Vocal anti-gun SF sheriff is now himself disarmed

San Francisco county's sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, a loudmouthed proponent of disarming everyone  in SF, is now himself disarmed. If Sheriff Mirkarimi is convicted of the domestic violence, assault, and child endangerment charges he's been arrested for he'll lose the legal right to own, possess, or even touch a firearm or ammunition for the rest of his life. Sucks to be him but the rest of us can laugh however. Heh.

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A river of sewage: LA artists paint scenes from the LA river. - Wall Street Journal online

A creepy slide show of contemporary drawings, paintings and collages of the LA river.

The Challenge of Totalitarianism - Telos (Andrew Walker)

"Totalitarianism is not of itself an ideological position but involves total state authority with the goal of continuation of an established order."

"Fingerprinting" computer chips - Technology Review (Neil Savage)

"By sending a series of signals through, and measuring how fast they travel, he can generate a string of numbers unique to each circuit. This has been dubbed a 'physically unclonable function'--PUF for short."

Stupid fashion fads killing off wildlife - Taki's Magazine (Mandolyna Theodoracopulos)

Chinese discover 90 years worth of frozen methane. - Inhabitat (Bridgette Meingold)

Better to burn the methane/ice than all the coal that they use now.

Houseboat living on the Puget Sound - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"And they are resistant to earthquakes."(A reader's comment).

Hundreds of drug cases dropped by SF police; Head of lab was stealing, using the evidence herself. - SF Chronicle

What’s the best commuting bike for urban/city riding? - Outdoors online

Sad, wistful story of man who's buying his first car at age 40. - LA Weekly

A native NYer he used taxis, the subway, the bus, walked and bummed rides from friends. Now an Angelino he's had to learn to drive, get a DL, buy a car, and insurance, etc.

Actor who portrayed "Agent Smith" is gonna be "Red Skull" in Captain America movie - io9

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Some speculation about Lenin's sex life. - Wall Street Journal
The father of the Soviet state gets the full tabloid treatment. This book's author lists Lenin's flings, possible affairs, rumors of affairs, reported brothel visits, possible mistresses and other titillating speculations. And based upon the flimsiest of evidence too, claims the reviewer.
An informational mass extinction is likely. Or at least possible. - American Scientist
"The Dead Sea scrolls, made out of still-readable parchment and papyrus, are believed to have been created more than 2,000 years ago. Yet my barely 10-year-old digital floppy disks were essentially lost."
America is edging closer and closer to a full-on race war. - VDare
Check out this very popular YouTube video.
Two SF Politicos help with the budget problems; Four $48 parking tickets in two weeks. - SF Weekly
The SF parking enforcement isn't being overzealous just to get extra revenue from fines though. (Heh. Yeah, right!) Given who and what they are, I suppose they have to say that though.
How do porn actors relax off-screen? D&D tournaments it seems. - Playing D&D With Porn Stars
Joseph Stack: America's first suicide bomber - Paul Craig Roberts
"Indications are that Joseph Stack was sane. Like Palestinians faced with Israeli jet fighters, helicopter gunships, tanks, missiles and poison gas, Stack realized that he was powerless. A suicide attack was the only weapon left to him." And so he used it.
The irreversible ecological destruction involved in so-called clean coal mining. - New Scientist
Why Obama doesn't pick a D.C. church - iSteve
"Look, wouldn't the simplest explanation be that Obama was just yanking our chains about the Jesus stuff? That, as he admitted he was told in 1985, he'd need to join a church in Chicago if he expected to have a political career on the South Side."

Cell phones show human movement predictable 93% of the time. - Ars Technica

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Solar Shingles See the Light of Day - Technology Review
The NYT Announces Paid Content Plans For 2011-TechCrunch
Doing Warp-Speed Algebra-Scientific American
Celling Out: The Bay Guardian now wants to cash in by letting T-Mobile build antennas on its roof - SF Weekly
Two of San Francisco's lefty independent newspapers are in pissing match with each other about who is the biggest sell-out to evil capitalist interests. Heh.
Robert B. Parker Detective Story Writer Extraordinaire Dies-Wall Street Journal (on line)
He wrote the Spenser private detective novels.
Arms Maker Defends Crypto Bible Verses On Its Gun Sights Sold To Pentagon - Detroit News
SCOTUS throws out a lower court ruling that had set aside the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jama-LA Times
Voracious Asian Carp Is Threatening To Reach The Great Lakes Soon-LA Times
Not good. Another invasive species threatens the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Stoeger Model 2000 Semi-Auto 12-Gauge Shotgun - stoegerindustries.com
$499 plus tax and paperwork. Not bad at all for what you get.