You read it here first: Media, Pentagon getting their ideas from me & CD jr.

From The NY Daily News: CIVIL WAR REENACTMENT – IN BAGHDAD?

Where did they come up with this one? The Multi-National Corps-Iraq press desk sent out a release today about a new operation targeting insurgents in Baghdad, which succeeded killing two insurgents and locating a cache of “artillery rounds, mortars, cell phones, weapons, propaganda, ammunition magazines and other bomb-making materials.” The clever name of this mission? Operation Bull Run.

From CD in February 2006: The Iraq Civil War, or Operation Bull Run

Last Sunday, Secretary of State Rice made the TV rounds and dismissed an “impending” civil war. And, technically, she’s right: It’s not impending if it’s already here. Her comments sound like Gen. Westmoreland’s December 1967 dismissal of the North Vietnamese’s ability to launch an offensive anywhere in South Vietnam. The following month the North launched the Tet offensive everywhere in South Vietnam.

Two points for the Pentagon to keep in mind:

1. It was a JOKE.
2. There have been two previous battles of Bull Run. We lost ’em both.

Y’know, Tom Lehrer once said that irony died when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize. Oh Tom, if only you’d been right.

(Mad props to Flagrancy To Reason for finding this.)

From Wired: How to Take Money From Kids: Sell Toys Both Physical and Virtual

Webkinz kick-started a trend in children’s gaming that ties virtual environments to real-world merchandise. Online games for kids aren’t new. Sierra Online had tot-focused games in the early ’90s, and Neopets proved a hot product six years ago with a similar concept. But the unprecedented success of Webkinz is inspiring everyone from Barbie to Disney to get children invested in both the digital and the physical.

From TheWhatchamacallit: Neopets a neoscam?

The NC Mall was the final blow though. Needing to use real money, to buy virtual items on a kids site? It should not be! I am going to write a twelve paragraph letter to neopets on this subject, after seeing how few people actually realize neopets is being taken over!

From Reuters: Program Reveals Where Wikipedia Entrees Come From

A new tracing program that reveals where Wikipedia entries come from is stirring up controversy. People using FBI and CIA computers edited entries on such topics as the “Iraq war” and the prison at “Guantanamo Bay,” presenting a conflict of interest for the nonprofit online encyclopedia, according to a company spokesperson.

From today’s New York Times: Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits

Collateral Damage: See here & here.

Collateral Damage: Today’s sarcasm is tomorrow’s news.

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Is Neopets a “Neoscam”?

The Whatchamacallit thinks so and he’s the family expert on the topic. He’s very unhappy about changes to his beloved site since Viacom purchased it.

Thats right, VIACOM BOUGHT NEOPETS! Ever since, neopets has been going down hill. The idea of neopets is a free tamagotchi, a website, that wouldn’t charge you, for anything. a site that would bring joy and happyness through out the world, and would have cybunnys fluttering down the rainbow over neopia central and…

My boy’s first rant. I couldn’t be happier.

I’ve enjoyed about as much of this as I can stand

• Upgraded the cell phone today and found out about the latest in wireless ripoffs: Got charged $10 to transfer my phone book from the old phone to the new. If my knowledge of electronics is right (well, it could happen) that means a profit of about $9.98 for Verizon. Oh, and I love the fact that they charge extra for a carrying case. Interesting loyalty builder — I pretty much only considered Motorola phones because I have a bunch of their chargers.
• Neotopia is a red state! Both Mrs. Collateral Damage and CDjr spend a fair amount of time on the marketing collosus that is Neopets. He got her hooked. I got no problem with that. There are several word games they play. Two words that the games won’t recognize as legitimate words: sex and cards.
• File under: Nice work if you can get it. Some ignorant legislator in Illinois is objecting to the fact that comedian Bernie Mac is going to be paid $500K this year for lending “his name and likeness for two TV ads, two radio ads and the lottery Web site for one year.” This amounts to roughly 2.5 days of work which means Mr. Mac is getting $23K an hour. Not sure, but I think that’s more than the minimum wage. Mr. Mac must be doing a heck of a job, as this is $80K more than he earned for doing the exact same thing last year. Now for entirely self-serving reasons, I have to say WAY TO GO DUDE! Don’t forget us, your less talented brethren in the comedy field.
• Two more product placements in The Sopranos last night. Sigh. Do it all you want on 2.5 Men or American Idol, but please can we leave it out of the little actual art on the airwaves? (David Fine is doing a better job of tracking this than I am, FYI.)
• No apology needed. TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese teacher, gripped by the baseball fever that seized the nation during a game with bitter rival South Korea, was forced to apologize after watching the game in a classroom where students were taking a test. In the Boston School system you get reprimanded for not having the game on. More true tales of Collateral Damage: In the week that lead up to the Bucky BLEEPING Dent game in ’78, all the nuns and lay teachers at St. Patrick’s Word of God in Providence RI — an evangelical Catholic institution where I went for jr. high school — just happened to have a radio on for all the day games. This was my first insight into what the phrase “Grace of God” was all about. Bumpersticker seen in the parking lot of McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket (pronounced peh-tuckit), home of the Triple AAA Red Sox team The PawSox (not pronounced peh-sux) in the late 80s: My daughter may be a whore, but at least she’s not a Yankee fan.