Chernoblog

President Who?

2004-03-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

Why the hell isn't this man running for president?

Damn.

Chernoblog Finds Chernobyl

2004-03-04T23:19:00.000-05:00

I won't even begin to describe the link-fest I had to go through to get to this website. It is a photojournal written by a 25 yo Ukrainian girl who went on a motorcycle ride through the Ukrainian area devastated by the Chernobyl disaster in 1985.

It is absolutely mesmerizing. To see the results of this catastrophe, almost 20 years later, is shocking. I remember when it happened, and I happened to be watching Nightline on the ... probably 2nd night after the Soviet Union had revealed to the world what had happened. I think the Soviet Foreign Minister was on, and Koppel was quoting a source from the Ukraine who said at least 1500 people had already died, and nobody had any kind of handle on the situation. The FM just about blew a gasket, denying everything, how the Western press was blowing everything out of proportion, in order to make the Soviet Union look bad. Blah, blah, blah.

The truth may very well have been even more outrageous. Some people are saying as many as 500 THOUSAND people may have already died as a result of the explosion and lethal radiation cloud that enveloped much of the area. How does one even get their head around such a number? I can't.

Read the whole essay. It's engrossing, enlightening, shocking.

Where I've been in this lifetime

2004-02-07T19:30:00.000-05:00

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide

[Edit: 03/04/2004]
Suddenly realized that I needed to include Idaho. Completely forgot that the family took a day trip over the border from Spokane, WA. to some little town with a lake in Western Idaho. I was all of 11 or 12 at the time. I think it was during our month-long trip from San Diego to Vancouver, BC and back. Beautiful trip, that was.

Washington Post Column by John Edwards

2004-01-26T21:02:00.000-05:00

Edwards is getting more and more interesting to me. I've been following him, and liking his moderate stand on many issues. I can't stand how the Democratic party has been hijacked by the Leftwing Loonies (like Michael Moore, et al). He has been a voice of reason and moderation.

But.

I really haven't gotten a read on his stand re: the War on Terror, and on Israel. The above linked column from the Washington Post of a year-and-a-half ago is eye-opening. He basically saw the upcoming war with Iraq as justified, was not willing to let the Security Council stand in the way, and acknowledges Israel as a vital ally.

'Nuff said. He's certainly going to get my vote come the primaries in Maryland. And he runs a good chance of getting my vote in November, if Bush keeps up this insanity with the budget. Bush's domestic policies might just kill him off, in my book, if I think Edwards can keep the WoT in front of everyone.

And that is looking more and more likely.

Spies, Lies, and Weapons: What Went Wrong

2004-01-15T18:17:00.000-05:00

The Atlantic has an article by Kenneth M. Pollack about the intelligence games that led up to the Iraq War. Very interesting, and balanced, read. He points out the hits and misses, and skewers the Bush Administration for a very unbalanced interpretation of the existing intelligence.

Read it all.

Biggum Galaxy String Found

2004-01-08T20:56:00.000-05:00

CNN has an interesting article about a galaxy string that was found 10.8 Billion light years away. Supposedly, this is forcing Astrophysicists to rethink their models of the universe.

This is the part I found interesting, though:

The researchers -- who were funded by NASA and the Australian National University -- were refused the use of a telescope in the United States because the observations to be carried out were considered technically impossible by many American astronomers, the statement said.

Man, sometimes we just don't get it, do we.

My Keyboard

2004-01-06T18:39:00.000-05:00

I think this is the keyboard I want. I used to use a fabulous keyboard in California (at Sony), and then lost track of it when I moved back here. I was talking with some one at work about it, and he said it sounded like the old OmniKey keyboard. I'm going to have to investigate this.

What is a Liberal?

2004-01-06T16:28:00.000-05:00

A fabulous discussion going on over at Michael Totten's weblog. He has, after some prompting, decided to elaborate on his distinction of "Liberal" versus "Leftist."

It is a conversation that desperately needs to happen, as without it, I seriously believe the Democratic party runs the catastrophic risk of imploding, due to the current overwhelming influence of the Leftist agenda, and the virtual burying of traditional Liberal values. Values that have, interestingly enough, been adopted by the supposedly "Conservative" party, the Republicans.

That would be a "Bad Thing," as I firmly believe this country cannot survive a single-party government. One of the great strengths of this country has been the constant, ongoing tension between a) the various political philosophies of the parties involved; and b) the different branches of the government itself. This constant dance actually prevents the government from being too effective, which is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.

The finer distinctions he draws are certainly worth arguing over, but the overall principle is spot on. Read the Whole Thing.

Of Terror, Hard and Soft Power and Nicolo Machiavelli

2004-01-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

Great analysis of why the use of power is actually necessary sometimes. The language is a little raw, at times, but worth the read.

Aliens Cause Global Warming

2004-01-02T16:12:00.000-05:00

A brilliant lecture by Michael Crichton at Caltech early last year. He disassembles, with great skill, 'consensus science,' which has given us Global Warming, Second-Hand Smoke, and Nuclear Winter, among other things. His final example is the figurative raping of The Skeptical Environmentalist, written by Bjorn Lomborg.

It is a long essay, but completely worth reading.

By the way, link originally via Instapundit. Mad props to the Prof.

Ah, yes.

2003-12-24T14:13:00.000-05:00

And the talk begins to flow. The Steelers, never known for their reticence, are badmouthing the Ravens again.

Time will tell. Time will tell.

I hope Jamal gets his 154th yard on a game winning touchdown run as time runs out in the fourth quarter.

Decent sized quake off of San Simeon

2003-12-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

6.5 quake off of San Simeon. I'm sure Monterey felt it pretty strongly. Trying to see if anything happened there, but the Monterey Herald seems to be offline for the moment.

Clinton Lied, People Died!

2003-12-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

This article points out the suspicions, and interesting evidence, the Clinton administration had regarding a) Saddam Hussein's means of creating chemical weapons, even under the sanctions; b) the not so loose connection between Hussein and Al Qaeda.

But, of course, we all know what an inveterate liar Clinton was, and how he would have only brought forth these suspicions in order to become the Hegemon Of The World....

Depleted Uranium myth debunked

2003-12-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

A great article 'illuminating' the canards surrounding Depleted Uranium. Stephen DenBeste wrote something similar to this sometime last year, but I've not been able to track the article down. I'll link to it if I find it. It's a little more technical than this one, but good nonetheless.

Winds of Change

2003-12-18T12:38:00.000-05:00

On the side effects of Democracy in a free market dominated by a minority. Interesting links to read.

Someone gets it right

2003-12-16T12:56:00.001-05:00

Finally, a comprehensive look at the WMD claims by Bush and his administration.

2003-12-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

Earthquake Zone...

2003-12-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

Is it possible to live on the West Coast and not be subject to a 9.0 monsterkillerdevastatingohmygodthisishuge earthquake? Now "Geologists have discovered evidence of a massively powerful earthquake zone beneath the Pacific Northwest just offshore from the Seattle area."

Part of the hotzone? Vancouver, WA.

Mom, Dad, Amie? You guys paying attention? You really want us to move out there, eh?

U.N. Complicity

2003-12-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

Tell me again why we should listen to anything the U.N. says regarding Israel. Why does this organization seem to hold some sort of moral high-ground wrt Israel and anti-semitism?

Last week, the U.N. once again proved itself incapable of rising to the moral challenges embraced in its founding Charter: "tolerance," "the dignity and worth of the human person" and "equal rights." A draft resolution on anti-Semitism--which would have been a first in the U.N.'s 58-year history--was withdrawn in the face of Arab and Muslim opposition.

Daily incidents of anti-Semitic violence around the globe are reported in the media. Yet while leaders of the Free World condemn synagogue bombings in Turkey, firebombings of Jewish schools in France, and the hate speech of Malaysia's president who now heads the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the U.N. moves in the opposite direction, encouraging the proliferation of this centuries-old hatred.

In marked contrast, other forms of intolerance continue to consume the U.N.'s attention and resources. A special rapporteur mandated by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights reports regularly to the U.N. on "discrimination against Muslims and Arab peoples in various parts of the world" including any "physical assaults and attacks against their places of worship, cultural centers, businesses and properties." An entire 2003 Commission resolution "combating defamation of religions," mentions only prejudice against Muslims, Arabs and Islam.

Read the whole thing. It's disgusting. But then again, we are talking about the U.N....

<props to Little Green Footballs for this one>

Grover Norquist and possible ties to Islamists in the U.S.

2003-12-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting article tying a very prominent Conservative to some very radical Islamic Fundamentalists. It's heavily footnoted, and appears to be legit. Having never heard of Norquist before, I don't know what to think. But if he is as heavy a hitter in the Republican community as is claimed, then they (the Republicans) need to be very afraid.

Calvin & Hobbes

2003-12-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

Bill Watterson is profiled indirectly in the Cleveland Scene. Calvin & Hobbes was/is my all-time favorite cartoon. Watterson had the ability to key in on a child's fantasy life like no one else I know. And while doing that, managed to slip in some extraordinary commentary on modern life. Out of the mouths of babes, so-to-speak.

Read the whole article. It's fascinating. I hope he decides to make a comeback.

<Mad props to the Professor for the link.>

Blair's Law

2003-12-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Penned by Tim Blair himself.

Gee, Mr. Robbins. What reality do you live in?

2003-11-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

Timothy Robbins, also known as Mr. Susan Sarandon, seems to think we are still fighting the Vietnam War. From FoxNews.com:

But now, actor and anti-war activist Tim Robbins has written and directed a play depicting his version of what he thinks happened in Iraq.

Robbins, an ardent critic of President Bush, as well as the war, isn't a journalist, nor is he a soldier who has been to Iraq. In fact, he's never been embedded with the troops.

But his play, "Embedded," profiles the journalists who traveled with and reported on U.S. soldiers in Iraq and features the president's war cabinet. It was written in Los Angeles and produced in Hollywood.

Robbins portrays journalists as Pentagon puppets, U.S. soldiers as thieves and killers of innocent women and children, and the Bush cabinet as war mongers willing to start a war to escape the negative publicity of the Enron scandal.

Yep. It's all a conspiracy. Nothing to see here. Move along now.

Wadda putz.

New Scientist Article on Stem Cell breakthrough

2003-11-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

This could be huge. From a purely personal perspective, this story leaves me with hope for my father, who has Parkinson's Disease. I hope TriStem isn't yanking peoples' chains over this, because a lot of hopes are being raised.

American Digest

2003-11-25T14:48:00.000-05:00

I've added American Digest to the Blogroll. Haven't perused him in depth, but he has an interesting article on the roll that French and German banks play in bankrolling less than savory countries. Like Iraq under Saddam, Iran, Libya, North Korea....

Update:
Here's an interesting article in The Iranian that discusses exactly this issue. Some choice quotes:

The European Union has proved over and over in its behaviour that its sole interests and objectives are to gain as many lucrative commercial deals as possible with the protectors and financiers of international terrorism. In this race the EU has created obstacles and delays for the United States' fight against global terrorism.

The EU has openly established trade relations with the Islamic regime in order to assert its presence in the Middle East as well as with the newly established energy-producing Central Asian countries. The winners, at least up until now have been the European countries and the ayatollahs. The losers in this strife are the Iranian nation and the United States -- who are paying the highest price in this battle against an international terrorism skilfully supported by the EU.

And:

The European Union's flirtation with members of the Axis of Evil is a known fact and it delays the establishment of democracies in the region. The Islamic Republic is against peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Its leaders have spoken of their intention to "annihilate" Israel once they acquire nuclear capabilities, while the European Union is collaborating with Tehran's regime to portray a rosy picture of those allegedly reformists as victims of a group of hard-line ayatollahs.

Today we have Axis of Evil and European Union working hand in hand against the United States, Israel and pro-democracy people of Iran.

Read the whole thing, as they say.

Political Correctness run amok

2003-11-24T21:09:00.000-05:00

This is beyond insane. A very common term in the computer industry is "Master/Slave." For instance, when multiple hard drives are chained together in a PC, one is referred to as the "Master" and the rest in the chain are referred as "Slaves." This merely indicates the order in which they occur on the bus (for management purposes by the bus controller). That's it. No other meaning is implicated or desired.

Now L.A. County is requiring, because someone's sensibilities have apparently been violated, that all references to "Master/Slave" by their vendors are expunged for terminology less ... "insulting."

Color me disgusted.

Why Russia and France can't be trusted, part 1

2003-11-23T15:50:00.000-05:00

It's an old article, but this is an interesting read. It details some of the financial dealings between Saddam (pre liberation) and Russia and France.

What was that about them being our allies...?

(Link courtesy trying to grok. Cool blog name!)

The real history of the Crusades

2003-11-22T23:46:00.000-05:00

This is one area of history that I am woefully illiterate about. It's a good read.

On Being Snookered by an Archetype

2003-11-22T13:38:00.000-05:00

Sgt. Mom has some things to say.

Awww. Isn't that nice!

2003-11-21T01:11:00.000-05:00

You're the warlike Rumsfeld! So simple, so
subtle, so darned...cute. God bless you, Donny!

Which member of the Bush Administration are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Homeland Security Web Site

2003-11-20T16:43:00.000-05:00

Kinda disturbing. But necessary, I guess. It does have some good, though sobering, information on what to expect from certain types of attacks, and how to survive them (if possible).

L. and I have been talking about preparing a 'getaway kit'. I think it's a good idea.

Interesting article on String Theory

2003-11-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

For the non-technically minded. Kinda.

Too Funny!

2003-11-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

A remembrance of Len Bias

2003-11-19T19:39:00.000-05:00

This article by Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post is touching. Sad. I was in California when Len died, in college, so I never had any first-hand (or even second-hand via TV) exposure to him. I'd still heard about him, and remember distinctly when his death was announced. It even sent shockwaves through USD. A lot of the kids there knew about him, about his potential.

I suppose something like this is never not tragic.

U.S. deploys 20,000 troops near Syrian border

2003-11-19T17:41:00.000-05:00

The United States has deployed 20,000 troops along the Syrian border after Syria failed to stop militants from crossing into Iraq.

As late as October, U.S. officials said hundreds of Islamic insurgents were crossing into Iraqi from Syria. They said Syrian authorities had failed to respond to U.S. appeals to stop the flow of insurgents.

How quickly does a 'defensive' force become a quick-strike, offensive weapon? We could pull off some quick-and-dirty raids into Syria, if we had solid intel on weapons and personnel in which we might have some ... interest. This bears watching.

The Atta-Saddam Connection

2003-11-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

The mystery that refuses to die. In summary, this article discusses the apparent meeting between Mohammed Atta, 9/11 kingpin, and Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, consul at Iraq's embassy in Prague, and high-level intelligence agent for Saddam Hussein. There seems to be pretty strong evidence that, in fact, Atta was in Prague for the meeting, and that the FBI is covering up what they know about his where-abouts during that time, and not cooperating with Czech intelligence officials in an effort to resolve this one way or another.

Sounds to me like there are factions in the FBI who are absolutely unwilling to cooperate in the ongoing War on Terror (or War on Islamic Fascism, as I refer to it sometimes). For whatever reason, possibly including covering their own butts, for dropping the ball so drastically around 9/11.

I hope someone blows the lid off of this. Can the press be relied upon to go after this with integrity, and not try to cover it up themselves? Lord knows, they probably wouldn't want to see a solid connection between Saddam and 9/11. That would ruin all of the fun they are having ripping on Cowboy Bush....

Why I say Welcome

2003-11-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

Well, at least there are some sane Brits still alive!

Money quote:

The double standards here are obvious but worth a reminder. During the week anti-Bush protesters will, we're told, be splashing red paint to symbolise the spilled blood of the people of Iraq. No such red paint was splashed around London after Halabja, after the 1991 Shia and Kurdish uprisings or during the Iran-Iraq war, almost as if that were not real Iraqi blood. Blood, after all, is only blood if Americans spill it.

No crimson splotches were created during the state visit of Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceausescu in 1978, a visit which - because of Romania's semi-dissident position in the Soviet bloc - suited both cold warriors and sections of the Left. Earlier this year the Chechnya-enmired President Putin escaped almost any kind of demonstration.

This is Huge

2003-11-17T12:31:00.000-05:00

If this is everything it purports to be, it's freakin' huge. This is the smoking gun (or vial as someone put it!) that links Saddam and al Qaeda. Not that Saddam was directly (or even indirectly) involved in 9/11, but that he had direct and ongoing links with bin Laden's group, up to and including the supply of chemicals/biologicals for weaponization. All the way back to at least '92, if not earlier.

But, of course, the Loony Left will insist that there was no connection, and it is all a fabrication, blah blah blah. It's a pity when hatred of your own country overrides any semblance of logic.

I'm just hoping Dean (or whoever wins the Democratic nomination) tells the far-left to take a bath after the Primaries are over, and puts forth a logical, sound defense policy with which to challenge Bush. I may still vote for Bush (better the devil know than the one you don't), but he needs to know that he isn't having a blank check handed to him from the GAP.

Update (11/19/2003): Here's an analysis of the Pentagon's non-denial denial. Still seems like a slam dunk to me. But, I'm just a flaming right-wing warmonger, out to conquer the Arab world for all of its oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil.

Quagmire Watch

2003-11-13T17:08:00.000-05:00

Yep. Definitely a quagmire. Things are definitely worse than when Saddam was in power. Those poor Iraqi citizens.
</sarcasm>

Cool Link of the Day

2003-11-11T18:55:00.000-05:00

This is just ... cool. How this guy's mind came around to this type of interface is truly beyond me. I have no idea if it actually has real-world applications, but it's just sooooo geeky!

Found it via Peeve Farm.

Little Green Footballs

2003-11-10T23:20:00.000-05:00

I've added Little Green Footballs to my blogroll. Charles Johnson is tireless in his capturing of the insanity in the radical Muslim/Arab world. And unfortunately, wrt the growing anti-Semitism that is present in the Western world. If it weren't so frightening, it would actually be quite amusing, the radically stupid things that come out of some people's mouths.

Read him on a regular basis. It's important.

Plan for UN to run internet 'will be shelved'

2003-11-10T22:51:00.000-05:00

Oh Dear G_d, Nooooooooooooooooo!

An attempt by developing countries to put management of the internet under United Nations auspices is likely to be shelved at next month's world information summit in Geneva - but the issue is now firmly on the international agenda, summit sources say.

If you want to guarantee the death of the Internet, give it to the U.N.

Ravens Football

2003-11-10T22:27:00.000-05:00

Okay. I watched the Ravens-Rams game last night. I went in feeling pretty positive about it, considering the upsets that were pulled off yesterday, including my Chargers, led by His Ancientness, Doug Flutie. I thought the Ravens might actually get some points and, given the strength of their defense, possibly pull a win out.

Wow. What a game. And I mean that in all sarcasm! That had to be the sloppiest game I've ever seen. 11 turnovers between both teams. 122 total yards by the Rams. A millions sacks of the Ravens QBs. Pathetic. The only reason the Rams won is because the Ravens offense seemed committed to giving the ball away.

And to top things off, Kyle Boller appears to be out for the season. That really sucks. Especially after watching Chris Redman play hide-the-football.

The one thing I came out of this game with was the realization that Billick's decision to start Boller as a rookie quarterback was absolutely the right decision. Watching Redman in the second half was a revelation. He was floating duds to defensive ends like it was going out of style. And he can't move worth beans.

Boller is rough around the edges, no doubt about it. But he's got the raw talent that can be refined. He's got a gun for an arm, can move extremely well in the pocket, and can be accurate. Billick made the point at the beginning of the season that accuracy was a matter of mechanics, and that could be taught. I hope so. I'm very clear that the rest of this season is pretty much shot, unless Redman decides to get the heck out of the way, and let the Lewises run the game.

As it is, I'm already looking forward to next season, when Boller comes back. He's gonna be good.

Update: Oh, yeah. GET RID OF TRAVIS TAYLOR! That man is an insult to receivers. He drops more footballs than any receiver I've ever seen. He should be a defensive end or safety, he so can't catch the ball. He has hands of stone. Get rid of him, or convert him to defense. But for heaven's sake, don't ever throw him the ball again!

A Fool and His Opinion ...

2003-11-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

... are soon heard. Good ol' Scott "I never met a young lady I didn't like" Ritter. What a putz. Does anyone still listen to this guy?

Sometimes I question our humanity

2003-11-10T20:33:00.000-05:00

This is disgusting, infuriating, nauseating, appalling.... There are no words. The violation perpetrated on these kids is horrific.

But I guess the fact that I'm over-the-top pissed off about it says something. Not sure what, but it says something.

The Messopotamian

2003-11-08T16:12:00.000-05:00

I've added 'The Messopotamian' to my blogroll. It's an extraordinary blog, authored by someone in Iraq. Blogspot, in its usual efficiency, has hosed the links, so scroll down to the entry starting with:

Hi everybody,

We the Iraqis, find ourselves in the midst of a great turning point in human history. This is no dramatisation, no exaggeration. But if you make even a cursory perusal of the 6000 years or so history of Messopotamia, you will find that this, strangely, is the fate of this particular spot on the earth. Let us not get bogged in the confusing and painful details at this particular time and look at the essence of the matter.

It is semi-long, but worth reading. It's an extraordinary comment on what we (America) are trying to bring to the Arab world. Idealistic? You betcha. Can it be done? Absolutely. Do we, as American citizens, need to hold our leaders' feet to the fire, so that the vision expressed here is executed properly? Yep.

Keep the faith.

Don't know much 'bout Economics

2003-11-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting article about Milton Friedman (yes, I have at least heard of him!) by Virginia Postrel. Enlightening. Think I'm gonna have to do some studying-up on monetary policy.

This moved me to tears

2003-11-07T15:45:00.000-05:00

Must.Not.Cry.At.Work.

Damn....

Peeve Farm 'splodes the Apple

2003-11-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

Heh. Interesting article on the goings-on at Apple Corporate. Lots of policy shtuff.

President's Speech

2003-11-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

Read it.

Finally, a real sugar substitute?

2003-11-05T18:12:00.000-05:00

This article discusses a new sugar "substitute" on the market:

Now comes a sweetener that does all the wannabes one better: It's natural. It actually is sugar. Unlike high-intensity artificial sweeteners, tagatose looks, tastes, and cooks like sugar. It's 92 percent as sweet as table sugar but with only 38 percent of the calories. Studies suggest it prevents weight gain and doesn't cause cavities. It's safe for diabetics and may even help combat the disease.

If they put it in caffeine-free coke, I'm there!

Let the smackdown begin!

2003-11-05T16:37:00.000-05:00

Looks like Allah has some Competition!

Why an Intelligence investigation is a bad idea

2003-11-05T14:51:00.000-05:00

This is an absolutely brilliant essay by Steven Den Beste. It's hard to pull a quote out without losing a bunch of context. The gist of it is that the idea that the Dems have for having an "Intelligence" investigation next year during the presidential campaign is absolutely horrific. We have many Intelligence assets involved in the ongoing War on Terror. Having a public conversation about the hits and misses surrounding 9/11, while necessary at some point after the War is either over or the active intelligence assets are not related to what happened in 2001, is a really, really bad idea now. We could compromise some incredibly valuable assets. Critical assets that we need.

I'm saying it poorly. Read the essay by Den Beste.

Insane Meme for the Day

2003-11-04T20:45:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna crib this from Andrew Sullivan in its entirety. My apologies if this bothers him. I hardly think I'm on his radar screen.... Click on the link above to see the original. This is a letter written to him that he published on his site. It contains yet another absolutely insane conspiracy theory by our favorite Arabs/Muslims.

I attended a doctor's party the other night with my partner. A film-maker myself, I always find this other world interesting to say the least - another "bubble".
I settled into a chat with a young doctor, born in the US of Egyptian parents. He was charming and very 'LA' - well-coiffured, soft-spoken and well-dressed. We chatted a while about his world in the forensics department at LAPD which I found interesting as a film-maker. We started chatting a little about the Middle East. I assumed he knew I was Jewish. And I thought, wow, what a great place America is - I can chat with an Egyptian as a Jew without any of the sorry overtones of the current crisis in the mid-East; Jew and Arab are bonded by our common Western upbringing.
I expressed reasons why I supported Israel, we both agreed Arafat was a bandit, but he explained why the Palestinian cause had such support in Arab countries. It was a very civil, pleasant conversation despite our differences...
And then it started coming out... I listened, because I wanted to hear what anti-Semitism was about, and also because I was in a situation where my partner's professional colleagues were involved and I didn't want to cause a scene... Clearly, this doctor was fooled by my South African accent, and didn't conceive of the fact I could be Jewish.
The diatribe began with the stuff about how Jews truly control the American government and society - how policy in the mid-East was completely driven by Jewish American interests - this was the same man who had agreed with me moments before how many of the problems in the Mideast were the result of Islamic fundamentalism and corrupt Mideast governments. But, of course, the US intervenes there because of a Jewish plot. OK, my feathers were ruffling, but I realized what a great opportunity this was to be a fly on the wall of what people were saying when they didn't know I was Jewish.
And then came the clincher... this educated doctor, a US citizen, told me in all seriousness how there was a detailed Jewish plot that if Al Gore had become president, he would have been assasinated so that Joseph Lieberman could assume the presidency of the United States. Since the Jews knew they would never get a Jewish president elected directly, the Lieberman VP bid was a Jewish conspiracy to gain control of the presidency by underhanded means.
I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. What was really worrying was he felt safe to say what he did in a gathering of middle class physicians in a wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Emphasis mine. You have to either laugh or cry. I chose laughter; my wife wept. I don't blame her one bit....

Great Site for W3C stuff

2003-11-04T14:13:00.000-05:00

W3schools.com

Proxy Server Exploit

2003-11-04T09:47:00.000-05:00

Tidbits article on Proxy Servers and the SPAM exploits. Lots of mac-specific info, but good general article, too.

Friedman on VodkaPundit

2003-11-03T22:42:00.000-05:00

I originally posted this on the message board over at VodkaPundit, in response to a post about a Tom Friedman column by Stephen Green. I'll re-post the entirety here:

Friedman has this almost pathological need to make nice with people. He is very insightful wrt the issues at hand, but then can't seem to help himself re: the solution. "Let's all get together and talk nice, and it'll all work out."

Huh? The last thing we need to do with France is coddle them.

Kick'm in the ass, let them know under no uncertain terms that we are not putting up with their shit anymore, and then hang up the phone. We can get along in the world without them much easier than they can without us.

Someone (I think it was Denbeste) demonstrated a new (at least to me) way of organizing the "World Order", so to speak. If I remember the basics correctly, it was 3 basic spheres of influence. 1) The basic democracies, where the rule of law held, free markets were the rule rather than the exception, and human rights weren't snickered at; 2) Countries that, while not democracies, at least weren't either actively fighting us or weren't exporting hatred and destruction to the outside world; 3) Totalitarian regimes, dictatorships, and active enablers of said. I.e., the enemy.

If we interacted with these three spheres (and it may very well be that this is the structure that Bush is trying to establish), and modelled a UN-like organization after it, we might actually have a shot at long-term growth and spreading of democracy and basic human rights.

Fantasy on my part? Eh. Could be. Sure would make for an interesting experiment. And I don't see how the current International situation could possibly get any worse (under this new system) than it is now.

Maybe next time I'll just link to you, Stephen, and blog the rest!

Big Mac breaks 10 Teraflops

2003-11-03T18:21:00.000-05:00

According to MacRumors, Big Mac at Virginia Tech has broken 10 TeraFlops. Kewl. They've apparently thrown the final few G5s into the mix (they were running with 2112 CPUs {1055 boxes}; now they are running the full 2200 CPUs {1100 boxes}). Someone notes that if they upgrade to Panther (Big Mac is currently running 10.2.7 version of Jaguar), and are running lots of Altivec code, they could break into #2 on the list at over 13.8 TFlops. Not very realistic, as it would take something like 80% efficiency, which is darn near impossible for a cluster that size.

Sure will be fun to watch for the next couple of weeks, as they try to eek out the last few Flops!

Space.com

2003-11-03T17:38:00.000-05:00

Gotta pay more attention to this site. The link is the various space cams available. There is one that shows the current activity of the Aurora Borealis. Could be some cool stuff tonight.

Wow!

2003-11-03T16:10:00.000-05:00

The Hubble at work. That Arcturus fella sure knows his way around the web.

2003-11-03T14:49:00.000-05:00

The Physics of Extra-Terrestrial Civilizations. Great read. Would make a great science/science-fiction book. Mapping out our progress from a Type 0 civilization, into and through Types I, II, and III.

Actually, one book that sort of touches on this is ... "Manifold: Time"(?). I'll have to look it up on my shelves ... or Amazon! Ah, the joys of the Internet!

[Edit] And here's some delightful commentary on some issues that were glossed over in the above article. Jay (of Arcturus fame) still thinks the article is great, and he raises some interesting points. He's got some links that are worth following.

2003-11-02T13:01:00.000-05:00

By the way, The idea for this blog title came via Lileks: "Ushering in Halloween week, our old friend Chernobog, the Slavic god of destruction." Couldn't resist! Maybe I should by-line it with "The American Blog of Destruction!"

2003-11-02T12:57:00.000-05:00

This is an extraordinary article. Completely destroys whatever faith I may have had in there ever being peace in the Middle-East. Got the link from Roger Simon's blog.