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"He who goes unarmed in paradise had better be sure that is where he is." -- James Thurber
# Thomas Bartlett at The Chronicle of Higher Education - The Man Who Would Murder Death - Aubrey de Grey thinks humans can live virtually forever. Can't say I want to live forever, but it's an interesting article. [smith2004]
Global Research - 9/11 Theologian Says Controlled Demolition of World Trade Center Is Now a Fact, Not a Theory - David Ray Griffin is probably correct, but I see nothing new here. Hopefully, Dr. Griffin's video will convince some more people, though.
"The evidence for this conclusion (that 9/11 was an inside job) has thus far been largely ignored by the mainstream press, perhaps under the guise of obeying President Bush's advice not to tolerate "outrageous conspiracy theories." We have seen, however, that it is the Bush administration's conspiracy theory that is the outrageous one, because it is violently contradicted by numerous facts, including some basic laws of physics.
"There is, of course, another reason why the mainstream press has not pointed out these contradictions. As a recent letter to the Los Angeles Times said:
"'The number of contradictions in the official version of . . . 9/11 is so overwhelming that . . . it simply cannot be believed. Yet . . . the official version cannot be abandoned because the implication of rejecting it is far too disturbing: that we are subject to a government conspiracy of 'X-Files' proportions and insidiousness.'
# Jeff Cooper's Commentaries - Right Rites - reflections on this year's Gunsite reunion at Whittington; autumn NRA director's meeeting in Anchorage; large readership of the Commentaries; extolling the virtues of the Steyr Scout; annoyance at telescope sights on the Wild West Guns Co-Pilot; the new run of Kimber 1911s is dehorned; new Czech heavy rifle disappoints; Samson missing from Whittington; catamaran tour of Prince William Sound; Lindy spots a beluga, a wolverine, and a flaming red fox in Alaska; 50 ACP pistol compared to 700 Nitro Express; buffalo fatality in Kenya: "whether you are in Los Angeles or the African bush it is important to check six"; Larry Mudgett joins Gunsite; the importance of bullet placement; observe the Gunsite bear rules; Chuck Lyford builds a racing lounge chair for Mr. Cooper; "The curse of the bolt-gun is short-stroking"; spam, MREs, C-rations, & K-rations; what a young man should know how to do before he leaves his parents' home.
#
Katharine Q. Seelye at The New York Times -
Protecting the Presidential Seal. No Joke. 
- the White House is
suing
The Onion over their use of the presidential seal on
this page. Hey, Mr. Bush. It's satire. Cool out. [claire]
"It is inconceivable that anyone would think that, by using the seal, The Onion intends to 'convey... sponsorship or approval' by the president," wrote Rochelle H. Klaskin, the paper's lawyer, who went on to note that a headline in the current issue made the point: "Bush to Appoint Someone to Be in Charge of Country."Note that this web site is in no way endorsed, sponsored, or approved by the President of the United States or anybody in the White House or the U.S. gummint. Exactly the opposite, I'm sure.
Moreover, she wrote, The Onion and its Web site are free, so the seal is not being used for commercial purposes. That said, The Onion asked that its letter be considered a formal application to use the seal.
# The Independent Institute - Property Rights - an introduction to the importance of private property followed by a bibliography. [samizdata]
The great irony is that the most fundamental right to individual sovereignty--private property--is the one most highly questioned. Property rights are usually construed narrowly to cover only things that can be exchanged, given away, or abandoned. But since a property right is the right to use and dispose of something, it actually has a far broader meaning. One begins with a right to one's own person, including one's body and energies. Indeed, this is that basic right that gives rise to the right to appropriate unowned objects from nature and to exchange peacefully acquired property with willing traders. In fact, without property rights there are no rights at all.
...
A misconception about property is that it protects only the well-off while the opposite is true. Private property is a sanctuary for the disadvantaged from arbitrary government power which is invariably used for the benefit of politically-connected elites. Each person owns oneself and more and requires the right to freely utilize such property to survive, advance oneself, and live in peace and security. In addition, without property rights there can be no personal privacy. Furthermore, under collectivist (meaning government) control of resources, everyone is both an employee and ward of the state. Twentieth-century despotism vividly illustrated the dangers inherent in that situation. In contrast, under private property, even people who have few possessions would have alternatives thanks to the multiple employers, clients and others bidding for their services, association and business.
# Ashlee Vance at The Register - IBM shows Xbox chip but won't speak its name - the new Xbox chip is based on IBM's PowerPC. The author didn't note the irony of Microsoft using the PowerPC while Apple moves to Intel. [wes]
# Google Labs - Google Reader is a web-based RSS and Atom feed reader. Nice.
# Google Labs - Google Web Accellerator is a proxy that speeds up web page loading. Windows only. IE or Firefox only. Haven't tried it. Probably won't.
