And the colored girls go do do do do do do do do

On prison

On December 4, 1991, Terry Anderson was released from captivity. He had been the last and the longest-held American hostage in Lebanon. I spoke to Keron Fletcher, a former British military psychiatrist who had been on the receiving team for Anderson and many other hostages, and followed them for years afterward. Initially, Fletcher said, everyone experiences the pure elation of being able to see and talk to people again, especially family and friends. They can’t get enough of other people, and talk almost non-stop for hours. They are optimistic and hopeful. But, afterward, normal sleeping and eating patterns prove difficult to reëstablish. Some have lost their sense of time. For weeks, they have trouble managing the sensations and emotional complexities of their freedom.

For the first few months after his release, Anderson said when I reached him by phone recently, “it was just kind of a fog.” He had done many television interviews at the time. “And if you look at me in the pictures? Look at my eyes. You can tell. I look drugged.”

-Hellhole: Is long-term solitary confinement torture?

Alas, in so many ways Guantánamo is not the exception but far closer to the rule of our criminal justice system, and the case of Omar Khadr, rather than being an anomaly of the War on Terror, is in all too many ways positively all-American. To be sure, taking a child soldier you've captured in a foreign land, whose interrogation entailed stringing him up half-naked in a five-foot-square cell with wrists chained to the bars at eye level and a hood clamped tightly over his face, then prosecuting him for "murder" because he allegedly tossed a grenade on a foreign battlefield, does present some legal issues that don't ordinarily come up in Spokane or Chillicothe.

But Gitmo, a "betrayal of American values"? Would that it were! Alas, for nearly every grisly tabloid feature of the Khadr case, you can find an easy analog in our everyday criminal justice system. In a sense, much of our War on Terror has proven a slightly spicier version of our "normal" way of doing criminal justice. Using the case of Omar Khadr, let's take this step by step.

-Guantanamo: Exception or Rule?

THAT is hardcore.

Keyboard player. He really gets the limelight at about 2:40.

srsly?

Is the US falling behind?

You may be interested to know that the new "top dog" on the
"Top 500" list, the list of biggest, baddest, and fastest
computers is the Chinese Tianhe-1A system at the National
Supercomputer Center in Tianjin.

Second place is Cray XT5 Jaguar system at the U.S. DOEs, Oak Ridge
Leadership Computing Facility in Tennessee. Third place is now held
by the Chinese system Nebulae at the National Supercomputing Centre
in Shenzhen. Number four is Tsubame 2.0 at the Tokyo Institute of
Technology, and number five s Hopper, a Cray XE6 system at DOEs
National Energy Research Scientific Computing.

Of the top ten, only five are in the US, the others in China (two)
Japan, France, and Germany (one each). see http://www.top500.org/

To add some context... these machines are not built to break records,
but rather to perform scientific research and engineering. Supercomputing
allows researchers to simulate environments; the more powerful the
computer, the larger and more detailed the simulation. For example, a
(big enough) computer could simulate the working of a human cell at the
atomic level, or help manufacturers speed product development by allowing
engineers to design, change and test products in virtual environments
before producing physical prototypes.

But probably more important rankings are the "BCS Standings", "AP Top 25",
"USA Today Poll", and "ESPN.com's Power Rankings" where Auburn maintains
the number 2 position!


War Eagle,

A. J.

re-dubbed

l' affaire newton

I don't know if that's accurate but I like it. The way I see it this has to break down in one of three ways:

1. Cecil Newton solicited money for his son Cam "Cameron Newton" Newton to play football at Mississippi State University (and, presumably, at Auburn). There's a lot to hint this way, but little tangible proof.

2. Kenny Rogers is a con man, trying to trick deep-pocket alums out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He seems like a shady guy, and this would explain why the FBI is involved. On the other hand, why would his lawyer let him change his story in order to say something so easily falsifiable?

3. Cecil Newton solicited money for his son Cam Newton to play football at Mississippi State University (and, presumably, at Auburn), and Kenny Rogers is a con man, trying to trick big spending alumni out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I have no idea which one of these is correct. I think Mississippi State holds the key -- if some of their people come out and say that Newton(s) did ask for money, that's it. On the other hand, they too might have their own cheater-related reasons for keeping this quiet, meaning that nothing comes of all this.

Oregon Trail knock-off Friday

1. Organ Trail

2. Thule Trail

That's... the high life.

how fun

clicky thing click pew pew pew stupid black background

oh my

Metal Monday

3E approves

welcome back.

3E is unique and fluctuates

Your 3E:

Your 3E is EVERY ESSENTIAL ELEMENT that helps you function optimally. Your 3E is unique and fluctuates; so knowing how to find your 3E easily is useful. The 3E process engages your own wisdom to work on behalf of what you really want.

That's pretty accurate, I think, but this is my 3E. More:

The 3E design is a culmination of six years conditioning my world and personal view, 22 years professionally supporting fortune 500's, non-profits and social entreprenuerships, and one particularly clear headed and hearted morning with my journal. Since that day, 3E has supported an emergence of inner wisdom that surprises and guides me, EVERY DAY! It catches my drifting, procrastination, ultimate agendas and especially my enthusiasm to support new patterning and progress. This momentum shows up with ease and light-heartedness even as it directs me toward engaging with people who face considerable obstacles in their own self conditioning.

Why is everyone trying to steal our brand? Actually, I know why: it's because we're awesome. Also, I am thinking lawsuit. Or more likely, perhaps some kind of licensing deal -- most of that does describe 3E in its fullness. 3E is large; 3E contains multitudes.

the lil'est terr'ist

Adorable.

I would like to see something terrible happen to the dickhole who boxed up live cats, though.

Two geography things

1. Latitudes not Attitudes: I think this guy actually underestimates some foundational importance in terms of geography and civilization. Example the first: Eurasia runs mostly east-west, so you can easily transmit ideas along similarly hospitable climes. Africa and the Americans run north-south, meaning that culture will be divided by climate as deserts, jungles, etc split peoples up. Example the second: Europe has many, many more navigable river miles than Africa does. It's easy to get around most of Europe by boat (which until about 150 years ago was the fastest and cheapest way to move stuff), while it's almost impossible in most of Africa. So, I think he doesn't give enough importance to geography and the early forms of civilization.

But in other ways he overestimates it. The divergences between Western Europe and China in the 1800s and 1900s were not due to geography, at least not the way that he explains it. That had more to do with political and social competition, culture, and just plain luck of the draw. If anything, geographic advantages hindered Chinese gains -- they had everything they needed, why scrabble for advantage? Europeans, in a relatively poorer spot and with more capable competitors, faced a different situation.

2. You Have No Idea How Big Africa Really Is (But This Map Does): actually yes I did have an idea thank you internet.

west do something cool with this

Pi-Search Results: it's got numbers!

LOLCAMS

SOMEONE WITH MORE MOTIVATION, MAKE IT HAPPEN. IF IT HASN'T ALREADY. YOU COULD SAY FUNNY THINGS LIKE TACKLING UR DOIN IT WRONG, I CAN HAZ HEIZMAN?, OR I AM IN UR END ZONES STEALIN UR LAPTOPS OR OTHER HILARIOUS THINGS. SO CLEVER.

I once ate ten thousand lightning bugs

The Oatmeal, total sell-out

rock on, student section.

Dear Auburn Students,


No place rocks like Jordan-Hare Stadium. I know that and you know that, but others are taking notice. Here's what Chris Low of espn.com said about Jordan-Hare earlier this week:


"There are a lot of places that rock around the SEC, and there are a lot of places around this conference that hold noise and make you feel like your ear drums are about to explode. But it’s that way from the opening kickoff at Auburn and only picks up steam from there. I’ve been to just about all the stadiums in the league the last few years, and I say with confidence that Jordan-Hare Stadium is as consistently loud and electric throughout the game as any stadium I’ve been to, and I think it’s gotten even more intense this season."


I could not have said it any better myself. When I asked you to go "All In" earlier this season, you answered the challenge. I'm asking you to bring it even louder and stronger this Saturday as we host the LSU Tigers. It will be the toughest test we have faced all season, and the stakes could not be higher.


Student gates will open 45 minutes earlier than normal, starting at 11:45 a.m. So come early, be loud and stay late! You are the best student section in the country, and I can't tell you how much your support means to our players. Thanks again for making Jordan-Hare Stadium the loudest and most electric stadium in the country. Keep it up!


See you Saturday.


War Eagle!


Gene Chizik

Head Football Coach