Riddle me this: what good is it to have U-2 flights over Iraq, in the hope of locating production and storage facilities for weapons of mass destruction, if we’re going to tell the Iraqis when the plane flies and where it goes?!?!?
(thanks, Brian)
Ric is reporting that Microtech International has finally gotten off their duffs and have posted for download drivers for the USB CameraMate and Zio! Compact Flash readers for OS X 10.2. I own both of these products, which work great, but unfortunately, require a driver to do so. Thankfully, I also have a PC Card CF adapter that I’ve been using with my PowerBook G4/500 to get digital photos from my Nikon (it doesn’t have USB). Besides, the whole drivers for hardware thing should be left to the Windoze drones.
If I were to lose PC Card-ability in the future, say with a 12-inch PowerBook G4, I would have to seriously consider an alternative CF reader, like the Dazzle* 6-in-1 USB reader our artists use. Unlike the Microtech products, it is true plug-and-pray, working flawlessly on every OS X-running Mac (4 different models) I’ve tried it on.
The DVD/CD Shredder from Alera Technologies destroys the data layer on DVD and CD discs, making the data unrecoverable.
Pretty much any size DVD or CD is handled, including 120mm, 80mm, and even Business Card size. It’ll set you back $39.99.
I’ve been saving quite a few CDs to send off to be recycled, and for the CDs that actually contain old personal data, this might not be a bad idea.
(via Macintouch)
I just noticed, after adding a new link in the right-side column, that the latest public beta of Safari now supports the title tag. Make sure you have the Status Bar at the bottom of the browser window; View menu, then click on Status Bar to get a check mark beside it. Or you use the keyboard shortcut Cmd-Backslash.
Now when you hover on a link that contains a title tag, you’ll see the title text in the Status Bar.
What is it with the “news” media and the hippie-throwback peaceniks out there? Oh, Saddam and the Iraqi government are making all of these concessions; we certainly can’t go to war now. We must give the inspectors more time. We must extend the time for inspections to continue. Why?
I have yet to hear one good reason why. Let’s see: Hans Blix, in his report Friday, called for more inspections. Gee, that couldn’t possibly be because he is a weapons inspector, could it? There’s great job security in being a U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq; they’ve been working there off and on for more than 10 years. You find myriad violations of 1441 and earlier resolutions, passed by the very body you work for, yet your answer is not to punish the offending government, but rather to push for inspections to continue. How idiotic and foolish is this?
The U.N. itself, vis-a-vis Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is calling for yet another resolution to be passed before military force can be used against the Hussein regime. Why? Resolution 1441 already accounts for the need to use military force in the event of a material breech. I would say the illegal importation of 350 SA-2 rockets is a material breech. Saddam’s regime has declared only 8,500 liters of anthrax, while the U.N. inspection teams believe there are 25,000 liters. So we’re missing something on the order of 16,500 liters, with no proof of their destruction. Sounds like material breech. With each passing day, the United Nations shows how irrelevant is has become in international relations.
Pop quiz: name one conflict in the world the United Nations has successfully resolved without the use of some kind of military force since its inception. Good luck.
I’m still waiting for a President with the guts to not only pull the United States out of the now irrelevant United Nations, but NATO as well, and to stop the subsidization of an increasingly hostile-to-America U.N., giving them the boot from our soil. Let them go set up in France, Belgium, or Germany.
The “news” media and peaceniks are all running around congratulating Saddam on his joke of a presidential decree, as if such a promise from a known liar is worth the paper it’s printed on.
Speaking of all of the peace-love-and-happiness anti-war protestors, please allow me to congratulate you. You have managed to ingratiate yourselves with a mass murderer, with a man known for invading his neighbors and gassing his own citizens. I hope this makes you happy.
Oh, and that “smoking gun” you all keep whining about?
“[President Bush’s] critics demand a smoking gun [before attacking Iraq], but the problem with waiting till one is found is that a smoking gun has just been fired. It will be too late.” –Paul Greenberg
Please, get a clue.
This is not a war about oil. If America had oil-based imperalist aspirations in the Middle East, then we would have driven all the way to Baghdad in 1991, and stayed in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia when we had the chance. And if it weren’t for the environmental extremists, many of whom are the same people “marching for peace,” the United States would be happily drilling all of the oil it needs itself.
Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction; he has used them in the past, both in the war with Iran and against his own citizens. No evidence has been provided by Hussein that he has ceased production of said weapons, nor has any evidence been provided that he has complied with international resolutions calling for those weapons’ destruction. Let us be perfectly clear: the burden of proof regarding destruction of any WMDs rests with Saddam Hussein, not the United Nations inspections teams or any other government. He has failed to provide this proof.
It has been proven that there is a link between the Hussein regime and al-Qaeda, the latter of which has sworn to do all it can to attack and harm the United States and its allies.
If you think that Hussein is not willing to supply WMDs to al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations willing to attack mutually perceived enemies, you are foolish and naive.
This is from an email sent to me, presumably posted by some radio personality, to show an illustration of the ongoing debate on how we should handle those who would terrorize and kill us:
Question: You’re walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, a dangerous looking man with a huge knife comes around the corner and is running at you while screaming obscenities. In your hand is a Glock .40 and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do?
Liberal Answer:
Well, that’s not enough information to answer the question! Does the man look poor or oppressed? Have I ever done anything to him that is inspiring him to attack? Could we run away? What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? What does the law say about this situation? Is it possible he’d be happy with just killing me? Does he definitely want to kill me or would he just be content to wound me? If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me? This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for a few days to try to come to a conclusion.
Conservative Answer:
BANG!
Texan’s Answer:
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! click… (sounds of magazine being ejected and fresh magazine installed)
Wife: “Sweetheart, he looks like he’s still moving, what do you kids think?”
Son: “Mom’s right Dad, I saw it too…”
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Daughter: “Nice grouping Daddy!”
Lee is reporting that Jon Gales has found that the Mac OS X 10.2.4 update disables PHP; Jon provides the Terminal-based restart sequence.
I’d just like to take a moment to wish my wonderful wife of ten and a half years a Happy Valentine’s Day. I love you, sweetheart.
