Alan Furst writes historical fiction, or to be more precise he writes historical war fiction. Add to that a spy or two and you have a winning combination. I have read three of his books so far and I'm satisfied and will be reading the rest. I read this type of fiction to relax, it's a great stress reliever and just plain fun. The first Night Soldiers code for spies you know begins: In Bulgaria in 1934, on a muddy street in the river town of Vidin, Khristo Stoianev saw his brother kicked to death by fascist militia. His brother was fifteen, no more than a blameless fool with a big mouth, and in calmer days his foolishness would have been accommodated in the usual ways--a slap in the face for humiliation, a few cold words to chill the blood, and a kick in the backside to send him on his way. That much was tradition. But these were political times, and it was very important to think before you spoke. Nikko Stoianev spoke without thinking, and so he died. Kristov is then recruited into the NKVD, the Soviet Secret Service trained in spycraft, and sent to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Furst got it exactly right the setting and the ethos. It reminded me of Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls, the story of a few days in the life of Robert Jordan, an American Spanish professor who volunteered to fight with the loyalists. Night Soldiers, as I was saying is a story of struggle between Russia and Germany for eastern Europe and a good story it is.
In his second offering, Dark Star, Andre Sarza a journalist finds himself in the spy business, and the moral ambiguity of the work, the real politik at a personal level. Sometimes Furst fails to develop secondary characters adequately, and leaves those of us with failing memories adrift. A minor distraction, and probably not one everyone will notice, but you'll like Sarza and his story. The third book, The Polish Officer, begins in Poland in 1939. Germany is quickly advancing, The pessimists are learning German. The optomists are learning English. The realists are learning Russian. George Bush is learning English as a second language. Sorry I simply couldn't resist that. Back to the story, Captain Alexander De Milja a plolyglot is recruited into the Polish underground and runs spies in Poland, France, and the Ukraine. How would you transport 11 million in bullion out of Warsaw a question he must answer. I particularly liked the day to day detail of the characters, like this snippet, Nothing good lasted in the world, Lezhev thought, that's why you needed poets to grab it as it went flying by. The compelling thing for me in these stories is the detail of the history. Whether your familiar with the history of the time or not Alan Furst fills in the gaps, while maintaining the flow of the overall history. So the next time you're at the bookstore grab one of these titles, and the time will go flying by.

Posted by Norm at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Only a couple of days left to enter the contest and win a prize.

Posted by Norm at 9:00 AM | Permalink

"What to do if you find yourself stuck in a crack in the ground underneath a giant boulder you can't move, with no hope of rescue. Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your current circumstances seems more likely, consider how lucky you are that it won't be troubling you much longer."
- Douglas Adams

Posted by Norm at 12:05 AM | Permalink

When I posted the quotation, as Jonathon rightly infers, the idea was to provoke discussion. I was a little surprised by the lack of response or even curiosity, but I'm delighted by the result as you will be when you read Jonathon's thoughtful and informed essay.
The question is an old one, as Jeremy pointed out in the comments to my original post. In the fourth act of Shakespeare's Henry V there is a conversation where the King talks to some of his soldiers who are unaware of his identity.

     King: By my troth, I will speak my conscience of the King: i think he would not wish himself anywhere but where he is.
     Bates: Then I would he were here alone. So should he be sure to be ransomed, and a many poor men's lives saved.
     King: I dare say you love him not so ill to wish him here alone, howsoever you speak this to feel other men's minds. Methinks I could not die anywhere so contented as in the King's company, his cause being just and his quarrel honorable.
     Will: That's more than we know.
     Bates: Ay, or more than we should seek after; for we know enough if we know we are the King's subjects. If his cause be wrong, our obedience to the King wipes the crime of it out of us. [Emphasis mine]

Is the speaker a cultural or political hero as Jonathon posits or rather a loathsome militarist. Is your political hero my loathsome militarist. My first thought upon reading the quotation was typical and predictable. The Nuremberg trials immediately came to mind, but the question of course is not a simple one though some would like it to be. The speaker is Bob Bennett Senator from Utah, not to be confused with William J. Bennett though I suspect they share much the same philosophy. The comment was in response to a remark Mr. Bennett heard as he sat in Salt Lake City's LDS Church conference where Apostle Russell M. Nelson told the faith's semiannual General Conference that "As a church we must renounce war and proclaim peace." and admonished the faithful to be "personal peace-makers". Senator Bennett in an attempt to reconcile those words with backing for a preemptive strike against Iraq said "I interpreted his remarks that members of the church should do everything they can to promote peace, and I certainly hope I do." and then cited "scriptural evidence" that Mormons have a duty to support their country if a decision is made t go to war. "The decision to go to war is not yours, It's the decision of the state in which you live and if the state decides to go to war. you are not responsible for that decision". [Emphasis mine] The problem for me has to do with our nature as humans. We tend to approach problems backwards. That is backward in the sense of arriving at rational conclusions. We begin with some emotional stimulus such as the World Trade Center on 9/11 and react emotionally. We let the feeling, the emotion too quickly become a part of us. Our opinions no longer informed by rational thought but by the most visceral of our feelings. We then go looking for evidence to justify those feelings. If we fail to find what we are looking for we create our own evidence or distort what others offer, anything to satisfy the emotional need. That is what it seems to me Bob Bennett is doing here it is certainly not analogous to Nuremburg, my initial feeling, but it is nevertheless a dangerous game. "We want regime change and the only way to do it peacefully is for Saddam to change. He has moved to the degree he has simply because he
has a gun to his head." said Bob Bennett. The only problem is that if he doesn't move you have to pull the trigger with all that implies, and That's more than we know. but not more than we should seek after.

Posted by Norm at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Whether one rights fiction or nonfiction, whether one is an accomplished writer or just trying to improve what we all have in common are the tools we use. I always have a small notebook and pen in my shirt pocket that I use to jot down ideas, one thing is for certain if you fail to write them down all that remains of them is a vague memory that you had thought of something interesting, brilliant, worth writing about, but that has now departed. Of course, it sometimes happens that "I caught this insight on the way and quickly seized the rather poor words that were closest to hand to pin it down lest it fly away again. And now it has died of these arid words and shakes and flaps in them - and I hardly know any more when I look at it how I could ever have felt so happy when I caught this bird." Friedrich Nietzche from The Gay Science section 298
The notebook is indispensable but necessarily limited to brief notes. I tried using my Handspring Palm device for more extensive notes; I even purchased a snazzy fold-up keyboard for it. My hope was that it would serve both for brief notes and longer pieces It is alas, I think, a poor solution. The best solution I have found for a portable device that serves well for longer pieces, one that I have used for a number of years, and though I have tried to improve upon it with the ill-fated palm solution, have always gone back too is my AlphaSmart. You may view this as just a crippled laptop, but it is far more than that. It is reminiscent of the first laptop the Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 some 20 years ago. It captured the heart of many a journalist; a machine treasured for its size and ease of use. I'm currently on my third AlphaSmart the model 3000 a worthy successor. I've passed my earlier AlphaSmarts along to family members, and they are still in use. The AlphaSmart has eight built in files capable of holding 100 pages of text, it has spell checking, cut copy and paste. There are add-on apps primarily designed for the education market, but everyone benefits from one of my favorite features Smartie run 700 hours on 3 AA batteries. The built-in Word Processing and Calculator meet my most important needs. Transferring text from your AlphaSmart to your PC or Mac is simple, accomplished through either a serial cable or USB with an Infrared option which I can attest works well. You hit the send button which places the text on the clipboard and then just paste into your favorite application. The unit is light no more than a couple of pounds, and is very sturdy. An adequate keyboard and four line display serve well for it's intended purpose. For those of you who want or need more AlphaSmart has just announced the Dana. This is the laptop alternative I think many have been waiting for. It runs the Palm operating system making many thousands of application available for it as well as preserving the AlphaSmart's original ease of use. The screen is 7.5 inches wide, and the length is comparable to other palm devices. The rechargeable batteries are apparently good for about 25 hours not as cool as my AlphaSmart 3000 but not bad considering what you get. I really didn't mean to make this a commercial for AlphaSmart, but I'm rather passionate about this tool. AlphaSmart doesn't make you a better writer, but it does make writing better. It was Jonathon in this post where he is discussing backups and XML that jogged my memory about tools he mentioned StoryView an interesting program for writers, perhaps they will soon release a Mac version or as they suggest Virtual PC will work until they release the Mac Version. So consider this a request of the blogging community for more posts about what writing tools work best for them.

Posted by Norm at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A Christian tribute to Senator Wellstone, perhaps more accurately described as a tribute from the Warblogger Sect of Christianity. After a bit more reflection I think it more accurate to say that this individual has simply attended too many Jerry Falwell Sunday School classes where the topic of the sermon was sensitivity.

Posted by Norm at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"More than any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
- Woody Allen

In the mean time I have some questions for which I've been seeking answers, if you know spill the beans.

Is it true that George Bush is replacing the Federal Meals on Wheels Program with Share a Meal ?

When Dick Cheney goes missing where does he go?

Is it true The Ugly American authors William J. Lederer & Eugene Burdick
are rewriting their book "The Ugly American" and that the title of the new work is "The Stupid Ugly American", are they even still alive?

Does Atlas really Shrug when George opens his mouth.

Do the rumors that City Bank has raised Saddam's credit limit on his Visa mean he's up to no good? Do we need more proof than that?

Do you think George Bush considered Pearl Harbor a preemptive strike?

Finally, is it true that Waltzing Matilda is the favored ring tone on cell phones in both Austrailia and the United Kingdom?

Posted by Norm at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Reporters Without Border is publishing the first worldwide press freedom index, and it makes fascinating reading. At the top of the list Finland, Iceland, Norway, and the Netherlands, not much of a surprise. The surprises the United States at 17th ranks below Costa Rica. Israel is at 92nd while Lebanon is by contrast is at 56th and even the Palestinain National Authority ranks slightly higher at 82nd of course anything above 20 is nothing to shout about. Iraq at 130th and Syria at 126th are where one would expect them. The report also provides interesting commentary on the rankings.

via shou ?

Posted by Norm at 12:15 AM | Permalink

Matthew Engel is a writer for the Guardian
Enough with the Hitler Analogies

manifesto-rhetoric: what it boils down to
* what has really been exposed
* the new western taleban dogmas
* revaluating political propaganda over mass bigotry
* recycling the good old 'clash of civilizations'
* making Al Jazeera happy
* build your own barbarians
* pop will save us
* even the government isn't THAT stupid
* trendy word of the year
* militia-men paranoia in full swing
* a very successful hunt
* Rumsfeld begs to differ
* more paranoia and an NRA endorsement
* hilarious adventures in unknown territory

A lot of reading here, but if you're tired of the link and post cliche ridden posts too many of us indulge in you will enjoy this refreshing bit of rational discourse.

Posted by Norm at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site

Do not pass Go
Computers can beat the world's best chess players but have yet to master other classic games like Go, writes David Levy

Ever since Garry Kasparov's sensational 1997 loss to the IBM chess monster Deep Blue, the chess world has thirsted for revenge. But the first opportunity ended in failure in Bahrain on Saturday, when Kasparov's former pupil and successor as World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, could only draw an 8-game match against one of the world's leading chess engines, Fritz. But this was just the latest in a long series of human versus computer encounters that illustrate the inexorable march of artificial intelligence (AI).

It's a story that began at a Dartmouth University conference in 1956, when several of the founding fathers of AI defined the goals of that infant science. One of them was to create a computer program that could defeat the world chess champion. Success would, those scientists believed, reach to the very core of human intellectual endeavour.

By the early 1990s, due in no small part to the successes achieved in computer chess, the interest of the AI community had spread to many other games of skill, including backgammon, bridge, Go and Scrabble. Where exactly are we now in this fascinating struggle?

Some "thinking" games lend themselves to exhaustive analysis. Programmers are able to create a huge database containing every conceivable position in the game together with the correct result (win, lose or draw) assuming perfect play on both sides, and the number of moves required to achieve that result. Playing the game perfectly is easy for a program - it just looks up the current game position in its database and chooses a move that maximise its prospects. Games that have been "solved" in this way include Connect-4, Go-Moku (also known as 5-in-a-row) and 3-dimensional noughts and crosses (played on a mind-boggling 4x4x4 matrix), all of which are won by the first player with correct play.

The most interesting challenge to game programmers comes from those games for which perfect play throughout the contest cannot be expected for at least several years to come. But in some notable cases the strength of play of the leading programs, although not perfect, comes very close to or even exceeds that of the world's leading human players.

In Othello, for example, the strongest programs can now analyse 25 or more moves ahead. This means that, when the game is not quite two-thirds over, a program can see to the very end and thus play perfectly. Little surprise then that the American program Logistello thrashed world champion Takeshi Murakami of Japan by 6 games to 0 in 1997.

In draughts too, the world's strongest humans are no longer a match for the leading program, Chinook, which owes its strength to a very deep look-ahead and an enormous database of endgame positions. Chinook has such a huge score against the reigning (human) world champion, Ron King of Barbados, that he will not risk his title against the program in a match.

Backgammon presents problems of a different nature because of the randomness of the dice, creating so many possibilities at each move that only a shallow look-ahead is possible. But by applying probability theory together with sophisticated self-learning "neural network" techniques, programs such as Snowy (from Switzerland) and Jellyfish (Finland) have been developed that are capable of playing at or very close to world championship level.

Another game with a chance element is Scrabble. Before all of the tiles have been taken from the bag, a program cannot know what tiles are in its opponent's rack and therefore it cannot analyse perfect play until the last few moves of the game.

So before that stage of the game is reached, most Scrabble programs rely on the use of a massive dictionary, allowing them to consider every playable word in every position on the board. These techniques are sufficient to enable Maven, written by American Brian Sheppard, to challenge the world's best humans.

Shepherd believes that his program is now unbeatable over a series of games but, and probably as a gesture of self-preservation, the Scrabble community does not normally allow computer programs to compete in their tournaments.

And what of chess, the original target of the AI community? Ever since Kasparov's sensational loss to Deep Blue, the (human) chess world has been looking for revenge, hence the Kramnik versus Deep Fritz match.

But behind the public face of this encounter lies controversy over exactly how Kramnik's opponent was chosen and the way the match rules were stacked heavily in Kramnik's favour.

When negotiations for a Kramnik versus computer match commenced in October 2000, the obvious opponent was the German program Shredder, the reigning World Computer Chess Champion. But the match promoter Brain Games Network decided instead to hold a qualifying event to which many of the world's strongest programs were not invited, provoking outrage in computer chess forums on the internet. The qualifying event, held in Cadaques, Spain, was a 24-game match between Fritz and the Israeli program, Junior.

The qualifying match itself provoked surprise in the computer chess community, with doubts about how Junior's early 5-0 lead, which it sustained until after the 14th game completely eroded during the next 10 games, thereby causing a tied match and a play-off that was won by Fritz. Junior's surprising defeat, did, however, save Brain Games from the embarrassment of trying to arrange Bahraini visas for Junior's two Israeli programmers, Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky.

Fast forward to Bahrain. The rules for Kramnik versus Deep Fritz (a multi-processor version of the program) could hardly have been more human-friendly. Fritz' programmer, Dutchman Frans Morsch, was required to freeze his code several months before the start and not to make any program changes thereafter.

Also, Kramnik was given a copy of the program with which he and his seconds could practice, allowing them to prepare with the utmost thoroughness, playing game after game at home in order to learn all about Fritz' style of play, the strategy it would use in certain opening variations, its strengths and its weaknesses. This was a far cry from 1997 when Kasparov did not see so much as a single game played by the current version of Deep Blue prior to his match in New York.

As if all this was not enough of a help, Kramnik was also allowed to train against Fritz using the very same 8-processor hardware that Deep Fritz would use in Bahrain. Added to which the rules stipulated that, if a game reached move 56, Kramnik would have the right to adjourn until the next day and to analyse the adjourned position using Fritz itself, in effect enabling Kramnik to "ask" what it intended to do against whatever variations he was considering playing after the resumption.

But despite having all these advantages Kramnik was unable to overcome Deep Fritz and thereby failed in his attempt to gain revenge on behalf of humankind for Kasparov's defeat by Deep Blue.

Kasparov's first opportunity of extracting his own revenge on the computer world opens on December 1 in Jerusalem where he takes on the Deep (parallel) version of Junior. The Israeli program is the reigning World Computer Chess Champion, a title won last July in Maastricht where Frans Morsch program, disguised by using the name Quest, finished fourth after losing to Junior in their individual encounter. Kasparov, whose current chess rating of 2,838 is 31 points ahead of Kramnik's, has been adamant that the rules for the Jerusalem match must be fair to both sides. He has asked for none of the advantages given to Kramnik in Bahrain.

What peaks will remain to be climbed in this field when Kasparov and his successors no longer have any chance against the best chess programs? Two games proving even tougher to crack than chess are bridge and Go. Although one or two programs can already handle the play of the cards in bridge rather well, much more research appears to be needed before programs can bid at anything approaching master level, let alone world champion. And while bidding remains a difficult hurdle for programs, so does making use of information obtained about the distribution of the opponent's cards from their own bidding.

Go always has been and still is the most difficult classic game to program. Knowledge engineering - the extraction of knowledge from human experts - is at best extremely difficult to achieve because human Go champions appear unable to explain exactly why a particular configuration or shape of Go stones on the board is good or bad. And without such knowledge programs will continue to flounder.

The game is so very deep and the number of legal moves so far exceeds that in chess, that a deep analysis of Go is impossible with today's technology. A Taiwanese businessman offered a prize of $1m for the first program to win a match against a Taiwanese junior champion aged 13 or thereabouts, but he died before the goal could be accomplished and it is probably still a decade or two away. Perhaps Go will be the final bastion in man's attempts to stave off his inevitable intellectual defeat at the hands of the machine.

Comments to online.feedback@guardian.co.uk

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited

Posted by Norm at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I knew that you could enter an address into Google and get a link to Yahoo or MapQuest Maps. I had never noticed however that you could get link code to post on your web site both of a map and directions to get there. What a great resource. A family could post information about their next reunion with links to the maps and directions. A band could put the map links on their site with directions on how to get to their next gig. Dubya could put directions and a map up on the official Whitehouse Web Site and then use it to find his way home.

Map of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington, DC 20502-0001

Directions to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington, DC 20502-0001

Posted by Norm at 9:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

To say the evidence of an al Qaeda Iraq link was weak would be overstating the case and yet it has become weaker still. A little honesty about our reasons for a regime change, a changing regime, whatever the hell the current definition of is is, will I suspect not be forthcoming.

The Czech president, Vaclav Havel, has quietly told the White House he has concluded that there is no evidence to confirm earlier reports that Mohamed Atta, the leader in the Sept. 11 attacks, met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague just months before the attacks on New York and Washington, according to Czech officials.

Mr. Havel discreetly called Washington to tell senior Bush administration officials that an initial report from the Czech domestic intelligence agency that Mr. Atta had met with an Iraqi intelligence officer, Ahmad Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani, in Prague in April 2001 could not be substantiated.

continued

Posted by Norm at 5:01 PM | Permalink

For Bush, Facts Are Malleable

President Bush, speaking to the nation this month about the need to challenge Saddam Hussein, warned that Iraq has a growing fleet of unmanned aircraft that could be used "for missions targeting the United States."

All three assertions were powerful arguments for the actions Bush sought. And all three statements were dubious, if not wrong. Further information revealed that the aircraft lack the range to reach the United States; there was no such report by the IAEA; and the customs dispute over the detectors was resolved long ago.

Posted by Norm at 11:46 AM | Permalink

"The decision to go to war is not yours, its the decision of the state in which you live and if the state decides to go to war you are not responsible for that decision."

Any guesses, any comments?

The Answer

Posted by Norm at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (3)

"If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination."--Thomas De Quincey, "On Murder"

Slippery Slope

Posted by Norm at 10:49 PM | Permalink

A Bird Lover's Guide to Chickenhawks
or Chickenhawk a la Mode by BEN TRIPP

George W. Bush couldn't cement the handle back on a shaving mug. He served some of a tour of duty defending Alabama from the Viet Cong, but the only scalp he ever saw was firmly affixed to George McGovern's head. Yet Bush has a hunger for war (or at least Karl Rumsfeld does, which amounts to the same thing, as Rumsfeld rents the basement apartment in Bush's head). The war in Afghanistan doesn't count as a chickenhawk action, because we didn't pick the fight, it picked us. It was a defensive action, like burning a forest down because there's a beehive in it. But this war on Iraq is a chickenhawk's war, through-and-through. It's all about rattling sabers and being a Big Man (forget about the oil- let's do).

Note: with apologies to Vinny

Posted by Norm at 1:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

You may have noticed, oh you have, that I've been a little preoccupied with my new iMac so you probably won't be surprised to learn that I was attracted to this which led to this. This young lady tells it like it is.

I listened to the ad in its entirety and found nothing I disagreed with. I shrugged when she shrugged, I was disgusted when she was disgusted, angry when she was angry, and finally I was happy when she was happy. I don't have the the foggiest notion what the words were (perhaps Jonathon will translate it for us) other than computer and Switch, but they had the ring of truth. (Quicktime required)

note: I still don't work in the PR department at Apple.

Posted by Norm at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Jesse Helms never had it so good.

Posted by Norm at 4:59 PM | Permalink

Perhaps you live in Utah, or a state like Utah if that's even possible. You call and write your representatives and senators on important issues, but since you are a liberal they usually ignore you. What to do? I'll tell you what I do. I support senators and representatives in other states that I believe more nearly reflect my views. One such is Paul Wellstone senator from Wisconsin currently in a tight race, and as David Weinberger pointed out MoveOn.com makes it easy to give money to those who make a difference. Paul Wellstone makes a difference.

Posted by Norm at 4:49 PM | Permalink

Puzzled by why some pictures I'd taken appeared dark on PC monitors but perfectly fine on my shiny new iMac I posed the question in a previous post. Jonathon explained in the comments to that post that it had to do with gamma settings and how they are different on different machines. He provided the following links,here and here and here for a more thorough explanation. Something to be aware of if you are posting pictures on the web. The problem is at its worst when there is a lot of contrast in a picture. Later on I talked to my brother-in-law Bill, a Mac person from the beginning of time. He has never wavered. He knew all about the above problem and mentioned that there is a neat utility that deals with this, but not before the usual rant about Bill Gates and Microsoft imposing their inferior standards on the world. The utility will process your graphics as a batch preparing them for use on the Internet. It apparently adjusts for the gamma. Alas, he couldn't remember what it was called. If anyone knows don't be shy. Information like this has a way of provoking thought. It occured to me that not only had I solved the mystery of the dark photo's but another of life's more serious questions. Folk wisdom has it that the more creative and liberal among us use Mac's. For the recored whatever I lack in creativity I make up for by being plenty liberal. This bit of indisputable wisdom provides a further explanation as to why right-wingers are so negative, so dark. It is reflected in their outlook on life, the world, and everything. It's those damn PC monitors casting everything much darker and more dismal than it really is. The solution just switch.

note: I don't work in the PR department at Apple Computer.

Posted by Norm at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The contest is at the half way mark, and there are some good entries, but you still have a excellent chance to win one of the prizes. So post your entries as comments either to this post or this one, or if you prefer email your entry. Final entries must be posted by end of October.

The rules: in the comments to this post give me quotations or aphorisms you think speak to the content of this site, or that you believe I will like. The prizes, four $15.00 gift certificates from Amazon or as an alternative to a gift certificate you may choose to receive three packages of Tim Tams delivered to your door.

Posted by Norm at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On December 7th, 1874 four bad guys, a modern day axis of evil, robbed the Tishomingo Savings Bank in Cornith Mississippi. Credit for this dastardly dead was given to the James Gang. The next day in Muncie Kansas the Kansas Pacific Railroad was robbed of $55,000, also credited to the James Gang. We now know that the James Gang received credit for many crimes they never committed. Things haven't changed much since then the President and his right-wing minions are blaming every act of terrorism on al-Qaeda often within moments of the act taking place.

Brendan O'Neill in Spiked does a nice job of pointing out the opportunism and inconsistencies of Dubya in his campaign to convince us there is terrorist behind every bush and his name is bin Laden.

The Bali bombings may have been carried out by the Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiyah, and that group may have links with al-Qaeda. But the spontaneous response of Western officials and commentators to the events in Bali captures the place that al-Qaeda now holds in the Western, and particularly the American, imagination - where every problem or attack around the world is instantly linked to al-Qaeda, a grouping which is said to become more dangerous the more amorphous and disparate it is.
'Everyone tries to tie everything into 9/11 and al-Qaeda', said an FBI official recently (13), criticising the way that US officials 'shout al-Qaeda' at the hint of trouble abroad. Now the same thing is happening in response to Bali.

I'm sure Jesse was amused by the attention he received and bin Laden is no doubt also laughing, perhaps from the grave.

Posted by Norm at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Reason number one I'm happy I switched back to a Mac. The display, the seventeen-inch flat panel, an option on new iMac's is absolutely gorgeous. To say I didn't know what I was missing is an understatement. My son was so impressed, a dedicated PC user, he asked whether I'd like to go shopping with him for a flat panel. "I didn't realize they looked that good he said." Now I'm not going to claim that the flat panels available for the PC's aren't as good as the one that came with my iMac, but I will say that after looking at dozens of them at Comp USA I didn't see one that even came close, nor did Tim. Tim want's to know who makes the monitors for Apple and if they make them to Apple's specs or are they available under some brand name that one could purchase for a PC. Reason number two. I've wanted to post some pictures on my site to provide access for relatives without having to mail them copies. I have been half-heartedly looking for some automated way of producing the web pages so I could post on my site here. I suppose that with a little bit of looking I could find dozens. The thing is when I transferred some of my pictures over to the Mac and started playing with the iPhoto program I discovered I could select, and pictures I wanted and it would automatically size and format them to my specs creating thumbnails for them and creating the web pages with nothing left to do but upload them to my site. That was so cool. If you get . Imac space it becomes even more automatic, and you can spiff up the pages to a greater extent than what I did. I didn't what's there is the out of the box page. Thank you Apple. Here is the link for anyone that is curious. Some of the pictures I posted are a little bit dark, not when I view them on my display but on other displays they are. Would anyone like to make a suggestion as to why that would be?

Posted by Norm at 8:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

"The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity" - Glenn Gould.

Today has turned out to be a delightful day. When I checked the mail a few hours ago there were not one but two packages. The English Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Glenn Gould compliments of the Leftbanker and a package from Amazon which contains "The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 and 1981. Everytime I listen to them I'm without words. In comments at Leftbankers El Generalisimo writes "I am very partial to the later Goldberg recording by Gould. I wrote a post ages ago in which I admitted that this CD has never left the 5 CD rotation on my player. I said that I was an atheist and I only hoped that religion made others feel as I do when I listen to this piece." I have little to add to that except perhaps to say WOW!!!

Posted by Norm at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik , is half way through a match with Deep_Fritz arguably the strongest commercial chess program available. Fritz is running on an 8 processor Compact Computer. This is the program most Grandmaster use for analysis. Hiarcs 8 another excellent program is a more human like opponent and may be equal to Deep Fritz. Both of these programs are stronger than Chessmaster 9000 that beat U. S. Champion Larry Christiansen. Four games into a scheduled eight game match Kramnik leads 3-1 winning twice and drawing the other two games. It appears Kramnik's style is well suited for playing against a computer. He trys to limit the tactical possiblities and focus on a strategic battle. For those interested in more details. Check out the Chessbase site Here is a link to the games if you would like to play through them.

update 10/13/02: The Knight is a popular piece with beginning players the strange move it makes described as one square horizontally or vertically and one square diagonally seems mysterious and quite unpredictable. The Knight and Queen combination is particurlarly powerful. In an equal ending with both players having five pawns and a Queen and a Knight Kramnik simply blundered, apparently overlooking an intermediate check, giving Deep Fritz the win and once again making a match of it. Kramnik continues to lead but the difference is back to one game Kramnik 3 Deep Fritz 2

update 10/15/02: Kramnik with the advantage sacrificed a Knight on move 19, driving Blacks King into the open and great danger. The computer defended magnificintly and Kramnik resigned on move 34. Kramnik said he simplycould not resist a piece sacrifice which could have made this game "the most beautiful of my career" (Kramnik).
The match is now tied Kramnik 3 Deep Fritz 3

update 10/17/02: One game to go and the match is all tied up. Kramnik got the position he wanted out of the opening. Computers don't play as well in closed position's but Kramnik was unable to capitalize on his advantage and in fact allowed the computer to get back into the game. A repetition of moves by Kramnik, and the computer seeing no way to make progress resulted in a draw.
The final game will be played Saturday Kramnik will have the white pieces the question is will he play for a win or try to use the advantage of the first move to secure a draw. A $200,000 dollar decision. He will received a million for victory $800,000 for a draw and $600,000 if he loses.

Match still tied Kramnik 3.5 - Fritz 3.5

update: 10/18/02 : The final game was a boring 21 moves. Looks like to me it may have been agreed drawn in advance. Kramnik not willing to risk $200,000 losing would have cost him. So the match ends drawn 4-4 everyone happy expect perhaps the fans. I found the Christiansen - Chessmaster 9000 match much more enjoyable even though the computer won. Christiansen played Chess Kramnik played a match. Players like Christiansen, Shirov, Ivanchuk, and Morosovic are much more fun to watch than the Kramnik is.

Match drawn Kramnik 4.0 - Fritz 4.0

Here is a link to download the games as a .pgn file or follow this link to play through the games.

note: The first game is listed twice due to a glitch in the viewer, just click on the second copy to load the game. I also suggest turning off animation in preferences. I'll post updates as the results come in, the next game is scheduled to be played tommorrow.

Posted by Norm at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

"One of the things that appeals to me about competitive chess (I mean over-the-board chess, though presumably the same goes for correspondence chess if there is not too much collusion) is that it is, as games go, very fair. There is quite a lot of luck in chess over the short term. But on the whole it tends to cancel out. Certainly chess compares very favourably with all the things that go under the designation 'real life' ,with all the stacked decks, silver spoons, nepotism, favouritism and disastrous misfortunes that attend. In comparison with the crazy unpredictability and uncontrollability of most of human existence, playing chess (even in a time-scramble!) is like a paradise of rationality. I really do mean that..." -George Botterill International Master

personal note: George Botterill was my son Chris's academic advisor at the University of Sheffield this past year.

Posted by Norm at 1:07 AM | Permalink

No longer do we have to wait for the right-wing to attack us. We can see what they have in store for us by visiting Ink Syndicate. Are we implying that the posts of these warbloggers are as contrived and simple minded as a computer program can generate. You bet we are, but if you are still in doubt. Read what R. Robot secret writer and editor for the war blog crowd has to say about me.

Rationalizing has a new name: Norm At Onegoodmove

by R. Robot

A leader not trying to take the war to Bin Laden would be contemptuously obsessive and even dangerous in the extreme.

Hysterical pundits like Robert Scheer and others apparently believe the best way to confront Yassir Arafat is to give him a big, sloppy kiss.

The criminals of the Manhattan ilk have become more shockingly child-molesting in their pathological self-immolation than I could scarcely have imagined last week.

Instead of constructing arguments based on logic, the slanderers assume that whatever they want to be true must be. "Blind and improvident, Mr. President," says Al Gore.

The pro-liberal elite bias in the media is pervasive.

"We might want to stick to getting the terrorism under control," says that most distasteful of the Democrats, Norm At Onegoodmove. Are there limits to this insouciance?

One of the obsessive and even dangerous Democrats, Norm At Onegoodmove slanders Condoleeza Rice. "You know, Iraqis haven't really gotten along with Islamic fundamentalists ever since hundreds of thousands got killed fighting them in the 1980s," he said. Grumble, grumble, grumble. The truth makes the funny little creatures who make up the Chomsky-like Left resort to breathtakingly emotional insults and cries of "unconstitutional!"

Norm At Onegoodmove: the case against

by R. Robot

It must be obvious to anyone who can think that the charges against Kaddhafi are true. "'Department of Homeland Security?' What the fuck is this, Brazil?" says that most pro-Saddam of the Democrats, Norm At Onegoodmove. Considering the circumstances, this is blatantly stark and malignant. When curiously execrable people resort to that most cunningly hysterical refrain of "no blood for oil," are they insinuating that oil isn't worth dying for? Isn't it clear by now that a madman has already gassed his own people?

Like Bin Laden, Norm At Onegoodmove believes in a shockingly pro-Saddam philosophy of anti-Americanism. It must be obvious to anyone who can think that the charges against John Walker Lindh are true. One of the cynical naysayers, Norm At Onegoodmove misrepresents President Bush. "You know, Iraqis haven't really gotten along with Islamic fundamentalists ever since hundreds of thousands got killed fighting them in the 1980s," he said. Didn't anyone hear Prime Minister Blair's pledge to rebuild courage? In 1938, George Orwell wrote, "The nattering self-immolation of the liberals is little more than duplicity."

Churchill and President Bush

by R. Robot

The depraved criminals shockingly believe that Vice-President Cheney is a more dangerous sadist than John Walker Lindh.

What a moment! What viciousness! What appeasement! What baying.

The pro-Manhattan ilk bias in the media is pervasive.

They did it. They finally did it.

Sneeringly, to be one of the child-molesting Left is to excuse and betray. Jimmy Carter, what kind of a man are you? When will Norm At Onegoodmove come clean about the way he insults Tony Blair?

Posted by Norm at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Monty Python on "Bombing for Peace" or OK, George, make with the friendly bombs
It is well known that the best way of picking out terrorists is to fly 30,000ft above the capital city of any state that harbours them and drop bombs.

If the Brits just had leadership like George well they might have nipped Irish Terrorism in the bud years ago or is it as one demonstrator's placard at recent anti-war rally put it the "Emperor has no Brains."

Fair warning to the residents of Idaho, are you aware that you currently and have in the past harbored terrorists, they train in your northern forests, Yes we know you've turned over some of them and prosecuted others yourself but that is not good enough. If even one remains that is one too many. We are sure you will understand and be ready to make the "supreme" sacrifice in our nations quest for evildoers. Bombs Away!

Posted by Norm at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In 1978 I purchased an Apple II, dual floppies, and 48K of memory. Besides, the $2400 I spent for it and how much fun it was to have a computer, the thing I remember most clearly was coming back to work from lunch one day and hearing a fellow employee say, "Oh by the way one of your son's called." What did he say, I asked. "Oh he just wanted to know how to spell delete." Sometime in February of 1984 I became the proud owner of an 128K Macintosh another $2000 plus. A year later I spent $1000 for one megabyte of memory. I must have underestimated the impact that purchase had on me because to this day I often say megabytes when I mean Gigabytes. I'm living an order of magnitude in the past I suppose. During the eighties, I was playing a lot of chess. The chess software I wanted ran only on a PC so reluctantly I switched. Had I known then what I know now, I would have stayed with my first love. Although my chess improved I never reached the level I had hoped I would. Oh, I knocked off an occasional Master, but a lack of consistency in my ability to calculate accurately destined me to be a lover of the game, but alas not a master of the game. The past several years I've been trying to convince myself it would be a good idea to switch back to a Mac. I've grown tired of the daily security updates, the blue screens, but to be honest I never came up with a truly convincing argument (one a wife would buy without a ... ), one that would justify the expense and effort to make the change. Although my reasons are a little thin, I don't care, I've done it. A shiny new Imac 800mhz G4, 17 inch flat panel display, SuperDrive arrived today. I took the day off. Transferring files is taking longer than I expected. The Mac won't recognize the CDs the PC is burning. I thought perhaps the Mac was just being fussy, but my son's PC won't recognize them either. Go figure. I understand it's simple to hook these new Macs to a PC network so tomorrow I'll make a cable and hook it to the PC networkthat is if I can figure it out. I've noticed in recent years that the learning curve keeps getting longer, but I haven't forgotten the key, RTFM. I mentioned to Jonathan a month or two ago that I was considering making the change. He suggested that I install Linux on my PC instead and stay the course. Excellent advice graciously given, but that he were so generous with his Tim Tams, oops forget I mentioned the Tim Tams unless you too have desired them, but gone unfulfilled. It is not too late to enter this contest, no entry fee, Tim Tams or books as prizes. I'm happy this computer is awesome, the display alone was worth the switch. I've been paying more attention recently to which bloggers are using Mac's, and maybe I can impose upon them for some help from time to time. Goodbye Microsoft, can't say I'll miss you, particularly that heartache you call an operating system.

Posted by Norm at 11:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Los Angeles, CA (FOXY NEWS) President of the United States George W. Bush gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. George took his place along side legendary stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ronald Reagan in ceremonies today. George has never acted in a movie, but has given some very convincing performances in his own life, his role as President for example. Performances the Hollywood crowd simply could not ignore. George said, "Every time I come to Hollywood I take the walk of the stars, I've always wanted a star, who wouldn't. The thing I like most about acting is the teleprompter. Modesty aside, I read really good, really. To show his appreciation he pledged to improve his acting skills in future performances. “I was disappointed by the number of extras killed in the making of the blockbuster "Kicking Ass In Afghanistan. Shooting in certain parts of the Wedding Party scene didn't go real well, but hey that’s the price of fame.” George claims he has been acting all his life. “Sometimes I worry about getting typecast as a warmonger, but I have other talents. I played a very convincing drunk when I was younger.” George will get star number B52 located near the La Brea tar pits. George when asked what was next in his career said an "Oscar". "I'm working on a show right now, an almost certain winner, I'm calling it "Baghdad for Daddy". George's favorite director Donald Rumsfeld said we spent a mere 50 billion on the Afghan show, and expect to bring "Baghdad" in under budget. Attending the ceremony were both Democratic and Republican leaders, the press reported they were all chanting "on with the show."

Posted by Norm at 3:48 PM | Permalink

Reprinted from YellowTimes.org

By Raff Ellis
YellowTimes.org Columnist (United States)

(YellowTimes.org) – On the one hand our government says Iraq must do what they say, or else. On the other, when it looks like Iraq might do what our government says, we are told that won't be enough. I was totally confused so I tried to get to the bottom of this conundrum. I called my old friend Professor Think Tank at the prestigious Snookings Institute in Washington.

"Yes, we are definitely heading for war," he said. "War clouds are getting darker."

"But why?" I asked rather perplexedly. I just don't like war or even the idea of war.

"Well, you can blame it on the media. Why? It goes all the way back to the presidential election. It was basically a race between two guys whom you couldn't tell apart unless you administered an IQ test. Half the country was upset because of Bill Clinton's sexual peccadilloes and decided to take it out on Gore. How did they take it out on him you ask? Well, a lot of them didn't vote, a few voted for Nader or Buchanan and some cast their ballots for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Several wrote in for Goofy but these were later decided to be votes for Bush."

"So how does that bring us to the present condition," I asked, "leading to war?"

"Think about it my boy. What was the presidential election all about? Hah! You can't even remember. All you remember is those old people in Palm Beach who weren't strong enough to punch a hole in a card. That was the election story. Nothing to do with policies or platforms, just vote counting and the media latched on to it with a vengeance."

"I'm still confused," I tell the professor. "I'm not able to connect the dots, as they say."

"Come, come my boy," he replied in his usual condescending manner. "There was so much hullabaloo about who really won the election," he continued, "that when it was over, everybody forgot about running the country. Very quickly budget surpluses turned to deficits. The stock market went down the toilet. The new man didn't know what foreign policy was and unless it had something to do with oil, it didn't even interest him."

"But Dr. Think Tank," I protested, "how is the media connected to this? After all, they only report the news."

There was a loud guffaw on the other end, which made me feel that I'd said something stupid. "What planet are you from?" the professor asked after his laughter subsided. "The media reports whatever it thinks will sell papers or advertising, what won't offend its patronage. TV's the same, ratings and whatever sells airtime. Sound bites are meant to be controversial and even sensational. What gets better ratings, malfeasance or macroeconomics, war or welfare?

"Just when it looked like the media might turn its attention to the country's domestic problems, disaster struck in New York. The president now had to actually do something. George senior lived with the rap that he was a wimp so his boy is determined that isn't going to happen to him. Junior pulled on his cowboy boots, strapped on his six-shooters and started talking tough. He was going to smoke those terrorists out of their holes and bin Laden was coming in dead or alive. The press loved it. The country loved it. We're at our best when we're out there kicking ass even if it's from 10,000 feet."

"I still haven't made it to Iraq," I tell him.

"When it became obvious that B-52s weren't going to get bin Laden, the target changed to the identifiable Taliban. Our Air Force quickly made little ones out of big ones over there and the Taliban were soon history."

"So, how does that get us to where we are today?"

"The media loved it. After Afghanistan, the administration saw the chance to keep the game going and people's minds off things such as unemployment, 401K meltdown and any thoughts of voting for the opposition in the next election. Anyway, bombs being guided to their targets are a lot more entertaining than people standing in unemployment lines. It's the domino theory revisited.

"Now Bush is sowing his oats, as they say. Having put away one third world country, he looked for another and who better than the scurrilous dictator of Iraq? Remember, Saddam tried to kill his dad! Now Hussein's a guy who's easy to hate and he's not hiding out in a cave. Got no place to run so this looks like a winnable war. Could be messy but results are guaranteed."

"And the media isn't pointing this out?"

"My boy, they have jumped on the bandwagon! It's a whole lot easier than digging out the truth or reporting things that people don't want to think about. Remember, football season is here and the World Series is just around the corner. The guys who never got a chance to be Rambo love it at a vicarious level. The talking heads have talked it up. The editorialists write that this bad boy is going to attack us sooner or later. Just look at the murdering scum's record. Our best buddy in the Middle East, Israel, insists if we don't take this guy down now, we're all a bunch of wimps. You know how well that sits with George Jr."

"So, with bad press for Saddam and good press for Bush we're going to war?"

"Now you're getting it," Think Tank responded. "Notice how George W. gestures with his hands, jabbing his finger into the air? Vengeance will be his and the media is cheering him on."

"Thank you, Dr. Think Tank," I sighed as I hung up the phone. I wasn't happy with this analysis. To think we might go to war to keep our collective minds off our real problems and to get even for a guy's dad is depressing. My faith in the media may never recover.

[Raff Ellis lives in the United States and is a retired former strategic planner and computer industry executive. He has had an abiding and active interest in the Middle East since early adulthood and has traveled to the region many times over the last 30 years.]

Yellow Times

Posted by Norm at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

" 'Real' is what plays an important role in the kind of life one wants to live" --Paul Feyerabend

Posted by Norm at 12:36 AM | Permalink

By Michael Elvin
YellowTimes.org Guest Columnist (United States)

(YellowTimes.org) – As an American, there's only one thing I have trouble with regarding this whole rationale as to why we must go to war right now, this minute.

Right now, we approach an election which could severely affect the congressional balance of political power. Could that be part of the reasoning that says Saddam Hussein is about to strike us if we don't strike him first?

I really don't get it, from G.W. Bush's point of view.

Here is Saddam Hussein, the absolute ruler of one of the most difficult countries on Earth to unify. He's been in place for a generation now and has never been stronger. He's probably not a dumb guy.

So he looks out over his things-to-do-today list and says, "I think I'll do a 'Pearl Harbor' on the United States." Or, he says, "I'll give some smallpox canisters to some terrorists I know. They'll never trace it back to me."

Are these scenarios realistic? They presuppose first that he has something he will gain by doing this, and second that the U.S. will buckle under and somehow fail to deploy an arsenal the likes of which the world has never seen before.

As to the first, he has nothing to gain. His entire career reveals a very sensible and ruthless man who knows how to control people by manipulating fear. He no longer needs to demonstrate his power as he has long been in absolute control. He would never have invaded Kuwait in 1990, in fact, had he not understood from an American envoy that he had assurances it would not be challenged. He is a very careful person who only enters into a game he knows he can win.

Setting off a nuclear device in New York Harbor one day does not sound like that sort of a game. In fact, it sounds like just about the only scenario there is that would abruptly remove Saddam from power.

Add to that the notion that he would have to smuggle in an untested device, as any nuclear testing before the fact would abruptly bring the law down on him. A fizzle wouldn't add much to his fame.

"Ah, but you're forgetting," the crowd will pipe up, "the man is a madman! Who knows what a monster like that is thinking?" Here, I think, is where coherent argument truly breaks down. Something like 70 percent of the American public appear to think that a loony, incapable of rational thought, can somehow rise to power in an environment like Iraq and hold onto the reins uncontested for over twenty years. This fact just has to be accepted as one of those inexplicable things.

So the invasion is a given. Here's a rationale that I think makes a lot more sense.

The Bush Administration is pursuing such a hard line course in domestic policy, turning the federal government into a device to convert the earnings of the average guy into unearned dividends given to the select few, that it seems likely in time even the American people will figure out the game and take their votes elsewhere. It's not like the Bush crowd is being subtle; we've gone from surplus to deficit in a twinkling.

Even without the War on Terrorism draining our budget, it's obvious that the federal government will be mired in deficit for the indefinite future. True, we did each get $300 in change, but the really big guys are getting tax rebates, meaning the IRS is now paying them. So the country is going down the tubes while a few are getting even richer than they were before. This is not a prescription for success at the polls, even in America. But if a very popular war should arise, the public's mind will stay away from focusing on the downward spiral of domestic policy.

Afghanistan was just an aperitif, and didn't begin to slake our thirst for revenge. It's just not a very satisfying place to pound into dust - the job's been done too many times already in recent years.

No, we need to do more to that great, menacing evil out there. We need to make them learn to fear us. We want the pain we suffered on September 11 to be felt by those we consider responsible, or even those who we feel took delight in our suffering.

So we're locked in the cycle of fear. We will cling to our warlord Bush for the duration, until the foe is vanquished. How fortunate for this happy crew of opportunists that a never-ending war was dropped on their plate.

Naturally, any excess in domestic policy will be excused. After all, both parties have so thoroughly sold themselves to moneyed interests that we hardly raise an eyebrow any more at corporate theft, environmental despoliation, or the erosion of civil liberties. We have disaster fatigue.

The one instinct we still possess is to rally around our Fearless Leader for the duration, 'til good once again is triumphant. Until that day, don't bother us with a bunch of sophisticated arguments. Saddam is evil, and that's it. That's all you need to know. Now, let's win this one.

[Michael Elvin is a former Washington, D.C. resident, although he has always been a political outsider rather than a political insider. Michael writes from his home in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, United States, where he is self-employed and currently working on bioremediation issues.]

reprinted from Yellow Times

Posted by Norm at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

THE PEOPLE OF THE OTHER VILLAGE

hate the people of this village
and would nail our hats
to our heads for refusing in their presence to remove them
or staple our hands to our foreheads
for refusing to salute them
if we did not hurt them first: mail them packages of rats,
mix their flour at night with broken glass.
We do this, they do that.
They peel the larynx from one of our brothers’ throats.
We devein one of their sisters.
The quicksand pits they built were good.
Our amputation teams were better.
We trained some birds to steal their wheat.
They sent to us exploding ambassadors of peace.
They do this, we do that.
We canceled our sheep imports.
They no longer bought our blankets.
We mocked their greatest poet
and when that had no effect
we parodied the way they dance
which did cause pain, so they, in turn, said our God
was leprous, hairless.
We do this, they do that.
Ten thousand (10,000) years, ten thousand
(10,000) brutal, beautiful years.

Thomas Lux

via American Samizdat

Posted by Norm at 12:23 PM | Permalink

A recent survey of War Blogger sites reveal that, terrorist penetration inside the U.S. is more pervasive than many people expected. Please stay vigilant.

"Nuns robbed of cookie profits while praying"

There is no indication this was a terrorist attack, but we'll just have to wait and see.

"Man Grows 1,245 Pound Pumpkin"

There is no indication this was a terrorist attack, but we'll just have to wait and see.

"It was recently reported that 1% of bugs cause half of Microsoft errors."

There is no indication this was a terrorist attack, but we'll just have to wait and see.

"Hurricane hits Gulf Coast"

There is no indication this was a terrorist attack, but we'll just have to wait and see.

"Torricelli resigns"

There is no indication this was a terrorist attack, but we'll just have to wait and see.

"Wild pigs are coming uncomfortably close to residents of San Jose, California"

There is no indication this was a terrorist attack, but we'll just have to wait and see.

I thought you should know.

Posted by Norm at 12:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Chessplayers. A great online database of tactical problems. You can't move the pieces, but then that's the point isn't it. This site includes databases with solutions including The Encyclopedia of Chess Middle Games, Bent Larsen's Good Move Guides, Endgame Studies, Positional Play, Reinfield's 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations and 1001 Ways to Checkmate. A great resource I recommend.

Posted by Norm at 5:51 PM | Permalink

You're going to love this via Burningbird
Why Must We Go To War? by Mark Fiore

Posted by Norm at 5:07 PM | Permalink

Bush Seeks U.N. Support For "U.S. Does Whatever It Wants" Plan

Posted by Norm at 10:51 AM | Permalink

The final word on the chickenhawks!

Posted by Norm at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

It was a dark and stormy night and George was happy. "Can you feel it", he said. "Evildoer's everywhere". The signs had been apparent to him for some time. Back in September of 2001 George was on Air Force One flying over some fly over country, that is the nation's heartland, Kansas to be more exact. He was avoiding members of the axis of evil, though at that time they weren't called that they were the unknown unknowns.

So he is flying and looks out the window and spots a crop circle right below him near Chapman confirming his worst fears. Aliens, yes aliens. That was it; aliens were responsible for the WTC. He ordered the military to Afghanistan an alien land if there ever was one. He was searching for bin Laden, certainly alien to the American way of life. He never found him. Perhaps a J-DAM got him or perhaps he's still hiding no one seems to know and few seem to care. Fortunately bin Laden was not the only alien. There was Saddam, the guy that tried to kill his Dad. No human would try and hurt someone's daddy he had to be an alien. George had spoken of his fear at home. Illegal aliens he said lock them up. The press misunderstood, illegal combatants they reported. George laughed, fucking press and they criticize me for misunderestimating stuff, and they laugh at my perkadillo's, pekadildos whatever. They won't be laughing long. George told the American People that evil had spread across the land. The axis of evildoers has expanded. First there were three then six and now it was nothing less than a modern day plague. God and the Supreme Court had chosen him to respond. The problem was not everyone could see the aliens. He had a poster printed, "Dead or Alive" it read. Many saw the picture but not an alien. They saw nothing but an Arab who needed his beard trimmed. Then he showed pictures of Saddam, and some blinded by the truth saw the leader of Iraq. A bad guy true enough but not an alien. Not George though, he saw deep into their souls and saw nothing human at all, just evil. Some even suggested they be given a chance to repent, a Christian Idea. But all knowing George said, "No need I've looked into their hearts, they have hardened, we'll get no repentance. Besides did you forget these are aliens." Some continued to protest but George told the press they were unpatriotic a concept alien to the American way of life. He told the congress that they would never get reelected if they didn't support him against evil, and besides they would lose their unfettered access to free cash and sexy interns. They bought it and all started beating the drums of war. "It's like masturbation once you've done it you never forget" said Trent Lott somewhat wistfully. George was giving the speech of his life. Who's your daddy that's what I want to know. Who's the alien now, motherfucker? George, George have you lost it this is the National Education Association you're speaking to. "I'm sorry", he said. I must have been dreaming. You see I keep having the same dream over and over again. I'm abducted and taken to a place with bright lights and a man with a mustache or a beard or something, but they are not humans. I think they are aliens and they are doing things to my body, it's okay it feels good, but I'm a moral man I realize I'm just being used. That's all I remember. So you see it's important that we get those aliens like Saddam and bin Laden and well we've got a list you know. I'm the President sometimes I think I'm dreaming I pinch myself all the time.

"George"

"Huh"

"George it's Dad."

"Yes Dad. I'll get them they won't hurt you any more."

"George you fuckup, Israel just nuked Iraq. The shit has hit the fan. What are you on these days?"

"Nothing Dad I promise nothing."

"Don't give me that shit George."

"Well okay I'm a little addicted to this power thing."

"Oh God George, I told you when you smoked dope in college when you drank your first beer, I told you when you started snorting that white stuff at board meetings, I told you that you'd never be satisfied you'd need more and more. What have you done George."

"I'm sorry Dad, but that's the guy that tried to kill you."

"Shut the fuck up George its over. Saddam escaped the blast he's giving a speech at the U.N. He's calling you the asshole of evil."

Posted by Norm at 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (3)

Dendeblogger writes in comments to the previous post:

"You have very interesting quotes and aphorisms on your site--I think that it might be fun, however, to see what your readers could come up with. You could ask for quotes or aphorisms that speak to your site's concern with politics, literature and philosophy, even chess."

That sounds like an idea for a contest. So here's the deal, in the comments to this post give me quotations or aphorisms you think speak to the content of this site, or that you believe I will like. The prizes four $15.00 gift certificates from Amazon or as an alternative to a gift certificate you may choose to receive three packages of Tim Tams delivered to your door. Now you're probably asking what the hell are Tim Tams and why would you offer them as prizes. I'm glad you asked. It's Jonathon's faultinspiration that provided the impetus I needed. Jonathon resides in Australia the home of these tasty biscuits. I entered his contests, I begged, I pleaded for him to send me Tim Tams. You see he sends his favorites Tim Tams, he holds contests, (fixed I think) he uses them as bribes. I tried. I entered the contests. I left comments to his posts suggesting he send me Tim Tams. and in spite of his graciousness, allowing me multiple entries, giving me hints, doing everything a gentlemen could be expected to do. I failed to win. He consoled me in my loss, he offered to send Tim Tams, but I let my pride get in the way. I declined.

It didn't happen. How do I know what they taste like. No way some Australian is going to keep me from enjoying a Tim Tam and a cup of coffee. I realized almost immediately what a terrible mistake I had made, how unkind I had been, but embarrassed by my rudeness I was unable to make amends, so I searched and found them on the Internet, I ordered some. I ate them. Yep they are that good. You may choose from the Original Tim Tam, or perhaps Mocha Coffee or Classic Dark, or Chewy Caramel, or Double Chocolate would be more to your taste. Choose three of your favorites, should you be a winner. Let me extend a special welcome to other readers of Jonathan's fine weblog who like me were afforded every opportunity, every kindness who enjoyed Jonathon's classic Australian hospitality but still failed in their quest for Tim Tams taunted with the promise of Tim Tams only to have those hopes dashed again and again here is your chance Tim Tams, Tim Tams, Tim Tams. I'm sorry that was a bit of rant wasn't it. It has been weighing heavily on my mind. I've lost sleep over it, indeed until I discovered my own source of Tim Tam's I was losing weight. Enough, send your entries, no duplicates of quotations I've already posted. Check the quotation category if you're not sure. Take your time, do your research, you have all month to submit your entries.

Posted by Norm at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)