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--Erick Erickson
"Bush campaign should hire The American Mind for the oppo research team."
--Punchthebag
Sean Hackbarth's The American Mind is a good weblog." --Glenn Reynolds
"It’s good enough that I can forgive Sean’s Packers fandom. Almost."
--Steve Silver
E-Mail:
sean at theamericanmind dot com
URL: http://www.theamericanmind.com
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Browse by Category
A Wicked Web
So Close
Sharpton Comes Alive
al-Qaeda Snuffed in Jordan
Live from Camp Pendleton
My Final Offer
Kerry's House of Ketchup #9
To Wisconsin Webloggers & Readers
Weblog Bubble
One Last Push
Toomey Loses
Say What?
Shameful
Either/Or
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Site Design by The Web Jones All original content copyright © 2003-05 by Sean Hackbarth. All rights reserved.
April 30, 2004
Flower Power
Allah has a Kerry daisy sighting. Forget the medals/ribbons business, I want to know the dirt on that nick-knack.
A Wicked Web
A Moroccan wanted for participating in last month's Madrid bombings has been indicted in Spain for helping in organizing the Sep. 11 attacks.
"Madrid Fugitive Charged over 9/11"
April 29, 2004
So Close
Unless some last few donations trickle in the Spirit of America fund drive just missed $50K by $318. Thank you everyone. Nothing to be ashamed of. You all helped make a difference.
"Spirit Of America - Final Results"
Sharpton Comes Alive
One way to counter the charge that only white people are running Kerry's campaign would be to hire some minorities. Kerry's way will make for a more interesting Democratic convention:
In what may be a surprising move to some political circles, Democratic Presidential Candidate Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) has issued an invitation to former Democratic Primary rival Rev. Al Sharpton to address this summer's Democratic National Convention in Boston.
At least one night won't be boring.
"The Sound You Hear"
al-Qaeda Snuffed in Jordan
If this wasn't real life, I say al-Qaeda ripped off the A-Team.
For months, the gang had been working on the plan. Hiding out in safe houses in the Jordanian capital, Amman, they bought cars and vans to carry the bombs, took over blacksmiths’ shops to build the battering rams and set to work manufacturing the 20 tons of chemical explosives they would need for the attack.The plan was simple and devastating. They would drive the vehicles loaded with chemicals and explosives into Jordanian and American targets in the capital. The blast would spread chemicals across a two-kilometre area. It would kill up to 80,000 people and injure maybe 160,000 more. The poisonous fumes would cause physical deformities and attack the lungs and eyes. It was to be al-Qaeda’s first chemical attack.
"How al-Qaeda Plotted to Kill 80,000 in Jordan"
Live from Camp Pendleton
Gerard Van der Leun writes of war, citizenship, patriotism, and how a bunch of webloggers and their readers helped with the war effort.
"Small Moves, the Spirit of America, and Doing What You Can"
My Final Offer
There's only a few hours left until the SOA campaign is over. I've had only one taker on any of my offers, so I think I'm not risking much so here goes:
For a $100 donation, you will get a dozen Krispy Kreme golden glazed goodies, PLUS I will don a Vikings or Bears item--even from the un-hated Lions, PLUS you will get a CD of a bunch of Howard the Duck "Dean Scream" remixes, PLUS I will praise the Democrat of your choice.
That isn't enough? Wait, there's more.
For a $100 donation to SOA you not only will get some great doughnuts, a 2004 campaign keepsake, and the giddy feeling of publicly embarassing me, you also will get me to drink a bottle of French wine, PLUS I will adorn my weblog with French stuff.
I know it's not up to the cross-dressing and leg shaving level, nor is it autographed books by blogosphere idol Victor Davis Hanson, but I have my limits. Please give.
For other last minute offers, visit Wizbang.
April 28, 2004
Kerry's House of Ketchup #9
Kerry speaks.
This is a time for giving. My favorite tax-and-spend liberal Senator is certainly giving out vibes that he's losing it. His Good Morning America appearance and post-interview whine show a candidate without confidence. Still, events can and will occur that will lift up his spirits and poll numbers. This will be a close race all the way until Election Day.
This past week, I've discovered a gut-churning fact from the Green Bay Press-Gazette:
If the Redskins lose or tie the game before the presidential election, the party in the White House gets ousted. A Redskins win is a win for the incumbent party, too. At least, that’s how it has played out in the past 18 presidential elections.
My Packers play the Redskins two days before Election Day. Who do I root for? Who does Oliver Willis root for? We may have to swap teams (but not candidates) for a week.
Now, on to the posts:
- Since you can't get much higher than the Divine, Allah leads with Kerry's attempt at snagging the youth vote.
- Blaster quotes Kerry as saying, "No matter who wins the presidential election, the terrorists will lose." Good words, but we're just not sure how he'll do it. I don't think he is either.
- Kerry is making a push to the center. Kevin isn't buying it.
- A past anti-coal vote may cost Kerry West Virginia. In a close race, every electoral vote counts.
- Kerry may have trouble in Michigan with his "Union worker crippling 36MPG" agenda.
- Captain Ed has put together a picture of Kerry as a political relativist. Kerry ranks a stable Iraq above a free Iraq.
- JustOneMinute is holding the NY Times and the Kerry campaign to task over John Kerry's year's of military service and demonstrates that he was an anti-war protester while a Naval Reserve officer.
- Orrin Judd points out how important Teresa Heinz Kerry is to financing her husband's campaigns.
- Cracker Barrel Philosopher adds to this with Kerry's astonishing claim that he doesn't own an SUV. It's his family's.
- Wonkette explains it by declaring Kerry a "Zen master."
- Democrats are known as the party of the non-white. Those running Kerry's campaign buck that sterotype. He better watch out for a Jesse Jackson shakedown.
- Steven Taylor puts it succinctly: "This isn't shaping up as a particularly well-run campaign."
- Hindrocket at Power Line notices Kerry's color-coordination. Could he become the first metrosexual President?
- 30 years ago, Kerry was "opposed to abortion." My, how has he changed.
- John Kerry: savvy wealth preserver or greedy tax dodger?
- Steve Verdon explains Kerry's waffling and flip-flopping: "there is no real John Kerry."
- From the Kerry weblog, it seems Women for Kerry are very, very young.
- Finally, pick a Kerry ketchup t-shirt, any t-shirt. Now, where are the matching thongs? [I had nothing to do with this.]
Join in the fun by linking to the House of Ketchup. If you have an MT-powered weblog, just trackback to this post, and it will appear below. If your weblog software is incapable of trackbacks use Kevin's Trackback Form.
[Thanks go to the John F. Kerry Media Relations Center for Sen. Zoop's "voice."]
To Wisconsin Webloggers & Readers
This month's Milwaukee weblogger Meetup fell through. Next month's is scheduled for 05.19 at a place still to be determined. There's no rule saying you have to have a weblog to attend so I'm opening it up to area webloggers and weblog readers. We can gather to talk politics, sports, tech, pop culture, or (Wisconsin's favorite subject) the weather. All you have to do is go to the Meetup website, sign up, pick a place to gather, then show up. That last part is sometimes the hardest.
Weblog Bubble
What sound does a weblog bubble make when it pops? Because the word "blogging" made it into an episode of Law & Order: SVU.
If that isn't enough for you, intelligence agencies may already or in the future monitor some weblogs. [via Balloon Juice]
"Blogging Officially Jumps The Shark"
One Last Push
We're getting near the end of this corner of the blogosphere's little version of public television begging season. Hooray for me! Someone finally thought with their stomach and took me up on my Krispy Kreme offer. And thank goodness no one has taken me up on my other ones.
In other VC news:
- Kevin, one of our fearless leaders, has conceded and wants all the groups to push for $50,000 donated.
- James Lileks has thrown his support to the Victory Coalition. Just a wee bit too late for bragging rights, but it should certainly help get to the $50K goal.
- Dorkafork is now offering weblog logos...for a price. That got me to give a little more. How about you?
- Michele is about to check into a nice place where the birds sing, the trees are green, and the nice people in white keep you happily sedated.
Please, be like Chicago and give early and give often. Let's help our men and women defending us, and let's help the Iraqis have a chance at liberty.
April 27, 2004
Toomey Loses
Bummer. It was close, but close only counts [fill in with your favorite cliche here]. The Corner reports that Specter won with 15,000 votes.
"Specter Ekes Out Win in Pa. Primary"
Say What?
Is Congressman Maxine Waters experiencing a little self-hatred?
[via The Queen of All Evil]
Shameful
I hold my head in shame for I'm a part of the latest Bonfire of the Vanities hosted by On the Fritz.
Either/Or
Here's a message from Iraq.
[via Venomous Kate]
April 26, 2004
Missing the Point
The hoopla over a minor story like whether John Kerry threw medals or ribbons over a fence in 1971 misses a bigger point. Wasn't his action thoroughly despicable? Doing what he did is on par with burning an American flag, legal but reprehensible. The day before, Kerry had his chance to petition his government by speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He told of rapes, torture, and other war crimes. But being the center of American news wasn't enough for Kerry. He had to shock the public. By throwing medals and ribbons he thumbed his nose to the government he admirably defended. He also thumbed his nose to those people (including fellow veterans) who supported the government and felt Vietnam was a noble and necessary cause.
After Bill Clinton's two terms we know character is an important aspect for whoever wants the Presidency. Hyper-defensiveness on comments from 20 and 30 years ago is understandable. I might not be able to defend stuff I've written two years ago. The more important question surrounding Kerry and his Vietnam War protests is does he still support his statements and actions? If he could step into the way-back machine what would Kerry change? From what he told CNN, he wouldn't change a thing:
I'm not going to back down one inch on what I've fought for and what I've stood for all of these years.
Here we get to the crux. Kerry didn't support the war then, and doesn't regret anything he did to protest it. No regrets for calling soldiers war criminals. He doesn't regret calling the U.S. "paranoid" about "so-called communist monolith." If he wasn't serious about the threat of expansionistic communism then, how can we trust him to combat the relentless death cult of Islamism? After all, in January, Kerry said fighting terrorism was "primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation."
UPDATE: Steven Taylor [via OTB] writes of Kerry's muddling of the medals issue: "The issue is that a candidate who is already perceived by many as a waffler, now appear incapable of setting forth a simple, clear statement on an event that ought to be quite easy to describe." Steven then goes on to write, "In short: if Kerry can't get this right, is it any wonder we are all unclear on his Iraq policy?"
It's more than muddled thinking and bad communication. With Kerry it's just coming to poor conclusions. For example, Kerry wants a greater role for the U.N. in Iraq. That won't happen until the country is better stabilized. Plus, with the stench coming from that institution because of its awful handling of the Oil-for-Food progam no reasonable person would trust it to build a free Iraq.
Speechless
Emily reports on her experience at yesterday's pro-abortion march.
Then there's this sad comment on two letters expressing post-abortion regret:
While they regret their abortions, those who value sanity should not. When I read their letters all I can think is how lucky we are that these women did not have their babies. They are far too immature, delusional and self-pitying to be good mothers.
I guess 'tis better to kill the innocent than grant them any chance at a good life.
[via makeourcity.com]
A Day with Gerard
If you're a writer, Gerard Van der Leun has an offer you can't refuse. He's donating an entire day's time to editing and critiquing your writing. He has 30+ years of experience in the word world working with authors including Harlan Ellison and Robert Fulghum. Gerard charges $200/hour for his time, so a whole day is quite a donation. The biddings already at the super bargin of $225. And remember, all the proceeds go to help our soldiers and the Iraqis build a free nation.
"Writers: One Day of Professional Editing to Highest Bidder"
Pulling out the Big Guns
Michele's display of cleavage a Red Sox cap inspired me. I hearby declare that for a $50 donation to SOA I will show my (fake) love for either the evil Chicago Bears and/or the even more evil Minnesota Vikings by wearing a cap or shirt--then promptly burning it. (Sorry Michiganers, I won't bother with the Detroit Lions. I don't hate them, I just have pity for them.) Up in these parts wearing such clothing can mean public humiliation, distain, even family ostricism. But it's a risk I'm willing to take. I keep telling myself, "It's all for a good cause."
If you don't care about sports or have no desire to see my face here's another offer: for a $50 donation I will write something nice about the Democrat of your choice. It could be John Kerry, Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, *gasp* Bill Clinton, or *gasp* *gasp* Howard Dean. It's your choice. It won't be some smart-alec post about how great Ted Kennedy holds his liquor or Bill Clinton's ways with the ladies. I will write a serious, positive, intellectually honest essay that's respectful of the subject.
"Dedication #11: The Enemy, Suppuko, Red Sox"
Carroll Speaks
I hope the Packers' first round pick Ahmad Carroll can play because he certainly has the mouth. He had this to say about last year's infamous fourth-and-26 play against the Eagles:
You know, we're not going to let that happen this year. We can't dwell on the past. It's a new day and it's a new year and that's my job to go out there and ... see if I can put my team in fourth-and-40 situation instead of fourth-and-26.
"NFL DRAFT: Secondary First"
April 25, 2004
Packers Draft: Day 2
The Packers have one pick left and still haven't taken anyone on offense. Mike Sherman better have a good explanation. Supposedly, this draft was loaded with wide receivers, yet the Pack found none to their liking.
Price Drop
Being an amateur economist, I understand the law of demand. People are willing to buy more of a good at a lower price than a higher one. Since no one has taken me up on my "Donate for Doughnuts" offer, I'm lowering the price. The first five to donate $15 or more to SOA will get a dozen golden, glazed goodies. Call it doing my best Wal-Mart impersonation. E-mail your proof of donating to sean--at--theamericanmind--dot--com.
Moving Ammo Instead of Dresses
The Boston Globe has an interesting article on the military's logistics revolution and whether Iraq has shown us the limits civilian contracting and outsourcing.
"Supply and Command"
New Beatallica
Beatallica is some of the funniest stuff I've heard in ages. This month, their self-title second album is available for your downloading pleasure.
Thinking with Your (Other) Head
It's safe to say Talking to Richard won't be getting a TAM Award next December.
"Talking To Richard by Gary Sherbell"
April 24, 2004
Packers Draft: Day 1
This year's NFL is suppose to be loaded with wide receivers. Since I'm not sold on their current batch of WRs I'm worried that Mike Sherman focused too much on defense. Two cornerbacks, a defensive tackle, and a punter were drafted by the Pack. No receivers or quarterbacks in that mix. That's not to denigrate first round pick Ahmad Carroll. I worry about his size (5'10" going against Randy Moss)He's a burner who made plenty of tackles in college. Guess we'll be stuck with Tim Couch or Doug Pederson backing up Favre next season.
"Packers Pick Cornerback in First Round"
"Top Pick Will be Put to Work"
"Packers Buck Trend"
It's Come Down to Stripping Already
Dean Esmay's wife, Rosemary, is pulling out the big guns (pun intended). A $10 donation will get you some skin. If I wasn't on a (soon-to-be) winning team, my Alexander Hamilton would be headed her way.
Oh, by the way, I'm still offering doughnuts. Boy, do I feel inadequate now.
Donate to Spirit of America.
UPDATE: I added the Krispy Kreme-style graphic. I wonder if Michele was inspired by my sweet offer?
UPDATE II: One Fine Jay has topped my offer. He's running an auction for web design services. While only offer 12 golden glazed goodies, he's giving up 6-9 hours of his time. Again, I feel inadequate.
Everybody Wins
What's wrong? Nobody like doughnuts? Have my readers all gone on low-carb diets? No one has taken me up on my Krispy Kreme offer. Even if you don't like the golden glazed goodies (Heretic!), please generously donate to Spirit of America. With your gift our troops win, liberated Iraqis win, and the Victory Coalition wins.
"Spirit Of America Challenge - Day Three Report Card"
April 23, 2004
Spitting on Tillman's Grave
With all the hard work I've been doing following the Dean and Kerry campaigns (stop snickering) Paleowatch has suffered dearly. That changed today when PunchtheBag led me to this LewRockwell.com Blog post that's mildly sympathetic to Pat Tillman's death. It's in response to this vile post almost cheering Tillman's death. The writer, Karen De Coster, stays on her vicious streak by claiming the ex-NFL player was practically brainwashed into becoming an Army Ranger. According to De Coster, who has the superpower of reading people's minds, anyone of some notariety who backs the war is just a "war-worshiper" who sells death:
Yes, he [Tillman] got up from his Lazy-Boy and put his life on the line, however, this just goes to show that the picture that has been painted, of military/war worshipping, has worked, and it has lured young men like Tillman into believing that, yes, war and military and conquest is a good and necesssary thing, and that fighting for The Regime is the right thing to do. As a reader reminded me, look at Tiger Woods, who just recently spent "spring camp" at a military base, playing soldier for a few days, posing beside military armaments and the like. Someone posted that on the LRC blog I believe? This is the image that is being conveyed. This is how a government sells a bloody, murderous war, not unlike the old, pre-media days, with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope hawking war bonds as the "patriotic" thing to do.
The more these paleos talk, the more they marginalize themselves. If De Coster does what she did the last time I got under her collar, expect some highly charged response and comments.
April 22, 2004
Looking Good II
Peggy Noonan adds to Fineman on why Bush still leads Kerry:
I think Mr. Bush is admired and liked after three years of war, terror, strife and recession because people have eyes.They look at him, listen to him, and watch him every day. They can tell that George W. Bush is looking out for America. They can tell he means it. They can see his sincerity. They can tell he is doing his best. They understand his thinking because he tells them his thinking. They think he may be right. They're not sure, but at least they understand his thinking.
Then on Kerry, Noonan writes:
So far he doesn't seem like a possible president. He seems somewhat shifty, somewhat cold, an operator. He has a good voice but he seems to use it most to slither out of this former statement or that erstwhile position. It's OK that he looks like a sad tree, but you can't look like a sad, hollow tree. And it looks a little hollow in there. As if Iraq is an issue Kerry feels he has to handle deftly, and not a brutal question we have to solve, together. As if homeland security is an issue, or civil defense, or preparedness. They're not issues. They're life and death. Mr. Kerry doesn't seem to know.
"People Have Eyes"
Here Are Some Bad Songs
No need for me to follow the "worst song" meme that Blender started. I put together a list last year that I still stand mostly stand by. One song I'd add would be William Hung's version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." I've never heard, never will (hopefully), but after seeing him doing "She Bangs" how could it be any good?
Donate for Doughnuts
What could get you pumped up to donate to Spirit of America? How about doughnuts? Not just any old fried sweets, but those golden, glazed goodies that are the crack cocaine of junk food. I'm talking about the original, hasn't been duplicated Krispy Kremes! The first five people to donate $25 or more to Spirit of America will get themselves a dozen doughnuts courtesy of TAM. Donate, then e-mail me (sean--at--theamericanmind--dot--com) proof of your good deed.
If you have any hesitation, just let your sweet tooth do the thinking.
"SOA Challenge - Day 2 Schedule Of Activities"
Looking Good
Howard Fineman comments on the Presidential horserace. Even with the strong resistence in Iraq and questions about President Bush's approaches to terrorism prevention and the war "the fact is that Kerry has lost ground — ground he has to make up if he hopes to win in November." Fineman then lists some reasons Bush is doing all right despite the current problems.
It'd be hard for anyone to win the Presidency when their claim to fame is being a long-time Senator. The last man to go straight from the Senate to the White House was John F. Kennedy, and he narrowly beat Richard Nixon in 1960. The problem running as a Senator is they're not perceived as leading. Instead, they're part of the messy, convoluted process of making law. It's not that voters don't appreciate Kerry's efforts in his years as Senator. It's just that many don't see the skills developed there as that applicable to a President. A Senator can't will a bill into law. That person has to guide it through committees, past special interests, and around that body's intricate rules. That's far different than an person in an executive branch ordering the police to investigate an incident or dispatching the national guard. Dealing with so many people with their own agendas and interests, a Senator seems more qualified to be ambassador to the U.N. or Secretary of State than commander-in-chief.
"Why the Race is Looking so Good for Bush" [via Milt's File]
Lots to Do (Literally!)
He should just quit the campaign now. I'm sure he's a few thousand behind "The Stilt."
Insert lots of jokes in the comments.
Strange Fallow
Ed Moltzen counters James Fallows' critique of the Iraq War.
"Fallows-cy"
The Coalition is Losing
But Spirit of America and Iraq is winning. Forget bringing back the draft to more equitably share the burden. You can bear more of the burden (who's paying to kill the bad guys and rebuild there?) by donating.
"Spirit Of America Challenge - Day One Report Card"
GOP MeetUp
The weblogger MeetUp fell through, but the Republican one is still on. Here are the details:
What: National Republican Party Meetup Day
When: Thursday, Apr 22 @ 7PM
Who: Republicans and friends
Where: Pizza Shuttle
1827 N Farwell Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414-289-9993
I can't guarantee I'll be there. I'm leaning toward it, but I'll have to see how my day goes tomorrow.
April 21, 2004
Bravo
Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT) will convene a hearing on the fraud that was the Iraq Oil-for-Food program. Before allowing the U.N. to do anything more in Iraq, that organization must be held accountable for perpetuating Saddam's regime. Friends of Saddam, a new weblog, is following this story.
"The Iraq Oil-for-Food Program: Starving for Accountability"
Highly Recommended
I just downloaded Motown 1's from iTunes. Oh, do I love "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Always have, always will. The album is loaded with other great songs. Get it. There's no way you'll be disappointed.
Lazy Bums
Duke University has pushed back their first classes of the day from 8:00 am to 8:30 am to give students more time to sleep. Who's to say the students won't just stay up an extra half hour making change pointless?
"Duke University Cuts 8 A.M. Classes" [via Cold Spring Shops]
Lazy Radical
The hottest comic strip writer is a jackass who sits around his Beverly Hills penthouse apartment staring at the television to find inspiration for his next strip. When it finally hits him it's lame, inspid Bush-bashing. Aaron McGruder doesn't even draw "The Boondocks" anymore. Berkeley Breathed is still trying to regain his form (hint: get Bill the Cat and send him on a mission with Delta Force) so our only hope for serious laughter is "Dilbert" and "Mallard Fillmore."
"The Radical"
One Good Ketchup Company
Stop picking on Heinz, Co. They make the best ketchup and neither Sen. Kerry or his wife run the company. Blast Kerry for his hypocritical "Benedict Arnolds" remarks, but don't complain to the company. They're one of the good guys by donating only to President Bush.
"Heinz Co. Is Campaign Weapon for Bush" [via Drudge]
April 20, 2004
A Useful Government Service
I noticed I've done a lot of posting but none of any length and thought. Oh, well. It's just one of those days. Anyway, the Wisconsin Legislative Research Bureau has RSS feeds for their publications. Perfect for any Wisconsin resident intent on keeping a watchful eye on their goverment.
Milwaukee MeetUp Cancelled
Not enough people signed up for the weblogger MeetUp. Bummer. The next one is around 05.19. I'll be bugging TAM readers when the date gets closer.
Opinion Duel
Think of Opinon Duel (thank goodness, it doesn't have another "hip" one-word name) as Crossfire and Hannity & Colmes, but with a whole lot more intelligence and substance. Right now, The New Republic's Jonathon Chait and National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru are debating pre-Sept. 11 intelligence mistakes.
[via OxBlog]
Darn Progress
Don Boudreaux has an outstanding post on job loss and economic change. Here's just a portion:
50 years ago this month, Dr. Jonas Salk launched nationwide testing of his polio vaccine. Within an incredibly short time (and with help from the researches and refinements of Dr. Albert Sabin), polio was effectively wiped out as a health threat in America.But there’s a downside: job loss. How many workers, who played by the rules, lost their jobs as a result of this development? People who built wheelchairs and crutches, who helped manufacture iron-lung machines, and who specialized in nursing polio victims – many of these people were thrown out of work by the product supplied by Dr. Salk and Dr. Sabin. Some of these workers surely found comparable alternative employment quickly. Others took longer to do so. And probably some others were obliged to accept jobs at much lower pay. Maybe some of these workers never found new jobs.
The rest is Bastiat-like.
"Polio Vaccination and Jobs"
Cam Edwards Live!
I'm finally watching Cam Edwards on NRA News. He's good, but how long can a guy keep talking about a single issue (guns and the 2nd. Amendment)? And how long can someone listen to a single issue show?
Don't Just Sit There...Give!
Here's the deal: the Marines want to get seven Iraqi television stations up and running so the populace can watch something other than al-Jazeera. The Spirit of America is collecting donations for equipment it will send to Iraq. It's now the mission of a few webloggers to fill SoA's coffers so we can help out the troops and the newly-liberated Iraqis. Won't you help out? It'll feel good.
"The Victory Coalition"
Finally Inspired
[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]
Sizzle Sizzle
d-42 has this week's Bonfire of the Vanities.
April 19, 2004
Kerry's House of Ketchup #8
Hey boys and girls, it's time for another adventure onto the campaign trail of a man who may or may not have committed war crimes in Vietnam. It's time for Kerry's House of Ketchup. And now we have the "voice" of the Senator himself gracing this fine periodical. There's more clever "ads" at the John F. Kerry Media Relations Center.
- Stephen Green is confused about Kerry's Meet the Press interview.
- The ketchup man made the cover of a French magazine. They love him over there. Maybe he should run for president there?
- Kerry wants to turn a lot of authority for reconstructing Iraq's polity over to the U.N. Kofi Annan has declined. As Glenn Reynolds points out, the U.N. can't even get their act together in "that multilateral non-paradise, Kosovo." That puts a wrench in the works.
- ScrappleFace reports on another Osama bin Laden tape offering a conditional truce. He also reports on Kerry mixing up his twin religions of Catholicism and modern liberalism.
- Kerry-bashing webloggers have commenced a "waffle" Google-bombing campaign (shock and awe blogosphere-style). Things could get ugly if Kerry were elected. News of the prank has even made the USA Today.
- Another anti-Kerry prank was twisting a Kerry campaign website's webpage creation tool into something almost post-modern. If you don't like that, make your own Kerry sign. Jeff Goldstein did.
- From the "I Can't Make this Up" File is John Kerry talking to some children.
- Changing to a more serious tone, four months before the Sept. 11 attacks, Senator Kerry received information that a terrorist attack could be launched Boston's Logan Airport due to poor security. Kerry's belated response was less than stellar.
- It seems the American public doesn't know much about John Kerry. (Did you know he fought in Vietnam?) That might be his explanation of why he's tied (or nearly tied) with President Bush in the polls. Maybe the real explanation is the more they find out about him, the more they don't like him. His new short-term strategy is introducing himself to the voters. Putting out a Deaniac-style ad declaring that Halliburton invaded Iraq won't help. For more there's Stephen Green.
- Is John Kerry afraid of black people?
- Pejman Yousefzadeh smacks Kerry on the definition of patriotism. The Iraq War Reader, not sympathetic to President Bush, thinks Kerry needs to lay out a positive agenda on what he would do to fix the Iraq situation.
Join in the fun by linking to the House of Ketchup. If you have an MT-powered weblog, just trackback to this post, and it will appear below. If your weblog software is incapable of trackbacks use Kevin's Trackback Form.
For the Econ Junkies in My Audience
The Knowledge Problem hosts this week's Carnival of the Capitalists.
Sorry, Dean
But I want to be on the winning team.
"The Victory Coalition"
Scenes from Phoenix
Citizen Smash's vacation pics reminded me that I have some Spring Training pics. I put a few up on Yahoo and will get more up when I get around to networking my notebook with my new desktop.
April 18, 2004
Meetup Milwaukee
Milwaukee-area webloggers have never joined in the Meetup phenomenon. Let's change that this Wednesday, at 7:00 at Pizza Shuttle (map). If enough people sign up (need two more) I'll be there with a smile on my face and a digital camera in hand (the latter shouldn't scare you off).
Quote of the Day
I think that Law & Order is kind of comfort food for the mind. It's also visual nicotine. It's very seductive. You get that same nice, comfortable roller-coaster ride whenever you tune in.--Law & Order creator Dick Wolf.
When will some dangerously obese sloth sue Wolf for television addiction?
"CBS, NBC Plan More Series Spinoffs"
A New Addition to the TAM Family
TAM now has more speed and power. The problems I've been having with my 3+ year-old WinME machine pushed me to get a new desktop. Last weekend, I got it. I haven't used my Sam's Club membership in a long time, but I paid for my membership fee with this Compaq running an Athalon XP 2.16GHz processor, a 160 GB hard drive, 512 MB of RAM, a CD-RW and DVD-ROM, plenty of USB 2.0 and Fire Wire ports, and a 17" LCD. All of this was just under $1000.
So, Santa, while I don't really need a new computer I still wouldn't mind if this was under the tree next Christmas. (I could have bought one of these today, but I didn't want to hand over $1600 to the Wal-Mart empire.
In this transition I've been downloading a core set of programs I use often. They're great tools for me, so I figured I'd give you a little peak behind the TAM curtain to show you how the TAM wizard gets this weblog to look so darn good:
- ZoneAlarm is a free software firewall that has done well protecting me from nefarious crackers and script kiddies.
- AVG is a free, updated anti-virus program that has shown no problems on my notebook computer so I'm not going to bother with a Norton Anti-Virus subscription once my 60-day trial ends.
- After anti-virus software, anti-spyware programs should be your next-most important download. Ad-aware and Spybot are two that do the job for me.
- EditPad Lite is a free text editor that puts Microsoft's Notepad to shame. EPL is great for jotting down notes when you don't want to fire up a word processor. I also use it to write HTML and CSS code.
- I'm sticking with Internet Explorer. I had FireFox on my old machine, but not all the MT user interfaces are at hand while using it. Hopefully, in the next major update the MT people will fix this.
- Ifran is a great, small graphics app that views, crops, reduces colors, and does graphics file conversions. Everytime I upload a picture to TAM, I use this free program to get it to look just the way I want.
- Desktop aggregators for WinME are pretty bad. The only passable one I used was FeedReader (which appears to have stalled in its development). With WinXP my choices have multiplied. I'm using SharpReader because it's constantly checks my feeds without any major gliches. Perfect no, but good enough for my needs.
- The first XP-only program I wanted to play with was iTunes. Oh, am I not disappointed. Having the ability to have hours and hours of music at my fingertips brings a big smile to my face. There are oodles of radio stations covering so many genres of music. I found some good electronic dance stations and can now listen to an eclectic Milwaukee college station who's signal doesn't make it 40 miles north. Then there is the music library where you just pop in a CD and it's immediately available to play or import onto the hard drive. I can now make playlists from a particular style or from a certain range of years. Also, I can burn CDs with my own mix. Having an iPod would be nice, but it isn't needed. I haven't even gotten to the iTunes store where thousands and thousands of songs could be yours with just a click of the mouse. It's more than an understatement and pun when I say--no scream--"iTunes Rocks!"
This episode of The Screen Savers is now over. Patrick and Kevin, you can have your show back.
Get a Clue...Everyone!
Hey idiots! Respond to Jamie Gorelick's conflicts of interest in a more constructive way: ignore or denounce the Sept. 11 commissions tainted findings. Don't threaten her with violence or other forms of (dare I say) terrorism.
And Oliver, lose the knee-jerk partisanship. You're better than that.
"Brown Shirts In Our Midst"
April 17, 2004
BloggerCon 2
As I type, the second edition of BloggerCon is taking place. The conference's weblog has links to audio and video feeds and IRC (see webcasts). There is also list of participants with links to their weblogs. Dave Winer and Jeff Jarvis are both posting from the event. This time around, I'm not there. I'll try to explain my reasons later. Instead of talking about weblogs, I'm going fishing.
UPDATE: Jeff Sandquist is posting live with pics.
Please Link
It's great when a post inspires an entry on another weblog. Trackbacks are really helpful in finding new, interesting weblogs. However, it's a bit rude to trackback to a post but not link to it. So, it's now an official TAM policy that I will delete any trackbacks that don't link to TAM or a specific entry.
April 16, 2004
Outrageous Ad
John Kerry has dove head first into the Howard Dean pool of wackiness. Power Line got wind of an ad on Salon claiming Haliburton invaded Iraq. Where's FactCheck.org when you need them?
"Learning from Teddy" [via OTB]
Hayek's Spirit Takes Over Stephenson
When Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver came out last year geeks, webloggers, and sci-fi freaks were excited. Because of my connections I got a copy of the book a week before it was released. I got about half-way through (400+ pages) and quit. It's one of the rare occasions where I couldn't finish a book. If anything, I will myself to get to the end, just to say I finished it. With Quicksilver, so many lengthy sidebars, tangents, and details bored me so I moved on to something else.
I'm now a little bothered with not finishing Quicksilver because the next book in The Baroque Cycle, The Confusion has just been released. In this book, Stephenson gets into the economic history of 17th century Europe. He talks to Wired News about the economy back then in particular and economies in general:
Very generally, it has to do with the flow of metal around the world. That's important because money is a sort of medium for the exchange of information. When the price of cloth went up in Antwerp, it was because the system of international trade, in some fashion that's too complex for us to understand, was transmitting information about the supply/demand balance. Money makes that kind of information flow better. [Emphasis mine.]
Those thoughts are practically Hayekian. There's the idea of the economy as an undesigned order that transcends any individual mind. Then there's the idea of money as a highly efficent communications mechanism. (Hayek calls the role of prices a "system of telecommunications" in his essay "The Use of Knowledge in Society.")
Sadly, I'm not willing to re-start a 900+ page novel just to then jump into a 800+ page sequel when I'm getting all the Hayek I want in Bruce Caldwell's Hayek's Challenge.
"Clearing Up The Confusion"
April 15, 2004
Tax Day
To celebrate (accountants and those who get refunds) or dread (those who owe) April 15, here's Reason's Brian Doherty on the "tax honesty" movement.
""It’s So Simple, It’s Ridiculous"
Bush Apologizes
Not really, but this is something I'd love to hear.
"Bush Admits Mistakes, Apologizes"
Ball Diver
I thought the guy who got Barry Bonds' 660th home run ball was pretty lucky. The next day, the same strange man in a mask got Bonds' 661st home run ball. We now know that strange, lucky man was Oracle CEO and billionaire Larry Ellison.
"Just Waiting for the Sock of the Bay"
UPDATE: It looks like I'm wrong. Some guy named Larry Ellison snatched both Bonds' homers, but it's not THE Larry Ellison, the shogun of Oracle. After re-reading the NY Times story then the San Jose Mercury News story, I see no mention of Ellison being a billionaire. If the Mercury News, in the heart of Silicon Valley, didn't mention him as the head of Oracle, then it wasn't the billioniare Ellison. Me bad. Thank you Eye for pointing it out.
Sin of Commission
If Oliver wants to go after someone whoes lie has done serious damage he can look at Jamie Gorelick. With John Ashcroft's declassification of Gorelick's memo, and the discovery that she wasn't honest with her fellow commissioners The commission probably could have survived Richard Ben-Veniste's desire for scoring political points over discovering what went wrong. But commission critics will point to Gorelick and argue her mission was to make sure blame didn't rest on her ex-bosses in the Clinton administration. She won't resign and won't testify. This commission could have had lasting impact on how the U.S. defends herself. Now, it will be remembered as an opportunity lost.
"Gorelicks Her Wounds"
UPDATE: My congressman and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jim Sensenbrenner has called for Gorelick to step aside.
"GOP Calls for Commissioner to Step Down"
Perky Performance
P is for perpetual motion. As in the constant jabs and counter jabs between President Bush's critics and defenders. It's an election year so what else should we expect.
First, we have Oliver Willis still not understanding the difference between lying and being wrong. Bush wasn't even sure about the figure. He said, "By the way, they found, I think, 50 tons of mustard gas, I believe it was, in a turkey farm, only because he was willing to disclose where the mustard gas was. But that made the world safer" [emphasis mine]. In that situation, he should have just said that mustard gas was found. It was an error, not deception. Heck, there's a politician he likes who made a similar mistake, and I didn't jump on him for being a lying bastard.
Then we have the Heritage Foundation's Helle Dale's and James Phillips' response that pre-Sept. 11 intelligence agencies should have prevented the deadly attacks:
The point Dr. Rice hammered home is worth repeating here: Before September 11, there was no political will to reinvent the way intelligence was collected and shared between agencies within and without the United States. "The problem was that for a country that had not been attacked on its territory in a major way in almost 200 years," she said, "there were lots of structural impediments to those [changes].... Those changes should have been made over a long period of time."
"Setting the Record Straight: Condoleezza Rice and the 9/11 Commission"
April 14, 2004
The Blame Game
Weblogger, tv talking heads, print pundits, Bush basher, and Bush supporters can go on and on in a never ending circle as to who and in what administration dropped the ball and not took terrorism seriously. We have the Gorelick memo that established "a set of instructions that will clearly separate the counterintelligence investigation from the more limited, but continued criminal investigation." This "wall" between counterintelligence and criminal investigation was only modestly lowered when John Ashcroft took over the Justice Department.
If the Sep. 11 commission didn't look like a partisan clay shooting club before, it certainly does now. Did Jamie Gorelick mention to anyone that she wrote that memo before accepting a spot on the commission? Did she think the memo would never surface, and did she take steps to hide its existence? In light of this new information, does she think she has enough distance from the inquiry to offer a useful, objective opinion?
At last night's press conference, a few reporters tried hard to get President Bush apologize for the Sep. 11th attacks. Bush didn't fall into their trap. The reporters were seeking a "gotcha" moment to paste across headlines and put at the beginning of all their new updates. Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report were just drooling for a cover showing Bush with his head down, looking somber and the words "I'm Sorry" in bold down the side. The dirty little secret (that isn't) about the news media is they're a form of entertainment. The all-news channels and the newspapers are fighting for the same attention as American Idol and Hellboy. A Presidential apology would have been big news and drawn lots of eyeballs. That's how the game works, and the reporters were just fulfilling their roles. Bush didn't give in because he knew that for the next seven months Kerry's campaign and the Democrats' 527s would pump out ads declaring "Bush Failed!" and use the President's own words.
To those who think President Bush should have "done something" to stop the attacks, go back to Sept. 10. The country wasn't on a war footing. The first WTC attack was years before. Out of sight, out of memory. There were occasional reports of U.S. planes taking out Iraqi positions to enforce the no-fly zone. The country was at peace and thought it was safe. That was the public's view and, not surprisingly, that extended upwards to our leaders. There was that wall between counterintelligence and criminal divisions, and I'm sure John Ashcroft was doing some things to break it down. However, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the number one priority for him, because the U.S. wasn't at war. Government only moves fast when there's a crisis. The Patriot Act got past so quickly (with most members of Congress not knowing what was all in it) because they had to "do something." That's also why we're stuck with the TSA.
This then begs the question: Should we have been at war? Looking back with unfair, 20-20 vision, the answer is an unequivocal yes. But that doesn't take into account the political constraints of the times.
"Ashcroft Strikes Back at Sept. 11 Critics"
"The Blame Game"
TAM's First Blogchild
Jeff MacMillan, one of TAM's most prolific commenters now has a weblog of his own. If you like his comments on TAM (as well as across the blogosphere) then check out American Optimist.
April 13, 2004
Post Press Conference
President Bush's resolve was unmistakable tonight. Critics will call it pig-headedness while supporters (like me) will call it standing firm. Here's Oliver Willis' rather obnoxious live-blogging, and Michele offers up some material from the Bush choir [via OTB].
I need football season to start soon so I find something reasonable on Oliver's weblog. At his rate, he'll be spewing something Kos-like by the GOP convention in NYC.
Word Up
mtpolitics.net is back from its Lenten leave of absence. Things are up and running again. Everything appears to be normal, but if you look carefully you'll see that it's now powered by WordPress. With Kate also playing with WP are we seeing the next great migration in the blogosphere?
Why Ask Why?
Last week, I didn't get why Bob Dylan is selling underware. Neither does Slate's Seth Stevenson.
"Tangled Up in Boobs" [via Betsy's Page]
TAM's Been Yahoo-ed
I made it into Yahoo. Why I didn't do this years ago, I don't know.
Cam's New Job
Cam Edwards is now hosting NRAnews.com. It's that organization's big middle finger to McCain-Feingold. Great for him. Now, is one of the fringe benefits all the ammunition you can shoot?
TAM Denied Again
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel messed up. Reporter Nahal Toosi, former Iraq War embed, wrote a story on weblogs. She mentioned weblogs in Oregon, Vermont, Madison, even Larry Lessig at Stanford. No mention of any local weblogs. Not to toot my horn to loudly, but I know of a pretty prolific one *ahem* *ahem*. I can even point Ms. Toosi to a couple (the Steve half to be exact) other (the Owen half to be exact) ones if she thinks my opinion is a little biased. Heck, two talk radio hosts at a sister station to her employer have their own (only ok) weblogs. But since there isn't enough interest to have a MeetUp for Milwaukee webloggers, I can see why Ms. Toosi went with the college angle.
Anybody interested in doing some pro bono PR for TAM? The previous guy wasn't cutting it so I pulled a Donald Trump on him. Another question: Can you get unemployment for firing yourself?
"Post and Publish"
[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]