3.31.2004
Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising
Joint Operations: Typhoon Rising Demo is available for download. The game has already gotten substantially better since we mastered this demo, but now is your chance to play a free version of the game I'm working on.
3.30.2004
air america radio goes on the air tomorrow. I am hoping this is the begining of a new and powerful counterbalance to talk radio. I'll be listening to the "O'Franken Factor" even if the name is gonna get old fast. C'mon Al, just do your own thing. Forget about o'poopy head.
3.28.2004
"Dinner Sir?"
"YOU GET A HAIRCUT BOY!"
ever wondered how popular the site is?
My soapbox is like, not very high, but it IS growing. Just wait for the mad content comming in the next 6 months. You're gonna be all emotionally attached.
This is the month of march, more or less
3.26.2004
Yahoo! News - Officials See Diffusion of Terror Groups
Yahoo! News - Officials See Diffusion of Terror Groups
it's happening. Just like in the newsgame.
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: March 21, 2004 - March 27, 2004 Archives
im gonna make this guy's blog a permalink
have a nice weekend ya'all.
Yahoo! News -
Bush Pokes Some Fun During Media Dinner
Bush is funny. I like him. And he looks just like Robert Redford.
3.22.2004
3.21.2004
Yahoo! News - 'Dawn of the Dead' Debut Tops 'Passion'
i know im not the only one who sees the irony.
3.19.2004
"I had sex with an Angelina Jolie affiliate"
I am writing this as a reply to the thread in the comments section under my Spain post. This is just too big for the comment system. You can read that stuff for the background.
You have been unfair and awfully defensive. Got me a bit upset. Oh well, let’s use it for some controversial Jibblog content…
The word purport:
This is a total non-issue but let’s get into it. I was frustrated that you had not posted any links and had been throwing around phrases such as, “…as Al Qaeda declares a truce with Spain” and “The same document purported to be Al Queda also endorses Bush…” That kind of unclear writing without links is frustrating to me.
You could have responded by explaining what you meant, but instead you wrote this:
“Purport (v) - Assumed to be such; supposed: "the purported author of the story"
I use that word since, any claim by Al Queda can be false, but seems to follow their pattern of releasing info. I suggest dictionary.com for word querries.”
Hmm, that doesn’t seem like the right definition of purport. “The purported author of a story” does not mean “the person who is assumed to be the author,” certainly not assumed by the speaker! Doesn’t purport convey, rather, a sense of doubt? If I one were to write: “my friend is the purported victim of a broken elevator,” would that mean he is assumed to be the victim, or would it mean something like: someone says he was the victim but there is reason to doubt that fact?
So I went to dictionary.com, great site, and your definition isn’t there. That’s irony on a base level, but it’s a hoot:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=purport
Purport (v) -
1. To have or present the often false appearance of being or intending; profess: selfish behavior that purports to be altruistic.
2. To have the intention of doing; purpose
In truth, your sentence makes a kind of more sense using the real definition of the word, as opposed to yours, but I don’t really want to get into to your purported analysis of Al Queda’s “pattern of releasing info.”
Please allow me to skip on to the fact that the meaning of purport was never the issue, it was that you wrote your sentence in such as to say that a document purported to be Al Queda. How can a piece of paper, or email for that matter, BE a terrorist group?
Of course this is obviously not what you meant, but IS what you wrote, and what I was really getting at in a silly way, was how can a document be written by a multi-celled worldwide terrorist network? It seems to me it cannot. Since you gave no links, I couldn’t go and check out what you were talking about, and that was frustrating. When a person writes anonymously it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. I didn't know who the hell was writing this. I didn’t know that you are, in fact, somebody I trust and whose opinion I respect.
Now, the document certainly could have been written by somebody, or by a group of people affiliated with, or even part of, Al Queda. It could even have been written by Osama Bin Laden. I never said otherwise.
Rereading what I wrote after having gone out and read a bit about the situation myself, I realize that I was vague when I said “I wouldn't take it too seriously per se,” but please be fair and include that “per se.” It’s important. My point was that we have a bombing, a group claiming to have done it, and claiming, or purporting, if you prefer, to be speaking for Al Queda. That, in and of itself, doesn’t make what they say true- and it certainly isn’t accurate to say Al Queda has called a truce with Spain based on what we know. In fact there is good reason to doubt these people who are doing the purporting.
I guess I assumed you would read the link I put up, which gives a lot of reasons why not to take Abu Hafs al-Masri on their word… In addition to “one official’s words,” which I agree is a horrible source, the Yahoo link paints a dubious picture of the group’s credibility. Check it out and tell me what you think.
Come to think of it, the Financial Times article does the same thing. Let’s review what the FT article YOU linked to, and presumably read, says:
“The brigade also claimed responsibility for the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad last year, and for last year's power cuts in the US and Canada.
But Gustavo de Aristegui, a spokesman for Spain's defeated conservative Popular Party dismissed the statement: "They are not capable of committing these attacks, much less of declaring a truce."
This group "is, according to anti-terrorism experts, not a very reliable terrorist organization because they have never really acted in any terrorist act," he told the Associated Press news agency....
…The Moroccan authorities have said the evidence in the Madrid attacks points toward Ansar al-Islam, a guerrilla group blamed for terrorist strikes in Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Morocco. Other groups suspected of involvement include the Moroccan groups, Salafia Jihadia and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.
Britain's Metropolitan Police and intelligence agencies are probing possible links.”
Now, riddle me this, why was the headline of the article “Islamist terror group 'calls truce' with Spain” and not “Al Queda ‘calls truce’ with Spain?”I say it is because to say the latter would be a mischaracterization of what the article says.
The Economist articles, according to you, say “most likely an Al Queda affiliate” But yesterday you said “Al Queda declares a truce with Spain.” Are these two statements the same? Or had you perhaps jumped the gun?
“I had sex with an Angelina Jolie affiliate.”
In fact, an affiliate of X can not be X, so if what the Economist suggests is true, then what you have said cannot be true.
And let me answer your final question. You asked why I say it was not a victory for Al Queda.
First, reread my post on Spain which can be found just a few posts under this one. However, I probably didn't explain the idea tht well. The idea, in short, is that Al Queda and its fingers want world war, and therefore wanted to put the right-wingers in power. Many pundits thought the Madrid bombings would do just that, so why not Al Queda too?
Second, Let me give you an example of why this could be a good thing for the good guys, if we capitalize. Spain says they will not drop out of Iraq if the UN takes command. Imagine this fictitious scenario: With the election looming, the White House wants to look like they play ball internationally. Now the US has an opportunity to look like team players and let the UN take command, thereby reinvigorating the international peace effort, keeping Spain in Iraq (and allowing them to still look tough on terror), strengthening the UN, and weakening the terrorist position that the US is after the Mid-east or out to destroy Islam or whatever.
Will this happen?
Probably not.
But there is hope. Check out the link below.
3.18.2004
3.17.2004
: "'If the message was to terrorists that we are willing to take you on,
then that has not succeeded. In Iraq, it has bred a lot of terrorism
and a lot of hatred to the Western world. Disarmament by war and
democracy by occupation are difficult prospects.'
--Hans Blix, A Vindicated Hans Blix Returns to U.S. Attribution "
spain
You can see what conservative thinkers are making of the Spain issue. I haven't been following the news much, so I'm not sure where most of the media is at, but I'd like to look at the analysis of Spain and make some comments.
After the bombing, but before the election, many believed that the bombing would shore up supportin Spain, and even throughout Europe, for the US and our various ventures abroad. The reasoning was that just as we got all tough after 9/11, the Spanish people would recognize the need to take the fight to Iraq, or whatever.
Either this was a preposterious idea and Al Queda operatives understand European and Spanish politics better than we do, or perhaps that is just what Al Queda operatives wanted.
From the first link in this post:
Hussein Massawi, former leader of Hezbollah, summed it up very pithily: 'We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you.'
This may not be true of everyone aligned with Al Queda, I imagine that the organization is quickly becoming useful to many people with more practical goals, but represents the perspective of the most radical, the ones that organize events like 9/11 and 3/11. THis is why I believe Osama LOVES GW Bush and the war in Iraq. I think OBL wants GWB to win the election- and may do something to make that happen.
Isn't it possibe, then, that Al Queda was trying to influence the election in the exact opposite way than they ultimately may have?
I have more to say about this line of thinking, but I gotta go. I miss you all.
arianna, I wish you were my governess
Salon.com | Progress vs. products: "But that doesn't seem to faze the White House. Last month, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said that when it comes to the state of the U.S. economy, 'the stock market is, after all, the final arbiter.' You know working stiffs are in trouble when the secretary of labor believes that the stock market is the end-all of our country's economic health. "
3.15.2004
Report Sees Bleak Trend in U.S. News Media
The U.S. News Media is in trouble. But if you follow my site you already knew that.
Official Says He Was Told to Withhold Medicare Data
Yahoo! News - Official Says He Was Told to Withhold Medicare Data: "Richard S. Foster, a nonpartisan Department of Health and Human Services (news - web sites) official who has been Medicare's chief actuary for nine years, said he nearly resigned in protest because he thought the top Medicare administrator, and perhaps White House officials, were acting against the public interest by withholding information about how much changes to the program would cost."
Rooney Responds to Gibson 'Wacko' Furor
Yahoo! News - Rooney Responds to Gibson 'Wacko' Furor
"Rooney, 85, noted that many of his critics took shots at his age. Even Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said he was too old.
"That wasn't nice, Bill," he said. "I didn't get old on purpose. It just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you." "
I hope I'm that sharp when I'm 85.
3.14.2004
Salon.com News | Socialists oust Spain's ruling party
"It was the first time a government that backed the Iraq war has been voted out of office."
Let's hope we're the next.
3.12.2004
3.11.2004
The Molecular Biology of Paradise
groovy. I'm not sure I agree with the author, but i have only read a part of his paper. I've not ruled out the possibility that emtional gravity applies and what goes up must come down. Yes physical pain has been reduced, but has our ability to achive pleasure not been reduced with it? People got enjoyment and pleasure from much simplier things in the days when physical pain was more of an everyday part of life. Would not a mental state of bliss become a new mean and a new normal?
ARIANNA ONLINE - March 08, 2004 - Campaign 2004: Six Things John Kerry Needs To Do To Win In November
ARIANNA ONLINE - March 08, 2004 - Campaign 2004: Six Things John Kerry Needs To Do To Win In November: "Strike a new bargain with the American people. Tell them, 'Let's put an end to the tyranny of low expectations. You can expect a lot more of me, and I will ask a lot more of you.' President Bush has used Sept. 11 to divide us � and as a handy visual for his new campaign ads. Imagine how different our country would be if he had used it instead to call on the American people not to go shopping but to commit themselves to a large, collective purpose. Believe in us enough to ask us to confront both the horrors wrought by terrorists and the horrors wrought by random violence in our inner cities, and by woefully inadequate health care, education and housing. Believe in us enough to ask us to share in the sacrifices necessary to build a country of real opportunity for all and a sturdy social safety net. The values and spirit that emerged on Sept. 11 � generosity, selflessness, courage � are still very much part of who we are. After years of being pandered to and lied to, we are longing for a leader who will speak straight to us and challenge us to live up to those intangible qualities that make our nation great."
3.10.2004
Salon.com Books | The great escape
Salon.com Books | The great escape
"How much money has flowed from the House of Saud to individuals and entities closely tied to the House of Bush? At least $1,477,100,000"
holy shnikies
Mason Rite Leaves Dude dead. Thanks for this Alex. Some crazy story. This makes the Masons that much more confusing to me... This is some trust ritual they were doing... Making him think they were shooting cans around his head... instead they killed him. WTF?
3.09.2004
Bush Softens 9/11 Commission Stance
Yahoo! News - Bush Softens 9/11 Commission Stance
"It was the administration's latest change of heart about the commission. Bush originally had opposed the panel's creation. Then he had opposed its request for a two-month extension of its work but eventually relented. Bush is intent on protecting his standing with Americans on the war on terror, which in polls is his best issue with voters."
ASSHOLE! And he uses the images to... argh, you know the rest.
Click here fore the Daily Howler's reaction to this:
"Most Democrats have trouble affording one home, so when they search for a leader who shares their values, of course they nominate a guy who is running for his sixth. Of course they nominate a guy whose 42-foot powerboat, the Scaramouche, sells for upward of $700,000. Of course they choose a guy famous for his Christophe haircuts and his Turnbull & Asser shirts. Of course they choose a couple who paid to have an unsightly fire hydrant moved from the front of their Boston house, and who sought to divert huge amounts of river water to supply their sprawling Idaho lawn."
3.08.2004
Taking the battle to Bush
Salon.com | Taking the battle to Bush:
"'I think an offensive strategy is called for,' says Teixeira, adding the Democrats should 'not just be talking about Kerry's record, but deliberately typecasting Bush and the people around him as being in many ways extremists.' Fortunately for Kerry, this administration offers Kerry what military planners call a target-rich environment. "
CNN.com - Transcripts
"Well, I don't think it's right to use those images that divide the families. But I would say this, Wolf, that if this does become the issue in the campaign, there will be many of us who will point out that this administration did not do everything it could have done prior to 9/11.
We still don't have the results of the 9/11 commission. The White House is still quarreling and quibbling with providing a full disclosure of everything they knew and what they did before 9/11.
And, you know, one of the things I always saw in any large organization is it's not just the people in the middle, it's the people at the top that have to participate in getting a grip on what went wrong.
As Americans, we deserve an answer to what went wrong that enabled Osama bin Laden and the terrorists to come in and conduct the attacks of 9/11. If that does become the issue, I think it's a loaded gun pointed right back at the White House. "
--Wesley Clark
GOP wants MoveOn.org ads pulled
I wonder if these folks are the same ones airing that silly anti-Kerry ad a few post6st down...
New York Daily News - Politics - Hair me out! Hil, Rudy grid & bear it
New York Daily News - Politics - Hair me out! Hil, Rudy grid & bear it: "'I was getting out of my car. He was getting out of Justice [Antonin] Scalia's. They weren't in camouflage,' Clinton said, taking a swipe at Cheney's hunting trip with the Supreme Court justice."
Excuse me, is this a roast of Drew Carrey or the future of this fucked up nation...
Naw, I guess humor is good. JB.com's moral outrage seems kinda gross considering what I do for my living. Everyone is offended these days 'eh'?
Conservatives Run Ad Parody Against Kerry
"'Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Hairstyle by Christophe's $75. Designer shirts: $250. Forty-two foot luxury yacht: $1 million. Four lavish mansions and beachfront estate: Over $30 million.' "
Can you believe this conservative group is attacking Kerry for having money! First, that is ironic in simple relation to their political ideology. Second, look at their boy. Jesus H. Gibson. Have they no shame?
Campaign 2004 is truly underway, fasten your seatbelts and ready your puke-buckets.
3.06.2004
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