Monday, 9 August 2010

Digg me but don't bury me...

I don't know how much truth there is behind this story, but I do know this: there's nothing uglier than a mob of angry teabaggers, on and offline...

A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives. An undercover investigation has exposed this effort, which has been in action for more than one year.

"The more liberal stories that were buried the better chance conservative stories have to get to the front page. I'll continue to bury their submissions until they change their ways and become conservatives." -phoenixtx (aka vrayz)

More @'MikeTheMadBiologist'

Dirk57 W.S. Burroughs: "The question, "why did you start using narcotics in the first place?" should never be asked. It is irrelevant to treatment"

♪♫ Metric - Gold Guns Girls

Psychic Octopus Begins Advertising Career

Paul the psychic octopus may have retired from predicting football matches, but his advertising career has just begun. The eight-legged oracle recently appeared in an advertisement for a German supermarket chain and has received more than 160 endorsement offers, including a book deal, according to the mollusk's agent.
From the depths of the ocean to the height of stardom, Paul the octopus' star hasn't gone dim yet. After shooting to fame this summer by correctly predicting the results of each of Germany's World Cup matches -- including tipping Spain to beat Netherlands in the final -- the cephalopod oracle from the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen was featured in recent print ads for the German supermarket chain Rewe.
The ads, which were shot about a week ago, show Paul in his trademark pose atop a transparent box after snatching a mussel from inside. Naturally, Paul chose the Rewe box.
How long did it take Paul to choose the mussel from the Rewe box? "Instantly," the mollusk's England-based agent Chris Davis told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Neither Rewe nor Davis would disclose the amount Paul earned from the ad, but the agent would only say that it was "substantial" sum. Paul's income will go to a turtle sanctuary in Greece, according to the agent.
"Paul has turned into a million-plus brand instantly," says Davis, noting that Paul has so far received more than 160 offers to hawk products. "I have had 37 offers just this morning," he said on Friday.
Rewe is so far undecided on whether it will continue its work with the cuddly octopus. "It cannot be ruled out that we will use the well-known octopus again in our advertising," Rewe spokeswoman Julia Robertz told SPIEGEL ONLINE in an e-mail. Robertz added that Paul's image will only be used in the short-term.
Paul may have bigger fish to fry, anyway. The octopus also has his eight arms wrapped around a book deal, a plush toy contract and will swim alongside David Beckham to promote England's bid for the 2018 World Cup, says Davis.
Nevertheless, campaigning for a supermarket chain may be problematic for the mollusk. On Rewe's own website, the Cologne-based supermarket calls octopus "tasty" and says that "especially coveted are their meaty arms, which also come deep-frozen and pre-fried."
A Fatwa for Paul?
The limelight has come with unexpected perils for Paul. Recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Paul of spreading "western propaganda and superstition" and posing as a symbol of "decadence and decay," according to the British daily, the Telegraph. Davis even claims that he needs a security detail as Paul's agent following Ahmadinejad's comments.
Even so, Paul is no stranger to danger. During the World Cup, disappointed fans from Argentina to Germany threatened to roast the octopus after he correctly foresaw losses by their squads. And in China, a movie is about to hit the big screen entitled "Kill Paul Octopus," whose fictional plot reportedly revolves around gambling and match fixing at this year's World Cup.
But Paul has a legion of protectors in Spain. Shortly after the nation's World Cup victory, the city council of Carballiño, a town of 14,000 in northern Spain, made Paul an honorary citizen. Carballiño Mayor Carlos Montes traveled to Oberhausen last week to hand-deliver the honor to Paul.

(Eric Kelsey - Der Spiegel)

Hawaii implements a "put your money where your mouth is" law

The persistent quest for President Barack Obama's Hawaii birth certificate has died down since the state passed a law allowing it to ignore repetitive requests for the document.

Far fewer "birthers," who claim Obama is ineligible to be president, have asked state officials to provide the document since the law was enacted in May, according to the state.

The law has never even been put to use, said Department of Health spokeswoman Janice Okubo. The number of people seeking proof that Obama was born outside of Hawaii and the United States diminished without the law being invoked.

Continue reading
@'AP'

Sean Penn 'Very Suspicious' of Wyclef Jean's Haitian Presidential Bid

Sunday, 8 August 2010

Freedom to Fail

Google espouses a culture where it’s OK to be wrong. This is along the same lines as the difference between following your passion and bringing your passion with you. The former is just a dream (the so-called American Dream) and the latter is actually performing work and making progress.

The Wrong Stuff: What it means to make mistakes

Smoking # 79

England’s Child Witches

Dennis Hopper - Sometimes in a career, moments are enough

Dennis Hopper (at 18 yrs old) on the set of Rebel Without a Cause

“There are moments that I’ve had some real brilliance, you know.

But I think they are moments. And sometimes, in a career, moments are enough.

I never felt I played the great part. I never felt that I directed the great movie.

And I can’t say that it’s anybody’s fault but my own.”

–Dennis Hopper

@'The Selvedge Yard'

The future?

2012 (Or The Year We Finally Took Music Back)

Cardinal attacks US over Lockerbie bomber reaction

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was released last August

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has made an outspoken attack on the United States over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said the Scottish government was right to free Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi last year on compassionate grounds.

US lawmakers want Scottish politicians to explain to a Senate committee their decision to release Megrahi.

But the cardinal said ministers should not go crawling to the US like lapdogs.

Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish government's justice secretary, released Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, after being told that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of his life expectancy.

Vengeance

However, he is still alive after almost a year and the decision continues to provoke anger in the United States, which was home to 189 of the Lockerbie victims.

Cardinal O'Brien said Americans were too fixed on retribution.

He said it was understandable why the families and friends of the 270 people killed on board Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 would want "justice" and "even vengeance".

But in an article for the newspaper Scotland on Sunday, he suggested Americans should "direct their gaze inwards" rather than scrutinise how the Scottish justice system worked.

"They seem to think they have got it right, and I don't think they've got it right, and I don't think most Christians would believe they have got it right either. It's not an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. And they really should look to the beam in their own eye rather than thinking what's wrong with us."

He added: "I think the United States government in many, many states - more than half of the states in the United States - they have a culture of vengeance."

He said the use of the death penalty meant the US kept "invidious company" with countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

He backed the Scottish Government's decision not to give evidence to American senators investigating Megrahi's release.

@'BBC'