London to host the opening stage of the Tour De France? C'est possible?

"The Republican party—the party of industrial mega-capitalists, corporate financiers, power brokers, and the moneyed elite—would like to thank the undereducated rural poor, the struggling blue-collar workers in Middle America, and the God-fearing underpriviledged minorities who voted George W. Bush back into office," Karl Rove, senior advisor to Bush, told reporters at a press conference Monday. "You have selflessly sacrificed your well-being and voted against your own economic interest. For this, we humbly thank you."

They are too good.

"Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?"

[Jo Miller]

POTD

IEBlog: "IE, like Windows, is a platform"

No it isn't. It is a web browser. I don't care a rat's ass about your "platform." I want a secure, well-functioning, standards-adhering web browser.

I can't imagine the response if I told my clients that their software isn't written to meet their needs, rather that it is "a platform." Please excuse the scourge of viruses and pop-up windows. We were busy creating "a platform" when we should have hired a couple of college interns to look for buffer overflows.

It must be nice to have no competition.

POTD

101-365 has the best graphic representation of the red-blue split I've seen so far.

Cisco earnings rise 29 percent. Cisco has generally been a good indicator of the whole tech sector.

Julia Solis -- New York Underground. Some great photos below New York's Surface.

This is a HOWTO that describes how to take a stock RedHat9 system and convert it to Gentoo, remotely over ssh and while it is running.

"For the past 80 years, "biological hot spots" in the NPR-A [Northeast National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska] have been off limits to oil drilling and other development, granted special protection by the federal government. But now the Bush administration, with its no-holds-barred push for oil production, is fast-tracking new oil fields throughout Alaska's North Slope, the cumulative environmental consequences be damned. If the administration has its way, its allies in the oil industry could soon displace the caribou and other wildlife around Nuiqsut -- and with it, alter a way of life that has survived among the Eskimos for more than 8,000 years."

I left the TV on Bravo after The West Wing; some show called "Manhunt" is on. Male models are being interviewed by someone from Access Hollywood. Vapid interviewing stupid. This is depressing.

The next person who suggests that I should "take it to the next level" will get a kick in the crotch.

Well, this is profound:

"The folks who spent the campaign saying Halliburton is a front for NAMBLA are now muttering that they're ashamed to be Americans and want to join Canada. The folks who spent the campaign fretting that John Kerry is a sleeper agent for the Viet Cong are now claiming that they're the only "real" Americans and, in general, confusing "51%" with "98%." In a classic illustration of the thesis that you eventually become the thing you most hate, the Kerrybots are now terrified, resentful, and convinced that the culture is poisoned; the Bushbots are smug, self-congratulatory, and as condescending when they discuss the coasts as a Hollywood producer deriding "flyover country." These two tribes have more in common with each other than they do with ordinary liberals and conservatives, but they insist on speaking for the red states and the blue states as blocs."

In a Snoezelen room:

"Users take in a light show, meditative music, aromas, vibrating chairs and an array of things to touch."

I want a Snoezelen room.

[via Book Of Joe]

John Ashcroft Resigns.

Could I be any more excited?

Ashcroft, in a five-page, handwritten letter to Bush, said, "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved."

Right. That statement is so absurdly stupid that it refutes itself.

"People in Baghdad and the surrounding areas may say that elections are irrelevant or that the outcome has already been decided by Zionists/infidels/neocons/imperialists/capitalists/Jews and that puppets/agents/lackeys/mercenaries/traitors will rule the country, but for the people around me here in Basrah, this is a historical moment they have all been waiting for." [Healing Iraq]

Funny how similar our countries are.

I'm getting really tired of reading all these unfounded, ignorant condemnations of the "red" states, the South and middle America, who voted Republican in the 04 presidential election.

I think we should cut the crap, and take some time to appreciate the contributions to the United States made in middle America. Like extra-large ambulances for the morbidly obese.

POTD

Note to the military: contrary to Hollywood opinion, there is good press, and there is bad press. This is bad press.

And this is very bad press:

"The enemy has got a face. He's called Satan. He's in Fallujah and we're going to destroy him."

Someone just has to use the "C" word, and we've handed extremists exactly what they want.

Ah, Jo Miller does the hard work for me. I was going to try to piece this together using census data. Federal welfare distribution by state, red vs. blue. Similar analysis by Kevin Brennan. Distribution over time, and an explanation.

As noted, it would be interesting to further break this down. Were the net welfare recipients evenly distributed, or did aid go to urban (generally blue) districts in otherwise rural (generally red) states? More in-depth questions like this.

Some days, no matter how hard you try, you are a bitch.

Today, I'm the bitch.

Computerworld: IT morale is being swamped by slashed budgets, overwork, fear of outsourcing and lousy bosses.

The good people of Gothamist, et all, have launched Londonist. Ah, London. What a wonderful place. Would someone please find me a job there?

It is DBA appreciation day at The daily WTF!