Well, this is amusing. A Google search on my name returns as its top response this letter I wrote in January, 1995, defending Newt Gingrich.
Even more amusing: the people who run the list, whom I had no contact with back in 1995, are now a client.

“There’s a much cheaper, less complicated way to bring Iraq and Saddam Hussein to their knees. Send the Bush economic team to Iraq and let them run the country.” Sen. John Kerry

California has ruled that if you allow the American flag to be hung from an overpass, you have to allow any speech.

The European edition of Time has an interesting point/counterpoint, with an essay by Brian Eno offering a European’s view of the US, and a response from Christopher Caldwell of the Weekly Standard taking the reverse. Current spot poll shows 63% in favor of Eno with 84 votes tallied.

Not to repeat myself, but a few days ago I posted this link about the bribes we’re offering Security Council nations to go along. Today, I read in the Washington Post that “the Bush administration insists that no money or proffers of either reward or punishment have been offered.”

Move along folks, nothing to see here.

The Register reports that some reporters planning on covering Gulf War II have been warned that if they try to use satellite communications with non-military equipment, they might get blown up.

In addition to plans to use tactical nuclear weapons in future engagements, the ever-creative Department of Defense has also unveiled the largest conventional bomb ever developed. Even bigger bangs under development.

“Frankly, lives are in the balance here, so the quicker I can get stuff done accurately, the better. The Mac makes this work simple, quick and efficient. The other laptops either can’t open the files or lock up halfway through, losing whatever I was working on at the time, and then (I have) to restart the computer and start over.” Major Shawn Weed, user of the only known US military PowerBook in the Persian Gulf.

Every once in a while you come across a picture in the paper which you can’t take your eyes off. Here’s today’s, only excerpted here. See the whole picture and get the story, from the Ivory Coast.

From today’s Washington Post:

Iran is closer to obtaining weapons-grade plutonium than anyone previously realized.

The Bush administration plan to inoculate 10 million people for smallpox is putting on hold other public health needs due to limited resources.

Sen. Joe Biden, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and pro-war, clocks in with his reasons why a second UN resolution is necessary.

Michael Kinsley comes up with a fairly reasonable review of the rationale behind thinking that the Iraq war is over oil.

NPR carried an interview with John Brady Kiesling, the 20-year career diplomat who resigned from his post in Athens over our war stance towards Iraq. Listen to it in RealAudio or Windows Media Player. (What, no QuickTime? Apple’s got to start making more pledges!) Meanwhile, all is not well on the other side of the pond, as a member of Blair’s cabinet threatens resignation, saying, “If there is not UN authority for military action or the reconstruction of the country, I will not uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the UN.”

Update, 10:41 AM: Diane Rehm will be doing an hour-long interview with Kiesling at 11:00. I’ll post the link here later today.

Update, 3/11/03, 7:50 PM: The show, in RealAudio.

Vote with the US, get bribed. Vote against us, get punished. Not on the Security Council? Get ignored.

Those stories you’re hearing about how Iraq is pursuing a nuclear weapon? Some of them are hogwash. Meanwhile, the Bush administration is still providing nuclear technology transfer information to the North Koreans. Huh?

“I don’t doubt Dubya’s a nice man and not traditionally what one describes as stupid, but his thought processes are shallow and stagnant, like week-old water in a unused kiddie pool.” John Scalzi

Hurry on down to CompUSA today and pick up your Microsoft Migration Kit!

Three kids who clearly don’t know the definition of a “colon.” No, not the grammatical kind.

This should be required reading for anyone living in the 21st century: Robert Parks of the American Physical Society on the seven warning signs of bogus science.

I’ve had this software for a few days, but haven’t yet had time to play with it: software that turns my cell phone into a fully programmable remote control for my PowerBook. With proximity sensing, so I can have it say “Hello” when I walk into the room. (Don’t worry, I don’t have that much free time.) News reports here, software here. Needs a Sony Ericsson T68i, Jaguar, and a Bluetooth-equipped Mac.

Jail time for a guy who decided to go his own route for rebooting his laptop. With a handgun. “Whether his actions constitute a breach of MS Windows XP licencing terms remains to be seen.”

Robert John Cusack, when stopped at customs with four endangered songbirds and 50 illegal orchids, and asked if he had anything else: “Yes, I’ve got monkeys in my pants.” Quoted in News of the Weird.