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	March 19, 2003

CANDLE POWER Joel at Pax Nortona has put a flickering candle (animated .gif file) on his website as a virtual analogue of the worldwide Candles for Peace campaign. As you can see at right, I've picked it up and will leave it flickering on my blog until... well, just until. Feel free to copy and paste. Peace. 9:08:59 PM  trackback []  comment []

WE ARE THE MEDIA Well, the propaganda war has begun, and, fellow bloggers, you may have already been co-opted. For the next while, we are the media and it behoves us to be very skeptical about what we report in our journals. I'm going to put everything I hear from now on into one of three categories: Likely Propaganda: Test: Unverified or unverifiable, would be advantageous to Bush if it were true Plausible: Test: Direct corroboration from an unbiased source, no advantage to anyone to lie about it Conspiracy Theory: Test: Unverified or unverifiable, would be very damaging to Bush or advantageous to Saddam if it were true The "smell test" also applies here. Journalists used to be very good at it, and scrupulous about not reporting anything that failed it, but now, well, don't get me started.  Here are some examples of what's in each of my three lists so far (it may change quickly): CAT Allegation Question to Ask / Reason 1 Massive defections from Iraq army already Would you surrender to the U.S. military if you were in their place, or would you simply go into hiding? 1 Saddam planning to use bio-chem weapons to defend Iraq Why would he do this? He's a despot, not an idiot. 1 Saddam planning to blow up oil wells Why would he do this? He's a great propagandist and this would just make his own people angry. 2 Saddam will direct Iraq defense from outside Iraq Makes sense. Why not? Lesson from Osama: Americans hate not being able to find the leader. 2 CIA torturing hundreds in Kabul and Guantanamo Terrible, but makes sense. Motive and opportunity. 3 US will blow up oil wells to help oil companies raise prices, and blame Saddam Why would they do this? It's all about the oil isn't it? 3 US will test anthrax in Iraq during war, and blame Saddam Too dangerous. 3 CIA actually runs blogs allegedly written by Iraqi citizens, will use them for propaganda once war starts Too far-fetched. Read this blog for example. CIA isn't that smart or talented. 8:29:55 AM  trackback []  comment []

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES EXPLAINED This is an old joke, but at a time when many people are making outrageous generalizations about people in other countries, I thought a bit of levity was in order: Cultural Differences of English-Speaking Countries Explained On being mistaken for another nationality: Aussies: Dislike being mistaken for Pommies (Brits) when abroad. Canadians: Are rather indignant about being mistaken for Americans when abroad. Americans: Encourage being mistaken for Canadians when abroad. Brits: Can't possibly be mistaken for anyone else when abroad. On looking out for others: Aussies: Believe you should look out for your mates. Brits: Believe that you should look out for those people who belong to your club. Americans: Believe that people should look out for & take care of themselves. Canadians: Believe that's the government's job. On patriotism: Aussies: Are extremely patriotic about their beer. Americans: Are flag-waving, anthem-singing, and obsessively patriotic to the point of blindness. Canadians: Can't agree on the words to their anthem, when they can be bothered to sing it. Brits: Do not sing at all but prefer a large brass band to perform the anthem. On television: Americans: Spend most of their lives glued to the idiot box. Canadians: Don't, but only because they can't legally get more American channels. Brits: Pay a tax just so they can watch four channels. Aussies: Export all their bad programs, which no one there watches, to Britain, where everybody loves them. On sports: Americans: Jabber on incessantly about football, baseball and basketball. Brits: Jabber on incessantly about cricket, soccer, and rugby. Canadians: Jabber on incessantly about hockey, and how they beat the Americans twice, playing baseball. Aussies: Jabber on incessantly bout how they beat the Poms in every sport they play them in. On English spelling and pronunciation: Americans: Spell words differently, but still call it "English" Brits: Pronounce their words differently, but still call it "English". Canadians: Spell like the Brits, pronounce like Americans. Aussies: Speak with such a heavy accent no one can be sure it's English at all.. On shopping: Brits: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island. Aussies: Shop at home and have goods imported because they live on an island. Americans: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas, & liquor in a backwards country. Canadians: Cross the southern border for cheap shopping, gas, & liquor in a backwards country. On economic success: Americans: Seem to think that poverty and failure are morally suspect. Canadians: Seem to believe that wealth and success are morally suspect. Brits: Seem to believe that wealth, poverty, success and failure are inherited things. Aussies: Know that none of this matters after several beers. 1:08:25 AM  trackback []  comment []

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