According to Homestarrunner.com, they have painted a giant guitar for the Rock and Roll Hame of Fame. Check it out here with comments from Strongbad.

The public thinks the media is liberal becuase, well, the media is more liberal than the rest of America. From Editor and Publisher:

Those convinced that liberals make up a disproportionate share of newsroom workers have long relied on Pew Research Center surveys to confirm this view, and they will not be disappointed by the results of Pew’s latest study released today.

While most of the journalists, like many Americans, describe themselves as “moderate,” a far higher number are “liberal” than in the general population.

At national organizations (which includes print, TV and radio), the numbers break down like this: 34% liberal, 7% conservative. At local outlets: 23% liberal, 12% conservative. At Web sites: 27% call themselves liberals, 13% conservatives.

This contrasts with the self-assessment of the general public: 20% liberal, 33% conservative.

Of all of the strange extreme sports, extreme ironing maybe the strangest.

Michael Crichton has given two very good talks about science and environmentalism. In “Aliens Cause Global Warming” he argues that science has become hopelessly religious and politicized and needs to return to actually testing things instead of science by consensus without actually having evidence.

In another talk he explains how environmentalism is a religion and all of the assumptions about an environmental Eden was false, and are closer to an environmental hell.

Below are some excerpts:
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Here’s what Jesse Walker has to say about Chalabi and a Newsday article on the subject:

BEST CHALABI THEORY YET: The thought that Newsday‘s take on Chalabi might be true is arousing my pettiest instincts:

The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that a U.S.-funded arm of Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress has been used for years by Iranian intelligence to pass disinformation to the United States and to collect highly sensitive American secrets, according to intelligence sources.

“Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein,” said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency’s conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents.

Carp all you want about the gaps in the sourcing, moan if you must that Iran might not actually want a U.S. occupation force next door. Just think of all the hawks who, if this pans out, would be Iranian dupes. The very concept is clouding my vision. It’s like learning that Pat Buchanan is getting money from the Mossad.

It’s a disturbing story. If it is true, the dignified response is surely not to revel in it. But until the weekend’s over, I’ll be doing just that. For fear of the karmic retribution, I will try not to gloat.

Lately I’ve been researching the regulation of mercury. Over the next few weeks I will be posting some of my thoughts and findings on the subject because much of what I have found so far is that environmentalists and EPA rest their case on very little data and sloppy thinking.

One example is an law review article by a guy named David W. Rugh. He wrote an article entiteld, “Clearer, But Still Toxic Skies: A Comparison of The Clear Skies Act, Congressional Bills, and The Proposed Rule To Control Mercury Emissions From Coal-Fired Power Plants” (28 Vt. L. Rev. 201). In this article Rugh compares different congressional proposals to reducing mercury. He concludes:

If adopted, the Clean Smokestacks and Clean Power Acts [bills introduced by Democrats] will better protect the health and safety of both the public and the environment because they achieve greater reductions in mercury emissions in a shorter period of time. Compared to the operation of the current CAA’s section 112, and the predicted results of the Clean Smokestacks and Clean Power Acts, the Acid Rain Control Act, and even the CAPA [a bill introduced by liberal Republican], the President’s CSA [Clean Skies Act] undermines the health and safety of the American public, as well as the integrity of the environment to benefit electricity generating companies who utilize antiquated, dirty, coal-fired boilers.

This is a depressing conclusion becuase it shows a complete lack of thought about the issue. I shouldn’t be surprised though, since this typical of environmentalists.

The main problem with Rugh’s article is that he fails to consider the real costs of such proposals and he doesn’t compare the costs to the benefits of the proposals. He doesn’t consider that it will cost billions of dollars to implement these plans. And he blithely assumes that reducing mercury emissions from power plants in the United States is worth the billions of dollars that it will require.

Later I will post more on the health effects of mercury and the costs and benefits of mercury regulation.

I like Google because Google keep tryings to do things better. To that end, they are releasing a new tool to help find file and text software on your computer. UPI reports:

California’s Google will launch a file and text software search tool for finding information stored on PCs, in a direct challenge to Microsoft.

Code-named Puffin, it will be soon be available as a free download from Google’s Web site, Marketwatch.com reported Wednesday.

Google’s move is partly defensive. Microsoft’s update of its operating system, called Longhorn, will reportedly feature a redesigned file system, making it possible to track and retrieve information in ways not currently possible with Windows software.

I didn’t offend any muslims, but the KISS bassist Gene Simmons sure did:

KISS bass player Gene Simmons has caused an uproar among Australia’s Muslim community by launching an attack on Islamic culture while in Melbourne.

The lizard-tongued rock god who is touring Australia with the world’s most enduring glam rock band launched an attack on Muslim extremists during an interview on Melbourne’s 3AW radio.

“Extremism believes that it’s okay to strap bombs on to your children and send them to paradise and whatever else and to behead people,” he said yesterday.

The Israeli-born US musician went on to say Islam was a “vile culture” that treated women worse than dogs.

Muslim women had to walk behind their men and were not allowed to be educated or own houses, he said.

“Your dog, however, can walk side by side, your dog is allowed to have its own dog house… you can send your dog to school to learn tricks, sit, beg, do all that stuff

Garry Kasparov has some good stuff to say about combating terrorism:

It is said that to win a battle you must be the one to choose the battleground. Since the Abu Ghraib abuses were revealed, the battleground has been chosen by those who would blur the lines between terrorists and those fighting against them. The Bush administration has contributed to the confusion with its ambiguous “war on terror.” You cannot fight a word. You need targets, you need to know what you are fighting for and against. Most importantly you must have beliefs that enable you to distinguish friend from foe.

While al Qaeda may not have a headquarters to bomb, there is no shortage of visible adversaries. What is required is to name them and to take action against them. We must also drag into the light those leaders and media who fail to condemn acts of terror. It is not only Al Jazeera talking about “insurgents” in Iraq, it is CNN. Many in Europe and even some in the U.S. are trying to differentiate “legitimate” terrorism from “bad” terrorism. Those who intentionally kill innocent civilians are terrorists, as are their sponsors. No political agenda should be allowed to advance through terrorist activity. We need to identify our enemy, not play with words.

The situation is worse in the Muslim world. Calling the terrorists “militants” or “radical Islamists” presupposes the existence of moderates willing to confront the radicals. Outside of Turkey, it is very hard to find moderate clerics who will stand up to Islamist terrorists, even though the majority of their victims are Muslim. In Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr has been murdering his religious opposition and using armed gangs to establish political rule. He appears immune to anything resembling condemnation. We know that his militia receives outside support–and where would it come from other than Syria and Iran?

Read the entire article.

Below I have posted some spam I recieved today. This is the only type of crap that is getting through spam filters now and why anyone would click the link (which I have deleted from this email) is beyond me. Enjoy:
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