Remote controlled...Humans?
Japan developing remote control for humanshttp://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/10/25/human.remote.control.ap/"The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation -- essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.""I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced -- mistakenly -- that this was the only way to maintain my balance."One should never assume that certain things are not possible. - Vox
Wow. I didn't see that one coming.
Three-time MVP 'tired of having to hide my feelings'http://sports.espn.go.com/wnba/news/story?id=2203853"Discovering I'm gay just sort of happened much later in life," Swoopes says"Good for you Sheryl Swoopes! For those that don't know who she is, Sheryl Swoopes has had possibly the most storied female basketball career in history and is arguably the best female basketball player ever. She is well known in the sporting community. She was a role model as the face of the WNBA and is even more so now. - Vox
Gee, thanks for the info...Idiot.
From the useless information dept.:
Poll: Bush would lose an election if held this yearhttp://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/25/poll.bush/index.html(Aha, the rule of 1,000 reinfornced yet again: "The latest poll results...were based on interviews with 1,008 adults conducted by telephone October 21-23")
Rosa Parks RIP
"Mrs. Parks was not the "quiet seamstress" as the media has often portrayed her. In 1943 she became a member of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and she served as its secretary until 1956. After the Bus Boycott, Mrs. Parks lost her job and, with her husband and mother, relocated to Detroit in 1957. In 1965 she joined the staff of U.S. Representative John Conyers of Michigan and worked until her retirement in 1988. In 1999 she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest honour a civilian can receive in the United States."(link)
Rosa Parks was and has always been an activist for civil rights and should be remembered by all for her courage and inspiration. - VoxMore:Rosa ParksJim Crow
The second coming of...Scott Ritter
You whine "...but EVERYONE thought there were WMD in Iraq, so EVERYONE was wrong." No, not everyone. Not me. I didn't think Iraq had WMD. I didn't believe the BS the administration was spewing. Why didn't I think that? Mainly because of this man: Scott Ritter, a former UNSCOM weapons inspector (that was the group actually IN Iraq looking for these weapons).
They knocked him down, but he's coming back with a new book! I don't even need to have read it yet to recommend it to anyone who wants to hear sound, reasoned ideas and opinions backed up by FACT and EXPERIENCE that dispute what you're hearing everywhere else.I just finished listening to an interview he had on Democracy Now! and he's as interesting to listen to as always. I'm going to get his new book asap.
Military life in Iraq - A hint of the truer picture
Are British troops at breaking point in Iraq?http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article320343.ece..."Mr Blair keeps on saying that everything is getting better here. Perhaps he would care to come and see for himself. He is pretty good at sending other peoples' sons to Iraq." (Hey, that's our line! - Vox)"Pte Samuels' decision to leave the Army may be a particularly significant landmark. A war hero, he was decorated for saving lives during the ambush which earned his comrade Pte Johnson Beharry a Victoria Cross. But he told The Independent yesterday that he decided to leave the moment he was told his unit would be returning to Iraq.
"I couldn't do that," he said, "Not straight away like that. It would be different if they were sending me to somewhere like Afghanistan but not Iraq, right now. The stress for the guys out there is immense. They are seeing so much bad stuff. I owed it to my family to call it a day."And these are the British troops who, allegedly, have always been stationed in the south, in the calmer parts of Iraq! - Vox
Saddam TV - Big Mistake
The "trial" of Saddam Hussein has just started and as I was watching the proceedings on TV, I'm thinking...Why? A big deal was made out of having this televised, particularly in Iraq. Why? Do people actually think they'll see this big bully break down and cry (after all, it's not like he's being interviewed by Barbara Walters)? Do people think that we will see a humiliated Saddam? A contrite Saddam? A repentant Saddam? Do people want to show the New Iraq justice system at work? Well, it can't be that because since they don't have a Constitution yet, they don't actually have a "new" justice system. What system of justice is now in place in this "fledgling democracy"? Does anyone know? Is it the Paul Bremmer-CPA System? Or perhaps the old Saddam-era system (gasp! How ironic that would be!).I think anyone who looks beyond the TV screen knows this trial is a farce. After all, what is he on trial for anyway? For ordering the killing of 143 Shia men in 1982. We invaded a country to oust Jeffrey Dahmer? What about the gassing of "his own people" and the raperooms and the general "evilness" that made him Public Enemy #1? There had better be more to come.And the fact is Saddam is one tough cookie who ruthlessly and murderously ruled a country for decades. You don't do this by being a dummy. He can probably match wits with anyone in that courtroom. I think putting him "on trial" and in front of a camera will only martyr him and strengthen the resolve of his loyalists and supporters in Iraq, those so-called "insurgents" who are killing our servicemen and women.
ANTHRAX!!! (No, not the Heavy Metal group)
Hmmm...what ever happened to...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101900274_pf.htmlRemember, way back, shortly after September 11, the Anthrax "attacks"? Oh yeah, I know you do. You just needed to be prodded a little bit. I understand. Out of sight, out of mind (or I should say "Off the headlines, out of mind, never happened").Does anyone else find it the least bit curious that we have no clue (well, I have a clue) who sent out these envelopes containing Anthrax, nor do we seem to care.The whole Anthrax episode just illustrates how our fears are stoked for political purposes (PROTECT US!! PROTECT US!!), and that we are merely puppets on a string. We are puppets on a string because we allow ourselves to act that way, taking everything at face value, QUESTIONING NOTHING! Nothing at all.Just ask yourself. Especially those of you who live in NYC: What was up with those Anthrax attacks?...
Referendum on the Iraq Constitution
Iraqi officials checking ballotshttp://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/18/iraq.main/index.html"Nine provinces dominated by Kurds or Shiite Arabs recorded "yes" votes higher than 95 percent, and in Anbar, a Sunni-dominated province, the total number of "no" votes exceeded the same percentage."These results could actually be accurate. They illustrate just how fractured the country really is. Remember: the Kurds basically want to be their own country (the proposed Constitution gives them this autonomy), the Shiites want to rule the country and are the creators of the proposed Constitution, and the Sunni's don't want any of this.- Vox
Oh, heavens! Thug sues God
(link)"TIMISOARA, Romania - A Romanian prisoner serving 20 years for murder has sued God for failing to save him from the Devil. The inmate claims his Baptism was a contract with God to keep him out of trouble.""God even claimed and received from me various goods and prayers in exchange for forgiveness and the promise that I would be rid of problems and have a better life," he wrote in the suit. "But on the contrary I was left in the Devil's hands."
Court officials said the suit will likely be dropped because they're unable to subpoena God."
Once again, Thank you Juan Gonzalez
BUILD admits Ratner fundinghttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/356643p-303996c.html"A nonprofit group that spearheaded neighborhood support for the huge Atlantic Yards commercial development in Brooklyn has finally admitted it is being bankrolled by Forest City Ratner, the project's developer.""Until last week, the leaders of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development - BUILD - had repeatedly denied getting any financing from Ratner."JG is almost worth the cost of the NY Daily News (almost, but not quite, 'cause I'm still not buyin'.)- Vox
WTF???
Who the eff cares what is in Karl Rove's garage and why is this news??(please excuse my language)- Vox
Mad Cow Update/Alert
Please read (between the lines). - Voxhttp://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/17/D8D9SJK00.html"It was two and a half months before we knew what was wrong with him, and by that time he was in the hospital," she said. "I wish we could have done the autopsy, because I think people need to know about this."
"We definitely have a problem in Idaho," she added.
The Saga of the Iraq Constitution
Sunnis see Shi'ite manipulation ahead of Iraq votehttp://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1179055"They want this constitution to pass despite the will of the people.""What the interim constitution actually says is: "The general referendum will be successful and the draft constitution ratified if a majority of the voters in Iraq approve and if two -thirds of the voters in three or more governorates do not reject it.""Huh?! So this is how the Constitution is written. - Vox"If this referendum is rejected, it's an explicit rejection of the whole political process … It cannot be allowed to fail."How true (see link). - Vox
After all this time...
After all this time, all the lip flapping, field equipment for soldiers is STILL an issue.- VoxReimbursement Program for Troops Stalls http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/politics/03equip.html"The Pentagon has never acted on this legislation despite the fact that it is the law of the land."
