tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89111645916934064702024-03-13T03:25:38.627-07:00Most Serene Republicphredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.comBlogger492125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-90315885227039820232007-10-10T11:44:00.000-07:002007-10-10T11:48:57.973-07:00Shifting Kraal (and mixing metaphors)I'm a moving. Loaded up the conestoga and heading over to <a href="http://phredspace.typepad.com/">typepad</a>. <div><br /></div><div>I'm not bagging on blogger; I mean they gave mean 507 chances to rant for free. Been fun. But mac and google are not always the best of friends.</div><div><br /></div><div>---phred</div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-86471629854997254242007-09-30T09:23:00.000-07:002007-09-30T09:30:08.020-07:00American Lesbian in SpaceOnly a few pages into <a href="http://michaelbelfiore.com/">Michael Belfiore's</a> new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rocketeers-Visionary-Business-Engineers-Privatizing/dp/0061149020">Rocketeers,</a> and I'm hooked.<div><br /></div><div>Reading about how <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Diamandis">Pete Diamandis</a> started the X-Prize excites my inner geek.</div><div><br /></div><div>(Pete Diamandis' grandfather is from the Isle of Lesbo. No, he has not been to space. And yes, the blog title is massive snark/EDIT)</div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-89372670177991741902007-09-30T09:12:00.000-07:002007-09-30T09:16:57.634-07:00I get the nicest rejection letters<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Really I do. Must mean something. I'll keep plugging along, but I think it's necessary to set goals.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Set Goals:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:Arial">Get syndicated<o:p></o:p></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:Arial">Get halfway through my Masters<o:p></o:p></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span style="font-family:Arial">Learn basic Swahili<o:p></o:p></span></li> <li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Publish short story (3)</span><br /></li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">See, that wasn't hard. I think I'll use the blog more for worldbuilding (which explains the seeming randomness. Trust me, I write it all down in books), and less for "global politics and the big picture".</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The big picture crap gives me ulcers, is to close to my day job, and in the end, it's all about 90 percent guess work.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The future. We'll get there soon enough. I just want to have fun on the way.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">--phred</span></div> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-64843273899936730262007-09-30T09:11:00.000-07:002007-09-30T09:12:12.037-07:00Molecular Rights Management<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Funny enough, <a href="http://www.openthefuture.com/2007/09/molecular_rights_management_1.html">this sits at the heart</a> of one of my short stories and one novel I’ve been working on.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">I find the near future far more interesting than the far future. The chances that I’ll be living there approach 100%.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-63969617704340516182007-09-30T09:08:00.000-07:002007-09-30T09:10:27.192-07:00Iran and my self-interest<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Convince me that a terrorist employing, nuclear armed mullah-ocracy is in my self interest, and maybe I’ll be willing to “give peace a chance.” Until then, I’m going to <a href="http://www.ocnus.net/artman2/publish/Analyses_12/Silence_in_Syria_Panic_in_Iran.shtml">read articles like this and grin:</a><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="articletext1"><span style="font-family:Verdana;color:black"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Everyone in the government and military can only talk of one thing,' he reports. 'No matter who I talked to, all they could do was ask me, over and over again, 'Do you think the Americans will attack us?' 'When will the Americans attack us?' 'Will the Americans attack us in a joint operation with the Israelis?' How massive will the attack be?' on and on, endlessly. The Iranians are in a state of total panic.'</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-50358827234003786582007-09-30T09:02:00.000-07:002007-09-30T09:08:01.959-07:00Muddy boots and Pinstripe Suits IXXXII<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Austin Bay on a much needed “<a href="http://www.strategypage.com/on_point/20079260045.aspx">Revolution in Diplomatic Affairs</a>:”<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><i>Even the State Department's chardonnay and brie brigade suspects we have entered a new era of grimy, street-level foreign policy. It's an era where effective diplomacy starts with long days in bad neighborhoods, as culturally-savvy diplomats identify the hopes, fears and trends that seed future crises, and -- preferably -- create American-influenced opportunities to positively shape events.</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the past year or so, the phrase “Diplomatic Surge” came into vogue. I’ve always thought to myself, “yeah, you and what diplomatic corps?” At the end of the day, we’re left with a Corps of Diplomats more focused on their Foggy Bottoms than the national interest. More interested in leaking, undercutting, waiting out L’Enfant Terrible, and representing tout le monde to America than they are in advancing America’s interest, aggressively, to the rest of the world.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Short version: we’d have to blow less shit up if the diplomats did their jobs. Not strike deals, but advance America interest.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I kind of passed on this <a href="http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2007/09/keep_africom_hq_out_of_africa.html">article saying that AFRICOM</a> would be based outside of Africa. My reading, the decision is not made. But placing AFRICOM in the environs of Northern Virginia automatically piths any argument for standing up the command in the first place. <b>If you wish to influence a region, go there</b><span style="font-weight:normal">. Putting it in Northern Virginia merely opens up another comfy career glide for the diplomatic corps.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Look, in general, the DoS (not all, there are a few bright spots) is the weak sister in this fight. A CIA without all the “sex appeal.”</p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-903525116638264522007-09-30T08:39:00.000-07:002007-09-30T08:57:36.262-07:00Mood: Slightly IrritatedI just spent a half hour arguing about a policy I'd be in violation of if I discussed it here.<div><br /></div><div>Blogging is a threat to large, dumb organizations. </div><div><br /></div><div>No matter which side they're on.</div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-79992339099414076802007-09-24T11:10:00.001-07:002008-12-12T22:17:15.605-08:00Gellner's Law"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Logical coherence and social solidarity are inversely related</span>." (Sandall 12)<div><br /></div><div><br /><div> </div><div>So, did you hear the one about the <a href="http://gaypatriot.net/2007/09/24/left-wing-lesbian-has-crush-on-ahmadinejad">Jewish Lesbian who</a> <img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmxJBPdkzVcrdJG_LktAs5iTOshKBFytNw3BaScdF0O2shSZI0zdsmtalcboEbXfLnae2eEixqYAXCBc93g7baCyMbH51em_nZ2Qtl8NttA6lGVlXnKkWOIZ09fD-6f3304SsN4Poh0DY/s320/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113837142358358610" /><a href="http://gaypatriot.net/2007/09/24/left-wing-lesbian-has-crush-on-ahmadinejad">Ahmadinejad</a>?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Gellner">Ernest Gellner wiki</a>)</div></div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-65296148426852054592007-09-24T10:28:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:15.810-08:00The P-Funk Mothership has landed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJeQl0DUZIJtTZ_CQDmBkFEDBJARM9W1NlDXsJLbQ8dGVguurztYv6LqYyN2JlMWgiOLeFktWbFVHqLZh1BBVJb3kfmhVazkWxHykf8nd9OpyODeKgSM4Gem52lkfIrFJ7ri4B5A7Sf4/s1600-h/spaceport_overhead.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJeQl0DUZIJtTZ_CQDmBkFEDBJARM9W1NlDXsJLbQ8dGVguurztYv6LqYyN2JlMWgiOLeFktWbFVHqLZh1BBVJb3kfmhVazkWxHykf8nd9OpyODeKgSM4Gem52lkfIrFJ7ri4B5A7Sf4/s320/spaceport_overhead.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113824227391699506" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Popsci also has up some new pictures of the <a href="http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/0dda47fb317d4110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html">Richard Branson/New Mexico Spacepor</a>t.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tear the roof of the mutha...</div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-49093181260802929792007-09-24T10:08:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:16.091-08:00China, Inc and the value of stuff<a href="http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology/e7e48a137b144110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd/2.html">Popsci has an article out on the Chinese cloning industry</a>. Short version, China (Amazon to our Google) is getting more sophisticated a knocking off "brand name" products. Money quote:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Samsung was impressed by the efficiency of the cloners, so much so that the company offered them jobs. The cloners said no. Earning about $1.25 per phone, the cloners said, they found it easier and more profitable to make fakes. The only known result of the investigation? Samsung now takes care to release products in China shortly after they come out in Korea. Its only defense is to give cloners a smaller window of opportunity.</span><br /><br />Sure, the cars they put out now are death traps, and China industry in general, with lead toys, tainted food, etc, is going through an annus horribillis, but here's tome betting that they will only get better.<br /><br />Someone should shrink China down, and stick it on a desktop.<br /><br />Oh, wait:<br /><br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4QpUb8VOEJZhYZtSQVHTI_L1urcpAttWVB4RVXcLswew-NaQA5NnTqgBHA9fV27b1qJeoMKzu4dQXyrKQc2rKNbm6gwfrNwYmu9nQsc3MaXBmO1GiBav86UPAXX_GSPasuwWx0kjFHU/s320/df_printer_proto.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113823029095823906" /><div><br />The <a href="http://www.desktopfactory.com/our_product/">desktopfactory</a>. Priced out at 5,000 dracma and heading south.<br /><br />The sweet spot is going to be when the desire to make, move and create meet the means to do so. When the value of stuff drops relative to the value of ideas.</div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-21092267483907418982007-09-24T09:55:00.000-07:002007-09-24T09:59:17.765-07:00Airstrip One to launch Droneship OneArticle in Defensetech on BAE's <a href="http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003743.html">development of a drone carrying ship.</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">British-based BAE Systems is proposing a sea-going mother ship for unmanned vehicles (UXV) of various types. </span><br /><br />The future might not be now, but it can't be more than a few minutes away.phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-10749736988291181822007-09-24T09:09:00.001-07:002007-09-24T09:41:37.538-07:00Fraying at the centerThe Florida Democratic Party decides to ignore the DNC and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/us/politics/24florida.html?ex=1348372800&en=de47677d968a4231&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink">hold it's primary early</a>.<br /><br />I love it when a party, any party, loses discipline. Refreshing.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://instapundit.com/archives2/009753.php">Via IP</a>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-64716362854297027892007-09-22T11:21:00.000-07:002007-09-22T12:37:31.554-07:00Inkless PenWell, because I'm left handed, <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/go/8067/">I talked myself into buying one</a>:phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-12912877860718548222007-09-22T10:55:00.001-07:002008-12-12T22:17:16.244-08:00La ContessaPart of my research of burning man keeps bringing back to one of the most beautiful pieces on the playa. La Contessa, a spanish galleon fitted to a school bus. <div><br /><div> </div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7huqitJV7vx2YPFi3nhl1I5NlhDSyEYkkjcW28AbshqcdT13uNg8AuFDLQLcKMgRUOhIeWnsUyPOPX5GCdWZw_sv2Fs7vOBIQdGP45yUBGjWaTVPvKTeZImzvSncAF62kgzOvurwpa2M/s320/931339808_d72ed2c81d.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113094314879613458" /></div><div><br /><div> </div><div><a href="http://www.core77.com/reactor/burning_man.html">The story of her birth</a>...</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=2710">The story of her death</a>..</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/slondon/931339808/">photo via scott london</a>)</div></div></div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-51699161020870803172007-09-22T10:21:00.000-07:002007-09-22T10:54:52.713-07:00Who’s afraid of Naomi Wolf?<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; ">Look, let me be the first to say I look forward to the end of the Bush Administration. If only because those who have made a living off of doom mongering will be forced to board the S.S. STFU and set sail for oblivion. Or reinvention.</span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">Art and fashion critic Naomi Wolf is out with a book titled “The End of America, A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.” In it, she outlines the ten easy bake steps to fascism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/21/naomi-wolf-on-colber.html">Boing Boing has the link over here</a>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">I’m constantly amazed, when pearl diving through the internet, how those who fear the government the most are the same ones calling for its growth. Bush’s Evil Surveillance State would be improved with universal health care, mandatory psyche screenings, fewer guns and less Bush. Right.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">What they really want is to execute a capitated regime change while growing the rest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Her list reads like the half remembered meanderings of a self absorbed literati. Without even reading the book, let me try and see if I can guess Naomi’s pathologies:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px; ">1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy. (Jihad? What Jihad? <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/20/burqinis-and-the-new.html">Seen those swank new burginis</a>?)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">2. Create a gulag. (GITMOGITMOGITMOGITMO)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">3. Develop a thug caste . (BLACKWATER!!!!!)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">4. Set up an internal surveillance system. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Awareness_Office">That thing Poindexter wuz working on!!</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">5. Harass citizens' groups. (<a href="http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=27076&only&rss">Bitchslapping Moveo</a>n)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release. (I think she’s talking a fishing here).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">7. Target key individuals. (People I know who’ve been inconvenienced at check in counters on the way to Vail).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">8. Control the press.( FOX)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">9. Dissent equals treason. (She talking about <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="http://www.zombietime.com/">Zombies</a>?) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">10. Suspend the rule of law. (FLORIDAFLORIDAFLORIDA)<br /> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Whatever.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">If you want to understand how totalitarianism develops, you only have to read three books: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/1984-George-Orwell/dp/0452262933">1984</a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Believer-Thoughts-Movements-Perennial/dp/0060505915/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/002-0378760-1440819?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190483462&sr=1-3">True Believer</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Road-Serfdom-Routledge-Classics-S/dp/0415253896/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0378760-1440819?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190483565&sr=1-1">Road to Serfdom</a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">If you want to watch it develop in real time, I mean see nuttiness really develop, then set your google alerts to “<a href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&pwst=1&resnum=0&q=venezuela+chavez+hugo&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn">Venezuela, Chavez</a>."</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-42143155393896123082007-09-21T11:40:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:16.911-08:00Moveable Feast<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsCls9EaaOmKMoLc3k830Hqv2gAIvMWKP_mKFiuaHrWzUWDRXCb0zJ70vjBpEQ7tKk2oEFm7PlrVnWgCsbRqvhihlJCnCnt0o7dyfHxZP89hVA8b4RyS82CtlLUkGNkQKoKdvoCP7xwU/s1600-h/gmc-man.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsCls9EaaOmKMoLc3k830Hqv2gAIvMWKP_mKFiuaHrWzUWDRXCb0zJ70vjBpEQ7tKk2oEFm7PlrVnWgCsbRqvhihlJCnCnt0o7dyfHxZP89hVA8b4RyS82CtlLUkGNkQKoKdvoCP7xwU/s320/gmc-man.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112697554390743538" /></a><br />The<a href="http://weburbanist.com/2007/09/17/mobile-urban-architecture-from-portable-housing-to-temporary-hotel-rooms/"> weburbanist</a> posts on a most delicious piece of vaporware: the GMC-PAD.<div><br /><div> </div><div>A house on wheels.</div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>I'll put that piece of swank next to this, <a href="http://gizmag.com/go/8069/">Lisa's Akoya microlight plane</a>. This beauty lands on ground, snow and water.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnF9U_TvQMUgQKRHmqUIuH9WzvbaD_gAUWx_jyWv0IS038QQFLFW0h3uUcSswDH5zyIEBvrYwDApUP9flKE_G2MbG0tVCCx81SoAWppnmn6R9E6uW-aBZaWbXxYm1Cgo8mfH7btTRzjc/s320/8069_21090711107_7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112730367940884994" /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>The future will have homeless. And they're going to be loaded.</div></div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-15123253336943317642007-09-21T09:08:00.000-07:002007-09-21T09:17:47.903-07:00Back-in-water<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Well, that wasn't hard to predict. Via </span><a href="http://instapundit.com/archives2/009641.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">IP</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, </span><a href="http://story.news.ask.com//article/20070921/D8RPS5E80.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Blackwater convoys protecting</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (dig in here, a bit) U.S. Diplomatic convoys resume in Iraq.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Read a little into the story and you get this:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The report, Khalaf said, recommended annulling a legal provision that gives immunity to foreign security companies operating in Iraq. It also recommended Blackwater compensate the victims' families and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">that all foreign security companies be replaced by Iraqi companies.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Always follow the money. Don't get me wrong, eventually that needs to happen, but Khalaf is, shall we say, jumping the gun a bit</span>.</span></div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-80792642565612671642007-09-20T12:12:00.000-07:002007-09-20T12:19:46.937-07:00New Jerusalem and the Fractal Future<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; "> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">"Brussels is the last obstacle," says Bart De Wever, a Flemish party leader. "We would have divorced years ago if it wasn't for Brussels."</span></span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"><b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial">It is with morbid fascination that I watch the dissolution of Belgium. The <a href="http://www.brusselsjournal.com/">Brussels Journa</a>l has been, to my knowledge, one of the few places to go for information.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"> If Belgium breaks north an south, Brussels, with it’s great food and high crime rate could be set to be the first city carved out of a nation state by an Intergovernmental Organization (IGO).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"> And via BB, I dug up and read the new <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/declaration.htm">UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights</a>. Good read. Follow the declaration to it’s logical conclusion, and you’re going to have many more nations falling apart.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Everyone, it seems, has some line of operation on what the next world order ought to look like (IGOs, Jihad, flat earth socialist). All I know is, it’s going to be damn interesting.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Bring popcorn. And a leatherman.</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-88129093387915198312007-09-20T12:10:00.000-07:002007-09-20T12:12:11.979-07:00The Road to Serfdom<!--StartFragment--> <p><span style="font-family:Arial"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Well, I finally got my hot little hands on the Hayek’s book “The Road to Serfdom.” Particularly germane:</span></b></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial"><i>“We shall never be successful in our dealings with the Germans till we understand the character and the growth of the ideas which now govern them. The theory which is once again put forth, that the Germans as such are inherently vicious, is hardly tenable and not very creditable to those who hold it. . . The problem is not why the Germans as such are viscous, which congenitally they are probably no more than other peoples, but to determine the circumstances which during the last seventy years have made possible the progressive growth and ultimate victory of a particular set of ideas, and why in the end this victory has brought the most vicious elements among them to the top. Mere hatred of everything German, instead of the particular ideas which now dominate the Germans is, moreover, very dangerous, because it blinds those who indulge in it against a real threat…It is doubly dangerous because the contention that only the peculiar wickedness of the Germans has produced the Nazi system is likely to become the excuse for forcing on us the very institutions which have produced the wickedness.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial">(Hayek 8-9)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial">Now fast forward to 2007.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-42239672401592960082007-09-20T12:02:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:17.235-08:00The Army Combat Shirt: Now with more headlight protection<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/military/new-army-combat-shirt-is-flame+resistant-has-8+bit-camouflage-301419.php">The Army’s gone ahead and updated the ACS</a>. Put a little bit more fabric around the chest-al area. Fewer headlights.</span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> <o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; "><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2C9ImDKdWmT2M5rjpbv_UNxDsFhAj6w_u3rJRiIeBhsnjvQq6fG9VhrSuY0Vz8yDuEXXI7TQFV1z31v1aIoPNs83vpXMbvL8-PpLDrOklP83OP4MJNrWAg7UnByy23BI3tCsRaic8V-s/s320/headlightprotection.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112365407268417714" /></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;">That’s why you test products first.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-70528254239310300212007-09-20T11:21:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:17.429-08:00Back asswards<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Arial;">Don’t ask me why, but I bought<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>my first CD before I even bought a CD Player. A Kathleen Battle/Winton Marseilles Duet, I believe. Well, creature of habit that I am I’m going to order some <a href="http://www.didntyouhear.com/2007/09/17/gelaskins-give-your-iphone-some-style/">bling for an iPhone I don’t yet own</a>. You got to admit, this is a sweet mod:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; "></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; "><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4J8yAk-AiIaBFqVWWw6grwRD6J9cBrgCvyDPTLl4Pwzub63aeeedBxmB9ikYbDNVUmKmrrgOEVZmNXTskiwvwMBGah7so_F9uUGCt8sZlHqkbtTlN5nNum26VjvXWU2ywdLr4UGy976w/s320/816_ColinThompson_Steampunk_450.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112363113755881634" /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> And speaking of mod’s, I’d be all over this<a href="http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook"> modbook</a> if it had a swivel and a keyboard.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;"> I am Steve Jobs’ bitch.</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-77097952658967376442007-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:17.582-08:00Random T-Wall Art<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrtnVgRkNs2l3eUkwpzXCVKkOTest2GKH5ATnjEZek1VSvjlhBfV32sFj-lfK15KJZCIKO2OlKr91qbxvnOJZtopMxPj73oURhNoRSswF4DG4iQAOBDB2RSf3Z5MMc7JYgbtpDg3OSt0/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrtnVgRkNs2l3eUkwpzXCVKkOTest2GKH5ATnjEZek1VSvjlhBfV32sFj-lfK15KJZCIKO2OlKr91qbxvnOJZtopMxPj73oURhNoRSswF4DG4iQAOBDB2RSf3Z5MMc7JYgbtpDg3OSt0/s320/Picture+1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111215876874964514" /></a>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-26936610516858096712007-09-17T09:39:00.000-07:002007-09-17T09:49:59.914-07:00Road to SerfdomShort Hayek: socialism is just a speedbump on the road to fascism.<div><br /></div><div>As a self described freedom freak, I say amen brother.</div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-8097372123205693512007-09-17T09:23:00.000-07:002007-09-17T09:38:57.413-07:00Blackwater: In or Out?Heard the Beeb reporting that the Iraqi Government has moved to kick <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_USA">Blackwater</a>, the private security firm (and market response to growing insecurity?), out of Iraq.<div><br /></div><div>Do a blog search and you'll see some of the chatter beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Straight line to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/world/middleeast/17cnd-iraq.html?_r=1&hp&oref=login">NYTimes</a>, and it's a lot less clear:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The incident took place on Sunday in Nisour Square, an area in western Baghdad that is clogged with construction and concrete blocks. American officials said that a convoy of State Department vehicles came under fire, causing one to break down. It was towed. The officials did not say whether any of the convoy’s security guards fired back or whether they worked for Blackwater.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">My two cents? Blackwater stays put. The State Department needs them to much (diplomacy is not an effective deterrent against complex ambushes). The spin? A car bomb, some gunfire and then a statement from the Interior Ministry? Sounds too pat. Probably just <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi_Army">Jaish al-Mahdi</a> acting up.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You now how those kids like to play.</span></span></div><div><br /></div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8911164591693406470.post-38794706363791282612007-09-11T11:24:00.000-07:002008-12-12T22:17:17.821-08:00A thousand words<div>And in remembrance of this day, the 11th of September: God bless America in all her myriad ways. May she prevail.</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4y1fUc4QMnx9yMOHsthvCJo2HsQ6EUac4xWl9vQ5y8nVtAFyPsIeyTZReFgZo9l4lO1VTqRnroYGQZso8ZB7MdfXougZyoPfj1LYtBppKf3Pmdp_poT0uXDcVwYu2yC8l1gO1nOptBM/s320/Picture+2.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5109016792781085602" /><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=rec&q=burning+man&m=text">(That flickr stream...</a>)</span></div>phredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11340607922197700109noreply@blogger.com0