1/20    You know what I like the most about "Signs"?  It's that part where
        the little boy says that the aliens are probably vegetarian because
        they know the benefits of such a diet (paraphrasing).  That's great
        PR for vegetarians from an Indian director!  ;-)  -vegan

1/20    Court ordered Scott Ritter to attend counseling for sex offenders
        http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/826186/posts
        The guy is a nutcase, as if we already did not know.

1/20    Is there any tool on an SGI running IRIX 6.5 to play a .mp3 or .mid
        file?  I don't have root access.  Thanks.
        \_ um... build something in your homedir?  If you don't have write
           access to the sound device, you're just SOL.
        \_ Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of tools running IRIX 6.5

1/20    Re: Illinois Governor cleared death row.  Here's a shining example of
        the error of what he did:
        http://www.pilotonline.com/opinion/op0114dou.html
        Or search for "Fedell Caffey" and "Jacqueline Williams"
        Here's the skinny:
        "Together these two committed three of the most grisly killings
        imaginable. In 1995 they shot and killed a pregnant woman, Debra Evans.
        The Tribune said they then used a pair of scissors to slice her
        'full-term baby from her womb.' But even then they weren't through.
        Caffey and Williams kidnapped Evans' other children, a 10-year-old
        daughter and a 7-year-old son, and hacked both children to death."
        \_ Obviously they were molested as children, have anger management and
           control issues to work through and haven't been given a real chance
           by society.  They need help, not the chair!
           \_ Ah, typical conservative soda drivel.  Oh my god, there might
              have been a couple of cases where someone really did deserve
              to die, so let's kill about 20-30 innocent people along the
              way.  If they were really innocent anyway, they'd be able
              afford good lawyers like OJ did.
              \_ No, more like, let's not throw the baby out with the bath
                 water.  How about the idiot governor doing his fucking job
                 and looking at each case instead of the PR grabbing free-them-
                 all crap?
                 \_ He's no idiot.  This politician is buying votes.
              \_ Oh my god, there might have been a couple of cases where
                 some guilty people didn't really deserve to die, so let's
                 free about 20-30 death-deserving guilty people from
                 execution along the way.  If they really deserve to die
                 anyway, they ... oh wait ... er ... they'll eventually die
                 when they get old.
           \_ Joking aside, my wife is 6 months along with our second child.
              These monsters need the chair. -emarkp
              \_ "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye not be
                  judged"  --The Book of Mormon,  3 Nephi 14
              \_ Or keep them in prison for life, which is probably cheaper
                 because of the legal fees required to put someone to death.
                 \_ put lawyers to death
                 \_ It's made expensive artificially.  That's no reason.
              \_ Yeah, because now people such as them would otherwise think
                 twice before murdering your wife and unborn child.
           \_ I hope your wife and kids are next.
              \_ It Takes A Village
           \_ can't we all just get along?
              \_ It Takes A Village
                 \_ Yermom knows.

1/20    What are the realistic chances of US mobilizing 100,000 strong
        force on the border of Iraq, and move them back to the States
        without a fight?  In this regard, wouldn't you think this entire
        UN weapon inspection thingy is pointless since we are going to
        fight anyway?
        \_ when the U.S. goes in, the administration thinks there will be
           international pouting but that's it
        \_ Were I any foreign country with nukes, I'd proliferate them
           like crazy to dilute the power of the US.  Who knows who Bush
           will brand evil next?
                \_ Exactly which countries would those be? North Korea,
                   Iran, and Iraq maybe?  Who else is not aligned
                   with the West and nuclear?  And what would be the biggest
                   deterent for a nation interested in developing nuclear
                   weapons and their delivery systems?  Rendering such
                   a weapon useless with ABM technology.
                   And so you honestly believe Iran, Iraq and NK are not
                   evil countries?
                   \_ Mind you, USA created North Korea at
                      at first place (in exchange, Soviet declared war
                      against Japan for something like 3 days before
                      Japanese surrandered).  We don't like Iran cuz
                      they overthrow Sha we installed back in the 50's.
                      and Both Iran and Iraq's oil are nationalized,
                      not controlled by handful of monarchs thus much
                      harder to extract and manipulate profit from it.
                      And I sincerely believe the last reason is why
                      we don't like Iraq and Iran (oppose to other Monarchs
                      whose human right records are not exactly spotless).
                        \_ In fact we did partition Korea, and look at the
                           result.  South Korea is the 13th largest economy
                           in the world. It was led by Rhee, a dictator,
                           for all but 14 years of its existence.  This
                           was the paradigm for U.S. client states during
                           the Cold War.  South Korea's success attests to
                           this.
                           Reza Shah's hold on power existed for more than
                           30 years up until WWII when he entreated the
                           Axis.  Iran was invaded by the Allies, and his
                           son came to power after a coup of the Soviet's
                           candidate.
                           M. Shah was overthrown when Nobel
                           Mosaddeq.
                           M. Shah was overthrown after Nobel
                           Laureate Carter withdrew U.S. support.
                           This precipated militant Islam's first success,
                           the legacy of which we fight today.  Had the
                           Shah maintained power, Iran could arguably
                           be much like S. Korea.  Furthermore, the eight
                           year Iran-Iraq war would likely not have happened.
                           Reza Shah's hold on power existed for more than
                           30 years up until WWII when he entreated the
                           Axis.  Iran was invaded by the Allies, and his
                           son came to power after a coup of the Soviet's
                           candidate.
                           Iraq and Iran are rogue states whose acts
                           threaten international stability.
                           \_ Can't believe you actually believe our
                              imperialistic intervention is for the better
                              of the natives.  Go back to 19th century and
                              enjoy your White Man's Burden.

                              Iran has a very lively democracy today. This
                              can not be achieved with our claws muddling
                              their national affairs for the purpose of oil.

                              North Korea's government evolved from the
                              underground resistance during the Japanese
                              Occupation.  If anything, they are more legit
                              then the puppet we set up in the South.
                              \_ Kim Il Sung was educated in Moscow and
                                 a hand picked protege of Stalin.
                                 A very 'lively' democracy indeed.

1/21    Has anybody found a product that keeps a cat from chewing on
        power cords?  Mine is about to re-enact a scene from Christmas
        Vacation.
        \_ Another undeniable proof that cats are stupid.
        \_ if it's the same ones all the time, look for something at the
           pet store called sour apple or bitter bite or some combination
           of those. spray it on whatever you want and after the first time
           the cat tastes the spray it will make a weird face and never
           bite that again
        \_ brush on some rat poison
        \_ I read this tip in a maxim or some magazine like that. Rub
           some soapy water on the cords and then let it dry (without
           wiping it off)...then when the cat tries chewing on the cord,
           it tastes the bitter soap and hopefully won't touch it again.
           \_ Remember to unplug first before you rub water on them.
              \_ You're putting water on a plastic cord.  If it's already
                 broken through to raw wire you should be tossing the lamp or
                 replacing the entire cord.
        \_ Dude, they *have* nine lives!  Just keep an incremental counter
           and worry about it when it gets to seven or eight.
           \_ Thanks for the laughs.  I love the motd.

1/20    Is anybody else having frequent spam break-throughs on soda when
        spamassassin is supposed to be running? I just checked and it's
        running now but it was apparently asleep Sunday and Monday. Is
        there and alternative spam filter I should be using or something
        in my personal config file I need to change?
        \_ what likely happened is spamassassin just wasn't running for
           some reason. in that case, things won't be filtered. --aaron
        \_ ifile!  http://mushuweasel.net/~scotsman/ifile

1/20    When you inject botox into people are those muscles permanently
        paralyzed or dead???
        \_ No, not permanently paralyzed.  Temporary, but long-term.
           People with severe botulism have to be on ventilators for
           weeks/months.

1/21    What would be the plural of "Nike"? "Nikes" or "Nike's"? I can't
        recall whether proper nouns require an apostrophe for the plural.
        \_ What is a Nike?  And what does it mean to have many Nike's?
           If you mean shoes, then specify Nike shoes.

1/21    http://csua.org/u/82c
        \_ What is this?  Work safe?
            \_ it's text, use lynx
        \_ It's a story about freakishly large breasts.
        \_ She should be banned from direct breastfeeding due to suffocation
           hazard to her baby.  Why didn't she even accept bottle-feeding with
           her own milk despite such a hazard?  Maybe there's some sexual
           desire she needs fulfilled.
           \_ I think she just wants to get some actual use out of those
              things.

1/21    Anybody in favor of doctors providing written disclosures of their
        financial dealings with drug companies?  If a doctor is peddling
        a particular drug to patients, he has to tell them that he owns
        stock in the company, for example.  Or if the drug maker paid for
        him and his family's cruise "seminar" on a particular disease.
        \_ Yes, absolutely. I don't see how patients wouldn't want to
           know that information.
           \_ and here lies the problem.  99% of the people won't ask their
              doctor for such info.  Chances are you don't even know if
              your doctor graduated last of his class.  And AMA is against
              all such disclosures.  We need a federal or state law.
              \_ Just let the free market handle the problem. Bad doctors
                 will kill all their patients, then they will have to switch
                 careers. Why do you want to get the government involved?
                 \_ Well played.
                    \_ Not really.  The fact is that no matter how much info
                       is available most people won't ask for it, wouldn't
                       know how to judge it, have no baseline for it, and
                       are lucky to find a doctor still taking new patients in
                       the first place.  Go ahead, make a new law.  New laws
                       about disclosing this stuff won't help anyone except
                       the lawyers and politicians and make some new paper
                       pushers a job.
                       \_ Especially the ambulance-chasing laywers.
                       \_ How about the insurance-money chasing doctors?
                          Let real ok?  doctors are in business for the money.
                          The AMA has brainwashed you into thinking that MDs
                          are altruistic angels from God.  They're not.
                          Doctors don't like HMOs because they get paid LESS
                          Than PPOs.  The more tests they run and the more
                          drugs they prescribe, the more money they make.
           \_ How do you tell the difference between accepting a "cruise" vs.
              getting free samples of OTC medicine?

1/21    Creepy Propaganda hits the Letters to the Editor pages--
        over and over again:
        http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=7308
        \_ The ACLU has a (slightly) similar practice for auto-faxing
           your Senator / CongressMan.  I've used it several times when
           I agreed with what they were saying.
           \_ it's ok when the aclu does it.  it's not ok when the fascists
              do it.
              \_ No, it's creepy no matter who does it.  It's great for
                 cultists who have the same thoughts, but terrible for
                 expressing your own ideas.
        \_ Why do you find blast faxing creepy?  This isn't even news.  It
           isn't even news that lazy editors print the stuff.
        \_ Their followup: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=7340
           \_ Absolutely brilliant.  Thnx, --op

1/21    Blacks are disproportionally used as 'the service sector' in the
        military and have less (often far less) than their share of high
        profile positions as pilots, special forces, etc.
        http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030121/4794964s.htm
        \_ But doesn't that also mean they have less than their share of
           getting killed?  And they have a problem with that?
           \_ Bzzt.  They're more than equally represented in the infantry,
              making them more likely to get killed and less likely to get
              recognized.  Besides, what you meant to ask is why would a
              brother want to fight a white man's war against dark people
              anyway?
              \_ Errr... Did you not read the article, or are you just
                 stupid?  "Of the Army's 45,586 enlisted combat
                 infantryman, 10.6% are black."  "they make up a far
                 smaller percentage of troops in combat jobs on the front
                 line."  While true this means they're less likely to be
                 promoted.  More likely than racism, that probably means
                 they aren't planning to be carrer military.  Note that
                 they are more likely to pick jobs that will help in the
                 civilian world.  Sounds smart to me.  More likely there
                 are more poor white folk in the special forces because
                 their raised on the GI Joe mentality.  (Any one who
                 dosen't think so needs to spend more time with both
                 poor whites and poor blacks.)
                 \_ Look, there are two possible explanations for this.
                    1) racism, or
                    2) something else.
                    In all cases, the correct answer is racism.
                 \_ Hey! Stop reading article links and bringing those mean
                    and nasty *FACTS* into this!  Bastard!  How dare you
                    challenge my agenda driven beliefs?
        \_ It also means less chance for promotion/advancement/specialized
           training.

1/21    Your favorite former weapons inspector gets arrested for trying to lure
        16 year old he met online to meet him.  I'm sure he's a decent guy who
        just means well.  Probably got confused and thought SH's WMD were
        possibly hidden under her skirt or something.  Another Clinton era
        flunky goes down in flames.
        http://www.wrgb.com/news/local/local_news.asp#H1
        http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/Ritter.asp
        http://www.msnbc.com/local/WNYT/M264375.asp?cp1=1
        \_ i think the lesson here is that if you are going to be an outspoken
           critic of the administration, don't go trolling for sex with minors
           \_ no.  the lesson here is don't go trolling for sex with minors
           \_ No.  the lesson here is if you are an outspoken critic of the
              administration you will get framed for trolling for sex with
              minors.  Duh!
              \_ You think he was framed?  Where can I get some of what you're
                 smoking?  Re-read Catcher in the Rye recently?
              \_ Oh come on, tell me you wouldn't want to play "find the
                 weapons stash" with a 16 y.o. hottie, if you had the chance.
                 \_ 20 year olds are too damn young for me these days.  I don't
                    think I could get it up for a 16 year old.
                    \_ For me, it all depends on the body and then look.
                 \_ ok then: I wouldn't want to play "find the weapons stash"
                    with a 16 y.o. hottie, or any other 16 y.o.
                       \_ Maybe I should repost the pic of the Raelian high
                          priest clone-aid woman for you?

1/21    I read that tuition/fees/whatever is going back up to pre '98 levels.
        How many of you plan to get jobs and start voting republican?
        \_ why?  we need to raise taxes to cover the deficite.  how can the
           republicans help?
           \_ why dont you get a job and pay your 38% in taxes to help out?
           \_ You don't get it. You should lower taxes when there's a deficit,
              in order to stimulate growth which will lead to more revenue.
              That's what I learned from Reagan.
              \_ Yeah.  Economic theory proposed by Alzheimer's patients
                 and supported by coke-driven stock brokers is exactly
                 what we need.
                 \_ Totally.  Anything proposed in the past by anyone now
                    sick or dead is worthless.  I mean, who needs math
                    thought up by some crazy dead virgin? (Newton)

1/21    Poll for you church-goers: where do you worship?
        \_ the can
        \_ at church, duh!
           \_ I meant *which* church, duh!
              \_ Jesus only has one church, son.  ObDuh!

1/21    The MJ Commercial: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/neel/030116.html#
        Anyone know how to save the .wmv stream as a file on the hd?
        \_ google ASF Recorder. I've used that for a bunch of things
           but it doesn't work with the stuff on http://ESPN.com. Probably
           something to do with the fact they play all these ads first.

1/21    Japan can play all the Orwellian games they want, but just as
        2 + 2 = 4, they will always be a "former enemy":
        http://nytimes.com/2003/01/21/international/21CND_JAPA.html
        \_ It's the US's fault for nuking them and starting hostilities.
        \_ ??? What percent of the UN budget do the former Nazis and
           Mussolini-ists pay?  Fair's fair.

1/21    Second try: what church building/organization do you church-goers
        attend for worship? For example, "First Pres Church of Berkeley"
        or "First Congregational". No, I didn't nuke the original post;
        someone else did.
        \_ Thai Buddhist Temple - services are from 10 am to around 2pm.
           Bring about $6 for a good session.
        \_ http://csua.org/u/833 (in oakland)
           \_ Do you know an obnoxious obese guy named Jeffrey there?
              \_ No, I know a skinny girl named Colleen there.
        \_ some may be afraid to say because they will be attacked here.
           \_ Good point. I don't mind anon answers.
           \_ Speaking of which, anti-Christianity seems to be common here.
              But do you notice anti-Jewish, anti-Islam, anti-something
              else sentiment in the motd?
              \_ No because that won't be politically correct.
              \_ Post a link about Israel and the Jew haters crawl out from
                 under their rocks.
                 \_ A lot less people would be anti-Christian if
                    Christians didn't proselytize so damn much.
                 \_ Israel is a country. Judaism is a religion. Idiot.
              \_ Oh, I'd say there's almost as much anti-Semitism here.
                 But then it's stylish to be an anti-Semite.
        \_ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: .
           \_ Not Christianity.
        \_ Why are you asking? Are you looking for a church?
           \_ Just interested. I go to FPCB.
        \_ FPCB: .
        \_ Raelian Church (for the orgies): .
        \_ Jesus has only one church.  hint: it wasn't built by men
           \_ What's the answer?
              \_ It was built by women.  Big Breasted Norse Teutonic women
                 who fell deer with their bow hunting skills, clad only in
                 a fur pelt and a belt for their daggers.
                 \_ Shit no!  You're a complete fucking idiot!  *EVERYONE*
                    knows they wore chainmail bikinis!  DUH!
                    \_ What, you _like_ scar tissue?
                    \_ Maybe in YOUR Blockbuster-censored, Brittany Spears
                       pop G-rated world they did..

1/21    We should upgrade to 5.0
        \_ why?
           \_ Because the new threading system might be something some
              people might care about, or is hacking on stuff here verbotten?
           \_ bcuz y00z1ng D n00ist d1ng 1z kewl!!11
        \_ soda shouldn't, but I'm trying it.  Does anybody know which
           .ISO file is which?  There's nothing about it in the release
           docs.
           \_ use the cvsup, luke.