Dowbrigade

Don’t you wish there had been a sign in your neighborhood
warning that your next door neighbors had a thrash-rock band called "Ritual
Sacrifice" that practiced every night at midnight, before you rented the
place?

If so, then you will enjoy these "Evil Icons" hazard warning signs…

As I write this, the US men’s national soccer team, ranked
#9 in the world over more than 180 other national sides on our soccer-mad
orb, is playing the reigning world champion and ultimate artistes of
the sport, Brazil, in the semi-finals
of the prestigious Gold Cup.

Try as I may, with my full-service, $125 per month, 500 channel service
from Comcast, I cannot watch this game. Where are America’s soccer
fans?

It’s not that there is no soccer on TV tonight.  Both
the Boston Breakers and the New England Revolution, our local women’s
and men’s pro teams, are on.  But crimmeny, any real fan will tell
you that you don’t watch your club team if the national side is on.  And
any chance to see Brazil in action, even if they did send their under-23
team, is worth the wait.

How come there are 15 million kids playing soccer in the US, we are
ranked in the world top ten, we can put 50,000 people in Gillette or
RFK stadium, and yet nobody sees fit to televise the national team against
the world champs?  If I have any readers outside of the US, this
must seem truly mad.  As am I…….

"Executive Order 12333 — United States intelligence activities:

2.11 Prohibition on Assassination. No person employed by or acting on
behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire
to engage in, assassination."

An
AP wire story says that the killing of Odai and Qusai Hussein
violates this Executive Order banning assassinations.  Eugene
Volokh has a thing or two to say about that….

From
the Volokh Conspiracy

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is back from a brief hiatus with an explanation of his absence and an intensified bent for nihilistic bombast.

"The Rumsfield-Cheney axis has self-destructed right in front of our
eyes, along with the once-proud Perle-Wolfowitz bund that is turning
to wax. They somehow managed to blow it all, like a gang of kids on a
looting spree, between January and July, or even less. It is genuinely
incredible. The U.S. Treasury is empty, we are losing that stupid, fraudulent
chickencrap War in Iraq, and every country in the world except a handful
of Corrupt Brits despises us. We are losers , and that is the one unforgiveable
sin in America."

from
ESPN

Field Guide to Spam

Compiled by Dr. John Graham-Cumming, a leading anti-spam
researcher and member of the ActiveState Anti-Spam Task Force, the ActiveState
Field Guide to Spam is a selection of the tricks spammers use to hide
their messages from filters, providing examples taken from real-world
spam messages

link to Spammer’s Tricks

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Personal information about the 19-year-old
woman who accused Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant of rape has spilled
onto the Internet, dragging her into the spotlight despite pleas from family
members and authorities to respect her privacy.

from Reuters