rants and raves

Jon Steward and the Daily Show makes what I think is the most interesting political satire around. Usually scratching the surface of reality. In this interview Jon Steward and Lewis Lapham, editor in chief of Harper’s Magazine discuss what is going on with the political system in the US. This is most certainly one of the most thought provoking pieces they have done so far. Daily show: Lewis Lapham

I can’t help but wonder what goes on in the heads of the airlines staff throwing off people because of buttons. No matter the text on it.

In the news today: Most Americans don’t trust Bush on Iraq The poll by the University of Maryland found that 52 per cent of respondents said they believed President George W Bush and his aides were “stretching the truth, but not making false statements” about Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s chemical, biological and nuclear programmes. Another 10 per cent said that US officials were presenting Congress, the American public and the international community “evidence they knew was false,” indicated the survey. Only 32 per cent said that they thought the government

Have you heard about Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman? According to those quoted on National Public Radio, McKinney “a loose cannon” (media expert) who “the people of Atlanta are embarrassed and disgusted” (politician) by, and she is also “loony” and “dangerous” (senator from her own party). Yow! And why is McKinney dangerous/loony/disgusting? According to NPR, “McKinney implied that the [Bush] Administration knew in advance about September 11 and deliberately held back the information.” The New York Times’ Lynette Clemetson revealed her comments went even further over the edge: “Ms. McKinney

Denial and Deception is an editorial / op-ed in the New York Times. written by Paul Krugman. Quote: Politics is full of ironies. On the White House Web site, George W. Bush’s speech from Oct. 7, 2002 in which he made the case for war with Iraq bears the headline “Denial and Deception.” Indeed. There is no longer any serious doubt that Bush administration officials deceived us into war. The key question now is why so many influential people are in denial, unwilling to admit the obvious.

MT just killed an entry I had been working on for 30 minutes. Will try to re-write. And at the same time see if Opera is as forgetful as Internet Explorer. [Update] Yes, it seems like Opera is the better browser for blogging. It does NOT forget postings if something goes wrong. Opera is as always highly recommended, just have to start remembering my own recommendations ;-) BTW: Even got to work a little on implementing a spell checker in Opera. Found a spell checker that uses Spellchecker.net, works great,

This is sick. But with the way the whole war has been marketed by the US government I guess we should expect things like this: Mirror.co.uk – US TROOPS ADMIT SHOOTING IRAQI CIVILIANS “There’s a picture of the World Trade Centre hanging up by my bed and I keep one in my flak jacket. Every time I feel sorry for these people I look at that. I think, ‘They hit us at home and, now, it’s our turn.’ I don’t want to say payback but, you know, it’s pretty much

According to a new report most record company executives probably would rather have not been published, the download of music files online is actually benefiting the record companies, rather than being damaging to them and their sales. Stereophile Magazine : The Downloading Myth Several studies also suggest that in light of the deterioration of radio in the US, unauthorized online file trading may be one of the few promotional avenues that actually lead to authorized purchases. New research from Nielsen//NetRatings reinforces this idea, finding that for several key youth-oriented music

Its tempting to think the policy of the State of Kansas was dreamed up on a high on illigit drugs. Todd Dominey writes about the new policy of Drug Tax Stamps in his blog What do I know.