links for 2010-03-06

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links for 2010-03-05

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links for 2010-03-04

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  • Americans are historically a tough lot. But the policies and rhetoric of the Bush-Cheney years, which set the tone for the current GOP attacks, are infantilizing: be very afraid, we're told, and let the government take care of you. The tough-guy bluster has led to a permanent state of anxiety—and a slew of counterproductive policies, from harsh visa restrictions to waterboarding. Our politicians rail about apocalyptic threats while TSA officers pat down toddlers at the airport. The irony is that many potentially lethal terror attacks—from United Flight 93 to Richard Reid to the underwear bomber—have been foiled by regular citizens. The aim of terrorists is to make people feel powerless and afraid. Un-fortunately, not every plot will be foiled. But if that's the standard we and our leaders set for ourselves, we are doomed to perpetuate dumb policies that flow from irrational fears. Just what the terrorists want.
  • In 2008, 14,180 Americans were murdered, according to the FBI. In that year, there were 34,017 fatal vehicle crashes in the U.S. and, so the U.S. Fire Administration tells us, 3,320 deaths by fire. More than 11,000 Americans died of the swine flu between April and mid-December 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; on average, a staggering 443,600 Americans die yearly of illnesses related to tobacco use, reports the American Cancer Society; 5,000 Americans die annually from food-borne diseases; an estimated 1,760 children died from abuse or neglect in 2007; and the next year, 560 Americans died of weather-related conditions, according to the National Weather Service, including 126 from tornadoes, 67 from rip tides, 58 from flash floods, 27 from lightning, 27 from avalanches, and 1 from a dust devil.

links for 2010-03-03

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links for 2010-03-02

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  • 4000 AD is a unique game of strategy set two thousand years in the future, when men have spread to the planets of other stars hundreds of light-years from the earth. An interstellar conflict between worlds is its subject. The concept of star travel by hyper-space is the basis of its unique playing character. 4000 AD is pure strategy of movement, with no chance element. Two to four players may play independently or in alliance with others.
    (tags: games scifi)
  • 4000 AD is a science fiction game set 2000 years into the future. Players maneuver fleets of ships in an attempt to conquer the known galaxy.
    (tags: games scifi)

links for 2010-02-28

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links for 2010-02-27

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  • <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Kg8HFQ1xP4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Kg8HFQ1xP4&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
    (tags: movies humour)

links for 2010-02-26

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  • Madam, – As an Irish citizen who travels extensively in the course of my work, I am very concerned about the fraudulent use of Irish passports. I have long experience of the ready welcome that an Irish passport receives in many corners of the world. This welcome is now being threatened by the use of fraudulent Irish passports by those suspected of murdering Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. There is a strong prima facie case against Israel: Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was seen as an enemy by Israel; Israel has engaged in foreign assassinations before; Israel has used forged third-country passports in other such operations; and no forged passports from Israel’s closest ally (the United States) were used. Clearly, the perpetrators think that they can treat Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, and Australia with contempt.

links for 2010-02-21

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links for 2010-02-20

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  • How is it even possible that a Minister who slandered a political opponent and then swore a false statement in an affidavit before the High Court that he had not done so, could still remain in office? Because, in post-Ahern Irish politics, anything goes. No wonder the public have grown increasingly sick and tired of politics and politicians. It is apparent to me that, with the playing out of the O’Dea affair, we have arrived at a point that the 20th-century American writer Jean Toomer described most aptly. He said that acceptance of prevailing standards often means that we have no standards of our own. The prevailing standards the Government is operating off in Irish politics are those of Bertie Ahern. The result is that the current Fianna Fáil party has no standards. They do have one guiding principle remaining: blind loyalty to party colleague, come what may.

links for 2010-02-19

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links for 2010-02-18

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  • Ubisoft's New PC DRM Really Requires Net Access, Ends Game If Disconnected by Chris Faylor Feb 17, 2010 3:20pm CST Ubisoft wasn't kidding when it said that its new digital rights management technique mandates "an active Internet connection to play the game, for all game modes." Advance copies of the first two games to embrace the new solution--Assassin's Creed II PC and The Settlers 7 PC--recently arrived at PC Gamer, leading to the discovery that the games automatically shut down if temporarily disconnected from the Internet. In the case of Assassin's Creed II PC, a single-player game, players will lose any progress since the last checkpoint in the event that they briefly lose their connection to Ubisoft's master servers, be it because of client-side or server-side issues.

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