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Really good analysis of the very flawed reasoning behind the barely concealed major reason for launching the Iraq invasion. Unless this war ends soon it looks like it’s going to very costly for our economies, we’re going to end up paying with our education and health budgets, lucky for our betters they all use private schools and health insurance, the emergency budgets have already been spent.
Massachusetts moves ahead sans Microsoft | Tech News on ZDNet
The commonwealth of Massachusetts has finalized its decision to standardize desktop applications on OpenDocument, a format not supported by Microsoft Office.
The move to adopt OpenDocument shuts Microsoft out of the state’s procurement process because the software giant, which dominates the office application market, has said it does not intend to support the OpenDocument format.
hee hee! thanks to the the tulsan terror – the inimitable Walter W
AlterNet: Blogs: Start Making Sense: Bill Maher speaks to George Bush
“…I know, I know. There’s a lot left to do. There’s a war with Venezuela. And eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote.
But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You’ve performed so poorly I’m surprised that you haven’t given yourself a medal. You’re a catastrophe that walks like a man. Herbert Hoover was a shitty president, but even he never conceded an entire metropolis to rising water and snakes.
On your watch, we’ve lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans. Maybe you’re just not lucky. I’m not saying you don’t love this country. I’m just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side.”
Much more Fun – Morning Star (which I can’t believe survived into the 21st century!) profile of Ken MacLeod
Facing the future / Arts / Culture / Home – Morning Star
2 rather depressing and disturbing Iraq posts today – the first is a link to a post about the second class “democracy” they’re planning to leave in segregated Baghdad written by my Greek friend Rhino on Virus –
The second is a comparison of the misery in Tal Afar to the recent events in New Orleans. I made a joke about Katrina the other day and was told off for taking the hurricane disaster so lightly, this article shows that our hypocrisy is victorious.
Novecento
« on: 2005-09-12 06:01:40 »
from Rhino
“I think it’s important to remember that in the year 1900, for example, in the United States, it was a democracy then. In 1900, women did not have the right to vote. If Iraqis could develop a democracy that resembled America in the 1900s, I think we’d all be thrilled. I mean, women’s social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy.”
The title of the post refers to Bertolucci’s movie “1900″ with Robert De Niro (1976). The… elderly may remember it. So, what about 1900? The reason I remembered it was this interview which I noticed last month and thought that it offered some handles for a discussion about democracy, but then I forgot:
Transcript for August 21
Trent Lott, Russ Feingold, Larry Diamond and Reuel Marc Gerecht
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8926876/
Differing viewing on how to secure Iraq and whether a stable, democratic government is even possible. With us, Larry Diamond, author of “Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq,” and Reuel Marc Gerecht, former Middle Eastern specialist with the CIA and author of “The Islamic Paradox.”
MR. GREGORY: Fast forward to this morning. Gentlemen, we put this on the screen from The New York Times. “[American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay] Khalilzad had backed language [in the constitution] that would have given clerics sole authority in settling marriage and family disputes. That gave rise to concerns that women’s rights, as they are annunciated in Iraq’s existing laws, could be curtailed. … [The[ arrangement, coupled with the expansive language for Islam, prompted accusations from [a Kurdish leader] that the Americans were helping in the formation of an Islamic state.”
Mr. Diamond, is that a change of position?
See rest of post on BBS
If Tal Afur was New Orleans
Tal Afar Under Media Carpet
Linda Heard, sierra12th@yahoo.co.uk
While the world has been falling all over itself to remember the victims of 9-11 and digging deep in its pockets to aid the wealthiest nation on the planet recovering from a natural disaster, a ferocious man-made onslaught on a town in northeast Iraq is being virtually ignored.
This is yet one more example of the double standards prevalent today when the color of your passport can determine your worth as a human being.
We saw this discrepancy recently when 1,000 Iraqis — mainly women and children — who lost their lives on a Baghdad bridge were a mere footnote in the Western media.
Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New Intelligent Falling Theory
These “babble belt” fundies inspire incredibly good satire – I’m still chuckling 
)
The Fifth Gift || kuro5hin.org
Quite an interesting short story by a COV member on alt.lit community Kuro5hin. Strangely optimistic, how many of these technologies are the government hiding from us Tony
