I finally saw Donnie Brasco for the first time, and really liked it. And since the movie is based on real people and real events, I spent some time reading a few things about the real life Joseph Pistone (aka, "Donnie Brasco"). Among the coolest things out there are three interviews with Pistone where he talks about the mafia and lots of other stuff. All of these interviews are available online as streaming audio (here, here, and here). But I'm not into the streaming audio thing, I'd rather have a copy I can put on my iPod and listen while driving around somewhere. So I made an mp3 version of the first two interviews (the third interview is already non-streaming), and I'm posting all three interviews here in case anyone else is interested.
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As quoted in this BBC article, Pat Robertson just told viewers of his influential TV show, the 700 Club, "I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he [Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." Newsflash to Mr. Robertson: If you are trying to convince everyone that you did not call for the assassination of the President of Venezuela, as you clearly seemed to be doing in the press this week, you might consider refraining from making comments like, "we really ought to go ahead and do it". You are making yourself look like an idiot, along with the rest of the United States citizens. I wonder, would this country, and indeed the entire world, be a better place if somebody assassinated you instead of Chavez? |
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Interesting, there's an entry in Wikipedia for my first name. Among other things, "Kaan" can refer to a day in the Mayan calendar. |
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Things are heating up between the United States and Venezuela. Hugo Chavez threatened to stop exporting Venezuelan oil to the U.S. (Venezuela is the 5th largest oil producer in the world, exporting 1.3 million barrels per day to the U.S. alone). Meanwhile, Venezuela is building a large-scale satellite tevelision channel that will present Latin America as it really is, not the way that CNN and other biased U.S.-based news agencies choose to portray it, so the people of Latin America will start to see the reality of Latin America, not a sugary, watered-down version from U.S. media. And the US State Department is all bent out of shape because religious fanatic Pat Robertson broadcast that the United States should assassinate Chavez. Right or wrong, folks in Venezuelan are obviously unhappy about this, and the State Department is scurrying to condemn Robertson for being an outspoken idiot. Robertson's actual words were, "We don't need another $200bn war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with." I'm not saying Chavez is a great guy or anything (apparently he's not), but there are certain things a high-profile radio broadcaster should avoid talking about, and one of them is discussing which world leaders the US military should assassinate. And now that everyone is paying attention, Pat Robertson has come forward to say, "I didn't say 'assassination', I said our special forces could take him out. Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping. There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted." So did he really mean we should send special forces down to Venezuela to kidnap Chavez? Or did he actually mean we should devise a scheme to assassinate the leader? Personally, I think it's nothing short of expected that Robertson would tell everyone he did not mean assassination, especially since it's a crime in the United States to assassinate the leader of any other country. |
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Sweet, all of the speculation about Google unveiling their own chat service appears to be true - I'm signed onto Google Talk right now. It's basically a Jabber server, and you can sign in with your Gmail account info. If you've got a Gmail account already and a Jabber client (Adium, Fire, Trillian, etc.), here's the connection info you'll need: Server: talk.google.com More details here: smash's world. |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CPSC, ZoloWear Announce Recall of Infant Carriers/Slings WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: ZoloWear Infant Carriers/Slings Units: About 177 Manufacturer: ZoloWear Inc., of Austin, Texas Hazard: The stitching that attaches the webbing to the carrier/sling can break, posing a fall hazard to young children. Incidents/Injuries: ZoloWear has received one report of the webbing coming apart from the sling, but the baby was not in the sling at the time. The company has not received any reports of falls or injuries. Description: The recalled slings are made of 100-percent cotton fabric or 97 percent cotton/ 3 percent Lycra with two pieces of webbing holding the rings to the fabric. Solid natural color and five prints (Splash, Pink and Black Stripe, Pink and Brown Stripe, Pink Punch and The Hamptons) make up the lots included in the recall. A large white label sewn on the pocket of the slings reads "Zolo." ZoloWear slings should have three rows of stitching securing the webbing and fabric together. Some of the slings in these lots have short webbing, so only one row of stitching holds the webbing in place. Sold at: The ZoloWear.com Web site, individual distributors, and five children's boutiques in California, Hawaii and Texas sold these slings from May 2005 through August 2005 for between $70 and $90. Manufactured in: U.S. Remedy: Consumers should stop using these carriers/slings immediately and call ZoloWear for instructions on having the carriers/slings repaired. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact ZoloWear, Inc. at (888) 285-0044 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or e-mail the firm at recall@zolowear.com, or go to the firm's Web site at http://www.zolowear.com/recall To view this recall online, please visit our website at: https://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml05/05250.html |
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News post taken from cyclingnews: Although he has now retired from cycling, accusations of doping continue to pursue seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. According to French newspaper L'Equipe, proof was produced today that Armstrong used the banned substance EPO to achieve his first victory in the race in 1999. Armstrong has already denied the claims, saying, "I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance enhancing drugs." |
Scientists at the University of Maryland think that large quantities of artificial meat could be produced to supply the world with animal-free meat products, like chickenless nuggets. This is based on experiments for NASA, that created small amounts of muscle fibre cultured from single cells. According to the researchers, larger quantities could be grown in thin sheets and then stacked up to create thickness. Of course, they need to figure out a way to exercise it to make it taste like regular meat. This has been in the news several times over the past few years as different groups make progress toward growing muscle tissue in a science lab. It would be good to grow meat without the time and expense of raising real animals, but for every supporter of lab-grown science meat, I can find someone else who would never be comfortable eating a science project. Ultimately though, I think most people in the U.S. are fairly indiscriminate about the food they eat, so I tend to think most people wouldn't care. But the meat industry - and more specifically, cattle - produce almost all of the leather that makes its way onto shoes, jackets, couches, wallets, purses, belts, etc. If hoof-grown meat is replaced by lab-grown meat, that will have serious consequences for several other industries (unless, of course, they figure out how to make lab-grown leather). Full article here: Artificial Meat Could Be Grown on a Large Scale. |
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If you think Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan, you can cast your vote by adding your name to an online petition. If you're not in favor of their meeting, obviously you'll want to avoid the above petition. (Perhaps somebody will create an anti-Sheehan petition asking for Bush to not meet with her?) Anyway, at the time of this posting there were 18,579 signatures on the petition. I wonder how many it would take to have an impact. |
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Copied directly from slashdot: The Zotob MS05-039 worm mentioned on Slashdot last Sunday may be the most recent virus that has gone global, hitting Windows 2000 desktops at CNN, ABC, the New York Times, and many others. The virus is spreading around the world rapidly as compromised systems become bots and propagate the worm, with reported outbreaks in Germany and China. InformationWeek has a decent article titled Zotob Proves Patching "Window" Non-Existent. Microsoft calls it a "low impact" threat and tells you What you should know about Zotob. Symantec has W32.Zotob.D removal instructions. Trend Micro thinks that this is a new, different worm altogether and says it is one of the fastest-spreading infections in history. |
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Soon, Round Rock (and thus Austin, along with the rest of central Texas) will have their own IKEA. A 20+ acre site in Round Rock at I-35 and Chandler Road will be the location of a new IKEA store that's set to open in 2007. The IKEA company said it will occupy a 252,000 sq. ft. building and employ 250-300 people. Construction starts in 2006 with a targeted opening date in the spring of 2007. More details here: IKEA to open Round Rock store in '07 |
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Apple Japan has sold more than a million songs to Japanese consumers through iTunes Music Store since last Thursday. According to Steve Jobs, "iTunes has sold twice as many songs in just four days as all the other online music services in Japan sell in one month. iTunes has become Japan's number one online music store in just four days." Slightly more details available here: iTunes Japan shifts 1m songs in four days |
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission CPSC, American Classic Announce Recall of Bicycle Wheels The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firms named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: American Classic road and mountain bike wheels Units: About 2,850 Importer: American Classic, of Tampa, Fla. Hazard: The hub in the bicycle's rear wheel can fail to engage properly, causing no resistance when pedaling. The bicycle rider could lose balance, fall and suffer injuries. Incidents/Injuries: No injuries reported. Description: The recall includes all American Classic aftermarket rear wheels and hubs, as well as the following 2005 bike models which use American Classic rear wheels or hubs: Fuji Team Super Lite (Team SL); Orbea Aletta, Onix, Lobular 50, Dama Race, Mitis and Mitis Dama models; Felt F55 and F2C; Fetish Cycles Road and Mountain Bikes; Argon 18; and Motobecane LeChampion SL. The recalled models were made at the start of January 2005 and the outside of the rear hub shell has a serial number that starts with the letter "S." The serial number is printed on the center of the hub shell opposite to the American Classic logo. Front wheels and front hubs are not included in this recall. Sold at: Bicycle specialty stores nationwide from January 2005 through June 2005 for about $240 (per rear hub). Manufactured in: Taiwan Remedy: Consumers should stop using the bike wheels with the recalled hubs and contact your local bicycle retailer to receive a free inspection. If you have a recalled wheel, the dealer will provide a free repair. Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact American Classic at (800) 345-8356 or log on to the firm's Web site at www.amclassic.com To see this press release on CPSC's web site, including a picture of the recalled product, please go to http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml05/05239.html |
Nerdy cyclists, pay attention: you can order a matching jersey, bib shorts and arm warmers, all covered with the Google logo. And they're made by Hincapie Sportswear, so it's good quality stuff (not a cheapy brand that will fall apart). |
Cyclingnews wrote this review of FSA's K-Force carbon crankset with Mega-Exo bottom bracket. A cool $500 buys you 740g of carbon cranked goodness, and they look pretty sweet too. They gave it a 4.5/5 rating. |
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Somebody posted this on a forum I frequent, written in the style of a Nigerian 411 scam, claiming to be from George Bush. I found it pretty amusing. URGENT ASSISTANCE - FROM USA |
Scientists in Italy first discovered that humans produce a unique by-product as a result of cocaine usage. Next, they found that unique chemical in river water, benzoylecgonine, and doing the math they figured out that there was enough of it to suggest 40,000 snorts of coke each day in one particular area of Italy. Wired article here: Rivers of Coke. BBC news wrote this: Italian river 'full of cocaine'. Scientists have found large quantities of a cocaine by-product in a river in northern Italy - suggesting consumption is much higher than previously thought. The River Po was found to be carrying the equivalent of nearly 4kg (8.8lb) of cocaine daily. The Po Valley is home to about five million people. The study estimated daily consumption to be about 27 doses (100mg or 0.004oz each) per 1,000 young adults. The study was published by the web journal Environmental Health. The chemical tested - benzoylecgonine (BE) - had arrived via the sewage system from the urine of drug users. A by-product of cocaine metabolism, it cannot be produced by other means. The estimated daily consumption "greatly exceeds official national figures," the report says. |
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CNet posted their top 10 dot-com flops, but missing from the list: Agillion, my ex-dot-com. How could they include Kibu.com at number 9, which supposedly raised a mere $22 million (and didn't even spend it all!), but pass on including Agillion? We raised (and completely squandered) way more than $22 million, and had almost no customers at all. In the end, Agillion left an empty bank account and something like $20 million in debt. I hope the Agillion marketing clowns stole some of the cash, seriously, because if they really blew $40+ million on marketing alone, then that's just a sad, sad reflection on their ability to market anything.
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I don't know where this came from or who made it, but it's damn funny (and no, I don't think it's real; here's why). |
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This is totally dumb, on so many levels. Are Christians really concerned about morality and the impact on morality from video games? Um, isn't it also important that a damn good number of the bible-thumping Christians are out running around lying, cheating, adultering, divorcing, ruining families, etc. My first thought is, "why is everyone so quick to blame video games?", but then I stop myself because the answer is kinda obvious: those people are unwilling to accept the responsibility of being good parents to their children, so instead they shift blame onto anything within reach. And the poor kids... I feel bad for the sad lot who will be subjected to morality-based Christian video games... man that's gonna suck. I wonder if the new Christian games will showcase holy wars where you get to slaughter thousands of innocent foreigners because they look different, have different opinions or beliefs from your video game character. That would certainly be in line with Christian history. Oh shit! They can't do that, because then it would be just like all of the other hugely popular violent video games where you get to kill people, and they're trying so hard not to be like them. Oh well. |
Just before September 11, 2001, Bush's approval ratings (compiled from 15 different polling organizations, including Gallup, Time, ABC, CBS, etc..) were in the 50-60% range. Then September 11 hit and suddenly everybody loved Bush! His approval rating jumped to the 80-90% range. But since then, his approval ratings have steadily dropped down into the 40s - lower than his pre-9/11 ratings. So the poll data shows that the U.S. population likes Bush less and less as time goes on, and there's no sign of that changing. I wonder if he knows how to pronounce "nu-cle-ar" yet. |
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Cats don't like sweet foods because they can't taste them. Sweet taste is meaningless to them. Who knew? Why cats don't go for sweet foods |
