..out of the dark

Ok, so I bought myself this game called "Lair", for the ps3 and my 24" lcd - and I'm not sure what I expected. I of course know how things work, and what the cell unit, the hypervisor and parallel computing is about. But that didn't stop me from getting blown away when actually seeing it in practice. Really, this is it. Flying a dragon with the wireless motion- sensitive controller. Lol!

I tested booting linux (for ppc- 64bit) on the ps3 as well yesterday - and from what I can tell, I can retire the old computer, reduce the ambient cooling noise (as well as the power requirement) to almost nothing, and basically end up with fifty times the processing power for any sort of structured computing algoritm. While we're waiting for more convenient ways to use the hypervisor (for the graphics card), I think I can live with this.

But basically what this means is that in this small box I have a gaming/media platform, as well as a general purpose OS just by a quick reboot and plugging in some wireless usb keyboard and mouse. Or, if I'm not that picky, I could use my Bluetooth keyboard on google docs through the "game-OS" browser.

But for the gods' sake, the graphics! The ridiculous amount of real time computation. How much this wipes the floor with the wii and the 360 (and yes, I have played a lot with both consoles with friends who dislike the ps3, and love the xbox, wii and so on - I honestly didn't think the games were that different), and for that price? Let's see you hook up the new graphics card on the 360 for anything else than what MS tells you to, or booting another OS underneath xbox live. No..? Not very likely, is it.

But let me take this opportunity to thank the xbox fans for buying MS's junk, and hyping it so much - because otherwise the price on the Ps3 wouldn't have been at the current price - below the actual production cost. I obviously feel bad for those who won't be able to run any of the really neat hifi things turning up over the next few years - and don't get me wrong, there are a lot of cool games on the xbox - but excuse me if I laugh when the xbox- people start to dive from the MS high.

So, here's how it goes - Greenwald at Salon.com, Digby, etc., are finally starting to adopt compatible views after formulating their own opinions. Result - a million mindless americans find they should do so themselves, and set out to be independent and clever. Success.

And apparently Obama X chose Joe Biden as his pick for Vice President (or as the media says - "Obama chose Biden for VP".. before the election, and all). Which is helping the righties go off the rails. Because Biden has been their secret man- love affair who could always be trusted to be "tough" and scary, which is good for the image (he grinds his teeth while speaking empathically about important and controversial things - like whether Mitt "is the steel wire stuck in my cheeks, or do I look natural like this?" Romney, would be a skilled and qualified president). While he would also being sure to embarass the Clinton wing of the democratic party by saying things like: "but does that even work?[throws hands] I'm speaking rhetorically, you know". Or, "no, we're not happy about the republicans getting everything they wanted on this bill, Dana. (...) Oh, does she, Dana. (...)No, I didn't know she had declared we were all happy with it, Dana. I'm /sorry/".

And this is meanwhile the republicans have tried to smear Obama as a slick- back elitist scumbag, who is not Down to Earth(tm) like they are. Which they'll prove by trying to make McCain seem like an old guy who stands around talking about how much better things used to be. Preferably in a Wall- mart, with peas as a backdrop. Also, McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns (or whether his second wife owns all of them, or he owns just a couple). The republicans were also wondering who they could pick for Veep, who isn't millionaire, property speculant, corrupt, unbelievable, a spineless whitling, discredited, and so on.

And Obama X actually struck back, and hammered McCain for all of this - forcefully and successfully. Which gives the Obama campaign the vicious touch that americans love so much. Which it was - relatively speaking.

With the net result that not only does Obama brand himself as the natural choice, the thinker and the fighter. Daring on his own, and wiling to use that in others and Hollywood and shit. But they also allow the Republicans to brand themselves as frauds and hypocrites - by merely answering the noise- attacks on substance. Even though those answers may be less than polite, and perhaps embarassing to a certain part of your own party. Obama thus cleverly disguising his america- hating effete elitist ways in a thin shroud of consistency and integrity, while also engaging in debates that were put on hold in 2000. Success again.

Of course, it's a very risky game. Soon they're going to find out that Republicans start trying to have principles as well, just to show'em. But it's not like this is going to stop the flood of money to the military industry, so yeah - go for it, Obama!

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On a related note, Bill Moyers had a good segment on his Journal about China and the economy. Please note the parallels he's drawing between the US and China.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08222008/watch3.html

Obviously, you have already read Billmon's account of how NATO and/or European allies inspired the conflict in Georgia:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/18/2337/96853/939/569608

"But", you ask, "the US does so much good in Albania, Georgia, Jordan, Syria, and a number of other countries whose names I can't even begin to hope to remember - other than exporting weapons to guerillas, so they can kill their political enemies more efficiently. So how come this is any different than before? It's just that this time, Nato expansion is being used interchangably with freedom and democracy - but we all know those terms don't mean dick, anyway - what's the big fucking deal, motherfucker!"

So let me explain: recently, Condoleezza Rice stated, apparently without biting self- irony, that war and use of force is not how good nations conduct themselves in this century.

I'm assuming that we at this point can simply establish without further debate that any of the talking points and idiotic narratives have anything to do with what's being done, or what is happening.

Let us then accept that pro- democratic militias have a tendency to start conflicts - not for the reason that they are pro- democratic, but because they have a lot of guns, and are not about to forcefully create their local human rights council, or just court- system.

Therefore, although no one actually wants to start wars - generally speaking, without including those who do - it's pretty likely to happen anyway.

Sounds incredible, doesn't it.

...from completely ordinary Washington Post readers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/08/08/DI2008080802640.html

Bethesda, Md.: Congratulations on the publication of your book. In the run-up to the Iraq war, it struck me how major media outlets, notably The Washington Post and New York Times, jumped on the White House bandwagon and whole-heartedly endorsed the invasion. Now those same outlets are some of the war's most vociferous critics. Does your book examine -- or has anyone else looked at -- the editorial decision-making that went into those endorsements?

Ron Suskind: No, the book doesn't, but certainly it is a worthwhile area of inquiry.

That's very polite of you, mr. Suskind. But it's not. Simply put, the real problem we have with American Opinion is that it's not wholly stupid, nor entirely reasonable. And unfortunately, what we really must find are the things that appeal emotionally, while /at the same time/ not being utterly irrational.

And humble mr. Suskind took care of finding what we were looking for in this text: vapid self- promoting stories that assume outside culture to be inferior, while lauding American values as Human values.

Furthermore, it must be understood that the heroical nature of questioning one's own actions (in this case, the US's unilateral acts of blatant aggression and contempt for international, or indeed any law) will, while being an extra talent not ordinarily bestowed upon mere mortals, something that when done by individual Americans, is a service unto the entire world.

The question to ask in this case is the following: will this creative attempt at engaging a majority of vapid selfish opinion tip the way of individual heroism (like Suskind shows, quite frankly), or will it instead be believed that running out the clock, instead of dealing the liberal hordes a new win - is the course that will give people the most self- righteousness, and spite, in the shortest period of time possible.

This, as we count in a scandal of proportions not, strangely enough, seen so far in the Bush- presidency. (Perhaps because this one comes with direct evidence admissable in a court).

And the jury is still out (of it's goddamn mind) on which direction to valiantly fall over.

It struck me right now that the White House is stuck in a time- loop. And can't escape, while time flows for the rest of us:

The major world powers have agreed to consider further sanctions against Iran because of its refusal to halt its nuclear programme, the US says.
(...)
But Russia's UN ambassador said there was no agreement on further sanctions.

"We are beginning to consider the possible outline for another sanction resolution," said US State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos.

Without anyone else, while the US has no concept of how to use the leverage in such a resolution to resolve the situation without military force. Or in a way that actually will produce disarmament in practice.

I think we're due for another "we want to resolve the situation diplomatically" again, as well.

Nazi punks. Fuck off.