12/5    Excellent segment from CSPAN.
        Disinformation: 22 Media Myths that Undermine the War
        on Terror
        You can listen here:
        http://www.heritage.org/Press/Events/ev110105b.cfm
        \_ This isn't "from CSPAN", it's from a Heritage Foundation
           neocon, author of "Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's
           Failures Unleashed Global Terror".  Other upcoming events:
           "The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred
            Christian Holiday is Worse Than You Thought."  Get a clue.  -tom

12/5    http://csua.org/u/e66 (Washington Post, Aug 2 2005)
        "A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a
        decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon
        ... in line with recently revised British and Israeli figures."
        http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article331219.ece (Dec 4 2005)
        "Although IAEA officials have said it would take at least two years for
        Natanz to become fully operational, Mr ElBaradei believes that once the
        facility is up and running, the Iranians could be 'a few months' away
        from a nuclear weapon."
        http://csua.org/u/e67 (jpost.com, Dec 5 2005)
        "IAEA chairman Muhammad ElBaradei on Monday confirmed Israel's
        assessment that Iran is only a few months away from creating an atomic
        bomb."
        So, uh ... what exactly changed between August 2nd, 2005 and now?
        \_ Nothing has changed - the IAEA has always been completely inept.
        \_ Nothing has changed - the IAEA has always been completely inept as
           have most of our politicized intelligence agencies (e.g. State
           and the CIA, glaringly exposed in the Plame case).
           It should not be any surpise then that we missed WTCI and II,
           Pakistan, India, Libya, Cole, Sudan, WMD in GWI, etc...
           The point is not whether Iran is months away from a bomb, they
           probably have that now.  Rather, the key question is whether they
           have a nuclear tipped Shahab-3.
           probably have that now.  Rather, the key question is
           whether they have a nuclear tipped Shahab-3.
           Those nuclear bunker busters and theater missile defense sure
           sound like a good idea now eh?
           Thank you Jimmy Carter
           \_ bunkerbuster bombs dont work, study your physics.
              \_ Yeah, I'm sure those dead people agree.
              \_ tell that to all those women and children hiding in the
                 baby milk factory.
                 \_ I'm glad you brought that up. Those signs looked
                    believable to me.
                    \_ What?  You don't believe a sign written in English in
                       the middle of Iraq that says, "BABY MILK FACTORY! DO
                       NOT BOMB HERE YOU EVIL AMERICAN PIG DOGS!"?
           \_ I would agree that IAEA is completely inept.  I mean, they
              should of pressure USA and Russia to disarm their nuclear
              weapons as part of the deal too.  Instead, it is single-mindly
              focusing on those who want to join the nuclear club.
              \_ Uhm... what?
        \_ Dunno but guessing: new intelligence info?  The world isn't static.
        \_ Maybe the recent story about Iran buying nuclear tech from North
           Korea for oil
           \_ This post is so partisan I don't know what to say.
              \_ Yeah, he forgot the part about the CIA missing the fall of
                 the USSR, since spying on the Soviets and knowing what was
                 going on was the reason for the CIA to exist the last 50+
                 years.
                 \_ you didn't know that USA and Russia suppose to disarm as
                    part of NPT, don't you?
                    \_ you mean article 6?  re-read it.
        \_ honestly, I don't see any danger of Iran having nuclear weapon.
           If anything, India/Pakistein poses more danger simply because one
                                \- is that the Jewish part of Pakistan?
           of them have the incentive to use it in a conflict.

12/5    Ever since the reboot, I've been getting the following messages:
            procmail: Kernel-lock failed
            procmail: Kernel-unlock failed
        many times.  What does this mean?  Anyone know what might be
        causing this?
        \_ I think we're missing the perl module File/MkTemp.pm; want to mail root
           for both of us?
          \_ Done. -op

12/5    Anyone else having problems getting MH's packf to work?

12/5    Warning: contains King Kong spoilers
        http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic
        \_ A spoiler for an 80 year old movie?
           \_ Obviously you didn't read the comic.
              \_ Of course not.  What if it really was a spoiler?

12/5    Say I buy a house and my parents wire in the down pay.
        The down pay over $11,000 is subject to the gift tax. But
        what if they add their names to the title of the property,
        is that still subject to gift tax?
        \_ Talk to your mortgage agent.  They know how to solve these issues.
          \_ no.
             \_ they have no clue on this matter.  talk to your
                accountants.
                \_ Even if they have a clue, they are legally barred from
                   giving such advise to you because their relationships to you
                   are real estate / mortgage agents, not tax advisers.  But
                   you can try to pursuade them to tell you off the record as
                   friends.
        \_ Yes, the gift tax applies to goods and real estate as well as
           money.  But if you give them ownership of the house concommitant
           to the amount they contributed, it's not a gift.  But that would
           mean that when you sell, they would get part of the proceeds.  It
           also means that they're liable for the mortgage.  -tom
           \_ Could they then gift you an $11,000 portion of the title every
              year until they have no remaining interest? -gm
              \_ Yes, they can gift the equity back $11K at a time.
                 \_ technically, yes.  but each time you redistribute the
                    ownership, you need to re-assess the house which of
                    is not free!
                    \_ And if that reassessment triggers a change in your tax
                       assessment, you're probably better off paying the gift
                       tax.
        \_ Talk to a professional.  Do not take financial, medical, or legal
           advice from motd cranks.
        \_ you should talk to an accountant to make your final decision.
           however, it's good that you get some background information
           first so you will ask good and useful questions.
        \_ They don't really have to pay any tax yet, but it will reduce
           the amount of tax free gains will be in their estate when they
           die. Talk to an accountant about all this.
        \_ Use the "unified (tax) credit"  http://csua.org/u/e6c
           This makes the most sense.  I am very surprised no one earlier
           suggested this.  Your parents do not need to be dead to use this.
           IRS example:  http://www.irs.gov/publications/p950/ar02.html#d0e260
           Your parents file form 709 (just like it says on irs.gov) to tell
           the IRS they're using part of their unified credit.
           \_ Uh, this is what I was referring to in the entry directly
              above yours.
              \_ Okay, I'll give you half-credit for this question.
                 -your Physics TA

12/5    I've seen a few license plates that say "VETERAN" on the bottom with
        a California seal on the left side. Do you have to be a veteran of a
        war to get those plates?
        \_ http://www.dmv.ca.gov/online/elp/elp.htm
           \_ Is this an attempt to cop some sympathy from a cop?
              \_ For that you have to make donation to a certain police
                 organization (forgot the name) and get their license frame.
                 I heard that Ferrari owners do that to avoid getting tickets.
        \_ obBUD DAY

12/5    You hozers.  Stop getting soda's load above 1!  Thank you. - jvarga
        \_ Buy a faster machine!

12/5    So blogspot is irritating me.  I see a link to an archive and want to
        read the entries in order, but because they're posted recent-first, I
        have to scroll down to the end, then read top-to-bottom, then scroll up
        one post and read down again.  Is there any way to reformat them to be
        the latest at the bottom?
        \_ maybe there is a http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org extension
           that will help you out.

12/5    The Japanese game to end all Japanese games.
        http://tinyurl.com/9mo2s
        http://gpsc.hp.infoseek.co.jp/gspirits_r1_web.wmv
        \_ Ew. I want the purity of my eyes back, please.
        \_ video game showing panty. Definitely NOT work safe.
        \_ That is awesome.
        \_ How does one capture output from a game to a .wmv file?  Thanks.
           \_ TV capture card.

12/5    Any idea when X11 forwarding will work again for soda?
        \_ Uh, perhaps when you tell root you're having problems.
        \_ Why should soda forward X11?
           \_ I like running my browser on soda and take some of the cycles
              off of my workstation. <<-- NOTE: failed attempt at humor here
              \_ And putting them on other sodans instead?  Nice piece of work.
              \_ Buy a faster machine!
           \_ Why shouldn't it?
           \_ If we don't forward, all the excess data will overflow the bit
              bucket.
              \_ X-forward off soda! Do your bit to help soda kick the
                 bucket!
                 \_ <golf clap>

12/5    I think this O'Reilly exchange is pretty funny.  Partialy because
        I saw a similar one the other day.
        http://www.proteinwisdom.com/index.php/weblog/entry/19470

12/5    Wow, the new motd ID system is pretty interesting
        http://csua.com/24/?incr=1
        \_ Ah, now that's interesting.  It looks like pseudonyms to
           consistently identify a single user, so you can track multiple
           respondents in a thread, etc. If it works (it won't) that's pretty
           neat and a nice improvement over the old system. -emarkp
        \_ That's hilarious.     -mice
        \_ Interesting

12/5    Anyone interested in a white 60GB iPod at 15% off ($339+tax)? I just
        bought one through my employee discount but my roommate said that he
        meant to ask for the nano instead. It has no engraving. Email me if
        interested. First come first serve, I live in the Mission. -abe

12/5    Anyone else getting odd pauses every few seconds while connected
        to soda?
        \_ Yeah, there is some sort of packet loss on the network

12/5    X-Men 3 Trailer:
        http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/x3/large.html
        This looks promising.
        \_ direct link:
        http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox/x-men_3/x-men_3-pre_teaser_h640w.mov
        \_ I am MAGNETO
           \_ and according to Kais, you are.
              \_ If he tore up the BB instead of the GGB ; there would be irony
                 we could have a magneto vs terminator face-off..

12/5    Wookieepedia:
        http://starwars.wikicities.com/wiki/Main_Page
        \_ I read that Lumpy was implicated, but never charged in the
           assasination attempt on Queen Amidala.

12/5    Why Iraq Has No Army:
        http://csua.org/u/e6u (article from Atlantic Monthly)
        \_ I'm curious about other people's thoughts on this.  How strongly
           ingrained do you think the current government/military in Iraq will
           be?  I.e., when we leave, how resistant will it be to neighboring
           influences?  How incorporated are the national vs. local governing
           systems going to be?  The reason I ask is that I suspect our
           attempts at instituting a government from the top down are going
           to result in a papier-mache veneer while the religious leaders, who
           have strong, direct, authorititative local ties, gather control.
           --scotsman
        \_ Good article.
        \_ Summary:  Yeah, training Iraqis is better than before, but it's
           still way too slow, we need to increase it 500% RIGHT NOW, plan
           to stay in Iraq for a long time, grow deep roots with political
           allies on all sides of the conflict, and cut some $$$ weapons
           programs to fund all of this.
        \_ The article doesn't really address _how_ the training is occurring
           or should be occurring. What I mean is this: The Iraqi army knows
           (1) how to fight, and (2) how to keep the populace in line.  It's
           been doing that for decades under Saddam's rule.  So why can't it
           keep the populace in line, or deal with insurgents?  Is it lack
           of motivation from troops? lack of belief in political
           legitimacy of the government that translates into no one wanting
           to put their lives on the line?  What is the problem?  Why is only
           1-3 battallions of over 100 classified as Level 1?  What
           distinguishes that batallion from the 100 others, and how can
           we replicate it?  I don't think teaching Iraqis how to shoot
           guns will cut it.
           \_ Actually, there are entire pages that address just that point.
              Look for the bit about the differences between a "soldier"
              and a "gunman," and the bit about "death blossom" marksmanship.
           \_ Actually, I thought the Iraqi secret police and informants
              kept the populace in line.
           \_ my worry is that Iraqi army, which made from various militia
              from various sect, may end up fighting each other.  It is hard
              for me to imagine any incentive for any of them loyal to
              the central government.
              \_ Or even better the iraqi army comes to fight the US.
                 Just like in Afghanistan we arm the radicals who will come
                 to hate and eventually fight us.  I agree with whoever said
                 that like Germany and Japan we should develope Iraq's economy
                 but not thier military (not this post).  Training Iraqi troops
                 is just going to end up screwing us.
           \_ Those 1-3 Level 1 battalions were probably Kurdish peshmerga,
              already battle-hardened.
                 \_ Yes, US should spend more effort and resources on
                    developing Iraq's economy.  They should at least have
                    good plans and proposals so Iraqi can have something
                    to look forward to. Of course, economic development
                    is only possible when safety can be assured.  These
                    things need to go hand in hand.  People keep bringing
                    up Japan and Germany.  The difference is that when
                    Japan and Germany were defeated, their populace were
                    ready to cooperate with the US.  In Japan's case,
                    they listen to their emperor.  In Germany's case,
                    you have Soviet Union serving as a big stick on the
                    other side, and Nazism is a defeated ideology by then.
                    other side, and Nazism was a defeated ideology.
                    \_ Japan and Germany had no large scale insurgency fighting
                       against us.  The truth is that the Iraqis can never
                       hope to rebuild their economy and infrastructure
                       without an effective army and a police force.  If
                       we ever want to leave Iraq (nevermind bring "democracy")
                       we'll have to build this for them.  As the article
                       makes clear, if we don't do this our only other choice
                       is to cut and run - leaving Iraq to a likely very
                       awful(-istan) fate.
                       \_ The post WWII German insurgency was no smaller than
                          what's going on in Iraq right now.  They used to
                          call it "mop up operations" but that's not a very
                          polite term, is it?

12/5    My WinXP laptop sometimes doesn't come out of hibernate. It finishes
        doing the resume thing, but the login screen never shows up. At this
        point, it's pingable, but not much else. I'm guessing maybe if I
        waited long enough, it would eventually come up, but I've been too
        lazy to wait for hours (I've tried 30-60 minutes). I end up having to
        powercycle it. Has anyone else seen this, or have a solution? Thanks.
        \_ I've had this problem when a single process was pegging the CPU at
           100 on resume.  It was the Opera browser.  I stopped using Opera for
           a while until I got another laptop with HT.
           \_ Yeah, I was guessing it might be something like that, since I've
              seen it happen less when I don't have firefox running. But there
              wouldn't be much point hibernating if I couldn't keep my firefox
              state.
              \_ Also, it depended on which sites I was viewing.
           \_ Yes--in my case it was a Thinkpad X31 and crappy ACPI.  I never
              found a solution--occasionally it also would never come out of
              hibernation at all.  -John
        \_ I have the same problem on my Toshiba laptop when come out
           of resume mode. My solution, always close Firefox before I
           suspend. Firefox chews up 100% cpu if I have
           http://www.techbargains.com left open in a tab. Before you
           suspend, make a habit of closing non-essential applications.

12/5    Eminent domain abuse in CA:
        http://csua.org/u/e6p
        "A jury next year will decide how much the county must pay for the
        land, unless the owners agree on a sale price.
        "Gidaro's group bought the property last year for $60 million from
        National Gas and Energy Transmission, a successor to PG&E Properties.
        The county values the land at $50 million. The Rumsey Band of Wintun
        Indians, which operates the Cache Creek Casino Resort in Yolo County,
        has said it would finance the purchase of the ranch."
        \_ How is it abuse?  Or are you one of the "use == abuse" people?
        \_ You're right, we should pave over prime ag land with Blockbuster
           and Olive Garden.  Suburban sprawl is awesome!
        \_ Pretty impressive those Gidaro guys manage to buy land in CA that
           goes down in value.
           \_ Yeah weird how ED works like that....

12/5    Squish kchang now.
        \_ Fuck you.
           \_ no fuck YOU.
              \_ I see. The names do have a sort of logic to them. So, if,
                 jrleek is "moron", what will emarkp turn out to be?
        \_ uh, what did I do now? -kchang
           \_ Hi-tech namecalling
           \_ theoretically someone could get into trouble with something like:
              "Hey, your employee John Q. Loser posted about your company with
              the name 'hitler', see this link!  He will probably say something
              like yes he wrote that, but he never signed as 'hitler' and meant
              to post anonymously."
        \_ I've been playing around with it.  It doesn't seem any better
           than random chance, choosing among all non-idle people.  The names
           are cute, but I think hitler and other names should go.
        \_ It doesn't seem to change names.  This means the system has the
           same problems as before, it just adds a level of indirection.
           It won't take long for people to figure out who each other are.
           (For example, now you know my pseudonym) I think a good
           improvement would be to have the names change for every thread.
           Anyway, it's nice to have the diff back. -jrleek
           \_ I suggested he re-associate names every week but yeah.  I think
              this is a good change and am happy he decided to still log
              and host motd posts. -mrauser
           \_ What might be a genuinely interesting problem would be to set it
              up so it ignores what user was editing the motd when a given
              post was generated, and made names based solely on trying to
              analyze the content of the post.
        \_ Just to be fair to everyone, kchang decided to label everyone
           a derogatory name.
           \_ Not true.
           \_ No. To be fair, kchang has decided to rotate derogatory names
              every week so that everyone will have an opportunity to become
              any of the super villains. Thank you for playing the motd.

12/5    Testing
        \_ Failed.
        \_ More testing.
           \_ And again, just to be sure.
        \_ What is my name. How about now.
        \_ What is my name now.
           \_ Your powers are weak old man.
              \_ Yes, I apparently don't have a name.
        \_ Who picked the names?
           \_ I suspect it's just kchang's way to poke people in the eye.
              People he doesn't like get hitler, etc.
                 \- Why can't we choose our own names?
                    No, I tried it before & it didn't work!
                    I had four guys fighting over Mr. Black
                    \_ Mr. Black may not be such a popular name here.
              \_ I guess this brings name calling to a whole new level.
        \_ What's my name then?
           \_ This is a test of the emergency motd ID system.
           \_ Note to FBI: billclinton likes kiddie porn. Please sieze his PC.
        \_ Can't wait for amckee to get freaky and try to sorry darthVader.
           \_ heh, good one!
        \_ I feel your pain.
           \_ I did not have sex with that woman.
        \_ I am NOT a Troll.
           \_ I did not have sex with that Troll.
        \_ I am NOT a woman.