Author: Buck Banks
Quote du Jour
And if the white man thought that Asians were a low, filthy nation, Asians could still smile with relief — at least they were not Africans. And if the white man thought that the Africans were a low, filthy nation, Africans in southern Africa could still smile — at least they were not bushmen. They all have their monsters.
— Bessie Head (1937-1986), South African writer, educator
January 29 — Another Reason I’m Glad I’m Not a Democrat
The Democratic Party of Florida is trying its mightiest to put a positive spin on its reprieve from punishment by the Democratic National Committee and chair Howard Dean. Appears the Deanster won’t whup up on Florida for moving its primary to January 29 after all.
Here’s how Karen Thurman, the reality-challenged chair of the state Dems, spins it:
It’s not as if Floridians aren’t used to being regularly disenfranchised — only every time we have a presidential election.
As Chair of your Party, I am proud to officially announce that Florida’s Democratic Presidential Preference Primary will be held on January 29, 2008, in accordance with a new state law and the will of Florida’s Democratic voters.
Although Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules can penalize states (except for Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina) that hold 2008 primaries prior to February 5, the Florida Democratic Party’s leadership determined that holding a process outside the state-run January 29th election would be detrimental to the voters of this state.
Only problem with that is, it wasn’t the Democrats who made the decision and passed the state law to move the primary date, it was the Republican majority in the state legislature in collusion with our Republican governor, Charlie Crist. In response, Dean and the national party threatened to rob Florida of its delegates, render its primary meaningless and punish any candidates who campaigned in the state. By contrast, the Republican Party was willing to give Florida’s wingnuts a pass on breaking the same primary rules.
But that didn’t stop Thurman from trying to make it sound like it was a Democratic idea all along:
Florida Democrats made it clear that a date other than January 29th would potentially disenfranchise voters and inhibit preparations for a winning 2008 campaign — a campaign that will deliver the state’s 27 crucial electoral votes on November 4, 2008, to the Democratic Presidential nominee.
It’s not as if Floridians aren’t used to being regularly disenfranchised — only every time we have a presidential election.
The Florida Democratic Party missed an opportunity to point out on a national stage the Republican machinations that nearly resulted in the country’s fourth most populous state’s primary being rendered meaningless. The Republicans engineered it, Howard Dean very publicly condemned it and now the Florida Dems are trying to sugar-coat it.
I will go to polls on January 29, to vote for property tax reform and local politicians, but, as a registered independent, I won’t vote in the primary. So I won’t be a party to the next round of Republican electoral shenanigans and, thankfully, I won’t be a part of Karen Thurman’s sorry excuse for a political party.
Neuharth on Limbaugh: What a Comedian!
From Al Neuharth, the guy who brought us USA Today (or the Newspaper for Dummies Without Comics) comes this little gem about right-wing blowhard Rush “I Know a Babe When I See One” Limbaugh:
Well, when I travel across the country, my amusement comes from Rush Limbaugh’s show. I find that that’s one of the funniest programs on the air. I don’t become offended by the idiotic things he says; I become amused by them. But I also think that from my perspective that it’s OK for idiots like him to voice their opinion because that’s what this country is about and that’s what the First Amendment is about. I might add that I have become convinced, although a little reluctantly, that all the bloggers on the Internet have a right to all of their stupidity, too. And there’s a lot of it.
But I really think we’re better off with those kinds of opinions and dissenting voices than we would be if we or the government tried to control them.
Quote du Jour
We work by exorcising incessant superstition that there are mysterious tribal gods against you. Nature has neither rewards nor punishments, only consequences. You can use science to make it work for you. There’s only nothingness and chaos out there until the human mind recognizes it.
— Edwin H. Land (1909-1991), American scientist, inventor
Quote du Jour
Sense has ever been centered in the few …. Votes should be weighed, not counted. The State must sooner or later be wrecked where the majority rules and ignorance decides.
— Friedrich Von Schiller (1759-1805), German dramatist, historian
Florida to Determine ’08 Election — for the Republican Party
Deja-screw all over again: The GOP is going to party like it’s 2000 next year when Florida, through vote-count fraud and the machinations of then-state attorney general Katherine Harris, stole the election from Al Gore and gave it to George W. Bush. This time, however, the Democratic Party is playing the role of Harris in giving the election to the GOP.
‘Anybody who campaigns in Florida is ineligible for delegates.’
— Howard Dean
— Howard Dean
That’s the takeaway from Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean’s comments to a bunch of worried rubes from New Hampshire the other day.
“Their primary essentially won’t count, ” Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said of Florida. “Anybody who campaigns in Florida is ineligible for delegates.”
Why? Because Florida’s Republican legislature and its Republican governor decided to move the state’s presidential primary to Jan. 29 in clear violation of DNC rules that decreed that no primary was to be held before Feb. 5.
What’s at stake here are Florida’s 208 Democratic Party delegates and its 27 electoral votes. Florida is the nation’s fourth most populous state, which is why it can swing an election. Which is why the GOP engineered the primary move — to render the Democratic Party meaningless in Florida in the upcoming election.
Which is why the Republican candidates can ignore a major Hispanic political gathering, because they know they’ll have Florida and its large, politically active Hispanic populace to itself during the campaign.
So Howard Dean is taking his cue from George Bush and is sticking by his guns and refusing to waive the DNC’s rules, effectively punishing the Democratic Party because the Republicans screwed them over by moving the primary date. Yeeaaugh!
Good Thing for Angelina Jolie That Hypocrisy is Protected Speech
Angelina Jolie, who stars in the new film, “A Mighty Heart,” about murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, is promoting the movie and its pro-press freedom message while tightly controlling her own interactions with the media. At a premiere event Wednesday to benefit Reporters Without Borders, Jolie insisted that journalists sign a contractual agreement before she would grant an interview, and, according to FoxNews, tried to have the right-wing mouthpiece banned from the event.
Reporters from most major media outlets balked Wednesday when they were presented with an agreement drawn up by Jolie’s Hollywood lawyer Robert Offer. The contract closely dictated the terms of all interviews.
Reporters were asked to agree to “not ask Ms. Jolie any questions regarding her personal relationships. In the event Interviewer does ask Ms. Jolie any questions regarding her personal relationships, Ms. Jolie will have the right to immediately terminate the interview and leave.”
The agreement also required that “the interview may only be used to promote the Picture. In no event may Interviewer or Media Outlet be entitled to run all or any portion of the interview in connection with any other story. … The interview will not be used in a manner that is disparaging, demeaning, or derogatory to Ms. Jolie.”
If that wasn’t enough, Jolie also requires that if any of these things happen, “the tape of the interview will not be released to Interviewer.” Such a violation, the signatory thus agrees, would “cause Jolie irreparable harm” and make it possible for her to sue the interviewer and seek a restraining order.
Not very press friendly, eh? Associated Press and USA Today reporters refused to sign the contract and canceled their interviews. When she saw the general reaction, Jolie canceled all print interviews. It was only through the intervention of Paramount staff that a FoxNews video crew was allowed to tape the actress on the red carpet.
Reporters without border indeed.
Military Seeking a Few Good Hackers
Wanted — cyber soldiers: The U.S Army and Air Force have put the word out on the street with the nation’s IT community that they are looking for some new software weapons with which to extend America’s sphere of influence in cyberspace. The guys who invented the Internet — the military-industrial complex — have asked the civilian computer industry to provide technologies they can use to wage offensive cyber attacks against enemy computer systems.
While Korea is training a generation of computer-game wizards, we’re futzing around with Howie Mandell on ‘Deal or No Deal.’
Apparently, the Army has already launched some “offensive information operations,” or OIOs, against enemy networks and communications platforms, but would not say who won or if the attacks were even successful. One does wonders because if they had won, would they be asking for help? Hmmmm.
[The Army] wants to “leverage innovative technologies” to improve its cyberattacks “and prevent enemy forces from detecting and countering efforts directed against them,” according to the announcement. “Technologies designed to interrupt these modern networks must use subtle, less obvious methodology that disguises the technique used, protecting the ability whenever possible to permit future use.”
The Air Force is more specific about its goals for upgrading its offensive cyber warfare capabilities:
The technologies would be used to “disrupt, deny, degrade or deceive an adversary’s information system,” according to the request for information. The Air Force wants technology that will help it map data and voice networks, provide it with access to those networks, conduct denial-of-service attacks on current and future network operating systems and network devices and engage in data manipulation on enemy networks.
The offensive cyberattack capabilities that the Army and Air Force want to develop match what Marine Gen. James Cartwright, commander of the Strategic Command, called for during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee in March. He told the panel that if “we apply the principle of warfare to the cyber domain, as we do to sea, air and land, we realize the defense of the nation is better served by capabilities enabling us to take the fight to our adversaries, when necessary, to deter actions detrimental to our interests.”
While Bruce Schneir, a security consultant with BT Counterpane, endorsed the Army and Air Force efforts, he noted:
Since cyber space, unlike the physical battlefield, has connections to global networks that support commerce and communications, any offensive operations conducted by the United States must be fine-tuned to avoid disrupting computer systems that are not part of any enemy system that the military would target. That would be the cyber equivalent to collateral damage inflicted in a bombing campaign.
I’m surprised that in the six weeks that I have been hearing excuses from Bellsouth about why I can’t get DSL service at my house even though I had it there for the past five years they haven’t used the “cyber collateral damage” excuse. Maybe they are saving it for next week.
I’m not so sure I like the idea of our nation’s military becoming the mad hackers of the world. It’s one thing to fend off attacks, but quite another to unleash ballistic spam bombs on our enemies’ networks. But what I’m really worried about is whether the military really knows what enemy it’s up against. A couple weeks ago I saw a few minutes of a Korean game show where these fashionably dressed Korean teenage boys sit at computers and play a networked war game while the audience screams and waves signs and three distinguished-looking experts provide what I assume was play-by-play and color commentary.
As a nation, we aren’t anywhere near that league. While Korea is training a generation of computer-game wizards, we’re futzing around with Howie Mandell on “Deal or No Deal.”
Unless the military contracts it out to The Google, I just don’t have a good feeling about the OIOs of the impending cyber war.
