Lawrence.com

Posted by Chris Tackett February 18, 2008 at 9:58 p.m.

In case you missed it...compilation 2

I got some nice feedback from people on and offline after my [recent compilation post][1], so I'm gonna try to do those more often, maybe a couple times a month or more frequent if the demand...demands.Here are some of the things I read via RSS that I shared on my [link blog][2] in the past 8 days.How Oily is your candidate?![][3]This is a cool feature from [Oil Change International][4] that shows you how much money politicians receive from different oil companies. Guiliani got the most. You'll have to look for yourself to see how everyone else stacked up.via [EcoGeek.com][5] : : The Spies Who Love You(video won't embed, so click [link][6] to watch)![][7]This is a short animation that aims to explain the debate over the FISA bill and controversial amnesty for telecoms. Some folks just aren't going to take the time to learn about this stuff, which is why clips like these are useful. If you can pique someone's interest with a funny video, maybe they'll want to read more. Mark Fiore, the animator, has lots of other fact-inspired political animations that are the perfect thing to email friends that are more-likely to watch a cartoon than click on a link to the Washington Post. And the great thing about his videos is he posts links to his sources underneath the clips, so you can read more about the topic. Just click on 'More Info' for all the articles. And clicking on 'Do Something' will take you to the organization spearheading efforts to right whatever wrong the video is about.(via [BoingBoing][8] )::Love TheseI love [these pictures from Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre.][9] There are a bunch more on the artist's site. These next two are my favorite.![][10]![][11]via [Design Sponge][12]::The Folly of Attacking Iran[Just Foreign Policy][13] has issued a new video giving us a little history lesson of our involvement in Iran and its fledgling democracy:_You can [sign a petition][14] here asking your elected representatives to support Rep. Barbara Lee's bill [(H.R. 5056)][15] calling for normalizing relations with Iran._Link and above text via [Crooks and Liars][16]::Giant GrouperVia [Neatorama][17] : : Headlines: : [Briton jailed for four years in Dubai after customs find cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar under his shoe][18]_A father-of-three who was found with a microscopic speck of cannabis stuck to the bottom of one of his shoes has been sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison. Keith Brown, a council youth development officer, was travelling through the United Arab Emirates on his way back to England when he was stopped as he walked through Dubai's main airport.A search by customs officials uncovered a speck of cannabis weighing just 0.003g - so small it would be invisible to the naked eye and weighing less than a grain of sugar - on the tread of one of his shoes._via [Andrew Sullivan][19], who says "And this is coming from the modern bit of the Middle East."Meanwhile...The American College of Physicians is fine with medical marijuana_The American College of Physicians, the nation's largest organization of doctors of internal medicine, with 124,000 members, contends that the long and rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis.In a 13-page position paper approved by the college's governing board of regents and posted today on the group's website, the group calls on the government to drop marijuana from Schedule I, a classification it shares with illegal drugs such as heroin and LSD that are considered to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse._via [Joel's new blog][20] : : Sibel Edmonds story makes the MSMI've [written][21] a [couple][22] times about FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. On Sunday [The Dallas Morning News reran][23] an article [Philip Giraldi wrote about Edmonds' story in The American Conservative][24] magazine. It's good to see this important story getting that attention in a mainstream publication.via [Antiwar.com][25] : : Experts Scoff at Sat Shoot-Down RationaleI'm sure you've all heard about the Pentagon's plan to shoot down a rogue satellite. The Pentagon's apparent justification, or at least what they are telling the public, is that they want to prevent the satellite from hurting anyone, but as Wired Magazine's Danger Room blog points out, that is likely not the actual reason. They asked experts in satellite and space technology to weigh-in and the responses are a must-read. (Hint: It's about China).Link: [Wired's Danger Room][26] : : Zero Votes for Obama in Harlem?[This NYTimes story][27] is worth a read, but not unless you also read [this piece][28] by The Brad Blog discussing what The Times got wrong. : : RSS ExplainedIf you use the internet to read news or blogs and have no idea what RSS is or aren't convinced it's the smart way to use the internet, watch and learn. It'll save you tons of time and if used right will seriously change your online life for the better.If you're already using RSS or have now decided to get started, you can click here to view and subscribe to my [Google Reader link blog][2].Okay, that's it for now. [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/feb/12/notpolitics/ [2]: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/10723063164490610650 [3]: http://www.ecogeek.org/images/image/candidateoily.jpg [4]: http://oilmoney.priceofoil.org/ [5]: http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1372/ [6]: http://www.markfiore.com/spies_who_love_you_0 [7]: http://boingboing.net/images/secrtybearfisa.jpg [8]: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/14/warrantless-wiretapp-1.html [9]: http://silhouettemasterpiecetheatre.com/ [10]: http://www.designspongeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/1168.jpg [11]: http://www.designspongeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2128.jpg [12]: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/02/silhouette-masterpiece-theatre.html [13]: http://www.JustForeignPolicy.org [14]: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1439/t/5128/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22480 [15]: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h5056/show [16]: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/11/the-folly-of-attacking-iran/ [17]: http://www.neatorama.com/2008/02/07/photographer-and-goliath-grouper/ [18]: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23436226-details/Briton+jailed+in+Dubai+after+officials+find+cannabis+weighing+less+than+a+grain+of+sugar+under+his+shoe/article.do [19]: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/02/and-this-is-the.html [20]: http://redblueamerica.com/blog/2008-02-15/american-college-physicians-fine-medical-marijuana-974 [21]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/jan/06/sibelspeaks/ [22]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/jan/20/edmondscoverup/ [23]: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-sibeledmonds_17edi.ART.State.Edition1.45b446a.html [24]: http://www.amconmag.com/2008/2008_01_28/article1.html [25]: http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2008/02/17/sibel-edmonds-story-makes-the-msm/ [26]: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/fishy-rationale.html [27]: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/nyregion/16vote.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin [28]: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5701