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Saturday, June 22, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:41 PM:
Abbreviated French News while we're on vacation. Just a few headlines from AFP and Le Monde:SNCF (French National Railroad) Strike messes up service in east Paris. NB: In France, they don't generally shut down a whole service or plant with a strike; selective walkouts for short periods of time that goof things up but not all the way are the preferred tactic as they lead to public frustration, rather than hostility.
500 dead in earthquake in Iran
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posted by gbarto at 10:35 PM:
Ann Landers, dead at 83.An American institution with lots of advice both good and bad. RIP
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posted by gbarto at 7:45 PM:
Israeli offensive growsBut will it be enough? Because little short of showing the Palestinians that peaceful action is their only logical course will help.
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posted by gbarto at 7:41 PM:
Armitage peace plan with PakistanLet's hope it works. Better chance here than the Middle East. Both sides have rational leaders who lead real countries.
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posted by gbarto at 12:00 PM:
I've only seen a little about the tank incident, but I guess all you can say is there is now a war on and these things do happen. But it wasn't deliberate, and that makes a big difference.* * *
Thursday, June 20, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:05 PM:
The Captain is meditating on the Israel question again.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:00 PM:
It's happening in Algeria too. 11 dead in bus bombing.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:58 PM:
Here. You already saw on Instapundit, but give it another look. This was produced by the same mindset that we are fighting in our war on terror. Remember that.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:48 PM:
Israel in Nablus, says Fox News. In the meantime, Hamas has declared war on buses. Will Arafat be able to recage the tiger he unleashed? Does he really want to? I suspect he does, if only because with each passing day, his viability as leader of the Palestinians looks shakier and shakier. But many moons ago, Bibi Netanyahu, hardly Arafat's best friend, gave Arafat both his trust and a ton of weapons for the P.A. crackdown on militants. The weapons were instead turned against Israelis. Arafat had his chance to live up to that Nobel Prize and be recognized by history as part of the partnership that brought real peace to the Middle East. He spat on that opportunity when Ehud Barak offered a dream deal. And so the Palestinian pay with their lives and livelihoods for Arafat's fecklessness, even as the Israelis pay with their lives for their leaders' goodwill toward the Palestinians.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:41 PM:
The TurkeyBlog will be out of town about two weeks starting too early tomorrow morning. Posting will be probably be sparse though we'll see if I can get regular access to a terminal.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:38 PM:
French news:Le Monde leads with "The First General Strike for Aznar". Aznar, of course, is the conservative reform president of Spain; people took to the streets to protest the new unemployment law, disrupting an EU conference in Seville.
Elsewhere, an Organization for African Unity meeting is being all messed up by the power rivalry in Madagascar, where a dozen mercenaries were intercepted yesterday.
Other lead: the U.S. Supreme Court declared the execution of the retarded unconstitutional.
Le Figaro print headlines: The Socialist Party at Settling Time (i.e., time to count up the damages); Europe: towards an agreement of budgetary equilibrium; Sexism on the rise among the young
Le Figaro on the web leads with "Three million face famine in Angola"
Libération leads with divisions in the Socialist Party, namely between those, who with Laurent Fabius, want "social liberalism" and those who want a populist left.
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posted by gbarto at 3:51 PM:
Well, no more work for me today. I'm going to go play with this thing (requires a flash plugin).Blame Natalie Solent, who stopped posting, herself, after this went up..
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posted by gbarto at 3:42 PM:
Charles Krauthammer wonders why the State Department, ever singing the praises of "land for peace," always expects Israel to give the land but can't bring itself to demand that the Palestinians give peace in turn. The answer is easy: The U.S. State Department has ceased to represent American interests and now has its principal goal to prove to our enemies that it won't sell them out because it will sell us out instead. While the individuals at the State Department are no doubt wonderful people as individuals, collectively, they have enough blood on their hands to fill the Great Lakes. Sad to say, it's looking more and more like the Israelis' best option for getting the support they deserve is to start hijacking planes, shooting people in the streets of American cities and demanding social justice when asked what the hell they're doing. It's worked for the Arabs.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:32 PM:
George Will on what passes for art. This is just plain sick. America's "artists" continue to try to shock, but more and more, they merely disgust. One more reminder of why we keep going to the Art Institutes to look at the old masters, instead of contemporary galleries for a look at the latest. Monet remains fresh; Greuze remains interesting. But last week's hot new hit from the art world was stale before it hit the exhibition.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:17 PM:
California School Bans TagElementary school says game creates self-esteem problems
I know it scarred me for life. To this day, I freak every time someone taps me on the shoulder and says, "You're it."
Er, maybe not. Methinks PC anticompetitiveness has gone a little far here.
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posted by gbarto at 3:14 PM:
The Palestinian search for peace continues:Six Killed in West Bank Attack
Palestinian gunmen invade family's home in Israeli settlement
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posted by gbarto at 8:59 AM:
I'm not even going to discuss this story because Arafat's words are now meaningless anyway.* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:57 AM:
Business Sections Get JuicyRash of corporate scandals fills newspapers with tabloid flavor
Holman Jenkins explained this well yesterday in the WSJ: In an economy as big as ours, there's bound to be some crime. So if you want to sell the idea of a corporate crime wave, just open your eyes and look around.
Jenkins notes that CEOs were slipping off to jail, accountants were getting asked tough questions and boards were abusing perks just as much in '98 as today. The only difference is that the markets were doing well, so we weren't looking for someone to blame. Hence no investigations.
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posted by gbarto at 8:53 AM:
Senators Push 'Free Airtime'McCain, Feingold propose advertising time vouchers
WASHINGTON — Determined to keep up momentum for the campaign finance movement, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., unveiled a new proposal Wednesday to give airtime vouchers to candidates and parties funded by a new fee on broadcasters. [my italics]There's a reason Fox News put "free" in quotation marks; the only question is whether broadcasters will find a way to pass the fee on to consumers (probably with reduced programming quality, if nothing else, as if more political blather wouldn't do the trick alone). It's interesting that John McCain finds what he and other candidates have to say to be so much more important to viewers than the normal fare. Are we looking at the classic McCain ego here? Or just the inside-the-beltway belief that Washington is all-important.
Either way, I am personally affronted when the same people who want to shut me out of the debate then think others should pay for their podium. To paraphrase Reagan, "Buy your own damn microphone."
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posted by gbarto at 8:43 AM:
Supreme Court Bans Executing RetardedDeath penalty for low-IQ killers constitutes cruel and ususual punishment, bitter 6-3 decision says
Probably a wise decision; while there may in some circumstances be just enough intelligence there for the person to know what's going on, the state should err on the side of caution when deciding whether to exercise power.
Of course I feel that way about the death penalty in general; I can see its application but am dubious about whether government can trusted to be neither abusive nor just plain incompetent in its use.
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posted by gbarto at 12:06 AM:
A Dog's Life comments here and here on the Palestinian situation and here on the International Court of Justice.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:02 AM:
Common Sense has some info on the foolish nature of socialism.* * *
Wednesday, June 19, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:57 PM:
Oh... my... God! Edward Said was both right and truthful about something. And there are further ominous tidings in this Instapundit post.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:55 PM:
Were Atta and the gang really behind the anthrax letters? Instapundit ostensibly has an FBI memo to that effect.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:52 PM:
French news:Le Monde offers "The Contours of a New Afghanistan", "Two suicide bombings in two days" and a call from the Education minister for a "Fight against Illiteracy", which he says is his number one priority. Interesting given the widespread perception that Europe is universally literate, but in fact 15% of French children entering middle school have reading difficulties and Luc Ferry is therefore picking up the pace with programs put in place by his predecessor to make reading and reading practice top priorities in the early grades.
Le Figaro on the web leads with "Europe unarmed in the face of clandestine activity," noting that border controls still have not been agreed on for the EU even though the members were required to reach an arrangment long ago. Le Figaro print headlines: Europe and Immigration; 11000 new spots in prisons; New Suicide Bombing in Israel
Libération leads with European economic ministers wondering what to do about France's deficit. And in world news, they tell us about Jerusalem, Core Kamikazee Target.
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posted by gbarto at 11:31 PM:
The other night, I wondered about the tenor of a comment by Joshua Claybourn with respect to Jerry Falwell and acceptance of homosexuality, hoping that he hadn't meant for things to come out the way they did, and indeed he didn't. He's updated that post to confirm he isn't anti-gay and added some worthwhile thoughts on the nature of loving and forgiving one another to boot.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:59 PM:
But don't get all worried about the Palestinians just because of the sentiments expressed below. Europe is still with them. Charles Johnson has the whole sick, repulsive disgusting story of how the continent that turned Jew-slaughtering into a science is responding to the latest.By the way, they do it all the time, so I'm going to do it here:
Death to Hamas! Death to Hezbollah! Death to Al-Aqsa! Death to the PA!
And down with their Eurofascist backers!
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posted by gbarto at 3:55 PM:
Attack Kills Seven in IsraelAt least 35 hurt after homicide bomber runs from car into crowd at bus stop and explodes in Jerusalem
Related Stories
- Israeli Troops Enter Ramallah
- Israeli Helicopters Attack Gaza
- Bush Statement On Hold After Second Jerusalem Bombing
- Israel to Seize Palestinian Lands
- Prominent Palestinians Condemn Attacks
By the way, did I forget to mention there'd been another bombing? The TurkeyBlog is of the opinion that Israel at this point should be able to do whatever the hell they want. You'll notice Bush is just itching to deliver a speech about what Palestinian statehood would look like. Fuck 'em. They had their chance with Barak. They blew it. They had a million shots at redemption. They blew it. They got a meeting with Powell. They blew it. Until Yasser Arafat is dead and gone, there's no hope. Because Arafat will watch Israelis die time and time again, and always the refrain will be the same: Poor little us. Palestinian men will blow up little girls eating ice cream with their grandmothers. And Arafat will say: Poor little us. Schoolkids will get on the bus to attend classes on the way to growing up. And when a grown Palestinian man blows them up with himself, there will be Arafat again: Poor little us. Yasser Arafat is a murderous monster who thinks the world should have regard for the humanity of his noxious people, yet sees not the humanity of the Jewish people. He's too focused on poor little them. And so the Palestinians will remain kneedeep in sh-- until Yasser Arafat is gone, for he still sees Israel as the enemy. Even though they've ostensibly been partners in peace for years. The real enemies are Hamas and Hezbollah. They care not what the Palestinian people want. They'll kill and maim to advance their agenda, with or without the support of the people. They'll watch every last Palestinian home burn to the ground, every last Palestinian child's hopes and opportunities for the future fade away. Because they don't care about the Palestinian people. They only care about the Jews. Gotta get the Jews. And if the Palestinians are driven into the sea, what will we hear? From Arafat, poor little us, Israel is so mean to want for its people to live free and secure. And from Hezbollah and Hamas? Gotta get the Jews. Gotta get the Jews. The Israelis are a people who want the Palestinians out of their hair. More than half want to give them a state and let them build their own country, so long as they leave Israel alone. The people who don't want the Palestinians to exist as a people, to have their own land, their own government? That's Hamas. Hezbollah. Al-Aqsa. And to look at his deeds, Yasser Arafat. Today some Palestinians did take out an ad condemning yesterday's bombing. It's a good step. When they condemn the bombers and announce that Hamas is a scourge on the Palestinian people, it will be a better step. But until the Palestinians realize their quarrel isn't with Israel, but with the Islamofascists, they're doomed to lives of poverty - both spiritual and financial. Let's hope they soon figure out who the real enemy is. When a suicide bomber blows up next to Arafat, or outside the headquarters of Hezbollah, that will be a glorious martyrdom. Today, as yesterday, we just saw nihilistic thuggery.
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posted by gbarto at 9:41 AM:
Natalie Solent suspects U.S. Ambassadors to Saudi of being on the take, given their slavish behavior. The real story is more scandalous: People sent to put on a happy face for America go all weak in the knees when told how great they are, now if you'll just sign here... And why are they hired later? Because who do you want for your Western PR guy? A cynical Madison Avenue type who will tell you to change out the robes if they're not selling this month? Or a co-opted unwitting true believer in what great people you can be?The story of diplomacy is the story of affable people who want to get along with everyone they meet being sent to meet our enemies. With whom they then want to get along. No story here, except that it's wise for leaders to think through the implications of who they choose to represent them, yet leaders rarely do.
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posted by gbarto at 9:34 AM:
Eric Raymond on the problem of the idea of moderate Islam. His most important point: the all important nature of the Koran. Of course the Bible is supposed to be all important, too. The difference is what is done with the text. Even Biblical Literalists, so scornful of moderate Christians, aren't stoning prostitutes or marrying off widows to their brothers-in-law. How come? Because even Biblical Literalists know there are places where you just can't read the Bible absolutely literally (thanks to internal self-contradictions, if nothing else, though which passage they choose to believe is literal can be instructive). What we're looking at here is a pragmatic reassessment of the Bible to make our understanding of it consistent with the social norms of our civilization. Which is just fine, since those norms were based on lengthy reinterpretation and reassessment of the Bible over time. In other words, the modern reader of the Bible knows that this is not a game of rewriting to please oneself; rather, we grasp the sense of the Bible and apply its truths about the meaning and nature of life and virtue & c. to a world where the physical world is better understand and the moral world more thoroughly considered. In this light, moderate Muslims should not be taunted with the idea they had to give up their faith to retain their sanity. They should be saluted for paving the way for what happened with Christianity a long time ago: a realization that the language they believe their God used to address a people 1400 years ago may hold timeless truths but the prevailing social metaphors used in the text, coupled with language and culture change mean the implications of doing His will must find different expression in a mature and highly successful religion in the 21st century than in a budding minority religion trying but not succeeding to find common ground with the only other monotheistic religions in the neighborhood c. 600 AD.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:18 AM:
Natalie Solent addresses the question of why the blogosphere is occupied by the right wing, this in response to a left-leaning triumphalist. A few thoughs of my own:The computer user demographic has long tilted a bit to the right. You could see this in the earliest online polls at CNN, for example. Two possible reasons for this: 1) computers cost money and those with money tilt to the right. 2) business people have computers at work; factory workers usually don't (at least not internet terminals). Demographically, the first group tilts right; the second is more divided. If computer users lean to the right, it's unsurprising that the blogosphere would mirror this trend.
The right has indeed given up entering the mainstream as today defined. A while back, another group of folks became convinced that they couldn't enter or find a place in the mainstream. They made a mainstream of their own. They were called Protestants. The left-leaning "mainstream" delights in believing the conservatives are detached from the mainstream, but the sales of their mainstream newspapers is down, the viewership of their mainstream newscasts is down and belief in the value systems of their mainstream opinion is down.
The blogosphere deals in pinpricks because that's all you really need to burst a bubble or let the hot air out of traditional media's balloon. But the blogosphere does more. Steven Den Beste writes masterful examinations of the sort that could appear in any mainstream publication, but for their candor, insight and thoughtfulness. Glenn Reynolds, the master of link and comment, writes substantive pieces for the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and his blog. Joanne Jacobs was in the mainstream media until she decide to focus on her research interest, education, and write a book. Her blog offers for free what the San Jose Mercury News used to pay her for. Virginia Postrel (now on hiatus) has written one book that showed up on network television the other night (on a John Stossel program that must have been mainstream since it was on ABC). I could go on, but I would triple the length of this month's archive if I mentioned every blogger peddling serious thought. Hell, even this blog indulges in the illusion of it now and again. Because here it can.
There are no J-school trained editors, with their petty, provincial gotta please but educate the local yokels mindset, screening content here. No requirement to keep the prose at fourth-grade reading level. No omsbudsmen living in mortal dread of the local chapter of the Pagan Vegetarian Ululators lodging another complaint. And there's little of the mindset that says "Woodward and Bernstein brought down Nixon and I'm going to change the world with an important story about good government too." The mainstream media is by turns timid corporatist and activist without a cause. The blogosphere calls 'em as it sees 'em, and if there's nothing happening, posting is light or for amusement - no need for constant serious tones to remind how important we are because we're not. We're just ordinary people using our God given right to express our opinion. And anything as commonsensical as that will, of course, come from that fount of common sense wisdom, the thought of the libertarian right.
One final note: The blogosphere is not the wave of the future. It is in the here and now. As Glenn and others were batting around the other day, the blogosphere is the new coffeehouse. Indeed, it is a lot like the small time coffeehouse where people shooting off their mouths spread the word and got Newt Gingrich and his merry band into the leadership of Congress. And pulled him off his perch when he got too caught up in power to remember the ordinary folks who put him there. In the past, the overarching liberal media left every coffeehouse goer convinced that his community was just about alone in the world among places that held to values other than those of the New York Times. The blogosphere has linked a lot of those coffeehouse goers of yore - or their intellectual descendants, at any rate. So that now people who care enough about politics to read about it and discuss it can get together, no matter how hard the New York Times tries to argue that no one else could possibly hold their views since the withering Old Gray Lady says otherwise. And lo and behold, when you get people who read enough to know what's going on and are openminded enough to read other people's opinions, whaddya know? They're mostly from the libertarian right. Whoda thunk it?
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posted by gbarto at 12:15 AM:
Joshua Claybourn asks the question Christian conservatives the world over must ask themselves regularly: Why must they drag out Jerry Falwell every time there's a call for a conservative Christian commentator?I'm a little concerned though that his phrasing implies he wants a better spokesman for the "anti-gay" position. I came down on the side of tolerance vis-à-vis homosexuality a long time ago, not least because of some very fine people I knew in college. However, my stance in favor of tolerance was completely and totally solidified by two factors: 1) Andrew Sullivan's earnest efforts to reconcile his nature and his church's teachings. 2) Jerry Falwell's forthright anti-homosexual animus (though no rules are absolute, it's safe to say that if Falwell gets a smug look while discussing an issue, right-thinking people are on the other side).
Though the TurkeyBlog is a Christian with a conservative bent, he is a) strongly libertarian and b) offended by the notion that believing in Jesus gives you the right to judge others (seems to me there's a passage somewhere that says you're not supposed to do that). Which is at its core why he favors tolerance - nay, acceptance and understanding - for homosexuals, and which is why he is really miffed that Jerry Falwell is so often presented as the hardcore version of his religion. He thinks the hardcore version should be someone who really works hard to save even the most seemingly irredeemable soul with the compassion, understanding and openness that Christ showed to lepers, tax collectors and other folks out of favor. Which is why an earnest Catholic like Sullivan, for example, shouldn't have any more problem than any of the rest of us in standing before God in the hope that he'll be redeemed, despite his imperfections. But why Jerry Falwell, who regularly violates the injunction, "judge not, lest ye be judged," is going to have at least as much explaining to do as Sullivan when he gets to the Pearly Gates.
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002
posted by gbarto at 11:41 PM:
Following up on the below, a bit of wonder from Common Sense and Wonder.* * *
posted by gbarto at 11:37 PM:
Flipping through the server logs and what should I see but "Common Sense." As in a marvelous blog called "Common Sense and Wonder". I had a good feeling about the page from the masthead quotes before I even got to the content, which is also quite nice. Have a look.But be forewarned: I'm in the permalinks on this "common sense" page; other errors are possible.
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posted by gbarto at 11:30 PM:
Nice all embracing value system here. And it's 800 pages shorter than Marx!But I think he's cribbing from Locke and Jefferson.
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posted by gbarto at 10:38 PM:
Den Beste here, here, here and here on what's going on with Israel. The TurkeyBlog has been talking about the same things here, here, here and here.However, ultimate credit for the new Israeli response must go to Uthant who said (as we noted earlier today):
The Palestinians formally get control of all 2,165 square miles of the West Bank, with full autonomy, open borders, and if it turns out that there are any civil rights that come with being citizens of an Arab nation, they can have those too. It's up to them. No questions asked.This was Uthant's peace plan. Let us salute Sharon for implementing it unilaterally. What visionaries!
In return, the Israelis get to take back 20 square miles of land every time an Israeli dies at the hands of a Palestinian. No questions asked.
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posted by gbarto at 9:56 PM:
Matt Welch has a sharp reader e-mail about reconciling gay, Christian and Republican. Having a bit of a libertarian streak, I've never understood why my party and religion waste so much time putting off their own - even as the one preaches tolerance and the need to value every person (or did I misread that part about God noting the fall of even the tiniest sparrow) and the other says it's the job you do, not what you are that's important (anti-affirmative action), that freedom trumps all (2nd amendment) and that the market, not the government, should direct society.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:37 PM:
Fredrik Norman says Arafat's been loading up foreign accounts with aid money while the West Bank remains a mess. If the Euroleft won't get angry with him for killing Jews, how about for being rich? (Or is he just following the old Eurosocialist model here?)* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:33 PM:
Me too, except the part about the tip jar actually being hit. But the Turkey Blog does not despair. Already the Tip Jar has paid for nearly three weeks' hosting in the 5+ months it's been up. Profitability is just around the corner.Either that, or this Instapundit mention about bloggers policing Wall Street isn't such a good idea.
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posted by gbarto at 9:22 PM:
The Truth Laid Bear on the bombings and the Palestinians. You already followed this link at Instapundit but I wanted it to throw out another thought that I heard today about dealing with homicide bombers: Why doesn't Israel skip the niceties and just go to the homes of the suicide bombers and blow up the home and everyone inside? That way Saddam and the Saudis won't have anyone to send the checks to and the suicide bombers will know that killing an Israeli is the same as killing mom (though that would be perhaps commendable in the case of the mother who only wished she had a hundred sons so they could kill that many more Jews). Barbaric? Sure. Atrocious? No question. If you want to be nicer about it, how about if every time that Saddam has a check-passing-out-ceremony the Israelis bomb it? That way only those who try to collect blood money will be hurt. Fairer to the Palestinians, though that's a concern only the Western Civilized Nations would hold; as we noted earlier, 19 people were killed today for no other reason than that their parents were Jewish.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:09 PM:
French news:Le Monde asks, "How can one assure security in Israel?"
UThant still has the best answer:
(The Palestinians formally get control of all 2,165 square miles of the West Bank, with full autonomy, open borders, and if it turns out that there are any civil rights that come with being citizens of an Arab nation, they can have those too. It's up to them. No questions asked.but we digress. Le Monde discusses the far less interesting idea of building a wall to keep the Palestinians out, an idea being implemented, in fact, but not so quickly but what 19 Israelis weren't killed today in yet another attack.
In return, the Israelis get to take back 20 square miles of land every time an Israeli dies at the hands of a Palestinian. No questions asked.)
As for France, Le Monde notes that "The Right Sets Up, the Left Asks Itself [where it's headed]" (the French "s'installe/s'interroge" is elegant but doesn't translate well).
Le Figaro print headlines for tomorrow/today: How the U.S. missed Bin Laden; Sharon ready to strike after bombing; The Golden Goal: Korea vs. Italy
Libération says "Sharon announces reprisals," tells about "Korean exploits, Italian bitterness," and informs that the "First calls to account at the Socialist Party" are underway.
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posted by gbarto at 8:52 PM:
Derbyshire is outraged. Read the China item, especially.* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:45 PM:
Federal Judge orders state to let in plutonium.Good.
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posted by gbarto at 8:37 PM:
Thing getting uglier with Oracle:Oracle Scandal Rocks CaliforniaNo, this isn't the old payoff of Gray-out Davis. Now there's evidence that an Oracle lobbyist thought the best way to fix the problem was to pay off the politicians who were raising a stink. Doesn't seem to have worked. Oracle says the lobbyist's gone, but there's no word on whether the dismissal came when Oracle found out or when the story became public. Smells bad, at any rate.
GOP lawmaker accuses software firm of paying off politicians
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posted by gbarto at 8:31 PM:
Relatively good piece on what's up with the net in the Washington Post, specifically with regard to copyrights and the like.The entertainment industry thinks it's staking out some noble high ground protecting an artist's work. But the current distribution model for entertainment is just one of many. Where were these people when recorded media - including the film you watch at the local cineplex - threw thousands of small-time stage actors and lounge acts out of work? Did they scurry to make sure that the new model, in which one performance of an artist could be replicated thousands of times, would still compensate the performer? When a junior actor says two lines in a movie, do they make sure that he will make as much in today's dollar terms as he would for a couple thousand walk-ons in the old days? Or do they take advantage of cheaper, easier distribution system to maximize profits without a thought to what happened when his work became easy to duplicate? This is what consumers do today. The entertainment industry today is at the same place that vaudeville comedians, actors and lounge singers were fifty years ago. And like the small-time actor who became a mere extra/waiter, it is going to have to change its standards. Because in this age, passing a few more laws will only buy a little more animosity from every user whose computer crashes for the wrong reason, every person who suddenly has to buy a new DVD player so he'll have fewer options than before and so on. And the copying will continue until the entertainment industry charges a reasonable price so that stealing the product outright feels more like theft and less like socking it to the bastards in Hollywood.
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posted by gbarto at 7:17 PM:
But they don't have time to pass Bush's security program:Bill Targets Offensive Product InsertsNow I don't want to go on a rant, but this is the same federal law enforcement system that didn't notice terrorists wandering around learning to fly airliners into our building. And now we're going to distract them with cereal boxes? I'm sorry, but haven't these people heard of state attorney generals? Every time someone in Congress gets a bug up their ass, they pass another law, and then they wonder why the FBI can't remember its mission. Why our government can't protect our borders. Here's a clue: When the U.S. Congress wants make a federal case of it if Tony the Tiger's saying something that isn't Greeeeaaaaaat, they've gotten too damn scattered. Read the damn Constitution. "Provide for the common defense." It's right there in the preamble. I just did a search and you know what? Not one word about cereal boxes.
WASHINGTON — Most kids expect a toy or a coupon when they reach to the bottom of a cereal box, not a hateful message or pornographic image.
But that’s exactly what a number of unsuspecting consumers have been finding in their boxes of Honeycomb and Alpha-Bits cereal. Word of the inserts reached the ears of Washington lawmakers, who last week passed a bill that would make such product tampering a federal crime.
So if we have another terrorist attack and the FBI and all the rest were caught flat-footed, don't worry. At least you know there won't be anything unlucky in your Lucky Charms. And remember the names of the people who made it possible: Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. and Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Penn.
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posted by gbarto at 3:59 PM:
TurkeyBlog finally back on line; or rather Blogger is finally publishing its updates with version 1. If you're using the new version of Blogger Pro, better doublecheck your pages.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:57 PM:
Blogger still hasn't published. We'll see if it goes with version 1.* * *
posted by gbarto at 3:51 PM:
Two from the WSJ (not available on Opinion Journal, sorry):John Baker calls for the overturning of the Andersen conviction on the grounds that the judge not only reversed herself but overstepped judicial authority in her jury instructions regarding what constituted proof of guilt. Baker also notes that obstruction of justice is a crappy offense, anyway, because it is so vaguely written and so all-inclusive that seemingly harmless actions can in the retrospect look like violations - or not - based not on real-world circumstances but the nature of a subsequent court inquiry. When it becomes impossible for an ordinary citizen to understand a law well enough to intelligently comply, the law is bad law. Of course our Congress writes a lot of bad law, and deliberately so, in the hopes that they can issue press releases while the courts have to resolve the practical implications. The same thing happened with the Americans with Disabilities Act - because of its vagueness, activist judges can rule that just about anything is a violation while those who read the law conservatively can throw out all but the most egregiously offensive actions towards the disabled.
Andersen wound up facing a high pressure Justice Department team and a judge who acknowledged in ruling on jury instructions that she was out of her depth. She appears to have been cowed by government prosecutors; the jurors, likewise, felt cowed by their instructions. One juror complained that it felt like it didn't matter whether Andersen was innocent or guilty, they were going to be forced into a guilty verdict regardless. Which means Andersen's chances at the appeals court don't look bad. Too bad they won't be around to find out.
Second WSJ editorial (by the board) notes that our Civil Rights commission just settled a lawsuit for $160,000 of your tax dollars. This thanks to the idiotic and offensive mismanagement of the department by Mary Frances Berry. Here's the kicker: In an agency with 75 employees, it's the ninth such lawsuit to be settled in recent times. The other kicker? The other commissioners didn't know about some previous suits, because Ms. Berry, who runs the office like her own personal fiefdom, hadn't disclosed them to the whole of the commission. It's time for Berry to go. The Civil Rights Commission is supposed to protect against workplace conflict - not foment it.
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posted by gbarto at 3:35 PM:
Rumsfeld Complains About Financial Reporting RulesAnd rightly so. We lament that we can't get good people in government but the disclosure rules - and worse, the requirements for giving up control of your own assets - discourage a lot of talent out there. We're just lucky that people like Rumsfeld and Paul O'Neill are willing to put up with the crap in order to serve.
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posted by gbarto at 3:29 PM:
Toddler Survives Alone Days After Mother DiesATLANTA — A 22-month-old girl named Miracle survived for at least five days alone in an apartment with her dead mother, police said.Apparently the kid found her way into the pantry to survive. Police came in response to a report of foul odors and large masses of flies near the home.
The mother apparently died from diabetes complications; foul play does not seem to be an issue.
Incidentally, the child is named Miracle. And merits the name (a point Fox News made in their headline).
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posted by gbarto at 3:26 PM:
Bye Bye BodyMinnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says he won't seek second term
Not a big surprise; self-styled iconoclasts always hit their snags in government, where the bureaucracies are imperturbably set in their ways and the system hardly prone to being shaken up. This is a good thing to a point - the record for powerful personalities actually taking charge of government isn't pretty - but problematic when a major governmental unit gets even a little bit off course since overtime errors not subject to correction tend to be magnified.
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posted by gbarto at 3:22 PM:
Jerusalem Bus Blast Kills 20More than 40 hurt in bombing
Tanks Roll Into Jenin
Interesting: on tv Fox headlines the number of Israelis killed; here it's the total including the bomber. Israel has offered the typical response, but needs to go further as I note below (and as can finally be seen - why is it that blogger only updates properly if you have time to triple check?)
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posted by gbarto at 3:19 PM:
I see blogger's been up to its old tricks; my morning comments should now show up.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:40 AM:
Follow-up to the below:The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility and identified the assailant as Mohammed al-Ghoul, 22, from the Al Faraa refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus.The Israelis should also round up this kid's family and bring them into custody for extensive and excruciating questioning. If there's any indication any of them had advance knowledge, they should be arrested as accessories. And sentenced accordingly. Unfair? Maybe. But 19 people, among them seven schoolkids, were killed because they had Jewish parents. The suicide bomber's family would be getting off easy. But it's time to make it clear that the consequences of being a suicide bomber go beyond having your own glorious martyrdom. If nothing else keeps these kids from the evil deed, perhaps some will be prompted to think twice knowing that their families won't get parties and baked gifts but quite possibly time in the big house.
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posted by gbarto at 9:33 AM:
Jerusalem Bus Blast Kills 19More than 40 hurt as homicide bomber strikes during morning rush hour
[Sharon] then convened an emergency security meeting. Earlier this month, Israeli troops blew up buildings in Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah in response to a homicide attack that killed 17 Israelis.On seeing the headline, one's first hope is that Fox is having more server troubles and this is just the story from a few weeks ago. Alas, no. The barbarians are at it again. The Israelis should finish up the demolition of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters. And when they get to Arafat himself, they should explain to him that he is going to go on TV and he is going to demand - in Arabic - that the mobs that ambushed a few Jewish guys a couple months ago have a new target, the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah. He should be made to announce that they are under a death sentence from the PA and that if anyone sees them, they have his blessing. If Arafat isn't willing to stand with Israel against the terrorists where it counts - actually inciting the people to stand with him for peace and against terrorism, it's simply time for him to go.
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Monday, June 17, 2002
posted by gbarto at 9:29 PM:
I'm late in posting on this one, but would like to note the untimely passing of Scott Shuger, one of the greats in the history of internet journalism. Shuger, of course, was the creator of Slate's Today's Papers, a proto-blog of sorts offering the news from the major papers and his own thoughts on how it went together. It's the far superior inspiration of this site's own French News Update, incidentally. Here are thoughts from Michael Kinsley, first editor of Slate. RIP* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:10 PM:
Bjørn's been blogging the Koran.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:05 PM:
He doesn't have permalinks but Martin Roth says the Catholic Church has been paying hush money in Australia too. It was posted June 17th.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:02 PM:
Let's make it 34 as the TurkeyBlog plays a little less hard to get. Have a look at NZ Bear (admit it, bloggers, you've already been to check your ranking) if you don't know what I'm talking about. Check the left-hand column.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:00 PM:
Joanne Jacobs on sports team names.* * *
posted by gbarto at 8:50 PM:
Lovely column about Japser.Update: Having a sick kitty at home, I was especially attuned to Lileks' comments about the vet. But his digression on what dogs teach us about our relationship with God is important. Go here to find out what Joshua Claybourn had to say.
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posted by gbarto at 8:39 PM:
Le Monde: The New Majority at Chirac's Service. The right's majority has just kept growing since the first round. It looks like it settled with 399 (!) of the 577 seats going to either the UMP or another center-right party prepared to join the coalition. The UMP alone got 369 seats. Raffarin was rewarded for his excellent work rallying the right and giving the impression it could govern - he gets to stay Prime Minister. Secondary notes: The Blues went beyond the usual Gaullists to field candidates; Russian businessmen on the Côte d'Azur under investigation for money launderingLe Figaro has slightly different numbers, presumably based on how you determine when the smaller parties can be said to have joined the larger party as opposed to merely making common cause with them. Figaro says:
UMP (Chirac's party): 375
UDF (center-right): 27
PS (Socialists): 152
PC (Communists): 20
Greens: 3
Their left-right breakdown is 405 for the right, 172 for the left
Libération evokes "Raffarin II", Raffarin's second government. This one is largely unchanged except that a few people have been added to the administration. One member is gone: he's under investigation for the way he brought funds into the party. Politics is a rough sport in a country like France where so much is controlled by the government.
And Arafat is denouncing Israeli "Apartheid," this in response to the wall. Perhaps if the homicide bombers had taken out a few Palestinian locations, the Israelis would have been more open to notions of diversity.
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posted by gbarto at 7:18 PM:
A Loophole for Illegal Immigrants?Pols consider making it easier to become a permanent resident
Here's my plan: Drop the B.S. about penalizing employers for hiring illegals. Normalize things - illegals have to have their forms filled out just like everyone else though I suppose the Social Security number would have to be left out - but fill in the rest and require the pay-ins - that it would help prop up the Social Security system instead of getting credited toward the illegal's retirement benefit is one of those things you have to live with if you're not following our procedures for entrance to the country. As to who stays and who goes, instead of making a fuss about visa paperwork, here's the new requirement: a copy of your W-4 and a pay stub. Without them, you're gone. If you do odd jobs, you'll have to show up weekly at the local unemployment office - to pay in the standard tax and SSI withholding and keep your receipts as the proof. Finally - and here's the incentive to play it straight with the taxes - if you can produce proof that you've averaged $200/week (not a lot but proof you're doing something) you can apply for permanent residence. Details are negotiable, but the basic idea is that illegals who can show that they're providing for themselves and paying taxes are welcome; those who aren't earning a living are out.
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posted by gbarto at 6:50 PM:
Three Killed as Air Tanker Crashes in CaliforniaThat's a firefighting crew; their C-130 broke in three and crashed. A reminder that these fires are serious business and the people who fight them a damn sight braver than the average guy on the street.
Of course a lot of these fires are starting because during the last administration it was the policy of the U.S. Forest Service to let forests be forests, which means that instead of logging mature trees and clearing underbrush, they let the underbrush accumulate and the old trees die, dry out and become fireplace logs for the kindling underneath. While it would be hyperbole to accuse the U.S. Forest Service officials of negligent homicide, we'd be kidding ourselves if we didn't acknowledge that mismanagement or outright failure to manage has ceased to be a question of environmental ideology and become a matter of life or death for the brave men and women who fight fires.
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posted by gbarto at 11:44 AM:
Beijing orders Internet cafes closed after fire kills 24BEIJING (AP) - Beijing has ordered its 2,400 Internet cafes to close for safety inspections after a fire at an unlicensed cafe killed 24 people, a city official said Monday. Only 200 would be allowed to reopen.The fire came at a time when the Chinese government was already trying to limit and control web access. This certainly gives them a convenient reason to act, though the TurkeyBlog would never speculate on the implications of the first clause of this sentence.
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posted by gbarto at 11:41 AM:
Tiger wins 2nd U.S. OpenOld news, but since we've mentioned the Lakers and the Wings, I figured, why not?
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posted by gbarto at 11:39 AM:
India: Pakistan helping avoid warBy NEELESH MISRA
Associated Press Writer
NEW DELHI, India - India's prime minister said Pakistan's promises - not American pressure on New Delhi - have prevented war between the South Asian rivals.So is this a slap at America or an assertion that Pakistan and India are grown-up nations, capable of behaving as grown-ups on their own? For the moment, who cares? It's good that a peaceful resolution is seemingly underway. But the statement, coming from India's PM, again is worrisome because he's been preening aplenty of late. He already nearly blustered himself into a nuclear war and if he thinks the world's largest democracy has to prove itself somehow vis-à-vis the world's oldest (continuous) democracy, just as it did, vis-à-vis Pakistan, there could be trouble down the road.
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posted by gbarto at 11:34 AM:
Palestinians soften some hardline demands, skirt refugee issueBy Ha'aretz Service and the Associated Press
Apparently, the document doesn't mention right of return. If they can keep their lips buttoned on this score, they might actually make some headway. If they try to slip it in subsequently, of course, this gesture should be regarded as cynical calculation.
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posted by gbarto at 11:29 AM:
Supreme Court Says Satellite Companies Must Carry All Local StationsOne cheer for government. Your satellite television service must carry all local tv stations - if it's allowed to carry any of them. But if you live within antenna range (according to the federal government) of any local tv stations, you can't get them on the satellite. This is because AT&T/TCI, with its deep pockets, lobbied Congress to not allow satellite services to carry local stations in most cases. Then the bastards argue that only cable can give you a good local signal. Well yes, but it's not about physics, it's the law as written by the cable companies' lobbyists. So now they've added one more burden to satellite companies.
U.S. Cable: Protecting consumers' interests - when it's in their interest.
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Sunday, June 16, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:16 PM:
Israel Begins Work on West Bank Border FenceSharon rejects plans for Palestinian interim state under current conditions.
As primitive as it sounds, Sharon might just be doing the best he can with the circumstances. And he's implementing Netanyahu's plan before Netanyahu can base a new electoral campaign on doing so. As for the Palestinian interim state, Netanyahu is among those best poised to explain why it's a bad idea. You know the weapons the PA uses? Israel paid for a bunch of 'em on Netanyahu's order, because Arafat would need real armaments if he was going to enforce peace. Netanyahu trusted Arafat to enforce peace. Once. Those days are gone. Arafat's men mostly used the weapons against Israel, of course, which is why Netanyahu can't mention Arafat's name without the veins in his neck standing out. And after the Iranian weapons shipment from only a few months ago, it's clear that Arafat is still either unable or unwilling to try to seriously govern a nation-state in the making. Until he considers the Palestinian people something other than cannon fodder and the West Bank and Gaza something other than staging grounds for attacks into Israel, an Arafat-led "state" is just a boondoggle in the making. What the Palestinians need first to do is to show a little self-government at the individual and familial level. Then the city level. Then they might be ready to play with the big boys. But the dirty little not so secret secret is that a pretty good percentage of Palestinians don't seem to want a nation state for themselves, just the eradication of the Israelis' nation state. And Arafat's education system has been preparing a new generation to make the current one seem moderate. It seems sad to declare a whole people lost, but until Arafat is dead and someone not directly associated with him is in power, the Middle East will be a mess, because too much has been invested in portraying the Israelis as dirty pigs and too many lives have been lost in the ostensible effort to eradicate them for the current Palestinian leadership to say "whoops, you know that stuff about your son blowing himself up to roast the pigs? - it really improved our negotiating position with them."
Arafat has poisoned his own well. So long as the Palestinian people drink from it, they too will suffer the attendant miseries.
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posted by gbarto at 10:05 PM:
In Hope over Experience news...Wedding Bells for the Wild Thing
Charlie Sheen, Denise Richards married in Los Angeles
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posted by gbarto at 7:19 PM:
Let's do our French news a little early to wrap up the Assembly elections:First, some AFP headlines:
Balladur: Candidate for President of the Assembly Balladur is a former PM, appointed by Mitterand in '93 with that rise of the right; Chirac had chosen him so that he could focus on his presidential bid.
The left in the majority in Paris - and thus at odds with the rest of the country
As for Le Monde leads, scroll down 3 posts; the lead hasn't changed since that time. Secondary lead: Robert Hue, head of the French Communist Party is indeed out; 20 of his fellows did win election, enough that they'll be more than just an appendage to the Socialists, but not much more than that.
Le Figaro: we'll start with a few AFP dispatches they've chosen to highlight: 1) The UMP (Union for a Presidential Majority) got enough votes on its own for a majority. 2) Greens united with the left... in defeat.
Le Figaro print headlines: Legislative elections: Large vote of confidence for right; Chechnya: the "dirty war" continues. And in business news: Andersen's days numbered
Libération: The Spreading Wave of Blue Blue is identified with the center-right, just as red is with the hard left. (White was for the monarchy). Chirac Imperator (Chirac the Emperor in Latin). Finally, in Word Cup news, Senegal is golden.
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posted by gbarto at 6:42 PM:
As if their forest (mis)management policies weren't bad enough...Or should we call it, "Your taxpayer dollars at work..."
Forest Service Employee Charged With Starting Colorado WildfireApparently she was burning a letter from her estranged husband.
Accused of starting Colorado fire that destroyed at least 22 homes
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posted by gbarto at 12:15 PM:
By the way, looks like Mullah Omar's alive. So's Lionel Jospin. And they both have about the same amount of influence at the moment. Having both sunk their own movements. The difference is that Jospin's may recover. Back in a while.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:12 PM:
As to the post below, a few other notes: Record abstention - 37-39%. And Martine Aubry, strongly associated with Jospin, is out. Also, the president of the Communist party and his opponent are in a dead heat: will he join Chevenement is having to watch his party from the sidelines (or maybe just get the boot)? Frankly, this is shaping up to be the most boring election night since... the second round of the presidential elections. Everything predicted has come true. It's a total rout for the Socialists, for the Left, and even for the Extreme Right. France is not just in center-right hands, it's in Chiraquien hands and the only question is whether Chirac will use the moment to establish himself as a powerhouse excelling even Mitterand (and perhaps even DeGaulle)? Or will he fritter it away (quite possible though he seems to have a very capable Prime Minister)?* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:04 PM:
Le Monde:The Right confirms its victory
The major polling firms are giving the right 375 to 380 of the 577 seats in the Assemblée nationale. The Socialists and parties of similar leanings will hold 153 to 154. And the Front National will have... no seats. So much for the so-called extreme right-wing resurgence. This gives the right the Elysée Palace (President), Matignon (Prime Minister), the Assemby, the Senate and the Constitutional Council. France is firmly in center-right hands.
Among those who are completely out of power there is Jean-Pierre Chevenement, who only a couple months ago was his party's nominee for president. Guess they liked him better than his district. Those who stay include Laurent Fabius, former Socialist Prime Minister and Alain Madelin, a free-market classical liberal who put his foot in it vis-à-vis 9/11 (he speculated that US imperialism might have been a cause; Gaullists, ever trying to pretend France will again be the leader of the world, have this blind spot which is too bad since they at least make sense economically). Curiously, Le Monde's story on leaders of the left comes in at about 50% in, 50% out. The right's list is all leaders; in other words, there were no surprise upsets there.
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posted by gbarto at 9:08 AM:
Poll: Criticizing Bush Hurts DemsDissing president's homeland security plans only harms party
Being Dick Gephardt just isn't any fun.
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posted by gbarto at 9:06 AM:
U.S. Base-Bound Tankers AttackedBombs attached to trucks; Al Qaeda, Taliban supporters suspected
The explosions didn't ignite the fuel, fortunately, but this reminds that we're living in dangerous times. The war isn't won yet and won't be until the vermin who keep trying to blow up our fuel depots, among others, are extinguished.
Interestingly, the gas station owner thinks his business rivals may have placed the bombs. I guess competition is a little tighter than here in the U.S. Haven't they heard of offering free car washes?
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posted by gbarto at 8:55 AM:
We report, you decide.Ben Sheriff says the ratio between Palestinian and Israeli children killed of late is closer than earlier reported. Israeli children are only two and a half times as likely to be killed by Palestinians as Palestinian children are by Israelis, their mothers twice as likely as Palestinian mothers. Go read the whole post for all the information.
(via Natalie Solent)
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posted by gbarto at 8:48 AM:
Participation in French election for Assembly higher in second round - barely
Participation in the second round of French legislative elections rose Sunday to 20.33% midday, a very slight rise (.6%) with respect to the first round, according to the figures of the minister of the Interior.
Last Sunday, participation at noon was at 19.73%. That day, the 35.59% of voters who finally went to the ballot box established a record for a first round legislative election [for low turnout].
In 1997, abstention was 32% in the first round (with 24.08% participation midday) before regressing four points a week later. It is upon the same phenomenon that the left today is placing its hopes. This time, again, the dynamic of success experienced by the right in the first round could awaken the voters of the left.
-Libération, 2:30 pm Paris time, June 16
The article goes on to list a few left leaning areas where voting was up and a few other places where voting was ... even slower.
It may come out differently, but for the moment this looks like grasping at straws. Not noted: whether a resurgence in slightly left leaning areas isn't merely going to deliver a bigger victory to a leftist candidate who was already going to win. It seems like if this was affecting close races, they would have said so and they didn't.
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