De Doc's Institute for Memetic Engineering And Polymaths' Pursuits

but they’re cropping up in odd places.

Some of you, looking at yesterday’s entry in the Devil’s Illustrated Dictionary, no doubt expected responses like these, in the Hindustani Times:

We are now supposed to accept the participation of an Afghan woman, Vida Samadzai, in the Miss Earth beauty contest, where she’s being paraded in a bikini, as a symbol of ‘progress’ (Afghan beauty queen: from burqa to bikini, October 27)?

Her promotion as a doctor or a successful entrepreneur should have been lauded, but no! Somehow it had to involve the removal of her clothes for the western mass media to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the liberation of Afghan women has begun.

Yamin Zakaria, London

II

Vida Samadzai has been criticised by …

I am allowing myself a little whimsy, here; the next few posts are likely to be more… pointed.

So, before I start flinging the lightnings about, let’s enjoy a brief pause; breathe easily; and perhaps work our way through some of Madfish Willy’s recipes, shall we? (Courtesy of Venomous Kate, who highlighted the contest here.)

Beautiful, adj.:

From Reuters, by way of Yahoo/UK:

MANILA (Reuters) - For Vida Samadzai, it has been a long journey from underneath an all-encompassing burka in Afghanistan to baring nearly all by a Manila swimming pool in a red bikini.

The first Afghan entrant in an international beauty contest for 30 years, and the first since the fall of the hardline Islamic Taliban government in 2001, joined more than 50 other women at a posh hotel in the Philippine capital this week to fight it out for the Miss Earth title.

The dark-haired Samadzai, 25, was born and raised in Afghanistan, but left for the United States in 1996 to escape the turmoil of civil war and the rise of the Taliban religious movement.

“I …

to a nicer liar:

James Nichols, the brother of Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, says he was tricked into appearing in the documentary “Bowling for Columbine,” according to a federal lawsuit filed against filmmaker Michael Moore.

What a happy, happy thought.

well, occasionally.

Like when my friend Venomous Kate invites linky love… here…

well, how should I possibly resist?

Heh.

that special moment

that certain someone

Yes, gentle readers…

I have my first troll.

I have ARRIVED.

And in honor of the moment, I thought I’d share the love.

*************************

From: “Citizen of the Qorld"… supposedly at upYours:

“You’re a friggin asshole, moron”

establishing, immediately, your debonair command of the English language…

“…to quote a first class
scumbag like miller
on the subject
of a truly great american"….

Well. Perhaps neither debonair or commanding, after all.

Most literate writers capitalize proper names, like “Miller” or “American". Of course, for someone like you, who probably thinks of Miller as a fine imported beer, the distinction might have escaped you. Or was it that your mommy turned off the grammar checker, hoping it might encourage you to learn to write …

Citizen Smash is doing yeoman’s work right now, keeping us up to speed with the Southern California fires.

Having lived in Camp Pendleton, I am one of those who damn well cares.

Good on you, friend Smash–and extra points for your felicitous turn of phrase, “Governor Reject Davis".

Two days, four teenagers, and Disney World.

Not, perhaps, as relaxing as Kelley and Kate’s Most Excellent Adventure.

(Heh.)

But home, hale, and merely tired, not exhausted…

and plenty of STUFF to catch up on – like the Hunting Of The Snark, the interesting new format of the Cul de Sac, and the near-neighbors’ linkfest at “the most underrated blog on the Net", Velociworld. (Note to Kim–SHE said it, I just report it. Hey, it works for dead tree media, right?)

And that’s just the first pass. I haven’t even tackled the “regular” news yet.

Might have to put in some overtime here, today.

the anticipated snarkfest over at Kate’s, here’s a lovely bit of work from the satire-surgeons at Cox and Forkum:

I have been remiss in adding these folks to the Pros’ Prose category, over in the sidebar. No more!

There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, to quote Robert Heinlein.

The Canadians are learning this the hard way:

Median waiting time for radiation treatment for breast cancer in province of Ontario: 8 weeks

Median waiting time for angioplasty in the province of British Columbia: 12 weeks

Median waiting time for radiation treatment for prostate cancer in province of Quebec: 12 weeks

Why doesn’t this incense the Canadian electorate? Probably because of that lovelyborder with the US… and all the clinics on OUR side of the border, who help pick up the slack.

One of Canada’s dirty little secrets.

To quote P.J. O’Rourke:

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s …

Contemptible, adj:

… as brought to us by LGF:

LONDON (Reuters) - George Galloway, who denounced U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair as “wolves” during the Iraq war, has been expelled from the Labour Party.

Galloway, member of parliament for Glasgow Kelvin in Scotland, confirmed his expulsion as he emerged from a party hearing in London on Thursday and condemned the tribunal as a “kangaroo court".

Or so the wretch says. Sky News has more information:

The Glasgow Kelvin MP was suspended in May after a TV interview in which he accused Tony Blair and George Bush of invading Iraq “like wolves".

He also urged British troops not to obey “illegal orders".

Now Labour’s National Constitutional Committee has upheld four out of …

What with one thing and another, I confess that I am become aware of the Schiavo case rather late in the day.

This has, I suspect, saved me a boatload of headaches over the years.

YEARS.

Some reflections:

–Everyone reading this needs to go fill out a living will, and make sure their loved ones have copies readily available. If you learn nothing else from this controversy, learn this and learn it well.

–On “heroic” measures: despite what many have asserted, “heroic” measures do NOT mean hyper-experimental, exotic interventions and technologies. In medical ethics, “heroic” refers to measures that place a marked burden upon those who must bear them – a burden which cannot reasonably be insisted upon; one that, if taken …

kinda.

Internet access at work is kinda… spotty. Apparently whilst I was gone, the hospital was the recipient of a viral spooging. So I had to show my laptop was properly protected.

Love that Mac. *g*

Still, they’ve added some arcane goodies to the network. So I will catch up as I can, and go from there.

Better than a DDOS attack, I guess. Although considering the folks who were attacked… I’d ha’ been in honorable good company.

I’ll check in as I can–but I am headed out the door to Denver, to teach swordfighting. Any curious souls might be able to find me at the Renaissance –the Marriott property.

The rest of you? Take a page from Kelley and Kate, and go have fun!

hatemonger, n.

… as ably demonstrated here:

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has told a major Islamic summit… “…today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them,” Mahathir said, adding, “1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews.”

The veteran Malaysian premier, who has become notorious for his controversial speeches during his 22 years as leader of this moderate Muslim country, was addressing theng session of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit.

(Mahathir said the Jews had) ” …invented and successfully promoted socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others.”

Nice. Real nice.

Another shining swastika …

… The sordid details are at my LJ site, here.

relaxed…

Ahhhhhh.

Thank you, Margi!

Heh…

is eternal vigilance.

The article is particularly apt because it points out how “security” can be used to cloak all manner of power grabs… by corporations as well as governments.

When the two get together–as the author worries might happen–look to your freedoms.

A trend worth watching.

as China joins a most select fraternity:

China’s first manned spacecraft has successfully returned to the Earth with astronaut Yang Liwei in good health, according to Chinese news agency reports.

The PRC now becomes only the third nation in history to prove itself capable of manned space flight.

It will be very, VERY interesting to see what comes of this. The PRC’s government has already made it known that it has ambitious plans for space exploration AND settlement.

A second space race seems likely. And it won’t be a two-hoss race any more.

It may not be a three-hoss race, either… which is all to the good, as far as this born-too-soon spacer is concerned.

I want to GO. …

of the USS Clueless, I think I’ll take an opportunity to add The Jacksonian Tradition to my list of Library entries.

Mead’s analysis is solid, well reasoned, and notes both the strengths and the flaws of the Jacksonian philosophy. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s well worth the perusal.

Quote of the day, from Steven Den Beste:

We have to take candidates as packages, and can’t really pick and choose features to create a best-of-breed candidate (i.e. Clinton’s charisma combined with Dole’s erectile dysfunction).

That’s GOTTA hurt.

The bulk of the article is interesting, as well – an extended look at the American political ecosystem, suggesting why the names have changed, but the two-party system has persisted here. Those of us thinking about a renewed Federalist party should consider Den Beste’s analysis carefully, as we seek options.

of culled sac-ness.

because the Blight goes Hawai’ian… Real Soon Now.

So fortify yourself now; for like Erica, you’ll just have to languish next week,

sustaining yourself with mental images of Kelley and Kate, hanging together, laughing, drinks in hand, sarong-clad…

Hmmm.

Moments like this, I almost regret I don’t smoke.

as viewed through the gimlet eye of Mark Steyn:

…NBC is murmuring that it may be “inappropriate” for the wife of a Republican Governor to continue as a news correspondent for the network.

That’s hilarious. For years, Maria has made no secret of the fact that she is a Democrat and the network had no problem with that. Before her grilling of Hillary, she told NBC’s Tim Russert that she had done a lot of research. “You want to admire her, and yet you’re a journalist,” she said. “You can’t just come on and do this, like, ‘Oh, you’re so wonderful’ interview” - which sort of gives the game away. In the end, she confined her admiration to comparing the First Lady …

Has it occured to anyone else

how amazingly hypocritical it is

for certain ("liberal") political factions to repeatedly bang on about how many celebrities support their policies – as if being an actor confers wisdom, political ability, and skill at government…

only to turn around and belittle an actor who puts his money where his mouth is, and submits to the judgment of the voters, rather than the incestuous fawning of an interviewer?

Just asking…

I was thinking about this and that, whilst talking politics with my son, the Unrepentant American Imperialist ™.

He was being grumbling about some of Bush’s more wobbly domestic decisions (like his inane support of the Cosmetically Evil Gun ban), meditating on who might grab the brazen brass ring for the Democrats, and wondering about Rove’s plans for the ‘04 campaign. (A most scary 14 year old. But I digress.)

And my subconscious spoke up, forcefully… and plausibly.

Here’s what I *think* is happening:

Rice is being groomed, and courted.

She’s been moved to the forefront on Iraq, which suggests a significant shift in the Bush cabinet’s internal politics.

If Bush wins in 2004, Cheney presents a problem… for ‘08. Not only has …

My son *swears* that tonight, the History Channel is having a Hawai’ian Sovreignity Night –multiple stacked episodes on the history of the American presence in Hawai’i.

As the Blight approaches the Venomous Lair, I thought this was a fine example of synchronicity.

This one’s by way of Kim du Toit: America’s Fascination With Firearms.

One might think, from the title, that this article is going to be a LA Times article diatribe against all those horrid gun owners. Fear not; it’s a rather different article entirely…

Unlike most of the world’s people, many Americans view the possession of firearms as the norm rather than the exception.

The European and Japanese feudal aristocracies loathed firearms, because they eliminated the role of the nobility in combat.

For the heirs of Washington and Jackson, this would be a bad thing…why?

Kopel’s article gives:

– a nice precis of the role of the armed citizen in the founding of the nation

– a brief but thorough review of the Second …

seems to be in order.

Entries in the Devil’s Illustrated Dictionary will consist of a word… and a picture of something or someone which, in my twisted and irritable humble opinion, admirably… or abominably… illustraes the word or phrase chosen.

Hence, in this entry, given the contemptible and ethics-free nature of the LA Times’ recent … writings… about Governor-elect Schwarzenegger – and their failure to speak to similar accusations about Mr. Davis – I could think of no finer (ahem) exemplar of the hatchet job than the Times.

Hence the “distinction” of being my first choice, for my first entry.

for this, why not go back and enjoy this.

Including some fine contributions by yours truly…

Ahem.

HATCHET JOB, n:

I am starting a new weekly feature.

The Devil’s Illustrated Dictionary.

Coming soon!

Heh heh heh.

One of the first things Sharpie and I discovered about Chez Chaos, once we’d actually moved in, was that there was an awful lot of concrete slag in our front yard.

An awful lot. Our plot of land was apparently the dumping ground for all the earlier construction done in our subdivision.

Some of you, out there, are wincing. Been there, eh?

It seemed like every time it rained, more and more slag surfaced in our beleaguered yard. The lawn suffered accordingly… as did the new seed we tried, and the plugs, and the re-sodding.

I began to think I had a black thumb. The front yard came to look more like a Tim Burton set than a lawn.

But in …

Bierce, that is.

You may remember that I had a couple of folks I wanted to blogroll… but they needed a special category of their own, and I couldn’t quite think of a name for that group.

So. During a break, I read Bill Whittle’s Power. (OK, I’m a geek. That’s MY idea of a pleasant break… reading fine prose.) And I got to thinking, as Whittle sang the praises of Mark Twain’s political commentary and satire.

The people I was looking to blogroll all share the same fire and outrage that Whittle cites in Twain. They express themselves… vigorously. Much more so than I generally manage.

But that outrage isn’t hate-spew…regardless of what some of their critics …

is that they’re pretty futile if no laws have been broken.

Leaking is slimy, petty, ugly politics–par for the course in Washington.

But Slate is not exactly NRO. For one of their writers to pointedly ask “was there really a violation of the law” is… well… intriguing.

I rather suspect that some of you thought I was indulging in hyperbole, yesterday, when I predicted that a Democratic loss in California would prompt calls for court challenges, and other attempts to ignore the voters, by the losers.

Well, I was half right:

… Already, though, Democratic activists are threatening a challenge. Rainbow/PUSH head Jesse Jackson, who has campaigned with Davis repeatedly for the last several weeks, announced that a challenge was likely because voters were disenfranchised because the speedy nature of the race forced polling places to be condensed.

“To reduce [the number of polling places] by two thirds and consolidate, there are thousands of people who are disenfranchised,” Jackson said.

Like that? You’ll love this:

…Democrats are already sniffing …

Hasta la vista…Davy.

I am sure someone else has used this line, somewhere. But I couldn’t resist.

I used to live in California.

So I have something of an interest in how things play out tonight, as we wait for the polls to close, the votes to be tallied…

and the Gray Davis camp to find a miserable excuse pretext for their lawsuit, attempting to void the election… or count only the votes that they want to count… or some other last-ditch effort to ignore the voters.

If there’s been a consistent theme, from the day this recall effort was announced to the coverage tonight, it’s been scorn for the electorate. They’ve been mocked by the press, hammered by the local Democratic party, insulted by the national party. They’ve seen attempts to stall the election, against the possibility …

or the simply beautiful.

After hearing of the last story on local radio, I needed something to wash the taste out of my mouth. So I went over to Livejournal and looked at my friends’ list… and founf this little gem.

Nothing earthshaking, nothing pretentious, just… happy. And delightfully written.

Swing by, have a look, and enjoy. If you’re minded to leave her a comment, tell her Doc sent you.

because if they did, Martin Luther King and Medgar Evans would have shaken the clay from their bones, risen up, and come to this idiotarian’s bedside in uttermost outrage:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Breanna Janay Lee, the 2-year-old girl left alone for 19 days while her mother was in jail, was recovering Thursday while controversy swirled around the case…

Although the mother was arrested on a child abuse charge, Assistant State Attorney Libby Senterfitt said Thursday the State Attorney’s Office has not yet decided on any formal charges. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is still tying up some loose ends before presenting a full case to prosecutors…

Another agency looking into the case is the Jacksonville branch of the NAACP, said Isaiah Rumlin, …

look into the light, and siddown, see?

The mind reels at the thought of the pitch that this company must have made to Duracell.

I can’t wait to hear Margi’s reaction…

but in anticipation, I surely can blogroll her.

what do they have in common?

Both of them need more time for their writing… and are cutting back their blogging accordingly.

I regret that Gibson’s taking an extended LOA; I was looking forward to adding his blog to “Pros’ Prose". On the other hand… truth to tell, if I had been compelled to choose, I’d rather have Gibson silent and VK writing less often, than vice versa.

Just sayin’, yannow?

I was moved by Velociman’s recent posts on local bloggers to do some rebuilding of the sidebar. And being a bit of a Shakespeare geek, the sidebar categories came naturally…

“Friends” – people who I have actually chatted with at length, who encouraged me to bite the bullet and blog more often. If we’ve IM’d, you’re belike to be found here.

“Romans” – august, erudite writers of significant impact.

“Countrymen” – local and regional bloggers, as I stumble over them discover them…

It occurs to me that the logical next category would be “Lend Me Your Ears"… but the folks I want to add are more likely to *take* them. Gotta give that some thought.

for Kate’s snarkification:

I wouldn’t *give* the RIAA anything. Including my money, just at the moment.

Nor was I proposing surgery.

What I had in mind did have something to do with blades, however…

See: Flense (v). Or Chipper (n).

Not raise more questions…

KUWAIT, Oct. 2 — Kuwaiti authorities have seized archaeological artefacts and ‘’other items'’ smuggled from Iraq into Kuwait, Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah said in remarks published on Thursday.

‘’Kuwaiti security forces were able to seize some Iraqi artefacts smuggled to Kuwait,'’ al-Sabah, who is also interior minister, was quoted as saying by al-Seyassah daily. He did not identify the other items.

Al-Sabah was responding to a question about a report the paper carried on Wednesday that Kuwaiti security forces had foiled an attempt to smuggle artefacts, chemical materials and biological warheads from Iraq to a European country via Kuwait.

Kuwaiti security sources told Reuters on Wednesday the report on the seizure of such weapons …

seems to be in the air today.

Kelley’s counting the days until the Blight goes Hawaiian… whilst dodging a bullet, herself. *frisson*

In Hawai’i, Kate’s anticipating a lovely day out with her son. We, in turn, are anticpating the Letter of the Day, and the double-dose, super-sized, lamentably delayed Hunting of the Snark.

LOTs of that anticipation going around, eh?

HellifIknow.

The speed with which accusations, retractions, “refinements", and the like are spattering about –from both sides of the Left-to-Right spectrum– are suggestive of *one* thing to me…

Spin before substance.

With a substantial helping of hypocrisy, whilst we’re at it –everyone hates a leaker, unless it supports THEIR cause, and we’re seeing abundant evidence of that double standard.

AGAIN, on both sides.

Gahhhhhhhh.

Possibly.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A genetic susceptibility may explain why SARS raged last year in Southeast Asia and nowhere else in the world outside of Toronto, Taiwanese researchers reported this week.

They found a certain variant in an immune system gene called human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, made patients in Taiwan much more likely to develop life-threatening symptoms of SARS.

The gene variant is common in people of southern Chinese descent, the team at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei reported.

The researchers readily admit that further study is necessary to confirm these preliminary findings. Still… a fascinating possibility.

In other news:

My heart bleeds for these crooks… NOT.

LONDON, Oct 1 — The battle-weary music industry surveyed the wreckage of another dismal six months on Wednesday as global data showed music sales tumbled 10.9 percent, piling more pressure on music companies to do deals to survive.

Here’s a couple of hints, you thieving “suits":

–People want to buy good music at a good price. Right now, you clowns aren’t providing either. The profit margin you guys are exacting on CDs is of a scale to make Jay Gould and W. Vanderbilt weep, because they never dreamed of such extortionate profits.

–Sueing your customers is a bad idea. They already think ill of you, and you want to make them angrier? …

Ripples are now spreading from the initial report of WMDs being intercepted in Kuwait.

Searching Google for “kuwait news” yields a link to the Hindustani Times article, but no others yet.

Searching AP fails to yield the story, despite the Times’ citing an AP wire report as a source. However, Dow Jones Newswires IS carrying the story here. A reader at LGF states he’s talked to the AP General desk, who confirms this is a REAL wire report – though they are “concerned about the reliability of the Kuwaiti newspaper".

This story, as it evolves, shows the strengths AND the weaknesses of the “blog as news” meme. With a distributed network of interested writers, the …

Maybe.

Applying the 48 hour rule seems prudent, but if this story pans out, it’s HUGE:

Following months of frustrated searches by hundreds of U.S. and British investigators for Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, some have turned up in Kuwait, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassah.

The pro-government daily reports Kuwaiti security forces foiled an attempted smuggling of $60 million worth of chemical weapons and biological warheads from Iraq to an unnamed European country.

Citing an unnamed security source, Al-Siyassah said the smugglers had been under surveillance since they arrived in Kuwait and were arrested “in due time.”

No details about the suspects, possible accomplices, where the weapons came from in Iraq and how they were acquired were disclosed.

The smuggled …

Bill Whittle.

NEW essay.

Off with you. I’ll wait…

no I won’t. I’ll be there, reading it too.

the upcoming Snarkfest, I wish I had written this:

yesterday I presented Coraline to a group of booksellers, in company with Margaret Atwood, who presented Oryx and Crake. She told the booksellers that her book wasn’t speculative fiction because everything in the book was based on a scientific speculation in a brown envelope in her research box which left me scratching my head as to where she thinks science fiction (or even speculative fiction) writers get their ideas from. ("Dear God, for years we’ve just been making this stuff up! And now that Atwood woman turns the whole thing on its head by basing it on scientific fact! Why the Hell didn’t we think of that?")

Have I mentioned how turgid and …

about this local story:

A 2-year-old Jacksonville girl left alone nearly three weeks while her mother was in jail was in good health yesterday after eating everything from chicken to Cheerios much of the night, her father said from the toddler’s hospital room.

The girl was being treated at Wolfson Children’s Hospital for malnutrition and dehydration after she was left to fend for herself for 19 days inside her Arlington apartment, surviving on ketchup and raw pasta…

The girl’s mother … is being held in the Duval County jail. She appeared in court yesterday to answer to charges of aggravated child abuse filed after the toddler was found alone by her father.

(Jacksonville Sheriff John) Rutherford said Lee failed to let anyone know the …