A web designer's fantasy and nightmare.

The folks at strangebanana.com, have a site that generates an endless variety of random designs. It works too. I gotta say that whoever did this certainly knows how to code.

If you want something a bit more refined, there's a collection of open source web designs here. "Open Source Web Design is a community of designers and site owners freely sharing designs as well as design information." Good idea.

As someone who makes his living doing web design I have to point out that just a design is not enough. It's kinda like getting an architect's plan for a house. But you really still do need someone to build it for you. The devil is in the details. (I hope :))



The Bushes, the Nazis, and a long sordid history.

Chris Floyd's 'Global Eye' column in the Moscow Times continues to exorciate the Bush administration. Sometimes he goes too far, but he continually comes up with a useful historical perspective. This week's column, Revise and Conquer, inspired by Iraq and Bush's visit to Auschwitz, recaps some history people should know about.


This might be somewhat exaggerated. I don't think that Auschwitz was even fully going by 1942, although I could be wrong. But the gist of it is correct: these aren't nice people, the Bushes. Not even close. In fact, their grasp on power goes farther back than Prescott Bush. Barbara Bush, nee Pierce, is a direct descendant of President Franklin Pierce, President of the US (1853-1857), and related to many other powerful American families as well. Heck, it goes back even farther than that. George the Second is something like a 13th cousin of Queen Elizabeth. People make jokes about him wanting to become a King, but this ain't no joke.

Here's a CBS News article on Bush's ancestry, Born To Be President, from the 2000 campaign.


It ain't going to be so easy to get these people out of power. :) A Google search on the Bush family history provides a fascinating journey through English and American history. Try this one to start. You won't believe your eyes. If people want to deal with these folks they need to know where they came from.



Soros leaves Russia, says US needs help more.

The Moscow Times reports that financier and philanthropist George Soros is ending his 15 year involvement in Russia, because he says the fight for an open society must now center in America.


Warning: Moscow Times articles are pay only after two weeks or so. Some folks don't link to those type of sites, but I think it's just too difficult to keep track of it all, and that it's worthwhile just to note the existence of an interesting article. Besides, they could change the policy at any time. Most news sites are revamping their policies on this as we speak, so you never can tell.



British continue to waffle on the Euro.

The Guardian has several articles on the latest on British attempts to decide whether they are Europeans or Americans. There's one entitled Cabinet agrees 'not yet' on euro, and one on just how little the Euro nations seem to care, Wake us up when you're finished. And one on various British opinions on the subject, Euro or not Euro. Their special section on the subject is here.

The one about European attitudes states rather conclusively just how well established the Euro already has become among the nations that have adapted it.


I think the British will eventually do it. Unless they wait too long and then are told they're no longer wanted. They should do it now while the pound is still up. Personally, I'd say they lost the battle thirty years ago when they gave up the farthings, shillings, guineas and such. If they are going to stick with the pound, they should go back to that. Then they can become a quaint historical backwater just like the Swiss. At least they'd pick up some tourist income to make up for the massive loss of EU investment.

As I noted the other day in commenting on the ECB's decision to lower interest rates, I think the British delays and uncertainty are doing significant damage to the global economy. They're hurting the dollar, the euro, and yes, the pound. If they don't make up their mind people will have no choice but to interpret them as damage and route around them. In fact, it sounds as if the Europeans are doing just that.

Here's the Scotsman's take on the subject. The Scots have a slightly different perspective on the subject. For one thing, with devolution they are on the track to full independence. That would almost certainly imply accepting the Euro. The same with Wales.



Duped and Betrayed.

In a NY Times op-ed piece, Paul Krugman reflects on the deceptions involved in the recent tax cut bill. Says "a golden age of tax evasion" is coming. Nice way to put it.


I think there's a silver lining in this, and one thing the radicals are forgetting: people will only continue to support the US government as long as it does something for them. If it's just a corporate tool, they why bother?



Possible solution to the Israeli settlement problem.

One of the problems with the Israelis withdrawing from the settlements that they made is the unlikelihood of them simply being turned over to the Palestinians. Has anyone ever suggested making them a test case of whether the two peoples can live together in peace by inviting the Palestinians to share them?

Two nations living on separate sides of an armed frontier can never provide the framework for a lasting peace, only a temporary truce that will sooner or later break down again. They either live in peace together, or they remain at war.



Hamas breaks off peace talks.

The NY Times reports on the decision of Palestinian militants to reject peace talks and keep on fighting. So does the Guardian. Will someone please politely tell these people that the war is over. They lost.

It does appear however that, for the first time, there is a significant part of the Palestinian population that is tired of fighting and is ready to make peace. Maybe even enough to confront the militant minority.


The blindness of these people is unbelievable. "We have no alternative." Of course they have alternatives. All sorts of them.

The Guardian says it's a "surprise." I personally wouldn't use that term. But what do I know?

It also doesn't really make sense for them to continue fighting. Unless they have assurances of outside assistance, or they're aware of plans being made for other Arabs to mount a larger scale attack. Or just hoping. They don't really think the Jews will ever give up, do they?

June 05, 2003

The new American feudalism.

Via Common Dreams. Thom Hartmann writes on Midnight Ride of the Rabble. A lengthy essay exploring the history of American ideas on freedom, feudalism, monarchy and such.


I find the folks at Common Dreams are a bit too focused on blaming the Republicans and corporations for everything, when in fact the Democrats have had just as much to do with it all. If not more. Putting the Democrats back in charge won't stop America's wars. They were in charge during World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. People are really deluding themselves there. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

And I flat out disagree that the federal government can any longer be a solution to anything. The government yes, but the state governments. Not the federal. There's way too much power concentrated there now, and power corrupts. "The government of the United States is us. It was designed to be a government of, by, and for We, the People." No, it was designed to meet the needs of the colonial, white, male, Christian aristocracy. It never ever has represented most of us. Isn't it time we stopped pretending we still live in the 18th century. We now have the oldest, most archaic government on earth, the only one that has not been substantially modified during the 20th century. The ONLY one.

But this is an interesting essay, and it's nice to know that not all talk show hosts are right-wingers.



Dance the Night Away.

A friend of mine sent me this silly link. Go ahead, it'll cheer you up and get your toes tapping. Great graphics, and not too long a wait for it to load. Don't miss the dancing baby near the bottom.



The Day of the Jackals.

Via AlterNet.org, first published in The Socialist Worker. The inimitable Arundhati Roy speaks on what she calls the most cowardly war ever fought. Another must-read from her. Also check out this other speech she recently gave in New York. She's very eloquent, and doesn't allow her anger to cause her to lose perspective, as so many others do.


One point though, about where she talks about Mesopatamia, etc, and in how many classrooms it has been mentioned and taught. Yes, but not in American classrooms. At least not any more. So in defense of these, as she points out, not very well educated American soldiers, no they don't appreciate the history there. Why should they? How could they? No one's ever taught it to them. They don't show documentaries about Babylonian civilization on American TV, they show Survivor and American Idol. They might have heard the words once or twice but that's it.

There's no world history, no global geography taught in most American schools these days. Blame their officers and the politicians, for sure, but the grunts there are as much victims as anybody else. It's not their fault. Most of them are there because it's the only kind of job they could get. "Childish handwriting," she says. She's right, because they're the product of American education. They don't have the historical or political knowledge and background necessary to evaluate the truth, so they believe what they're told.

And it's deliberate too. That's why they're shutting down the schools. It's not lack of money. They have tons of money. No, they need and want an ignorant populace. Much easier to manipulate and control



Spam suggestion, and thoughts on advertising.

This spam thing is getting way out of hand. Why not simply continuously spam every politician in the world until they stop it?

God, what I wouldn't give to just have one single day without some lazy, greedy American trying to sell me something that I don't need and don't want. It just never ends. Turn on the radio, turn on the TV, turn on the computer, go to the movies, pick up the phone, drive down the street, stop by the grocery, go here, go there, there's this never-ending assault on your consciousness, this constant attacking that keeps you always on the defensive. Buy, buy, buy. It's like living inside a cloud of mosquitoes. And if you buy something, they just come back for more and more, and give your address to other parasites so that they in turn can harass you.

More and more I come to think of advertising as an invasion of privacy, and as a violation of my right to live my life the way I want. This never ending assault is as damaging to my mental well-being as second-hand smoke or other health threats are to my physical health.

Maybe we should take the war on spam to a higher level, and ban advertising entirely, at least in public places? You know there really isn't any statistical proof to show that it works. The web has provided the first opportunity to ever actually measure its effectiveness, and the statistics show that the click-thru rates on ads is less than one percent. The same with telemarketing. Ban it in public places and on public airwaves, and require private businesses to post signs warning that advertising is present in the same way they post signs warning of the presence of toxic chemicals.

I guess the response of most people to this would be to ask how companies would be able to let people know about their products. Hey, they don't need to do that. "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." If you have a really good product, people will spread the word themselves. They'd be glad to.

Personally I've long since come to the conclusion that if someone is advertising something that means that the product isn't good enough to stand on its own, and that they need to push it. And on that basis I pretty much make it a point not to buy anything that's advertised. :)

This constant assault on people is exceptionally damaging to children.



ECB cuts interest rates.

NY Times article. Guardian article. Economist article. These quotes are from the Times.


Big mistake in my opinion. For one the idea that cutting interest rates will promote the economy is slightly obsolete, and based on old economy notions that capital is scarce. Both Japan and the US now have very low interest rates and it hasn't helped them much. It may in fact be making matters worse.

It also represents putting the interests of the larger states, such as Germany, over those of the smaller countrieis, which have been benefiting from the Euro's increase. And giving in to pressure from the US and the UK to take measures which help their economies, not necessarily those of the EU. Notice that the Economist, which primarily represents the interests of London bankers likes it, but still wants more.

But for small EU investors it means a smaller return on their savings and investments, just as Alan Greenspan's policy of propping up the US stock market with cheap money has given US savers the lowest interest rates of the postwar era. Economists are always talking about the importance of savings, but with interest rates at 1-2% there's not much point to it.


The degree of pressure from the US and the UK on this issue I think indicates just how frightened they are that the Euro will be a great success and supplant the dollar and pound as the world's primary currency. But they're fighting history here and won't win.

Note that all of the discussion focuses on Germany's problems. None of the three articles so much as mentions any of the other eleven Euro countries. Not even once. I find that very curious. They repeatedly mention the American and British economies, but not the European ones, even though the issue is (supposedly) the EU economy and European rates.

Basically they have the idea that the way to promote the global economy is to promote the few biggest countries. But the age of superpowers is over, as is the notion that you promote economic growth by increasing the wealth of the elite. The global economy depends on a hundred or more smaller economies all experiencing slow but steady growth. But the greedy, selfish bankers in New York, London and Berlin are ready to sacrifice the rest of us in order to prop up their archaic, elitist 20th century institutions.

I also noticed that the Guardian has another article stating that German unemployment actually fell last month, which would bely the notion that there are serious, long-lasting problems there. Neither the Times or the Economist mentions this, but rather give the impression that unemployment there is growing.

This is another thing I want to write more about. Particularly on how the idea that capital is scarce and that making money cheap will help the economy. Capital is _not_ scarce now, and making it too cheap may just prop up failing enterprises and encourage wasteful investment and spending.

As for it slowing the Euro's growth, I don't think so. Maybe temporarily, but maybe not even that. The American economy is severely out of whack with reality, IMHO, and the dollar is going to continue to reflect that. The Euro looks really good to me. Sure there are a lot of problems with adapting to all of the changes, and the changes will continue until after the new ten members have fully established it, 2010 at the earliest. And the bloody British being unable to make up their minds will continue to cause damaging uncertainty. But the shortcomings are mostly short-term while the advantages are mostly long-term.



California marijuana grower sentenced to one day.

The NY Times reports on the end of the trial of a man proscecuted for growing marijuana for medical purposes for the city of Oakland.


Many issues in this case. Particularly what happens when a state passes a law that contradicts a federal law. Two-thirds of California's voters approved the use and growing of medical marijuana a few years ago, but the federal government has decided that they don't have the right to run their own lives.

June 04, 2003

The Promise of Democracy.

Billmon over at the Whiskey Bar follows his list of Bush administration quotes about Iraqi WMDs with one on the promises for Iraqi democracy. Interesting to watch how they change over time.



Surgeon General calls for complete tobacco ban.

The Washington Post reports that the Surgeon General said he'd like to ban tobacco entirely.


There are so many things wrong with this it's hard to know where to begin. Forcing people to live by other people's values and beliefs is totalitarianism and fascism.

Prohibition doesn't work, never has and never will. All this would do is create a black market in tobacco (that's already happening), and provide further funding to drug dealing. And on and on. All the arguments against the so-called war on drugs apply here. Is he aware that profits from marijuana prohibition fund organized crime, and help to promote heroin and crack use? Does he want to help promote the use of these? I guess so.

Luckily some people still have some grasp of reality here. Another argument against this is it starts to make the tobacco companies look like heroes. That's great, just what we need. (Yea, you can be a smoker and still think the tobacco companies suck. Life isn't black and white.)


The issue here is that health is a nebulous thing, and that's what's harmful for one person isn't necessarily bad for someone else. What about dieting, for instance? Anorexia is a very serious health problem, and getting worse. So is obesity. Should we ban dieting aids, quadruple bacon-cheese-burgers and so on? Where does it end? Does Dr. Carmona drink coffee or alcohol?

And speaking of second hand air, what about fossil fuel burning vehicles? These stink to high heaven, are definitely carcinogenic, and are generally unhealthy and unpleasant. "I see no need for them."

I'm not advocating or promoting smoking here. Just stating that prohibition is not the best way to solve the problem. Do we really want to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars financing police persecution of smokers? Wouldn't it be better to use that money to keep our schools open, and offer health education to kids???



What is a weblog?

Russ Lipton writes on what makes a weblog. "A weblog is just a web site organized by time," he says. I can't say I entirely agree with that. Wouldn't that also apply to newspapers, magazines and anything else that's updated on a regular basis?

I think a weblog is anything the blogger wants it to be. There are no rules here.

I'm also not sure that the reverse chronological order is always the best approach. At least not for everybody. For me blogging is a journey, and it might just make more sense to someone else if they follow my path as I took it, rather than retracing my steps. It certainly makes it more difficult for someone to follow a train of thought that's continued over time. I often add updates or further comments to earlier posts, current blogging software offers no way to track these.

I also think that comments are an important part of it. The difference between blogs and newspapers is that people can respond to your opinions and thoughts. (Yes, I know I don't have comments yet. But I will as soon as I move to Moveable Type, probably within the next month or so. In the meantime you can comment in the discussion forums I've set up.)



Keanu Reeves gives away Matrix profits.

Hello Magazine in the UK reports that the Matrix star has given around $70 million of his Matrix profits to the special effects crew of the movies, each of whom will receive a couple of million. He says he already has more money than he can spend in centuries, and doesn't care about it. Way to go Keanu. Most excellent, dude.

Hey, not to be impudent, but can I have some? Really dude, like I'm really cool, and my whole life is a friggin' special effect, if you don't mind me saying so. Well, just asking. Don't ask, don't get.

Never stumbled onto Hello before. (Found them via BoingBoing.) I find British pop culture fascinating, don't ask me why. Ridiculously silly, but fascinating.

Another British publication I like is Ananova, a general purpose news magazine for the web only. Serious news along with lots of silly stuff, and, of course, updates on the royals. Their Quirkies section is absurd and a great waste of time, although they seem to have eliminated the royals section of it. I guess they're just not being weird enough to be newsworthy.



The Dead will be selling instant CDs of live shows.

Munckmix, the new music distributor for the band, announced that it will begin selling "Official Concert Recordings" of each night's show right on the spot, plus a collection of the CDs from the entire tour.


I've heard of some other bands doing this, but I guess it's going to become a regular practice. It does make a nice souvenir. It also shows that while modern technology may threaten some traditional forms of music sales and distribution, it also allows for new ways to make money. Here are some more ways: include a discounted version with the ticket purchase; allow folks who can't follow the tour to subscribe to it, that'd be real popular; and last but not least, webcast the entire friggin' tour live. Why not? People would pay.



Cheney says US will destroy its enemies.

Via Booknotes, the IOL, in South Africa, reports on a recent speech Vice President Cheney made at West Point.





US Marshals auction off car full of pot.

CNN reports that a Mexican man has won the right to sue the government for selling him a car with 199 pounds of marijuana in the bumpers, and then arresting him after he crossed the border with it.





It's not right/left, it's right/wrong.

Via the LA Times Ariana Huffington writes that it's Business As Usual in Washingtonon the subterfuge involved in cancelling the child tax credit in the recent tax cut.


She also points out another boondoggle perpetuated by the military-industrial-financial-legal complex.


I hadn't heard of this particular ripoff, although using bonds to finance government spending is probably is one of the sleaziest tricks around. It allows them to report that the costs are so much, when the real costs including interest are infinitely greater. Those of us who favor balanced budgets by governments need to address the issue of bonds, the primary way of getting around these limits.

But this is a very old issue. The Bible specifically prohibits interest payments, although for some reason the religious right chooses to ignore this particular bit of divine wisdom.

I don't understand the part about the "Air Force's limited procurement budget" though. Their budget is greater than the total GDP of many countries around the world.

I have to admire Ms. Huffington's continuous struggle to address these issues. It's comforting to think that an ex-Republican can eventually come to their senses.


Yes, but again, the question is not what's going on, but what we're going to do about it. Endless bashing of the Republicans isn't going to accomplish anything. We need actions, not words.



Librarians fighting the Patriot act.

Via BoingBoing. The LA Times prints an op-ed piece from a librarian on the threat to free expression and freedom of information caused by the Patriot Act.





Malaysian government says CDs and DVDs overpriced.

Via Zeropaid.com. The Malaysian governnment has called for a boycott of the entertainment industry until they lower prices, claiming that it's the unrealistic prices that are the primary cause of so-called "piracy."


Interesting. More demands for lower prices. Compare this to yesterday's entry on demands within the US that the drug industry also lower its prices.



Baghdad blogger gets regular column.

The so-called "Baghdad blogger" is now writing fortnightly columns for the Guardian. (Fortnightly means every two weeks, short for fourteen nights.) Some quotes from the first one.


Blogging is going mainstream very rapidly. But John Dvorak wonders if it's just a fad. I don't think so, but we'll see.

June 03, 2003

American drug companies fighting free enterprise.

The New York Times reports that the large pharmaceutical corporations are attempting to prevent consumers from purchasing lower priced drugs abroad. They are trying to shut down the growing numbers of discount pharmacies, and cutting off purchases to Canadian companies that ship to the US.

Most amazingly they say that a black market for prescription drugs is emerging, and that senior citizens are getting increasingly desperate and willing to fight back.


One of the claims is that foreign drugs aren't safe, but the people using them say different.


The drug companies don't seem to understand that people simply don't have the kinds of money they're demanding. People on social security can't pay several hundred dollars a month, and aren't willing to do so when there are plenty of cheaper alternatives.

As far as the argument that there isn't enough money in the business to justify research, these companies are some of the most profitable in the world. In any case, people are dying now from the lack of already developed medicines. If the companies can't deliver the current ones at realistic prices, then maybe they shouldn't be investing in new ones.

The real problem is that as the global economy has matured, there are plenty of places that can afford to easily beat American prices and are doing so. It's not just drugs, but steel, airplanes, agricultural products, textiles, you name it. The American corporate model is outdated and simply can no longer compete.

June 02, 2003

Third night of protests in Geneva.

The Guardian reports on battles between protesters and police in Geneva. Anti-globalization protesters have gathered there since it is the closest they can get to the G8 summit in Evian, France.


I've seen virtually no mention in the American coverage of the summit of the fact that over 250,000 protesters were there, or of the extent of the police presence. In a search of the international section of the NY Times, there is an article on the summit focusing on the demands made to Iraq and North Korea to stop developing nuclear weapons.

There's also an article telling us that Queen Elizabeth wore a yellow hat and sensible black shoes at her coronation's 50th anniversary celebrations. But no mention of violence so great that the Swiss police have been forced to call in German reinforcements, which I myself would consider a much more important story.



I don't think Iraq was all about oil though.

A lot of people saying that the conquest of Iraq was "all about oil." I think that's rather simplistic. It's partially about oil, of course; nearly everything Americans do is about money, one way or another. But I think a lot of this is also the desire for power, for glory, for an "empire", to use all of the fancy weaponry they have, and other more emotional issues. There are people around, and certainly not just in the US or the UK, who really want to conquer the world, who like blowing things up, who like killing. There are people who want power just for power's sake, even if it actually hurts their financial interests.



The lies that led us into war.

Further reports on American and British claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Here's an article from The Independent in the UK, entitled The lies that led us into war detailing the falsehoods told by Bush, Blair and company.


And here's one from the Sydney Morning Herald reporting that Australian intelligence told its government that the American intelligence was clearly wrong.


The same article also speaks to the serious, long-term consequences of the deception.


And here's a report from the US News on the subject, beginning with some interesting disclosures about Powell's UN testimony last February.


And finally, via This Modern World and the blogosphere, is The Whiskey Bar's compilation of Bush adminstration statements on the subject.

I'm surprised at the extent that this story seems to be spreading around the world. It doesn't look like it's going to go away. Both the British Parliament and the US Senate have announced investigations.

Mostly though I'm surprised anyone really believed the claims to begin with. Since there were repeated claims made before the first Gulf War that Saddam had such weapons and was guaranteed to use them, all of which were shown false, I sort of figured people wouldn't possibly believe it again.



Leading Scottish lawyer calls for legalisation of drugs.

At least folks in other countries are starting to come to their senses regarding the war on drugs. The Scotsman reports that a leading criminal lawyer has called for the complete legalisation of drugs there.





Statistical proof that the US is the least free country on earth.

Via the Charleston.net is this story reporting that the US has overtaken Russia and how has the highest percentage of its population in prison of any country in the world.

The number of people imprisoned for drugs has increased ten times during the last twenty years, virtually all of the increase being African-American or Mexican-American. And, I would imagine, the wealth of the lawyers who both defend and prosecute has also increased about ten times during that period.


It's all about money. Money for prison construction, money for white lawyers, money for the corporates who launder the drug profits, money for the police who confiscate drugs, cash and property, and, especially, money made by keeping poor, black and Latino people too terrified to cause any trouble. It's no coincidence that the period that's seen this increase in incarceration has also seen a steady decline in the real value of working wages.

Plus some racial cleansing of course. While the Republicans are getting bashed for everything these days, it should be noted that the real surge in this took place during the Clinton administration, especially in the numbers of women and children who were incarcerated. Entirely coincidental of course, that both Clinton and Gore come from southern states. (The article only mentions males, but the percentage of women skyrocketed during the 90s.)

It should also be noted that the children of these people end up on the streets. Do they count that when they say it "probably" helped reduce crime?

This hasn't been the land of the free for a long, long time now. It's time people stopped calling it that, it's just a way of not facing the truth and of avoiding responsibility.

June 01, 2003

Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic, 30th anniversary.

Want to see some great shows on the 4th and 5th? Willie's annual picnic this year features The Dead, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Leon Russell and many more. Sounds like quite a time. I imagine tickets will be going fast, if they're not gone already. Only $49 though if you can get one, both days $80. Children 10 and under are free. Such a deal.



Suu Kyi again taken into custody in Burma.

The Observer reports that four people were killed as the Burmese military again arrested the Nobel Peace Prize winning activist.


No one seems to care about the extent of the problems in Burma. If she was a Palestinian of course, this would be front page news. Pardon my cynicism. :)



Cluster bombs litter Iraq.

The Guardian reports on the amount of cluster bombs used by American and British forces in Iraq.

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