The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft's Passport fails to travel far as Web strategy
I dropped Hotmail a few years ago when they started that Passport crap. It's not a bad idea, but it's /such/ a bad idea from Microsoft. No one wants to trust that kind of info to a company that can't make software securely. Now if Google tried it...
Friday, December 31, 2004
Creepy
Jessica Simpson: Jessica Simpsons Virgin Vow
JESSICA SIMPSON's father JOE made the singer promise to stay a virgin until she married, during a ceremony when she was twelve.
Simpson sr, who doubles as Jessica's manager, handed the 24-year-old a promise ring and vowed to be the only man in her life until she married.
He explains, "I'm going to tell you how beautiful you are every day. Even when you make a mistake, you are someone special. And I am going to be that person until the day you find a man to do that in my place."
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Ohio Official Refuses Interview Over Vote
Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Ohio Official Refuses Interview Over Vote
You have got to be kidding me! Way to feed the conspiracy theorists Blackwell. I can't think of a better way to drum up publicity for the people protesting the Ohio results... unless you are really hiding something.
You have got to be kidding me! Way to feed the conspiracy theorists Blackwell. I can't think of a better way to drum up publicity for the people protesting the Ohio results... unless you are really hiding something.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Free FM radio!
CNN.com - Pirate radio calls for inauguration protests - Dec 22, 2004
You gotta love "pirate" radio. The subjugation of the FM band to the FCC is a crime against free speech. Vast swaths of it remain unused and those that are belong Clear Channel, and the FCC sits there and protects their monopoly.
You gotta love "pirate" radio. The subjugation of the FM band to the FCC is a crime against free speech. Vast swaths of it remain unused and those that are belong Clear Channel, and the FCC sits there and protects their monopoly.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
KR Washington Bureau | 12/20/2004 | Harsh interrogations in Iraq went beyond FBI standards, memo says
KR Washington Bureau | 12/20/2004 | Harsh interrogations in Iraq went beyond FBI standards, memo says
More "isolated incidents" of us torturing people. C'mon people we're Americans. We don't do this crap.
Check this out:
So the "top FBI official in Iraq" doesn't know the difference between an Executive Order and a Defense Department directive? Seems a little fishy to me.
More "isolated incidents" of us torturing people. C'mon people we're Americans. We don't do this crap.
Check this out:
"We have also instructed our personnel not to participate in interrogations by military personnel which might include techniques authorized by executive order but beyond the bounds of FBI practices," the top FBI official in Iraq reported to bureau officials in Washington. The FBI official wasn't named in the memo.
The memo includes several references to an "executive order" signed by President Bush, but the two government officials said that was an error and that the reference was to Defense Department directives.
White House officials also said the memo's reference to an executive order from the president was a mistake.
"No such executive order exists or has ever existed," said Frederick Jones, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
So the "top FBI official in Iraq" doesn't know the difference between an Executive Order and a Defense Department directive? Seems a little fishy to me.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Jeri Ellsworth -- naked and petrified
Google Search: jeri ellsworth
Not really, but she's my newest "it" geek girl. She designed a "C64 in a joystick" emulator from the ground up. She's also teh hot in an elfin geek sort of way. So I dub her N&P.
Jeri if you happen across this ego surfing. I'm not stalkerish or anything. No really... I'm not.
Not really, but she's my newest "it" geek girl. She designed a "C64 in a joystick" emulator from the ground up. She's also teh hot in an elfin geek sort of way. So I dub her N&P.
Jeri if you happen across this ego surfing. I'm not stalkerish or anything. No really... I'm not.
Favorite Neil Young lyrics
NEIL YOUNG LYRICS - Only Love Can Break Your Heart from the LP After the Goldrush:
"I have a friend
I've never seen
He hides his head
inside a dream
Someone should call him
and see if he can come out.
Try to lose
the down that he's found."
course this little bit of Cripple Creek Ferry runs a close second:
"All alone the captain stands
Hasn't heard
from his deck hands.
The gambler tips his hat
and walks towards the door.
It's the second half
of the cruise.
And you know he hates to lose."
"I have a friend
I've never seen
He hides his head
inside a dream
Someone should call him
and see if he can come out.
Try to lose
the down that he's found."
course this little bit of Cripple Creek Ferry runs a close second:
"All alone the captain stands
Hasn't heard
from his deck hands.
The gambler tips his hat
and walks towards the door.
It's the second half
of the cruise.
And you know he hates to lose."
Ali Leaves Iraq the Model
Iraq the Model is a pro-American Iraqi blog whose main three writers Mohammed, Ali and Omar have been thoroughly vetted even been invited to the White House on a recent US visit. It's been trumpeted throughout the conservative press as "See things aren't so bad. These guys like us." And reading the blog, you see why. The point out all the good things that are going on in Iraq. Reading their blog gives me hope for Iraq. If there are enough people there like these guys, Iraq will be fine.
So I was a little surprised to read this this morning:
I don't know what happened. No one does it seems, but I doubt it's good.
So I was a little surprised to read this this morning:
This is the last time I write in this blog and I just want to say, goodbye. It's not an easy thing to do for me, but I know I should do it. I haven't told my brothers with my decision, as they are not here yet, but it won't change anything and I just can't keep doing this anymore.
My stand regarding America has never changed. I still love America and feel grateful to all those who helped us get our freedom and are still helping us establishing democracy in our country. But it's the act of some Americans that made me feel I'm on the wrong side here. I will expose these people in public very soon and I won't lack the mean to do this, but I won't do it here as this is not my blog.
At any rate, it's been a great experience and a pleasure to know all the regular readers of this blog, as I do feel I know you, and I owe you a lot.
Best wishes to all of you, those who supported us and those who criticized us as well.
Yours sincerely,
Ali.
I don't know what happened. No one does it seems, but I doubt it's good.
I Am A Conservative Christian, And The Religious Right Scares Me, Too
So says Chuck Baldwin in another conservative anti-Bush piece. I can get with a guy like that even if his bio (in the column) makes me nearly ill. True conservatives are finally coming out against Bush. Way to go guys.
Friday, December 17, 2004
San Antonio strippers to wear permits
San Antonio strippers to wear permitss
I guess there are no more fully nude strip clubs in San Antonio.
I guess there are no more fully nude strip clubs in San Antonio.
The New York Times > International > Asia Pacific > Intelligence: A Hostile Land Foils the Quest for bin Laden
The New York Times > International > Asia Pacific > Intelligence: A Hostile Land Foils the Quest for bin Laden
Didn't Bush say something about "never letting another country" interfere with our security? Looks like Pakistan just vetoed us chasing Bin Laden down. This leaves me with two possible conclusions:
1)Bush is a liar.
2)Bin Laden is not a threat to national security. (Which would make point 1 true).
Ah here we go:
"I will never give another country veto power over our national security."
-- George W. Bush, 10/20/04
Didn't Bush say something about "never letting another country" interfere with our security? Looks like Pakistan just vetoed us chasing Bin Laden down. This leaves me with two possible conclusions:
1)Bush is a liar.
2)Bin Laden is not a threat to national security. (Which would make point 1 true).
Ah here we go:
"I will never give another country veto power over our national security."
-- George W. Bush, 10/20/04
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune - Male gymnast fights to compete
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune - Male gymnast fights to compete
On the girls gymnastics team because his school has no boys team. Title IX surrenders.
They /have/ to let him compete, or Title IX is bullshit.
On the girls gymnastics team because his school has no boys team. Title IX surrenders.
They /have/ to let him compete, or Title IX is bullshit.
Rumsfeld to actually sign death letters
European and Pacific Stars & Stripes
The man's been accused of a lot of things, but this is low. This makes "the army you have" comment look sensitive. Stamping condolence letters with a mechanical signature? C'mon man. Have a fucking heart. Buy one at least, you've made enough money off these guys and gals backs over the course of your career.
The man's been accused of a lot of things, but this is low. This makes "the army you have" comment look sensitive. Stamping condolence letters with a mechanical signature? C'mon man. Have a fucking heart. Buy one at least, you've made enough money off these guys and gals backs over the course of your career.
Yahoo! News - Judge Rules U.S. Detainee May Have Rights
Yahoo! News - Judge Rules U.S. Detainee May Have Rights
You're brown. You don't have any rights. Deal with it.
God I hate this administration. Shit they've killed more civilians then the terrorists have over the last four years.
Supporting Our Troops? / The defense secretary we have
Supporting Our Troops? / The defense secretary we have
What an odd world we live in. The ones who started the war support the war but not the troops. We who oppose the war support the troops.
What an odd world we live in. The ones who started the war support the war but not the troops. We who oppose the war support the troops.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Doom the Movie as previewed by S/A
Something Awful - The Internet Makes You Stupid: "My hope that a movie adaptation of Doom would be good was proportional to my hope that the burning sensation in my urethra was actually a misplaced Tic Tac."
I'll see your Richard III and raise you one Henry V
WESTMORELAND
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING HENRY V
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!
KING HENRY V
What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Yeah things are going swimmingly
From an April 2004 Gallup poll done in Iraq:
On Balance, do you think of the Americans mostly as Occupiers or liberators?
Occupiers: 71 %
Liberators 19%
(43% reported that in April 2003, they had thought of the Americans as liberators).
see Juan Cole's blog for more.
On Balance, do you think of the Americans mostly as Occupiers or liberators?
Occupiers: 71 %
Liberators 19%
(43% reported that in April 2003, they had thought of the Americans as liberators).
see Juan Cole's blog for more.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Boffoblog: Bush's Phony Summit
Boffoblog: Bush's Phony Summit
Surprise surprise a Bush "summit" on Social Security is stacked with those who want to destroy it. I'm shocked.
Surprise surprise a Bush "summit" on Social Security is stacked with those who want to destroy it. I'm shocked.
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish
Go read him damnit. He's good. I don't agree with him a lot of the time, but he's good.
Go read him damnit. He's good. I don't agree with him a lot of the time, but he's good.
Harvard University Library to be digitized by Google.
Harvard University Library
Full text of all public domain docs to be available online. Longing and yearning to be free baby. Go Harvard.
Full text of all public domain docs to be available online. Longing and yearning to be free baby. Go Harvard.
Monday, December 13, 2004
CBS isn't liberal they're incompetent
It seems in their rush to kill Social Security CBS interviewed Tad Dehaven as a man on the street.
"I don't expect to get anything from Social Security," said Tad DeHaven. "I don't consider it in terms of my long term planning. It's not going to be there." as reported by CBS. Unfortunately for CBS Mr. DeHaven is paid to destroy Social Security. He works for the National Taxpayers Union a group dedicated to ending Social Security.
"I don't expect to get anything from Social Security," said Tad DeHaven. "I don't consider it in terms of my long term planning. It's not going to be there." as reported by CBS. Unfortunately for CBS Mr. DeHaven is paid to destroy Social Security. He works for the National Taxpayers Union a group dedicated to ending Social Security.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Yahoo! News - White House Defends Commandments Displays
Yahoo! News - White House Defends Commandments Displays
That's fine as long as we can also put up the other rulesets from Deuteronomy.
For example, and conservatives should dig this it saves money:
24:1 "When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house."
No fault divorce. Cool.
Then we need to hang this part of the Koran up:
[5.1] O you who believe! fulfill the obligations. The cattle quadrupeds are allowed to you except that which is recited to you, not violating the prohibition against game when you are entering upon the performance of the pilgrimage; surely Allah orders what He desires.
[5.2] O you who believe! do not violate the signs appointed by Allah nor the sacred month, nor (interfere with) the offerings, nor the sacrificial animals with garlands, nor those going to the sacred house seeking the grace and pleasure of their Lord; and when you are free from the obligations of the pilgrimage, then hunt, and let not hatred of a people-- because they hindered you from the Sacred Masjid-- incite you to exceed the limits, and help one another in goodness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and aggression; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is severe in requiting (evil).
[5.3] Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter, and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by the arrows; that is a transgression. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear Me. This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining willfully to sin, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
and this bit on divorce
[65.6] Lodge them where you lodge according to your means, and do not injure them in order that you may straiten them; and if they are pregnant, spend on them until they lay down their burden; then if they suckle for you, give them their recompense and enjoin one another among you to do good; and if you disagree, another (woman) shall suckle for him.
Yahoo! News - Charges of Poor Planning in Iraq Revived
Yahoo! News - Charges of Poor Planning in Iraq Revived
:
"'You go to war with the Army you have,' Rumsfeld replied, 'not the Army you might want or wish to have.'"
That's all well and good if say we were invaded, but we've had time to prepare. WE INVADED IRAQ! If we weren't ready, why'd we go? Oh right bad intelligence. Yeah the bad intelligence of the Bush administration.
Blood for oil. Blood to create more terrorists. Blood to destabilize a country and throw it into civil war. Blood to push us closer to war Bush and Osama so badly want. Brilliant.
Rumsfeld by the short and curlies
Bloomberg.com:
U.S.:
"Armor Holdings Inc., the sole supplier of protective plates for the Humvee military vehicles used in Iraq, said it could increase output by as much as 22 percent per month with no investment and is awaiting an order from the Army.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday the Army was working as fast as it can and supply is dictated by ``a matter of physics, not a matter of money.'' A Pentagon spokeswoman declined comment."
Sounds to me more like a matter of tax cuts.
Yahoo! News - MoveOn to Democratic Party: 'We Own It'
Yahoo! News - MoveOn to Democratic Party: 'We Own It'
Moveon.org is about to get a reality check via media smackdown.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Fallujah in Pictures
Fallujah in Pictures
Update: Site down all ready. It seems that they really do not want you to know. Any mirrors available that we can blogtorrent?
Update: Site down all ready. It seems that they really do not want you to know. Any mirrors available that we can blogtorrent?
The Seattle Times: Ex-CIA officer alleges agency retaliated after he didn't falsify report
The Seattle Times: Ex-CIA officer alleges agency retaliated after he didn't falsify report
There's a lot of smoke around this issue. There's gonna be a blaze. Who's gonna get scape-goated?
There's a lot of smoke around this issue. There's gonna be a blaze. Who's gonna get scape-goated?
MSNBC - Intel bill sets stage for GOP turmoil
MSNBC - Intel bill sets stage for GOP turmoil
Howard Fineman on the disconnects between conservative Congressman and the neo-con Bush administration.
My favorite part is a little shot across Darth Rove's bow:
So Karl's desire to throw away the xenophobia traditionally associated with a the right-wing of the Republican party and thus court Hispanic voters is going to run smack into, well, the xenophobia of the right-wing of the Republican party.
Sensenbrenner in Wisconsin isn't too worried about the Hispanic vote I'm guessing. Rove's long term strategy to flip California and tightly secure Florida with whatever issue will win there requires it.
Howard Fineman on the disconnects between conservative Congressman and the neo-con Bush administration.
My favorite part is a little shot across Darth Rove's bow:
Immigration:
Here’s where Karl Rove’s desire to expand the GOP base by reaching out to Hispanics runs headlong into practical concerns and an anti-immigration strain in the history of the party. The divisions were exposed in, of all places, the bill to bring all of the government’s vast intelligence-gathering powers under a new National Intelligence Director. Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin (a state Rove targeted but lost) used the measure to try to insist that, by federal law, illegal immigrants be barred from getting a driver’s license. That may sound perfectly sensible in the Upper Midwest, but it is a far more contentious question in states such as California and Florida, where you can argue — as many Latino leaders do — that a driver’s license is as much a necessity as food and water to immigrants eager to play a useful part in society as they argue over their legal status in this country. Many “movement” conservatives — the kind Rove called on to build Bush’s political base over the years — agree with Sensenbrenner. And beyond the specific issue of driver’s licenses is a deep tradition of skepticism about open-door immigration policies, which Republicans worked to restrict in the 1920s and 1950s. Some conservatives consider it the number one issue.
So Karl's desire to throw away the xenophobia traditionally associated with a the right-wing of the Republican party and thus court Hispanic voters is going to run smack into, well, the xenophobia of the right-wing of the Republican party.
Sensenbrenner in Wisconsin isn't too worried about the Hispanic vote I'm guessing. Rove's long term strategy to flip California and tightly secure Florida with whatever issue will win there requires it.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
British troops perform bayonet charge in Iraq
Mirror.co.uk - COLD STEEL
Now that's hardcore. Enemies firing at you from a trench in Iraq. You could call an airstrike in, naw, too imprecise. You could snipe them one at a time from your own covered position, naw, takes too long.
Well how about fixing bayonets and charging the trench? Yep that'll do. Stones, big ones.
Now that's hardcore. Enemies firing at you from a trench in Iraq. You could call an airstrike in, naw, too imprecise. You could snipe them one at a time from your own covered position, naw, takes too long.
Well how about fixing bayonets and charging the trench? Yep that'll do. Stones, big ones.
What corporate America can't build: A sentence | CNET News.com
What corporate America can't build: A sentence | CNET News.com
Duh. People write email with terrible grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This is news?
Duh. People write email with terrible grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This is news?
Fallujah in Pictures
Fallujah in Pictures
Go see the photos that the mainstream media won't show. It's gory, but war isn't pretty.
Go see the photos that the mainstream media won't show. It's gory, but war isn't pretty.
The Blue Lemur - Progressive Politics and Media News » In interview, programmer details what led him to file vote-rigging affidavit
The Blue Lemur - Progressive Politics and Media News » In interview, programmer details what led him to file vote-rigging affidavit
Oh boy this could be fun. Or it could be another Karl Rove move ala the Dan Rather thing.
Oh boy this could be fun. Or it could be another Karl Rove move ala the Dan Rather thing.
Bush acknowledges toll war taking on military / President offers Marines sober assessment of conflict's progress
Bush acknowledges toll war taking on military / President offers Marines sober assessment of conflict's progress:
Miserable failure said:
"'Free nations are peaceful nations."
My question -- Since we are engaged in wars in two countries, we are obviously not a peaceful nation. Since we are not a peaceful nation, are we not then according to GWB a nation that is not free?
Miserable failure said:
"'Free nations are peaceful nations."
My question -- Since we are engaged in wars in two countries, we are obviously not a peaceful nation. Since we are not a peaceful nation, are we not then according to GWB a nation that is not free?
Shakespeare's Sonnets in Latin translated by Alfred Thomas Barton 1-40
Shakespeare's Sonnets in Latin translated by Alfred Thomas Barton 1-40:
IV
"Consumas in tene, nepos pulcherrime, formam
Quae tibi ab antiquis tradita venit avis?
Mancipio nil dat rerum natura, sed usum
Commodat, in largos liberiore manu.
Quodque ea largitur quo largirere vicissim,
Hoc es abusurus, pulcher, avare tamen?
Vsurasne facis sine faenore? ponis in usu
Summarum has summas, vivere deinde nequis?
Nam tua si tecum solo commercia fient,
Surripies furtim te tibi, dulce caput.
Quas igitur tabulas aut testamenta relinques
Iusta tuis, hinc te cum tua fata ferent?
Forma, nisi uteris, tecum tumulabitur ista;
Vtere, tunc heres vixerit ista tuus.
"
IV
Quae tibi ab antiquis tradita venit avis?
Mancipio nil dat rerum natura, sed usum
Commodat, in largos liberiore manu.
Quodque ea largitur quo largirere vicissim,
Hoc es abusurus, pulcher, avare tamen?
Vsurasne facis sine faenore? ponis in usu
Summarum has summas, vivere deinde nequis?
Nam tua si tecum solo commercia fient,
Surripies furtim te tibi, dulce caput.
Quas igitur tabulas aut testamenta relinques
Iusta tuis, hinc te cum tua fata ferent?
Forma, nisi uteris, tecum tumulabitur ista;
Vtere, tunc heres vixerit ista tuus.
"
Monday, December 06, 2004
The New York Times > Arts > Pew File-Sharing Survey Gives a Voice to Artists
The New York Times > Arts > Pew File-Sharing Survey Gives a Voice to Artists
"The overall picture," said Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Project, "is that the musician-artistic community has a much wider range of views and experiences than folks who watch the Washington debate about copyright might imagine."
Interesting. The RIAA claims to represent musicians. Maybe they should listen to the half of them that don't feel music trading is a problem.
"The overall picture," said Lee Rainie, the director of the Pew Project, "is that the musician-artistic community has a much wider range of views and experiences than folks who watch the Washington debate about copyright might imagine."
Interesting. The RIAA claims to represent musicians. Maybe they should listen to the half of them that don't feel music trading is a problem.
Apple of IBM's eye? | The Register
Apple of IBM's eye? | The Register
Speculation on an Apple/IBM merger. Just speculation but interesting nonetheless.
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish:
That is why I read Andrew Sullivan everyday.
"WRONG = LEFT: Jonah gets emails very much along the lines I do. If you quibble with any aspect of conservative-Bush orthodoxy, you've gone 'left.' This is, of course, moronic. A realist critique of Bush's interventionism is not left-wing. A small government criticism of deficits is not liberal. A defense of states' rights against the Bush Justice Department is not left-wing. Now, you may agree with the Bushies on all these issues - but the notion that all disagreement is 'liberal' is loopy. It comes, I think, from the moronic Hannity-style conservatism that has essentially degenerated into high-school name-calling of anyone who dares dissent. 'Liberal' means nothing to them but a term of abuse. Of course, in many ways, the best strain in contemporary conservatism is the last resort of old-school liberalism. But that would just confuse the demagogues, wouldn't it?
That is why I read Andrew Sullivan everyday.
ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: After Punishing Student for Explaining Lesbianism, Terry Bethea Sues for Defamation
ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: After Punishing Student for Explaining Lesbianism, Terry Bethea Sues for Defamation
Moron, complete f-ing moron. Terry, by making such an idiotic decision you have defamed yourself.
Moron, complete f-ing moron. Terry, by making such an idiotic decision you have defamed yourself.
BBspot - Canada Purchases Rights to "The Land of the Free" from U.S.
BBspot - Canada Purchases Rights to "The Land of the Free" from U.S.:
Satire with a point.
"Washington, D.C. - The Department of Commerce announced today that the Government of Canada has purchased worldwide intellectual property (IP) rights to the motto 'The Land of the Free' for an undisclosed sum.
The well-known phrase is from the closing bars of the American national anthem, 'The Star-Spangled Banner' by Francis Scott Key. The announcement was made to coincide with President George W. Bush's visit to Halifax, Nova Scotia, this week. President Bush is making his first state visit to Canada since he took office.
'At Kellogg's, one of our core strengths has been the skillful management of brand assets,' explained Secretary of Commerce nominee and former Kellogg's CEO Carlos Gutierrez. 'A brand identity is a group of values and feelings that is most valuable when it faithfully speaks for the ideals or products of an organization. When a brand no longer reflects an organization's ideals, the best course of action is to extract as much equity from it as possible. After November 2nd, this became the most profitable choice for the American people.'"
Satire with a point.
Friday, December 03, 2004
NewsNet5.com - News - Officer Pulls Over Man Wearing Panties For Drunken Driving
NewsNet5.com - News - Officer Pulls Over Man Wearing Panties For Drunken Driving
And he was a teacher. Glad I'm not that guy.
And he was a teacher. Glad I'm not that guy.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959)
Walter M. Miller, Jr.: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959)
Say Canticle (it's can't-ih-cull, not can't-ih-sull;)
Seriously though go read it.
Say Canticle (it's can't-ih-cull, not can't-ih-sull;)
Seriously though go read it.
On Ron Artest
Artest-ing the Borders of Sanity
-Scott Coombs (11-12-2004)
-Scott Coombs (11-12-2004)
One off-season, while still playing for the Chicago Bulls, Ron Artest applied for a job at Circuit City. On the job application he wrote down "NBA player" as his last job and used Bulls president Jerry Krause's name as a reference. And he did it all just so he could get the employee discount on home electronics.
Go back and read that paragraph again. An NBA player, earning a seven-digit salary, applied for a job at Circuit City so he could get 10%-15% off of his electronics purchases. He didn't offer to sign a few autographs for customers if they'd give him a deal. He didn't try and use his status as a basketball player to get free stuff. He applied for a summer job. That's the type of guy we're dealing with here. So before you start piling on Mr. Artest for his latest antics, remember that we are dealing with a different cat here, and the normal rules don't apply
Letters, cards, etc...
hotjuliej << Hear her.
Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus, but he's not the one you think. He wears blue pants and a dark blue coat and he does have a furry cap, but it's an ushanka like Russian soldiers wear. Sometimes he rings twice, and occasionally he lends his name to really bad Costner remakes of other really bad Costner films. For the living dead and ppl who voted for Bush out of fear of terrorism, I'm talking about the Postman. (Or for the latter category above, "the guy that might bring you anthrax").
For the first time in years, the postman brought me a handwritten letter. I've gotten a few other letters, invites, etc... over the past few years, but this was a handwritten card. It's contents both warmed my heart, and made me jump around in happy frustration.
Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus, but he's not the one you think. He wears blue pants and a dark blue coat and he does have a furry cap, but it's an ushanka like Russian soldiers wear. Sometimes he rings twice, and occasionally he lends his name to really bad Costner remakes of other really bad Costner films. For the living dead and ppl who voted for Bush out of fear of terrorism, I'm talking about the Postman. (Or for the latter category above, "the guy that might bring you anthrax").
For the first time in years, the postman brought me a handwritten letter. I've gotten a few other letters, invites, etc... over the past few years, but this was a handwritten card. It's contents both warmed my heart, and made me jump around in happy frustration.
UNSC stamp required for pre-emptive wars- The Times of India
UNSC stamp required for pre-emptive wars- The Times of India
Hey no ex post facto laws. Cool.
The same story give us this definition of terrorism:
Fallujah anyone?
Hey no ex post facto laws. Cool.
The same story give us this definition of terrorism:
any action intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians, non-combatants when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act."
Fallujah anyone?
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Lowtax strikes again.
Something Awful - The Internet Makes You Stupid:
"Lifetime of Excess Achievement Award
You're probably wondering why Michael Jackson did not appear on this list. Well, he did now, bitch! I deem Jackson to be an unfair inclusion on the 'Worst Thirteen' list because he would dominate all thirteen levels. Instead I offer Michael the deliciously coveted Lifetime of Excess Achievement Award. His achievements in celebrity excess leave every other celebrity - even the creepy Middle Eastern oil barons - eating his dust. To name a few of his accomplishments:
Has repeatedly gotten away with molesting children
Has also gotten away with defending his child molestation with some sort of crazy bullshit philosophy
People used to joke that he was a black man who turned himself into a white woman. Nowadays people don't even know where the punch line to that joke went. Probably down the blood channel of a plastic surgeon's operating table. Jackson now looks more like a cross between Golem and the Crypt Keeper rubbed down with white grease paint.
He bought the Elephant Man's skeleton. It takes a special kind of celebrity to do that and not seem out of character.
He built an amusement park on his private property. And not a cool one like Cedar Point, we're talking a late 19th century creepy Euro carnival where all of the rides end up with a pop star lich performing oral sex.
Buys random zoo animals that probably die of starvation when he tries to feed them million dollar abstract paintings of naked children.
He made 'Thriller'. A positive, right? Think about this: when combined with everything else Jackson has done the proud legacy of Vincent Price is now forever tainted.
With the help of a little voodoo magic maybe I'll be giving this award to Bob Crane next year. For now Jackson has a lock on it."
Monday, November 29, 2004
From Kaus on a National Intel Director
By Mickey Kaus:
Good point.
"I still don't understand why it's a good idea to centralize intelligence under a single czar. If the problem with pre-Iraq intelligence was the tendency to tell the Administration what it wanted to hear, won't narrowing the information funnel maximize the chances of that happening again? Won't it be easier to 'politicize' a single 'National Intelligence Director'? What we want is a multiplicity of perspectives and an error-revealing debate, no?"
Good point.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Sports Fans of America Association College Football Playoff Proposals
Sports Fans of America Association College Football Playoff Proposals
Check out proposals one and four for getting rid of the odious BCS in college football.
Check out proposals one and four for getting rid of the odious BCS in college football.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Medialove
This week's hot stuff:
Henry V (KB's 1989 version.)
Patrick O'Brian (always for now;)
Halo (redux)
Bootsy (soundtrack of the week)
R. Kelly (I'm taking his side of the lawsuit. Not for any good reason, just to have a position)
Covers of Summertime (moment of musical ignorance: I'm over 30 and learned about the tune Summertime from Sublime).
Blue Hymn by Gene Ammons (an all-time favorite)
Riddick comic books (I'm kind of becoming a fanboy)
Henry V (KB's 1989 version.)
Patrick O'Brian (always for now;)
Halo (redux)
Bootsy (soundtrack of the week)
R. Kelly (I'm taking his side of the lawsuit. Not for any good reason, just to have a position)
Covers of Summertime (moment of musical ignorance: I'm over 30 and learned about the tune Summertime from Sublime).
Blue Hymn by Gene Ammons (an all-time favorite)
Riddick comic books (I'm kind of becoming a fanboy)
Mozilla Firefox Start Page << Get Firefox;)
Mozilla Firefox Start Page
Random association: Barack Obama's DNC keynote and Alanis Morissette's One Hand in my Pocket.
Nevermind.
How about GWB's Axis of Evil speech and COC's Vote With a Bullet.
Naw that don't really work either. Hell.
Random association: Barack Obama's DNC keynote and Alanis Morissette's One Hand in my Pocket.
Nevermind.
How about GWB's Axis of Evil speech and COC's Vote With a Bullet.
Naw that don't really work either. Hell.
Of course he has a yacht! Why wouldn't he have a yacht?
The New York Times > Washington > Call it Pork or Necessity, but Alaska Comes Out Far Above the Rest in Spending:
"One expenditure buried in the bill is $2 million for the Navy to repurchase the presidential yacht Sequoia. The yacht was built in 1925 and first used by President Herbert Hoover. In the throes of Watergate, President Richard M. Nixon cruised the Potomac at night on the boat and brooded on his fate.
When President Jimmy Carter was trying to rid the White House of an imperial image, he had the yacht sold to a private group for $286,000. Ever since, it has been rented out for private parties."
We're shocked that ABC would use the NFL to peddle sex.
Philadelphia Eagles -- Cheerleader Lingerie Calendar
Shocked. Shocked I tell you.
The Eagles Cheerleaders made national headlines three years ago by being the first squad in all of professional sports to produce a lingerie calendar. The success of the lingerie calendar has contributed to the Eagles Cheerleaders elevated status as one of the NFL's elite squads, having been featured in such national magazines as Maxim, FHM and in an upcoming issue of Muscle and Fitness.
Shocked. Shocked I tell you.
Friday, November 26, 2004
Andrew Sullivan on Bush's new Ed Sec.
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Latest Posts:
I love a good true conservative.
Here's how insidery the new Bush cabinet is looking. The new education secretary, Margaret Spellings, began her political career in the mid 1980s, when Karl Rove asked her out on a date. Somehow, he got over the rejection. Two decades of complete political subservience later and Ms Spellings gets a bang-up new job enforcing her boss's federal take-over of American education. She helped run Bush's 1994 campaign for Texas governor and has been working long hours under the radar in the Bush White House for the past four years. Is she a radical? Not exactly. She hasn't pushed for the conservative panacea of school vouchers, and distanced herself as a divorced single mother from the religious right. Is she a toady? Well, that's an unfortunately loaded term. Let's just recall that, outside of the George W. Bush orbit, Spellings has virtually no record and no career. She is his creation. "
I love a good true conservative.
The Whiskey Speech
Whiskey Speech - Wikisource
Whiskey Speech by Judge Noah S. "Soggy" Sweat Jr. in 1952
"My friends,
"I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.
"If when you say whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.
"But;
"If when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.
"This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise."
The Clarion Ledger, Saturday, February 24, 1996, Jackson, MS, p. 3B.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Insightful commentary on GWB's reelection
Something Awful - The Internet Makes You Stupid:
"Four More Years! I had doubts we would survive this long, but now that we have I find myself addicted to the thrill of living on the edge. Let's see how long we can go like this!"
--Livestock from S/A
"Four More Years! I had doubts we would survive this long, but now that we have I find myself addicted to the thrill of living on the edge. Let's see how long we can go like this!"
--Livestock from S/A
More bad right to copy legislation
From: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6557652/
Why is Congress "legalizing" something that is all ready legal. Things that are not explicitly illegal are legal. ClearPlay was legal. Why "shield" it? Why put more strain (as in legalese) on the fair use doctrine? ClearPlay was obviously a fair use of a DVD. Why make it legal if not to further restrict fair play in other ways?
The bill also shields "family friendly" services like ClearPlay that strip violent or sexually explicit scenes from movies. Hollywood groups say such services violate their copyrighted works by altering them without permission.
Why is Congress "legalizing" something that is all ready legal. Things that are not explicitly illegal are legal. ClearPlay was legal. Why "shield" it? Why put more strain (as in legalese) on the fair use doctrine? ClearPlay was obviously a fair use of a DVD. Why make it legal if not to further restrict fair play in other ways?
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Sunday, November 21, 2004
CNN.com - Chile calls off Bush banquet after security dispute - Nov 21, 2004
CNN.com - Chile calls off Bush banquet after security dispute - Nov 21, 2004:
And he does this because it's his world and we just live in it.
"Bush was posing for photos with first lady Laura Bush in the Estacion Mapocho Cultural Center when he heard a commotion and saw that one of his plainclothes security agents was being forcefully restrained from entering.
Bush reached into a small crowd, where people were arguing and pushing one another, and pulled the agent through the door of center. (Full story)
Bush then turned around, cocked his head proudly at his maneuver and began to greet his hosts."
And he does this because it's his world and we just live in it.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Redheads
Truly I spent the last many minutes staring at that picture on the cover. Not really thinking not even noticing I was doing it. I don't get the "hard stare" all that often anymore. For "hard stare" is what I named it some 25 years ago when I first became aware of it.
My wild ass theory which I have done no research to support is that it is the involuntary entrance into the state that Buddhists monks look to achieve in meditation. It's a beautiful place free from care, knowledge, even consciousnous (sic) indeed! A place where time cannot penetrate. The blissful ignorant place of joy -- better than any high. Being very very drunk is a pale imitation of being in the grip of the hard stare, for if you feel anything you are not there. If you realize you are there, you are not there. It's beautiful.
I can by no means do this at will, but certain objects or pictures can help me get there. Far and away the most certain of these is a picture of a pretty redhead.
I have some thoughts on meditation, enlightenment, and the 1000 yard stare that battle veterans get, but I don't have them organized yet. Lemme go stare at a redhead.
My wild ass theory which I have done no research to support is that it is the involuntary entrance into the state that Buddhists monks look to achieve in meditation. It's a beautiful place free from care, knowledge, even consciousnous (sic) indeed! A place where time cannot penetrate. The blissful ignorant place of joy -- better than any high. Being very very drunk is a pale imitation of being in the grip of the hard stare, for if you feel anything you are not there. If you realize you are there, you are not there. It's beautiful.
I can by no means do this at will, but certain objects or pictures can help me get there. Far and away the most certain of these is a picture of a pretty redhead.
I have some thoughts on meditation, enlightenment, and the 1000 yard stare that battle veterans get, but I don't have them organized yet. Lemme go stare at a redhead.
Shotgun Season
Today is the first day of hunting season, and some of these shotgun blasts are too damn close. I'm about to go put speakers on the back porch and start blasting music to drive the deer away from here. That farker was in my ear. Can't be but 50 yards away in the woods. I hope they know what they're doing.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
More DeLay Asshatry
GOP may change rule to aid DeLay / Effort to protect his role in House even if indicted in Texas
A rule Republicans in Congress made for themselves in 1993 will be repealed because the Republicans obviously do not care whether their House leadership is ethical. DeLay has all ready been formally admonished twice for unethical conduct by his peers in Congress.
A rule Republicans in Congress made for themselves in 1993 will be repealed because the Republicans obviously do not care whether their House leadership is ethical. DeLay has all ready been formally admonished twice for unethical conduct by his peers in Congress.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Freefind.com
I did get one decent thing out of the conference. Freefind.com is a free site indexer and search engine that any old newb could get working on their site.
Bored
Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored Bored
It's 1:15 it must be Survey Monkey time.
It's 1:15 it must be Survey Monkey time.
All work and no blogging make mcsey a dull boy. I'm at a conference today. The speaker is fine, but the material is about seven levels below where it needs to be. Who needs three hours on Acrobat?
Scratch that 6 hours the afternoon session is Acrobat too. Christ. Give me some boxes and wires, would you please?
Scratch that 6 hours the afternoon session is Acrobat too. Christ. Give me some boxes and wires, would you please?
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Voting machine glitch changes election
Go to Black Box Voting and find out why turning our elections of to Diebold et al is a Bad Thing.
I've said it for a long time. I'll say it again. Capitalism is an economic system not a political one. Capitalism checked ate Socialism. Capitalism unchecked will eat democracy.
Go to Black Box Voting and find out why turning our elections of to Diebold et al is a Bad Thing.
I've said it for a long time. I'll say it again. Capitalism is an economic system not a political one. Capitalism checked ate Socialism. Capitalism unchecked will eat democracy.
Yahoo! News - U.S. Marines Rally Round Iraq Probe Comrade
Ok so a Marine headshots a downed unarmed Iraqi prisoner on video and the press is asking you about it. The proper response is, "No comment." or possibly "I wasn't there. No comment." Anything else is fodder for the enemy.
Please guys. It's a bad mission. Don't make it worse. Every excuse or justification you give for this is another excuse or justification for the other side to behead a captive. "They shoot 'em. Why shouldn't we?"
"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved,'"
--From John Ashcroft's resignation letter.
I read that as "All you people who voted for Bush because you fear terrorism are suckers. We're safe!" But hell, if fear of terrorism swayed your vote I could of told you you were a sucker anyway.
--From John Ashcroft's resignation letter.
I read that as "All you people who voted for Bush because you fear terrorism are suckers. We're safe!" But hell, if fear of terrorism swayed your vote I could of told you you were a sucker anyway.
Susan Crawford blog :: Does the White House know?
That the FCC wants to regulate the Internet? The broadcast flag is the lever.
That the FCC wants to regulate the Internet? The broadcast flag is the lever.
Columns: The Pharisees line up to cast their stones at gay partners:
By: Howard Troxler
Now that I could support. Let's really defend marriage and make adultery unconstitutional. Adultery has certainly ruined more marriages than homosexuality. Poverty had a big effect on my divorce, so let's make poverty unconstitutional. Then of course there's irreconcilable differences. Those seems to take out a lot of marriages. Let's ban 'em.
By: Howard Troxler
"If we are going to start ranking the 'sins,' marriage between two gay people who love each other and seek a lifelong commitment doesn't even make the Bible's best-known top-10 list.
Sure, homosexuality is called an 'abomination.' The Bible says so, not too far from where the Bible also says it's okay to stone your headstrong son to death, and that you'd better stay away from menstruating women.
And yes, the topic of homosexuality really freaked out St. Paul, no question. But so did a lot of stuff.
On the other hand, you know what IS right smack in the Ten Commandments?
Adultery.
Adultery! Now, that's a threat to the institution of marriage. You bet.
Now that I could support. Let's really defend marriage and make adultery unconstitutional. Adultery has certainly ruined more marriages than homosexuality. Poverty had a big effect on my divorce, so let's make poverty unconstitutional. Then of course there's irreconcilable differences. Those seems to take out a lot of marriages. Let's ban 'em.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Ahnuld for President: A Timeline
12/1/04: Arnold publicly voices support for a Constitutional amendment that allows foreign born citizens who have lived in the USA for at least 30 years and been citizens for 14 years to run for President.
4/06: 22 states pass the amendment in a campaign that vilifies opponents of the amendment as racist xenophobes
11/06: 17 more pass it making it valid
5/07/7: Dick Cheney resigns due to "health trouble" and the fact that he doesn't have snowballs chance in hell of getting the nomination.
5/9/7: GWB appoints Ahnuld as his VP nominee
5/11/7: GOP controlled Senate approves
6/1/7: Ahnuld declares for president.
10/14/07: Haliburtongate causes GWB to abandon his scandal ridden second term and resign.
10/15/07: Ahnuld sworn in. Appoints Bill Gates as vice president.
10/17/07 Pardons GWB.
Easy-peasy, and it wouldn't be the first time.
12/1/04: Arnold publicly voices support for a Constitutional amendment that allows foreign born citizens who have lived in the USA for at least 30 years and been citizens for 14 years to run for President.
4/06: 22 states pass the amendment in a campaign that vilifies opponents of the amendment as racist xenophobes
11/06: 17 more pass it making it valid
5/07/7: Dick Cheney resigns due to "health trouble" and the fact that he doesn't have snowballs chance in hell of getting the nomination.
5/9/7: GWB appoints Ahnuld as his VP nominee
5/11/7: GOP controlled Senate approves
6/1/7: Ahnuld declares for president.
10/14/07: Haliburtongate causes GWB to abandon his scandal ridden second term and resign.
10/15/07: Ahnuld sworn in. Appoints Bill Gates as vice president.
10/17/07 Pardons GWB.
Easy-peasy, and it wouldn't be the first time.
HoustonChronicle.com - Wal-Mart has staggering hoard of product data
It sounds like Wal-Mart is about to learn what M$ found out a while ago. Archiving is bad when it comes to litigation.
Still more importantly:
And I'm proud to live in an America where Wal-Mart will have beer before the storm.
It sounds like Wal-Mart is about to learn what M$ found out a while ago. Archiving is bad when it comes to litigation.
Still more importantly:
A week ahead of landfall, Linda Dillman, Wal-Mart's chief information officer, pressed her staff to come up with forecasts based on what had happened when Hurricane Charley struck weeks earlier.
The experts mined the data and found that the stores would indeed need certain products — and not just flashlights.
"We didn't know in the past that strawberry Pop-Tarts increase in sales, like seven times their normal sales rate, ahead of a hurricane," Dillman said. "And the pre-hurricane top-selling item was beer."
And I'm proud to live in an America where Wal-Mart will have beer before the storm.
MSNBC - Keith Olbermann's blog:
"All that having been said, the most remarkable read of the day is probably the item buried on page A5 of The Washington Post. (Registration required but free). There, Charles Babington and Brian Faler take the wind out of the primary post-election grist for the yak-fests of radio and television: the overwhelming relevance of “Moral Values” to 2004’s presidential voters.
You will recall that the Exit Polling on November 2nd ranked the most important issues as follows:
Moral Values, 22%
Economy and Jobs, 20%
Terrorism, 19%
Iraq, 15%
The authors point out that those results came when pollsters offered voters a list of which issues factored most into their decision to vote. They note that last week, Pew Research went back and surveyed voters again, and took their temperatures in two ways— with a list (as was offered on election day), and without one (in other words, voters had to remember their issues; it ceased to be multiple choice). Those working off the checklist responded similarly to the election day exit pollees:
Moral Values, 27%
Iraq, 22%
Economy and Jobs, 21%
Terrorism, 14%
But the free-form Pew survey produced entirely different data. Given nothing to work with, simply asked to name the deciding factor in their vote, “moral values” shrunk back to human size:
Other, 31%
Iraq, 25%
Moral Values, 14%
Economy and Jobs, 12%
Terrorism, 9%
Babington and Faler point out that “other” included such gems as not liking Bush, not liking Kerry, honesty, and presumably “I was following instructions from Jon Stewart.”
Oh and by the way: how come the “Kerry’s winning” part of the election night exit polling is presumed to have been wrong, or tampered with, but the “Moral Values” part of the same polling is graded flawless, and marks the dawn of a new American century?"
VICTORY 2004: President's Acceptance Speech Inviting the 55 Million America-Haters Who Voted Against God to Bend Over and Take It Like a Prison Bitch - WHITEHOUSE.ORG
:
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. We had a long night – and a great night. (Applause.) And now, just hours later, here I am already addressing a beautiful crowd of paranoid, fist-pumping, soon-to-be tax-exempt gazillionaires. (Applause.) Yes, as I look around I see that there are finally no self-loathing Negroes in front or behind me, which can only mean one thing: the election is OVER! (Applause.)
Earlier today, Senator Kerry called me to admit that he is a pansy-assed loser. He was very gracious. And so was I. Hell, I even held my hand over the receiver so he couldn't hear me cracking up over all the fruity liberal garbage he was spouting about "healing" and "uniting" the people. (Laughter.)
Oh – I didn't say that, did I?
Because... umm... I don't want to be a divider, I want to be a divider. Wait. Damn. I done pooped that up, too. Take two, dudes. I don't want to be a pussy uniter. I want to be a divider. (Applause.) Good Lord Almighty it feels so dang good to finally be able to say that in public. I ain't running again, so I don't have to say anymore of that bullcrap I used to spout to get elected – like, "Jeb, tear up them nigra ballots, boy!" I kid. No, seriously, the only type of uniting I'm going to be doing is when Democrats curl their Jockeys to their ankles and bend on over! YEE-HAW!
Now, don't get me wrong here: sure, I'll follow this dumb tradition of Presidents saying nice stuff about the same lousy fucker who just tried to stab me in the back. Because so what if my entire political career was built on exploiting wedge issues to inflame and polarize our electorate? By giving some lip service to "unity" today, I'll be able to play the victim next year when Democrats balk over my nominating a KKK grand wizard to the Supreme Court. (Applause.)
"So yeah, on the record, Senator JFK Masshole was an admirable, honorable candidate. Off the record, that babbling killjoy tried to sell a story that would put the dead to sleep. I mean, Jesus Christ, where'd that boy study Presidential politics? My marketing whizzes sold the right story, and the little people bought it. That story was 'Once upon a time... George W. Bush killed the Bogey Man, then made everyone rich. The end.'
I'd like to thank the following folks for enabling my megalomania and understanding how my bloodlust and decorative Christian morals can coexist in a world where truth adapts to my omnipotence – and not visa versy. Thanks first to my wife, who proves every day that Zoloft-laced Smirnoff Ice gimlets can indeed drown out the screams of thousands of Islamiac babies I done pan-fried because they got caught between my divine wrath and Paul Wolfowitz's funny-lookin', but nonetheless lethal little cock.
Thanks also to my twins for bringing in the bimbo, girls-gone-wild, Young Stepford Wife, and 'I've had an abortion but I draw the line at you having one' votes. And thanks to Karl, Karen, Ken, Matthew, and Mark for making Josef Goebbels, Joe McCarthy and Lee Atwater squeal with joy in the bowels of hell. It's too bad history has a pernickety habit of eventually peeling off the duds of the liars, the charlatans, and wolves in Good Samaritan's clothing. Otherwise, you guys would be memorialized with marble statues perched atop pyramids built from the bones of Iraqi civilians and terminally ill oldsters too poor to enjoy the luxury of treating their worthless clogged arteries with bottle of generic aspirin.
But most of all, I'd like to thank every scared shitless, emotionally impotent suburbanite who bought my empty promises of an America based on compassion, Christian mercy, and bashing the shit out of those disgusting faggots! (Applause.)
As I stand before you today, tripping my balls off with power, I promise you three things: I will abolish the income tax, and institute a flat tax that unburdens the rich of paying their fair share and forces white trash to pay an extra 12% for baby formula, Kraft mac and cheese, and Parliament menthols. I promise to privatize Social Security by creating a vast Federal Mutual Fund run by my compadres in regulation-free Houston and filling the financial gap between now and the distant future with leprechaun gold. And finally, I promise to hunt Osama Bin Laden down... and shake his hand.
In closing, before I get down to the hard work of bleeding money from social programs in order to underwrite the McJesus Industry, re-segregating the public school system, gang-banging Mother Earth for short-term profit, convincing blue collar labor monkeys that their tax cuts aren't just Band-Aids on a slit throat, and most of all, feeding the Southern Military Welfare State more tax dollars by inventing more Middle Eastern meat-grinders, I wanted to give a little shout-out to all the 48 percent of Americans who supported Senator Droopy McGook-Killa:
I formally invite all of you to commence unquestioning worship of yours truly. If, on the other hand, you nice sodomites in Jew York, San Fag Crisco, and Mick-cago got diaper rash from my holy mandate (and super-sexy popular vote), please, by all means, move your chickenshit asses to Canada, or France, or some atoll in the South Pacific. Because, let's face it, the Democratic Party is the party of scaredy-cat cowards, and crybabies. A party where the broads shave thrice daily, and the men got cunt lips. So run for the border my friends... the GOP and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thank you, and God Bless George W. Bush's America!
(Applause.)"
The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich: On 'Moral Values,' It's Blue in a Landslide:
"There's only one problem with the storyline proclaiming that the country swung to the right on cultural issues in 2004. Like so many other narratives that immediately calcify into our 24/7 media's conventional wisdom, it is fiction. Everything about the election results - and about American culture itself - confirms an inescapable reality: John Kerry's defeat notwithstanding, it's blue America, not red, that is inexorably winning the culture war, and by a landslide. Kerry voters who have been flagellating themselves since Election Day with a vengeance worthy of 'The Passion of the Christ' should wake up and smell the Chardonnay.
The blue ascendancy is nearly as strong among Republicans as it is among Democrats. Those whose 'moral values' are invested in cultural heroes like the accused loofah fetishist Bill O'Reilly and the self-gratifying drug consumer Rush Limbaugh are surely joking when they turn apoplectic over MTV. William Bennett's name is now as synonymous with Las Vegas as silicone. The Democrats' Ashton Kutcher is trumped by the Republicans' Britney Spears. Excess and vulgarity, as always, enjoy a vast, bipartisan constituency, and in a democracy no political party will ever stamp them out.
If anyone is laughing all the way to the bank this election year, it must be the undisputed king of the red cultural elite, Rupert Murdoch. Fox News is a rising profit center within his News Corporation, and each red-state dollar that it makes can be plowed back into the rest of Fox's very blue entertainment portfolio. The Murdoch cultural stable includes recent books like Jenna Jameson's 'How to Make Love Like a Porn Star' and the Vivid Girls' 'How to Have a XXX Sex Life,' which have both been synergistically, even joyously, promoted on Fox News by willing hosts like Rita Cosby and, needless to say, Mr. O'Reilly. There are 'real fun parts and exciting parts,' said Ms. Cosby to Ms. Jameson on Fox News's 'Big Story Weekend,' an encounter broadcast on Saturday at 9 p.m., assuring its maximum exposure to unsupervised kids.
Almost unnoticed in the final weeks of the campaign was the record government indecency fine levied against another prime-time Fox television product, 'Married by America.' The $1.2 million bill, a mere bagatelle to Murdoch stockholders, was more than twice the punishment inflicted on Viacom for Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction.' According to the F.C.C. complaint, one episode in this heterosexual marriage-promoting reality show included scenes in which 'partygoers lick whipped cream from strippers' bodies,' and two female strippers 'playfully spank' a man on all fours in his underwear. 'Married by America' is gone now, but Fox remains the go-to network for Paris Hilton ('The Simple Life') and wife-swapping ('Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy')."
T.E. Lawrence on the British Occupation of Iraq
Sounds uhm... familiar.
"“The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial record and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are today not far from a disaster. Our unfortunate troops, Indian and British, under hard conditions of climate and supply are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the willfully wrong policy of the civil administration in Baghdad but the responsibility, in this case, is not on the army which has acted only upon the request of the civil authorities.”
T.E. Lawrence, The Sunday Times, August 1920"
Sounds uhm... familiar.
Fallujah 101: A history lesson about the town we are currently destroying. -- In These Times
Some history on Fallujah and its resistance to English occupation.
Some history on Fallujah and its resistance to English occupation.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
edit: oh yeah... spoilers
I finally /watched/ Kill Bill this weekend. I've seen it before, but I hadn't watched it until this weekend. Tour de fo(a)rce all around. It also has the longest credit sequence of all time. 17% of all human names in every language are used in the credits. This is gonna be the first movie ever to put out a special edition that is simply a DVD full of credits.
Three scenes really caught my eye. First, the Bride and Hatori Hansu -- Sonny Chiba is and always was the man. This is the first scene in the movie that brings home the fait accompli. She will have her revenge because she asks for it. The swift change from laughably farcical to deadly serious starts here. The whole interplay between the "emperor" and the "general" with the tea is teh funny, and then that which cannot be spoken is said. The dish breaks. The swords are shown, and Bill enters the picture.
"I do this because philosophically I am in agreement with you."
We must kill Bill. His death is a forgone conclusion from this point on. Philosophically he must die. (And so he does).
I have to stop here and compliment the music. Without using known tracks (as he's done so often) QT makes his best use of music ever. Watch the Bride looking at the swords without music. Now do it with. Big difference eh? That soaring aria makes the scene. Without it, you've got a pretty girl looking at swords. With it you've got a superhero who will cut God when she meets him.
The second great scene is the Cruel Tutelage of Pei Mai. Gordon Liu (aka Johnny Mo aka Pei Mai) plays his second great role in the saga. This scene is straight over the top Kung Fu spaghetti. You've seen this scene in every movie from Rocky to Bloodsport. The talented but raw recruit goes from good to great. Two things I noted from this scene are the tinyness of Gordon Liu (think of him on top of the "hitting board" smacking the Bride on the head with his staff) and the final phase of her training. The Bride is not ready when she can break oak from three inches. The Bride is ready when she can break oak from three inches and still eat like a human. Great power is not enough. Great power wielded with wisdom is.
The third scene is the most obviously great in the movie. Once again QT has coaxed a superb performance out of Michael Madsen. "That woman deserves her revenge, (wait for it) and we deserve to die... but hell so does she." Great line, and watching Bill and Budd act is pure joy. "So she cut her way through 88 bodyguards..." "Well, there weren't really 88 of them" "Why do they..." "I guess they thought it sounds cool". Brothers with too much history. Easy in each other's company and scared as hell of one another. Budd scared of Bill, and Bill scared of Budd because he needs his help.
I watched that scene maybe 20 times. It's the best. The way Budd goes to work and gets broken down by a man he could kill with his little finger... "Clean the shitty floor, get your balls broke by a stripper, take off the fucking hat. Aren't you the man? I'm the boss of you. Some deadly viper you are." Then just when you actually feel sorry for him. Just when you care about a man that massacred nine people on a cold blooded whim, BAM rock salt to the tits -- bet that stings.
"I'm gonna bury you alive, with or without eyes, I'm gonna bury you alive. You going in the ground tonight." Q&U do such a wonderful job of evoking terror in this scene I found it hard to watch. I found it especially hard to watch because I enjoyed it. I could be that guy. "No real hatred for ya darling, but I'm putting ya in the ground." (and I'm gonna enjoy doing it).
And this brings me to my real point. QT must have had a hard-on the entire time he was making this movie.
Day 17: "Filmed hot bitches fighting. Knifed Vivica in the head."
Day 34: "Oh today man, you gotta love it, I got to film Daryl Hannah getting a swirlie!"
Day 58: "Got to film that hot lawyer bitch getting her arm chopped off today!"
Day 117: "Wow Uma Thurman sure can take a shot to the crotch."
Day 134: "Buried Uma alive today."
The film is a mysoginist's dream. Russ Meyer would be and probably was proud. A good part of this movie is hot bitches beating the shit out of each other. That's always appreciated.
I'm not saying I liked it in spite of the violence. I'm saying I liked it because of the violence. I'm saying I liked it because philosophically I agreed with its purpose. Revenge served cold with a can of whoop-ass on the side. Every character a human and deserve ain't got nothing to do with it. All of you are going in the ground tonight.
Do you know why I tell you this? Because Bill would want me to.
I finally /watched/ Kill Bill this weekend. I've seen it before, but I hadn't watched it until this weekend. Tour de fo(a)rce all around. It also has the longest credit sequence of all time. 17% of all human names in every language are used in the credits. This is gonna be the first movie ever to put out a special edition that is simply a DVD full of credits.
Three scenes really caught my eye. First, the Bride and Hatori Hansu -- Sonny Chiba is and always was the man. This is the first scene in the movie that brings home the fait accompli. She will have her revenge because she asks for it. The swift change from laughably farcical to deadly serious starts here. The whole interplay between the "emperor" and the "general" with the tea is teh funny, and then that which cannot be spoken is said. The dish breaks. The swords are shown, and Bill enters the picture.
"I do this because philosophically I am in agreement with you."
We must kill Bill. His death is a forgone conclusion from this point on. Philosophically he must die. (And so he does).
I have to stop here and compliment the music. Without using known tracks (as he's done so often) QT makes his best use of music ever. Watch the Bride looking at the swords without music. Now do it with. Big difference eh? That soaring aria makes the scene. Without it, you've got a pretty girl looking at swords. With it you've got a superhero who will cut God when she meets him.
The second great scene is the Cruel Tutelage of Pei Mai. Gordon Liu (aka Johnny Mo aka Pei Mai) plays his second great role in the saga. This scene is straight over the top Kung Fu spaghetti. You've seen this scene in every movie from Rocky to Bloodsport. The talented but raw recruit goes from good to great. Two things I noted from this scene are the tinyness of Gordon Liu (think of him on top of the "hitting board" smacking the Bride on the head with his staff) and the final phase of her training. The Bride is not ready when she can break oak from three inches. The Bride is ready when she can break oak from three inches and still eat like a human. Great power is not enough. Great power wielded with wisdom is.
The third scene is the most obviously great in the movie. Once again QT has coaxed a superb performance out of Michael Madsen. "That woman deserves her revenge, (wait for it) and we deserve to die... but hell so does she." Great line, and watching Bill and Budd act is pure joy. "So she cut her way through 88 bodyguards..." "Well, there weren't really 88 of them" "Why do they..." "I guess they thought it sounds cool". Brothers with too much history. Easy in each other's company and scared as hell of one another. Budd scared of Bill, and Bill scared of Budd because he needs his help.
I watched that scene maybe 20 times. It's the best. The way Budd goes to work and gets broken down by a man he could kill with his little finger... "Clean the shitty floor, get your balls broke by a stripper, take off the fucking hat. Aren't you the man? I'm the boss of you. Some deadly viper you are." Then just when you actually feel sorry for him. Just when you care about a man that massacred nine people on a cold blooded whim, BAM rock salt to the tits -- bet that stings.
"I'm gonna bury you alive, with or without eyes, I'm gonna bury you alive. You going in the ground tonight." Q&U do such a wonderful job of evoking terror in this scene I found it hard to watch. I found it especially hard to watch because I enjoyed it. I could be that guy. "No real hatred for ya darling, but I'm putting ya in the ground." (and I'm gonna enjoy doing it).
And this brings me to my real point. QT must have had a hard-on the entire time he was making this movie.
Day 17: "Filmed hot bitches fighting. Knifed Vivica in the head."
Day 34: "Oh today man, you gotta love it, I got to film Daryl Hannah getting a swirlie!"
Day 58: "Got to film that hot lawyer bitch getting her arm chopped off today!"
Day 117: "Wow Uma Thurman sure can take a shot to the crotch."
Day 134: "Buried Uma alive today."
The film is a mysoginist's dream. Russ Meyer would be and probably was proud. A good part of this movie is hot bitches beating the shit out of each other. That's always appreciated.
I'm not saying I liked it in spite of the violence. I'm saying I liked it because of the violence. I'm saying I liked it because philosophically I agreed with its purpose. Revenge served cold with a can of whoop-ass on the side. Every character a human and deserve ain't got nothing to do with it. All of you are going in the ground tonight.
Do you know why I tell you this? Because Bill would want me to.
Informed Comment :
From a guest editorial on juancole.com by Mark Levine
From a guest editorial on juancole.com by Mark Levine
"Three years ago, as the pungent odor of what was left of the World Trade Center slowly pervaded my neighborhood, I wrote a piece called “We’re all Israelis Now.” I didn’t invent the idea; in the hours since the attacks I had heard several commentators say essentially the same thing, although our meanings were in fact diametrically opposed. For them, the September 11 attacks had constituted a tragic wake up call to America about the mortal threat posed by Muslim terrorism, which Israel had been living through for decades and whose methods the US would now have to copy if it wanted to “win the war on terror.”
For me, however, the attacks suggested a more troubling scenario: That like Israelis, Americans would never face the causes of the extreme violence perpetrated against us by those whose oppression we have supported and even enforced, and engage in the honest introspection of what our role has been in generating the kind of hatred that turns commuter jets into cruise missiles. Instead, my gut told me that we’d acquiesce to President Bush’s use of the war to realize the long-held imperial, even apocalyptic visions of the neoliberal Right, ones that find great sympathy with its Israeli counterpart.
As I watch George W. Bush celebrate his reelection I realize I never could have imagined just how much like Israelis we would become. Think about it: in Israel, the majority of Jewish citizens support the policies of Ariel Sharon despite the large-scale, systematic (and according to international law, criminal) violence his government deploys against Palestinian society, despite the worsening economic situation for the lower middle class religious voters who constitute his main base of support, despite rising international opprobrium and isolation. Sound familiar?
As for the country’s “liberal” opposition, it’s in a shambles, politically and morally bankrupt because in fact it was a willing participant in creating and preserving the system that is now eating away at the heart of Israeli society. Aside from occasional plaintive oped pieces by members of its progressive wing, the Labor Party can and will do nothing fundamentally to challenge Sharon’s policies. Why? Because they reflect an impulse, nurtured by the Labor movement during its decades in power, that is buried deep in the heart of Zionism: to build an exclusively Jewish society on as much of the ancient homeland as possible, with little regard for the fate of the country’s native inhabitants.
Bank Robber Reports Bizarre Claim - Local - News - CBS 6 Albany
"An Albany bank robber who tried to come clean about his crime claims police told him to come back later."
With video.
"An Albany bank robber who tried to come clean about his crime claims police told him to come back later."
With video.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
I'm sick and scared. I'm sick, probably with grief, at the horrid outcome of this election. I'm scare of four more years progress towards the apocolypse. Four more years where I wake up everyday wondering which one of Bush's misguided policies will get us all killed. Will it be his gift of the environment to megacorps? Will he get us far enough drawn into his holy war to off the planet? Will his destructive economic policies throw us into a class war that the rich must inevitably win by destroying the poor?
I'm not sure but on the best of days it keeps me up and night. To think that Americans want a divider as a leader has me sick today. When the end comes we'll deserve it even if deserve's got nothin to do with it.
I'm not sure but on the best of days it keeps me up and night. To think that Americans want a divider as a leader has me sick today. When the end comes we'll deserve it even if deserve's got nothin to do with it.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP - Business: Toy company Applause CEO commits suicide
Wal-Mart claims another victim.
Wal-Mart claims another victim.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Friday, July 23, 2004
Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Robert Smith tells his story:
Robert Smith, former NFL running back, graduate of The Ohio State University.
"Open about how much he misses the feeling of breaking a long run on an NFL game day -- 'Just that feeling of the wind racing by your helmet; that feeling like you're gliding'' -- Smith doesn't pine for the rest of his NFL experience. Especially the adulation and celebrity that came his way, many times undeservedly.
'It was odd sometimes for me to be at the hospital on a Tuesday, doing community work, and to have people come up to me and say, 'This is really fantastic,' '' Smith said. 'I haven't seen my son smile like this in a long time. Thank you.'
'And I'm dealing with the fact that I'm just a person, a grown man, and a single man at that. Being a single guy, I'm out the night before at a bar or a strip club or something like that. You know all the skeletons in your closet, and you feel almost embarrassed to have people admire you so much when you know all those things about yourself.''"
Robert Smith, former NFL running back, graduate of The Ohio State University.
Monday, July 12, 2004
MSNBC - Senate heads toward marriage vote
I love it when Republicans say dumb shit like this. I cannot wait until 20 years from now when statements like that are used to chase assholes like Frist out of office.
Are these "activist judges" similar to the ones who opposed "states rights" when that phrase meant "white power"? Perhaps they are the activitst judges in Las Vegas that grant no fault quickie divorces, or maybe they are the activist judges who allow first allowed blacks and whites to intermarry. Perhaps they are the activist judges that sanctioned the marriages produced by shows like "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire". I'm not sure.
“If the vote were today, it probably would not get two-thirds,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., two weeks ago. “The reason for bringing it up is to elevate an issue which defines us as a society. The institution of marriage constitutes the fabric of our society. … That fabric is being torn apart by activist judges.”
I love it when Republicans say dumb shit like this. I cannot wait until 20 years from now when statements like that are used to chase assholes like Frist out of office.
Are these "activist judges" similar to the ones who opposed "states rights" when that phrase meant "white power"? Perhaps they are the activitst judges in Las Vegas that grant no fault quickie divorces, or maybe they are the activist judges who allow first allowed blacks and whites to intermarry. Perhaps they are the activist judges that sanctioned the marriages produced by shows like "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire". I'm not sure.
MSNBC - Brother of shark victim pleads for creature's life
Damn. Now that's hardcore.
“I don’t believe that the shark should be killed just for the sake of what’s happened in this situation,” Stephen Smith told reporters on Sunday. “I don’t believe that Brad can be revenged by killing a shark.”
Damn. Now that's hardcore.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Eric Idle's Greedy Bastard Tour: I'm going Christmas shopping today. I can't think what to buy Nicole Kidman. Or for that matter Halle Berry. And what do I get Cameron Diaz? Panties again? I always get Hugh Grant panties, he's easy to please, and I'm getting Russell Crowe a tool kit with his name on it. Mel Gibson, well a copy of The Life of Brian, natch. Can you believe he's made the same story and missed all the jokes?
From Eric Idle's blog... Laugh. It's funny.
From Eric Idle's blog... Laugh. It's funny.
BBC NEWS | Europe | Pope sorrow over Constantinople: "The Pope has expressed his sorrow over the sacking of Constantinople by Catholic crusaders in 1204."
Sorry about Constantinople. We're holding firm on the sacking of Instanbul though.
Sorry about Constantinople. We're holding firm on the sacking of Instanbul though.
WIL WHEATON DOT NET: "I completely respect Sony, and everyone involved with the production of all the Twisted Metal games. I wrote about my audition on my blog because I was so excited about the opportun"
Ok so the BlogThis for Firefox has some limitations...
Ok so the BlogThis for Firefox has some limitations...
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Tri-Valley Herald Online - Local & Regional News:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! This miserable failure ranks with some of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century? Give me a break. I'd put him more in the James Buchanan territory. Idly watching (and sometimes helping to facilitate) the country tearing itself apart.
"WASHINGTON -- As President Bush begins a week of foreign diplomacy, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice insists that he will one day rank alongside such towering pillars of 20th century statecraft as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
'Statesmanship has to be judged first and foremost by whether you recognize historic opportunities and seize them,' Rice said in an interview with Cox Newspapers.
'When you think of statesmen, you think of people who seized historic opportunities to change the world for the better, people like Roosevelt, people like Churchill, and people like Truman, who understood the challenges of communism. And this president has been an agent of change for the better -- historic change for the better.'
Her assessment, as Bush leaves Thursday for Europe, stands in stark contrast to the election-year critiques of the president's political opponents and many policy analysts. They charge that he has pursued a go-it-alone approach to diplomacy that has strained U.S. alliances and divided world opinion rather than uniting it. "
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! This miserable failure ranks with some of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century? Give me a break. I'd put him more in the James Buchanan territory. Idly watching (and sometimes helping to facilitate) the country tearing itself apart.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
MoveOn PAC
Remarks by Al Gore
May 26, 2004
As Prepared
George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world.
He promised to "restore honor and integrity to the White House." Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest President since Richard Nixon.
Honor? He decided not to honor the Geneva Convention. Just as he would not honor the United Nations, international treaties, the opinions of our allies, the role of Congress and the courts, or what Jefferson described as "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind." He did not honor the advice, experience and judgment of our military leaders in designing his invasion of Iraq. And now he will not honor our fallen dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their flag-draped coffins.
How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French newspaper ran a giant headline with the words "We Are All Americans Now" and when we had the good will and empathy of all the world -- to the horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu Ghraib.
To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided America since the end of World War II. The long successful strategy of containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption." And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of any nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore international law wherever it wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required, in the view of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the President.
More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance" to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the world as the ugly dominance of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people. Dominance is as dominance does.
Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate their hunger for more power still by striking a Faustian bargain. And as always happens - sooner or later - to those who shake hands with the devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the bargain is their soul.
One of the clearest indications of the impending loss of intimacy with one's soul is the failure to recognize the existence of a soul in those over whom power is exercised, especially if the helpless come to be treated as animals, and degraded. We also know - and not just from De Sade and Freud - the psychological proximity between sexual depravity and other people's pain. It has been especially shocking and awful to see these paired evils perpetrated so crudely and cruelly in the name of America....
Remarks by Al Gore
May 26, 2004
As Prepared
George W. Bush promised us a foreign policy with humility. Instead, he has brought us humiliation in the eyes of the world.
He promised to "restore honor and integrity to the White House." Instead, he has brought deep dishonor to our country and built a durable reputation as the most dishonest President since Richard Nixon.
Honor? He decided not to honor the Geneva Convention. Just as he would not honor the United Nations, international treaties, the opinions of our allies, the role of Congress and the courts, or what Jefferson described as "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind." He did not honor the advice, experience and judgment of our military leaders in designing his invasion of Iraq. And now he will not honor our fallen dead by attending any funerals or even by permitting photos of their flag-draped coffins.
How did we get from September 12th , 2001, when a leading French newspaper ran a giant headline with the words "We Are All Americans Now" and when we had the good will and empathy of all the world -- to the horror that we all felt in witnessing the pictures of torture in Abu Ghraib.
To begin with, from its earliest days in power, this administration sought to radically destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided America since the end of World War II. The long successful strategy of containment was abandoned in favor of the new strategy of "preemption." And what they meant by preemption was not the inherent right of any nation to act preemptively against an imminent threat to its national security, but rather an exotic new approach that asserted a unique and unilateral U.S. right to ignore international law wherever it wished to do so and take military action against any nation, even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat. All that is required, in the view of Bush's team is the mere assertion of a possible, future threat - and the assertion need be made by only one person, the President.
More disturbing still was their frequent use of the word "dominance" to describe their strategic goal, because an American policy of dominance is as repugnant to the rest of the world as the ugly dominance of the helpless, naked Iraqi prisoners has been to the American people. Dominance is as dominance does.
Dominance is not really a strategic policy or political philosophy at all. It is a seductive illusion that tempts the powerful to satiate their hunger for more power still by striking a Faustian bargain. And as always happens - sooner or later - to those who shake hands with the devil, they find out too late that what they have given up in the bargain is their soul.
One of the clearest indications of the impending loss of intimacy with one's soul is the failure to recognize the existence of a soul in those over whom power is exercised, especially if the helpless come to be treated as animals, and degraded. We also know - and not just from De Sade and Freud - the psychological proximity between sexual depravity and other people's pain. It has been especially shocking and awful to see these paired evils perpetrated so crudely and cruelly in the name of America....
Monday, May 24, 2004
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Censorship in arts 'healthy,' Pat Boone says - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - April 21, 2004
Well of course, if you got your start bowdlerizing black artists songs for the general white bread consumption, you'd say censorship was a good thing too.
Well of course, if you got your start bowdlerizing black artists songs for the general white bread consumption, you'd say censorship was a good thing too.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
OSRM Declares Linux Free of Copyright Violations
Another +5 comment. My brilliance is surpassed only by my BS.
Another +5 comment. My brilliance is surpassed only by my BS.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Yahoo! News - U.S. Faces Tough Urban Battle in Fallujah
I'm going to become Christian on the off chance that George W. Bush is the anti-christ.
I'm going to become Christian on the off chance that George W. Bush is the anti-christ.
Pentagon delays U.S. troops' trip home No word yet on which units will stay longer in Iraq
How is this not "Bush's Vietnam"?
How is this not "Bush's Vietnam"?
Friday, April 02, 2004
PBS | I, Cringely . Archived Column
Cringley and the ADM theory for M$. ADM is a giant food manufacturing company that every so often is hit with a couple of million dollar fine for non-compliance with pollution emission standards. Of course they save many more millions by not complying with those standards than they are ever fined, so why comply? Microsoft runs its DOJ antitrust compliance the same way. Why worry about a 1 billion fine if you can make 5 billion not complying and just pay the fine?
Cringley and the ADM theory for M$. ADM is a giant food manufacturing company that every so often is hit with a couple of million dollar fine for non-compliance with pollution emission standards. Of course they save many more millions by not complying with those standards than they are ever fined, so why comply? Microsoft runs its DOJ antitrust compliance the same way. Why worry about a 1 billion fine if you can make 5 billion not complying and just pay the fine?
News
Copied without permission from independent.co.uk. But this is too important to edit.
Copied without permission from independent.co.uk. But this is too important to edit.
'I saw papers that show US knew al-Qa'ida would attack cities with aeroplanes'
Whistleblower the White House wants to silence speaks to The Independent
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
02 April 2004
A former translator for the FBI with top-secret security clearance says she has provided information to the panel investigating the 11 September attacks which proves senior officials knew of al-Qa'ida's plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened.
She said the claim by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that there was no such information was "an outrageous lie".
Sibel Edmonds said she spent more than three hours in a closed session with the commission's investigators providing information that was circulating within the FBI in the spring and summer of 2001 suggesting that an attack using aircraft was just months away and the terrorists were in place. The Bush administration, meanwhile, has sought to silence her and has obtained a gagging order from a court by citing the rarely used "state secrets privilege".
She told The Independent yesterday: "I gave [the commission] details of specific investigation files, the specific dates, specific target information, specific managers in charge of the investigation. I gave them everything so that they could go back and follow up. This is not hearsay. These are things that are documented. These things can be established very easily."
She added: "There was general information about the time-frame, about methods to be used but not specifically about how they would be used and about people being in place and who was ordering these sorts of terror attacks. There were other cities that were mentioned. Major cities with skyscrapers."
The accusations from Mrs Edmonds, 33, a Turkish-American who speaks Azerbaijani, Farsi, Turkish and English, will reignite the controversy over whether the administration ignored warnings about al-Qa'ida. That controversy was sparked most recently by Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism official, who has accused the administration of ignoring his warnings.
The issue what the administration knew and when is central to the investigation by the 9/11 Commission, which has been hearing testimony in public and private from government officials, intelligence officials and secret sources. Earlier this week, the White House made a U-turn when it said that Ms Rice would appear in public before the commission to answer questions. Mr Bush and his deputy, Dick Cheney, will also be questioned in a closed-door session.
Mrs Edmonds, 33, says she gave her evidence to the commission in a specially constructed "secure" room at its offices in Washington on 11 February. She was hired as a translator for the FBI's Washington field office on 13 September 2001, just two days after the al-Qa'ida attacks. Her job was to translate documents and recordings from FBI wire-taps.
She said said it was clear there was sufficient information during the spring and summer of 2001 to indicate terrorists were planning an attack. "Most of what I told the commission 90 per cent of it related to the investigations that I was involved in or just from working in the department. Two hundred translators side by side, you get to see and hear a lot of other things as well."
"President Bush said they had no specific information about 11 September and that is accurate but only because he said 11 September," she said. There was, however, general information about the use of airplanes and that an attack was just months away.
To try to refute Mr Clarke's accusations, Ms Rice said the administration did take steps to counter al-Qa'ida. But in an opinion piece in The Washington Post on 22 March, Ms Rice wrote: "Despite what some have suggested, we received no intelligence that terrorists were preparing to attack the homeland using airplanes as missiles, though some analysts speculated that terrorists might hijack planes to try and free US-held terrorists."
Mrs Edmonds said that by using the word "we", Ms Rice told an "outrageous lie". She said: "Rice says 'we' not 'I'. That would include all people from the FBI, the CIA and DIA [Defence Intelligence Agency]. I am saying that is impossible."
It is impossible at this stage to verify Mrs Edmonds' claims. However, some senior US senators testified to her credibility in 2002 when she went public with separate allegations relating to alleged incompetence and corruption within the FBI's translation department.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Reporter Apologizes for Iraq Coverage
While the major media, from The New York Times on down, has largely remained silent about their own failings in this area, a young columnist for a small paper in Fredericksburg, Va., has stepped forward.
"The media are finished with their big blowouts on the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and there is one thing they forgot to say: We're sorry," Rick Mercier wrote, in a column published Sunday in The Free Lance-Star.
"Sorry we let unsubstantiated claims drive our coverage. Sorry we were dismissive of experts who disputed White House charges against Iraq. Sorry we let a band of self-serving Iraqi defectors make fools of us. Sorry we fell for Colin Powell's performance at the United Nations. Sorry we couldn't bring ourselves to hold the administration's feet to the fire before the war, when it really mattered.
"Maybe we'll do a better job next war."
Monday, March 29, 2004
Yahoo! News - Bush Campaign Blasts Kerry's Bible Quote
The Bush camp is outraged! Outraged! But a man who wears his religion on his (right) sleeve like Bush shouldn't be afeared of one of those damnable Papists quoting Bible at him! Where are the "no God before me" flings about priests? The anti-trinity rhetoric? The "the Pope will run the US from Rome" jibes? No, Bush should come out swinging on this one. Everyone knows the average born-again can run any Catholic into the ground when it comes to scripitural studies.
Seriously, you wear your hard right literal religion on your sleeve like Bush does, and then run a "compassionate conservative" campaign, followed by a hard neo-right presidency, and then you complain when somebody gets a good shot about your compassion(less) presidency? After all how much compassion does it take to exploit 9/11 to get reelected?
Kerry never mentioned Bush by name during his speech Sunday at New North Side Baptist Church, but aimed his criticism at "our present national leadership." Kerry cited Scripture in his appeal for the worshippers, including James 2:14, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?"
"The Scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" Kerry said. "When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion?"
The Bush camp is outraged! Outraged! But a man who wears his religion on his (right) sleeve like Bush shouldn't be afeared of one of those damnable Papists quoting Bible at him! Where are the "no God before me" flings about priests? The anti-trinity rhetoric? The "the Pope will run the US from Rome" jibes? No, Bush should come out swinging on this one. Everyone knows the average born-again can run any Catholic into the ground when it comes to scripitural studies.
Seriously, you wear your hard right literal religion on your sleeve like Bush does, and then run a "compassionate conservative" campaign, followed by a hard neo-right presidency, and then you complain when somebody gets a good shot about your compassion(less) presidency? After all how much compassion does it take to exploit 9/11 to get reelected?
Friday, March 26, 2004
Cancel the 2005 Academy Award, the contest is over.
Hilarious review of Dawn of the Dead that I found over at the forums on http://www.soundofurchin.com/
Hilarious review of Dawn of the Dead that I found over at the forums on http://www.soundofurchin.com/
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
http://messages.yahoo.com/bbs?action=m&board=1600684464&tid=cald&sid=1600684464&mid=107553
An unusually erudite post to a Yahoo! message board re: SCO's continuing barratry:
It's Not Whether We Win, But How
by: saddam_bohorfoush
I think that a lot of the frustration being expressed by the pro-sco camp over Groklaw has to do with Groklaw's apparent ability to *completely* disrupt a tried and true strategy that has so far extracted millions from usurped IP. What the SCO camp seem not to understand to this point is how the community they are now attacking is substantially different from their previous adversaries. They're just getting to know us; we're just now establishing our reputation. That's why it's important to not just win, but to slam dunk this. We need to establish a reputation as a group that doesn't just leave a smoking crater, but one that keeps pushing the "launch" button, continually landing ordinance on target, even though the crater is devoid of anything but well-used carbon atoms.
When truth, knowledge, and smarts are all we have on our side, against a multi-billion-dollar war chest, it's extremely important to establish a winning reputation early and often. Eventually, after many more battles than just this one, opponents to free/open software may come to understand that multi-million dollar assaults are completely lossy. That won't happen without our constant vigilance.
When these sorts of attacks stop, we'll need to be prepared to respond to the next sort of attack, and so on. Long after Darl is contemplating what is the correct medical procedure for getting his ass to stop bleeding, others will still be on the assault.
An unusually erudite post to a Yahoo! message board re: SCO's continuing barratry:
It's Not Whether We Win, But How
by: saddam_bohorfoush
I think that a lot of the frustration being expressed by the pro-sco camp over Groklaw has to do with Groklaw's apparent ability to *completely* disrupt a tried and true strategy that has so far extracted millions from usurped IP. What the SCO camp seem not to understand to this point is how the community they are now attacking is substantially different from their previous adversaries. They're just getting to know us; we're just now establishing our reputation. That's why it's important to not just win, but to slam dunk this. We need to establish a reputation as a group that doesn't just leave a smoking crater, but one that keeps pushing the "launch" button, continually landing ordinance on target, even though the crater is devoid of anything but well-used carbon atoms.
When truth, knowledge, and smarts are all we have on our side, against a multi-billion-dollar war chest, it's extremely important to establish a winning reputation early and often. Eventually, after many more battles than just this one, opponents to free/open software may come to understand that multi-million dollar assaults are completely lossy. That won't happen without our constant vigilance.
When these sorts of attacks stop, we'll need to be prepared to respond to the next sort of attack, and so on. Long after Darl is contemplating what is the correct medical procedure for getting his ass to stop bleeding, others will still be on the assault.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Open Source Initiative OSI - Doc10:Halloween Documents
As ESR sums up:
As ESR sums up:
There you have it. A hundred million funnelled from Microsoft to SCO, of which they have $68.5 million left. Their 10Qs reveal that every other line of cash inflow is statistical noise by comparison. The brave new SCOsource business model is now clear: sue your customers, shill for Microsoft, kite your stock, and pray you stay out of jail.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
My Way News: "The BBC America series 'The Office,' which stars co-creator Ricky Gervais as an embarrassingly annoying boss at a British paper merchant, defeated 'Arrested Development,''Monk,''Sex and the City' and 'Will & Grace' for best comedy show. The critically lauded 'The Office' is being developed into an American version.
'I'm not from these parts,' Gervais said. 'I'm from a little place called England ... We used to run the world before you.'"
Cute.
'I'm not from these parts,' Gervais said. 'I'm from a little place called England ... We used to run the world before you.'"
Cute.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Recently on IM:
Shows at 9:00 and 11:00 two drink minimun
skywind: now, to see if i can track down my library path error... trying to use JMagick, a java wrapper that uses native calls to ImageMagick's library apis...
skywind: and the native part isn't playing nicely within tomcat. it's fine as my user at the prompt tho, so I know the system is installed right.
mcsey: wrappers that don't talk right aren't much use at all
skywind: exactly
Shows at 9:00 and 11:00 two drink minimun
Saturday, January 03, 2004
Yahoo! News - Greenspan Defends Himself on '90s Bubble
The article describes a speech that Greenspan gave defending his Clinton era Federal Reserve policies. I can't understand why the Federal Reserve Chairman would have to explain why he stewarded the economy to its greatest expansion ever.
A theory: FOXNews, Bush's spin doctors, et al need a way to make Dubya's record on the economy seem not so bad. Step one is to discredit the economic progress of the '90's as "irrational exuberance". Basically say that, "If the economy had not burned that hot then, it would not have been so cold during the first 3/4's of the Bush administration." Step two is to get your corporate buddies to start hiring and saying, "Boy those tax cuts sure are letting us hire more people. Maybe if they have jobs they'll have more kids to pay off the deficits we are running up." Step three...
Reelection.
Get ready for "Four More George".
The article describes a speech that Greenspan gave defending his Clinton era Federal Reserve policies. I can't understand why the Federal Reserve Chairman would have to explain why he stewarded the economy to its greatest expansion ever.
A theory: FOXNews, Bush's spin doctors, et al need a way to make Dubya's record on the economy seem not so bad. Step one is to discredit the economic progress of the '90's as "irrational exuberance". Basically say that, "If the economy had not burned that hot then, it would not have been so cold during the first 3/4's of the Bush administration." Step two is to get your corporate buddies to start hiring and saying, "Boy those tax cuts sure are letting us hire more people. Maybe if they have jobs they'll have more kids to pay off the deficits we are running up." Step three...
Reelection.
Get ready for "Four More George".
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