Ideology - Things that make me go hmmm
Glenn Reynolds, who should know better, implies anyone who's questioning our efforts in rebuilding Iraq is a fifth columnist who will cost us the war. This comes at the end of a link to a thought-provoking article by Victor Davis Hansen in the National Review Online.
Ann Coulter, who doesn't know any better, resurrects the ghost of Joe McCarthy as a great patriot smeared by treasonous liberals. Actual, unretouched quote: “The left cut down a brave man, but not before the American people heard the truth”.
Fortunately, I can get away from all this and head down to San Diego to “take direct action against the many issues and facets of the system that maintains a world based on power, class, race, sex, and species”.
Or I could just stay home and oppress my loved ones, like any good middle-aged white male.
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Life
Yes, I did go to the Farmer's Market this morning, and, yes, I've already eaten all the English shelling peas. But I got two cartons (3 pints each) of Raspberries, so there's plenty of those left. I also added support for Oracle 8i to Chrysalis between snacks.
I've missed a beautiful day up til now, so we're off to the beach with the dogs.
Yes, I did go to the Farmer's Market this morning, and, yes, I've already eaten all the English shelling peas. But I got two cartons (3 pints each) of Raspberries, so there's plenty of those left. I also added support for Oracle 8i to Chrysalis between snacks.
I've missed a beautiful day up til now, so we're off to the beach with the dogs.
War and Peace, cont.
A grab bag of stuff, all of which I'm still digesting myself.
A really fascinating article in Wired News on how the sysadmins at Iraq's State Company for Internet Services (SCIS) have gotten Iraq back on-line. Apparently, SCIS is still being run by Baathist holdovers with the apparent approval of the Coalition Provisional Authority, according to the lead sysadmin.
That's just one bit of Good News/Bad News from Iraq. A poll says almost 2 out of 3 Iraqis want the U.S. military to stay until Iraq is stable and secure; only 17 percent want American soldiers out now. “But some U.S. lawmakers are increasingly uneasy about the daily killings of soldiers, the stretching thin of troop forces, excessive demands on reservists and the costs of the war.” See this article for a perspective from the troops. Strategic Forecasting takes a pessimistic view of the current situation: “Suppressing a guerrilla operation without alienating the indigenous population represents an extreme challenge to the United States that at this point does not appear avoidable -- and the seriousness of which does not appear to be broadly understood”. The Economist calls these efforts counterproductive.
Other reports suggest that the situation elsewhere in Iraq isn't as bad as it's made out to be, and that the Iraqis are spontaneously organizing themselves to restore services and civil society. At the same time, this article in the NYT says “United States military commanders say foreign fighters are being actively recruited by loyalists to Saddam Hussein to join the resistance against American forces in Iraq”.
It looks like Saddam and his sons are alive and in Iraq. We may have just found documentary evidence of Iraq's WMD program. We'll see.
The latest in a series of continuing operations in Afghanistan is underway. Here's a story about how the civil situation there continues to deteriorate.
There are reports of student arrests in Iran; after 10 days of demonstrations, things appear quiet for the moment. Hopefully, this is just a respite and the reform movement will continue to gather strength. Here's a photo essay of the protesters from Iranian.com. How should the US respond? Read this.
Here's a post making the imperialist argument in US foreign policy. Here's a better, more considered set of ideas.
Some links via Slashdot, Instapundit, The Agonist
Update: Now there's a report that Saddam and one son may have been killed in an operation last Wednesday. DNA tests are being performed.
A grab bag of stuff, all of which I'm still digesting myself.
A really fascinating article in Wired News on how the sysadmins at Iraq's State Company for Internet Services (SCIS) have gotten Iraq back on-line. Apparently, SCIS is still being run by Baathist holdovers with the apparent approval of the Coalition Provisional Authority, according to the lead sysadmin.
That's just one bit of Good News/Bad News from Iraq. A poll says almost 2 out of 3 Iraqis want the U.S. military to stay until Iraq is stable and secure; only 17 percent want American soldiers out now. “But some U.S. lawmakers are increasingly uneasy about the daily killings of soldiers, the stretching thin of troop forces, excessive demands on reservists and the costs of the war.” See this article for a perspective from the troops. Strategic Forecasting takes a pessimistic view of the current situation: “Suppressing a guerrilla operation without alienating the indigenous population represents an extreme challenge to the United States that at this point does not appear avoidable -- and the seriousness of which does not appear to be broadly understood”. The Economist calls these efforts counterproductive.
Other reports suggest that the situation elsewhere in Iraq isn't as bad as it's made out to be, and that the Iraqis are spontaneously organizing themselves to restore services and civil society. At the same time, this article in the NYT says “United States military commanders say foreign fighters are being actively recruited by loyalists to Saddam Hussein to join the resistance against American forces in Iraq”.
It looks like Saddam and his sons are alive and in Iraq. We may have just found documentary evidence of Iraq's WMD program. We'll see.
The latest in a series of continuing operations in Afghanistan is underway. Here's a story about how the civil situation there continues to deteriorate.
There are reports of student arrests in Iran; after 10 days of demonstrations, things appear quiet for the moment. Hopefully, this is just a respite and the reform movement will continue to gather strength. Here's a photo essay of the protesters from Iranian.com. How should the US respond? Read this.
Here's a post making the imperialist argument in US foreign policy. Here's a better, more considered set of ideas.
Some links via Slashdot, Instapundit, The Agonist
Update: Now there's a report that Saddam and one son may have been killed in an operation last Wednesday. DNA tests are being performed.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
War and Peace, cont.
More Salam Pax. And I thought the cabbies in NY and SF were a little scary.
More on this later.
More Salam Pax. And I thought the cabbies in NY and SF were a little scary.
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Software
Some dirt on SCO from Forbes. Apparently, SCO's parent company has been doing quite well suing other companies for the past several years.
Some dirt on SCO from Forbes. Apparently, SCO's parent company has been doing quite well suing other companies for the past several years.
Software - MSFT taking aim at Google?
Prompted by this report about a web crawler called MSNBot, Dave Winer investigates and posts this anonymous email that says it's so. Interesting, in light of the rumours about a possible Google IPO (which Google's co-founder had earlier denied). Here's another recent story from C/Net on the subject.
Now, I'm no lover of Microsoft. But they're perfectly within their rights to compete against Google. And Google needs to take a page from Intuit's book: the only way to defeat MS in head-to-head competition is to continually out-innovate them and then delight your customers better and more often than they do - because MS will surely out-spend you, out-work you, and out-market you. But it can be done; you just have to be (to steal someone else's phrase) insanely great.
Of course, if you are, they may just turn around and buy you. And the government's probably not going to step in to prevent it this time.
Prompted by this report about a web crawler called MSNBot, Dave Winer investigates and posts this anonymous email that says it's so. Interesting, in light of the rumours about a possible Google IPO (which Google's co-founder had earlier denied). Here's another recent story from C/Net on the subject.
Now, I'm no lover of Microsoft. But they're perfectly within their rights to compete against Google. And Google needs to take a page from Intuit's book: the only way to defeat MS in head-to-head competition is to continually out-innovate them and then delight your customers better and more often than they do - because MS will surely out-spend you, out-work you, and out-market you. But it can be done; you just have to be (to steal someone else's phrase) insanely great.
Of course, if you are, they may just turn around and buy you. And the government's probably not going to step in to prevent it this time.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Culture
A brilliant post on why real environmentalism (of all kinds) is about protecting the shared commons. Favorite quote:
“Linux is another kind of environmentalism”
A brilliant post on why real environmentalism (of all kinds) is about protecting the shared commons. Favorite quote:
“Linux is another kind of environmentalism”
Software
IBM isn't giving an inch to SCO's demands.
At lunch, I shared this nightmare scenario with my colleagues:
SCO wins intellectual property control of Linux. Microsoft buys SCO.
That, of course, is the exact opposite of what I predicted earlier. I still think that's the most likely scenario. But given our judicial system's general level of cluelessness about IP plus the Justice Department's blind eye towards antitrust concerns, particularly where Microsoft is concerned, the worst-case scenario can't be dismissed.
But it's notable that IBM isn't giving an inch. And they might know a thing or two about defending and using their intellectual property rights, yes?
IBM isn't giving an inch to SCO's demands.
At lunch, I shared this nightmare scenario with my colleagues:
SCO wins intellectual property control of Linux. Microsoft buys SCO.
That, of course, is the exact opposite of what I predicted earlier. I still think that's the most likely scenario. But given our judicial system's general level of cluelessness about IP plus the Justice Department's blind eye towards antitrust concerns, particularly where Microsoft is concerned, the worst-case scenario can't be dismissed.
But it's notable that IBM isn't giving an inch. And they might know a thing or two about defending and using their intellectual property rights, yes?
Another Anti-Ideological Rant
Further proof that ideology is the opposite of critical thinking:
Read this for the brilliant insight that because Bill Clinton lied about a sordid affair with an intern, the debate over whether the Administration lied about the WMDs is irrelevant. The original article being criticized is equally noteworthy for overstating the case to fulfill its ideological biases: “[there is]...an odd unwillingness to state the simple fact that in many cases the White House lied to the American public, repeatedly and unashamedly...”.
A pox on both your houses. This is how the real truth gets obscured - by being hidden under the rubble of partisan nonsense.
The White House didn't lie - it slanted and manipulated information in order to sell its already agreed-upon strategy. This isn't a story about conspiracy; it's about how those in power use the tools of modern public relations to advance their agenda, obscuring their real intentions by hiding them behind a smokescreen of emotionally charged issues. The previous administration practiced essentially the same tactics (although perhaps not with the panache of the current one).
The second-order story is how pundits of all sides also use the tactics of modern P.R. - most notably, the personal attack to discredit the target and obscure the target's argument - to advance their agendas (and careers).
An informed citizenry needs to understand this, so that it can look past the smokescreen and gain an understanding of what's really going on and why. Cheap gibes at overly earnest partisan rhetoric are just noise.
Here's something to help clear away the fumes.
Further proof that ideology is the opposite of critical thinking:
Read this for the brilliant insight that because Bill Clinton lied about a sordid affair with an intern, the debate over whether the Administration lied about the WMDs is irrelevant. The original article being criticized is equally noteworthy for overstating the case to fulfill its ideological biases: “[there is]...an odd unwillingness to state the simple fact that in many cases the White House lied to the American public, repeatedly and unashamedly...”.
A pox on both your houses. This is how the real truth gets obscured - by being hidden under the rubble of partisan nonsense.
The White House didn't lie - it slanted and manipulated information in order to sell its already agreed-upon strategy. This isn't a story about conspiracy; it's about how those in power use the tools of modern public relations to advance their agenda, obscuring their real intentions by hiding them behind a smokescreen of emotionally charged issues. The previous administration practiced essentially the same tactics (although perhaps not with the panache of the current one).
The second-order story is how pundits of all sides also use the tactics of modern P.R. - most notably, the personal attack to discredit the target and obscure the target's argument - to advance their agendas (and careers).
An informed citizenry needs to understand this, so that it can look past the smokescreen and gain an understanding of what's really going on and why. Cheap gibes at overly earnest partisan rhetoric are just noise.
Here's something to help clear away the fumes.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Life
Took the dogs down the beach both Saturday and Sunday. The beach is a little funky, however. We went a week ago Sunday evening and found a mess; high tide had washed up all kinds of gunk, including kelp and thousands of little Jellyfish known as By-the-Wind-Sailors. There's a cool QuickTime image of one here. The tide came so high it left standing pools of water about 50-100 feet up from the beach, which have stagnated in a week's time. Pretty cool if you're a biologist studying one of these accidental microcosms; less fun if you're trying to keep Mr. C from laying down in one.
Took the dogs down the beach both Saturday and Sunday. The beach is a little funky, however. We went a week ago Sunday evening and found a mess; high tide had washed up all kinds of gunk, including kelp and thousands of little Jellyfish known as By-the-Wind-Sailors. There's a cool QuickTime image of one here. The tide came so high it left standing pools of water about 50-100 feet up from the beach, which have stagnated in a week's time. Pretty cool if you're a biologist studying one of these accidental microcosms; less fun if you're trying to keep Mr. C from laying down in one.
Software - The SCO Follies Continue
IBM concedes nothing, ignores SCO's Friday the 13th deadline, and prepares for a legal battle. A German sidesteps SCO's NDA and reports on what he saw in a comparison of SCO's code and Linux. Wisps of smoke rising from recently discharged revolvers are conspicuous in their absence. Finally, a Linux kernel hacker (could it be Alan Cox?) alleges misappropriation of his GPL'd code in SCO Unix.
Updates: Novell backs off its claims to the Unix copyright (but not its claim to the Unix patents). And SCO is apparently going to sue another hardware manufacturer.
IBM concedes nothing, ignores SCO's Friday the 13th deadline, and prepares for a legal battle. A German sidesteps SCO's NDA and reports on what he saw in a comparison of SCO's code and Linux. Wisps of smoke rising from recently discharged revolvers are conspicuous in their absence. Finally, a Linux kernel hacker (could it be Alan Cox?) alleges misappropriation of his GPL'd code in SCO Unix.
Updates: Novell backs off its claims to the Unix copyright (but not its claim to the Unix patents). And SCO is apparently going to sue another hardware manufacturer.
Saturday, June 14, 2003
The Middle East, cont.
An excellent article from the Royal Institute of International Affairs on American strategy and prospects in the Middle East.
An excellent article from the Royal Institute of International Affairs on American strategy and prospects in the Middle East.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
The Middle East
More Israeli attacks in Gaza as a response to yesterday's suicide bombing. ABC Australia reports that the Israeli Army has been ordered to “'completely wipe out' the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas”. The Administration said the violence was not surprising and that it remained committed to the peace process. For an Israeli perspective see this article on Ha'aretz.
Iranian students take to the streets in Teheran. The Economist also reports on this story. The Iranian Prime Minister calls for restraint. This comes amidst charges that Iran is harboring Al-Queda leaders who directed the recent attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Unrest in Iraq, as the US mounts a major military operation. Read what Salam Pax and G. in Baghdad say about daily life in the Iraqi capital.
Oil sales are set to resume.
More trouble brewing in Afghanistan according to a Swiss security expert. Here is the story on the latest suicide bombing there.
More Israeli attacks in Gaza as a response to yesterday's suicide bombing. ABC Australia reports that the Israeli Army has been ordered to “'completely wipe out' the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas”. The Administration said the violence was not surprising and that it remained committed to the peace process. For an Israeli perspective see this article on Ha'aretz.
Iranian students take to the streets in Teheran. The Economist also reports on this story. The Iranian Prime Minister calls for restraint. This comes amidst charges that Iran is harboring Al-Queda leaders who directed the recent attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Unrest in Iraq, as the US mounts a major military operation. Read what Salam Pax and G. in Baghdad say about daily life in the Iraqi capital.
Oil sales are set to resume.
More trouble brewing in Afghanistan according to a Swiss security expert. Here is the story on the latest suicide bombing there.
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Monday, June 09, 2003
Life
I let S. rope my into taking that stupid Fox faux-IQ thing tonight (OK, I really did it to get out of going for a run). I missed 6 questions out of 60, so my faux-IQ is 133. S. got 130, so now I'm walking around the house singing "I'm smarter than you are, I'm smarter than you are".
I know, I know - childish.
I let S. rope my into taking that stupid Fox faux-IQ thing tonight (OK, I really did it to get out of going for a run). I missed 6 questions out of 60, so my faux-IQ is 133. S. got 130, so now I'm walking around the house singing "I'm smarter than you are, I'm smarter than you are".
I know, I know - childish.
News
Two things that might not get buried:
First, NPR and CBS Marketwatch report that an independent study of WorldCom's twisted finances reveal former CEO Bernie Ebber's complicity: “Ebbers was aware, at a minimum, that WorldCom was meeting revenue expectations through financial gimmickry”. The report could be used as a basis for charges against Ebbers.
Good. First Bernie, then Skilling and Lay.
Second, the adminstration is now being forced by the mainstream press to face up to the question of why WMDs haven't been found. Yesterday, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice; today, the President.
Both of these issues deserve a full-court press from the media. Let's see what happens.
Two things that might not get buried:
First, NPR and CBS Marketwatch report that an independent study of WorldCom's twisted finances reveal former CEO Bernie Ebber's complicity: “Ebbers was aware, at a minimum, that WorldCom was meeting revenue expectations through financial gimmickry”. The report could be used as a basis for charges against Ebbers.
Good. First Bernie, then Skilling and Lay.
Second, the adminstration is now being forced by the mainstream press to face up to the question of why WMDs haven't been found. Yesterday, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice; today, the President.
Both of these issues deserve a full-court press from the media. Let's see what happens.
Sunday, June 08, 2003
War and Peace
Opinions from all over the spectrum on those well-hidden WMDs:
Molly Ivins has the best line: “The ex post facto development of tender concern on the part of hawks for human rights is delightful to see”. As always, the humour is matched by the clarity and brevity of her writing.
Glenn Reynolds, on the other hand, delivers a rambling, illogical, humorless screed. He does, however, make a good point (finally!) at the end: “In a way, of course, the "Bush lied" stuff serves the Administration's interests, by muddying the waters so that less dramatic, but more pointed, questions are hard to ask”.
Howard Owens does a good job of summarizing the arguments across the board.
The Agonist points to a summary of opinions from the world press. It also points to a claim by a Norwegian weapons inspector that the US provided the UN Security Council with misleading information about Iraq's possession of WMDs.
Finally, the controversy over the WMDs and how it's affecting the British political scene is captured here by the Observer.
My opinion? The "Bush lied" and other conspiracy theories are worthless distractions. So is the right's revisionist argument that we did it to free Iraq from Saddam. I never believed that we went to war because of the threat of WMDs, much less to liberate the Iraqi people or to get Iraq's oil or to go after terrorism. The real reason was always power politics - the desire to reshape the political landscape in the Middle East in a way favorable to US interests and control. The threat of Saddam possessing WMDs was a critical tool in the Administration's P.R. campaign to gain the necessary support for the war. And so their existence and relevance were hyped as an effective way to influence public and political opinion.
And now the outcome (at least so far) doesn't justify the hype. This is causing real fallout in Britain. The PR machine is in full spin cycle here to try to contain the damage to the Administration's credibility. Ideological lines have been drawn - and Reynolds is right: “less dramatic, but more pointed, questions are hard to ask”.
Opinions from all over the spectrum on those well-hidden WMDs:
Molly Ivins has the best line: “The ex post facto development of tender concern on the part of hawks for human rights is delightful to see”. As always, the humour is matched by the clarity and brevity of her writing.
Glenn Reynolds, on the other hand, delivers a rambling, illogical, humorless screed. He does, however, make a good point (finally!) at the end: “In a way, of course, the "Bush lied" stuff serves the Administration's interests, by muddying the waters so that less dramatic, but more pointed, questions are hard to ask”.
Howard Owens does a good job of summarizing the arguments across the board.
The Agonist points to a summary of opinions from the world press. It also points to a claim by a Norwegian weapons inspector that the US provided the UN Security Council with misleading information about Iraq's possession of WMDs.
Finally, the controversy over the WMDs and how it's affecting the British political scene is captured here by the Observer.
My opinion? The "Bush lied" and other conspiracy theories are worthless distractions. So is the right's revisionist argument that we did it to free Iraq from Saddam. I never believed that we went to war because of the threat of WMDs, much less to liberate the Iraqi people or to get Iraq's oil or to go after terrorism. The real reason was always power politics - the desire to reshape the political landscape in the Middle East in a way favorable to US interests and control. The threat of Saddam possessing WMDs was a critical tool in the Administration's P.R. campaign to gain the necessary support for the war. And so their existence and relevance were hyped as an effective way to influence public and political opinion.
And now the outcome (at least so far) doesn't justify the hype. This is causing real fallout in Britain. The PR machine is in full spin cycle here to try to contain the damage to the Administration's credibility. Ideological lines have been drawn - and Reynolds is right: “less dramatic, but more pointed, questions are hard to ask”.
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Poetry
“Wir sollen nicht wissen, warum
dieses und jenes uns meistert;
wirkliches Lebenis stumm,
nur, daß es uns begeistert,
macht uns mit ihm vertraut”
“We are not to know why
this and that masters us;
real life makes no reply,
only that it enraptures us,
makes us familiar with it”
Rainer Maria Rilke, May, 1924 (Translation by John J. L. Mood)
“Wir sollen nicht wissen, warum
dieses und jenes uns meistert;
wirkliches Lebenis stumm,
nur, daß es uns begeistert,
macht uns mit ihm vertraut”
“We are not to know why
this and that masters us;
real life makes no reply,
only that it enraptures us,
makes us familiar with it”
Rainer Maria Rilke, May, 1924 (Translation by John J. L. Mood)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
