The Afpak muddle (part 2): How serious is the threat?

"In America, the danger of drowning in a bathtub is greater than the risk of dying in a terrorist attack. And that would be true even if the United State were to suffer one 9/11-scale attack every ten years. Given these numbers, does it really make sense to double down in Central Asia?"

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The Serve America Act

Last week, the House passed the Serve America Act (SAA), which will triple the number of federally funded "volunteer" positions, create a "Clean Energy Corps" to weatherize homes, and make September 11th a “National Day of Service.”

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• House passes sweeping national service expansion (cnn.com)
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The Human Cost of Foreign Aid

Thought provoking look at the failure of foreign aid from the inside. Throwing money at severe problems my soothe the conscience of those doing the throwing, but what about the people who still have to live with the problem? Additional insights at Reason.com http://www.reason.com/blog/show/132720.html

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Personal Foul: Poor Sportsmanship as Federal Crime

How the federal government is manufacturing high-profile court cases to expand executive power beyond all reasonable bounds and 'win the war on drugs.'

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• The Weed Cortex (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
• In defense of drug week (northbynorthwestern.com)

The Top 10 People Who Almost Destroyed Fun

We take a lot of things for granted. We turned the internet into a free utopia of naked boobs, girl-on-girl pornography, funny drunken retards, and grown men, beating the living juices out of each other for our amusement. But there was a time when these moments of euphoria were in danger of becoming nothing more than a distant memory.

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The Credit Bubble Explained

Please take a moment for this brilliant video:

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
A clear, straightforward look at wtf happened without the political "blamemanship" or Procrustean cant of the Demopublican/Republicrat Party.
Except for the portrayal of the "credit risk" family. I think that was a little elitist. :)

Where I Stand

Image via Wikipedia

"Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth." -- Archimedes

"This is Where I Stand:" --

Seymour Hersh and the Assassins' Guild

Didn't Tom Clancy already cover this in "Clear and Present Danger"?
MinnPost.com
Reason.com

$99 Music Videos

I remember back in the Dark Ages, all the weirdly brilliant video madness I found while hunting up content for local cable. Stuff made on budgets much less than $99. Do it now, you know you want to.

From: http://ping.fm/vDGZL

Viva la evolución!

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin! 200 years young! Check for events in your area: http://ping.fm/1G0LM

Crime Dosen't Pay Dept.

From WhatsTheHarm.net:
"In the midst of allegedly embezzling money from his own clients, this stockbroker received an email from someone claiming to have an inheritance for him. He lost $400,000 to the fraud scheme."

From: http://ping.fm/uLopq

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Bush assailant kick-starts sales for shoemaker - CNN.com

Image via Wikipedia

President Bush boldly sacrifices his personal dignity allowing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to demonstrate his fearlessness in the face of a hostile press. When asked about the incident, President Bush's remarks summed up his entire crisis response philosophy: "(I) didn't have much time to reflect on anything, I was ducking and dodging."

From: http://ping.fm/u5Aqv

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Midnight in the Career Track Switchin' Yard

I need to shake-up my career. I need to re-focus my skill sets and put myself on a track with a future. I need space to work, to think, to frikkin' breathe. This opportunity is not for me. it is geographically and professionally out of my range.
But instead of getting all weepy and bitter I'm going to remind myself that because this offer exists, there may be an offer like it out there for me. So I'm passing this offer on to anyone in the range of this post who can make use of it.
I wish you success.

Moving into the 21st century

Not a personal jetpack or flying car. Not a high-speed monorail or a tube train trip to undersea farms. This is about making music.
http://www.zoybar.net/

Phone manners

More common sense. http://ping.fm/i9QiF

1001 Things to do with the Intertubes

Seth Godin combines common sense marketing with uncommon ethics (the good kind). Seth's Blog: http://ping.fm/XOBE6

Slinging Mud, Throwing Rice
Rant & Reason asks a pleasantly impertinent question: Which Traditional Marriage Do They Want?
http://ping.fm/QWZHS
Also: this is the first post I've made using Ping.fm (http://ping.fm/) Let's see how that works.

The Sleeper is scratching his butt and looking around wearily... not quite Awakened.

Well, we're going to try this again. Don't expect too much but...

The Sleeper has Awankened...

again.

UPDATE: Dude, I said aWANKened. That's funny dude...

The Sleeper has Awakened.