Interesting links and notes on updates to my main website.



[to search, use Blogger search in top bar]

nets on a train

VIA Rail Internet.
Arriving in Montreal 10 minutes.

Works fine.
Note for those of you using credit cards, with online sites that want your expiry date listed by month, January, February...

August is not the 7th month

got to go, arriving now posted by Richard at 11:34 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

today's terrorist

I don't understand how the US can release reasonable, informed reports that say

Today, the principal terrorist enemy confronting the United States is a transnational movement of extremist organizations, networks, and individuals – and their state and non-state supporters – which have in common that they exploit Islam and use terrorism for ideological ends.

This transnational movement is not monolithic. Although al-Qaida functions as the movement’s vanguard and remains, along with its affiliate groups and those inspired by them, the most dangerous present manifestation of the enemy, the movement is not controlled by any single individual, group, or state. What unites the movement is a common vision, a common set of ideas about the nature and destiny of the world, and a common goal of ushering in totalitarian rule. What unites the movement is the ideology of oppression, violence, and hate.

Our terrorist enemies exploit Islam to serve a violent political vision.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nsct/2006/sectionIII.html

and yet still carry out policies that don't deal with these actual problems.
Let's put these together shall we:

1. There is a small but extremely dangerous decentralized, worldwide network of terrorists, enabled by the Internet
2. Let's devote all our efforts to attacking Iraq

How can you clearly state #1, as they have done, and not then go on to conclude that invading Iraq was and continues to be a fatal distraction from dealing with the actual enemy.

An actual enemy which you deal with through the same tried-and-true on-the-ground, legal, intelligence gathering techniques that have worked for decades. No hundreds of billions of dollars, no tens of thousands of dead Iraqs, just very smart men and women, all over the world, working hard to understand and stop criminals.

Ok, that's it. Enough ranting for today. posted by Richard at 16:52 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

the media on Bush

I think they're pretty mild actually, considering my reaction is that everyone in the media and the American public should force an immediate impeachment. Anyway, the Globe had a reasonably good editorial, which is behind a paywall, but I will liberate part of it

Mr. Bush denied that torture was used in these prisons, but refused to say what other methods were employed to extract information. He thinks it is enough for Americans to know that the illegal detentions saved innocent lives in the United States and Europe. "Information from terrorists in CIA custody has played a role in the capture or questioning of nearly every senior al-Qaeda member or associate detained by the U.S. and its allies since this program began. By providing everything from initial leads to photo identifications, to precise locations of where terrorists were hiding, this program has helped us to take potential mass murderers off the street before they are able to kill."

That may well be true. But we will never know if legal methods would have produced the same result, because the administration did not bother to test them. Now, Mr. Bush wants Congress to do what the U.S. courts have refused -- to give him the authority to treat, question and try suspects the way he wants, without allowing them recourse to normal constitutional safeguards. What he wants are trials by military commissions, where hearsay evidence could be admitted and which the U.S. Supreme Court previously declared unconstitutional.

Globe and Mail - Bush's cynical decision to flout the rule of law - September 8, 2006

The Economist says Bush has Tortured logic.

All I have to say remains: FVCKING SECRET PRISONS.

You know who sets up secret prisons?

Cowards. Liars. Torturers. Dictators. Madmen.

Without the rule of law, real laws, for everyone, democracy dies.
It's already dead in the United States.

Must. Stop. Writing about this. posted by Richard at 16:32 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

temporary archives linkage

Until I can figure out how to make it work better.
This may not work.
Imagine that I'm trying to use a 2001 blog with templates from 2006.

Dear Blogger,

Please insert some stuff that was invented years after I created my blog.
Thanks.

Hmm, ok that didn't work.
Maybe it must be in the actual template code.

UPDATE: Fixed.

http://blog.akerman.ca/manifestomultilinko_archive.html

As an exciting bonus, Blogger now thinks I'm a spammer, and is making me do a CAPTCHA word verification with every post :(

UPDATE UPDATE: It's possible search will break, I don't know. I'll check it... sometime. posted by Richard at 14:30 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

and another thing: the Pope

And since I'm on a roll...

Pope Benedict hit out Friday at Canada for allowing same-sex marriage and abortion, saying they result from Roman Catholic politicians' ignoring the values of their religion.

Globe and Mail - Pope assails Canadian laws

Dear Pope,

Fvck off.

With Warmest Regards,

Me posted by Richard at 14:18 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

George Bush is an f-ing a-hole

Globe headline yesterday

Bush admits to secret prisons

How is the next headline not "Bush impeachment proceedings begin immediately"?

Fvcking SECRET PRISONS

Jesus Christ Americans, why aren't you marching in the fvcking streets?

Dear America,

Thanks for destroying the ideals of your Founding Fathers.
Your entire nation is now officially a bunch of fvcking losers.

With Warmest Regards,

Me posted by Richard at 09:35 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

Manifesto in Exile

UPDATE: Ok, blog.akerman.ca and the FeedBurner feed should work. There are probably still assorted bits and pieces still broken, like the archives and some images.

ENDUPDATE

In September 1998, I started doing a Masters in CS part-time at Dal/TUNS (post-merger).

I have the vaguest recollections of dates, which is why I rely on extensive computer backups.

Here is one of my first emails on my Dal account.
I had lost my wallet, it dropped out of my pocket when I stepped out of the cab across the street from my apartment, if I recall correctly, after a big trip. Travel all over the place - wallet fine. Step out of cab in Halifax - wallet on ground.

It made it to the TUNS campus, which was nearby.
I didn't know I had an email account, so the thoughtful emails people sent me about getting my wallet went undiscovered for like a month.

Date:   Thu, 29 Oct 1998 11:49:20 -0400
From:   Ursula Steyer
To:     RICHARD AKERMAN
Subject: YOUR ID Card

Hi Richard,

Your ID Card has been turned in to ...
       Civil Engineering
... you may pick it up there.

Anyhoo, three years later (May 2001), my account seemed like a useful place to store my blog. But I made sure to create a floating permanent URL: blog.akerman.ca

So, in September 2006, I find that in order to access my flame account, I need to set up a new global password using my torch account. Problem. I don't know if I even have a torch account. If I do, I have no idea what the password is. I'm told "it's the same password you use to download your email", but I don't download my email, it all sits in pine on flame.

(If anyone at Dal wants to help me reset my torch password, that would be most useful.)

So for now, and possibly indefinitely, I can no longer access flame, which means I can no longer upload new blog postings. This is not a big deal, since my content all lives inside of Blogger, hence the instant migration to Blogspot.

What this means for you:
- always use blog.akerman.ca to access my blog, it will always point to the right location... err, ok it will as soon as I update the DNS
- use the FeedBurner feed, it also will point to the right location, err... also as soon as I update it

I was hoping to at least update to Blogger Beta as part of the move, but I am forbidden, either because I haven't been invited, or because Manifesto used to be a Plus blog, ages ago, or for some unknown reason. posted by Richard at 09:21 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

Can't Jet

Halifax, Nova Scotia, September 5, 2006….…CanJet Airlines, a division of I.M.P. Group Limited, regretfully announces that it will discontinue scheduled air services at the end of business September 10, 2006. I.M.P. wishes to thank its loyal customers, employees and suppliers for their support and will work to minimize the impact of this decision.

CanJet to Discontinue Scheduled Air Services posted by Richard at 03:52 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

BG 3W01

There are webisodes of Galactica at SciFi but apparently only for Americans.
The webisodes will lead up to the premiere in October.

The first one has been liberated, it's on YouTube.

It's not very good :(

Also be warned: there is season 3 trailer stuff at the end of the webisode, so if you are a trailer hater (like all right-thinking people) then you will want to stop the video before that.

Labels: battlestar galactica

posted by Richard at 12:45 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)

the gardening and constantly

Watched The Constant Gardener. It was ok.
A bit too "now characters will conveniently explain everything" near the end.

Apparently corporations are the new axis of evil.
That seems about right. posted by Richard at 21:04 / permalink (post) | permalink (numeric)