Vote today
If you're registered, get out and vote today. Have questions about voting? Are you registered to vote? Try the Smart Voter site (FAQs).
Abortion manual for the women of South Dakota
In reaction to the South Dakota Senate passing an abortion ban bill, a woman named Molly has posted an abortion manual for the women of South Dakota:
In the 1960s and early 1970s, when abortions were illegal in many places and expensive to get, an organization called Jane stepped up to the plate in the Chicago area. Jane initially hired an abortion doctor, but later they did the abortions themselves. They lost only one patient in 13,000 -- a lower death rate than that of giving live birth. The biggest obstacle they had, though, was the fact that until years into the operation, they thought of abortion as something only a doctor could do, something only the most trained specialist could perform without endangering the life of the woman.
They were deceived -- much like you have probably been deceived. An abortion, especially for an early pregnancy, is a relatively easy procedure to perform. And while I know, women of South Dakota, that you never asked for this, now is the time to learn how it is done. There is no reason you should be beholden to doctors -- especially in a state where doctors have been refusing to perform them, forcing the state's only abortion clinic to fly doctors in from elsewhere.
(via cyn-c)
Katrina assistance
A reader inquires:
When the tsunami struck Asia last year, Amazon.com was quick to post a donation link on its front page. Don't you think they should do the same for the victims of Katrina? How about using that platform of yours to apply some leverage to Jeff and the crew to get a link up there?
Amazon's lack of a donation link was noted in our household this morning as well. How about it, Amazon? (thx scott)
In the meantime, you can donate directly to the Red Cross (the site seems a little slow right now, so be patient).
Update: Please stop emailing me about the tsunami/Katrina comparison thing. I don't wish to debate the relative scale of natural disasters or who deserves more attention and aid when bad stuff happens. Individuals and corporations alike need to determine who they wish to aid on their own terms. In the past, Amazon has been a place to go to give aid...it's the first place I thought of going when I heard of the escalating problems in the Gulf states (and I don't think I'm alone here) because if they had a donation mechanism, it would be a fast link and easy for people to donate. That Amazon has chosen to not to set up a donation mechanism in this case is their choice and I certainly don't fault them for it.
Update #2: InternetWeek is reporting that Amazon has decided not to add a donation mechanism to their site. (thx, julio)
Update #3: Amazon now has a donation link on the front page which goes to this donation page. (thx to several who wrote in, including those at Amazon.)
And now, everything else
Despite the flurry of remaindered links yesterday morning about the London transport bombings, yesterday was a pretty slow day on kottke.org. Because of the time difference between New York and London, news about the bombings became more scarce around noon ET when the London workday was ending and I decided not to post about anything else for the remainder of the day. Today, I'm resuming the usual flow of frivolous links and commentary around here, but I'll be keeping an eye out for news from London as well.
Justice Rehnquist close to death?
Yesterday afternoon, the Washington Post posted a series of stories in their RSS file for the national news page on Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death. Here's a screenshot from Bloglines:
According to the Christian Science Monitor, "speculation swirls around the ailing chief justice" and a retirement announcement may come very soon. The Post's jumping of the gun on the story (and the timing of the CSM article) may indicate that Rehnquist is closer to death than retirement. Thanks to Steve for the heads up.
Update: The Post has issued a correction.
kottke.org presidential endorsement
Instead of endorsing a candidate for President (ok, short answer: voting strategically against Bush, not that my vote will make any difference in NY), I'd rather see who you guys are planning to vote for and make that the de facto kottke.org endorsement. I already know what the answer will be, but I'm curious to see the extent of the skew. So...
Who are you planning to vote for in the 2004 US Presidential election?
Oh, and if you've already voted by absentee ballot, please indicate your choice. I'll keep this thread updated as the votes roll in and the poll will close when I feel like it.
After 201 votes: Kerry 72%, Bush 10%, Ineligible 8%, Not voting 4%, Other 3%.
After 510 votes: Kerry 70%, Bush 13%, Ineligible 9%, Other 3%, Not voting 2%.
After 1070 votes: Kerry 71%, Bush 13%, Ineligible voter 9%, Other 2%, Not voting 2%.
After 1631 votes: Kerry 70%, Bush 14%, Ineligible voter 9%, Other 2%, Not voting 2%.
Up-to-the-minute results here.
Ok, I think there are enough precincts reporting in and the percentages have stayed steady enough that we can comfortably call this sucker. FWIW, kottke.org officially endorses John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election. What huge effect this will have on the election will be revealed tomorrow.
Errol Morris' political switch ads
As I mentioned earlier this fall, Errol Morris has produced several political ads in the vein of his Apple Switch ads. The 30-second spots feature folks that voted for Bush in 2000 that are voting for Kerry in 2004.
They're presented in Morris' signature style, regular folks talking directly to the camera against a white background about why they're switching. I find these highly effective, but I (and many of you) are already planning to vote for Kerry. Some of these are going to show on TV (I think), but how can we get these ads in front of undecided-but-leaning-Republican voters in swing states? Paging George Soros...surely you've got enough money to get these suckers on Fox News during primetime...
More on the Voters Information Guide
I've been away from the computer for a couple of days, but I'm back with an update about the Voters Information Guide. It's been updated to include some alternate versions:
- 1-page PDF version by Trevor Filter
- HTML version suitable for printing by Ryan Brill
- text-only version by Chuck Welch
- an audio version by Ben Yates
In addition, John Zeratsky made a button that you can grab to link to the guide.
Of particular note is the 1-page PDF version...print that sucker out and hang it on the fridge at work, on the bulletin board in your dorm, in your barracks, at church, at school, at the mosque, at synagogue, at softball practice, etc. Throw it in the folder you use for P2P sharing. Email it to your folks. Whatever. Get it out there. (And also, Trevor worked on this PDF as part of a community service program for his high school. A politically engaged high school student! We can't let him down!)
Voters Information Guide
Several dozen people and I have produced this Voters Information Guide for the 2004 US Election, a quick resource for anyone who needs to know how, where, and when to vote or register to vote. It is free for you to distribute however you wish: online, in print, or otherwise. Spread it far and wide. Deadlines for registration are as early as October 2 in some states.
If you are willing and able to translate it into other formats or languages, please do so and send me a link. Particularly helpful would be a print version (with URLs written out in some fashion...as footnotes?) and/or a PDF version that fits on one page for easy distribution or hanging on the refrigerator at work got a PDF version, thanks (will be linked up soon).
Here's some backstory on how this guide came about. Thanks to everyone who offered feedback, links, and information.
First draft of the Voters Information Guide
Update: The Voters Information Guide is finished. Thanks for all the help.
Ok, I spent most of Friday night knee deep in information on how to go about voting in the 2004 US election and have come up with a first draft of the Voters Information Guide (as initiated here). It's unfinished with the barest of formatting, but I wanted to get feedback on it before I go any further. And keep in mind, this is more Voting for Dummies than it is an exhaustive FAQ.
What do you think? Too much information? Too little? Is it clear? Can someone find me a list of absentee ballot deadlines as good as the one on Michael Moore's site but not on MM's site? English majors and copy editors, help me smooth out the rough edges (with a focus on clarity, concision, and readability by someone who may not know what "absentee" means). Does anyone see any incorrect or misleading information? Leave your feedback in the thread or email me.
Eventually, translations and other versions (print, PDF, audio?, etc.) would be helpful to have, but wait on that until we're nearing the final draft.
I need your help getting the word out regarding the US presidential elections
Update: The Voters Information Guide is finished. Thanks for all the help.
Alright folks, we're going to do some of that collaborative citizen journalism you've heard so much about. I want to compile a short list of essential resources for people who need to register to vote, vote via absentee ballot, and, you know, vote normally. I've looked around at a few voter information sites and they are confusing, often too marketing-based, aren't focused on presenting information clearly, or are too partisan/biased. I'm looking for the opposite: information, links, and resources that are clear, concise, nonpartisan, and above all, practical. The information is out there...it just needs to be presented properly.
Here are some areas I'd like to focus on:
- Deadlines and procedures for registering to vote. Is this list accurate? Is there a better source?
- Information for people voting via absentee ballots. How do they register? What are the registration deadlines? How do they get ballots? What are the procedures/deadlines for sending their ballots in?
- Information for overseas voters that may be affected by the Pentagon's decision to restrict access to the "official Web site intended to help overseas absentee voters cast ballots".
- Regular voters...how do they find out where they should vote? Is there a easy-to-use polling place locator?
- Information about groups of people being discouraged to vote. I'm thinking specifically of recent reports of minorities being discouraged to vote by threatening them with arrest at the polls for unpaid parking tickets and the like (it's a partisan example, but this issue affects all involved parties and is damaging to the whole system). Is there practical information for educating people about these tactics and their rights? The article says "many people were wrongly turned away when they could not produce identification"...do you need ID when you vote?
- Electronic voting - Is there anything people need to know beyond that it's gonna suck? Are there Flash interfaces online where people can practice their vote? Do people have the option to vote on paper in some states? (Practical voter info only...I don't care about Diebold lawsuits or anything like that.)
- Any other important issues?
So send me your links and information (or leave it in the comments) and I will compile everything, distill it down to the essentials, and write up an article which will be released into the public domain so anyone can distribute it however they wish. There will also be a compilation of all the relevent information I'm sent for people who want to dig deeper.
I don't really have the time to do this and neither do you probably, but this is important and if you've got the knowledge, please consider helping out. Thanks.
Fonts, fast boats, and the marketing of the Presidency
I've gotten lots of email about the Texas National Guard memos and their possible forgery. At this point, I don't know what to believe and I don't really care. Were they typed with an expensive IBM typewriter that was a pain in the ass to use? Or were they done three weeks ago in Microsoft Word? Or maybe they were retyped from the originals by a bored secretary in 1993. The most plausible explanation seems to be that after Bush wins the election in November, a disgruntled someone whips up these documents in Word, travels back in time, gets Jerry Killian to sign them, repeatedly photocopies them, sticks them in an envelope, and leaves it with the post office with instructions to deliver it to Dan Rather in September of 2004.
And if they are forged, what an amateur effort. Fer crying out loud, bloggers figured it out. If a Kerry supporter did this, may I suggest you sit the rest of this one out...I don't think he needs this kind of help. And if a Bush supporter did this to distract everyone from the real issue (more about that in a bit), well, that's just brilliant 'cause it's working like a charm.
But like I said, I don't care. All this National Guard Swift Boat Purple Heart Vietnam crap is a red herring. Daddy got Bush out of going to Vietnam and he goofed off at his National Guard job. So what? A lot of people did that...some people fled to Canada. And Kerry could have done the same thing, but didn't. Good for him. And now they and their supporters are trying to outdo each other by telling tall tales and discrediting the other side. Bush said he did this but really he did this. Kerry said this but these other people say the opposite. Shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!
We've got an election to think about. Yeah, the election...remember that? We need to choose the leader of our country in just under two months from now. That sounds pretty important. How about we look past election political tactics and judge the candidates based upon their records, their promises, Bush's actions over the past 4 years as President, Kerry's plans for the future, the respective platforms of the two parties and what they've done to advance them, etc. etc. Let's look at the men, not the marketing. By all means, factor in their Vietnam military service or lack thereof, but I think it's safe to say that neither Bush's National Guard service or Kerry's Swift Boat adventures were their defining moments as potential leaders of the United States. Let's stop acting like they were.
NYC RNC protest photos
Went and took photos of the main protest march today. More tomorrow maybe. (Not more photos, more words.)
Bikes Against Bush thwarted
Here's the video of Bikes Against Bush creator Josh Kinberg being arrested on Saturday afternoon after demonstrating the bike for MSNBC (he was being interviewed by Ron Reagan) and the NYPD:
Torrent of video from DV Guide (please use this one if you can)
Link to video on kottke.org (20.6 MB, QuickTime)
Mirror At Spymac (20.6 MB, QuickTime) (thx Keld)
After seeing that demonstration and being assured the chalk was easily removed from the sidewalk with water, officers consulted with their superiors, placed Josh under arrest, and confiscated his bike & equipment. He was charged with vandalism and released on Sunday morning.
al-Qaeda's TPS Reports
There's some great reporting in this Atlantic Monthly article about the contents of an al-Qaeda computer taken during the US action in Afghanistan. The computer was used primarily by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, and contains emails and memos to/from bin Laden, the leader of the Taliban, and other top al-Qaeda members. You should read the whole thing, but I'm going to quote a few interesting bits:
Perhaps one of the most important insights to emerge from the computer is that 9/11 sprang not so much from al-Qaeda's strengths as from its weaknesses. The computer did not reveal any links to Iraq or any other deep-pocketed government; amid the group's penury the members fell to bitter infighting. The blow against the United States was meant to put an end to the internal rivalries, which are manifest in vitriolic memos between Kabul and cells abroad.
Like the early Russian anarchists who wrote some of the most persuasive tracts on the uses of terror, al-Qaeda understood that its attacks would not lead to a quick collapse of the great powers. Rather, its aim was to tempt the powers to strike back in a way that would create sympathy for the terrorists. Al-Qaeda has so far gained little from the ground war in Afghanistan; the conflict in Iraq, closer to the center of the Arab world, is potentially more fruitful. As Arab resentment against the United States spreads, al-Qaeda may look less like a tightly knit terror group and more like a mass movement. And as the group develops synergy in working with other groups branded by the United States as enemies (in Iraq, the Israeli-occupied territories, Kashmir, the Mindanao Peninsula, and Chechnya, to name a few places), one wonders if the United States is indeed playing the role written for it on the computer.
And except from a text found on the computer, written post-9/11:
There are benefits ... The operations have brought about the largest economic crisis that America has ever known. Material losses amount to one trillion dollars. America has lost about two thousand economic brains as a result of the operations. The stock exchange dropped drastically, and American consumer spending deteriorated. The dollar has dropped, the airlines have been crippled, the American globalization system, which was going to spoil the world, is gone ...
Reading the article, you can't help but develop a sense of dissonance between who we're up against and who we've been told we're up against (and our government's response).
The article includes two sidebars, one contains two letters from a young suicide bomber (one to bin Laden and one to his wife) and the other contains tips for al-Qaeda operatives travelling abroad:
Don't wear short pants that show socks when you're standing up. The pants should cover the socks, because intelligence authorities know that fundamentalists don't wear long pants ...
Underwear should be the normal type that people wear, not anything that shows you're a fundamentalist.
You should differentiate between men and women's perfume. If you use women's perfume, you are in trouble.
To paraphrase Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis playing opposite Dana Carvey as George H.W. Bush in an SNL Presidential debate skit: I can't believe we're losing to these guys.
HTML version of the 9/11 Commission Executive Summary
The 9/11 Commission released their findings today (WaPo PDF of the Executive Summary). I've created an HTML version of the Executive Summary with permalinks for each paragraph for easy linking and copy/paste.
Those naughty Girl Scouts
Excerpts from a story about a cookie boycott involving the Girl Scouts, sex education, and the great state of Texas, with my comments interspersed throughout:
Some families are boycotting Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos and other Girl Scout cookies. Troop 7527 is down to just two members after the other girls were withdrawn by their parents. And Brownie Troop 7087 is no more.
Why are folks in this conservative Texas town where President Bush has his ranch so mad at the Girl Scout organization?
Because they're uptight? Or perhaps they're upset with the war in Iraq or the rising national debt and are mistakenly taking that out on the Girl Scouts.
Planned Parenthood and sex education.
The furor was started a few weeks ago by the leader of the anti-abortion group Pro-Life Waco...
Pro-Life Wacko? This commentary almost writes itself.
...who sent out e-mails and ran ads on a Christian radio station urging people to boycott Girl Scout cookies because of the "cozy relationship" between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood.
"Cozy relationship" between two women's groups? That sounds naughty! Christian radio is no place for such puerile double entendre.
Parents were upset to learn that the local Girl Scout organization had given a "woman of distinction award" last year to a Planned Parenthood executive. And they were disturbed to find out that the Girl Scout organization has been giving its endorsement for years to a Planned Parenthood sex-ed program in which girls and boys are given literature on homosexuality, masturbation and condoms.
I don't like the sound of this "literature". Sounds more dangerous than TV, video games, or movies. Let's attack this problem at its root and ban the printing press.
"It's not that we're a bunch of activists. We're just a bunch of moms who care about their kids," said Lisa Aguilar, who took her 10-year-old daughter out of her eight-member Girl Scout troop. "For us, it's the morality. Where is Girl Scouts going?"
The Girl Scouts are going where the rest of America is going, toward more tolerance, acceptance of diversity, education, and making sure young women are prepared for the future, not sheltered from it.
The two troops in Crawford, population 700, decided not to deliver the cookie orders that they had already taken.
They just took that money and ran. Thou shalt steal if Planned Parenthood is involved.
But cookie sales have skyrocketed this year as many people bought cases just to show their support for the Girl Scouts, said Becky Parker, a troop leader who is the cookie distributor for Waco-area troops.
More cookie sales mean more profits that can be funneled into a secret effort by the Girl Scouts to distribute vibrators and heroin to kindergarteners. They must be stopped.
While the cookie boycott may have backfired, the furor prompted the parent leaders of the two Crawford troops to quit."You're telling these girls to raise their fingers up to pledge to honor God and country, and yet you're handing out materials saying homosexuality is OK," said Brownie leader Donna Coody, who disbanded her five-member troop.
Yeah! Disband the Brownies! Those girls are up to no good! I salute your courage, Ms. Coody.
Some 400 to 700 fifth- through ninth-graders attend the half-day Nobody's Fool conference in Waco each July. The program never mentions abortion, according to Planned Parenthood. The youngsters receive a book with chapters on homosexuality and masturbation, as well as illustrations of couples having sex, people examining their naked bodies and a boy putting on a condom.
Some Girl Scout mothers called it soft-core porn.
"It embarrassed me to look at it with my husband," said parent Shannon Donaldson.
Something tells me Shannon showers, dresses, and does the "you know what" with her husband in the dark. Shannon's mommy told her that babies are delivered from the stork and don't you try and tell her any different.
Pro-Life Waco director John Pisciotta, an economics professor at Baylor, the world's largest Baptist university, said his call for a cookie boycott "was a way to bring attention to the issue and wasn't really about cookies."
Not about the cookies? Wake up, people, those cookies are all about sex! Thin Mints? Animal Treasures? Caramel Delites? Do-Si-Dos? Those are some of the most sexually suggestive and -- in the case of Caramel Delites -- racially charged dessert names I've ever heard.
The Girl Scouts national organization, which is based in New York and has 2.9 million girl members and 986,000 adult members, takes no position on sex education or abortion and has no national relationship with Planned Parenthood, according to the Bluebonnet Council.
The Crawford mothers are forming their own girls organization and will use a Christian-based curriculum.
Sweet! Instead of cookies, they could sell shrimp cocktail, lobster rolls, or crab cakes. God couldn't possibly have a problem with that.
Some parents decided to explain abortion to their girls.
I hope they showed them pictures of aborted fetuses. Nothing more wholesome than pictures of aborted fetuses to keep them from having sex until they're old enough to start drinking heavily and have unprotected sex in the backs of their boyfriends' cars.
Others gave only a vague explanation about the uproar.
"Oh honey, it's them damn homosexuals. They make Mommy so angry that she wants to take a shotgun to all those sinners. And they're actually marrying the gays out there in New Sodom, California." ... "Yes, baby, that's why Mommy took away your Lion King soundtrack. Turns out that nice Elton John is a fag! What's the world coming to?"
"Our girls have been through a lot these past three weeks," said Jennifer Smith, who quit as leader of Girl Scout Troop 7527 and removed her daughter. "After I told my 10-year-old daughter that they are supporting some things that are not morally right, she understood."
Thank God. That's so much better than treating your daughter like an adult and letting her make up her own mind about what's morally right.
Saddam captured
If you haven't heard yet, Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in Iraq. He was found in a farmhouse near Tikrit, in a "spider hole" (basically a small cellar). At the press conference announcing the capture, L. Paul Bremer, the head US civilian administrator in Iraq, said, "We got him" and the assembled crowd cheered as Bremer held back tears.
Update: Unsurprisingly, the small but particularly vocal segment of the blogos-whatever that can be identified by their non-ironic use of the word anti-idiotarian, is asserting that there is only one right reaction to Saddam's capture and any other possible opinion is incorrect. It's a toss-up these days as to whose coverage of current events is worse, cable news or that of weblogs. Fox News may have Bill O'Reilly, but reading the weblog coverage lately is like watching 1000 cable channels at once, each with their own O'Reilly arguing with all the other O'Reillys. Warblogs, you've jumped the shark. Next!
Governor Schwarzenegger
Almost everyone I know is upset about Arnold Schwarzenegger being elected governor of California. Really upset. What is it exactly that bothers you about this? That Arnold is a womanizer? Hitler admirer? Orgy participant? That he hasn't revealed any of his views on any specific issues? That he's stupid? That the voters are stupid? That California is fucked up? That he's a Republican? That he's a moderate Republican? That you're a Democrat? That you'll think he'll help the power companies not repay California for overcharging them for electricity? That Davis was recalled? That the recall was initiated in the first place? That the power companies conspired with the Republicans to recall Davis so that their replacement candidate would cut the energy companies a break? That California law allows for election recalls in the first place? That the Democrats were helpless to do anything about it? That American politics in general are screwed up and the recall is just a maddening example? That it may have been unclear on the ballot that a "no" vote on the recall does not negate your vote for a replacement and this could have had an impact on the election? That the voting process is general is ridiculous? That far less than 100% of the eligible population turned out to vote? Please, share your frustrations.
All I ask is when you do, keep in mind that Davis was recalled by 55% of the voters and Schwarzenegger received 48% of the total vote among ~130 candidates, besting 2nd place Bustamante by more than 1.4 million votes. The state of California spoke loudly and clearly: we want Arnold Schwarzenegger to be our next governor. Why are you so upset with this decision, made in good faith by ~8 million people?
Frozen caveman president
A Talk of the Town piece by Andy Borowitz in the latest New Yorker pointed to this AP story on George Bush's news consumption habits:
Bush said he insulates himself from the "opinions" that seep into news coverage by getting his news from his own aides. He said he scans headlines, but rarely reads news stories. "I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more interested in news," the president said. "And the best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world."
I think in order to find someone with less perspective on the world, you'd have to look to Papua New Guinea for a member of one of the last remaining Stone Age tribes.
Martha Stewart and her troubles with the law
With all the hubbub about Martha Stewart right now, Jeffrey Toobin's Lunch at Martha's from February's New Yorker is a good look at the legal issues involved in the case and Stewart's personal feelings about it:
When we took a lunch break, it was clear that the wounds of the past year ran deep. After I admired the silver chopsticks that had been set out, Stewart said, "You know, in China they say, 'The thinner the chopsticks, the higher the social status.' Of course, I got the thinnest I could find." After a pause, she added, "That's why people hate me."
The article reveals Stewart to be attentive to detail and controlling, but it's hard to see that she would be interested at all in jeopardizing her career, forture, company, and reputation over "three-hundredths of one per cent of her total net worth". It just doesn't make sense. The SEC is barking up the wrong tree here.
The news they kept to themselves
Eason Jordan, an executive at CNN, tells the world what they couldn't report about Iraq over the last two decades:
For example, in the mid-1990's one of our Iraqi cameramen was abducted. For weeks he was beaten and subjected to electroshock torture in the basement of a secret police headquarters because he refused to confirm the government's ludicrous suspicion that I was the Central Intelligence Agency's Iraq station chief. CNN had been in Baghdad long enough to know that telling the world about the torture of one of its employees would almost certainly have gotten him killed and put his family and co-workers at grave risk.
We take freedom of the press for granted here in the US, but in many places in the world, both the value and consequences are significant.
Redirecting the mob
I love the last bit of this piece by Mark Cooper that I'm quoting it extensively:
The responsibilities of the peace movement are far too weighty to be squandered in sputtering and ultimately politically irrelevant feel-good acts of blocking traffic or ripping down fences at military bases. As war breaks out, the peace movement must engage even more deeply, not marginalize itself. It must exert what influence it can muster to limit and constrain the exercise of American military power and to do all possible to prevent this conflict from becoming a prelude to endless war. But even more immediately, it's the peace movement that must actually hold the Bush administration to its promises of liberating Iraq. The peace movement should take an active role in debating and trying to shape the post-Saddam outcome by fighting, first of all, for a thorough roll-up of the Ba'ath regime, for indictment and prosecution of Hussein and his gang, for the fullest democracy possible, respect for the Shiahs and Kurds, for a postwar government that respects human rights. That formula includes an authentic U.S. and international commitment to fund reconstruction and development. And let's not forget the Bush-Blair promise to finally get serious about the Palestinians.
At the time of the O.J. trial, I wrote that resentful white Westside Yuppies would have actually been disappointed if Simpson had been convicted, as that would rob them of their self-righteous indignation. Let's do a reality check. If you're in the peace movement and your secret hope is that an arrogant George W. Bush will get his comeuppance in Iraq, that the war will go awry and that it will sink into a bloody I-told-you-so quagmire, then you better have a long, soul-searching meeting with yourself. This is not Vietnam, where the U.S. intervened to support a tinpot dictatorship against an indigenous revolution. This time the U.S. is intervening -- perhaps for all the wrong reasons — against a dictatorial regime a dozen times worse than that of Nguyen Thieu's. As American tanks roll into southern Iraq, we should hope that they will, in fact, be met with rice and roses and then go right on to Baghdad to finish off Saddam. To the Iraqi people who must now cower under our bombs and missiles and pray to God to be spared, we owe them at least that perk — and much, much more.
via glfstrm
Photos from the front
The current issue of Digital Journalist has lots of material on the war in Iraq:
We have been fortunate to have direct access to photographers in Iraq, who are embeded with soldiers, on their own, aboard navy vessels, etc. This month we highlight their work and have published their personal experiences. Furthermore, we have coordinated with seven of the best photo agencies and media outlets such as the New York Times, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Corbis, and Getty Images to bring their best war photographs to our audience.
There are excellent photo galleries from Agence France Press, AP, Corbis, Getty, Newsweek, The New York Times, and Reuters.
One less view from Iraq
Kevin Sites, a CNN correspondent currently in Iraq covering the war, was "asked to suspend" writing for his weblog. It's unclear who asked him to stop. Most likely it was CNN, but could have been his wife for all we know. Many folks are disappointed because news from Iraq that is unfiltered by major news organizations is hard to come by and is a welcome addition to the regular coverage.
Some people in the discussion thread that accompanies his final post are flipping out a little bit...and unnecessarily so. If CNN did tell him to stop, it's not a case of corporate censorship or crushing the little guy (jeez, talk about paranoia). Kevin is over in Iraq on CNN's payroll and probably has a contract that doesn't allow him to report on the war for anyone else, even for himself.
Hopefully he and CNN can come to an agreement to let him keep blogging from Iraq, either on his site or on CNN.com. It would be a good thing for CNN to do to generate some goodwill among online news readers and to give an innovative, experienced correspondent a little freedom to explore new methods of war reporting.
There's an additional angle here concerning the nature of weblogs and other online writing. When looking at weblogs in a legal sense, is a weblog a personal diary or is it journalism? If Kevin's site is a personal diary, CNN might not have any right to make him stop, contract or not. But given his occupation and the simple fact that he is publishing information on an open network for anyone to read, that seems to make it journalism. As it stands now, many webloggers want the best of both worlds: the legal protection and benefits offered to journalists combined with the flexibility and freedom of keeping a personal diary. It will be interesting to see how (or if) this changes in the future.
Note to anchors and reporters: stop smiling
The TV coverage by the cable news networks of the war in Iraq is disappointingly shoddy. Somehow, they think we want to see green, pixelated pictures of trucks moving through an empty desert; endless grainy shots of Baghdad at night; choppy, pixelated live reports from embedded reporters; and the neverending analysis of the minutia of warfare. This is supposed to give us a sense as to what's happening and what to make of it all?
I've had the TV on all afternoon, watching it while I work. Right now, I'm watching tiny pixelated people moving around on the deck of an aircraft carrier. This scene imparts absolutely no information, knowledge, or perspective to the viewer. I understand that the assault of Iraq is important to cover, but what about the protests around the world, the terrorist suspects on the loose with possible dirty bombs, and the plans for humanitarian aid? Those things are just as important to the story, and the news channels have devoted about 2 minutes to covering them over the course of the entire afternoon, opting instead to fawn over U.S. military might, their tech toys, and, wheeee, look at us, we're embedded.
A lowlight from earlier was an enthusiastic Neil Cavuto on Fox News asking some jackass Congressman how he felt about what he's been seeing so far (this was after seeing the severe bombings in Baghdad). The grinning Congressman replied, "I'm very happy".
And just to be fair, a few good things about the coverage this afternoon:
- The live views of the bombing in Baghdad. As much as a grainy picture on television can, it gave viewers a sense of the scope of the bombing. Certainly didn't fill me with a sense of happiness as it did for that Congressman.
- Extensive coverage of the Iraqi ambassador's comments to the UN on MSNBC. Surprised me to see coverage of an alternative view of the war.
And...action.
Get a load of this March 4th posting from the TVBarn discussion list:
A senior producer who shall remain nameless, at a major cable television news operation based in the southeastern United States which shall remain nameless, told me today with a wry confidence I found quite amusing that the "the war is scheduled for the evening of March 19th."
The war pretty much began last night on March 19th. Coincidence or has this war been planned for weeks and was that information shared with the media? (thx Greg)
Update 3:20pm A kottke.org reader writes that a high ranking member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board says that the two week period from March 15-30 was scheduled months ago as the start of the war with Iraq. The RFPB advises the Secretary of Defense on the various U.S. Reserve forces.
The war
If you're a regular reader of my site, you'll notice that I don't write about current events or world news much. And in spite of the impending U.S. war with Iraq, I'm going to continue to write about other things because war & politics are a means to an end and there's more than one way to get there. That said, I've been keenly following the news and analysis since 9/11 about Al Qaeda, Afghanistan, and Iraq and wanted to put into words what I've been thinking about it. So, some random thoughts:
- Saddam Hussein needs to be removed from Iraq. The world will be a safer place when he is in control of nothing more than his personal free time. He has become a powerful multi-billionaire on the backs of the Iraqi people. The only way to remove him is with force; he's not going to leave by choice. Assassination is illegal and would result in political instability, so we need to go get him & his supporters *and* help stabilize the country while power is transferred to the people.
- The U.S. has done an absolutely awful job in explaining the reasons for this war to its citizens and to the other countries of the world. There's no link between Al Qaeda and Iraq; that's been a ridiculous assertion from day one. Saddam is dangerous, but he's not an immediate threat. And the argument that the U.S. has the right to go wherever they want and do whatever they want against the judgement of the rest of the world? The U.S. has always done whatever it wants in this regard, but it must scare the shit out of the rest of the world to hear it stated so clearly. The U.S. is the world's 800-pound gorilla, one that can be very petty, selfish, and stupid.
- The bottom line is, the U.S. isn't going to war with Iraq for altruistic reasons, no matter what we say. Everything the leaders of the United States have ever done, from the Revolutionary War right up to the present, they have done for money and power. Make the whole world a capitalist democracy and everyone benefits a little, but the U.S., as the biggest member of the group, benefits the most. That's what the American brand of capitalism is all about: we gain the support of the little guy by improving his situation a little so that we can improve our situation greatly.
The war with Iraq is a great economic opportunity for the U.S. and for the Republicans. Stability in the region makes for lower oil prices to fuel the U.S. and world economies. Iraq becomes another market for U.S. companies and, if all goes well, a blueprint for the friendly Muslim country. A quick war and lower oil prices will delight the stock market, which will hopefully kick start the economy. Success will breed confidence. Libya & Korea, you're next. By the time the election rolls around in 2004, the U.S. economy will be flying high on the great successes of our nation in war and economics. But only if the plan works.
- Just as unconvincing as Bush's flimsy arguments for war have been the arguments from the other side for peace. Talk about preaching to the choir. Your "blood for oil" and "give peace a chance" signs are as ridiculous and unconvincing as Bush's "well, they're evil" argument. War is bad. Duh. Any ideas as to alternatives? Praying, marching, and hoping for peace isn't going to get it done alone. Bush and the peaceniks are both equally at fault for not working hard enough at having a meaningful dialogue on Iraq, each side settling for lobbing rhetoric over the wall. Bush looks like a chimp. Great...now tell me what the fuck that has to do with anything. Blech.
- I think very little of George W. Bush as the leader of my country. He's uninspiring, unimaginative, not that intelligent, has no perspective on the world, operates in an extremely cloistered world of his own, and while I have no doubt that he's acting in what he thinks are the best interests of the country, his ideas about what those best interests are don't match mine. Bush is leading the U.S. like a large, soulless corporation, which if you know how I feel about large, soulless corporations, is about the most damning thing I can say about him.
- Journalism has always been -- and still is -- about money. Selling newspapers, magazines, fizzy water, cable television subscriptions, etc. Reporting and analyzing the news fairly and accurately is a secondary concern, if it's a concern at all. Believing that things have ever been otherwise is naive.
Most of the news you see on TV is marketing (at the local level, it's all marketing). Cable news networks have been selling this war for months. War is good for them and it's in their best interests to help egg Bush on. Brian Williams live from Kuwait is going to make more money for MSNBC than a report on the huge scam that is the American health care system.
Weblogs are supposedly the antidote to this. With some very notable exceptions (journo Kevin Sites blogging live from Iraq and this Iraqi's personal weblog), this just isn't true. Most webloggers "covering" the current situation are either peace advocates unwilling to enter into a debate (see above) or too busy whipping each other into a hawkish frenzy in the pursuit of getting linked, being seen, driving up page views, and trying oh-so-hard to scale Mt. Instapundit. (Probably going to get some mail about this one.)
- Everyone, from the U.S. gov't to France all the way down to little old me, is being hypocritical about this whole thing. I'm working on a theory: hypocrisy is natural and necessary, and we should stop treating it as a completely bad thing. People, corporations, groups, and countries can't be entirely self-consistent with their views & beliefs and still function.
It's all much more complicated than this. All the arguments out there for and against are necessarily shallow. We're getting very small pieces of the whole story from TV reports, newspaper articles, weblog postings, and magazine pieces. No one has the time to read or write a complete analysis of the situation (which would be a social, political, religious, scientific and economic history of the world from 5000 B.C. up until 2 minutes ago...basically all human knowledge).
Summing up, Bush bad, war bad, this war not so bad even though bad Bush reasons also bad.
Jingo all the way, oh what fun it is to deride...
I am almost irrationally enraged about this freedom fries business, to the point of wanting to do physical harm to Messrs. Jones and Ney if I ever see them in person:
French fries in the House of Representatives' cafeterias will now be known as "freedom fries" as part of a Republican protest at France's opposition to a war on Iraq.
Republican representative Bob Ney, whose committee is in charge of the eateries, said the action was "a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France".
French toast from now on will be known as "freedom toast".
But then I got to thinking, don't Congressmen (note the deliberate use of the masculine) have the right to blow off steam at the workplace just like everyone else? Maybe taking diplomatic pot shots at France on the eve of war is the House equivalent of shooting Nerf guns at each other over cubicle walls during the last big push before a product launch at a tech firm. As a taxpayer, I'm not going to begrudge a little tomfoolery on my dime as long as they're taking care of business in the meantime.
So what's the problem? It's the whole "you either wit us or agin us" mentality. If the US were a person, nobody would want to hang out with him (again, note the deliberate use of the masculine). You don't want to play on our team? Fine. We're gonna blacklist you, stonewall you, ridicule you, and basically make your life a living hell. Is this really how we want to represent ourselves as a country? We're running the world like the Mafia.
Oh, and if we're going to do this whole French bashing thing right, we need to nuke the Statue of Liberty. They sent it over here in 1886...there's probably thousands of French troops still hidden inside, biding their time, waiting to strike when we're all asleep. Goddamned backstabbing, ungrateful, cheese-eating (zing!), non-English-speaking traitors!
ps. French fries are from Belgium, not France. What's next, deporting the Pennsylvania Dutch back to Holland?
Dell dude headline watch
I'm sure you've heard. The guy that does those "Dude, you're getting a Dell" TV commercials got busted here in NYC for buying pot in a kilt. I'm told the pot buying part is the illegal activity, not the kilt-wearing. Anyway, anyone with column inches in a magazine, newspaper, or weblog fell all over themselves trying to come up with the worst "dude, you're getting..." jokes. A sampling for your "enjoyment":
Dude, you're getting a cell.
Dude, you're getting off with a warning.
Dude, you're getting arrested.
Dude, you've been busted.
Dude, you're getting a blunt.
Dude, you're getting a record.
Dude, you're getting a rap sheet.
Dude, you're under arrest.
Dude, you're getting busted.
Dude, you're getting some weed.
Dude, you're getting lots of PR.
Dude, you're getting a dime bag.
Dude, you're getting off easy.
Dude, you're getting raped in jail.
Dude, you're getting a cavity search.
I'm sure everyone is just getting warmed up for when Ashton Kutcher gets nicked. I sense a thousand "Dude, where's my pot?" jokes itching to escape word processors everywhere.
Space Shuttle lost
Update: Nixlog has a growing collection of infographics and interactive graphics related to the crash.
Update: some eyewitness photos (hard to get good photos at that distance...)
Update: Timeline of Columbia's last mission (another timeline).
Update: "Nick has access to orbital data for various satellites and other objects. He and Chris started looking at the data before it got locked up, and it appears that Columbia pulled up around 3 am, and continued to erratically change its path." (Juby)
Update: video of NASA TV broadcast when NASA lost contact with Columbia. Video of NASA trying to reestablish communication with Columbia.
Update: a radar image of Shuttle debris over Texas.
Update: NASA says a piece of foam that impacted the left side of the shuttle on takeoff may be to blame, but unlikely. I mean, how much damage can a piece of foam do? I guess we'll know more when we get a look at what that foam actually looks like.
A Space Shuttle contingency has been declared in Mission Control, Houston, as a result of the loss of communication with the Space Shuttle Columbia at approximately 9 a.m. EST Saturday as it descended toward a landing at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. It was scheduled to touchdown at 9:16 a.m. EST.
Communication and tracking of the shuttle was lost at 9 a.m. EST at an altitude of about 203,000 feet in the area above north central Texas. At the time communications were lost. The shuttle was traveling approximately 12,500 miles per hour (Mach 18). No communication and tracking information were received in Mission Control after that time.
Washington sniper
I hope the Washington police department reads Yahoo! News. I think there's a big clue about the identity of the sniper lurking on their most popular news page:
Could Iraq become the fifty-first state?
After talking with several experts over a period of months, James Fallows explores some possible outcomes of a war with Iraq:
"Regardless of these differences, the day after a war ended, Iraq would become America's problem, for practical and political reasons. Because we would have destroyed the political order and done physical damage in the process, the claims on American resources and attention would be comparable to those of any U.S. state. Conquered Iraqis would turn to the U.S. government for emergency relief, civil order, economic reconstruction, and protection of their borders. They wouldn't be able to vote in U.S. elections, of course—although they might after they emigrated. (Every American war has created a refugee-and-immigrant stream.) But they would be part of us."
Could you turn off that camera? The noise is disturbing our illegal drug use.
I can't believe this is from Reuters and not The Onion. Canadian Hookers Campaign Against Hollywood details an effort by The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users organization to procure compensation for prostitutes and drug dealers displaced by movie shoots:
"Sex trade workers must be compensated for displacement they experience at your hands in the same manner you would compensate a business if you were to use their locale during operating hours. The same must hold true for homeless people you push from beneath a bridge or doorway, and drug users you move from a park."
WTF?
Homeland Security
Two men are beaten to death in Chicago after their van crashed into some pedestrians:
"Mixon told the Tribune she was at the window of her apartment across the street when she saw the van swerve toward the house and strike three women.
'It all happened so fast, it seemed like he floored it or something,' Mixon said.
She told the Tribune she called 911 and returned to see a crowd around the van, some of them helping the women. Mixon said she saw five or six men pull the driver and passenger out of the van and then punch, kick and beat them."
With fellow patriots like these, who needs al-Qaida?
A change of heart
A would-be Palestinian suicide bomber has a near death experience:
"She wanted to be a shaheed [martyr], to blow herself up on an Israeli street and kill as many Jews as possible. The bomb was already strapped to her body. But on the way to the attack, she had a change of heart and returned home. Now the defense minister has come to ask her why: Why did she say yes at first - and why did she say no later? She looks into his eyes, searching for a hint of compassion."
Daniel Pearl execution video
I just watched the Daniel Pearl execution video. To say the least, it was disturbing. I'm not sure if I'm glad I watched it or not (if it helped my understanding of anything, etc.), but I am glad that I was able to make the decision without worrying about if my government or some network news department concerned with ratings wants me to or not.
Luke Helder and Crime and Punishment
I just finished reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. As it happens, the subject matter of the book mirrors this business with pipe-bomber Luke Helder. Reading through the text of letters Helder left with bombs in mailboxes and the manifesto (mirror) he sent The Badger Herald, I was reminded of the writings, mutterings, utterances, and internal dialogue of C&P's Raskolnikov.
In the book, Raskolnikov writes an article for a newspaper in which he states that "extraordinary [people] have the right [that is, not an official right, but his own right] to commit all sorts of crimes and in various ways to transgress the law, because in point of fact they are extraordinary." He goes on to say that great people can do great deeds, whether right or wrong, because they bring about great change in the world. In his madness (or is it?), he tests this theory and himself. Is he an extraordinary man? Can he kill and steal because he is extraordinary? What changes might he be helping bring about? Can he get away with it? Can he drop hints about his crime and still not be caught?
There are glimpses in Helder's writings that hint that he might be of Raskolnikov's mind and considers himself an extraordinary man out to change the world, preaching his gospel. "I'm here to help you realize/understand that you will live no matter what!" "You have been missing how things are, for very long." "I'm happy because I know. I often wonder why anyonewould be so content with believing when they could know." "I'm here to help you, to expose you, to inform you, to provide for you the answers for where to look, so the 'spiritually sleepy mass' can transform themselves from believing to knowing, to have an awareness to life, and to begin understanding."
(Or maybe not. Maybe Helder is just a dumb kid that smoked too much pot and watched The Matrix one too many times. Either way, the whole situation is horrible and fascinating, as was Dostoevsky's account of Raskolnikov.)
Some sort of temporal loop
The world seems as though it's caught in a Star Trek episode, where time is looping over and over again onto itself, and there's nothing the Enterprise crew can do to avoid being trapped in the loop forever. Every time I visit a news site or look on the front page of a newspaper, I see that a suicide bomber has blown themselves and several innocent bystanders up, Israel has captured such and such a city, peace efforts are thwarted by stubborness and hatred, and business & gov't are colluding to limit the rights of the individual. Captain, we need to reverse the polarity on the deflector dish, point the particle stream at that temporal anomaly, and get us the hell out of this situation.
The stem cell gap
An interesting volley in the cloning/stem cells war: Dozens of human embryos cloned in China. It will be interesting to see if the US government comes to view this as a war and frees scientists in this country to pursue the matter more vigorously to avoid a "stem cell gap", like they did with nuclear energy during WWII & the Cold War.
September 11th photos and eyewitness accounts of the WTC and Pentagon bombings
Note: Many of these links are broken. One of these days, I'm going to clean them up as much as I can. -jkottke, 5/27/02
Some reports from the scene, in NY:
- eyewitness video of 2nd plane crashing into WTC
(fast mirror @ apple, mirror01, mirror02, mirror03, mirror04 (de))
- First-hand photos of someone fleeing the WTC and the aftermath. Amazing stuff.
- Video of the second plane crash (if you look carefully, you can see the plane approaching from the left)
- eerie time lapse of both towers burning and collapsing
(mirror01)
- photo of plane just before it hit WTC #2
- amazing photo of second plane crash taken by an amateur photographer
- some photos on Ultradio (almost artistic)
- Blogger search for "World Trade"
- Sara Schwittek (pix)
- Poignant cartoon by Tom Tomorrow
- Super Hyper Demon Child (scroll for pix)
- MetaFilter thread (w/pix)
- some pictures of tower collapsing
- Planet Kevin (pix)
- Animus Rex (pix)
- John C. Glass (pix, especially this and this)
- The Fine Line (text and pix)
- Like an orb (pix)
- Steve Riskus (pix in DC seconds after the Pentagon crash)
- Lackadaisical (pix)
- Lightning Field (w/pix)
- toothpickgirl (w/pix)
- guns media (pix)
- wireless NY (pix)
- Place Name Here (pix)
- Before pictures of the WTC by Dale Sorenson (pix)
- Missing Pieces @ {fray}.
- Lots of first-hand accounts on this Slashdot thread
- lots of stories from stinky.com
- potkettleblack in DC
- Brian Bernstein (in-building acct.)
- The Tin Man
- Netwert IdeaPad
- Exegesis
- Dirt Dirt
- Broadwaystars.com
- primenumber.com in DC
- CamWorld
- pic on momus
- Michelle in DC
- allenplummer.com
- Saranwarp
- Mr. Barrett
- Q Daily News
- World New York
- bgirl
Misc. Stuff
- Some links about talking to children about crisis and trauma
- lots of video from the day (very fast and high bandwidth connection)
- Check to see if people are OK in NY
- A chronology of what happened from CNN
- a design piece from testpilotcollective
- Tara has a resource page up at Research Buzz
Some personal thoughts (I want to get these down to read later):
- I have no context for this. Challenger times 1000. Comparable to Pearl Harbor, but I didn't live thru that.
- All this talk of America vs. the world by our politicians is making me sick and uneasy. This is a human issue, not an American, democracy, or a freedom issue. Someone attacked us all, all of us on the Good Earth.
- I'm so scared right now. I don't want to hear any reports of Americans grabbing the nearest Arab and beating the crap out of him or her. Don't do it. Please.
- Some people cope by hearing and distributing information in a crisis. I'm one of those people, I guess. Makes me feel like I'm doing something useful for those that can't do anything. Or something.
- I'm planning on travelling by air twice in the next month, one flight overseas. I'm not so sure now.
Crime against [blank].
From Wired News (side blurb on front page) concerning the sentencing of Terry Nichols in the Okla. City bombing:
"The judge said the bombing was not so much a crime against the 169 people who died and their families as it was a 'crime against the Constitution of the United States. That's the victim.'"
This pisses me off more than I thought it would. While in some cases I would agree that the interests of the govt. should supercede those of a few people, comparing the lives of all those people (and their families) to the Constitution was a huge fuckup on the judge's part. What an idiot.
