DISQUS

I keep picturing a pinky at the corner of his mouth

Although you won't take sides, I will. Just as they have the special olympics, they should have a separate one for physically disabled (or enabled) people. I recommend calling it the Ultimate Olympics, but I'm open to suggestions.

Thank goodness the British report news on the U.S., I haven't heard this in any American news.

the horrid lust pit needs to be fed

I contacted anon E mouse and he's in the process of making the animation :) I finally saw a picture of Don and he totally looks like a sleazy film producer. Too bad, I really like his movies.

I read his thread and he seems like a typical jackass film producer. Hey Don, I never even heard of you before this mistaken identity "crisis" on wikipedia. The next animation we make will be of Don sucking my ass.

WTF?!

From this BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7266600.stm

"Essentially, Pakistan Telecom took over some of the net addresses assigned to YouTube.

Crucially the path it offered to this group of addresses was faster than the usual one used by the hardware, or routers, that speed traffic around the internet.

Pakistan Telecom let this address change propagate to the routers of one of its partners - PCCW.

Routers are constantly in search of faster ways to get the data passing through them to its destination so news about this faster path started propagating across many of the net's routers. "

I watched the leaked footage for the 'freedom medal of valor' award show for Tom Cruise last night. That shit scared the hell out of me, especially when Tom Cruise is standing in his black dictator suit wearing his over-sized bling medal pounding the podium with his rigid umbrella hands talking about the coming apocalypse.

Thank you for the great comment. I wish there was something I could do to help. Unfortunately, individuals like us have little power. Hopefully being part of the 'media' will do some good. The United States is allied with Saudi Arabia and this needs to be addressed in a government setting. However, our current policy is more concerned with oil than ethics.

Maybe they've come back for McDonald's.

I'm glad you brought up the idea of an informed population as a necessity to democracy. I've had similar thoughts, but I offer a question. America is not a democracy but a federal republic. Actually the CIA define our government as "Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition". The reasons I justify having representatives instead of direct voting:

1) The majority is not always right
2) People don't have time to become fully informed, so it should be beneficial to have representatives who's full time job is to be fully informed.
3) There are times when information should be classified to the public, but our representatives should have access to this information.

I think the last point is the most important. My question is, how do you know a representative is voting the way you want based on information you don't have access to?

Yea, I'm not entirely convinced about the official explanation either.

yes it's true... found these interesting quotes:

The following is an excerpt outlining the rules and regulations
regarding non muslims visiting Mecca and the consequences


"Charles L. Glatz of the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia researched the
question, “Are there any exceptions and what is the punishment for
visiting Mecca and being caught as not being a moslem?” and the reply
received is the following:

As far as the rules and regulations of Saudi Arabia, there are no
exception for non-Moslems to visit Mecca. Only Moslems and converts to
Islam may visit Mecca. In order to cross from Jeddah to Mecca, a
person must show Saudi police that he or she is Moslem. Proof is a
Saudi igama (residency permit), which lists one's religion, or a hajj
or umrah visa.

If a person is caught who is not Muslim and managed to enter Mecca, he
or she will be arrested and held in detention. On extensive
investigation, the Minister of Interior decides the punishment based
on a recommendation of a Shari'a judge. There is no set punishment for
this offense.

Of course, this dodges the question of a death penalty but as there is
no set penalty and the death penalty is so common in Islam, this is a
possible outcome..."

from answers.google.com
-------------------------------------

n addition, a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of every Muslim who can afford it as one of the Five Pillars of the faith. Every year about three million gather for the major pilgrimage, or Hajj, during the Muslim month of Dhu'l-Hijja, and many more perform the minor pilgrimage, or Umrah, at various times throughout the year.

Few non-Muslims have ever seen the rites and rituals of the Hajj, as non-Muslims are strictly prohibited from entering Mecca and Medina. Roadblocks are stationed along roads leading to the city. The most famous incident of a non-Muslim visiting Mecca was the visit by the British explorer Sir Richard Burton in 1853. Burton disguised himself as an Afghani Muslim to visit and write Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Mecca.

The focal point of Mecca is the Kaaba, the "House of God" believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, and which is covered in a gold-embroidered black fabric. Pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times and may also try to touch or kiss its cornerstone, the Black Stone. Pilgrims may drink from the well of Zamzam. Its water of Zamzam is believed to have special properties. Few pilgrims return from the Hajj without a large plastic bottle of Zamzam water.

During the Hajj pilgrims travel to Mina, a small village, where the Devil, symbolised by stone columns, is ritually stoned. They then proceed to the hill Arafat (sometimes called a mountain, but with a height of only 70 m), a site for prayers, where Muhammad is believed to have delivered his final sermon.

The Masjid al Haram (Sacred Mosque) is for Muslims the holiest mosque on Earth. Both the mosque and the city itself are strictly off limits to non-Muslims.

from religionfacts.com
------------

$20,000/yr for a family of four is the poverty line? That seems like a low number, but I guess it would depend on where you live.

I haven't heard of mosquitos becoming resistant to DDT but I'll accept that as a true statement. However, wouldn't only certain mosquito populations become tolerant, populations exposed to DDT? I don't think Africa was using DDT in the 60s so it seems that this does not apply to them yet. This is all speculation though. If they do become resistant, then obviously DDT is only a short term solution. I think we should develop & unleash genetically enhanced spiders to solve the problem.

Also, Family Guy recently did a parody on Star Wars too and supposedly referenced Robot Chicken. I didn't see it though. Seth Green, the creator of Robot Chicken is also a voice actor on Family Guy (the voice of Chris).

Yup it was directly aired on Adult Swim

I recently read an article about this issue in DISCOVER magazine. In the article they mentioned the very difficult task of keeping track of malaria infections in Africa. The conclusion of the article is DDT probably helps fight malaria, but that's just an educated guess. There are well known negative consequences of DDT, so alternative solutions should be sought, but for now DDT is useful. The main benefit for using DDT is it's extremely cheap compared to other options.

I thought they were already doing this... wait, is the only difference that it'll be legal?

I wish all Muslims and Christians felt this way.

very cool... although if i had a bot net, i'd make the most realistic 3d simulation of paris hilton's sex tape... speaking of which, have you ever read pattern recognition by william gibson?

this is pretty ridiculous, if anything women are better actors than men... or so it seems with all the women i date...

Hi Troll,

I'm having trouble following this comment, so it's hard for me to respond. It looks like proper english, yet the statements aren't relevant. I believe this is the "make nonsense sound smart" strategy.


Alway remember trolls, I C UR I P

this threw me off a bit, because it says the building was completed in 1901, when the civil war took place in 1861, but after some research it appears the bank started in 1836. Also interesting note - "Corcoran & Riggs financed Samual Morse's invention of the telegraph in 1845, one of several notable backings in its history. The bank also lent $16 million to the U.S. government to pay for the Mexican-American War in 1847 and, in 1868, provided $7.2 million in gold towards the purchase of Alaska." (according to wikipedia)