Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:October:14 Friday <Thursday, Saturday>
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2005/10/14 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Motd] UID:40079 Activity:high
10/14   Dear Politburo:
        I'd like to request that in the future, ALL the names of donors be
        made public as to minimize the potential conflict of interest in the
        future. Currently things go on in csua and we don't know anything
        about it until decisions are already made. There needs to be
        accountability via public auditing. Please make the donation and
        financing information public. Until that happens, there is no more
        donations from me.  I ask all donors to do the same. Thanks.
                                -alum who donated $200, you know who I am
        \_ How donations worked at my last job was that a donor could
           specifically ask to be anonymous.  Otherwise names could be used
           in print.  It seems in bad taste to print amounts, unless a
           donation is particularly large and merits special appreciation.
           That can be done in other ways, however, such as including some-
           thing like, "Donations from these members were particularly
           generous, and deserve extra appreciation."
        \_ This is in the process, the only reason I don't have logs readily
           availible is that I have been backlogged on work.  In the future
           there will be a mechanism to more easily see the status of csua
           finances.  In regard to disclosing the names of donors, I'm not
           sure that will be the policy, but I think we can disclose the
           amounts of each donation (along with all the other money
           allocations). -mrauser
           \- dear op: you should post "i donated" to the motd and then
              get somebody to complain and then have that motd entry
              deanonymized. mrauser: so what is the rationale to have
              donation be anon by default but have the motd entries be
              non-anon.
              \_ MOTD: Public forum
                 Donation: Private funds
                 As mrauser said below, the reason we don't post donator
                 information is that we do not want any of this to turn into
                 a "my opinion is more important because I donated more" war.
                        \_ Why not?  Seems like an excellent fundraiser--
                           provided you don't make any actual guarantees of
                           letting someone's opinion matter more.  After all,
                           isn't this how the US congress and senate work?
                           If it's good enough for them why not for the CSUA?
                                --PeterM
                 When we finally bring Soda Mark VII live and I send out the
                 grand email announcing such, I will post the names of those
                 who donated, but I will not post amounts. - jvarga
              \_ This being the most I have posted to the motd in a day...
                 ever, I'm going to be brief.  When there are monitary things
                 involved, I would rather err on the side of anonimity.  I
                 wouldn't want a "who's donation is bigger" war, and there is
                 no need at all for the public to know WHO donated.  Its not
                 meant to be a blame game or a "I've donated so my opinion
                 matters" situation.  Thats my rationale for donations being
                 not freely publicly disclosed (exactly why do you need to
                 know who donated?).  As for reasons why the motd would be
                 non anonymous, read the minutes, but we wish to discern
                 who posts overt threats on our motd. -mrauser
                 \- are you suggesting it would be censure-worthy for
                    a donor to say "i donated $x" publicly [say in the motd
                    or wall]? how about chowing all the binaries in /csua/bin
                    lest somebody try to throw his weight around because they
                    installed COOL SOFTWARE on sloda? maybe we should make it
                    illegal to keep WALL WARRIOR stats in case new users
                    should fall under the pernicious influence of top
                    WALL WARRIORS. maybe they will SELL THEIR VOTES in return
                    for ANCIENT WALL WARRIOR SECRETS.
2005/10/14 [Uncategorized] UID:40080 Activity:nil
10/13   Wasn't there someone here who works at iTMS? What's up with the
        store recently? None of the song listings seem to show up on
        certain computers.
2005/10/14 [Recreation/Humor, Recreation/Media] UID:40081 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto
10/13   THIS is modern art. (video)
        http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=vwl98dU0kY8
2005/10/14 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll/Jblack, Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Motd] UID:40082 Activity:very high
10/13   I asked a bit earlier how many of you angry motd-ers are actual CSUA
        \_ Who's angry?  This is a non-issue.  The CSUA politburo should do
           whatever the active CSUA members (i.e. enrolled undergrads) vote
           to do.  We're just excercising the privilege of the ancient to
           smirk condescendingly on the sillinesses that the puppies come
           up with :-)  -John
        voters.  I am guessing very few are.  The reality is this is not your
        machine, and this is not your organization, anymore.  The current
        students in charge are free to run things however they wish.  As
        someone so bluntly put it below, "the decision stands and is not
        debatable".  I do find it amusing that after all the alum donations
        to spiff up the place, we are then told off so cavalierly.
                    \- raising the matter of "are you a current ucb
                       undergrad" might be relevant if the issue was
                       about voting or representation, but if it is
                       about ideas, and they are making reasonable
                       points rather than just claiming "i am older
                       and smarter; you are young and naive" then
                       you should ignore where they ideas are coming
                       from but just address the ideas themselves
                       if they have merit. if the values of the
                       older members are that much out to lunch
                       how can you justify operating under a consitution
                       hardly changed from somethign they wrote ...
                       or are you claiming they somehow had your values
                       when in school but then become unmoored and
                       unhinged upon leaving the evans/sloda/cory environs.
        \_ I don't know, another question worth asking is "How many of the
           angry motd-ers donated?"  I did, and I pretty much agree with
           \_ "Did you donate?" is the CSUA's "you haven't served"  -John
              \_ Of course, "you haven't served" is occasionally also the
                 CSUA's "you haven't served". -gm
           politburo. Although, actually, perhaps a different experiment
           would be interesting. Part of the problem currently is the
           anonymity differential.  Things only got really nasty around
           jblack when kchang's diff exposed who it was posting the
           freeper links. Then some blow hard starting harrasing him
           anonymously.  If anonymity had been guaranteed, at least THAT
           wouldn't have happened. -jrleek
        \_ Check your crystal ball again, that wasn't my post.  The decision
           \_ mea culpa
           was debated extensively (see the pages upon pages in the minutes)
           and it saddens me that the anonimity was abused so badly that it
           will help to remove it.  I won't monitor you if you want to make
           your own world writable ~myname/sleezepit.motd where you can
           slander, insult and threaten as you please.  I think the csua
           motd should be a place where people can post and not be completely
           hounded.  When exactly did you donate by the way? -mrauser
           \- what is the rationale for not monitoring ~myname/sleezepit.motd
              but monitoring /etc/motd? --psb
              \_ If you really need to ask this you are SO dense.  Why do
                 you think I would possibly want to be responsible for
                 hateful comments on the csua's message of the day?  You
                 should probably just go think on it, this isn't worthy of
                 a response. -mrauser
                 \- ok i am a moron. tell me how you will deal with the
                    following: Anonymous A challenges john@soda
                    to a GUN DUEL in ~psb/motd.sleaze. Then PSB posts
                    "Hey John has been challeneged to a GUN DUEL in
                    ~psb/motd.sleaze!" to the motd.public ... this is
                    either signed by psb or "discovered" to be psb
                    via the motd.log.  questions presented:
                    1. is psb liable for something? if so, what?
                       is he reponsible for the threat or just running
                       a non-anonymous forum for thraets? so if psb could
                       find the original threatener A, is he then ok?
                       or is he guilty of helping out the threat?
                       if psb is guilty for helping ut the threat by cross
                       posting it, then isnt something who doesnt delete
                       an obnoxious comment in the motd also responsible
                       for "helping to spread disharmony on sloda"?
                       \_ hello, in the context of a threat you may
                          not be liable [ not 100% sure, maybe there
                          is some way to argue accomplice/conspiracy ]
                          in the context of defamation you could be
                          liable b/c you republished.
                    2. does the politburo not feel responsible in this
                       case since the official motd only contains a
                       POINTER to the inflammatory content?
                    3. maybe i am a moron, but it seems if the reason to
                       for the heavy handed intervention is stop threats
                       then this should extent to any reasonable public
                       forums on sloda. it certainly seems like i should
                       not even be allowed to advertise my evil motd in
                       the official sleaze free zone. although if i am not
                       allowed to post my pointer to ~psb/motd.sleaze, i have
                       to ask can i post a link to http://sleaze.psb.org with
                       the exact same discussion? ... so it IS ok to post a
                       "sleazy pointer" as long as it points out of CSUA
                       space? if that is not fine either, why is it
                       permissable to post offensive links at all?
                       again what is the criteria of "bad" ... offensive/
                       obscene? child porn? emotionally damaging comments?
                       [like calling somebody a clown? what if you like
                       clowns?] physical threats? what if i just post
                       "i would like to meet you in a boxing ring"?
                       \_ Partha, it's "GUN DUEL", not "a GUN DUEL".  -John
                          \- funny you should say that. --psb
2005/10/14 [Reference/BayArea] UID:40083 Activity:nil
10/14   SF deyoung opening back up in SF this weekend, it's
        open for free this weekend for 31 hours continuously
        from 10AM sat to 5pm sunday,
        which I think is a pretty cool gimmick.
        http://www.thinker.org/deyoung/visiting/index.asp - danh
2005/10/14 [Reference/Religion] UID:40084 Activity:high
10/14   Question for MOTD Lawyers [not related to CSUA stuff]:
        Say I were to start a legal [so not legally obscene] ass p0rn
        site. Clearly, I would not be allowed to say "brought to you
        by IBM". However, could I say, "this site endorsed by The
        Catholic Church"? What about just "The Church" or "by Rome"?
        If not allowed, who has standing to sue me? Anybody who is
        offended? Any Catholic? Any Church bishop or higher? What about
        "this site endorsed by Protestants" or "by Hindu priests".
        Let's rule out any kind of parody or political point/art type
        defenses.
        \_ What does Rome have to do with the Church's authority?
           And, btw, if you're trying to make a joke with it, try
           to be funny.
        \_ 2 sec answer (assuming you are serious, which you prob.
           aren't):
           1. "The Catholic Church" - sounds like misrep and defmation
              to me, and they might even be able to show NY Times
              malice. The Church itself would have to sue.
           2. "The Church" - this is harder b/c there are so many
              churches who claim to be "The Church." Best is if
              you find a "church" that backs you up or you make your
              own church, say "The Church of Pr0n."
           3. "Rome" - the municipality may have standing in fed.
              ct to sue you for misrep and defamation. Note that
              the Vatican, a separate city, may not have standing.
           4. "Protestants" - Find two protestants who will give
              endorsements and you should be okay.
           5. "Hindu Priests" - same as protestants. Though it
              will be harder to find hindu priests who will support
              you. Personally I'd change it to hindus and find two
              hindus to support you and you should be okay. BTW,
              we hindus think that everyone is a hindu regardless
              of how you classify yourself, so all you need is one
              person other than yourself. Furthermore, there is no
              authoritative version of hinduism so if you adopt the
              view that everyone is a hindu regardless of their
              professed religion, there isn't a good argument against
              that.
           \_ Can you say "brought to you by IBM" if you're on IBM hardware?
              I imagine you can say "brought to you on IBM hardware", and
              that's almost as good for the unwashed masses.
              \_ Actually, in order to use their name (IBM), you
                 will likely need their permission.
                 \_ What about "this site runs on an IBM Pornserver model 69"
                    or something like that?  -John
                    \_ If it is on the main page and is prominently
                       featured, I think they have a false light
                       claim and probably some sort of misappropri-
                       ation claim. If just have it on some other
                       page and its not really that prominent, you
                       are probably okay.
2005/10/14-15 [Finance/Investment] UID:40085 Activity:nil
10/14   http://www.thisislondon.com/films/articles/20638955
        In choosing the next Bond (probably because Brosnan was too expensive):
        "Hugh Jackman ... was 'too fey', Colin Farrell 'too sleazy', Eric
        Bana 'not handsome enough' - and Ewan McGregor 'too short' at 5'10"."
2005/10/14-15 [Recreation/Media, Reference/Religion] UID:40086 Activity:nil
10/14   I can't make this stuff up: http://tinyurl.com/bmrfj
        Arab version of Simpsons (Homer Simpson -> Omar Shamshoon)
        not as funny as the original.
2005/10/14-15 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll/Jblack] UID:40087 Activity:high
10/14   While it is true that someone made a threat to jblack, who
        started it? jblack persistently posted freeper trolls and attempted
        \_ Um, more to the point, who took it seriously?  jblack certainly
           didn't as he never made any effort to contact administrators,
           nor is there any evidence he sic'd the university on the CSUA.
           Someone else took umbrage, and started this pointless folderol,
           and we're unfortunate enough that he found a sympathetic ear.
           \_ I took it seriously.  I don't care if jblack lauphed it off
              or not.  Your going to have a hard time convincing me that it
              is important for the CSUA to protect the right of people to
              threaten other people anonymously.  To me, that is the sole and
              final purpose of the motd logging. -mrauser
              \_ Why do all CSUA Treasurers go mad with power? - danh
              \_ so, uhhh....does that mean that if there are no threats the
                 motd will remain un-fucked-with?  I would like to point out
                 that all of the problems with the motd degenerating into
                 personal attacks and threats would have been solved if the
                 motd were *truly* anonymous to all but root.  That would
                 include people choosing to sign posts.
                 \_ If you want to design a tool that can fool kchang's logging
                    and make it publicly availible you are welcome to do so.
                    Of course scp always works, but the disjointed merging is
                    quite hozerish.  Right now, the definitive logging _will_
                    only be availible to root.  Not everyone will be able to
                    see the logs. -mrauser
                    \_ What's the list of users with root access?  what
                       safeguards are there that what was written with the
                       assumption of anonymity will not get posted all over
                       the internet with the names attached?  Anonymity is
                       important for discussion of unpopular, minority
                       opinions, sensitvie topics, personal problems,
                       cs problems, career advice, etc.  All these advantages
                       would get taken away from many people just because one
                       guy made a threat on jblack?
                       \_ Take a look waaaay down the page to see my reply to
                          someone on this issue.  To summarize: any root who
                          abuses power and looks at logs for inappropriate
                          purposes will be hozed hard by me.  Also, the root
                          list has been and continues to be trimmed. - jvarga
                       \_ Why is anonymity important here?  Given that motd
                          \_ Anonymity is not important, just as the motd is
                             trivial, silly and fun.  It does, however, add
                             flavor.  I don't know why people are turning this
                             into some massive debate on principles--de-
                             anonymizing the motd is stupid and missing the
                             point, but if the active members/politburo want to
                             do it, that's their good right.  -John
                          is displayed for everyone by default, shouldn't
                          accountability be more important here?  If I'm forced
                          to read someone's insane rant, I'd rather know who
                          to ignore in the future.  - rollee
                          \_ make it non-default then.  also, you make the
                             choice of applying for a soda account and
                             continuing to use it.  even then,
                             noboby is forcing you to read anything.
                             and you can do a clear and cat of motd.official
                             after logging in, or just use .hushlogin
              \_ yea, but except for the guy who threatened jblack, everyone
                 else didn't cross the line, so why are we being punished?
                 How am I supposed to ask a dumb CS question now without
                 embarassing myself?       - soda donor
        at hiding freeper urls, knowingly how they really piss off
        knee-jerking left wing-nut liberals. If it weren't for jblack's
        initial immaturity and his complaints to politburo, the
        deanonymizing of motd which got started by our good 'ol
        conservative friend jrleek, would not have happened in the
        first place.
                 \_ But the point is that it isn't only threats to jblack,
                    there have been numerous instances of people harrassing
                    others on the MOTD. We also had some moron threatning
                    the POTUS last year after the elections. You have to
                    admit, in the past half decade the MOTD certainly has
                    gotten a lot more vicious. It's an unfortunate trend
                    and we all are probably partially liable for it. I know I
                    am. The MOTD, along with wall and ntalk are also dying
                    mediums, so it's understandable that the current
                    generation of undergrads show little interest and little
                    patience for MOTD antics... -williamc
                 \_ You aren't being punished if you're not doing things that
                    would cause root to actually have to look at the logs.
                    You seem to be assuming that root cares who posts stupid
                    questions and remarks.  Don't worry about there being logs
                    if you're not doing anything bad. - jvarga
                    \_ I have no idea who the root guys are.  what if one of
                       them is immature like the guy who threatened jblack,
                       and I've just had a political argument with him,
                       and he went nuts?
                       \_ By popular request, your root staff and politburo
                          are now listed in the official motd. - jvarga
                       \_ What if one of the root guys IS jblack? Go Bush!
2005/10/14 [Uncategorized] UID:40088 Activity:nil
10/14   WASHINGTON (AFP) - US consumer inflation surged at the fastest pace in
        more than 25 years in September, rising a steeper-than-expected 1.2
        percent, according to the Labor Department.
2005/10/14 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll/Jblack] UID:40089 Activity:nil
10/14   While it is true that someone made a threat to jblack, who
        started it? jblack persistently posted freeper trolls and attempted
        at hiding freeper urls, knowingly how they really piss off
        knee-jerking left wing-nut liberals. If it weren't for jblack's
        initial immaturity and his complaints to politburo, the
        deanonymizing of motd which got started by our good 'ol
        conservative friend jrleek, would not have happened in the
        first place. Jblack is like this little kid harrassing
        bullies and when he is bullied he runs to his mommy for help.
        \_ What's your point?  I never claimed jblack's conduct was
           examplary.  However, nothing he did justified the
           phychopathic response, and anonymous threats of harrassment are
           clearly beyond the pale.  He also, as far as I know, never ran
           to anyone for help, or complained. The fact remains that jblack
           hater guy clearly overstepped both legal and moral lines.  I
           have no problem with the general causticness of the motd,
           (that's amckee's deal) but I do have a problem with
           criminality.  The motd was never truly anonymous anyway, even
           if you do use scp.  The fact is that politburo would rather
           enact an overarching rule than do a little detective work.
           -jrleek
           \_ So which act was deemed criminal?
              \_ http://csua.org/u/dq1
                 \_ So the bar is pretty low...
        \_ Wow, talk about blaming the victim.  "He insisted on posting _links_
           to a political philosophy I disagree with so I went totally psycho
           on him!  He *made* me do it!"  Sheesh.  Ridiculous.
           \_ It all depends on how high you believe the stakes are in the
              co-called "culture war".  Personally, I believe that the stakes
              couldn't be higher.  I believe that the group of radical
              Christians trying to overtake America will stop at nothing to
              build a fascist theocracy where a guy like me will end up dead
              just for being an athiest scientist who reads the wrong books.
              The radical Christian enemy is clearly willing to die for their
              dark vision of America, and so am I.  Seen in that light, a few
              insults and even threats on the motd just aren't a big deal.
              I am not "jblack hater guy", but I will not be suprised at all
              if in 10 years, I'm looking over a barricade at someone just like
              jblack, both fighting to the last.  Ideas matter.  Political
              philosophy *always* contains the threat of violence ultimately.
              \_ And THIS is why I love the motd. -jrleek
              \_ Whoa.  This is probably just a crazy troll, but you really
                 need to read up on Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and
                 nonviolent resistance.  Violence is not inevitable.  Don't
                 go the way of Stalinist idiots like International ANSWER,
                 please.
                 \_ Ok, speaking of Stalin, what exactly do you think would have
                    happened if we had not had the power to rain nuclear death
                    down on the USSR?  We'd just form a human chain in Berlin
                    and sing some songs and they'd back down?  How about Saddamn
                    in 91?  What's your pacifist solution there?  Or the
                    Taleban?  Pacifism can solve many problems, and can deal
                    with many types of people, but it is rarely the solution
                    to the problem of pure evil.
              \_ The bitch was asking for it.
              \_ I'm investing in tin futures.  Where are all these evil
                 theocrats running around dying for their cause killing
                 atheist scientists?
                 \_ You have to read between the lines a bit, but I believe
                    this is the ultimate goal of righwing preachers like
                    Dobson and Falwell--they just don't talk like that yet
                    because they're in stealth mode and because they think
                    they can take over "democratically" using the GOP.
                    Their real chance is going to come after the Peak Oil
                    crash.  At that point, society will face some very hard
                    choices, and we will have to either invest in science
                    and technology very intensly to get ourselves out, or fall
                    into another dark ages, which the Christian fascists will
                    be quick to advocate.  That is the scenario where they'll
                    end up trying to take power through violence.
                    \_ This is brilliant!  You have actually managed to troll
                       a discussion about how to make the motd a worth while
                       and non-hostile, yet anonymous place *and* slipped in
                       a peak oil reference as well.  Your troll-fu has
                       exceeded all previous known bounds of trollery.
                       \_ How much would it disturb you to discover that I
                          believe everything I wrote?
                          \_ Not at all.  But then I've read The True Believer.
                             \_ I've seen Serentity, how close is that?
                       \_ I agree with him.  It's no secret that fundie
                          power nuts like Falwell and Dobson fantasize of
                          a Christian Taliban, a whole country where everyone
                          is a Christian drone while they live lives of
                          luxury and limitless power.
                          \_ Falwell was at the last politburo meeting though
                             so I dunno. -mrauser
                          \_ So they have power fantasies?  So what?  That
                             means we should turn the motd into a pit?  I'm
                             so going to buy tin futures.  Are you also of
                             the opinion that this has something to do with
                             Peak Oil?  And how does Elvis, Area 51 and
                             the Bigfoot/Dolphin conspiracy play into this?
                             \_ Don't you mean aluminum?
        \_ Although, I have to admit, using a non-anonimizer to catch the
           anonymous motd censor would be really great. -jrleek
2005/10/14 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Motd] UID:40090 Activity:nil
10/14   So, amckee and mrauser think that a csua web forum would be a good
        idea.  If fact, they think it would surpass the motd in
        popularity.  I disagree because CSUA discussion forums don't have
        much draw.  There's no theme except that all the people on them
        are CSUA members.  However, what if we had a web forum and the
        subjects of the current active threads were displayed on login
        (as the motd used to be)?  We could even have them display on the
        lounge machines on login as xterm as an ad to join the CSUA.
        -jrleek
        \_ They have valid points. Kids today don't value their CS accounts
           like the old farts. They prefer to use yahoo, gmail, POP3, and
           what not, bypassing motd completely. Secondly, motd has been
           in a steadily declining state ever since paolo disabled
           "more /etc/motd.public" for default .login. Most of the new
           soda users don't even know about wall or motd. I predict the
           death of wall and motd within 5 years. With new user monitoring
           mechanism in place, it may even speed up the process. Your goal
           to make motd more civil is a very noble goal, and I completely
           support it. However, unless you want to see motd dying, you
           should also concentrate your efforts on getting new members.
           \_ I agree with you, but politburo doesn't.  I've already had
              the "let's make the motd display on login again"
              conversation with them 2 or 3 times.  So, the above was my
              attempt at a compromise. -jrleek
2005/10/14 [Uncategorized] UID:40091 Activity:nil
10/14   psb is a notorious dope fiend!
2005/10/14 [Computer/Theory, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:40092 Activity:nil
10/14   If only we had some sort of forum to discuss having some sort of
        forum so we could disc---... heh sorry.  :-)
2005/10/14 [Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:40093 Activity:nil
10/14   Prius recall:
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051014/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_toyota_recall_3
2005/10/14 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD] UID:40094 Activity:nil
10/14   So what are the stuff jvarga thinks still need work on freebsd
        new soda?
        \_ new soda doesn't need any investments in equipments and
           software upgrades. instead, new soda seriously needs
           investments in tech training for a new generation of competent,
           helpful, and caring sysadms. if you have a choice, always
           invest in the people first. the current politburo is a fine
           example of what happens otherwise.
2005/10/14-2010/9/30 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA, Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:40095 Activity:nil
**/**   Do not mail individual members of root for assistance.  You will be
        ignored!  Your root staff are: steven, edilaic, mconst, jvarga,
        mikeh, mrauser, kimbrel, toulouse, vaheder
        Your Politburo are: kimbrel (P), steven (VP), toulouse (S),
        yns88 (T), vidya (L), steven (E), bordicon (A)
        Your new Politburo are: toulouse (P), steven (VP), eyung (T),
        stevenk (S), sakura (L), dw5ight (E), scotspin (A)

The uncensored messages below this line may not reflect opinions of the CSUA.
2005/10/14-15 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:40096 Activity:moderate
10/14   Why do we try so hard to ignore what our enemies say about
        themselves?
        http://victorhanson.com/articles/thornton101305.html
        \_ Wow, what a lot of useless hot air.  Maybe us motd trolls should
           apply for jobs at the Hoover Institution so we can get actually
           paid to bloviate.  This guy, on the other hand earns his keep as
           a writer:
           http://www.exile.ru/2005-July-28/victor_hanson.html
           \_ You mean the guy who wrote this idiotic rant?  There's a
              whole lot of unsubstatiated accusations in there, not much
              else.
              \_ The War Nerd is in the *entertainment* business.  You read
                 crap like that in about a minute and a half, and are
                 slightly amused, that's the point.  Dr. Professor fucktard,
                 on the other hand, is neither entertaining nor informative,
                 nor does he propose any usefull solutions to any problems.
                \_ Victor Hansen's books on ancient history are all right.
                   His attempts at making 1 to 1 comparisons of ancient
                   military forces to current conflicts are really reaching
                   though, and I can't stand his widely published opinion
                   pieces in newspapers.  It's also hard to say if
                   'War Nerd' is a real person, I am signed up to interview
                   his supposed boss in November, I am slightly afraid
                   to ask him. - danh
        \_ http://csua.org/u/dq7 (juancole.com)
           Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at UMich,
           Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at UCLA, fluent in Arabic and Persian,
           thinks letter is a forgery:  "the mistakes are those a Shiite might
           make when pretending to be a Sunni".
2005/10/14-15 [Reference/Military] UID:40097 Activity:moderate
10/14   Fist, your newest weapon of terror:
        http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/10/14/plane.punch.ap
        \_ Hulk Smash!
           \- some how the subhead of the article,
              'Perhaps it was some sort of psychotic episode'
              reminds me of csua current events.
2005/10/14-15 [Health/Men, Health/Skin] UID:40098 Activity:moderate
10/14   I'm not crazy about my electric razor, it tends to pull my hairs too
        much when I've got a couple daya growth.  Anyone have reccomendations?
        My only constraint is thta it must not be a slime-oozing model.
        \_ Badger-hair brush, exfoliant/shaving oil/shaving cream/aftershave
           from Art of Shaving, Gilette Mach 3 blade, shave under the shower.
           Cons:  $$$  Pro:  No more hamburger face.  -John
           \_ I haven't tried the other stuff, but I agree that the Mach 3
              is completely awesome. Well worth the money.
           \_ Can you describe the proper purpose and usage of those oils and
              aftershave and whatnot?
              \_ I've just found that this stuff, while pricey, works really
                 well for me, and I'm willing to pay for it to avoid the
                 agony and mess I usually get from shaving (pain hurts!).
                 Exfoliant:  gets rid of dead crap and cleans skin.  Oil:
                 Softens skin & beard before shaving.  Brush: lifts whiskers
                 so they're cut nicely.  Non-alcohol-based aftershave:  calms
                 skin down.  Hot water/steam: also softens skin.  Don't forget
                 to shave with the grain of your beard (usually towards your
                 chin), at least for the rough stuff, as otherwise you push
                 whiskers in.  This is stuff your dad should have taught you.
                 Another tip:  men's mags (GQ, Esquire, etc.) may be silly, but
                 occasionally there's some good advice regarding this sort of
                 thing.  -John
            \_ I've used a Mach3 w/ a badger brush before nad it works great
               but I'm lazy.  I should have specified Im asking about
               electrics. -OP
2005/10/14-15 [Health/Disease/General] UID:40099 Activity:nil
10/14   Yay, we can now synthesize 1918 Spanish flu from scratch!
        http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/1005/06natflu.html
        "The group then used the recovered virus in experiments on mice,
        chicken eggs and cultures of human lung tissue. It killed all the mice
        within days, as well as chicken embryos normally used to produce
        quantities of virus for vaccines. And it reproduced rapidly in lung
        cells, even in cell cultures made to mimic certain body tissues where
        flu cannot normally grow."
        http://csua.org/u/dq3 (genomebiology.com)
        "The findings raised enough concerns to inspire the US National Science
        Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to call an emergency meeting
        with the journals' editors, after which officials agreed that the
        benefits of publication outweighed any risks."
        http://csua.org/u/dq4 (Krauthammer column)
        "The flu virus, properly evolved, is potentially a destroyer of
        civilizations. We might have just given it to our enemies. Have a nice
        day."
        \_ this is old news.  buy crucell's stock.  buy buy buy.
           \_ oops, sorry, I went on vacation the day the news broke.
              anyway, some more informative links, mainly that there was an
              informed decision by experts to release the data, and there is
              a right-wing wacko today who chose not to mention that.
2005/10/14-15 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:40100 Activity:moderate
10/14   Margaret Thatcher on Iraq WMDs (according to an associate):
        "I /was/ a scientist before I was a politician. And as a scientist I
        know you need facts, evidence and proof - and then you check, recheck
        and check again. The fact was that there /were/ no facts, there was no
        evidence, and there was no proof. As a politician the most serious
        decision you can take is to commit your armed services to war from
        which they may not return."
        http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article319542.ece
        \_ Obviously she's less senile at 80 than Dubya is now.
           \_ Lessons learned? "Oh well, Daddy will fix it."
                \_ The brain cells you killed with alcohol will grow back?
                   Or not ...
2005/10/14-15 [Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:40101 Activity:nil
10/14   Is there a way in OS X to see what computers are joining my
        home wireless network? Thanks.
        \_ Do you have the Airport Management Tools installed? If so,
           The AirPort Management Utility will let you see what is
           connected to your ABS, AEBS or AE.
2025/03/15 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
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Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:October:14 Friday <Thursday, Saturday>