USB and Linux, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Labor for Refugees

[tcpip]

This weekend, I have discovered the hell that is trying to get USB devices to talk to Linux. This is not a pleasant experience. Any insights greatly appreciated. I'm using Mandrake 10.1 if that helps.

Remembering Hirsohima from those who
experienced it. Melbourne Unitarian Church had Ian Maddocks from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, providing a careful and insightful discussion on the subject. We all went to the Remembrance Rally in the city afterwards. I found the first speaker to be so obnoxious and sectarian that I left within five minutes.

RuneQuest IV is now up to version 3. Playtest on Sunday indicated that the radical changes to the parry and hit points system simply do not work. New player (Michael) is showing his design skills, but he does software engineering so he should.

Caught up with Greg T for the first time in a year last week. He's returned from a four week holiday in northern Europe which turned out to be six months. He has a long-term plan to get an graduate environmental engineering degree and engage in a process of reforestation of desert land. A noble pursuit. Other major social activity was great birthday drinks at the Sahara club for devilgirly, many people, lots of laughter, great food.

Oh, and I had another letter published in The Age. On land tax of course.

EDIT

How did I forget? Labor for Refugees quarterly meeting on Saturday. FEA elections have been deferred, national Tampa anniversary rally coming up. Announced my intention to resign as President. Been there long enough, about time someone else had a go.

Comments

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Well, that would be preferable.
Of course, being the idealist I am, I would have prefered they did not develop the bomb after all.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I would have prefered they did not develop the bomb after all.

Well, yes. That would have been the better option. But given the fact that they did develop it it's use would have been just as effective at scaring the Japanese into surrender rather than the killing of innocents...

[greylock.livejournal.com]

And then there's the entire argument that the Japanese might well have surrendered before long anyway.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Everything I've seen and read indicates the Japanese had offered a number of times to surrender with barely any conditions: the only main one being that the Emperor remain in power and not be pressed for war crimes, etc.

Given that the Emperor of the time was very anti-war and doing everything to convince the military to give up, I can't help thinking the Yanks deliberately refused a pretty fair surrender offer just so they could "blow up some Nips" with their expensive new toy.

[zey.livejournal.com]

Oh. And big booms impress those heathen anti-capitalist Russkies ;-).

[greylock.livejournal.com]

If you get time, go to www.abc.net.au/rn and download last night's Australia Talks Back (the kids call it "the podcast").

Tommy Uren was brilliant.
He said something like "When the war ended I wanted to personally go out and slaughter every stinking Jap, then I started realising what had happened to them."

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Tom Uren is brilliant. I've been slowly going through his biography for some time now ("Straight Left"). He and Jim Cairns had a long alliance, only really upset when Jim decided to involve himself more with "personal development" to the exclusion of "social change".

Another great Australian who would have been a magnificent PM if it wasn't for his politics :/

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*nods* I have read (someplace, somewhere) that there was even a manic cadre of Japanese officers that attempted to launch a coup against the Emperor when he announced surrender.