"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."
-Benjamin Franklin
"Doesn't this guy know how governments work?"
-Benjamin Franklin
"Doesn't this guy know how governments work?"
A Proud Member of the
Archives
April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 March 2010
Friends
- Saplāksnis, finieris, zāģēšana
- Christian Audigier
- Restorāns banketi
- мягкая мебель производство
- INVERTS tulkošanas birojs: Tulkojumi un tulkošanas pakalpojumi
- Veiters.lv: tipogrāfijas pakalpojumi
- SEO Tutorial 2009
- Real Estate in Hurgada, buy apartment, property in Hurghada, real estate in Egypt, sell property in Hurghada, Buy land in Hurghada
- Дешевые авиабилеты купить
- бизнес туризм по снг
- Aviobiļetes internetā
- Заказать экскурсионные туры во Францию
The Therapy Sessions
Saturday, August 30, 2003
What's With The Birds?
I've decided to add the pengiun .gif to the right. I like it. I got it at Freedom Of Thought. Thanks Claudia!
Friday, August 29, 2003
Bad Blogs
Every now and then I come across a really shitty blog. Like this one.
Travels With Tom?
Tom Daschle is the creepy, wrinkled Senator from South Dakota. He cares about you more than you do, and he'd like to see government turned into one big social agency providing you with a union-built house, subsidized food, free child care, free college, free health care, and a free union guy to mow your lawn (nobody ever asked if Tom passed Economics 101).
Tom's such a swell guy...why he even uses your money to pay every farmer in South Dakota to keep the votes coming!
And he's sentimental, too:
For the last ten years, I’ve gotten in my car every August and driven all over South Dakota – no schedule and no staff. My “unscheduled driving tour” is always one of the highlights of the year for me. I find it an invaluable tool for keeping in touch with needs and concerns of South Dakotans. Every year I meet the most fascinating people, have the most amazing experiences, and end up with great stories to tell.
Charming. Oh, do tell, Tom. (Isn't this the script of a dumb Dell Computer ad?)
Last weekend, I visited the Rosebud Indian Reservation for their annual pow wow. Like everywhere else I have been on my month-long driving tour, it did not take long for the conversation to turn to health care.
Their annual "pow wow?" I'll bet the dialog there was really interesting:
"White Man come from city built on swamp. Face wrinkled, like buffalo's ass. He speak with forked tongue about making red man dependent on government of white man. He want to take Chief Running Bear's thunderstick, and tax Crapping Bear's firewater. Two Dogs Fucking say he want to give medicine for small wampum."
And there's this:
Tomorrow, I am going to take a break from my vacation to meet with Dale Bosworth – the Chief of the United States Forest Service – to talk about forest management. Chief Bosworth and I will also have the opportunity to tour the Beaver Park area of the Black Hills National Forest to see how the thinning of pine beetle-infested trees is going.
Oh Tom, can we come along? Please? But he's not done!
I learned a new health term today. . . The term is: Second Marriage. Barb, a Postmaster in a small South Dakota town, introduced me to it. She said, "I have a second marriage. . . and it is to my job. "Then she explained. "This second marriage is one I can't get out of because it is the only way that I can keep my health benefits. I am married to my job because I have no other choice. . . It occurred to me that this is a side of the health care crisis I hadn't given enough thought to.
A side of the health care crisis he hadn't given thought to? He's been in Washington blabbing about health care for twenty years! This whole damn blog's about health care.
And it just crossed his mind that health care's an expensive benefit?
He must be retarded. No wonder the asshole thinks that lawyers suing doctors all the time is part of the "solution."
The big idea in his uncrowded head? Government can pick up the tab! They print money, don't they? They can just print more!
This site has forced me to do something I regret. On my sidebar, I now have header for "Really Shitty Blogs."
Travels With Tom gets the first slot.
The Blogoverse is a huge, cold vacuum made up mostly of lightweight thoughts.
There will be more "Really Shitty Blogs."
A September 11th Blogger Event
I agree with the idea posted on A Little More To The Right: On September 11th, bloggers should all post the stories of what happened to them on 9/11.
I tell you up front that mine is a little boring, but I'll never forget it.
Some, like Chris might have very interesting stories to tell, since he works in Manhattan.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Human Shields? Bueller? Bueller?
This is pretty good:
Where, oh where, have my human shields gone?
Ya know, with all the bombings and destruction in Iraq, especially with the attacks on the infrastructure, like the oil lines, the electricity, the water...
Where the fuck are the human shields? I thought they went there to make sure this kinda crap didn't happen. Where are the granola eating turdburgers who went bravely to pre-war Iraq and placed their bodies in harm's way so that a stray incoming round would hit them, rather than the baby milk factory?
I guess they just up and left, when they all survived the war. They need to turn right around, get their collective asses back, because someone's blowing up the water pipes and people are going thirsty. The infrastructure of Iraq is being destroyed! It's killing the chilllllllldren! Hundreds of thousands of innocents are at risk! DOn't you CARE about the suffering of the Iraqi people rom indiscriminant bombing and ruthless attacks? Come back! You are needed!
Bah.
The real reason is, of course, that they stand a greater risk of getting whacked by some crazed thug than getting hit by US military fire....but they knew that going in, didn't they?
American Cannibals
I didn't know we sent the 132nd Mechanized Cannibals to Iraq:
American Strip Flesh From And Eat Victims' Corpses.
They are bug-shit crazy over there. I mean it.
If You Knew Koizumi Like I Knew Koizumi...
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was once the reform candidate in Japan, promising to remake Japan's flatline economy into something more lifelike.
But he has now presided over enough economic stagnation to at least make him an accessory to murder.
But the Church of Scientology's Tom Cruise thinks he's "extrordinary:"Tom Cruise Sings Elvis Duet with Japan's PM
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Those Evil Israelis Are At It Again!
Israeli strike kills bystander, but not Hamas members
What did Hamas and its friends ever do them? I speak with sarcasm, but most of Europe is asking this ridiculous question today because of the amazing anti-Jew bias in the media.
A Democrat Speaks The Truth!
Philadelphia Democratic chairman Bob Brady warns the faithful:
Giving up control of City Hall to the GOP, which in recent months took over the city Parking Authority and the Convention Center, would "jeopardize" patronage jobs that Democratic loyalists hold across the city, Brady wrote.
Wow, I can't beleive he just came out and said it!
Too bad he didn't call them "comrades" and propose a five year plan for Mayor Street....
Social Security Myth Making
What ignorance flourishes on the pages of the Inquirer!
Protect Social Security
Gary M. Galles, in "Social Security really isn't all that secure," Commentary Page, Aug. 14, attempts to sell privatization of retirement funding.
Ask anyone if their parents would have survived their "golden" years if it weren't for Social Security. I turned 65 this year and am collecting nearly $1,600 per month after paying in (along with my employers) $133,000.
In addition, my wife began collecting nearly $800 per month, which gives us a combined Social Security income of $28,000 per year. That's not as much as a teacher or government worker receives, which is another issue unto itself, but it's a great safety net for most Americans who can barely cover current expenses, let alone provide for retirement.
American workers could no more predict the failure of industrial corporations to provide adequate retirement funding than they could the recent blackout. We rely on Social Security as a government social contract with the elderly, and those who would replace it with Wall Street-sponsored private plans are government bashers or just plain fools.
Carl Witonsky
Bryn Mawr
cwitonsky@cs.com
Witonsky makes a big deal about the $133,000 that he and his employer have contributed to Social Security. But do the math: at $1600 a month that big nest egg dwindles to zero in seven years. Do you think fair Mr. Witonsky will kick off at age 72, or do you think he continue to let the government pick up the tab?
Social Security has been voted in by people like Witonsky. His generation voted themselves lavish benefits but they have never found the means to pay for them. The assurance that the government would pay for their Golden Years has led them to spend money when they should have saved.
I, and my sons, will pick up the tab for these old folks. There will be no Social Security for me, and since I am aware of this fact, I do something called "saving money." Because bonds give crappy rates, I need to invest in stocks and hope for the best.
This is why I am all for private social security accounts. Social Security should not be guaranteed. It should provide a limited retirement benefit to people who qualify for it (a true safety net). Doing more tempts people to act unwisely and not save money.
Mr. Witonsky and his generation used the ballot box to steal from people who were not even born. My generation and my children don't even get a "thank you."
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Turtle Tracking Trauma
Mommy, what happened to Sparky?
"When the signal from a huge sea turtle that was being tracked by satellite disappeared, researchers thought its transmitter had fallen off.
In fact, the turtle had found its way onto the menu at a Mexican village BBQ. The movements of the110 kilogram East Pacific green turtle had been tracked for several months. It swam from its nesting site in southern Mexico to feeding grounds in Baja California, a 1500 kilometre peninsula on Mexico's Pacific coast. But signals from the transmitter stopped.
Some months later a researcher quizzed poachers who told him the 50 year old turtle had been scoffed at a village BBQ.
Thousands of children had been following the turtles progress on the internet. Research indicated that about 30,000 green turtles meet the same fate in this area each year."
Senator Brings Obscene Material To National Attention
Washington, D.C. – Citing “ the need to shield decent Americans form depraved filth such as this,” U.S. Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) brought the website “Cum-Craving Sluttz” to national attention Monday. “This cyber sewage features hot-oiled young women engaging in such acts as fellatio, cunnilingus, rimming, fisting, and frottage,” Smith said of the previously obscure website. “I pray for the day when wholesome, impressionable youths do not know that such vile smut exists, let alone are able to access it at http://www.vicecapades.com on their families' home computers during an unsupervised moment.”
Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire. He's not just an anti-porn crusader.
He is, apparently, a big porn fan.
(At the risk of sounding like a neophyte, what the hell is "frottage?")
(From The Onion)
Peace Flakes!
Some people are scared of ghosts. Some people are scared of government (OK, government scares me a little too...).
But, really: This woman scares the shit out of me.
How can someone (presumably) graduate from high school without ever having considered the importance that war has played in human progress?
History screams it: War works. War works to end dictatorships, to repel invaders, to protect the innocent and secure the peace. War is a tool without which there could be no freedom.
Nonviolent solutions, of course, are ideal. And war, sadly, is often terrible and pointless.
But there is no denying that history without war would be history without progress.
I love this:
If your child asks, “What about bad people, who try to hurt us, like Sadaam Hussein?” Let them know that there are other ways we can deal with Sadaam and people like him without bombing a country.
(We can) work with our United Nations and with other countries to contain, even arrest, those who commit crimes against humanity, as we did with Slobodan Milosovich. He was captured and tried in the World Court and is now in jail.
Naomi Klein forgets about the huge bombing campaign that made Milosevic's arrest possible. And weirdly, she seems to believe that the peaceful arrest of dictators is a possiblity.
Maybe we should have tried that with Hitler!
What scares me more than anything is that people like her are drawn to children in the same way pedophiles are. They've got to get them while their young and naive.
She better keep the hell away from mine. I'll spray her with FlakeBeGone!TM if she even gets close...
The Handy IQ Test!
If you have the time and the desire, take this IQ test.
After all, it's free (just like your time!). And it was developed by PhD's!
Here was my report, but I'm not telling you my number:
John, you are a Visionary Philosopher.
This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways.
Big Deal. In other words, I'm OK at a lot things.
I'd parlay my intelligence into a big salary, but "Visionary Philosophers" are finding it hard to get jobs these days. I think "Visionary Philosopher," and I see a bearded guy strumming guitar, singing love songs to his bong. He doesn't have a job.
They compare me to Plato. They really know how to butter a guy up before they insult his intelligence:
Your full IQ report is only $14.95!
Yippee!
Perhaps they should have done it this way:
John, you're as dumb as Homer Simpson. Since you just got paid, surely you wouldn't mind paying $80 bucks for a fake-o plaque telling the world that you successfully completed an IQ test.
(Thanks to A Little More To The Right for the link)
Thanks Blogger!
I had some technical issues over the weekend.
Blogger's tech support is way better than it used to be, and I appreciate their help!
Orbitz Sucks
I'll never buy anything from a company that makes such shitty pop-ads.
No, I don't want to land the blimp (Jeez, that sound's bad...).
Malaysia's Haircut Police Strike Again
...And the right to wear a hairstyle of one's own choice shall not be infringed...
It's not a right in the Muslim world.
No Wonder Mumia Smells
Not only does he bathe infrequently, but the (rightly) convicted cop killer is a firm believer in the medicinal qualities of garlic. Garlic for Abu-Jamal.
Yeah, whatever.
Monday, August 25, 2003
What's With The Frogs?
France can't even bring itself to say that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are terrorist organizations.
Hamas needs to blow up a few more busses filled with Jews to make their nature obvious to the frogs.
Either France is a nation of anti-Semites, or they are willfully ignorant.
Egyptian Pettiness
OK, now the Egyptians are really getting desperate:Egyptians may sue Jews over the Exodus.
Maybe the Jews did steal some of your gold...But Jesus, let bygones be bygones!
(Link thanks to Amritas, who is currently on vacation)
Saturday, August 23, 2003
More On Iraq
Joel at Eyes, Lies and Spies made some interesting comments to my Iraq post below.
I would reply in the space of the post, but I quickly ran out of room (1000 characters max). I have no interest to get in a nasty debate with Joel, but I am more than happy to explain my beliefs. That after all is the purpose of blogs. His comments are in italics:
(In Iraq,) Is your country ready to wait 10 years? People don't even want to wait a couple months.
I believe we are prepared to stay In Iraq for as long as it takes, especially if the cost of our withdrawal is Iraqi chaos. “Creating democracy” is a huge mandate, one which is especially difficult. It may not be possible, but this depends on the Iraqis themselves. We need to give it a try. Terrorism occurs because the Arab governments are ridiculous failures that use Israel and the US as scapegoats for their own shortcomings. They are poor and backward because of their own repression, not because anything the West did to them. Good governance can, potentially, change that.
But Iraq is still important in the war on terror even if that can’t be done.
Here are good things that have come about because of this war.
1. Al Qaeda and its sister organizations are fighting our military directly. They are losing some of their most zealous people. They are being drawn to Iraq, not Manhattan. If they try to turn Iraq into a battleground, they may drive more Iraqis to our side. Most Iraqis have nothing in common with Islamic radicals.
2. Iraq’s oil output in 5-10 years may be enough to affect the global price significantly, and this threatens the economies of the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, which has long benefited from the artificially high price of oil. Saudi Arabia’s power will be reduced.
3. One of the world’s worst leaders has been removed. Hussein killed 300,000 of his own people directly, and sacrificed another 500,000 in his pointless wars. We have found the mass graves of thousands. The war was short, low in casualties, and most of the country was left intact. There was no refugee crisis, no humanitarian disaster, and Iraq’s neighbors stayed out.
4. The possibility that Iraq would share weapons with terrorists has been removed, and a huge terrorist funding source has been destroyed. Only states can sponsor huge WMD programs, and one of those states is gone.
5. Most of Iraq has welcomed the coalition forces, and reconstruction is progressing well in these areas. The area around Baghdad continues to be unstable, but the violence there is not a serious threat to occupation. Though the terrorists have some indigenous support, we are not fighting people who express the will of the people.
6. Saudi Arabia and Syria have both criticized our interventions as being “undemocratic.” How does that sound to their people? They have affirmed the “gold standard” nature of democracy, and Arab liberals have noticed (even if the West has not). There are lively debates going on within the Arab world about its future.
7. Saudi Arabia has seriously, although reluctantly, joined the war on terror by cracking down on its fiery mullahs and fighting Al Qaeda cells with its own borders. Practically, I think they realize that if something like 9/11 happens again and the Saudi royal family (which has 3000 members) has ties, their government will be destroyed. 150,000 well- armed troops in a neighboring country has a way of focusing minds.
8. The perception of the US is changing. Hatred of the US has been converted to fear. In the Arab mindset, there is nothing more reprehensible than cowardice. The US is not the cowardly superpower they thought it was, and there is no chance that terrorism will bring us to our knees. We do fight. We aren’t going to leave or surrender, and we are sending the message that terrorism is an Arab problem, not an American one. If they fail to deal with it, we will.
Since 9/11, the US and its allies have destroyed two of the five most oppressive regimes.
Each war that the US and its allies have fought in Arabia has destroyed a myth. And the fantasy-loving (in some case bug-shit crazy) Arabs cherish their myths and conspiracy theories. Like a computer trying to run two conflicting programs simultaneously, the Arabs are blinking, utterly confused, shuttling between two possibilities, one which will exposed as myth:
1) The US is the Great Satan, fighting a huge war against Islam. It wants to seize Arab oil and land, kill Arab children and evict the Arabs. And IT CAN EASILY DO THIS (after the Iraq war exposed the inherent weakness of one of the best armed Arab states), because the combined armed might of the Saudis, the Kuwaitis and the Emirates is a fraction of the Iraqi military, and no nation (or multilateral institution) on Earth will stop the US. The US hates Arabs as much as Arabs hate Jews, and the Iraq War is the first step in its conquest of the region.
- OR -
2) The US is a good country that welcomes different cultures, but it sees governments that respect human liberty to be in its interest, especially in the nuclear age. It will fight tyranny (spending billions to kill as few people as possible), and it will take on the responsibility of building responsible governments even under the most difficult of circumstances.
Up until now, everything they’ve known (government propaganda, Arab understanding of power (use it or lose it), Al Jezeera, European media) has led them to believe number 1. There is now a palpable feeling of suspicion in the Arab world as people wonder what other "truths" might soon be exposed as myths.
These are all good things.
Iraq will get the band-aid fix, no one will allow the US to meddle with Iraq for a decade.
Who is “no one?”
Can you afford (money i'm talking) to stay in Iraq for a decade?
Yes. We can't afford not to.
Oh and another thing, its not free governments that are peaceful. It's rich nations that are peaceful.
Nations become rich because they are free. The free flow of information is essential to wealth creation. Capitalism is nothing more than economic democracy (power doesn't come from the center, but from the millions of individual desires being expressed as monetary exchanges).
When's the last time a wealthy nation started a war? Other than America (America started the cold war... argue all you want its true).
Oh, I know. Americans are bloodthirsty simpletons. I hear this from Europeans all the time. It is said with a sort of intellectual superiority that is above argument.
No one wants to let the facts get in the way of a little old fashioned snobbery.
But I like facts. Facts are illuminating, and they are especially illuminating to people who believe that their freedom and its benefits come as naturally as the air they breathe.
Americans do not forget that we live in dangerous world, and they consider it their responsibility to make it less so.
If this makes us simple, so be it.
American isolation benefits no one, and our interventions in the globe have, for the large part, been beneficial. Consider:
In the last twenty-five years, the US military has overthrown dictators in Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, the Balkans and Afghanistan. Because of those wars, 40 million people live under better governments (not perfect, but measurably better). And the people of Iraq (25 million people) are likely to add to this total.
The US military directly defends the people of South Korea, a democracy of 50 million people, and it indirectly protects Taiwan’s democracy of 23 million people. With US victory in the Cold War, the governments of 300 million people were freed from the ridiculous economic straightjacket of socialism. In addition, the US was responsible for the direct military protection of Japan (100 million people) and the people of Western Europe (200 million) during the Cold War.
750 million people live under better government because of the US and her military.
And don’t forget: the US was decisive factor in the two world wars against fascism.
No other government, institution, charity or foreign aid program can claim even a fraction of these historical accomplishments.
The US economy is the world’s biggest, responsible for one quarter of the world’s economic growth. Our culture, our TV shows, movies and music are everywhere on the globe. We make more, we consume more, we invent more and we give more than anyone else (forget foreign aid: the US people give more to charity than all other nations combined).
We also have the world’s freest trade policy (though it should be freer). And as a result, many nations of the world owe their economies to us (think Japan, South Korea, Taiwan…).
It comes down to freedom. There is no freer nation in the world, and freedom (but more importantly, the free flow of information) is essential to economic growth. In a capitalist economy, the free flow of information tells everyone where the opportunities are, so that everyone has the ability to profit from them (the alternative is that the same sluggish companies will have all the right information, but have no good ideas on what to do with it). In this way, you best insure that most able companies (or individuals) can be in place to take advantage. Likewise, when someone buys stock in a business, they can peruse the properly audited information about the company’s finances, all of it freely available.
All of this benefits the nation in a way that secrecy does not. Arabs are frightened by freedom, and they resent American success. We can either help to be a part of this success, or we can continue to fight them. And when you look at how warfare is going to change in the coming years (WMD becoming more widely available), I think that we really have no choice.
Friday, August 22, 2003
Unexpected Privatization Benefit?
Districts cheer over state test results
Those gains were especially noteworthy in the Chester Upland School District, where the for-profit Edison School Inc. took control of nine of the district's 13 schools two years ago. Four elementary schools there made double-digit percentage gains in reading proficiency, and all four district middle schools increased math and reading proficiency levels.
Three of the elementary schools are run by Edison; the district retains control of the Toby Farms Elementary School.
The Edison-run Showalter Junior Academy, serving sixth through eighth grades, improved its proficiency numbers by about 60 percentage points in math and about 26 points in reading. About 71 percent of the school's eighth graders tested proficient in math, up from 11 percent in 2002. In reading, about 82 tested proficient, up from 57 percent.
Showalter eighth graders even outperformed their counterparts in the respected Haverford School District, whose middle-schoolers posted about 76 percent proficiency in reading and about 66 percent in math. The state average for eighth grade was 63.4 percent in reading and 51.3 percent in math.
I have favored the privatization of poor public schools for many years. I hoped that new streamlined management would clean the bird shit and bat guano out of larded school administrations, freely them up to concentrate on kids.
But academic achievement is a bigger challenge, particularly in districts where illegimacy rates and truancy levels are high.
As usual, the Philadelphia Inquirer buries this privatization news in the story. They have been working hard to fan the anti-Edison flames for a long time. And for them there is never a good time to admit you might be wrong.
I'm still skeptical of how far something like Edison can go, but they should be given more chances.
The schools Edison took over in Chester-Upland were once considered HOPELESS.
Iraq Misread
The media, as usual, is missing the story about this whole Iraq "quagmire:" Our enemies have made a clear change in strategy.
Direct attacks on our soldiers have decreased, and there have been a number of attacks on lightly defended "soft" targets (the UN, the Jordanian Embassy, the oil pipeline, and the water pipeline).
They are trying now to inflame things, attacking sites with the intention of screwing things up. Using bombings, they intend to create Iraqi civil war between Iraq's factions.
Attacking American troops head on hasn't stopped. But in changing strategy, the enemy is acknowledging that this tactic isn't doing the two things it was meant to do: inspire Americans to give up (the strategy worked in Somalia and Lebanon, but is has been failing since 9/11) and inspire large numbers of nationalist Iraqis to join the jihad against the infidels.
Attacking US soldiers directly is expensive, in terms of both people and money. Even the Iraqi mafia is demanding big money to fire a RPG at a US humvee, and few of the attackers are returning to attack again. The attacks are pinpricks against a force of 140,000, and could be endured for a hundred years, if necessary.
That is too long for the Baathists - whose ability to inspire fear among Iraqis is rapidly disappearing.
To make matters worse, In a country where nearly everyone has an AK-47, few regular people were showing much stomach for the struggle (this is a particularly bitter pill for the Arab world). This is a difficult time in which Iraq faces an uncertain future, but most Iraqis are in no mood for a civil war.
The Baathists have lost heart, and they have given up trying to get their country back. They are sullen and frustrated, and they realize that the Americans are staying.
Our enemy is now changing.
Baathists are usually not suicide attackers:loyalty to Hussein does not extend into the afterlife. Many of the people we are now encountering in Iraq are Islamic groups like Al Qaeda who are in it for the long haul. They have every interest in turning Iraq into chaos.
We are fighting terrorists now.
The enemy is trying new things to try to make people angry enough to fight each other, if not the Americans. Their strategy is that the Americans will be unable to prevent Iraq from tearing itself apart. But the good news is this: It is clear to everyone (except the French) that the coalition is staying put. Even Howard Dean realizes it.
And it is important that the message be heard loud and clear.
The arrival of Al Qaeda in Iraq is both ominous and reassuring. It is ominous because Al Qaeda is formidable and crafty enemy that will use desperate measures to kill Americans. It is reassuring because the Americans they are choosing to attack are our professional soldiers in Iraq (not civilians in Manhattan).
Luckily for us, terrorists are not motivated by clear strategic thinking: destroying water pipelines and killing Ayatollahs is no way to win the hearts of the Iraqi people. But they don't care about the people anymore.
The war on terror will be won or lost in Iraq.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Mary Carey's Threat
Mary Carey is now offering to
Unfortunately for her, there is a shortage of desperate, rich blind guys - even in California.
That does it...
I mean, she'll never win now.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Peters is Required Reading
Perfectly said.
We've taken the War Against Terror to our enemies. It's far better to draw the terrorists out of their holes in the Middle East, where we don't have to read them their rights, than to wait for them to show up in Manhattan again.
In Iraq, we can just kill the bastards. And we're doing it with gusto.
Yes, the Canal Hotel attack proves that terrorists are rushing to Iraq like moths to a hurricane lamp. But when that happens, the lamp wins, not the moths.
What Would We Do Without Research Like This?
Bored teens with lots of spending money often get into drugs...
Uh, no shit.
Blair Hornstine Go Away!
Blair wins $15,000 for herself and $45,000 for her lawyers!
Our legal system is wonderful!
Global Double Standard Against Israel
This picture should be on the front page of every paper in the world (thanks to Little Green Footballs):
Chances are good, though, that few people will ever see it. No European news agency will print it. While every news organization in the world shows the accidental deaths of Palestinian children, few show the DELIBERATE murder of Israel toddlers.
This horrible scene is exactly what the suicide bomber intended, and many Arabs think he will be blessed in heaven for this act. Most Palestinians are so full of hatred for Jews that they are delighted with every bombing. This hatred is largely ignored in the U.S., and it is completely ignored in the rest of the world.
It is the danger of the "moral equivalency" in the Israel-PA dispute. One day after the bombing in Jerusalem that killed twenty (many of them children), here is the headline on CNN: Israel: Peace process might be at an end.
Israel, as usual, is the enemy.
It can't try to kill terrorist leaders, it can't jail them, it can't "invade" Palestinian "territory" to find the bomb factories, and it can't even build a wall to protect its citizens.
If the diplomats had their way, Israel would be completely vulnerable to Arab terror.
Arab hatred is given a pass, and it is diluted with potshots at Israeli "cruelty:"
(The Bomber's) wife, Arij, began clearing belongings out of her Hebron home late yesterday, in expectation that it would be demolished by Israeli troops. The Israeli military routinely destroys the homes of suicide bombers, hoping it will act as a deterrent.
Arij Mesk said she was not sad. "God gave Raed something he always dreamed of. All of his life he dreamed of being a martyr," she said. The couple have two children, ages 2 and 3.
Arabs like to complain that Americans don't understand who they are. But they should be worried that we're among the few who do.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
What The Hell?
Teen suffocated to death by fish
During his dip, Lim Vanthan caught a prized 20 cm fish, called kantrob in Cambodian, with his hands.
But the high school student's excitement was short-lived when his catch squirmed out of his hands and jumped into his mouth, where it became stuck because of barbs running down its back.
What A Funny Castro!
His rollicking sense of humor almost makes you forget how many people he's killed!
Castro lays practical joke on Hugo Chavez.
Advice On Attacking Sweden: Wait Until Sundown...Sssh!
Swedish Army Goes Nine To Five.
Why would they make this public knowledge?
I guess they're not really that worried about the U.S. taking over the world. And, in the event of an attack, they get to charge overtime!
I've got a great idea for some new weird news from Norway: Norway attacks Sweden...At Night!
What ever happened to the Nordic war machines of old? The Vikings would be appalled.
What Is It About Norway?
Like most Americans, the only sure thing I knew about Norway (until recently) was that it was somewhere northeast of Maine.
Sure, I knew it was a land with limited sunlight and shitty food (pickled herring in cream sauce?) -a place where vowels are scarce and being rationed (words like "hammrskgold" roam safely through Norwegian spellcheckers).
But I am getting more curious...
Man Shoots Friends At Surprise Party.
The man found out about the party in a forest cabin in south Norway beforehand and hid behind trees nearby with a shotgun as about 30 guests turned up on Saturday night, hoping to turn the surprise on his friends, He blasted off one round in the air, meaning it as a joke to shock the partygoers.
But when he came out from his hiding place, he tripped and the gun went off again, badly hurting one woman in the legs and slightly injuring five others.
The party was canceled.
As would be expected: shootings always ruin parties.
Chris at Sociopathocracy has also picked up on the spate of strange stories coming from Norway. A rehash:
There was the "comic" who motors dead pigs around the sea.
There was the fact Norweigians rarely change their underwear.
There was a strange story about a Norway's laws against feeding live animals to snakes, complete with advice on how to kill the animals yourself, heat them in a microwave and jiggle them them to simulate live prey.
And there was news of Norweigian olfactory defiencies
There's more to Norway than one would suspect...
The Times Comes Clean. Too Late
After the dumb campaign finance bill passed congress, there were many news stories about how it really wasn't a good idea (they were right). A similar thing happened with the horrible farm bill, and the dreadful steel tariffs.
Now it is happening with the new Prescription Drug Benefit being added to Medicare (which is 8 years from bankruptcy):Prescription Drugs Now, Day of Reckoning Later
The Times has argued relentlessly about the need for this bill. Now it's a practical reality, and they just noticed it will increase drug costs even further, and the expenses will be passed onto our children. Since children don't vote, Congress loves the bill.
The media's responsibility is to spotlight stupid federal spending habits. But as usual, they are ignoring it.
Monday, August 18, 2003
Cool New Words
I got this in an e-mail:
New Terms To Remember:
The Washington Post's Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:
1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
4. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
5. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
6. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
7. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
8. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
9. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.
10. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
11. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
12. Glibido: All talk and no action.
13. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
14. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
15. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
16. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.
17. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
Al Gore Speaks?
"As a result, too many of our soldiers are paying the highest price for the strategic miscalculations, serious misjudgments and historic mistakes that have put them and our nation in harm's way," Gore said.
Oh, Albert. The same old shit...
The Gorebot's OS is still Gore98. He needs an upgrade....
Friday, August 15, 2003
Anti-Coalition Violence in Iraq
Interesting article about the violence, coming form the BBC of all places:Who is behind the violence in Iraq?
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Kerry Corn Dog Flap
John Kerry can't even enjoy a corndog without a healthy smattering of Grey Poupon.
North Korean "Missile Factory"Intercepted En Route To Libya
Why don't these stories get more coverage?
On North Korean Freighter, a Hidden Missile Factory
Go back to sleep, America. You have nothing to worry about.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Kerry's Sandwich Scandal "Dooms" Him In Philly
Steak Raises Stakes for Kerry in Philly
No, Philadelphians do not order Swiss cheese on their cheesesteaks. And then there is this:
Kerry spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted that the candidate was "not taking a dainty nibble" of the steak. "I suspect that Kerry was thinking about provolone cheese but became distracted by thinking of the more than 3 million jobs that have slipped through the holes of George W. Bush's economic plan."
(thanks to Ebaum's World)
National Health Insurance...
The AMA argues that health care in the US is too expensive. Their solution?Let the government pick up the tab!
Oh yeah, that'll control costs. Auditors who gladly sign off on bills for $500 screwdrivers and $900 toilet seats should have an easy time with medical bills.
Medical bills aren't confusing, are they?
Ah, who cares anyway? The government has all the money it needs...
Matthew Miller Misses The Point
Media assist Republicans' honesty deficit
Matthew Miller is right to criticize Republicans for cutting taxes but not reducing federal spending. But he is wrong in thinking Democrats will ride to the rescue and balance the budget.
True, the Republican Medicare overhaul is obscene, passing its costs on to millions who have not yet been born.
But the Democratic plan was 70% more expensive.
Certainly, the horrid Farm Bill was an expensive waste of money. But it passed along party lines, over the objections of Republicans, with largely Democratic support.
Whether the issue is education, health care, the environment, homeland security or economic stimulus, the Democrats want to spend more money then their Republican counterparts. And of course, they destroyed any hope of Social Security reform, willfully ignoring the fact that this program is headed off a demographic cliff.
Some choice the fiscal conservatives have: bad versus worse.
Clearly, “small government” Republicans have a credibility problem.
The Democrats, though, are in no position to take advantage of it.
Monday, August 11, 2003
Photos Of the Excavation Of A MiG-25 In The Iraqi Desert
The same man who gave me the Iraq letters below gave me these extrordinary photos. A jet is excavated from the desert.
Saddam hiding weapons? Nah....
How I Ceased To Be A Liberal...
On the Comment Board at Shared Thought, Jay asked me the following question:
"So, what threw you off the liberal wagon?"
My answer was long, for I am a long-winded bore:
Oh Jeez. That's a hard question. I am a liberal on many issues: I am pro-choice, against the silly drug war, against religious fundamentalism, pro-immigration, against racism and all kinds of bias. I am completely furious that Bush that has not cut governent spending, because I believe we face a demographic train wreck when social security and medicare hit the fan.
But if I could boil my "conversion" down to one word, that word would be AFRICA.
I saw a lot of programs going terribly wrong in Africa. The subsidized food that we send as "aid" is economically destroying Africa's domestic farmers. They can't compete with "free." The free food invariablity ends up in the hands of corrupt regimes who pass it to their cronies as favors.
I came to conclusion that the best way to help Africa is to give them access to hard currency. They make excellent cloth and they grow fine fruits. Labor is very cheap and abundant. If only they could sell on the American market! But American labor unions ("Sweatshops!") and corporate interests ("Competition!") have blocked such things. Both Republicans and Democrats share the blame for this, but no one doubts that "free trade" is an issue that has been taken over by the Republicans.
In NAFTA, I found myself, for the first time, agreeing with the Republicans and disagreeing with the Democrats.I found myself agreeing with them again when the Democrats started muddying the debates about entitlement spending talking about fantasies like social security "lock boxes," defending the welfare system or supporting Affrimative Action.
I could be wooed by the Democrats if they acted serious about defending the country from terrorism, supporting democracy and opposing tyranny and reigning in government spending (somebody like Lieberman might do it).
But they are Democrats, and Democrats have changed.
John F. Kennedy, many Democrats forget, was a cold warrior who liked tax cats and small government (and Jefferson had similar beliefs). I think JFK could be elected today, while Teddy would lose in a landslide (Democrats don't seem to realize how far they've drifted).
Unfortunately, the Democrats want to increase spending on just about everything - especially on things that benefit the NEA or the trial lawyers- and they can't seem to believe that an American military occupation force is better than a dictator who killed 300,000 of his own people.
Most damningly, their vision is not clear on foreign policy, and they will pay for this.
Tribal societies (as found in Africa and the Middle East) understand power. They smell weakness like a shark smells blood in the water. They were, until recently, under the impression that the US was cowering in the face of terrorism,in retreat, and they were interpreting that as a sign that their ascedency was Allah's will.
America's recent performance in the Gulf is changing minds. Where there was once rage, now there is fear. And with fear comes introspection. And with introspection comes change.
Hopefully. That's the plan, and sometimes plans don't work. It was a Republican plan, now it is America's plan.
The Democrats have never had a plan. They were just hoping the winds would change and things would get better over there all by themselves.
So I guess I'm a sort of Republican now. Oh well.
Sunday, August 10, 2003
Saddam-Al Qaeda Alliance?
No, no. This cannot happen! Al Qaeda and Saddam will never work together:
Al-Qaeda Directs Iraqi Hit Squad
Saturday, August 09, 2003
Required Reading
Charles Krauthammer:U.S. hypocritical to attack Israel for safeguarding itself from terrorists
The Israelis are not happy with the fence. They love the land as much as the Palestinians, and scarring it with any barrier is so painful to Israelis that for years they resisted the idea. The reason they finally decided to build it is that they could no longer in good conscience refrain from taking the one step that could prevent suicide bombers from sneaking into Israel to blow up innocents.
This is not speculation. There have been nearly 100 Palestinian suicide bombings. All the terrorists came from the West Bank, where the barrier is being built. Not a single one has come from Gaza. Why? Because there already is a fence separating Gaza from Israel.
The Palestinians hate the idea of the fence because it will work. It will end their ability to make many terrorist attacks, and in doing so, it will reduce the power of the only tool they've ever bothered to use.
The world has worked hard to give the Palestinians the idea that terrorism works. They kill innocents in pizza parlors, and diplomats come to visit them and pressure Israel to recognize their "statehood."
It is the inverted logic of the "peace process." And the Bush Administration sullies its otherwise excellent foreign policy record whenever it gets involved in it.
Friday, August 08, 2003
Kondracke Gets An Assist!
Mort criticizes the Democrats and their friends in Big Labor:
The labor movement is determinedly protectionist, following an archaic economic model that envisions keeping U.S. wages up by keeping cheaper foreign products out-yet at the same time insists that other countries buy U.S. goods even though their workers can't get richer by selling to the U.S.
Free trade economics-once embraced Democratic party, but now a Republican idea-holds that workers everywhere get richer when their countries can sell their products in world markets and buy commodities at the cheapest price.
Yep.
Lileks Scores!
Lileks is classic, especially in describing the Democratic contenders:
John Edwards: Well let me tell you 'bout the way he walks, the way he acts and the color of his hair. His voice is soft and cool; his eyes are clear and bright, but he's not there.
Joe Lieberman: Dull, earnest, always sounds like he's trying to pass a stone. Not a chance, you say? According to a recent South Carolina poll, 13 percent of Democratic voters prefer Joe, as opposed to 4 percent for Howard "Two Covers" Dean.
Dennis Kucinich: No man with a Mo Stooge haircut has ever been elected president, and Kucinich will be no exception. His Web site compares him to Seabiscuit - another famous horse who came from behind, electrified a depressed nation, and was oddly unconcerned about Saddam Hussein's crimes.
NPR Silliness
I was listening to NPR on the way to work today. If NPR was my main news source and I believed everything they said, I’d probably be against the war too.
NPR is a relentless barrage of bad Iraq stories, stories made to look bad, and good stories that are portrayed as bad news.
Among their reporters, there is none worse than Anne Garrels. As NPR boasts: “She earned international recognition in 2003 by being one of 16 U.S. journalists to remain in Baghdad during the initial invasion of Iraq.”
Oh, that’s nice.
There was nothing independent about reporting from Saddam’s Baghdad. Reporters there who wrote stories angering Saddam found themselves reporting from Kuwait. Some are honest about this fact and feel guilty about lying for Saddam; Others, like Garrels, believe that reporting Saddam’s propaganda as fact is something to be proud of.
Today’s gloomy story was about the electricity situation in Baghdad. There was all the usual flatulence about “rising” hostility to Americans for failing to get all the electricity on.
Buried in the story was the “root cause:” so much copper has been looted from the transmission lines around Baghdad that the world copper price has gone down significantly.
Does the story acknowledge the difficulty of trying to build a power grid from scratch? Does the story talk about the real villains here: the looters?
No, it merely magnifies the misplaced anger of Iraqi citizens about their own predicament, a situation that America is working hard to correct.
Garrels is blaming the doctor for the disease.
In ten years, I think Garrels and her ilk will look pretty foolish. I think the situation there is better than she is willing to admit. Recently, I have been having an e-mail correspondence with a former military man who has friends and family members in Iraq. I promised to keep his name and the identities of his friends secret, but these are excerpts from some the letters he has received. The first is from a high-ranking soldier in the first Armored Division:
Even though we are still being shot at daily, the vast majority of the population supports our objectives and just want to get on with their lives. We are doing some excellent humanitarian work, but it doesn't make the news because all the press wants to talk about is the attacks. The infrastructure is up and running and the shortfalls in electricity, water, sewage, etc., are being addressed. We have local advisory councils of Iraqi citizens set up in Baghdad and a functioning city council.
The people we kicked out of power can't stand our success, however, and will do everything they can to try to make us fail. Thus the ongoing gun battles in the streets. There is also a lot of organized crime here. I have flashbacks to "The Godfather" all the time.
And the second is from a soldier on the streets of Baghdad:
Hey Guys, sorry it's been so long since I've sent anything but a quick note to you individually. However things have been pretty hectic since the end of hostilities and the start of the real war. Despite what the assholes in the press like to say over and over:
1) We did expect some armed resistance from the Ba'ath Party and Feydaheen;
2) It isn't any worse than expected;
3) Things are getting better each day, and
4) The morale of the troops is A-1, except for the normal bitching and griping.
My brief love affair with the press, especially the guys who had the cajones to be embedded with the troops during the fighting, is probably over, especially since we are back being criticized by the same Roland Headly types that used to hang around the Palestine Hotel drinking Baghdad Bob's whiskey and parroting his ridiculous B.S.
I'm no longer baby-sitting the pukes from CNN and the canned hams from the networks, but have a combat mission coordinating a bunch of A teams, seeking, finding and rooting out the mostly non-Iraqis that are well-armed, well-paid (in U.S. dollars) and always waiting to wail for the press and then shoot some GI in the back in the midst of a crowd…then they know the next nightly news will be about how chaotic things are and how much the Iraqi people hate us.
Some do. But the vast majority don't and more and more see that the GIs don't start anything, are by-and-large friendly, and very compassionate, especially to kids and old people. I saw a bunch of 19 year-olds from the 82nd Airborne not return fire coming from a mosque until they got a group of elderly civilians out of harms way. So did the Iraqis.
A bunch of bad guys used a group of women and children as human shields. The GIs surrounded them and negotiated their surrender fifteen hours later and when they discovered a three year-old girl had been injured by the big tough guys throwing her down a flight of stairs, the GIs called in a MedVac helicopter to take her and her mother to the nearest field hospital. The Iraqis watched it all, and there hasn't been a problem in that neighborhood since. How many such stories, and there are hundreds of them, ever get reported in the fair and balanced press? You know, nada.
The civilians who have figured it out faster than anyone are the local teenagers. They watch the GIs and try to talk to them and ask questions about America and Now wear wrap-around sunglasses, GAP T-shirts, Dockers (or even better Levis with the red tags) and Nikes (or Egyptian knock-offs, but with the "swoosh") and love to listen to AFN when the GIs play it on their radios.
They participate less and less in the demonstrations and help keep us informed when a wannabe bad-ass shows up in the neighborhood. The younger kids are going back to school again, don't have to listen to some mullah rant about the Koran ten hours a day, and they get a hot meal.
They see the same GIs who man the corner checkpoint, helping clear the playground, install new swing sets and create soccer fields. I watched a bunch of kids playing baseball in one playground, under the supervision of a couple of GIs from Oklahoma. They weren't very good but were having fun, probably more than most Little Leaguers…
…Nothing more satisfying than working with the BEST damn soldiers in the world, flushing real human poop down the drain and giving some folks a chance at trying freedom for a change. They may learn to like it and then my great-great-grandson won't have to worry about some maniac trying to destroy the planet.
The full text of the letters say nothing about “rising” hostilities or tempers “reaching a boiling point.”
Sorry, Anne Garrels, I don’t believe you. I remember listening to NPR during the war, and your warnings about how bloody the seige of Baghdad would be. I remember you telling me that the Iraqi army had concentrated defenses around the city and they were ready to die for Saddam. And at the time you said this, we now know that the army had already disintegrated.
I think that you, and your network (which I pay for, btw), have a habit of studying the trees and ignoring forests. I care more about the forests.
To me, the situation in Baghdad sounds more like Germany in 1945 than Vietnam in 1967.
Land Of The Litigants
I'll let this speak for itself:
The typical award in medical malpractice cases is now about $1m according to Jury Verdict Research, a research firm, compared with $362,500 in 1994. Around a third of this money goes straight into the pockets of the lawyers, who, doctors claim, have manufactured a mini-industry of sympathetic “experts” to sway juries.
On the face of it, the doctors have strong ground for grievance. Back in 1990, researchers at Harvard University, having combed through 30,000 records of patients at 53 New York hospitals and 67,000 court records, concluded that 83% of the malpractice claims did not involve negligence by doctors. A more recent study, this time of cases in Colorado and Utah in 2000, also found doctors innocent in 78% of the claims. Many of these nuisance lawsuits are dropped or defeated but the average cost for the doctor is $17,000.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Iraq Hubris
The Chicago Tribune’s Steve Chapman shadowboxes:
Iraq was billed as Act II of the war on terrorism, and still is. In the months before the invasion, the American people were endlessly browbeaten with warnings about the connection between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.Browbeaten?
Uh, Not really.
The administration took pains to emphasize that they did not have evidence of a “link.” They mentioned the presence of a crazy Islamic nut cult in northern Iraq called Ansar al Islami, which did have ties to Al Qaeda. The claims about Ansar were true, and this group of terrorists fought Americans viciously.
They lost.
But Chapman, even fighting an imaginary enemy, has to call it a draw:
The campaign of guilt by association succeeded beyond his fondest hopes. Last fall, a majority of Americans said Saddam Hussein was personally involved in Sept. 11, something even the administration didn't dare to claim.
How is Bush responsible for the fact that Americans don’t read?
Liberals are fighting a losing battle here. They simultaneously argue that Bush should have connected the dots in CIA intelligence and foreseen 9/11, but that he should have known that intelligence about Iraq’s WMD was overblown.
That’s asking a lot.
They know (somehow) that Bin Laden (or his successor) would never take a weapon from man like Hussein. Hussein should have been left alone to work on whatever the hell he was working on because he would never help Osama.
Let me repeat that: our sworn enemy Saddam Hussein, who has irrationally attacked Iran, Kuwait, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States (remember the USS Stark?), who tried to kill our former president, who funded terrorism throughout the world, and used chemical weapons against his own people, would never work with Osama Bin Laden. Never.
Um hmm.
Bin Laden asks no questions about where his weapons come from. Most of the weapons Bin Laden uses – like his trusty AK47 – were built by one of his sworn enemies, the Soviet Union. And Al Qaeda has tested its own chemical weapons and it wants to go nuclear.
(And hey, Saddam had centrifuges, preserved for future use!)
A terrorist takes help where he can get it.
I think Bush realizes what Chapman doesn't.
Had we not attacked Iraq, eventually the embargo would have crumbled. It was a source of rage for Iraq's neighbors, human rights groups were attacking it (it was killing 4000-5000 Iraqi children a month, they said), and France, Germany, China and Russia were all cheating.
Containment was failing.
It was only a matter of time before Saddam's Iraq was welcomed back into the community of nations. The "no fly" zones would have ended; Hussein would have massacred the Kurds again and resumed control of northern Iraq. And in all probablity, he would have restarted his weapons programs and passed power on to one of his maniac sons.
Is this what Chapman wants?
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
An Interesting Job...
A hard day drinking at the office...
While the perks are obvious, employment at BTI entails some unique occupational hazards. "You should never taste more than 15 spirits or 30 to 40 beers in one day," warns BTI tasting director Jerald O'Kennard. Sobering advice indeed.
After 40 beers, it's time to stumble home...
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Smelly Money
This cash must really stink to be rejected by the Third World.
Bangladesh's currency notes have become so dirty that even fishmongers reckon they stink too much to use...
"I feel very uncomfortable taking paper money from sellers because they are not only soiled but sometimes smell awfully bad," said Tanveer Ahmed, a buyer at a fish market.
Rail Officials Strike Deal With Graffiti Artists
Yeah. This will work. Right.
Mr Vizsy says 30 to 40 graffiti artists - about half of them wearing ski masks - showed up at the company's headquarters in Budapest to sign the deal earlier this week.
"It's more like a gentleman's agreement but MAV does not consider graffiti an art form," Mr Vizsy added.
What's The Fuss? It's Art!
Prince Charles is to be greeted in Salzburg a piece of nouveau European art, and the mayor is horrifed. When unveiled, the statue was revealed to be a nude man with a two-foot erection. It will be one of the first things Charles sees upon entering Salzburg.
Classy.
Gay Bishop Stalled By....An E-Mail?
I don't really care about this story much. But it does strike me as odd that the whole vote on whether a gay man can be a bishop has been "thrown into turmoil" by an e-mail.
Allegation halts vote on cleric
Anyone can send an e-mail. Don't these people get spam?
Oh Stupidity....
Vaccines used to mean low earnings for pharmaceutical companies. But by requiring private insurers to cover them (!) and subsidizing the cost, you practically insure that they will be more expensive in the future.Subsidize vaccines for all, panel urges
The drug companies are going to be all for this.
Didn't these people learn anything from prescription drug price inflation? (Of course not: they'll be subsidizing prescription drugs for Medicare soon, at huge expense.)
The best way to control prices is to let the market work. People need to see how much a drug costs, and choose a generic if it doesn't seem worth the price.
It works in everything else. But medical care is a "right."
It's funny. You don't have a right to a meal or a house (and without either you'll die).
But top-of-the-line drugs and doctors, you have a right to these things!
That wonderful sense of entitlement! And we can just pass the bill onto the kids!
Khomeini's Grandson Disses The Mullahs
The grandson of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who looks to be about 200 years old, strongly criticized Iran's government, comparing it to the tyranny of the Dark Ages in Europe:
Khomeini grandson attacks 'religious dictators'
He also praises the US led coalitions that removed Saddam Hussein from power.
Things are getting interesting over there.
Monday, August 04, 2003
Friday, August 01, 2003
