As I got up this morning, I heard an interview on abc “Good Morning America” with Richard A. Clarke, former Whitehouse advisor on counter-terrorism. Clarke alleges that immediately after 9/11, the Bush Whitehouse was looking for a way to go into Iraq, using Iraq as a scapegoat.

I don’t know why, but above the din of pundits and allegations, I found this man compelling. In interests of balance, GMA had Condolezza Rice on immediately afterwards to allow equal time for rebuttal. Rice’s statements were diffuse, ad hominem, and I got the distinct impression she was lying.

Thank you, fark!

Requiem for a contractor:

Offshoring has taken an interesting twist, as those who seem most vulnerable at the moment are not the expensive regular employee’s you’d expect, but rather their cheaper, domestic contractor bretheren:

“Seems like if you’ve been a contractor around here long enough, they either hire you on full time or fire you. Paying you by the hour is too expensive, when India’s an option”

Maung, I hope you land on your feet, you happy little man. Keep reading those books, and don’t worry: America will come to her senses one day.

Okay this is just cool: Google has a new application where you can find businesses and people who live around you: local.google.com

Okay, so I’ve had car fever since the blasted auto show on Saturday, so in hopes of assuaging the Gods of Capitalism, I’ve weaned myself down from wanting to buy a new Toyota Tacoma:

(I will have one of these puppies one day, folks: Utterly reliable, simple, easy-to-work-on, efficient, and still with that simple truck image. These little workhorses aren’t poseurs. They need to make ’em with a diesel engine from their European Yaris. Imagine, a little workhorse like this getting 40 mpg, with gobs of torque)

Well, I’m about to join the ranks of the digital revolution. (::sigh::)

Finally going to buckle-down and get a digital camera. Normally I’d go whole-hog and get a digital SLR, but they’re pricey ($1500 to $10k) and I just like shooting w/film, especially my Voigtlander rangefinder.

Anyway, got one off ebay for pretty cheap: A Nikon Coolpix 3500. Here’s a pic of one:

It’s 3.2 Megapixel, which is reasonably high-res for my use.

MotoringFile:
A little plagiarism is good for the soul (from Gabe Bridger’s site):

Mini designer Frank Stephenson explains what a can of Budweiser and the new MINI have in common: “We worked a number of 24-hour days trying to get the full-sized clay model completed for presentation to the board of directors,” says Stephenson. “So when we finished the job with just hours to spare, I thought it appropriate that the team have a beer or two to celebrate. That’s when I spotted the problem.”

Quick one:

Q: What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?

A: A porcupine has pricks on the outside.

it seems odd to me, but George W Bush is seeming more and more the sacrificial lamb of America. Caught betwixt corporate interest, ultra-conservative isolationists, and his fundamentalist Christian supporters, his policies can’t cover all the bases. If oil prices and inflation rise, he’s one misstep away from being the Republican Jimmy Carter: Well meaning but inept, swept aside for the politician of the moment. In Carter’s case, that was Ronald Reagan, who seduced the people with his eternal optimism, hard-line Cold War tactics, and military reinvigoration. The Good Son of the moment would seem to be Kerry, who appeals (if secretly) to many in the electorate, for several reasons:

Depressing blog of the day:

My dreams have been trending towards the apocalyptic lately…no real idea why: Last night I was reading on fark about some pending announcement from NASA about a “significant” event in the solar system. So, of course, some fellas are making cracks about some comet or asteroid being inbound and them not wanting to tell us about it.

So, I promptly go to sleep (well, at 1:30 am, but more on that later) and have this ultra-vivid dream about the End of the World: For some reason, I was at work, and the skies were dark and ominous. We were all looking out the window of Building 082 towards the south, and I got hints of conversation:

Life after the Video Game Crash:

Gaming simply can’t survive that way. There’s a reason why you can still see a motion picture a century after they hit the scene, but Vaudeville shows are extinct. There’s a reason why people still go to operas while live gladiator contests and public witch burnings are both rare and poorly-attended. In the entertainment world there are wives and then there are mistresses, long-term relationships and drunken one-night stands.

I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT

Really tough teacher walks into her class one day and announces no one’s getting out of the mid term the next day, not even “for grave illness”

Jock in the back yells: “What about sexual exhaustion?”

“Write with your other hand.”

* * *

Well, it’s good to be missed when you don’t blog. I have a very small cadre of readers (no pun intended, honey!) but they seem loyal. Anyway, work been hell for the past few days. Don’t really want to go into it for fear of enraging tech-savvy management who might google for this blog, but I can give it to you in outline:

Extreme Overclocking �-�Samsung ML-1710 Monochrome Laser Printer Review - Page: 1 - Tweaking PC Hardware To The Max: “Lasers, Not Just For Removing Unsightly Hair:”

Gotta love a true laser printer for like $150. 17 pages per minute. Not color, but DANG! $150 for the printer, plus a 6000 page toner cartridge (and toner cartridges don’t dry-out like ink cartridges do).

If you printed that much w/a conventional inkjet printer that’s probably $1k worth of printer + ink cartridges.

_
I miss you terribly tonight, my little darling.
I long for you as the seabird longs for the wind,
That he may be carried up above the waves to heaven.
That he may fly around the world on a single, sweet breeze,
Tasting life in each cloud.

Such is your love to me.
_

Why do women hate Hamburger Helper?

God knows the box is friendly enough:

It’s a quick easy way to add protein, carbs, and nummy sodium to your daily intake of cold slop, vending machine slop, and coffee.

Why, then, do women hate it? Hate it so much that they will starve before consuming it….?

Mysteries of life…

* * *

Today was pretty darn productive, but I’m beside myself about tomorrow. I went to Phil’s Rally School, which consisted of a class held around the kitchen table of his split-level off Harrodsburg Road. Rallying is like the older, more genteel side of Sports Car Club of America, predating most of the amateur events we do (specifically, autocross or “Solo II” as it’s sometimes known).

Amazing how a small change is one routine machine can galvanize an office. Take, for instance, a coffee machine. What could be more pedestrian than a coffee machine? Well, to my amazement, a new Cuisinart coffee grinder + coffee machine has occupied our floor for most of the morning:

Here’s a pic of what we got:

12 cup, glass carafe, grinder + permanent filter brewer.

Plus, we got some quality coffee beans and we’ve been enjoying all day.

Ah yes, it’s that time of year again, and Satan has concocted a new treat to destroy our waistlines:

That’s right…I’m the proud renter of 4 boxes of GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! two of the new Pinatas and two of Samoas. The Pinatas are a new flavor, and they’re very tasty: Sweet, not too heavy, and (unlike Samoas) they don’t make you want to eat 15 at a time.

* * *

Can I just say Seabiscuit got robbed? Come ON people…I know LOTR is the uber-movie, but for Cinematography at least, Seabiscuit deserved the oscar. LOTR was done mostly CGI, for goodness’ sake!

I think 2003 will go down as a year of embarrassing riches. Four movies (At least!) that were worthy contenders in any category.

* * *

On a personal note, Squeeze and I have made plans to head for Rocky Mountain National Park September 1st through 5th. Really, really excited. Plane Tickets, car reservation, and hotel reservation (Holiday Inn). My compliments to my little love: She’s a great planner–meticulous, single-minded, thorough.

The Car Connection [ The Web’s Automotive Authority ]:

Consumer confidence dropped in February, as persistent worries about jobs undercut optimism about future prospects, according to the Conference Board, which reported its consumer confidence index dropped more than nine points to 87.3, following a rise in January to a revised reading of 96.4. “Consumers began the year on a high note, but their optimism has quickly given way to caution,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “Consumers remain disheartened with current economic conditions, and at the core of their disenchantment is the labor market.” The lack of confidence also appears to have helped slow car sales, which fell below expectations in January and are sluggish again in February. Gary Lapidus, Goldman Sachs analyst, said in a note the shortfall in sales is pushing up both incentives and inventories sitting unsold on dealer lots. -Joe Szczesny