] ...a new site bringing you a collection of categorised blogs
] from around the world.

These people linked me and then asked me to link them back, so I am doing so. They are a blog directory. If you search for MemeStreams on this site and then click through it you'll increase my ranking. :)

BLOGWISE is...

] Walters, the U.S. drug czar, says he has talked with his
] Canadian counterparts about the pitfalls of pot
] legalization and harboring of American drug fugitives.
] "If Canada wants to become the locus for that kind of
] activity," he says, "they're likely to pay a heavy
] price."

This is a really good article. I would not be suprised if Canada legalized pot. If they did, then this will segway with current conservative anger about the open border (thank you Bill "no spin (yeah, right)" O'Reilly). The result will be a very strange border situation, with major hassles involved in crossing one direction, but little trouble crossing the other direction... If this impacts the rate of trade, or if there are trade restrictions, then both sides will feel this in their wallets and their markets. The US may try to screw with the trade situation betting that it will hurt Canada more then the US. Of course, the US will have to contend with domestic pressures, both from the pot brigade, but also from corporate america and wall street...

So basically, this is worth paying attention to because it is certainly possible that there is a situation developing here that could have serious economic and policy implications. If this situation worsens rapidly this could prolong the recession.

The Drug War Refugees

NEW YORK.- The "Guernica" work by Pablo Picasso at the entrance of the Security Council of the United Nations has been covered with a curtain. The reason for covering this work is that this is the place where diplomats make statements to the press and have this work as the background. The Picasso work features the horrors of war. On January 27 a large blue curtain was placed to cover the work.

A diplomat stated that it would not be an appropriate background if the ambassador of the United States at the U.N. John Negroponte, or Powell, talk about war surrounded with women, children and animals shouting with horror and showing the suffering of the bombings.

Guernica Reproduction Covered at UN

] All of those guys were talking about the present, that's
] what science fiction writers really do. I've been struck
] lately rereading Brave New World and 1984 at the extent
] to which both of these visions, which would seem to be
] completely contradictory, have turned out to be true and
] in fact complementary. You have the totalitarian thought
] control and language modification of 1984 going on: I
] mean, consider the phrase "weapons of mass destruction"
] -- completely Orwellian in use. And at the same time you
] have something like the feelies from Brave New World
] which are the soporific media message that puts everyone
] to sleep. Both of those things are happening
] simultaneously. The totalitarian message is being
] transmitted while you're zoned out in front of the
] television watching the feelies, high on soma -- which is
] some combination of Prozac and Budweiser.

JPB in Mother Jones. Lots of stuff covered before here, but a few choice metaphores.

MotherJones.com | John Perry Barlow Interview

] Each of the animals has a word from a poem written on
] their backs and as they wander about the words take a new
] poetic form each time they come to rest.
]
] But the exercise is not just an attempt to create living poems,
] it is also, according to the poet, an exercise in quantum
] mechanics.

This is just weird enough to warrent mentioning. People are STRANGE.

Woolly writing creates new poetry

] Ali G will make his US debut next month on cable channel
] HBO, the home of hit shows including Sex and the City,
] The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.

More potentially good television. Ali G is an english gangster (read drum and bass) who interviews people who have absolutely NO sense of humor....

F B ... aaaiiihhhh!

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Broadcast | Booyakasha! Ali G goes to the States

] Clone High bravely tackles challenging teen issues, such
] as sleep deprivation, catching ADD from toilet seats, the
] evils of litter, and having the guy you like not like you
] back the same way you like him.

This is pretty whacky. Evil government scientists clone famous figures from world history. We find them as high school personality archtypes. Its strange and funny. Good break from predictable TV.

There is a robot that says "bling bling" and a number that lies. Thats really all you need to know.

Clone High

] One of two replicas of the NHL championship trophy built
] by the Danish company Lego was found in good condition in
] Tucson, Ariz., on Thursday after it had been stolen from
] a sports equipment show in Las Vegas earlier this week.

As this story was covered on MemeStreams I thought I would post the followup.

SportingNews.com - NHL : Lego replica of Stanley Cup recovered

] The shuttle is scheduled to be landing at 6:16AM Pacific
] Time in Florida early Saturday Morning, after a reentry
] that will cross just north of the Bay Area of California
] and then continue eastward before sunrise.

People in California might want to stay up late tonight.

[IP] Rare opportunity to see shuttle reentry in western USA

] Through most of the 19th century, the British Navy
] exhibited that kind of thing. But it was quite
] interesting the way they did it. They tended to let other
] countries, mainly France, do the early experiments and
] come out with new kinds of ships. If something looked
] like a good idea, they could come in and quickly overtake
] the innovator. They seemed to do that as a way of
] capitalizing on their advantage and saving resources.

A small but interesting interview with an 81 year old military futurist known as Yoda.

Wired 11.02: The Marshall Plan