Yes, loyal servant of Lord Steve (now thankfully back in his post as CEO) that I am, I ordered the new iPhone 3G S in advance and got mine on the appointed day and, unlike others apparently, was able to activate in minutes. Verdict: Best. Toy. Ever… or almost ever for this aging boy. It’s also a dangerous toy with many gee-gaws to attract and distract while driving. And that’s indeed a problem, as anyone who has lived in or visted SoCal can attest, because no one drives much over ten mph on our roads or freeways anymore. Too crowded. They’re more like conveyor belts. We move along like stop and go snails, the stopping parts being the majority. So an iPhone beside you is indeed a useful but dangerous distraction. You can read Instapundit, the dreaded NYT, and on and on. Even the new compass is an amusing plaything. (What direction am I going? Oh, that’s northwest. All these years I thought it was northeast, etc.)
I also enjoy searching for apps. I have downloaded many I have not used, including language dictionaries for trips not taken. My latest is Trapster, a program that monitors speed traps. I just used it and it located my house and various points around it, saying aloud, “Police often hide here.” In those instances, I have the evidence (tickets) to prove they are right. So maybe this one works, if there’s ever little enough traffic to ever speed again.
But what induced me to buy the latest iPhone is the addition of video. It’s not great, but it’s certainly sufficient. I shot the above quickie of my office a few minutes ago, then emailed it to myself and put it up here, lickety-split. So I’m ready if, speaking of quickies, I catch some Senator en flagrante delicto. You never know these days. And I do a lot of flying.
All of a sudden… well, not quite all of a sudden, but recently… I have noticed my liberal friends (except for the most extreme and knee-jerk) are not very interested in discussing man-made global warming. The subject rarely comes up and, when it does, it is passed over quickly, given only a nod. It’s as if that was last year’s - or last decade’s - fad, at the very moment the House of Representatives has been browbeaten by LaPelosita into voting for a cap-and-trade bill no known person has read, let alone understood.
Scratching my head, I watched CSPAN when John Boehner read a bit of it on the house floor. Then my local congressman Henry Waxman received his plaudits as sponsor of the bill. I wondered if, somewhere deep inside him, Henry was worried. I know he has virtually no scientific training. He has even admitted in hearings that he relies on “experts.” Doesn’t he ever wonder if he picked the wrong ones? Is he aware of accusations the EPA just suppressed a skeptical global warming report from a graduate of CalTech and MIT? (Yes, I know his MIT degree is economics, but the CalTech is physics. Henry’s degree is in poli sci from UCLA.) Oh, well, history will resolve this - or not. In the short term I suggest Waxman et al have a read of Brecht’s Galileo. [Useless. They'll probably think they're Galileo and not the reactionary prelates.-ed. You're right. My bad.]
Anyway, it’s clear that the natives are restless. According to The Hill, One Democrat was upset that his leaders would needlessly force vulnerable Dems to vote for a bill that will come back to haunt them. Mississippi Rep. Gene Taylor (D) voted against the measure that he says will die in the Senate.
“A lot of people walked the plank on a bill that will never become law,” Taylor told The Hill after the gavel came down.
It will be interesting to see whether Obama will really put his weight behind this one - or if he will let LaPelosita twist.
I don’t know. I’m not a scientist - and even if I were I might still be confused. But that’s the point. Our scientifically-challenged legislators (Nancy Pelosi can barely speak coherent English, Al Gore nearly flunked out of divinity school) are about to enact a monumentally expensive, tax regressive “climate change” bill at the very moment AGW skepticism is growing in the rest of world. From the WSJ:
Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as “deniers.” The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life in Australia, Europe, Japan and even, if less reported, the U.S.
In April, the Polish Academy of Sciences published a document challenging man-made global warming. In the Czech Republic, where President Vaclav Klaus remains a leading skeptic, today only 11% of the population believes humans play a role. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to tap Claude Allegre to lead the country’s new ministry of industry and innovation. Twenty years ago Mr. Allegre was among the first to trill about man-made global warming, but the geochemist has since recanted. New Zealand last year elected a new government, which immediately suspended the country’s weeks-old cap-and-trade program.
The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. — 13 times the number who authored the U.N.’s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world’s first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak “frankly” of her nonbelief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming “the worst scientific scandal in history.” Norway’s Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the “new religion.” A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton’s Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled. (Both Nature and Science magazines have refused to run the physicists’ open letter.)
This is one of the greatest examples ever of “politics as religion,” people (our Congress) blinded by ideology to a degree that might impress the mullahs. Oh, well. It’s only our money and our country.
For the record, I will repeat “I am a anthropogenic global warming agnostic.” It’s possible that I am wrong about this. But the idea that Nancy Pelosi et al are making decisions for us on this matter, when it is light years beyond their mental compass, is truly frightening. They are shameless and we are pathetic for electing them.
Here’s one last interesting example. A Congresswoman named Ellen Tauscher, Democrat from San Francisco’s East Bay, is so convinced of the veracity of AWG that she postponed resigning from Congress (she has a new job with the administration) to vote for the bill. Ms. Tauscher’s educational background? She has a degree in early childhood education from Seton Hall.
Okay, I just thought I’d try that headline to see if it generates a lot of traffic on RSS. I am also responding to a commenter named “Ted” who, trying to be constructive I am sure, kindly pointed out that I haven’t posted since yesterday, leaving the Sanford hanky-panky at the top, even though my point was that the governor’s love life was sucking all the media air out of crucial matters like Iran. [Is that Ted Kennedy?-ed. Well, that's one pol you can be sure won't be calling attention to Sanford's affairs.]
Maybe the hed should have been “Ahmadinejad Admits Affair - Mousavi Gloats!” but, in any case, the big A-jad news of the day is certainly not admitting any affair - this is one guy we know would never admit anything until they slice his head off - it’s his attack on Obama:
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday called the U.S. president inexperienced, compared him unfavorably to President George W. Bush and suggested he apologize for “interfering in Iran’s affairs.”
“Do you think that this kind of behavior is going to solve any of your problems? It will only make people think you are someone like Bush,” the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Ah, Bush Derangement Syndrome. Somebody ought to tell A-jad it’s getting a little passe. By Labor Day, it may even be gone. But A-jad continues: “You are at the beginning of your way and you are gaining experience, and we do not wish the scandals of the Bush era to be repeated during your term of office.”
Wait a minute. Is Ahmadinejad smarter than we think he is? Is he trying to make an ally of Obama? They obviously both have a vested interest in the preservation of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Well, this one depends whether you think Ahmadinejad is crazy like a fox or just plain crazy. It’s probably a little bit of both.
Meanwhile, the protests in Iran seem to be diminishing in size as the violence increases. But something tells me this is not over yet… Although there is one thing that probably is over, Obama’s plan to negotiate with the Iranians. At least I hope it is.
We all know politicians are narcissists who very often cheat on their wives (Clinton, Edwards, Ensign and, now, Sanford… among scores of others). We also know that the myriad hypocrites on both sides of the political ledger try to make hay out of this for their own brain dead ideological reasons. (Some boring dork on MSNBC is blathering on right now about the “GOP Brand, etc.,” as if Edwards and Clinton were good for the Democratic Brand - unless that brand is serial adultery.)
Nevertheless, Mark Sanford’s out-of-control Father’s Day jaunt to Buenos Aires is particularly ill-timed, not just because of the obvious disrespect to his wife, children, friends, citizens of his state, political party, etc.
Reason: IRAN.
At this moment, the eyes of this country should be fixed on the horrific events coming from that company and the struggle for freedom against all odds by many of its brave citizens. They need our support more than anything. Instead - and it doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict this - our cable networks will be treating us to wall-to-wall Argentinean hanky-panky cum gubernatorial soap opera when an historical event of titanic proportions is taking place. Well, that’s testosterone. We’ll see how our media does in keeping a decent focus.
UPDATE: Sanford was in Buenos Aires for a week; the same week Iran was in ferment, demonstrators being beaten in the streets. It’s kind of like Hiroshima, Mon Amour in reverse. The Anchoress has more
MORE: If you’re looking to do more about Iran, you can protest Nokia’s giving advanced Internet monitoring equipment to the Islamic Republic here.
Courtesy of Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, I have received two more brutal links from inside Iran. The situation inside the country is obviously getting worse. I don’t know how we should respond to this, but it’s clear information is important. Obama continuing his plan to negotiate with mullahs is execrable and a complete betrayal of these brave people in the streets that you see in these videos. Also, I wonder what has happened to the Fourth of July invitation linked below. Banafasheh and Michael Ledeen will be on PJTV later today to discuss the ongoing crisis.
Break out the Dodger Dogs, Mahmoud! Americans who spent the past week transfixed by the brutal shooting of Neda Soltan and related horrifying events in Iran may be astonished to learn the following:
The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.
President Barack Obama’s administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national holiday for the first time since the two nations severed relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
“There’s no thought to rescinding the invitations to Iranian diplomats,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
“We have made a strategic decision to engage on a number of fronts with Iran,” Kelly said. “We tried many years of isolation, and we’re pursuing a different path now.”
It’s almost impossible to comment, except to note the article quoted is by Agence France Presse and we all know the wildly differing responses to the situation in Iran between French President Sarkozy and Barack Obama.
So, my “realist” friends at the State Department, continue with your “different path.” And don’t let the ghosts of murdered Iranian freedom fighters disturb your sleep. A few more words from Barack’s silver tongue and Ayatollah Khamenei will surely give up nuclear weapons. I mean it’s a wonder he hasn’t done it already.
And, Ian Kelly, here’s a new video to share with your friends and family on the Fourth. Think about it when you want to play “Let’s make a deal” with the Ayatollahs.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting extensively on the sale of advanced web monitoring equipment to Iran by a joint venture of Germany’s Siemens and Finland’s Nokia.
Interviews with technology experts in Iran and outside the country say Iranian efforts at monitoring Internet information go well beyond blocking access to Web sites or severing Internet connections.
Instead, in confronting the political turmoil that has consumed the country this past week, the Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection, which enables authorities to not only block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it for disinformation purposes, according to these experts.
Much of this technology comes from the joint venture, which now has blood on its hands. Siemens has “been there and done that” (profited from fascism) and should have known better, but it didn’t.
In any case, if you can construct advanced equipment of this nature, there’s a good chance you know how to jam or override it. The joint venture should provide this information as quickly as possible to people and organizations that can do something about this before it is used for even more nefarious purposes (when Iran gets the bomb). Other high technology companies should immediately desist from dealing with Iran. That includes General Electric, whose record on Iran is checkered at best. Technology companies who do not do this voluntarily should be boycotted. Due to Twitter, etc., this is probably happening already. A significant number of people - myself included - will not be thinking of Nokia for their next cell phone.
Giving advanced equipment to the mullahs is sort of like handing a loaded machine gun to Charles Manson.
UPDATE: Credit is due Eli Lake who was already reporting extensively on Siemens and Iran in an April edition of the Washington Times.
AND: Apparently Nokia constitutes 41.2% of the current smartphone market. I just bought an iPhone 3GS. I recommend it.
Sunday was supposed to be a day off for the demonstrators, but, as the man said, I guess that depends on what your definition of “day off” is. The following videos for Sunday were passed to me by Ardeshir Arian. The second shows quite a crowd. In the third, people are taking refuge in a retail store to avoid arrest.
Ardeshir also informs me that the influential House Speaker Ali Larijani is switching sides in the ever Byzantine relations between the mulllahs and now may be favoring his old enemy Rafsanjani. That would be good news for Mousavi and the demonstrators, but who knows?
Coming up - a general strike on Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are days of mourning.
You know when the Islamic Republic admits ten “terrorists” died in the demonstrations that the numbers are much greater. It’s unlikely we will ever know how much greater, but the death toll is most likely depressing, as well as the number tortured (in the real sense, not the Abu Ghraib sense).
Meanwhile, Debka file is wondering about the protection of Iranian nuclear assets in the current situation. Are they open to theft by Al Qaeda? Similar disappearances of fissile materials occurred during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
AND: This video, just off Twitter (#iranelection), certainly looks like a country in civil war.
