|
Weblogs
Abuddhas
Also Not Found
Bellona Times
Consumptive
Dack
Dangerousmeta
Daily Jive
Dr. Menlo
Dumbmonkey
Evac/Flush
Filmfatale
FollowMeHere
GmtPlus9
LAM
Linkmachinego
MobyLives
OpenSewer
O.T. Linguistics
Photographica
Plep
Poor Clio
Portage
Quiddity
RandomAbstract
Random Walks
Red Rock Eater
Riley Dog
Sassafrass
Shikencho
Spitting Image
Travelers
UKEnvironment
Unknown News
Wood s Lot
email me
The Archive
|
Road to the Stars
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
The ghost rocket will be in spacedock for rest and repairs until September. We are badly in need of a refit, which has long been both by my despair and laziness. I always wanted a sense of fun and wonder here and I've gotten stuck on my own outrage. I might spin off parts of this weblog into other ventures, either individual or collaborative.
Until then, the captain has turned on the external links sign for your enjoyment and comfort.
Secret Court Rebuffs Ashcroft
Friday, August 23, 2002
The secretive federal court that approves spying on terror suspects in the United States has refused to give the Justice Department broad new powers, saying the government had misused the law and misled the court dozens of times, according to an extraordinary legal ruling released yesterday.
A May 17 opinion by the court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) alleges that Justice Department and FBI officials supplied erroneous information to the court in more than 75 applications for search warrants and wiretaps, including one signed by then-FBI Director Louis J. Freeh.
"We believe the court's action unnecessarily narrowed the Patriot Act and limited our ability to fully utilize the authority Congress gave us," the Justice Department said in a statement.
Thank heaven for small favors. Do you still need more evidence that we can't trust the federal snoop squads?
Thanks, Dack :)
School drops 'Satans' as team nickname
Friday, August 23, 2002
"It's hard to stand up and cheer for the Satans," said Kellie Karlstad, a parent of three and the junior varsity girls basketball coach. "It's not an appropriate name for children."
Since the Helen "Won't Someone PLEASE Think of the CHILDREN!" Lovejoy Anti-Fun Brigade seems to be spreading like cancer, I guess we should expect the expungement of the word "devil" from sports teams everywhere anytime now.
Military finding it hard to recruit
Thursday, August 22, 2002
One of the many post September 11 myths shoved down our throat by the media (along with more marriages, more church going and an end to consumers' taste for violent entertainment) was the idea that high school kids would join the military in droves to fight terrorism. I even remember NPR, which is probably the most liberal mainstream news outlet in the U.S., saying that it was a virtual certainty.
Guess what? It ain't so and it's quite obvious why:
"Research indicates that regular military compensation is less than what similarly qualified individuals with some college could earn in the civilian labor market and markedly less than the earnings of college graduates," the report concludes.
Before enlisting in the service, youths rate military pay as comparable to the corporate world. But once enlisted, just 16.5 percent of recruits say they are satisfied with their basic pay, compared with 59 percent of employees at Fortune 100 firms, the report says.
Lifemapper
Thursday, August 22, 2002
This looks very interesting. It's a distributed computation project to crunch data for biodiversity research, education and conservation. Best of all, you can help by donating your spare computing cycles.
Here's a background article.
Thanks, Spitting Inage :)
Musharraf assumes near total authority
Thursday, August 22, 2002
President Pervez Musharraf single-handedly enacted 29 wide-ranging amendments to Pakistan's constitution Wednesday, granting himself near dictatorial powers and cementing the military's role in political life.
In Washington, the State Department did not have any immediate reaction to Musharraf's actions to consolidate his power. Because he has been a strong supporter of the U.S. war against terrorism in Afghanistan, some Musharraf critics believe that it would be difficult for Washington to criticize him.
Pervez Musharref - military dictator of Pakistan - Goooooood!
Saddam Hussein - military dictator of Iraq - Baaaaaaad!
You know what I say? The United States of America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave [TM] has no business supporting dictatorships of any kind in any nation on this planet.
The Bush administration can spin things any way they want.
Totalitarianism is still gonna be evil regardless.
Musharraf's iron-fisted mandates
Musharraf issued a stark warning on Wednesday to the next parliament against any attempt to override his constitutional changes.
Waving his hand in the air, he said of the amendments: "This is part of the constitution. I am hereby making it part of the constitution."
Bush Praises Pakistani Role After Law Changes
Bush: Musharraf 'Still Tight With Us'
Ford’s ‘green’ initiatives stall
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Ford’s new report reiterates that the company — like most auto makers — opposes environmentalists’ calls to raise the federal fuel-economy standards. It wants Washington to implement tax incentives to spur demand for more-fuel-efficient vehicles rather than setting tougher mandates for the auto makers themselves. The report says Ford officials spent a lot of time in 2001 analyzing the “costs and benefits” of various scenarios to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the company’s vehicles. But company officials declined to disclose any details about those discussions.
Now get out there and lease our cash cow, the Ford Expedition! 0% APR for five years! We're practically giving them away!
You can't watch TV for more than five minutes without seeing an ad for Ford and GM's gas guzzlers. At least GM doesn't make ridiculous noises about being a bunch of closet environmentalists. Anyone who honestly thought that Ford had any commitment whatsoever to the environment needs to go scub such incredible naivete out of their brains right now.
I nominated Bill Ford for a Greenwash Academy Award. I'm glad he got on the ballot, but who really has a chance in hell of beating George Bush this year?
As always, I encourage you to keep changing the climate!
Thanks, Tidepool :)
Muted hopes for development summit
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
First World to Third World: Drop dead, please!
A sustainable world could not tolerate poverty. This world shows little sign yet of finding it intolerable.
Corporate Capture
The environment is a long-term issue which has always suffered from the short-term imperatives of the political cycle. It has been treated, by governments all over the world, as a problem which can be endlessly deferred to the next administration. Now the problem is catching up with the politicians, but most of them have yet to notice. The fourth earth summit, which begins at the end of this week, looks certain to be a disaster.
Why Bush Will Not Attend the Earth Summit
As far as newsworthiness goes, the revelation that President George Bush will not be attending the earth summit in Johannesburg this month, ranks alongside the Queen turning down an invitation to a Sex Pistols tribute concert.
Shell Games at the Earth Summit
Tracking the behavior of Royal Dutch Shell from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio to the WSSD in Johannesburg is particularly instructive in drawing out how global corporations have pursued a pro-environment and human rights public-relations strategy on the one hand, while continuing to be deeply engaged in destructive activity on the other.
Coke paints the Himalayas red
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been asked by India's Supreme Court to explain why they have plastered adverts on the side of the Himalaya mountains.
I think we can all agree that people who do this kind of thing in any country should be flogged repeatedly.
Millennium Challenge 02 ‘was almost entirely scripted’
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
U.S. wargames a sham? Yes.
Van Riper, who retired in 1997 as head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, is a frequent player in military war games and is regarded as a Red team specialist. He said the constraints placed on the Opposing Force in Millennium Challenge were the most restrictive he has ever experienced in an ostensibly free-play experiment.
Exercise officials denied him the opportunity to use his own tactics and ideas against Blue, and on several occasions directed the Opposing Force not to use certain weapons systems against Blue. It even ordered him to reveal the location of Red units, he said.
“We were directed … to move air defenses so that the Army and Marine units could successfully land,” he said. “We were simply directed to turn [the air-defense systems] off or move them. … So it was scripted to be whatever the control group wanted it to be.”
Retired Ambassador Robert Oakley, who participated in the experiment as Red civilian leader, said Van Riper was outthinking the Blue Force from the first day of the exercise.
I'm reading a book on military wargames right now. It shouldn't surprise anyone with a few functioning brain cells that historically they've been rigged to support the military dogma of the nation that runs them.
Clearly, this is no way to decide military policy and strategy. This is the kind of groupthink that led to such classic military blunders as the Maginot Line and the Vietnam War. The fact that a chickenhawk like George Bush is likely basing his policy on such nonsense certainly worrys me.
Thanks, Cursor.org :)
How to fry an Egg on an XP
Sunday, August 18, 2002
Can a CPU get hot enough to fry an egg? Yes, with a little bit of trickery. I think I'll stick with a frying pan and a burner for the time being.
Lego's Run
Sunday, August 18, 2002
Renew! Renew! Renew! Renew! Renew! Renew!
Thanks, filmfatale industries. I like it! :)
For more on Logan's Run, go to the City of Domes.
Maybe someday we'll get Lego Damnation Alley.
Japanese Ads Featuring The Simpsons
Sunday, August 18, 2002
I thought Bart and Homer only pimped for Butterfinger.
For even more shameless celebrity hawking, see Japander.com.
Someone please explain to me why A-list celebrity snobs who wouldn't think of doing commercials in the U.S. (except for voice overs) have no problem adulturating for the yen.
Daily Jive Weblog
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Interesting findings in art, technology, culture, and the ever-astonishing strangeness of the human condition.
I can see that I'll find much great linkage here, like Retro Future, so go check it out.
Magic mushrooms
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Is the mushroom cloud the most influential image of the twentieth century? This article make a good case for it.
The atom bomb is a staggering visual phenomenon. When Caron looked back from Enola Gay, he could not see the dead and dying, any more than we can in his black-and-white photograph. But where once the end of the world was represented by Satan swallowing up the damned armies of skeletons massacring the sinful, demons whipping them, herding them into burning pits after Hiroshima we have a new image of apocalypse: a blinding light followed by a vast mushroom cloud.
I'm most drawn to the far too realistic horror of Chesley Bonestell, the more abstracted work of Eugene Von Bruenchenhein and H.R. Giger's atom children:
We atomic children don't want to moralize or reproach anyone; we simply want you to get used to us and grow to love us.
But for you we can offer no guarantees, because as soon as we gain the upper hand
you will be classed as abnormal and as a result
may well have to suffer.
I like Steve Martin's take on The Bomb as well:
Put an atom bomb in your nose, go to a party and take out a handkerchief. Then pretend to blow your nose, simultaneously triggering the bomb.
Brand names bring special brain buzz
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Brand names engage the "emotional", right-hand side of the brain more than other words, new experiments suggest. And they are more easily recognised when they are in capital letters.
Hmmm. Does this explain the effectiveness of branding and the seemingly endless plague of stupid consumer trends?
The ghost blimp
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
A two man blimp crew disappeared without a trace sixty years ago this week.
Navy airship L-8 was on routine patrol off the coast of San Francisco, searching for Japanese submarines in the Pacific Ocean. A few hours after its morning launch on Aug. 16, 1942, the blimp floated back to shore -- minus its two-man crew -- prompting one of the greatest mysteries of World War II.
Riddle of the L-8
Here's another interesting item:
Friendly Dolphin Helps Net Robbers
Broken Promises and Political Deception by Al Gore
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
I promised I'd comment on this. Let's look at the facts.
In the election of 2000, I argued that the Bush-Cheney ticket was being bankrolled by "a new generation of special interests, power brokers who would want nothing better than a pliant president who would bend public policy to suit their purposes and profits."
The easiest way to examine Gore's claim is to look at the Opensecrets website.
Here are Gore's sector totals and totals by industry.
Gore’s fund-raising prowess unnoticed in Bush shadow
Clearly, Gore doesn't have a leg to stand on here.
This struggle between the people and the powerful was at the heart of every major domestic issue of the 2000 campaign and is still the central dynamic of politics in 2002.
Ironic, considering that Al Gore did everything he could to look as conservative as Bush during the 2000 election..
The choice was and still is an environmental policy based on conservation, new technologies, alternative fuels and the protection of natural wonders like the Alaskan wilderness - or walking away from the grave challenge of global warming, doing away with superfund cleanups and giving in on issue after issue to those who profit from pollution
Al Gore In Fading Green
Gore has been heckled on the campaign trail for his oil money ties - 0,000 in Occidental Petroleum stock, held as the company plans to drill in Colombia on the land of the indigenous U'wa people. His failure to follow through on a 1992 campaign promise to crack down on an Ohio hazardous waste incinerator has also drawn jeers.
The Real Al Gore on the Environment
I think Al Gore's shown exactly where he stands on the environment, square in the pocket of big business concerns.
If President Bush wants to pursue honesty and integrity in the White House he should make public the names of the energy company lobbyists who advised him on energy and environmental legislation, and he should call for the release of the Securities and Exchange Commission files on the controversy surrounding his role in certain stock sales.
Lobbyists Ride with Bush and Gore
Tobacco Lawyers for Gore
Gush And Bore And The Man At The Door
Gore/Bush: The Differences Are Hard To Find
I already pointed you to Gore's 1996 Telecommunications Act sellout. Do I really need to continue?
Uncommon power has combined with uncommon greed to create immense deceptions and losses. Millions of average Americans have been victimized. So have thousands of honest American corporations and the people who manage them, own stock in them, and depend upon them for a livelihood, for sending their children to college and for their retirement.
A major correction is needed in the course of our nation. It is needed first and foremost in the composition of the next Congress. We need a majority of men and women who will not flinch from the task at hand. For now is a time for truth and courage. And now is the time for all Americans to stand up to the powerful on behalf of the people.
Are you laughing yet?
This is just a quick taste of course. I encourage you to do more research on Bush's and Gore's big money ties.
Some will still try to cram the same tired ad hominem rhetoric down our throats. I don't pay much attention to that. They can't tell me how to vote any more than I can tell you how to vote.
democracy - 1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
Some people hate that, don't they?
(By the way, I'm well aware that Al Gore should be president because he won the popular vote and have railed against the hijacking of the 2000 election by the Supreme Court many times. Check the archives if you don't believe me.)
OK, enough politics for now.
Nader Not Responsible For Gore's Loss
Wednesday, August 7, 2002
Since I still hear lots of whining from Gore backers blaming Nader voters for his failure in the 2000 election nearly two years later, I think this is worth pointing out.
Democrats tend to think of Greens as wayward members of their party, which is why they try to browbeat them rather than convincing them. In fact, the Greens have less and less in common with the Democratic Party - especially since the latter refuses to stand up against the Bush war, greedy globalization, and the disintegration of constitutional government.
Let's not forget about the environment either!
A lot of Democrats think Green Party voters should get down out their hands and knees and beg for forgiveness. The above quote explains why that ain't gonna happen. You would think that the Democratic leadership would try to woo those third party voters. They have arrogantly decided to ignore them instead.
Frankly, it's still going to be their problem in 2002 and 2004.
Let's talk about the "Wellstone question" for a minute.
The Green Party of Minnesota has chosen to run a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Good for them, it's a free country, right? Not according to Democrats and "liberals" who are screaming bloody murder with the same tired "A vote for a Green is a vote for a Republican" lie that they've been pushing since the last election. Their other fantasy is that Greens will automatically vote for a Democrat if there is no Green candidate on the ballot.
What some Democrats seem to want is final approval of third party candidates. They're starting to remind me of the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union, i.e. you can vote for anyone you like as long as it's our candidate.
Even if I were a Democrat, I still wouldn't vote for Wellstone because he's breaking a term limit pledge he made and made little fuss about the totally unconstitutional "Patriot" Act.
That's plenty of reason not to vote for the guy as far as I'm concerned. I know some of you are thinking that since everyone voted for the Patriot Act (except for Russ Feingold) it's OK. I disagree. Shameless political cowardice and political correctness from supposed progressives is no virtue.
Here's some background for you:
United They Sit
The Future Wellstone Deserves
The Democrats are going to spin it the same way regardless.
Wellstone loses: "Green Party nuts cost us the election".
Wellstone wins: "Green Party nuts could have cost us the election."
I encourage voters to make up their minds for themselves and vote for the candidates that they think best represent their ideals and values. That is what democracy is supposed to be about!
I know, I know. It's a dangerous idea!
I still want to comment on Big Al's hypocritical op-ed piece from the New York Times, "Broken Promises and Political Deception" and will do so when I have the time to dissect it piece by piece.
Who says that Al Gore doesn't have a sense of irony!
For now, here's a little taste for you.
Al Gore was a major participant in the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a sweeping omnibus bill responsible for mass deregulation in the Telecom industry. The Telecom Act lifted many of the restrictions governing the amount of market share one company could control and was ostensibly passed to increase competition in communications, telephony, and broadcasting. However, the Act's passage has instead led to a wave of mergers and buyouts in the telecom industry, and has resulted in more and more of the nation's media and communications outlets consolidating in the hands of fewer and fewer wealthy owners.
Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy - June 2000
. . .we are uniquely positioned to take full advantage of the Congressional mandate of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the "Telcom Act").
This landmark legislation rewrote the nation's communications public policy for the first time in sixty years. We played a key role in helping to shape major components of the law, which effectively leveled the playing field for all U.S. communications companies. We were also quick to capitalize on the new legislation.
WorldCom 1996 Annual Report (bold annotation mine)
WorldCom finds .3 billion more in accounting errors
Qwest Posts .1 Billion Loss
Verizon Cheated Ratepayers Say California Regulators
Internet backbone provider teeters on bankruptcy
(All that's from a two minute Google News search.)
Seems your Frankenstein got the better of you, eh Al? You should probably be glad you aren't President.
I hope I haven't alienated too many readers by all of this political rambling. I don't want this to be a purely a political weblog. My cynicism about government has reached an all time high, far worse than even six months ago. I would never have believed that possible.
I'll cover the rest of the Gore stuff in the next link. After that, no more political stuff for at least a week. I promise!
The Chickenhawk Database
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
They also didn't serve, but don't want you to know about it!
A chickenhawk is a term often applied to public persons - generally male - who (1) tend to advocate, or are fervent supporters of those who advocate, military solutions to political problems, and who have personally (2) declined to take advantage of a significant opportunity to serve in uniform during wartime.
This list includes such notable warmonger luminaries and draft dodgers as George Bush (National Guard duty while thousands of less politically connected citizens were getting maimed and killed in Vietnam is draft dodging), Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, Dick Armey, Tom DeLay and my favorite jerkass senator, Trent Lott.
They let Bill Clinton off the hook though. Weak!
Someone run with this idea, please:
Compile a list of chickenhawk warbloggers.
I'd do it if I wasn't lazy. For the record, I have not served in the U.S. military, though my father (Vietnam War) and grandfather (World War II) were both drafted.
Who knows? I may get drafted for Gulf War II: Dubya's Revenge!
Update: Dick Armey Warns On Iraq Attack.
Is he not so chickenhawkish after all?
Sniff, sniff. What's that smell? Waffles!
Thanks, Dack :)
Teamsters website endorses TIPS informant plan
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
Teamsters President Hoffa seeks favors from Bush.
Oh, who are the snitches in your neighborhood?
In your neighborhood?
In your neigh-bor-hooood?
Who are the snitches in your neighborhood?
The people that you meet each day!
(with apologies to Sesame Street)
Thanks, Politech :)
George and Dick's Amazing Corporate Misadventures
Tuesday, August 6, 2002
Is it any wonder we can't take "corporate reform" seriously?
Dark Deeds in the Black Hills
Mainstream enviromental groups sell out for the Democrats.
|
Search
Google
News
Alternative
Arianna Online
CommonDreams
CounterPunch
Cursor
Dan Gillmor
IMC
Mark Morford
Newcity.com
WorkingForChange
Arts
AWN
Art Newspaper
Arts Journal
Drug War
Cannabis News
Entertainment
TVtattle
Environment
ENN
Grist Magazine
Tidepool
Viridian Design
General
BBC News
Google News
Moreover
Nando Times
Yahoo News
Media
MediaNews
Paranormal
Anomalist
Surfpocalypse
Sci/Tech
EurekAlert
New Scientist
Space
NASA Watch
SpaceRef
|
