] They may be the ones facing danger on the battlefield,
] but US soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for
] President George W Bush.
]
] Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called "A
] Christian's Duty," a mini prayer book which includes a
] tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging
] the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush.

So when the bullets and bombs are buzzing around your head, your running out of food, and the stench of burning oil and flesh has got you down, remember brave soldiers... Pray for Bush.

] Sunday's is "Pray that the President and his advisers
] will seek God and his wisdom daily and not rely on
] their own understanding".

Sure.. Yeah.. Troops, remember to go over that one after a Hail Mary or two when the artillary shells are going off around you..

] Monday's reads "Pray that the President and his advisers
] will be strong and courageous to do what is right
] regardless of critics".

[Insert Ashcroft joke here]

US soldiers in Iraq asked to pray for Bush. 30/3/2003. ABC News Online

] The computer-networked, digital world poses enormous
] threats to humanity that no government, no matter how
] totalitarian, can stop. A fully open society is our best
] chance for survival.

This one goes in the "Bill Joy is Wrong" folder.

Salon.com Technology | Are we doomed yet?

] One of the oddest battles of the 78th Legislature is
] pitting Texas' licensed professional engineers against
] the high-tech industry's software dudes.
]
] At issue is just who in Texas can call himself an
] engineer.
]
] "It's one of the silliest issues we're having to deal
] with this session, but it's also one of the most
] important," said Steven Kester, legislative director of
] the American Electronics Association, an organization of
] computer companies.
]
] Texas has one of the nation's strictest engineering
] practices acts and limits the title of engineer to those
] people who have studied engineering and passed a
] licensing exam.
]
] And that law puts most of the "engineers" in the
] high-tech industry out of the field. Kester said the
] restriction threatens high-tech growth in Texas.

] Taylor said there are about 100,000 high-tech
] personnel in Texas who have "engineer" in their
] title, but they are not licensed by the state.
]
] "They risk fines of up to $3,000 a day for handing out
] business cards to a supplier or even dropping it in a
] fish bowl at a restaurant for a chance at a free
] lunch," Taylor said.

HoustonChronicle.com - An engineer by any other name

] Rolling Stone claims that a full quarter of new HIV
] infections stem from morbid thrill-seeking. Sean Hannity
] is swallowing the story -- should you?

The Bug Chasing story went around MemeStreams.. http://www.memestreams.net/thread/bid4288/

Salon.com | Sex- and death-crazed gays play viral Russian Roulette!

] Fox News had its own response to the demonstrators. The
] news ticker rimming Fox's headquarters on Sixth Avenue
] wasn't carrying war updates as the protest began.
] Instead, it poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them.
]
] "War protester auditions here today ... thanks for
] coming!" read one message. "Who won your right to show up
] here today?" another questioned. "Protesters or
] soldiers?"
]
] Said a third: "How do you keep a war protester in
] suspense? Ignore them."
]
] Still another read: "Attention protesters: the Michael
] Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth
] Avenue and 50th Street" - a reference to the film maker
] who denounced the war while accepting an Oscar on Sunday
] night for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine."
]
] The protesters said Fox's sentiments only proved their
] point: that media coverage, in particular among the
] television networks, is so biased as to be unbelievable.

Fox news ticker speaks out against NYC protesters

The Veteran's Administration, plagued by recent budget cuts, has had to resort to charging new veterans entering into its system a yearly fee of $250 in order for them to receive treatment. It is a sad irony that the very people being sent to fight the war are going to have to pay to treat the effects of it.

Support the Warrior Not the War: Give Them Their Benefits!

Autobots, transform and roll out!

I feel safe with Optimus Prime on the job..

Seriously..

Optimus Prime's Home Page!

The Flipside boys promise to "fuck it up for everyone" again tommorow at CBGBs.. For those who are unfamilar with Sunshine Flipside, they play Rock n' Roll of the truest garage variety.. Most offten labeled "schizadelic-stomp-rock".. They just finished recording what will be their first major label release. They put on a great live show.

I will be present with my crew of trouble makers. We plan to do exactly what we did the last time they played at CBGBs.. Without expanding on that, maybe this will be the time we all wind up in jail, you never know.. It would be a shame to miss out on all the fun, so if you are in NYC, be sure to come out..

Sunshine Flipside, Saturday 29th, at CBGB

] Iraq needs a mobile-phone service. According to the
] U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union's 2001
] survey, Iraq, North Korea and Afghanistan were the last
] three major countries without a major mobile
] infrastructure.
]
] The current reconstruction plan involves using U.S. funds
] to install a European-based wireless technology known as
] GSM (define) for a new Iraqi cell phone system. Issa's
] bill (HR 1441) would give preference to American
] companies, including QUALCOMM.
]
] "If European GSM technology is deployed in Iraq, much of
] the equipment used to build the cell phone system would
] be manufactured in France, Germany, and elsewhere in
] western and northern Europe. Furthermore, royalties paid
] on the technology would flow to French and European
] sources, not U.S. patent holders," Issa said in his
] letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and USAID
] Administrator, Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain.

US business interests over plain common sense, and what is best for the Iraqi people... every surrounding nation uses GSM, but Iraq should be CDMA, because American companies will get the loot.

Great thinking.

Curious.. Do they drive on the left or right side of the road in Iraq?

CDMA Pushed on Postwar Iraq

] NEW YORK - With a war on, Iraq is surprisingly still in
] position to deliver oil, and while the United Nations may
] be in no position to deliver food, the U.N. Security
] Council is at least near an agreement that would permit
] U.N. agencies to do so as part of the oil-for-food
] program.
]
]
] The agreement will allow delivery of $10 billion in food
] and other humanitarian aid to Iraq, diplomats say. These
] shipments would be financed by Iraqi oil that is already
] out of the ground and stored at the Turkish Mediterranean
] port of Ceyhan, the end of a pipeline from Iraq's
] northern Kirkuk fields.
]
]
] The resolution could be voted on as early as today and is
] being hailed as a resumption of a consensus about Iraq
] policy after the acrimonious debates failed to lead to an
] agreement before the war.

U.N. Will Allow Iraq Oil To Flow