One of the things I love about Google News is the ability it gives you to see one story through the eyes of several outlets. For example, when a man suffers a ten-year erection from a faulty penile implant and sues the corporation who produced it, clever headlines are bound to follow.

Hard Times Made Easier
Stiff Penalty for Implant Firm
220K for a Hard Life
$400GS Will Help Him Through Hard Times

And my personal favorite:
Implant Fails: What is he Complaining About?

So, I just found out that Jesus didn’t exist.

Also, Christianity is all built on lies and falsehoods.

(Okay, this is all speculation. But visit the site, see the movie and tell me what YOU think.)

You can even view the trailor here: The God Who Wasn’t There

- The early founders of Christianity seem wholly unaware of the idea of a human Jesus

- The Jesus of the Gospels bears a striking resemblance to other ancient heroes and the figureheads of pagan savior cults

- Contemporary Christians are largely ignorant of the origins of their religion

- Fundamentalism is as strong today as it ever has been, with an alarming 44% of Americans believing Jesus will return to earth in their lifetimes

As I am still stuck in dialup land, maybe some of you with an hour to spare can watch Noam Chomsky’s West Point talk and give the group a synopsis.

From the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Noam Chomsky talks to West Point cadets about just war theory and the invasion of Iraq. During the talk, Professor Chomsky criticizes the work of Michael Walzer, an influential proponent of just war theory and the author of the popular “Just and Unjust Wars.” Following his remarks, Professor Chomsky takes questions from the cadets about international law and the Bush administration’s foreign policy.

From other comments on the web, it seems to have been worthwhile.

This may be old news, but in checking out Slingshot’s story from last night, it turns out that the great Mosquito Ringtone story is actually true.

In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.

The technology, which relies on the fact that most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds, was developed in Britain but has only recently spread to America — by Internet, of course.

[snip]

The cellphone ring tone was the offshoot of an invention called the Mosquito, developed last year by a Welsh security company to annoy teenagers and gratify adults, not the other way around.

It was marketed as an ultrasonic teenager repellent, an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer designed to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected.

So I can hear it, but I would be very interested to perform my own study with different people on different computers or cell phones. At any rate, this brings up a couple questions for me:

1) Is the technology gap between generations widening at such a pace that could threaten the status quo and bolster Teen Revolt?

2) What else are humans doing with sound frequency that may be less innocent than discouraging loitering teens or sneaking text messages by aged teachers?

Also, I have to say that I’d much rather kids set their ringer to mosquito than have to hear Super Mario Brothers one more time. Not to mention more inappropriate choices.

Ah, for the days of good old-fashioned wholesome ringtones like these:

Licking an Envelope Ringtone—Again, playing on nostalgia, a real tear-tugger for the baby boomers. The lick-lick sound, then the kweek sound of folding the paper over. I can clearly imagine a cell phone ringing and a stranger nearby saying, “God, is someone actually performing that ancient domestic art of licking an envelope?”

The annual Webby Awards were a few days ago. It’s kind of like the Oscars for the Internet and is pretty extensive, though only seems to cover American websites. I really like looking at these sites from a design perspective, not necessarily for what they have to say, but the Remember Segregation site is pretty powerful. I found a few that I thought were interesting, but check out the whole awards site to see the winners. Enjoy.

http://www.remembersegregation.org/

http://www.bigfatinstitute.org/

http://youthink.worldbank.org/

http://www.experiencewonderyou.co.uk/

http://www.bookofcool.com/index_flash_content.htm
http://www.bebopjeans.com/

Last month, you may have been surprised to read of this little known fact from the National Institutes of Health.

“…[C]offee is the single most important source of antioxidants in the diets of Norwegians and of middle aged women in Iowa.”

If you’re like me, and are neither Norwegian nor a middle aged Iowan woman, then you’ll be glad to know that coffee may hold some benefit for the rest of us. The Archives of Internal Medicine just released a study suggesting that everyone’s favorite pie-accompanying beverage may actually prevent some of the damage caused by alcohol abuse.

Those who drank less than one cup per day were 30 per cent less likely to develop alcoholic cirrhosis, although this result was not statistically significant. But those who drank one to three cups were 40 per cent less likely - a significant result - and four or more cups per day cut the risk by 80 per cent. (link)

Being a man of eternal compromise, I believe I’ll start going a little heavier on the ol’ Irish Coffee. As long as it’s made with the good stuff, that is.

While his approval ratings continue to drop, President Bush has sought again to grasp at political straws, this time at an old favorite: same-sex marriage.

President George W. Bush will on Monday meet conservative activists at the White House to underline his support for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, re-inforcing the message of a weekend speech in which he urged Congress to pass the amendment.

Although Mr Bush successfully exploited gay marriage to win re-election, the twin speeches mark the first time since 2004 he has openly promoted the issue. The amendment was not mentioned in his state of the union speech earlier this year. link

Why will this most likely backfire? 1) The vote is expected to fall short in the Senate, and 2) throwing some anti-gay rhetoric on the [brim]fire at this point in his term is even apparently “too-little-too-late” for the choir.

Of more concern: almost half of U.S. State Constitutions do or may soon ban same-sex marriage after November elections.

Also, gay rights worldwide.