cool...

[ Interesting... reminds me a little of Vurt... feathers anyone? -k]

Amazon.com: Books: Club Zero-G

] Analysts say the intelligence chatter about an attack on
] the United States has shown up in open Internet forums
] and is similar to message traffic that preceded the
] Madrid bombings. "It's not just the official [terrorist]
] websites but also the chat rooms and Web forums," says
] Gabriel Weimann, a scholar in residence at the U.S.
] Institute for Peace. "The picture is not looking very
] good." Messages posted before the attacks in Madrid,
] Weimann says, described the Spanish government as "the
] first domino."

The correct incantation into google will present the discourse of the people who are trying to kill you.

USNews.com: Suspicions about a new terrorist attack have U.S. spies scrambling (5/31/04)

] "We were dealing with reels of film, not politics," said
] jury president Quentin Tarantino. "We all agreed that
] 'Fahrenheit 9/11' was the best film."

[ There are a lot of things that make a film good, and I don't think it's quite accurate to claim politics don't enter into it. The content of the film *has* to be one of the major factors. If you're only looking for mechanincs and cinematography, you're not doing much good.
That being said, I think most of us will be waiting a while to judge for ourselves. I'm anxious to see it, but I'm very surprised to see it win this... it seems impossible that politics on the world stage played no part. -k]

Jury defends award to Moore

] Normally, a 5-ounce glass of wine has 3 to 6 grams of carbs, the
] company said. The low-carb brands have the same alcohol content as
] other wines.

WTF?!?! This Atkins/South Beach Diet BS pseudo science is way past its 15 minutes of fame. Apparently PT Barnum hit the nail on the had. There's a sucker born every minute. Enough Already

[ I'm not ready to call it pseudo-science yet, but even assuming their claims are 100% valid, this is stupid. If you're on Atkins to lose wight, give up the wine for a few months, for fucks sake.
You're right though, it's silly. The only weight loss plan I find compelling for 95% of people is the "Eat less, fatty, and get some goddamn exercise!" diet. I'm not saying I stick to it either, what with being at least 40 pounds over my ideal weight, but i'm under no illusions either. -k]

Brown-Forman debuts low-carb wines

"Conservative institutions have been more dogged and focused in their approach than liberal ones." This is certainly so; greed and selfishness are great motivators.

The mistake of small and large "d" democrats was to think that society had gotten past them, and to stop fighting vigorously for such equally durable counter-ideas as fairness, justice, equality and reason.

Liberals don't suffer from a lack of ideas of how to change our nation for the better. But we have been losing ground because so many of us have chosen an approach that leaves us thinking "I need to convince my representative how important (name of political issue) is" instead of choosing to run for office ourselves.

You might call it The Petition Mentality.

Liberals Are Down but Not Out

] The Spanish Defense Ministry says it has completed its
] troop withdrawal from Iraq, fulfilling a campaign pledge
] made by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez.
]
] At the time of the initial withdrawal announcement, there
] were 1,430 Spanish troops in Iraq, but nearly half of
] them had already left by Friday.

Hey - lets ALL stick our tails between our legs when a suicide bomber strikes. Cave in to their demands and the problems will all go away. This is cowardice of the worst sort - befitting of the french.

There is an old saying "He who appeases the crocodile is eaten last."

LB

[ Actually, if I recall correctly, Zapatero had been campaigning on an anti-war message throughout his candidacy. It's arguable that the bombings in madrid gave the public a shove in his direction, a mere few days before the election... though I think he was probably going to win anyway.

Regardless, Zapatero was almost certainly going to pull these troops out regardless of the tragic bombings. You can criticize his opposition to the war, but I wouldn't base those criticisms on the terrorist acts. -k]

Spain pulls out last Iraq troops

] At current rates of production, there were 40.6 years of
] consumption covered by proven reserves in 2002, the latest
] data available, according to the Wall Street Journal.
]
] The newspaper, citing the BP Statistical Review, said
] that in 1989, there were 44.7 years left of consumption.
]
] "[A shortage] will probably happen in the next 10 to 20
] years," Professor David Goodstein, a physicist at the
] California Institute of Technology, told CNNfn.

hrm...

[ I take it that your 'hrm' means you're skeptical that in 2 years we've gone from an estimate of 40 years down to 20 or even 10. And that in the 13 prior to that, we effectively gained 9. I think it's hard to speak to that, not knowing how any of these analyses were conducted.

Given my leanings, I would feel better trusting cal tech over those others, but the discrepancy *is* large, and demands further investigation.

Clearly BP wasn't accounting for some large fields that were found in the following 13 years. Will we find the same amount in the next 13?

As hijexx implied though, even 40 years isn't *that* long, and we're surely going to reach a point where we've gotten all we can at some point between now and then. Also, those numbers may account for all the oil we have, but the shit's gonna hit the fan some number of years before actual supply runs out, as everyone scrambles to eke out as much cash as they can. So, I'd take 40 and knock off 10 (20?) years for the "this is when costs start skyrocketing and the bad shit really starts" date. That's 2032 (22?). Add a sprinkle of new industrialization and toss with ongoing war in the middle east (as is possible) and i think that number goes down further.

That being said, perhaps the CalTech prof and others like him are taking a page from the Y2K situation. Deliberately overstate the potential problem, long before you have to, and scare people into getting it done *actually* in time.

Either way, as I commented earler, i think the short term answer stays the same... use less energy, work towards *viable* alternate sources.

If we find a cheaper way to get energy *before* the time's up on oil, so much the better. -k]

As prices rise, concerns grow about world oil supplies