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July 31, 2007
Midnight Oil
I re-acquired my old Midnight Oil tunes (they'd been trapped on the tapes - yes tapes - I'd bought in the early 90s and have been listening to their songs a lot the past few days. I'd forgotten how strong their lyrics were, and am constantly surprised by their frankly disturbing applicability to today's global political situation.
Take Short Memory, for a prime example:
Conquistador of Mexico, the Zulu and the Navaho The Belgians in the Congo short memory! Plantation in Virginia, the Raj in British India The deadline in South Africa short memory! The story of El Salvador, the silence of Hiroshima Destruction of Cambodia Short memory!The sight of hotels by the Nile, the designated Hilton style
With running water specially bought
short memory!
A smallish man Afghanistan, a watch dog in a nervous land
They're only there to lend a hand
short memory!
Wake up in sweat at dead of night
And in the tents new rifles
hey! short memory
'cuz, y'know, that's not suggestive of anything in current events.
It somehow pleases me to see that while the band has broken up, it's because their lead singer is now in the Australian House of Representatives and is the Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment & Heritage, Arts...
A few more choice lyrics after the cut.
One Country
was it just a dream, were you so confused
was it just a giant leap of logic
was it the time of year, that makes a state of fear
methods, were their motives for the actionand did i hear you say
my country right or wrong?i hear you say the truth must take a beating
the flag a camouflage for your deceiving
i know we all make mistakes
US Forces
US Forces give the nod, it's a setback for your country
Bombs and trenches all in rows, bombs and threats still ask for more
Divided world the CIA, who controls the issue
You leave us with no time to talk, you can write your assessmentWill you know it when you see it, high risk children -- dogs of war
Now market movements call the shots, business deals in parking lots
Waiting for the meat of tomorrowEveryone is too stoned to start emission
People too scared to go to prison
We're unable to make decision
Political party line -- don't cross that floor!
Blue Sky Mine
The balance sheet is breaking up the sky
So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine
The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine
Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night
And if the blue sky mining company won't come to my rescue
If the sugar refining company won't save me
Who's gonna save me?
Posted by griffjon at 09:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Pepper Pain
So, I bought some poblano peppers at the farmer's market last weekend, and thought I'd make a quick-and-easy "chile relleno casserole" (roasted and skinned poblanos, sliced open, laid ontop of corn tortillas in a 9x9 bake pan with cheese and beaten eggs poured in, because I'm lazy and have not gotten the will to devote a full day to preparation like my Dad does).
I stand by my casserole plan. But next time I'll check the heat levels of the poblanos. They were hot like really good jalapenos or really mild habaneros. I was able to eat them, but not without crying.
Returning upstairs to clean my dishes, I tried to blow some hair out of my face, and my breath caused my eyes to burn and tear up again. Yowsas.
Posted by griffjon at 09:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What normal looks like
Bruce Schneier, one of the clearer and more levelheaded voices in security and privacy, recently interviews Kip Hawley, the TSA chief shoe-inspector. Bruce asks Kip hard questions, and Kip dodges or gives you the distinct impression that he's straight up lying. After a chain of questions about the pointlessness of shoe checking and the "War on Liquids", Kip responds that indeed, the TSA is adaptive, and not just reacting to foiled plots:
Our security strategy assumes an adaptive terrorist, and that looking backwards is not a reliable predictor of the next type of attack. Yes, we screen for shoe bombs and liquids, because it would be stupid not to directly address attack methods that we believe to be active. Overall, we are getting away from trying to predict what the object looks like and looking more for the other markers of a terrorist. (Don't forget, we see two million people a day, so we know what normal looks like.)
Well, that'd explain why my long-haired-hippie self always gets special treatment at the 2-gated San Angelo airport, which recently upgraded to skybridges so you don't have to deplane onto the tarmac anymore.
PS, if you know Bruce, you should check out some Schneier facts to see if you *really* know Bruce.
Posted by griffjon at 09:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 19, 2007
Well, there goes more civil liberties
The UK Guardian reports:
President Bush unveiled an executive order that allows the administration to block bank accounts and any other financial assets that might be found in this country belonging to people, companies or groups that the United States deems are working to threaten stability in Iraq.Bush cited the ``unusual and extraordinary threat'' to national security and foreign policy of the United States ``posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people.'
Of course, this is limited only to people materially supporting efforts to undermine Iraqi stability. Unfortunately, that could be a pretty board term encompassing anyone who supports withdrawal, from Sen. Reid down to your everyday anti-war protester, or even donor to non-profits/NGOs supporting alternative development strategies. And as we learned last week, pot smokers support terrorists, so their assets could be seized as well, because we know they're a big threat.
Even the geek-news site slashdot has weighed in.
You can read the full text of the executive order at Whitehouse.gov yourself, if this kind of blatant abuse of power is still surprising you.
Can we impeach him now? (does calling for impeachment make me an underminer of Iraqi stability?) Guess I better take some cash out of the bank, huh?
Posted by griffjon at 03:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 13, 2007
BLT
The BLT - Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato - is my family's traditional way of celebrating the first tomatoes of the season, and last night, I had a BLT. Homegrown tomatoes are simply lightyears beyond anything you can buy at stores or even farmers' markets. I'd think/hope that the farmers' markets could produce produce (heh) on par with homegrown, but it just doesn't work out that way.
Posted by griffjon at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 10, 2007
Dems bend over again
The Democrats have dropped their call for giving TSA employees the right to collectively bargain as part of the bill aimed to respond to the critiques of the 9/11 Commission report (many already belong to unions, but are denied the right to bargain collectively).
First, uh, guys, it's 2007. Why have we been worrying about immigration reform and Iraq legislation if we haven't even fixed the massive gaping holes the report uncovered?
Second - who cares if Bush has threatened to veto it. F it. Make him veto the damned thing. Make him clarify that he hates legal unionization and the concept of collective bargaining of a small group of Federal employees more than he values the safety of the entire American public. Make the rest of the GOP make their views on labor rights vs safety clear if by their vote on overturning the veto. Who knows, enabling collective bargaining of TSA employees might help security by streamlining their work and dropping the pointless endeavors they've been forced to enact (shoes, water...)
In other words: stop trying to cooperate. The neocon crowd won't return the favor and won't come to the table unless they get their way. If your goal is to pass legislation, you're going to have to give in to the neocon crowd every time; this isn't compromise, this is surrender. You have control of the house, start acting like it, start sending bills to the hill, regardless of Bush's veto threats. If it's a good bill, you have a decent chance of overturning it with some aisle-crossing vote-pandering republicans.
Posted by griffjon at 01:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Dems bend over again
The Democrats have dropped their call for giving TSA employees the right to collectively bargain as part of the bill aimed to respond to the critiques of the 9/11 Commission report.
First, uh, guys, it's 2007. Why have we been worrying about immigration reform and Iraq legislation if we haven't even fixed the massive gaping holes the report uncovered?
Second - who cares if Bush has threatened to veto it. F it. Make him veto the damned thing. Make him clarify that he hates legal unionization of a small group of Federal employees more than he values the safety of the entire American public. Make the rest of the GOP make their views on unions vs safety clear if by their vote on overturning the veto. Who knows, creating a union of TSA employees might help security by streamlining their work and dropping the pointless endeavors they've been forced to enact (shoes, water...)
In other words: stop trying to cooperate. The neocon crowd won't return the favor and won't come to the table unless they get their way. If your goal is to pass legislation, you're going to have to give in to the neocon crowd every time; this isn't compromise, this is surrender. You have control of the house, start acting like it, start sending bills to the hill, regardless of Bush's veto threats. If it's a good bill, you have a decent chance of overturning it with some aisle-crossing vote-pandering republicans.
Posted by griffjon at 01:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 02, 2007
But can he pardon himself?
This is... what's that word? bullshit. the word is bullshit.
Posted by griffjon at 08:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack