2009 archive
Inauguration Reflections 0
Yesterday, I went to a luncheon organized under the auspices of Moveon.org (Shake it off. Move on, already, for heaven’s sake. Stop wanking and fix the damn problems. That is what “move on” means.)
I started tearing up on the way there (about 15 minutes down Washington Street from here).
So, I’m sitting there at the table with my head bent and my left hand over my eyes trying to hold back the tears, as the telly vision showed images of bigwigs filing onto the West Front of the Capitol (where I used to take lunchtime walks when I worked up the street from there) when the lady sitting next to me touches me on the shoulder and asks, “Are you okay?”
“I’m better than I’ve been in eight years.”
“I thought it was emotion, but after a while, I decided I should check and make sure you weren’t choking or something.”
The House Is Ablaze and People Are Wondering If the Petunia Needs Watered 0
The smallness of what passes for contemporary political thought is mind-gagging.
H/T Karen for the link.
Showstopper of the Day 0
Frankly, I think the Reverend Lowery stole the show.
And his roots are deep. He was one of the founders of the SCLC.
Most white folks didn’t realize–as a white folk, I didn’t realize until I heard about it on CNN–that he quoted liberally from the “Black National Anthem.”
He put Rick Warren’s arrogant pomposity in its place.
Rickrolling Along, No Sense of Humor Dept. 0
As reported in El Reg. Be sure to play the ad spot at the bottom of the story.
The Joy of Linux 0
El Reg reports (emphasis added):
It’s been confirmed that more than 800 computers have been infected with self-replicating Conficker code. Insiders at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust said they suspect many more machines are affected but have not been reported to IT.
The Trust told The Register it now has the outbreak under control and is engaged in “clearing up” remnants. Non-urgent appointments in the medical imaging department had to be cancelled while its computers were disinfected. A Trust spokeswoman said no other direct impact on patient care was known.
The decision to disable automatic security updates was taken during Christmas week after PCs in an operating theatre rebooted mid-surgery. Conficker was detected on December 29.
Of course, turning off Windows updates is a bad idea, because Windows security is so fundamentally flawed that fixing it is a career, not a task.
I set my Windows boxes to download updates and let me decide when to install them. That way, the updates can’t install themselves while the user is, say, committing surgery.
Running around and manually installing updates on 8,000 computers, either directly or remotely, would be a daunting task for the IS folks, but it sure would be better than rebuilding 800 computers that have been conflicked up.
Truthiness in Lending 0
Marketwatch summarizes “how to detect unfair or deceptive credit-card practices . . ..”
This story is worth a read for anyone who still has a credit card.
Fix It Again, Tony 0
Fiat wants to come back to the States:
No cash is changing hands. Fiat’s investment is all “in kind.”
I don’t think Tony will have much luck fixing this one.
Future Shock 0
The Onion, January 17, 2001.
That’s right. 2001.
I’m going to follow their stock market advice from now on. Read the whole thing. It’s eerily prescient:
Bush swore to do “everything in [his] power” to undo the damage wrought by Clinton’s two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.
During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
Via Noz.
End. Beginning. 0
The Backwards Bush Clock over there
——————————–>
on the sidebar has been retired.
Bush is and will remain backwards, but his clock has run out.
Now, God willing, the polity will return to reasonable fights over sane policies, rather than unreasonable fights over insane policies.
God be with us as we return to reality.
Watchful Waiting 2
No pardons yet, just a clemency for ICE agents who shot a brown person in the back. Had he been a white guy sneaking over the border into North Dakota from Canada, I guarantee, no clemency.
I expressed my thoughts on pardons yesterday over at Noz’s place.
Neo-Voodoo 0
Paul Krugman:
But recent news reports suggest that many influential people, including Federal Reserve officials, bank regulators, and, possibly, members of the incoming Obama administration, have become devotees of a new kind of voodoo: the belief that by performing elaborate financial rituals we can keep dead banks walking.
But, then again, Wall Street bankers wear three-piece suits (even the female ones), drive (or are driven in) expensive cars, and vote Republican, so it must not be their fault. Right?
Truth. No Reconciliation. 0
From the Guardian:
But now, these circumstances are changing. The torture issue may turn out to be too big to ignore.
(snip)
The Bush White House is about to disappear. It can no longer wield the political or institutional clout necessary to enforce a strict code of silence. Meanwhile, there are certain advantages to coming clean, and as time goes by they will grow more compelling. Some lower-level officials in the Bush-era Pentagon, justice department and intelligence agencies will want to clear their consciences and be on the right side of history. Some will want to go on the record to secure legal protections from prosecution.
Prosecutions are not needed. Truth is.
Governing 0
The Booman discusses the difference between governing and kvetching.
Tragic. Just Tragic. 2
What Susie said.
Highlights Reel 0
Warning: Language
H/T Alison for the link.