From the neighborhood listserv, responding to a series of dis-recommendations for a fencing contractor: "To reinforce the warnings about [contractor], I have a neighbor who lives [nearby]. While replacing a fence, they inadvertently set his house on fire!" To be fair, that takes some serious skill. Just perhaps not the skillset you might seek out for a fencing contractor.

Wikileaks' CollateralMurder.com site is a bit overloaded currently, so here's to spreading the news. Here's the torrent for the full video download; you'll need a tool like Miro or Vuze to use that to download and share the video. Overview 5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured. After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement". Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings. WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions. WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident. WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.

Franken answers questions and deals with doubt around health care reform.

Via Boingboing; High-ranking insurance PR flack defects, explains dirty tricks used to fight universal healthcare: BILL MOYERS: Was [Michael Moore's SICKO] true? Did you think it contained a great truth? WENDELL POTTER: Absolutely did. BILL MOYERS: What was it? WENDELL POTTER: That we shouldn't fear government involvement in our health care system. That there is an appropriate role for government, and it's been proven in the countries that were in that movie.

Minnesota's Michell Bachmann is calling for prayer and fasting to defeat healthcare reform: “That’s really where this battle will be won — on our knees in prayer and fasting,” she told the listeners. “Remember: faith without works is dead. So we’re asking you to do all of it: pray, fast, believe, trust the Lord, but also act.” As well as repeating misinformation and lies and a whole lot more insanities. I am all for this. I think prayer and fasting are the best opposition to health care reform -- and also the solution! Have cancer? Just pray! High blood pressure? Pray! (actually, fasting might really help there). Can't get insurance because your new pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition and thus you're breaking the laws by not getting prenatal care? God'll make sure you birth that baby -- you might die in the process, but hey, mysterious ways, right? Who needs insurance if you've got god on your side.

Also, guns. I think gun ownership for "protection" reveals a lack of faith in your savior to protect you. If God sends a thief to steal your money, molest your wife, or pillage your home, maybe he's sending you a message? I mean, there's that story about the guy with the boils and stuff - do you think he'd have learned his holy lesson if he'd had good health insurance and a gun?

Seat belts also are the cradle of the devil. If it's your time, then it's your time. All this safety stuff is blasphemy.

I welcome a national prayer-and-fasting against healthcare reform. Indeed, I think it is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING for god-fearing opponents to reform to take action on right now. Stop watching Fox News, stop emailing your congressman and start praying or risk being caught worshipping false idols.

A and I went to the concert on Sunday. There were a few people there. I guess if you get U2, Bruce, Steview Wonder, Beyonce, Usher, and more - as well as the Bidens and Obamas, people will show up? More...

So, I realized in talking to on of my old Austin friends that DC is really it's own unique snowflake right now. Let me share the insanity which is the Inauguration. We're closing all bridges from VA into DC. Take that for not funding the Metro system more, VA! If VA residents want to share the celebration, they get to drive around through Maryland or *gasp* take public transit (Virginians are known for driving - a lot). Also, for any tricksy outdoorsy-type Virginians, the Coast Guard is dispatching over 40 boats to patrol the potomac against kayakers. Really. We're shutting down huge portions of downtown to secured-access, no cars, etc. It will be a great, if cold, day for pedestrians and bikers - the local bike advocacy group secured a deal with the City to offer a free Bike Valet program for bike riders. The street in front of our house is a designated pedestrian pathway, and they're going to tow all the parked cars from it on Monday night. My work building is within a "lock-down" area, so I'll have to have my secure-entry card, photo-ID, and be on a pre-approved list if I want to get inside on Tuesday. Which is fine, because Tuesday is a DC-only federal holiday. Everything is shutting down. Except for the Metro, which is operating very extended hours (opening at 4am on Tuesday!) and ... bars, which got an emergency ordinance passed to allow them to stay open and serving booze until 5am all weekend. So - monday night, party until 5, then take the metro to stand in line for the inauguration security checkpoint drunk! (note: not my current plan) They're setting up ~6 jumbotrons along the National Mall between the museums and the Washington Monument to rebroadcast the event. I mean, all of that is crazy enough, right? It goes deeper. All the craft vendors at Eastern Market are selling Obamabelia, there's a store downtown that /only/ sells Obamabelia, and each and every random street-vendor, who usually makes their money from emergency umbrellas, ties, and hats, is selling obama hats (with blinged-out glittery Obama faces, etc.). We were doing some emergency stock-up shopping at the local Safeway last night. They had photo-on-icing obama cookies (we bought some), cakes, and patriotic-themed cupcakes, and were blasting orchestral versions of classic American jingoistic songs - you've never shopped until you're selecting avocados to the tune of "Johnny Comes Marching Home" by a full orchestra) Everyone's trying to cash in - people are trying to rent their homes out for extravagant amounts on Craigslist (http://dcist.com/2009/01/has_the_inauguration_rental_bubble.php), and despite the posted "prostitution free zone" (http://dcist.com/2009/01/dc_tries_to_ban_prostitution_for_in.php), there's also a hot trade of dates-for-ball-tickets (http://lostintransition.nationaljournal.com/2009/01/inaugural-ballers.php). Half of DC is battening down the hatches and not even planning to venture out, the other half is getting ready for a 4-day-long bacchanalia. Good times.

This fish pillows cannot really be explained - only experienced. And let me tell you, carrying the newest purchase home on the DC Metro at rush hour was marvelous.

So, you might remember that I planted sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes / girasoles) this year. I planted them in the time-honored tuber (...or starfish) method of chopping one up and planting the pieces. I chopped one decent-sized sunchoke up into six marble-sized chunks and they turned into plants. Big plants.

Two weekends back I was by the NutHouse to pick up my half of our shared beer-bottle collection, and harvested one and a half of the plants, which are now taller than I am. I am now the proud owner of a few pounds of sunchoke. Also, realizing the amount of lost sunchokes still hiding in the garden soil, plus untold yards of good root, I am confident that while every other positive change I might have tried to enact on the NutHouse may go away and fade, no one will ever - ever rid the yard of sunchokes.

I've been seeking out recipes that use lots of sunchoke. Soup was my first stop. Sunchoke Bisque turned out pretty well - it, er, tasted like sunchoke. Next recipe to try - pickled sunchokes!

First, Jon Stewart attacks pundit hypocrisy - using their own words: Second, Douglas Rushkoff on the RNC: I realized I was no longer filtering a speechwriter’s intentional manipulation; I was trying to look beyond real hate. These folks were gritting their teeth, shaking their fists, and smiling the way gladiators do when going into combat against barbarians. And this is the incumbent party. The ones currently in power. What is it they hate? Guiliani and Palin both made it pretty clear: community organizing. Community organizing is energized from below. From the periphery. It is the direction and facilitation of mass energy towards productive and cooperative ends. It is about replacing conflict with collaboration. It is the opposite of war; it is peace.

I realize that while I comment often here, I don't post much. So here's a wrap-up post on my life. Work continues. Less horrible than a few months ago, but still I have too many tasks, too many interrupts, too little funding, and not enough pay or belief to work unpaid overtime to get it all done in a timely fashion. I'm still pursuing leads for a good and engaging ICT4D / social media 4 dev or citizen journalism via SMS/civic engagement type position with some field time, but based in DC. I've spent the last 5 months in a long distance relationship (after swearing I'd never do one of those again!) and I'm done with LDRs (again) (this one ends (happily) next month, see below). I've mostly made peace with DC. There's a hidden but interesting group of folks here. It's a stuffy, stodgy town (especially considering its voting record), but for the time being at least, it's my home. Speaking of, I'm moving in with A (big step) in a real, honest-to-god rental rowhouse in a month. It's in the Capitol Hill area, essentially across the street from Eastern Market, which houses a great selection of regional produce and meat, and has a decent farmer's market combined with a craft/flea market on the weekends. We have a guest bedroom, so the open invite to friends stands. It has less crazy outdoor space than the Nut House, but it's also well maintained, and not shared with 6 others, not counting raccoons. I'll still be able to garden a bit. Gardening is going well. The peppers are coming in, and the "random packet of peppers" has turned out to produce 1 anaheim, 1 poblano, 4 jalapenos and 5 banana pepper plants. I'd prefer more of the first few and no banana peppers, but them's the breaks. I planted 2 habanero pepper plants separately. The sunchokes are taller than I am, and it's looking like I'll have to come back to visit the house in the fall to actually harvest them. The tomatoes are peaking currently, which is great. I've been eating at least 2 huge tomatoes every day :) The summer homebrews turned out decent; a solid lager and an experimental whitbier with lemon zest. Ironically, now that the two perfect-for-hot-august-days beers are ready, August is ending up with a series of downright pleasant days. I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If you haven't read that book, I highly recommend it. I considered myself decently informed on the importance of local sustainable food, but I still learn one amazing thing per chapter, and it's just a heartwarming story that makes me want to go farm.

After pressure from a slightly odd combination of civil liberties watchdogs and business traveler associations, the DHS has revealed the extent of their laptop/electronic device policies at the US border:

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing ... The policies state that officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information." This may take place "absent individualized suspicion." But it's not just laptops, either (bad though that may be, and in violation of at least two amendments: The policies cover "any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form," including hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, beepers, and video and audio tapes. They also cover "all papers and other written documentation," including books, pamphlets and "written materials commonly referred to as 'pocket trash' or 'pocket litter.' " Reasonable measures must be taken to protect business information and attorney-client privileged material, the policies say, but there is no specific mention of the handling of personal data such as medical and financial records. So, basically, don't travel to a conference outside the US or risk having all your materials confiscated at the border. But it's keeping us safe from the terrorists:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that "the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as images of child pornography, he wrote. Yeah, because that makes for great reading on the plane. Can you imagine a faster way to get a plane grounded if someone reads something like that over your shoulder? With the plethora of online storage spots, it's much, much safer to encrypt, upload, and then download after traveling - and with laptop theft (by the government or from the government - Laptop containing 33000 Clear users information stolen) so prevalent, a good idea for any traveler, terrorist or business. How many years, decades, or administrations will it take to just get us back to the level of freedom and democracy (not to mention peace, economic strength, and good standing in the world) we had just eight years ago? Is it even possible?

While all the cool kids were offline at ASA this weekend, I was out seeing probably my oldest friend get hitched (we were first introduced at the tender youth age of 6 mos). He had a "destination" wedding in Crested Butte, Colorado (near Aspen) (both their families are from Texas, and they're now living in Alaska, so it seemed a fair location for all). The wedding was great, and CB, despite it's one-trick pony of being a ski destination, was still a beautiful location. Photos and HDRs after the jump

Warning: Posted from a state of food bliss.<br /><br />The garden is doing well. A few of the tomato plants are struggling -- the new varieties that I hadn't tried before -- Early Girls (which didn't put out as much as promised) and a weird type that makes tapered-bottom tomatoes (I'll find its tag when I dig the plant up later). The rest of the plants are Quite Happy and I have probably 20 beautiful tomatoes in the kitchen waiting to be eaten. The potatoes, as I've already mentioned have come and gone and I have a handful left to eat. The sunchokes are still growing strong, and like potatoes I have to wait until the plant part dies back before digging in.<br /><br />My squash was odd this year. The yellow/summer squash produced a few early on, then mysteriously died back. My cucumbers and zucchini never showed up, replaced instead by monstrous acorn squash plants which have produced around a half a dozen of humongous gourds so far. Packaging mishap? Mutants? Who knows.<br /><br />The corn managed to make ears. They never filled out fully, but were tasty. I got about a half a dozen ears from the 5 plants that survived<br /><br />The food bliss part is from enjoying the (literal) fruits of my labor - in the form of a BLT for lunch, using my homegrown tomatoes on freshly baked (by my machine) bread with homemade truffle-oil-infused mayo and local+organic bacon; combining into a heart-attack of YUM.<br /><br />Photos after the jump..

CNN reporter critical of TSA gets pestered every time he flies:

CNN's Drew Griffin reported on the bloating of the watch list, which an ACLU count pegged at 1,001,308 names Wednesday afternoon. Griffin's is one of those names, he says. "Coincidentally, this all began in May, shortly after I began a series of investigative reports critical of the TSA. Eleven flights now since May 19. On different airlines, my name pops up forcing me to go to the counter, show my identification, sometimes the agent has to make a call before I get my ticket," Griffin reported. "What does the TSA say? Nothing, at least nothing on camera. Over the phone a public affairs worker told me again I'm not on the watch list, and don't even think that someone in the TSA or anyone else is trying to get even." Yankees stadium bans sunblock:

Security guards collected garbage bags full of sunblock at the entrances to Yankee Stadium over the sweltering weekend, when temps hit 96 degrees and the UV index reached a skin-scorching 9 out of 10 - a move team officials said was to protect the Stadium from terrorism. The team contends that sunscreen has long been on the list of stadium contraband, but there is no mention of it on the Yankee Web site. Four weeks ago, Stadium officials decided that sunscreen of all sizes and varieties would not be permitted, a security supervisor told The Post before last night's game. "There have been a lot of complaints," he said. "We tell them to apply once and then throw it out." For fans who bring babies or young children to cheer on the home team, the guard had suggested they "beg" to take the sunblock in. Luckily, the stadium sells 1-ounce bottles of SPF 15 sunblock for $5 a pop. But it's to prevent terrorism, not to turn a huge profit. And Amnesty continues doing their job of trying to remind us that people have now been in Gitmo with no hope of release or even trial for years. GO AMERICA! GOOD JOB THERE!

After some false starts, replants, serious weeding and re-mulching, the garden is doing pretty well now. Here's the "before" shots:

And now the "in progress" shot:

This garden protected by Creepy Found Doll Head, Inc.:

There's one tomato almost ready, and the squash is starting to fruit. Shared with Flock - The Social Web Browser

http://flock.com

Seriously, can the debate be over now? Amnesty International video on waterboarding -- showing as a movie trailer in theaters now!

Edit: OK, I was really excited about this article below until I got to the end when it started talking about "So dramatic are the report's scenarios, Watson said, that they may prove vital in the US elections. Democratic frontrunner John Kerry is known to accept climate change as a real problem. Scientists disillusioned with Bush's stance are threatening to make sure Kerry uses the Pentagon report in his campaign." -- it was published in 2004. Sigh. Ok; so now can we get something done? A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world. The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. 'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.' The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority. The report was commissioned by influential Pentagon defence adviser Andrew Marshall, who has held considerable sway on US military thinking over the past three decades. He was the man behind a sweeping recent review aimed at transforming the American military under Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Climate change 'should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a US national security concern', say the authors, Peter Schwartz, CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network. Bob Watson, chief scientist for the World Bank and former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, added that the Pentagon's dire warnings could no longer be ignored. 'Can Bush ignore the Pentagon? It's going be hard to blow off this sort of document. Its hugely embarrassing. After all, Bush's single highest priority is national defence. The Pentagon is no wacko, liberal group, generally speaking it is conservative. If climate change is a threat to national security and the economy, then he has to act. There are two groups the Bush Administration tend to listen to, the oil lobby and the Pentagon,' added Watson.

Students at Prarie View A&M in Texas (a democratic stronghold) have a seven mile trek to their polling place -- not horrible, except that they're students with a lower than average number of cars (and certainly there's a place on or near campus to host a polling location?). Regardless, they marched, en masse, to go vote -- and blocked the highway in protest as they did it.

Bolivia charged a US embassy official with espionage. He's been removed from the country with promises from the US Embassy that he will never set foot in Bolivia again, after it came to light that he's been asking Fullbright scholars and Peace Corps volunteers to spy on Venezuelans and Cubans in Bolivia, says ABCNews: ... the first time in history that the Bolivian government has charged a U.S. embassy official with a criminal offense -- let alone for one as serious espionage. Officials from the two countries met for hours yesterday in La Paz in an attempt to quell the growing tension and called a truce last night. Both sides declared their intentions to better relations and made clear that the official in question -- Assistant Regional Security Advisor Vincent Cooper -- would not return to Bolivia. "We accept the [U.S.] ambassador's explanations, and we want to get past the issue," said Foreign Relations Minister David Choquehuanca at the press conference that followed the more than three-hour-long meeting A sad footnote that scooted in to the end of the ABC News article: The U.S. Embassy in La Paz acknowledges the July incident, having received complaints from Peace Corps staff last year about the matter. But both the embassy and the State Department claim it was "an error," emphasizing that it should not have been interpreted as a request for U.S. citizens to spy. What was the error? That the volunteers and scholars were asked at all, or that the ask was "interpreted" as espionage?