] "I saw some war heroes ... John Kerry is not a war hero,"
] said John O'Neill, a Houston lawyer who joined the Navy's
] Coastal Division 11 two months after the future senator
] left Vietnam. "He couldn't tie the shoes of some of the
] people in Coastal Division 11."

[ The repubs are trying to pull another Max Cleland on John Kerry. I wouldn't have predicted that it could work on Max, so I don't know if it'll work here, but it's amazing to me that that the GOP would want to bring military service into this debate at all... seems like a dangerous gamble. -k]

CNN.com - Fellow vet blasts Kerry's antiwar comments - Apr 21, 2004

] Quantum Cryptography "live": World Premiere: Bank
] Transfer via Quantum Cryptography Based on Entangled
] Photons

[ Rad! QC is so awesome. -k]

Quantum Cryptography with Entangled Photons: Welcome!

] Despite statements to the contrary, quiet preparations
] for the return of the draft have been under way for some
] time. The Selective Service System's Annual Performance
] Plan for Fiscal Year 2004 - despite a ton of
] obfuscatory jargon, acronyms, and bureaucrat-speak -
] can't quite manage to bury all of its bombshells.

] Strategic Objective 1.2 of the 2004 plan commits the
] Selective Service System to being fully operational
] within 75 days of "an authorized return to conscription."
] Strategic Objective 1.3 then commits them to "be
] operationally ready to furnish untrained manpower within
] DOD timelines."

...

] The 2004 plan commits the SSS to report to the president
] on March 31st, 2005, that the system is ready for
] activation with 75 days. If they manage the task, then
] the first lottery could happen as early as June 15th,
] 2005.

May I suggest, to those under 25 that know computers and/or languages, to get the hell out of the US by this time next year?

[ Don't forget "male". Last I checked, girls still don't have to register for selective service. This is definitely a major topic of concern. -k]

AlterNet: The Coming Draft

I got news of this from a brief NPR segment. Look closely at this site (about cloning). Pay particular attention to the "Testimonials" section. After you take it all in, sit back, take a breath and realize this is a new marketing technique to promote an upcoming movie. So the question remains, how well will this work. Will people who have family members think it's funny when they contact this "company" for more info, only to find out "Thanks for your interest. the movie opens in 2005"? Think I'm being irrational? Go to Google and search for cloning...look at the very top sponsored link.

[ Wow. That's remarkable. I quite probably would've called bullshit on the claims they make, but it certainly doesn't trigger my "movie ad" recognition at all. I guess the question is, how effective is an advertisment that doesn't reveal the product being advertised?

The Resident Evil 2 trailer pulls a similar thing to start with, playing like an ad for a rejuvenating cream, but it reveals itself towards the end. I think it's really a good ad, but that's because of the, "What? Rujivawhat? OHHHH... " factor. I don't see the revelation part here, which is what i think solidifies the interest.

EDIT: For those who wish to domolish the illusion, here's the official site : http://www.godsendthemovie.com/

It appears the movie will be released shortly, like, 10 days. I've seen 0 ads.

There are trailers available there, of course. Interestingly, once you know who plays Dr. Wells, you can recognize him, even in the small pix on the fake institute site, though i'd be impressed if anyone could call it without knowing.
-k]

Godsend Institute

] Tens of millions of Indians have voted in phase one of
] the country's first all-electronic election.
]
]
] Every vote in the world's largest democracy is being
] recorded at the press of a button.

[ This will definitely be something to watch. I want technical information about how these machines work... this page lacks such.

edit: this page has a little picture at least... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3493474.stm
these look decidedly low tech compared to the US systems. No touch screens and it appears only one race per device, which could be problematic in the US, where multiple offices are voted upon in the same day.
-k]

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | First stage of India polling ends

] "Maybe the law isn't about right or wrong. The concept
] that the government lied to the Supreme Court seemed to
] me a terrible thing to do. It appears that the justices
] were not as appalled as I was."

[ Quite an interesting story, though it's a bit wordy and somewhat less sophisticated than I'd expect, given the amount of research that obviously went into it's creation. I suggest reading quickly and turning off your grammar checking... the story itself is very much worthwhile. -k]

Yahoo! News - A Daughter Discovers What Really Happened

] "I can think of few, if any, better examples of putting
] the triple bottom line of sustainability into practice -
] delivering environmental and economic benefit directly to
] local communities," says Mr. Gillespie.

[ Indeed. What a very very cool process. This dude gets a virtual medal for being smart. -k]

Real life Tiberium?

MY EYES! MY EYES!!

[ Ugh. I don't recall that much, uh, flesh, in Tron. -k]

Oh how you've ruined one of my most cherished memories...

] Federal safety data has shown for years that booming
] sales of S.U.V.'s and large pickup trucks are adding to
] the death toll of people riding in cars, particularly in
] side-impact accidents. At the same time, S.U.V.'s and
] pickup trucks do not, as a class, better protect their
] own occupants, because they tend to be less stable and
] more prone to rollovers than passenger cars.

Guess what: if you're in a sedan and you get t-boned by an
SUV, you're fucked.

[ Proper fucked. This is a disturbing trend. Bad drivers want to feel safer so they get into massive trucks which are presumed to be more likely to protect them. Meanwhile they obliterate the poor sap they've caromed into because they were busy yammering on they cell phone while hauling their 4 rugrats to soccer practice. It'd be a lot safer to just put down the cell phone and learn how to drive.
p.s. most volvo drivers suck too. for the same reasons. -k]

Struck in Side, Many Cars Fare Poorly in Safety Test

] The 1995 discovery of the top quark and singer Marian
] Anderson's 1947 rendition of "Nobody Knows the Trouble
] I've Seen" may seem unrelated. But through an interagency
] agreement with the Library of Congress, the same
] technology used to study subatomic particles is helping
] to restore and preserve the sounds of yesteryear.

[ Totally cool. Go science! -k]

From top quarks to the blues