Archive for September, 2004

2004.09.09

The Prince

After reading this article about Dick Cheney, I am wondering if he’s so “evil” why does the Republican Party continue to support him? The article itself reads more like an editorial, but some of the points -draft evasion, Halliburton activities, etc- are well known facts. If even a portion of the political conniving are accurate, we have someone who practices the theories of Machiavelli. Worse, he doesn’t seem to really endorse the Republican platform so much as use it for his own ends.

Having turned [President] Ford into their instrument, Rumsfeld and Cheney staged a palace coup. They pushed Ford to fire Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, tell Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to look for another job and remove Henry Kissinger from his post as national security adviser. Rumsfeld was named Secretary of Defense, and Cheney became Chief of Staff to the President. The Yale dropout and draft dodger was, at the age of thirty-four, the second-most-powerful man in the White House.

That alone gives you a taste of how this is editorialized (“turned Ford into their instrument…”) but also outlines what he did, in fact, do once power was attained. Scary.

To answer my own question on why the Republicans continue to support Dick Cheney, I believe (and this is only opinion) that they are 1) afraid of him, and 2) ignorant of who he is and what his goals are. The Republican leaders who consider it a marriage of convenience may not realize just who they are dealing with.

By the end of the first Bush administration, others had come to the conclusion that Cheney and his followers were dangerous. “They were referred to collectively as the crazies,” recalls Ray McGovern, a CIA professional who interpreted intelligence for presidents going back to Kennedy. Around the same time, McGovern remembers, Secretary of State James Baker and National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft counseled the elder President Bush, “Keep these guys at arm’s length.”

I’m not saying I hate the guy with a blood curdling passion, but I’ve never liked him and that was before I knew a single thing about him, for or against. If anyone can post an article or two that shows something positive about Dick Cheney please post them in the comments so I can write a followup to this article (and no fanatical, raving, unsupported posts; they will be deleted).

2004.09.08

Family Crest

I found this today while doing some random searches. I know we have some French ancestry, but I know for a fact our name comes from the Czech Republic (Moravia specifically). Somehow I doubt this family crest applies to my family…

Still, it’s interesting to see, and it reminds me that my sister, Heather, has been doing some geneology research based on work my Dad started a while back. I should check that out next time I’m home.

2004.09.07

Upgrade Complete

So the server is now MacOS X Server 10.3.5 now. Hopefully everything is up to snuff. If any OOKEE bloggers notice something amiss, please leave a comment below!

2004.09.06

Server Upgrade

At long last I have the means to upgrade the server software. I’m not at liberty at this time to reveal my funding; it’s not that big a deal but they would prefer to stay out of the public eye. For now.

The great news is I’ll be upgrading to MacOS X Server 10.3. There is a lot of stuff there that I can’t wait to start playing with; after all, if I just wanted webserving then I could have installed BSD and Apache. There’s nothing like having the server software you have to support at home with you…

So the bad news is that for most of tomorrow, September 6th, the server will be down as I upgrade (or reinstall from scratch; I haven’t decided which yet). Wish me luck!

2004.09.03

Thoughts on GOP Convention Speeches

So the GOP Convention is over and I actually got to watch President Bush deliver his speech. I am sure the Democrats are scoffing and coughing at much of it but -and this is a severe weakness they have- it was written very effectively and Bush did suprisingly well delivering it.

Generally I thought much of the rhetoric old. As I mentioned previously there is much about the military actions and terrorism, and the supposed necessary qualities of a leader, but little on our own country (except Bush; more later).

Dear Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when you don’t agree with someone you say so, but I didn’t hear you say anything critical of the President. I know it’s a convention and all, but I have to say you are the biggest cheerleader I’ve ever seen.

Meanwhile I am wondering why Mr. Zell Miller bothers to say he’s a Democrat. I have nothing against a Democrat supporting Bush instead of Kerry, but if I understand correctly there isn’t a “liberal” bone in his body. Just curious.

Dear Mr. Tommy Franks, Sir, I respectfully understand you are a retired General, but by the time you spoke I was pretty sick of hearing about soldiering, fighting, wartime character… Next time please request a slot on an earlier evening.

Dear Mr. Dick Cheney, I almost liked some of your usage of rationalle and logic. Almost. You spoke like a moderate but you work for and promote someone who is not a moderate.

Dear Mr. President Bush, congratulations. I think that was the best speech I’ve ever seen or heard you deliver. I was especially impressed that you talked about things domestic. Good job!. I do have a question for you, though: How? How are you going to pay for so much of the things you propose? Have you forgotten that tax cuts may stimulate the economy, but it doesn’t help the government one iota?

Many of your ideas sound good, even brilliant, but strangely many of them sound “liberal” to me (in fact this “Compassionate Conservatism” sounds pretty flaky to me). Obviously there are some things that absolutely chill me to the bone.

I like the idea of ownership of my own health savings and retirement savings, but who manages that money? Banks? The government? Who pays the overhead for managing it?

What the hell is an Opportunity Zone? Is that like a free trade zone? It sounds shockingly like (gulp!) welfare, just geared towards a community instead of an individual.

I love the idea of health care for all, but let’s be real: so long as health care has to be paid by someone, somewhere, it is going to be disproportionately expensive. I agree with you that the “trial lawyers” (nice dig on Mr. John Edwards there) need to be reined in, but that will lower costs only by a hair. For the amount of money we spend on health care right now we could completely socialize medicine, just as we’ve socialized education.

Your promotion of Comp-time and Flex-time sounds great, but I’d still rather get Over-time because managers forget our Comp-time and most of us -at least in CA- have Flex-time (except me). Over-time: at least we’d still get paid for the craptastic extra hours some people put in.

For much of your speech you declared that spreading liberty and freedom around the world was great and good. I agree! Woohoo! Then you turn that around and -not even boldly but sneakily!- show your bigotry against homosexuals and their equal rights (marriage).

Oh, and by the way your use of the term “activist judges” is repulsive. The people you will appoint are just as activist; they are just more friendly to your needs. To say a judge is activist is like saying, well, that you speak English good; even you know it’s not true.

It was refreshing to see you acknowledge you don’t speak English so well. That was a thing I thought I’d never see.

Finally I can’t wait for the non-Christian world to pick up on this line: “I believe that given the chance, they will embrace the most honorable form of government ever devised by man. I believe all these things because freedom is not America’s gift to the world, it is the Almighty God’s gift to every man and woman in this world.” The Middle East should declare Jihad against the American Crusade any minute now, and the Chinese have to be scratching their heads.

In my final opinion, Kerry is pretty much fucked if he keeps trying to address President Bush concerning the Middle East and terrorism because Bush has that wrapped up. Kerry needs to usurp Bush’s plans for security and focus on where Bush is weak, which is pretty much everything here in the Homeland except “family values.” Bush needs to pick some liberal idea that doesn’t make him look like a girlie-man and champion it.

Meanwhile I will give it two more weeks before I start making solid predictions as to who I think is going to win the election. And with that I’m going to bed; I’m too tired to even edit this and only just now realize how freaking long it is… Good night, sweet chicken bone.

2004.09.01

Talk Like a Pirate BBQ!

Arrr, Mateys!

September 19th be Talk Like a Pirate Day, so we’ll be having a pint or three of grog and plates of food on September 18th to ring in the holiday! Aye, and you be invited. Bring yerself smartly to 768 16th Avenue in this city of San Francisco on the 18th. Drop anchor anytime after 4PM. The usual applies, me beauties: bring yer own swill or bring yer own vittles. Sometime before we’re all walking the crooked plank the band Not Bill will play a shanty or three if it amuse ye. Not Bill is Scott Biezad, David Becker (the original Davey Jones) and me, Doug.

Come, slake yer thirst and belay yer hunger. See ye on the 18th!

Arrr,

-Doug.

PS: Invite yer friends, especially the pretty ones! Send this link to let them know.

PPS: If yer interested in more about this holiday, visit http://www.talklikeapirate.com!

PPPS: This invitation goes for my web friends, too!

UPDATE!

Ahoy Mateys!

A quick note to be sure of certain facts…

The BBQ is on September 18th, not 19th. We are raising a pint to Talk Like a Pirate Day one day early, don’t you know, to get a jump in the wind.

You do not *have* to dress or talk like a pirate. You may be called upon to walk the plank and speak with the fishes in the clear cold sea (or not). As Scott says, “No, you don’t have to dress like a pirate, and talking like a pirate won’t be required, but it’s possible there might be pillaging going on.”

Avast!

-Doug.

2004.09.01

Republican Convention

[One] issue is the claim that Republicans are at their best when they are defending and spreading freedom and liberty. This is true, absolutely. Everyone is at their best at times like these, and not just Republicans (however they are slyly taking all the credit).Just as I followed as much of the recent Democratic Convention, I am also trying to follow the Republicans. Their speeches so far have been smart, and are not leaving many cracks for actual criticism. Yes, I could use the inflamed criticisms of some radical Democrats, but they are not rational, logical or even generally convincing. Looking at it from my point of view, they are only leaving a few holes.

For example, Rudy Giuliani constantly stressed what President Bush did, and how he is essentially a man of action and conviction. Yet his actions are not tempered by any thought, and his convictions are as narrow as any bigots. He is a leader, yes, but by happy mistake and a shoddy election. I’m not saying Gore or any other leader would have been better suited, but they could not have done any worse.

The second item of issue is the claim that Republicans are at their best when they are defending and spreading freedom and liberty. This is true, absolutely. Everyone is at their best at times like these, and not just Republicans (however they are slyly taking all the credit). That’s not my issue, though; how can they claim the higher road of spreading liberty and freedom when this President is for limiting the freedoms of our own citizens?

“What the hell are you talking about?” you ask. I’m talking about the rights all of us lost very shortly after September 11th, 2001. The USA Patriot Act, no matter what they tell you, is an infringement on our freedoms (see my previous article). Further, this President is more than willing to show his prejudice for a specific segment of our population: homosexuals. If you think this isn’t prejudice then you do now know what prejudice is, nor have you experienced it.

Of course these are essentially domestic issues. The Republicans are wisely, for now, avoiding those. I expect they will be brought up in the coming days, however. In the meantime they are trying to say we are safer now then before the dreadful attacks dubbed 911. Are we safer? Whose metrics are we using? Is the world safer? They will say we are, but that doesn’t make it so. Of course the Democrats will probably say we are in more danger, but that doesn’t make it so, either. It’s all marketing. I would wager we are in exactly the same position we were on 2001.09.10 (linked because it shows just how mundane things were before 9-11).

I wish the Republicans had someone, anyone, aside from George W. Bush running for President. He is not Presidential material. Giuliani and McCain spoke for him last night, but it’s a shame they did not run against him for the nomination.

More thoughts as I see/hear more.

In a quick aside, I find it funny that USA Today has filmmaker Michael Moore covering the Convention. It’s like a Twilight Zone episode.