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Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Revolutionary Islam.. For a quarter of a century, a revolutionary movement has been spreading around the planet. While America's leaders were focused on Marxist revolutions and the Soviet Union, a radical new vision of Islam was surging through the Muslim world. It's full power was made bloodily manifest on September 11th. In Iran, where the revolution started and Egypt where Islamic radicals are brutally suppressed where does revolutionary Islam draw its strength, can what happened in Tehran happen in Cairo, and why is America perceived by Islamic radicals as the enemy? By aryo(myemailiduk@yahoo.co.uk). [iranFilter] 4:21:00 PM  Permalink  comment []

Bampots in the News. (Being the first of an irregular series of bulletins about bampots.) Investigating the german cannibal subculture: federal investigator Wilfried Fehl claimed during the trial of Armin Meiwes (for killing and eating another man) that there's a whole "flourishing cannibal scene" in Germany. "We are talking about dentists, teachers, cooks, government officials and handymen." Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post dirty bombs are going missing in Transdneister, a country most of us have never heard of for the simple reason that most governments don't recognize it. Transdneister issued a unilateral declaration of independence in 1990 and fought a brief civil war with Moldova -- it's a predominantly Russian region and didn't want to join in the perceived likely Moldovan merger with Romania. Anyway, they've got scads of SAMs, dirty bombs, all sorts of left-over Soviet weapons, and a government that makes Zimbabwe look like a model of moral probity ... and they're selling them to the highest bidder. Finally, White Supremacist terrorists in Texas developed chemical weapons and were only detected when a cyanide shipment they'd ordered was delivered to the wrong address. None of the arrestees are talking, and it's feared that accomplices may still be at large and planning to mount a gas attack somewhere in the US. [Cannibal bampots] [Worrying post-Soviet nuclear bampots] [Chemically assisted bampots] [Discuss bampots] [Charlie's Diary] What a fantastic post from Charlie Stross! 3:49:22 PM  Permalink  comment []

Chong Update. Last week's editions of L.A. Weekly and City Beat both check in on Tommy Chong, who's doing hard time for selling bongs. (links via LAObserved.com) Free Chong info and petitions are here. [Hit & Run] 3:38:43 PM  Permalink  comment []

The -Ism That Failed [American Prospect] This is a terrific article I read last night in the paper edition of The American Prospect (I'm sorry I haven't seen the paper edition before, I'm going to buy it regularly now). It documents how the paranoia about The Soviet Union and communism of the 80s got us into the Islamic trouble we're in now, and documents how neoconservative heros like Jeanne Kirkpatrick were wrong at every turn. Her children are wrong now and digging us into a deeper hole. 3:35:16 PM  Permalink  comment []

Recalled Yow. I got a physical letter yesterday from the shop I got my bike from. It turns out there's a problem with the right crankarm that could cause it to come off while riding. Needless to say, this could be very unpleasant. Alas, the shop doesn't have any replacements now, and they don't say in the letter when they might. Their web page doesn't have anything to say about it. So, even though it's raining and I probably wouldn't be riding anyway, I'm suffering some bike withdrawal. Since I got it on August 18, I've ridden it 709 miles, so it's not likely that it's going to break on me, but I don't imagine I'd be too comfortable on it. I do really like this bike, it's lighter than my last one (which I now regret trading in). 1:44:57 PM  Permalink  comment []

I'm Philosophical... ...what kind of drunk are you? 10:28:15 AM  Permalink  comment []

Why Man Must Return to the Moon. Space.com gives us "10 Reasons to Put Humans Back on the Moon." While some of these reasons seem obvious, like our needs for dreams or a common goal for nations to collaborate, some are less expected, like generating energy from lunar power station. [Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends] 10:06:46 AM  Permalink  comment []

R.I.P. Ruben Gonzalez. Buena Vista pianist dies at 84. Called by Ry Cooder "the greatest piano soloist I have ever heard" and "a Cuban cross between Thelonius Monk and Felix the Cat", Gonzalez' comeback in the '90's represented not only his own return from retirement but the reclamation of a musical style that the world had almost lost forever. [Follow Me Here...] 9:59:26 AM  Permalink  comment []

Conservatives Against the FMA. Activist Chuck Muth, one of the few remaining examples of the endangered species known as the Goldwater Republican, puts together the conservative arguments against a Federal Marriage Amendment. [Hit & Run] 9:03:44 AM  Permalink  comment []

Yep, I'm driving a new Pastelogram A very amusing piece in Today in Literature. On this day in 1955, American poet Marianne Moore submitted the last of the names that she had contracted to provide to the Ford Motor Company for the new car they were about to launch... What Ford wanted was a car name that "flashes a dramatically desirable picture in people's minds," from a woman who seemed to know mainstream America. What they got was "Anticipator," "Thunder Crester," "Pastelogram," "Intelligent Whale," "The Resilient Bullet," "Mongoose Civique," "Andante con Moto," "Varsity Stroke" and then, as her very last try for the name magic, "Utopian Turtletop." Oddly enough, Ford turne down all those names. Guess which one they chose? 8:54:45 AM  Permalink  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.