While many of us have been looking the other way, Israel has mounted its largest incursion for some time into Gaza. According to the Guardian, 50,000 people are trapped in Gaza by the Israeli army’s renewed strategy of demolishing homes and blocking roads. The operation is being referred to as “Operation Days of Penitence”. The irony is palpable and tragic. ...
I promised a change of subject, so here it is. Today, Julie Lee’s fabulous new record “Stillhouse Road” is released in the USA (and maybe Canada). Rather than make many comments about the record I will note that the website has audio clips, that the album features such luminaries as Allison Krauss, Vince Gill, and Colin Linden, and that there will be more information about it on the website as soon as possible. ...
For anyone interested in things so techie, I’ve just posted a PHP wrapper for the Technorati API over at my work site. Technorati’s a search engine for blogs with an interface to allow programmers to use their data on their own sites. It seemed that no-one had written an interface to that for PHP, and I thought it about time they did. So if that sort of thing interests you, do check it out. If not, I’ll try and change the subject tomorrow. ...
For a while now, it has looked like the Bush administration would do well to distance themselves from Halliburton. It seems they may have missed the opportunity, as the administration’s favourite defence contractor seems to want out of some of its highest profile contracts. While the firm’s name has come to symbolise all that is wrong with the administration’s spending and empire-building policies, this Guardian piece reveals that it itself is facing difficult times. ...
There are a couple of exceptions to the deplorable lack of inquiring, investigative interviewers in US broadcast journalism. Chief amongst them is a man who claims to purvey “fake news”. Last week, Jon Stewart was interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air and repeated a thankfully-increasing-refrain that media has been subverted so that it no longer holds truth claims up to scrutiny but instead simply repeats what it’s fed. The interview is well worth a listen. You can do that right here. ...
.kerry { color: blue; } .bush { color: red; } So in the end we didn’t watch the first Presidential “debate” on Thursday night. If Martyn Joseph hadn’t been playing at Schulers there might have been some chance, but ongoing campaign fatigue would probably still have prevented us from breaking our TV fast. So it was a pleasant surprise on Friday morning to start reading the reports and begin gaining the impression that the next one might be worth watching. Word on the street seems to be that Kerry may have (for the first time) won a verbal victory over his smirking opponent. Let’s hope it’s a sign of eloquence to come. ...
I had heard that Michigan Association of Police were running a fund raising campaign at present. I had held out a hope that they’d phone me, but I didn’t expect them to. Particularly not on a day when only one in ten calls was for someone who lived here. Yet call me they did and I got the chance to ask my question. After agreeing with the contention that “in these troubling times” we should support the police force, that it was important that scholarshps be provided for those wanting to pursue careers in law enforcement, and that the families of officers killed in action should be supported, I was asked whether $25 or $50 would be my preferred donation. ...
Something British visitors to the United States in these pre-election months immediately notice is the yard signs. Outside an increasing proportion of homes (including ours) are small signs on metal legs proclaiming the residents’ candidate of choice. It’s something new to me; it’s encouraging as it shows a high level of involvement in the political process; it’s scary as there are far too many Bush/Cheney signs; and it’s the surest sign yet that this is a country divided. ...
Just as I was sitting down to work some more on the MoveableType bugs that were disrupting this blog I spotted that a solution had been posted on the support boards. Monthly archives aren’t yet building properly but everything else should now be back to normal. I may even write more this week. No promises.
As the more observant may have noticed, a few test entries appeared here today. I’m at It’s A Grind in Grand Rapids working some more on grwifi.net. I now have comments enabled, and this entry is mainly a test to make sure it works. It’s A Grind is a good place to get work done. The WiFi connectivity varies during the day and occasionally, um, grinds a little, but the service is friendly and it’s usually a decent connection. ...