I didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning.

After Suzanne went back up to the room, I was still feeling froggy. I went back down to the Gnomedex lobby area and chatted with Mike for well over an hour. As the 2 AM witching hour approached, I wasn't yet ready to call it a night. I didn't really feel much like hitting the streets so I checked out the dance club in the hotel. I didn't crash until four in the morning. Suzanne finally succeeded in waking me up at 8:30 this morning. Now I'm whipped! I'm exceedingly happy that there's a Starbuck's in the hotel lobby.

Can I please call it Faux News now?

This wasn't actually posted until 10:30 AM Tahoe time. I tried like hell to get it up last night (keep your mind out of the gutter), but I was having no luck at all. This is what I was thinking around midnight last night.

I realize that this isn't the norm, but I'm still frequently bothered by Fox News. I'm not bothered by their opinion-based prime-time programming. I'm bothered by the whole "Fair and Balanced" thing. Hell, it doesn't matter much anyway. I watch MSNBC at home because I find Keith Olbermann to be extraordinarily entertaining.

Sad news...

It's exceedingly sad that Lori Hacking's body has been found, but it might be possible to find slight solace in the fact that she can now be given a proper burial.

Suzanne and I went to our room after the band finished and the prize giveaways were done. We watched a little bit of the vidiot box but I was feeling fairly antsy. I'm still antsy. I convinced her that we could at least head down to where we have free wi-fi. The area has mainly cleared out, but there are a few people left yakking about everything tech under the sun. Entertaining...

If you haven't heard by now, John Kerry and El Dubya had a little debate on Thursday evening. I didn't watch a great deal of it because the canned responses would have probably pissed me off. David Cobb and Michael Badnarik also had a debate on Thursday evening. Who are those guys? A free registration (including details like phone number) is required at the Free-Market News Network, but they have archived video of the debate between Cobb and Badnarik. It's entirely too bad that Badnarik and Cobb won't be seen with Dubya and JFK. What do you expect, a democratic process?

Howwwwwwwwwwwwwwdy-ho!

It's pretty much the end of the first official day of Gnomedex. The schedule for the day was as listed at the Geeks Gone Wild conference schedule for October 1. This is the third year that we have attended Gnomedex. The previous years had individual speakers speaking one at a time. The previous years saw individuals like Leo Laporte, Doc Searls, John C. Dvorak, Rob Malda, and a number of other people speaking. The format for this year was panels. I enjoyed the format change. This years speakers are listed at the schedule link above. I enjoyed the dialogue generated by having the panels. The Silicon Valley Houserockers are rockin' the house and being interrupted every once in a while by the folks from Via who are bound and determined to hand out a crapload of prizes and Gnomedex swag. That's cool!

Well, we made it to Gnomedex relatively unscathed!

Here are the first pictures I've taken. They're not awesome or anything, but they're a start.

Dude, our hotel in Chicago (Des Plaines actually) has an Indian TV channel with Indian soaps...

OK, so that's not really quite my speed (or Suzanne's). In fact, she just flipped the channel. I'm normally the one who wants to gain knowledge (or at least hear the news) by watching the idiot box.

Congratulations to Judge Victor Marrero. He's the judge who wrote today's opinion that portions of Patriot's investigation rules and non-disclosure requirements are un-Constitutional. Here's the conclusion:

"To summarize, the Court concludes that the compulsory, secret, and unreviewable production of information required by the FBI's application of 18 U.S.C. § 2709 violates the Fourth Amendment, and that the non-disclosure provision of 18 U.S.C. § 2709(c) violates the First Amendment. The government is therefore enjoined from issuing NSLs under § 2709 or from enforcing the non-disclosure provision in this or any other case, but enforcement of the Court's judgment will be stayed pending appeal, or if no appeal is filed, for 90 days."

I don't hate the government or any of the people we have elected (or hopefully might send packing back to Crawford). I just drastically disagree with them and I think they want too much space in our lives. Patriot was a knee-jerk reaction after an extraordinarily traumatic event. It's time to go back to the drawing board and make sure that we are protected but safe under the Constitution. John ("To those who pit Americans against immigrants, and citizens against non-citizens, to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America’s friends. They encourage people of good will to remain silent in the face of evil. Our efforts have been crafted carefully to avoid infringing on constitutional rights while saving American lives.") Ashcroft's phantoms might be real after all.

If you're wondering about that 18 U.S.C. § 2709 thing, look no further than this link.

Lake Tahoe, we're almost on the way!

Are the "war on terror" and/or our little adventure in Iraq a war against Islam?

I happen to believe that they come dangerously close. Why? No, it's not because the overwhelming majority of present day transnational terrorists are radical adherents of Islam. It's because of the things our country does. For some reason, many of our elected leaders feel morally responsible for ensuring that democracy, tolerance, diversity, and many other facets of our way of life take root and thrive in other countries. One of the latest examples was the 2004 report from the State Department on International Religious Freedom.

Why do I believe that America's overwhelming desire to see other countries accept freedom, diversity, and tolerance partially constitute a battle against Islam? Islam means submission. I believe that it would be possible for a predominantly Muslim country to hold free elections and follow parts of our way of life (if they desired). However, there are portions of life which are completely bound with the requirement to submit. That requirement for submission would preclude some of the tolerance and acceptance of diversity that many in the West see as prime virtues of a free society.

Our operation in Iraq was primarily based on "WMD". When it began to appear that WMD wouldn't be found, the thrust started to move to, "But we freed an oppressed people from a brutal dictator." Later on in the occupation, some talk of a Constitution based on Sharia law started to occur. We couldn't have that! Paul Bremer threatened to put the kibosh on that. Such a constitution wouldn't be in line with our desire to have a democracy in the Middle East.

The Michael Ledeens of the world try to brush aside the naysayers by using Reagan's "victory" against those damn pinko Commies as proof that America can and will force her values elsewhere in the world. What price did that come at? In the book Imperial Hubris, the anonymous author recollects a Senate hearing from the 80s in which a Senator acted surprised that the future Afghan leaders would be "anti-American Muslims". What enemies of our future are we supporting/creating in our current campaigns? Only time will tell...

There is a time to be brutally vicious. We've already missed on one count. Osama's head wouldn't be a magic bullet to stop the "war on terror". However, it would show that we're not screwing around when we say "dead or alive".

All of that gets away from the point that, for some reason, we think that the religious affairs of other countries need to be conducted as they are in America. That is arrogant. It also comes dangerously close to being "fightin' words".

I've finally done it...

No, I haven't figured out the answer to any fundamental questions of life (e.g. "Why are we here?") yet. However, I finally got my Badnarik for President yard sign put in my front yard.

Take two...

My mother called during the initial airing of Persons of Interest. It was good to talk to her and she was wishing us a good trip to Gnomedex. I could have recorded it on the Replay earlier I suppose. I just didn't think about it...

So far, this show is pretty good. It's not a lightning-paced anti-terror flick. It's just the story of twelve of the thousands of people who were detained after 9/11. I'll break to actually pay attention to this documentary now.

Ta-ta!

In the never-ending quest to find something interesting on the boob tube...

I was checking out this evening's listings. We normally watch The Screen Savers followed by Countdown on MSNBC. I was looking to see what comes on at 8 PM (Central). I noticed a documentary called Persons of Interest. We're going to watch that. It's too bad that this is currently only seeing airtime on The Sundance Channel. From the film's website, here's a brief description of what the show is about:

"After the Sept.11 terrorist attacks, more than 5,000 people, mainly non-U.S. nationals of South Asian or Middle Eastern origin, were taken into custody by the U.S. Justice Department and held indefinitely on grounds of national security. Muslim immigrants were subject to arbitrary arrest, secret detention, solitary confinement, and deportation. Many were denied access to legal representation and communication with their families. During a period when the U.S. government has made every effort to depersonalize these detentions, refusing to reveal the names or even the number of immigrants detained, the voices of those affected — their testimonials and experiences — become our only window into the human costs of post September 11th immigration policies. Following an unconventional format, Persons of Interest presents a series of encounters between former detainees and directors Alison Maclean (Jesus’ Son) and Tobias Perse in an empty room which serves both visually and symbolically as an interrogation room, home, and prison cell. Through interviews, family photographs, and letters from prison, the directors have fashioned a compelling and poignant film, allowing those affected a chance to tell their own stories."

A haiku 4 U....

Imperialist?
Hell no! Not the U S A!
Only led by dweebs!

I thought about making the title "A haiku a day keeps (something) away" but I didn't know if I'd have the discipline to keep it up.

That one was inspired by a few bottles of Guinness, just viewing Kill Bill: Volume 1, surfing the Children of Acid website, general boredom, general dislike of either of the two big party candidates, and probably a few other things.

Kill Bill was interesting. I'm not even totally sure why we didn't bother to see either of the Kill Bill movies in the theater. I can't wait to see the second part.

Suzanne and I were driving around town yesterday afternoon and we actually saw a Badnarik for President lawn sign in someone's front yard. I don't believe that this is one of the individuals we've seen at any of the local Badnarik in 2004 meetups. Maybe the word is getting out slowly. I haven't done as much as I should have. I need to rectify that situation...