Bush approves nuclear response
A classified document signed by President Bush specifically allows for the use of nuclear weapons in response to biological or chemical attacks, apparently changing a decades-old U.S. policy of deliberate ambiguity, it was learned by The Washington Times.
Hmmm. Maybe I was on to something...
No, not mine, and not Ali's, either. Freaks.
Chris Pirillo will paint your advertisement on his chest, take a picture, and post it. All for the low, low price of $20. Why didn't I think of that. Beside the bird-chest problem, I mean...
On a side note: About 8 years ago, I subscribed for a year or two to a daily newsletter he ran, called Lockergnome. Good user tips, highly recommended for day to day stuff, and he's an entertaining writer. I had to unsubscribe as my daily e-mail load increased and my free time decreased, and I'd forgotten all about it. Now I find that he's got a blog, gotten married, had a kid, and the newsletter is still going strong.
Wow. I feel old now.
Didn't get a chance to see all of the SOTU, but I liked what I heard. Steve did a hell of a job keeping up with the highlights, which is nice for the TV-deprived. Start here and work up.
One addition I'd like to make. Near the end of his speech, Bush said
"And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military - and we will prevail."This would seem to me as reaffirming that we will respond with our nuclear weapons if attacked with WMD's. At least, that's my read of "full force and might".
All in all, I agree with Mr. Quick. This is Bush's best speech to date.
Update: Steven den Beste disagrees - violently. Damn, State of the Weasel address? Remind me not to piss him off.
Matt Moore, he of the large hair, has returned, and posted more in the last 5 days than I've managed all month.
Good to have you back. Stick around, and I'll buy you a beer. 'Course, I'll probably buy you a beer anyway, just from sheer happiness, but there are appearances that must be kept up.
Here I am, in beautiful Silverthorne, CO. Wine, check. Excellent food, check. But something's missing...
Snow.
So pray for snow. Ice is so painful to land on. And, Walter, if you're coming up to the mountains between now and Tuesday, drop me a line. I still owe you a beer!
Steve, I lost your number, so if you see this, give me a call. I'll be going down to Denver sometime tomorrow, where I should (hope, hope) have your new digits stored
Andy, good luck on your trip. Thanks for the story. I know how you feel.
SAN DIEG0, Calif. (Reuters) - Seven San Diego-based U.S. warships carrying nearly 10,000 sailors and Marines departed for the Middle East today as part of a troop buildup ordered last week by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The deployment of troops and battle gear from the 45,000-member 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), described by military officials as the largest movement of the unit since the 1991 Gulf War, ``has gone smoothly so far,'' U.S. Navy Fleet Commander Jacquie Yost said.The troops shipped out on the USS Boxer, USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Cleveland, USS Dubuque, USS Anchorage, USS Comstock and USS Pearl Harbor, as hundreds of family members gathered at the port to bid them farewell.
Good luck, and good hunting.
As Fred Pruitt would say, "Tick, tick, tick..."
First truly artificial organism engineered
The world's first truly artificial organism has been engineered by researchers in California. The bacterium makes an amino acid that no other organism uses to build proteins.The work is being hailed as "a very great accomplishment" and the technique promises to open unique avenues for manufacturing drugs.
Amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of life, making up the proteins which constitute all living cells. The DNA of every organism on Earth contains three-letter codes, known as codons, for 20 such amino acids.
Now, a team led by Peter Schultz of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla has managed to coax E. coli bacteria to produce a 21st amino acid and use it to make a protein, using only natural food sources such as sugar and water.
Today is the day I have to prepare the CARs for our auditors, so I've been kinda tied up. Not especially productive, but I sure do LOOK busy.
Also, the Exchange server decided that it'd be wonderful if I had to spend 3 hours untangling permissions. Blah.
Here comes Joe Eigo! Is he a gymnast? Is he a ninja? Is he on exceptionally large amounts of speed? Is he somehow exempt from the laws of gravity?
I haven't the foggiest. You figure it out.
Go, check out the videos. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
Holy shit, that guy can move.
A Dogs Life has a list of rules that will be printed and posted forthwith, for the edification of the feline roommates.
Today, at 7:56 PM, Walter in Denver delivered the 2000th hit this poor site has seen.
Thanks!
You know, if I posted something like this, it'd be the last time I ever typed anything. Or chewed anything, most likely.
Supreme self-confidence, or suicidal tendencies? You decide.
Continuing on the vacation thread, I received a fortuitously timed e-mail from Copper Colorado, where I hold a season pass. It directed me to this site which states, in a nutshell -
CURRENT COPPER SEASON PASS HOLDERS CAN NOW SKI FREE AT WINTER PARK FOR THE REST OF THE 02/03 SEASON.Good news for those of us who hold passes at Copper, and according to the site, it's reciprocal for Winter Park passes.
Happy news for the day.
I'm now officially on vacation after working every holiday of the winter season except for NYE. Yay. I'm set up with dial-up on a laptop in scenic Silverthorne, Colorado, waiting for She Who Must Be Adored to show up with 4 trips worth of stuff in her car.
...
All right, that's done. Did I mention that we're on the 3rd floor of the condominium complex, or that we're at an altitude of 9026 feet? There's no air up here. Wheeze. Remember, kids, less oxygen means more bang for the buck, alcohol-wise, so buy the good stuff.
There was a point to this, I promise…
Basically, I’ll be posting more often this week, I hope. I’m hopelessly behind on e-mail and comments, and I will try to catch up. I know I’ve made this promise before, but this time is different. Really!
Or not. Who knows?
William Gibson has long been one of my favorite authors in the cyberpunk genre, leading the charge with Neuromancer and the unbelievably good Burning Chrome and consistently delivering incredibly detailed futures with well formed characters and plots. Unfortunately, it's been a while since he last published. So, it is with great excitement that I learned today, via SlashDot, that he has a new book on the way. Pattern Recognition. Now I'm stoked.
In addition, it looks like he's going to be starting a blog. Maybe there's something about sci-fi/fantasy authors that draws them to the medium?