From Florida Today
For those of you who aren't hardcore scooter web addicts:
Gerry Morelock, 56, died on impact Sept. 4 when his moped was hit head-on by a pickup truck driven by well-known motorcycle builder Billy Lane. No charges have been filed, but officials are awaiting tests to determine if alcohol was involved.
The scooter community is really up in arms about this incident. Gerry was hit head-on when Mr. Lane, well known from the cable show Monster Garage, and for owning the shop Choppers Inc., tried to pass by crossing over a double yellow line. For once, the scooter riders aren't upset because Mr. Morelock's vehicle has been routinely misidentified as a moped. No, we are upset that a driver can kill someone, and injure his own passenger by illegally crossing over a double yellow line, and yet no charges have been filed. Indeed, two weeks later, the authorities do not yet have results of Mr. Lane's blood alcohol test. The last the Dragon knew, these were tests that could be administered in the field, with almost immediate results.
This is a disgrace.
The Honky-Tonk Dragon extends its deepest condolences to Mr. Morelock's family and friends, and is heartened that he recieved a fine memorial. And the Dragon hopes that this will be one instance in which an individual's celebrity does not defend them from facing the consequences of their actions.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
CNN.com - Unfinished Tolkien work to be published in '07 - Sep 18, 2006
CNN.com - Unfinished Tolkien work to be published in '07 - Sep 18, 2006
Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Hurin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of "The Children of Hurin," which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and other works, have been published before.
via /.
Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Hurin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of "The Children of Hurin," which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and other works, have been published before.
via /.
Why we can't win the "war on terror"
Why we can't win the "war on terror":
Salon has an interesting synopsis of a new book by one of the few "experts" on terrorism who existed before 9/11. Now, I'll start out by saying that just about anybody will find something in this article to disagree with. BUT, if read calmly, with an open mind, I believe you will find that there are some lessons to be learned here. Richardson has obviously done a lot of research and thinking on this hot-button issue, and to ignore all of her points out-of-hand, would most certainly be throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Indeed, Richardson points out that the Bush administration's absolute, holier-than-thou reaction to 9/11 bore a disturbing similarity to bin Laden's. 'By using the extreme language of conviction that bin Laden uses, by declaring war, even a crusade, against him in response to his war against us, we are mirroring his actions. We are playing into his hands, we are elevating his stature, we are permitting him to set the terms of our interactions. Given that he has a very weak hand and we have a very strong one, we should not be letting him set the parameters of the game.'
For its part, the Bush administration has been highly effective at setting the parameters of the game -- and intimidating the cowering Democrats -- by claiming that it is 'tough' on terrorism while the Democrats are 'weak.' Richardson cuts through this posturing by arguing that the only point that matters is who is effective.
It is an obvious point, but to convince voters of it, Democrats will have to overcome decades of GOP rhetoric that paints them as the 97-pound weakling. But with the tough-guy approach discredited, and the prospect of an endless and unwinnable war looming, Americans may finally be ready to wise up.
Salon has an interesting synopsis of a new book by one of the few "experts" on terrorism who existed before 9/11. Now, I'll start out by saying that just about anybody will find something in this article to disagree with. BUT, if read calmly, with an open mind, I believe you will find that there are some lessons to be learned here. Richardson has obviously done a lot of research and thinking on this hot-button issue, and to ignore all of her points out-of-hand, would most certainly be throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Indeed, Richardson points out that the Bush administration's absolute, holier-than-thou reaction to 9/11 bore a disturbing similarity to bin Laden's. 'By using the extreme language of conviction that bin Laden uses, by declaring war, even a crusade, against him in response to his war against us, we are mirroring his actions. We are playing into his hands, we are elevating his stature, we are permitting him to set the terms of our interactions. Given that he has a very weak hand and we have a very strong one, we should not be letting him set the parameters of the game.'
For its part, the Bush administration has been highly effective at setting the parameters of the game -- and intimidating the cowering Democrats -- by claiming that it is 'tough' on terrorism while the Democrats are 'weak.' Richardson cuts through this posturing by arguing that the only point that matters is who is effective.
It is an obvious point, but to convince voters of it, Democrats will have to overcome decades of GOP rhetoric that paints them as the 97-pound weakling. But with the tough-guy approach discredited, and the prospect of an endless and unwinnable war looming, Americans may finally be ready to wise up.
Techdirt: Diebold e-Voting Machines Can Be Opened With Standard Hotel Key Available Online
Techdirt: Diebold e-Voting Machines Can Be Opened With Standard Hotel Key Available Online
As Diebold continues to try (weakly) to defend itself from yet another batch of evidence that their security isn't particularly secure, Ed Felten points out another weakness in Diebold's defense. The company likes to claim that on top of the computer security aspect (which study after study has found is lacking) they have "physical" security. Avi Rubin's report from the field last week showed that the "security tape" and "security tags" on the machines aren't particularly secure at all (removing them and replacing them without anyone noticing is easy -- and apparently done quite often). However, a colleague of Felten has also noticed that the "lock" on the box uses an off-the-shelf standard key seen for things like hotel minibars. Apparently, it's quite easy to buy an identical key online or at an office furniture shop. In other words, the physical security isn't so secure. It's just designed to look secure, so they can say it's secure.
As Diebold continues to try (weakly) to defend itself from yet another batch of evidence that their security isn't particularly secure, Ed Felten points out another weakness in Diebold's defense. The company likes to claim that on top of the computer security aspect (which study after study has found is lacking) they have "physical" security. Avi Rubin's report from the field last week showed that the "security tape" and "security tags" on the machines aren't particularly secure at all (removing them and replacing them without anyone noticing is easy -- and apparently done quite often). However, a colleague of Felten has also noticed that the "lock" on the box uses an off-the-shelf standard key seen for things like hotel minibars. Apparently, it's quite easy to buy an identical key online or at an office furniture shop. In other words, the physical security isn't so secure. It's just designed to look secure, so they can say it's secure.
BBC NEWS | Middle East | UN chief warns of Iraq civil war
BBC NEWS Middle East UN chief warns of Iraq civil war
Another sheikh at the meeting, Sattar al-Buzayi, told Reuters that the tribal leaders had decided to take the fight to the Islamist militants who control parts of Ramadi and Anbar province.
"We have now entered a real battle. It's either us or them," he said.
"We just want to live like everyone else. We're sick of all this bloodshed," said one Ramadi resident, voicing anger at al-Qaeda.
However, a young al-Qaeda leader called Abu Farouq told Reuters that the fight would go on until an Islamic caliphate had been imposed across Anbar.
"This tribal system is un-Islamic. We are proud to kill tribal leaders who are helping the Americans," he said.
Another sheikh at the meeting, Sattar al-Buzayi, told Reuters that the tribal leaders had decided to take the fight to the Islamist militants who control parts of Ramadi and Anbar province.
"We have now entered a real battle. It's either us or them," he said.
"We just want to live like everyone else. We're sick of all this bloodshed," said one Ramadi resident, voicing anger at al-Qaeda.
However, a young al-Qaeda leader called Abu Farouq told Reuters that the fight would go on until an Islamic caliphate had been imposed across Anbar.
"This tribal system is un-Islamic. We are proud to kill tribal leaders who are helping the Americans," he said.
American Politics, Mythology, and Comic Books
Suddenly a Southern General: Wes Clark Is The Last Best Hope .... WesPac Securing America Community
So, I'd like to start this post off with a big "Howdy!" to all the Clarkies who have been blowing up my counter lately. I hope y'all will hang out a spell, and enjoy the quirky 21st century Americana that is Honky-Tonk Dragon. And I hope you won't think me too forward, if I ask of you a little open-mindedness. Poke around abit. Try and see past my thick scaly hide, and see that beneath is a big ole heart that wishes the best for America and the world.
I'm not a political beast, by nature. I'm more interested in ideas, and geeky things like comic books, motor-scooters, and computers. But Wes has lit a fire under my butt, as they say down south. So you will be seeing more serious content on here in the future, as well as rants and raves about viral internet videos, and the latest scooters to roll out of Italy. Until recently, I saw promoting fuel efficient two-wheeled vehicles, and electric vehicles as the best thing I could do for the world.
Ok, self-indulgence aside, if you haven't checked out this essay on WesPAC, you should. Because it touches on a psychological truth which the Republicans have been expertly exploiting for the last six years. It's not quite "history is written by the victors," though that is a facet of it. This nation is so big, so mind bogglingly huge, that the only way to really think about it, is to think in terms of symbols, icons, MYTHS. (For you lapsed Bill Moyersesque intellectuals, feel free to brush up on your Joseph Campbell, now.) And it seems that for most of my lifetime, this is a mode of thought, a type of public language that the Republicans have been getting better and better at speaking. And many people, who should really know better, rather than learning how to speak this language, have refused to, have taken what they take to be the moral high ground, and spoken only in FACTs. We have debated them, but we have let them define the terms used in the debate. And Wes Clark, who I'm sure studied his Sun Tzu at Westpoint, I think could tell you, this is the rhetorical equivilant of letting your enemy choose the battlefield. Not a strong strategic position.
Now, you might ask, what does this have to do with comicbooks? Well, I'm certainly not the first to propose that those spandex-clad weirdos fulfill many of the functions of mythology in our society. It used to be Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, Johnny Appleseed, and Davy Crockett. Now it's Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, and Capt. America. Indeed, comicbook geeks will frequently refer to the overarching world story of a publisher as a mythos, as in the "DC Mythos" or the "Marvel Mythos." They are a kind of sandbox, or shorthand for exploring moral questions, like "What if I had near infinite strength and power? How could I remain ethical, under those circumstances?" Questions very similar to what we face, right now, as people and as a nation.
And for this discussion, I think there is no better Super-hero to examine than Captain America. Cap' is seriously "old school," as the kids say. First appearing in 1941, battling Nazis, towards the end of the war, he falls into the North Atlantic and is frozen, held in a state of suspended animation. He is revived in 1964, a strange super-powered Rip Van Winkle, and some of the best of his contemporary stories deal with his struggle between his ideals and political realities. Recently, Marvel Comics has been doing a storyline in which the federal government want Superheroes to be registered with them, basically govertment employees. Those that don't will be considered outlaws. Cap's conscience, and old school adherence to what he sees as constitutional law, force him to be the first to go renegade, and buck the system. Which is interesting, because of all heroes in the Marvel Mythos, he has always been the one with the deepest government ties, gaining his powers through the US Army.
Sure, since the sixties, there have been "underground" comics, which question the status quo, and engage in more indepth studies of civil liberties. And even since Watergate high level government corruption has been an occasional plot point in mainstream comics. But for Capt. America to rebel against the government that made and defined him, well the only equivilent I can think of is goody-goody Superman taking the Lord's name in vain. This isn't R. Crumb folks. This is on the level of bearded Uncle Sam appearing on a poster saying, "Don't join the Army, they'll promise you the moon, and you'll end up emotionally and physically scarred and living on the streets."
So, to tie this back to Gen. Clark... my intuition is, (and intuition is your best guide to the world of the mythic) that he's a man who does his best to marry the mythic, the ideal with the factual. I even think he has an understanding of how that translation process works. Unlike Bush, who can speak some homegrown "good ole boy" in order to sell you a used truck, even though his thought processes are in Yale preppie businessman who's really thinking about how much oil and gas he's gonna be able to sell you down the road. I think Clark is a leader who is just as at ease talking to an E-2 high school dropout from Tennessee, as a Sergeant Major from Massachusetts with a Masters in Business Management. Or even a Prime Minister. And he'll boil the facts down into quicker to grasp symbolic language, not in order to pull something over on you, but because it speeds up the process of communicating with large numbers of people. I also think he understands this process, this tactic of distilling facts into symbols enough to hopefully beat the Republicans at their own game. I don't think he is going to let them choose the battlefield. Heck, that's part of what is really growing my respect for the man. He is already defining the battlefield, for whoever the Dems run in 2008.
Check out this video. It's long and the first 10 minutes or so will be meaningless to you, unless you live in Texas (It's from a recent Texas Democrat convention.) But listen to the man speak, in the language of American Myth, about the Facts of what is going on in this country today. And ask yourself... for every bill of goods the Republicans have sold us in the name of Safety and Freedom, do you feel any safer? Do you feel any more Freedom?
Listen to Clark, and then read the essay that started this rant.
General Clark encouraged us to go out and work for Kerry and Edwards in this most critical election.
And this is what he said to us: “The Bush administration does not really represent the will of the American people. But if he is reelected, in five years it will.”
It was a chilling thought and a lucid observation of cultural passages as they trail through political opinion and processes.
It came to mind yesterday morning reading about President Bush’s attempt to “redefine” treatment of prisoners and pass legislation that would create special military tribunals to try terrorist suspects and continue secret interrogations in clandestine prisons abroad.
So, I'd like to start this post off with a big "Howdy!" to all the Clarkies who have been blowing up my counter lately. I hope y'all will hang out a spell, and enjoy the quirky 21st century Americana that is Honky-Tonk Dragon. And I hope you won't think me too forward, if I ask of you a little open-mindedness. Poke around abit. Try and see past my thick scaly hide, and see that beneath is a big ole heart that wishes the best for America and the world.
I'm not a political beast, by nature. I'm more interested in ideas, and geeky things like comic books, motor-scooters, and computers. But Wes has lit a fire under my butt, as they say down south. So you will be seeing more serious content on here in the future, as well as rants and raves about viral internet videos, and the latest scooters to roll out of Italy. Until recently, I saw promoting fuel efficient two-wheeled vehicles, and electric vehicles as the best thing I could do for the world.
Ok, self-indulgence aside, if you haven't checked out this essay on WesPAC, you should. Because it touches on a psychological truth which the Republicans have been expertly exploiting for the last six years. It's not quite "history is written by the victors," though that is a facet of it. This nation is so big, so mind bogglingly huge, that the only way to really think about it, is to think in terms of symbols, icons, MYTHS. (For you lapsed Bill Moyersesque intellectuals, feel free to brush up on your Joseph Campbell, now.) And it seems that for most of my lifetime, this is a mode of thought, a type of public language that the Republicans have been getting better and better at speaking. And many people, who should really know better, rather than learning how to speak this language, have refused to, have taken what they take to be the moral high ground, and spoken only in FACTs. We have debated them, but we have let them define the terms used in the debate. And Wes Clark, who I'm sure studied his Sun Tzu at Westpoint, I think could tell you, this is the rhetorical equivilant of letting your enemy choose the battlefield. Not a strong strategic position.
Now, you might ask, what does this have to do with comicbooks? Well, I'm certainly not the first to propose that those spandex-clad weirdos fulfill many of the functions of mythology in our society. It used to be Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, Johnny Appleseed, and Davy Crockett. Now it's Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, and Capt. America. Indeed, comicbook geeks will frequently refer to the overarching world story of a publisher as a mythos, as in the "DC Mythos" or the "Marvel Mythos." They are a kind of sandbox, or shorthand for exploring moral questions, like "What if I had near infinite strength and power? How could I remain ethical, under those circumstances?" Questions very similar to what we face, right now, as people and as a nation.
And for this discussion, I think there is no better Super-hero to examine than Captain America. Cap' is seriously "old school," as the kids say. First appearing in 1941, battling Nazis, towards the end of the war, he falls into the North Atlantic and is frozen, held in a state of suspended animation. He is revived in 1964, a strange super-powered Rip Van Winkle, and some of the best of his contemporary stories deal with his struggle between his ideals and political realities. Recently, Marvel Comics has been doing a storyline in which the federal government want Superheroes to be registered with them, basically govertment employees. Those that don't will be considered outlaws. Cap's conscience, and old school adherence to what he sees as constitutional law, force him to be the first to go renegade, and buck the system. Which is interesting, because of all heroes in the Marvel Mythos, he has always been the one with the deepest government ties, gaining his powers through the US Army.
Sure, since the sixties, there have been "underground" comics, which question the status quo, and engage in more indepth studies of civil liberties. And even since Watergate high level government corruption has been an occasional plot point in mainstream comics. But for Capt. America to rebel against the government that made and defined him, well the only equivilent I can think of is goody-goody Superman taking the Lord's name in vain. This isn't R. Crumb folks. This is on the level of bearded Uncle Sam appearing on a poster saying, "Don't join the Army, they'll promise you the moon, and you'll end up emotionally and physically scarred and living on the streets."
So, to tie this back to Gen. Clark... my intuition is, (and intuition is your best guide to the world of the mythic) that he's a man who does his best to marry the mythic, the ideal with the factual. I even think he has an understanding of how that translation process works. Unlike Bush, who can speak some homegrown "good ole boy" in order to sell you a used truck, even though his thought processes are in Yale preppie businessman who's really thinking about how much oil and gas he's gonna be able to sell you down the road. I think Clark is a leader who is just as at ease talking to an E-2 high school dropout from Tennessee, as a Sergeant Major from Massachusetts with a Masters in Business Management. Or even a Prime Minister. And he'll boil the facts down into quicker to grasp symbolic language, not in order to pull something over on you, but because it speeds up the process of communicating with large numbers of people. I also think he understands this process, this tactic of distilling facts into symbols enough to hopefully beat the Republicans at their own game. I don't think he is going to let them choose the battlefield. Heck, that's part of what is really growing my respect for the man. He is already defining the battlefield, for whoever the Dems run in 2008.
Check out this video. It's long and the first 10 minutes or so will be meaningless to you, unless you live in Texas (It's from a recent Texas Democrat convention.) But listen to the man speak, in the language of American Myth, about the Facts of what is going on in this country today. And ask yourself... for every bill of goods the Republicans have sold us in the name of Safety and Freedom, do you feel any safer? Do you feel any more Freedom?
Listen to Clark, and then read the essay that started this rant.
General Clark encouraged us to go out and work for Kerry and Edwards in this most critical election.
And this is what he said to us: “The Bush administration does not really represent the will of the American people. But if he is reelected, in five years it will.”
It was a chilling thought and a lucid observation of cultural passages as they trail through political opinion and processes.
It came to mind yesterday morning reading about President Bush’s attempt to “redefine” treatment of prisoners and pass legislation that would create special military tribunals to try terrorist suspects and continue secret interrogations in clandestine prisons abroad.
Thomas Paine's Corner: Veteran's Plea to Fight to Take Back America
Thomas Paine's Corner: Veteran's Plea to Fight to Take Back America
A Missouri Marine who served in Vietnam rants about the coming election and the fickleness of elected Republicans who "Support" our troops. One part cutting vitriol, and one part even more damning facts.
What even astonishes me more is: where are the veterans of Missouri? We of all citizens should be able to see the things we were willing to lay our lives down for have disintegrating right before our eyes. We watch in disbelief as our sons and daughters continue to die and become maimed for life in a War of Choice, based on manufactured intelligence, lies, deceit, and the quest of profit and oil. Only to return home to slashed benefits, long waits for treatment, and a life of emotional trauma that will sever family and friends. Many will end up homeless, committing suicide. These things are already happening. The very administration that sent them into harm’s way has abandoned them upon their return. ... Fact: On March 16, 2006, Senate Democrats introduced Amendment 3141 which would appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2006 and 2008 through 2011. The purpose of this amendment was to provide an assured stream of funding for veteran’s health care that would take into account annual changes in the veteran population and inflation. This bill would have been paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income ever $1 million, closing corporate loopholes and delaying tax cuts for the wealthy. The bill was defeated by a vote along party lines. Nay votes 53 Republicans, 1 Democrat, Yea Votes, 44 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
via WesPAC
A Missouri Marine who served in Vietnam rants about the coming election and the fickleness of elected Republicans who "Support" our troops. One part cutting vitriol, and one part even more damning facts.
What even astonishes me more is: where are the veterans of Missouri? We of all citizens should be able to see the things we were willing to lay our lives down for have disintegrating right before our eyes. We watch in disbelief as our sons and daughters continue to die and become maimed for life in a War of Choice, based on manufactured intelligence, lies, deceit, and the quest of profit and oil. Only to return home to slashed benefits, long waits for treatment, and a life of emotional trauma that will sever family and friends. Many will end up homeless, committing suicide. These things are already happening. The very administration that sent them into harm’s way has abandoned them upon their return. ... Fact: On March 16, 2006, Senate Democrats introduced Amendment 3141 which would appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2006 and 2008 through 2011. The purpose of this amendment was to provide an assured stream of funding for veteran’s health care that would take into account annual changes in the veteran population and inflation. This bill would have been paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income ever $1 million, closing corporate loopholes and delaying tax cuts for the wealthy. The bill was defeated by a vote along party lines. Nay votes 53 Republicans, 1 Democrat, Yea Votes, 44 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
via WesPAC
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