UMd. says adios to telnet access for student email

For the hell of it I was dicking around with telnet on my web browser and entered the address of the email server I logged onto as a student at Maryland. I can honestly say during my tenure, I never used a web-based method of accessing those emails, except maybe once or twice. I think for the first year or two there was no web-based method and the other two I just was too darn comfortable with telnet, no HTML emails, just unadulterated unformatted text, although I did use my Yahoo! account frequently as well.

Anyway, as of 1 August 2005, UMD will thoroughly do away with telnet to access email:

Security Alert: Removal of Services using Cleartext

Network programs such as telnet, ftp, and common e-mail protocols transfer data across the network unencrypted (in the clear) on the network and are therefore exposed to programs capable of capturing traffic as it flows from one device to another. Exposing accounts, passwords, and data in this manner not only makes our systems vulnerable, it puts the University at risk of violating federal privacy regulations.

As a result, effective August 1, 2005, OIT will no longer provide telnet or ftp services on any of the following public systems: WAM, Glue, and Deans.

Effective October 1, 2005, OIT will no longer provide non-secure e-mail (imap and pop) services on any of the following public systems: WAM, Glue, Deans and Mail@umd.

Replacing telnet

The remote terminal capabilities of the telnet program will be replaced by ssh, which is available on all major computing platforms at no cost. ssh, short for "secure shell," encrypts all data transmitted on the network.

Another thing. My email username was four character long, and looking back nostalgically the other day, I tried to use that username to sign up another Google account, but alas, they have to be 7 characters in length or so at least. And to think back in my day when I'd frequently get my Telnet on and flame people with incendiary diatribe emails, our usernames were LIMITED to eight characters in length.

Lunchbox

What's with the name change? Well, I now have a personal blog:

Juicy Pork Buns

And Lunchbox is my nickname bestowed upon me many moons ago over pizza and the great Kevin Smith classic, Mallrats. So I decided to write at JPBs as Lunchbox and to keep consistency, changed the name over here at RM too. Besides, if Ken can change his name, so can I.

Name Tags

The 5th is now Lunchbox.

Why? I'll post more about that later.

e-Daredevil

That non-deaf, non-dumb, but blind kid sure plays a mean Mortal Kombat:

And as he easily dispatched foes who took him on recently at a Lincoln gaming center, the affable and smiling Mellen remained humble.

"I can't say that I'm a superpro," he said, working the controller like an extension of his body. "I can be beat."

Those bold enough to challenge him weren't so lucky. One by one, while playing "Soul Caliber 2," their video characters were decapitated, eviscerated and gutted without mercy by Mellen's on-screen alter ego.

"I'm getting bored," Mellen said in jest as he won game after game.

Blind since birth when his optic nerve didn't connect because of Leber's disease, Mellen honed his video game skills over the years through patient and not-so-patient playing, memorizing key joystick operations and moves in certain games, asking lots of questions and paying particular attention to audio cues. He worked his way up from games such as "Space Invaders" and "Asteroid," onto the modern combat games.

Friday Gatling Blog: SuperUltraHyperMajinSaiyajin Edition

Soooooo, the Gatling Blog is out of the shop after a long period of maintenance and repairs. And the fire rate is much, much faster now. I bring you the first Gatling Blog since it's hiatus, and it's a doozy! Presented in no particular order, whether it be ideology, topic, or my level of agreement with them.

Donklephant theorizes on pacifism, Ghandi, Churchill, the Holocaust, World War II, and the War on Terror in a thought-provoking piece.

Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler wails on UK-style closed circuit cameras and the proposal to institute them in the U.S.

RConversation further questions Cisco's relationship with the Chinese government.

Pandagon has data on Americans' level of ignorance when it comes to what the Bible actually says.

Archpundit takes a closer look at Rovescandalo!'s prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald.

Blackfive doubts the feasibility of the proposed troop draw-down in Iraq.

Daily Pundit agrees with Coulter, still squeamish about Roberts' commitment to the conservative cause.

Booker Rising profiles the proto-campaign for Steele's Senate run.

The Talking Dog castigates the Democrats' blind protectionist stance against CAFTA.

Virginia Centrist wonders if Kilgore's as right-wing as we think.

A Silent Cacophony finds a possible Ethics scandal with Rep. Sensenbrenner.

Southern Appeal continues a provocative 9th Amendment rant.

Red Hot Cuppa Politics denounces the widespread harassment of military families, with some particularly disturbing examples.

Balloon Juice calls "flip-flopper" on Frist for his Stem-Cell reversal.

Rantingprofs exposes more about the cold-blooded London terrorists.

Gateway Pundit illuminates the voter fraud scandals committed by Democrats in St. Louis.

Tigerhawk rubs the NYT's face in their bad economic predictions.

Ezra Klein makes the case that universal health care could be the basis of a new Democratic majority.

Futurepundit, the real expert, analyzes what scientific benefits (or lack thereof) we can expect from the Energy Bill.

The Speculist sees breakthroughs in AI and the possibility of artificial brains.

Respectful Insolence (from last week) brings us the Skeptics' Circle, a different kind of "Carnival."

Dean's World thinks ideological civil war within Islam is getting more intense.

Smash doesn't dig "Over There." And he's been "Over There", so he'd know.

Ambivablog investigates the latest fatwas. Is the one everyone is chattering about bogus? Answers at 11.

Random Fate froths about Lance Armstrong and "patriotism."

The Debate Link heckles the new Pope on his attitudes toward Israel and Jews.

RudePundit misses Old Labor.

DCeiver dissects Hill Hotties.

Friday Nostalgia Overdrive

Does anyone remember Bionic Commando? That game was awesome! Especially the music. The 3-way gun ruled!

And yes, there will be a Gatling Blog today, after a long Hiatus. And it will be a WHOPPER.

WTOP: Wasting Time On-Air with Plotkin

Our old buddy Mark Plotkin has another petty DC voting rights-tangent stick up his arse and it has to do with ESPN:

D.C. Excluded From ESPN

Phone number to call ESPN to voice your displeasure that D.C. is not included in ESPN's Best of the 50 States is 1-860-766-2000. The person to contact is Mark Shapiro, president of ESPN.

The number was mentioned on The Politics Program on July 22, 2005.

WTOP used to be my favorite radio station that doesn't play songs, now I can honestly say I don't listen to it more than maybe 5-10 minutes max a work week. Not all because of Plotkin, but he's a part of it. Whiney, one-issue liberals don't really entice me to stay tuned when I can be getting my news and views on with say Michael "really had too much sugar with my five cups of morning coffee" Graham!

But anyway, back to ESPN's 50 states gimmick. Since Plotkin is going to continue carping about DC supposedly being dissed, I'll whine about this crap:

Maryland Facts
Statehood:	1788
Capital:	Annapolis
Bird:	Baltimore Oriole
Highest Point:	Backbone Mountain (3,360 ft.)
Motto:	Strong deeds, gentle words
Nickname:	Old Line State

Um, no, the Italian motto---Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine---means "manly deeds, womanly words," I guess which would translate for the more common folk as, "broads talk while guys get stuff done." It was only recently that PC loonies in the state government worked out a revision of the translation which would not offend feminists, while making linguists and Italian speakers everywhere rend their track suits in mourning before ordering Guido to leave a horse's head in Kim Gandy's bed.

This is why I hate professional classical musicians...

...and why I will forbid my kid(s) from joining the school dorkestra as opposed to say the jazz band.

Young pianist sues over 'humiliation'

Jul. 28, 2005 at 11:31PM

A teenage pianist claims a competition director who rushed onstage and shut the keyboard cover on his fingers ruined his Carnegie Hall debut.
Bryan O'Lone, 16, filed a defamation suit against Yelena Ivanov, founder of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey, saying he was "humiliated" by her alleged behavior during his June 12 recital at New York's revered concert hall, the New York Post reported Thursday.
O'Lone said Ivanov told him at the last minute he would have to play a Beethoven piece instead of the Chopin he had prepared for the concert.
As he started to play the Beethoven piece anyway, Ivanov ran onstage and "started to close the lid on my fingers ... hard enough that I felt that if I didn't move my fingers they would be smashed between the cover and the keyboard," O'Lone, of Vineland, told the Post.
Ivanov's daughter, Lana, who is named in the suit as the competition's executive director, told the Post O'Lone's charges were "total lies."

Hemlock for Helen?

I think with her age and arthritis and what not, hemlock would be the way to go.

I hate to disappoint the suicidal Marxist matron of the White House press corps, but I'm a George Allen man myself.

[via Drudge]

REPORTER VOWS TO 'KILL SELF' IF CHENEY RUNS FOR PRESIDENT
Thu Jul 28 2005 15:32:13 ET

Veteran wire reporter Helen Thomas is vowing to 'kill herself' if Dick Cheney announces he is running for president.

The newspaper HILL first reported the startling claim on Thursday.

MORE

"The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself," she told the HILL. "All we need is one more liar."

Thomas added, "I think he'd like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does."

MORE

Who's Next?

I realize that sometimes I get excited too easily. While many people remain skeptical about the IRA’s official renouncement of violence, I see this as a big step. It's worth getting excited about because we are seeing a terrorist group choosing to devote its resources to political means to achieve its ends. And with this decision, it looks like Britain is willing to try a greater degree of home rule in Northern Ireland.

The events of September 11, 2001 made many people aware of the hypocrisy of supporting so-called freedom fighters in Ireland while at the same time feeling enraged by the terrorists attacking the US (this is certainly the case with many Irish-Americans who had IRA sympathies).

This decision has been a very long time coming, but I think it teaches us some lessons. This recent call to disarm and pursue political and democratic means teaches us that getting terrorist groups involved in the government politically can slowly moderate them and move them away from terrorism. My hope is that this is what will one day happen with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine. Don't misunderstand me though, I do not favor inviting terrorist groups to have an active role in government while they continue violent uprisings. Instead they should be invited to the table only during cease fires and times of peace. Otherwise, they need to be shut out. This sends the clear message that their violent actions do not help them achieve their goals.

In the meantime though, let’s be thankful that we can put the violence in Northern Ireland behind us, and hopefully have no more Bloody Sundays (or any other bloody day of the week) ahead of us.

AFL-CIO... SEIU?

The Wall Street Journal has a good article on the upheaval inside the AFL-CIO. One of the more interesting points is that there still appears to be high demand for unions among workers, even though membership might be down. They make a good point that the nature of the workforce and the role of unions is changing. Apparently AFL-CIO isn't changing with the times. But SEIU on the other hand has been successful due the ability to be creative and meet the different needs of the different types of employees they seek out. If the article is correct, SEIU could lead the way in the changing (and flexible) nature of unions.

China Got Problems

First SARS. Then Asian Bird Flu. Now Asian Swine Flu?

Bombay Turns Into Just Plain Bay

More than a third got submerged as a result of yesterday's flooding in India. Rainfall of up to three feet in certain places splashed over India for two days, killing 99 in the deluge. Reports Indy:

Railway stations across the city were crammed with hundreds of thousands of people, stranded after all train services were cancelled. Electricity and phone lines were cut. India's largest city and financial capital, home to 13 million inhabitants and the Bollywood film industry, has ground to a halt.

The international airport, the busiest in India, was closed for a second day as the runway was still flooded. International flights were being diverted to Delhi, 700 miles away.

At least 99 confirmed deaths were reported in just two days across Maharashtra, with 130 people missing and feared trapped after their village was flattened by a mudslide caused by the rain. In the city, office workers walked and waded home or slept at work. Hundreds of children had to spend the night at their schools.

Jayant Shah walked through the night from his office to get to his daughter. "It was safer that my daughter was in school because I was stuck in my office. I'm trying to reach her school after walking and hopping in and out of buses," he said.

Monsoons are not uncommon in India, but this one was a catastrophe like none seen before it. Bombay, being a modern city, is going to experience a lot more economic damage and loss to its operations because of this. In the U.S. the lack of power in major cities after Hurricanes can often cause millions and millions of dollars in loss to businesses in not just property damage but dropoff in activity and sales volume, and this is far worse than many hurricanes. It's always tough for developing nations to face crises, but in a hub of activity it will strike even worse. Yet more ominous:

The Bombay rainfall may be a world record for a single day. It broke the Indian record of 83.82cm, held by Cherrapunji since 1910; Cherrapunji, known as the "rainiest place on earth", still holds the record for annual rainfall. But Cherrapunji is on the top of a hill, so does not flood easily. Bombay is built across low-lying islands.

Last night, weather forecasters were predicting that the rain would be continuing for a further 48 hours yet.

Makes our flood warnings in the U.S. look pathetic.

Space: The Final Tourist Trap

Discovery's launch Tuesday had a lot of mixed messages and results attached to it, especially for NASA and space flight in general. First, the negatives. As President Bush watched on his tiny TV, Discovery had a perfect launch. Or, seemingly perfect. A chunk of insulating foam was found detaching, but thankfully didn't seem to do any damage to Discovery. It was a "lucky" outcome for the malfunction, which has grounded the shuttle fleet for the foreseeable future. This is a setback, as Russia will have to continue to service the International Space Station, and continues to make space flight look dangerous to a wary public. The bad news, in a nutshell, is that NASA has egg on its face, and must fight again to justify its funding and existence. At least there's a sympathetic President to lend a hand. NASA, always a progressive force for space activities and science, will have to limp forward.

Then, two recent pieces of good news related to space. Russia's state-run Space Tourism has booked another passenger, and a program to provide $100M trips to the moon is in the works. Richard Branson and Burt Rhutan, of SpaceShipOne and X-Prize fame, are also stepping up the plate to offer flights in 2008 into space for $200,000. This is the good news, a proto-industry for space tourism is further along than the dreamy stages of pre-production, but is about to really gain steam. Branson is obviously a risk taker, and so are the Russians, but with these trailblazers at high prices hopefully future developments will allow for cheaper pricetags. This is the good news. NASA falters, but at the same time more options and players are entering the scene to take up NASA's slack. And these are players who aren't subject to the whims of busybody Congressmen (just eccentrics like Vladimir Putin and Richard Branson). Unlike a lot of people who want NASA out of the business, I think the private sector isn't completely ready for primetime yet. NASA will still need to do a lot of basic space research, and will likely always shoulder the burden when it comes to hard-core risky space exploration. This typical of government's role in all science and R&D. Undoubtedly the private sector is ready to enter the game, but for a long time the vast resources of government will still have an important role to play.

One thing is for sure: the space shuttles are rickety mess. It's time to move on. NASA needs to get its space plain off the cinderblocks sooner rather than later. The Shuttle fleet is no longer dependable, and a credible alternative is a necessity if the U.S. wants to be in the space business.

He . . . Lives . . . AGAIN!

Thanks to Defamer.

CAFTAeine

CAFTA was passed by the House late last night. This is one fight I am happy the House Democrats lost, considering this sample here:

During last night's debate, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, the bitterness of the Democrats' opposition shone through in condemnations such as that by Ohio's Dennis J. Kucinich, who thundered: "CAFTA is for multinational companies who want to make a profit by shutting plants in the United States and moving to places with cheap labor."

Of course, Dennis. This has nothing to do with where the work can be done better and more cheaply somewhere else. Or getting much needed investment to poorer countries so they can build their economies. Or with Americans getting goods cheaper from places that aren't despotic tyrannies like China. Sheesh.

CAFTA is a good thing because it will accomplish all of the above. For all rabid fair-traders out there, you should realize that CAFTA essentially just formalizes a bunch of bilateral agreements that already exist into a multilateral framework. Some of the changes are dramatic, but most of them are mundane and marginal. The FTAA is a more dramatic piece, but the CAFTA is going to build a bridge to that. I'm a free-trader, obviously unapologetically because trade helps build the economies of poorer countries, but I think incremental steps are better to take. CAFTA will allow all the Central American countries to better prepare for a Free Trade Area of the Americas framework, among many other beneficial things. It's a victory for a Bush, and for everyone.

Come on in, the Kool-Aid's fine

Give me a shot of whatever they're drinking at the AFL-CIO convention in Chicago!

They reelected a miserable failure, John Sweeney, as commissar-in-chief of the dying labor behemoth, the AFL-CIO despite labor having seen a steady decline in both membership and political clout over Sweeney's tenure. If I were a crazed liberal activist, I'd think somehow Sweeney was a Karl Rove plant and part and parcel of the Bush plan for turning America into Dubya's one party nation-state under Rove with Hannitization for all.

Vacation

Forgot to tell you gents, and our reading public (all, what, ten of them?) I'm on vacation. Spent the last few days at Jesus at the Beach in Ocean City, MD. Now just chillin for the next few. Any one-to-two day road trip ideas?

Coalition For Darfur: Witness

Two weeks ago, the Center for American Progress and the Genocide Intervention Fund launched a joint initiative known as "Be A Witness" built around a petition calling on television networks to increase their coverage of the genocide in Darfur.

As "Be a Witness" noted

During June 2005, CNN, FOX News, NBC/MSNBC, ABC, and CBS ran 50 times as many stories about Michael Jackson and 12 times as many stories about Tom Cruise as they did about the genocide in Darfur.

This week, tireless Sudan advocate Nicholas Kristof took up the call and chastised the press for its lack of Darfur coverage

If only Michael Jackson's trial had been held in Darfur. Last month, CNN, Fox News, NBC, MSNBC, ABC and CBS collectively ran 55 times as many stories about Michael Jackson as they ran about genocide in Darfur.

Shortly thereafter, Editor and Publisher printed a piece reporting

New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof's attack on the press for underreporting the atrocities and genocide in Darfur, which ran in today's paper, has drawn the ire of some newspaper editors who said they are doing the best they can with what they have.

In this piece, USA Today Foreign Editor James Cox offered a partial but important explanation for the dearth of coverage

Cox pointed to a two-day series USA Today ran in May on Darfur, stressing the difficulty the paper had in even getting a visa for reporter Rick Hampson to travel there. "It was excruciatingly difficult to get the permission," he said. "We had an application that had been stalled for months."

Sudan does not want journalists freely traveling around Darfur for the sole reason that their reports are going to reveal the true nature of Khartoum's genocidal campaign.

Considering this basic fact in conjunction with the efforts currently underway to expand the African Union mission in Darfur, it might behoove all involved to consider embedding journalists with the AU just as the US did during the initial weeks of the war in Iraq.

People want information about Darfur; journalists want access to Darfur; and the UN and AU want (or at least should want) to disseminate information regarding to crisis in Darfur as widely as possible.

The US and NATO are currently providing key logistical support to the AU mission and ought to insist that any reporter who wants access to Darfur be assigned to and granted protection by an AU patrol force.

Brian Steidle served with the AU in Darfur for six months before eventually resigning his position so that he could share his photos with the world.

Steidle is a hero for doing this - but it shouldn't take personal acts of sacrifice and courage to make the world aware of the genocide in Darfur.

Scopes Revisited

Given the intense rekindling of evolution vs. creationism lately, I thought I might be interested in picking up Summer for the Gods, the 1997 book that sets out to give us "just the facts" and the real facts behind the Scopes trial. However, now I have no need to because Orin Kerr read it and gives us all the best parts and conclusions. Thanks, Orin!

The African Connection

Suspects in the recent London bombings include two Somalis who traveled to the UK on Kenyan passports. Why is this important?

US agents say they have new evidence that militant groups with links to Al-Qaeda have set up bases in lawless pockets of Somalia and Ethiopia, and smuggled their trained recruits in and out of Kenya.

The organisers of the new camps are said to be veterans of training camps in Afghanistan.

UN investigators said that the groups had set up their camps along the Kenyan coastal strip and in North Eastern province. Supporters of Osama bin Laden have long used the region as a sanctuary. Terror groups sponsored by Al-Qaeda set up bases in 1996 in Lamu and at Ras Kiamboni, on the Kenya-Somalia border.

Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the British government had not officially informed the Kibaki Administration of other possible link.

Also:

The two, who police say were originally from Somalia, were now on the run and might have fled to Holland, where there is a big Somali community.


Officers from UK's metropolitan police anti-terror unit might fly to Nairobi this week as the search widens, a Yard spokesman said.

Anti-terror police in London say they believe there is an active Al Qaeda cell in Kenya, and want to question people believed to be connected with it.

Al Qaeda has always had substantial operations in Africa, and with the Middle East on fire currently it remains a safe haven of failed and barely-functioning states for the terrorist networks to operate within. Again, I'll re-articulate this was one reason I was opposed to the Iraq war, because I thought more attention should have been given to Al Qaeda operations in Sudan, Yemen, and other such countries. Having been neglected for awhile, those chickens are coming home to roost. I would recommend the Bush Administration, Condi, or Rummy, or whoever needs to get on the African Union about this issue. While it's difficult for those states to sometimes enforce their own laws, or even collect their own taxes for that matter, action needs to begin. This cannot be handled through Visas and immigration policy alone.

NARAL vs. Roberts

NARAL is going hog-wild in an attempt to rip Roberts a new one. Not only do they have a letter generator on their front page, but they've also assembled a laughably miniscule document in an attempt to highlight his hostility towards reproductive rights (which they can only fill one page of, even though it's bulleted!) Personally I like Mr. Sun's letter-generator better. And yes, I'm feeling particularly generous toward Mr. Sun today.

I think NARAL's goods on what should be the most climactic battle for them in years are surprisingly hollow, shrill, and unconvincing. They try to stretch out his few years as Deputy Solicitor General for George I into an indictment that is just unconvincing. NARAL isn't going to win this fight, Roberts will be confirmed, and NARAL will suffer yet another in a series of defeats against conservatives. Why? I make the following statement not lightly: NARAL has become the Family Research Council of the left. In other words, a harsh ideological polarizer that does nothing but discredit those it supports in the eyes of mainstream Americans.

A few months ago, I saw a NARAL staffer give a talk to the Arlington Democrats, and was almost amazed at how far off the deep end these people are. While I'm sympathetic to, but far from completely convinced by, pro-choice arguments, NARAL accepts them like dogma and speaks them with a one-note zeal that would make Christian Fundamentalists jealous. I watched this NARAL staffer blast a number of Democrats who were "mixed choice" (basically meaning she was bashing me and my views), saying they really just lacked the spine to be true pro-choice, and said in so many words that anyone who was really mixed choice or pro life didn't belong in the Democratic party. She even said that Democrats shouldn't even allow the pro-choice component of the party to come under debate, because "Republicans would love to see us fight over our own values." That's right, don't question the dogma.

What blew me away was the constant effort, similar to the far right-wing groups, to completely deny any attempt to make the party a bigger tent. She even blasted Harry Reid and disparaged that the Democrats would pick someone with pro-life tendencies to be a leader! The only thing she didn't do was take a swipe at Tim Kaine, mostly because that probably would've caused the crowd to finally rise against her madness. Many people on the right-wing would say "well of course NARAL is crazy," but I'm just making the point to both righties and lefties here that there is definitely a symmetry. The same holds for all the right wing groups that denounce every Republican with pro-choice tendencies, though I've got to admit the Republican party is more accepting of that position than the Democrats are of their own members with pro-life tendencies.

But back to Roberts. I think the more these groups raise the bar about how dangerous he is with hysterical and unconvincing evidence, the worse they are going to look when Roberts is confirmed. It may help in the short-term with fundraising, but in the long-term it is only going to make them look more ideological and less effective.

How the DLC Understands Chainz

For a long time, I felt like I was only getting two sides to the issues. There was either the left, or the right – Democrat or Republican. And in that regard, I seemed to only hear the extreme sides. This was especially true while I was an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts. The campus, in western Massachusetts, was naturally very liberal, and the few conservative voices would react from the very opposite side of the spectrum (and their goal was usually just to aggravate the left). In siding with the extreme left, I thought I had found my place. But at times I was troubled. After learning more about the situation, I couldn’t side with those who thought the Palestinian intifadas were reasonable responses to their situation. But I certainly didn’t see Israel’s role as faultless either. And although I think the death penalty is wrong in principle as well as unfairly applied, I had trouble believing that Mumia Abu-Jamal was falsely convicted. I think women should have the right to have abortions, but I think we should direct as much attention as we can to making them rare – with family planning as one way of achieving that.

It was when I started seriously thinking about the Iraq War, and when I joined Restless Mania in February and began posting my thoughts on it, that I realized how far I was from many of the Democratic politicians. I was not opposed to our use of force without UN approval in theory – but I didn’t think Iraq was where our attention needed to be to fight the GWOT. It seemed to me that most on the left didn’t want us using force anywhere – and I certainly didn’t agree with that either. Writing for this blog helped me understand my own thinking a lot better – and I realized that the Democrat I am is very different from the Kennedy, Kerry, or Dean types of Democrat.

But at first I still didn’t know where my more moderate stances would be appreciated or which candidates would fit with my ideology. The reason I have been such a big supporter of Thomas Friedman and Senator Biden (as well as Senator McCain and Colin Powell) is because they were the only ones talking about foreign policy in an intelligent way. And when I finally became aware of bloggers like Bull Moose and New Donkey, it was an amazing discovery for me. This is why I have been following the recent reports from the DLC National Conversation with such interest. This organization is promoting the type of moderate thinking the Democratic Party needs. They are willing to talk about values and religion without turning the government into a Christian theocracy. They believe in helping those at the bottom of our society, but they also believe in responsibility. And most importantly, they believe in spreading "greater political and economic freedom" throughout the world. We certainly need to be willing to criticize policies from the right, but we also have to have reasonable alternatives – and that is something the far left has lacked lately. In the DLC, I see the reasonable alternatives that need to be offered – alternatives that can be accepted by a majority of Americans.

So now you know more about where I am coming from, and why I will be paying particular attention to the New Donkey, the Moose, and the DLC.

HP Is Doomed. . .DOOOOMMMMED!

HP is scheduled to dump a buttload of its employees in an effort to save itself from financial disaster. The job cuts are a non-trivial 14,500 and amount to 10% of the workforce of the firm. The move is an attempt to simplify and refocus HP's activities and structure. This is the opposite of what Carly Fiorina, the ex-CEO (who everyone thought was great but just ended up being an incompetent windbag), wanted to do. Carly's plan was to transform and expand HP's business well outside their fiefdom of printer domination to more plasma TVs, more PCs, and even IT services and consulting like IBM. Turned out to be a not-so-great idea, since the IT services and consulting market is just about one of the most flooded services markets. A lot of the cuts and changes are direct contradictions to what Carly tried to do, including vivisecting her Customer Solutions Group and breaking up the PC and printer divisions (which Carly had unwisely fused together). The Reaction, well, reacts to what the consequences of Carly's actions are:

14,500 HP employees will soon be paying the price for executive incompetence -- because, in today's corporate America, share price means more than loyalty. 3,000 employees have already been laid off this year, and another 17,900 were let go after HP's failed merger with Compaq in 2002. Do the math. Fiorina walks away with $51.5 million while 35,400 employees, many of whom no doubt face hardship or worse, are terminated.

That's obscene. Truly, utterly, and outrageously obscene.

It is kinda sick, and another example of idiotic CEO's jumping out of the office building with their golden parachutes while everything around them burns to the ground. And it's said Carly has political ambitions too! I hope someone remembers this story when that time comes. Meanwhile, Mr. Sun has a much funnier take on HP's downward spiral, including his predictions as to what jobs and positions are going to be let go.

Iraqi Constitution Gets Bronx Cheer

The leaked drafts of the Iraqi Constitution are getting mixed reviews. They run from lukewarm support to skepticism to genuine disapproval. There was great hope after the Purple Revolution and January 30th that perhaps Iraq wasn't going to go the way of Iran, that it would become more of a Western-style democracy. The Constitution doesn't inspire confidence in this regard. For native Iraqi criticism and great translated excerpts from the Arabic document, go to Mr. Omar at Iraq The Model, who is very unhappy.

Here are the troubling points, as Omar sees it and of course many others as well:

1) Islamism. The document refers to the Islamic Republic of Iraq. Ouch. Also, it says Islam is the official state religion and that all laws passed in Iraq must flow from Islam and not contradict Islam's teaching. Basically, Iraq=Iran, or something near that. While there's no Guardian Council, there's is no separation between mosque and state. What's that, Christian Right? I thought this was the exact kind of thing you wanted!

2) Family Values. The constitution states that the family shall be based on patriot, religious, and ethical values. Also, it defines that there is Equality between men and women based on Islamic teachings (say what?). Basically, this is a tough one because while it says women are equal before the law, this is based on rather thin religious notions and prevailing norms. It asserts it, but leaving it open to the prevailing social mores to interpret and enforce. Given the Middle East's record with feminism of even the most minimal persuasion and certain comments by now-powerful Iraqi politicians (al-Sadr), this ain't so good.

However, there's good bits in there about establishing rule of law, and how no one can be arrested without judicial warrants, and how the military cannot use oppressive force against ordinary citizens, and how violence, racism, and terrorism are banned as a basis for a political party. So: a mixed bag. Despite the fact that Omar's incline is to vote "no", he states that even if this draft were to pass it would clearly be better than anything under Saddam's lawless time.

And I'll Form The Head

In a blow to Transformers afficionados everywhere, some nostalgic studio execs have morphed another 80's classic into a live action movie. Voltron!!!! With Pharrell Williams.

Columbus Clippers

It sounds like there is optimism abound at the DLC National Conversation. Both New Donkey and Bull Moose are saying that talks have been positive and the info sessions have been very well attended. It is exciting indeed to see such excitement and activity from moderate Democrats.

GWOT Out, GSAVE In

Pentagon and Bush Administration leaders have announced that the Global War on Terror shall no longer be called that, but instead should be called the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. This is become a source of relentless mocking, but actually it seems there is some thought behind this:

Administration and Pentagon officials say the revamped campaign has grown out of meetings of President Bush's senior national security advisers that began in January, and it reflects the evolution in Mr. Bush's own thinking nearly four years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mr. Rumsfeld spoke in the new terms on Friday when he addressed an audience in Annapolis, Md., for the retirement ceremony of Adm. Vern Clark as chief of naval operations. Mr. Rumsfeld described America's efforts as it "wages the global struggle against the enemies of freedom, the enemies of civilization."

The shifting language is one of the most public changes in the administration's strategy to battle Al Qaeda and its affiliates, and it tracks closely with Mr. Bush's recent speeches emphasizing freedom, democracy and the worldwide clash of ideas.

"It is more than just a military war on terror," Steven J. Hadley, the national security adviser, said in a telephone interview. "It's broader than that. It's a global struggle against extremism. We need to dispute both the gloomy vision and offer a positive alternative."

The language shifts also come at a time when Mr. Bush, with a new appointment for one of his most trusted aides, Karen Hughes, is trying to bolster the State Department's efforts at public diplomacy.

I thought it was kind of ridiculous, and thought of what it would sound like if you substitute Bush's talking points on "terror" with "violent extremism" and "war" with "struggle" and had to snicker at the notion. The more I think about this rhetorical shift, the more I think it may be a good idea. It sounds more like a history chapter than "global war on terror" and also does indicate the more multi-faceted nature of the situation we're in. It weakens Bush's image as a "War President" to speak this way, but he did say he wanted to be a "Peace President" during the 2004 election (well at least for about 2 weeks before that tested very poorly). It does make it easier to incorporate the spread of democracy and freedom into a "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism" as opposed to just a "War on Terror", and highlights how certain ideas are just as troubling and problematic as the methods used to push them.

No One Over 18 Allowed

When I saw the headline for this Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, I thought there was no way I would agree with it. The founders implemented life tenure for Supreme Court judges to insulate them from the whims of the majority and there was no way I could be convinced otherwise. Well, after actually reading the column with a relatively open mind, I think I am on board. Although I don't think there is any chance this could happen, I do think 18 year term limits (grandfathered in, of course) would be a good idea. Justices are staying on the Supreme Court way too long, which is both a function of the importance of the court's decisions and the ego that some justices have. Many want to retire only when there is a chance of a like-minded justice to replace them - while others just want to hold on as long as they can. Chief Justice Rehnquist is proving this point perfectly, but he isn't the only one in recent history to have stayed too long.

As for the intention of the founders - I think an 18 year term is enough to insulate them from political whims, while also allowing for younger and more mentally agile justices to take over. With a new justice taking over every two years, all presidents would have two appointments to make per term. Liberals might not like the idea when someone like President Bush serves two terms, but he was elected twice and based on that deserves to make appointments to the court. This might also force voters to think more about who they are electing to the presidency and the impact that will have on the Supreme Court.

I think this is only a good idea because the problem of justices serving too long has been a recent development. It was something the founders likely never foresaw; but now that we are facing it, we need to do something about it.

Paintings By Biff

I am RINO, hear me roar.

Our buddy over at Countertop Chronicles provides us with this week's latest RINO roundup.

Roberts Scandal!

Kaus:

Supreme Court nominee John Roberts appears to drive a Chrysler PT Cruiser. This may be the scariest thing I've heard about him. ... An ugly, immature attempt at returning to an earlier era! Is that what the Constitution will look like after Roberts is through with it? Probe this issue thoroughly, Sen. Schumer!

Abstract Screed: Pluralism vs. Multiculturalism

Oversized post alert.

One of the most troubling questions of our times has been what the role of multiculturalism and pluralism in our society should be. Floating around since 7/7 there's been a lot of different motifs and memes related to or invoking multiculturlism that have really reverberated through all of the GWOT. One of them is of course the ridiculous leftist notion that somehow we as a civilization or our governments are to blame for the actions of a few fanatics. Imagine this or dub this argument multiculturalism on steroids. Another is the slightly less ridiculous, though still wrongheaded right-wing notion that somehow multiculturalism is to blame. That the toleration of Muslim cultural differences and sometimes extremism in our midst has allowed the terrorists to happen is a version of this virulent anti-multiculturalism. Mark Steyn in the Australian reeks of this attitude while describing a real-life encounter between a USDA bureaucrat and Mohammad Atta. Atta wanted a farm-subsidy to build America's biggest crop-duster, and went to speak to Johnelle Bryant at the USDA about it. The meeting went as follows, in Steyn's words:

The meeting got off to a rocky start when Atta refused to deal with Bryant because she was but a woman. But, after this unpleasantness had been smoothed out, things went swimmingly. When it was explained to him that, alas, he wouldn't get the 650 grand in cash that day, Atta threatened to cut Bryant's throat. He then pointed to a picture behind her desk showing an aerial view of downtown Washington - the White House, the Pentagon et al - and asked: "How would America like it if another country destroyed that city and some of the monuments in it?"

Fortunately, Bryant's been on the training course and knows an opportunity for multicultural outreach when she sees one. "I felt that he was trying to make the cultural leap from the country that he came from," she recalled. "I was attempting, in every manner I could, to help him make his relocation into our country as easy for him as I could."

So a few weeks later, when fellow 9/11 terrorist Marwan al-Shehhi arrived to request another half-million dollar farm subsidy and Atta showed up cunningly disguised with a pair of glasses and claiming to be another person entirely - to whit, al-Shehhi's accountant - Bryant sportingly pretended not to recognise him and went along with the wheeze. The fake specs, like the threat to slit her throat and blow up the Pentagon, were just another example of the multicultural diversity that so enriches our society.

By all means a story that chills anyone's blood. Anyone could take any number of lessons from this, about vigilance, about the limits of cross-cultural dialogue, about the evilness of farm subsidies, about the "ingenuity" of Al-Qaida operatives, or about the bumbling nature of the Federal Government's bureaucracy. Whatever. Steyn lumps the situation together with the horror Douglas Wood experienced at the hands of Iraqi insurgents and the subsequent reaction of Australia's left-wing press together and learns an altogether different lesson. That lesson is that multiculturalism has made us weak:

Usually it's the hostage who gets Stockholm Syndrome, but the newly liberated Wood must occasionally reflect that in this instance the entire culture seems to have caught a dose. And, in a sense, we have: multiculturalism is a kind of societal Stockholm Syndrome. Atta's meetings with Bryant are emblematic: He wasn't a genius, a master of disguise in deep cover; indeed, he was barely covered at all, he was the Leslie Nielsen of terrorist masterminds - but the more he stuck out, the more Bryant was trained not to notice, or to put it all down to his vibrant cultural tradition.

That's the great thing about multiculturalism: it doesn't involve knowing anything about other cultures - like, say, the capital of Bhutan or the principal exports of Malaysia, the sort of stuff the old imperialist wallahs used to be well up on. Instead, it just involves feeling warm and fluffy, making bliss out of ignorance. And one notices a subtle evolution in multicultural pieties since the Islamists came along. It was most explicitly addressed by the eminent British lawyer Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws, QC, who thought that it was too easy to disparage "Islamic fundamentalists". "We as western liberals too often are fundamentalist ourselves. We don't look at our own fundamentalisms."

It's an altogether easy trick to blame multiculturalism and decry. And multiculturalism does deserve perhaps some blame. With less of it, perhaps Atta might have been caught, but that's doubtful. Steyn also highlights that the attitude in the left-wing press of Australia has started to switch from multiculturalism to assimilationism in the wake of 9/11, a development Steyn sees as a good thing. Joseph Braude at TNR mentions a similar backlash against multiculturalism:

In the wake of the July 7 bombings in London, British pluralism finds itself on the defensive. The revelation that Muslims living in Britain may have carried out the attacks has led many Brits to question whether their government made a mistake by welcoming so many immigrants from Muslim countries over the years. A British Daily Mail editorial faulted the country's "political establishment" for having "so unthinkingly foisted multiculturalism on society. Hasn't it unwittingly encouraged separatism, alienation, and the ghetto mentality?" A contributor to The Times of London's op-ed page echoed this sentiment, writing that "Multiculturalism as a political ideology has helped to create a tribal Britain with no political or moral centre." Meanwhile, here in the United States, Newsday columnist James Pinkerton has written a string of pieces calling for crackdowns on immigration and get-tough policies toward Muslims in the West. "If a group can't be made, one way or another, to abide by the rules of its adopted home country, the group ought not to be living freely in that country," he wrote. Lamenting that "hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants are turning London into 'Londonistan,'" he urged Americans to "not let New York become 'New Yorkistan.'"

That is where any similarities between Braude and Steyn end. Braude latches onto a point about all of this, and that is multiculturalism's critical brother: pluralism. Pluralism is a pillar of liberalism and also one of conservatism. Just ask archconservative John Kekes (who wrote two books on the subject: A Case for Conservatism and The Morality of Pluralism). Braude's point in TNR is a smarter one that Is Multiculturalism Dangerous and Is It A Good Thing That Multiculturalism Is Dying? His question is: What is the correct and socially beneficial form of multiculturalism? Of course, the answer is pluralism.

But diaspora Muslims may, in the long run, be doing more than any government policy possibly could to undermine Islamist terror. That's because Muslims living in America and Europe are a key conduit for the diffusion of Western cultural values to North Africa and the Middle East. Chief among these values are family planning and the education of women. In the course of traveling to and from their countries of origin, keeping in touch with friends and family by email and phone, and remitting billions of dollars in cash to the region annually, Muslim expats are steadily, quietly influencing the life-cycle decisions of their extended families; and there is strong evidence that this has already translated into lower birth rates in most Arab countries.

[snip]

The arrival of the "demographic gift" has the potential to change all that, and should therefore be bright news for Arab reformers. The UNDP has thoroughly documented over the past few years how, from Morocco to Iran, birth rates are falling and, in some cases, falling dramatically. As more women demand education and use birth control, the number of under-15-year-old dependents is shrinking. Yet this hopeful shift is surprisingly alien to popular discussions of terrorism and the Middle East. Even less well known is the crucial role diaspora Muslims may have played in bringing it about.

People traffic means idea traffic. This simple point informs a landmark paper released at a U.N. conference last month by population studies scholar Philippe Fargues. The paper uses statistical data from the Middle East and North Africa to demonstrate convincingly that "international migration has contributed to contain the demographic explosion ... increas[ing] global security through demographic change. ... [B]ecause international migrants adopt for themselves, and send back to their home countries, models and ideas that prevail in host countries, they are susceptible to be agents of the diffusion of demographic modernity."

The security solution in terms of culture isn't too get wishy-washy lefty and try to do the terrorists' work of justifying their murders for them with relativist bullshit, nor is it to crack down and force assimilation and antagonism of Muslims. It is, instead, the wishy-washy act of engaging diasporic Muslims better. The worst kind of relativist multiculturalism isolates Muslims in the same way forced assimilation does. It doesn't engage in dialogue, it doesn't bring their communities into the fold, but isolates them by non-interference and non-engagement. That's just as bad as crushin