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511 Goes Live
Our project in the San Francisco Bay Area has finally gone live! There's less data than I thought there'd be. But it'll come on-line as the sensors in the roadway are ready. So head to traffic.511.org and take a gander at truly Section 508 compliant Real-Time Traffic Web Based GIS.
George Bush's Right to Joke
There are few on this planet who have less love for the extended Bush family than I. However, at a recent press club dinner in Washington, Bush made a joke that leaked out and has enraged many -- and I'm not sure the level of rage is justified or productive. It think that there is a point where criticism becomes less than constructive and becomes criticism for its own sake.
During the Clinton Administration, no one could do anything without it being attacked by a well-oiled dirty politics machine that was born with Willie Horton and grew to what we see today. During the Clinton Administration, I could see that there were many legitimate questions by the right wing about Clinton policies, but these were always overshadowed by the landslide of unnecessary or spurious criticsm and investigations by the illegal Ken Starr.
So, in the end, Clinton didn't go away, he would have nailed Bush to the wall if he was allowed to run for a third term, and the only thing they were able to prove was that on one night Clinton was lonely and showed poor judgement. Liberals stand to have the same problem if they do not choose their attacks wisely. Our message will be lost in the upcoming months if we attack every slight breech of protocol that this administration partakes.
In this instance, Bush lampooned his own incompetence. If you want to take his slide show and looking for WMDs as fodder -- then note that he's basically saying "I know I went to war under false pretenses." Use it as evidence. But don't, for god's sake, deny him his free speech rights to roast himself at an annual event where presidents are expected to roast themselves.
Was it a bad idea to make light of sending people to war unnecessarily? Yes, absolutely. But it should be taken for what it is. Another rash act by a rash administration that has nothing but disdain for proper planning and thoughtfulness.
Just like his ads with 9-11, or Iraq, or pissing off the UN, or No Child Left Behind, or the tax cuts. The Bush Administration doesn't understand the impacts of anything they do. They are the WWE of politics. They are surprisingly, shockingly uncouth, swaggering, simple minded, and intolerant of criticism and their fans love them more than sex, food or religion.
So, please, attack them for what they do and what they are. Not for a press club dinner.
Extending P2P
These guys are creating, basically, a Trillian for P2P Networks. ShareDaemon will create a metaP2P service, allowing cross platform sharing. This one primarily runs on the eDonkey / Overnet network. This will further diffuse who is responsible for what by making a large number of sharing services available from one UI.
This also means that if you are one of those people whose ISPs have started to regulate the amount of Kazaa traffic through your network - you now have an out. If you are using Kazaa alone, you are screwed. But if ShareDeamon is using Kazaa and SoulSeek and Overnet and so forth, if one or two become regulated it won't matter so much. Each P2P service also boasts several hundred thousand members. Yes, many of them overlap, but this meta engine would allow you to easily join all of them.
It's still in the pre-Alpha stages. But the more interest that is shown, the more inspired the talented coders there will be.
So take a look.
Helping End Discrimination
The US refused to sign the UN resolution recognizing the rights of women, so we likely won't sign this either. But it is nice to know that there are other countries out there that recognize that human rights involve the freedoms to associate and to love. The UN will vote soon on "The Brazilian Resolution" to recognize the rights regardless of the gender of the participants. Hopefully, the UN will prove itself to be an enlightened organization.
Growing Apart from Myself
Sometimes life seems to organize in patterns. Something that is central in your life at one point may fade away and then resurface when you least expect them. In 1996, on my web site before the age of the Blog, I posted the piece One Confirmed Dead. It's about people disappearing in a haze of drugs and lost potential.
Recently I’ve been reacquainted with an acquaintance from over 20 years ago. The story seemed relevant, so I passed it along. But I didn’t know how relevant it was. It led to conversations like I haven’t had in some time.
It makes me feel too rational, too old. Like I’ve lost part of myself. Even now, I type this late at night at my office. I used to write every day, in my apartment in Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Bury myself in it.
Now, here I sit, looking back on past writing. Seeing how it still impacts people, and wondering how to get that back.
Where's Bush?
Go to the GOP Home Page.
I gotta tell you. It amazes me how the entire Bush legacy will be seen as one of deflection. Iraq, gay marriage, and now John Kerrey. No matter what, they never have a message other than "Lookit that!"
Finding mention of Bush on the GOP page is a true Where's Waldo excercise.
The Failure of Common Sense
No one likes to say they don’t have common sense. Indeed some, like our president, feel it is the only sense to have. The problem is that the border between common sense and snap judgment isn’t fine, it’s blurred. Even a fine line is distinguishable.
This is the problem with Iraq. George Bush, in his endearing home-spun way, Gumped us into Iraq with turns of phrase, half-truths and common sense.
It is hard to argue against common sense. Common sense is often based on circular logic and obvious observations.
So Bush says, “Saddam Hussein is a bad man.” Yes, Saddam is a bad man.
So Bush said, “Saddam hates the United States.” Yes, that’s pretty clear.
So we went to war. Without a vote. Without much discussion.
Now, like a little kid who finds out that just because his logic tells him he’s not tired that it’s still bedtime, the Bush Administration has learned that common sense is highly fallible. That obvious observations are often made from one vantage point and by people not thoughtful enough to look for others.
Now, after looking at the UN (as mom) and saying “You’re not the boss of me!” the Bush Administration goes back to mom and says “He’s hitting me! Make him stop!” And the UN, like any parent is thinking, “It’s your fault, Stupid.” But at the same time, the parent must protect those under their care.
The Bush Administration is constantly, rashly try new things to win approval. And they are constantly being reminded that being thoughtful is preferable to being rash.
Common sense told them that Iraqis would rather be free and fed, than simultaneously under Saddam’s rule and under an economic blockade. So they went to liberate them. Never mind that many Iraqis were sort of bitter that the US didn’t liberate them last time. Never mind that many Iraqis questioned the moral implications of a world that would rather blockade and punish an entire country rather than just remove one man. Never mind that many in Iraq have religious objections to non-Islamic people coming in and occupying their country.
Certainly this is not all Iraqis. Nor, likely, even a majority. But it is a large enough group, certainly, to make rebuilding difficult. Especially for a group that has repeatedly shown a preference for easy and (short-term) profitable solutions over thoughtful and less profitable ones.
But this is the breakdown of common sense. This is why we study history. This is why it might not be a good idea to elect a C student to be president.
However, we all get the benefit in the future of seeing George Bush’s ghost written autobiography. I believe it will be titled:
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Or
How I applied Common Sense to US Foreign Policy and Killed Thousands
The Need for Continuity
I find that I have noticed that my contemporaries and I have firmly moved from the psychosocial needs of our youth to those of middle age. Before we had the competing needs to know that we're normal and the need to express our individuality. "Please tell me I'm normal," we asked anyone who would listen. "Please note how weird and bizarre I am," we would demand shortly thereafter.
Indeed, we gravitated toward groups that simultaneously served both needs. Political groups, sexual-social groups, religious groups, music communities ... all of these helped provide us with the community we need and the reinforcement that our differences (usually from our families) were acceptable.
Now we are all pretty comfortable with our non-conformist lives, regardless of how extreme or not they may be. But now we are looking for something different. The need for continuity. This is found by establishing ties with those groups we previously shunned. Small home towns. Families. Old friends and relationships.
I've been walking this path for a few years now. Luckily, I never shut out my parents, so there hasn't been that particular catharsis. But I have been re-incorporating my extended family, as much as they have been willing to be incorporated. This year, however, I will be going deep into my own psyche and attending my 20th high school reunion.
I have spent the last 19 years trying to put the events of high school out of my mind. Now I will immerse myself deep in the waters of high school and Grand Island, Nebraska. Why? Well, when I ask myself that I come up with one answer... I'll only get one 20th High School reunion.
So I'm going to go and see what there is to see. How Grand Island has changed. How my old houses still likely look the same. How they've knocked down my grade school. How the restaurants have changed. How Wal*Mart has moved in with two (count them) stores. Previously the only thing with more than one location in GI was 7-11.
So, while I can say I only get one, perhaps I'm going because it's age appropriate, which is sort of thrilling and sort of disappointing at the same time. In the end, perhaps it's just natural.
New Blog Format
Hi all, I have re-worked the J. LeRoy Blog format. I hope this will provide for the full pounding massive force of my words to massively pound. I'll be working on the music streaming so that songs that I've created can be distributed through the Blog. Look for that next week.
I have no calendar control or other goofball things. But I've got soul, baby. Lovely soul. Ahhh, my beautiful soul ... sigh....
Okay, there are some bits of formatting weirdness which I'll fix over the weekend.
Okay. I do not know what to make of this or of that.
Pop Will Eat Itself
The above link is an article by Xeni in Wired. In it, 'A draft letter purportedly circulated by Bill Lockyer to fellow state attorneys general characterizes P2P software as a "dangerous product" and describes the failure of technology makers to warn consumers of those dangers as a deceptive trade practice.' Apparently, the document was written not only by Mr. Lockyer but also by the leaders in the entertainment industry.
You may recognize some of this wording as that used against the tobacco companies. This will show you where America chooses to wear its blinders. Right now, some people are using file sharing to listen to music. This upsets the RIAA and others. We all know this. But the language above is important. It describes P2P systems as a "dangerous product." And what is worse is that, because people don't understand the implications of this, it will likely move ahead.
I won't defend file sharing, even though I openly distribute my own music (100% original, no pre-existing content) via P2P networks and it works very well. What I will talk about is "Dangerous Product."
If I smoke Tobacco, I am using a dangerous product because it will ruin my body and the bodies of others around me. But the reason it became an issue is because big businesses told me, in one way or another, that it was not. I could make a case here that the same is true in the entertainment industry, which has a history of delighting in giving contracts to 17 year olds that will ultimately leave all profits to the company and none to the artist. But I'll skip that and go for the juggular.
The most "Dangerous Product" in the world today is oil. It pollutes our air and water, it makes it difficult to breathe, our economy hinges more on its price than on the actual valuation of businesses, and it is ultimately the single most unnecessary thing we use. Bubblegum is more essential to our survival than gasoline.
It would be fun to blame this on George Bush, an oil man who went to war (again) for oil only to see his efforts result in oil doubling in price because he annoyed OPEC. Unfortunately, I really can't. Clinton didn't return the US to Carter's policies. His administration saw the start of the now universal 70 MPH speed limit.
Because Americans love to drive. They love it more than living. Which is apparent because we spend more on gas than on food and more of us die every year from auto related accidents than any disease. So don't you tell me that P2P is a "Dangerous Product".
-- Addendum -- From the Republican Controlled Resource Committee
Your tax dollars are producing the following on a publicly funded web site:
Washington, DC - Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry is quoted in today’s edition of Greenwire as saying, “that black stuff is hurting us,” with regard to oil. Members of the House Committee on Resources found the Senator’s comment absurd.
“John Kerry is dead wrong,” Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) said. “Oil doesn’t hurt Americans; John Kerry’s anti-energy policies hurt Americans. In fact, this is exactly the kind of rhetoric and bad policy that has led to the outsourcing of good American energy jobs."
It just sort of makes you want to beat your head against a wall.
FBI Desires to Extend Bush Orwellian Ideals
What is most interesting about this is that no one sees it happening. And intellectually weak arguments like "If you aren't doing anything wrong, you shouldn't be worried about government surveillance" are commonplace. It's one thing to argue for a transparent society, like David Brin, but it's another to just forego your rights to privacy, free association and movement.
My Family Jewels
A few years back, when my family was dealing with the slow cancer of my Grandmother, I put together a mailing list for the family. Our family is rather large, but very estranged. So no one really knew each other, except as the children they were when, one-by-one, my uncles and aunts fled home and began various healing processes.
So we've got all kinds in our family. Some of use are ultra liberal, some are ultra conservative and some defy classification. One family member loves to send out e-mails designed to piss his siblings off. I delight in providing speedy, non-confrontational pins that let the air out of his balloons.
Today, Frank, one of the Mormons in our clan, introduced into the family stew, an old anti-gay e-mail detailed HERE. The e-mail had the beginning of the story (Aren't we wounded by the liberal media sending this horrible e-mail) but not the conclusion of the story (ABC is capable of a reasoned response to a letter equating love with animal abuse).
Here is my reply to Frank:
Regarding the letter from the Angry Texan (is there any other kind?):
Apparently, Frank's e-mail only tells half the story, the person who replied was not authorized to do so. ABC wrote Mr. Neugent a later e-mail in which the apologized for the earlier comments and made a more reasonable reply.
It can be found here.
As with other e-mail based notes or all news in general. I really do suggest that we investigate the full extent of the story before getting all excited about it. Often on the internet we will, years after the fact, get incendiary e-mails for situations that has already been resolved.
As for Frank's glee in sending out incendiary e-mails: we must all take a page from the Mormon handbook and love the sinner, not the sin. We still love you Frank.
Save Me Before I Sue Again!
For years, users of Microsoft systems have wondered why some Microsoft products behave one way, while others are very different. Here is an excellent bit on how Microsoft's legal teams seem to operate similarly.
Korean President Railroaded
Excellent bit of discussion at the bottom of this set of reports on the impeachment of Korean President Roh. Regardless of Roh's failings, it seems a severe miscarriage of justice has taken place.
Also, a mention of "whoop ass" in an unlikely place. I don't know about you, but describing and proposed action in terms of "whoop ass" generally detracts from your argument, in my eyes.
Review and Blog for Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Full Text of J. LeRoy Book Reviews
Read 5 Mar 04 to 10 Mar 04
Where: Seattle, Los Angeles, Palm Springs
I went to a GIS developer’s conference in Palm Springs, on the way there I lost my voice. You ever tried to schmooze for four days with no voice? Let’s just say I wasn’t at my best.
Luckily, I brought a good book.
This is actually the first book I have read by Mr. Card. I thought it was quite phenomenal. The sequel to a book I’ve never read, Card says at the beginning that it isn’t necessary to read Ender’s Game before reading this. I think he’s right, but other Card enthusiasts I know were incredulous that I should read this first.
I have to talk a bit about science fiction here. I must admit, when I’m on a plane or in public, I’d rather not pull out an obviously sci-fi book and start reading. Yes, social pressures effect even me from time to time. The particular version of Speaker for the Dead that I possess has this SUPER SCI-FI COVER with a huge irregular city-tower and little highways in the sky and lots of spaceships. But … the book takes place entirely on two worlds (and mostly on one), both of which are mostly barren and people either live in a frozen wasteland or in one story homes in an arid climate. So … why the cover?
Although technically science fiction, Speaker for the Dead is entirely a psycho-morality play. It deals with people in difficult situations and how forces in society, family, and culture drive us to make decisions we do. These decisions are based on our perceptions or interpretations of societal, cultural and familial rules. In turn, society, culture and family also interacts based in its perceptions of us.
Card is able to quickly manipulate the reader. Very quickly building a rapport and a comfort level with the reader. Building up a particular desired outcome. Then skipping ahead quite some time and showing a totally different outcome than the one you wanted. And you’re like “How the hell did that happen?”
Card kills off characters, puts them in bad situations, and makes you just as frustrated with them as you would be your own children. Then he carefully pieces things together so that you understand. And the understanding is deep and beautiful.
Review and Blog for The Uplift War by David Brin
Full Text of J. LeRoy Book Reviews
Read 15 Feb 04 to 4 Mar 04
Where: Seattle, Los Angeles
I foresee a lot of trips to L.A. and other cities coming up. So the book reviews will probably become more numerous. I’ll have to start actually writing them on the road, so I don’t fall behind.
Yes, it’s another David Brin piece for my collection. I’m slowly and methodically working my way through his list. If I keep flying, I’ll get there. There’s just so many books to read on this planet.
The Uplift War is part of the uplift saga which is part of the uplift ethic of a generally uplift mystique. Or something. This is more cut-n-dry science fiction. Brin is a master at it. In the full text reviews, you can read the reviews of the other Brin books, including his treatise on a transparent society.
This book deals with interstellar ramifications of the discoveries made in Startide Rising. But previous Uplift books aren’t required.
The book is fairly constant action. There are many intriguing plot twists and taboos investigated. Nice bit on interspecies relationships which hit home with me, since my wife is a resident alien.
Review and Blog for The Rocky and Bullwinkle Book by Louis Chunovic
Full Text of J. LeRoy Book Reviews
Read 9 Feb 04 to 14 Feb 04
Where: Seattle
Did you grow up?
Then you know about Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Then you watched Rocky and Bullwinkle. You likely didn?t understand a lot of the jokes. Like my favorite:
Fearless Leader: You mean Moose is chicken?
Boris: Yes, Moose is chicken!
Fearless Leader: Tsk tsk ? only in America!
That quote is never far from my mind. Or perhaps this painfully relevant sign in was in Captain Peachfuzz?s office in one episode:
GOD BLESS OUR INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM
Oh, the pain of seeing a 40 year old cartoon, written by drunks and animated by Mexicans who didn?t know what they were doing, being totally current in the 21st century.
This book gives a nice history of Rocky and Bullwinkle, but not a full history of creator Jay Ward. It was fascinating to read how the cartoons really did look like that because they could only afford Mexican animators in Mexico City. So today, when most of our cartoons are rendered in Korea, that was an eye-opener. It was also nice to see that even then outsourcing was stealing food from American workers.
The Bullwinkle group was apparently dismayed when the first versions came back and they were choppy, amateurish, and kind of bizarre. But that became the trademark of Bullwinkle and inspired Matt Groening and other artists in the future.
This book also includes synopses of every episode. They aren?t nearly as amusing as the shows, but if you?ve seen them you?ll likely be able to re-run them in your head.
I think I missed the two entries below ... they were written ages ago ... because I didn't want people to miss the Hilary Clinton book review. Now they are posted.
Review and Blog for The Complete Guide to Flipping Properties
Full Text of J. LeRoy Book Reviews
Read 14 Jan 2004 to 22 Jan 2004
Where: Seattle
Go through my catalog of book reviews and this will seem wildly out of place. However, my wife really really wants to buy a house. So I’ve picked up a good pile of books on purchasing a home, renovating a home and … yes … flipping a home.
My father was in the development business when I was growing up, so I’ve had the opportunity to be with houses from breaking ground to opening. I think I have a good eye for potential and love the creativity of improving a space.
So, my wife really wants a show house. It’s a long story, but she really does. Given that we both own our own businesses and that those businesses are pretty young, I didn’t feel comfortable adding a lot to our debt load.
So I convinced her to look at some less “show housey” houses. Let’s just say that it didn’t go over really well.
But I come from two families of creative thinkers and I thought, “What if we treated the first house or two like investments, rather than like homes?”
One puts a lot of emotional stock in their home … but they can be more pragmatic about an investment. The concept took a while to get through to my wife, but now she is fully on-board.
Then I started reading … I’m reading about six books at the same time. This is the first to be finished.
Steve Berges has written a concise entry-level book on flipping properties. He gets into some of the valuation of flipping. His methodologies are simplistic and geared towards the numbers only. I don’t think he fully appreciates that artistic eye that it takes to see a house that has potential versus one that merely can be fixed up.
There’s a bit of rah-rah in this, which I’m finding in a lot of these real-estate books. The end chapter is mostly rah-rah in fact. But this book is very helpful in getting the interested reader focused on the subject at hand.
Indeed, none of the books I’ve seen thus far will give you all the answers you want. But they will help you focus.
Review and Blog for The Insider’s Guide to Sake by Philip Harper
Read 9 Jan 2004 to 13 Jan 2004
Where: Seattle
Several months ago I went to Shiki, a Japanese restaurant in Seattle with a group of friends. It was a comfortable night and I thought I’d get some Sake. The Sake came out and I poured some for myself and my friends and it was vile. Absolute undrinkable swill.
My friends looked at me like I was from another planet. “This is what Sake tastes like,” they said. “No, it is not.” I replied. Luckily, Shiki has a small, but well chosen, selection of specialty Sakes. I selected one of those and when they brought it over the table could hardly believe the difference.
I knew there was a difference, but I had no idea why. I just knew that when I was in Tokyo I was given something very different than the evil liquid I was first served.
I decided at that point that I would become a Sake snob. I figured that in this age of ubiquitous information it would be easy to find resources on Sake and that it would still be a rarity. Becoming a Sake snob would add to my overall mystique and propel me from the merely interesting person I was into the dauntingly magnificent fellow I am today.
Philip Harper’s small book was my propellant. The book is very short … in fact most of it is lists of Sakes, restaurants and retail outlets world wide. The book takes you through a quick history of the art of making Sake, how to taste Sake, how to read a Sake bottle label so you know what you are buys, and what all the different terms mean.
I looked at several other books and they didn’t seem to cover things as well or as well-worded. According to himself, at any rate, Mr. Harper is the first gaijin to really work his way into the Sake world.
I don’t think I’ve quite made myself a Sake snob. But I can read the bottle, and am working my way slowly through the various Sakes out there. I am lucky in that Seattle has many to choose from. Apparently there are thousands.
And at least I can tell people the difference between the first Sake we ordered at Shiki’s (which was Sanzoshu – sort of like the Thunderbird of Sake) and the good stuff (Dai Junmai Ginjo). I can appear the snob and talk about rice polishing and brewers alcohol and so forth. So I can be pretentious, at least, as I work up to being a true snob.
Reading Notes:
This weekend I hope to come up with reviews for the last several books I've read since the last one reviewed here....
They'll include:
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Bullwinkle Book
The Uplift Wars
and
Speaker for the Dead
Nice Iraq War Cost Counter
At this second, according to this counter the Iraq War has cost $105,795,048,202. Which, as of this second, is about $300 for every man woman and child in the USA. Each second it seems to grow by about $2,000. Total federal contribution to education spending in the US in 2003 -- $6.67 Billion. So we are spending about 16 times as much on Iraq as we do on education. The only difference is that we keep spending more on Iraq and we don't keep spending more on Education.
Fuel for the stuff below:
"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the President. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
- George W. Bush, Washington Post, 11-19-02
Why George Bush Wants to Kill the Hubble and Go to Mars <-- This is a link.
The picture above is illustrative of not only why the Hubble is important, but also why George Bush wants to kill it. Click on the link, take a look.
George Bush is a megalomaniac.
Rather than working for a coherent economic policy or an education policy or a health care policy or any other domestic agenda, he gives us the warrior president.
A warrior president does not want to know that he is a tiny insignificant being in an nearly indescribably massive universe. A warrior president does want to conquer. So he foregoes understanding the universe with the Hubble telescope and chooses instead a call to colonize Mars.
In short, after Bush is done conquering a part of Earth he does not understand, he next wishes to conquer a universe he does not understand. All this to avoid managing an economy he does not understand. All this to avoid dealing directly with people he does not understand.
George Bush, Man of Restraint
Well, if you can say one thing for our current president (I hope that you are reading this and it's not the case any more), it's that when he does something he does it hard and extreme. He was a hard cocaine user, he was a hard drinker, he was a hard lobbier for war, he was a hard pusher for his tax cut and now he's a hard negative campaigner.
I just popped by Google News and in the headlines were the following:
Bush Launches Attack on Kerry
Washington Post - 1 hour ago
"My opponent clearly has strong beliefs -- they just don't last very long," Bush told a crowd of wealthy fellow Texans at a fundraising lunch.
Bush chides Kerry as Washington insider Atlanta Journal Constitution
Bush Attacks Kerry on Bill to Trim Intelligence Budget New York Times
As you can see, in one day, Bush did so much negative campaigning that three major news sources could choose entirely different negative statements by our president. And these were taken at random. I'm sure they left out "Bush says Kerry Licks Rats and Puts Them Back in the Fridge" and "Bush Chides Kerry for Being a Soccer Coach for Kim Jung Il".
Brought to you from chi-chi Wyndham Resort and Conference Center in Palm Springs, CA. It's 80 degrees here. Gas is a staggering $2.95 per gallon (aka, only half what it is everywhere else on earth). I came to schmooze, got laryngitis and have spent the conference thus far croaking at people.
Your New Spin-Dried Economic Forecast
You know, I am an investor. In these times, if you are an investor you need to stay active because the economy is in turmoil. What is amusing though is to watch the folks on CNBC, which I do each morning. They and the Bush Administration are in a bind. Why do we have a jobless recovery?
Then when they go home they say "What does a jobless recovery really mean?" And where the hell are the jobs?
Well, as a business owner, I can tell you. Accounts receivable at my little company went up 300% in 2003. That's a recovery! But they went up from nearly nothing the year before. This means that the debt incurred by my companies and others like it are what we are spending our money on.
I also generally work about 60 to 70 hour weeks as does my business partner and our staff. Why? Because massive recovery from a massive loss only gets you back to where you were to begin with.
This has led several to misattribute our problems to outsourcing phone banks to India. Well, most of the people I know who are out of work don't want to work in phone banks.
No, the problem isn't that we outsource. If we have a global village and a global economy, outsourcing is a red herring, a misnomer and a massive distraction.
What our real problem is can be clearly seen in Haiti and seen if you look closely enough in the US and everywhere else. Our entire government policy-set over the last four years has been "Kill Terrorists". This does not help domestic job growth, it does not help a balanced recovery, it does not foster international trade, it does not educate our children and it does not, above all, create a safer planet.
Is the world safer without Saddam? Yes.
Would you be better fed with one bean than if you had nothing to eat? Yes.
But neither of the above is a well-rounded solution to their respective problems.
Mr Bush's campaign is getting started off on the same mobility-challenged foot as his foreign policy. Bush managed to take all the world's goodwill from September 11th and flush it away by alienating the world with a war of frustration and vengence. Now he alienates those at home by using extremely emotionally charged imagery in campaign ads and then using the same defiant tone to excuse himself. Below is one simple letter from a woman simply stating why she's offended by Mr. Bush's advertising.
Salon.com Life | President Bush: Don't use my husband as your mascot
SCO suits target two big Linux users | CNET News.com It seems that SCO's new business model of profit through litigation is not panning out for them. According to this c-net report SCO "announced Wednesday a wider loss for its fiscal first quarter. The company said its net loss, after paying preferred dividends, was $2.25 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with a loss of $724,000, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier."
They are suing Autozone however. After waiting a month to actually sue anyone, they seem to have chosen their targets randomly.
We at Soundbag wish them luck in their desire to destroy the world. And we wonder aloud, how could you possibly be smart enough to build an integral part of the Linux platform, yet too stupid to understand that suing the Linux community is like spitting on the Hell's Angels?
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