Just in case you're living under a rock...
Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Caught on tape From MoveOn.org
It's funny what Republican pundits say when they think nobody's watching. Today, John McCain's former campaign chief Mike Murphy and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan were caught on tape after an NBC interview. They shared their real thoughts on McCain's judgment in selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Noonan asked, "The most qualified? No." She called the selection of Palin "political bullshit." Murphy called McCain's selection gimmicky and cynical. The video and transcript are below. This is a breaking story today—it's on many top blogs and is climbing the YouTube charts.
The transcript's below.
-Marika & the MoveOn Facebook team
TRANSCRIPT:
Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work.
Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It's over.
Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.
NBC's Chuck Todd: Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)
Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.
Murphy: They're all bummed out.
Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?
Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.
Murphy: I totally agree.
Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it.
Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.
Rest In Peace, Don LaFontaine
Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Voice-over king LaFontaine dead at 68
Don LaFontaine, who voiced more than 5,000 movie trailers during a career that saw him dubbed "The King of Voiceovers," has died in Los Angeles, his agent confirmed Tuesday. He was 68.
LaFontaine died in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre on Monday from complications caused by an ongoing lung-related illness after being admitted to the facility in late August.
The voice actor was best known for his catchphrase used on several trailers that began with the words "In a world where..."
Among movies that LaFontaine provided the voice for were "The Elephant Man," "Batman Returns," "The Terminator" and "Dr Strangelove."
As well as his trailer work, LaFontaine is believed to have voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including advertisements for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonald's and Coke.
LaFontaine is survived by his wife and three children.
You Can Help.
Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 Today, the thoughts of the world are with those in the path of Hurricane Gustav. Although it seems that the damage of Gustav's angry hand will not be as great as the tragedy three years ago, there will still be damage. In this time of tragedy, it is important that you support organizations like the American Red Cross. If you can't afford to donate money, at least you can spread the word to those who can. Tell your friends, family, coworkers ... and make a difference.
125,000 Western Lowland Gorillas Found!
Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 From CNN.com
More than 100,000 rare gorillas found in Congo Researchers feared only around 50,000 Western lowland gorillas left worldwide
(CNN) -- An estimated 125,000 Western lowland gorillas are living in a swamp in equatorial Africa, researchers reported Tuesday, double the number of the endangered primates thought to survive worldwide.
"It's pretty astonishing," Hugo Rainey, one of the researchers who conducted the survey for the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society, told CNN Tuesday.
The last census on the species, carried out during the 1980s, estimated that there were only 100,000 of the gorillas left worldwide. Since then, the researchers estimated, the numbers had been cut in half.
WCS survey teams conducted the research in 2006 and 2007, traveling to the remote Lac Tele Community Reserve in northern Republic of Congo, a vast area of swamp forest.
Acting on a tip from hunters who indicated the presence of gorillas, Rainey said that the researchers trekked on foot through mud for three days to the outskirts of Lac Tele, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the nearest road.
"When we went there, we found an astonishing amount of gorillas," said Rainey, speaking from the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Though researchers did spot some gorillas, they based their estimate on the number of gorilla nests found at the site, Rainey said. Each gorilla makes a nest to sleep in at night.
"This is the highest-known density of gorillas that's ever been found," Rainey said.
Western lowland gorillas are listed as critically endangered, the highest threat category for a species. Their populations are declining rapidly because of hunting and diseases like ebola hemorrhagic fever, whose symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding.
While the discovery in northern Congo indicates that the gorilla population remains stable in some areas, it is likely that gorillas will remain critically endangered because the threats facing the species are so great, Rainey said.
RIP Don Davis, 1942-2008
Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 That Was S...G...1! Accomplished character actor Don Davis died on June 29th of a massive heart attack, he was 65. Davis appeared in over 100 projects, most notably as Major Garland Briggs in Twin Peaks and as General George Hammond in over 160 episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Davis also appeared as Captain William Scully, Dana Scully's father, on The X Files. Davis was a fantastic actor, and I count myself among his many fans. Rest in peace, Don Davis ... you will be greatly missed.
A new supercomputer code-named "Roadrunner" is being touted as the world's fastest machine so far. Designed and built by IBM, this super computer, costing nearly $100 million, can operate at 1 petaflop per second, which is equivalent to one thousand trillion calculations per second.
This makes it twice as fast as the reigning "numero uno" aka IBM's Blue Gene system at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Again, Blue Gene is nearly three times faster than top contenders on the current 'top 500 supercomputers' list.
Additionally, "Roadrunner" is also billed to be the world's first hybrid supercomputer. Interestingly, it has been designed using components originally designed for video game platforms such as the Sony Playstation 3. "Roadrunner" operates on open-source Linux software, works in conjunction with x86 processors from AMD, and has 80 terabytes of memory.
"Roadrunner" will be primarily used at a US government laboratory to monitor the US nuclear weapons stockpile. It will also find use in research in the fields of astronomy, energy, human genome science, and climate change.
No Hair, No Job.
Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008 A ridiculous case out of Toronto, Canada that will probably be getting a lot of press in coming days.
From Yahoo! Canada News: Waitress loses job after shaving head for cancer charity Thu Jun 5, 9:49 PM
TORONTO (CBC) - A 36-year-old waitress at an Owen Sound, Ont., restaurant lost her job this week after she shaved her head to raise money for a cancer charity.
Stacey Fearnall raised more than $2,700 for the charity Cops for Cancer, a local fundraiser for cancer research.
Then the 36-year-old waitress at Nathaniels restaurant was laid off when she showed up for work earlier this week with her newly shorn look.
Up until a week ago, Fearnall had long red locks, but she said she made the decision to have her head shaved because she has a friend battling cancer and she lost her father to the disease.
"I felt like this was a pretty easy thing for me to do to raise money to help people," she told CBC News on Thursday.
She said she told her bosses what she was planning to do, but when she arrived at work at the restaurant practically bald, she said they sent her home and told her she wasn't welcome back.
"'We'll call it a layoff.' That's what he said," Fearnall said her boss told her. "'Spend the summer with your kids.' I call it losing my job."
