Pinhead Accuracy

Yes, if there's one bright spot in the Iraq War, it's that the superiority of US weapons technology will mean that only strategic military targets will be hit, sparing civilians. Cruise missles never go astray.

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, QATAR - U.S. officials have halted Tomahawk cruise missile launches over Saudi Arabia after some of the weapons landed in parts of the kingdom's desert, U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

War On War

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Experts Texperts

It seems not all of the analysts agree.

Analyst says US defeat inevitable

Down On War

I know I'm not alone in this, but this Iraq war is really getting to me. It's depressing. The lies. The deceit. Bush's smugness. Rumsfeld's arrogance. The poisonous lip service being paid to ideals and values that we all hold dear. And the people who are trying to speak up as the real defenders of those values, being demeaned and maligned.

Like everybody, I was unspeakably sad on and after 9/11. But I never felt scared or threatened. Sure, I wondered if something similar could happen here, to the CN Tower, the subway, the office buildings downtown. But the fear never crept into my gut.

Now, I'm afraid. Not so much for myself, but for the thousands of people around the world, especially in the Middle East, who are going to die and suffer as this insanity crawls forward. It's a black cloud over humanity. And it seems it's just begun...

Considering the stuff I posted a few days ago, it would appear that it's Washington's policy to keep this war going, i.e., it's not going to stop with Iraq. Of course, after 9/11, Bush has spelled out who the members of the "Axis Of Evil" are: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, North Korea, etc.

Assuming the "coalition" is victorious in Iraq (and they seem to be having a harder time than they anticipated, even before getting into the urban warfare in Baghdad), that's only the first step.

Of everything I've read so far, this article from Washington Monthly Online puts it all together quite nicely. This excerpt nicely sums up the central point:

"Today, however, the great majority of the American people have no concept of what kind of conflict the president is leading them into. The White House has presented this as a war to depose Saddam Hussein in order to keep him from acquiring weapons of mass destruction--a goal that the majority of Americans support. But the White House really has in mind an enterprise of a scale, cost, and scope that would be almost impossible to sell to the American public. The White House knows that. So it hasn't even tried. Instead, it's focused on getting us into Iraq with the hope of setting off a sequence of events that will draw us inexorably towards the agenda they have in mind."

So, naturally, the question now is: who's next?

And wouldn't you know it, there's Donald Rumsfeld today, rattling his sabre at Syria and Iran.

Unbelievable.

It's nice to see articles are being written about it, though. Not sure how much good they're doing, however. One can only hope that eventually the mainstream media and enough of the American public will start to question the sanity of this policy and these actions, and bring it further into the light of day. And even if rhetoric and reason and sanity and body counts don't carry the day, there's always the possibility that the American public will start pulling on the reins once they realize the economic impact it'll have on them. The rich have already had their $700 million tax cuts slashed in half.

And amidst all this, isn't it kind of ironic that the Lord Of The Rings trilogy should be the dominant film event of these times.

"One ring to bind them..." !!

Here's hoping the little people will once again rise to the occasion.

The Real Smart Bombs

As usual, The Onion hits its targets with laser-guided satire.

This piece in particular, is just so perfect.

As are these News In Brief features:

Sheryl Crow Unsuccessful; War On Iraq Begins
WASHINGTON, DCóIn spite of recording artist Sheryl Crow's strong protestations, including the wearing of a "No War" guitar strap, the U.S. went to war with Iraq last week. "Making the decision to go to war is never easy, but it's that much harder when you know Sheryl Crow disapproves," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said at a press conference Monday. "It is this administration's sincerest hope that it can one day regain the support and trust of the woman behind such hits as 'All I Wanna Do' and 'Soak Up The Sun.'" Fleischer issued similar apologies to Martin Sheen, Janeane Garofalo, and Nelly.

Vital Info On Iraqi Chemical Weapons Provided By U.S. Company That Made Them
BALTIMOREóThe Pentagon has obtained vital information on Iraqi chemical weapons from Alcolac International, the Baltimore-based company that sold them to the Mideast nation in the '80s. "It's terrifying what Iraq has," Pentagon spokesman James Reese said Monday. "Saddam possesses massive stockpiles of everything from ethylene to thiodiglycol, according to sales records provided by Alcolac." The Pentagon has also been collecting key intelligence on Iraqi nuclear weapons and guidance systems from Honeywell, Unisys, and other former U.S. suppliers to Iraq.

Putting The 'Ass' In 'Ambassador'

So U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci is disappointed.

TORONTO - Some tough words for the Canadian government from U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci: he blasted the Liberal government for its failure to back the United States' war in Iraq....

The ambassador said if there were ever a real threat to Canadian security the U.S, would be there to help. "There is no security threat to Canada that the United States would not be ready, willing and able to help with. There would be no debate, there would be no hesitation. We would be there for Canada ó part of our family," he said.

That's so nice of you Mr. Cellucci. Because, as you've obviously forgotten, Canada was there for you when your hostages needed a way out of Iran. And Canada was there for you on 9/11 when many of your citizens, stranded in flight when US airspace was closed, were diverted to airports across Canada, where they received comfort and support. In Newfoundland especially, overwhelmed communities opened their homes and their hearts to hordes of US travellers, making them feel like long-lost friends. (It would be nice if some of those Americans would write Mr. Cellucci and tell him to quit with the threats.)

We've been there with you in the war on terrorism. We've even lost service peopleókilled by your pilots who were hopped up on pills and couldn't seem to remember proper operating procedures. But, they say that's the price of war.

Yes, we've been there for you, Mr. Cellucci. No debate. No hesitation.

But when you ask us to send our sons and daughters to die in a war that's only about American power, well, that calls for some hesitation. And here's what we've decided:

We'll go to war with you, alongside you, when the cause is just; but we won't go to war for you.

And guess what, Mr. Cellucci? Canada is a sovereign nation, and we'll make up our own minds about going to war. So SHUT THE FUCK UP!

There, I feel better now.

The Backroom Boys

I came across some interesting background info that puts the Iraq War in a larger perspective, and frankly, it's pretty disturbing. Maybe some of you readers are already aware of this stuff, but it's something I wasn't aware of.

First there was this article from CBC News Online:
Reality Check: A New American Century. Here's an excerpt:

Long before Sept. 11, influential neo-conservatives wanted to see America as an enlightened ruler, unchallenged, astride the world. Long before Bush was elected president, they got together and they wrote down a manifesto. The document was effectively a charter of the Project for a New American Century, a neo-conservative think tank in Washington.

That apparently led to this document: The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. Essentially, it's the official rationale for preemptive action (which Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame, has lampooned so successfully).

The disturbing thing is that the people who formulated this report concluded that what was needed to jumpstart the new pax Americana was a domestic cataclysm along the lines of another Pearl Harbor. And this was before 9/11.

Now, I'm not saying they engineered 9/11. I'm not that cynical. But still, it shivers me.

The policy initiative, spearheaded by people like Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz of the Defence Department and Richard Perle, head of the defence advisory board, was also explored in a series I caught on CBC. It was PBS-produced Frontline series called The Long Road To War. You can view parts of it archived on their site.

Very interesting stuff.

This Richard Perle fellow has been getting ink elsewhere too. In Slate, Jack Shafer writes about Perle's threat to launch a libel suit against investigative journalist Seymour Hersh for an article Hersh wrote in The New Yorker.

In a previous piece in Slate, Shafer had dared Perle to sue Hersh. (btw, you may have heard that Perle, who's also a director of media megalith Hollinger International, had described Hersh to CNN as "the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist." Gee, at least he isn't trying to chill the press!)

As Shafer writes:
"The [New Yorker] article examines the potential conflict of interest posed by Perle's dual roles as official Bush adviser (in the form of non-paid chair of the Defense Policy Board) and as managing partner at Trireme Partners, a venture capital firm. Trireme appears to invest in businesses that deal in enterprises 'that are of value to homeland security and defense,' according to Hersh's piece. As a special government employee, Perle is subject to a federal Code of Conduct, Hersh writes, and '[t]hose rules bar a special employee from participating in an official capacity in any matter in which he has a financial interest.'

The article doesn't accuse Perle of breaking any laws, but it explores the unseemly nature of advocating a war on Iraq while engaged in a business that could financially benefit from such a war."

Interesting, no?

And then there's this part:
"One former high-level intelligence official spoke with awe of Perle's ability to 'radically change government policy' even though he is a private citizen. 'It's an impressive achievement that an outsider can have so much influence, and has even been given an institutional base for his influence.'"

Isn't that lovely. And Americans' tax cuts are being rolled back to pay for this war! I seem to recall something from a long time ago about taxation without representation. Now here's tax-payer supported warmongering without accountability.

This stuff truly makes me feel ill.

Accountants For Peace?

I'm not sure whether Georgie Wargie needed the approval of the US congress to start the war in Iraq, but it seems he needs them to approve the war budget:

"Speaking at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Bush said he had asked Congress for $74.7 billion for the first part of the war against Iraq. Most of the money, $62.6 billion, would go toward troops in Iraq and involved with other post-Sept. 11 operations around the world, Bush said. The rest includes funding for humanitarian aid and increased security at home in the United States."

Let me get this straight. It's going to cost over $60 billion dollarsóat least, probably much moreóto cause this war carnage. The humanitarian aid will cost at most $12 billion, although some of that amount is earmarked is for homeland security. So less than $12 billion.

So here's my question: Is there a group called Accountants For Peace? Can someone send them these figures. If values and principles mean nothing these days, maybe peace can be bought by appealing to the bottom line. Because according to Bush's own figures, war costs more than humanitarian aid.

Stop Making Sense

Passing on this (via Dean):

A WARMONGER EXPLAINS WAR TO A PEACENIK.

Stop, Drop And Roll In The Aisles

What would you do if faced with terrorism?

Thankfully, the United States government has these helpful tips in handy and easy-to-understand graphic form.
(thanks to Greg)

Australopithicus flamingus

I was proofing some copy for our Video Club at work the other day, written by my copywriting colleague Amy. One of the selections was a video called "Walking With Caveman", some sort of film about Australopithicus afarensis, which the copy said was the first of our primate ancestors "to stand on two legs". Ever the stickler for detail, I edited the copy to read "stand upright" instead, and wrote this comment in the margin: "Yes, prior to this, our ancestors stood on only one leg. Australopithicus flamingus, they were called."

I have to say, that image just cracked me up: a hairy, barely bipedal primate/humanoid, standing on one leg, holding the other one behind him, maybe hopping around, foraging for berries. Falling over.

Voice Over: Soon Australopithicus flamingus experimented with using both legs, and this innovation allowed them to hunt wild gameóprior to this, the only game they could hunt with any degree of success consisted of turtles and some very stunned species of quail. Of course, not only did this provide a much-needed source of protein to jump-start our brain development, it also freed both hands to use tools.

A little known stage of our evolutionary development. In fact, people to this day place flamingo idols on their front lawns in tribute to these pioneering ancestors.

Okay, so it was a slow day at work.

An Irish Blessing

Now that my iMac is back up and running, here's a late St. Paddy's Day blessing.

May those who love us, love us
And those who don't love us
May God turn their hearts
And if he can't turn their hearts
May he turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping

And another...

If you're lucky enough to be Irish...
You're lucky enough!

Start Me Up

Posting this from work because my iMac at home is on the fritz. I was attempting to do a startup in OS 9.2.2, which I've done successfully before (I usually use OS 10.1something), but instead of booting up in 9.2, all I got was a grey screen. Multiple attempts to restart changed nothing, and it was after 9pm, so I couldn't call Apple Care support. Had to spend the rest of the night actually watching TV.

But I think I've found some helpful troubleshooting documents on the Mac.com support page. I'll try these various solutions when I get home. Apparently holding down the X key during startup should give me a startup manager screen, and I can get into an OS that way. Hopefully that'll do it.

Fingers crossed.

(Luck of the Irish! Bah.)

Get Back Jacko

A friend sent me this photo. Too funny.

Piece Up

This is a bit dated, but I just realized that the story I did for SOCAN is up on their site. It was a piece on Remy Shand and the wave of fresh young Canadian faces getting Grammy nominations this year.

I only got to interview Remy Shand, since Avril was unavailable and Nickelback had just come off a huge tour and weren't doing any press. I've interviewed Chad Kroeger a couple of times already, so that was no biggie, but I had been kind of interested to see what Avril was like. Too bad.

Remy was cool, though. Very easy-going and happy. Quick to laugh. Hopefully he'll nab a few Junos next month. That album rocks.

Ewe Rock!

Flying sheep's head injures concertgoer.

The band, part of Norway's death metal music scene, was carving up a dead sheep as part of its stage act when the animal's head flew off lead singer Maniac's knife and struck 25-year-old Per Kristian Hagen.

"My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air," Hagen told The Associated Press Monday from his hospital room. He is expected to recover.

Um, so does that mean his relationship to sheep was unambivalent prior to this incident?

Who Knew

Nothing to do with the impending desert war; I just happened to come across this entry while flipping through the dictionary this afternoon: camelry.

T(as is "terrorist")-Shirt

God bless those mall security guards. Keeping us free from the tyranny of free speech.

Just their dumb luck (and I do mean dumb) that they picked on a lawyer.

Truth In Advertising

A friend just sent me this movie. It's pretty funny. A bit of a large file, so those of you with slower connections be forewarned.

Seeing Stars

Caught Stars' set at the recently refurbished El Mocambo last Friday night as part of Canadian Music Week. It was the second time I've seen them, the first being at CMW (NxNE?) last year when they played the Horseshoe.

They are one cool band. They're just such cute, romantic, soft revolutionaries. Or as my friend Katherine said (I think it was her), they're what the Smiths would have sounded like if they'd worn pink instead of black.

I picked up their latest CD, Heart and it's very yummy. I especially like "Elevator Love Letter", "Death To Death", "Romantic Comedy" and "Don't Be Afraid To Sing".

This is music that makes you wish you had a broken heart.

You can check out some of their songs here (although I couldn't get the player to launch on my computer).

Also picked up the latest from The Minus 5, Down With Wilco. This is essentially Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, R.E.M.) being orbited by Peter Buck, Ken Stringfellow and Wilco. Sean O'Hagan (High Llamas, Stereolab) even pops up to lend a hand on at least one track.

It's taking a bit longer to sink in, mostly because right now it's being eclipsed by Stars, but I generally like it. With that crew, you won't be surprised to hear that it's kind of, well, alt-ambient roots pop. And y'know, that's not a bad crossroads to be standing at. "I'm Not Bitter" is a particularly enjoyable slice of jangly pop.

Has anyone heard the Loose Fur CD that just came out recently?

Still waiting to hear about that impending ep from Wilco. Isn't that supposed to be out by now?

I want my Wilco! I want my Wilco!

With Apologies To My American Friends

A friend emailed this to me, apparently courtesy of funny man Rick Mercer.

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry.

I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron but, it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of America. After all it's not like you actually elected him.

I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than you doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better than your own.

I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defense I guess our excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours.

I'm sorry we burnt down your white house during the war of 1812. I notice you've rebuilt it! It's very nice.

I'm sorry about your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer but, we feel your pain.

I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against a crazed dictator, you wanna have your friends by your side. I realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.

And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way, which is really a thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not
upset over this. We've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.

Thank you.