June 02, 2004
Rolling Blunder
Fred Kaplan wrote an article I almost missed on how North Korea succeeded in getting nuclear weapons, and how the Bush administration let them.
But the existence of the weapons is as yet unproven - though plutonium is known to exist. Kaplan concludes by blaming Bush:
Last January, a (genuinely) private delegation--which included Jack Pritchard and Sig Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab--flew to North Korea for a tour of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor. It was the first time since the crisis began that any Westerner had been inside. Hecker came away convinced that the North Koreans had indeed reprocessed the fuel rods; he saw the plutonium. But he saw no sign that they had actually converted the stuff into weapons. In hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hecker made clear: This doesn't mean they don't have any bombs--just that he was shown no evidence that they do.Nobody knows precisely what North Korea has. This is what makes negotiations both difficult and necessary. Bush's failure to make a deal, while the fuel rods were still locked up, constitutes one of the great diplomatic blunders of our time. It may not be too late to avert the coming disaster. The question is whether the president--whoever he might be--recognizes that a disaster is coming, decides to deal with it, and does so fairly soon. The time is already late; at some point, it will run out.
Sept. 11: Why were Saudis allowed to leave the U.S.?: Craig Unger
Craig Unger, author of "House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties.", with a brief piece in the IHT today. He poses a question asked by Michael Moore in his latest film.
It has also emerged that:
In addition, new evidence shows that the evacuation involved more than the departure of 142 Saudis on six charter flights that the commission is investigating. According to newly released documents, 160 Saudis left the United States on 55 flights immediately after Sept. 11 - making a total of about 300 people who left with the apparent approval of the Bush administration, far more than has been reported before.
The records were released by the Department of Homeland Security in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative, nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington.
The vast majority of the newly disclosed flights were commercial airline flights, not charters, often carrying just two or three Saudi passengers. They originated from more than 20 cities, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit and Houston. One Saudi Arabian Airlines flight left Kennedy Airport on Sept. 13 with 46 Saudis. The next day, another Saudi Arabian Airlines flight left with 13 Saudis.
Why did this happen?
Two questions...
Just two things I was thinking about today...
If the UKIP do well, what questions does it raise about whether the UK will stay in the EU or not? Kilroy-Silk was on Newsnight last night with John Redwood, Silk was articulate while also quoting polls saying the support for the UKIP is growing substantially.
If the UK ever left the EU what would it mean for transatlantic relations?
Secondly, with China and India growing up to 10% every year, will world oil supplies be able to meet demand? Car ownership in China doubled in one year - and India will go the same way. The US has managed to secure oil reserves in Iraq, but from where will China's and India's oil come?
Can we envisage resource wars going forward?
Curious...
New AIB charging allegation is being examined
Yet another AIB scandal, I can't say im surprised. Though I am surprised by the reaction of some bloggers...
This time:
This allegation again concerns rates charged to foreign exchange customers and the possibility that AIB branches that were not meeting their targets altered their exchange rates to increase profits.
Does this actually surprise anyone now? Does it cast the other overcharging issues in a different light? Were they even mistakes?
DJ Graffiti
DJ Graffiti aka Martin Smith is a Michigan MC from Ann Arbor. He calls himself “the underground mixtape king of Michigan”.
Martin Smith grew up in Oak Park and West Bloomfield. He graduated at Bloomfield High School in 1996.
His nickname “DJ Graffiti” comes from the lyrics he wrote. About his own lyrics, he says: “I spray mentals like lyrical graffiti.”
Continue reading "DJ Graffiti"NTT DoCoMo's 4G Test Results in 300Mbps Data Rate in Moving Car
The company said that the test achieved a maximum downstream data rate of 300Mbps with an average rate of 135Mbps in a car running at the speed of 30 kilometers per hour in areas 800m to 1km away from the 4G wireless base stations.NTT DoCoMo aims to realize much faster communication speeds by adding the multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) technology, which uses multiple antennas, to the current wireless system. The goal of the wireless data rate is as high as 1Gbps when not moving. The experiment will continue until July.
1Gbps while not moving? And on wireless? Woah.
June 01, 2004
Sudan crisis
The situation in Sudan needs urgent attention, as Ingrid has been pointing out for weeks now. Time is wasting, action surely needs to be taken now. Should we let Rwanda happen again, the ethnic cleansing may have largely ceased, but starvation still threatens upwards of 350,000 people, with perhaps upto 500,000 people in danger.
The blogging community should be behind action - 100%. Read PassionofthePresent for the latest - and as a primer read Nicholas Kristoff's piece.
As Passion notes:
In Darfur, a region in southern Sudan approximately the size of Texas, over a million people are threatened with torture and death at the hands of marauding militia and a complicit government. Genocide evokes not only the moral, but also, the legal responsibility of the world community. Under international agreement, a nation must intervene to stop a genocide when it is officially acknowledged. "Officially" is the key word here.Though President Bush has publicly protested the "atrocities" in Darfur and U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan has urged the international community to act, no nation has officially acknowledged the truth: Sudan is a bleeding ground of genocide. In this void, the Sudanese government continues to act with brutal impunity. Perpetrators of genocide do not want anyone watching, but individuals working in human rights organizations watch and witness, and courageously support the victims.
These individuals represent, for all of us, a personal capacity to bear witness to the passion of the present; one candle lit against the darkness. However, before one can light a candle, someone has to strike a match: a donation to any of the human rights organizations active in Sudan will help the candlepower of witness overcome and extinguish the firepower of genocide.
And as Kristoff rightly says:
Islamic leaders abroad have been particularly shameful in standing with the Sudanese government oppressors rather than with the Muslim victims in Darfur. Do they care about dead Muslims only when the killers are Israelis or Americans?As for the United States, we Americans have repeatedly failed to stand up to genocide, whether of Armenians, Jews, Cambodians or Rwandans. Now we're letting it happen again.
Irish blogger bash
Having attended one in Toronto recently...and a couple in London last year, I have yet to attend an Irish blog bash.
I have sounded out the idea with Dick O'Brien over at BSD - and he is keen as long as its on a Friday or Sunday. Friday night in Dublin suits me fine - even though I live in Cork lol (anyone put me up?).
So any Irish bloggers interested in attending a blog get together over the summer please leave a comment or drop me a mail. I will try and set a date that suits the maximum number of people. Dublin seems to most logical option since it is the hub of the transport network.
I am suggesting a Friday night sometime in late June or early July...
Irish bloggers in my blogroll are:
Karlin Lillington
Back Seat Drivers
Frank McGahon
Slugger O'Toole
Des Bishop
Bernie Goldbach
Ryan
It Comes in Pints?
At What Cost?
Broken Irish
Stunned
Broom of Anger
d2r
On Gaien Higashi Dori
Tony Allwright
David Havelin
Keith Gaughan
Justin Mason
Defiant Irish Woman
Alt-Tag
Tom Cosgrave
Sarah Carey
Atlanticblog
Murphy's
Da Berries
Annette
Irish Eagle
North Atlantic Skyline
Religion quotes
When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized that I was talking to myself.
Peter Barnes, The Ruling Class
It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.
Albert Einstein in Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by
Helen Dukas (Einstein's secretary) and Banesh Hoffman
Believing is easier than thinking. Hence so many more believers than thinkers. Bruce Calvert
Latest banking scandals
Uncle Anthony with yet another letter in the Irish Times (sub. required)
Madam, - So, what exactly is it that auditors do? - Yours, etc.,
ANTHONY SHERIDAN, Cobh, Co Cork.
May 31, 2004
The end of month blog stats
Somehow or another May 2004 has been the busiest month for my server thus far.
Sitemeter recorded about 45,000 visitors with 56,000 page impressions. Webalizer recorded 63,000 visitors, 213,000 hits and used 6.2Gigs of my 7Gig bandwidth. I've only just upgraded from 5Gigs a month. Time to see about going to 10Gigs.
I find the whole dynamics of search engine optimization, and the ways in which people find weblogs/sites fascinating. Some people think watching stats is pretty boring, but I find it interesting at least.
Sudan genocide
Ingrid has been doing some sterling work on the problems in the Sudan. As Glenn Reynolds would say, keep scrolling.
Photos of Ireland
Chris has been posting some very nice photos from his travels in Ireland - shame I couldn't meet up with him on this occassion, but definately next time.
The Secrets of Surveillance: Elaine Cassel
Elaine Cassel writes a piece pointed to by Slashdot, telling the story of how internet usage in the US is monitored. Heavy stuff going on with one 'John Doe', the ACLU and the PATRIOT Act.
In a memorandum to the court, the ACLU wrote that the statute allowing the broad use of National Security Letters gives the FBI "unchecked authority" to require businesses to reveal "a broad array of sensitive information, including information about the First Amendment activities of ordinary Americans who are not suspected of any wrongdoing."The memorandum continues: "The statute does not require the FBI to seek judicial authorization before demanding the disclosure of sensitive information, and it does not specify any means by which a person served with an NSL can challenge the NSLs validity before complying with it. In other words, the FBI issues NSLs without judicial oversight of any kind.
5th International Symposium on Online Journalism
Slashdot points to the 5th International Symposium on Online Journalism, and some interesting research papers on blogging that were published recently. I'll have to take a closer look later.
Dino impact gave Earth the chill
Evidence has been found for a global winter following the asteroid impact that is thought to have killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Rocks in Tunisia reveal microscopic cold-water creatures invaded a warm sea just after the space rock struck Earth.The global winter was probably caused by a pollutant cloud of sulphate particles released when the asteroid vapourised rocks at Chicxulub, Mexico.
I thought the main impact that wiped out the dinosaurs was recently reported to be in Australia?
Blog-only news diet
Bernie links to a story about a guy that will be relying solely on blogs for his news intake. I have spent time doing it before - the analysis in the blogosphere is second to none.
Steve Rubel is the guy who has set himself the challenge, should be curious to see how the quiz works out.
Comparing blogging software
A good comparison of blogging software available out there right now...some MT users appears to be moving to WordPress after the version 3.0 pricing scandal.
I am not a blogaholic, I am not a blogaholic....
Dan Drezner with a funny story from the NY Times...
To celebrate four years of marriage, Richard Wiggins and his wife, Judy Matthews, recently spent a week in Key West, Fla. Early on the morning of their anniversary, Ms. Matthews heard her husband get up and go into the bathroom. He stayed there for a long time."I didn't hear any water running, so I wondered what was going on," Ms. Matthews said. When she knocked on the door, she found him seated with his laptop balanced on his knees, typing into his Web log, a collection of observations about the technical world, over a wireless link.
Ouch now there is a blogaholic.
I found the right answer to my wife as she launched an intervention. I explained that just because the laptop was on my lap, that didn't mean I was blogging. This is how I read the paper. It's the same as her sitting on the couch reading a magazine.It worked.
You're welcome.
Back Seat Drivers one year on
The lads over at Back Seat Drivers have just had their first birthday. Well done lads - its almost going into year three for me.
Jon and Dick always have interesting posts - and I have gotten in the occasional argument, but always good natured - a pleasure to read them every other day.
Karlin seems to have stopped blogging for some reason, so the starter of blog bashes in Ireland is nowhere to be found - has anyone any thoughts on a blog get together over the summer? Cork, Dublin anyone?
To Their Surprise, Bloggers Are Force for Change in Big Media
Dan Gillmor points to this article in the Online Journalism Review - on the effects blogging can have on big media.
I especially like the story about the New York Times Op-Ed page - a parody that succeeded in making the Times change its editorial policy.
May 30, 2004
Detroit Mc Lazarus
Have you ever heard about Detroit Mc Lazarus?
Continue reading "Detroit Mc Lazarus"May 29, 2004
Detroit Mc Dogmatic
You wanna hear a real and typical sound from Detroit?
Continue reading "Detroit Mc Dogmatic"May 27, 2004
Astronomers reveal biggest stars yet seen
Astronomers hunting massive stars in a bid to understand the early Universe have set a new record.
In April, Gregor Rauw, of the University of Liege in Belgium, and colleagues suggested that an object called WR 20a in the constellation Carina could be two giant stars orbiting each other. That would explain its otherwise puzzling spectrum of light.
Antibiotics linked to huge rise in allergies
Are anti-biotics to blame for the huge rise in the incidences of allergies? Perhaps - New Scientist has the story.
Hassles vs. a sense of security
Some pretty big security measures in Europe's airports - strange that at one point, for one flight, 22 different US agencies were requesting to vet passenger lists.
On Europe's streets: America the unloved
Richard Reeves thinks that Bush and Blair have about 100 days left to prove what they did in Iraq was the "right thing to do". Interesting piece.
One Man Army
One Man Army is another underground MC from Lansing, Michigan. His real name is Raland Scruggs. Raland Scruggs influenced the hip hop scene in the early 90’s. In 1994, Raland Scruggs and his friend Ross Rowe aka Senim Silla influenced the hip hop scene in the early 90’s.
Continue reading "One Man Army"D12 to Tour Without Eminem
Eminem may surprise fans on certain D12 dates.
http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/news/article.php?id=5552
Continue reading "D12 to Tour Without Eminem"Eminem wins case against Dutch online retailer
http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=1916
A court in the Hague ruled in favour of Eminem in a case the popular 28-year-old American rap and hip-hop artist brought against Ramshorn BV, a Dutch online company.
May 26, 2004
Europe's gamble: Waiting for Kerry
As ever I love the subject of transatlantic relations, this article is a few days old but I'll stick it up anyway.
Will Europeans be happier if Kerry is elected? And will it improve relations?
Continue reading "Europe's gamble: Waiting for Kerry "Report: al-Qaida Ranks Swelling Worldwide
This report from AP:
Far from being crippled by the U.S.-led war on terror, al-Qaida has more than 18,000 potential terrorists scattered around the world and the war in Iraq (news - web sites) is swelling its ranks, a report said Tuesday.
Continue reading "Report: al-Qaida Ranks Swelling Worldwide "Eminem Rallies Hip-Hop Fans To Vote, Hopes to Regain His Own Voting Status
If you're confused about voter eligibility and registration, you are not alone.
Continue reading "Eminem Rallies Hip-Hop Fans To Vote, Hopes to Regain His Own Voting Status"May 25, 2004
May 24, 2004
Wordshot (freestyle by me)
No need for me to possess a Smith and Wesson, man, to teach you a lesson
Your work always undone in your sick run to be number one
May 23, 2004
Eminem vs Cage
How many whack and average artists have accused Eminem to have copied their style or rhymes? Well, if Eminem was actually inspired by some of you and took some of your whack or average work to make it look brilliant, that makes him appear much more than a genius in the public’s eyes.
Continue reading "Eminem vs Cage"Is it insulting?
During the week I wrote a post on an article Kevin Myers’ wrote in the Irish Times. Originally I was somewhat shocked by the nature of the article, and wrote a post criticising the logical leaps and outright nonsense in the piece.
But the more I read the article the more I am angered by it. Myers is making some very serious statements. Out of curiosity I looked up the terms of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. Here is the quote from the Statute Books, its definition of hatred is:
"hatred" means hatred against a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the travelling community or sexual orientation;
The terms are:
It shall be an offence for a person—
( a ) to publish or distribute written material,
( b ) to use words, behave or display written material—
(i) in any place other than inside a private residence, or
(ii) inside a private residence so that the words, behaviour or material are heard or seen by persons outside the residence,
or
( c ) to distribute, show or play a recording of visual images or sounds,
if the written material, words, behaviour, visual images or sounds, as the case may be, are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or, having regard to all the circumstances, are likely to stir up hatred.
Is what Myers says “threatening, abusive or insulting” and “likely to stir up hatred”. I would say, at the very least, the words could be construed as insulting. Let’s take a closer look at what exactly Myers does say. I will highlighted sentences I believe to be abusive or insulting – either to a religion or group of people – and could certainly not be hyperbole.
Phrases such as “mealy-mouthed evasions and vapid pieties”, “the reactionary, learn-nothing left” are typical Myers polemic, that really add nothing to the argument – in fact having to insult the other side is a typical sign of losing the argument. Myers often resorts to insults, it takes away from any point he is trying to make. He goes on:
Now, finally, life has been good to us. So what kind of Ireland do we want in 50 years? Go back half-a-century and ask the people in Britain what they envisaged for their country. Who in 1954 would have thought that by 2004 places such as Burnley, Bradford, Preston, Huddersfield, would be nearly 50 per cent Muslim, as they now are? No one; indeed, even to have suggested such a possibility then, or over the next 20 years, would have invited the wrath of the ideologically pro-immigration left, with righteous denunciations of scaremongering racism.
What is Myers actually saying here? Is he saying that towns of nearly 50% Muslims are a bad thing? Is he saying that it is a goof thing? Neither really, but he makes a point later on that indicates something else.
Comparable demographics apply across much of mainland Europe, where there has been a rise of virulent anti-Semitism, largely centred within the immigrant Muslim communities.
So Muslims in Europe are largely to blame for anti-Semitism? Firstly is that true, and secondly is there not also a rise in anti-muslim sentiment within right-wing groups in Europe?
Nor is the issue solely one of importing the virus of anti-Semitism through the millions of Islamic immigrants. Muslim communities in Britain have so far produced three suicide bombers and 1200 volunteers for Taliban/Al-Qeada terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. Moreover, in an opinion poll last year, 13 per cent of British Muslims said they supported the 9/11 attacks.
I actually believe that poll was done this year, but I’ll check it out. It is curious but 87% of Muslims did not support the attacks. And in polls such as that, I would imagine many people would say they supported the attacks – but would never actually physically do anything in support of them. So actually one could say that the vast majority of Muslims did not support the attacks – the same being through of non-Muslims.
Now I think we can reach the crux of Myer’s argument.
So, more immigrants, more diversity, will make Ireland a more interesting place. Good. We agree on that. But steady there. Who actually wants Athlone or Portlaoise, 50 years hence, to be what Preston, Bradford, Huddersfield are now? What happens if the children of immigrants insist on retaining the cultural norms of their parents' homeland? Where stands multiculturalism when an immigrant culture demands the right to slice off teenage girls' vulvas? Or insists on arranged marriages in childhood? Or the honour-killing of daughters who do not do their fathers' bidding? Racism! This will never happen here! Will it not?
There it is. What he is actually saying is “who wants Muslims living in Irish towns”. In fact he is saying who wants Muslims in Ireland – period. Then he asks “what happens if the Muslims who come here behave like Musims”. By phrasing his sentences in the form of questions he is avoiding stating what he might actually believe – that he does not want towns where 50% of the population are Muslims. Is that a racist comment? Is it “likely to stir up hatred”? It could be argued that such sentiment might stir up hatred of Muslims and Muslim communities. It also demonstrates something else – fear.
To his conclusion, where he attempts to qualify his questionable remarks on Muslim communities, by saying:
No doubt, most Muslims will be what most Muslims are today – hard-working and law-abiding, and will be a cultural and intellectual asset.
Most Muslims did not support 9/11. If what Myers says here is true, then I really don’t know why he is so fearful of Muslims. Are the Muslims he talks about here the same Muslims that will keep their ‘cultural norms’, i.e. Islam, and ask for halal meet in the local butcher?
What’s the crux here? He appears to be saying that he does want Muslims in, then he doesn’t, then he only wants some, but not the unsavoury part. Yes we love Muslims, but we don’t want the suicide bombers.
Dick O’Brien pointed out that the same argument could be applied to Irish communites in Britain over the last few decades. A fringe element were bombers, intent on destruction, while the rest were “hard-working”. And they brought with them strange customs, at least strange to the Protestant majority, of believing virgin births and magical transformations of wine and bread into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
So how to sum up? Myers says
a) Do we want Muslims in Ireland in 50 years?
b) Muslims bring strange customs and beliefs, should we let them in?
c) Some Muslims will be fundamentalist
d) The customs of Muslims, such as arranged marriages, mean that immigration to Britain is now “unstoppable”.
e) We must stop people coming into Ireland, even though most genuinely want to work
f) In 50 years Irish Muslims might be fundamentalist
Perhaps the correct authority could decide on whether Myers’ article falls into the category of inciting hatred.
Speakers encourage hip-hop generation to educate itself, vote
DETROIT (AP) — The hip-hop generation needs to educate itself and then head to the polls in this fall's election.
Continue reading "Speakers encourage hip-hop generation to educate itself, vote "May 22, 2004
Eminem D12 beef against Royce Da 5.9
It is always sad to see your friend become your enemy, particularly in Eminem’s case, because real friendship and loyalty really matter to Marshall.
Marshall and Royce have been friends since the beginning.They knew each other since 1997. They have been collaborating since the Slim Shady LP :
May 21, 2004
McCreevy and AIB
All my Irish readers will be aware of the recent scandal involving our beloved bank AIB. In short they 'mistakenly' overcharged foreign exhange transaction customers by 100%.
Yes you read it right, instead of the agreed 0.5%, they instead charged 1.0%. Accidentally. For a decade. They also had to check that they were charging the correct amount, under the then regulator, the Director of Consumer Affairs. They checked, apparently, and still said everything was hunky dory. It wasn't.
Thanks only to a whistleblower, we now know that they were overcharging.
And so to the reaction of our Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy. He loves AIB I think. In a report in the Irish Times, it is noted that the new powers to be given to the IFSRA actually amount to very little. Here is an exerpt of the report.
Outlining the sanctions that a regulatory authority can impose on a financial institution, Mr McCreevy said the authority "may agree with a financial institution that the institution should pay an appropriate penalty, not necessarily requiring the institution to formally acknowledge its guilt".
Am I reading that correctly? So the regulator sits down for tea with the bank and a bit of a chat. "Pay the fine lads" , "but remember you don't have to admit you are guilty". Could that even be defined as regulation? Are we the only country in the world to treat our banks as if they are bastions of virtue? The report continues:
Where an institution admits it has "committed a contravention, the authority can agree an appropriate penalty with that institution without going through a formal inquiry process." If either side does not wish to avail of these options, "there is provision for a formal inquiry by the authority leading to a formal determination".
So there is no inquiry either? The banks must be loving this, who have they employed to lobby the government? He must be a bloody genius. It's not actually regulation at all, it seems to be a series of gentlemanly agreements between the 'regulator' and the bank.
I believe in other countries, where a bank has been found to be doing what AIB was doing, the regulator decided not to begin working with the bank to correct the 'mistake', but instead shut down all of the banks activities in that area - i.e. foreign exchange - until such time as it was satisfied that the situation had been corrected.
Of course this is Ireland. We do things differently here.
Is Kevin Myers making sense?
Kevin Myers is a man I have read on and off for a number of years now. Reading him today I am increasingly of the belief that he is losing the run of himself. September 11 marked a turning point in his writing, he recently disagreed with Mark Steyn, and was accused of losing his right wing edge.
But his most recently article seems to stand out - I think it's just total, unadulterated tripe. Why does he feel the constant need for attacks on groups "the reactionary, learn-nothing left" to support his argument? Is that the only way he can make argument? And can they even be defined as arguments?
Here he is at full bluster:
Marvellous, utterly marvellous, to see the present immigration debate - if you can dignify such a festival of mealy-mouthed evasions and vapid pieties with such a term - following the predictable lines of other European societies which experienced immigration a generation ago.Once again, the reactionary, learn-nothing left has brandished the r-word at people who urge restrictions on immigration into Ireland; for within liberal culture, calling any opponents "racists" instantly wins every argument, regardless of what they are really saying.
Now, finally, life has been good to us. So what kind of Ireland do we want in 50 years? Go back half-a-century and ask the people in Britain what they envisaged for their country. Who in 1954 would have thought that by 2004 places such as Burnley, Bradford, Preston, Huddersfield, would be nearly 50 per cent Muslim, as they now are? No one; indeed, even to have suggested such a possibility then, or over the next 20 years, would have invited the wrath of the ideologically pro-immigration left, with righteous denunciations of scaremongering racism.
Now, this is not (a) funny, or (b) talked about - barely at all in Britain, and absolutely not in Ireland, where we are told to be bewitched by the imminent multicultural splendours ahead. So we don't discuss the complexities and the consequences of immigration, but instead waffle on (in Irish Times-reading circles especially) about the glorious benefits of immigration.
Are we even on the same planet? Where is he getting this stuff from? Who would have thought these places would nearly 50% Muslim? Who cares? I've been to Yorkshire, and Huddersfield, and yes there many Muslims, but does it bother me? Of couse not. Does it bother the other percentage of residents? Not in my experience. What's the big deal Kevin? Because no one envisaged it does not mean it's a bad thing.
Yes it is talked about in Britain, and yes more so than it is here. Myers is bemoaning that we don't discuss the "complexities and the consequences of immigration". I don't see Myers discussing it at all, he just seems to think "stop them coming in and we won't have to think about it".
He continues:
So, more immigrants, more diversity, will make Ireland a more interesting place. Good. We agree on that. But steady there. Who actually wants Athlone or Portlaoise, 50 years hence, to be what Preston, Bradford, Huddersfield are now? What happens if the children of immigrants insist on retaining the cultural norms of their parents' homeland? Where stands multiculturalism when an immigrant culture demands the right to slice off teenage girls' vulvas? Or insists on arranged marriages in childhood? Or the honour-killing of daughters who do not do their fathers' bidding? Racism! This will never happen here! Will it not?Weakness, inertia, liberal smugness and abject political cowardice allowed an army of self-styled "asylum-seekers" to drive a coach and four through the dismal charade of our immigration controls. As it happens, most of those who bluffed their way in genuinely seem to want to work - so good luck to them; but such easy-going days must, emphatically, now be over.
For what about the Ireland we bequeath to the unborn? Have we the courage now to discuss the Islamic component in Ireland 2054? No doubt, most Muslims will be what most Muslims are today - hard-working and law-abiding, and will be a cultural and intellectual asset. But what of those jihadistas who in life and limb are loyal to holy war, and who seem to be present on the wilder shores of almost all Islamic societies, yearning for the martyrs' paradise beyond? What value our liberal immigration policies today if the price for our grandchildren tomorrow is such fine fellows, Irishmen with Irish accents, preaching the virtues of the suicide bomber against the infidel, in a mosque which was once a Catholic church?
Not only is he on another planet, he's just reached another galaxy. After complaining that some towns in the UK are nearly 50% Muslim (so what?), he asks if we want Athlone or Portlaoise to be akin to them? It wouldn't bother me at all Kevin. And then he asks all the questions - scaremongering I would say. All of these issues have been fairly expertly handled across the water - where they have 50 years of experience of it, while we on the other hand, are just starting out.
The final paragraph is just balderdash, though I could use stronger words. Kevin, Muslims will be coming to Ireland. They will live, work and worship here. What's the problem with that? What he doesn't seem to realise is that he is using the very same language that was common in the UK 50 years ago, but hey, they got over it and moved on. We will have to too, and no amount of immigration policies will stop it - why? Because we aspire to be an open and democratic society. And that means it comes with the territory.
And what's this about a mosque that was once a Catholic Church? Ohhh, scary! What an image! Please, Mr. Myers, think about it for a moment.
Sarin, Hewitt and Yglesias
Hugh Hewitt and Matthew Yglesias had a bit of an argument over the sarin round used in Iraq last week. The story is covered by Kevin Drum.
I came across a relevant piece at New Scientist. Debora MacKenzie writes about the long term effects of sarin, saying:
Proof that some of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons still exist finally came on Monday, when a chemical shell containing sarin was discovered in Baghdad. It had been rigged to booby-trap a US military convoy and exploded before it could be disarmed, resulting in "minor exposure" for two bomb disposal experts.The two "showed some minor indications of nerve poisoning" said Army general Mark Kimmitt on Monday. "However, it was so minor that the doctors already have these people released." The two were probably treated with atropine, the standard antidote for life-threatening exposure to sarin.
New Scientist then went further:
New Scientist contacted the departments of Defense and of Veterans Affairs in Washington DC and Central Command in Baghdad, but was given no indication that personnel have or will be tested for paraoxonase. Robinson says: "They can contact us, and we can point them in the right direction to get help."
She concludes:
These long-term effects are caused by the agent's effect on brain receptors, not the receptors in muscle and the lungs that make higher doses of sarin lethal. But nothing is yet available for soldiers or anyone else in Iraq who has been exposed to Saddam's leftover sarin - or is in the future.
I think Hewitts arguments are a small bit on the thin side. One shell, perhaps over a decade old, is not sufficient reason to invade an entire country.
May 20, 2004
EMINEM HOSTS HIP-HOP SUMMIT: The real Slim Shady will host for Detroit
Eminem will be in charge of moderating something? What is the world coming to? He needs to go and hug his mama.
Continue reading "EMINEM HOSTS HIP-HOP SUMMIT: The real Slim Shady will host for Detroit "It's a shame: those people have been tortured on Eminem's music
I would never have imagined –not even in my worst dreams- that the music that pleases my ear could be used as a torture.
Noam Chomsky on BBC Newsnight
Chomsky is, to say the least, a controversial figure in the blogosphere. I have read so many criticisms of Chomsky, many very eloquent, I have become very wary of his ideas. I have read many of his books, but to be honest so many of them repeat what previous books say, I will probably never buy Chomsky again.
Paxman took on Chomsky last night . (Realplayer)
Robert Fisk, Eamonn Dunphy, Tom Cooney on TV3's Agenda
Readers may remember this story from last month. Fisk had a quite a tantrum on Irish television.
Blog-Irish has the link to the video that some of my readers were looking for . You can watch the video here (7Mb MPEG)- it has to be one of the funniest pieces of television so far this year.
He also links to an article by Ian O'Doherty in the Irish Independent, he also finds the whole thing quite amusing. But then Ian is a big fan of Bill Hicks, like myself.
May 19, 2004
Eminem's criminal records
If Eminem could go back to 2000, he would probably like to erase June the 3rd from the calender.
Eminem Gets OK To Bite Apple
A Detroit federal judge has ruled that Eminem's copyright infringement lawsuit against Apple Computer for their unauthorized use of "Lose Yourself" can proceed:
http://www.sohh.com/thewire/read.php?contentID=5852
A classic Fianna Fail scheme: Fintan O'Toole
Fintan is in top form (sub. req.) in today's Irish Times. I agree with him, the sheer scale and cost of decentralisation is to say the least, ill-considered. But this is coming from an incompetent Fianna Fail/PD coalition, who seem incapable of doing just about anything without making a balls of it.
Fintan muses:
What becomes clear when you read the report is that this is a classic Fianna Fáil operation, in that it appeals vaguely to a broad swathe of the population and sharply to an insider elite.The plain people of the provinces will see it as a great benefit screwed out of the Dublin 4 establishment by their local chieftains. At the same time there will be a huge bonanza for the real establishment, including the little inner circle of property developers that has a special place in the Government's heart.
Ah those property tycoons, you gotta love 'em. But what problems could possibly arise from sending all these civil servants down the country? Fintan thinks along the following lines:
The fact that 41 of the 53 new locations are not listed in the National Spatial Strategy as focal points for development is a symptom of the ludicrous inability to co-ordinate policies. The solution? Fragment things even more. Have your civil servants clocking up mileage allowances travelling between BIM in Cavan and the Department of the Marine in Clonakilty, Garda HQ in Thurles and Justice in Dublin, or Bus Éireann in Mitchelstown and the Department of Transport in Dublin. Have eight Ministers and their advisers working many miles away from the Dáil.But it makes perfect sense if you remember the Government's deep and abiding affection for the property development industry. When you read the Implementation Report the outlines of the great gold rush appear. The scope for private enrichment is massive.
'Ah' some might say, 'a conspiracy theory!'. But no, I have a feeling Fintan is right on this one. From the people who brought you '100% accurate e-voting' comes decentralisation for profit. Is there anything more we should worry about?
All State data processing will be done in two new centres owned and operated privately. This astonishing notion raises its own fears, especially since reassurances that security will be watertight will come from the Government that brought us the e-voting debacle.The banks will make big profits from financing these operations. The developers will pass on these costs to the taxpayer and will receive, in return, guaranteed State tenants who can't move out for political reasons.
There will of course be "an open tendering process, consistent with national and EU procurement rules" just like there was in that other great McCreevy project at Punchestown. Ask the old question cui bono - who benefits? - and the whole thing starts to make sense.
Cui bono indeed. That little project in Punchestown was such a great thing, as was the allocation of National Lottery monies to Minister's constituencies. Poor old John 'Sporty' O'Donoghue got quite upset on the radio last week at suggestions that he may have gotten special treatment because he was high up the ranks of Fianna Fail.
What a banana republic we all live in.
May 18, 2004
William Safire: A way to balance liberty and security
Must Americans wait until intrusive general searches mushroom into scandal, weakening America's ability to collect information that saves lives? Congress should debate this Pentagon report, exercising foresight, rather than years from now, in the high dudgeon of hindsight.
So says William Safire of this recently released Pentagon report. I'll have a look round the net for it. As for Safire, he seems to favour more wiretaps and surveillance, I just wonder whether it will do any good. Is not al-Qaeda well versed in encrypting documents, and using various simple, but highly effective techniques to avoid surveillance?
Children of Bush's America: Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein this week with some curious remarks - and interesting insight.
The echo was probably intentional. Bush is so desperate for the Hispanic vote that he has taken to shouting " Vamos a ganar! We're going to win!" during stump speeches in Ohio.
Of course he is desperate for the hispanic vote - what candidate wouldn't be?
But the main purpose of the "Yes, American can" bus tour, of course, was to shift the attention of US voters away from the Iraq prison scandal towards the recovering job market.
I would imagine that the tour was planned well in advance of the Abu Ghraib pictures coming out. It should read 'effect' instead of 'purpose'.
Here is an interesting figure though:
With more than 2 million Americans behind bars, the number of prison guards has exploded - from 270,317 in 2000 to 476,000 in 2002.
That's quite a number of state-created jobs is it not? Hmm.
But here is where Klein gets serious:
There's Sergeant Ivan Frederick, another prison guard, this time from rural Virginia. Before he joined what Van Jones, a prisoners' rights lawyer, calls "America's gulag economy", Frederick had a decent job at the Bausch and Lomb factory in Mountain Lake, Maryland. But according to the New York Times, that factory shut down and moved to Mexico - one of the nearly 900,000 jobs that the Economic Policy Institute estimates have been lost since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into force in 1994, the vast majority in manufacturing.Free trade has turned the US labour market into an hourglass: plenty of jobs at the bottom, a fair bit at the top, but very little in the middle. At the same time, getting from the bottom to the top has become increasingly difficult, with tuition fees at state colleges up by more than 50% since 1990.
And that's where the US military comes in: the army has positioned itself as the bridge across America's growing class chasm: money for tuition in exchange for military service. Call it the Nafta draft.
I have lots of anecodotal experiences of this, many Americans I have known have told me of this choice - to do your time in the military to get cheaper education. It sounds like a curious position, in what is supposed to be a market economy. The State is essentially bargaining with its citizens - and I think the phrase 'Nafta draft' is apt.
Blogging Mobile
Tis nice to be able to use the local 2Mb line down the local net cafe - they provide space for wired 100Mbs laptops.
More blogging later.
Google Ads
I will be testing out the much-hyped Google Ads over the next while - I am curious to see how this thing works. Feel free to click on the ads, but if you don't feel like it, don't bother.
Life is Beautiful
I just watched Life is Beautiful, after putting off seeing if for 6 whole years. To say I was impressed would be understating, to say it was a one of the best films I have ever seen, would be putting it mildly.
I have seen no better depiction of the Holocaust - and no better depiction of the strength of human nature to overcome intensely adverse circumstance.
May 17, 2004
Testimony by Ray Bradbury
Also from Slashdot is Ray Bradbury's testimony to the President's Commission on Implementation on U.S. Space Exploration Policy. He has some interesting ideas on the place and time humanity finds itself in. I like this quote:
That's fascinating to think about - isn't it? Four hundred years before Kitty Hawk, an Italian lands on an empty shore, and four hundred years later the Wright Brothers take off into the air above the Earth.
Plogs and Plogging
Just came across this story on Slashdot. Another new phrase is coined - but I would still call them blogs, except they are being used in slightly different way.
So plog is short for 'project log'. It's basically a blog - why coin a new and slightly-more-daft-sounding word? Still though it is good way of keeping track of progress, the Pentagon have recently started using blogging for some projects.
Operation Copper Green
Michael Totten has the lowdown on the New Yorker's report concerning Don Rumsfeld. His verdict:
While I’m aware it could be absolute nonsense, not a single word seems implausible.
For my part I was not as shocked as most by the photos from prisons in Iraq. I read an article about methods used in last October's Atlantic Monthly. It was written by Mark Bowden, who has also written a piece on the goings-on in Abu Ghraib. Bowden notes:
The only way to prevent interrogators from feeling licensed to abuse is to make them individually responsible for their actions. If I lean on an insurgent leader who knows where surface-to-air missiles are stockpiled, then I can offer the defense of necessity if charges are brought against me. I might be able to persuade the court or tribunal that my ugly choice was justified. But when a prison, an army, or a government tacitly approves coercive measures as a matter of course, widespread and indefensible human-rights abuses become inevitable. Such approval unleashes the sadists. It leads to severe physical torture (because there can never be a clear line between coercion and torture), to rape, and to murder.
These things may already have happened. The Bush Administration has tried to walk a dangerous line in these matters. The President has spoken out against torture, but his equivocations on the terms of the Geneva Convention suggest that he perceives wiggle room between ideal and practice. There are reports that Administration lawyers quietly drafted a series of secret legal opinions last year that codified the "aggressive" methods of interrogation permitted at U.S. detention facilities—which, if true, effectively authorized in advance the use of coercion.
Perhaps the most disturbing evidence of this mindset was Donald Rumsfeld's long initial silence on the Abu Ghraib photos. His failure to alert the President or congressional leaders before the photos became public—and he knew they were going to become public—leads one to conclude that he didn't think they were a very big deal. If so, this reveals him to be astonishingly tone-deaf, or worse. Maybe he simply wasn't shocked.
Atoms
I have added an atom.xml feed to the blog, for those of you have started using aggregators. I think it's working anyway.
Conspicuous by his Absence
Kieran Healy is reading Robert Skidelsky's John Maynard Keynes, something I have been meaning to read for some time. He is the father of Will Skidelsky, whom I met while interning for the New Statesman.
Interesting stuff that I did not realise about Wittgenstein - the Tractatus is somewhere very far down my books to read.
For the moment I am sticking with Paul Kennedy's, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.
Boycott "The Day after Tomorrow"?
Dan Drezner is calling for a boycott of the new film - I for one love this kind of stuff. As much as alot of is plain nonsense - I'm a sucker for big epic special effects pop-corn movies. I had the same buzz with Independence Day, and no doubt it will be the same for this film.
As for the environmental aspect, I think MoveOn.org are taking this one just a bit too far. But as already discussed on this blog, I am of the opinion that global warming is taking place, and that Carthage must be destroyed.
How Bloggers might make a living
Tom Mangan has an interesting post from last week, on how bloggers might be able to make money - ghost blogging.
He thinks that eventually famous people might start blogging, perhaps as a publicity tool. And since they might not have the time, they might hire fans to do the blogging for them.
His advice: start blogging about your favourite celeb, they might just hire you. Looks like Isabelle will be hired by Eminem then!
What you do is: create this wonderful celeb blog, attract all this attention and traffic, and when the celeb's "people" contact you, you say, "well, you know, I'd love to be able to do this full-time, but ....."
The Geneva Convention and the War on Terror
Kevin Drum poses the question:
Should the Geneva Conventions apply to captured Taliban fighters? And if you think they shouldn't, why not?
I think he may also mean to terrorists in general, not just Taliban fighters. He also adds that:
If you want to argue that it's because war on terrorism is somehow more critical or more deadly than either the Cold War (potential global Armageddon, Europe/world saved from communism) or World War II (60 million dead, Europe/world saved from fascism), you'd better make a mighty good case.
And while you're at it, you should also plainly state whether you think suspending the Conventions applies only to the U.S., or if it's OK for everyone else as well. Might as well get all our cards out on the table at once.
A mighty interesting debate could be the result. Where do I stand?
Erring on the side of the Geneva Convention folks.
Colin Powell on Meet the Press
In case you missed it, Kevin Drum has the transcript from the rather funny episode of Meet the Press, where one of Colin Powell's aides goes a bit crazy and ends an interview in the middle of a question. Powell seemed a bit surprised - and wanted to answer the question. She wanted to end it.
Russert: Finally, Mr. Secretary, in February of 2003, you placed your enormous personal credibility before the United Nations and laid out a case against Saddam Hussein citing...
Emily: You're off.
Powell: I am not off.
Emily: No. They can't use it. They're editing it. They (unintelligible).
Powell: He's still asking me questions.
Emily: He was not...
Powell: Tim, I'm sorry, I lost you.
Russert: I'm right here, Mr. Secretary. I would hope they would put you back on camera. I don't know who did that.
Powell: We've really scre...
Russert: I think that was one of your staff, Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate.
Powell: Emily, get out of the way.
Emily: OK.
Powell: Bring the camera back, please. I think we're back on, Tim. Go ahead with your last question.
I think she just lost her job.
More links out of the blue
Ingrid Jones has linked to me, I think she may have found me through Clive Soley's weblog, though I can't be sure. She has a nice blog - check it out. Time to update the blogroll.
Making the judgement
Dan Gillmor has pointed to two very interesting pieces that talk about issues raised on this blog last week.
Jay Rosen and Jeff Jarvis discuss the ins and outs - it certainly brings together all the arguments put forward on this blog. Go read them.
I wanted to articulate this myself, but Jay has done a better job than I could have done. I have also received requests from the US do put the link back up. Decisions, decisions.
Jeff Jarvis picks out the crux of Jay's argument well, of protectionist journalism, Jay decries:
You shouldn't do it, because if you keep doing it you will soon be talking about "the masses" and what they will swallow. Soon after that you will be talking about what the masses should be fed. I don't trust anyone's argument--left, right, middle, fringe--when it assumes that others (the big audience, the mass public, the voters overall) will react with less nuance, intelligence, or critical thought than the writer and the writer's friends. To me it's a warning sign: anti-democratic attitude here in evidence.
Jeff then concludes, pretty much thinking along the same lines as myself:
This is an extreme example of the revolution journalism is facing: When the people can see the news for themselves and judge for themselves, what is the role of journalists' news judgment? Are we merely to become a pipeline for source material? Are we merely fellow citizens, like our readers, with opinions of our own? Do we still think we know more (and better) than the audience or do we admit that the citizens know more we do?
Nick Berg editing
I have removed the links to the Berg video and pictures. I don't think there's any need to keep it there any longer -
May 16, 2004
Irish student decodes US documents?
Slashdot has a story from the Register that Claire from DCU had a look at trying to find out what the blanked out words in declassified documents said.
Sounds like she was pretty successful.
This misadventure happened to a 12 years old Eminem fan
This misadventure actually happened to a 12 years old Eminem fan in 2000:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/sep00/juke12091100a.asp
Continue reading "This misadventure happened to a 12 years old Eminem fan"Piers is gone
The Mirror is now in disarray, apparently having been successfully duped by a hoaxer. Morgan was summarily sacked and escorted from the building he had run for some time.
Who was behind the hoax? Did Morgan orchestrate it, and got caught on the devil in the detail? Or was he duped?
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Private spaceship almost in space
Nearly there, this is great news for space exploration. Hopefully we will not have to rely on state agencies for too much longer.
Library of Alexandria discovered
The BBC is reporting that the lost Library of Alexander has been found, great news if the whole site can be fully explored.
Carl Sagan was fascinated with the books that may have been present in the library - perhaps they could find me the lost parts of Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound - or any of his other plays.
