June 2004 Archives

There aren't a lot of things to recommend long hours in the JavaOne Pavilion, but an open wireless network doesn't suck. Cushy chair, eBay auction going on nearby, grande latte at hand - OK, this isn't exactly a coal mine. The lighting's WAY better :)

Caught Harry on the IMAX earlier today. Fabulous. The flying sequences and other interesting camera work were well worth the price of admission, which was cheaper than it should have been due to a Fandango glitch. Is that kismet or what?

In January 2003, less than 60 days before U.S. forces rained fire and steel upon Baghdad in the ' Shock and Awe' portion of this escapade, Mr. Bush stood before Congress and the American people to deliver his State of the Union address. In it, he solemnly informed us that Iraq was in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons (i.e. 1,000,000 pounds) of sarin, mustard and VX gas, 30,000 munitions to deliver these agents, mobile biological weapons labs, a program to procure uranium from Niger to use in nuclear bombs, and connections to al Qaeda.

None of this - not one bit of it - was true. This didn't stop Bush' people from repeating these lies over and over again, even as all the evidence accounted against them. Pottymouth-in-Chief Dick Cheney continues to flap the Iraq-al Qaeda canard despite the fact that his best evidence to support the theory, a bin Laden insider named Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, has gone off the reservation. Once, al-Libi confirmed the existence of a connection, but now he has changed his story completely.

William Rivers Pitt writing for truthout, courtesy of Hamster.

When Ralph Reed was the boyish director of the Christian Coalition, he made opposition to gambling a major plank in his "family values" agenda, calling gambling "a cancer on the American body politic" that was "stealing food from the mouths of children." But now, a broad federal investigation into lobbying abuses connected to gambling on Indian reservations has unearthed evidence that Reed has been surreptitiously working for an Indian tribe with a large casino it sought to protect--and that Reed was paid with funds laundered through two firms to try to keep his lucrative involvement secret. Reed has always operated behind the scenes, and apparently he didn't want to risk becoming a humbled hypocrite like his right-wing cohorts William Bennett and Rush Limbaugh.

This from the July 2004 issue of The Nation.

I grew up in an America where people of good breeding did not impose their religious convictions upon those they did not know very well. Now those manners have been discarded.

Because our enemies are for the most part more enthusiastic about horizontal prayer than we are, and see absolutely no difference between church and state--indeed, want to make them the same--it is alarming to reflect that they may be having more success bringing us around to their point of view than we are at sticking to our own traditional American beliefs about freedom of religion. When Ashcroft and his enemies both begin their days with displays of their godliness, do we feel safer after they rise from their devotions?

I had no idea that Roger Ebert wrote editorials about anything other than film. This is actually pretty excellent, and is posted courtesy of Ted Strong.

The other tactic was to make a pro-anti-Moore-person documentary, something like "Ann Coulter is a Beautiful Human Being." But after fact-checking we had to change the name to "Ann Coulter is Not Actually a Poisonous Child-Eating Reptile," which didn't test as well.

Kudos to my buddy, Hal, for passing along Giblet's guffaw-worthy ideas for counter-Moore film making.

I think this is the first time this humble blog has been mentioned in a post! Many thanks to Blah3! Happy to be part of the Coalition.

Is it propaganda? Of course it is. Moore makes it no secret that he wants Bush out of the White House, and this is his case for why that should happen. Echoing the common view among liberals that the mainstream media has been soft on Bush and lazy in general, he said his movie is simply a bridge to span the void.

The only difference between Moore's movie and the opinions that conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News's Bill O'Reilly spout every day on radio and TV is that it comes from the left and it's condensed to two hours rather than spread over hundreds of hours on the airwaves.

Not exactly a review, but Terry M. Neal has some observations that make his article about the Washington premiere worth reading.

Unfortunately, Moore has become such a polarizing force that many will discount his opinion, and the film, without ever seeing it. Much of the information in Fahrenheit 9/11 is not new - Al Franken covers much the same ground in his very good book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right - but Moore has grown into an expert at laying out the facts.

And whether you disagree with him or not, Fahrenheit 9/11 is not a film to be ignored.

Bill Muller, writing for the Arizona Republic.

Moore is a provocateur, a blowhard, an entertainer. But he is also a patriot. As a director he has consistently advocated not merely for the rights of a citizen, but perhaps one of the chief and founding obligations of being a citizen: to make government accountable to its people.

Lisa Kennedy, writing for the Denver Post.

On the Grand Lake's marquee was a declaration stating that the theater would not enforce the Motion Picture Association of America's R rating for the film. Theater owner Allen Michaan said the idea had been brought to him by his staff, who believed the film's content, which included graphic images of people wounded in Iraq and some profanity, did not justify the rating. Michaan said he was also relaxing the R rating at his other theater, the Park in Lafayette.

Props to Allen Michaan! Lines were long outside the Grand Lake Theater, and lots of other Bay Area theaters last night. All evening shows on the Peninsula were sold out (per Fandango). No surprises, there, but hugely validating. It feels good to see people charged up, as compared to the whipped-dog days we've all had to endure over the past three years. 'Bout damn time.

This is priceless. In the June 20 issue of "TV Guide" (yes, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I sometimes read it but hey, there was an article about Enterprise!), there's an interview with Larry Hagman. The topic of his health (he's had some rough patches) came up. Here's the best part:

TV Guide: Aren't you afraid you're going to die?

Larry Hagman: I feel fine now. And I am not afraid of death. I had taken LSD 40 years ago and I had ego death. That took the fear of death away.

Awesome! JR at a Dead Show. That's something I'd like to see.

I remember the days, not so long ago, when a ticket to Comdex was the coolest tech junket going. Not that I ever got to take the journey - nooooo. But the fawning coverage and word-of-mouth buzz it always generated here in Silicon Central made it seem oh so glamorous. But no more, at least not for this year.

Yep, MediaLive (formerly known and loathed as Key3Media) has another winner. Oh well, at least we all get to enjoy their swell-ness at JavaOne next week.

The votes are being cast this week! Check out the Designs on the Whitehouse t-shirt contest finalists.

Thanks for the link, Dave.

I have to say, it chapped my hide this weekend when I heard about Ray Bradbury's demand that Michael Moore rename "Farenheit 9/11." A reader of Bartcop, who is far wittier than I, noted (along with this post's title), Bradbury could also be sued

"...by William Butler Yeats for "Golden Apples of the Sun."
Or so he would be, if they were alive and his bitter-old-fart logic prevailed.

What a stupid old prick he's become. He should be grateful that,
like Bradbury, Moore only steals from the best.

Amen, K.Hyde from Pittsburgh. I'd like to also add another Bradbury work to the litigation on behalf of Charles Dickens: A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities.

Transcript, CNBC’s “Capital Report,” June 17, 2004

Well?

As Ben Bradlee (via Eric Alterman ) so aptly points out, “Even the very best newspapers have never learned how to handle public figures who lie with a straight face.”

Anonymous does not try to veil his contempt for the Bush White House and its policies. His book describes the Iraq invasion as "an avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked war against a foe who posed no immediate threat but whose defeat did offer economic advantage.

Yep, another senior government official that hates America. As Hal pondered recently, I'm starting to wonder whether it's valuable to be one more voice out in Blog Land, pointing out the obvious. I wonder if the only people listening are already in the Cadre of the Conscious. Will anyone who see's Farenheit 911 be persuaded to re-evaluate their position? Will any of us who already support at least some of Moore's ideas be at all objective when we assess his arguments?

Time to go to the beach...

I say use the Microsoft cash to give every Sun employee (EVERY employee, all 36,000 of them) a six-week sabbatical with $2,000 in spending money. Stagger the time off over a year so customers won't suffer. Every person on sabbatical has to return with new ideas for Sun. They have to propose new businesses and ways of improving old ones. The ideas can be crazy, they can be big or small, but the worker must have ideas and defend them or they must leave the company. Many workers would leave, seeing the sabbatical as severance pay, and that's okay, too, because those people aren't needed.

So, how 'bout them apples? Cringely says he and Jonathan plan to meet, possibly stripped to the waist. I'll just check that visual at the doors of perception.

"Dear [Higher Power of Choice], give us the will to restore religion in this country, as our Founding Fathers intended, to an abstract guiding principle, not the theologically unsound justification for a twisted foreign policy. Let us fight our enemies with peace and wisdom, not anger and indiscriminate force. Allow our country to serve as a symbol of what's good in humankind, not what's corrupt. Most of all, grant us the strength and wisdom to remove President George W. Bush from office. In your name, we say: Amen."

Neal Pollack has risen to challenge the Presidential Prayer Team by creating Pray for Reason. He also has an excellent rant at The Stranger.

For conservatives, the right lesson of Iraq is that, if you apply a loyalty test to this country's best sources of knowledge--the academy, the press, and the government itself--you'll lose the war on terrorism through sheer ignorance. For liberals, the lesson is to see conservatives as they are, not as you'd like them to be. I'll try to remember it next time.

Digby shares Peter Beinert's sage observations about the terrible price we're all paying for the Republicans' dogged, "myopic, group loyalty so profoundly disdainful of anyone outside of it that they cannot be trusted to even carry out their own plans successfully."

This just in! Recent events have prompted the RNC leadership to reconsider their 2004 presidential ticket.

Tip of the hat to Asymptomatic for the timely update.

Kos has a pointer to this diary entry by EphemeraNation. Excellent, annotated snaps of the CNN web site from earlier today.

OK. Here's one of those completely bizarre Daily Show snippets that's actually true. Yep, that's right folks. The "Presidential Prayer Team" is on the case. Oh goody.

Yes, you do that. Pray that the elections will return some sanity to tattered Old Glory.

C'mon. You gotta love that headline.

I mean, really. It isn't that scary to switch to a Mac. I was so sick of crap like this, any learning curve was worth it.

"Our view is that the President Bush administration has chosen American domination of the world as in our best interest," Harrop said.

"We don't think that's going to work."

I have to treat these kinds of stories as a good sign. Surely enough voices from the right can start to sound like reason, rather than leftist frothing. Can't they?

"Stepford Republicans" is a swanky turn of phrase (in addition to "Gipperporn") I saw on Wonkette today. Take it, use it, propagate it. It's funny AND evocative AND has a built in movie tie-in opening tomorrow. How great is that?

Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.

But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.

A true American treasure, Mr. Vonnegut. If you haven't read him recently, or at all, do it.

Courtesy of my very cool bud, Dave. Thanks for helping me be more aware, Dude.

I started to type a rant today about the nauseating level of Reagan nostalgia blaring out at us from every media orafice (including NPR - shame on you!), but then realized that Eric Alterman pretty much sums it up, at least for now. A few more days of this, however, and I'm liable to hurl.

To honor Reagan as the triumphant Cold Warrior, without even mentioning the courage of all those ordinary people, just after the 15th anniversary of that lone man in Tiananmen Square, is an insult of staggering proportions. Ronald Reagan had a historic meltdown happen on his watch; he was no more responsible for it than George W. Bush was responsible for another, less positive cataclysm in 2001. Less, even. At least the CIA knew something like 9-11 was in the works. They had no idea the Iron Curtain would collapse.

There's no doubt the reign of Ronald "Bedtime for Bonzo" Reagan had truly profound implications for our country and the world. Whether that's a good thing or not is a matter of debate.

Read the rest at Working for Change.

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed
by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do
about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

via Bartcop.

Scenario: Someone near you is whining about how hard his life is.
Your response: "Hey! Jesus called, he wants his cross back."

Excerpted from National Lampoon's Rapier Wit: A Guide to Sarcasm and Other Verbal Methods

Happy Saturday! It's an amazingly beautiful day in Nor Cal. Sunny, breezy, wispy clouds - most excellent.

Was up in Marin last night, checking out the Wonderbread 5 in Fairfax. I'd never seen them in a smaller venue like that. I think the show was much more fun than, say, the average Fab 5 show at the Mystic. Of course, the scene eventually deteriorated into the usual hoochy fest on stage, at which point their second set took a header, but it was fun up to then!

My good buds, Eric and Kitty (happy birthday, Eric!), turned me on to the Fly Guy. Check it out! Hours of Flash-y good fun.

Now, step away from the laptop and get outside! It's a swell day.

Happy Friday, everyone! Here's a good one, courtesy of Bartcop

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a light bulb? Seven:
1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be replaced
2. One to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who has questions about the light bulb,
3. One to blame the previous administration for the need of a new light bulb,
4. One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of light bulbs,
5. One to get together with Vice President Cheney and figure out how to pay Halliburton one million dollars for a light bulb,
6. One to arrange a photo-op session showing Bush changing the light bulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag,
7. And finally one to explain to Bush the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

In Henry V's time, history was much slower to cast its verdict. It took 30 years for England to lose control of France and dissolve into civil war. In the end, Henry "lost France and made his England bleed." The verdict on Iraq is already in: George II has lost the war, emboldened our enemies, and made America bleed.

Arianna highlights what Will knew, and W doesn't.

The official announcement was unconvincing to a former C.I.A. chief, Stansfield Turner, who held the post under President Jimmy Carter.

``I think he's being pushed out,'' Mr. Turner said in an interview on C.N.N. ``The president feels he has to have someone to blame.''

More...

Hope to see Mr. Tenet on the talk show circuit, promoting a tell-all book, very very soon.

Seeing as how President Bush declared the prisoner abuse scandal to be an outrage and injustice, you would think he would not want someone so closely tied to those policies sitting on the federal judiciary.

But instead, Bush has decided to reward Haynes for his exemplary service with a nomination to one of the most influential appellate courts in the country. If confirmed, Haynes will serve a lifetime appointment to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, serving parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

This outrage brought to light for you by democrats.org.

Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi leader and former ally of the Bush administration, disclosed to an Iranian official that the United States had broken the secret communications code of Iran's intelligence service, betraying one of Washington's most valuable sources of information about Iran, according to United States intelligence officials.

More on the latest carnage-ala-Chalabi at Approximately Perfect.

Last week The Washington Post got hold of an Office of Management and Budget memo that directed federal agencies to prepare for post-election cuts in programs that George Bush has been touting on the campaign trail. These include nutrition for women, infants and children; Head Start; and homeland security. The numbers match those on a computer printout leaked earlier this year — one that administration officials claimed did not reflect policy.

Yep, you guessed it. You are being lied to.

From the beginning, George W. Bush has made his own credibility a central issue. On 10/11/00, then Governor Bush said: "I think credibility is important. It is going to be important for the president to be credible with Congress, important for the president to be credible with foreign nations." But President Bush's serial flip-flopping raises serious questions about whether Congress and foreign leaders can rely on what he says.

You are being lied to.

Sheesh. This is almost too easy.

Scholars and political strategists say the ferocious Bush assault on Kerry this spring has been extraordinary, both for the volume of attacks and for the liberties the president and his campaign have taken with the facts. Though stretching the truth is hardly new in a political campaign, they say the volume of negative charges is unprecedented -- both in speeches and in advertising.

Three-quarters of the ads aired by Bush's campaign have been attacks on Kerry. Bush so far has aired 49,050 negative ads in the top 100 markets, or 75 percent of his advertising. Kerry has run 13,336 negative ads -- or 27 percent of his total. The figures were compiled by The Washington Post using data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group of the top 100 U.S. markets. Both campaigns said the figures are accurate.

You are being lied to.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
“We never said there were stockpiles.”
Interview with Howard Arenstein, CBS Radio (Mar. 16, 2004).

Statement by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
"They have amassed large clandestine stockpiles of chemical weapons including VX and sarin and mustard gas."
Source: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Defense Department (9/27/2002).

You are being lied to. Read it. There's plenty more where that came from.