June, 2008 archive
What Happened Over There? 3
McClatchy has been putting together the pieces. (Remember McClatchy: When they were still Knight-Ridder, they got the Iraq War story right.)
This should be good.
From their front page today (there is no separate link for this block of text and it will probably move off the front page at some point):
For more than six years, the United States has held hundreds of men at Guantanamo — “the worst of the worst,” in the words of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. But the truth was different. McClatchy tracked down 66 men released from Guantanamo in the most systematic survey to date of prisoners held there. Many had no connection to terrorism, but their experience turned them against America.
You can see the promotional video here (I didn’t see an “embed” code).
Meanwhile, in the Forgotten War 0
You know, the one Bush chose not to finish:
Wali Karzai, brother of President Hamid Karzai and Kandahar provincial council president, told the BBC 1,000 inmates were in the jail and all escaped.
Of the inmates, about 350 were believed to be Taleban.
There have been a number of casualties among security forces. A lorry bomb blew open the main gates of the jail and about 40 Taleban stormed inside.
A state of emergency has been declared in Kandahar city.
Police and troops are on the streets and all residents have been ordered not to leave their homes.
Context 0
Olbermann looks at the big picture.
This doesn’t have to do with “Liberal” vs. “Conservative.”
This has to do with truth vs. lies.
Transcript here.
Via the Huffington Post.
Boumediene v. Bush 0
Noz has some thoughts on the decision and on strict constrution of the Constitution of the United States of America:
McCain Abdicates Responsibility for His Surrogates 2
No, McHack can’t be a referee of every advertisement.
But he could publically disavow lies and smears (emphasis added).
“I can’t be a referee of every spot run on television,†McCain told the Herald in an exclusive interview. “I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments, but we all know there are groups who want to attack me.â€
The Arizona senator’s hands-off posture on attack ads by now-infamous tax-free and unaccountable political groups called 527s marks a softening of his view on the negative campaign tactic – and opens the door to a no-holds-barred five-month scramble.
Via Steve.
UnAmerican Activities 2
What Digby said.
Paperwork 0
I missed the whole birth certificate thing.
Drumbeats 2
Over there, at the Booman Tribune.
No More Firefox No More Thunderbird No More Saying That Dirty Word 0
That dirty word is, of course, clunky.
The new version of Opera (9.50) landed today. Video works again and all is right with the world.
Slurry: Not Just for Coal Anymore (Updated) 0
Fox News:
Note that it’s not Malkin, though one would expect something like that from her foul little mouth.
It’s the Fox News crawl, done by the Fox News snakes staff.
Via Duncan.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
Fox has since said that the producer responsible for the crawl exercised “poor judgment.”
Well, yeah.
Poor judgment in revealing his or her fundamental racism.
(Because, face it, someone without racism would have never have even thought to display something of that nature. The idea would not have come to him or her.)
Or, more likely, the fundamental racism of Fox News’s approach to Senator Obama’s campaign.
This is beyond disgusting and beyond poor judgment.
But at least Fox News has put its cards on the table.
Drumbeats (Updated) 0
From the comments to a story on Market Watch (follow the link and look for a comment from Stormy):
Ray tells me that Market Watch has a habit of deleting comments they don’t like, not just for incivility, but for content, so here’s a screenshot. Click the excerpt to see it in context:
H/T Ray for the tip.
Addendum:
The Booman Tribune has more.
When Is the Republican Party Not the Republican Party? 0
When it’s the G. O. P.
It’s Not Just the Phillies 0
Add One More Lie 0
It’s not his boy or girl or spouse or parent over there, is it? Republicans are so generous with the children of others.
The Booman has a lengthy discussion of the bogus comparison between occupying–that’s occupying, my friends–a hostile Iraq and having troops in Germany, Japan, and South Korea. You can follow the link to read it. I am not saying I agree with all his points–just most of them–but I think he frames the issues accurately.
Candidate McHack’s analogy fails on the surface.
Suffice to say that no Germans, Japanese, or South Koreans are blowing up American troops. Indeed, when American bases were established in those countries following World War II and the Korean War, the inhabitants of those countries had stopped blowing up American (and other occupying) troops, either through surrender (Japan and Germany) or through partition (Korea).
Candidate McMaverick doesn’t seem to realize that he’s comparing apples and oranges apples and shoes. On second thought, I expect that he does realize it, but can’t think of any other, better fiction to justify endless war.
A war conceived in deceit and based on lies.
Add one more lie: Iraq is like Germany, Japan, and Korea.
Vote Republican 0
Oh, yeah, and while we’re at it, bought any tomatoes lately? You know, the ones that aren’t getting inspected because the Republican Congresses kept ripping inspection money from the budget.
Via Booman Tribune.
Customer Satisfaction (Updated) 0
I have mentioned from time to time getting software for my cell phone. Most of the commercial software is sold under a modified shareware model: There is a trial period; when the trial period expires, you have to license the software or it rolls over, sticks its little legs in the air, and plays dead.
I’ve gotten most of the software through Handango, a clearinghouse for cell phone programs.
I recently installed an ebook reader (you can read about it here). Unlike for most previous purchases, for which Handango can generate the license, the license for this item was to come from the developer directly.
Well, it didn’t come. And didn’t come. My attempt to send an email to developer’s email address as specified in the confirmation of sale email failed, with an “unknown or malformed domain” error (in other words, there was no there there).
A week ago Saturday, I went to the Handango customer service page and filled out the form asking for assistance. The customer service page promised a response within two business days; there was a response waiting for me Sunday morning.
Handango and I made several more attempts to contact the developer. No luck (it’s probably a one-person outfit; in such cases, my first worry is not fraud–not at $13.00 a pop–but that something has happened to the programmer).
At this point, Handango has refunded my money and I’ll be searching for a new ebook reader (which I find disappointing, for the little program I had tried to buy was really good–easy to configure and use and reliable!).
I have only praise for Handango’s customer service. When they told me to do something and wait two days and the two days expired, they followed up with me asking what happened before I could follow up with them. They stayed on top of my trouble ticket better than I did.
Sure, they have a computer program to remind them to do things. But the thing is, a program is just ones and zeroes. It takes people to make it work.
Later on today, I’ll be looking for a new ebook reader.
And I’ll be looking on Handango.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
I ended up with this. More complicated to configure than Easy Reader, but it works.
Linda was saying she preferred a physical book to an electronic one. I do also.
But, when stuck in a long, unexpected wait, it’s nice to be able to whip out the cell phone and have something constructive to do, in place of surfing the web. Currently, I’m working on Samuel Pepys’s Diary.
John McCain Is a Conservative Hack 0
True, he has had second thoughts about Hagee, at least in public.
Or was that about Heinekein?
Peeling the Onion 0
ASZ sheds the tears.
