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.