Pride and Prejudice Around the World

"In the West Bank a group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism fire bombed four churches, telling the Associated Press the attacks were carried out to protest the Pope's remarks linking Islam and violence. The irony of the statement, and this is often the case we find, was lost on them." --Jon Stewart

"Earlier today, the president of Iran refused to attend a United Nations banquet because wine was being served. The Iranian president said he was afraid he'd get really drunk and say something pro-semitic." --Conan O'Brien

Marmaduke Literary Criticism
[via Christian]

marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com

Neo and Morpheus Get Stuck Inside Microsoft Windows
From Google Video:

Recent New Yorker cartoons:

Bumper sticker on minivan:
"Proud Parents of Underachievers" (9/4/06)

Rabbit to man, both being chased by a wild animal:
"What about your precious opposable thumbs now?" (9/4/06)

Man in lawn chair to hit-man holding weed-whacker:
"The weeds -- I want 'em whacked." (9/4/06)

Animals leaving ark, about solitary animal in foreground:
"Poor thing. The first night out, her husband fell overboard" (9/4/06)

Dog to another dog:
"He rubbed your belly and if felt good -- that doesn't make you gay." (9/4/06)

Waiter to dinner party:
"Would you like a professional critique of your orders?" (9/11/06)

Child to playmate in sandbox:
"By the time I develop a true understanding of sand, I'll probably be forced into some sort of organized sports." (9/11/06)

Customer to waiter:
"Which entree raises the fewest ethical issues?" (9/18/06)

Elephant reclining on couch, to therapist:
"I'm right there in the room, and no one even acknowledges me." (9/18/06)

Previous New Yorker cartoons

Family Guy: Osama outtakes
This clip from Google Video cracked me up.

From Letterman's "Top 10 Signs Your Boss Is Spying On You":

- You turn up the thermostat and hear your supervisor scream from the air vent

- Every morning, some guy puts a new roll of film in your fichus

- Powerpoint presentations include photos of you flossing

- The "O" on your keyboard looks a lot like his eyeball

...

Where do all those cool Google special-occasion logos go? Here.

Interesting articles on Wikipedia vs. traditional encyclopedias here and here.

My take on the CTS situation. (It's only partially informed and personally biased, but isn't everybody's?)

Some cool digital audio freeware

This blog showed me how to convert RA streams to MP3, do an MP3-only search at Google, and made me bold enough to try this IPTV suite and this "Super" converter. I have only a vague notion of what I'm doing, so if I accidentally blow my computer up, this blog will probably be idle for a while ...

(I should also read this PHP tutorial -- maybe over the weekend, sipping lemonade -- since our CICW site uses PHP.)

Letterman vs. Leno revisited [at N&A]

"Former Vice President Al Gore said he may run again for president. Insiders say Gore wants to avenge his 2000 victory."

- David Letterman

Some Cool Commercials on YouTube

Andy Roddick vs. Pong:

Nike - fancy dribbling:

Classic Wendy's commercial: "Where's the Beef?"

Classic Atari commercial:

Also: Real-life recreation of Simpsons introduction -- amazing!

Remembering September 11 [at N&A]

More from Time, and archived video coverage from NBC.

Happy Sept. 11th

From the Washington Post:

FIVE YEARS LATER: An Elusive Target
Bin Laden Trail 'Stone Cold'
U.S. Steps Up Efforts, But Good Intelligence On Ground is Lacking

By Dana Priest and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 10, 2006; Page A01

The clandestine U.S. commandos whose job is to capture or kill Osama bin Laden have not received a credible lead in more than two years. Nothing from the vast U.S. intelligence world -- no tips from informants, no snippets from electronic intercepts, no points on any satellite image -- has led them anywhere near the al-Qaeda leader, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.

"The handful of assets we have have given us nothing close to real-time intelligence" that could have led to his capture, said one counterterrorism official, who said the trail, despite the most extensive manhunt in U.S. history, has gone "stone cold."

...

Recent New Yorker cartoons

Two placard wielders glaring at each other on a city street; titled "Turf War on 49th Street":

Placard 1: "The End is Near for Religious Reasons"
Placard 2: "The End is Near for Ecological Reasons" (8/28/06)

TV reporter to cleric outside a temple:
"To hold in your hand the spiritual destinies of several billion people, Your Holiness, has got to be a rush." (8/7/06)

Executive on phone:
"And you can rest assured that your problem is being ignored at the very highest levels." (8/7/06)

Event planner in banquet hall, to assistant:
"We'll alternate the windbags with the hard of hearing." (8/7/06)

Previous cartoons

Chipotle rules [at N&A]

Sites Seen

PC Mag's Top 99 uundiscovered websites include www.getjar.com, www.regrettheerror.com, and Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics


And a cool blog I found today: TNR's Open University.

Amazon Light (or maybe Medium)

Amazon Light is an independent, uncluttered version of Amazon, using API (which I first heard about in this talk ). But isn't it starting to look a little cluttered?

Labor Day Picnic

Food and fun at our Labor Day picnic [at N&A]

Publisher's Weekly mention of my book

My book was mentioned in PW's Religion BookLine.

"If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity."

-Bill Vaughan

Fall Movie Preview

from NY Mag. The Departed, Andy Warhol, All the King's Men, Iraq in Fragments, and a few others others sound good.

Middle School Classes That Aren't

To add to Ron's list:

- Popular and the Unpopular: Middle School Social Inequality and Oppression

- How to Actually Climb the Rope in Phys. Ed.

- Coping With Crushes

- Algebra and Other Useless Skills

- Careful Planning and Other Misguided Strategies for Dealing With Life

Site Seen

http://revgalblogpals.blogspot.com/

Mating Bison and Hiking in the Dark

... among Meg's summer adventures in Yellowstone. Welcome back, Meg!