Mischievous Ramblings II

Yee-haw!

DVDActive - News - Releases - Western Mini-Series' (US - R1)

The Sacketts is coming to DVD.

Just this weekend I finished mastering a DVD copy of my (old, crappy, long-play) VHS version to a DL DVD. I was Googling to find the rights owners (track down the production companies, call NBC, etc.) when I found out Warner Home Video is finally going to put out a DVD.

Oh, it looks like I'm back to blogging. I wonder how that happened?

Alive In Joburg

Internet Archive: Details: Alive In Joburg

A fantastic short piece about aliens in Johannesburg. Where is Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner when you need him?

Yet another example of how current digital tools allow great creativity at relatively low cost.

Michael Yon: The Battle For Mosul IV

Michael Yon : Online Magazine: The Battle For Mosul IV

Some of the good that we're doing in Iraq.

I don't deny that some good is happening, but the price is awfully high. I don't think it's worth it. I think we could have done the good without doing nearly the harm -- to us, or to the Iraqis, or to the world at large.

Wag, wag

Rove is going to testify again for Fitzgerald, people are dying faster and faster in Iraq, hurricane relief aid is too slow...time to trot out the terrorists again!

10% of Senate approves of US Torture

US Senate backs detainee rights

US senators have voted overwhelmingly to outlaw cruel or degrading treatment of detainees held in US custody abroad.

The Senate voted 90-9 in favour of the motion, which senators said would lay down rules for troops and officials carrying out interrogations.

Prisoner abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq and concern over the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay have dogged the US since 2001.

The motion was opposed by the White House, which views it as unnecessary.

Bush administration officials say the move would be restrictive, and limit its fight against terrorism.

10% of the Senate didn't feel it important to lay down specific rules for US troops regarding the treatment of prisoners. The White House says doing so would be restrictive and limit the fight against terrorism.

How do we fight terrorism with terrorism? How do we gain and hold the high moral ground when we chop down the foundations of our morality?

MythBusters Episodes

Encyclopedia: MythBusters Episodes is a list of 37 Mythbusters episodes, the Myths tested, and the results, with short explanations.

CVS Camcorder Rocket Project

CVS Camcorder Rocket Project is a very cool use of a hacked CVS Camcorder -- they mounted it in a large model rocket (looking back using a mirror).

I clipped this movie out of one of their videos. Awesome!

(I don't know why the embedded version won't work, but it won't, so you'll have to download it -- it's only about 900K, so no big deal)

Americans get mixed signals on future of war in Iraq

Americans get mixed signals on future of war in Iraq

The old saw has it that truth is the first casualty of war. In this war the truth was murdered in cold blood well before the war ever began, and it continues to die the death of a thousand cuts every day.

The president says we are going to stay in Iraq until the mission is actually accomplished as opposed to the photo op "mission accomplished" charade staged on that aircraft carrier flight deck when the real war was only just beginning, in May of 2003.

...

Don't tell me we are going to stay the course. We are on the wrong course and it only leads deeper into the quicksand. Tell me how we are going to change course. Tell me how we are going to do everything we can, spend whatever it takes, to give our sons and daughters what they need to fight and survive and prevail even in a war that makes no sense.

Tell me we can at least do that. Tell me that you made some serious mistakes, Mr. President and Mr. Vice President and Mr. Secretary of Defense, and that you are willing to do everything to correct those mistakes.

Tell me this is not Wonderland, Alice.

I'm not sure what part of "mixed" he doesn't understand.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Wow.

To quote William Goldman:

...fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, ...

Worth staying up until 4:30am for the first quick reading.

It's really too bad she can't write them as fast as I can read them.

US casualties map

US casualties map is linked to a Red State / Blue State map so you can see that most of the casualties are coming from Blue States.

At least that's the intent, and I agree it looks like a valid and interesting correlation. But I'd like to see a more careful study done, maybe county-by-county, to see if the places who voted for Bush are suffering approximately their share of the casualties. If they aren't, it's a talking point for Democrats: "counties that went Democrat are 48% of the nation but they represent 72% of the casualties in Iraq! We are strong on National Defense because it's our boys who are dying!" or something like that.