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Saturday, February 01, 2003
posted by gbarto at 5:51 PM:
Heat Tile Damage SuspectedDebris during takeoff hit left wing, where today's trouble started
And that, I suspect, is all we're going to know for quite some time. Back tonight with more.
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posted by gbarto at 5:49 PM:
A beautiful post from Natalie Solent on where we go after the Columbia explosion (how odd it feels to type that; I still try to start Chal... then realize).My favorite reasons why we go on after this:
for curiosity, ... for the beautiful photos, ... for a passion honoured by every age but ours: glory, be it personal, national or international, ... and for sheer joy.But do read the whole post.
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posted by gbarto at 5:43 PM:
For clarification (in response to Natalie Solent), like President Bush, I'm willing to give a week or two to get France and Germany to come around because it would be useful to have them on board. But she's dead right that they are dead weights, in particular that the UN is at this point a total loss. I think one of the greater problems is that we haven't really pushed the issues I mentioned. President Bush's speech asking the UN to live up to its most noble purposes and its own bloody resolutions was a good start, but we need to be making more widespread use of shame to demand that those who would lecture actually get off their butts and do something useful. And that they be written off as useless if they are unwilling. I should have been more clear in my post, for in proposing to still try to get France, Germany and the UN on board, it was not for our sake, but theirs - giving them one last chance to have utility in the international political sphere. And the argument that I was making was not that we wait so we could enjoy their help, but that we are waiting - even as evidence against Iraq builds - so that we can either shame them into living up to their committments or leave an absolutely clear public record of their moral unseriousness.When I say that Iraq is big, but the UN is bigger, what I mean is that taking on Iraq is one challenge out of many, but forcing the UN to either stand for civilization or yield its remaining moral authority to the English-speaking, liberty and capitalism driven societies (the Anglosphere) and those who stand with it could have a far more profound impact on the war on terror and the direction of international affairs. If waiting a few more weeks is what it takes to make the case as to why we don't need to listen to France's security council veto, it will well be worth it.
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posted by gbarto at 1:06 PM:
Off to lunch. Back tonight when we'll hopefully know more.Key points:
Shuttle lost 16 minutes before landing
Bush's address to the nation
ugliness from Canada and Iraq
scroll below for individual stories
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posted by gbarto at 1:02 PM:
And the ultimate ugliness, Iraq has labeled this "God's vengeance." And how f-ed up is this: A car mechanic saying this is retribution on Israel for destroying the Iraqi nuclear plant in 1981. Sure took His time about it. (via Den Beste)As we go through the usual histrionics about is-Iraq-really-that-bad? at the UN next week, remember this. And ask yourself: if the Iraqis lost a plane and the US had a boat nearby, do you think we wouldn't be the first ones there for search and rescue.
There is a difference between nations. This points it up very damn well (Islamo-fascism - emphasis on the fascism - versus the Judeo-Christian ethos?).
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posted by gbarto at 12:38 PM:
Bush's speech to the nation.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:35 PM:
About the terrorism question: Needless to say, nothing can be ruled out right away, but I doubt it. If it is, then President Bush has all the proof he needs that SDI could work - the shuttle was going Mach 18 when the problems started. Overwhelmingly more likely is that this shuttle was old - the oldest in the fleet - and susceptible to minor damage becoming major damage.I'm not a physicist so offer nothing but speculation here, but if one of the tiles on the wing was damaged, allowing even the tiniest amount of the wing surface to suddenly heat... Well, the Concorde grows by a couple feet by the time it gets to Mach 2 and this thing was going Mach 18... that could really screw with the structure of the shuttle, allow the whole thing to be heated at least bit by bit - the first debris was potentially over California several minutes beforehand - and then... we won't even say it.
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posted by gbarto at 12:26 PM:
Yup, a Canadian has already taken shots at us for our "arrogance" in pursuing the space program. ModerateLeft has exactly the right response. And here what will probably be the first basis of investigation. (found on Instapundit)* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:00 PM:
'A Tragic Day for the Nation'Space shuttle Columbia breaks up over Texas; all seven aboard dead, including first Israeli astronaut, first India-born woman in space
Well, you know as much as I do now.
We send prayers for friends, family and compatriots in their various programs.
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posted by gbarto at 2:01 AM:
Well, another month over so I checked some stats. The TurkeyBlog is, of course, far from the league of Instapundit with his 100,000 hits a day, but we did manage 3700 pageviews straight to the TurkeyBlog and another 6600 to the TurkeyBlog archives - that's both the people looking at a post linked yesterday and the folks who got something from six months ago through google. Still, overall that's better than 10,000 pageviews, not too bad considering we got a total of 160 in February of last year (the first full month we were up).Incidentally, the whole domain got better than 14,000, with most of the remaining 3,500 or so going to the Hugo Pages, the Language Pages and the Book Pages. Check them out if you haven't, especially the Hugo Pages (with our own original translations of Hugo's poetry and essays on the man) and the Book Pages (where we give our favorite picks for Victor Hugo and language learning).
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posted by gbarto at 1:36 AM:
Cicero says more credit is due the Italian Prime Minister. We're inclined to agree.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:31 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde: "Bush for a 2nd UN resolution," but only of a nature that would convince Saddam to totally disarm. Blair says in such a case, he can get France working with us. We shall see. However, coverage on this side of the pond suggests Bush and Blair are mainly looking for ways to let countries that were pouty get back on board with minimal embarrassment, not put them in the driver's seat in any way.
Le Figaro: "Retirement: Unions mobilize to force negotiations." On the same subject...
Libé: "111 marches to protect retirement" from supposed threats to it from the Raffarin regime; the marches were put on by unions. Raffarin speaks to the whole thing Monday.
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posted by gbarto at 1:20 AM:
Postal Truck Hijacking EndsMan surrenders to police in Miami after standoff that lasted over 4 hours
But why would you carjack a mail-truck? Did this guy know the carrier? FNC says a second guy has been arrested in connection with the incident. Who are these guys? Were they trying to intercept something in the mail?
Or were they trying to put something in the mail.
I don't know if anybody's thought about this - though they're supposed to have a procedure for everything - but I wouldn't be delivering that mail until it's been well checked for disease or chemical agents, etc.
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posted by gbarto at 1:15 AM:
Setting the proper tone:Bush, Blair Issue Stern Warning to Saddam
President and British prime minister say Iraq must disarm now to avoid allied attack
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posted by gbarto at 1:11 AM:
Got an unusual e-mail - a company that makes equipment to make vans wheelchair accessible asked for a mention on the site. They were properly flattering, though, noting that there ought to be a link on my site because it provides so much valuable information, yada yada yada, and they had a valuable service people should know about.The TurkeyBlog doesn't make endorsements, and won't here. Please don't flood me with requests for plugs for your company on our site. But the letter was unfailingly polite, apologized profusely for bothering me if it wasn't appropriate to be e-mailing about this, and, well, the company's in Kalamazoo, and God knows the area could use the business.
So, this is not an endorsement - I have not used this product or worked with the company - but if you have a wheelchair and need a handicapped accessible van, one place you might look is ViewPoint Mobility, which makes the Vision.
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Friday, January 31, 2003
posted by gbarto at 12:00 PM:
Bush Takes on AIDS in Africa, CaribbeanPresident discusses methods of halting mother-child transmission of virus, part of huge $15 billion proposal
Good for him, but let's make sure the aid is delivered in supplies, not dollars, and administered by international orgs, not the too-often corrupt regimes that rule these countries. This is a place where real good can be done to alleviate human mystery, and whether you're aiming for Christian goodwill to all, cosmic Karma or simply letting the world know the US isn't just about self-interest, it has its merits. But not if it turns into another way for backward regimes to concentrate their power over their people.
As a side note, one wonders what will happen in South Africa and elsewhere where some have claimed it's just a way to get Big Pharma into the market. We'd note, of course, that this credits American corporations with doing an awful good job focussing on the long term since it's going to be a while before anyone turns a profit over there.
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posted by gbarto at 11:55 AM:
Checkout Clerk: I Saw Laci PetersonPolice reviewing security tapes from Washington state grocery store
One hesitates to get hopeful, but wouldn't it be rich if she had found out about the affair, taken off and decided to let Peterson hang when she saw the resultant commotion?
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posted by gbarto at 11:53 AM:
Activity at North Korea Nuke PlantTrucks might be loading fuel rods
Perhaps we should be eliminating Yongbon about now?
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posted by gbarto at 11:51 AM:
Strange and disturbing things afoot:Mail Truck Hijacked in Florida
Authorities surround postal vehicle after 90-minute chase through Miami
Georgia Hospitals Warned Over Blood
Report: Red Cross says blood contaminated by unspecified material
The mail truck may be a fruit loop, may be an ex-husband - who knows? I can't imagine what would be on the truck that would be of value about which anyone could have specific knowledge.
"White particulate matter" in the blood supply is a different issue.
Have to wait and see, I guess.
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posted by gbarto at 2:52 AM:
French news round-up:Le Monde: "Heavy degradation of employment."
Le Figaro: "Europe divided over Iraq."
Libé: "Iraqi style divorce at the UN."
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posted by gbarto at 12:59 AM:
The TurkeyBlog hates these people too:In NZ, a 16 year-old girl was dragged out of her house by her 19 year-old boyfriend who preceeded to beat her with a ballbat. Fortunately, she had managed to hang on to the knife she had slept with since he started threatening her and she stabbed him.
The kicker. They're contemplating prosecution because she took the law into her own hands:
But police were still undecided whether to charge the girl, who suffered minor head injuries and bruises.Here's the New Zealand Herald story. I got it from Natalie Solent, who has the blogosphere link trail.
"We'll obviously look at the self-defence aspect ... She's been fearful of this guy because of his violent history towards her in the past."
But police were also conscious of the need to deter people from carrying weapons for protection because of the risks.
"If they fear someone, they should call the police."
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posted by gbarto at 12:41 AM:
A Dog's Life isn't impressed with France. Neither, it seems, are the folks in the Ivory Coast.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:35 AM:
Administration: Al Qaeda in BaghdadSenate learns terror group has shown recent activity inside Iraqi capital
Disturbing details, though there are questions about "smoking guns." But seriously, smoking guns aren't really necessary to observe a pattern of activity contrary to what Iraq acceded to under its surrender agreement.
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posted by gbarto at 12:11 AM:
If you haven't heard, avoid Budweiser Frog screensaver downloads. Another virus going around.* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:01 AM:
Our thanks to an e-mail correspondent who writes:alas, it's an urban legend.
with respect to the cigar story from the other night - a man tries to collect insurance money for cigars "lost to fire." It dates back to '60s! You can read about it here. Still a good joke.
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Thursday, January 30, 2003
posted by gbarto at 2:26 AM:
Bjørn wants more European weblogs - in English.* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:11 AM:
Nice Ian Wood post on the SOTU.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:52 AM:
Here come your French news headlines:Le Monde: Here's a change: "Iraq: The Europeans Who Support Bush." It's about a Times article in which the leaders of England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic call for unity with the US in disarming Iraq.
Wonder if the New York Times will front an article on how we'd better stay strong on Iraq because so many European nations are counting on us to do so.
Le Figaro: "Ivory Coast: Marcoussis accord rejected in Abidjan." France's negotiated settlement looks likely to fall through - the people are objecting.
Libé: Here's Libé's note on the Ivory Coast: "The French are beginning to leave." 400 of them, on special flights, yesterday.
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posted by gbarto at 1:37 AM:
Iraq to Chair U.N. Disarmament ConferenceAnd the UN still wants to be taken seriously?
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posted by gbarto at 1:33 AM:
What I miss about not being in Michigan: The bizarre tales of the Detroit city government. Here's the latest:McPhail chair flap may remain unresolved
Massager was removed before officers arrived
Yep, you read that right. Sharon McPhail, a member of the Detroit City Council, claims that someone tampered with her chair massager so that it would give her a shock when she sat down. Her number one suspect: Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
"Our office has been flooded with phone calls from citizens today who have been hysterical with laughter," Jamaine Dickens, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's spokesman, said. "Although we don't believe this is a laughing matter, the accusations are a little far-fetched."McPhail claims she's being harrassed in retaliation for voting against the mayor's casino proposals. He notes they would have passed anyway.
One other note: the investigation might have gotten somewhere, but McPhail removed the massager system from the chair so there's no way to verify if it was really rigged the way she claimed. But fear not, the FBI and local law enforcement are on the case.
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posted by gbarto at 1:27 AM:
Here's Mike Wendland, of the Detroit Free Press, on his experiences with blogging.* * *
posted by gbarto at 1:18 AM:
Book review: Trials of the Monkey by Matthew ChapmanQuote:
Unable to resist the lure of science, creationists have been seduced into a rationalistic trap. Their attempts to explain miracles through science can only end in sorrow: a miracle explained is a miracle destroyed.
This is one of the more reflective passages in a book that is funny, sweet and thoughtful. Matthew Chapman is a British-born, New York-based Hollywood screenwriter. He's also Charles Darwin's great, great, great grandson. So, given the chance to write a book, he focuses on the Scopes-Monkey Trial. Sort of. Along the way, he recounts the sordid details of his messed up life, and those of the messed up lives of an entire branch of the Darwin family tree. Says Chapman, his ancestor knew what he was doing when he titled his book on humanity's place in evolution "The Descent of Man." Having read Darwin's Beagle diaries a hundred years ago, I think Matthew may be being a bit harsh on himself. The picture he gives is open, honest, insightful and funny - and touching.
The form is unusual, but it works, works far better than if Chapman had tried to write a book on any one topic. With his odd form, Chapman contextualizes Dayton, Tennessee, his reactions to it, his life, his family history and the evolution debate all with respect to one another. Though the details get as embarrassing as Rousseau (or today's average tell-all), this is neither Rousseau's Confessions nor its modern counterpart, "I was a drug-addled, disease-ridden, teenage prostitute till the Maharashi saved my life." He talks about how the book came together, but it's not one of those meta-meta-meta books about writing about writing about writing. What it is, really, is (as the subtitle says) an accidental memoir in which we learn what it meant to Matthew Chapman to go to rural Tennessee, meet devout Christians who still believe in the literal truth of the creation story in Genesis, and discover, notwithstanding his snide atheism, that some of them seemed to have a better understanding of life and what it's about than he. (He also discovered some folks who might be in missing-link territory).
Chapman is above all a modern version of Montaigne, telling us about something very different from himself - the Scopes-Monkey Trial - but telling us about himself in the process. (For those who don't like Montaigne, the quirks are there but this is lighter reading.) A marvelous book.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2003
posted by gbarto at 2:58 AM:
French news round up:Le Monde: "Bush announces proofs against Iraq."
Libé: "Proofs against Iraq next week."
Le Figaro: "Bush: Saddam isn't 'disarming, he's dissimulating.'"
* * *
posted by gbarto at 2:52 AM:
Den Beste here and here. He's not sure at all about Bush's speech (latter post) but is reassured that the French are unhappy (former post).I think Steve - and a lot of other people - are missing a fundamental point here. The greatest threat to us and our way of life is not Iraq. It is not Al-Qaeda. It is not North Korea. It is not Iran.
It is Western complacency in the face of an ir-real, postmodernist sentiment that our values of liberty and honest intellectual enquiry are merely quaint characteristics of one culture among many - and worse, less worthy of protection than the customs of other cultures -, when they are in fact the signal marks of human progress. Make no mistake: the greatest threats to us are the cynicism of the French, the spinelessness of the Germans, the UN's utter uselessness as an agent of peace and stability so long as it cannot exceed the failings of its most miserable members.
Iraq is just one country. An ugly and evil one to be sure. But there are limits to the damage it can do - if the world stands against it. The problem is that the world isn't standing against it. That a nation ever so proud of its Declaration of the Rights of Man has renounced the Enlightenment notion of universal principles and decided that Gallic pride trumps the rights of men whose oppressors cut good oil deals and get France back in the newspapers. That a country that provoked two world wars in the last century is incapable of seeing the need to contain another power that, having brought on a regional war, agreed to disarm as part of its surrender but didn't do so (should we be scared that Germans are so wary of taking action against a socialistic dictator?). That an organization created to secure world peace and justice is more attendant to the whims of its most miserable members than to the ideals upon which it was founded and the need for these to be taken seriously.
Saddam can be taken out tomorrow. If it becomes urgent, I trust we will do so. Mr. Bush's actions indicate he's playing a larger game. Den Beste complains:
So what is the payoff? What's the grand plan? What happens next?Yup. Because Iraq isn't the issue. Defending Western civilization is. And that means we need a) a solid coalition and b) to winnow those out who aren't serious about supporting us. The UN and member countries are being given a choice: stand for the resolutions you were so proud of when they served mainly to hamstring us from going all the way to Baghdad in '91 or give us what we need to tell the American people you aren't worth messing with - work with us or become irrelevant. When Powell says the UN will look like a fool if it doesn't enforce the resolutions, he is telling France - with its security council veto - that either it gets on board or an order will emerge where being on the UNSC just doesn't mean as much as it used to.
More fucking around with the UN. That's what. The grand plan is to try to pass yet another bozo Security Council resolution. The war in Iraq will be fought in New York....
That's it? Consultation with allies? More horseshit in the UN building? That's the grand plan?
Iraq can wait a little longer. Meanwhile, letting our "allies" know that either they're our allies or they can get lost will help us finalize our plans for Iraq and set a lot of priorities down the road.
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posted by gbarto at 12:10 AM:
Sharon Wins Big in IsraelLikud party trounces Labor in elections, partial results show
Not a big surprise, but good to see all the same.
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posted by gbarto at 12:06 AM:
SOTU (Fox transcript): I did not see it but have read it. I think these are my favorite parts:Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror … the gravest danger facing America and the world … is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to their terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation.And:
This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations … built armies and arsenals … and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the might of the United States of America. Now, in this century, the ideology of power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain the ultimate weapons of terror. Once again, this Nation and our friends are all that stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility.
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.All in all, it looks like a good speech, hitting critical themes not just on the war on terror but on the domestic front as well. And unlike the Clintonian laundry lists of the last decade, there was only one laundry list: Iraqi violations that may make it necessary for us to act against that regime.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.
We Americans have faith in ourselves — but not in ourselves alone.
We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America
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Tuesday, January 28, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:20 PM:
Great story from the e-mail:This is the best lawyer story of the year, decade and probably the century. A Charlotte, NC, lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against fire among other things. Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires."
The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued.... And won!
In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The Judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be "unacceptable fire" and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires".
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.
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posted by gbarto at 12:56 AM:
Leonard Pitts is a bit edgy about the war, though he does recognize one key point:War, should it need to be said, is a terrible thing. It kills soldiers and children, innocents and innocence. It debases the human spirit.He's not sure, however, that the administration has told us enough to make this a settled matter. Let's hope Mr. Bush uses his State of the Union to that end.
However, contrary to what many of those who marched in Washington and elsewhere this month would argue, there are times when that horror is necessary, even moral. A nation has the right -- the obligation -- to defend itself from aggression. Were there clear and convincing evidence that we are at that point, we could consider this a settled matter.
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posted by gbarto at 12:51 AM:
French news round-up:The headlines run from the cautious to the triumphal. Says Le Monde, "The inspectors want more time," noting that Blix gave a harsh assessment of Iraqi cooperation but asked for more time anyway. Le Figaro, meanwhile, says "Blix forces Bush to wait." Though the headline implies a struggle between the cowboy and the civilized world, the story starts with US efforts to get Iraq to behave, rather than with the personality politics that drive so much of this story at least as the media tells it.
Libé tells us that "The war in Iraq [has been] postponed a few weeks." But the US is about at the end of its patience, says Libé, which means war is coming.
One question, still, is how France hopes to accrue power from its UN position by exercising that power to... nullify the force of UN positions. Another: Does it think it is protecting its interests in Iraq by risking letting a US/UK led coalition (with Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and others supporting us) set the terms for Iraqi surrender?
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posted by gbarto at 12:34 AM:
Yet another headline with roughly the same story, but we've got to keep our eye on the ball here because the Iraqi game plan is to stall, stonewall, obfuscate and obstruct until the story dies down. We can't let it or Saddam will rise to again become a story that can't be ignored. So here's the headline:Closer to War
U.S. moving toward military showdown with Saddam; Powell says chief U.N. weapons inspector makes it clear Iraq has not made 'fundamental choice' on disarmament
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posted by gbarto at 12:30 AM:
Chicago Opens the DoorBy Roger Friedman
Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd on way
Speaking of gruesome dismemberments... (see below) Seriously, though, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street takes to the big screen? How cool is that?
For those who like the lighter fare, we'll hum a few bars of Matchmaker for you, too, but we're saving "Sunrise, Sunset" for when we're in a mellower mood.
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posted by gbarto at 12:27 AM:
Teen Killers Cite SopranosPolice: Sons murder mom, dismember her after seeing episode of mob series
Now the Sopranos may be violent, may contain some patently upsetting stuff. But please. If the Sopranos really guided people in their decisions, we'd have blood all over the place, not to mention far more interesting dialogue than what I usually here in the restaurant booth next to mine. An act of this nature takes place in a context, and I don't think that context was just the Sopranos. There's something else going on here. Hopefully, our justice system will forego doing a very special special with Tipper and try to find out exactly what was up.
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Monday, January 27, 2003
posted by gbarto at 10:09 AM:
Oakland Fans Trash CityCrowd runs riot after Super Bowl rout
Oakland, CA, you just lost the Super Bowl! What are you going to do now?
- I'm burning my neighbor's car!
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posted by gbarto at 10:06 AM:
Blix: Iraq Doesn't Get ItChief weapons inspector says Baghdad not in 'genuine acceptance of the disarmament demanded of it'
And the UN's answer? Let's give it more time. Hmmm. Now if it were the case that Iraq hadn't cooperated at first but gradually came around and was now cooperating, that might indicate that even though they had denied, delayed and obstructed, one might extend the inspections. But it appears, looking at preliminary reports, that Iraq won't even do the minimum necessary to let the UN pretend it's making progress. Rather, it seems determined to make the UN make a joke of itself in its efforts to save Saddam's butt. The UN should know better, for it faces a very real danger of giving the world concrete evidence that when the UN is not the US's vehicle of choice for multilateralizing its policies, it is nothing at all.
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posted by gbarto at 12:45 AM:
We touched on this in the French news; here it is on Fox:Powell Warns Against Waiting
Says he's lost faith in inspections
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posted by gbarto at 12:45 AM:
Ouch!Bucs Take Super Bowl XXXVII
Tampa Bay beats the Oakland Raiders 48-21, taking away their first NFL title
* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:42 AM:
French news headlines:Le Monde: "Iraq: UN Report in the Shadow of War." Says Le Monde, France and the UK want to delay for more inspections and the US might agree. Meanwhile, SecState Powell has said "multilateralism cannot become inaction," warning the US's patience is limited.
Le Figaro: "Abdijan: Anger Orchestrated Against France." If France is warning the US about the dangers of meddling, it might take its own advice. Calm has returned to the capital, but things were a mess for a couple of days with partisans of President Ghabo deeply upset with the way France forced a resolution of things. Incidentally, there's an editorial: "Ivory Coast: necessary determination." One wonders why they aren't writing the same editorials about the US needing to do what has to be done.
Libé: "Ivory Coast: France held hostage." Specifically, things French and things owned by the French are getting attacked all over Abdijan by partisans of Pres. Ghabo who aren't pleased with the way peace negotiations forced his hand. We mentioned the embassy fire last night. Apparently there's more.
We're still waiting for the French to explain why their sudden and dramatic intervention makes them heroes while US action to deal with a tyrant who has gassed his own people draws such opprobrium. Perhaps because the former allows France to pretend to its former status as a leading nation while the latter shows who is truly capable of action on a grand scale these days. Saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" again the other day ($2 at the SuperSaver!) and wonder if the French would be more pliable if we had let them think taking out Iraq was their idea.
* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:22 AM:
Natalie Solent has a brief comment on the UN's help for that Iraqi (see the top of the page).* * *
posted by gbarto at 12:06 AM:
British Muslims presumed to have been planning attacks - they had chemical warfare suits! Scotland Yard and MI-5 had kept the whole thing secret, lest the people panic.Much better, I guess, that the uninformed live a life of serenity until things go to hell than to have panicked people actually keeping an eye open for things. (via Instapundit)
* * *
Sunday, January 26, 2003
posted by gbarto at 11:46 PM:
An oldie but goodie:The Truth About Taxes- from a correspondent
Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100.00. If they paid their bill like the citizenry of our United States pay taxes, it would go like this:
The first four men - the poorest - would pay nothing.
The fifth man would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth man would pay $12.
The ninth man would pay $18.
The tenth man -the richest- would pay $59.
That is what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the payment arrangements - until - one day; the owner of the restaurant owner threw them a curve. "Since you are such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."
So now dinner for the ten only costs $80. The group still wants to pay their bill in the same format that we pay our taxes. So, now the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But, what about the other six men; those footing the bill for the $80 dinner? How would they divvy up the $20 windfall so that each of the ten men would pay their "fair share?" The six men left paying the new reduced charges of $80, quickly figured that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But, if they subtracted that amount from everybody's share, then the fifth and sixth man would end up being "paid" to eat their meal.
So the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill following the IRS guidelines that the ten men had been formerly happy with. Thus, he diligently proceeded to workout the amounts each man should pay. He calculated that the first four men would still eat free, and the fifth man would also eat free. The sixth man pitched in $2, the seventh man paid
$5, the eighth man would pay $9, the ninth man would pay $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of his earlier share of $59.
Each of the original six bill payers were better off than they were before, and the first four continued to eat for free. But, once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He then pointed to the tenth and said "But he got $7!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too.
It's unfair that he got seven times more than me."
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man.
"Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four poor men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men then surrounded the tenth man, and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the other nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came to paying the bill, they discovered something important. They were $52 short.
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college instructors, is how the tax system works here in America. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.
Unfortunately, tax-and-spend Liberals cannot grasp this straight-forward logic!
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posted by gbarto at 7:38 PM:
Weevil says he's gotten 11 hits from the IAEA this year. I've gotten 663. Anybody got any idea what this thing is?* * *
posted by gbarto at 7:09 PM:
Here's A Dog's Life on John Adams and Phillip Glass (composers). He made the mistake of getting Phillip Glass because he was supposed to be like Adams and he had liked "Short Ride in a fast machine." I don't know much about Glass, but know that even Adams isn't always like Adams. Those who liked "Short Ride in a fast machine" should also like the parts of the Harmonielehre (though the third section wasn't nearly so good as its title - Meister Eckhardt and Quackie). But the Chairman Dances did nothing for me, to pick another Adams work at random.The racing quality of "Short Ride in a fast machine" is pretty much unmatched in classical; it's nothing like it, but for the same oddness, I might suggest the final movement of Aaron Jay Kernis' "Still Field, Colored Sky" (and I wouldn't bother with anything else by him). And for amazing minimalism, check out Messiaen's amazing "Quartet for the End of Time," one of the most haunting pieces of the twentieth century.
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posted by gbarto at 6:55 PM:
Here's Cicero on the conflicts between church members and pastors trained by the increasingly skeptical. On the other hand, there are plenty of churches of the ultraconservative variety who can find in the Bible every reason to exclude, stigmatize, scorn, etc, yet seem to have missed the part about "God is love," presumably because it was too straightforward for them to show their deeper insight in parsing it.* * *
posted by gbarto at 6:47 PM:
Just a few headlines:Powell Warns Against Waiting
Secretary of state says Saddam could take advantage of international inaction by using doomsday weapons or sharing technology with terrorists
Israel Locks Down West Bank, Gaza
26,500 police, soldiers to guard against attacks during elections
Oh, and some guys in funny outfits have been knocking each other down over a little ball. Curious:
Super Bowl XXXVII Gets Ugly
Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead the Oakland Raiders 34-15
(Maybe the TurkeyBlog isn't the biggest football fan in the world)
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posted by gbarto at 4:02 AM:
Go read Spoons on the Iraqi would-be-defector and read the comments. This is the sort of story that should have legs... but it happened on Saturday and is very contrary to what our peace-at-any-price friends at the NYT and the like want us thinking about. If you're a blogger, link the item. If you know skeptics of the Bushies, etc, pass it on: the UN may have sent a man to death for trying to tell his story, standing idly by while the UN grabbed him and dragged him off, only to later declare they had no idea what had become of him. By the way, here's a picture of the guy - and the UN inspector who didn't give a f--- what he might have had to say:
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posted by gbarto at 3:37 AM:
Here's what the headline should be, as summarized by Chris Kanis and repeated by Instapundit:U.N. INSPECTORS MURDER IRAQI DEFECTOR, FAMILY
[An] Iraqi man stopped a U.N. vehicle outside the headquarters, pleading "Save me! Save me!" in Arabic, according to the United Nations.All hail the UN. And we wonder why Iraqi scientists aren't jumping to give useful testimony? Request for the day: since we have video of this guy, could Saddam please let us see him every few weeks so we know that he wouldn't kill or beat up someone just for wanting to talk to the UN?
The man, apparently unarmed, forced his way into the driver's seat of the stopped vehicle. As an Iraqi guard struggled to pull him out, a U.N. inspector watched from the passenger seat.
He's probably already dead.
And the UN knew goddamn well that he might as well have been when they turned him over.
But, I suppose, as with the cold war, our mentally addled media will, like CNN, soft pedal this while screaming from the roof tops about whether we're going overboard in our opposition to Saddam.
Update: If you look at Chris' quotes versus mine, you'll see that by the time CNN did its final draft of the story, the incident was already being soft-pedaled. How many people will CNN let die in silence to keep their Iraq access?
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posted by gbarto at 2:29 AM:
Here comes your French news headlines:Since it's Saturday, the focus is on Le Monde.
Top headline: "Ivory Coast: on the way out of the crisis." They're getting a new PM, among other things, as part of an agreement to bring 4 months of hostilities to a close.
Newest news: Des dizaines de milliers de manifestants devant l'ambassade de France / Tens of Thousands of Protesters in Front of French Embassy That's in the Ivory Coast. Not everyone's happy about the peace deal (which an AFP guy says is viewed as unfair to Pres. Ghabo). Incidentally, they also set fire to the consular section of the embassy, but the blaze was quickly put out.
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posted by gbarto at 2:19 AM:
U.S. Recon Plane Crashes in S. KoreaKorean media: Three people injured on the ground, fate of U.S. pilot unknown
Notes FNC, "The plane crashed in Hwasung, about 31 miles south of Seoul..." Wonder what we were patrolling south of Seoul. Maybe just returning to base; details are still sketchy at this point.
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posted by gbarto at 2:08 AM:
A question for readers:As some of you may know, elsewhere on gbarto.com I use a lot of XML. For those using Internet Explorer 6, this is fine because it knows how to deal with XML, XSL and all that. But I'm looking for a way to do the transformation server side for those whose browsers won't do it. Part of the problem is I'm using a hosting company, so can't reconfigure the server, but I can run servlets. I've managed to put together this program, which accesses online files and does the xsl translation, printing the resultant code on-screen. Any ideas on how to get this program from a desktop application into a servlet that sends output to the browser would be much appreciated (my own efforts have given me 404s) - as would any suggestions on any other ways to take an xml file and an xsl file off the web and send html to a browser. Here's my code:
URLTransform.java
import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
import javax.xml.transform.*;
import javax.xml.transform.stream.*;
// URL Transform transforms an XML file with XSL and outputs html code to the screen
public class URLTransform {
public static void main (String args[]) throws Exception {
// the URLs involved in the transformation; I just specified an xml and xsl file on the web so I could see if the filestreams were set up ok
URL xmlurl = new URL("http://www.gbarto.com/hugo/fablee.xml");
URL xslurl = new URL("http://www.gbarto.com/hugo/poem.xsl");
// input streams from the URLs
BufferedReader xmlstream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(xmlurl.openStream()));
BufferedReader xslstream = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(xslurl.openStream()));
try {
// StreamSources set up and TranformerFactory implemented
StreamSource source = new StreamSource(xmlstream);
StreamSource stylesource = new StreamSource(xslstream);
TransformerFactory factory = TransformerFactory.newInstance();
Transformer transformer = factory.newTransformer(stylesource);
// Output from transformation directed to screen
StreamResult result = new StreamResult(System.out);
transformer.transform(source, result);
// Connections closed
xmlstream.close();
xslstream.close();
}
// error catching
catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("Error in transformation");
System.exit(-1);
}
}
}
Again, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
The TurkeyBlogger
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