Using Bees To Effect Vengeance |
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I get to be as self-indulgent as I want without wasting anyone's time. Guilt-free solipsism -- excellent!
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Wednesday, October 31, 2001
I just got some excellent spam purporting to be from a top Nigerian civil servant. Apparently the Nigerian government wants to launder $30 million dollars through my bank account -- in exchange I will get to keep 20%, plus receive 500,000 barrels of gasoline for below-market prices as a token of appreciation. I am not joking. This is what the email said. Should I do it? They haven't even asked for my bank account information. At least not yet.... | Recent events have shed some more light on The Carlyle Group, a shadowy defense industry holding company that is home to an unseemly array of ex-statesmen...and that you may remember reading about on this here blog back on March 5th. | BLAIR NAMED SPECTACLE WEARER OF THE YEAR Damn. I really thought this was my year. Anyway, I'll imagine he'll drop what he's doing and rush home to receive the award. | The Asia Times features an interesting column taking a geo-political look at Bin Laden's strategy, concluding that it is likely to backfire disastrously. Whether or not he forges a Pan-Islamic movement united against the West, bin Laden is near to triggering the establishment of an alliance far more fearsome than any conceivable alignment of Muslim countries. America, Russia, and China - a weight that indeed no other geopolitical combination whatsoever could withstand - may well and indeed should, on bin Laden's provocation, themselves join together in an alliance no less grand than the one he hopes to create. | Tuesday, October 30, 2001
Monday, October 29, 2001
Jeff, Roxanne and I recently went to a bar to watch the first night of the Series. Our interest waned for a number of reasons, including the Yankees' lackluster performance and the scatological serenade provided by an acoustic guitar-toting, indoor-shades-wearing, muscle-T sporting one-man-cover-band, a British boor with a penchant for slipping pathetic double-entendres into your favorite pub singalong numbers. But the main reason we weren't concentrating was because a discussion about the backstop ads that the networks superimpose behind the plate morphed into a back-and-forth about Clear Channel Communications, and their shady and/or worrying business practices. More interesting than the game. And than Fratboy Ray Bans Hotel-California-with-testicle-jokes bloke. Salon is a self-appointed Clear Channel watchdog, and their string of pieces on the company make for interesting reading. | Sunday, October 28, 2001
"America has its faults, but it is a free country, a democracy, it is our ally, and some of the reaction to Sept. 11 betrays a hatred of America that shames those that feel it," he said. "I think of a black man, born in poverty, who became chief of their armed forces and is now secretary of state, Colin Powell, and I wonder frankly whether such a thing could have happened here. "I think of a country where people who do well don't have questions asked about their accent, their class, their beginnings, but have admiration for what they have done and the success they've achieved." -- Tony Blair, in his recent speech to the Labour Party conference | Friday, October 26, 2001
Well, I mentioned earlier that I would probably have some reservations about the anti-terrorism act, and Wired's Declan McCullagh has validated my fears. These powers -- none of which are subject to sunset provisions -- look very dangerous to me -- Clearly some action was warranted. But these provisions go way too far, removing crucial checks and balances on law enforcement powers. Can we be both safe and free? I think we can. | Many foresee supernatural end to Earth Wow, how interesting. That many people think the world will end in our lifetime? I guess that explains why they're not sweating the whole global warming/environmental catastrophe thing. | Thursday, October 25, 2001
MC Hammer Hooks Up With Members Of The House Of Representatives For New Video. Ceçi n'est pas une Onion headline. | For all of you out there being irritated by an overeager suitor in whom you have no interest...just give 'em this phone number. [via memepool] | Wednesday, October 24, 2001
MenWhoLookLikeKennyRogers.com An invaluable resource for those of us who've had trouble keeping tabs on this sort of thing. [thanks Bekkah] | In the midst of exacerbated tensions in the seemingly insoluble Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it's amazing to read that the IRA is decommissioning its weapons (or at least some of them). It's hard to appreciate with all this other stuff going on, but this is a remarkable, *remarkable* achievement by all concerned. | Tuesday, October 23, 2001
Looks like Amazon is having a sale on Blue Note albums -- Rudy Van Gelder remasters for $9. Drool. | Briton rescued via Web SOS A British man who became stuck in his garden shed while surfing the Internet was rescued after his online plea for help was picked up by an American stranger. Pranksters bolted Stephen Riley, from Lancashire in northern England, into his shed while he was using his computer at about 4 a.m., the Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Saturday. No one heard his frantic cries for help so in desperation he sent a message to an Internet chatroom asking that anyone out there call the Lancashire Police. His plea was picked up by an Internet user 5,000 miles away in the United States who called police -- much to their surprise. | TV Preacher's Ministry Sends Out Fund-Raising Appeal Exploiting His Controversial Tirade Over Terrorist Attacks. If you haven't heard the audio of Falwell's original statement, the MP3 is still up. | New York Cleric's Departure From Mosque Leaves Mystery -- the NY Times picks up on the story blogged here a few days ago, and adds some interesting details.... | Monday, October 22, 2001
Okay, I'm sick of whinging and moaning, so it's time I slap up some new MP3s Of The Time Increment. Elliott Smith -- I Don't Think I'm Ever Gonna Figure It Out One of his trademark fiendishly-complex-acoustic-guitar-pickin' tunes. Packs more intelligence and melody into 2 minutes than most bands do on a whole album. Elastica -- In The City They broke up the other week, and their last album was only half-decent, but when they were on form, they were exhilarating. This tune's from back in the day, never appeared on an album, and does the business in under 90 seconds. Buzzy, catchy, insouciantly sexy post-punk guitar pop music. Young Fresh Fellows -- Barky's Spiritual Store What can be said. It makes you (note: not me) want to jump up and down pretending to play power chords, it has excellent falsetto backing vocals, propulsive drumming, and appropriately unimportant lyrics. They mail anywhere. Spoon -- Lines In The Suit (demo) "How come I feel so washed out/At such a tender age, now?". Lush acoustic demo of an angular song from Girls Can Tell. Nice massed harmonies. And the piece de resistance. Radiohead -- True Love Waits (live) Not the version from the forthcoming live record. Instead, a much earlier version which features a cool keyboard part that enhances the song greatly. This really is a spectacularly beautiful song. What do these tunes have in common? Not much, except for being good and possessive of a relatively small file size. | Did you know that both Paris and Berlin have openly gay mayors? Me either. ''Ich bin schwul und das ist gut so'' -- catchy, huh? If Yahoo doesn't update their English Premier League fantasy soccer scores in a more timely fashion, I'm going to have to have a word with somebody. None of us want that. The new Wilco record is kind of a downer. People who say the economy is going to rebound within the next year clearly consume vats of outrageously potent class-A drugs on a daily basis. That goes triple for people saying so about the tech sector. On a not entirely unrelated note -- an excerpt from a competitor's most recent quarterly earnings statement: "As a result of continued weakness in the market environment, revenues for the second fiscal quarter totaled $11.6 million compared to $102.0 million in the same period a year ago." | Friday, October 19, 2001
ACLU are terrorists like the Taliban. Nice one, Mr. Allan C. Holden. Why would the esteemed Kalamazoo Gazette deem these ramblings worthy of publication? Good thing we have the 1st Amendment, right Mr. Holden? | Some of you are aware of my affection for Rhino's '60s Soul box set, Beg, Scream & Shout-- "144 chunks of red-dirt, uptown, down-home, Northern, Deep-South, spit 'n' polish, grits 'n' sweat, deep, d-e-e-p SOUL", each artist allocated one song and one song only. And packaged like a box of 7"s, with baseball card profiles of each artist within. All kinds of obscure soul music, just as good as the established classics. Most people who've experienced this box set at my house have had to track down a copy for themselves, expense be damned. That's because it is, in fact, the Best Box Set Ever. Why am I telling you all of this? Because Rhino have just gone and released Can You Dig It? The '70s Soul Experience, a six-disc 136-song orgasm-in-a-box. Curses -- don't they know we're in a recession??? On the other hand, my birthday is coming up.... | Thursday, October 18, 2001
Imam of New York's Islamic Center: Jews behind everything. The voice of unreason! He's since buggered off to Egypt. I'd be skeptical as to the veracity of the article, but MEMRI has been praised for its work in mainstream publications, so I've no reason to question it. Metafilter is discussing the article here. And along similar lines: Half of Pakistanis believe Israel behind US terrorist attacks: Poll | Wednesday, October 17, 2001
Today has been a particularly unsettling day -- increased tensions over Kashmir, the assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister, pulmonary anthrax on Capitol Hill, heavy bombing in Afghanistan. And it's only 11:40 a.m. I have to give props to The Economist -- their ability to contextualize and analyze each of these events almost immediately is much appreciated by those of us whose coping strategy is "keep on top of all events at all times". | Tuesday, October 16, 2001
A co-worker just showed me the Paul Frank site, which has to be one of the most entertaining brand websites I've ever seen (plus an all-too-rare example of well-done Flash). | Geology may give bin Laden away / Experts study recent video with hope of identifying his location in Afghanistan I love it when obscure fields of specialty temporarily assume enormous importance, and we get to think "Wow, I am amazed and grateful that we have someone who knows these sorts of things." | Friday, October 12, 2001
An interesting essay by Edward Said in The Nation, in which he deconstructs the simplistic concept of "the West" vs. "Islam". His primary point is that these terms are laughably simplistic, and lead us astray when we employ them as if they denote anything that actually exists in the real world. They are abstractions that become freighted with all kinds of Connotations, and have therefore become detached from reality. Once again, the lessons of Hayakawa's book are enormously applicable. It's so easy -- and so dangerous -- to confuse the map with the territory. | The Smoking Gun has all kinds of great documents relating to the LA Zoo -- hilarious complaints from disappointed patrons, injuries sustained by unfortunate zookeepers, etc. Just goes to show that danger lurks everywhere. | The Times of India is reporting that the director of Pakistan's intelligence services had $100,000 wired to hijacker Mohammed Atta. Make of it what you will, but the prospect is highly disturbing. [via Rc3.org, a blog which has been a superb source of insight and news] | Thursday, October 11, 2001
Browsing During Wartime The Internet is opening a wider window into America's war against terrorism, giving people in the United States and other nations a view outside their homelands that wasn't readily available during previous global conflicts. Internet media and foreign affairs experts say more and more people are veering off the online paths of mainstream media to supplement their understanding of current events with alternate sources of information. Yes yes yes. This is a very good thing, in my opinion. It cannot hurt to read other perspectives, whether one ultimately agrees with them or not. It's a shame this whole terrorism/war/panic thing is happening, because it takes away from the time I have to think about all the incredibly interesting phenomena on display in the last month. Part of me wants to press pause or put down the book so I can digest all the implications. Unfortunately, the remote is broken. (Howzat for a cheesy metaphor?) | Wednesday, October 10, 2001
Incredible -- Bert from Sesame Street popping up on pro-Bin Laden posters in Bangladesh? Someone at a news agency messing with Photoshop? Or has Bert been appropriated as a pro-terrorism icon? Follow the investigative trail here and here. [via Metafilter] | Wednesday, October 03, 2001
Rushdie's been reading the blog too, but his piece in the Washington Post encompasses more than attacks on left-wing moral relativism. A sampling: The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skirts, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. These are tyrants, not Muslims. (Islam is tough on suicides, who are doomed to repeat their deaths through all eternity. However, there needs to be a thorough examination, by Muslims everywhere, of why it is that the faith they love breeds so many violent mutant strains. If the West needs to understand its Unabombers and McVeighs, Islam needs to face up to its bin Ladens.) The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them. [via rc3.org] | Tuesday, October 02, 2001
Robertson Suggests Religious Revival. Splutter, splutter. Pat Robertson has not yet seen my judgment on *him*. What a complete and utter BASTARD. | I know this is a re-post, but Things my girlfriend and I have argued about could be the best page on the Internet. Those of you who've read it before will be pleased to know that there have been all sorts of updates (and that it apparently gets updated almost every Monday).... | Looks like Hitchens has been reading Using Bees, although, typically, he does add a healthy dose of vitriol. On the other hand, he uses the word "immiserate", which is The Best Word. The Economist has also been checking out the ol' blog, and after cataloging in a fair way America's numerous failings with respect to foreign policy, it makes interesting counterpoints like "the Versailles treaty does not excuse Auschwitz" and Of all the great powers in history, it is probably the least territorial, the most idealistic. Muslims in particular should note that the armed interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo, both led by America, were attacks on Christian regimes in support of Muslim victims. In neither did the United States stand to make any material gain; in neither were its vital interests, conventionally defined, at stake. National pride is so much more satisfying when it's clear-eyed, don't you think? A refusal to brook any criticism of America just taints true patriotic feeling (which is why so many liberals traditionally have a hard time wavin' the flag). When the choice is between undiluted passion and nuanced appreciation, I'll take the latter every single time. It's a trade-off, but for me the choice is clear. Probably why I'll never be a demagogue (or a great leader of men). OK, I've done *no* work yet, so... | What I Have Read Since 1974 This gets a Super Nice One. What did anal retentive types do before the Internet? | Negotiators Back Scaled-Down Bill to Battle Terror. I haven't looked at all the details -- I'm sure there'll be many things that bother or worry me -- but I feel the need to point out that Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont are doing important work right now. Their refusal to give into Ashcroft's bullying and scare tactics have helped protect our civil liberties, and I appreciate their principled actions of the last few weeks. Not to mention Bob Barr! Who woulda thunk that we'd see the headline "Barr Joins Civil Liberties Groups in Urging Cautious Approach to Anti-Terrorism Legislation"! Nice one, arch-conservative bloke! I'm sure I'll bitch later, but for now, I'm glad because I know it could have been a lot worse. And my ACLU renewal letter came in the mail yesterday.... | Monday, October 01, 2001
Finally saw Dancer In The Dark...quite an experience. Usually I have a hard time suspending disbelief when plots get too ludicrous, but in this case, it didn't even occur to me that the twists and turns might strain credulity. Why? Bjork. She was amazing. Uh. Mazing. That she did not win Best Actress last year will go down in the annals of history as a really crap thing. Of course, what you really want to know is, "Did you greet like a wee bairn whose bonnie sheep, traumatized by a blow from a tossed caber, hoofed it across the highlands in a sheepy daze, only to drown in a loch on the golf course at St. Andrews, breaking said wee bairn's heart forever and ever?" The answer is no. Actually, the answer is a bit. I was standing firm, proud, and dead stoic, until the bit at the end with Catherine Deneuve rushing in and telling Bjork something-that-I-won't-spoil-by-revealing. At that bit, I made an involuntary squawk and a few rivulets of salty water made it overboard. Anyway, if you're reading this, Bjork -- nice one. Your new album's good too. Nah, don't mention it. | |
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