a little right of center

 
LIKE PULLING TEETH: It's not that the NY Times is ontologically incapable of factual, fundamentally fair coverage--it is, & it sometimes does--but rather that editorial oversight is inconsistent @ best & embarrassingly incompetent @ worst... With the tremendous resources available to the Times, why is it such a struggle to tell apart able reporters from hatchet-wielding maroons & honest op-ed writers from pathologically partisan hacks, or else those who happen to casually inane?

spray-painted by harm @ 11:42 PM -

 
DON'T IMPOSE THAT "DE FACTO" ON ME, MAN: ...no end to this madness...

According to SANA, the official Syrian news agency, the Arab League says the project to make Jerusalem wireless fidelity-enabled (WiFi) accessible threatens the Arab identity of the city.

The Arab League issued a statement Tuesday saying, “the project aims at imposing a de facto [sic] on the city in a way that serves the Israeli interests under the pretext of encouraging the foreign investments.”

The statement added that the WiFi project, along with all of Israel’s policies, “contradicts not only the international law and resolutions but also reflect no desire in realizing the just and comprehensive peace in the region.”

...thar y'all go; wireless access goes against "international law..."

spray-painted by harm @ 11:39 PM -

 
LET'S FIX THIS BY BREAKING IT ALL OVER AGAIN: Sooooooo... I'm getting more & more curiouser by the second; what's it going to take for proponents of "campaign reform" to finally crack down & admit they are wrong in 34947795 different ways? A glowing cross in the sky, martians landing on the White House lawn, what?

President Bush on Thursday sought to smooth over differences with Sen. John McCain by promising to take legal action to stop political ads by outside groups, including those attacking the war record of Bush's Democratic presidential rival, John Kerry.

The White House said the president made the commitment to McCain in a telephone call from Air Force One, hoping to head off a public confrontation when the Arizona Republican and Vietnam veteran campaigns with Bush next week.

The Bush campaign said it, rather than the White House, would file a lawsuit in federal court to try to force the Federal Election Commission to crack down on the ads. But the case could bog down in the courts, and thus might have little impact before the Nov. 2 election.

spray-painted by harm @ 1:34 PM -

 
USELESSMOST USELESSNESS, CONT'D: Depressing:

Attacks on John Kerry by a group of Vietnam veterans with ties to supporters of President George W. Bush may be hurting the Democratic presidential nominee, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll.

Overall the poll gave Bush, 58, a three-point lead over Kerry, 47 percent to 44 percent, with independent candidate Ralph Nader, 70, receiving 3 percent. The gap was within the poll's 3- percentage-point margin of error. Kerry, 60, a four-term U.S. senator from Massachusetts, led Bush by 2 percentage points last month.

I place about as much stock in LATimes polls as I do in the ominous mumblings of gypsy fortune tellers, but I'll be very sad indeed if it turns out that a significant amount of swing-voters actually budged over this non-issue...

spray-painted by harm @ 1:30 PM -

 
TECHNOBABBLE REDUX: Lemme, uh, readjust one of mine thumbs vis-a-vis SP2. In typical Microsoft fashion, even when everything gets installed swimmingly, there's a few weedle details, small enough not to be serious inconveniences but irritating enough to leave a sour-ish taste in your mouth nonetheless.

Issue #1: If you turn the XP firewall off (b/c, for example, you're behind a router firewall, & you don't feel configuring 3494749 different exceptions for 236033 different client/server apps you use) you get treated to a huge fucking red balloon @ the bottom right of the screen THAT YOU CANNOT GET RID OF as long as the XP firewall remains turned off. Classic Microsoft we-know-better-than-you attitude.

Issue #2: If you turn automatic updates to "notify" instead of "automatic," you get asked to "check settings" on every single reboot. Lameness.

Issue #3: This may be an issue w/ my own box, but I've had to reinstall Norton AV 2004 in order to get the Win Security Center to recognize it. This means I also had to waste about half an hour on re-downloading all the updated Norton definitions & rebooting like 45 different times to make 'em all stick, etc. Annoying.

Issue #4: Explorer now blocks requested pop-up windows, so you have to pretty much do an extra click to see pop-ups that you've requested. My God, it's like the entire IE team @ Microsoft is secretly working for Opera.

As you can tell, none of the above consitute much of an Issue... but they're like grains of sand in the eye of somebody who spends pretty much half of his life in front of computers.

spray-painted by harm @ 1:02 PM -

 
BEST POLL EVER: via Tim Blair, an Aussie who actually knows how many states there are...

spray-painted by harm @ 9:44 PM -

 
MY NAME IS PAUL HAMM, AND I AM THREE YEARS OLD: "It's mine, mine, ALL MINE! He can't get one too!"

Olympic all-around champion Paul Hamm said Wednesday he would prefer not to share his gold medal with South Korea's Yang Tae-young despite a judging mistake that ultimately cost Yang the gold. (...)

After a disastrous fall on the vault, Hamm dropped from first place after three rotations to 12th after four. He followed with brilliant performances on the parallel bars and high bar, allowing him to edge Yang, who finished with the bronze, just 0.049 points behind.

But the judges failed to give Yang enough points for the level of difficulty on the parallel bars. That triggered an uproar, with South Korea lobbying for another gold medal.

Officials of the International Gymnastics Federation, or FIG, suspended three judges and acknowledged Yang should have been awarded more points for his routine based on the degree of difficulty. Had he been given the correct score, Yang would have won the gold and Hamm the silver.

...talk about petty...

spray-painted by harm @ 9:37 PM -

 
MATH NEVER WAS MY STRONG POINT, BUT... I don't happen to be a major Australian political figure...

BOB Hawke has blasted John Howard for not telling the Americans to "get stuffed" when US foreign policy clashed with Australia's national interests. (...)

Mr Hawke hailed the Labor leader as the "larrikin" politician most likely to forge an independent foreign policy -- and not turn Australia into the "52nd state of the United States".

...not that anybody gives half a crap, you understand, but it's us Amerik-huns that are supposed to be globally ignr'nt, geographically challenged, provincially limited, etc, etc, etc...

spray-painted by harm @ 9:29 PM -

 
MAMACITA ES MUY CALIENTE, INSHALLAH: (via God) Less mullahs, more babes...





(for sobering thoughts, check w/ the Photon Courier)

spray-painted by harm @ 9:19 PM -

 
TRANCEYLICIOUS: Enjoy the set... [75:18] 128kpbs / 64kpbs

01 Dido - Sand In My Shoes (Filterheadz Mix) BMG
02 Chris Fortier - Despegue Fade Records
03 Lo Step - Burma (Sasha Mix) Global Underground
04 Dr Kutcho - Challenge for Sark Disc Doctor
05 Grayarea feat. Eric Shepard - Gravity (Hybrid Remix) Hope Recordings
06 Rowan Blades & Chris Lake - Filth Alternative Route Records
07 Filterheadz - Yimanya Holon Records Germany
08 Above & Beyond - No One On Earth (Gabriel & Dresden Mix) Euphonic
09 Gavyn Mytchel - K Complex Intensive/Duty Free
10 Gavyn Mytchel - Dura Matter Intensive/Duty Free
11 Armin van Buuren - Blue Fear 2004 (Agnelli & Nelson Mix) Nebula

spray-painted by harm @ 7:20 PM -

 
MORE TECHNOBABBLE: I'm giving SP2 two thumbs up. The integrated firewall utility is a life-saver[1], & as far as I can tell, the under-the-hood changes make for a slightly speedier OS.

[1] No more Zone Alarm needed, yo.

spray-painted by harm @ 5:50 PM -

 
THIS STINKING PILE OF GARBAGE: I empathize w/ Don's troubles, as there can be no argument that Windows in particular & Microsoft products in general are craptacular par excellance. Thing is, though, there's always trade-off for everything, & in Microsoft's case, quality & price have been consistently traded off for relative ease of use & near-universal compatibility[1]...

For tech wizards like Don it may not seem so, but the truth of the matter is that alternatives to Windows are trade-offs too. For the vast majority of casual computer users, Windows alternatives[2] are not viable options b/c of limited compatibility & a significant difference in ease of use[3].

I'm not writing this to defend Microsoft or Windows (although I've ran XP on all of my boxes for about 2 years now, w/ nary a hitch--see previous posts on how to accomplish such a remarkable feat) but rather to try to explain why, in Don's own words, "hundreds of millions of victims" choose to struggle w/ Windows instead of simply moving on to greener pastures.

[1] In theory, at least. In practice... not so much.

[2] Various Unix versions/builds/etc, including Apple's OSX & Linux.

[3] Please don't even try to debate this point. I know Windows itself can be formidably cryptic, & I know Linux can be a breeze to learn, but statistically speaking, Windows combines ease of use & compatibility in ways other OSs on the market do not.

spray-painted by harm @ 5:14 PM -

 
HOLY SHITBALLS, BATMAN: I did done seen me an ultra-exclusive preview[1] of this puppy, & it's the kind of flick that punches you in the kidney, grabs you by the throat & doesn't let go. Utter gorgeousness, in more ways than just one. Go see it or else die a miserable lonesome loser.

[1] Yes, I am aware it's currently available on DVD.

spray-painted by harm @ 12:43 AM -

 
THE MOST IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF: Quoth Georgie-poo:

On July 31 the string of setbacks in trade liberalization that began in Seattle in 1999 — five years of growth stolen from the world — ended. The World Trade Organization reached an agreement that the industrialized countries — especially the United States, members of the European Union and Japan — will eliminate their agriculture export subsidies, which inhibit and distort trade, and will make "substantial reductions" in domestic farm supports, starting with a 20 percent cut. Poor countries will make similar cuts. Details, wherein lurks the devil, to follow.

This is not altruism on the part of the developed nations. It is better than that. It is economic rationality.

...this being the point where I part ways w/ most committed libertarians--the so-called market anarchists--those who quite honestly & quite consistently argue in favor of abolishing almost all governmental regulation/oversight of various economic venues... Thing is, folks, free trade agreements don't just sprout outta nowhere.

spray-painted by harm @ 12:23 AM -

 
PROSPECTS LOOK GRIM: Ain't the pervasiveness of pathological anti-semitism in Islamic societies that worries me but rather the sheer irrationality of it all:

The Majority of Revolutions, Coups D'etat, and Wars … are Almost Entirely the Handiwork of the Jews'

"The majority of revolutions, coups d'etat, and wars which have occurred in the world [in the past], those that are occurring, and those that will occur, are almost entirely the handiwork of the Jews. They [the Jews] turned to [these methods] in order to implement the injunctions of the fabricated Torah, the Talmud, and the 'Protocols [of the Elders of Zion'], all of which command the destruction of all non-Jews in order to achieve their goal - namely, world domination.

"In addition, they aspire to dominate the world in material, cultural, and spiritual terms in order to annihilate it. They own property and gold and they control the banks and other financial institutions, which [in turn] control the economies of the powerful countries. In this way they controlled the most [influential] people in the world, in whose power it was to entangle their countries in wars that resulted in benefits only for the Jews. Among the enticements [which the Jews used] were: 1) cash incentives; 2) offering jobs; 3) the introduction of religious elements into terrorism. (...)

Every scientific or philosophical principle or school was either created by Jews, or else Jews were behind them:

"The Jew Karl Marx was behind communism and socialism which destroyed human nature.

"The Jew [Emile] Durkheim was behind the science of sociology which destroyed the family unit.

"The Jew [Jean-Paul] Sartre was behind licentious existentialism.

"The Jew [Sigmund] Freud was behind psychology which established the principles of wild sex and immorality.

"The Jew [Benjamin] Disraeli was behind the policy of 'the ends justify the means.'

"The Jew [Rene] Cassin drew up the program for human rights.

"The Jew Leon Pavlovski drew up the Charter of the League of Nations. The Jews established the League of Nations in order to ratify the Balfour Declaration and to impose the British Mandate on Palestine as a preparatory measure to the founding of Israel. In addition, they established the U.N. in order to declare the founding of Israel, to protect it, and to expand it."

Let's not forget this guy, of course. Them crafty Jews, manipulating spacetime itself... But then again, maybe spacetime is little more than a Zionist invention! Oho!

All-too-easy sneering aside, I suppose one could make the argument that this kind of nuttery is as representative of general sentiment in Saudi Arabia as Coulter's columns or Moore's propaganda are indicative of American attitudes--that is to say, not representative @ all. But I can explain the latter in terms of market dynamics (even healthy society are, invariably, confronted w/ fringe minorities, & free speech allows said fringes minorities to be part of the public discourse) whereas the former is a government-funded journal aimed at state employees. Rather different situation, I'm afraid[1].

So but anyhow; how will any of this going to get fixed? By whom? On what timeline? Do most of us understand that the greater project of Middle East liberalization is something that'll take place in decades' worth of time? Because if we (as in, we, Americans in particular, but also we, citizens of reasonably productive, reasonably healthy nations of the world) don't, we might as well give up.

[1] Don't want to even start thinking about what % of e.g. NEA grants go into the making of "KKLorporate Fascism" & "Amerikkkan Hegemony"-type projects...

spray-painted by harm @ 11:44 PM -

 
CRASS STUPIDITY: The headline alone is so gloriously inane that I had to catch my breath a couple times upon first reading it, but the content of the article ain't all that far behind in slack-jaw quotient either:

Even as the Bush administration has worked to isolate North Korea in a campaign to make it drop its nuclear program, Asian and European governments have been actively engaging it on diplomatic, cultural and economic levels. Now, with the pace of engagement quickening, it is the administration that risks becoming isolated, experts say, a possible factor in a recent moderation in its stance.

A country famous for its hermetic borders, North Korea now has embassies in 41 countries and diplomatic ties with 155. It recently held the first-ever military talks with its former archenemy, South Korea, and is moving toward normalizing diplomatic relations with its former colonizer, Japan.

Yes, uh... "economic reforms..." all of which are having a tremendous positive impact... accompanied by some "regional outreaching..." & let's not forget how all that "diplomatic, cultural & economic" engagement sure is paying off...

Two questions:

#1 Why is this Norimitsu Onishi asshat writing for the Times?

#2 Why did an editor--any editor--approve this piece of shit?

spray-painted by harm @ 11:27 PM -

 
USELESSMOST USELESSNESS EVER, CONTINUED: As if this kind of tomfoolery wasn't more than enough, now we got leftie firebrands trying to smear Kerry's war record:

Day after day, night after night, the Swift boats plied the waters, harassing and often killing villagers, fishermen and farmers. In this program, aimed at intimidating the peasants into submission, Kerry was notoriously zealous. One of his fellow lieutenants, James R. Wasser, described him admiringly in these words: "Kerry was an extremely aggressive officer and so was I. I liked that he took the fight to the enemy, that he was tough and gutsy--not afraid to spill blood for his country."

On December 2, Kerry went on his first patrol up one of the canals. It was near midnight when the crew caught sight of a sampan. Rules of engagement required no challenge, no effort to see who was on board the sampan. Kerry sent up a flare, signal for his crew to start blazing away with the boat's two machineguns and M16 rifles. Kerry described the fishermen "running away like gazelles".

Kerry sustained a very minor wound to his arm, probably caused by debris from his own boat's salvoes. The scratch earned him his first Purple Heart, a medal awarded for those wounded in combat. Actually there's no evidence that anyone had fired back, or that Kerry had been in combat, as becomes obvious when we read an entry from his diary about a subsequent excursion, written on December 11, 1968, nine days after the incident that got Kerry his medal. "A cocky air of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel, because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky."

...disastrously pointless, hysterically irrelevant, etc, etc...

spray-painted by harm @ 4:19 PM -

 
FAIR BIT OF CAMPAIGN REPORTING: Read it all:

Dick Cheney and John Edwards have a few things in common: They are both running for vice president and they are both Homo sapiens.

But you would struggle to find two greater stylistic opposites in American politics.

spray-painted by harm @ 9:21 PM -

 
YANKEE GO HOME: Tee hee hee:

President George Bush will announce tomorrow that the US military will pull up to 100,000 troops out of Europe and Asia in the biggest redeployment since the end of the Cold War.

The plan will see a number of US bases in Germany closed down, and troops returned home or redeployed to Eastern Europe.

Step #2 would be to relocate nearly all troops from the DMZ on the Korean peninsula either to Central Asia or Iraq, as Pyogyang's nuclear arsenal makes their (the troops') presence 1) superfluous 2) imprudent.

spray-painted by harm @ 9:03 PM -

 
THAT DARK & BLOODY CROSSROAD: Keep in mind that the Democratic party houses insane people like Sharpton & Dean as well as highly reliable figures like Lieberman & Biden. But...

spray-painted by harm @ 8:52 PM -

 
CZESLAW MILOSZ 1911-2004, R.I.P: You will be missed.






spray-painted by harm @ 8:19 PM -