To record the seasteading conference. We were going to use a rental, but their one day is noon-to-noon, so we'd need 2 days, which would be $500, which is rather steep! We want something w/ reasonably nice video and sound (ideally a mic input & mic), so that we can make a DVD. Any got one?

At Tortuga in Mountain View, we pay homage to the turtle this Halloween.

Come out of your shell and party with us in your greenest ghoulish garb, or costume of your choice.

There will be a lounge, drinks, and much fun and good cheer for all.

Date: Sat, Nov 1, 2008
Time: 4pm

This article's thesis is "China is creating an evil slave empire in Africa, those scumbags."

Yet it opens with a mob attacking the reporter b/c they were afraid that his story might lose them their "slave" jobs: "The diggers feared - and their evil, sinister bosses had worked hard on that fear - that if people like me publicised their filthy way of life, then the mine might be closed and the $3 a day might be taken away."

DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Look, the sad, sorry fact is that in some parts of the world, life is so crappy that an industry that seems like awful slave labor to us is actually a step up. That is a sucky thing, and I'm glad people care about it. But these "evil, sinister bosses" are part of the solution, not part of the problem. When people are attacking your limo because they are afraid you will cost them their jobs, how can it not occur to you that maybe, just maybe, those jobs are helping them? WTF?