Threat fatigue
The FBI has issued a nonspecific threat warning to law enforcement agencies for the Fourth of July.
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June 29, 2002
Baby Pictures
Saturday Morning News
Bloody Hoof Prints End At Cliff's Edge: A giraffe, suspected in the murder of a US pastor in Kenya, who apparently couldn’t live with the guilt, took it’s own life.
'The Somewhat Bent-Over Person Of Notre Dame': So as not to offend the disabled, a London theater company deleted the word hunchback from the entire production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
An Outpouring Of Confusion: An Alaskan Chicken hypnotist, stranded in Edinburgh England, wins the hearts of the citizens of Austin Texas. Confused? You're not alone.
A Close Shave: A Connecticut man was arrested trying to hold up a store after his disguise, a beard of shaving cream, melted in the heat.
June 28, 2002
Xerox copies Worldcom?
The Knockoff Project
Someone went to a lot of trouble to get these album cover comparisons posted. As expected, Abbey Road, Meet the Beatles, and Elvis had lots of imitators. (via Firda)
Pitched battle
Philippines President Arroyo reports that her troops are going after Abu Sayyaf’s top two remaining leaders and have already overrun four of their camps.
Talkin bout my generation
Few bass players could run a melody like John Entwistle.
A chill in the air
Andrew Kenny, in the Spectator, writes about global warming and the impending ice age.
"Of course, the ultimate irony might be that the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are warding off the ice age. In this case, we should give tax relief to coal power stations and factories for every ton of carbon dioxide they release."
Well, not quite. But he’s right that this too important an issue to be politicized.
Fear and Loathing
In Salon, Sean Elder looks at what Rolling Stone was, what it has become (By trying to hold on to it’s 50 something original audience and attract the frat crowd at the same time, the magazine, he writes, is “starting to look contorted, like some aging hipster playing Twister until his back gives out.”) and where it’s going, if anywhere.
Terror Probe suspect
The Herald has a story on a Saudi man, in the country on a student visa being held as a member of a conspiracy to circumvent immigration laws.
“According to an affidavit filed in federal court this week, the items seized from Saleh Ali Almari's suburban Washington apartment included a sketch of a plane hitting the World Trade Center, a postcard with an aerial view of the Pentagon, books on chemical weapons and aircraft identification, and videos on air and water disasters.”
The items were found in December, well after the Sept attacks, but investigators are looking at Almari's ties in Wasington and Boston for terrorist connections.
Palestinian baby bomber
Drudge is playing this wild photo front and center.
June 27, 2002
Brazil vs. Turkey
Which team would you root for? (via Instapundit.)
East to Australia
Steve Fossett is about halfway around the globe with no landfalls for the rest of the scheduled course. You can see where he’s at on the Bud Light - Spirt of Freedom site.
It’s a smart route, closer to the South Pole than I'd realized, and as a result, shorter than an equatorial circumnavigation. Which raises the question, why didn’t he just start and finish in Anartica?
CSS from a standing stop
I was happily using Front Page to generate web pages until a few weeks ago when I had to learn to use CSS to get Movable Type going. Now, although I can't do some of the things I want, as easily as I used to in FP, at least I know what's going on in the page.
If you find yourself in the same boat as me, here are some good CSS resources for beginners.
Cascading Style Sheets by Hakon Wium Lie and Bert Bos, and this web site at W3 Schools.
As a result of this exercise, I can see how Microsoft was trying to do to HTML what it apparently was trying to do to Java. Front Page was a great program, but it doesn’t seem to adhere to any standards other than its own workarounds. Too bad. My guess is that it will either be upgraded to work transparently with CSS or just fade away.
Flying elbows
I wish I had said this.
Vodkapundit puts the Pledge decision (and a few other things) in perspective.
N.Z. Bear sees it another way.
God Bless America Day
I assume they came up with this idea before yesterday's appeals court decision.
Hobo markings
Some analysts thought that with the Worldcom news, a 'Perfect Storm' was brewing on Wall Street yesterday. Fortunately, it didn’t happen. Which leads me to this site: hobo signs. (I always wondered what the box and squiggly line in it scrawled at the end of my driveway meant.)
Internet terrorists
The Washington Post has an interesting story about the possibility of a terrorist cyber-threat.
And from the BBC, concern that IT folks could be kidnap targets.
Palestinian Democracy
Safire calls Bush ‘Wilsonian’ as well as Reganesque. He also observes that the proposed democratic Palestinian state, if realized, will be a perceived threat to the dictatorial Arab regimes and monarchies in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
June 26, 2002
Miss Cleo takes the fifth on her past life
Miss Cleo felt compelled to take the fifth as far as her own birth certificate was concerned, when questioned by a Florida assistant AG in a deceptive trade practice trial. She must have known where he was going with that line of questioning.
Un-American
This was bound to happen at some point. The Pledge of Allegiance has been found to be unconstitutional.
Texas Justice
Charles Freeman, a lawyer who converted to Islam in the 80s, is hoping to represent Setpember 11th conspirator Zaccarias Moussaoui. Freeman, who once stood trial himself for the murder of a policeman, has a reputation in Texas as a disruptive lawyer, and a friend of the friendless. And Moussaoui, who appears intent on turning his trial into an anti-American tirade, would certainly qualify as friendless at this point.
With a little help from Freeman, Moussaoui’s trial may turn out to be the best argument yet for military tribunals.
UPDATE: Moussaoui almost ends the trial by insisting on pleading guilty, -by mistake.
June 25, 2002
1-800-AUTOPSY
Apparently there are people in the market for private autopsies. This full service site also helps with tissue and organ procurement/retrieval and eyeglass recycling. And don’t forget to visit the gift shop for one of those cool femur pens.
Broadband Study
From the Pew Research Center, how a broadband connection changes your life. Here’s a snippet:
· Close to 9 in 10 broadband users (86%) say the Internet has improved their ability to learn new things.
· Two-thirds (65%) say the Internet has helped them better pursue their hobbies and interests.
· Two-thirds (65%) also say it has improved their ability to shop.
· More than half (55%) say the Internet has improved their ability to do their jobs.
· Nearly half (47%) say the Internet has improved the way they get health care information.
Which war?
According to USA Today, only 33% of Americans think we’re winning the war. Maybe that’s because the war is over and we already won.
I think the poll confuses the ‘war on terrorism,’ which is more of a long term strategy than a war, with the crush of the Taliban and suppression of the Al Qaeda network. Maybe it's dangerous to say it, but despite the threats, THERE HAVE BEEN NO ATTACKS IN THE US since we began the campaign in Afghanistan.
Most people know that there’s no perfect defense against terrorists, and eventually something will sneak through. That doesn’t mean we're not winning.
The job is done.
The site has been cleared down to the bedrock, and the last of the cleanup crew has left Ground Zero. This story in the Times marks the sad event.
Backlinking
Open Source Autos
This is an interesting story about releasing the source code for computers in cars, all to make life easier for small shops to diagnose problems.
Mideast plan
Here’s the text of Bush’s Mideast speech. There’s lots of buzz around the net, with most reviews running favorable.
The BBC looks at how the Palestinians viewed it. Arafat, true to form, managed to speak from both sides of his mouth, calling the plan, which basically called for his ouster, "a serious effort to push the peace process forward."
WTC building proposal
An, even larger than the original, proposal for the WTC site. Four giant tubes with a pyramid on top. Not a good looking building if you ask me.
June 24, 2002
A frank look at security issues
This is the headline of the week.
"Police fear wurst, halt Wienermobile near Pentagon"
Farmers evicted as the people starve
Here’s an update on Mugabe’s slow dismantling of Zimbabwe. Many of the farmers have given up and are accepting the order to stop farming and to vacate their farms. Famine is widespread. Here’s an excerpt from a Nando Times story.
The World Food Program estimated nearly half the country's 12.5 million people would need food assistance this year. The crisis was caused by dry weather and the often violent seizure of land by Mugabe loyalists on the commercial farms, which are about five times more productive than small-scale farms, the WFP said.
This, in what was until a few years ago, the breadbasket of Africa.
Plunder Dome Verdict
Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci was initially found guilty of the RICO count in the Plunder Dome trial. But confusion reigns.
The jury, did not find Cianci guilty of any of the predicate acts leading to the RICO charge, and the judge has sent them back, apparently to get their act together. As they say, developing…
Best updates should be found at the Providence Journal
New decisions.
5 to 4, the Supreme Court upheld a judge’s decision to impose a harsher sentence for a crime in which a gun was used, even if the defendant was not specifically charged with using the gun.
The court also altered the rules for states that allow judges to impose the death penalty, overturning hundreds of death sentences in the process.
Hit makers
Martin Devon ponders the future of the music business. I like the idea of an Inastpundit for new music. This used to be called a disc jockey, then a program director, now they're mega-coprorate marketing consultants. It's the big media vs. small media thing again.
'Branding' the enemy
On the same theme as below... Was it a good idea to over publicize the danger of Bin Laden? This Christian Science Monitor article looks at the "exaggerated enemy” phenomenon, and how the myth of an all powerful Al Qaeda works both ways. (link from Jay Caruso via Instapundit)
Another Elvis sighting in Peshawar
Based on absolutely no evidence, Pakistan admits, Bin Laden may be in the country.
One reason cited: “Al-Jazeera has broadcast an audio recording of a man claiming to be an Al Qaeda spokesman, who says bin Laden is alive and well.” And, the Senate Intelligence committee thinks that if he's anywhere, he might be somewhere around there.
Come on. There’s more evidence of UFOs stopping for gas at Area 51 than for Bin Laden being alive. Why does the Western media let this stuff go. This is just pro-al Qaeda propaganda.
I'll believe Bin Laden's alive and well, when I see him on al-Jazeera holding up the day's Times, and reading from the latest Maureen Dowd column.
But, I suppose it would be nice if he was found, …just so we could kill him again.
The farmers and the War Veterans
Most of the White farmers in Zimbabwe have been ordered by the government to stop farming, a mind-boggling move in a time of famine. Some farmers are refusing the order and will likely be punished or killed. It’s a sad thing to watch this country self destruct.
Tourist traps
Not surprisingly, tourism is down in Arab countries as Westerners steer clear. And apparently they've given up on us for the time being. A campaign by Arab tourism boards hopes to bring in a whole new group of tourists: other arabs.
June 23, 2002
The Great American Movie
Watching The Deer Hunter Sunday night on AMC (with annoying but informative pop up comments) I learned that during the first Russian roulette scene, DeNiro apparently suggested that Cimino put a live round into the gun to 'notch up the tension' for the actors. Cimino agreed but “checked it like 5000 times” so nobody got hurt.
Whatever the reason, it stands as one of the all time high intensity movie moments.
But it was the Pennsylvania scenes that made this a great American movie. The wedding in the cathedral with the choir singing and then the reception. The hunting scenes. Drinking in the car. The last scene in the first part of the film at Welsh’s bar where the boys come in drunk, singing “Drop kick me, Jesus” and then go quiet as George Dzundza sits at the piano to play a Chopin Nocturne, just before the scene shifts to Vietnam. And of course the final scene, back at Welsh’s singing God Bless America.
The other thing that strikes me is that Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro all look like kids. Time marches on I guess.
Child abuse
Here's a link to an LGF post with another photo showing how sick the Palestinian culture has become.
June 22, 2002
Bin who?
Al-Jazeera is scraping the bottom of the barrel. This pretty much proves that he's dead.
Anthrax update
If you were beginning to be concerned that the anthrax investigation had been put on the back burner, and beginning to wonder why, you might find this NYT story interesting. Apparently the FBI is pushing the investigation hard, but finding itself heavily reliant on scientific experts, who themselves might be suspects.
“Scientists at labs in Massachusetts, Ohio, Utah and elsewhere have invented new protocols and tests to probe the molecular structure of the anthrax — a task complicated by the possibility that the culprit could be among the microbiologists assisting the F.B.I.”
Some new information:
Carbon dating determined that the anthrax sent in the mail was produced in the last two years, ending speculation that it was obtained from an old lab sample of the Ames strain.
At one point, it was passed up the chain of command that an arrest was imminent, but the suspect was found to be innocent.
There, but for the grace of God...
This might be the kind of thing that would explain the silence and paralysis among the Catholic Church hierarchy.
Saturday morning news
By the numbers
I’m not sure what the point of this story is. Should more Asian cops be taking drugs?
Skyscrapers
Look up your favorite one. The proposed NY TV tower is a beautiful building, as are some of the other skyscrapers still on the drawing board. Interestingly, only of few of these proposed skyscrapers are to be built in the US.
Morto the Magician
They don't make kid's cartoons like this anymore. And hopefully they never did.
The face of American celebrity
HUBLOG takes note of a Boston.com celebrity snapshot. It’s Britney, Tiger, Michael and Oprah juxtaposed. (Doesn’t Britney look a bit like Michael Jackson (or visa versa) in that picture?)
Then it’s Beverly Beckham in the crosshairs for her “what terrorism means to me” column in which she seems, in light of recent terrorist attacks around the world, to focus ultimately on what could happen to her. The effect is to make her seem as brave in her everyday life as those Israelis who continue to go about their lives in a real danger zone. HUBLOG was right on target on this one.
Beckham's next column might be about how the asteroid last week almost hit HER.
Capitol punishment
Everyone likes this kind of story.
June 21, 2002
Reality check
June 20, 2002
Help, help, I'm being repressed
This is a hilarious tale of academic arrogance, political correctness, extortion, bullying, an assault on the first amendment, anti-American militancy, perversion of justice and just plain cluelessness in using email.
It has everything: farce, tragedy, comedy, drama, bathos. Its all true, and in the end, the good guys win. You couldn't pay for entertainment this good.
Smack Dab
Money changes
The Federal Reserve Board is going to change the color of money.
Version Fatigue
Glenn Reynolds writes on why we don't read the manual.
Close call
As if we didn't have enough problems. An asteroid almost hit the earth last Friday.
Dog's life
As a dog lover, I’ve been meaning to link to
this
Lileks column. Here's a snippet. It describes (Mallory, right) one of my dogs perfectly.
"He’s a remarkably self-contained dog, and sometimes I think the relationship between us is like the one between an enlisted man who’s seen a few battles and a lieutenant fresh out of ROTC. I outrank him, but that doesn’t mean he thinks I’m smarter."
Also not good
Not good
People are sensing that we are approaching a breaking point between Israel and the Palestinians.
Dianne E. says that Israel should do something drastic. VodkaPundit notices that Musharraf was able to reign in the terrorists only when faced with the possibility of a nuclear strike. Asparagirl sees a nuclear exchange between the Palestinians and Israel on the horizon.
More insanity
Yesterday’s Palestinian bomber left a note saying “it’s nice to be killed while killing.”
Arafat called for the obligatory halt to the bombings, while steering clear of the moral issue of targeting children. His concern, merely that it would give Sharon an excuse to be more aggressive with incursions.
Hamas said it would ignore Arafat’s call to stop bombings.
The future of ideas
Lawrence Lessig on defending the architecture of cyberspace.
It's a sled
Moviepooper gives the endings to all the movies that you don’t have the time to see. For example, I found that in the ending to Frankenhooker, "Jeffrey (James Lorinz) wakes up to find his head attached to the hooker's body." That's a two hour savings. (link from Firda)
Odd news
June 19, 2002
Bombing Children
Another Palestinian bombing today. An infant and a child were among the seven killed after the bomber ran into the bus shelter where the children and adults were standing.
After the Omagh bombing by the ‘Real IRA’ there was an almost complete withdrawal of moral support for these tactics -on both sides. This also in a seemingly irreconcilable conflict hundreds of years old. And, even where it wasn’t clear that the children in Omagh were targeted by intent, or just carelessness.
Where’s the moral outrage in the Islamic world. (Where’s the outrage even from the likes of Ted Turner?) Is it now OK to intentionally blow up children for a cause? There is something very wrong in the growing acceptance of the planned murder of children as 'just a part of the conflict.'
Are we treating groups like the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade and Fatah the way we treat the Real IRA? (Even Amazon.com cut them off!)
The Europeans certainly aren’t.
Mind the gap
In addition to the New York subway blogger’s map, there is now a London Tube map.
Here are the closest bloggers to Abbey Road.
(And speaking of Abbey Road, I’m fourth down on the page, crossing the famous street.)
A cup of mud
Only in Berkeley. A group is trying to put a measure on the ballot that would allow only politically correct coffee to be served within the city limits. (link from Country Store via DaliyPundit.)
Laying down the Law
The Boston Globe and Herald are reporting that Massachusetts Grand Jury proceedings are underway, looking into the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. It’s possible (though unlikely) that Cardinal Law could be the subject of a criminal indictment.
Its all relative
Tom Friedman, in a series of columns, seems to be warming to Iran as the hope of the Islamic world. I’m not as hopeful.
Back from the Brink
An Indian military scientist says it was the nukes that prevented a war with Pakistan.
Adrift
Still no sign of the terrorist boat.
Removing unwanted email
This is something that I need. Mail Washer filters and sends spam back to the sender. (link courtesy of Rebecca Blood)
Speaking of Spam, how about this email which had in the Subject line: Osama Bin Laden IS FOUND...
"Well Maybe that bustard wasn't fount yet!
But, what you just found is an amazing way of supporting the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!
My name is Debbie and I am a proud American babe, My fulltime job is to play with myself on my webcamera! : )"
Etc.
Talk about patriotism.
June 18, 2002
The unbuilding of the WTC
The current Atlantic Monthly has the first of three reports on the ‘Unbuilding of the World Trade Center” by William Langewiesche. The web version is up, but it’s only a short excerpt. I recommend getting the magazine and reading the article.
Here’s an interview with the author.
Colorizing history
Ted Turner on why he called the September 11th hijackers “brave”
"I chose accidentally to say that they (the hijackers) were brave ... I use that word so often, it just pops out."
This apparently because he owns the Atlanta Braves and uses the word a lot. Right.
He goes on to defend (in the Guardian) suicide bombing by the Palestinians.
“Thisfor your kind ATTENTION”
I can’t say I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who falls for any of the Nigerian mail scams. They’re either idiots or blinded by greed. This Wired story looks at some of the variants of the original scam.
This is an excerpt of the most recent of these messages in my inbox:
If you can take care of me as my guardian I will open up to you and tell you the amount involve. My father has a lot of money in trunk box which he bury at his under ground safe at the back of our mansion. If you can help me in your care. Please reply this e-mail as soon as possible.
Rightnow, I am in Abidjan- Ivory Coast in making this contact and arrangement. I came here on saturday 8th june 2002. I want to conclude with you in this regard before going to sierra leone for the fund and also come over to your country. I can be reached by this telephone number: +225 07 835 967."
Who Designed Woodpeckers?
From Scientific American, Here are 15 reasons to discredit creationism.
Another bomb attack in Israel
This time a bus carrying High School students was targeted. 19 or more killed.
From the BBC ... NY Times ... Washington Post ... Jerusalem Post
Steven DenBeste sees the futility of the conflict and Stephen Green gets mad… (“I have no problem with a Palestinian state …Just so long as none of it is west of the Jordan river, south of the Lebanon hills, or north of Hell.”)
An interesting decision.
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that police can enter a bus and if acting in a non-coercive way, can ask passengers to submit to a search. The decision overturned a lower court ruling that these kinds of searches were by nature coercive.
From the Boston Globe:
If the officers ask, in ''a polite, quiet voice'' and do not ''brandish a weapon,'' they may seek passengers' consent to search their bodies or their belongings, the court said in an opinion written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
In that situation, the court said, passengers are not being unconstitutionally coerced into giving the officers consent to search. In this particular incident, Kennedy wrote, ''the officers gave the passengers no reason to believe that they were required to answer the officers' questions'' and nothing police said would bar anyone from getting up and leaving the bus.
Bus passengers, the opinion said, would be inclined to cooperate with officers because they ''know that their participation enhances their own safety and the safety of those around them.''
June 17, 2002
George Jetson on a Segway?
I don't think so.
This is more like it. According to the NY Post, Toyota is working on a flying car.
Hamas and chemical weapons
This story in the Jerusalem Times refers to a television report on a Hamas meeting to discuss the use of chemical weapons in suicide attacks.
According to the report, Hamas issued a statement after conducting a strategic debate which generated the decision to use chemical weapons in addition to conventional bombs.
"When we reach that stage [using chemical weapons], the gates will be opened to develop suicide attacks with Allah's help," the report said, quoting from the statement issued by the movement yesterday.
The statement claimed that the aim is to further harm those hit by shrapnel in a bomb blast and "create a massacre."
A Hamas spokesman called the report "lies."
Congress votes to change the name of the telephone to the teletrofono.
From a story in the Guardian… “Italy hailed the redress of a historic injustice yesterday after the US Congress recognised an impoverished Florentine immigrant as the inventor of the telephone rather than Alexander Graham Bell.”
Beam me up, Ping Koy.
Dr Ping Koy Lam, a physicist at the Australian National University claims to have successfully tested a teleportation device, comparing it to the transporter on Star Trek.
The Hussein hit squad
Stephen Green makes a good point about why we read about the apparent planned assassination of Saddam Hussein before the fact in the Washington Post (rather than after in the Bagdad Post obituaries.)
Anniversary special
Who does John Dean think Deep Throat is? ...Is it Pat Buchanan?
You can pay $8 bucks over at Salon to find out. Or you can read Howard Kurtz for free.
Or take this class.
June 16, 2002
Dim Sum music
There's a cat in the kettle at the Peking Moon...
Click here to start the music.
Woodward reports Hussein can be killed.
If the nod was given to kill Saddam Hussein, why would we want to read about it before the fact in the Washington Post? I would have thought that this might be one of those things that we would maybe want to keep, you know - a secret.
But the story appears to be hype. Although played (by Drudge and others) as Bush giving the green light for an assassination of Hussein, it reports only that Special Forces can use lethal force in “self defense”. Does that mean that if Saddam tries to rob a liquor store they can shoot him?
Beach reading
The Times looks at the lone scientist trend, highlighted most recently by Stephen Wolfram’s A New Kind of Science, but going back to Julius Jaynes Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.
A million here, a million there…
In a well written but poorly reasoned column, Ellen Goodman explains that it’s only ok to steal from the very rich.
Happy Bloomsday
A few Joyce links...
The Brazen Head
Work in Progress
Ulysses
IQ Infinity
June 15, 2002
"He didn't have a happy look on his face."
Airport security checks app