] The Israeli military is equipping its forces with a new
] range of spy drones small enough to fit in a soldier's
] backpack, the army said on Thursday.

[ neat! -k]

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel unveils tiny drone planes

] A Statement of our Mission
] 1. To inform today's youth that identify themselves with
] the punk scene with the facts, rather than rumor and
] conspiracy theory.
]
] 2. To encourage today's youth to register to vote and
] become engaged in politics.
]
] 3. To encourage youth voters to draw there own
] conclusions rather than indoctrinate them into a certain
] way of thinking.

I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

[ I'd go with "cry". If their mission statement were true, they'd have no reason to identify themselves as conservative. Any group committed to an ideology, such as conservatism, will invariably color their "facts" in ways that advance their particular viewpoint. Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but I don't see a lot of evidence to the contrary.
And I'm not convinced the punk rock ethos is really compatible with conservatism anyway... like gay conservatives. Never understood that at all. The conservative viewpoint explicitly argues *against* changes in acceptible behaviors. -k]

Conservative Punk Magazine - About

Outsourcing actually brings far more benefits than costs, both now and in the long run. If its critics succeed in provoking a new wave of American protectionism, the consequences will be disastrous -- for the U.S. economy and for the American workers they claim to defend.

[ Is it maybe just the timing that's got everyone up in arms about outsourcing? The economy already sucks, so people are even less apt to condone a long term strategy that hurts in the short term?

Or maybe there's a disjoint between prediction and reality. My initial reaction was highly negative, but I'm softening just a little bit. I understand some of the arguments in favor of, and I'm willing to give them some credence, though I still don't trust the motives of big business. Big business tends to consolidate wealth, and "job creation" in and of itself isn't a pure good -- such as when the jobs are sweatshop class, for example. I'm begining to believe there's a solid economic justification for outsourcing, but that the real-world implementation of the practice by greedy magnates and politicians falls short of the idealized case used by economists to justify the practice. That's just a feeling I'm getting. I'm still no economist, but if there's anything life has taught me it's that everything's gray, and the tone shifts wildly based on how certain details are handled... I think outsourcing *could* be good, but *is* not. God knows we have little reason to trust Bush, his pack of wolves, or the multi-millionaires who benefit disproportionately from his economic policies. -k]

The Outsourcing Bogeyman

] Unemployed, but not for lack of style! Retro letters are
] in cool felt for a fabulous velvety feel. Casual cotton
] is very soft, with short sleeves and rib-knit crew neck.

Nice, should get one of these.

[ Very cool. I wouldn't wear one for fear of being a poseur, but I totally appreciate the sentiment. I want one that says "I'M A DEFICIT SPENDER, JUST LIKE W!" -k]

Oldnavy.com -- Men's 'Unemployed' Tees

] Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., called for the hearing during
] a speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday. He
] suggested that use of the technology, known as radio
] frequency identification (RFID), may need to be regulated
] at the federal level.

[ Good... it's about time we see legislative movement *before* the technology is widespread. Here's hoping some useful policy comes out of this... -k]

Tracking tags may get congressional scrutiny - News - ZDNet

] This Kleptones (now, that's a band-name) have released a
] mash-up of the Flaming Lips's "Are You a Hypnotist",
] Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" and Public Enemy's
] "By the Time I Get to Arizona" kicks ass. 4.7 MP3 Link

[ This track is completely awesome. You remix-culture heads and edge walkers better download it right now... -k]

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

] The average collegian in the U.S. isn't graduating into a
] world of boundless opportunity, but rather is
] $20,000-plus in the hole thanks to student loans and
] credit cards. So begins the snowball effect: The most
] desirable entry-level jobs often pay wages too low for
] the indebted, who must fork over a large percentage of
] their salaries to Sallie Mae or Citibank.

This problem affects me and practically everyone I know. Very insightful article about the problems that trouble Generation X and Y.

[ Hear hear. I'm under no illusions that i'm among the lucky ones, able to pay my bills and have some money left over... but i'm still trailing a pretty sizable debt. -k]

Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young: The Ambition Tax

] When ATMs go bad by Carla Geisser

CMU students managed to crash an ATM on campus to the XP desktop. Fantastic.

[ Yes, ATM's should run on the world's least secure platform. Good call. -k]

photo sharing system

] Use the location search (on your home address) to find
] those who live near you that have made presidential
] campaign contributions. You can also search for friends
] or celebrities by name.

This is a neat little tool. Clearly needs to be updated, but still has some valuable info in it.

Neighbor Search

] Korn's new video for "Y'all Want a Single? Fuck That,"
] consists of the band trashing a record store, screaming
] the chorous, while a suprisingly eloquent rant against
] the recording industry's treatment of artists and the
] radio oligopolies' top-40 mentalitity scrolls past. The
] band reveals that they released the video against its
] label's wishes and urges you to "steal" it. (Link to video
] here.)

[ Very nice. Even if you don't like Korn. -k]

Boing Boing: Korn's new video damns the music industry