Posts from — May 2008

This is one of the many bad habits picked up from too close an association with Calvinism – the BBC magazine reports: A little dash of panic

American public information films weren’t like the British ones. They were scary, for starters.

It was in postwar Britain and the US that public information films truly came into their own. In the wake of morale-boosting incitements to help the war effort came movie shorts designed to educate young people on the perils of everything from hot pans on stoves to the terrors of “reefer madness”.

But a search through the archives shows there was a marked difference in approach on either side of the Atlantic.

Yes, never rely on information when you can terrorize people.

Rook at Rook’s Rant is celebrating his fifth … oh, blogiversary™.  He also biking again just to be annoying.

Income has been a bit odd since coming back from the vet’s.

The lead story at CNN is this Time magazine article: Is it Time to Invade Burma?

My short answer: No! [These people are barking at the moon insane.]

But the article contains a possible solution:

…

So what other options exist? Retired General William Nash of the Council on Foreign Relations says the U.S. should first pressure China to use its influence over the junta to get them to open up and then supply support to the Thai and Indonesian militaries to carry out relief missions. “We can pay for it — we can provide repair parts to the Indonesians so they can get their Air Force up. We can lend the them two C-130s and let them paint the Indonesian flag on them,” Nash says. “We have to get the stuff to people who can deliver it and who the Burmese government will accept, even if takes an extra day or two and even if it’s not as efficient as the good old U.S. military.” …

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As I predicted the Associated Press is now reporting U.N. aid used by junta for propaganda exercise

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s military regime distributed international aid Saturday but plastered the boxes with the names of top generals in an apparent effort to turn the relief effort for last week’s devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise.

The United Nations sent in three more planes and several trucks loaded with aid, though the junta took over its first two shipments. The government agreed to let a U.S. cargo plane bring in supplies Monday, but foreign disaster experts were still being barred entry.

State-run television continuously ran images of top generals — including the junta leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe — handing out boxes of aid to survivors at elaborate ceremonies.

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The BBC reports on Russia’s Victory Day celebration: Tanks rejoin Moscow V-Day parade

Russian tanks and intercontinental missile launchers have been paraded through Moscow for the first time since the collapse of the USSR.

The Russian leadership has decided to revive the Communist-era custom of featuring military hardware in the annual Victory Day parade.

New President Dmitry Medvedev said the army and navy were getting stronger.

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I present for your consideration this report by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post: Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens

It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother’s Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, “Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day,” when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.

“Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote,” he announced.

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt’s request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers.

The Republicans are apparently just causing trouble and trying to slow things down, but voting against Mother’s Day, actually, as Milbank notes, emulating John Kerry and voting for it before voting against it, is bizarre.

Update: I notice by the roll call that my Congresscritter, Jeff Miller, hates mothers.

The BBC reports that Burma ‘wants aid not foreigners’

Burma wants supplies but not foreign aid workers, its foreign ministry says, hours after the UN chief urged military leaders to prioritise relief work.

Burma was “making strenuous efforts” to get aid to affected areas by itself and was not ready for foreign teams, a statement in a state daily said.
…

“Currently Myanmar (Burma) has prioritised receiving emergency relief provisions and is making strenuous efforts to transport those provisions without delay by its own labours to the affected areas,” it said.

“As such, Myanmar is not ready to receive search and rescue teams as well as media teams from foreign countries.”

An aid team and journalists who arrived on a flight from Qatar had been deported, it said.

A BBC correspondent in the storm-hit region says Burmese troops have begun distributing significantly more aid.

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End of a Lifestyle II

Well, Excise didn’t think it was so bad.

[Editor: It is Income’s turn to be a “retired gentleman cat” and in the grand tradition of fraternity initiation, Excise didn’t tell his brother what would happen.]

Friday Ark

I can’t believe that anyone is so out of touch as to say this: Obama: World wants to see U.S. lead. This is a CNN article on a Wolf Blitzer appearance.

The world wants the US to come back into the fold of nations and cooperate with other people. They have had over 7 years of the “US leading”, and they don’t want any more. Someone needs to sit him down with copies of the world press reporting on the US and explain that it will be a very long time before any nation or international organization trusts the US not to screw things up.

Our economy and military are broken. The dollar is in the toilet. We have a debt that would shame a third world country. We can’t “lead the parade”, we can’t even afford “uniforms for the band”.

We don’t have any credibility left in the world, and the US, as a country, is hated in a very large segment of the planet. Lead‽ The US will be lucky if we are still allowed to follow for a very long time.

It didn’t work for Excise, so it won’t work for Income.

Reuters reports that U.S. ships head for Myanmar as officials decry delay.

The Air Force has been landing supplies in Thailand, and the destroyer USS Mustin and the three-vessel Essex Expeditionary Strike Force have off-loaded some helicopters there and then headed for the coast of Burma.

The Essex Expeditionary Strike Force is based in Japan and is probably still the USS Essex (LHD-2), the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), and the USS Juneau (LPD-10).

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More e-mail fun:

From: “Internal Revenue Service”<service@usa.gov>
Subject: Notice From Department of the Treasury
Date sent: Mon, 5 May 2008 18:47:56 +0100
Send reply to: <donoreply@usa.com>

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax refund value is $189.60.

Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to IWP the data received. If u don’t receive your refund within 9 business days from the original IRS mailing date shown, you can start a refund trace online.

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The people involved should be wrapped in wool in July and staked over fireant mound.

The Associated Press reports that Hackers Strike Epilepsy Web Site

(AP) Computer attacks typically do not inflict physical pain on their victims.

But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation’s Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images.

The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images. People with photosensitive epilepsy can get seizures when they’re exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by some video games and cartoons.

This problem was hinted at in the movie, The Andromeda Strain and is a factor in the light bars on emergency vehicles. There are certain flash rates that are avoided because they are known to trigger seizures and migraines. This was a willing campaign to inflict pain and suffering, and should be met with the same.