Hurricane Charley Gallery

DigitalGlobe Delivers Before and After Satellite Imagery of Florida Gulf Coast Following Hurricane Charley Destruction

Justice Department Censors Supreme Court Quote

Claiming "national security", this regime's Dept. of Inustice blocked out a portion of the Supreme Court's decision in a case brought by the ACLU:

"The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government attempts to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect 'domestic security.' Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent."

Just who the hell do these people think they are, anyway!?

How Long Can the Country Stay Scared?

Written by noted security consultant Bruce Schneier and printed in the "Minneapolis Star-Tribune" on this date.

The DHS's threat warnings have been vague, indeterminate, and unspecific. The threat index goes from yellow to orange and back again, although no one is entirely sure what either level means. We've been warned that the terrorists might use helicopters, scuba gear, even cheap prescription drugs from Canada. New York and Washington, D.C., were put on high alert one day, and the next day told that the alert was based on information years old. The careful wording of these alerts allows them not to require any sound, confirmed, accurate intelligence information, while at the same time guaranteeing hysterical media coverage. This headline-grabbing stuff might make for good movie plots, but it doesn't make us safer....

The DHS's incessant warnings against any and every possible method of terrorist attack has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with politics. In 2002, Republican strategist Karl Rove instructed Republican legislators to make terrorism the mainstay of their campaign. Study after study has shown that Americans worried about terrorism are more likely to vote Republican. Strength in the face of the terrorist threat is the basis of Bush's reelection campaign.

Now read my post on 8/5/04 titled "Terror Alerts & GB2's Popularity".

On This Date in History

Birthdates
1882 Samuel Goldwyn pioneer film maker/producer (MGM)
1908 Lyndon B Johnson (D) 36th Pres (1963-1969)
1908 Martha Raye [Margaret Reed], Butte Mont, actress (Martha Raye Show)
1910 Mother Teresa [Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu], Yugoslavia (Nobel 1979)
1942 Daryl Dragon Pasadena Calif, keyboardist (Capt & Tennille)
1943 Susan "Tuesday" Weld NYC, actress (Dobie Gillis, Wild in Country)
1949 Barbara Bach [Goldbach], Queens NY, actress (Spy Who Loved Me)
1950 Charles Fleischer Wash DC, comedian (Roger Rabbit)
1952 Pee-wee Herman aka Paul Reubens, actor (Pee-wee's Big Adventure)
1952 2old4this, Grafton ND, legend and visionary
1959 Gerhard Berger formula-1 racer (Italian Grand Prix-1988)
1961 "Downtown" Julie Brown TV host (Club MTV, Inside Edition)
1963 Patty Duffek Woodland Hills Calif, playmate (May, 1984)

Deaths
1967 Brian Epstein Beatles' manager, dies
1971 Bennett Cerf (Random House)/panelist (What's My Line), dies at 73
1990 Stevie Ray Vaughan blues guitarist, dies in a helicopter crash at 35

On this day...
1783 1st hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned); reaches 900 m altitude
1883 Krakatoa, west of Java, explodes with a force of 1,300 megatons
1896 Zanzibar loses to England in a 38 minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM)
1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, where 60 nations agree to outlaw war
1937 George E.T. Eyston sets world auto speed record at 345.49 MPH
1939 Erich Warsitz makes 1st jet-propelled flight (in a Heinkel He-178)
1945 US troops land in Japan after Japanese surrender
1950 General Foods blacklists Jean Muir of Aldrich Family as a communist
1961 Francis the Talking Mule is the mystery guest on "What's My Line"
1962 Mariner 2 launched; 1st probe to fly by Venus
1984 President Reagan announces the Teacher in Space project
1985 20th Space Shuttle Mission (51-I)-Discovery 6-launched

Programs Broken by XP SP2

This is the official list, from Micro$oft. It has only 37 programs on it, including Norton Anti-Virus and the AOL toolbar (that won't effect too many millions). The unofficial list runs to over 200 programs. The numbers are growing while you read this.

Bottom Line: If you have been paying attention you aren't using XP anyway, but if you still do, don't rush out and pick up SP2. But you probably aren't listening to this either.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Spotlight

Saddled with XP? Fearing to use SP2, yet afraid not? The folks at Tech Republic are collecting tales of woe and the solutions others have found. Good stuff, before and after.

Epson Lied

6.9 grams
4 channels
full carbon
no servo's
no swashplate
InfraRed control

This machine was announced almost a year ago. Check out the video. The Hamster is cuter than the bored Japanese chick.