Monday, April 08, 2002

The encryption sub-key on my PGP public key will expire in a few days, so I generated a new encryption sub-key, good for another year. If you have downloaded my "PGP key" in the past, I recommend doing so again. Incidentally, this message is also my first use of "shortcuts" (formerly known as glossaries) in Radio. I use them all the time in Frontier, they're incredibly useful. comment () trackback ()  3:08:23 PM     Afghan Poppy Farmers Revolt. Tribal poppy farmers in eastern Afghanistan opened fire on provincial officials surveying their fields as a government program to eradicate opium poppies began Monday. At least one official was reported killed. [AP World News] Whiskey Rebellion, anyone? Hopefully the Afghan farmers won't fold as easily as the American farmers did... comment () trackback ()  1:54:20 PM     Debate in the margins. In a related development, a comment I posted on John Robb's weblog spiralled into a full blown debate, until an anonymous revisionist wiener-boy joined in who doesn't consider the state of Israel to be legitimate. What the media don't seem to get is that this is the view of most so-called moderate Palestinians and Arabs who see the peace process as only a stepping stone toward Israel's ultimate dissolution. Retreating to pre-1967 borders is therefore in their view a good first step to getting to pre-1948 borders, especially as it leaves Israel more vulnerable militarily. Sorry, no deal. Israel's existence and legitimacy is not negotiatiable. Never Again. [Michael Bernstein's Weblog] The link to John Robb's log is incorrect. The comments are actually linked to this post. I think that Israel could withdraw from most of the occupied territories (but not the Golan Heights) safely. After all, the IDF was able to defend those borders three times when it was weaker than it is now. The real danger comes from being caught unprepared, as they were in 1973. One idea I've had for what the Israelis could do is something like this: give the Palestinians what they say they want. Make big public announcements say, "we offered to give the Palestinians their country and Arafat refused, so now we're going to force them to accept." Then withdraw all the settlers to Israel (taking care to leave no intact settlements behind), and say to the Palestinians, "good luck, you're on your own." From then on, maintain a close watch on the border and shoot any living thing that sets foot across it. No exceptions, it doesn't matter if it's a teenage boy or an ambulance or a little girl with a doll. Don't leave the Palestinians any way to get their terrorists into Israel. Of course, the Palestinian territories are not at all self-sustaining, and if cut off from Israel many of them would starve. If any of their "Arab brothers" want to help out, they would be welcome to. No doubt the Arab countries would be perfectly willing to let the Palestinians starve. If at some point in the future the Palestinian people decide to get rid of the PLO and start behaving like civilized human beings, the border restrictions could be lifted. comment () trackback ()  12:25:32 PM     SF Chronicle: Sony puts a new twist on handhelds. They also have the biggest, highest-resolution screens -- 320 by 480 pixels, compared with only 160 by 160 pixels in most Palm OS devices. They display text in big, bold fonts and images or even video in up to 65,536 gorgeous colors. Both text and graphics are amazingly sharp and clear... [Tomalak's Realm] This is interesting--I wasn't aware the Palm OS supported asymetric screens. I have seen the 320x320 screen they use currently, and it's quite nice. comment () trackback ()  11:50:43 AM     First Wave of Homeschoolers Comes of Age. Many homeschooled young adults say that being freed from the rigidity and conformity of high school allowed them to explore their individuality, creativity and independence. [Fox News] This isn't surprising at all. The whole purpose of public schools is to promote rigidity and conformity, and to stifle individuality, creativity, and independence. People like to talk about our public schools failing, but in reality they succeed wonderfully at their intended purpose. comment () trackback ()  11:48:15 AM     Our detractors who say, unfairly, that we don't have an appreciation for continuity at UserLand should consider that website framework apps of 1996 still run in 2002, in the same way that today's web browsers can display sites that were built in 1996. [Scripting News] I can't speak for "website framework apps," but the Orange-Road.com web site, created in Frontier 4 in 1998, is not compatible with Frontier 5 or later. That's a major part of the reason I still use Frontier 4.2.3a, in fact. comment () trackback ()  10:56:20 AM     Sharon unmoved by US pressure. Israel's prime minister says the campaign in the West Bank will continue, as the Palestinians vow to resist his "criminal war". [BBC News: world] Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said the military campaign in the West Bank will continue until "terrorist organisations" are crushed, despite calls by the US to pull out immediately. [...] The Palestinian leadership responded by saying it would resist Mr Sharon's "criminal war" and accused him of seeking "to break" the Palestinian Authority. Here's something you don't see every day--Palestinians agreeing with Ariel Sharon. After all, "crush terrorist organizations" is synonymous with "break the Palestinian Authority." comment () trackback ()  10:37:52 AM     Libertarians: Reliance on government up. Carrying the party's message of abolishing taxes, gun control laws, and social programs in favor of personal freedoms, Harris said the wave of new powers given to government authorities such as the FBI to fight terror would mortify the founding fathers. [Boston Globe] This is surprisingly good coverage from the mainstream media. The Los Angeles Times, my local newspaper, refuses to admit that the Libertarian Party even exists. comment () trackback ()  10:23:22 AM

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