I downloaded (*gasp*) the first show of Iron Chef America. Hmm, not sure what to think. It has definitely lost some things on the trip over from Japan. I suppose there isn’t really a way to get back the unique cultural differences in the show.

Alton Brown did quite well as Mr Info. I think he needs some backup though. The floor reporter was an ass. They could have found a monkey with more food knowledge than him – I mean if he had watched any 2 of the original Iron Chef shows, he would have known what foi gras was.

As for the judgement? Sakai made trout ice cream. His dishes were amazing displays of art. Yet the judges gave more points to Flay on originality and plating. They are INSANE. HOW MUCH DID FLAY PAY YOU?

Tim Russert talking with Prince Bandar bin Sultan regarding the flight on sept 13th (the evacuation of approximately 140 Saudis just two days after 9/11).

Bush says “I promote wetlands protection”, then he approves development proposals in wetlands.

Al Jazeera’s seems to always be at the right place for certain anti-American campaigns being waged by Iraqi insurgents. Are they creating news?

Finally posted some pictures of my folks out visiting and the Iron Mtn hike.

Uhg. Bought 2 sticks of Kingston pc4000 RAM at bestbuy. What a mistake. They are horrible. One reboots my machine every 30 minutes or so, and the other one makes programs crash at random. My poor old stick of ram is on its way back to be repaired/replaced. It can’t be soon enough.

I have been looking into switching to verizon from at&t wireless. AT&T seems to be going down the crapper, and vz uses cdma, which usually has better call quality. I was going to get the LG VX3000. But then, I found out that the Motorola v710 was going to be out in a few months:

1.2 Mpx camera, tri-mode, MP3 player, memory chips, bluetooth, polyphonic ring tones, brew, and 2 color screens. It is like someone took a peek at my wish-list. I don’t expect it to be cheap, but hot-damn thats a nice phone.

Finally: A voting panel urges California officials to stop using a voting machine made by Diebold Election Systems, and recommends that the state consider filing civil and criminal charges against the company.

The risks for children taking some antidepressants could outweigh the benefits, according to an analysis of data that pharmaceutical companies did not make widely available to the public or to researchers.

The Condensed Bob Woodward.

U.S.-Saudi relations an election focus.

McCain calls for fresh troops for Iraq.

Bribes and black marketeering are rampant, Halliburton subsidiaries charging double for gas, Iraqi officials and Arabic translators unrestrained from pocketing millions of dollars, or even members of the interim governing Council accusing each other of taking tens of millions in bribes. Marketplace looks into the rebuilding Iraq.

Diebold Election Systems on the hot seat in CA. Finally.

That N. Korean Explosion May Have Killed or Hurt 3,000.