The Blog with No Name

Charlton Heston died yesterday at 84. I may not have enjoyed many of his movies too much, but I always enjoyed seeing him work.

To read something like this gives me joy and hope for our political process. A self-described “brain-dead liberal” confesses his change in views, embracing a less polemical view of the world (and I’d say much more realistic). It is refreshing, honest, and thought-provoking. Even though I’m sure the author and I would disagree on many things, at least we’d both agree that everything is not “magically wrong” and the government is often not the answer. I especially appreciated his last point. The people we meet in our every day lives, regardless of political persuasions, are the ones with whom we live and on who we depend. Happy election season indeed!

Seattle is a pretty cool town. I love living here, but stupid crap like this makes me a bit itchier to get out of the city limits. Here’s the gist:

All single-family homes in Seattle must sign up for table-scrap recycling in 2009, the City Council decided Monday.

While residents will have to pay for the service, the city will not check whether they are actually dumping food in the new separate bin.

That’s right. Seattle’s city council in all its foresight and wisdom deemed it necessary to force people to pay for food-scrap recycling while not enforcing the law. We’re talking about food-scraps. Last time I checked food-scraps are biodegradable and quite quickly turn into what is essentially dirt, you know, the stuff of which Mother Earth is made. So how are we going to “recycle” table-scraps? One giant community compost pile?

And here’s another rich part:

Recycling food waste will be voluntary for apartments, as well as for businesses, which produce twice as much food waste as residents.

Conlin said he hopes garbage-collection rates can be adjusted to absorb some of the additional cost homeowners will have to pay for food recycling.

So, the real producers of food waste, apartments and businesses, can opt out of this regulatory nitpicking. I’m glad for them, but if food waste was really a problem wouldn’t be smart to try to stop the major source of the problem? This is like plugging a small hole in the dam while ignoring the big gushing hole next to it. Very very smart.

Luckily, I don’t plan on being a homeowner any time soon, and I am seriously considering moving out of the city limits. I’d move out of the county limits if it wasn’t obnoxious to do so.

(via Soundpolitics)

Saddam has been executed.

May God have mercy on his soul.

And you are too. My first thought when seeing this was that Time magazine has finally, really, truly taken the wussy and lazy route. How boring is it to say that 300 million people are the persons of the year? Didn’t we learn anything from The Incredibles? If everybody is special then nobody is special. If everybody is person of the year, then it really doesn’t mean anything at all. I also was a little bit gratified when Time’s editor basically admitted they have no balls:

“If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people,” said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time’s managing editor earlier this year. “But if you choose millions of people, you don’t have to justify it to anyone.”

Good job, Time, way to avoid any possibility of having to stand up for what you believe. You’re now the little pansy of the news world.

I wasn’t really aware of how bad the storm hit us. Probably because I never lost power and was fairly sheltered from the winds I think. A photo gallery of some of the destruction can be seen here (sorry if it resizes your browser window).

Last night my team at work had our holiday dinner and gift exchange at my boss’s house down south. He didn’t have power, but he decided to have it any way. Driving over the I-90 bridge from Seattle which had minimal power outages to the east side was a little creepy. The normally sparkling, light dotted hillsides were completely dark. Not even streetlights were operating. I wasn’t expecting the situation to be that bad. I still had to buy my white elephant gift, so I planned on stopping at a Target along the way. The mall it was in was completely dark except for a few emergency lights in the Safeway. Fortunately, somehow, Target had enough power to operate registers and have enough light for people to read price tags. It was pretty creepy being in a big store like that with people talking in hushed voices, low light, and a slight sense of urgency. Coming out of the store into complete darkness was odd too. I may not notice streetlights and other lights very much when there is power, but when they’re gone it’s definitely noticeable. I suddenly felt like I was back in Alaska where they don’t pollute the environment with lots of extra light.

It was definitely a different dinner party experience when there is no light besides flashlights and candles, the house is the roughly the same temperature as the outside, and none of the food can be served piping hot because there’s no way to heat them. The grill had to be fixed with a lot of banging, so that the meat which was originally going to be cooked in the oven could be cooked at all. It was still a very pleasant experience, and a good time was had by all. Have I mentioned before how thankful I am for my job and my co-workers? I am.

Bad weather in Seattle last night, so a bunch of poor saps are without power including my work, so I got the day off. They won’t even let us in the buildings to get laptops so we can work from home. I guess I’m fine with that. It’s nice to have a day off, but I really am swamped at work. I’ll definitely have to put in some OT next week. I just find it ironic that it really isn’t a horrible day. Right now it’s not windy; it’s not raining; I even saw some patches of blue sky earlier. It’s like the virtual snow day we had at the end of November. It snowed 2 inches or so, which caused pretty much everything to shut down, and then the actual “snow day” I only saw dry, clear roads and a beautiful sunny sky. Go figure.

I love raging storms. Last night, two of my friends and I had to walk clear across town after the Seahawks’s embarrassing loss to San Francisco. The wind was gusting something fierce and from all sides as it swirled around buildings. I had a blast just trying to stay on my feet. Earlier that day, it was pouring rain and extremely windy. When we were driving into town from work it was as if huge buckets of water was being poured onto the car. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it rain that hard in Seattle. The pounding of the rain against the car body was almost scary.

Anybody else find it disturbing when our enemy, a crazed radical Islamist intent on going nuclear, who talks often of the destruction of Israel and is in complete defiance of the UN, makes statements such as these:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called U.S. President George W. Bush’s defeat in congressional elections a victory for Iran.

Bush has accused Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb, being a state sponsor of terrorism and stoking sectarian conflict in Iraq, all charges Tehran denies.

“This issue (the elections) is not a purely domestic issue for America, but it is the defeat of Bush’s hawkish policies in the world,” Khamenei said in remarks reported by Iran’s student news agency ISNA on Friday.

“Since Washington’s hostile and hawkish policies have always been against the Iranian nation, this defeat is actually an obvious victory for the Iranian nation.”

. . .

But, he said: “With the scandalous defeat of America’s policies in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan, America’s threats are empty threats on an international scale.”

I find it quite disconcerting that our enemies rejoice when Democrats gain back some power. Maybe they hope for the return of the Clintonian foreign policy: talk a lot, lob some Tomahawks, and flee if soldiers start dying.

There was an election yesterday. That’s kinda cool I guess. It’s nice to know other people out there still care enough to vote. Me, I stopped caring, at least for now.

Democrats won big in the House and have gained a very slight majority in the Senate. I don’t read too much politics these days, but I thought Best of the Web’s commentary was a pretty good right-wing perspective. I’m almost relieved the Republicans, the party with which I’m most likely to align, lost. They deserved to lose. They really started sucking the last 2 years for a lot of reasons. Also, can you even imagine what a horrible horrible situation we would be in now if the Republicans even managed to maintain a slight majority in both houses? It seemed months ago the Left had slipped into the mentality that they had the right to win big in 2006, and, if they didn’t, then surely Karl “Evil” Rove pulled another fast one like he did in 2000 and 2004. I shudder to think about what state we would be in if the Democrats didn’t win. Blood probably would have been shed. . .by aged hippies. I’m not sure how much comfort the Democrats should take in this election though. They are only in power because the Republicans effed up so many things. It’s not like more people identify with the Dems; it’s just more people hope they’ll screw up less than the current batch of Republicans. Frankly, I believe they just might be able to pull that off, especially considering many of the freshman Dems are at least fairly moderate. I am glad Lieberman won.

Is it really that bad I don’t care about politics? A switch clicked off sometime after the 2004 elections, and I suddenly stopped caring. I only maintain a cursory knowledge of the goings on, which means I skim Drudge headlines, skim through Instapundit, skim through Volokh (though that’s not so political), and read Best of the Web. I’m not even sure politics affects my life in any significant way. The economy is fine. I have a job. No government can stop another terrorist attack. Wait, let me re-phase that: no government has enough balls to take the steps necessary to stop another terrorist attack, which is probably a good thing. I have my civil rights, and I am deeply skeptical of anybody who thinks we live in a country that is anywhere close to a police state. The government is still a bloated mess. The government will always want my money, though some years it demands less. The government will always suck at whatever it does. I really do not think it matters which party has power these days. It seems to me the country will have to experience a sea-change in public opinion for anything interesting to happen. In light of all of this, why should I make an effort to care? Heck, I’m ensconced in a cocoon of liberalness, it’s not like my vote is going to change anything here anyway.

Anyway, that’s my lack of opinion, and I’m stickin’ to it.

Quick update: this is entirely correct and how losing parties should accept defeat.

The Volokh Conspiracy has an excellent post detailing why Taiwan should be granted a seat in the UN. In a nutshell:

The UN Charter, article 4, states that “Membership in the United Nations is open to all other [non-founding] peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.” Taiwan is indisputably a “peace-loving” state — in marked contrast to China, which not only makes threats against Taiwan, but supplies arms and financial support to warlords, dictators, and genocidaires around the world, including in Sudan.

Such is the hypocrisy of the UN. China, a communist, oppressive, state is granted preference while a small democratic, peaceful state is shut out. I’m not sure if it would matter much if Taiwan was granted a seat in the UN. It’s far too weak and passive to do anything to benefit or protect Taiwan from China, who not-so-secretly wants to bring it under it’s rule.

Steve “The Crocodile Hunter” Irwin is dead from a sting ray attack.

I’ve seen reports of his death before, but this one looks legit. I never watched his show much, but I always enjoyed his enthusiasm and love for nature.

More details here.

Looks like Sen. Stevens isn’t the only one who had a secret hold a bill to create a government database of spending. Sen. Byrd had a hold on it too. What was his reasoning?

Byrd merely wanted more time to evaluate the legislation that would create a new database of some $2.5 trillion in federal spending on contracts, loans, financial assistance and insurance.

“Senator Byrd wanted time to read the legislation, understand its implications, and see whether the proposal could be improved,” Gavin [Byrd’s spokesman] said.

Ah yes, he needed more time to study a high profile bill that’s been working it’s way through the system since the middle of last month. Way to be on top of things, Senator.

He has since removed the hold.

(via Instapundit)

In light of Iran’s ignoring of UN pleas to stop uranium enrichment, this article seems especially timely. The author surveys some of the current right-wing and left-wing drawing of analogies between Iran and previous world conflicts, and concludes both are misguided in some way. His conclusion:

What these commentators are picking up is not an exact parallel to any one event of the 1930s—hence their scattershot of historical analogies. Instead, what they are picking up is a sense of the overall direction of world events: we are clearly headed toward a much larger, bloodier conflict in the Middle East, but no one in the West wants to acknowledge it, prepare for it, or begin to fight it.

(more…)

Alaska’s great Senator Ted Stevens, the deserving target of much ridicule recently, has been outted as the senator who placed a secret hold on government earmarking legislation. (via Slashdot and Instapundit) What happened:

Until now, it was a political whodunnit as to who quietly blocked legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would create a searchable database of government contracts, grants, insurance, loans and financial assistance, worth $2.5 trillion last year.

While speculation centered on Stevens, there was no confirmation. Under Senate rules, the hold remains cloaked in secrecy unless the senator who places it lifts it.

Here’s Senator Coburn’s syopsis of the bill, which sounds like common sense and something our gluttonous government needs.

So, why did Stevens block it? He wanted a “cost-benefit analysis” ran on the thing and was worried more bureaucracy would be created. These worries in and of themselves are not necessarily bad, but the worries — if even sincere! — are misplaced for sure. The cost of running a database like the one proposed would be fairly minimal, especially when compared to the benefits provided to Joe Taxpayer. My job entails administrating a platform that I’d imagine would be fairly comparable to what would be required for this database in terms of volume of information, traffic loads, and complexity, and I’m just one tiny, tiny corner of the company’s revenue and costs. And of course, a negligible amount of bureaucracy would be created (somebody’s gotta admin the thing, right?), but again this would be minimal when compared to the already enormous bloat of the federal government.

So, congratulations, Senator Stevens, you suck at representing the people. I hope you catch a whole lot of electoral hell for this, and your 37+ years of public service come to an end. I know if I was still an Alaskan resident you would have lost my vote.

Text messaging and ringtones hot stuff amongst Iraqi youth. Seeing as my job is all about text messaging and ringtones, this article is pretty interesting for me. Here in the US you can order ringtones via text messages. In Iraq, they’re bought on special CDs. Here’s a some snippets:

In a city bereft of entertainment, text messaging and swapping ringtones are all the rage for young Iraqis trying to lighten their lives. Most restaurants, cafes and movies have closed due to the country’s security situation.

The content of the text messages and ringtones speak volumes about the state of affairs here: jokes and songs about suicide bombings, sectarianism, power outages, gas prices, Saddam Hussein and George Bush.

Cellphone shops, the only crowded stores these days, sell special CDs with ringtones at about $2 apiece. Collections of short jokes especially written for texters are best-sellers.

. . .

The daily reality of violence and explosions has influenced every aspect of Iraqi life — including love notes. “I send you the tanks of my love, bullets of my admiration and a rocket of my yearning,” one popular message reads.

A popular ringtone features the music from Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise. But the local version includes a voice similar to Saddam’s rapping in English: “I’m Saddam, I don’t have a bomb/Bush wants to kick me/I don’t know why/smoking weed and getting high/I know the devil’s by my side.”

The song concludes with: “My days are over and I’m gonna die/all I need is chili fries” as a crowd yells “Goodbye forever, may God curse you.”

Competing with Saddam for the most popular song in Iraq today is Iraqi pop star Hossam al-Rassam — “Ma, I’ve been stung by a scorpion.” Its sensual lyrics challenge widespread conservatism in Iraq by talking about a girl’s lips and perfume “that make you live longer.”

Rasha Tareq, 23, has al-Rassam’s ringtone, as well as dozens of others by Lebanese singers. The most expensive ringtones include songs by Egyptian pop star Amr Diab.

“Ah, well, Dad pays for all that,” she said.

Dad also paid for her Nokia 7660 as well as the eight other models she has bought since cellphones first hit the market after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Iraq has a long way to go before it’s back to “normal,” but I take this as a sign that it’s getting there.