...actual distinct voices speaking in my mind? Or is it just the weblog of James Lindenschmidt? Here you can see me wrestle with this and other questions, while spewing forth my writings, opinions, and hallucinations.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

 

OpenOffice.org Writer

Here are three reasons I prefer OpenOffice.org Writer 1.0.3 to LyX 1.3.1qt as a writing tool:

1. OOoW allows me to customize the appearance of my documents. Though LyX output is neat and clean, it is also boring. Even getting TrueType fonts to work requires some LaTeX wizardry.
2. OOoW saves to all the file formats I need, which are native (.sdw), PDF for wide distribution (this will be even better in 1.1), HTML, .txt. It also will open ms file formats for when some yahoo sends me a word attachment.
3. The OOoW stylist works very well, approximating many benefits of LyX/LaTeX. I learned to think of documents in terms of structure using LyX. Now I can implement that same way of thinking in OOoW using the stylist. But in OOoW, each style is much more easily customizable. Therefore: if you like to pay attention to the aesthetics of document formatting and you take steps to be creative and interesting, OOoW is the way to go. However, if you don't care about formatting, and want the computer to intelligently take care of formatting for you, then definitely go with LyX. It's stock output is as clean as you can get.

^ posted at 11:08 PM

 

A History of the Music Industry

I'm putting this link here now so I can find it again when I have time to read it. Supposedly it's a detailed history of the music industry's control over reproduced music and its attempts to control new technologies that render the past monopolies obsolete. I sense a theme here...

^ posted at 11:13 AM

 

In touch, and out of touch

It's been a strange 21 hours. I've spent most of today in re-entry from the trip. I've slept about 5 hours, and spent at least that much processing information. I had 857 emails waiting for me (I'm lucky, fewer than 40 were spam). I've also been reading up on some websites I'd lost track of over the past 2 weeks.

It's strange how I feel unqualified to comment on much right now. I'm not really on top of anything story-wise. I guess it's been a vivid realization as to how much time I have been spending lately on seeing what's happening in the world and commenting. I'm not sure what this means in terms of my continuing to do so, or even in terms of this blog.

I haven't been writing much the past month or so, since I finished the first draft of the article. I'm feeling called to write in new styles or media. The political ranting is good, but I view it as more of a necessary chore in the current political climate than as following my muse.

^ posted at 12:44 AM

 

Ocean Air

We just pulled in a while ago to Portland, only to find a misty haze and a strong scent of fresh ocean air--one of my favorite smells in the world. As I type this, I just heard a seagull screeching. Ahh, home.

It's quite late just now. I'm exhausted, but still too wired from the road to sleep. Soon.

It was a great 2-week vacation. Stories forthcoming. Must sleeeep.

^ posted at 4:00 AM

 

On neoliberalism

Admittedly, I use the term "neoliberalism" a lot. And I assume that most people know what it means. Unfortunately, this word is rarely used in the US, so some people reading my rants against neoliberalism may not know what I mean.

As such, I've included a few good, introductory discussions about neoliberalism:

• What Is Neoliberalism?
• A Primer On Neoliberalism
• A Short History of Neoliberalism
• Backing up Globalization with Military Might
• Structural Adjustment: A Major Cause of Poverty

So there you go. There's some good reading there: I haven't read all of the above yet, but after a quick glance they look good.

^ posted at 11:20 PM

 

Latest Howard Zinn article

"My Country: The World" is available here. As always, it's worth a read.

^ posted at 11:13 AM

 

The Middle East is now safe for neoliberalism

Now that Iraq has fallen, the Bush administration are being good neoliberalists and are pushing for "free" trade in the middle east. If past "free trade agreements" and other strange conceptions of "freedom" are any indication, it's no wonder that most of the world "hates our freedom."

^ posted at 2:17 PM

 

Go read this. Now.

Apparently, the State Dept. has reported that terrorism is at its lowest level in 30 years. Ummm, OK. Why the "war on terrorism," then?

^ posted at 3:07 AM

 

Where is Raed?

The ever-popular Where is Raed? blog has been updated again. This is from someone inside Iraq, who was blogging right up until the war began. Obviously, during the war he wasn't able to keep doing so, but he kept writing and has posted many entries now, all at once. Here are some excerpts:

Let me tell you one thing first. War sucks big time. Don't let yourself ever be talked into having one waged in the name of your freedom. Somehow when the bombs start dropping or you hear the sound of machine guns at the end of your street you don't think about your "imminent liberation" anymore.

I confess to the sin of being an escapist. When reality hurts I block it out, unless it comes right up to me and knocks me cold. My mother, after going out once after Baghdad was taken by the US Army, decided she is not going out again, not until I promise it looks kind of normal and OK. So I guess the Ostrich maneuver runs in the family.

Things are looking kind of OK, these days. Life has a way of moving on. Your senses are numbed, things stop shocking you. If there is one thing you should believe in, it is that life will find a way to push on, humans are adaptable, that is the only way to explain how such a foolish species has kept itself on this planet without wiping itself out. Humans are very adaptable, physically and emotionally.

One more word by Americans on TV about "humanitarian aid" will make me kill my television. They have the audacity to turn us to beggars while we will have to pay for the research and development of the weapons they are field-testing on us and they do as if they are helping us with their "humanitarian aid". Excuse me, but it would help much more if you would stop dropping those million dollars per bomb on us, in is cheaper for us in the long run.

Actually too tired, scared and burnt out to write anything. Yes we did go out again to see what was hit. Yes everything just hurts. Conversations invariably use the sentence "what's wrong with them? Have they gone mad?". I can't stand the TV or the lies on the news any more. No good news wherever you look. Baghdad is looking scarier by the minute. There are now army people everywhere. My uncle will have to move out of his house because there is going to be an anti aircraft battery installed too close to it, the area where we live does not look too good either, we are surrounded by every sort of military outfit there is. Every school in the area is now an army or party center.

We had an amazing couple of days, 4/4 the Americans in the Airport, 7/4 they move into Baghdad, 9/4 troops are in Firdaws square (Firdaws means heaven) with no Iraqi military presence in the streets whatsoever. They just disappeared, Puff, into thin air. The big disappearing act. Army shoes and uniforms are thrown about in every street, army cars abandoned in the middle of the road. An act of the almighty made every army member disappear at exactly the same time, fairy-tale-like "……and the golden carriage was turned back to a pumpkin at the strike of 12".

Yesterday I almost died of thirst in front of 30 bottles of pure water. I had 30,000 Dinars in my pockets but couldn't buy a 2,000 Dinar bottle. (2000 in itself is a crime you used to get 4 bottles for that price, but what to do, the war and all). 30k Dinars in 10,000 bills which now have the stigma of being stolen on them. There is no way to plead and swear on all that is holy that these are pre-invasion 10k bills. The story goes as follows: The money printing works have been looted just as everything else. Al-Jazeera showed the 10k bill press wrecked and showed an Iraqi who was not identified, he could be one of the looters for all we knew, that guy said that printed but unnumbered 10k bills were stolen and the printing templates (or whatever they are called, we call them 'kalisha') as well. Paper and the shiny stripes too. Al Jazeera said that what is on the market now are the printed bills with counterfeit numbers on them. Havoc rules the street. Your 10k bills are not accepted at stores. and there are people who buy your 10,000 for 8,000 Dinar.

^ posted at 2:52 AM