politics { 2 days without newspaper delivery

And I find out that Tim Walz, whom I respect and supported, voted FOR the changes (see S 1927) to FISA provisions.

Can I ask why Mr. Walz?

How can this be good for our society?

How does this make us safer?

How can you ensure this will not be abused? (especially with an Administration that has proven it is not for the people)

Did you read the Act? If so, please what is your interpretation?

For that matter, Senator Klobuchar, I ask you the same questions, since you also voted Yes to the Senate version of the bill.


Full text of Act:

Protect America Act of 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)

--S.1927--

S.1927

One Hundred Tenth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,

the fourth day of January, two thousand and seven

An Act

To amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to provide additional procedures for authorizing certain acquisitions of foreign intelligence information and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Protect America Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PROCEDURE FOR AUTHORIZING CERTAIN ACQUISITIONS OF FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 105 the following:

`CLARIFICATION OF ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE OF PERSONS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

`Sec. 105A. Nothing in the definition of electronic surveillance under section 101(f) shall be construed to encompass surveillance directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States.

`ADDITIONAL PROCEDURE FOR AUTHORIZING CERTAIN ACQUISITIONS CONCERNING PERSONS LOCATED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

`Sec. 105B. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, may for periods of up to one year authorize the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States if the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General determine, based on the information provided to them, that--

`(1) there are reasonable procedures in place for determining that the acquisition of foreign intelligence information under this section concerns persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States, and such procedures will be subject to review of the Court pursuant to section 105C of this Act;

`(2) the acquisition does not constitute electronic surveillance;

`(3) the acquisition involves obtaining the foreign intelligence information from or with the assistance of a communications service provider, custodian, or other person (including any officer, employee, agent, or other specified person of such service provider, custodian, or other person) who has access to communications, either as they are transmitted or while they are stored, or equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store such communications;

`(4) a significant purpose of the acquisition is to obtain foreign intelligence information; and

`(5) the minimization procedures to be used with respect to such acquisition activity meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 101(h).

`This determination shall be in the form of a written certification, under oath, supported as appropriate by affidavit of appropriate officials in the national security field occupying positions appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Senate, or the Head of any Agency of the Intelligence Community, unless immediate action by the Government is required and time does not permit the preparation of a certification. In such a case, the determination of the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall be reduced to a certification as soon as possible but in no event more than 72 hours after the determination is made.

`(b) A certification under subsection (a) is not required to identify the specific facilities, places, premises, or property at which the acquisition of foreign intelligence information will be directed.

`(c) The Attorney General shall transmit as soon as practicable under seal to the court established under section 103(a) a copy of a certification made under subsection (a). Such certification shall be maintained under security measures established by the Chief Justice of the United States and the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, and shall remain sealed unless the certification is necessary to determine the legality of the acquisition under section 105B.

`(d) An acquisition under this section may be conducted only in accordance with the certification of the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, or their oral instructions if time does not permit the preparation of a certification, and the minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney General. The Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall assess compliance with such procedures and shall report such assessments to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate under section 108(a).

`(e) With respect to an authorization of an acquisition under section 105B, the Director of National Intelligence and Attorney General may direct a person to--

`(1) immediately provide the Government with all information, facilities, and assistance necessary to accomplish the acquisition in such a manner as will protect the secrecy of the acquisition and produce a minimum of interference with the services that such person is providing to the target; and

`(2) maintain under security procedures approved by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence any records concerning the acquisition or the aid furnished that such person wishes to maintain.

`(f) The Government shall compensate, at the prevailing rate, a person for providing information, facilities, or assistance pursuant to subsection (e).

`(g) In the case of a failure to comply with a directive issued pursuant to subsection (e), the Attorney General may invoke the aid of the court established under section 103(a) to compel compliance with the directive. The court shall issue an order requiring the person to comply with the directive if it finds that the directive was issued in accordance with subsection (e) and is otherwise lawful. Failure to obey an order of the court may be punished by the court as contempt of court. Any process under this section may be served in any judicial district in which the person may be found.

`(h)(1)(A) A person receiving a directive issued pursuant to subsection (e) may challenge the legality of that directive by filing a petition with the pool established under section 103(e)(1).

`(B) The presiding judge designated pursuant to section 103(b) shall assign a petition filed under subparagraph (A) to one of the judges serving in the pool established by section 103(e)(1). Not later than 48 hours after the assignment of such petition, the assigned judge shall conduct an initial review of the directive. If the assigned judge determines that the petition is frivolous, the assigned judge shall immediately deny the petition and affirm the directive or any part of the directive that is the subject of the petition. If the assigned judge determines the petition is not frivolous, the assigned judge shall, within 72 hours, consider the petition in accordance with the procedures established under section 103(e)(2) and provide a written statement for the record of the reasons for any determination under this subsection.

`(2) A judge considering a petition to modify or set aside a directive may grant such petition only if the judge finds that such directive does not meet the requirements of this section or is otherwise unlawful. If the judge does not modify or set aside the directive, the judge shall immediately affirm such directive, and order the recipient to comply with such directive.

`(3) Any directive not explicitly modified or set aside under this subsection shall remain in full effect.

`(i) The Government or a person receiving a directive reviewed pursuant to subsection (h) may file a petition with the Court of Review established under section 103(b) for review of the decision issued pursuant to subsection (h) not later than 7 days after the issuance of such decision. Such court of review shall have jurisdiction to consider such petitions and shall provide for the record a written statement of the reasons for its decision. On petition for a writ of certiorari by the Government or any person receiving such directive, the record shall be transmitted under seal to the Supreme Court, which shall have jurisdiction to review such decision.

`(j) Judicial proceedings under this section shall be concluded as expeditiously as possible. The record of proceedings, including petitions filed, orders granted, and statements of reasons for decision, shall be maintained under security measures established by the Chief Justice of the United States, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence.

`(k) All petitions under this section shall be filed under seal. In any proceedings under this section, the court shall, upon request of the Government, review ex parte and in camera any Government submission, or portions of a submission, which may include classified information.

`(l) Notwithstanding any other law, no cause of action shall lie in any court against any person for providing any information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with a directive under this section.

`(m) A directive made or an order granted under this section shall be retained for a period of not less than 10 years from the date on which such directive or such order is made.'.

SEC. 3. SUBMISSION TO COURT REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT OF PROCEDURES.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 105B the following:

`SUBMISSION TO COURT REVIEW OF PROCEDURES

`Sec. 105C. (a) No later than 120 days after the effective date of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the Court established under section 103(a), the procedures by which the Government determines that acquisitions conducted pursuant to section 105B do not constitute electronic surveillance. The procedures submitted pursuant to this section shall be updated and submitted to the Court on an annual basis.

`(b) No later than 180 days after the effective date of this Act, the court established under section 103(a) shall assess the Government's determination under section 105B(a)(1) that those procedures are reasonably designed to ensure that acquisitions conducted pursuant to section 105B do not constitute electronic surveillance. The court's review shall be limited to whether the Government's determination is clearly erroneous.

`(c) If the court concludes that the determination is not clearly erroneous, it shall enter an order approving the continued use of such procedures. If the court concludes that the determination is clearly erroneous, it shall issue an order directing the Government to submit new procedures within 30 days or cease any acquisitions under section 105B that are implicated by the court's order.

`(d) The Government may appeal any order issued under subsection (c) to the court established under section 103(b). If such court determines that the order was properly entered, the court shall immediately provide for the record a written statement of each reason for its decision, and, on petition of the United States for a writ of certiorari, the record shall be transmitted under seal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which shall have jurisdiction to review such decision. Any acquisitions affected by the order issued under subsection (c) of this section may continue during the pendency of any appeal, the period during which a petition for writ of certiorari may be pending, and any review by the Supreme Court of the United States.'.

SEC. 4. REPORTING TO CONGRESS.

On a semi-annual basis the Attorney General shall inform the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, concerning acquisitions under this section during the previous 6-month period. Each report made under this section shall include--

(1) a description of any incidents of non-compliance with a directive issued by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence under section 105B, to include--

(A) incidents of non-compliance by an element of the Intelligence Community with guidelines or procedures established for determining that the acquisition of foreign intelligence authorized by the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence concerns persons reasonably to be outside the United States; and

(B) incidents of noncompliance by a specified person to whom the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence issue a directive under this section; and

(2) the number of certifications and directives issued during the reporting period.

SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

(a) In General- Section 103(e) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(e)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `501(f)(1)' and inserting `105B(h) or 501(f)(1)'; and

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking `501(f)(1)' and inserting `105B(h) or 501(f)(1)'.

(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents in the first section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 105 the following:

`105A. Clarification of electronic surveillance of persons outside the United States.

`105B. Additional procedure for authorizing certain acquisitions concerning persons located outside the United States.

`105C. Submission to court review of procedures.'.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION PROCEDURES.

(a) Effective Date- Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made by this Act shall take effect immediately after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Transition Procedures- Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any order in effect on the date of enactment of this Act issued pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) shall remain in effect until the date of expiration of such order, and, at the request of the applicant, the court established under section 103(a) of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)) shall reauthorize such order as long as the facts and circumstances continue to justify issuance of such order under the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as in effect on the day before the applicable effective date of this Act. The Government also may file new applications, and the court established under section 103(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)) shall enter orders granting such applications pursuant to such Act, as long as the application meets the requirements set forth under the provisions of such Act as in effect on the day before the effective date of this Act. At the request of the applicant, the court established under section 103(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)), shall extinguish any extant authorization to conduct electronic surveillance or physical search entered pursuant to such Act. Any surveillance conducted pursuant to an order entered under this subsection shall be subject to the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), as in effect on the day before the effective date of this Act.

(c) Sunset- Except as provided in subsection (d), sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall cease to have effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(d) Authorizations in Effect- Authorizations for the acquisition of foreign intelligence information pursuant to the amendments made by this Act, and directives issued pursuant to such authorizations, shall remain in effect until their expiration. Such acquisitions shall be governed by the applicable provisions of such amendments and shall not be deemed to constitute electronic surveillance as that term is defined in section 101(f) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801(f)).

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.

Additional commentary:

DailyKos
BoingBoing
EFF

---update---
ACLU FISA FAQs

(note, in terms of Democrat Presidential Candidates: Obama = No, Clinton = No, Kucinich = No, no longer in Congress = Edwards, Gravel; I'd be curious to hear their views)

economics { iTuplip.com

Ran across the site after seeing this clip below on boingboing:



I may have to watch this site more often. I'm looking for a good source to help me understand that emotional, irrational beast that is Wall Street, especially since my employers over the years have saw fit to make me 'in control of my own money' by putting my retirement funds into the stock market.

People are wringing their hands and spouting DOOM since entities like the DOW Jones are down. Well no shit. Predatory sub-prime lending never seemed to make sense to me with what minimal economics I understand and now those who practiced it have to pay and sadly they're taking the rest of us with it. Remember the .com boom? Funded by hype. We had to pay in loss of jobs and erosion of various professions.

I don't trust the stock market and I don't think I ever will. Its based on emotion and greed. Very little is put into looking into cause and effect, or into the long term future. Its all about profit taking and the now. I wonder if there is a way to divorce our economy from this irrational machine?

---UPDATE---
I really likes these guys after watching a few of their 'Zombie Financial Media' clips:

casual_friday { Starfruit

Surfrider.

Awesome video from Corneilus 'Starfruit-Surfrider'

sorrow { 'No More Collapses'

Nick Coleman had what I thought was a good article. I think he's right. Once the grieving is done and the sorrow has lessened people will be angry. They will want to know why. They will start to see that our government has been negligent and as he put it 'governing on the cheap'.

Its still too early, at least for me.

update { I-35W bridge collapse

First, the good news...

As of this morning, it is only 4 confirmed dead, not last night's 9. Some mistakes can work out for the better.

The bad news...

Still missing people, still a lot of injuries, still the tragedy really did happen.

Oh, and there is a big gaping hole where 100,000 cars used to drive every day. Which might not be as painful as the big gaping hole in Minnesota's heart over this tragic loss of life.

pics { 35W Bridge collapse

I'm still in shock about this.

I hope everyone I know is ok (and my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones). I have a lot of friends who live in Minneapolis and near there.

Everyone from Minneapolis (and elsewhere) please comment! Let us know you are ok.

news { Bridge collapse over Mississippi River

I was in downtown Minneapolis this evening going home from my cello lesson and saw a couple cop cars fly by me at high speed with the lights and sirens. Didn't think too much of it, but there were more police doing the same as I went home.

My grandmother called me shortly thereafter to know if I was alright.

The North and Southbound lanes of 35W collapsed over the Mississippi River this evening. Graphic here. Lots of cars and trucks on the span when it dropped, lots of injuries, no word of fatalities yet but my guess is there will be some. People in the water. What a mess. Phone lines are moderately jammed with all the people calling to check on loved ones.

Will update as more info becomes available. My heart goes out to all families with loved ones who were involved.

Update 19:45 - A little worried, my mother was going to Orchestra Hall this evening for a show, and she would have been passing over 35W south around the time the bridge collapsed. Her phone is going straight to voicemail, but that would be the case if the lines were jammed (which they are), or if she turned her phone off for the show.

Update 20:00 - Noah Kunin of Blanked-Out has an eyewitness account, bridge collapsed right by his house.

Update 20:10 - At least 3 confirmed dead.

Update 20:25 - Mom's mobile phone still going through to voicemail.

Update 21:20 - Confirmed 6 dead.

Update 22:00 - Mom is ok. She took an alternate route and not 35W.

Update 22:15 - All the info I'm hearing is that this is appears at first glance to be a structural collapse, with no terrorism involvement suspected.

Update 22:30 - A quick shout-out to my former coworker Doug, who is a part-time Hennepin County Water Patrol officer who does underwater body recovery. If you are working the site, be careful and know your work is appreciated.

Update 22:40 - Confirmed 7 dead, with that number likely to rise. If you want to help, check the Twin Cities Red Cross, although their server is getting pounded.

Update 22:55 - Aaron Landry posted Noah Kunin's amazing photos on Flikr.

Update 23:25 -
American Red Cross - Twin Cities Area Chapter
NW 5597
P.O. Box 1450
Minneapolis, MN 55485-5597
612-460-3700

The Twin Cities Red Cross is asking for blood donations and financial donations.

Update 00:00 - Star Tribune has a gallery of photos.

Update 00:10 - Confimed 9 dead, with 60 injuries and at least 20 people missing.

Final Update tonight - Detail diagram of collapse.

Alternate routes for the commute, which is likely to be indefinite.

Its going to be really ugly tomorrow, but overall, I'm going to conjecture that this could have been much, much worse.

Off to bed.

environment { 41pounds.org

After reading EB's post about 'When Fox Attacks, Fight Back,' I followed the link to check out the site foxattacks.com (which I think is an awesome idea). While reading through I found a link to this site: 41Lbs. Its an organization that when you subscribe, it does the leg work for you to reduce your junkmail by 85-90% (and donate $15 to a charity in your name). That's a lot of paper saved. Since moving to Rochester, we don't receive nearly the junkmail we used to in St. Paul, but we still receive a lot. I've signed up for that take me off the list thing the Direct Marketing Association offers, but its only been marginally effective (and a pain in the ass). I'm thinking of signing Nerdwife and I up for this and see what happens.

The only problem I see, is in this age of mega-mergers and mega-corps, your information is sold and spread far and wide. And any company you've done business with (which many view as just looking at them) lets them get around the DMA mailing block. They of course share this info with their business partners, and thus claim prior business and eventually your junkmail is back up. Case in point, my credit card. Over the last 12 years I've had a credit card, I've had at least eight different credit card companies. In only one case, did I choose to switch myself (when I switched from my Wachovia, now Chase card to Working Assets, who had MBNA now Bank of America). Over this journey, three of these changes resulted in my ending up with Bank of America, who ties Chase for most bothersome with mailing and phone offers (though Capital One is gaining on them fast).

Seriously we need to move to an automatic opt-out system (perhaps like the European Union has), if not for the usual reasons, here's another one, the environment.

casual_friday_part2 { 'The man will die...'

'but not his ideas.'

(We should listen to the message underneath the pop goodness of this song...they're some novel ideas)

'Happy Nation' - Ace of Base

casual_friday { 'You're the one with the burden of intuition...'

'you're the one with the freedom of a blank stare.'

'A Good Start' by Maria Taylor

justice { Tripoli Six

The Tripoli Six have been freed.

movie review { 'Transformers'

Synopsis: Big robots invade earth looking for the 'All Spark' a cube of immense power that can breath life into machines. There was also the required romantic sub-plot, copious hard body shots, and heaps of car porn.

My view: Well the computer science was bad, which was not surprising. The product placement was rampant. And the romantic and hacker sub-plots were weak. The humans vs Decepticon hacking wars resulted in pretty much the only thing humans can do is 'cut the hard lines'. Seriously they were cut so many times I feel bad for the cable pullers who have to restring the cat-5. Despite all this, I enjoyed the movie. The Auto-bot characters, despite my feelings about 'Bumblebee' as a camero, were likeable. The special effects were cool. I could've used a big more backstory about Cybertron as it is framed in this movie, but it wasn't necessary. I loved the Transformers as a kid, I had many, I watched the TV show, I saw the 1986 movie...where Optimus Prime died (and I cried). While this interpretation was not like the comics or the cartoon, it stood alone well on its own. Don't expect a deep plot, and you will have to tolerate a lot of jingoism, but it was still a good overall movie.

Grade: B- (sorry Jazz was a porche, not a Pontiac solstice, Ratchet was a generic ambulance, not a hummer converted, you got points though for Starscream as a F-22, also the robots could have used a bit more screen time to develop their characters more, especially Jazz, who along with Bumblebee was the most human friendly in the old series) D as in AVOID, upon reflection, this movie really did suck. Like 300 it gets worse the farther away from it you get as you think about it more and more and the effects wear off. This movie was terrible, terrible plot, characters as deep as mud puddles (the robots had more depth), and it was a recruiting commercial for the American military, as well as product placement for the dying American auto industry (for fuck's sake Jazz was a porsche and Bumblebee a VW bug, and Optimus Prime was a cab over Mack). Granted it didn't have more jingoism than a College Republican convention, that was 300, but it had a more subtle jingoism that I found no less disgusting over time. The effects were cool, as were the transformations, but after they wore off I'm left with a feeling of severe lacking. Maybe boobies would have helped...but they didn't help 300 over time.

---UPDATE 7/23/2007---
City Pages had some good reviews here and here.

environment { another hidden cost of energy

Our water. This is no surprise, it takes an insane amount of clean water to make things we use in our lives from computer chips, to cars, to, well, more water. I assumed water would be needed in the creation of Ethanol, the much touted 'green' alternative energy source here in the Midwest, a salvation looked to by farmers who are being pressed by international competition and agri-corps. But I never knew how much water it takes to make 1 gallon of Ethanol and was shocked to learn it takes 3.7 gallons! Ethanol has been a controversial alternative fuel for decades, mostly because it takes more energy per unit to produce with current methods than can be derived out of it as a fuel source.

politcs { Too Far

I saw this on Evil Bobby. I had to read it twice. I thought it was a joke, or a cleverly crafted piece of satire. Then I saw the link to the White House.

Its not a joke.

This happened quietly. I didn't see it on the front-page of the New York Times on July 18th. I haven't seen word of this running around on the various channels I read. Either I completely missed it, or this was stealthily slipped out.

Here's the whole text:

Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq


RSS Feed White House News

Fact sheet Message to the Congress of the United States Regarding International Emergency Economic Powers Act

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29, 2004. I hereby order:

Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section 203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3), and (4)), or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, all property and interests in property of the following persons, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense,

(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:

(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or

(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;

(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(iii) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 3. For purposes of this order:

(a) the term "person" means an individual or entity;

(b) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and

(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

Sec. 4. I hereby determine that the making of donations of the type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by section 1 of this order.

Sec. 5. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government, consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.

Sec. 7. Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under 31 C.F.R. chapter V, except as expressly terminated, modified, or suspended by or pursuant to this order.

Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 17, 2007.

We're long past this going too far. Congress must reinstate checks and balances. The President's powers must be curtailed. Its small, subtle, yet profound actions like these that erode our personal freedoms and continue the slide towards tyranny.

What do I mean? Well read up on some history. Start with the Federalist Papers.

Why shouldn't the President have this power to seize assets or terrorists? Because he's using the draconian Executive Orders relating to the Iraq war to seize the properties of anyone he or his Administration deem as terrorists. There's been no transparency in this Administration. People are arrested and held indefinitely as 'enemy combatants' with no trial. To me this seems like a way for the current Administration to consolidate power and silence dissent. The abuses of power, the erosion of personal liberties, and lack of oversight of the Administration and the various law enforcement organizations in the name of 'national security' are too numerous to list. Anyone who has questioned these actions have been deemed somehow un-American. I've questioned them, and will continue to do so, someone has to.

---UPDATE---
Readers over at BoingBoing have cleared up some things. I've misunderstood some of the wordings/intent of the Executive Order, not surprising, I'm not a lawyer. But still it doesn't make the Order suck any less really.

White House Kisses Goodbye to 5th Amendment

Todd says:

The latest Executive Order from the War Criminal Administration facilitates and sanctions the taking away of property of anyone who is deemed to be "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people". Left in those terms, it isn't too much of a stretch to envision this Administration deciding that any particularly vocal critic of the Iraq occupation is "undermining efforts" and thus a target for seizure of property or assets, Fifth Amendment be damned.

Big news indeed, and yet it has received scant little attention in the media. Shameful in every regard, but it troubles me even more that this latest criminal act has crossed a new threshold in reckless disregard for the US Constitution, and yet hardly a soul even knows about it.

As Wonkette sums it up: "If the White House decides that you are in any way 'undermining efforts' in Iraq, or related to Iraq or pretty much anything else, the Treasury Department is authorized to seize your money, property, stocks, etc. The pride is back!"

Link to the White House's Executive Order

Reader comment:

Robert says:

Sorry to criticize, but you screwed up on the White House Executive Order story.

The Order clearly only applies to people who have "committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of: ... (B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people"

In other words, it doesn't apply to anyone who is "undermining efforts." It requires violence + undermining efforts. You left off the first part. I'm not saying that this makes the order any better, but at least it limits it.

Further, the President cannot take away property of US citizens by fiat. That's prohibited by the Fifth Amendment. This is directed to foreign nationals who are holding their assets in the US.

Greg says:

Robert is incorrect about the scope of the executive order and who it applies to.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
1) it has a broad theoretical reach, i.e., anyone who the executive branch says "pose[s] a significant risk of committing" acts of violence that "undermine efforts" in Iraq. It's like the Dept. of Pre-Crime.

2) the EO applies to "U.S. persons," a group which includes U.S. citizens, not just foreign nationals parking their money in the U.S.

Talking Points Memo has some analysis from the ACLU and other experienced voices on the topic.

The comments point to a preliminary ACLU analysis.

Representatives from the ACLU are still studying the executive order. But preliminarily, says spokeswoman Liz Rose, the order appears to expand the assets-seizure provisions of the Patriot Act, known as Section 806, to organizations linked to Iraqi insurgent groups. Much like the order, Section 806 allows the government to seize assets of banned organizations without prior notice and without a conviction of involvement in banned activity. "It is by far the most significant change (in the law) of which political organizations need to be aware," the ACLU wrote in 2002, contending that the vagueness of Section 806 potentially implicates legitimate political protest as well as material support for terrorism.

TPM Muckracker also has a response from the U.S. Treasury Department.

casual_friday { In the future there was...

'Spaceman' by Babylon Zoo (I discovered this zooming around the Tube the other day, I like it!)

music { Rochester Pipes & Drums

I had forgotten, but was pleasantly reminded on my way back from lunch that the bag pipe and drums group 'Rochester Pipes and Drums' was playing the free outdoor concert at the downtown Episcopal Church. I heard them last year and was mesmerized. I really enjoy bag pipe music and this group plays a variety of pipes from small to highland. This year they had a singer with them and sang some old folk tunes.

This is one of the perks of working in downtown Rochester, the free music concerts in the summer. The Church does one every Thursday and Mayo Clinic has one in their beautiful courtyard every Monday. Sure its hit or miss, but its free.

music { what is holding my attention right now...

Most of the stuff on the radio is rubbish as far as I can tell. I swear it is getting worse in the Twin Cities. So when I hear the occasional track that grips me in a way that says 'turn it up' and not 'turn it off', I like to make note of it. The last time I felt that way (Classical music notwithstanding) was when I heard Dan Wilson's 'All Kinds'. Today it was this haunting track (mp3) by Neko Case.

casual_friday_the_13th { Twilight Zone

Various Twilight Zone related items:

'Twilight Zone Into' - the classic TV intro



'Tone Twilight Zone' - Corneilius (one of my favorite Japanese alternative artists)


and finally an episode clip of the Twilight Zone called 'The Obsolete Man'


And finally, because I like and miss 'Newsradio':

politics { 'Obviousman'

Dub!

(watch it, it sums up why free press and questioning authority is healthy in a Democracy)

amazing { something that can be done in LotR Online

You can make and play your own instruments, this blew me away:

founding { Medieval Metaphysicals

In the picture left you see my character Pernox and Krieghund when I ding'd 60 in World of Warcraft. Happy times. We were both in the guild 'Ashes of Empires', the first guild I was a member of in that game (previously I had been a member of 'Central Spike' in Planetside and 'The Flying Whirlpools of Suck' in Aces High). But Ashes is a large guild, very large, and while most people are fun to be with and good to play with, there were always a few who acted immature and soured the experience for all, and its bad when one of those people was an officer. But that is the past, anyways, last night I was finally able to collect the last 3 signatures to start a new guild, 'Medieval Metaphysicals'. Krieghund and I are co-Guild Masters and so far we have a membership of 9 (I booted the hired hands who were paid to sign the charter, as we want to be a little selective in membership). As soon as I have a good screen shot, I will post what our tabard looks like.

In other WoW news, I've respec'd my talents from 11/0/50 to 41/20/0 in hopes of doing more damage, but I'm not happy with it. I like the subtelty tree too much. While the combat tree has boosted my overall damage per second, it feels awkward and wrong. I miss certain things, so I'm probably going to respec again to 41/0/20, which would bring back the things I like most in the subtlety tree and it should compliment the deep investment in the assassination tree. I will still miss two old cornerstones of the sub tree, shadowstep and hemorrhage, but I can always go back.

politics { 4th Branch of Government?

Last Friday, Nerdwife and I went to a fascinating open panel, multidisciplinary discussion on Catastrophe and Time put on by the U of MN's Institute for Advanced Study, which was part of their larger 'Symposium on Time'. It was fascinating. People from all academic, philosophical, educational, arts, and backgrounds were present.

But that is a topic for another time, what I am asking is one of the members was mentioning Bush implemented a 4th Branch of government last week. I've tried to find some information about this, but all I could find are some vague references about 'The Administrative Branch' which is composed of the bureaucracy led by people appointed by the President. Is this the case? Please let me know. It was also mentioned as part of the latest 'constitutional crisis.'

movie review { Sicko

'Sicko' by Michael Moore.

One sentence review: America, what the fuck is wrong with us?


Seriously, why don't we have Universal Health Care, free college education and overall less of a 'me' and more of a 'we' mentality?

tagged { 8 Things About me...

Evil Bobby has in his evilness tagged me to reveal 8 random things about myself.

THE RULES

1. All right, here are the rules.
2. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
3. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
4. People who are tagged write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
5. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok here they are:

1. I'm a coffee nut.


2. I have dreams of writing and being a (good) writer, or if failing that a bassist.


3. I survived cancer.


4. I've seen way too many things on the internet...too many disturbing things...


5. I can speak Deutsch, though I am very, very rusty.


6. I make a wicked awesome baklava.


7. I've known Nerdwife for almost half my life (14 years).


8. I have to put my pen caps on a certain way.

Ok now the tagage...EB already took KnightofNothing...so Peekachoo I choose you!...uh...I mean...JGW, Celesathene, Zophorian, Avindair, GeekGoddess, Anonymous Cog (hoping to rekindle that blog spirit), Jeffrey, romunov...I CHOOSE YOU!

oddities { Bottled Water

Saw an interesting article on BoingBoing that redirected me to a Fast Company article about bottled water. Now, I drank bottle water, but usually the fizzy kind, and I don't drink it all the time. Most of the water I drink is from the tap, filtered through a Brita filter, because honestly, Rochester city tap water both tastes and smells funny unless its been filtered (this is another story about Rochester and its bad water, poor air quality, for such a small city). But I was raised on the tap. I used to drink water from fountains at the park. I do think we as a country need to re-think bottled water. I've felt for sometime a lot of the bottled water hype is a scam. As a friend once put it in regards to Dasani; 'You mean they want me to pay $1 [per bottle] for the water they won't put in Coke? Screw that!' Sadly I think what bottled water is all about greed. Which makes it a perfect icon for American opulence. I remember going to Lilith-Faire a few years back. It was August, hot as hell, the kind of day that can sun-stroke you and heat exhaust you, but they were checking everyone's bags at the entrance for cameras, guns, weapons, and containers. That was the first time I recall having my backpack searched for bottles and containers for liquids. They never gave a reason why, but when we got inside I could see why. Bottled water, 20oz bottles, were being sold for $3/bottle. We were thirsty and the group we were with had a child. So what we did (and we were not the only ones) bought two bottles, drank them, and then refilled them in the bathroom sinks. Many people complained and the medical station was full with people with heat exhaustion.

Give the article a read.

politics { Libby's sentence commuted

This morning when I read in the NY Times that Bush had commuted Libby's 30 month sentence I was instantly very angry. I had flash backs of Paris Hilton getting out after 3 days. The exceptions here of course Libby has not served any time. But during the bus ride in my thoughts cooled on the subject. After all, Libby is just a fall-guy, a distraction from the real person who leaked information and who in my opinion deserves more jail time than Libby, for a variety of reasons, Dick Cheney.

No one in this country is responsible for anything anymore and the mechanisms to enforce checks and balances and to punish infractions is corrupt. Why is Congress still sitting on its hands? Don't answer that, its almost an election year.

work { Resume

I've been updating my resume for sometime now. Not necessarily meaning I'm thinking of leaving my current employment, its just a habit I picked up from my old job. I update it or at least review it every six months whether it needs it or not.

But today I received an email from my new boss (who is in FL) asking to see a copy of my resume. Its odd only in that the culture of where I work, requests like this usually are never made. There are some on the team whom I'm willing to bet have not updated their resume in 30 years.

Major re-org at work. Not necessarily bad, but we will see what the future holds. The cynics, paranoids, tinfoil hats and doom-n-gloom crowd are already saying the end of the world is nigh. I don't think so. I've seen a lot of shake ups, hell my old job at the end was doing them as much as people change underwear. I'm not feeling/reading a malicious vibe in this, I think it may be genuine that the new boss just wants to get a feel for us. But new bosses are interesting, they're blanks. You don't know their seriousness, their humor. I think some at work will be burned by this and some will probably do CLMs (Career Limiting Moves) because they haven't realized the organization is maturing and with maturity comes harsh realities. You either adapt with them or your continued employment becomes optional.

casual_friday, part 2 { Because I feel like it...

'Akuma to tenshi no kiss' from the Bubblegum Crisis series (also Hurricane Live! 2034)




(Bubblegrum Crisis (both 2033/34 and 2040), with Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Patlabor, is one of my favorite anime series.)

art { Monsters by Mail

My zombie is on the way!

I ordered an original work of art from Monsters by Mail. When I saw this, I knew I had to have one for the home office.

He's awesome. He's entitled 'Zombie Shawn'.

Its eerie...like looking in a mirror after drinking heavy the night before...

casual_friday { 'Pray For Daylight'

(made by Stone Soup Films)

(note this is similar, but not the same as the version of the film I watched last night)

Last night I had the honor of being invited to the big screen premiere of 'Pray For Daylight' a work of love made by my long time friend and old co-worker Avindair of Northern Misfit.



(sorry my cell phone camera sucks Avindair)

I remember when Avindair started making movies. I was immensely happy for him (and his wife, it was a family and friends affair) and supportive. He inspires me to perhaps someday make my own movie (which like writing a novel, is a secret ambition of mine). One of my favorite movies is 'The Thing That Happened'.



An absurdist black and white comedy, in french, spoofing the pretentious art hose movie. 'Pray For Daylight' started out as a 26 minute short. This was the movie I thought I was going to see last night, but Avindair and his cast and crew had redone the film into a feature length (72 minute) film. So when Nerdwife and I (and Allthingsspring) were invited to the new version, on the big screen at my favorite theater in the world, of course we were going to come, despite living over an hour away.



5 word review: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

Nerdwife and I found the movie to be great, and campy, and funny, and serious. All things it was meant to be. I thought the story was interesting and the cast, despite being amateurs (as in they don't do this for a living), breathed life into their characters and their dialog. It looked great on the big screen. As an aficionado of the genre (vampires, horror, B movies, etc.) I give this movie an A+ and thank Avindair and GeekGoddess for inviting us and making this film.

Good work guys!

It was a beautiful night with a full moon.



A perfect night for a vampire movie.

machinima { Guards

Some of the best WoW machinima I've seen yet.

Linking {Thought blogs

Have recently discovered the following, presented for your inspection:

http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/
an interesting discourse in defense of the arts, and other things

http://eustonmanifesto.org/
a political manifesto created by Norman Geras (see first link) and others

Observations {Thinking too hard

On our recent excursion to parts south, we drove through Carthage (Missouri), named for the old-world site which was subject to the Punic wars and a subsequent involuntary amnesia- most primary historical documents were lost. Carthage, MO was itself been the site of two bloody Civil War conflicts, and is now the proud home of the Precious Moments Museum. I think accidental postmodernism is the saddest, and truest, kind.

1st Time Blogger

This is my first time blogging. I didn't want Geistx dropping me from the blog again for being quiet and anyhow this might be a good way to vent. So you might be hearing more from me . Later.

investigative_reporting { Undercover at Rochesterfest

Every June the city of Rochester is afflicted by a whirlwind of food, music, 'fun', and sweets. Its called Rochesterfest. I went two years ago and was not impressed, but this year Nerdwife had heard rumor that there was a vegetarian stand and asked if I would take her. So we went. I had the beautiful leg of turkey pictured here.



Nerdwife had an excellent vegan burrito, which I had a picture of, but due the clunkiness of my cell phone's save menu, I lost.

We finished the foray with a chocolate malt from the Olmsted County dairy association.

warcraft { personal gripe

[rant]
LESS PALADIN CRAP IN DROPS!
[/rant]

Ah I feel better and can move on.

work { I think I've become stupider

I haven't been able to stand being in the office for the last few weeks. They have been recarpeting the floor and something either in the carpet, the solvents or the glue makes me feel weak, short of breath and gives me massive headaches. That can't be good.

casual_friday { 'I feel like a child in a cold cold war'

Frente, 'Labour of Love'



(I miss early-mid 90s music)

solstice { Its the first day of summer...

Today is the Summer Solstice. Nature celebrated by dumping on us copious amounts of rain in the form of a violent thunderstorm that waxed and waned all night. We even had hail, thankfully small, around 2am. Nerdwife and I went to see Ocean's 13 (it was an ok movie). When we left the theater, it was 9:30pm, just after dusk but you could see a dark delimiter in the sky, half of it was dark as pitch with what appeared to be balls of lightning rolling through it. The other half had a soft, fuzzy blue glow. It was spectacular. The rain started in force after midnight. Lots of thunder, lots of lightning, but little wind and lots of rain. So much that our gutters could not keep up, and once again this year we had the canals of Rochester in the street. I enjoy watching storms and the raw power of them. It sounds like the counties west and north of us were hit a lot harder and the Cities had a pretty violent show too.

I'm glad I cut the grass before we went to the movie.

eat_club { Mushroom Gnocchi

I cooked mushroom gnocchi for the first time last night. This is a dish Nerdwife can make in her sleep. I had a bit of guidance from her, but here is the recipe:

Items you will need:
1large saucepans
1 pot large enough to boil 2 packages of gnocchi in
1 knife
1 strainer
2 packages of potato Gnocchi
1 bottle of white wine
a little rosemary
1 small onion (red)
1 small head of fresh garlic (but dried will work too)
1 cup of vegetable broth
some pepper
some salt
some olive oil
1 bunch of large spinach (or chard, any tough green that can been cooked)
copious numbers of crimini (baby portabella) mushrooms, I used ~25, sliced

What you do:

Put some oil into a large saucepan with some salt and pepper, dice up the onion and garlic and add as well as all the mushrooms. Do not go overboard with the oil, as the mushrooms will absorb it rather readily. Cook this for some time, until the mushrooms are hot and soft, maybe even slightly rubbery, but not crisp. While the mushrooms are cooking, boil water with a little sea salt (or regular salt) and add the gnocchi. Boil until the gnocchi float to the top. When this is ready remove the gnocchi from the water.

Once the mushrooms have achieved the desired tenderness (and some stuff should also have blackened to the bottom of the pan), quickly dump in 1 glass of white wine and the cup of vegetable broth and stir. This should deglazed the goodness off the bottom of the pan and into the liquid. Boil this mixture on high heat until about 50% of the liquid has evaporated off. At this point add the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts (only a few minutes). Once the spinach has wilted, add the gnocchi in and stir and mix until hot. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese grated over the top and the rest of the bottle of wine. Enjoy!

Other ingredients recommended to mix things up:

red pepper for a kick
red wine instead of white wine
broccoli or carrots instead of spinach
bok choy, ginger, orange and soy sauce

You can basically experiment the hell out of this recipe. Note though this is a vegetarian recipe (we use vegan vegetable broth) so if you decide to meat it up, you will need to watch the olive oil.

blog { Young Stranger

Another friend and member of the nerdpod has a blog. Check out Young Stranger.

casual_friday { 'Code Monkey'

'Code Monkey' - music by Jonathan Coulton, movie by Mike Spiff Booth

differences { US vs Europe...bang vs boobies

Today while ingesting my morning bit of OmniNerd where they were discussing Vermont's rumblings about becoming the American version of Quebec (as in a state that wants to cede from the Union). I noticed a sidebar discussion titled 'The Trans-Atlantic Divide Over Gun-n-Boobs', and well I had to click it.

I thought the poster made a valid point. America is obsessed with repressing sex, yet we openly embrace violence, alpha-male mentality, and the assorted 'macho' mannerisms. I know a lot of this must stem from the earliest foundation (and European colonization) was put together by a bunch of Puritans who though Europe was too decadent and the love appendage(s) are for procreation, not recreation.

Make love not war.

news { the Italian Ninja Menace

Brilliant.

Though the immediate danger has subsided, Interpol is worried this ninja may be part of a larger ninja conspiracy. Experts fear ninjas have infiltrated numerous aspects of society and are waiting for the proper time to unleash their reign of terror. When asked about their goals or motivations, Interpol ninja expert Robert Hamburger said "the purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people." In the U.S., Congressional Democrats remain skeptical, and have asked that America open a dialogue with samurai and pirates to help resolve the impending ninja crisis.

(note: I read the 'Real Guide to Ultimate Power' by Robert Hamburger, I recommend it if you want to learn how to 'flip out and kill people'. I think I did a review of it...well ok not a review, I basically say the same thing then I say now...I'm becoming derivative...)

politics { 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques'

Video speaks for itself:




'No on expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

warcraft { a day with my flying mount

On of the main things I looked forward to when turning level 70...the flying mount.


Krieghund and I on our first flight.


I flew mine all around, seeing new things, and some old things, from a new angle.


The attention to detail is well done. In Nagrand where chunks of the earth float, some have skeletons.


I soared with dragons.


In Netherstorm, the zone is almost destroyed. The remains of a sea and a port float in the Twisting Nether.


Nearby a spaceships hovers ominously.


If you search hard enough in Nagrand in the mountains, you can find the Warcraft day care.


I decided to finish my tour with my cat watching the sunset in Nagrand. Perhaps one of my favorite zones, certainly one of the more beautiful.


I have many more and I will share them over time.

lunch_break { musings about things, part ???

While I sit eating lunch, I have my office free to myself, something rare since I share an office. As I sat munching I decided to take the opportunity to catch up on some blogging. These will be kinda of random and will cover a wide range of things.


Dieting
Because of the laws of conservation of energy and matter. You are what you eat. Literally. At our most base we are the things of stars, that is cosmic dust, hydrogen, arranged in interesting ways to form who we are. Eating is the most intimate thing we can do with an organism. Be it flora or fauna. We take bits of it and incorporate it into ourselves. The fat is used to make our fat stores, or broken down to provide chemical energy to allow us to exist. But the atoms that made up that food, make up us. From our mother's milk to the ham and mayo wrap I am eating. This concept is something I've pondered for years. This is also why I try to buy food that is organic, or at least if not organic, I know where it came from and how it was made. This is especially the case while I eat this ham and mayo wrap that comes from Sodex'Ho. I don't know where the pieces that make it up come from, nor do I know who made it. I do know, if the label can be trusted that it is 776calories and 46.5g of fat. I assume the bulk of this fat comes from the good things in it, the cheese, the mayo, and the fatty ham. I'm eating this and water, though I make make some green tea. I'm trying really hard (which is very hard for me) to have a diet of around 1500-1700calories (~25% of normal diet, basing off a 2000calorie daily diet) and I'm exercising more, granted not as much as I did last year. So with breakfast, which I am ashamed to say was a caffeinated, skimm mocha, I'm probably at if not close to my 1500cal limit. I don't plan on doing those hardcore diets where you do less than healthy things like cut out carbs, but rather just be more aware of what I eat and reduce the amount. This will be hard for me on Nerd Night where we prepare feasts of good things for us such as mountains of fruit, meat, cheese, gummis, etc. But I will try.

Politics/Life/Etc.
A lot of things have been happening in the weeks I have been silent on the topic. Some good, most bad. Here's a roundup of a few things:

Immigration - stalled, not defeated. Depending upon where you live and what news sources you consume, this issue has different meanings for you. I myself lean towards the accepting those who are here, making them legal (and charging them taxes, giving them benefits, education, etc.) because a rising tide lifts all boats. Then provide a reasonable guest-worker program. Anything to abolish this neo-feudal indentured servitude that we have now, where employers exploit workers for cheap, workers who work in dangerous conditions (like meat packing) and whose children go to school, but often can't go into higher education. From a global perspective education is fundamental to our continued existence. Also we need to challenge this fallacy that undocumented workers are doing jobs Americans won't do, that's pure BS. They are doing jobs that American companies won't pay a livable wage to do, and the companies are being rewarded, not the workers.

Iraq - still a shitty mess.

World Bank - I can't believe Wolfiwitz got off with a severance package and the ability to say he did nothing wrong. WTF?

Paris Hilton - scratch that, she's already received more attention that she deserves. But this fiasco has illustrated the disconnect in our justice system. We've come a long way, but this shows we have a long ways yet to go.

Well this about ends the time I have to blog, I need to finish eating and get to a team meeting.

wow { So it happened...

DING! 70!!!

Tonight when I logged in, I was 242k/779k experience from level 70 (end game in World of Warcraft). I thought it would take me all weekend at least. My friends on line though felt it could be done and we're encouraging and helpful. At 02:22 6/09/2007, I dinged level 70. (Wow, I just realized what day it is too, 6/9/2002 was the day I went into the hospital with an unknown illness that was diagnosed on 6/11/2002 as AML, but I digress). Much awaits me now as Pernox in the game. Flying mounts, end game instances, attunement quests, helping out lower level guild members, fun.

Many thanks go to:

Nerdwife - for understanding and putting up with my hobby.
Krieghund - my chum and questing buddy. The bulk of tonight was because of him. He helped me quest from 242k XP to 743k.
Mcshammikins and Jm - the two guildmates who were there when it happened and helped quest with me the final quest to gain that last step. It was the 'Wanted: Annihilator Servo!' quest from the B.O.O.M. Mechanic in Area 52, Netherstorm.
Beefyweefy - another guildmate and grouping companion who was there for parts of it.



Ah now to bed.

casual_friday { because I'm in that kind of mood

Loreena McKennit, 'Mummer's Dance'

wow { lvl 69...one more to go

I'm there, 1 level away from 'end game'. I'm 1/3 of the way to 70 (thanks to a successful run of the Mana-Tombs). I'm looking forward to life at 70.

Flying Mount (aka Windrider): Tawny Windrider (its a 'wyvern', but wyverns in Warcraft are not dragon-like, they are more like flying kitties with scorpion tails, more like manticores in my opinion)
Epic Flying Mount (aka Swift Windrider): Purple Swift Windrider (they basically look like the regular windrider with nice looking barding added); I also plan to quest for the Netherdrake. But that will require about a months worth of daily quests.

End Game Instance and phat loot. I have two daggers I have my eye on: The Ashtongue Blade, and Claw of the Netherwing, bot quest rewards in Shadowmoon Valley. This is until I can get the epic blade from the Scryers.

Epic gear. I've never had any gear better than blue (rare) level. My guild doesn't run instance except Karazahn, so I've never had any purple gear. I can attain reputation with factions, mainly the Scryer, that have purple gear I would like.

work { sense in you much fear

New interns start this week at work. They're so cute when they're young. Then somewhere along the line they grow up into bitter cynics.

Time to get the soul-sucking machine ready.

event { Buffy sing-a-long

On Saturday, June 2nd, at midnight the members of the nerdpod went to the 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer' sing-a-long at the Riverview Theater (of all the theaters in all the world I've been to, this is my favorite). It was at midnight, so we went over after a particularly brutal D&D session (1/2 of our party was killed). We were thinking it was going to be maybe 40-60 people. The Riverview can hold around 700 people...and it was almost full. The energy in the room was amazing. The Buffy sing-a-long was put together by a group that does this weekly in New York, but this summer they are touring. Think 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' except much more fun. Props were handed out, and audience participation was required...and FUN! I sang along, the rest of the nerds sang along. It was about a 2 hour event, so I rolled into home back in Rochester around 4am, still jazzed.



It was an amazing collection of people from all walks of life, gender, race, income, age...singing together, in perfect nerd.

investigative reporting { origins of the WoW female Night Elf dance

For those who play WoW did you ever wonder where those dances came from? Well in some cases its easy, MC Hammer's dance is ubiquitous, and it is the male orc's. The male undead dance is a generic rock out. The female Blood Elf is Brittney Spears' 'Toxic' dance. But has anyone wondered where the female Night Elf's dance originated? Well I had that question and we at Team CubeZoo rarely shirk from a challenge, especially ones regarding useless pop culture trivia. I had to 'suffer' through many YouTube videos in french to find the right one from the singer Alizee that would adequately demonstrate the moves. Here it, Alizee 'j'en ai manne', note the actually moves occur towards the end of the video, so you will have to 'suffer' through it.

musings { the labels I've had

Sitting here, downloading a myriad of music from iTunes to scratch my audiophile itch (after having downloading a wide selection of 'Wizard Rock') to acquire more music I miss from the 80s I sat pondering the many names I've been called over the course of my life. Why did I do this? I have no clue.

In no order:

asshole
dick
stupid
nerd
smart
smarty pants
know it all
hick
cliff claven
four eyes
cosmopolitan
refined
crude
stinky
dweeb
geek
dork
dumbass
smartass
nice guy
'friend' (as in I only want to be friends)
son
grandson
lover
husband
best friend
good friend
who?
lead (as in team lead)
co-worker
colleague
obstacle
adjudicator
problem solver
trouble maker
brother
educated
well read (what?)
ignorant
stubborn
short sighted
long sighted
fat
obese
survivor
great-grandson
Senior Systems Administrator/Engineer/Architect
Help Desk Operator
Technical Analyst
Senior Systems Engineer - Engineer (OS)
Senior Systems Programmer
student
graduate
drop out
hey
dude
man
huggy bear
wannabe
has been
Salutatorian
remedial
special ed student
special K
cancer patient
freak
scary
uber-nerd
liberal
lefty
communist
green
hopeless
socialist
marxist
pagan
atheist
agnostic
catholic
scientist
scientician


And many many many many more. I don't know really where I was going with this, I'm sure I will be called more as my life goes on. If anyone is reading, share what you've been called. Every label above has a story, but most of those stories will only be told over a beverage.

casual_friday { 'got a letter from the government the other day...'

'opened it, read it, it said they were suckers...'

Tricky, 'Blacksteel'



(its a cover of a Public Enemy song, and it kicks ass!)

musings { fiddling while Rome burns

I'm sitting finally again at my office away from my office sipping coffee (decaf) and trying to focus my thoughts and day to come, today is Thursday. Thursday is meeting day, 4 hours of meetings.

I sit sipping my extremely hot coffee and in the background CNN is on (here it is usually CNN, thankfully never Fox News). So far the headlines have been different from the norm. One piece that took 10 minutes, which is an eternity on headline news, is about a woman who, according to the headline (the sound is off) 'Woman Had an Abortion Due to Extreme Morning Sickness'. I almost wish the sound had been on because by headline alone (besides the bad grammar) something seemed fishy. I didn't see and couldn't hear if a 'pro-life' rebuttal was there. I strain my mind to decide if that is news worthy or not. The next piece was about a miniature quarter-horse, so it must a slow news day in the world. It reminds me of a 'King of the Hill' I've recently seen where Gribble's wife, who was a news anchor was told by her boss 'We're moving you to features, nobody cares about the news anymore. All they care about is features and interest stories.' CNN used to have news, but it is also just a infotainment station now geared to delivering you the very best in commercials. The Fourth Estate is dead.

I've been reading a piece on why Bush hasn't been impeached yet over at Salon.com. It saddens me further. This guy should have never been elected (or appointed), should never have been re-elected, and sure as hell should have been brought up on binding, impeachment charges. But we seem to have lost our will. Like the whole country is on prozac or whatever the current, trendy happy pill is today.

Speaking of soul sucking, time to check work email.

musings { fiddling while Rome burns

I'm sitting finally again at my office away from my office sipping coffee (decaf) and trying to focus my thoughts and day to come, today is Thursday. Thursday is meeting day, 4 hours of meetings.

I sit sipping my extremely hot coffee and in the background CNN is on (here it is usually CNN, thankfully never Fox News). So far the headlines have been different from the norm. One piece that took 10 minutes, which is an eternity on headline news, is about a woman who, according to the headline (the sound is off) 'Woman Had an Abortion Due to Extreme Morning Sickness'. I almost wish the sound had been on because by headline alone (besides the bad grammar) something seemed fishy. I didn't see and couldn't hear if a 'pro-life' rebuttal was there. I strain my mind to decide if that is news worthy or not. The next piece was about a miniature quarter-horse, so it must a slow news day in the world. It reminds me of a 'King of the Hill' I've recently seen where Gribble's wife, who was a news anchor was told by her boss 'We're moving you to features, nobody cares about the news anymore. All they care about is features and interest stories.' CNN used to have news, but it is also just a infotainment station now geared to delivering you the very best in commercials. The Fifth Estate is dead.

I've been reading a piece on why Bush hasn't been impeached yet over at Salon.com. It saddens me further. This guy should have never been elected (or appointed), should never have been re-elected, and sure as hell should have been brought up on binding, impeachment charges. But we seem to have lost our will. Like the whole country is on prozac or whatever the current, trendy happy pill is today.

review { movie - Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At Wits End

Others have more in depth reviews such as:

Dan Carlson

Or my favorite review as always, the Ninja, who just replayed this
pirates 2 trailer.

Ask A Ninja

Now to be fair, I found Pirates 3: At Wits End, quite a bit
more rewarding than P2: Suck, but did find it a little long at 168 minutes. I
thought Depp once again pulled the plane out of a tailspin to make a
crash landing, something he didn't do with Pirates 2: Man This Sucks.
Once again every plot line has a plot line, but this time also an
ending, something like sixty endings. Seriously more endings than Lord
of the Rings but without the closure. The last scene again was a
plot line. I would also like to thank Lucas for giving us the
genre-busting 20 minute long sword fight scenes which appeared again
in P2 and P3. Except unlike Anakin vs Obi, these were yawnfests.

Excellent showings from Bill Nighy, Stellan Skarsgard, Johnny Depp,
the monkey, the parrot, Geoffrey Rush.

Once again poor showings from Orlando 'forever to be known as Legolas'
Bloom, and Keira 'She's a MAN! Baby!' Knightly.

musings { So I've been silent a while

I've been out of touch with the world, partly by choice, partly but circumstance. Avoiding the news, reading my fiction books, catching up with friends, spending time with nerdwife, playing World of Warcraft.

I've started easing myself back into the news, by reading the New York Times. But I had the feeling, at least for the last week that there is no news. Its the same issues, the same woes, the same failed policies as the day before. We're stuck in a suck spiral, globally. We need something, preferably positive, to break out of this and end the cycle. I'm not sure what that solution is, or how to do it. As I've said many times before if I did, I wouldn't be here saying we need something, I'd be out trying to do something. Everyday for the last two weeks the front page of the New York Times, save for when the Queen was here going to the Derby, consisted of pretty much two topics:

1) Israel and Palestine are fighting (again, for the millionth reiteration).
2) More dead in Iraq, officials say we're making progress, but it sure still looks like a shit storm.

There is some business shit as well, capitalism is screwing you here, big businesses caught cheating there, private equity firms are buying up public firms, thus making them private. Trade imbalance, weak dollar, etc. (whatever happened to us raising a stink about China's human rights violations? Oh that's right, that was before we started abducting people, torturing them and spying on our own, we can cast stones while in a glass house I guess).

Pretty much its the same shit, different day. I guess that can be true of all of history. I'm not sure of what I would like to see on the front page of the news, but I'm tired of the Middle East. Lets figure something out and make some progress so that before I die I can read a newspaper without some god awful event being on the front page. Utopian vision I know, highly improbably, but not impossible.


On a side note, last night while questing in the Outlands, in the orc village of Garadar, in the zone of Nagrand I witnessed something amazing. Thrall, the warchief of the orcs returned to his ancestral home, and while there retold a tale of the breaking of the blood curse on the orcs, a seminal event in the history of the lore of Warcraft, in which Grom Hellscream defeated Mannoroth the Pit Lord, who long ago corrupted the orcs for his own purposes. The event was a well done cinematic in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and they replayed it in game in WoW:



I keep finding gems in this game.

His arrival was a major event, he traveled with an honor guard of many Wolf Riders.