Happy Independence Day

Posted by spblat on July 4, 2006 10:10 PM

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I found myself in Las Vegas this Independence Day.

As dark fell tonight, I noticed that the roof of the parking structure adjoining my hotel might offer wonderful views of the various fireworks displays put on by the hotels on the strip. As it turns out, a couple hundred other folks noticed the same thing. But just as the celebrations started to get underway, we were beset by a disorganized posse of Hilton security guards, who were on a mission to clear the structure "for security."

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"Everything Is Illuminated"

Posted by spblat on May 26, 2006 10:58 PM

I'll take this over some random comedy any day.

Funny, touching, awkward, poignant, devastating. Amazing cinematography, unbelievably great music, and a dead-serious storyline.

And this really cool deranged dog.

Heather says the book was even more lighthearted and funny in the beginning, and even more disturbing nearer the end. So I may have to check that out too.

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Dear Senator McCain

Posted by spblat on May 24, 2006 10:36 PM

Dear Senator McCain:

I count myself among many liberals: indignant and upset over the state of our country, focusing our collective displeasure on President Bush and the republican congressional majority.

But I write to express my profound support for you as a man of integrity, respect and intellect. Each time I see you speak (most recently on Larry King’s show tonight) my respect for you is upheld.

I wish we had more leaders like you.

I wish all our public servants were willing to participate in honest debate with the respect you show your opponents.

And most of all, I wish you had prevailed against George W. Bush in 2000.

I look forward to reading your latest book, and I wish you continued success and happiness.

Respectfully yours,

Will Irace
Portland, Oregon
Written in a Scottsdale, AZ hotel room

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Truth from the White House!

Posted by spblat on March 27, 2006 05:40 PM

This is a little more honesty than I'm looking for, but it's a start.

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know what you're referring to when you say, "Iraqi government." I don't know what you're referring to there.

(From today's White House Press Briefing)

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NASA Budget Madness

Posted by on March 8, 2006 09:02 AM

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House Appropriations Science Committee

Washington, DC 20515

Dear committee members,

I am writing to ask you to help prevent NASA from further decimating its most innovative and efficient science missions. In the last few NASA budgets, many of these low-cost missions have been cancelled or deferred, in favor of much larger and more costly manned and unmanned projects. I urge NASA to follow a more balanced approach between its large and small missions.

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Stuff I Like

Posted by spblat on February 13, 2006 12:12 PM

In keeping with my blogging approach (which is to assume that I have an audience and that I am terribly influential), I've placed links on the right side of the main page to movies, books, music and video games that I have seen/read/heard/played, and I think they're so wonderful that you should see/read/hear/play them too. If you buy something after clicking on it from here, I get a few pennies.

If you see a link in bold you can click it to see something here at www.irace.net where I mention the item.

See those little "" icons on the right side? Those are clickable, and they are your invitation to comment on these selections. Like 'em? Hate 'em? Want to suggest alternatives? Tell us!

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Al Gore's MLK Day Speech

Posted by spblat on January 17, 2006 09:42 PM

Listen.

Maybe you didn't vote for Gore. Or Kerry. That's cool. But check this out and see if you can stay comfortable with the way our country is being run.

This isn't simple, and policital awareness and participation isn't easy. Gore's speech from yesterday is an hour long, one of dozens and dozens of important speeches that make up our country's history. But you have to hear it, or read it, then decide what it means to you. Otherwise, the folks who are paying attention will keep on running the country without you. And believe me when I tell you they're botching it.

Read it.

Or hear it.

Then act. Do something! Even this only means supporting Bush and working to discredit Gore (then again, the best the White House could do to refute this speech was to lash out as always and predictably declare that "his hypocrisy knows no bounds"). Or if this alarms you, write your senator. Or join the ACLU. Or MoveOn. Or run for office.

Do something! Start by taking an hour--a whole hour--to listen to this speech. Really listen to it. And tell me what you think.

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Dear Comedy Central

Posted by spblat on December 30, 2005 11:06 PM

Dear Comedy Central:

Those who are easily offended should know after NINE YEARS that they shouldn't be watching South Park. Now that you have caved on one particularly nasty episode, how many other South Park episodes will be judged too objectional to be permitted? How much of your intellectual property will be left when you let others tell you what is sufficiently decent for you to create and share with your viewers?

I have two kids, four and seven. Neither has seen one single frame of South Park, because they're not old enough. Keep warning your viewers that some of your content is not for kids or Christians; this is good. But by letting extremists control your output, you are placing your whole business at risk by alienating both your viewers and your artists.

As for me and anyone else interested in this particular episode, we get to see it regardless--commercial free, over the Internet. Better luck next time.

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More From The White House

Posted by spblat on December 19, 2005 10:00 AM

Whenever I hear something alarming about our President, I consult the White House Press Briefings. The transcript from Friday caught my attention regarding the President's secret orders to the NSA to spy on Americans without a court order:

MR. McCLELLAN: I just told you why I'm not going to get into discussing ongoing intelligence activities.

Q You mean you cannot say whether it's lawful to spy on Americans or not?

MR. McCLELLAN: We have a Constitution and we have laws.

Q We're not asking for any details. We're asking you --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I'm making a broad statement to let you know that we --

Q It is broad. Is it legal to spy on Americans?

MR. McCLELLAN: We have a Constitution and we have laws in place, and we follow those --

Q You say you are abiding by the law?

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely. And there's congressional oversight of intelligence activities, there's other oversight of intelligence activities.

Q Why do you have to have secret orders then?

MR. McCLELLAN: Does anybody have a question? Go ahead.

Q And how many secret orders have been issued by this President?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the American people appreciate what we do to work within the law to prevent attacks from happening. The Patriot Act is being debated right now.

Q It's never been within the law to spy on Americans.

MR. McCLELLAN: The Patriot Act is something that members of the Senate are debating right now.

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Dear NPR

Posted by spblat on December 5, 2005 04:07 PM

Dear NPR:

The saying goes, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Your story on the death of Richard Rust reminds me that this is why we need true journalism. On behalf of the least powerful everywhere, thank you for investigating and reporting this story; please don't stop.

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More Press Briefings

Posted by spblat on November 1, 2005 04:25 PM

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I'm obsessed with White House Press Briefings. I really feel that if more people were paying attention, we wouldn't be in such a mess. Here are a few zingers from just the last few days; the most telling stuff is in bold.

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Connie.

Q Thank you. Scott, congratulations on your very calm and unflappable demeanor. I'm just wondering, are you happy in what you do -- you look happy -- do you feel pressured?

MR. McCLELLAN: Most days. No, I'm just --

Q Have you ever considered resigning, stepping back from the hot --

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, I serve at the pleasure of the President, just like everybody else in this White House, and I'm just doing my part as one member of this team to help him advance an agenda that is optimistic and hopeful.

Q How are you feeling, for example, today?

MR. McCLELLAN: I feel pretty good.

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Dear Mr. President

Posted by spblat on October 29, 2005 12:49 AM

Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 23:34 -0700
From: Will Irace <will@irace.net>
To: President George W. Bush <president@whitehouse.gov>
Subject: A top aide indicted, the investigation continues

Dear Mr. President, 

Are you starting to get the idea that deceiving and frightening 
us while shamelessly discrediting your critics isn't the way 
you're supposed to run the country? Are you starting to have 
second thoughts about the way you've been mentored?

You have two years left.  For heaven's sakes, start doing the 
right thing. Start by firing Karl Rove, then find a better coach,
come clean and admit your mistakes. We'll probably forgive 
you.

Hopefully,
The United States of America.

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If Brian's Pissed It's Getting Bad...

Posted by spblat on October 23, 2005 07:45 PM

Brian usually puts on a polite expression when I start ranting at him about politics. So if he's starting to rant on his site then there's something seriously amiss.

Go over there, read his rant, see if you agree, and post a comment.

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Voyager Keeps Going...

Posted by spblat on September 26, 2005 11:14 PM

Scientists are finally sure: Voyager 1 entered the heliosheath on December 16, 2004. The heliosheath is the region that separates our solar system from interstellar space. You've heard of the solar wind? It forms a bubble, called the heliosphere, that surrounds the solar system as it orbits the core of the Milky Way galaxy. When Voyager 1 entered the heliosheath, it crossed the termination shock, a boundary/shockwave where the supersonic solar wind slows to subsonic speeds. There's only one more boundary to cross. It's not known when Voyager will cross the heliopause, or if it will still be functioning when it does, but when the solar wind that forms the heliosphere is finally stopped by the impossibly sparse gas and dust that's swirling out there in the impossibly vast space between stars, that's the heliopause--the true edge of our solar system.

I am not what most people think of as a traditionally religious person, but when I contemplate this, it gives me a feeling I cannot describe or put into words. This time, it's not the dread that used to bother me while considering my insignificance in the universe. It's more like wonder, but that word is inadequate.

Part of it is that a group of humans, inconsequential little beings on an unremarkable rock way off to the side of one among innumerable galaxies, have created something that has autonomously made its way so very far from where it started. It's a staggeringly monumental achievement when you look at it (okay, when I look at it) in terms of our apparent irrelevance in the universe. And the other thing is that it is altogether possible that we will never again send an object into space with as great (if hopelessly faint) a possibility of connecting with extraterrestrials. So I'm also moved about the fact that both Voyagers 1 and 2 carry messages from earth designed to tell the universe a thing or two about the inhabitants of the third planet of this one little yellow star out here.

I recently read The Sacred Depths of Nature by Ursula Goodenough. Ms. Goodenough knows exactly the emotions I have failed to describe, because she has experienced them herself, which motivated her to create this fascinating examination of life, the universe and the natural world: she takes us from subatomic particles through the evolution of life, on up to the horrifying scale of the universe. Her approach in the book is to lay out the science at each level, then reflect on the spiritual meaning she finds infused in everything around us. To me, reading her short but powerful book felt nothing short of revelatory.

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Really Scary; Not Bedtime Reading

Posted by on September 26, 2005 12:05 AM

I found this article from The Nation magazine while web-browsing tonight. It's about the use of private security by our government, and seems to suggest that if things go according to the conservative plan, the US military will be replaced by these for -profit companies that would be able to not only act as law-enforcement against US citizens, but could also be hired out to any country that wants to pay for their services, without regard to US laws. These companies are being used today in Louisiana (according to the article) and are not beholden to the same laws or scrutiny as government law-enforcement agencies. This is really disturbing and I'm not hearing commentary about this stuff in the news on the radio. Do Americans still care about their basic liberties?

I just don't even know how to react to information like what is in this article. How does one fight stuff like this?

I need to refine this and send it out to congress people. I don't want them to think no one is paying attention. There have been so many reports that don't seem to be getting much play now that the nation has been distracted by Hurricane Rita... I am afraid the government may think they can slip this stuff past us while no one is looking. Here are two of the things I have found. Read at your own risk; it's scary stuff and may make you want to take to the streets.

Here's something else, this one from Human Rights Watch that's worth a look.

Ever listen to This American Life? Download the PDF transcript of the show titled "After the Flood" which was aired on Sept. 9th. Of course the audio version is bound to be more compelling. You can get the show at audible.com.

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A Minor Katrina Rant

Posted by spblat on September 22, 2005 07:31 PM

A friend and coworker forwarded me this rant extolling Christian virtue while lamenting liberal indifference to the Katrina disaster. Stuck in traffic today, I composed this response.

I have no idea if the ACLU got involved in Katrina relief. I hope not. I would prefer they direct their efforts at protecting Louisiana workers the Bush administration has betrayed by slashing the amount they can be paid by Halliburton and the others lining their pockets, Iraq style, during the upcoming rebuild.

Atheists helping in food lines? You better believe it. We non-believing liberals are caring and loving people who donate and volunteer as much as anybody. You just don't see us wearing it on our sleeves. As the bumper sticker says, "your flag isn't going to get you into heaven anymore."

But forget all that. If you believe in a loving God, that's fine. "Love thy neighbor" is a beautiful thing. My gripe is with our worshippers in chief--Bush, Cheney, Rove and the rest--that couldn't be bothered to truncate their vacations and do the job they were hired for, protect our neediest and most vulnerable citizens when they needed it so desparately.

Had our government's response been remotely adequate, all that outpouring of Christian love could have continued to be directed quietly and effectively toward ending all the hunger, poverty and hopelessness that was still there before this rotten mess.

Hrmph.

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An Infamous Anniversary

Posted by spblat on September 11, 2005 01:26 PM

Call him a raving lunatic if you like, but I'd say he's more right than wrong.

"...on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?"

-- Michael Moore, September 11, 2005

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Our National Disgrace

Posted by spblat on September 6, 2005 07:55 PM

"Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter.)

-- President George W. Bush, televised remarks, Sept 2, 2005

"Mr. Bush's performance last week will rank as one of the worst ever by a president during a dire national emergency. What we witnessed, as clearly as the overwhelming agony of the city of New Orleans, was the dangerous incompetence and the staggering indifference to human suffering of the president and his administration."

-- Bob Herbert, NY Times, Sept 5, 2005

"We are learning the hard way about the cost of entrusting emergency response to the political cronies and contributors who people this administration."

-- Daniel Schorr, NPR, Sept 5, 2005

Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

Q All right. So he will be held accountable as the head of the government for the federal response that he's already acknowledged was inadequate and unacceptable?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He talks about that often. That is his most important responsibility. Again, there's going to be plenty of time to look at the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right and how the coordination was between the state and federal and local authorities. Right now we've got to continue doing everything we can in support of the ongoing operational activities on the ground in the region to help people.

Q Well, the President has said that this government can do many things at once: It can fight the war on terror, it can do operations in Iraq, and aid and comfort people in Louisiana. Can it not also find time to begin to hold people accountable? It sounds, Scott, as if the line that you're giving us -- which is, you don't want to answer questions about accountability because there's too much busy work going on --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. No, wrong.

Q -- is a way of ducking accountability.

MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.

Q And there are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I have.

Q By saying you won't answer.

-- White House Press Briefing, Sept 6, 2005 (Keep reading, it gets even "better".)

"We’ve secretly replaced the White House press corps with actual reporters."

-- Jon Stewart, July 2005. But will it help?

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Dear Senator Clinton

Posted by spblat on July 26, 2005 05:44 PM

Heather Tahne Brown Irace
[address etc]
Moreno Valley, CA 92555

The Honorable Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Via FAX: (202) 228-0282

July 27, 2005

Re: 2005 Critical National Issues Survey

Dear Senator Clinton,

I am pleased that you are asking democrats directly about their concerns, and I hope it is an indication that you are considering a run for President in 2008. I feel, however, that you overlooked an essential point. I am sure you already know that we need a candidate who will inspire the country to do great things like exploring space, ending disease and poverty, defending our constitutional rights, developing alternative energy technologies and taking bold strides into the future.

But what I am most concerned about is that our nation is so focused on protecting our corporations (and even the labor movement) that it will be left foundering as countries like China and India become more innovative and efficient. I worry that my children will need to compete for their survival with the brightest children of Bangalore, instead of being optimistic that they will have the opportunity to collaborate and innovate alongside them.

I believe that you have the charisma, ambition and intellect that could make you the first woman to be elected President of the United States, and I sincerely hope that happens. I hope that your ambition leads you to show the people of America how great we truly are and what great things we can accomplish if we only have the courage to rise to the occasion and meet the challenges the world is presenting head-on instead of hiding behind ever more strict laws, continuing erosions to our rights and ever more fearful rhetorical nonsense from our leaders.

I wish you the best of luck and hope that you will continue to have the courage to fight back against your political enemies rather than letting them shut you down, as so many in even your own party have done.

Most sincerely yours,

Heather Irace

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A few current events

Posted by spblat on July 20, 2005 03:34 PM

A few news-related things I wanted to put together:

"The National Guard has been expended."
—General Barry McCaffrey (U.S. Army-Ret.), infantry division commander in the first Gulf War, and currently adjunct professor at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, speaking on NPR, 7/19/05
An informal study (it's informal because, according to Gen. Tommy Franks, "we don't do body counts") places the number of civilians dead as a consequence of our Iraq invasion at around 25,000. This is of course distinct from the huge numbers of military personnel killed on both sides. Is this how we honor those killed on 9/11?
Finally, a related observation from Noam Chomsky:
"What constitutes terrorism? How does it differ from aggression or resistance? The operative answers are revealing, but the questions never entered the arena of public discussion. A convenient definition was adopted: terrorism is what our leaders declare it to be. Period."
—Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival : America's Quest for Global Dominance, pp. 109-110

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Bank of America STILL Sucks

Posted by spblat on July 17, 2005 07:48 PM

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I've blogged about this before, but I gotta get this off my chest.

I must admit up front: I am one of the least financially responsible people I know. This makes me an ideal Bank of America customer.

The latest pain: depositing Heather’s student loan check into a B of A ATM and expecting the money to be available to me in--I don't know--less than two weeks.

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Karl Rove Must Go

Posted by spblat on July 14, 2005 02:16 PM

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KARL
ROVE
M U S T !

Lots of links above. Click on for one of the good parts.

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Support Ward Churchill

Posted by spblat on February 5, 2005 12:06 AM

Choose one: when someone says something you find reprehensible, horrible, despicable, provocative, what is the proper response?

a) Call for him to be fired.

b) Call for his death so his speaking engagements will be cancelled, ending the debate.

c) Participate in the debate and try to prove him wrong. Stand up and disagree with him.

C'mon people! What he said is provocative, but the guy's an academic. You can't boil his points into soundbites. Read and analyze the whole thing, and you may find that he's using strong language (indeed, the piece was written the very day: on 9/11/2001) to say that 9/11 wasn't a random pointless event, it was a response to a perception that US Government actions across the world are evil. You can disagree, but it's plain stupid to condemn him because he won't roll over and admit that the 9/11 terrorists were insane nutjobs acting for no reason.

Sigh. What will it mean if he's fired?

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Bank of America Sucks

Posted by spblat on January 24, 2005 05:46 PM

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I can feel myself turning into a crotchety old man. I sent this off tonight.

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been a customer for approximately twelve years.

I received my renewal debit card today. My overall satisfaction with Bank of America (already quite low because of a combination of policies I believe are designed to extract as much overdraft fee revenue from me as possible) declined further as a result of a marketing pitch directed at me while attempting to activate the new card.

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Now What? A Post-Election Rant

Posted by spblat on December 2, 2004 10:19 AM

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There are so many things that have been disturbing me since George W. Bush was reelected a month ago that I hardly know what to do with myself. Was the election rigged? Were large numbers of democratic voters disenfranchised? Is our government run by a pack of rotten liars?

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Joe Frank Rules

Posted by spblat on October 10, 2004 07:52 PM

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I've been a fan of Joe Frank since discovering him on KCRW several years ago. I taped some of his shows back then and converted them to CD and later MP3 for my own use. Lately I have been quite pleased to discover that Joe Frank has a website where all of his material--over two hundred hours' worth I believe--is available for paid download or purchased CD.

A little more searching revealed the incredible Joe Frank Reminder: an extremely thorough inventory of the basic content in each of Joe's productions, which has been quite useful in refreshing my memory, reminding me of the shows I may have heard but was not able to record off the air.

Not that you care, but using the Reminder I'm starting a list of the recordings I need to order from Joe's site so that I can make people listen to them on our truck trips.

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GO JOHN GO

Posted by spblat on September 29, 2004 11:18 AM

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Dumb Rules That Suck

Posted by spblat on August 25, 2004 11:12 PM

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America West Airlines
Customer Relations
400 East Sky Harbor Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85034-3802

To Whom it May Concern:

I fly well over 100 times per year using your airline and others. Today I am angry and confused about treatment I received while on business travel aboard flight 285 from Phoenix to San Jose on August 25, 2004.

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Read It. It's Important.

Posted by spblat on July 23, 2004 05:01 AM

Please read at least the executive summary of the 9/11 Commission Report.

Then decide what it means to you.

Then vote in November. We get the leaders we deserve.

"The problem is that al Qaeda represents an ideological movement, not a finite group of people. It initiates and inspires, even if it no longer directs. In this way it has transformed itself into a decentralized force. Bin Ladin may be limited in his ability to organize major attacks from his hideouts.Yet killing or capturing him, while extremely important, would not end terror. His message of inspiration to a new generation of terrorists would continue."

This was essentially one of my claims three years ago.

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Elect John Kerry

Posted by spblat on March 30, 2004 01:05 PM

Enough is enough. Bush's latest ad attacking Kerry on gas tax policy looks like something from the Simpsons.

I'm not usually much of a political guy, but read Michael Moore or Al Franken and you'll be frothing too.

(2 comments) | Category: Rants

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"The most fundamental institution of civilization"

Posted by spblat on February 24, 2004 03:29 PM

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President Bush today declared that "our nation must enact a constitutional amendment to protect marriage in America." This is apparently because "activist judges" have "created confusion on an issue that requires clarity".

I'm not actually too confused. Are you?

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Howard Dean Spblat Remix

Posted by spblat on January 26, 2004 10:13 PM

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A week ago tonight, Howard Dean suprised and shocked the political world by actually showing some emotion. His over-the-top "hooting and hollering" (as he later referred to it) was truly an awesome spectacle, and has inspired dozens of audio remixes.

Here's mine.

There's more to this post - click here! (2 comments) | Category: Geek!! , Hilarious , Rants , Stuff I Made

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Food Stylist?

Posted by spblat on January 17, 2004 09:28 PM

Check out that Newsweek cover. Not that it's a particularly interesting story (it's not) nor a particularly spectacular cover (it's not), but the photo credits in fine print under the table of contents struck me.

COVER:

Food styling? There's a new one. Come to think of it, I bet Joyce does all sorts of interesting things at photo shoots, like arranging the leaves on a strawberry just so, and assembling the world's most photogenic Big Macs, and making sure the lettuce is spritzed just so before it's...

Anyways. The other thing that was weird is that everybody gets credit for the photo. Well, almost everyone: food stylist, makeup, nails, hair--everyone but the model! Doesn't she contribute the most important part of the photo? The face in that picture of a face about to eat a perfectly-styled strawberry clasped between those lovely nails? Hair? I can't even see her hair!

Sorry. No point really, just a little bored up here in Seattle.

(2 comments) | Category: Rants

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The Glamorous Consulting Lifestyle

Posted by spblat on October 6, 2003 11:23 PM

It's a little strange being a consultant sometimes. In the last 24 hours I have done the following:

Rented a car that had four miles on it. A cute little Mitsubishi Outlander.
Parked the Outlander under a tree. Didn't notice anything strange about the tree.
Found the Outlander utterly covered in feathers and birdshit the next morning.
Got lost on the way to the client. Oops: no map, and the GPS was dead wrong. Used uber-geek skills: whipped out the laptop and cellphone in the car, used cellphone modem to call up maps and directions. Arrived on time.
Strolled into a 50,000 square foot datacenter, housing what must be thousands of servers and heaven knows how many miles of cable and fiber. How many people know what one of these places looks like? (Hint: big, cold, loud. Hope there's no fire, because the CO₂ fire suppression system is deadly.)
Told the waitress at Chevy's to bring me anything. Got a puzzled look, followed by enchiladas with artichoke hearts and mushrooms with a cream sauce. Never woulda ordered it. Yum.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad told me that one of his goals in life was to have unusual experiences. Does this count at all?

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Media Media Media

Posted by spblat on September 25, 2003 09:47 AM

Here's what I'm reading, watching, and listening to lately. Yeah, like you care.

Jewel - 0304: Wow. it's pretty poppy and I might be sick of it in a week, but whatever. Nice songs, great chorus hooks, and a couple of really outstanding performances. This is a new Jewel.

Dido - Life For Rent: This wasn't bad either. I think Jewel wins, but there are some nice tracks on this one too.

Sting - Sacred Love: New Sting. Can't beat it.

Seal IV: Wow. I'm not a huge soul/R&B guy, but this is good stuff.

Junior Senior - Move Your Feet: I love this video. It's computer animated with a coarse, 80's style that takes me back to the days of my Atari 400.

Röyksopp - Remind Me: Another fabulous video. Do you ever feel like a small cog in a giant machine?

Kill Bill: I have got to see this.

John Grisham - The King of Torts: This wasn't too bad. Earlier books like The Runaway Jury are more compelling, and it was a little predictable, but it was a good yarn.

Michael Connelly - Chasing the Dime: Connelly departs from the incredible Harry Bosch series to introduce a new character. This was OK too: Connelly tells a good story.

Carl Hiaasen - Sick Puppy: Classic Hiaasen. Funny, serious. A real page turner. I can't get enough of these.

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Fry's Electronics Sucks (Still)

Posted by spblat on August 2, 2003 11:23 PM

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Over three years ago, I had a bad experience at Fry's Electronics that caused me to rant and rave on my web site, then vow never to shop there again.

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The Time I Met Poe

Posted by spblat on July 28, 2003 10:19 PM

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Okay, I didn't meet her, because I was too shy. But I was within shouting distance over the course of a few days.

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A little more about life

Posted by spblat on July 16, 2003 11:30 PM

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My last post was a slightly harsh little diatribe about life. Here's another one I find appealing that's not so jarring. It's David Hartman, in a conversation with Thomas L. Friedman on page 320 of From Beruit To Jerusalem. I know nothing about Judiasm, but I thought this was nice.

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An Eschatological Laundry List

Posted by spblat on July 13, 2003 09:40 PM

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I found the following list of "eternal truths" on my dad's bulletin board about a decade ago, and it really captured my interest. It's a little glum, but then as now, it's a decent match with my feelings on The Big Issues In Life. I'll give you a couple here, but you have to click on to see the rest of them.

This is it!
There are no hidden meanings.
You can't get there from here, and besides there's no place else to go.
We are all already dying, and we will be dead for a long time.
Nothing lasts.
There is no way of getting all you want.
You can't have anything unless you let go of it.
You only get to keep what you give away.
There is no particular reason why you lost out on some things.
The world is not necessarily just. Being good often does not pay off and there is no compensation for misfortune.
You have a responsibility to do your best nonetheless.

There's more to this post - click here! (0 comments) | Category: Rants