News you can't use (but it's still pretty entertaining)
I'll start, as I always do, with a little bit of ...
Politics
- A Huffington Post columnist who actually admits having voted for Bush/Cheney takes the former vice president to task for sullying the good name of the United States after Sept. 11: Shame on you, Dick Cheney. Hey, America, your Dick is showing!
- Meanwhile, the Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf examines why everyone else in the United States hates Cheney: Remembering why Americans loathe Dick Cheney. A good case could be made for trying Cheney as a war criminal, in my view, but the Obama administration is too chicken to go for it.
- The 21st century's Joseph McCarthy, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), says he finds it troubling that 21 percent of Muslims have seen signs of extremism in their communities, according to a Politico report: Rep. Peter King: Muslim poll 'very disappointing'. He apparently doesn't have the cognitive potential to realize that Muslims may have seen "signs of extremism" in their communities because so much extremism has been directed toward their communities. Moreover, I'd be interested to see the results of a similar poll among Christian communities, in light of crazies like this guy or this guy.
- And the Lunatic Fringe continues to run the asylum in the Republican Party. Their most recent talking point? That Obama should not "federalize fairly routine disasters": Obama: The catastrophe president. Could someone get some clarification from the Buckeye Institute on what exactly characterizes a "routine disaster"?
- Foreign Policy reports on how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' investigation into weapons smuggling into Mexico was hampered by the National Rifle Association: Mexican roulette. One egregious example of the hamstringing is that weapons trafficking is not actually illegal. Thanks, NRA.
- Finally, the New York Times reports that a Jerusalem Post reporter lost his job after saying Palestinian terrorism was "justified": Israeli columnist is fired for writing that Palestinian terrorism is 'justified'. The kicker is that the columnist wrote that on his personal blog. Expect temperatures to rise in the Middle East, as the United Nations Security Council is expected to vote soon on a resolution that would officially recognize Palestine as an independent nation.
Science! and Technology
- The BBC examines Earth's dynamic (no pun intended) magnetic field, what creates it and what might cause it to flip in the near geological future: Magnetic mysteries of Earth's core. The good news is, GPS makes navigation by compass all but obsolete. The bad news is, serious shifts in the magnetic field could leave GPS and other satellites relatively unprotected from solar radiation.
- Discovery News outlines a plan by two organizations to build an unmanned interstellar spacecraft: Project Icarus: Interstellar 'kite making'. Next up: manned interstellar vehicles? I can only hope.
- Popular Science reports on crooks trying to lift your heat signature from the keys on ATMs: Heat Cracking: Criminals can steal your ATM PIN via the heat your fingers leave behind. Metal keys apparently stymie this method, though, as they give off too much stray heat.
- The chief of the Linux Foundation is sure to make some new friends by saying anyone who uses open-source software but doesn't contribute to the open-source community is an "idiot": Linux Foundation Chief: 'You are an idiot' if you don't give back to open source. I think he's an idiot for trying to tell people what they should or should not do with their time and their software, but maybe that's just me.
That's it for today!
Politics
- A Huffington Post columnist who actually admits having voted for Bush/Cheney takes the former vice president to task for sullying the good name of the United States after Sept. 11: Shame on you, Dick Cheney. Hey, America, your Dick is showing!
- Meanwhile, the Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf examines why everyone else in the United States hates Cheney: Remembering why Americans loathe Dick Cheney. A good case could be made for trying Cheney as a war criminal, in my view, but the Obama administration is too chicken to go for it.
- The 21st century's Joseph McCarthy, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), says he finds it troubling that 21 percent of Muslims have seen signs of extremism in their communities, according to a Politico report: Rep. Peter King: Muslim poll 'very disappointing'. He apparently doesn't have the cognitive potential to realize that Muslims may have seen "signs of extremism" in their communities because so much extremism has been directed toward their communities. Moreover, I'd be interested to see the results of a similar poll among Christian communities, in light of crazies like this guy or this guy.
- And the Lunatic Fringe continues to run the asylum in the Republican Party. Their most recent talking point? That Obama should not "federalize fairly routine disasters": Obama: The catastrophe president. Could someone get some clarification from the Buckeye Institute on what exactly characterizes a "routine disaster"?
- Foreign Policy reports on how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' investigation into weapons smuggling into Mexico was hampered by the National Rifle Association: Mexican roulette. One egregious example of the hamstringing is that weapons trafficking is not actually illegal. Thanks, NRA.
- Finally, the New York Times reports that a Jerusalem Post reporter lost his job after saying Palestinian terrorism was "justified": Israeli columnist is fired for writing that Palestinian terrorism is 'justified'. The kicker is that the columnist wrote that on his personal blog. Expect temperatures to rise in the Middle East, as the United Nations Security Council is expected to vote soon on a resolution that would officially recognize Palestine as an independent nation.
Science! and Technology
- The BBC examines Earth's dynamic (no pun intended) magnetic field, what creates it and what might cause it to flip in the near geological future: Magnetic mysteries of Earth's core. The good news is, GPS makes navigation by compass all but obsolete. The bad news is, serious shifts in the magnetic field could leave GPS and other satellites relatively unprotected from solar radiation.
- Discovery News outlines a plan by two organizations to build an unmanned interstellar spacecraft: Project Icarus: Interstellar 'kite making'. Next up: manned interstellar vehicles? I can only hope.
- Popular Science reports on crooks trying to lift your heat signature from the keys on ATMs: Heat Cracking: Criminals can steal your ATM PIN via the heat your fingers leave behind. Metal keys apparently stymie this method, though, as they give off too much stray heat.
- The chief of the Linux Foundation is sure to make some new friends by saying anyone who uses open-source software but doesn't contribute to the open-source community is an "idiot": Linux Foundation Chief: 'You are an idiot' if you don't give back to open source. I think he's an idiot for trying to tell people what they should or should not do with their time and their software, but maybe that's just me.
That's it for today!