All posts by Rand Simberg

Appalled

You know, I was actually saddened by Paul Wellstone’s death (and not just because it probably increased the probability of the Democrats retaining the seat).

I just listened to excerpts from the “memorial service” on Fox News, and heard his son speaking.

This thing doesn’t sound like a service to honor the dead. It was more of a cross between a campaign rally and an awards ceremony. The son spent several minutes thanking all the people who made it possible, and how important it was to uphold Senator Wellstone’s ideals next week, and it was hard for me to discern any sense of grief in his voice as he spoke.

It was spooky, and not in the literal sense. Is this what the Democratic Party has come to?

It’s particularly disgusting in the wake of the Democrats’ charges that the Repubs are playing politics, when Coleman has basically shut down his campaign.

I also hear that they’re playing games to put Mondale on the ballot as late as possible. There seems to be a pattern here, from Florida and Missouri in 2000, to New Jersey and Minnesota this year.

The Democrats win elections the old fashioned way–any damned way they can, and to hell with the law or decency…

[Update a couple minutes later]

Instantman shows that those Dems sure know how to partythrow a wake.

[Update at 10 PM PST]

It occurs to me that Dick Cheney must be wiping his brow in relief that he didn’t have to attend this macabre Demfest.

‘N Space

Well, Lance didn’t get to go, but at least he got to write a diary about his journey in the cosmos.

November 8: The earth looks different from up here. So tiny, and yet so many record sales. I get choked up when I think about it. Must remember this feeling so I can summon it up when harmonizing on sad ballads.

‘N Space

Well, Lance didn’t get to go, but at least he got to write a diary about his journey in the cosmos.

November 8: The earth looks different from up here. So tiny, and yet so many record sales. I get choked up when I think about it. Must remember this feeling so I can summon it up when harmonizing on sad ballads.

‘N Space

Well, Lance didn’t get to go, but at least he got to write a diary about his journey in the cosmos.

November 8: The earth looks different from up here. So tiny, and yet so many record sales. I get choked up when I think about it. Must remember this feeling so I can summon it up when harmonizing on sad ballads.

President’s Case for Linkage Fails to Convince

Washington, DC December 7th, 1942 (Rooters)

A wide consensus of security experts concluded that the President’s recent address before the League of Nations failed to offer conclusive proof of collaboration between the German, Italian and Japanese governments in the recent series of attacks by fanatical Shinto extremists, and other incidents. On the other hand, some on the extreme fringe argue that the President did not go far enough to “connect the dots,” which they claim would link even actions generally not thought to be terrorism as part of the pattern.

The President had sought to establish a pattern of cooperation between the Japanese regime of Prime Minister Tojo and the German National Socialist state of Mr. Hitler. According to him, the attacks by Shintoist extremists on US naval vessels at Pearl Harbor a year ago, and the mysterious explosions on US tankers and merchant vessels in Atlantic waters over the past year were part and parcel of a “Second World War” actively being coordinated by Tojo, Hitler, and Mussolini.

Most experts and professional “profilers” doubted this analysis. “The President is indulging in fantasies about mysterious German submarines lying in wait and torpedoing American vessels. It’s far more likely that this is the work of domestic white terrorists from the Ku Klux Klan and alienated lone white males from the ‘torpedo subculture.'”

FBI sources indicate that the recent tanker sinkings off Miami were the work of a disgruntled torpedo engineer who secretly built torpedoes in his garage using stolen gyroscopes from the Navy lab in which he worked. The FBI cited eyewitness accounts at the scene who described an unknown white speedboat in the area immediately after each sinking.

Conspiracy theorists disagree. “Those were high-quality torpedoes with excellent guidance systems. It’s highly unlikely that they were manufactured in a garage by a single individual. As for the white speedboat, do you know how many white speedboats there are off the Florida coast? Once the Coast Guard had issued a warning to look out for white speedboats, they were reported everywhere. Nobody was looking for periscopes.”

Some on the extreme conspiracy fringe even seek to establish a link with the Ku Klux Klan conspiracy that sank the USS Panay in China back in 1937, for which several Klan-connected sailors were expeditiously hanged after a speedy court-martial.

Conspiracy theorists cite early eyewitness reports of low-flying airplanes with Rising Sun insignia and “Oriental-looking pilots” leaving the scene shortly after the explosion. However, Navy investigators maintain that those reports were quickly discredited and attributed to post-incident shock and confusion.

Experts also dismissed the recent capture of torpedoists Gunther Kraut and Jack Hitler in the waters off Miami, who have been charged with some recent torpedo incidents. Despite the fact that they were captured in a rubber raft with German Navy markings, wearing German Navy submariner’s uniforms, and that Hitler was an American citizen who had recently changed his surname from “Smith,” FBI sources said that any actual German or National Socialist connections were “tenuous” and “probably irrelevant to the case.”

In an apparent attempt to increase the volume of the war drumbeats, some conspiracy theorists are now claiming a link between the German-Japanese “Axis” and the recent mysterious explosions that sank the USS Yorktown in the Pacific. They use this as justification to claim that the “War against Extremism” is in fact a bona-fide, literal war against Germany and Japan–one which will not end until both Berlin and Tokyo have been invaded and occupied.

Most scoff at the notion, of course. The majority of informed analysts believe the sinking of the Yorktown and other Navy vessels to be the work of Shinto extremists angered by American interference with Japanese ambitions in Asia, and by the detention of large numbers of Japanese Americans following the terrorist attack of a year ago, or even the random acts of deranged individuals.

But in case it’s not the latter, the consensus is that the President should reconsider the nation’s “pro-China” foreign policy, and release all of the detainees. He must also be more vocal, many claim, in his admonition not to discriminate, and continue to affirm that Shinto is basically a religion of peace.

One highly-placed anonymous State Department source stated, “Sure, Hitler and Tojo aren’t up for any Peace Prizes, but they can be contained, and we can actually work with Mussolini to help moderate German ambitions. After all, if he can make Italian trains run on time, what can’t he do?”

Another well-placed Washington source said, “The President is stretching the facts in order to build the case for a League of Nations resolution permitting the use of force for regime change in Germany. But this will only get in the way of America’s search for justice against the Shintoist extremists who somehow managed to hijack Japanese Navy aircraft and bomb Pearl Harbor. Germany and Japan are quite different, and in some ways mutually opposed ideologies. Their only real link is mutual resentment against America. This does not add up to proof that they are conspiring together.”

“In any event, they are only a threat to their own regions, and there’s no concrete evidence that either of them have made any plans to attack America, despite their open declarations of war. To wage war on them would be the greatest of folly, with the potential for destabilizing the whole of Europe and Asia, and it will only increase the latent and growing anti-American sentiment in those countries.”

“This problem will only be solved by tightening up our homeland security, increasing surveillance on white extremist groups, and instituting tighter controls and background checks over purchases of torpedoes and their components. All must share the burden of protecting our nation–we cannot single out groups of people or nations for the actions of an extreme few.”

As for how to deal with the admittedly problematic states of Germany, Italy, and Japan, a coalition is forming within the League to propose to consider contemplating sending in weapons inspectors. Debate on the issue is expected to start by late spring.

Copyright 2002 by Jim Bennett (and Rand Simberg)

President’s Case for Linkage Fails to Convince

Washington, DC December 7th, 1942 (Rooters)

A wide consensus of security experts concluded that the President’s recent address before the League of Nations failed to offer conclusive proof of collaboration between the German, Italian and Japanese governments in the recent series of attacks by fanatical Shinto extremists, and other incidents. On the other hand, some on the extreme fringe argue that the President did not go far enough to “connect the dots,” which they claim would link even actions generally not thought to be terrorism as part of the pattern.

The President had sought to establish a pattern of cooperation between the Japanese regime of Prime Minister Tojo and the German National Socialist state of Mr. Hitler. According to him, the attacks by Shintoist extremists on US naval vessels at Pearl Harbor a year ago, and the mysterious explosions on US tankers and merchant vessels in Atlantic waters over the past year were part and parcel of a “Second World War” actively being coordinated by Tojo, Hitler, and Mussolini.

Most experts and professional “profilers” doubted this analysis. “The President is indulging in fantasies about mysterious German submarines lying in wait and torpedoing American vessels. It’s far more likely that this is the work of domestic white terrorists from the Ku Klux Klan and alienated lone white males from the ‘torpedo subculture.'”

FBI sources indicate that the recent tanker sinkings off Miami were the work of a disgruntled torpedo engineer who secretly built torpedoes in his garage using stolen gyroscopes from the Navy lab in which he worked. The FBI cited eyewitness accounts at the scene who described an unknown white speedboat in the area immediately after each sinking.

Conspiracy theorists disagree. “Those were high-quality torpedoes with excellent guidance systems. It’s highly unlikely that they were manufactured in a garage by a single individual. As for the white speedboat, do you know how many white speedboats there are off the Florida coast? Once the Coast Guard had issued a warning to look out for white speedboats, they were reported everywhere. Nobody was looking for periscopes.”

Some on the extreme conspiracy fringe even seek to establish a link with the Ku Klux Klan conspiracy that sank the USS Panay in China back in 1937, for which several Klan-connected sailors were expeditiously hanged after a speedy court-martial.

Conspiracy theorists cite early eyewitness reports of low-flying airplanes with Rising Sun insignia and “Oriental-looking pilots” leaving the scene shortly after the explosion. However, Navy investigators maintain that those reports were quickly discredited and attributed to post-incident shock and confusion.

Experts also dismissed the recent capture of torpedoists Gunther Kraut and Jack Hitler in the waters off Miami, who have been charged with some recent torpedo incidents. Despite the fact that they were captured in a rubber raft with German Navy markings, wearing German Navy submariner’s uniforms, and that Hitler was an American citizen who had recently changed his surname from “Smith,” FBI sources said that any actual German or National Socialist connections were “tenuous” and “probably irrelevant to the case.”

In an apparent attempt to increase the volume of the war drumbeats, some conspiracy theorists are now claiming a link between the German-Japanese “Axis” and the recent mysterious explosions that sank the USS Yorktown in the Pacific. They use this as justification to claim that the “War against Extremism” is in fact a bona-fide, literal war against Germany and Japan–one which will not end until both Berlin and Tokyo have been invaded and occupied.

Most scoff at the notion, of course. The majority of informed analysts believe the sinking of the Yorktown and other Navy vessels to be the work of Shinto extremists angered by American interference with Japanese ambitions in Asia, and by the detention of large numbers of Japanese Americans following the terrorist attack of a year ago, or even the random acts of deranged individuals.

But in case it’s not the latter, the consensus is that the President should reconsider the nation’s “pro-China” foreign policy, and release all of the detainees. He must also be more vocal, many claim, in his admonition not to discriminate, and continue to affirm that Shinto is basically a religion of peace.

One highly-placed anonymous State Department source stated, “Sure, Hitler and Tojo aren’t up for any Peace Prizes, but they can be contained, and we can actually work with Mussolini to help moderate German ambitions. After all, if he can make Italian trains run on time, what can’t he do?”

Another well-placed Washington source said, “The President is stretching the facts in order to build the case for a League of Nations resolution permitting the use of force for regime change in Germany. But this will only get in the way of America’s search for justice against the Shintoist extremists who somehow managed to hijack Japanese Navy aircraft and bomb Pearl Harbor. Germany and Japan are quite different, and in some ways mutually opposed ideologies. Their only real link is mutual resentment against America. This does not add up to proof that they are conspiring together.”

“In any event, they are only a threat to their own regions, and there’s no concrete evidence that either of them have made any plans to attack America, despite their open declarations of war. To wage war on them would be the greatest of folly, with the potential for destabilizing the whole of Europe and Asia, and it will only increase the latent and growing anti-American sentiment in those countries.”

“This problem will only be solved by tightening up our homeland security, increasing surveillance on white extremist groups, and instituting tighter controls and background checks over purchases of torpedoes and their components. All must share the burden of protecting our nation–we cannot single out groups of people or nations for the actions of an extreme few.”

As for how to deal with the admittedly problematic states of Germany, Italy, and Japan, a coalition is forming within the League to propose to consider contemplating sending in weapons inspectors. Debate on the issue is expected to start by late spring.

Copyright 2002 by Jim Bennett (and Rand Simberg)

President’s Case for Linkage Fails to Convince

Washington, DC December 7th, 1942 (Rooters)

A wide consensus of security experts concluded that the President’s recent address before the League of Nations failed to offer conclusive proof of collaboration between the German, Italian and Japanese governments in the recent series of attacks by fanatical Shinto extremists, and other incidents. On the other hand, some on the extreme fringe argue that the President did not go far enough to “connect the dots,” which they claim would link even actions generally not thought to be terrorism as part of the pattern.

The President had sought to establish a pattern of cooperation between the Japanese regime of Prime Minister Tojo and the German National Socialist state of Mr. Hitler. According to him, the attacks by Shintoist extremists on US naval vessels at Pearl Harbor a year ago, and the mysterious explosions on US tankers and merchant vessels in Atlantic waters over the past year were part and parcel of a “Second World War” actively being coordinated by Tojo, Hitler, and Mussolini.

Most experts and professional “profilers” doubted this analysis. “The President is indulging in fantasies about mysterious German submarines lying in wait and torpedoing American vessels. It’s far more likely that this is the work of domestic white terrorists from the Ku Klux Klan and alienated lone white males from the ‘torpedo subculture.'”

FBI sources indicate that the recent tanker sinkings off Miami were the work of a disgruntled torpedo engineer who secretly built torpedoes in his garage using stolen gyroscopes from the Navy lab in which he worked. The FBI cited eyewitness accounts at the scene who described an unknown white speedboat in the area immediately after each sinking.

Conspiracy theorists disagree. “Those were high-quality torpedoes with excellent guidance systems. It’s highly unlikely that they were manufactured in a garage by a single individual. As for the white speedboat, do you know how many white speedboats there are off the Florida coast? Once the Coast Guard had issued a warning to look out for white speedboats, they were reported everywhere. Nobody was looking for periscopes.”

Some on the extreme conspiracy fringe even seek to establish a link with the Ku Klux Klan conspiracy that sank the USS Panay in China back in 1937, for which several Klan-connected sailors were expeditiously hanged after a speedy court-martial.

Conspiracy theorists cite early eyewitness reports of low-flying airplanes with Rising Sun insignia and “Oriental-looking pilots” leaving the scene shortly after the explosion. However, Navy investigators maintain that those reports were quickly discredited and attributed to post-incident shock and confusion.

Experts also dismissed the recent capture of torpedoists Gunther Kraut and Jack Hitler in the waters off Miami, who have been charged with some recent torpedo incidents. Despite the fact that they were captured in a rubber raft with German Navy markings, wearing German Navy submariner’s uniforms, and that Hitler was an American citizen who had recently changed his surname from “Smith,” FBI sources said that any actual German or National Socialist connections were “tenuous” and “probably irrelevant to the case.”

In an apparent attempt to increase the volume of the war drumbeats, some conspiracy theorists are now claiming a link between the German-Japanese “Axis” and the recent mysterious explosions that sank the USS Yorktown in the Pacific. They use this as justification to claim that the “War against Extremism” is in fact a bona-fide, literal war against Germany and Japan–one which will not end until both Berlin and Tokyo have been invaded and occupied.

Most scoff at the notion, of course. The majority of informed analysts believe the sinking of the Yorktown and other Navy vessels to be the work of Shinto extremists angered by American interference with Japanese ambitions in Asia, and by the detention of large numbers of Japanese Americans following the terrorist attack of a year ago, or even the random acts of deranged individuals.

But in case it’s not the latter, the consensus is that the President should reconsider the nation’s “pro-China” foreign policy, and release all of the detainees. He must also be more vocal, many claim, in his admonition not to discriminate, and continue to affirm that Shinto is basically a religion of peace.

One highly-placed anonymous State Department source stated, “Sure, Hitler and Tojo aren’t up for any Peace Prizes, but they can be contained, and we can actually work with Mussolini to help moderate German ambitions. After all, if he can make Italian trains run on time, what can’t he do?”

Another well-placed Washington source said, “The President is stretching the facts in order to build the case for a League of Nations resolution permitting the use of force for regime change in Germany. But this will only get in the way of America’s search for justice against the Shintoist extremists who somehow managed to hijack Japanese Navy aircraft and bomb Pearl Harbor. Germany and Japan are quite different, and in some ways mutually opposed ideologies. Their only real link is mutual resentment against America. This does not add up to proof that they are conspiring together.”

“In any event, they are only a threat to their own regions, and there’s no concrete evidence that either of them have made any plans to attack America, despite their open declarations of war. To wage war on them would be the greatest of folly, with the potential for destabilizing the whole of Europe and Asia, and it will only increase the latent and growing anti-American sentiment in those countries.”

“This problem will only be solved by tightening up our homeland security, increasing surveillance on white extremist groups, and instituting tighter controls and background checks over purchases of torpedoes and their components. All must share the burden of protecting our nation–we cannot single out groups of people or nations for the actions of an extreme few.”

As for how to deal with the admittedly problematic states of Germany, Italy, and Japan, a coalition is forming within the League to propose to consider contemplating sending in weapons inspectors. Debate on the issue is expected to start by late spring.

Copyright 2002 by Jim Bennett (and Rand Simberg)

He’s Baaaack

In honor of my new carpet, and my resurrected computer network, I reinitiate (semi) serious blogging with another bit of forgotten WW II history, in the next post. This one was discovered by guest blogger Jim Bennett, while researching old Rooters press clippings in preparation for his upcoming book, “The Anglosphere: Man, Myth, Or Just An Unnatural Marriage of Linguistics and Geometry?”

He’s Baaaack

In honor of my new carpet, and my resurrected computer network, I reinitiate (semi) serious blogging with another bit of forgotten WW II history, in the next post. This one was discovered by guest blogger Jim Bennett, while researching old Rooters press clippings in preparation for his upcoming book, “The Anglosphere: Man, Myth, Or Just An Unnatural Marriage of Linguistics and Geometry?”

He’s Baaaack

In honor of my new carpet, and my resurrected computer network, I reinitiate (semi) serious blogging with another bit of forgotten WW II history, in the next post. This one was discovered by guest blogger Jim Bennett, while researching old Rooters press clippings in preparation for his upcoming book, “The Anglosphere: Man, Myth, Or Just An Unnatural Marriage of Linguistics and Geometry?”