Monthly Archives: June 2004
Inspirational Quotes
I’m always a sucker for lists of interesting and inspirational quotes and this site has some great ones.
“No Evidence Connecting Iraq to Al Qaeda”
There is “no credible evidence” that Saddam Hussein’s government in Iraq collaborated with the al Qaeda terrorist network on any attacks on the United States, according to a new staff report released this morning by the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Although Osama bin Laden briefly explored the idea of forging ties with Iraq in the mid-1990s, the terrorist leader was hostile to Hussein’s secular government, and Iraq never responded to requests for help in providing training camps or weapons, the panel found in the first of two reports issued today.
Read the rest in the Washington Post.
Then read more about the anatomy of this myth at the Center for American Progress.
I would be yelling for impeachment – but that might help Bush get re-elected.
Instead:
Make a contribution to the Kerry campaign and make sure you are registered to vote.
Philly First
Oliver Willis links to and gets a discussion going about yesterday’s endorsement of Kerry by the Philadelphia Daily News. It’s more then just an endorsement – it gives pointers to how you can get involved.
Bill Clinton in New York
“I don’t wake up in the morning hating Kenneth Starr. I wake up in the morning feeling sorry for people who believe they are in possession of the whole truth… And I think you should, too,” President Bill Clinton told a large crowd tonight after the premiere of The Hunting of the President. “If you want to be forgiven, you have to extend forgiveness, even to people who aren’t smart enough to ask for it.”
“If you want to be forgiven, you have to extend forgiveness, even to people who aren’t smart enough to ask for it.” is another one for my quotes file. Damn that’s a great quote.
Read the rest of Jeff Jarvis’s post, summarizing last night’s event sponsored by The Week.
True Patriots Recite the Preamble
Instead of recieting the Pledge of Allegiance, why not move to reciting the Preamble to the Constitution?
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Read this analysis by Ernest Miller. It makes sense. And like Ernest Miller, I need to question the patriotism of anyone who would choose the Pledge over the Preamble. via Jeff Jarvis.
Sweet smiles, hard labour
Two ways of measuring the demands of a job have defined industrial relations since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution – time and effort – but a third has emerged in the past few decades: emotional labour. It’s not just your physical stamina and analytical capabilities that are required to do a good job, but your personality and emotional skills as well. From a customer services representative in a call centre to a teacher or manager, the emotional demands of the job have immeasurably increased.
Interesting article in The Guardian.
Pistons Top Lakers to Win NBA Title
A coworker told me he couldn’t stand basketball. That it is now dominated by superstars more concerned with their own stats and showboating. Well last night a group of superstars got blown out by a real team.
Congrats to Larry Brown and the Pistons from us folks in Philly.
Still Looking For An Open Source Project Manager
Cofax, an open source content management system that powered Knight Ridder newspaper’s online properties and is still in use around the world recently released V2.0 RC2. You can download it here. We are getting close to a full blown 2.0 release.
We need some help. We need two things right now: 1. Bug testers who can register them in SourceForge, 2. An experienced open source development project manager who can help us understand and utilize CVS and the tools at SourceForge in an effective way.
If you or you know someone else who is interested, e-mail me at: ().
Some Perspective On Reagan
This Friday I predicted to my friends that the constant coverage would come to an end this Monday. It has big time (dude – you know who you are – you owe me $20).
Second, for some perspective on Reagan, read Garret Vreeland in this dangerousmeta post. He never posts anything this long, and it’s worth the time to read it.
I was just a kid during the Reagan years, and my own point of view has less to do with what actually happened and much more to do with what entertainment, art, and the media had to say about things.
Garret rightly centers on the centrists. The “Reagan Democrats”. The “Clinton Republicans”. And he warns to watch for them. Witness my previous Howard Stern post.
Ya see, Howard is a centrist. I’m sure that leaves a few of you closed minded folks scratching your heads.
Get this straight: centrist doesn’t mean boring. It doesn’t mean “middle of the road” either.
While almost all of us lean one way or another – we know it’s not about towing the “party line”. We won’t be straight jacketed that way. We don’t accept these simplistic labels so easily. We know it’s all about voting for the best person.
Period.
There are a hell of a lot more of us then you. We’re just too damn silent. And the polarized atmosphere pushes us away.
Read this terrific NYTimes piece. Maybe we’re not so divided after all. Maybe, just maybe, its our ideologues, leaders, and the various other marketers in this world, who in their quest to sell us something, push us farther to the extremes. Push us farther apart. Push us until we grow so cynical we don’t think our singular votes matter.
They do. And hopefully they will this election.
Make a contribution to the Kerry campaign and make sure you are registered to vote.