Remote controlled spy-sharks!

Pentagon scientists are planning to turn sharks into "stealth spies" capable of tracking vessels undetected, a British magazine has reported.
They want to remotely control the sharks by implanting electrodes in their brains, The New Scientist says.

It says the aim is "to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails".

...

The research is being funded by the Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to the magazine.

Remote. Controlled. Spy-sharks.

I remember thinking how stupid the remote-controlled sharks were in Never Say Never Again. Shows what I know.

Thanks to LauraW, who, when she's not posting cat-pictures, can actually find cool links.

Posted by: Ace at 10:55 AM | Comments (11)
Post contains 123 words, total size 1 kb.

The cool thing is, we know we'll win.

Jimmy Carter Seeks UN Vote Against United States

President Carter personally called Secretary of State Rice to try to convince her to reverse her U.N. ambassador's position on changes to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the former president recalled yesterday in a talk in which he also criticized President Bush's Christian bona fides and misstated past American policies on Israel.

Mr. Carter said he made a personal promise to ambassadors from Egypt, Pakistan, and Cuba on the U.N. change issue that was undermined by America's ambassador, John Bolton. "My hope is that when the vote is taken," he told the Council on Foreign Relations, "the other members will outvote the United States."

Pardon me-- what position does Jimmy Carter currently hold in the US diplomatic corps? None? That's what I thought.

Then what is he doing making "personal promises" to coutries like Cuba?

And who cares what this cocksucker promises?

While other former presidents have tried to refrain from attacking the sitting chief executive, Mr. Carter's attacks on President Bush have increased. The episode he recounted yesterday showed how he tried to undermine officials at lower levels in an effort to influence policy.

The story, as Mr. Carter recalled, began with a recent dinner for 17 he attended in New York, where the guests included the president of the U.N. General Assembly, Jan Eliasson; an unidentified American representative, and other U.N. ambassadors from "powerful" countries at Turtle Bay, of which he mentioned only three: Cuba, Egypt, and Pakistan. The topic was the ongoing negotiations on an attempt to replace the widely discredited Geneva-based Human Rights Commission with a more accountable Human Rights Council.

"One of the things I assured them of was that the United States was not going to dominate all the other nations of the world in the Human Rights Council," Mr. Carter said. However, on the next day, Mr. Carter said, Mr. Bolton publicly "demanded" that the five permanent members of the Security Council will have permanent seats on the new council as well, "which subverted exactly what I have promised them," Mr. Carter said.

I think it's time to look up the law against private citizens attempting to conduct foreign policy supposedly on behalf of the United States. We let Jesse Jackson get away with this, but Carter? Fuck him.

Update-- The Logan Act: Thanks to Pillage Idiot for the reference:

The Logan Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 953 [1948]) is a single federal statute making it a crime for a citizen to confer with foreign governments against the interests of the United States. Specifically, it prohibits citizens from negotiating with other nations on behalf of the United States without authorization.

...

The Logan Act has remained almost unchanged and unused since its passage. The act is short and reads as follows:

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

Alas, it's almost never been used to prosecute anyone:

The language of the act appears to encompass almost every communication between a U.S. citizen and a foreign government considered an attempt to influence negotiations between their two countries. Because the language is so broad in scope, legal scholars and judges have suggested that the Logan Act is unconstitutional. Historically, the act has been used more as a threat to those engaged in various political activities than as a weapon for prosecution. In fact, Logan Act violations have been discussed in almost every administration without any serious attempt at enforcement, and to date there have been no convictions and only one recorded indictment.

Posted by: Ace at 10:51 AM | Comments (25)
Post contains 733 words, total size 5 kb.

Dell once had a reputation for customer service. It doesn't anymore.

My laptop got all screwed up months ago. I had to reinstall the operating system and blank the disk, which, by the way, didn't work the first three times. more...

Posted by: Ace at 09:25 AM | Comments (57)
Post contains 1487 words, total size 8 kb.

More of plane that can drive than a car that can fly, but still, better than nothing:

A small, lightweight airplane the size of an SUV could bring into reality those personal transports we've been waiting for.

Carl Dietrich, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate in aeronautics and astronautics, is building such a vehicle and calling it the Transition.

The Transition's 27-foot wingspan can be collapsed, allowing the plane to be stored in most garages. It's designed to be 18.75 feet long and 6.75 feet high, and drivable on any road.

That gives the pilot the flexibility to land at any number of the 5,000 public-access airports around the country and finish the trip by highway.

In the air, the Transition would get about 30 miles per gallon and on the road, around 40. The aircraft "can travel at normal highway speeds," Dietrich said.

Posted by: Ace at 08:58 AM | Comments (25)
Post contains 149 words, total size 1 kb.

Should have taken the Syriana role, says he:

Movie star HARRISON FORD claims he was offered the lead role in SYRIANA that earned GEORGE CLOONEY an Oscar nomination.

...Ford rejected the role because he felt there wasn't enough substance to the film. He says, "I saw a bit of (director) STEVE GAGHAN's movie SYRIANA and I wish I'd played the part that was offered to me - George's part. "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake. "I think the film underwent some changes and I think a lot of it is very truthful: the things that I thought weren't, were obviated after I left the table."

The "truth" of Syriana, as far as I've heard, is the default leftist paradigm:

a) An American realpolitik response to Middle East tyranny is evil because it is self-serving and mercenary and brings misery to "the people."

b) An American idealist/interventionist/Wilsonian response to Middle East tyranny is also evil, because it is self-serving and mercenary and "interferes" with local governments and seeks to extend American hegemony and, as a bonus, brings misery to "the people."

If you talk to a leftist, that's what they always say. No matter what America does, it's wrong. If we trade with Iraq, that's wrong, because Saddam is a tyrant. If we force regime change in Iraq, that's also wrong, because we have no right to impose our views on a soverign nation like Iraq.

When you ask them what the magical option C might mean, they change the subject and begin talking about the past.

So Harrison Ford is a dick.

He's also a dick because it's usually considered bad form to brag that you were first offered a role you turned down. It is, or was, I guess, just considered good manners not to demean another actor by saying that a role that brought him fame was first offered to you, and that he was a second or third choice.

Even if he's a chin-bobbing overrated television actor like George Clooney.

Meanwhile, Harrison Ford is in the poorly-received Firewall, a standard crappy by-the-numbers thriller, in which he continues to explore the "retard acting" he first developed in Regarding Henry. Have you seen the commercials for this? Why is it that Harrison Ford thinks that "good acting" consists of yelling in a marble-mouthed manner suggesting that he may have recently suffered a stroke?

In this, of course, he's following Sean Penn, who's idea of "good acting" consists of of inarticulate, screamy, spittle-and-phlegm choked "emoting," which he too explored in a retard-movie, I Am Sam.

God, I hate Hollywood.

Posted by: Ace at 08:05 AM | Comments (92)
Post contains 447 words, total size 3 kb.

This is a feel-good story.

A woman pleaded guilty Monday to attempted murder charges for trying to hire a hit man to rob and kill four men for what she thought was cocaine, but turned out to be cheese.

Jessice Sandy Booth, 18, hatched the plot after she visited the home of the men, and mistook queso fresco a white, crumbly cheese common in Mexican cuisine.

But the hit man she hired turned out to be an undercover police officer.

"They asked her numerous times 'Do you really want to go through with this?'" prosecutor Paul Hagerman said. "They gave her numerous chances to back out, but she said she was serious. She said she needed the money for modeling school."

Imagine the terrible scene: blood, dead bodies. And then this heartless idiot takes possession of...a pile of cheese.

Kudos to Memphis law enforcement for removing this dangerous retard from the general population.

Posted by: LauraW. at 07:46 AM | Comments (15)
Post contains 190 words, total size 1 kb.

She still doesn't believe it, and won't believe it until she sees Bill's DNA all over Dubai's blue dress:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton revealed yesterday that her husband never confided in her that he was advising Dubai leaders on how to ease opposition to the deal in Congress - where she's been one of its loudest critics.

The surprising turn came yesterday when the senator was asked if her husband had ever mentioned that he was helping officials in charge of the state-owned Dubai Ports World.

She said he hadn't - then quickly tried to take back the admission, saying, "That's . . . I mean, as far as I know, he supports my position and has said so publicly."

Bill Clinton has hailed Dubai as "a good ally to America [that is] trying to build a new Middle East, they really are" - all while agreeing that congressional critics have a legitimate gripe.

The former first lady has been among the most vocal congressional bashers of the Bush administration-backed $6.8 billion sale, a deal that includes commercial operations at New York's port and five other major U.S. harbors.

Posted by: Ace at 07:41 AM | Comments (41)
Post contains 211 words, total size 1 kb.

Really funny.

Seriously funny.

Not as funny, but still pretty funny.

Posted by: Ace at 07:38 AM | Comments (7)
Post contains 17 words, total size 1 kb.

I am referring of course to the courtroom artist who, barely suppressing gales of malevolent laughter, drew this picture of Justice Ginsburg taking her little nappy on the bench.

Also seen at Garfield Ridge. Yesterday. But hey, it was new to me.

Posted by: LauraW. at 06:51 AM | Comments (45)
Post contains 50 words, total size 1 kb.

Obviously they're fated to be together:

Robert Franklin Holcombe was really good at spending money, but really bad at trying to kill his wife.

First, he broke a natural gas line to the water heater, hoping it would cause an explosion. Then, he tried pumping the house full of carbon monoxide by leaving a running car in the garage. After that, he tried poison — twice.

Robert Franklin Holcombe pleaded guilty to several charges last week and will spend up to six years in prison.

When none of that worked, Holcombe turned to an accomplice, asking the couple's son to help bump off his mother. The son agreed to help police by wearing a wire, and Holcombe was arrested.

That was the end of a party that started about $130,000 ago and involved Tiffany's, an Atlanta strip club.

...

Holcombe's downfall can be traced to his infatuation with strippers. He would spread up to $10,000 in cash across a booth table to attract the attention of the ladies. If you were sitting in his regular seat, which he occupied a few times a week, he would give you $100 to move.

As soon as Holcombe walked into the club, the bartender would put a Miller Lite and double shot of Crown Royal whiskey on the bar.

"I mean, he was like Norm on 'Cheers,' " Holcombe's 28-year-old son, who occasionally accompanied his father, told police.

He was driven to kill his wife by the need to come up with more money to spend on his favorite stripper-- "Misty," of course.

Thanks to Scott.

Posted by: Ace at 05:45 PM | Comments (38)
Post contains 277 words, total size 2 kb.