There’s got to be a catchy word for this — when people get together to write glowing reviews for a product that clearly doesn’t deserve it.

http://www.birkoph.com/Wolf_tshirt.htm

“[President Reagan] didn’t sit down in a negotiation with the religious extremists in Iran, he made it very clear that those hostages were coming home.’’

Well, except for that little Iran-Contra, arms-for-hostages deal. A minor thing, I guess.

You think maybe Mr. McCain is losing his memory in his old age?

(Well, a few days ago. I just saw it.)

“Senator Obama’s support . . . among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again.”

Gosh, it’s a good thing he’s got all those lazy blacks supporting him, huh? [roll of eyes]

This makes it bearable to think about again.

Just a thought: If you run a biotech company, it might help if your last name wasn’t Moreau.

I wrote before (as have many others) about how Apple sneakily got Windows users to install its Safari browser by slipping it in with other software upgrades. I was reminded how careful you have to be when installing anything from Apple.

I reinstalled Quicktime the other day, which seems pretty straightforward. I’m glad I chose to configure the installation manually — or as manually as possible — because that at least saved me some trouble. Users who choose the default, though, are at Apple’s mercy.

Just about every piece of software I’ve ever installed, including freeware and open-source stuff, asks where I’d like the shortcuts put — on the desktop, the Start menu, or the Quick Launch bar. Not Apple; it puts Quicktime wherever it wants, leaving me to remove it.

(Why I would possibly want it on my Quick Launch bar I can’t fathom. It opens automatically when it needs to play a file. I don’t think I’ve ever manually launched Quicktime. But that’s Apple logic.)

Today I began having trouble viewing some images in Firefox. I had right-clicked and chosen “View Image,” but instead of showing the pic, the screen started to flicker.

I dug and discovered the problem. Quicktime had set itself as the default viewer for PNG files in Firefox without my permission. But it had screwed up and for some reason created two entries in Firefox for PNG, both pointing to Quicktime. For some reason, that was causing an endless loop and the image wasn’t displaying.

I switched both entries back where they belonged — where they had been before Quicktime screwed with them — and all was well again. (Except that now I have two entries for PNG in Firefox.)

So, Apple, I realize that you expect your customers to trust you implicitly and that you think you know what’s best for everyone, but guess what? You don’t. Please stop messing with my settings without asking.

Barack Obama, when he was an Illinois state senator, on October 26, 2002:

Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

(emphasis mine)

I think that’s called “getting it right.”

“[There was] a judge who recognized three degrees in liars: the liar simple, the damned liar, and the expert witness.” –W.D. Gainsford, 1891

Vodafone reached an agreement with Apple and will begin selling the iPhone in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa, and Turkey.

“So what?” I hear you say.

What’s interesting is that Verizon Wireless is half owned by Vodafone.

So iPhone users here, tired of the lousy AT&T service, may have a light at the end of the tunnel….

Does anyone really think that Microsoft has given up on acquiring Yahoo? I’ve seen too many bloggers and journalists acting as if Microsoft’s walking away is the same as Microsoft’s giving up.

C’mon, folks, think about it: Yahoo shareholders were already lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks when Yang and crew turned down Redmond.

By walking away, Microsoft is making it easier on itself. Yahoo shares are plummeting (as expected). The shareholders will revolt this time, and whatever new regime that comes into power at Yahoo will be much more amenable to a buyout.

Why should Microsoft increase its offer? It doesn’t need to spend any more — it just has to sit and wait.

Meet Becky Smith of Texas City, today’s definition of failure.

Caption: “Becky Smith, of Texas City, shouts across to protesters who support amnesty for illegal immigrants as they gathered in Antioch Park in the 1400 block of Smith St in downtown Houston on Thursday.”

Oh, just read the story in The Nation:

[Jon Town] was standing in the doorway of his battalion’s headquarters when a 107-millimeter rocket struck two feet above his head.

[...]

Eventually the rocket shrapnel was removed from Town’s neck and his ears stopped leaking blood.

[...]

But instead of sending Town to a medical board and discharging him because of his injuries, doctors at Fort Carson, Colorado, did something strange: They claimed Town’s wounds were actually caused by a “personality disorder.” Town was then booted from the Army and told that under a personality disorder discharge, he would never receive disability or medical benefits.

Town is not alone. A six-month investigation has uncovered multiple cases in which soldiers wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed as having a personality disorder, then prevented from collecting benefits.

From the April 23 news conference.

THOMAS: Are you saying that we did not [torture anyone]?

PERINO: I am saying we did not, yes.

THOMAS: How can you when you have photographs and everything else? I mean, how can you say that when he admits that he knew about it?

[snip]

PERINO: And what I’m telling you is we have — torture has not occurred. And you can go back through all the public record. Just make sure — I would just respectfully ask you not to misconstrue what the President said.

THOMAS (incredulously): You’re denying, in this room, that we torture and we have tortured?

PERINO: Yes, I am denying that.