The Temple of Ultor

Meanwhile, in Forgottenstan...

2005-11-28T21:26:00.000-05:00

An onslaught of grisly and sophisticated attacks since parliamentary elections in September has left Afghan and international officials concerned that Taliban guerrillas are obtaining support from abroad to carry out strikes that increasingly mimic insurgent tactics in Iraq.

Does it really need to be made more obvious that we should have consolidated things in Afghanistan instead of going charging off after Bush's bête noir?

Sauce for the goose...

2005-11-27T18:04:00.000-05:00

The White House for the first time has claimed possession of an Iraq withdrawal plan, arguing that a troop pullout blueprint unveiled this past week by a Democratic senator was "remarkably similar" to its own.

So I wonder if the people who were railing against Murtha last week are going to be saying the same things about the "remarkably similar" White House now?

None Dare Call It Gulag

2005-11-25T15:35:00.000-05:00

ABC News lists techniques used by the CIA that are "not torture".

The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.
27. Beatings-of a kind that leave no marks. They use rubber truncheons, and they use wooden mallets and small sandbags. It is very, very painful when they hit a bone-for example, an interrogator's jackboot on the shin, where the bone lies just beneath the skin. They beat Brigade Commander Karpunich-Braven for twenty-one days in a row. And today he says: "Even after thirty years all my bones ache and my head too."
Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.
In recollecting his own experience and the stories of others, he counts up to fifty-two methods of torture. Here is one: They grip the hand in a special vise so that the prisoner's palm lies flat on the desk-and then they hit the joints with the thin edge of a ruler. And one screams! Should we single out particularly the technique by which teeth are knocked out? They knocked out eight of Karpunich's.
The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.
As everyone knows, a blow of the fist in the solar plexus, catching the victim in the middle of a breath, leaves no mark whatever. The Lefortovo Colonel Sidorov, in the postwar period, used to take a "penalty kick" with his overshoes at the dangling genitals of male prisoners. Soccer players who at one time or another have been hit in the groin by a ball know what that kind of blow is like. There is no pain comparable to it, and ordinarily the recipient loses consciousness.
Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.
19. Then there is the method of simply compelling a prisoner to stand there. This can be arranged so that the accused stands only while being interrogated-because that, too, exhausts and breaks a person down. It can be set up in another way-so that the prisoner sits down during interrogation but is forced to stand up between interrogations. (A watch is set over him, and the guards see to it that he doesn't lean against the wall, and if he goes to sleep and falls over he is given a kick and straightened up.) Sometimes even one day of standing is enough to deprive a person of all his strength and to force him to testify to anything at all.
The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.
For example, the Lefortovo punishment cells were entirely unheated. There were radiators in the corridor only, and in this "heated" corridor the guards on duty walked in felt boots and padded jackets. The prisoner was forced to undress down to his underwear, and sometimes to his undershorts, and he was forced to spend from three to five days in the punishment cell without moving (since it was so confining). He received hot gruel on the third day only. For the first few minutes you were convinced you'd not be able to last an hour. But, by some miracle, a human being would indeed sit out his five days, perhaps acquiring in the course of it an illness that would last him the rest of his life.
6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt

The quotes interspersed with the items are from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. There is no quote for water boarding because nothing he describes sounds comparable. But there are other things in the list that sound like "stress positions" and the sort of humiliations that went on at Abu Ghraib. And those are just the techniques they're willing to admit they use.

When you stare long into the Abyss the Abyss also stares into you.
- Nietzsche

Friday Random Ten...

2005-11-25T14:05:00.000-05:00

The Night Flight from Houston - Laurie Anderson (Talk Normal)
Small Town - John Mellencamp (Scarecrow)
Channel Noir - Housewife (SxSW 2005 Showcase)
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - Philip Walker (Blues)
To Tilephono Tis Xenitias - 3 Mustaphas 3 (Bam: Big Mustaphas Play Stereolocalmusic)
Why I Don't Know - Lyle Lovett (Lyle Lovett)
Peace and Love - Fountains of Wayne (Welcome Interstate Managers)
The Lost Children - The Samples (Outpost)
Price to Pay - Blues Traveler (Four)
Where Your Eyes Don't Go - They Might Be Giants (Lincoln)

Baltimore In the Dark

2005-11-25T13:30:00.000-05:00

Somone is stealing highway light poles in Baltimore. Yes, the 30 foot tall aluminum kind. Police don't know who's doing it or where the poles are going. Some of the thefts have occurred at night, some in broad daylight with the theives dressed as utility workers. My favorite part: they're leaving foot-high aluminum stumps with the electrical wires neatly wrapped with electrical tape.

Reference - The Waxman collection

2005-11-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

Prepared at the direction of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Iraq on the Record is a searchable collection of 237 specific misleading statements made by Bush Administration officials about the threat posed by Iraq.

Reference - manipulating inteligence

2005-11-21T00:27:00.000-05:00

Kevin Drum spells out how the Administration did everything with the intellgence it got except make it say it loved Big Brother.

Reference - "Congress had the same intelligence I had"

2005-11-21T00:26:00.000-05:00

Once again, Think Progress does a fine job of fact-checking their asses.

Too many L's?

2005-11-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

A fellow from Wales visits places in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware that are named after places in Wales and writes about them.

He doesn't address my pet theory that when the Pacific islanders sailed from Micronesia to the Hawaiian islands by raft, they encountered a storm in which most of their consonants were blown overboard. They were later found washed up on the shores of Wales by the thrifty natives, who put them to immediate use.

It ain't over 'til it's over.

2005-11-18T12:26:00.000-05:00

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in court filings that the ongoing CIA leak investigation will involve proceedings before a new grand jury, a possible sign he could seek new charges in the case.
In filings obtained by Reuters on Friday, Fitzgerald said "the investigation is continuing" and that "the investigation will involve proceedings before a different grand jury than the grand jury which returned the indictment" against Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

drip...drip...drip...

Friday Random Ten

2005-11-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

The Hissing of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell (The Hissing of Summer Lawns)
Charles Mingus - Better Get Hit In Your Soul (Mingus Ah Um)
Bad Boy - Buster Poindexter (Buster Poindexter)
Blotto - It's Only Money (Collected Works)

I Wanna Be a Lifeguard

Beer Exile - Grabass Charleston (SxSW 2005 Showcase)
Wallflower - Peter Gabriel (Security)
Mothership - Drop Trio (SxSW 2005 Showcase)
Stood Up - John Hiatt (Bring the Family)
Shame on You - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (Best of)
Sugar Trade - James Taylor (Dad Loves His Work)

They're catching on.

2005-11-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

The media is starting to come right out and say that Bush is lying now, even if they haven't stepped up to saying how he's been doing it all along.

Seemingly stung by polls showing that 57 percent of Americans now believe that he “deliberately misled” the nation into war with Iraq, President Bush did what a successful con man always does in a tight spot : He doubled his bet, resorting to falsehoods so brazen as to invite citizens almost to doubt the evidence of their senses. Who are you going to believe, your president or your lying eyes ? On Veterans Day, Bush chose another of the handpicked audiences he likes best—soldiers at a Pennsylvania Army depot—to accuse Democratic critics of a “deeply irresponsible” effort “to rewrite the history of how [the Iraq ] war began.” He alleged that Congress saw the same intelligence regarding Iraq’s mythical weapons of mass destruction that the White House saw ; consequently, “when I made the decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, Congress approved it with strong bipartisan support.” The president also claimed that a “bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community’s judgments.” None of these things is true. (emphasis mine)

I'm in the wrong line of work.

2005-11-17T00:03:00.000-05:00

I've always thought that one of the primary impediments to my getting rich is a silly ethical objection to ripping people off. Consider, for example, the "Dual Beam Ultra Clarifier" from Bedini Electronics. It claims to "significantly improve[s] the playback quality of all digital media recorded on compact disc" by "polariz[ing] the polymer in such a way as to maximize the laser's ability to retrieve stored data."

They claim that not only will it make your audio CDs sound better, it will make your photo CDs look better! And all for just $189.95. Good grief.

Reference - More myths about the investigation.

2005-11-16T22:36:00.000-05:00

This batch from Media Matters.

I couldn't have said better.

2005-11-14T00:16:00.000-05:00

I believe this editorial is orignally from the Miami Herald . I'm horrified and disgusted that we even have to ahve a discussion about this.

Well, I guess that settles that.
"We do not torture," President Bush said on Monday. Never mind all those torture pictures from Abu Ghraib. Never mind all those torture stories from Guantanamo Bay. Never mind the 2002 Justice Department memo that sought to justify torture. Never mind reports of U.S. officials sending detainees to other countries for torture. Never mind Dick Cheney lobbying to exempt the CIA from rules prohibiting torture.
"We do not torture," said the president. And that's that, right? I mean, if you can't believe the Bush administration, who can you believe? No torture. Period, end of sentence.
But . . . What does it say to you that the claim even has to be made?

After the end of World War II, the US led the way in developing a (dare I say it?) new workd order, a more civilized and lawful world than the one which had allowed the atrocities of the Nazis and Japanes (yes, and our own as well). This was, as everything, not purely altruistic. We used it to make the Soviet Union look bad at every opportunity (and it wasn't difficult, nor undeserved). I guess the neocons figure that since the Soviet Union is gone, those old ways are....quaint.

Reference - Myths about the investigation

2005-11-13T23:54:00.000-05:00

Think Progress does a fine job of listing and rebutting most of the right-wing myths about the Fitzgerald investigation.

Ah, semantics.

2005-11-13T23:37:00.000-05:00

I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "pathetic lying waste of carbon" is. Jane Hamsher at firedoglake lays out why the GOP talking point of "Bush never said Saddam was an imminent threat" is so much fertilizer.

So what's the rush?

2005-11-07T12:39:00.000-05:00

Remember when we were being told that Saddam was such as serious and immediate threat that we had to attack RIGHTNOWGODDAMMITORTHEREWILLBEBLOODINTHESTREETSANDITWILLALLBEYOURFAULT!? Ahem. Apparently that was only for us, the gullible public. Karl Rove (that man again!) apparently was telling the British ambassador to the US something....rather different.

He reveals that Karl Rove, the political adviser to the president, told him there would have been no problem for Mr Bush in waiting until the end of 2003 or even early 2004 and this would not have risked entanglement in the US presidential campaign.

We know all about you...

2005-11-07T00:56:00.000-05:00

The FBI is issuing "National Security Letters" at the rate of about 30,000/year. They can be issued by dozens of supervisors, including the special agents in charge of most field offices, require no evidence to be presented to a judge (or anyone else) before such a letter is written, and can be used to gather pretty much any information about you they want.

Does that make you feel safer? I wouldn't like it if an Administration I trusted had that kind of power. I sure as hell don't trust the current clowns with it.

Questions that should be asked...

2005-11-07T00:22:00.000-05:00

Federal workers have lost security clearances over allegations of relatively minor offenses:

faxing a resume using a commercial fax machine...
a call from a jilted boyfriend saying a person might not be reliable...
questions about $67 in personal charges to a military telephone...

So why does Karl Rove still have his security clearance?

Objectively pro-torture

2005-11-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

It really amazes me that nearly 40% of people can still say they support this Administration. Personally, I couldn't imagine being willing to show my face in public after saying I supported them. Here's their latest attack on civilization:

Dick Cheney made an unusual personal appeal to Republican senators this week to allow CIA exemptions to a proposed ban on the torture of terror suspects in U.S. custody, according to participants in a closed-door session.
Cheney told his audience the United States doesn't engage in torture, these participants added, even though he said the administration needed an exemption from any legislation banning "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment in case the president decided one was necessary to prevent a terrorist attack.

This whole thing reminds me of the old joke with the punchline, "We have established what you are, madam. Now we're just haggling over price." I can't believe that these people don't understand that the point of foreswearing torture is that we will not become torturers. Morally, it's really not about the prisoners. It's about us, and what we are willing to become.

Friday Random Ten...

2005-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Oscar Tango - Penguin Cafe Orchestra(Signs of Life)
Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band(Under the Table and Dreaming)
In the Garage - Weezer (Blue Album)
Killer Lifestyle - Pong (SxSW 2005 Showcase)
Song for the Dumped - Ben Folds Five (Forever and Ever Amen)
Spitting in Italy - SRock Levinson (SxSW 2005 Showcase)
Going Back to Big Mamou - Wayne Toups and Zydecajun (Blast from the Bayou)
Teevee - Rob McColley (Sings Insults to an Ex-Girlfriend)
Sex on the Beaches - Really Interesting Audio Adventures (Sounds for the Sun-Set)
Music in My Room - Cheryl Wheeler (Driving Home)

I think maybe he inhaled too much insecticide...

2005-11-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

Tom Delay: spending increases are the fault of the war, homeland security, and the Democrats.

Reality: Homeland security and defense only accounts for 1/3 of increased spending during the Bush administration, and Republicans have been in control of Congress since 1995.

Reality 1, DeLay 0.

And just for icing on the cake,

"I'm not here to defend the highway bill," DeLay said. Then he defended it, saying that without the bill, his Houston district wouldn't get its fair share of highway money.

A novel approach, to be sure.

2005-11-03T22:46:00.000-05:00

A Dutch designer has created a wall of fake breasts to help male shoppers buy bras that fit their wives or girlfriends.
...
"Most men have a selective memory," she explained. "They know all about their car, but never seem to know their wife's bra size.
"When trying to buy a sexy bra for their wife or girlfriend, usually they point to other women in the shop or, when asked about size, they say a 'handful'."
The wall consists of rows of silicon breasts in all sizes. By look and touch, male shoppers can work out the right size, she says.

Odd bits of etymology...

2005-11-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

That's the Cover of Dazzle Ships, by 80s synth-pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or as they later became known, OMD. I own a copy. I like it. I never knew where the name came from, though, until I ran across this.

Apparently "dazzle ships" came from the experiment of painting garish cubist designs on military ships in WWI to try to make it more difficult for submariners to estimate their speed and heading, and reduce the risk of torpedo attacks.

That's the French cruiser Gloire in full dazzle kit. Follow the "read more" link for a few more photos and explanation.

It's a better derivation than Spandau Ballet, to be sure.

Wow. If this had been around when I was in college...

2005-11-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

Pizza in two minutes from a flash-baking vending machine.

See Scotty. See Scotty dodge. Dodge, Scotty, dodge.

2005-10-31T22:39:00.000-05:00

Give him credit for trying, I guess. Scottie McClellan comes out this morning and opens the press briefing by talking about Bush meeting with a Burmese peace activist and the Alito nomination, then asks for questions. First question:

Q Some Democrats say that the President should apologize for the role of some administration officials in the unmasking of the name of a CIA undercover operative. What's the White House reaction to that?

He tries the usual "investigation in progress" blahblahblah, but the press (bless their little ink-stained hearts) isn't buying it:

Q Let me just follow up on an aspect of this and try it again here. On October 7, 2003, you were asked about a couple of the key players here, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, as well as another administration official who has not figured in the investigation, so far as we know. And you said the following, "There are unsubstantiated accusations that are made, and that's exactly what happened in the case of these three individuals," including Rove and Libby. "They're good individuals, they're important members of our White House team, and that's why I spoke with them, so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved." You were wrong then, weren't you?
MR. McCLELLAN: David, it's not a question of whether or not I'd like to talk more about this. I think I've indicated to you all that I'd be glad to talk about this once this process is complete, and I look forward to that opportunity. But, again, we have been directed by the White House Counsel's Office not to discuss this matter or respond to questions about it.
Q That was a public representation that was made to the American people.
MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. We can have this conversation, but let me respond.
Q No, no, no, because it's such an artful dodge. Whether there's a question of legality --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I disagree with you.
Q Whether there's a question of legality, we know for a fact that there was involvement. We know that Karl Rove, based on what he and his lawyer have said, did have a conversation about somebody who Patrick Fitzgerald said was a covert officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. We know that Scooter Libby also had conversations.
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think that's accurate.
Q So aside from the question of legality here, you were wrong, weren't you?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, David, if I were to get into commenting from this podium while this legal proceeding continues, I might be prejudicing the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial. And I'm just not going to do that. I know very --
Q You speak for the President. Your credibility and his credibility is not on criminal trial. But it may very well be on trial with the American public, don't you agree?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm very confident in the relationship that we have in this room, and the trust that has been established between us. This relationship --
Q See those cameras? It's not about us. It's about what the American people --
MR. McCLELLAN: This relationship is built on trust, and you know very well that I have worked hard to earn the trust of the people in this room, and I think I've earned it --
Q Is the President -- let me just follow up on one more thing.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and I think I've earned it with the American people.
Q Does the President think that Karl Rove did anything wrong?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think it would be good for you to allow me the opportunity to respond to your questions without jumping in. I'm glad to do that. I look forward to the opportunity --
Q I haven't heard a response.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, no, I have been responding to you, David, and there's no need -- you're a good reporter, there's no need to be rude or disrespectful. We can have a conversation and respond to these questions, if you'll just give me the opportunity to respond. I'm glad to do that.
We need to let this legal process continue. The special counsel indicated the other day that it is ongoing. And that's what we're going to do from this White House. That's the policy that we have set for quite some time now.
Q In the year 2000, the President said the following: "In my administration, we will ask not only what is legal, but what is right; not just what the lawyers allow, but what the public deserves." Doesn't the American public deserve some answers from this President about the role of his Vice President in this story and what he knew and when he knew it, and how he feels about the conduct of his administration?

After that, Scottie manages to get into full filibuster mode.

Beware of goat!

2005-10-28T21:49:00.000-04:00

Did you know that each year, over 6000 people in the US are traumatized by goats? If a child is traumatized by a goat before age five, he/she is five times more likely to become some form of social deviant. But you can help.

Friday Random Ten

2005-10-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

A Bird That Whistles - Joni Mitchell Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
It's Over - Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories Tails
Penguins - Lyle Lovett I Love Everybody
It'll Get Much Worse - Paul K and the Weathermen SxSW 2005 Showcase
Firing Up the Sunset Gun - Animal Logic Animal Logic
Blue Collar Butterfly - The Oktober Butterfly SxSW 2005 Showcase
Back to You - Matthew Sweet Blue Sky on Mars
The Longships - Enya Watermark
Lover Lay Down - Dave Matthews Band Under the Table and Dreaming
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. - John Mellencamp Scarecrow

Congrats to the Sox...

2005-10-27T01:11:00.000-04:00

...White, that is. It's somehow appropriate, after all the close games they've played this year, that the clinching game was 1-0. The Astros fought hard all four games, but came up just short each time.

That said, I don't expect the Chisox to repeat, at least not so easily. They had an outstanding record in 1-run games this year, and that's almost always luck; over the long run, teams are about .500 in 1-run games, so I expect some regression to the mean for them next year.

But for now, enjoy it, White Sox fans. I know how you feel. Hmmm...last year the Red Sox won for the first time since 1918, this year the White Sox won for the first time since 1917, who won in 1916....? Why, the Red Sox! They beat the Brooklyn Robins, no less. So let me be the first to name them the early favorite for 2006. And Cubs fans...don't worry, your turn is coming in 2014!

I, for one, welcome our strangely whiskered feline overlords

2005-10-26T07:05:00.000-04:00

Japan is....strange. The Daiichi Hanyu hotel chain is offering complete Hello Kitty-themed weddings, including "Hello Kitty" and "Dear Daniel" character escorts for the ceremony.

The cholesterol is strong with this one...

2005-10-25T23:16:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's ol' Anakin his own bad self, carved out of several hundred pounds of butter at the Tulsa State Fair. Yoda also there is, hmmm.

A study in contrasts.

2005-10-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

2000

2005-10-25T21:02:00.000-04:00

2000 dead US soldiers in Iraq. No, there's nothing "special" about 2000. The 2000th grieving mother, son, brother, or spouse isn't any more special than the 1999th, or the 43rd, or the 1274th. But sometimes you have to stop and look at how the drip...drip...drip of one here, 3 there has accumulated.

Imagine a well-dressed Marine coming up the walk to knock on the door of a house, the bearer of bad news. Imagine that happening once per second. It would take over a half an hour.

Imagine giving each dead soldier a minute of silence. After you'd spent an entire day, you'd have over 9 hours left to go.

Imagine spending a day remembering the sacrifice of each dead soldier. You'd be finished on July 21. 2008.

Another Bush Milestone

2005-10-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

The public debt has now reached $8,000,000,000,000 (that's 8 trillion dollars). 1/4 of that increase has come since Bush was elected.

Remember when they called him "The CEO President"?

2005-10-24T01:26:00.000-04:00

They must have hoped we'd forget that all the other companies he'd run had failed.

The government's roll-out of its $40-billion-a-year Medicare prescription drug plan has hit another snag.
People trained to help seniors figure out which plan to choose under the new program said they don't have the pricing information they need and seniors are scratching their heads in confusion.
Earlier this week, Dr. Mark McClellan, head of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, launched a prescription drug plan finder designed to help those on Medicare plug in specific financial information and prescription needs so they can determine which plans are best for them. The tool is available on www.medicare.gov and is also used by those trained to counsel seniors.
But a crucial piece of data -- pricing information on the drugs -- is still not available...

Funny, that's not how I see it.

2005-10-24T00:49:00.000-04:00

The further adventures of Christian Exodus, the fundamentalist group who want to take over South Carolina, secede, and form a theocracy. Money quote:

"Historically, Southerners do have a states' rights mentality," he said. "Christians in the North are experiencing the most liberalism, or you could say persecution."

The organization claims about 1,000 members, but only managed to draw 50 to their first conference last week.

Happy Birthday, Universe!

2005-10-23T14:41:00.000-04:00

According to Bishop Ussher, God created the Universe October 23, 4004BC, in six days. So have a party!

New Music from the US

2005-10-21T21:54:00.000-04:00

From WGBH, here's a directory of a variety of pieces from American composers that you can download and play. The only downside is that they're in RealPlayer format instead of mp3. It's nowhere near complete, but it is an eclectic sampling from composers as varied as John Adams, Robert Ashley, Milton Babbitt, Burt Bacharach, John Cage, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Edgard Varese (among others). They have one of my favorite modern pieces, Riley's In C, which I highly recommend if you are fond of minimalist music.

Cracking, Gromit!

2005-10-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

If you're a Wallace and Gromit fan, you'll definitely want to check out the Aardman Animation site with a batch of ads and shorts done by the lads.

How rich are you?

2005-10-21T21:51:00.000-04:00

In looking at the Trumps, Gateses, and Buffetts of the world it's easy to forget how well off, relatively speaking, most of us in the US really are. For instance, I'm the 40,315,565th richest person in the world! Of course, for some perspective, that puts me in the 99.329th percentile worldwide. How rich are you?

The food fills you up - if you can keep it down.

2005-10-20T23:30:00.000-04:00

Did you ever wonder what people who do restaurant reviews for guides like the Zagat say about really awful places? Check out the "outtakes" that didn't make the guide.....

I have a birthday coming up soon....

2005-10-20T10:22:00.000-04:00

And who wouldn't want a Homer Simpson/DaVinci fountain pen for their birthday?

I'd pay to see that....

2005-10-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

Yep. Here's a debate between a scientist and a creationist that I'd gladly pay to see.

Quoth the raven, "Get off me, you lummox!"

2005-10-19T00:10:00.000-04:00

This is psycho in the very best way. And the illustrations are what make it truly wonderful.

And really, what parent hasn't wanted to do unspeakable things to that Sam I Am after the thousandth or so reading?

I'm still a sucker for a good list.

2005-10-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

This time, how about the 100 oldest .com domains? Sherman, set the wayback machine for 1985.

On March 15, Symbolics became the very first .com domain. I was a bit surprised to discover that they're still around; I recall them as being the folks who put out computers especially to run programs written in LISP, a language that was significantly more important than it ever was popular.
Five weeks later, Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (now BBN Technologies) became #2. I'm actually rather surprised they weren't #1, because they developed a lot of the original software that powered the Internet.
The same day, Thinking Machines Corp became #3. Their domain, think.com, now seems to be owned by Oracle. Like Symbolics, Thinking Machines was heavily into the LISP and AI world.
July 11. MCC.COM becomes domain #4. It belongs to Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation of Austin, TX, about which I know nothing else. If you know, chime in in the comments, please.
September 30. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Now a small part of their once-bitter rival HP, Digital Equipment Corporation registered DEC.COM to become domain #5. My favorite DEC joke: Q: What does "DEC" stand for? A: Didn't Expect Compaq. Second favorite DEC joke: There used to be Compaq and Digital, but now there's just Comical. I can tell those, because I can read octal and know how to toggle in the bootstrap loader on a PDP-8.
November 7. Defense contractor and aerospace firm Northrop Technologies (now Northrop Grumman) registers NORTHROP.COM.
January 9, 1986. Xerox (XEROX.COM) once wanted to be a serious computer company. It's pretty weird to think that the whole Ethernet thing was originally started by DEC, Xerox, and Intel.
January 17. SRI (originally Stanford Research Institute) registers SRI.COM. Somehow, they don't think this was important enough to list it with their other innovations. Go figure.
March 3. Hewlett-Packard (HP.COM) joins the party.
March 5. Bell Labs (BELLCORE.COM) dives in. It's really strange to remember that people were at one point really worried that AT&T/Bell Labs were going to dominate the world of computing the way they did the world of telephony. My, how things do change.
March 19. A twofer. Sun Microsystems (SUN.COM) and International Business Machines (IBM.COM) hit on the same day. Kind of appropriate, since they seem to be the two main Unix vendors beating on each other at this point.
March 25. Another interesting pairing. Intel (INTEL.COM) and Texas Instruments (TI.COM).

Lots of fun stuff in there for geek history geeks. I remember when Ungermann-Bass (#18, UB.COM) was a really big deal in networking. Interactive Systems Corp (#20, ISC.COM) once owned Unix. Apple didn't get in until #64, in February 1987. But they beat Cisco, #73.

I like the "Ham Sandwich" part

2005-10-18T20:21:00.000-04:00

Wonkette invites everyone to play "Indictment Bingo". You can get your own card. I like the concept of the "ham sandwich" as the freebie square at the center.

Really? No spin?

2005-10-18T20:18:00.000-04:00

NewsMax is reporting that Bill O'Reilly may retire. He's also hired bodyguards to protect him. After spending several years talking like a real tough guy, he shows his colors as just another bully who needs a gang to feel safe.

I'm a sucker for a good list

2005-10-17T19:21:00.000-04:00

Time magazine book critics list their choices for 100 top English language novels from 1923 to the present. It's an interesting list. I'm sure it will generate howls from various quarters because of its inclusion of several science fiction novels and even one graphic novel. I've read....

Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Neuromancer by William Gibson
1984 by George Orwell
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

I'm not at all certain that I wouldn't have taken V for Vendetta over Watchmen, and I certainly don't understand how Thomas Wolfe (either You Can't Go Home Again or Look Homeward, Angel) were omitted. And I still contend, having read a significant quantity of Salinger, that Catcher in the Rye is my least favorite of his writing. As usual, I have major pangs of "I really ought to get around to reading that" as I look through the list, especially in this case for The Big Sleep, The Great Gatsby, On the Road, and The Grapes of Wrath. Great Zarquon, how can I do so much reading and not be better read than this?

The Potemkin Presidency, chapter II

2005-10-17T19:16:00.000-04:00

You really can't make this stuff up:

THEY'RE saying the President, spending inordinate time working on handling his multiple problems of Iraq, Supreme Court, Karl Rove, gas prices, sliding polls, economy, has begun rehearsing answers to questions that might come up at a press conference. More importantly, he's even watching reruns of "West Wing."

OK, so it's from a gossip column. Still, it's sad that it seems fairly plausible.

A table for the ancient ones

2005-10-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

This is Just. Plain. Cool.

Now that's appropriate.

2005-10-17T00:12:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Doohan's ashes will be shot into space in accord with his last wishes.

One has to ask what sort of God would take Doohan and leave Bill Shatner to win an Emmy, though.

Constitution, then what?

2005-10-16T23:54:00.000-04:00

Early reports are that the Iraq Constitution looks likely to pass, though there are dissenting voices:

"I believe they will rig the results and announce the success of the referendum, but our monitors reported to us that more than 80 percent of the voters in three governorates have said no to this draft," Saleh Mutlaq, a spokesman for the Sunnis' National Dialogue Council, told reporters at a news conference; Iraq's provinces are formally called governorates. "This constitution is a menace to the unity and stability of Iraq, and we shall have no legal or legitimate means in order to defeat it."

It is acknowledged that the Constitution will fail overwhelmingly in two provinces: Salahuddin, with an 81 percent "no" vote, and solidly Sunni Anbar, where an even larger no total was expected. It is expected to fail also in Diyala and Nineveh provinces, though by less than 2/3. Failing by 2/3 majorities in any three provinces would cause the entire vote to fail.

But supposing the Constitution passes (which I expect it will, even if Fat Tony Scalia has to cast the deciding vote), what then? Will US troops start coming home? Will insurgent attacks begin to drop off? Will the Iraqi government begin to have sovereignty in fact, not just in name? Will the price of gas start dropping?

I'm dubious on all counts. Whether that's cynical or just realistic remains to be seen.

Gotta do something to get those ratings up, I guess.

2005-10-16T22:19:00.000-04:00

Neal Boortz, a C-list (on a good day) right-wing radio blatherbox, had an...interesting...take on how we should handle any future situations like Katrina:

Well, hell, yes, we should save the rich people first. You know, they're the ones that are responsible for this prosperity. I mean, you go out there and you look at this vast sea of evacuees, OK? You want to get an economy going in some city? Well, who you gonna take back? The people who own businesses? Or the people that sit around waiting to get their minimum wage job, work 'til Friday, get a paycheck and then not show up again until the following Wednesday? Come on. Just put a little logical thought into this, folks.

Logical? Ummmm....je quoi que....no.

Available at the NC state fair!

2005-10-15T22:58:00.000-04:00

Why does the South have a higher rate of heart problems than the rest of the country? Two words: fried strawberries. You can also get fried apple cobbler, fried pina colada strips, and fried banana pudding bites.

Huh?

2005-10-15T22:55:00.000-04:00

Judy Miller spent six months in jail to protect a source, and now she says she can't remember who it was? That strains credulity the same way a sumo wrestler stretches a Speedo.

Friday Random Ten

2005-10-14T18:35:00.000-04:00

Te Manu Pukarua - Poi Dog Pondering (Volo Volo)
Backhome - Dubtext (SxSW 2005 Sampler)
Girl Talk - Starky (SxSW 2005 Sampler)
The Piano has Been Drinkin' (Not Me) - Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks (Beatin' the Heat)
Perfect - Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill)
Little People Make Big Mistakes - Timbuk 3 (Eden Alley)
El Kabong's Fiesta - Ben Tavera King (Coyote Moon)
33 RPM Soul - Michelle Shocked (Arkansas Traveler)
Love's a Word I Never Throw Around - The Greencards (SxSW 2005 Sampler)
Practice Makes Perfect - Michael Franks (Dragonfly Summer)

Revenge of the Homeowner

2005-10-14T00:28:00.000-04:00

What would you do if your local zoning board told you you couldn't put up a zinc-covered observatory in your backyard because - among other things - it "didn't look colonial" enough? If you're Jonathan Rothberg, you build a Stonehenge-like circle that marks the beginnings of seasons and your children's birthdays. Without consulting the zoning board. Because, after all, it's a work of art!

No, nothing by the Captain and Tennille...

2005-10-13T23:57:00.000-04:00

WXPN Philadelphia (a most cool station, BTW) had listeners vote for their top albums of all time. And now they're running down the count of the top 885 albums (yeah, their frequency is 88.5). They have everything up to #45 listed on their site as I'm writing this. It's kind of interesting looking at how many albums on the list I own (or have owned):

12 in the 800-855 range
12 in the 700-799 range
16 in the 600-699 range
12 in the 500-599 range
18 in the 400-499 range
18 in the 300-399 range
18 in the 200-299 range
25 in the 100-199 range
18 in the 45-99 range

So that's 149 out of 810. 18%. Not bad, I suppose. It's a good list, well worth taking shopping.

Why he was my guy...

2005-10-12T01:09:00.000-04:00

Howard Dean has a lot of good ideas about how to reorganize and revitalize the Democratic party. He's a bright guy, and he doesn't have any problems taking good ideas from all sorts of places.

Card vs. Rove for all the marbles?

2005-10-12T01:06:00.000-04:00

Howard Fineman and Chris Matthews actually get down to brass tacks on Hardball.

HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That‘s the point of the lance of this whole thing.
Right now, my sense, in reporting this, Chris, is that the Bush family, political family, is at war with itself inside the White House. My sense is, it‘s—it‘s—it‘s—it‘s Andy Card, the chief of staff, and his people against Karl Rove, the brain.
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: And that runs through a whole lot of things, whether it‘s Harriet Miers or Katrina. But it all starts with Iraq.
And some submerged, but now emerging divisions within the administration over why we went into that war, how we went into that war and what was done to sell it. There are people are out for Karl Rove inside that White House, which makes his situation even more perilous.
My understanding, from talking to somebody quite close to this investigation, is that they think there are going to be indictments and possibly Karl Rove could be among them, if not for the act of the leaking information about Valerie Plame, then perhaps for perjury, because he‘s now testified four times.
And there are conflicts between what Matt Cooper told the grand jury and what Rove evidently told the jury himself. And Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, is an absolute stickler for detail who has no political axe to grind here, other than keeping his own credibility. Having put Judy Miller in jail, having gone to the lengths he had, my understand is, he has got some people here, not only Rove, but perhaps Scooter Libby, the vice president‘s chief of staff.
MATTHEWS: I also get the sense he reads the law book. He doesn‘t care about the politics.
(CROSSTALK)
FINEMAN: That‘s what I meant. That‘s what I meant. He doesn‘t care about the politics.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you, you just raised a curtain-raiser for me. I didn‘t even know this.
You believe that the fight between those who may be headed toward indictment, the vice president‘s chief of staff, Karl Rove, there is a war between them and the people who are going to survive them, Andy Card, etcetera.
FINEMAN: Yes.

Science the way you wish it was...

2005-10-12T01:05:00.000-04:00

The Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad.

Um, ooops?

2005-10-12T01:00:00.000-04:00

“In two appearances before the federal grand jury investigating the leak of a covert CIA operative’s name, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, did not disclose a crucial conversation that he had with New York Times reporter Judith Miller in June 2003 about the operative, Valerie Plame.”

I hope Scooter looks good in orange.

When is a blind trust not so blind?

2005-10-12T00:55:00.000-04:00

When it's run by your brother.

Outside the blind trusts he created to avoid a conflict of interest, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist earned tens of thousands of dollars from stock in a family-founded hospital chain largely controlled by his brother, documents show.

Bush v. Gore, Iraqi style?

2005-10-10T21:12:00.000-04:00

The US is trying to negotiate changes to the Iraqi Constitution. Yes, it was already voted on by the legislature. Yes, it's less than a week until the ratification vote. Yes, they've already printed up the Constitution and distributed it across the country. Doesn't matter. To paraphrase Leona Helmsley, rules are for the little people.

Sleepers, Wake!

2005-10-10T01:56:00.000-04:00

People are finally starting to realize that not only is Bush incompetent, but he's been a regular Incompetence Mary, spreading it throughout the government. According to an AP/Ipsos poll, only 52% of Americans are "[C]onfident the federal government can respond effectively to a terror attack", down from 78% on August 21, pre-Katrina.

Helen of Troy revisited

2005-10-10T00:53:00.000-04:00

Oh, my. There's a new book out that focuses on what we know about Helen of Troy, and concludes that she was probably

...a powerful Bronze Age princess, living in the Greek city-state of Sparta around 1250BC. Basing her argument on extensive archaeological research, as well as surviving friezes from the period, Hughes conjures a picture of Helen as a dominant woman who would have worn a handful of snake-like strands of hair over an otherwise shaven, and perhaps brightly dyed, head. Her breasts would almost certainly have been exposed to reinforce her power and sexuality, and she would have been a fit, trained fighter.

Wonder if God knows who's speaking for him these days...

2005-10-09T23:49:00.000-04:00

Yeah, it's Pat Robertson at it again, saying that "recent natural disasters around the world point to the end of the world and the imminent return of Jesus Christ."

What's a "nanaca"?

2005-10-09T01:40:00.000-04:00

This is....a very strange game. And I have a hard time putting it down. I have no clue whatsoever about the source of the name, though I read that the characters in the game were taken from a Japanese manga, which I have no trouble believing. My best score is a bit over 11000m, BTW.

Porn is in the eye of the beholder.

2005-10-09T01:06:00.000-04:00

Looks like the guy running the site where he was offering memberships to look at naked women to people who sent in graphic pictures of war dead from Iraq is in trouble. Over the naked people, not the graphic violence. What a country.

The return of hockey...

2005-10-07T07:55:00.000-04:00

Or "ocqui", as we used to call it in college. I understand the NHL has changed the rules around to "open up the offense" a bit more. I think the NBA-style three-point line is a good idea, as is the option to go for two after a made goal. But really, guys, I don't think that sudden-death curling is going to catch on as a way for deciding tie games.

Half seriously, I don't understand why they don't just make a goal count 3 points or something. That would give the impression of "higher scoring games", and I bet a whole lot of people would buy it. After all, there's the same amount of scoring in a 4-3 hockey game as in a 28-21 football game, but I bet most people wouldn't guess that if you asked them about it.

Friday Random Ten

2005-10-07T07:47:00.000-04:00

What's on my amaroK playlist?

The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet - OK, I have a weakness for the 80s. Musically, at least. 4/10
Rosemary - The Grateful Dead - Not one of their better efforts. 3/10
Elvis is Everywhere - Mojo Nixon - Elvis is in Joan Rivers, but he's trying to get out! 8/10
Come On (Part III) - Stevie Ray Vaughn - What a loss to the blues world he was. 7/10
Pieces of the Night - Gin Blossoms - 6/10
Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy) - Michelle Shocked - A really nice tune from her second album. 7/10
Angel Face - Joan Osborne - Man, the list is just full of "second string" songs from good albums today. 5/10
All I Need - Michael Franks - And now for something completely different.... 6/10
Pick It Up (And Put It In Your Pocket) - Stan Ridgeway - Ridgeway is quirky, funny, and very underrated. 8/10
Over It - Matthew Sweet - Another highly underrated musician. I keep thinking this is what you'd get if Brian Wilson had grown up in Detroit instead of Southern California. Minus the silly car songs. 8/10

Just who's the religious fanatic here?

2005-10-06T22:55:00.000-04:00

You know, even if he does actually believe this, I never thought he'd be stupid enough to say it to this audience.

President George W. Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.
...
Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"
Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."

Man. I used to think the religious right was Bush's base. Apparently he thinks it's the Big Guy himself.

Coming Soon to a City Near You....

2005-10-06T21:56:00.000-04:00

Let's be clear. The Kelo decision didn't mandate that cities use eminent domain for all sorts of things, it just said they could. Some are, some aren't. Say hello to Riviera Beach, FL.

Riviera Beach is a town that's on the north side of West Palm Beach, FL, population 29,884. The median household income there is $32,111 (2000). 68% of the population is black. And they want to use eminent domain to move 20% of their population and build a billion-dollar yacht club/waterfront housing complex. To "bring jobs" to the city. Well, you know, I guess they'll need lots of waiters and janitors at the yacht club.

I honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.

2005-10-06T00:59:00.000-04:00

The Creation Evidence Museum. Just sort of sends chills up and down your spine, doesn't it? And don't go thinking those chills evolved or anything! God put those chills there! And where there are chills, there's chilluns. (That's "children" to those of you unfortunate enough to have grown up north of Baltimore.) And the museum just looooooves children. So much that they have a special "Creation exploration" section, just filled with remarkable information.

Other humans that lived after Adam and Eve but before the Flood were different as well. They grew larger just like the animals. The Bible says there were giants in the Earth (Gen 6: 4). Dr. Baugh has found fossilized human footprints that are 16” long near the museum. Other fossilized human footprints that are even larger have been found all over the world.

You didn't know that, did you? Admit it, now. And why were things so different?

First of all, before the Flood, the Earth had more atmospheric pressure.

And it's so cool! Before the Flood, no one needed sunscreen!

But before the Flood, there was a canopy of water that stretched around the entire Earth like a huge bubble. The sun rays had to go through that canopy and the other layers of our sky before it could reach Earth. The canopy was colored magenta or pink and it blocked the bad rays of the sun but only let in the sun rays that would be helpful for our body. Humans, therefore, did not have to worry about getting sunburn.

Wow! How cool is that?

You know, it really frightens me to think that there are people who take this stuff seriously. Go check it out. Some of his stuff about dinosaurs is just roll-in-the-floor funny.

Love in the Swamps

2005-10-06T00:46:00.000-04:00

It's the age-old story: Python meets gator. Python swallows gator. Python bursts open trying to digest gator. Sigh.

Now this is anti-American.

2005-10-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

I don't agree with John McCain on everything. Not very much, in fact. But one thing I do think he has absolutely correct is this: we should follow the Geneva Conventions and treat prisoners humanely not because of what they are, but because of what we are. So when he, former Secretary of the Navy John Warner, and former JAG Lindsey Graham -- Republicans all -- wanted to attach language to a military spending bill that would prohibit the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" against anyone in U.S. government custody, regardless of where they are held, I thought it was a great idea. Of course, President Bush threatened to veto the bill, illustrating how no matter how low you set expectations for him, he'll always exceed them.

Well, the bill came to a vote in the Senate. And passed. 90-9. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) didn't vote. He's busy campaigning for Governor of NJ. Nine Senators - nine Republican Senators - voted against the bill. Who are these slime, the nuttiest of the wingnuts, the ignoble nine who think we shouldn't behave better than people we consider barbarians?

Wayne Allard - Colorado
Kit Bond - Missouri
Tom Coburn - Oklahoma
Thad Cochran - Mississippi
John Cornyn - Texas
James Inhofe - Oklahoma
Pat Roberts - Kansas
Jeff Sessions - Alabama
Ted Stevens - Alaska

Man, what is it with Oklahoma? How did they manage to get two Senators who are card-carrying members of the Extreme Right Wing with Counter-Rotating Eyeballs and Screechy Voices?

Take a bow, gentlemen. You have given your votes in service to making America a disgrace in the eyes of the world.

What's that whooooosh?

2005-10-06T00:11:00.000-04:00

Louis Michaud, a Canadian engineer, believes he's found a way to create artificial vortexes (think "mini-hurricane") using the atmosphere as a "heat engine" to generate power. The idea is similar to what's called a "solar chimney", where air at the bottom of a column is heated by the sun and can only escape through the top of the chimney, drawing in more air at the bottom as it rises. Power can be pulled out by putting a turbine on the intakes. Michaud's idea turns this into a vortex, operating very much like a hurricane does.

This vortex would be produced inside a large cylindrical wall, 200 metres in diameter and 100 metres tall. Warm air at ground level enters via tangential inlets around the base of the wall. Steam is also injected to get the vortex started. Once established, the heat content of the air at ground level is enough to keep the vortex going. As the air rises, it expands and cools, and water vapour condenses, releasing even more heat. This is, in fact, what powers a hurricane, which can be thought of as a heat engine that takes in warm, humid air at its base, releases cold, watery air at the top of the troposphere, about 12 kilometres up, and liberates a vast amount of energy in the process. (Just as water requires heat to make it boil, it releases heat as it condenses back into a liquid.)

It sounds pretty cool, and he estimates that a 200m diameter vortex could produce 200 MW (yeah, that's megawatts) of power. I have to wonder, though....what's the failure mode? And what's it going to do to weather patterns in the surrounding area?

Down the hatch!

2005-10-05T23:49:00.000-04:00

OK, this is pretty funky. It's a shot glass that lets you take your booze and your chaser. You pour the chaser into the bottom chamber, then use a gadget that comes with it to pour the (lighter) booze into the upper chamber, then BAM! There's also a larger one for use with beer/liquor drinks, like boilermakers.

Salmon Thirty Salmon

2005-10-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

I think we definitely need more cool painted airliners. I can just see it now:

the Royal Cathay Airlines eggroll
the Air France baguette
the Southwest burrito
the Lufthansas wienerschnitzel

Go, Roy!

2005-10-04T20:28:00.000-04:00

Judge Roy Moore has decided to run for Governor of Alabama. That sound you hear is Democrats everywhere giving a small cheer.

Severe Reality Impairment

2005-10-03T23:13:00.000-04:00

They're having a real phenomenon in Dover, PA, where the courts are being asked to decide whether "Intelligent Design" should be taught in their schools. And the crew on the ID side of the suit seem to be operating in some alternate reality.

The trial presents a particular challenge for the journalists from science magazines. In the courtroom hallway during a break last week, Celeste Biever, a reporter for NewScientist, was interviewing a courtroom regular, a bearded local pastor who says he considers evolution a lie.
"You want half-bird, half-fish?" she asked, drawing a dotted line on her notepad.
"Yeah, why not," the pastor said.
Later, out of the pastor's hearing, Ms. Biever said with fascination, "He thinks evolution is a bird turning into a fish turning into a rabbit" - one straight line of common descent, instead of a tree with common roots.

No wonder they think evolution is nonsense: they have an image of evolution that would have to be significantly improved to be a caricature.

"They're babblers," said the pastor, the Rev. Jim Grove, who leads a 40-member independent Baptist church outside of Dover. "The more Ph.D.'s you get, it seems like the further away from God you get."

The Dover school board is being supported in their endeavor by Thomas More Law Center, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to providing legal representation to Christians, and its chief counsel, Richard Thompson. Here's what he had to say:

"I do feel that even though Christians are 86 percent of the population, they have become second-class citizens."

I can't even begin to think of how one would hold a rational discussion with someone who is so utterly detached from reality. These people are scary.

Ah, synergy

2005-10-03T22:06:00.000-04:00

3M makes a lot of things. Duct tape, for example. Adhesive bandages, for another. Two great things that...go great together? Sure, why not!

Bring the troops home.

2005-10-02T00:49:00.000-04:00

Even the generals are now saying that the US presence in Iraq is helping fuel the insurgency.

The generals' comments reflect an evolving outlook that senior military officials and even Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have articulated in recent months. The battle against Iraqi insurgents will not be won by the U.S. military [emphasis mine], they have said, and the insurgency will persist long after U.S. troops have left.
"If [the insurgency] does go on for four, eight, 10, 12, 15 years, whatever … it is going to be a problem for the people of Iraq," Rumsfeld said in June.
"They're going to have to cope with that insurgency over time. They are ultimately going to be the ones who win over that insurgency."

It even seems to have gotten through to Captain Oblivious, who seems to have discovered the advantages of nuance:

The generals' words also represent a less ambitious definition of military success than what President Bush has put forth in recent statements.
At his ranch near Crawford, Texas, in August, Bush said that "when the mission of defeating the terrorists in Iraq is complete, our troops will come home."
More recently, Bush has offered a more nuanced view of success, emphasizing the importance of training Iraqi troops as part of the U.S. mission to defeat the insurgents.

A dose of reality: we're not succeeding at training Iraqi troops (recently the number of Iraqi battalions considered "ready to operate independently" was revised from 3 to 1. That's "one battalion", as in "somewhere between 300 and 1000 troops". In over two years we've been occupying the country. We're not going to defeat the insurgency on our own. We're not going to successfully install a puppet government. And we're not going to stop terrorists from operating in Iraq. Not without a much bigger commitment of troops and a plan for a long-term occupation government, at least.

So let's bring the troops home. Haven't enough Americans been killed there in the service of lies, bad judgement, and worse planning?

Empty Braincase Award

2005-10-02T00:38:00.000-04:00

This has to go to the folks at Boeing and/or Bell Helicopter who thought it was a good idea to produce and run an ad showing US soldiers rappelling down from an Osprey aircraft onto a mosque.

Time to mobilize the 101st Fighting Keyboarders!

2005-09-30T19:28:00.000-04:00

The Army fell 7,000 short of recruiting targets for the year. That's the first shortfall of any size since 1999, and the largest -- in both percentage and raw numbers -- since 1979. When the recruiting target was twice the size it is now.

Numbers for the Army National Guard were worse.

Perhaps concerned Americans should start putting recruiting flyers under the wipers of all those SUVs with "support the troops" magnets.

Pitching line of the year...

2005-09-30T18:52:00.000-04:00

Giants reliever Scott Eyre, May 2, vs. Arizona: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

No base runners, but one run? A strikeout, but no outs? Here's what happened: he came into the game with two out and pitched to one batter. He struck out the batter, but the catcher dropped the third strike and the batter reached first. Eyre was then removed, and a subsequent pitcher gave up a double which drove in the runner from first. Since there had been two out when the third strike was dropped, the run was unearned.

New Frontiers in Human Interface Design?

2005-09-30T00:28:00.000-04:00

Actually, it's an art installation. Pretty cool, though.

What's to read....?

2005-09-29T23:52:00.000-04:00

This is pretty cool. You enter an author you like, and it puts up a "map" of similar authors based on what people who bought books by that author also bought. Here, check out a few of my favorite authors.

(This one certainly didn't look anything like I expected....)

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.

2005-09-29T23:07:00.000-04:00

This is just too funny. I'll save you the trip....

As our Sister Toldjah noted earlier, the "indictment" of Tom Delay is entirely bogus - from what I've read, Tom Delay didn't know about the perfectly legal transaction he is accused of conspiring to make. We have now left entirely the field of normal political conflict and entered a twilight world where fantasy is presented as fact and the only standard of conduct is "will it work?". This is not the actions of a political Party engaged in seeking a majority - it is the action of a Party determined to destroy its opponents entirely and sieze all power for itself...it is, in short, the stuff from which civil wars are made.

This, from the people who have brought us Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. The people who threw the 2000 election into the courts. The people who proudly claim that they "make their own reality".

Two words for you, guys: Ken Starr. OK, two more: Swift Vets. And since it's Friday, two more: Vince Foster.

Oh, the title is Hosea 8:7.

Advances in Investigation

2005-09-29T22:12:00.000-04:00

SecDef Don Rumsfeld announced a new breakthrough in making the US military a lighter, more reactive force: several new investigations which have already been closed have been prepared in anticipation of more events such as the detainee deaths at Baghram, the reported detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib and Forward Base Mercury, and the "photos-for-porn" reports. This is expected to allow the Pentagon to respond to future events even more quickly.

Incredible.

2005-09-29T01:44:00.000-04:00

John Aravosis at AMERICAblog has (mercifully) edited examples of the sort of photos someone - allegedly US soldiers - was submitting to an amateur porn site in exchange for access. And now we are told this:

The Army Criminal Investigation Command in Iraq conducted the preliminary inquiry within the past week but closed it after concluding no felony crime had been committed and failing to determine whether U.S. soldiers were responsible for the photos and whether they showed actual war dead, Army officials said.

Pardon the language, but what the fuck kind of seriously bad drugs are these people on? Look at the photos Aravosis has up. You mean they can't identify the soldiers in those photos? And if those aren't "war dead", exactly what are they?

I weep for my country.

Claude Rains visits Louisiana

2005-09-29T01:22:00.000-04:00

People in small-town St. Helena parish are shocked - shocked! - to discover how many among them are all too willing to believe the racist portrayals of Katrina refugees.

"The only thing we see about these people on the news is what happened in the Superdome," said Philip Devall, 42, a white resident of Greensburg, at a recent meeting of the parish government. "They're rapists and thugs and murderers. I'm telling you, half of them have criminal records. I've worked all my life to have what I have. I can't lose it, and I can't stand guard 24 hours a day."
About 2,000 evacuees have been staying with friends and family in the parish since Hurricane Katrina, and police officials here say that crime related to the newcomers has been virtually nonexistent. But many residents say that fear is the driving force behind their opposition.
"I want to know how many sex offenders they're going to move in next to me," said Marci Kent, 36, also a white resident of Greensburg, at the meeting. "And I got daughters, too."

Amazing. 2,000 evacuess have been living in the parish, but all this guy knows is "what happened in the Superdome". Of course, it didn't actually happen, but when your fear circuits are engaged, reality often comes in a poor second.

Today's Archaeology Item

2005-09-29T01:04:00.000-04:00

Archaeologists in Greece believe they have found the tomb of Odysseus. It turns out not to have been on the island we call Ithaca, but on a nearby island called Kefalonia. It is fascinating to consider that the hero of the Iliad and the Odyssey was a real person.

McCain gets it.

2005-09-28T18:41:00.000-04:00

Not surprising, actually, since he's a former military man with some sense of honor, unlike the crew running the White House. When informed about the allegations of routine torture of "PUCs" (Persons Under Confinement, a Bush administration invention to avoid calling them POWs), he said

"I don't know if these allegations are true," McCain said. "But they have to be investigated. We've got to make it clear to the world that America doesn't do it. It's not about prisoners. It's about us."

He's right. It is about us. As terrible as the happenings at My Lai were, it spoke volumes about America that we were revulsed by the conduct of a few of our countrymen and we did something to deal with the problem. Now, it seems that outrage is in short supply, and "addressing the problem" means "making excuses and locating a few patsies to take the fall."

What have we become, my friends?

Frog! March! Frog! March!

2005-09-28T18:39:00.000-04:00

Tom Delay was indicted today on conspiracy charges that could carry a sentence of two years in prison. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

OK, it could have.

Pat Tillman deserved better

2005-09-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

So do we all. His family has gotten extensive records from the inquiry into his "friendly fire" death, and have found numerous inconsistencies and indications that the incident was really not what it was claimed to be by the administration, who seem to have seen nothing more in his sacrifice than a PR opportunity.

The picture of Tillman that emerges from this story is much more complex than the government and media have given us so far:

Tillman had plans to meet with Noam Chomsky after returning from Afghanistan.
Like many of us, Tillman thought 9/11 justified the war in Afghanistan but was deeply opposed to the war in Iraq, at one point calling it "so fucking illegal".
Another soldier in his platoon says that Tillman had urged him to vote for Kerry in 2004.

Pat Tillman was a more honorable man than George W. Bush will ever hope to be. He is a hero. It is a shame that men who are not fit to have shined his shoes were willing and able to use his death as PR for Bush's illegal war.

Dubious Achievement Awards

2005-09-28T00:01:00.001-04:00

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released their list of the "13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress".

Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA)
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-NC)
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)

If any of these folks are your representatives, give them a call and ask them just what the hell they think they're doing.

Maybe they should have asked first.

2005-09-27T21:03:00.000-04:00

FEMA is trying to find housing for 200,000 families displaced by Katrina. They ordered 125,000 trailers (mobile homes) which they were going to put as close as possible to the affected cities. Now, you may think (and I'd join you) that putting large numbers of people in mobile homes in an area prone to flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes is perhaps not the brightest idea you've ever heard. But it doesn't really matter, because it turns out that the entire manufactured housing industry only produced about 130,000 homes during the entire year of 2004, or about 2500/week. FEMA was hoping(!) to install 30,000 trailers every two weeks. Do these people ever visit reality?

On the other hand, the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has identified 65,000 housing units which could be used immediately, and rental rates are at historic lows (adjusted for inflation). So the Senate acted (and good for them!)-- unanimously! -- to provide $3.5B in HUD housing vouchers to Katrina victims. A similar House proposal is pending, sponsored by the Democrats. House Republicans are waiting for marching orders from the White House. The Bush administration is showing their characteristic urgency on policy matters: the GOP official said they're expecting a response in mid-October.

Demons? Demons?

2005-09-25T21:19:00.000-04:00

Imagine, for a moment, that there was a psychologist who believed in demonic posession. This psychologist is a pretty bright guy; in fact, he's come up with a questionnaire that he claims can identify whether someone is possessed.

You would expect to find such a psychologist:

in a bad made-for-TV movie.
working for Focus on the Family.
being appointed to something important by George W. Bush.
evaluating sex offenders in a Kansas state hospital.

While they're all good (and distressingly likely) answers, the correct answer in this case is (d). Rex Rosenberg works at Larned State Hospital evaluating people who are committed to the Kansas state sexual predator program. And since he's been there, the percentage of people in the program officially designated as "sexual predators" has gone up sharply.

Friends, the brain cell trend out there is not, I say not, encouraging.