dpud's Links Around The Moronosphere
There's a ton of good links as usual at dpud's place. Take a look around and see what some of the regulars at Ace's have posted. Steamboat McGoo has some fine Aurora pics if you like that sort of thing (I do) and his daily pr0n at the end of the post (no, I didn't click it.... yet.).
Hillary Calls For Olympic Boycott
I never thought I would see this day come. I agree with Hillary Clinton and disagree with President Bush. This alone was cause to reconsider my thinking, but I can't get around it... I think Hillary is right on this one.
Clinton, in a statement, cited violent clashes in Tibet and
the lack of pressure by China on Sudan to stop "the genocide in Darfur."
"At this time, and in light of recent events, I believe President Bush
should not plan on attending the opening
ceremonies in Beijing, absent major changes by the Chinese
government," the New York senator said.
I'm seriously disturbed by this. Fortunately, she'll "qualify" her statements very soon I'm sure, if only to reassure my faith in her dishonesty. Next, Barack Obama will argue the exact opposite, then "qualify" his statements to say we should have a boycott. That way, they can both point to the statement that benefits them most and "tut-tut" any attempt to point out any conflicting statements they've made before or since. 'Cause that's how they roll.
John McCain will promise to hold a "virtual" Olympics... but only if the athletes are all given medals, whether they actually compete or not.
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Remember, the "Free Tibet" is important to the lefties, because of the Dalai Lama, I suppose. So Hillary is looking to score points with them.
(I shouldn't joke about the Dalai Lama. He's actually on the faculty of my alma mater; taught there for a week last fall.)
I spent an hour or so this afternoon trying to come up with a version of the Beijing Olympic logo that's more accurate than the official version. Either convert the Olympic rings into ball and chain, or drape chains over the humanoid figure in the upper half. Unfortunately, my artistic and photoshopping abilities are woeful of the woefulest, so nothing usable was achieved.
Posted by: kishnevi at 07 April 2008@19:12:47 (DqtzB)
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What does boycotting the Olympics accomplish, really, though. We need to address the trade deficit to China if we want to correct our standing --- that seems more important, to me anyway. Because China can call our loans, which are so huge they defy the common calculator (how many zeroes in a trillion?), we probably shouldn't give them reason by way of insulting them. Eye on the prize. Become self-sufficient. That's the way to hit where it hurts. My 3 cents.
Posted by: Starry Fruit at 09 April 2008@16:07:09 (/vVjk)
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What does showing up accomplish besides give them increased credibility? The Games have become a joke, nearly the opposite of what they were intended to represent.
What loans do we have to China? If you're talking about a trade deficit, that's something completely different. Besides, appeasement never works with totalitarians, they (by definition) want total control. Even if they could damage our economy, what good does that do them? The economy in the rest of the world is heavily dependent on the United States economy. Jihadists would like to destroy it because it would also hurt the world economy, furthering their cause which only prospers in ignorance and poverty.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 09 April 2008@16:16:11 (tarqT)
I wish I understood more about Chinese culture. Then I'd understand how they'd interpret being shunned versus validated, or if they even care. Will being boycotted shame them into changing their foreign policy? I kind of doubt it, seeing as though I agree that the Games have become something of a laughing matter (although I'm not sure the athletes share that sentiment).
In any event, don't be misled. I hold no regard for totalitarian governments, and I certainly don't want to enable or validate them (or Jihadists). However:
What I heard (on Lou Dobbs Tonight, a couple or three years ago) is that China has been building, building, building its military, including nuclear submarines, at a pretty good clip. They've got the surplus to do it, certainly. So economy coupled with intent certainly does affect foreign policy, perceived power, and on.
Am I wrong in my perception that we're suffering a near-unmanageable deficit right now? Not a sarcastic comment --- I've only heard it from the media and politicians. Although foreclosures are riding high in these parts. Hm.
60 Minutes had a story, an eye-opener for many people, about this issue last week. I missed the program, but the whole town seems to be talking about it. I wish I hadn't missed it.
Posted by: Starry Fruit at 09 April 2008@17:47:56 (/vVjk)
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China has been building up their military and their economy is doing very well right now because they've incorporated some capitalism into it. I did an earlier post about boycotting the Chinese Olympic Opening Ceremonies with a link to their economy here.
We don't owe them money and trying hurt our economy would hurt theirs more overall. There's really not a lot they could do to hurt us though. I've done several posts on the economy, just put "recession" into the Search Thingy at the top or bottom of the sidebar for those.
How they perceive it is less important than how it's perceived by us. Boycotting the Opening Ceremonies or the entire Olympics would show the American people that we're serious about human rights, not hypocritically supporting one abuser while claiming to fight a war on others.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 09 April 2008@18:57:06 (tarqT)
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The deficit is below the record in terms of percent of the GNP. The dollars are higher. That does not mean it is not too high but the scare talk by the democratic politicians is risible. They just want an excuse to raise taxes. They have shown they would just spend the money, not reduce the deficit. The increased taxes would slow the economy and reduce tax income prompting them to call for yet more taxes. When the Republicans tried to push for a balanced budget in the 90s, Bill Clinton actually said a balanced budget was bad for the country. The Democrats have never been able to resist increasing spending when they got there hands on more money.
China has long had a huge but primitive military. Clinton greatly increased the threat by selling them a ten to fifteen year leap ahead in weapons technology in return for campaign contributions to help win the 96 election. This saved them many billions of dollars in R&D and put 100,000,000 Americans under nuclear threat. He provided them knowledge we did not give our allies. I do not mind imports but I try to avoid buying Chinese.
Posted by: Machinist at 09 April 2008@19:00:46 (yFIK0)
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A credit card balance that is ruinous at $30,000. a year can be minor at $300,000. a year. Just looking at the dollars is deceptive. Our economy is growing. This may be the first time in history an economy was considered a recession while it was growing every quarter. Must be global warming overheating the debate.
Posted by: Machinist at 09 April 2008@19:08:06 (yFIK0)
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When we let politicians and the MSM "frame" things, they always turn out to be lies. The economy and global warming are just two examples. Too bad they won't just tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. We'd be better off in the long run, but they can't see past their next campaign or deadline.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 09 April 2008@19:37:04 (tarqT)
Harper is BANNED!!
The Plague Fairy is officially banned until such time as she earns her bannage at Teh Squeaky Wheel, which is richly deserved (she's worked hard for it). This banlessness state cannot be tolerated by right-thinking folks anywhere. The Plague Fairy (aka Harper, aka The Gentle Lady) means so much, to so many people, that failing to ban her when she specifically requests it is indefensible (aka "poo-poo reasoning").
I'm sure Harper will leave a comment here confirming her pleasure at finally being banned somewhere. Please congratulate her and offer your support for further bannings.
*NOTE* This ban does not pertain to her IP address, screen name, any sock puppets she may employ, or prevent her commenting here or elsewhere. In other words, the nicest possible ban you will ever see, anywhere.
Taliban Commander Captured
This is good news from Afghanistan.
Police arrested Taliban commander Abdul Jabar on Saturday
in the most significant capture of a militant for some time,
the Interior Ministry said.
Jabar, who the government said organized attacks in the
south, was captured while on his way towards Pakistan. He was a
deputy of Mullah Mansour Dadullah, a prominent Taliban
commander captured in Pakistan in February, it said.
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They should put a super heavy duty shock collar on these guys when they are out of maximum security. Have a five minute timer that a guard must reset which can only be turned off or removed in the cell. Let him run.
Hey, I can dream!
Posted by: Machinist at 06 April 2008@23:46:02 (yFIK0)
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Why bother with a shock-collar? Just put a GPS with remote alarm on a tamper-proof collar or harness. If they get away, follow using GPS and when you're close, turn on the alarm (very loud siren-type). If it's loud enough, they'll probably be disoriented or give up to get it shut off.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 07 April 2008@00:19:03 (tarqT)
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I rather like the fantasy image of the guy franticly searching for the guard at the four and a half minute point.
Posted by: Machinist at 07 April 2008@00:37:26 (yFIK0)
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How combining and improving on both your ideas? GPS collar. Small explosive placed at the back of the neck. If the GPS goes beyond a certain limit, an alarm goes off. If the GPS stays behond that limit for a certain number of minutes (say, two minutes), the explosive is set off.
Posted by: kishnevi at 07 April 2008@13:18:31 (0gB9X)
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I have several problems with using an explosive:
1. Innocent people close by when it goes off (possibly an intentional homicide bombing where we provide the explosives... I wouldn't want to try and explain that one to the family members). 2. Accidental detonation through mechanical failure (especially since GPS coverage can go offline for several reasons, i.e. going through long tunnels, inside certain buildings, etc...) 3. We know some are willing to kill themselves and may consider such a death "martyrdom". I'd bet that several of the radical imams would issues fatwas proclaiming these types of deaths as resistance and not suicide. 4. The potential for misuse by totalitarian governments under the guise of fighting terrorism. China, Zimbabwe, Yemen, and others come to mind.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 07 April 2008@13:33:19 (tarqT)
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1. Make it a small explosive. Bullet size, perhaps. Enough to impact the skull of the jihadi, not enough to damage anything else.
2. Hadn't thought about that one. However, if they're with a guard, the time delay will allow the guard to intervene and keep it from exploding. And if they're not with a guard, then it sounds to me like they're escaping...
Is a systemwide failure (say, all GPS in the camp lose signal) possible? If so, then either appropriate precautions need to be taken, or the idea becomes too risky. At the very least, we would need to keep the cells clean for the next detainee to occupy it, and nothing unsettles a person like finding blood stains under their bed.
3. As far as I am concerned, they can all "shaheed" themselves, just as long as no non-jihadi gets killed with them.
4. Totalitarian governments use lots of things for their oppressive purposes. Should we give up armies, police, and barbed wire because the Chinese use them? Not to mention dim sum.
Posted by: kishnevi at 07 April 2008@19:01:36 (DqtzB)
7Is a systemwide failure (say, all GPS in the camp lose signal) possible?
Can you name a technology that never goes wonky? Murphy's Law applies to everything I can think of.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 07 April 2008@20:48:46 (tarqT)
Superfast Internet
This is incredible stuff, although not available to domestic internet users, it's already in use by academic researchers in several fields.
Ian Bird, project leader for Cern’s high-speed computing project, said grid
technology could make the internet so fast that people would stop using
desktop computers to store information and entrust it all to the internet.
“It will lead to what’s known as cloud computing, where people keep all their
information online and access it from anywhere,†he said.
Blog Maintenance / Open Thread
I've made a lot of aesthetic changes and am going to be cleaning up some of the posts, especially the earlier ones. I won't change any of the content, just put some content in the longer entries below a fold, clean up the categories... stuff like that.
Consider this an open thread for feedback on the style changes, suggestions for more, pointing out things needing cleanup that I might have missed, or whatever you'd like to comment on. Thanks to everyone who has been coming, welcome to anyone here for the first time (feel free to look around some), and everyone who takes the time to leave a comment. That's the best.
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I had seen the link to the wheel but not the blogroll. You HAVE been busy! That is an impressive blogroll you have.
Posted by: Machinist at 05 April 2008@14:00:45 (yFIK0)
2
All entered by hand (whew!) I also cleaned up the commenting so the sidebar still shows, instead of it going full-page (I hated that). The Moronosphere and Gerbil Nation blogrolls rotate randomly, which I thought was neat. It was also pretty hard to get the header the way I wanted it and I'm still not completely satisfied, but it'll do for now.
I'm trying to work on a calendar archive, but until that's done I like a calendar being there anyway. Some people don't like a calendar archive, but I use them elsewhere frequently. I also put the search function near both the top and the bottom of the sidebar.
That's probably most of the major changes for a while, unless something goes wonky.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@14:10:55 (tarqT)
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It looks nice, Gentle Stash. (they do know you're gentle here, right? It's not a gerbilly secret?). I like the font you've used at the top. SQueaK!
Posted by: sillyblindharper at 05 April 2008@14:12:31 (5+XEL)
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Thank you very much Harper, the site is starting to come together in away I like. I was focusing more on content up until now but am getting more comfortable in making changes. Still but an egg though.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@14:20:18 (tarqT)
Posted by: BrendaK at 05 April 2008@16:24:22 (yAyo7)
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Thanks BK. And thanks for offering to help earlier, I got most of it figgered out enough to work. I'll keep learning and tweaking, and with Harper's help, squeaking!
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@16:41:52 (tarqT)
Well, I like the fact that now you can comment without registering-more freedom that way. However, I have to wonder if this fixation on gerbils is healthy.
Posted by: JBHood at 05 April 2008@18:44:49 (GkYyh)
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@19:30:41 (tarqT)
10
ooooooh! i like it! of course any site with a pretty dog right at the top has to be good.
Posted by: Ottavarima at 05 April 2008@19:42:26 (zp9Df)
11
She's a good gerbil. She's only got the eye you see in the picture. She lost the other one after she was hit by a car and died, then came back to life (I don't know if you heard that story at teh Wheel). She's almost always at my side these days.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@19:58:16 (tarqT)
IOC Doubles-Down On Olympic Choice
The International Olympic Committee just announced that it still considers China a "wise choice" for the upcoming Olympic Games.
Rogge said the opportunity to bring the Games to the
world's most populous nation meant the IOC had made the right
choice.
"IOC considers that it made a wise choice in awarding the
games to Beijing and we have no regrets," Rogge told a news
conference in response to a question about China's human rights
record.
"We have the tremendous added value of bringing sports and
the Olympics to one fifth of mankind."
This of course means that China should get to host the Olympics every time until some other country surpasses China in population. Here are two more examples of extreme denial in the same article... this:
"We are definitely not happy with protests but we respect
them as long as they are not violent," he said.
Firing into crowds of protesters and killing 8 of them isn't violent? That's just the most recent example of the Chinese government's brand of "non-violence". And then there is this about the smog and pollution surrounding the Games:
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Obviously, the IOC means that it's unfortunate but okey-dokey for the protesters to protest, as long as the protesters don't get violent.
Cops/military police shooting up the protesters is just a bonus! Maybe the IOC will add 'Protester Potting' as a new competitive sport.
Posted by: BrendaK at 05 April 2008@16:30:00 (yAyo7)
2Maybe the IOC will add 'Protester Potting' as a new competitive sport.
That would really put the conservatives here in a quandary. Put Code Pink, the ACLU, and Fred Phelps on the list and many conservatives won't know whether to condemn the practice or applaud the target selection.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@16:47:24 (tarqT)
Guess He Didn't Get The Memo *UPDATE*
Senator Biden says the troop buildup was a failure.
"The purpose of the surge was to bring violence in Iraq down so that its leaders could come together politically," said Biden,
D-Del., in this week's Democratic radio address. "Violence has come
down, but the Iraqis have not come together."
Isn't that a failure by the Iraqi leaders and not the troop buildup? I thought the current talking point wasn't about the surge, but that we should focus on Afghanistan. Wasn't it pretty much accepted, even by the Dems, that the surge did what it was supposed to do?
They said their focus will be on restoring the strength of the Army and
Marines and refocusing the nation's resources on fighting terrorists in
Afghanistan.
See? Don't worry Joe, the Associated Press has got your back.
*UPDATE* Tarnation!! DRJ over at Patterico's beat me to this one, but I missed it before writing this. I try to avoid stories that other people have done already (hint: if you check the timestamps on any of my posts that you see covered elsewhere, mine are almost always first. Heh.) Nice work DRJ.
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Not only are you frequently first but I often drop by here to get ideas.
Speaking of ideas, I ran across an LA Times' correction on a GTMO article. I didn't notice the original article but they had lots to correct. I wondered if you plan to blog on it. Here's a link (scroll down to 4/5/0
: http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/corrections/
Posted by: DRJ at 06 April 2008@21:26:40 (wE7Og)
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Heh. Instead of a parenthesized 4/5/08 it inserted a cool happy-face. I need to remember that one.
Posted by: DRJ at 06 April 2008@21:27:36 (wE7Og)
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Lots to correct indeed. I didn't see the original article, so I don't know how much they got right. Even with the original, I probably wouldn't blog it because it mostly talks about stuff after I left. I could make some educated guesses about whether something was true or not, but if I were challenged to prove it, I'd be hard-pressed to defend the post. I usually jump on Guantanamo stuff from when I was there, or before I got there (since I saw most of the historical stuff), but not much on stuff after I left for that reason.
I know there were more than 2,000 books and magazines even when I was there. I was also involved with the hunger-strike and helped develop the policy that ended up getting it under control. No way would we have considered force-feeding someone who had only missed 9 meals and I can't imagine that was ever true, even after I left.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 06 April 2008@22:15:39 (tarqT)
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You don't want to write about something that happened when you weren't there?
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Thank you very much DRJ, that means a lot coming from you. Anyone who has gone through my posts can easily tell how much respect I have for you, Patterico, and the other co-bloggers there.
I've commented on things that happened after I left Cuba, but made sure that it was clearly a personal opinion. I always try to make distinctions between what I know is fact, what I believe to be true (not always the same as fact, as we both know), and what is opinion. I wish journalists tried to do the same.
For example, when the three detainees committed suicide, I commented that I absolutely believed it to be an act of asymmetrical warfare but couldn't say it was a fact.
I think it would be very difficult for anyone to find an example of me dishonestly arguing a point or reporting anything. I'm pretty proud of that.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 07 April 2008@01:19:20 (tarqT)
"Re-Education" In China
China's crackdown on the people of Tibet continues. Now the Chinese government is calling its horrid oppression something different... re-education.
Efforts by authorities to "re-educate" monks at a monastery in Sichuan province in southwest China led to protests there on Thursday in which at least eight Tibetans were killed, the activist groups said.
I guess the Chinese government is going to teach the people of Tibet how to become patriotic Chinese citizens, even if it kills them.
The International Campaign for Tibet said the re-education campaign, a
tactic long used by the Communist Party, typically involved forcing
Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama fled his homeland in 1959 and remains a revered figure
for Tibetans, although China believes he is a dangerous figure bent on
achieving independence for Tibet.
China says he is orchestrating the latest unrest, claims he denies.
They must believe that if the lie is big enough, told loud enough, and for a long enough time it becomes the truth. Of course, you need one more element for any chance of successfully injecting doubt into the crimes you commit.
Independently verifying what happened, as with all the unrest, is
extremely difficult because China has barred foreign reporters from
travelling to Tibet and the other hotspot areas and blanketed them with
security.
I Think FoxNews Is "Perturbed" With Hugo Chavez And The U.N.
Read the tone of this article by George Russell of FoxNews. It seems that the Venezuelan government put up a strawman argument against a FoxNews story about Chavez getting scanners through the United Nations. Then they produced documents that supposedly proved FoxNews wrong.
FOX News questioned UNDP’s purchase of $2.3
million worth of airport walk-through body scanners for Hugo Chavez’s
radical socialist government in Venezuela, in a story
on April 1. Two days later, UNDP replied by posting a number of
documents on the Internet, all of which raise new questions about
whether the entire deal was a façade for a scam, and whether the
scanners were ever shipped at all.
Mr. Russell then goes on to completely fisk the Venezuelan government's response and reiterates that it seems there is something shady about this whole deal. I particularly like the end.
It does, however, add further emphasis to one of
the final questions asked in the April 1 FOX story: "What role is an
agency devoted to alleviating international poverty playing as a
general contractor for the authoritarian rulers of an oil-rich nation,
who are also avowed supporters of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere?â€
Seems like this is what journalism should be about. Good for Mr. Russell... I hope he gets pissed off more often. I might then be able to say I don't hate all the MSM.
Meanwhile, Chavez has nationalized the cement industry in Venezuela and is upset with Colombia again. Dave in Texas has the story over at Ace's, so hat-tip to him. I give Chavez two or three months at most before he tries something militarily (yes, I still think it's going to happen). When it does, remember where you heard it first, m'kay?
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A good war always takes the mind of the proletariat off of the fact that they're starving. So, yeah, I think he'll take a shot at Columbia.
But I also give it 60-40 odds that the military will shoot the village idiot and take over the gov't. before it gets to Venezuelan boots on Columbian ground.
Posted by: BrendaK at 05 April 2008@16:34:46 (yAyo7)
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My understanding is that many Venezuelans rally around him because they think it's patriotic. He has almost complete control of the media, so much of his idiocy doesn't get reported accurately.
Plus, if he can give FARC terrorists $300million, then his top military guys are probably sitting pretty with Hugo in charge. It's possible someone will take him out, but I'd put it closer to 20-80 against. My SWAG (Scientific Wild-Ass Guess) generator is kind of wonky right now though, so I'm trying to be careful here.
Posted by: Stashiu3 at 05 April 2008@16:53:32 (tarqT)
Sites are added to the Moronosphere and Gerbil Nation blogrolls by request. I got everyone on there who was there when they were made, so email me if you know of a new addition. Some of these are on the main blogroll as well and will remain duplicated.
The main blogroll is at my own discretion. I gratefully accept suggestions by email, but I don't do blogroll exchanges. If a site is there, it's because I personally recommend it. If it's one that is not updated often, check out the archives and you'll probably see why it's there. I will rarely remove a site from the main blogroll once it's there.
Recent Comments
sillyblindharper
*rustle, rustle* **looks around empty thread** SQUEaK! entry
Comments are not moderated and users are not registered. This means that I have little to no control over who posts a comment or the content of that comment. Therefore, comments other than my own do not reflect any viewpoint of mine, no matter how long it appears as I will likely remove comments that cross the line of decency. If a comment is removed, a notation that the comment was there will be inserted. Any questions or concerns about posts, comments, copyright, or other issues may be addressed by emailing me at "stashiu3 AT gmail DOT com" replacing the AT with @ and DOT with a period. If that's too complicated, maybe you shouldn't be on the internet without supervision. Just sayin'
Blog Notes
If you have suggestions for the blog, put them in a comment to the original welcome post, a comment to any other post, or email me at the contact below. Be well.
Stash
About Me
I am a Psychiatric Nurse who retired from the Army after 24 years total service. I started out as a Private E-1, made Sergeant E-5 in 23 months, then went to nursing school and ROTC to get commissioned. I am interested in politics where I lean heavily conservative, movies, music, and books. Hopefully you will enjoy what you see and come back often.
Contact me
Stashiu3 AT gmail DOT com
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