[Update 2: the original article wasn’t ever removed. A bit of software I use killed the link; the one I have up now works.] Now Warren Ellis (original) is getting sucked in by the draft hysteria. Time to grind out a counter-meme. First off, the two bills in question are H.R. 163 and S. 89. The record shows that S. 89 was introduced on 1/7/2003 and was referred to the Committee on Armed Services the same day. H.R. 163 was also introduced (original) on 1/7/2003 and was referred to the Subcommittee on Total Force on 2/3/2003. There has been absolutely no action on either bill since they were referred to committee. ...

Sadly, this time it’s a guy on the left abusing the definition of terrorist (original). Putting this in perspective: the KKK is closer to being a terrorist organization than the NEA (original), but nobody went to court to get the NEA legally defined as a terrorist group. The particularly vexing aspect of this case is the numbing effect it’ll have. The next time a real domestic terrorist is accused of terrorism, there will be plenty of people who’ll say “Oh, sure, like that KKK guy the professor wanted to muzzle.” Boy who cried wolf.

“In a roadside study, one in three reckless drivers who were tested for drugs tested positive for marijuana. It’s more harmful than we all thought.” Gnrgh! Meaningless! How many other drivers tested positive for marijuana? Was the ratio of reckless to non-reckless drivers different for those testing positive than those testing negative? Were all the reckless drivers stopped tested? The language quoted implies that they weren’t, so what factors determine who were tested and who weren’t? ...

For our thirty-eighth mashup we’ll go with an absolute classic of British television, The Sandbaggers. If you like espionage at all, I strongly recommend it. It was all kinds of tense and thoughtful; lots of each episode takes place in the offices of British Intelligence, where people are arguing about the ethics and practicality and safety of missions. And plenty of each episode takes place out in the field, where intelligence agents are not supermen.

I’d been pretty pleased with the Freaks and Geeks DVD set through six episodes, but in the seventh episode the beautiful new girl in class walks into the room in slow motion to the dulcet strains of Billy Joel’s “C’etait Toi.” And Jason Schwartzman guest stars. Now I’m just wholeheartedly recommending it. 18 hour-long episodes, drama with a lot of comedy to it, teenagers in a Wisconsin high school. Not unlike That ’70s Show, except not played for laughs. Decent acting, mostly by people who didn’t act much before or after — I’m sure there’s a story to the whole ensemble and how the show got made, but I dunno what it is. Painful if you don’t want to relive your high school years.

“Today we have elves, stormtroopers and now superheroes,” Koster said. “We need to break out of the geek ghetto. No offense … I am one.” Wired is running the old mainstream acceptance article (original), except it’s about MMORPGs instead of comic books. And yeah, we all know how unpopular stories about elves, stormtroopers, and superheroes are. #2 movie of all time: Star Wars. #4 movie of all time: The Phantom Menace. #5 movie of all time: Spider-Man. #6 movie of all time: Return of the King. #9 movie of all time: The Two Towers. ...

For the curious, my GenCon schedule follows. Thursday Iron Ref (Judge/Player), 2 PM — 8 PM This is run by a couple I’ve sort of kind of known for a long time, and whom I had a great time gaming with last GenCon. The concept is also terribly cool. Quasi-fortunately, my other first choice for this slot filled up two hours after registration opened, so I didn’t have to make a choice. ...

A week or so ago, the WEEI morning radio jocks were pushing the “it’s no worse than a frat hazing” talking points on Abu Ghraib. This morning, though, there was some interesting mutation going on. Dennis and Callahan spent a lot of time talking about how admirable the people who tried to prevent it were, and how little attention the media was paying to them — which is tacit acceptance that a lot of the soldiers did do something wrong. They went on to talk about the psychological tensions that might lead to abuse, once again accepting the postulate that abuse did occur. ...

Our mashup for yesterday (cough) is another Ginger suggestion: “Games Without Frontiers,” by Peter Gabriel. It’s evocative as all hell — I can’t wait to see what people do with it. Me, I’m going to reverse it. Those fond of children may wish to avert their eyes.

A reliable source informs me that, while it is not advertised on their site, the Renaissance Hotel Aruba (original) has both wireless access and plenty of power outlets on their private island beach. Said reliable source spent part of his vacation playing City of Heroes while drinking marguritas and tanning. I’m both horrified and delighted.