So, here’s the story: 1. Chris Knight, candidate for Rockingham County (NC) Board of Education, makes a Star Wars-themed campaign commercial and posts it to YouTube. 2. VH1’s Web Junk 2.0 -- geez, I hate that name – picks up on the commercial, which has become a viral video hit, and shows the video as a show segment, complete with commentary by Aries Spears. They do so without asking for permission to use the video, because stuff on the Web is free, right? ...
Astronomers have found a star, zipping through the galaxy at 291,000 miles per hour, creating a tail much like those of comets. This tail, however, is 13 light-years long. No commentary, except to note that the universe is a wonderfully strange place. That, and it’s good we can see the tail. Otherwise, it would be coming right at us. ;) Link courtesy of Boing Boing.
Here’s the picture, from Yahoo! Here’s the caption, emphasis mine: An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she says hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City. At least 175 people were slaughtered on Tuesday and more than 200 wounded when four suicide truck bombs targeted people from an ancient religious sect in northern Iraq, officials said.(AFP/Wissam al-Okaili) ...
That’s probably about right, although I’ve been known to be an INTJ depending on the day.
For anyone wondering: Oscar the Death Cat.
The DC Universe will be experiencing a Final Crisis next year, with a crossover series that appears to be the end of the Crisis on Infinite Earths > Identity Crisis > Infinite Crisis chain. Now, given the fact I was kind of disappointed with the results of Infinite Crisis (aside from 52), what could make me interested in this one? It’s going to be written by Grant Morrison. Well-played, DC…well-played indeed. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but the characters pictured above – from left, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, Hawkman, and Batman – are all close to the original Silver Age Justice League of America. Everyone except Hawkman was in the original lineup, and he was one of the first ones to join. So where’s the Atom, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter? (Okay, so right now Ray Palmer’s Atom and the original Aquaman are indisposed, but I don’t think it’s a good sign for J’onn J’onzz.) Just as long as we don’t get Snapper Carr (“Snap, snap!”). :) ...
The American Prospect reviews two books about the motivations behind suicide bombing as a terror tactic. I haven’t read either, but the review of the more interesting sounding of the two, Mia Bloom’s Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror, has this to say: Bloom’s insight is that suicide bombing is a tactic used by competing groups trying to appeal to a generally sympathetic population for allegiance in a process she calls “outbidding.” Hence, in both the Middle East and Sri Lanka, suicide bombing is adopted by groups seeking to show that they are more ruthless, determined, and effective than others – and thereby to gain public support. Suicide bombing, in this light, is as much marketing ploy as weapon. Bloom bolsters her analysis by highlighting how Kurdish groups in Turkey used suicide bombing, but found that the cost in support among their own core constituencies was so great that it wasn’t worth the candle. Similarly, in Ireland, nationalist groups concluded they would lose, not gain, support thanks to suicide bombing. ...
We were helping family move house this weekend, so I ended up missing Arena Bowl XXI! Wow, where was my head? I would have loved to see that one Iowa team play that team from Orlando. There’s still an Iowa team, right? ;) Oh, I guess the result was San Jose SaberCats 55, Columbus Destroyers 33. Ohio has a team? Maybe Brady Quinn will play for them one day. :)
My Liberal Identity: You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains. Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com Link courtesy of a Working Class Warrior.
And this is how you win a format war: Target Bets It All on Blu-ray. It’s not about consumer choice or minor technology advantages. It is about marketing and business development with content providers, electronics suppliers, and retailers. Microsoft hasn’t gone all out in supporting HD-DVD – leaving it out of the XBox 360 except as an add-on – even though they were among those who backed the format. Sony, on the other hand, is making sure when we see a HD disc or player, it’s Blu-ray. Blockbuster has dropped HD-DVD from its stores for now, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see others follow suit. ...