9/27/2005
American dream come true. : How do you spell?
How do you spell "Lucky Bastard"? I spell it M-o-s-e-s B-i-t-t-o-k. Otherwise knows as one of the the most recent emmigree to the US.
al Queda's #2 man in Iraq Killed
Abdallah Najim Abdallah Muhammad al-Juwari aka Abu Azzam has been confirmed as killed by Iraqi and Allied forces on the 25th. This has to be a seriuos blow to the organization of Zarqaw who relied on him to keep help keep operations moving. Kudo's to all who took part in the planning and execution.
Bull-Cash
These are both just odd little storylets and i'll just let y'all read of the weirdities of bull and cash.
9/26/2005
Happy Blog-iversary
Yep, today marks the day when one year ago I began disturbing the web with my blog. We were in the midst of one of the most contentious elections. An election that featured more bad taglines than concrete statements, even relatively speaking than any campaign in at least half a century. I was hardly expecting this post on my one year anniversary to be the three hundred seventy eighth, hell I'm not sure I expected to keep the blog open that long.
During the year I've watched carefully as numerous situations unfolded, some humorous, some filled with less light emotions. Terri Shiavo's case is something I remember watching unfold with unmitigated horror, and is something I don't think I'll ever forget. Seeing a different Terry lose the top spot in the Democratic party was a blow I'm not sure the party will recover from anytime soon. The election was of course something that grabbed the worlds attention and refused to let go, as it should be. The 2004 election, like the one before it was another case of America losing. This is not because of who landed in the posh residence at sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue, but simply because of how divisive it was to the nation. The Tsunami touched hearts the world around and when the American government was criticized for not giving more, the American people poured out more than anyone could imagine. Through war, Rita, and snow its been an interesting ride.
I've had fun, learned all sorts of things I'm mostly not aware of now. I do know that I've learned almost enough html to be dangerous and that I should find someone who can save me from myself. I've picked up some great information sources from around the world. Some of them are government sources, some are press, a few are independent organizations that have great depth. Quite a few of my favorite sources are my fellow bloggers. I don't have time to read all of them anymore, but I do drop by to see what you're saying and learn what I can.
Thanks for reading, comments and the odd heads up. Its been a fun year. During the last twelve months and several thousand words I've gotten to do interviews with authors, talk to bloggers across the nation and the world and really gotten a longer, wider look at more people than I'll ever have the chance to meet in the flesh.
For the future there will be more of the same, and more different stuff, I think, who knows,
The Casual Observer
9/23/2005
The birthday of a great one
On this date in 1926 Jazz great and saxophone giant John Coltrane was born in Hamlet North Carolina. He would go on to play with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and other greats in his career. His music has been referenced in numerous movies, television shows and enjoyed for decades after his 1967 death from liver cancer.
Darwinism by invitation?
I'm not sure, but this is one of the most amazing things I've seen in a while. My question is how this individual survived to 'adulthood'. Not safe for work, or public plac
9/20/2005
True Islamics?
The question of how closely al Zarqawi and other militants in Iraq and other portions of the middle east has been debated with extreme vigor punctuated by fanaticism on both sides. If the contents of the referenced letter are genuine, one would have to say no, infact it would have to be an emphatic no. For the sake of discussion we'll take it as a genuine letter. In which case we have a new question: What i the hell are bin Laden and Zarqawi thinking? Do they honestly believe that they can get more Islamics on their side than they will drive even further away by disrupting Ramadan? This would be like Christian extremists using nerve gas on the Popes annual Easter Mass to sway Roman Catholics to their side.
More evil in Iraq
Top:
09/13/05 - U.S. Army Spc. Kevin Morris with 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, plays a game of paddy-cake with a local Iraqi girl in Tal Afar, Iraq. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Alan D. Monyelle) (Released)
Middle:
- After her father was granted permission to have possession of the weapon a local Iraqi child carries it back to her residence in Tal Afar, Iraq. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Alan D. Monyelle) (Released)
Bottom:
While on security patrol Iraqi soliders give assitance to a orphan child, found in a abandon building, to a safe area in Tal Afar, Iraq
(U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Alan D. Monyelle) (Released)
9/19/2005
Normally...
Normally i don't post stuff like this here. But these are just to good to pass up. First is the Pournelle Political axis. This came out a bit more authoritarian than normal.
The Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: 0.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.26
And from OkCupid, something i ran across in a friends LiveJournal:
Yes, this is why i refer to myself as a 'dynamic moderate' when people ask.
The Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: 0.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.26
And from OkCupid, something i ran across in a friends LiveJournal:
| You are a Social Liberal (73% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (76% permissive) You are best described as a:
Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid |
Yes, this is why i refer to myself as a 'dynamic moderate' when people ask.
9/18/2005
We knew it was coming.
They say 'the devil is in the details'. In this case I'm not yet convinced if that applies or not. We could be one step closer to Hillary Clinton announcing her candidacy for the presidency in 2008. The putative "First Gentleman" and former president Bill Clinton has stated that he feels his wife should not promise to fulfill the senate term she is attempting to win. This counts as an indicator because she did promise to finish her current term in the Senate. Interesting.
9/16/2005
Maniacal Merger
We know this from breeding animals, or plants that when you take one bad example of a given breed and cross it with another bad example, the results is usually worse than either parent. Corporate mergers and alliances have shown this as well. The Sony and Ericsson partnership created some of the most difficult to use and worst performing cellular phones in the history of the industry. Now there's a potential merger between AOL and MSN. This is certainly the business equivalent of Ghengis Khan and Attila the Hun forming common cause. While it will undoubtedly be touted as 'good for the consumer' just like the Cingular/ATT and Sprint/Nextel mergers, neither of those two merged entities has what can be called good customer service. True, this may just become another of the unkillable rumors like the one concerning the potential sale of Deutsche Telekom's favorite cash cow T-Mobile USA. The rumored sale has been shot down numerous times by in the past two years but it returns more often than acid reflux. And while this deal could fail and rescue us from the dismay inherent in the knowledge than not only did someone let Mariah Carey release another album, but that Brittany Spears pregnancy was not the publicity stunt we all hoped, this appears to be one of those things that is too bad not to happen.
With scientists like these, who needs terrorists?
Three carriers of an illness so legendary it's still, centuries after its last rampage, spoken of with fear have disappeared. The bubonic plague was being tested at a lab in New Jersey that can't seem to keep track of its experimental animals. Three mice, all infected, disappeared and all anyone can say is that someone made a mistake.
9/10/2005
So you still haven't given?
Ok you heartless jackass. You're letting hundreds of thousands of people suffer in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama because donating would be "hard" or "take to much time". While hundreds of children American children die. While men and women cry themselves to sleep because they have lost everything you sit there at your computer shopping for more gifts for your kids who will forget about them in a week. While grandparents sit in their wheel chairs and because they don't have medication you instant message your friends and complain about having to be in line for ten whole minutes at the take out place where you dropped fifty dollars on dinner for two when you could have spent fifteen on a less chemically laden meal if you'd bothered to actually cook for yourself in that show place kitchen of yours. You know, the one you bragged to your friends about the mahogany, walnut, or teak inlay and the imported marble, yes that one. So here's a way that's simple to actually do something usefully with yourself for the first time since you decided not to have more kids.
Pick up your cell phone.
Go into the text message menu.
Create/write a new message.
Leave it blank, but address it to: 2help
Send it.
You'll get a reply. It will ask if your lazy ass really does want to contribute $5 to the Katrina relief fund. Reply, enter: Yes.
Send.
Repeat until you've given as much as you spend on mocha vente latte's, pedicures, and over priced sushi.
These five dollar donations will appear on your next bill. You can quite possibly claim this on your income taxes.
If you can't figure out the instructions above ask your child, they one you gave the electronic parental security blanket called a cell phone to to do this for you. Do try and remember not to yell at them for running up the bill.
Those of you who have already given thank you. I've got family down there, they were far enough inland to survive mostly intact but they did lose some friends.
9/06/2005
Because you need to read it.
9/02/2005
Katrina: The military
So what's being done by the military?
Victims of Hurricane Katrina are airlifted into New Orleans International Airport, La., via U.S. military transport on Sept. 2, 2005. Search and rescue crews are bringing in waves of evacuees while emergency medical crews are on hand to provide care to those with special needs. Department of Defense units have mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo byStaff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force. (Released)
Photo by: STAFF SGT. JACOB N. BAILEY, 1ST COMBAT CAMERA SQUADRON
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 050902-F-5964B-284
To save this image point to the image with your mouse, right click and hold (Mac users click and hold). A menu will appear, select "save image as.." and save the file.
U.S. Air Force personnel from the 343rd Training Squadron assist a Hurricane Katrina evacuee from New Orleans off a C-17 Globemaster III at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, on Sept. 2, 2005. Department of Defense units have mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo by Robbin Cresswell. (Released)
Photo by: ROBBIN CRESSWELL, CIVILIAN
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 050902-F-7906C-010
To save this image point to the image with your mouse, right click and hold (Mac users click and hold). A menu will appear, select "save image as.." and save the file.
Victims of Hurricane Katrina are airlifted into New Orleans International Airport, La., via U.S. military transport on Sept. 2, 2005. Search and rescue crews are bringing in wave after wave of evacuees while emergency medical crews are on hand to provide care to those with special needs. Department of Defense units have mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force. (Released)
Photo by: STAFF SGT. JACOB N. BAILEY, 1ST COMBAT CAMERA SQUADRON
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 050902-F-5964B-304
To save this image point to the image with your mouse, right click and hold (Mac users click and hold). A menu will appear, select "save image as.." and save the file.
Victims of Hurricane Katrina are airlifted into New Orleans International Airport, La., via U.S. military transport on Sept. 2, 2005. Search and rescue crews are bringing in waves of evacuees while emergency medical crews are on hand to provide care to those with special needs. Department of Defense units have mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo byStaff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force. (Released)
Photo by: STAFF SGT. JACOB N. BAILEY, 1ST COMBAT CAMERA SQUADRON
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 050902-F-5964B-284
To save this image point to the image with your mouse, right click and hold (Mac users click and hold). A menu will appear, select "save image as.." and save the file.
U.S. Air Force personnel from the 343rd Training Squadron assist a Hurricane Katrina evacuee from New Orleans off a C-17 Globemaster III at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, on Sept. 2, 2005. Department of Defense units have mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo by Robbin Cresswell. (Released)
Photo by: ROBBIN CRESSWELL, CIVILIAN
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 050902-F-7906C-010
To save this image point to the image with your mouse, right click and hold (Mac users click and hold). A menu will appear, select "save image as.." and save the file.
Victims of Hurricane Katrina are airlifted into New Orleans International Airport, La., via U.S. military transport on Sept. 2, 2005. Search and rescue crews are bringing in wave after wave of evacuees while emergency medical crews are on hand to provide care to those with special needs. Department of Defense units have mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster-relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force. (Released)
Photo by: STAFF SGT. JACOB N. BAILEY, 1ST COMBAT CAMERA SQUADRON
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 050902-F-5964B-304
To save this image point to the image with your mouse, right click and hold (Mac users click and hold). A menu will appear, select "save image as.." and save the file.
