double standards

So there's a talking head (Nile Gardner, of, I think, the Washington Heritage Foundation or something) on TV right now saying that any move by the Irish government to search the CIA planes that pass through Shannon would be an insult to the US and so on. But if those CIA planes are, in fact, carrying "terrorists" to places outside enforceable legal jurisdiction, is that not an insult to Ireland? I mean, aside from the unprovable suggestion that it might cause us to be targetted for retaliation (oh great, just what we need: more people blowing up bits of Ireland), it seems that it puts us in direct contravention of the UN Charter on Human Rights if there is more than idle speculation as to the nature of these flights and yet the relevant Irish authorities continue to do nothing about them.

So, you know, if the planes are clean we can search them, right? If you're not guilty, there's nothing to be afraid of, right?

Amnesty's press release on the flights, Strong words, no actions from Bertie Ahern, under the dubious headline, "Taoiseach refuses to facilitate torture"

Bono on my cellphone

After being captured on a cheap mic, compressed down to somewhere under 9600 bps using voice-oriented filters and what not, passed across the Atlantic and recorded on the cheapest voicemail system money can buy, U2 sounded a bit naff, but I was still able to recognise "Sunday Bloody Sunday".

Thanks for the call, waidesworld. This is why my phone stays in the other room overnight.

I ♥ Stephen Soderbergh

I don't think somebody who creates something should have their rights violated. Yet we have a culture in which creating something like [Danger Mouse's] The Grey Album can get you thrown in jail. That's sad. It's an astonishing, amazing piece of work that should be heard. (link)