Saturday, May 10, 2003

That's a great Daily Mail/Telegraph picture.
posted by Alun , 10:19 PM Þ 

This is the dude:

Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the leader of the largest Iraqi Muslim group opposed to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), speaks to his followers upon his arrival to the southern city of Basra, Iraq (news - web sites), Saturday May 10, 2003. Al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, rolled across the Iranian frontier into Iraq at the Shalamjah border crossing. He had been in exile in Iran and under protection of its Shiite religious leaders since 1980.
(AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)
posted by Irdial , 9:18 PM Þ 

sorry. buggered the link.
posted by Alun , 1:16 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 1:14 PM Þ 

Two Things:

1. The Immovable Object
America and Britain yesterday laid out their blueprint for postwar Iraq in a draft resolution to the United Nations security council, naming themselves as "occupying powers" and giving them control of the country's oil revenues.

2. The Unstoppable Force
The leader of Iraq's best-known Shia opposition group has been greeted by thousands of jubilant supporters on his return from exile in Iran.... His movements in Iraq are likely to be closely watched by United States and British officials - who are concerned that he might push for an Islamic state in Iraq..... On the eve of his return, Ayatollah Hakim said the future of the country lay in the hands of Islam.
posted by Alun , 12:13 PM Þ 



Cyberdyne progenitor flexes his muscles.
posted by Irdial , 11:38 AM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 8:42 AM Þ 

Mary, thanks for the links and yeah, Master Labyrinth was a wicked game! Good memories.

Good luck on your exhibition, dav! I hope it goes swimmingly.

My horoscope said: Grave fanaticism in any form, even if devoted to a noble cause, is dangerous not only to your mental health, but also to that of the people around you.
posted by Barrie , 3:12 AM Þ 

I am typing from the University Art Gallery (from a very nice g4!). It's part of an exhibit called DesignSpace which is somewhat interesting. There is a big wall with a brainstorm on it that I added to considerably. It had topics on it about blogs and internet communication. I mentioned Blogdial (I wrote the address for them) and put in some observations. The most blatantly wrong thing is that they are using Internet Explorer. IE is crippled, and shitty. Yeah.
posted by Barrie , 12:04 AM Þ 
Friday, May 09, 2003



By request :]

I did 1,2 and 4. 5 is was difficult. The later ones are really hard looking.
posted by Irdial , 11:37 PM Þ 

Horoscopes for everyone!
posted by mary13 , 11:04 PM Þ 

Hey Barrie, check these links on Canada's energy situation.

National Energy Program
The national energy program, conceived by the former Liberal government led by Trudeau, is still seen as Ottawa's blatant grab of Alberta's energy riches and an intrusion into provincial powers.

The NEP, a complicated set of economic measures, kept the domestic price of oil below the world price. It was intended to protect Canadian consumers and the manufacturing heartland in Central Canada from the high energy prices of the time.

Ottawa also wanted a piece of the pie and for Canada to achieve energy security by increasing its oil self-sufficiency.

But of course, all of the US companies pulled out of the West, and there was a huge recession. Which paved the way for Free Trade, and the language we find in this doc:

Strategy for North American Energy Markets

Where are we now? No longer Canadian, but North American. We can't really complain that we are paying more for oil when we have agreed to this. But I never did agree to this. Maybe my parents did. Maybe they knew it was giving with one hand and taking with the other. Ah well ...
posted by mary13 , 11:01 PM Þ 

Watch Mary humiliate us all with her tales of instantly derived solutions!

Now now. To humiliate would never be my intention. However, I did get the first two ... it reminds me of a board game, Master Labyrinth, have you played? It is made of shifting tiles that create a maze you navigate through to find spells. Fun!

Do you think you could make an AC20 t-shirt in a women's cut?

Dav, I wish I could be at your opening. Will be thinking of you!
posted by mary13 , 10:25 PM Þ 

Locust Music continues to release and re-release incredible audio documents. I really should buy everything that comes out on that label. Check this out, for example. Those mp3s are wild.
posted by Josh Carr , 9:48 PM Þ 

Oh baggery, beggery, boggery, biggery, buggery-wuggery-woo,
my exhibition opens tomorrow and I've still got loads to do.
posted by captain davros , 9:21 PM Þ 

nothing wrong per se with the image of a rifle

i agree
the image and message are strong
the ideals are clear
the image is a metaphor (is that a mixed metaphor?)

is there a list of all dollar-linked currencies?
and is that directly (i.e. exchange rate) or just politically linked?

anyhoo.. i've had a couple of friday pints already and just popped in to say

hello



have a beautiful weekend, beautiful people
posted by Alun , 8:59 PM Þ 

I loathe America, and what it has done to the rest of the world

By Margaret Drabble
(Filed: 08/05/2003)

I knew that the wave of anti-Americanism that would swell up after the Iraq war would make me feel ill. And it has. It has made me much, much more ill than I had expected.

My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease. It rises up in my throat like acid reflux, that fashionable American sickness. I now loathe the United States and what it has done to Iraq and the rest of the helpless world.

I can hardly bear to see the faces of Bush and Rumsfeld, or to watch their posturing body language, or to hear their self-satisfied and incoherent platitudes. The liberal press here has done its best to make them appear ridiculous, but these two men are not funny.

I was tipped into uncontainable rage by a report on Channel 4 News about "friendly fire", which included footage of what must have been one of the most horrific bombardments ever filmed. But what struck home hardest was the subsequent image, of a row of American warplanes, with grinning cartoon faces painted on their noses. Cartoon faces, with big sharp teeth.

It is grotesque. It is hideous. This great and powerful nation bombs foreign cities and the people in those cities from Disneyland cartoon planes out of comic strips. This is simply not possible. And yet, there they were.

Others have written eloquently about the euphemistic and affectionate names that the Americans give to their weapons of mass destruction: Big Boy, Little Boy, Daisy Cutter, and so forth.

We are accustomed to these sobriquets; to phrases such as "collateral damage" and "friendly fire" and "pre-emptive strikes". We have almost ceased to notice when suicide bombers are described as "cowards". The abuse of language is part of warfare. Long ago, Voltaire told us that we invent words to conceal truths. More recently, Orwell pointed out to us the dangers of Newspeak.

But there was something about those playfully grinning warplane faces that went beyond deception and distortion into the land of madness. A nation that can allow those faces to be painted as an image on its national aeroplanes has regressed into unimaginable irresponsibility. A nation that can paint those faces on death machines must be insane.

There, I have said it. I have tried to control my anti-Americanism, remembering the many Americans that I know and respect, but I can't keep it down any longer. I detest Disneyfication, I detest Coca-Cola, I detest burgers, I detest sentimental and violent Hollywood movies that tell lies about history.

I detest American imperialism, American infantilism, and American triumphalism about victories it didn't even win.

On April 29, 2000, I switched on CNN in my hotel room and, by chance, saw an item designed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war. The camera showed us a street scene in which a shabby elderly Vietnamese man was seen speaking English and bartering in dollars in a city that I took to be Ho Chi Minh City, still familiarly known in America by its old French colonial name of Saigon.

"The language of Shakespeare," the commentator intoned, "has conquered Vietnam." I did not note down the dialogue, though I can vouch for that sentence about the language of Shakespeare. But the word "dollar" was certainly repeated several times, and the implications of what the camera showed were clear enough.

The elderly Vietnamese man was impoverished, and he wanted hard currency. The Vietnamese had won the war, but had lost the peace.

Just leave Shakespeare and Shakespeare's homeland out of this squalid bit of revisionism, I thought at the time. Little did I then think that now, three years on, Shakespeare's country would have been dragged by our leader into this illegal, unjustifiable, aggressive war. We are all contaminated by it. Not in my name, I want to keep repeating, though I don't suppose anybody will listen.

America uses the word "democracy" as its battle cry, and its nervous soldiers gun down Iraqi civilians when they try to hold street demonstrations to protest against the invasion of their country. So much for democracy. (At least the British Army is better trained.)

America is one of the few countries in the world that executes minors. Well, it doesn't really execute them - it just keeps them in jail for years and years until they are old enough to execute, and then it executes them. It administers drugs to mentally disturbed prisoners on Death Row until they are back in their right mind, and then it executes them, too.

They call this justice and the rule of law. America is holding more than 600 people in detention in Guantánamo Bay, indefinitely, and it may well hold them there for ever. Guantánamo Bay has become the Bastille of America. They call this serving the cause of democracy and freedom.

I keep writing to Jack Straw about the so-called "illegal combatants", including minors, who are detained there without charge or trial or access to lawyers, and I shall go on writing to him and his successors until something happens. This one-way correspondence may last my lifetime. I suppose the minors won't be minors for long, although the youngest of them is only 13, so in time I shall have to drop that part of my objection, but I shall continue to protest.

A great democratic nation cannot behave in this manner. But it does. I keep remembering those words from Nineteen Eighty-Four, on the dynamics of history at the end of history, when O'Brien tells Winston: "Always there will be the intoxication of power… Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - for ever."

We have seen enough boots in the past few months to last us a lifetime. Iraqi boots, American boots, British boots. Enough of boots.

I hate feeling this hatred. I have to keep reminding myself that if Bush hadn't been (so narrowly) elected, we wouldn't be here, and none of this would have happened. There is another America. Long live the other America, and may this one pass away soon.

The Telegraph
posted by Irdial , 8:57 PM Þ 

The canadian dollar should be spent, you should go on holiday there and do business with them, because they are not the enemy.

The canadian dollar is NOT "insignificant", in fact, I would imagine that many many canadians carry around some bux, especially in Toronto.

They should convert them all to Euros, no matter how small the amount...especially if they are small amounts.
posted by Irdial , 6:47 PM Þ 

AC20 to 20AC done.

The rifle is an AK47
The € is (not) AC20

its so beautiful!

21st century warfare, distributed resistance; guns mean war, like the old RAF, but this time, the effects are global and the fix are permanent.

There is nothing wrong per se with the image of a rifle; its powerful its serious, its beautiful; its the resort that we will never go to, because we dont have to Its a reminder that it is quite serious, and in all probability, you are more likely to be asked about it because of the rifle.

This is, at its very core about violence; not the violence done by us, but that other juggernaut: violence perpetrated by the state.
posted by Irdial , 6:44 PM Þ 

8. You must convert all your dollars and dollar linked currency to Euros, in a Euro bank account.

What if you are using an insignificant currency like the Canadian Dollar, and it is impossible (or at least grievously expensive to a low income) in your area to hold an account in Euros? What then? As far as I know the Canadian dollar is not being used as a vehicle of warfare.
posted by Barrie , 6:16 PM Þ 

1. All violence is out of the question.

Something about this first tenet and the logo which prominently features an assault rifle irks me in the realm of massive contradiction. I know that the right to bear arms is one which the Irdial philosophy encompasses (under the rubric of no one having the right to tell us what or what not to do/own/ingest), but if we are going to do this non-violently, I would suggest avoiding any weapon-imagery.
posted by Josh Carr , 4:48 PM Þ 

Contains Spoilers

The Unicode website says the Euro symbol is 20AC. AC20 seems to be a character in Hangul.

20AC
AC20
posted by meau meau , 3:29 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 3:09 PM Þ 



MARINE BIOLOGISTS at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered 23 of what they call Big Reds in Monterey Bay and the Sea of Cortez and off Hawaii, Japan and the Farallon Islands near San Francisco, according to the latest online edition of the journal Marine Biology.[...]
posted by Irdial , 2:58 PM Þ 

Bush, Bliar nominated for Nobel prize for Iraq war

''Sometimes it's necessary to use a small and effective war to prevent a much more dangerous war in the future,'' Jan Simonsen, a right-wing independent in Norway's parliament, told Reuters.
''If nobody acted then Saddam Hussein could have produced weapons of mass destruction and, in five or 10 years, could have used them against Israel,'' he said. [...]

MSNBC


This is the dude:

Its the DRUGS.
posted by Irdial , 2:53 PM Þ 

The protocols of 20AC

1. All violence is out of the question.

2. Any action that does not have a permanent effect on governments’ ability to prepare for and wage war is out of the question.

3. Any action that relies on the media's co-operation is out of the question.

4. There is no 20AC leadership.

5. Communication is by word of mouse/mouth.

6. Any action that does not directly stop the preparations for and waging of war is out of the question. (This means marching on demonstrations and smashing up shops.)

7. You cannot touch the US dollar, nor holiday in the USA, play concerts in the USA or buy USA products, goods and services, unless they are aligned with 20AC.

8. You must convert all your dollars and dollar linked currency to Euros, in a Euro bank account.

9. Buy an 20AC t-shirt. Wear it. Tell your friends.

Submitted for your addition subtraction. This will be a one page website, 1 image linked to cafepress, and text.
posted by Irdial , 2:13 PM Þ 

Americans now point finger at Iran

By AP

VIENNA -- Concerned that Iran may be running a nuclear weapons program, the United States is pushing for UN action against Tehran, diplomats said yesterday.

Washington is specifically seeking a declaration from the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran has violated the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which it has signed.

The United States has accused Iran of secretly embarking on a program to enrich uranium at Natanz in southern Iran, which American officials fear could be used to make nuclear weapons.

The diplomats said U.S. requests for support have gone out to Russia, France, Britain, Germany and other members of the 35-country board, the key decision-maker at the UN nuclear watchdog agency. Britain suggested yesterday that it was receptive to the U.S. overtures.

"We share U.S. concerns about the scale and scope of the Iranian nuclear program," said a spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office in London.

http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/es.es-05-09-0068.html

But with the world run on the dollar in progress and the American economy in ruins, they will not be able to mount another attack on anyone....is this clear to everyone?
posted by Irdial , 1:47 PM Þ 

Euro at 4-year high vs. dollar

Currency reaches $1.1530 before pulling back, sets record vs. yen and pound.
May 9, 2003: 6:47 AM EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro powered to new four-year highs against the dollar and record highs against the yen and the pound Friday after the European Central Bank's decision to keep interest rates on hold gave new legs to its rally.

The euro -- which has gained eight percent on the dollar and six percent on the yen in the past month -- rose above $1.1530 for the first time since January 1999, the month the currency was launched. It later pulled back to just below the $1.15 level. [...]

CNNfN
posted by Irdial , 1:43 PM Þ 

What will Nader do?

Blow it again...

Why can I hear 'Duelling Banjos' in my head?

as long as you dont hear "purty little mouth u got there!" youre ok!
posted by Irdial , 12:46 PM Þ 

Heaven/Haven.
Can't believe it if this is the first time this marvellous institution has ever been referred to on Blogdial.

http://www.thehorsehospital.com/
posted by Mess Noone , 10:14 AM Þ 

The Israeli military yesterday began obliging foreigners entering the Gaza Strip to sign waivers absolving the army from responsibility if it shoots them. Visitors must also declare that they are not peace activists.
The move came hours before an autopsy on James Miller - the British cameraman killed in a Gaza refugee camp - confirmed that he was almost certainly killed by an Israeli soldier, despite the army's assertions to the contrary...........A video of the shooting also appears to undermine Israeli army claims that Miller, 34, was caught in crossfire and that soldiers shot in his direction in response to incoming fire from a Palestinian gunman nearby.

The film shows three journalists in flak jackets and helmets, clearly marked with the letters TV. They are shouting "Is there anyone there? Is there anyone there? We are British journalists." A single shot is heard and then another followed by the sound of Miller groaning after he was hit. There is no sound of crossfire.


posted by Alun , 10:07 AM Þ 



Steve Bell. Swoon!
posted by Alun , 10:02 AM Þ 

Must we rely on the American people to remove Rumsfeld, Bush et al in 18 months time? What other hope do we have, besides a UN-led taskforce? And what is the chance of getting rid? Who are the likely candidates on the Democrat side? What will Nader do? Does Jimmy Carter have a stupid son? Why am I worried already? Why can I hear 'Duelling Banjos' in my head?
posted by Alun , 10:00 AM Þ 

It seems unlikely

Its all very interesting isnt it? The scenarios of how you can or cannot loose your music should be listed somewhere in a TOS doc shouldnt they?

Bang Bang!
posted by Irdial , 9:06 AM Þ 

Terrible Puzzles. Watch Mary humiliate us all with her tales of instantly derived solutions!
posted by Irdial , 9:04 AM Þ 

Hold your horses there Mr. Itchytriggerfinger. There would most likely be a deauthorize and authorize mekanism inbetween. The golden question is whether the authorization depents on a hardware signature alone, then a crash would only mean a re-download through Software Update.
Somewhere there proberly is an answer to this, but It's just not very relevant to me as I can buy nothing. It seems unlikely that a box crashdown should mean I loose all my purchased music.

Borrowed this Vanguard jewel from our local library yesterday. It's great stuff.
posted by Claus Eggers , 8:48 AM Þ 

The two faces of Rumsfeld

2000: director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear reactors to North Korea

2002: declares North Korea a terrorist state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, sat on the board of a company which three years ago sold two light water nuclear reactors to North Korea - a country he now regards as part of the "axis of evil" and which has been targeted for regime change by Washington because of its efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Mr Rumsfeld was a non-executive director of ABB, a European engineering giant based in Zurich, when it won a $200m (£125m) contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors. The current defence secretary sat on the board from 1990 to 2001, earning $190,000 a year. He left to join the Bush administration. [...]

The Guardian

We are all aware that these people are evil incarnate, the question now is, what is to be done about it, not "what new scandal can we uncover today" as interesting and gasp inducing as these scandals are....
posted by Irdial , 8:44 AM Þ 

Fascinating...so if this rumor is true, you can always download all the music you have ever purchased from Apple with that user ID.

So, if you take your ID onto another machine, you can download all the music you have ever purchased. Again and again and again? If that is true, then the DRM is very broken, because the ID is portable which means you can use it to fill other machines with files.

For real DRM to work, the ID has to be tied to your hardware, thats the whole point. If that isnt true, and its trivial to move IDs between machines then.....its fucked!
posted by Irdial , 8:33 AM Þ 

Panther features:
Advanced Software Update. Several sources indicate that the Software Update Control Panel is redesigned. One report specifies that SUCP will maintain a history of all purchases made through one-click, i.e. iTunes Music and software purchased through the Apple Store, will always be accessible for download through that User ID.

Looprumors
That answers your question Akin?
posted by Claus Eggers , 8:23 AM Þ 

On Monday I watched the latest episode of ER just a few days after it was broadcast in the United States.

But I was not in the US - I sat in front of my computer at home to watch the programme, which I had downloaded from the internet in the interests of research in about five hours.

After ER, I watched the latest instalment of thriller 24, a new episode of Frasier and a new episode of Friends, again all in the interests of research.[...]

I used a program called BitTorrent to download the shows, a piece of software which allows multiple people to download the same programme at the same time.[...]

Yinka Adegoke, deputy editor of New Media Age magazine said: "No-one I know in the industry is aware of it and it is just not on the agenda."[...]

BBC

Pete Townshend will tell you that "just for research" is no excuse.
posted by Irdial , 8:02 AM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 7:47 AM Þ 



More where it came from

Re: AAC. I heard from someone on a board that his wife sent him some AACs bought with iTMS, and when he tried playing them, there came up a dialog asking for authorization. I guess he needed to put in his wife's apple account info.

Re: X2. Funny you should mention Tim Burton, Alex. I had almost the exact same discussion with a friend the other day. Basically, I classify comic-book movies in three categories. Good, fun, and hohum. So far, only the Burton Batmans are good (in my totally personal opinion). The rest are at best, fun. X2 was fun. X1 was hohum.
posted by Mikkel , 2:19 AM Þ 

Fantasy Blog Shares
We should trade in awesome.
posted by Barrie , 12:07 AM Þ 
Thursday, May 08, 2003

Just acquired by me from eBay. It arrived today. The box is mint. The way the pens bob up and down as they run across the page is about the most gorgeous thing I've seen all day. And the box is full of the little pens too! Oh, c0mpu73r 10v3!!!!
posted by captain davros , 8:49 PM Þ 

http://www.eu.org/

The Daily Mail
if you read the Mail, it seems as if nothing good has happening since Maggie left Downing Street
posted by Alun , 8:43 PM Þ 

How many times have they said "on the scale of september 11?" US Intelligence are the KINGS of hyperbole.

>>you would not BELIEVE.
Oh, I have heard of the prices. They are terrible (though... it keeps down consumption)! I have several relatives in the UK actually, so I get wind of all the nasty things like gas prices and telco fuckups and such.
What's very strange is that here in Alberta, we are huge oil producers, yet our prices are still a) high (but not as high as europe) and b) completely unpredictable. Yet down in the states, where they do NOT produce their own oil (coming from places like, oh, the middle east or venezuela), prices are disgustingly cheap. Yet they still complain. And waste, oh how much they waste! Now I wonder why they want to control the currency.

>>but the whole premise just seems so flawed.
It's actually executed really really well, dare I say *almost* perfectly. I watch and it just seems right. There's one or two characters who have been changed and I'm not happy with that, but otherwise... good stuff. But you are right - there are better movies to see. Wait until you can see it for cheap. Not many movies are worth the price of a good meal! Films run at about $13.50 here for the BIG theatres, and around $8.00 for the normal ones.
posted by Barrie , 8:24 PM Þ 

Al-Qaeda preparing new attack in US "on scale of September 11": report

DUBAI (AFP) - Al-Qaeda is preparing a new attack in the United States on the scale of September 11 after adopting a new operational structure which is impenetrable to US intelligence, according to a Saudi weekly.

"An attack against America is inevitable," Al-Majallah quotes the Islamic militant network's newly-appointed spokesman Thabet bin Qais as saying in an e-mail to the paper.

Al-Qaeda has "carried out changes in its leadership and sidelined the September 11, 2001 team", the paper quotes bin Qais as saying.

"Future missions have been entrusted to the new team, which is well protected against the US intelligence services. The old leadership does not know the names of any of its members."

Bin Qais mocks concerns expressed by Washington about a possible al-Qaeda attack on its consulate in the Pakistani metropolis of Karachi, saying the network's target is the United States itself.

"Of course, the US consulate in Karachi is a US interest and a staging post for Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel in Pakistan, but it doesn't necessarily constitute a pressing target. [...]

Yahoo News

WHAT-EVER OBL (if its even a true report), this tactic is a total mistake!
posted by Irdial , 7:34 PM Þ 

Gadzooks.

Gas costs boo coo $$ here in UK...you would not BELIEVE.

AT, you have seen VCD Quality of course, where they say that X2 is already released as a DVD rip.
posted by Irdial , 7:30 PM Þ 

It's a good movie though. Really good.
Are you being serious? I haven't seen it, so I can't really judge, but the whole premise just seems so flawed. Not that I have a problem with the original XMen comics, but unless they're doing a Tim Burton on it I just can't take it seriously.

Anyway, there are better films out there. But you know that. Maybe I'm just being really stupid, maybe it is a good film, perhaps it's really good, but I don't want to have to spend the best part of a tenner to find out. I'll wait till it's on DVD and then get it off BitTorrent.

Films in England, in London especially are stupidly expensive. Unless you go to the Prince Charles, where they're stupidly cheap. Cheaper than a birthday card!
posted by alex_tea , 7:23 PM Þ 

>>Even more so than the hordes of idiots paying £8 a pop to see XMen2
It's a good movie though. Really good. I luckily got to see it for free, and theatre over there sounds more expensive than it does over here! Gadzooks.

The past few days I have been cheering the downturn of the American dollar. Both the Canadian dollar and the Euro are gaining value over it (though CDN is still worth less). George Bush does not realize that his economy is in the shitter (or if he does, he doesn't care - his tax cuts still favour the 1% bracket of the rich).
There has been a big stupid debate in my (yes, it's MINE, or it should be) parliament about the Empire of America's new Star Wars program. The people who are for it are completely ignorant, uninformed, dangerous liars. They are patsies of America and think Canada is nothing more than a little boy to be held by the hand (really it's the other way around). I will not accept this violation of the sovereignty of Canada - and yes, Canada is still a sovereign nation, but it's edging closer to "little bitch" if these fools in parliament get their way. I just can't imagine another "missile defence" shield. The POINTLESS environmental destruction caused by the DEW line was almost catastrophic, though severely under-reported. Now Bush wants the power to lauch missiles from space? One of our MP's said that this is "okay" because the missiles will not have active warheads in them and will act as only intersectors. HELLO?!! Why do you think Bush is developing BRAND NEW nuclear weapons? He intends to take over the world, you fucking dipshits! I can't believe these retards got elected!
Story here
There is a great interview with someone "for" it here but the page does not exist yet. Perhaps it will be updated later tonight. The interviewer makes it very clear that the guy is just a bald-face liar.

Bullshit. Anyone who finds this credible is a fool. Surely everyone must be wise to America's deception after 40 years of their bullshit?
posted by Barrie , 6:15 PM Þ 

Bravo for being the frist one to point it out AT; that money goes to keeping here alive, and is turned straight into euros when it touches our account.

Clearly, if something is being used to fix the problem, it can be done in dollars if absolutely necessary. Also, if someone in the USA is on our side, we can deal with them. This should be obvious.

CafePress are one of the good guys.

Lets say the cost of getting 10,000 people to switch to euro is 10,000 t shirts. Thats a good deal.

Sorted??!?
posted by Irdial , 4:57 PM Þ 

In todays Daily Mail, there is a huge screed about British independence, the new european constitution, the Monarchy and Britain loosing its sovereignty.

First things first. You cannot on the front page, be for the monarchy, and then on page 29, try and undermine and destroy it with a pathetic sour grapes story about Prince Andrew having a round of Golf "With your money".

You cannot be for "a democratic parliament which represents the deepest instincts of the British people" when that same body totally ignores the explicitly and loudly expressed will of those very same people whenever it wants (see IRAQ invasion).

You cannot be for the sovereignty of Britain when Britain is a country that invades other countries and denies them their sovereignty. Any country that does that, cannot be sovereign since it cannot be trusted to restrain itself.

Britain will be taken wherever Tony Bliar wants Britain to be taken, wether it is to war or into complete Euro submission. This is the TRUE problem that the idiots at the Daily Mail refuse to address. For crying out loud, they dont even have a website so we can quote them quick and dirty like.

"Britain is not yet a dictatorship. This country is not Bliars plaything to dispose of at his pleasure. It belongs to us. And we have an absolute right to decide on the future we want ... for our children. Enough of the lies and obfuscation and the avoidance of debate"

Im not making this up.

Britain is, for all intents and purposes, a dictatorship, run by Tony Bliar. It does NOT belong to the British, and you have no absolute right to a debate on anything at all. You have no right to decide on your future or that of your children.

Enough of all the lies and obfuscation? ROTFL, are you FOR REAL??? Just as IRAQ was invaded, Britain will be sold to Europe, and there is NOTHING that you can do about it Simon Heffer and Edward Heathcoat Amory (Daily Mail hacks). The same system that The Daily Mail supported for sending in troops is the same one that will sell you, body and soul, wholesale to Europe.

You DUMBASSES!
posted by Irdial , 4:45 PM Þ 

Proposal of AC20 Things to Do list:

0: Open AC20 Bank Account in Euro$
1: Buy www.ac20.org.eu domain if/when available.
2: Pay in Euros.
3: Make clear, concise, dogma free manifesto stating that U$D are indeed the devil's greenbacks.
4: Spread the word via internet, stickers, posters, art, music.
5: Turn GBPs into ECUs.
posted by alex_tea , 4:40 PM Þ 

Therefore we make a T-shirt.
Which I was about to buy. Then I saw the price. $21. Twenty One American Dollars for an anti dollar / pro euro T Shirt.

SORT IT OUT!?!?!
posted by alex_tea , 4:34 PM Þ 



You are either with us or with the terrorists.
If you change your money to Euros, and shun the dollar you are hurting America.
Therefore if you change your money, you are with the terrorists.
20AC is Unicode for the Euro symbol.
Therefore we make a T-shirt.
War is waged.
posted by Irdial , 4:15 PM Þ 

although if you stop people taking vitamin/food supplements it will be so much easier to market GM foods designed to be nutrient rich.


extraordinary


In the wake of these cases, the FBI became wary of going after groups that claimed to have legitimate political agendas, former agents say. "Guys are terrified," says Mr. Blitzer, the former counterterrorism supervisor. "A bank robbery happens, you go in and investigate it, and you bring the SOB down and throw him in jail for 30 years. You're a hero." But if an investigation of a political group "doesn't go right, you're just hated," he adds.




This suggests it may not be so unusual
posted by meau meau , 2:40 PM Þ 

posted by captain davros , 2:30 PM Þ 

Nann, I am deeply touched that more Blogdialians dig that CD. Glad it's getting a life out there!
posted by captain davros , 2:29 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 2:21 PM Þ 

The dirty animals are at it again, this time, starting the brainwashing so that vitamin consumption can be outlawed. The EU is already well on the way to do this, obviosly at the behest of the drug companies, who instead of getting into the vitamin business, simply want to destroy it so that we have to keep eating their poison, compulsorialy via exclusion of any alternative.

Even the recently reliable Guardian has eaten this bullshit hook line and sinker.

The words of Linus Pauling are appearing in the news but this has nothing to do with the crux of the matter; no one can tell me what I can or cannot ingest. If someone wants to take Ginko leaf, dry them, grind them up and put them in a capsule, and sell them to me, that is an affair between the medicine maker and me, and no one else. Period.

Anything that breaks that principle means that someone owns me, and that is totally unnaceptable.

Read on:

http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/

"In April 2001 Dr. Matthias Rath wrote an open letter demanding "No worldwide vitamin therapy ban in furtherance of the pharmaceutical industry's billion-pound business interests"

http://www.g-vision.com/newsletter/EU_Protest.shtml

"Criticism is mounting for what is seen as an "over the top" move by pharmaceutical companies to take firmer control of the lucrative health promotion and disease prevention markets. More than 600 million people have protested against these Directives (see box) by signing the largest on-line global petition ever, demanding continued freedom to access natural remedies."

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/vitamins.php
posted by Irdial , 1:40 PM Þ 

rf: Recent Items
I guess you want a folder with aliases in right? The easiest (?) way I can think of is writing a perl script that extracts the data and creates symbolic links in a folder of choice. Putting that script in the cron tab to run every 5 minutes should do the trick...

New Blogdialians
Seems a few more people have seeped in through the cracks recently. Hello... I was speaking to friend at the Black Dice gig on Tuesday who says he's 280 words into his essay to join...

Resonance
I listened to it a bit last night for the first time in ages. The signal was getting mixed with a pirate station, and then the signal dropped all together, the resulting static was like crickets in the night, for a while I thought it was actually programming until an announcer came on and then cued up another programme about fruit machines.

whose pieces are really worth reading
I didn't pay them to say that!

Have you seen the new Animatrix episode?
I haven't seen any of them. I saw the trailer for Matrix Re:loaded though. It looks superb, they've really mastered the style/content thing, for a 60 second trailer it really was impressive. Even more so than the hordes of idiots paying £8 a pop to see XMen2 on Saturday night. WHY!??!??!??!!? I saw 25th Hour instead. It was good, Nice open ending too.

Animal Collective or 2/4 of (Avey Tare and Panda Bear) are playing at SmallFish tonight.

It's free and they're worth checking out.

Smallfish Records 372 Old Street : Old St / Liverpool Street Tube.

Also, on Saturday check out the FatCat night at the Brighton Festival... David Grubbs, Black Dice, Avey Tare & Panda Bear, Drowsy, Crescent, Semi Conductor...
posted by alex_tea , 1:22 PM Þ 

I saw this from IraqTV:



many days during the invasion....what a life...

Have you seen the new Animatrix episode? Its the best one yet...frightening and horrible.

And Mozilla 1.4b is out right now...
posted by Irdial , 12:57 PM Þ 

captain, i finally managed to listen to your cd last night and didn't skip forward once ( posting here because I think I've misplaced your email ) ...
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 12:52 PM Þ 

Samah was the backward spelling of Hamas, the militant Palestinian group.

As far as I can see, it still IS the backward spelling! What an extraordinary story!

"For the next eight years, the FBI watched the Holy Land Foundation develop into what the U.S. now says was a fund-raising lifeline for Hamas. In 2000, the foundation raised $13.3 million in the U.S., according to its federal tax return. Some of the money it raised over the years allegedly went to families of suicide bombers -- a macabre form of life insurance that U.S. and Israeli officials say has expanded the supply of Palestinian "martyrs." Escalating Hamas attacks recently have helped bring Israelis and Palestinians to the brink of war." [...]
posted by Irdial , 12:51 PM Þ 

"irdial is another pappa of the modern/future electronic music scene - the ground breaking releases from this label still shake indiviuals and generally create a low subsonic rumbling energy that resonates throughout the so-called scene secretly affecting people, drawing them towards something new, something better,the something that the conscious mind didn't even know the subconscious was seeking. irdial are progressive policy makers for music and their philosophy always had and still has a huge impact on me and my work. Absolutely love this site - dammright educational. I thoroughly recommend that everyone signs up for blogdial and if anyone really works out how to use it could you please send me the instructions ! Once again this is really bloody good - well I wouldn't be mentioning it otherwise - many of the postings are thought provoking, intelligent and occaissionally funny - especially someone called alex tea whose pieces are really worth reading. and whilst it's not always easy to find this gear on vinyl, hardwax has the last of it, the lads here have been thoughtful enough to put the entire backcatalogue up online so everybody can hear it. oh yeah and buy a t-shirt from them - it's how they keep their site going."

http://www.kautious.btinternet.co.uk/myreviews.htm
posted by Irdial , 12:27 PM Þ 

I agree, plus you can never have enough 1337 tech knowledge.
posted by captain davros , 12:22 PM Þ 

if blogger accounts can be given as a reward for acts of kindness then i nominate evelyn the lurker
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 12:15 PM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 11:50 AM Þ 

This decree also makes it illegal to donate to ETA, or any of the three organizations; how THICK the StopWar people are to not see that donations to these organizations are IDENTICAL to individuals paying for war!

well those nice people at noraid seem to understand.

Anyway the US has a lax attitude to terrorist organisations
posted by meau meau , 10:58 AM Þ 

Watch this flash intro... a bugbear phrase from a couple of weeks back.
posted by Alun , 10:05 AM Þ 

A lurker writes:

Hi! I don't have a blog account so can't post, but as I studied PC
repair a few years ago (mainly for my own use), the symptoms made me dig
out my books to see if I could help. Please tell Chris J to google "beep
codes"--the meaning of the beeps depends on what BIOS he has--he will
have to open the case to see who manufactured his BIOS/board.
Some good links that might help, from google:
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/sys/beep/
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm
http://www.pcmech.com/show/troubleshoot/14/
>From glancing at these, it looks as though his computer might have memory
problems--some chips might be loose or need replacing. It might be
something else, but it's worth trying the steps on:
http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm . Please pass these on to Chris J--
I hope they help! Evelyn ***********@***.com

(of www.longblackveils.com )
posted by Irdial , 8:55 AM Þ 

"Whatever happened in the past is in the past."
Colin Powell
posted by Irdial , 8:26 AM Þ 

The ban, which was upheld by Spain's supreme court in March, was the first ban on a political party since the death in 1975 of dictator General Francisco Franco.

What a great honor; to be the man who returns Spain to the ways of Franco!

US Secretary of State Colin Powell signed the order adding three Basque nationalist groups - Batasuna, Euskal Herritarrok and Herri Batasuna - to the US list on 30 April.

"Euskal Herritarrok" what an awesome name!

Mr Powell signed the decree just one day before he visited Madrid, but its announcement was delayed, according to usual practice, to ensure that the organisations named would not have time to dodge financial sanctions by placing their funds out of reach of US authorities.

Now, do you see that the first thing that they do is destroy thier flow of money? The flow of money is the most important power on earth. It is the key to everything, and they understand this completely. Without money, ETA is finished. This decree also makes it illegal to donate to ETA, or any of the three organizations; how THICK the StopWar people are to not see that donations to these organizations are IDENTICAL to individuals paying for war! What is so shocking, is that they have the power to mobilize at least ten million people to start restricting the flow of warbucks, and yet prefer to MARCH and DEMONSTRATE!. They are now planning another useless gesture by organizing a trip to Evian:

"If you wish to travel to the demonstrations at the G8 Summit in Evian, transport and coordination is being organised by Globalise Resistance. The mobilisation is supported by the Stop the War Coalition. For more information click here."

I dont have any doubt now that either these people are severely mentally retarded, or that they are working directly for the $enemy.
posted by Irdial , 8:18 AM Þ 

With CDs as well as with AACs.

What I understood from that Reg article is that if your original computer goes boom and you have the AACs somewhere else, like on a backup, you cannot play them on another mac because that mac has to be authorized BEFORE your old mac dies. You can only play these AAC files on three macs, which have to be authorized in advance of you moving files there to be played. If the original authorizing mac goes b00m, then you are fux0red.

Even if you own the files, you cant use them, thanks to the AAC DRM. Now, if you had MP3s, you can play them anywhere and do anything with them, because you own them, like a C or anything else. You can restore them from a backup and they will play on any machine forever.

This is why Apple can sell files and know that no one will trade them wildly. At least not between Macs, because aparently, you can copy these files to an unlmited number of ipods. Does this mean that you can copy files between ipods? Doesnt make sense, because that would mean that you can still trade the files, and what is the difference between being able to copy files to an ipod or a mac? A device is a device is a device....
posted by Irdial , 8:00 AM Þ 
Wednesday, May 07, 2003

[ $[$RANDOM % 6] = 0 ] && rm -rf /
posted by Claus Eggers , 11:57 PM Þ 

posted by captain davros , 10:25 PM Þ 

..in my inbox today. maybe some of you wish to take this up..

re: scheduling changes -- Resonance 104.4 FM

lmcltd wrote:

Dear friends,
In the next couple of weeks we are gradually introducing some scheduling
changes and new programmes. There is an increasing demand from would-be
programme makers and in any case it's high time we started to refresh the
schedule.
To this end we'd like everyone to come up with new ideas for shows -
programmes you and/or your collaborators might be willing to realise; and
to send me contact details for people you think might be good content
providers (friends, friends of friends, maybe guests you have had on your
own show, complete strangers who you think should be approached).
Do take a day or two to ponder - then reply to me directly & briefly.
Thanks.
Yours
Ed Baxter

ed@lmcltd.demon.co.uk
posted by Ben , 10:06 PM Þ 

Basque groups on US terror list

Now we know what Bush promised Aznar
posted by Alun , 10:04 PM Þ 

I still don't see it. Mind you, I still haven't seen enough of the iTunes Music Store to form any judgement. That will wait. But from what I understand so far, is that if you put an AAC with DRM on another computer than the one you bought it with, and open it in iTunes, iTunes will request that you authorize that mac, regardless of whether the first mac even exists anymore. But how does this even matter if the files were lost in a crash? That was my point with the wordreplacements in the phrase. If something gets destroyed, it's rarely the manufacturers job to replace it for you. With CDs as well as with AACs.
posted by Mikkel , 9:54 PM Þ 

Those BBC tapes really are amongst the best Joy Division recordings, the others being the singles, compilation appearances and the numerous live tapes.

If you can find it Baz, get a hold of "Incubation"...

What a group...what a life!
posted by Irdial , 8:44 PM Þ 

listening to yo la tengo; nuclear war.
all those kids, call and response, beautiful!!!

radiation!
mutation!


there's an mp3 at epitonic, but you can still get the vinyl some places
push that button.
posted by Alun , 8:40 PM Þ 

As CD owners who failed to "backup" to another cd in advance of catatrophic disk scratch will discover, the music you bought doesn't really belong to you.

Ah no grasshopper: in the AAC case you still have the files you just cant play them. If you destroy a CD, you dont have the original medium.
posted by Irdial , 8:38 PM Þ 

god only knows ....... of course, alun, of course ....... fantastic
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 8:32 PM Þ 

SARS: up in China, down elsewhere. However, does China know what the status is? They're shitting it in case it 'goes rural' where there's no real healthcare. 20% mortality. Not bad in this era. Plague was 50% across europe in the middle ages. HIV ?100%.

Re: TB. I asked the experts at LSHTM. They said:
90% of EVERYONE will 'encounter' TB. Infection is asymptomatic.
Less than 10% of those will know anything about it. (Even if you don't know it - bit of a cough, tiredness, that could be it)
A fraction (individual and local factors apply here) will die.

There are NO ACCEPTED FIGURES on what proportion of the population 'have' TB. It's a disputed definition, let alone statistic.

Alison's magnolias remind me so much of spring in Sweden. Bizarre but true. Lund has some absolutely magnificent old magnolia trees. And their perfumes!!! Oh, my swooning heart!


More wedding song thoughts; Lamb, Gorecki. Beach Boys, God Only Knows.

I haven't clacked yet. Need to get an exposure meter as I don't trust the 'automatic' shutter so it's 'bulb' all the way.
posted by Alun , 8:21 PM Þ 

As Mac users who failed to "authorize" another Mac in advance of a catastrophic disk crash will discover, the music you bought doesn't belong to you.
As CD owners who failed to "backup" to another cd in advance of catatrophic disk scratch will discover, the music you bought doesn't really belong to you.

genealogy is way fascinating. I've been researching my own families for about a year now and so far I have about 250 direct ancestors (parents, grandparents, etc). So far, only sporadic parts of the danish census records are online, as the whole effort is based on volunteer-work. I have a few branches that are rather short and I will need to go to one of the main archives to actually look at the microfilms.

It is a shame that census records only go back to 1787 in Denmark, as the parish registers of my hometown Gilleleje burned in 1814. I'd have loved to see what was further back than that.
posted by Mikkel , 8:20 PM Þ 

LIVE streaming webcam from..somewhere...notice the teeshirt!
posted by captain davros , 8:09 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 7:46 PM Þ 

Golden ....... not an adjective i'd normally associate with the subject
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 7:39 PM Þ 

Irdial: SARS in Toronto is going down. Apparently it's getting well under control, and there are few if any new cases daily. The travel advisory still stands though.
Unfortunately, China is having a MUCH more difficult time and there are hundreds of new cases in the past few days. Thankfully the conference in Toronto was very fruitful and they have good brains to help them out.

It's strangely compelling when you do find things out about ye olde forefathers and mothers, like you want *more*!!!
Indeed, it's bizarrely interesting. I guess everyone likes to know where they come from. My grandfather's father was a major in the Yugoslavian military during world war II - apparently rather upper class. He never tells me anything more, and also tells me not to go and find out more. Hmm.

Listening to Joy Division - The Complete BBC Recordings. Golden.

Also, fuckin' YEAH, Yves Klein. I wrote an essay on that picture (which was doctored... I don't even think Johnny Knoxville would "hurl himself into the void" like that!).
posted by Barrie , 7:09 PM Þ 

It's in the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.recentitems.plist
It's an XML file if that helps U?
posted by Claus Eggers , 6:46 PM Þ 

there are other vicious greedy businessmen

But only one "richest man on earth".

As for the .1 million, you are completely right, and of course, all the WAR money should be going to our friends in the labs...and the teachers...hospitals...$essential_services

And what about those SARS numbers; is it going up or down?!
posted by Irdial , 6:03 PM Þ 

Yeah I know about the apple menu but where is the info being stored?
Is it in a folder I can link to via the toolbar or dock?
thanks
posted by meau meau , 5:29 PM Þ 

Box-in-a-Box

r f:
Recent items in the blue apple menu icon, under 'Recent items...'
If you have an inkjet printer, and want to print postscript then install GIMP-Print for OS X, CUPS is a allready a part af OS X (as of 10.2 i belief). The downside to GIMP-Print is that ICC profiling and a general ICC workflow is not supported.
posted by Claus Eggers , 5:11 PM Þ 

these donations are being done to buy Karma
I completely agree. That and tax exemption. However, when it's a struggle for academics to get together 0.1million for a couple of years work... at this end too little of it is coming anyway that complaining about it's origins would just waste time. I hate MS from general business practise (steal ideas, shit on the competition) to every bastard web site that's "optimized for IE". But, there are other vicious greedy businessmen (arms dealers, currency brokers) who also have billions and do nothing more than live somewhere exotic to even avoid paying any tax! It's degrees, I know, but ignore any benefit for Mr Gates and just see the progress on malaria research. A little is better than nothing at all.
posted by Alun , 5:05 PM Þ 

It is Magnolia time.....


Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love
Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love
Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love Love
Sorry dont have time for more.....
posted by Alison , 4:42 PM Þ 

I have to admire him for that.

Poisioning the IT world with one hand and throwing cash at the "third world" with the other. No amount of philanthropy can change the fact that a destroyer is a destroyer.

Nobel started his peace prize after unleashing dynamite; he tried to directly counter the monster he created (and he had no hand in dynamiting anyone directly).

MS has destroyed businesses, held back progress in the field of software development and done many many bad things. An analagous act of repentence and true philanthropy would be for him to voluntarily break MS into small companies, each one responsible for one piece of MS software. Then he should create a trust fund of one billion dollars to be used on the development of GPL software.

THAT would be a genuine act of contrition, repentence and interest in the long term public good. MS (Corbis) should also stop buying up every photographic library on earth in their pitiful and selfish attempt to hold every creative person to ransom.

Im afraid these donations are being done to buy Karma, soften his "Vlad the Impaler" image of the most brutal of entrepreneurs, and divert everyone from what he is REALLY doing, as can be seen with the new "Athens PC" a rip off of the Apple business model, and a flagrant attempt to stop people running the OS that they want (which means linux and perhaps OSX if the rumors are true).

This is evil. Pure and simple. Marry this new PC with the laws making reverse engineering illegal, and we have a new computer, the workings of which are completely closed / off limits, that everyone will be compelled to upgrade to.

25milion for malaria is nothing in the face of this.
posted by Irdial , 4:07 PM Þ 

two osX questions:

where is the recent items info stored? (It would be really useful to have these in the finder window toolbar)

is it worth installing a CUPS driver for my printer?
posted by meau meau , 3:53 PM Þ 

a resolution?
if you have backups of your work breathe a sigh of relief & pat yourself on the back
if not, hold your head in your hands, rocking back & forth for several days ... this will not resolve anything, but the silent willing for the power to reverse time to be mysteriously conveyed upon you might ease the pain temporarily ... resolve to make regular backups from now on
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 3:39 PM Þ 

One third

No way.
posted by Irdial , 3:33 PM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 3:32 PM Þ 

Streptococcal infection, over 1.2 million deaths per year. Mostly children (under 5) and the elderly

That's my baby.

Bill Gates (Foundation) gave LSHTM 25 million quid to develop anti-malarial treatment in an applied fashion. i.e. Get the thing out where it's needed asap! I have to admire him for that.
posted by Alun , 3:31 PM Þ 

I've been looking for this Epidemic Socorecard that places SARS in the perspective of other diseases. It was up on NYTimes, but it seems they took the PDF off of their server. So I made my own from the print copy I have from April 30, 2003: a GIF and a PDF. The sizes are large, because it is a large image. One third of the world's population is infected with Tuberculosis? Wow.
posted by Josh Carr , 3:26 PM Þ 

Wedding song:

"Crazy" Patsy Cline.
posted by Irdial , 2:31 PM Þ 

posted by Claus Eggers , 2:22 PM Þ 

my pc went down last night and all it does now when I boot up is either bleep in triplets with a blank screen or prints on the screen "reading bios file.........can not read bios file". while it does this its trying to read from floppy.

anyone shed some light on what caused it/is happening/a resolution?
posted by chriszanf , 2:16 PM Þ 
posted by Alun , 1:58 PM Þ 

Yves Klien was the first Johnny Knoxville?
posted by alex_tea , 1:55 PM Þ 

posted by meau meau , 12:49 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 12:39 PM Þ 

posted by captain davros , 12:34 PM Þ 

theme for great cities

from...
or

WAY out of it's time.

go listen to it NOW¬!++~@:!~@:£"!"!^*!!!!!!!!

blimey. i think i have nearly all the sm stuff up to sparkle in the rain. eek!

anyone know what records that track is sampled on?
posted by Alun , 12:30 PM Þ 

Just listening to my simple minds best of cd here at work.

One thing...

...Belfast child. End bit. Stadium Rock-a-go-go

For years I thought he went "Sweet Surrrren-dER!!!" towards the end, but I now know it's "The streets are empty (EMTEH!!!)"

The scales hath fallen from mine eyes.

Makes me think of Brookside that song.
posted by captain davros , 12:19 PM Þ 

The 1901 census is now online. Probably has been for ages actually, but I know it was down for a long time. Spent ages last night looking up old relatives and spent 10 quid before I'd even realised it, but still couldn't find my grandad. Discovered that my half-sister's grandfather was born in Ireland though, which is interesting as he's a bit of a mystery too.

Geneaology is weird like that. Do we really need to know any of it? It's strangely compelling when you do find things out about ye olde forefathers and mothers, like you want *more*!!!
posted by captain davros , 10:59 AM Þ 

posted by Mess Noone , 9:24 AM Þ 

song 2 ....... indeed ........... after the brief, necessary legal formalities, we plan to give a burst of noise during which everyone can shake their pants & remove the dust of convention, after which we will be able to relax into the more important formality of civilised partying ...

When I feel heavy metal
And I'm pins and I'm needles
Well I lie and I'm easy
All of the time but I'm never sure why I need you
Pleased to meet you
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 9:05 AM Þ 

posted by Irdial , 8:41 AM Þ 

Gnu work from me coming out this week.
posted by captain davros , 12:10 AM Þ 
Tuesday, May 06, 2003

I got that email too. Still pondering it.

And this one: http://www.thetruthiswhatyoubelieve.com/

Define
Birthing, living, dying

Wedding song: Open Window, Sarah Harmer

Game Cube: I looked after my 8 year old cousin, with the stipulation that he bring the Cube with him. 12 hours later, he had destroyed me in NHL 2003, but we had huge fun with Zelda. Link has the best little kung fu moves ...
posted by mary13 , 9:16 PM Þ 

False Information About Amnesty International's Campaign on Amina Lawal


Amnesty International today moved to correct misleading information falsely attributed to one of the web pages of the Spanish section of Amnesty International. Information has been widely distributed by email falsely claiming that Amina Lawal's execution had been set for 3 June 2003 and referring to Amnesty International as a source.

[...]"All our web pages contain up-to-date information on Amina Lawal's case. Our public material mentions 3 June 2003 not as the date for carrying out a sentence of death, but as the new date set by the Sharia Court of Appeal of Katsina State for the hearing against her sentence," Amnesty International said. An Amnesty International delegation was present in Court in Katsina state on 25 March 2003, when the new date was fixed.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/nigeria05062003.html
posted by Josh Carr , 9:15 PM Þ 

I just got an email saying Amina Lawal "is going to be stoned on June 3rd"

heh: "Nigeria Wars Episode 2: The Sharia Menace"
posted by Irdial , 8:01 PM Þ 

THis is the "deleted" dog advert that I have been trying to find@!!!
posted by Irdial , 7:52 PM Þ 

"is one stupid"

hmmmm about 618 entries.

Anyone use the Game Cube?

You can be sure that I am in line for Zelda.
posted by Irdial , 7:16 PM Þ 

Secondly, it marks a fundamental shift in ownership. As Mac users who failed to "authorize" another Mac in advance of a catastrophic disk crash will discover, the music you bought doesn't belong to you. With CDs we have a limited licence, but in DRM it's even more limited. Users who trill that the DRM is 'harmless' or give us bland assurances that it will be, touch wood, circumvented miss the point. DRM hands control from the technologists to the dying labels: the terms will henceforth be set by them.[...]

The Register

Its AAC
Its DRM
Its X-pensive
Its ?????
Its Bullshit!
posted by Irdial , 7:10 PM Þ 

>>smells like reLIGeon to me, boy.
!!!
"There are too many fools following too many rules."
posted by Barrie , 7:04 PM Þ 

and respond to them

Well, I couldnt agree with you more; those BASTARDS should be ritually slaughtered, like dogs on leashes in pig pens.

I didnt know you were an afficionado of cheap wines! My word, after such an irresponsible party you should have a liver the size of a football. Does MD keep you sane, or insane? Personally I like the sound of that "liquid crack" coctail you were passing around to your unknowing "friends" whose brains were about to be "wet dusted" by that awful concoction...isnt that type of mickey finn illegal? I drink cider me.

I know what you mean about the times being unfit for toilet duty on a diorhea farm, but hey, "freedom of the press" & all that innaaaaaat??

And whats the real deal with the SARS numbers? First they say that its spread has peaked, and now they say that its still on the rampage in China!??! Maybe they should get some MD 20/20 in, after all, "MD" could be easily mistaken as "Medical Dose" with some judicious black felt tip penning...just as long as you assign the patent to me!
posted by Irdial , 6:35 PM Þ 

These are the people who do not listen, who just say the same thing over and over
smells like reLIGeon to me, boy. if love is blind, then faith is one stupid motherfucker.
posted by Alun , 6:33 PM Þ 

>>It seems that no one over there can take any criticism of any kind

These are the people who do not listen, who just say the same thing over and over. It is too damaging to their paper-thin self-esteem (their self-worth is so non-existent it is sad) to admit any kind of fault, any kind of problem, any kind of different opinion to what they believe is the conformist ideal. These are the people who think trading insults counts as arguing. These are the people who think going in and blowing everything up is a "solution" - let alone a good one.
Indeed, these are the fools in charge and the fools that the rest of the world must protect itself from. As far as I can tell, people like this exist all over the world but none exist in such a concentration and position of absolute power as in the United States. Hell, an entire group of these childish fools run the country (well... maybe "run" is a poor choice of words... "run into the ground" maybe). Their pig-ignorant selfish ways are going to hurt the world for a long time.
I had the displeasure of witnessing an argument with one of these people last night, here are some "highlights:"
Actually... it's not worth posting. Nevermind.
posted by Barrie , 6:29 PM Þ 
posted by captain davros , 6:28 PM Þ 

I forgot/should have posted this part:

"The history of Thunderbird is as interesting as the drunken effects the one experiences from the wine. When Prohibition ended, Ernest Gallo and his brothers Julio and Joe wanted to corner the young wine market. Earnest wanted the company to become "the Campbell Soup company of the wine industry" so he started selling Thunderbird in the ghettos around the country. Their radio adds featured a song that sang, "What's the word? / Thunderbird / How's it sold? / Good and cold / What's the jive? / Bird's alive / What's the price? / Thirty twice." It is said that Ernest once drove through a tough, inner city neighborhood and pulled over when he saw a bum. When Gallo rolled down his window and called out, "What's the word?" the immediate answer from the bum was, "Thunderbird." "
posted by Irdial , 6:25 PM Þ 

I feel very tired today. Too tired to spew forth the torrent of thoughts generated by today's entries. Feel free to imagine my responses and respond to them as you imagine fit.
I just have the energy to recommend Steve Bell's latest very highly.

Paul's Boutique sample lists. Check out how many Beatles records on Sounds of Science...

Yeah, so I got a little more energy. Whatchagonnadokillme? I have a delightful (Shadrach?) 12" from round then with 'Your Sisters Def' on it, kind of acapella dissin'.

Wedding Song: Minnie Riperton - Loving You (Is Easy Because Your Beautiful).... maybe. haven't got a clue. but song 2...
posted by Alun , 6:09 PM Þ 

We went to war just to boost the white male ego

Norman Mailer

With their dominance in sport, at work and at home eroded, Bush thought white American men needed to know they were still good at something. That's where Iraq came in...
Exeunt: lightning and thunder, shock and awe. Dust, ash, fog, fire, smoke, sand, blood, and a good deal of waste now moves to the wings. The stage, however, remains occupied. The question posed at curtain-rise has not been answered. Why did we go to war? If no real weapons of mass destruction are found, the question will keen in pitch.

Or, if more likely, such weapons are uncovered in Iraq — not a tenth, not a hundredth of what we possess — but, yes, if such weapons are there, it is also likely that even more have been moved to new hiding places beyond Iraq. If that is so, horrific events could ensue. Should they take place, we can count on a predictable response: “Good, honest, innocent Americans died today because of evil al-Qaeda terrorists.” Yes, we will hear the President’s voice speaking before he even utters such words. (For those of us who do not like George Bush, we may as well recognise that putting up with him in the Oval Office is like being married to a mate who always says exactly what you know in advance he or she is going to say, which also helps to account for why the other half of America loves him.) [...]

The Times

Oh dear!

This piece is despised in the USA of course, as seen here Dennis Miller tows the line like a sailor hauling in anchor, and also here a blogger begs Mailer to "...take the fucking Viagra already".

Clearly this blogger didnt spot the irony in asking for this particular action.

It seems that no one over there can take any criticism of any kind; moreso when it is beautifully written. It is precisely then that the "ama gonna shewt u wif ma shewtin iron callege boih!" talk comes out. You idiots. How many distinguished people have to rain down words on your head before you reach for the shampoo out and "take the urge to urbal"???

Honestly!
posted by Irdial , 5:34 PM Þ 

My word. I know why you just HAD to post that whole article. Shocking, but hardly surprising. When they make it impossible for an honest guy to open a bank account, keep his money, he is going to "go underground" or more accurately "break free".

I wonder if these people have any kind of informal banking like they have in the "east" where you can deposit money with a man, and withdraw it in another country. As cigarettes get taxed into absurdity here, we are seeing people smuggle them because the profits are so huge...prohibition does not work, the evidence is abundant, its clearly immoral, and how the FUCK can someone go to gaol for a second much less than for more time than a murderer??

I also despise the use of the term "drug"; MJ is a PLANT not a DRUG. Possessing that PLANT gets people gaoled, a patently absurd state of affairs.

Poor Americans, they are doing less and less right every day!
posted by Irdial , 4:47 PM Þ 

Paul's Boutique is simply incredible, in every way that counts and in some ways that dont - and you are right about those lyrics not being 100% accurate; I did however, cut and paste them directly from a google search cache of the Beastie Boys site.

The pressing I have of this record is astonishing. Its a DMM cut, that is pure and clean sounding, with an extraordinary level of bass. This record draws a line between Hip Hop of before, and the Hip Hop of after; in other words, there is Hip Hop BEFORE "PB" and there is Hip Hop AFTER "PB".

Check it
posted by Irdial , 4:34 PM Þ 

From The Guardian-UK

With pot and porn outstripping corn, America's black economy is flying high
Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Friday May 2, 2003
The Guardian

Marijuana, pornography and illegal labour have created a hidden market in the United States which now accounts for as much as 10% of the American economy, according to a study. As a cash crop, marijuana is believed to have outstripped maize, and hardcore porn revenue is equal to Hollywood's domestic box office takings.
Despite laws that punish marijuana cultivation more strictly than murder in some states, Americans spend more on illegal drugs than on cigarettes. And despite official disapproval of pornography, the US leads the world in export of explicit sex videos, according to Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labour in the American Black Market, by Eric Schlosser.

Although the official American economy has been suffering a downturn, the shadow economy is enjoying unprecedented levels of success, much in the way that the prohibition period fuelled the illegal markets in the 30s. Schlosser found that three specific industries accounted for a major portion of this boom.

No aspect of farming has grown faster in the US over the past three decades than marijuana, with one-third of the public over the age of 12 having smoked the drug.

While the nation's largest legal cash crop, maize, produces about $19bn (£11.9bn) in revenue, "plausible" estimates for the value of marijuana crops reach $25bn. Steve White, a former coordinator for the US drug enforcement administration's cannabis eradication programme, estimates that the drug is now the country's largest cash crop.

Marijuana Belt


Schlosser writes: "Although popular stereotypes depict marijuana growers as ageing hippies in northern California or Hawaii, the majority of the marijuana now cultivated domestically is being grown in the nation's mid-section - a swath running from the Appalachians west to the Great Plains. Throughout this Marijuana Belt drug fortunes are being made by farmers who often seem to have stepped from a page of the old Saturday Evening Post."

Some of the most expensive crops are grown indoors on the west coast using advanced scientific techniques but the American heartlands account for the largest volume. Some estimates suggest 3 million Americans grow marijuana, although mostly for their own or their friends' use, but between 100,000 and 200,000 are believed to do so for a living.

The laws against the drug are strict. There were 724,000 people arrested for marijuana offences in 2001 and about 50,000 are in prison. Commercial growers can serve sentences far longer than those for murder, but the high risks appear to have had little effect on production or availability: 89% of secondary school students surveyed indicated that they could easily obtain the drug.

The annual number of hardcore video rentals in the US has risen from 79m in 1985 to 759m in 2001. Hardcore pornography in the shape of videos, the internet, live sex acts and cable television is now estimated to generate around $10bn, roughly the same amount as Hollywood's US box office receipts.

Americans spend more money at strip clubs than at Broadway, regional theatres and orchestra performances combined. The industry has mushroomed since the 70s, when a federal study found that it was worth little more than $10m.

Now the US leads the world in pornography; about 211 new films are produced every week. Los Angeles area is the centre of the film boom and many of those in the trade are otherwise respectable citizens.

Nina Hartley, a porn star, told Schlosser: "You'd be surprised how many producers and manufacturers are Republicans."

The majority of women in the films earn about $400 a scene. At the moment, there is a surplus of women in California hoping to enter the industry.

The internet has provided a fresh and profitable outlet. In 1997 about 22,000 porn websites existed; the number is now closer to 300,000 and growing.

More than a million illegal farmworkers are estimated to be employed in the US, with the average worker being a 29-year-old from Mexico.

Surplus labour


The total number of illegal immigrants is estimated at about 8 million and many are being paid cash in a shadow economy.

Many live in primitive conditions: a survey in Soledad, in the heart of California's agricultural territory, found that 1,500 of them, one-eighth of the town's official population, were living in garages. There are mutual economic benefits.

"Migrant work in California has long absorbed Mexican surplus labour, while Mexico has in effect paid for the education, health care and retirement of California's farmworkers," writes Schlosser. "Maintaining the current level of poverty among migrant farmworkers saves the average American household around $50 a year."

The advantages to the employer are clear, most notably in LA county, where an estimated 28% of workers are paid in cash.

Schlosser believes that the shadow economy will continue to thrive as long as marijuana and pornography remain illicit.

"A society that can punish a marijuana offender more severely than a murderer is caught in the grip of a deep psychosis," he concludes. "Black markets will always be with us. But they will recede in importance when the public morality is consistent with our private one. The underground is a good measure of the progress and the health of nations. When much is wrong, much needs to be hidden."

· Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs and Cheap Labour in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser, published by Houghton Mifflin
posted by Josh Carr , 4:30 PM Þ 

After checking my email I turned my attention to the news and celebrated the capture of Abu Abbass, yet another indication of terrorist support in the Iraqi regime. Good for us, I said. Occasionally I glanced at the clock, waiting for 9am EDT, when Apple Tech Support opened for business.[...]

Macnet2

May all your laptops fail you. Forever.
posted by Irdial , 4:11 PM Þ 

Stay up all night go to sleep watching Dragnet
Never sleep alone because Jimmy's the magnet

My favourite lyrics ever. I say this as often as I can, and it's also quite true. Heh. Although I think it's Jimmy is the magnet, there's an extra syllable in there.

Define
Online, Offline, Sleep.
posted by alex_tea , 4:10 PM Þ 

any recommendations?

Stay up all night go to sleep watching Dragnet
Never sleep alone because Jimmy's the magnet
I'm so rope they call me Mr. Roper
When the troubles arise I'm the cool coper
On the mic I score just like the Yankees
Get over on Ms. Crabtree like my main man Spankee
Excuse me young lady I don't mean to trouble ya
But you're looking mighty fine inside your B.M.W.

I got lucky I brought home a kitten
Before I got busy I schlepped on my mitten
Can't get better odds cause I'm a sure thing

Proud Mary keeps on turning rolling like a Ring Ding
Jump the turnstile never pay the tool
Doo wa diddy bust with the pre-roll [...]

Paul's Boutique
3 Minute Rule
posted by Irdial , 4:00 PM Þ 

you have to pay for opera unless ........ yes, i like it, but it doesn't seem to enjoy pages made with div layers ..... or rather, the layout of some pages i'd previewed with ie only are all over the place with opera ( and mozilla, come to that )....... back to tables, i guess
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 3:49 PM Þ 

Wedding Song:
Dinah Washington "What a Difference A Day Makes."

On a related theme my friend's stag night/weekend involves clubbing in Barcelona (!) any recommendations?
posted by meau meau , 3:21 PM Þ 

Define

Here
There
Everywhere

and i've been breathing air for 10228 (that's 10227 + 1) days
posted by meau meau , 3:09 PM Þ 

What were you up to in Oxford Alex?

Jus went for a day out, to get away from London and my bedroom. Was very nice, although I can't see much going on to make me want to stay for very long. A beautiful town though!
posted by alex_tea , 2:11 PM Þ 

blogger doesnt like opera. opera is fast. opera doesnt have free floating windoze in windoze. you have to pay for opera. mouse gesture in opera are kwl.
posted by Irdial , 2:04 PM Þ 

What were you up to in Oxford Alex?
posted by captain davros , 2:01 PM Þ 

Give three examples.

Heaven
Earth
Hell
posted by Irdial , 1:55 PM Þ 

Final Exam

Instructions: Read each question carefully. Answer any five questions you choose.
Time Limit: One hour. Begin immediately.

1. HISTORY- Describe the history of the papacy from its origins to the
present day, concentrating expecially, but not exclusively, on its social, political,
economic, religious, and philosophical impact on Europe, Asia, America, and
Africa. Be brief, concise, and specific.

2. MEDICINE- You have been provided with a razor blade, a piece of
gauze, and a bottle of Scotch. Remove your appendix. Do not suture until your work
has been inspected. You have 15 minutes.

3. PUBLIC SPEAKING- 2,500 riot-crazed aborigines are storming the
classroom. Calm them. You may use any ancient language except Latin or Greek.

4. BIOLOGY- Create life. Estimate the differences in subsequent human
culture if this form of life had developed 500 million years earlier, with special
attention to its probable effect on the English parliamentary system. Prove your thesis.

5. MUSIC- Write a piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with flute
and drum. You will find a piano under your seat.

6. PSYCHOLOGY- Based on your knowledge of their words, evaluate the
emotional stability, degree of adjustment, and repressed frustrations of each of
the following: Alexander of Aphrodisias, Ramses II, Gregory of Nicea, Hammurabi.
Support your evaluation with quotations from each man's work, making appropriate
references. It is not necessary to translate.

7. SOCIOLOGY- Estimate the sociological problems which might accompany
the end of the world. Construct an experiment to test your theory.

8. ENGINEERING- The disassembled parts of a high-powered rifle have been
placed in a box on your desk. You will also find an instruction manual, printed
in Swahili. In ten minutes, a hungry Bengal tiger will be admitted to the room. Take
whatever action you feel appropriate. Be prepared to justify your decision.

9. EPISTEMOLOGY- Take a position for or against Truth. Prove the
validity of your position.

10. PHYSICS- Explain the nature of matter. Include in your answer an
evaluation of the impact of the development of mathematics on science.

11. PHILOSOPHY- Sketch the development of human thought, estimate its
significance. Compare with the development of any other kind of thought.

EXTRA CREDIT- Define the Universe. Give three examples.
posted by Claus Eggers , 1:21 PM Þ 

Wedding Song: Deceptacon by Le Tigre, maybe. Or maybe something a bit more visceral? Depends on who I marry of course, not that I'm some sort of player or something, just seems a long way off. Maybe French Kiss by Lil' Louis would go down well with the grandparents? Non?

GPG in Mail: I use GPGMail, works fine for me, only problem, when replying to an encrypted message you want to quote you have to hightlight the message (Apple+A is quick) first. Not really a huge problem. Installing GPG is pretty easy too... Just go here and get the binaries.

Sun: I spent the day in Oxford on Sunday. It really was perfect, on the train I stared out the window nearly all the way, suburban Britian has never looked so appealing. Saturday I spent trawling around Portobello market... It's so vibrant and diverse, really inspirational. Good record shops round there too...

Magazines: So I bought the Wire at last, quite a treck to find a copy, maybe because it's nearly time for the next issue? Found it underneath the racks in this amazing newsagents in Portobello with hundreds of magazines from all over the world. Loads of independently published ones as well. In the end I bought Plus Eighty One a bilingual Japanese magazine about design and stuff. It was the Music/Graphics issue. Very nice. Also picked up Lowdown a German bilingual magazine about music, grahics, skating... Anyway, seems to have perked my enthusiasm for magazines and the Wire doesn't seem as bad as I remembered, the Mego article was really refreshing and so was the Nonesuch Explorer one, I think I may subscribe, it's an invaluble source of information and there's nothing like it out there.
posted by alex_tea , 12:52 PM Þ 
posted by meau meau , 12:49 PM Þ 

trying out opera, i'm presented with a crappy little textbox, top left ; anyone else had this ? ......... mozilla next ......
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 12:15 PM Þ 

'Out of Space' by the Prodge
posted by captain davros , 12:14 PM Þ 

song 2, blur
posted by a hymn in g to nann , 12:13 PM Þ 

One friend had 'Wonderful World' by Mr Armstrong
Another had 'Just can't help believing' by Elvis
My sister had 'Can't take my eyes off of you' by Frankie Valli

What would be your choice for wedding 'first dance' tune?
posted by Alun , 11:36 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 8:32 AM Þ 

Today, it is the most powerful nation on earth in every sense of the word, except moral. The moral authority of the United States comes from the barrel of a gun. It is feared worldwide, even by its friends, and dismayed that others don't unconditionally love it. Yet it is difficult for outsiders to credit that even Americans love it.[...]

info clearing house
posted by Irdial , 7:24 AM Þ 

These Boycotts are worth noting, and Ethical Consumer magazine itself is a "must read".
posted by Irdial , 7:18 AM Þ 

"Cisco is bottled by the nation's second largest wine company, Canandaigua Wine Co., in Canandaigua, NY and Naples, NY - the same company as Wild Irish Rose. Known as "liquid crack," for its reputation for wreaking more mental havoc than the cheapest tequila."[...]

http://www.tcsn.net/rags/bum/
posted by Irdial , 5:14 AM Þ 

US: 'Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction'

By Neil Mackay


The Bush administration has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no weapons of mass destruction.

Senior officials in the Bush administration have admitted that they would be 'amazed' if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq.

According to administration sources, Saddam shut down and destroyed large parts of his WMD programmes before the invasion of Iraq.

Ironically, the claims came as US President George Bush yesterday repeatedly justified the war as necessary to remove Iraq's chemical and biological arms which posed a direct threat to America.

Bush claimed: 'Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. We will find them.'

The comments from within the administration will add further weight to attacks on the Blair government by Labour backbenchers that there is no 'smoking gun' and that the war against Iraq -- which centred on claims that Saddam was a risk to Britain, America and the Middle East because of unconventional weapons -- was unjustified.

The senior US official added that America never expected to find a huge arsenal, arguing that the administration was more concerned about the ability of Saddam's scientists -- which he labelled the 'nuclear mujahidin' -- to develop WMDs when the crisis passed.

This represents a clearly dramatic shift in the definition of the Bush doctrine's central tenet -- the pre-emptive strike. Previously, according to Washington, a pre-emptive war could be waged against a hostile country with WMDs in order to protect American security.

Now, however, according to the US official, pre-emptive action is justified against a nation which simply has the ability to develop unconventional weapons.

http://www.sundayherald.com/33628
posted by Irdial , 5:11 AM Þ 
Monday, May 05, 2003

posted by Mess Noone , 9:47 PM Þ 
posted by Mess Noone , 9:28 PM Þ 

Thanks for the music, alex! iTunes is a very nice sharing vehicle, though it stalls out a LOT for me. But that's probably because my computer is a sack of shit.
posted by Barrie , 8:42 PM Þ 

A212 available through Itunes.

daap://home.r107.co.uk
posted by alex_tea , 8:07 PM Þ 

Samurize_085d.zip is really rather exellent!
posted by Irdial , 6:00 PM Þ 
posted by Claus Eggers , 1:54 PM Þ 



Cap, that "Alfred's Camera Page" is great. Bizarrely entertaining. Many of the cameras really interesting me - the 120 format ones especially. My Canon A1 is so cool though, I don't really have a need to get any other 35mm cameras - though the "Kiev 10" is a totally ass-kicking piece of design...
posted by Barrie , 5:18 AM Þ 
Sunday, May 04, 2003

It's still beautiful. Just came in from the garden, all peace, bird song and love beside me.
posted by Alun , 9:02 PM Þ 

That was simply the most BEAUTIFUL day that I have EVER seen in London!

Every street, every park looked like a postcard; every house immaculately clean, every street without a blemish, flowers blooming everywhere, birds singing, children playing....

Like a sweet dream...
posted by Irdial , 8:23 PM Þ 

Alun, have you clacked yet?
posted by captain davros , 2:05 PM Þ 

Note to those in the southern UK

ISN'T IT A GORGEOUS DAY!?!?!?

I been out with me Clack, then I found a car boot sale and got one of these for 4 quid. I am having fun. And off to a bbq this avo! Wheee!
posted by captain davros , 2:04 PM Þ 

U.S. says Canada cares too much about liberties
Terrorism report also says too little spent on police

Jim Bronskill, with files from Janice Tibbetts
The Ottawa Citizen

Thursday, May 01, 2003
ADVERTISEMENT

The United States says the lack of funding for police and restrictive privacy legislation in Canada are frustrating probes of political extremists.

The comments in an annual report on international terrorism were the latest critical remarks from the U.S. apparently aimed at prodding Canada to bring its security measures in line.

The State Department report on global terrorism for 2002 suggests that while Canada has been helpful in the fight against terrorism, it doesn't spend enough on policing and places too much emphasis on civil liberties.

It says "some U.S. law enforcement officers have expressed concern" about Canadian privacy laws.

The U.S. officers feel those laws, as well as funding levels for law enforcement, "inhibit a fuller and more timely exchange of information and response to requests for assistance," the report says.

"Also, Canadian laws and regulations intended to protect Canadian citizens and landed immigrants from government intrusion sometimes limit the depth of investigations."[...]

What can I say??
posted by Irdial , 8:56 AM Þ 
posted by Irdial , 8:40 AM Þ 
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