Dean Esmay is gonna be SO PISSED!

I just watched American Idol - they kicked off Trenyce. Dean is in school - he hasn't seen the episode ...yet.

Bottom two this week - not at all a surprise to me, Trenyce and Ruben. The judges flipped, obviously feeling that Ruben didn't belong there and that Josh did. Funny thing is that I feel Ruben did actually belong there based on last night and we don't vote on their history - we vote on their performance that night.

Last night, I actually thought Treynce sucked. That's just me and the fact that I HATE The Captain and Tennille. I liked Josh better than her for certain. Ruben let me down a bit. He acted like he was a shoe-in and didn't really try to impress me and HE DIDN'T. At least, now, he knows that he can't just sit back and win - he has to earn it - EVERY week.

I recently received an email from a professor at the University of Tennessee:

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It's been weeks since we won the war; where's the democracy? Hurry up already!

Stehen Schwartz, author of one of the best books of 2002 (The Two Faces of Islam), has written an excellent piece on the Red-Brown Alliance, or what he calls "The Two Faces of Fascism." While I'm usually hesitant to recommend articles from Front Page Magazine, you really should read this article. It's about the historic alliances between far-left and far-right political groups, and how this old pattern has begun to repeat itself again.

I mean, really, can you even tell a Buchanan voter from a Nader voter these days, except perhaps by age and dress code?

(Via the ineffably lovely Lilac Rose.)

The Best performances last night were:

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Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs (aka "LGF") has a reputation in some circles for being virulently anti-Islam, anti-Arab, incoherent, nasty, spittle-spewing... you get the drift. This has always surprised me because, while I don't read it every day, I rarely find Charles Johnson's articles anything but thoughtful and well-reasoned. Sarcastic, sometimes, outraged occasionally, fulminating and frothy once in a great while. But I'd hardly be one to throw stones at anyone for that. Besides, I see worse every time I open the average editorial page.

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Today is the day on the Jewish calendar that is now known as Yom HaShoah: the Jewish Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Yad Vashem, the Jewish Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' museum in Israel, has lots of information for students and other visitors. It's worth a visit today.

(Hat tip: Ara and Meryl, who let me know about my oversight.)

I'm sorry to say that I forgot April 24th this year. It's the special day that Armenians have set aside to remember their greatest tragedy.

The Armenians? Yes. Let me tell you something about them.

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New Scientist reports that researchers have created a line of mice that are completely immune to cancer. They hope studying both the genetics of these mice, and the method by which they fight the cancer, may someday have an impact on human cancer treatments. Especially because they seem to be immune to all forms of cancer, not just specific types.

As interesting to me is this story on stem cells via pathenogenesis, which basically makes it possible to replicate stem cells without requiring fertilization. If successful, this would be an effective way to end the debate over the ethics of stem cell research.

Maripat and Lori have cooked up an excellent Travel Advistory for tourists heading for France, which you may want to read even if you aren't planning to go to France in the immediate future. Most informative.

They've also pointed me to an interesting report on my idol, the next President of the United States, Howard Dean.

Joe Katzman has summarized the North Korean situation in a form that will be helpful to fans of bad video games from the 1980s.

One of my biggest disappointments with Bill Gates has, frankly, been how he's chosen to spend his money. The lame, conservative, respectably trendy causes toward which he's thrown his money have not, that I've ever seen, reflected the vision of an inspired genius looking to move mankind forward. Anything I've read about his personal ventures have been astonishingly mundane. On the other hand, I may have missed something.

On the gripping hand, no product Microsoft has ever put out could ever be called an inspired work of genius. They've been conservative, imitative, and derivative from day 1. So I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

But by comparison, look what Jeff Bezos has been up to: helping Burt Rutan get into space. Phenomenal. Hats off to him. And to the other techie geeks made good, like PayPal's Elon Musk, or id Software's John Carmak (who I've partied with, by the way, although I'm sure he has almost no idea who I am), who've been working to move the human race forward with their fortunes.

Not that it's any of my business how other people spend their own money. But I've always dreamed of what I'd do if I had huge wads of cash, and it's usually involved scientific and engineering ventures. Stuff to inspire future generations, make the world a better place. I wondered why the biggest, richest geek in human history was so boring, and wondering if I wasn't missing something.

Nope, I guess I wasn't. He's just the same old lame, unimaginative, derivative Bill Gates he's always been.

(Hat tip: Rand Simberg.)

If a Mormon believes that cigarette smoking is sinful, is that Mormon a hateful bigot?

If an Evangelical Christian believes that drinking alcohol is sinful, is he a hateful bigot?

If a Catholic believes that sex outside of marriage is a sin, is he a hateful bigot?

If an Orthodox Jew believes that masturbation is sinful, is he a hateful bigot?

If a Buddhist believes that all war is bad and there is no justification for any war, ever, is he an intolerant bigot?

Okay. So why is it that if a Presbyterian thinks homosexuality is sinful, he's a hateful bigot?

While I am definitely a fan of Jeff Jarvis, I have to ask him: why shouldn't I think he's a hateful bigot for his obvious contempt and intolerance toward people whose religious views he doesn't share?

Maybe being a former Presbyterian gives him a right to be so harsh. Then again, I'm a former Presbyterian too, and I don't have such contempt for my former coreligionists. I wonder why he does. I mean, if you disagree, there's a very simple solution: don't be a Presbyterian. I found that an awfully easy solution myself. Not a single person tackled me on my way out the door and tried to force me to stay.

I thought that, you know, in a pluralistic and liberal society, we were supposed to respect each other's religious views. Including ones we disagreed with.

By the way, I shouldn't have to say this, but: I don't think any of the above-mentioned behaviors are sinful. Except, perhaps, for the bile-spewing toward people who don't share my religious views.

So. Apparently, you can model conversations and relationships mathematically. As my blog bud Jerry Kindall says, it takes the world a step closer to psychohistory. Although I still think psychohistory's a lame idea inspired by Marxist delusions that were trendy when Asimov was writing Foundation. ;-)

You should know that Glenn Reynolds is a puppy blending, Satan worshipping hobo murderer.

It is important that you let as many people as possible know about this.

Summary of the last seven days

April 25, 2003

* Fidel Castro's government said it achieved "a new moral victory" when the UN Commission on Human Rights failed to include a reference to the recent prison sentences of dissidents and executions in a resolution which asks Havana to allow the visit to the island of a special human rights envoy. Felipe Pérez Roque, Cuba's foreign minister said that Havana would not allow the visit. He also criticized "the hypocrisy and double standards of the European Union and Latin American governments incapable of contradicting the [United States] empire." (Granma, A.P. April 18).

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Dame Fortune spins her wheel
Left becomes right, right becomes left
Some haven't noticed

(Yes, I know it's not 17. Shut up.)

I have a question for those of you who read this blog.

Over on the far right, there's an option to "Change Dean's Color!" It lets you change the color scheme of this blog, in case you don't like the default color selections.

Here's my question: does anyone like this feature and use it? I mean, beyond entertainment value, do you actually find it useful?

I would specifically like to hear from any person who will say, "Yes, your default colors suck, and I use that feature to make your stuff easier for me to read."

I must admit that when I heard that Amin Gemayel, the former President of Lebanon, might be tapped to be the next Secretary General, I was less than enthusiastic. I think of Lebanon's government as mostly a puppet of the fascist Syrian government. But Kamil Zogby makes a pretty good case for why Gemayel is a good choice. Although a Rumself endorsement isn't an automatic thumbs-up for me, Zogby certainly makes a good case for all the man's other potential benefits.

Hey, the BBC has some pictures of Saddam's gallery. Okay, so it came out a couple of weeks ago. So sue me.

How could anyone hate such an obvious Frazetta fan?

(Hat tip: Thom Ryng.)

* Update * One of them's obviously a Rowena. Big shock.

In my recent thread, Can You Really Support 'The Troops' and be Anti-War?, I suggested that strident Anti-War people that proclaimed to "Support the Troops" were hypocrites. I used abortion as an example, masochist that I am, to show a moral equivalency. I said that people who say things like this: "I could never have an abortion myself but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong" are being hypocitical. I'm not saying that it's bad. But it is what it is - and it is total hypocrisy.

People don't like the word hypocrite very much. I'm not sure why - it's a good word with a very solid meaning.

See below

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Well. It appears that the alternative medicine folks can chalk up another one for their side: green tea is really, really good for you, apparently.

Of course, we won't mention all the stupidity in the alternative health field. But that's what you get when you play on the fringes of science: nuggets of gold hidden in piles of junk.

Okay, this guy is funny. Look out Scott Ott!

It appears that the most outspoken opponent of war with Iraq within the British parliament was paid millions by Saddam. It appears so, anyway. Or perhaps it's Tony Blair's Vast Centrist Conspiracy?

Some are calling him a fifth columnist. I don't know, do you think that's appropriate? Or is he just, you know, a filthy disgusting weasel?

Assuming there's not a reasonable explanation of course.

Regardless, Reverend Sensing has some cutting insights into why money works so very well in these circumstances. Even if--or especially if--you're already ideologically attuned with what you're doing anyway.

Well lookie lookie. Guess who's celebrating his birthday, and only a day after my lovely wife?

Happy birthday, boychik. I'll look forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of your half-century mark with ya in 2053.

The Noble Pundit has some cogent thoughts on Islam that more or less match up with my own prejudices. I added some comments to his article too.

It may well be that Islam is simply incompatible with modernity. But I just don't buy that, and I'd rather exhaust the alternative scenarios before I come to that conclusion. We have to live with these people somehow. Pakistan already has nuclear weapons, and they won't be the last Muslim nation to have them. I'd rather find a way to get along with the Islamic world, wouldn't you? Draining the swamp that the governing powers in the Middle East thrive on seems like the only answer to me--a scary prospect that's less scary than anything else I can think of.

Blogspot is in trouble. Check out Typepad. All the benefits of Blogspot--free blogging--with all the power of Movable Type.

Get out while the gettin's good, Blogspot kids. Permalinks that work, archives that don't disappear, and trackbacks for the asking. What are you waiting for?

On April 25, 1968, a girl was born to two Polish immigrants. Their third child, she was the first born in America. Her mother loved the classic movie Rose-Marie, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. But "Rosemary" sounded a bit more American, so they named her that.

Poland's loss. America's gain.

Mine too, since she's the mother of my child. Lucky, lucky me.

Happy birthday, baby.

Yes, I suppose you can but it always sounds so hypocritical. It's kind of like abortion. I get annoyed when I hear Pro-Choice activists say "I could never have an abortion myself but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong." Hypocritical reasoning. They are out there marching for YOU but THEY would never kill their own baby. That's just lip service and it is hypocrisy.

It rings very hollow when I hear people scream that WAR is WRONG but they support the troops.

If war is wrong how can you reasonably support people committed to doing wrong? What's up with that?

I would NEVER molest a child but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong. I support the Pedophile Catholic Priests!

I would NEVER make a fictitious documentary but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong. I support the Fat, Moronic, Talentless Hollywood Hacks!

I would Never commit a violent felony but who am I to tell you that you can't or that it's wrong. I support the INMATES INCARCERATED IN MAXIMUM SECURITY PENITENTIARIES!

Woohoo! Go Teams! Go!


Disclaimer: I do not want a ban on all abortions. I would like more limitations and such. I do not think abortion should be illegal.

If you want us to start a thread on the merits of Roe v Wade and the abortion debate let us know.

From todays New York Times:

"Do you want me to dig up everything or just the head?" the gravedigger asked. Mr. Jassim decided just to see the head, because he believed he could identify his brother by his two missing back teeth.

"There are so many graves that don't have numbers," he said. "We don't know what to do."

The dirt was dry and easily dug and soon the gravedigger held up a skull. "It's not him," Mr. Jassim said. "The teeth are complete."

At grave No. 444, a large family worked together to unearth Hamid Omran, who was 31 when he was arrested in 1994. As the family carefully lifted the bones onto fresh linen, his cousin, Farhan Jassim, 47, exploded in anger.

"I don't think there was a regime in the world that treated political prisoners the way Saddam did," he said. "You can't imagine such exaggerated injustice."

The jaw surfaced. Mr. Hussein, the cousin said, "hated every Iraqi. Believe me, he hated all Iraqis."

Then the family found the skull, which showed a crack in a temple. A guard kicked him when he was arrested, the family said.

Another cousin, Thaer Ghawi, 27, wept as he smoked a cigarette once the bones were out of the grave. "We are just people who opposed the regime," he said. "Why couldn't he just put political prisoners in prison?"

Mr. Hani, the man whose brother disappeared in 1995, spent three hours picking through the grave of his brother. It was laborious. After the teeth, a few small bones, perhaps from the feet or hands, were found. Finally, Mr. Hani had found enough to fill a small coffin. He did not find the skull.

"It is enough for me," he said as he loaded the coffin onto a truck. "I feel relieved. What worried me before was I didn't know if he was alive or dead. Now I know."

It's a shame we didn't give the inspections time to work, isn't it?

Looking forward: Democracy, wet and shaking, takes its first wobbly steps in Umm Qasr.

Looking backward: Iraqi scientists are saying that they were ordered to hide or destroy WMDs just hours before inspectors would arrive.

(Both taken from The Command Post - Iraq.)

Several well-known bloggers have linked this Matt Welch piece on Vaclev Havel. I don't care, because everyone should link it. In light of what's happened to Sina Motallebi, and to what we discovered when we opened the prisons in Iraq, it's as timely as ever.

There's a numbing, deathly darkness, a willful and stubborn ignorance infecting the souls of too many people today in the West. Havel shines a light on it, and calls it what it is.

I was going to re-poste about the Democracy in Iraq project this week--it isn't over yet--but something more pressing's come up in neighboring Iran:



If you haven't heard about the Iranian blogger who was imprisoned for simply running a weblog, click the image above to learn more. Or just click here.

If you haven't heard Dr. Frank's original song Democracy, Whisky, Sexy, you should. It's surprisingly good.

You all remember this from Fruitcake & Flowers

"On March 7, 2003, Janeane Garofalo appeared on The Factor with Bill O'Reilly. She promised, if the war went well, she would apologize to President G.W. Bush."

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Ack! It was Earth Day yesterday. I forgot. Well, here's something in honor of that day:

In commoration of Earth Day, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Knudson wrote a knockout series on the environmentalist movement last year entitled "Environmentalist, Inc." Knudson documented, in painstaking detail, what more and more people who care environmental issues have noticed: the near-hysterical tone of many so-called "environmentalists," the stridently negative and extreme left-wing agenda many espouse, and the large number of former members and leaders who have left some well-known organizations, disillusioned and disgusted. Not to mention actual damage done to the environment by some (not all!) of these groups.

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I see that the Dixie Chicks are #1 on the Country billboard charts.

Well, fine by me. Make one asinine, thoughtless, mean-spirited statement, and you shouldn't be branded for life. It's not like I've never said anything I wished I could take back.

On the other hand, it's not like they haven't been doing their best to play the role of martyrs:



Apparently, being thoughtless, shallow, inconsiderate and female makes you a 21st Century Hester Prynne. If I understand this correctly.

It's a well-known formula, isn't it? Piss a lot of people off, take heat from the pissed-off people, and then act like an innocent, vulnerable victim who's been pilloried by the forces of ignorance and stupidity.

Well hell, maybe such a formulation should work. There's something very healthy in the American character that respects people for speaking their minds. On the other hand, why can't I feel free to say something asinine, and why can't someone else can't feel free to say, "screw you, jerkwad?"

Still and all, let's get this sleight-of-hand out into the open, shall we? I won't be buying any of their albums any time soon, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they are outspoken and opinionated women. It has everything to do with their being shallow, thoughtless jerks.

Do you have any idea who Felice Bryant was? If not, you should.

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Have you by chance met Medusa and Baptista's love child yet? If perchance you should, I hope you survive the experience...

Perfect.

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I have a new favorite blogger: Brown-Eyed Handsome Man. He's a lefty-lib who thinks anyone who'd even think about voting for Bush is insane. He thinks I'm pretty much a dangerous psychopath who any sane person should oppose politically. But he's funny, he's a Heinlein fan, and his ego is firmly in check. You just have to get used to his abrasive manner. Plus, he's brand new to the blogosphere. Check him out.

Speaking of good bloggers, how is it that I have managed to go a whole year without blogrolling Rick DeMent? He's a great example of false advertising. His blog is called "The Rant," but to my disappointment, I've found nothing but thoughtful and well-reasoned arguments, solid writing, and a sense of humor. Damn you DeMent!

(By the way, do you think Rick's related to this guy?)

I seem to be disagreeing with everyone this week.

Just so everyone knows, it's nothing personal.

In the comments to an article on oppression and Islam, fellow blogger Robert Speirs said, "Please don't lump Stalin and Mao in with real secularists such as the followers of objectivism." And another blogger, Sam from Estonia, said that, "...an 'atheocracy' is pretty much tabula rasa as it comes to ideologies, whereas theocracies have a pretty bad track record of repression in the name of the Almighty."

I responded in the comments, but I want to say more here. Because both of them are off-base, in my view.

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Well. As of next Wednesday, there'll only be five competitors left. If you haven't been watching the show, next week will be a good time to start tuning in. (Don't bother watching the Thursday night shows.)

This competition has winnowed out over 30,000 people to get down to these five. It shows. The worst performances tonight were still well beyond amateurish. By next week the competition should be most fierce, and the next five weeks the most impressive.

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You people may think you know from geeks. But let me tell you. I am now King Geek of the Universe.

Want me to prove it? Okay.

Casey Tompkins made me a present. He recently sent me photos of it. And by doing so, proved to the world that I am, truly, King among Geeks.

Don't believe it? Well, how many of you schlubs have your own starship??

Oh yeah. The ladies all want me now!

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I'll apologize in advance for rambling this morning. I usually try not to do that.

Over at Joanne's weblog, I found this hilarious cartoon on the use of apostrophes. I utterly agreed with its sentiment. But it got me thinking about why, because as a rule I find myself so at odds with people who advocate for strict rules of grammar.

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Remember the story on the company that's produced a way to turn organic waste into oil? Well, I've been digging around the web trying to find any hard-nosed skepticism toward them and their products. So far, nothing solid. I really hope this isn't a hoax or a hyped-up overpromise--although it almost has to be, to some level. Even if the technology works, it's hard to believe its investors and inventors won't put forth the most optimistic vision possible of its potential. This is just what people do in these circumstances, even with legitimate technologies and solid business plans.

In the meantime, I did find the Changing World Technologies web site, which is the official site of the company with this supposedly world-changing technology. The claims are interesting, and it certainly doesn't smell like a hoax. They do have a letter from a ConAgra executive, and pictures of their pilot plants, including the one being set up outside the ConAgra plant in Missouri.

They certainly seem to be serious about what they're doing.

Arnold Harris sent me this interesting article on the necessity of cultural reform in the Middle East by Elan Journo. While I agree that the Middle East is a terribly repressive place, and that many reforms are needed in the region, so much of his article is based on false assumptions I had to take exception to it anyway.

Most of the faults are based on his criticisms of Islam. To whit:

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Have you seen Blogcritics lately? It really is quite a nice site. Most of the news and reviews are as good as anything you'll find in commercial publications, with the bonus that they aren't time-constrained, which means you're not just restricted to reviews of the latest and greatest of everything. Fair notice: I do publish there occasionally. But I still think it's a cool site.

I also understand they're looking for new authors. They don't pay, but you get the fun and experience of having something published. You might want to shoot them a line if you think you're interested in that. They only ask for one contribution a month to stay listed as a current contributor.

Hmm. The New York Times says:

A scientist who claims to have worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program for more than a decade has told an American military team that Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began, members of the team said.

They said the scientist led Americans to a supply of material that proved to be the building blocks of illegal weapons, which he claimed to have buried as evidence of Iraq's illicit weapons programs.

The scientist also told American weapons experts that Iraq had secretly sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria, starting in the mid-1990's, and that more recently Iraq was cooperating with Al Qaeda, the military officials said.

Read the rest of the story here. (Hat tip: TV's Henry.)

People who say "perception is reality" should stop saying it. Perception is a reality, in the sense that it's something we have to deal with. But perception isn't reality itself. In fact, perception is often demonstrably false.

Armed Liberal has a story to tell about false perceptions in Iran, and much of the Middle East. The question: is this really significant? Time will tell I suppose.

In honor of Easter, you may want to consider taking a moment to take part in a campaign to help prisoner of conscience Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly of Vietnam. It's easily done.

Yes, some people have issues with Amnesty International. If you're one of those people, I suggest you suspend skepticism in this case.

And have a happy Easter.

Scaled Composites, which is aircraft designer Burt Rutan's company, has photos of their private spacecraft system, and datasheets on same. Fascinating stuff.

The F.A.Q. on the site has this tantalyzing question and answer:

Q: How much does it all cost?

A: This is generally not known until the program is complete, but projections place it close to a Soyuz ride.

That's quite a tease. But if "it all" means the whole space plane system, and "Soyuz ride" is a sly reference to how much space tourist Dennis Tito spent to get his ride on the Soyuz a few years ago, that means the total cost should be only about $20 million.

I'm going to try to avoid editorializing excessively until this thing is tested succesfully a couple of times. But it's hard not to get excited.

(Thanks to Joe Katzman for the links.)

* Update * Own Strawn forwarded this Space.com article on Spaceship One that's also worth a read.

As you read this story on an apparently innocent couple accused of creating child pornography, your blood pressure will probably go up. It seems outrageously ridiculous.

On the flip side, think of all the times you hear about some horrendous case of abuse or neglect, and you got infuriated because the state authorities didn't do anything about it.

While you may be tempted to roll your eyes at the insanity of it all, you might want to think about this:

How difficult is it exactly to write this sort of thing into law, in a way that authorities can both comprehend, do something about, and stay within the legal strictures required by the courts? Because, unfortunately, in the legal system, common sense doesn't really apply.

The hard-core libertarian answer would be to have no laws about such things. Which is why hard-core libertarians will never be taken seriously by almost anyone who actually has children. How do you legislate these things in a way that you catch the bad people without bothering the good people?

Children are a vexing problem when it comes to legal issues, aren't they? If only we were a society full of immortal adults, everything would be so much simpler.

If this new privately-built space-plane works, I will name my next son Burt Rutan Esmay. I hope Rose doesn't mind.

This is the well-known aircraft designer who was behind things like the first non-stop flight around the world without refueling. And now, he's going after the first private trips into space.

As MSNBC notes: his system is completely built, with all components in place to begin testing for space flights, and it was built entirely from private funds.

It is very hard for me to express just how exciting I find this, and how hard I'm hoping he succeeds.

By the way: God bless Peter Diamandis.

(Hat tip: Casey.)

I have been wondering for some time if "Patriot Act II," an act of legislation supposedly cooked up by the eville John Ashcroft, isn't a bunch of hysterical nonsense. Lately, I've even been wondering if it isn't something of an internet hoax--like the fabled "modem tax," which had a tiny basis in reality, but was unrecognizable by the time it garbled its way into the public eye.

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So. Robert Atkins has died. Not, as some would have predicted, from massive coronary, kidney, and liver damage in his 50s. But at a fairly healthy 72, from a blow to the head caused by a fall on an icy sidewalk. The cardiologist had one fairly serious heart problem fairly late in life--caused by an infection, and not by clogged arteries.

I am something of an expert on the Atkins diet, and other low-carbohydrate diets. And, while I am not an Atkins dieter, I must say that experimenting with, and learning about, his diet, changed forever my view toward medicine.

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It appears that U.S. Marines have discovered a handy substitute for their field MREs:

The Tikrit South airfield, where Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 set up base in this week’s campaign to take the city, is on the edge of a preserve where Saddam and favored guests once hunted gazelle.

Now, Marines are venturing into the woods to hunt the animals, which stand about waist-high. They haul back the carcasses as a welcome substitute for the prepackaged Meals Ready to Eat that have been their staple.

“It was delicious. I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been eating MREs for two months, but everyone’s enjoyed it a lot,” said Cpl. Joshua Wicksell, 26, of Corpus Christi, Texas.

...

Each of the squadron’s platoons has been limited to killing one gazelle a day to make sure the herd isn’t depleted.

The entire story appears on Cantonrep.com. (A Command Post reader alerted me to the story.)

They say that most people will change careers five times in their lives. I've done it four times so far myself. Now ESPN has a new career suggestion for Baghdad Bob: color commentator!

I sure hope those stories of him hanging himself are just rumors. He might just be able to get me to start watching baseball on TV.

(Spotted by Dean's World roving correspondent Casey Tompkins.)

I know, you're probably sick of hearing about the war. But that's not a good attitude, since we're arguably in the most important phase now: mopping up, rebuilding, and trying to mold a functional society over there. If, like me, you believe that democracy in that area is both the best hope for those people's future, and our best long-term bulwark against terrorism, the next few months will be crucial.

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Neato!

I want some. :-)

There's an interesting profile of Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria in the New York Metro web site. Some think he may well be Secretary of State one day. He's interesting because he's Indian, Muslim, and a conservative all at once. He also says some things I've heard other East Indians say--and which I think more people on the political left ought to be thinking about, especially if they want to be wooing immigrant voters in the next couple of decades:

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I noticed that Reuters has an interesting little writeup on the inventor of LSD. Although there wasn't much in it I didn't know, I found it interesting that another blogger (Andrew Habermehl) felt that the article promoted LSD.

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Dodd has an interesting perspective on the costs of Gulf War II. I must admit I hadn't thought of it that way.

Anyone want to tell me why he's wrong?

I am amused to see that New York's worst mayor since David Dinkins is facing widespread rebellion against his Stalinist anti-smoking laws. Apparently, civil disobedience is widespread, taking on several different forms, including no small amount of simply ignoring the law and paying the fines.

As someone who kicked the habit five years ago, I am still down with my smoking brothers and sisters. If I lived in New York, I'd be tempted to start lighting up again just so I could blow it in the face of that smarmy dork mayor of theirs.

I'm glad I don't live in New York, but I'm just as glad to see that New Yorkers haven't lost their trademark attitude problem.

Well. Jerry Kindall pointed out something far more interesting than the story I mentioned yesterday about a cheaper method for recycling plastic. It turns out that a group of entrepreneurs and private researchers have come up with a method of turning almost any form of organic waste into oil. If it's organic, it'll convert. That includes animal waste, bones, bird feathers, entire carcasses, sewage and most plastics. Interestingly enough, it can even process coal and waste oils to make a lighter, cleaner-burning fuel.

Also, it mostly runs on the gas byproducts of the production process, so it requires very little energy that it doesn't produce for itself.

They believe that with this process they'll be able to deliver light, sweet oil at between $8 and $12 per barrel within the next few years. Not only is one small facility already up and running, but a major one is ready to go online outside of a turkey processing plant in Missouri.

If you wondered why I think a focused, organized, "Manhatten project for alternative energy" is a perfectly awful idea, this story illustrates it well. While there are some government grants involved--which in and of itself is not a bad thing--most of the money is coming from private investors, including people like Warren Buffet's son Howard.

We already know about thousands of potential alternative sources of energy. The question isn't how to develop them, the question is how to develop one to the point where it's cheaper than pumping oil. The best way to do that is to let a thousand flowers bloom, and let the failed enterprises fail without bureaucratic meddling.

This new process is simply astounding. Too good to be true? Let's hope not.

I should have posted this before: may those who celebrate have a joyous and peaceful passover. And a special Good Friday/Easter holiday.

You know, I was highly suspicious that the looting of the Baghdad museum was largely an inside job. It appears that experts working in Iraq are coming to the same conclusion:

"It looks as if part of the looting was a deliberate planned action," said McGuire Gibson, a University of Chicago professor and president of the American Association for Research in Baghdad. "They were able to take keys for vaults and were able to take out important Mesopotamian materials put in safes."

"I have a suspicion it was organized outside the country, in fact I'm pretty sure it was," Gibson said. He added that if a good police team was put together, "I think it could be cracked in no time."

Yeah, not much surprise at all, if you think about it. In fact I'd expect that it may have happened days before we even hit Baghdad.

You can check out Yahoo news for the complete story if you want. I sure hope they wind up finding a lot of these artifacts. But I suspect a lot of them disappeared into Syria, never to return.

(Hat tip: the lovely Rita, my favorite tool of the patriarchy.)

* Update * -- Bitter Sanity has described what likely will be the meme about the Baghdad museum, as it will likely evolve over the next year or so. Anyone want to take bets on how accurate this depiction is? Also, on how soon people who deny this will be dismissed as "Bush defenders" or just people who "have no sense of humor" or are "obsessed with politics?"(Via the big guy.)

A journalism student is looking to do some short interviews of people who read blogs.

There's More...

Well, it looks like Saddam left behind a final taped address to the Iraqi people. Okay, not really. It's a story in The Onion. What I found interesting is that, while reading it, I had a hard time seeing it as a joke.

It looks like researchers have come up with a more effecient way to recycle plastics. Don't know how long before their methods hit the markets, but it's a good thing. Right now, recycled plastics are too expensive to be useful.

Recycling aluminum has reduced the market price of aluminum. Cheap recylcing could do the same for plastics. Which, interestingly enough, should lower the price of oil. Whether cheaper oil is a good thing or not depends on your perspective I guess. But this would certainly increase the long-term downward trend in oil prices. If it went into widespread use.

(Plastics are primarily made out of oil, for anyone who didn't know.)

So. It appears that U.S. boycotts of French goods are having an effect. Now isn't that a crying shame?

Defend a brutal mass-murdering despot for the most craven, selfish, and hateful of reasons, and you pay a price. Who'd have thought?

(Via the Fabulous Susanna.)

I remember well the brutal murder of an old man in a wheelchair named Leon Klinghoffer. They shot him and threw him overboard.

I was 19 years old, and only just becoming aware of world politics. I couldn't comprehend why anyone would do such a thing. What could they be trying to accomplish? What was the point of it?

I understand it now. It's called evil.

It also appears that the man who did it may be entitled to release under the accords signed by President Clinton with the help of the Israeli Prime Minister and the pig Arafat.

Lovely.

Please. I beg you. Go sign this petition. Now. I mean right now.

Right now. Go. This has to end, and it has to end now.

(Via Andrea.)

So. Barney Gumble things that this story is proof that the Iraqi people now hate us.

Who's that say more about? The coalition, or Barney?

For the record: I expect that a certain percentage of Iraqis are deliriously happy to see us. Another percentage will always resent us. The great vast middle of Iraqis almost certainly are probably uncertain, anxious, a bit resentful, a bit embarassed, a bit relieved, and hoping that they can dare to hope.

I also suspect that as time goes on, and we prove that liberation really is our goal, most of that vast middle will become more supportive. As they discover that we aren't just there to steal their oil. And, more importantly, as they discover that they can criticize us without getting their tongues cut out.

That their children can stick their tongues out at our soldiers, and we won't put their children in prison in response.

That we won't rape their sisters and mothers and daughters in response to people who tell us we're doing something wrong.

As for the whiners both inside and out of Iraq who are complaining that it's our fault that the museum full of Mesopotamian artifacts was looted, Jim Treacher had the most pithy response I've seen yet:

Stop the looters.

Don't kill any civilians.

Yes, both.

I am in awe.

* Update * - Charlie B. sends me this execrable thread full of pathetic losers who, not content to be proven wrong about everything have latched upon the museum looting as proof positive that the coalition has done a work of unspeakable evil.

Such people are, truly, pathetic.

Ruben Studdard needs to win.

I see that the Australian Prime Minister is calling for France's removal from the Security Council, and proposing that "a South American country" and India be added instead.

Sounds like a fine idea to me.

(Via Glenn Reynolds.)

Good lord. Honda has put out the commercial of the year, and it's only April. They're only showing it in the UK right now but I can't imagine they won't make use of it in all their markets eventually.

Just click here to see the New Honda Ad. Can you believe there is only 1 second of computer animation, and the rest simply involved enormous patience and 606 takes? Phenomenal.

Apparently their server's been overloaded, and my linking it probably won't help. But it's worth going out of your way to see, so you may want to try on and off during the late evening or early morning.

Damn. I actually want to buy a Honda now.

(Via Diffuse Shadows.)

So. Weblogs are getting just a wee bit more respect, and a wee bit more mainstream, all the time. In a way, you could argue that the Agonist controversy only helped that--no one would have taken it seriously if blogging itself weren't starting to be taken seriously.

And now I see that Newsday has done a nice article on The Command Post, and its founder Michele Catalano. I've been a Command Post contributor since it opened, but I'm still pretty proud to read it. Although it'll also be interesting to see where it goes in the next few weeks, now that the war is moving into its Afghanistan phase.

Remember October's Duranty Report? If you don't, here's the important bit:

On October 4th, the New York Times ran a report by Nicholas Kristof in which he relayed how two young Iraqi women in Bagdad told him they hate America and will do whatever they can to repel American invaders. He sagely concluded that the President was deluded if he thought Iraqis would welcome American soldiers.

Six paragraphs later, buried in the middle of the story, he noted that foreign correspondents such as himself were accompanied at all times by a representative of the Iraqi government.

He then noted, somewhat further down, that anyone caught speaking in a manner considered traitorous was legally subject to having his tongue cut out.

I just wanted to make sure you remembered it.

In case you'd, you know, forgotten or something.

Because I hadn't.

Those of you who know me know that I absolutely love conspiracy theories.

A good conspiracy theory is a highly rationalized work of art. It is an impressively refined, carefully constructed form of reasoning that requires a great deal of careful thought and specialized knowledge--in the same way that liquor is a highly refined, carefully constructed form of sugar.

It is, quite possibly, the highest form of madness man has ever achieved.

Having said that, I honestly believe that conspiracism based on something very positive in the human mind:

There's More...

Tikrit is ours. It was the last major city. The chaos in places like Baghdad is getting under control, as police have begun coming back to work and the population has become a bit less hysterical. Evidence is that even the suicide bombers have been, for the most part, imported rather than home-grown.

Saddam's vision of controlling most of the Middle East has, it appears, been completely crushed.

Also the French have decided to go ahead and allow America to have a role in shaping post-Saddam Iraq--which is awfully decent of them, don't you think?

(All links from Command Post.)

Ever wonder what happened to former blogger Clay Waters? Well some time ago I got a note from him telling me what he was up to these days, and I keep forgetting to mention it here.

He's now got a job running Times Watch for the Media Research Center.

So now you know. :-)

Bill Dooley reminded me some time ago that people tend to forget an important organization these days: The USO. This is a non-profit, non-government-run charity that provides entertainment to soldiers in the field.

Those folks are entertaining our troops in places like Afghanistan, and will almost certainly be busy in Iraq over the next couple of years. So if you're looking for someplace to give money to a good cause, you might want to think about The USO.

Just thought I'd mention that. ;-)

Over at E Pluribus Unum, Ara asks us to stipulate that the Saudi problem is how to preserve the flow of 5.8 million barrels of oil a day at market prices.

For the record, I will not stipulate that this is the Saudi problem. If we stopped buying all Saudi oil, simply made sale or posession of Saudi oil illegal within the United States, the Saudi problem would remain fundamentally unchanged. Indeed, it would likely worsen. Because there is a world market for oil, and that market gives the Sauds money, and they use that money in ways that have caused this war, and will continue to fuel it for some time if we don't do something about it.

The Saudi problem has little to do with their oil, except that the oil gives them them money to foment Wahabbism and radical anti-Western propaganda. They will have that money for some time, and no program of R&D; could possibly solve that problem in the kind of time scale we need to address the problem.

This is assuming you even believe a "focused, organized" government program can help lessen our dependence on foreign oil. I do not believe that either. But even if you do, it won't help us with our war problems today. Even optimistic estimates would have it taking us ten years. And then, the technology would have to be so good, and so cheap, that it would spread around the world, replacing oil sales wherever it goes. Otherwise, the Saudi problem will still remain.

As for what future generations will say: that we were fools to believe the luddite paranoia that's so common today about nuclear power and nuclear waste. This scientifically illiterate fear of nuclear technology has done terrible harm to the environment and increased our dependence on foreign energy. Ditto the irrational fears that have made sensible, environmentally sound domestic drilling virtually impossible. But I hope that future generations will at least not think we were stupid enough to try some sort of "Manhattan project" to invent a replacement for oil, which would likely only slow down the development of alternative energy.

Regardless: The Saudi problem must be dealt with today, not over a ten year time frame while we hope for miracle technologies. No amount of research on alternative energy, focused or not, will make that go away.

So. It appears that CNN spent about a decade willfully concealing information about Saddam's regime. Including incidents of torture, mutilation, and murder that it knew explicitely about. Some of which happened to its employees, and that it still covered up.

Why? Because telling those stories would possibly have gotten some people killed. And because telling those stories would have gotten them ejected from Iraq.

Some people are furious with CNN. Some forgiving. Some cynical, saying CNN never had any credibility in the first place.

I've been chewing on it for a while, and still haven't decided what I think.

How 'bout you?

Unlearned Hand has a very interesting article on Saudi Arabia's past, present, and potential future that you probably ought to read. A lot of people following the War on Terror believe that the Sauds, long-term, are our biggest problem. How we deal with them in the next few years is going to be very interesting to watch indeed.

a. Cuban opposition leaders, Gustavo Arcos, Felix Bonne, Vladimiro Roca, Rene Gomez, and Elizardo Sanchez, denounced in a joint statement the repressive wave taking place in Cuba. The liberation of close to 80 detainees, among them the poet and journalist Raul Rivero, and the economist, Martha Beatriz Roque, was also urged by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and by numerous governments that made public there disapproval. In London the Foreign Office called in Cuba's Ambassador, Jose Fernandez de Cosio. After the meeting, the British government said that the actions of the Cuban government were "deplorable." In Brussels, European Union officials predicted that the entry of Cuba in the Cotonou Accord could be affected.

There's More...

The London Telegraph reports that the Russians spied for Saddam right up until the collapse of the regime.

Of course, it's a British tabloid, and the Telegraph's not the most reliable. But if this pans out, it may explain why the Russians and other members of the Axis of Weasels are suddenly making nice-nice noises.

On the other hand, it could be that they were providing bad intel, just to help us on the side.

Or it could be more BS from a Brit tabloid.

(Via Command Post.)

Hmm, hmm, hmm.

On the heels of the North Korea story, we now have this Iranian story.

Well, well, well. Well. What a......surprise? :-)

You would think (or at least I would) that having "freedom of the press" would include some degree of social responsibility.

Specifically, it would seem to me that a responsible press would refrain from printing details of diplomatic negotiations before they are complete. A case could be made that our failure to gain the use of Turkish turf for channeling the 4ID into Iraq goes back to the widespread publication of the "bribes" the US was offering Turkey.

A responsible press would also refrain from printing "restricted" details of ongoing police investigations, as they did in the Beltway Sniper case (and too many others to list).

And, most especially, a free press should be responsible enough to refrain from printing unsubstantiated negative news about ongoing combat operations, but this letter sums that up better than I can:

Lady Fieldhouse Speaks.

(Link courtesy of The Edge of England's Sword.)

I think this more or less speaks for itself, doesn't it?

I halfway hoped for something like this, but wouldn't have been so bold as to predict it. I should have known better. Tyrants are pretty much all the same, aren't they?

(Via Res Ipsa Loquitur.)

Man, it's time to switch to Linux!

Let's just hope Bush doesn't get ahold of this technology.

Not that he could understand it.

(Thanks to Joel Mann for the link.)

You know, it's funny how you see certain things your whole life, and it simply never occurs to you that someone put some serious thought into its design. That's what industrial designers do. I remember being highly curious when I interviewed Chris Muir to learn that there is such a thing as a professional industrial designer. I remember not getting it at first, but then realizing: of course there would be such a thing!

Then I was cruising on Jerry's site, and found this page of items I've seen all my life that turn out to have been designed by one man. I've often, not always but often, thought of such designs as somehow vaguely "italian," not quite knowing why. But then I learned this man's name. He was an Italian gentleman, from Milan, named Achille Castiglioni.

Well. What do you know about that?

Andrew Cory, the Punning Pundit, notes that, compared to other Presidents, Bush's failure in Iraq is truly pathetic. Notes Cory:

I was reading Gregg Easterbrook's best laid plans, when the following line came up “A nation the size of California captured in three weeks with relatively few dead”. A little-though-of fact is that California itself is conquered territory. The entire state once was Mexican (and before that Spanish, and before that...), and only became part of the US as a result of conquest during the Mexican/American war. A little judicious research (the Harper Encyclopedia of Military History is useful for such things) turns up that California was conquered in only 20 days; one less than it took to conquer all of Iraq. President Polk sent a smaller amount of troops into California than Bush sent into Iraq, and given the way military force has multiplied, the actual amount of firepower Polk sent in was miniscule by comparison...

Until I learned this, I thought that perhaps we had done well in Iraq. But given the historical parallels it becomes clear; Bush has failed to do well in Iraq. Polk in 2004!

The retarded chimp President can never measure up to Polk, never. But we all knew this our heart of hearts, didn't we?

By the way, you might want to check out Andrew's entry on VB day. Given the situation in Syria, it seems premature to me, but he's got a point, and is right to be proud either way. I'd directly link, but those are broken for him. But you can scroll down easily enough.

Man, are these cool or what?



Australia, Iraq, America, Poland, and the U.K.--all the countries with actual combat troops on the ground. Well done, Dave Mercer!

I saw yesterday's press conference with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and I heard him use the phrase "catastrophic success." Which seemed a bit awkward but humorous and colorful, as Rumsfeld so often is. But then I was surprised to find out that the phrase is not as odd as it sounds. There is a scientific/mathematical concept of catastrophic events that does not imply a negative value judgement. Very interesting, eh? It's a usage I'll probably pick up on now that I know that. I like it.

(Via Rand Simberg.)

Okay, this is the last time I post source code this week, I promise.

For those of you who helped me with my C code -- especially Dave, Jeff, and Ben -- I wanted you to see the finished code.

Here it is below, for you C programmers:

There's More...

For those of you still interested in helping me understand arrays, choice, and switch, here is my revised code. It breaks spectacularly. Why? I'm still having syntax issues. Anyone want to help me sort it out? (C geeks only please):

There's More...

I'm struggling to learn to program in C. It's been about a decade since I did any programming, and I'm rusty. Having worked in BASIC, assembly, and scripting languages, I'm not stupid, but I'm definitely rusty. Struggling to learn C on top of getting my head back into a programming mindset is harder than I though it would be.

I wrote a test program to do some currency conversions. I've finally got a grip on printf. Now I'm trying to understand the syntax for arrays, and to use commands like case and switch. Also I need to figure out how to clear out my variable after scanf uses it.

Anyone want to help me figure out the syntax to simplify this program to use those features? Source code below.

There's More...

The Null Device finds something interesting in the logos of two popular Internet news sites.

Our friend Mike Krempasky over at "Pave France" has the interesting tidbit that Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma has introduced a "sense of the House resolution" proposing that France, Germany, and Russia should help with the rebuilding of Iraq by forgiving the debt that Iraq owes them.

Such a resolution would be completely non-binding of course. It would be just one of those things Congress does where they express an opinion and nothing more. But this one could be amusing to watch. Thanks Mike!

Looks like the Concorde will be permanently mothballed and stuffed into museums. The last commercial flight of any Concorde will in October of this year. Thus a beautiful, if flawed, vision of the future evaporates into economic reality.

I've read that Concorde never made a profit, despite the huge price tag on the tickets. They were more a showoff project for their governments than any hard-nosed business decision made by anyone. Still, they were beautiful, and I always dreamed of flying on one, just once.

They may have been white elephants, but who ever said a white elephant wasn't a glorious sight?

Man, why couldn't I have had teachers like this when I was in High School? Maybe I wouldn't have hated it so much...

Although he wouldn't have gotten me into the maid's outfit.

The biggest smile on my face this week was when we freed Baghdad from the evil tyrant. But a smile nearly as big came when I learned of the Kurdish liberation of Kirkuk. That smile got a notch bigger when I found out that the Turks are horrified about it. Not that it wasn't predictable. But it was sweet to hear anyway.

I was going to write an editorial on how the Turks had no one but themselves to blame. But Perry de Havilland has already done that for me. But I'll gloat a little more:

When this started, I said that in a way I was happy that the Turkish Parliament turned the U.S. down in our requests to let us base our attacks out of Turkey. If selling out the Kurds had been necessary to liberate Iraq, well fine, I could support it if not like it. But when the Turks turned us down, I was a bit relieved. I didn't want it to cost us more American lives, but I did want the best possible position for the Kurds.

Well we didn't need the stupid Turks, and now the Kurds are in the best possible position. And I couldn't be happier about it, I really couldn't, unless I were a Kurd myself. And wouldn't that be a wonderful thing to be--this week especially?

Let's hope Washington and London tell the Turks where they can stick it.

So. Reports are that many Arab volunteers who went to help Saddam fight the invaders are going home. Big shock, eh?

Not long ago a commenter asked here why certain Arabs were volunteering to go help Saddam. What he didn't realize is that all Arab news media (with Al-Jazeera only a halfway exception) are very tightly controlled by the dictator governments in that part of the world. The press shows what the government wants them to show, says what the government wants them to say--period. Plus, people who protest or speak out against the line that's coming from the press know that they'll be hurt--so they stay quiet.

Let's hope this all starts the necessary process of liberalization for that region. Nothing would please me more--because that, despite anything else you may have heard, is the real reason we went to Iraq. And it's the real reason this was the right thing to do.

Oh my God. Has anyone ever pegged NPR better? I mean, ever?

Good lord. I love NPR, but: BULLSEYE!

(Via the All New & Improved Pejman! Same great taste, now with more zest!)

While I'm linking Sgt. Stryker, I shouldn't fail to mention this great letter from a Marine in Iraq that you should read. It also made NRO, but who cares? The Stryker folks got it first, because it was addressed to them. :-)

Well. The Marines have discovered an underground nuclear facility that the inspectors had been unable to find, despite the fact that they were tipped off to its existence several times in the last decade.

Looks like Janeane is going to owe Dubya some flowers after all.

Thanks to John Weidner for the heads-up. By the way, John also asks this interesting question: "[W]hen the oh-so-much-wiser-then-the-rest-of-us refer to the Arab Street, will the people of Iraq still be considered members of that influential club?"

Good question.

Barney Gumble notes that other sources say this facility has been known about for some time and already inspected and found to have no weapons program in production.

I'm going to weigh in on this now.

I was a regular reader of Sean-Paul's. Mostly, because I needed an outlet for my aggression - he and some of his reader's gave it to me. It was much fun.

I found him to be a mediocre writer that whined A LOT about Bush. Defended the indefensible and always tried to claim moral superiority. Because of this I thought he was MUCH younger than he was... But I really liked him. I thought that he'd really be something when he grew up.

His writing seemed to improve almost overnight.

BIG RED FLAG.

There's More...

On March 7, 2003, Janeane Garofalo appeared on The Factor with Bill O'Reilly.

She promised, if the war went well, she would apologize to President G.W. Bush.

O'Reilly offered this scenario: Iraq liberated, we find chemical weapons and WMD"s, people in the streets cheering soldiers and waving American flags. Happiness everywhere.

She countered with something like this: 100,000's of Iraqi's DEAD and no bad weapons...

O'Reilly promised, if her scenario proved correct, he'd be the first on T.V. to blast the Bush White House.

Garofalo promised, if O'Reilly's was the result, she would personally deliver Roses to Bush's front door and a fruitcake.

Can't wait to see if she is classy enough to at least say she was wrong.

If she does - she will TOTALLY win back my respect. (I still think she is funny)
And, I will post anti-rant on her behalf...

In a recent thread, several people have taken it upon themselves to explain to me how a fellow named Dean Allen is the master of an obscure literary form of which I had previously been unaware, known by the peculiar term "sarcasm." Upon looking it up in the dictionary, I was aghast. I, a student of letters, had never heard of such an adroit literary construct! It seems almost a form of poetry, although not quite. I'm not sure I've got a handle on it just yet, but I am trying, and I hope they'll be patient with me.

Said caring individuals have further let me know that Mr. Allen, while he may have said several things that a neanderthal such as myself might take to be insulting, was merely practicing this very same high art form! Indeed, it appears that I (along with some of my troglodyte readers) would do well to appreciate the subtleties inherent in this genre of literary endeavor. Insulting? Surely not. No, it's just sarcasm you see!

I want to let it be known that I find it deeply moving when people take time from their busy lives to explain to me about how things like sarcasm work. I shall take these caring and thoughtful missives to heart. A humble naif such as myself obviously has much to learn. I can only hope to study at the feet of the great masters, knowing as little about it as I do.

It is, truly, so moving that I fairly well weep with joy. The cynics of the world are wrong. Wrong I say! Humanity once again proves that, as awful as the world may be, kind and generous souls still exist.

Or, to put it another way: You like me! You really, really like me!

I am humbled.

Laugh all you want, it's still an addicting show. Although last week's episode was awful, this week's was much better. Most of the judges were tripping on acid, but what can you do? They don't count anyway. And, as cruel as it is to say, the callers voted off one of the right people. Now, if they only get rid of the sexy but boring Carmen Rasmusen, this would be a show full nothing but truly gifted people, and a real horserace.

Although I begin to think that there's no stopping Ruben Studdard. Not that I'd want to, but Clay Aiken increasingly looks like a one-trick pony, and the incredibly talented Trenyce just can't get no respect.

The bar was preparing for the lunch rush. Well, it was supposed to be getting prepared anyway. Nobody worked. Then, slowly, customers started coming in. Nobody ordered drinks. Nobody ordered food. Nobody worked.

All of us glued to the nearest T.V., then it happened. The statue cracked at the knees and with a final tug by the awesome tank recovery vehicle - Bam! Down came the dictator. Everybody cheered. Some of us cried. We all knew. We knew that we were seeing what our children would someday be studying in history.

We saw a liberation. We saw people whose life just began regardless of their age. We saw faces smiling a smile, many of us, thankfully will never know. We saw fear being wiped out. We saw gratitude. We saw why Tony Blair and George W. Bush were right. We saw why so many shameful Americans and others were so horribly wrong.

We saw history.

And it was GLORIOUS!

They hate us. Why wouldn't they? We made war on their country. Can't you understand how they would hate us as much as they hated him?

You can't?

Me neither.

Must be the bloodthirsty racist imperialist in me.

(Images stolen from The Associated Press.)

I just got back from East Dearborn.

Like anyone else within sight of a TV this morning I watched the spectacle of Saddam’s statue being pulled down. As news of the imminent destruction of the statue spread throughout Baghdad, ordinary citizens came to watch, to touch history. Many brought their children and hoisted them on their shoulders. I prayed for the future those children might see, free from a terrorist regime.

It reminded me of all the other parts of history I’d witness courtesy of the cathode ray tube in my thirty some years on this planet: man walking on the moon, the resignation of a president, attempts on the life of another president and a pope, the release of Nelson Mandela, the fall of the Berlin Wall. I often watched with envy, longing to be there, to touch history.

I tore myself away from the TV early in the afternoon to run some errands. When I heard NPR reporting spontaneous demonstrations on the streets of east Dearborn (the predominantly Middle Eastern suburb of Detroit) only fifteen minutes from my house in good traffic, I raced there.

There's More...

Just got this note from Women for a Free Iraq. As you can imagine, these women are awfully happy today:

There's More...

Ara tells me that on Don Imus' show this morning, Senator John McCain proposed that the French and the Germans and the Russians should help in the rebuilding of Iraq by forgiving the accumulated debt owed by Iraq to them. After all, it was the tyrant who cut those deals.

Ah, John McCain. Every time I think I'm tired of him, he does something to make me love him again.

Ah. Wonderful. Dodd has the pictures of the week. If that doesn't put a smile on your face, nothing will.

God bless America.

Now I have work to do!

In reading Andrea's take on the plagiarism issue, I find myself thinking: every day that Sean-Paul ignores the issue, hoping it will go away, is another day he vindicates his critics. Each day, another substantial notch comes of his ability to restore some of his reputation, at least among those of us who'd like to think well of him.

I confess, I have a habit of trying to think the best of people, and it has gotten me into trouble before.

Ah well.

Well, I've gotten some interesting comments, and seen an awful lot of anger from others in the blogosphere. One commenter has even accused me of "bending over backwards" to "excuse" Sean-Paul ("The Agonist"). All I was doing was trying to suspend judgement.

Still, I would like to point a few things out about copyright that people may not know.

Are you aware that if you ever forwarded a copy of that famous photo of the three firemen hoisting the flag at Ground Zero, you violated someone's legal rights? You did, you know. Ditto if you ever emailed a copy of a funny Dave Barry column to your friends.

By the way, for you webloggers: if you've ever posted the lyrics to your favorite song on your weblog, you violated someone's legal rights. Ditto any photo from the AP wire, or just about any newspaper. With or without attribution, if you did it without explicit permission, you violated someone's rights.

All you angry people knew that, right?

There's More...

Hmm. The folks at StrategyPage have an interesting photo of an Iraqi soldier. It doesn't look like a gag. I wonder what the real story is?

(Thanks again Casey.)

So. We've liberated the inmates of a prison full of Iraqi kids who had refused to join Saddam's young Baathist auxiliary. I keep starting to write comments about that, but then my brain freezes up.

I mean, really. Where do you start?

(Thanks to Andrew & Sasha for the heads-up.)

Winds of Change has some great photos here and here of some rather touching and amusing moments in Iraq.

And thanks to them, I now know about Warphotos. What a great photoblog! Check it out. This one is probably my favorite. I hope the judge is understanding.

Well. My site was down for a while this morning, and comments were down even longer. I was mystified until I just now got this note from my ISP:

It seems someone "spammed" your mt-comments.cgi file this morning. The load on the server went through the roof and I had to disable the file. I have re-enabled it and will keep an eye on it. If it happens again, I'll have to disable it.

Some enormous comments, as well as repretitive copies of the same comments over and over, were left to my article below on Sean-Paul. It appears that someone (probably not Sean-Paul) decided to get revenge.

I got a note from Meryl this morning saying she was having trouble even getting to my site, which leaves me wondering if there wasn't also an attempt to bring the whole site down.

* Update * It appears that, unless the slimeball or slimeballs are using IP spoofing, the criminals in question are working from the upenn.edu domain.

Well, I'd heard about The Agonist cribbing materials for his web site from Stratfor. Now Wired takes the story much further, openly accusing Sean-Paul Kelley of being a liar and a plagiarist. And I'm afraid I have a bit of detail that others may not know.

I think the real problem is probably that he doesn't believe that there's anything wrong, morally, ethically, or otherwise, with copying the work of others without pay or attribution.

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Anti-war protestors in Europe have been attacking Jews again. Ugly business, that. One wag (not sure who) recently suggested that the U.S. ought to offer political asylum to european Jews, and I begin to wonder if that's not a good idea.

In other news, I found this screed about Israel on Lesbianation that truly floored me. Israel is the true terrorist country, eh? Wow. This is not unlike the pictures of anti-war protestors here in the U.S. with signs saying, "Lesbians for Palestine."

But note: in Palestine, lesbianism is a crime, and you very well might not survive if you're caught.

Which, having noted that, brings up this little quiz that gay and gay-friendly people might want to take. And contemplate, while viewing the current conflict, or threads like the one on Lesbianation.

Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi dissident and democracy advocate, has begun calling for an uprising against the Baathist regime in Iraq. Such calls have been muted until now by requests from the U.S., which had preferred that the Iraqi people stay out of the fighting. The fear being, naturally, that undisciplined mobs might get themselves killed or actually interfere with the efficient coalition war machine.

What I can't figure out is whether Chalabi's recent call for Iraqis to rise up is an indicator that the coalition leadership now wants cooperation from Iraqis on the ground, or if Chalabi's going off like a loose cannon--which he's also been known to do. I guess time will tell.

Little Tiny Lies has exclusive footage of the main Presidential Palace in Baghdad that proves that the situation is well under control.

My favorite quote about Michael Moore this week is:

"Michael, blaming guns for Columbine is the moral equivalent of blaming spoons for you being an obese asshole."

If you want to read another lovely fisking of that fat, talentless hack Michael Moore check out moviesthatsuck.com. Their motto is "rippin' hollywood a new ass". Fun stuff!

Don't forget that my fisking of Mikey is available for your reading and commenting pleasure!

The Emirates News Agency (the government-controlled press organ of the United Arab Emirates) has recently published a rather interesting speculation about the Baathist war strategy. The basic premise: if America takes enough casualties, she will lose heart and give up.

This reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend not long ago. My short answer to this would be: fat chance.

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Hey you. The guy in Pennsylvania. You know who you are.

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If anyone out there would like a reciprocal blogroll link from me, don't be shy about asking. Email address is my first name @deanesmay.com, which is easy enough.

Dimn Andrew or Andrew is Dimn - I'm not sure which - of Byte Back must have gotten his feelings hurt while he was here.

While perusing his site - for things to fisk - I found this:

"Dean thinks he's perfect. You can't argue or discuss anything with people who will never admit they are wrong and who are incredibly obtuse at seeing your points, however slowly and clearly you make them. Mr. Esmay reads long pieces of work on things he already agrees with and thinks himself learned. He is an ass in a hole of his own digging. More power to him. I'm tired of it."

I laughed so hard. I got a visual of a pouting 7 year old boy walking home with a runny nose. The only thing he forgot to say was "I'M NEVER GONNA PLAY WITH YOU AGAIN".

The whole statement is completely IRONIC. If you have EVER read this guy's comments - you will know what I mean.

Very important sidenote:
Andrew Cory is ABSOLUTELY NOT the "Andrew" we are talking about here!!!!!!!
I would NEVER want anyone to be confused on that one. We have much respect for Andrew Cory and we do not want anyone to think that his intelligence has been called into question. Hope that makes it clear. :-)

During the discussion on my Freedom of Speech rant, contributor extraordinaire, Paul Burgess gave us this gem:

Department of Enforced Attention Announced

Washington DC-- Plans for a new cabinet-level Department of Enforced Attention were announced today. President Bush is reportedly still considering names from among a pool of national celebrities, to be nominated as the first Secretary of Enforced Attention.

Over 80,000 opinions and viewpoints have already been registered with this fledgling department of the federal government, which is charged with ensuring that all adult American citizens carry out their duty to pay sufficient attention to every registered opinion voiced by a fellow American, regardless of whether they feel like it or not.

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A long time ago, I had some web pages. I would write articles, laboriously coded in HTML, would update an index page by hand, and posted them on the web on my old Syndicomm domain, for a grand audience of a dozen or so people. I gave that up and, in frustration, began an informal mailing list of friends who I would send articles and interesting commentary to.

After tiring of this nonsense, one day my funk-soul brother Jerry Kindall sent me an email and said, "Dude, you need a blog." And I said, "what's a blog?" He didn't really answer.

Then one day I got an email from him. He'd bought me a new domain, set me up with an account on an ISP, and installed a copy of Movable Type. And then, he handed me the keys and said, "go." It was, by far, the nicest gift anyone has ever given me in my lifetime. I think he still has no idea how grateful I am.

My first article appeared on April 6, 2002. It's been full-steam ahead, damn the torpedos, ever since. I've never had so much fun (with a computer) in my entire life.

This particular message will be the 1,111th to appear. Funny, eh? But that doesn't count comments. God knows how many of those I've written, but I can tell you that, all told, we've had 6,291 comments left here (as of 3:20 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). Unlike most other weblogs, I've tried to cultivate a serious discussion-oriented comments policy, which means that some of our comments contain our best content to date. If you don't believe that, just check out our Best Discussions archive some time. In particular, watch for comments left by Ara Rubyan, Paul Fallon, Casey Tompkins, Arnold Harris, Paul Burgess, Rosemary Esmay, and a few of our other regulars. We have some damned smart and thoughtful people hanging around here, and it often shows. If you read comments often enough, you'll spot those names, and a few others I've almost certainly (and shamefully) forgotten.

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No, I'm not the unknown Nobel laureate. Norman Borlaug is. "The form of agriculture that Borlaug preaches may have prevented a billion deaths." Saw this guy mentioned on Penn & Teller's show this weekend and found the Atlantic link on the episode's Web page, and thought Mr. Borlaug was definitely worth a shout-out.

(By the way, the Atlantic says there are three living American recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. The article was published in January 1997, though, so it leaves out Jody Williams, who won it in 1997, and Jimmy Carter, who won it in 2002. So don't be alarmed; Wililams and Carter are still alive, and the actual number of living American Peace Prize recipients is five.)

In the "wow" department: imagine hurling a thousand-pound slab of concrete through the air, at hundreds of miles per hour. Now imagine that being guided by lasers, so it hits whatever you want with pinpoint accuracy.

What good is it? Taking out tanks, artillery, small buildings, etc. with minimal collateral damage. Including very low risk of civilian casualties. Sound fascinating? Then would it surprise you to know that it's already in use in the current conflict in Iraq?

In the 1980s, during the beginnings of the SDI program, one proposed technology was called Thor. It never got off the drawing boards, but it was essentially a self-guided crowbar you could drop from orbit that would take out tanks and other such items, cheaply and without much of an explosion. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that concept evolved into this one.

(Story via Christopher Lansdown.)

It turns out that much of the Republican Guard fell apart in the first hours of Shock and Awe and have been attempting to disguise themselves as regular Iraqi army so they can surrender without fear of reprisal.

So, Jeopardy fans, the answer is: The first sophomoric pundit to say, "America got very, very lucky in this reckless war against Iraq, and will pay a very very heavy price for it."

The question: Who is, or will be... [fill in the blank]?

500 points for the first to buzz in with the correct answer.

If you didn't have enough reasons to find him loathsome, Gore Vidal has given us yet another. Liz Smith quotes Vidal as recently saying the following:

"Mr. Bush is a 'come to Jesus' kind of fellow who believes he is doing God's work. And it explains why Tony Blair has gone along with him. He, too, is a crypto Roman Catholic and a secret Jesus lover. Together they are very dangerous."

Smith excuses this vile bit of bigotry with the observation that "Vidal loves the excessive statement."

Ah yes. And lazy negros like Condi Rice and greedy bignose Jews like Joe Lieberman are very dangerous, too. We certainly wouldn't want any of them as President either, would we Mr. Vidal?

What? Is my statement a bit excessive? Why I'm sure Liz Smith will forgive me, anyway...

(Via TV's Henry.)

According to the BBC, British troops have uncovered a makeshift morgue on the site of an abandoned military base in Southern Iraq. Detailed records discovered suggest that these were military personnel who appear to have been tortured and executed. Some of the remains may go back to the time of the Iran/Iraq war.

As I type this (3:58 am Eastern, 12:58 pm in Baghdad), war events are moving practically at the speed of sound. I'm about to go to bed but I can't imagine what it's going to look like when I get up. You may want to check out The Command Post to see the latest. It's pretty unbelievable from where I sit this morning.

Time for bed...

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

I'd give you a whole long list of said declarations, but I think we can cut it short right here. Do you really need any further reasons? Not if the blood in your veins pumps as red as mine own!

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Are you with me? To arms. To arms I say!

(Via Emily.)

The 1% of you who get this will find it unbelievably funny. The rest of you will scratch your heads and look at me funny.

Man I want one of those things!

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The DoD has published an amazing gallary of 300+ images of the war. It's quite an array of photos.

(Via Command Post.)

You know how it goes: "All your base are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time." It's from the poorly-translated introduction to an obscure Japanese video game called Zero Wing. This handful of mangled English phrases became an Internet sensation a couple of years ago and references to it still pop up occasionally. (It even made it onto Futurama.)

Unfortunately the police in Sturgis, Michigan were not in on the joke and arrested seven young men for posting signs containing these phrases, believing it was a terrorist threat. Sturgis's chief of police says this is "no joking matter." The seven are due in court April 17 on a charge of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Bet those seven guys are glad they didn't use another Zero Wing phrase, "someone set up us the bomb," in their April Fool's prank.

All armies are not the same

On the contested bridge in Hindiya, the captured town south of Baghdad, an American company commander, Capt. Chris Carter of Watkinsville, Ga., dashed to a wounded Iraqi woman in a black chador lying exposed to fire in the center of the span. Captain Carter crouched with his M-16 rifle to cover her position until medics could evacuate her by stretcher, according to journalists traveling with the unit. (New York Times)

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I have heard a few people in the last week or so say that we have "abandoned" Afghanistan, are now "ignoring" it. Which is funny, since I have a classmate whose son, a soldier, was almost killed a few weeks ago by an old Soviet landmine in Afghanistan. And I read regularly about what's going on in Afghanistan. The cities are in much better shape, the new democratic government is slowly getting better all the time, and we are continuing to root out the terrorists in the countryside.

Knowing all this, I thought you'd all enjoy reading this report by Chris Noble, that you can use as a reference for anyone who tries this "we've abandoned Afghanistan" business on you:

She has just passed the "checkpoint to freedom." What does this woman have to look forward to now?



Should she be happy that:

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Explore the wonders of the mysterious Lilac Rose. Written by an independent, thoughtful lady with an elegant design sense, it's the latest addition to my blogroll, along with Chris Noble.

With talent like this, I begin to wonder why I bother to keep blogging myself. [sigh] I can't have them all killed, can I?

From The New York Times:

NAJAF, Iraq, April 2 — In the giddy spirit of the day, nothing could quite top the wish list bellowed out by one man in the throng of people greeting American troops from the 101st Airborne Division who marched into town today....

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Today's OpinionJournal has the story of an Iraqi who was taken as Prisoner of War in Kuwait. It is a deeply disturbing story.

Compare and contrast it with the story of our own brave Private Lynch, mentioned below.

I have asked this question before: how can anyone be so selfish, so cruel, so full of hate as to oppose this war?

Rescued POW PFC Jessica Lynch did not give up without a fight.

As details emerge about her capture and rescue one theme consistently comes through: "She did not want to be taken alive," according to one official quoted by Reuters . She was shot, stabbed and likely had her legs broken. The fate of her comrades remains unknown at the time of this filing. If our worst fears are confirmed, I hope they gave as good as they got.

So. Edwin Starr has died. He was best known for his anthem Motown hit, "War."

It would, I suppose, be in bad taste to say that there's something poetic about this. But since it could swing either way, I suppose it's inevitable.

Scientific American has an article on the "surprising" news that at least one species of dinosaur engaged in cannibalism.

This is the sort of very obscure discussion that paleontologists love to have with each other, but which most would admit is also not all that controversial or surprising. We already know that modern animals indulge in cannibalism. Eating their own young, or the young of competitors, is especially common behavior among quite a few predators.

Thus, the "surprise" for paleontologists is that there's proof that one species indulged in this behavior which is quite common among today's living species. It's not exactly a surprise, it's just the sort of thing that paleontologists get excited about since it establishes another long-suspected link to the past.

But it gives the press the opportunity to write headlines about "Cannibal Dinosaurs." Now if only we could established that the Cannibal Dinosaurs were From Mars...

Letter from Gotham asks, of the recently-rescued POW: I am posing this question because now we have a name and a face of our own: Our Precious Little Jesse. And I think that only when that happens can you wrestle with the ultimate, big questions. If you really, really could not obtain information from POWs about Jessica’s whereabouts other than by torturing, do you still think that torture is morally wrong?

Many of us who are adamantly anti-torture--as I am--have answered this before. And the answer is the same: if you have a cause in which you honestly believe that the possibility of dishonoring yourself and your nation by the use of inhuman tactics is the only way to avoid a greater crime, go for it. But you should know that you are breaking the law. Be prepared to stand in court before a judge and a jury of your peers, and say that what you did was the only moral choice before you. Be prepared to pay the consequences. Hope for mercy from the judge and jury, or a pardon from the government.

If you're willing to take that risk, I'm willing to respect your choice. But I'll accept nothing less from my country.

We are not animals, and should not dishonor ourselves by acting like animals. That's for our enemies to do to themselves.

(Via Andrea, who is wrong about this issue.)

* Update * - I see in retrospect that I didn't answer the question directly. Would I torture someone to find Jessica or another POW? This requires me to accept the premise that such a tool would be necessary to find her, even though it wasn't. And requires me to accept that torture would get the information I wanted, which it often would not. But yes, if I were convinced it would work, I'd do it. And be ready to take my medicine for making that choice. Fortunately, such choices are really quite rare, because torture is rarely necessary--and rarely works.

Bill Whittle wrote an essay a few days ago that I just finally read. It's long, but it's worth it.

We fight, despite fierce condemnation, because the tide of history demands nothing less. We are in the right. Our critics are wrong. Even if we lose, they are still wrong.

But we will not lose.

Go. Set aside fiften minutes or so, and read Bill's essay on why we fight.

Tony Woodlief is back in the saddle. For today, anyway.

This war was a horrible, horrible mistake.

The Iraqis hate us and will never, ever forgive us for what we're doing to them.

Why, oh why did we make this foolish mistake?

Kucinich in '04!

Go read this. Now.

Having a digit video recorder is a wonderful thing. You can set it to record literally hours of programming--mine holds about 40 hours--and watch anything whenever you want, with pure digital quality. Yesterday, I watched the episode of The Simpsons that aired on Sunday. I usually see every episode that way--a few days after it airs.

I've been a Simpsons fan from the very beginning. I mean, all the way back to The Tracy Ullman show back in the 1980s. And here's the thing:

Why does this show I've been watching for so many years, The Simpsons, suck so bad these days? I can't believe I even watch it anymore. It's almost like I feel I have to, like it's my weekly obligation simply because I've been watching it for so long. It's become a chore, though, just something to do in between King of the Hill and Malcolm in the Middle, which are both great shows.

But The Simpsons? Time to either pull the plug or fire everybody and start over methinks.

Artists, actors and celebrities are entitled to say what they want - when they want - wherever they want. The Constitution wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on if they weren't.

That said - I would like to point out that we are ALL guaranteed that right. Since ordinary Americans don't have microphones and the celebrity to be heard we can only be heard one way:

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I just got a note from Chris Muir:

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For those of you who aren't news junkies: a couple of weeks ago, an American protestor was run over by a bulldozer in Palestine. Very sad, although no more sad than countless other deaths in the Middle East. Still and all, she's been made a martyr by some, a symbol of peace-protest stupidity by others. Me? I think she was an idealistic young girl who, in the heat of passion, accidentally killed herself by jumping onto the blade of a gigantic bulldozer driven by a guy who couldn't see her.

John Sutherland, a writer for The Guardian, says that webloggers have brutalized her. Oddly enough, he points to The Shark Blog, whose messages are not particularly nasty on this subject. He also fails to mention Bigwig's extensive report, which was widely linked to by many bloggers, and is very intellectually honest. He also seems to concentrate on some random comments left on some weblogs, not saying at all where he found them. Very interesting omission, that.

There are two pictures of Rachel Corrie I'll always remember. Both are from Bigwig's report: the one of her crumpled, bloodied body, and the one taken before her death, her face twisted in hatred and rage toward Israel (the one that Sutherland claims "looked, to some expert eyes, doctored," although he doesn't bother to say whose eyes those are.)

I urge you to read Bigwig's report on Rachel Corrie, as I think it's the most fair and evenhanded analysis I've seen yet. And while you're at it, you may enjoy this poem, written by our own Casey Tompkins. It was meant to be sung to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's Richard Cory:

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On April 6, 2002, the first article was posted to Dean's World. It wasn't bad, in retrospect. But that makes our first blogiversary Sunday. I'll probably post something gushy that day.

But now, it's time for the monthly ritual: how's Dean's World doing? Those with no interest in hearing about the site's traffic can skip this message completely and move on to more interesting materials.

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The University of Montana has been taken over by radicals. Jesus, this is starting to look more and more like the '60s every day. Unbelievable. Here's a picture of one of the ringleaders that I managed to find.

(Via Ninjababe.)

British sources report that U.K. forces (and, presumably, other coalition forces) fighting in Iraq are facing a potentially devastating enemy that is too easily forgotten about: malaria.

The Brits are short on mosquito nets and are using anti-malaria drugs prophylactically. It's funny how history repeats itself--and how, in our modern world, we forget that simple things like this are still a potentially devastating problem.

(First spotted on The Command Post.)

Truly, truly, Bjørn Stærk is a genius who has shown me the true path to glory. I follow him, for he is, while far too humble to say so, the leader that the world has been waiting for.

I was cruising through Edward Boyd's web site, and he mentioned a column by Geoffrey Nunberg. I hear Nunberg all the time on National Public Radio. To be blunt, he's usually predictable and pedantic. But this time, he hit on a pet peeve of mine: the highly irritating pseudo-sophisticated habit of trying to ape the pronunciation of foreign names. And "ape" is exactly the right word for it, much of the time.

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Sociologists and corporate anthropologists have long known that humans tend to instinctively cluster into communities. Similarly, human communities instinctively develop leaders and followers. This is especially interesting in business operations, because the communities people form often fail to conform to the organizational structure and hierarchy created by management.

Mapping out the actual communities in an organization is a well-understood, but difficult and time-consuming, process that few companies bother to do. But some researchers at Hewlett-Packard seem to have come up with a way of doing it by simply monitoring email traffic, based solely on who sends mail to who. Without even looking at the contents of any emails, but simply aggreggating the data on the "To:" and "From" fields. The calculations could be--in fact, were--done on a low-cost desktop PC and some fairly straightforward software.

The potential applications are interesting, because they could change how forward-thinking companies do business, making it easier to identify the most effective people in an organization, and identifying corporate structures that aren't working or could be improved. Or, if nothing else, it might just lead to greater recognition that informal groups get more done than previously realized, and should be allowed to flourish unhampered by management interference.

The paper itself--Email as Spectroscopy: Automated Discovery of Community Within Organizations--is a PDF, so you'll need Acrobat Reader or something similar. It's also dry and technical, because it's intended for a technical audience. But if you're a science geek like me, you'll probably find it worth a read.