July 31, 2004
Fahrenheit 9/11
It took me a while to digest this movie and form an opinion about it. It's something like waking up in the middle of the night with the feeling that something isn't quite right. Then you wake up a little more and start to think that maybe the seafood you had for dinner wasn't so fresh. Eventually, you realize that you're going to be sick.
The only other Michael Moore film I've seen is Bowling for Columbine, in which I thought Moore raised some good questions about guns in the US. I went into Fahrenheit 9/11 expecting something similar; while I realized that it would be based on Moore's point of view I also hoped that the film would be about raising issues and questions. Instead I found it to be propaganda in support of Moore's conspiracy theories and apparent dislike of the Bush administration.
On the surface, Moore certainly succeeded in making the Bush administration and Congress look bad. He traced a line of people who know people to get from Bush to the Saudi government and tied this relationship to a coverup since so many of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens. He showed members of Congress unwilling to send their children into harm's way. He exposed the dark side of the war in Iraq with disillusioned soldiers, prisoner abuse, and Iraqi families devastated by civilian casualties.
Some straightforward fact checking provides explanations that contradict many of Moore's assertions and demonstrates the extent to which he twisted events to support his point of view. Regarding elements of the coverup such as a blacked-out name on National Guard records, it turns out that federal laws require this. Regarding Congress's unwillingness to have their children serve in the military, it turns out that not only have a high percentage of members of Congress served, but several of them currently have children in the military (Moore quoted statistics of only those serving in Iraq.) It also turns out that one of the senators who Moore showed walking away doesn't even have any children. Moore took quotes from the Bush administration out of context in some cases to suggest they were making the completely opposite point. While the points he raised regarding the military in Iraq were valid, I had to wonder whether this was also a one-sided view designed to prove Moore's point. I assume that there are also soldiers who are not disillusioned with the war and who find prisoner abuse repulsive, and that there are Iraqi families who are glad that Saddam is gone; but that Moore left this out of the film because it didn't agree with his thinking.
What bothers me the most is the idea that viewers may accept this as a documentary. I believe that there are important questions regarding the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq, and hope that someone is able to ask them and truthfully represent all sides of the story. If nothing else, Moore demonstrated that there is another side to what we've been seeing so far.
I understand that Moore hoped the film would turn voters away from Bush this November. I had already been seriously considering this after reading Al Franken's book . I'm not sure how other viewers are reacting, but after seeing 9/11 I've found myself turned off by the anti-Bush camp. I realize that Moore is not their official representative, but I have also realized that I don't know why Kerry/Edwards is a better choice. At least I have a few months to try and figure that out...
Posted by nickh at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)
July 27, 2004
Open Source/Trojan Horse?
Some guy recently asserted that military defense systems based on open source projects are vulnerable to trojan horse attacks because such projects can be easily infiltrated for the purpose of adding trojan code. I'll accept that it is easier for a malicious coder contribute to an open source project than to get a job working for a software company with defense contracts. However, it seems to me that the integrity of the source will be protected in the same way in either case: peers will review the software before it's released. I believe that an important related question is whether closed source projects offer any benefit in the event that malicious code is released to a military defense system.
In the event that malicious code is introduced in spite of the review process, are we any better off with open vs. closed source? In the case of product manufactured for the government, vendors can claim exemption from prosecution using the Government Contractor's Defense - the gist is that if the government was responsible for product specifications and the defect occurred even though the product met the specifications, that the government is responsible rather than the vendor.
If this defense can be applied to software, the situation can be worse with closed source. If the government specifications were not precise enough to disallow a system compromise due to malicious code, not only will it be much more difficult to determine the nature of the problem but the vendor won't bear any responsibility and will be the only source for a fix. The situtation can be improved somewhat by limited release of the source under something like an escrow agreement; but in any case, open source will certainly allow more people to see the code faster in the event of such a compromise.
In the context of military defense systems, it seems to come down to this: with systems based on open source we must trust the government to protect systems from compromise by providing technical resources that can insure system integrity; and with systems based on closed source we must trust the government to insure responsibility in the event of compromise by providing technical and legal resources that can insure bulletproof system specifications.
Posted by nickh at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2004
Music
I got to spend some quality time with the headphones on at work. My conclusion from today's selection is that I like Cypress Hill and Wu Tang Clan, but not so much Eminem. Perhaps I should be fair and listen to another few tracks, but I just don't find myself entertained by someone making a specific point of trying to offend me.
Later on, I enjoyed some live music at Slim's with Judi, Vincent, and Patrick. Petty Booka opened: ukelele punk from Tokyo. I found it amusing that with some of the songs they covered I could understand the lyrics better than the original even though their native language is Japanese. We now own two of their CDs.
The main act was Aquabats, who I hadn't seen or heard of before. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the music more if I'd heard their songs before, but I sure liked the show. They didn't seem to take themselves too seriously (how could they, with those uniforms?) and their background video was great. I think my personal highlight was their spreading punk culture to the next generation by getting the little kids in the audience to stage dive (the smallest one with more than a little help leaving the stage.)
Posted by nickh at 06:28 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2004
The San Carlos dog community
Now that Fezzik has had his full set of shots, we've been introducing him to more people and dogs, and have been connecting more dots in the community of area dog owners.
Tonight we went to Hot Harvest Nights in San Carlos and saw plenty of familiar faces and met more local Bernese owners. There was a little Swiss Star Farms reunion with Fezzik, Mishka, and Ginger.
With so many dog-friendly areas and decent weather with plenty of outdoor restaurant seating, the bay area is really a great place to own a dog.
Posted by nickh at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2004
Let there be blog
We met with Will and Debra Shatford, and Ryan and Susan came along. It's pretty wild to think back over people that I worked with only 4-5 years ago and "where are they now?"
Ryan and I are both on our second job since then. Will and Debra have been to Tennessee and back.
It seems like a completely foreign concept to me, but I remember graduating college and expecting to get a job, and work and live in the same place until retirement. I'm glad things didn't work out that way.
Posted by nickh at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)