Cal physicists make a radio 10,000 times thinner than a human hair - San Francisco Chronicle

Physicists at UC Berkeley say they have produced the world's smallest radio out of a single carbon nanotube that is 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.

How to Try a Terrorist - NY Times

Michael B. Mukasey, President Bush’s nominee to be attorney general, is coming under increasing fire for his views on what constitutes illegal torture. But the aspect of his philosophy that worries me more is his view of the judiciary’s role in prosecuting the war on terror.

From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld ... - Washington Post

In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld argued that Muslims avoid "physical labor" and wrote of the need to "keep elevating the threat," "link Iraq to Iran" and develop "bumper sticker statements" to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war.

On Saturday DARPA Grand Challenge takes place. Driver-less robotic vehicles will attempt to navigate a 60 mile urban setting on the former George AF Base in California. At stake is a $2 Million prize for first place. There are 11 teams that have qualified. Wired magazines Danger Room has a special section just for this event.

Hogging the Road - MotherJones

How a company called Traffic.com landed an exclusive government contract worth millions to gather data on the nation's highways—and then sold the information back to us.

Do Real-Life Laws Stretch Into Virtual Worlds? - LinuxInsider

I've been wondering what would happen if there were drug dealers or terrorists lurking in virtual worlds such as Second Life. If the FBI or National Security Agency wanted to place wiretaps on conversations in those worlds, would they be able to do it? And if they did record conversations in virtual worlds, could the people spied upon escape prosecution by saying that they were only pretending to be terrorists or drug dealers?

 
Nick Anderson - 02 November 2007

 
David Horsey - 01 November 2007

 
Jack Ohman - 02 November 2007

Repair Made to Space Station in Risky Spacewalk - NY Times

... If the procedure had not been successful, the array, on the left side of the station, might have had to be thrown away to burn up in the atmosphere, and future construction on the station might have been constrained by the reduced ability to produce power.

Musharraf Declares Emergency Rule - NY Times

... The move appeared to be an effort by General Musharraf to reassert his fading power in the face of growing opposition from the country’s Supreme Court, civilian political parties and hard-line Islamists. Pakistan’s Supreme Court was expected to rule within days on the legality of General Musharraf’s re-election last month as the country’s president, which opposition groups have said was improper.

Even Cut 50 Percent, Earmarks Clog a Military Bill - NY Times

Even though members of Congress cut back their pork barrel spending this year, House lawmakers still tacked on to the military appropriations bill $1.8 billion to pay 580 private companies for projects the Pentagon did not request.

Honesty can be cultivated by transforming your inner language. For example, you might think: "I am no good" or "They are not good." Is this true? For some strange reason, people want to wallow in the idea of being either the best or the worst. What is true in this moment? How close can we get to the reality of our experiences?

Martine Batchelor, "Meditation For Life"

I uploaded some new photos to Flickr today. They are from walking around Kent School in Cherry Hills and having after walk beers at Wahoo's Fish Taco.

I did a little animal rescue, but I don't think it is going to work out.

He keeps using my computer for Doggy Porn and drinking all my Fat Tires !!!

King Tut's face unveiled to world - BBC

The face of Egypt's most famous ancient ruler, King Tutankhamun, has been put on public display for the first time.

SUV with mind of its own wins robot car race - Reuters

A souped-up Chevy Tahoe sports utility vehicle with a mind of its own was declared the winner of a robot car race on Sunday after it traveled without help from humans for six hours and 60 miles around a California ghost town.

Astronauts seal hatches for shuttle's departure - Reuters

Shuttle Discovery's astronauts bid a tearful farewell to the International Space Station crew, returned to their spaceship and sealed the hatch on Sunday after a successful, though trying, 10-day mission.

Conquer anger
with lack of anger;
bad, with good;
stinginess, with generosity;
a liar, with truth.

Dhammapada, 17

Harmon/Kardon Computer Speakers
17" LCD Monitor
2004 USPS Champs Elysees Jersey
2005 Discovery Champs Elysees Jersey

Robin Hood's Forest Is in Trouble - AP

Robin Hood might have a hard time hiding out in the Sherwood Forest of today.

DARPA race pushes robotics forward - C|Net

Carnegie Mellon University and its robotics guru, Red Whittaker, have been vindicated. - On Sunday, CMU's Tartan Racing took home $2 million for first place in DARPA's Urban Challenge--a test of driverless cars on urban streets here at the former George Air Force Base in Southern California's Mojave Desert. By doing so, the team regained its pride after two stinging defeats in 2004 and 2005. And it stole some glory back from 2005's winner, Stanford University, in tackling what was effectively a harder challenge this year.

Ritter takes aim at greenhouse gases - Rocky Mountain News

Coloradans must use less electricity, recycle more and drive cleaner cars in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent under an ambitious climate action plan unveiled by Gov. Bill Ritter Monday.

Pakistan says to hold election by January - Reuters

Pakistan said on Monday it would hold a national election by mid-January and President Pervez Musharraf pledged to quit the military after criticism from the United States for imposing emergency rule.

Bush White House Guided Military to Develop Nuclear Strike Plans Against Rogue States, FAS Finds - MotherJones

The Federation of American Scientists' director of the nuclear information project Hans Kristensen reports that he has gotten ahold of a surprising document that shows the Bush White House guided the US military to change the US nuclear posture in 2002 to develop nuclear strike plans against rogue states, including North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

Most ready for 'green sacrifices' - BBC

Most people are ready to make personal sacrifices to address climate change, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries. - The poll suggests the public are more ready than politicians

Postal Service Says Killing Small Periodicals Is a "Win-Win" - MotherJones

Defying the founding fathers, Bush appointees at the USPS have decided to strangle the free press.

Shuttle begins journey home - AP

After a week and a half of intense and unprecedented work, the astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station on Monday to begin their two-day journey home.

 
Ed Stein - 5 November 2007

Colbert Ends White House Bid; A Nation Tries to Heal - San Francisco Chronicle

Friends, the dream is over. Stephen Colbert has withdrawn his candidacy to be the leader of the free world.

Pass the extra large bag of Doritos. This is going to be tough.

Last month, in a brilliantly transparent bit of cross-promotion for his new book, Colbert announced that he would run for president, but only in one state - his home state of South Carolina. On both tickets. He even adopted a corporate sponsor, Doritos, to sponsor him for the January primary. His Facebook site, "1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T Colbert" became the most popular political group on the social networking site.

Ben Sargent - 05 November 200 

 
Tom Toles - 06 November 2007

Wondermark by David Malki ! - check out more at Wondermark.com

Peacefire.org has been busy setting up a few new Circumventor sites:

http://www.fancysportscar.com/
http://www.saltmuffin.com/
http://www.sugarbeetle.com/

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

Zip along with shared cars, bikes - CSM

Zipcar and Flexcar. They sound like a couple of cartoon characters. But last week's merger of these member-based, by-the-hour car-rental companies points to a noteworthy development in transport: car-sharing as a way to replace car-owning and to cut costs, energy use, and congestion.

Ousted Pakistani Chief Justice Urges Lawyers to Continue Protests - Washington Post

Ousted Pakistani chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry urged the country's lawyers to continue protesting against the emergency rules imposed by President Pervez Musharraf during the weekend, saying the country's constitution had been "ripped to shreds" and they need to fight to restore it.

US rebukes Yahoo over China case - BBC

A US congressional panel has criticised internet firm Yahoo for not giving full details to a probe into the jailing of a reporter by Chinese authorities.

Bhutto Call for Protest Sets Up Confrontation - NY Times

The police clashed violently with supporters of the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto today after she announced that her party would carry out a mass demonstration on Friday and a protest march next week if the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, refuses to end emergency rule.

Discovery caps mission with smooth landing - Reuters

The space shuttle Discovery landed safely at its Florida home base on Wednesday after a grueling but successful 15-day construction mission that prepared the International Space Station for new laboratories.

La Gare Montparnasse 1895

Progress on 'collapsing' beehives - CSM

Some warned of crop disaster when honeybees started to disappear. Crops didn't fail, but farmers and beekeepers aren't out of danger yet.

A Story of Surveillance: Former Technician 'Turning In' AT&T Over NSA Program - Washington Post

His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco. "What the heck is the NSA doing here?" Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself.

California Gas Prices Reach $5 In Some Areas - KSBW

The American Automobile Association of California said some drivers are now paying up to $5 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline.

 
Tom Toles - 08 November 2007

Democrats: Colleges must police copyright, or else - C|Net

New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students.

Police block Bhutto, Pakistan capital sealed off - Reuters

Pakistani police blocked opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from leaving her home in Islamabad on Friday and sealed off the capital and nearby city of Rawalpindi to stop a rally against President Pervez Musharraf.

Criminal Probe Opened on Bay Oil Spill - AP

U.S. Coast Guard investigators on Sunday tried to determine whether speed and possible miscommunication led a cargo ship to crash into a bridge, causing San Francisco Bay's worst oil spill in nearly two decades.

Rice: End Pakistan's Emergency Soon - AP

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan's military ruler on Sunday to lift the state of emergency as soon as possible, expressing concern Gen. Pervez Musharraf has not said when he would restore citizens' rights.

Intel Official: Say Goodbye to Privacy - AP

A top intelligence official says it is time people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.

Musharraf Calls for Parliamentary Elections in January - Washington Post

Pakistan's military president announced Sunday that he wants parliamentary elections to be held by early January, but he did not set a date for ending emergency rule, making it likely that any elections would take place with the constitution suspended and most civil liberties banned.

Those Nuclear Flashpoints Are Made in Pakistan - Washington Post

George W. Bush is hardly the first U.S. president to forgive sins against democracy by a Pakistani leader. Like his predecessors from Jimmy Carter onward, Bush has tolerated bad behavior in hopes that Pakistan might do Washington's bidding on some urgent U.S. priority -- in this case, a crackdown on al-Qaeda. But the scariest legacy of Bush's failed bargain with Gen. Pervez Musharraf isn't the rise of another U.S.-backed dictatorship in a strategic Muslim nation, or even the establishment of a new al-Qaeda haven along Pakistan's lawless border. It's the leniency we've shown toward the most dangerous nuclear-trafficking operation in history -- an operation masterminded by one man, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

DOJ opposes extension of Microsoft antitrust oversight - Computerworld

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday joined Microsoft Corp. in opposing efforts by California, New York and several other states to extend the 2002 antitrust settlement with the company, saying there is no legal basis for another five years of oversight.

 
Stuart Carlson - 09 November 2007

 
Steve Sack - 08 November 2007

 
Ben Sargent - 10 November 2007

 
Tony Auth - 11 November 2007

The Coup at Home
Frank Rich - November 11, 2007

As Gen. Pervez Musharraf arrested judges, lawyers and human-rights activists in Pakistan last week, our Senate was busy demonstrating its own civic mettle. Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, liberal Democrats from America's two most highly populated blue states, gave the thumbs up to Michael B. Mukasey, ensuring his confirmation as attorney general.

So what if America's chief law enforcement official won't say that waterboarding is illegal? A state of emergency is a state of emergency. You're either willing to sacrifice principles to head off the next ticking bomb, or you're with the terrorists. Constitutional corners were cut in Washington in impressive synchronicity with General Musharraf's crackdown in Islamabad.

In the days since, the coup in Pakistan has been almost universally condemned as the climactic death knell for Bush foreign policy, the epitome of White House hypocrisy and incompetence. But that's not exactly news. It's been apparent for years that America was suicidal to go to war in Iraq, a country with no tie to 9/11 and no weapons of mass destruction, while showering billions of dollars on Pakistan, where terrorists and nuclear weapons proliferate under the protection of a con man who serves as a host to Osama bin Laden.

General Musharraf has always played our president for a fool and still does, with the vague promise of an election that he tossed the White House on Thursday. As if for sport, he has repeatedly mocked both Mr. Bush's "freedom agenda" and his post-9/11 doctrine that any country harboring terrorists will be "regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

Read on ...

~

Curveball, Swing and A Miss
George F. Will - November 11, 2007

In late 2002, two strong-willed CIA officers, identified only as Beth and Margaret, were at daggers drawn. They had diametrically opposing views about the veracity of an Iraqi defector's reports concerning Saddam Hussein's biological weapons programs, especially the notorious but never-seen mobile weapons labs.

"Look," said Beth defiantly, "we can validate a lot of what this guy says." Margaret, angry and incredulous: "Where did you validate it?" Beth: "On the Internet." Margaret: "Exactly, it's on the Internet. That's where he got it, too!"

Margaret was right in that episode, recounted in the new book "Curveball" by Bob Drogin of the Los Angeles Times. Curveball was the code name of the Iraqi defector in Germany on whose reports the Bush administration relied heavily in its argument that Hussein's weapons of mass destruction justified a preventive war.

In 1999, Curveball defected to Germany, which has a significant portion of the Iraqi diaspora. Seeking the good life -- a prestigious job, a Mercedes -- he jumped to the head of the line of asylum-seekers and got the attention of Germany's intelligence agency with the word "Biowaffen," or germ weapons. He claimed to have been deeply involved in Hussein's sophisticated and deadly science, particularly those notorious mobile labs. Notorious and, we now know, nonexistent.

Read on ...

~

Off Target in the War on Cancer
Devra Davis - November 4, 2007

We've been fighting the war on cancer for almost four decades now, since President Richard M. Nixon officially launched it in 1971. It's time to admit that our efforts have often targeted the wrong enemies and used the wrong weapons.

Throughout the industrial world, the war on cancer remains focused on commercially fueled efforts to develop drugs and technologies that can find and treat the disease -- to the tune of more than $100 billion a year in the United States alone. Meanwhile, the struggle basically ignores most of the things known to cause cancer, such as tobacco, radiation, sunlight, benzene, asbestos, solvents, and some drugs and hormones. Even now, modern cancer-causing agents such as gasoline exhaust, pesticides and other air pollutants are simply deemed the inevitable price of progress.

They're not. Scientists understand that most cancer is not born but made. Although identical twins start life with amazingly similar genetic material, as adults they do not develop the same cancers. As with most of us, where they live and work and the habits that they develop do more to determine their health than their genes do. Americans in their 20s today carry around in their bodies levels of some chemicals that can impair their ability to produce healthy children -- and increase the chances that those children will develop cancer.

Read on ...

Peacefire.org newest Circumventor sites:

http://www.goldpuddle.com/
http://www.streetfreeze.com/

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

We where watching a bit The Wizard of Oz and started talking about Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. As such, I delved into the internet and happened upon this little photo and just had to pass it along.

The post title is an actual quote from the movie. It was one of many I could have used:

• Heh heh heh heh heh heh!
• And now, my beauties, something with poison in it, I think. Something with poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell.
• Well, my little pretty, I can cause accidents, too!
• Just try and stay out of my way. Just try! I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too!
• I'll get you my pretty... and your little dog too!

By the way, pick up Wicked, it's a good read.

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/gallery.asp 

Don't cling to anything and don't reject anything. Let come what comes, and accomodate yourself to that, whatever it is. If good mental images arise, that is fine. If bad mental images arise, that is fine, too. Look on all of it as equal, and make yourself comfortable with whatever happens. Don't fight with what you experience, just observe it all mindfully.

Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Pakistan to Detain Bhutto in Bid to Stop Protest - NY Times

The Pakistani police issued a seven-day detention order against the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, in a bid to stop her from leading a planned protest march this week from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital, Islamabad.

CNN's Jeanne Moos contends the Hollywood writers can be a little more creative on the picket lines.

http://www.theindychannel.com/video/14531589/index.html 

 
Ed Stein - 14 November 2007

Buddha Banana is just one of a bazillion in the Image Gallery. 

Did NSA Put a Secret Backdoor in New Encryption Standard? - Wired

Random numbers are critical for cryptography: for encryption keys, random authentication challenges, initialization vectors, nonces, key-agreement schemes, generating prime numbers and so on. Break the random-number generator, and most of the time you break the entire security system. Which is why you should worry about a new random-number standard that includes an algorithm that is slow, badly designed and just might contain a backdoor for the National Security Agency.

Iran more transparent but expands nuclear campaign - Reuters

Iran has made important strides towards clarifying past nuclear activities but key questions remain unresolved and it has significantly expanded uranium enrichment, a U.N. watchdog report said on Thursday.

Vuze Complains Comcast Violating Net Neutrality - EWeek

Vuze, a video distributor using BitTorrent peer-to-peer technology, petitioned the Federal Communications Commission Nov. 14 to establish rules prohibiting Comcast and other broadband providers from "throttling" network traffic. Vuze contends the practice violates the FCC's network neutrality principles.

Pakistan lifts Bhutto detention order police - Reuters

Pakistan's government has lifted a house arrest order imposed on opposition leader Benazir Bhutto to prevent her from leading a rally against President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule, police said early on Friday.

 
Paul Combs - 14 November 2007

 
Kevin Kallaugher - 15 November 2007

 
Steve Kelley - 14 November 2007

A Last Warning on Global Warming - Time

The language of science, like that of the United Nations, is by nature cautious and measured. That makes the dire tone of the just-released final report from the fourth assessment of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a network of thousands of international scientists, all the more striking. Global warming is "unequivocal." Climate change will bring "abrupt and irreversible changes." The report, a synthesis for politicians culled from three other IPCC panels convened throughout the year, read like what it is: a final warning to humanity. "Today the world's scientists have spoken clearly, and with one voice," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who attended the publication of the report in Valencia, Spain. Climate change "is the defining challenge of our age."

Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate - NY Times

For the first time in a generation, the question of whether the death penalty deters murders has captured the attention of scholars in law and economics, setting off an intense new debate about one of the central justifications for capital punishment.

Robot Consumers, Grow Up! - PC Magazine

Someday the robots will rise up and kill us all. They'll record our lives, obliterate our privacy, set off nuclear war, and eventually turn on us and eat our brains. If any of this ever did happen, it would serve us right. We, at least American consumers, don't deserve the future that robots really have to offer.

Jim Morin - 16 November 2007 

 
Ben Sargent - 16 November 2007

 
Tony Auth - 16 November 2007

Get rid of the tendency
to judge yourself
above, below, or
equal to others.

A nun who has self-possession
and integrity
will find the peace that nourishes
and never causes surfeit.

Therigatha

The following are some key findings in a report issued Saturday by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

• Global warming is "unequivocal." Temperatures have risen 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. Eleven of the last 12 years are among the warmest since 1850. Sea levels have gone up by an average seven-hundredths of an inch per year since 1961.
• About 20 percent to 30 percent of all plant and animal species face the risk of extinction if temperatures increase by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. If the thermometer rises by 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit, between 40 to 70 percent of species could disappear.
• Human activity is largely responsible for warming. Global emissions of greenhouse gases grew 70 percent from 1970 to 2004. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is far higher than the natural range over the last 650,000 years.
• Climate change will affect poor countries most, but will be felt everywhere. By 2020, 75 million to 250 million people in Africa will suffer water shortages, residents of Asia's large cities will be at great risk of river and coastal flooding, Europeans can expect extensive species loss, and North Americans will experience longer and hotter heat waves and greater competition for water.
• Extreme weather conditions will be more common. Tropical storms will be more frequent and intense. Heat waves and heavy rains will affect some areas, raising the risk of wildfires and the spread of diseases. Elsewhere, drought will degrade cropland and spoil the quality of water sources. Rising sea levels will increase flooding and salination of fresh water and threaten coastal cities.
• Even if greenhouse gases are stabilized, the Earth will keep warming and sea levels rising. More pollution could bring "abrupt and irreversible" changes, such as the loss of ice sheets in the poles, and a corresponding rise in sea levels by several yards.
• A wide array of tools exist, or will soon be available, to adapt to climate change and reduce its potential effects. One is to put a price on carbon emissions.
• By 2050, stabilizing emissions would slow the average annual global economic growth by less than 0.12 percent. The longer action is delayed, the more it will cost.

The Associated Press

From PC World: The Greatest Hits of Viral Video - From crooning politicians to a grocery store manager who can crush windpipes with his mind, these are the greatest hits of the YouTube Age.

Some of these where new to me and some where old hat and classic such as Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager.

 
Small World by Tom Briscoe - 19 November 2007

OPEC's lost sway over oil prices - CSM

A rare meeting of the heads of state of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Saudi Arabia this weekend was predictably focused on prices. But the price most often discussed wasn't the cost of oil, but rather the plummeting US dollar.

Getting to know GNOME - ZDNet UK

If you're part of the 95 percent of the world that uses Windows, you know what a GUI is, but because you're running Windows, you're stuck with only one — the GUI Microsoft forces you to use.

In the Linux world, you can choose pretty much any GUI for your desktop. GNOME is one of the most popular desktops available, although you've probably heard of other ones such as KDE or Enlightenment.

GNOME is the default GUI for most of the major Linux distributions, including Red Hat, Suse, and Ubuntu. Even if your chosen distribution doesn't natively come with GNOME, you can easily install it. It rides on top of the Linux X Windows services, so almost any product that uses X can run GNOME.

Read on ...

Hey you, expecting results without effort! So sensitive! So long-suffering! You, in the clutches of death, acting like an immortal! Hey sufferer, you are destroying yourself!

Santideva, Bodhicaryavatara

Took some new photos yesterday while walking around the dog park at Cherry Creek State Park.

View them here

A deputy on patrol in Missouri has a close call with a deer after the animal comes out of nowhere on a dark road.

Watch it here

Beautiful Snow by J.W. Watson

Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow,
Filling the sky and the earth below,
Over the housetops, over the street,
Over the heads of people you meet.
Dancing, flirting, skimming along,

Beautiful snow! It can do no wrong;
lying to kiss a fair lady’s cheek,
Clinging to lips in frolicksome freak;
Beautiful snow from heaven above,
Pure as an angel, gentle as love!

Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow,
How the flakes gather and laugh as they go
Whirling about in maddening fun:
Chasing, laughing, hurrying by,

It lights on the face and it sparkles the eye;
And the dogs with a bark and a bound
Snap at the crystals as they eddy around;
The town is alive, and its heart is aglow,
To welcome the coming of beautiful snow!

Read the complete poem and more info here.

I originally hear this poem quoted by Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure.

Jeff Danziger - 21 November 2007

 
Tony Auth - 21 November 2007

Immigrant Paperwork Backs Up At DHS - Washington Post
Delays May Deny Vote to Hundreds Of Thousands

The Department of Homeland Security failed to prepare for a massive influx of applications for U.S. citizenship and other immigration benefits this summer, prompting complaints from Hispanic leaders and voter-mobilization groups that several hundred thousand people likely will not be granted citizenship in time to cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election.

Going Green? Easy Doesn't Do It
By Michael Maniates - Washington Post

Thanksgiving nicely focuses our attention on things of lasting importance: family, friends, community, a rich harvest. None of these blessings come without cost or sacrifice. Today, then, we might consider what we must give of ourselves to preserve such abundance in the face of increasing climatic instability.

One needn't ponder this question in a vacuum. Several best-sellers offer advice about what we must ask of ourselves and one another. Their titles suggest that we needn't break much of a sweat: "It's Easy Being Green," "The Lazy Environmentalist," or even "The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time."

Although each offers familiar advice ("reuse scrap paper before recycling" or "take shorter showers"), it's what's left unsaid by these books that's intriguing. Three assertions permeate the pages: (1) We should look for easy, cost-effective things to do in our private lives as consumers, since that's where we have the most power and control; these are the best things to do because (2) if we all do them the cumulative effect of these individual choices will be a safe planet; which is fortunate indeed because (3) we, by nature, aren't terribly interested in doing anything that isn't private, individualistic, cost-effective and, above all, easy.

This glorification of easy isn't limited to the newest environmental self-help books. The Web sites of the big U.S. environmental groups, the Environmental Protection Agency and even the American Association for the Advancement of Science offer markedly similar lists of actions that tell us we can change the world through our consumer choices, choices that are economic, simple, even stylish. Al Gore himself isn't immune. His recent Live Earth concert featured a who's-who lineup of celebrities who said that if we all do our little bit to recycle and conserve -- the simple things, mind you, because that's all we'll need (translation: that's all they think we'll go for) -- we can together rescue the world for our children and grandchildren.

Read on ...

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail ...

David Horsey - 21 November 2007

Peacefire.org newest Circumventor sites:

http://www.gravityguy.com/
http://www.crimepuff.com/
http://www.jellyshell.com/
http://www.streetfreeze.com/

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

Kasparov Warns of 'Chaos' in Russia - NY Times

Released from jail after serving a five-day sentence for leading an opposition march, Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion, warned today that Russia was heading toward chaos under President Vladimir V. Putin.

China denies called US carrier saga misunderstanding - Reuters

The saga of a U.S. aircraft carrier denied entry to Hong Kong at Thanksgiving took a bizarre turn on Thursday when China denied saying the whole affair had been a misunderstanding.

More than 1/4 of U.S. birds threatened - Reuters

More than a quarter of all U.S. bird species are vulnerable to extinction, according to a comprehensive list compiled by two conservation groups released on Wednesday. Global warming may be partially to blame.

Suckers Wanted: How Car Dealers and Other Businesses are Taking Away Your Right to Sue - MotherJones

Mandatory arbitration provisions, forcing people to waive their legal rights, have become standard fare in consumer contracts. Now, Congress is beginning to push back—and the business community is mobilizing for a fight.

World faces "cyber cold war" threat - Reuters

A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report published on Thursday.

Italian city rings alarm bells over 1994 art theft - The Guardian

It has been called "the robbery of the century". Among the paintings that disappeared from a municipal art gallery in Catania, on Sicily, were a Rembrandt and a painting by the great Italian Baroque artist Guido Reni. But what is unusual about this particular alleged theft is that it took place 13 years ago - and has only just been discovered.

The Catania councillor responsible for culture, Silvana Grasso, yesterday formally reported the disappearance of 51 works of art following the discovery of a 1995 document in which their disappearance was notified to the carabinieri.

In the document a council official, in a 12-line statement, reported that his subordinates had noted the absence of the treasures nine months earlier, in May 1994. He told the police he had ordered the subordinates to make inquiries at all the public buildings to which the works of art might have been lent. "Since the said inquiries failed to yield a positive result," he was reporting them as missing.

Read on ...

 
Steve Sack - 30 November 2007

Evel Knievel, Daredevil, Dies at 69 - NY Times

Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform - NY Times

The case of a 20-year-old woman who was sentenced to be lashed after pressing charges against seven men who raped her and a male companion has provoked a rare and angry public debate in Saudi Arabia, leading to renewed calls for reform of the Saudi judicial system.

Google to bid for U.S. mobile airwaves - Reuters

Google Inc said on Friday that the Internet leader would bid on coveted airwaves to launch a U.S. wireless network, putting it in competition with traditional telecommunications players AT&T and Verizon.

Clogged by plastic bags, Africa begins banning them - CSM

Once a month, John Ebiwari drags an iron rake through the open sewer that runs in front of his house in Nigeria's sprawling commercial capital of Lagos and scoops out the discarded plastic bags that block the flow of bubbling black filth.

U.S. Endangered Species Program Burdened by Political Meddling - ENS

A top Bush administration appointee at the U.S. Interior Department could have benefitted financially from a decision she was involved with to remove a California fish from the federal endangered species list, according to a new report by the agency's inspector general.

Fraud, intimidation and bribery as Putin prepares for victory - The Guardian

The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia's parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote ... Local administration officials have called in thousands of staff on their day off in an attempt to engineer a massive and inflated victory for President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. Voters are being pressured to vote for United Russia or risk losing their jobs, their accommodation or bonuses ...

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The big list.

Feds lose bid for Amazon.com customer records - C|Net

Federal prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to force Amazon.com to identify thousands of innocent customers who bought books online, then abandoned the idea after a judge rebuked them.

In an order that was sealed but has now become public, U.S. District Judge Stephen Crocker rejected the Justice Department's subpoena for details on Amazon's customers and their purchasing habits. Prosecutors had claimed the details would help them prove their case against a former Madison, Wisc., city official charged with tax evasion related to selling used books through Amazon.

"The subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals without their prior knowledge or permission," Crocker wrote in June. Amazon filed the lawsuit to quash the grand jury subpoena.

The case is reminiscent of last year's attempts by federal prosecutors to wrest sensitive search-related information from Google through a subpoena. A California judge eventually rejected the request for users' search queries (and allowed only an excerpt from Google's index of Web sites).

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* I can't take credit for the title, I saw it on C|Net, but I once knew Charley MacArthur who is the son of James MacArthur who played Danno

T-Mobile ends sponsorship; teams to continue with new name - VeloNews

The T-Mobile cycling program has lost its title sponsor, but the American director of the men's and women's teams said Tuesday that both will continue to operate with private support.

Deutsche Telekom AG announced on Tuesday that it "has elected to end sponsorship of professional cycling with immediate effect." The decision affects both men's and women's teams.

The Bonn-based telecommunications group has been involved in cycling since 1991. The current contract had been scheduled to run until December 31, 2010.

"We arrived at this decision to separate our brand from further exposure from doping in sport and cycling specifically. This was a difficult decision given our long history of support for professional cycling and the efforts of Bob Stapleton in managing the team in 2007," said Hamid Akhavan, CEO of T-Mobile International and a member of the Deutsche Telekom board of directors.

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