NURSE BLOOMBERG IS UPSET, according to Andrew Stuttaford, posting on National Review Online's The Corner Weblog.
EVOLUTION ROBOTICS: Orrin Judd and Glenn Reynolds have both linked to this story on Evolution Robotics. I covered them last month for Nuts & Volts magazine's special robotics issue. Sadly, my article isn't online, but you can order a back issue here.
All I can say, with tongue only slightly in cheek, is...Advantage Ed!
RUINING MS. PERFECT'S LIFE: USA Today wants to know why the government is trying to do just that.
THE U.S./STAR WARS CONNECTION, according to Free-Market.Net.
YOU HAVE TO LIKE A GUY WHOSE BLOG IS TITLED "Am So a Pundit".
REPUBLICANS ATTEMPT TO BLOCK TORRICELLI REPLACEMENT, according to the Washington Post:
Even before Torricelli announced his withdrawal Monday at a news conference in Trenton, N.J., GOP officials said they were ready to go to court to block Democrats from fielding a replacement candidate so close to the election.UPDATE: Orrin Judd has more."The laws of the state of New Jersey do not contain a 'we think we're going to lose so we get to pick someone new' clause," taunted Torricelli's challenger, Doug Forrester.
On a practical level, Democratic party officials have yet to settle on a consensus choice to take Torricelli's place on the ballot. Even assuming an agreement by Tuesday on Rep. Bob Menendez or another replacement, they will have only five weeks to shed the ill-effects of Torricelli's ethics woes, introduce their candidate to the voters around the state and rough up Forrester on the issues.
THE DAVID BONIOR/NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN CONNECTION, as discovered by ScrappleFace.
OH AND FOUR: Winless Rams looking at long uphill climb.
THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING: "Inspection Talks Test Iraq's Pledge".
SOUND ADVICE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE: "Don't pee in the Millennium Falcon".
THE ANTI-SEMITISM/PEACE MOVEMENT CONNECTION, as found on InstaPundit.
TORCH SAYS HE'LL QUIT: NJ Senator Robert Torricelli tells colleagues he'll drop out if replacement found.
UPDATE: Here's an AP story with a few more details.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Great post by John Cole, putting the Torch's meltdown in perspective.
HE LEFT HIS GAME IN THE CAR: Tough week takes its toll on Randy Moss.
HAMMER TIME: Charles Krauthammer on Al Gore's recent speech against Bush:
The New York Times reports that Gore wrote the speech "after consulting a fairly far-flung group of advisers that included Rob Reiner." Current U.S. foreign policy is the combined product of Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz and the president. Meanwhile, the pretender is huddling with Meathead.Found via Little Green Footballs.
ANTI-SEMETIC STUPIDITY: The New York Times has an article titled "New Jersey Laureate Refuses to Resign Over Poem". The poem, written by Amiri Baraka, the poet laureate of New Jersey, includes these eye-rolling lines:
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombedApparently, there's some controversy over who can fire Baraka, and naturally, he's not resigning:Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?
"I'm not resigning," Mr. Baraka said at his home in Newark, vowing to fight removal. "Let's see if they can do that."Please--let's.
UPDATE: Joanne Jacobs has some thoughts.
Reuters says that Turkish paramilitary police have seized more than 33 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and detained two men accused of smuggling the material, in the southern province of Sanliurfa, which borders Syria and is about 155 miles from the Iraqi border.
Over to you, Teddy, Tom, and Al.
REBEL WITH A CAUSE: "The real Hollywood rebel is the only unabashed Republican out there, uber-nerd Ben Stein," according to Michael Long in National Review Online.
BUT WHAT DOES SHARON STONE THINK? Matt Drudge links to information about a "blistering" memo written by Barbra Streisand to remind Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt that "Saddam Hussein did not bomb the World Trade Center".
Incidentally, the above headline is courtesy of another classic Barbra moment:
Clinton brought Sharon Stone to a summit meeting in Vancouver and later held a conference on health care for Barbra Streisand and friends. When Barbra learned that Sharon visited the President more often than she herself did, she reportedly fumed: “What does Sharon Stone know about policy?”About as much as you do, Babs.
UN-NATTY DREADS: The Washington Post says, School Bans Dreadlocked Student. Whether you agree with the decision of the Whitefish Montana High School officials or not (they're also banning mohawks, incidentally), I love this sentence:
"It's not really my hair," said 15-year-old Kisteesha Lanegan, who hasn't been to school since the first day of class. "They're trying to mold me into a person that I'm not. My hair is totally irrelevant to education at the school."Yes, they are trying to mold you into the person you're not, Kisteesha. That's the whole purpose of school, which both students and their teachers seem to be forgetting. James Bowman addresses a similar trend away from molding students in higher education, called "Be Yourself, Get Into College".
"SEMIOTICALLY SPEAKING", (That's easy for you to say, Reason), "this is the most inept administration in years. Either that, or its art department is trying to tell us something."
But you know--that Information Awareness Office logo is pretty creepy.
WHY DO MEN LOVE DR. STRANGELOVE? My essay on the subject is now on the Blogcritics site.
WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORIST PLOT FOILED, by the Southern California police.
HIS AUDIENCE IS BECOMING MORE SELECTIVE: Like Spinal Tap, The Sabertooth Journal says that Jesse Jackson just doesn't pack 'em in like he used to.
THE MONEY 'GRAPH: James Lileks sums it up:
Two Democrats, two views. Senator Miller’s comments focussed my mind the nation, on a future I’d like to avoid.Senator Daschle’s comments focussed my mind on Senator Daschle.
DE-HOOVER FBI HQ? John McCaslin says that a growing chorus on Capitol Hill is demanding that J. Edgar Hoover's name be removed from FBI headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue.
HOW OUT OF TOUCH IS ACADEMIA? Very, according to Michael Medved.
LOSING IT: Maureen Dowd already has. David Broder is on his way, according to the Brothers Judd.
THE IMPORTANCE OF IRAQ. Jay Bryant writes:
Saddam is arguably the most dangerous man to rule in Iraq since Nebuchadnezzar. He is megalomaniacal and ruthless. He invades his neighbors whenever he gets the chance, and for no good reason, since none of them pose any real threat to him. He builds weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons, which he has no qualms about using against people he dislikes, foreign or domestic. He is in the process of assembling a nuclear arsenal and a flock of missiles, which could easily reach, say, Jerusalem, a city in which pious Jews still recite the 2600-year-old Lamentations of Jeremiah over the capture of their nation by Nebuchadnezzar.
IT'S AN ELECTION YEAR, which means that everyone's outraged about being outraged.
BLOGSPOT SERVERS AT RISK OF CRASHING, thanks to all of the hits that Group Captain Mandrake has recieved over this post, a letter from Germany.
So click over and read it, while you can!
UK SOLD NUCLEAR BOMB MATERIAL TO IRAN, according to Little Green Footballs.
RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: An Islamic court in the UK has given a death sentence for blasphemy to a gay playwright who wrote a play depicting Christ as a homosexual.
MY REVIEW OF CITIZEN KANE ON DVD IS UP, on the Blogcritics site.
THE SECRET REASON BEHIND WAR WITH IRAQ UNCOVERED.
HIS MOTOR IS ALWAYS RUNNING: Randy Moss spent the night in jail facing a possible felony charge after being arrested for allegedly pushing a traffic agent a half-block with his car. The arrest could keep the Minnesota Vikings' star receiver out of the team's game Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
What's really astonishing is Moss's previous rap sheet, as this Yahoo Sports article demonstrates:
He squirted a referee with a water bottle in 1999 -- which resulted in a $25,000 fine from the NFL -- and verbally abused corporate sponsors on the team bus in 2001. The last infraction resulted in the team fining him $15,000 and forcing him to attend anger management classes.And now he's allegedly pushed a traffic agent half-block with his car. Nice to know that character and professionalism are alive and well in the NFL.He had a scholarship revoked by Notre Dame in 1995 after being charged with beating up a high school classmate in Rand, W.Va. Moss pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He was allowed to defer most of the sentence until after his freshman year in college.
He went to Florida State, where he redshirted his freshman season but was kicked off the team for violating probation by smoking marijuana. That got him a one-year jail sentence, which was reduced to about one month of time served.
Virtually out of chances, Moss walked on at Marshall and quickly became a star.
The 25-year-old Moss is in his fifth year with the Vikings and is the team's highest-paid player. He signed an eight-year, $75 million contract last year.
THE PHOTO: I realize I'm beating a dead horse, because Glenn Reynolds already linked to this photo of MacArthur and Hirohito. But it's still very much worthy of examination if you haven't seen it--it really brings home what our goal in Iraq should be: regime change, followed by society change.
PAGING ALEX P. KEATON: Berkeley study finds youths more conservative than parents.
JUST SUE, BABY! Judge orders new trial in the Oakland Raiders' lawsuit against the NFL.
MY KIND OF MULTICULTURALISM: We took friends staying with us for a few days to Sushi Expo in San Jose. Ala The Blues Brothers, I've taken to calling it "Bob's Country Sushi Bunker".
What an astonishing restaurant--the menu is the usual sushi, sashimi and tempura fare, but the music is strictly country and western. The two young girls sitting next to us were Jennifer Lopez clones. A large plastic James Brown doll stared back at us from the bar. Regular patrons have their own deluxe chopsticks, kept behind the bar. (The oddest touch? The sushi, prominently displayed on little boats that run through a water-filled track at the bar, is individually wrapped in cellophane. Safe sushi is apparently their motto.)
We once met the winner of a Kenny Rogers look-a-like contest (no really!) there.
And he did have his own chopsticks.
NFL HALL OF FAME CENTER DEAD: Mike Webster, legendary center of the Pittsburgh Steelers during their Super Bowl years, dead at 50.
ENRON SHRUGGED: USA Today says that recent business scandals have lead executives to dust off their copies of Ayn Rand 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged.
TURN ON THE MONEY SPIGOTS: Larry Kudlow says "It’s Up to Greenspan".
THE U.S./FONZIE CONNECTION: Jonah Goldberg's latest essay is called "Not Getting America". He writes:
my point is simply this: Saying we rule the world doesn't make it so. We don't rule the world. We lead the world-this is a huge distinction to people who live outside the intellectual menagerie of an Ivy League English department. If the coolest guy in school wears a leather jacket and all the other kids follow suit, that's hardly the same thing as the coolest guy forcing them at gunpoint to buy a leather jacket from him.It's actually a very good piece--do check it out.
RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Muslim terrorists stormed a crowded Hindu temple in western India today and opened fire at random, killing at least 23 people.
U.S. MAY NIX RANDOM AIRPORT CHECKS, according to ABCNews.com:
A spokesman for the Air Transport Association, which represents major airlines, said the random checks are unnecessary."Random gate screening doesn't really add any additional measure of security," Michael Wascom said via cell phone from Tampa International Airport, where he was about to be screened at the gate. He said more sophisticated passenger and baggage screening makes random gate screening unnecessary.
Loy, who became head of the TSA after his predecessor was accused of ignoring passenger convenience, said he wants to balance security with customer service. He has already gotten rid of the requirement that passengers be asked questions about whether they have kept a close eye on their baggage. He has also decided to allow passengers to carry drinks through security checkpoints. He calls the random gate screenings "hassle checks."
JESSE JACKSON WANTS A MOVIE CENSORED: Why? because Barbershop made a joke or two at his expense.
NEW REVIEW UP ON BLOGCRITICS: My review of Blogcritics: Behind the Glass By Howard Massey, a collection of interviews with top music producers, is now online.
THE DAILY WHINE: Courtesy of Terrell Owens of the San Francisco 49ers, of course.
SOMEWHERE, HAROLD STASSEN IS LAUGHING: "Gore in California Speech Warns Against Iraq Attack".
InstaPundit rounds up the Blogosphere's reaction
RADIO FREE NUREMBERG: Nationally syndicated radio columnist Andy Martin thinks we should invade Israel instead of Iraq. "Israel is the more dangerous outlaw state," says Martin.
LET IT BE COMING TO DVD? It sounds like Paul McCartney is working on it, which would be a good thing: In between all of the inter-band squabbling on the documentary, there's also some wonderful music, some of the last made by the band, and their last live performance.
REEFER MADNESS: Stephen Green says that a Mill Valley KFC restaurant employee was arrested after a customer received a little something extra with his chicken dinner...
Funny how you never did see Colonel Sanders and Timothy Leary photographed together.
"Alfred Regnery's Publishing House Goes for the Conservative Gusto, and Leaves The Left Behind", says The Washington Post.
P.J. O'ROURKE VISITS EGYPT: "Hatred between Palestinians and Israelis abides. Arab-led Islamic fundamentalism destabilizes nations from Algeria to the Philippines. The threat of terrorist attacks by al Qaeda continues. Also, our car needs gas. It is important to understand Arab culture." O'Rourke writes:
To blame the existence of al Qaeda on poverty like Egypt's is a slur on the poor. The September 11 attackers were taking flying lessons in America, not rug-weaving lessons in a village on the Nile. Yet there must be some economic, or political-economic, roots to the burning —flaming, bursting, exploding—bush of current events. Fouad Ajami, the author of The Dream Palace of the Arabs and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, has written, "Atta struck at us because he could not take down Mr. Mubarak's world, because in the burdened, crowded land of the Egyptian dictator there is very little offered younger Egyptians save for the steady narcotic of anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism."Narcotics aside, this "very little offered" raises a question about Arab culture. Why has Egypt—and the whole Arab world—made relatively little economic progress? Even the oil-flush Gulf states have not become rich the way we understand rich in the West. Kuwait is little more than an oil spigot with people sitting on top, and all they have to do is turn the tap. But Kuwait's per capita GDP is $15,000, whereas utterly resourceless Luxembourg's is $36,400.
FRIENDS IN TOWN: Don't expect a whole lot of posting this weekend, folks.
NOT QUITE MOUNT SURIBACHI, BUT IT'LL DO: Israel Plants Flag in Palestinian HQ
THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: Steven Den Beste just found out through his refer list that the Guardian has a message board.
I found out this morning that Ann Coulter's site has one--I got a surprising number of hits when someone linked to my "Misanthropic" post.
Not surprisingly, his post on what to do about radical Islamism went over much more poorly with the denizens of the Guardian than my post did with fans of La Coulter.
"MOOCH" LOOKS TO STUN THE FUN 'N' GUN: Here's a preview of Washington at San Francisco this Sunday.
What's the word frequently used to describe payback?
YOU CAN HAVE MY RED RYDER WHEN YOU PRY IT FROM MY COLD, DEAD FINGERS: British gun control activists want to ban air rifles.
THE FISCAL REPORT CARD: As issued by the Cato Institute. Not surpringly, "Most Governors Rate Fair to Poor Fiscally".
HERE I AM AT CAMP AL-QAEDA: Those of you who are of "a certain age", will enjoy lyrics that begin with "Hello Mullah, hello Fatwa. Here I am at Camp al-Qaeda".
(As found on VodkaPundit)
AT BEST IT RHYMES: Is the Kyoto Treaty another Kellogg-Briand Pact?
THE MASK SLIPS: Check out the BBC's bias in who they label as using "terror".
SWEET IRONY. I love this headline: "Arafat Pleads for Help After Bombing".
UPDATE: Steven Den Beste notes just the slightest of change in Arafat's tune compared to a few months ago.
"TWO ROOMS AND A TOILET": Rather than killing Arafat, Israel is simply going to "bulldoze him into obscurity", according to this article by Uri Dan in the New York Post.
Incidentally, Rod Dreher of National Review describes Dan as "a close personal friend of Ariel Sharon's, so when he reports something like [the above Post article], it's particularly credible".
IS THAT ALL? Reuters says Almost 20 Percent of Dot-Com Era Start-Ups Failed.
I actually thought the number would be higher--and it may be: the report mentioned in the Reuters article was prepared by research firm VentureOne, and "did not count start-ups that went public and then failed, the firm said".
MORE ON BULLET BOB: Frank Luksa, longtime Dallas Cowboys beat reporter, has a nicely balanced look at the ups and downs of Bob Hayes' career. I love this exchange:
In my last chat with Hayes a year ago, he chose winning the 100-meter final in Tokyo as his crowning athletic achievement. He said Jesse Owens left the stands to remind him that the U.S. lost this event in 1960 to Armin Hary of Germany.Catch a few from Johnny U, Bullet Bob."We want it back, but you have the worst lane ... No. 1," Owens worried. Hayes replied: "I didn't come here to lose. Americans don't say, 'We're No. 2.' I'm going to win this thing."
THE GREAT CLITORIDECTOMY HOAX: Michelle Malkin looks at how the truth can get mutilated.
And yes this is the first, and probably last time this site uses the word "clitoridectomy", especially in a headline.
IS FEBRUARY THE DATE? Rowan Scarborough of the The Washington Times seems to think so.
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: Here's a flashback to when Robert Fisk meets Osama Bin Laden in 1993.
(Found via Andrew Sullivan.)
"FIRST DO NO HARM": Excellent Peggy Noonan essay on Eunice Stone and three men who ought to have taken their Hippocratic oath a little bit more seriously.
AN ARTIST APOLOGIZES: Unlike sculptor Gail Haffern, according to the BBC, "British artist Damien Hirst has 'apologised unreservedly' for suggesting that the 11 September hijackers had created a 'visually stunning' work of art":
"I apologise unreservedly for any upset I have caused, particularly to the families of the victims of the events on that terrible day.Since we slagged Ms. Haffern for her comments, we'd like to give a hearty "way to go", to Mr. Hirst."I in no way condone terrorism of any kind and I deeply regret any offence caused by the misrepresentation of my thoughts and feelings."
POWER PLAY: Fred Barnes says "In the span of ten days, President Bush flexed his executive muscles and changed the conventional wisdom on Iraq...of the swiftest and most effective exercises of presidential power ever."
Found via NRO's The Corner Weblog
EURO-OIL: Nick Denton writes that "the war against Iraq may indeed be, partly, about oil. But not in the way you might think":
The international oil companies best placed in Iraq aren't American: they're TotalFinaElf of France, and Lukoil of Russia, according to this article in the Wall Street Journal. Which explains why those two countries have muted their opposition to US military intervention.
THE AIR POLLUTION CON GAME: "The United States has achieved large declines in air pollution during the last few decades, yet polls show most Americans think air pollution has been getting worse", writes Joel Schwartz.
SEGWAY UPDATE: Chicago cops are testing the high-tech scooter.
If you haven't seen it, for our take on the Segway, check out our Tech Central Station piece from a while back, and our article in LiteWheels.
UNPLUGGED U: Wired looks at Dartmouth's 802.11 wireless network. We took a look at USC's efforts in the current issue of Planning magazine, the house organ for the members of the American (Urban) Planning Association. Unfortunately, it's only available to members. But I from interviewing engineers at USC, I suspect both campuses are using 802.11 to reduce networking costs, provide greater flexibility to students and professors, and offer a great recruiting perk.
Not to belabor the same sort of point I made below, but there's got to be some real battles going on, if only emotionally, between college and university engineers and researchers, who are using logic, science, technology and rationality to solve problems, and historians, philosophers, and sociologists, who consider all of those traits to be dated imperialist dogma.
(Wired link thanks to Orrin Judd.)
A 21ST CENTURY TRANSATLANTIC CABLE: The Internet2 high-speed Internet research consortium has just snaked a ten gigabit per second cable Internet connection under the Atlantic.
Let's hope Europe's scientists and researchers are making more sense these days than their politicians.
MISANTHROPIC: Here's the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary definition of the word:
One entry found for misanthropic.Here's ours:
Main Entry: mis·an·throp·ic
Pronunciation: "mi-s&n-'thrä-pik
Function: adjective
Date: 1762
1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of a misanthrope
2 : marked by a hatred or contempt for mankind
synonym see CYNICAL
- mis·an·throp·i·cal·ly /-pi-k(&-)lE/ adverb
"What I found, when I went into work the day after, everyone was accusing somebody, everyone had something bad to say about somebody else, whether it was Bush or Osama bin Laden or al Qaeda or whatever - someone was in the wrong and I found that position quite hard to handle."There's another word for the artist, but I'd rather not use that kind of language here. Besides, it would be...judgmental. And I'd be accusing her of being "in the wrong", something that would be hard for her to handle.* * * "Four planes? I thought it was an extraordinary idea to do this, somebody declaring war against the mightiest country that has ever existed with one of its own peacetime machines. Looking at this, and being an artist, I thought what if this had been a performance piece and Osama bin Laden had declared himself an artist, how would the world have seen it then?"
HERE WE GO AGAIN: Israeli Tanks Enter Arafat Compound.
"BULLET" BOB HAYES DEAD AT 59: Hayes was an Olympic gold-medal sprinter and Dallas Cowboys star who was once considered the world's fastest man. He died of kidney failure at Shands Hospital late Wednesday.
Hayes is still the only man with an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring. While his 1979 drug arrest has kept him out of the NFL Hall of Fame, he was inducted last year into the Cowboys' "Ring of Honor", a large blue band with the names of superstar Cowboy players and their first head coach, Tom Landry that runs around Texas Stadium.
Here's a Dallas Morning News article, with some thoughts from Roger Staubach, who played with Hayes in the 1970s.
BLOGGER GETS SHIP NAMED AFTER HER: Well, sort of. Check out the U.S.S. Shiloh.
We've frequently bashed Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in the past, because, frankly, it's easy and fun. But we were happy to see this quote from him in the Washington Post:
"We all ought to recognize the military option ought to be the last option, but it ought to be a real option," Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) said after today's meeting. "There is a great deal of support for pressing Iraq to open its borders and destroy its weapons."Daschle, who previously has expressed reservations about the White House's Iraq policy, predicted the resolution will pass with "strong bipartisan support," perhaps by early October.
HOW YA GONNA KEEP 'EM DOWN? Ronald Baily of Reason has some suggestions on "how to achieve the miracle of poverty".
IT'S NOT A TOOMMMAAAAH: It's Arnold Schwarzenegger, who might run as write-in candidate for California governor this year, according to Mickey Kaus.
ROACH MOTEL: Britain checks into the EU, but they may not be able to check out.
(Link found via NRO's The Corner.)
GUNS AND TERRORISTS: Rachel Lucas thoroughly Fisks a letter signed (if probably not written by) Jim Brady.
WHAT IS DASCHELE CONCERNED ABOUT, AND WHEN DID HE BECOME CONCERNED? Happy Fun Pundit is concerned that Tom Daschele is concerned about concerns about the timing of the Iraq debate.
We're not too concerned. We're merely disappointed (Daschele's other favorite word) at Mr. Daschele.
SAY, WOULD LIKE BREASTS WITH THOSE FRIES?: "Lunch-time boob jobs" are apparently coming in a couple of years, according to this article.
BUT THE B-3 IS STILL IN SERVICE AGAINST ALBANIA: The British government has given the US permission to build the special hangers needed for the B-2 stealth bomber on the tiny Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, according to "Group Captain Mandrake" in his Letter from the Olde Countrie blog.
(Sorry for the gratuitous Wag the Dog reference. Fortunately, that film really seems like it's from a long ago era, doesn't it?)
LOOK WHO'S ON THE BANDWAGON: Democrats endorse Iraq vote.
LIFE IN AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE, PART II: So did you pick up Monsters, Inc. today, too?
What a fantastic DVD. I'll try to write a detailed review for Blogcritics.
UPDATE: One of the elements that makes Pixar's digital films work is that they understand the importance of story and character. Once you accept that the world they create, mentally you forget that you're in a world of toys that move, think and talk, or in the case of Monsters Inc., that you're in the Monstropolis, a world where weird looking monsters have businesses, lead their lives, and you quickly accept how human they are.
It doesn't hurt that Pixar hires excellent voiceover actors (heck, excellent actors--Tom Hanks, John Goodman, etc.) and gives them their head.
Compare that, and your reaction to the Pixar films, with your reactions to the last two Star Wars films, which George Lucas directed. In theory, the Star Wars movies should be more believable, not to mention superior, because they're not cartoons. And yet, while Lucas often hires excellent actors (Liam Neeson for example), their performances are stiff, their dialogue even worse, and for the most part, we don't care about the characters--they're simply props for Lucas to maneuver along with the space craft and planets. He doesn't care about much about them--why should we?
LIFE IN AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE, PART I: James Lileks interviews Scott Ritter, restaurant inspector.
THINKING OF GETTING SATELLITE RADIO, but not sure whether you should get XM or Sirius?
One way or another, this ought to make it easy.
CNN: NO TIME FOR ISRAEL: Found on the New York Post's Page Six section:
CNN is refusing to run ads promoting Israel as the Middle East's only democracy. The American non-profit group israel21c.org is behind a campaign to educate Americans about Israel on issues other than the Palestinian conflict. The commercial in question, which runs on ABC and NBC in New York and Washington, D.C., states, "As in America, all Israeli citizens - Christians, Muslims and Jews - have freedom of religion and the right to vote." But CNN allegedly told the organization that carrying the spot "could increase the threat to our staff and correspondents around the world," a source tells PAGE SIX's Ian Spiegelman. Reps for israel21c.org asked CEO Walter Isaacson to reconsider, and were later told that CNN does not run ads dealing with international policy. "That's bullbleep," says our spy, adding that CNN has run commercials on global warming, landmines, and funding the United Nations, a pet cause of Ted Turner's. A CNN rep says the company has a blanket policy of "not running advocacy advertising regarding international issues from regions in conflict."
THE END OF NATO? Steven Den Beste shows why the upcoming war with Iraq could also mean the end of US involvment in NATO.
BUT WHAT DOES LOU REED THINK? Vaclav Havel endorses U.S. line on Iraq.
AXIS OF EVIL, TAXI SQUAD: "North Korea amasses chemical weapons".
MICHAEL APTED: The Digital Bits interviews the director of Enigma, as well as a host of other excellent films.
Click here to read my review of Enigma from this summer.
PETA=ECO-TERROR: And it's putting their tax-exempt, non-profit status at risk.
'Bout time.
By the way, since ELF (Earth Liberation Front, whom PETA has donated money to), had admitted that they're terrorists (read the article), why isn't Craig Rosebraugh, their spokesman, whose photograph is prominent in the Fox News article, in jail as an accomplice?
MOVE 'EM ON OUT: U.S. Seeks to Ship More Military Hardware to Gulf, according to ABCNEWS.com.
(Link found via Steven Den Beste.)
REAL LIFE EQUALS THE ONION PART 2,643,327: Little Green Footballs says "a reputed ally of Osama bin Laden was betrayed after United States spy planes tracked a takeaway pizza to his jungle hideout."
No, really--check out the whole thing, in a post appropriately titled "Mmmm. Pizza".
GOOD FOR THEM: "Bear Stearns Tells Employees Dress Up -- Dot-Com Boom Is Over"
WHILE ABSTINENCE IS ALWAYS SAFEST, IT'S NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE: So don't have unprotected contact...with the Euro:
Swiss scientists say the two-tone 1- and 2-euro coins release high levels of nickel when they are exposed to human sweat. Nickel against the skin can cause eczema, irritation or other allergic reactions.
Good post by Jonah Goldberg in National Review Online's Corner Weblog:
Even if there are no conditions on the inspectors (assuming there are inspectors) it's important to recognize how difficult these missions are. For example, I was listening to a congressional hearing with a panel of former UN Chief Inspectors on C-Span radio the other day (again, yes, because I am that cool). I don't know which one told this story, but it was pretty illuminating. Apparently, during one of the previous hunt and peck searches in Iraq, the inspectors received intelligence from a very reliable and high-ranking source that there was a huge secret stockpile of nasty weapons under the central Baghdad cemetary. Fortunately, the inspectors checked out the story and it turned out to have been a ruse set up by the Iraqi government. Saddam's people wanted the UN to bulldoze the cemetary, desecrating Muslim graves and the like just so the Iraqis could denounce the action for propaganda purposes.Even if we end up sending inspectors to Baghdad "without conditions", there is every reason to assume that the Iraqis will do everything they can to turn it into a circus. Remember Saddam has foregone 160 billion dollars in oil revenues just because he wanted to keep inspectors out. In other words, he has something to hide and he is willing to incur great costs to keep it hidden -- for a reason.
THE MAKING OF KIND OF BLUE: My review of Ashley Kahn's book, which looks at how Miles Davis seminal 1959 recording came to be, is now online at Blogcritics.
JAY MANIFOLD HAS THE SOLUTION FOR THE INFAMOUS ANTI-AMERICAN BUMPER STICKERS that we reported a few days ago.
I like it. Setting your car alarm on extra sensitive wouldn't be bad, either.
ANOTHER DOMINO FALLS: Little Green Footballs says that Jordan has quietly jumped aboard the war against Saddam Hussein.
See also our post from over the weekend, about Saudi Arabia headed in a similar direction, as well.
UPDATE: Strategy Page gives a preview of what the war could look like.
The family of 22 year old Shiri Negari, one of 19 people killed in a Jerusalem bus suicide bombing on June 18th 2002, have put up a Web page to memoralize her.
CLINTON'S BIGGEST BLUNDER: As found by Patrick Ruffini.
Of course, it's the logical extension of this article from last fall by Byron York. And this item, and its accompanying links on InstaPundit yesterday make for a nice side-pocket companion link.
THE BLOGGER'S GLOSSARY: As compiled by Samizdata.
ANTI-IDIOTARIAN DEMOCRATS: Not surprisingly, you'll find them at truck tire plants, but not at the New York Times, according to Joanne Jacobs.
MEAT: It's what all the cool kids are trying these days!
THE GEORGE S. PATTON, TOMMY FRANKS CONNECTION, as found by Steve Den Beste in a typically excellent analysis of military strategy then and now.
NFL SHOCKER: The Rams and Steelers are each 0 and 2.
SINGAPORE ARRESTS 21 AL QAEDA SUSPECTS, according to The Brothers Judd Blog.
When I interviewed Alvin Toffler right after 9/11/01, one of the most interesting comments he made was that Islam is as much an Asian religion as a Middle Eastern one. Glad to see the Singapore authorities doing their bit to roundup its more radical members.
"JACKBOOT LIBERALISM": Doug Bandow looks back at Clinton-Gore and Civil Liberties on National Review Online.
THE BILL CLINTON/BOB GREENE CONNECTION as discovered by Orrin Judd.
I'm actually sorry to see Greene in hot water--I've thoroughly enjoyed a number of his articles, dating back to when he wrote for Esquire in the mid-1980s.
COULD IRAQ HAVE THE BOMB BY EARLY NEXT YEAR? Group Captain Mandrake links to an article which says it's a possibility.
Scott Ritter couldn't be reached for comment.
SHILO BUCHER HAS A NEW WEBLOG: Stop by her spiffy new site at the eponomously named shilohbucher.com today!
LESS OF THIS PAUL WOULD BE A GOOD THING: Stephen Green thoroughly Fisks the inanities of Congressman Ron Paul and his appeasement cliches.
THE WILLIAM SHATNER/DUBYA CONNECTION, as found by Sgt. Stryker.
HERE'S A URL I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE: http://www.masturbateforpeace.com/.
Why yes, I did say "Masturbate for Peace.Com". I'll leave it to yourselves to come up with your own jokes here. Taking shots at a Web site with bumper stickers with slogans such as "All we are saying, is give peace a wank"? is just too easy.
It would be merely....self-indulgence--if not self-abuse.
(Link via Jenett.Radio.)
UPDATE: VodkaPundit lends a hand (one hand, of course) with his comments.
ED ON DEAD TREE UPDATE--here's where to find me in print this month:
I have an article on the home theater of Mr. and Mrs. Don Rhymer in the November issue of Audio/Video Interiors (my subscriber copy just arrived at my house this weekend). Don Rhymer is the screenwriter of Big Momma's House, among other movies and sit-coms. The Rhymers have created a very child-friendly home theater, under the logical assumption that they'd rather have their teenagers and their friends home, where they can keep an eye on them, than doing God-knows-what at a friend's house.
My history of the Les Paul Custom guitar is in this month's Vintage Guitar magazine. This article began as an offshoot of this post, and my online interview with Les Paul himself. It's an all Les Paul issue in Vintage Guitar (the man and his guitars), so if you're interested in guitars, be sure to check it out.
My article on Stanley Kubrick and his computers, which we first tipped you off about first here, is in this month's Nuts & Volts.
Fans of 802.11b wireless networking should check out my article in this month's Home Automation magazine, which explains how to add a wireless spur to an existing hard wired Ethernet.
And an article I'm particularly proud of, but may not be too easily obtained, is a piece I wrote on the urban planning implications of 802.11 for this month's issue of Planning, the house organ of the American Planning Association.
The Summer Fall issue of Smart TV & Sound has my article on DirecTV's interactive services, which is also available online, but don't let that stop you from running out and buying truckloads of hard copies!
So wake the kids, feed 'em with diet pills, and head over to your local magazine seller, and stock up today!
BIN LADEN IS DEAD, says Aimee Deep, on her Musicpundit site.
Considering that he was nowhere to be found on the one year anniversary of 9/11, I'm inclined to believe it.
(Link via InstaPundit.)
Say, I wonder if Saddam is burning the midnight oil even as we speak with his Camcorder, so that al-Jazeera can run his taunts long after he's dead?
UPDATE: He's not dead yet, he's getting better...
HAPPY SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY, to "Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake's" blog,
A letter from the Olde Countrie, which has been a witty mixture of geopolitical analysis and etiquette advice.
SAUDIS MAY CHANGE STANCE ON IRAQ, according to this AP story.
No word yet on whether Noam Chomsky has changed his.
UPDATE: Not surprisingly, Little Green Footballs broke this story, yesterday.
THE BELLMAN EQUATION: Virginia Postrel's latest New York Times column is abll about football strategies on fourth down, from a mathematical point of view.
If I were Dave Campo, I'd be worried that Jerry Jones might consider hiring Postrel as my replacement.
ROBOT TO PROBE GREAT PYRAMID ON TV, according to Eric Olsen on Blogcritics. No word yet if Geraldo Rivera has been called in, however.
DASCHLE TO FORCE U.N. RESOLUTION UPON CONFLICT: The Burger King/McDonald's conflict, that is.
UNEMPLOYED BECAUSE BAYWATCH WAS CANCELLED? Bill Clinton is hiring interns...
LITTLE MIAMI STEVEN SILVIO VAN ZANDT: Nice profile by Eric Olsen of "Miami" Steve Van Zandt, who's actually from my home state of New Jersey. Van Zandt is of course Bruce Springsteen's rhythm guitarist, as well as a co-star of The Sopranos, whose next season is about to begin.
COWBOYS CUT VETERAN CB BRYANT WESTBROOK, days after he committed costly penalties in the team's embarrassing season-opening loss to Houston.
THE MOST IMPORTANT SPEECH YOU DIDN'T HEAR ON THURSDAY. Nick Schulz (who's also the chief editor at Tech Central Station, who we write for, from time to time) analyses the speech given by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), on the future of American foreign and energy policy in the Middle East:
Before a packed National Press Club audience in Washington — including reporters and cameras from Al Jazeera — Burns addressed several issues that President Bush could not in his speech before the United Nations. While President Bush was rightly focusing on Iraq as the next step in the war against terror, Burns was outlining a vision for changing the dynamic of world energy markets.Most interesting was this paragraph in Schulz's article:
Most significant were Sen. Burns's comments about America's ally in the war on terrorism, Saudi Arabia. One informed source tells me that the Bush administration vetted Sen. Burns's speech and was pleased with the thrust of his arguments, and that his speech reflects the administration's views and ultimate aims.Read the whole thing--especially if you missed Burns' speech (as I did myself).* * * Regime change in Iraq, as Bush advocated Thursday, could go a long way towards generating changes in the region that might one day bring about a free and democratic Saudi Arabia. Until that time, technological advances and increased supply hold the key to moving to the point where, as Burns put it, "we no longer need to kowtow to fanatics and anti-American regimes."
THE NO FUN LEAGUE. I agree with a lot of the NFL's rules against player improvisation, especially when it comes to their uniforms. But this is a bit over the top: The NFL said no to Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning's request to wear black high-top shoes for Sunday's home game against the Miami Dolphins.
AP says, "The league said in a statement Friday that no team other than the Baltimore Ravens will be allowed to wear a patch or armband on their uniforms during Sunday's games to honor Unitas."
I don't see a problem with the QB of the Colts wearing black high-tops to honor the former Colt who made them his trademark.
ANOTHER ARREST: Al Qaeda Cell Busted in Buffalo.
GOOD POINT: "The history of this war, written ten years from now, is going to be very interesting to read", says Steven Den Beste, referring to the "truly masterful disinformation campaign" that was waged.
The quotation marks are there because they're Den Beste's words, but we wholeheartedly agree.
$31 MILLION: That's the size of the deal tha