Robert W. Rose

Kerry, the “real” war president?

It’s no secret that Bush has been trying to label himself as “the war president” (Economist, Apr 2004). However Kerry this week announced that, if elected, he will send an additional 40,000 troops to Iraq to fight the war (Bloomberg). Contrast this with claims I’ve heard on Air America Radio (I can’t find a reference, see below **) that Bush’s 2006 budget plan calls for a $900M+ budget cut to the Department of Veterans Affairs and closures of 11 VA hospitals, and you can’t help but wonder, who is the real war president?

When the military first gave their plans for invading Iraq, they presented a strategy that called for 300,000 – 400,000 ground troops. Bush asked they do it with 100,000, so they did. Grossly understaffed, Bush has since sent another 30-35,000 troops to Iraq and extended stays twice for many classes of troops (from what I’ve heard). There have also been numerous reports that thousands of foot soldiers are either lacking or have extremely poor equipment (Vietnam era flak jackets, “Inferior” flak jackets).

Kerry wants to add troops… Bush wants to cost-cut… Who’s the real war president here?

Sad times if you’re an anti-war demonstrator. Maybe Kerry really should draft Nader.. 🙂

** Yeah so I can’t find a reference for this. They claimed on the air that this was in “Bush’s 2006 proposed budget.” I can’t find anything in Google News about it. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Air America lied and lied the same way Fox News does.. Al “O’Franken” Franken probably had an “a ha!” one day when he realized “two can play this game!” 🙂 Hehehehe… If anyone finds a reference please let me know…

My new cellphone plan: $25/year

T-Mobile is running a promotion right now for their pre-paid wireless where if you put at least $25 on your account any additional minutes you add are good for one year.

If you’re like me and you rarely use your cellphone, this turns out to be an incredibly good deal. No monthly fees, no hidden taxes or surcharges, and you pay only for what you use.

I’ve posted my pictures from OODE 8 online here. I got to play a live set Friday night, it went really well… I had a great time. Thanks to everyone there for listening! 🙂

Entertaining thoughts from a conspiracy nut

Look at this pic that was released today of the latest prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. Notice the white chair in the lower left corner. Now – look at the chair Nicholas Berg is sitting in!! It’s the same chair!!

You gotta admit the video tape that shows a US citizen having his head removed is a little suspicious.

First, the timing of the release of this tape was perfect. The tape was released right in the middle of Congress’ hearing on the prison abuse issue–during a recess. If you saw Congress’ hearing, you would have seen the Senators return from lunch and rat-hole down the video tape issue for a long, long time. It took them a while to get back to the subject they were supposed to be addressing that day–the prisoner abuse scandal. Several of the Senators just wouldn’t let the beheading topic go; they wanted to talk about it for the rest of day it seemed.

Second, as this website above notices, Berg is sitting in the exact same style chair that is in the photos from the Abu Ghraib prison. Are white, stackable plastic lawn chairs the only kind of chairs people sit in in Iraq?

Third, why is Berg wearing the same kind of jumpsuit the military has been giving to prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison?

Fourth, why was the video released over the Internet? This doesn’t seem to fit the MO of terrorists. In the past they’ve always given this kind of stuff to Al Jazeer and they broadcast it over satellite TV.

Hmm. Well, maybe time will reveal what’s really happening over there in Iraq…

Excerpt from Stratfor essay: Tactical failures of the United States

Failure to rapidly identify errors and rectify them through changes of plans, strategies and personnel. Error is common in war. The measure of a military force is how honestly errors are addressed and rectified. When a command structure begins denying that self- evident problems are facing them, all is lost. The administration’s insistence over the past year that no fundamental errors were committed in Iraq has been a cancer eating through

all layers of the command structure — from the squad to the office of the president.

Failing to understand the political dimension of the war and permitting political support for the war in the United States to erode by failing to express a clear, coherent war plan on the broadest level. Because of this failure, other major failures — ranging from the failure to find weapons of mass destruction to the treatment of Iraqi prisoners — have filled the space that strategy should have occupied. The persistent failure of the president to explain the linkage between Iraq and the broader war has been symptomatic of this systemic failure.

This paper discusses two main trends in the development of virtual machine systems: full system virtualization, where an entire hardware architecture is replicated virtually, and paravirtualization, where an operating system is modified so that it can be run concurrently with other operating systems that have also been designed for paravirtualization.

PDF

Response to Darlene Hooley

“By now, you’ve probably seen the reports about the abuses that have occurred in Iraqi prisons. Like most Americans, I am deeply troubled by these charges. Members of Congress like me who voted against going to war in Iraq as well as members who voted in favor of the war stand united in expressing our moral outrage… The best way for the United States to reaffirm our commitment to human rights and to regain credibility at home, in Iraq and with other nations, will be to fully and openly investigate these allegations with every avenue and resource available.” –Congresswoman Hooley, Oregon

Let’s get one thing straight–these were not “abuses,” these were acts of TORTURE under the definitions written by the United States and 80 other countries in the mid-70’s.

If we are going to talk “openly” as you state in your letter, let’s also talk HONESTLY: We, The United States, committed acts of torture against Iraqi citizens and prisoners.

I am relieved that you are as morally outraged as I am.

Gas prices: Supply and Demand Strikes Again

According to the Lehrer Newshour, SUV sales hit a record high last quarter, accounting for 29% of all new vehicles sold in the US. A U of Chicago professor says that, out of the $.45/gal average gas price increase we’ve seen in the last year, $.15 of that is SUV demand, $.20 is OPEC, and the rest is refinery production issues.

The show polled people on the street to ask, “When will you give up your SUV? $2.50/gallon? $3.00/gallon?” All people resonded, “Never.”

Website says more McDonalds = more murders

We believe that the United Nations (U.N.) commissioned McDonald’s corporate leaders to help control the increasing populations of its host cities by carrying out plans masterminded by the U.N. to systematically murder these cities’ citizens.

This website is obviously a joke, but they have a graph that tries to prove their case. I ran their numbers and came up with a slightly different hypothesis. Their chart used McDonalds restaurants per city, but McDonalds restaurants per 100,000 people would probably be a better metric:

Clearly, McDonalds does make cities more prone to murders if the number of McDonalds per 100,000 people goes above a certain point. But having too few McDonalds is also a problem. As you can see from the graph above, there exists an optimal number of McDonalds where the city is safest.

Based on this highly scientific research I conclude that each city should have bertween 4 and 5 McDonalds per 100,000 people–no more, no less. For example, my small town of 50,000 is running right on target–we have 2 McDonalds. Excellent. I feel safer already!

Nokia announces N-Gage QD, I have my doubts

I feel sorry for Nokia, N-Gage really makes a crappy game device. The button lag and tiny screen (size, not resolution) just kills my enjoyment on many games. THPS on N-Gage is pretty darn good, but the N-Gage controls IMHO make it unplayable. Plus, I dunno if I’m just old or what (26), but the tiny screen makes me sick after 15 minutes of staring at it. What I like about my game Vector Blaster is that it’s not a game you have to hold 8 inches from your face to see all the detail, you can sit semi-comfortably with it at arms length and still discern what’s happening.

When I first played Tomb Raider on the N-Gage I wondered if Scandinavians were all cross-eyed and the tiny display on the N-Gage was the result of a poor marketing study that didn’t take into account the rest of the world, or anyone over the age of 17, or anyone that wore glasses, or was far-sided, or never expected to play games on a bumpy bus/subway/etc…

I was hoping the N-Gage QD would fix the button-lag and display size issues, I feel that’s 20x more important than MMC, 5-way d-pad, and side-talkin combined. Game play should be #1 if they’re gonna sell it as a game device. If QD sells, its gonna sell as a phone, not as a game device. Sad.