September 29, 2001 Hooray for The Onion. Quoting without permission,
Report: Gen X Irony, Cynicism May Be Permanently Obsolete
AUSTIN, TX According to Generation X sources, the recent attack on America may have rendered cynicism and irony permanently obsolete. "Remember the day after the attack, when all the senators were singing 'God Bless America,' arm-in-arm?" asked Dave Holt, 29. "Normally, I'd make some sarcastic wisecrack about something like that. But this time, I was deeply moved." Added Holt: "This earnestness can't last forever. Can it?"
and
Bush Sr. Apologizes To Son For Funding Bin Laden In '80s
MIDLAND, TX Former president George Bush issued an apology to his son Monday for advocating the CIA's mid-'80s funding of Osama bin Laden, who at the time was resisting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. "I'm sorry, son," Bush told President George W. Bush. "We thought it was a good idea at the time because he was part of a group fighting communism in Central Asia. We called them 'freedom fighters' back then. I know it sounds weird. You sort of had to be there." Bush is still deliberating over whether to tell his son about the whole supporting-Saddam Hussein-against-Iran thing.
September 28, 2001. Was John Howard pissed (as in drunk, not annoyed) when he said that "it would be sacrilegious to call an election during the grand final weekend"? Sacrilegious?
September 27, 2001. We all know Microsoft are evil, but this was a cheapshot on their part - I saved this page with IE6 to work on it locally, and when I opened it, they'd added "<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2462.0" name=GENERATOR>" to the page. Bastards!
September 26, 2001.This is just scary: [aspSingles] ASP programmers meet socially here!
September 24, 2001. How scary is this? [Jakob Nielson t-shirts, but I think they're gone now.]
On the topic of scary things, how did it get to be the end of September already? I'm really curious about the new trams in Melbourne - the Age, again: http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/09/24/FFXUN3EQXRC.html
September 24, 2001. An interesting article in the Age about proposed laws in the wake of the disaster in America (http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/2001/09/24/FFX0U3EQXRC.html). Some of the proposals include:
Allow deportation of legal US residents found to support even the lawful activities of an organisation that had ever used or threatened to use a weapon against a person or property.
Broaden the grounds on which foreigners and their families may be denied admittance to the US for suspected terrorist links, such as aiding a group that US authorities say endorses terrorism.
It's the vague nature of the proposals that bothers me - "Those said to have terrorist links would have no right to a hearing before an immigration judge."
September 24, 2001. "RAWA is a political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan." http://rawasongs.fancymarketing.net/ - who knew they existed? Go read for yourself.
September 17, 2001. The television and print coverage of the bombings in the US have made us all into the kind of person who watches snuff movies. I turned a page in the Sunday Times to find a full colour half page photo of dozens of people stranded above the impact waving out the windows, and a full page photo of someone falling to their death.
September 14, 2001. More from The Age. John Howard is such a toady. "As he prepared to leave on a US military jet to Honolulu, he said Australia had not been asked for military aid, but would help."
Kim, on the other hand, is a bit more rational: "Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said yesterday the treaty did not lock Australia and the US into any course of action."
When, by the way, did it become 'cool' to say 'terror' instead of 'attack'? More emotive reportage to try and sell more papers.
September 13, 2001. Israeli tanks take over Jericho. "JERICHO, West Bank - Israeli troops took control of the Palestinian-ruled city of Jericho in the West Bank early today after entering with tanks, armoured cars and helicopter cover, Palestinian security forces said."
September 13, 2001. A selection of reports from around the world. Skimming is the only way I can deal with this.
http://monitor.airsecurity.com/monitor.asp?report=data.htm : "CONFIRMED (per earlier update at 1:50p) Authorities stop Amtrak train in Rhode Island. Security officers arrest man wearing a turban, alleging that he was carrying a knife."
From the same site: "Unidentified individuals fired at Islamic Center of Irving,Texas early this morning. No casualties; approximately $3,000 in damage. Police officials investigating the incident."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Attacks-Australia.html : "BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- A school bus carrying Muslim children was stoned in apparent retaliation for terrorist attacks in the United States, officials said Thursday."
September 12, 2001. It's times like this I wish I knew my history. Someone on Slashdot claims that "The U.S. killed 2,100,000 people in Vietnam and maybe 150,000 people in Iraq. The U.S. has bombed 14 countries in 30 years, killing a roughly estimated 3,000,000 people.". I don't need any convincing of their claim that, "Most people in the U.S. cannot even locate the countries the U.S. government bombed on a map of the world." because I've seen that for myself. (I speak good English for an Australian, don't I?)
One of the oh-so intelligent replies to this post might explain why Americans never worried about their interference with other countries: "If it offends your delicate sensibilities to be at war with a country, move your pansy-ass somewhere else. The borders are always open for you to leave.". But aren't the borders still closed?
September 12, 2001. 103rd floor.
September 12, 2001. I'm mentally keeping a tally of the highest floor that people got out of ok: one man who was having a cup of coffee at his desk on the 73rd floor got out ok. Prior to that it was this guy on the 38th floor.
September 12, 2001. Headline "US attacks Afghanistan" (link from article published Published: Wednesday September 12, 8:12 AM) on The Age Breaking News section later changed to "Missiles fall on Afghanistan" in article published in same cycle. (Published: Wednesday September 12, 8:11 AM)
More headlines from the Breaking News page: "Disney shuts Sidney studios for security". Sidney?
"US Muslims brace for abuse"
"AFL: Players in New York are safe"
A snippet of the story this time: "Passenger playing computer game causes plane diversion". From the story, "A United Airlines spokesman said earlier police reports that a suspicious passenger had caused the diversion were untrue.
"A passenger on board happened to be playing a computer game which was unfortunate because somebody saw something bob up on screen saying Mission Failed," he said."
Less cheerily, "Howard backs lethal response to US attack". Heaven forbid John Howard should be the one to step back and question escalating the violence, especially when he can toady up to George W (as another Australian headline called him, as if he's a local character). "Australia would back a lethal response against those responsible for the United States' terrorist attacks, Prime Minster John Howard said today."
September 12, 2001 I'm kinda stunned by the horrific deaths of the passengers and people in the building, but it's hard not to feel that America's own actions provoked the attack. Everyone's focussing on the Middle East, but they're been the cause of horrific deaths in so many countries it's hard to limit the field.
The Age's Your Say had an eyewitness account, and I really hope this isn't a typical exchange:
September 11, 2001 Is John Howard trying his hardest to embarrass Australians overseas? Whatever you think about the court decision (about the legality of boarding the refugees' boat), it's clear enough in law, and even if you're a Prime Minister who needs to drum up support before facing an election, you don't get to ignore that. Didn't the Gore/Bush votes fiasco show him how pathetic politicians look when appealing court decisions made by their own judiciary?
September 11, 2001 So I'm watching Jerry Springer, and if it's not enough that the title is 'Bisexual Betrayals', the very first guest is a cross-dresser.
September 7, 2001 Silliest story of the week:
Amid muffled laughter, Judge Leslie Ross was told how Mr Grixti walked towards the Werribee police station watchhouse counter on August 13 last year and, after being asked if he needed help, "poked the rear end of his body out" and broke wind.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/state/2001/09/07/FFXO0HXF9RC.html
September 5, 2001< Microsoft is evil. If you change Outlook to preface the message you're replying to with '>', it tells you that it can't exclude the original message from the spellchecker. But all the other mail checkers manage it...
September 4, 2001 Richmond have to play Essendon all over again? Let's hope they repeat last week's victory.
Two views on Dutch/Australian relations: [expats go home]: http://www.expatica.com/main.asp?pad=2,275,&item_id=13282
[all australians are racist, and all we do is play sport]: http://www.expatica.com/main.asp?pad=3,67,&item_id=13243
September 4, 2001 It's my second day at work. Here's a hint: if you ever work with someone who doesn't speak the local language, they can probably still tell if you're talking about them. Even if you're saying nice things, consider saying them in a mutual language. Not that I'm whinging.