Posted 8/30/2003 12:09:18 PM by Edward Driscoll
HERE'S ANOTHER QUESTION that Katie will, never, ever ask Bustamante about. Fortunately, it may be academic. UPDATE: By the way, check out MEChA's logo.

Posted 8/30/2003 11:42:44 AM by Edward Driscoll
IS KYOTO TO BLAME for France's recent wave of heat-related deaths? Very, very interesting article by Patrick J. Michaels of the Cato Institutute:

European cities are virtually devoid of air conditioning in large part because the energy to run them is so expensive. And why is that? Pressured by vocal environmentalists, European governments have levied energy tax after energy tax, with the latest excuse being global warming. The mathematics of this problem are terribly transparent. In order to meet their self-imposed targets from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, European nations already have taxed energy, but they have not done enough. Consequently, even more restrictions are being proposed, especially by the German government. Unaffordable air conditioning will become even more expensive, killing more and more Europeans the next time the temperature reaches what passes for a few degrees above what is normal in Dallas. Europe has effectively imposed a continuous blackout on air conditioning, and now it is paying the price. Some people will point to the hundreds of people who died in the infamous July 1995 Chicago heat wave and wonder how we could have ignored this obvious tragedy. We didn't. Normally many more die on the poorer South Side of the city, but not in 1995. A power outage hit the affluent North Side early on and the air conditioning went out. As they say, Q.E.D. And as for the heat-prostrated people of Europe, it's too bad that the Kyoto Protocol will do nothing measurable about the Earth's mean temperature for the forseeable future. But it will kill thousands and thousands more in France, Germany and England, where energy taxes are enormous, creating an invisible blackout of lifesaving air conditioning.

(Found via The Corner.)

Posted 8/29/2003 02:10:42 PM by Edward Driscoll
SPEAKING OF WIRED: Don't be surprised if "Foxanoia" pops up in a "Jargon Watch" column soon.

Posted 8/29/2003 02:01:58 PM by Edward Driscoll
SALINGER SYNDROME IN THE BIZZARO WORLD: Back around 1996, Wired magazine coined (or at least helped popularize) the term "Salinger Syndrome" for someone who believes everything he reads on the 'Net. The term came from Pierre Salinger's infamous press conference, where he claimed to have found a report on who shot down TWA Flight 800 in 1996 via the 'Net. Douglas Brinkley is a historian who seems to have the same syndrome in reverse:

One of the hardest parts of being at a university is constantly telling students anything you read on the Internet is worthless, it's not factual.

But I just read a transcript of Brinkley. Is that not factual?

Posted 8/28/2003 10:55:03 PM by Edward Driscoll
HOW THE DVD WAS WON: Ever wonder how your DVDs ended up with the features they have? Things like chapter encoding, programmable menus, letterboxing? And those bonus features like movie trailers, still photos, directors' commentaries, and the like? No? OK, you're forgiven. But the million or two of us who owned laser disc players in the 1980s got to see a sneak preview of what 57 million people in the US and Canada take for granted these days. In the summer, for my bi-monthly column at Nuts & Volts, I wrote an article called "How The DVD Was Won". (Why yes, I did have the name of a certain new Led Zeppelin CD going through my head when I titled it. What can I say? Pop culture R us.) It details how the Criterion Collection, which still exists, and is a major player in the DVD market, virtually singlehandedly invented the DVD format--except that they used 12-inch double sided laser discs. And they did it in 1984. It's a fun article. It's even got photos of a few actual Criterion laser discs! Taken from my actual collection! Photographed on my actual living room carpet! (Sorry--I realize that's just too much excitement for the average person to take. Rest assured, those with weak hearts should avoid this thrill packed journey into 1980s American ingenuity at its finest! But for everyone else, it's the "it" article of the year. Particularly if you like DVDs, or were among the handful of film geeks hip cognoscenti who owned a laser disc player.) My copy arrived today. Yours should be available at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble any day now. Or you could subscribe, via the handy box on the right!

Posted 8/28/2003 04:18:38 PM by Edward Driscoll
MEGAN'S LAW IN ACTION:

[Campaign Chairman Marc] Racicot's e-mail attributes quotes to several Democratic presidential hopefuls criticizing Bush. Among them, Racicot says former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean stated that Bush might suspend the 2004 election, called Bush "reckless" and "despicable," compared him to the Taliban and said Bush was trying to destroy Social Security, Medicare, public schools and public services. "This ugly, overheated rhetoric shows Democrats will say anything and stop at nothing to defeat this president," Racicot wrote.

Talk about mirror image: I seem to remember some of the more paranoid on the right saying exactly the same thing about Clinton in the run-up to 2000.

Posted 8/28/2003 12:08:56 PM by Edward Driscoll
NICK SCHULZ WRITES that for Bjorn Lomborg, every day is Groundhog Day.

Posted 8/27/2003 05:55:24 PM by Edward Driscoll
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GLENN!!

Posted 8/27/2003 05:18:51 PM by Edward Driscoll
LIFE IMITATES SCRAPPLEFACE: All I can say is...Heh. UPDATE (8/28/03): This is pretty heh-worthy as well...

Posted 8/27/2003 03:51:37 PM by Edward Driscoll
LIFE IMITATES GEORGE ORWELL:

Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, 'he that is not with me is against me'. The idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security. Mr Savage remarks that 'according to this type of reasoning, a German or Japanese pacifist would be "objectively pro-British".' But of course he would be! That is why pacifist activities are not permitted in those countries (in both of them the penalty is, or can be, beheading) while both the Germans and the Japanese do all they can to encourage the spread of pacifism in British and American territories. The Germans even run a spurious 'freedom' station which serves out pacifist propaganda indistinguishable from that of the P.P.U. They would stimulate pacifism in Russia as well if they could, but in that case they have tougher babies to deal with. In so far as it takes effect at all, pacifist propaganda can only be effective against those countries where a certain amount of freedom of speech is still permitted; in other words it is helpful to totalitarianism. --George Orwell, 1942.

Flash-forward to 2003:

The man who helped mix the deadly one-tonne Bali nightclub bomb Sawad, alias Sardjiyo, yesterday said he wanted to thank the Australian people who had supported his cause during recent Australian anti-Gulf War protests. And fellow bomb-mixer Abdul Ghoni urged Australians against forming friendly alliances with America. The pronouncements of the two Bali bombing suspects came as they and the evidence against them was handed from Bali police to prosecutors. "I want to thank the Australian people who supported our cause when they demonstrated against the policies of George Bush. Say thank you to all of them," Sawad said. --Found by Tim Blair.

Posted 8/27/2003 03:32:46 PM by Edward Driscoll
IT'S LIVE...OR IS IT? Interesting debate on the subject of pitch correction in music by Jim Carruthers in Blogcritics. Carruthers is largely against pitch correction, especially on the professional level. Be sure to read the comments (including several by me), and my recent article in Tech Central Station for some arguments in its favor. It always amazes me how music--even popular music--brings out the Luddite in people. Go back and read articles from the 1960s--the electric guitar was damned for making things too easy for the performer. In the 1980s, the synthesizer and the drum machine received the same argument. Today it's pitch correction. And yet, as I said in TCS, if used sparingly, it's a great tool, especially for musicians recording at home. The other argument I find curious about pitch correction is that it seems to be an either/or proposition. Scott Chaffin seemed to think I'm nothing but a geek, creating twelve tone Schoenberg synthesizer music in my white labcoat and bowtie. And yet, I love raw, unadulterated, live music performed by musicians who can play. One of my favorite recordings is Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall, recorded in 1964 (by Teo Macero, Miles' longtime producer, but without Miles knowledge) on 1/4" mono reel-to-reel tape. It's got numerous flaws--at several points, Miles hits notes so loud they oversaturate the tape, and the timing of several musicians in Gil Evans' orchestra on their loud opening blast is suspect. But the music overall is sublime, magical and astonishingly tight. The last track is a majestic song from Miles' classic Sketches of Spain, recorded, like the rest of the albumm, in one shot with no overdubs. There's no way modern technology can recreate a performance like that. But that doesn't necessarily mean that technology is bad, either: the automobile has made horses obsolete, and their role in the great moments of history--Joan of Arc, Lady Godiva, Paul Revere's ride, etc., etc, just that: history. Want to trade your SUV in for Secretariat?

Posted 8/27/2003 01:17:13 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE MAN WHO MADE THE STONES: Eric Olsen has a nifty new interview with Andrew Loog Oldham, the Rolling Stones' original manager, producer, and Svengali.

Posted 8/27/2003 12:56:51 PM by Edward Driscoll
WAITING FOR THE LAMENTATIONS OF THE OPPOSITION: When will the negative campaigning start in California?

Posted 8/27/2003 12:25:49 PM by Edward Driscoll
A SHORT COURSE FOR ACTORS: Stuff like this, and this, alienates at least half--and probably an even greater percentage--of your audience.

Posted 8/27/2003 01:43:21 AM by Edward Driscoll
A SHORT COURSE FOR JOURNALISTS: Soldiers, militants, and terrorists. Confused? Not sure which noun to use? Donald Sensing can help! (Sensing's course should be audited by all members of the BBC, Reuters, AP, AFP, etc.)

Posted 8/26/2003 02:44:08 PM by Edward Driscoll
ON BEING BORKED: Daniel Pipes writes, "Etiquette called on me, as a nominee of the president of the United States, not to talk about my nomination to the board of the United States Institute of Peace while it was in process. Although the nomination was contested, I found myself having to remain mute as opponents said what they would about me." He's talking now, however--and well worth reading.

Posted 8/26/2003 02:20:31 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE LIMBAUGH: The left's answer to Rush Limbaugh "flips out on CNN", as the guest-host of Crossfire. UPDATE: Kevin Holtsberry has an interesting recent discussion with Tucker Carlson, the regular co-host of Crossfire, over at Blogcritics.

Posted 8/26/2003 01:43:27 PM by Edward Driscoll
EXPOSURE: My review of Robert Fripp's 1979 solo album is online at Blogcritics.

Posted 8/26/2003 01:41:16 PM by Edward Driscoll
FROM THE HOME OFFICE IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: Human Events magazine has "Ten Good Reasons To Recall Gray Davis".

Posted 8/26/2003 01:07:10 PM by Edward Driscoll
SECURITY FAILURE: Rachel Ehrenfeld writes that "Almost two years and approximately $2.5 billion later, America's airports are practically as vulnerable as they were on September 11":

It takes an expert like Isaac Yeffet, the former El Al airline-security chief, to highlight the depth of U.S. airport-security problems. Recently, while traveling in the U.S., Yeffet was randomly chosen for special screening. After the security agent had swept his body with a hand-held metal-detecting wand and declared him "clean," Yeffet pulled a cell phone from his pocket — to the agent's amazement. A second screening also detected nothing. At this point, Yeffet suggested that, if the screener were to turn the device on, he might be able to detect suspicious objects. Needless to say, the agent was unsettled, but Yeffet was even more upset. "How many similar incidents happen every day in our airports?" he asks. The U.S. leads the world when it comes to investigating accidents and mishaps, but it's performing rather poorly in trying to prevent terrorist attacks. It needs to adopt a proactive security system that would save citizens' lives as well as protecting infrastructure.

Exactly.

Posted 8/26/2003 02:31:09 AM by Edward Driscoll
THE PERFECT TARGET: Dave Barry asks, "Can California out-doofus Florida? Let's wait for the recount":

I came out here to California because I've been reading disturbing reports that my state, Florida, is about to lose the coveted title of "The Doofus State," which we Floridians worked so hard to win following the 2000 presidential election by not being able to figure out whom we voted for. We have been the Doofus State for just two lousy years, and now these greedy Californians, who had the title for decades, are trying to get it back. I regret to say that they have an excellent shot. The political situation out here is very bad. Q. How bad is it? A. One of the saner-sounding people involved is Larry Flynt.

Read the rest--when it comes to poking holes in the doofus state (right or left coast version), Mr. Barry is most definitely in his milieu.

Posted 8/26/2003 12:30:20 AM by Edward Driscoll
LANDSCAPE LIGHTING: My article on the subject, from the March 2003 issue of Home Automation, has been reprinted online--there are some pretty nifty photos accompanying the piece.

Posted 8/25/2003 01:05:09 PM by Edward Driscoll
THE LANGUAGE POLICE: There's a detailed mini-review of Diane Ravitch’s new book by Jonah Goldberg in NRO's "The Corner" Weblog.

Posted 8/25/2003 01:01:29 PM by Edward Driscoll
DAMNING: From the top down, Michael Ledeen believes that US intelligence efforts in the Middle East stink. There's too much truth (aimed at all the major players) in this piece to single out any one quote, so read the whole thing. UPDATE: And then check out this piece by David Bedein, who is none too happy about the State Department.

Posted 8/24/2003 01:55:59 PM by Edward Driscoll
CITIZEN SCHWARZENEGGER: Remember the "News On The March!!" segment at the beginning of Citizen Kane? It follows right after the endlessly aped vertical tracking shot through Xanadu and Kane muttering "Rosssssssebuddddddd", dropping his small snow filled globe", because, as it must to all men, death comes to Charles Foster Kane. (To this day, my dad misquotes that line as "Death comes to Charles 'Citizen' Kane". Play it again, dad!) During the "News On The March!!" segment, there are man in the street shots of men (in the street) reacting to Kane. "Charles Foster Kane is a fascist!" one MITS shouts. Cut to another MITS, who shouts: "He's a Bolshevik!" That same sort of reaction is happening to Arnold Schwarzenegger. The day after he announced he was running for the governorship of "Collyvornia", Jamie Lee Curtis (his True Lies co-star) described Arnold has "a social Democrat" in Republican clothes, even as Katie Couric was breathlessly mentioning that Arnold's father was a Nazi. (With no mention of Arnold's grandfather-in-law's sympathies towards the Reich.) And while there's no doubt that while Arnold will have an (R) next to his name on October's ballots, he's an awfully squishy Republican. Which, as a post on Dean Esmay's Weblog notes, is leading towards all sorts of unintended consequences:

Along with Hanks, pot-loving actor Woody Harrelson is set to join the fight against Schwarzenegger. "Woody is diametrically opposed to Arnold Schwarzenegger's political positions," a spokesman for Harrelson told PAGE SIX. "He does not support the candidacy."

As a writer on Esmay's site puts it, "Diametrically opposed? Since Arnold is pro-choice and pro-gay rights, what does that say about Harrelson?" Probably that's he's in a Xanadu-like fog of his own.