The Three Laws (adapted)
Allen July 30th, 2004
Oh, this is classic cartoon Day By Day — 7/30/2004
So is there a corallary set for Democrats? If so, who are the overlords of Democrats?
I’ve got to mull this a bit…
Archive for July, 2004
Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Heart of Your Computer?
Allen July 29th, 2004
With all apologies to The Shadow, if you have a Windows computer, most probably Microsoft Internet Exploerer (MSIE).
Now I’m ambi-browserous, but can understand why some people would like to rid their computer of MSIE. CERT and other security agencies have said to do so — as it has some problems with lax security.
If you would like to rip the beast out of your computer and ask Microsoft, the answer is “You can’t get there from here.”
But not so according to Xeno. He gives complete and detailed instructions on how to remove MSIE from your system. Usual disclaimers about a professional driver on a closed course applies.
[Via BoingBoingBlog]
The Politics of Regret
Allen July 29th, 2004
In the space of a single Esquire article, Tom Junod moves from
About President George W. Bush, though, I felt the satisfaction of absolute certainty, and so uttered the words as essential to my morning as my cup of Kenyan and my dose of high-minded outrage on the editorial page of the Times : “What an asshole.”
to
In a nation that loves fairy tales, the president seemed so damned eager to cry wolf that we decided he was just trying to keep us scared and that maybe he was just as big a villain as the wolf he insisted on telling us about. That’s the whole point of the story, isn’t it? The boy cries wolf for his own ends, and after a while people stop believing in the reality of the threat.
I know how this story ends, because I’ve told it many times myself. I’ve told it so many times, in fact, that I’m always surprised when the wolf turns out to be real, and shows up hungry at the door, long after the boy is gone.
A self-professed liberal examines the whys and wherefores of Bush and finds:
Sure, Saddam was a bad guy. Sure, the world is a better place without him. But . . .
And there it is: the inevitable but . Trailed by its uncomfortable ellipsis, it sits squirming at the end of the argument against George Bush for very good reason: It can’t possibly sit at the beginning. Bush haters have to back into it because there’s nothing beyond it. The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein, but . . . but what ? But he wasn’t so bad that we had to do anything about him? But he wasn’t so bad that he was worth the shedding of American blood? But there are other dictators just as bad whom we leave in place? But he provided Bush the opportunity to establish the doctrine of preemptive war, in which case the cure is worse than the disease? But we should have secured Afghanistan before invading Iraq? But we should have secured the cooperation of allies who were no more inclined to depose Saddam than they—or we, as head of an international coalition of the unwilling—were to stop the genocide in Rwanda ten years before? Sure, genocide is bad, but . . .
We might as well credit the president for his one great accomplishment: replacing but with and as a basis for foreign policy. The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein, and we got rid of him. And unless we have become so wedded to the politics of regret that we are obligated to indulge in a perverse kind of nostalgia for the days of Uday and Qusay, we have to admit that it’s hard to imagine a world with Saddam still in it.
Great phrase: the politics of regret.
[Via BogusGold]
Dennis Kucinich’s Speech at DNC
Allen July 29th, 2004
Watched the DNC last night on C-Span (kudos to the person who suggested that — talking head free zone (except for the speakers)).
Before I examine Dennis’s speech, I thought it was interesting that the only delegates who didn’t release to Kerry were Kucinich supporters.
Anyway, several thoughts struck me during Dennis’s speech that I want to share. The transcript is from Dennis Kucinich for President - A Voice for Change (Official Web Site).
Starting out:
We, Democrats, in convention united. We who built this country with the sweat of our brow, we, the steelworkers, autoworkers, the miners, the aircraft workers, communication workers, the laborers, the people who teach the children, who farm the land, who drive the trucks, who clean the streets; we who hunger for justice, who nurse the sick, who represent the oppressed, who serve the meals, who stand at check out counters, who build the bridges, who sleep under the bridges, who hunger for food; we, who put out the fires, who police the streets; who protect this nation and the freedoms we celebrate tonight: the soldiers, the sailors,…
What about the candlestick makers??? (ellipses mine)
Courage America! Courage to replace an administration which has usurped our constitution and attacked our Bill of Rights.
Courage to reject doctrines which separate us from the world. Courage to rejoin the world to ban all nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons, land mines and small arms. Courage to join the International Criminal Court, to sign the Kyoto Climate change treaty. Courage America .
Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the “ape” in apricot? What have they got that I ain’t got?
Actually, I think anyone espousing the views of Dennis in the US is quite courageous as his views are not popular with a lot of Americans.
Lots of work to do today, so I’m signing off until I get some high-priority stuff done.
20th Anniversary Date
Allen July 28th, 2004
Meant to write about this earlier, but I forgot.
As noted in an earlier post, my wife and I just celebrated out 20th wedding anniversary. For a variety of reasons, we were not able to attend a play or concert, so we simply had dinner.
Saying “simply had dinner” is like saying we “simply stayed at the White House”.
I reserved a table at The Coach House — one of the best restaurants in Oklahoma City. This is a small, intimate place located in Nichols Hills. It holds about 16 tables and is a golden treasure. The operative word being golden.
It is very expensive (at least it is for this native-born Okie), but well worth the money. I had the Chef’s Seasonal Salad, a steak from a ranch located near Woodward (can’t remember the name right now) and the Grand Marnier Souffle. My wife had the seasonal soup, Grilled Fillet of Beef and Stuffed Crepe Brulee. The meal was paired with a 1/2 bottle of a Frog’s Leap Merlot.
We both agreed that we would need to come back in the future, so I purchased their wonderful Frequent Diner Program. $99 gets you a $100 gift certificate for Coach House and a $50 gift certificate for the Metro and 5% discount on meals beyond that.
Two. Things. That. Have. Jumped. The. Shark.
Allen July 28th, 2004
(1) Typing a series of one word sentences that, in total, make up a sentence.
(2) The phrase “jumped the shark”.
This Should Be Front Page Headlines
Allen July 28th, 2004
Read Diplomats: Iran Resumes Nuclear Program to learn how Iran has broken the seals on their centrifuges and may take steps to restart uranium enrichment.
Blue State or Red State, conservative or liberal, this should worry people. Iran’s mullahs have made no bones that they seek membership in the nuclear club. And there is little doubt for what purpose they would use their new-found power.
Original article in GUARDIAN: Diplomats: Iran Resumes Nuclear Program.
From the original article:
Most of the IAEA’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program focus on traces of highly enriched uranium found at several sites and the extent and nature of work on the advanced P-2 centrifuge.
Iran has grudgingly acknowledged working with the P-2, but said its activities were purely experimental. It says the minute amounts of enriched uranium were from equipment bought on the nuclear black market.
As a note, I teach the Atomic Energy Merit Badge for the Boy Scouts in the area.
Without going into details as to how you enrich uranium, do you know what percentage of U-235 (the powerful stuff) is needed in a sample of U-238 (the dross) to sustain a power reaction — 5%.
Any ideas as to how much enrichment you need to get the U-235 to go “boom” instead of “hum”? 90-95%
So weapon’s grade uranium is found on Iran’s most sophisticated centrifuges obtained through the black market. This is troubling on several levels. Let us concede Iran’s claim that the “contamination” is from previous activity? Where did they get those centrifuges? They are, after all, black market centrifuges. My guess is North Korea or Pakistan. Why are they selling such centrifuges in the first place? Why is this activity taking place outside IAEA control? Why would we trust the IAEA to monitor such activity when they have been utter failures in the past?
But if the “contamination” is not from the previous owners, why are the centrifuges contaminated with such highly enriched uranium? It takes a lot of enrichment activity to get from 5% enrichment to 90% enrichment. You just don’t accidentally leave the motor on for an extra 3 or 4 minutes.
Drat drat drat! WSJOnline now has RSS feeds
Allen July 28th, 2004
Well, the company that I used to work for provided free subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal Online and my subscription finally expired. I’ve been debating whether to renew and had decided not to.
Now they’ve gone and added RSS feeds — allowing me to use FeedDemon (or some other RSS Newsreader) to skim their headlines and keep up to date in a timely manner.
They’ve just gone and messed up my cost/benefit calculation.
For those of you who do subscribe to the WSJ Online, their RSS feeds can be found as:
Headlines Free but Pay For Content
What’s New - US
What’s News - Europe
What’s News - Asia
What’s News - Technology
US Business
Market News
Opinion - Review & Outlook
Personal Technology/Walt Mossberg
Free Headlines and Content
CareerJournal
RealEstateJournal
StartupJournal
CollegeJournal
OpinionJournal