...

I don't know how to express how the news from Northern Ireland over the last few days makes me feel. The cynic in me wants to roll my eyes and think "it was only a matter of time", but Goddamn it I thought we were past all this shit.

What exactly does this accomplish for anybody?

Excuse me while I despair for my country and the people still living there.

And now, a message from the Auto Industry...

California Fallout

Via sonia-leong

This photo leapt out at me from a series of beautiful, yet tragic shots of the Californian wildfires. This one just took my breath away - I don't want to sound flippant but it looks unreal, pretty much exactly like a screenshot from Fallout 3. Which is supposed to be set in apocalyptic wastelands 200 years after a nuclear holocaust. Life imitating art. Very scary.

McCain on Spain

This whole story seems like an over-reaction. I've listened to the interview (the bit about Spain is ~2:58 in), and I don't blame McCain for getting confused. I'd read the transcript beforehand, and even then some of the presenter's pronunciation, especially across a phone line that fuzzy, could have been indistinct. If it had been a face-to-face interview in the studio, I seriously doubt there would have been a problem.

I can't believe how aggressively some bloggers are attacking McCain over this; rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt until an annoucement comes from his campaign, they're dogpiling him.

It's not a simple case of "he doesn't know where Spain is" versus "he thinks Spain are terrorists" - there's also the possibility that he simply misheard her and wasn't familiar with the Spanish PM's name - he's hardly the only American guilty of that.

Hell, I'm in Europe and I couldn't tell you the names of half the leaders in the continent. I didn't even know who the Northern Irish First Minister is right now before checking Wikipedia.

This is a bit old...

...but John Oliver Olivier's Political Theatre review, of the recent Senate all-night debate over the Iraq War withdrawal, is still hilarious.

Common sense beats Copyright

Excellent news - the government has rejected plans to extend British copyright law beyond its current 50-year limit, although this Yahoo article doesn't give space to anyone who's positive about the decision - not even any of the MPs who made the decision get any column inches.

Instead, all the quotes are from wounded pot/kettle industry executives accusing the government of failing to respect artists and performers.

"The UK is a world-beating source of great music, so it is frustrating that on the issue of copyright term the government has shown scant respect for British artists and the UK recording industry," John Kennedy, head of the IFPI body which represents the international recording industry, said in a statement.

"Some of the greatest works of British music will soon be taken away from the artists who performed them and the companies that invested in them."

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, which represents the British recorded music industry, said the government had failed its test to show support for British music.

"We will continue to put forward the strong case for fair copyright in Europe," he said. "It is profoundly disappointing that we are forced to do so without the backing of the British government."

The Register, meanwhile, give significantly more time (that being any at all) to the 11-page government report, as well as the cash-grabbing disappointment of obsolete musicians and space-wasting executives.

The government disagreed, citing the independent Gowers Review, in which ex-Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers probed the issue.

"The review... concluded that an extension would not benefit the majority of performers, most of whom have contractual relationships requiring their royalties be paid back to the record label," said ministers.

"[Gowers] considered not just the impact on the music industry but on the economy as a whole, and concluded that an extension would lead to increased costs to industry, such as those who use music – whether to provide ambience in a shop or restaurant or for TV or radio broadcasting – and to consumers... the review took account of the question of parity with other countries such as the US, and concluded that, although royalties were payable for longer there, the total amount was likely to be similar – or possibly less – as there were fewer revenue streams available under the US system."

The government position attracted vocal opposition from some artists. The BBC quotes 63-year-old groovester Roger Daltrey - whose first works will go out of copyright in seven years - as saying that musicians "enriched people's lives", and that they were "not asking for a handout, just a fair reward for their creative endeavours".

The Guardian quoted Fran Nevrkla, kingpin of Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), the outfit which collects the rakeoff from clubs, restaurants, and broadcasters: "This announcement effectively makes all performers and record companies second class citizens," he said.

IFPI spokesman John Kennedy said: "[...]Extending copyright term would promote vital investment in young talent and new music, all of which will help to secure the UK's future..."

This can't be good

China has announced that its report on the environmental impact of the country's industrial development has been indefinitely postponed.

I assume that means it's worse news than anyone had predicted.

UK forces accused of badger panic

Locals in Basra, Iraq are blaming the British armed forces for an outbreak of what they're calling "strange man-eating, bear-like beasts". One housewife described the terrorizing animal as "swift as a deer... It is the size of a dog but his head is like a monkey".

In fact, the creatures are apparently an indigenous species of honey badger, which a local vet insists that the animals have been living in the area since 1986.

The best quote of the piece goes to UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer:

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area."

Although, the Iraqi man who claims to have seen a badger eating one of his cows is pretty damn close.

More on Scooter Libby

Countdown's Keith Olbermann says it better than I ever could.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental compact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens — the ones who did not cast votes for you.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States.

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President… of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party.

I can't tell, yet, how this decision is resonating with the American public. I'm sure Fox News Faux Noise will manage to gloss over the facts and try to sweep the significance of this act under the carpet, but I hope to God that this will wake people up.

Obstruction of justice

Bush gave I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby a pass on thirty months of jail time.

Here's the President's rationale:

Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.I respect the jury’s verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting….

Libby was convicted of outing an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame - which, from my perspective (and George H W Bush's) looks pretty close to treason.

That Dubya would undermine the justice system so brazenly just to protect one of his pawns is insane - not to mention, it puts a completely different meaning behind his promise that, "If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is... If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of".

"Terrorism"

I've been bristling a little over the last few days every time the news mentions these "terrorist attacks" in London and Glasgow - so, every 30 seconds or so. I couldn't place my finger on why exactly - from all the available information, terrorism seemed as good a label as any.

But then I read this article from The Register, which managed to put into words exactly what I'd been thinking all along.

We're giving these guys too much credit.

Frankly, if this kind of thing is the only backlash the West experiences for Iraq, we've got off pretty much scot-free: we should indulge in a spot of military adventurism any time we feel like it.

Conversely, if this is all al-Qaeda have to offer, we should never have lost a moment's sleep over them - let alone shoved our valuable appendages into the military meat-grinder of Afghanistan (I'm choosing to assume here that al-Qaeda only became a serious presence in Iraq after we invaded the place. Argue among yourselves as to whether Saddam was more or less threatening than Osama).

Getting back to here and now, these have to be some of the most pathetic terror attacks ever - difficult to distinguish from minor accidents. For goodness' sake, a car is full of petrol anyway; and gas cylinders too often enough. People drive cylinders of gas around all the time. Now and again - oh my god! - they probably carry boxes of nails, bolts, tools or whatever in the same vehicle. (Aiee!)

Sometimes these fiends crash their cars, and sometimes the vehicles burn out. It's one of the costs of living in the industrial world; if people couldn't get fuel - portable energy - easily enough to have accidents with it, most of us would still be dirt-poor, illiterate, shovelling muck for a living and dying like flies from disease - rather than dying very rarely in car crashes or gas explosions.

This kind of event happens on the motorways almost every day, at least the petrol fires and often enough with the other hazards added. The roads get closed off as a result, sometimes for hours - just like the Haymarket did on Friday morning. It causes massive inconvenience to lots and lots of people.

But the perimeter is manned by firemen and traffic cops, not bomb teams and terror-feds. And so this weekend a minor news story - one injured in bunt-out car / suicide attempt causes travel chaos - becomes a big international media frenzy, a "test of the new Prime Minister's mettle," if you please.

There's a lot more on the site, and it's worthwhile to read it all, even if it's just as a counterpoint to all the hysteria bullshit that's even being spread in the US.

Not quite Sesame Street

Does anybody remember seeing this really weird news story? The Hamas-run al Aqsa TV station in Palestine used "Farfur", a Mickey Mouse look-alike character, to spread anti-Israeli propaganda to its children. The show featured a strong pro-Islamist slant, as well as encouraging young viewers to phone in and sing anti-Israeli songs.

The arguments kept going back and forward, with the Palestinian government eventually ordering the show off the air, although al Aqsa didn't comply in the end.

They did, however, kill the character off.

The Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa channel aired the last episode on Friday, showing the character, Farfur, being beaten to death by an "Israeli agent".

"Farfur was martyred defending his land," said the show's presenter Saraa.

In the final broadcast an actor said to be an Israeli agent tries to buy the land of the squeaky-voiced Mickey Mouse lookalike.

Farfur brands the Israeli a "terrorist" and is beaten to death.

He was killed "by the killers of children", Saraa says.

In an earlier show, Farfur had said: "You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists.

"We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."