I'm sorry that he's been reduced to this. Ralph Nader used to be a pretty cool guy, even allowing for his hard stance on one of my favorite cars, ever.
But to see him reduced to playing with dolls is just too much.
And here's how all those rumors started.
RussNews on 10.30.04 @ 08:05 PM PDT [link]
it's been decided, once and for all. It's God's doing.
Links to hilarious site are everywhere, just in time for horrifying costumes!
RussNews on 10.29.04 @ 11:32 AM PDT [link]
Sorry.
Don't like it.
RussNews on 10.28.04 @ 04:51 PM PDT [link]
I suppose I could write about this, but I don't write many checks any more and it doesn't affect me personally. I remember with fondness putting staples in the MICR line, thereby requiring hand encoding and earning myself an extra day's float.
But I've just learned of a larger issue. I admit I'm bothered by the unfairness of it all. Here's a list of top five money-generating dead people for last year:
Elvis Presley $40 million
Charles Schulz $35 million
JRR Tolkien $23 million
John Lennon $21 million
Dr Seuss $18 million
Okay, call me jealous or uncaring or whatever you like. I fully support copyrights, but I also believe they should expire so works can become the property of society and be used and expounded upon by others. I know that corporations have been fighting against this and lining the pockets of many politicians, and I have nothing good to say about that.
I'm even more offended, though, by people - through no virtue of their own, only the accident of birth - who reap benefits based on the talents and efforts of their father or brother or uncle or husband or whatever. That's just plain wrong.
Of course you should be proud of your family member's work. I just don't think you should ride on it.
RussNews on 10.28.04 @ 01:04 PM PDT [link]
This requires an instant update, one of the rare two in a day entries.
Angelina Jolie, just back from a trip, had announced that the situation in the Darfur area of the Sudan is "unbelievably horrible."
Not that I've been told how to think by yet another celebrity, I'm convinced it's a bad thing. Thank God. Without the selfless exertions of these altruistic people how could I hope to know what's right?
If there is a God, he will certainly clone Angelina, Bono, Jessica Simpson and their ilk.
RussNews on 10.27.04 @ 05:13 PM PDT [link]
I guess it's a response to a few Ddos attacks on their sites.
Earlier, both the GeorgeWBush and the RNC sites were brought down by a denial of service attack, the result of being hammered by tons of requests, probably from bots (0wnd b0Xen). In response, they've denied access to most of the world.
You're cool if you live in the US, or parts of Canada, but the rest of the world gets a friends 403 greeting (not authorized).
I have no interest is seeing Bush re-elected (and am predicting this election will show the increased use of lawyers in deciding who wins), but this just shows we're moving into a new age. No one's been able to jam the commercials of the opposition party, but this is the next best thing. Just drive them off the Internet.
RussNews on 10.27.04 @ 08:46 AM PDT [link]
Decisions, decisions...
I could opt for the super-trendy, uber kewl, flashy and expensive new Ipod that lets me take pictures and impress everyone or go for one of these and see lots of stuff I'm not supposed to.
The iPod might have fancy little white eye cups to match the ear buds, but it's hard to resist T & A.
This is older news, but every time I think about it I chuckle.
RussNews on 10.26.04 @ 02:34 PM PDT [link]
This may be the coolest thing to come out yet! I want one!!
It may not be uber hip, like this, or get me laid, like this one, but I think it must be the neatest thing yet! Better, even, than my personal blimp idea.
RussNews on 10.25.04 @ 09:45 PM PDT [link]
Before we get to the Nigerians, this is the biggest joke of the day! I wonder who wrote those responses and why they're allowed to talk about the question instead of answering it. Great stuff.
And now, what's new in Nigeria?
Oh, sure, you're too clever to fall for this for years, and it's still good acvice!
But ... it seems there are new ways to fleece the public coming out every day. It makes me glad I'm not in the market for a roomate!
Save yourself time...read this and you'll never have to worry about spam again!
DEAR SIR/MADAM,
THIS IS A PERSONAL EMAIL T0 YOU ONLY. I AM THE SON OF SPAM SPADE, THE FORMER LOAN OFFICER OF NIGERIA, WHO WAS KILLED BY A RUSSIAN LADY WHO WANTS TO MEET YOU. HIS MORTGAGE RATES WERE SUPERB, BUT HIS PENIS WAS TOO SHORT, SO HE ORDERED 60,000,000 VIAGRA PILLS AND BEFORE HE COULD TAKE THEM HE WAS ASSASINATED BY 5 MILLION EMAIL ADDRESSES AT NO COST TO YOU. NOW I HAVE THESE 60 MILLION VIAGRA PILLS AND SEEK YOUR HELP IN TRANSFERING THEM TO YOUR ACCOUNT.
I AM USING THIS MEDIUM T0 REACH YOU. HOWEVER I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE AND THIS IS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, YOUR CO-OPERATION IS NECESSARY. YOUR RESUME WAS SELECTED AS BEING HIGHLY QUALIFIED, BUT THIS IS NOT SPAM! THIS IS FREEDOM FROM DEBT - CUT YOUR MORTGAGE IN HALF WITH OUR AMAZING REMOTE-CONTROL PASTA POT. THIS OFFER IS FREE. YOU HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO DELETE IT AT ANY TIME.
Y0UR PILLS ARE BEING HELD IN AN INEXPENSIVE DIGITAL CABLE DESCRAMBLER BOX GUARDED BY TEENY TITS CARRYING EXPLOSIVE LOADS. THE LOWEST RATES ARE LOCKED IN, ALONG WITH YOUR FREE GIFT. THESE PILLS MUST BE TRANSFERED TO YOUR ACCOUNT USING A HAND-HELD ORGANIZER WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED FROM A FREE GOVERNMENT-AUCTION WEB SITE. BY VIEWING PHOTOS OF SINGLES IN YOUR AREA, INCLUDING HORNY WIVES, YOU CAN LOOK YOUNGER, LOSE WEIGHT, AND INCREASE YOUR STAMINA WHILE DRIVING PRE-QUALIFIED CUSTOMERS TO YOUR MULTILEVEL PROGRAM AND MAKE OVER $4000 PER MONTH GUARANTEED. THESE PILLS WILL NOT ONLY MAKE YOU LOOK 3" LONGER, THEY WILL GET RID OF YOUR FLEAS AND TICKS FOR GOOD! SIMPLY COPY ANY DVD TO YOUR FREE INTERNET DOMAIN AND BEGIN YOUR ANTI-AGING PROGRAM TODAY.
THE PLAN IS SIMPLE. Y0U WILL USE NORTON SYSTEMWORKS (A $300 VALUE FOR ONLY $38.95) TO PURCHASE 37 MILLION SHARES OF TONER CORP STOCK. THEN YOU WILL MEET ME AT THE WORLD'S SMALLEST DIGITAL CAMERA WITH $30,000 IN CORAL CALCIUM. WARNING: DO NOT TAKE ANY HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE OR YOU WILL NOT QUALIFY FOR YOUR FREE GIFT. ONCE YOU RECONNECT WITH YOUR HIGH-SCHOOL FRIENDS, YOUR FREE CREDIT REPORT WILL BE SENT. WITH THIS REPORT, YOU CAN BUILD YOUR OWN ONLINE CASINO. ONCE INSIDE THE CASINO, YOU WILL SUBSCRIBE TO KARA'S FREE FAN CLUB, WHERE YOU WILL BE ENTERED IN A DRAWING TO PROTECT YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. DO NOT FAIL TO DO THIS, OR I WILL REDUCE THE SIZE OF YOUR PENIS BY THREE INCHES! KARA'S WEB SITE WILL POP UP 6,000 PAGES, ALL OF WHICH YOU WILL HAVE TO CLOSE BY CLICKING THEM. FOR EACH ONE YOU CLICK, TWO MORE WILL APPEAR. AFTER YOU COMPLETE YOUR ONLINE DEGREE (IN 8 MONTHS OR LESS), I WILL SEND YOU A HOT AMATEUR MP3 THAT WILL CONSOLIDATE YOUR DEBT USING ONLINE AUCTIONS. NOT EVEN CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, OR OPRAH WILL KNOW OUR SECRET!
N0W Y0U WILL BE READY TO RECEIVE THE PILLS. YOU WILL USE THE AUCTION SITE TO FIRE YOUR BOSS AND CLAIM YOUR PORTABLE DVD PLAYER FROM THE SECRET ANTI-WRINKLE AGENT. NEXT, BOOST YOUR CELLULAR RECEPTION AND DRIVE OUR TEENY LOLITAS WILD WITH HUMAN PHEROMONES MADE FROM PRE-OWNED INKJET CARTRIDGES. YOU WILL TRADE THE PHEROMONES FOR A SINGLE GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL FILLED WITH A FREE THIRTY-DAY SUPPLY, WHICH WILL ENLARGE YOUR PACKAGE EVEN FURTHER. THE HERBAL INGREDIENTS IN THIS PACKAGE WILL INCREASE YOUR REVENUE PROJECTIONS BY 3" AND CLEAN THE INNER WALLS OF YOUR INTESTINES. REMEMBER, THIS IS NOT A SLEEP REMEDY, THIS AMAZING PRODUCT TARGETS THE BACTERIA THAT ACTUALLY CAUSE SNORING!
0UR PSYCHICS ARE STANDING BY TO TAKE YOUR ORDER. GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER AND WAIT FOR THE BEEP. YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE ULTIMATE SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH AND A FREE CREDIT CHECK. DEPOSIT THIS CHECK IN A PRE-APPROVED ACCOUNT, AND YOU WILL TAKE HOME 40% OF THE PILLS.
THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE TRANSACTION. THE RESULTS ARE GUARANTEED. THIS IS A COMPLETELY SECURE INVESTMENT. I HOPE YOU WILL HELP ME AND MY FAMILY AS WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED. PLEASE REPLY ASAP.
SINCERELY,
S0N OF SPAM
RussNews on 10.22.04 @ 09:24 AM PDT [link]
Everyone wonders why I don't use Google for everything. One reason is I like to find different pages sometimes than the ones Google lists. Also, I like to try lots of different things. For a long time I thought Teoma was pretty neat, and I like this one because I get tons of strange results.
But Crusty is new and I love the groupings. Pretty damn convenient. Try it and see (don't forget to look to the left!)
I have to wonder how long this will last before Google shuts it down somehow. Looks very cool and I just wish it didn't require IE and Windows.
RussNews on 10.21.04 @ 11:03 PM PDT [link]
Just about *every* browser has been discovered to have pretty serious problems today. You may wish to check this site to learn about the vulnerabilities recently uncovered.
RussNews on 10.20.04 @ 08:31 AM PDT [Browser Alert">link]
It seems to happen rather frequently there, but there's been another coup in Burma. The country I'm in had a revolution a couple hundred years ago, but the thought of the military taking over has so far been no more than a pretty good book.
I know. Most of you think of the movie.
The thing about these coups is that information is often sketchy. The official government news is he "retired," while unofficial sources claim he's been imprisioned. It seems he wasn't as right wing as the military wanted, and I think that's the usually the case with these things.
Then, there's news about aeorsols, diarrhoea, earaches, mothers and babies.
I would have thought they'd studied this years ago. The study, some claim, is flawed, and it's never easy to prove a one-to-one connection. Still, I don't like the damn things, and not just because of the ozone.
Also, and this only deserves mention because it's an election year, Colorado has an interesting ballot initiative. They want to give up the "winner take all" Electoral College votes for their state and have them given proportionately. If it passes, I believe it will be "retroactive" to this year's election, too. This may be interesting.
Had they done this before, in 2000, I think they said Bush would not have won.
RussNews on 10.19.04 @ 03:45 PM PDT [link]
Today's Disturbing Statistic
Phishing messages that appear to be sent by such trusted companies as eBay, Citibank and others are currently duping 3 percent of the people who receive them, according to a recent survey by Gartner Inc.
More info on this hateful practice is here.
Who knows if it will happen?
For years Microsoft has been buying and writing software to dominate the computer business. Nothing new there. It's almost been as if every program, every utility that anyone had successfully created was soon a competition point for our friends in Redmond. I suppose there's nothing wrong with that in theory, but I do have some issues with Microsoft's practices.
Anyway, a familiar face is emerging in the computer world, Google. Unwilling to stick with just the world's most popular search engine, they recently expanded into e-mail. Last week they unveiled their personal search thingy, and people soon noticed it isn't a good thing at all for shared computers.
Today rumors are flying that Google is planning a messaging client. There are already many of those, but everyone wants to be the one and only. Google's advantage is obvious, if they can get everyone to have a taskbar that links to their e-mail and search functions, why not toss an IM program in there as well?
They say the computer users want a seamless, everything everywhere experience. I don't know if I do.
RussNews on 10.18.04 @ 09:41 AM PDT [link]
The good news, according to the article is that "...no one was injured or died. Experts who inspected the return capsule found it was not damaged at all."
I wonder if this was inspired by what is possibly my favorite TV show?
This next item, quoted in its entirety, is a few weeks old. Massive deduction evident in Phnom Penh
"SEPTEMBER 30: Mao Nang, 27, was found dead in Beng village, Kampong Thom province. Police said Nang died from massive head injuries after he was struck with a stick elsewhere and his body dropped there. Police suspect revenge was the reason of the murder because Nang recently came to the police station and complained that someone had attempted to kill him."
RussNews on 10.17.04 @ 02:13 PM PDT [link]
It can't be easy to be Asian. I love their children, but the first people I knew who were lactose intolerant were all of Asian ancestry. Now, according to this expert, "There is data that shows Japanese are genetically vulnerable to BSE," Koya tells Shukan Gendai. "Imports should not be permitted again without sufficient awareness of this fact."
BSE is bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Think of Mad Cow Disease. I thought that was mostly over and done with, but it must still be a problem some places. Between that and Avian Flu, it can't be easy in the East.
RussNews on 10.16.04 @ 08:25 PM PDT [link]
I know many people are upset and worried about the flu vaccine thing, but I know very few children, elderly, or chronically unhealthy people. One woman that I know of has died and others are being threatened with jail over it, but I think we'll be okay. I had one shot, one year. That year I didn't get the flu, but my body's done a good job of creating its own antibodies.
Good news, though, about malaria. I'm ashamed to say I only think of that in terms of building the Panama Canal. There's been a lot of work done on releasing non-infection mosquitos and today shot at a vaccine, but I had no idea it killed three times as many people every day as we've lost troops in Iraq in the last eighteen months. Makes me question my values.
In happier news, for Kirstie Allen and her questionable church anyway, the FDA has decided that anti-depressants need to be labeled. I will never treat the subject of suicide lightly and I've done no research and have no medical or psychological training, but I'd hazard a guess that people who are depressed are prone to suicide. People who are depressed get prescriptions for anti-depressants, but they're no silver bullet. I'm not convinced that the drugs they're taking are causing them to commit suicide, not at all.
And on some commercial for a sleeping pill a listed diarrhea as a side-effect. That's not a good combination, it's a disaster waiting to happen!
RussNews on 10.15.04 @ 08:35 PM PDT [link]
This may be just what the doctor ordered, if your doctor doesn't care much about your health or pocketbook. Caffeinated beer. I can just imagine how good that would taste, but since it's 6.6 alcohol by volume I'm sure it will be a hit. I wonder how it could be sold in California.
But that's not as good as this monstrosity. I especially like the claim "From time to time Segway's product development team devotes days, or even weeks, to creating new product concepts with the goal of finding a prince among frogs." Um, I hate to say this, but spending "weeks" on R&D is more something to hide than to brag about. Wow. Imagine that. It took us "days" to come up with this invention. It must be good!
RussNews on 10.15.04 @ 12:27 AM PDT [link]
It doesn't change much, and is mostly useless at night, but if you need to keep an eye on Mt. St. Helen's, just keep this as an open tab on your browser. Unless, of course, you use Internet Explorer and don't have tabs, in which case you're out of luck.
Cute poll:
On the other hand, this website changes all the time. It frightens me, too.
There was some guy who's written a book (vague enough?) about how a group's knowledge is better than the sum of its parts (us, as individuals). In fact, his theory is that we, as a group, know what to do, can answer any question, extremely accurately. In the TV piece I saw he used the example of a large jar full of jelly beans.
A number of people were asked how many beans were in the jar. The answers varied widely, from one hundred to several thousand. None of the individual answers were right, or even close. But the average of all the answers was within five percent of the actual number.
In this election bet, this scares me. Also what frightens me is that, while not intended as a scientific poll, here people are researching the best data they can find and backing that up with cold, hard cash. It's not a matter of who they want to win, it's who they think will win.
But it can change...it already has gotten closer, and we have over two weeks to go!
RussNews on 10.13.04 @ 09:12 PM PDT [link]
Yeah, Mt. St. Helen's did some more moving of its dome, probably some spitting, and was subjected to even more measurements. South of the border, though, another volacano is stirring: Mexico's Fire Mountain (or, as I heard it on the news, Mountain of Fire).
My guess is it's erupting because it's name is so embarrassing. This must have been the leftover effort by the same people who name their dog Spot.
Also, in Japan nine young people died in a suicide pact and facilitated by (one would guess) Japanese Internet sites. I don't remember how long ago it was that teenage girls used to hurl themselves into some volcano there, prompting much concern and worry. They even stopped selling one way tickets to the island, which I remember as being a travel destination.
Suicide bums me out more than anything.
More sad news. I'm older than this.
RussNews on 10.12.04 @ 09:13 PM PDT [link]
Mt St Helen's continues to tease us. The satisfaction I get is mostly selfish, knowing that every time it vents a little steam it further obliterates any effect my cars have had on the environment. Whatever quantity of CO2 I've directly generated life-to-date is pretty much laughed at once Mom Nature goes to work.
Speaking of that kind of thing, it's pretty scary if the ocean's have maxed out as carbon sinks. The other side has silly arguments again, but it's hard for me to tell. I guess what throws me off is that a rise in the last two hundred years is nothing to a 4.5 billion year old planet that we just don't know much about. Too bad our Earth didn't come with a user's guide.
Oh, and we bombed a mosque. That's certain to help the war effort. If the report that bad guys were using it to attack from is true, though, then shame on them, too. I have little respect for anyone who uses hospitals, churches, schools as military outposts just because they know everyone will turn on those who attack them.
War isn't only hell, it's fucked.
RussNews on 10.11.04 @ 06:44 PM PDT [link]
I guess this can be filed under some non-violent, anti-gun heading. Evidentally, when there's a will there's a way...
Deadly Teen 'Game' Leaves One Critical.
Basically some teens at a party decided to play Russian Roulette. Lacking a gun (wise choice) they decided to spike some Mountain Dew with anti-freeze. Then, using a lazy Susan, one kid got to drink it.
In spite of Darwin, he survived.
There's no mention of alcohol, but...
RussNews on 10.09.04 @ 09:31 PM PDT [link]
You need to decide which is which
Another Presidential debate tonight. I wasn't picked to be in the audience and ask a question, but if I were I'd ask this:
Can you please list your talking points for us now so that for the rest of the debate you can answer the questions you're asked and not the ones you wish you'd been asked?
As if it wasn't bad enough that the Atkins fad was ruining a burgeoning American treat, today Krispy Kreme Donuts received word they're being investigated for "accounting irregularities."
RussNews on 10.08.04 @ 02:19 PM PDT [link]
Decisions, decisions.
I'm not sure if the most momentous event today was an Austrian woman squeaking past me to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, or if it's the sadder story dealing with religious life in the twenty-first century.
I'm glad a liberal woman playwright and novelist won the prize, and even more encouraged that she won't be attending the ceremony because she feels the whole thing might change her life.
The sad news is that the monks of the St Bernard hospice in Switzerland have so declined in numbers that they are no longer able to care for the their dogs. They're giving them away (with the caveat that they be returned at least annually, so people can see them). I predict a deadly winter for hikers in the Alps. The dogs have only rescued some two thousand people so far. None of the ones I've seen today have those cute barrels, though!
RussNews on 10.07.04 @ 07:01 PM PDT [link]
First, arthritic sufferers lost Vioxx. That's painful, but I don't think it's fatal.
Today, more bad news. I'd heard we have a huge dependency on foreign oil, but I never knew that extended to flu vaccines. Turns out this company no one's heard of, Chiron, is located in Liverpool, England (famous for other things) and was shut down by some English equivalent of the FDA. They said the vaccines being produced were contaminated or something.
It turns out about half of the US flu vaccine comes from that company. The people who supply Canada aren't approved by the FDA so there's no relief there. This may be serious. There's only about thirty-five thousand deaths each year because of flu, and it seems to me that's a pretty high number.
The good news is most of my audience isn't old enough to be part of that number.
RussNews on 10.05.04 @ 01:57 PM PDT [link]
Once again I'm days behind but ... um ... er ... I wanted to make sure it was official.
Proving once again, for the 14th First Annual Time no less, that science can do no wrong, the 2004 Ignoble Prizes were announced last Thursday night.
I can hardly wait to read if the five second rule passed muster!
Oh, and SpaceshipOne won the Ansari X-Prize. It looks as if William Shatner was there in the desert, and no one knows more about space than he does! I went there years ago to see the shuttle Enterprise carried around on the back of a 747, before the shuttles were going into space.
Yes, I'm that old.
RussNews on 10.04.04 @ 09:57 AM PDT [link]
After crashing in Dec 2003, it's back.
RussNews on 10.03.04 @ 09:26 PM PDT [link]
I thought it was tragic when the elderly driver ran into the Farmer's Market, and couldn't imagine how he felt after that accident. This is even more horrofic, but not deadly.
In other news, someone is making a dubious claim, I think.
RussNews on 10.02.04 @ 01:31 PM PDT [link]
I know, I know. Everything today is about the debate and just like y'all I've been listening to pundits and party workers describing a debate I never saw all day long. The consensus of opinion is that Kerry did a better job of describing his less popular opinion. I was just glad that it wasn't ninety minutes of sound bites.
But I'm not talking about that. Nor am I discussing the big blow. I was informed about this earlier this week and wish I'd said "not this month" instead of "not this week."
The most personally moving piece of information is about Richard Avedon, dead at 81. If you follow the link today it's the best tribute imaginable. The man, my hero, did more with glass and silver than anyone should. He made me want to take pictures, his work showed me how meager my own efforts were, and I'll never forget visiting a museum to see huge prints on what looked like handmade paper.
RussNews on 10.01.04 @ 03:36 PM PDT [link]
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