Ursine Rants

Unicorns, Leprechauns to Lebanon

2006-09-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Along with "A strong European presence":

in the south, serious U.S. training and equipment for the Lebanese army, and relentless pressure at the U.N....

And there will be fuzzy bunnies everywhere.

Before I started writing this, I was having difficulty imagining "strong" modifying "European presence." Then I remembered this. Although, I doubt those exercising their strength in Europe would consider themselves "European," so back to square one.

(Via an incredulous PowerLine blog.)

Mutant Blogging Powers Explained

2006-08-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Douglas Farah reveals that Iran is buying uranium from the mines

that allowed the United States to build its first atomic bombs used against Japan in 1995."

1995 was my first year in Japan, and even I didn't know about that. After those first ones, how many did we use against Japan in 1995? Although, this explains the gills and levitation abilities...

UPDATE: He already corrected it before I even got this post out. Darn, snark chance lost.

(Via Counterterrorism Blog.)

Emperor's New Trudge

2006-07-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Has David Spade joined the IDF?

(Via Israellycool.)

Middle East War in Morally Clear Nugget

2006-07-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Heard this morning on Dennis Prager's show from a caller who heard it on a competitor's program:

"If Hamas and Hizbullah disarmed, the war would stop tomorrow.
If Israel disarmed, the Jews of Israel would be dead tomorrow."

True enough, except that including the entire list of terrorist organizations and enemies of the Jewish people and Israel would sadly spoil the pithiness.

Critic Not Clear On Concept-ion

2006-07-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

As part of an exposé of the antisemitism of the New York Times, Ed Lasky at The American Thinker found this little gem:

Times film critic Stephen Holden "informed his readers that Orthodox Jews have a ‘fear and loathing of sex’ and that their women are ‘little more than baby making machines.’"

So does he think the Orthodox are amoebas, or androids?

(Via Michelle Malkin at Hot Air.)

First, Second Rate Annans Schooled

2006-07-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

By Professor Rice, Remedial Reality 101:

Rice to discuss ME with Annan, Solana: "UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said Rice's trip is meant to 'get everybody on the same page about the facts of what's happening in this very confusing situation.' "

Page 1:

Evil people hate Jews and God.
Evil people attack Jews and other God-fearing people.
Jews and other God-fearing people kill evil people; good people rejoice, relax, grow lazy.
Return to step 1., repeat until Messiah comes.

Still confused?

EU-bermensch Returns

2006-07-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Look! It's a dodo! It's a zeppelin! No, it's Europe-man: "Like a second-rate Kofi [Annan] he travels the world spreading the message of European superiority, feted by governments desperate for European money, a reinvented relic of Europe's colonial past, from the only European country still to possess a colony in the Arab world."

That's one sweet epithet.

(Via The Free West.)

Great Moments in Religion-Crushing Recalled

2006-07-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

There was this disturbing quote on Israellycool:

"According to a senior IDF source, crushing Hizbullah is not feasible since 'it is impossible to crush a popular, religious movement.'"

Before jumping to that conclusion, let's think about that. Off the top of my head:

Cult of Baal (and Molech, Asherah, etc.) in ancient Israel? Crushed!
Mayanism? Incan worship? Aztecs? Crushed!
Emperor worship in Imperial Japan? Crushed!
And, everybody's favorite, Branch Davidianism? Not just crushed, but Janet Renoed!!!

Maybe this general should read a MacArthur biography or something. If he doesn't cowboy up in a hurry, we should call Chuck Norris on him.

(Via Israellycool.)

Nit Picked

2006-07-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Washington Times report confirms Israel capable of air strike on Iran, which is excellent news. But there is this interesting quote:

"Tel Aviv has ratcheted up the volume in attacking the hard-line Islamic regime as it fights the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon."

Is that an impressively wrong typo for Jerusalem, i.e. an anthropomorphism of the capital representing the country's government? Or is that city in particular gung-ho for victory? Hopefully, this signifies the latter, but I'm afraid the real answer is the former. I hope Mr. Scarborough's other facts aren't also an hour's drive from the truth.

(Via Power Line.)

Iranian FM Fleeing

2006-07-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

from whom?:

"Report indicates that the Iranian FM will be sent to Damascus (i.e. hasn't been sent yet) for his own protection.

That is interesting, because it would then seem like Iran believes they are a more likely Israeli target than Syria."

Dave thinks Israel, but could he be afraid of warnings from "a number of European nations"? Or are Gorilla Boy and the Mullahs having a "meltdown", so to speak, over the progress of this proxy war, and looking for some banana to peel?

Unger-Madison Axis Fears Justified

2006-07-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Bill Kristol neatly summarizes the problem with Odd Couples:

"It's of course true that Hamas--an arm of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood--is at odds ideologically with Shia Iran, and that Shia and Sunni seem inclined to dislike, even slaughter, each other elsewhere in the Middle East. But temporary alliances of convenience are no less dangerous because they are temporary. Tell the Poles of 1939, and the French of 1940, that they really had little to worry about because the Nazi-Soviet pact was bound to fall apart."

(Via Dennis Prager)

New Type of Moral Confusion Discovered

2006-07-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here are the previously known positions on the Global War for Civilization, a.k.a. the War Against Islamonazism/Islamofascism/Totalitarian Islamism, a.k.a. War on Terror:

The United States can attack Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but should abandon Iraq. Israel should give up more land, create another Arab state in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and everybody will be swell.
Chimpy McBushitlerburton was the cause of 9/11, and there actually are no wars taking place. It's all just an excuse to TOTALLY DESTROY THE CONSTITUTION AND ROUND UP ALL PATRIOTIC DISSENTERS, MAN!!!!! Hold on, I've got to get the door... Hello? AAAARGGHHH!!...<thump>
Maybe we shouldn't have removed Saddam Hussein in 2003, but now that we're there, we must win.
The United States have an obligation to fight Islamist terror, but Israel should just live "side by side" with an explicitly anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic population and government which have no purpose other than to kill Jews and destroy Israel.
The Ahmadinewackjob koans:
Israel is like Hitler;
Hitler did nothing bad.

There was no Holocaust;
There should be a Holocaust.

If there had been a Holocaust,
The Jews would deserve a country in Europe.

Just send them to Alaska, Canada, or Germany,
Before we nuke them
With our entirely peaceful energy program.
(Via Mere Rhetoric)
"We would have preferred to hit a U.S. frigate, but no problem because they are all infidels."
Israel, the United States, Iraq, India, Indonesia, Thailand, England, Spain, France, Germany, Australia, Russia, Lebanon, Canada, and many others are all facing the same threat from Islamofascism, and we should recognize that reality as soon as possible and fight together for civilization.

Obviously I agree with the last one. But I heard a new opinion Friday night:

America should abandon the fight in Iraq and elsewhere, but Israel has the duty to take the battle to the terror masters in Damascus and Teheran and defeat them swiftly and decisively.

A belief in the "Israeli War Machine" of unprecedented proportions. It seems to be a tangy mélange of optimism, pessimism, and defeatism.

U.S. State Department Secedes, Enters E.U.

2006-07-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well, not quite yet, but I'm not sure what they're sticking around for. Maybe they're waiting to see if the Arab League will outbid them. After hundreds and hundreds of missile attacks from Hizbullah (or is it Hamas?), abductions, and at least 8 killed in Haifa, here is the situation

"Unfortunately, the leader of only one nation, the United States, President George Bush, has been unequivocal in his support for Israel's position, and even his Secretary of State, Condoleeza [sic] Rice, has pointedly called for Israeli 'restraint.'"

It's also sick.

(Via Jerusalem Post.)

AP: Hamas Attacking North Israel

2006-07-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

Evidently, the Associated Press can't tell their players without a scorecard either.

Instapunditry Shortage Shocks Region

2006-07-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Quoth the Blender: "It's not that I don't care -- I do -- and it's not that I don't hope that things will work out well. I do. But beyond hoping (and 'hope' is probably the operative word) that we'll see a decisive end to Syrian/Iranian mischief-making in the region, I don't have a lot to contribute."

Indeed.

Quiz: Felix Unger or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

2006-07-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

I can't do a Separated at Birth like Aussie Dave, but Reuters evidently thinks there should be one: Iran and Venezuela team up as anti-US "odd couple"

Because, you know, they are a barrel of laughs. Or actually, several million barrels. Only the humorless "Right-wing media" with their "fanciful conspiracy theories" could be alarmed by these guys.

"At first glance, Chavez and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seem to be like-minded partners: two ex-military OPEC price hawks who are lavishing their petrodollars on the poor majority long neglected by their countries' rich elites."

Except for the longish vocabulary words that no public school in California would teach, this sounds like the kind of leftist helping of garbage that any elementary schooler would soon learn to regurgitate for accolades.

Let's look at the case of Gorilla Boy. The mullahcracy that chose him have been running Iran (into the ground) for almost 30 years. So who are these "rich elites" that have "long neglected" the "poor majority"? The same Revolutionary Guard that he represents? Khamenei? Or does he deny their long rule as further flights of fancy by right-wing clowns like myself, while insisting the real ruler of Iran is, obviously, EEEEEEEVIL CAPITALIST PIGS? That would at least be an original crackpot conspiracy theory. More likely, the author, like so many others on the left, can't seem to get that mental calendar to turn past 1974: Nixon's always president, Vietnam is still mired in quag, the Shah of Iran is an awful capitalist oppressor of the teeming masses, and... "The Odd Couple" is on TV each week.

He goes on:

Beyond the economics, Chavez and Ahmadinejad look like strange bedfellows.

[Half an hour under the rubble of a stone wall tends to do that to bedfellows' appearance, but I digress.]

"All they seem to have in common is a visceral hatred of the United States," said Ali Ansari, Iran expert at Scotland's St Andrews University. "There is no real emotional tie, if Chavez were a Muslim that would make life a lot easier.

Whew, really dodged a bullet there! Thank goodness it's just an intellectual, logical, visceral hatred of the United States, perfectly understandable; not enough to form an alliance on. Same thing with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Glad he couldn't work too well with Hitler based solely on visceral Jew-hatred, since Hitler didn't convert to Islam.

And naturally Shiite Iran can't work with Sunni Hamas, so that's another load off. Imagine if they really were working together and acting on this hatred! That could interfere with one's sitcom-viewing schedule. I'll go get the Zima, you fire up TV Land! Good times, good times...

Israeli Shoes Borrowed

2006-07-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hewitt interviewing James Lileks:
"HH: Can you imagine rockets falling on Seattle and San Diego?

JL: No.

HH: From Canada and Mexico?

JL: No, I can't. I can't imagine calling a relative in the Pacific Northwest, and they're in the basement, in a shelter which they constructed long ago for this very purpose. I can't imagine living like that, or expecting Americans to live like that.

HH: Or expecting Israelis to put up with it for much longer."

(Via Radio Blogger.)

We live about 5 miles from Mexico, and as I type this, I am about 100 yards from Mexico. All the missiles that have been raining down upon Sderot, Ashkelon, etc. from Gaza, and in the North from Hizbullah, could easily hit here.

Haifa is the center of technology, and the third largest city in Israel. So, it resembles Chicago and the Silicon Valley combined in those regards.

Let's combine all these parallels into one scenario. Terrorists from Mexico sneak across the border, kidnap sailors from San Diego's Naval Base, and kill some others. They retreat back across the border and launch missiles. Then they attack civilians in San Diego (or Chicago, San Jose, etc.) What would the "proportionate response" be for the United States?

But most people can't imagine an equivalent situation in Mexico to the infestation of Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon. Thank God we don't have to think about it. For that, we owe a debt to Mexico's voters. According to my coworkers from Mexico, the leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is no Chavez, but is more like Evo Morales. They both are "vocal admirers, and benefit from the largesse of" Chavez.

According to Frank Gaffney, the implications of an Obrador victory could have been

far-reaching for the integrity of our southern frontier, illegal immigration, drug-trafficking, terrorism, trade and the radical "reconquista" movement (which is intent on "taking back" at least parts of the United States for Mexico).

Chavez has been getting closer to Iran, so Obrador would likely have followed suit. At the risk of Reuters' scorn for dumping on their favorite sitcom, what would prevent a leftist Mexico from hosting Iran, Hizbullah, etc., and pulling a stunt like this? Or bringing in Chinese or Iranian or North Korean nukes?

The apparent answers are:

Liberty-minded Mexican voters in a clean election
Strong United States that would ignore the worldwide condemnation for responding to these acts of war

Thank God that the first one happened, so the second doesn't need to be tested. Now, let's hope that Israel destroys Hizbullah once-and-for-all.

Crackle, Pop

2006-07-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Wesley Pruden: "The Israelis make quick work of the Arab combinations every time, usually without popping a sweat. Not until women and children were recruited to become suicide bombers did the Arab military machine show the world its manliness."

and Snap

(Via Hot Air.)

Paging Dr. Evil, Dr. Gorillaboy Evil

2006-07-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

Aussie Dave's Liveblogging Update:

"4:15PM: More grunts from Gorilla boy: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that Israel, which has struck at Lebanon in its search for two captured soldiers, would not dare to move against the Islamic republic, state television reported.

I am hoping we will dare.

By the way, doesn't he sound exactly like one of those one dimensional evil dudes from a B grade movie, just before they get their comeuppance?"

MWHAHAHAHAHA! And you know France is just itching to give him... ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

(Via Israellycool.)

Allah's Party Poopers

2006-07-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Important overlooked news on latest Hezbollah attacks: "7- How are people on the street reacting ? Hezbollah is quickly losing popularity in Lebanon....

"So Lebanese are upset not only because of the Israeli retaliation, which most non Shias blame on Hizbullah"

(Via Counterterrorism Blog.)

May their anger facilitate Hizbullah's swift destruction!

Ambiguous Cooperation Opportunity

2006-07-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

From Beirut to the Beltway:: "The Lebanese cabinet has issued a statement that could be interpreted as a promise to send the army to the south if Israel stopped its attacks....
"I am interpreting this as a message to Israel that if the attacks stopped, there would be a serious attempt to finally send the Lebanese army to the south and end the reign of Hizbullah on defense matters."

It seems a bit too late for that, but maybe the two armies could dismantle Hizbullah simultaneously. Don't think that's likely, but it would be pretty sweet.

Israel Criticized

2006-07-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

...but from the right, for a change.

Captain's Quarters: "In this case, I believe the Israelis have made a strategic error. They need to use their resources to attack the root of the problem, or at least one of the two roots. Syria and Bashar Assad have much more influence over Hezbollah than Beirut, and taking the war to Damascus will have more possibility of deterring further attacks and raids than inflaming the Lebanese, who just started to get back on their feet in the aftermath of the Syrian withdrawal. They risk creating another enemy instead of eliminating the one that really matters."

I agree with Captain Ed, and am sad to see such understandable and natural reactions as Abu Kais's

The Israeli war machine is killing and maiming Lebanese children, destroying infrastructure and building up support for Hizbullah along the way.

Thanks to Michael J. Totten for his invaluable reports from Lebanon and elsewhere, and for spreading the word on Lebanese bloggers such as (the above-linked) From Beirut to the Beltway and Perpetual Refugee.

Here's to a successful war on the terror-masters in Syria, elimination of Hizbullah, Hamas, and all terrorists, and peace with a free, democratic Lebanon!

UPDATE: According to Power Line:

Our sources tell us that Israel does not intend to bring about a broader conflict by extending the present crisis to Syria or Iran. Rather, the plan is to retrieve the soldiers who have been taken prisoner in both Gaza and Lebanon, do some damage to the terrorists' ability to carry out rocket attacks from those bases, and return home. If that's right, and events don't take an unforeseen turn, the effect will most likely be that the long-term issues posed by Iran, Syria, the Iran-Syria alliance, and Iran and Syria's control over terrorist groups including Hamas and Hezbollah, will go unresolved.

Darn. Well, good luck with the rescue, then.

UPDATE 2: Herb Keinon asks:

why not hit the head of the snake, instead of fiddling around with the tail? For, in the final analysis, does Iran really care if Hamas or Hizbullah get clobbered?

And gives two reasons:

The first is that Israel wants to act where it feels it will have international legitimacy to do so, and presently this is in Lebanon - a sovereign country from which a party in its government launched an attack on another sovereign country.

The second reason is that Israel has no interest in an all out war with Iran, and is concerned about Iran's military capabilities.

Which is more naïve? Israel still holding out hope that the so-called "international community" will recognize the reality of the situation and thus the legitimacy of their response, or the left who blind themselves to inconvenient truths and insist upon blaming Israel for all the problems in the area?

Ynetnews: "IDF officials estimated that the missile fired by Hizbullah to Haifa on Thursday evening was made in Iran. "

Via Israellycool:

are we going to go after Iran? I'm guessing no.

Other Sleeping Giant Awakening?

2006-07-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Jules Crittenden: "As Japan mulls its right to projecting military power in its own self-defense, expect an uproar from homegrown peace advocates who believe that pacifism is the highest international virtue, and fail to recognize that mature, responsible democracies must be prepared to act aggressively in defense of themselves and others."

The lessons Western Europe failed to learn after World War II and after 9/11 were the same ones they failed to learn after World War I, namely that not everybody wants simply to live peaceful lives, and that declining to fight evil early on only leads to worse suffering later. As Dennis Prager has put it, they decided fighting was evil, not that they must fight evil. I'm reading Alone about the build-up and start of WWII and was surprised to find how the politicians of the time regarded Hitler as a trustworthy partner for peace, albeit with an inexplicable habit of breaking every single treaty he signed, rather than as a monster that they mistakenly believed they could sedate or tame. As an analogy, they treated him more like they treated Arafat, and less like they treated Saddam. Unfortunately though, both methods of appeasement have the same result: dictators murdering and plundering with impunity.

Crittenden also writes:

At war's end the Japanese, finally brought to submission by two atomic bombs, got religion.

Did they though? Besides producing the above-mentioned pacifist / defeatist crowd, modern Japan's decreasing population trend mimics or surpasses the secular countries of Western Europe. Mark Steyn probably said this, but whereas the middle American rejoinder to the famous hippie slogan "Make Love Not War" has been "Why Not Both?", Japan decided upon, "None of the above." The population is shrinking and aging. They haven't had a monotheistic tradition since the Christians were eliminated in feudal Japan. What could inspire them to change direction now? Living next to a nuke-wielding crazy dictator and around the corner from the ChiComs, now with U.S. technology? Those are the kind of excuses ("unstable, dangerous, etc. world") that the center-left typically use for not having children. Hopefully the chance to lead the region and maintain "peace through superior firepower" will inspire Japan to new greatness, but funny t-shirt slogans probably don't have the same civilizational force as faith in the Almighty.

(Via the Puppy Blender.)

Projection in the Fourth Dimension

2006-07-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

Tearing a new hole through truth, and the space-time continuum:

South African unions urge Israel boycott | Jerusalem Post: "Calling Israel an 'apartheid state,' the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) demanded the recall of South Africa's ambassador from Tel Aviv, a boycott of Israeli products, and general sanctions against the Jewish state, in protest over Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank."

Next up, United States boycott of Finland for displacing the Cherokee and Choctaw, and Japanese boycott of Portugal for conquering Manchuria. Ingenious!

By the way, I also demand the recall of South Africa's ambassador from Tel Aviv... to the capital Jerusalem.

Lesson Learned

2006-07-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

Patterico Descends Into the Snake Pit Again:

"I have spent a day watching people distort the record about a friend, and so I jumped in to defend him, and now I feel like I have wasted my time and just gotten angry for no reason. I feel like someone who spent a whole day fighting a bunch of poo-flinging monkeys. You can’t win, and at the end of the day they’re still jumping up and down, making their monkey noises, and flinging poo. And you wonder why you just wasted your day."

Now he understands the political sagacity of Frank J.

(Via Patterico's Pontifications.)

Allahu akhbar?

2006-07-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

אַלְלָה הוא עכבר!

וחריקותיו רעשניות

Unserious Negotiators Revealed

2006-06-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hamas in Damascus: Israel not serious about negotiating | Jerusalem Post

Bet that accusation keeps the Israelis awake at night.

"Allahu akhbar! The depravity of those dogpig Jews that eat our children for passover has reached a new low. They are now negotiating with us in a manner that is less than serious!!"

"Curses upon them! How dare they! About what are those infidels negotiating so rudely, Sheikh? How they can leave the earth most swiftly, for the glory of Allah?"

"Not exactly..."

What could they say? How Israel is considering releasing terrorists as a reward for kidnapping Cpl. Shalit and murdering Eliyahu Asheri and possibly Noah Moskowitz? Along with Aussie Dave, I offer the families my condolences.

The less serious Israel is in negotiating with these monsters, the more serious about winning they are. Good news roundup here. Juicy quotes:

Haniyeh said Friday that he was in contact with Arab, Muslim and European leaders to try to resolve the crisis, "but this Israeli military escalation complicates matters and makes it more difficult." He also accused Israel of using Shalit's abduction as a pretext for launching a major offensive aimed at bringing down his government.

If only that were true!

"Israel is negotiating by fire," he said. "They're buying time until they can locate the soldier through intelligence and then try to free him."

Wonderful! Although, I'd hope that instead of just buying time, they kill the enemy and destroy the terrorist infrastructure, but I'm just demanding that way. Then with God's help may Cpl. Shalit return home safely and his kidnappers die.

Oooh, that hurts!

2006-06-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Boy, the criticism leveled at the President has reached harsh new depths. He is asking Congress for the line-item veto, theoretically to eliminate wasteful spending. According to KFI's news report, "critics say that the President is just trying to garner support from conservatives upset by excessive government spending."

Snap!

In sports news, critics are lambasting the Miami Heat for shooting baskets and interfering with similar attempts by the Dallas Mavericks players as part of a cynical, hypocritical plot to "garner support from basketball fans in Miami."

At least President Bush isn't deploying the U.S. Armed Forces to kill terrorists to "garner support from Americans and Iraqis upset by beheadings, suicide bombing, 9/11, and other jihadist attempts at world domination." Who could withstand such withering accusations?

Mellel - Excellent Word Processor

2006-06-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

Mellel is a word processor from RedleX. This is the first one I've been able to use happily on Mac OS X, and the only one on any OS other than Gobe Productive for Zeta/ BeOS. Might do a detailed review later, but go download it and try it out for yourself if you need such a program. Favorite features:

Cocoa-based so some Emacs keybindings work
Designed for mixed languages
Hebrew-localized GUI
Ability to choose Aqua or brushed-metal appearance
The functions I've needed have been where I looked for them first, more often than not.

In high school, I used WordPerfect 5 and 6 on DOS. Friends in college occasionally let me borrow their computers to write essays and introduced me to Microsoft Word, but it never worked out very well. After that first year, I mostly used VIM or E mac s and LaTeX on the Solaris machines in the computer science lab. Gobe on BeOS was the most intuitive application I'd found, but now that my work involves mixing Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese, and I don't have a Zeta or BeOS computer at work, I looked for something new, and Mellel works wonderfully.

Our Heroes: San Diego City Council

2006-05-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

The San Diego city government has not demonstrated any particular character or economic brilliance for citizens in the year plus that we have lived down here. However, thanks to an editorial in the San Diego Union-Tribune, we now know what this government does when not doing keg stands off the public's tax money: "very bad legislation."

Unfortunately, the advent of more normal times has led to renewed interest in the biggest stinker: a proposed law ostensibly meant to promote wise land use but that in fact is a bald bid to stop Wal-Mart from building in San Diego the combined department store-supermarkets it calls Supercenters.

As you well know, our civilization faces no greater challenge than the imminent threat of low-price groceries. I'm so relieved they are there to rescue us from horrors such as:

the extraordinary consumer benefits that much of the rest of the nation has realized because of Wal-Mart's entry in to the grocery business. UBS Warburg study found that Wal-Mart's prices on a typical range of supermarket goods were an astounding 14 percent below its rivals. Even those whose elitism or politics lead them to avoid Wal-Mart benefit because other grocers reduce prices to compete with the retail giant.

I wonder if they feel like they are "sticking it to the man"? Standing up for the little guy against the big oppressor? Certainly these pinnacles of virtue are not influenced by special interests?

Not just folks in studio apartments but anyone with a mortgage to pay could have used the extra money that Supercenters would put in all our pockets.

The only proper use of that money is to go to the city council's campaign funds, so the unions obviously are using it better than we could have. Or so I'm sure the thinking goes. Assuming there is thinking taking place. Here's my favorite part: My wife says that the Wal-Mart in Nanjing, China (her hometown) is a Supercenter. Evidently even the Supreme Protectors of the Working Class in the People's Republic (i.e., Communist thugocrats) flinched in the face of the low-price monstrosity that these councilmembers are fighting. In fact, the council is so progressive, they are attacking preemptively:

A final note: We haven't even mentioned the worst news. That's the fact that Wal-Mart has no plans to build Supercenters and selling groceries in San Diego even if the City Council doesn't pass a spiteful bill preventing it.

Ah, yes. The new slogan for our "fair city": As corrupt as China, but less market-friendly.

Next Build Always Good...

2006-05-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

...but the one on the computer never runs well enough. Testers of Microsoft's latest operating system say the next build... better be good.

While the exact Vista release date is fluid, the facts are not--this cut of Vista needs to be more solid than a year's worth of previous builds from Microsoft. Even the most recent Vista builds, including two interim CTPs delivered during the past couple of months to the company's squad of elite beta testers, known as Technology Adoption Program (TAP) partners, have suffered from a variety of performance and compatibility problems, according to interviews with eight testers. "There's too much variation in performance from one build to another," said Brandon LeBlanc... "The changes they are continuing to make at this stage disrupt performance too much. You'd imagine they would have gotten past this stage by Beta 2."

You would imagine that unless you were familiar with the company and their products. But, honestly, the XP box I have at work hasn't crashed in two months. On the other hand, I haven't actually run any programs on it other than streaming radio since November 2005. Unfortunately, it looks as though I'll be out of luck attempting even this "AM Radio Replacement" functionality on Vista:

"Beta 2 needs to make sure its networking is nailed down," said the Vista tester and operator of the WinCustomize Windows community site. "The betas of Windows Vista have had atrocious issues with networking being reliable. Without the basic features of a modern OS working, people won't run it and that will mean a lot less feedback."

If the "basic features of a modern OS" are not working, then presumably it will run on a Pentium I that has no modem or ethernet, right? Not exactly:

"Windows Vista uses considerably more memory than Windows XP -- about twice as much and there is not much reason to think this amount will significantly change by release. Realistically, until 64-bit machines become the norm, the two gigabyte limit is going to be a problem," [Stardock CEO Brad Wardell] said.

Sometime after the "fluid" release date flows by, you can go buy a 64-bit computer with eight gigabytes of memory, load this on, and thrill to an unstable, slow system incapable of networking or other basic activities. Be still my beating heart! But I'm sure Fiji will just be the bee's knees. I bet it could even use an EGA monitor (provided only 2 GB of video RAM and 16 GB of main memory). The next version will be good! Really!

הטור הראשוני העברי שלי

2006-05-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

ברוך הבא! אני אמריקני וגר מאוד קרוב למקסיקו בקליפורניה עם אשתי. תסלוח לי כי עבריתי רעה.

Technorati Tags: ארה״ב

Using MarsEdit from Ranchero/NewsGator

2006-05-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Let's see how this works...
Update: MarsEdit works rather well.

The first post

2006-05-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Finally decided to get off my rear-end and try blogging. I'll probably ramble on about politics and such once I get the hang of it. Thanks for visiting!