Fragment from Act III: The Perception of Beauty:
nothing good shall grow but from forgiveness.
30.12.03
17.12.03
Another reason why a just a God would create a thing like hell.
Maybe if Bush had a few more interns he'd stop sticking it to the rest of us.
Maybe if Bush had a few more interns he'd stop sticking it to the rest of us.
Help In Understanding How A Sincere Man Is Controlled By Various D.C. Power Centers:
DIANE SAWYER: First of all, I just want to ask about reading. Mr. President, you know that there was a great deal of reporting about the fact that you said, first of all, that you let Condoleezza Rice and Andrew Card give you a flavor of what's in the news.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.
DIANE SAWYER: That you don't read the stories yourself.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes. I get my news from people who don't editorialize. They give me the actual news, and it makes it easier to digest, on a daily basis, the facts.
DIANE SAWYER: Is it just harder to read constant criticism or to read —
PRESIDENT BUSH: Why even put up with it when you can get the facts elsewhere? I'm a lucky man. I've got, it's not just Condi and Andy, it's all kinds of people in my administration who are charged with different responsibilities, and they come in and say this is what's happening, this isn't what's happening.
From Sawyer's Interview of Bush::
DIANE SAWYER: First of all, I just want to ask about reading. Mr. President, you know that there was a great deal of reporting about the fact that you said, first of all, that you let Condoleezza Rice and Andrew Card give you a flavor of what's in the news.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.
DIANE SAWYER: That you don't read the stories yourself.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes. I get my news from people who don't editorialize. They give me the actual news, and it makes it easier to digest, on a daily basis, the facts.
DIANE SAWYER: Is it just harder to read constant criticism or to read —
PRESIDENT BUSH: Why even put up with it when you can get the facts elsewhere? I'm a lucky man. I've got, it's not just Condi and Andy, it's all kinds of people in my administration who are charged with different responsibilities, and they come in and say this is what's happening, this isn't what's happening.
From Sawyer's Interview of Bush::
16.12.03
15.12.03
More American Jobs Go To Foreigners Who Are Too Beleagured By Poverty To Worry About Things Like Workers' Rights
Indicative of what has been happening all over the shop. Bush didn't invent globalism, but he has been busy greasing the slippery slope.
He allowed for the reclassification of several white collar jobs, in order to allow them to be sub-contracted to overseas firms. As of six-months ago, 200,000 technical support jobs have gone to India alone.
He has lobbied successfully for the increase in the number of I-9 visas the U.S. hands out to American Inc. These are the visas that allow the importing of cheap, white-collar labor.
He has killed the funds that were supposed to be used to retool the American workforce for a post-manufacturing economy.
I don't read much anymore, so I'm sure I missed a few.
Indicative of what has been happening all over the shop. Bush didn't invent globalism, but he has been busy greasing the slippery slope.
He allowed for the reclassification of several white collar jobs, in order to allow them to be sub-contracted to overseas firms. As of six-months ago, 200,000 technical support jobs have gone to India alone.
He has lobbied successfully for the increase in the number of I-9 visas the U.S. hands out to American Inc. These are the visas that allow the importing of cheap, white-collar labor.
He has killed the funds that were supposed to be used to retool the American workforce for a post-manufacturing economy.
I don't read much anymore, so I'm sure I missed a few.
We got Saddam: Hoo ha or ho hum?
Some excitement is understandable, but as far as the media pundits rushing to speculate on how his capture will affect domestic politics- I've got to say, please keep your pants up.
Opposition, to the unilateral, preemptive, war against a not-so-imminent threat was not founded on a belief that Saddam would carry on as usual despite our invasion.
We opposed the war not because we thought Saddam would elude capture and continue wrecking havec on his country. We assumed the opposite, and still opposed the war. Therefore, it makes no sense that all right-minded people reframe their opposition to this fool's-errand of a war just because yesterday Bush gave us good TV.
So give me more images of God's Army probing Saddam's pie-hole. Give me more commentary comparing him to a street bum; Tell me how the Lion of Bagdhad was reduced to a common rat living in a dirty hole beneath the ground. But please, don't expect me to change my opinion of an unjust war and the puppet-monkee who leads it.
Saddam's elusiveness highlighted the fact that victory in this war is not a puzzle to be solved with a really smart bomb, that the true enemy of the region is so ingrained that it will not be defeated with the Americana veneer of guns and love.
Indeed, his capture denies Bush's opponents a powerful symbol of his failures as President of the United States of America. However, beyond the symbols, there waits the substance.
Bush has so bungled foreign policy and the decades' worth of diplomacy that made it possible. There used to be a time when the world, generally, recognized the office of the American Presidency as being "Leader of the Free World." We have traded our position on the global stage to fulfill the narrow interests of the Neo-con hunting buddies who pass for enlightened advisors.
Some excitement is understandable, but as far as the media pundits rushing to speculate on how his capture will affect domestic politics- I've got to say, please keep your pants up.
Opposition, to the unilateral, preemptive, war against a not-so-imminent threat was not founded on a belief that Saddam would carry on as usual despite our invasion.
We opposed the war not because we thought Saddam would elude capture and continue wrecking havec on his country. We assumed the opposite, and still opposed the war. Therefore, it makes no sense that all right-minded people reframe their opposition to this fool's-errand of a war just because yesterday Bush gave us good TV.
So give me more images of God's Army probing Saddam's pie-hole. Give me more commentary comparing him to a street bum; Tell me how the Lion of Bagdhad was reduced to a common rat living in a dirty hole beneath the ground. But please, don't expect me to change my opinion of an unjust war and the puppet-monkee who leads it.
Saddam's elusiveness highlighted the fact that victory in this war is not a puzzle to be solved with a really smart bomb, that the true enemy of the region is so ingrained that it will not be defeated with the Americana veneer of guns and love.
Indeed, his capture denies Bush's opponents a powerful symbol of his failures as President of the United States of America. However, beyond the symbols, there waits the substance.
Bush has so bungled foreign policy and the decades' worth of diplomacy that made it possible. There used to be a time when the world, generally, recognized the office of the American Presidency as being "Leader of the Free World." We have traded our position on the global stage to fulfill the narrow interests of the Neo-con hunting buddies who pass for enlightened advisors.
11.12.03
That liberal media...
If you read this article without the benefit if a credit line, you'd probably conclude this was a p.r. puff piece for Bush and Dick Inc., yet in fact it is an AP story, picked at by more than a few of America's newspapers.
If you read this article without the benefit if a credit line, you'd probably conclude this was a p.r. puff piece for Bush and Dick Inc., yet in fact it is an AP story, picked at by more than a few of America's newspapers.
Justice Texas-Style:"'THE FRAMING OF YEE: The case that Muslim military chaplain James Yee was a spy for Syria or anyone else has been falling apart. It's not even clear that the documents he was carrying - the original basis for the charge - were in any way classified. For this, he was put in solitary confinement for three months. Worse, the military - having failed to make their case - subsequently used their search warrant to reveal an extra-marital affair by Yee and are now prosecuting him under military law for this indiscretion. This is called framing someone. The trial has now been suspended because the prosecution cannot prove the classification of the documents in question. This seems to me to be a text-book case of military abuse of basic standards of fairness. A Muslim-American, who may well be completely innocent of all espionage charges, may now face years in jail for having an affair." [Sully, The Independent]
Perhaps, if we bought more red, white, and blue bumper stickers, this sort of thing would stop happening.
Perhaps, if we bought more red, white, and blue bumper stickers, this sort of thing would stop happening.
Busting Unions in Bush's Bagdhad
The coalition of the killing ransacked and defaced a fledgling labor union's headquarters. Many are looking at this as an extension of the hostility this administration has towards an Iraqii organized workforce. Perhap's there is a simpler explanation, but in the absence of an official response, I can only wonder. This is after all an administration rushing to privatize an entire culture, yet can't find the time to recall Hussein's laws banning labor unions or collective bargaining.
The coalition of the killing ransacked and defaced a fledgling labor union's headquarters. Many are looking at this as an extension of the hostility this administration has towards an Iraqii organized workforce. Perhap's there is a simpler explanation, but in the absence of an official response, I can only wonder. This is after all an administration rushing to privatize an entire culture, yet can't find the time to recall Hussein's laws banning labor unions or collective bargaining.
8.12.03
A Song To Brahma:
To stand between two tracks
with my legs slightly spread
the same with my arms
only more so, and above my head,
a full-bodied embrace
of a greasy locomotive’s
omnipotence,
its iron barreling with a plud
and waning roar
through my disheveled hair
and other assorted parts,
slinging them beneath its sweep
over its shoulder,
onto the stones and sturdy weeds,
is like what I really want
(except the exact opposite).
To stand between two tracks
with my legs slightly spread
the same with my arms
only more so, and above my head,
a full-bodied embrace
of a greasy locomotive’s
omnipotence,
its iron barreling with a plud
and waning roar
through my disheveled hair
and other assorted parts,
slinging them beneath its sweep
over its shoulder,
onto the stones and sturdy weeds,
is like what I really want
(except the exact opposite).
6.12.03
3.12.03
Has Kazaa Lite been taken over by the heavies?On August 11, 2003, Kazaa served Google with cease-and-desist orders, as it was enforcing its copyrights per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. All links to K- Lite were to be disabled or removed.
K- Lite is, of course, not owned by the corporation that owns Kazaa. K- Lite is not owned by anybody. It is a freeware response to the obtrusive, secretive Kazaa, which, unknown to its users, embeds spyware into their customers' computers and feeds the data to its sister corporation.
It seems a little ironic that a company whose chief function is facilitating the sharing of copyrighted material and thereby subverting traditional copyright law, would take some a heavy hand to protect its its brand.
A connection: Twice while downloading from K- Lite my computer revolted and I had to reinstall my network drivers to get back on the web. Figuring my K- Lite software had somehow been corrupted I decided to dump the software and start anew. While reinstalling K-Lite, my computer once again shutdown, forcing me to reinstall my network devices. I am not a computer whiz, but could there be a connection in K- Lite's sudden loopiness, and the original Kazaa reigning in its "copyrights."
K- Lite is, of course, not owned by the corporation that owns Kazaa. K- Lite is not owned by anybody. It is a freeware response to the obtrusive, secretive Kazaa, which, unknown to its users, embeds spyware into their customers' computers and feeds the data to its sister corporation.
It seems a little ironic that a company whose chief function is facilitating the sharing of copyrighted material and thereby subverting traditional copyright law, would take some a heavy hand to protect its its brand.
A connection: Twice while downloading from K- Lite my computer revolted and I had to reinstall my network drivers to get back on the web. Figuring my K- Lite software had somehow been corrupted I decided to dump the software and start anew. While reinstalling K-Lite, my computer once again shutdown, forcing me to reinstall my network devices. I am not a computer whiz, but could there be a connection in K- Lite's sudden loopiness, and the original Kazaa reigning in its "copyrights."
2.12.03
26.11.03
24.11.03
21.11.03
19.11.03
11.10.03
Noam Chomsky: “Dominance and Its Dilemmas”
A s always, Chomsky adds a bit of perspective. If you want to talk about Big Media bias, it's against people like him. People who have lost the two-party paradigm and are looking at our world in terms of the power of economics. This guy is famous the world over, but you will never see him on the O'Reilly factor.
A s always, Chomsky adds a bit of perspective. If you want to talk about Big Media bias, it's against people like him. People who have lost the two-party paradigm and are looking at our world in terms of the power of economics. This guy is famous the world over, but you will never see him on the O'Reilly factor.
Conservatives are crying foul yet again. It seems this time the Big Media is conspiring to deceive the American people, trying to convince the herd that there is some sort of chasm between Saddam's true colors and those with which he was painted before the war. I know some of you are thinking, "Hey, isn't this the same big media that ooed and awed with every shock and awe?" And to you I would say pipe down someone is trying to play victim here. As bright young conservatives point out, if Big Media wasn't so busy hugging trees and kissing poor babies, they'd have noticed David Kay's assessment of Saddam's threat proves justification for the war: "We have found people, technical information and illicit procurement networks that if allowed to flow to other countries and regions could accelerate global proliferation." [fanfare]
It is amazing how many people see no disconnect between the prewar mythologies and the postwar realities.
"Finding an illicit procurement network justifies war": There used to be a time I when assumed that kind of bull oozed from a hole that some public relations specialist used as a mouthpiece when on TV defending party lines. But no more. It seems there are a multitude of folks out there who honestly do not have the mental capacity to recognize when they've been duped if such recognition requires they admit their President overstated the case for war to insure it took place- and on his timeline.
We didn't go to war because Saddam was bad. We didn't go to war because Saddam was a threat. We supposedly went to war because Saddam was such an imminent threat that a hasty, unilateral, preemptive war was the God-given duty of the leader of the free world.
Saddam gave us access to scientists and is allowing spy plane fly-overs.
Too little.
Saddam is destroying his missiles.
Too late.
We will have the full support of the United Nations Security Council if we wait sixty more days.
No time, boys; trust me this threat is so imminent...
It reminds me of a cop shooting an unarmed man. The cop’s defense? The man had a knife buried in the backyard. Good job, there officer. Who knows when he would have dug that rusty old thing up and run about the neighborhood wrecking havoc? Oh, and also, inscribed on the knife: good luck with the Iranians, love, the cop, 1981.
It is amazing how many people see no disconnect between the prewar mythologies and the postwar realities.
"Finding an illicit procurement network justifies war": There used to be a time I when assumed that kind of bull oozed from a hole that some public relations specialist used as a mouthpiece when on TV defending party lines. But no more. It seems there are a multitude of folks out there who honestly do not have the mental capacity to recognize when they've been duped if such recognition requires they admit their President overstated the case for war to insure it took place- and on his timeline.
We didn't go to war because Saddam was bad. We didn't go to war because Saddam was a threat. We supposedly went to war because Saddam was such an imminent threat that a hasty, unilateral, preemptive war was the God-given duty of the leader of the free world.
Saddam gave us access to scientists and is allowing spy plane fly-overs.
Too little.
Saddam is destroying his missiles.
Too late.
We will have the full support of the United Nations Security Council if we wait sixty more days.
No time, boys; trust me this threat is so imminent...
It reminds me of a cop shooting an unarmed man. The cop’s defense? The man had a knife buried in the backyard. Good job, there officer. Who knows when he would have dug that rusty old thing up and run about the neighborhood wrecking havoc? Oh, and also, inscribed on the knife: good luck with the Iranians, love, the cop, 1981.
10.10.03
8.10.03
TCS: Tech Central Station - An Open Letter to Arnold Kling:
Type M arguments must not be to the exclusion of Type C arguments. In fact, in many good political arguments they go hand in hand, as surely as cause and effect.
Having once exposed the fallacies of a given policy, there is left a begging question in the minds of many: “if what you argue is true, then how come the president and his legion of wonks don’t see it this way.” Explaining the underlying politics behind dubious policies is an attempt to answer this question.
Do you suggest writers argue party politics while ignoring the overarching themes of the Republican Party? For example, how stretched is that mind that realizes public funds for private schools agrees generally with the principle that privatization is good for business. How strained is the eye who sees Bush unceasingly working towards tax policies whose overriding concern is America Inc. How deaf the mute, that didn’t hear the rumors of war several months before the word "Iraq" left the president’s lips, left his lips just in time to give voters a picture of democratic candidates standing behind their president in a time of war. Were congressional elections the motivation for war? Of course not. Was the timing suspect? Not if you’re Karl Rove.
Type M arguments must not be to the exclusion of Type C arguments. In fact, in many good political arguments they go hand in hand, as surely as cause and effect.
Having once exposed the fallacies of a given policy, there is left a begging question in the minds of many: “if what you argue is true, then how come the president and his legion of wonks don’t see it this way.” Explaining the underlying politics behind dubious policies is an attempt to answer this question.
Do you suggest writers argue party politics while ignoring the overarching themes of the Republican Party? For example, how stretched is that mind that realizes public funds for private schools agrees generally with the principle that privatization is good for business. How strained is the eye who sees Bush unceasingly working towards tax policies whose overriding concern is America Inc. How deaf the mute, that didn’t hear the rumors of war several months before the word "Iraq" left the president’s lips, left his lips just in time to give voters a picture of democratic candidates standing behind their president in a time of war. Were congressional elections the motivation for war? Of course not. Was the timing suspect? Not if you’re Karl Rove.
5.10.03
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