Saintless

From the spirit of John Lennon comes an announcement that the War on Terror is over.

Sir Ken Macdonald said terrorist fanatics were not soldiers fighting a war but simply members of an aimless “death cult.”

The Director of Public Prosecutions said: ‘We resist the language of warfare, and I think the government has moved on this. It no longer uses this sort of language.”

London is not a battlefield, he said.

“The people who were murdered on July 7 were not the victims of war. The men who killed them were not soldiers,” Macdonald said. “They were fantasists, narcissists, murderers and criminals and need to be responded to in that way.”

America, do you want it?

Tags: peace, United Kingdom

Alt: Never bring tequila to a key-signing party.

So, remember this tonight, and be a responsible drinker as you ring in the New Year. Or stay home and know you’re safe like I’m probably going to wind up doing. Then you don’t have to be responsible, right? Hmmm….

Iowa Watch Party at HQ
The first primary of the 2008 presidential election is kicking off this Thursday, January 3 in Iowa. Bring your family and friends, and join Barack Obama staff and supporters at the Utah Headquarters and watch history happen live!

We will be gathering starting at 6 PM, and we expect news of the election results to begin coming in at 7 PM and continue throughout the evening while we cheer Senator Obama on from here in Utah. We’e working on getting a staffer or two to call and tell us on speakerphone what is going on, and how much energy they are seeing.

Feel free to bring a snack or drinks to share, but please join us either way.

We’ll be watching on the tv in the gathering area, as well as on the projector in the meeting room.

You can sign up here.

Elko, Nevada trip for Caucus
I’m coordinating trips for people who want to go to Elko, NV to volunteer the weekend of their caucus (January 19). Details can be found here. Make sure you give me your contact information, so I can help you find a carpool (or help carpoolers find you if you’re driving), as well as work on housing.

Photo Shoot
We’re planning on taking photos of Obama supporters here in Utah to send in to the campaign on the afternoon of January 1. We’ll be using the “Utah for Obama” flag that Janet Lee made, and trying to make sure we give the photo a distinctive “Utah” theme, to show the support that we have here. If you’d like to be a part of this, please let me know, and I’ll get you the details as soon as they are finalized. Also, if you have photos of any event that we’ve done and haven’t sent them to me in the past, please email them directly to me. I’m including it in the collection of photos from the past year, and passing some of them on to Chicago, as well.

Cartoon
Here is a cartoon from Mark Rothacher from earlier this week:

Iowa Staffers Coming to Utah
You’ve probably heard the Iowa Staffers are coming here to Utah after this Thursday, to stay until our primary on February 5. We still don’t have housing, though! If you’ve got an extra room that you’d be willing to let one of them use, please let Aaron know. I have a bed that I can let them use, if someone has a room with no bed. We will also have Nevada Staffers coming here after January 19. Every little bit helps, so if you’ve got something available for part of that time, but not all, please talk to Aaron at (801) 803-0647.

Register to Vote By Mail
January 7 is the deadline to visit Utah’s Election web site, and download either the regular registration form or the vote by mail form and get it mailed in. You can also pick up copies at HQ.

Help at the Office
If you can come down to the office to help with phone calls or anything else that needs done, call Aaron at (801) 803-0647. He needs to make sure someone is there from 9 am to 9 pm daily through the primary. We’re also still in need of a couple of computers.

According to Mark of Boing Boing, the TSA has discovered that lithium batteries are about to become more dangerous on January 1, 2008 than they have been in the past, but apparently only if they’re spare. Installed batteries don’t seem to pose much threat.

He posted a handy-dandy little chart to help you figure out what’s ok, and what’s not. If only he could sort out the logic.

Here’s what the TSA has to say about batteries:

Lithium-ion batteries, often found in laptop computers, differ from primary lithium batteries, which are often used in cameras. Some newer AA-size batteries are also primary lithium.

While there is no explosion hazard associated with either kind of battery, the Federal Aviation Administration has studied fire hazards associated with both primary and lithium-ion cells, and their extensive research is publicly available. As a result of this research, the FAA no longer allows large, palletized shipments of these batteries to be transported as cargo on passenger aircraft.

The research also shows that an explosion will not result from shorting or damaging either lithium-ion or primary lithium batteries. Both are, however, extremely flammable. Primary lithium batteries cannot be extinguished with firefighting agents normally carried on aircraft, whereas lithium-ion batteries are easily extinguished by most common extinguishing agents, including those carried on board commercial aircraft.

TSA has and will continue to work closely with the FAA on potential aviation safety and security issues, and TSA security officers are thoroughly and continually trained to find explosive threats. TSA does not have plans to change security regulations for electronic devices powered by lithium batteries.

I’m not really certain what they’re saying there – something about non-explosive lithium batteries having something to do with TSA explosive threats. Not that we really need to understand anything except…

The terrorists are coming! The terrorists are coming!

Tags: terrorists, TSA

Alt: Clearance for this Sign: 11 Feet

Today’s comic calls for one of my favorite classic rock songs:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic90R6ZNaIM&rel=1]

Some of my favorite signs:

And my favorite coffee shop sign:

Next Thursday is Iowa’s primary. I can’t believe it’s here already! Anyway, after that, Senator Obama’s campaign will be sending a few staffers here to Utah from Iowa. And they are going to need housing until our primary on February 5.

After Nevada’s primary on January 19th, there will be even more staffers who will need housing until February 5.

If you or anyone you know can help by providing housing for Iowa and/or Nevada Obama staffers please call Aaron at the Utah headquarters at (801) 803-0647. Housing would preferably be in the Salt Lake City area so that these staffers could get to and from the Obama Utah office on 900 West and about 1700 South with ease.

We also need help staffing Obama Headquarters from 9 am to 9 pm daily through the primary. Again, Aaron would be the person to call if you’d like to help.

Tags: presidential primary, volunteers

Alt: Family going to bed at 10 PM is so much worse than jet lag.

Many of you have probably given time, money and effort to help those in need over the last year, and because many of those people don’t ever get a chance to say “thank you”, please allow me. When I was little, about the time I was 8, my mother converted to become a Jehovah’s Witness, so there were no more Christmases for me until I became an adult. However, one of the last Christmases we did celebrate, when I was 5 or 6, I remember that our Christmas food and gifts were given to us by some sort of charity. I have no idea what group it might have been through, but as an adult with children, I look back to that time, and I’m very appreciative of what those strangers did for my family. So, thank you to every one of you who have shared your good fortune and good will with children and families like mine was 25 years ago.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Or Happy Holidays for those of different belief. May peace be with each of you, your families and your communities.

God bless.

Tags: Christmas

Scylla, of Straight Dope, decided to answer the question of “Is Waterboarding Torture?” for himself. Here’s a hint of his description of what waterboarding is like:

Here’s what happened:

The water fills the hole in the saran wrap so that there is either water or vaccum in your mouth. The water pours into your sinuses and throat. You struggle to expel water periodically by building enough pressure in your lungs. With the saran wrap though each time I expelled water, I was able to draw in less air. Finally the lungs can no longer expel water and you begin to draw it up into your respiratory tract.

It seems that there is a point that is hardwired in us. When we draw water into our respiratory tract to this point we are no longer in control. All hell breaks loose. Instinct tells us we are dying.

I have never been more panicked in my whole life. Once your lungs are empty and collapsed and they start to draw fluid it is simply all over. You [b]know[b] you are dead and it’s too late. Involuntary and total panic.

There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It would be like telling you not to blink while I stuck a hot needle in your eye.

At the time my lungs emptied and I began to draw water, I would have sold my children to escape. There was no choice, or chance, and willpower was not involved.

I never felt anything like it, and this was self-inflicted with a watering can, where I was in total control and never in any danger.

And I understood.

Waterboarding gets you to the point where you draw water up your respiratory tract triggering the drowning reflex. Once that happens, it’s all over. No question.

Seriously, read the whole thing.

(h/t Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing)

Tags: torture, waterboarding

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdCUdR8qNF4&rel=1&border=1]

If you’re shopping with your own credit card, and a cop comes up and tries to arrest you for using a stolen credit card, do you think a reasonable response would be to put your hands in the air, while backing away and try to talk about it? C’mon, that’ NOT a reason to tase someone!

These aren’t isolated instances, anymore.

(h/t Sharon Weinberger of Wired Danger Blog)

Tags: taser

Alt: “He’s just jealous because everyone’s up in the attic listening to Stephen Colbert.”

This one just about killed me! Go Writer’s Guild!

[Update] Craig41 of The Side Track tells us The Daily Show and Colbert Report will be back Jan. 7th, sort of.

[Update 2] Stephen Colbert has been chosen as the AP celebrity of the Year.

In receiving this award, I am pleased that I was chosen over two great spinners of fantasy — J.K. Rowling and Al Gore. It is truly an honor to be named the Associated Press’ Celebrity of the Year. Best of all, this makes me the official front-runner for next year’s Drug-Fueled Downward Spiral of the year. P.S. Look for my baby bump this spring!

Tags: Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Writer's Guild