I know this site is lousy with Elis, so I thought some of you might share my sorrow in reading of the passing of (Yankee Doodle owner) Lew Beckwith after an 18-month bout with cancer. I never became a 'regular' at the Doodle, but I went there enough to admire Lew's dedication, his efficiency at the grill, and the long, hard hours of work he put into the place. There were rumors a few years back that the Doodle would go the way of the dodo when Lew retired in 2000, but instead his son Richard has taken over. Be sure to stop in the next time you're in the vicinity of New Haven and have a pig and a burger for Lew. It's still better food, at cheaper prices, with faster service than anywhere else.
July 2002 Archives
Today brought before my eyes an interesting defense of Maxim, the magazine we love to hate. Explains what their philosophy is and why we should take them seriously. And a lot of “and our critics are just jealous”.
According to the Toonopedia (found on Xblog's site which Trip posted about below), tomorrow is the 92nd anniversary of the first brick thrown at Krazy Kat by Ignatz Mouse. If you've never seen Krazy, I highly recommend you pick up a copy -- it is absolutely transcendant.
Herriman was black -- he was a Creole from NOLA, which may have informed the extraorinary patois spoken in Coconino County -- and you can read more about him and other pioneering cartoonists of color.
I'll be taking a vacation from my job, and yes, from my blog, for the next two weeks. However, the Ishbadiddle Team is committed to bringing you a Quality Blog Experience. So posting, ranting, and perhaps even raving will continue in my absence. If this has caused you any inconvenience, you really should get out more.
Nick Clemente was in the bathroom, combing his hair. His wife, Stacey Mayer, was in the living room of their West Village apartment, looking for her sunglasses. Suddenly the lights went out. It seemed like a minor enough matter, perhaps a short circuit. But then the two looked out a window and saw in the distance a thick black plume of smoke rising into the sky."Here we go again," Ms. Mayer said to herself nervously.
I also like the part where the article calls Nick "pale-skinned". Way to go, Nick! The whole article is here.
The ACLU has set up a web page to send faxes to your senators urging them to reject TIPS. It's quite handy, and also allows you to demonstrate how many people listen to the ACLU on these matters.
"The Duckmaster fastens around the user's neck and starts quacking if the owner's head slumps forward."
Full story at Ananova, via It's a Mystery. And you can check out the gratuitous Flash at the Patomaster site.
Helpful Duck, Evil Mouse
Also found at It's a Mystery: the new Archbishop of Cantebury thinks Disney is corrupting children. Hmm.
Xblog had up a link to a full color, generous-size scan of Action Comics number one. If you don’t know why that’s cool, then you probably won’t care about following the link. (You’re probably also a godless Commie and probably don’t watch Channel 11 Tuesdays at 9pm EST.)
In fact, Xblog has a whole section devoted to what the swells call graphic novels, including a link to pages about African-Americans in the comic book world.
"The Justice Department is forging ahead with establishing a network of domestic tipsters_despite being dealt what may be a deathly blow to the plan: House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, inserted last week a ban on the program in the bill to form a new Homeland Security Department."
"'The administration is continuing to pursue Operation TIPS. We're continuing with that course of action,' Barbara Comstock, spokeswoman for Attorney General John Ashcroft, said in an interview Friday."
President Cusak wouldn't let this happen.
A) Using a snake on your bathroom sink and finding out exactly what has been keeping it stopped up for the last few weeks;
Or:
B) Removing a dead squirrel from the rain gutter under your bedroom window, and finding out exactly how far along in the decomposition / maggot-production process it is?
Diapers are a breeze.
It's about the CIA's involvement in the death of Lumumba, from the Washington Post [here].
Also, since I'm on a liberal jag at the moment, how about this article, where the INS discusses plans to start using the old (but seldom enforced requirement) for immigrants to report adress changes as grounds for deportation. (Well, lack of a reported address change). Of course, they're not publicizing this ...
Amazon Light -- for when you're just using it to search. Found (of course) on boingboing.
I’ve posted for public comment my first crack at a musical collection I like to call Camaro Rock. What’s missing? What’s on the list that is, in fact, real dreck? Who’s not represented? Who’s due for more slots? Read my intentions, but feel free to ignore them also.
The AP, via the New York Times (free registration required), reports this morning that 400 sheep in France committed mass suicide.
According to the Cato Institute and the New York Times’s “Week In Review” section from Sunday 21 July, Senator Dick Armey not only put language into the Homeland Security Department–creation bill language that would kill TIPS, not only rejected the national ID program, but he also added the creation of a privacy officer in the HSD to “ensure technology research and new regulations from the department respect the civil liberties our citizens enjoy.” Dude! You’re getting a responsible Senator!
Mike Myers is descended from William Wordsworth. Really. I found this out on the blog go fish; a quick Google search confirms it. Other celebrities-descended-from-other-celebrities, according to this site:
Colin Powell : King Edward I
Kyle Maclachlan : Johann Sebastian Bach
Richard Nixon : King Edward III
Judy Garland : General Ulysses S Grant
True tales of a female porn video clerk. Strangely, hosted on a site about long-form improv. Found on Ye Olde Phart but evidently recently featured on This American Life.
The Bush administration has directed lawyers in the Departments of Justice and Defense to review the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and any other laws that sharply restrict the military's ability to participate in domestic law enforcement. Any changes would be subject to Congressional approval.
The general, Ralph E. Eberhart of the Air Force, said he had no specific changes in mind, but added in an interview here, "We should always be reviewing things like Posse Comitatus and other laws if we think it ties our hands in protecting the American people."
From Sunday's NYT article entitled "Wider Military Role in U.S. Is Urged". (There was even a militia group named "Posse Comitatus" if I remember correctly. Throw in TIPS, a national ID card, possible forewarning of the attacks and a potential gas pipeline through Afghanistan and we're starting to sound like a LaRouchian conspiracy story. Very scary)
Ever hear of "The Invisible Library"? Nope, it's not a Borges short story. It's a "collection" of books that don't really exist. They're mentioned in other books, but you won't find them on any real shelves (though you can check the list of "removed books" to see which ones turned out to be real after all). A pinchbeck anthemion to the first Isher who posts a mythical tome, here or there.
A transformer caught fire in a ConEd plant on East 13th street this afternoon, resulting in National Guard troops being stationed around the plant and disrupting subway service for thousands (including yours truly). But it’s not such a big deal to the locals:
“First we heard a big noise then we saw the black smoke. The big noise usually happens every summer, we just don't usually see the black smoke,” said Alex Darwish, owner of the nearby Avenue C Deli.
And why don't we find out before we start one?
Patrick writes:
Speaking of debate, civility and polling, here is an interesting article about the fact that no one in America really cares if we go to war with Iraq.
I think the reason nobody cares is because since the end of the draft America's wars are fought by a relatively small number of people who volunteer to serve and fight. They may have different reasons (pay for school, needed a job, patriotism, enjoy blowing things up, to name a few) for signing up, but they all knew combat was possible or inevitable. So we all view war as something unpleasant that other people take of. As far as we are concerned they do it because it is their job. Just like the garbage men.
Sandra, our Washington Correspondent, sent in some choice quotes from Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) as he defended himself before a House ethics subcommittee, after being convicted on charges of bribery, tax evasion and racketeering:
"I want you to disregard all the opposing counsel has said. I think they're delusionary. I think they've had something funny for lunch in their meal, I think they should be handcuffed, chained to a fence and flogged, and all of their hearsay evidence should be thrown the hell out. And if they lie again, I'm going to go over there and kick them in the crotch. Thank you very much." - Traficant's closing statement to the ethics panel.
"I love America, but I hate the government." - Traficant, admitting that he expects to kicked out of Congress and thrown in prison.
"I'm prepared to go to jail, and the length of time I will spend in jail, Ms. Jones, I will die in jail. But you know what? I will die in jail before I will admit to doing something I did not do. I had no intent to break any laws. There's one big word in this legal dictionary and it's called 'intent.'" - Traficant speaking to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), and the committee during his closing statement.
"I did not own that farm. I was involved in no fraudulent activities. I insured that farm. I know the government is trying to take it, and they can shove that deed up their subpoena." -Traficant, responding to questions from committee lawyer Paul Lewis about labor done at his family's horse farm.
"I apologize to the committee. If I had known, I would be here. I was on other media broadcasts trying to demean you and everybody else." - Traficant to the committee after showing up for the hearing an hour late. He later told the committee he was just joking.
"God almighty here. What happened to me in Cleveland is what's happening to me here. I infuriated a jury that convicted me over my attitude without a damn bit of evidence." - Traficant referring to his being convicted in Ohio federal court on 10 counts of bribery, tax evasion and racketeering.
"I'm going to object, whether it's committee rules or not." - Traficant, who became so enraged during committee lawyer Paul Lewis's closing statement that he began to shout objections.
"Are all those volumes your evidence? Well, you know what you can do with it, don't you?" - Traficant to the committee lawyers Paul Lewis and Kenneth Kellner upon entering the hearing room and seeing large three-ring binders, boxes and charts leaning up against a table.
"I wasn't going to like you if you tried to have me whacked." - Sandy Ferrante to Traficant in response to a question of whether she liked him or not. Ferrante, who lived at Traficant's family horse farm for 17 years, said the FBI played for her an audiotape in which a man discusses a plot to kill her at the congressman's direction. Traficant was never charged.
Dung-Fired Power Plant Rumbles to Life : "Britain's first ever dung-fired power station started operating on Thursday, taking the excrement of nearly 5,000 cows and lighting up homes around the north coast of Devon." [We need one of this in DC - that would solve our oil dependency problem]
Ex-Soviets in LA Sizzle over 'Stalin' Sausage: "The very thought of naming a sausage after the much-hated dictator has outraged former Soviet citizens, Si Frumkin of the Southern California Council for Soviet Jews said Wednesday. "
Sandra writes:
Yes, everyone should be wary of the subtle or not-so-subtle or in-your-face abuse of government's infringement on civil rights and democracy. No argument here.
TIPS, while needing watchdog attention, is a formal organizational version of what has been happening on an individual level for years. Consider witnessing the following scenarios in the pre-9/11 world: a drunk driver dangerously swerving on the highway, a fight in progress ina public place, a person with a gun entering a bank, a child tied up in the back seat of a car, a suitcase or suspicious package left unattended on a federal building's front steps.
In each of these scenarios, a percentage of the public would alert the police or a security guard. What percentage,who knows for certain, but definitely less than 50%. In the post-9/11 world, the American public received the proverbial 2 x 4 to the head. Now people who pre-9/11 would never get involved have changed their tune. No one wants to see another act of terrorism.
So why should it be a surprise that the federal government has instituted a "formal plan" to get Joe Public to report a suspicious occurance by suspected Joe Terrorist/Joe Ne'erDoWell? It shouldn't. Every administration, Democratic or Republican, Left or Right, has felt the need to institute programs. Why should a post-9/11 America be any different?
Now, does this mean that the Boy Scouts are going to turn the way of the Aryan Youth League? What's next...kids turning in their parents, neighbor against neighbor, false detentions and imprisonments, internment camps, black lists, etc?
We should be wary and consider all options. But to NOT report a potentially volatile occurance is unacceptable behavior. It's an age-old dilemma of the potential for a good idea to go wrong.
Is TIPS really necessary? If America were filled with common sense minded individuals who would only bring law enforcement's attention to true/valid security concerns...then I say no. Like it or not, a healthy percentage of the American public needs to be instructed what to do on some topics. Do use electronics away from standing water. Don't leave your child in the car when you grocery shop. Do stand back from a hot stove. Don't smoke while you pump gas. Do report a dangerous situation.
That's my take.
An ad agency in jordan has created this campaign featuring Palestinian children and the role models they dream of becoming, but can't because of Israel. Role models like that Zionist Jew, Albert Einstein:
The campaign asserts that the children's other role models include Charlie Chaplin, Gandhi, Abe Lincoln, Mother Teresa, and John Lennon. (It bears a marked resemblance to Apple's "Think Different" campaign.)
The tag line of the campaign? Dying to Live. Now I have no problem with using media to call attention to the Palestinians' cause. But the phrase "Dying to Live" is clearly meant to support suicide bombing. Why are young Palestinians blowing themselves up and killing Israelis? Because they want to be like Gandhi, of course.
Found the story over at LGF -- where I also picked up on the story about the State Department's "Express Visa" program in Saudi Arabia. Evidently, getting a visa to the US is about as easy as getting a pre-approved Visa card here.
From a website I happen to like alot called The Museum of Black Superheroes:
"THE "TRUTH" ABOUT CAPTAIN AMERICA?
This November, Marvel releases a five issue mini-series entitled "Truth" by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker which tells of a series of experiments codenamed "The Super Soldier Project". In a story that somewhat resembles the Tuskeegee syphillis experiments where the government tested disease on unsuspecting blacks, we are told of the government's use of a secret serum on black soldiers before turning Steve Rogers into Captain America. Marvel promises a no-holds-barred looked at racism in the 1940s." (Another site which discusses this topic is here, with even some preview art)
PS - you may want to check out the last few episodes of the new, post-9/11 Cap who is being used as an instrument to explore our feigned innocence. It's interesting.
The planners working for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation just trotted out their promised six concept alternatives for a rebuilt WTC site, and the choices remind me of a lunch counter where the sloppy joe, the burrito and the shepherd's pie all have the same mystery meat inside. I can think of reasons to like one or another. The square has a tantalizing 10-acre open space. The promenade would create a whole new type of walk downtown, with a striking north-south vista. But since the Port Authority decreed that any design must replace all the lost office and retail space--whether we need it or not--all the planners could do was shuffle the bulk into different boxes.
Even before the unveiling, LMDC had caught enough flak from critics to make their patrician chairman John Whitehead hedge a bit, admitting that there could be more options than these six (maybe even some with housing!). If you really hate it, he seemed to sigh, maybe "we will change our plans." We'll have to, if we want to actually renew lower Manhattan instead of just replacing it with acknowledged flaws intact.
(see Trip's posting below for the first mention of it)
From today's Sydney Morning Herald: "US planning to recruit one in 24 Americans as citizen spies ... The Terrorism Information and Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US will have a higher percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany through the infamous Stasi secret police. The program would use a minimum of 4 per cent of Americans to report "suspicious activity"."
I'm waiting for them to start the ancillary program for accountants ! Yes, 1 out of every 24 accountants is working for the IRS, catching tax frauds who cripple our ability to fight the war on terror !
Follow-up to the HIV+ Muppet story below ... several GOP lawmakers are protesting the use of federal funds for the muppet:
"As you know, in the United States, 'Sesame Street' is broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which receives federal tax dollars through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), over which the House Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction. ... How much public money is dedicated to the 'Sesame Street' series as well as this particular project that the Sesame Workshop has recently undertaken?"
The Log Cabin Republicans are up in arms. Thank goodness these folks in Congress don't know about the Bert - bin Laden connection or PBS would be really in trouble. Story found on Jill Matrix.
Patrick writes: I am sure this could be funny in many ways if it was not so serious in many ways:
Airliner Escorted To LaGuardia By F-16s After False Alarm "The supposedly suspicious passengers were taken into custody and questioned, but they turned out to be well-known actors in India, part of an entertainment troupe on their way to New York. They have since been released."
You owe it to yourself to check out Lynn's show -- if only because you'll never again see a performance that combines sled dogs, linguistics, Tonya Harding, dot-coms, Geraldo Rivera, maternal guilt, hair dye, Ricki Lake, and hockey. Plus my sleeping bag is in it.
On our second visit to New Orleans (after the Great American Road Trip) we stayed in a great B&B -- the Josephine, over in the Garden District. I nervously awaited my proposal to Debbie on our fifth anniversary. Fortunately, I found that eating fantastic food is an excellent way to calm down pre-proposal jitters. Daniel, who runs the Josephine, recommended we dine at Galatoire's, a Creole institution. For the real deal, he said, you had to know your waiter. "Ask for Gilbert -- the Peruvian Gilbert -- and tell him I sent you. He'll take care of you." And boy did he. Gilbert brought us great wine. He flirted shamelessly with Debbie. (I never mind this, as it usually gets us great service, and sometimes free food.) And he made the most fantastic Cafe Brulot I have ever tasted.
Now, Gilbert has been fired for sexual harrassment of another employee. And the regulars are up in arms. One said that the firing "has made many of us 'old-timers' aware of the fact that something drastic is afoot, a renovation not only of the physical features of the classic old Creole eatery, but a renovation of its very soul." A website has been launched in Gilbert's support, and it seems that they plan to hold a jazz funeral for Galatoire's. You can read the whole story here. Thanks to Ye Olde Phart for the story (and for the link!).
I promised Mike I’d balance out my political posting with apolitical/non-political stuff, but this was just too creepy to miss: Operation TIPS, from FEMA.
Were I to speculate, I’d have to say that Operation TIPS was put under FEMA because the gov was rightly concerned that this might look just a bit like the Stasi if it were run by the FBI or the CIA.
If anyone reading this has a cogent defense of such a project by our federal government, I would like to hear it, honest.
"Michael Jackson apparently has no nose for comedy. Director Barry Sonnenfeld says he really wanted the peculiar pop star to play an alien in the first "Men in Black," but Jackson turned him down cold. "But 15 months into shooting 'Men in Black II' I got a message saying Michael Jackson really wanted to be in it," Sonnenfeld tells Ananova.com. "I had a lovely conversation with Michael in which he told me he had seen the first 'Men in Black' in Paris and had stayed when all the other people left the theater and sat there and wept. I had to explain to him that it was a comedy." Heh-heh. " from today's Nothing Personal in Salon.com
Google! DayPop! Blogdex! This is my blogchalk: English, United States, New York, Brooklyn!
More about blogchalking.
Here's what W. had to say about last week's press conference in which he "answered" questions about his well-timed Harken cash-out:
"'That was actually fun,' Mr. Bartlett quoted the president as saying after the news conference. Mr. Bartlett asked Mr. Bush if he was being sarcastic, but Mr. Bush insisted not."
So, is he comfortable in his innocence? Or his guilt? Or is it just one big general whatever? Perhaps it's that he relishes the freewheeling give-and-take with the Fourth Estate, a chance to air his views and let the country know how he feels about this complex issue. Could it be he's not taking this whole corporate scandal thing too seriously? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not as "black and white" as we might all think.
What's more mainstream than a parade? Received via email from my friend Kathy Blume.
_______________________
"Edward L. Whitfield"
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2002 01:14:29 -0400
Subject: [TrianglePeaceCoalition] Lessons from The Fourth of July in Greensboro
Lessons from The Fourth of July in Greensboro
by Ed Whitfield
Greensboro, NC
July 5, 2002
Folks who believe the official line that the support for the current US policies in the war on terrorism and the new domestic measures at home is nearly unanimous need to know what happened in Greensboro North Carolina on the 4th of July.
The Greensboro Peace Coalition heeded a firm suggestion by one of its leading younger members that it should have an entry in the city's annual 4th of July Parade. After some hesitation, we decided to register an entry and spread the word widely among our contacts that we were going to claim our piece of the public space and utilize that day of patriotism to spread our message of opposition to Bush's "war on terrorism".....
We were never sure how many people would show up. Some of our members and supporters were afraid that the parade entry would be too agressive a tactic. They feared that in the light of the patriotic outburst since 911 an entry in the city's parade would be too much in the face of those who would be waving the flag that day. Some of the same folks who have stood weekly on a busy street corner in a vigil for peace every since October when the US started bombing Afghanistan, felt that the parade entry would be a bit too much.
Some of them changed their minds and came to the parade anyway. The were all glad that they did because those negative fears turned out on this 4th of July in Greensboro North Carolina to be wrong.
We had over 50 people -- black and white, young and old, professional and laboring and unemployed -- come to march with us behind a large banner that said "Greensboro Peace Coalition -- Not In Our Name". Along the route we passed out small flyers with the "Not In Our Name" pledge of resistance on one side and a statement from the Greensboro Peace Coalition on the other. The theme of the Parade was "American Heroes". Our delegation marched with posters of Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Fredrick Douglas, Martin Luther King, and other great Americans who have stood for peace and against militarism and agression.
As we walked the mile and a half parade route, many of the people along the street began to applaud. There were a few hecklers, but only a few. There were far more smiles, peace signs and applause. Two city police on bicycles pulled into the parade to follow our group. We passed the reviewing stand where there was a live broadcast on the local radio. The announcer seemed a bit surprised as he announced "And here is ... the Greensboro Peace Coalition." We let out a cheer for ourselves that could be heard on the radio.
After the parade, we set up a table among the groups who participated in the day long "Fun Fourth" activities. We were in between the table of a businessman running for US Senate, and a young man selling digital phone service for AT&T. Many people came by our table to pick up more literature and to talk. So many times that day we heard how glad people were to see someone with the courage to express concerns about the nation's direction.
A real surprise came when officials from the event's organizing committee came to our table to give us the award for "Best Interpretation of Theme" in the Parade.
After the day was over, I looked at the emails coming to the Greensboro Peace Coalition. Some of them were caustic and critical of us for having the nerve of going against "mainstream America". One said that what we were doing and saying was not "in vogue" and that this wasn't the 60's. Many others however expressed real joy that someone was standing up for what was right and asking how to get more involved....
There is a real lesson in this. If you scratch the surface of the poll numbers about Bush's and Ashcroft's overwhelming support, you get down to a lot of people with a lot of questions, a lot of concerns and a lot of fears. Some of them are afraid that they are alone in what they are thinking.
What it takes to get them excited and to get them involved is for them to see someone standing up so that they will know that they are not alone. We should have been doing this in every city across the country that had a 4th of July parade. If we had the forsight and the courage, we could have turned this day of flag waving into a day of introspection and dialogue and building this important movement against repression here at home and agression abroad.
From the Washington Post, in a fairly balanced article. I, as a leftist running dog, am posting only the negative parts of it:
"A confidential Harken chronology, obtained by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity, said that 16 days before he sold the stock, Bush was sent the company's "weekly flash report," giving "information provided by subsidiaries regarding estimated historical and projected earnings."
Asked about the document, a White House official said Bush thought the company was going to lose about $9 million in the quarter. That would have been four times as much as the company lost in the previous quarter but not nearly as much as it did lose. As it turned out, the company lost $23 million for the period, according to an earnings report made public two months after Bush sold.
SEC investigators knew Bush had seen the flash report but still dropped the case. Bush agreed to be interviewed by the SEC, but the investigators did not take him up on it, provoking skepticism from some government officials about their thoroughness.
The latest information leaves unresolved whether Bush knew his biggest asset was about to shrink and unloaded before other investors found out, or whether he sold only because, as he says, he wanted to pay off his loan."
Sesame Street will soon introduce its first HIV positive Muppet character to children of South Africa, where one in nine people have the virus that can lead to AIDS. . . . "This character will be fully a part of the community," Schneider said. "She will have high self-esteem. Women are often stigmatized about HIV and we are providing a good role model as to how to deal with one's situation and how to interact with the community."
Full story here. Thanks to David Ball for the story. Also to NS for sending in the following followup stories from the BBC and the Washington Post.
Janis Ian writes cogently on why the RIAA is wrong about the Internet. Via Angela Gunn.
A group of DC citizens is asking Queen Elizabeth to place the US capital under British rule. A stunt, sure, but shouldn't they get representation in Congress? Story via songdog.net, another nycbloggers member.
WASHINGTON (AP) The results of a new survey conducted by pollsters suggest that, contrary to common scientific wisdom, correlation does in fact imply causation. The highly reputable source, Gallup Polls, Inc., surveyed 1009 Americans during the month of October and asked them, "Do you believe correlation implies causation?" An overwhelming 64% of American's answered "YES", while only 38% replied "NO". Another 8% were undecided. This result threatens to shake the foundations of both the scientific and mainstream community.
Full story here. Oh sure it's a spoof. Thanks to god of the machine for the link.
''Mense Iulio ineunte dominatus Unionis Europaeae semestris ab Hispanis ad Danos transiit.'' Get your news in Latin. Courtesy of the Virtual Stoa at Oxford.
''While doing a radio interview about computer-game violence the other day, I came up with a good definition of a 'realistic' war game: they ship 45,000 copies, and only 15,000 of the games allow you to proceed past the beach. That’s it.'' Lileks on the morality of Wolfenstein.
I suppose it's inevitable that our online discussion of politics here at Ishbadiddle would eventually spill over into a flame war. Writing online means you can say things you'd never speak aloud to someone's face. And the immediacy of the medium doesn't always lend itself to careful editing, spelling or sometimes thinking. Hence the flame wars that, combined with spam, can cripple a newsgroup in a trice.
Thus our need to comport ourselves with civility.
Continue reading Civility.
As promised, though in a comment to another post:
CNNfn calls Bush on it.
According to this article, some of the steps W wants to take would prevent actions he took himself while an active capitalist.
Brooklyn: Park Slope: Seventh Avenue: Shop Window
In a Circuits article on families using their Palms to coordinate their busy schedules, Mrs. Cynthia Ewer, editor of OrganizedHome.com, says:
"Most family synchronization routines can be done pretty simply using the beam function," she said. For updates on their son, for example, "my husband and I can go out on the deck, sit down with our martinis and our Palms, and I can say, `Oh, by the way, Brandon is in China - let me give you his contact information."But what if the nanny doesn't have her own Palm? How ever will she find Brandon?
Mike reminded me of the reason Ishbadiddle started way back when, so I thought I’d peep the shortest work of fiction I’ve had the pleasure to read recently: Antigone. The Sophocles (original) edition.
Call me uneducated, but I’d never read this one, though I worked in college on a production of the Anouilh version (and you know who you are).
It was really wonderful. Frankly, there’s not the time right now to expound at length, but it should be on everyone’s short list. It’s even got politics!
Raise the Double Standard
W, on Tuesday, re: Harken: "All I can tell you is, is that in the corporate world sometimes things aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures."
W, yesterday, re: corporate responsibility: "We're moving corporate accounting out of the shadows, so the investing public will have a true and fair and timely picture of assets and liabilities and income of publicly traded companies."
And the free market's reaction? Stocks fall. Can't argue with that. Here at the Voice is James Ridgeway's tale of W's corporate misdoings since 1979.
Coming up next? Cheney and Halliburton are being sued. Stay tuned.
As part of my duties at nycbloggers, I get to look at a lot of blogs. (I also get to explain to people what a URL is, and that New Jersey is not part of New York City). Saturation.org is my newest find, and I couldn't help but share some of these choice 5.25" diskette sleeves, courtesy of this archive which I found linked there. (Incidentally, the guy who put this together sure doesn't look like someone who collects old diskette sleeves.)
Not quite up to the level of LP album cover art, but these bring back the 80s just like that.
British composer puts minute of silence on CD, gets copyright infringment notice from John Cage. His mom says: “Which part of the silence are they claiming you nicked?”
Story via Saturation.org, where we also found this propaganda parody site:
Hey! We're blog of the day over at East/West: The Bi-Coastal Blog Bomb! Check them out! Thanks guys!
I have to say, there's something in this dynamic lately -- where lefties on this board share shock and disbelief at the places the GOP is willing to go and then, well, M_____ tosses in some poll numbers and some alternative viewpoints and some anti-Clinton, anti-NYTimes rants (as though none of us talk about or read anything else) -- something that really makes me cringe. I mean, I've had fun playing along, absolutely, but when I stand back a bit, I find it's like a bad dinner with the relatives or something, where everyone's using polite phrases to talk about things we don't want to say out loud. (Though with the recent discussion of panties, it sounds like the backwards baseball caps are coming off.)
So for the record, though I acknowledge I may be out of step with how people outside of Brooklyn think (by the way, am I supposed to feel ashamed somehow that I live here? or just that I think what I think?), here's what I want to say out loud:
The conservatives who control the Republican party today epitomize greed and zealotry. In general, they're ruthlessly classist and racially exclusive. They have no qualms about subverting real American ideals in the name of acquiring and holding power. They contort and abuse legal systems in the political arena to achieve their goals, then scold and act outraged when an opponent suggests an alternative view. It's the double standard, used like a battery in a sock.
Their scorched-earth, pre-emptive strike, by-any-means-necessary approach is effective, but it ultimately reveals who their real constituents are: themselves, and the businesses that fund them. One of the reasons this country is great is that people don't really care too much if you're rich; they'll cut you plenty of slack; heck, they'll love you for it. But when people start selling out other people to build "moral majorities," they're undermining for others the very system that makes their own liberty and happiness possible. There's that double standard again.
I disagree with a lot of things going on in politics right now, but the reason I'm angry is that people a lot worse off than me are getting screwed while Bush channels the American economy into a razor-thin private sector and harvests votes from people who are afraid of gays, blacks, Buddhists, and other "different" people. Religion and business are back in bed, playing on fears and the worst human instincts, promoting selfishness if you're enough like "us" to get on board, cutting you loose if you can't help them. I disagree with a LOT of this stuff, but I wouldn't go as far, say, as sending in thugs to beat down doors and physically threaten people. And for these guys, that's just a tool in the arsenal. "Compassionate Conservative" on the one hand; "Bourgeois Riot" on the other. It's not even a double standard; it's just a lie. And as W himself said, "You're either with us or against us."
Well, that's what I'm against (violence, prejudice, greed, and deceit). Because this is what I'm for: peace, harmony, generosity, and truth. Too sappy? Wouldn't 75% of Americans agree on that? I wonder if I can find stuff to post that represents the flip side of judicial activism and mandatory turban programs. Probably sounds less fun, right? Well, maybe I can try the high road anyway...
Peace: It's certainly good that the election didn't elicit any more conflict than it did.
Harmony: You know, I often disagree with the New York Times' coverage as well.
Generosity: Hey, M_____, I'm pretty teed up here, right?
Truth: I hardly watched any of the World Cup.*
Hm. Yeah, this isn't going to be nearly as much fun.
Hey! New topic! Everybody into the pool!!!!
*Though I did watch the final, tape-delayed, and enjoyed the hell out of it. Predictable? Low-scoring? Neither Germany nor Brazil were favorites to go all the way and they both had games in the tournament where they scored five or more goals! (That's 35 points in the NFL!)
It seems that native born white Americans are getting tired of the extra security being applied to them so they want ethnicity to be included in the list of criteria for passenger profiling. From an AP article by Jonathan Salant:
"It's not known that aged World War II veterans or grandmothers are any part of any threat profile by any known intelligence agency," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., a member of the House aviation subcommittee.
"But Mineta, whose family was interned during World War II because of their Japanese ancestry, steadfastly objects to using a person's ethnicity when selecting passengers for extra screening."
"Mineta said grandmothers could be duped by terrorists, the same way the Arab boyfriend of a 32-year-old pregnant Irish woman hid a bomb in her bag before she tried to board an El Al flight in 1986. The Israeli airline's security agents discovered the bomb during preflight questioning."
"In addition, Mineta spokesman Chet Lunner said that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh; alleged shoe-bomber Richard Reid; and Jose Padilla, charged with plotting to set off a radioactive "dirty" bomb, don't fit the stereotype of an Arab terrorist."
"Still, Islamic terrorist groups don't have a multiethnic pool of suicide bombers to choose from, said George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley, who testified before Congress in favor of using racial profiling as one of several criteria."
. . . . . . . . .
Turley is actually wrong on the facts. Starting one step back, even if Al Queda only has Arab terrorists at its disposal how can we tell who an Arab is ? Visual inspection is poor, some Arabs have naturally blue eyes, and that doesn't take into account the possibilities created by contact lenses, hair dye and plastic surgery. Coupled with a bit of basic accent remediation and stolen documents, you really wouldn't be able to tell a terrorist of Arab decent from other passengers easily.
Secondly, on Turley's main claim about the ethnic range of Al Queda militants, he's just plain wrong. In Afghanistan, at the Al Queda bases, they captured many Uighurs - these are Moslems from China. Al Queda also has ties to Chechens and Albanians - they're of European ancestry and appearance. Afghans look like Europeans as well. Lastly, OBL used to live in the Sudan, and Sudanese Arabs are visually indistinguishable for African Americans. And this doesn't count recruits from outside of the Islamic world, such as Reid, Padilla and Lindh. So basically, that's every color in the spectrum - black, white, brown and yellow. Al Queda most certainly has a multi-ethnic pool to draw from.
Third, there is always the possibility of people being used as unwitting stooges or Al Queda working with criminal gangs of various ethnicities. Criminals who might think they're smuggling contraband might be carrying something far more dangerous indeed. And yes, even little old ladies smuggle.
Lastly, why leave the barn door open for all sorts of other yahoos ? Both the Anthrax-terrorist and the white supremacists now on trial in Boston wanted to blame their attacks on OBL; both the white supremacists arrested and the JDL leader had more lethal plans and came alot closer to killing people than did Padilla. Why not defend our weak spots in general, rather than against attacks by specific groups ? Security experts had been telling the airlines for years to reinforce their doors but neither the airlines nor the pilots unions (who want to carry guns now) would not go along.
I remember in October, when reporters were repeatedly able to smuggle dangerous contraband through security that they were usually white, and therefore subject to a much lower level of scrutiny. Profiling some groups more means paying less attention to individuals from the other groups - which is why many people are now calling for ethnic profiling and precisely why it makes us less safe. I don't know where the next attack is going to come from, nor who will be behind it. But I know this - the ethnicity of the terrorist wont matter any - victims will be just as dead no matter who does the killing. That's why I'm against ethnic profiling. After all, if the US military checks its own soldiers any time they approach a sensitive installation (and that's a pre-screened bunch), why should civilians be given any less scrutiny ?
From the probably somewhat partisan "Daily Enron":
"At the time of the SEC investigation, Richard Breeden was SEC Commissioner. Breeden was appointed to his point by President George H. Bush. Then he was asked to investigate the boss's son. (Previously Breeden had served in the Reagan/Bush administration as deputy White House counsel for Vice President Bush.)
Breeden passed this hot potato to his deputy, James R. Doty, to investigate. In private life Doty had been the accused's attorney. Among other things, Doty had negotiated Bush's acquisition of the Texas Rangers baseball team. Letting Doty investigate this transaction was as if the Clinton administration had tasked then Deputy Attorney General Webster Hubble to investigate the Whitewater transaction.
Doty quickly slammed the coffin lid shut on the investigation - without interviewing a single Harken board member. And there it has lain buried ever since - case closed."
Until now, perhaps:
"US senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, on Sunday called for the release of the case file of a 1991 insider trading investigation of George W. Bush, saying discrepancies in the president's account have raised new questions."
Don't waste any more time separating your glass from your plastics. City Sanitation is now telling you what NOT to recycle:
"The following items are no longer accepted for recycling; place in your regular garbage:
ALL glass items, including bottles and jars
ALL plastic items, including bottles and jugs
ALL beverage cartons, including milk and juice cartons, and juice boxes"
Personally, I didn't hear about this because Mayor Mike's press release came out only three days before the policy became official, which happened during the holiday week (though, yes, they'd been talking about doing it for months). Somewhat oddly, there's nothing new about this on the NYPIRG site.
Around my place, this means about 35-50% more trash each week. On the other hand, Chris gets his Thursday nights back.
Mon Jul 8, 3:19 PM ET
BOSTON (AP) - Jury selection began Monday in the federal trial of an alleged white-supremacist couple accused of plotting to bomb Jewish and black landmarks in Boston in hopes of touching off a "racial holy war."
So you're thinking, it's a big summer movie, right? And the first one was really good, right? So even if the critics hate it I'll still have fun, right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong. MIB II is so dull I turned to Debbie in the middle of it and said, "this is terrible." It's so derivative of the first movie that I wished I here home watching that instead.
The funny bits? You've seen them in the trailer. All of them. Well, nearly all of them. David Cross has a cameo as the geeky video store clerk that appears funnier than it actually is because the rest of the movie is so awful. ("Finally," the guy behind me said. "A funny line.") Oh, and there's a funny bit involving Will Smith trying to extricate himself from a big pile of tubing. Oh, and there's a bulimia joke. Really.
Lara Flynn Boyle has Zero Villain Charisma. Not that they give her much to work with, other than shooting snakes out of her fingers. Much of the fun of MIB I was the chemistry between Will Smith as brash rookie and Tommy Lee Jones as the straight man / Joe Friday of the alien beat. So most of this movie is spent waiting for them to team up again. (They have to "deneuralize" Agent K so he can remember where the Macguffin is). But there's no payoff here, because the script calls for Jones to act exactly the same, whether he's K or not. He acts completely unfazed at the fact that there are aliens among us, he was an agent, etc etc. When he finally regains his memory, it's like, so what?
Don't believe me? Here are some choice comments from imdb:
"Don't go out to see it unless your drunk or have an IQ of 50 and below."
"Bring back Linda Fiorentino and find the fun that made the first one so good."
"Ninety minutes of my life that I will never get back."
"You might save yourself $10 and just stay home driving bamboo underneath your fingernails. Just an option."
Patrick sent in this update on the Simputer which was blogged about back in April.
I couldn't help noticing this item from a few days ago:
[Re: Turbaned Sikhs in uniformed services like the police or military - there was just unveiled a monument to all the Sikh regiments in the British army from 1850 to 1947. Sikhs still serve in the British army today, and are directly recruited by the UK government. ]
And the lone comment it engendered:
"Ain't gonna happen in America. Get used to it."
The fact of the matter is that Sikh men and women fought in WWI and WWII, and there are Sikhs serving in the U.S. military today. More would probably be serving now except for the rule that forbids the wearing of their turbans (which are religious symbols and, thus, largely non-negotiable, as I'm sure the god-fearing among the military would appreciate). Due to a temporary exception to the rule, there are currently two full Army colonels who wear the turban.
Read the Rehnquist ruling, if you like. Actually, it prevents Jews in the military from wearing yarmulkes, and the Sikhs got caught up in it, as did the Rastafarians, which is too bad, and it might have even gotten Elvis, for that matter (though it looks like they made an exception after his first big buzz; who knew the military was so hairist?)
As to a Sikh U.S. war memorial, it's probably a numbers game. I mean, how many Sikhs were in the U.S. in 1850? But, of course, if it's a numbers game, that probably also means it's only a matter of time...
Compare the U.S.'s predominant minorty and their war record. No lack of honor and integrity (and memorials) there:
Buffalo Soldiers (Civil War)
http://www.afroamcivilwar.org/discover.html
http://www.whc.net/buffalo/index.html
http://members.aol.com/roadk9/buffalo/soldiers.htm
WWI Veterans
http://www.ukans.edu/~libsite/wwi-www/Scott/ScottTC.htm
http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/afhist/afwwi.htm
http://www.fatherryan.org/blackmilitary/ww1.htm
Tuskegee Airmen (WWII)
http://tuskegeeairmen.org/programs/museum.html
http://www.coax.net/people/lwf/ta_his1.htm
http://amcmuseum.org/tour.htm#park
And as for "getting used to it," well, back in September, President Photo-Op got used to it pretty quick.
Now, I don't really have any illusions that anything much is going to change because of George's meeting, but I'm a little unclear on what we're supposed to get used to, exactly.
[from a Washington Post article]
"A high-ranking Lutheran pastor has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus in an interfaith prayer service in New York's Yankee Stadium after Sept. 11."
...
"By President Benke's joining with other pagan clerics in an interfaith service [no matter what the intent might have been], a crystal clear signal was given to others at the event and to thousands more watching by C-Span. The signal was: While there may be differences as to how people worship or pray, in the end, all religions pray to the same God," the Rev. Wallace Schulz, the Missouri Synod's national second vice president, wrote in the suspension letter.
...
The charges against Benke included "unionism" -- mixing the beliefs of various Christian denominations -- as well as "syncretism" -- mixing Christian and non-Christian views. Both are forbidden by the 1847 constitution of the Missouri Synod, which is based in St. Louis and is the country's second-largest Lutheran group, after the 5.1-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Just so we're all perfectly clear:
Karl Rove is working aggressively to pack the courts so that, when the time is ripe, conservative judges can be in position -- up to and including the Supreme Court -- to overturn Roe v. Wade. This isn't conspiracy theorizing, this is administration policy. (And it dovetails nicely with our earlier bit on conservative judicial activism.) Look for a fight on the confirmation of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen in coming months; she was been hand-picked by Rove to be a pawn in the anti-abortion strategy and is clearly more eager to serve an agenda than she is to serve justice.
Here's an example of how this might affect you or someone you know (or, if you live in Iowa, how it might be affecting you or someone you know right now:
"Planned Parenthood director faces arrest
DES MOINES, Iowa, July 5 (UPI) -- The director of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa Friday faced arrest for refusing to comply with a judge's order to give police the names of nearly 1,000 women who took pregnancy tests during a nine-month period ending in May."
The case concerns a gruesome tale of newborn abandonment, something everyone finds reprehensible, and no doubt the judge thinks he or she is doing the right thing. But it's time to acknowledge that this administration, packing the courts with pointedly political right-wing judges and creating an atmosphere where privacy is secondary to morality (theirs), is taking the country into scary new territory. (Territory which, by the way, should be scary for everyone, not just lefties.)
If you think it's a problem, find out more, or get in touch with your representatives.
"Shunned by G.O.P. Leaders, Staten Island Stalward Heads Into Primary" ummm - shouldn't that be Stalwart ?
Here's an analysis, from the Washington Monthly, of Army Secretary Thomas White's uncanny ability to stay lodged in office despite scandals that -- were he a Democrat -- would have had Tom DeLay sending over his goonsquads. Several factors are at play, including the fact that, in this administration, nobody minds that you're getting filthy rich at others' expense (White made $31 million in 2000, much of that from "incentives" based on Enron's rigged numbers). In fact, that seems to be the whole point; it's about preserving a way of life for the Bushes, Cheneys, Rumsfelds, et al. The upshot: Bush needs White there to draw fire on Enron, and, free from such things as the Independent Counsel law or, say, ethics, morals, and integrity, White is doing quite well in his job as a punching bag.
Something I don't always get to do .... I pointed at my picture in this week's Time Out New York and said to the newsstand guy, "that's me!" Check out my smiling mug on page 158. I'm the one wearing the tie, next to Liz and Matt, the Design Diva and Code Meister of nycbloggers.com.
Just in time for the holiday, Debbie weighs in with this article on the Top Five Myths About the Fourth of July. Everything you know is wrong. But celebrate anyway! (And if you're still in a revisionist mood, read this one on the Top 10 Worst Historical Sites in the United States.)
Here's an editorial summary from that frothing liberal hornets' nest, the New York Times, about the new judicial activism coming from the Supremes. If the conservative double standard on judges "making law" weren't so extreme, it would be funny.
There's nary a peep from the right about inventive interpretations of the Constitution, as long as rulings project the "right" kind of morality into the culture. (Hardly a unique political position, but if you're going to scream so loud... it's like DeLay and Lott are doing theater exercises based on who's in office: now you're furious! now you're peaceful! now you're outraged! now you're benevolent!) Heck, even the American Heritage Foundation says there should be such a thing as judicial restraint... except when there shouldn't, which is always.
A New Republic editorial (now, that really is a liberal hornets' nest), from DeLay's Impeachments-R-Us era, circa 1997, points out that there are two important recourses to liberal judicial activism, the Supreme Court and the presidential election. So, uh, I guess they took care of those little problems, didn't they?
[How's that? Did I piss off any center-right-wingers?]
Best headline of the day goes to 1010Wins.com, for “Mister Softee Tried to Kill Me!”, easily beating out the Post’s Martha Boils Over/Rock and Raul and the Daily News’s Martha Can’t Take the Heat/Shake, Rattle and Raul. Both papers got many points off for having the same stories and the same bad metaphors on their respective front and back pages.
Recognition of Pro-Formalist Movement Gets WorldCom, Andersen Off Hook
Washington, D.C. (SatireWire.com) - In a surprise decision that exonerates dozens of major companies, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that corporate earnings statements should be protected as works of art, as they "create something from nothing."
"One plus one is two. That is math. That is science. But as we have seen, earnings and revenues are abstract and original concepts, ideas not bound by physical constraints or coarse realities, and must therefore be considered art," the Court wrote in its 7-2 decision.
Read the whole thing here. Thanks to Nancy for sending it in.
After several weeks of Palmlessness, I was beginning to feel like I'd lost a limb. (I was going to extend this metaphor, into "phantom pains" and crutches, but I've just looked up and sitting on the subway across from me is a woman with one arm, so now I just can't.) After much research and waiting I'm now the owner of the Handera 330. I hadn't heard of it before I started looking around -- I was pretty certain I'd buy a Clie or a Palm m130. But the Handera is wicked.
Continue reading Muscle Palm.
From an article in todays' Washington Post, protections for US servicemen already negotiated into the treaty behind the ICC:
" The court must first defer to U.S. courts, which would investigate and prosecute soldiers accused of any crimes. A prosecutor would need to convince the court -- composed largely of judges from countries that are U.S. allies -- that the United States was conducting a sham prosecution before he or she could intervene.
Moreover, the U.N. Security Council -- where the United States has enormous influence -- has the ability to suspend a crime case for a renewable 12-month period.
The treaty also includes a clause, known as Article 98, that defers to what are called "status of force agreements." This gives the U.S. government the ability to negotiate individual immunity agreements with host governments when military units are stationed there, allowing exclusive jurisdiction for war crimes prosecution to U.S. military courts."
According to the Times (of London, not of New York):
"SECURITY screeners at some of America's largest airports failed to detect up to half the fake guns and bombs smuggled through checkpoints in undercover tests. " The nationwide average was 24% of weapons missed (or weapons missed 24% of the time, they don't make it clear on what basis they've calculated the statistic)
Ironically, Miami which at 94% accuracy has the best rate of detection, has other problems. According to an AP news story:
"A Phoenix-bound jetliner was preparing for takeoff with 124 passengers aboard when officials called it back to the terminal and arrested both pilots for allegedly being drunk in the cockpit.
Airport security screeners said they noticed a whiff of alcohol on two America West pilots Monday morning when they got into a dispute over cups of coffee they wanted to bring through a checkpoint.
The screeners at Miami International Airport alerted officials who called police. But by the time officers arrived, the plane had already left the gate and was headed for takeoff. "
So it looks like the screeners are great at Miami, but the police are fast asleep. And I can't believe that they're not making pilots take breathalyzer tests before they fly, especially given that legislation has passed to to arm pilots (something I personally think is a bad idea).
Handera review -- check later for recommended software.
[Re: Turbaned Sikhs in uniformed services like the police or military - there was just unveiled a monument to all the Sikh regiments in the British army from 1850 to 1947. Sikhs still serve in the British army today, and are directly recruited by the UK government. ]
Rohan Gunaratna, Author of "Inside al Qaeda," says that al Qaeda was also targeting the British Houses of Parliament, for what would be an international display of terrorism's reach. According to Gunaratna, "This team assembled at the Heathrow airport on 9/11 to conduct an airborne suicide attack on the houses of parliament." But the al Qaeda operatives, he said, hadn't planned on one contingency: that after the U.S. attacks, all flights would be grounded. And so there were no flights for the team to hijack.
Read the full (short) article here. I have no idea if this man is actually credible.
Legislation does not work. Filtering software does not work. How can we balance our desire to keep pornography away from children, and our first amendment rights? I have an idea.
Continue reading An immodest proposal.
Would you like to swing on a star? Go on, stick your name on an asteroid.
Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared.
Oh great. Thanks to monoki for making me even more nervous about the upcoming holiday.
The wife and I just saw Minority Report. Aside from the title, there are only 2 minorities in the movie--not even the usual "let's have a black woman judge" window dressing. Having read so much about Spielberg's use of futurists in the design of the movie, I'm disheartened to learn that in the future white guys still rule. Or maybe it's just that the movie can't escape the present, where white people run everything in front of and behind the camera, since the demographic future of this country is so much browner and/or more biracial. The movie's good, but this distracted me so much I found it hard to let go. That's my 2 cents. DB
Sandler Fans Ignore Reviewers
