Nasty Israel

     Professor Israel Shahak has the extensive details.  Includes these sad details

This means in practice that if members of a Peruvian tribe are converted to Judaism, and thus regarded as Jewish, they are entitled at once to become Israeli citizens and benefit from the approximately 70 per cent of the West Bank land (and the 92 per cent of the area of Israel proper), officially designated only for the benefit of Jews. All non-Jews ( not only all Palestinians) are prohibited from benefiting from those lands. (The prohibition applies even to Israeli Arabs who served in the Israeli army and reached a high rank.) The case involving Peruvian converts to Judaism actually occurred a few years ago. The newly-created Jews were settled in the West Bank, near Nablus, on land from which non-Jews are officially excluded.

and

There are so many laws and regulations in Israel which discriminate in favour of the persons defined in Israel as those 'who can immigrate in accordance with the Law of Return' that the subject demands seperate treatment. We can look here at one example, seemingly trivial in comparison with residence restrictions, but nevertheless important since it reveals the real intentions of the Israeli legislator. Israeli citizens who left the country for a time but who are defined as those who 'can immigrate in accordance with the Law of Return' are eligible on their return to generous customs benefits, to receive subsidy for their children's high school education, and to receive either a grant or a loan on easy terms for the purchase of an apartment, as well as other benefits. Citizens who cannot be so defined, in other words, the non-Jewish citizens of Israel, get none of these benefits.

New Life Church of God the Almighty Ain't He Grand

     Soldiers of Christ is the name of the new Harper's peice on Colorado Springs and Pastor Ted Haggard.  From the people who have brought you Jesus Plus Nothing (on Doug Coe and "The Family"), Harper's Magazine and Jeffrey Sharlett.  Sharlett, it turns out, is in charge of this neat site, which you can check on a more regular basis, The Revealer.  However, I'm not sure his killing buddhisness is all that.

Parliamentarian Request

     Hopefully, out there among you is someone who is, or knows, a parliamentarian.  If you'd like to see some of my work on the matter, revolutionary (of course), just click here, which is my (tortured?) discussion of my contribution (should it turn out to be original) to voting theory.  Yes, I plan to make it the default mode for setting the agenda in my e-ssembly system, as I found nothing really requires much control (say, by a Chair/Speaker/Majority Leader) as has been supposed.

     Still, things will proceed with the best possible choices if any interested parties make themselves familiar with Internet Relay Chat. 

     By the way, a list of McLean's papers, most I am finding interesting (although I lack some of the required background in Social Choice Theory), can be found at his webpage.

Voting

     Reading Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen now, by the author of the most unusual Voting in Medieval Universities and Religious Orders. 

Iraq Inc.

     Supported by the websites WarProfiteers.com or CorpwWatch.org, author really makes a powerful case that, despite what you think of the decision to go to war, the amount of war profiteering is outrageous.

Media Reform PBU22

     Journalists, most kinds at least, are like teachers and government officials; they are public servants.  It is simply not surprising that the best and the brightest are attracted to other professions which earn one greater respect and remuneration, e.g. the law, medicine, banking, and, for the time being, computers. 

     An election-based government operates in a cycle.  Someone is elected, they do things, we hear about it, then we vote.  This entire process breaks down, in generally tragic ways: if good people stop running, if we no longer hear about what they do with a critical eye, or if we stop voting.  It is hard to imagine a government prevented from doing anything, but it is hypothetically possible.  Journalism is how people have traditionally heard things about what is going on.

     The media criticism business got its start, as far as I can tell, back with Reed Irvine and "Accuracy in Media."  This was a John Birch Society friendly group which bashed the media for its pro-Democrat Party, soft-on-Communism stances back in the 1960s (UPDATE: It still exists even though Mr R Irvine died in November of 2004).  I don't believe much of the criticism was valid, but I do believe there has always been an "establishment press" league of news outlets friendly to the administration.  The Executive, Judicial and Legislature were all in the hands of Democrats at that time, so it is (regrettably) to be expected that a pronounced pro-Democrat bias existed in the news.  Similarly, now the major TV outlets produce numerous pro-administration peices.  For example, I am led to believe that, before the Iraq War, the number of pro-war interviewees on the networks and cable news shows numbered 800, while the number of anti-war interviewees numbered six.

     Now Media Matters for America, and for a decade or more now FAIR illustrate on a regular basis the shoddy, pro-corporate, pro-Republican biases of the media. 

Resurrected Website

     Last night at dinner I thought I'd put up my pre-war (a couple post-April 9th comments) website here.

     Maybe I was thinking of WhateverItIsI'mAgainstIt's new archive blog Whatever It Was, I Was Against It.

Bolton Tidbit

     I've been paying some attention to the debate on the nomination of J Bolton to the position of Ambassador to the United Nations.  One can read lots of details of the story at the Washington Note by Democrat staffer Steve Clemons. 

     What you won't read at too-polite Mr Clemon's blog is about J Bolton's role in arming the murderous cops in Haiti.

Entrapment is Legal?

     Am I living in some fantasy 50s land? (Answer: Yes)  The FBI set up a fake company, which then offered money to some Tennesse legislators (including the uncle of Rep Harold Ford).  The sting has been going on for years.  My first thought is that the Feds targetted Tennessee, some years ago, because they thought it might be useful come election 2004.  That was only a few months ago, folks.

     And is entrapment really legal?

     I mean, I am concerned that Democrats were targetted by the (then) Ashcroft FBI.  Did they offer equal amounts to members of both parties?  Tennessee resident(native?) Bill Hobbs has extensive information here.  I haven't found any TennDems talking about it.

Dr William Schulz

     I've said before that this guy is actually a bit of a government tool.  I also mentioned that he is, without a doubt, entirely against torture.  Dr Schulz encourages foreign governments to investigate US officials, and to arrest those found guilty if they enter their countries for what has happened at Abu Ghraib and other detention centers.

     Dr Schulz, again, is only complaining about torture.  Dr. Schulz names Donald Rumsfeld, and numerous other lower people.

     Click on the Amnesty International's 2005 Annual Report on Human Rights to watch Dr. Schulz's remarks on Abu Ghraib.  The text of the report is available at the Amnesty site.

Could I Make A Request

UPDATE: This has all been moved here, thank you.

     Thanks to those who have checked out my other website.  I don't know many personally who come here, but, if you haven't already, please check out my proof on the nature of terrorism, available in the links to the left.  I also plan to add this bit, on the striking similarity between the Protestant-by-1561 map and the Germanic language map. so perfectly.

     I usually hate to be vain, but in this case I just so happen to be right.

     In case you were wondering, after I developed this theory, one of the first things I did was to try to give this information to the US Government.  I tried to get to the White House, but I didn't quite make it in.  First I met a junior guy, and, to the senior guy who biked up to me later, I said I had "important" information regarding terrorism.  Then I brought a CD to Senator Schumer's office, wrote a hand-written note inside Senator Clinton's office, and Representative Nadler wasn't in that day.

Various and Sundry Reasons

     I'm reading Jefferson's Manual on parliamentary procedure, along with Robert's Rules of Order, as a necessary part of my work on e-ssembly, and I came across this, now ignored entirely...

It is highly expedient, says Hatsell, for the due preservation of the privileges of the separate branches of the legislature, that neither should encroach on the other, or interfere in any matter depending before them, so as to preclude, or even influence that freedom of debate, which is essential to a free council. They are therefore not to take notice of any bills or other matters depending, or of votes that have been given, or of speeches which have been held, by the members of either of the other branches of the legislature, until the same have been communicated to them in the usual parliamentary manner. 2. Hats. 252. 4. Inst. 15. Seld. Jud. 53. Thus the king's taking notice of the bill for suppressing soldiers, depending before the House, his proposing a provisional clause for a bill before it was presented to him by the two Houses; his expressing displeasure against some persons for matters moved in Parliament during the debate and preparation of a bill, were breaches of privilege. 2. Nalson, 743. and in 1783, December 17, it was declared a breach of fundamental privileges, &c. to report any opinion or pretended opinion of the king on any bill or proceeding depending in either House of Parliament, with a view to influence the votes of the members. 2. Hats. 251, 6.

Today's E-ssembly Progress

     OK, I figured out how to stash and recover the voting data in a sensible way, and I think I've done got most of it coded, except I will need to add the recover bit for when you re-login.

     Hmm, other than that? I threw out an offer to Scott Ritter.  I guess I spent too long trying to debug the vote stash/recover to get much else done on e-ssembly.

Frist Stabbing Center In Back?

     A blog named ThinkProgress has this quote, supposedly from the National Journal (htaccess password protected).

Senate Majority Leader Frist will file for cloture on President Bush’s nomination of William Myers to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later this week, according to sources on and off Capitol Hill, wasting no time in testing the resolve of 14 Republican and Democratic senators who forced at least a temporary halt to the battle over Democratic filibusters of President Bush’s judicial picks.

     It's not entirely clear. 1. It just says 'sources.' 2. It, by itself, isn't necessarily a renege on the deal.  Part I(B) doesn't say no cloture can be made on Myers.

P.E.T.E., JOIN ME

     My new group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Embryos, needs new members.

     We are going to go to fertility clinics, get in, grab the petri dishes, then throw them out the front door as we scream "Free! You're Free Now! Run Little Humans!"

"How can we hope for higher standards next time?"

     Tom DeLay is making fallacious arguments.  He tossed in the title line and I couldn't help think how that applies to him?  Out of lack of respect for him, what can we expect?

Cresting Wave

     Depressing as it is, the deteriorating situation in Iraq, a Civil War being one choice on the horizon (while the House debates on whether or not federal funding can be used to do research on hospital waste), means that the "happy-face trust-god-squad", the new religious right, the Frist-DeLay-Bush machine, grows weaker. 

     An interesting note about the seven "moderate" Republicans who were part of the deal.  J Warner of Virginia, S Collins and O Snowe of Maine, M DeWine of Ohio are moderates.  L Graham of South Carolina, however, is not.  Neither has McCain been one, lately, although he did jump to the center for his 2000 run.

Must.. Keep.. Pro-Lifers.. Agitated

     Base Vibrations: the right wing is keeping the religio-right perspiring hate.  Empryonic stem-cell research is currently being debated on the House Floor.  There is no war in Iraq.  There is no torture.  There is nothing going on in Afghanistan.

     Don't believe me?  Why did DeLay grant extra debate time for this?

Santorum Denies Agreement

     The agreement said there was no agreement to cloture on Saad or Myers, but Santorum said it is "we'll see" on one of them.

E-ssembly Progress Report

     Let's see.  I got the "move a (point, grouping or position) (up or down)" controls working yesterday.  Today I spent a bit of the morning working on stashing the votes in a javascript form element, getting the submit button to change once any vote was made, and writing the code on the back-end that parses the vote.  I still have to think a minute about how they are going to be restored when you view the page later, which is causing me to delay doing the actual stashing.  This evening I spent some little time normalizing a little bit of code (I used "value" in one place for something, but I had used "id" for it everywhere else, so I switched that) and then got into the meat of listing committee (and eventually subcommittees) in the main dropdown of e-ssemblies.  I've got the fetch and manipulate parts 98% done, I don't think I'll need the change the HTML at all.

     Some people believe there is a rule about separating things, perhaps the Model-View-Controller model.  Bah.  Separate everything so none of the chunks are bigger than one can easily handle.  I use the rule that (eventually) all my SQL will be in the form of stored procedures.  Not only do they run faster (some pre-compilation) and make code re-use easier, not only does it force a person to think about their database layout more, but it also makes for cleaner code.  Is that MVC?  I divide my tasks so that almost no module has more than a few hundred lines of code.  A couple do now, one I will break up, and the other is a library. 

     You can see why I never talk shop here.  This is a forum for politics, darnit!  Who cares if my templating system, alone among the available options, has XML valid templates?  Or that every request you make to my site goes through 28 handlers (or more) divided into eight of the phases of the Apache request cycle?

Filibuster Issue Resolved

     I'd like you to picture this for a moment.  Having counted the votes, the Republican Majority decides it has the 50 it needs (plus Vice President Cheney) and then decides to strike a deal anyway.

     If you can imagine that, then you can probably imagine the aliens regularly kidnap people in order to give them rectal probes.

     The Republicans didn't have the votes. 

     Thanks to the centrist Republicans. Text of the agreement, according to someone.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS
We respect the diligent, conscientious efforts, to date, rendered to the Senate by Majority Leader Frist and Democratic Leader Reid. This memorandum confirms an understanding among the signatories, based upon mutual trust and confidence, related to pending and future judicial nominations in the 109th Congress.
This memorandum is in two parts. Part I relates to the currently pending judicial nominees; Part II relates to subsequent individual nominations to be made by the President and to be acted upon by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
We have agreed to the following:
Part I: Commitments on Pending Judicial Nominations
A. Votes for Certain Nominees. We will vote to invoke cloture on the following judicial nominees: Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit), William Pryor (11th Circuit), and Priscilla Owen (5th Circuit).
B. Status of Other Nominees. Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit).
Part II: Commitments for Future Nominations
A. Future Nominations. Signatories will exercise their responsibilities under the Advice and Consent Clause of the United States Constitution in good faith. Nominees should only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances, and each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such circumstances exist.
B. Rules Changes. In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement, we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII.
We believe that, under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, the word “Advice” speaks to consultation between the Senate and the President with regard to the use of the President’s power to make nominations. We encourage the Executive branch of government to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration.
Such a return to the early practices of our government may well serve to reduce the rancor that unfortunately accompanies the advice and consent process in the Senate.
We firmly believe this agreement is consistent with the traditions of the United States Senate that we as Senators seek to uphold.

Deepak Lal, BookTV

     It is hard to imagine a more confused person.  This dipshit thinks the Chinese "Empire" has lasted for 5,000 years.  This dufus divides liberty into the political, civil and economic, and considers political to be unimportant.  As you can well imagine, the audience at the American Enterprise Institute will eventually applaud.  Even as this idiot declares that America had become the premiere economy by about 1920, and that America has never fully embraced free trade, he continues that free trade is unquestionably an economic good, he compares it to a law of physics.

     To be fair, AEI also had Robert Kagan refute _some_ of Lal's assertions, even as Kagan isn't really my cup of tea.

     To be even fairer, they then had Allan Meltzer refute him.  Lal, in his response, proved yet again his totalitarian leanings when he declares that China may be our best hope.

This Blog is Pro-Norway

     But please, use the site feed

     By way of explanation, someone from Norway seems to have been coming to this site more than a dozen times a day for a while now.

Still pluggin away

     Now if you register, you'll automatically become a "staff" member of the "Wild" e-ssembly.  I think everyone who registered already is, also.  If you create a debate, what'll you need to do is add a pro and con position.  It doesn't happen automatically because sometimes debate doesn't work that way.  For instance, three separate budget bills.  There are alternative voting regimes which allow them all to be considered simultaenously, ending the limit of a single amendment passing or failing on one version of a bill.

A Request To My Readers

     I'd like all of you to go to my web site and tell me what you think.  There are four required fields to register, a username, an e-mail, repeat your password, and check the you agree not to rip me off.  I'd like your first impressions.

     It's part of my revolution, and I appreciate your support.  1 of 5, you could say.

Progress is being made

     But I deleted some data, so it is hard to tell.  IM me at my AIM address, JoshSimeon, if you'd like to ask any questions.  There's really a lot more to it than a regular user can see.  Ah, what'll I'll do is create an e-ssembly called Wild and upgrade everyone I know to a senior staff position there :).  Again, the URL is http://Narins.Net:4321, and sorry it isn't perfect yet.

What the hey

     Want to look?  It's at http://narins.net:4321/enter.  The ":4321" is a port number, since my ISP blocks 80 (the default).  Register, then join an e-ssembly, then view the Section 203 debate.  Not so many links work yet, but it just a matter of time.

It is my pleasure

     It is my pleasure to announce that my programming efforts have succeeded in producing something worthy of celebration.  Ergo, I celebrate.  There are a couple thing I need to add to get it into the shape necessary for outside user testing, namely, "leave" "modify" and "delete."  Please understand that these are eventualities, not possibilities, and the timeframe embodied in their inevitableness is short, indeed.  Which reminds me, while attempting to talk some sense into some True Believers©® I used this term, heirloom misapprehension, to describe religion.  Anyone else as fond of the phrase as I?  Certainly the mainstream religions are passed from parent to child, like any heirloom.  And may the divinity of Jesus instantly join the rubbish heap upon which the theory of the 1/3 divinity of Giglamesh lays.

Yay and Boo

     Yay for me.  Ok, I won't give you the link _just_ this second, but my code is getting very ready.

     Boo for the otherwise decent Representative M De Lauro of Connecticutt, who accused Senator Frist of "destroying the Senate."  A bit over the top, even while the rest of her statements seem reasonable.

A little over a year ago

     John Ashcroft, on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, announced, with much attention by the eager-to-please-the-administration, establishment press, that he was going after the men who confessed to killing Emmet Till back in 1955.  The murderers, now dead, were acquitted at the time.  Now the hip, in-your-face NY Times is announcing that the trial transcript, much of it illegible, has been found.  I'm just wondering if there's some idiot out there who thinks that anyone is going to go to jail for this.  The men confessed, but there might be someone who knows more.  Right now in America less than 10% of murderers are captured (ban gay marriage, that'll fix it!).  We can all be glad the FBI isn't just posturing here to look good for race relations, but is in fact hot on the trail, of, um, a ghost.  From the story, they apparently plan to "compare living witnesses' accounts today with what they said in court 50 years ago."  The fifty year-plus memories of people who would be sixty-eight years old or older today.  Go, Go, FBI Justice!

I'm dreaming

     Sorry for the delay, folks, my secret project hasn't hit a snag, but I do have to implement something quite complex, and I hadn't been thinking about it.  I've implemented similar things before, but never quite this complex.  Wish me luck, I guess, although, considering that you don't know what I'm doing, I don't know why you would.  It satisfies me to say that I am doing it to help save the world.

     I actually do have a plan to save the world, but I just don't know where to get enough lucite, or an oven to melt it in, or a way to stick the whole earth in the lucite.  I'm thinking if it is really cubic, someone could use it as a paperweight.

Progress Update

     I've been working a lot on my code, it's 1000s of lines of code already, plus tons of HTML.  This means it is tough for me to blog what I'd like.  This morning, reading about Coalition of the Willing ally Uzbekistan filling people with lead slugs in order to keep the peace, I was reminded of how the US responded when something similar happened in Venezuela.  In Venezuela, the authorities were defensive, and claimed some of this wasn't their fault.  In Uzbekistan, the government seems a bit proud of its accomplishments.  As you can imagine, the Bush administration called Venezuela illegitimate and ripe for takeover, as it sympathized with Uzbekistan.  No links, of course.

     When times get like this, I tend to go to other blogs.  I tend to go to blogs with opposing views, that allow comments, and I try to go to ones that hold some meaning.  WorldMagBlog.com is run by the guy who wrote the book "Compassionate Conservatism," for which President GW Bush wrote the forward, and is run by Marvin Olasky.  Chrenkoff.blogspot.com is an employee of the Australian Liberal Party (a pro-business 3rd party) and attempts to be the voice for all the good news coming out of Iraq.

     I'd say I'm 24 hours or less of programming away from something primitive that a person can, basically, use.  Harry, thanks for the offer of help with checking it out. 

     Oh, here's something I put up on my old website (ScreamingAtPigeons.com) before the Iraq War.  I had a whole website dedicate to the topic, and I still like it.  The base for this image is a CIA timeline of Iraq, available at the Perry Castaneda library online.  I added in some extra data points.  For example, the CIA somehow managed to miss "Britain invades Iraq" _twice_.  Timeline.  Note: The "leftist, Koran burnings" should point to Gen Qasim, not the Hashemite Kingdoms.

Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison: Traitors Who Suffered Unfreedom

     President George Washington, knowing full well that Canada had been used as a staging ground for attacks against America during the War of American Independence, and also that Canada was a land yearning to breathe the sweet air of freedom, sat idly by and let Canada live [ed:if it can be called that!] under the tyrannic bootheel of monarchic oppression, and, like Presidents J Adams, T Jefferson, and J Madison after him, was an appeaser of tyranny!

     Had it not been Thomas Jefferson himself who penned the Declaration of Independence, explaining the depths of the injustice of this "King" George, the undemocratic ruler who still held sway over so many suffering subjects, including the innocent Canadians so close we could touch them?

     Was it not only thirty years later, during the War of 1812, that Canada, once again, became a staging ground for enemy troops bent on destroying America's liberty, troops who burned down the White House?  [ed: Never Forget The Burning Of the White House!]  How could these early American Presidents have stood by and let America be attacked?  Why did they not bring the war to the enemy?  We pray history obliterates these types from her books!

     If there is only one thing our great and fearless Commander-in-Chief, President George Walker Bush has taught us, it is that anything less than endless-war-to-liberate-everyone is appeasement.

     Let's look at Great Leader's recent words themselves

We will not repeat the mistakes of other generations, appeasing or excusing tyranny, and sacrificing freedom in the vain pursuit of stability," he said. "We have learned our lesson; no one's liberty is expendable. In the long run, our security and true stability depend on the freedom of others.

from the recent while in Latvia.

     Looking more closely, around the world, we can see that these "Founding Fathers" were allowing the importation of Africans as slaves (dastardly!)  In Asia, what did they do to end the brutal rule of the Czars, who enserfed their own people(Nothing!)?  In Europe, where not a single country was free, did America sacrifice for freedom (No!)? 

     By all these indications and more let it be known that, like Neville Chamberlain, G Washington, J Adams, T Jefferson and J Madison were appeasers.

     I must credit G Vidal a bit for putting the idea of "perpetual war for perpetual peace" out there

Good News and Bad News

     I had ignorantly criticized Thomas Frank's book on "What's the Matter with Kansas."  In part, without reading the book, I was right.  Much of the book was not news to me, even as Frank's perspective, being a Kansas native and high school right-winger was perhaps the most interesting presentation of the material.  The story of Mr Galbo being the only thing that really made me pause.  Texas religified its state GOP around the same time, and in the same manner, as in Kansas, and I'd already a bit about that in Ivins' book Shrub.  Still, he's not at all a bad writer (certainly when compared with the sentence-twisting author of this blog), and lots of material that, as a Democrat from somewhere outside the plains, you might want to know.  Kansas historical factors, for instance.  I'm not quite done, but I'm not sure Franks "gets it" (of course, outside me, who does?)

     Bad news is that Arianna Huffington's attempt to unite the left and right in a blog sucks.  She's got Joe Scarborough, for pete's sake, and Walter Cronkite being an addled old man.  Bob Evans (I've read the first chapter of the Kid Stays in the Picture, the autobiography of the man who turned Paramount around by producing Love Story and some other hits from before my time) has a bit.

Give em Hell, Harry

     I won't believe I was the first to think of that headline for this story, but ya never know.

     Senate Minority Leader H Reid called President Bush a "loser" and Fed Chair A Greenspan a "partisan hack."

     There should be no doubt that the latter is true.  By many measures, however, the President is not a "loser."  Some election or something.

     Apparently he earlier called Frist "amateur leadership" and that is accurate, too. 

     For those Democrats who might doubt the wisdom of Reid in his position, I wouldn't worry.  First of all, it isn't like the Republicans have cut the Dems any breaks anyway, or honestly sought a broad consensus on any issue.  Secondly, there is no doubt in my mind that H Reid is, if too business-like, an efficient manager of events.  Either that, or he plays one well on TV.

     Tip to WTF is it now, also check out her post on GOP morality, here.

Tidbits

• Murdoch's NY Sun ran a front page story on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. 
• I was over at someone's house who watches the West Wing, and there was an episode all about a suspected nuclear weapons program in Iran.
• Not about Iran, sorry.  I got a job, don't know the salary, won't start working for a few weeks so that means I'll be able to finish my website. 

One Year Later(+1 Day)

It was one year ago today.

     John Ashcroft, decades long champion of segregation (i.e. racist scum), announced he was planning to re-open a fifty year old murder case on the eve of the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

     The press played eagerly into his hands.  Running the story were all the important dailies, here is USA Today's take.

     It's been one year, and nothing has changed.  The Emmet Till murder case was an announcement only event.  Thanks for following up, establishment press.

     This is what happens all the time.  The press is constantly used by the government and they simply have no self-respect.  They enjoy the money too much.  They don't even (as much as is often supposed) care too much who is in office, as long as they can get their exclusives.

And it's definitely gotten a lot higher since then

     Tip to MediaMatters for linking to this NBER report which includes the following graph.  Note that the data series ends in 2000, and undoubtedly GW Bush has pushed things much, much more.  This is a measure of the total amount of all income the top .01% (one hundreth of one percent) income earners are earning.  The legend on the left reads "Share (in %) excluding capital gains"

Sigh

     Almost, almost, almost...

     Soon.

     I've been an extremely well compensated programmer at a 12K+ employee firm, and it turns out everyone around me thought I was really good at my job.

     That was before Iraq.  I stopped working that day.  Just stopped showing up for work.  I was dumbstruck.  Until the bombs actually started dropping I still held out this hope that it wouldn't really happen, that something would intervene and the US would score some sort of diplomatic "victory" by threatening overwhelming firepower.  How foolish I was.

     In the last couple years I've been working on some software projects that have political, but not commercial, value.

     One is rapidly approaching alpha testing phase.  I'm hoping that people who read this blog, specifically those who do not work for government, are not assigned jobs by government, are not contracted to government, and are not assigns of contractors of the government, and all extensions thereof (e.g. contractors of assigns of contractors of contractors of government), will be willing to help out.  Point out bugs, things that aren't instantly obvious, style or language issues.

     I'm always Josh at Narins dot net, and I'm also JoshSimeon on AIM.  Simeon happens to be my middle name.  It is the translation into English of the Hebrew Shimon.  Simon was taken, so they chose the Welsh name Simeon.  It represents to me the Simulated Eon.  This last Eon has been that of multicellular life (Phanerozoic).  The next, perhaps beginning 5-10K years ago, that of cogent, or self-aware life.

Rampant Anti-Intellectualism and the Resultant Dark Ages

     Don't read the papers.

     Liberals, intellectual elites, the academy and the ivory tower have their heads in the clouds.

     Those who can't do, teach.

     Do you value the enlightenment?  Progress?  Then fight these ideas everywhere you see them.

Is it True?

     Does the movie "Band of Brothers" really have no black people in it?

Stooge? Ignoramus? Liar?

     It was hard to believe that the Office of Director of National Intelligence, Chairman of the National Intelligence Committee, David Gordon, could have been any less unequivocal in his opening statement.  .  If you'd listen to this guy, it's all doom.  He pretends to be a prophet for 20 years.  He makes the STUPID claim that emerging China is just like Germany right before WWI.  At no point does he distance himself from the idea that "Ergo, China will start another world war" or does he draw any meaningful parallels.  Who is China's Bismarck?  Bismarck started many wars.  Neither Prussia nor Germany's governments had anything in common with the governmental structure of totalitarian China.  Germany was part of the new colonialism.  Who represents this new China-as-Germany's European competitors, the French, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Ottoman Empires?

     The factors that spawn terrorism, he says, shows few signs of abating in the new few years.  This he has right, but neglects to point out our own responsibility as Americans.

     We are really fucking things up if this guy is listened to.

     He said that the terrorists are going to become hackers to "physically damange" our information infrastructure.  Is he smoking crack?

     The terrorists are trying to "thwart our global leadership."  FUCK THE UNILATERALISTS!  We are sucking ass at leading ourselves.  We have no damn business doing anything overseas that _can_ be thwarted that exists outside a certain consensus.

     He says technology is the (did he say primary or fundamental or only) way for anyone on the technology scale for "coping" with our military might.  I think if we aren't talking about jammers, I don't know what we are talking about, and if you think the military isn't on top of jammers, then you (like D Gordon) are an idiot.

     His discussion of Israel/Palestine was pretty much the US line.  But his discussion of India/Pakistan seemed to downplay troop movements and recent progress.  No sense of movements over the last four decades of troops towards and away from the border (say, during times of peace). 

     One of the global possibilities of Iran continuing a nuclear program (no hedging by saying "nuclear power") is that Israel could strike.  Now our foreign policy is to be dictated by the consequences of what two other states _might_ do, especially when one of those States is very, very, very, very dependent on us?  Fool!

     Later Gordon refers to the "losers of globalization." and, you must admit, that none of the players (governments, corporations who engage in international trade) are going to end up "losing" this game (as if life is a game).  Not when one, by comparison, examines the results on the poorer subsistence farmer who finds their entire livelihood scrapped because of, for example, cheap foreign imports.

SUPPORT OUR SECOND GRADERS

     Tip to WTF Is It Now for linking me to I f*cked Ann Coulter in the *ss, Hard blog, which includes this classic, in the form of a conversation between our protagonist and the polemicist.

"I think that `Support Our Troops' business is the most crass, craven cowardice ever to go unquestioned by the allegedly Liberal media."

"Yes? Yes?" There was oddly growing excitement in her voice.

"It allows the Administration to absolve itself of responsibility for its own flawed policy. It’s no different than if you sent a classroom of 2nd graders into a burning building, and when anyone objects you throw in their face that they `don't support our 2nd graders'"

Bush Praises Americans

     "You know, if a President tries to govern based upon polls, you're kind of like a dog chasing your tail."

     Bush obviously considers Americans "the tail."

     The truth is Americans should not answer polls.  Hang up on the pollsters, or even lie to them.  But don't let them package your opinions and sell the aggregation without you getting a cent.  In truth, you are selling out the citizenry when you arm politicians with the opinions of the masses, allowing them to avoid coming to their own conclusions.  I had to work long and hard to figure out why to believe anything, or how to justify any particular prioritization.

     As more and more Americans stop answering polls, politicians who rely on them will increasingly find themselves confused on election day.  What Bu$hCo does is, for example, find the most religious households in the most democratic communities.  He sends them specialized messages.  He can only find them with polls.