I wonder if it gets all gummy and yucky like the old NES contrllers.

What? Was that only mine? Call me pigpen.

Did everyone catch that Cory has a new book coming out?

I've seen precious little about it.

Yay! More meaningless gestures!

Reading these comments I see so many people just jumping on the "Free Tibet" bandwagon with abandon. It's not as simple as "China bad/Dalia Lama good" and no matter what Richard Gere, or the Beastie Boys or a bunch of left coasters want to chant or march about, it can't be reduced to that.

The Dalia Lama wants to bring back a theocracy. The Chinese government wants to maintain an autocratic communist state. Neither of these options represent Jeffersonian democracy at its finest. It puzzles me to see people of good conscience and education marching in lock step to this simplification of a deeply complicated international issue.

The "Free Tibet, man" crowd has always struck me as more than a little elitist in it's assumptions, it's high-mindedness and general down the nose gaze at the intricacies of the issue. Better to hang banners, chant and knock over olympic torches that try to understand that geopolitics doesn't come down to good versus evil, and that that kind of reductionism is more at home in the thinking of George Bush and other irrationalists.

That's about at the level of fark humor. Typo collecting? That's Jay Leno. The question is, which is worse?

"Oh no, the ski trip was ruined! Mummy! Our ski trip!"

You think the beeb could have found a passenger who was perhaps a bit more put out than some kids on holiday? I imagine a ruined vacation is the least tragic foul-up from this debacle.

Oh it's not terrorism, it's just mad science. I'm...comforted.

So the future of humanity is a bunch of vitamin popping rich people who spent their fleshy lives trying very hard not to die?

No drunken artists, no mad adventurers who risked life and limb to explore the earth, no fat gourmands or chubby foodies, just a pack of lean techies who uploaded before their wetware went south.

Give me good and squishy death rather than a cold eternity with these people.

You won't see a Germany post-WWI style crash, but you will see massive contraction, especially in the high end consumer markets (luxury cars, McMansions, less of that) with more focus on efficiency.

Look at car advertising for clues. Five years ago it was all "POWER" and "TAME THE ROAD", now the bulk of ads are talking up better gas mileage, fuel efficiency. The market acknowledging that people want more bang for their buck, that's something.

Look, the truly rich and truly poor aren't going to see alot of change. The people who credit-card financed their dreams, bouaght into the notion that 0% down on a mortgage, a leased car and 5 cards in your wallet was a good thing, the people in the great middle? That's going to be where it really stings.

The definition of wealth needs to change. Cutting up credit cards, turning away from consumer culture (over-priced hunks of plastic that need to be replaced with more expensive hunks of plastic) and focusing on building sustainable, reliable weatlh for yourself and your family. The American Dream either changes or ends.

let it be known that I consider shocking someone to be a crappy, unfunny prank.

So why post a how-to? Sure the information is out there, but putting it on BB just spreads a dumb, cruel gag.

What next? How to give someone a hot-foot in three easy steps?

And how many months from now are we all supposed to develop amnesia and applaud China's government at the Olympics?

Besides the gag orders, the censorshp, the violence, the crackdowns, are we just to be impressed by the big shiny buildings and wonderful public displays?

Anyone ever read "The Running Man" by Stephen King? Totally different from the movie (which has it's own charm) with Governor Arnold.

In the book the Running Man is just one of the many games on the Network. "Dig Your Own Grave", "Treadmill to Bucks", where a person with a heart or respiratory condition runs on a treadmill and, my favorite "Swimming with Crocodiles"

Exactly how far are we from that now? It's not just the sickness of the producers that scares the shit out of me, it's the audience who are watching largely to see the absolute worst of humanity.

Oh and all those people in the running man, they volunteered too.

Yeah, seconding (or thirding, fourthing?) the sentiment that these are not pranks. Sounds like something out of Escape from New York. Shutting down a bus line, leaving the bus driver out of contact (though I'm sure they have cell phones) and then attacking them? Way beyond pranks.

A prank is more of a humorous inconvenience. The Improv Everywhere folks might cause a ruckus freezing in place or flooding Best Buy with blue-shirts but it's all in good fun and no harm, no foul. If I was on that bus I'd be sincerely freaked out.

But there would seem to be a rather simple solution, perhaps a locking cap on the power-switch? Or simply weld the switch closed and use an alternate switch, I'm sure there's more than one way to turn the bus on.

That sounds dirty.

UNICORNS. NOW.

Moonbat: There is a certain sneeriness to bookshop employees. As an over-reader myself I tend to be oblivious to it. I had a guy at bookshop get quite pissy when I asked him for a book by Iain Sinclair and dared to spell the first name for him. "I KNOW the SPELLING SIR. I DO READ."

But having a million people wander in and ask to use the bathroom, where the Harry Potter books are and (topically) steal can make you a tad touchy.

Myopic Books, a fantastic used bookstore in Chicago, has the Bukowski and Dick right up under the register. Along with the Harlan Ellison and Robert Anton Wilson. It's an odd mix of books, but they're apparently among the most likely to be boosted.

I'm saying thoughts about other men might have turned him on, and his inability to control his own desires led to some of his negative views and spewed hatred.

What evidence do you have to support this? His manner of speech? The way he carried himself? So then any man with a somewhat effemenate or effete demeanor is either a homosexual or (if they are disagreeable) a closeted homosexual.

You do see this argument being more at home on the far fringes of the right wing don't you? It's a redressing of the right's notion that feminists are all lesbians who hate men.

Attack the man's ideas, they're ripe for it, attack his snobbery and elitism, but when you bring suppositions and guesses about his sexual identity into the mix you engage in homophobia and gay-bashing, simple as that.

It's easy to see where the line of thinking derailed here. The administration has issues with public displays of affection in school. Kids making out can be disruptive and the school is not a police state for wanting to keep things focused on schoolwork.

But it quickly goes beyond simply keeping everyone clothed and not swapping DNA to a ridiculous and nonsensical ban. They tried to swat a fly with a bazooka. Foolish.

Saying he may have been closet/gay is not homophobic (though it might be an insult to the gay community)
It is merely a possible explanation of his attitudes and behaviors, and quite plausible considering the general groups he falls in.

Absolute and complete hogwash.

The intimation that Buckley is "gay" or a "closet case" is based on his affected speech. How different is this from some homophobe shouting "fag" at someone for having a lisp? It's using sexual identity as a way of reducing someone. Those high-minded people are using sexual orientation as a slur. How different is that from Buckley himself calling Vidal a "queer" in the hopes of reducing him? It's hateful speech no matter how you slice it.

If WFB had sex with men or not doesn't make his arguments any more or less valid. The debate with Chomsky is solid, refuting his racist and xenophobic drivel is solid, but when you turn homophobic slurs to show him up you've sunk to his level and lower.

So the best a number of you can come up with in responding to Buckley's controversies is "He's gay"?

I'd say that in a battle of wits you've come unarmed.

Not to mention the fact that the patina of homophobia doesn't exactly put you on some higher plane from some of Buckley's uglier sentiments.

I think Buckley was utterly fascinating, an American thinker who held himself like some kind of royalty. Compare him to Limbaugh or Hannity or (god save us) Glenn Beck, it's not even a contest. Yes, he was completely and utterly wrong, but he was considered, thinking and sharp. He didn't rely simply on cheap theatrics and shouting to carry the day. The fracas with Vidal was so notable because it was the exception.

I will miss disagreeing with him.

I just don't get it. Not to snark on it, but am I missing something here? It just seems kind of infantile and oddly creepy. A bit like Wil Ferrell's whole oeuvre.

Kristi has perhaps the most reasoned reply of all to this. The delivery method is not perfect, but this is a major US publisher trying something that runs counter to all the knee-jerk "sue them into the ground" logic that hes pervaded music, movies and publishing for some time.

I keep thinking of that clip floating around from "My Super Sweet Sixteen" wherein the young girl melts down because she got her sports car present before her birthday party.

It's a great step in the right direction. Rather than wring hands and eat ashes I wrote to Harper Collins, thanked them for efforts and suggested how they might improve it. Positive feedback is going to go much further than simply labeling this FAIL and snarking it up.

Trs:

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Joel:

I think I take some umbrage at the tone of your comments. People in this thread are questioning how this advertisement program is going to further blur the line between content and commerce.

The same kind of questions that BB has often asked of other sites and organizations.

I think it does make me question the agenda and tone of posts on this site more. The same way I'd be leary of my local newspaper reporting on organized labor issues while taking in huge ad revenues from Wal-Mart circulars.

One of the real unpleasant aspects of modern culture has been the acceptance of advertising, product placement and rampant schilling as simply a matter of course. Is there going to be a chilling effect on BB? Too soon to tell, but frankly it would not surprise me at this point.

I'm in agreement with license farm upthread. Bandwith and creating content costs money, ad revenues make the site possible and profitable. But this is very hinky advertising to me. It's not the simple banner ad or even an pop-up, it's integrating content and advertisement in a way that blurs the line between the two. Right now the banner at the top mixing Honda and BB ("a directory of deviceful things"....ewww) is just plain off-putting.

I'm an adult and I read things with a critical eye even from trusted sources. I have to say though, this ad deal (with a Car company that does not offer domestic partner benefits for GLBT employees to boot) has really eroded my trust in BB as a source.

Kind of creepy that two different groups both used rape as part of a mnemonic device.

Posting these videos perhaps demonstrates why these kids need to cheat in the first place.

Take "Kiki" for instance. Clicked on her video, then her youtube profile, then was at her myspace.

Three clicks and I know that she is 18 and goes to Plano East Senior High School in Texas.

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Takuan is correct about the justification that the city will likely use, but it's bullcrap.

City workers use spray paint on streets and sidewalks all the time, I'd be very curious to see an accident where it was the culprit.

This is a citizen who was ignored by the city spending his own time and money to better his neighborhood. What's really disturbing is hearing the guy in the video link talk about public property like the government is some private landowner. It's our property!

It's just the sort of anti-female law that you get with the Christian right in this country.

Anyone with the illusion that it's not about controlling women, limiting their options and choices and diminishing their place in society is simply not paying attention.

Reproductive rights rollbacks, the annhiliation of sexual education and this kind of ridiculous ban all affect women disproportionately.

If men made more use of sex toys for jerking off you'd have drive-thru sex shops.

Not to sound petulant, but could we see a bit more of the show and a bit less of the correspondent perhaps? He's cute and funny and all, but I'd realy like to hear more about the show, see people talking about their innovations (sex driving technology being something of an old saw) and perhaps a bit less goofiness. The whole naive, "gee whiz golly are you gonna spank me?" thing is kind of dated. Get Dan Savage in there!

I ran into this at O'Hare over the holidays. I was carrying a treo and an ipod touch. The TSA people spent a few minutes chatting with each other about the ipod touch. They also had me pry it out of its CLEAR PLASTIC case.

Considering the line it was kind of irksome.

Halloween Jack: Amen

Om: I really hope you're kidding or just playing troll, but having peeked in some of the capes and boots forums over the years I kind of doubt it.

Just about the money? Is that why Alan Moore is handing over the money he gets from Watchmen and V for Vendetta to the artists he worked with?

http://cinemablend.com/new/Alan-Moore-Doesn-t-Care-About-Watchmen-Movie-7376.html

I know that doesn't fit into your vision of the "whining uber-artists", but the world very rarely conforms to our assumptions friendo.

@Ernunnos:

So, by your logic my sketches in my notebook aren't art because I've never taken them beyond the covers of my moleskine? Balderdash.

Steampunk is an aesthetic, not some little club for people with dremel skills alone. The gent making the stained glass computer mod
http://kotaku.com/gaming/pc/the-stained-glass-pc-case-236415.php
has really done something laudible, but so has this person. They took an item and owned it, shaped it and remade it. It's simple work, but it's more than many people do with their possessions. Further, the simplicity of this modification might be appealing to people who don't have alot of technical skills but still enjoy the act of creation/making. Snobbery about what is an isn't worthy of being steampunk goes against the very homespun, personal and hand-crafting nature of the movement as art.

Art is a doorway, not a doorstop.

I own a huge nerf gun and after seeing this I think I'm going to give it a facelift.

Seeing this video and seeing the crafting boom in my generation, I think there really is a sincere need for more adult arts and crafts time. Just making simple, creative things. I don't get into electronics, but making a model or creating something to wear is very appealing.

Snipped from the Devon article:
Despite finding themselves in such unusual circumstances, the girls made the best of their situation and happily chatted to other girls at the home the next morning.

"They wanted to know all about England and whether we knew the Queen," said Gemma.

"Most of them were at the home because they had been taken away from their families for whatever reason. We were lucky to be able to leave after just one night."

So while the adults were slaves to a bureaucracy, asking terrorizing questions and generally being knobheads, the children were being actual humans.

I'd love to read the NYC protective services report.

"Suspect removed her children form protective custody and subjected them to a night on the town and Mary Poppins"

The title card thing in cloverfield has bothered me since the first trailer to feature it.

Gibson's point seems to be about how the lack of clarity in the card takes you out of the movie rather than draw you in. If the card had simply flashed "RECOVERED FROM MANHATTAN ZONE" or "RECORDING 345 FROM THE NEW YORK RECLAMATION ARCHIVES" you get a sense of scale, a sense that something has clearly changed the very nature of New York (does it exist anymore, what's become of it?) to some huge extent. You get the dread and you can simply let that fester in the back of your mind while the monster movie unfolds. Too many words and it gets clumsy, distracts and even confuses.

Gibson's a master of using sparse text to give the audience a more clear mental image. Using the right words rather than more words. I can see why he pointed this out.

Takuan:

I recommend "The Wire" to anyone who has bought into the drug war party line. Gets them thinking beyond the militarized hysteria that prevades the conversation. Good fiction can be more accessible for some people.

I think you're treading into conspiracy theories. That way of thinking gives the people in power too much credit and minimizes the role people can play in changing their communities. Why bother working to change things if some smoke-filled backroom already has it all laid out?

The drug war in this country is a confluence of an out of control military-industrial complex, morally panicked politicians, racial tensions, stark economic changes, immigration and trade policies and simple human addiction. Ascribing that to some nebulous cell within the system avoids the complexity of the issue, and limits our response to it.

@6

I'd recommend you go watch all 4 seasons of "The Wire" on dvd and the current episodes of season 5 on HBO. Whatever your perspective on the "War on Drugs" is now, and I gather from what you wrote it's not the most well-informed, "The Wire" will teach you something about the complexity of the drug trade.

Hell, just read this article by David Simon. It's eye-opening.

http://www.believermag.com/issues/200708/?read=interview_simon

I'm a librarian and OSX has been a real boon to helping older patrons use basic services (e-mail, browsing, webchat) without too much ramp up. Older patrons are driven more by a simple request ("I want to share pictures" or "I want to chat with my kids in Denver") rather than learning a whole operating system. OSX lets them access what they need simply and get on with things.

I do like Ubuntu even more so for accessibility, but library boards/admins get hinky about "weird" operating systems.

The nerd-flaming either way is just silly. Whatever works best for you works best. I'd rather see a bunches of operating systems out there (that can interact in a friendly way!) giving users of all ages more options.

I thought Channel 1 (with it's news for dummies approach and soda commercials) was bad back in high school. What made it even worse were teachers who mandated we stop reading or working on homework and sit watching the tv. Mandated watching of a young anderson cooper might sound like some folks ideas of a good time, but it drove me to join band and thus avoid homeroom telescreen viewing.

@38

License Farm, I think you're off the mark with the Reagan slam. It's not about nature serving us at all. He's making a point about the larger system. Hence the bit about storms and recovery. It's a bit...detached, but it's seeing the whole of the process, from sapling to tree to paper to mulch to food for more saplings. If we stop and weep over the butchery of the tree we're missing the whole of the cycle, of which we are a part.

Are we disproportionate? Is our impact in the cycle radically upsetting the cycle itself. Again, depends on what level you're looking at it. Go more macro and we're not that consequential. The planet can shake off even our love of nuclear waste and plastics. It's an elegant way of viewing the human race and it's place. Very humbling really.

Does that mean we should crap all over the earth now, polluting like it's a hobby? Of course not. But it heartens me to know that our best efforts at self-harm are all but meaningless in the face of the forces of nature.

I credit Warren Ellis with giving me this one...

Heptomacrophilia: People who want to fuck Godzilla.

Tasers are random elements introduced into potentially violent situations. Their uncertain results make them seem like less and less of a reliable tool. Add the aggressive, often militaristic attitude encouraged among cops of late (War on Drugs/Terror/Gangs breeds a war mentality) by politicians, the jittery media and a fearful populace and the only shocking part is how few people have died.

If more time and money was spent on teaching officers how to deal with tense situations peacefuly, more effort put into community policing and outreach efforts. If people (including people in this thread) didn't see cops are the enemy or a threat...it's damn sad.

And when it comes to non-lethal force
You're telling me that at this point in the history of law enforcement technology the best pacifying weapons we have are irritant sprays and electric shock? That's just sad.

The Avoidance of disagreement is the highest good? That's a very narrow way of looking at things. Of course, some people offer nothing but noise and nonsense but even stopped clocks are right twice a day. Good moderation can keep things from getting off-topic or simply flaming out.

The tendency to insulate against the disagreeable is something I really don't like about online interaction. A free market of ideas (even terrible ones) does remarkable good.

Calling it Winston Smith would have been very appropriate. Down the memory hole!

"It would be directed toward the stupid system that uses parking tickets to generate revenue for the city."

I have to credit Bad Religion here, "Fuck the Government!/You are the government". The power to effect real change, not just toss a writing tantrum, is in our hands.

In Chicago people got tired of seasonal posting signs being torn down and their cars getting ticketed by clueless meter maids. They protested and got a more effective system of signs and warning lights. If they'd just stuck with writing "Up your ass meter man!" they'd be no better off.

Writing cuss words that will likely only be read by low-paid clerks and bank tellers is the ding-dong-ditch form of protest.

So, in short, if you're part of a system that deliberately inconveniences people for revenue, you deserve the f-bomb as well.

I can't believe I, as someone who assumes about 3-4 tickets a year as the cost of living in Chicago, am going to defend the meter people, but I think you're off base here.

While I agree that many cities are using hyper-aggressive ticketing as a revenue stream and not the intended purpose of reducing congestion and parking strain, the clerks who open the mail are hardly the people to blame for that. Yes, they benefit from the system, but they're hardly the ones setting policy. If you write and expletive filled invective to the Chief Meter Maid or city hall, at least your aiming your anger in the right direction. This is just misplaced rage and speaks more about the author's character than the justness of the policy.

That said, I got a ticket a few days ago at 9:04am outside my house, when the meters start ticket at 9am. It was an empty street except for my car. I had plenty of curse words to share on that one, just not with some mail room schlub.

Bit of a stretch calling that disorderly conduct in any reasonable way. DC seems to be one of those catch-alls that lets cops bust you for "something".

That said, it's kind of prickish to write "fuck you" to the clerks who didn't give you the ticket and had nothing to do with your case. Fight it in court, protest, raise a ruckus, but this just makes him seem like surly asshole.

Teresa:

That was wonderful. I will be borrowing that marathon comparison. By borrowing I mean stealing. But don't worry, you can seek relief in the court.

I'm kind of curious how Penn's atheism reconciles with the ineffable complexities of the free market, which, to me, has always sounded an awful lot like some kind of economic collective unconscious/godhead.

ZUZU:

Oh my, that's alot of kool-aid there.

So we're to believe that if Blackwater and their ilk were independent operators unbound by governmental contracts they'd be less aggressive, single-minded and violent in their tactics? They're already exempt from any sort of legal sanction in Iraq, and here they're likely to not even face a civil trial for murdering civilians. They're mercenaries a term that's fallen by the wayside. Like war-profiteer has come to be replaced by "contractors". War is simply another way of making money to these organizations. If you don't find that morally repulsive, ethically void and legally nebulous I don't know what to tell you.

Yes, anyone who believes that the unrestrained capitalism and complete lack of legal ramifications for corporations devastating communities (the rust belt, most of Michigan) by moving their facilities overseas hates immigrants and should put on a big pointy hat like Lou Dobbs. Ronald Reagan and his cronies made it adventageous for industries to export jobs overseas while higher-ups continued seeing profits in dollars. Taking away the "impediments" to business and smashing unions attempts to maintain a dignified quality of life for workers here (and abroad) has been the stock and trade of the economic right for decades. It amounts to "Well, I got mine, here's some bootstraps for you kid."

Most environmental catastrophe is the result of governments immunizing big business (i.e. corporatism) from environmental responsibility.

No, it's the result of dollar-cost averaging lives versus litigation. What is our liability, those four words have cost more people their lives and devastated more land, sea and air in the US and abroad than the mind can concieve of.

I'm not a socialist by any means, but I think that an unregulated market guided only by the mythical invisible hand would see billions disenfranchised and the narrow band of the middle class both in the US and elsewhere annhilated. Remember, the AC argument is anti-union, anti-personnel regulation (minimum wages, sick leave, family leave, hiring discrimination all 'dictated by the market') and benefits that already wealthy over those seeking to enter the market.

Penn's free-market utopia would be far hell for alot of other people.

Her Wiki is full of amazing trivia. Dated Orson Welles, hung out with James Dean, costumed Grace Slick? That's a hell of a life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maila_Nurmi

@Maurik

Sorry, Penn goes way past Libertarianism and into Anarcho-Capitalism, which is la-la fantasy land as far as I'm concerned. You need look no further than the Billions and Billions wasted/lost/looted and flat out stolen by contractors in the Iraq war. Add to that Blackwater and other military contractors all by callous disregard for human rights and dignity and the record of private companies doing jobs previously reserved for the military is sketchy at best. Multiply that throughout society.

Unbridled greed and unrestrained trade has already led to slave labor, job exportation and enviornmental catastrophe. AC would take away any impediments that we as citizens through our representatives place upon them. You go from citizen of a nation to consumer of brand America. Not a place I want to live or see as having any intrinsic value.

I don't think the current system is ideal and there are elements of libertarianism that are very commendable (opposition to limitations on personal freedom, sensible copyright reform) but like any view left/right the edges of the spectrum get somewhat extreme.

As for being jealous of his success, not at all, but it definitely colors my perspective of him. Hearing him talk about the victims of Katrina or people in generational poverty from the comfort of a compound in the desert (a beautifully designed one, but still) does affect how I view his opinions. Millionaires lecturing other people about how they should rough it, bootstraps and all that always sound very callous to me

I run hot and cold with Penn. He's very clever and endlessly loquacious but the whole anarcho-capitalist libertarian lone nut thing is kind of off-putting. It's heartening that he himself is the first to describe himself as "a nut" but I get the feeling that self-deprecation is something of a put-on.

He's a very rich man who lives on a compound talking about how other people should fend for themselves. Just something to keep in mind when he's rattling on about privatizing the cops or having corporations run damn near everything.

Tv-b-gone is the best tech purchase I've made in memory. The blessed peace it gives at restaurants and bars (where people aren't even watching the damn tv most of the time) is wonderful.

Applause all around for the MAKE/Gizmodo folks for stifling the idiot box, if even for a moment.

Gayrecluse:

I'd second your buzzkill in that I wonder if the tech getting fried could not have been re-purposed into something better? To start with programs like

http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/
http://www.recellular.com/recycling/index.asp
http://www.snbw.org/donate/cellphone.htm

That's just from a quick search, I know many Women's Shelters and schools who would love to get their hands on cellphones, ipod, functional or otherwise.

Yeah, it's funny and kitschy and cute, but it's also pretty wasteful when there are a great many people who could make excellent use of that tech.

And personally, the thought of deep fried plastic makes me want to yarf.

Actually the whole "stick you can beat your wife with" explanation mainly a myth. Seems it comes from fencing, not spousal abuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb#Origin_of_the_phrase

Interesting idea for a site.

I can just imagine the first "stalking by hubcaps" case to enter the court system.

"The defendant is hearby ordered to keep rolling on 20s at least 500 feet from Ms. Smith at all times."

Next time anyone asks, this is why the terrorists hate us.

What's irritating about this case is that the noise mongers will harp on the fact that this case involves child abuse ("What about the children!") to obscure the rather clear constitutional precedent.

I think it's interesting that a number of current american "hot button" issues are all found in this story.

The lack of affordable health care, the lack of oversight in the lending/mortgage/real estate business, toxic molds and shoddy construction work.

Strange confluence.

I have to call BS on that video as well. I'm sure she's a terror, but that's clearly some coached/scripted performance going on. The lines are a little too neat and punchy to be real.

That said, creatures like that (and the nightmare beasts that roam the show "My super sweet sixteen") are like anthropomorphic birth control. If I had a daughter like that I'd call in an exorcist. And I'm a deist.

I think he's in on the joke. As much as I loathe the guy's politics, he seems to have some sense of humor (witness the Chuck Norris) commercial.

As for it being mean-spirited, horsehockey. I worked at Navy Pier here in Chicago and any number of tv shows set up doing man on the street bits like this. I've never stopped for them and never would, because even the smartest person can be edited and shaped to look a fool. If you give an interview like that you're opening the door for any old kind of mockery.

It's more palatable for many to simply imprison the mentally ill along for petty crimes, and regularly roust them on the streets with asinine signage and ordinances.

These are the same people who think Rush Limbaugh is witty.

The nuclear plant bit assumes people just up and disappear like a fart in the wind. If a virus or zombie outbreak were to occur the people manning the reactors would likely have the good sense to put them into some kind of shutdown/standby mode.

In the excellent World War Z, Max Brooks came up with the term "Lamoes" (last man on earth) which applied to people who roughed it alone through the zombie plague.

Earth Abides is excellent, focusing on the loss of thousands of years of human culture in the face of catastrophe.

The outer limits pops to mind "We control the horizontal and the vertical!"

That aside, in my neighborhood we had a homeless woman who would piles dozens of stinking, rotting blankets on a bus stop bench and create this mound of bedding. It looked like a nest and was caked in filth. She's set it up in the early evening and spend the night. The woman was clearly mentally ill, spending the night wailing and jibbering to herself. I could hear her some night from my house two doors away.

Numerous people, myself included, tried to help her and find her somewhere better to sleep, but she would either ignore us or start screaming. The cops eventually came one night when she got into it with the transit police after voiding on the bus-stop bench.

It's heart-breaking to see someone suffering like that, and people of good conscience are often frustrated trying to find a way to help.

Putting up nonsense signs like that only further cuts the homeless off from the human community. Shoving the "undesireable" out of sight does nothing to address their issues and ultimately devalues our humanity.

My best friend in college was the second in command of a security guard company in the Chicago burbs. He did all the hiring and firing and told me that the most dangerous and problematic people he dealt with were guys (always guys) who couldn't hack it in law enforcement (either rejected initially or had some weird reason they never tried) and wanted to get into security as a "back-up". The best? Retired cops (who can retire in their early 40's here in Illinois) who actually knew the law and also knew how to keep situations from escalating. They didn't sweat the small stuff or hassle people who weren't actually, y'know, causing a ruckus. That's why ex-cops can all buy name their salaries for security and bodyguard gigs.

Offensive? Jeez, more parents who won't be happy until little Dakota and Shane are raised entirely in hamster balls. Like someone making a pithy comment about blood-red carpet or other ghoulish little jibe is going to cause the snot-nosed punks to need therapy. Raising up a generation of sissies.

Hiding petty crime behind a vague political agenda demeans people who actually engage in resistance and act for change.

A while back the Artist Banksy bought 500 copies of Paris Hilton's cd of "music", remixed the music and added fantastic editorial content to the liner notes. He then returned them to the stores for people to buy.

It was artistic and he didn't have to steal to make his point. People who bought the cds (god knows who would) ended up with something of much greater artistic value, but also commercial, as copies of the cd started going for $500 and up on Ebay.

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/03/banksy-shopdrops-500.html

And what did these brave revolutionaries do with the ipods?

This smells like a bunch of 12 year olds high off of Adbusters justifying their theft.

@AGOODSANDWICH: Becasue moral panics make politicians appear useful come election time. "Candidate Smith protected the children of New Jersey by cracking down on sex offenders" the ads will scream.

Of course, the fact that the overwhelming majority of sex offenses are committed by someone the kid knows or related to and stranger/internet solicitations make up just a small percentage of offenders gets lost in the shuffle.

Isolating them from society actually increases their likelihood to re-offend. After all, why bother reforming when it's assumed you're going to fail?

I can see Twig's point and understand the logic of it. A few cops, sitting around, talking shop, might say something just godawful and completely inappropriate. Hang around police lab tech and you'll hear more jokes about post-mortem erections and the "funny suicides" to fill a million lifetimes.

But there's a world of difference between awful things said in private and making awful things your slogan.

I'm reminded of how, a few years back, a tape of some Chicago firefighters screwing around, making lewd and racist remarks (there were firefighters of all races involved) and general grabassery got played on tv. The hue and cry was deafening and some of the firefighters were disciplined. The truly stupid part of what they did wasn't the horseplay and ribald talk, it was videotaping it. If you're going to be an idiot, and everyone is at some point or another, then do it in private.

In a serious vein, I was thinking this could effect museums. When they host traveling exhibitions from Egypt they pay to do so. But they also make a fair amount off of stuff they sell in the store. Museums in Chicago with large permanent egypt exhibits do a brisk business in Egyptian thingamabobs. The Egyptian government could make all kinds of headaches for Museums and other learning institutions with this kind of nonsense. I could see them withdrawing exhibits or demanding big chunks of royalties. In the end, either the museums will pay out or, more likely, go with other exhibitions. In the case of the latter, Egypt gets dick.

Do one better, most of that stuff is on youtube.

I think she's hysterical, and slamming the puffed up nit-pickers who posted on here is simply brilliant.

She's doing something fun and cute with the somewhat dry blogging medium. If you think you've got better chops what's stopping you from starting your own draw-blog? Besides lack of anything worth doodling about.

The war on terror has given us so much new language.

Torture is now "interrogation technique"
War Profiteers are now "contractors"
Kidnapping is now "rendition"

When so many Americans get their jollies watching Jack Bauer pull the fingernails off evil Muslim terrorists and laugh at cops and fake-cops tasering people is the acceptance of this kind of garbage really all the surprising?

The water thing is a bit of a sticking point to me. Potable water for the masses is something of a new phenomenon, historically speaking. Beer and other beverages were preferrable because filtration was either non-existant or dreadful through much of human history. Now that you can get fresh water straight from the tap (or be a fool in the western world and pay more for a water than gasoline and get it in a bottle) I would think it would be preferrable to drink water.

Considering the health issues brought on by over consumption of sugars (high fructose corn syrup especially) present in many carbonated drinks I think sticking with water and juices as your main liquids is pretty solid.

Ugh, that was not an intentional pun.

I know I sound like a killjoy, but the whole Brian Peppers meme has always struck me as ridiculously mean-spirited. The guy suffers from any number of physical ailments and lives in a nursing home. I remember reading that he was charged with groping a nurse, hence his status as a sex offender. Turning the guy into a punchline because he's creepy looking just seems cruel.

I really enjoy the "suspicious attempts to gain explosives and dangerous chemicals".

The other night I bought 4 1 gallon bottles of industrial strength drain cleaner at nearly midnight from my local Home Depot...in chicago!

Should I lie face down with my fingers interlaced behind my head and wait for Jack Bauer to come bursting in?

If someone is buying alot of Ammonium Nitrate they're already going to get flagged in the FBI watch lists anyway. That's been in place since the OK City bombings.

You can't even buy FIREWORKS in Chicago, so I don't know where these chicago-based terrorist cells are buying explosives.

Oh and I bought the drain cleaner because it's was on sale. Home Depot is enabling terrorism!

Good intentions do pave the path to hell. I can see the cops thinking that this is a good thing, a way to reach out to the community, develop better relationships and such, but doing it by peeing all over the 4th Amendment is just nonsense.

There's something profoundly creepy about police rewarding people for simply obeying the law. You should be a considerate driver because it's the right thing to do, not because you might win a cup of over-sugared coffee.

Best piece of advice I ever recieved was whenever you're about to lose your temper and do something profoundly stupid take a second to explain your actions and add the words "Officer" or "Your Honor" to the end.

For instance:

"I could not find my glassese so I gunned it and destroyed the gas station, Your Honor."

Gives one pause.

Oh and having worked one horrible summer in a Car Wash I can tell you that most of them have multiple cameras now. It's mainly to protect against lawsuits people file because they claim their car was damaged during a wash.

I've always wanted everything Hoagland claims to be true. Aliens are everywhere, conspiracies run everything from the post office to the shuttle launches and Mars is just rife with big heads and faces.

Of couse, I also want Santa to bring me a million in unmarked bills. Let's see what comes first.

The Time Square book looks interesting though.

Youtube has pulled it for "Terms of Use" violation.

Personally, I think that was an act of political speech. With jubblies, but political speech all the same and removing it is simply cowardly.

"But think of the children!"...etc.

Parking "Cops" are just getting more and more ridiculous. In Chicago we had the "Lincoln Park Pirates" in the 70's and 80's who basically stole people's cars and held them ransom. Now we have other freebooters who will slap a metal immobilizer on your car and charge you 125-200 bucks to get it off if you disobey the parking regulations, like crossing the street or leaving the shopping center lot for even an instant. One lot even hired spotters to track people parking in the lot and make sure they went into the "correct" stores. Sheesh.

I understand wanting to keep your lots free for customers, especially in high traffic areas, but there are alot less ridiculous ways of going about it. Just think of it as one more reason not to eat McDonald's "food".

What I really love is you can see just how much of a gentleman Neil Gaiman is to his fans. He seems utterly delighted by the whole thing. I've been to a couple of his signings over the years and he's always so giving and gracious.

I wonder if Best Buy is going to claim the shape and font are trademarks?

It's this kind of humorless knee-jerk response that's becoming more and more corporate America's response to pretty much everything. Their argument is likely "if we don't constantly defend our brand, we endanger the company". It's the same logic as saying that having people over for dinner is inviting looters to strip your house to the floorboards.

I can speak from experience that teenagers LOVE this project. We made them at the school I work for and the kids went nuts for them. We used old encyclopedias that were being discarded as they were nice and thick with very sturdy spines/covers. I'd really recommend you use something sturdier for cutting than an exacto though. A heavy box cutter worked really well for us.

And yeah, we had LOTS of adult supervision. The only injury was a teacher who cut her finger while jabbering.

The militarization of police in America, coinciding with the "war on drugs" has bred in a much lower level of understanding with an increasing number of police officers. The assumption is now that the person being stopped is crazy/high/violent/armed. Going into a situation expecting someone to be coked to the gills and ready to rumble makes horrid events like this all the more common.

I'd never argue that cops should be unsafe, they have a very difficult and dangerous job and many execute it with professionalism and courtesy. But if instead of focusing on military style training and increasing levels of weaponry more police officers were trained to deal with situations better before they escalate to violence we might see less of this kind of numbskullery.

Speaking as someone in Illinois, Obama ground zero, I think his campaign iconography is very effective. Obama is running on "hope" as a buzzword (title of his book, theme in much of his literature and his stump speeches) so the "sunrise O" seems like a smart move.

I do think it would be funny if Obama starting just using an "O" and Hillary with her double "1's". Binary humor.

To complete the set, you can find the designers photos of Penn Jillette's (the larger, louder half of the dynamic magic duo) house "The Slammer" here...

http://otlstudio.com/gallery.php?image=19960117t

I heard him describe the terrain around his house as "Hell, on the moon" which was very much to his liking.

Check out the Guard tower!

The land-grabbers are claiming that they used it for picnics and parties on a regular basis. Something the owners dispute. They also claim in the video at the bottom of this story

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/nov/17/stevens-loser-disgruntled/

that the land-grabbers created the "paths" just last year.

I say land-grabbers because no matter the legality of adverse possession, this is simply an unethical and sleazy way to go about getting land. Add to the fact that they're demanding the people they grabbed the land from foot the court costs and it's simply dastardly.

What really boggles my mind is how they expect to live in that neighborhood now? Making enemies out of your neighbors like this is just a sad way to live.

I think they need blue folders for the Mac version.