January 31, 2003
If you are at all
If you are at all interested in what is responsible for many of the problems that our government faces today, such as the impending bankruptcy of social security, our balooning federal budget, or the drug war (that we still haven't won, thanks), you'll want to read this.
Posted by Matt at 9:50 PM
Raid in Italy nets 28
Raid in Italy nets 28 Al Qaeda:
They arrested all 28 men staying in the apartment after finding 800 grams (28 ounces) of explosives, 230 feet of fuse and various electronic detonators crammed behind a false wall.
Good news, of course. But what I want to know is: how do you fit 28 guys in the same apartment? I'm thinking: clown car. Which doesn't strengthen their image as a fearsome, invincible army of god.
Posted by Matt at 6:28 PM
Colonialism == bad. Always was.
Colonialism == bad. Always was. The rest of the world is better off because the West got out. Right?
Let's check in with our post-colonial correspondent to get a status report:
Millions of Zimbabweans face starvation, a U.S.-based food monitoring organization reported recently. Agriculture officials blame the impending food shortage on drought and the government's controversial seizure of farmland owned by members of the nation's white minority for redistribution to landless blacks in an attempt to right a colonial wrong.But placing blame on colonizers isn't useful, Menon said.
Run that last sentence by me again? Even though the blame should lie with Britain, it just isn't useful to go around pointing the finger... Hm. So Britain leaves Zimbabwe... then millions starve... thus Britain is responsible for the current sorry state of affairs.
Gotcha. Check.
Posted by Matt at 6:17 PM
If you've watched even a
If you've watched even a ten-minute stretch of any of the 24-hour news networks this past month, you know that the number two story out there is the case of Laci Peterson, the 27-year-old lady who has been missing since Christmas Eve. It's classic News Network mystery fare, complete with the cheating husband and a baby on the way, keeping literally dozens of Americans glued to their screens waiting for the story to unfold.
Me? I care only in a distant sort of way; however, the latest twist has surely seized my attention. Seems a grocery clerk in Washington state may have seem Mrs. Peterson with another older man as they passed through the store:
The woman was accompanied by a much older man with "strong features" and a ruddy complexion, the clerk reported.After the man stepped out of line to get something he forgot, the clerk remarked to the woman that she should be wearing a coat on such a chilly day. The woman told the clerk she didn't have time to take a coat because she was kidnapped. She also told the clerk that the man had a weapon.
The clerk told police she wasn't sure whether to take the woman seriously.
When the man returned, he asked what the two talked about while he was gone, the police report says.
"She said you kidnapped her," the clerk said.
Bwuhhh??? Good move, there, Clerky. In the Cashier's Emergency Handbook, under the heading "When a Distressed Pregnant Lady Says She's Been Kidnapped," Step One is always -- and I cannot stress this enough, people -- Try to ascertain whether the subject is, in fact, kidnapped, or merely having fun at your expense. The best method to do this, of course, is to ask the alleged kidnapper, as he will surely set you straight if it is a joke.
The clerk said the statement seemed to make the man angry, and she teasingly added that her husband always kidnapped her to take her to dinner. The man relaxed and laughed.And well she should! Congratulations, Unnamed Grocery Cash Register Clerk! You're the recipient of this week's DURRRRRR!!! award!"Yeah, I guess I kidnapped her," she recalled him saying.
After they left, the clerk unsuccessfully tried to find a phone book to call police, then became distracted and forgot about the incident. She told police she feels terrible about it now.
Posted by Matt at 11:01 AM
January 30, 2003
Whew. Been a long day
Whew. Been a long day today. got lots done, which is always a good feeling.
Feelings aside: BOY, does it take a while to get things organized on your computer when you've just let everything become a shapeless mismash of junk! I'm just trying to sort my inbox -- and 10,000 messages takes a while to sift through. There is definitely something to be said for staying on the ball.
Interesting analogy: "on the ball." The image is perfect. Like you, I am thinking of an elephant balancing on a 6-foot diameter circus ball (probably with the requisite stars and such). If you don't keep pace as that ball rolls forward, you end up crashing down and all the clowns will laugh at you.
Posted by Matt at 8:05 PM
DAY-UM, BlogSpot is slow!
If it were on my server, it'd be blazin'!
Nothing like a jerk who complains about a free service, is there? Just like the yammering tech heads who are whining about the fact that RedHat will be -- gasp! -- cutting back its support for its free OS.
The opensource crowd. Yes, they want everything to be free. But they want everything to be free. Free software. Free music. The "no such thing as a free lunch" is lost on them. Of course, I could be obvious and point out that everything comes at a cost to someone... it's just a matter of who pays. That's the thing: It's not so much that the opensourcers believe in some "higher" ideal that information wants to be free (as if information could have volitional powers anyway). They want free stuff, plain and simple.
Posted by Matt at 7:48 PM
New blog, yo.
Of course I've been meaning to do one of these for years (months, even!) and I have far too much to do on my own server to get one up and running there. When I do get one up there, I'll be transferring/importing all these posts on over. Until then: BlogSpot.
Posted by Matt at 7:42 PM
