tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41159792011-05-31T09:29:52.494-04:00The RipZAWGuaranteed <i>Fair and Balanced</i>, or your money back.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comBlogger4131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1099257661151769582004-10-31T16:21:00.000-05:002004-10-31T16:21:01.150-05:00To quote Snopes:The Washington Redskins have proved to be a time-tested election predictor. In the previous 15 elections, if the Washington Redskins have lost their last home game prior to the election, the incumbent party has lost the White House. When they have won, the incumbent has stayed in power.
This election year, that deciding game takes place on Sunday, October 31 ... vs. Green Bay.
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1098399028670557232004-10-21T18:50:00.000-04:002004-10-21T18:50:28.670-04:00CNN.com - Kerry promotes science, technology as job engines - What I want to know is why in the HELL hasn't he been pounding this as a central part of his economic plan from day one? It lets him unify his environmental and economic policies, and gives him an economic plank completely outside of Bush's world. He can say "If the economy doesn't improve, Bush will give the rich another tax cut. And Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1097126349744458132004-10-07T01:14:00.000-04:002004-10-07T01:19:09.743-04:00
With all the absolutely justified celebration about SpaceShipOne and the potential for private space flight, this comic makes a good point that is easy to forget. SpaceShipOne was not designed in a vacuum. It is built with off-the-shelf technology. None of that technology would have existed but for the decades of ludicrously expensive and complex research and development done by NASA. Private Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1097032885044265352004-10-05T22:53:00.000-04:002004-10-05T23:22:49.096-04:00The Veep Debate:
Well, here were the fireworks. Edwards and Cheney were at each others throats, at least in the beginning. It got more collegial toward the end.
Advantage first 30 minutes: Cheney. Unlike Bush, Cheney actually has a basic grasp of the issues. And unlike Kerry, Edwards seems much more comfortable talking about domestic than international issues. While I don't agree with what he Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1096922264985767502004-10-04T16:37:00.000-04:002004-10-04T16:37:44.986-04:00Stuff they said at the Republican conventionBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1095837156346470482004-09-22T02:55:00.000-04:002004-09-22T03:12:36.346-04:00My proposed response when Kerry is inevitably asked about his vote in the Iraq War Resolution during the debates:
"President Bush told us that he wanted to hold Iraq's feet to the fire. He told us that without the authority to use force, he would not have the power to force Iraq's hand. He told us that Iraq posed an imminent and growing danger. He told us that the security of the United States Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1094445185478475592004-09-06T00:33:00.000-04:002004-09-06T00:33:05.476-04:00An article called Stuck on The Fence from the Washington Post tells the story of 10 rather unenthusiastic uncommitted voters from Erie, PA, and their reaction to the Presidential nomination acceptance speeches (which most of them weren't planning to watch before the Post asked them to.) The responses aren't surprising - Bush wins on straight talk and specifics but is fighting an overall negative Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1094372407214710832004-09-05T04:16:00.000-04:002004-09-06T00:39:47.593-04:00A blog post that kind of morphed into an open letter to John Kerry
John Kerry has got to go Howard Dean. There's no way around it. His circumlocution and Senatese, his professional courtesy, everything about him that the world sees on a day-to-day-basis is tailor made to be ripped apart by some asshole like George W. Bush. For God's sake, this guy could be saying "let's nuke Japan again" and Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1094277664282574182004-09-04T02:01:00.000-04:002004-09-04T02:01:04.283-04:00Yahoo! News - Russia School Standoff Ends With 250 Dead: BESLAN, Russia - The three-day hostage siege at a school in southern Russia ended in chaos and bloodshed Friday, after witnesses said Chechen militants set off bombs and Russian commandos stormed the building. Hostages fled in terror, many of them children who were half-naked and covered in blood. Officials said the toll was at least 250.
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-109173070657001662004-08-05T14:31:00.000-04:002004-08-05T14:31:46.570-04:00WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush told a roomful of top Pentagon brass on Thursday that his administration would never stop looking for ways to harm the United States.
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1091730618489944432004-08-05T14:23:00.000-04:002004-08-05T14:30:18.490-04:00Amazing that I never thought of this. The BBC is reporting that scientists are digitally copying the police audio tapes of the JFK assassination (the tapes have been too fragile to play for the last 10 years). Once they're digitized, they'll be able to remove background noise, static, and so forth. Point being? They'll finally be able to tell how many shots were fired (and possibly whether they Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1091635176357897712004-08-04T11:52:00.000-04:002004-08-04T11:59:36.356-04:00Jane's Defense Weekly and Reuters are reporting that North Korea has 12 nuclear launch-capable missile submarines of Soviet origin with the range to cruise off the California coast. Oh yeah, and they were furnished by our own industrial magnate-cum-North Korean sympathizer-cum-Messiah Sun Myung Moon. I wonder if they'll mention that next time they coronate him?
Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1090201554002714212004-07-18T21:41:00.000-04:002004-07-18T21:45:54.003-04:00Been a while, hasn't it? Maybe it's what The Onion described as "Outrage Fatigue", but I've just had no motivation to write lately. I stay just as ludicrously up-to-date on current events as ever, and certainly have not lost my opinions on on the matters of the day, but somehow I've just felt no impetus to put those things into words and put them on the internet for the whole world to see. Maybe Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1086910881260114052004-06-10T19:31:00.000-04:002004-06-10T19:41:21.260-04:00Two researchers have just released a study highlighting the danger of allowing your 18-year-old to take Tylenol without parental supervision. OK, seriously, the study was about "the overuse of over-the-counter pain relievers by children and teens", but if you read the article I think you'll agree with my snark. I have rarely seen such a mix of obvious facts being presented as cutting-edge Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1086548408201511242004-06-06T15:00:00.000-04:002004-06-06T18:27:18.910-04:00A guy in Granby, CO, had a grudge against certain members of the town planning commission and the local newspaper. So how did he handle it? The same way any red-blooded believer in truth, justice, and the American way would: he built himself a tank and obliterated downtownBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1086324143885803152004-06-04T00:41:00.000-04:002004-06-04T00:42:23.886-04:00You know, work is, like, hard. But the good news is they pay you to do it.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1086278101344479732004-06-03T11:52:00.000-04:002004-06-03T11:55:01.346-04:00Looks like George Tenet's resigning. It's not effective until Mid-July, and they're all citing "personal reasons", while the President praises him, saying (to use one his new favorite turns of phrase) that "he's done a superb job on behalf of the American people".Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1086240500433150002004-06-03T01:28:00.000-04:002004-06-03T01:32:35.473-04:00New book out by author Rebecca Wilson called "What Makes a Man". The type of thing I'd ordinarily stay away from, except when order to read it for some English or maybe Poli Sci class (after which I'd tear it to pieces) - It's one of those ones about what masculinity means, which for some reason always seem to be written by women. Some people think Violet Brown and Gloria Anzaldua are geniuses Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1086045105359617552004-05-31T19:11:00.000-04:002004-05-31T19:11:45.360-04:00Wear Red for Freedom Fridays. I hope Katt of Oddlots Irregulars won't mind my jacking her post:I have received email about this great idea from several people today. In a nutshell, a growing number of Americans, concerned about current U.S policies regarding individual civil liberties and freedoms in the U.S. and abroad, are going to wear RED every Friday until the November election. That?s it ~Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1085672895887813942004-05-27T11:46:00.000-04:002004-05-27T11:48:15.886-04:00There's a construction site in Downtown Los Angeles surrounded by razor wire. I was walking past it this morning when I saw a tiny bird, perched right on one of the razors, merrily warbling away. Somehow, it seems like this is symbolic of something, but I can't think of exactly what.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1085632381382376522004-05-27T00:19:00.000-04:002004-05-27T00:33:01.383-04:00Would you beleive that Al Gore just gave a really great speech? Full text is here. His critique of the President's leadership hits more powerfully than any of the partisan flak that both sides are throwing at each other. He sounds downright statesmanlike. The man has grown an impressive spine over the past four years to go with his already formidable brain.
Too bad the Dems' candidate this year Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1084377194633756372004-05-12T11:51:00.000-04:002004-05-12T11:53:14.633-04:00The Kung Fu of Donald RumsfeldBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083996766872468282004-05-08T02:12:00.000-04:002004-05-08T02:17:08.653-04:00Apologies for the posting lull - work rears its ugly head.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083544217573647382004-05-02T20:30:00.000-04:002004-05-02T20:40:22.373-04:00While reading Greyhawk's entry linked to in my last post, I came a across this. It's pretty long, but the point is that Micah Wright, one of the internet's most prolific producers of propaganda remixes, has long been justifying his art by claiming to have spent four years in the Army Rangers, including participating in the invasion of Panama, during which he discovered the utter corruption of theBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083542923803910532004-05-02T20:08:00.000-04:002004-05-02T20:13:35.763-04:00I've been waiting to hear someone condemn 60 Minutes for running the Abu Ghraib Prison photos, saying that to criticize the Americans was equivalent to complimenting "the terrorists". And, finally, here it is: Jonah Goldberg on the National Review Online:Instapundit links to a post from a blogger Greyhawk who has some useful scorn for "60 Minutes'" posturing over the torture photos. This was notBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083457990291946892004-05-01T20:33:00.000-04:002004-05-01T20:37:23.700-04:00What to say about those pictures from the Iraqi prisons? It's like those soldiers are from some other world. I don't even need to say that abusing prisoners for your own personal amusement is absolutely beyond the pale. Everybody knows that, and the soldiers responsible are being court-martialed. But what I want to know is how this was allowed to happen? Assume, for a moment, the patently false Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083455056517115742004-05-01T19:44:00.000-04:002004-05-01T19:48:29.763-04:00Of all the things... Supreme Court Justice David Souter seems to have been attacked and beaten while jogging last night. Fortunately, no major injuries. He wasn't robbed, and so far his assailants' motives are unknown.
For some reason, when I read this article, the first thought into my mind was "abortion protestors". There's absolutely no reason for me to believe that's who did it, but I have aBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083454781073819962004-05-01T19:39:00.000-04:002004-05-01T19:43:54.356-04:00I seem to be the Sticky Site of the Moment over at InternetBumperStickers.com. Neat! To anyone visting from that august institution: Hiya.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083294283075145112004-04-29T23:04:00.000-04:002004-04-29T23:10:45.250-04:00Update on the Sinclair/Nightline story: Sinclair Broadcasting Group is a big proponent of the Bush FCC deregulation, has given a total of about $120,000 over the past 4 years to the Republican party and it's candidates (0 to anyone else), and is hailed thusly by NewsMax, America's premier internet purveyor of Fair and Balanced reportáge: "One of the nation's newest and fastest-growing TV news Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083271323873930732004-04-29T16:42:00.000-04:002004-04-29T16:46:14.170-04:00ABC has decided to do a special edition of Nightline tomorrow night - the entire hour will be a tribute to our soldiers fallen in Iraq, a simple reading of their names and showing of their faces. In response, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns eight ABC affiliates (along with 54 other stations), has refused to run the episode, stating it "appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083098360420972342004-04-27T16:39:00.000-04:002004-04-27T16:43:31.140-04:00Who was it that decided this flag would go over well in Iraq?
First of all, every Iraqi flag since 1924 has been black, green, red, and white, with the 1959-1963 flag (the last one pre-Saddam) also having some yellow. This one's more than half white, with the rest composed of two shades of blue and a thin gold stripe. So, symbolically, Iraq is to be cut off not only from it's Ba'athist past, Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1083024962426034302004-04-26T20:16:00.000-04:002004-04-26T20:20:36.763-04:00There's a fairly bad looking movie slated for an imminent release by the name of The Day After Tomorrow. In the greatest tradition of overblown disaster movies, this one uses $125 Million to create a highly implausible scenario - overnight global destruction by freak weather phenomena - out of a real threat - Global Warming. And (as Kevin Drum draws our attention to), in the best tradition of Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082939577191363432004-04-25T20:32:00.000-04:002004-04-25T20:37:02.543-04:00It's always fun to look at my counter statistics and see where I'm getting hits from. Today, I see four lucky people found this site by doing Google Searches for the following strings:
strategic multilateralism and tactical unilateralism
haverfest 2004
"challenged instead of retarded"
operation pussy galore iraq
Well, you can't say there's no diversity to this site's contents...Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082939106733298932004-04-25T20:25:00.000-04:002004-04-25T20:29:12.186-04:00Via Kos, we see this newest bit of creative concept linkage - Since 'abortion is murder', and Al-Qaeda commits murder, support for abortion rights is equivalent to support for Al-Qaeda:"I think that after September 11, the American people are valuing life more and we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life," she said. "President Bush has worked to say, let's be reasonable, Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082922580559050252004-04-25T15:49:00.000-04:002004-04-25T15:53:45.576-04:00Worst Excuse Ever. Being asked to explain himself after claiming there was a vast Islamic conspiracy for world domination and saying "I've got an idea, let's kill all Muslims.", a Boston radio host responded that he wasn't talking about American Muslims, he was talking about Muslims outside the US. Oh, well that totally justifies him! Genocide is fine as long as we do it somewhere else!
Is this Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082744590615957432004-04-23T14:20:00.000-04:002004-04-23T14:27:14.436-04:00Oh, and on the topic of Mr. Kucinich, I got the opportunity to ask him a question on his way out:
Me: "Mr. Kucinich, in a no-holds-barred cage match between yourself and Tom DeLay, who would win?"
Cong. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH): *Blank Stare* "Uh... I don't think... a cage match? I don't... uh... think I would... engage... in that... so I would win... by not engaging."Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082744340132999422004-04-23T13:55:00.000-04:002004-04-23T14:23:26.000-04:00Saw Dennis Kucinich speak today. I can certainly understand why he was really never able to gain better than 1% of the primary vote, despite the fact that certainly well over 1% of the population agrees with his views (heck, Ralph "pariah" Nader is still polling about 5%). The reason is that he's just too much philosopher, not enough leader. He talks about "dichotomies" and "the unification of Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082742826587607232004-04-23T13:53:00.000-04:002004-04-23T13:58:58.233-04:00I remember the fanfare when Pat Tillman, strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals, left the NFL in 2002 to join the Special Forces in the newly declared War on Terror.
He was killed today in Afghanistan.
From ReutersBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082685486367223962004-04-22T21:58:00.000-04:002004-04-22T22:02:08.293-04:00Well, someone's finally starting to pay attention: Panel: Don't use Diebold touch-screen voting machines.California should ban the use of 15,000 touch-screen voting machines made by Diebold Election Systems from the Nov. 2 general election, an advisory panel to Secretary of State Kevin Shelley recommended Thursday.
By an 8-0 vote, the state's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel recommended thatBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082671911690600192004-04-22T18:11:00.000-04:002004-04-22T18:15:53.263-04:00The title of the article is Bush Hails His Environmental Record on Earth Day. Well, at least someone likes it: the Earth Day founder, Political Science professor, former EPA head, collective statement by 20 Nobel Prize winners, and Sierra Club director quoted in the article all say his environmental record is, uh, really, really lousy.
George W. Bush. Worst. Environmental. President. Ever.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082670773131014402004-04-22T17:52:00.000-04:002004-04-22T17:56:54.873-04:00Doctors or other health care providers could not be disciplined or sued if they refuse to treat gay patients under legislation passed Wednesday by the Michigan House.
The bill allows health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical or religious grounds.
The Republican dominated House passed the measure as dozens of Catholics looked on from the gallery. The Michigan Catholic Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-108241199990901942004-04-19T17:59:00.000-04:002004-04-19T18:03:57.623-04:00Spain's new government has, as promised, begun to Withdraw its troops from Iraq. This is a real bad time, not only because we need every boot on the ground that we can get, but because Spanish troops are actively engaged near Najaf. Their withdrawal will leave a hole in the American/Coalition blockade. In that second article, you'll also note that Al-Sadr ordered his militias to cease fire on Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082149034451389072004-04-16T16:57:00.000-04:002004-04-16T17:01:54.576-04:00Well, you can't fault them for not being conscientious, anyway. Most of the Los Angeles porn industry - which is to say most of the US porn industry - has shut down after an actor and an actress failed their mandatory tri-weekly HIV tests. All production is stopped until at least June while they wait and make sure no one else is infected. These are all industry standards, by the way, not Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-108209383858904572004-04-16T01:37:00.000-04:002004-04-16T01:45:41.436-04:00Here's something out of the ordinary: A photojournal of a Ukranian biker's trip through the ruins of Chernobyl. Asphalt, you know, does not absorb radiation, so if you stay to the middle of the roads and keep your eye on the geiger counter, you can fairly safely navigate a part of the world in which it will always remain the 26th of April, 1986.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082069146258393322004-04-15T18:45:00.000-04:002004-04-15T18:49:38.076-04:00From The AgonistThe following letter was distributed on the streets of Baghdad today:
To our families in Baghdad:
Do not leave your homes and do not go to school, universities, offices. Do not walk around in the markets and to all supermarket owners and commercial markets: close your shops from April 15 2004 to April 23 2004, since your brothers the Mujahadieen in Ramadi, Khaldiya, and FallujahBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1082068760020062782004-04-15T18:39:00.000-04:002004-04-15T18:43:11.920-04:00Some of Mark Fiore's cartoons have been a bit subpar lately, but this week's is him in his top form. The Buck Stops Where?Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1081992458526997042004-04-14T21:27:00.000-04:002004-04-14T21:31:29.530-04:00Oh my lord. This is the most disgusting photo supposedly depicting an attractive woman I have ever seen. Upper left corner.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1081992226781181942004-04-14T21:23:00.000-04:002004-04-14T21:27:37.810-04:00Speak of driving with one's eyes closed, I would direct everyone to this Slate Article by William Saletan. As time has gone on and evidence has amassed, intelligent onlookers have been better and better able to identify just what is going on with our current administration. People who want to call the president evil are wrong. He's not even nuts. He has some nutcase advisers, but the president Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1081991120327141972004-04-14T21:05:00.000-04:002004-04-14T21:16:28.543-04:00Philip Robertson is back on Salon.com with his reportage from Iraq. His last series, in which he reported unembedded from Kurdistan during the invasion was really excellent, and this new one from Baghdad seems to be the same. Despite Salon's left-leaning tendencies, Robertson has always appeared to be a man of impeccable objectivity - basically, he doesn't bother trying to support the liberal Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1081213296482791472004-04-05T21:00:00.000-04:002004-04-05T21:05:15.826-04:00Minor template change - Links should now open in new windows, instead of making this blog disappear if you click on anything. Always hated it when that happened.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1081212669435317532004-04-05T20:47:00.000-04:002004-04-05T20:55:24.983-04:00Finally found some free image hosting from Photobucket.com. I'm guessing that, like all good things, they'll probably start charging by next week, but for the moment they get my hearty endorsement. Heck, with a name like Photobucket, they wouldn't even have to DO anything to get my endorsement. Anyway, the ability to add images should give me a little flexibility here, though God only knows if Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1080567924876123142004-03-29T08:45:00.000-05:002004-03-29T08:48:57.200-05:00I could have sworn this was from The Onion. But, unsurprisingly, it's not. John Kerry gave a campaign speech at a church and quoted the Book of James to describe the Bush administration: "The Scriptures say: `What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" The Bush campaign responded by saying this was "beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse, and a sadBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1080543944949397952004-03-29T02:05:00.000-05:002004-03-29T02:15:02.280-05:00Atrios watches the O'Reilly Factor so you don't have to:
O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.
In THE FACTOR "Follow-Up" Segment tonight, we've been following the various demographic shifts throughout America, and now the Census Bureau estimates, by the year 2050, white Americans will make up less than 50 percent of the population...
*snip*
WILLIAM FREY, PH.D., BROOKINGS Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1080539860698992642004-03-29T00:57:00.000-05:002004-03-29T01:01:09.750-05:00According to USA Today, Bill Frist's demands to declassify all of Richard Clarke's classified testimony from the Bush administration in hopes of finding something to discredit him have been joined by - Richard Clarke. Except, I have to imagine his reasons are more along the lines of proving he DIDN'T perjure himself at any point. Anyway, I value full disclosure, so the fact that he's willing to Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1080513822923545292004-03-28T17:43:00.000-05:002004-03-28T17:47:11.123-05:00Apparently Canada has so much uninhabited land in the far north that they have to occasionally sweep through with troops to make sure no one else is planting a flag and claiming it in the name of Spain. Such a plan, code name Polar Epsilon, is underway now.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1080512798323793692004-03-28T17:26:00.000-05:002004-03-28T17:30:06.686-05:00Cambodia's newest plan for economic recovery - Blow away a cow for $400.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079829993809012612004-03-20T19:46:00.000-05:002004-03-20T19:49:51.373-05:00According to a 60 Minutes interview with Richard Clarke, chief White House anti-terrorism adviser at the time of the September 11th attacks, not only had the Bush administration been uninterested in the issue of terrorism right up until it made itself evident on American soil, they wouldn't even schedule a meeting between his department and the president or cabinet. When they finally did give himBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079724915561270772004-03-19T14:35:00.000-05:002004-03-19T14:40:40.590-05:00Add Jack Kelly, formerly of USA Today, to the list of "journalists" who've just been making shit up. The paper's excuse for letting the inaccuracies slip through? He was a good Evangelical Christian, and we all know they don't lie! The New York Times caught hell because Jayson Blair was black, thereby definitively proving the Times was putting "Affirmative Action" ahead of the news. But when USA Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079651716937105572004-03-18T18:15:00.000-05:002004-03-18T18:18:32.250-05:00Kevin Drum of Calpundit has been hired to write the Political Animal blog for the Washington Monthly. His pontifications will henceforth be found in the new location.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079647619045355242004-03-18T17:04:00.000-05:002004-03-18T18:15:05.170-05:00Here's an absolutely amazing piece from Slate: A compendium of graffiti that has appeared on the walls of occupied Baghdad. Well, maybe absolutely amazing is a little strong. There may be nothing there that surprises you. Nevertheless, it's a look into the situation that no embedded reporter could hope to provide.
From these scribblings, it is clear that there is significant support for the Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079588314813290832004-03-18T00:38:00.000-05:002004-03-18T00:41:48.936-05:00One of the problems with blogging is that there's just so much stuff out there in the world. It can be daunting. Why bother saying anything when you know a thousand other people are saying the same thing better? And sometimes, the question is just why bother saying anything at all? When trains explode and people die, my rantings into the blogosphere aren't going to do anything. But, I guess Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079140235216817312004-03-12T20:10:00.000-05:002004-03-12T20:13:42.750-05:00Quick housekeeping update: Fixed the links to Where is Raed? and The Homeless Guy. Their URLs had moved, and I had forgotten to change 'em in the template.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1079133043851639812004-03-12T18:10:00.000-05:002004-03-12T18:13:51.263-05:00The Daily Kos tagline for the Bush Missile Shield, for which most testing was cancelled and the funds diverted into immediate deployment before the election: Faith-Based Defense. "Faith-based defense"... do I sense a Kerry attack ad in the making?Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1078980940293917242004-03-10T23:49:00.000-05:002004-03-10T23:59:07.606-05:00Kerry-McCain 2004? It could happen. I mean, it's not going to, but it sure would be cool if it did. That would be a ticket I wouldn't want to be up against. Although speaking of Sen. McCain, he seems to be taking a lead in the Senate's crusade to rid Major League Baseball of steroids. Do these people not have anything better to do? Oh well, if it makes him happy. At least it's not hurting anybodyBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1078877469630703032004-03-09T19:11:00.000-05:002004-03-09T19:14:13.140-05:00Just added HaloScan commenting. Notice the little "Comments" link under this post? And all the other ones? Well, if you click on it, you can (surprise!) leave comments for all the other little boys and girls to read.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1078876543762217052004-03-09T18:55:00.000-05:002004-03-09T18:58:46.653-05:00Indecency fines. This is the most important thing our government has to worry about? Someone's gotta check their priorities. MSNBC contributor Michael Ventre may put it best:
...as usual, the booby prize goes to our government watchdogs. Because they’ve spent entire careers suckling off the taxpayer teat, these elected officials are uniquely qualified to preside over this matter.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1078875740733433952004-03-09T18:42:00.000-05:002004-03-09T18:46:29.110-05:00So, it looks like Ford is (finally) going to build some hybrids - based on licensed Toyota technology. It's about time an American manufacturer stepped up to the plate here, although it's sort of disappointing to see that they're too lame to actually figure out how to do it on their own. So much for GM's vaunted electric-car program. Sooner or later, the government is going to regulate greenhouseBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1073701619488181402004-01-09T21:26:00.000-05:002004-01-09T21:28:43.576-05:00Excellent Washington Post article about religion in politics.
Distorting a candidate's religious views is not a new hobby. In 1800, supporters of John Adams campaigned against Thomas Jefferson on the grounds that he was an atheist. He wasn't. He was a deist, a believer in a God not involved in current human events, but his views were easily caricatured. In his 2003 book, "The Founding Fathers andBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1073548331370447422004-01-08T02:52:00.000-05:002004-01-08T02:53:52.763-05:00Cancelled my New Republic subscription the other day. I was getting tired of reading the same article on the glories of the Democratic Leadership Council over and over. The fact that they were recently bought out by the DLC's guru and a Republican supply-sider didn't really cement my loyalty. My decision was validated today when they endorsed Joe Lieberman.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1073461682691706662004-01-07T02:48:00.000-05:002004-01-07T02:49:42.796-05:00Yeah. OK then. Dennis Kucinich just tried to explain himself using a pie chart. Over the radio.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-107345429965004832004-01-07T00:44:00.000-05:002004-01-07T00:47:03.403-05:00Kind of odd that it's a crime against humanity when some guy submits an ad comparing Bush to Hitler in a contest, but it's OK when an editorial in the New York Post compares Hitler to Howard Dean.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1073377055686538002004-01-06T03:17:00.000-05:002004-01-06T03:19:37.293-05:00Boy, this whole Bush/Hitler ad thing is going nuts. You remember my talking about MoveOn's Bush in 30 Seconds contest? The one where 1500 people submitted 30-second anti-Bush spots, and MoveOn's member base voted on them? Well, among the 1500 entries, there were obviously some really godawful ones, including two making connections between George Bush and Adolph Hitler. Now, it's well known that Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1073361719069659222004-01-05T23:01:00.000-05:002004-01-05T23:03:38.296-05:00Jimmy Breslin of Newsday points out, in reference to the widespread condemnation of Howard Dean for his "old-fashioned notion" that Osama bin Laden should be tried before he is sentenced, that the Nazis all received fair trials at Nuremburg. Breslin quotes attourney David Greenfield on the matter: "This is insanity. I thought everybody knew that no matter how high the crime or the criminal, the Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1073023341353041882004-01-02T00:58:00.000-05:002004-01-02T01:04:11.496-05:00The intersection of religion and politics really bothers me. Not necessarily because I disagree with anything they're saying, but because the way they say it makes me cringe. From the public sanctimony of GWB and Joe Lieberman to the newfound faux-religiousity of Howard Dean, these guys just don't get it. They think religion is an all-or-nothing propostion. They think the world is split into pureBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072819561313305862003-12-30T16:26:00.000-05:002003-12-30T16:27:45.590-05:00December 30, 2003, the day they appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the Valerie Plame leak. John Ashcroft finally buckled under presure and recused himself from the investigation of the White House. It was rather difficult to accept that he could impartially and vigorously go after a group including the guy who gave him his job and the guy he hired to run his Senate campaign. Well, the Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072818967814867842003-12-30T16:16:00.000-05:002003-12-30T16:17:38.623-05:00I think this one takes the cake. The FBI has alerted cops around the country to watch out for people carrying... almanacs. Yes, almanacs. The FBI points out that while possession of an almanac may be "the product of legitimate recreational or commercial activities," it also "may point to possible terrorist planning."
OK, no, we're not getting a little paranoid here or anything. This is totally Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072675074744175162003-12-28T23:25:00.000-05:002003-12-29T00:25:23.030-05:00Now that's just dumb. While Howard Dean's been attacking the Bush administration for holding secret meetings with power company executives to formulate the nation's energy policy, it turns out that while he was Governor of Vermont, Dean, uh, held secret meetings with power company executives to formulate the state's energy policy. Now there are differences between the two situations, but he stillBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072246420686785912003-12-24T01:13:00.000-05:002003-12-24T01:15:02.780-05:00Hannity's new book: "Deliver Us from Evil : Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism". What an ass.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072245983152048032003-12-24T00:22:00.000-05:002003-12-24T01:07:45.293-05:00I've been participating in Moveon's Bush in 30 Seconds project. 1200 people sent in 30 second anti-Bush ad spots, and now they're asking everyone else (yes, I'm part of everyone else) to watch and rate them. The top 15 rated will be sent to their celebrity panel to pick one to actually air. After you rate a given ad (the server will give you a max of 20 per day), it tells you what the spot's Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072240276869662782003-12-23T23:29:00.000-05:002003-12-23T23:36:15.653-05:00Good point on the Democratic party's DLC/Deaniac rift in an Arizona Republic editorial: "The Democratic Party hasn't split; rather, the sleeping half of it is finally awake". It's hard to have divisions when only the people on one side are talking. Maybe the vast differences between the candidates are actually a sign of healthy changes to an ineffective orthodoxy. It'd be a lot more healthy, Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1072159222861040572003-12-23T00:44:00.000-05:002003-12-23T01:14:59.030-05:00Maybe it's just me, but I can't figure out why Russia would bother rolling out new stationary nuclear missiles - or new nuclear weapons of any kind. What are they for? The US isn't going to invade them. China maybe? According to the article, the Russians are also drawing up specifications for a new line of strategic bombers (big, nuclear capable beasts like the B-52) to enter service in 2014. Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1071777706720263182003-12-18T15:01:00.000-05:002003-12-18T15:03:01.810-05:00Not long ago, a guy name William Krar was arrested in Texas with "a fully functional sodium cyanide bomb capable of killing hundreds, as well as neo-Nazi and antigovernment literature, illegal weapons, half a million rounds of ammunition, and more than 100 explosives, including bombs disguised as suitcases." Well hey, now we know where the Weapons of Mass Destruction went! So where's Ashcroft, Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1071714306900412872003-12-17T21:25:00.000-05:002003-12-17T21:26:20.780-05:00So, we got Saddam. My first response was "Holy #&%!" (direct quote). I really didn't think it was gonna happen. But it did, and it's a damn fine thing, too. That rat bastard had it coming. My greatest congratulations to the troops for reeling in this lousy excuse for a human, and I hope he enjoys all the hospitality of the Iraqi justice system. This is probably our first chance to really get the Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1071713356452551262003-12-17T21:09:00.000-05:002003-12-17T21:10:43.576-05:00The US Government has decided to build a new Pan-Arab satellite television network to compete with Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, bringing the good world of US benevolence to the ignorant masses of the Muslim world. The slogan of the new network? "Fair and Balanced". Holy crap, I couldn't make this stuff up. Now someone want to tell me that FOX News isn't a frickin' tool of the government?Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1070341963681638962003-12-02T00:12:00.000-05:002003-12-02T00:16:09.856-05:00Correction to my last post. Mainly, that it was completely wrong. As a faithful reader (and proprietor of the excellent InternetBumperStickers.com) pointed out, 60 Minutes is easily the most watched news show on television; in fact, according to the most recent Neilsen ratings, it's the 7th most watched show period. The Simpsons, meanwhile, which I thought was tearing things up, doesn't even makeBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1070240117888333042003-11-30T19:55:00.000-05:002003-11-30T19:56:08.826-05:00I wish I was able to see 60 Minutes more often. It's my favorite news program, along with the NewsHour on PBS. Most of the time, I miss it, for two reasons, both due to its timing. First, I'm out on Sunday nights with some regularity. Second, and I imagine this is intentional on CBS's part, it conflicts with The Simpsons. OK, now let's face it, maybe 60 Minutes is the more edifying choice, but Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069878183111866182003-11-26T15:23:00.000-05:002003-11-26T15:23:48.966-05:00Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Well, tomorrow, anyway. I'm about to head off to an undisclosed location for Turkey Day, so this'll have to do. It's the ultimate guy holiday - eat a lot of food, watch football, eat more food, and then lie around moaning about how dumb you were to eat that last slice of pie. Woohoo!Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069877445885976432003-11-26T15:10:00.000-05:002003-11-26T15:11:31.903-05:00I wonder if it was really a good idea to arrest a wanted Iraqi's family in his stead? I'm not saying it's not - I'm not on the ground there - I'm just, you know, saying.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069877298319701992003-11-26T15:08:00.000-05:002003-11-26T15:10:07.826-05:00Wow, this is stupid.
You see, in technical parliance, slaving a component to something means taking that component, which ordinarily has an independent function, and linking it to something else, allowing the Master component to give it instructions, which it then carries out. For example, a computer's primary IDE/ATA Hard Drive is referred to as the Master Drive, while the secondary drive is Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069737709688544502003-11-25T00:21:00.000-05:002003-11-25T00:22:33.403-05:00Been pretty busy lately. You know how it is. Time available for blogging comes and goes...
Still time enough, however, to remember that I really like Billy Joel. I'd pretty much totally forgotten that guy's existence until I heard him playing the other day. Man, Goodnight Saigon is awesome. Allentown too. And The Downeaster 'Alexa'. OK, I'm going to stop now. Really.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069736948774305602003-11-25T00:09:00.000-05:002003-11-25T00:09:52.653-05:00Crazy. It went back and forth for a while, and in the end, there's no energy bill this year. As Gregg Easterbrook points out, there were just too many compromises. By the time the Democrats had weeded out everything that promoted increased domestic production and the Republicans had removed everything in the vein of conservation, all that was left was a big ol' pile of pork. The bill was killed Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069370681740983512003-11-20T18:24:00.000-05:002003-11-20T18:25:44.653-05:00I'm a little late on this one. Our Dear Leader was rebuffed in a few of his security demands to the British Home Ministry. Among them:
- Shut down the London Tube system
- Allow US fighters and helicopter gunships to patrol London airspace
- Grant diplomatic immunity to all US snipers
- Turn London security over to the US Army
- Let the secret service carry around one of these
He did, however, Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069278616973565042003-11-19T16:50:00.000-05:002003-11-19T19:15:55.343-05:00Headline: BLAIR'S VICIOUS ATTACK ON BUSH'S PARTY. OK, so maybe The Mirror is more National Enquirer than Philadelphia Inquirer, but Murdoch rag The Sun, which Dubya himself granted an interview to, is somewhere along the lines of the Weekly World News.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069214578329046812003-11-18T23:02:00.000-05:002003-11-18T23:03:33.326-05:00Official White House Statement: "President Defends Sanctity of Marriage". He goes on to excoriate the Massachussetts Supreme Court for violating this "sacred institution" by declaring that the state must grant civil marraiges to straight or couples to comply with the equal protection clause of the Massachussetts State Constitution. Funny, I'm missing the part where George W. Bush gets any Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069184731447725692003-11-18T14:45:00.000-05:002003-11-18T14:46:05.593-05:00Atrios points out a minor error in an AP article:
"CORRECTION: Because of an editing error, this story misattributed a quote from the speaker on an audiotape purportedly of Saddam Hussein as coming from Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota."Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069106810322989292003-11-17T17:06:00.000-05:002003-11-17T17:07:23.640-05:00Caption under a photo in the Caravan for Democracy (a US-based pro-Israel group) newsletter: "An anti-Israel activist protests as Israel activists promote Israel". Yeah, well, maybe those "Israel activists" need to hire a better writer or something.Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1069033127601799902003-11-16T20:38:00.000-05:002003-11-16T20:39:19.360-05:00I wish my computer had parts that looked like this.
(From Virginia Tech's "Big Mac" cluster, currently the world's third fastest computer.)Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1068931189840899332003-11-15T16:19:00.000-05:002003-11-15T16:20:45.466-05:00From MSNBC:
Nov. 14 — When Greenpeace activists illegally scrambled aboard the cargo ship APL Jade, it was the start of a pretty typical day. Convinced the ship was hauling contraband mahogany from Brazil, the environmentalists aimed to draw attention to it by unfurling a banner with this message: “President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging.” Their arrests by the Coast Guard were also part of a day’s Bloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1068928105249488352003-11-15T15:28:00.000-05:002003-11-15T15:38:05.436-05:00Not usually my sphere of interest, but this has got to be one of the most effective anti-Factory Farm pieces I've ever seen. What is the Meatrix?
I'm sure PETA will show up and demand it be taken down because it's not pissing enough people off. I read an article recently - and unfortunately, I can't remember where - about the animal rights movement, and how its center of gravity has shifted overBloggernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4115979.post-1068838553848132292003-11-14T14:35:00.000-05:002003-11-14T14:57:52.293-05:00So, I haven't been blogging too much lately. Well, what're you gonna do about it? Huh? Huh? Ah, the advantages of not having a boss. Anyway, I figured I'd weigh in on this week's Tom Tomorrow controversy. Sometimes, I just don't get what he's trying to say. This is one of those times. What does he have against warbloggers, armchair or otherwise? They have a right to express their opinions as muchBloggernoreply@blogger.com