"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." -- U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section III

It's that time again...

The general rules of this game are no different from any other drinking game. A drink is either a shot or a good gulp from a beer (or cider). Different events call for different numbers of drinks and all you do is watch the speech and play along. If all goes well, you'll be unconscious by the time they show the other party's response.

Remember to pass out on your side so you don't choke on your vomit.

The State of the Union Address Drinking Game 2007

I have no doubt that the media will try to politically assasinate this man, just like they did Howard Dean. I've already heard "Obama-nation" several times on major news shows. Even in jest, some idjits take that shit to heart and they know it. I think it is all just fear mongering to discredit an unknown that is a bit too charasmatic. As a democrat, I wouldn't be suprised if Hilary is behind it.
As for conspiracy theories, well, Hilary is THE one that attended the last Bilderberg conference. The media will probably back her as the democratic contender.

Moonie papers, madrassas, Clinton, and Obama

For the first time, scientists have experimentally demonstrated that sound pulses can travel at velocities faster than the speed of light, c. William Robertson’s team from Middle Tennessee State University also showed that the group velocity of sound waves can become infinite, and even negative.

Scientists observe sound traveling faster than the speed of light

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.

It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs.

Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and his colleagues tested DCA on human cells cultured outside the body and found that it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but not healthy cells. Tumours in rats deliberately infected with human cancer also shrank drastically when they were fed DCA-laced water for several weeks.

That does sound too good to be true.

Cheap, safe drug kills most cancers - health - 17 January 2007 - New Scientist

Our good friends recently made a trip to Vegas and had 2 encounters with bedbugs in 2 different hotels.

Now I'd read about it, a bedbug epidemic - but you know how it is, until it happens to you or someone you are close to, it doesn't really, sink in? Yeah.

The first hotel was POSH - and it wasn't them, but a co-presenter at a conference. It happened in an expensive suite in a casino.

Then, on their way home, they stopped at a normal hotel - not the nicest but certainly not a dive - and the first thing they did was CHECK the bed when they went in the room - because they had got paranoid after that happened in Vegas.

Sure enough, there were bedbugs between the mattress and boxsprings there!

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm

Tammy is saying that if they go anywhere else, they are camping. She's been traumatized I think.

Anyway, she was telling me you could see them, but I didn't know what quite what they look like, so I was looking it up. This link has pictures that seem to be what she was describing.

Watch where you sleep!

Warning - Watch out for Bedbugs

A 40-year-old substitute teacher faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of exposing children to pornography on a computer at the Connecticut middle school where she taught.

Well, this is right fucked. Even if she is guilty 40 years is nonsentical.

Damn right.

Boing Boing: Teacher faces 40 years for porn in classroom, blames adware

In an effort to protect users from fraud and phishing schemes, eBay subsidiary PayPal is preparing to offer secure key fobs. The devices, which display a six-digit code that changes every 30 seconds, will be made available free to all PayPal business users, and will cost $5 for all personal PayPal account users. Those who opt in on the key fob will have to enter the six-digit code when logging in to PayPal.

I don't see how this is going to be that effective against advanced phishing techniques......but it should at least cut down on abuse some.

PayPal to combat phishing with key fobs

U.S. senators are trying to place federal control over virtually all grassroots lobbying activity. This means that all organizations and groups that encourage people to call their congressmen will be subject to registration and reporting to Congress.

Section 220 of Senate Bill 1 (S. 1), the "Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007," redefines lobbying to include "paid efforts to stimulate grassroots lobbying." Organizations that engage in grassroots lobbying will have to comply with all federal lobbying disclosure laws, including registration with Congress and the filing of quarterly reports to Congress. Failure to comply would result in a fine of up to $100,000.

Currently, organizations do not need to report grassroots lobbying, which is when they contact their membership and the public or engage in some action that encourages people to call their federally elected officials. However, if Section 220 is included in S. 1, federal lobbying laws would apply to all groups that spend money to reach more than 500 people with a message urging them to contact their elected officials. For example, if a church or homeschool support group has a paid employee who emails more than 500 people asking them to call Congress about some issue, or puts an article on the Internet that is likely to reach more than 500 people, the church or homeschool support group would be subject to federal lobbying laws.

Senate Bill 1 is a bipartisan bill and contains much-needed congressional reforms. Section 220, however, is not needed. It is unacceptable for Congress to attempt to require groups that encourage grassroots lobbying to be subject to registration and reporting to Congress.

Senator Robert Bennett has introduced an amendment cosponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell to strike section 220 from S. 1. The amendment could come up for a vote on the floor of the Senate as early as next Tuesday.

If you do not want this type legislation, then consider calling your U.S. senators and urge them to support the Bennett amendment (amendment 20) to S. 1.

Grassroots lobbying in danger in the senate

This whole blog is quite interesting. Thanks.

Sic Semper Tyrannis 2007: Sale on Negroponte Move

Just. Wow.

It hits the fan!