1/19    I prefer to align my politics with people *really* in the know on
        these sorts of things:
        http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/52957p-49641c.html

1/19    CHEW ON THIS by Christopher Hitchens
        http://www.thestranger.com/current/feature2.html
        \_ [formatd was all over this thread]
        \_ I have a lot of respect for Mr. Hitchens, and his
           arguments changed my mind about the war against
           the Taliban. He makes good points, and I will
           chew on them for a while.
        \_ I have a lot of respect for Mr. Hitchens, and his arguments changed
           my mind about the war against the Taliban. He makes good points, and
           I will chew on them for a while.
           \_ Don't you mean war against Islam?
              \_ Let's be honest: what's wrong with a war against Islam?
                 Or my favorite, "this is a war about oil!".  Ok, so what?
                 I can agree to that.  I also have no problem with that.  Go
                 live in a cave for a year and tell me it isn't worth it.  You
                 won't even have a bicycle without oil, much less kuro5hin or
                 slashdot or any of the rest of the leftist too-young-to-get-it
                 net denizens.  Same thing for the Euros who want the yankees
                 go home.  Let em defend themselves with their own budgets.
                 Go read any press in the world.  Read the Arab's own media and
                 they make it clear they consider themselves at war already.
                 \_ It's wrong to kill people to save $0.50 on each gallon
                    of gasoline that you buy.  What is your point about "living
                    in a cave" if we don't get cheap oil?  Americans waste gas.
                    If America wants that, then we should be responsible enough
                    to pay the price and not get it dishonestly from other
                    countries.  Also,  why should young men die to save you
                    a bit of money?  Would you do the same for them?
                    If this is about nuclear weapons, then the situation is
                    different.  But then again,  Bush doesn't have enough
                    credibility to avoid appearing disingenuous.
                        \_ Even if this was just about oil (which it is not),
                           the price of oil doesn't just show up at the pump.
                           Any increase in the price of oil also shows up in
                           every store due to the increased cost of shipping
                           (ground and air). It also shows up in the increased
                           cost of petrochemical products (plastics, etc.).
                           Energy efficiency might offset some of the cost
                           increase, but not all of it. Ultimately the people
                           who end up being affect by higher oil prices are
                           ordinary ave americans (the same ones whose kids
                           are dying for lower oil prices). What it means to
                           these people is colder winters, less presents under
                           the christmas tree, fewer shoter vacations, less
                           \_ "simple decent lifestyle" ha.  Americans are buying
                               SUV's in droves.  They make up like 25% of all
                               new cars.  They are expensive and wasteful.
                               Go over to East Palo Alto.  If you don't see
                               an SUV in the driveway,  it will probably
                                be a Camaro or something.
                                Also,  should American soldiers die for all of
                                this?  I thought they were out to defend freedom
                                Why don't people fucking LIVE closer to work
                                instead of expecting American soldiers and
                                Iraqis to die to maintain their lifestyles?
                           time with their families because of longer hours or
                           multiple jobs. Basically, a complete destruction of
                           of their simple decent lifestyle.
                           \_ "simple decent lifestyle" ha.  Americans are
                              buying SUV's in droves.  They make up like 25% of
                              all new cars.  They are expensive and wasteful.
                              Go over to East Palo Alto.  If you don't see an
                              SUV in the driveway,  it will probably be a Camaro
                              or something.  Also,  should American soldiers die
                              for all of this?  I thought they were out to
                              defend freedom Why don't people fucking LIVE
                              closer to work instead of expecting American
                              soldiers and Iraqis to die to maintain their
                              lifestyles?

                 \_ the US is the largest producer of oil in the world.
                    Also the largest importer.
                    \_ It's politically easier to get oil from Iraq than from
                       drilling off the California coast or some god forsaken
                       patch in Alaska.
                        \_ doofus, those are the wells which are already
                           drilled and producing oil.
                 \_ Because a war about reducing the bottom line for the
                    wealthiest corporations in the world doesn't sound anywhere
                    near as noble as protecting the citizens of this country.
                    Our leaders like to sound very noble.  Especially when
                    they send young, dumb kids into combat situations which
                    their own family was wise or connected enough to keep them
                    out of.
                    \_ Bottom line?  Yawn.  Keep reading the little red book.
                       It's not about corporations.  They don't have a bottom
                       line.  They pass all costs along.  It's about your life
                       style in the short to mid term and your freedom in the
                       long term.
              \_ Actually he means the coming war on Iraq, or should anyway
                \_ No, I mean what I say. He had a big split
                   with The Nation over the war in Afghanistan.
         \_ Wow, I thought C.H. was a big Euro Liberal.  What happened?
            \_ He grew up?
            \_ Hitchens is still a big Euro liberal, but he believes that
               the defining elements of liberalism are a belief in self-
               determination, democracy, freedom of speech, equal rights
               and tolerance for others. He is right on the mark here. He
               also believes that defending these values is more imporant
               than pacifism, or the liberal tendency to try to come to
               non-violent solutions to problems. He states that Islamic
               societies are opposed to everything that liberals hold
               dear, and that a violent aggressive self-defence is
               neccessary to protect ourselves and our values. But there is
               quite a bit of difference between attacking someone who is
               harboring Osama Bin Laden and attacking someone who has done
               nothing to you.
                \_ I guess we should just let them get a nuke and wait for
                   them to use it on New York or Washington or SF before we
                   do something about it.
                   \_ Iraq is not the Cuban Missile Crisis.  They don't have
                      ICBMs.  They don't have nuclear warheads in striking
                      distance of the capitol.  It's yet to be shown that
                      they have nuclear capability at all.  The inspectors
                      are back in.  Let them do their job.
                      \_ so you're saying it's too early to attack when
                         he's just trying to get nukes, and we should wait
                         until he tries for icbm's?
                         \_ If he wouldn't launch chemical warheads on SCUDs
                            at Israel, he's not going to send nukes our way
                            either.  He knows the outcome.

1/20    I've seen on a PBS program (forgot which) which talks about the
        netherlands being a "post-consumerism" society.  Are there other
        examples of such countries?  New Zealand?  Thanks.
        \_ i don't think whole nations are "post-consumer" but there are
           sub-groups in some of them.
           http://uk.geocities.com/balihar_sanghera/Globaltersoc.html
        \_ What exactly does "post consumerism" mean?  They don't eat or have
           any needs any more?  Have they invented the star trek food maker
           thingy and didn't tell the rest of us?  What?
           \_ It means living to satisfy our needs, and not our wants.
              You don't NEED a SUV, DVD player, Sony playstation, or a new
              computer every 18 months.  So why do you buy it?  Deriving
              satisfaction in life based how much crap you can buy with money
              is meaningless and not sustainable.  In one word:  Simplicity.
              \_ So you mean to tell us that people in the netherlands are at
                 one with the land and don't own stuff?  Okey dokey.  Whatever.
                 As someone who owns almost no consumer junk myself, I think
                 you're a wack.  There's nothing wrong with all those things if
                 you can afford it.  Let's just shut down the whole fucking
                 economy and eat only after a creature or plant has died a
                 simple natural death.  While we're at it let's have 80%
                 unemployment when there's nothing for most to do and no
                 incentive for the other 20%.  This sounds just great!  Where's
                 Walden Pond when you need it?
                 \_ You need a cactus up your ass.
              \_ Sounds like a communist society.
                 \_ actually, sounds more like poor.  but that's not so
                    different from communism, i guess.

1/19    Anyone know where I can get an mpeg (or other format) of that
        Saturday Night Live christmas skit where Chris Kattan, Jimmy
        Fallon, Horatio Sanz and someone else are dressed up as holiday
        figurines and they sing a funny little lame song. Sanz plays
        a ukelele-like instrument, Jimmy Fallon plays a keyboard that
        Kattan is holding, and the other guy just stands and wiggles
        around. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
        \_ yeah that rocked. someone find this. sanz is singing
           "i wish christmas was todaaaay"
        \_ Looks like Kazaa has the mp3 but no video.
                \_ what did you search for for the mp3?
           \_ actually i saw the video. search "snl christmas"
        \_ look at http://snltranscripts.jt.org/01/01isnowglobe.phtml

1/20    ok so settle this bet for me, who has the constitutional
        authority to declare war, the president or Congress?
        \_ Google: "constitution, declare war"
        \_ we haven't been in a war since WWII
           \_ Well, I belive congress passed a resolution declaring war
              on Iraq, so that's technically not true.
              \_ Are you stupid or just stupid?
                 \_ neither, actually.  have a cookie, troll.
        \_ A useful reference: "War declaration replaced by '73 law"
           http://www.msnbc.com/news/641394.asp
        \_ This issue involves a subtle distinction:
           Congress has the sole authority to *declare* war, but
           the President, as Commander in Chief, has the sole authority to
           to order US troops into combat.  Obviously this can lead to
           some confusion due to the overlapping roles.  The US has engaged
           in armed conflict at the President's behest on many occasions
           in the last half century, but War has not officially been declared
           since 1941 after Japan attacked the US Fleet in Hawaii.
           Even the authorization to use military force in the wake of the
           September 11th attacks was not a declaration of war.
                                --bcm
           \_ Followup question: under what conditions may martial law
              be declared? -geordan
              \_ Martial law is easy to declare.
           \_ The war powers act allows the president to order military action
              for 60 days without congressional anything.  Tom Campbell (in the
              House at the time, but ran to replace Feinstein) filed a lawsuit
              against Clinton when he had troops in Kosovo longer than 60 days
              with no congressional support.
              \_ thank you for saving me from posting this
              \_ "Police actions" are okay for the president to act upon.

1/20    Why do people keep using the hypothetical American military's casualty
        as an argument against war?  First, some soldiers are supposed to die
        in battle, otherwise you wouldn't need soldiers or wars.  Second,
        serving in the U.S. army is one of the safest profession in the
        world, even in  large scale battles.  I would not be surprised if
        statistically it is safer than being a Cal student.  If you really
        care about U.S. soldiers' lives, you should support the deployment of
        bigger, better, and more decisive weapons, say nuke everywhere that
        has a concentration of Iraqi troops.  We can do it and it would
        eliminate all U.S. casualty except those due to accidents, which
        happens anyway.
        \_ hello wack job!
        \_ this is damned silly logic.           -mice
        \_ 696,628 U.S. troops served in the Gulf War 1990/1991.
           263,000 sought medical care at VA facilities for Gulf War
           Syndrome.  At least 64% of all U.S. troops who served during the
           Persian Gulf War were (and still are) at high risk of developing
           the symptoms and disabilities of Gulf War Syndrome.
           http://projects.is.asu.edu/pipermail/hpn/2000-August/001119.html
           \_ We actually deployed 696,628 people to Iraq?  "Serving in the
              Gulf War" doesn't necessarily imply going to Iraq or even leaving
              this country.
              this country.  Did all of the 263,000 people serve in Iraq?
           \_ I know a guy who served in the gulf war.  He's an arabic
              language translator.  He never left his base in Texas.
              \_ good thing he wasn't gay

1/20    I have a pdf file that contains type 3 font.  Since it is bitmapped
        I can understand why it does not scale nicely, but why does it look
        jagged even at 100% on acrobat reader while the print out looks fine?
        How can I convert it to type 1 font?  The program dvistripp.exe
        that google points me to no longer seems to exist.  Ok tnx.
        \_ does this file have anything to do with ps2pdf? -chialea
           \_ Yes typically I have the ps file and convert it to pdf using
              ps2pdf or distiller.  I don't have access to the original tex
              or dvi files, however.  --op
              ps2pdf or distiller.  It seems to be the problem of the ps
              file, since many other ps files converts just fine.  I don't
              have access to the original tex or dvi files, btw.  --op
              \_ ps2psd does not do the right thing.