OK, So I was Wrong

Well, at least I haven't been proven right yet. Boy, how things change in a mere seven months. Oh well.

Another Cool Blog

I'm back, at least for today, I'll post some things. Go look at ArmedLiberal. I've added him to the permanent links on the side, there.

Still Out to Lunch

Yeah, I haven't been posting recently. I'm really sorry, but this behavior will likely continue for a while. I will return, however!

New Blogs I found that I like

Well, today I stumbled across some actually liberal bloggers! And not ones that piss me off by being "Loony Left" pacifists, either (though I don't think they're as Hawkish as I am). Here are the links: Eschaton and his pal Silt. Go read them!

Carter Goes to Cuba and Dubya Toughens Stance

So, Pres. Carter heads to Cuba in the interest of warming relations between the island and the United States. At nearly the same time, Shrubya announces that he's toughening his stance on Cuba. Partisan politics? Here? As usual. Carter visited a biotech institute, apparently. A biotech institute, for Heaven's sake! If they can afford to research that kind of technology, then I don't think we're gaining anything through isolating them. Now, I'm too young to know exactly why everybody hates Castro... is it "just" because he's a Communist ex-puppet of the Soviet Union? Or did he do some particularly horrifying things entirely on his own? If it's the latter (and I suspect it's actually both), then he deserves to be treated like a horrifying dictator... but it's too late now. Having decided to pursue the strategy of "wait until he dies" for so long, it's probably better now just to see it through to its end. Every indication I've seen says that as soon as he drops dead, Cuba will undergo a radical change to a first-world capitalist nation. But that probably won't happen if we make things worse there first...

Strange, though, that I'm advocating a "doveish" position on this. Libertarian nut-jobs would claim it's because, as a liberal, I like Communists. This isn't true. It's just that I feel this situation does not call for military might, it calls for different measures. Each situation must be judged on its own merits.

Temporary Hiatus

Posting is probably going to be really sparse and sporadic in the next couple days to weeks, while I look for a job... I will attempt to keep posting, but I haven't really been in a ranting mood lately

Some People are Just Ignorant

Why does everyone with half a brain think they understand computer science? Or is it just Mac graphic arts people? I get so angry reading the AppleInsider forums, I don't know why I do it. These people have no understanding whatsoever of the work that goes into writing programs... worse, they have no understanding at all of how hardware interacts with it. They expect Apple to be able to magically write software that uses their hardware in ways that it cannot be used and get upset and rude when Apple can't deliver. Specifically, I'm talking about the new Quartz Extreme coming with the next major upgrade of Mac OS X (codenamed "Jaguar"). It encapsulates Mac OS X's Quartz drawing system in OpenGL and uses the 3D processor of the video card (these days much, much, much more advanced than the 2D processor, which hasn't really changed in 10 years) to render everything on screen. It also requires certain hardware features that older 3D cards lack; therefore, it only works on nVidia GeForce2MX or better and ATI Radeons. Hmm, I got interrupted by something and have lost the trail of my rant... well, whatever.

Far Be It for Me to Discriminate

So, people might come here looking for "Lisa Lopes autopsy photos" and, despite being sick f*cks, decide to stay and read my wonderful opinions! Welcome!

Suicide Bomb Hits Israel Immediately After Freeing Yasser Arafat

CNN.com - Suicide bombing kills at least 10 near Tel Aviv - May 7, 2002

A suicide bomber blew up a bunch of people in a billiard hall. A frickin' pool hall! These are people out for a night of fun! The unspeakable evil inherent in this act... well, it's unspeakably evil, at any rate. Downright Cthulu-esque. And this happens while Ariel Sharon is in talks with Shrubya. There are two sets of theories that can come from this: 1.) the ranting anti-Semite conspiracy theory, and 2.) Yasser Arafat really is responsible for the bombings, and either he's stupid, or he wants to send the message that there can be no peace. Which one is more likely? Well, I suggest we take the simplest one, the one which requires the least convoluted logic. That is, Yasser Arafat goes free, then terror attacks resume. So, I blame Yasser Arafat.

Thunderstorm

I just asked, and apparently they don't have thunderstorms in South Korea, just lots and lots of rain. Weird.

CNN.com - Airliner crashes in China - May 7, 2002

CNN.com - Airliner crashes in China - May 7, 2002

Wooo, two plane crashes in one day! That's pretty unlikely, but I'm certain it really is just coincidence. For some reason, I'm just not in a ranting mood today...

Resolution in Support of Israel

Last week, Congress passed resolutions supporting Israel. Not once was it mentioned on any mainstream news source I look at. Not once. What is up with the media? I think they're simply anti-everybody. They appeared to have a strong Republican lean during the 2000 election, but now... well, actually, the vast majority of Jews are Democratic liberals, so their behavior really just doesn't make sense. I think it comes down to the oil money somehow, but I'm not really sure how in this case. The important thing to remember about the media is they are out to make money. All political ideologies are secondary to this, because they are businesses who must bring the shareholder value by any means necessary. Convervatives point out that all of the people you actually see doing the reporting are liberals. Perhaps so... but it doesn't matter, because the editors and producers who must approve and assign the content are all conservatives. The people with the power in the media are the conservative owners, producers, and editors. An individual reporter can attempt to put a liberal spin on things, but if the conservative editor doesn't like it, then it doesn't get published (or broadcast, or whatever). Even CNN is no longer owned by Ted Turner. Now the giant beurocracy of AOL/TimeWarner controls everything. And they contributed to George W. Bush's campaign.

Which brings me to the startling conclusion that the advertisers must feel that nigh-blatant anti-semitism will bring in ratings! Is the general American public actually pro-terror, pro-Saudi, anti-Israel? Because that must be the conclusion of the advertisers, otherwise they'd demand that programming change to match reality. Remember, they are out to make money, and that is the primary concern. If the media wanted to push a "liberal" (but not really) viewpoint against the wishes of the public, then the public would change the channel (or read a different paper, or whatever), and the media company loses money. And then gets sued by its shareholders, etc. So, either the demographics people are out of whack and need to do some new studies, or there is a dangerous undercurrent of anti-semitism even in mainstream America. I know which one I hope is true...

New Blog started by Friend

Frank Wyatt, a friend of mine, has started a new blog called Denmad eb Cigol. He's an insane and intelligent person, who hopefully will have a lot of interesting things to say.

Statistics of War

Statistics of Deadly Quarrels

Wow. The two World Wars of the 20th Century were responsible for 60% of all violent death (including petty murders, but not accidents, starvation, diseases, etc) from 1820 to 1950. Not only that, but it doesn't matter what I (or anyone else) says here, because war is completely random! Obviously, that's not actually true (well, the part about war being random is true), as the article points out just because crime rate is a known quantity, "I'm sorry your honor, but somebody has to keep the murder rate up" won't fly with a jury. Indiviual wars happen for a reason. It's just that those reasons arise at random periods. Anyway, go read the article. Now.

I Am Disgusted with the Vatican

And not because of pedophilia. I won't post the photo here, but you can see it at USS Clueless, Instapundit, etc. It shows a French (naturally) Cardinal holding hands and smiling with Yasser Arafat. This is digusting! It makes me ashamed to be Catholic. Followers of that man are holding the Church of the Nativity hostage, along with priests, monks, and nuns, and the Vatican is sucking up to him! I deeply, sincerely hope that the Holy Father has nothing personally to do with this. I can't believe that he would, he is from Poland and should know real Nazis when he sees them! I strongly suspect there are power games going on in the Vatican right now, because of the Pontiff's ailing health and advanced age. This Cardinal Roger Etchegaray is probably playinig politics and hoping to curry favor with certain power blocs inside the Council. Grr...