What The Hell Am I Doing Here?

Monday, December 8, 2003

Dept of Madness
Israel trains US assassin squads. Special forces in Iraq advised by Israelis on agressive counter-insurgency tactics. [Guardian Unlimited]
This is very disturbing news. Let's face it, it makes the U.S. look like a pawn of Sharon's Israel. And that's not just my opinion.

US special forces teams are already behind the lines inside Syria attempting to kill foreign jihadists before they cross the border, and a group focused on the "neutralisation" of guerrilla leaders is being set up, according to sources familiar with the operations.
"This is basically an assassination programme. That is what is being conceptualised here. This is a hunter-killer team," said a former senior US intelligence official, who added that he feared the new tactics and enhanced cooperation with Israel would only inflame a volatile situation in the Middle East.
"It is bonkers, insane. Here we are - we're already being compared to Sharon in the Arab world, and we've just confirmed it by bringing in the Israelis and setting up assassination teams."
So, it looks like we've given up on winning hearts and minds and have decided to just kill Arabs.
A picture named occuupation.jpg Obscene. And stupid.
Does this sound like an American commander:

Colonel Ralph Peters, a former army intelligence officer and a critic of Pentagon policy in Iraq, said yesterday there was nothing wrong with learning lessons wherever possible.
"When we turn to anyone for insights, it doesn't mean we blindly accept it," Col Peters said. "But I think what you're seeing is a new realism. The American tendency is to try to win all the hearts and minds. In Iraq, there are just some hearts and minds you can't win. Within the bounds of human rights, if you do make an example of certain villages it gets the attention of the others, and attacks have gone down in the area."
This tragic mess gets more tragic and messy with each new development.
Illustrations from Gush Shalom

11:51:49 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of Writ

A picture named suethecylon.jpg SCO, MPAA, RIAA jointly sue entire world

Washington DC and Lindon Utah -- During a fictitious teleconference yesterday, three of America's most active intellectual property litigators announced that they have decided to pool their efforts and jointly file what they're calling "a reverse class action suit against every human being on the entire planet."
The name of the new group formed by SCO, MPAA, and RIAA is ORAMITY, which stands for "Our Rights Are More Important Than Yours."
"We have not ruled out legal action against beings on other planets who may be illegally copying radio or TV transmissions they pick up from their spacecraft or with super-powerful receivers on their home worlds," said ORAMITY spokesperson Hilary McBralenti, "but for now we are confining ourselves to inhabitants of Earth."

Now we know why the Cylons are so pissed off.

11:34:08 PM leave/read comments []

Battlestar Galactica progress report:

YEAH!!!!!

kickass.

Much better than I expected.

9:36:55 PM leave/read comments []

Initial report- the first fifteen minutes of Battlestar Galactica have kicked ass.

Love the new Cylons.

That is all.

For now.

8:22:59 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of Hakuna Mutata

A picture named meerkat.gif Cat or Meerkat?. Is the meerkat called that because it resembles a cat? By C. Claiborne Ray. [New York Times: Science]

I love meerkats.

7:38:35 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of I Didn't Go To Burger King

.

It has to be YOUR way. But when it isn't, you panic, but hold your ground. You keep your gun pointed and trigger finger ready, but you'd never really hurt anyone. Though you like being tough, feeling control, you often enjoy blending in and being part of the ordinary human race.

Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz.

Fuuuuuuck.

Link props to Adam, such as they are.

7:06:44 PM leave/read comments []

Korean trio missing in Antarctic. [BBC News ] UPDATED>Three South Koreans still missing and another is reported dead as an Antarctic mission runs into trouble. [Nippon Goro Goro]

Damn, nasty business.

Antarctica will kill you if you aren't 100% on your game.

7:06:25 PM leave/read comments []

Signs of Intelligence: Please Help Me Help Others!. Just three weeks left to get a tax deduction for this year! Help me help others with AIDS/Lifecycle! Lots of exclamation points!!! [Morons Dot Org]

Help Nick help others and contribute to his pledge drive, please.

6:54:13 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of The Man Is Hard At Work

A picture named idiot.jpg Morons in the News: Zero Intelligence Claims Another Victim. The expulsion for a year of a high school student has been upheld. Her crime? She had some Advil. [Morons Dot Org]

The stupidity of school administrators never ceases to amaze and infuriate me.

A student expelled from Parkway High for a year for having Advil, an over-the-counter pain reliever, will not be allowed to return to the school.
Kelly Herpin and daughter Amanda Stiles, a sophomore, appealed the one-year expulsion to a Bossier Parish School Board committee Thursday night, spending about 10 minutes with the board's administrative committee behind closed doors.

At what point did people in the U.S. lose all common sense and start using bazookas to hunt down every little mosquito that bothers them?

5:02:48 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of Going Down (with the ship)

Kazaa shuts down Kazaa Lite. Legal threats [The Register]

ARRRR! A cyber-pirate ship sinks on the shoals of commerce, me mateys!

Sharman Networks, the company behind the original Kazaa, approached the ISP of every website that hosted the program and ordered its removal on grounds of copyright infringement.
Kazaa Lite K++ is one of many light versions of the popular file-sharing program, but it wasn't developed by Sharman Networks. K++ was set up to offer a version free of the growing amount of spy and adware within the original Kazaa Media Desktop Program.

4:06:02 PM

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Dept. of Today It Hit The Fan

A picture named bigfish.jpg From Best Photos of the Year, we see a small fish having a very bad day.

And they say fish can't express emotions?

I know just how the little fish feels.

For that matter, I know how the big one feels, too- Muuuummmmm, trout!

2:04:48 PM leave/read comments []

Stocks Set to Slide as Dollar Continues to Fall. Stocks were set to open lower as the dollar slid against the euro, deepening concerns that U.S. investments are losing allure internationally. By Reuters. [New York Times: Business]

Welcome to the recovery-less recovery!

War is peace! etc...

1:59:44 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of Reflections

A picture named silenceposter.jpg When Political Art Mattered. Only once in the 20th century did creative works really change the consciousness and the policies of the country: the 80's, in response to the AIDS epidemic. How? And why? By Jesse Green. [New York Times: Health]

Excellent extended article about the birth of queer agitprop.

I can't help but wonder if the silver lining inside the cloud that is AIDS is that the AIDS crisis galvanized Queer society and gave it a focus and a legitimate moral voice that even the mainstream could no longer discount.

Perhaps, the multitude of souls who perished of AIDS did not die in vain, perhaps they were the brave warriors whose sacrifice will bring freedom to those of us left behind.

12:32:29 PM leave/read comments []

Opening the door to a new week.

12:00:28 AM leave/read comments []