So, he’s killed those who investigated him, killed the independent Russian media and oil industries, brought back to the KGB to rival it’s former glory, and now Putin is getting ready for his encore.

Yup, after picking his successor, Putin has so kindly agreed to stay on as Prime Minister…

Really? Looks like Christmas has come early in Russia this year. Now all we need is for Dmitri A. Medvedev to win the election by more than 90% signaling that the Russian people are wholly behind him…

Jeez Putin, why don’t you let someone else be corrupt for a while?

Last night’s Simpsons showed this little clip titled “A Picture A Day for 39 Years”

Which is a take off of “Noah Takes a Photo a Day for 6 Years”
Now, I love me some Simpsons, but why is it when TV does it, it’s a parody and when YouTube does it, it’s stealing? Oh wait…money.

Freaking December…looks like Shots is back.

A 19 year old that recently shot and killed 8 people in an Omaha mall was describe by those that knew him as a “helpful young man.”  This really makes me want to ask those that knew people like Charlie Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer what he was like as a child.  Wonder if anybody would describe them as “helpful young men”?

The fine folks over at The Daily Show prove that they’re just as funny (and right) without Jon Stewart. Here’s their little take on the whole writer’s strike.

President Bush Tries to Solve the “Other Middle East” Peace Problem - Washington Post

France is Rioting…again, but things are getting better. - New York Times

YouTube + CNN + Republicans = 42? Time Magazine Does Math - Time

We don’t suck…as much oil…as we thought we do! Oil price drops nearly $3 per barrel - Bloomberg.com

Kayne West, Evel Knievel settle dispute, without Kayne getting his ass whooped - BBC 

Just yesterday I was telling Kenton Shelley about how Verizon limits cell phone usage. This limiting factor was one of the primary reasons I abandoned the big V two years ago in favor of the much more open Cingular/AT&T.

Today, Verizon stunned pretty much everyone with the announcement that they were going to drastically open up their network. This new Verizon turns the cell phone provider into something much closer in appearance to a traditional, modern phone company.

All applications, operating systems, and runtime environments are supported so long as the devices connect properly to Verizon’s CDMA network (they can make use of either the company’s cellular and PCS bandwidth). - Ars Technica

Verizon’s official statement is that they are just trying to keep up with the changing wireless world and the changing wireless customer (true), one must contrast this change to the same Verizon that attempted to sue the FCC over forced openness in the upcoming 700mhz spectrum bid (realist), and the flutter or commotion caused by Googles Android/Open Handset Alliance announcments (bitter realist).

For more read here: TheStreet.com, Ars Technica

Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison for conspiring to violate the U.N. oil-for-food program.

Wyatt, 83, pleaded guilty last month in federal court in Manhattan to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Under the terms of his plea deal, he could have been sentenced to up to a year behind bars.

Now that’s one hell of a headline.

Source: NYDailyNews

According to an article over at Ars Technica, phishing - the act of sending emails or hosting web pages that impersonate the the identity of another institution for the purpose of theft - actually hurts the reputation of the spoofed institution. And it does so by no small margins. Out of the surveyed sample, banks suffered the worst with a 41% hit, while social networking sites chalked up hurt feelings from nearly a third of all respondants.

This has to be terrible news for MySpace. I personally have helped several MySpace users clear up pages that had been phished away from the users.

Many of us grew up with Bill Nye, so called Science Guy (a less jarring alternative to Beakman). He was harmless, he was on television, and to a young nerd, he was f-ing brilliant. Nowadays, Bill Nye is frequent guest on television, last seen on America’s Most Smartest Model (VH1’s show to make all of us with IQs over room temperature feel good).

But, if you ask Bill Nye’s ex-wife were she last saw him, it’d probably be in court. Of perhaps peering through his windows at night. So, when science couldn’t get the ex off of his back, Nye turned to the courts. After all, the woman tried to kill his plants. That’s just uncalled for.