Month: June 2003

I remember when I first started driving, in 1997 and 1998, when drivers used to flash their headlights as a warning signal to slow down, usually due to either an act of nature (i.e. deer) or an act of the state (i.e. police). I’ve noticed over the past three or four years in particular that this practice has, for the most part, ceased, and I’m curious as to what the cause would be.

I can fathom that the late 90s/early 00s greed led to people acting in their own self-interest, and thus the flashing of headlights sets them at risk for a ticket of their own, and also that it essentially took time, which was a thing that people no longer felt the need to give to strangers. It is disappointing, though, because it was a random act of kindness between strangers that helped make the roads feel more friendly.

My sister’s concert was tonight, and I’ll give it mixed reviews. Granted, it is “only high school”, but I wasn’t impressed with either the Men of Hunterdon or the Women’s Choir. The Women’s Choir sounded listless, uninspired, and lethargic, with the exception of the last song, where they finally woke up somewhat. Their rendition of Java Jive was jarring. The Men of Hunterdon sounded unusually flat, surprising because most years they put on a good show. The Madrigals were the bright spot of the evening, and I did enjoy the Concert Choir’s Newsies medley. I will also add at this point that I found many of the soloists’ voices grating.

Overall, the night seemed less strong than in years past, though this may be related to their splitting of the night in to two nights, with various chorale groups performing on different nights. Obviously, by the strong feelings of the staff, they would disagree, but that’s alright with me…

Chatterbox today updates us on the NRA Weasel Watch, with arguments put forth by two other pro-gun lobbys.

While gun control is a topic I usually stay away from, I will briefly address it now. I don’t like guns, I don’t ever plan on actually owning one, and I wouldn’t want one in my house. I do believe that, for purposes such as hunting and self-defense in more rural areas, they are necessary and their use should be welcomed. After all, someone around here needs to take down some of the deer.

At the same time, reasonable limitations on the kind of weaponery owned by citizens strikes me as a worthwhile endevaor. Who really, in a law-abiding day to day life, requires automatic assault rifles? While there are some people who might consider them “cool”, I can’t think of an instance where they might be necessary for an individual. Who, besides the delusional and paranoid among us, honestly is that unsafe in their own home?

CNN Breaking News: New York Times announces resignation of Executive Editor Howell Raines, Managing Editor Gerald Boyd following Jayson Blair scandal. That didn’t take too long. And yesterday, Slate was speculating that he might hang on for months if not years.

In other news, tonight is my sister’s Chorale Concert, so I will be attending my prestigious high school Alma Mater HCRHS (Yes, there was a bit of sarcasm there). Unfortunately, as I was writing this I realized I left my camera at home this morning, and I had no plans to return there until after the concert tonight. So, it looks as though, barring a last minute rush trip home, if this afternoon’s application production release goes well, there will be no photos this year. And now, I’ll leave you to chew on the many clauses of that last sentence…

Thanks be to b-dawg for providing a link to the transcript of Bush’s remarks in/on the Middle East.

Microsoft today announced that Internet Explorer would cease to exist as a standalone product in the near future. It appears that, having won the “browser wars” and created an environment of entrenched support for the IE browser, it is no longer necessary to provide it as a separate application. Once upcoming Windows versions are released, only upgrading the Operating System (OS) will upgrade the browser.

In fact, Microsoft already began moving toward this structure with the release of Windows XP. Newer versions of Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer, while not necessarily radically different, were included in the release. However, they were eventually made available to older OSes as standalone products. With this change, Microsoft can now leverage the entrenched IE user base to force users to upgrade their versions of Windows. To receive the latest functionality, users will have no choice. And the irritating integration already put in place, such as by default searching on MSN through the Address Bar, can be further enhanced.

Of course, the potential downside is that users, especially at home, will balk at both the hassle and the cost of upgrading to each new OS version, resulting in stagnation of the further development of the Web. After all, most sites want to drive traffic, and if users do not have the ability to access your site, they’ll just go elsewhere.

None-the-less, the whole bundling concept seems proven to me now. Now, if only those pesky RealPlayer and Quicktime players would go away, so Microsoft could do the same with Windows Media Player.

Apparently, President Bush was accidentally recorded giving some very blunt statements while talking with leaders in the Middle East… I would love to read the transcript and not just the NY Times’ impression.

I just finished watching the last episodes of the anime Fruits Basket, which I found myself addicted to. I haven’t been able to figure out if this is because of, or in spite of, its relative sweetness and optimism, yet I watched all 26 episodes (and own the DVDs, too!), so there must be something there.

In fact, the sweetness I feel actually dulled my senses, so that the relative violence of the ending seems even more shocking than it otherwise would be. Imagine yourself in a room devoid of sound for so long you forget what noise is, and then have someone speak to you in a normal voice. Kind of like that.

I can’t help but compare it to Brother, Dear Brother, which is the only, well, anything, I have ever found that left me wishing I was more desensitized to violence. If you haven’t seen it, it is a series definately worth watching…though I’ll warn you, I have yet to watch the last seven episodes because I’m honestly too afraid.

It’s good to know that we have such intelligent, thoughtful citizens here in the USA to write such passionate articles essentially advocating the destruction of a nation.

In any event, the Israelis keep drawing the wrong lessons from America. We’re a country that did what ever it took to expand our borders to their natural frontiers – wheeling, dealing or wiping out whole nations without mercy or apologies. Once our native “terrorists”, the fearsome Apaches, Mohawks and Sioux, realized the land was lost to them forever, they quickly turned into docile tribes living here without incident under special conditions. No expulsion or transfer was necessary. Today, not one brave on the reservation would even think about raiding an American “settlement”. The only scalping done in America now is at basketball games and rock concerts. Yet, for some reason, this is one highly successful American tactic Israel refuses to emulate. That couldn’t be due to “American pressure” too, could it?

Certainly, I’m sure that, should the Arabs have had the technological superiority, they would feel the same way about Israel. In fact, didn’t the Third Reich essentially advocate a similar-styled policy toward the Jews? I think the reservations were called some kind of “camps”?

Sacrasm aside, it’s amazing how short-sighted writers such as this can be. Jews were persecuted for hundreds of years, climaxing with the genocide that took place during World War II. In return, the world powers created the state of Israel, leading to the current displacement. While there’s plenty of blame to go around regarding the road to the current situation (i.e. mess), how can Israel, in good conscience, occupy and marganlize an entire population?

Salam Pax quotes on the article!

Tuesday, June 03, 2003 ::
and I was wondering when will he find out and if he will be angry because I didn’t tell him. I think he isn’t.
How do I know Baghdad’s famous blogger exists? He worked for me.
He uses words like “chubby” and “cherubic” to describe me. ewww. and what is so wrong about saying “thingy” a lot.
:: salam 9:22 AM [+] ::

Yesterday’s Slate has an article revealing that one of the correspondants in Iraq used Salam for a period of time as an interpretor. Amazing coincidence!

For those who don’t know or hadn’t heard, Salam writes a hugely popular blog on life in Iraq from before, during and after the recent hostilities. The popularity of the blog took off once the war began, although for a time during the advance on Baghdad he had been unable to write.