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I Don't Care What the Judge Said!
by Joel Turtel
How Jury Nullification Can End the Sick War on Drugs -
...I don't care what the judge said. I happen to know for a fact that a jury has the right to judge the law. Jury nullification has a long history in this country. A jury has the right to judge the law, not just the facts.
I find this most interesting in that it shows up on a website called "The Conservative Voice
- Project Linus
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Project Linus is a 100% volunteer non-profit organization with a two-fold mission.
- First, it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer "blanketeers".
- Second, it is our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.
This seems like a really sweet project. The testimonials page is good for tear-jerking, too.
- Jim Freund's Public Gallery » Fannish 70s
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I don't remember precisely where/when I took these, but they appear to be from a couple of sf cons in the early-mid 70s -- Mostly from a Lunacon, an early Star Trek con, possubly a Fanoclasts meeting, and the last two at a cultish place calling itself The Foundation Church.
Come on, you have to enjoy photos of vintage geekery.
- Watch Episodes of Drive Online
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This isn't a questionable copyright thing. Fox is doing some sort of partnership with MySpace and is streaming some of its shows online.
This is cool for me, since I am not around Monday nights, and originally thought the premise sounded stupid anyway. I caught enough squee'ing at Television Without Pity that I decided to give it a shot. I caught up with the three episodes that already aired, and am hooked enough to keep following the show. It's funny; I also usually miss Heroes on Monday nights, and NBC streams Heroes episodes, too. Convenient. NBC's has between-chapter ads, and Fox's interface doesn't.
- Excursion Map (I needed a header link)
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The next movie expedition is likely to be Spiderman in two weeks. Still too early for details. I might be willing to see Hot Fuzz this weekend though.
We did a pretty successful excursion to The Dynasty for dim sum a while back. If we do something like that again, I was thinking of Makeda (Ethiopian | New Brunswick) or maybe The Melting Pot (fondue | Somerville). No hard plans. Just putting it out there.
- Random Link Collection For No Good Reason
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yduras- April 23rd, 2007
cranky
- Was there supposed to be a theme?
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- yduras
- April 21st, 2006
sore
...Paramount is breathing life into its "Star Trek" franchise by setting "Mission: Impossible III" helmer J.J. Abrams to produce and direct the 11th "Trek" feature, aiming for a 2008 release...
Project, to be penned by Abrams and "MI3" scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto OrciRoberto Orci, will center on the early days of seminal "Trek" characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer space mission...
Writing systems may look very different, but they all use the same basic building blocks of familiar natural shapes, reports Roger Highfield
I thought some of our local linguists might find this interesting.
...Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas, said that of 13 major nutrients in fruits and vegetables tracked by the Agriculture Department from 1950 to 1999, six showed noticeable declines -- protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C. The declines ranged from 6 percent for protein, 15 percent for iron, 20 percent for vitamin C, and 38 percent for riboflavin...
- Totallty Random but...
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- yduras
- April 18th, 2006
tired
My friends who liked Mirromask might appreciate this post
Also gamer types might like this silly little flash game - little stick figure escapes from a dungeon.
See an inportant documentary about the Secret Wars Re-Enactment Society.
Movies
I do kinda want to see Thank You For Smoking but I don't know if anyone else will.
The Notorious Bettie Page, in case folks were wondering from last weekend, ain't playing noplace closer than Manhattan. (We caught V for Vendetta again, and, against our wills, the first ten minutes of Benchwarmers. Projectionist-ism is, like, a lost art these days.)
Next thing coming out I think I wanna see is X-Men: The Last Stand (Opening May 26, 2006, totally Memorial Day weekend you know)
Maybe Cars (Opening June 9, 2006), not so much because I have the car fetish, but because Pixar can do no wrong (right? right??)
Nothing cool opens my birthday weekend, which is ok, because I'll have family stuff, and anyway there's Anime Next and Drinking in Tents then, too.
Superman Returns (Opening June 30, 2006) is 4th of July weekend, for which I have no plans at this time, but there will be later, I bet.
I have a headache and I am done posting now.
- Randomness. Because.
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- yduras
- February 23rd, 2006
cold
- Pugs in hats
- (Flikr pool)
- The Blog of Captain Jean-Luc Picard
- The Diary of a Harassed Starfleet Officer in the 24th Century of the Star Trek of Life. Read the trials of tribulations of the most pompous Captain in the Fleet. Including Borg Recruitment, Worf being stalked, and Equal Pay for Holograms. Written as dryly as Patrick Stewart acts.
- Google Pages
- Because who doesn't need more free webspace... (In the unlikely event you need a gmail invite for this, I have more than I could ever use. Just ask.)
- Movie tonight, random linkage
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- yduras
- November 18th, 2005
- tired
- HP/Goblet of Fire, 7:40pm, South Plainfield
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Friday, 18 November 2005, 7:40pm
- Regal Hadley Center 16
- 1000 Corporate Court, South Plainfield NJ 07080
- I should point out to any new readers that movie night announcements like this are an open invitation. (Otherwise I'd friendslock them to those who were invited). Anyone in the area is welcome to attend, and if you think you'd need help recognizing the group, post a comment and we can provide descriptions.
- Amazing Liquid
- This is an experiment with vibrations in a cornstarch liquid. I know that doesn't sound cool, but it really is. Incredibly cool.
- Beautiful Paper Cutouts
- The site is in Japanese, but that doesn't matter. The photos are beautiful.
- Doctor Who: The Second Key
- web-comic-ish Dr. Who episode. Seems to have pretty good production values.
- Two links - completely unrelated to one another
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- yduras
- October 28th, 2005
- cold
- George Takei, 'Mr. Sulu' of Star Trek fame, comes out
- Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling shameful about his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.
- "It's against basic decency and what American values stand for," he said.
- If Fox News Had Been Around Throughout History
- Neil Gaiman Knows the Otters - and other things that do not follow
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- yduras
- September 27th, 2005
- cranky
- Interview: Neil Gaiman and Joss Wedon - Time magazine, no login required.
- Neil Gaiman has MirrorMask coming out this weekend and Joss Whedon has Serentity
- I'll be occupied by Southern Exposure for the bulk of the weekend and a wedding on Sunday. Could I interest anyone in an expedition to either of these on Tuesday 4 Oct, or the following weekend? (Mirrormask is only playing in NYC, so that would be a weekend thing.)
- Oh, and in the course of the interview Neil mentioned otters. Someone should pass this over to Crafty:
NG: Except the trouble is, as a creator...I saw a lovely analogy recently. Somebody said that writers are like otters. And otters are really hard to train. Dolphins are easy to train. They do a trick, you give them a fish, they do the trick again, you give them a fish. They will keep doing that trick until the end of time. Otters, if they do a trick and you give them a fish, the next time they'll do a better trick or a different trick because they'd already done that one. And writers tend to be otters. Most of us get pretty bored doing the same trick. We've done it, so let's do something different.
- Shouts and Murmurs: Intelligent Design
- Just a light, silly read. Nothing more, but isn't that enough?
- The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
- Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
- The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
- A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
- Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
- A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
- How to Survive Being A Character In A Pulp Movie
- 74. Unless the item you have been searching for, finally found, and nearly lost grants you the ability to fly, don't bother trying to grab it when it falls to a ledge on the side of a bottomless gorge two or three fingers' widths out of your reach.
- 145. Boxes that give off an eerie supernatural light when opened, probably shouldn't be opened. That goes double for boxes that give off eerie supernatural light through cracks.
- 155. No one is 'just a cook'. Try 'just a person who is surrounded by extremely sharp objects, large thick heavy pieces of metals with handles, and fire'. You would do well not to upset one of these people - you'll be lucky if all they do is spit in your food.
- I think this random format really suits me - I wonder how long until I get tired of it
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- yduras
- September 20th, 2005
cynical
- In the Life Goes On department
- I got a call from one of our 'frequent flyers' this afternoon. They'd had to relocate rather quickly, she said, and they hadn't been allowed to gather as many of their papers as they would have liked - including the access codes to their service with us. I looked up the firm, and saw the New Orleans address. Ah, that would explain it. They're working out of Baton Rouge, it seems. Thank God for Baton Rouge, says my contact.
- Artists erect giant pink bunny on mountain
- You know, for all the random links I inflict on you, my friends list, you should see the stuff I inflict on those fool enough to be on IM when I find these things.
- Somebody's being paid by the word
- So, pdq will be doing a pair of larps using the new World of Darkness system (one Vampire, one Werewolf) at Southern Exposure. In the interests of a future database, should this stuff become successful, I started to block out a nice Excel sheet. This also required me to make another pith-helmet-and-machete attempt at the WoD sourcenbooks, including my newly borrowed copy of Mage. You know, I don't recall the old source books being quite this hard to wade through. I feel like a squirmy high school student listening to some teacher ramble on - "Excuse me, teacher -- is this going to be on the test?"
- I waded through Mage deep enough to make a character proposal for the White Wolf online chat (in the hopes of familiarizing myself with the system. Wading is the right word - I eventually resorted to extreme skimming because the system book couldn't come to a point if you chained it to a whetstone. I'm still not quite sure how Mages are supposed to interact with the world enough to hold down a job and pay rent since apparently Awakening causes an extreme case of Autism and makes the Mage cut all ties with family and friends and talk to nobody but other Mages. Maybe playing a bit will make it more clear.
- Oh, by the by, anyone who's been playing the system - can you tell me why Morality/Humanity/Harmony/Wisdom takes up such a large portion of character sheet real estate? Is tracking it really so much more important and complex than, say, health levels? Would it hurt the experience to just condense it to ten checkboxes and have the space for other things?
- Edward Curtis & Native American Photography
- Selling the American Indian: The controversial work of Edward S. Curtis
- I thought tjekanefir might find this interesting.
- Yes, I have been exceptionally random lately
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- yduras
- September 15th, 2005
- tired
- Meebo
- Hey, dreadpriatetait! If your IT department has found out about Trillian, try Meebo
- Scientists aim for lab-grown meat
- I wonder if anyone's posted this to the Bujold list yet. Or even
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lmbujold? - Katrina: The Gathering is the latest great new collectible card game!
- I dunno. Maybe grandbuddha wants to print these up...
- Random is the thing
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- yduras
- September 13th, 2005
amused
- Rabbit Girls
- Just... very cute. And bouncy. And Rabbit Girls have a band.
- FoodieView
- Don't know what to do with the things in your 'fridge. Plug them into this recipe search aggregator.
- Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace
- Not that anyone on my friends list needs to vanish, but it's an interesting read.
That should be enough random for today.
- How Lucky We Are
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- yduras
- September 7th, 2005
sad
- Being Poor
- I picked this up off of the del.icio.us popular feed.
- It's worth a read, if you can make it through.
- Braaains, whatever
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- yduras
- September 6th, 2005
- cranky
- Urban Dead - A Massively Multi-Player Web-Based Zombie Apocalypse
- I ran across this from the del.icio.us popular page and thought dreadpiratetait would appreciate it. Although, odds are good she already knows about it.
- The Renaissance Games LARP is over.
- In case anyone who should have gotten the email missed it, the RenGames LARP scheduled for Sept 10 is canceled. Note, canceled, not rescheduled. I just turned off the life support on this puppy.
- I feel bad that things petered out this way, and I would have liked to give the players a good closing game, but I don't see the issues that brought me to this decision going away, and I can keep bleeding myself out over this.
- Apherisis
- Speaking of bleeding out, I got a lovely letter from the Blood Center of New Jersey congratulating me on my high white blood cell count. Personally, I am suspicious that I may simply not have a low white blood cell count, but they needed an opening line to invite me to donate by apherisis. I'm not eligible to donate again until the 28th (I have whole blood early in August), but it might be fun to give it a shot again (last time I tried, I was in a low-iron count phase and was deferred.)
- If you don't have a rare whole blood type, and you want to try and do something nice for the community, I'd say go ahead and look into it.
- Family vs. Gaming
- I'm thinking of driving to NH this weekend. N is up there, and I didnt get a chance to be up there all summer. I'd have to take Friday off. If I did, it would probably replace the Friday I might have taken for Southen Exposure later in the month. (Anyone with an opinion on the linked driving question, feel free to post here.)
- I've been waffling on attending SE because it's such a long drive and I have Sunday plans up north. And I hate taking days off. On the other hand, aiskon has said she could use some help from me in the con suite and it's possible that Petey might be expecting me to be there to help with his LARPs there. I have this thing about letting people down, you know.
- I do have five vacation days and three personal days left, though, and only four months left in the year. They're there to be used, right?
- Was there supposed to be a point?
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- yduras
- August 30th, 2005
- tired
- Real Time HTML Editor
- I suppose this might be handy for folks working on learning HTML who could use a visual reinforcement. Type the HTML in the top of the screen and see the result displayed below.
- Cats in Sinks
Stuff on my Cat
Kitten War - Like I really need to explain these.
- Sodium Party
- What happens when you drop sodium in a lake - with pictures and video.
- Free Opera serial numbers.
- Want to try a new browser? For their 10th birthday, Opera is giving away free serial numbers for their web browser to anyone who registers. The codes are available today (August 30, 2005) only and remove the annoying ad bar. Opera is available for all major (and many minor) operating systems. You can learn more about the browser's features (like a built in BitTorrent client) or just go straight to the download page so you have somewhere to put that new registration code. (swiped wholesale from metafilter)
- Um, stuff...
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- yduras
- August 25th, 2005
busy
- I got back from GenCon on Monday
- I probably won't post too much more about it. I did make it to the HERO gathering on Saturday night and met a bunch of people. I got a mug of dice for rednetra, but I don't know how I will get it to him.
- Google Talk
- Google has gotten into the IM business. I haven't been able to get it to work with the Trillian Jabber plugin (alhtough it is supposed to) so I have it open as a standalone. It needs a gmail account. Anyone who's interested - I'm karmakaze.
- Hey, aiskon, it turns out knitting needles are too allowed on airplanes.
- Click on the link for the permitted and prohibited items list. There they are - knitting needles - right under 'permitted'. A member of one of my mailing lists keeps a printout of this with her when she travels.
- Interfacelift wallpaper
- This is an awfully nice collection of free desktop wallpapers.
- What's good to make with canned tuna fish?
- This is off of good 'ol AskMetaFilter. If you ever thought all you could make with a can of tuna fish is a tuna salad sandwich, look here. Some of the recipes look pretty good.
- aiskon wants to see The Brothers Grimm on Friday.
- When she posted last night (during our game - the shame!), movie times were not available, but I found some this morning and posted them as a comment.
- It appears my MindMap is ready
( That mindmap thing; I'd forgotten about it )
- Links that will leave you no smarter than before you clicked on them
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- yduras
- August 15th, 2005
- tired
- Strange Things You Likely Didn't Know
- I am actually reasonably certain that some of these are of questionably accuracy, but several others I know to be true, so this is a YMMV thing. But who can resist
16. If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death. (Who was the sadist who discovered this??). - Just for Fun : Useless Skills
- This has such useful instructions such as how to build an aluminum foil beanie (to deflect min-control rays) and how to spin a pen.
- Random, not much
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- yduras
- August 5th, 2005
- tired
As an odd co-incidence, just after reading
tjekanefir's post about losing a cat, I ran across a link to Goodbye to Kitty, which is rather sweet. (via MetaFilter)
They've posted the new look for Dr. Who last week, if anyone's curious. They might have found something more flattering for Rose in that photo, I think. (via MetaFilter)
New York City Cheap Eats (via the popular links rotation at del.icio.us)
How to Call in Sick When You Just Need a Day Off (via the popular links rotation at del.icio.us)
- Linky in the land of the random
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- yduras
- June 23rd, 2005
working
- The Onion 2056
- 300th anniversary issue - 1856-2056...
- Open Letter To Kansas School Board
- The theory that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster...
- scans_daily
- Wherin folks post scans of various comics. (No, not the entire comics - use bittorrent if you're into that - just clips.) Much with the crack.
- I am a Japanese School Teacher
- Post by an american who went to Japan to as an assistant language teacher.
- The Unicorn Orgy
- Not work safe (duh!)
- Summer is here
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- yduras
- June 7th, 2005
- cold
Feh, I strongly dislike summer weather. I am a fan of neither heat nor humidity, and my affection for sunlight is limited to that which does not burn me. Already my arms do not match one another. I have plugged in the air conditioner and shall see how well it has worked when I return home tonight.
For those of my friends I have not inflicted these on yet:
- ...Then I wondered, "What might it look like if these vicious dinosaurs tried to attack Noah's Ark?"
- The Rebel Club
- The Rebel Four
Note that I am still planning a birthday excursion for June 17 to dinner and then Batman Begins. It will be, er, somewhere in New Jersey, probably nearish unto me. Details are waiting until movie times are posted.
- Random Assortment
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- yduras
- May 25th, 2005
- tired
Just in time for Teen Champions, looks like Disney is making a movie about a school for teenaged supers: Sky High. So far, they have announced Lynda Carter (as the principal), Bruce Campbell (gym), and Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston (parents). I can't play the trailer, as quicktime does not work here, but the casting looks good.
'Sarcasm' brain areas discovered - Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly.
Also,
blinkytreefrog posts some scans of an old book about On Becoming a Woman. It's all kinds of appalling, as is the followup about homosexuality.
Plus, this just in:
From: Corporate HQ
Subject: Executives' Msg: Early Closing May 27Dear Colleagues:
Although summer officially begins June 21, the Memorial Day weekend is upon us and is the traditional start of the summer vacation season. We would like for you to enjoy an early start to the holiday weekend, so [our] offices in the U.S. will close at 12:00 p.m. in local time zones on Friday, May 27.
...
We want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your continued contributions to [the company]. Please have a safe and pleasant holiday weekend.
Regards,
[a list of executives]Yay!
- Curry, links, whatever
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- yduras
- May 10th, 2005
- tired
So, I was talking with
The author basically figured out what the core of an Indian curry is. The comments are kind of interesting, too.arikbet the other night and I mentioned an article about curry I thought he'd like. I was just about to email it to him when I decided that maybe other people might be interested, too. So,