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Wednesday, Dec 31, 2003
What He Said
I've been trying to think of something pithy like this. It was hiding in plain sight.
San Jose Mercury News -- December 30, 2003
Reader's Letters -- One-Liners
We have had a case of "mad cowboy" disease in Washington, D.C., for almost three years, and most Americans are not the least bit concerned.
Jack Dwan, Gilroy
Mad Cowboy Disease
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Aaron's in the Database Now
It's nice to see that other people share my feelings for Dr. Paul.
In case you missed it, this past Sunday's paper carried the second political zinger from normally non-political Foxtrot. The first was sometime this past summer when the boys came in from playing "army" because it was too hot in the backyard. They were sitting in the kitchen drinking lemonade playing "civilian leadership".
Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003
Bush Spongiform Encephalopathy
It's all about creating the right incentives
"If something like 9/11 happens next October, it's a no-win situation for Dean or any Democrat. The president who has tried to stop terrorism, who has been the only president in 12 years to engage it, is going to be reelected in a landslide."Note the date. He can't blame this bout of anticipatory schadenfreude on the opioids.
“The American people are not going to sit around and do nothing if a terrorist act happens again, and they aren't going to want to sit around and let the United Nations handle it. The president, who's been dealing with it, has a track record of success to show for it, is going to be standing very tall if something like this happens again, not Howard Dean.”
Rush Limbaugh, The Rush Limbaugh Show, December 19, 2003
Rush says terror will help us get elected.
Rush's Thought Pollution
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Watch yourself, Nederlanders!
I try to follow stuff, but there's just too much stuff to follow. I knew that Bush was doing his best to scuttle the ICC, but I just heard today about a 2002 law that allows the US to invade the Hague to free criminals from the ICC's jurisdiction. This came up in a Daily Kos thread about Dirty Henry (see previous post).
A threat to invade the Netherlands is just off the fucking chart, and serves as the inspiration for today's bumpersticker.
"War Pigs" Lyrics
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Saturday, Dec 27, 2003
[This article includes excerpts from a transcript in which Kissinger encourages state terrorism in Argentina.]
It's greed, not ideology, that rules the White House
Why the US wants Iraq's debts cancelled - and Argentina's paid in full
The Guardian -- December 23, 2003
Naomi Klein
Kissinger states: "Our basic attitude is that we would like you to succeed... What is not understood in the US is that you have a civil war. We read about human rights problems but not the context. The quicker you succeed, the better."
Friday, Dec 26, 2003
As of July, We're Using a Completely Different Verb
Seems like AP and the North County Times (serving San Diego and Riverside Counties) were the only news outlets covering Dr. Paul Wolfowitz's recent visit to Camp Pendleton.
From the Times coverage ...
"As of July 1st, if things continue on the schedule we're on, we will no longer be an occupying force," Wolfowitz said. "We'll be there supporting the new Iraqi government. It's going to be a very important change for that reason. It's important to be absolutely clear that we plan to stay in Iraq as long as that new Iraqi government wants us there to help."That's right, kids. You won't be "occupying" Iraq. You'll be "propping up" a client government, which is an important difference.
Why, in Viet Nam, once it became clear that ... oops, wrong analogy. Okay, how about Germany? Why even today the Germans ... umm. Wait, I've got it. The Marshall Islands, proud members of our Coalition of the Willing, who love the American occupation ... except for that nuclear testing thing. Oh never mind. Just place your trust in Dr. Paul. How many times in a row can he be wrong?
Wednesday, Dec 24, 2003
Insane Food
I heard a report on the radio about the mad cow in the Pacific Northwest, after eating a huge Philly cheese steak. So I couldn't decide which part creeped me out the most:
- Apparently it's standard practice to go ahead and use the meat from a "down cow". That's jargon for an obviously diseased animal.
- We're not supposed to be worried about contamination of the food supply because the brain and spine of the down cow were separated from the rest of the carcass. And, they're working to track down that meat. Even if they can't find the meat, don't worry about that nasty and almost indestructable prion. Because skeletal meat hasn't been shown to carry the prion. Assuming, of course, that the meat wasn't contaminated by brain or spinal tissue during the slaughter and cutting.
- We're not supposed to be worried about contamination of the food supply because the brain and spine of the down cow were sent to a rendering plant. And, of course, no one would use the output of a bovine rendering plant in cow feed. Cause that would be illegal.
tip 'o the hat to steve
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Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003
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Tom Moody's Notable Quotables
Original "Heavy Dose" article, reprinted by the Seattle Times ...
Hard-line Iraq strategy mimics Israeli tactics
The New York Times -- December 6, 2003
by Dexter Filkins
Transcript of Diane Sawyer's "What's the difference?" interview of G. W. Bush
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Sunday, Dec 21, 2003
BTCC Spoiler
The British Touring Car Championship is my single favorite motorsports series. I've only been to one race weekend, they being way over in Britain. But I was always able to obtain a video tape of season highlights at the conclusion of the season. Within a couple of hours, I could relive the excitement and suspense of a full season of racing.
Starting last year I could catch the full season of races on Speed Channel. The races are shown in delayed broadcasts during the "off season", since Speed fills up their regular schedule with American racing of the "go fast, turn left" variety. To maintain the sense of suspense while watching the months-old events, I have to carefully avoid news outlets that carry BTCC results.
The care in avoiding spoilers paid off last year as the season built to an amazing conclusion. Vauxhall teammates James Thomson and Yvan Muller battled for the championship down to the final race. Watching this year's season in time-delayed mode, the same sort of showdown is shaping up. With a few races to go, Yvan is ahead, but James is within striking distance.
Speed is also showing the European Touring Car Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in time-delayed mode during the off season. While watching the ETCC race at Estoril, I noticed James Thomson on the grid. "Well this is odd." Perhaps this race took place after the end of the BTCC season.
I has a fleeting thought that I should tell Tivo to save this race until I had a chance to see the final few BTCC races, in case the announcer revealed any BTCC news. And then, "Also on the grid is Yvan Muller, the new BTCC champion, who clinched the title over Thom-o in the final race of the season."
Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhh!
Time for a 20th Anniversary Celebration?
Millions of Billions
Back in the olden days of my undergrad years, a microprocessor that executed a million instructions per second seemed pretty fast. Now there are chips that will do a few billion operations per second. (Multiple operations per instruction is one of the tricks.)
Doing some back of the envelope calculations today, I decided that if I had a processor that could do a million billion operations per second, I could keep it busy. So the when the sales guy said his 400 billion operations per second chip might be overkill for my project, I heartily scoffed.
Pre-review
Okay, so I'll jump on the pre-review bandwagon, but with a short one.
M4ndy M00re is in a new flick called Ch4sing L1berty. It looks like a rip-off of Roman Holiday, 'cepts she's a Merkin in Yurope. What in g0d's name were they thinking? If ever a film deserved to be archived on nitrate, this is it.
Audrey, Gregory, cover your eyes. It's just too horrible.
150 Billion Dollars
$150 billion later, we finally caught the guy who had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11.
The Collective Unconsious
"miserable failure"
"Welcome to Free Iraq, Mr. President"
Upon greeting Bush, Bremer said "Welcome to Free Iraq, Mr. President." You know, the airport. But frankly, Terminal B still has some residual Baathist elements.
Whatever! I do what I want!
Bush signs bill allowing study of new generation of nukes
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Layover Meme
Barry Crimmins has picked up on the "Layover in Baghdad" meme.
Bush didn't visit Iraq so much as have a layover there.
It would be like you or I making a connection at O'Hare and then bragging about how we really got a chance to know Chicago.
"And here's a picture of me with the skycaps who are synonymous with the Windy City."
"Wow! Chicago is just full of duty-free shops and there are news kiosks everywhere!"
"Many of the older natives travel by golf cart."
Tuesday, Dec 02, 2003
Exporting Democracy Munitions
I finally got around to reading Ted Rall's "To Afghanistan and Back". The idea of the US reshaping Iraq or Afghanistan in any positive sense seems even more absurd in the light of Ted's experiences on the ground in the 'Stans.
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