john safran vs god

John Safran vs God is being replayed on SBS starting next Monday 25th of April.

It was the best show on telly last year by a long way. If you missed it first time around, watch it this time. It goes for 8 weeks.

NNDB

This is a really cool resource. It documents basic profile information on over 12000 famous people and the links between them. It's an easy way of seeing who knows who in the business, entertainment and political world. For example, it shows that Bill Gates' wife is a member of the Bilderberg group. The Bilderberg group is group of high ranking capitalists which a magnet for modern day conspiracy theorists.

NNDB

Disaster Capitalism

A little known office of the White House called the "Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization" is drawing up plans and contracts for the post-war rebuilding of 25 different countries. 25 countries that haven't had a war yet. The plans involve reconstructing countries in a "democratic and market-oriented" way.

This makes Wolfowitz's appointment to the head of the World Bank make much more sense. The World Bank is the instrument with which privatisation is forced upon desperate countries. They withhold aid money until legislation is passed to allow the private sector to spend it. This is happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and Honduras following war, civil unrest and natural disasters.

Even more depressing is how the vultures are moving into Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia following the tsunami. No more pesky coastal villages to get in the way of tourist developments.

The Nation Article

Big trouble in little China

A small Chinese village has reportedly repelled a force of 1000 riot police in a clash that left a bunch of police in hospital and a number of police vehicles burned. Villagers, fed up with corruption, pollution and poverty, were protesting when the riot police were called in. People rushed from their homes to defend the village.

I like this quote from one of the villagers the best:

"The communists are even worse than the Japanese"


Guardian article

Want fries with that, bitch?

US rap stars are being paid by mcdonalds to plug big macs in their tunes. Product placement in films has been around for a while - I, Robot being an awful example.

I guess this makes for another reason not to listen to manufactured pop music.

Bummer.

MTV.com article

Discover the Network

I've just discovered this little gem. It's called:

Discover the Network

It's a compilation of anyone involved in left wing politics in the US, compiled by a stooge of the right - David Horowitz. He is part of the movement pushing to legislate liberalism out of academia following the Ward Churchill/University of Colorada episode that created such a stir a little while back. Google it if you missed it.

I especially like the classification of Alexander Cockburn (journo for counterpunch.com) in the same category as Mohammed Atta and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Pure genius.

Penis Enlargement

No, i'm not trying to sell you pills.

This is an article about a dude who runs a natural penis enlargement website. No pills, creams or patches, just exercise. He reckons he has gone from 6.5" to 10.5" by using the techniques he espouses. He's got 40,000 members on his site to back him up.

This is totally surreal. I can't stop laughing.

Salon.com article

You will need to click on the "Day Pass" link and watch a few ads to be able to read the full article. You may need to click on the above link again after watching the ads.

God Save America!

Here is a great article about the religious right in the US

Rolling Stone

LoTR hidden features

On the special edition LoTR DVDs there are a number of hidden features. They are pretty funny. Details are here:

Fellowship
Two Towers
Return

US govt manipulation of financial markets

Here is a thought provoking article about how the US government manipulates world finance markets, especially for the dollar.

An interesting point in the article is the tremendous leverage China will have over the US economy in years to come.

Link to article

Direct interfacing to the brain

Sony have just filed some patents which describe a system of aiming ultrasonic pulses at the brain to induce sensory experience. This technique looks like it is non-invasive, and could induce sound, vision or smell in the brain.

this is way cool.

http://www.newscientist.com/

Bionic Eye

Scientists have created a bionic eye. It's a chip interfaced to the optic nerve that takes signals from a spectacle-mounted camera.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4411591.stm

I'll have the zoom model thanks.

Pope Dies, Rapture Index Soars

The Rapture Index soared yesterday following news of the death of the Pope. The rise was lead by the "False Prophet" index, which jumped 2 points on the news. The market felt that the death of the pope left open the possibility for the new pope to be the false prophet. The "Ecumenism" index jumped 1 point on the news due to fears that a new pope may help integrate the world's religions. The Index now stands a 153, close to this years high of 155.

Tony Abbott for Pope

Tony Abbott is the perfect candidate for Pope.

He is a catholic.
He is totally self-righteous.
He supports "family values"
He'd be able to send everyone who took the piss out of him to hell.
Including the guy who knocked up his girlfriend.
I heard he is mates with George Pell. That's one vote already.

Cardinals of the world, vote 1, Tony Abbott.

Stargate Atlantis

I watched the first 2 episodes of Stargate Atlantis the other day.

The first one wasn't bad.

The second one was a pile of dogs turd.

I hope the third one is better

How motherboards are made

Here is a photo-tour of a gigabyte motherboard factory in taiwan:

http://www.pcstats.com/index1.html

It shows the entire process of a motherboard assembly, right down to the
hot taiwanese testing and assembly girls. I found it fascinating how
much labour is involved for a $100 piece of equipment.

the technological singularity

This is pretty heavy going, but it makes for some great thinking material.

I came across this podcast:

http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail374.html

it's about accelerating technological change, and what will happen when real AI finally gets built. The mp3 goes for about an hour, but it's worth a listen.

It ties in with transhumanism and exposes the concept of the "technological singularity", or the point at which technological progress accelerates beyond our ability to comprehend it. Certain thinkers are putting this point as early as 2030. Have a read of this for some more background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity