Category: Paleoblogs

  • For Kirkuk Aficionados

    An email yesterday triggered my continuing Kirkuk obsession. So… ————– David, Has the major fight over Kirkuk begun? Ever since you wrote about it (was it two or three years ago?) that I’ve been waiting for the perfect storm to begin. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070716/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq ——————- Reply: [Why am I still so up on this? Because, I’ve imposed…

  • Who Will Control the Past?

    Americans don’t like to admit that they have changed their minds. We convince ourselves that somehow or other, in some way or another, we have always thought what we are thinking now. The media are foremost enthusiasts of this fantasy, driven by their own heartfelt passion for self-justification. So, inevitably, Iraq, like Vietnam, will come…

  • Groundswell author on blogging a book

    Back when I wrote The Power of Many I blogged about blogging a book in progress and since then I’ve noticed a number of other authors blogging about the same subject. (Contrast this with William Gibson’s decision to stop his blogging when he started his next book.) Now it looks like Forrester analyst Charlene Li…

  • Let’s Put a Lid on Prisoner Exchanges

    I don’t get the point of why countries make prisoner exchanges. It must be a case of “The grass is always greener on the other side.” What makes them think they’re going to get a better class of prisoners out of this, compared to the ones they are sending away? More likely, the new prisoners…

  • “One Nation, Under Me…”

    Among comics/comix fans, Bill Keane’s “Family Circus” is considered so blandly inoffensive as to be beneath ridicule. But I can’t let Sunday’s strip pass without comment. It begins with the adorable tow-headed kid (Jeffy?) waking up and telling Mom, “Wow! I dreamed that God was saying the Pledge of Allegiance!” Then, in the second and…

  • Podcast of my SXSW panel now live

    If you missed Every Breath You Take: Identity, Attention, Privacy, and Reputation last March at South By here’s your chance to hear me, Ted Nadeau, Kaliya Hamlin, Mary Hodder, and George Kelly take on these topics, very early one Sunday morning after an untimely daylight savings change and, for many people, a night of carousing…

  • One of the All-Time Great “Thought Experiments”

    This must have come from Galileo, I guess. In any case, it is to show that heavy objects don’t fall faster than lighter objects. Imagine three identical bricks falling–at the same speed, obviously. Two of the bricks have adhesive on their sides. As they fall, these two bricks happen to touch, and the adhesive joins…

  • I need to hire Liza Sabater as my publicist

    In an interesting rambly ‘meme of the month’ post at her famed CultureKitchen website, called Radical Fringe, Liza writes: > … Jeff Tiedrich of Smirking Chimp, confirming my theory that you’re not a true net native if you don’t know who Christian Crumlish is or if, at least, he doesn’t know who you are. If…

  • Mass Confusion over “ASST”

    I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets confused by the terribly ambiguous abbreviation “ASST.” I mean, all you have to do is take one look at: ASST VEGETABLES and ASST DA’s Don’t you often find yourself reading them: Assistant Vegetables and Assorted DA’s Please, sign-makers, a little clarity wouldn’t hurt.

  • A Four Star Officer Is Something to Be

    “[Vice Adm.] Olson, 55, has been the command’s deputy chief since August 2003. If confirmed by the full Senate, he would receive a fourth star and…” I can totally relate. I once won a Gold Star for getting all the words right on a Spelling Test. It was a terrific motivator. And it still works…

  • “Enemy Combatant” vs. “Unlawful Enemy Combatant”–A Technicality?

    The Guantanamo prisoners were found by pre-trial tribunals to be “enemy combatants,” but not necessarily “unlawful enemy combatants.” US officials have characterized this as a “technicality,” and the press has bought in to that. Shockingly, even Sen. Levin’s proposed revamp “would make the commissions act’s definition of ‘unlawful enemy combatant’ the same as it is…

  • Apocalypse from the Moment of Conception

    US charges 4 men in plot to blow up JFK airport, Boston Globe, 6/3/07 “[T]he alleged plot was never close to fruition. The FBI had been tracking the alleged plot since 2006, and a member of the group was an FBI informant. In addition, the suspects lacked both the expertise and equipment [explosives, for example]…

  • Technorati launches new design

    Looks like Technorati has reconfigured itself to be less blog-centric and to take a more multimedia look at what they call over there the Live Web (Technorati Weblog: Come check out the refreshed www.technorati.com!): > First, we’ve eliminated search silos on Technorati. In the past, you had to know the difference between keyword search, tag…

  • Why Should Halliburton Have to Suffer?

    “Democrats accepted a GOP plan to establish 18 benchmarks….If Iraqis fall short, they could forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid.” Washington Post ———————- DKo: Forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid! Why should Halliburton have to suffer for Iraqi failures? We know that $16 billion in US reconstruction aid has provided negligible benefit to Iraqis. This won’t hurt them. But…

  • “The Constant Gardener”

    I have just seen a beautiful film, “The Constant Gardener.” (Based on a John LeCarre novel, it is both a thriller and a love story. Rachel Weisz won the Oscar for her role.) I remember years ago seeing the definitive James Bond farce “Our Man Flint,” and laughing myself silly at the punch-line of the…

  • Two year olds!

    Despite warnings, most U.S. babies watch TV Reuters, 5/7/07 About 90 percent of U.S. children under age 2…are regular watchers of television… —- Two year olds! It’s like talking to a wall. You warn them and warn them, but they just won’t listen!

  • Economics Joke

    Here’s a tip. It won’t make you a fortune, but it’ll be well worth your while. Take a look at the dollar bills in your wallet. To the right of George Washington (the first President of the United Sates), and downward and leftward of the round green seal, you will see a date. Most of…

  • Answering danah's twitter questions

    In reply to apophenia: Twitter questions (curiosity is killing me…): > **First, the practical question. Can i quote you?** >[ ] Yes, and you *must* use my real name. >[ ] Yes, but please use a pseudonym and don’t use any identifying information. >[ ] No, please just use this for your own weird thoughts.…

  • Bush’s “Loyalty” to Wolfowitz and Gonzales

    It’s the people who have done the most dirt for you, who can do the most damage, if they should feel betrayed. Washington Post Wolfowitz Says He Is Target of ‘Smear’ Tactics

  • Never Stab a Stabber

    People without integrity have been indispensable to Bush, but they may also lack the internal loyalty that would make it safe to let them go. See Washington Post

  • Avoid Tagged.com like the plague

    On the SIGIA-L discussion list people are talking about a spammy social network site called Tagged.com. I only know about it because I received an invitation from an unfamiliar sender to a never-used spam-honeypot email address of mine. I looked at the site, it seemed shady, so I ignored it. That was months ago. Now…