6/6     Wait, how is Bush so dumb that he's managing to help bring the
        BLOODY COLD WAR BACK!  Like we need this now...
        \- this has been going on for a long time. YMWTFG "bush, stephen
           cohen, russia, cold war). also bush is probably stupid enough he
           actually may thing ABM might work ... it's just a matter of
           ironing out some engineering problems, as opposed to cynically
           supporting it for pork-type reasons.
        \_ Cold War was a good war.
        \_ Russia is in no position to "bring the BLOODY COLD WAR BACK!".  You
           know YELLING IN ALL CAPS! doesn't make your point stronger, right?
           Russia's economy is slightly smaller than Mexico's at last count.
           Their military is a wreck, most of their brighter scientists moved
           to Western countries.  Putin is making the mandatory noises to keep
           his generals and ultra-right nationalists happy, nothing more.
           \_ Ohh, believe me, Russia can REALLY screw up the world if it
              choose to... buy simpley selling their weapon to people in Iraq,
              for example.
           \_ My question of the day is... where do we get all these money
              from?   Aren't we suppose to allocate resources to fight a war?

6/7     rm -rf /var/PR0N

6/7     I want to buy enormous bales of Numi tea
        Where is cheapest?
        \- at the Numi plant in Freeemont.

6/7     I'm moving and have lots of empty binders that I used in school.
        Other than throwing them out, is there any place I can donate them
        to? Thanks.
        \_ Do you have any friends that are teachers?  I have a friend who
           throws parties at her house where the "cover charge" is
           donation of school supplies.
        \_ I "donated" mine to my employer by quitely putting them into the
           office supply cabinets, because I was too lazy to find a non-profit
           organization to donate them and get a tax deduction receipt.
           organization to donate them and get a tax deduction.

6/7     I found the OG guide to being a troll, in German
        and English!
        http://coolhaus.de/art-of-controversy

6/7     Iran caught red-handed arming the Taliban
        http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/document_iran_c.html
        \_ By "red-handed" you mean "senior white house officials" leaked
           some "intelligence."
           \_ I hear Saddam had WMDs
           \_ No, NATO officials, not white house officials.  And Richard
              Clarke is no friend of the Bush administration. -emarkp
        \_ Iran has every incentive to keep America busy because once US is
           done with Iraq and Afganistan, Iran will be next.
           Having said that, you obviously have absolutely no sense of history.
           Taliban was one of the biggest national security threat to Iran, and
           Iran is actually glad that US toppled Taliban.

6/7     NSFW: Mr Bean AKA Rowan Atkinson's daughter
        http://bbboobs.blogspot.com/2007/06/mr-beans-daughter-is-hot.html
        \_ Do they scream silicone?
           http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5098/13mj8.jpg
           \_ It's Gemma Atkinson, not Rowan Atkinson's daughter, and of course
              they're silicone.
     http://www.maximmag.co.uk/maximgirls/covergirls/5267/gemma_atkinson.html

6/7     Luckiest guy I've seen in a while.
        http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=45253
        \_ What the heck is a Manalorean?
           \_ A Mangalorean without the 'g'?
              \_ Or a Mandalorean without the 'g'. -star wars geek
           \_ A person from Mangalore is a Mangalorean. Mangalore is a port
              city on the west coast of India. I'm told that it has very
              nice beaches.

6/7     In light of the healthfulness of prepared-vs-fresh foods topic
        below, is anyone here able to actually minimize/avoid
        prepared foods?
        \_ it gets a lot easier when you graduate.  Learn to cook;
           you'll be glad you did!
           \_ I actually found it easier to cook when I was a student.
              More time + less money meant more cooking.
        \_ I couldn't find the original thread, but with the exception
           of eating out sometimes, nothing my wife and I eat at home
           is pre-prepared.  We buy the bulk of our groceries at Berkeley
           Bowl on the weekend (great prices on organic stuff), and either
           make simple-but-tasty stuff through the week or cook and freeze
           things like chicken pie and lasagne.  I've even started making
           frozen baby food for our 6 month old!
           It sometimes takes a decent amount of time, but honestly spending
           part of a weekend day shopping, cooking, and eating with friends
           is very relaxing for me.  I do this on top of a startup job
           and part-time classes at Berkeley.  You just have to decide how
           important healthy/enjoyable food is compared to other things.
                                                                -randal

6/7     Dutch students invent powdered alcohol:
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/2xoe37 (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ Powdered alcohol has been around a long time.  Their only
           inventiveness is in circumventing the age/tax laws.

6/7     What do you guys think of Edward's chances? He won this caucus
        that I was a part of, does he have any real chance?
        http://www.csua.org/u/ivc -anonymous coward
        \_ Maybe.  A low maybe but a maybe.
        \_ I think he has no chance. I think in the public's eye he's old
           news. It's either HRC or Browser Helper Object.
        \_ I don't think Edwards has any chance.  He should spend
           time with his terminally ill wife rather than fail at
           running for pres.

6/7     TV bad for babies editorial.
        http://nymag.com/news/politics/homefront/32861/?ftr-promo
        \_ I have a friend who tries to limit her 1+ yo daughter's TV time.
           But what she's concerned with are the fast paced commercials.
           The daughter stares at the TV when it's on no matter the content,
           but you can see her get so absorbed whenever commercials are on.
           The editorial above mentions her suspicion that her kid may have
           ADHD.  Maybe there is something to that.
           \- ~50% of that article is about the mother's homelife
              rather than the research. it's sort of a lifestyle
              article.

6/7     "For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!" -Keynesian economist
        http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,363663,00.html
        \_ Sounds like instead of sending them a bunch of crap, what we
           need to do is actually buy stuff from them. Subsidize buying
           stuff from them instead of subsidizing our own farmers.
           And/or directly employ them to improve their own roads etc.
           Although buying food from them would be Bad. Hmm maybe he's
           right and we shouldn't do anything except maybe set up
           schools (the teaching industry is something they could
           take over later).
           \_ We should send them MS Office licenses.
              \_ Oh yeah they'll be lining up at the trucks for those!
           \_ The problem is that so many Africans are working in
              industries like farming. They need to industrialize. More
              investment in Africa would help. Your idea of building
              infrastructure is a good one. However, I think the West
              would rather give Africa its leftovers than cold hard cash.
              It's easy to donate your old bicycle and three pairs of dress
              shoes you never wear anymore. Doing more than giving our
              castoffs away would require real work on the part of the
              West *and* Africans.
              \_ Cash just vanishes into various higher ups bank accounts.
                 \_ I am not suggesting cash be given as a gift, but that
                    cash be invested rather than goods given.
                    \_ Investing in most african countries is silly unless
                       you are a huge company willing to spent a large amount
                       of money on protection and bribes.  And then you are
                       part of the problem.
                       \_ So you think that, say, Ford building a plant in
                          Africa is unthinkable? Why would you say that?
              \_ Maybe, instead of industrializing, they could simply skip
                 to the part where they have nothing but services and
                 financial industries like we do?
        \_ Take a look at http://kiva.org.  It's a microfinance site that enables
           people to chip in on making loans to people in third world
           countries.  The money goes from kiva to a local microfinance
           company to the borrower.                     --alawrenc
           \_ I've lent +$400 via Kiva, but it seems like a lot of their
              current businesses is moving toward just lower interest rate
              current businesses are moving toward just lower interest rate
              working capital rather than development capital. i.e. Instead
              of "I want to buy a new oven for my bakery so I can produce
              2n loves of bread" it's more like "I want to borrow $500 at
              10% instead at a higher interest locally, so when I sell the
              good for a 20% gain, I make a greater return ... then 6-12mos
              later, I'll do the exact same thing." Whereas the guy with the
              bigger bakery is now off and running with an expanded business.
              There used to be plenty of people looking for of small amount
              like $250 for soem kind of "tool"/means of production ...
              barber chair, seeds, revenue producing construction ... now a
              huge number are for higher amounts just to buy stock.
              \_ This is an interesting one:
                 http://tinyurl.com/2p7w5b
        \_ We could certainly do more in combatting AIDS and malaria, which
           would have lots of ancillary benefits, as well as improving the
           standard of living of millions of Africans. I am not so sure that
           cutting off all food aid to famine victims is the right answer, but
           it certainly should be controlled better, so that it does not all
           end up in the pocket of corrupt rulers.

6/7     Check out the top story on http://news.yahoo.com right now. What kind
        of "news" is that???
        \_ immigration bill fails crucial vote?
                \_ I'm referring to the "Krumping", as reported by the
                   Yahoo! Underground team.
                   \_ Krump! Trends sell man
           \_ LibDems block critical reforms championed by President and
              Commander-In-Chief Bush. Don't they understand how this
              encourages the enemy?

6/7     Can sun reflections, like from the windows and chrome of cars on a
        California freeway, cause permanent eye damage?
        I think I might be developing a blind spot in one eye. But
        it kind of comes and goes so it's hard to be sure.
        \_ yes, definitely.
        \_ Wear some polarized sunglasses.  It should get rid of the glare.
           \_ Agreed.  Even a cheap ugly clip-on worked for me.  It also
              improves visibility over non-polarized sunglasses, even if not
              for preventing eye damage.
        \_ unless the reflection is a focused sunray, I don't think so.
           Go get a ritina test for blind spot.