Cult of Rodent's topics - tribe.net

mpyre campout - oct 17-19 - apocaLIPS update!

jenkaybird — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:04:20 GMT

***due to the esclating fires in our original location, we have changed the location - here is the text that is heading out to everyone - lets start posting everywhere!!!! we need to fix the flier and that is being done as we speak, but here is the relevant info - the webpage should be updated in the next day or so for everyone to secure their spot - if you arent concerned about camping in the group area, just book your sites now at the fremont peak state park website (see below)

Who: m-pyre, the Monterey Bay Regional Burning Man group

What: A three day campout to get our community together, relive our burn, create new memories, have a lot of fun and come together as a community

When: October 17-19

Where: Fremont Peak State Park http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=564

Why: Silly rabbit, tricks are for everyone!

There is a main community area that is the group campsite for Fremont Peak State Park, this is where the music and all main activities will be taking place. There is limited camping room at the group site. Camping at the group site will be limited to the first 25 people that pay to camp there. Everyone else will need to book their own campsite at the park, those sites are 11$ a night and can fit up to eight people per site.

Ticket and group site camping: 15$ per person
Ticket only, camping NOT included: 10$ per person

Ticket sales at www.mpyreburn.com (website should be up in about 24hours)

All fees go to pay for the campsite and associated administrative fees for this event and future m-pyre events, such as the upcoming 2nd Annual m-pyre Day at the Beach event on December 6th!

For more information about that event, please click here

*Remember all federal, state and local laws apply

*No refunds

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact m-pyre at monterey@burningman.com

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Con-X-Treme

CCorsair — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:45:15 GMT

Check this out .. this one packing con the look like its going to be a place to be this weekend.

http://www.con-x-treme.com/

Con-X-Treme
July 27-29, 2007
Doubletree Hotel
205 Gateway Place
San Jose, Ca 95110
The Gathering of Warriors

plus as part of the convention

Con-X-Treme presents
2007 X-TREME CHALLENGE
WHERE BAY AREA WARRIORS GATHER TO COMPETE
http://www.con-x-treme.com/xtreme.html

The Art show and contest as well
http://www.con-x-treme.com/art.html

I would think you love this con Rodent.

CC

posted in Cult of Rodent - 8 replies

i love rodent!

tank — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:24:18 GMT

that's all.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

rodent inspired: putting the eek in geek

squeeky — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 01:21:20 GMT

well i've been putting the squeek in geek for awhile now,

but i was thinking about the KY part.

i'm working on a tag line: putting the KY in squeeKY.

hehehee. that sounds very dirty. ;)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Itty Bitty DUSTY Club Tonight

burner_rodent — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 02:07:06 GMT

The Itty Bitty Creepy Club is back again for a night of deliciously dark decadence with just a pinch of Dust, Playa Dust that is.

Void and Xian did a great job in my absence at Burningman.I'm back and still covered in alkali dust but ready to spin some creepy strangeness along side Void.

So come on by and hang out at the tinyest, sillyest, goth club in the Bay Area. We open the crypt doors at 9:00pm and shoo you all back to your coffins by 2:00am. Not only is the pool table free, but so is the enterance fee. Oh, and be sure to try the World Famous Green Gopher...

The NEW, New Jury Room
712 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-426-7120
21+ FREE (NO COVER)

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Itty Bitty Creepy Club + Benefit + B-day

burner_rodent — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 20:33:53 GMT

The Itty Bitty Creepy Club is back once again for another night of social and musical oddities. Wednesday Sept 23rd (and every Wednesdays) we creatures of the night will be decending upon The Jury Room in Santa Cruz and do what we do best, drink and chat.

There will be a tiny changeroo as Void is down in SoCal for Bats Day this week so the void left by, um, Void will be filled by Tristan. I'll be off to that crazy thang out in the desert next week so do please come down for "Void's Big Night Out" on the 30th and see who ends up filling in for moi.

Also, this week is your last chance to help me get my ass to the Black Rock so I'll literally passing the hat around for any donations you might be able to spare. I'm terribly poor and still need to purchase some last minute supplies (poppa needs some brand new boots) so any assistance will be apreciated.

One last thing, this Wednesday is Keri's B-day so you may see a bunch of the Santa Cruz Vampires strutting around in their moto leathers. Don't worry, they don't bite... hard... :)

So come on by and hang out at the tinyest, sillyest, goth club in the Bay Area. We open the crypt doors at 9:00pm and shoo you all back to your coffins by 2:00am. Not only is the pool table free, but so is the enterance fee. Oh, and be sure to try the World Famous Green Gopher...

The NEW, New Jury Room
712 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-426-7120
21+ FREE (NO COVER)

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Wow

burner_rodent — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:54:54 GMT

One of the cooler flash animations I've seen in a while. Very inventive expecially if you know a little about creating flash animations.

www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/animator

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

now todd need's rodent's number

red_wat — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 21:49:35 GMT

rodent, what's your ph number or call todd of todd and gingersnap!

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

anybody have rodent's phone number? or know where he is

red_wat — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:09:28 GMT

he has itty britty's purse and she can't buy a bus ticket home without her money and i.d.

please contact me or nurse lisa if you can help
thanks!

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Monty Python... In Lego

burner_rodent — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 23:49:18 GMT

http://www.break.com/index/montylego.html

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

More Movie Reviews

burner_rodent — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 20:43:20 GMT

Spiderman 2

One word: Good

Quite entertaining. Overall, a fun film. Lot's of little flaws though.

The good: Whoooooly crap, DOC FRIGG"N OCK!!! Just nailed it. Only after seeing the special feature did I know that the tentacles where a mix of CG and live pupeteering. Blended perfectly. BRUCE FRIGG"N CAMPBELL. Cameo but it's always good to see Brucie. Though, I think he would have been better in a different cameo (all I gotta say is CHAINSAW. You'll know it when you see it). The Train Fight. Sure, it was almost all CG, but damn!!! Kirsten Dunst, looking cute as ever.

The Bad: Could we have a little MORE long closeup shots of Tobey Maguire looking forlorned? Loosing your superpowers because you've lost your self confidence... come-ON, sheez. Severe LACK of special features on the DVD (they must all be on the 2nd disc not included with the netflix rent).

**********
Batman Begins

One word: Fantastic

Better than Burtons' first Batman in almost every way. Perfect in almost every way. This is THE Batman we've been waiting for. Badass, realistic, depth, dark, logical.

The Good: FX, flawless. Sets, beautiful. Plot, well thought out. Cast, almost perfect.

The Bad: well, barely anything bad. I don't think Christian Bale was a good choice to play Bats and unfotunitely even though every other character was well cast, they are all playing themselves.

Overall: Damn fine.

**********
Lost in Translation

One word: Fluff

But good fluff. It's cute, in a good way. Nothing really profound happens, the movie just kinda drifts along as if a dream, but it's a good dream. A few giggles, some beautifull shots, quite a few nice quiet moments, some light contrasts between American and Japanese cultures, but again, nothing profound. Both Scarlette and Bill do well here even though there wasn't much in the way of acting that needed to happen. Not much streaching here, but you won't notice.

It's a delicate cream puff that is as much joy to consume as to rememeber the taste of, just lacking in substinative nutrition, but not in a horrible way.

---
rodent (putting the eek in gee)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

We went to BaGG

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 16:39:21 GMT

What did Rodent do in culturally rich red neck Sacramento?
Enquiring minds do not give a fuck.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Movie Reviews

burner_rodent — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:52:30 GMT

The first batch of netflix... um, flix came in, were watched, here's my opinion.

**********
George Romero's "Land of the Dead"

Surprisingly predictable, yet surprisingly subtle, yet surprisingly bland. Georgie has directed three of the most interesting films in the last 40 years. "Night of the Living Dead" created a sense of claustrophobia, dread, disconnect while the world may be ending feeling, as well as having one of the first films to have an honorable black lead, "Dawn of the Dead" made such sublime comment on american consumerism while "Day of the Dead" showed how "we" can be our own enemy.

"Land of the Dead" tries to be as loftly and fails. Much is due to the script that tries to do to much with too much. Too many angles, too many characters, not enough build up. There are a number of interesting concepts brought up but none of them are fully or satisfingly executed. I'd go into details but I'd rather not type that long. To put it this way, there are three betrayals in the film (well, only two really, but the one fake betrayal that is so predictablly utilized that I won't be spoiling anything by mentioning it) and none of them are built up enough. The first, just barely given enough to sustain itself, the second (the fake one) no developement, the third, completely out of the blue. Actually, there is a fourth, but it's so "main character", so glaciated into the plot that it's almost not worth mentioning, ecept for (again), not built up enough.

Good things. Performances. John Leguizamo, who unfortunitely is playing John Leguizamo. Dennis Hopper, also playing Dennis Hopper. Asia Argento, cute and plays her character well but could have been completely cut from the film without notice. Sadly she seemed to be just the T&A. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (starred in and wrote "Shaun of the Dead") in an iinteresting cameo but you'll have to see the special features to see where.. (Simon even wears a tie, just not a red one).
Eugene Clark, frigg'n Eugene Clark rules... and he's a zombie!!! He's THE zombie. Eugene showes more emotional range than most of the characters in this film. FX, well done, but in the popcorn kinda way. Unfortunitely, as pretty as they are (in the gross sorta way) the FX don't add much to the story.

Overall, it's chewing gum, gum that you've been chewing for a while. You like the memory of the flavor but what you're chewing now is bland. Yet, there is still a hint of flavor left. Unless you're a hard core horror fan and must see anything that Romero breathes on, I probably wouldn't bother.

**********
Tim Burton's "Charley and the Chocolate Factory"

This is why Burton needs to just be locked up in the art department and not allowed to direct.

Whoooh, what a mess. I am amazed at how creepy Timmy made this film. Mind you, I like creepy, but this was creepy in an unenjoyable way. Mind you, I am colored by the original 1971 Mel Stuart production, but this film is also colored by it, in a bad way. To may odes to the original, not enough mirth. I liked the original for it's inspiration to creativity but this... this... um, I don't know what to say. It almost casts a negative light on creativity.

In it's defense, I will say that it's touching on family values (as forced as it is) are probably the best scenes in the film. Depp's performance is interesting, showing his range (if you didn't already know that he has range that is), Freddie Highmore as Charley does a great job potraying the wide eyed youngster. Helena Bonham Carter showes a warmth I haven't seen in a while and Deep Roy proves yet again that he's the hardest working little person in show business today.

The FX are boring, practically vanilla, and tend to overshadow what they are meant to express.

Overall, it's not bad, it's just not good either.

**********
"Good Night, and Good Luck. "
Grant Heslov and George Clooney

Wow. Seriously... WOW!!!

Go rent this at your earliest opportunity. Nothing i could type will give this film (and I mean "film") justice. It's a film that you have to pay attention to.

The contrasts to our modern media are staggeringly sad. It almost depresses me that the only place to look to for as hard hitting news is "The Daily Show" (and it tends to go for the fart jokes).

See this film. Thank me later.

**********
Bonus: "The Boondock Saints" on TBS (tv channel)

AAAAAARRRRGGGGG!!!

OK... ok... **sigh**

For one, I can't believe that TBS broadcast this instead of some other 'safe' move like "Commando" or "Any Chuck Norris or Stephen Segal flick". Just because they have the same acronym (TBS, The Boondock Saints, get it...)... holy FUCK, I haven't seen a movie chopped up that badly in a long time. Seriously. I don't mind the dropping out of sound for whatever cuss word is being said. I often don't care if they overdub a replacement of another word for whatever cuss word is being said. I also don't mind cutting short some extreemly violent scene like someone's eye popping out when their head is in a vice or shaving off a few seconds to remove the sqib burst (a squip is a fake blood packet and a small explosive charge used to simulate a bullet striking someone) from a gunfight scene. I can also understand removing a relatively inconcequential scene to fit a film's square peg running time into the round hole of 30 minute time blocks.

But FUCK!!They removed 3 scenes that were frigg'n PLOT POINTS. Scenes that made a logical connection from one scene to another. It's as if they only wanted to show the action sequences and didn't care if ther was a REASON that the characters where in the situation or at the place they were at.

**sigh**

I'll stop now.

Go rent "The Boondock Saints". It's brutal but interesting as well as entertaining.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

More Fcked up Sht from Robot Chicken

burner_rodent — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:54:06 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVTBY2H9bOw&search=robot%20chicken%20episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNtfmZofNlU&search=robot%20chicken%20episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_VBbfbM42Y&search=robot%20chicken
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-P2j7rAZxg&search=robot%20chicken%20episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-P2j7rAZxg&search=robot%20chicken%20episode

jsut a clip "Athiest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvyvWN0uwJ4&search=robot%20chicken
another clip "The Bible... EXTREEM!!!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKL-4F5pKPg&search=robot%20chicken

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Landed

burner_rodent — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:30:49 GMT

Landed safe and sound in Stockton. The house is now empty (save the puppy, kitty and me) and what do I wake up to? Jackhammers... right out front of the house. I look out the kitchen window and there's a frigg'n BACKHOE and a STEAM ROLLER!!!

So much for a quiet first week :/

Anyway, the fridge is stocked and I got them to upgrade my Runescape accout to "Member". If you haven't seen Runescape, check it out, it's a nifty online game and a huge chunk of the world is free. It kinda runs like Diablo but everything is skill based. It's also a jvery small ava applet that runs on pretty much any web browser www.runescape.com

Also, I got them to sign up for Netflix so expect a plethra of movie reviews over the next three weeks.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

... for Rodent (of unusual size)

John Michael — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 04:37:48 GMT

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/06/2221206

... now Rodent, I ask, while you may say "wow, that's pretty cool, in a weird bug-up-my-butt way," but the biggest question I have is: How come no one told me that my intestines were made by European researchers? That sounds like something that -- you know -- a person should, well, know, earlier rather than later.

Regards,

John

Faling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.fallingyou.com

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Rodent

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:40:43 GMT

Seemed like a good topic.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

One hell of a flying f*** at a rolling donut

darksails — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:18:19 GMT

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/Stardust_Mission_To_Rendezvous_January_15.html

Now THAT is hitting a moving target!

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Two Movie Reviews

burner_rodent — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 22:58:46 GMT

Aeon Flux

Two Words...

"Don't"
and
"Bother"

Seriously. Don't even wait for it to hit TNT. Go rent the cartoons instead. They were better and they didn't even have a frigg'n plot! The characters where uninteresting, the acting - boring, the love story - forced, even the fight scenes were dissapointingly bland. The only positive thing I can say about it is "nice sets", and that's sad. I wish I could say that it was a bad movie but it was much worse... it was a mediocre movie.

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

Most fun I've had in the theatre all year. Most entertaining movie I've seen for a while. Downy and Kilmer were just on it and brilliant. It was funny, sharply written, kept you guessing and had a couple of great surprizes. Definitely worth your time and effort to go find.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Spotted: One Shaven Rodent

severina — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 21:08:27 GMT

in today's headlines...

spotted yesterday afternoon on a bicycle near downtown Santa Cruz, Ca was a Rodent sans facial hair!

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Decent Larry Harvey Interview

burner_rodent — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:53:12 GMT

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3020968289748643958&q=burning-man

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Homestarrunner Costumes

burner_rodent — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 20:44:56 GMT

For the Homestarrunner fans, it's HR Costumes (with Strongbad comments)...

From a few years ago...
http://www.homestarrunner.com/costumes.html

and from this year...
http://www.homestarrunner.com/costumes05.html

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

A New King

burner_rodent — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:54:09 GMT

A group of people from the village came to a man whom they thought to be old and wise. They said to the man "Our village has no king. You are old and wise. Will you be our king?"

The old man replied "No, your village is unprotected. I will not be king to a village that cannot defend its self."

So the villagers returned and set about preparing defenses. they built a low wall around the village, had the blacksmith make a spear for every household, decreed that every Sunday that every able bodies person would train in the defense of the town for 1 hour.

The villagers returned to the old man and said "We have improved the defense of the village, will you now be our king?"

The old man replied, "No, your village has too much crime. I will not be king to a village that is so corrupt."

So the villagers rooted out the bribers, the thieves, and those who would not follow the simple laws of the village. A volunteer would patrol the village every night to keep watch over the village. A court was constructed to fairly hear each crime and a jail was built to house those who would not follow the few and simple laws.

The villagers returned to the old man and said, "We have solved our crime and treat everyone fairly under the law. Now will you be our king?"

The old man replied "No, you do not treat your poor well. I will not be king to a village who neglects the poor."

So the villagers returned to the village and set about helping the poor. They built a house for those who were to old and weak to work in the fields and gave them simple tasks to do. Those who were able to work were hired by the more afluent of the village and paid a good wage. Each of the poor would be given a small plot of land to work if he worked for a certain time. The whole village donated a small portion of their food to the poor house so that noone would go hungry.

The villagers returned to the old man and said, "We have helped the poor and given them the opportunity to prosper. Will you now be our king?"

The old man replied, "No, your village is too dirty. I will not be king to a village that does not care for its appearance."

So the villagers returned and set about beautifying their village. They made each farm and cottage responsible for the road in front. They were to remove any trash that might accumulate. The wine maker placed empty barrels in public places so that garbage would not be left on the ground. The village planted trees and flowers along the road so that it would be pleasing to the eye. They also painted many of the older buildings.

The villagers returned to the old man and said, "We have cleaned our village and made it to be prettier. Will you now be our king?"

The old man replied "No, you have not elected representatives. I will not be king to a village that has no representatives."

So the villagers held an election. They chose one person to represent each section of the village and they chose one person to represent each of the guilds. They also chose one person to represent the poor. They built a special hall where the representatives could meet and discuss things in a civil manner.

The villagers returned to the old man and said, "We have elected representatives. Will you now be our king."

The old man replied "No."

The villagers dumbfounded asked, "Why?"

The old man replied, "You have done well. You have provided defense for your village. You have solved your crime. You have provided for the poor. You have kept the village clean. You have elected people to represent you. You have done all these things very well but I will not be your king."

The villagers said "But we have done all that you asked. Why will you not be our king?"

The old man replied "Because you no longer need a king."

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

hey... WAIT...!

burner_rodent — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 18:26:16 GMT

Isn't the Vatican supposed to say dumb things about science? I mean... this is smart and, like, makes sense... but it's the um, Vatican!

(someone tell me I fell asleep and woke up in Superman's Bizaaro world...)

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051118/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_evolution
Vatican Official Refutes Intelligent Design

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
11/18/2005

VATICAN CITY - The
Vatican's chief astronomer said Friday that "intelligent design" isn't science and doesn't belong in science classrooms, the latest high-ranking Roman Catholic official to enter the evolution debate in the United States.

The Rev. George Coyne, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, said placing intelligent design theory alongside that of evolution in school programs was "wrong" and was akin to mixing apples with oranges.

"Intelligent design isn't science even though it pretends to be," the ANSA news agency quoted Coyne as saying on the sidelines of a conference in Florence. "If you want to teach it in schools, intelligent design should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science."

His comments were in line with his previous statements on "intelligent design" — whose supporters hold that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.

Proponents of intelligent design are seeking to get public schools in the United States to teach it as part of the science curriculum. Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism — a literal reading of the Bible's story of creation — camouflaged in scientific language, and they say it does not belong in science curriculum.

In a June article in the British Catholic magazine The Tablet, Coyne reaffirmed God's role in creation, but said science explains the history of the universe.

"If they respect the results of modern science, and indeed the best of modern biblical research, religious believers must move away from the notion of a dictator God or a designer God, a Newtonian God who made the universe as a watch that ticks along regularly."

Rather, he argued, God should be seen more as an encouraging parent.

"God in his infinite freedom continuously creates a world that reflects that freedom at all levels of the evolutionary process to greater and greater complexity," he wrote. "He is not continually intervening, but rather allows, participates, loves."

The Vatican Observatory, which Coyne heads, is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. It is based in the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome.

Last week,
Pope Benedict XVI waded indirectly into the evolution debate by saying the universe was made by an "intelligent project" and criticizing those who in the name of science say its creation was without direction or order.

Questions about the Vatican's position on evolution were raised in July by Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn.

In a New York Times column, Schoenborn seemed to back intelligent design and dismissed a 1996 statement by
Pope John Paul II that evolution was "more than just a hypothesis." Schoenborn said the late pope's statement was "rather vague and unimportant."

posted in Cult of Rodent - 5 replies

what goes on in the cult anyway?

squeeky — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 04:41:40 GMT

i just started a cult. well it's not mine. i just gathered the minions so they could worship. what do i do now that i made the koolaid?

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

where does one even _begin_?

John Michael — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 20:13:08 GMT

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/31/pastor.electrocuted.ap/index.html

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.fallingyou.com

posted in Cult of Rodent - 8 replies

... the only debate on ID worth having

John Michael — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:51:58 GMT

http://abstractfactory.blogspot.com/2005/10/only-debate-on-intelligent-design-that.html

Regards,

John, chuckling

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.fallingyou.com

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Set Phasers on.. Pastel!!!

burner_rodent — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:37:25 GMT

**shakes head again** just when I thought that tonight couldn't get wierder...

---
roent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051028/ap_on_en_tv/people_george_takei;_ylt=AmF28aIsb.zZ.MuwktcNTyus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

George Takei Discloses His Homosexuality
10/27/2005

LOS ANGELES - George Takei, best known for his role as Mr. Sulu in "Star Trek," came out as homosexual in the current issue of a magazine covering the Los Angeles gay and lesbian community.

Takei told The Associated Press on Thursday that his new onstage role as psychologist Martin Dysart in "Equus," helped inspire him to publicly discuss his sexuality.

Takei described the character as a "very contained but turbulently frustrated man." The play opened Wednesday at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Los Angeles, the same day that Frontiers magazine featured a story on Takei's coming out.

The current social and political climate also motivated Takei's disclosure, he said.

"The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay," he said. "The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young."

The 68-year-old actor said he and his partner, Brad Altman, have been together for 18 years.

Takei, a Japanese-American who lived in a U.S. internment camp from age 4 to 8, said he grew up feeling ashamed of his ethnicity and sexuality. He likened prejudice against gays to racial segregation.

"It's against basic decency and what American values stand for," he said.

Takei joined the "Star Trek" cast in 1966 as Hikaru Sulu, a character he played for three seasons on television and in six subsequent films. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986.

A community activist, Takei ran for the Los Angeles City Council in 1973. He serves on the advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program and is chairman of East West Players, the theater company producing "Equus."

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Suicide Mistaken for Halloween Decoration

burner_rodent — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 02:11:09 GMT

**shakes head** Sometimes I just love the holidays'...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051027/ap_on_re_us/brf_woman_hanged
Suicide Mistaken for Halloween Decoration
10/27/2005

FREDERICA, Del. - The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

The 42-year-old woman used rope to hang herself across the street from some homes on a moderately busy road late Tuesday or early Wednesday, state police said.

The body, suspended about 15 feet above the ground, could be easily seen from passing vehicles.

State police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham and neighbors said people noticed the body at breakfast time Wednesday but dismissed it as a holiday prank. Authorities were called to the scene more than three hours later.

"They thought it was a Halloween decoration," Fay Glanden, wife of Mayor William Glanden, told The (Wilmington) News Journal.

"It looked like something somebody would have rigged up," she said.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Umm...

SirCadillac — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 19:10:49 GMT

Where the fuck is our Rodent? And why is this tribe so dead?

---
cadillac

posted in Cult of Rodent - 7 replies

Rodent on the Playa?

severina — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:14:37 GMT

So we're not there, but he is...

what do you think Rodent's doing right now??

posted in Cult of Rodent - 11 replies

Stinky

wayanmaz — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 01:02:38 GMT

Dear Rodent,

I ran out of soap a couple weeks ago, and immediately ran to the computer and ordered two bars from you. I was already starting to smell pretty bad. Well, it's been quite awhile now since I've cleaned myself because no soap has arrived. I've lost all my friends, money and have developed a horrible skin condition that's worse than leprosy and smells horrid. Even the dog won't sniff my ass.

Please help.

MAZ

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

... I can't wait!

John Michael — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:38:53 GMT

... this is going to be _so_ good!

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2677821?htv=12

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you
** now available on iTunes **

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

I Never Find...

burner_rodent — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 22:27:35 GMT

...odd and disturbing things...

http://www.izpitera.ru/lj/tetka.swf

If she get's stuck, you can drag her around.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

Evil Theme Camp Benefit

TheMuse — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:14:38 GMT

Spike's Vampire Bar Theme Camp Benefit

Friday - August 19th
10pm - 2am
Hosted by Defiance at Club Caution
516 Front Street, Santa Cruz

Venture out this Friday night shrouded in your Vampiest attire and dance to dark dirges spun by some of the most infamous Santa Cruz Goth/Industrial DJs in support of you favorite evil playa bar! Your attendance at this dark affair will help offset the cost of substantial construction we have undertaken to heighten your Burning Man experience, including monolithic speaker-art installations and a 16ft round fire-spinning stage! Be sure to ask the bartender for Spike’s special vintage Blood Wine! For more information contact The Muse.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

... a bit geeky, but still very funny :-)

John Michael — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 20:44:25 GMT

SuperVillians -- your OS hath arrived:

http://mirror1.spikedhumor.com/1209/SwitchLinux.swf

Regards,

John, who actually really likes Linux (runs Debian on one box at home, uptime is 129 days so far)

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you
** now available on iTunes **

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

hmm

John Michael — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 16:49:27 GMT

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201686.html

... now, in our good (term used in the sophistic sense) president's defense, the comment about a person being impervious to an Ivy League education was a cheap shot. Also, i've no problem with Creationism / ID being taught in schools, as long as it's taught for what it is: a philosophical perspective, not a scientific one.

I can make any number of unfalsifiable claims (I can levitate elephants in my apartment with nothing but my bare hands, but I have to have my eyes closed, and no one can be watching, or it won't work), and i'll gladly teach anyone who wants to learn about them. If my claim that I can levitate elephants makes me more likely to treat my fellow human beings in a kind and respectful manner, then I have every right to tell the world about how you, too, can be a better person by realizing your innate ability to levitate elephants in your own apartment. However, these are philosophical claims; they aren't scientific unless they can be observed and proven, and should not be taught as such.

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you
** now available on iTunes **

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

What the HELL Was That?!?

burner_rodent — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 21:28:20 GMT

http://wimp.com/rubberjohnny

If I stop looking at it... it will go away...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

10,000 Superballs...

burner_rodent — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:57:09 GMT

...bouncing down the street in San Francisco. **shakes head** whatta these hippies think of next...

http://www.nwtekno.org/vb/showthread.php?s=4cd9d164b369d148a5cd00cac490598a&threadid=90746

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Mile Markers on the Road of Life

burner_rodent — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 20:45:33 GMT

Ya know, most of life is a slow greyscale of change, and ebb and flow of directions often without declarative boundaries. Sometimes, the changes are slight and aren't noticeable but there are times when you stop and realize "wow, things have really changed". This happend to me today. I had to go and get a new CA ID Card from the DMV. Filling it out, I had to pause and reflect for a moment.

Height: 5'8" Eyes: Blue. Hair; **sigh** GREY.

Fuck I'm gett'n old.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 9 replies

The Internet is for...

burner_rodent — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 16:43:59 GMT

This should be "work safe" but probably not 'work appropriate"

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/internet4porn

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Worked

burner_rodent — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 02:26:59 GMT

So our theme camps' work weekend ended up being WORK, I mean a lot of work. Fuck, I'm still tired. We didn't finish up till 8:00 last night and there's still a ton to do. At least they finished building the 1 story tall, observation platform that is so huge you could park a frigg'n car on it (and strong enough to holed it too).

If you don't mind, I think I'll just lye down here and groan for a while...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

It's Over, Break Out The Spaghetti

burner_rodent — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 15:14:26 GMT

Frigg'n cattle (pun intended), following whatever trend they hear, even if it's sugar coated crap. I still think it was all a conspiracy by the American Cardiologists Association to insure future growth...

The 'good' doctor died of a heart attack people!!! That should have told ya something!

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********

US bakers get a rise out of Atkins woes

08-02-2005

NEW YORK (AFP) - Signs that the low-carb food trend championed by the Atkins diet has run its course are being greeted with relief by some in the US food industry who had struggled with a market-shaking shift in eating habits.

The downturn in popularity of the once pervasive Atkins regimen was signalled Monday by the announcement that Atkins Nutritionals Inc. (ANI), the company founded by the late, low-carb pioneer Robert Atkins, had filed for bankruptcy protection.

ANI, which sells its low-carb products in more than 30,000 stores across the United States and Canada, said it would reorganise its business and focus its energy on its "core nutrition bar and shake portfolio."

For critics of the Atkins diet, which promotes the slimming benefits of eating high-fat, high-protein foods at the expense of carbohydrates, the underlying shift behind the bankruptcy move was a welcome one.

"As a nutritionist, I'm thrilled that this low-carb phase looks like it's dying out," said Lisa Sasson, a professor at New York University's Department of Nutrition and Public Health.

"I think people realised that the diet doesn't work properly, and that it's neither enjoyable nor healthy," Sasson said.

"Although people saw an initial weight loss, they soon plateaued or they missed carbohydrates so much that started to yo-yo," said Sasson, adding that the long-term benefits of the Atkins regimen had always been in doubt.

"It wasn't a research-based program. It was more of a business," she said. "If you try to turn science and nutrition into a business, it collapses if it's not based on good research with long-term results."

At the peak of its popularity two years ago, ANI claimed that about 25 million Americans were on the Atkins diet and nearly 100 million were adhering to some sort of "controlled carbohydrate" programme.

Observers believe its popularity started to wane after Atkins's death in April 2003, especially after a New York medical examiner's report found he had a history of congestive heart failure and hypertension.

Before then, however, the indications were that the high-protein diet was morphing from a fad into an entrenched nutritional regimen.

Demand for meat products surged and consumption of grain staples slumped so badly that leaders of the US bread industry convened an emergency summit at the end of 2003 to discuss strategy for countering what had become known as the "Atkins effect."

The summit in Providence, Rhode Island deliberated the results of a survey commissioned by the National Bread Leadership Council (NBLC), which found that 40 percent of US consumers were eating less bread than the year before.

Of those, 63 percent said they had cut back specifically to limit their daily carb intake.

"There were some companies that were crushed by Atkins," said Julie Somers, a spokeswoman for the bakery cafe company, Panera Bread, one of the NBLC's founders.

"But there's no doubt that the diet is on the wane now and not as many people are following it," Somers said.

Panera, a St Louis-based chain of nearly 800 bakery cafes in 35 states, said last week that its sales for the quarter ending July 12 were up 9.3 percent from a year ago.

Unlike some companies that were exclusively focused on bread and pasta products, Panera was able to weather the Atkins storm by expanding its menu with soups and salads.

"We did add a few low-carb breads and bagels as well, but to be honest they were never big sellers," Somers said.

"The fact is that people like bread. It plays an important part in people's lives and it's perfectly healthy," she added.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Another Friday...

burner_rodent — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 00:44:01 GMT

...and nothing to do.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

We're Placed!!!

burner_rodent — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 03:07:23 GMT

My theme camp at Burningman just got their placement. 9:30 and Center Camp Circle. Prime Frigg'n realestate.

Fuck we're gonna be busy this year...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 5 replies

They Came from Planet X

burner_rodent — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 01:54:00 GMT

Wow, it's been theorized that it existed (pertubations in Pluto's orbit) but the smart fuckers found it.

Now we just gotta wait for Rodan to be unfrozen...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4730061.stm
7-29-2005

Astronomers detect '10th planet'
By Dr David Whitehouse
Science Editor BBC news website

Planet 2003 UB313
The new planet is three times further away than Pluto
Astronomers have detected what they are calling the '10th planet' orbiting our Sun.

It is bigger than Pluto, the ninth planet, which is 2,250 km across, and was discovered by three US astronomers.

It is the largest object found in our Solar System since the discovery of Neptune in 1846.

The object, designated 2003 UB313, is currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto's average distance from the Sun.

It is in a peculiar orbit, unlike that of the other planets. Astronomers think that at some point in its history Neptune likely flung it into its highly inclined 44 degree orbit.

Bigger than Pluto

Its discoverers are Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.

David Rabinowitz told the BBC News website: "It has been a remarkable day and a remarkable year. 2003 UB313 is probably larger than Pluto. It is fainter than Pluto, but three times farther away.

"Brought to the same distance from the Sun as Pluto, it would be brighter. So today the world knows that Pluto is not unique. There are other Plutos, just farther out in the solar system where they are a little harder to find."

It was picked up using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory and the 8-metre Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea.

Chad Trujillo told the BBC News website: "I feel extremely lucky to be part of a discovery as exciting as this. It's not every day that you find something Pluto-sized or larger!"

"The spectra that we took at the Gemini Observatory are particularly interesting because it shows that the surface of 2003 UB313 is very similar to that of Pluto."

Slow mover

It was first seen 21 October 2003, but didn't see it move in the sky until looking at the same area 15 months later on 8 January 2005.

The researchers say they tried looking for it with the Spitzer Space Telescope which is sensitive to heat radiation, and didn't detect it.

This gives them an upper limit of its size of 3,000 km, they say. The lower limit still makes it larger than Pluto.

The discovery of 2003 UB313 comes just after the announcement of the finding of 2003 EL61, which appears to be a little smaller than Pluto.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

It's Just Wrong

burner_rodent — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 00:06:20 GMT

I don't know what it is... and I don't WANT to know.

*WARNING* not work safe.

http://www.davelog.com/mirror/internaut.jpg

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Gamespeak

burner_rodent — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 03:20:37 GMT

Gavin found this one for me...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********

*Hitler[AoE] has joined the game.*
*Eisenhower has joined the game.*
*paTTon has joined the game.*
*Churchill has joined the game.*
*benny-tow has joined the game.*
*T0J0 has joined the game.*
*Roosevelt has joined the game.*
*Stalin has joined the game.*
*deGaulle has joined the game.*
Roosevelt: hey sup
T0J0: y0
Stalin: hi
Churchill: hi
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
deGaulle: **** Hitler rushed some1 help
Hitler[AoE]: lol byebye frenchy
Roosevelt: i dont got crap to help, sry
Churchill: wtf the luftwaffle is attacking me
Roosevelt: get antiair guns
Churchill: i cant afford them
benny-tow: u n00bs know what team talk is?
paTTon: stfu
Roosevelt: o yah hit the navajo button guys
deGaulle: eisenhower ur worthless come help me quick
Eisenhower: i cant do **** til rosevelt gives me an army
paTTon: yah hurry the fock up
Churchill: d00d im gettin pounded
deGaulle: this is fockin weak u guys suck
*deGaulle has left the game.*
Roosevelt: im gonna attack the axis k?
benny-tow: with what? ur wheelchair?
benny-tow: lol did u mess up ur legs AND ur head?
Hitler[AoE]: ROFLMAO
T0J0: lol o no america im comin 4 u
Roosevelt: wtf! thats bull**** u ***s im gunna kick ur asses
T0JO: not without ur harbors u wont! lol
Roosevelt: u little biotch ill get u
Hitler[AoE]: wtf
Hitler[AoE]: america hax, u had depression and now u got a huge fockin army
Hitler[AoE]: thats bull**** u hacker
Churchill: lol no more france for u hitler
Hitler[AoE]: tojo help me!
T0J0: wtf u want me to do, im on the other side of the world retard
Hitler[AoE]: fine ill clear you a path
Stalin: u arsshoel! WE HAD A FoCKIN TRUCE
Hitler[AoE]: i changed my mind lol
benny-tow: haha
benny-tow: hey ur losing ur guys in africa im gonna need help in italy soon sum1
T0J0: o **** i cant help u i got my hands full
Hitler[AoE]: im 2 busy 2 help
Roosevelt: yah thats right biznitch im comin for ya
Stalin: church help me
Churchill: like u helped me before? sure ill just sit here
Stalin: dont be an arss
Churchill: dont be a commie. oops too late
Eisenhower: LOL
benny-tow: hahahh oh **** help
Hitler: o man ur focked
paTTon: oh what now biotch
Roosevelt: whos the cripple now lol
*benny-tow has been eliminated.*
benny-tow: lame
Roosevelt: gj patton
paTTon: thnx
Hitler[AoE]: eisenhower hax hes killing all my ****
Hitler[AoE]: quit u hacker so u dont ruin my record
Eisenhower: Nuts!
benny~tow: wtf that mean?
Eisenhower: meant to say nutsack lol finger slipped
paTTon: coming to get u hitler u paper hanging hun ****socker
Stalin: rofl
T0J0: HAHAHHAA
Hitler[AoE]: u guys are fockin gay
Hitler[AoE]: ur never getting in my city
*Hitler[AoE] has been eliminated.*
benny~tow: OMG u noob you killed yourself
Eisenhower: ROFLOLOLOL
Stalin: OMG LMAO!
Hitler[AoE]: i didnt click there omg this game blows
*Hitler[AoE] has left the game*
paTTon: hahahhah
T0J0: my teammates are n00bs
benny~tow: shut up noob
Roosevelt: haha wut a moron
paTTon: wtf am i gunna do now?
Eisenhower: yah me too
T0J0: why dont u attack me o thats right u dont got no ships lololol
Eisenhower: fock u
paTTon: lemme go thru ur base commie
Stalin: go to hell lol
paTTon: fock this **** im goin afk
Eisenhower: yah this is gay
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: **** now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoylshti!!!111
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*
*The Allied team has won the game!*
Eisenhower: awesome!
Churchill: gg noobs no re
T0J0: thats bull**** u fockin suck
*T0J0 has left the game.*
*Eisenhower has left the game.*
Stalin: next game im not going to be on ur team, u guys didnt help me for ****
Churchill: wutever, we didnt need ur help neway dumbarss
tru_m4n: l8r all
benny~tow: bye
Churchill: l8r
Stalin: fock u all
tru_m4n: shut up commie lol
*tru_m4n has left the game.*
benny~tow: lololol u commie
Churchill: ROFL
Churchill: bye commie
*Churchill has left the game.*
*benny~tow has left the game.*
Stalin: i hate u all ***s
*Stalin has left the game.*
paTTon: lol no1 is left
paTTon: weeeee i got a jeep
*paTTon has been eliminated.*
paTTon: o ****!
*paTTon has left the game.*

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

take note ...

John Michael — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 07:43:06 GMT

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." -- Herman Goering (Hitler's right-hand man) at the Nuremberg trials

... so I guess we know where GWB and his administration get their ideas.

Regards,

John, noting that the House voted to extend the PATRIOT Act today

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
New album, "Touch", available now
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you
** now available on iTunes, doncha know **

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Flea infestation

gigi-d — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:50:55 GMT

been dipped yet?
http://www.layersmagazine.com/features/feature_cs2/flea.htm

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

It's That Metallic Taste...

burner_rodent — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 22:39:53 GMT

...that brings me back to my childhood.

(I don't mean for this tribe to become the obit page but...)

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
Gerry Thomas, Inventor of TV Dinners, Dies

07-20-2005
PHOENIX - Gerry Thomas, who changed the way Americans eat — for better or worse — with his invention of the TV Dinner during the baby boom years, has died at 83.

Thomas, who died in Paradise Valley on Monday after a bout with cancer, was a salesman for Omaha, Neb.-based C.A. Swanson and Sons in 1954 when he got the idea of packaging frozen meals in a disposable aluminum-foil tray, divided into compartments to keep the foods from mixing. He also gave the product its singular name.

The first Swanson TV Dinner — turkey with cornbread dressing and gravy, sweet potatoes and buttered peas — sold for about $1 and could be cooked in 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Ten million sold in the first year of national distribution.

It was fast and convenient, and fit nicely on a TV tray in the living room, so that you didn't have to drag yourself away from your favorite television show.

Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said the TV Dinner "started a change in American eating habits bigger than any change in culinary history since the discovery of fire and cooked foods."

The TV Dinner fit in with societal changes at the time, when more women were entering the work force and did not have the time to spend all day preparing dinner, Thompson said. It also helped introduce the notion of "modular" eating: If there were only two people at home, you put only two dinners in the oven.

"Some people claim that the TV Dinner was the first step toward breaking up the American family because it made it possible for everybody to eat in a modular way," Thompson said. "That was going to happen anyway. The redefinition of the American family was going on anyway."

In a 1999 Associated Press interview, Thomas recalled that the inspiration for the TV Dinner came when he was visiting a distributor, spotted a metal tray and was told it was developed for an experiment in the preparation of hot meals on airliners.

"It was just a single compartment tray with foil," he recalled. "I asked if I could borrow it and stuck it in the pocket of my overcoat."

He said he came up with a three-compartment tray because "I spent five years in the service so I knew what a mess kit was. You could never tell what you were eating because it was all mixed together."

Since interest in television was booming, he added: "I figured if you could borrow from that, maybe you could get some attention. I think the name made all the difference in the world."

"We had the TV screen and the knobs pictured on the package. That was the real start of marketing," Thomas said.

The TV Dinner drew "hate mail from men who wanted their wives to cook from scratch like their mothers did," Thomas said, but it got him a bump in pay to $300 a month and a $1,000 bonus.

"I didn't complain. A thousand dollars was a lot of money back then," he said.

After the Campbell Soup Co. acquired Swanson in 1955, Thomas became a sales manager, then marketing manager and director of marketing and sales. He left the company after a heart attack in 1970.

He later directed an art gallery and did consulting work.

"It's a pleasure being identified as the person who did this because it changed the way people live," Thomas said. "It's part of the fabric of our society."

Thompson said that until last year, Thomas had spent one day each summer talking to Thompson's history of television class for graduate students.

"This was really fun for them," Thompson said. "This was like meeting a great American industrial legend. So many things we take for granted remain anonymous. We know the architect that designed St. Peter's, but who knows the architect that designed that basic ranch-style house?"

The TV Dinner, Thompson said, is "one of the few things we've got that we actually have the human being who had his fingerprints all over it."

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

The Patron Saint of Engineers

burner_rodent — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 16:10:46 GMT

He should now be cannonized.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050720/ap_on_en_tv/obit_doohan

'Star Trek' Star James Doohan Dies
By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer 07-20-2005

LOS ANGELES -
James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early Wednesday. He was 85.

Doohan died at 5:30 a.m. at his Redmond, Wash., home with his wife of 28 years, Wende, at his side, Los Angeles agent and longtime friend Steve Stevens said. The cause of death was pneumonia and
Alzheimer's disease, he said.

The Canadian-born Doohan was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents.

"The producers asked me which one I preferred," Doohan recalled 30 years later. "I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, 'If this character is going to be an engineer, you'd better make him a Scotsman.'"

The series, which starred
William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk and
Leonard Nimoy as the enigmatic Mr. Spock, attracted an enthusiastic following of science fiction fans, especially among teenagers and children, but not enough ratings power. NBC canceled it after three seasons.

When the series ended in 1969, Doohan found himself typecast as Montgomery Scott, the canny engineer with a burr in his voice. In 1973, he complained to his dentist, who advised him: "Jimmy, you're going to be Scotty long after you're dead. If I were you, I'd go with the flow."

"I took his advice," said Doohan, "and since then everything's been just lovely."

"Star Trek" continued in syndicated TV both in the United States and abroad, and its following grew larger and more dedicated. In his later years, Doohan attended 40 "Trekkie" gatherings around the country and lectured at colleges.

The huge success of
George Lucas's "Star Wars" in 1977 prompted Paramount Pictures, which had produced "Star Trek" for TV, to plan a movie based on the series. The studio brought back the TV cast and hired a topflight director,
Robert Wise. "Star Trek — The Motion Picture" was successful enough to spawn five sequels.

The powerfully built Doohan, a veteran of D-Day in Normandy, spoke frankly in 1998 about his employer, Paramount, and his TV commander:

"I started out in the series at basic minimum_ plus 10 percent for my agent. That was added a little bit in the second year. When we finally got to our third year, Paramount told us we'd get second-year pay! That's how much they loved us."

He accused Shatner of hogging the camera, adding: "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself."

James Montgomery Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, B.C., youngest of four children of William Doohan, a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist, and his wife Sarah. As he wrote in his autobiography, "Beam Me Up, Scotty," his father was a drunk who made life miserable for his wife and children.

At 19, James escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans."

The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on the screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. Fortunately the chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.

After the war Doohan on a whim enrolled in a drama class in Toronto. He showed promise and won a two-year scholarship to New York's famed Neighborhood Playhouse, where fellow students included
Leslie Nielsen, Tony Randall and Richard Boone.

His commanding presence and booming voice brought him work as a character actor in films and television, both in Canada and the U.S. Oddly, his only other TV series besides "Star Trek" was another space adventure, "Space Command," in 1953.

Doohan's first marriage to Judy Doohan produced four children. He had two children by his second marriage to Anita Yagel. Both marriages ended in divorce. In 1974 he married Wende Braunberger, and their children were Eric, Thomas and Sarah, who was born in 2000, when Doohan was 80.

In a 1998 interview, Doohan was asked if he ever got tired of hearing the line "Beam me up, Scotty."

"I'm not tired of it at all," he replied. "Good gracious, it's been said to me for just about 31 years. It's been said to me at 70 miles an hour across four lanes on the freeway. I hear it from just about everybody. It's been fun."

Funeral arrangements were incomplete.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

I Sure Could Use a Date

burner_rodent — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 01:57:10 GMT

Anyone wanna take me to dinner and a movie?

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 9 replies

My Day (with soap)

burner_rodent — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 03:49:45 GMT

So, I went down to the Wednesday farmers market to try and sell my soap today. Stood around near the entrance (since I believe you have to pay for the privelage of selling stuff there) for a couple of hours. Sold two bars in that time, then a friendly police officer said that I need a permit to display my wares and that the City Hall probably wouldn't give me a permit. So while the officer walked away, I started to pack up my soap while saying in a loud voice "Well, I guess I'll just have to start selling heroin now!".

So, now a potenial avenue for revenue (wow, that rymed) has dissapeared. Please buy my soap...

http://sail.gotdns.com/scsoap/

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

I've been touched by ... His Noodly Appendage!

John Michael — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 16:52:58 GMT

http://www.venganza.org/

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you
** now available on iTunes (finally) **

posted in Cult of Rodent - 10 replies

Neiner, Neiner, Neeeeeiner

burner_rodent — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 20:23:47 GMT

Neiner, Neiner, Neeeeeiner
Off to the Black Rock Desert for the weekend... T minus 4 hours and counting...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Ug... They Want Me to DJ...

burner_rodent — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 22:14:32 GMT

Ministry,
Souxie,
Primus,
Tom Lehrer,
The Ramones,
Rage Against the Machine,
Monty Python,
The Misfits,
Portishead,
Fiona Apple,
Rob Zombie,
Pink Floyd,
Dr, Demento,
Moby,
Thrill Kill Kult,
Soundgarden,

How will I fit it all? Fuck... how will I SEGUE it all?!?

**sneering grin**

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Ug, What A Week

burner_rodent — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 23:26:51 GMT

Last weekend, beer and meat and beer and meat in Carmel Valley... then hard labor all week. Dug about 120 foot long drainage ditch with noth'n but a shovel. Wheelbarreled the dross about 150 yards away to help even out the front yard.

Get back into town on Friday and sleepsleepsleepsleep. Up Saturday morning for my theme camps' Work Weekend. Mixed noxious putty compound and spackled the monoliths and the outdoor stage. Moved heavy crap back into the storage then Beer'n'Burgers that night. Back Sunday for more of the same.

Fuck I'm sore. Buy me beer at the Box tonight.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 9 replies

Anybody want a Mech?

Be — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:55:27 GMT

every 23 I mean 13 yr old boy's dream

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/6676340p-6563060c.html

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Behold...!!!

burner_rodent — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 01:53:36 GMT

...KONG!!! The Eighth Wonder of the World!!!

http://www.kingkongmovie.com/ef239524432ba87f1ca8f70eed4b1fa7/en_large.html

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Greatest Parody of the Movie Se7en

burner_rodent — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 19:50:38 GMT

http://www.milkandcookies.com/links/22937

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Bacon Bandaids

burner_rodent — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 04:51:32 GMT

Really, I'm not kidding...

http://www.mcphee.com/lifestyle/current/11476.html

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Rodent-san wa doko desuka?

John Michael — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 05:12:02 GMT

Well? I saw him over Kurt's a week and a half ago, but have not seen or heard from him since. We must find him. Ikimasho!

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Torturing the Rodednt

TheMuse — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 20:42:56 GMT

The Muse is going to see Serenity tonight.

Tehehe

posted in Cult of Rodent - 12 replies

"This is Pretty Fucked Up Right Here" -Kyle, "South Park"

burner_rodent — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 15:48:05 GMT

I've been following the Phelps Saga for a few years now. I don't know, it's kinda a morbid facination. You should hear one of this guy's sermons sometime, I think they're up on www.godhatesfags.com (if that url doesn't explain a whooooole lot).

I'll see if I can dig up a webpage that describes the life that Phelps's kids endured. If you EVER think your childhood was fucked up.... sheeeeez...

Anyway, I think old Freddie has finally picked the wrong wacked out crusade. Ya don't fuck with dead soldiers, especially durring their funeral. I mean, c'mon. Who else in the WORLD has more guns, explosives and reactionary people in it?!? Yeah, let's poke the tiger with a short stick...

Ya get the feeling that Phelps isn't long for this world?

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/228401_westboro14.html?source=rss

His church was bombed, and now he protests funerals of the war dead
Kansas preacher says he's coming to Idaho

By CHUCK OXLEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOISE, Idaho -- A Kansas preacher and gay rights foe whose congregation is protesting military funerals around the country said he's coming to Idaho tomorrow to picket the memorial for an Idaho National Guard soldier killed in Iraq.

A flier on the Web site of Pastor Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church claims God killed Cpl. Carrie French with an improvised explosive device in retaliation against the United States for a bombing at Phelps' church six years ago.

"We're coming," Phelps said yesterday.

Westboro Baptist either has protested or is planning protests of other public funerals of soldiers from Michigan, Alabama, Minnesota, Virginia and Colorado. A protest is planned for July 11 at Dover Air Force Base, the military base where war dead are transported before being sent on to their home states.

Phelps gained national notoriety in 1998 when he picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student beaten to death in Wyoming.

Since then, Phelps said his church has been the target of hateful words and actions, including a bomb attack six years ago.

Phelps' church has picketed the funerals of AIDS victims for more than a decade.

French, 19, was a Caldwell High School graduate and varsity cheerleader. She was killed June 5 in the northern city of Kirkuk. French served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion.

Phelps said the fact that French led an all-American life gives him all the more reason to picket her final public tribute.

"An all-American girl from a society of all-American heretics," he said.

"Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime," Phelps said.

Caldwell Police Chief Bob Sobba said he cannot bar Phelps from going to the public funeral, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Albertson College of Idaho in that city.

"While we respect Mr. Phelps' right to protest, we would hope that he would respect the family and friends of this young person by not disrupting the memorial," Sobba said.

Idaho Air National Guard Lt. Tony Vincelli, acting as spokesman for French's family, said there were no plans to change the funeral arrangements.

The Rev. Brian Fischer, pastor of Boise's Community Church of the Valley, and himself a past target of protest by the Westboro Baptist Church, decried Phelps' plan.

"What Phelps is doing is a reprehensible thing, to take a funeral and turn it into a photo op for his hate cause," Fischer said.

"We hope everyone will ignore Phelps' group."

In 2003, Phelps demanded that he be allowed to erect an anti-gay monument in a Boise public park. To avoid a lawsuit from his group, city officials voted in 2004 that a Ten Commandments monument be moved out of the park.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Mark Felt was told to find 'Deep Throat

burner_rodent — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 03:45:30 GMT

"Me? Find Deep Throat... yeeeeeeah... riiiiight (snicker) I'll get right on that (snicker)"

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10330848
Mark Felt was told to find 'Deep Throat'

15.06.05 11.20am

NEW YORK - Mark Felt, the former FBI official who unmasked himself as the legendary "Deep Throat" source who leaked Watergate secrets, twice led FBI investigations into finding Deep Throat, it was reported on Tuesday.

Combing through originally confidential FBI files now available to the public, reporters David Corn and Jeff Goldberg found documents that showed Felt in charge of finding the source of Bob Woodward's and Carl Bernstein's Washington Post scoops that helped bring down President Richard Nixon.

How Deep Throat Fooled the FBI, which shows how Felt cunningly threw the federal agency off his trail, will hit news stands on June 23.

"He was much more than a secret sharer. He was an operator," says the story, adding he "was able to watch his own back and protect his ability to guide the two reporters."

Felt, filling in for FBI acting director L Patrick Gray in June 1972 yet already talking secretly with Woodward, cleverly ordered an investigation of whether any FBI official had leaked information to the Washington Daily News. Not surprisingly, that inquiry produced nothing, the story said.

In a memo dated September 11, 1972, Felt wrote to assistant director Charles Bates suggesting Woodward and Bernstein might have been receiving secret FBI information from someone outside the FBI, prompting an investigation of the county prosecutor in Miami, who was following the Watergate money trail.

At one point, Felt officially met Woodward in what appears to have been a move to cover himself, the story said.

Felt, responding to a request from Woodward for an interview, agreed to see the reporter in the presence of his assistant, Wason Campbell, a 25-year FBI veteran. Felt refused to confirm any details presented to him by Woodward.

"That was obviously a staged event," Corn said on Tuesday. "Felt needed cover."

Even after suspicion grew in the White House that Felt might be the source of leaks, he was again put on the case, the story said.

In February 1973, Attorney General Richard Kleindienst asked Gray to order another investigation into the Washington Post's sources. Felt was assigned the job.

Felt's memorandum said "there is no question that they have access to sources either in the FBI or in the Department of Justice."

Felt later received a report saying there were alternative sources, besides FBI personnel, for everything reported. He forwarded the analysis to Gray, who suggested to Kleindienst that possible sources for the leak were the US Attorney's office in Washington and a White House official, according to the story.

- REUTERS

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

There is Still Hope in the World

burner_rodent — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 03:31:58 GMT

Wow, THIS is an amazing story. Read it all the way through. Trust me. It will put a smile on your face.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/washpost/20050613/ts_washpost/for_chinese__peasant_revolt_is_rare_victory

For Chinese, Peasant Revolt Is Rare Victory
By Edward Cody, Washington Post Foreign Service
Mon Jun 13, 1:00 AM ET

HUAXI, China -- A hard rain had fallen most of the night. Xu Juxian, a wiry farmer's wife with straggly black hair, said the downpour leaked copiously into the ragged tents where elderly protesters had been camping for more than two weeks. As a result, recalled Xu, they were all damp, uncomfortable and wide awake in the still hour just before dawn.

So Xu, 79, and the others immediately heard the commotion when dozens of government cars and buses wound into Huaxi beginning at 4:30 a.m. on April 10, carrying an estimated 3,000 policemen and civilians assigned to destroy the tents. To alert people in this gritty farm town that police were pouring in, watchful residents set off fireworks by the hundreds.

By the time dawn broke, up to 20,000 peasants from the half-dozen villages that make up Huaxi township had responded to the alarm, participants recounted, and they were in no mood to bow to authority. For four years, they had been complaining that industrial pollution was poisoning the land, stunting the crops and fouling the water in their fertile valley surrounded by forested hills 120 miles south of Hangzhou. And now their protest -- blocking the entrance to an industrial park -- was being put down by force.

A pitched battle erupted that soggy morning between enraged farmers and badly outnumbered police. By the end of the day, high-ranking officials had fled in their black sedans and hundreds of policemen had scattered in panic while farmers destroyed their vehicles. It was a rare triumph for the peasants, rising up against the all-powerful Communist Party government.

The confrontation was also a glimpse of a gathering force that could help shape the future of China: the power of spontaneous mass protest. Peasants and workers left behind by China's economic boom increasingly have resorted to the kind of unrest that ignited in Huaxi. Their explosions of anger have become a potential source of instability and a threat to the party's monopoly on power that has leaders in Beijing worried. By some accounts, there have been thousands of such protests a year, often met with force.

The workers and peasants appear to have nowhere else to turn but the street. Their representatives in parliament do what the government says; independent organizations are banned in China's communist system; and party officials, focused on economic growth, have become partners of eager entrepreneurs rather than defenders of those abandoned by the boom. Most of the violent grass-roots eruptions have been put down, hard and fast. This report examines the origin and unfolding of one revolt that went the other way. "We won a big victory," declared a farmer who described the protest on condition that his name be withheld, lest police arrest him as a ringleader. "We protected our land. And anyway, the government should not have sent so many people to suppress us."

From the beginning, the villagers said, they had opposed Zhuxi Industrial Park, which spreads over 82.3 acres at the edge of town. Some feared pollution. Others thought giving up even a little farmland betrayed their long agricultural heritage.

The villagers described the origins of their protests in a series of recent interviews. They expressed anxiety that undercover police were now seeking ringleaders of the protest, filtering through Huaxi's walled barnyards and brick homes. They said arrests were likely to come soon. But they portrayed the protest as a victory over officialdom that was long overdue. Most of the villagers spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of arrest and imprisonment.

When the industrial park was begun, the municipal government of nearby Dongyang City, which has authority over Huaxi, already owned 49.4 acres of the needed land. Villagers whose fields overlapped into the site had to slice off swaths for the other 32.9. In return, villagers said, each affected family got $14.60 a year for four years, an amount that villagers consider woefully inadequate.

Despite the opposition, Zhuxi Industrial Park opened in 2001. Elected village councils in Huaxi and the Huaxi Communist Party secretary were powerless to stop a decision imposed by municipal authorities, residents said. The Dongyang City government and the Communist Party committee, which also administered the park, leased sites to 13 private and joint state-private factories. Eight of them produced chemical products, villagers said, and others worked with plastic.

Gas emissions soon seethed through the village, residents said, irritating eyes and forcing families to close their windows to sleep. Factory effluents seeped into the stream that farmers depended on for irrigation, they complained, causing crops and trees to wither. A particular offender, they added, was a pesticide factory that had moved in after being forced out of Dongyang City because of foul odors.

But no one, the villagers lamented, would listen to their pleas to have the factories closed.

It was not for lack of trying. Huaxi officials, including Party Secretary Wang Wei, visited other factories in the region and warned in a confidential report that pollution was a danger to residents and agriculture. A copy of the report was leaked and posted for all to see. Partly as a result, villagers wrote an open letter to the Dongyang municipal government demanding the industrial park be closed.

"The Dongyang government turned a deaf ear to it all," said one of those involved.

Frustrated, the villagers tried higher up the hierarchy. They sent a delegation to Zhejiang provincial headquarters in Hangzhou and to the national capital, Beijing, where they left petitions with the premier's office and the State Environmental Protection Administration. No one stopped to listen, they said.

Their patience exhausted, a group of farmers broke into the park in October 2001, shattering windows and vandalizing machinery at the pesticide factory. Wang and 11 others were subsequently arrested. Ten of the 12 were sentenced to jail terms for disturbing the public order. At the trial, according to one of those sentenced, the judge said he did not want to hear about Huaxi's problems with pollution.

The villagers resisted for the next four years, but made little progress. Finally, they built their first two protest tents at the industrial park's entrance on March 23, using red, white and blue nylon tarps stretched over bamboo frames. Some villagers said they acted because the Dongyang mayor, Chen Fengwei, had refused to receive them during a town hall open house March 15. Others said the decision was made because residents heard another polluting factory was about to move into the industrial park.

Whatever the trigger, after four years of getting brushed aside, the villagers of Huaxi vowed they were not going to take it anymore. No one would be allowed to come and go from the industrial park.

The Huaxi Elderly Association, which admits farmers 60 and older on payment of a 55-cent annual membership fee, volunteered to staff the tents. The elderly farmers, along with younger men leading the fight, figured police would be reluctant to wrestle with old men and women.

They were wrong. The Dongyang City government dispatched 100 policemen and civilian officials five days after the tents went up, villagers said. The police arrived at lunchtime, when many of the elderly protesters were gone, dragged away remaining protesters and torched the tents, the villagers recalled.

But several thousand angry villagers swiftly surrounded the police contingent, refusing to allow some of the officers to get back into their cars. Ultimately, the policemen were allowed to leave unhurt, a participant said, but several of their vehicles were not released until that evening.

The tone had been set for the confrontation to come.

By the next day, farmers from several of Huaxi's rough-hewn villages showed up to build even more tents. Nineteen were erected within hours, several villagers recalled. About 200 people, most of them elderly, began living in them full time, defying police warnings.

During the first week of April, villagers recalled, the protesting old farmers received a day-long visit from Chen, the Dongyang mayor; Tang Yong, the Dongyang Communist Party secretary; and a high-ranking Zhejiang provincial official. The officials cajoled the protesters in a friendly tone, witnesses said, urging them to leave and promising that polluting factories would be closed.

At the same time, the witnesses added, the officials warned that the protest constituted an illegal disturbance of the public order. Moreover, an activist reported, eight villagers were detained after the officials left, accused of setting off firecrackers to announce that the high-ranking officials had arrived.

The warning system was in place.

When the firecrackers went off April 10, Xu said, about 50 policewomen and riot police burst into the tent she shared with 20 other elderly villagers. The policewomen were shouting orders, Xu recalled, but the elderly protesters could not understand. The shouts were in Mandarin, China's official language, and the retired farmers and their wives spoke only a local dialect.

"Then they tried to pull us out," Xu recalled, sitting in the courtyard of her rickety wooden farmhouse while a middle-aged relative interpreted her recollections into Mandarin. "Those who refused to go were beaten," she added, showing bruises on her left thigh.

As the policewomen and riot police, armed with helmets and plastic shields, dragged the protesters outside, other officers set about destroying the tents with shears and machetes, witnesses said. The flimsy constructions swiftly collapsed into piles of tarp and bamboo.

Xu said she was taken to the local clinic to have her leg examined. But some of the women who had been pulled from the tents sat down in the concrete roadway and refused to leave, blocking police who were trying to remove the debris in a truck, witnesses said.

Most of the protesters who had flooded the area, meanwhile, were being kept behind crime-scene tape, said a pair of farmers who joined the crowd as the women staged their sit-in around 5:30 a.m. But the sight of the elderly protesters being whacked by police trying to clear the road produced a wave of anger among the excited peasants, they said, and many started hurling stones across the tape.

Another protester said the crowd exploded in anger when one of the factory managers, identified as Wang Yuejin, tried to persuade police to take it easy on the elderly women and got hit with a truncheon for his trouble. At about the same time, he said, a villager in the crowd, Wang Hongfa, was struck by a stone launched by the besieged policemen, opening a gash above his left eye. In addition, rumors -- later proved untrue -- began to circulate that two elderly women had died from injuries inflicted by riot police.

"After that, people got really mad," the protester recalled.

As farmers' stones rained down and the crowd pressed closer at about 6:30 a.m., the police lines collapsed and panicked officers ran for their staging ground at a schoolyard 150 yards from the tents. Some of them were beaten on the way but many made it into the walled compound and locked the doors.

Two of the farmers, with the calloused hands and dirt-lined fingernails of those who till the earth, later recalled what happened next during a long conversation in an isolated farmhouse surrounded by peach trees. It took several hundred villagers to push down the eight-foot-high stone wall surrounding the courtyard, they said, but it collapsed within a few minutes once they all put their shoulders to the task.

As farmers rushed through the 20-foot-wide breach, they found many of the policewomen had taken refuge in buses surrounded by male riot police with shields and batons. But the surging crowd of howling farmers frightened the men away, the pair said, and the buses swiftly emptied as well.

Some policemen shed their uniforms and ran away in their underwear, protesters recalled. Others fled into the classrooms, they said, kicking in locked doors to find shelter. "We saw the other face of the police," said one of the two farmers. "At first, the ordinary people had been afraid. But by then, it was the police who were afraid."

While some of the enraged farmers pursued police officers into the school building, beating those they could and driving the rest away, others set on the buses with stones, bricks and tools. First the buses were trashed, then the sedans.

"It took us less than two hours to destroy all the vehicles," one of the farmers said. "The policemen inside the school didn't dare come out. When they tried to get out, some of them were spotted and the villagers beat them up."

Chen Qixian, spokesman of the Dongyang City government, said 30 local officials and policemen were injured during the clash. But the Phoenix Weekly, a magazine owned by a Hong Kong company, quoted Dongyang hospital officials as saying 140 people were treated for injuries, most of them policemen and officials. Chen said only three villagers were slightly injured. But Huaxi residents said a 55-year-old woman was severely beaten in the head as she was dragged from a tent and remained hospitalized after several operations. Xu, the elderly hut dweller whose thigh was bruised, said policemen wielding truncheons had given a number of elderly protesters the same treatment.

As villagers celebrated in the courtyard, local schoolteachers entered the building and escorted the remaining police officers away. By the middle of the afternoon, as triumphant villagers posed for photographers holding up pieces of destroyed vehicles, the last of the policemen had made their way out of town.

"We were happy from the bottom of our hearts," one of the farmers said, his conical straw hat resting at his feet.

Later that night, villagers said, some migrant workers sneaked into the courtyard and started scavenging for parts among the destroyed vehicles. Outraged, villagers immediately called police. Officers refused to respond.

Within days, the tents were rebuilt yet again. Twenty-six of them blocked the industrial park for another month, forcing the factories to remain closed. The Huaxi Elderly Association sent its gray-haired protesters back to live in the tents and the firecrackers once again were readied to sound the alarm.

When two trucks tried to sneak around the tents and get into the industrial park with factory supplies on May 12, villagers said, the fireworks immediately crackled and about 10,000 villagers hurried to the scene. With police help, the villagers said, the farmers forced the trucks to back away. Police officers warned the drivers that if they tried again, they would be accused of disturbing the public order, witnesses recounted.

Eager to avoid trouble, a police checkpoint on the outskirts of town posted a large sign saying, "Trucks carrying factory supplies forbidden."

Six of the 13 factories were ordered to move out of Huaxi for good, and Dongyang authorities organized "working groups" of local and outside officials to visit peasant homes and urge that the protest be ended on that basis, according to Chen, the city government spokesman.

To some extent, the diplomacy paid off. With the accord of villagers, local officials took down the tents on May 20. Local police and officials -- Dongyang authorities were asked to stay away -- escorted the elderly protesters home and prevented them from returning. But activists said they put the town council and other officials on notice that if the factories start operations again, the tents will go back up.

No arrests have been made yet, Chen said. But police -- plainclothes as well as uniformed -- have established a heavy presence in Huaxi and local residents have been enlisted in the hunt for those responsible for the peasant rebellion on April 10. The Dongyang administration has made it clear that somebody has to pay.

A "system of punishment and prevention" has been put into place to create a "harmonious society" in Huaxi, a Dongyang city hall statement said. "Our next step is to investigate some party members who were believed to be leaders of the riot," it added.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!

burner_rodent — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 18:11:56 GMT

I. Am. Awestruck.

Completely.

Fucking.

Stunned!

http://www.nantes.fr/ext/royal_de_luxe_2005/

Keep turning the pages. The website is in french though.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Beastie Boys and the Supreme Court?!?

burner_rodent — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 17:27:51 GMT

from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050613/ap_en_mu/scotus_beastie_boys

Court Won't Review Beastie Boys Lawsuit

06-13-2005
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether a 1992 Beastie Boys song infringed on the copyright of a jazz flutist's recording.
ADVERTISEMENT

Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling against jazz artist James W. Newton. Newton contended that the punk rappers' "Pass the Mic" included a sample from his musical composition "Choir" without his full permission.

The Beastie Boys paid a licensing fee for the six-second, three-note segment of Newton's work, but failed to pay an additional fee to license the underlying composition.

The San Francisco-based 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to dismiss Newton's lawsuit alleging copyright infringement. The appeals court reasoned that the short segment in "Pass the Mic" was not distinctive enough to be considered Newton's work.

Several members and representatives of the jazz and independent artists community — including the American Composers Forum, the Electronic Music Foundation and Meet the Composer — had filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief in support of Newton.

They urged the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of copyright law, given the growing practice of digital sampling, or recording a portion of a previously existing song, they say increasingly infringes on their ownership rights.

The case is Newton v. Diamond, 04-1219.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

One for the "Ladies"

burner_rodent — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 17:14:09 GMT

WARNING: NOT SAFE FOR WORK VIEWING!!!

http://www.warrenellis.com/wp-trackback.php/880

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

I have kidnapped yer leader!

SirCadillac — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 02:44:54 GMT

I have him, ifin' yer wanting him back; you'll have to meet my demands!

posted in Cult of Rodent - 16 replies

hold me

John Michael — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 06:05:50 GMT

... someone please tell me that it will be alright:

http://www.5shock.com/ran/scary.html

... for the above scares me like nothing else.

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/falling_you

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

It's Friday...

burner_rodent — Fri, 27 May 2005 23:28:29 GMT

...and the lines are open.

Caller, you are ON THE AIR.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 23 replies

Look at Listings...

burner_rodent — Sun, 22 May 2005 17:41:54 GMT

Yes, homemade soap for sale... buy some so I can eat.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek0

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

The Case of the Dissapearing Lake

burner_rodent — Sat, 28 May 2005 16:07:58 GMT

"Comrade... do you remember where we parked the lake?!?"

---
rodent (putting the eek in eek)

**********
http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/20050527/ts_latimes/lakepullsadisappearingactinrussia

Lake Pulls a Disappearing Act in Russia
By Kim Murphy Times Staff Writer Fri May 27, 7:55 AM ET

BOLOTNIKOVO, Russia — For as long as anyone can remember, White Lake had been the local swimming and fishing hole. Deep, cold, fed by underwater springs, the lake regularly gave up carp as fat as birch trees. A kid could cannonball into its depths from the overhanging willows and never hit bottom.

And then one recent morning, the lake was simply gone.

Fyodor Dobryakov was the first to see it — or not see it, as it were. The 74-year-old headed down to the lake early one morning two weeks ago, expecting to see the first fish emerging after the spring melt. Instead, all he saw was a narrow crust of ice clinging to the shore. Everything else was gone, or almost gone.

"The ice was just hanging over an empty lake. I heard a noise, and when I looked right, I saw there was an abyss, and the water was rushing into the abyss like mad. The trees were falling into the lake and getting sucked in too," Dobryakov said at his home in this small village of pensioners, about 240 miles east of Moscow near the Oka River.

Within minutes, all that was left of the 48-foot-deep lake was a silent expanse of mud a quarter of a mile wide. Small fish were flapping their death throes near the small, deep pool into which the water had disappeared.

Dobryakov rushed back to the village and grabbed a friend. "I told him, 'The lake's collapsed, the water's gone.' My friend said, 'You're lying.' I said, 'Of course I'm a liar, but not this time.' "

The authorities were called, then the television stations. All braved clouds of black flies and mosquitoes to troop through the forest and investigate the case of the disappearing lake. Where Bolotnikovo residents once picnicked and swam, there was now only a huge crater, caked mud sprouting shoots of new grass.

"I've never seen anything like it. Never," said Dmitry Zaytsev, an officer with the federal Emergency Situations Ministry sent to investigate the case.

"Pretty much all the water went down that hole, and that's it," he said. "Everything — fish, water, everything — got sucked into that hole. And judging by the size of the crater, it must have happened pretty quickly, in a matter of a few hours."

Government officials theorize that a shift in soils underneath the lake opened access to an underground channel that drained the water, estimated from several thousand to more than a million cubic yards, into a subterranean cavern. From there, it may have flowed into the Oka River a few miles away.

"It's pretty scary to even be here. You have to understand, it was like there was a pump somewhere underground. A gaping sinkhole emerged, and everything was flushed down like a toilet," said another Emergency Situations Ministry investigator, Vladimir Gryasnov. "If anyone had been near the thing when it happened, they would have had no chance of surviving."

The channel-to-the-river theory has gained credence during the last week, as several fishermen along the Oka reported catching 35-pound carp. The species has been found in the lake but not the river. At least, not in ordinary times.

But, of course, these are not ordinary times; not when White Lake is there one day and gone the next.

Residents of the few dozen cottages here say there have always been odd stories about White Lake. Bats lived in caves there, and then one day many years ago the bats — and the caves — were gone. Over the years, said Valentina Smyotova, 74, laundry would disappear.

"Women would go there to wash clothes, and sometimes a shirt would swim away from a woman, and then it would be recovered in the river," she said.

Likewise, a church was said to have stood on White Lake's edge in the early part of the 20th century, and the church crumbled into the lake, much as a church did beside a neighboring lake at the town of Dyedovo, added Valentina Dobryakova, 79.

"The church disappeared," she said, "and now God has taken the lake away."

Visitors have come from Moscow to peer into the crater, looking for some sign or explanation. Some see larger forces at work.

"This is God's judgment. God said all those who destroy the Earth will be thrown into a lake full of flames," said Sergei Zimin, who arrived Thursday from the village of Filinskoye, a few miles away. "People are saying it's a miracle. A horrible miracle."

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Monkeys

burner_rodent — Fri, 27 May 2005 13:54:43 GMT

Just... just... MONKEYS!!!

http://www.centerofyourmind.com/images/dancemonkey.swf

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Patton Oswald has a Blog

burner_rodent — Tue, 24 May 2005 19:03:09 GMT

If you don't know who I'm talking about then you are intellecutally poorer for it.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Abandoned Theme Park

burner_rodent — Tue, 17 May 2005 18:16:19 GMT

The website is in Japanese and I don't have a widget in my web browser to translate, but the pictures are FANTASTIC. Lonely, rusting, mist shrowded, lovely...

http://home.f01.itscom.net/spiral/t_rando/t_rando1.html

Thanks to Nym over in the "Mad Max" tribe for stumbling across that one.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

DJ's

burner_rodent — Tue, 17 May 2005 02:22:09 GMT

But first... you must check your pockets and make sure you've got your sense of humor with ya...

...and now... a rant about DJ's...

http://blaggblogg.blogspot.com/2005/04/look-nobody-cares-that-youre-dj.html

(well, *I* thought it was funny...)

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

So Geeky that it's Almost Cool

burner_rodent — Tue, 17 May 2005 17:04:54 GMT

http://www.jinx.com/scripts/details.asp?affid=-1&productID=438

Thanks to Redtux for finding this one.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

2069?

SirCadillac — Mon, 16 May 2005 16:58:38 GMT

is this what will be a happinin'?

* Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world,
Mexifornia formally known as California.

* White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.

* Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

* Baby conceived naturally. Scientists stumped.

* Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

* Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East
(formerly known as Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon).

* Iraq still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before
radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

* France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica.

* Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President
Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

* George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.

* Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to
Wednesdays only.

* 85-year, $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise is the key to weight loss.

* Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lb..

* Japanese scientists have created a camera with such a fast shutter speed, they now can
photograph a woman with her mouth shut. (hey! I just sent it. I didn't write it!)

* Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.

* Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

* Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.

* New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and
rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.

* Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.

* Capitol Hill intern indicted for refusing to have sex with congressman.

* IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

* Florida voters still having trouble with voting machines...

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

More Evil Ideas

burner_rodent — Thu, 12 May 2005 02:38:03 GMT

Now I've seen Happy Face Ball Gags but is it wrong to thing that there should be Apple shaped Ball Gags for those BDSM Buffet Tables?

ok... right, I'll just be over here then...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 5 replies

Now THAT'S What I Call Arc!

burner_rodent — Wed, 11 May 2005 23:30:01 GMT

Thanks to Nina for finding this one...

www.wiseguysynth.com/larry/day.htm

If you're reeeeeeeally into electricity then read the whole story, otherwize just click on the pretty pretty picture.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Remember This Day...

burner_rodent — Wed, 11 May 2005 22:30:01 GMT

... when the armored exoskeleton feet of the exterminaton androids walk across the wastlands, crushing the skulls of our fallen humanity... remember this day...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
from http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/robots_dc

U.S. scientists create self-replicating robot

Wed May 11, 1:21 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Self-replicating robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction.

Scientists at the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York have created small robots that can build copies of themselves.

Each robot consists of several 10-cm (4 inch) cubes which have identical machinery, electromagnets to attach and detach to each other and a computer program for replication. The robots can bend and pick up and stack the cubes.

"Although the machines we have created are still simple compared with biological self-reproduction, they demonstrate that mechanical self-reproduction is possible and not unique to biology," Hod Lipson said in a report in the science journal Nature on Wednesday.

He and his team believe the design principle could be used to make long term, self-repairing robots that could mend themselves and be used in hazardous situations and on space flights.

The experimental robots, which don't do anything else except make copies of themselves, are powered through contacts on the surface of the table and transfer data through their faces. They self-replicate by using additional modules placed in special "feeding locations."

The machines duplicate themselves by bending over and putting their top cube on the table. Then they bend again, pick up another cube, put it on top of the first and repeat the entire process. As the new robot begins to take shape it helps to build itself.

"The four-module robot was able to construct a replica in 2.5 minutes by lifting and assembling cubes from the feeding locations," said Lipson.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

It's a new... um... ME

burner_rodent — Wed, 11 May 2005 22:32:52 GMT

I never knew they'd discover me in a vegetable market... I gotta hide better next time.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********

from http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/rarediscoverynewtypeofrodentfoundinvegetablemarket

Rare Discovery: New Type of Rodent found in Vegetable Market

Robert Roy Britt
LiveScience Senior Writer
LiveScience.com Wed May 11,11:12 AM ET

In a rare addition to the animal family tree, scientists have discovered a new family of rodent.

It looks like a squirrel, sort of. But you can see rat-like features in its face. And in some ways it more closely resembles the guinea pig or chinchilla.

While new to science, the critter is well known in Southeast Asia. It is called Kha-Nyou by the locals in Laos.

Its discovery was rather unusual.

"It was for sale on a table next to some vegetables. I knew immediately it was something I had never seen before," said Robert Timmins of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Other specimens caught by hunters were later identified by WCS researcher Mark Robinson.

DNA analysis and a comparison of the skull and other bones to other creatures suggest Kha-Nyou diverged from other rodents millions of years ago.

It has long whiskers and stubby legs, with a tail covered in dense hair. It prefers limestone outcrops and forests. The researchers think it is a vegetarian. Interestingly, it gives birth to one offspring at a time, rather than a litter. Bone fragments of the newfound rodent were dug out of an owl pellet, so it has at least one wily predator.

The discovery was announced today and is detailed in the journal Systematics and Biodiversity.

"To find something so distinct in this day and age is just extraordinary. For all we know, this could be the last remaining mammal family left to be discovered," Timmins said.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

Rodent needs a new bandanna.

Gothalot — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:21:51 GMT

Im taking donations to get Rodent a new bandanna. Your recommendations on style and color are appreciated.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 8 replies

I am at a Loss for Words...

burner_rodent — Tue, 10 May 2005 23:12:13 GMT

... I mean... uh... where do I go with this... FUCK I so want to be on THIS jury!!!!

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

**********
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050506/sc_afp/russiausnasaspace/nc:2117

Russian astrologer cleared to sue NASA over plans to bombard

Fri May 6, 1:06 PM ET

MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian court ruled that an astrologer could proceed with a lawsuit against the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration for plans to bombard a comet whose destruction would "disrupt the natural balance of the universe," ITAR-TASS said.

Star-reader Marina Bai's case was thrown out of a lower court because Russia has no jurisdiction over
NASA, but the ruling was overturned when her lawyer, Alexandra Molokhova, was able to show that the agency's office in the US embassy in Moscow does fall under Russian jurisdiction.

Bai seeks a ruling that would restrict NASA in its plans to annihilate a section of the Tempel 1 comet in a project that has been dubbed "Deep Impact," as well as punitive damages of 8.7 billion rubles (300 million dollars, 240 million euros).

"My client believes that the NASA project infringes upon her spiritual and life values as well as the natural life of the cosmos and would disrupt the natural balance of forces in the universe," Molokhova was quoted as saying.

The lawyer said Tempel 1 had sentimental value to Bai because her grandparents met when her grandfather pointed the comet out to his future wife.

In a 279-million-dollar (215-million-euro) project, NASA in January launched the Deep Impact spacecraft which will travel to the comet and release an "impactor" -- a 370-kilogram (820-pound) self-guided mass -- on US Independence Day (July 4) which is expected to create a crater that could be as large as a football stadium.

Scientists believe that the exposed material from the resulting crater will yield clues to the formation of the solar system and provide important information on altering the course of comets or asteroids on a collision course with earth.

Effects of the collision will be visible from earth with an amateur telescope, according to the mission's website"sentimental" comet

posted in Cult of Rodent - 0 replies

This Made Me Smile

burner_rodent — Tue, 10 May 2005 18:04:50 GMT

http://california.tribe.net/listing/9edf42bd-4422-486f-b329-12265befffee?r=10513

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Zoom... and I'm Out!

burner_rodent — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:43:23 GMT

Outta the blue, I've caught a ride. Leaving for Arizona tonight. Off to Toast!!!

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 3 replies

Everyone Stop What You're Doing...

burner_rodent — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 21:25:36 GMT

...and go here... http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/serenity/

you WILL thank me.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 8 replies

Chu

burner_rodent — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 04:30:51 GMT

So, last year at Decompression in SF, I'm standing in line for the porta poties and guess who is standing behind me? Frank Chu!

What?!? You've never heard of Frank Chu?!?!

This guy shows up to just about every protest and/or news event. Let me enlighten you to the madness that is Frank Chu...
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/video/frank.php

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 2 replies

Happy Birthday to Me,

burner_rodent — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 17:22:28 GMT

Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday,
Happy Birthday,
Happy Birthday to Me!

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 11 replies

For Chris not tell'n

burner_rodent — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 02:10:11 GMT

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&ncid=676&e=4&u=/usatoday/20050420/ts_usatoday/truckersbristleatantiterrorrules

Truckers bristle at anti-terror rules

Wed Apr 20, 6:25 AM ET

By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY

Con-Way Transportation Services' truck drivers mostly haul common household products such as house paint and nail polish - potentially hazardous to the environment if a truck tipped over, but hardly weapons of mass destruction.

Yet the company's 12,000-plus drivers soon will have to submit to fingerprinting and FBI background checks to drive their goods around the country. The checks are part of a new anti-terrorism program ordered by Congress in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The program is aimed at making sure no one out to do harm can get hold of potentially lethal loads of hazardous substances.

Beginning May 31, the 2.7 million truckers who haul materials that the government deems hazardous will face immigration and criminal background checks before they can renew special commercial licenses. The licenses allow them to haul everything from explosives and radioactive medical waste to Bic lighters and household cleaning products.

Drivers' names already are checked against government lists of known and suspected terrorists. The new requirement will affect two-thirds of all truck drivers in the USA.

Screening out 'bad guys'

Mark Hatfield, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, says the requirement will help "screen out potential terrorists or bad guys" who might try to use a truck loaded with deadly materials to launch an attack.

"The idea of targeting hazmats, whether it's truck or rail, is an area our intelligence points to, and it's driving the work we do," he says.

But trucking companies and associations criticize the program, which has been in effect since Jan. 31 for drivers seeking hazardous-materials licenses for the first time. They say it's a costly, unnecessary burden for drivers and question whether it will enhance security.

The new requirement would do nothing to stop someone from attacking, stealing or hijacking a truck loaded with deadly chemicals. Nor would it have stopped Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh or the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, who rented vans and loaded them with explosives.

Jeff St. Pierre, head of security at Quality Distribution, a Tampa-based trucking company whose 3,200 drivers haul hazardous materials, says his company "cannot determine" whether the new rule will have any impact on security. But he says company officials are "very concerned" that the new rules will add to the shortage of drivers nationwide and cause delays.

The licenses cost $94 in most states. Once a driver submits his fingerprints at an approved collection center, it takes a week to two months to get approval back from the federal government. In several states, there's only one place where drivers can get their prints collected; it can take a day or more to get there and back.

"We've already experienced drivers saying, 'I'm not going to go through this. I'll go work for Wal-Mart where I'll haul paper towels and power tools,' " says Cliff Harvison, president of National Tank Truck Carriers, which represents 210 trucking companies that employ about 40,000 drivers with hazardous-materials licenses.

"We're going to have to respond by increasing recruiting efforts and increasing driver pay to make it worth their while," Harvison says. Those costs will be passed on to consumers. "Ultimately, that's going to result in higher prices on the shelves and at the pumps."

Bob Petrancosta, director of safety and environmental compliance at Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Con-Way, says his company's drivers are required to have hazardous-materials licenses even though they haul mostly "non-threatening" substances.

A 'huge and complex task'

Con-Way has decided to pay the cost of the background checks. Petrancosta estimates it will cost the company $2 million over the next three years. He says he understands the concern behind the new rule but suggests the government should not be applying it to drivers such as Con-Way's who haul only "typical consumer commodity products."

Drivers and trucking companies aren't the only ones paying for the new program. In January, the Congressional Research Service reported to Congress that the new security requirements will cost taxpayers $72.4 million in the first five years. "It is recognized by all ... that this investment is inherently limited in its impact," the report said.

In 34 states, a TSA contractor is taking the prints and sending them to the FBI. State officials in the rest have chosen to do the work themselves.

The report warned that it will be a "huge and complex task" to fingerprint and check 2.7 million drivers and said the system has been plagued by delays. It predicted "hundreds, maybe even thousands" of drivers would dispute their disqualifications each year, prompting a lengthy appeals process.

A driver would be disqualified for life if he was convicted of crimes including terrorism, espionage, unlawful possession of explosives, arson or improper transportation of a hazardous material. He would be disqualified for at least seven years for a host of other crimes, including robbery, smuggling, fraud, rape and kidnapping.

Is it worth the cost?

Since drivers seeking new licenses began applying through the program in January, the government has denied fewer than 100 applications out of 15,000. None of the denials has been for reasons related to terrorism, Hatfield says. But there have been at least two instances in which foreign applicants were found to be using fake documents, he says.

Homeland security consultant Randall Larsen says the new rule, mandated by Congress as part of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001, isn't worth the cost.

"If we're not careful, our over-reactions to 9/11 could become a greater threat to the American economy than al-Qaeda," Larsen says. "Wasting money with good intentions makes us no more secure."

posted in Cult of Rodent - 6 replies

A Contest, A Movie, A Dame

burner_rodent — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 02:22:19 GMT

All three really.

I'm holding a contest. Win A Movie Date With Rodent.

This is not an April Fools Joke. This is a true contest. On Friday, April 1st, the movie Sin City opens and I need a dame to take to this flick.

How to enter? Either post here or PM me in 100 words or less, why you're the kick ass Sin City dame to take.

Rules: ya gotta be a girl (sorry fellas, I ain't a man's kinda man), you gotta like whiskey, you gotta live within a 1 hour drive from Santa Cruz (unless you REEEEALY wanna drive farther) and ya gotta be available in the afternoon on Friday April 1st.

The winner will be chosen by midnight Wednesday March 30th and will be judged by me on if you really sound like a Sin City Babe (if ya ain't read the graphic novels, ya got 8 days ta figure it all out).

May the best dame win.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

Ugh

burner_rodent — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 19:52:17 GMT

Sick as a dog. Haven't been this sick in YEARS. Nasty little flu. Fever, sweats, achie muscles'n'joints, wet cough. This sucks.

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Another Prediction

burner_rodent — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 21:46:43 GMT

In just a few months, nay WEEKS, you're going to see a plethra of SUV's for sale. You won't be able to blink without seeing a FOR SALE sign on one of those monstrosities.

So sayith the oracle...

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 8 replies

Today...

burner_rodent — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 00:31:24 GMT

...has been a spot on, good fucking day. Productive too.

Cleaned the bathroom, wrapped more soap, sorted sci-fi books for selling to Logo's, got my laundry done, got down to Logo's and they took 3/4ths of the books (woo hoo, good $$ haul too), the clerk at the counter even bought a bar of my soap, had a tasty but dissapointingly small sandwich at Quizno's (not going to eat there again), bumped into friends on Pacific, got tax forms for Gavin, and it was just a beautifully sunny warm with a bit of breeze gorgeous day.

Tomorrow... off to Big Mike's to chop wood.

Fuck I love living here!!

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

rodent come back when we are finished

Rip.............Cor...............Duh — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 02:36:06 GMT

I told you were still working now shhh.

posted in Cult of Rodent - 4 replies

It's Friday

burner_rodent — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 00:47:47 GMT

and again, I'm broke and have nothing to do.

someone kidnap me and force me to drink booze!

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Cult of Rodent - 5 replies

Hi Everybody! I'm a new cult member!

*KeV* — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 21:07:59 GMT

Finally,

A chance to worship a Rodent!

Even though I'm a Kabuki Kitty, I am so down with this I can't wait to tell Mom (ok, maybe I better think that over.....)

As Rodent will attest, I have been on a strict diet, & have given up my old rodentivorous ways. I no longer pursue little creatures with nervous noses & long whiskers into the shrubbery (unless they want me to & sign a waiver first). The yoga really helped.

:) da Lyon

PS - there's a story behind the photo cache. Anyone who's tired of watching paint dry is welcome to inquire...
plus I wish I wasn't so rushed at the moment. Would love to make a proper introduction but got an D in behaving normally & a C- in "manners".

posted in Cult of Rodent - 1 reply

Cult of Rodent's topics - tribe.net

mpyre campout - oct 17-19 - apocaLIPS update!

Con-X-Treme

i love rodent!

rodent inspired: putting the eek in geek

Itty Bitty DUSTY Club Tonight

Itty Bitty Creepy Club + Benefit + B-day

Wow

now todd need's rodent's number

anybody have rodent's phone number? or know where he is

Monty Python... In Lego

More Movie Reviews

We went to BaGG

Movie Reviews

More F*cked up Sh*t from Robot Chicken

Landed

... for Rodent (of unusual size)

Rodent

One hell of a flying f*** at a rolling donut

Two Movie Reviews

Spotted: One Shaven Rodent

Decent Larry Harvey Interview

Homestarrunner Costumes

A New King

hey... WAIT...!

what goes on in the cult anyway?

where does one even _begin_?

... the only debate on ID worth having

Set Phasers on.. Pastel!!!

Suicide Mistaken for Halloween Decoration

Umm...

Rodent on the Playa?

Stinky

... I can't wait!

I Never Find...

Evil Theme Camp Benefit

... a bit geeky, but still very funny :-)

hmm

What the HELL Was That?!?

10,000 Superballs...

Mile Markers on the Road of Life

The Internet is for...

Worked

It's Over, Break Out The Spaghetti

Another Friday...

We're Placed!!!

They Came from Planet X

It's Just Wrong

Gamespeak

take note ...

Flea infestation

It's That Metallic Taste...

The Patron Saint of Engineers

I Sure Could Use a Date

My Day (with soap)

I've been touched by ... His Noodly Appendage!

Neiner, Neiner, Neeeeeiner

Ug... They Want Me to DJ...

Ug, What A Week

Anybody want a Mech?

Behold...!!!

Greatest Parody of the Movie Se7en

Bacon Bandaids

Rodent-san wa doko desuka?

Torturing the Rodednt

"This is Pretty Fucked Up Right Here" -Kyle, "South Park"

Mark Felt was told to find 'Deep Throat

There is Still Hope in the World

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!

Beastie Boys and the Supreme Court?!?

One for the "Ladies"

I have kidnapped yer leader!

hold me

It's Friday...

Look at Listings...

The Case of the Dissapearing Lake

Monkeys

Patton Oswald has a Blog

Abandoned Theme Park

DJ's

More Fcked up Sht from Robot Chicken