Ranting and Roaring

Joey counters:

The invasion of Afghanistan was, in my opinion, justified. There were definite connections between 9/11 and Al-Qaeda. 100% support there. Thumbs up. Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

Good for you…

The problems come up with the rest of the laundry list. Remember Iraq’s stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction?

I sure do! Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Madeline Albright, and so forth certainly harped on about them for years and years. It wasn’t the reason I thought the west should go to war, but it seemed reasonable enough to add to the list. Why they’re weren’t found may take a sentence with subordinate clauses, so it’s probably to complicated to explain to many anti-war types, but no biggie from my point of view.

But since we’re on the topic, who’s the lady in the passenger seat screaming that there was no WMDs?

That the war would last weeks?

This is something that you can’t have both ways. You either have two different wars, one (as I believe) from the 20th of March 2003 through 9 April 2004—three weeks—and one from 10 April through today OR you have one contiguous war from 2003–03-20 through today. But if the second one’s your view, then you can’t escape that a war on Iraq was a war on Al Qeada, since they’ve been all (in brutally racist fashion) wrapped in to “the Iraqi insurgency”. They sure as hell came out of the woodwork pretty quick.

Note however, that I never thought that Iraq was about Al Qeada, nor did the White House. In fact, this is the biggest error when people from the left try to frame the GWOT: this is not the war for revenge for 9/11; this is the war to stop it happening again.

That American troops would be greeted with flowers and candy?

Jeez, got me there. Who said that? Was it a major policy goal?

That the insurgency was in its final throes?

Once again, who said that? Could it be… some Democrat putting words in the mouth of a Republican?

Or even why the invasion took place (is it WMDs, fomenting democracy or countering Islamic fundamentalist terrorism?)

Can it be more than one reason? Or does it just have to be one reason?

(Now that the troops are there, I believe that immediate withdrawal or even short-term withdrawal is a baaad idea. It’ll probably send precisely the wrong message to anyone whose sympathies lie with Islamic terrorists or North Korea.)

Good for you again! In fact, I believe that one of the cornerstone reasons for going in in the first place was sending a message about breaking international rules (real ones, such as cease fire agreements and security council resolutions, not ones made up in the Students Collective).

How about some of those appointments so awful that even the most die-hard Bush sycophants called him on them? FEMA‘s Michael Brown, who could barely coordinate an Arabian Horse society, never mind disaster relief? Or Harriet Miers, whose primary qualification was ass-kissing?

OK, you’re off track here. What does that have to do with the lady in the car? Bush is an idiot? Hey, I’m all over that. But I didn’t see a lot of run ups to Katrina saying “the government should stop hiring hacks”, and quite frankly, I don’t see a lot of it afterwards. But since we’re on that topic, how many people died because of Brown’s incompetence. 2? 12? less? more?

How about the War on Science, from “teach both (creationism and evolution) theories?” to its strange “Goofus and Gallant” approach?

Ah, I though you’d get to this one. Let me counter: is the hockey stick model part of the war on science or not? Is Toronto banning the use of cosmetic pesticides—with no science but scientific sounding words—part of the war on science or not? Because those two things affect my life a lot more than whether someone understands evolution or not. Let me suggest that the media and the left’s obession with ID and Evolution has nothing to do with respect for science and is merely a proxy for “look at those dumb hicks, they’re some dumb”.

I’m around for drinks, if I ever recover from my colds….

It’s election time and I’ve decided to give Al a hand describing the centre-left parties. Here’s what I wrote:

• The Liberals have no ideology per se, except to stay in power, increase that power and judicially syphon off the benefits of that for the old establishment. They are confused with being left because they’re giving away things to poor people and they’re confused with being “pro business” because they work to cement the status quo — sort of a European model social fascism. The Liberals are massively favored by immigrants because they know some day they’ll bring your sick Mom here from Guyana to be treated by Canadian taxpayers. Ontarians vote Liberal, because to the man and women, we’re morons.
• The NDPer comes in two major types: the “oi kick yer face in for ya gov” type and the trustfundarian. The first group is diminishing in power as there really isn’t that many poor white Canadians to draw in. The second group, the trustfundarians, are the backbone of NDP power (such as it is). Having learnt nothing from the 20th century, they believe that having a post-graduate education and having sat around at Starbucks agreeing with each other about what needs to be done gives them the right to order others about and generally have lesser minds obey them. NDPers rarely care about non-whites and are rarely joined by non-whites (unless of the oreo- or banana- variety) as they believe rights flow from race; thus, they are consumed by issues of little consequence to immigrants/Canadians of non-pallor. Union _members_ rarely vote NDP, as the Liberals are much better at handing out the goodies and there’s little danger of them taxing you so much you can’t afford the F350 anymore. Political university students are nominally NDP but rarely have the numbers or energy to make a difference.
• The Greens are an old school, mid-20th century religious party pushing Gaianism, plus a mish mash of policies from across the spectrum. If they ever become a threat to the NDP base, they will be consumed by the trustfundarians.

Joey though this comic was pretty funny:

Remember the Afghan invasion… the brutal Afghan winter? The millions of refugees that were going to spill out from that war? The hundreds of thousands of casualties? The graveyard of empires? The quagmire? Remember the Iraq invasion… the millions of refugees? The hundreds of thousands of casualties? The elite Iraqi guard? Being “bogged down” in sandstorms? The quagmire? Bush’s “Vietnam”? The tens of thousands of US casualties?

Well, if you’re left leaning, probably not. But I it did for you! Which is why I remixed the comic to actually be funny. You’ll thank me when you’re older.

One of the nice things about Microsoft’s Simple Sharing Extensions (in English175.entry) for RSS is that we can remove the need to explicitly synchronize tags between different managers. SSE will do it for us.

I always though that watching a supermodel dance topless would be pretty cool. Ah well. In reality, it’s like having some drunk chick from university you can’t wait to dump in a cab so you can get on with your evening.

Books:

• The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade by Victor Malarek
• The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil
• The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil

CDs:

• Cold Roses by Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
• Set Yourself On Fire by Stars
• Broken Social Scene

I think Mike got me into Ryan Adams — Rock & Roll is definitely one of the best disks I’ve heard in years. I found “Set Yourself On Fire” by looking through Amazon’s recommendations. Two days after I ordered it, I heard “Stars” on CBC on thought “that’s really good, I should get that”.

The greatest? Which beach did that puffed-up little cock take?

How about a nice cup of shut the f*ck up? I know you love the yammering sound emitted from your pie-hole (particularly when it gets you in the national press) but its absolute disconnect from action on your part doesn’t help anyone, does it?

No surprises here but happy days indeed.

My package of Liquid Bandaid explicitly says “non-sting”. Liars. As a person who has broken bones several times, folded my foot under myself in nasty falls and have had skin scraped off my skin in a motorcycle accident, I can assure the pain for about 10 minutes after putting on this stuff is as bad as any of those things.

How did I get to 40 years old without ever listening to the Beach Boys? I’m playing “Pet Sounds Sessions”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pet_Sounds_Sessions right now and I’m simply just blown away.

cf. “Revelation (I)”:http://blog.davidjanes.com/mtarchives/2005_02.html#003258

CNN reports:

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry threatened legal action Monday against a British comedian who wins laughs by portraying the central Asian state as a country populated by drunks who enjoy cow-punching as a sport.

…

[Comedian “Ali G” Sacha Baron] Cohen appears to have drawn official Kazakh ire after he hosted the annual MTV Europe Music Awards show in Lisbon earlier this month as Borat, who arrived in an Air Kazakh propeller plane controlled by a one-eyed pilot clutching a vodka bottle.

Here’s the best part: the Jooooos (collectively) are behind it all:

“We do not rule out that Mr. Cohen is serving someone’s political order designed to present Kazakhstan and its people in a derogatory way,” Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news briefing.

Congratulations to Kate McMillan of “Small Dead Animals” for getting her blog slagged in the Saskatchewan ^* provincial legislature. Kudos!

^*^ a Canadian province somewhere between Ontario and Alberta, noted for flatness, out-migration, rapeseed (used to produce a foul-tasting cooking oil used by the sort of person that thinks Tang is a fruit drink) and potash (a compound of some importance during the 19^th century).

• Alan thinks Web 2.0 is a pile of shite
• Alan Likes Beer

Well, which is it? (þ Paved.ca)

CNN reports:

James Bond’s car—really, the James Bond car—will be going up for auction in January. Cars custom-built for Al Capone and Hank Williams, Jr. will also be for sale at the same event.

…

The car is one of four created for the films and for promotional use. The car has a variety of optional equipment for both offensive and defensive purposes. This includes a pair of .30 caliber Browning machine guns that deploy from behind the headights (these are non-firing props), and a wheel-mounted tire slasher. An oil-slick ejector squirts out from the left-rear light cluster and a smoke-screen system is located next to the car’s exhaust.

The license plate revolves to display any of three different plates and the car still has its hydraulic ramming bumpers. In the interest of safety, the ejector seat has been replaced with a standard, non-ejecting passenger seat. RM Auctions would not comment on the car’s estimated value.

”There was no celebration here” (þ London Fog). I’m a member, BTW.

For some reason, I find this really funny (þ Kathy):

Instead, Regas’ Jesus scolds the president: “President Bush, you have not made dramatically clear what have been the human consequences of the war in Iraq,” adding, “now the latest figures say 100,000 Iraqi fighters, women and children are dead.” And: “Jesus turns to President Bush again with deep sadness. ‘Is what I hear really true? Do you really mean that you want to end a decade-old ban on developing nuclear battlefield weapons?’ ”

Leaving aside the odd notion of Jesus getting information by checking “the latest figures” (wouldn’t he just know?) or hanging around the water cooler (“Is what I hear really true?”), Regas’ Jesus is quite a policy wonk. According to the sermon, Jesus is pro-choice, against the Iraq war and vehemently disapproves of the Bush tax cuts (that “50% of the tax savings goes to the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans” would “break Jesus’ heart,” according to Regas). He’s in favor of good prenatal care, “dignified jobs” (does carpentry count?) and affordable housing.

I’m curious what he thinks of gerrymandered voting districts, electricity regulation and making it easier to fire bad teachers, but maybe Jesus isn’t really into California politics.

Do the Simpson sisters disprove Darwinism or ID?

If you’re interested in listening to a well-produced podcast about Australian and international news from a anti-idiotarian perspective, have a listen to the Silent Running podcast on BlogMatrix.

Now superfast due to a hosting environment upgrade!

Leila Akkad’s father and sister were blown up by Al Qeada in Jordan last week. Does she feel bad about it? Sort of…

Akkad’s sister called for an end to terrorist attacks on civilians. “I feel sad and the world feels sorrow with us. This kind of incident rarely happens, but it has happened with Moustapha Akkad,” Leila Akkad said in a telephone interview. “These attacks are chaotic and do not differentiate an enemy from a friend. A solution must be found to this problem.”

Having a psychotic death cult living in the neighbourhood was fine with Akkad, as long as they restricted themselves to killing fractional humans for racist and religious reasons.

Here’s the notice I just got from Amazon.ca when I went to add another book to my Shopping Cart. Note that I infrequently buy what’s in my shopping cart! I just use it as a holding place to mull it over…

• Please note that the price of The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade has decreased from CDN$ 13.07 to CDN$ 12.41 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of Angels, Mobsters and Narco-Terrorists : The Rising Menace of Global Criminal Empires has decreased from CDN$ 24.49 to CDN$ 23.44 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology has decreased from CDN$ 26.60 to CDN$ 25.46 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of Hitler: 1936–1945: Nemesis has decreased from CDN$ 18.00 to CDN$ 17.23 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever has decreased from CDN$ 25.17 to CDN$ 24.09 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of The Kinder, Gentler Military: How Political Correctness Affects Our Ability to Win Wars has decreased from CDN$ 15.88 to CDN$ 15.08 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of Lucene in Action has decreased from CDN$ 36.85 to CDN$ 34.75 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop—From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication has decreased from CDN$ 25.87 to CDN$ 24.76 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of DHTML Utopia: Modern Web Design: Using JavaScript & DOM has decreased from CDN$ 40.57 to CDN$ 38.25 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

• Please note that the price of Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot has decreased from CDN$ 17.47 to CDN$ 16.72 since you placed it in your Shopping Cart. Items in your cart will always reflect the most recent price displayed on their product detail pages.

A few recent Sony “CD“s shipped with DRM software that seriously compromised the security of the computers it was installed on (and was almost impossible to uninstall and when they released an uninstaller, introduced more security flaws). Bands that are associated with Sony and the flawed DRM scheme are suffering:

Ross Schilling, manager of Van Zant, said that while he supported the idea of protecting content, he regretted that Van Zant had become the poster child for bad DRM schemes.

I.e. they wanted to f*ck you up the ass, but didn’t mean to give you AIDS. Sorry!

You’re probably here to find the answer to why the Republicans sucked so much in yesterday’s US elections. OK, probably not, but I’ll give you the answer anway:

The party in power is smug and arrogant

BTW, that’s half of everything you need to know about US politics. Here’s the other half:

The party out of power is insane.

Thus the cycle of life, ummm politics, continues… [quote source].

For a different perspective on the French riots, read New Sisyphus: Sympathy For the French Rioters?.