From the February issue of Indianapolis Monthly comes news that the Indiana Historical Society has recently acquired the books of traveling columnist and World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle's personal library. Pyle was a hugely popular writer, mainly thanks to the accessibility and lack of pretence of his writing, so it comes as no surprise that the books in his collection are mostly unremarkable. Nine of the 300-plus books are travel guides, and many volumes are the crossword-puzzle books of Pyle's wife, Jerry. Even more interesting than the books themselves, we are told, are the notes that the couple scribbled inside them.
Cue jokes about the George W. Bush Library.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
Party Time!
Counago & Spaves is one year old on Wednesday (if you're wondering where the rest of the blog is, click on "Previous Incarnation," left). To celebrate, we'll be having a champagne cocktail reception in the Shelbourne Hotel on Wednesday evening around seven.
Will we arse. We'll be having several pints of Guinness in Toner's and if you're lucky you'll get a pack of peanuts and a T-shirt. A Toner's T-shirt, not a Counago & Spaves one. We're not made of money.
Will we arse. We'll be having several pints of Guinness in Toner's and if you're lucky you'll get a pack of peanuts and a T-shirt. A Toner's T-shirt, not a Counago & Spaves one. We're not made of money.
What We Had, We Lost
This weekend's Observer carried a brief recollection and commentary by Will Hutton on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the miners' strike.
Loth as I am to agree with Hutton on many things, I found that reading the article brought back to me very vividly some of the feelings that were commonplace amongst us some of us on the left at the time who were actively involved, in a supporting role, and it's curious to contrast those feelings with Hutton's observations as an onlooker, as a non-participating journalist, particularly since he recounts how covering the strike affected his political thinking.
I suppose I should explain that I belonged then to a sceptical and disparate collection of anarchists whose basic attitude toward the situation was to be opposed to the strike but in favour of the strikers. What information we had back then indicated that this was the wrong strike at the wrong time and that the union was being provoked and goaded into striking at a time of the government's choosing (I still spit when anyone mentions the name Nicholas Ridley). It was a commonplace that defeat was likely for the miners and that they were led by a pig-headed, stubborn, ignorant, and tactically clueless leadership; that seemed to be true of a number of unions back then. Nevertheless, unlike Hutton, we knew that there was a moral obligation to support the strikers regardless of the union's blunders, and throughout the strike we manned the food stalls, made our donations, leafleted the shopping centres, turned on all our electrical appliances, attended and organized the rallies, all the usual stuff, and more beside.
Hutton writes, ambiguously, that “Without the evisceration of the Scargillite tendency, the Labour party would not have been able to shed itself of the old left project which, more than anything else, laid the ground for the two landslide victories of 1997 and 2001.” But the problem for us was never the old left project, it was the failure of the old left politicians to think outside the box, stop acting like dinosaurs, and think strategically instead of proprietorially or dictatorially. There was a level of machismo and slow wittedness (and a pride in both) that might be difficult to believe today, as though they thought brute force (in the form of 'solidarity,' but demanded, imposed, and controlled from on high) would guarantee victory.
Hutton: “Looking back after 20 years, it is clearer that the defeat of Scargill was vital for the economy, the labour market, the environment, the public interest and progressive politics.”
Vital? Overstating things, I think. In any case, "defeat of Scargill" is different from "defeat of the workers." From my perspective at the time, I only wished Scargill had been defeated on another battlefield, by his rank and file, before the strike ever took place. But arguably, for the labour movement, in the long term, it is better that Scargill lost; the fact that his identity was so wrapped up in the miners' cause has meant that he remains defeated - I'm annoyed only that the miners had to lose as well.
Loth as I am to agree with Hutton on many things, I found that reading the article brought back to me very vividly some of the feelings that were commonplace amongst us some of us on the left at the time who were actively involved, in a supporting role, and it's curious to contrast those feelings with Hutton's observations as an onlooker, as a non-participating journalist, particularly since he recounts how covering the strike affected his political thinking.
I suppose I should explain that I belonged then to a sceptical and disparate collection of anarchists whose basic attitude toward the situation was to be opposed to the strike but in favour of the strikers. What information we had back then indicated that this was the wrong strike at the wrong time and that the union was being provoked and goaded into striking at a time of the government's choosing (I still spit when anyone mentions the name Nicholas Ridley). It was a commonplace that defeat was likely for the miners and that they were led by a pig-headed, stubborn, ignorant, and tactically clueless leadership; that seemed to be true of a number of unions back then. Nevertheless, unlike Hutton, we knew that there was a moral obligation to support the strikers regardless of the union's blunders, and throughout the strike we manned the food stalls, made our donations, leafleted the shopping centres, turned on all our electrical appliances, attended and organized the rallies, all the usual stuff, and more beside.
Hutton writes, ambiguously, that “Without the evisceration of the Scargillite tendency, the Labour party would not have been able to shed itself of the old left project which, more than anything else, laid the ground for the two landslide victories of 1997 and 2001.” But the problem for us was never the old left project, it was the failure of the old left politicians to think outside the box, stop acting like dinosaurs, and think strategically instead of proprietorially or dictatorially. There was a level of machismo and slow wittedness (and a pride in both) that might be difficult to believe today, as though they thought brute force (in the form of 'solidarity,' but demanded, imposed, and controlled from on high) would guarantee victory.
Hutton: “Looking back after 20 years, it is clearer that the defeat of Scargill was vital for the economy, the labour market, the environment, the public interest and progressive politics.”
Vital? Overstating things, I think. In any case, "defeat of Scargill" is different from "defeat of the workers." From my perspective at the time, I only wished Scargill had been defeated on another battlefield, by his rank and file, before the strike ever took place. But arguably, for the labour movement, in the long term, it is better that Scargill lost; the fact that his identity was so wrapped up in the miners' cause has meant that he remains defeated - I'm annoyed only that the miners had to lose as well.
What We Have, We Hold
Up to Enniskillen for the weekend, one of my favourite towns on the entire planet, and not just because it is better half's birthplace. You haven't lived until you've sunk a pint of Guinness in William Blake's on a Saturday afternoon (although, sad to say, that's exactly what I was doing when news came in of the Omagh bomb). Better half's family have strong connections with this part of the world, anyway, including our 5-year-old godson and his twin brother, always good for a story or two, although this weekend I showed their mom how to access Counago & Spaves, so this may be the last of them.
It was a flying visit, so only two fleeting images left their mark amid the chaos of the lads' devilment. One was that of godson's brother kneeling up at the dining table on a wooden bench with his trousers round his ankles, eating his lunch with one hand while, to put no too finer point on it, manipulating himself with the other. How I envied him the experience. I'm lucky to get that once a year.
The other was our godson, Joshua, being chided by his mother for picking his nose, to which he responded, without irony, "I wasn't picking it. I was putting it back up." Well, why waste it?
Returned home yesterday afternoon to discover that Labour have upped their game. In our absence, they had delivered an East Meath-type newsletter, a two-sided A4 leaflet detailing their candidate's ideas for the Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington area. I assume Labour has produced similar leaflets for the entire East Meath area, an assumption I make on the basis of the paucity of the ideas presented, although these might just indicate the party's lack of knowledge of the area. It's only at election time that this sort of ignorance and lack of genuine concern from the parties becomes really apparent, because they try SO hard.
It was the turn of the Greens to turn up at the train staion this morning, albeit lower-profile than Labour were last week. I suspect the Green Party is lacking in the henchmen department. All I saw was a female hippy in a kaftan and a bloke with a woolly hat on. True to stereotype if nothing else. The leaflet they gave us was the same one we got through the letter box last week, so maybe they had a few left over. Not very eco-conscious, that, surely?
Looking forward to the final four-day blitz. Which party is going to pull the rabbit out the hat and surprise us?
That's a rhetorical question.
It was a flying visit, so only two fleeting images left their mark amid the chaos of the lads' devilment. One was that of godson's brother kneeling up at the dining table on a wooden bench with his trousers round his ankles, eating his lunch with one hand while, to put no too finer point on it, manipulating himself with the other. How I envied him the experience. I'm lucky to get that once a year.
The other was our godson, Joshua, being chided by his mother for picking his nose, to which he responded, without irony, "I wasn't picking it. I was putting it back up." Well, why waste it?
Returned home yesterday afternoon to discover that Labour have upped their game. In our absence, they had delivered an East Meath-type newsletter, a two-sided A4 leaflet detailing their candidate's ideas for the Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington area. I assume Labour has produced similar leaflets for the entire East Meath area, an assumption I make on the basis of the paucity of the ideas presented, although these might just indicate the party's lack of knowledge of the area. It's only at election time that this sort of ignorance and lack of genuine concern from the parties becomes really apparent, because they try SO hard.
It was the turn of the Greens to turn up at the train staion this morning, albeit lower-profile than Labour were last week. I suspect the Green Party is lacking in the henchmen department. All I saw was a female hippy in a kaftan and a bloke with a woolly hat on. True to stereotype if nothing else. The leaflet they gave us was the same one we got through the letter box last week, so maybe they had a few left over. Not very eco-conscious, that, surely?
Looking forward to the final four-day blitz. Which party is going to pull the rabbit out the hat and surprise us?
That's a rhetorical question.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Rinus Michels R.I.P.
Originator of Total Football, died today. Made the beautiful game even more beautiful and gave left-backs like me an excuse to wander upfield. Cheers, Marinus.
Moot Question of the Week
. . . is who will I be voting for in the forthcoming Meath by-election, which takes place next Friday.
It’s been interesting to assess the various parties’ level of commitment to this election, at least on the basis of their readiness to pound the streets, canvass, and present their policies to the electorate. The Fianna Fail candidate has been noticeable most of all by his absence in my neck of the woods, even though his photograph was on the front page of the national press yesterday with the Taoiseach. I heard a rumour last week that Bertie made an appearance at Mass in Laytown Church the Sunday before last; there’s no point chasing after the votes of blow-in atheists like me, so I suppose there's no reason why I should expect to encounter him when he's off glad-handing amongst his natural constituency. The FF’s leaflet appeared in our porch overnight, which suggests that their canvassers deliberately slunk around the estate in the darkness without knocking on any doors so as not to be doorstepped by locals giving out about the appalling state of the infrastructure in this part of the country, where the builders (i.e. his mates) have been given free rein to build houses on any spare plot of land without any consideration of drainage, sewerage, traffic disruption, schools and access to other amenities like hospitals and libraries. Fuckers.
A Fine Gael canvasser popped round last night and conveyed the jovial impression of someone who was embarrassed by his candidate (although the FGs have 2 of the 5 seats) and was hoping that the fact that he (the candidate) is the brother of local Meath Gaelic Football hero Gerry McEntee would count for something. That seemed to be the main selling point on the leaflet, anyhow.
The Labour candidate actually made the effort to appear in person on the railway platform on Tuesday morning to meet commuters as they headed off to work, though he was accompanied by henchmen who seemed to be delighting in bullying all the schoolgirls to take leaflets home to their parents. Labour’s bumph was hardly more substantial than the FGs and FFs, which is surprising, because there are substantial issues that Labour could play on in this area to lather the FFs, and the train station is a great place to meet natural Labour voters: Users of public transport, working couples just starting families and new to the area, plebs like me who have moved down from Dublin. I suspect there’s a decent ‘Anyone but FF vote’ here, but it’s going to be split if Labour doesn’t pursue it more vigorously.
I didn’t see the Green Party candidate, but the literature was decent enough and quite comprehensive. It managed to isolate and recognize what look like the topics of concern in the East Meath area: the stuff cited above and concern over the Navan by-pass, which is a Green issue. The one issue that pisses me off and prevents me voting Green, if I was to vote, is their nonsensical policy on incinerators. It seems to be taken as read that incinerators are a bad thing, and both the Greens and Sinn Fein have been using this as an issue to beat FF with (Sinn Fein use the NIMBYism it arouses in houseowners concerned about house prices as a wedge issue to develop inroads into the middle-class vote). All the science I’ve seen (and I work with environmental scientists), along with the expertise of my brother-in-law, who used to be a county engineer, tells me that incinerators are not the dirty, cancer-causing monstrosities that the fear-mongers keep saying. You’ll find them all over France and Germany, and they’re much less of an environmental risk than landfills.
Anyway, last Saturday morning I dropped my better half off to the hairdressers and came home to find two Sinn Fein canvassers waiting on the doorstep. The moment they heard my English accent, I suspect they gave up any thought of winning my vote, particularly if they could identify it as Brummie. Nonetheless, they were courteous and charming, and I asked them for their leaflets and all the details about their candidate and promised to read them. Out of all of the campaign literature, Sinn Fein’s was by a long shot the best (forgive the pun). It outlined all the relevant policies for the area and offered a decent profile of the candidate, who had previously been a councillor in Navan, I think. And I confess that all the Shinners I’ve known through work have been nice lads and, in terms of their worldview, closer to mine than the mainstream parties. Nevertheless, I won’t be voting for them because, all said and done, they're a home for thugs and fascists. Despite their apparent socialism, there’s still an element of militarism and authoritarianism attached to the party that comes as baggage. If they do a good job of driving drug dealers out of working-class areas, it's because they've got access to guns too (and, incidentally, it's an indictment of the socialist movement that the Shinners have been able to use the drug/crime problem as a way into working-class areas in the South). You might call their activities a form of pragmatism, but it makes me think of Mussolini and the "politics of the street."
As for the PDs, their candidate came round during the last election to say hello; she gave me the impression of modelling herself after Mary Harney, which can’t be a good thing, and this time I haven’t even seen any literature yet, just posters of the woman everywhere, along with a flashing sign along the Julianstown Road telling us that Mary Harney needs Sirena (that’s the candidate’s name, not a drug for ADHD).
So that’s the current state of play. None of my friends or fellow commuters seem particularly exercised by the election, and the only amusement I’ve derived from events so far has been at the expense of the Shinners: There’s a nice poster of Gerry Adams down by the train station, carrying the slogan “Sinn Fein – Building an Ireland of Equals.” I’m sorely tempted to pop down during the night and scrawl on it, “Or Your Money Back.”*
*At the risk of spoiling the joke, for the benefit of readers overseas, I should explain that this is a reference to the IRA's supposed involvement in the recent Northern Bank Robbery.
It’s been interesting to assess the various parties’ level of commitment to this election, at least on the basis of their readiness to pound the streets, canvass, and present their policies to the electorate. The Fianna Fail candidate has been noticeable most of all by his absence in my neck of the woods, even though his photograph was on the front page of the national press yesterday with the Taoiseach. I heard a rumour last week that Bertie made an appearance at Mass in Laytown Church the Sunday before last; there’s no point chasing after the votes of blow-in atheists like me, so I suppose there's no reason why I should expect to encounter him when he's off glad-handing amongst his natural constituency. The FF’s leaflet appeared in our porch overnight, which suggests that their canvassers deliberately slunk around the estate in the darkness without knocking on any doors so as not to be doorstepped by locals giving out about the appalling state of the infrastructure in this part of the country, where the builders (i.e. his mates) have been given free rein to build houses on any spare plot of land without any consideration of drainage, sewerage, traffic disruption, schools and access to other amenities like hospitals and libraries. Fuckers.
A Fine Gael canvasser popped round last night and conveyed the jovial impression of someone who was embarrassed by his candidate (although the FGs have 2 of the 5 seats) and was hoping that the fact that he (the candidate) is the brother of local Meath Gaelic Football hero Gerry McEntee would count for something. That seemed to be the main selling point on the leaflet, anyhow.
The Labour candidate actually made the effort to appear in person on the railway platform on Tuesday morning to meet commuters as they headed off to work, though he was accompanied by henchmen who seemed to be delighting in bullying all the schoolgirls to take leaflets home to their parents. Labour’s bumph was hardly more substantial than the FGs and FFs, which is surprising, because there are substantial issues that Labour could play on in this area to lather the FFs, and the train station is a great place to meet natural Labour voters: Users of public transport, working couples just starting families and new to the area, plebs like me who have moved down from Dublin. I suspect there’s a decent ‘Anyone but FF vote’ here, but it’s going to be split if Labour doesn’t pursue it more vigorously.
I didn’t see the Green Party candidate, but the literature was decent enough and quite comprehensive. It managed to isolate and recognize what look like the topics of concern in the East Meath area: the stuff cited above and concern over the Navan by-pass, which is a Green issue. The one issue that pisses me off and prevents me voting Green, if I was to vote, is their nonsensical policy on incinerators. It seems to be taken as read that incinerators are a bad thing, and both the Greens and Sinn Fein have been using this as an issue to beat FF with (Sinn Fein use the NIMBYism it arouses in houseowners concerned about house prices as a wedge issue to develop inroads into the middle-class vote). All the science I’ve seen (and I work with environmental scientists), along with the expertise of my brother-in-law, who used to be a county engineer, tells me that incinerators are not the dirty, cancer-causing monstrosities that the fear-mongers keep saying. You’ll find them all over France and Germany, and they’re much less of an environmental risk than landfills.
Anyway, last Saturday morning I dropped my better half off to the hairdressers and came home to find two Sinn Fein canvassers waiting on the doorstep. The moment they heard my English accent, I suspect they gave up any thought of winning my vote, particularly if they could identify it as Brummie. Nonetheless, they were courteous and charming, and I asked them for their leaflets and all the details about their candidate and promised to read them. Out of all of the campaign literature, Sinn Fein’s was by a long shot the best (forgive the pun). It outlined all the relevant policies for the area and offered a decent profile of the candidate, who had previously been a councillor in Navan, I think. And I confess that all the Shinners I’ve known through work have been nice lads and, in terms of their worldview, closer to mine than the mainstream parties. Nevertheless, I won’t be voting for them because, all said and done, they're a home for thugs and fascists. Despite their apparent socialism, there’s still an element of militarism and authoritarianism attached to the party that comes as baggage. If they do a good job of driving drug dealers out of working-class areas, it's because they've got access to guns too (and, incidentally, it's an indictment of the socialist movement that the Shinners have been able to use the drug/crime problem as a way into working-class areas in the South). You might call their activities a form of pragmatism, but it makes me think of Mussolini and the "politics of the street."
As for the PDs, their candidate came round during the last election to say hello; she gave me the impression of modelling herself after Mary Harney, which can’t be a good thing, and this time I haven’t even seen any literature yet, just posters of the woman everywhere, along with a flashing sign along the Julianstown Road telling us that Mary Harney needs Sirena (that’s the candidate’s name, not a drug for ADHD).
So that’s the current state of play. None of my friends or fellow commuters seem particularly exercised by the election, and the only amusement I’ve derived from events so far has been at the expense of the Shinners: There’s a nice poster of Gerry Adams down by the train station, carrying the slogan “Sinn Fein – Building an Ireland of Equals.” I’m sorely tempted to pop down during the night and scrawl on it, “Or Your Money Back.”*
*At the risk of spoiling the joke, for the benefit of readers overseas, I should explain that this is a reference to the IRA's supposed involvement in the recent Northern Bank Robbery.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Coming Your Way - The U.S. Army Blog
An article by U.S. Army Reserve captain and military intelligence officer Kris Alexander in the latest issue of Wired:
We Need Spy Blogs
"It's an open secret that the US intelligence community has its own classified, highly secure Internet. Called Intelink, it's got portals, chat rooms, message boards, search engines, webmail, and tons of servers. It's pretty damn cool … for four years ago.
While I was serving as an intelligence analyst at the US Central Command in Qatar during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in 2003, my team and I analyzed hundreds of messages and reports each day. We created briefings used by generals Tommy Franks and John Abizaid. A vast amount of information was available to us on Intelink, but there was no simple way to find and use the data efficiently. For instance, our search engine was an outdated version of AltaVista. (We've got Google now, a step in the right direction.) And while there were hundreds of people throughout the world reading the same materials, there was no easy way to learn what they thought. Somebody had answers to my questions, I knew, but how were we ever to connect? The scary truth is that most of the time analysts are flying half blind.
It doesn't have to be that way. Instead of embarking on an expensive and decades-long process of reform - the type loved by bureaucrats on Capitol Hill - the services can fix this themselves. There's no reason our nation's spy organizations can't leapfrog what the Army is already doing with Web technology and, at the same time, build upon what the public is doing with the blogosphere.
Launched in 2001, Army Knowledge Online is Yahoo! for grunts. All the things that make life on the Net interesting and useful are on AKO. Every soldier has an account, and each unit has its own virtual workspace. Soldiers in my reserve unit are scattered throughout Texas, and we're physically together only once a month. AKO lets us stay linked around the clock.
Another innovative program is the Center for Army Lessons Learned, basically an überblog staffed by experts. Soldiers can post white papers on subjects ranging from social etiquette at Iraqi funerals to surviving convoy ambushes. A search for "improvised explosive device" yields more than 130 hits. The center's articles are vetted by the staff for accuracy and usefulness, and anyone in the Army can submit.
Unfortunately, the intelligence community has not kept up with the Army. The 15 agencies of the community—ranging from the armed services to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency—maintain separate portals, separate data, and separate people. The bad guys exploit the gaps, and your safety is on the line. So if all us knuckle-draggers in the Army can use technology to make ourselves better, why can't all the big brains at Langley and Foggy Bottom do the same?
The first step toward reform: Encourage blogging on Intelink. When I Google "Afghanistan blog" on the public Internet, I find 1.1 million entries and tons of useful information. But on Intelink there are no blogs. Imagine if the experts in every intelligence field were turned loose—all that's needed is some cheap software. It's not far-fetched to picture a top-secret CIA blog about al Qaeda, with postings from Navy Intelligence and the FBI, among others. Leave the bureaucratic infighting to the agency heads. Give good analysts good tools, and they'll deliver outstanding results.
And why not tap the brainpower of the blogosphere as well? The intelligence community does a terrible job of looking outside itself for information. From journalists to academics and even educated amateurs—there are thousands of people who would be interested and willing to help. Imagine how much traffic an official CIA Iraq blog would attract. If intelligence organizations built a collaborative environment through blogs, they could quickly identify credible sources, develop a deep backfield of contributing analysts, and engage the world as a whole. How cool would it be to gain "trusted user" status on a CIA blog?
All this is possible with resources that currently exist. It won't require a complete overhaul of intelligence services, or the creation of a cabinet-level "intelligence czar." (Has the drug czar won the war on drugs?) Intelink blogging would immediately improve the information being used in the war on terror. AKO has managed to connect nearly 2 million members on an annual budget of about $30 million—that's chump change compared with the cost of a day's operations in Iraq. You do the math."
We Need Spy Blogs
"It's an open secret that the US intelligence community has its own classified, highly secure Internet. Called Intelink, it's got portals, chat rooms, message boards, search engines, webmail, and tons of servers. It's pretty damn cool … for four years ago.
While I was serving as an intelligence analyst at the US Central Command in Qatar during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom in 2003, my team and I analyzed hundreds of messages and reports each day. We created briefings used by generals Tommy Franks and John Abizaid. A vast amount of information was available to us on Intelink, but there was no simple way to find and use the data efficiently. For instance, our search engine was an outdated version of AltaVista. (We've got Google now, a step in the right direction.) And while there were hundreds of people throughout the world reading the same materials, there was no easy way to learn what they thought. Somebody had answers to my questions, I knew, but how were we ever to connect? The scary truth is that most of the time analysts are flying half blind.
It doesn't have to be that way. Instead of embarking on an expensive and decades-long process of reform - the type loved by bureaucrats on Capitol Hill - the services can fix this themselves. There's no reason our nation's spy organizations can't leapfrog what the Army is already doing with Web technology and, at the same time, build upon what the public is doing with the blogosphere.
Launched in 2001, Army Knowledge Online is Yahoo! for grunts. All the things that make life on the Net interesting and useful are on AKO. Every soldier has an account, and each unit has its own virtual workspace. Soldiers in my reserve unit are scattered throughout Texas, and we're physically together only once a month. AKO lets us stay linked around the clock.
Another innovative program is the Center for Army Lessons Learned, basically an überblog staffed by experts. Soldiers can post white papers on subjects ranging from social etiquette at Iraqi funerals to surviving convoy ambushes. A search for "improvised explosive device" yields more than 130 hits. The center's articles are vetted by the staff for accuracy and usefulness, and anyone in the Army can submit.
Unfortunately, the intelligence community has not kept up with the Army. The 15 agencies of the community—ranging from the armed services to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency—maintain separate portals, separate data, and separate people. The bad guys exploit the gaps, and your safety is on the line. So if all us knuckle-draggers in the Army can use technology to make ourselves better, why can't all the big brains at Langley and Foggy Bottom do the same?
The first step toward reform: Encourage blogging on Intelink. When I Google "Afghanistan blog" on the public Internet, I find 1.1 million entries and tons of useful information. But on Intelink there are no blogs. Imagine if the experts in every intelligence field were turned loose—all that's needed is some cheap software. It's not far-fetched to picture a top-secret CIA blog about al Qaeda, with postings from Navy Intelligence and the FBI, among others. Leave the bureaucratic infighting to the agency heads. Give good analysts good tools, and they'll deliver outstanding results.
And why not tap the brainpower of the blogosphere as well? The intelligence community does a terrible job of looking outside itself for information. From journalists to academics and even educated amateurs—there are thousands of people who would be interested and willing to help. Imagine how much traffic an official CIA Iraq blog would attract. If intelligence organizations built a collaborative environment through blogs, they could quickly identify credible sources, develop a deep backfield of contributing analysts, and engage the world as a whole. How cool would it be to gain "trusted user" status on a CIA blog?
All this is possible with resources that currently exist. It won't require a complete overhaul of intelligence services, or the creation of a cabinet-level "intelligence czar." (Has the drug czar won the war on drugs?) Intelink blogging would immediately improve the information being used in the war on terror. AKO has managed to connect nearly 2 million members on an annual budget of about $30 million—that's chump change compared with the cost of a day's operations in Iraq. You do the math."
As a public service
From the February/March issue of Mother Earth News, instructions for making your own yoghourt, kefir, and chevre.
Using your own body fluids.
Only joking.
Using your own body fluids.
Only joking.
And now, Sean of the Dead
The first phase opens today of the largest shopping mall in Europe, in Dundrum. All the big names in retailing are there: Next, H&M, Dunnes Stores. And 25 restaurants.
Eat, Shop, Sleep, Work, Vote, Die. Un-die. Shop, Eat, Work, Vote etc. etc.
Eat, Shop, Sleep, Work, Vote, Die. Un-die. Shop, Eat, Work, Vote etc. etc.
Thought for the Day
In the final section of Mulholland Drive, the "reality" sequence, the lead characters are named Di and Camilla.
Surreal.
Spotted, Mart.
Surreal.
Spotted, Mart.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Hell is Other Existentialists
With thanks to Lenin, a wonderful interview here by Danny Postel with Ronald Aronson on the split between Sartre and Camus. From the journal Logos.
The Network surfaces
The Declaration Foundation. An article by Wayne Madsen on the Fellowship Foundation at 9/11 Citizens Watch. Their archives at Wheaton here.
With all these concerned citizens around, what have we got to worry about?
With all these concerned citizens around, what have we got to worry about?
What they get up to in their bedrooms is none of your goddammed business!
The slightly unfortunate closing paragraph of a serious article in the February 15 Advocate on 12 former U.S. military service members who are suing the U.S. Department of Defense, with the backing of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), to be reinstated after being discharged because of their sexual orientation:
"Yet the current administration's unabashedly conservative tilt has many legal experts concerned that while the case of the SLDN 12 will keep the military's unfair gay bashing and expulsions before the media, the accused will not be putting on uniforms again anytime soon."
"Yet the current administration's unabashedly conservative tilt has many legal experts concerned that while the case of the SLDN 12 will keep the military's unfair gay bashing and expulsions before the media, the accused will not be putting on uniforms again anytime soon."
Manchester gigs - someone tell Norm
Coming up over the next month as part of a pop art records promotion:
Thad Cockrell Tue 2nd @ Britons Protection
Laura Veirs Sat 5th @ The Roadhouse
Jill Sobule Mon 7th @ Retro Bar
Melys + Persil Wed 9th @ Star & Garter
Jeep Solid Sun 13th @ Retro Bar
Econoline + Dead Men Win Fights Mon 28th @ Retro Bar
Patrick Wolf Thu 31st @ The Southern Hotel, Chorlton
What I've heard of Laura Veirs sounds great, and Jill Sobule comes with a great biog:
"For more than a decade Jill Sobule has been one of Pop Music's greatest subversive writers. Her songs have poked fun at lesbian chic, celebrity obsession and production line pop babes. They have also dealt with drug abuse, anorexia and America's Christian Fundamentalist movement, although always in her inimitable light hearted poppy style. After dropping out of college and formed her first band. After a spell working at a local restaurant, she moved to New York and got a record deal. Whilst waitressing in New York in between recording, she served Madonna and Sandra Bernhardt who she described as "a horrible couple who didn't even leave me a tip" and got the idea for "Kissed a Girl". A jab at America's fascination with lesbianism, the song accidentally became an MTV hit. Now on the brink of releasing her 5th album, "Underdog Victorious", Jill is recognised as a witty, quirky lyricist and singer and an excellent guitar player, as well as recently starring in The West Wing!"
More here.
Thad Cockrell Tue 2nd @ Britons Protection
Laura Veirs Sat 5th @ The Roadhouse
Jill Sobule Mon 7th @ Retro Bar
Melys + Persil Wed 9th @ Star & Garter
Jeep Solid Sun 13th @ Retro Bar
Econoline + Dead Men Win Fights Mon 28th @ Retro Bar
Patrick Wolf Thu 31st @ The Southern Hotel, Chorlton
What I've heard of Laura Veirs sounds great, and Jill Sobule comes with a great biog:
"For more than a decade Jill Sobule has been one of Pop Music's greatest subversive writers. Her songs have poked fun at lesbian chic, celebrity obsession and production line pop babes. They have also dealt with drug abuse, anorexia and America's Christian Fundamentalist movement, although always in her inimitable light hearted poppy style. After dropping out of college and formed her first band. After a spell working at a local restaurant, she moved to New York and got a record deal. Whilst waitressing in New York in between recording, she served Madonna and Sandra Bernhardt who she described as "a horrible couple who didn't even leave me a tip" and got the idea for "Kissed a Girl". A jab at America's fascination with lesbianism, the song accidentally became an MTV hit. Now on the brink of releasing her 5th album, "Underdog Victorious", Jill is recognised as a witty, quirky lyricist and singer and an excellent guitar player, as well as recently starring in The West Wing!"
More here.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Must be drinking Petrus
Binge drinking costs £1 billion a year, says the Scotsman. Works out at £19,230,769 every weekend. And that doesn't include the taxi home.
We Should Let You All Burn
paraphrasing Basil Fawlty.
Deparmental heads came round the office today at 10.45 to tell everyone there would be a fire drill at 11.00. So half the staff got up and went over to the lockers and got their coats out, because it's much too cold outside to be standing there in just shirt and trousers. One enterprising individual, naming no names, went into the kitchen and put the kettles on so that we'd all have mugs of tea and coffee to take out with us. He should be promoted for his foresight and team spirit.
Of course, if a fire did start, the chances are we'd all be in the kitchen anyway.
Deparmental heads came round the office today at 10.45 to tell everyone there would be a fire drill at 11.00. So half the staff got up and went over to the lockers and got their coats out, because it's much too cold outside to be standing there in just shirt and trousers. One enterprising individual, naming no names, went into the kitchen and put the kettles on so that we'd all have mugs of tea and coffee to take out with us. He should be promoted for his foresight and team spirit.
Of course, if a fire did start, the chances are we'd all be in the kitchen anyway.
He'll Sell You the Rope to Hang Him With
In the January 31st issue of Business Week, Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean of the Yale School of Management, laments the amount of research and development being carried out in China by American companies, thereby "sharing America's intellectual treasures with a foreign rival in unprecedented ways." Washington must adapt to the reality, he says, that "U.S. multinationals' goals may no longer dovetail with national interests."
The Dean of the Yale School of Management has just joined the 20th century.
Just.
The Dean of the Yale School of Management has just joined the 20th century.
Just.
Vox Populi, Vox Me
Muammar Gaddafi interviewed in the February 7th edition of Time:
Time: Given Foreign and Local Skepticism, Is Libya Really Reforming Itself?
Gaddafi: About the economy, quite possible. We have begun to apply the Green Book. It's what we call popular socialism and what Thatcher calls popular capitalism. Elections? What for? We have surpassed that stage you are presently in. All the people are in power now. Do you want them to regress and elect somebody to replace them?
Time: What Do Libyans Tell You?
Gaddafi: If you put them in paradise, they will still complain. (Laughs) Libyans are in paradise.
Time: Given Foreign and Local Skepticism, Is Libya Really Reforming Itself?
Gaddafi: About the economy, quite possible. We have begun to apply the Green Book. It's what we call popular socialism and what Thatcher calls popular capitalism. Elections? What for? We have surpassed that stage you are presently in. All the people are in power now. Do you want them to regress and elect somebody to replace them?
Time: What Do Libyans Tell You?
Gaddafi: If you put them in paradise, they will still complain. (Laughs) Libyans are in paradise.
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