Unexpected Light

Sun 10/29/06 at 12:11 pm

oct 245c

the niche

Read the story of the niche…


The Enemy Within

Sun 10/29/06 at 11:05 am

Columnist Victor Hanson writes about the Islamic World forcing us into the Dark Ages. I think he has several good points, but I am sad to realize how one-sidedly we view this issue.

Hanson has ample, legitimate evidence of the wrongs of the “islamo-fascists.” But I keep thinking about what we’re doing to ourselves.

“First, the Western liberal tradition is fragile and can still disappear,” writes Hanson.

Fear can destroy everything. Terror requires a victim; it requires someone who will be terrorized and cannot overcome their own fears. Fear causes paralysis. Fear makes us incapable of thinking.

“Second, the Enlightenment is not always lost on the battlefield.”

Enlightenment can be lost in Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and countless secret prisons. It can die under torture.

“Third, civilization is forfeited with a whimper, not a bang.”

Listen for that whimper in line at the airport when you surrender your 3.5 ounces of contraband and take off your clothes for the good of the homeland.

—–

There is no arguing against the claim that beheading is barbaric. Is it more barbaric than rape as punishment? Is it more barbaric than stoning? It seems our enemies have a spectrum of barbarisms. But, wait, our enemies? Our friends, the Afghans, practice rape as restitution (and keep us supplied with heroin). While our friends the Saudis may be above that, they do broadcast official beheadings on TV.

Regarding Iraq: proponents for the War Without End claim a democracy in Iraq will be a shining example for the region, the first big domino in a glorious sweep of liberation. We’re bringing freedom to the world!

In 50 years, the democracy of Israel has only pushed surrounding nations to extremes.

Now, tossing the royal family out of Saudi Arabia would surely create a shining example of a democracy (and, remember, Bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis). But that democracy might not be as reliable a supplier of oil, so, never mind.

I think the Simpsons see the future: our 51st state, Saudi Israelia. mjh


What Does TSA Do?

Sun 10/29/06 at 10:40 am

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Student creates Web site that automates fake boarding passes By Joshua Freed, The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — A computer-security student says terrorists would have no trouble getting around the government’s no-fly list, and to prove it he set up a Web site that prints fake boarding passes. …

“Before, any 12-year-old could have done it,” [Christopher Soghoian, 24, a doctoral student at Indiana University] said Friday. “Now any 30- or 40-year-old could do it as well.” [mjh: ouch!] …

Soghoian said taking nail clippers and liquids away from travelers is giving them a false sense of security, and he’s trying to show where the real threats are.

“When they say ‘For security reasons,’ everyone shuts up, everyone follows the rules and no one questions authority. And I don’t think that’s right,” he said.


Flush Rush!

Sun 10/29/06 at 10:36 am

ABQjournal: Google Leaves Little Wiggle Room By Jim Belshaw
Of the Journal

[Y]ou’ll find not only the audio recording of Limbaugh mocking Fox’s debilitating disease, but you’ll find a video of him, too.

He sits in his studio, arms raised above his head, swaying back and forth, physically mocking Michael J. Fox’s disease while dumping aspersions on the actor’s motives.

In addition to being despicable, it turns out that Rushbo was wrong about everything he was saying, too— wrong about Fox’s medication, wrong about Fox’s “acting”— wrong about everything.

The Internet is a good place to watch gasbags like Rush Limbaugh and reflect on how they ever rose to prominence in the first place.

It’s a mystery to me. How did a draft-dodging, thrice-divorced drug abuser become a champion of American “values”?
- - -

Today, Parade reports Lush is the top grossing radio jackass with over 13 million listeners. Who are these fools?


This Week With Mark Hinton

Wed 10/25/06 at 9:19 am

Lush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Monster

By now, you’ve heard about Lush Limbaugh’s attack against Michael J. Fox. Perhaps you’ve even read Limbaugh’s words. But you haven’t really faced the monstrosity of Limbaugh, the playground bully, until you see him mimic and mock Fox’s physical condition. Limbaugh is odious; he is vile. I cannot comprehend how anyone respects a single turd that falls from his mouth.

TSA - Taming Sheep Agency

Mer flew to Tucson last weekend. Like every good citizen of the fatherland homeland, she carefully thought about her duties regarding carry-on items. She packed her baggie with items of approved size. She contemplated the nature of gels versus ointments, creams and salves.

In Albuquerque, the guardians of safety and compliance put their heads together and recognized the threat implicit in a jar of homemade jam. No matter. Everything else passed scrutiny.

In Tucson, standards are higher — and Tucsonans safer for it, I’m sure. On the return leg, Mer’s little film canisters of face cream would not pass. The physically intimidating supervisor called to rule told her “original containers” are required. Well, in some places, if not others — but, perhaps, inconsistency is a tactic to keep us safe. Still, the original container is 3.5 oz and we all know what a crime against humanity it would be to try to smuggle .5 oz of contraband aboard. If half an ounce were missing from the original container, would it be OK? Or would that constitute unacceptable alteration of the contents? The answer is classified.

Mer was furious and prepared to say she’d never fly again, a threat she can’t keep. I haven’t flown in almost 6 years since I walked past countless men with machine guns fully prepared to kill me to keep me safe.

This is the price we’ve paid for lacking any imagination or real sense. It is the ultimate legacy of 9/11. We are ruled by fear and fear-mongers.

On a lighter note, maybe, I’m reminded of the story my brother, Dan, loves to tell. He and his wife, Sharon — a math scholar who speaks Arabic — lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years. They were returning to Saudi Arabia after a much needed escape to Europe. At the airport, the Saudi TSA — Total Sanctity Agency — found chocolates filled with flavored liquors in Sharon’s luggage. After confiscating her jam face cream chocolates, the Homeland Guardian advised my brother to take Sharon home and beat her for her crime.

The Saudis and the Israelis are our role models, now.

Karl Rove, the Architect of Victory

I heard part of the NPR interview with Karl der Grosse, king-maker. Karl says “stay the course” on the election — keep ‘em scared of terrorists and taxes — and the Republicans will hold onto both houses of Congress. He’s sure of it. He’s seen more polls than anyone. It’s a cakewalk. Republicans will be showered with roses on Election Day. Some call him a mad genius — they’re half right.

I look forward to the day, soon to come, when no one remembers who the hell Karl Rove was and everyone spits on the ground if you utter the word Duhbya.

Time to (re-)read my not-necessarily-fictional Left Undone. mjh

- - -

White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects
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Report Warns of Potential Voting Problems in 10 States By Amy Goldstein, Washington Post Staff Writer

Two weeks before the midterm elections, at least 10 states, including Maryland, remain ripe for voting problems, according to a study released yesterday by a nonpartisan clearinghouse that tracks electoral reforms across the United States.

The report by Electionline.org says those states, and possibly others, could encounter trouble on Election Day because they have a combustible mix of fledgling voting-machine technology, confusion over voting procedures or recent litigation over election rules — and close races. [mjh: perhaps this explains Rove’s odd optimism]
- - -

The GOP Leans on A Proven Strategy By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer

Beset by discouraging polls and division within ideological ranks, the White House is accelerating efforts to woo back disaffected conservatives and energize the Republican base in a reprise of a strategy that succeeded in the last two campaign cycles.

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have given multiple interviews to conservative journalists, senior adviser Karl Rove has telephoned religious and social activists, and the White House has staged signing ceremonies for legislation cracking down on terrorism and illegal immigration. Two weeks before Election Day, Bush aides invited dozens of radio talk show hosts for a marathon broadcast from the White House yesterday to reach conservative listeners. …

To maximize the blitz, the White House set up a tent on the North Lawn yesterday and let 42 radio hosts broadcast live during the day. Because it was on government property, “Radio Day” included outlets such as National Public Radio, but “it’s mostly conservative talk,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said. “This is a chance to talk to people and get heard,” said Snow, a former talk show host who did more than 20 interviews yesterday and has also been dispatched to talk to conservative Web sites such as the Power Line blog. …

Iraq was a subject of discussion as officials tried to explain Bush’s evolving rhetoric. Snow minimized the decision to no longer describe Bush’s policy as “stay the course,” telling Fox that he found only eight times when Bush used the phrase. The liberal Center for American Progress then quickly posted a list of 30 instances when Bush argued to “stay the course.” And Rumsfeld told Hannity that it is “nonsense” to say Bush is “backing away from ’stay the course,’ ” saying he only wants to avoid confusion. …

Some conservatives said it is too late. “They honestly need a baseball bat against the head,” said Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who helped Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) take over Congress in the 1990s. “Because if they don’t change the lexicon immediately, as bad as this election is going to be, they’re going to lose the presidency in 2008. I’ve given up on 2006. They’ve already made so many mistakes, there’s no way they can fix it in two weeks. But I’m worried now they’re going to lose all the marbles.”


Gas Attack

Tue 10/17/06 at 10:03 am

On the Republican noise machine’s gassy discharge regarding Gary King’s voting record, we need some information:

Do other legislators ever miss votes? What’s the average? Has Heather Wilson ever missed a single vote? How many votes missed are unforgivable? (Answer: one more than the those missed by whoever Republicans support.)

What was Gary King doing when he missed a vote? Was he in Scotland on a junket? Was he eating a free meal with Tom DeLay at Abramoff’s restaurant? Was he drilling for oil in the wilderness?

Which votes did he miss? The bills to name our state question, state dish, state dessert? The non-binding endorsement of apple pie and babies? The bill to write discrimination into the Constitution (aka the Defense of Marriage Act)? The “Only Republicans Know What Family Values Are” Act?

Inquiring minds want more than noise. mjh


White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects

Tue 10/17/06 at 10:01 am

White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects - washingtonpost.com By Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post Staff Writer

Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill are bracing for losses of 25 House seats or more. But party operatives say Rove is predicting that, at worst, Republicans will lose only 8 to 10 seats — shy of the 15-seat threshold that would cede control to Democrats for the first time since the 1994 elections and probably hobble the balance of Bush’s second term.
- - -

Rove thinks he has the winning slogan:

Vote Republican
It can’t get any worse


In which I was the early bird

Sun 10/15/06 at 2:36 pm

oct 174


On My Mind This Week

Sun 10/15/06 at 2:15 pm

swift boats scum to town

Well, we’ve hit a new low in supposedly local politics as those vile vets of villainy, the Swiftboat Bums, chip in their 2 million cents to attack Gary King and support the oh-so-squeaky-clean Bibb. To think I actually had some respect for Whitney Cheshire, his campaign manager, as a New Mexican-style Republican, which is to say not-rabidly-radical. My mistake in judgement.

wilson and responsibility

Heather Wilson says quite baldly that she can’t be expected to keep track of 435 House members; the echo chamber picks it up. Let’s see — Heather is on the Page Board. There are about 60 pages. Can she be expected to keep up with 60 pages when it is her job to do so?

Perhaps more importantly, haven’t the Republicans been thumping their chests as “THE Party of Personal Responsibility?” Doesn’t that include responsibility for your job on Capitol Hill? Apparently not.

Isn’t it interesting that other members of the Page Board will testify, but Heather won’t have to. I guess everyone knows her position on the board was meaningless.

Pobrecito Dendahl

Another interesting bit of nonsense conservatives tell each other is why John Dendahl can’t raise money. You see, it’s because Bill Richardson will remember the names of every donor to Dendahl’s campaign. It’s bad business to support Dendahl.

Understand — I don’t doubt that. However, isn’t that cowardice? To let Bully Bill shut you up? Aren’t the Republicans the Party of Balls and Principles? Let’s see them. Or does business sense trump principle for Republicans? Dendahl is simply a bad investment.

It is also interesting to hear the same conservatives object to Richardson’s war-chest and the fact that he is giving money to other candidates. They say those candidates will be in debt to Richardson. Hmmm. This from the same people who insist all campaign money is protected as free speech and handing wads of cash to Republicans doesn’t buy any access. Apparently, only Democrats are corrupted by the system Republicans endorse. Yeah, right.

baseball, football, nascar and narnia

No one expects any decent TV on Saturday night, for whatever reason. Yet, last night was a new low to me (and, I’m sure, a high for many others). Not only did we have baseball, which screws up all of October every year, but football and, omg, Nascar. Choose your poison.

So, we chose to watch the Chronicles of Narnia. When I was a kid, I loved Narnia and it made me aware of literature, and literary technique, in a way that was of necessity new to me. That said, I think I was oblivious to most of its Christian underpinnings. I’m sure I didn’t get the death and resurrection of Aslan in the way that is now obvious even to me. But I grew up believing the bible isn’t as interesting as Aesop’s Fables. And certainly, Narnia, if it is a reworking of Christianity, is much more appealing than the original.

Still, I had to pause the DVD and rail for a few minutes on the madness of war in the name of religion. And I am frustrated more today than at 10 by a story that elevates children to warriors and kings and queens. It is a twisted and stunted imagination that resolves the largest issues with warfare. Real creativity would paint a world in which peace flourishes. But that’s almost beyond conception, isn’t it?

crazy safe

This week, we took our friend, Kathleen to the airport for a flight to Texas and beyond. I sat in the observation area browsing the Web on my laptop. Merri gamely accompanied Kathleen through the gauntlet. Kathleen is 91 years old and nearly blind. It took an hour to get her through security. Her metal knees required a strip search and pat-down.

Kathleen, a kind and patient woman, endured the nonsense and apologized for burdening the insane system that regards her as a potential terrorist. This is the legacy of 9/11, where we turned our world upside-down with madness.

Mind you, I don’t think she should sail through security while “the usual suspects” are the only ones inconvenienced. I just think we need to find a better way to make air travel safer. Some way that doesn’t require groping a 90 year old. mjh


Counting The Iraqi Dead

Sun 10/15/06 at 2:13 pm

Counting The Iraqi Dead By Eugene Robinson

[T]he exact number [of Iraqi civilians killed] is not the point. Rather, it’s the scope and scale of the carnage.

Late last year President Bush gave an off-the-cuff estimate of 30,000 Iraqi civilian deaths — this after the administration had steadfastly refused to acknowledge even trying to count the Iraqi dead. Now the administration is willing to allow that perhaps 50,000 civilians have died. It is unclear whether any science at all has gone into these estimates or whether they were essentially pulled out of a hat.

600,000 Iraqis Killed By War, Credible? - Early Warning by William M. Arkin

In an editorial yesterday, [the Washington Times] commented on the Hopkins numbers, opining that probably over 100,000 Iraqis have died: “The independent British organization Iraq Body Count reports 44,000-49,000 deaths, which is probably too low. President Bush’s “about 30,000″ in December was obviously too low. The Iraqi group Iraqiyun reported 128,000 between the invasion and July 2005, which is probably closer to the mark. Extrapolated to the present, the figure would be in the high 100,000s or low 200,000s. But nearly 400,000 couldn’t possibly be the answer.”

Who would have thought it, that the anti-war Iraq Body Count would now be hailed as “too low” in its accounting? Who would have thought that the right wing newspaper would be urging acceptance of a number four times larger than the anti-war group for assuming Iraqi civilian casualties?


Ending the GOP ‘culture war’

Sun 10/15/06 at 2:04 pm

Eugene Robinson: Ending the GOP ‘culture war’

The culture war is supposed to be about morality, but really it’s a crusade to compel Americans to follow certain norms of private behavior that some social and religious conservatives believe are mandated by sociology, nature or God. Republican officeholders have paid lip service to this crusade, all the while knowing that the human family is diverse and fallible. They know that the gravest threat to marriage is the heterosexual divorce rate. They know that Republicans drink, swear, carouse and have affairs, just like Democrats. They know that homosexuals aren’t devils.

Most Americans know all of this too, by the way. Main Street hasn’t been Hicksville for a long time.

But Republicans positioned themselves as our national Church Lady and were rewarded with the support of the staunchest religious conservatives, who now feel betrayed.


No political party has monopoly on morals

Sun 10/15/06 at 1:59 pm

No political party has monopoly on morals By Leonard Pitts

So, anybody up for a chat about family values?

The term has been a registered trademark of the GOP — the self-styled Morals Party — for years, a bludgeon against Democrats who, by implication, oppose families and have no values. Like most political language, it’s a code, intended to be understood by those with ears to hear. “Family values” means the pol in question has God on speed dial and can be counted upon to oppose gun control, the so-called “homosexual agenda” and abortion, while pushing schools to teach, as Tina Fey once put it, that Adam and Eve rode to church on dinosaurs. …

Now Foley is in seclusion, sending his representatives out with roughly an explanation a day: Foley is a drunk, Foley was molested as a teenager, Foley is gay. Of them all, that last would-be clarification is the most vexing, playing as it does to the conservative predilection for conflating homosexuality and child molestation — as if Foley’s actions would be one iota less execrable if the pages were girls. Meantime, his party has its knickers in a knot over whether Speaker Dennis Hastert will survive this scandal.

I am preoccupied by different questions: what should we make of the fact that members of the Morals Party have behaved with such an appalling lack of same? How could our self-appointed decency police have been so inert while one of their members practiced perversion against children? Isn’t protecting children a family value?

I make no case for Democratic moral superiority. The Monica Lewinsky, Gary Condit, and Barney Frank scandals are too fresh in memory for anyone to suggest that with a straight face. But at least the Democrats had the good taste not to sell themselves as The Morals Party, never claimed to have God on speed dial.

One feels sorry for those who bought what the GOP was selling. One hopes they will be less gullible in the future.

And the Morals Party? There is no such thing.


This Week’s Deep Thinker - WTF?

Wed 10/11/06 at 4:23 pm

ABQjournal: Letters to the Editor

Democrats, Media, ACLU The Real Terrorist Threat

INSTEAD OF being united to fight the war on terror and the war in Iraq, the Democratic politicians, the far-left news media and the ACLU are doing everything they can to keep our country in disarray. Just because they don’t like President Bush, they do everything they can to hurt our country.

Democratic politicians, far-left news media and the ACLU are the biggest terrorists in this country. They may not be killing Americans and American soldiers directly, but indirectly they are.

Foreign terrorists don’t have to come here to attack us, the above named organizations are doing it for them. Our country is safer in spite of them. They oppose the Bush administration on everything he tries to do to protect our country.

John Kerry claimed he had a plan for everything. If he and the Democrat politicians care about our country why don’t they come up with those plans as Democratic proposals to help our county and get credit as their ideas. Everything from the Democrats is negative, never anything positive.

LOUIS GALLEGOS
Albuquerque

I don’t mean to be negative, but I’m positive Gallegos is a divider, not a uniter — and an idiot, to boot.

Here’s an idea: stop equating those who won’t kiss the president’s ass with the terrorists. mjh


I Wrote A Book!

Mon 10/09/06 at 9:45 pm

I have just turned in the last chapters of my book on Windows Vista. I’m not elated or even relieved, but I am reasonably happy and proud of the intense concentration I put into this project over the past two months, which seem to have flown by. I wrote over 100,000 words and took over 200 screen captures. In the process, I installed at least 4 Builds (versions) more than a dozen times.

Which is not to say I’m done, just at the end of a big phase. Now, I begin “author review,” in which I’ll graciously accept the comments of two or more editors. Of course, I’ve already worked with the best editor — Mer has read every word and contributed considerably to the book.

In this final phase, I also have to compare my text and figures to the latest build, Release Candidate 2. I want to be as current as possible, though the final version — the RTM (Release to Manufacture) — comes right around my deadline.

Three weeks from now, I can return to the blogosphere and ignoring the clock and calendar a little bit. mjh


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