What Comes To Pass

A Nation Is Born

The Iraqi Government has selected the new Iraqi flag.

Yeah it sucks when you first see it, but when you learn what it represents, it's actually quite beautiful.

As Ays, notes:

As you know, the white color represents the peace, the two blue stripes represent Tigris and Euphrates, the yellow strip for the Kurds ( according to the color of the star on the Kurds’ flag), and the blue crescent represents Islam, I like the idea of the crescent, not because of what it represents, but you know there’ll be some people crying for the ‘God is greatest’ statement which was on the old flag, so this crescent will do the work!

During Model United Nations opening proceedings, in my last year in Hong Kong, the South African delegation were given the floor. They gave an opening speech which detailed the reasons for the colours of their flag, each line and tone had a meaning of its own, that symbolized peace, life and hope.

It seems fitting that 10 years after one democracy was wrought, and struggled hard to find its place in the world another now is born again, even if we have a few months to go yet.

To the New Iraq. May this flag be hung with respect outside the UN Headquaters in New York, Hoisted by proud athletes at the Olympic games and flutter in the embassies and hearts of Iraqis the world over.

In your face Saddam!

Later

John

The Slashdot Fisking Continues!

Hurrah. Slashdotters provide a non-stop stream of material!

Today it's ID cards! Fun!

"Blunkett scares the crap out of me."

More to the point, he's literally the only person in the UK who thinks ID cards are a good thing and yet still they're being pushed through.

Dun Dun Dun Duuuuuuuun!

Ah yes, a pet-peeve of mine. People who say 'Literally' with no evidence to back them up. What's worse is when the evidence shows not only that they're wrong (I think I can count me as one person) but they they're spectacularly wrong (current polls show a majority of 80% in favour of ID cards).

Next!

It's pure myth that ID cards are effective tools against illegal immigration and terrorism.

I grew up in Hong Kong. ID CARDS ARE EFFECTIVE TOOLS AGAINS IMMIGRATION BLOCKHEAD! Hong Kong had the biggest Immigration Problem in modern history (On one side a thriving capitalist city, on the other a deadbeat communist hellhole - you choose!) and we solved it using ID cards as a primary tool. Now STFU and go do some research before you talk a bunch of crap.

Today, NI number and basic details.

Next decade, criminal convictions get added.

Next decade, genetic abnormalities get added.

Next decade, political stance gets added (gotta get those anti-terrorism measures in there somewhere).

Paranoid? Maybe. Look back to what happened Germany in the 1930s and we should be very, very concerned about how this kind of "information" could be abused.

Aaaaaaaaaaaugh!!

The slippery slope has you now! I don't even think I need to note the utter fallacy of the 'Slipper Slope' argument, suffice to say I shan't be opposing any bills on increased sentences for Terrorists because I fear we'll suddenly be executing people for shoplifting.

What's worse is that in the last sentence he singlehandedly destroys his entire argument without realizing it. There's a very good reason why bad things happened re: ID schemes in Germany in the 1930s - they were under the control of the 3rd Reich. If at any point we decide Fascism is the way forward I'll be more inclined to protest the introduction of ID cards.

The next selection is all from one post, which got modded +3 Interesting.

A fair amount of debate yes: and all of it indicates a) it will be very expensive and b) we don't want it.

See first fisked comment in this post.

But Herr Blair and his propaganda minister Josef Blunkett (aka the blind facist) have decided that that is what we must have, and have it we will.

Oh dear. Someone's been reading too much Socialist Workers Weekly. Ah, truly I forgot Mr Blair ran under the auspices Nazi Party and that Mr Blunkette, a working class man and life long labour party member, is quite patently fascistic.

I think we Brits are getting to the point where we're as desperate to get rid of our right wing Prime Minister as you are to get rid of your right wing President.

Oddly enough this sentence actually makes sense. Because the opinion polls on both sides of the Atlantic show the populus are behind the current administrations. One other lesson from the Big Book of Socialism has evidently been well learned - anyone who's less left wing than you must be a right winger.

The ironic thing is that Blair is the leader of the Labour party: which was historically established to protect the rights of the working class (ie Socialist, left wing). Blair however seems to see his mission to kiss the arse of Corporate Britain and fuck the workers because if they disagree they're probably don't understand what he's saying.

I like many, joined the Labour party on the sole grounds of Mr Blair's "Workers Fucking" policy.

The scarey(sic) thing is a comment by Roy Hattersley (a leading old-school labour politician) that Tony Blair has a second rate mind: ie he's as thick as pig-shit. yet another thing he has in common with Bush it seems.

Ah yes. A trained and qualified Barrister - clearly a total thicko. If only he had your mental dexterity 'CountBrass'. If only.

Both Bush and Blair strike me as shining examples of why Universal Suffrage doesn't work. Personally I think you should have to pass an exam before you can vote. Only simple stuff like: "Who are the leaders of the 3 main parties?", "Who is the Constituional head of state?". Let's face it, if you can't answer questions like that a) you're not well enough informed to vote and b) you don't fucking deserve to be able to vote.

Allow me to paraphrase his work in relation to this last paragraph:

"STOP STOMPING ON THE PROLETARIAT MASSES!...... THE PROLETARIAT MASSES SHOULDN'T BE VOTING!" - Sounds like a member of the Politburo if you ask me :)

Ah the joys of Slashdot. Call someone a Nazi - Get Modded +3 Interesting/Insightful.

Later

John

In Today's Sunday Times...

Michael Portillo shows, once again the reason why he's one of the few people who 'gets it'.

The Israelis have a grim advantage over the rest of us. Their enemies leave no doubt that their objective is to destroy Israel. Without that clarity it would be difficult for a democracy to take the measures needed to win. Similarly, Americans after September 11 believed that Al-Qaeda's mission was to harm the United States in every conceivable way. Popular revulsion enabled the administration to implement some unusual restrictions, such as the detention without trial of fighters captured in Afghanistan.

Europeans are not so convinced that the terrorist threat is mortal. Tony Blair's decision to deploy troops to Heathrow aroused cynicism. Many were writing before the Madrid bombings that he was exaggerating the danger.

Ironic isn't it, that the only Conservatives who I'd vote for either turned out to be a complete joke (Chris Patten) or retired as Mr. Portillo has.

Read his article "Our victory over terror starts with a strong, secure Israel " if you get the chance, you shan't regret it.

Next Contestant for the Great Slashdot Fisk!

This time it's Iraq. This dude got modded to +5 Insightful. He's about to get modded -2 Fisked.

If I lived under a brutal dictatorship I would do everything to end it myself. Oh wait... I did that already. But it was another country and another dictator I got rid of. So maybe my opinion doesn't count.

And for sure: I would curse the country that basicly said: You are incompetent to deal with your dictator on your own, which we let go 10 years ago because we didn't want him away at this point.

We didn't want to get rid of him at that point? Where have you been living? What part of trade sanctions and the no-fly patrols with constant political pressure gave you that idea?

So this time we will bomb you into shock and awe, then we wreck or let wreck every public service that is and stop you from rebuilding it because we promised the contracts to our buddies first.

Wrecking all your public services? Actually at the moment some of those services are operating at above pre-war levels (water, electricity etc) in fact the water board has been given national control way ahead of the June 30th handover because it's been so competant at bring itself to its feet. I don't see any American companies 'profiteering' there.

What's more most of the damage done to public services has been done, and is still being done by insurgents. The systematic sabotage of oil, power, telecommunications, water and other services has been a hallmark of the insurgents and foreign fighters in Iraq.

As for Oil, the current production levels are through the roof and without the need to line anyone's pocket to get them there. Would it really be better if ELF was the company dealing with Iraqi Oil? What's more the coallition has said time and time again that the Iraqi Oil belongs to the Iraqi people and that the profits from that Oil will go to the Iraqi people - as it quite patently didn't during Saddam's reign.

What happened to let people decide for their destiny themselves? How long would Saddam Hussein have been in power if the U.S. just said: We don't care? One year? Two? Ok. There is the argument that this would have meant another 10000 or 20000 dead people on the hand of Saddam Hussein's regime every year.

See.. The problem with asserting that there would have been an uprising is quite simple. About 300,000 of the people who would have joined in were dead. Y'know - standard affair of bullet through head, body through shredding machine or into a mass grave.

How is that worse or better than the probably 30000 dead young men enlisted to the Iraqi army and the 15000 dead civilians? The so feared Republican Guards just disappeared. Those actively supporting Saddam Hussein knew when to hide. But not the young people who were serving an army they probably didn't like, but which died by defending the home of their families.

Err... 15000!? Would you care to wipe that number down because I'm fairly certain it wasn't pulled from a spring-fresh field if you know what I mean. Even the 'Maximum' bodycount estimates at Iraq Bodycount.net only stretches up to 10,769.

I do feel sorry for those who were forced to fight however I fail to see how the coalition forces can be blamed rather than the cowardly dogs who put their men on the front lines whilst they fled to safehouses and holes in the ground.

I can't hear anymore the argument that it was best for Iraq to get rid of Saddam Hussein by first bombing the land into chaos and then fail to have a contingency plan. What if Iraqi people were able to sort out Saddam Hussein themselves? Did anyone ever looked at the alternatives?

Yes we did, for many, many years but as I noted above a lot of people who might want to help out were somewhat on the dead side and naturally not having many of their compatriots with them I don't think many of the would-be revolutionaries would be willing to take on Saddam's men. They rose up in 1991 and we sat around agreeing to follow UN procedure. Good for international relations, pretty fucking bad for anyone in the vicinity of Iraq not professing their undying support for their glorious leader and 'victor' in the "Mother of All Battles".

Or was it that Saddam Hussein had to be removed by external force because otherwise the Iraqi would have dealt with him, and then the U.S. couldn't close the ring around Iran and Russia, because a selfliberated Iraq may have had no incentive to let them in?

Oh man.. Why did I even bother wasting time fisking this comment? That last paragraph told me everything I needed to know. New modding: (-5 Nutcase).

Kinda like shooting fish in a barrel.

Later

John

Fisking Slashdot

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

OK I love Slashdot. Really I do, I'm an avid reader and consider it as important as any other news source. Its greatest strength however is also its greatest weakness.

You want some insightful commentary about tech stuff - no better place to find it. Thousands of highly intelligent geeks with jobs or at least an interest in the tech sector make for good counsel.

However the whole Digital Rights Management melee and many other topics which aren't directly applicable to technology itself bring out something hideous. Something Fearful! Something Downright Nasty!

Geeks commenting on Laaaaaaaaaaw!

Nothing, and I repeat nothing is more farcical than people debating law who haven't studied it. I know for a fact that I'm not going to start arguing with some barrister about a point of law because he has had years of training ahead of my own and in the same way I laugh piteously at a layman who tries to argue about a matter of law with me.

Only the people on the ladder realize quite how far apart each rung is and how high the ladder itself can be.

So when geeks who are used to knowing everything about one matter (Perl, C++, System Administration etc) are given a matter they know a small bit about, they seem to fly off the handle and assume their pre-eminence in matters of technology applies.

Therefore I present to you - Fisking Slashdot:

"The thing is, I couldn't give a monkey's butt if Real Player goes away for good. It's second rate and noone likes it. What I do care about is the future of computer interfaces - and this ruling just put us nearer to the command prompt a further from minority report. So, let's say WMP is taken out for 'anti competitive' reasons. What next? Longhorn can't ship with Avalon (which was going to give me a cool 3d interface, a richer media experience, a touch of the future) becuase Macromedia get's scared that it will crush Flash and goes telling on them to the EU? How ridiculously unfair is it to tell a company that it can only add new features 'as long as they aren't very good features' (i.e. no chance of competing)? Would you want a bunch of dim-witted EU lawyers designing your next-gen product for you? AARRRGGGH."

Riiiiiiight. OK where to start.

Microsoft was fined for contravening Article 82. I'd rather not paste the Article details here so instead I'll give a summary of the established test for whether a breach of Article 82 has occurred:

1. The undertaking (any entity carrying on a commercial or economic activity including professionals, and public authorities when acting commercially and not in their official capacity) is in a dominant position (established in the case of Akzo v Commission if you want to go by Market Share, but the share can be as low as 39.7% as was held in Virgin v British Airways)

2. The dominant position is held within the common market or in a substantial part of it. (a single region of the union, even a town can be considered a "substantial part" of the EC for the purposes of this matter. Since Microsoft is everywhere this is a no-brainer)

3. The dominant position has been abused.

   This was defined by the European Courts of Justice in the case of Micheline v Commission:

   "Article 82 Covers practices which are likely to affect the structure of a market where as a direct result of the presence of the undertaking in question, competition has already been weakened and which, through the recourse to methods different from those governing normal competition in products or services based on traders' performance, have the effect of hindering the maintenance or development of the level of competition still existing in the market"

   Microsoft affected the market in 2 ways:

   Firstly they deliberately restricted interoperability between Windows PCs and non-Microsoft work group servers.

   Secondly they tied in Windows Media Player with it's Windows Operating System.

   To take the words of the commission themselves in their summary document:

   "The issue at stake in this case is ultimately the question of whether, pursuant to Article 82 of the Treaty, Microsoft provides to its competitors in the work group server operating system market the interoperability information that it has a special responsibility to provide."

   They commission held that... No! Microsoft wasn't doing any of that at all!

   Tying in Media Player is an obvious no-no as there is a huge body of case-law behind it where other companies breached Article 82 through it. The main cases on tying in products are Hilti AV v Commission, Tetra Pak and Vanden Bergh Foods.

4. The abuse may affect trade between member states.

   The commission deals with this in 6.2.1.1.4 of their decision which is available here.

So in summary. It's not wrong for Microsoft to add new features, it is however wrong for the company to tie these features into their operating system or to bundle them for free because by doing so they are contravening Article 82 and abusing their dominant position.

Stop bitching dude. They're guilty, they broke the law and contravened Article 82 by abusing their dominant position to throttle competition. European Lawyers won't be designing your products, they'll be the ones letting you design your products because Microsoft hasn't kicked you out of the market by abusing their dominant position. To put it simply you're paranoid and wrong.

Additional: Anti Competition law does not have as its aim, the prevention of any one company obtaining a dominant position in the market, indeed with the classification of a company having as little as 39.7% marketshare as 'dominant' (as was held in Virgin Atlantic/British Airways). It would be utterly nonsensical to suggest this.

Later

John

Read this now...

Do it.

Is there possibly a prime minister with a more idiotic policy on Iraq than Zapatero? It would appear so.

Oil for Food, l00t for France

More coverage of the biggest scandal in history.

Perhaps if we shout enough some mainstream new sources might pick it up.

Later

John

Fratelli d'Italia, l'Italia s'é desta,

Just got this, more or less via Tim Blair.

My countrymen are well served by this man. Al Jazeera refused to play the tape of the Italian's execution long enough to hear his last words because it was "too gruesome". Marines dismembered and strung up, dead coalition soldiers and the 'martyred' jihadists are all totally ok but Al Jazeera doesn't want to show brave defiance when it's on the side of the people rebuilding Iraq.

The man's last words and actions?

He tried to tear off his hood seconds before he was shot dead and screamed: "Now I'll show you how an Italian dies."

Forza Italia.

Mr. Moore

Ok... I really have no respect for Michael Moore, this fisking of his latest serving of tripe is surely reason enough for such a stance.

I've never felt so sickened by any single piece of work.

Later

John

Sorry for the Haitus

My father arrived on Friday for a visit so I took a 5 day Internet sabbatical.

We spent the weekend at the farm and played a lot of cards. Laughing till we couldn't remain seated, over games of "Bluff" and generally enjoying what we'd missed out on since last october - having our father around.

There is a pool at the farm, which has probably been used about 10 times in the estate's entire existence, the last instance being a good few years ago. This has left it with a great deal of time to stand. I am pleased to announce that it has reached such an advanced state of Algae-nation and that we now have resident ducks. Yep, they swim around, they quack, they eat pieces of bread and occasionally bob around under the water to chew on whatever has established itself in the viscous soup we once called a pool. Photographic evidence is provided in the Snapshot archives

The archives have in fact been augmented by another 6 photos. Today's snapshot is a view of the top of the drive at the farm. It represents the end, or start of a colossal half mile rally course through what was once well kept gravel. Drainage problems ensure that it the road is not only impossible to keep graveled but also bound to be partially flooded with several massive puddles to drive through. My friends who have cars (most of them) consider it great sport to tackle the drive at high speed, attempting Colin McRae style rally slides and whatnot. This is obviously not recommended what with the fields being filled with horses each at least 10 times as expensive as their vehicles.

In other news I am now the proud owner of an iSight, which means that, with a broadband connection I can do some video conferencing over iChat which would be 'mighty'. As it is I have a really very cute and stylish webcam peeking over my monitor, proving that just when I think my mac can't get any more desirable Apple works out a way of making it so.

I watched the entire 24 episodes of an Animé series called 'Evangelion' in 2 sittings with Conrad. It has 3 separate endings, all of which suck - no matter what many people might want to say, they all suck. From the original two episodes where they ran out of budget to the 2nd remake feature film. Sure I'm inviting the wrath of many Otaku and compulsive animé fans but the endings were a total disgrace.

Right, I'm off to eat something

Later

John

"China Leads the way!"

Ah, so good to see the people on the other side of the bamboo curtain are so well informed. Apparently online chatrooms are now feeling the wrath of angry mainlanders, who are insistent that Hong Kongers should sit down, shut up, stop rocking the boat and making waves.

A visitor to a sina.com chat room wrote: "What benefits will Hong Kong get from opposing the mainland? Would Hong Kong achieve today's prosperity without the mainland's reform and opening up policy, fast development and strong support?"

My word! How astute! Hong Kong's prosperity is clearly the result of China's Opening Up policies, implemented by Deng Xiaoping and the other recent Communist leaders of the glorious motherland! We cannot hope to prosper without following the example of our exalted leaders!

Please excuse me whilst I collapse in a fit of laughter!

The fact that Hong Kong's GDP per capita $27,200 and the PRC clocks up a massive $4,700 and that this disparity was even more pronounced before the hand-over in 1997, makes me wonder exactly what sort of bollocks the CCP has been telling citizens about their "prosperity". It seems to me that in order for Hong Kong to "achieve" china's level of economic clout Hong Kongers would have to crippled their own finances by a factor of over 1/5.

The only way I can see that happening is by means of fiscal mismanagement on a truly epic scale, the sort of corruption and decadence which is unprecedented in both its idiocy and magnitude... Actually come to think of it, the visitor was correct! The only way in which Hong Kong people can hope to achieve such 'prosperity' is through strict adherence to the Mainland way.

In short: "Communism is a joke. We're richer than you. Shut the hell up about financial matters"

If anyone is in a fit position to decide fiscal policy it's the Hong Kong people themselves. I'd rather trust the United Nations food for oil program with my savings and financial policy than the Politburo - and that's saying something.

To Do list: 1) Burn Flag 2) Collect Welfare Cheque

Outside a mosque today some extremist muslims gathered to rubbish the messages issued by clerics denouncing terrorism. They also burned a Union Flag for emphasis.

"There is nothing that me and you or the British services or the Government can do about stopping an attack in this country. There is nothing Tony Blair, this liar, can do to stop al Qaeda. There is nothing that MI5 or

MI6 can do to stop al Qaeda from bombing London."

Ok, now I'm a firm believer in free speech, but come on! Walking around London burning the flag and rooting for Al Qaeda is unspeakably atrocious. Surely this qualifies under Article 10(2) of the ECHR as an instance where a national authority is justified in infringing an individual's right to self-expression.

The group also serve to highlight a the marked distinction which must be drawn between those who practice Islam and those who disregard the teachings of intelligent scholars and instead follow the fatwah of Jihadists and fundamentalists. The vast vast majority is made up of peaceful and intelligent people and it is good to emphasize, though it has always been obvious that they will not tolerate such support for terrorism and murder.

I'd like to see that fact drummed into a few bigoted heads. Particularly the BNP who are doing rather well out of the upsurge in Islamo-Phobia (although still not nearly as well as they manage out of Anti-Semitism).

Seriously though, the whole damn ECHR contains sections which would qualify state action against this group and yet I wonder how long it will be before someone tries to infer some sort of infringement of their rights.

Later

John

Dear god...

So, who wants to hazard a guess as to which publication the following quote comes from?

With its crusades against Afghanistan and Iraq, Britain is party to a predictable return to anarchy in both countries. Muslims everywhere thus feel themselves targets of the West’s “exemplary violence”. They naturally seek comfort in group defensiveness. Britain treated the Catholics likewise in 19th-century Ireland and is still paying the price. We learn nothing from our past.

The Guardian? The Independent? The Mirror? Socialist Workers Weekly? No.

The Times, or more accurately Simon Jenkins' latest article.

The man is still seemingly insistent that the War on Terror is not only utterly unnecessary but that the 'Brutalism' favoured by George Bush and Tony Blair would be better replaced by 'neopacifism', a principle here detailed:

It means leaving alone countries where we do not belong, which do not threaten us and where our soldiers breed humiliation and violence. It means facing down the rantings of the security lobby and warmongers. It means denying terrorists the oxygen of publicity and the stimulus of overreaction.

So, in other words it means shutting up, sticking our collective heads in the sand and ignoring the threat to our society. It is not taking the fight to the terrorists and doing so in the absolute belief that they will reciprocate and cease hostililties. The principle, as Andrew Sullivan so eloquently articulated, is that in the face of terror, "the most important thing is to stick on your lapel name-labels, hurry down to the nearest hotel lobby and have a seminar".

This neopacifism is not a limp turning away from conflict.

Certainly Mr Jenkins and I'm Osama Bin Laden's cousin's daughter's friend's window cleaner.

Later

John