8/3     Anthrax letters turn out to be from (now deceased) top U.S Army
        anthrax researcher Bruce Ivins.  Funny, why isn't this bigger news?
        http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/01/anthrax/index.html
        http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/03/journalism
        \_ was on front page of NYTIMES last few days.  I don't watch
           tv
           \_ Agreed. It's been pretty big news. OP lives under a rock.

8/3     Religious nuts in Texas apparently have no sense of irony, and are
        trying to ban "Fahrenheit 451" from schools:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUq2d2OFRkk
        \_ this appears to be 2 years old.
        \_ interestingly enough Ray Bradbury has said his own book has been
           misinterpreted, and it was really a long rant about how television
           was going to destroy our culture.
           \_ Of course back before he was a cranky old man he said otherwise.

8/3     I have lived in N Cal all my life and have had a very sheltered
        and liberal life. Actually it's pretty deprived as well. I've
        never been to the South, and I'm wondering how accurate the
        portrayal of the hicks are in the movie Sweet Home Alabama?
        \_ No. Hollywood is exaggerated.
           \_ What does North Hollywood have to do with it?
              \_ OP was wondering how accurate the portrayal in a Hollywoor
                 movie was.  Perhaps PP meant "Hollywood is exaggeratING."
        \_ The South has been homogenized just like the rest of America -
           so you'll see lots of the same fast food restaurants, parking
           lots, and big box stores.  More churchs, although this actually
           applies more to Missouri than the "proper" South.  Folks there are
           generally the same mix of friendly and ignorant you'll find in
           any other suburb, though the accents are a little different.  The
           cities are just as urban as anywhere else.  Honestly Americans are
           much more alike than they'd like to think - regional differences
           are much more superficial now than they have ever been.  This was
           likely very different, say, 100 years ago, when travel was much
           more difficult and expensive, and mass media consisted only of
           newspapers.
        \_ It depends on where you visit. If you go to Chapel Hill, you will
           people as open minded and cosmopolitan as anywhere in California.
           find people as open minded and cosmopolitan as anywhere in CA.
           If you go to rural Kentucky, you will feel like you are in another
           country. In general, the cities are like cities everywhere in
           America, maybe a little more tolerant, since there is more black-
           white race mixing. Rural areas can be kind of scary. I was in
           Asheboro, NC last year and I saw a photo of the "old time" local
           Klan chapter up on the wall of an antique store I was visiting.
           I am sure he was just showing off a bit of local history, but
           I think he was making a statement about how he felt about race
           relations at the same time. He was not very friendly to my
           Asian wife. Are you planning on visiting? If so, I can give you
           some pointers. I was stationed in NC for three years and learned
           some things about how to relate to Southerners.
        \_ I own a house in Alabama in a smaller city, my mom lives in
           Missouri near the Arkansas border (but Missouri is Midwest and
           not The South), and my mom-in-law lives near Biloxi, Mississippi.
           I've spent a lot of time in The South and not just in Atlanta,
           Tampa, or New Orleans as I've done some touring of the rural areas
           by car. I don't really remember the movie, except that the
           seemingly redneck guy turns out to be a successful artist, which is
           \_ But all his friends are trashy, like the friend who keeps
              suggesting "Wanna arrest someone?" "Strip club?" etc etc
           pretty typical of The South. Yes, people are bigoted there and
           not just by race but also by religion. You even find a divide
           between regular church-going people and occasional church-goers
           and even the enlightened think Jews and Asians are novel/neat
           as in "There's this Jewish fella over there. His family's been here
           for 2 generations and he don't cause no trouble. He done told
           me he don't eat no pork. Can you believe that?" Of course, I
           found people in New England to be just as bigoted against WASPs,
           so I hardly want to single out The South. Southerners also tend
           to be classist as in Old Money versus New Money. I think
           found people in New England to be just as bigoted against (other
           than) WASPs, so I hardly want to single out The South. Southerners
           also tend to be classist as in Old Money versus New Money. I think
           everywhere might be like that, but it's very evident there
           because there are so few wealthy folks to begin with.
           \_ Yeah, New England types are much more unfriendly, even stuck up.
           found people in New England to be just as bigoted against non-WASPs
           so I hardly want to single out The South. Southerners also tend to
           be classist as in Old Money versus New Money. I think everywhere
           might be like that, but it's very evident there because there are so
           few wealthy folks to begin with.
           \_ Yeah, New England types are much less friendly, even stuck up.

8/3     Bombings Target Animal Researchers
        http://csua.org/u/m09
        I gotta say, it takes a special kind of crazy to target a
        neuroscientist for working with mice.

8/3     vp picks?  i'll start:
        Obama picks the governor of Virginia: .
        McCain picks the governor of Louisiana: .
        Obama picks governor of Indiana: .
        Obama picks Powell (R): .
        \- how does that make sense? protection against assasination
           by bigots?

8/3     [inane David Brooks style drivel deleted]
        \_ crap, you brought it back.  why must you make motd so boring

8/3     Hess Oil Executives gave huge contributions to McCain campaign just
        days before his drilling reversal
        http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/oil_company_executives.php
        \_ So who gave to Obama then?
           \_ So just to be clear, you DO admit McCain is a corporate tool
              right?  Even though you are being obviously dishonest in your
              attempt to paint Obama with the same brush, can you at least
              accept that McCain is a dishonest pol in the pockets of the
              engery companies and anyone else who is willing to pay?
              (P.S. I'm not happy with Obama's windfall tax idea either.)
           \_ So just to be clear, you admit McCain is a corporate tool?  But
              you are trying (poorly, wrongly) to try to claim that's ok
              because Obama does it as well, right?  Since you are wrong about
              Obama can you just accept that McCain is a dishonest pol in the
              pockets of the energy company and anyone else who is willing to
              pay his way?
              (P.S. Before you bring it up, I'm not happy with Obama's
               windfall tax idea either.)
           \_ When did he reverse himself on drilling?
              \_ http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080804.htm
                 \_ [!facepalm] Read the speech and now revising my opinion.
                    He's not reversing himself, no matter how it's being
                    portrayed, and if you read his speech, you'll see a
                    well-thought-out plan:
                    http://preview.tinyurl.com/57br62 (PBS)
                 \_ Let's see.  Don't open new offshore drilling until the
                    old ones are dry.  AKA, keep stuff in reserve rather
                    \_ So wait for current reserves to run out making sure
                       there's a gap between running out and starting up?
                       Newsflash: we don't make enough oil for our needs right
                       now.
                       \_ When you are spending more money than you are
                          making is the right response to burn through
                          your savings or to cut back, try to get a better
                          job, and save your savings for when you might
                          really need them?
                          \_ His proposal is to get the oil-monkey off our
                             back by the time that happens. -!pp
                             \_ "get a better job" in this example
                    than burn through it right now.  That's always been his
                    position.  There is something which is unsaid which is
                    hopefully by refusing to burn through all our oil RIGHT
                    NOW we will transition to other energy sources before
                    any of the reserves are needed which means we will never
                    have to drill there.
                \_ I thought Obama supported a compromise between the
                   pro and anti-drilling forces. Here in grown-up land
                   we think that compromises are a good thing, even though
                   we have had to suffer the last seven years with a "you are
                   either with us or you are with the terrorists" President.

8/4     I went to Fry's for the first time in ages and was surprised to
        see a 1T Seagate HD on sale. I'm still using my 250G and it's
        only 60% full. What the heck do people put on their HD these
        days, porn? I can't imagine why anyone would want to buy a
        1T drive for personal use.
        \_ HDTV.
           \_ I agree. Recording HDTV shows takes up a lot of space.
              \_ You could fill a 1TB disk with 25 HD movies.
              \_ You could fill a 1TB disk with 40 HD movies.
        \_ "640K ought to be enough for anybody."  -- Bill G.
        \_ Dude, isn't MS Office 2008 like 600 GB or something?
        \_ Huge honkin' backups.
        \_ 6 years ago I wasn't sure why people needed a 10G hard drive.

8/3     Ausman sent me a pretty cool link that shows you where startups are:
        http://conotes.com