08 Jun 2006
Souder wants to test fungus that kills coca plants, poppies

Un-fucking-believable! A quick Google search shows that this idiotic idea has actually been around for quite a while, and several Federal agencies (including our friends at USDA) have actually tested these things!

This is biological warfare, pure and simple. If engineering fruits to make them "better" is a bad idea, "tweaking" the genes of a deadly plague fungus to only attack certain plants is absolute, unmitigated folly!

The thought that two Indiana representatives (Dan Burton was also in on it), have recently brought this lunacy back to the table makes me ashamed to be a Hoosier. Folks from a farming state should know better, but obviously these two haven't got a clue. Both Republicans, by the way. Go figure.

U.S. Rep. Mark Souder is pressing for the federal government to test a plant-killing fungus for possible use in destroying the plants used to make cocaine and heroin.

(link) [Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel]

21:53 /Agriculture | 2 comments | permanent link

Chinese ban Da Vinci Code movie

Ah, capitalism!

Wu Hehu, spokesman for Shanghai's United Cinema Line Corporation, said he received a notice to cease showing the film, but he did not know why the order was made.
"I don't know the reason. We just do what we are told to do."

This should put the lie to the myth of a Chinese free market...

China orders cinemas to stop showing The Da Vinci Code, weeks after it was released in the country.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

08:30 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Microsoft's antipiracy tool phones home daily

Here's a file with a well known name and a defined location that cannot be removed, is non-critical for correct system operation, is relatively small and is allowed by the system firewall to make network connections at will.

All I can say is that Microsoft has absolutely no concept of security at all. None. And that's a genuine disadvantage to running Windows.

Company vows to notify people better about Windows Genuine Advantage's check-in feature, as a critic likens it to spyware.

(link) [CNET News.com]

07:14 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Afghan donkey bomb plot foiled

Jackasses.

Security forces thwarted a bombing in a southern Afghan town by capturing a donkey laden with explosives and a man who was plotting to blow up the animal in a rebel attack, a government spokesman said Thursday.

(link) [CNN.com]

07:13 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Washington area richest, most educated in US: report

And what is the chief product of this swampy and steamy geographic area? Laws, rules and regulations. This tidbit of trivia speaks reams about our society and our nation...

Reuters - The Washington area has the wealthiest households and most educated work force of any metropolitan area in the United States, according to a report released on Thursday by a local business group.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

07:07 /Politics | 4 comments | permanent link