TNT

Walked down to TNT last night. The exhibit this month was on the Mexican-American experience. They did it like a hands on museum geared towards adults. Displays, buttons to push, etc. Quite interesting.

Interesting.. though I think I will wait for the peer review: Scientists have found evidence to suggest we do have a sixth sense and can tell when we are being watched, even through CCTV.

Wow. This makes you wonder if people are so ‘crazy’ for thinking injections make people sick: Nigeria’s Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about contamination of specially purified water used to make up injections. It said that of nearly 150 brands it tested, only two were actually sterile and safe for use.

New Bush CDC guidelines denounce condom use, while teaching abstinence as the only way.

Bush doesn’t like the Irish press.

A Miami Herald investigation has found more than 2,100 Florida voters — many of them black Democrats — were incorrectly on the state’s list of felons potentially ineligible to vote.

The FBI wants you to watch out for the wolf, I mean terrorists, on the 4th.

Paul Krugman hits the nail on the head for his Fahrenheit 9/11 review: It would be a better movie if it didn’t promote a few unproven conspiracy theories, but those theories aren’t the reason why millions of people who aren’t die-hard Bush-haters are flocking to see it. These people see the film to learn true stories they should have heard elsewhere, but didn’t. Mr. Moore may not be considered respectable, but his film is a hit because the respectable media haven’t been doing their job.

Solar is here, but we are shipping it to Europe and Japan.

Ghosts and bones

Saw Spiderman 2 last night with Jimmy and Anna. Have to say, despite the absurd science in parts, it was quite entertaining.

So much for that whole ‘seperation’ issue:

The Bush-Cheney reelection campaign has sent a detailed plan of action to religious volunteers across the country asking them to turn over church directories to the campaign, distribute issue guides in their churches and persuade their pastors to hold voter registration drives.

This is interesting. Most people know Bush is a Bonesman, but apparently, Kerry is one as well.

Hardly surprising, but good to know: Second hand smoke = 50 to 60% greater risk of coronary heart disease.

Photography: A Journey Through Bodie Ghost Town

Update: My own photos of Bodie

Adblock

I have been using Firefox full time instead of Internet Explorer these days, this is one reason. With default popup blocking already taken care of by the browser, I just needed to find an ad blocking program.

Then I found Adblock. I added in a default adblock script, and my browsing is quite nice now. The default google search bar, tabbed browsing, and the ability to search highlighted text in a new tab all make firefox a pretty slick solution.

F9/11

Watched Fahrenheit 9/11 last night at the GasLamp downtown. I love the GasLamp Theatre, but the poor place is usually dead, not many people want to bother with parking downtown. Not last night though, the place was packed, and the theater was packed to see 9/11.

The movie? Ultimately, I liked it. But I was a little disappointed in the way Moore did a couple things. For example, not much was said of Iraq and Saddam. The commentary of the movie implied that he was not a threat. While this is true in a global scale, Saddam was a real bastard to the Kurds and Iraqis. Moore could have asked, why Iraq? Why not the other dictatorships around the world that screw over their people and sell weapons to terrorists? North Korean, I’m looking at you. In taking cheap shots he polarized the film, and made it much easier to write off as conspiracy theory or propaganda.

Moore did one thing well, he had great film footage. Bush warming up before the cameras, him reading to kids for 9 minutes after the plane hit the 2nd tower, interviews with troops, poignant news clippings, Marine recruiters in Flint, etc. All of it showed just how absurd the whole situation was.

Neighborhoods

Anna and I caught part of the soap box derby in Sherman Heights while on our way to Chicano Perk. It looked like a lot of fun, and it was great to see the community out. One of the racers brakes failed, so we got to see that, yes, they had thought about safety.

On our way out to the OB Street Fair we passed by a big party at the Sherman community center. Sherman seems to have a strong community feel to it, where as Golden Hill has been a little bit fractured by the class and language differences. But.. That is what makes Golden Hill great, can’t have your cake and eat it too I guess.

More bugs with IE have allowed for this nasty data theif virus. Recently I have switched over to firefox at work and home. I have to say, I am quite impressed. Speed is good, no page errors (other than windowsupdate, but that is to be expected), popup blocker, and built-in google search.

The Supreme Court ruled narrowly Monday that Congress gave President Bush the power to hold an American citizen without charges or trial.

The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early Monday in a surprise move that apparently caught insurgents off guard, averting a feared campaign of attacks to sabotage the historic step toward self-rule.
I believe it is good that they did not delay it because of the conflicts – if they had, it would have been seen in the Arab world as more proof that the US wants control of Iraq. Mind you, the US will still be there a long time…

When the war began 15 months ago, the president’s Iraq policy rested on four broad principles: The United States should act preemptively to prevent strikes on U.S. targets. Washington should be willing to act unilaterally, alone or with a select coalition, when the United Nations or allies balk. Iraq was the next cornerstone in the global war on terrorism. And Baghdad’s transformation into a new democracy would spark regionwide change.
The WashPost takes a look at how well Bush’s foreign policy has done over the last year and a half.