"Worst President in History" -- Here's what a guy who worked for Bush now says...

How Scary Is This? - New York Times: "Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, addressed the administration's arrogance and ineptitude in a talk last week that was astonishingly candid by Washington standards.

'We have courted disaster in Iraq, in North Korea, in Iran,' said Mr. Wilkerson. 'Generally, with regard to domestic crises like Katrina, Rita ... we haven't done very well on anything like that in a long time. And if something comes along that is truly serious, something like a nuclear weapon going off in a major American city, or something like a major pandemic, you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that will take you back to the Declaration of Independence.'"

Comments?

Jello Gets Hit with the Smartphone Bug

Well, I did it. I went and got myself a Samsung i730 Smartphone. My Palm semi-crashed and I used that excuse to go to the Verizon store. Despite my relatively impoverished state, I was tired of carrying around a pda and a phone and wanted a portable device that did everything. I settled on the Samsung, because it DOES everything. I've spent much of the weekend studying it plus accessorizing it. Perhaps I'll soon get down to doing some "actual work."

Anyway, I found this link on free phone software you might find interest...Free is sometimes good and sometimes not..."Buyer" beware.



"Free mobile software websites

By Wendong on Palm OS

1. GetJar

Via vehera.symbiandevelopersjournal.com.

GetJar.com is a good site to get free Java, Symbian, Palm or Pocket PC Softwares. And it provides device-specific RSS feeds, so you can monitor free software based on your phone model.

2. phonefreeware.com

J2ME Freeware
S60 Freeware
UIQ Freeware

3. midlet.org

This website is around for a long time.

4. midlet-review.com

It lists some free games

5. palmopensource.com

A great resource site for Palm OS. But it also has a list of open source projects for Pocket PC.

"Everybody's a Writer" Dept

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
- Robert Wilensky"

The Big Dog -- Bill Clinton -- Speaks Out on Bush

"WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US president
Bill Clinton sharply criticised George W. Bush for the
Iraq War and the handling of Hurricane Katrina, and voiced alarm at the swelling US budget deficit.

Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors, Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq 'virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction.'"

Comment: We need some Democrats to stand up and tell the truth. Complicit with the ill-advised Afghanistan and Iraq adventures, some Democrats are finally loosening their tongues. The Katrina debacle is the reason.

I ony hope someone on the aspirant Presidential scene appears who will stand up and tell the truth, not play polling games.

Reading is Overrated: Part Two

Many people thought I was crazy to voice the sentiments expressed in my article, Writing is Overrated. I feel a little vindicated to find that there is at least one other person -- this one with a pedigree!-- who shares the same views.

elearningpost blog...

"The Power of Conversation

Paul Hartzog following up on a statement made by Dr. Tom Malloy of the University of Utah — “I don’t read anymore; I just talk to people who have.”

“When two people have a conversation, they act as proxies for the many ideas in their heads which are drawn from the many things they have read. In effect, a conversation is a many-to-many interaction that is both mediated and moderated by the participants. The individuals catalog, sort, tag, and filter ideas as they are drawn into the shared space of the conversation.”">elearningpost

Good News from From William Gibson's Blob

On the writer's blog 7/31/05

"I am. I am writing. Just as some of you have guessed.

Never the most linear of processes, for yours truly, but something is starting to rise, in the spectral ringing hangar of the Novel Department. Looks like the Spruce Goose but with more wings. Why is there a tail at either end? My friends, we can only wait and see. No smoking here, hardhat at all times, steel-toed brogues, lumpy demob suit, loose lips sinking ships..."

When people ask Tom Waits where he's been 'til recently, he tells 'em "stuck in traffic". And, boy, do I ever know what he means. But then again it's all part of the pro-cess.

Pass me that caulking-gun, Eugene, I just spotted a nasty recess in the flank of our synopsis here..." -- William Gibson<

"The World Loves George Bush" Dept.

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- A conservative German minister in a southern state has caused uproar by saying U.S. President George W. Bush should be "shot down" for his handling of the crisis in hurricane-struck New Orleans.

Andreas Renner, Social Minister in Germany's southern state of Baden-Wuertemberg, clarified later that he had only meant Bush should be downed politically.

Bush's Real Agenda

Hertzberg, telling the truth, writing in the New Yorker...

"the Bush Administration’s top priority, not excluding fighting terrorism: the use of the tax code to transfer wealth to the rich and, especially, the superrich."

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب I don't know who this guy is or anything about his credibility, but this is a welcome counterbalance to Bushworld

Back in the Saddle Again

Haven't blogged in some time, but am now in the mood. The degree to which I am social is positively correlated with my self-esteem. So I feel like talking again after a long time. A semi-dark time.

Making Torture Acceptable

Yesterday's New York Times reported that the CIA has been exporting "terrorists" to places that do not have explicit anti-torture laws. The newspaper documented several instances in which suspects had been transported overseas and subsequently tortured by US allies.

At the same time, Fox "24" television series routinely shows terrorism suspects being tortured by the US anti-terrorism good guys. As the practice seeps into the popular lore, we can perhaps assume that such acts are now acceptable in our so-called civilized society.

When we condemn others who resort to other forms of depravity, we now have no real moral highground to stand on. Other acts of barbarism, such as beheading hostages, differ only in manner of degree. Our condemnation of these acts of barbarism therefore amounts to little more than "the pot calling the kettle black."

Back to my homepage...

Moacir Santos

Just discovered a two-CD set, Ouro Negro by Brazilian composer Moacir Santos. Can't get the music out of my head. Mature, sophisticated, Brazilian soundtrack jazz.

Marsalis and the death of American jazz innovation

One wonders if anyone listens to jazz anymore, save old people with lp collections and overeducated New Yorkers. One of the reasons is the ubertraditionalist, Wynthon Marsalis, and his stranglehold on innovation in jazz. Marsalis' position with the Lincoln Center gives him imprimatur status -- the person who gives the stamp of legitimacy on what gets noticed and what gets played. Largely because of him, it can be argued that the American music has stagnated into a swamp of old school traditionalism and experimentalism has moved offshore to places like Paris and Stockholm. This piece contrasts Marsalis' traditionalist approach with one more concerned with being up-to-date that playing politically correct, "in-the-tradition," stale music.

village voice > music > Old School by Francis Davis

Conspiracies

Spent 4 rather pointless hours watching 24, Fox's weekly winter drama and my guilty pleasure. Now with the "war on terror" commonplace received wisdom, one wonders how many of these conspiracy-type yarns will grace the small screen. Powers would be would have you believe that their are terrorists under every rug.