Icyclectic

By a 410-15 vote on Thursday, politicians approved a bill that would effectively require that "chat rooms" and "social networking sites" be rendered inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of the Internet’s most ardent users. Adults can ask for permission to access the sites.

Even though politicians apparently meant to restrict access to MySpace, the definition of off-limits Web sites is so broad the bill would probably sweep in thousands of commercial Web sites that allow people to post profiles, include personal information and allow "communication among users." Details will be left up to the Federal Communications Commission.

source: zdnet

CNN: Hezbollah says it fired new rocket, Khaibar-1, at Israeli town of Afoula, south of Haifa, The Associated Press reports.

JewishEncyclopedia.com - KHAIBAR:
In the time of Mohammed, the name "Khaibar" was borne by a whole province, which was inhabited by various Jewish tribes; the name became famous in consequence of the prominence of the town in the Islamic wars.
Mohammed invaded the district in 628, and the Jews retreated to their fortresses, where they bravely defended themselves. The greatest resistance was offered by the fortress of Ḳamuṣ, which, in spite of the overwhelming numbers of Mohammed’s forces, held out two months. Finally, the Jews capitulated, but they were allowed to remain on paying a certain tribute. Omar, the second calif, violated the treaty of Mohammed and drove the Jews from Khaibar about 640, assigning them a strip of land near Al-Kufah, on the Euphrates.

Allaahuakbar.net - The Conquest of Khaibar
Khaibar itself had always remained a hotbed of intrigue and conspiracy, and the Jews had always constituted it a source of military provocations and war instigation centre, so it was given a top priority on the agenda of the Prophet’s compelling exigencies.
The Prophet invited only those who were willing to fight in the cause of Allâh to accompany him in his march against Khaibar. 1400 men only, who had sworn allegiance in response to his call.
On approaching the vicinity of Khaibar, the Prophet ordered his troops to halt, and began to invoke his Lord saying: "O Allâh! Lord of the seven heavens and what they harbour beneath, Lord of the seven earths and what lies in their wombs, Lord of devils and whomsoever they have led astray; we beseech You to grant us the good of this village (Khaibar), the good of its inhabitants and the good that lies in it. We seek refuge with You from the evil of this village, the evil of its inhabitants, and the evil that lies in it." Then he ordered, "Now march (towards the village) in the Name of Allâh."

Globalsecurity.org - Hezbollah rockets (update 04/08/06)
By naming their rocket Khaibar, Hizballah reminds Muslims that they can fight outnumbered against the Jews and win. "Khaibar" means: "fortified place". Modern Khaibar is one of seven Counties in Saudi Arabia, located to the Northeast of Medina. The rocket was named after the famed battle between Islam’s prophet Muhammad and Jewish tribes in the Arabian peninsula. When Amrozi bin Nurhasin, the Bali bomber, entered the courtroom on the day of his sentencing, he shouted "Jews, remember Khaibar. The army of Muhammad is coming back to defeat you." The valley surrounding Khaibar was considered one of the most fertile of the desert oases and its gardens of date palms were jealously guarded by the Jewish tribes whose territory it was. The Jews of Khaibar were considered the bravest warriors, and they posed a most powerful challenge to the supremacy of Islam. In 628 Khaibar was subdued by the Prophet Mohammed - 1,400 Muslims overcame some 10,000 Jews.

An interesting quote found on the IMDB message board for Der Untergang, especially after just having seen V For Vendetta.

by - Coog30  (Fri Jul 7 2006 12:09:21)
What I’m saying is this: human nature inherently has evil tendencies. Limiting the extent of these tendencies to reach extremes is the goal of societal concepts such as religion and government. Communism or National Socialism, whatever, does not allow for this regulation because if the leader becomes corrupt (and recall the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely") then the only way to mend it is by violent upheaval.
Democracies are able to amend governmental flaws more readily, which I think contributes to why the Western democracies have never reached these extremes, like Stalin, Hitler, Mao, etc.

Helen Thomas (born August 4, 1920) is a news service reporter, a Hearst Newspapers columnist, and a member of the White House Press Corps. She served for fifty-seven years as a correspondent for United Press International. As White House bureau chief, she covered every president since John F. Kennedy, was the first woman officer of the National Press Club, the first woman member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and the first woman member of the Gridiron Club. She has written four books, including her latest, Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public.

Traditionally, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question during White House press conferences, but according to Helen Thomas in a 2006 Daily Show interview, this ended because she no longer represents a wire service (UPI). Thomas has been moved to the back row during press conferences, although she still sits in the front row during press briefings. She is rarely called upon in press conferences, and no longer ends Presidential news conferences by saying "Thank you, Mr. President." Asked why she is now seated in the back row, she said, "Because they don’t like me…I ask too mean questions."

On Google Video you can find a couple of memorable recent appeances. One is the 2005 Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Annual Evening for Peace  with Helen as the host of a three-way interview with Daniel Ellsberg and Douglas Roche on the subject of nuclear proliferation. The other is a forum sponsored by the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, where she shares the guest spot with veteran journalist Daniel Schorr and Associated Press reporter Scott Lindlaw to talk about how White House journalism has changed under the Bush administration. Also, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert did an excellent parody piece with her for his performance at the recent White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

MTV News - Playa Rater

Over three decades of video game history, joystick genealogists have debated the impact of top-10 video games and 10-best game designers. They have discussed the five coolest first-person shooters and the five worst 3D-fighting games. They have argued the relative merits and impact of various controllers, consoles and characters. In short, they’ve rated everything except the players.

Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.
Penny Arcade.

Adam Clayton
Discoverer of the first Easter Egg. This may seem of little significance, but you have to remember it was around 1980, the Atari era, when game designers were treated as anonymous factory workers. So when young Adam proudly reported finding the name of one "Warren Robinett" in his game of Adventure, it may have been the first hint that game designers should get some credit for their creations.
Interaction with creators in the form of interviews and previews, and gamer feedback are now considered major contributing factors in the success of a game. However, Atari didn’t learn its lesson then, and continued to flood the market with uninspired games, eventually resulting in its demise.
Nowadays, within the gaming community, the reputations of game designers are sometimes on par with those of famous film directors (Kojima), artists (Miyamoto), and rock stars (Romero).

Billy Mitchell
High score pioneer. The king of Centipede, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and other arcade classics.
Altough arcades were brought to practical extinction during the Playstation era, Xbox Live is bringing back the importance of high scores and bragging rights. And let’s not forget the phenomenon of professional gaming, which is growing every year.

"Mitchell’s accomplishments helped fuel the motors of thousands of players determined to play well and rank well in gaming record books, a fever for achievement that still manifests itself in online rankings and Xbox Live leader-boards."

The Red-eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) is a medium-sized tree frog, reaching lengths of 50-75 millimeters, native to the rainforests of Costa Rica and Central America. Its dorsal surface is green of varying shades, and its ventral surface is white. The sides of the frog are purple or blue, with vertical white stripes and orange toes.

The Red-eyed Tree Frog lays its eggs in a gelatinous goo on the underside of leaves. In one or two weeks, the tadpoles hatch and wriggle until they drop off the leaf into a pool of water below, where they metamorphose into frogs. During their tadpole stage, their colors can change like a chameleon’s, in response to their environmental conditions or their emotional state.

Diet and behaviour

Red-eyed tree frogs eat flies, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, and possibly other small frogs.

Bright markings along the sides and on the limbs function to reduce predation. Most animals that prey on A. callidryas (some bats, snakes, and birds) often rely on their vision. When the frog moves to avoid the predator the bright colorations come into view. Because the predator is so locked onto its target, when these bright colors flash into view (hence their name, flash colors) they throw off the predator. This is achieved by leaving a ghost image in the visual field of where the frog was originally. This confuses the predator and gives the frog time to hide. In other cases, these bright colors often startle the predator and throws them completely off. These flash colors are often well hidden and are only shown when the animal is moving.

Like snakes on a plane, only slightly less severe, however, undoubtedly more messy…

(urbandictionary.com)

Wiki has an entry for the m-word?

The word "motherfucker" (also contracted forms mo-fucker, mofucka, mother, mofo, mafucka, mofy, mo-facku, mother moo and mamma-jamma) is a common insult, term of endearment, and expletive in the English language and is widely considered obscene. Literally, it accuses one of violating the taboo of incest. However, as with most epithets, its use is pejorative, rather than literal. The power of the word is that it attacks one's sense of manhood.

Found while reading about Snakes On A Plane. More on that later.

The late stand-up comedian Richard Pryor frequently used "motherfucker" as a term of endearment both on and off stage, and still used it in the positive sense to address his fans on his official website.

Pogonophobia: An irrational fear of beards.
Alektophobia: fear of chickens
Cryophobia: Ice and frost.
Chionophobia: Snow.

More? Just google it.

1990: Ghost
1991: Thelma & Louise
1992: The Crying Game
1993: The Piano
1994: Pulp Fiction (IMDB #10)
1995: The Usual Suspects (IMDB #15)
1996: Fargo (IMDB #106)
1997: Good Will Hunting
1998: Shakespeare in Love
1999: American Beauty (IMDB #33)
2000: Almost Famous
2001: Gosford Park
2002: Hable con ella (IMDB #198)
2003: Lost in Translation
2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (IMDB #38)
2005: Crash (IMDB #92)

Another article about the mass hysteria surrounding MySpace. The message is the same: no amount of media horror stories, legal measures or technological safeguards will ever make up for a lack of parenting and parental supervision.

“The company can hire all the security officers it wants, and it could replace every ad with a flashing banner that says “DO NOT TRUST RANDOM STRANGERS!!!”, and send fliers to every parent in America … and bad things would still happen to kids connected to MySpace. A lot of parents aren’t very good at parenting, and part of being a teenager is saying and doing stupid things, trying to socialize as much as possible, and worrying at the same time about your hair and your weight and your zits and your clothes.”