Reuters has an article out saying Bush will ask for an increase in missile defense spending and to modernize the Army.

…boost spending on missile defense by $1.2 billion next year and nearly double funding to modernize the Army in the $401.7 billion U.S. military budget for 2005…

Even the conservatives believe the Bushies are trying a “choke and die” approach to reduce the government. I think they overreached and we’re in for a world of hurt. Whose missles are we defending against?

My wisdom so antiquates known knowledge, that
a psychiatrist examining my behavior, eccentric
by his academic single corner knowledge, knows
no course other than to judge me schizoprenic. In
today’s society of greed, men of word illusion are
elected to lead and wise men are condemned. You
must establish a Chair of Wisdom to empower
Wise Men over the stupid intelligentsia, or perish.

Time Cube

I’ve got a new favorite NPR radio show: On Point with Tom Ashbrook, out of WBUR in Boston.

Yesterday, they had a discussion of health care costs and solutions for the US. The highlight had to be Uncle Miltie, Nobel Prize winning economist explaining why a single-payer system would completely and totally blow health spending out of the stratosphere. (Friedman article archive and thoughts on health care )

Can I get a only last Wednesday of the month subscription to USA Today?

On Wednesday January 28 USA TODAY unveils an enhanced package of television ratings coverage in the LIFE section, including a monthly listing of the Top 10 most rated programs based on an analysis of anonymous, aggregate data from 20,000 TiVo households.

Hey, let’s get the old skating crew back together, except …

The adult model Powerisers give users from 130 lbs to 220 lbs the ability to jump up to 6 feet in the air and take running strides of up to 9 feet in length.

I would like to try these out, but not quite $400 worth.

The insanity continues at Achewood as Phillipe starts building the platform for his campaign.

and be sure to download the awesome Phillipe-themed blip-hop single from Freezepop called Here Comes A Special Boy!

A billion here… a billion there – soon you are talking about real money. I’m glad you’re not mature any more, JRO.

Yoda falls victim to theft.

BTW – this is a prime example of why “Just the facts, ma’am” journalism both sucks and blows. The article from the AP lacks any sort of soul at all. Such as noting whether or not Mr. Noble lived with his mother. Or any notice of glasses, pocket protectors, or Jedi Robes being worn by same gentleman.

Sigh. Long live bias.

My buddy Mike has run Chicken Ranch Records from various exotic locations including Ruston, LA; Austin, TX; and Athens, GA. He’s always had some interesting bands come through and one of the latest includes some folks I met back in the day at the homestead (Shreveport, LA), so you may have met them, too. Steve Stubblefield was with the Methadone Actors back then. Tim (Timmy) Bryan infamously played with Mike in Habitual Sex Offenders (it’s not what you think, it’s more like this kind of thing, eh) and also played with Steve in Methadone Actors. Together when on tour, and including some other folks when they record, these two are the main components in Starlings, TN . They have enjoyed a lot of critical success (and I’m a big fan of their first album) and the big news is they were featured on NPR this evening.

Check ‘em out. I know you’ll like it.

The Road To Hana is a favorite journey (it’s not the destination, it’s the journey) for Maui visitors trying to escape the touristy parts of the island. This 50 mile stretch of road has dozens of spots where it suddenly reduces to one lane. Much to the constarnation of locals, us haoles tend to drive the road slowly watching around clifs, waterfalls and watery coves for oncoming speed demons.

We decided to take the road after we finished lunch in Kahului. This was a mistake in hindsight since most people make The Road to Hana into an full day-trip or even over-night it. It took us over two and a half hours to make it to Hana only making a few stops along the way. We’ve been chastised for missing several pools and waterfalls, but we did see some really nice coves along the way.

Here are a couple of Action Sampler 3.0 pictures from Mickey and Emily’s wedding day.

Ben (of Ben and Jerry’s) has gotten into politics with True Majority and has this cute little Flash movie where he decribes the Federal Budget with Oreo© cookies.

• Nintendo announced a new portable system called Nintendo DS that will be demo’d in May at E3 — anyone want to score me a high-end pass? The most exciting rumor to me is the wireless gaming interface. If it was designed conceptually like BlueTooth (but worked better) it could break portable gaming wide open.
• Rumors abound that Microsoft will drop the price on XBox this year, possibly as low as $99 by late summer. Can anyone give me a good reason(game) or two that I should go ahead and purchase one?

A platform we can all get on.

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Those wacky folks over at CMU have this little game where you and a complete stranger are trying to match up your minds over the internet. I can’t play due to my workplace’s firewall, but I’m looking forward to testing my mental metle from home tonight.