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Saturday, May 04, 2002
The truth in Norway
Bjorn Staerk reminds us all why we should not be looking to the UN to resolve the issues.
The UN serves a purpose as a meeting place for the worlds nations, and possibly as a tool to administrate aid. Its value as a political and moral guide, however, is null, and it is an insult to free and freedom-seeking people everywhere to claim otherwise.
My feeling is the best to hope from the UN is that it becomes something of a free trade area.
Racing to the Win
Cleveland finally wins another game. No word yet on whether they took the suicide watch off Eric Olsen.
Yeah, I'm a sore loser. So what!
War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby. S**t. Hopefully, it's the last positive for a Saudi Prince for a while.
Neil Young time
May 4, 1970. Oh, just go over to Tres Producers.
Free the Jericho Two!
I can't say I'm totally shocked by this:
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - The Palestinian Cabinet on Friday discussed the fate of two senior officials imprisoned as part of a U.S.-brokered deal that led to Yasser Arafat's release from Israeli confinement this week, and Palestinian officials said they expected the two to be freed soon.
Palestinian officials said that under the U.S. deal, the fate of Ahmed Saadat and Fuad Shobaki was left in the hands of the Palestinian legal system.
Israeli officials disputed the claim, saying they were assured by the United States that Saadat and Shobaki would remain locked up as a condition for freeing Arafat.
I was still amazed when Arafat actually gave in and they were actually turned over to the US-UK. This strikes me as what I expected. He is taking a PR hit from his own people, and now is trying to get out of it. I'm sure he'll claim the damn Jews and Americans double crossed him.
Sieze all the pride you want just not by killing for it.
This is my first attempt at a "Fisking" so bear with me.
Title of the Article:
Adrian Hamilton: The Palestinians must seize back their pride
This was not a war crime. It was deliberate desecration, signalling that you don't regard your enemy as human
This looks like a fun article to work with. It seems the Israelis don't see their enemies as human. No. They just don't see them as too concerned with living.
One can imagine Ariel Sharon's look as he watches on television the pictures of Yasser Arafat prancing around proclaiming his new freedom. It would be one of pure contempt.
Well, yeah. I would say that feeling is echoed by many of us, as the English so quaintly put it, "across the pond."
For the past year the central focus of his policy has been to isolate, humiliate and marginalise his old enemy. Now, under American pressure, he has to watch him strengthened by his weeks under siege. If I were a betting man I wouldn't give much odds on the Palestinian leader living much longer, never mind being allowed back if he ever goes abroad.
Good, good. Let's make sure we are clear that this is a private personal vendetta by Sharon against Arafat. It has nothing to do with suicide bombers, and overall Israeli security. I am having a hard time understanding how Arafat was strengthened from being confined for several weeks to a few rooms in the basement. During that time, the IDF found many interesting things in Arafat's offices. Look Adrian, Arafat is a cockroach. Everyone keeps writing him off, but he hang's around.
Short of that, what we will see is a return to the old game of escalating tit for tat as Sharon awaits further acts of bombing so that he can move against Arafat again, while Arafat waits for the counter-measures so he can claim the role of heroic victim. Hamas has already declared its determination to commit new attacks. Ariel Sharon has made clear the primary interests of Israeli security can be achieved only by the total neutering of the Palestinians. The dance of death goes on.
Of course no article on the Middle East can be complete without the moral equivalence and "Cycle of Violence" idea. Of course Adrian varies it by calling it "escalating tit for tat." Sharon eagerly awaits the next suicide bomber or terrorists to kill Israeli civilians in cafes or children sleeping in their bed, so he can "neuter" the Palestinians by arresting the terrorists. Oh, the shame of it all.
Arafat's release is only one side of the coin. On every other front Sharon has has got his way. Blair, and President Bush, huffed and puffed about immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territory. And what have they got? Israeli tanks rolling into Tulkarm yesterday, another assassination (or "targeted killing" as the Israelis term it) and dozens more arrests. Operation Defensive Shield goes on with no sign of an early end and the UN's attempts to investigate allegations of massacre at Jenin have been finally disbanded.
Which is better Adrian, assasinating a man who has plotted and killed civilians or just calling in a fire-bombing. As for the arrests, well, you're right. Those damn Israelis really need to follow the model shown by the Palestinians. They know all about fairness and justice.
Of all the developments of the past few weeks it is the collapse of the Jenin committee of investigation that is the saddest. Not that it would necessarily have found that there had been a massacre. In the sense that there was a "massacre" in the terms of Srebrenica or Rwanda, it remains hard to conceive.
Yes, the tradgedy of no Jenin inquiry. How can the Israelis be blamed now. I mean we know how fair the UN is to Israel. Note how the last two sentences go though. Seemingly conceding that there would have been little proof of a massacre, he then switches it to suggest that there was a massacre. It's just that the massacre wouldn't have been on the genocidal levels.
But that does not mean, as the Israeli ambassador suggested yesterday, that the Palestinian feeling that there was one is just a piece of propaganda. If you believe them, the ambassador joked on the Today programme, "the Israelis would be responsible for every traffic accident in the West Bank". Ho, ho, ho. He clearly feels the Palestinians are comic people.
No, no Adrian, it really is you who know how to make us laugh. Palestinians feeding false stories? Say it isn't so!
Well no, they're not in fact. The rumours of a massacre started when the emails and the mobile phones started buzzing in the hours after the Israeli invasion. Shooting started; civilians were shot at; houses were broken into. Then access was prevented and even the ambulances couldn't go in. All sorts of rumours started to circulate.
I don't know too many people laughing at a people being raised to blow themselves up. I especially don't laugh about this. Lets see, hiding bombs and terrorists in ambulences, hiding amongst civilians, using the camp under UN administrative control as a bomb making factory, booby trapping houses and roads... Did I miss anything?
In the bitter aftermath of that military assault, there are – as the Human Rights Watch reported yesterday – very real concerns that the Geneva conventions were broken. Civilians, it is said, were used as shields; houses were pounded without warning to the occupants; unarmed civilians were shot crossing the streets; grenades were thrown into rooms full of women and children; ambulances were stopped coming to the aid of the wounded.
Of course, and HRW has been so evenhanded. I forget where was this account of what happened in the report?
OK, time for the finale
Ultimately it is up to Israel itself – and it has a strong civil rights movement within – to investigate these charges and to determine whether the boundaries of reasonable military force were breached. The American did it after My Lai; we British are still at it in the inquiry into Bloody Sunday. There is a greater role for outside intervention, and particularly the Red Cross, in an aspect which has hardly received any attention so far but will emerge in the weeks to come: the treatment of the Palestinians seized as suspected terrorists.
The Red Cross? The same Red Cross that refuses to give The Israeli Magen David Adom full membership? The same Red Cross headed by Cornelio Sommaruga (and also on the aborted Jenin Committee) who once said, " if we're going to have the Shield of David, why would we not have to accept the swastika?" Glad to see Adrian has a real understanding of things. As for how Palestinian "suspected" terrorists are treated by Israel, probably the same way the US treats the prisoners being held in Cuba. But please get back to us, if the Israelis start showing the same treatment Palestinians do to those they hold in prison.
Hopkins Update
The latest news on the shutdown yesterday. In these cases they often say they find "amounts of materials used in explosives." WHat does that mean? Household items that could be used to make an explosive? Fertilizers? Plastique? What?
Must be a consumer
Oh, boy. I need to get this.
Stan Lee
Do you know an older hard-core comic book geek? If you do, here's how to send that person through the roof. Just say something like, "Isn't it great that Stan Lee is getting all this attention for his work?" Then stand back.
The truth is, many fans have a very difficult time with the subject of Stan Lee. Stan Lee helped almost single-handily bring about what is called the "Silver Age" of comic books. His impact cannot really be understated. The problem is (1) Stan Lee knows this; and (2) he has shamelessly plugged himself while minimizing the efforts of others. In the 70s, Marvel Comics first released several collections of the origins of super-heroes and villains like Bring on the Bad Guys and Son of Origins. Stan Lee did the introductions to each origin and took virtually all of the credit for creating them. He mentioned the artists almost as an afterthought, like they were there merely to give form to his vision. The best they seemed to do is suggest a certain color. This included artists like Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four, Thor, the Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, and more), Steve Ditko (Spider-Man) and others. This of course offended the artists, and they let fans know at comic conventions. Eventually, this created a backlash where Stan Lee was considered, a virtual enemy of "good comic" writers and artists.
The other problem, Lee is a "company man." He became an editor at Marvel, then Editor-in-Chief, and even Publisher. He became the public face for Marvel, in which he excelled. The comic fans and later comic creators/writers/artists revere the creative people and tolerate the business side of it. Much like in most of the entertainment world. This hurt Stan Lee with the "serious" (pretentious) comic crowd. Kirby especially was revered, and had a very nasty, protracted battle with Marvel when he left them.
Roy Thomas a long time comic book writer and artist has written extensively on comic book history of the 60s and 70s.
In recent years, Stan Lee has become respectable again. Part of it was the shakeout in the comics industry, and Marvel Comics' bankruptcy problems. The other factor has been Kevin Smith, the director of Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy, etc. Kevin Smith is a comic book geek ( with his own store), and is a friend of Stan Lee, giving him a role in the otherwise lousy Mall Rats (and I like Kevin Smith movies, but it still sucked). His success and professed love of comics, has made him something of an idol to many comic geeks. His friendship with Stan Lee has allowed Lee to regain popularity with the hard-core fans.
Yeah, I'm still recovering from my comics addiction.
And the strength of their negotiating position is?
Apparently they are still "talking" about how to resolve the stand-off at the Church of the Nativity. I just keep wondering what the Palestinian side has to offer? They broke into a church to hide from the IDF; they took hostages- who if they kill would essentially be the end of any sympathy for their situation (maybe); they are the ones cut off from food and water; and there is no calvary coming to their rescue.
Meanwhile, the IDF is getting pizza delivery service.
I mean, the article repeats the same sticking point, Israel says the terrorists in the group either surrender or be exiled (paging Air Sudan) while the Palestinians feel appropriate punishment is a heroes welcome in Gaza. Actually, while the stand-off has to be frustrating, tense, and dangerous, the Israelis seem to slowly picking off the terrorists- mainly because they seem to get bored in the church and try to take pot shots at the IDF, which results in return fire killing them.
The article buries this nugget:
A few yards from the church, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was moderately wounded by an explosion near Manger Square, hospital officials said. A sign outside the building described it as a medical clinic, but Israeli troops who later searched the building said it was an explosives laboratory.
The army showed reporters at the scene bags of gunpowder and paraphernalia indicating support for the militant Hamas group, and a collapsed wall in the building and broken glass indicated an internal explosion.
This lab was less than 100 yards from the Church compound. Disgusting.
Friday, May 03, 2002
European Meterological Ethics
Matt Welch talks of Newspaper ethics and ombudsmen, well my wife came across this at work which may be even funnier. The introduction:
As the number of meteorological businesses outside the state sector continues to grow there is an increasing need for national codes of professional conduct in meteorology. These businesses frequently operate across national boundaries. At the same time, Europe-wide institutions grow. Inappropriate meteorological advice can lead to damage to the environment and large economic losses. Consequently, there is a need for national codes to be harmonized and mutually recognized perhaps leading to a single European code.
"Inappropriate meteorological advice"? Is that, like, predicting a sunny day when you know it's going to rain? Negligence? Do we finally get to hold the weatherman, sorry, weatherperson responsible for screwing up? It gets better. The issue of what is a meteorologist:
5. Within the group of people who have had training or education in meteorology and who are applying the knowledge and skills they have acquired, some will be applying their knowledge to meteorology at post-doctoral level, some at university graduate level and some after only a school education and some specific training. Perhaps we should ask ourselves the following:
5.1 Do all levels of people working in meteorology enjoy the title of meteorologist ?
5.2 Similarly, should people at all such levels be subject to the code ? In the medical profession, for example, the Hippocratic oath distinguishes very clearly between qualified medical practitioners and other working in the medical field. In the United States of America, there is a clear distinction between qualified lawyers and other members of the legal profession who are known as "paralegals" - persons trained in subsidiary legal matters. A decision on the comprehensiveness of the term meteorologist and of the kinds of people to be covered by the code will determine many aspects of the code.
Apparently England and France already have codes of conduct for meteorologists. Well, at least they have a couple outlines to follow.
UPDATE: for those of you following the links from Matt Welch, here is another code of conduct to amuse.
The hell with privacy
I can't believe even a federal magistrate would issue this kind of ruling
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal magistrate has ordered SonicBlue Inc. to modify its digital video recorders to track what television viewers watch and share the information with the movie studios and TV networks that are suing the company for alleged copyright violations.
Central District Court Magistrate Charles Eick ruled on Thursday in Los Angeles as part of the lawsuit against SonicBlue by a group of companies that includes film studios Paramount, Universal, The Walt Disney Co. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., as well as TV networks CBC, ABC and NBC, a SonicBlue spokeswoman said.
The media companies suing Santa Clara, California-based SonicBlue argued that they need the information -- including details on what commercials viewers skip and what files they transfer across the Internet -- to press their case against the company for allegedly aiding copyright violations.
Yeah, that might have an effect on the market for ReplayTV. Apparently big media wants to invade more than your computer. I can sort of see how the sending a copy to someone else makes them nervous, since it seems like an easy step to converting to a file to another format allowing it to be played on the computer, file-swapped and pirated (still doesn't justify ordering a company to install spyware). The commercial skipping feature though, really just a feature allowing the viewer to skip in 30 second segments - yes I know it would be used mainly on commercials. So what. People can skip through commercials when they time shift a VCR recording. If a VCR came out with a similar feature, it seems big media would be hard pressed to block it.
But How Will the Strippers Handle It
Actually, I guess it was only a matter of time.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The American Council of the Blind sued the federal government Friday seeking changes in the design of the nation's paper currency.
The lawsuit contends individuals who can't identify currency denominations are precluded from participating in a variety of transactions integral to daily life, such as the ability to freely make purchases.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, seeks changes including the use of Braille markings and varying the length and height of bills by denomination.
I guess it would do no good to point out that any Braille or raised imprints on a bill would be worn down rather quickly. Varying the sizes can easily be toyed with using a pair of scissors. I got it, different smells for different bills.
$1 - apple (George Washington reference)
$5 - cedar (Lincoln, log cabin, wood)
$10 - cordite, gun powder (Hamilton and a duel)
$20 - whiskey (Andrew Jackson)
Pinto Update
Reader George Shaner (I have a reader!) offered a possible explanation why anyone would spend $640 for an engine for a Pinto:
As for why anyone would want to sink that much money into a Pinto, it should be observed that there are people who compete with that make in SCCA-sanctioned amateur sports car racing. Put in some safety equipment, a fire-resistant fuel cell, and you're ready to go.
...
Out here on the East Coast, the so-called Mid-Atlantic region of the Sports Car Club of America has a local competition for a group of about three dozen people who race Pintos. There are also people who race first-generation Mazda RX-7s. At one point, back in the late '80s, the Wall Street Journal did an article on people who pioneered
the conversion of compact cars into racers, seeing as the supply of classic small British sports cars dried up and the Pinto had a good drive train. In fact, the racing of modified compact cars is now something of a staple in club racing.
I admit, my knowledge of Pintos is very, very limited. I recall from a business course in management decision making a discussion of the Pinto example. Ford set an edict to build a car for under $2000 and under 2000 pounds. The addition of a rubber bladder in the gas tank would have added $5 to the cost, and would have sent it over the $2000 mark. Well, I also recall the "Pinto scene" in Top Secret!
Airline Security Update
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was shut down from 10:30am to 1pm, after a screening machine detected explosives in a carry-on bag. So why was it shut down so long?
Airport Commissioner Fred Szabo said screeners were unable to find the bag and he could not rule out the possibility that the bag and the person carrying it got on a departing flight before the concourses were closed.
He said there was no way of knowing whether there was an explosive in the bag or whether it was a false alarm. The machines frequently return false readings, he said.
"We don't have any indication that there was actually an explosive device, but we don't know for sure," he said.
Szabo said the carry-on bag set off an alarm at concourse C, but the alarm was undetected initially by a screener. By the time a second security person noticed that the alarm had gone off, the luggage and the passenger carrying it were out of sight, he said.
"I don't know if it was a minute or 10 minutes," he said.
Brilliant. Probably a false alarm, but still.
Tony Molinaro, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said screening at the checkpoint wasn't done properly.
Gee, ya think?
UPDATE: Welcome those of you clicking over from Instapundit. I posted a link to a more recent story today.
Whaddaya mean they're terrorists?
I mentioned earlier that the EU didn't appear inclined to list the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as a terror organization, and freeze their accounts. Well it turned out to be true.
The list omitted the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Damascus-based Marxist organization whose members are actively engaged in the armed uprising against Israeli occupation. Diplomats said the EU had considered including the PFLP, but there was no consensus.
Yeah, I guess shooting women and children in cold blood wouldn't be considered a terrorist action. Nor would trying to blow up a building with people in it. No wait.
Any ways, here is the official release from the EU.
As expected PFLP is not on it, nor is Hezballah.
Here are some of the ones, they just got around to adding from the list of 23 entities.
7. Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem (terrorist wing of Hamas)
12. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MEK or MKO) [minus the "National Council of Resistance
of Iran" (NCRI)] (a.k.a. The National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA, the militant wing of the
MEK), the People´s Mujahidin of Iran (PMOI), National Council of Resistence (NCR), Muslim
Iranian Student´s Society)
14. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
Gonna need a drink tonight
True News Sources
I really don't watch a lot of news on TV. In part, because the tv is reserved for more important things like sports and watching DVDs. The other reason, is I get a little embarrassed yelling at the idiots on tv after a while. My only tv news source is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Here's why. Last night they were covering the French protesting themselves for voting for LePen in the preliminary election. The camera showed an artist protest, where they had placed stuffed pants and jeans, legs up in the air, on steps to represent the French burying their heads in the sand.
Stewart: "The French. Even when they're right, they're pretentious."
Children's animation and art
Lileks does a typically fine piece on how much better art in children's books has gotten as compared to the 70s. I can't opine as to the former, but I can comment on the latter. Dead on. 70s animation and artwork in children's books sucked. The greatest example is my generation's favorite pop culture item: Schoolhouse Rock! I love Schoolhouse Rock!, I will have the new DVD the day it comes out in August. Even if I didn't want it, my wife would. Everyone my age knows at least one song by heart, "Conjunction, Junction..." "I'm just a bill..." "Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here." and so on.
Nostalgia aside, the animation was abysmal. It was part of the style but it was so cheap looking even then. I'm not saying I want them to get a makeover. Such a thing would offend my sensibilities, that I would sooner have a vodka martini over a proper one.
Intelligence in the Telegraph?
Could it be that there are signs of intelligence regarding Israel, Arafat, and the Arab world in the UK that doesn't come from Mark Steyn? What to make of this story: The Muslims' great mistake is to see the West as the enemy, By David Pryce-Jones
Islam was once a great civilisation. With one or two possible exceptions, Muslim countries today are in the hands of an absolute ruler and his secret police. They enjoy no real scientific or medical research, no high art, no invention worthy of the name.
Muslims are instead at war with neighbours of every religion, whether Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish or African animists. Internal wars of one kind or another have also devastated such Muslim countries as Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq.
The column discusses Bernard Lewis' book, What Went Wrong?, which is now hitting the UK market. It seems, though, that the columnist has stuck some of his own thoughts into this column
Europe is flummoxed. Continental politicians (and some in the Labour Party) have made clear that they will not support a wide war against Islamist terror. Hubert Vedrine, French foreign minister, and Christopher Patten, an EU commissioner, are among the many who accuse America of being "simplistic" and "unilateralist", codewords advising it to appease its Muslim enemies. Brussels and other European capitals have long sought to undermine America. Rather than do so overtly, the politicians prefer the soft option of countering American policy everywhere in the Middle East, particularly by sponsoring Yasser Arafat. The EU gives him uncritical moral and financial support.
Such a policy depends on believing the worst of Israel. The destruction by Israel, during its recent operation, of EU projects costing about $20 million, has prompted furious demands in Brussels for compensation and embargoes. Received opinion there has it that the fighting at Jenin constituted an Israeli war crime, and France and Belgium voted for a resolution to that effect.
Captured documents reveal Arafat's direct connection to smuggling arms and the authorisation of suicide bombing. The European taxpayer thus becomes the unwitting accomplice of the man who has brought violence down on his own people. The Vedrines and Pattens and such spokesmen are in the inexplicable position of lining Europe up with Saudi Arabia, Hamas and the Islamists against the rest of the West. This is an intellectual, and a moral, failure.
Maybe there is hope for Europe.
UPDATE: Whoops, Looks like Little Green Footballs. Saw the same thing and posted it more than 12 hours before me. Even has a similar opening thought. While I'm on the LGF, a special thanks the Charles Johnson for kindly adding me to the honored list of anti-idiotarians links.
And so, it begins...again
I haven't seen anything in US papers, but it seems the US-UK prison monitors in Jericho have already been "warned" to beware.
CONCERN about the safety of British and American prison monitors in Jericho grew last night as Palestinian militants gave warning that the detention of six key prisoners under foreign supervision "will not pass unpunished".
Hours after the international wardens helped to transfer the inmates from Yasser Arafat's besieged Ramallah headquarters to a jail in Jericho, a home-made grenade exploded outside the British Council offices in the Gaza Strip.
The blast did not hurt anybody. But it was a warning, if any were needed, of the dangers facing British and American wardens, particularly if they are seen as Israeli stooges.
Hardly a surprise really, but they aren't wasting time trying to intimidate. I wonder how long until the demonstrations begin outside the prison. Actually that could be great, depending on the building's structure. The Palestinians start trying to storm the place. US-Britain monitors fearing for everyone's safety has Israeli helicopters whisk them and the prisoners off for their own safety, and all of the sudden these murderers are in Israeli hands for interrogation.
Andrew Coyle, a former governor of Brixton prison who was part of the advance party to set up the monitoring system, said: "It would be foolish to say there is no risk. We believe there is an acceptable level of risk.
"If we conclude that there is an unacceptable level of risk, we will inform the British consul-general immediately," added Mr Coyle, implying that the foreigners would withdraw at the first sign of trouble.
Jericho was chosen because of its isolation and the relative quiet in the town. The prison is on the edge of town, a five-minute drive from an Israeli checkpoint and within sight of Israeli posts on hilltops nearby.
Wait and see sports fans.
Sleep in a little
Good lord, Damian Penny started blogging today at 6 am. That's even earlier than the omnipresent InstaPundit begins. Still he has a link to a story on Palestinians who seemed to like Arafat better when he was trapped in his office. I agree with them, but not for the same reasons.
To Palestinians Mr Arafat is guilty of taking part in a deal under which six men who are seen as heroes and freedom-fighters are imprisoned in a Palestinian jail under the eyes of British and American monitors.
Actually the article actually took a tone near the end of suggesting that Arafat might not be a true leader. Not a shock to most readers, but coming from a British paper, virtually scandalous
The message is clear: Mr Arafat was a hero under siege. He began to lose this status as soon as the tanks withdrew from his compound.
Television interviews by candle light are Mr Arafat's forte. But slogans will not rebuild the damage to Palestinian homes, offices and infrastructure - estimated at £240 million over the past month - and there are ever louder demands for a change in leadership style.
Palestinians still talk of an intifada, or uprising, but it has dawned on them that times have changed.
Thursday, May 02, 2002
A Hero Born
Any site that sets its links up using old comic book super-hero groups has to have a hero. Courtesy of the incredible time waster that is Heromachine, I give you: 
No Whiners
Eric Olsen over at Tres Producers flatters me then bitch slaps me.
Okay, so I’ve got used to the Indians not sucking. I’m spoiled, so shoot me. I’m still willing to use voodoo because winning has become my right. Certainly a Yankees fan can understand that. [emphasis added]
Like I don't get that a lot. No, I wasn't going after Eric, it was a confluence (just don't get to use that word often enough) of circumstances. Eric's post, listening to some rather apocalyptic local sports talk on the way into work this morning, some rather doom and gloom co-workers, and a wave of nostalgia when I read the Neyer column about the Phillies history. The Phils by the way only finished above .500 three times since 1984 (1986, 1993 and 2001) and are currently 9-19.
Yes, I get wanting to win all the time. Believe me, I have very mixed feelings about the Yankees and the present state of baseball. I'll get a post out on that someday.
Futility
I was born and bred as a NYYankees fan, though I'm not from NY (raised in Lebanon, PA- about 90 miles east of Philadelphia). My grandfather to my father to me, and someday to my daughter is how it goes. My first memory of a baseball game was when I was about 7 (1976 or so). My grandfather took me to a game at Yankee Stadium against the Texas Rangers. I remember coming out of the gloom of the inside of the stadium to the early-evening summer sky and the field. We had seats near the dugout on the third base side, and I saw Graig Nettles of the Yankees and Buddy Bell of the Rangers up close.
Even with that love of the Yankees, I hold strong affection for the Phillies of the late-70s, early-80s. The team that had those god-awful baby-blue road uniforms (as did other teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, KC Royals, Minnesota Twins, and one or two others), but were still better than the Pirate's Canary Yellow and Baltimore Orange (if you ever catch Game 7 of the 1979 World Series on ESPN Classic you'll know what I mean). They were the local team. I followed them intensely in 1980, the same year they ended up winning their only World Series. Watching them on TV, listening to Harry Kalas (the man could make dusting off home plate sound exciting) and Richie Ashburn call the game on local affiliate WLBR-1270 on a transistor radio under the bed after my bed time (how quaint). I thrilled to the team. Managed by Dallas Green, I still can recall the team. P - Steve "Lefty" Carlton, C - Bob Boone, 1B - Pete "Charley Hustle" Rose, 2B - Manny Trillo, 3B - Mike Schmidt, SS - Larry Bowa, LF - Bake McBride, CF - Garry Maddox, RF - Greg "The Bull" Luzinski, and coming out of the bullpen to save the game, slapping his glove on his thigh the entire time, Tug McGraw. For the numbers on all of these players go to Baseball-Reference. These guys were my heroes. And yes, time and reality has altered my view of them (Pete Rose the gambling, shameless self-aggrandizement, claiming to be a victim for his own misdeeds; Steve Carlton, hiding somewhere near VodkaPundit in his bunker in Colorado from the seven Zionist bankers in Switzerland who rule the world), but I still look fondly on the team.
Why am I waxing nostalgic? This column by Rob Neyer about the history of the Phillies. The Phillies have been one of the worst franchises in the history of baseball. Arguably in all of sports.
I moved to Cleveland in 1994 to start law school. This was the start of Cleveland's great run of winning seasons. As long as I've lived in Ohio, Cleveland has had a winning record. The team has been struggling for the last few years to keep winning, by plugging in veterans and trading young players. This year it is coming to an end, the ownership has recognized this, and is trying to rebuild while keeping a decent team on the field, but the fans are losing it. The team got off to an improbable 11-1 start, then went 2-13, including a humiliating 21-2 loss. Admittedly, this will be hard for any fan to take. The team will probably finish around .500, +/- 5 games before the season ends. Still, read the Neyer article and remember how much worse it could be.
Why do they hate us?
That's the gist of this article ( via Instapundit) about growing anti-European attitudes in the US. The piece is fascinating in its ignorance. It is supposed to be a warning to the EU leaders that the US is not looking kindly on the overall openness of anti-semitism in Euroope, but it sounds whiny and defensive. As if the accusations weren't fair.
Really? Read the piece. The article places the characterizations as almost solely based on support of Palestine over Israel. Well, that and Le Pen in France.
These issues were always going to strike a chord in the US, with a resonance which might seem disproportionate or frankly unfair in Europe. But the roots run deep. Europe’s sympathy for the Palestinians is often described as colonial; Europe is seen (rightly) as being a bigger customer of Arab oil than the US, and as Bush spelt out, religious intolerance is seen as particularly un-American.
There is no reference to attacks on Jews in Europe. There two references to burning synagogues (one in a quote from George Bush, which the article characterizes as forced from him). Attitudes like that in an article about the feelings in the US about Europe, is part of the problem. The article, in fact seems to want to blame Le Pen for it all. The concluding paragraph:
The problem today will not be between Bush and Aznar, who share right-of-centre politics, a commitment to fighting terrorism and a deep interest in Latin America. But European leaders need to know the new mood is there. They are right to concentrate on the trade row, but if they fail to win any ground, particularly from Congress, they may have Le Pen to blame.
Amazing level of cluelessness. I mean, wow. They just don't see it. They don't see how continually blaming Israel for violence in the Middle East; claiming a massacre based on Palestinian propaganda; allowing their citizens to be attacked because they're Jewish; seeing property attacked but minimized because its only a synagogue or Jewish cemetary; and not even putting Islamic terrorist groups on the terror list while at the same time threatening Israeli boycotts. No, I guess anti-semitism is too simple an explanation.
Some of my best friends are Vegans.
No, Really. We just have an agreement. They don't try to convert me or complain about my meat consumption, and I don't go into excruciating detail about marinating and grilling a steak. Still this article on how even farming kills animals (via the Corner) is kind of interesting.
"This is something we've been aware of for a long time," admits Jack Norris, president of Vegan Outreach in Davis, Calif., an organization that is dedicated to spreading the gospel of vegetarianism. (Norris is a vegan, by the way, which is even more restrictive then vegetarianism in that it rejects all animal products, including milk and other dairy products.)
It's obvious that some animals die when their land is taken away for farming, Norris says, "but you take it away only once." It doesn't lead to the continuous slaughter of animals for human consumption, he contends, because once the land is turned into a farm, there aren't that many animals around to kill.
See, I guess this is the way a vegetarian or even a vegan could rationalize it. I've always wondered about this. PETA and such want us to all stop eating meat, and I guess they want all farmers to only grow food. Well, to do that, they would have to get rid of all the chickens, pigs, cows, etc. The land would be needed to grow the crops. (Yes, I realize only vegans swear off eggs and milk, but I'm taking it to the logical extreme). This means we would have to engage in a massive farm animal massacre first. Of course we only have to kill them all once, so I guess it would be acceptable.
I'm in!
Oh, the ego gratification! I got linked by Instapundit. What a rush. How ridiculous. Now I have to get a counter on the site. I held off because I rely on the wife to clean up my errors (I don't even want to discuss what happened when I tried to set up the links without her supervision), and she's been a little busy. Maybe tonight, after it's too late.
Steyn-bastic
Mark Steyn's newest column, is a beaut. There are so many great points and comments about the hypocrisy of the Europeans view of "ugly Americans" versus the reality, along with their own recent behavior.
The rise of the anti-immigrant parties in France, Belgium, et al. is supposedly due to crime. It’s true there seems to be a lot of it over there. You’re six times more likely to be mugged in London than in New York. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has a worse crime rate than Harlem. In the Los Angeles Times, Sebastian Rotella was perplexed: ‘As crime has dropped in the United States in recent years, it has worsened in much of Europe, despite generous welfare states designed to prevent US-style inequality and social conflict.’
‘Despite’? Try ‘because of’. In December in this space, I lent my support to Mickey Kaus, the thinking conservative’s thinking liberal, who advanced the theory that welfare causes terrorism. Among the examples I cited was Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called ‘20th hijacker’, who became an Islamofascist nutter while living on welfare in London. What else is there to do all day? Go down the pub? Lie on the floor listening to Capital FM? If you’re putting in a ten-hour grease-monkey shift at Fat Dave’s Auto Body, you’re too wiped out to wipe America out. But in the fetid public housing of London, Paris, Frankfurt and Rotterdam the government will pay you to sit around the flat all day plotting world domination.
Plus a nice blast to the US-left/pro-Europe social model
It’s gradually beginning to dawn on US Europhiles that the Continent has done everything the American Left has wanted for years and it doesn’t seem to be working out. Thanks to Erfurt and Nanterre, you’re currently outpacing the Yanks at high-scoring gun massacres. At the last attempted US massacre, at the Appalachian School of Law in West Virginia, there was a gun-totin’ student on hand to pin down the would-be mass murderer until the cops arrived. But in Europe — ‘a gun-control utopia’, as the Los Angeles Times sees it — there’s no one to stop the corpses piling up.
I think he's giving the "US Europhiles" too much credit.
Kentucky Derby Notes
Once again a friendly reminder to make sure you are ready to go with the mint juleps. Now for a little closer look at the Kentucky Derby. There are 20 entrants this year, and usually a few will scratch before the event.
The information available on the horses is amazing at the Derby site, but there are other aspects to this. Like the owners. Here's some info on some of the more interesting owners. All from the KYDerby site. Except for the latest odds in parenthesis next to the horse's name.
War Emblem (20-1)
Owners: The Thoroughbred Corp.
Prince Ahmed Salman, whose horses race under The Thoroughbred Corp. name, is a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. He has an extensive international publishing business that includes numerous newspapers and magazines. The Thoroughbred Corp. is based out of Bradbury Estates, Calif., where it owns an 18-acre facility used for layups and breaking yearlings. The Thoroughbred Corp. team consists of racing manager Richard Mulhall, bloodstock adviser Rick Trontz and a vast cadre of trainers. The outfit also bred champion Point Given and Breeders' Cup Distaff (GI) heroine Spain.
Request for Parole (20-1)
Owners: Jeri & Sam Knighton
Jeri and Sam Knighton are residents of the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Elmhurst and are friends of former prominent Thoroughbred owners and breeders Robert B. "Country" Roberts and Bea Roberts of Louisville, Kentucky; Sam Knighton makes his living in the construction business. The Knightons privately acquired Request For Parole from the Robertses after the colt made his first two starts last summer. In his first start for his new owners, Request For Parole captured the Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes last August. The Knighton's also own the useful stakes-placed three-year-old Thunder On Land.
Essence of Dubai (15-1)
Owners: Godolphin Racing Inc.
Godolphin, Inc. is the Dubai arm of brothers Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum's and Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's racing empire. It was the idea of Sheikh Mohammed to take some of his best horses away from England to the desert of Dubai in order to make a racing nation there and to gain acceptance by bringing them back to Europe and the U.S. Some of the best horses campaigned by the racing operation include Swain, Daylami, Dubai Millennium, Fantastic Light, Halling, Lammtarra and Balanchine.
Buddha (5-1)
Owners: Gary & Mary West
Gary and Mary West, residents of Omaha, Nebraska, own West Telemarketing (and its family of companies), one of the country's largest telemarketing firms. Mary West was the founder of Nebraska-based Mardex Corporation in 1973, one of the country's first telemarketing companies. They purchased their first horses in 1980 and have campaigned the stakes winners Dollar Bill, Rockamundo, Mongoose, Entrepreneur and Baptize. The West's have horses in training with H. James Bond on the New York circuit and with Dallas Stewart on the Kentucky and Louisiana circuits.
Harlan's Holiday (9-2)
Owners: Starlight Stables
Starlight Stables is the Thoroughbred racing outfit of Atlanta residents Jack and Laurie Wolf, newcomers to the horse industry. Jack Wolf purchased his best runner to date, Harlan's Holiday, for $97,000 at the 2000 Fasig-Tipton, Kentucky July Yearling Sale from the consignment of Rockwell farm, agent.
Blue Burner (30-1)
Owners: Kinsman Stable
Kinsman Stable is the Thoroughbred racing entity of George M. Steinbrenner III, the managing general partner of major league baseball's New York Yankees. Steinbrenner was raised around horses, and when he was a child rode in pony races at the county fair. Kinsman is named for the Cleveland, Ohio, street where Steinbrenner's German ancestors settled in 1840. Kinsman Stable typically has 15-20 horses in training annually and has bred and/or raced more than 35 stakes winners, including Dream Supreme, Crystal Symphony, Acceptable, Concerto, Diligence and Spinning Round.
Now, remember. A smart bettor does not care about the owner. The rest of us can choose who to root against.
Wednesday, May 01, 2002
Opinions, Jenin, and Bethlehem
Well, it was a busy day in the West Bank. After hemming and hawing, Arafat finally turned over all six of the men wanted by Israel to a joint US-British security force in Jericho. This allowed Arafat to be released from what has to be an amazingly rancid set of rooms at his stronghold in Ramallah:
Arafat's offices, where he was surrounded by close aides and foreign peace activists, showed evidence of the weeks of siege. Plumbing leaked and garbage was piled up inside. Hee-hee.
So naturally he was pissed:
Arafat however, was in an angry mood.
"It is not important what happened to me here. What is important is what is happening in the Church of the Nativity. This is a crime," Arafat, trembling with fury, told reporters in his offices in his first remarks after the siege was lifted.
Afterwards it was revealed that the trembling was really due to missing the entire run of the Bachelor. This was revealed by the security chief who also stated:
"This is the beginning of a new road. We hope to reach peace for the Palestinian people," said Mohammed Dahlan, a Palestinian security chief, inside the compound.
...
"Arafat was in real danger -- the excuse was that they wanted those who were detained. But I think this is the beginning of a great Palestinian success to end the siege of all Palestinian people and start the peace process," Dahlan said.
Please note that Israel is not mentioned at all in this. Not in peace for the people or in peace process. This is reasonable since, the P.A. peace process has been under way for the last 19 months or so. If only all those damn Jews would die, things would be so much easier.
As for the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem well, come on they were getting bored. A little arson inside the church (started by the IDF from the outside claim the terrorist/hostage takers) and a little gun battle is to be expected when you're cooped up in a church this long.
Now for a little more on Jenin. An article from Radio Netherlands gives some hope to at least some Euros getting it: "No Massacre in Jenin"
The article concedes as early as the third paragraph, the article concedes the headline, but
International human rights groups that have visited Jenin found no signs of a massacre but said Israeli forces might have committed war crimes such as the indiscriminate bulldozing of civilian homes and failing to treat the wounded.
Uh, huh. And the proof is based on: NOTHING. There is nothing in the article explaining the basis of the latter claims of "war crimes." Never mind that even the Palestinian terrorists have bragged that they were using civilians as decoys and shields and that they were booby-trapping the buildings and making bombs and hiding amongst civilians, which last I checked kind of cedes any moral ground and vitiates any claims of victim of war crimes.
Terror in Spain
Two car bombs exploded in Madrid near a major soccer stadium where there is to be a game tonight. A Basque separatist group, ETA, is apparently claiming responsibility. At least 17 injured.
Would it be snide, petty, wrong, and mean to hope that the Spanish government try to understand the root causes of such actions, and not do anything to perpetuate the cycle of violence?
But not...
A small 4 paragraph story on page A6 of today's Wall St. Journal reports that the EU will add the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party to the terror list to freeze its assets. The second paragraph, however, has the kicker:
But the EU probably won't put similar terrorist labels on Iranian-backed Hezbollah and another Mideast militant group, brushing aside Israeli requests and underlining policy differences with Washington.
This article on WSJ.com (subscription req'd) from yesterday reveals the other "Mideast militant group" (read: terrorist organization):
Other organizations under consideration for inclusion on the E.U. list are believed to include the Syria-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Basque group Aska Tasuna. E.U. diplomats declined to say Tuesday if they had been included.
Good to know the EU is still committed to fighting terror (in their own backyard).
UNHRC or CHURN
Zimbabwe has been elected to the UNHRC. Explain to me again, why the US wanted back on this. Some of the other member nations on this high-minded, moral commission: Cuba, Nigeria, China, Syria, Sudan, Congo, and of course Saudi America
Ms. Weschler [the UN representative for Human Rights Watch] said countries with poor human rights records have banded together to shield themselves from international criticism. She said democracies need to be vigilant if they are to save the commission from some members.
"It would truly be a tremendous shame to just turn your back and start laughing," she said.
"Countries which have at least a stated commitment to human rights have a responsibility to save the commission. Hopefully, they will wake up and start being as effective, as proactive and as organized as the other side has been for quite a few years now."
Wrong lady. Turning our backs and laughing at this is exactly what we should do. Staying and supporting that commission gives these freedom repressing regimes legitimacy they should never have. I mean you know the situation is bad when even a member of Human Rights Watch is questioning the legitimacy of the UNHRC. How pray tell, with the democratic countries in the clear minority of a 53 member panel can they be effective. Or by effective, does she mean like the rest of the UN?
I'm not ready to say the US should pull out of the UN, there are still some good reasons from an economic and trade angle, but the UNHRC can go take a flying leap.
OOOOHHHH So scary.
Dumb s**ts. Does anyone actually remember the last time a European scientist actually produced something useful? The good news, is American Scientists are opposing it. Given the tech advances that come out of Israel (Instant Messaging is based on an Israeli firm that created the first IM, ICQ) and emergency medical services (the sad upshot of coping with terrorists on a daily basis). I think it would hurt Europe more.
What the F**k about Europe?
Everyone seems to be trying to figure out why the hell Europeans are so virulently anti-Israel (and anti-US). It seems most of the attention is focused on France, which to some extent may be unfair to the rest of Europe. Is it traditional anti-semitism ( historic), the influx of muslim immigrants (political), Israel moving away from socialism (really?) to a more free market economy, or is it an outgrowth of anti-Americanism which views Israel as a smaller version? Well now Jonah Goldberg joins in the fun with his basic premise:
But, it seems to me, the main reason Europeans hate Israel is that they hate America; and the main reason they hate America is that they really hate themselves.
He is taking it another step. He has concluded the anti-Americanism is a form of self-hatred.
From a historical perspective, European anti-Americanism is pretty hilarious. There is, after all, no criticism a haughty "European" could level at the United States which could not be returned tenfold at the authors of the Inquisition, the Hundred Years' War, the Holocaust, and the Council of Trent (why the Council of Trent? I don't know, it just seems to belong). Mass murder? Hah! Racism? Hah-hah! Religious intolerance? Bah-hah-hah! Class conflict? Bahhh-hahh-hahaha! Imperialism? Okay, dude. Snort, chortle — seriously — chortle, guffaw… Stop it, you're killing me.
And, of course, this leaves out the irony that, to the extent the United States is guilty of any or all of these crimes, that guilt is directly attributable to our own European roots. The more the United States created its own culture — largely built on the Protestant principles of religious dissidents from England and devotees of the Scottish Enlightenment — the less guilty we were of such sins, by and large. This is not to say that America has a perfectly clean rap sheet — no great nation does. But considering the extent of European guilt on these scores, Europe's arrogance in lecturing us is mind-blowing.
Indeed, Europe's problems with Israel and America can be boiled down to these two attributes: guilt and arrogance.
It's a long piece and I disagree with some of his historical interpretations, but it is worth reading to consider. I think it is more of a confluence of issues (in part depending on the Eurotrash).
Deep Linking Idiocy
The Dallas Morning News Web site is complaining about deep linking, i.e. direct links to the articles in the site rather than a link to the home page. This type of issue won't go away. It almost seemed settled when Ticketmaster.com went after Tickets.com for deep linking, and a district court judge ruled against Ticketmaster.com when seeking a preliminary injunction. The case was then dropped so it doesn't really set much of a precedent.
Basically, no one really tries to prosecute these cases, they just try to scare the deep linker with cease & desist letters. ChillingEffects has a FAQ about linking.
Tuesday, April 30, 2002
A good day at ESPN.com
Yes, the third post in a row from the site, but Rob Neyer, my favorite baseball writer, does such a job on now fired KC Royals manager Tony Muser. Neyer is a Royals fan, and while he does great analysis of players, teams and stats, this one comes from the fan in Neyer. It always pisses me off when someone complains how a stat-fiend in baseball "does not get it" or is "too wrapped up in the numbers." to just enjoy a baseball game. Wrong! We become stat-fiends or sabermetricians because we love the game so much. I'll post/rant more about this some other time. Just check it out and don't tell me he doesn't love or appreciate the game.
The Dr. is sort of in
Speaking of ESPN's Page 2, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson has not put out an article there for awhile. This week we get a brief piece on the Kentucky Derby and a possible fix, er, I mean lock. Excuse me I need to make a call.
Oh, and before I forget don't forget to get started on preparing the syrup for the mint julep. You can find fresh mint leaves in the produce section of most grocery stores.
Play nice
According to Jim Caple:
Mariners fans who wore "Yankees Suck" T-shirts to last weekend's three-game series in Seattle were told to take the shirts off, turn them inside out or leave the stadium. "This is about appropriate behavior," Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said. "We have a code of conduct, a policy for language on clothing and banners and signs. Our feeling was this was not promoting what we want."
In keeping with this attitude, Jim Caple takes a look at the Rules of Conduct at Safeco Field. Some examples:
Fans wearing shirts, caps, coats or other apparel with any blatantly offensive wording such as "Yankees Suck" will be forced to exchange the clothing for a simple white T-shirt with the non-judgmental slogan, "We respect the Yankees and their right to self-determination."
To avoid spurring potentially destructive feelings of nationalism, the national anthem will be replaced with the more inclusive "Kumbaya." This will not only be performed in sign language for the hearing impaired, but the lyrics will be distributed on Braille cards for fans who are deaf and blind.
When making a call, umpires will refrain from using the demeaning, "You're out," instead using the more affirming phrase, "That's all right, you'll get them next time."
Praising Force
Victor Davis Hanson with his command of history points to the US Civil War, WWII, and the ancient Greeks argues that peace will be possible between the Israelis and Palestinians only after Israel slaps down the terror network enough times. This isn't an idealistic view of solving the problem in a year:
So there will be a bitter recognition of what rests ahead as well: Another round of suicide bombings will bring the Israelis into Gaza and any other cities so far left unscathed. More government hysterics and lying, without an independent press to verify events, will only erode even European support. Occupying Christian shrines, murdering bound and gagged prisoners, machine-gunning Israeli children in their beds, assassinating Israeli cabinet members, sending out more suicide murderers, and booby-trapping houses are the policies of a failed, not merely a desperate, regime. And so out of the conundrum — should the Israelis remain firm — will slowly come an awakening that the Palestinians can have their own state and live far better in it without, rather than with, Mr. Arafat.
What, then, can Israel really hope for? And how can it translate tactical success to long-term strategic victory? Its continued policy of deterrence is working — most of the Arab world knows better now than to try a fifth invasion with conventional forces. Strong incursions against the nests and infrastructure of terrorism are also making it clear that such murdering brings the perpetrators and their abettors misery, not concessions.
Quiet will occur not with more Nobel Peace prizes spread about to those who either cannot deliver peace or actively thwart it, not with more bottled piety from Mr. Carter, and not with more threats from subsidized intellectuals in the European Union — but only when unsavory men like Mr. Sharon's make it clear to the real killers who surround Mr. Arafat that war is hell and cannot be refined.
Yet at the same time, Israel must envision some type of Palestinian autonomous state on its borders. This is its dilemma — one that is unfortunately inescapable. Thus its only long-term hope, as we learned after World War II and Korea, but did not fully not grasp in Vietnam, is to continue to defeat the Palestinian terrorists and then to renovate a broken enemy into a proud, but democratic, state with a real market economy — and in a region with no history of consensual government or liberal institutions, no less!
Such a massive evolution could take years — but again, given world opinion and the vast array of Israel's enemies, it is Israel's only chance at some future of peace. Like the free world in the Cold War, Israel must maintain its army ever-ready to strike back, even as its entire society mobilizes to promote moderate Palestinians, to hope that thousands rethink their support for terrorists, and to encourage wherever possible economic and political liberalization among a population which, if it had its way right now, would destroy Israel itself.
Hanson has it right in pointing out this will not be a quick thing. The Palestinians have been too radicalized, too indoctrinated with hate to be easily brought to peace easily. Instances in Japan, Civil War South, and Germany only suggest a direct relation to the proportional amount of force exerted to the speed with which the societal views were changed.
Daim! He is on his game
Just go to Daimnation! Read everything from the last couple days. He is pissed off and at his best. The article he cites from the Weekly Standard is excellent. It exposes the new anti-Jew attitudes in France.
Web Shooters
Signs of technology and age. If I hadn't typed that title, but read it somewhere, my first thought would be of some drink/shot followed by something Internet-related. Fifteen years ago, okay maybe ten, I would have immediately referenced Spider-Man. As the movie draws near, talk heats up. I imagine I'll see it this weekend. I'm going to avoid the nostalgia kick, because Lileks did it better than I could, but I will add, I've had the same thoughts about Thor, religious confusion, and crisis of faith for both the Marvel Universe (lots of play with Norse mythology) and the DC Universe (Greek/Roman with Wonder Woman).
Lileks gets a little ticked about how in the movie, Spider-Man shoots the webs out of his veins rather than creating the Web shooters. I can understand that, to some extent. The wife mentioned this change in the movie to me last night, I kind of shrugged and went back to tweaking Sardonic Dude on the Hero Machine. I have mixed feelings. This will sound odd but the development of the Web Shooters by a high-school kid (albeit a brilliant comic book geek) was a bit of a stretch even for the suspension of reality that comes from a comic book. Spider-Man's Web Shooters were amazing devices of mechanical and chemical engineering. Think about them. The web compound could be formed to be a bullet-proof shield, bind an opponent, allow S-M to swing from skyscrapers- indicating great elasticity in the strand form, and would dissolve in about an hour. Then the shooters themselves were compact enough to wear unobtrusively on the wrists, and could control the flow of the compound to spray, strand, or glob. And it always did this without clogging.
Monday, April 29, 2002
Another Pundit Review of Views
Despite the blogosphere's major slapdown on the Eric Alterman's attempt to pigeonhole pundit views on the Middle East and Israel, The New Republic is giving it a shot. They are at least going to do full discussion of one individual pundit at a time. First up, Thomas Friedman.
Can't get away
Whoo-Hoo! MediaMinded is back in the game!
Cases that amuse me
During my job I will read, skim, peruse, review and/or analyze many cases. Many will have no bearing to the topic I am writing. They will however amuse me or strike me as odd.
In The Court of Appeals For The First District of Texas, No. 01-00-00787-CV
February 14, 2002
JOSEPH M. ELLIS, APPELLANT
v.
PRECISION ENGINE REBUILDERS, INC., APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 334th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2000-00213
Appellant, Joseph M. Ellis, sued appellee, Precision Engine Rebuilders, Inc. (Precision), for breach of contract, violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), and breach of implied warranty. The trial court rendered summary judgment for Precision. We affirm. Background
On October 20, 1997, Ellis bought a rebuilt engine for his Ford Pinto from Precision for $640.40. After installation, the engine did not work properly. Ellis returned the engine to Precision for a second repair on November 14, 1998. Again, the engine did not work properly. After a third repair, Precision discovered the problem and replaced the engine head.
He spent that much on an engine for his Ford Pinto? Is a Ford Pinto even worth $640?
Shoot it up
Roger Clegg of the Center for Equal Opportunity writes about the DOJ Civil Rights Div. filing an action against Clear Channel Entertainment under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It seems one division of CCE operates concert venues. CCE forbids syringes at the show. Diabetics can bring the syringes, but must check them with the first aid center, where they can retrieve them if they need it. This is how Clegg characterizes the complaint.
The division rejected this accommodation as not going far enough, pointing out that it can take 20 minutes or more to get from the mosh pit to the first-aid station, which may prove to be too long in an emergency.
Let me be clear, I don't have diabetes, nor does anyone in my family or close friends have diabetes. I just think Clegg is mischaracterizing this to say the least. Most diabetics do not use their insulin kits at the first sign of trouble. They will try to rest, take in fluids or balance their sugar levels with certain foods first. Second he treats this as if it is only kids with diabetes at rock concerts. Ever hear of age related diabetes? This policy covers all concerts not just youth oriented rock concerts, but also a Billy Joel, Elton John, or Tony Bennett show. Hardly places for mosh pits.
Continuing:
In the Justice Department's press release, civil-rights division head Ralph Boyd declared, "Individuals with diabetes are entitled to attend and enjoy community events, like everyone else, without putting their lives at risk."
Boyd added: "[Clear Channel's] policy is unnecessary and reflects outdated fears about individuals with disabilities." This is a silly statement. Surely Clear Channel's fear has nothing to do with the way it views diabetics, and everything to do with the way it views syringes at rock concerts. "The proper disposal of a syringe or needle is a public safety concern," according to Clear Channel.
I would add the obvious point that, even before disposal, syringes can create public-health concerns at rock concerts. They might be used to inject drugs besides insulin. Not only might the syringes brought into the concert by diabetics end up being abused in this way by the diabetic or his friend or someone who one way or another gets hold of his syringe, but soon nondiabetics will pretend to be diabetics and bring in syringes, too. Sure, you could require a certified doctor's note, and no junkie would dream of trying to forge that. Right.
I'll agree with Clegg that the statements from the press release are rather absurd, but they also strike me as rather boilerplate legalese/jargon in ADA cases. Clegg is also correct in citing reasonable concerns about syringes in public safety disposal and possible drug use. In fact, the best argument for CCE will most likely be the drug abuse possibility. Both are legitimate concerns, and given the drug prohibitions in the US, creates an equally compelling public interest.
The problem is that the policy of CCE with syringes does not reflect the reality of insulin kits and diabetes. Most diabetics have, or can get for these sort of events, single use self-contained syringes. These cannot be reused and are not a disposal issue. Not many people would go to a public event carrying a full vial and syringe that could be lost or broken.
I dislike zero-tolerance policies, and this article about schools and asthma inhalers is a great example why.
This was one of Clegg's weaker attacks on the ADA. I expect better next time.
Not that it matters much
It appears the US will get its seat back on the UN Human Rights Commission. Great. No word on who loses the seat. I think the best thing that happened for Israel was the loss of the US seat on the UNHRC. It exposed the hypocrisy, hatred and/or anti-semitism (not all qualify for the full trifecta) that runs rampant through most of the UN and its leatership. The exposure lowered the stature of the UNHRC to most Americans, which only helps Israel and hurts Arab-Islamofacists.
Personal Jurisdiction
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) filed an amicus curiae brief today with the California Supreme Court, urging the court to overturn a controversial lower court decision finding jurisdiction over a college student whose only contact with the State was the act of publishing a website on the Internet. The brief in Pavlovich v. DVD Copy Control Association was filed jointly with the Student Press Law Center.
This case hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but it is vitally important to self-publishers everywhere (this means the entire blogosphere). It is good to see the CCIA support this case. The issue surrounds personal jurisdiction and the issue of sufficient contacts. The California Court of Appeals found sufficient contacts with the state because the defendant, a student in Indiana, posted on the Internet, information about decoding DVD's for play on Linux based computers. The sufficient contacts stemmed from allegations of causing "harmful effects" to industries (movie studios) within the state of CA. You can see the risk of a case like this standing. If other states adopted this idea it would make you subject to personal jurisdiction anywhere in the country for something you said on a web site.
The CCIA is a lobbying group include Sun Microsystems, Fujitsu, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Tantivy, Time Domain, and Vion to AT&T, Verizon, NTT, Oracle, Intuit, Yahoo!, Sabre, and AOL. The CCIA also opposes UCITA, which is a lousy restrictive "uniform code" that has so far been enacted only in Maryland and Virginia (next time you click-approve software, check the terms and conditions and you will find UCITA in there.
Not going to happen but fun to think about
According to this article, Ex-Pres. Clinton is being considered as Bryant Gumbel's replacement on CBS's "The Early Show." The sheer level of unintentional comedy would be unbelievable. First, we would get to see Bill hitting on Jane Clayson every day. Then can you picture Clinton doing a "fluff" interview with an actress like Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, or Uma Thurman? [Uma. Mmmmmm.] They would have to hose him down before, during and after the interview.
Hollings really sucks
Seems my earlier post about the new "privacy" legislation Sen. Hollings was even kinder than it deserved. Salon discusses the new bill, and the gaping openings in it. The key is "sensitive" versus "non-sensitive" information.
Hiding behind aggressive wording that makes it seem as if it'll be safe to go back online are two giveaway exceptions in the bill's text. The first is the allowance of "cookies or other tracking technology" to gather the data that Hollings considers to be "nonsensitive" -- such as your browsing and shopping habits. This would include the entire range of spyware now in the wild, constraining them only with the feeble requirement to provide "robust notice" of their activity, like the robust notice you'll find if you have the strength and the legal wit to get through KaZaA's 5,000-word license.
The second is that any inferred knowledge won't be considered "personally identifiable" and will therefore be protected under law, leaving data-mining experts with the freedom to continue mapping your psyche with their robot cartographers and sharing the results with their partners. With names and e-mail addresses conspicuously missing from the act's definition of "sensitive" information, Hollings' idea of classifying the levels of your privacy is like trying to cut hot custard pudding in half.
In one swoop, Hollings not only makes it possible for businesses to accelerate into this brave new world of automated lifestyle profiling, but also fools consumers into a false sense of security that'll have them buying more, and more often. Perhaps you don't care if the credit card company knows what ills you suffer from, or if Amazon has twigged to the kinks you practice in the bedroom. Maybe you're comfortable with being lost in a crowd of millions of Internet surfers, enjoying the same kind of anonymity an ant enjoys in his hive. But did you click on that suggestive banner ad out of random curiosity or because they gotcha?
It never ceases to amaze me what legislators so audaciously try to do.
Sunday, April 28, 2002
Post Times
The Kentucky Derby is Saturday, May 4. This means it is time for Mint Juleps. Ah, the bourbon slushie. Mmmmmm. Yes, I know it is still almost a week away. But, you need to plan ahead to do a good mint julep. Here's the way to to it:
Mint Julep
Simple Syrup- to make this, take 1 cup of cold water, mix with 2 cups of sugar, and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Let it cool, and add six mint sprigs. Let syrup brew for at least 12 hours, then stir and strain to remove mint.
2 parts Bourbon (Recommended, Jim Beam)
1 part Syrup
Pour ingredients into a glass filled with crushed ice, stir and add a fresh mint sprig.
I generally like to let the syrup brew for at least 36 hours (the majority of time covered in the fridge). You will need to experiment to get the taste you like. The 2:1 ratio is still too sweet for me. I generally go 4:1.
ACLU but...
Early on at law school, I thought I would really like to be involved with the ACLU. It seemed right and good. Free speech, personal freedoms, etc. The more I looked into it, though, the less appealing it seemed. Couple it with learning I don't have that single-minded/tunnel vision required for the best litigators of causes, and I never came close. I don't think the ACLU is evil or wrong to take many of the cases it does. I question the use of some resources, and it is clear it will go to a definite partisan bent when possible. Go to the ACLU site. Notice the checklist of "Freedom Network Issues." It's got prisons, racial equality, HIV/AIDS, disabiliyt rights, and much more. What is missing from this long checklist of civil liberties the ACLU has views?
Gun Rights. The whole Second Amendment is conspicuously absent from the site. Searching the site for "gun rights" yielded 14 hits. The most recent item was a 1998 forum board where some others were taking the ACLU to task on the very same point. I know this isn't particularly original. The ACLU position on it, is general deferrence to the government on this issue, that it has limited resources to tackle issues and this particular one is well supported by others. Sorry, doesn't fly. Even if the last is true, what resources are lost by listing support for a constitutional right? A civil liberty. Oh, wait, it isn't rights their worried about there, it's offending donors who support all freedoms but the Second Amendment.
At the movies
The wife and I, realizing that we are racing the clock to get to see movies in a theater before the infant arrives, went for the mindless, vacuous, and if you don't think too hard about it kind of enjoyable The Scorpion King. Kind of amusing to watch a movie supposedly taking place some 5,000 + years ago "in the times before the pyramids" and see people wandering around in well-made boots with laces and soles. Early on, the wife and I noticed one actor. He had a baby-face with what appeared to be an attempt at a beard and longish black hair. The mannerisms, voice and acting seemed too familiar. I leaned over and asked, "Is that Tom Cruise?"
"No, looks sort of like him, but the nose is wrong."
The credits listed him as Peter Facinelli who apparently has a daughter with Jennie Garth (Kelly from 90210). Still, I don't buy it. Then it finally dawned on me near the end as I watched "Peter" playing "Tom."
"My god, the scientologists have cloned Tom Cruise."
It isn't a cup he needs
The April 29 , Sports Illustrated Magazine (Kenyon Martin on the cover) features an article about Minnesota Twins Outfielder, Torii Hunter by Jeff Pearlman (no link on the CNN/SI Web site). This is the second paragraph of the article:
Torii Hunter does not wear a cup. Never has. Sitting by his locker in the Twins' clubhouse on a recent afternoon, he knocked on his uniform pants, in the groin area, to prove the point. There was nary a sound.
The next paragraph explains that Hunter feels it's about toughness and not being afraid. Um, okay. Hunter is a 26 year-old on the verge of being an all-star player. Gold glove outfielder, and a solid hitter. It's in the second to last paragraph that we learn something else:
The couple [Hunter and his wife] has a six-year-old son, Torii, Jr., and also raise Torii's six-year-old son, Monshadrik. (Hunter has two other sons, Cameron, 9, and Darius, 7. Both live with their mothers in Pine Bluff [,Arkansas, where Hunter is from].
Four kids four mothers. Even if he won't wear a cup, at least wear a condom.
The Anti-War Crowd
A lot of talk has been about the sever disjointed, insane, freaky anti-war/ant-global/anti-US/anti-Israel protests. Victor Davis Hanson weighed in on Friday, with his typically fine writing. I can't say I'm surprised by this. This has been occurring for far longer than people seem to have realized. Here's my anecdote from a Gulf War protest.
At Pitt, there was a rather large protest of the Operation Desert Storm. Some of my friends were protesting. I was ambiguous. Saddam was (still is) insane and a dictator, but the US actions seemed to be as much about securing oil fields and covering the asses of the Saudis (who I didn't like then and hate now) as it was about doing the right thing. The crowd was decent for a rather apolitical, urban campus and various groups and individuals got up to speak out. One was a girl I knew (and briefly dated), named "Judy" who got a chance to speak. She got up there and said (I'm paraphrasing) "We aren't gays against the war, blacks against the war, liberals against the war, Jews against the war, Democrats or Republicans against the war! We are just people who are against the war!" This rather unifying thought was not well received. She was actually booed. It seemed that people wanted to put their cause to the forefront of their opposition to the war.
I've thought about that incident often since then. My conclusion (only buttressed by the protests in recent years) is that this is something of an unintended consequence of multiculturalism. A complete fragmenting of any cohesive opposition by the left as they continually encourage so many "different voices" that you can't be against or for something. You have to be " against the war." Maybe not even that. You just have to show up and voice your view. And you will get your chance even if it is unrelated to the purpose of the event (can't try to censor speech).
Kids Pages
If you've ever visited various government web sites, you will invariably come across the dreaded "kid's pages" These are links within the site that are geared to grade-school kids to educate and encourage kids to have a positive view of the agency and it's work. Maybe a little silly and not the best use of resources, but it seems reasonable for the major areas like the White House, Congress, NASA, and even the Treasury (savings bonds, gov. mint, coin collecting), and the CIA (what kid doesn't daydream from time to time of being a spy).
Then it gets sillier. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is, to oversimplify, a federal agency assisting in US private investment abroad. It is relatively self-sustaining as it finances itself through user fees. OPIC provides insuance and financing to companies seeking to invest overseas. Most people have never heard of it. Yet, OPIC has a kid's page. Why? How many hits does it really get from kids? Other "interesting" kids pages inclued the Peace Corps (too many snide jokes to fit), the IRS has TAXi (tax interactive, a "'zine" about taxes including great passages to interest the kids such as: " Sherri Shine asks, "So, like, who invented this tax thing? Where'd it come from? I have to know, we all should!" " Uh, yeah; and then there's FEMA. Yes FEMA has a kid's page with this welcome.
Welcome to FEMA for Kids! I'm Herman, the spokescrab for the site. This site teaches you how to be prepared for disasters and how you can prevent disaster damage. You can also learn what causes disasters, play games, read stories and become a Disaster Action Kid. A story about my search for a disaster-proof shell is great reading, too! Disasters aren't fun, but learning about them is!
Yay! It's a natural disaster! Fun, fun, fun! Games with destruction of property. Oops! you rolled a 5, you live in a flood zone and you still haven't bought flood insurance! Just like last time.
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