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12.30.2003
God Bless (insert territorial mass unknown during biblical times) different strings: "It is pure folly to think that we are somehow more special than any other nation on Earth - especially since the Bible - the book the very people promoting this ideology claim to look to for guidance - says nothing about America at all. If we were to be the 'greatest nation' and the 'instrument of God's will' and all that, wouldn't God have found a way to include that in His book? " I like it when people say the things I want to say, its saves me the trouble of typing it myself. | Make it Small! News: Start-up brings hard drive to the masses: "The Cornice drive is essentially a minimalist hard drive that has been shorn of any materials not needed for portable electronics. The drive, for instance, doesn't have its own internal, dedicated pool of memory; instead, it uses the memory shared by the rest of the device to cache data. The SE doesn't have rails, so it can't be removed from the host device; by contrast, the drive is planted on the motherboard, and transfers of files are accomplished through USB (universal serial bus) ports. " Its the 1.5 GB, 1 inch hard drive that we already see in some MP3 players from RIO. The unit cost per drive stands at $65 each for every 10,000 units. A quick check of my music folder seems to indicate a storage capacity of about 380 songs, give or take a few. That's not bad, two whole cds worth of MP3 audio is very respectible, considering the amount of sorting that needs to be done to organize a mess of songs like that. The RIO nitrus seems to run about $200 right now, still more than I want to spend. Oh well. | Point A to Point Red by way of Point 35 Op-Ed Columnist: Our So-Called Boom: "A good indicator of the share of increased profits that goes to different income groups is the Congressional Budget Office's estimate of the share of the corporate profits tax that falls, indirectly, on those groups. According to the most recent estimate, only 8 percent of corporate taxes were paid by the poorest 60 percent of families, while 67 percent were paid by the richest 5 percent, and 49 percent by the richest 1 percent. ('Class warfare!' the right shouts.) So a recovery that boosts profits but not wages delivers the bulk of its benefits to a small, affluent minority." True, but it bears repeating over and over and over and over again. While many Americans have dipped their toes into the market, many if not most of working class Americans do so in small ways. Though it may not seem small to most people to put a few thousand dollars in a mutual fund it is small potatoes to the millions that are sloshed around everyday. "According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 12/30/2003 at 12:47:18 PM EST is: 292,945,088 So the top 1 percent represents about 3,000,000 people. That's the 2000 population of Chicago. Which is a mess of people, but would we really feel comfortable if the city of Chicago owned half of this country? Ok, some of us would. The other 290 million of us would wonder what we're getting out of all this. Fun Facts: 2000 census, 600 cities with populations over 50,000 people. I'm a native Tulsan, but I live in Broken Arrow right now. I was suprised to see two Okie cities in the top fifty. | 12.29.2003
The Best Way to Shoot Yourself in the Foot Raise your hands if you've ever taken advice from your opponents in the middle of a heated contest. "I wouldn't move my pawn there if I were you.. bad idea... baaaad idea... !!" Mona Charen: End of year reflections: "What seemed so clear to outsiders -- that the Democrats' best bet was a war-supporting liberal like Gephardt or Lieberman -- did not seem to sway the nominating wing of the Democratic party. They are thirsting for a Bush-bashing, small America liberal -- someone who will genuflect before the United Nations. But Dean is more than a liberal, he is a liar and a narcissist. So if he is nominated, it's going to be long, long year." Ah yes, the logic goes that since Mona Charen likes George Bush then all people would like Bush. Therefore it stands to reason that the best bet that the democrats have at winning is to run a candidate that resembles Bush, but as a democrat. Makes perfect since to me. "Mind if I move this Bishop here?" Of course you never heard the Republicans saying that they needed to run a candidate that was like Clinton in order to beat Clinton. They, rightfully so, thought it best to run a candidate that appealed to their base, stark raving mad righties and hope to win by voting in a low turnout race. A small group of heavily mobilized voters have the ability to affect the outcome of an election if and when the general tone of the election keeps most people home. Right now, Dean's supporters are a mirror image of the Bush crowd, die-hard, mobilized around their candidate and willing to work their asses off to get their man in the Whitehouse. And this is bad because the Democrats should have supported a less cohesive candidate that would have never inspired people to volunteer and vote? "So I can clearly not choose the cup in front of me!" I, contrary to conventional wisdom among other liberals, think that Dean has a better than even chance of beating Bush in the election if he gets the nomination. I judge this by the depth of froth gathering at the feet of right wing Bush lovers. You can check the levels at Unix Music and Far Right Politics where Jim has become adept at passing on any and all right wing propaganda. Dean is the target. You don't become a target in politics by being benign. The GOP OR (opposition research) machine has already turned its sights on Dean and has begun blasting away in the same method that it took aim at Gore. We'll hear lies, misinformation and quotes taken out of context used against Dean. He'll most likely get the McCain treatment: "Word was spread among South Carolina voters that McCain had fathered a black daughter out of wedlock (McCain had, in fact, adopted a Bangladeshi girl), that McCain was a homosexual, that McCain's wife had a drug problem and so on." And this was a member of their own party, a Vietnam Veteran and a long standing Senator with a track record of public service! There are clearly no bounds for their bully behavior. Mona Charen warns us that nominating Dean will result in a "long, long year", and she's right. The Bush campaign is your typical schoolyard bully, at the first sign that you might fight back, they'll tighten the screws, crank up the heat and get as nasty as they can. They need to protect their soft underbelly... George W. Bush himself. | Inertia Its 2 am, and I feel no desire to go to sleep just yet. My eyes will get heavier, I'll recognize my tired state but I'll keep staying... awake. I'll listen to music, read articles that I have only the slightest interest in, and think. I'll think big ideas and make promises that I have no plans to keep. Tommorrow morning I'll lay in bed, barely awake and think about how great it would be to go back to sleep. That's what I'll do, because I don't have to be up in the morning. At some point I'll think that a cheese omellete and a hot shower would be nice. Sometimes I get up and make that omellete, sometimes I just take a shower, other times I do neither and go hungry and dirty. No sure what I'll do tommorrow. I'm not ready to sleep just yet. | 12.28.2003
We See Broadcasting Channel 47, I don't know what its called, but its the religious station here in Tulsa. I should say Christian, but its a unique variety. Upon watching it, you would assume that agenda is pure and simple; misinformation. I tend to think that it shows anything and everything that claims itself to be Christian, no matter how "out there". Occasionally I tune in to hear people spreading general fallacies and misinformation about evolution. Dragging out some old claims that have been debunked for years. They also claim that the constitution is a direct result of biblical teachings, despite the quite obvious time lag between the writing of the bible and the idea of representational government. And they have no qualms in claiming this is a Christian nation, right after extolling the virtues of religious freedom. Can you have it both ways? Real religious freedom would mean that you accept that the United States might not always be a Christian nation. Is that true? Does religious freedom have limits then? Say... As long as its mostly Christian then you're free to be a Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim? Once we hit 50% "other" then all bets are off? More often they run programs that claim Christianity is the source of all that is good in the world. Right now as I type this they have the balls to claim that Christianity is the source of modern medicine. I wonder about that claim myself, seeing as how science has had to fight religious dogma for centuries to get to where its at now. I admit that many Christian people feel moved to do good, to take care of others, but to claim that all good originates from Christianity and that without it the world would be, in the words of one speaker a "cruel and heartless place" is a stretch. The preacher James Kennedy just asked for 8 million dollars! This, a small price to keep the world from slipping into the abyss of secularism. Ok, I shouldn't get so riled up by this, I have to understand that TV preachers are to religion as pot smoking hippies are to liberalism. Not exactly a good representational sample... My sister asked me, "Why do you watch that?". I told her, "I wanna know where people get these ideas..." Its no wonder people around here sometimes seem so misinformed, we have a 24 hour propaganda network that has no sense of accountability for telling the truth. You might be hard pressed to find a equivalent network that makes the claim that the world would sink into a "cruel and heartless place" without secularism. I wonder sometimes how much of this gets repeated from the pulpit. I once had a friend that got tapes from his church that "proved" that dinosaurs and humans co-existed, a claim that has to be made if you are to accept biblical time lines. I feel no desire to do so. I feel perfectly free to accept the evidence as its presented and not try to make it conform to my preconceived beliefs about the world. I enjoy that freedom. I wish it to all. I would like to thank the great thinkers of old that paved the way for my freedom to reject dogma in favor of... Reality. | 12.26.2003
Give me one reason why anyone would listen to this guy? Oliver North: A few more gifts: "Without further delay, here is a sample of the gifts Ollie Claus has picked for 2003: How about a quick history? North was "Indicted March 16, 1988, on 16 felony counts. After standing trial on 12, North was convicted May 4, 1989 of three charges: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service. Scapegoat, fall guy, talking head, puppet, useful idiot. Take your pick. Now writes about how the people of Iraq should learn to accept the rule of law. Pushes the GOP talking points and gives advice to Democratic presidential candidates about how best to lose an election. Go figure... can the world get any more backwards? Maybe Howard Dean should break the law by subverting the will of the US congress, lie about it under oath, obstruct the investigation, take the fall for a Republican president and spend the rest of his days writing "rah rah" articles for Townhall.com criticizing the Democrats and the French? Its an obvious path to success isn't it Mr. North? I hope you enjoy your new career as a patsy for the far right. | Hey, don't put that in your mouth! Expert Warned That Mad Cow Was Imminent: "'We want to keep prions out of the mouths of humans,' Dr. Prusiner said. 'We don't know what they might be doing to us.' " I totally agree! Next time you're thinking about putting an abnormally folded infectious protein in your mouth to curb your cigarette cravings ask yourself, "Do I really think this is a good idea"? | 12.24.2003
Recommendations? Music is my religious experience. I have often wondered just why human beings place such high importance on beauty. What purpose does it serve? I don't know. But I'm glad that I can sit and listen to a great piece of songwriting and experience sheer joy. Here are some artists that got me through the year with a smile on my face. This is just a sample, there were many more... "when its hot in the poor places tonight // I'm not going outside" "he sees the dawn sneak // into the room // and knows the dogs will // be up soon" Oppresion // To divide and to conquer is your goal Its not a party if it happens every night You're the pincard, you're the lifeguard, you're the information guy, but things look much bigger on the knees, on your knees. Miss the signal, miss the signpost, lose the access to it all, and all of a sudden, you are one with the freaks You got my heart // Yah, you got my only heart // Yah, you got my only, only heart ugh... I hope you check out some of these amazing artists and you might drop a few suggestions my way as well. Have a Merry Christmas and a safe new year y'all. | 12.23.2003
Two Years to Prepare! Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: The Federal Government and the Dept. of Homeland Security have raised the threat level. "Two days after the U.S. government raised its terror alert to the second-highest level, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld emphasized the gravity of the threat. Do I think this is politically motivated? I'm not going to assume that. I will take at face value, until proven otherwise, that this is a result of actual intelligence indicating a threat. You can't complain that the Feds didn't do enough to protect us from Sept. 11th then turn around and gripe if they say there is a threat. But... We have had two years to prepare for this. And I hope for everyone's sake that despite the "Excellent Adventures of George and Saddam" something has been done to prepare for another possible threat. If not, there should be hell to pay. If, as I suspect, valuable time and energy were siphoned off to go after Saddam and make the world safer for oil investment AND something happens here at home... it will have been a breach of trust by the federal government in my opinion. We should already have nuclear sites secure, we should already have plans in place for disasterous terrrorist attacks, and we should already have potential sites and methods identified. No more getting caught with our pants down, ok guys? I'm sure some work has already been done, but has it been enough and has this issue gotten the attention it deserves? I hope so. Is the world safer with Saddam gone and troops in Iraq? If the answer is yes, then why are we raising the threat level? | 12.22.2003
Bring Out Yer Dead! When Workers Die: U.S. Rarely Seeks Charges for Deaths in Workplace: The NYT is doing a series about workers dying on the job and how nobody cares. Is this a story, really? They'll just come to the conclusion that government is in the pockets of business interests and that we need to give OSHA more power to pursue wrongdoing. Ok... fine, but it won't happen. "Over a span of two decades, from 1982 to 2002, OSHA investigated 1,242 of these horror stories — instances in which the agency itself concluded that workers had died because of their employer's 'willful' safety violations. Yet in 93 percent of those cases, OSHA declined to seek prosecution, an eight-month examination of workplace deaths by The New York Times has found. " You know, if you lived in a town where the police drove around all day but burglers broke into people's houses in the plain light of day you would think something was wrong wouldnt you? What if every time they did catch a thief they agreed to let them off with a warning? You might feel cheated, you might think their was some deep seated corruption involved. In fact, OSHA has increasingly helped employers, particularly large corporations, avoid the threat of prosecution altogether. Since 1990, the agency has quietly downgraded 202 fatality cases from "willful" to "unclassified," a vague term favored by defense lawyers in part because it virtually forecloses the possibility of prosecution. Corrupt. OSHA officials answer to politicans who are bought and paid for by business money. We might get to vote for them, but if politicians are pre-selected for their business friendly positions then what's the point? We should look at who is funding our candidates and not vote for pols that get a free ride from corporate interests. You know who that is... right? | 12.21.2003
A visit to Uncle Ben's White House Thoughts on Rubinomics: Archive Entry From Brad DeLong's Webjournal: "The 'Reagan Revolution' did not shrink the size of the federal government: in 1980 when Ronald Reagan ran for president federal spending (gross of offsetting receipts) was 22.7% of GDP; in 1992 when Bill Clinton ran for president federal spending was 23.2% of GDP. The 'Reagan Revolution' did change the shape of federal spending: one-third of domestic federal spending outside of the entitlement programs went missing between 1980 and 1992, replaced primarily by debt interest and secondarily by higher military spending. " Right, you see its not about whether the government is spending money its about who gets the paychecks issued out of Washington D.C. There IS a difference between Democrats and Republicans but the idiots that think its a choice between BIG government and SMALL government just aren't paying attention. Its a choice about the direction federal money takes. They both spend money like a lotto jackpot winner. Have we really experienced a decrease in the amount of government spending under Republicans? No, we haven't. But its considered palatable because deficit spending ultimately diverts taxpayer money into the hands of debtholders. When we decrease deficit spending and put that money into beneficial programs we commit a major sin. We actually take money out of the pockets of rich people in the form of taxes and put that money to productive use. Are Democrats absolved from this sin? Hell no... Clinton maintained his fair share of corporate welfare, its just taken to new heights under Republicans. Its not suprising that major corporate interests line up for the Republicans. Not because they think Democrats will cut them off. The payoff is bigger with an (R) next to it. Why are small goverment Conservatives mute when George W. Bush cuts revenue and spends like a horny drunk guy on ladies night? To their credit some have spoken out. The Cato Insitute at least has the balls to admit the truth: But the real truth is that national defense is far from being responsible for all of the spending increases. According to the new numbers, defense spending will have risen by about 34 percent since Bush came into office. But, at the same time, non-defense discretionary spending will have skyrocketed by almost 28 percent. Government agencies that Republicans were calling to be abolished less than 10 years ago, such as education and labor, have enjoyed jaw-dropping spending increases under Bush of 70 percent and 65 percent respectively. They have won points in my eyes. They may be wrong about free markets, but hey, at least they stick to their guns. Piss on you Heritage! You see, as the Federal government borrows money to finance politically motivated invasion schemes rich people buy up the debt and will reap the benefits of years of of re-directed tax revenue. Their money is a boomerang. It comes back in the form of debt repayment. That's good spending! Not to mention all the money made off boondoggle miltary spending. Meanwhile familes BUY bulletproof vest for their kids because we're not making sure they have proper gear! The Army private first class said he had been assigned an antiquated rifle, but not enough ammunition to set the sights properly, Brian Hart recalled yesterday. The protective plates also didn't fit his Kevlar vest, the soldier told his father. Last week he called to say that the Humvees they were using were not reinforced with armor. Their son John Hart is dead, another casualty in the class war. As we funnel more money to pork military projects cloaked in national security shrouds. For gods sakes... buy the stinking vests first! Leave the Osprey die already! Screw the missle defense shield that never worked, buy the vests already! I'm not a big fan of the miltary but simple human decency demands that you don't send kids out to die without decent gear. Support the troops my ass, support massive miltary spending on phantom technology is the real mesage here. but moving on... If, say single mothers got a subsidy for child care that would be doubly bad. First because it would give them breathing room in the labor market, second because the rich people's money would be used on (gasp) other people! I once worked with FIVE mothers (two single mothers!) and the amount of money they spent on child care (amazing!) just about totally negated what they earned working a full time job. But they could not afford to not work. Its like slave labor, only better. But what the heck, isn't it better that millions of babies get dumped in child care versus spending time with their mothers? Sure, screw families values. The only family we care about is Uncle Benjamin. Working mothers and child care = GDP! Stay at home moms and child rearing means -GDP! Bad for wealthy right? When I say its class warfare I mean it. This extends to all facets of American life. Soldiers die, mothers work for free. Who care, right? Not the dumb ass people that think Republicans will get "gubmint off our backs". They won't. They passed the PATRIOT act. I don't care how many times Rush preaches to the choir. Its simply is not true. For while it might make you feel all warm and comfy to bash Democrats and Liberals, it doesnt mean your making the world the better place. Isn't that what we all want? Or is it just a few extra Abes in our back pocket? | 12.20.2003
Pedro Whiskey Bar: Coddling Dictators: Pedro, a commentor over at Whiskey Bar had some nice comments. He doesn't seem to have his own blog. So I wanted to repost one of the five points he made. I suggest you go read them all. "Terrorists can't destroy a country, much less the most powerful country in the world. Terrorists are terrorists precisely due to their incapacity to beat you militarily. The only victory they can hope to achieve is to convince you by fear to behave in self-defeating ways. If you look at it from this perspective, in the present case the terrorists are winning. Americans are in panic, they are giving up their own civil rights, freedom of the press is moribund, debt is mounting and the country is deeply divided. Furthermore, the United States have lost most their moral high ground, have alienated their friends and are universally viewed with scorn. Mr Bin Laden, contrarily to the US administration, has long-term goals. He believes if you shoot yourselves repeatedly on the foot it will eventually turn into a gangrene. You are enthusiastically trying to help him prove his point." Right, he gets it, Bush and the Neo-Cons, dont. | 12.18.2003
Not at War? I find it a bit disturbing that we can justify certain actions and attitudes because "we are at war" when we are NOT at war. For brief periods during the invasions of Afganistan and Iraq we could maybe say "war". This "war on terrorism"? When will it end? Will it be over when we capture or kill Osama Bin Laden? Or will we wake up a decade from now fighting yet another band of terrorists in say... Latin America? Can we really win a war against a concept, an activity? And who gets to define terrorism? Will it become a political tool to justify actions we would like to take but would otherwise be unpalatable to the citizenry? By extending this conflict out into a greater "war" on terrorism we can now start dragging in non-relevent issues by tieing them (even falsely) to this other concern. Just like the Cold "War". Saddam was a product of our Cold War strategy, as we supported a purge of the Iraqi Communists by the Baathists which lead to the installation of Saddam as Iraqi president. Now, we have ousted him in the name of the "war" on terror. The possible backlash from this current invasion will be dealt with, no doubt, by the next metaphorical war. Must we learn by repetition? Can we deny the political components of this "war"? Are we prepared for the chest beating in next year's election as each candidate tries to portray themselves as "strong" and the other as "weak"? Bush and the Republicans will taut their "successes" as the Democrats and their nominee talks about the "failures". Meanwhile the real work will be done, not by politicians but by career law enforcement and intelligence workers that could have their hard work tossed in the trash should it not fit well with political climates. Are we safer? There's no way to tell. I would however feel better if we weren't overselling this "war". | Numskullerinity? NUMSKULLERY / Dare To Be Stupid: IF YOU WANT TO SAVE SOMETHING, START WITH YOUR BREATH: ".... too many people, claiming to be 'Christians', use Christianity as an excuse for their lack of decent behavior. They don't even try to be more Christ-like. If anything, most 'Christians' feel, just as you seem to, they are fully excluded from performing acts of consideration. 'I don't have to be considerate of other people because I'm seeking salvation.' Seeing a christian act like one is like seeing the Loch Ness Monster. It's rare." (laughs) While you're waiting for The Second Coming, why don't you try to make this world more pleasant. Being polite to people doesn't cost anything. Something tells me that Chris has run into one of those christians that acted in the most petty and despicable way and refused to take any responsibility while hiding behind their religious faith. For what its worth, I know quite a few wonderful people who also happen to be christian. But I secretly believe that would be nice people no matter what their religious faith. | 12.17.2003
Coulda Shoulda Mighta CBS News | 9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable | December 17, 2003 20:27:15: ") For the first time, the chairman of the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is saying publicly that 9/11 could have and should have been prevented" Interesting... but not earth shattering. The evidence for this has been floating around for some time. As of right now I don't think the Bush administration did anything intentional to allow the attacks happen. I chalk it up to negligence, a forgivable, though detestable crime. The cheif culprit? Politics. We have too many people that spend every waking hour trying to beat their political opponents that they will let all hell break loose around them before they let their laser focus slip away from their enemies. This article in Time has the best summery of just how this debacle took place. Excellent reporting. TIME.com: Could 9/11 Have Been Prevented? : Sunday, Aug. 04, 2002 Clarke says that dealing with al-Qaeda "was in the top tier of issues reviewed by the Bush Administration." But other topics got far more attention. The whole Bush national-security team was obsessed with setting up a national system of missile defense. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was absorbed by a long review of the military's force structure. Attorney General John Ashcroft had come into office as a dedicated crime buster. Rice was desperately trying to keep in line a national-security team-including Rumsfeld, Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell-whose members had wildly different agendas and styles. "Terrorism," says a former Clinton White House official, speaking of the new Administration, "wasn't on their plate of key issues." The rest it seems boils down to in-fighting amongst agencies and political parties. The FBI didn't want to act on a White House directive and the Bush administration was skeptical of anything originating out of the Clinton era. The transition from one administration to another sapped precious time away from any action that might have been taken. The Clinton WH did not put together an aggresive approach to dealing with Al Queda till late in their second term and when it was passed on to the Bush WH it was put on the backburner for too long. Political priorities trumped real issues. I believe this war with Iraq is another example of that. Idealogical preconceptions override the common sense approach to dealing with security matters. Too much, in fact is decided by political considerations. This is telling, and a sad comment on American politics: In fact, despite strong suspicion that bin Laden was behind the attack in Yemen, the CIA and FBI had not officially concluded that he was, and would be unable to do so before Clinton left office. That made it politically impossible for Clinton to strike-especially given the upcoming election and his own lack of credibility on national security. "If we had done anything, say, two weeks before the election," says a former senior Clinton aide, "we'd be accused of helping Al Gore." Can you imagine that, people sitting around trying to decide what the right thing to do, and making that decision based on domestic political concerns? Ugh... it almost makes you sick doesn't it? Sadly, much of our actions around the world is perceived as politically motivated. We are the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde of the International Community, with aid and comfort one day and cruise missles the next. All determined by election results. Is it any wonder that we have such love/hate relationships with others? | Whoosh! dustbury.com: The plane truth So Boeing is going to build their latest monster plane in Washington. I can't say that I'm surprised. I thought that their ploy to hold of announcement of the assembly location was nothing more than a way to milk more money out of Washington. Here's what they got for their shenanigans: The only remaining problem? They don't have any initial launch orders yet, and U.S. carriers hard hit by post Sept. 11 downturn in airline travel are not lining up for new planes. But you see, Boeing doesn't have to worry about that, because if worse comes to worse they can always rely on their friends in Washington D.C. to dig up some special money for "jobs". Much like the tanker lease scandal that has dropped off the radar. USATODAY.com - How a hometown jobs plan led to big-time scandal: "After Sept. 11, 2001, Boeing Co.'s friends in Congress devised an unprecedented scheme to pull the aircraft manufacturer out of a financial nose dive. To offset a major loss of commercial sales, the Air Force would lease 100 aerial refueling tankers built by Boeing to replace an aging U.S. fleet. The cost to taxpayers: $26 billion to $37 billion, according to varying government estimates." Taxpayer money gets used to get the planes built and then taxpayer money gets used to buy the planes on the other end? So tell me, how is this not socialism? Oh yeah.. because the profits go to wealthy people. Boeing's stock went up. And how is this not a form of state subsidies that would be illegal under the WTO? Are we not creating an unfair advantage for US airline makers over foreign airline makers? | 12.16.2003
Good Lord! David Frum's Diary on National Review Online: "For now, let’s say that while the President’s opponents have made much sport of the idea that God called George Bush to the presidency, it’s becoming increasingy difficult to doubt that God wants President Bush re-elected." Wow, then I guess its safe to say that its becoming increasingly difficult to doubt that God wants the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. Because just like how the Begals winning streak could not possibly be the result of their consistently good gameplay, the capture of Saddam could not have been the result of of an eight month long manhunt in which hundreds (or thousands?) of people worked hard to achieve this goal. And if Bush is not re-elected? Will we have thwarted the will of God or will we have done the work of Satan? ... and why should we take quacks like David Frum seriously? We don't, but he's a useful idiot pushing a well financed agenda. So we have to endure tripe such as this. | Family Values CNN.com - Strom Thurmond's family confirms paternity claim - Dec. 16, 2003: "Strom Thurmond's family confirms paternity claim" Let this beacon be our guide... CNN.com - Limbaugh: Keep my med records private - Dec. 16, 2003: "Limbaugh's court pleading says he has 'already suffered the indignity of watching a list of his doctors and medications dramatically leafed through on air by television reporters.' " I wonder how he would feel about a relentless witchhunt conducted against him on a daily nationwide radio talk show? No doubt he would cry uncle then as well. Dish it out Mr. Limbaugh... | Smug Warning Great discussion over at Daily Kos: Daily Kos || IBM exports everyone to Asia: Quote comes from a Wall Street Journal article (subscription): "In one of the largest moves to 'offshore' highly paid U.S. software jobs, International Business Machines Corp. has told its managers to plan on moving the work of as many as 4,730 programmers to India, China and elsewhere. Not a suprising move. You follow the points on the graph leading up to this and it clearly points in this direction. The answer to those laid off can no longer be "go back to school and get a better job with more skills". Of course, now we can move beyond the crapola that was being spewed before and was just as hollow now as it was then. Those around during the first wave of manufacturing layoffs where condescending jerks that acted as if those losing their jobs deserved to be laid off for not being as smart as they were. That smug attitude will change. Wall Street doesn't care that last year you pushed stock prices through the roof with cost cutting. What are you doing for us today? You can only shift the core of your manufacturing base once. Once you've hit the floor on those labor costs you still have to boost profits again. You have two options, increase overall sales or reduce costs even further. You start to look out over the floors of cubicles filled with accountants, programmers, and engineers and you start to think to yourself: What if I could outsource them too? They can and they will. | 12.12.2003
And the Winner of Best Post of the Day is.... Chaotic Not Random: "As great thinkers from Solomon to Linkin Park have observed, life can be a meaningless void of numbing repetition occasionally punctuated by brief fits of happiness and/or orgasm. You've probably thought along these same lines from time to time, especially if you are a high school sophomore who gets picked on a lot. I shared a look with a guy in line behind me at Reasors the other night. We seemed to both be thinking along the same lines. "Here we are again, standing in line, working day in and day out, going through the routines wondering when the real excitement kicks in" Go read what Kilgore recommends... its good advice, even if it is a little Chicken Soupish... | Love Thy Neighbor? Orcinus The antics of Misha, the "Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler," have notched another turn in the spiral of eliminationist violence that I've remarked upon previously. Now he has gone so far as to advocate the death of a "traitor" who runs an anti-Bush Web site. Oh my, apparently the guy over at Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler is really really stupid. You see I've not visited the site myself and I'm getting the story second hand but if the quotes are genuine, and I have no reason to think they're not, then he has crossed a very bold line, from being a blowhard to being a dangerous blowhard. I've spent a few minutes here and there reading through some forums from both left leaning and right leaning sites. I've been scared by some random comment on more than one occasion. For the most part the people that run successful sites are fairly balanced with slight leanings here and there. Of course the more you cater to the fringe elements the more your site will wander into looneyville. I should get to my point, and its this: Lets stop with the "Liberals are traitors" talk right now! Its foolish, its dangerous and as sad as this sounds, there are some people that don't have the good sense to know when to take outrageous political rhetoric for what it is: sillyness. If you think that promoting violence is acceptable, even in jest, then you should really seek some help, take some time away from the insuler world of the internet or take up a hobby... preferably one with lots of strenuous running and jumping. We can agree to disagree but we should all decide that our idealogical battles should be fought with civility, with words aimed at issues, and topics and when applicable, politicians. But never in such a way that we advocate violence against another human. That's just sick. | 12.10.2003
... and in response to: (I posted a comment up over at Dustbury to further clarify some points about my previous post . It was one of those instances where my writing skills seemed sufficient to make some kind of point.) I dont buy the politics or economics as force of nature arguement. Capitalism in this form has only been around maybe a couple hundred years. Fuedalism, in its time must have seemed perfectly natural as well. Slavery is a great example of a paradigm shift after decades of acceptance as the "natural order". So there is hope. But we must first learn to accept that human beings ultimately control what our society looks like. For while there are some powerful forces inherent in the human animal, what is culture and government if not ways of making things better for all? We have succeeded in my mind at proving that our worst instincts need not be the most dominant. Our best instincts, love, respect and the desire for personal freedom can serve as better guides than petty tribalism. We turned a corner during the age of the enlightenment when we realized that we are not helpless victims of forces beyond our control, but active players in our destiny. America, and all that people claim it represents is a product of that thinking, inspired by that new understanding. A grand experiment in new thinking. It could have turned out bad... sure. The old way was proven, but I think it was worth the risk. We now accept this new reality as a natural state as well. In the future people will look back at our society and see where we are now as a stepping stone to their present. We know things will change. That's inevitable. So keep open the debate about where to go from here. | Incoming Message from the Hive Leader Got a nice little e-mail from my good buddy Marc Racicot who's chairing the Bush-Cheney campaign. We can turn back this venomous assault from rage-filled Democrats and overcome the hateful efforts of multi-millionaire liberals to pervert the election process ... A good enemy is worth his weight in gold it seems. There's one more thing you can do to help the President overcome the smears and invective of the Democrats. We want to reach our goal of 450,000 grassroots contributors to the President's campaign by December 31st. Huddle up! Here's the play... Marc, you run right, send out messages to the shock troops out there and get them stirred up. Gear them up for a fight. They're defenders of the President. Remember -- "hate" "Liberals" "aaaaannnngry!" GO! George, you run left and add millions of new government social spending by way of massive handouts to drug companies. Don't worry we got the base pacified with anti-liberal soma. Dick, Run, wait.. walk by Kinko's and pick up the latest batch of cheesy backdrop posters, we got a "Corporate Welfare Creates Jobs" one coming up, as well as a "Not Making Things Worse" poster ready for next year's foul up Iraq. Everyone else, smear Dean! Remember, we're milking millionaires for more money than any campaign in history. But they have a Billionaire over there! Scary billionaires, only millionaires! Scary billionaires, only millionaires! Scary billionaires, only millionaires! Scary billionaires, only millionaires! | Off to the store to hunt a bag of chips ThePittsburghChannel.com - Automotive - Humane Group Slams Cheney For Westmoreland Hunt: "Mark Bolish, an employee of the exclusive private club, told Channel 4 Action News that Cheney shot about 70 stocked pheasants and mallards that were released for a group of hunters. More than 400 of the farm-raised birds were killed in all. " Oh wait... did he say pheasants or peasants? Big Man, shoot bird in front of face. So.. if I walk into the pound and shoot a bunch of dogs, is that still hunting, because I'm kinding losing sight of the line here? | Welcome to Flatland camedwards.com: "So there you have it. The primary responsibility of the Democratic candidates is to bash the opponent, rather than explaining why they're the better choice. Guess we won't be seeing much talk on the issues for awhile." and... "You can only bash for so long before people start tuning you out." The other day I watched a NOVA special about string theory. They advanced the idea that the laws of the universe might be the by-product of multidimensional geometric shapes at the smallest part of the universe. You see, that's an interesting idea. A theory that I can appreaciate. Not like the half-baked ones thrown up by Cam over at his rodent's nest. The democrats can't criticize Bush to show that they would be a better president? People will get tired of all the negativity from the Democrats, when they apparently didn't get tired of 24/7 Liberal bashing during the Clinton years? With this kind of imaginative thinking we should get Cam working on some theoretical physics. He is obviously able to transcend the bounds of linear thought. He's already mastered a multi-dimensional universe where the laws of reality do not apply to Democrats. Where Democratic candidates can win an election by praising their opponent. Flatland: Section 14: How I vainly tried to explain the nature of Flatland.: "At the word I began to move my body out of Lineland. As long as any part of me remained in his dominion and in his view, the King kept exclaiming, 'I see you, I see you still; you are not moving.' But when I had at last moved myself out of his Line, he cried in his shrillest voice, 'She is vanished; she is dead.' 'I am not dead,' replied I; 'I am simply out of Lineland, that is to say, out of the Straight Line which you call Space, and in the true Space, where I can see things as they are. And at this moment I can see your Line, or side -- or inside as you are pleased to call it; and I can see also the Men and Women on the North and South of you, whom I will now enumerate, describing their order, their size, and the interval between each.' GOPland? | MMMM... Good! About Mrs. T's: "What can I do if my pierogies are stuck together? I managed to live the majority of my life without knowing these things existed. | 12.08.2003
Let's Play, Connect the Dots! We'll start at Abercrombie and Fitch and finish with the "Fundamantal Truth about the Society we Live in". Sound fun? CBS 4 Denver: The Look Of Abercrombie & Fitch: So, is there a thread that ties much of the inequity we see in society? Race, Class, and Gender preferences? Among others? Sure there is, and if you don't think so, you're either in denial or you benefit so much that you can't see it. "'’We're sorry. We can't rehire you because we already have too many Filipinos working at this store,’' recalls Ocampo. “Too many Filipinos. That was her exact words … I was speechless. I didn't really know what to say. I've never seen racism that explicit prior to that.” " Sounds like quotas, of the unspoken kind. The kind that get enforced in oh so subtle ways. You might not even notice them if they never effect you. Like a force of nature. A gentle current that brings some of us ashore or an undertow that drags us out to sea. “There have been cases in which defendants have said, ‘We wanna prefer whites. Because our customers are happier.’ And the courts have said, ‘Absolutely not,’” says Lee. Making the customer's happy. Because the good customers they want are the white ones. Ones that have benefited from years of institutionalized racism and have a disproportionate share of the society's wealth at their disposal. They are not desired just because they are white, but they are more likely to be wealthy because of preferential hiring or familial wealth. The true color of racism is green. “I was sick of getting my schedule back every week with lines through names,” says Mandrick. “I can't look the people that work for me, that wanna be there, in the eye and say, ‘You know, lie to them and say, ‘Oh, we don't have hours.’ When really it's because they weren't pretty enough.” So its not just enough to be white. You have to good looking as well. So double damn you if you just happen to be ugly and ethnic. The gates are slammed right on your ugly face even before you get started. You know your place? The people that worked in the stockroom, where nobody sees them, were mostly Asian American, Filipino, Mexican, Latino.” Do you think the pay is better in the stockrooms? Do you think the working conditions are better in the stockroom? We know there exists an inner workplace strata. You ability to ascend through that medium depends to a large degree on how useful you'll be to the company. Whether or not you will make them more or less money than another person. That’s not racism, says Elder, that’s capitalism: “This is about a business deciding pursuant to its own best interests, rightly or wrongly, that a particular kind of salesperson is more likely to generate more dollars … It’s all about the bottom line.” Its capitalism. That's right. That's the real reason we can't shake these problems that seem destined to plague us. Because they are essential ingredients. Prejudice is part of the whole process. Recently I heard a NPR interview with Matt Miller, who wrote a book called The Two Percent Solution. I listened in awe. He either just didn't get it or was too pragmatic to notice. He outlined a set of solutions to many of today's problems; health care, education, living wages, and campaign finance. Ways that we could tackle and solve these vexing problems. All fine and good. But we don't actually want to solve those problems. That's why they are still around. Its not for lack of a solution. We could fix things if that's what we wanted. But we don't! Because the fundamental nature of our society would break apart if we did. There's a reason we don't make inner city poor schools better and its not because we don't want to help the kids. Who doesn't want to help kids, with their sad eyes and frayed backpacks? But at the heart of the matter, hiding behind the Rich W. Guy Recreational Center lies a bitter truth. The more we help those poor kids, the more they will compete with the rich kids for jobs, wealth and power. That's completely undesirable from the perspective of a parent wanting to use their wealth to give their kid a fast track to a good life. What could be better than making sure little Johnny walks into a job interview with a top notch education? Well, making sure the other applicants can barely write their name for one. Capitalism is a system based on a core prejudice. The more money you have the more desirable you become. To gain or maintain that preferred status you will take advantage of other prejudices. Racism persists in part because it helps maintain class separation. Your hope of escaping from the depths of the impoverished class stems from taking advatage of whatever prejudices work in your favor, so it is no small suprise that this confers a sense of legitimacy for those that use them to rise to the top. There are two levels of commitment to making the world a better, more equal and livable place. One level that means paying lip service to fundamantal root problems by giving toys to poor kids, or holding fancy dinners to give a few coins back to the serfs. And another level where you would be willing to accept a loss of power, influence and priviledge in exchange for a better world. For there is no rich without poor. No benefit to wealth if it doesn't confer to you the ability to make others spend a large amount of time catering to your needs and not their own. I want us to be as honest as this statement: “This is about a business deciding pursuant to its own best interests, rightly or wrongly, that a particular kind of salesperson is more likely to generate more dollars … It’s all about the bottom line.” You either think inequality is a good thing or you don't. If you think it is then you should be prepared to stand on the wrong side of that line. By simple logic we have to conclude that there will be more of us on this side than on that side. And we stand here, with our overwhelming numbers, hoping for the chance to cross over. For our chance to hold the reigns, and to screw the rest of us for a little while. I don't want it. | 12.07.2003
Live...from Someday Night? Well, they didn't run the Saturday Night Live episode tonight with Al Sharpton, which I'm sad about. Because I think it would have been fun to watch. It would have been bad to say "But, hey, its not like he's gonna win, right?". So while I understand I did feel a little cheated. On the upside, it will be one rerun I'll actually look forward to. CNN.com - NBC affiliates may not show Sharpton on 'SNL' - Dec. 5, 2003: "Sharpton's campaign aide said Sharpton is not appearing on 'Saturday Night Live' in his capacity as a presidential candidate and that the campaign is not involved in Sharpton's preparations for the show. " Its still free air time. I wish I had some of those half hour Perot infomercials on videotape. You could pull them out at parties. Be like, "let's watch some old Perot videos". Towards the end of the party... (nonpolitical thoughts) If you link back to a blog that links to you, do you create one of those endless mirror effects? Just pick up your monitor and move it around in a small circle... One essential ingredient of a good friendship or companionship is the willingness to confide in each other. Or as one Kevin Gilbert once sang; "to congratulate my sins". Being single again, I realize that I miss that component of a relationship. Its not really fair to expect relative strangers to accept your emotional baggage with the same measure of understanding and compassion. (non political OR sappy emotional thoughts) OU got beat. They played bad, and Kansas State played damn good. I think they should immediately kick anyone off the team that doesn't follow this one simple rule. "Fall on the ball!". When you see a fumble, and you are a defensive player your role becomes one dimensional. Fall on it. Simple as that. No big dreams of running it back for a touchdown. No more of that foolish grabbing at the ball between your knees only to fall on your face and letting the other team have it. (non political OR emotional sappy OR sports thoughts) It was cold today, but at least it didn't snow. | 12.05.2003
Oh, You're a Worker.... Weary factory workers hear Bush tout jobs - 12/02/03: "'There are all kinds of companies across America who are adding workers one or two at a time,' Bush said. " workers.pawns.cogs.serfs.peons.smurfs. At times, Bush prompted them to mention prearranged topics, reminding one worker that he'd been able to refinance his home at low interest rates and another that he'd saved $2,700 through recent tax cuts. "ahem... ahem.." "what?" (whispers) "strengthing the economy.... remember?" "oh yeah... almost forgot." Its nice that we have President Smurf to look after us Smurflings, isn't it? Now, is he a Smurflican or Smurfocrat? | 12.03.2003
Traitors (aka me) Should be Hanged via Atrios amarillo.com | Opinion: Letters To The Editor: Another name for war protesters 12/03/03: "There are some, though, who do not appreciate this freedom. I call these people traitors; they call themselves protesters. They are nothing more than an infectious disease that infests the minds and hearts of the Americans we are defending. It consumes the honor and courage within its host until it kills the very patriotism that made this country. Of course, the way the game is played in the BloggerDome, you hold something like this up to smear your opponents saying in effect "this is just another example of the blah blah blah conservative blah blah mindset blah..." implying of course that all people of a particular persuasion feel the same way. I would like to think they don't (and here's your chance to say that you don't). As a soldier you take and oath to defend the constitution, a document that states that people not only have the right to free speech but also the right to peacebly assemble. You are not there to defend your own perverted idea of patriotism in which the only acceptable way for people to "fight for their beliefs" is through violent methods. Being a soldier does not make you a patriot. Firing a gun does not make you a patriot. Believing in the ideals that your country represents makes you a patriot. It doesn't matter if you're a Doctor, College Student, Stock Broker, Janitor or a Soldier. If you don't think people have a right to excersize their freedoms then just what are you defending, oh guardian? I am nothing more than an infectious disease. | Art Art Art The University of Tulsa - News/Events/Publications: "The School of Art at The University of Tulsa will be holding an Alumni Art Sale of 300 to 400 works, representational and abstract work from all eras. The sale, which is free and open to the public, will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec.11, at the historic Mayo Hotel, 115 West Fifth Street. The event is sponsored by the TU School of Art and the Mayo Hotel. Proceeds raised from the sale of art will go to the School of Art. " I spent some time at TU in the art department, learning the basics in drawing and printmaking. There were some great artists there at the time and I'm sure there were great artists there before I got there as well. Now you have a chance to pick up some of that work and help out the School of Art as well. And you'll have an excuse to visit the newly re-opened Mayo hotel. The Mayo is being restored! The National Register-listed property, modeled on the Plaza Hotel in New York, was built in 1925 by John and Cass Mayo. Notable guests have included Elvis Presley, President Kennedy, and Joe DiMaggio. J. Paul Getty lived there for several years. Think about it. | 12.02.2003
Romans Go Home? Foreigners in Iraq say Koran requires fighting U.S. / But American leaders contend their numbers are few: "The well-dressed, slight-built mechanical engineering student from the University of Jordan said he was drawn to fight in Iraq purely by religious conviction -- not because of any link to al Qaeda or other terror organizations, and despite his intense dislike for Saddam Hussein's supporters. So its true, the Koran is inspiring young men to take up arms and work to get rid of the Americans. The question I suppose is, what happens when you take Bill Whittle and his cosmic piggybank, and pit that against the koran inspired muslim fighters? Well, you get two immovable objects heading on a collision course and alot of innocent people caught in the middle living in misery for decades to come. Abu Zobayer said he had been inspired to fight by watching accounts of the occupation on television from the comforts of his family's living room in the Amman neighborhood of Jabal Al-Hussein. No doubt he was watching Al-Fox News. So I have to wonder. Are there two conflicting visions at work here? One seen through the eyes of Americans, wanting so badly to see ourselves as liberators and do gooders? One seen through the eyes of Middle Eastern Muslims that want so badly to salvage their self respect after years of feeling powerless to help their countrymates? It would be best for all if both sides put aside their own little liberation fantasies and work for some kind of compromise. The Middle Eastern men should give the U.S. Soldiers a chance to get things stabalized, and the American government should trust the Iraqi people with power. What are the chances? | Bush 2004! I might just be inclined to vote for Bush just to see what an American economic meltdown will look like. I'm already broke so I have little to lose. As a photographer it sounds like it might be a good time to get some nice pictures, Great Depression Part 2, this time its in color! I guess in theory, if you push the moment of disaster far enough down the road you can pull stunts like giving tax breaks, creating millions in new Medicare spending and undertake a costly war overseas and still get re-elected. | 12.01.2003
Shorter Bill Whittle : NEW LOGIC Eject! Eject! Eject!: NEW MATH Americans are great, wonderful, scrappy fighters that never need to apologize or justify their actions because at heart we are moral and righteous. Therefore any war that we start will be justified as well. The Iraq war is rationalized because its putting money back in our cosmic piggybank for losing in Vietnam. I wish violence on the usual host of lefty boogeymen like Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon. We can attribute all the deaths in Iraq in the last 30 years to Saddam, therefore killing Saddam has saved thousands of lives. Even those lost in the Iran/Iraq and Gulf Wars... ack.. brain exploding!!!! Eject! Eject! Eject! (whew, I jettisoned my logic system before it self destructed. A Bill Whittle essay is to the brain like a night of binge drinking is to the liver. Read at your own risk, consume lots of fluids.) | 11.29.2003
not a Bush not a Photo not a Op A conservative Bush apologist website I frequent recently felt that in order to prove the layover in Baghdad was NOT a photo op linked to... photo photo photo photo umm... ok. I know when I've been proven wrong. Do I think Hillary's visit to Afghanistan and Iraq were also Photo Ops? Why.. yes, I do. | 11.27.2003
The Forward March Dictionary.com/liberalism: A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual and favoring civil and political liberties, government by law with the consent of the governed, and protection from arbitrary authority. Yeah, that's what I thought. For a while I was a bit confused by all the redefining of terms. Dictionary.com/conservatism A political philosophy or attitude emphasizing respect for traditional institutions, distrust of government activism, and opposition to sudden change in the established order. These are dictionary definitions people. Not from the New Limbaugh Dictionary of American Political Terms. So we can see that I am a liberal. I seek progress. I do not advocate for arbitrary change, but I do not reflexively oppose it either. Conservatism is an opposition movement. One that assumes the existing order is preferable to any possible new ones. With the irony being that today's conservatives will be arguing to maintain institutions built by yesterday's liberals; representative democracy, freedom of speech, equal protection under the law, and the idea of basic human rights, among others. All opposed by conservatives of yore. | Painting the Picture Orcinus: "This is why all the talk about liberal incivility is such a joke. For the past decade liberals have been increasingly subjected to a brand of conservative ridicule that has explicitly blamed them for every one of society's ills, and it has come relentlessly and from every quarter of the increasingly politically dominant conservative sphere. Now that rhetoric is reaching a violent pitch -- and if Oklahoma City should have taught us anything, it was the consequences of spreading this kind of hate. Much as conservatives like to argue that liberals are guilty of the same thing, there really is no parallel to this on the left, at least not since the early 1970s. " Wow.. this is part of a greater post that just floored me in its honesty and integrity, traits I admire in Mr. Neiwert. He's right, there is a movement afoot that lives and breathes anti-liberalism. But the joke is that there is no liberal hegemony. They look upon benign culture and see fire breathing liberals; in the media, in the colleges, in the government, in the schools. They fail to recognize that what they see as liberalism is nothing more than modern society. A blossom of equality, freedom of speech and a dimunition of religious dogma. That the conservative movement consist of white middle aged men fails to suprise me. They are the one's losing their exulted position as society becomes more pluralistic. No priviledged minority likes to see their position undermined, so they fight to bring back the glory days. But we have rejected that age and time. They will lose as long as progress marches on. So they seek to stifle progress. Winning means cowing their opposition and fudging the rules of game. Crying foul at the slightest touch. For the time being I have forsaken my self imposed moratorium on the use of the terms liberal and conservative. Mainly because I now have a definition of conservative that I can live with. Though I still believe that both terms have become poison. Conservatism is anti-liberal. Liberalism is ill defined. It is a nebulous force that I recognize as free inquiry and honest debate. Conservatism, in this perverted form, exists as an opposition movement in response to a imaginary foe. It appeals to groups who are losing their positions of priviledge in society in favor of a more representative world. Liberalism erodes the status quo and seeks to remold the world in a form that favors a multitude of voices over a world that favors the shouting of a few well connected individuals. To the conservative, liberalism represents all that is "wrong" with the world, namely, their lose of potency. So they have cast themselves in a drama depicting the revolt of "right, moral men" against the forces of evil. While I was still studying (and I still do!) the dynamics of this movement I constantly wondered, "who are they talking about"? I might be a liberal, but I hardly felt that the picture of liberalism they painted was representative of my views. It wasn't, of course. It was a fantasyland. So I took the position that "there were no liberals". At least how they were depicted by this movement. I still believe this. The "enemy", as depicted, is indeed a monstrosity, but it doesn't actually have corporal form. Its a figment, created for the purpose of ridicule. The "liberal" is a crudley fashioned boogeyman crafted from out of context quotes and the stupidity of random individuals. Its nothing more than a carefully designed punching bag, in a fight you are guaranteed to win. What individual, facing his lose of relevance wouldn't grasp at the chance to regain some status? | Quack Quack, the Which is Dead Salon.com News | Texas adopts controversial biology books: "Some religious and alternative science groups had argued that weaknesses in the theory of evolution weren't adequately presented in the books. But scientists and educators argued that the theory of evolution is widely believed and is a cornerstone of modern scientific research. " Evolution is science, creationism is religion. I studied Biology for four years, as well as Chemistry. Evolutionary theory actually provides tools to investgate the natural world. The wholesale rejection of creationism is based on the fundamental fact that it offers nothing to scientists to advance our quest for knowledge. It professes to have all the answers to unasked questions. Its a dead end. Most people just don't understand the entire structure of evolutionary science. Its mostly mathematical. Almost to the point of frustration. By far one of the hardest courses I ever took, next to Calculus. But, evolution produces good results. Answers to the questions we are asking. When a practice succeeds at prediction we accept it as a scientific theory. The main opponents to teaching evolution can only suggest that its an imperfect theory. But that's the nature of the beast. Same with Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, and even Gravity. We still have questions but we've got the basics nailed down. By suggesting we throw out the best working models and ideas because of their lack of perfection is nonsense. The arguement of fair and equal treatment is one of weakness. Its a last ditch effort to keep creationsim from slipping into oblivion where it belongs. I could just as easily argue that the human race sprang from dinosaur turds. Should unanswered questions in evolution provide a good excuse to teach my theory? NO! Creationism is religion. Its not science. Throw it out. Horray for Texas, (never thought I'd say that) putting the fundamentalists in their place. | 11.25.2003
Blogging Reform Dictionary.com/reform: "To improve by alteration, correction of error, or removal of defects; put into a better form or condition" Whew... that's what I thought. A quick question: At what point does something actually cease to constitute a reform? Would tying up old people to chairs and redirecting their social security checks directly into pharmaceutical company bank accounts still qualify? My problem isnt so much with this current bill, which is way too convoluted for me to really follow, but all this "reform" that is going on. The media seems content to call it "reform" which seems to be an endorsement of the measures. So why not... Medicare Salvation! or, Tax Redemption! | 11.24.2003
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Commercials I really hate those new Sonic commercials. I despise most commercials. They make too many assumptions about me. No, I am not some smiley white couple with a little munchkins and loads of disposable income. You are not talking to me! In the case of the Sonic commercials you may even be talking away from me. You see, when the two assholes pull up to the drive-thru window and start harassing the guy at the window, you know my first reaction? "I hope they spit in your burritos". Dude, that's not chili, that's recycled saliva. And it goes without saying that those National Drug Control Policy ads are the biggest pile of steaming BS we've ever paid ourselves to watch. I could write for days about how much those things piss me off. | Another Person Gets It George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics Read this and you will understand. So do yourself a favor. Also, within traditional liberalism you have a history of rational thought that was born out of the Enlightenment: all meanings should be literal, and everything should follow logically. So if you just tell people the facts, that should be enough — the truth shall set you free. All people are fully rational, so if you tell them the truth, they should reach the right conclusions. That, of course, has been a disaster. As I have been learning. Truth is secondary, narrative is primary. People will discard truth if it doesn't fit with their narrative. Lakoff calls this a "frame". | This Sounds Like a Job For.... I used to enjoy walking over to some eating joint on my lunch break and picking up the latest copy of the Dallas Observer. I was always pleased by a new article from Jim Schutze. My second stop was always checking out the latest This Modern World. Sure, we have the Urban Tulsa, but its just sad. Not solely their fault though. There just isn't as much stupidity going on here. Dallas Observer | dallasobserver.com | News : Schutze Abusurd, How DISD tells teachers to teach, By Jim Schutze: "Before I went to see the superintendent, I spoke with teachers who had contacted me at the Dallas Observer to complain about earlier columns I had written on schools. These were individuals who didn't know each other, to whom I spoke one-on-one. Maybe it was a small sample, but their complaints were stunningly consistent: It's a mountain of indecipherable crap churned out by a bureaucracy that prides itself on churning things out, all of it dumped on the shoulders of teachers in supreme disrespect for their personal gifts and prerogatives. It is spirit-numbing. " Now I suppose we can all share in the experience of being over-managed; that point in time where doing nothing would have been preferable to doing anything at all. But we know that you should never admit that your job, at least temporarily, is not neccesary. In fact you should always assert that your job is more important than ever, no matter what the evidence would suggest. So without further ado... Without my blog, we would see the world flushed into a cesspool of poor reasoning. | 11.23.2003
Ph-You Too danieldrezner.com :: Daniel W. Drezner :: Why James Lileks is flat-out wrong After reading through the F-you fest, and wading through some comments it came to me... For some... the U.S. military is a phallic symbol. A sign of our verility and manliness. Lileks makes the remark that Salam Pax and his Iraqis country-mates did have "the stones" to liberate themselves, so we had to do it for them. .... thought process? How can a guy typing away on a keyboard in the comfort of his home have the temerity to criticise the inaction of someone that actually lived under a repressive regime? Truely a marvel. You first have to assume that you would have acted where Iraqis did not. You then have to assume you can claim such bravery because we used our overwhelming military force to do what Iraqis did not. You have to assume that other people dying for a cause you support somehow gives you the right to act indignant. You then have to ignore ALL historical responsibility we might have shared in creating or maintaining the regime in Baghdad. I sorta feel the same way about this as I do when I see the massive display of OU stickers and flags around Tulsa when OU is winning. I wonder why we feel like we can share credit for the actions of others when they are succesful or strong? The credit belongs with the people that actually accomplished something. Showing up after the fact with a flag in hand doesn't mean jack. Real support means showing up when people need you, not just when they're winning. It also means following through and doing right by people when your throw their country into anarchy. If that means letting other people share in the credit then... DO IT!!! But that would mean castration. A blow to our prowess. And for the cheerleaders of this war, a fate worse than terrorism. (This post inspired by an overflowing inbox... and Burmese Days) | 11.22.2003
This is Class Warfare : Further Definition and Discussion Calpundit: Help Out the Strikers Supermarket chains in California are sharing revenue to break strikers. We should not be suprised that the owning class is working together against the working class. This is class warfare whether or not we realize it. Corporate entities, as the surrogate arm of the owning class only compete in certain realms. They are allied with each other to drive down labor costs. That is the nature of this conflict. This comment caught my attention: I find that I am usually the only actual current blue collar worker posting in comments around these blogs and the level of arrogance spouting from pompous jerks who are educated well beyond their level of intelligence never ceases to amaze me. I agree. Most working class individuals are too busy trying to survive to spend time posting on the internet. I am an exception. I don't have a family, I live very frugally and I have made a conscious decision not to define my life by my spending habits. I am a bad consumer. My response to this comment pleased me, so I will repeat it here. It sums up what this web page is about. For even if I don't always address this issue, you should know from where I come from. ---- I am working class. Which I define as such; all the money I have and make comes from my own labor, not from the labor of others. By that definition there are lots of us. However, we are constantly beguiled into thinking that we have some allegiance to the investor class, those that earn a majority of their income from other people's labor. This should come as no suprise, since their voice is dominant in most media and governmental discussions of "economics". This is not a "zero sum" game as one person remarked. Class separation exists. A small group of very wealthy people own or control the vast majority of capital. The amount of ownership represented by the working classes is small, and most resides in large institutional investments (Mutual Funds, Pensions) which are managed by the fund managers, who work for the investor class. So ironically, we have our own money working against our primary interests, namely our wages. A more representative ownership of capital by the workig class themselves would be better, with managers working FOR us, and not AGAINST us. But that is simply not the reality in America. Ownership is very concentrated. They have a very strong voice in our perception of reality. I feel that class issues override simple idealogical left/right divisions. We are too often distracted by political forces, working for the investor class, to realize our common goals. Instead we focus on secondary issues pushed to the forefront to drive wedges between what should be shared interests. Meanwhile, corporate entities work across this political divide to drive their interests; maximizing investor wealth and undermining worker rights. In general, the web is slanted towards people that have relatively middle of the road white collar positions. This will put them in close alliance with management. So its not uncommon for even "liberal" voices to be anti-worker in online forums. There has been a very dramitic shift though, as even skilled labor is now seeing layoffs, wage reductions and increases in health care costs. The tone of the debate is changing, to better reflect the decline in worker security that has been ongoing for more than two decade. Every job should have dignity. We used to believe that if you worked hard, no matter what you did, then that meant you could support yourself and your family. Are we willing to accept that this is not true anymore? If we are, we should expect everybody's quality of life to suffer. We don't live in a vacuum, and we can only gate off so much of our world. | 11.21.2003
LMAO art of resistance - bush mosaic You got a blank spot on your wall that needs a little dressing up? Want to try out that new poster printer you picked up at the thrift store? Or just wanting some wall art of everybody's favorite 43rd president? Look no further. Just don't look to close. | Where have I heard this before? Press Briefing by Index: "The Department of Justice, the career officials of the Department of Justice are working to get to the bottom of this. And the White House is committed -- at the direction of the President, the White House is committed to cooperating fully and doing everything we can to assist the career officials get to the bottom of this. It is a very serious matter. " Oct. 10, 2003, the Valarie Plame leak. salon :: :: news :: feature :: Searching for the real killers, By Gary Kaufman :: Page 1: " 'When things have settled down a bit I will pursue as my primary goal in life the killer or killers who slaughtered Nicole and Mr. Goldman. They are out there somewhere. Whatever it takes to identify them and bring them in, I will provide somehow.' " When you heard this infamous statement from O.J., wasnt your first thought "Sure, you'll be 'pursuing' them till you die won't you? I know I did. Well, to my suprise I came across this amazing article. O.J. Finds Nicole Simpson's Real Killer! Well, not really. This was June 30th and O.J. was "just triple-checking some last-minute information re- garding the identity of the true killer before he notifies the press and the police". Uh, ok. I'll believe it when I see it. I felt the same way when I heard the statement from the Whitehouse that they were turning over the investigation of the Plame leak to the Justic Department. Whooosh, down the Memory Hole. I have perverse images of Ashcroft and O.J. spending late nights on the phone exchanging information on their respective cases. Maybe O.J. gave Ashcroft some advice on the new DOJ website Life and Liberty, a nifty little site promoting the pure virtues of the Patriot Act. Unlike the O.J. case, in this incident I hope that there is someone looking to resolve this scandal. | Please God, Send More! This morning, lying in bed, I hear the muffled sounds of female voices outside my window. I sleep in a front bedroom, my window faces the porch. Still half asleep I think I hear knocking noises but they sound too distance and muted to be my own door. Eventually I crawl across the bed to peer out through the blinds. I see two young beautifiul women just leaving the front step and heading out across the lawn to the next house over. I suspect they were Jehovah's Witness but I was thinking to myself "Too bad I was asleep..." The Lord works in mysterious ways. ... or maybe it was just hormones. | Welcome to Blogging 101 Slippery Slope In order to show that a proposition P is unacceptable, a sequence of increasingly unacceptable events is shown to follow from P. A slippery slope is an illegitimate use of the "if-then" operator. I see lots of bad reasoning floating around on the web. One night a friend and I were sitting around talking about education and we decided that schools would be better off teaching more courses based on practical thinking. Critical Thinking Logic Learning Problem Solving With these tools you can educate yourself. Sure, reading and writing are essential as well but we seem to completely forsake these other "lesser" skills that I think are critical in their own right. How do people survive in this world without the basic tools of critical thinking? I wonder. When I watch those late night infomercials I think to myself "Who believes this crap?" Another common fallacy? Begging the Question. The truth of the conclusion is assumed by the premises. Often, the conclusion is simply restated in the premises in a slightly different form. In more difficult cases, the premise is a consequence of the conclusion. Some bloggers are simply content to make an assertion, throw out a few insults and restate their opinion and few more times without ever discussing the merits of the debate. This may work well for general preaching to the choir but it does nothing to enrich the discussion. Composition: Because the parts of a whole have a certain property, it is argued that the whole has that property. That whole may be either an object composed of different parts, or it may be a collection or set of individual members. This is the common "the left", "the liberals", "the right", "the conservatives" fallacy that is running rampant in the blogosphere. The group in question is smeared because some stupid fool does what he does best. This lone example is stood up to be representative of the whole spectrum. So I have to remind myself that George W. Bush does not represent all Republicans... :) You should do yourself a favor, go look over this list of fallacies and ask yourself, "Do I do this?" | 11.20.2003
News Flash: Michael Jackson could be a Child Molesting Pervert! Moonwalk to perp walk: "Guilty or innocent on the charges before him, Jackson has had a long and very strange - no, make that very, very, very strange - relationship with children. No parents in their right mind would let their kid stay over at Michael's house were it not for his celebrity. Attention your honor, I'd like to present exhibit A, the defendent. | |
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