Posts

John Brewer: Some Useful Free Software for Java Developers. I use most of the tools on his list, except for the testing stuff, which I really ought to be using. Salon has an interview today with Robert Young Pelton today. Pelton is an author everybody should be familiar with. He’s most famous for writing the quasi-travel guide The World’s Most Dangerous Places (which I read cover to cover a few years ago) and for roaming around the world from war zone to war zone hanging out with unsavory characters of all kinds. Anyway, his take on what’s going on in Afghanistan and in the war on terror is definitely worth reading. It’s not the end all and be all, but it’s a perspective worth absorbing. ...

For the files: more proof that the entertainment industry hates its customers. Janelle Brown has a long article at Salon today on drug testing in schools. She looked at schools that have implemented drug testing programs, and the anecdotal evidence she collected seems to indicate that it isn’t working. So Gates testified today. Alas, it seems to have been uninteresting. I haven’t tracked down a transcript yet. His written testimony is here, and 155 pages long. ...

My resolution for this week is to write some code that uses the Google API, and some code that uses the Amazon API. I wanted to do this last week but then I had to go to jury duty. My next door neighbors went to this protest yesterday. Jimmy Carter: America Can Persuade Israel to Make a Just Peace

My jury duty obligations are complete. I’ll post the gritty details later. Bill Gates is going to take the stand next week in the antitrust trial. Whether he fails spectacularly or succeeds, I respect his decision to represent his company in court. He ran the company as it built its monopoly, and he ought to be the one to explain what was going on at the time. Thor Heyerdahl, one of my childhood heroes, died yesterday at age 87. I can remember checking out the book on his reed boat, Ra, from the elementary school libary when I was a kid. He was an inspiration to anyone who doesn’t like to be told they’re wrong. ...

President Bush said in a speech yesterday that we’re going to step up to the plate in Afghanistan, but of course didn’t explain how. Immediately afterward Donald Rumsfeld basically shot down the idea that greater deployment of peacekeeping forces would play any part in the effort. And so it goes … Good news for Web developers who care about standards: Netscape, not IE, put on new CompuServe. Mozilla 1.0 Release Candidate 1 is out … you know you want it. ...

The New York Times has a good story today on an underreported topic, Palestinian refugees. It’s often easy to forget the huge numbers of Palestinian refugees living in Arab countries in a permanent state of limbo. I had jury duty today (and probably will have it through the end of the week), so things here are a bit slow. On the upside, I’ll post a quick recap of my experience in the US courts system when it’s all over and I’m allowed to talk about it. ...

Frank Rich gives it to the Bush administration with both barrels in his latest piece, The Bush Doctrine, R.I.P. Here’s a choice passage: If there’s a consistent pattern to the administration’s arrogance, it’s that when the president has an id

You know, here’s why I find it pointless and irritating to consider choosing sides in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. You’re forced to make judgements about whether this justifies this, or vice versa. That’s not for me. I’ve thought for a long time that we don’t have enough resignations in this country, generally speaking. One thing that’s very American is to hold out until the bitter end. Disgraced yourself? Failed spectacularly? Disappointed everyone who was counting on you? Don’t sweat it … keep soldiering on, regardless. ...

Here are my thoughts on the International Criminal Court: not participating is good, unsigning a treaty we already signed is bad. My fundamental issue with the court is the level of sovereignty I’m comfortable with. I’m not a libertarian, but I do feel like accepting rulings from international tribunals could potentially be a big mistake. And the thing is that the worst offenders are not going to submit to its jurisdiction for sure. Will we ever see Chinese officials tried before the court for their vicious suppression of political dissenters? Somehow I doubt it. ...

So last night I watched Charlie Rose (for like the first time ever), because I saw that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (who just won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary) was on. I’ve been impressed by Friedman’s columns since I became aware of them, and I was even more impressed by him in the interviews. Friedman has an incredible grasp on what’s going on in the Middle East, and holds a nuanced and balanced view of all of the parties involved. He has some specific criticisms of both Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat that are spot on, I think, and explains quite well why the peace processes of the past have failed. ...