How I deal with Karl Rove

Since I lost my omnipotence, I've had to develop coping mechanisms for thinking about Karl Rove.

I've decided to resort to food jokes. For example, When he says that : "he thinks Clinton could have difficulty in the general election, in part, because there is a 'brittleness about her,'" I would say, why is he obsessed with peanut brittle? Should he really be thinking about sugary snacks? That doesn't seem right.

SOFT! Soft on Terrorism I Tell you!

It seems we've been force feeding detainees in Guantanamo. How many? 41 hunger strikers on Dec 15, which has winnowed down to three now. Sure, this had been reported, but it had also been denied; and now Gitmo commnder General Bantz Craddock (actual name) has confirmed we've been force feeding them, strapped down to to chairs.

His major complaint? Medical staff had been indulging these terrorists, to the point of "permitting them to choose the color of their feeding tubes."

The Sport of Breaking Wills

It can be fun to read a scathing book review. A favorite is a Dorothy Parker one-liner: "This is not a book to be tossed lightly aside, but to be thrown with great force."

The following review is crispy with the kind of scorched slander that only academic condescension can produce. About the author Daniel Dennett, who acknowledges that in writing on the tussle between science and religion, he opens himself up to being poked in the nose and yet he is steeled to take on this burden, the reviewer proclaims: "Giordano Bruno, with tenure at Tufts!"

Enjoy.

Compound phrases are useful

for conveying there is more to be known than is apparent.

There is no law

but the President's word.

Torture is a technique

which can be used on anyone.

325,000 Names on Terrorism Watch List

WaPost.
The National Counterterrorism Center lists 325,000 names in a database of terrorism suspects and people who allegedly aid them.

Only a small small fraction are Americans and US residents, they say. What's a small fraction? I think 5% is small. So, 15,000 Americans?

So, how long until we herd these folks into "happy camps"?

Cheney shoots (does not kill) Lawyer

I don't know if this falls under the banner of "another bad day for W", but his Veep has shot a 78-year old lawyer while quail-hunting on the ranch of a major campaign contributor: NYT story.

Among the questions provoked by this story: Is Mr. Whittington's "stable" status in the ICU of a major metropolitan hospital consistent with the donor's characterization of him, post-accident, as "fine... sitting up in bed, yakking and cracking jokes"? Why did the Veep's office delay 24 hours before notifying the media? And: If it's open season on lawyers, why hasn't Dick let the rest of us in on the fun?

Patrick as a South Park character

Make your own.

Bad Day for Bush

Yesterday, Bush detailed that a Southest Asian country had arrested an Al Qaeda operative in 2002, who told them about a plan for Southeast Asian men to use a plane to take down the "Iconic Library Tower" of Los Angeles, using "shoe bombs" to get through the cockpit door (recall, Richard Reid was caught Dec 2001).

It remains unclear how much of this information was gained by holding him underwater until he passed out; stipping him naked and threatening him with dogs to attack his genitals; oh, and where this mastermind involved in what would have been the second major attack on the US in a year is now -- still in Indonesia? Why don't we have this person in US Custody? Why is he not on trial here?

One news cycle later, Libby is saying Cheney told him to leak secret information, in violation of the National Security Act. ( NOTE TO SENATE: No hearings on this! Oliver North's testimony and the immunity you gave him ruined the prosecution for the Iran-Contra episode. No Immunity for Libby!)

• White House Knew the Levee Failed Monday.
  
  
• Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq The 28-year career official was the US point man for Near East and South Asia intelligence. He says the Administration "cherry picked" intelligence, and never even asked for a pre-war strategic assessment, which would have shown the insurgency we see now.

Too Scared to Think Yet?

Bush Gives New Details of 2002 Qaeda Plot to Attack Los Angeles. According to Bush, who never lies, the plot was to unfold a month after Sept 11 using a "shoe bomb" to gain access toan airplane cockpit, to take down the U.S. Bank Tower ("Library Tower") in Los Angeles. It had purpotedly been targeted, because it is the tallest building west of the Mississippi, a fact which no one west of the Mississippi knows.

Libby's Defense: "Cheney Told Me To Leak Classified Information"

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information : "Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war."

Libby on record that he was ordered by Cheney to leak

All I can say is 'wow'.

He was ordered to do it. Can anyone tell me at what point do they drag Cheney away in handcuffs?

Believe It

Microsoft will begin selling a security one stop shop for Windows. Unbelieveable.

Would you stand for it if your car came with an ignition that could be started by easy to fabricate keys? If your bank said "We'll take your money, and put it in a certain place, but if you want some real protection that'll cost extra."?

If this becomes a real money-maker for Microsoft, what incentive do they have to make Windows secure? From the level of CPUs that are turned into zombies, there are certain days where the entirety of the internet slows down to a crawl because there are so many machines that run Windows, and ends up affecting everyone. Much of the spam generated in the world comes from PCs running windows that have been hijacked. Why is it that Microsoft isn't required to build this safety in?

Vonage Plans Sale of Stock

Article.

Thank god. For years, Vonage has been under attack by traditional landline providers, cable companies, ISPs, using the FCC and legislation to restrict what they can do. And how to do you stop that? Broaden the base of people who are invested in the companies success.

Fashion is the New Architecture

Architecture is one of those things that all wine-drinking academics have to pass through. You gotta know Corbusier from van der Rohe, care about the shoddy treatment of Libeskind over Ground Zero; you can moo that Gehry has his best work behind him. Kind of like baseball.

But, if you care about keeping up appearances, I think Fashion is the new thing. Where else is the dialogue between the creator and the consumer so rich and detailed? The language of clothes, and what they are supposed to say about the wearer and the culture is almost as well developed as, well, language. Which is why I'm interested in the fact that the NYTimes review in fashion says that there's a word to describe what's goin' on. Rebellion.

Brokeback to the Future

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'dshare this.