Sunday, August 24, 2003
Bad news quotes
Michael has bad news about the "future of punctuation". [aak]Saddam to al Qaeda in 1 move
Further information on the ...er, information available from non-spook sources on the ground in Iraq.The CIA has confirmed, in interviews with detainees and informants it finds highly credible, that al Qaeda's Number 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, met with Iraqi intelligence in Baghdad in 1992 and 1998. ... according to an administration official familiar with briefings the CIA has given President Bush, the Agency has "irrefutable evidence" that the Iraqi regime paid Zawahiri $300,000 in 1998, around the time his Islamic Jihad was merging with al Qaeda. "It's a lock," says this source. ...Still, four sources spread across the national security hierarchy have confirmed the payment.
In interviews conducted over the past six weeks with uniformed officers on the ground in Iraq, intelligence officials, and senior security strategists, several things became clear. Contrary to the claims of its critics, the Bush administration has consistently underplayed the connections between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
...IF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION had been out to hype the threat from an al Qaeda-Saddam link, it stands to reason that it would have used every shred of incriminating evidence at its disposal. Instead, the administration was restrained in its use of available intelligence. What the Bush administration left out is in some ways as revealing as what it included. ...* Iraqi defectors had been saying for years that Saddam's regime trained "non-Iraqi Arab terrorists" at a camp in Salman Pak, south of Baghdad. U.N. inspectors had confirmed the camp's existence, including the presence of a Boeing 707. Defectors say the plane was used to train hijackers; the Iraqi regime said it was used in counterterrorism training. Sabah Khodada, a captain in the Iraqi Army, worked at Salman Pak. In October 2001, he told PBS's "Frontline" about what went on there. "Training is majorly on terrorism. They would be trained on assassinations, kidnapping, hijacking of airplanes, hijacking of buses, public buses, hijacking of trains and all other kinds of operations related to terrorism. . . . All this training is directly toward attacking American targets, and American interests." Ansar al-Islam--the al Qaeda cell formed in June 2001 that operated out of northern Iraq before the war, notably attacking Kurdish enemies of Saddam--has stepped up its activities elsewhere in the country. In some cases, say national security officials, Ansar is joining with remnants of Saddam's regime to attack Americans and nongovernmental organizations working in Iraq.
The piece goes into much more detail and is a worth-while read. Stephen Hayes' overall point is that the continuing silence on the part of the administration about these links is allowing the libby/Dem promoted "conventional wisdom" that the links do not exist to crystallize and calcify to the point that it will be impossible to change any minds. ThanQ! Tim at Four Right Wing Wackos
Ahnold Updated
Before my head exploded, here is what I've been able to gather about The Running Man: including scenes from:The Team!
The Website!!
The Plan!!!
The Website:1 page; opportunity for donating large $$, general statement, picture of two people with jawlines you could shave with.
The Team:
California Economic Recovery Council is co-chaired by Reagan administration Secretary of State George Shultz and legendary investor Warren Buffett David H. Murdock, head of Dole Food and developer Castle & Cooke Robert A. Day, head of TCW Group, the huge Los Angeles investment management firm Arthur Rock,venture capitalist , a founder of Intel Corp. F. Warren Hellman, who heads San Francisco investment firm Hellman & Friedman Brian Halla, National Semiconductor chairman and chief executive Larry Flores, president and chief executive of El Tapatio, a supermarket chain > Carlos Olamendi, Orange County restaurateur Michael J. Boskin, a former economic advisor to President George H.W. Bush, [Hoover Inst.] James L. Doti, economist, president of Chapman University in Orange Eugene F. Fama, finance professor at the University of Chicago John Campbell, Republican Assemblyman, Irvine Julie Meier Wright, president of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp Bill Jones, former California secretary of state and the lone Central Valley member Raymond J. Lane, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, [past] president of Oracle Bill Jones, former California Secretary of State Edward E. Leamer, a UCLA economist A. Jerrold Perenchio, broadcasting tycoon, $775,000 donor to Davis, $500,000 to Richard Riordan, $200,000 to Bill Simon, $105,000 to Cruz Bustamante [reported to like "to play the side he thinks is going to win." ] sorta like Jimmy the Greek?
I've got 19; who's got the rest? [sources quoting every number of members from 18 [NYT] to 23 [Contra Costa Times] er . . . The LATimes wants to know my shoe size and breakfast menu before they'll let me read their article.] The Plan:
[Schwarzenegger] said if elected, he'd appoint an outside auditor [John Cogan, the economist and Mr. Shultz's colleague ]to go over California's $99 billion budget line by line and make recommendations within 60 days. "This problem was not created in two weeks, nor will we be able to solve this problem in two weeks. If anybody that is out there is telling the people of California otherwise, they're just a typical politician." He said he was against new taxes but wouldn't rule them out to solve the state's budget woes. He'd make tough spending cuts, he said, but not to education. [Atlanta Journal Constitution] [He would] push for a constitutional spending cap "don't spend more money than you have." "Does this mean I am willing to raise taxes? No." But later he refused to definitively rule out tax increases, saying, ``It's clear that we can't ever say never.'' [San Jose Mercury News] Schwarzenegger said he did not trust what he called ``faulty information'' from Sacramento, so ``it would be wrong for me to come up with exact solutions when I don't know what the problem really is.'' ``Let me tell you something. The public doesn't care about figures . . . and graphs and percentages and all those kinds of things. What the people want to hear: Are you willing to make the changes, are you tough enough to go in there and provide leadership?''
Ok, that last one was rather an unnecessarily unkind cut. We care. Especially if the graphs and charts come in pretty colors. [sheesh] Otherwise, I would like to hear some more specifics. Not sure I'm buying that "faulty information" from Sacto argumement, but the vague generality approach has worked in many a campaign. Though, the last time we were told "no new taxes," it turned out to be "no nude Texans." Gotta listen carefully. . . More to come
Rachel Calls Bullshit on Mikey
In a superb public service, Rachel Lucas handholds those of us with weak stomachs through a viewing of Moore's Bowling for Bullshit movie. Brave woman, Rachael. I knew that this porcine white guy is so hip that he hates white guys, but I didn't know that he had given rise to the libby-meme that "whitey is all about fear." Rachel points out how MM utilizes the ultimate you-won't-notice-this manipulation by using the same tactics he criticizes -- in the same breath. Evidence, again, that the libbys aim at the dim and gullible. Then she gets to the heart of the piece: "guns aren't the problem; people are the problem." ThanQ! Rachel. ThanQ! for the tip, Mr SnotDNA Unbeatable at Tic-Tac-Toe
The researchers have fashioned a device that uses pieces of artificial DNA to automatically play tic-tac-toe. And as long as it makes the first move, the device cannot be beat. The device is made of nine wells containing solutions where DNA can react. Some of the DNA in each well perform Boolean calculations when short single-stranded DNA sequences, or oligonucleotides, are added. The addition triggers an enzyme to react with DNA. Depending on the result, the reaction exposes a fluorescent molecule, which indicates a move.
...The researchers' method could be used to create automata that educate people about science. It could eventually be used to control nanodevices, including devices that monitor astronauts on long space flights**, according to the researchers.
**and you knew that monitoring astronauts on space flights is where ICU/CCU small, triple redundancy monitoring tech came from, right? I *love* the future for it is now!
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Mr Marx to the White Courtesy Telephone, Please
This is yet another example of the California Initiative process:A state ballot initiative proposed Friday would fund outreach and treatment programs for the mentally ill -- including the homeless -- by taxing millionaires.
Now, having worked in the system, I am even more in favor of increasing efforts to help the mentally ill. Does "a 1 percent surcharge on each dollar of taxable personal income over $1 million a year " seem . . .er, related? I realize that millionaires are everybody's favorite whipping boy, thanks to the liberal PC attitude of hating anyone they can't pity. Therefore no one will stand up to say that this is a dangerous precedent, for fear of being called "richie-lovers" or something. [wasn't that once the American Dream -- to become a millionaire and run for president?] But the mentally ill, like the elderly, the children [no ™], and others who need care are the responsibility of every member of society. Taxing one particular group opens the way to the idea that since more people in prison come from lower income groups, only lower income groups should pay for prisons. Or are we truly heading toward: "From each according to his ability to each according to his need." [if that sounds good to you, go look it up. "Communism: only 10 million dead and even more enslaved -- it's worth a try!"] ***ALERT Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D of Sacratomato is the culprit on this one. His quote: "To me it's fair," he said. "The ones who can most afford it should help the least fortunate." Another recall, anyone?
More Crust Than a Pie Factory
This little outrage comes to us courtesy of Group Captain Lionel MandrakeA dean [of law] at Egypt's University of Al-Zaqaziq is preparing a lawsuit against "all the Jews of the world," accusing them of stealing gold during the exodus. ...[He] said the "debt" could be rescheduled over 1,000 years, with the addition of the cumulative interest during that period.
Yep. He clearly wants peace.
Everything is Roses in the EU
Let's see; Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi likens a German MP to a Nazi concentration camp guard. And a junior Italian minister calls Germans "hyper-nationalistic blonds” who invade Italy’s beaches **. [snork] Then Schroder cancels his Italian holiday and Berlusconi stands up Schroder for their date at the opera. Very nice. If you children can't play quietly someone is going to have to help you into separate corners. France? Or will the EU give new meaning to the phrase "British nanny?" Buffoons. ** was that a tourist joke or a WWII joke? or was he clever enough to make it both?Buh Bye
Billy Si.He did not endorse Schwarzenegger -- or any other candidates -- in his one-minute statement.
Ever the class act, eh Billy? [and he still wonders why we voted for *ptui* Greyge . . .]
Things I Like
I'm gonna go have me a little fun today.Calling All Uber-Geeks
Any of you Mac freeks know if/how this SoBig virus or the Blaster or all the other gee-I'm-bored-this-August-let's-create-some-havoc viri effect Macs? ThanQ! KateWatchers Council Updates
New members to the Watchers Council. Welcome to Ramblings from the King of Fools and Spiced Sass. Interesting and opinionated, both. Go See . . .Ready, Aim, shoot own foot
Remember this? Here's your update: Those ignorant, grifting wastrels on House of Representatives' Appropriations Subcommittee nicked $55 million for projects in their home states Out of the $130 million for Solar System missions. That's 43%. This is the program Congress insisted in and funded for $105 million in FY 2003. Now that money is shot. And the cost of the delay will be about $80 million [17%]. The usual Congressional shennanigans with your money? Sure. But. . . the cost to the potential scientific knowledge to be gained is incalculable. This goes way beyond penny wise and pound foolish. Besides the loss of information about Pluto-Charon, about the formation of planets, about the formation of our Solar System; who knows what else the sensors would have seen out there."Beyond the waste of people's time and resources...there is THE TERRIBLE LOSS TO SCIENCE [emphasis theirs] entailed by waiting for years for new propulsion technologies." [outer Solar System experts William B. McKinnon and Jeff Moore ]
If we wait a year, we will miss the opportunity to utilize the gravity-assist flyby of Jupiter [because it won't be there]. If we miss that, the mission will take 4 additional years to get to Pluto. In four [Earth] years' time, Pluto will be 5% more shrouded in impenetrable darkness, its thin and amazing atmosphere will likely have frozen out onto the planet's surface which will likely interfere seriously with the spacecraft's instrument readings. Because of Pluto's eccentric orbit, it will be 120 years or more until we get another opportunity like this.
Just for a little perspective, 120 years ago: Congress authorized the first steel vessels in the US Navy; the first long distance phone service between Chicago and New York was inaugurated; buffalo Bill Cody put on his first Wild West Show; the Brooklyn Bridge opened; the first baseball game to be played under electric lights; Krakatoa exploded; Margaret Sanger was born [she didn't coin the term "birth control" for thirty more years]; Standard Time Zones were adopted in the US and Canada [standard railraod time was also instituted]; Pulitzer assumed command of the New York World and New York was run by "the 400;" Black Bart, the stagecoach robber, was caught; silver was discovered at Broken Hill, Australia; the British officered Egyptian armies in the Sudan were defeated by the Dervishes [El Mahdi]; Susan B Anthony was preparing to campaign for women's suffrage; and Charles Dana Gibson created the Gibson Girl.
120 Years Ago: a visual
Where will we be in another 120 years? Hell, how old is the Internet ?!?
Talk about shot in the foot . . .
Friday, August 22, 2003
Getcher Pop Guns
We're goin' on a Snark Hunt! Get on over to Kate's place, pour yourself a cold one, and settle in for a good read. Don't forget the snork rags.Consistency is all I ask
"...give us this day our daily week..."A frieze depicting Moses holding two tablets with the Ten Commandments is fixed high above the justices' bench at the Supreme Court, one of several places the biblical law is represented in the marbled building.
But those same justices this week rejected a request to allow a 5,300-pound granite marker with the Ten Commandments carved into it to stay in Alabama's Judicial Building.
When I first heard about this, I was all in favor of ridding the Alabama Judicial Building of the Judeo-Christian monument: not because I am against Judeo-Christian tradition, per se, but because the court is a civil entity which has no place for religious works of art. But he Supreme Court, cannot, in effect, tell another court not to do what it allows itself to do. Further investigation reveals that along with the depiction of Moses and the two tablets written in Hebrew in the Supreme Court chambers, there are depictions of Muhammad, Confucius, and the Greek legislator Solon. Perhaps the intent was to depict people who judge as much as the codes of ethics represented by these people? It is a fine line to refer artistically to our history, the history of thought and justice in the world, without mentioning any religious figures. That seems to be the way humans have codified ethics over time. But people in courtrooms must see that no matter what their religious background, they will be treated according to the law. That is what sets our nation apart from, and I believe ahead of, most other nations: the rule of law and equal treatment of all citizens. Some say that "people don't consider religious words or signs on currency or in state buildings to be a real threat. Money spends just the same and buildings are only wood and stone." I would disagree. I think we would hear from Jewish people were someone to suggest putting slogans from the Third Reich on dollar bills. I believe there would be a great outcry from Christians of all denominations were someone to put Satanic or even Wiccan slogans on the ten dollar bill. If there were a plan for a new court building with a frieze of a Bacchanalian festival proposed, there would be some controversy, to say the least. An animistic prayer for the opening of Congress on a day when an ecological bill was on the floor would be challenged, I think. [feeling a little heat under your collar, yet?] Again, it comes down to the question of whose ox has been gored. ThanQ! Justin at SoCalLawBlog
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