ambivalent bits

Bush Calls Iraq a "Catastrophic Success":

Internet Protest Biker Arrested Already:
Joshua Kinberg, the man behind Bikes Against Bush who was planning to use a bike with a wirelessly-enabled printer attached to spray paint protest messages sent via the Internet or text message at this week’s Republican National Convention, managed to get himself arrested on Sunday morning. [link via Famous P]

Top 10 Sci-Fi Films:
Blade Runner was the runaway favourite in our poll [of a bunch scientists]. I love this movie; I agree it's probably the best, and the book upon which it was based is even better.

Really Really Pimpin' In Da South:
(PDF) A prostitution/pimping decision from the 11th circuit that proves once again that truth really can be stranger than fiction. [Link via Drew McDermott]

264 Arrested in NY cycle protest:
In the first major clampdown on protesters before the Republican National Convention, New York police arrested more than 250 bicyclists Friday night during a mass demonstration. More (and better) coverage here, here and here.

Outsource your own job to earn more!

Language may shape human thought:
No kidding!? Um, didn't Ferdinand de Saussure figure out the same thing about a hundred years ago? Ok, not the same thing, buut it's not like this is big news, is it?

Crash Different
This guy hates Macs. [link via The Scoplaw]

Doing A Lynndie
How sad.

Unwilling Participants:
Iraqi soccer players angered by Bush campaign ads.

BugMeNot Gets Booted, Restored:
BugMeNot has gained a following because of rising ire about the cumbersome and intrusive registration processes that some sites use.

iPod Car Charger:
Connects your iPod to your car's power source and provides unlimited play and standby time. And it's only $14.99! Cool.

Graphic Designer Fired After Heckling Bush:
"He surrounds himself with people who support him," Hiller said of Bush. "Your opinion ... is viewed as right or wrong."

Progressive Book Club
Get the books you want to read through the Progressive Book Club—and help restore balance to the public debate by supporting progressive voices and ideas.

Bikes Against Bush:
Using a Wireless Internet-enabled bicycle outfitted with a custom-designed printing device, the Bikes Against Bush bicycle can print spray-chalk text messages sent from web users directly onto the streets of Manhattan.

The Incredible Republican Platform:
A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

Switch Ads:
Academy award-winning documentary film director Errol Morris interviewed MoveOn members – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – who voted for George Bush in 2000, but will be voting for Kerry in 2004, and cut seventeen ads that will appeal powerfully to exactly the swing voters we need to reach.

Laura Bush defends U.S stem cell policy:
Holy cow! Is Laura Bush becoming a political activist now? Is she taking her cues from Hillary Clinton or something?

TiVo launches crucial marketing campaign:
As Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff put it: "This is it. This is their shot to get a whole lot of new subscribers before cable DVR subscribers really take off."

Tivo cuts prices:
TiVo Inc. Monday cut prices for its digital television recorder to as low as $100, under its $50 million plan to rapidly increase subscribers to its service.

RIP Rick James:
Singer Rick James, a musical icon of the 1980s who helped define the "punk funk" style of that decade, was found dead in his home Friday morning by his caretaker, a Los Angeles police Department spokesman said. He was 56.

Cornell Law Launches Program on Public Interest Careers:
[T]he upstate campus has launched a five-year plan that will offer substantially increased support for students seeking careers as attorneys for government or nonprofit agencies.

Damon wants to make a porn movie:
"What I want to do is make a character-driven porn movie. It's all going to be about the character and the porn's going to grow out of the characters and serve as character development."

Bush Looking to Harm U.S.:
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we," Bush said [link via Scripting News]

ACT Concerts for Victory:
34 shows, 20 artists, 9 battleground states, 1 goal: Vote For Change

Paraguay blase toll rises to 464:
Prosecutor Edgar Sanchez, who is leading the investigation, said a security guard claimed he had received orders over a radio to lock the doors to prevent theft at the outset of the fire. The profit motive at work!

Apple v. Real: A Lawyer's Perspective:
This case may be a testing ground for the DMCA and may be longer ranging than just Apple and Real.

Who's right in iPod fight?
responses came down fairly heavily on Apple's side, though it was hard to tell whether that reflected agreement with the Mac maker's argument or general favor for the company. My own opinion: Apple is wrong.

Politics of Deception:
[W]ouldn't it be nice if we had a press which would make some effort to point out instances where the 'details' utterly belie what the president says he's doing?

Terror Alert Info is 3-4 Years Old:
Unbelievable. The New York Times is reporting that the information that al Qaeda may attack specific buildings in New York and Washington is three to four years old.

Fake Journalist, Real Questions
Tonight on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart once again demonstrated why he deserves actual journalism awards with his interview of Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX).

The Apple Product Cycle:
Sad but true...

"The Police Drive Fast! And Park!"
"It's part of a counterterrorism overlay that is tweaked from time to time, based on conditions and intelligence," said a police spokesman, Paul J. Browne.

Blogging and Business Moving Mainstream:
"Blogs are a way to put a human face on the company." Great. Just what we need: Monsters w/more human faces.

July Surprise?
Did the Bush administration arrange to capture a "high level target" just in time to upstage Kerry's convention speech?

Bush Campaign advice to unhappy workers: Take drugs:
"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?" said Susan Sheybani, an assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt.

Is Bush using drugs to control erratic behavior?
“We have to face the very real possibility that the President of the United States is loony tunes,” [a GOP consultant] says sadly.