After seeing the pictures that drew the blogosphere's interest, I thought I'd throw this one into the mix.
The sign says:
One of my pictures has garnered a lot of hits. It started in Australia and has drawn widespread attention.
Please understand, I am happy to share. I believe that by sharing "A really really really stupid sign" with the web, by injecting another fact into the international debate, I've done an itsy bitsy part in making this a better place to live. Knowledge is power.
At the same time, it was a picture that drew the hits. There was no photo credit, no mention that there were more pictures, no mention of my feeble attempts at humor in the parent file.
(I'll be right back)
(I'm back)
I just restored the original. I felt too much like a whiney loser spewing the above drivel.
Anyway, here was my logic. I took the picture. I uploaded and provide the bandwidth for it. I felt as though that gave me the right to invite viewers to review my other pictures. From there, I would invite them to check out my blog entry about my experience at the rally.
There were concerns. People trust Mr. Blair, because Mr. Blair provides quality links. I would assume that the same is true of the other linkers. I was altering one of those links after the fact. I was, in fact, highjacking their reputations in an act of self promotion. Similarly, I was "favorite spamming" other surfers; that is, I was inserting an advertisement into a file they had previously bookmarked. The effects of my action did not fill me with pride.
And the fact is, I am getting traffic. Heck, my blog might register my 100th visitor this month (my blog counter does not count those that download individual jpg files). Lots of people are looking at that picture. Of those, some people are checking out the file with all the pictures. Some people are loading my blog. If my page chock of pictures does not draw links, the solution is not to force ads on visitors, the solution is to improve the quality of the page, next time. If my blog does not merit return readers, it means that I need practice writing, not whining.
Comments invited.
Addendum----------------------------------------------
For the month of March through 3/22 8:45 PM PT, my blog got 247 hits, the Peace March picture page got 107 hits, and the Wellstone/Bushmob picture got 1,568 hits. Had Mr. Blair linked to the entire parade page, I might be worrying about bandwidth.
Alan on 03.23.04 @ 01:26 AM CT [link]
So me, having no life and not much more of an ego, peruse my user logs regularly. I saw that someone somehow was looking for a file called faveico.ico. Google led me to Web Developer's Virtual Library.
If you surf with Internet Explorer you've probably noticed that some of your bookmarked sites have custom icons while others have the default IE icon. Those custom icons are the favicon.ico.
I thought I found twins. As Bill, a Tim Blair commenter, notes, Isreal was a great friend of Middle Earth.
Alan on 03.22.04 @ 07:57 AM CT [link]
A Command Post comment points to an article about reinterpreting the Koran.
A German scholar of ancient languages takes a new look at the sacred book of Islam. He maintains that it was created by Syro-Aramaic speaking Christians, in order to evangelize the Arabs. And he translates it in a new way
...
When the Koran was composed, Arabic did not exist as a written language
...
[The scholar answers,] "At first I conducted a 'synchronous' reading. In other words, I kept in mind both Arabic and Aramaic. Thanks to this procedure, I was able to discover the extent of the previously unsuspected influence of Aramaic upon the language of the Koran...."
...
[He continues,] "Anyone who wants to make a thorough study of the Koran must have a background in the Syro-Aramaic grammar and literature of that period, the 7th century. Only thus can he identify the original meaning of Arabic expressions...."
...
"We begin from the term 'huri,' for which the Arabic commentators could not find any meaning other than those heavenly virgins. But if one keeps in mind the derivations from Syro-Aramaic, that expression indicated 'white grapes,'..."
...
[Asked about the Islamic veil, he says,] "There is a passage in Sura 24, verse 31, which in Arabic reads, 'That they should beat their khumurs against their bags.' It is an incomprehensible phrase, for which the following interpretation has been sought: 'That they should extend their kerchiefs from their heads to their breasts.' But if this passage is read in the light of Syro-Aramaic, it simply means: 'They should fasten their belts around their waists.' "
...
"[The veil is] Not exactly [a chastity belt]. It is true that, in the Christian tradition, the belt is associated with chastity: Mary is depicted with a belt fastened around her waist. But in the gospel account of the Last Supper, Christ also ties an apron around his waist before washing the Apostles' feet. There are clearly many parallels with the Christian faith."
Forget Election Projection! Everyone knows that money wins elections! And thanks to a link from Tim Blair, we know where campaign money is going!
So there is lots of soft money. No matter! McCain Feingold solved that problem!
So we can make our own Harris Poll! and Fox Poll! And Gallup Poll! And even Zogby Poll!
Now I know what your thinking. Pollsters talk to hundreds of people, to have a big enough "sample size". Pshaw. For this poll, we talk to ALL the contributers named Fox. This is not a Fox Poll, this is a Fox Survey! The margin of error is ZERO!
So what does this all mean? Well, in all the big pollssurveys, President Bush is getting more money than ALL THE DEMOCRATS COMBINED! This election is bought and paid for! More than that, I have WAY too much time on my hands! Thanks for stopping by!
Don't believe me? Click [more] below....
Alan on 03.21.04 @ 10:39 PM CT [more..]
Drudge quotes "Al-Qaida No. 2" that "We Have Breifcase Nukes...". I assume that he is talking about the backpack nukes discussed in a Frontline interview with Alexei Yablokov.
I could not find any links which discussed safegaurds of these weapons. I do remember reading that such safeguards are effective. Still, if they have they briefcases or suitcases or backpacks or whatever, then they have the nuclear materials. And that's scary enough.
Alan on 03.21.04 @ 08:15 PM CT [link]
Natalie Solent notes that "A German investigative journalist, Hans-Martin Tillack, was arrested and held without access to a lawyer for ten hours by the Belgian police. What was he investigating? EU corruption, of course."
Good thing they didn't provide Mr. Tillack with delicious food, excellent teaching, and kind warders, as these torturers did.
Alan on 03.21.04 @ 07:47 PM CT [link]
Belemont Club discusses the hunt for Ayman al-Zawahri. I blathered about it Friday.
What caught my eye was Wretchards 2nd surmise that "Against all expectations, the Pakistanis appear to have achieved tactical surprise." I've had the impression that the Pakistani armed forces were full of intelligence leaks; it seems we found a way around that. I think that's huge.
Alan on 03.21.04 @ 07:34 PM CT [link]
From The Ann Arbor News (3rd item):
Victim says robbers used injury as ruse
University of Michigan Police are looking for two men who reportedly stole a woman's wallet while in the elevator of the U-M Cancer and Geriatrics Center on Monday, officials said.
The men entered the elevator with a woman from Albion about 1:30 p.m. and selected the floor below where the woman was going, said Lt. Robert Neumann.
One man got off on the selected floor and fell, pretending his foot was stuck in between the elevator door and the floor. When the woman exited and bent down to help the man to his feet, the other man slipped her purse off her shoulder and stole the wallet, Neumann said.
The woman stepped back into the elevator and didn't realize what happened until the doors closed, Neumann said.
Today's Day By Day has a surprise ending of sorts.
Alan on 03.20.04 @ 04:22 PM CT [link]
This being the first Saturday after the one year anniversary of the onset of Iraq's liberation, there was a peace rally here in Chicago. I have 250 MB (or so) of pictures and movies; I used a 4 Mega Pixel camera. If anyone wants the datafiles to rebut overstated attendance numbers, let me know.
I'll post my favorite pictures later. Until then, let me share some favorite moments.
Once again, we of the Great Western Up Over have bested those of the Great Eastern Down Under. According to Detroit News (4th item):
Wig record
The one thing that might have surprised everyone at the Palace Friday night when the Pistons crowd set the record for "most people wearing wigs -- single venue" was that Ben Wallace was wearing cornrows.
"If mine would have counted for the record, then I would have worn it (afro)," Wallace said. "Because mine is real."
The new record is 6,213 people wearing wigs Friday at the Palace.
The previous record was 5,574, set September 7, 2003, at a Newcastle Knights-North Queensland Cowboys rugby match in New South Wales, Australia.
The Pistons' total has to be registered with the Guinness Book of World Records for it to become official.
In high school, I had the greatest math teacher ever. He made math fun. He introduced me to his favorite Australian Marsupial, the wologimbat.
No, please don't fact check me here. Like I said, he made things fun. Wologimbat stands for "Without The Loss In Generality, It May Be Assumed That". Wologimbats simplify proofs by eliminating diversionary arguments.
For example, suppose that you are in a dark room with a drawer full of socks, 10 black, 10 brown. How many socks must you take to assure you have a pair which matches in color?
One can say "Wologimbat, assume the first sock chosen is black. If the second sock is black, we're done. If the second sock is brown, take a third sock; it will either be black or brown. Either way, it will match one of the first two socks taken. One need to only take three socks." The point of wologimbat is that we can exchange the words 'black' and 'brown', and the proof still holds.
When I invoke wologimbat, it is my acknowledging that, yes, I know that I am being sloppy with details. I am asking that you ignore my slop and concentrate on the crux of my argument.
Alan on 03.20.04 @ 02:10 PM CT [link]
Back in the halcyon early days of this blog (um, 10 days ago), I wrote a sweet little missive (barf bags available in the seatbacks in front of you) to Natalie Solent that she blogged. She quoted me as saying, "If someone wants to avoid the flu, they should stick the needle in their arm, not mine."
Jo, a.k.a. Squander Two, responded.
The more prevalent a disease becomes, the greater the opportunity for the organisms that cause that disease to evolve to the extent that they may eventually be able to beat the vaccines. At that point, choice is simply removed from the system for everyone, as those who choose vaccination find that it is useless to do so - and that’s why vaccinations are a genuine public good.
If there’s a libertarian out there that has an explanation of how this could be managed by property rights, I’d love to hear it. But, as far as I can see, this is one thing that does come under government’s remit: it boils down to protecting people from other people, after all.
Tyler Cowan of Marginal revolution responded to his coblogger's discussion of drug regulation. He quotes a March 17, 2003 Wall Street Journal article as saying that "A high-price biotech drug ... at the University of Maryland Medical Center ... [was used] 80 times in three years, saving about 35 lives." In the middle of that quote, they note a problem; "The drug, a human bloodclotting protein called NovoSeven that costs $5,000 a dose, hasn't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for such uses."
This is almost an example of government being too large. I say almost, because the usage in question is not actually banned.
I do believe that one duty of government is to assure the free flow of information. If government wants to mandate standards for drug trials, fine. If government wants to demand that those who publish results of drug trials accurately list the standards to which they adhered, I'll think about it. I might even support the demand that companies which sell drugs publish the results of all tests performed on those drugs.
But to flat out say that some drugs cannot be used by consenting adults is just plain wrong. I agree that only a fool abuses drugs, and that a fool and his body will soon be parted. But there is a large and growing list of drugs out there, and no group, not even government, can maintain an exhaustive list of acceptable drug use levels. What the heck, tolerances to individual drugs such as alcohol can vary widely from individual to individual.
And as the aforementioned article indicates, government attempts to establish acceptable drug use levels cost lives.
Alan on 03.20.04 @ 01:59 PM CT [link]
A report about Senator Kerry's rudeness from Matt Drudge.
Dem presidential candidate John Kerry called his secret service agent a "son of a bitch" after the agent inadvertently moved into his path during a ski mishap in Idaho, sending Kerry falling into the snow.
When asked a moment later about the incident by a reporter on the ski run, Kerry said sharply, "I don't fall down," the "son of a b*itch knocked me over."
On Friday, Kerry, his snowboard strapped to his back, hiked past 9,000 feet on Durrance Peak, then snowboarded down the mountain, taking repeated tumbles. Reporters counted six falls, although Kerry was out of sight for part of the descent.
Numerous accounts allege that Ayman al Zawahiri, al Queda's second in command, was close to being captured earlier today. Even if he escaped, we may have already gained two advantages in the War on Terror.
First, Dr. Zawahiri (apologies if I mangled the honorific) is bin Laden's doctor. bin Laden may have bad kidneys and in need of dialysis. It may already be the case that we (counting the Pakistanis as one of us, of course) have destroyed equipment necessary to bin Laden's continued survival.
Second, Dr. Zawahiri and his notes, if captured unharmed, could definately lead us to other terror cells. If those terror cells have already felt it necessary to relocate, we will have hurt them. Further, we may be able to catch them in the act of moving.
Alan on 03.19.04 @ 08:44 AM CT [link]
When I first watched Blackhawk Down, I saw the dates and wondered where I was that day, what I was doing. Much emotional impact of the movie came from its basis in fact.
The War on Terror is yielding many such movies. Tora Bora is one example. Iraq provides more.
Today -- as we speak -- we seem to be gaining another. From Time Magazine
The government in Islamabad had been negotiating for two weeks or longer to try and persuade the Waziri tribal elders to hand over the three main tribesmen who are believed to have been sheltering al-Qaeda operatives. The tribes are heavily armed, and they're traditionally allowed considerable autonomy from the central government in running their own affairs. In response to the government's efforts, the tribal elders hemmed and hawed, and then refused to hand over the wanted men — who, in the meantime, had fled. At that point, an informant walked into the military garrison in Wana and said we think we know where these men are hiding, and they're not heavily armed. So, 400 Frontier Corpsmen set out in 13 trucks and 3 armored personnel carriers, but they were ambushed along the way by hundreds of Waziri tribesmen. It was a complete rout. The tribesmen killed about 22 government troops, and are holding hostage at least another 16. And many of the government troops escaped by running to different houses and pleading for mercy, asking to be given civilian clothes and then slipping away. Basically, they deserted.
After that incident, President Musharraf decided to break off talks with the tribes. This morning the army went in with loudspeakers and warned residents to evacuate seven villages around Wana. Thousands of families fled. Then the army started shelling these villages with heavy artillery, and firing rockets from helicopter gunships and planes. Even then, when the ground troops went in to mop up, they encountered ferocious resistance. The fighting has been going on pretty much into the evening.
ROBINSON: What's interesting is speaking with senior Pakistani army officials. They were describing the tactics being used, which included very aggressive enforcement of homes that they had barricaded. They called them fortresses in this village.
They said that the enemy that they were up against was using very sophisticated mortar techniques, using mortaring shells against their forces and using target reference points that had been preregistered.
In other words, they had anticipated that at one point they would have to defend this location, and they had very significant defenses outlayed for them. That's why the casualties were so high.
PHILLIPS: If indeed this is Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is in this area that is now surrounded? What are the rules of engagement? Is it to get in there and bring him out alive and take him into custody? Or is that necessarily not the objective?
ROBINSON: Well, one of the things that the generals, the Pakistani generals that we spoke to yesterday and today, stressed was that one of the things in this engagement that causes things to slow down was their concern for collateral damage on innocent civilians.
And they again addressed the village, and they got the women and children, as many as would come out, to come out before they continued their attack.
WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The Pakistan government plans an airstrike on Friday at a group they believe to be cornered al Qaeda fighters, including No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, CNN said, citing Pakistani government sources.
"Sometime after light fall it sounds like they will go in with helicopter gunships and they may go in with fixed wing. ... The plan is to go in by air tomorrow, or at least first light," CNN correspondent Aaron Brown said, speaking from Pakistan.
Three Pakistani army helicopters attacked cornered militants near the border with Afghanistan on Friday, where troops may have trapped Osama bin Laden’s top strategist and second-in-command. “There is powerful firing going on by three helicopters, said a resident in the town of Wana, near the scene of the battle.
“They are firing machineguns and have dropped a bomb too,” he said.
Pakistani troops were also firing artillery, he said.
As I attempted to follow a link about the 'movie' in Pakistan, I saw an ABC News article that Poland's President felt that "Poland [was] 'Misled' on Iraq".
Earlier in the day, Kwasniewski said Poland may start withdrawing its troops from Iraq early next year, months earlier than the previously stated date of mid-2005.
"Naturally, one may protest the reasons for the war action in Iraq. I personally think that today, Iraq without Saddam Hussein is a truly better Iraq than with Saddam Hussein," Kwasniewski told the European reporters.
"But naturally I also feel uncomfortable due to the fact that we were misled with the information on weapons of mass destruction," he said, according to a transcript released by the presidential press office.
Neal Boortz today reprinted a couple of posts from the Democratic Underground of Democrats at their worst. He did not reprint any posts of Democrats dismayed by the tactics. Click "More" to read the two posts that Mr. Boortz reprinted as well as two posts of dismayed Democrats.
I discuss this because they are interesting tactics in the same way that a computer game employs interesting tactics; it's an interesting mental exercise. I include the second two posts to indicate that common sense exists on both sides. < whine > And unlike Mr. Boortz, I include links. < / whine >
Alan on 03.17.04 @ 11:37 PM CT [more..]
There's a whole lot of silence about the alleged ongoing Iranian revolution. The only original text source I can find is Project Free Iran.
I looked for webcams, but only found four, all based in Tehran. These cameras are operated by Tehran traffic control. I can't find any evidence of revolutionary fires on those webcams.
Alan on 03.17.04 @ 02:11 PM CT [link]
Governor Dean blames President Bush for March 11's savage Spanish bombings. He seems to support al Queda's excuse for the day that our invasion of Iraq "has been a factor in the death of 200 Spaniards over the weekend."
I do not know if he commented another Islamo-terrorist excuse du jour, headscarves.
And News24 reports that "Dean, who is now backing Kerry, said Bush misled the country when he argued that Saddam was an imminent threat, and Kerry would have a more effective policy in Iraq and other foreign hotspots."
So when Islamofacists say they kill Europeans because of Iraq, Governor Dean accepts that without question. But when his President says we need to invade Iraq despite the fact that the threat it poses is not imminent, Governor Dean puts words in the President's mouth and calls him a liar.
He is just so wrong.
Alan on 03.17.04 @ 01:48 PM CT [link]
The Detroit Free Press ran an editorial Sunday about the vast whooshing sound of young people leaving Michigan. They state that "[t]oo many people in what should be their most productive years -- ages 15-44 -- are bailing out on the Great Lakes State...." They also share that "[t]here is a belief in some quarters that those leaving Michigan will be back soon enough, when they have sown their oats or want to raise children or need to care for elderly parents." Funny, I read this on the train; I was visiting my mom in my childhood home returning to my current home of Chicago.
So does The Freep offer as a solution?
There's no magic-bullet answer or much of a state-level solution to the national and global trends that have contributed to this trend. Even a true economic resurgence won't restore the manufacturing jobs lost to Michigan.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state legislators are trying to keep the corral closed -- and roll out the welcome mat -- with tax incentives. But those tend to be onetime offers. State leaders do not yet seem to have convinced the world that Michigan is a center of high technology -- despite the abundance of it in automotive products and manufacturing -- and life sciences. Granholm is on a right track with her "cool cities" initiative, but Michigan still does not enjoy an outside reputation as a particularly appealing place to live. There are major selling opportunities coming, though, and the state must be ready to work them to the max.
Immigration can be a plus, too. There's no reason for the state not to encourage it as a continued source of growth, and to lobby for national immigration policies that make it easier for foreigners to study, work and perhaps make a new life here.
And if that creates an even more diverse Michigan, then state, regional, local and business leaders have to declare that an asset and stop the balkanization that creates a negative atmosphere.
The census report offers an opening for some big-picture planning for the Michigan of the 21st Century. What a shame if the people who ought to be such a big part of that future can't be persuaded to stick around and help make it happen.
Condolences to The Blogging Ceaser.
Alan on 03.17.04 @ 01:44 PM CT [link]
Tyler Cowen discusses trends in US water use. He notes that water consumption remains flat even as our population grows. The underlying report discusses uses such as electricity generation and agriculture and sources such groundwater.
The missing factor here is geography. Here, in the midwest, we are (pun intended) swimming in the stuff. We can take another shower without risking brownouts (from low resevoirs), dead fishies (from low resevoirs), or uncontrolled forest fires (from low resevoirs) (yeah, I know I should have three links there). As I have stated before, our federal government is not right sized to address this issue; we need another entity to govern water use in our water shed.
Alan on 03.16.04 @ 09:28 PM CT [link]
Drudge links to an MS-NBC report about failure of President Clinton to pursue Osama bin Laden.
In 1993, the first World Trade Center bombing killed six people.
In 1998, the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa killed 224.
Both were the work of al-Qaida and bin Laden, who in 1998 declared holy war on America, making him arguably the most wanted man in the world.
...
In the fall of 2000, in Afghanistan, unmanned, unarmed spy planes called Predators ... captured [images of] ... a tall figure in flowing white robes. Many intelligence analysts believed then and now it is bin Laden.
From The Ann Arbor News Police Beat, Tuesday, March 16:
Vandals break window at school
A window at an Ann Arbor elementary school was broken by vandals over the weekend, according to police reports.
A teacher at Haisley Elementary School, 825 Duncan St., found a broken window in her classroom when she reported to work Monday morning, reports said.
Officers found a 3-inch wide, hard rubber ball in the classroom that they believe was thrown through the window on the building's west side. Damage was estimated at about $400, reports said.
I'm not sure which to post, this:
If I make post an entry and no one stops by to read it, is it still chock full of insightful genius?
If I make post an entry and no one stops by to read it, is it still pathetic drivel?
Maybe I should have included Iranians in my list of people happy that we ignored Iraq. Or maybe not. I don't know what our special forces are doing. I don't know what Iraq's neighbors, now free of tyranny, are doing.
If it is a coincidence that Iranis are revolting within a couple of years of US led invasions of two of their neighbors, it is one heck of a large coincidence.
Anyway, from Mrs. Lopez at The Corner:
Background: Khamenei delivered a declaration (not really a fatwa, although some say it was) to Iranians to honor the month of Muharram, which started about two weeks ago, and to mourn and not have any parties of merriment. Well, the problem is that the Iranian New Year (Nowrouz), March 20th (totally non-religious and cultural event -- although Zoroastrian in origin) falls in the middle of this, and Iranians were enraged about this edict.
Tomorrow is the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar year (called Chahar Shanbeh soori), and traditionally Iranians burn small bonfires and jump over them and celebrate the ending of the old year and welcome the new.
Paranoid rantings based on a Dave Barry item.
Hikers Find 50-Pound Bag Of Missing Explosive
Amount Of Explosive Still Missing Could Blow Up Three-Story Building
...
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Hikers in the area of Seven Falls over the weekend stumbled onto a stolen bag of ammonium nitrate-based explosive, the same type used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Here is the link Mr. Boortz omitted below. With thanks to Best of the Web.
People -- terrorists not excepted -- are animals that think. You get what you reward. Thanks to Spanish voters, we can expect more terrorist attacks.
Alan on 03.16.04 @ 03:32 PM CT [link]
As I was researching another linkless Neal Boortz item (this one about an alleged "Al Qaeda document which set forth a plan to get Spain to pull its troops out of Iraq"; I was unable to find evidence of such a document), I ran across a Christiane Amanpour interview with French President Jacques Chirac. Here are some snippets:
AMANPOUR: What do you realistically think will come out of this summit [between the US, Spain, and Great Britain]?
CHIRAC: I can't [predict] the result of the summit. I hope that reason will prevail and that this effective system, the system that is bringing us to the common goal that we have, i.e. disarmament of Iraq; the elimination and destruction of the weapons of mass destruction ... I hope that all this can be done through inspections. Indeed, inspections have proven their effectiveness to reach this goal.
...
...weapons are being destroyed every day. Of course, we haven't reached the full goal yet....
AMANPOUR: Do you believe that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction; for instance, chemical or biological weapons?
CHIRAC: Well, I don't know. I have no evidence to support that. But what we can say today, listening to what [International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed] ElBaradei is saying and his expert team, it seems that there are no nuclear weapons or no nuclear programs that would lead to the construction of nuclear weapons. That is something that the inspectors seem to be sure of.
As for weapons of mass destruction, bacteriological, biological, chemical, we don't know. And that is precisely what the inspectors' mandate is all about. They have to go with their work to find these weapon if there are any and then destroy them. And the inspectors are telling us that they can do that work. So when at one point or another they tell us that they can't or can't anymore go on doing so, then we will have to consider other options, including war. But it just isn't the case today.
So rushing into war, rushing into battle today is clearly disproportionate and inadequate given our goals. As I said, that goal is to disarm Iraq, and everybody agrees on that.
AMANPOUR: If it should come to a point where more allied troops are needed, would France consider sending troops?
CHIRAC: It isn't a topical issue, really.
AMANPOUR: You have studied in the United States, you have worked briefly in the United States. You profess to love the United States. As I said, many Americans feel betrayed [by France, thus "Freedom Fries" etc]. Do you have anything to say in English, which I know you speak, to Americans tonight?
CHIRAC: ...I think that the two problems that mankind has to deal with today at the beginning of the 21st century have to be given very clear consideration. .... We have indeed to refuse and reject confrontations, useless confrontations. .... The second issue, ... is the serious and soon-to-be irreversible depletion of our planet's resources....
That is what I want to tell the American people. That we have to work together on these issues to bring about peace, dialogue and respect for one another across the world, and at the same time make sure that we have a sustainable use of our planet's resources so that our children can also benefit from it and live in serenity.
AMANPOUR: Just one last question so that I fully understand here. At one point you said the presence of so many troops is what has brought him this far -- and it is further than where he has been for many years. So why didn't you send troops to join that threat, and perhaps this would have been over much quicker?
CHIRAC: Once again, I think that, given the current situation, the Americans do not need any assistance. Those who can help, the British, for instanced, are just making an additional contribution....
In another security matter, there did seem to be a lack of congressional oversight about the 9/11 highjackings. From The Portsmouth [NH] Herald September 14, 2001:
Brian Sullivan, who retired in January as an FAA risk management specialist in the New England, said he warned federal authorities as early as May of security problems at Logan. He even suggested then that the airport was vulnerable to multiple hijackings.
"Think what the result would be of a coordinated attack which took down several domestic flights on the same day," Sullivan wrote in a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "The problem is that with our current screening system, this is more than possible. We don't have to wait for a tragedy to occur to act."
Kerry's office said it took Sullivan's concerns seriously and sent his letter, along with a news video Sullivan had included, to the General Accounting Office for review.
The GAO did not "give us follow-up on that," said Kerry spokeswoman Kelly Benander.
Tim Blair has an excellent roundup.
As the tumbleweeds know, I took the weekend off. I do think that letting a terrorist attack induce a change favorable to the terrorist sets a bad precedent.
Alan on 03.15.04 @ 11:20 PM CT [link]
From The Corner via Natalie Solent:
"[Employment is understated because] the internet has created a vast underground cash economy. The dozens of eBay sellers and independent retailers I did business with last year all got paid in cash and are not about to respond to a survey about any related activity....I just bought some things for the house [on the Internet]...and they wanted PayPal. I get computer parts the same way. It used to be that the only people that could benefit from a 'cash basis' were barbers and waitresses, but that is no longer the case.
"I spent more in an underground economy last year than on anything other than housing and food. How much of what I spent do you suppose the people who sold me goods and services actually reported?"
What can one say. It seems that both sides have members that fight unfairly. From Yahoo, via Drudge:
Last year, [Bush political appointee and Viet Nam veteran John Thomas] Burch registered the Internet domain names veteransforjohnkerry.org and veteransforjohnkerry.com.
[Sen. John Kerry spokesman David] Wade said the campaign is expecting Burch and others to engage in "political dirty tricks," and said it is "standard operating procedure" for Bush to stand by and allow it.
When the Rolling Stone interviewed John Kerry on December 2, the Massachusetts Senator asked, "Did I expect George Bush to f--- it as badly as he did...?" Not surprisingly, as Matt Drudge reported March 8, the interview appeared on his presidential campaign web site. (As of this writing, the interview is still there.)
But according to The Boston Herald,
A spokesman for Kerry said he believed the Web site was struck by ``a virus'' yesterday. He then promised to get back to us with a better story, but never did.
So you want to be a phone actress?
You could be working for the largest adult telecommunications company in the world!
Do you have a sensual voice? Do you love flirtatious chit chat? If so, you may be the perfect candidate for telephone acting! You MUST have an open mind, a very charming voice, and a desire to create fantasies and role play!
....
top agents earn $15+ per hour.
Because, according to the BBC, they swoop to eat Turdus Migratorius. Get it? They eat turd?
Oh well.
Thanks to Dave Barry.
Alan on 03.10.04 @ 11:51 PM CT [link]
After a few short days, I've hit a bit of a quandry here. Back when I was thinking about blogging, it was oh so easy; I'd do my surfing and think ever so blythly, "I have an opinion about that! I should get a blog!" With one excuse torn away (that it's too much of a pain to get a blog started), I actually have to formulate words. And the words I formulate in my head sometimes just plain seem to lack merit. And meritless words do not gain repeat visitors.
It's a little easier to start out, I can 'catch up' and screed on about matters already past. But then I have to decide; do I post just to post, or let the page go blank for stretches. And what do I talk about, the burning issues of the day, or do I talk about me?
For now, I think I will post about anything I deem to be of public import, especially if I have a seemingly unique perspective to share. I'm not sure about the personal side; the blogs I most enjoy reading don't have that. Besides, so much of what I've done is just so wrong.
Heh, and since tumbleweeds can't read, I don't have to worry about too much unkind snickering.
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My most respected bloggers don't blog personal stuff all that much, except for Mr. Lileks. Check out the first three paragraphs here. Anyone that knows dogs knows that he knows dogs. Then again, I'm no Lileks. Then again, I'm not any of the people listed to the right.
Alan on 03.10.04 @ 11:16 PM CT [link]
Marginal Revolution reports that this is the 60th anniversary of Friedrich A. Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom". One Amazon reviewer says that:
"The Road to Serfdom" lays out just what the title implies. F.A. Hayek was a brilliant thinker who was sadly dismissed by many of his day. Hopefully, more leaders of our era will read this book and realize that economic planning, be it through protective tariffs or progressive tax rates, while such an easy sell and so tempting at times, lead only to a loss of freedoms for everyone (as economic freedom is at the base of all the others), including the people they are supposedly intended to help.
In researching the previous post, I gave Natalie Solent, who had been one of my favourite (note the spelling sop) reads. Please help me welcome her to the blog roll.
(Crickets chirp)
Anyway, this is from the story she linked March 2:
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe held a U.S.-registered cargo plane on Monday which the government said had been carrying suspected mercenaries and a cargo of military gear -- but whose origin and destination were a mystery.
I originally produced the following for Eric Olsen of the now defunct Tres Producers in response to a Feb. 7, 2002 post by Natalie Solent.
I put this up so I can have a post today. I don't think it's poorly written, so much, but I don't think it's all that well written either. It just seems ... dense. And it does drive at the core of my thinking, and thus does helps to introduce me to the gentle reader. So, here it is....
Alan on 03.09.04 @ 08:50 PM CT [more..]
As wrong as it may sound, I have, for a very long time, wanted to change the world through the force of my ideas. During the year 2000, I spent a lot of time writing. As 12/31/2000 melted into 1/1/2001 (it was still 2000 somewhere), I put the finishing touches on my opus.
Even still, I do think it needs work. I think it starts strong and finishes weak. That said, I am prepared to let it stand on its own and would be greatful for whatever feedback may be provided.
Alan on 03.08.04 @ 11:39 PM CT [link]
From Time Magazine via Steven Den Beste and Instapundit:
TIME: You were misled?
KERRY: Certainly by somebody. The intelligence clearly was wrong, fundamentally flawed. Look, the British were able to do a two-month analysis of what happened to their intelligence. This Administration wants to put it off to 2005. It's a national-security issue to know what happened to our intelligence. We ought to know now.
The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has admitted that Washington has no way of knowing whether it is winning or losing its "war on terror" and predicts "a long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a leaked document published [October 22, 2003].
The memorandum was sent to his civilian deputies and top military officers, calling for fresh thinking in US counter-terrorist strategy.
1) Pull the majority along as far as we can on issues that may lead to major new disclosures regarding improper or questionable conduct by administration officials. We are having some success in that regard.
...
2) Assiduously prepare Democratic 'additional views' to attach to any interim or final reports the committee may release. Committee rules provide this opportunity and we intend to take full advantage of it.
...
3) Prepare to launch an independent investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the majority. We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation of the administration's use of intelligence at any time. But we can only do so once.
So I'm reading today's Best Of The Web from our friends at The Wall Street Journal. It opens with an item titled No Nuance is Good News?. It addresses Senator Kerry's supporters' defense of Senator Kerry's various sets of contradictory statements.
Frankly, John Kerry's positions strike me as a bunch of nuansense.
Alan on 03.08.04 @ 07:03 PM CT [link]
From The Detroit News:
With Lindsey Hunter filling in at shooting guard, the Pistons’ ball pressure has intensified, as has their resistance to dribble penetration.
Hunter had six steals Sunday.
“Everybody is involved, everybody is making plays, we are sharing the ball and helping each other out,” Ben Wallace said. “We’re not letting teams run their sets. It’s a lot of fun when you play like that, and we are tough to beat.”
...
Hunter has clearly carved a place for himself in the rotation. His ball pressure has helped tighten the defense, and his willingness to move the ball has helped get Tayshaun Prince and Ben and Rasheed Wallace more involved in the offense.
“It’s a number of things,” said Hunter, reluctant to take too much of the credit. “We are playing a lot more through Rasheed, and he is a tremendous passer.
“He makes us so much better. You see guys getting so many easy baskets now, dunks and short jumpers. When you play inside-out, it makes a big difference.”
Hunter, in technically his third stretch with the Pistons, has endured being stashed on the injured list for 43 games, then traded to Boston, waived and re-signed by the Pistons, who are 6-1 since his return.
...
Don’t expect Hunter to remain in the starting lineup once Hamilton gets back.
...
Whether he starts or sits, Hunter just wants to help.
“I just play hard and do whatever,” he said. “I’m a proven scorer in this league, and I know I can defend. I will do whatever it takes to make us better.
“I’m not begging for shots or begging for minutes. I will earn whatever I get. We just got to keep on winning.”
“God had me here for a reason,” Hunter said. “I just want to come in and add something to this team. I think we have a chance to do something special, and I want to be a part of it.”
Armed Liberal fisked John Kerry's Los Angeles speech about the War On Terror at Winds of Change.
It is a great piece. A.L. does not rely on half truths to make his points. I would add a pair of criticisms of John Kerry and nit pick one bit of Mr. Liberal's rhetoric, though.
John Kerry said about our failure to catch Osama Bin Laden:
We had him in our grasp more than two years ago at Tora Bora but George Bush held U.S. forces back and instead, called on Afghan warlords with no loyalty to our cause to finish the job.
But nothing else will matter unless we win the war of ideas. In failed states from South Asia to the Middle East to Central Africa, the combined weight of harsh political repression, economic stagnation, lack of education, and rapid population growth presents the potential for explosive violence and the enlistment of entire new legions of terrorists. In Saudi Arabia and Egypt, almost sixty percent of the population is under the age of 30, unemployed and unemployable, in a breeding ground for present and future hostility. And according to a Pew Center poll, fifty percent or more of Indonesians, Jordanians, Pakistanis, and Palestinians have confidence in bin Laden to "do the right thing regarding world affairs."
Is John Kerry just a reincarnation of the scarecrow? Click 'more' to decide...
Alan on 03.07.04 @ 01:25 AM CT [more..]
From Kim Du Toit via Belmont Club
I can take it further. Your grotesque equation of the [President Bush and Hitler] is a profound exaggeration: and it's the same kind of gross exaggeration used by Hitler and his henchmen to inflate the "Jewish problem" into a manifest danger, whereby people could ignore the excesses of places like Dachau as being justified. In case that isn't clear enough to you, let me connect the dots. George W. Bush isn't using Hitlerian tactics, you are.
The Marshall Hotel sign at 1232 N. La Salle Dr., Chicago, seems to be missing a few lights (click 'MORE' to see the .jpg).
The remaining lights seem to say "Ho All 200 Rooms" ... or is it "Ho R All 200 Rooms"? Or, if you read the lights that are burnt out, it says "TEL MA SH".
Alan on 03.07.04 @ 12:07 AM CT [more..]
I tend to favor the Isrealis in their conflict with the Palestinians for two reasons.
1. I understand that Palestinian schools do not include Isreal on their maps, such as this one. This begs the question as to whether or not Isreal has the right to exist. I say yes; not only have Jews been pushed around for a long time, they do have an historic claim to the land. The Passion of the Christ is not alleged to inflame anti-Arab passions.
2. Democracies do not fight each other. Palestine does not elect their leaders. Isreal does.
Alan on 03.06.04 @ 08:39 AM CT [link]
And I didn't realize Champaign had a bridge off of which to tumble! It's been a while since I went to school there.
Alan on 03.06.04 @ 08:06 AM CT [link]
Hmmm... my email is not showing up correctly
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Fixed it ... I do like having an active discussion board with a good search feature which points to a good discussion
Alan on 03.06.04 @ 06:39 AM CT [link]
This is my first entry in my new blog. I just built the blog with Grey Matter software by Noah Grey and a tutorial by Melanie Cook. While I'm not sure I like the look, the price (um, free) is right.
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Then again maybe the look ain't so bad ... I'll have to tweak it and let it settle in.... Now, how to add a counter?
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That wasn't hard....
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One thing about having the counter like this ... I can tell when a new web crawler stops by. Now to check to see if visitor #1 is Yahoo or Google!
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Alas, I couldn't tell.... It might have been someone else completely.
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I feel like such a geek no-life loser. I just keep hitting refresh, and when I notice a new visitor on the counter, I run to my stat page to see what I can see. "Wow! A visitor from Scrappleface!" "Zowwie, a visitor from Canada! That's a whole other country!"
I'm sure such sophomoric reactions will fade with time.
Alan on 03.06.04 @ 06:33 AM CT [link]
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