Sinclair's Disgrace (Salon, reg. req'd or one day free pass)
Sinclair's unprecedented move once again raises questions about the effects of rampant media consolidation, the deregulation that allows a small number of large conglomerates to own so many outlets, let alone use them to advance an obvious political agenda.

Bush Like Me - Ten weeks undercover in the grass roots of the Republican Party (RollingStone)
Part of my job, I soon came to understand, was to be supportive when people like portly Tampa sheriff's deputy Ben Mills came in to share their very serious utopian ideas -- like the benefits of having a society guarded by a clone army. "We'd save a hell of a lot on benefits and medical expenses," he said. " 'Cause you know if they got wounded..."
"You could just shoot them," I said.
"Exactly -- pow! Just shoot 'em dead, right in the ground."

This photo, with increased contrast and balance, shows whatever he's got in his ear more clearly.

It appears that George Bush has a monitor device in his ear.
Photo: NYTimes Debate slideshow

“You’re not going to make Iraq safe for democracy,” the sergeant said. “You are going for one reason alone: oil. But you’re still going to go, because you signed a contract. And you’re going to go to bring your friends home.” Hoffman, who had his own doubts about the war, was relieved—he’d never expected to hear such a candid assessment from a superior. But it was only when he had been in Iraq for several months that the full meaning of the sergeant’s words began to sink in.

Mother Jones article on soldiers breaking rank and protesting the occupation of Iraq.

Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought (Nature)

A nice point-by-point recap of the trouncing that Bush took at last night's final debate. (CNN's Paul Begala)

Don't miss the GOP in 2 minutes video on iFilms Viral Video

It seems as though Bush is responding to the lambasting he took in last week's debate against a far more prepared, intelligent, and articulate Kerry by resorting to abject nastiness - a strategy that has all but defined his entire tenure in court-appointed office. How he thinks that insult and estrangement of not only Kerry's views, but of those of no less than half the country are a viable strategy to win support and confidence is something that only the most cynical, desperate minds could devise.

When the neo-conservatives mock a challenge for reasons to go to war, they mock half of America. When they call reasonable dissent anti-patriotic, they insult half of America. When they defend corrupt, back-door no-bid deals with well connected cronies as 'necessary', they're spending money that half of Americans object to. Bush has crossed the line, and he's no longer playing politics with Kerry. He's attacking the views of half of us, and flaunting the disregard for consensus and reasonable conduct he's always sadly displayed.

Yesterday, Michigan Republicans called for the arrest of Michael Moore. His crime: giving away clean underware to anyone who will vote in the upcoming election.

The state of Michigan (where we spent most of last week) reported that over 100,000 young people recently registered to vote, a record that no one saw coming. The Slacker Tour has turned into a huge steamroller with a momentum all its own.
So, the Republican Party, to show their gratitude that so many young people will now be involved in our system, has demanded that I be sent to jail for trying to "bribe" students to vote.

[The hideous face of Conservatism] Fox News doesn't turn a blind eye toward fake, lying journalists on their staff - they lightly slap them on the wrist.
"Didn't my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!" the article by the Cameron read, purportedly quoting Kerry after the event.
"Carl has been reprimanded," Schur said Sunday, defining further comment.

Contact FoxNews, and demand that they fire the chief political correspondent and lying fraud Carl Cameron for his obscene violation of journalistic integrity.

Strange Haze is for conspiracy-minded people who want to know why those vapor trails in the sky are there. Pictures and speculation galore.
Why do we think what we think? Well, apart from the repeated, intense, and unusual flight-patterns, odd illnesses will sometimes strike people shortly after these chemtrail episodes; multiple witnesses have also reported a cobweb-like substance seen falling from the sky. You should also know that a lab-analysis of some "goo" which fell to the ground revealed the presence of biological-agents: Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Streptomyces, and a restriction enzyme used to create viruses

Someone skinned 64 tickle-me Elmos and made a giant, red, vibrating coat. For such a great idea, the site is pretty light on pics/video of the project. This one has more.

Types of ass: A qualitative study (from the aptly named assmatrix) Definitely NSFW

Cool comic-art inspired prints at BeunaVentura press

The Electronic Museum of Mail Art

Dear Mike, Iraq sucks. Letters to Mike Moore from soldiers (via the Guardian, UK)
Mike, I am a truck driver right now in Iraq. Let me give you this one small fact because I am right here at the heart of it: since I started this job several months ago, 100% (that's right, not 99%) of the workers I am aware of are inflating the hours they claim on their time sheets.

Decline of the Creative Class
Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, and others are spending more on research and development and shoring up their universities in an effort to attract the world's best--including Americans.

"I'm going to fight booze until hell freezes over, and then I'm going to buy a pair of ice skates and fight it some more," he boomed in a lyrical staccato. "Men and women, I challenge you! Get on the water wagon and let's fight this dirty business!"
-- Gene Amondson, Prohibition Party candidate in this election. His party was last a threat to Woodrow Wilson in '16 (NYTimes)

"They need to make Americans forget what happened tonight," said ultraconservative Joe Scarborough on MSNBC, speaking on what he believed the Bush campaign needed to do post-debate. (truthout)

DHS Cyber Security Chief Abruptly Resigns
The government's cybersecurity chief has abruptly resigned after one year with the Department of Homeland Security, confiding to industry colleagues his frustration over what he considers a lack of attention paid to computer security issues within the agency.

A nice recap of the debate by CNN's Paul Begala. The almost universal consensus is the Bush got soundly beaten last night. In that light, Rudy G's post debate commentary (that Bush easily out-debated Kerry) seemed downright dishonest. In keeping with the Republican party line that if you say something enough, people will believe it, he praised Bush's hamfisted handling of even the slowpitch issues that he should have nailed. Republican repetition is looking less like solidarity and more like deceit and shameful denial.

Bush's footing on the domestic issues is going to be even more shaky. Let's hope that Kerry calls Bush to task for Ashcroft's mere presence in office, let alone his abomination of a public record, as well as Cheney's backroom dealings with polluters.

Cool, experimental new VR from the Invisible Train
Needed: a camera-enhanced PDA, some open-source code, and a Thomas the Tank Engine track.

The Well-Connected Media Tracker from PublicIntegrity.org lets you enter a zip or address, and instantly find out who owns every media outlet in your area.

How to Debate Bush by Al Gore (NYTimes)
Someone tell Al that this "debate" is turning out to be a mockery of democratic process. The corporate sponsorship and sham commission that sets the rules are working to make sure that absolutely nothing unscripted, unrehearsed, or vaguely resembling honesty comes out of this dog-and-pony show. Why would Kerry agree to play by these rules? Isn't there a point where corporate interests undermining fairness cross the line of illegality? Fox and NBC only cried foul for selfish reasons, and are limiting their complaints to those regarding available camera angles. Isn't anybody going to call foul on this charade?

Cold War Civil Defense Museum

The need for a 100-year computer language

Citizens for Tax Justice has issued a report (pdf) outlining habits of America's largest and most profitable companies, and points to an epidemic of tax-avoidance under Bush, the result of which will be an increasingly large burden for citizens now and in the future.

Creative Misuse and Abuse of Musical Tools: w/lots of audio.

Many, many more Daily Reasons to Dispatch Bush from McSweeneys.net. Every one worth reading.

Undermining democracy, one voting machine at a time.
Jimmy Carter on how bias and bad technology are paving the way for another illegitimate election in Florida.
Voting arrangements in Florida do not meet "basic international requirements" and could undermine the US election, former US President Jimmy Carter says.
He said a repeat of the irregularities of the much-disputed 2000 election - which gave President George W Bush the narrowest of wins - "seems likely".

A big 10-pager NYTimes Mag article on the role of blogging in the campaign. After the election, I'm giving up political posting for good. Too much competition, not enough direct access given to those outside of the mainstream news outlets. Maybe there should be an independent online media PAC?

You've heard about the links between the Bush administration and big oil before. Read this anyway.
"Profit-wise, things could not have been better," says Gheit, "In the last three years, they died and went to heaven .... They are all sitting on the largest piles of cash in their history."
Live in the Oil Industry circa 2004

"Wagon Wheel" video from Old Crow Medicine Show.

Collection and gallery of gramophone needle tins.

The Bush administration just can't stand the idea of free elections.
Rumsfeld openly proposed a "partial election" for Iraq, with the parts that vote decided by the administration, thus guaranteeing a predefined outcome.

Meanwhile, their friends at Diebold have a production e-voting system that you might be using in November that quite literally got hacked by a monkey

Tell The Truth.
President Bush says "our strategy is succeeding" and Iraq "is headed toward democracy." He says "Freedom is on the march."
But the CIA told Bush recently that the scenarios we're really facing there range from "an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous" -- a quagmire -- to civil war.
Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) is calling on Bush to level with us, by releasing the CIA report, formally called a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). Senator John McCain (R-AZ) agrees that he should.

Demand that Bush release the NIE for public review.

What are you voting for? (via metafilter)

StupidSecurity.com: Exposing fake security since 2003
"A weight may soon be lifted off a Maryland woman charged with carrying a concealed weapon in an airport. It wasn't a gun or a knife. It was a weighted bookmark. Kathryn Harrington was flying home from vacation last month when screeners at the Tampa, Fla., airport found her bookmark. It's an 8.5-inch leather strip with small lead weights at each end. Airport police said it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. So the 52-year-old special education teacher was handcuffed, put into a police car, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon. She faced a possible criminal trial and a $10,000 fine."

See whether your favorite actor or actress was ever killed off in a movie at the CineMorgue.

[Bad Neighbor Day] Rednecks (oldish, but still the standard by which all other bad neighbor lists are judged). Top 10 list. Rated by extreme bad-neighborliness.

Now that the U.S. entertainment industry has subverted Copyright law in the interest of corporate profit, they're moving on to easier targets: open-source software developers.

"We realized that the MPAA must be doing blind keyword matching against Internet content and then sending out automatic take-down notices with no real research or double checks," Smith said.
"This seems to be a huge misuse of resources, an infringement upon various global spam laws, an infringement upon our own Copyright Act under Section 102 and needless stress and cost upon small Australian organizations and companies," Smith said.

Kerry’s “Top 10 Bush Tax Proposals” (Letterman):

10. No estate tax for families with at least two U.S. presidents.9. W-2 Form is now Dubya-2 Form.8. Under the simplified tax code, your refund check goes directly to Halliburton.7. The reduced earned income tax credit is so unfair, it just makes me want to tear out my lustrous, finely groomed hair.6. Attorney General (John) Ashcroft gets to write off the entire U.S. Constitution.5. Texas Rangers can take a business loss for trading Sammy Sosa.4. Eliminate all income taxes; just ask Teresa (Heinz Kerry) to cover the whole damn thing.3. Cheney can claim Bush as a dependent.2. Hundred-dollar penalty if you pronounce it “nuclear” instead of “nucular.”1. George W. Bush gets a deduction for mortgaging our entire future.

BadArchitecture.net

If you're Catholic, it's tough to be a pope, but easy to be an Anti-Pope.
Americans seem to be particularly keen on the papacy, in addition to those already cited we may add Francis Konrad Schuckardt of Spokane, Washington, who declared himself Hadrian VII in 1984 and David Bawden of Kansas who became Pope Michael I in 1990. Finally, among the Americans, there is Reinaldus Michael Benjamins or Gregory XIX who claims to have been crowned by angels in 1983.

Serious Whittling Skills

Post-Modern Irrationalism got you down? PhilosophyWeb is a very nice index for modern western philosophy, with bios of the major players and links to online texts of their works.

More wacky hijinx from the laff-a-minute far-right fundamentalist Christians! Cheek-turning is out; Killing is in. Jimmy Swaggart is so tight with God, he can brag about murdering gays then lying to Him about it!
(Video stream - FF 35 minutes for the very Christian death threat).

"And I'm gonna be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died."
(from the Church of Critical Thinking)

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan calls the war in Iraq "illegal" (BBC RealAudio stream)

Get the Pixies (leaked) cover of Warren Zevon's "Aint that pretty at all", from the forthcoming "Enjoy every sandwhich" tribute album before it gets yanked. They havn't lost a thing since the early 90s.

Blogger is at an all time low. Slow and inaccurate. Some day's I get about 50% of the stuff posted that I publish. Can't google lend them a few servers or something?

The next time somebody points a camera at you, do a Lynndie. (via memepool)

[concise, direct, accurate, and painfully obvious] Powell called Bush Administration Neo-Con's "F%*king Crazies".
GuardianUK's link to same.

"I expect the Bush administration will go down in history as the greatest disaster for public health and the environment in the history of the United States." -- Senator James Jeffers, VT

The Bush administration has accelerated resource development on public lands and has pushed to eliminate regulatory hurdles for military and industrial projects.

Assault weapons free-for-all starts today. Go Nuts. When kids start playing with AK47s, thank the NRA, whose answer is to start teaching kids how to handle guns safely in schools (warning: NRA link requires registration that may get you on a pro-gun mailing list)

"The 1994 federal assault-weapons ban was a bad job from the beginning, a fraudulent piece of legislation pushed through by hard-line gun-control advocates during the glory days of the Clinton era."

All Republicans think it. Some say it. (NYTimes)
"If we do not suppress the Detroit vote we're going to have a tough time in this election."
-- John Pappageorge, Michigan Republican

There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S89 and HR 163) which call for mandatory drafting for boys and girls(age 18-26) starting June 15 2005.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5146.htm
http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html
http://www.hslda.org/legislation/national/2003/s89/default.asp

Chris Rock presents "How Not to Gt Your Ass Kicked by the Police"

Send a message to the future: Each and every person, be he short or tall, weak or strong, is invited to graciously participate to the Keo Space Odyssey
Each and every person on Earth is invited to address his or her far away descendants, be it to describe his or her life, to share a thought, to pass on his or her experiences, aspirations and dreams… to introduce him or herself within a few written lines (4 pages maximum, 6000 signs, spaces included). The messages are void of censorship: all received messages shall leave on board KEO.

Type your message here by the end of 2004.

The Pitch Drop experiment, started in 1930, is still going.

Free, legal mp3s at smart-music.net. Mostly club, electronica stuff.

Interview with Velvet Undergrounder John Cale (OnionAVClub)

The Gemmary gallery of antique scientific instruments

Smashed Banana Power

Everything you need to know about Pascal's Triangle.

[The People (at party headquarters) Have Spoken!] If you needed any more proof that Bush supporters were dim, mindless shills, consider the campaing's fancy new Letter to the Editor Writer. You only need to touch your keyboard to type your name, and the party's opinions will instantly, and publicly become yours in an almost surreally-disturbing Borg-like fashion. I've said it before and I'll say it again: NO SHAME WHATSOEVER.

Faces of the dead in Iraq. (NYTimes)

Jimmy Carter to Zell Miller on loyalty.
But now, there are many of us loyal Democrats who feel uncomfortable in seeing that you have chosen the rich over the poor, unilateral preemptive war over a strong nation united with others for peace, lies and obfuscation over the truth, and the political technique of personal character assassination as a way to win elections or to garner a few moments of applause. These are not the characteristics of great Democrats whose legacy you and I have inherited.

"We've got an issue in America. Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."
-- G.W. Bush
Your president said this. Out loud. I'm not joking.

[How to] [write] [a Manifesto]
Also, a list of historical, mainly Dadaist manifestos from 391.org.

The Republican Noise Machine (Mother Jones)
David Brock, the reformed conservative noise-maker, on how the Right has sabotaged journalism, democracy, and truth.

"We're not in Lake Wobegon anymore" Garrison Keillor on the Republican Party.
The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.

Tell it like it is, Garrison.

How to FLY a small plane.

End of summer blowout on hypnodisks and trebuchets

[How come they never remember a past life starving in a leper colony?] Shirley MacLaine says she was a ... yawn ... princess in Egypt

Bush by the numbers

Remembering the Black Woodstock. The WattStax documentary is coming on DVD, the trailer is here.

Tiny nuclear timepieces may replace quartz in wristwatches. (Nature)

More earthlike planets found. Much international bickering over who saw what first.

The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy. ~Woodrow Wilson

Diebold Voting Hack uncovered - What did you expect from the e-voting maching company headed by the man who's committed to delivering the election to Bush?
By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes is created. This set of votes can be changed, so that it no longer matches the correct votes. The voting system will then read the totals from the bogus vote set. It takes only seconds to change the votes, and to date not a single location in the U.S. has implemented security measures to fully mitigate the risks.

Unusual Road Signs [2(UK)]

Apple unveiled their new iMac today. It looks decidedly minimalist with the processor, cards, ports, and even speakers stashed behind the flatscreen.

Behind Enemy Lines: Advice From a Partisan
If during your stay in New York you would like to join the great free-thinking herd of the diverse, simply acknowledge aloud that the war in Iraq has permanently set back the Middle East peace process and accept the blame for the following outrages: outsourcing, the French's loss of esteem for America, Mr. Ashcroft's attempt to erect a gallows in Columbus Circle, and Mr. Bush's failure instantly to stop reading "My Pet Goat" aloud to the Sarasota second graders on Sept. 11 after being informed that planes were suddenly flying into buildings.

The death of the album has been greatly exaggerated. (Popmatters)

The GOP plans to recall 9/11 over and over again during the convention. With the protracted failure in Iraq, the still-failing economy, the billions wasted, the sweetheart crony defense deals, and without having caught the guy who was actually responsible, is this wise?

For the person who has everything: 8 strange consumer products (Failuremag). None of them, however, are as absurd as this.

Signs of the times: Photography, ironically is verboten at the Philadelphia Constitution Center.

Here's what happened to the bikesagainstbush guy.
When Kinberg showed the police sergeant how the bicycle used a non-permanent spray chalk, the sergeant seemed to agree that it wasn't defacement, at which point Kinberg asked, "am I free to go?" After conferring about it, officers decided to call superiors, then came back moments later to place Kinberg under arrest and confiscate the bicycle.

A wireless, bike-mounted, spray paint spraying dot matrix street printer. Message the rider during the RNC, and you may get your text printed on NYC asphault.

Does economic climate predict election outcomes? Not really (Forbes)

Singing Science Records (complete mp3s and cover art for all 6 science themed folk LPs!)

The 356 Days Project which featured oddball and novelty songs @ one mp3 a day for the year (2003) was taken offline at the end of its run. It's now back online and has a permanent home at ubu.

"Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau

For those heading to New York, the Civil Disobedience Index (ActUp)

The (Syntactic) History of Protest (Fresh Air Commentary, 2002)
But you'd hope that "protest" would retain some of the sense of resistance that it acquired at the beginning of the last century. Up to now, after all, protest has been the only political action that power can't engage in.

The Folk Music Archives
Digital interviews of American folk artists, groups & venues of the 50's and 60's with "Voice Clips", Pictures and Archival Information.

Sedna, the most distant object in our solar system, may have a pitch black moon.

A Chill in Florida (NYTimes)
Florida Republicans are using state troopers to intimidate black voters.

A Chill in Florida (NYTimes)
Florida Republicans are using state troopers to indimidate black voters.