September 03, 2004
Plain-Text Is Your Friend
Phishing scams are a lot more obvious when you have HTML and graphics disabled in your email client.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Internet, Web and Email | Comments and Followups (1)
September 02, 2004
O.J. Bryant
I’ve run across two good articles about the disintegration of the Kobe Bryant rape case: one from the Christian Science Monitor and a scathing one from Dahlia Lithwick at Slate. Not being a big TV-watcher, I suspect I’ve missed most of the worst of the Bryant case, but what I’ve heard about it tells me it was a travesty. I’ve wondered all along what happened to the rape shield laws that were supposed to protect the accuser; apparently they were ignored.
Did Bryant rape the woman? Hell if I know. But the courtroom farce has made it impossible for Bryant to get a fair trial, or for a trial to be fair to the accuser. If this is justice, I’d rather be blind than watch it.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Women's Issues | Comments and Followups (0)
Tariq Ramadan Speaks
He has an op-ed in the New York Times about his views and the accusations that may have cost him his visa (which I blogged here).
Some blogger or commenter somewhere suggested that it’s all about delaying Ramadan’s entry to the US until after the election and he’ll get his visa then. If that’s all it is, bad cess on State for giving in to electoral considerations and bad cess on the administration for undermining moderate Muslims to throw red meat to its political base.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Immigration , International Affairs | Comments and Followups (0)
Oil Patch News
I’m always interested in seeing whether or not our laws against bribing foreigners really work in the oil patch. Based on the lack of punishment for Baker Hughes and the accused parties, I think they got away with it. It doesn’t surprise me; my father worked for almost 40 years in sales of oilfield services products. (Full disclosure: the company he worked for all those years was eaten by Baker Hughes, which employed him at the time of his death in 1987. I know of no illegal conduct on my father’s part, and he’d be spinning in his grave if I suggested he’d done anything wrong or illegal.)
Also, Enron sold its pipeline assets for $2.5 billion. Given the sour economy and the current price of oil, it’s not surprising that a real asset like a pipeline would bring a good price right now.
Last, but not least, here’s an oil patch think tank’s list list of attacks on the Iraqi oil patch. The pace of attacks appears to be stepping up, which should interest Americans more than it probably does.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Enron , International Affairs , Iraq War , Oil Business , Terrorism | Comments and Followups (0)
September 01, 2004
Republicans and Immigration, Take N
I’ve mostly been avoiding the recoronation of George the Younger over in Manhattan, but Tom Tancredo’s threat of a floor fight over immigration policy has caught my eye. The Immigration Daily editorial team is taking the view that Tancredo has already lost in the long run, because pro-immigration candidates inside the Republican party are winners.
I think this is a split between the red-meat grassroots reactionary base and the corporatist base that Democrats would be foolish not to exploit, but I suspect the Immigration Daily analysis has something to it. Let’s face it: the rule in Republican politics is “follow the money”. The grassroots folks on both sides of the aisle have a lot to do to catch up in the current fundraising environment.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Election 2004 , Immigration | Comments and Followups (0)
Review: Spirited Away
Spirited Away. We’d been looking forward to seeing this Miyazaki anime for some time, and it more than met our expectations. Like most of the Miyazaki I’ve seen (which is by no means all), it’s a fantastic growing-up tale. In this one, a sullen little girl ends up working in the bathhouse of the gods to rescue her parents, who have been turned into pigs. The morals of the story probably seem a little more subtle to kids, but even though they were obvious, the film wasn’t preachy. The animation, bakgrounds, and character design were, as always, top-notch. Miyazaki’s films are always very pretty, in a good way.
I liked Spirited Away a lot and am going to keep it in mind for my nieces and nephews for the holidays, especially after a friend told me it was a favorite with her daughter.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Movies | Comments and Followups (3)
August 31, 2004
Review: Lost Burgundy
Lost Burgundy: The Book of Ash #4, by Mary Gentle. This is the final book in a series featuring a very cool alternative history, in which the Visigoths survived in North Africa and have attacked a dukedom of Burgundy very similar to, and yet very different from, our own. Things keep getting worse and worse for our heroes throughout the book, both for Ash, our mercenary captain, and for the modern historians taking on her story. I can’t say how the author resolves it all without spoiling it, so I won’t.
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did the other three in the series, which could be a function of the plot resolution or the fact that I read it more than a year after I finished the first three in the series. On the theory that it could be the latter, I think I’m going to reread the other series I have three of before I read the fourth. In any case, I still enjoyed this one, just not as much as the other three.
I’ve also reread the first two Pern trilogies and Tanith Lee’s Flat Earth books in the last several weeks. Pern is a fun popcorn reread, and I’m glad I reread them (if only for gaming reasons), but I still like Darkover better for popcorn comfort reads. And I still love the Flat Earth books; they’re just cool.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Books | Comments and Followups (1)
NJ Voter Registration Card
The guy I talked to about voter registration stuff was wrong. The Commissioner of Registration does actually send you a little card, because I received mine today. One neat thing about it is that there’s a request that in case of the voter’s death, a surviving relative mail the card back, just as if the voter had moved, so that the voter can be taken off the rolls.
I’ll have to watch to make sure my registration doesn’t get moved out from under me next year. I’ve heard about that trick.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Election 2004 , New Jersey | Comments and Followups (1)
Gmail
I have invitations. If you know my personal email address, email me there to ask for one. (Hint: that’s not the one I use on blogs.)
Permanent item link | Filed under : Internet, Web and Email | Comments and Followups (0)
Game Dream 11: You Said WHAT?
This week, Doc asks:
In every campaign, there are memorable scenes. Often, this is due as much to player participation as it is to GM flavor and skill. This week, I’d like for us to share quotes that stuck with you down through the years. What did you or your cohorts say during the game (in or out of character) that made a lasting impression?
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August 30, 2004
Bad Booze Advice
Even accounting for the fact that they mean grilling when they say barbecueing, the best wine to drink with barbecue is still beer. If you’re feeling a bit froofy, a hefeweizen or a lambic, or maybe a cider, sure. But criminy, wine with hot dogs? As they say in the Pace ads, get a rope.
(And make it a real beer, please. I don’t expect to get Shiner Bock, but there has to be a cheap regional beer that’s decent.)
Permanent item link | Filed under : Food | Comments and Followups (2)
Not Ready For Prime Time Player
Today, America’s finest are halfway around the world in Iraq fighting for freedom. We are also engaged in a fight at home for basic American principles. This threat is real. It is not enough to sit on the sidelines, complain and criticize as France did in the war in Iraq. We must continue to fight for less government, lower taxes — and keeping our country “one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all!”
Sitting on the sidelines is not an option. Now is not the time to be a French Republican. Join me in the fight!
— Ted Poe, former Harris County judge and current Republican candidate for Congress, at the Republican National Convention this afternoon, proving Poetic Justice did not get the memo on this year’s talking points. Here’s a background piece on Poe for you non-local types who don’t get why this is so damn funny. (Poe is running against Nick Lampson, one of the Democrats targeted by Tom DeLay in the redistricting fight.)
Permanent item link | Filed under : Election 2004 , Houston , Quote of the Day , Texas | Comments and Followups (1)
The Economic Effects of Immigration
On the one hand, you have Mark Krikorian and the CIS people claiming illegal immigration costs us $10 billion a year. On the other hand, you have the American Chamber of Commerce in China telling us that tighter visa rules since September 2001 have cost us more than $30 billion in sales to China alone. (It’s also annoying foreign scientists, who had enough pull to get longer security clearances if they’re working on sensitive technologies).
These aren’t mutually exclusive statements either, even if the first two come from groups with mutually exclusive agendas.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Immigration , International Affairs | Comments and Followups (1)
The Fetus Is a Person, Except When It’s Not
If you ever wondered whether the politicization of abortion resulted in screwy law, here’s your answer. Good for the Texas Supreme Court for not giving in to reactionary judicial activism in this case. The Prenatal Protection Act may be an ass—I certainly think it is, although not for the reasons suggested in this case—but it says you’re protected for performing lawful medical procedures. I’d like to think there’s a claim for medical negligence in cases where malpractice may have caused a miscarriage that doesn’t relate to fetal personhood.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Reproductive Rights , Texas | Comments and Followups (1)
August 29, 2004
Failing the Clinton Test
I don’t really understand why people are so excited about Ben Barnes admitting that he got George Bush into the Texas Air National Guard. While it’s nice to bring up the contrast with Kerry’s service, especially with the Swift vet thing going on, it’s not like anyone who thought about it didn’t know that Bush lied through his teeth about not having strings pulled for him. And it’s not like anyone will change their vote based on the sudden revelation that Bush was a chickenhawk.
I knew Bill Clinton was a horndog in 1992 and 1996, and I voted for him anyway. I’m sure that’s the same sort of thing all the people who are going to vote for Bush anyway are saying.
(And yes, I know, Clinton didn’t crusade as Mr. Family Values, so the situations aren’t exactly parallel, but it’s close enough as a character issue. If you think badly of Bush’s character, you weren’t going to vote for him anyway. If you believe in Bush’s character, you think it’s a lie. And if you’re holding your nose to vote for him for other reasons, this is not a big enough thing to change your mind over, capisce?)
Permanent item link | Filed under : Election 2004 | Comments and Followups (1)
Wanna Be Hizzoner
Yesterday while we were walking back from lunch, we passed by a voter registration table staffed by supporters of Harvey Smith, one of the mayoral candidates here in Jersey City. For those not up-to-date on Jersey City politics, the very popular mayor died earlier this year. Smith, the Council President, is currently Acting Mayor; the police chief is running with support from Cunningham’s widow; and Smith just put the police chief on unpaid leave until the election.
Permanent item link | Filed under : Election 2004 , Jersey City | Comments and Followups (1)