Infinite Monkeys
"...a sparkly blog..." - James Lileks"Read them only with extreme caution."- Hugh Hewitt
Infinite MonkeysNew Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin paid a visit to my fair city yesterday. You remember Ray Nagin, right? The modern-day Nero who fiddled for the media, railing against federal disaster response while his city -- and dozens of innocent schoolbuses -- drowned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina? Well now he's touring from city to city to lecture business and civic leaders on, of all things, disaster preparedness.
Well, if that ain't the Krackel calling the Whatchamacallit crunchy...
"I don't want to see what's happened to us happen to another community," spouted Nagin. A forgiving sort might actually buy into his good intentions. I, on the other hand, find it much more likely that Nagin is just creating another opportunity to take pot shots at the Bush administration and FEMA, a suspicion that is not much assuaged by Nagin's claims that, "Our federal government is not modern enough for current disasters."
Maybe that's true, Mr. Mayor, and maybe the FEMA response was sluggish and not particularly well-coordinated. Regardless, the first response is the responsibility of the local government, read "you." This was the case before and during the Katrina flooding, and it remains so today. No amount of trying to revise history under the guise of saving other local governments from your well-deserved ignominy will change that.
Perhaps this is what Nagin meant when he "urged his San Diego audience to avoid the chaos he faced by planning who would be in charge." Or perhaps he meant that complete incompetents like himself should be prepared to hand the reins over to somebody with half a clue at the first sign of trouble.
“I would ask every local and state government to take a hard look at their disaster plans," he adds. And this, at least, is some good, sound advice. Do not, he is suggesting, take your first look at said disaster plan four days after the levees break, like someone I could mention.
Considering the source, Nagin's comments are laughable; almost as laughable as the Union-Tribune's attempts to legitimize them by referring to Nagin as "mayor of what is now the most experienced city in natural disaster response." That's crap. One only gains experience at something by actually doing it, and the City of New Orleans did exactly two things in response to Katrina: jack and shit. Or does the daring way the New Orleans police force looted grocery stores and/or ran for the hills count as a response?
Sorry, Ray, but even if your warnings carried the tiniest bit of weight, they would still be unnecessary. I'm happy to say that I have confidence that our recently elected Mayor, Jerry Sanders, would respond to a major disaster in San Diego by showing poise and leadership; not by expressing panicked outrage to Geraldo Rivera in front of the increasingly rank Superdome while his constituents drown in their attics.
So kindly take your grandstanding elsewhere, Mayor Nagin. Alternately, you might consider spending some time at home. I understand there's some sort of most-extensive-rebuilding-effort-in-our-nation's-history going on there. I figure you might want to be a part of that, seeing as how you missed out entirely on mitigating the destruction that provoked it.
You know, I donated some money to the Red Cross relief fund shortly after Katrina hit, but now I really hope that it went to the surrounding areas instead of New Orleans proper. Frankly, any city that would re-elect a chucklehead like this deserves everything it gets.
Well, it's the end of my trip to Minneapolis, and what better way can one end such a trip than by visiting Keegan's Pub with the fine gentlemen from Fraters Libertas for Trivia Night?
It was, of course, delightful. First of all, I should point out to JamesPh that the weather was wonderful (never got above 82 degrees, low humidity, no mosquitos) and he's crazy to purposely come here in the winter. Keegan's rules stated that no more than four people may join a team for trivia, and the Fraters bench was full, so I joined some crazy candidate for the state legislature and a guy who works for The Patriot radio stations in Minneapolis. The result? A tie between our team and the Fraters. If "Rocky" taught me anything, it's that a tie is a victory for the challenger, and I performed the appropriate victory dance. Okay, there was no dancing, but there was certainly celebration. Both teams got 24 answers out of 25, and we both missed the same question: What is a "peeler?" The answer? An Irish cop. Whodathunk.
Later in the evening, The Elder and I engaged in a spirited debate about freedom of the press, the aggressive use of force, and just a touch of just war theory. I don't believe either of us changed our minds, but it was a civilized and respectful interaction, particularly considering we just got done drinking at an Irish bar.
Atomizer gave me some smokes, and St. Paul was kind enough to pretend he remembered me after I told him who I was. At the end of the evening, I met several other bloggers from the Minneapolis area, including the friendly folks at Freedom Dogs, who gave me a t-shirt. Thanks, guys!
I'm coming back to Minneapolis in August, during the Minneapolis State Fair. I'll look forward to a trivia rematch at that time. Remember the second fight between Rocky and Apollo, guys. Next time, you're going down!
Oh, I almost forgot: The food and drink were great. Fish and chips were delicious and they had Power's Gold Label and Smithwick's Irish Ale on tap. Mr. and Mrs. Keegan hung out on the porch and chatted with us, and I got a free beer for winning (or, I guess, tying) at trivia. Thanks again to everyone!
I hope the Fraters boys take the opportunity of Robb's visit to Minnesota to correct his wacky ideas.
I suggest the good kind of intervention: get drunk and explain what's wrong with his ideology.
(As opposed to the bad kind of intervention, where they get ideological and explain what's wrong with your drinking.)
Just got the call that my the Logic student I'm tutoring is going to be a little late. Time to post something. Anything.
Last night I recognized a delightful quirk in the scoring of the bike race series (link in .pdf) I've been engaged in this summer. It seems that my stick-to-it-ive-ness is trumping the faster times of my close rivals in the overall series. There are several riders who have beaten me each time or most of the times they show up to race. But I am still ranked ahead of them. See, I earned one point. My middle of the pack finishes paid off one night. The hot weather and a threatening storm kept the field down to nine in the B race. I finished 5th. That earned me one point in the series and accidentally gave me my first cash prize as a bicycle racer.
(It was the best five bucks I ever earned. Usually the races only pay to 3rd place unless the field is 15 or more, but the new promoter had already paid the 4th place winner and declared me "in the money" as I crossed the finish line. My goal for the series was just to finish in the money once. [Last year my highest race result was 7th.] So now I have an adjusted goal: finish in the money legitimately at least once.)
If the series were actually a stage race, with cumulative times, I'd be perhaps somewhere in the back 30%. But I've stumbled into gaming the system. It's a glorious thing. Of course, if one of those rivals earns even one point, they'll leapfrog me, based on their previous better finishes. But for now... BWA-HA-HA-HA!
(Results link is a little quirky: after clicking here, click on the link at the bottom border called B Race Overall.)
P.S. JamesPh. delenda est!
Assuming that Minnesota's equivalent of Child Protective Services has not stopped by the "JB Doubtless" household, JB sets a good example for those of us who complain bitterly about having too much to do [Yep, I'm looking at you, Monkey Boy]:
Cheap Booze, a Baby, and a Girl Drink Drunk.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who wonders what has happened to our beloved Monkey Brad over the last months, other than an occasional wet dream-like post about bicycle accessories, he has been strangely silent.
But as the countdown to the Tour de Lance-less continues, I got to wondering. You would think that with the ultimate cycling geek event, Monkey Brad would be wet with anticipation and posting up a storm on the Tour.
But alas, nothing but silence.
But then I got to wondering. What could he be doing? Then it occurred to me. What could he have been doing all this time?
He's tanned.
He' rested.
He's ready.
He's Monkey.
Tour de Monkey 2006?
Leave it to James Lileks to sum it all up:
It seems like the New York Times is revealing all our national security secrets, but relax: they have their limits. If the Times learned that US troops were force-feeding Gitmo detainees with Coca-cola, they wouldn’t publish Coke’s secret formula. They might get sued. If there’s a CIA program that uses offensive cartoons of Mohammed to communicate with agents, they’ll keep mum, lest they have to publish the images. They might get stabbed. But secret law-enforcement-type programs as classified as the access code to the Times top-floor elevator? Fair game. You’ve the right to know.
Yep. I've got to know. Show me the cartoons to explain why millions of Muslims are rioting all over the globe? Nope, no right to know. Tell me who betrayed our trust in the Government by leaing this to the Times? Nope, no right to know.
Rhino Brian once again comes through with a great story about how British world cup fans are threatening to consume all of the beer in Germany.
Charles at Little Green Footballs links to some cute Reuters photos of terrorists with explosive devices in action. How precious.
But I like the AP story and photo even more. At least there the terrorists are shown using children as shields. How brave. How heroic.
Naturally these are not the first, nor will they be the last example of the press crawling into bed with these bastards.
See how wonderful a free press is?
I consider myself a strong--even extreme--defender of the First Amendment. I'm against the flag burning amendment, I question a lot of the actions of the FCC, and I am disgusted by the allegations (if true) that the FBI might be tracing reporters' phone calls.
But the First Amendment is not a license to say whatever you want without consequence or criticism. The New York Times revelation of the SWIFT program--which the article admitted was both legal and effective--is simply beyond the pale.
Robb argues that such revelations are good, because the government should have no secret programs, and the press promotes openness. We're arguing about that elsewhere, but I have to take issue with the idea that the NYT is promoting openness. That idealistic dream is a nice one, but it ignores two crucial facts: one, that our enemy has no such standard of openness, and no press revealing their secret plans; and, two, that the New York Times itself is not investigating the enemy. If one day there was a front page story about a U.S. Government anti-terrorism program, and the next a front page story revealing, in detail, how Al Qaeda funds its terror cells, you might be able to make an argument that the press is simply casting a light on secrets. But that is clearly not happening. In fact, perhaps because of what happened to Daniel Pearl, there is very little press investigation of terrorist activities. Any such stories are usually just to give terrorists a platform to explain why they hate us and are justified in their barbaric activities.
Even all but the most extreme libertarians agree that the government has certain duties, and key among these is protecting our freedom from enemies. The New York Times should explain why is feels it has the right to undermine this duty and endanger us all.
So the New York Times supports the use of eminent domain to condemn private property for millionaires. Could that be because the NYT building was built on property seized by New York just so their palace could be built? No, that would make them hypocrites.
The NYT is against random searches on subways to screen for explosives or other threats. But try and enter the NYT publicly provided building? You're searched. Does that make them hypocrites? Probably not.
Now the Times again publishes sensitive national security information because the "people have a right to know." (never mind that the majority of people know better). But who leaked them these stories? Who from inside the government betrayed our trust and gave this info to the Times? Don't we have a right to know? Or is this something they are struggling with? Probably not.
I guess we just have to trust the Times to do the right thing. No accountability, just trust in their judgment.
I am reminded of an incident from years ago when Mike Wallace and Peter Jennings said that if, as reporters, they knew of a potential ambush of U.S. troops in the field, they would not tell them. Rather, they would allow them to be killed in the ambush, because of their higher calling as journalists.
I'm not sure why, but I'm not comfortable trusting the judgment of the Times/media. But I'm sure that's just me.
I've been thinking about this SWIFT story since it broke, even moreso since David posted about it a couple of days ago. The more I think about it, read about it, and hear about it, the more I support the newspapers' decision to publish.
Chief among my reasons for supporting the papers is the role of the press and government in public life. A free press is essential to real freedom, meaning (among other things) the press can and should go through the government's trash (both literally and metaphorically) and report about whatever it finds. The government should never feel confident that it can conduct ANY program in secret.
At this point, I'm not trying to debate if the program is (probably) or should be (probably not) legal. The question is whether or not a government should be allowed to conduct such a program without public scrutiny, or even knowledge, in the name of "national security." The answer to that question is "no" - and that unequivocally.
Reading the hyperventilations of Heather MacDonald in Bill Kristol's state-worshipping rag only reinforces my support of the fourth estate. Also unsurprising (unfortunately) was our friend Hugh Hewitt's criticism of The (NY and LA) Times. Reading his interaction with Washington bureau chief Doyle MacManus of the Los Angeles Times simultaneously amused and annoyed me. Hewitt's law background is on full display: He asks questions like a prosecutor, intent on making the defendent look guilty to the jury by framing the questions improperly:
"Is it possible, in your view, Doyle McManus, that the story will in fact help terrorists elude capture?"
He asks this question TWICE IN A ROW. Note that he doesn't ask if it is "reasonably likely" - he asks if it's POSSIBLE. As if the mere POSSIBILITY of a negative consequence is enough reason to withhold the story. Hewitt eventually dives head-first into a pool of illogic:
"HH: Did anyone who would go on the record tell you this would have no significant damage to the counter-terrorism effort?"
"DM: I don't believe anyone made that unqualified statement, no."
"HH: Given that you couldn't find anyone to tell you that it wouldn't be damaging, wouldn't the necessary conclusion be that it would be?"
Well no, Hugh, that is not the necessary conclusion at all. And you know better than to ask. The absence of an unqualified, on-the-record statement to the contrary does not even seriously IMPLY, much less NECESSITATE that conclusion.
So raise a glass for the free press. Raise a glass to the weight of freedom we must all bear. As long as stories like this are still being printed, there is still hope that we may again be free.
That's it--I've had it. Hey, New York Times, you know that death tax you love so much? Well, there's no way to enforce it, because you know, all financial transactions are private.
Or, to put it much better, here's Heather MacDonald:
The New York Times is a national security threat. So drunk is it on its own power and so antagonistic to the Bush administration that it will expose every classified antiterror program it finds out about, no matter how legal the program, how carefully crafted to safeguard civil liberties, or how vital to protecting American lives.
Read the whole thing.
This morning someone on a bicycle forum I frequent requested recommendations for "a new set of handle bars for my dreambike... This is a dream machine so it has a certain amount of over-the-top-totally-ridculous-marriage-ending bling factor to it."
Serendipitously, I had stumbled upon the answer just the night before. I just had to share it, since despite the other Monkeys' requests, I have been quiet about most things "bike" here. Well, okay, I've actually just been quiet here. The answer also incorporates one of the phenomena that afflict many of us who've been bitten by the cycling hobby: Bike P0rn.
My response:
Do I have the answer for you... (I was researching custom frames last night and ran across this.)Speaking of which, I didn't post it in my handlebar response, but I thought I'd share one of the "hottest" shots I remember from last night's surfing. A great rear underseat close-up. I know, I know. I'm sick.Check out what Calfee is doing with third party carbon handlebars. It is painfully cool. If I knew that my position were totally dialed (meaning, of course, that my core was strengthened and my back was healthy), I'd be all over this. They are offering "a carbon fiber handlebar laminated to a carbon fiber stem. You can specify the stem extension, stem rise, and handlebar brand and width. Any 31.8 diameter carbon fiber handlebar can be made into a BarStem." They can make the angles custom too.
You all have to see this. When I was cruising through Calfee owners' pictures of their bikes, considering paint options, I ran across this sleek looking bar-stem set-up. I can't figure out how the computer is exactly mounted, but in my eyes the "zoot factor" is way high. Looks like prime "dream bike" material to me.
top view, side close-up, front view, side view.
[A previous forum responder] is right though: it could be a few degrees cooler utilizing [Campagnolo's top of the line shifters'] ability to keep the cable routing internal. Man, I have a hard enough time trying not to feel dirty as I lust over the pics I posted. Now I have even sexier "bike p0rn" in my imagination. I am a covetous wretch.
Last few: A droolable bamboo bike (available custom, even as a tandem), and painted carbon lugs (scroll down to the bottom for the heart stopper).
Looks like VMWare is pretty close to committing to a release for Mac OS X (Intel-only, of course.) This is really great news.
I'm using Parallels Desktop right now, and it works great. Fantastic. But VMWare Workstation does more. Right now, for customer demos of multiple Virtual Machines existing on a virtual network, I still have to use my IBM T41p. This feature alone is enough to get my money for VMWare. I'll almost never have to use my Thinkpad if that happens.
Christopher Hitchens is one of those guys who I can enjoy when he's skewering an idea or politician that I disagree with, but when he gores one of my oxen, I see him as the biting hyper-pedantic snob he pretty much is. But he's a thinking clever snob. Upon re-reading an interview of his on Hewitt's radio show, I was impressed enough to consider reprinting a few quotes here. But if I did that, you'd be much less likely to go through the whole thing. And, as they say, you should... read the whole thing.
Okay, for the audio crowd, you can listen to it, with all of its accurately haughty intonations, here.
You can't spell "socialist" without "cialis"
Damn.
I've got a meeting with a customer in Palo Alto tomorrow, so I'm staying downtown at a really old hotel, very close to the Stanford campus. When I say really old hotel, I mean "no air conditioning and an elevator where you open the door yourself" kind of old. But it's got character. Deuce says that should be the slogan above the door: "No air conditioning, but lots of character."
Of course, we're in silicon valley, so of COURSE the hotel has Wi-Fi. No air conditioning, but the wireless internet access has a great signal. I checked in, called my wife and told her how to reach me, and booted up my MacBook to check my e-mail. After I was done (around 9:00pm) I headed next door to the English Pub (The Rose & Crown) I noticed on the way in. Sat down, got comfortable, and ordered a Fullers ESB (on tap!) and the Fish & Chips. But it was not to be - their kitchen closed at 9. NINE O'CLOCK???? I know it's summer, but we're practically across the street from Stanford. No food? That's just crazy talk.
I needed to eat, so I walked across the street to a neat diner/soda fountain. Ordered the Pastrami Reuben. The pastrami was quite good, but the swiss cheese was quite a bit stronger than I like. I'm really not a swiss cheese guy - I rarely order it on anything other than a Reuben. I've had a couple of REALLY good Pastrami Reubens in the last couple of weeks. Last Wednesday, I had a great one at this little New York-style deli near the Orange County airport. The week before, at a Cafe at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. So, frankly, I was a bit disappointed. I'm guessing the place had a good black & white malted, but once I ate, I was ready for a beer or three, so I headed back to the Rose & Crown.
Oh, I forgot to mention, great Wi-Fi access in the diner, and again at the Rose & Crown. Say what you will about Palo Alto, you won't lack for Internet access. But I have to say I'm kind of ambivalent about the town. Maybe it's just a bad night, but I had higher expectations. Fullers ESB on tap is great, but the bar's kind of a snooze. Staff are clearly American, and when you go to an English or Irish pub, you kind of prefer a first-generation immigrant. Or, at least, I do. And did I mention that the kitchen closes at 9:00pm? What kind of college town is this?
Nothing interesting on the stereo. I've been catching up on podcasts on my iPod Nano. Mostly Penn Jillette and Coverville. I'll do another post some other time about my favorite podcasts, but those two are definitely on the list.
Alright, if anything my awkward prose has conveyed the ambivilence I feel about this town. You're welcome.
I just caught the end of a David Gregory report on NBC nightly news. He was in Europe with the President, and was doing the typical "they think Bush is a cowboy" bit. He ended with "tonight, Mr. Bush landed in Budapest, where he will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the uprising...a reminder of one point in history where the U.S. and Europe saw eye to eye."
Now, it's quite common for people ignorant of history (and, to be fair, Gregory may have just been drunk) to claim that now is a time of great division, but in the past everyone got along. This is utter nonsense. In 1956, there were great divisions. Even putting aside all of the Soviet apologists in Europe, at the time of the Budapest uprising, Britain and France were busy invading Egypt in the Suez crisis. The U.S. had to force them to back down.
Whenever the MSM is talking about history, be skeptical...even if it's what happened yesterday.
Last Tuesday, Rhino Brian and I went and saw the San Diego Padres beat the Dodgers at Petco Park. This completed the "NL West" segment of my informal goal of visiting every Major League ballpark. While watching the game, Brian noted that the Padres' dugout was on the first base line, which was contrary to both of our experience in other parks, at least as far as we could remember.
So, today at lunch with Deuce I was discussing this experience, and he was kind enough to find this page that explains the breakdown. Short version: No rules about it, tradition is split, current AL parks are evenly split in configuration, while the NL is 11:5 in favor of first-base dugouts.
May I have your attention please! Or, should I say, may I have the attention of all of our readers who are in posession of esoteric baseball knowledge? There, that should narrow it down to, oh, one person.
So, nice to meet you. Here's my question: How long has the September "expanded roster" been part of Major League Baseball? I've Googled and Googled and Googled until I can't Google no more, and I can't find anything about the history of this rule. To me, it smacks of late-in-history (i.e. last 20-30 years) "tinkering" to try to make the run-up to the playoffs more exciting for the TV audiences. Is this the case, or is this a long-standing rule with some deeper history and purpose?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Hugh Hewitt just disclosed that next week will be Tivo week on his radio show. He's giving away five Tivos and five annual subscriptions. No word yet on how the winners will be determined. Personally, I think Monkey Robb ought to have some input on the awarding. Or the TeeVee guys. Okay, just give them to us monkeys.
What's that old adage? If you had 5 Monkeys watching 5 Tivos for...
Okay, so when Rhino Brian forwarded this story to me, I figured it was just a curiosity about the way law and tradition intersect.
Then I got to the last couple of paragraphs, and it all went bad.
Well, Father's Day is coming. Of course, if you're like me, and your father has passed away and your mother is aging, you should take this opportunity to do something nice for your mother. Actually, you should do that all the time anyway, you ungrateful--well, I was going to say "SOB," but that doesn't seem appropriate in this context. Anyway, luckily there's a wonderful new book with suggestions for how to be good to your mother.
Go buy it.
So I've got the blogging thing working on my new Treo 700p. So I have no excuse for not blogging often.
Except, of course, the time I spend deleting spam comments. But then, my friend who hosts the site is ready to do a Moveable Type upgrade whenever I'm ready, so my laziness is to blame for that too.
No question, this has been a good week for the administration. With a vile terrorist dead, a wonderful trip by the President to Iraq, and Rove safe, it must feel pretty sunny around the White House.
I'm always puzzled by the ineptness of the loyal opposition (just as I was when Clinton was President, and the GOP was in that role). There are two times when you need to shut up and get out of the way: when the President is having success, and when he is in trouble. Actually, when there's success, your best bet is to try to share in it (certainly Democrats could have said they've been saying all along that we should go after terrorist leaders, whether that's true or not). The time for nitpicking is next week; the idiotic carping and conspiracy theories just make the left look loony.
I'm having a weird problem with my computer, and need some suggestions (and, no, "Get a Mac" is not gonna be helpful.).
Everytime (and I mean EVERYTIME) I open Power Line's blog site, the browser window shuts down. When I try and open it from a link to another blog or website, it shuts down both the Power Line blog window and the window that I opened it from. It didn't happen on my work computer, just at home. And I e-mailed Powerline, and nobody else had this problem. Just me. Obviously, it's just my computer. Naturally.
WTF?!
Apparently, I was wrong. Zarqawi did not die immediately upon impact of the 500 lb bombs. The sumbitch was found alive by the Iraqis and died after being put on a stretcher.
Gotta assume he was in agony. How cool is that?!
F**ker.
Apparently not.
Listening to Michael Medved's show today, I could not believe my ears as he interviewed Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg, the American beheaded by Zarqawi. Apparently, for many on the Left, there is no joy in mudville now that Zarqawi has gone to meet his 72 raisins.
Via NRO, these comments from the Daily Kos:
"Bush's idea of justice is bombs falling out of the sky?"
"Why is he dead again just now? I wonder if Karl's getting indicted tomorrow..."
"Those pics of Abu Z look like they just thawed him out just in time for the elections."
"Zarqawi was quite probably a psy ops job in the first place, so what does that make his "death"? ...Keep your eyes on the prize....Haditha."
"Just in time to hide the fact they're trying to cut the estate tax for the uber wealthy"
"Yes the timing of Zarqawi's death does seem too good for Bush to be true. It reeks of distraction politics. "
And from the Democrat Underground, via Powerline:
Very curious. I wonder how this plays into neocon plans to attack Iran?
How sad - you know my reaction?? I laughed out loud and said the same thing you did, "AGAIN???" How sad that we cannot trust our government to be honest with us in matters of war and death. The boy who cried wolf is not believed in my house.
Z has only one leg and has already died or escaped so many times...Nah. I don't believe the story.
I don't buy it either...Wonder if they had to cut off the leg of the "Zarqawi" for authenticity purposes? Convenient too that this would happen now....guess we should just all forget about that Haditha mess, the fact that we are approaching 2,500 dead and the fact that our economy is in big trouble.
It's almost an "open joke" among the military and civilians who know how PsyOps operate, and the History, that Zarqowi is merely a "Pentagon creation." And oh, don't we need some good news now? It's so predictable I could write the OP Orders. It's all bullshit LIES paraded around for PR exploitation.
And in case you think this response exists only in the fever swamps, there is these reactions of our elected Democrats from the Washington Times:
"This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out."
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, said Zarqawi was a small part of "a growing anti-American insurgency" and that it's time to get out. "We're there for all the wrong reasons," Mr. Kucinich said.
See also Dr. Sanity's round-up of the, well, insanity, along with that of Decision-08. Both courtesy of Little Green Footballs.
UPDATE: Another look into the fever swamp. A post at "Talk Left" declares that it is wrong to rejoice in then "murder" (or alternatively, assasination) of Zarqawi. Most of the comments agree that Zarqawi should've been arrested and brought to justice. It's funny, the author of the post analogizes the death of Zarqawi to something out of Alice in Wonderland. That's what I thought when I read this drivel. Wow.
Like David in his comment to the Ex-Terrorist post below, I am amazed at the reactions of the Left to the death of this evil, vicious, blood thirsty, murdering bastard. That it is even for a moment seen as a bad thing is shocking. Wow.
Well, I'm happy. Very happy. My only regret? I don't think he felt it. I would've liked him to feel some of the pain he put Nick Berg through. Sorry Michael Berg, but that's how I feel about your son's murderer. You, on the other hand, can kiss my ass.
Mr. Kos Moonbat: I wish to complain about this Terrorist what I was rooting for not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
Mr. MSM: Oh yes, the, uh, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?
Mr. Moonbat: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
MSM: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.
Mr. Monbat: Look, matey, I know a dead Zarqawi when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
MSM: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable Terrorist, al-Zarqawi, idn'it, ay? Beautiful beard!
Mr. Moonbat: The beard don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
MSM: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!
Mr. Moonbat: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the body) 'Ello, Mister Zarqawi! I've got a lovely fresh-cut head for you if you show...
(MSM hits the cage)
MSM: There, he moved!
Mr. Moonbat: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the body!
MSM: I never!!
Mr. Moonbat: Yes, you did!
MSM: I never, never did anything...
Mr. Moonbat: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO TERRORIST!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!
(Takes Zarqawi out of the coffin and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)
Mr. Moonbat: Now that's what I call a dead terrorist.
MSM: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned!
Mr. Moonbat: STUNNED?!?
MSM: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Terrorists stun easily, major.
Mr. Moonbat: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That terrorist is definitely deceased, and when I was cheering him on to victory not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged beheading.
MSM: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords.
Mr. Moonbat: PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im home?
MSM: The Zarqawi prefers keepin' on it's back! Remarkable terrorist id'nit, squire? Lovely beard!
Mr. Moonbat: 'This terrorist is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the coffin 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-TERRORIST!!
With apologies to myself.
Go read the transcript of the Pew Forum "Islam and the West: A Conversation with Bernard Lewis."
Do it now. It's fascinating and brilliant.
The U.S. Postal service is running an ad campaign for a flat rate for shipping for a flat box, with Harry Shearer using the line "if it fits, it ships."
If it fits it ships?
So now a line by a scumbag lawyer used to get a cold-blooded killer off on a murder charge has been adapted as a cute advertising line?
Next up? "Other than that, Jackie, how did you like Dallas."?
I love my TiVos, I really do. But I am growing very impatient with TiVo, who seem to have taken a cue from Apple in the 80's: Develop a REALLY cool product, then sit back and let everyone else catch up rather than staying ahead of the curve.
About a month ago, TiVo FINALLY released their dual-tuner DVR. Joy! Rapture! I can finally TiVo "Law & Order" and "CSI: NY" at the same time.
Wait? What's that you say? It only has two CABLE tuners? It will only support one input from my satellite boxes?
Cue the Angriest Dog in the World.
Wow! I just got my new MacBook this morning. Spent the late afternoon and early evening loading it up. It's fast. Much faster than my 12" PowerBook that it replaced.
More importantly, through the miracle of Parallels Desktop for Mac and Symantec LiveState Recovery, I am now running Microsoft Windows XP in a virtual machine on my Mac, and that virtual machine is connected via VPN to my corporate network.
Yes, I know that was possible on my old G4/G5 Macs using Virtual PC, but the performance was UNBEARABLY slow. This is running, not only faster than Virtual PC, but faster than the very same VM was running in VMWare Workstation on my IBM ThinkPad T41p. And the process of moving that VM from the ThinkPad to my MacBook took less than 90 minutes, 60 of which were restoring the image over my 802.11g wireless network.
No, on to Boot Camp.
At the risk of further in curring the wrath of Monkey Brad, I am still unsure what teh "perfect" song might be. Favorite, I get. Best and worst, I get. But perfect? I'm not sure I get.
Yet there are some songs that simply make me stop. Listen. Enjoy.
Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel). Take Me to the River (Talking Heads). Wondrous Stories (Yes).
Maybe "perfect" is like pornography. We may not know how to define it, but we know it when we hear it.
Trying to work around the house today, I got distracted by my DVD player.
Now the first two I had seen "back in the day." What I cannot fathom is why I thought I liked them. WTF? I guess it's true, "drunk, fat, and stupid is no way to go through life."
As to Club Dread. Well it weren't Super Troopers. Now that is quality cinema.
Thank god for a great bottle of Borra Merlot.