del.icio.us links for 2005-12-14

• ABC News: House Approves Extension of Patriot Act: The House voted 251-174 to approve a House-Senate compromise that would modify and make permanent most of the Patriot Act's 16 expiring provisions. But a group of Republican and Democratic senators is lobbying for more time to add additional safeguards on (bush congress evil liberty politics surveillance us)
• iPod mini 8GB Upgrade: Replace 4 GB hard drive with 8 GB flash drive. I would expect this to improve the battery life as well. (apple cool hardware howto ipod storage)
• Welcome to the Data Retention Petition Campaign - Drcampaign: The European Parliament has adopted the directive on data retention. (europe evil internet liberty politics privacy security sucks)
• Expatica's Spanish news in English: A Spanish Christmas and New Year: The typical Nativity scene seems perfectly innocuous. But take a closer look and you spot the small, half-hidden figure of a man, squatting, trousers half-down, merrily doing his business, leaving a less-than heavenly deposit on the ground below. (art culture europe funny religion shit spain sploid weird)
• Fuck Christmas: "Oh man, fuck Christmas. Seriously – are you kidding me with this “There’s a war on Christmas” bullshit?" (culture funny media politics rant religion us)
• POE News: Rumsfeld Fighting Technique: Rummy's new fighting technique is unstoppable! (humor image martial photo politics rumsfeld us)
• E.U. Parliament votes to force "data retention" on telecom, Net firms [Politech]: The European Parliament this morning voted in favour of a backroom deal of mandatory retention of telecommunications data (the outcome is in fact the worst possible, exactly what the UK home affairs minister Clarke wanted). (europe evil liberty politics privacy security sucks)
• President Bush: 'I Only Have One More Year To Go As President' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: (audio bush humor mp3 news politics theonion us)
• Burger King Introduces Trudge-Through Window | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: (audio food humor mp3 news theonion)
• Activist Judge Cancels Christmas | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: In addition to forbidding the celebration of Christmas in any form, Judge Reinhardt has made it illegal to say "Merry Christmas." Instead, he has ruled that Americans must say "Happy Holidays" or "Vacaciones Felices" if they wish to extend good tidings. (humor news politics religion theonion us)
• Weather-Weary Nation Not Surprised By Forecast Of Blood Storms | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: According to NWS spokesperson Joe Colby, the worst blood storm conceivable is a Category 5 on the Saffir-Savini Meteorosanguinity Scale. (disaster humor news theonion us)