“Ohh,” he groaned. “Growing old. And helpless.”

I am generally not one of those people that gets all weepy about celebrities dying. But this one was like a kick in the gut.

Fear, loathing, guns: at home with King Gonzo

The U.S. military is secretly using banned napalm gas and other outlawed weapons against civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, eyewitnesses reported.

I'm waiting to see this other places before I start really getting upset. But if it's proven true, oh my God will I be upset.

There is no excuse, *none*, for burning people alive. Not even the "war on terror." At least shooting people puts them out of their misery. Burning people alive is inhuman in a way I can't even begin to understand.

On Saturday, Labor MPs have demanded that British Prime Minister confront the Commons over the use of the deadly gas in Fallujah.

Even considering the accusatory culture of the British House of Commons, this makes me even more suspicious that there is evidence to back up these reports.

I don't know if I want to cry or scream.

U.S. uses napalm gas in Fallujah – Witnesses

Twenty years ago, on May 16, 1984, most of the world believed that we had lost a comedic legend forever. This has turned out to be what will inevitably be known as the greatest comic prank ever conceived. Andy Kaufman, by all accounts, is alive and well at age 55 and is now living in New York City on the upper west side. To his loyal supporters and fans, Andy says "sorry about faking my death," in a recent interview with ABC News at his apartment. In order to reach legendary comic status and seal his place in the history of performance art, he said it was "necessary to go away for twenty years."

This isn't a real article, just a press release... and it smells like a stunt. But wow, if it was true...

Andy Kaufman Returns After 20 Years

"Don't open e-mail attachments from people you don't know, you'll get a virus."
"I opened a weird attachment and now I have a virus!"
"Didn't I tell you not to?"
"You're blaming the victim!"

---

"Don't touch the hot stove, you'll burn yourself"
"I touched the stove and burned myself!"
"Didn't I tell you not to?"
"You're blaming the victim!"

Stop Being A Victim

] "Tormenting Iraqis, in her mind, would be no different
] from shooting a turkey. Every season here you're hunting
] something. Over there, they're hunting Iraqis."

A portrait of West Virginia...

The Daily Telegraph | Good ol' girl who enjoyed cruelty

] [ Yeah, that's quite a lot of fortitude. I'm sure i would
] have given up long before living in the basement. I had no
] idea NYU was that expensive. I'm pretty sure frickin'
] Vanderbilt was just barely more than that including housing.
] Edumacation costs a damn lot. -k]

The article quotes NYU's tuition as $31,000/year.
According to NYU's website, Tuition is $28,496/year, and housing is another ~$12k.

According to Vanderbilt's website, 2004/2005 tuition is $29,240. Housing is another ~6k.

I'm shocked to see how much it has gone up even since I graduated, but I'm also surprised that NYU is more expensive in total than Vandy, though a lot of that is cost-of-living.

RE: NYU student sleeps for months in library basement

] The number of unemployed workers (currently 8.2 million)
] and the national unemployment rate of 5.6% in February
] 2004 do not adequately convey the true labor slack in the
] economy for several reasons. One major understatement is
] that the unemployment rate does not reflect the uniquely
] large 1.2% decline in labor force participation that has
] occurred since the current recession began in early 2001.
] This decline represents a stark contrast to the past
] three business cycles, when labor force participation
] actually grew by an average of 0.4% of the working-age
] population over similar lengths of time. Consequently,
] there is what can be called a "missing labor force" of
] 2,808,000 workers who might otherwise be in the actual
] labor force but have either dropped out entirely or
] failed to enter the labor market because of the lack of
] jobs. If the unemployment rate in February 2004 took into
] account this missing labor force, the unemployment rate
] would have been 7.4%, or 1.8% greater than the official
] rate of 5.6% (see chart below).

I, thankfully, have a very specialized, and high-demand skill set, that is *not* dependent on the technology sector. But I've got a lot of very underemployed friends, and know a lot of people languishing in shitty jobs because there's nowhere to jump ship to. Ugh. This recession and "jobless recovery" blows.

The unemployment statistics the government doesn't want you to see...

QUOTES FROM EITHER
PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES
GEORGE W. BUSH
OR SENATOR/CHANCELLOR/
EMPEROR PALPATINE FROM
THE STAR WARS MOVIES

George W Bush or Emperor Palpatine?

The movement of American factory jobs and white-collar work to other countries is part of a positive transformation that will enrich the U.S. economy over time, even if it causes short-term pain and dislocation, the Bush administration said yesterday.

So all that's left in the US is service industry? Skilled work needs to stay in America. Technology and information drive innovation, and a country of salespeople just isn't going to keep up.

/me rolls eyes.

Bush report: Sending jobs overseas helps U.S.

] I was 23-24 years old when I wrote these diaries. I
] certainly wasn't planning on publishing them when I wrote
] them; so reading them now either makes me laugh, cry or
] cringe. I will not make any claims to being a gifted
] writer or diarist, but the aim here is to give the reader
] some sense of what it was like to tour across the USA in
] a van with a punk rock band in the mid to late 1980's.
] Some say this was the heyday of independent rock music
] and the college radio scene. I would bet we worked harder
] and played many more shows than many of today's
] 'alternative' rock bands will play in their short-lived
] careers.

Dean Clean has put up a Moveable Type blog, and is posting commented entries from his journal covering the Milkmen's first tour. Other members of the band are also adding comments. You can follow the band on their tour, 18 years lagged.

Also, they have a number of music videos available for download from their main website.

The Dead Milkmen are required listening. Don't trust anyone who says they do not like The Dead Milkmen.

The Dead Milkmen: 18 years ago