WTF?

Someone at Vandenberg Air Force Base and at the Department of Homeland Security turned up in my referral logs this morning. Whoa.

East Bay Express: “Comin’ up,” Deputy Bob Brandt called out to his partner, John McDonnell. He nudged the throttle with his right hand as the August Vollmer, Alameda County’s antiterrorism gunboat, lifted its nose and motored away from its Alameda berth toward the Bay Bridge. It was just after 10 a.m., and the boat skipped over tiny ripples in the green bay waters, which resembled a rumpled sheet of AstroTurf. To the left, San Francisco was still capped in morning…

So I’m reading Wired News this morning and I see that there’s a reference to the Michigan State University School of Packaging. Huh? And as with people, clothes (or the lack thereof) can make the computer. Customers respond to Apple’s packaging for the same reasons they respond to the user-friendly machines within, said Laura Bix, an assistant professor at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging. So not only is there a School of Packaging, but you can get your Master’s…

AP: The Associated Press Wednesday, August 24, 2005; 4:02 PM VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson insisted Wednesday that he did not call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, despite comments broadcast on his program two days earlier. “I didn’t say ‘assassination,’” Robertson said Wednesday on his Christian Broadcast Network show “The 700 Club” about remarks reported by The Associated Press and other media outlets. “I said our special forces should ‘take him out.’ ‘Take him…

University of Arizona: The current warming trends in the Arctic may shove the Arctic system into a seasonally ice-free state not seen for more than one million years, according to a new report. The melting is accelerating, and a team of researchers were unable to identify any natural processes that might slow the de-icing of the Arctic. Such substantial additional melting of Arctic glaciers and ice sheets will raise sea level worldwide, flooding the coastal areas where many of the…

Ed: Ok, here’s my idea for the next Slate explainer. How do you start a bloodless coup? Really, do you just waltz in and say, “Ok, I’m taking over.” and all the mindless lackeys look up from their desk and say: “Yeah, ok.” AP: NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) – A military junta overthrew Mauritania’s U.S.-allied president while he was abroad Wednesday, prompting celebrations in this oil-rich Islamic nation that looked increasingly to the West amid alleged threats from al-Qaida linked militants.…

BBC: Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised – a “female” android called Repliee Q1. She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner. She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe. Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are…

WashPost: [Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s antiterrorist branch] said the containers that held the explosives — 6.25-liter models made of clear plastic with white lids and bearing the brand name Delta — were imported from India and sold at 100 outlets. He urged any shopkeepers who sold five or more at the same time or to the same customer to contact police. Ok, I’m no anti-terrorism expert or anything, but is this really what we’ve come to? That we’re…

So three points on the Arabic Assassin story. 1) Clearly, this guy isn’t all that bright if he thinks that as a Palestinian-American his rapping about terrorism isn’t going to raise any red flags. Oh, and he’s a baggage screener, too? In the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston? Yeah, no red flags at all. (That being said, what exactly is an intercontinental airport?) 2) He does have a point that he’s not the first to write crazy lyrics for…

NYT: WASHINGTON, July 13 – President Bush said today that his nominee for the Supreme Court may be someone who has never sat on the bench before. “Would I be willing to consider people who had never been a judge?” Mr. Bush said. “And the answer is, ‘You bet.’ “