tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53891452023-05-06T09:47:03.063-04:00Das Blog - A little bit of this, a little bit of that. With the clowns running things these days, there's also bound to be a whole lotta s#%t to comment upon. <p>Plenty of tek blather, too.dh100http://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1142399025367633792006-03-14T23:46:00.000-05:002006-03-15T00:13:54.063-05:00

If anybody has paid any attention at all to my pathetic little corner of cyberspace at all, please allow me to apologize for my absence and this blog's semi-abandoned state. As is so often the case, real life tends to interfere with what we'd rather be doing, both in cyberspace and in the real world. As is also so often the case, it's amazing what can respark a renaissance of sorts in

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1116870716408737832005-05-23T13:21:00.000-04:002005-05-23T13:53:53.573-04:00

Back in the 70's, when it was still actually funny and known to present cutting edge comedy, Saturday Night Live had a sporadically recurring character called Theodoric of York, medieval barber. Lampooning the ignorance of the dark ages, it was played by Steve Martin when he guest hosted the show, and depicted him prescribing ridiculous, superstition driven remedies for numerous ailments.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1115662789532104312005-05-09T13:10:00.000-04:002005-05-09T14:33:46.486-04:00

As the readers of this blighted little corner of cyberspace may or may not know, the self appointed majordomo of this space was raised and currently lives in the state of Ohio. These days, it certainly behooves one to keep such information on the down low, seeing as though a certain wingnut pinhead did his level best to turn my homestate into this past presidential election's version of Florida

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1106584450640078192005-01-24T11:32:00.000-05:002005-01-24T11:34:10.640-05:00

It says it all. Screw those who view a social safety net as a windfall for fat cats.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1101918537610010212004-12-01T11:25:00.000-05:002004-12-01T11:28:57.610-05:00

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Maybe I'm a hopeless optimist or something... I want someday for us never to have another World AIDS Day ever again.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1100012296955897422004-11-09T09:56:00.000-05:002004-11-09T09:58:16.956-05:00

Yeah, the moron (allegedly) won the election this time out. But, in much better news, version 1.0 of Mozilla's Firefox browser was released today. A much better alternative to the market leader, trust me.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1096906567395627972004-10-04T13:12:00.000-04:002004-10-04T12:16:07.396-04:00

Sometimes it's best to just let the words stand by themselves. From a Wall St. Journal reporter, of all places, comes the source for the following on the ground report from Iraq: Wall Street Journal correspondent Farnaz Fassihi confirms that she penned a scathing letter that calls the war in Iraq an outright "disaster." She also reveals that reporters in Baghdad are working under "virtual house

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-108422096024906642004-05-10T15:39:00.000-04:002004-05-10T16:32:36.060-04:00

Abu Gharib. It's a name that would have been unfamiliar just a week ago, but it certainly isn't now. As the Iraqi detainee abuse and torture scandal hit with force, President (sic) Bush found something to do about it; he started parroting a new word, namely "abhorrent". Now obviously the man does have to do something to offer some sort of apology, something to convince the rest of the world,

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1083094150350356992004-04-27T15:29:00.000-04:002004-04-27T15:36:53.543-04:00

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." --President Dwight D. Eisenhower, April 16, 1953 As much as the occurrances Ike outlined in his now famous quotation are truly tragic, none quite measures up to the loss of people who have their lives taken in

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1081188322844601602004-04-05T14:05:00.000-04:002004-04-05T14:12:07.750-04:00

The jazz giant Billie Holiday recorded one of the landmark recordings of jazz, Strange Fruit. Composed by Abel Meeropol, the song describes in an impressionistic, but still all too recognizable manner, the aftermath of the lynchings of African-American males that was far too common in the American south at the time. Drawing on the ghastly imagery of the reality of such activities, the song

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1079459342921619652004-03-16T12:49:00.000-05:002004-03-16T12:55:14.983-05:00

A friend on a message board pointed out to me today the analogy certain recent events have with the classic tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, particularly scenes from the Disney version of it in Fantasia. In that one, Mickey Mouse, just sure he has control and power over his magical arts, enchants a broomstick to do his chores for him. Things get quickly out of control on him, and soon he's

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1078783761019707032004-03-08T17:09:00.000-05:002004-03-08T17:59:19.076-05:00

I'm not going to claim that the political left in the U.S. has a monopoly on brains. They've certainly been spotted performing their own acts of self immolation on occasion (Ralph Nader, anyone?). However, recent evidence has been spotted that certain sectors of the right are doing their best to cede the field of the exercise of intellect to the opposition. With ads by the Bush-Cheney

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1076996209896169102004-02-17T00:36:00.000-05:002004-02-17T00:44:31.310-05:00

Lately I've been reading a book that I should have noticed and tackled long ago. The book is Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wireapping and Encryption by Whitfield Diffie and Susan Landau. If you don't know who the guy with the funny sounding name of Whitfield Diffie is, he's the father of modern computer encryption, having done the first breakthrough work in what is now called public

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1074727122486264692004-01-21T18:18:00.000-05:002004-01-21T18:20:42.296-05:00

On the heels of the previous bit of dissembling I documented here in the immediately foregoing post, comes this little jewel. Bush May Seek Billions for Iraq After Election By Adam Entous WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush may seek an additional $40 billion or more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan next year -- on top of the $400-billion military budget he will send to

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1074723915483023862004-01-21T17:25:00.000-05:002004-01-21T18:22:42.653-05:00

And the hits just keep on comin'... It could take years before investigators are able to uncover the details of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs under Saddam Hussein, according to the House Intelligence Committee's chairman. "Every day is a new day for the intelligence people," said Rep. Porter Goss, R-Florida. Ahh, yes... it's "morning in America". And "tomorrow is another day". "

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1073071069340632032004-01-02T14:17:00.000-05:002004-01-02T14:19:23.950-05:00

In the past week, our erstwhile terroists chasers and Homeland Security hobgoblins appear to have gone stark raving bonkers, and declared almanacs to be veritable weapons of mass destruction. No word yet if road atlases, Guinness Books of World Records and Weekly World News are soon to follow. So, I did what any sensible person would do in the face of such an occurrence: I immediately rushed

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1071768942340693272003-12-18T12:35:00.000-05:002003-12-18T12:36:56.966-05:00

More fun in the "making history up out of whole cloth" dept. in today's Washington Post. It's not quite Soviet-style airbrushing, but the Bush administration has been using cyberspace to make some of its own cosmetic touch-ups to history. White House officials were steamed when Andrew S. Natsios, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said earlier this year that

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1070299851768040962003-12-01T12:30:00.000-05:002003-12-01T12:32:53.640-05:00

Today is World AIDS Day, and sadly, the 15th anniversary of the first World AIDS Day. Besides the foregoing, you're encouraged to check out the Link and Think banner further down on the left side of the page at the top of the other banner links. A good general news story on worldwide observances (and unfortunately, also on some boneheaded ideas coming out of the Vatican) is available here, and

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1069713485995104672003-11-24T17:38:00.000-05:002003-11-24T17:38:49.263-05:00

This is certainly in a more personal veing than all of the other posts on Das Blog, but my family has a close friend who we are probably going to lose in the next 10-12 months. She's a special person of the sort that makes life better on this planet, and she's seen enough grief for one lifetime already. Her daughter died far too soon, only in her 30's, as a result of hepatitis C. She and her

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1068747786469189962003-11-13T13:23:00.000-05:002003-11-13T13:23:34.153-05:00

People who believe in bolts from the blue from the deity of choice upon overt hypocrites and the like are advised to keep their distance. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As senators passed the halfway point Thursday in a 30-hour debate designed to bring attention to Democratic filibusters blocking three of the White House's judicial nominees, President Bush called for a stop to the "ugly politics." "It's

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1068671635088997452003-11-12T16:13:00.000-05:002003-11-12T16:14:21.733-05:00

Excellent catch over on Media Wench. Maggie O. caught it over on news.com. In the article, Rich Mogull, Gartner Research's information security and risk research director, makes some excellent points. Gartner's information security and risk research director has dismissed cyberterrorism as a "theory." The comments came during a media roundtable session at the Gartner Symposium and IT Expo,

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1068586388296170192003-11-11T16:33:00.000-05:002003-11-11T16:34:20.390-05:00

The most recent addition to the Friends of Das Blog blogroll, namely Maggie O. of Media Wench, cross linked one of my recent items with a memory hole piece of her own she had done, one much more comprehensive than mine. Readers are encouraged to check it out.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1068584163390118052003-11-11T15:56:00.000-05:002003-11-11T15:56:54.873-05:00

Colin, Colin... haven't you heard what happened to Tommy Chong? And all he did was sell water pipes and act silly in goofy movies back in the 70's. Don't forget, one of your workmates is professional moralist, scold, crisco slatherer, statue draper and Bill of Rights shredding performance artist Johnny Ashcroft. He won't think much of admissions like this. Powell's Chemical Equation Powell

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1068478757708967082003-11-10T10:39:00.000-05:002003-11-10T10:39:41.106-05:00

Came across an excellent take on CBS's waffling on the Sluggo Raygun miniseries. Food for thought and a good (if rueful) Monday laugh.

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5389145.post-1068406958425084312003-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:002003-11-09T14:43:00.860-05:00

News of the weird, from Bush's weekly (weakly?) radio address. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Bush said Saturday the U.S. economy was on an upward trajectory and attributed the improvement to his tax cuts, as a raft of upbeat economic news eased the pressure on his administration amid a rising death toll in Iraq. "Mah fella 'murkins... it only took three years of some of the most

Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14454540651019237753noreply@blogger.com