Cuz We Said So

Robert Baer on Iran

Robert Baer is the former CIA case officer from whose book See No Evil inspired the movie Syriana. Since working for the CIA in the Middle East has got to be one of the most unrewarding jobs since Sisyphus took up rock collecting, I could certainly understand the man taking a dim view of the prospects for harmony in the region. He was certainly Little Merry Sunshine when he appeared on Glenn Beck's Headline News program this past Thursday.A taste:

Beck: I am trying to put together a family tree for tonight's television program, and I believe the root of all evil, currently... in the Middle East, is Iran.

Baer: Absolutely. ...Everything that goes on... even the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier in Gaza, Iranians will probably be behind it.

Beck: ...The thesis that I just shared with the listeners here... you watch television, and you see what's going on in the Middle East, and you think, "okay, well, this has been going on forever" but this really is the World War that I've been talking about, it just hasn't been pieced together by enough average people yet. That this is not really t about Israel, this is about taking over the entire middle east, and the world with [an] Islamic state.

Baer: I couldn't agree with you more, and everyone's saying, well where's Pearl Harbor? Well, Pearl Harbor is a sense was 9/11, but we didn't lose our fleet.

Beck: Well, but you know what happened... pearl harbor happened after... you know Germany took over Czech and started to march into France, and everything else, I mean, he was on the move, and moving in this direction, and then you saw Pearl Harbor and you're like, okay, now I've got to get involved.

Baer: And that's what we're going to need--"

Beck: Right.

Baer: "--we're going to need for the Iranians to shell the Saudi oil facilities, we're paying and we're we're paying $20 for a gallon of gas for people

Beck: "...you and I were talking about this last night, and I said, 'who is the [Arch Duke] Ferdinand of all this?', and you believe it's going to be... the involvement of Syria.

Baer: It's could be. Remember that Syria is turning to Iran for all of its political guidance. So, I go again, back... Tehran is the evil, is the enemy.

Beck: You told me last night... I asked you, please tell me there's a way to escape this, and you said there's not.

Baer: No, we're going to get... we have to brace for it.

Okay, that's cheerful. Let's hope he's wrong.

Most Annoying People on Earth

Entirely unscientific—but funny! I like that Britney Spears: is more annoying than Benito Mussolini.

BMW Drivers Rendered Superfluous

Okay, not really, but it's a start: BMW parks itself sans driver

Sign me up!

Charting in the New Excel

Sander Viegers, a user experience designer in Microsoft’s Office Design Group has an interesting post on the Microsoft Excel 2007 blog about Excel’s new charting functions. I've been doing a lot of chart work in an older version of Excel these last few weeks, working on a report, so I found this interesting. (Via Alex Barnett)

A Third Party Option

Do we need a"unity" party? And what would it stand for, exactly?

Like Kryptonite to Sequels

It looks like what Routh would do with a Superman Returns sequel could become a moot point.  Box Office Mojo says the film is underperforming, earning $180,097,955 worldwide after 14 days against a production budget of $260 million, and UPI is reporting that Warner Brothers may not green-light a sequel unless the Man of Steel can bring in another $55 million domestically..

TV's Lowest Week

According to the Associated Press:

TV viewers must have taken to the beach: It was the least-watched week in recorded history for the four biggest broadcast networks.

CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox averaged 20.8 million viewers during the average prime-time minute last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. That sunk below the previous record, set during the last week of July in 2005.

I don’t think the new record will last long, either.

 

 

100 Years Since the Great Quake

I was in the Bay Area this weekend, and if I had a better sense of history, I’d have realized sooner that today was the 100th Anniversary of the Great Earthquake of 1906. 

Caterina Fake marks the event with a summary of what to do in an emergency.  Between earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and the various other things that could Really Mess Up Your Day, it’s good information to remember.  (Link via Instapundit.)

Mmm, Pork Brains!

From Slashfood:

A food I don't want to eat: Pork Brains in Milk Gravy

I second the motion!

Another Minor Site Update

You may notice the design of the site has shifted subtly.  I have once again kept the basics of the great design Lisa at e.Webscapes put together for us last year, but I've converted the site back to standard Typepad templates, and implemented the rest of the design using custom CSS. 

There are some technical benefits for me to doing this, but the benefit to you is that if you have a Typekey ID, you can now use it to log in to the site, and bypass those irritating CAPTCHA authentication graphics when you post a comment.