Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

I had a massive and disturbing entry written, but when I was about 90% done, AbiWord crashed on me and I lost the whole thing. Stupid OSS. Anyway, instead I'll show off some of the pictures (some old, some new) that are in the Blair update that I'll post either this evening or tomorrow. I just have to write a piece of software that manually inserts messages into Eudora mailboxes (since all my bots revolve around that).

Another big BME image update has been posted. The damn things never stop. It's like an army of them… or a plague. 22 pages of pictures from BBQs too (mostly BMEfest, but others as well). There'll be another update, “all Blair, all the time“, probably on Tuesday.

Thank you to Craig for (again) being our cover model. That photo was taken by Frank (of ROP) shortly after Craig's show-stopping blood-o-rama performance at BMEfest. Thank you as well to all of you who made the update possible!

Correction: That photo was actually taken by Leo using Frank's camera.

Two brief reminders:

1. I need your videos of BMEfest footage if you can help. Click that link for more details as far as the how and why and all that.
2. BMEfest t-shirts are being re-run since so many people wanted more. Scroll down to the bottom of my page and sign the petition if you'd like to buy one via BMEshop and you'll be included in the run. Don't sign it if you're not good for it though please!

I'd also like to mention a few news items. Those of you not interested in my views on this subject should probably stop reading now. I realize that everyone understands at this point that the combat operations in Iraq are far from over, no matter what George “I'm killing for God” Bush says, but I'd like to drop some quotes here to illustrate just what a powderkeg southern Iraq is turning into (more):

"Our patience has run out. We've no money to feed ourselves, we haven't been paid for six months and we're fed up with broken promises. We've told the British today that if we're not paid by Friday, we'll arm ourselves with guns again and start killing every foreigner we see in Iraq."

- Najab, Iraqi Solder

"The Iraqis who expected so much from us are losing faith ... They may be free on paper, but their everyday lives are worse than under Saddam - in some cases a lot worse. So little has been delivered ... those poor British boys who are working so hard here could lose their lives."

- Margaret Hitchcock
(British resident of Basra, Iraq)

You've heard people toss around this warning of “perpetual war” a lot since September 11th, with that tragedy being used to justify killings and military actions of all kinds all over the world; across Central and South America, throughout Africa, the Middle-East, South Asia, the Koreas, and so on. Let me also quote from an article talking about a recent battle over the Java sea (Indonesia; did you know the US is also at war there?) (more):

"U.S. fighter planes went into attack mode and locked their missiles on Indonesian warplanes deployed to intercept them, an Indonesian air force official said Friday ... Two Indonesian F-16 fighter jets intercepted the U.S. planes and warned them they were in Indonesian airspace.

'It was tense as the F-18 planes went into attack positions,' said Wresnowiro, who goes by a single name. 'They adopted an attack maneuver and had their missiles locked on our planes, ready to fire.'

'President Megawati Sukarnoputri must strongly protest the arrogant actions of U.S. pilots, which have insulted Indonesia's sovereignty,' nationalist legislators said in a statement."

I've said this before, but the US is a very strong country militaristically; probably the strongest in the world. However, the fact is that it's still tiny when you compare it to its growing list of “nothing-to-lose” enemies. It's already over-extended with actions in Afghanistan and Iraq (which are requiring more and more troops), and simply does not have the combat resources to take on all comers, even though Bush has arrogantly told them (and I quote), “Bring them on.”

Remember: Bush won't suffer from this. He'll just get wealthier.

You on the other hand will suffer for his greed.

I think it's also important to stay tuned on what's happening in Guantanamo Bay, the US's catch-all jurisdiction-free tribunal zone, known for its rampant violations of the Geneva convention and other international laws and treaties. Since no convictions or confessions have come out of the POWs interned there, they are being given a new option: confess or die (more):

"The two British terrorist suspects facing a secret US military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay will be given a choice: plead guilty and accept a 20-year prison sentence, or be executed if found guilty. American legal sources close to the process said that the prisoners' dilemma was intended to encourage maximum 'co-operation'."

Enlightened societies understand that a confession obtained under duress has no value. If you tell someone that if they confess they'll live, and if they don't, they'll die, people will confess to just about anything. If Bush wants to play this game, I hope that prosecutors remember this strategy when he and Clinton are dragged in front of the 9/11 commission to answer for their mutual crimes against humanity (more).

I was reading this interview with Linus Torvalds (ie. Linux), and the following quote struck me. I've highlighted the relevant sentence, but I think it's important to see it in terms of both the racial diversity issues (lack of…) in Finland as well as some of the tensions as minority workers are entering that job market. Anyway, it's Linus talking about what he doesn't like about America:

I'd certainly be intersted in hearing what readers from Scandinavian countries think it means…