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What's the Point of the TSA?

Undercover agents slip bombs past DIA screeners...

...tests done by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2006 found widespread failures. According to the GAO, screeners at 15 airports missed 90 percent of the explosives and guns agents tried to sneak past checkpoints.

Also, a Denver woman who carries a Taser for personal protection, told 9NEWS she carried it on board airplanes last year six times. Her Taser shoots 500,000 volts of electricity. She says the TSA never caught it and stopped her.

Most test results, including results from the Red Team, are secret, classified as SSI or sensitive security information. Morris says they do not make them public because they could point out holes in the system.

But at least 90% of airline passengers are taking their shoes off. That makes me feel better stupid.

Before the Squareback

The VW was the first I bought.

This '57 Plymouth Savoy...

...or one like it is the beast I inherited from my parents after my mother won a '68 GTO in a raffle.

The shame, the shame.

Squareback

A Tribute to the first car I bought...the VW Squareback.

The Glory That Was Rome

Just realized last night that that was the SERIES FINALE (not season finale) of HBO's Rome. Closed out OK wrapping up stories of Lucius Verenus and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson was great), but I would have loved to have seen the quality of the show go on to cover Caligula and Claudius. Guess I'll just have to see if I can find the old BBC warhorse "I, Claudius" if I go into withdrawal.

-- And tonight, at the end of the season finale of Battlestar Galactica (WHOA, by the way), we find out we need to wait until 2008 for the story to continue. Arrrggh! But I won't be going to the old series of that one in the meantime.

And where is that Deadwood finale?

Let's just hope he final episodes of The Sopranos live up to expectations.

I watch too much TV.

WKRP is Coming to DVD - Finally!

WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete First Season (3 Discs)...They must have worked out the music copyright problems

Why Do I Keep Doing It?

It being recording the "business and investing" shows on Fox Saturday mornings.

At least I can fast forward through the 75% that is full of knee-jerky Democrat-bashing to the stock picks that make up, at most, one segment of each show.

Used to be at just half of these shows; now just frustrating. I don't look to these guys for political punditry about things that have no impact on the markets.

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips

More and more often, I find new interesting music and musicians (at least new to me) on the Studio 360 radio show. Heard Dean and Britta this week...reminded me of some of the folkie pairs of my youth. Gonna check 'em out further.

Previous finds from the show - Ruthie Foster, Rotary Downs, and Ben Kweller.

Bipartisanship?

From Mr. Fish...

A Rational Approach to Morality

From the comments to Pursue pleasure: it’s the natural way to do good in the world...

Morality can be derived in many ways but the only true way it can be derived is through empirical based rationality and a thorough examination of how we want the world to be and what values will get us there.

No religion necessary.

More Cowbell!

...from Spike Jones...Hotcha Cornia

A Brave Politician

Not necessarily an oxymoron.

From the LA Times: Congressman says he doesn't believe in God

We Can All Be Heroes

Via: VideoSift

Heroes - one of my guilty TV pleasures.

300

Visually stunning, frantic battle action, and over-the-top motivational rants from Gerard Butler as King Leonidas. Realizing this is a fantisized version of a legend based in history, the only problem I had with it was the effete mega-multiple-pierced, overly modified vocal portrayal of Xerxes. Maybe I shouldn't have watched the History Channel's version of the story the night before seeing the film.

Also: Overlooked in most reviews I've seen is a nice performance in a small supporting role by Dominc West (of HBO's The Wire) as a smarmy politician back home in Sparta.

Confidence and Determination

From bull rider Brent Williams, channeled by Anna Deveare Smith at TED 2005...

"Confidence? Well, I think I ride outta more like determination than confidence. Confidence is like, you know, you've been on that bull before and you know you can ride him. I mean, confidence is kinda like being cocky but in a good way. But determination, you know, that's like just, you know, fuck the form, get the horn."

Link to Video

More TED Talks

PennRadio, RIP

One minor problem with using podcasts as a time-shifting radio replacement is that sometimes you fall behind on what's happening with the show to which you've subscribed. I was wondering why I hadn't received any new shows from Penn Jillette's radio show on CBS, when I noticed that last Friday's show was entitled "The End". Turns out it was the end. The show, which was one of the most intelligent interview, phone-in, humor, anarcho-capitalist, atheist, social commentary shows I've heard, is no more. It'll be missed. The show's site's even gone, so I can't point you to some of the best episodes, although it may still be available on iTunes, or it may not. Too bad.

At least I've still got my Monkey Tuesday ringtone.

Pork Fat Rules

Bacon Popcorn - Pure genius. Crisp up some bacon in a large pot, remove it and crumble, toss popcorn kernels into the pot with the bacon fat, pop, mix in bacon crumbles. Yum.